South Africa: Electricity Minister to continue Eskom power station visits

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is expected to visit the Matimba and Medupi Power Stations in Limpopo today.

This is a continuation of the Ministers visits to all of Eskoms power stations which began last week. The visits are aimed at engaging management, workers and unions.

Power stations to be visited this week are Grootvlei Power Station on Tuesday, Hendrina and Arnot Power Stations on Thursday, Matla and Komati Power Stations on Friday and the Majuba Power Station on Saturday.

Speaking to the media during a visit to Koeberg Nuclear Power Station earlier, Ramokgopa said the coal powered fire stations need to up their performance during the winter season with Koebergs 920MW Unit One expected to delay in returning to service.

Those underperforming power stations in Mpumalanga, Tutuka Power Station in particular, have to make significant improvements. We know that at Kusile [Power Station] we cant make an improvement anytime earlier than in November of this year.

So it means that the other [power stations] must meet the demands disproportionately because in winter, we know the demand is going to rise exponentially. We had hoped that Koeberg will be within the timeframeso we are likely to miss the target of 23 July to get the additional 920MW. To put it into context, thats one stage of load shedding so that was going to help us to bring it down.

So we need to put greater emphasis on those 13 [coal fired] power stations to improve their energy availability factor [EAF], he said.

The Minister said Tutuka and Kusile power stations in particular need to up their power generation significantly.

Tutuka has an energy availability factor of between 15% and 17% and Kusile has an EAF of some 19% due to the long term breakdown of three of its units.

I did say, when we went to Tutuka that it is the worst performing and we can get an additional 2500 to 3000MW [from it]. So Tutuka must do everything possible to help us in this situation and the others will keep on adding.

Kusile cantrealistically, we can only get those units in terms of their planning [which is] the four of the five that are out by the 24th of December and then the remainder will come back on stream in February next year, Ramokgopa said.

He emphasised that the department, together with all stakeholders, are doing much work to ensure that the electricity crisis is resolved as quickly as possible.

So we are doing everything possible. Once we have visited all of these stations and we are confident of the numbers that the station managers are giving us we should be in a position to communicate where we are in relation to addressing this situation.

Load shedding

But I want to give the South African public assurance thatI dont see us moving to higher stages of load shedding. I foresee a position where we dont need to go higher than Stage 6.

I am confident, more than confident, in our ability to address load shedding  essentially the 6000MW that are missing to help us meet the demand, he said.

The minister called on South Africans to play their part as government continues its implementation of the Energy Action Plan.

One of the things I'd like to raise with the public is that it's all in our hands. The focus has been on the generation side...as we attack the generation side, I think there are some issues on the demand side. A computation was done and it says we can save up to 4000MW, an optimistic case but on the low end down to 2000MW just by behavioural change.

[That is] just by switching off geysers...it's going to help us and in that way we are going to go to lower stages of load shedding. Let's assume on the optimistic side...we are able to get 4000MW. That's a power station the size of Medupi, so you are able to eliminate load shedding just on the demand side. We can contribute to the resolution of this challenge, Ramokgopa said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-03-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Putin, Trump met for a second, undisclosed time at G20, reports say

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a second, undisclosed meeting during the G20 summit in Hamburg, news reports said Tuesday.

GALLERY

Trump"s longer official bilateral meeting with Putin at the G20 was the first face-to-face meeting between the two presidents. The US president has said he wants to improve US-Russian relations so that they can work together on global problems like the war in Syria.

Washington (dpa) - The second meeting lasted about one hour and took place after the more that two-hour meeting that had previously been disclosed and widely described in news reports, according to the Washington Post and other US news media.It took place at a couples-only dinner for G20 leaders on July 7, a senior administration official said, according to the news reports. Trump initiated the meeting by leaving his seat in the Hamburg Philharmonic to sit next to Putin.The only other person present was Putins official interpreter. There was no information on what they discussed.The White House did not respond to dpas request for comment.Trumps longer official bilateral meeting with Putin was the first face-to-face meeting between the two presidents. The US president has said he wants to improve US-Russian relations so that they can work together on global problems like the war in Syria.But the newly disclosed conversation could result in further criticism of the president over contacts between members of his presidential campaign and the Russian government.Multiple probes have been launched to look into Russias meddling in the election.In another Russia-related announcement late Tuesday, the White House said Trump intended to nominate veteran diplomat and businessman Jon Huntsman as US ambassador to Russia.If Huntsman, the former Republican governor of Utah, is confirmed by the Senate to the diplomatic post it would be his third ambassadorship. Huntsman previously served as US ambassador to China and to Singapore.Huntsman is chairman of the foreign policy research institute Atlantic Council and heads a cancer foundation. He also sits on the boards of directors of major companies such as Hilton, Chevron and Ford. He and his wife Mary Kaye have seven children.
The Set Collection, a luxury brand representation company of like-minded independent hotels, said that one of Mexicos most lauded hotels, Hotel Esencia, is joining the Set Collection as its first member hotel in the Americas.



Hotel Esencia is a majestic 50-acre estate at the midpoint between Tulum and Playa del Carmen in Mexico. Originally built as a private hideaway for the Italian duchess, on the most beautiful beach of the Mayan Riviera, the mansion later became a hotel. A new chapter began in 2014 with the arrival of a new owner, Hollywood producer and entrepreneur Kevin Wendle.



The estates provenance as a place of leisure for nobility is the guiding inspiration for its modern reimagining  this is a place where baby sea turtles emerge on the sandy beach below, while paintings by Picasso and Eduardo Santiere hang inside. The Main House is the hotels centrepiece, around which footpaths lead to just 47 white-painted suites and 4 villas overlooking the Caribbean, where guests enjoy both stunning design and complete privacy.



One of the hotel's most lavish accommodations for guests is the Esencia Mansion. Unveiled in 2022, the 12,000-sq-ft retreat is the ultimate sanctuary on the Riviera Maya. The four-suite manse, designed by architect Peter Svenson and Hotel Esencia's artistic director Juan Carlos Gutierrez in collaboration with Studio Giancarlo Valle, features three pools, a 20-seat cinema, blue-chip artwork, and an underground cocktail lounge. It is a true representation of the regions majestic beauty as well as Mexico's artisanal traditions.



Hotel Esencias restaurants include Mistura, a sea-to-table restaurant serving specialities from the Yucatan peninsula and beyond; Beefbar, which has outposts in Paris, Mykonos and Dubai and Taiyo, a Japanese sushi restaurant complete with an omakase bar and a Mexican twist.



The hotels spa is watched over by a statue of the goddess Ixchel, the Maya deity of love, the moon, and fertility; many of its luxurious treatments are Mayan-inspired. Ideally situated far from huge resorts and the roar of pleasure boats, the immaculate bay of Xpu-Ha is a natural haven for wildlife, swimmers and divers, with everything from the Mayan ruins of Tulum to immaculate reefs to explore, all within easy reach of the hotel.



The Set Collections four founding member hotels  Hotel Cafe Royal in London, Conservatorium in Amsterdam, Lutetia in Paris and Mamilla hotel in Jerusalem were joined by four hotels in Asia, The Opposite House in Beijing, The Upper House in Hong Kong, The Temple House in Chengdu and The Middle House in Shanghai, and now Hotel Esencia in Mexico.  TradeArabia News Service
Ground is expected to be broken in July on a new $42 million hospital in White Sulphur Springs that supporters say will meet the needs of the growing community for years to come.

The Mountainview Medical Center will move from its present location at 16 W. Main St. into a larger facility less than a mile away on about 10 acres on Sixth Avenue that will allow for expansion. The new center will be 45,000 square feet, which is 6,000 square feet more than the current facility, Chief Executive Officer Rob Brandt said.

Its being mostly financed through $38 million in USDA Rural Development loan funding.

We couldnt do it without this loan, Brandt said. It was our only means and ability to make it happen.

He said no local taxes will be used. Brandt said the USDA gives better-than-market rates. He added the equity needed for the project is already secured.

We have a tremendous amount of support for this project, Brandt said, adding that White Sulphur Springs is a community impacted by tourism and is seeing more people who work in Bozeman moving in.

The new facility is expected to open in early 2025. Infusion Architects is designing it and Sletten Construction has been selected as the builder.

The new Mountainview Medical Center will feature 25 inpatient beds, including seven acute care beds, providing nearly 1,900 Meagher County residents with much-needed acute and nursing home care services, medical center officials said. Its design features a central circulation corridor that allows for easy wayfinding, overflow patient waiting, and separate public and patient departmental access. Brandt said the medical center also pulls in people from surrounding counties who live in the proximity of White Sulphur Springs.

The current facility has served the community for nearly 70 years.

Brandt said Mountainview is a "unique animal" in that it offers many of the same services as hospitals that are larger, Brandt said, adding it is equidistance from Helena, Bozeman and Great Falls.

The goal is to make it so residents do not have to travel for most services.

The USDA Rural Development funds will help to finance construction costs and upgrades in furniture, fixtures and equipment.

Such loans have helped to build health care facilities in rural areas across the region, including Beartooth Billings Clinic in Red Lodge and Livingston HealthCare in Livingston.

According to the hospitals website, Mountainview started when a group met in 1952 to discuss building a hospital under a program that would be eligible as a Blue Cross/Blue Shield facility. Although it initially opened in 1953, hospital officials needed to negotiate for a resident doctor. The hospital then opened for business in 1957.

Today it has 46 full-time employees, two physicians and two physician assistants and has a total staff of 75.

Brandt said the current building has gone through some remodels and facelifts, but is gridlocked by lack of space.

We need space to take care of the community, he said.

Brandt said the new location will allow the hospital to move to a space where the campus will have room to expand over time.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, said the funding was a result of his 2018 Farm Bill.

If we want rural Montana to remain vibrant, then we need to continue investing in critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools to strengthen communities, Tester said in a news release.

The goal of this project is to help with a shift to more outpatient-oriented care, replace the outdated existing facility that has been in service for more than 70 years, and continue delivering quality care to the citizens of this rural area in Montana.

Funding will be delivered through three USDA Rural Development Loans, Tester's office stated:

 $30,000,000 Rural Development Guarantee Loan

 $5,250,000 Community Facilities Direct Loan

 $3,000,000 Community Facilities Direct Loan

A March 10 announcement of the project posted on the medical center's website notes that many of Montanas rural hospitals were built in the 1950s and 1960s with federal funds appropriated by the Hill-Burton Act.

Montanas hospitals are aging faster than other hospitals nationwide," Bob Olsen, interim CEO of the Montana Hospital Association, says in the posting. "After decades of renovations and updates, our rural hospitals are reaching a point where new construction is the most cost-efficient approach to maintaining a safe environment for their communities health care services. Its also an excellent opportunity for these hospitals to update their facilities to better meet the communities needs, which often include an emphasis on outpatient services and the flexibility to adapt to the communitys changing needs over time.

Alaina Morrison, president of the Meagher County Chamber of Commerce, said she supports the hospital but could not comment as to how the community feels.

I am always in support of progress," she said. The world is not getting any smaller or less sick. We need services.

She said concerns in the community that taxes will go up are not valid. Brandt said no local taxes will be used on the new facility.

Morrison said the building of a new hospital is definitely not a negative.

Construction of it alone will be a good thing for business in terms of people staying and working here, she said.

For more information, go to https://www.mvmc.org/.
A woman who served as a nurse in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War will be the featured speaker Thursday at St. Peters Episcopal Cathedral's Episcopal Church Women Lenten Luncheon.

Diane Carlson Evans served as a nurse in the Vietnam War and was the founder of the Vietnam Womens Memorial Foundation, which established the Vietnam Womens Memorial at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The Helena resident is the recipient of many honorary degrees and accolades.

The luncheon is free and open to the public. Soup, bread, cookies, coffee and tea will be provided. It will be held in St. Peters Episcopal Cathedral Undercroft, 511 N. Park Ave., and will start at noon and finish by 12:45 p.m.

According to her biography posted on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Evans was born and raised on a dairy farm in rural Minnesota and graduated from nursing school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She joined the Army Nurse Corps and served in Vietnam from 1968-1969. She served in the burn unit of the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau and at Pleiku in the 71st Evacuation Hospital. Including her one year in Vietnam, she completed six years in the Army Nurse Corps.

This is the 50th anniversary of the implementation of the Paris Peace Accords that were signed Jan. 23, 1973. The United States agreed to remove the remaining military units from Vietnam within 60 days of signing that document. Nearly 5,500 personnel remained in Vietnam on March 29, 1973. Based on travel, March 30 was the arrival date in the United States.
The House Judiciary Committee on Monday killed a bill to allow for civil claims in child sexual abuse cases outside of existing timeline limits.

Senate Bill 277 was carried by Sen. Shane Morigeau, a Democrat from Missoula.

In 2019, following the attention given to a case of sexual abuse of student-athletes at the high school in Miles City from a trainer that lasted from the late 1970s to 1998, the Legislature passed a bill to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for sex crimes against children. The trainer, James "Doc" Jensen, began contacting his victims, which numbered up to 100, after the old criminal statute of limitations expired.

During that session four years ago, Morigeau also aimed to eliminate the statute of limitations on the civil side but his efforts did not advance. That was because of concerns over differing standards for civic cases and questions of how well a person would recall abuse possibly decades prior.

This year's legislation would remove limitations on the civil side that blocked a person from bringing a claim after the age of 27 or three years after realizing the damage from the abuse. It would also strike the year-long timeline in the original bill to bring claims outside those parameters.

Morigeau said the extended timeline was needed because it can take a long time for a person to understand they were abused or be able to discuss it.

In early March, SB 277 cleared the Senate on a 47-3 vote following strong testimony in support from Sen. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls.

Brown on the Senate floor shared his personal story and said it was important to him that abusers know that no matter what point in time in your life, you may be held accountable for what you've done.

If this does nothing more than to let those people know that no matter what, no matter what point and time in your life, you may be held accountable for what you have done to some small child that didn't have the strength to resist, then it is a success.

But in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday, Rep. Casey Knudsen, R-Malta, said while he understood the bill was coming from, he had concerns about eliminating the timeframe to bring civil cases.

I think statutes of limitations, especially in regards to civil actions, are there for a good reason, Knudsen said.

Rep. Laura Smith, D-Helena, said as a lawyer she has worked on sexual abuse cases and understood that many who are abused are not able to discuss it at the time of the abuse or even years after.

We owe it to the victims to pass this bill, Smith said.

The bill died on a party-line vote with Republican opposition.
A bill to expand political appointments for agencies under the Governor's Office lost the administration's support last week, with the lieutenant governor arguing an amendment to include the other elected offices went too far.

Senate Bill 424 would increase the number of political appointments in state government not by adding new employees but allowing officials to swap vacant positions with personal staff. Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, is carrying the proposal.

Lawmakers in 2021 struck down a similar proposal they thought went too far, a fate that appears possible once again: What started off as this session's scaled-down measure would now theoretically put more than half of the Secretary of States Office under the category of political appointees.

Elected statewide officials are already allowed 10 personal staff they can remove and replace at will as a function of effectuating their vision for the office.

The bill initially allowed two or three, depending on the size of the agency, political appointments for each agency director, but only under the governor's administration. Those agencies include the Department of Labor and Industry, Public Health and Human Services, as well as Fish, Wildlife and Parks and others.

Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras was first up to testify in support of SB 424 when it had its initial hearing in late February before the Senate State Administration Committee.

"This would be so helpful to our department heads to be able to bring in people they can work closely with and have full confidence in," Juras said.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen also testified in support of the bill that day  but with a catch.

What would make it even better is an amendment where you didnt just apply it to the governors office and you applied it to all the executive elected officials, Knudsen told the committee. Its a fact, we often times when theres an administration change and you come in and you take over, you don't always have all the nonexempt staff who are rowing in the same direction as you.  Thats a bipartisan problem.

The committee did ultimately approve an amendment, granting the same appointed staff expansions to the Secretary of State, State Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General.

By the time the bill passed the Senate and reached its first hearing in the House State Administration Committee on Monday, the Governor's Office had retracted its support due largely to the percentages of positions that would become politically appointed positions.

The Secretary of State's Office, for example, would have 19 politically appointed positions for a 34-person staff, meaning 56% of that agency could be subject to potentially politically driven turnover.

"When we put together the numbers of exempt staff we wanted for the executive agencies it was very small," Juras said in testifying against the bill before the House State Administration Committee.

Mandeville, the lawmaker carrying the bill, endorsed the amendment.

"Honestly it makes sense in my mind to give these division administrators some support as well," he said Monday.

The Governors Office told the Montana State News Bureau SB 424 is not an administration or agency bill.

Legislative drafting records trace the bill's genesis not to Mandeville's own engineering, but to Senate Republican spokesperson Kyle Schmauch, former spokesperson for the State Auditor's Office when current Congressman Matt Rosendale held the post. Prior to Rosendales election, the office was held by Democrat Monica Lindeen.

In a statement Monday, Schmauch said the bill was developed by officials who had been part of transitioning administrations from one political party to another.

"Several of us who've been involved in transitions between administrations over the years recognize the value of elected and appointed officials having a core team that they trust to help them execute their vision for their office," Schmauch said. " The idea behind the bill is to set top-level officials up for success by letting them have a few appointed staff to help them fulfill their responsibilities and objectives, without adding positions or growing government."

During the 2021 session lawmakers considered and ultimately killed a similar bill, House Bill 588. Rather than a set number of two or three political appointment employees like Mandeville's bill, HB 588 would have granted officials the latitude to appoint up to 10% of their staff.

That could have amounted to hundreds of appointees and, although the bill sponsor whittled that limit down to 50 appointments per agency, 11 Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate in voting against the bill.

Schmauch said Monday he had no involvement in the 2021 attempt to expand political appointments, but noted that attempt failed last session and he brought it up to senators going into the current session.

In a statement to the Montana State News Bureau, the Governor's Office said it was not working with anyone on an amendment for Mandeville's bill and remained opposed to the "administrative bloat" that would take place if it passed in current form.

The Attorney General's Office, however, said it is working on an amendment to cap the appointed staff to 3%. The state's largest agency, DPHHS, has nearly 3,000 employees, meaning there could be 90 appointed staff.

It was unclear Monday when the House State Administration Committee will take action on the bill.

Sen. Janet Ellis, D-Helena, testified against the bill in the Senate in early March. The state already imposes a "vacancy savings" reduction on agencies, she said, in which the state seeks to reduce personal services costs over time to manage the growth of government.

"We impose a 4% vacancy savings on our state employees and yet we're authorizing more management positions in this bill," she said. "That doesn't make sense to me."

Unions oppose new appointments

The state's employee union and AFL-CIO have both stood as vocal critics against the measure, which would not create new employee positions but rather allow officials to turn vacant positions into political appointments.

Quint Nyman, deputy executive director with the Montana Federation of Public Employees, told the Senate State Administration the bill "smacks of political cronyism."

"In appointed positions, you can be your highest donors second cousin twice removed, you get the job," Nyman told the House State Administration Committee three weeks later, in Monday's hearing. "Through state hiring, it is the most qualified candidate who serves a probationary period and proves their worth as they go through the process."

The AFL-CIO's Amanda Frickle said clearing permanent positions to make room for personal staff would only exacerbate hiring woes that have plagued state agencies.

"You're not decreasing the work. What happens is that workload gets shifted to existing employees," she said. "If you have an issue with turnover and burnout and people leaving the agencies, you're only going to further that issue by making the colleagues who have stayed take on that workload."

Knudsen pushed back on that notion in response to committee questions Monday.

"The idea that were just going to stick in political appointees, someone who was a good donor to my campaign, that doesnt help me run the highway patrol, that doesnt help me run the motor vehicle division," Knudsen said.

The attorney general also opened up about some dissent within his own office after he stepped into the Department of Justice following his election in 2020.

"When I took over the Department of Justice, you end up inheriting a lot of state employees who are not politically aligned with you and frankly were having personal problems carrying out my directives and moving the Department of Justice in the direction I wanted to move it," he told the committee.

Nyman, however, disputed the idea that political appointments would be one-for-one in terms of the positions they were replacing.

"If you convert a driver's license examiner position to an (appointed) position, that person won't be out in the field conducting driver's examinations," Nyman said.
State lawmakers have given an early endorsement to forming a special committee to examine Montana's prison capacity.

The topic has surged to the forefront of infrastructure debate in the second half of the Legislature after the House OK'd a plan to send 120 state inmates to a private prison facility in Arizona two weeks ago. Officials hope those transfers would open up space in state facilities for some of the 280 people convicted of felonies who still in county jails.

An amendment added to House Bill 5, the Legislature's $1 billion infrastructure spending package, would allocate $100,000 for a Select Committee on Corrections Capacity and System Development.

The committee would be made up of six members, three representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and three members of the Senate appointed by the Senate President. The committee would focus on establishing an overall framework for long-term facility needs and immediate improvements for department of corrections facilities, the amendment reads.

"We need to assess capacity and where we can acquire it and how we should do it and it's going to need more of a concentrated effort than we're going to be able to otherwise give it" during the session, Rep. Bill Mercer, R-Billings, told the House Appropriations Committee on Friday.

The amendment passed 19-4, with three of the committee's seven Democrats joining Republicans in support.

The select committee, if approved along with the rest of House Bill 5, would furnish a report and possible legislation to the 2025 Legislature. Two standing committees, the Legislative Finance Committee and the Law and Justice Interim Committee, would review the report prior to submission to the governor and the 2025 session.

Mercer said Monday the committee does not yet have the blessing of Legislative leadership but emerged from the appropriations committee.

Disrepair at the prison has gotten plenty of attention in recent weeks as the state's budget and infrastructure projects have taken shape. The House on Thursday fast-tracked a separate $180 million bill for repair projects at the state men's facility outside of Deer Lodge to get a head-start on securing designs and contracts before 200 other infrastructure projects get underway.

The state prison has a capacity of about 1,500. The Montana Department of Corrections also contracts for 753 beds at Crossroads Correctional Center near Shelby operated by CoreCivic, the private prison company involved in the Arizona proposal, as well as 141 beds at the Dawson County Correctional Facility.

Mercer chairs the public safety budget subcommittee, which toured the CoreCivic-run prison on the Hi-Line on Jan. 21. The committee visited the Montana State Prison two weeks earlier.

At a press conference on Thursday, Gov. Greg Gianforte said crowding at the state prison needs to be addressed.

"We have to have a place to put inmates that are safe, both for correctional officer and the inmates," Gianforte told reporters. "We do not have enough capacity at Deer Lodge.  It was a legislative decision to send some prisoners out of state, but we need a place to put them. The long-term solution is to have appropriate facilities here in the state, and that's why we made funding Deer Lodge a priority."

Democrats and advocate groups have urged lawmakers to not embrace the Arizona outlet so quickly.

"Shipping Montanans to Arizona is harmful to them, their families and loved ones, and their communities," Keegan Medrano, director of policy at the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement last week.
Legislation to ratchet up regulatory oversight of therapeutic boarding homes for youth with behavioral needs saw wide approval in the House but is being held up in the upper chamber, where one senator sees the bill as a vehicle for his own designs.

The bill, carried by Rep. Laura Smith, D-Helena, emerged unanimously from the House Human Services Committee in January and passed the House on a 97-2 vote in February. Since introduced, the bill has received strong support from Democrats as well as Republicans, who hold a legislative supermajority.

But the bill lost momentum in the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee, where Sen. Brad Molnar, a Laurel Republican, has been working behind the scenes to wrangle the legislation in a different direction.

A lot of these kids are pretty damn troubled, Molnar said in an interview last week. "They try to run, they smuggle drugs in, they smuggle drugs out."

Molnar's amendment is so far conceptual in that it is not available in document form. By his own description, however, it would swing many key provisions in the opposite direction intended by Smith, the former deputy director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services that has oversight over the troubled teen industry.

Smiths bill would require programs to provide unmonitored phone and video calls with parents, a choke point former students have said would have allowed them to report forced labor and sexual assaults to their parents if their calls hadnt been monitored by staff.

Molnar wants to flip the means to get to the same ends, by recording all calls children make out of the programs.

"I'm not going to let them make a phone call that's 'to their parents' and it turns out to be somebody else," Molnar said.

If there are safety concerns, he said, the state should know about them. And if those students were to call someone to pick them up without the staffs or their parents' knowledge, the state would like to know that, too.

"If somebody stops a kid from reporting abuse, it's a crime," Molnar said. "If the kid makes a false accusation, that's a crime. You might only be 15, but as far as we can go to kick your ass is how far we're going to get."

Molnar said the amendment is still in development. He also envisions an ombudsman hired by the state to be a go-between between parents and programs. He's not sure what provisions will survive negotiations to get his changes on the bill, but he said he wont yield on the monitored phone calls.

"The calls have to be observed and monitored," Molnar said.

Along with safety for children in remote corners of the state, Smith has also presented the bill has a parental rights issue, arguing programs shouldn't be able to obfuscate communication between parents their children.

"There have been experiences of children being cut off from talking with their parents or being monitored from their phone calls," she told the Senate committee in early March. " Parents have a right to know what's going on with their kids."

While regulations went into place in 2019, the bill carrying those laws was ultimately watered down, and certain programs continued to skirt those rules.

In 2021, the Montana State News Bureau reported on the closures of two programs in northwest Montana. Reflections Academy voluntarily closed after the state found it had mishandled a 17-year-old girl's suicide there. Inspection reports show the girl told staff she felt suicidal hours before her death. The program's administrators did nothing, instead raising suspicions that she was manipulating staff, according to reports.

Wood Creek Academy shut down a month earlier than Reflections in 2021. State inspections repeatedly found issues for which the program issued corrective plans but never implemented. The program had several instances of runaway students. In January that year staff isolated two boys who had been returned after an escape, despite state policy forbidding isolation as punishment. According to the inspectors notes, the boys were sent to sleep in shorts and T-shirts in tents during days when the high temperatures were between 30 to 40 degrees and nights dipped as low as 28 degrees.

Meg Applegate is a former student of a Montana program where she alleged forced labor and abuse. Now she is the CEO of Unsilenced, a group that advocates for regulatory reform and transparency in the industry. She testified before the Senate health committee in support of the bill earlier this month and said Monday that Molnar's amendment fails to acknowledge the risk some children face in remote places.

"There have been patterns of abuse in Montana facilities for decades," she said in a phone interview. "We have to establish what matters more: to have children be protected and to have regulations in place to protect youth or make sure that prank calls don't happen."

Seven programs remain licensed with the state, down from 16 in 2019 before the Legislature's new regulations went into effect.

According to DPHHS information Smith shared with the Senate health committee, two allegations of sexual assault by staff have been reported since 2019; one was substantiated by Child Protective Services and one was determined unfounded by law enforcement. In that same time, four allegations of "unconsensual sexual contact between residents" were also reported, although none of the allegations were founded by law enforcement, according to DPHHS.

Julie Fink, residential and community settings program manager at DPHHS, told lawmakers this month that abuse and neglect reports, as well as reports to law enforcement, have decreased since the initial regulations went into place in 2019.

"Its certainly possible that we can continue to improve the quality of these programs with implementation of the changes that are proposed," she told the Senate health committee during its March 10 hearing.

Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, chairs the Senate committee where Smiths bill is stalled. In an interview Monday he said HB 218 will not pass out of that committee unaltered.

Smith has prepared an amendment that would remove some of the finer details the Senate committee appeared hesitant about. It would remove, for example, the required dimensions for a sign near the telephone that would be used to report abuse, and reduce the number of children to be interviewed by inspectors from all students to 50% of those enrolled.

But that may not go far enough. McGillvray, similar to Molnar, sees unmonitored phone calls as too big an opportunity for nefarious acts by the children, he said Monday. In that sense, hed like to see the bill transformed into some middle ground, between Smiths unfettered phone calls and Molnars wire-tap version.

"Its got to have some work," McGillvray said, adding he is planning further talks with Molnar before setting a date for the committees work on the bill.

The hitch in House Bill 218s path to law has inexplicably pitted Molnar, 72, against former reality TV star Paris Hilton, herself a former student at a Montana program where shes alleged unchecked abuses.

Hilton has personally lobbied Congress to develop regulations at the federal level over the industry. And in recent weeks, her public relations team has sought to put pressure on the committee to pass Smiths bill as is.

"It is critical that Chair McGillvray and the Montana Public Health, Welfare, and Safety Committee pass HB 218, the life-saving bill currently going up for a vote," Hilton said in a statement to the Montana State News Bureau. "It is their duty as elected officials to protect the public and passing this bill is the first step to protect childrens wellbeing in residential treatment settings. I experienced institutional child abuse and neglect in Montana during my time in the troubled teen industry and it is devastating that 20 years later the issue has not been resolved."

McGillvray said with work still underway on Molnar's amendment, it's unclear when the committee will take action on the bill.
DECATUR  Decatur will be turning blue in April.

In honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month, the child advocacy group, Child 1st Center, is encouraging businesses to decorate their storefronts in blue. To help with ideas, the agency has blue ribbons and blue pinwheels available to donate to businesses in need.

A pinwheel is the national symbol for child abuse and neglect prevention, representing our hope that every child will be raised in a healthy, safe and nurturing environment, said Jean Dubree, director for Child 1st Center. We want the entire community to be involved in child abuse prevention. It takes a village.

The Decatur Public Library was one of the first to request a packet of blue decorations.

Kids are at the center of what we do, said City Librarian Rick Meyer. We serve everybody, but the one essential thing we do is to get books in the hands of kids.

The library raises awareness on child abuse and serves to help prevent it, Meyer said. We are very kid-centric, he said.

Child 1st Center works with other agencies to combat child abuse. Macon County CASA, Dove Inc., Macon County Mental Health Board, Growing Strong, Baby TALK, Cole Counseling, Sista Girls Friends, Bright Start and others have joined in the national event.

Were trying to do more of a community effort on creating awareness about child abuse and child abuse prevention, Dubree said. Kids need to know that theyre valued. And businesses can contribute.

Child Abuse Prevention Month events April 1 , 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Kids Fest, Decatur Civic Center

, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Kids Fest, Decatur Civic Center April 3-5 , Pinwheel and Decoration placements

, Pinwheel and Decoration placements April 5 , noon, Wreath Lighting Ceremony, Macon County Courthouse steps

, noon, Wreath Lighting Ceremony, Macon County Courthouse steps April 7 , Wear Blue Day

, Wear Blue Day April 8 , Book Distribution, Decatur Public Library

, Book Distribution, Decatur Public Library April 19-21 , Chalk the Walk

, Chalk the Walk April 25 , 2 to 4 p.m. Thriving Together; Open House, Baby Talk

, 2 to 4 p.m. Thriving Together; Open House, Baby Talk April 30, Blue Sunday at Decatur House of Prayer services

Although the agencies have provided a blue ribbon packet for a few businesses, they encourage others to add more blue decorations to their entrances and storefronts.

You can still participate, said Blaine Smith, Macon County CASA executive director. If you absolutely need some help, give us a call.

Just paint the town blue, Dubree said.

The blue pinwheels became a national symbol for child abuse awareness in 1989 after Bonnie Finney, a grandmother from Virginia, tried to stop the abuse her grandchildren were suffering. Her 3-year-old grandson died as a result of abuse. Finney tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her van to create conversations with the curious.

It was because of the bruises that were on her grandchildren, Dubree said.

The first local event will provide information for the community. During Kids Fest on April 1 at the Decatur Civic Center, packets will be available with resources about how to talk with children regarding sex abuse prevention, online safety and similar concerns.

Other events include a wreath-lighting ceremony on April 5 on the Macon County Courthouse steps. Wear Blue Day is on April 7, although the agencies are encouraging businesses to wear blue every Friday. A book giveaway will be on April 8 at the Decatur Public Library. Chalk the Walk is from April 19 through 21 in which businesses are encouraged to use chalk decorations or sayings to promote Child Abuse Prevention Month. And the Decatur House of Prayer will be discussing child abuse during Blue Sunday on April 30.

#TogetherDecatur Do you know a person or of a story that exemplifies the best of Decatur? Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983 or dbeckett@herald-review.com.

Those who are unable to attend the events can contact Child 1st Center to receive any of the information that will be available.

If one person helps prevent any type of abuse, then weve met our goal, Dubree said. Just raising awareness and remembering these kids and families are out there and at risk, well, everybody has a role to play.

According to the agencies, anyone can report child abuse as well as provide help when needed. The available agencies have the resources.

Sista Girls and Friends focus on teenage and adolescent girls, according to Program Coordinator Kendra Hentz. Building up their self-image, she said. That may be girls with low self-esteem, or girls who are abused.

Businesses are a resource as well, the agencies said. Just say, if you have issues we can help you find help, Dubree said. Its important that everybody in our community takes care of each other.

The Decatur Public Library has provided a social worker for the library staff or patrons if they were to have questions about witnessing any child abuse. Weve got somebody who is trained and knows what shes doing, Meyer said. And weve changed some policies about attending to your child while theyre here.

15 signs your child is affected by bullying and what you can do about it Changes in eating habits Declining grades or loss of interest in school work Self-destructive behavior Feelings of helplessness or decreased self-esteem Feeling or faking sickness, headaches and stomach aches Unexplained injuries Lost or destroyed clothing, books, or other belongings Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares Avoidance of social situations or sudden loss of friends What you can do Signs that your child is bullying: Getting into fights Has friends who bully New money or possessions Detention Blames others Worried about reputation
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KINGSPORT, Tenn.  Traffic on Interstate 81 was diverted Sunday night following a motor vehicle accident involving an overturned tractor trailer.

Kingsport police responded to the scene on southbound I-81 just north of Exit 63, the Airport Parkway exit, according to a written statement.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation responded to assist to detours.

Initially both southbound lanes were blocked and later, northbound traffic was also diverted. Southbound traffic was diverted at Exit 69, according to TDOT.

Due to the serious nature of the crash, the K.P.D. Traffic Unit responded to the scene to investigate.

No further details involving the crash were immediately available.
More than 5,200 Mountain Empire residents have died during the three years since the COVID-19 global pandemic first arrived here.

And while the past year saw declines in cases, hospitalizations and deaths compared to the prior year, mutations of the virus continue exacting a toll on this region.

Northeast Tennessee recorded its first diagnosed case on March 10, 2020. Since that time more than 340,000 residents in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia have been sickened by the virus.

For some it was sniffles or a cough and fever that they recovered from in a matter of days. Others spent weeks in intensive care in hospitals region-wide  with the sickest on ventilators struggling for breath. Many survived and many did not.

The period from March 2022 to March 2023 saw an unusual summer surge  although lesser than previous winter surges  and no holiday season surge for the first time since the pandemic started.

But the virus continues to linger.

This past year the region registered about 85,000 cases  a total comparable to the 2020-21 period but with far fewer hospitalizations, according to Ballad Health System.

Weve had four big waves. One was in August-September 2021  that was delta. And there was January-February-March of last year. That was omicron, Dr. Amit Vashist, chief clinical officer of Ballad Health, told the Bristol Herald Courier.

What we have seen is, gradually, the virus has been blunted. The virus itself is less but a lot of factors have happened. In our communities and our society, so many people have had COVID-19 so weve reached herd immunity  so people can get it without getting really sick  and there are vaccinations.

I think a combination of so many people having had COVID-19 or built up herd immunity or been vaccinated have led to blunting the severity of the disease, Vashist said. Having said that, as a medical professional, I would say were not completely out of the woods yet. People who have immuno-suppressive conditions, cancers or advanced stages of other illness  or chronic disease like heart disease, kidney disease or scarred lungs, diabetes and the like  still have a high risk of having adverse outcomes from COVID-19.

The region recorded about 1,900 COVID deaths in 2020-21 and about 2,400 last year compared to just over 800 in 2022-23  a 66% decline, according to information from the Tennessee and Virginia departments of health.

The regions most populous counties again reported the largest numbers of cases and deaths.

In Northeast Tennessee, Sullivan and Washington counties had nearly 15,000 and more than 11,000 cases, respectively during the past 12 months. And they recorded 132 and 70 deaths, respectively. Hawkins County actually reported more deaths than Washington  77  despite having less than half the number of cases during the period, TDH reported.

Northeast Tennessees 10 counties finished with 64% of the regions total cases and 63.5% of the regions total deaths from March 2022 to March 2023.

Southwest Virginia reported more than 30,000 cases and 296 deaths during the past 12 months, compared to more than 57,500 cases and 766 deaths the prior year  a 61% decline, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

All 10 counties and two cities reported more cases in 2022-23 than during the first year of the pandemic while only one  Dickenson County  saw more deaths this past year than during the first year of the pandemic.

Populous Washington and Tazewell counties registered the largest numbers of total cases in Southwest Virginia, with about 4,600 and 4,000, respectively. Tazewell County reported the highest number of COVID deaths in Southwest Virginia, with 43  less than half of the 97 it reported last year  while Washington declined from 106 deaths in 2021-22 to 37 last year. Wise County had the dubious honor of having the second-highest number of COVID deaths with 38, VDH data shows.

During the first three months of this year, the entire regions average number of cases has steadily fallen from over 2,000 during Jan. 1-7 compared to 699 during the week of March 5-12, Ballad Health data shows.

That is down dramatically compared to the summer high point of more than 5,100 cases the week of Aug. 14-20 and the all-time record of more than 15,400 new cases in a single week during Jan. 16-22, 2022.

Multiple weeks during 2021-22, Ballad was treating well over 400 COVID patients in its hospitals, but totals from March 2022 to March 2023 never approached those levels. Ballad reported a single-day peak of 169 inpatients in August amid several consecutive weeks of about 140 to 150 hospitalizations. Inpatient totals approached 150 in January 2023 and steadily declined thus far through March  dropping from 81 on Feb. 28 to 40 on March 18 before climbing back to 52 on March 21, Ballad data shows.

The numbers have decreased compared to last year but the severity is much more important, Vashist said. The ICUs are not as strained as they once were. Our emergency departments are not as overcrowded with COVID-19 patients. The strain on our ventilators was very perceptible at that point in time as was on nursing and all those kinds of things. That has clearly eased up, but COVID-19 is not in the rearview mirror yet.

Lessons learned

In some ways, COVID-19 changed health care forever.

Health care providers had to deal with both the virus and the public firestorm that accompanied it  people both prominent and ordinary denouncing its very existence, a toxic social media climate, rumors and innuendo. All while nurses and doctors worked double shifts trying to treat the overflowing numbers of patients while taking extraordinary measures not to transport the virus home to their own families.

There are always lessons. Some of the good lessons are trusting the science, trusting the process; the power of teamwork, Vashist said. When COVID-19 was upon us, without the vaccine, how different stakeholders, public officials, team members, county leaders, our health care system leaders  everybody came together to devise an emergency response  spreading the word around masking and social distancing  which we felt was very necessary at that point in time.

He said the lessons of collaboration, cooperation and education will serve as models going forward.

Some of the lessons, unfortunately, fostered an unwelcome skepticism of science; skepticism of vaccines. It started with COVID-19 vaccines. What we worry about going forward is what affect will that have on childhood vaccinations where there are decades of science behind it  medical evidence that supports it, Vashist said.

There were other instances that have already taken a toll.

We learned how rapidly scientific misinformation spreads and people died because of that, he said. The politicization of science; the weaponization of science to suit partisan political ends on both sides. I think that was one of the most valuable lessons. I think we will be hurting from it for many, many years to come.

Pandemic to endemic

Vashist expects the virus wont go away soon or maybe ever.

I think the jury is still out. When I look at the data, the coronavirus continues to evolve; changing its form or mutating itself, Vashist said. What we expect is more of the same as the disease moves from a pandemic to an endemic [regularly occurring]. We will continue to have a definite number of patients in our hospitals. I really doubt we have those very high peaks of hospitalizations that we saw at the height of delta or omicron unless the virus mutates itself to a totally unrecognizable form.

The severity of the virus is going to decrease but it will still cause upper respiratory symptoms, causing people to miss work or affect their quality of life. I think it will be something like the flu; the flu is typically November to March but I think COVID-19 will be year round  a few patients here, a few patients there kind of a deal.

He said Ballad Health continues treating people with Long COVID, who deal with lingering symptoms including loss of smell or taste, extreme fatigue and brain fog and he expects they will continue seeing new patients.

Vaccinations & boosters

This regions residents remain among the least-vaccinated against COVID-19 in America, ranging from 45% of adults in Lee and Tazewell counties to 55% of adults in Washington County listed as fully vaccinated, according to the Virginia Department of Health. In every locality, the numbers of booster doses remain much, much lower.

The situation is similar in Northeast Tennessee but with even lower averages. About 47% of adults in Sullivan and Washington counties are fully vaccinated compared to less than 40% in lightly populated Hancock and Johnson counties, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control currently offers the following guidance on updated and original boosters.

Previous boosters are called original because they were designed to protect against the original virus that causes COVID-19. They also provide some protection against Omicron, but not as much as the updated boosters, according to the CDC.

The updated boosters are called updated because they protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5. Two COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer and Moderna, have developed updated COVID-19 boosters, according to CDC.

Updated COVID-19 boosters became available in 2022; on Sept. 2 for people aged 12 years and older; Oct. 12, for people aged 511 years and Dec. 9 for children aged 6 months4 years who completed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine primary series

Anyone who has received the updated booster dose is considered currently up to date. There is not a recommendation to get another updated booster dose, according to CDC.

Given the regions herd immunity and because only about half its residents are vaccinated, Vashist said the jury is still out what happens next.

There have been some studies that look at the level of antibodies in your system with vaccinations; how long do they persist? But different studies have had different results. Immunity is not just having antibodies circulating in your bloodstream or in your system. Its also the cells that are able to produce antibodies in response to an infection. Its a combination of various factors, he said. If you have one of those [serious] medical conditions, by all means get a booster. That will lengthen the immunity and protect you from the severity of COVID-19.
United Airlines has launched a new nonstop daily service between its New York/Newark hub and Dubai International (DXB).

United is the only US airline to offer non-stop flights between Dubai and the United States, flying to more destinations in the Middle East than any other US airline.

The new service marks Uniteds return to Dubai, which the airline previously served up until 2016.

The launch of the new service is part of Uniteds historic commercial agreement with Emirates, announced in 2022, enhancing each airlines network and giving customers easier access to hundreds of destinations within the United States and around the world.

Customers from the US flying to Dubai can travel onwards with Emirates or its sister airline flydubai to more than 100 different cities, providing more options to connect across the Middle East than ever before, whilst customers flying from Dubai to New York can take advantage of onward connections with United to over 80 destinations across the Americas.

The agreement between United and Emirates also provides loyalty programme members of both airlines additional opportunities for more rewards: United MileagePlus members flying on Uniteds Newark/New York to Dubai flight can earn and redeem miles when connecting beyond to select Emirates destinations in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, whilst Emirates Skywards members will be able to earn miles when they travel on United operated flights.

Customers booked to fly in United Polaris can also take advantage of access to Emirates lounges when travelling on, or connecting to and from, Uniteds new Dubai service, it stated.

"At United, were committed to expanding and enhancing our network to give our customers the best access to destinations around the world  all while having a best-in-class travel experience," noted Patrick Quayle, Uniteds Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances.

"Our new service between New York/Newark and Dubai, along with our new partnership with Emirates and flydubai, makes it even easier for customers to travel to Dubai or connect to any of the hundred destinations offered by our partners across Africa, the Middle East and Asia," he added.

Majed Al Joker, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Airports, said: "The new service enhances DXB's connectivity with the United States, reinforcing our position as a leading global hub, and enabling us to offer our guests greater access to destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and beyond."

"We look forward to continuing our partnership with United to deliver a seamless experience for hundreds of thousands of flyers each year while providing them with more choice and travel options," he added.

The new route from Dubai to New York/Newark demonstrates Uniteds transatlantic leadership among U.S. airlines. As well as Dubai, the airlines 2023 summer schedule includes adding flights to Malaga, Spain and Stockholm, Sweden, and eight more flights to some of the most popular destinations in Europe: Rome, Naples, Paris, Barcelona, London, Edinburgh, Berlin and Shannon.

Along with adding new flights, United will fly nine routes it added in summer 2022, including direct flights between New York/Newark and Nice; Denver and Munich; Boston and London Heathrow; Chicago/OHare and Zurich; and Chicago/OHare and Milan, as well as flights to four destinations not served by any other North American airline - Amman, Jordan; Azores, Portugal; Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Tenerife, Spain.-TradeArabia News Service
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> New York Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg denied his prosecution of Trump is politically motivated. However no legal expert thinks he has a criminal case. The district attorney is so easy on street criminals that Trump thought about killing someone to get Bragg to drop all charges.

 President Biden cuddled a baby onstage at the White House celebration of the 13th anniversary of the passage of Obama Care Thursday and declared that he loves babies better than people. I'm not surprised at all to hear it. There's an obvious reason why Joe Biden loves babies, they both wear diapers.

 Congress ripped Tik Tok's CEO for China's communist party's ability to use Tik Tok to spy on Americans and harvest all our data from our phones. The carriers got a panicky call after the hearings. AT&T told its customers to just relax, because China can't spy on you if you can't get a signal.

 Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger conceded Thursday that the price of admission to Disney World has gotten too high and that the theme park needs to be more accessible for families. There is no irony greater than the irony of Disney World. For starters, the fact that it's a giant human trap set by a mouse.

 Frito-Lay, the maker of Cracker Jacks, introduced a new version of Cracker Jacks Friday called Cracker Jill. The logo on the new box, I swear, displays a slender African American woman as Cracker Jill. She's the first black lady to self-identify as a Cracker since Condoleeza Rice backed the war in Iraq.

 The White House reported that last week was The Peoples against Racism and Racial Discrimination Week. In a come to Jesus moment, Fox News took a week off its Chicago coverage. Out here, black folks and white folks have a difficult time getting along in L.A. because neither one of us speaks Spanish.

 The London Daily Mail reported that the Ian Fleming Trust approved the re-editing of the author's James Bond novels, written in the 1950s, to appease today's woke and equity-driven young readers. However, the spy may be more lethal now. Already one Bond novel has been re-titled License to Cancel.

 Malibu police escorted Dick Van Dyke home after the beloved ninety-seven-year-old star crashed his car into a security gate in Malibu. He won't be easy to eulogize someday. In today's gender-fluid era, a year from now you may get canceled on all social media platforms just for saying Dick Van Dyke.

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 Midwest Democrat governors asked Biden to name Chicago to host the Democratic Convention in 2024. Animal rights activists won't like it. The Convention Center is across the street from the Chicago Stockyards and if the cattle are downwind from the speeches they might get sick from the smell.

 Las Vegas hotels were reported setting up legal consumption lounges for pot smokers to keep them out of the casinos and off the streets. It was reported that Las Vegas hotels on the Strip were having a real cannabis problem. They're getting clobbered at the All You Can Eat Buffets.

 The New York Times published another scary climate change warning Wednesday saying that the earth is speeding toward catastrophe if we don't act fast. It's a partisan article of faith. Democrats keep saying that the sky is falling when the only thing falling is Joe Biden on the steps of Air Force One.

 The Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Canada will re-stage the inventor's first phone call for tourists this summer. The first phone call was made in 1876 to his assistant Watson in the next room. Historians now believe the second phone call was to ask Alexander Graham Bell about his car warranty.

 President Xi promised global changes the world hasn't seen in one hundred years as he struck a deal with Russia Tuesday. It aligns with my March Madness bracket card. I've had the U.S. and Britain versus Russia and China in my Final Four since I ducked under the desk in the third grade and covered.

(COMMENT, BELOW)
Joe Biden, the oldest president in US history, intends to run for reelection. Unless he changes his mind, the Democratic Party will nominate him for a second term  a term that will extend two months past his 86th birthday. Given Biden's advanced age, it is only prudent to assume that his vice president might have to assume the duties of the presidency at some point in the next few years. Which explains why the question of Biden's running mate  should he keep Vice President Kamala Harris on the ticket or find someone else?  has been getting so much attention. In recent months, any number of Democrats have urged the president to consider replacing Harris on the 2024 ticket. For her part, Harris has felt the need to publicly dismiss such suggestions as mere "political chatter," insisting that when Biden runs for reelection, "I intend to run with him as vice president." Were Harris a charismatic vice president, someone who inspires confidence in the administration and has played a role in its successes, her presence on the ticket would be an undeniable asset. Unfortunately, none of those is the case. For nearly all of her time as vice president, Harris has been underwater in opinion polls, with approval ratings that have hovered in the high 30s or low 40s. When she has drawn headlines, it has mostly been because of disarray and dysfunction among her staff  the vice president's office has been described as "not a healthy environment" and "rife with dissent"  or because of her frequently inarticulate and cringe-making remarks in interviews and before audiences. And in the arena of public policy and legislation, her achievements have been close to nonexistent.

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Harris has "played no visible role in Biden's historic legislative victories," writes Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large of The American Prospect, an influential progressive journal. "It's hard to find Democratic pols or liberal activists who spring to her defense, either in general or because she played a crucial role promoting or defending a progressive cause." Even Harris's loyalists, such as Donna Brazile, are reduced to touting her "excellence" by citing such minimal achievements as casting tie-breaking votes in the Senate, "travel[ing] the country to meet with Americans," and being the "co-leader of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment."

As a candidate for president in 2020, Harris proved so feckless that her campaign folded before primary voting began. Biden chose her as his running mate largely on the strength of her "diversity" profile as the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica. Biden "came to the conclusion that he should pick a Black woman," Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader, told The New York Times. "They are our most loyal voters and I think that the Black women of America deserved a Black vice-presidential candidate."

Unlike some critics, I saw nothing wrong with that. When presidents select high-level officials or a running mate, they are engaging in a political process and should be free to take into account any political factor they wish. The problem with Harris is that she shows no sign of having grown in office  or of being prepared to take over as president in the event of a crisis.

It is widely held that any attempt by Biden to replace Harris in 2024 would trigger a firestorm of anger among Democratic loyalists, who would regard her dismissal as a sexist and racist slight. But America is blessed with any number of talented Black women who could take Harris's place on the 2024 ticket. Examples include Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, former National Security Advisor and ambassador Susan Rice, Marine Corps General Lorna Mahlock, or (to repeat a suggestion I have proffered before) former police chief and former US Representative Val Demings of Florida.

If there is a potential political downside to choosing a new running mate, the potential upside is arguably greater. Biden would free himself and his administration from the albatross of a vice president to whom most Americans have not warmed up. Shaking up his ticket would be a demonstration of impressive decisiveness even amid delicate circumstances. It would reassure voters of the president's ability, notwithstanding his age, to chart a new course when the old one has gone awry. And it would prepare Democrats for a presidential campaign in which unusual scrutiny will be focused on their party's vice presidential nominee.

Conventional wisdom says Biden will never take such a step  that it is fantasy to suppose he would remove Harris from the ticket. Maybe. But if Biden wants to be reelected, this might be the time to cast conventional wisdom aside.

Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe, from which this is reprinted with permission."
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Everyone in the national media this week was worrying about whether Donald Trump was going to be arrested in New York.

Not me.

In a radio interview with San Diego talk show host Mark Larson, I said I didn't care what was going to happen to Trump.

"What I'm really worried about," I said to my old friend, "is the meeting going on in Moscow between the two most dangerous men in the world  Xi and Putin."

The head despots of Russia and China were having a meet-up in person to get control of half of the world and what was the president of the United States doing?

He's getting ready for his first trip to Canada to see that country's great leader, Justin Trudeau.

People talk about Joe Biden being the weakest president since Jimmy Carter.

But at least Carter was an honorable man. Biden is not honorable about anything  and he isn't qualified to be the leader of a township Girl Scout troop.

Biden's weakness shows how important it is for the world to have a strong American president.

To make that point, I like to recount the conversation I had with Margaret Thatcher in June 2004 when my father was buried at his presidential library in Simi Valley.

We happened to be in the same hotel as Lady Thatcher and during breakfast she said, "Michael, think of what we would have accomplished if your dad had been elected in 1976."

"Lady Thatcher," I said, "I appreciate that. But had my father been elected in 1976, the Berlin Wall would still be up and the Cold War would be still raging."

"Why would you say that?" she said.

"Lady Thatcher," I said, "where were you in 1976? Where were Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel and Helmut Kohl and Pope John Paul and Mikhail Gorbachev? None of you were in power.

"But in 1980, when my father was elected, you all were in places of power or about to be, but you were looking to the USA for strong leadership."

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It took Ronald Reagan to bring all those great European leaders together to make it possible to defeat the Soviet Union, provide the necessary military might and ultimately bring down the Berlin Wall without a shot being fired.

As I told my talk-show friend, there are no Thatchers, Pope John Pauls or Walesas in Europe today  and there's no President Reagan in Washington, obviously.

So, for example, when the world looked to America for leadership to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine, there was none.

It's worse than not protecting Ukraine from a Russian invasion, however.

Under Biden's "leadership" we've abdicated our position as the world's only superpower and we're allowing a partnership of two tyrannical countries to begin replacing us.

Our so-called Democrat leaders in the White House and Congress are still too obsessed with destroying the future of Donald Trump to care about or challenge the geopolitical threat posed by a Russia-China alliance.

Our military is not just depleted and poorly led under our inept commander-in-chief, it is more concerned with being woke than being strong and prepared.

While Putin and Xi make their evil plans to out-muscle us militarily and economically, Biden's goal is to make sure there are enough transgenders in the Marines.

The meeting between Xi and Putin this week should put the fear of God in all of us, old and young.

When we were growing up in the 1950s we were terrified of the USSR striking America with its nuclear bombs and missiles.

In school on Fridays we used to have air raid drills and dive under our desks. We laugh about it now.

But it looks like until we get a leader who knows what he's doing, I better buy an old school desk and teach my grandkids how to dive under it.



(COMMENT, BELOW)

Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation.
100 years ago,

March 27, 1923

ARCOLA  Coles County begins to see daylight in the bond issue road sky. In the call for bids of a letting to be held on April 20, the state highway department has listed the Arcola-Tuscola road, Route 25, the road to be built this summer. Positive information to this effect was given by Senator John Hamilton to the Journal Gazette over the telephone from Springfield Monday evening and is confirmed in a telegram received from Senator Hamilton today...TRILLA  The Central Illinois Petroleum Company will begin next week on the drilling rig to be erected in place of the one destroyed by fire on January 8, D.S. Campbell, president of the company, stated this morning. All materials to be used on the job are on hand at the company's property near Trilla, and two guards have been placed over the materials at night. The new rig will be erected by Lawrenceville men, experts in that kind of work. It will take about four days to get the rig up and ready for use.

50 years ago, 1973

CHARLESTON  A Charleston woman's grandson was one of the 32 POWs released by the Communists today. Capt. Jack M. Butcher, the grandson of Mrs. R.W. (Jack) Claar, was one of the seven American flyers released from a prison camp in Laos. His plane was shot down exactly two years ago today, March 27, 1971. His wife, Dawn, was notified by the Pentagon that Butcher was presumed dead on March 30, 1971. Butcher, who will be 27 in April, is the son of the former Aline Claar. He had been in Vietnam for only six weeks when his plane was hit...COLES COUNTY  The arrest of Rep. William D. Cox, R-Charleston, on an indictment charging falsification of income tax returns has apparently caught county Republican leaders by surprise. J.R. "Bob" Watson of 3008 Richmond, Coles County Republican chairman, told the Journal Gazette today, "It's just too damn bad. I feel sorry for the Cox family and for the Republican party." Watson said the indictment against Cox "is not going to do the Republican party any good in Coles County. I just think it's a shame." He added, "He is just one man. You can't blame the whole party."

25 years ago, 1998

LOXA  Strong winds caused a loose piece of siding to repeatedly blow into a an electrical wire, starting a fire that damaged the 150-year-old Loxa Presbyterian Church Thursday. About half of the church's 30 members gathered near the building as firefighters extinguished the blaze. The majority of the damage was confined to the steeple, said Denny Wilson, Lincoln Fire Protection District chief. Inside, there would be some smoke damage, but it would be light, he said. Don Diltz, who lives across from the church, was rolling his lawn about 3 p.m. when he noticed the siding swaying in the wind, sparking as it hit the electrical wire. Diltz said he attempted to call AmerenCIPS but got a recording and he never got through to anyone there. The majority of the church appears to be spared, including the stained glass windows in the sanctuary and near the doorway of the church...MATTOON  Anyone wishing to appear before the board of directors of the Coles Moultrie Electric Cooperative must be approved by the board before receiving admittance. A new policy, adopted in November, requires that anyone wishing to attend a meeting or address the board fill out a form and state all the reasons for the request. As a public utility, the cooperative individuals have a legal public interest in the dealings of the cooperative. But because it is also a private, not for profit corporation, it is not covered by the Open Meetings Act. The new policy means it is extremely unlikely any journalists will be admitted into board meetings as had been the board's previous practice.
Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Parks July 4 parade have been prevented with a small change to state law?

Its never been publicly reported before, but several local sources confirmed this week that Highland Park Police Chief Louis Jogmen wanted to send a city-owned drone above the July 4 parade last year. That camera-equipped drone couldve spotted Robert Eugene Crimo III on a building rooftop overlooking the parade before he fired 83 shots that killed seven people and wounded 48 more. But the chief couldnt launch that drone because of state law.

Chief Jogmens police department has for years wanted to launch the camera drone, which the city uses for search and rescue and other emergencies, to fly over major public events. But state law prohibits law enforcement agencies from using drones for things like event surveillance.

In other words, state law allows police to use drones in the aftermath of horrific and deadly mass shootings, but not to safeguard the public before they happen.

The Illinois Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act was passed in 2014 in an effort to balance evolving technology with important privacy concerns, explained Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), who was at Highland Parks Independence Day parade last year. Nearly 10 years later, it has been unchanged and undeniably stands in the way of law enforcement doing their jobs to keep our communities safe. We need to revisit and amend this law to prevent future mass shootings like what we endured on July 4 in Highland Park.

Highland Park and other municipalities are allowed to deploy helicopters with high-tech video and tracking capabilities to surveil events, but not drones. Helicopters are expensive to purchase, operate and maintain and are very noisy (just ask anyone who lives in or near a high crime area in Chicago how loud they can be). Drones are relatively inexpensive, not difficult to fly and operate almost silently.

The quiet operation of the small drones is part of what worries the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. People could be observed in a host of different places - like the upper floor of a large condo building or one's backyard - without knowing that any surveillance was taking place, explained ACLU of Illinois spokesperson Ed Yohnka. The same is not true for a helicopter and requires law enforcement to - essentially - announce their presence. This announcement could well deter criminal activity.

Yohnka is right that the loud noise made by helicopters might deter criminal activity (its also a very real and obnoxious intrusion on the lives of countless thousands of South and West Side residents at all hours of the day and night). But, again, helicopters are expensive and difficult to fly and maintain. A town of 30,000 people isnt going to, and likely cant afford to shell out that kind of money. Even a place as wealthy as Highland Park.

Highland Park city manager Ghida Neukirch pointed to a bill introduced last year that wouldve allowed police to use drones for proactive law enforcement. Had we had the opportunity to use it last July 4, it would have provided our employees with an aerial view of the entire parade grounds and rooftops and the entire area, she said of the drone.

Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) went further, suggesting that Highland Parks drone could have prevented the mass killing.

Sen. Morrison was just a block away from the site of last years parade shooting and shes involved with the negotiations.

Weve been working with law enforcement to tailor a bill that will serve public safety concerns, Morrison told me last week, adding that she and others have been meeting on a daily basis to find a fix for the states drone laws.

The City of Chicago has its own drone rules, and is reportedly skittish about any state law changes that could alter them.

Its an important issue to me, Sen. Morrison said. She said giving the police the ability to use drones in a more proactive sense, could have prevented the shooting in Highland Park.

The General Assembly passed sweeping legislation to ban assault weapons after the Highland Park shooting. But, so far, those are just words on paper as court challenges to the law work their way through the system.

People should have the right to attend public events without nervously scanning unprotected rooftops, or worse. Nobody is talking about giving the police unregulated and unfettered access to drones. Nobody is talking about blocking Chicagos drone program. It is time to come to an agreement.
Krispy Kreme Inc. has expanded its restructuring of its Forsyth County facilities by selling its Ivy Avenue campus for $10.18 million to a Winston-Salem group.

The sale was completed Thursday with the buyer being 1814 Ivy LLC, which was incorporated on March 6, according to the N.C. Secretary of States website.

1814 Ivy shares the same 2701 University Parkway address as Goodwill Industries of Northwest N.C. Inc.

Krispy Kreme spokeswoman Eloise Hale said Friday that the transactions represent a sale-leaseback arrangement.

We are not leaving Winston-Salem because of this transaction, Hale said.

Rather, were entering a 25-year lease.

Goodwill said in a statement that with the shift in consumer preferences to online shopping, Goodwill is exploring ways to diversify its revenue sources to ensure that we maintain adequate funding to support our mission and services.

Goodwills mission is funded primarily through the sale of donated items. While the level of donations and sales is relatively stable from year to year, disruptions happen  most recently, COVID-19 caused us to close our stores for eight weeks.

Additionally, economic downturns result in decreased donations (as people look to consignment and online sales to supplement income) while also increasing the need for Goodwills employment and training services. When it comes to purchasing the Ivy facility, Goodwill said that having income from a long-term leaseback to Krispy Kreme provides stability and guaranteed revenue to supplement the sale of donated items.

With that stability, Goodwill can budget more reliably and plan for long-term growth in our mission.

Hale said in the Goodwill statement that we are pleased to be working with such a strong community partner, but are even more pleased given Goodwill will fund local job training programs with the transactions proceeds.

They are thinking innovatively to address an important community need.

No expansion

On March 15, Krispy Kreme confirmed it would not proceed with plans for a $5.8 million expansion of its Winston-Salem operations at the Ivy campus, which would have added up to 180 jobs.

The manufacturer said on Dec. 5 that it would produce its Branded Sweet Treats line at its Ivy facility.

Branded Sweet Treats are pre-package doughnut products available in snack aisles in a small number of grocery stores, the company said. The product line debuted in 2020.

While we no longer plan to expand our Winston-Salem manufacturing facility and workforce, we will maintain our existing Winston-Salem operations and our nearly 300 employees, Hale said on March 15.

Krispy Kreme said it had hired a small number of employees for the local expansion.

We are supporting our affected employees, all of whom are eligible to apply for any open position or for severance and outplacement services, Hale said.

The expansion decision had been celebrated by local civic and elected officials, as well as Krispy Kreme, as reinforcing the importance of Krispy Kremes original hometown before moving its corporate headquarters to south Charlotte in 2018 as part of an initiative designed to raise its U.S. and global profiles.

Don Martin, chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, said he understands that Krispy Kreme operates in a demand-driven marketplace that changes from time to time. I would feel a lot worse if we had lost that expansion to a plant located outside of Forsyth County.

At least we will keep our jobs here, unlike the plant in Concord that was closed.

Mark Owens, president and chief executive of Greater Winston-Salem Inc., said that we understand that businesses sometimes need to alter their plans and that is out of control of the local community.

Concord plant closing

Krispy Kreme filed a WARN Act notice March 10 with the N.C. Commerce Department that it was closing its Concord plant, affecting 102 jobs, where it produces pre-packaged products.

The jobs of employees at the Concord plant at 315 Wilshire Ave. SW are expected to end by May 11. Employees have been notified of their separation date, according to the WARN notice.

Krispy Kreme said the Concord plant closing and decision not to expand in Winston-Salem comes from a decision to put its focus mostly on in-store sales.

Our fresh daily doughnut business is strong, profitable and growing quickly, Hale said. This is the area where we are focusing our investments and resources.

Because of this, we chose to exit our underperforming, extended shelf-life snack aisle business. That included closing the Concord plant.

Hale said convenience stores sell our fresh doughnuts, not the pre-packaged.

We are now focusing our investments and resources on doughnuts that consumers buy in our shops, order through our app and website for in-shop pickup, or delivery and buy in a delivered fresh daily doughnut case at our partner grocers and other retailers.

Other downsizings

In October, Krispy Kreme closed its plant in Burlington, Iowa. The plant closing would affect 80 employees.

The company said at that time the production would shift to Krispy Kreme operations in Winston-Salem and Concord.

Krispy Kreme said in a statement in October that the production shift is part of an effort to drive efficiency within our manufacturing network and position the company for growth.

Tony Plath, a retired finance professor at UNC Charlotte, said the pre-packaged products were always a bit of an afterthought for the company.

Hot, fresh doughnuts are the signature staple of both their product line and their brand, which you just cant duplicate in any retail store environment. The business has always been a destination focus, rather than a retail shopping afterthought.

So, I suspect that theres very little lost brand identity in vacating the retail store channel, and what little they might lose in brand identity and sales by exiting this channel will easily be replaced by the new business theyre going to pick up from their expanding McDonalds sales channel.

Planned expansion

Krispy Kreme had committed to paying an average annual wage of $33,150 for the new job positions that would have included machine operators, line packers, quality technicians, product mixers, forklift drivers and others.

The Winston-Salem City Council approved up to $158,456 in performance-based incentives toward the planned expansion, while the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners previously approved nearly $110,000.

None of the incentives have been paid out.

The incentives require that the company retain 37 existing jobs at the Ivy Avenue site.

The company qualified for a $60,000 state Rural Division Building Reuse grant from the N.C. Commerce Department.
Triad health-care systems are lifting at 7 a.m. Tuesday mandatory COVID-19 mask restrictions for employees, patients and visitors.

The mask-optional policies are effective at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Cone Health, Novant Health Inc. and Randolph Health hospitals and outpatient clinics.

The systems said in a joint statement their decision was based on federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, as well as internal reviews of current scientific COVID-19 community spread and exposure data.

However, the systems still require masks in certain public-health settings, such as emergency department waiting rooms and triage areas, and all cancer locations, to help protect those who are immunocompromised and vulnerable to respiratory viruses.

Fewer cases of COVID-19 requiring hospital level care is the main reason for this move. A return to masking is possible should conditions change.

The systems also recommend that patients who have been exposed to a respiratory illness, such as flu, RSV or COVID-19, or who are experiencing symptoms, should wear a well-fitting mask that covers their nose and mouth.

Patients and visitors may request those caring for them to wear a mask, and those choices and requests should always be honored, the systems said.

Similarly, if patients or visitors are asked to wear a mask in certain situations or areas, they are expected to abide by those requests.

COVID-19 update

New COVID-19 cases in Forsyth County remained at an 11-month low for the week that ended March 18, according to the latest N.C. Department of Health and Human Services dashboard update.

There were 196 cases listed for Forsyth, down from a revised 199 in the previous report. About 20.9%, or 41, of the new cases were listed as reinfections by DHHS.

The most recent time the weekly case count was lower was 179 for the week that ended April 9.

DHHS cautions its weekly totals are subject to revision, including factoring in cases and deaths that occurred weeks or months ago, but were only recently confirmed as related to COVID-19.

Forsyth, along with the entire state, is listed in the low category for COVID-19 community spread for the second consecutive week.

Forsyth has been in the medium category in six of the previous nine reports.

The latest update from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday has Forsyths three key metrics still trending in a more positive direction.

The COVID-19 community level is determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions and the total number of new cases in an area.

The latest number of new cases per 100,000 people is 50 in Forsyth, compared with 51 and 60 in the previous two reports.

The rate of new COVID-related hospital admissions per 100,000 people was at 5.5 compared with 8.6 and 11.2 in the previous two reports.

Also, 2.3% of staffed inpatient beds are being used by COVID-19 patients, compared with 2.3% and 2.4% in the previous two weeks.

In looking at the case rates across our region, our communities have sufficient immunity against COVID-19  either through vaccination, natural infection or a combination of both  to support the lifting of universal masking requirements in our hospitals and clinics, said Dr. Christopher Ohl, infectious disease expert at Baptist.

This is an important step in resuming a sense of normalcy in our society.
Slow rolling Monday. Spending time in Florida will do that.

I may be the only person on Earth who goes to Florida to avoid other people. At Lake Apopka - the anti-Disney world - I counted more alligators than human beings.

No television, no social media, spotty-at-best cell service. Bliss.

So whatd I miss? Let's see.

We knew the state would finally move to expand Medicaid; the Legislature telegraphed that one for months. After years of official foot-dragging, more than 600,000 North Carolinians will gain access to affordable health-care if (and when) the Legislature approves later this year the state budget.

On the (slightly) surprising side, I see that Treasurer Dale Folwell - a native of Winston-Salem and veteran Republican politico - officially announced his intention to run for governor.

Only the timing was a bit of a surprise. It came on the anniversary of Folwells contracting COVID-19 back before widely available, effective vaccines in the early days of the shutdown.

As for the substance, Folwell has been stealthily raising his profile over the past few years traveling the state on the official business of returning lost escheats - forgotten money held by the state left in old bank accounts, utility refunds etc - to civic organizations.

The treasurer would stride into Rotary and Ruritan clubs on the rubber chicken circuit and give a version of a stump speech. Hed talk about what the treasurers office does, fiscal responsibility and often, criticize large health-care conglomerates and the weaponization of medical debt before handing over a cartoonish oversized check.

(The most recent event around here, best I can tell from an early morning and cursory review of social media, was a check passing last week at the Forsyth County Sheriffs Office.)

It was all very effective and telegraphed his intention to enter the 2024 race.

The meetings also served to set Folwell up as a reasonable, fiscally responsible and moderate Republican candidate when compared to Lt. Mark Robinson, whos best known for making hate-filed remarks about homosexuals and wading happily into divisive social issues.

On the not-at-all shocking end of the scale came the announcement last week that Mayor Allen Joines, 75 and Winston-Salems longest serving mayor, would seek another term in 2024.

While that one seems a tad early - municipal elections, at least around here, are rarely contentious - it does for the foreseeable future put off the political foodfight between would-be mayors eager for their chance.

Joines tenure for the most part has been smooth and free of scandal. Hes been a steady, calm leader notable for bringing consensus and hard work to the city during a period of intense transition.

Four more years of even-keel, even-handed leadership - with no drama - isnt the worst thing.

And compared to the political toxicity sure to come in 2024, a lake filled with alligators doesnt seem so bad by comparison.

It's a start

GREENSBORO - Documenting the bellyaching about the abomination that is the Battleground Avenue-Lawndale Drive-Westover Terrace travel corridor begins today with a series of public meetings.

So, too, does the very long process of figuring out what, if anything, can be done to fix a traffic nightmare thats hamstrung for years a good chunk of the Gate City.

In two sessions, at 2 p.m. and again at 5 p.m., city and state transportation will be seeking input from residents, business owners and other interested parties about what steps might be taken to reroute some of the tens of thousands of vehicles choking the area and making it safer.

Mind you, as things stand now, there is no money, no plan and therefore no timeline for getting anything done.

But as with all things government, buy-in has to happen first.

So area residents and business owners will be welcomed into the 2 p.m. public session at Guilford Park Presbyterian Fellowship Hall on Fernwood Drive.

The evening session, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., is for the general public and other interested parties.

Careful on Silas Creek Parkway

WINSTON-SALEM - As long as were looking at traffic headaches and holdups, anyone with business at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center on Monday should be aware that the main entrance on Silas Creek Parkway will be closed.

Patients and visitors are asked to use the Hawthorne Road entrance.

Construction on a long-planned five-story critical care tower forces the closure as crews need to complete underground electrical work.

The new traffic pattern begins today and is scheduled to wrap up April 3.
Already a busy man, Robert Franzs workload is about to increase.

On Saturday, Saxton Rose, the dean of the school of music at UNC School of the Arts, announced that Franz will be the new music director of UNCSAs Symphony Orchestra.

In that role, Franz will conduct three to four concerts with the Symphony Orchestra each year, working with students for three weeks in advance of each performance.

The position, which had been vacant since 2018, gives Franz considerably more time on a campus he loves. A native of Davidson, Franz graduated from UNCSA in 1990 with a Bachelor of Music degree in oboe performance then became the schools first graduate student in conducting, earning a Masters in 1992.

Franz has been a guest conductor for the Symphony Orchestra over the last year, conducting two concerts, including one Saturday where Rose announced his hiring.

The opportunity for our students to work on a consistent basis with a professional conductor who is particularly adept at educating is invaluable, Rose said in a statement.

Franz, 55, will add this job to two others he has held for years  music director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Canada and artistic director of the Boise Baroque Orchestra in Idaho.

I think its great for students to have a teacher who is in the professional world, and through osmosis they can see what it means to be a professional musician and how to prepare for that, said Franz, who estimates he has conducted 50 to 100 concerts a year for the last 25 years.

He plans to split time in all three locations.

I love that I have this combination of being in a professional orchestra in Windsor, a chamber orchestra and this educational outlet here at the School of the Arts, Franz said. To have three entities do three different things is really inspiring. Im really honored and excited that the School of the Arts thought of me.

Franz said he will bring more consistency to the Symphony Orchestra, which has been using guest conductors for the last four years or so. He first guest conducted about two years ago then was brought back twice this school year.

Besides conducting the Symphony Orchestra, Franz will oversee the programming and selection of guest artists for concerts.

He said he is excited about building bridges within Winston-Salem, where he lived for 11 years.

Its a community I love, I have roots in and I know pretty darn well, Franz said.

When hes not conducting in Windsor or Boise, Franz enjoys reading childrens books on his YouTube channel.

When he lived in Houston, Texas, years ago, he enjoyed dressing up in fun costumes and conducting family concerts. During the pandemic, he took his love of storytelling to YouTube and started reading childrens books, sometimes garnering up to 40,000 views.

Teachers have told him that they occasionally played his videos during class.

Theyre just fun to do, Franz said.
Gov. Roy Cooper has reached his goal of expanding Medicaid in North Carolina.

Cooper signed House Bill 76 at the Executive Mansion on Monday, surrounded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including N.C. Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, the sponsor of the bill.

The signing of the bill means that between 450,000 and 650,000 North Carolinians are a step closer to having health coverage through Medicaid.

Cooper said Thursday, when HB76 passed its third vote by a 95-22 margin, that Medicaid expansion is a once-in-a-generation investment that will make all North Carolina families healthier while strengthening our economy.

During an interview Monday with MSNBC, Cooper said it was music to my ears to hear my Republican colleagues and legislators showing support for expansion after being opponent for about nine years.

Cooper said HB76 is the working families bill of the decade.

This will help childcare workers, senior care workers, people who stock our grocery stores, work in our restaurants  those who have fallen in that (Medicaid coverage) gap, Cooper said. Many have died because they havent had health insurance.

Cooper said the arc of the change toward expansion was long.

We pulled together non-traditional allies to help convince the legislature that this was the way to go.

He cited as an example tough on crime Republican sheriffs having to deal time-after-time with people with substance abuse and mental health illness.

They knew these people needed healthcare, not handcuffs.

Cooper also acknowledged the support from rural Republican county commissioners, many of whom have seen the closings of hospitals in their areas, as well as local chambers of commerce.

All these voices got louder and louder, Cooper said.

The financial aspects of $512 million in additional monthly federal Medicaid funding also played a role in convincing reluctant Republican legislators.

When you look around, theres hardly anybody left whos opposed to it, Cooper said.

Next steps

North Carolinians who would likely be eligible under an expanded program are those between the ages of 18 and 64 who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage, but not enough to purchase coverage on the private insurance marketplace.

Now that Cooper has signed HB476, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services will submit a State Plan amendment to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

CMS has up to 90 days to review and approve the State Plan Amendment, or issue a Request for Additional Information that stops the 90-day clock, DHHS said.

When N.C. Medicaid submits a response to the Request for Additional Information, the 90-day clock for review and approval restarts.

Steve Lawler, president and chief executive of N.C. Healthcare Association, has been among the most vocal voices urging Senate Leader Phil Berger, Cooper and N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore to reach an expansion compromise.

This landmark legislation will have lasting benefits for our state by helping hardworking North Carolina families, stabilizing rural health providers, and improving the overall health of our communities, Lawler said.

Medicaid coverage will allow the 600,000 working North Carolinians, including veterans, access to regular, preventive care, reducing emergency department visits, and providing much needed help for those who struggle with addiction and behavioral health issues.

More waiting

Now that the bill is signed, the waiting period begins for Cooper to sign the Republican-sponsored 2023-24 state budget.

Thats because state funding for HB76 is linked to the passage of the budget.

Without a signed state budget, the legislation in HB76 would expire on July 1, 2024, meaning North Carolina wont become the 40th expansion state.

Legislative analysts have expressed concerns that Republican General Assembly leaders may insert controversial legislation into the budget, potentially causing Cooper not to sign it.

Lambeth was the driving force for expansion, urging support from Republican legislative leaders and colleagues that often fell on deaf ears until late in the 2022 regular session.

It has been a long, bumpy journey, but were here to make history, to move North Carolina forward, Lambeth said.

The House chose to agree with the prominent Senate changes to HB76 that foremost addressed easing or eliminating several certificate-of-need provider restrictions.

Berger and Moore announced their support for the CON changes on March 2.

Cooper acknowledged during the MSNBC interview the necessity of the CON reform measures, saying providing more competition in the healthcare arena was incorporated into this final agreement.

Lambeth focused on the economic impact of expansion, particularly the additional $1.7 billion in federal incentive funding coming to the state.

These funds can be used for much-needed reform of our mental-health system, improving access to care sites across the state that provides care to our citizens when needed rather than being in one of our emergency rooms awaiting care, Lambeth said.

The impact of federal funds to North Carolinas economy is $6 billion per year.
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Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen got an up-close look Monday at Hexagon Agility, a growing company that makes composite tanks for alternative fuels.

Pillen met executives of the company and toured its Lincoln facility at the Lincoln Airports industrial park.

Hexagon Agility traces its roots to 1963, when it got its start as Lincoln Composites by what was then Brunswick Corp.

In 2005, General Dynamics, which had bought Brunswick, sold Lincoln Composites to Norwegian company Hexagon Composites, and the Lincoln operation a few years later became the first tenant of the airports first rail center building.

Now the company occupies five buildings at the industrial park and is in the midst of a $25 million expansion that could see it add up to 100 new employees to its workforce of more than 350 in Lincoln over the next 18 months.

Its a pretty exciting time for us, said Andy Griffiths, interim president and chief financial officer of Hexagon Agility, which is based in Costa Mesa, California.

Lincoln Airport Executive Director David Haring said that when Hexagon first moved into the industrial park, it helped kick off a period of a half-dozen years of substantial development in the area and its good to see the company continue to grow.

We have been thrilled to see the ongoing growth and expansion of Hexagon Agility recently and look forward to having them as a valuable tenant of the airport for years to come.

The company, which makes carbon-fiber tanks for storing and transporting compressed natural gas, is one of two main divisions of Hexagon Composites  the other is Hexagon Purus, which makes similar tanks for hydrogen.

Griffiths said Hexagon Agility, which is what the company refers to as its near-zero emissions business, provides about 70% of the roughly $500 million in revenue Hexagon Composites does annually.

He cited high growth potential thanks to price advantages with natural gas, the growth of renewable natural gas such as methane, and more and more companies adopting corporate sustainability goals that require them to reduce emissions.

Hexagon Agility produces more than 35,000 carbon-fiber tanks annually in Lincoln and counts large companies such as UPS and Waste Management among its customers.

It also provides its tanks to truck and bus makers, some of which are used by local government agencies such as Lincoln Transportation & Utilities and Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha.

The company also makes more than 200 truck modules in Lincoln that contain larger tanks and are used as either mobile pipelines to transport gas or as mobile fueling stations.

Griffiths said the use of its products reduced global carbon dioxide emissions by 1.35 million metric tons in 2022, the equivalent of removing about 280,000 automobiles from the road.

Pillen said he was inspired by the innovation and entrepreneurship he saw at Hexagon.

He also said Hexagon and other companies in Nebraska need to do a better job of bragging about how much we pay people.

The company starts employees at $18 an hour and is willing to hire people without experience, said Bryan Mewhort, vice president of operations.

Despite that, it still struggles to find enough employees, just as many other companies in Lincoln and across Nebraska do.

Pillen said hes been working with school districts across the state to try to get companies into high schools and match up with students as early as their sophomore year to provide jobs and internships to help produce a more skilled workforce to fill what he called H3 jobs, which are those that require a high level of skill, provide high wages and are in high demand. class=print_trim(tncms-asset)c6d8016d-1922-5307-ba74-bcd96213b458[0](/tncms-asset) class=print_trim(tncms-asset)f9114d14-0bbb-5713-9e6d-55c9443db5fc[1](/tncms-asset)
Coffee lovers  and their doctors  have long wondered whether a jolt of java can affect the heart. New research has found that drinking caffeinated coffee does not significantly affect one kind of heart hiccup that can feel like a skipped beat.

But it did signal a slight increase in another type of irregular heartbeat in people who drank more than one cup per day. And it found that people tend to walk more and sleep less on the days they drank coffee.

Coffee is one of the most common beverages in the world. In the U.S., two-thirds of Americans drink coffee every day, more than bottled water, tea or tap water, according to the National Coffee Association, a trade group. Coffee contains caffeine, a stimulant, which is widely regarded as safe for healthy adults at about 400 milligrams per day, or roughly the equivalent of four or five cups brewed at home.

Coffee has been associated with multiple health benefits and even a lower risk of dying, based on large studies that observed participants behavior. Despite research that has shown moderate coffee consumption doesnt raise the risk of heart rhythm problems, some professional medical societies still caution against consuming caffeine.

In the latest experiment, researchers outfitted 100 healthy volunteers with gadgets that continuously monitored their heart function, daily steps, sleep patterns and blood sugar. The volunteers, who were mostly younger than 40, were sent daily text messages over two weeks instructing them to drink or avoid caffeinated coffee on certain days. The results were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This type of study, which directly measures the biological effects of drinking or not drinking caffeinated coffee in the same people, is rare and provides a dense array of data points, said study co-author Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in treating heart arrhythmias.

Researchers found that drinking caffeinated coffee did not result in more daily episodes of extra heartbeats, known as premature atrial contractions. These extra beats that begin in the heart's upper chambers are common and typically don't cause problems. But they have been shown to predict a potentially dangerous heart condition called atrial fibrillation.

They also found slight evidence of another kind of irregular heartbeat that comes from the lower heart chambers, called premature ventricular contractions. Such beats are also common and not usually serious, but they have been associated with a higher risk of heart failure. The researchers found more of these early beats in people on the days they drank coffee, but only in those who drank two or more cups per day.

The volunteers logged about 1,000 more steps per day on the days they drank coffee  and they slept about 36 minutes less, the study found. There was almost no difference in blood sugar levels.

One interesting result: People with genetic variants that make them break down caffeine faster experienced less of a sleep deficit, while folks with variants that lead them to metabolize caffeine more slowly lost more sleep.

Because the study was performed in a small number of people over a short period of time, the results dont necessarily apply to the general population, said Dr. Dave Kao, a cardiologist and health data expert at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. However, the study is consistent with others that have found coffee is safe and it offers a rare controlled evaluation of caffeines effect, Kao added.

Co-author Marcus cautions that the effects of drinking coffee can vary from person to person. He said he advises his patients with heart arrhythmias to experiment on their own to see how caffeine affects them.

Theyre often delighted to get the good news that its OK to try coffee and drink coffee, he said.

From coffee to cola: The most popular nonalcoholic beverages in the US ranked Ranking the most popular nonalcoholic beverages #7. Diet beverages #6. Milk #5. Fruit beverages #4. Tea #3. Sweetened beverages #2. Coffee #1. Water
A week from now, you will no longer have to wear a mask at the state's largest hospitals.

Bryan Health, Madonna and several other of Nebraska's largest health systems Monday jointly announced plans to make masks optional starting April 3 for most areas of their hospitals and clinics.

The move comes after CHI Health, the largest health system in the state, dropped mask requirements March 20.

Hospitals and most medical facilities have required visitors, vendors and others to wear masks since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the state.

The hospitals said in a news release that the decision is based largely on changing conditions, including the widespread availability and use of COVID-19 vaccines and medications. But it's also in response to the coming end of the federal pandemic emergency declaration, which is set to expire May 11.

"This change in status will impact U.S. health care policies and practices for many COVID-19-related services," the hospitals said in the release.

COVID-19 cases have been much lower both locally and statewide over the past few months than they were at similar times either a year ago or two years ago, although fewer people are getting tested.

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez said through a spokeswoman that the department continues to have "ongoing communication" with local health providers but it ultimately is up to them to determine their own policies regarding masking now that there are no local ordinances requiring it.

In their joint news release, the hospitals noted that each may have some variation in policies regarding masks and that they will still be required in some areas, such as in units where COVID-19 patients are being cared for and in cases when a patient or their family requests masks be worn.

The hospitals also noted that conditions could change, requiring the reinstatement of more widespread mask policies.

Besides Bryan and Madonna, the other hospitals that are changing their policy are: Boys Town, Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, Methodist Health System and Nebraska Medicine.

Photos: Bryan staff who care for COVID-19 patients
FRANKFORT, Ky.  Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a bill aimed at transgender health care puts the state in the middle of a national fight, but with more immediate consequences as the state's looming election offers an early test on the state-by-state assault on gender-affirming care for minors.

The veto issued Friday set off competing messages likely to be repeated until the November election  when Bluegrass State voters will decide whether to reward the Democratic governor with a second term or hand over the governor's office to a Republican. No one seems to know yet how much weight voters will put on the transgender issue with the general election more than seven months away.

The legislation in Kentucky is part of a widespread movement, with Republican state lawmakers in other states approving extensive measures that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people this year, from bills targeting trans athletes and drag performers to measures limiting gender-affirming care.

Beshear framed the Republican-backed bill in Kentucky as an example of government overreach into parental rights. The sweeping bill would ban gender-affirming care for minors  one of many provisions that would affect the lives of young transgender people.

At the end of the day, this is about my belief  and, I think, the belief of the majority of Kentuckians  that parents should get to make important medical decisions about their children, not big government," Beshear told reporters soon after his veto.

Kentucky's GOP-dominated legislature passed the bill by lopsided margins. Lawmakers will reconvene Wednesday for the final two days of this years session, when they could vote to override the veto.

Republicans took immediate aim at the governor's veto, saying he veered too far for most Kentuckians. Republican Party of Kentucky spokesperson Sean Southard asked: Is Andy Beshear the governor of Kentucky or California? He predicted the governor will pay a political price for his action.

"Once this campaign is over, today may very well be remembered as the day Andy Beshear lost his bid for reelection, Southard said Friday.

Republicans could try to capitalize on the political divide over transgender rights to motivate socially conservative voters to flock to the polls in November, when state constitutional offices are on the ballot. Several leading GOP contenders for governor were aligned in condemning Beshear's veto.

If the Republicans choose to make this a centerpiece of the campaign against Beshear, its going to hurt him, said Scott Jennings, a Kentucky-based Republican political commentator.

Beshear cited his own religious faith as a factor in rejecting the bill, saying: I believe every single child is a child of God.

Twelve candidates in all are competing for the Republican nomination for governor in the state's May primary. Beshears bid for a second term is drawing national attention to see if the popular incumbent can win again in the Republican-trending state. Beshear has won praise for his responses to devastating tornadoes and flooding, as well as a series of economic development successes.

The bill's opponents say they've got the public on their side and predict Beshear will benefit. They pointed to statewide polling released last month showing a majority of Kentuckians believe decisions over a transgender teens health care should be left with the parent, not determined by the state.

Folks who have never been involved with politics or legislation have been activated by the Kentucky General Assemblys all-out war on LGBTQ kids, said Chris Hartman, executive director of the Kentucky-based Fairness Campaign.

Social conservatives in Kentucky were dealt a setback in last year's general election when statewide voters rejected a ballot measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion.

The transgender health care bill sparked emotional responses from opponents as it was fast-tracked to legislative passage by GOP supermajorities in mid-March. It would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. It would outlaw gender reassignment surgery for anyone under 18, as well as the use of puberty blockers and hormones, and inpatient and outpatient gender-affirming hospital services.

Doctors would have to set a timeline to detransition children already taking puberty blockers or undergoing hormone therapy. They could continue offering care as they taper a childs treatments if removing them from the treatment immediately could harm the child.

The bills supporters say they're trying to protect children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments they might regret as adults. Research shows such regret is rare. Gender-affirming medical treatments have long been available in the U.S. and are endorsed by major medical associations.

The bill would require school districts to devise bathroom policies that, at a minimum, would not allow transgender children to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identities. And it would allow teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use and would require schools to notify parents when lessons related to human sexuality are going to be taught.

7 common types of anti-transgender legislation that have passed or failed in the last 10 years 7 common types of anti-transgender legislation that have passed or failed in the last 10 years Schools and education Health care Free speech and expression Civil rights Accurate IDs Public accommodations Other anti-LGBTQ+ bills
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday reversed a lower courts order that barred prosecutors from pursuing a motor vehicle homicide charge against an Omaha woman who has already been convicted of a different crime arising from the same car crash.

The high courts decision will recommence criminal proceedings against Maylesha Lewis, a 24-year-old who drunkenly drove her car into a light pole, leading to the death of a passenger in her vehicle.

She had been convicted of DUI causing serious bodily injury in 2021, but a Douglas County judge ruled last year that she couldnt be prosecuted for motor vehicle homicide after the passenger died of his injuries months later because it would violate the constitutional protection against double jeopardy and successive prosecutions.

In October 2020, Lewis was driving near 110th and Harrison streets in Omaha when her car left the road and collided with a light pole. Thomas Martin, a passenger in the back seat who wasnt wearing a seat belt, sustained serious head trauma and was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition.

When police spoke to Lewis at the hospital, according to an arrest affidavit, she admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. Her preliminary breath test showed a blood-alcohol level well over the legal limit.

Days after the crash, Lewis was charged with driving under the influence resulting in serious bodily injury. She pleaded guilty to the felony charge and was sentenced March 22, 2021, to 30 months in prison, with 18 months of probation to follow.

For months, Martin was moved between hospitals as doctors attempted to save his life, but he remained in a non-medically induced coma and never regained consciousness. He was diagnosed with a significant traumatic brain injury, acute respiratory failure and a cerebral spinal fluid leak, among other injuries. Martin died in hospice care June 17, 2021.

A few months after Martins death, Douglas County prosecutors charged Lewis with DUI motor vehicle homicide.

Lewis lawyers contended that she could not be charged with DUI motor vehicle homicide because of double jeopardy, a constitutional provision that protects people from being prosecuted or punished twice for the same offense. Her attorneys argued that DUI causing serious bodily injury and DUI motor vehicle homicide are the same offense for the purposes of double jeopardy, because the serious bodily injury count is a lesser-included offense of motor vehicle homicide.

Prosecutors found the lesser-included offense argument unconvincing and countered that its possible to commit motor vehicle homicide without also committing DUI causing serious bodily injury. The state also argued that successive prosecution was warranted because Martin had not died at the time that initial charges were brought.

District Court Judge Peter Bataillon ruled in Lewis favor and dismissed the motor vehicle homicide charge. He said that prosecuting Lewis again would result in her being punished multiple times for the same offense, and that in order for her to be found guilty prosecutors would have to prove all of the elements of the underlying serious bodily injury charge. Bataillon said that these situations both constitute double jeopardy.

The state appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. On Friday, the court released its decision reversing Bataillons dismissal and remanding the case for further proceedings.

In a written opinion, the court found that other jurisdictions have long upheld exceptions to double jeopardy provisions when the State (is) unable to proceed on the more serious charge at the outset because the additional facts necessary to sustain that charge had not yet occurred at the time of prosecution for the first offense.

In this case, Martin hadnt died at the time of first prosecution, so the state could not have initially brought the motor vehicle homicide charge against Lewis.

Double jeopardy permits the state to prosecute Lewis for the more serious offense of motor vehicle homicide/DUI, despite having previously convicted her of DUI/serious bodily injury, the opinion reads.

The case will now return to Douglas County District Court for further proceedings. If convicted of DUI motor vehicle homicide, Lewis faces up to 20 years in prison.

Top Journal Star photos for March 2023
Not many people can boast that they had a few very chill snakes at their wedding reception.

That wasnt the only unconventional guest for Jazmin Nelson and Ryan Duden of Elkhorn, who held the event at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. There was also an armadillo and a skink, which is a type of lizard. Duden is the environmental health and safety coordinator at the zoo.

We had a few of the zoos ambassador animals out for guests to see and learn more about, Nelson said. We had one family where every single member was too terrified to be in the same room as the snake and had to be escorted by the groom to the back entrance so they could completely avoid it.

The couple said the wedding was different in many ways. They were married in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and had their reception a month later.

They had a photographer at the wedding but just a photo booth vendor at the Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium, so there are fish in every background.

Nelson also didnt wear white. She couldnt find anything she liked in that color in her price range so she went with green with gold jewelry and shoes.

That kind of dark green is one of Ryans favorite colors, she said. I had a lot of gold accents. Gold is my favorite.

How they met

They were working as lifeguards at the Zorinsky pool and began secretly dating their second summer working together. Duden already had gone through his freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Nelson was going to be attending her first year at UNL the following semester.

They decided to marry nine years later.

Together, we planned on getting engaged at the top of our favorite hike (Horsetooth Falls in Colorado). Though it was a mutual proposal, he still dropped to one knee and only I wore an engagement ring, Nelson said.

Intimate ceremony

The idea of a wedding stressed them both out because they didnt like the idea of getting so much attention. So they focused on keeping things small and intimate while still being able to celebrate with their loved ones.

They had 10 guests at the wedding and 100 at the reception. Even as small as the wedding was, Nelson said she was so stressed with planning that it took some joy out of the ceremony.

We strongly encourage anyone who has a desire to do something small and just elope, to do it, they say. We loved having something so small and intimate, and were able to do it in one of the most beautiful settings we could have imagined. Skip the big ceremony, get married in a national park or pretty much wherever youd like.

They also wanted to keep things affordable and didnt want to have to plan a lot of decorating details.

This made our venues of the mountains and the aquarium ideal. Since they are already so visually stunning, we really didnt have to add anything else, Nelson said. The date of our ceremony had the most beautiful weather we could ever have dreamed of for the middle of fall in the mountains  60s and sunny with the leaves still changing.

Some of the guests almost didnt make it to the right spot.

Most of us lost reception and our GPSs werent giving us the right directions to Sprague Lake and all cars but one got lost, Nelson said. Luckily, we left ourselves plenty of time and everyone got to the venue on time without incident.

The next step

They usually share so much with each other that the first look, when Duden finally saw his bride after so many months of secret planning, felt like a big crescendo, Nelson said.

A lot of planning and months of stress were finally at an end.

To just be able to see and appreciate each other and feel like it was just he and I in that moment, Nelson said. We were ready to flip to the next big chapter in our lives together.

Warning for the groom

After they said their vows and kissed, they started hugging their guests. Nelson noticed her best friend, Caitlin Rucker, hugged her husband first.

I brought it up to Ryan because I thought it was odd and he chuckled and told me Yeah, she hugged me and whispered in my ear that if I hurt you, shed kill me, Nelson said.

Soft serve anyone?

The couple said theyve had a lot of fun using an ice cream maker they put on their registry.

They also got a few items for their cats, including automatic feeders, a floor to ceiling cat climbing/scratching post and a stroller.

They decided not to do gifts for each other.

In fact, since we were paying for things left and right for the wedding for all of 2022, we decided to only get each other something small for both our birthdays and Christmas, Nelson said.

Husband and wife

Theyd been together for nine years and lived together for around five, so married life hasnt been that different.

For Nelson, it was very jarring to use the word husband.

She felt like somehow she was still too young to have the title of wife, even though she was 27, Duden said.

Close Jazmin and Ryan exchange their vows in Colorado. The couple had just 10 guests at their wedding in Colorado. Jazmin and Ryan were married in Colorado, where they also proposed to each other. Making it official. The wedding couple with their families. Having some fun at the wedding. The couple said it seems strange to call each other husband and wife. A quiet moment at the wedding. The couple wanted a small and intimate wedding. Fun after the wedding. Jazmin Nelson didnt wear a traditional white wedding dress. She wore a frock in husband Ryan Dudens favorite green color. Jazmin and Ryan dated several years before deciding to marry. The couple said the wedding was different in many ways. They were married in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and had their reception a month later. Fish in the aquarium were the backdrop for photos at the reception. Guests had some fun in the photo booth at the reception. Ready to dive in at the reception. Jazmin and Ryan in the photo booth with Jazmin's grandmother, Lois Hallquist, at the Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium. One of the snakes at the couples wedding reception, held at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. Two days of celebrating for Jazmin and Ryan Jazmin and Ryan exchange their vows in Colorado. The couple had just 10 guests at their wedding in Colorado. Jazmin and Ryan were married in Colorado, where they also proposed to each other. Making it official. The wedding couple with their families. Having some fun at the wedding. The couple said it seems strange to call each other husband and wife. A quiet moment at the wedding. The couple wanted a small and intimate wedding. Fun after the wedding. Jazmin Nelson didnt wear a traditional white wedding dress. She wore a frock in husband Ryan Dudens favorite green color. Jazmin and Ryan dated several years before deciding to marry. The couple said the wedding was different in many ways. They were married in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and had their reception a month later. Fish in the aquarium were the backdrop for photos at the reception. Guests had some fun in the photo booth at the reception. Ready to dive in at the reception. Jazmin and Ryan in the photo booth with Jazmin's grandmother, Lois Hallquist, at the Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium. One of the snakes at the couples wedding reception, held at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
DONETSK REGION, Ukraine  Their hands are blackened and grimy from the fight. Some are still wearing their combat boots, small flecks of black soil from the battlefield clinging to their torsos, bare under the emergency blanket.

With bandaged heads and splinted limbs, the wounded soldiers are stretchered into the waiting medical evacuation bus by members of the Hospitallers, a Ukrainian organization of volunteer paramedics who work on the front lines in the war in Ukraine.

The soldiers were all wounded recently in fierce fighting in Ukraines eastern Donetsk region, where Russian forces have been pressing advances. The battle in Bakhmut, a city encircled on three sides by Russian troops, has been particularly bloody, with soldiers describing endless days of combat, often at close quarters.

Weve been on tour in hell, said Yura, who like all the soldiers would give only his first name for safety reasons. He lay on a bed in a specially equipped medical bus, with his arm and leg badly wounded.

Blood stained the heavy bandages around his right forearm, which metal rods held together to stabilize the shattered bone. His bicep bore a deepening purple bruise left by the tourniquet applied to staunch the blood and save his life. The time it was put on was scrawled in pen across his right cheek: 19:45.

They tried to get me with grenades, he said.

Unlike most of the wounded, Yura is not Ukrainian. He is Russian, but fought on the side of Ukraine in Bakhmut since November. The Moscow native said he moved to Ukraine before the war, as did a friend of his who is also fighting for Ukraine and had spent 2  years in prison in Russia for reposting a social media post saying Crimea  annexed by Russia in 2014  was Ukrainian.

It was his own countrymen who wounded him.

He was in Bakhmut for eight days of almost uninterrupted combat. But he and his unit managed to repel all of the assaults on their position, he said.

On the fifth day without sleep, I had thoughts that I would go crazy, he said. In fact, its impossible to sleep there. They shell it in such a way that the earth trembles.

He showed a video on his mobile phone shot inside Bakhmut: the interior of a devastated building, holes punched through the walls by artillery, rubble strewn across the floor. Beyond the twisted metal remnants of a window, a glimpse of an urban hellscape of shattered buildings and splintered trees.

Yaroslav, 37, was also wounded in Bakhmut. The battle was so close that Russian and Ukrainian forces fought room to room inside buildings, he said.

Pale and with an almost imperceptible tremor, his lips nearly white, he propped himself up on an elbow as he waited to be carried on a stretcher from an ambulance onto the bus for the trip to a better equipped hospital in a city farther west.

An explosion had sent shrapnel through his leg, piercing it below the knee.

I came to my senses and saw that there is nobody around me, and then I understood that there is blood oozing into my shoe, blood squelching in my shoe, he said, quietly drawing on a cigarette. It was totally dark.

As his unit had attempted to move from its position, the Russian forces began shelling.

When I left, everything was on fire, he recalled. There were dead Russians lying on the ground, and dead Ukrainians, too. People were running in the road and falling down, because mines were exploding, drones were flying.

He finished his cigarette and lay back on the stretcher. His eyes fixed on some invisible point before him, and he slowly closed his eyelids. The Hospitallers lifted his stretcher and carried it to the waiting bus.

The medically equipped bus  named Austrian, the nickname of a Hospitaller paramedic who was killed in a crash of another medical evacuation bus  can carry six severely wounded patients on stretchers, and several more walking wounded.

Were doing evacuations as necessary. It could be twice or three times per day, chief paramedic Kateryna Seliverstova said.

Bought with money from donations, the bus is better equipped medically than even some state hospitals, Seliverstova said. It is stocked with monitors, electrocardiographs, ventilators and oxygen tanks and can care for severely ill patients while they are transported to a major hospital.

This project is really important, because it helps to economize resources, Seliverstova said. We can transport six injured people who are in serious or moderate condition, whereas a normal ambulance can only transport one.

All six places were taken on the trip evacuating Yura and Yaroslav. Across the aisle from Yura, another soldier slipped in and out of consciousness, a brown bandage wrapped around his head. A paramedic checked his vital signs on a monitor, and helped him sip water from a syringe.

Behind him, a man coughed deeply. Only the blackened tip of his nose was visible from his heavily bandaged head. He had suffered extensive burns to his face.

Yura spoke softly to one of the paramedics. Without his expression changing, tears began rolling down the side of his face. The paramedic leaned over and gently wiped them away.

Photos: In Ukraine, searing images capture a year of war
LONDON  Prince Harry and Elton John were in a London court Monday as the lawyer for a group of British tabloids asked a judge to toss the lawsuit they brought with several other high-profile people who allege phone hacking and other invasions of privacy.

Harry's presence at the High Court in London signals the importance of the case, one of several lawsuits the Duke of Sussex has brought in his battle against the press. The hearing is expected to conclude Thursday.

The case alleges Associated Newspapers Ltd., which publishes The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday, commissioned the "breaking and entry into private property," and engaging in unlawful acts that included hiring private investigators to bug homes, cars and record private phone conversations.

"They were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers," attorney David Sherborne said in a court document.

Sherborne who also represents John's husband, David Furnish, and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, said the intrusions were "habitual and widespread" and later "concealed or covered up."

Articles were falsely attributed to "friends," a family source, palace sources, royal insider, or similar phrases to throw subjects "off the scent" of the true origin, Sherborne said.

Among the allegations in court papers were that Associated Newspapers unlawfully obtained the birth certificate of John and Furnish's child before they had seen the document and illegally gleaned information on Harry's previous relationship with Chelsy Davy, a jewelry designer from Zimbabwe.

The publisher is also alleged to have hired a private investigator to hack Hurley's phone, stuck a mini-microphone on a window outside her home and bugged ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant's car to gather financial information, travel plans and medical information during her pregnancy.

John and Furnish arrived in court after a lunch break and sat in the gallery for part of the afternoon before bowing out. Harry sat near Frost toward the rear of the court during the whole session and occasionally took notes.

The case is a replay to some extent of the British phone hacking scandal that was front page news a decade ago and eventually brought down another tabloid and ended with the conviction of the former spokesperson for then-Prime Minister David Cameron.

The allegations date primarily from 1993 to 2011 but also stretch beyond 2018, Sherborne said.

The publisher denies the allegations and said the claims are too old to be brought and information about the phone hacking scandal was so widely known the subjects could have sued years ago.

"It would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters," attorney Adrian Beltrami said in writing.

He also argued that the suit should be thrown out because it relies on information the newspapers turned over in confidentiality for a 2012 probe into media law breaking.

Beltrami said it was ironic Harry and others claimed the publisher illegally obtained information about them from evidence that was supposed to have been kept private and, thus, was itself gathered in violation of the law.

Sherborne argued that documents used in the 2012 inquiry were presumed to be public unless marked confidential.

Britain held a year-long inquiry into press ethics after revelations in 2011 that News of the World tabloid employees eavesdropped on the mobile phone voicemails of celebrities, politicians and a teenage murder victim.

Owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the newspaper amid a criminal investigation and public uproar. Several journalists were convicted, and Murdoch's company paid $388 million in settlements to dozens of hacking victims, legal fees and other costs associated with investigations.

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who had resigned and became communications chief to Conservative Party leader Cameron, was convicted of phone hacking and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In the inquiry's 2012 report, Lord Justice Brian Leveson said "outrageous" behavior by some in the press had "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people whose rights and liberties have been disdained."

Justice Matthew Nicklin, who is hearing the current eavesdropping case, is also overseeing a separate libel lawsuit Harry brought against Associated Newspapers over an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family visit the U.K.

Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, and his wife, the former actress Meghan Markle, stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the U.S., citing what they described as the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.

Harry has said he wants to make reforming the British media his life's work. He fumes at British media throughout his memoir "Spare," published in January. He accused them of hounding Meghan and blamed an overly aggressive press for the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, which is mentioned in court papers.

The prince's lawyer said the unlawful conduct by Associated Newspapers was "a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother."

Photos: Prince Harry through the years
JERUSALEM (AP)  Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted "to avoid civil war by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.

In his prime-time address, Netanyahu, who had previously rejected calls to delay the legislation, took a more conciliatory tone than in recent speeches. He acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said he was hitting the pause button to prevent a rift in the nation.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, he said. He vowed to reach a broad consensus during the summer session of parliament, which begins on April 30.

He spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the countrys largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan.

Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies presented the overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israels history.

The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy. Fighter pilots and military reservists have threatened not to report for duty, and the countrys currency, the shekel, has tumbled in value.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nations judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the courts ability to review laws.

Netanyahu has argued that the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges. But his opponents say the package would damage the countrys system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahus allies. They also say that he has a conflict of interest as a criminal defendant.

Tens of thousands of people, largely secular, middle-class Israelis, have regularly joined mass protests against the plan.

Those demonstrations ramped up Sunday night after Netanyahu abruptly fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had urged the prime minister to put his plan on hold, citing concerns about damage to the Israeli military.

The firing sparked a spontaneous outburst of anger, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in just one hour.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Demonstrators continued Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. Im here for the fight to the end.

Israels main trade union, the histadrut, declared a general strike in what it said was the first time it has carried out such an action over a political issue.

The chaos shut down much of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. Departing flights from the main international airport were grounded, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.

Large mall chains and universities closed their doors, and the union called for its 800,000 members to stop work in health care, transit, banking and other fields.

Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions, and local governments were expected to close preschools and cut other services. The main doctors union announced that its members would also strike.

In a sign of easing tensions, the union said late Monday that it was halting the strike in response to Netanyahus delay.

The announcement appeared to buy the embattled Netanyahu several weeks of quiet. But it was far from clear whether the disputes could be resolved.

The countrys figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, said pausing the legislative blitz was the right thing.

This is the time for frank, serious and responsible discussion that will lead urgently to calming spirits and lowering the flames, he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he was willing to hold a genuine dialogue under Herzogs sponsorship.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist who has pushed for quick passage of the package, said he would respect the delay but showed few signs of compromise.

The reform will pass, he tweeted. No one will scare us.

The first of a series of laws  giving the coalition control over judicial appointments  had been scheduled to pass this week.

Before Netanyahus speech, some 20,000 right-wing Israelis attended a counter demonstration in support of the prime minister. That demonstration also took place near parliament and passed without violence.

They wont steal the election from us, read a flyer for event, organized by Religious Zionist party. Netanyahu said he was moved by the show of support.

Shikma Bressler, one of the leaders of the anti-government protest movement, said the campaign would continue until the legislation is canceled.

This is just an attempt to weaken the protests in order to enact Netanyahus dictatorship, she said. Now is not the time to reduce the pressure, but to increase it.

Dozens of protesters from rival sides faced off late Monday in central Tel Aviv. The sides, kept apart by police, exchanged insults, but there was no violence. Police used a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters.

Israels Palestinian citizens have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The Biden administration, which has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government, welcomed the announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
WATERFORD  A current member of the Waterford Union High School board is facing a challenger for a seat on the board as part of the April 4 election.

Incumbent Douglas Schwartz will take on Issiah Jelden for a three year-term. The position pays $4,800 per year.

Schwartz graduated from Waterford Union High School. He is retired and said he has time to dedicate to the school board, plus six years of experience.

Ive seen and been involved in changes in classrooms, teachers, educational aspects, communication with the community and a more positive atmosphere, Schwartz wrote in an email. Im seeking another term on the school board to continue these improvements. We need to make sure students are ready for life after high school.

Jelden, a recent graduate of Waterford Union High School, is running to make a positive impact on the next generation by getting them more prepared for the challenges after high school, he wrote in an email.

Jelden believes his work experiences have taught him to make the hard decisions between wants and needs and how to be fiscally responsible and budget for projects.

Schwartz said every student should receive a quality education, and that is done by hiring and retaining quality teachers and administrators.

The school district must do that while being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers, Schwartz wrote.

If elected, Jelden wrote that putting the students first by getting them ready for their post-high school endeavors will be his top priority.

Waterford Lofts in progress, in photos Renata Greeley and Jake Howell at Waterford Lofts construction site in Waterford Exterior work underway at Waterford Lofts property with commercial and residential space Luis Nilleda frames door inside Waterford Lofts commercial-residential development Construction workers Erick Flores and Luis Espinoza install windows in Waterford Jake Howell Tim Vandeville Jr. Renata Greeley Tim Vandeville, Jr. and Renata Greeley
RACINE  The 50th anniversary of U.S. combat troops returning home from the Vietnam War is Wednesday, March 29. The date is officially known as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Racine Area Veterans Inc. invites the community and all veterans to celebrate this day with a toast and remember those who served. It will take place at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 29, at the Veterans Center and Legacy Museum, 820 Main St.
RACINE  Every year for the last several years, Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin has received more and more money from Sons of the American Legion Squadron 294.

The squadron on Friday presented Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin a check for $40,000, money that was raised during a cardboard village sleepout event Feb. 10-11.

During the annual event, the group sleeps in cardboard boxes and small tents in Hartland in Waukesha County to raise awareness about the homeless veteran problem nationwide and accepts cash donations, nonperishable food and new clothing to split evenly between VOW, 1624 Yout St., Racine, and West Allis-based Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative.

The post, based in Hartland and made up of sons or grandsons of military veterans, has done the sleepout event since 2020 and has raised more than $190,000 for homeless veterans.

Its the organizations biggest event, said Squadron 294 Commander Mark Pape.

In 2020, the group raised $20,000. In 2021 the group raised $40,000 and in 2022 it raised $55,000.

This year, the squadron raised $80,000.

Each year we seem to be getting better at figuring this thing out, Pape said. This group right here is just an amazing group  if it werent for these guys, I dont know what Id do.

The first time we did it, it was like, Heres some money, Terry Casper of Squadron 294 said. I like that weve grown into a partnership.

Pape said raising the money makes him feel fantastic and outstanding.

Just makes you want to cry sometimes, Pape said. We just try to do our part in helping our veterans that need help the most raise funds and get their lives turned around and back to where they should be in life.

Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin Executive Director Zach Zdroik said the donation will help the organization connect with more veterans, such as connecting them to VOWs tiny homes, marketplace or line 9 program.

The tiny homes house homeless veterans while supplying them with tools needed to break the cycle of homelessness.

The marketplace is VOWs version of a food pantry for veterans and surviving spouses.

The line 9 program helps veterans with safe storage of medication or firearms, employment opportunities, healthcare or group support.

The amount they came through with is unbelievable, Zdroik said of the squadron. It speaks volumes on the community support they receive.

Racine County's annual golf outing, supporting local veterans, in photos
The Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday approved a handful of criminal justice bills, including one that would clarify the definition of violent crime in preparation for the anticipated passage of a state constitutional amendment that would allow judges to consider defendants past convictions in setting cash bail.

The Assembly also approved two bills, one of which the Senate also passed, that would increase penalties for reckless driving, measures Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signaled he would sign.

Besides taking up a couple of the same crime-related bills, the GOP-led Senate on Wednesday approved a measure that would continue to allow licensed counselors and others who attempt to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity through the discredited practice known as conversion therapy to operate in Wisconsin.

Additionally, the Senate voted unanimously to confirm three members of Evers cabinet. Often a formality in the past, the Senate has stalled on Evers confirmations since he became governor, leaving many of his picks unconfirmed.

Violent crime

The Assembly and Senate approved, mostly along party lines, SB 75, a bill that clarifies the definition of a violent crime. Republicans stated purpose is to give judges a clear picture of what constitutes a violent crime as they factor in defendants past convictions to decide defendants bail amounts  something they would be able to do if a proposed constitutional amendment passes on April 4.

The Assembly approved the bill, 67-30, with five Democrats in favor. The Senate approved the measure 20-11, with Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska, in favor.

Unlike the proposed constitutional amendment, the bill to define violent crimes would need Evers support. The proposed bill would clarify that judges can consider dozens of defendants past violent crime convictions, from reckless homicide to intimidating a witness by use of force, when they set cash bail.

Despite some bipartisan support, some Democrats said the proposed definition is too broad. Both Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates said at a Tuesday debate that they support the amendment, though neither commented on the accompanying bill.

If (Evers) does veto it and the constitutional amendment passes, then its kind of a Wild West, Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield, said about the measure, adding that without the bill judges would have different definitions of what constitutes violent crime.

Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback didnt clarify where the governor stands on the proposal.

The Assembly also passed two measures, AB 55 and SB 92 that would increase penalties for reckless driving, which the bill proponents say are necessary given increasing rates of the offense and the low rate of compliance for paying reckless driving fines. Both bills passed 85-12. The first bill would increase several reckless driving-related penalties. The second bill, which the Senate passed 30-1 on Wednesday and now goes to Evers desk, would allow police to impound vehicles used in reckless driving offenses if the owner of that car was cited in a past offense without paying off a fine.

Evers signaled to a TMJ4 reporter Wednesday that he would sign both reckless driving measures.

Other measures

The Assembly also passed AB 51, which would allow people living in the United States through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by the Obama administration in 2012 to become law enforcement officers. The bill, which was adopted on a voice vote Wednesday, passed the Assembly last year but did not receive a Senate vote. The Senate hasnt yet voted or held a public hearing on the measure.

Michael Pyritz, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, didnt respond to a request for comment about the proposal.

The Assembly approved a more divisive proposal, AB 58, that would increase penalties for people with felonies caught with guns. In Wisconsin, people with felonies cant possess guns. Those caught doing so can face up to five years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision. But there is no mandatory minimum sentence for the crime. The proposed bill, which passed 62-35 along party lines, would create a five-year mandatory minimum. Supporters say the measure would increase public safety, but opponents say it would result in overly harsh sentences.

The public would be able to watch more parole deliberations in real time under another GOP proposal, AB 47, that the Assembly passed 77-20 on Wednesday. The bill was written after the Wisconsin Parole Commission came under scrutiny last year over whom it sought to release.

The Senate hasnt voted for the measure, which would eliminate from the states open meetings law the exemption allowing the commission to go into closed session when it considers parole requests.

The Senate also approved a Republican-written measure, SB 101, that would increase the maximum prison time for people who produce or sell drugs that cause another persons death. That bill passed 28-3.

Conversion therapy

The Senate approved a procedural move on Wednesday, SB 4, to prohibit any rule banning conversion therapy. Rather than vote on the bill itself, the Senate voted 20-11, with all Democrats opposed, to move the bill into committee. The Assembly voted along party lines to do the same last week.

The move mirrors how Republicans handled the Department of Safety and Professional Services rule two years ago and effectively blocks the rule for the remainder of the legislative session, which ends in 2024. Moving the measure back to a committee also keeps the bill from reaching the desk of Evers, who would almost certainly veto it.

This issue deserves a public hearing, a debate and a vote, Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, said before the Senate session. The GOP cant be allowed to use the rules process again to continue holding back progress for the next four years under the Evers administration.

The vote follows a January move by the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to strike a recently implemented rule that classified intervention by a licensed marriage and family therapist, counselor or social worker to try to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity as unprofessional conduct.

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, calls conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, dangerous and discredited and it has been rejected by mainstream medical and mental health organizations for decades. Both the American Psychological Association and American Medical Association have also denounced conversion therapy.

Confirmation votes

The Senate unanimously confirmed Evers choices for secretary of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and secretary of the Department of Tourism.

The votes followed years of clashes between Evers and the state Senate over that chambers unwillingness to confirm some of the governors appointees. The agency leaders appointments are subject to approval by the Senate, although they can serve in the role if the chamber refuses to vote on their appointment.

Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers, for example, was appointed in September 2021 but hadnt been confirmed until Wednesday, along with WEDC Secretary Missy Hughes and Commissioner of Insurance Nathan Houdek.

The agency leaders confirmation comes as the relationship between Evers and LeMahieu appears to be thawing, with the leaders on speaking terms and each expressing willingness to compromise. At the same time, LeMahieu has called some of Evers past cabinet nominations politically charged.
A reader pointed me to this piece of data journalism by the folks at FiveThirtyEight (link). The project examines the impact of the potential ban of abortion clinics in various U.S. states, and how that affects women who want abortions.

The key data visualization is an interactive map. The default map shows the current state of affairs before certain states pass abortion bans.

I have highlighted Coconino county in Arizona. The nearest clinic accessible to Coconino residents is in nearby Maricopa county, as seen on the map. The distance of travel is about 162 miles. This county is given a purplish-green color, which means the 162-mile distance is considered long distance in the context of the whole country, and the clinic in Maricopa has middling capacity.

Hovering over each county presents the same information about where women go to get abortions today.

Next, the designer presents a series of simulations.

By pressing one of the state buttons, the reader can explore what happens if that state decided to ban abortion clinics. Naturally, we'd expect the counties of that state to be most impacted by the ban.

Here is a close-up of Coconino county after I pressed the Arizona button:

Instead of going to Maricopa county, the women are expected to cross the state line and use the clinic in Clark county, Nevada.

In general, the colors within Arizona are darker, which means either the women have to travel further, or that they have to patronize more crowded clinics. Darker is worse.

This is what the map looks like if I light up all the boxes, i.e. the states deemed by FiveThirtyEight as having a chance of enacting abortion bans.

All in all, I think this dataviz project has many virtues. It addresses a pressing and important issue relevant to many people. The interactive components are well designed, and actually useful. Legends and annotations pop up as readers hover over the map. Lots of calculations have been performed to help answer the question of how much further someone has to go, as well as how much more congested would the facility be.

***

Nevertheless, the blog reader who told me about this project dislikes the section called "How to Read This Map".

I agree that this color legend is difficult.

I find the three grids confusing. The green one is telling me the first column is green, and darker green represents longer travel to the clinic. The second grid is telling me the first row is pink, and darker pink indicates more congested clinics. Those are not hard.

The third grid is hard to reconcile with the rest. It appears to tell me that the diagonal row is purple, and darker purple indicates high values of both metrics.

I'm trying to juggle those three thoughts in my head, trying to reconcile them, and when I read the map below, I'm seeing a county's specific color, say medium purple, and I want to know what it means without having to refer back to the color legend. It's a fail if I keep having to look up to the legend.

And then, the real problem with the "How to Read This Map" rears its head. Up above, I clicked on Arizona for no reason other than it's the first button on the list. I hovered over Coconino as it's one of the largest counties in Arizona. Here is a close-up of what I see:

Are you noticing what the problem is? The color of this county is a purplish-green mixture. It's not any of the greens, reds, or purples shown in the "How to Read This Map" section! So, I had to find the real color legend, which is elsewhere on the map. This one:

The color for Coconino is the top-middle cell which happens to be one of two cells that were missing in the "How to Read This Map" section. The designer correctly sensed the difficulty of this complicated, two-dimensional legend, and offered help but I feel that the effort hasn't paid off.

***

For this graphic, I think they can simplify the legend, and make it about congestion only. The reason being that the distance dimension is already captured by the lines that show up on hovering. This alternative design does turn the color to one dimensional, but it is less baffling.

Another idea is to convert distance into travel time, and congestion into service time, and then both can be summed to yield a unidimensional color scale. Quite a bit more analytical work must be done to turn congestion into service time.

***

I have a few comments on the analytics behind the dataviz; I'll put them on the book blog in the next day or two.
1. Yes. Police officers should be the only ones armed in the council chambers. Period.

2. Yes. Such a ban is allowed by state law, and the city council should consider it .

3. No. The possibility of violence is always present, but disarming everyone isnt the answer.

4. No. Its unwise to change the city ordinance based on one unfortunate incident.

5. Unsure. Some steps must be taken, but its hard to say if a gun ban is necessary.

Vote

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Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 49F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
KEARNEY  Officials expect that work will be complete and the Central Avenue railroad crossing downtown will reopen by 5 p.m. today, according to a city of Kearney announcement.

The city said the crossing was scheduled to close at 8 a.m. so that Union Pacific Railroad could perform track maintenance.

The crossing will be closed until Union Pacific completes its work. Until then, motorists will need to use alternate routes, according to the city's announcement.
KEARNEY  An Indiana man will serve three years of probation for possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

Judge Ryan Carson sentenced Benjamin Rodway, 52, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, to three years of intensive supervised probation in Buffalo County District Court for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (marijuana).

Carson also ordered Rodway to serve 90 days in the Buffalo County Jail to commence on Sept. 14. He was given two days credit for time already served.

If Rodway qualifies, his probation can be transferred to Indiana.

In December, Rodway pleaded no contest in Buffalo County District Court to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (marijuana). In exchange for his plea, charges of possession of marijuana more than one pound and possession of a controlled substance were dismissed.

Around 7 p.m. July 20, a Kearney Police Department officer stopped a vehicle for speeding five miles east of Kearney on Interstate 80. The officer became suspicious of criminal activity when he contacted the driver. A KPD police service dog, Bane, indicated the odor of drugs coming from inside the vehicle.

During a search, police found a duffel bag in the trunk that contained 10.54 pounds of suspected raw marijuana, THC concentrate and LSD. The driver, Rodway, was arrested.
KEARNEY  A Kearney man has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a child and incest.

The 36-year-old man pleaded not guilty in Buffalo County District Court to the felony charges of first-degree sexual assault of a child and incest. The mans name is being withheld by the Hub in an effort to protect the alleged victims identity.

A one-day jury trial is scheduled to begin May 30.

The incidents are alleged to have happened between Aug. 15, 2019, and Nov. 9, 2019. The charge alleges the man subjected the victim, who is under the age of 12, to sexual penetration. There is no statute of limitations on sexual assault in Nebraska.

Records detailing the case are sealed.
Schedule of events

Monday, April 3  5-8 p.m.

Kickoff event at Sonic Drive-In, 4807 Third Ave. Stop by for a meal, snack or beverage, with proceeds supporting CASA.

Tuesday, April 4  5-7 p.m.

Celebrate the Young Children event at Hilltop Mall, 5011 Second Ave., with camping-themed food, games, prizes and access to local agencies and community programs. Mall businesses are also asked to join in the fun. This event is free to attend.

Thursday, April 6  6:30-7:30 p.m.

Kindergarten Transition Night at Bright Futures Preschool, 1511 Fifth Ave. This is an opportunity for parents to talk to KPS professionals before their child starts kindergarten this fall. Teachers, principals, counselors, social workers, specialists, enrollment, dining and other areas will all be represented. Registration is available at kearneypublicschools.org/parentnight.

Friday, April 7  9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Family Friday Make & Take event at the Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center, 2121 College Ave. If you miss the Tuesday or Thursday night events, stop by the Plambeck Center and pick up a free make and take bag featuring fun, interactive activities for the family.

For more information, contact Bartling at 308-865-1576 or bartlingc@unk.edu.
April is Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month. This month and throughout the year, the Vernon County Department of Human Services encourages all individuals and organizations to support child abuse and neglect prevention efforts in Wisconsin. We believe that every child deserves to grow up in a safe, stable, and nurturing environment. Children are the foundation of our society, our community, and our future. When we focus on preventing child abuse and neglect, the results are better childhoods, leading to healthier adults and stronger communities.

The Vernon County Department of Human Services asks community members to wear blue on April 3 to support the importance of Child Abuse Prevention. Please share your photos of you wearing blue with our Facebook site to show community support for children in our county.

Unfortunately, child abuse occurs everywhere, even in our small rural county. In 2022, Vernon County received a total of 252 reports of child abuse and/or neglect. Of those, 109 met the states criteria to investigate to ensure safety of the children and offer services to the families. Of the 109 reports there were 169 alleged victims and allegations consisted of:

39 allegations of physical abuse

57 allegations of neglect

23 allegations of sexual abuse

8 allegations of emotional damage

1 allegation of unborn child abuse

There will be 109 pinwheels located in front of the Erlandson Building in Viroqua during the month of April to represent the 109 reports that were received and investigated during 2022.

Children do well when their parents do well. Supporting families and ensuring parents have the knowledge, skills, and resources they need are effective ways to protect children from the risk of child abuse and neglect.

Community members can support one another by:

Taking time to talk to parents in your neighborhood  get to know them.

Sharing local resources with families.

Advocating for legislation and funding which support family programs within your community.

Donating new or gently used clothing, toys to programs that support families with children.

Bringing a meal or groceries to a family with young children.

Organizing a family fun event  such as a family story night, game, or movie night.

There will also be a coloring contest for children in Vernon County. The contest is divided into three different age categories from 0-10 years of age. Coloring sheets can be obtained from Human Services along with local elementary schools. Please have your child complete the coloring sheet and return to Human Services or to their school office by April 24. Winners in each category will then be chosen and a prize will be given. The winning pictures will also be framed and displayed in the waiting room at Human Services for the year.

To learn more about child abuse prevention and for more ideas of how to become involved, visit:

Vernon County Department of Human Services: vernoncounty.org

Prevent Child Abuse Wisconsin: preventchildabusewi.org

Department of Children and Families: dcf.wisconsin.gov

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board: preventionboard.wi.gov
SAN DIEGO  As drought dried up rivers that carry Californias newly hatched Chinook salmon to the ocean, state officials in recent years resorted to loading up the fish by the millions onto trucks and barges to take them to the Pacific.

The surreal and desperate scramble boosted the survival rate of the hatchery-raised fish, but still it was not enough to reverse the declining stocks in the face of added challenges. River water temperatures rose with warm weather, and a Trump-era rollback of federal protections for waterways allowed more water to be diverted to farms. Climate change, meanwhile, threatens food sources for the young Chinook maturing in the Pacific.

Now, ocean salmon fishing season is set to be prohibited this year off California and much of Oregon for the second time in 15 years after adult fall-run Chinook, often known as king salmon, returned to California's rivers in near record-low numbers in 2022.

There will be no wild-caught California salmon to eat unless someone has still got some vacuum sealed last year in their freezer, said John McManus of the Golden State Salmon Association.

Experts fear native California salmon, which make up a significant portion of the Pacific Northwests fishing industry, are in a spiral toward extinction. Much of the salmon caught off Oregon originate in California's Klamath and Sacramento rivers. After hatching in freshwater, they spend three years on average maturing in the Pacific, where many are snagged by commercial fishermen, before migrating back to their spawning grounds, where conditions are more ideal to give birth. After laying eggs, they die.

Already California's spring-run Chinook are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, while winter-run Chinook are endangered along with the Central California Coast coho salmon, which has been off-limits to California commercial fishers since the 1990s.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council, the authority responsible for setting ocean salmon seasons off the Pacific coast, is expected in early April to formally approve its proposed closure of Chinook fishing along the coast from Cape Falcon in northern Oregon to the California-Mexico border.

Recreational fishing is expected to be allowed in Oregon only for coho salmon during the summer and for Chinook after Sept. 1. Salmon season is expected to open as usual north of Cape Falcon, including in the Columbia River and off Washingtons coast.

Though the closure will deal a blow to the industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs, few are disputing it.

We want to make sure they are here for the future, said third-generation fisherman Garin McCarthy, who described catching a Chinook as magical.

McCarthy, whose entire income last year came from salmon fishing off both California and Oregon, has had to invest thousands of dollars in equipment to fish other species like rockfish, halibut and black cod.

Were all scrambling to try to make our boats do something different, he said. Were all salmon trollers. Thats what we do. Thats what we live for.

Glen Spain, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations, said he believes the ban might need to be in place for two or three years to bring back sustainable stocks after many fish died in 2020, the start of a record-dry period.

The Chinook already faced challenges, with dams blocking their historic retreats to the chilly upper reaches of Northern Californias Sacramento River and the Klamath River along the California-Oregon border. Decades of development have disrupted the natural flow of rivers and polluted waters.

In 2020, the Trump administration ended federal protections for millions of waterways, allowing for more water to be pumped out of the Sacramento River Basin for farming despite warnings from biologists that it could harm salmon runs in the future.

Fishers say river water temperatures increased with the diversions for irrigation, killing more eggs and hatchlings and preventing the stocks from bouncing back amid the drought.

This one aint on us," said Bob Maharry, 68, a lifelong San Francisco-based fisherman. This has nothing to do with overfishing. This is poor management of water.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the estimated number of adult fall Chinook expected to return to spawn in the Sacramento River this year is less than 170,000, one of the lowest forecasts since the current assessment method began in 2008. Fewer than 104,000 fall Chinook are likely to return to the Klamath River, the second lowest estimate since 1997.

In 2021, a judge determined the Trump administration improperly limited federal protections and restored them to a narrower 1986 standard. The Biden administration is expected to expand the protections in 2024.
Everyones heard of UConn. The rest of the participants in next weekend's Final Four may need name tags. When they travel to Houston to play for the national title, Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami will all be making their first appearances at the Final Four. It's the first time since 1970 that three first-timers all showed up in the same year. There will be no No. 1 seed at the Final Four for the first time since 2011. Instead, there will be a 9 seed in Florida Atlantic, two 5s in SDSU and Miami, and a 4 seed in UConn, which opens as an overwhelming favorite.
GREEN BAY  A woman accused of killing and dismembering a man in Wisconsin is competent to stand trial, a court ruled Friday.

Judge Thomas Walsh issued the ruling and set a July 21 start date for Taylor Schabusiness' trial in Brown County Circuit Court, WLUK-TV reported.

Schabusiness, 25, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault in the killing of Shad Thyrion, 25, in February 2022.

Authorities say she strangled Thyrion at a home in Green Bay, sexually abused him and dismembered his body, leaving parts of him throughout the house and in a vehicle.

Schabusiness has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. She is being held on a $2 million cash bond.

A competency report commissioned by prosecutors that was completed last fall deemed Schabusiness fit for trial.

In February, she attacked her attorney during a hearing moments after Walsh agreed to her lawyer's request for an additional two weeks for a defense expert to review her competency.

A deputy wrestled Schabusiness to the floor of the courtroom, which was then cleared before the hearing resumed.

6 serial killers who left deep scars on Wisconsin Serial killer Ed Gein Serial killer Ed Gein Serial killer Ed Gein Serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin Serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin Serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer Serial killer David Spanbauer Serial killer David Spanbauer Serial killer Walter Ellis Serial killer Walter Ellis Serial killer Edward Edwards Serial killer Edward Edwards
Disabled voters say local election leaders across Wisconsin are not following federal law during early voting in the high-stakes race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, incorrectly telling them they can't have another person return their absentee ballot for them.

Absentee ballots, and who can return them, has been a political flashpoint in battleground Wisconsin, known for razor-thin margins in statewide races. The April 4 election will determine majority control of the state Supreme Court, with abortion access and the fate of Republican-drawn legislative maps on the line.

Challenges to laws and practices in at least eight states that make it difficult or impossible for people with certain disabilities to vote have also arisen in the past two years. At the same time, there has been a push in many states to restrict rules affecting who can return absentee ballots.

Wisconsin Republicans successfully sued last year to ban absentee ballot drop boxes, and the conservative-controlled state Supreme Court ruled that only the voter can return their ballot in person or place it in the mail.

People with disabilities filed a federal lawsuit in response to the state court's decision, arguing that federal law allows them to get assistance in returning their ballot. A federal court ruled in their favor in August, noting that the Voting Rights Act applies to Wisconsin voters who require assistance with mailing or delivering their absentee ballot because of a disability.

But in the lead-up to the April 4 Supreme Court election, and during early voting that began Tuesday, local elections officials are not following the law, advocates for the disabled allege. Absentee ballots were mailed to voters earlier this month and early, in-person voting using absentee ballots began on Tuesday.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission, which oversees the states more than 1,800 local elections officials, first alerted clerks in September to the federal court ruling reiterating that disabled voters can have assistance returning absentee ballots.

In recent weeks, the commission has reminded them of the law in conversations, webinar trainings, and newsletters, commission spokesperson Riley Vetterkind said Friday.

This is a reminder that voters with disabilities are entitled to receive assistance completing and delivering their absentee ballots, the commission said in an email to all clerks on Feb. 3, less than three weeks before the primary. Some jurisdictions are inserting absentee ballot instructions that say assistance is prohibited, without noting the important exception for voters with disabilities.

The message called the issue especially significant because of the court ruling affirming the right to assistance.

Please ensure that your absentee ballot instructions do not contradict the federal courts order, the commission implored.

Barbara Beckert, external advocacy director of Disability Rights Wisconsin, said it was concerning that roughly a dozen communities around the state continue to have incorrect information on their websites, at polling places and being voiced by workers at the polls.

Numerous voters have raised concerns, but all have wished to remain anonymous because they live in small communities and do not want their complaints to become public, she said. Its impossible to know how many voters, or how many communities, may be affected by a misreading of the law, she said.

Beckert provided links to websites in seven communities that had incorrect information currently posted.

The fight over absentee ballot return rules is not unique to Wisconsin.

All states allow third-party return of mail ballots, but the rules around that vary widely, according to Liz Avore, a policy adviser with Voting Rights Lab. Since 2021, 11 states enacted restrictions on third-party return and there have been 27 bills introduced on the topic in 14 states this year, she said.

Most of those would not affect voters with disabilities, with the exception of measures in Arkansas, Minnesota, New York and Oregon, she said.

In Wisconsin, Beckert is pushing for requirements that the right for disabled people to get assistance with filing an absentee ballot be posted at all polling places and be included with instructions sent to voters with their absentee ballot.

The elections commission can vote to change the instructions that are sent to voters along with the ballots, but it would take a change in law to post wording at the polls saying that disabled people can have help returning absentee ballots. The commission, equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, frequently deadlocks on high-stakes votes. And the Republican-controlled Legislature has worked in recent years to make absentee voting more difficult, but been blocked by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Jane Goodall wants everyone to know the impact they can have on the world.

In an engaging and often entertaining lecture at UW-Madison on Sunday, Goodall, a conservationist famous for her work with chimpanzees, talked about the work that transformed the way the world looks at the relationship with animals.

'Retirement' Home Helps Chimpanzees Thrive After Medical Research Sitting on almost 200 acres near Shreveport, Louisiana is Chimp Haven a place where chimpanzees once used in research go to "retire."Since 19

She took the audience on the journey from loving animals as a child exploring nature to meeting Louis Leakey, a scientist and mentor who eventually facilitated her work in Tanzania with the chimps.

It started with a supportive mother.

Goodall said her mother encouraged the love of animals she always had.

In fact, when Goodall first went to Tanzania to what is now Gombe National Park to study chimpanzees and needed someone to take responsibility for her, it was her mother who went along and supported her.

"Mom set up a little clinic and established good relationships with people," Goodall said. Meanwhile she was in the hills with the chimps, taking months to sit quietly and get them to trust her. She stayed even when the chimps were mistrustful and aggressive. Finally, one warmed up to her and the rest followed suit and accepted her.

"Then it became absolutely magical," she said.

Goodall talked about working with communities where the chimpanzees live to support education and conservation and her efforts that led to the retirement of chimps being used for experiments.

She also talked about Roots and Shoots, a program that supports young people in grassroots conservation movements.

The program, now active in 86 countries, came about after Goodall noticed young people were depressed about the future. She said she understands this, but there is still hope.

"People are always asking me, Jane do you really have hope for the world after all you've seen?" Goodall said she does.

Hope comes from young people active in saving the planet and individuals thinking about their own environmental footprint and not giving up, she said.

"Never forget: Every single day you live on this planet you make some impact," she said. "Every single one of you."
As election day quickly approaches for the Winona Area Public Schools referendums, officials are looking to share information about the plan to all generations  including those still attending the schools.

The referendum, set to be voted on April 11, includes two questions. Question one asks voters to approve $72.5 million for classroom and building improvements, and question two asks for an additional $21.7 million for improvements to extracurricular spaces.

Question one must pass for question two to pass.

Ruby Hetzel, senior student board representative on the districts Board of Education, has had a unique view into the referendum process for a student.

Its the first referendum in the school district that Hetzel has been old enough to understand, since she was in middle school during the last referendum.

I think its just so cool to actually sit down and see how the stuff is brought to the board and how the board handles it, Hetzel said. And its a unique experience that I think you can take with you anywhere.

Hetzel and junior student board representative Adele Jacobsen are the first student representatives to be on the board while a referendum has taken place.

Hetzel said its important for the district to share information about the ballot initiatives with high school students, as many of them are not familiar with details of the referendum  and some of them are now 18 and eligible to vote.

I know a lot of people still dont really know a lot about it, she said.

Hetzel said the district is working to change that by placing posters in the high school and teachers have taken moments to talk about it when asked.

Signs at the school also encourage students to vote early at the school. Hetzel said the reminders inspire some students to learn more about it, once they learn how easy it is for them to vote at the school building.

She believes the easy accessibility to voting helps push students to do so and that more students will vote as they learn more about the option to vote early.

Hetzel said students may not know all the details about the referendum, but they understand some of the shortcomings of the districts facilities.

For example, she compared the band room at the high school to the band room at the high school in Austin, Minnesota; she said students have experienced how the performances sound different in Austins more up-to-date room.

And, while many voting-eligible students in the district will graduate by the time the referendum could make an impact on the schools, Hetzel said some students still care about it as their own younger siblings may be affected by the potential changes.

Hetzel also said its important for everyone to vote on the referendum, even those without a personal interest in the schools.

She said the students in the schools now will have an impact on the community as a whole as they enter the workforce after graduation, so their education matters.

I think its like a personal investment, Hetzel said about people putting money toward the schools.

She said the process has helped her understand referendums and school funding. She said the information and process may impact her own children one day.

For more information about the referendum, visit winonaschools.org.

These are the highways in Wisconsin with the most fatalities. These are the highways in Wisconsin with the most fatalities.
ELKHORN  Lederhosen meets kilt at the next DAS Fest USA this August.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers is headlining at the primarily German festival along with event favorite the Alex Meixner Band.

The Voice contestant Rachel Gebel is also set to perform as part of the Gebel Girls, a sister duo from Burlington.

Fourteen other musical acts are also scheduled to perform across three stages at DAS Fest USA, which is Friday through Sunday, Aug. 4 to 6, at the Walworth County Fairgrounds, 411 E. Court St., Elkhorn.

The Pipers  not to be confused with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers the Red Hot Chili Peppers  are a nine-piece ensemble that refers to its fusion of traditional Scottish music and rock/pop anthems as bagrock.

Slated to perform Friday, Aug. 4, on the Oktoberfest Stage at 7:30 p.m., this marks the first time that the Pipers will appear at the fairgrounds.

Meixner, a Grammy-nominated musician and producer who recorded with Jack Black for the film The Polka King, can play over 12 instruments and sing in 11 languages.

The band will play on the Oktoberfest Stage Aug. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 5, from 7 to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, Aug. 6, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Alex Meixners energy followed by the Chilli Pipers bagrock on Friday is a combination unlike any other, said Tammy Dunn, DAS Fest USA Director. This is going to kick off the weekend in a big, big way.

Other acts include Minnesotas Alpensterne; the Happy Players from Nebraska; Ed Wagners Brass Band and the Dirndolls, both of Chicago; and Wisconsins own Copper Box, The Four Biermen and the Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band.

Also appearing at DAS Fest USA are Petty Union, Sons of Leroy, JFK the Band and area artist Jenny Hundt.

Two more band announcements are still coming, according to Dunn.

What is DAS Fest USA?

The third annual DAS Fest USA is the United Way of Walworth Countys signature event, with all proceeds supporting over 45 nonprofit organizations.

There are three stages this year  the Oktobefest Stage, which is the largest at 100-by-200 feet and also featuring German bier straight off the ship on tap; the Biergarten Stage, with a shady canopy; and the Backyard Stage, which emphasizes the USA part of the event with Wisconsin craft brews and performers whose music stretches beyond oompah tunes.

In addition to music, those who attend the festival can watch Dachshund and Corgi races. There are 300 dogs expected to race this year.

Guests will also participant in stein hoisting competitions, watch German dancers and culture groups and see a group of alphorn players and the Original Live Glockenspiel.

German beer and food will be served, including giant pretzels and Reuben rolls from Maders Restaurant, plus dozens of other food vendors.

Bingo where players will have to yell volltreffer, dancing, knockerball, a carnival, cultural education and free family activities are also on tap for DAS Fest USA.

A 5K run is set for Aug. 6 at 9:30 a.m., and a United We Worship nondenominational service is Aug. 6 at 10 a.m. in the Oktoberfest Tent.

For more about DAS Fest USA, call 262-675-3335 or go to www.dasfestusa.com.

Who's playing Elkhorn's DAS Fest USA this year? Red Hot Chilli Pipers Alex Meixner The Gebel Girls Ed Wagner Brass Band Jenny Hundt JFK the Band Copper Box The Happy Players Dirndolls Petty Union
The notes Lynne Montgomery left hidden around her home, discovered as investigators tried to figure out how and why she died on Feb. 27 from apparent blunt force trauma injuries, appear to tell the story.

Help Shannon is hurting me, said one note in 83-year-old Montgomerys handwriting, found on a notepad in the drawer of her nightstand at her home in the southwestern Wisconsin village of Benton, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

On another page of the same notepad, the complaint states, a note appeared to read, She dragged me from the basement to try and get in my safe ... Help!

The person referenced in the notes is Shannon C. Bussan, 29, of Elizabeth, Illinois, the wife of one of Montgomerys grandchildren. The notes are among the clues that led Lafayette County authorities on Wednesday to charge Bussan with first-degree intentional homicide for Montgomerys death.

In the complaint, investigators used video and cellphone data to conclude Bussan lied about her whereabouts on the day Montgomery died, including the time that she first arrived at Montgomerys home on Carr Factory Road on Bentons northern edge.

Bussan claimed she arrived shortly before 4 p.m. that day to find Montgomery badly injured and unresponsive in her bedroom, but the video and cellphone evidence put her there more than three hours earlier, according to the complaint.

Based on this information, Shannon was the last person to speak to and see (Montgomery) before she sustained injuries and ultimately died, the complaint concludes.

On Thursday, Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill said Bussan had been arrested the day before at the Jo Daviess County Sheriffs Office in Galena, Illinois. Records indicate she was booked into the Lafayette County Jail on Thursday.

Bussan is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Monday.

Watch out for Shannon

The notes in the nightstand drawer were not the only ones that appeared to refer to Bussan, the complaint states. In a computer bag Montgomery used only when she traveled, her daughter told investigators, a small index card was discovered.

On one side was written, Watch out for Shannon Help me. On the other side, Shannon she knocked me down in the basement dragged me upstairs threw me down tried to strangle me try to open my safe I dont know what she will do next.

According to the complaint:

Bussan called 911 at 4 p.m. on Feb. 27 to report she had found Montgomery face down on her bedroom floor after Montgomery didnt come to the door as Bussan visited with her three children.

A deputy who was first at the scene said Montgomery was still warm to the touch. In her call to 911, Bussan said her grandmother-in-law was not warm. She speculated during the call that Montgomery had fallen.

An autopsy found bruising consistent with a physical assault, including multiple blunt force trauma injuries to the head and face, and her arms and legs. She also had rib fractures.

Dr. Robert Corliss said Montgomerys death could have been caused by smothering, either by a pillow, having her face forced into a surface or a hand placed over her nose and mouth. Death could also have been caused by compression asphyxiation  a heavy object on her body preventing the movement of breathing, his autopsy found.

Montgomerys family told investigators her home was usually neat and orderly, but when they arrived after her death, it was in an unusual state of disarray, with things found out of place.

Manic state

Speaking with investigators, Bussan said she had plans that day to help Montgomery sell antiques online. She said she had left home around noon and went to her mothers home in Hanover, Illinois, where she and the children stayed until around 2:45 p.m. Her mother was not at home then, she said.

Bussan said Montgomery was acting kinda weird when she called Bussan sometime before 1 p.m.

Four people who had lunch with Montgomery at the local VFW post that day told police she was pleasant and had no visible bruises, scratches or cuts. She had left the VFW sometime between 12:15 and 12:45 p.m.

After getting to Montgomerys home, Bussan said, she did not get a response at the door so she went inside and found Montgomery on her bedroom floor. She claimed that because of poor cellular service, she didnt call 911 right away and said she ran all over the house looking for a phone to use until she remembered that she had her own cellphone.

In the meantime, she said, she also called her husband. Her husband told investigators that Bussan was in a manic state when she called, enough that he feared for her safety. He said she had called him repeatedly, and throughout the calls she said things such as, I dont want to go to prison, Im sorry about all of this, and I didnt take things and she told him to take their children somewhere safe.

At Montgomerys home, investigators noticed that a heavy safe had been dragged into the garage. But the next day, family members said, someone had moved the safe back to a bedroom closet where it was normally kept.

As for the notes, Bussan said she doesnt understand why she didnt see them, since she had searched the nightstand as she looked for a phone. She admitted telling her husband she was going to prison but denied she did anything to Montgomery.

I could never hurt anyone, she said. I wont even kill a mouse at our house. Why would I hurt grandma?

Investigators noted some injuries on Bussans hands, but she said they had happened days earlier from various causes.

Im done

In a second interview, this one with a state Division of Criminal Investigation agent, Bussan explained she had said she was going to prison because, I just immediately thought that, OK, now they found this note. They say its me. Now Im done. Im done. Now theres a note. Im the one who finds grandma. How convenient. Now theres a note the next day.

But the timeline that Bussan had first explained to police appeared not to match the evidence gleaned from security cameras on Main Street in Benton or evidence from a search of Bussans cellphone.

Bussan called 911 at 4 p.m. and said she had only arrived at Montgomerys home a few minutes earlier. While she claimed she was at her mothers home in Illinois until around 2:45 p.m., video surveillance and cellphone location data put her in Benton starting around 11:13 a.m. that day.

Video, from outside the public library and a bank, showed Bussan driving a few vehicles behind Montgomerys car as Montgomery headed home after lunch. Location data from Bussans cellphone put Bussan at Montgomerys home by 12:52 p.m.

Recovered messages from her phone also showed Bussan had tried to contact her husband repeatedly for an emergency starting at 3:40 p.m. She did not call 911 for another 16 to 20 minutes.
A jury has been selected in the jury trial of the Illinois murder suspect accused of shooting a Kenosha County Sheriffs Department K-9 deputy at a Bristol convenience store.

The jury of seven men and six women, which includes one alternate, was selected and sworn-in Monday morning before Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Anthony Milisauskas. The jury was excused for the day before noon.

Opening statements in the trial of 35-year-old Allan M. Brown, of Countryside, Ill., are set to begin Tuesday morning.

Brown is charged with numerous felonies in Kenosha County including three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by an out-of-state felon, firing at an animal with a dangerous weapon and causing injury, mistreatment of a law enforcement animal with a dangerous weapon, failure to comply with an officers attempt to take a person into custody and operating a vehicle without the owners consent with a dangerous weapon.

He also faces a felony escape charge because he allegedly pushed a Racine County deputy and very briefly escaped custody in October 2021 as authorities attempted to transfer him from Froedtert Pleasant Prairie Hospital to the Racine County Jail.

Brown remains in custody on a $1 million cash bond.

Brown allegedly fired shots at numerous Sheriffs Department deputies and K-9 Riggs as they tried to take him into custody after his vehicle was located at Benson Corners, 2000 75th St. (Highway 50) on Oct. 21, 2021. Brown is accused of fleeing on foot and shooting at deputies, non-fatally striking Kenosha County K-9 Riggs before being taken into custody.

Brown was struck in the left thigh, abdomen and bicep when deputies returned fire.

Deputies had been alerted by Chicago Police earlier that day that Brown was being sought in connection with two homicides.

Brown is accused of, in the early morning hours of Oct. 21, 2021, fatally shooting a 25-year-old man he had argued with at a bus stop in Chicago and then shooting and killing a 41-year-old man and then stealing his car.

For the trial of the alleged crimes committed in Kenosha County Brown is represented by defense attorneys Addison Kuhn and McKenna Quinter. Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Smathers is prosecuting the case.

Since his arrest Brown has been charged with more crimes in Wisconsin.

In September 2022 Brown was charged with felonies of battery by a prisoner and substantial battery-intending to cause bodily harm in Racine County Circuit Court after he attempted to headbutt a correctional officer. And earlier this month Brown was again charged with battery by a prisoner.

Brown, who has a lengthy criminal history and two-time convicted felon, was found competent to stand trial last year. He faces over 70 years in prison for his alleged crimes just in Wisconsin.

In 2009, he pleaded guilty for aggravated battery of an officer. In 2008, Brown pleading guilty to aggravated battery. He is still facing two homicide charges in Illinois.

Riggs back at work

When Brown attempted to flee on foot from deputies, his handler Deputy Terry Tifft released his partner, and Riggs took Brown to the ground but was then shot in the head. The bullet entered Riggs forehead and went through the muscle along his skull, before it exited through the back.

Riggs first was treated at a veterinary hospital in Paddock Lake and later transferred to one in Buffalo Grove, Ill.

Riggs was released to a heros welcome that same month.

Riggs has since returned to active duty with his partner and handler.
A Downtown business owner is set to become the newest member of the Lake Geneva Business Improvement District Board.

Members of the Lake Geneva City Council unanimously approved, March 13, to appoint Anthony Silvestri to the Business Improvement District Board. His term is set to expire Jan. 1, 2024.

Silvestri is the co-owner of Magpie's Pen & Den, 642 W. Main St, and he recently purchased Fat Cat's Bar in Downtown Lake Geneva. He also is a member of the Lake Geneva Jaycee's Board of Directors and has assisted during community events including Winterfest, Venetian Festival and Restaurant Week.

Members of the Business Improvement District Board recommended Silvestri's appointment, March 1, by a 3-1 vote.

"The BID believes that Anthony will make a great addition to promotional development for the district and event support with the city and the BID," Alexandria Binanti, executive director for the Lake Geneva Business Improvement District, wrote in her letter of support for Silvestri.

During the March 1 Business Improvement District Board meeting, Silvestri said he is looking forward to serving on the board.

"I've always been interested in this board, tremendously," Silvestri said. "I am a part of the business community and enjoy the business community in this town. I have a vast knowledge of running businesses with my family in Illinois and dealing with communities, so I would love to be a part of this board."

Deanna Goodwin, vice president of marketing, communication and development for Visit Lake Geneva, said Silvestri helped to install ice sculptures during the Downtown Ice Sculpture Walk, which was held Feb. 2 through Feb. 5 as part of the Winterfest activities.

"Anthony personally helped to get the ice sculptures installed when Art Below Zero had a little labor shortage," Goodwin said.

Stephen Schroeder, co-owner of Lake City Social, also was considered as a member for the board. However, the board only had one open seat available and recommended Silvestri.

Beth Tumas, member of the Business Improvement District, said either Silvestri or Schroeder would have been a quality selection.

"I like them both," Tumas said.

Silvestri said Schroeder also would been a good choice for the board.

"He's a friend of mine. He's a family man. He does a lot for the community also," Silvestri said. "He sits on the same board as I do, the board of directors for the Jaycees."

The Lake Geneva Business Improvement District helps beautify the Downtown area and hosts several community events throughout the year including Wine Walk, Maxwell Street Days, Oktoberfest and the Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

Other members of the board include Spyro Condos, president; Laura Thompson, vice president; Janine Osbourne, treasurer; Alethea Salgado, Terry Remke, Alderwoman Shari Straube and Tumas.

The board meets during the first Wednesday of the month at Harbor Shores on Lake Geneva, 300 Wrigley Drive.
JUNEAU  An inmate at Columbia Correctional Institution will serve 15 additional years in prison for a series of felony crimes he committed in 2021 including that of holding a nurse hostage while being housed in the Dodge County Jail.

Travis Bruemmer, 34, from Fond du Lac, appeared before Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Kristine Snow, who also added 16 years of extended supervision to his sentence.

Bruemmer was found guilty in January of a felony count of robbery with threat of force, felony count of false imprisonment, felony count of second degree recklessly endangering safety, felony count of battery by a prisoner, and felony intimidation of a witness.

Bruemmer, who was being housed in the Dodge County Jail after being charged with felonies including robbery, was in contact with a health professional at Dodge County Jail on May 19, 2021, when he attacked her, according to a criminal complaint. The health professional said Bruemmer had told her a day earlier that he did not feel he could make it through a 14-day quarantine in his cell.

Bruemmer admitted to using methamphetamines and said he did not remember attacking the health professional. He also mailed an envelope in August 2021 to his mother and inside the envelope was an additional letter to his girlfriend. In that letter, Bruemmer asked the woman to make contact with the nurse and ask her not to show up to court and drop the charges.

Both former Dodge County District Attorney Kurt Klomberg, who returned to Dodge County for the sentencing on Friday, as well as Bruemmers attorney Francis Raff recommended prison time for Bruemmer. However, Klombergs recommendation was closer to Snows sentence, and Raff suggested a sentence with the charges running concurrent to each other for four additional years in prison. Bruemmer was scheduled to be released in April 2025 for his current sentence.

Snow said she had the sentences running consecutively because of the seriousness of the crimes.

Prosecution requests strict sentenceThe defendant is a terrible person, Klomberg said. His girlfriend said in a call (which was played in court) that he is a plague on society, and I agree with her.

Klomberg said Bruemmer turned 17 years old on July 6, 2005 and entered the Department of Corrections a year later.

He did four terms in prison before this and he is serving his fifth, Klomberg said.

Although some of the time was under supervision as well, Klomberg said Bruemmer has only spent five years in the community.

He has a history of violence before these crimes going all the way back to his first offense, Klomberg said. When he is out in the community he does crime, and we are not safe.

Klomberg also said that Bruemmer did not seem to take responsibility for his actions.

Meth played a role

Although downplayed by Klomberg, Raff said methamphetamines addiction was a major factor in the case.

Bruemmer also touched on the dangers of the drug while he made a statement that included apologizing to the victim and others affected by his actions.

I thought I had a grasp on what meth does to me, Bruemmer said. However that day and the days leading up to this, I had an extreme and negative reaction to it.

Bruemmer said he had only used methamphetamines for a short time prior to 2021, a time when he experienced a lot of loss in his family. Previously he had been addicted to heroin but had turned away from the drug fearing for his life.

Bruemmer said he had wanted to live his life free of the drug and be a productive member of society.

Raff said that Bruemmer had been taking responsibility for his actions, including entering a plea in the case and feeling remorse for his actions.

Bruemmer also has a job in prison, and his boss has said he is great to work with and a great person. Raff said Bruemmer does have many issues to get through but questioned the help he had received while being incarcerated in the past.
Yellen Called Emergency Meeting on Deutsche Bank

March 26, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)The now-weekly emergency financial meetings got kicked off on Friday, March 24, when Janet Yellen called an unscheduled and closed meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to deal with the Deutsche Bank (DB) developments. When DB on Friday announced a traditional calming measure, repurchasing some of their own debt, it triggered the opposite result, a sell-off. Then German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as Deutsche Banks stock plummeted on Friday, weighed in: It is a very profitable bank and there is no reason to be concerned. Yet another traditional calming measure.

Evidently, for markets to get upset about what is normally a calming measure, it suggests that DB was already being stared at, as it wereand almost any move could trigger panic (e.g., why is DB trying to calm us? They must be in big trouble, etc.). The underlying reality is that DB is known as one of the worlds powerhouses in the derivatives game, and the big question is, when the music stops, who is going to be left with a bunch of promises of making good on the gambling debts and which counterparty is not to be heard from. It seems that contagion is in the house.

This weekend has found the huge DB at the center of that derivatives-based contagion rumor. On Friday, March 24, the credit default swaps for DB, the so-called insurance for investors holding DB debt, soared. That served as the trigger for a DB stock plunge. But analysts this weekend have avoided addressing publicly why those credit default swaps went haywire in the first place.

AP quotes two analysts from the global financial research firm Autonomous, Leona Li and Stuart Graham, to say that Deutsche is in robust shape. We are relatively relaxed in view of Deutsches robust capital and liquidity positions. Since Deutsche Banks holdings of derivatives are well known, it is just not very scary, in our view. However, the same AP article usefully cites the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management professor of finance Sascha Steffen to explain that, when the market values the bank at below the assets put on their balance sheet, That means investors are still very worried about what are the risks that the bank has on its balance sheet or its earnings potential going forward, and thats not good.... Its contagionits lack of confidence, a lack of trust.

It is the dreaded issue counterparty risk that is haunting the scene. It is claimed, in Deutsche Banks defense, that it is not Credit Suisse, that DB has much better numbers on paper. But, unfortunately, that DB is not Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse, though seriously involved in derivatives, doesnt rise to the level of DB, as far as is known or suspected. However DB, as with the big four American banks, are at the center of the derivatives bubble.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR MONDAY MARCH 27, 2023

Your Right To Vote Has Been Abolished

March 26, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)Swiss law required that Credit Suisses shareholders vote on the takeover by UBS, but UBS would not participate in the forced marriage without massive government financial commitments and a massive loss to Credit Suisses shareholders. The latter would not be approved by the shareholders. Whats a government to do? In a flash, they simply rewrote the law, eliminating the vote.

It was made clear to Frances President Macron by financial authorities that government pensions had to be reformedthat is, the age of retirement is pushed ahead by two years. Such an outrage to the population was unlikely to be approved by their legislature. Again the solutiondo away with voting on the matter.

And dont expect the consequences of the bailout schemes of behind-the-scenes emergency meetings of financial authoritiessuch as Janet Yellens March 24 Financial Stability Oversight Council affairto be treated any differently.

The financial markets love democracy, until they dontand the lesson delivered is that voters are welcome to vote on almost anything, as long as financial speculation is the autocrat in town.

It turns out that there is a conflict between democracy and autocracybut not the one touted by Western opinion-shapers, the one that Biden loves to sermonize on. That phony debate against those labeled as autocrats, the leaders of countries who pushed back against financial speculation, who use government powers to defend some notion of the general welfare of their populations. In the current Western world, democracy is fine for identity issues, but when each financial heart attack occurs, and a showdown occurs between the survival of populations and the purchase of another round of financial speculation, the pretense of democracy is stripped bare. Society cannot afford for you to vote.

What happens to $33 trillion of U.S. government debt when it is allowed to consider the question, what are the chances that such a debt gets paid? And, tangentially, where does anyone imagine the money for bank bailouts actually comes from? Can such an entity, that has been covering the bets of the speculators for decades when they lose, really keep their hands off the supposedly sequestered funds of the Social Security system? When push comes to shove, will Biden submit, as Macron has, to the looting of such sacrosanct savings? And would the matter be put to a vote by you or your elected representatives?

The American System economic strategy of Alexander Hamilton and his water-powered projects, of Abraham Lincoln and the transcontinental railroad, of Franklin Roosevelt and the TVA, of John F. Kennedy and the Apollo program are real. The United States did it better and longer than anyone. However, the present reality, and irony, is that China, ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, is more American than any other force on the planet just now. The basing of credit-generation upon actual physical-economic projects, the old-fashioned distrust of financial speculation games, and the central commitment to raising the general welfare of the population have been key to bringing 800 million Chinese citizens out of poverty over the last 30+ years.

Ten years ago, Chinas President Xi Jinping was first elected, and his offer of the poverty elimination program, of his building a middle class, to feeding the billions of undernourished of the world with his Belt and Road Initiative has given reality to the long-frustrated hopes of the underdeveloped. That offer is not just, as Lincoln would say, the last best hope of mankind, but the actual last best hope of the United States getting out from underneath our own debt trap.

Why else would the financial speculators and permanent-war gang spend so much energy building up China as your enemy?

Presently, the Global Majority of nations are getting on board the Belt and Road, not the transparently phony democracy fighting the autocrats operation. Today, sign and circulate the Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouches Call for an Emergency International Conference To Reorganize the Bankrupt Financial System:

Tomorrow, and over the next two weeks, drive despair out of your heart and fear out of your poor soul. Organize yourself and all you care around the simple and inescapable reality, that Without the Development of All Nations, There Can Be No Lasting Peace for the Planetthe title of the Schiller Institutes forthcoming April 15 conference:

Its called voting with your feet.
Colombia is one of just eight countries where bullfights remain legal. Many places in those countries are establishing restrictions on the activity. Courts and city governments in Spain and Mexico have issued rulings that have discouraged the events.

In December, Colombias Senate approved a measure to ban bullfighting nationwide. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives could take up the legislation when it returns from its three-month break.

Bullfights have been a part of life in Colombia for hundreds of years. But much of the public now disapproves of the practice because of ethical concerns.

We are talking about living and feeling beings, said Andrea Padilla. She is a recently elected senator and longtime animal rights activist who wrote the anti-bullfighting law.

These are mammalswho shouldnt be exposed to a slow and painful death.

Padillas law proposes banning all bullfights within three years. It also demands immediate reform of bullfighting shows. It bars the use of some weapons and the killing of the animal.

Bullfighting supporters say those measures would effectively end the tradition.

In bullfights, the bull is fought and taunted in three stages that last about six minutes each. First, a horseman injures the bull with a long wooden weapon with a metal point. Then, assistants rush up to the bull to push sharp sticks into the animals upper back. Lastly, the bullfighter stabs and kills the bull.

Supporters of bullfights say the ban would destroy an art form. They also say it will cause job losses. They argue that politicians like Padilla are trying to force their beliefs on others.

Studies suggest bullfighting supporters are a small percentage of Colombias population. In a November public opinion study by research company Datexco, 85 percent of Colombians said they agreed with a ban on bullfights. Just 13 percent said they were against a ban.

However, in Colombias House of Representatives many politicians have been unwilling to ban it. Some lawmakers say they prefer a bill that moderates bullfights by making some of the weapons used in these events less violent.

In some parts of Colombia, like the city of Manizales, bullfights still interest thousands of people each year. The local Red Cross owns the bullfighting center in that city. Its yearly bullfighting celebration raises thousands of dollars for a childrens hospital.

Its sad that people who dont know anything about our sector want to make laws about us, said Sergio Alzate. The 22-year-old hopes to become a bullfighter, or matador. He attends the city's bullfighting school.

Still, Senator Padilla and thousands of others in Colombia argue that there is no ethical reason for events where animals are killed for show.

She added that her bill directs the government to help create new sources of money for people working in bullfights.

Im Dan Novak.

Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.

___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

discourage  v. to make less determined, hopeful, or confident

mammal  n. a type of animal that feeds milk to its young and that usually has hair or fur covering most of its skin

expose  v. to cause to experience something or to be influenced or affected by something

taunt  v. to say insulting things in order to make that person angry

sector  n. a part of an economy that includes certain kinds of jobs
In Israel, thousands of protesters demonstrated Sunday and Monday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plans to make changes to the nations top court.

People walked the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, waving white and blue Israeli flags. Many workers did not go to their jobs on Monday and Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv suspended outgoing flights.

The leader of Israels largest workers group is Arnon Bar-David. Bring back the countrys sanity, he said.

Netanyahus conservative coalition government says Israels Supreme Court has too much power. The changes would permit leaders in parliament, known as the Knesset, to appoint judges and also restrict the courts ability to rule against the government. The plan would give lawmakers greater power in appointing new judges.

Those in the conservative government say the court is often putting the rights of minorities ahead of the nations interests.

The current rule in Israel requires agreement on new judges from a group that includes politicians and judges. The new plan would permit government leaders to name the judges.

Netanyahu said the plan would balance the court. Critics, however, say he wants his government to be able to change the group of judges because he is facing an ongoing legal case. Netanyahu is barred from involvement in the planned changes.

One member of the government, Yoav Gallant, was dismissed as defense minister for opposing the plan. Some Israelis worried about the countrys armed forces without the top government leader.

Netanyahu was supposed to make a television appearance on Monday announcing the changes, but it was postponed. He made a statement on Twitter, asking protesters to behave responsibly and to not act violently. We are brotherly people, he said.

It is not clear when the Prime Minister will push again for the changes, some think it might be after parliament returns on April 30 after the Jewish Passover holiday.

The Israeli president is Isaac Herzog. In Israel, that position does not have much power. However, Herzog said: For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately.

Why are Israelis concerned?

Israel does not have a strong system of checks and balances where the parliament and the judiciary have different and balanced powers. In fact, Israel does not have a written constitution, only basic laws.

Critics say the ruling Likud party, led by Netanyahu, would become too strong if the changes are enacted.

Matityahu Sperber, who is 68, was walking to a protest outside the Knesset. Sperber told the Associated Press: This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship. Im here to fight to the end.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by Reuters and the Associated Press.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

sanity n. the condition of basing decisions on reason and good judgement

sake n. for the good of someone or something

________________________________________________________________

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A Fremont pork processing plant will be able to add a second shift and double its capacity to 5.6 million pigs a year once the company completes a plant renovation and expansion under way, a company official said this week.

Wholestone Farms will be "one of the most modern, efficient pork plants, not only in the U.S. but the world," said Luke Minion, interim chief executive officer and board chairman.

Wholestone Farms, which is owned by 200 farmers in several midwestern states, has been renovating the plant since acquiring it from Hormel in 2018.

A $25 million federal grant, announced last week, will pay a portion of the costs. Minion said his company is grateful for the grant. He said the total costs of the project are "well above" the grant amount. For comparison, he said, a new plant can cost $500 million.

The company's goal is to restore the plant to "like-new status," he said.

"That includes a number of projects: a new wastewater treatment plant that's completed already; a rendering facility, which is just about completed...; a brand-new what we call cut floor, which will be finished in September," he said. "A whole bunch of things."

Currently, the Fremont plant has about 1,300 employees and can process about 11,000 pigs a day with an eight-hour shift, he said. In a year, that's about 2.8 million pigs, he said.

Once the construction is done, the plant will be able to run 16 hours a day, adding a second shift and raising the annual capacity to roughly 5.6 million pigs a year.

The plant would add between 800 and 1,000 employees, he said.

Minion said he's confident that with some planning the company can staff the second shift from within the area.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the plant remained open, and currently it doesn't have a staffing problem, he said.

"This facility has been in this town for a very long time," he said. "And so there's a lot of people familiar with this work, familiar with this workforce, and now the facility is really all new and so it's a great place to work."

Minion said consumers should start seeing the Wholestone Farms brand more often in the retail market.

From 2018 to 2021, Wholestone Farms sold all of its products from the Fremont plant to Hormel. So people would have been buying Wholestone Farms pork with the Hormel label, he said. In 2022, the company started selling to others in addition to Hormel.

In January, for the first time, the company started putting the Wholestone Farms label on retail products, Minion said.

"You'll see Wholestone Farms in grocery stores, all across the Midwest and across the United States, and that customer list is growing for us here, and we're pretty excited about that," he said.

The grant was awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program.

According to the USDA, the program provides grants to help eligible processors expand their capacity.

USDA Rural Development, it said, designed the expansion program to "encourage competition and sustainable growth in the U.S. meat processing sector, and to help improve supply chain resiliency."

Minion said per-capita pork consumption hasn't changed much in the U.S., so the demand domestically has been flat, other than increases for a growing population. But exports have been growing for many years, he said.

He said that there have been discussions in the industry about whether the pork supply chain in the United States is concentrated in too few owners.

"The big four that own over 85% of the U.S. pork supply chain are not farmer-owned," he said. "So it's not only expansion of capacity. It's expansion of capacity along with diversifying who's in control of the pork supply chain."

Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said Wholestone Farms has been a good corporate partner.

"It's been tremendous to see their growth and commitment to Fremont," he said.

He said the Wholestone Farms expansion hasn't stirred controversy the way a Costco chicken plant did a few years ago.

"Agriculture is our strength," he said.

Wholestone Farms took over a plant that was there for decades and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in it, he said.

For the most part, he said, everybody in Fremont wanted to get behind that.

"The last thing that we wanted to do in Fremont was to shut the plant south of town," Spellerberg said. "I think that we understand our strengths. We also understand the opportunities that these companies give to the people that are around the Fremont community and the businesses that support them."
LEXINGTON  When spring arrives, the severe weather season is not far behind. March 27-31 is Nebraska Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Its fair to say that 2022 brought unique weather to all portions of Nebraska. From tornadoes, to giant hailstones to wildfires and dust storms, our weather has been impactful. The National Weather Service remains committed to working with leaders from across the state to build Weather-Ready communities, the National Weather Service stated.

We encourage everyone to take time to review and practice your severe weather plan for your home or office. If you dont have a plan, this is a great time to consider developing one and sharing it with others. Preparing an emergency kit with basic supplies such as food, water, blankets and a flashlight can save precious time when reacting to an actual event, the NWS stated.

The difference between a weather watch or warning plays a key part in knowing the risks of severe weather.

A weather watch, such as a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, is issued hours ahead of the event by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. The watches typically cover a large area, often numerous counties.

A watch means different variables are in place that could lead to the development of dangerous weather conditions. If a watch is issued for the local area, be mindful of forecast updates and have a plan in place to take shelter if needed.

A weather warning is issued by the local NWS office, NWS Hastings in the case of Dawson and Gosper counties.

A warning is issued when a severe weather threat develops and is ongoing. Warming areas are small and cover a handful of counties at most. A warning means severe weather is imminent in the area and residents should be taking shelter right away.

Common occurrences in spring include severe thunderstorms, which will be producing quarter sized hail, winds over 58 mph or a tornado.

A flash flood occurs when water levels rise with little to no advance warning, it is usually the result of intense rainfall over a short period of time. Lexington suffered flash flooding in July 2019.

On average, more people were killed by flooding than any other single severe weather hazard. Remember, it takes just six inches of fast-moving water to knock over an adult and 12 inches of water can float a car. We learned this during the floods of 2019. So, when it floods, turn around, dont drown, Senator Pete Ricketts noted in a video address about Severe Weather Awareness Week.

A funnel cloud is associated with a violently rotating column of air but that as not in contact with the ground.

If that violently rotating column of air touches the ground, then it becomes a tornado. Be mindful, a tornado may not be visible until it has picked up dirt and debris.

Tornadoes can occur at any time of day or night and at any time of the year. Although tornadoes are most common in the Central Plains and the southeastern United States, they have been reported in all 50 states, NWS states.

Lightning is another common occurrence within thunderstorms.

Lightning is fascinating to watch but is also extremely dangerous. In the United States, there are approximately 25 million lightning strikes every year. Each of those flashes is a potential killer. While lightning fatalities have decreased over the past 30 years, it remains a threat that needs to be taken seriously, the NWS notes.

Although lightning strikes peak in summer, people are struck year round. In the U.S., an average of at least 20 people are killed each year by lightning and hundreds more are severely injured. Some survivors suffer lifelong health problems, per the NWS.

The motto for Lightening Safety from the NWS is, When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors! There is no safe place outdoors when thunderstorms are in the area.

Many people are outdoors enjoying recreational activities on spring days. However, thunderstorms often develop in the late afternoon and the pleasant day can turn quickly if the right factors are in place.

What should you do before venturing out to your favorite recreation site? Always check the forecast and notify friends and family of your plans. Scout out your evacuation plan before arriving on site and then determine how long it would take to get to your safe shelter in the event inclement weather approaches. And its always a good idea to test out your weather radio and ensure you have a first aid kit readily available, the NWS notes.

Providing accurate storm reports gives forecasters an idea of what the storm is doing. These reports are used in research aimed at better understanding how storms work.

This real time information allows forecasters to have ground truth of what is actually happening below where the radar cannot see.

We are grateful to our storm spotters, partners, and local community members for your continued support and assistance in providing this information, the NWS states.
Joshua D. Blank (University of California, Irvine School of Law) & Leigh Osofsky (University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill) have posted Automated Legal Guidance at Federal Agencies (Report for the Administrative Conference of the United States, May 27, 2022) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

When individuals have questions about Federal benefits, services, and legal rules, they are increasingly seeking help from government chatbots, virtual assistants, and other automated tools. Current forms of automated legal guidance platforms include the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Servicess Emma, the U.S. Department of Educations Aidan, and the Internal Revenue Services Interactive Tax Assistant. Most scholars who have studied artificial intelligence and Federal government agencies have not focused on the governments use of technology to offer guidance to the public. The absence of scholarly attention to automation as a means of communicating government guidance is an important gap in the literature, given the strong influence that these communications can have on individuals decisions about the law.

This Report describes the results of a qualitative study of automated legal guidance across the Federal government, which included semi-structured interviews with both agency technology experts and lawyers. This study was conducted under the auspices of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). During our study, we reviewed the automated legal guidance activities of all Federal agencies and conducted in-depth research on agencies that are already using well-developed chatbots, virtual assistants, or other related tools to assist the public in understanding or following relevant law. After identifying the agencies that are primary adopters of automated legal guidance, we conducted interviews with multiple individuals from each agency, as well as representatives from the U.S. General Services Administration.

We find that automated legal guidance offers agencies an inexpensive way to help the public navigate through complex legal regimes. However, we also find that automated legal guidance may mislead members of the public about how the law will apply in their individual circumstances. In some cases, agencies exacerbate this problem by, among other things, making guidance seem more personalized than it is, not recognizing how users may rely on the guidance, and not adequately disclosing that the guidance cannot be relied upon as a legal matter. In many respects, this is not a problem of agencies own making. Rather, agencies are faced with the difficult task of translating complex statutory and regulatory regimes for a public that has limited capacity to understand them. Agencies also often lack sufficient resources to engage in more personalized outreach. Fundamentally, we identify a tension between agencies reasonable desires to promote automated legal guidance and its underappreciated limitations.

In this Report, after exploring these challenges, we chart a path forward. We offer policy recommendations, organized into five categories: transparency; reliance; disclaimers; process; and accessibility, inclusion, and equity. We believe this Report, and the detailed policy recommendations that flow from it, will be critical for evaluating existing, as well as future, development of automated legal guidance by governments.

Interesting and recommended.
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By ALAN SUDERMAN & SAM METZ, SALT LAKE CITY

Chinas global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the worlds most powerful communist country.

An investigation by the Associated Press has found that China and its U.S.-based advocates spent years building relationships with the states officials and lawmakers. Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didnt like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese governments image.

Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the U.S. and its western allies have turned acrimonious.

Beijings success in Utah shows how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

Utah is an important foothold, he said. If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.

Security experts say that Chinas campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Beijings campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the Justice Department.

A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic. A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP hes been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

LOCAL DIPLOMACY

Beijings interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the U.S. in 2015 that without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.

It is not unusual for countries, including the U.S., to engage in local diplomacy. U.S. officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the U.S. intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center in July warned state and local officials about deceptive and coercive Chinese influence operations. And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to cultivate talent earlyoften state and local officialsto ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijings agenda.

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the U.S. and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and Chinas tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered and shot down in U.S. airspace.

LEGISLATIVE AND PR VICTORIES

U.S. officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted. The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well-known to lawmakers.

Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislations sponsor. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards theyd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to become young ambassadors for Sino-American friendship.

Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state media in China.

A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. Hes so cool! Portraying Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Xis letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldnt help but think how amazing it was that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xis letter was so kind and so personal.

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said, Statements like this are exactly what Chinas goal is for influence campaigns.

SPY AGENCY INTEREST

Chinas interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education. U.S. officials have noted that Chinas civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show.

In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China. The Chicago student told an undercover agent hed been tasked by his spy handlers to meet people, some American friends. He was baptized at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent hed been going to Utah more often lately before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former U.S. intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China.

The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organize the first ever annual U.S.-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews. The U.S. State Department cancelled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts.

UTAH IS NOT LIKE WASHINGTON D.C.

The AP found groups of up to 25 Utah lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007. Lawmakers have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges, while relying on host organizations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, theyve forged relationships with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijings agenda.

Utah is not like Washington D.C., then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.

In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him bullish about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other lawmakers.

Utah doesnt require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so its difficult to determine lawmakers financial ties to China. Some of Utahs most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections.

Sen. Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he had clients in China  a dozen at times  some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients are based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them.

Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah.

Chinas not going anywhere. Chinas going to be a world force. Theyre going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavor, he said.

TIES FORGED BY TWO UTAH RESIDENTS

Many of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organizations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found.

The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favor with Beijing, according to emails and interviews.

In reviewing the APs findings, legal experts said the mens connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven.

If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters.

One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted in 1990 to the Mormon faith.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job  as a paid representative of Chinas Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding sister relationship with Utah.

Les advocacy continued after he said he left Liaonings payroll, emails and interviews show. He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese Embassy set up meetings with state officials.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with Chinas ambassador to the U.S., Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting.

I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together. You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.

State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams thought could be used as potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, emails and interviews show.

Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in an email to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese Embassy to assign two staffers to work tirelessly on the request until it was fulfilled.

RELIGIOUS SALES PITCH

A hallmark of Les approach is to utilize his religion in his pitches to lawmakers. He quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his emails, text messages and letters, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the churchs president-prophet, has made about China.

Chinese officials have tried to cultivate friendly ties with the church. When visiting Utah, Chinas diplomats and officials often meet top church members as well as lawmakers, emails and other records show.

Expanding to China has been a top goal for the church, which plays a heavy role in Utah politics and the states overall identity. Many of the states residents lived abroad as missionaries, and several of Utahs public schools have robust K-12 Chinese immersion programs.

While the church has historically been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Le sought to stop Utah lawmakers from supporting religious figures or groups discriminated against by the Chinese government.

When a Utah lawmaker sponsored a resolution in 2021 condemning Chinas crackdown of its minority Muslim Uighurs, Le chastised the legislator in text messages and compared unflattering media coverage of the Chinese government to that of the churchs founder, Joseph Smith Jr.

Pray to God and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as you ponder about these issues instead of solely relying on those biased media reports, Le said.

The resolution failed that year and a similar one introduced in January did not receive a hearing.

CHINAS ADVANTAGES

Le has served as a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, which has ties to the United Front Work Department  a Chinese Communist Party organization the U.S. government says engages in covert and malign foreign influence operations.

A United Front publication profiled Le in 2020 after he attended a meeting in Beijing of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious advisory body controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

I deeply feel the advantages of Chinas system, Le told the publication.

Le told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI in 2007 and 2018 about his Chinese government ties. He said his advocacy has always been self-directed.

I dont consider myself a lobbyist because Im not a lobbyist. Im just someone who cherishes the relationship between the U.S. and China, Le said in an interview in his Weber State office.

Adams, the Senate president, said he feels otherwise.

I do believe hes lobbying, Adams said. He advocates very hard on China.

LAWMAKERS SON TURNED CHINA ADVOCATE

Another Utah resident whom lawmakers said regularly has advocated better relations with China was Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

Emails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah.

Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well connected with government officials there.

Ive heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritizing their relationship with Utah, Stephenson told lawmakers at a committee hearing. That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Sen. Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

The resolution passed with near unanimous approval.

A Chinese diplomats efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the states senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda.

Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolutions origins.

It seemed rather innocuous to me, Anderegg said of his resolution. But maybe it wasnt.

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution.

Stephenson has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show.

He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International. The companys chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online biography. The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Partys United Front.

Stephenson, also once worked for the China Academy of Painting, which has been used by Chinas Ministry of State Security as a front for meeting and covertly influencing elites and officials abroad, according to Alex Joske, the author of the recently published book Spies and Lies: How Chinas Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World.

Stephenson said he worked only briefly  without pay  for the China Academy of Painting. He added he did not witness any spy agency involvement.

WORK ALIGNED WITH CHINESE GOVERNMENTS DESIRES

Stephenson said hes never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it.

I work to promote Utahs economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties, Stephenson said.

His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Partys messaging.

Stephenson urged Utahs elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that citys residents early in 2020 as they battled COVID-19, according to emails obtained by AP.

You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China, Stephenson said in an email pitching the videos.

The request originated with the Shanghai government, according to Stephensons email, and came as officials in China were scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his repeated warnings about the diseases dangers.

Many lawmakers recorded videos reading sample scripts Stephenson provided, and a compilation of those videos was uploaded to a Chinese social media website. The compilation ends with dozens of lawmakers in unison shouting jiayou!- a Chinese expression of encouragement  on the Utah House and Senate floors.

MDT/AP
Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has canceled his trip to China after contracting pneumonia, the presidential palace said yesterday [Macau time].

Lula, 77, was admitted to a hospital in the capital of Brasilia with flu-like symptoms and was diagnosed with bacterial and viral bronchopneumonia due to influenza A, the palace said in a statement, quoting a medical note signed by Dr. Ana Helena Germoglio.

The leftist leaders health was reassessed on Saturday and, despite improvement, he was advised to postpone the trip to China until the cycle of viral transmission ends, the medical note said. His press office later confirmed that the trip had been canceled.

Chinese authorities have been informed, with the reiteration of the desire to schedule the visit on a new date, the palace said.

Lula had been expected to leave for China on a multi-day visit on Friday or Saturday, but the trip was pushed back on Friday.

A delegation composed of ministers, senators, lawmakers and hundreds of businessmen  including more than 100 from the agricultural sector  had been set to accompany Lula during his first state visit to Brazils biggest trade partner since taking office in January.

The trips cancellation is bad news for the government as the visit was an opportunity for Lula to reconnect with business elites, especially in the agribusiness, who have been very much pro-Bolsonaro, said Oliver Stuenkel, a political scientist from the Getulio Vargas Foundation think tank.

The Brazilian president and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping were scheduled to meet tomorrow. Trade, investment and climate change were on the agenda and 20 bilateral agreements had been expected to be signed, according to a statement Thursday from the presidential palace.

Lula, who rarely postpones or cancels trips due to health reasons, traveled to Argentina in January and the U.S. in February, marking a departure from Brazils foreign policy under former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who showed little interest in international affairs or travel abroad.

The cancellation will raise questions about to what extent Lula can sustain the very intense diplomatic activism seen in the first three months of his presidency, Stuenkel said.

Pedro Brites, an international relations expert at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, said the postponement of the trip was a lost opportunity to switch the focus to more positive issues for the government after a turbulent week.

On Wednesday, federal police cracked down on a gang accused of plotting assassinations and kidnappings of public officials including Sen. Sergio Moro, who was the lead judge in the Carwash trials which led to the arrest of prominent politicians including Lula.

The then-former president spent over a year in jail before his conviction was annulled. In 2019, Moro became Bolsonaros Justice Minister.

The leftist leader on Thursday suggested the police operation was a setup by Moro, prompting fierce criticism by opposition politicians and discomfort among allies.

Rescheduling Lulas visit to China will be a challenge due to the very crowded agendas of both leaders, said Stuenkel, but he predicted Lula will really try to make this happen during the first half of the year due to the high domestic and international importance of the trip.

Lula had been intending to normalize and strengthen ties with China after a rocky period of tensions under former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.

Commercial ties continued but political relations with China soured during Bolsonaros term  a particular low point came when Bolsonaros son Eduardo blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on the Chinese Communist Party in March 2020. MDT/AP
The Micro Connect Financial Assets Exchange platform (MCEX), which offers relevant services to the city, was launched over the weekend in Macau.

The Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng approved the platform on Dec. 5 last year.

Micro Connect is a company founded and chaired by former Hong Kong Stock Exchange chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia.

As per the statement on obtaining the local governments approval, the company noted the new Micro Connect Exchange will operate on a blockchain-enabled technology platform and is ready to deliver innovation to the capital markets in China and beyond.

At the launch ceremony, the company said the platform aims to use digital methods to connect international capital with Chinese small and micro enterprises and to construct a more inclusive and impactful brand-new financial market.

Chan Sau San, chairman of the board of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM), said in his speech, It is hoped that after the trial operation of MCEX, the business model will be gradually straightened out and a solid risk prevention mechanism will be established.

He added that with the aforementioned outcome accomplished, opportunities will be fully seized, based on the location advantage of the intersection of Macaus dual circulation, and international funds will be introduced to help Chinas micro and small businesses and the real economy, and contribute to Macaus economic diversification.

Chinas Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently sees a 60% reliance on consumption, mostly involving small businesses. There are over 70 million small shops across China. On average, each year six million of these shops shut down, in contrast to 10 million new businesses, which equates to new capital needs ranging between RMB1.2 and 1.3 billion.

The company pledged MCEX will bring about an unprecedented economically inclusive and socially impactful financial market that supports grassroots entrepreneurship, increases job opportunities and helps achieve common prosperity.

Li said MCEX will help small businesses across China to finance their quick expansion, which is traditionally impossible considering the enormous costs and charges. It was suggested that if these businesses achieve financial sturdiness, Chinas economy will grow stronger.

Li said the platform is the worlds first financial market dedicated to Chinas micro economy through an innovative new asset class and revenue sharing product, the DRO (Daily Revenue Obligations). By leveraging Chinas leading digital economy, the DRO will reshape the global financial landscape.

Micro Connect Founder and CEO Gary Zhang announced several products for Micro Connect and MCEX, namely the launch of DROs, the worlds first exchange-traded revenue sharing product; the launch of the Micro Connect Leadership Fund and the launch of the Micro Connect Daily Cash Index (MDCI) and Micro Connect Composite Index.

Giving information about the DRO and the other products to be launched, the CEO pledged that the establishment of MCEX means financing via financial exchanges is no longer exclusive to a few large corporates, but is now a convenient choice for millions of micro and small businesses.

He also pledged to turn Macau into a new international financial center in the digital age.

Through the new financial market platform, MCEX, Micro Connect hopes to provide Chinas micro and small businesses with adequate and sustainable financing while allowing global investors to enjoy quality returns by tapping into their daily and transparent cash flows.

MCEX will create an ocean of opportunities for global capital while providing a significant boost to Chinas grassroots economy.

MCEX will also help to form the foundations of Macaus financial infrastructure and further develop its innovation and technology industry. With this industrial upgrade and economic diversification, Macau will become a multi-level financial services center and a focal point in the Greater Bay Area.

Although the company is an exchange platform itself, it may eventually seek public listing on stock exchanges, Li told a post-ceremony press conference.

On supervising DROs, Li said the Chinese Franchise Law has authorities. DRO is an agreement on investment of revenue sharing, he further explained, and has no public participation, meaning that it neither has debt nor stocks.

The launch ceremony also saw the listing of the first batch of Micro Connects DROs, which are three stores in mainland China funded by the MCEX platform, as well as a gong-striking ceremony officiated by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and several other guests.
Five micro movies produced by local filmmakers premiered at The Londoner Macao yesterday as part of the 2022 New Art Studies in Filming  Micro Movie Support Program.

The program was organized by the Creative Industries Promotion Association of St. Lazarus Church District and sponsored by Sands China Ltd (SCL).

The initiative aims to enhance the skills of local film and television creative professionals, and support the development of filmmaking talent in the city.

22 teams submitted applications for movie production, with five teams selected and funded to produce their micro movies based on their concepts.

The completed movies unveiled at yesterdays premiere were Doro Bistro, Travel in Place, Unlock, The List, and Hang Up.

The programs president, Patrick Wong Sio Chon, expressed his gratitude to Sands China for their support in making the premiere a success.

Wilfred Wong, president of SCL, said the programs sponsorship demonstrates the companys commitment to nurturing local filmmakers in line with the Macau SAR governments policy of moderate economic diversification and the tourism + art initiative.
On the one side are dozens of lawmakers on Capitol Hill issuing dire warnings about security breaches and possible Chinese surveillance.

On the other are some 150 million TikTok users in the U.S. who just want to be able to keep making and watching short, fun videos offering makeup tutorials and cooking lessons, among other things.

The disconnect illustrates the uphill battle that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle face in trying to convince the public that China could use TikTok as a weapon against the American people. But many users on the platform are more concerned about the possibility of the government taking away their favorite app.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said during a nearly six-hour congressional hearing Thursday that the platform has never turned over user data to the Chinese government, and wouldnt do so if asked.

Nevertheless, lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies continue to raise alarms that Chinese law compels Chinese companies like TikToks parent company ByteDance to fork over data to the government for whatever purposes it deems to involve national security. Theres also concern Beijing might try to push pro-China narratives or misinformation through the platform.

I want to say this to all the teenagers out there, and TikTok influencers who think were just old and out of touch and dont know what were talking about, trying to take your favorite app, said Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw during the hearing. You may not care that your data is being accessed now, but you will be one day.

Many TikTok users reacted to the hearing by posting videos critical of lawmakers who grilled Chew and frequently cut him off from speaking. Some called a potential TikTok ban, as some lawmakers and the Biden administration has reportedly threatened, the biggest scam of the year. And others blamed the surge of scrutiny on the platform on another tech rival, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

But few expressed fear of possible Chinese surveillance or security breaches that lawmakers continue to amplify as they look to rein in TikTok.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., whose district is in the heart of Silicon Valley, said he is mindful of the value that platforms like TikTok provide to young people as an outlet for creative expression and building community. But theres absolutely no reason that an American technology company cant do that, said Khanna, the top Democrat on the cyber subcommittee on House Armed Service. America has the most innovative technology companies in the world.

He added that Congress should move forward with a proposal that would force platforms sale to an American company for continued access for its millions of users while ensuring that the platform isnt subject to Chinese propaganda or compromises peoples privacy.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Americans aged 13 to 17 use TikTok, and 16% of all teens say they use it almost constantly. Its because of TikToks large user base that Lindsay Gorman, a former tech adviser for the Biden administration who now works as a senior fellow for emerging technologies at the German Marshall Fund, says the Biden administration will likely pursue every option short of a ban first. That would include the option for the apps Chinese owners to divest, which the Biden administration is reportedly demanding from TikTok if it wants to avoid a nationwide ban.

TikTok itself has been trying to leverage its popularity. On Wednesday, it sent dozens of influencers to Congress to lobby against a ban. It has also ramped up a broader public relations campaign, plastering ads all over Washington that tout its promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users.

Some popular TikTokers who speak out against a ban are concerned  and angered  about how it might impact their personal lives. Many earn income from their videos and have inked brand partnerships to market products to their audiences  another stream of revenue that could be wiped away if the platform disappears. They would also lose the social capital that comes from having a large following on the trend-setting app.

Demetrius Fields, a standup comedian who amassed 2.8 million followers on TikTok from posting comedy sketches, said he spent a long time building his career and followership on the platform. He has one active deal with the fast fashion retailer Fashion Nova, which allows him to earn an income along with the videos he posts on TikTok.

If the app is taken away, he said building an audience on another platform would be challenging for him due to the competition to grab user attention.

The financial implications for me would be pretty terrible, Fields said. I would probably have to go back to working a desk job.

Sarah Pikhit, an 18-year-old student at Penn State University, said she used to use TikTok a lot, but started cutting back when she realized how much time she spent scrolling through videos on the app. She still uses it, but mostly to post her own content, which she says she can do on other platforms. She said she wouldnt care if TikTok gets banned  but her friends would.

They like the excessive scrolling, Pikhit said. HALELUYA HADERO, NEW YORK, MDT/AP
Honduras established diplomatic ties with China yesterday after breaking off relations with Taiwan, which is increasingly isolated and now recognized by only 13 sovereign states, including Vatican City.

Foreign ministers from China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing  a decision the Chinese Foreign Ministry hailed as the right choice.

The diplomatic victory for China comes as tensions rise between Beijing and the United States, including over Chinas increasing assertiveness toward self-ruled Taiwan, and signals growing Chinese influence in Latin America. The new China-Honduras relationship was announced after the Honduran and Taiwanese governments made separate announcements that they were severing ties.

China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its one China policy.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and refuses most contacts with countries that maintain formal ties with the island democracy.

The Honduran Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Twitter that its government recognizes only one China in the world and that Beijing is the only legitimate government that represents all of China.

It added that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told a news conference yesterday that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to safeguard its sovereignty and dignity.

Wu said that Honduran President Xiomara Castro and her team always had a fantasy about China and had raised the issue of switching ties before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021.

The Castro government dismissed our nations longstanding assistance and relations and carried out talks to form diplomatic ties with China. Our government feels pained and regretful, he said.

Taiwanese leaqder Tsai Ing-wen said her government would not engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China.

Her office spokesperson Olivia Lin said in a statement that relations between the sides had lasted for more than 80 years.

Analysts have warned over the implications of the newly formed ties between China and Honduras. Political analyst Graco Perez in Honduras said Beijings narrative would highlight the benefits, including investment and job creation, but that is all going to be illusory.

Perez noted that some other countries have established such relations, but it didnt turn out to be what had been offered.

For decades China has funneled billions of dollars into investment and infrastructure projects across Latin America. That investment has translated to rising power for China and a growing number of allies.

In Honduras, it has come in the form of construction of a hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras built by the Chinese company SINOHYDRO with about $300 million in Chinese government financing.

Honduras is the ninth diplomatically that Taipei has lost to Beijing since pro-independence Tsai Ing-wen first took office in May 2016.

Taiwan still has ties with Belize, Paraguay and Guatemala in Latin America, and Vatican City. Most of its remaining partners are island nations in the Caribbean and South Pacific, along with Eswatini in southern Africa.

Tsai is set to begin a 10-day trip on Wednesday with visits to Guatemala and Belize. Her delegation will also stop in New York and Los Angeles. Taiwans Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Yui earlier said the purpose of Tsais trip is to highlight the islands friendship with the two Latin American countries.

Wu said he did not have any evidence that the timing of the announcement was related to Tsais trip but noted China seems to be doing this intentionally.

Taiwan retains informal ties with more than 100 other countries, most importantly the United States. The U.S. doesnt have diplomatic relations with Taiwan but has maintained that Taipei is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific. MDT/AP
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong has said mask-wearing may be further eased during summer should no extreme outbreak occur beforehand.

Her comment was made on the sidelines of an academic event over the weekend.

For the time being, masking is only required on buses, as well as in daycare, rehabilitation and medical facilities. The official said masking may be scrapped at these facilities during summer if there is no massive outbreak in May or June.

Campuses and government medical venues are relatively prepared for a cyclical outbreak of Covid-19. The Public Health Specialist Building is expected to open between May and June, meaning more medical resources will be available to cope with any future Covid-19 outbreaks. She said the city can overcome outbreaks smaller than that in last December.

New Kiang Wu Nursing College campus officially opens

Last Saturday, the new campus of the century-old Kiang Wu Nursing College was officially opened. The institution held an open day to celebrate both the opening and its centenary.

During his speech, Chairperson of the School Council Lau Veng Seng said the campus, which is 2.3-fold the size of the old campus, will help foster enhanced education and learning as well as providing a modernized teaching environment. The new campus also houses an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) center and the citys first life journey experience pavilion.

Before its opening, the campus underwent a series of reviews and obtained relevant accreditations, Lau revealed.

The college has always adhered to the mission of educating people, and has continued to reform and innovate in the fields of nursing, the elderly and health, so as to cultivate more high-caliber nurses for the country and the city, Lau added.

During her speech, Ao Ieong commended the college for cultivating cohort after cohort of nursing professionals possessing virtue and ability, and who are determined to continue the Colleges nursing mission of the past century.
Entrepreneurs have told Lusa News Agency that the exodus of Lusophone citizens from China during the Covid-19 pandemic could delay the strengthening of economic ties between the two sides during the Chinese economys recovery.

In Macau, there has been an aggravation of the trend of Portuguese leaving during the pandemic, without being replaced by new Portuguese, said the Secretary-General of the Luso-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bernardo Mendia.

That is a great difficulty for a [Portuguese] entrepreneur interested in setting up a company in Macau: finding talent available to manage their interests, lamented Mendia, cited by Lusa.

The entrepreneur hopes that during the visit of the leader of the Macau government, Ho Iat Seng, to Portugal from April 18 to 22, there will be a joint effort to bet more on the use of the Portuguese language and the attraction of Portuguese-speaking talent.

Mendia advocated for the creation of specific programs of benefits and advantages that attract more Portuguese to Macau, to urgently reinforce, in number and qualification, the Portuguese community in the Chinese region.

Reversing the Lusophone exodus trend, which puts the singularity of Macau at risk, would also serve to strengthen the very project of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macau), he added.

Forum Macau, which was created in 2003 by Beijing authorities, includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Timor-Leste, and since April 2021, Equatorial Guinea.

Across the border to the mainland, the scenario among Brazilian expats is similar.

The president of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Service, and Innovation (BraCham), estimates that between 30% to 40% of the 200 and some Brazilian entrepreneurs have left due to restrictions imposed by Beijing to control Covid-19.

For family reasons, they ended up leaving China and returning to Brazil, explained Henry Osvald, an entrepreneur based in Guangzhou, since 2004.

Between 15% to 20% of Brazilian companies in China have closed, and in the case of another 20% to 30%, the owner preferred to continue operations from Brazil, said the leader of BraCham.

Since mid-December, China has abandoned the zero Covid policy, which for almost three years imposed restrictions on entry into the territory, opting for mass-testing, risk-zone confinement, and quarantine.

But Henry Osvald predicts that very few Brazilian entrepreneurs who lived in China before the pandemic will return, partly because the cost of living in large Chinese cities is quite high compared to Brazil.

According to Henry Osvald, cited by Lusa News Agency, The Chinese economy needs Brazil as much as Brazil needs China, emphasizing the importance of maintaining and strengthening economic ties between the two countries. PC

Related

[Updated]
New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has expressed concern to China over any provision of lethal aid to support Russia in its war against Ukraine during a meeting with her Chinese counterpart.

Her press office on Saturday detailed Mahutas cautionary remarks in Beijing, days after Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his trip to Moscow, a warm affair in which Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin praised each other and spoke of a profound friendship.

Mahutas four-day trip, which began Wednesday, was the first made by a New Zealand foreign minister to Beijing since 2018 but it came at an awkward time as Xi visited Moscow the same week to give Putin a diplomatic boost after the International Criminal Court said it wants to put him on trial for alleged war crimes.

On the Ukraine war, Mahuta reiterated her governments condemnation of Moscows illegal invasion to her counterpart Qin Gang.

She also told Qins predecessor Wang Yi, now the Chinese Communist Partys most senior foreign policy official, that peace and prosperity are the expectations of all parties, according to Chinas official news agency Xinhua. New Zealand supports political settlement of disputes through dialogue, she was quoted saying in the report.

Wang said the pressing task is to achieve a ceasefire and resume peace talks, and that China would continue to play a constructive role to promote a political settlement, the agency added.

During the meeting with Qin, Mahuta also raised concerns over the human rights situation in Xinjiang, the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong, disputes in the South China Sea and increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, her press office said.

The ministers discussed the possibility of New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visiting China this year, the office added.

China is New Zealands largest trading partner and New Zealand exporters rely on China to buy milk products and other agricultural goods. MDT/AP
The Taliban government is trying to take charge of more Afghan embassies abroad, a spokesman said this weekend, amid their continued international isolation because of restrictions on women and girls.

The Taliban initially promised a more moderate rule after their takeover in August 2021, but instead imposed sweeping bans and other measures curtailing basic freedoms.

The U.N. and foreign governments have fiercely condemned the restrictions on female education and employment, and the international community remains wary of officially recognizing the Taliban, although some countries retain an active diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, including Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and China.

The Islamic Emirate has sent diplomats to at least 14 countries and efforts are underway to take charge of other diplomatic missions abroad, the governments main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a video. Diplomats of the former government are continuing their activities in coordination with the Foreign Ministry.

The administration has sent its diplomats to Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, China, Kazakhstan and other Arab and African countries, according to Mujahid. He gave no further details.

In February, authorities handed over control of Afghanistans embassy in Tehran to envoys of the Taliban government. It was previously staffed by envoys from the former U.S.-backed Afghan government.

The deputy spokesman for the government, Bilal Karimi, was unable to immediately provide figures on how many Afghan diplomatic missions are active overseas or how many the administration has taken charge of since August 2021.

There are many embassies abroad. The Islamic Emirate wants to have diplomatic relations with all countries and move forward with good interactions, he told The Associated Press. It is our hope that embassies will be opened in all countries as soon as official relations begin with the Islamic Emirate.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman did not respond to the APs questions on embassies.

In January, the highest-ranking woman at the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, said the Taliban want international recognition and Afghanistans U.N. seat, which is currently held by the former government led by Ashraf Ghani.

Recognition is one leverage that we have and we should hold on to, she said, after meeting Taliban ministers in Kabul and Kandahar to try to reverse their crackdowns on women and girls.

They have banned girls from middle school, high school and university and banned women from most fields of employment, including at nongovernmental groups. Women have also been ordered to wear head-to-toe clothing in public and are barred from parks and gyms.

Schools reopened for the new academic year last week without teenage girls, more than 18 months after the ban on secondary education came into effect.

Universities reopened after the winter break in early March without their female students, and the ban on NGO work is still in place, although some aid agencies have partially resumed their activities through exemptions.

Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said Friday that more than three months have passed since the intolerable ban on female aid workers in Afghanistan. We have made some local progress, allowing womens return to work, but still await national permits. MDT/AP
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023, amid a chorus of calls from members of Congress for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is pushing for the companys sale.

The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, has banned TikTok on work-provided phones. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work.

But a full ban of the app is another matter, which raises a number of questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content recommendation algorithm dangerous? And is it even possible to ban an app?

Vacuuming up data

As a cybersecurity researcher, Ive noted that every few years a new mobile app that becomes popular raises issues of security, privacy and data access.

Apps collect data for several reasons. Sometimes the data is used to improve the app for users. However, most apps collect data that the companies use in part to fund their operations. This revenue typically comes from targeting users with ads based on the data they collect. The questions this use of data raises are: Does the app need all this data? What does it do with the data? And how does it protect the data from others?

So what makes TikTok different from the likes of Pokemon-GO, Facebook or even your phone itself? TikToks privacy policy, which few people read, is a good place to start. Overall, the company is not particularly transparent about its practices. The document is too long to list here all the data it collects, which should be a warning.

There are a few items of interest in TikToks privacy policy besides the information you give them when you create an account  name, age, username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account information and profile image  that are concerning. This information includes location data, data from your clipboard, contact information, website tracking, plus all data you post and messages you send through the app. The company claims that current versions of the app do not collect GPS information from U.S. users. There has been speculation that TikTok is collecting other information, but that is hard to prove.

If most apps collect data, why is the U.S. government worried about TikTok? First, they worry about the Chinese government accessing data from its 150 million users in the U.S. There is also a concern about the algorithms used by TikTok to show content.

Data in the Chinese governments hands

If the data does end up in the hands of the Chinese government, the question is how could it use the data to its benefit. The government could share it with other companies in China to help them profit, which is no different than U.S. companies sharing marketing data. The Chinese government is known for playing the long game, and data is power, so if it is collecting data, it could take years to learn how it benefits China.

One potential threat is the Chinese government using the data to spy on people, particularly people who have access to valuable information. The Justice Department is investigating TikToks parent company, ByteDance, for using the app to monitor U.S. journalists. The Chinese government has an extensive history of hacking U.S. government agencies and corporations, and much of that hacking has been facilitated by social engineering  the practice of using data about people to trick them into revealing more information.

The second issue that the U.S. government has raised is algorithm bias or algorithm manipulation. TikTok and most social media apps have algorithms designed to learn a users interests and then try to adjust the content so the user will continue to use the app. TikTok has not shared its algorithm, so its not clear how the app chooses a users content.

The algorithm could be biased in a way that influences a population to believe certain things. There are numerous allegations that TiKToks algorithm is biased and can reinforce negative thoughts among younger users, and be used to affect public opinion. It could be that the algorithms manipulative behavior is unintentional, but there is concern that the Chinese government has been using or could use the algorithm to influence people.

Can the government ban an app?

If the federal government comes to the conclusion that TikTok should be banned, is it even possible to ban it for all of its 150 million existing users? Any such ban would likely start with blocking the distribution of the app through Apples and Googles app stores. This might keep many users off the platform, but there are other ways to download and install apps for people who are determined to use them.

A more drastic method would be to force Apple and Google to change their phones to prevent TikTok from running. While Im not a lawyer, I think this effort would fail due to legal challenges, which include First Amendment concerns. The bottom line is that an absolute ban will be tough to enforce.

There are also questions about how effective a ban would be even if it were possible. By some estimates, the Chinese government has already collected personal information on at least 80% of the U.S. population via various means. So a ban might limit the damage going forward to some degree, but the Chinese government has already collected a significant amount of data. The Chinese government also has access  along with anyone else with money  to the large market for personal data, which fuels calls for stronger data privacy rules.

Are you at risk?

So as an average user, should you worry? Again, it is unclear what data ByteDance is collecting and if it can harm an individual. I believe the most significant risks are to people in power, whether it is political power or within a company. Their data and information could be used to gain access to other data or potentially compromise the organizations they are associated with.

The aspect of TikTok I find most concerning is the algorithm that decides what videos users see and how it can affect vulnerable groups, particularly young people. Independent of a ban, families should have conversions about TikTok and other social media platforms and how they can be detrimental to mental health. These conversations should focus on how to determine if the app is leading you down an unhealthy path. Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University, MDT/The Conversation
Any fear high schooler Shayla Coleman had about working with professional chefs after seeing scary ones on TV cooking shows disappeared when she got the chance to assist one.

Coleman, a junior at East High School, was one of six students chosen to assist James Beard Award-winning chefs at the Friends of James Beard Chef Invitational hosted by Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa earlier this month. Coleman was primarily paired with Tory Miller, executive chef and co-owner of LEtoile and Graze on the Capitol Square.

It was an honor to be able to work with the professional chefs, especially Tory. Hes a great person to work with. He is just friendly and just himself, Coleman said. The experience was great.

Michael Carbiener, general manager at Sand Valley, said pairing students at the top of their classes with outstanding chefs exceeded every expectation.

Everybody just kind of jibed real well. I dont think there was anything remotely intimidating for anybody, Carbiener said.

Carbiener said he almost got goose bumps after the signature event  the five-course dinner on Saturday night  and the students had the chefs autograph their chef coats.

I just thought, Oh my gosh, this is so cool. This is something these kids will never be able to replicate again, Carbiener said.

The six students from around the state are all participants ProStart programs. They were nominated by their family and consumer science teachers and chosen from more than 50 submissions.

Were thrilled to offer talented high school culinary students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work alongside some of the best chefs in the Midwest, said Connie Fedor, executive director of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation, which administers the Wisconsin ProStart program. This experience and others provided by the ProStart program ignite students passion for careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

The weekendlong food and fundraising event ran March 3-5. Proceeds will benefit the James Beard Foundation and Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.

In addition to Miller, the other chefs, who also have received a prestigious James Beard Award, included Erling Wu-Bower of Chicago, Dane Baldwin of Milwaukee and Jorge Guzman of Minneapolis. Host chef was Adam Schmidt, executive chef at Sand Valley.

Wisconsin ProStart is part of a nationwide curriculum and mentoring program designed to teach high school students the skills needed for a career in the restaurant and food service industry. ProStart is offered in more than 115 Wisconsin high schools.

Coleman is taking ProStart 2, the highest level of culinary classes at East and taught by Emily Sonnemann, family and consumer science teacher.

Reading through Shaylas nomination from Ms. Sonnemann to assist at this prestigious event, we knew that Shayla would be the perfect fit given her talent and desire to learn, said Alex Vernon, ProStart manager and an alumni of the program as a high schooler. Shayla hit all of the boxes and more.

Sonnemann accompanied Coleman to the event and said the experience was amazing. Sonnemann was impressed by how much Miller let Coleman take on, rather than just having her observe him.

He is a super, personable guy. He is so nice. He just took Shayla under his wing, Sonnemann said.

The ProStart students assisted the chefs with culinary prep for the five-course tasting dinner, the Friday evening reception and demonstrations.

Miller just incorporated her as a team member and introduced her to others, Sonnemann said.

She got three different experiences and an opportunity to meet these other chefs as well and be behind the scenes, Sonnemann said. I cant provide that experience in the classroom.

Sonnemann said she was a little nervous for Coleman at the beginning but learned there was no need to be as she nailed it by just being herself.

She was cool as a cucumber. She was confident and relaxed, she said. She just rolled with it and did a really great job ... My heart was exploding the whole weekend with pride and excitement for her.

Sonnemann said the experience also was positive as an educator because conversations centered on building up the next generation of chefs and she heard others talk about how valuable classes are. She said she felt appreciated as an educator.

Carbiener, who is on the board of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation, proposed the idea of getting high schoolers involved in the event, which is just another way the resort has made connections with the restaurant organization. It hopes to do something similar again, he said.

When I knew we were going to host the event it seemed like a natural alignment existed, Carbiener said. I wanted to show them another component of what careers in the culinary field might look like.

School Spotlight: Adventures in learning, inside and outside the classroom Each Monday, the Wisconsin State Journal features a story about learning in Wisconsin. Here are School Spotlight stories from the past year.
Fave 5: Reporter Kimberly Wethal shares her favorite stories of 2022

In the weeks before I joined the Wisconsin State Journal in September, I was told this: Remember that a higher education institution is like their own city. It has its own character and struggles, defined by the students who learn there and the faculty who teach them.

I have seen this over and over again, and it was particularly clear when I visited UW-Platteville at Richland a week after the University of Wisconsin System ordered degree-fulfilling classes to cease because of low enrollment. During my visit, I found many of the devastated students to be emotionally invested in their campus community  and committed to saving it.

It's why Richland Center grieving the loss of its once-vibrant campus is my top story of 2022.

UW-Madison has its own slate of issues. There, a growing population is pitted against on- and off-campus housing availability. I wrote about the tactics used to clear returning students out of the dorms to make room for freshmen, and the frenzy that ensued as students put their lives on hold to secure housing for next fall.

At Madison Area Technical College, a key issue is how to alleviate barriers their students face just to get into the classroom. Finding adequate child care is one of them  I wrote about the efforts to expand future access at the Goodman South Campus and its four rural campuses.

Much of my beat is hard news, but some of my favorite stories are features of students who make up the character of campus. I wrote about Kirstan Gimse, the student commencement speaker who's achieving her dream of being a scientist that she saw as unattainable.

I'm looking forward to diving deeper into the beat in 2023 and am so grateful for the support of State Journal subscribers that allows me to be one of the few reporters in the state dedicated solely to covering higher education.
As Nancy Gomez navigated her career as a psychotherapist and community leader, she kept noticing a recurring set of obstacles that prevented Latino residents from seeking or receiving mental health care.

Now, shes leading a program designed to break down those barriers, one at a time.

Salud Mental was launched nearly a year ago by Anesis Therapy, a mental health clinic that helps the Latino community access mental health care services. It provides bilingual services, offers free drop-in care and leads a variety of community engagement events and trainings.

One thing that I have learned throughout my time in the mental health field is that there really are a lot of gaps, said Gomez, Salud Mentals director.

The launch of Salud Mental in April was inspired by those gaps and aims to engage community members, destigmatize mental health and make services as accessible as possible.

There has to be a community component to it, not just waiting for someone to come here. Gomez said of Salud Mental. We have to go to them and thats what kind of led to this program starting.

A major focus of Salud Mental is eliminating language barriers for patients. Anesis Therapy currently has seven Spanish-speaking clinicians, bilingual caseworkers and a language line that supports over 240 languages.

Language across the board has been a huge barrier, Gomez said. Seeing the evolution of the number of clinicians expanding exponentially over the years leads to the clients being able to enter certain rooms like the therapy room, which they didnt know was a space for them before.

Salud Mental organizers plan to break down common misconceptions and stigmas surrounding mental health within the Latino community. Gomez will often visit schools to talk to parents and children about what mental health means and the importance of receiving help.

Theres a lot of stigma, and I tackle this a lot with Black and brown communities, said Myra McNair, executive director of Anesis Therapy. Having someone who understands your cultural needs, your community needs and that is really normalizing therapy and mental health is really empowering.

For residents who are undocumented, seeking health services can feel daunting, even threatening, Gomez said. Because of this, the focus of Salud Mental has been to make sure that their patients always feel safe in their pursuit of care.

Theres a lot of fear of If I come talk to someone what will happen and how will that impact me? Gomez said. Theres an understanding that we dont criminalize our clients for simply existing.

Cost is often a major barrier in the pursuit of mental health care, particularly for those who dont have health insurance. In response, Salud Mental hosts twice weekly drop-in clinics at Lighthouse Christian School, where all services are provided free of charge.

Since the launch of Salud Mental, theres been a significant rise in patients requesting bilingual and Spanish-speaking services and the free drop-in clinic at Lighthouse is often bustling, McNair said.

Ill see someone in the Salud Mental program and theyre like, I get so much out of it. Im having better relationships with my kids and my family, McNair said. When I see that increase of people requesting services, I know were really doing what were supposed to be doing.

Salud Mental, Gomez and McNair hope to continue to add more bilingual clinicians, along with increasing staff support and community partnerships. The ultimate goal, however, is sustainability.

Whenever we speak about sustainability, access and barriers, its not just simply about Spanish, Gomez said. Its about creating long-term sustainable change.
Cassandra Dixon's work as a volunteer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank puts her in an area where tensions between Palestinians who live in the region and Israeli settlers run high.

She and other international volunteers are in the region, she said, to monitor and document attacks on Palestinians by settlers, which have become more common in recent months. Three weeks ago, Dixon herself was attacked by a settler and sustained a serious head injury.

Dixon, 64, is a Stevens Point native who works as a carpenter in Madison but lives between Wisconsin Dells and Oxford at a place called Mary House, which provides lodging for low-income people who are visiting incarcerated family members at the Federal Correctional Institution at Oxford.

She said that on March 7, she was in the far southern West Bank hamlet of Tuba, part of a collection of Palestinian hamlets called Masafer Yatta that was the subject of a monumental decision last year by the Israeli Supreme Court that ordered the eviction of as many as 1,500 Palestinians from lands in the area, so Israel could establish a firing zone for military exercises.

Settlers have also been establishing settlements and outposts in the area, disrupting crops grown by Palestinian shepherds during the region's short spring growing season to feed their flocks. Settlers have been hostile to Palestinians and attacked some who pass through the settlements, Dixon said, including schoolchildren whose route to school takes them through settlement areas.

Dixon said she was standing on the outskirts of Tuba, where she had been visiting friends, and was watching a settler with a flock of sheep when four other settlers were spotted running nearby.

As Dixon and a companion approached a hill, she said, one of the settlers appeared at the top of the hill, wearing a mask and waving a pointed metal pipe. He and the settler who was tending sheep, who had a stick, began running toward Dixon and the companion. They tried to run but Dixon was struck hard from behind on the right side of her head, hard enough to knock her off her feet.

"We were just taking a look at the morning when that happened," she said. "If you're asking why this happened, I can't tell you that."

She was knocked unconscious and awoke to blood coming from her nose and left ear. Her companion accompanied her into Tuba, where women in the hamlet assisted her. From there she was driven to a clinic and was told a CT scan was needed, so she went to a hospital in Yatta and then to one in Hebron, a large Palestinian city about 20 miles south of Jerusalem.

The scan found she had a skull fracture, small bleeds in her brain and in a protective layer over her brain, along with a broken eardrum. Her head wound required six stitches to close. She remained at the hospital overnight.

"I'm doing really a lot better," Dixon said by internet phone from Israel last week. "I had fantastic medical care. I think I'm really lucky. (The doctor) said I was lucky to have such a hard head."

Police investigate

Dixon reported the attack to Israeli police, who she said at first were more interested in what she was doing in the West Bank, who she had been with, when she arrived and when she planned to leave. Their position, she said, was that nobody gets attacked for no reason, and they wanted to know what Dixon did to provoke such an attack.

The police investigation may have been due to pressure from the U.S. Consulate, which was asked to look into the incident by the office of U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison. Dixon said at least a dozen people contacted Baldwin's office asking that the State Department act. Those contacts, she said, are "making a difference."

"We can confirm that the victim of the attack in Tuba was a U.S. citizen," a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "The Embassy has been in contact with her and is providing all appropriate consular assistance. The Department of State has no greater priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad. We reiterate that extremist violence by settlers is unacceptable, and we are deeply disturbed by this reported attack against a U.S. citizen. We urge a full investigation into the incident, and accountability under the law for the perpetrator."

Late last week, Israeli prosecutors issued an indictment against the settler charging him with aggravated intentional damage. Earlier, Dixon said she was told the settler has "admitted to having been there but not to the actual attack."

She said she has a ticket to head back to the U.S. on Tuesday, but it's likely she'll remain in Israel until the suspect in the attack makes an initial appearance in court. She added that it's important for settlers to face legal consequences for violence, to discourage its spread.

While her experience was difficult, she said, it's "nothing compared to what it's like for Palestinians when they report similar crimes."

Volunteer work

Dixon spends time in Palestinian areas of Israel, she said, in part to tell others about the plight of Palestinians who are losing their homes to Israeli settlements.

"I feel that we fund Israel enormously," she said, and that people in the U.S. should see for themselves how some of that money is spent.

In the past, Dixon had visited the area with Christian Peacemakers, but said she was there this time on her own. International volunteers, she said, are there to learn about and document things that are happening in the area. Dixon also regularly volunteers in the Masafer Yatta area with Operation Dove, a humanitarian project based in Italy.

On the day she was attacked, Dixon said, she was fortunate to be with someone who had a car who could drive through settlement areas to reach medical help, rather than take a terrible, sometimes impassable, road to avoid settlements that would have taken much longer.

"I could have really been there with no way to the hospital with a head wound," she said.

As a result of the May 2022 decision that prompted demolition orders in Palestinian villages, many are losing their homes and livelihoods, she said, also calling the evacuation "ethnic cleansing."

"The area is facing erasure right now," Dixon said. "The people have nowhere to go. This is their land. This is their everything."

State Journal reporter Chris Rickert contributed to this report.
Whitewater police said Monday they have arrested a woman believed to be the mother of baby found dead in a field on March 4.

The 39-year-old Whitewater woman, whose name was not released by police, is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on tentative charges of concealing the death of a child and resisting or obstructing officer, Chief Dan Meyer said in a statement.

She was arrested on Friday, Meyer said.

Additional charges, or modifications of the charges, are possible based on the continuing investigation, Meyer said, adding that no additional details were being released.

The state Division of Criminal Investigation, which is part of the state Department of Justice, assisted Whitewater police in the investigation.

The body of the newborn boy was found March 4 in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box, wrapped in a light-colored shirt and wearing no additional clothing. Investigators believe the child was placed in the field less than 48 hours before he was found, Meyer said.

Police said the newborn was reported to authorities after being found near Twin Oaks Mobile Home Park on North Tratt Street.

Police ask that anyone with information about the case contact them at 262-473-0555, option 4, Detective Justin Brock at jbrock@whitewater-wi.gov or Detective Anthony Heilberger at aheilberger@whitewater-wi.gov.
Its been two years since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey joined other Republican governors in cutting unemployment benefits. Ivey and her cohort of conservatives insisted that businesses were having trouble finding enough workers because the extra financial support  $300 a month that congressional Democrats had pushed through in a COVID relief bill  was making folks lazy.

That conservative maneuver, of course, has failed to produce more workers. Businesses are still desperate for help. Thats just one reason why the United States ought to happily invite in more migrants from south of the border: We need more workers. According to economists, payrolls show that about 2.5 million fewer people are employed now than before the pandemic.

Early retirements explain some of the drop-off. When COVID struck, some workers in their 50s decided the risks presented by leaving their homes and mingling every day simply werent worth it. But even without the pandemic, the United States could have expected a wave of retirements to hit the workforce. Thats because the population is aging.

Ive been slightly bemused by the fierce French protests over President Emmanuel Macrons insistence on raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Here in the United States, the retirement age for anyone born in 1960 or later  the age at which Social Security benefits pay in full  is 67. And some in Congress are considering raising it. Full pensions at 64 seem generous.

If the French seem a bit, well, indulged, they share with Americans the fundamental demographic conundrum that has led to the critical state of retirement funds: a lot of retirees and not enough younger workers. Those younger workers pay for the pensions enjoyed by the retirees.

The U.S. and Western Europe share the fate of advanced nations where decent health care has led to longer life spans, while at the same time, younger adults have decided to have fewer children. This countrys birth rate is now below what demographers call the replacement rate  enough children born so that younger workers can fully replace older folks leaving the workforce. As it is, the cohort of Americans 65 and older is expected to rise from 17% of the population to 23% by 2060.

(China, too, is faced with a rapidly aging population. Its problem stems from its decades-long policy of restricting families to just one child. By the time it finally reversed the policy in 2015, the demographic shift was already underway.)

Immigrants, though, have helped the U.S. avoid the plight of nations such as Greece and Italy, which are facing what some have called a silver tsunami. Those countries face not only severe strains on public pension funds but also slowing economies, constrained by the lack of younger workers.

The Greeks and Italians, however, have not exactly been welcoming toward immigrants. Three years ago, Greek authorities, for example, took to pushing refugee boats back out to sea, frustrated by the waves of migrants reaching their shores. Across Western Europe, including Italy and France, xenophobic politicians have gained support as immigrants have sought  unsuccessfully, in many cases  to assimilate and gain an economic toehold.

Sadly, the U.S. is following the pattern. While anti-immigration sentiment had been burning hotter among conservative voters through the start of the 21st century, Donald Trump threw gasoline on it, opening his presidential campaign by bashing Mexicans. Since then, xenophobia has become such a widespread sentiment among Republicans that Congress couldnt even agree on a bill to grant the well-vetted Dreamers, brought to the U.S. as children, a path to citizenship.

What a mistake. While jingoistic critics contend that many immigrants are a drain, studies simply dont bear that out. Most of them work and pay taxes. They start businesses. They revive neighborhoods. As a group, immigrants tend to commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.

Even those who are less skilled benefit the economy and the social order. They take jobs that Americans dont want  cleaning, butchering, harvesting. And who is going to take care of the seniors who end up in nursing homes, which are already experiencing staff shortages?

We call ourselves a nation of immigrants. We need to let more of them in.
A riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last 12 or 15 years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.

These words were spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1967.

Kings words were fresh on my mind last week during our Assembly floor session where we debated a bill that would define riot in statute as well as provide penalties for individuals who incite and/or participate in a riot. I voted no on the bill  and for good reason. First, the bill defined a riot as, a public disturbance that involves an act of violence, as part of an assembly, of at least three persons, that constitutes a clear and present danger of property damage or personal injury or a threat of an act of violence (Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, 2023). My colleagues widely referenced the protests of 2020, when statues we dismantled and storefronts were vandalized in the wake of George Floyds murder. They readily exclaimed that law enforcement groups were all on board with the legislation that would be aimed at saving property.

While they thought about property, I thought about people. The people whose lives are almost always at the heart of the protests. People who inherently carry the burden of fighting for their very existence and fight to hold on to their piece of the American pie each and every generation. They are most often the people who would be prosecuted should a protest include any act of violence, and the truth of the matter is, they might very well be the perpetrator of a violent act done in the name of a worthy cause. But to me, riot, as defined by the legislation is par for the course of living in a democracy. It is the American way.

America itself exists because of riots. The Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Shays Rebellion  all can be classified as riots. The people who perpetrated the acts (in most cases) were prosecuted and tried (or killed) because of their participation. But the end result was that our country changed because they were courageous enough to stand up for what they believed in.

It amazes me that now, because of Black Lives Matter protests and the subsequent violence that occurred we need harsher penalties. There are very few penalties for police and others who choose to wreak havoc on marginalized communities. Where was the outcry about saving property when Black churches were being burned? When the Greenwood District of Tulsa was being bombed and burned to the ground in 1921? When cities like Newark, Miami and the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles were hurting?

I am not a proponent of violence, but I understand why it happens. I understand that there is a fine line that can be assuaged between riot and protest. The determination is most often based on whether or not we agree with the people making the noise. And that is the sad part. There is no right way to protest. Dr. King and his contemporaries dressed in their Sundays finest and were met with dogs and water hoses. In Ferguson, Missouri, some activists burned a police car and were met with tear gas. Same fight. Same result. Property damage is the cost of living in an ever evolving democracy.

Instead of creating new ways to stifle citizen outcry, we need to begin doing the real work to make our society more equitable and just. If we dont just wait for the next riot, after all, its the American blueprint for Democracy.
Fallacies and truths about U.S. slander against China on Ukraine issue

Xinhua) 08:14, March 27, 2023

People walk past a damaged building in Mariupol, Feb. 18, 2023. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

- The United States, the true initiator of the Ukraine crisis, has been fueling tensions between Russia and Ukraine by providing military assistance to the latter, and has been reaping huge profits from the conflict.

- China, in contrast, always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, the United States has churned out fallacies to discredit China on a range of related issues and mislead the international community.

In fact, the United States, the true initiator of this crisis, has been fueling tensions between Russia and Ukraine by providing military assistance to the latter, and has been reaping huge profits from the conflict. China, in contrast, always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

U.S. slanders are listed below with an account of facts to restore truths and offer a holistic perspective on the issue.

This photo taken on Aug. 23, 2022 shows the demolition site of a damaged building in Mariupol. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

FALLACY 1: Citing comments of some senior U.S. officials or reports from Western intelligence agencies, some U.S. media accused China of having prior knowledge of Russia's "special military operation" against Ukraine.

TRUTH: China has repeatedly refuted the claims that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported Russia's military action, which are purely disinformation intended to shift blame to and sling mud at China.

There were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine and China is the biggest trading partner of both Ukraine and Russia, as well as the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. A conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. China would have tried its best to prevent the conflict had it known about it in advance.

On the other hand, Russia is a sovereign country that independently weighs, decides and implements its foreign policy based on its own strategy and interests. There is no need to seek China's consent beforehand.

It is worth mentioning that the China-Russia relationship features non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party. It differs from the practices of the United States and several other Western countries that stick to the Cold War mentality of drawing ideological lines and adopting a friend-or-foe dichotomy, forming so-called "alliances" and "cliques," and pursuing bloc politics that create confrontation and division.

This photo taken on Feb. 3, 2023 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

FALLACY 2: The United States accused China of amplifying Kremlin's "propaganda and conspiracy theories" about Ukraine, spreading "false information" including that "the United States is conducting bio-military activities in Ukraine," "the United States and NATO caused the Ukraine crisis" and "the United States, especially the military-industrial complex, is the biggest beneficiary of the Ukraine crisis."

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue is above board, objective and fair. Relevant reports by the Chinese media were all based on facts.

First, on U.S. bio-military activities in Ukraine, the Agreement Between the Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Concerning Cooperation in the Area of Prevention of Proliferation of Technology, Pathogens and Expertise that could be Used in the Development of Biological Weapons signed by the two countries on Aug. 29, 2005, clearly stipulates that the U.S. Department of Defense representatives shall have the right to participate in all related activities at facilities in Ukraine; all dangerous pathogens in Ukraine shall be stored at designated laboratories; Ukraine shall share with the U.S. data generated by the relevant surveillance network, transfer to the U.S. side requested copies of dangerous pathogen strains, and withhold information designated by the U.S. side as "sensitive" from public disclosure.

In November 2021, the United States admitted that it had 26 biolabs in Ukraine in its working document submitted to the meeting of the State Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention. According to a fact sheet released by the U.S. Department of Defense in March 2022, the United States was supporting 46 facilities in Ukraine.

On March 8, 2022, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted at a Senate hearing that "Ukraine has biological research facilities, which, in fact, we are now quite concerned Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach."

U.S. media also criticized that the U.S. government lied about the secret biological laboratories in Ukraine and concealed the real purpose of supporting these laboratories from the public.

According to public information, the United States has conducted more bio-military activities than any other country in the world. It is also the only country that has used biological and chemical weapons in multiple wars, and the only country that opposes the establishment of a multilateral verification mechanism for the Biological Weapons Convention, a public stand held by the United States for more than two decades.

Second, the United States and NATO caused the Ukraine crisis. In 1990, then U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, during his meeting with leaders of the Soviet Union, promised clearly that NATO would move "not one inch eastward."

A document disclosed by the National Archives of the United Kingdom showed that the U.S. representative had promised in negotiations back then that NATO should not expand to the east either formally or unofficially.

However, under the domination of the United States, NATO has expanded eastward five times since 1999, increased its membership from 16 to 30, and advanced more than 1,000 km eastward right up to Russian borders, creating a C-shaped encirclement of the Black Sea.

Russia has for years proposed dialogue with the United States on a new European security architecture, only to be ignored by the U.S. side. In 2021, Russia offered to negotiate and sign a security guarantees agreement with NATO, but was stonewalled by the United States and NATO.

The United States and NATO, while fully aware of Russia's security concerns, strengthened military assistance to Ukraine and helped it train military personnel. According to U.S. media reports, former U.S. officials said that the United States has provided a large amount of advanced military training for Ukrainian elite troops and special operation forces. Since 2015, the CIA has conducted a series of intensive military training in Ukraine involving guns, land navigation and camouflage techniques. The program, which began under President Barack Obama, was expanded under President Donald Trump and further enlarged under the Joe Biden administration.

John Mearsheimer, a U.S. political scientist, pointed out that "the West bears primary responsibility for what is happening today." He said, "Here I'm talking about the West, we took a stick, and we poke the bear in the eye ... and that bear is probably going to fight back, and that's exactly what's happening here."

Former U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said in an interview if Biden simply promised not to include Ukraine into NATO, the current Russia-Ukraine conflict would have been prevented.

Third, the U.S. military industrial complex has indeed raked in huge profits since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. Since tensions surrounding Ukraine started to rise in October 2021, share prices of U.S. military giants have kept shooting up. James Taiclet, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, said that competition between major powers would bring more business to the company.

The total value of State Department-authorized government-to-government foreign military sales was 51.9 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal 2022, up 49.1 percent from the previous fiscal year's 34.8 billion dollars, according to data released by the Department of State, which attributed the increase mainly to U.S. military support for Ukraine during the latter's conflict with Russia.

The United States has also used the Ukraine crisis to push its allies to impose tough economic sanctions and even an energy embargo on Russia. U.S. energy companies cashed in on the crisis and sold to Europe a large amount of oil and gas at a high price.

According to Kpler, a data and analytics firm, the EU imported 38.86 million tons of LNG in 2022 from the United States, which accounted for roughly 41 percent of the EU's total LNG imports and increased by 23.59 million tons compared with 2021, a year-on-year rise of 154 percent.

The United States became the world's largest LNG exporter in the first half of 2022, up 12 percent from the second half of 2021, largely driven by surging demand in Europe, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in October 2022, criticized the U.S. practice of enjoying low energy prices at home while exporting at record high prices to reap super profits from the geopolitical conflict. Speaking to American and Norwegian entrepreneurs, he said, "You supply us with energy and gas, but one thing that can't go on for too long is us paying four times more than the price you sell to your industry."

People inspect the aftermath of shelling of the city market in Donetsk, Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

FALLACY 3: The United States accused China of not condemning or sanctioning Russia, falsely claimed that China has no intention to participate in any form of diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine issue, slandered China's strategy as unconstructive and attempted to portray China as being irresponsible.

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue has been objective and just. China always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the crisis. Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined four principles, called for joint efforts in four areas and shared three observations on Ukraine. He noted perceptively that conflicts and wars produce no winner; there is no simple solution to a complex issue; and confrontation between major countries must be avoided. This points the right way forward for the deescalation of tensions and political settlement of the crisis.

On Feb. 18, 2023, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, answered a question concerning China's stance at the 59th Munich Security Conference. He said the Ukraine crisis is not what China would like to see, and China is also concerned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be escalated and protracted.

China is not a party directly involved, but does not choose to be a bystander or add fuel to the fire, and still less exploits the crisis, Wang said, noting that everything China has been doing on the Ukraine issue is to facilitate peace talks.

The United States is the one who started the Ukraine crisis and the biggest factor fueling it, and has kept sending heavy and assault weapons to Ukraine, which has only prolonged and intensified the conflict. The international community is fully aware who is calling for dialogue and striving for peace, and who is fanning the flames and stoking confrontation.

FALLACY 4: The United States has repeatedly accused China of providing "non-lethal assistance" to Russia through Chinese-funded enterprises, and claimed that China began to consider providing "lethal assistance" to Russia.

TRUTH: The so-called intelligence by the United States is nothing more than groundless rumors and slander. U.S. officials themselves have acknowledged that there is no indication that China has decided to supply Russia with weapons, but meanwhile they said they believe the possibility still exists.

The China-Russia relationship is built on the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries, which is within the sovereign right of any two independent states. China engages in normal economic and trade cooperation with all countries, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. China-Russia cooperation is completely above board. It serves the purpose of delivering benefits to both peoples and promoting global growth. It shall be free from disruption or coercion from any third party.

China always handles export of military items in a prudent and responsible manner and regulates export of dual-use articles in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. At the same time, China is consistently opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction with neither basis in international law nor United Nations Security Council mandate. China's consistent position and practice stand in sharp contrast with the acts of the U.S. that applies double standards on arms sales and keep adding fuel to the fire on the Ukraine crisis.

By the end of February 2023, the United States had provided Ukraine with over 32 billion U.S. dollars worth of military aid, including large quantities of advanced armament. The United States has been pouring weapons into one side of the conflict, thus prolonging the fight and making peace elusive, while spreading disinformation that China would supply weapons to Russia and sanctioning Chinese companies under that pretext. This is out-and-out hegemonism and double standard, and absolute hypocrisy.

Protesters gather during the anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., the United States, March 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

FALLACY 5: The United States claims it is now facing two global powers -- China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities, and both intending to fundamentally change the current "rules-based order," and it is concerned because China and Russia share a vision. The United States has also repeatedly accused China of posing the "most serious long-term challenge" to the international order.

TRUTH: China always pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature and adheres to the military strategic guideline of active defense. Since its founding, the People's Republic of China has never invaded other countries, never engaged in proxy wars, never sought spheres of influence, nor participated in any military bloc confrontation.

The growth of China's military strength is a growth of the force for peace in the world. China has been committed to the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law. China has been upholding true multilateralism, working for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, and making global governance more just and equitable.

When it comes to China-Russia relationship, the two countries always follow the path of partnership over alliance and dialogue over confrontation, and grow a new type of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. The way China and Russia develop the strategic partnership of coordination will benefit the two peoples and the world at large. It is entirely different from what certain countries have been doing, including holding on to the Cold War mentality, ganging up with other countries, forming cliques and stoking bloc confrontation, and engaging in hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices.

The United States has wantonly accused China of attempting to change the "rules-based international order," but it is actualy worried that the U.S. "hegemonic order" is affected, and that the "rules of the gang" set up and packaged by the United States as international rules to contain and suppress other countries are challenged and rejected.

The United States is the No.1 warmonger in the world. It was not at war for only 16 years throughout its 240-plus years of history and accounted for about 80 percent of all post-World War II (WWII) armed conflicts.

The United States is also the No.1 violator of sovereignty and interferer in the internal affairs of other countries. According to reports, since the end of WWII, it has sought to subvert more than 50 foreign governments, grossly interfered in elections in at least 30 countries and attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders.

The country is also the No.1 source of antagonism and bloc confrontation. The U.S.-led NATO is responsible for wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that killed more than 900,000 people and created 37 million refugees. It has also made the Eurasia continent a less stable place. The impact of U.S.-initiated QUAD and AUKUS on Asia-Pacific security and stability also calls for vigilance.

Protesters gather during the anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., the United States, March 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

FALLACY 6: The United States has applied the principle of sovereignty selectively. It has repeatedly hyped up the fallacy that "China bears responsibility" by falsely claiming that "China's position on the Ukraine issue contradicts China's long-standing principle of respecting state sovereignty and territorial integrity" and that "China has the obligation to urge Russia to make concessions on the Ukraine issue."

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and stays unchanged. China's remarks are in line with its position that regional hotspot issues should be resolved through dialogue and consultation. China always upholds objectivity and fairness, stands for peace and justice, decides its position based on the merits of the matter concerned, and believes that all countries should settle international disputes in a peaceful way in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

The first article of China's position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis is about respecting the sovereignty of all countries: "Universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, must be strictly observed. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld. All countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community. All parties should jointly uphold the basic norms governing international relations and defend international fairness and justice. Equal and uniform application of international law should be promoted, while double standards must be rejected."

The United States says there's desire for peace to prevail, yet it has waged wars and stoked confrontation around the world. The United States says it's important to respect and uphold the international order, yet it has slapped massive unilateral illegal sanctions and put its domestic laws above the international law. The United States says competition must be fair, yet it has been cracking down on foreign companies by using all kinds of state apparatus and defying international trade rules. It is clear who should bear the responsibility for obstructing world peace and development.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Another round of severe thunderstorms may bring damaging winds and large hail to portions of the Southeast on Monday as some communities across the region are already working to rebuild following a weekend of intense storms and scattered tornadoes that left 26 people dead.

More than 20 million Southerners from Texas to the East Coast are under threat of severe storms on Monday, including Houston and New Orleans.

In high-risk areas of central Alabama and Georgia, "flash flood impacts locally may be very significant to extreme through the morning hours," the Weather Prediction Center warns.

High risk areas, including Montgomery, Alabama, and Macon, Georgia, could see isolated rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches and as many as 8 inches could be seen in areas where several storms hit the same region. Parts of southern Georgia and South Carolina are under a slight risk of severe storms.

In Atlanta, the National Weather Service warned of "considerable" and potentially life-threatening flood threat until early Monday morning. The city had already received 1 to 2 inches of rain and several hail sightings overnight, with up to two more inches possible.

On Monday evening, storms are forecast to flair up across southeastern Texas and into Louisiana, with the potential of large hail.

Some of Monday's storms may fall across swaths of the region already hit with severe weather beginning Friday and stretching through the weekend, including an outbreak of destructive tornadoes, damaging hail and waves of rainfall.

At least 20 confirmed tornadoes were reported in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee Friday night, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

Mississippi was especially hard-hit, with at least 25 people killed and dozens injured, prompting President Joe Biden to approve a disaster declaration for parts of the state.

In Rolling Fork, Mississippi -- home to about 2,000 people -- an especially violent and rare tornado obliterated enormous stretches of homes, businesses and city buildings as residents took shelter in tubs and closets, officials said. Drone footage showed homes reduced to piles of wood, trees splintered and uprooted and vehicles thrown around.

As the hazardous weather continued Sunday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency order intended to provide more state resources for communities' recovery. In the state's western city of LaGrange, a tornado damaged as many as 100 homes, dozens of which were "completely destroyed," Troup County Emergency Management Director Zachary Steele said.

High temperatures are forecast to be above average across the South on Monday, in the mid-70s to low-80s, the National Weather Center said. Tuesday may bring cooler temperatures, but a renewed risk of heavy rain and flash flooding across the Gulf Coast, the center said.

'It looks like a battle zone'

Search and recovery efforts were still underway in Mississippi on Sunday, as emergency personnel also worked to distribute critical resources, including bottled water, portable restrooms, batteries and fuel, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.

In Rolling Fork, neighborhoods and businesses were so thoroughly leveled that there was "not any immediate shelter anywhere" on Sunday as more storms were on the way, Sharkey County District 1 Supervisor Bill Newsom told CNN.

The community's police department, hospital, city hall, and grocery stores were also severely damaged and not operable over the weekend, officials said.

"Everyone is affected. Entire subdivisions and neighborhoods ... some are just wiped away, they're just not even there," said Newsom. "It looks like a battle zone."

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell traveled to Mississippi Sunday to assess the damage and speak with federal, state and local officials.

Though the community has received an influx of donations and supplies, Rolling Fork Vice Mayor LaDonna Sias told CNN she is the most concerned about finding support for the families who have lost loved ones and are facing "total devastation."

"We need to make sure that those people that are displaced, that no longer have any type of structure -- they need immediate housing. They need some kind of assistance," Sias said, adding that the families will require long-term support.

Multiple FEMA teams have been deployed to the site and the agency will work with state officials to find interim housing for those impacted, a release from the Homeland Security Department said.

Resident David Brown's parents, Melissa and Lonnie Pierce, were both killed Friday when a tractor-trailer was picked up by the tornado and thrown on top of their home, CNN affiliate WAPT reported.

"Words can't express how I'm feeling. I don't know  broken," Brown told WAPT. Brown said his son could have been in the home if he had not picked him up before the storm.

Brown and his family spent the weekend sifting through the crushed home, searching for any salvageable reminder of his parents.

"Honestly, if I can find anything in the rubble," he said, "it would mean more than anything."

Another Mississippi tornado, which tore through Carroll County and Montgomery County over the weekend, received a preliminary EF-3 rating, the weather service in Jackson said. An EF-3 tornado can carry wind gusts of up to 165 mph.

Three people who died in a single home in Carroll County appear to have been killed in a tornado, coroner Mark Stiles told CNN.

The-CNN-Wire

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis didnt win many friends in Congress when he dismissed Russias invasion of Ukraine as a territorial conflict, but he may well be the toast of the Kremlin and Russian strongman Vladmir Putin.

Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has not commented about DeSantis specifically. But the politicians who are speaking out against Ukraine are getting plenty of attention  in the wrong direction.

If somebody says, Im against that, it not only makes news here, but the statement will go across Putins desk, Risch told me.

Overall, Risch said, support for Ukraine is strong. Those who had doubts are the same ones who had doubts from the beginning and that is not increasing from what Ive seen. What has happened is that those who have doubts are speaking up, and they are getting lots of media attention.

So, dont look for Risch to be making headlines in Moscow  unless its in Idaho. The U.S. commitments to Ukraine have been in place for almost 30 years. The pact was put together a few years after the fall of the Soviet empire.

An offer was made  you (Ukraine) get rid of your nuclear weapons and we will defend you. Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons, so we assured them of border security, Risch said. So, we have a choice to make. We can keep the agreement we made, or turn our backs and walk away. If we walk away, our standing as the leader of the free world would be diminished, if not evaporated.

The U.S. is still reeling over the way troops departed from Afghanistan. Everybody wanted to get out, but not like that. If you add Ukraine to that, the partys over, Risch says.

Aid to Ukraine is not a blank check. Risch said hes had some frank discussions with Ukraines president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about that countrys reputation for corruption.

I told him that if you want to see support from the U.S. evaporate, all you have to do is get caught with corruption and it will be the end, Risch said. He was not offended, and acknowledged they had a reputation for corruption. He assured me he would take every step to stop that. But to make sure, hes also aware that we have an army of auditors who track weapons and money, and they are watching everything that is sent to Ukraine.

So far, there is no evidence of corruption. Money and weapons are going where they should be going.

Risch makes no predictions about when the war will end, but he says its one that Putin cannot win. Military experts were convinced that the war would last a few weeks, at the most  that is, until they saw how Ukranian troops were willing to fight to the death to keep from being taken over from Russia.

The performance on the battlefield has been embarrassing for the Russians, Risch said. That great and powerful Russian army is not there. They have been beaten by a country that, by comparison, has sticks and stones.

Risch gives the Biden administration props for saying and doing the right things, although its not as fast as Id like to see. Id like to see the rhetoric ramped up a bit in regard to escalation. I want Putin to wake up in the morning wondering what he would do if there was an escalation on our part. Of course, thats not what we need to be talking about. We need to arm the Ukranians to the point where they can win this war.

As Risch sees it, losing is not an option. Putin will do his best to put the old USSR together again  hes not living in the 21st century, thats for sure. Who would start a war in the 21st century, especially in Europe. But thats what he has done.

One policy is clear, Risch said. We will not be putting U.S. troops on the ground, and Ukranians are fine with that.

However, if Putin decides to attack a NATO country, then all bets are off. Risch doesnt see Putin going that far. If Russian troops cant whip Ukraine, they wont fare any better against the collective forces of the NATO countries.
Elected officials usually express deference toward the people who put them into office, and why not? Those who hire can fire.

A number  many  of Idaho legislators this year have conveyed very much the opposite, and why not? They probably figure  and may be right  that their prospects of getting the boot are remote.

The hook for this thought last week was the lengthy House floor debate of House Bill 339, which was one of the more notable  albeit not heavily headlined  measures of the year.

It called for a ballot issue, to allow Idaho voters the opportunity to indicate their support or opposition to the question: Should the State of Idaho, the Idaho Legislature, or any state agency direct or appropriate public tax dollars to private K-12 schools, including private religious schools, and for-profit schools? The advisory vote would take place during the November 2024 statewide general election.

The bill failed 43-27, and I wont take sides on that. I was drawn into this not by the virtues of the bill but by an argument among legislators related to it.

The sponsor, Lewiston Republican Lori McCann, said the school funding question has come up repeatedly at the legislature, and she (and other bill backers) advised taking the temperature of the Idaho electorate about it.

Some opponents to the bill seemed to think, wrongly, McCann was a proposing an initiative that would bypass the legislature. But the idea that legislators should even know or care about the peoples attitude was what drew the strongest response.

Oakley Rep. Douglas Pickett spoke glowingly of the wonders of debate in the statehouse, but this bill would rob anybody of any opportunity to have the benefit of that conversation. Pickett expressed direct concern about thinly informed constituents, though he did not indicate that was a problem in voting for legislators. (Of course, in his part of Idaho, actual contested races are scarce.)

An ideological gloss was put on this as well. We are a republic, Rep. Vito Barbieri said: Were not a democracy but were moving in that direction, and that blows my mind. (OK.)

Remember: The United States and its states are a democracy in a republican form; in the United States these are not separate ideas. A republic not based in democracy is something like, say, Cuba (officially, the Republic of Cuba) or China (the Peoples Republic of China). Maybe many Idaho legislators would prefer something along those lines.

Is constituent involvement what these legislators really didnt want? With that in mind, this quote (video of which went viral on Twitter) from Idaho Falls Rep. Barbara Erhardt jumped out:

The very first thing Id submit is that which has very well been crafted [referring to earlier debate], which is, this leads us directly into democracy. And I am opposed to that.

Some of the Twitter response to this showed what some Idahoans might think in response: We already knew she is opposed to democracy, but I didnt ever think shed say it out loud so directly.

Probably the only honest thing shes said all session. Maybe ever.

Opposed to Democracy. Just unbelievable.

Not unbelievable: This is the same group that has voted to virtually eliminate initiatives and curtail voting. Its of a piece. Whoever they think should be running Idaho, its sure not the people of the state.

Idaho legislators  not all but more than a few  are saying that the public will be emotional and irrational and subject to simplistic argument, while legislators listen to all points of view carefully and soberly and deliver unbiased nuanced decisions. (If you have any familiarity with the sausage-making that is legislating, even in the best of statehouses, I apologize for prompting a gag reflex.)

McCann said in her closing remarks, I just want to know what is the will of the people of Idaho and I feel like people [in this chamber] are afraid to actually hear what the people want.  I believe strongly in the will of the people.

Be it noted: Shes not completely alone but definitely in the minority in the Idaho House  and her suggestion of motivation was surely spot-on. The question remains: How many more years will the voters of the state put up with it?
International visitor arrivals in the Philippines grew by more than 10 times in the first quarter to 1.32 million from 102,031 in the same period last year, the Department of Tourism said Monday.

The DOT said of the total arrivals, foreign tourists accounted for 1.227 million, while visiting overseas Filipino workers represented 105,568. Arrivals increased as more countries lifted their border restrictions and the Philippines reopened its top destinations to local and foreign travelers.

South Korea continued to drive Philippine tourism with 346,192 arrivals in the first three months of 2023, representing 25.97 percent of total visitor traffic in the period.

Meanwhile, the US accounted for 241,334 or 18.11 percent of the total arrivals, while Canada and Australia accounted for 66,699 and 63,468 or 5 percent and 4.76 percent, respectively.

Japan ranked fifth with 61,415 arrivals from January to March, with a share of 4.61 percent of the total. Taiwan, China, the UK, Singapore and Malaysia rounded up the list of the top 10 country source.

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Taiwan had 40,922 visiting nationals to the Philippines in the first three months of 2023 and a share of 3.07 percent. China placed 6th with 40,817 tourists; the UK, 39,147; Singapore, 33,687; and Malaysia, 24,117 tourists.

Visitor arrivals in the Philippines reached 2.65 million in 2022, surpassing the DOTs target of 1.7 million by nearly 1 million. Tourism revenues also reached P208.96 billion or $3.68 billion, up 2,465.75 percent from 2021 revenues.

Data showed that of the total 2.65 million international arrivals last year, 628,445 were returning Filipinos while the bulk of 2.02 million tourists were tourists from top markets. Arrivals from the United States reached 505,089 in 2022; South Korea, 428,014; Australia, 137,974; Canada, 121,413; the UK, 101,034; Japan, 99,557; Singapore, 53,448; India, 51,542; Malaysia, 46,805; and China, 39,627.

Arrivals in the Philippines averaged 257,669 from 1991 to 2022, reaching an all-time high of 796,164 in January 2020 and a record low of 948 in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said the agency was targeting 4.8 million international visitors in 2023 but expressed hope that it would surpass the target.

Meanwhile, CEMEX Philippines president and chief executive Luis Franco paid a courtesy visit to Frasco and discussed ways to work together to build a better and more sustainable industry.

CEMEX presented its waste management solutions through co-processing of wastes and its line of high quality, low carbon cement products for more sustainable infrastructures.

Franco and Frasco also discussed possible collaboration in building sustainable tourism infrastructures and projects such as the Tourist Rest Areas using blended cement.

You speak my language, as all of the efforts and initiatives that CEMEX has done address the basic problems and concerns the LGUs face, especially in waste management. It is a simple but revolutionary approach to answer the prevailing concerns of the LGU and the tourism industry, Frasco said.

Frasco said she was looking forward to the possibilities of partnership with CEMEX and other tourism players who desire the development of more sustainable tourism infrastructures in the country.

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SeoulNorth Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, South Koreas military said, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests that Pyongyang says are in response to major US-South Korea defence drills.

The two allies were conducting a joint amphibious landing exercise on Monday, days after concluding Freedom Shield, their largest combined military drills in five years.

North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion, and has repeatedly warned it would take overwhelming action in response.

Our military detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from around Chunghwa area in North Hwanghae province from 07:47 am (2247 GMT) towards the East Sea, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The missiles each flew around 370 kilometres (230 miles), it added, calling their launch a serious act of provocation damaging peace and stability of the international community as well as the Korean peninsula.

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The Japanese defence ministry also confirmed the launch, with Japanese media citing officials as saying both missiles fell outside the countrys exclusive economic zone.

North Korean state media last week said the US-South Korean military drills called for stronger war deterrents, including a multi-faceted and offensive nuclear attack capability.

The North Korean military has carried out multiple drills of its own in recent weeks, including the test-fire of what state media described as an underwater nuclear-capable drone, and its second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this year.

State media said the underwater nuclear attack drone drill, personally overseen by North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un, was staged to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis.

Kim also led a two-day drill last week simulating a nuclear counterattack, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Koreas claims have been questioned by experts, who have said they are not the same as credible demonstrations of capability.

But they added that Pyongyang was moving on from simply stockpiling nuclear warheads and attempting to advance and diversify launch mediums.

Analysts had previously said Pyongyang would likely use the US-South Korea drills as an excuse for more missile launches and perhaps even a nuclear test.

Advanced missile threats

In the face of growing threats from North Korea, the United States and South Korea have ramped up their security cooperation.

Last week, the US military said it conducted for the first time remote launcher deployment training for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)a missile defence systemduring Freedom Shield.

In the face of DPRKs advanced missile threats, the training of our THAAD forces demonstrates the ironclad commitment to support and defend South Korea, US Forces Korea said in a statement, using the acronym of North Koreas official name.

North Korea last year declared itself an irreversible nuclear power and Kim recently called for an exponential increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

Kim also ordered the North Korean military this month to intensify drills to prepare for a real war.

The South Korean defence ministry said the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrierwas due to arrive in the southern city of Busan on Tuesday.

Both militaries carried out joint naval drills on Monday, which are aimed at strengthening extended deterrence through the deployment of US strategic assets in the face of growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats, a defence ministry official told reporters.

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JerusalemIsraeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday called for an immediate halt to the governments controversial judicial reforms, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for similar demands.

TROUBLE IN TEL AVIV. Protesters block a road and hold national flags as they gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli governments judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 26 fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant a day after he broke ranks, citing security concerns in calling for a pause to the governments controversial judicial reforms. AFP

Herzog, who has a largely ceremonial role, made the call following large demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight where protesters again charged that the judicial overhaul package threatens Israels democracy.

For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately, Herzog said in a statement.

The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited a wave of protests and been questioned by Israels top allies including the United States, which expressed concern Sunday.

The government argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

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Yoav Galant, the former defence minister and long-time ally of Netanyahu, earlier called for a halt to the reformswith lawmakers due to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.

On Sunday, moments after Netanyahu sacked Galant, demonstrators seized a central highway cutting through the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres.

Some threw metal barricades at mounted officers while police deployed water cannon.

Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes, Herzog said.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry, he added, in an appeal to the government. Our security, economy, societyall are under threat.

The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish people are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you.

Herzog also appealed to politicians on all sides to place this countrys citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay.

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THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Monday asked the Department of Energy to step in to prevent avoidable power interruptions after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) denied its request for a month-on-month extension of its ancillary services agreements that have expired.

Ancillary services are deployed by grid operators to maintain grid stability and reliability in response to changes in power supply and demand. These services can include frequency regulation, reserve power, reactive power and black start capability.

In a letter to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, the NGCP said unless the ERC withdraws its order, the grid will be vulnerable to automatic load dropping caused by the artificial lack of reserves.

NGCP issued the warning as many of its ancillary agreements have expired and the competitive selection process is still ongoing.

We have resorted to month-to-month extensions of our existing agreements to ensure the sufficiency of services while the procurement process is ongoing. With ERCs denial of this interim arrangement, our hands are tied, the transmission grid operator said.

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The Philippine transmission grid shall be vulnerable to power interruptions resulting from an artificial lack of AS (ancillary service). Without an existing ASPA (ancillary service procurement agreement), NGCP cannot nominate power plants to provide the critical services, NGCP said.

NGCP considered these extensions as a middle ground strategy to remain compliant with the relevant DOE Circulars, while at the same time preserving the integrity of the transmission grid with the continuous provision of AS (ancillary service), especially during the summer months, when it is needed most, NGCP said.

NGCP is responsible for determining, acquiring, and dispatching the needed AS levels required to maintain power quality and the reliability and security of the nationwide grid.

The company recently opened the AS bids and is conducting the evaluation with awarding of contracts to winning bidders scheduled no later than April 18, 2023.

The resulting ancillary services procurement agreements from the bidding will still be subject to the approval of the ERC.

NGCP said the provisional approval for the new ASPAs may not be expected earlier than June 2023.

Ancillary services support the transmission of power from generators to consumers to maintain reliable operations. These are necessary for NGCP to manage power fluctuations to ensure the quality and reliability of power flowing through its system.

If not managed properly, fluctuations can cause damage to sensitive equipment, or even automatic load dropping if the fluctuations are severe enough to pose a danger to the transmission system as a whole.

We have always conducted the procurement of AS with good faith, with the best services for the least cost as a primary motivating factor. We have done much to improve the procurement process, but above all else, we must be able to provide these services, NGCP said.

NGCP said the ERC decision leaves the company with no other option.

If we sign interim extensions, we expect the ERC to issue us yet another show cause order. If we do not, we will be unnecessarily subjecting consumers connected to the grid to avoidable and damaging fluctuations or worse, interruptions, NGCP said.

Also on Monday, a congressional leader supported the call of Senator Sherwin Gatchalian for the ERC to penalize erring power distributors who contract for too much power.

The call to penalize power distributors that overcontracted power supply and imposed the costs to consumers is a good call, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said.

But imposing fines on their mismanagement, Barbers said is not enough.

They should be made to refund to the consumers who paid for electricity that they never used. The refund can come as discounted billings spread over a certain period, Barbers said.

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Multi-stakeholder forum urges Filipino families to Dont Wait  Vaccinate!

As the world witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination help saves lives. Over the course of the 20th century, improved health outcomes such as increased child survival, reduced deaths due to infectious diseases, and longer life expectancies may be attributed to immunization.

To bring to focus the importance of immunization in the lives of Filipino families and to raise awareness of the long-term benefits of immunization to society, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), in partnership with MSD in the Philippines, held a media forum aptly titled Stronger Together: Vaccination for All Ages at the EDSA Shangri-La Manila on March 25, 2023.

This media forum is part of the Department of Healths pre-World Immunization Week activity.

The media forum, hosted by journalist and health advocate Jing Castaneda, kickstarted the countdown to World Immunization Week, a global observance celebrated every last week of April to promote the importance of vaccines for all ages. The theme for this years World Immunization Week is The Big Catch Up, which highlights the need to prioritize vaccinations that were halted due to the pandemic.

Indeed, people dont need to wait for World Immunization Week to start raising awareness about the importance of vaccines in safeguarding the health of millions worldwide. As the world learned in recent years, health and safety are interconnected, and no one is truly immune or protected from disease until everyone is protected from the said disease  so speak to your healthcare professional about vaccination now, especially if you are part of the at-risk population.



Empowering households with vaccine information

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During the media forum, scientific leaders such as Dr. Paul Van Buynder from the Australia Immunisation Coalition (AIC), Prof. Tikki Pangestu from the Asia-Pacific Immunization Coalition (APIC), and Dr. Rose Capeding from the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination discussed the value of vaccination for the whole family.

Vaccines may help save lives by preventing certain diseases and reducing direct and indirect health costs on national health systems and households. Vaccines are cost-effective and are one of the core components of preventive health services packages. Thanks to vaccines, children are protected from diseases that were once top killers and disablers worldwide, such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tuberculosis, smallpox, polio, and measles.

More importantly, vaccines may help prevent the spread of disease among family members and neighbors, leading to healthier communities. Additionally, immunization may help prevent the transmission of certain diseases from one generation to another, freeing the next generations from the burden of certain diseases.

Families that get vaccinated together stay healthy together. If one person gets vaccinated, not only are they protecting themselves, but they are also helping protect their families, communities, and future generations. With the help of immunization, Filipino families may enjoy longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives together.

Promoting a life-course approach to immunization

In this multi-stakeholder discussion, other health leaders and experts including Dr. Janis Bunoan  Macazo from the Department of Health (DOH), Prof. Nina Castillo-Carandang, Ph.D. from the Department of Clinical Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Dr. May Montellano from Far Eastern University  Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, and Ms. Carmen Auste from Cancer Coalition Philippines and Cancer Warrior Foundation tackled how to build stronger confidence in vaccination across different life stages.

As new vaccines are developed and tested, they will continue to be a vital tool in helping prevent certain diseases for various age groups. A life-course approach to immunization states that access to vaccines and vaccination schedules must align with an individuals life stage, lifestyle, and the specific risks and vulnerabilities related to these factors.

As such, immunization is not limited to infants. At every life stagefrom infancy to adolescence to adulthoodone must receive specific vaccines to protect them from certain life-threatening diseases. Specific vaccines are intended for each family member at every phase of their lives.

For example, it is recommended to secure infant immunization against measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and diphtheria. Meanwhile, for adolescents, it is recommended that girls aged 9 to 13 receive immunization against the human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer.

While immunization at an earlier age is preferred, adult males and females aged 18 years and up may still get HPV vaccines to help build protection against HPV-related diseases and cancers.

Additionally, pneumonia vaccination is recommended for the elderly and other at-risk groups living with diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses.



Building a stronger network for vaccination

The need to create a stronger national healthcare system through vaccination was the focus of the discussion participated by Dr. Arthur Dessi Roman from the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) and Bryan Posadas from the PFV.

For developing countries like the Philippines, good population health is fundamental for social development and economic growth. Vaccination is a vital component of public health programs, and routine immunization forms the foundation of resilient health systems and universal health coverage.

Immunization remains one of the most cost-effective methods to help prevent the spread of certain infectious diseases across populations, helping save millions of lives every year.

Aside from safeguarding the health and safety of the population, vaccination is also a source of high investment returns for the government. While the economic benefits of improved health outcomes remain largely underestimated, the yearly return on investment in vaccination alone is between 12% and 18%.

The good news is multiple channels available where patients can get their vaccines. Apart from hospitals and clinics, adults can also visit their local pharmacies to get vaccinated.

At the same time, under the DOHs National Immunization Program, there are free vaccination programs under the local government units (LGUs), especially free pneumonia vaccines for the indigent elderly.

Meanwhile, through the School-Based Immunization Program (SBIP), female public school learners in grade 4 who are 9 to 13 years old may avail of the free HPV vaccines from their school or nearest health center.

So, what are you waiting for? Dont waitspeak to your doctor about vaccination now!

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The Patrick County Sheriffs Office is working with North Carolina authorities on the case of found human remains.

Human remains were found Saturday afternoon in a creek near the N.C. border in the Dry Pond area of the county, according to a press release from the Patrick County Sheriffs Office.

Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith received a call from the Stokes County, N.C., Sheriffs Office advising that they had been called about a body found by teenagers riding an ATV, the release states. The N.C. deputies realized that the body was actually inside Virginia, prompting the call to Patrick County.

Patrick and state officers responded and found, according to satellite mapping, that the body was 169 yards inside Virginia.

It is not known when the body can be identified, the release states.

The release also states that Stokes County investigators were investigating the disappearance of Trinity Fain, 25, who had been reported missing from their jurisdiction on Feb. 5.
A disabled graduate student at the University of Virginia says he has had no choice but to take medical leave after the school retaliated against him for filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government.

The Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights ruled in his favor, and the university signed a resolution agreement on Nov. 22 of last year that required the school not only make the student whole but update its procedures and faculty training.

Weston Allen, who is in the UVa counselor education graduate program, told The Daily Progress that UVa has not held up any part of its side of the deal and, worse, is making it difficult to stay in school.

He said hes depressed, exhausted, constantly ill, lonely, discouraged and running out of money. UVa did this to me, Allen said.

Im worn out, he said. Im depressed about it, because I just cannot believe that a school of this caliber has made things so bad from the get-go. I just feel sick. I feel a lot of emotions. I just cannot believe they could do this, especially the counselor education program. On top of that, in housing and disability services, no one had my back.

Today, nearly five months after the Office for Civil Rights ruled in Allens favor and more than 10 months after he filed his initial discrimination complaint, the university has not met any of the requirements that resulted from the investigation and its findings, Allen said.

His attorney, Robert L. Shibley, said Allen made his formal complaint, the Office for Civil Rights ruled in his favor but the university has been difficult every step of the way.

They made a huge issue out of every single nit they could pick, Shibley told The Daily Progress. And they never even paid him the amount they agreed to.

Shibley said that the universitys response to correspondence is to go silent for weeks.

This is all one string of things dating back to when Weston prevailed in his complaint about the housing problem, Shibley said.

UVa agreed to pay Allen and provide him with a parking pass by Nov. 22, but asked the Department of Education for more time, saying that the Nov. 13 shooting on Grounds caused universitywide delays, Shibley said. The department extended the universitys deadline to Dec. 16, but Allen still has not received any reimbursement from UVa.

As of March 15, Allen said UVa has also not responded to messages that Shibley sent on Allens behalf on Jan. 30.

Allen is pursuing his graduate degree with dreams of becoming a guidance counselor for primary and secondary school students with terminal illnesses and other disabilities.

Having lived with delayed gastric emptying for more than a decade, Allen is familiar with what its like pursuing an education with a disability. His morning routine often consists of waking up sick and immediately rushing to a bathroom.

This, and a benign brain tumor that causes neurological delays, were his reasons for reaching out to Student Disability Access Services at UVa to speak with a coordinator about the housing accommodation application process on April 5 of last year.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that any college or university that receives funding from the Department of Education and provides housing to its students without disabilities must also provide comparable, convenient and accessible housing to students with disabilities at the same set cost. The federal law also says that accessible housing should be available in sufficient quantity and variety to give disabled students living options to choose from.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities by public entities, including public education systems and institutions, regardless of whether they receive federal financial assistance.

A UVa coordinator told Allen that housing accommodation requests had to go through Housing and Residence Life, then scheduled a phone call for Allen to speak with the director of Student Disability Access Services on April 12, the Office for Civil Rights wrote in its conclusion regarding Allens case on Oct. 31.

The deadline for priority housing applications to secure undergraduate and graduate housing for the 2022-23 academic year was April 8 of this year.

UVa policy says that students who apply for housing accommodations must submit a routine application to Housing and Residence Life as well as a request for housing modification and a verification of disability form to Student Disability Access Services. The policy includes that priority will go to students who submit the housing accommodation forms by the published deadlines during the housing selection process and the university will do whatever it can to meet the accommodation needs, but it will be subject to room availability for students who submit their accommodation requests made after the deadline.

Allen submitted his housing application, request for housing modification form and verification of disability form to the assistant director of Housing and Residence Life on April 26 and received a response saying he was on a wait list because one-bedroom units had been unavailable since April 13.

On May 1, the director of Housing and Residence Life at the university told Allen that all graduate and undergraduate housing had already been assigned so he would not receive student housing for the 2022-23 academic year. Allen and the attorney he hired to fight his case filed a complaint against the university with the Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights on May 3, claiming the university refused to engage with him before denying his housing request.

The department launched an investigation into his claims, and in the meantime, Allen moved into off-campus housing in August to begin the fall semester.

The new school year was going smoothly, Allen said, until the director of the counselor education program, Dr. Derick J. Williams, and Allens academic adviser, Dr. Blair E. Cholewa, forced him to sign a Student Success Plan on Oct. 15, before he had taken his midterms. The Student Success Plan was a document with statements promising that Allen would submit work on time and not allow his personal issues to derail his coursework.

Allen said his program leaders claimed he needed the plan because he was still learning to use the programs academic software applications, Canvas and IRIS, at the time.

Student Success Plans are never in the students best interest, Allen said. If they were, they would include you in building them, but thats never the case.

On Oct. 31, the Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Section 504 and required the university to make Allen whole with the more than $2,200 that he paid in rent until that point; provide Allen with a free parking pass; reinstate any points or deductions that Allen received for class or assignment tardiness through the date the parking pass is provided; and finally update the universitys Section 504 procedures and faculty training by Nov. 22.

UVa Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis signed a resolution agreeing to the terms on Oct. 28.

Relieved, Allen said he was ready to put the matter behind him to focus on his school work. As a full-time student relying on loans for income, Allen was also glad that the university would be paying the equivalent of his rent costs between August and October of last year.

But then, on Dec. 15, Allen said his graduate program pressured him to sign another Student Success Plan.

This time, he requested a Zoom call with the director and associate director to discuss the reason for the plan before signing. The fall semester formally ended on Dec. 16.

In January, before the spring 2023 semester began, Allen emailed his adviser, Cholewa, with questions about the plan to discuss on the upcoming Zoom call but said he was met with hostility. Allen said Cholewa told him to take his time reviewing and signing the plan.

I got hassled like you wouldnt believe, Allen said. The meeting went on for a least two hours on Zoom, and she got to the point of really yelling at me and saying, Weston, I need you to tell me right now that you were wrong for sending this email last minute.

Allen said he was harassed, berated, gaslighted and taunted by the program director and his academic adviser, who were both interviewed during the OCR investigation, in what he believes is retaliation because he filed a complaint against the university and won.

Allen said the only other time that he has experienced discrimination based on his invisible disabilities was as an undergraduate student at UVas College at Wise in 2019.

I have experienced this one time, Allen said. It was actually at UVa Wise with my art professor. She didnt like anything I made. I was always in the bathroom, because in the mornings I am sick and throwing up because I have gastroparesis and it makes me very nauseous. I had to do an Office of Civil Rights complaint about her and it turned out, real fast, that she told everybody in the class that I got an F.

The office found that professor also in violation of Section 504, Allen said, and required her to change his grade from and F to a P, which took him from failing to passing.

After being discriminated against and then being denied the reimbursement that a federal agency found was his right to have, Allen is convinced that he doesnt fit UVas model for its ideal student.

Allen said he remains dedicated to the fight for the university to correct its discriminatory behavior, but the struggle with the university has pushed him to go on medical leave for the spring 2023 semester.

Due to federal student privacy laws, the University cannot comment on the particular elements of this individuals complaint, UVa spokesman Brian Coy said in a statement to The Daily Progress. I can tell you that we take seriously our responsibility to offer reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities and that we have recently updated our processes governing interactions with students who are seeking a housing accommodation for a reported disability.

Allen said his grandparents are concerned about the pressure. He said the program has stressed him out more than nearly losing his father to a stroke last summer.

I was raised by my grandparents, and they are just angry, Allen said. Theyre angry by this, because it is not what UVa has talked about when they mention helping people and being accessible and the reality is not what they talk about. Its just the opposite of what they thought it was going to be. They thought it would be supportive, and its not.
McDowell County Schools is searching for a new superintendent. And school system officials are asking for the publics input about what qualities the new superintendent should possess.

You can find the survey here: https://www.mcdowell.k12.nc.us/

At a recent meeting, members of the McDowell County Board of Education heard from attorney Chris Campbell of Campbell Shatley, PLLC, the Asheville firm advising on the search. Campbell emphasized that his firm is there for guidance in the process but the choice of a leader is ultimately up to the board.

The district is running an advertisement for potential applicants for the job.

Prior experience as a superintendent or a doctoral degree is preferred but not required, reads the ad. The Board of Education encourages aspiring superintendents with the demonstrated leadership skills necessary to lead a successful school district to apply. The individual chosen will be required to live in McDowell County.

The ad goes on to list qualities that the new superintendent should have.

Candidates should demonstrate a strong ability in: 1. Instructional and administrative leadership; 2. Partnering with community members, school personnel and government officials; 3. Public relations; 4. Administration and organization; 5. Long and short-term planning; 6. Budgeting; 7: personnel management and staff development; 8. Facility management; and 9. Community involvement.

Applications must be received no later than Wednesday, April 19. The goal is to have a new superintendent prepared to take office by July 1. But the Board of Education is flexible on a specific starting date, according to the ad.

In addition, the school system has an online survey where school staff and local residents can give their input in what they expect from the new superintendent. It is in both English and Spanish.

You can find the survey here: https://www.mcdowell.k12.nc.us/

The survey asks the respondents to name which personal and professional characteristics are most important for a school superintendent to possess. It also asks respondents to state what question they would put forward to the applicants during a job interview.

The survey also asks staff and local residents to rank numerous areas in the order they believe to be most important for the new superintendent and Board of Education to address. These areas include employee morale, issues of equality and diversity, financial accountability and transparency, building positive relationships with local governments, improving student performance and others.

In another section, the survey asks What is the first issue that, in your opinion, the new Superintendent should deal with?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Angola (MREX) says it rejects the news broadcasted last Friday, 24, about sending national mercenaries to fight in Ukraine alongside Russia.

In a Note of Protest sent to the press, the department led by Tete Antonio vehemently rejects these fallacious information that constitute a deliberate desire to tarnish and discredit the good image of the Angolan authorities at the highest level.

This position comes after the Ministry became aware of the news released by the television station CNN-Portugal, according to which the Government of the Republic of Angola proceeded to send mercenaries to fight in the war opposing Russia and Ukraine, an action supposedly agreed during the visit to Luanda of His Excellency Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Angolan diplomacy still says it regrets the fact that CNN-Portugal has not exercised the contradictory, when it had every possibility to do so and manifested its displeasure with the Portuguese authorities before the damage caused by this irresponsible and repeated act of CNN-Portugal.

For the Angolan government, this action of the television station CNN-Portugal in no way favors the good relationship between the Republic of Angola and the Portuguese Republic.

The MREX concludes that Angola has already been a victim of mercenarism in the early days of its independence, having always condemned such actions, taking energetic and exemplary measures to discourage practices of this kind.

The news that mercenaries had been hired in Angola was cited by several media outlets that referred to information released by Ukraines National Resistance Center (NRC) portal on Thursday, 23.

The site, which presents itself as being created by the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to support and coordinate those who fight for the liberation of our land from Russian invaders, wrote that to cover the great losses, the Russians plan to attract even more mercenaries, whose loss does not cause social tension in Russian society.
The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo said that henceforth no female child should be given in marriage and warned that those who do so will be held responsible by the state.

Sissoco Embalo was speaking to a group of Muslim faithful who prayed with the Head of state at the Presidency of the Republic, in what was the first Friday prayer of the Muslim month of Ramadan.

After clarifying his order to ban child begging in the country, the President addressed the issue of female child marriage that has been a practice in several Islamic communities in Guinea-Bissau.

Dont accept the marriage of anyone. Whoever gives you in marriage do not accept it, you can come and talk to the President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo said as he addressed a group of female children who prayed for the first time in the backyard of the Palace of the Republic in Bissau.

After personally asking each of the children their name, age and whether they go to the official school, Umaro Sissoco Embalo invited them to deny any intention of marriage.

Whoever speaks to you about marriage tell him you dont want to because you want to go to school, said Embalo. Being clearer in his words, the Guinean President said that from now on this marriage of children aged 14, 15, 17 or 20 is over.

Children have to go to school. In Guinea-Bissau the official school is in Portuguese, but we do not prevent anyone from sending their child to the Koranic school, noted Sissoco Embalo, who wants to see children graduate as doctors, engineers, or lawyers.
The director-general of the Migration, Foreigners and Borders Services of Guinea-Bissau, Lino Leal da Silva, denounced the worrying increase of cases of Guinean children begging in Senegal and on the streets of Bissau.

In a press conference in Bissau, Leal da Silva said that only in 2022, 382 Guinean children were detected by the border control services who returned to the country from Senegal or were banned from entering the country.

The cases are related to children who present themselves as Koran apprentices, but who end up begging on the streets of Dakar, noted the director-general of Migration, Foreigners and Borders.

Leal da Silva said that the 382 cases were registered at border crossings with Senegal, proving that there is a large flow of Taliban children from Guinea-Bissau to Senegal.

Talibe is the name given to a child who leaves his family environment to learn the Koran from a Koranic master in his village or in another community, which may be in another country.

The head of Guinea-Bissaus Border Services urged Guineans to stop the practice that he said is shameful for the country.

People must stop this situation. People instill this spirit that we are poor and so they have to put children in begging, this is very ugly, it is shameful to even see Guinean children begging in the streets of Dakar or here in Bissau, considered Lino Leal da Silva.

The director-general of Frontiers urged the Koranic masters (Islamic teaching teachers) to do as the Catholics do who, he said, teach the children in organized places.

Starting Monday we will be in all the arteries of Bissau to inspect: The child caught in the street asking for alms from his Koranic master will be called to answer before the law, warned Lino Leal da Silva.

The Guinean President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo gave an ultimatum to the new Minister of Interior, Soares Sambu, to put an end to children begging in the streets of the country and the ruler said that the order begins to be fulfilled as of Monday.
Uganda Airlines will resume direct flights to the Rwandan capital Kigali for the first time since its revamp in 2019 and a year after both countries reopened their common border.

Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo made this announcement last week at the conclusion of the two-day 11th Session of the Rwanda-Uganda Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) in Kigali.

For Odongo, the move seeks to address transport challenges faced by the business community from both countries, boost trade, enhance connectivity, and contribute to the strengthening of people-to-people exchanges.

Uganda welcomes the acceptance of the designation of our national carrier Uganda Airlines by the Rwanda authorities, which will lead to its commencing of direct flights from their hub in Entebbe to Kigali, he added in a statement.

Uganda Airlines resumed commercial flights in 2019, targeting mostly regional destinations but efforts for the carrier to secure landing rights in Kigali have been futile, mostly because of a diplomatic rift.

Rwanda-Uganda Joint Permanent Commission made several concessions to reopen their common border last year. Allowing Uganda Airlines to fly to Kigali signals a further opening-up of relations between the two countries.

Already, RwandAir, Kigalis national carrier, operates direct flights to Entebbe. Trade between the two countries has significantly gone down, although it is currently on the rise.
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Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

A March report says climate change is extending the pollen and mold allergy season and making it more intense.

Is your nose ready?

The body's first line of defense against allergens is the nose, says Mansoor Amiji, Northeastern distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences and chemical engineering.

But the sheer amount of pollen grains now powdering the air from spring until fall can make it easier for invading allergens to slip past nasal filtration systems and enter the respiratory tract, Amiji says.

"We are always inhaling airsix to seven liters per minute or 11,000 liters a day," Amiji says.

"All of that air is bringing in all of this stuffbacteria, viruses, pollen allergens. Most of the time our mouth is closed but our nose is always open. So the nose has to be the main filter to remove it," he says.

Amiji, who co-wrote a study on why people are more vulnerable to catching colds during the winter months, says a higher density of allergens can overwhelm the nose's defenses.

The result is symptoms such as sneezing, congestion, itchy eyes, nose and throat, watery eyes, fatigue and coughing.

"The nose is fabulous," says Dr. Bruce Gordon, an allergist from Massachusetts.

But that doesn't mean it can stand up by itself to the extra pollen and mold counts produced by climate change, he says.

The nose is designed so that the flow of air into it causes dust and particles to be absorbed by mucus and stay out of the lungs, Gordon says. The mucus usually drains, almost imperceptibly, down the back of the throat and is destroyed by stomach acid or excreted.

An overload of pollen can lead to the allergen being dissolved in the mucus before it has a chance to be killed in the stomach, leading to allergic symptoms.

"If you're exposed to larger amounts of allergens, more stuff leaks out," Gordon says.

"It could overwhelm the defense systems," Amiji says.

The research paper Amiji wrote with Dr. Benjamin S. Bleier at Mass Eye and Ear that uncovered the biological mechanism by which respiratory viruses are more common in winter could hold some clues to combating allergens.

The scientists discovered that viruses have a field day when temperatures drop because that's when the quantity of virus-fighting fluid sacscalled extracellular vesiclesreleased in the front of the nose decreases.

Climate change also seems to be undermining the nose's protective mechanism by producing larger and more concentrated doses of pollen than the organ is designed to stop from entering the respiratory system, Amiji says.

"If we are able to understand how allergens interact with us, and what type of reaction the nose is creating, we can create various types of anti-allergy therapeutic strategies based on that," Amiji says.

In the meantime, one low-tech solution is to wear a facial covering when high pollen counts are predicted.

"I think wearing a mask is a great idea," especially when high quality masks like the N95 are coupled with allergy medication, Amiji says.

Gordon also says a high efficiency particulate filter mask could be the best way to keep pollen and mold spores from being breathed in.

Masks can be especially effective in reducing allergy symptoms while doing yard work or spending time outdoors, says Jenny Van Amburgh, clinical professor at Northeastern's School of Pharmacy.

"They won't reduce itchy eyes," she adds, advising people to wash or shower after returning indoors and to keep their windows closed.

Antihistamine and nasal sprays such as Flonase are typically among the first lines of defense before people progress to immunotherapy.

Gordon, who recently retired from practice, says "it's got to the point now where people need to be on both meds and allergy shots."

The allergy season report by Climate Central, a nonprofit organization of scientists, researchers and writers, says "the connections between climate change and seasonal allergies are becoming increasingly clear."

"From warming temperatures and more freeze-free days to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, climate change is making allergy season longer and more intense, with higher amounts of allergens in the air," the report says.

"Warming temperatures mean that allergy season arrives sooner in the spring and lasts longer into fall."

"It extends the blooming time" and melding spring tree pollen, early summer grass pollen and fall weed pollen seasons into one long allergy season, Gordon says.

In addition, the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere "is acting as a fertilizer," he says.

"Plants eat carbon to make more of themselves. The plants grow larger and produce more pollen grains, and the pollen grains are packed with allergens," Gordon says.

"It's really complicated," he says. "It's not going to be fun."

Amiji, who says he also suffers seasonal allergies, knows all about the misery.

"Last fall, just walking around our backyard, I saw this huge plume of pollen that literally looked like a cloud that was stagnant in our background," Amiji says. The encounter produced congestion and watery eyes.

"You'll hear people say I never used to have allergies and now I'm having them," Van Amburgh says. She advises people who know they have seasonal allergies to start using medications such as Flonase weeks before their allergen blooms.

Besides over-the-counter and prescribed medications, some people have resorted to using nasal irrigation systems, taking probiotics and getting acupuncture to control their allergy symptoms.

Gordon says a British parasitologist even had some success fighting hay fever with hookworms.

The ultimate remedy, he says, is to get climate change under control.

"Seasonal allergic reactions are like the canary in the coal mine when you think about climate change," Amiji says. "People start to see the effect immediately."
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Super-high-resolution microscopic image of a cell that has been exposed to the sex hormone dihydrotestosterone. The androgen receptor (violet) and actin (green) are visible in the cell nucleus. Both molecules are stained with fluorescent dyes and thus made visible. The individual structures made visible (right) are only 200 nanometers (200 millionths of a millimeter) small. Credit: Julian Knerr/University of Freiburg

Researchers from Freiburg and Kiel discovered that actin acts in the cell nucleus and is partly responsible for the expression of male sexual characteristics

Steroid hormones, to which belong sex hormones like estrogen or testosterone, are important signaling molecules and are responsible among other things for controlling female and male phenotypic sex differentiation. They act by binding to receptor molecules that switch on and off the activity of hormone-dependent genes.

Researchers at the University of Freiburg and Kiel University Hospital have discovered that components of the cytoskeleton are critically involved in this process. The findings are relevant for the diagnosis of medical conditions and the study of diseases and cancers in which steroid hormones play important roles. The study was published in Nature.

The new research findings show that filamentous actin, a component of the cytoskeleton, interacts with the androgen receptor directly in the cell nucleus and strengthens its effect. The androgen receptor mediates the signals of sex hormones for male sex development but also promotes the progression of prostate cancer.

A genetic modification as the key indicator

Scientists with different research foci from Freiburg, Kiel, and Lubeck collaborated on the study across disciplines. The project was led jointly by Prof. Dr. Robert Grosse and PD Dr. Nadine Hornig: Grosse conducts his research at the Cluster of Excellence CIBSSCentre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies and the University of Freiburg's Faculty of Medicine, Hornig at University of Kiels Faculty of Medicine and the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, campus Kiel.

The researchers became aware of the previously unknown connection between actin and steroid hormones while studying the cells of patients with a so-called androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS). People who live with AIS have a set of male XY chromosomes but have less pronounced male sexual characteristics, extending even to a completely female appearance. This is often due to a change in the androgen receptor, which means that male sex hormones can no longer take effect. However, the androgen receptor is frequently unchanged in patients with AIS.

"We want to find out what genetic modifications cause AIS in these patients," explains Hornig. "Thus, we wanted to identify further molecules that play a role in the development of sexual characteristics." For this purpose, the researchers used a screening method to examine the cells of patients with AIS. In the process, they discovered mutations in the DAAM2 gene in two patients: The molecule belongs to the group of formins and controls the dynamic polymerization and elongation of actin filaments. As a part of the cytoskeleton, actin is important for the stability and locomotion of cells but also serves regulatory functions.

High-resolution microscopy reveals the processes in the cell nucleus

The researchers used high-resolution 3D SIM microscopy to examine whether DAAM2 is indeed important for the effect of sex hormones. This is an elaborate technique that can be used to observe molecular movements within cells. The images show that DAAM2 and actin colocalize with the androgen receptor directly in the cell nucleus. Further experiments demonstrated that this colocalization is important for the control of gene activity.

"This is a completely unknown mode of action, which we succeeded in describing here for a very important receptor," says Grosse, highlighting the significance of the new findings. The research team assumes that the mechanism could be widespread and also influences the effect of other steroid hormones. "This could play a role in many physiological processes and diseases. It will be exciting to see whether it will enable new therapeutic approaches," explains Grosse.

Diagnosis possible for more patients with AIS

The discovery also provides a basis for further research on the development of sexual characteristics and enables a clear diagnosis for more patients with AIS.

"Previously, patients with androgen insensitivity but without a modification in the androgen receptor did not receive a clear diagnosis despite having clear symptoms," says Hornig. "Now we can make a clear diagnosis for those in whom DAAM2 is altered."

More information: Julian Knerr et al, Formin-mediated nuclear actin at androgen receptors promotes transcription, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05981-1 Journal information: Nature
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Experimental workflow. (A) The decryptM workflow comprises 7 steps: 1. Treatment of cells with increasing concentrations of a drug of interest and for a certain period of time. 2. Proteins are extracted from drug-treated cells. 3. Proteins are digested with trypsin. 4. Tryptic peptides are stable isotope labeled by tandem mass tags (TMT; one specific TMT reagent for each drug dose or time point). 5. Enrichment of a post-translational modification by immunoprecipitation (acetylation, ubiquitinylation) or immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). 6. TMT labeled samples are combined and subjected to LC-MS/MS analysis on an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. 7. Peptides and proteins are identified from MS2 spectra and relative quantification of peptides and proteins is performed on the basis of the TMT reporter intensities both using the software MaxQuant. A pipeline of custom decryptM scripts are used for fitting dose-response curves, filtering for significant drug perturbations, and creating different visualizations. Credit: Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade3925

A research team of 37 scientists, led by the Technical University of Munich, has developed a method to interrogate drug-induced post-translational modifications (PTMs) in a time and dose-dependent way.

The study, published in the journal Science, details an approach that more closely mimics what is happening in cells when drug proteins interact with proteins in a cell. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are processing events that affect the structure and dynamics of proteins.

Because the structure of a protein is specific to its function, the modifications can significantly alter biological processes, which is how most drugs are designed to operate. While the drug/cell protein interactions are generally understood, exactly how this interaction takes place over the course of a treatment (time and dose-dependent) is an understudied aspect.

The proteomic assay method, called decryptM, involves treating cells with increasing concentrations of a drug and quantifying thousands of drug-PTMs to reveal target engagement and drug mechanism of action.

For the study, decryptM profiling was applied to 31 cancer drugs in 13 cell lines. The data derived from the method represents 1.8 million quantitative cellular drug assays with dose-response curves, with 124,660 regulated phosphopeptides detected on 11,982 proteins, 9,173 ubiquitinylated peptides detected on 3,006 proteins and 2,478 regulated acetylated peptides detected on 1,377 proteins.

Most PTMs were not regulated by most drugs, which is valuable information for understanding which pathways are being used or perhaps missed by each medicine.

In the case of two proteasome inhibitor drugs, bortezomib and carfilzomib, decryptM data revealed that drug effects became more potent over time and suggested the involvement of increased regulated phosphorylation sites as a possible mechanism.

The study also found that different histone deacetylase inhibitors (anti-cancer agents) have different activation times and that specific targets of the drugs were more potent than others. This type of information could greatly benefit researchers looking to improve the effectiveness of existing drugs.

Researchers also looked at multiple breast cancer cell types with decryptM profiles. The signaling pathways in different cancer cells can diverge strongly, and decryptM profiling uncovered cell-line specific signatures of drug interaction. For example, a cancer drug regulated hundreds of phosphopeptides in two cell types tested but merely regulated five in another. This is precisely the sort of drug/cell type interaction information that a doctor or pharmaceutical researcher would want to know about.

The study highlights some limitations of the approach in its current form. There is difficulty in attributing the resulting data to a specific target if a drug can engage multiple targets with similar potency. Still, this makes decryptM profiles a powerful starting point for more experimentation.

The authors envision that decryptM profiles may serve to monitor and eventually predict drug responses in-vivo once sufficient drugs and cell systems have been analyzed. Additionally, matching decryptM profiles of cancer drugs with cancer patient PTM profiles may become an important tool in personalized and evidence-based treatment recommendations.

More information: Jana Zecha et al, Decrypting drug actions and protein modifications by dose- and time-resolved proteomics, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade3925 Journal information: Science

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Countries and political units with more than 400 cumulative 3D protein structure publications between April 19, 2021 and March 15, 2023. Others with more than 100 cumulative 3D protein structure publications during this time period include South Africa (330), Brazil (281), Canada (203), Switzerland (152) Israel (137), Ukraine (102) and Taiwan (101). Data for this graphic were collected by Mary Kate Boldyrev, Yasin Khamosh, Matthew K. McDevitt and David Roman. Credit: Manfred Philipp, City University of New York

In a new study, researchers examined how a country's number of published 3D protein structures for coronaviruses, including the one responsible for COVID-19, correlated with its economic output and population. The findings reveal important insights into how different countries' research establishments respond to disease outbreaks and could be useful for planning responses to future pandemics.

The study showed that countries with larger economies generated more 3D structure determinations for the protein components of coronaviruses, although there were many outliers. For example, some advanced and prosperous countries published few or no coronavirus structures while some countries strongly affected by COVID-19 published far more such structures than would be expected based on their populations and economies.

Manfred Philipp, professor emeritus at the City University of New York, will present the new research at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, March 2528 in Seattle.

The 3D structures of proteins, such as those that make up coronaviruses, are determined using techniques such as X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance. This information is then deposited into the Protein Data Bank (PDB) database so that it can be used to develop new drug treatments and new vaccines. Protein structure information is also key for understanding how viruses infect cells and interact with our immune system.

"We asked ourselves how different countries respond to disease, not in terms of treatment and medical care, but in terms of the research needed to study those diseases and to develop new treatments," said Philipp. "Structure determinations provide a clear metric in terms of research response without any vagaries of interpretation."

Although a great deal of research has examined levels of coronavirus research funding in various countries, most of this work has focused either on coronavirus-related patents or financial inputs. However, relating research to patents is complex, in part, because some nonprofits perform considerable amounts of research but rarely apply for patents while some patent-generating organizations don't conduct a lot of research. Financial-based analyses don't provide a complete picture because it is difficult to capture both public and private funds. Also, private research funds are not always publicly disclosed and some funds that are reported may be used for administrative and overhead costs instead of directly for research.

"Because we did not look at levels research funding, we didn't have to figure out how much research funding was devoted to disease and how much to something else," said Philipp. "Our metric only sees research successes and provides a clear indication of the amount of research applied to this topic alone."

In the work, the researchers collected and cataloged 3D structure determinations for all proteins and nucleic acids that are components of coronaviruses. This included viruses from animal infections as well as those responsible for the 2003 SARS epidemic in Asia, the 2012 MERS epidemic in the Middle East, the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and other coronaviruses that have been studied.

Of the approximately 40 countries the researchers examined, the United States, United Kingdom and China had the highest number of protein structures. They found that population size contributed very little to the number of coronavirus protein deposits while countries with a higher GDP did tend to deposit more protein structures. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was positively associated with the number of PDB deposits per country, especially in the U.S. Although South Africa and Brazil are not in the top 10 research-producing countries, they had a high number of COVID-19 cases and PDB deposits, suggesting that the high number of cases experienced in these countries influenced their research output.

"Our research on the country distribution of coronavirus-related structure determinations is intended to give research administrators in various countries the tools to redirect research funds in the most productive direction," said Philipp. "For example, it can help countries with large research budgets but few if any structure determinations to redirect the focus of their research. This should not be the only such metric, but it is a key metric since it is independent of administrative and overhead costs."

Next, the researchers plan to examine whether the number of structure publications for coronaviruses will continue to increase as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and whether the countries that have led in depositing coronavirus structures into the PDB will continue to lead.

More information: Manfred Philipp will present this research from 4:306:30 p.m. PDT on Sunday, March 26, in Exhibit Hall 4AB of the Seattle Convention Center (Poster Board No. 177)
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A Paris suburb on Monday became the first municipality in France to allow women leave if they suffer from conditions linked to their menstrual cycles including period pain and endometriosis.

The municipality of Saint-Ouen, north of the capital, will allow women working for the local authorities to take up to two days off per month under the experimental scheme.

"Of the 2,000 people who work for the municipality, 60 percent are women. While talking with these employees I realized that half of them were suffering in silence. It was a subject put aside, if not taboo," said the Socialist Party mayor of Saint-Ouen Karim Bouamrane.

"Strong decisions had to be made to help them. I am proud that Saint-Ouen has blazed the trail nationally for concrete progress for women's rights," he said.

Staff will just need a medical certificate confirming their condition to take two days off.

Bouamrane has sent a letter to President Emmanuel Macron calling for the right to period leave to be enshrined in French law.

The move comes after Spanish lawmakers in February gave final approval to a law granting paid medical leave to women suffering severe period pain, becoming the first European country to advance such legislation.

Menstrual leave is currently offered only in a small number of countries across the globe, among them Japan, Indonesia and Zambia.

 2023 AFP
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Forgetting is not always easy. If you have ever tried to erase that annoying earworm from your mind or stop thinking about whether you locked the door after leaving the house, you know how disruptive it can be to think about something irrelevant to the task at hand. While much work in cognitive neuroscience focuses on how the human brain remembers and retains information, some cognitive neuroscientists have instead turned to forgettingworking to track exactly how we forget a piece of information and what it means for patients suffering from neurocognitive disorders.

"It may sound surprising that people can control what and how they forget," says Marie Banich of the University of Colorado, Boulder, who is chairing a session about new research on forgetting at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) annual meeting today in San Francisco. "But control over working memory is critical for switching between and re-prioritizing tasks. So in many ways, it is not surprising that we have control over the ability to remove information from the focus of our thoughts."

In new work that Banich and others are presenting, researchers have identified distinct mechanisms by which people remove information from their working memory and have also found that forgetting requires much effort. "We've found that intentionally forgetting no-longer-relevant information from the mind is beneficial, but it doesn't happen automatically," says Sara Festini of the University of Tampa, who will also be presenting new work at the CNS conference. The hope is that the body of work can lead not only toward better understanding attention and focus but also toward clinical targets for helping patients suffering from disorders ranging from depression and schizophrenia to PTSD and ADHD.

Tracking the Loss of a Thought

Banich became interested in understanding forgetting after losing someone to suicide. The experience got her thinking about the dangers of intrusive thoughts for people suffering from depression and related disorders.

"The content that gets stuck in mind varies across different disorders," Banich explains. For example people with schizophrenia may be consumed with paranoid thoughts, while those who have obsessive compulsive disorder might be worried about germs, and someone with anxiety may get stuck thinking about bad things that might happen in the future. "But it's the same process," she says. "The thoughts are going round and round, becoming the focus of attention and difficult to remove."

Complicating the treatment of these disorders is the fact that so many rely on self-reporting of symptoms, and even if a patient reports improvement, they may still be negatively ruminating. That challenge led Banich, a trained cognitive neuroscientist, down a path to answer the question: How can we know whether somebody has really stopped thinking about something?

Step by step, Banich and her colleagues have been learning how to track what happens when someone tries to purge a thought from their mind. Their latest work builds upon their past peer-reviewed work that documented three neurologically distinct ways people remove information from their working memory: replacing the thought with something else, suppressing that thought, or clearing their mind of all thoughts. This seemingly simple framework has taken many years of work, with the help of fMRI imaging, machine learning, and other technological and experimental advancements. It started, Banich said, with the realization in the middle of one night that "we can actually use neuroimaging to verify that somebody stopped thinking about something."

Asking participants to think about information in different categories (e.g. faces, places, fruit) while in the fMRI scanner, Banich and her team first trained a computer on the resulting neural patterns for the categories and examples from each. They then asked study participants to forget information in different categories, verifying whether it was removed by tracking whether the brain pattern was still present. They also identified the neural pattern of brain activation associated with each of the three mechanisms of forgettingwhether they replaced the thought of a face like Emma Watson, with an object, like the Golden Gate Bridge, suppressed the memory of Emma Watson, or cleared all thoughts.

Through this work, they have identified four brain networks that distinctly activate whether the memory is maintained or purged through one of the three mechanisms: the somatomotor network, the visual network, the default mode network, and the frontoparietal control network. Their work suggests that when the brain suppresses a thought or clears thoughts entirely, the frontoparietal control network likely plays a prominent and distinct role.

In identifying these specific brain networks, the research offers a path forward for investigating potential differences among individuals in how they forget. "Can we get some metric of people who might have difficulty controlling their thoughts?" Banich asks. "Maybe the frontoparietal network in people who are having difficulty controlling their thoughts can't differentiate between those mechanisms, or in them they are all muddled together?" In future work, Banich and her colleagues will also be looking at whether they can use biofeedback while participants are in the fMRI scanner to see if that can aid individuals in controlling the mechanism for removing unwanted information.

Putting in the Effort to Forget

An important part of this work has been looking at "proactive interference," which can happen when the brain is trying to learn something new that overlaps in category with something already in mindlike trying to learn Emma Stone's face instead of Emma Watson's. The takeaway from Banich's work has been that, in part due to proactive interference, suppressing a thought is more efficient than replacing it.

Indeed in work by Sara Festini and colleagues being presented in San Francisco, researchers found that one benefit of voluntarily forgetting a piece of information is that it reduces proactive interferencemaking it easier for someone to learn something new. "Proactive interference occurs, for example, when you accidentally walk to where you parked your car yesterday instead of where you parked your car today," Festini says. "We've shown that by voluntarily removing information from working memory, it makes the information less susceptible to detrimental forms of memory interference, like false memories and proactive interference."

In Festini's studies, the researchers, following an established paradigm, direct their participants to forget through explicit instructions that include a "forget cue." These cues, she says, are not just a contrivance of the lab. In real life, a forget cue may come implicitly when gathering drive-thru orders: if someone changes their order, they might say "Oh, never mind! I don't want that anymore." Or in class, an instructor might tell their students to disregard a prior statement, if it was inaccurate or no longer relevant.

Evidence from Festini's lab suggests not only that these forget cues work but that they promote goal-directed removal of information from working memory in a process that is "differentand more beneficial thansimply curtailing processing of information," she says. "We also have evidence that other attention-demanding tasks can disrupt the efficiency of directed forgetting within working memory." That makes the process of forgetting effortful and distinct from just discontinuing the processing of the information, echoing some of Banich's work.

In other studies, Festini and her colleagues have found that directed forgetting in older adults is impaired compared to in younger adults, but that explicit forget cues can still help mitigate interference in working memory for both younger and older adults. Although Festini's team's research has not specifically examined clinical applications, it suggests that voluntarily removing information from working memory may be more difficult for individuals with major depressive disorder or ADHD, for example.

Banich has also speculated about how the body of work could help contribute to understanding and treatment of PTSD, noting that people with PTSD tend to overgeneralize memories (e.g. when a backfiring vehicle may trigger a memory of an explosion). Because the process of forgetting appears to be effortful and best when specifically targeted, those with PTSD could potentially have challenges identifying and then suppressing the specific memory. "There is a paradoxical effect that if you're told to stop thinking about something, you actually have to identify and think about it to suppress it," she says.

Currently, Festini is undertaking a new study on how and when people remove information from working memory that is designated as less valuable or less important, without providing specific "forget" instructions. "I'm curious to understand what the tipping point is to motivate someone to engage in effortful removal of information from working memory," she says, "since there are clear benefits to the removal of less valuable information, but this removal process is attentionally demanding."

More information: The symposium "'Stop Thinking About It!': Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of the Removal and Inhibition of Information in Memory" is taking place at 1:30pmPT on Sunday, March 26, as part of the CNS 2023 annual meeting from March 25-28, 2023 in San Francisco. www.cogneurosociety.org/symposium-sessions/#SYM2
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A large observational study published in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that most patients do not medically benefit from consultation with a medical specialist before their surgery.

In Canada, surgeons refer more than 40,000 patients each year for consultation with a medical specialist (such as a general internist, cardiologist, endocrinologist, geriatrician, or nephrologist) before surgery. Between 10% and 40% of elective surgery patients will have a preoperative medical consultation.

These preoperative medical consultations are meant to address health issues that could lead to complications during surgery, but the evidence to support them has been limited and conflicting.

Based on data from 359,618 patients in Ontario, 0.9% of those who had a preoperative medical consultation died 30 days after surgery, compared with 0.7% of patients who did not.

"As a specialist who sees patients for preoperative medical consultations, I'm not convinced these visits are always helpful," says lead author Dr. Weiwei Beckerleg, a general internist at The Ottawa Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa and ICES fellow. "Most patients I see have already covered the same ground with their anesthesiologist. I've had patients ask me 'Why am I here?'"

Using Ontario healthcare data from 2005 to 2018, the research team looked at all patients 40 years and older who had intermediate to high-risk non-cardiac surgeries, such as hip or knee replacement, surgery of the digestive tract, or surgery to remove cancer or part of an organ.

Of the 530,473 patients in the study, 35% (186,299) had a preoperative medical consultation within four months of their surgery.

The research team then paired 179,809 surgical patients who had preoperative medical consultations with similar patients who did not. They were matched based on age, sex, health conditions, neighborhood income, hospital type, surgery type, year of surgery, and whether they had a consult with an anesthesiologist.

Analysis of these matched pairs showed that preoperative medical consultations were an independent risk factor for a slightly higher chance of death 30 days after surgery. Importantly, there were no clear benefits from these consultations regardless of a patient's risk going into surgery.

While this study can't explain why preoperative medical consultations may be causing some patients harm, delayed surgeries are a possible explanation.

"The goal of a preoperative medical consultation is to help patients get healthy enough for surgery while not delaying an urgent surgery. It could be that some time-sensitive surgeries were delayed by ordering unnecessary tests," said senior author Dr. Daniel McIsaac, scientist and anesthesiologist at The Ottawa Hospital and Chair in Innovative Perioperative Care at the University of Ottawa and ICES scientist.

For example, according to current guidelines, few patients need a heart test before surgery. However, patients in the preoperative medical consultation group were more likely to be referred for echocardiograms and cardiac stress tests than the control group.

In addition, patients in the preoperative medical consultation group were three times more likely to be prescribed beta blockers. While these drugs have many benefits for patients not having surgery, starting new prescriptions immediately before surgery has been discouraged ever since large clinical trials found that they increased the risk of stroke and death.

Consistent with previous studies, the hospital where the patient was seen was the best predictor of whether they had a preoperative medical consultation. Large teaching hospitals are the most likely to offer preoperative medical consultation because they have more staff, see more complex patients, and perform higher-risk surgeries.

"We're not saying that preoperative medical consultations should be abolished," says Dr. Beckerleg, "But based on the way they're run now, we're not convinced they always make a difference. More research is needed to find which patients benefit most from these consultations. In the meantime, we hope our findings inspire healthcare organizations to optimize preoperative care."

For example, preoperative medical consultations at The Ottawa Hospital are only done to address a specific health problem, rather than simply clearing a patient for surgery. The hospital has also reduced the amount of cardiac testing done before surgery.

Going forward, the research team recommends that older patients be prioritized for a special kind of consultation called a preoperative geriatric assessment. Past studies have shown these assessments do improve survival, and The Ottawa Hospital is a research leader in this area.

"Preoperative geriatric assessment can help older patients determine if surgery will help them or put them more at risk," said Dr. McIsaac. "If they do decide to have surgery, we can put together a personalized plan that addresses their specific needs. We've seen clear evidence of benefit from these assessments, which will be increasingly important as our population ages."

More information: Association of preoperative medical consultation with reduction in adverse postoperative outcomes and use of processes of care among residents of Ontario, Canada, JAMA Internal Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.0325 Journal information: JAMA Internal Medicine
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Credit: University of California, San Francisco

Humans are social animals. We might define ourselves as introverts, but the survival of our species rests on safety in community. Loneliness unleashes excess stress hormones, causing an elevated heart rate, and increased blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Loneliness also reduces the number of antibodies we produce to fight infection and may make us more susceptible to cancer. Even vaccine response has been shown to be less robust in socially isolated individuals.

In 2018, the U.K. appointed a minister for loneliness, and Loneliness Awareness Week was introduced to encourage people to "fill their lives with new friends and experiences." This occurred after government research revealed hundreds of thousands of elderly people reported that they had not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month. The U.K., like other European counties, and Canada and Japan, is looking at so-called social prescriptions as a means to beat loneliness and promote better health.

At UCSF, clinicians are paying attention.

Is social prescribing practiced in the U.S., and what is it?

Matt Pantell, MD: To a limited extent, yes. Its adoption here has been sporadic and takes various forms. In the U.K., where it's more common, general practitioners refer patients who are socially isolated to groups for emotional support or to build connection through shared interests, such as art and exercise classes.

At UCSF, there's a growing awareness of social prescribing's health benefits for patients of all ages. At SIREN, a national research network, affiliated with UCSF and tasked with advancing health care strategies to improve social conditions, one of our goals is studying best practices for matching resources to patients with needs that may include social isolation. For a patient with hearing loss, loneliness may be resolved when we help them get a hearing aid. Other patients might need assistance with social skills, or referrals to an activity group or a hotline providing social support.

Carla Perissinotto, MD: Social prescriptions are about individualized care. In my clinical encounters with patients, I might recognize someone is lonely and ask them about it and then we come up with a plan. Perhaps they miss playing cards with their friends at their assisted living facilityso their homework is to find a new partner with whom to play cards.

There are those patients who have no family or friends, and loneliness can be addressed by matching them with paid peers. This initiative was found to reduce depression among participants from 38% to 13%.

Why isn't social prescribing more common in the U.S.?

Perissinotto: Many countries spend way more on social services than our own very capitalistic, individualistic society. Social prescriptions don't mesh well with our health care system's fee-for-service setup. It's an indictment of the system that we're willing to cover very expensive medications, but not lower-cost solutions that may do more for a patient's health and well-being.

Pantell: We found that only 13% of patients were screened for social isolation in a medical setting, while 94% reported they had no social discomfort about being screened. This was seven years after the National Academy of Medicine's 2014 recommendation that social isolation be documented in electronic health records. I think we could be doing better, frankly.

Loneliness is the feeling of being alone, while social isolation is the lack of social connections. Do those who are socially isolatedwhether or not they report feeling lonelyface adverse health outcomes?

Pantell: In our 2013 study, we found that those with few or no social connections had higher rates of mortality. These higher rates were equivalent or higher to those found in people with hypertension or obesity. An earlier study suggested that the likelihood of death was 50% higher among those who were the most socially isolated compared to those who were the most socially integrated.

We're hearing a lot about children and teens struggling with loneliness. What kind of health deficits are they at risk for?

Pantell: The pandemic catalyzed interest in teens and children because we were seeing anxiety and loneliness. Social isolation and loneliness in children are associated with higher depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, anxiety and sleep disturbances. They are more likely to experience worse physical health in childhood and adulthood, exhibit biomarkers of inflammation and have metabolic risk factors, like obesity and high blood pressure.

Aric Prather, Ph.D.: Social isolation and loneliness can be a potent stressor in both teens and adults. To mitigate distress, some individuals may turn to maladaptive behaviors like excessive alcohol or drugs. Conversely, social connection can reinforce health promoting behaviors, providing the support to make good habits stick.

Data indicate that we're lonelier than we used to be. What's driving this?

Perissinotto: We've seen a steady decline in religious attendance, and civic and social participation. I think people need to prioritize socializing and recognize that it takes an active effort to have a social life and that it's not always convenient. There's a lot of emphasis on exercise and we forget that socializing is just as important to our health.

Prather: Social media plays a role. In our interconnected world, people get the impression that others have better lives than us, and I think that causes distress. Everyone has this FOMO (fear of missing out) experience, and you think, "I'm not doing that, and nobody wants to do those things with me." For sites like Instagram and Facebook, there's a constant pull to get attention and "likes." I think relationships fostered by social media are probably of less quality than in-person relationships.

Pantell: There's never been an easier time to remain in the house, thanks to Zoom meetings, online shopping, food delivery and movie streaming services. But in opting for convenience, we might miss out on those serendipitous encounters with friends or neighbors that make up our community. And we need to recognize that missing out might have consequences for our mental and physical health.
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Graphical abstract. Credit: Fertility and Sterility (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.02.034

A 2022 study from Oregon Health & Science University researchers confirmed that chronic use of cannabis may greatly impact male fertility and reproductive outcomes in nonhuman primatesbut it was unclear whether the effects are permanent. Now, the OHSU research team has confirmed that discontinuing use of THC can at least partly reverse these effects, according to a new study published online today in Fertility & Sterility.

This is one of the first studies demonstrating that discontinuation of chronic THC use can partially restore negative impacts to male reproductive health in nonhuman primates.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, which is one of the most commonly used drugs among reproductive age men in the United States and worldwide. Yet there is a significant lack of safety data around THC, and users may be unaware of its potentially harmful impacts on their reproductive health. This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the reversibility of these impacts, which can help providers more effectively counsel patientsespecially those interested in conceivingon risks and recommendations for THC use.

"It's so important that we research, understand and educate about the implications of THC on reproductive health, especially as use continues to increase among individuals of reproductive age and more states legalize cannabis," said the study's corresponding author Jamie Lo, M.D., M.C.R., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology (maternal-fetal medicine), OHSU School of Medicine, and Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, or ONPRC.

"These findings are important because we can now more confidently assure patients that by abstaining from THC for at least four months, the impacts of THC on male fertility can be partly reversed," Lo said. "This allows for more concrete, informed recommendations for patients who are in the process of family planning or actively trying to conceive."

The research involved a multidisciplinary team including Carol Hanna, Ph.D., director of the Assisted Reproductive Technology Core at ONPRC at OHSU, and researchers from the University of Georgia and Duke University.

In a model using nonhuman primates, researchers administered THC in progressive doses over a period of about seven months, looking specifically at changes to the tissue of the male subjects' reproductive health organs and testes, as well as the quantity and quality of their sperm. Analyses showed that THC exposure caused a significant reduction in size of the testes and impacted male productive hormones, both which negatively impact overall fertility. In addition, THC exposure impacted the sperm, altering the regulation of genes important for nervous system development, including those linked to autism spectrum disorder.

Interestingly, after discontinuing THC exposure over a period of about four months, researchers discovered these adverse effects were partially reversed, indicating that damage from chronic THC use can be partially restored.

Though further research is needed to fully understand the biological mechanism of this reversal process, the study offers a comprehensive initial understanding of the benefit of discontinuing THC use as a part of family planning, and also provides some insight to the minimum duration of abstinence from THC needed to repair damage after chronic use. These findings can also inform providers on how to more effectively counsel patients on cannabis use prior to attempting to conceive.

"We understand that for teens and young adults, family planning might not be top of mind. However, THC even in moderate doses could impact their fertility outcomes, so this is a serious concern for us as healthcare providers," said Jason C. Hedges, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of urology in the OHSU School of Medicine, Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences at ONPRC, and the study's lead author. "The more we can understand and define this issue, the better information we can provide to patients to be able to optimize their reproductive health."

Looking forward, the team will continue to expand their understanding of the relationship between THC and reproductive health. Ongoing research efforts will focus on the effects of chronic THC use over long periods of time and through various modes, such as vaping, as well as investigating the impacts of THC on fetal and offspring development.

More information: Jason C. Hedges et al, Cessation of chronic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol use partially reverses impacts on male fertility and the sperm epigenome in rhesus macaques, Fertility and Sterility (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.02.034 Journal information: Fertility and Sterility
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Most of the time, viruses leave our bodies as quickly as they arrived. After we suffer a week or two of fever, muscle aches, and other indignities, a surge of antibodies sends the miniature invader on its way. Case closed.

At least, that's what is supposed to happen.

But for some, the misery doesn't abate even after all signs of virus have vanished. These individuals, though disproportionately female, hail from all socioeconomic groups, races, ethnicities, and locations. They report a perplexing range of issues, from cardiac problems and crippling pain to brain fog and shortness of breath. Many say their doctors dismiss and belittle their symptoms, and they often suffer for years before getting a diagnosisif they get one at all.

The COVID-19 pandemic renewed scientific interest into these problems. The specter of post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection emerged in Spring 2020, even as health systems were in the throes of the initial case surge. Soon, people with mild or even asymptomatic cases also began reporting brain fog, shortness of breath, kidney problems, and cardiac issuesproblems that became known as long COVID.

Reports about the prevalence of long COVID vary widely, but a June 2022 CDC study estimates that as many as 20 million American adults1 out of 13 people over age 18have lingering COVID-19 symptoms that impact their lives months after infection.

"It's a mass disabling event," says Alba Azola, MD, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team. Some of these individuals can't work and they can't be caregivers for children or aging parents, she says. "The impacts are staggering."

The onslaught of cases has given epidemiologists like Priya Duggal, Ph.D. '03, MPH '98, an opportunity to investigate why some individuals never seem to recover from COVID-19, and what factors impact how well they function.

What makes the issue a burgeoning public health crisis, Duggal says, is the sheer number of patients affected.

"We have a scale that's unprecedented," Duggal says.

Duggal's interest in long COVID stems from a career spent studying pathogens by understanding the genomics of the people infected. Pre-pandemic, her work focused on acute flaccid myelitis, a rare syndrome affecting children. Children with AFM lose muscle strength and reflexes, affecting their ability to walk, talk, and swallow. Scientists have linked the condition to a common enterovirus. Duggal is comparing the genetic makeup of affected children with their unaffected counterparts to try and understand why and how some kids, but not others, get so sick.

In early 2020, when the first reports of a novel coronavirus emerged from Wuhan, Duggal had already spent more than a decade thinking about the long-term effects of infections. Many pathogens, epidemiologists know, can have consequences that persist long after every trace of the pathogen is gone. In the wake of West Africa's devastating Ebola outbreak in 201416, many of those infected continued to report lingering symptoms such as headache, muscle pain, and eye inflammation.

After a 2004 outbreak of the parasite Giardia lamblia in Norway, one in 20 of those afflicted reported long-standing intestinal and neurologic symptoms. Across the U.S. and Europe, an estimated 10% of those infected with Borrelia burgdorferi will develop post-acute Lyme disease. Regardless of the causative pathogen, many people with post-acute sequelae receive a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Although an individual's chances of being affected by long-term sequelae after any single infection is quite small, the combined effects of all infections in an entire population is likely substantialalthough no one has yet determined how many people suffer these impacts. One issue is that it's unclear whether each pathogen has its own post-infection sequelae or whether these symptoms can be grouped together. Nor do researchers know exactly what causes them, which adds to the confusion, says virologist Andrew Pekosz, Ph.D., a professor in molecular microbiology and immunology.

To fight an infection, the immune system must carefully titrate its response, mustering an inflammatory response vigorous enough to halt the invader but not so strong that it damages the host. One of the leading theories about long-term infection sequelae is that the inflammation persists even after the virus or bacterium is vanquished. A related hypothesis is that the initial surge of antibody production leads to the formation of autoantibodies made against the body's own proteins. These autoantibodies attack the body, damaging cells. Another theory: The pathogen isn't actually gone. Some researchers hypothesize that a small, undetectable reservoir of infectious organisms persists that provokes the symptoms in these individuals.

"We always point to inflammation as the driving force for these symptoms, but it's been really difficult to find a reason why most people control the inflammatory response and a certain subset of people just don't," says Pekosz.

That's where Duggal comes in. Her work to understand AFM by studying the genomics of those affected has positioned her perfectly to untangle the complicated web of post-acute infection sequelae.

"We know lots of viruses create persistent problemswhat would make this virus any different? Why wouldn't we be wanting to think about long-term impacts?" she says.

As reports of a novel coronavirus began to bubble up, the public health and medical communities focused on slowing the virus's spread and treating the desperately ill. But Duggal was thinking along a different track. She wanted to know what happened after the initial infection. Duggal hoped she would be proven wrongthat SARS-Cov-2 would touch humans only briefly and move onbut the emergence of #longcovid hashtags on social media quickly confirmed her suspicions.

Fellow Epidemiology professors Shruti Mehta, Ph.D. '02, MPH '98, and Bryan Lau, Ph.D. '04, ScM '99, MHS '99, shared Duggal's concerns. Their work in HIV and hepatitis C had given them an interest in the ongoing issues caused by viral infections, even if the potential mechanisms were completely different. Both of them work on the ALIVE Study, which has followed people who use injection drugs in Baltimore since 1988. The study began as an effort to understand risk factors for HIV infection and subsequent progression to AIDS. Over the years, it has expanded to include co-occurring infections such as HCV and the aging process in HIV-positive individuals. Those studies, Mehta says, required a large cohort of individuals, something that she and Lau knew would be just as important with COVID-19.

In April 2020, the three epidemiologists wrote a short article calling for the formation of a longitudinal cohort study to collect baseline data on participants before being infected with the coronavirus and following them for months and years afterward. They submitted their article to peer-reviewed journals, but with so many other pressing issues surrounding SARS-CoV-2 garnering journals' attention, the article languished.

As time passed, it became increasingly obvious that the trio's concerns were prescient. "Am I surprised that there are long-term sequelae? Not necessarily. But the frequency? Absolutely," Mehta says.

The numbers were a tragedy and an indictment of global public health's failure to contain the virus. But they also presented an opportunity to study post-acute infection sequelae in more detail. With so many people experiencing lingering symptoms from the same virus, it might be possible to learn more about who was most at riskand why.

"Even if just one-half [of one] percent of people were affected, that's still a huge number of people," Lau says.

So Duggal, Lau, and Mehta teamed up again in February 2021 to launch the Johns Hopkins COVID Long study, a worldwide effort to gather data on the types and severity of health problems that people experience in the weeks and months following COVID-19, and how much it limits previous activities. Ideally, Lau says, they would have scaled up their initial proposal to identify a cohort of uninfected individuals in the pandemic's early days and followed them over time. To understand the changes brought by SARS-CoV-2 infection, researchers need to be able to compare post-infection biology to a pre-COVID baseline. Now, however, so many people have already been infected and/or vaccinated that finding someone with no exposure is almost impossible. And if they do find such people, scientists couldn't assume that they are representative of the population at large. In the absence of these longitudinal studies, Duggal, Mehta, and Lau are trying to capture details about how post-COVID-19 symptoms affect someone's overall health as well as their ability to perform basic activities like walking around the block, walking up steps, cooking and cleaning.

To date, their survey has accumulated over 17,500 responses; they hope to gather 25,000 for a preliminary analysis. The team has focused on disability related to long COVID, which in many cases dramatically limits people's ability to do everyday tasks.

"The knowledge that a single virus can do that is really, really humbling. All we can do is hope that we keep learning more to try to get there and understand it better," Duggal says.
Tribal leaders from Montana and Idaho are traveling to Washington, D.C., to increase pressure on Canada over selenium contamination in American waters caused by Canadian mining.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Kootenai Tribe of Idaho announced Monday that leaders of both tribes "are rallying support with bipartisan U.S. government allies this week, including congressional allies and administration officials." Both tribes are part of the larger Ktunaxa Nation, which spans the U.S.-Canada border around Montana, Idaho and British Columbia.

The Ktunaxa Tribal First Nation in British Columbia has for years been at the fore of pushing the Canadian government to address selenium contamination from runoff water at massive open-pit coal mines around Sparwood and Elkford, northeast of Fernie. The toxic runoff comes primarily from waste rock at mines operated by mining giant Teck Resources. It flows into the Elk River. The Elk River flows into the Kootenai River at Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir spanning the U.S.-Canada border and held back by the Libby Dam. From the Libby Dam in Montana, the Kootenai River flows through Libby and Troy, and then into Idaho.

Selenium levels above tribal, state and federal regulations  and high enough to harm wildlife  have been documented throughout so-called "Lake K" and the Kootenai River (Kootenay in Canada) downstream of where the Elk River flows into it.

"The Nations demand is clear," the CSKT and Kootenai Tribe of Idaho stated Monday. "The Biden administration must ramp up the pressure on the Canadian government to stand up to Teck Coal and finally join with the United States to establish an Indigenous-led watershed board under the Boundary Waters Treaty, to address mining pollution in the Kootenay Watershed from Teck Coals Elk Valley coal mines in British Columbia."

Rich Janssen, head of the CSKT Natural Resources Department, said in an interview Monday that tribal leaders aim to meet with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the State Department's office for Canadian affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of International and Tribal Affairs, and the assistant secretary for water and science within the Department of the Interior. He said that "Every time we go back to D.C., we intend to meet with the highest levels of government that we can."

For years, the tribes of the Ktunaxa Nation in both countries have pushed the U.S. State Department and its Canadian counterpart, Global Affairs Canada, to refer the issue to the International Joint Commission. The commission is a bi-national entity created by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty primarily to address disputes over contamination flowing between two countries that share a continental border riddled with lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

A reference would spur the IJC to convene a bi-national "watershed board" of experts and stakeholders who would analyze selenium contamination in Lake Koocanusa and advise on solutions. Such a board would likely include scientists, tribes and governments of all levels from both nations. The State Department has indicated willingness to refer the matter to the IJC. Global Affairs Canada has turned away from a joint-reference in the past year.

In trace amounts, selenium is essential to animal health. But in greater concentrations it accumulates in fish and bird ovaries, which leads to fewer eggs hatching, animals hatching with birth defects, and young that die before they can reproduce.

Federal commitment

The tribes' announcement came one day after U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a joint statement that mentioned selenium contamination in Lake Koocanusa. The statement, issued Sunday after Biden's first official trip to Canada as president, stated: "The United States and Canada also intend to reach an agreement in principle by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed, in partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, and in order to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system."

Prior to Biden's trip north, Senator Jon Tester, D-Mont., sent the president a letter on March 21 outlining issues he hoped Biden would address. Among them was selenium in Lake Koocanusa. The senator wrote that the contamination degrades water quality and aquatic life, which in turn hurts outdoor recreation "and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' treaty-guaranteed water and fishing rights."

"I urge you to request a referral to the International Joint Commission to resolve this critical transboundary water quality issue," Tester wrote.

A reference to the IJC has emerged as a major sticking point between the two nations as pressure mounts to address selenium in Lake Koocanusa. After 18 months of efforts toward a draft joint reference  supported by the CSKT and Kootenai Tribe of Idaho  the Ktunaxa Nation said that Global Affairs Canada notified the tribe via email in April 2022 that it would not support an IJC reference for Lake Koocanusa. Global Affairs Canada has since walked back that position, stating that it is not opposed to a reference.

In May 2022, all six IJC commissioners sent a joint letter to Biden and Trudeau raising concerns that selenium in the Elk River and Lake Koocanusa watershed was causing increasing conflict between interested parties and rights holders on both sides of our shared border. The IJC highlighted selenium levels of 9.46 parts-per-billion (ppb) in the Elk River, 4.99 ppb in Lake Koocanusa and 1.4 ppb in the Kootenai River. Levels as high as 150 ppb have been detected around Teck's mines. In the U.S., water quality is more strictly regulated under the federal Clean Water Act than water is in Canada. Montana developed a site-specific standard of 0.8 ppb for Lake Koocanusa, citing state, tribal and university studies that found that current levels of selenium are harming fish there.

In September 2022, a Teck spokesperson stated that "Teck is committed to protecting water quality on both sides of the border, including in the Koocanusa Reservoir. We have three water treatment facilities removing about 95% of the selenium from treated water, water quality is improving, and more water treatment facilities are being built and coming online. So far we have invested $1.2 billion in water quality with plans to invest a further $750 million over the next two years."

But the company refuses to state what percentage of overall runoff into the waterways it is able to treat.

Janssen said that "We all know the Elk River mining is polluting our waters. The science backs it. We're not against mining, we're against mining that's polluting." He's gone to Washington before to urge action on selenium; this time he'll join in remotely while top tribal leaders visit in person. He said that any action on the issue "really seems to hinge on Canada, on what they're not doing ... a lot of talk and no action. And the impacts are happening here on our side of the boundary."

"I'm hoping they finally come to the table," he said, "or it could be that Canada's waiting for our next election, hoping to wait us out."

In their statement Monday, the tribal leaders decried the stalled diplomacy and said that "Canada has dragged its feet for over a decade" since the first Ktunaxa request for an IJC reference 11 years ago.

"Promises have been made by the Canadian government and then broken before, CSKT Chairperson Tom McDonald said. "It is encouraging that this joint statement (from Biden and Trudeau) acknowledges that action needs to be taken, but clear pressure needs to be focused on ensuring Canada lives up to its commitment. This cannot just be more empty words. This is the perfect time for Prime Minister Trudeau to take a strong stand for the environment and for the people."
Students in 45 states are free to choose an innovative education option that is off-limits for kids in Montana: public charter schools. In fact, Montana is one of only five states in the country without a law specifically authorizing the establishment of charter schools. This policy failure is a deep disservice to our kids that flies in the face of our states constitutional commitment to provide a system of education that will develop the full educational potential of every child.

Charter schools are tuition-free, independently operated public schools intended to allow more flexibility to build a learning environment and curriculum that fits the unique needs of students in their community.

In charter-school states, parents and community members who see a need in their community for innovative education options can band together to form their own public charter school. They can establish an independent school board and create a governing charter that outlines the purpose, responsibilities, governance, and accountable performance standards for the school.

As publicly funded schools, charter schools must be free and open to all students. Charter schools are not allowed to cherry-pick student enrollment, although they are allowed to specialize in catering to particular education needs and some laws outline enrollment preferences for disadvantaged students, siblings of students enrolled etc. For example, numerous charter schools like the Arizona Autism Charter School focus specifically on the learning needs of students with Autism.

Nationwide, charter school enrollment has tripled since 2005. What has made charter schools such an attractive education option for parents is the ability to be innovative. Unlike traditional public schools which are notoriously slow to adjust to the specific needs of students, charter schools independent nature can better accommodate the changing needs of their students and test innovative learning methods.

Portions of Montanas administrative rules already allow for charter schools, at least in theory. So why arent charter schools flourishing? Unfortunately, the current rules are designed to shield school unions from accountability and maintain the education status quo.

First, states with successful charter school legislation ensure that public school unions cannot veto the will of parents. Montana forces charter school applicants to first apply to a review board made up of members jointly selected by prominent school unions, all with an incentive to oppose alternatives, maintain the status quo, and avoid facing accountability for their performance. The Board of Public Education ultimately makes the final approval.

Second, charter school states empower entrepreneurial educators, parents and community members with autonomy to establish a board to govern the charter school. In Montana, charter schools can only be created and governed by an existing school board. This effectively prevents charter schools because, compared to parents, existing school boards have little incentive to challenge the status quo with alternatives which might bring into question their own standards and practices.

Lastly, successful charter school states allow innovation by authorizing broad variances from traditional public school regulations to accommodate innovative curriculum designs, educator certification etc to better meet the specific needs of students in a community. Montana, however, imposes strict limits on variances.

Two proposals from the 2023 Legislature aim to correct these problems and finally authorize charter schools. As readers evaluate these dueling legislative proposals, I urge them to consider which one seriously addresses the current policy failures I outlined above, and which one continues to entrench the status quo.

Our kids deserve to have the same innovative education options available to their peers in 45 other states. If lawmakers keep kicking the can down the road on charter schools our kids are going to get left behind.
HICKORY  A local professor explores the history of a once thriving industry in the area with his new book.

Richard Eller, a professor of history at Catawba Valley Community College, has released a book called, Well Crafted: The History of Furniture Manufacturing in Western North Carolina, published by Redhawk Publications. The book documents the historical rise, fall and rise again of furniture in western North Carolina, highlighted by personal accounts from an array of industry leaders and crafters that helped create this unique legacy.

The book notes that furniture has been the most important economic force in western North Carolina for the last 150 years and follows what became an industrial powerhouse from its workshop days to mammoth factories.

Countless thousands did their part to help build our furniture industry, Eller said. Commerce generated from their efforts put much food on the table for families in the foothills, as well as paying many mortgages and sending many kids to college, including me.

Eller began researching the local furniture industry in the 1990s for his thesis while attending graduate school in history at UNC-Charlotte.

When I began, I thought it would be a rise-and-fall story, since offshoring looked like the end of the once great industry, he said. Jobs were going elsewhere, and factories were shutting down.

He said he shelved his pursuit of the topic until 2018, when he led a book club for the Historical Association of Catawba County. One of the book club members, Leroy Lail, owner of Hickory Furniture Mart, found out about Ellers previous research and encouraged him to resume looking into it.

For over 60 years, Leroy has been a leader in the industry, Eller said. If he thought a history of western North Carolina furniture was a good idea, I had to go with it. He suggested the title.

He shared that Lail proved to be an invaluable resource to him, connecting him to numerous sources associated with the local furniture industry that provided critical insights into its history, including the late Glenn Hunsucker, who rose from hourly worker to president of Prestige Furniture.

There are many stories like that in the book, Eller said. Both men and women spent their entire lives in those factories, contributing their labor to a product that put North Carolina at the forefront.

Well Crafted focuses specifically on the western end of the states industry. As William Stevens noted in a 1968 biography of his father-in-law, J.E. Broyhill, furniture manufacturing in North Carolina resembles a figure-eight on its side, with the convergence point in Statesville. To the east are the High Point-centered companies, while in the west, Hickory, Morganton, Marion, Lincolnton and Lenoir form the western circle.

Eller will hold a book launch event for Well Crafted at 6 p.m. Monday, April 24, at the Patrick Beaver Memorial Library. He will discuss his research and the people he interviewed, and sign books. To purchase the book, visit: https://tinyurl.com/RichardEllerWellCrafted.
CONNELLY SPRINGS  A man tried to hide from law enforcement in a hand-dug hole behind a home last week after running away from a deputy responding to a routine call for service.

Austin Michael Neece, 26, had outstanding arrest warrants for parole violation, identity theft and resisting a public officer when he ran from a deputy who was responding to a routine call for service on N.C. 18 South on Thursday, according to a press release from the Burke County Sheriffs Office.

When the deputy responded to his original call, he saw Neece drop a chainsaw and run toward a wooded area behind the home, the release said.

Deputies searched the vehicle Neece ran from and found 10.5 grams of methamphetamine, a white powder substance and drug paraphernalia, the release said. Deputies searched the property where Neece fled and found some items that had been reported stolen earlier in the day.

It wasnt long after deputies cleared the property that the Burke County Emergency Communications Center received a call that Neece was back on the property, the release said.

Multiple deputies and detectives responded to the scene along with troopers from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. They saw Neece, but he ran from them again, the release said.

A person at the scene told law enforcement Neece was armed with a handgun when he ran from them, prompting law enforcement to call for the Burke County SWAT Team to respond, the release said. The Catawba County Sheriffs Office Drone Operation Team also was called to the scene.

Investigators tracked Neece to the area of 7360 Della Drive, where he had been spotted by several anonymous callers, the release said.

They searched the residence and property before finding Neece hiding in a hand-dug hole behind the residence, the release said.

Neece was taken into custody without any further incident and was served with the outstanding warrants.

Records from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety show Neece already has previous felony convictions of:

Possession of a firearm/removal of a serial number

Breaking and entering

Larceny over $1,000

Receiving a stolen vehicle

Possession of a schedule II controlled substance

Larceny after breaking and entering

Attempted providing contraband to prisoners

Neece currently is being held under no bond at the Burke County Jail, and was given an additional $5,000 secured bond for one of the charges against him, the release said.

More charges are expected against Neece, the release said.
Thieves made off with about $150,000 worth of cars from a Morganton dealership early Monday morning, including a Cadillac Escalade that was worth $100,000 alone.

Covered in black from head-to-toe, it took the thieves less than 10 minutes to pull off the break-in early Monday morning, surveillance video from Morganton Honda showed.

It all started around 3:23 a.m. when a white car can be seen dropping off three people at the edge of the dealerships property on Burkemont Avenue. They keep close to vehicles, appearing to hunker down behind them as if theyre trying to hide from surveillance cameras.

They dart through the parking lot to the entrance of the showroom, shattering the doors glass with a crowbar before climbing inside.

All of this happens in about a minute. They spend another five minutes in the building before starting up one of the vehicles  a BMW  and simply driving it through the now-busted showroom doors.

Another BMW also was stolen, along with a Cadillac Escalade, off the lot, said Garret Feduke, who is part owner in the dealership.

By 3:29 a.m., the thieves were rolling out of the parking lot in their newly stolen vehicles. Feduke said the dealerships cleaner had just arrived.

Its pretty scary and concerning, Feduke said.

He said it looked like they knew where they were going.

It seemed like they had either been here before or knew somebody who was here, Feduke said.

This isnt the first theft like this in North Carolina, and investigators believe the cases could be linked.

Thieves targeted an Asheville BMW dealership in mid-February, taking off with seven cars stolen straight out of the lot, according to a report from WLOS.

In late February, a Charlotte dealership was targeted when thieves stole four vehicles  three BMWs and a Maserati  from Adams Auto Group. That heist saw $310,000 worth of vehicles stolen from the dealership, according to a report from WSOC-TV.

WSOC-TV reported five Corvettes were stolen from a Randy Marion dealership in Mooresville, and earlier this month a Mitsubishi dealership in Hickory had six high-performance vehicles stolen from it, according to a Hickory Daily Record article.

Feduke said he feels like dealerships may have to start putting in more safeguards against this kind of crime.

I think weve already put some things in place, but were going to have to be even stricter, and put in some more policies and probably get some more equipment to offset some of this, Feduke said.

Police are asking anyone with information on the thefts to call MDPS at 828-437-1211 and ask to speak with Investigator Dellinger. Tips can also be left with Morganton/Burke Crimestoppers at 828-437-3333.
A local organization and agency are partnering to present a special event to honor Vietnam veterans.

The Quaker Meadows chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Burke County Veterans Service Office invite the community to celebrate Vietnam veterans at a National Vietnam War Veterans Day service at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Burke County Veterans Killed in Action memorial monument on the grounds of the historic Burke County courthouse, according to Janie Matthews, regent of the local DAR chapter.

She explained the historical significance of the date.

March 29, 1973, is when the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished, and also the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam, Matthews said. In addition, on and around this same day, Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war.

She said it was important for local DAR members to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this event due to the groups emphasis on patriotism.

Several of our committees are focused on veterans and active-duty personnel, Matthews said. Quaker Meadows chapter became a Commemorative Partner in 2015 when Pat Baldi-Davis was regent. For several years, we held a gathering on Vietnam Veterans Day at the Vietnam Memorial on Green Street, but it has been a while since we held an observance.

Vietnam War veterans faced difficulty when they returned from serving their country in an unpopular war. Our chapter wants to honor them and their families and acknowledge their sacrifices.

The chapter reached out to Molly Eller, the veterans service officer for Burke County, to help host the event.

We invited her to join us to spread the word and talk to the veterans, Matthews said.

A variety of activities will take place during the service, including remarks by featured speaker Dr. Gerald Nieters, a local Vietnam veteran who recently published a book about his experiences during the war called, Cryless: Vietnam Memoir of Capt. Gerald F. Nieters, MD. The book is available for purchase at the History Museum of Burke County. Matthews said Nieters wife, Margaret, is a Quaker Meadows DAR member.

Members of the chapter will greet veterans and their families (at the service), Matthews said. We will have brochures and the Presidential Proclamation naming March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day. The National Committee provided lapel pins for veterans, spouse pins, family member pins and pins for the public to wear, which will be presented.

The service is free to attend. Visitors are invited to bring their own lawn chairs if they wish.

Veterans who served from Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975, are encouraged to attend and bring their families, Matthews said. The public is invited to the courthouse square to meet the veterans who served our country and thank them for their service. Many Vietnam veterans remember being told not to wear their uniforms on airplanes and buses after returning because of the unpopularity of the military during the 1960s and early 1970s. It is a time of healing for many of them.

Molly Eller agreed.

A little over a half century ago, our citizens were given duty orders to Vietnam, Eller said. We all know that the welcome they originally came home to was less than celebratory, so we will celebrate their sacrifice. Let us show them that we are here to support them.
A licensed mental health counselor in Butte must pay nearly $50,000 in restitution for bilking Medicaid and cannot bill and participate in the state and federal health insurance program for five years.

State prosecutors say Katie Crowe repeatedly submitted Medicaid claims for counseling services she didnt provide from February 2017 to December 2020 then presented false treatment records to mislead investigators.

She was charged with felony Medicaid fraud and felony tampering with or fabricating evidence, which were punishable by a combined 20 years in prison plus fines.

She reached a deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to the fraud charge and on Jan. 30, District Judge Ray Dayton gave her a five-year suspended sentence and ordered her to pay $49,900 in restitution. The stated dropped the tampering charge.

Crowe is at least the second mental health counselor in Butte in recent years who was caught and charged with bilking Medicaid out of tens of thousands of dollars.

In June 2021, District Judge Kurt Krueger sentenced Dana Trandahl to 135 days in jail and a 10-year suspended sentence. She was also ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution to Medicaid, which provides health coverage to those with low incomes or disabilities.

The Montana Board of Behavioral Health also suspended Trandahls license and as of Monday, it remained suspended. The board put Crowes license on three years of probation in May 2020 for allowing a 15-year-old client to live with her for six-and-a-half weeks.

The states Medicaid Fraud Control Unit began investigating Crowe, a licensed, clinical, professional counselor, in March 2020 after a review of her billing and treatment records revealed indications of fraud.

The review showed she submitted Medicaid claims for appointments that overlapped and billed up to 12 hours in a day just for Medicaid patients.

An auditor noted that Crowes Medicaid billing rose from $31,584 in 2017 to $106,647 in 2018 and then jumped to $136,298 the next year.

The increases occurred even though she only gained one additional Medicaid patient from 2017 to 2018 and actually lost 13 patients from 2018 to 2019, prosecutors from the Montana Attorney Generals Office said.

There were other red flags.

Despite having only 21 distinct Medicaid patients in 2019, defendant billed Medicaid for one-hour sessions for nine or more of those patients in a single day 44 times in 2019, prosecutors said.

Agents interviewed several of Crowes Medicaid patients and multiple ones denied receiving services for which Medicaid was billed. One patient said she saw Crowe only three times.

In contrast, defendant billed Medicaid for 67 sessions with (that patient), always in groups of three to five sessions in a week. Crowe produced treatment notes purporting to document nearly all of those claimed sessions.

Crowe asked Dayton to follow terms of the plea agreement in sentencing, which he did. It included the $49,900 in restitution, suspended sentence and the state dropping the tampering charge.

The Montana AGs Office says Crowes conviction was reported to a federal exclusion database and she cannot participate in the Medicaid program for five years. The same was exclusion was imposed on Trandahl.

According to estimates from the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, Medicaid and Medicare fraud costs taxpayers who fund the programs about $100 billion annually. Some put the figure much higher.
ANACONDA  Montana native Andrew Heppe, along with Whitetail Properties Real Estate, is offering five $500 scholarships to deserving seniors in southwest Montana.

The Outstanding Character Scholarship will be awarded to a student in each of the following counties  Silver Bow, Beaverhead, Deer Lodge, Madison and Powell  and is intended to be used toward any form of higher education including universities, vocational training and military careers.

Heppe said in a press release that he grew up in western Montana and when he graduated from high school, he was not aware of many of the scholarships that were available to students.

He was inspired to offer scholarships that rewarded students for their strength of character.

In business, the easy way to do things is seldom the right way. We are seeking a candidate who is sometimes willing to do things the hard way, in order to make sure things are always done the right way, Heppe said.

If a student would like to receive an application they can check with their high school guidance counselor, or contact Heppe directly at (406) 479-9560 or visit his agent page at www.whitetailproperties.com/agents/andrew-heppe.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has resurfaced in China after months of overseas travel, visiting a school in the eastern city of Hangzhou where he discussed various topics including artificial intelligence. Ma founded e-commerce firm Alibaba in the 1990s and was once Chinas richest man. He has kept a low profile with few public appearances since Nov. 2020, when he had publicly criticized China's regulators and financial systems during a speech in Shanghai. In the past year, Ma has been travelling, with reports of sightings in Europe, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong. His itinerary has been closely watched as a barometer of Beijing's attitude towards private businesses.
ROME  The Florence museum housing Michelangelos Renaissance masterpiece the David invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honor her. Confusing art with pornography was ridiculous, Nardella said.

The board of the Tallahassee Classical School pressured Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of the David was shown to a sixth-grade art class. The school has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance about controversial topics being taught.

The incredulous Italian response highlights how the U.S. culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy. Sunday's front page of the Italian daily publication Corriere della Sera featured a cartoon by its leading satirist depicting the David with his genitals covered by an image of Uncle Sam and the word Shame.

Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a 17-foot nude marble sculpture dating from 1504. The work, considered a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.

Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they werent notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.

Carrasquilla said in a phone interview Sunday that she is very honored by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.

I am totally, like, wow, Carasquilla said. I've been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia, where the David is displayed, expressed astonishment at the controversy.

"To think that 'David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, Hollberg said in a telephone interview.

She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the purity of the statue.

Tallahassee Classical is a charter school. While it is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, it operates almost entirely independently of the local school district and is sought out by parents seeking an alternative to the public school curriculum.

About 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the three-year-old institution, which is now on its third principal. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan frequently consulted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on educational issues.

Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classical's school board, told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Carrasquillas ouster, it wasnt the only factor. He declined to elaborate, while defending the decision.

"Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture, Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.

Several parents and teachers plan to protest Carrasquilla's ouster at Monday night's school board meeting, but Carrasquilla said she isn't sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.

There's been such controversy and such upheaval, she said. I would really have to consider, Is this truly what is best?

Marla Stone, head of humanities studies at the American Academy in Rome, said the Florida incident was another episode in escalating U.S. culture wars and questioned how the statue could be considered so controversial as to warrant a prior warning.

What we have here is a moral crusade against the body, sexuality, and gender expression and an ignorance of history, Stone said in an email. The incident is about fear, fear of beauty, of difference, and of the possibilities embedded in art.

Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted the David between 1501-1504 after being commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence. The statue is the showpiece of the Accademia, and helps draw 1.7 million visitors each year to the museum.

"It is incredibly sought-after by Americans who want to do selfies and enjoy the beauty of this statue, Director Hollberg said.

The museum, like many in Europe, is free for student groups. There was no indication that any trip would be subsidized by the city or museum.
Two weeks after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse left thousands of businesses reeling, one Silicon Valley lawmaker is exploring legislation to ensure it doesn't happen again.

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At a discussion in Santa Clara on Saturday with nonprofit and business leaders, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna announced he's crafting legislation that would require banks to pay higher premiums to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to protect all account holders, including those with funds higher than the current $250,000 cap. The revenue would protect deposits in case of a collapse.

"I think (this legislation) is promising if I can get a Republican to sign on," Khanna told San Jose Spotlight. "Right now you basically have large accounts acting as uninsured drivers. The government ends up covering them if they fail, but they're not paying for the insurance beyond $250,000, so we need to have some fees and some insurance."

Financial regulators abruptly closed Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after uncertainty about its solvency led to a massive bank run. The bank's failure is the second largest in U.S. history and SVB reportedly held $209 billion in assets at the time of its collapse.

The closure sent a wave of panic among thousands of tech businesses, nonprofits and startups that questioned how they'd make payroll and keep their doors open without access to their funds.

The Federal Reserve Board said all depositors at Silicon Valley Bank could access their money the following Monday  three days after the collapse  including funds beyond the normal insurance cap. The announcement led to lines wrapping around the bank's headquarters in Santa Clara with anxious account holders waiting to pull their money.

Still, two weeks later, many business leaders are apprehensive about the future.

Marie Bernard, CEO of homeless prevention nonprofit Sunnyvale Community Services, said she's worried about a SVB loan taken out to pay for her nonprofit's new office. If the loan falters, the nonprofit will be forced to foot the bill and cut back services like rent relief and food for needy residents. She's relieved the nonprofit's $1 million in the bank is safe.

"We still don't know what's going on with the loan (for the new office space)," Bernard said at the Saturday discussion. "We're on pins and needles until we can either raise the remaining money for the mortgage, or we find that we can potentially refinance."

Austin Sendek, co-founder and CEO of climate-tech startup Aionics Inc., which uses artificial intelligence to find environmental solutions, said climate-tech businesses like his struggle to get investments.

"Climate tech is already seen as a somewhat risky investment, so when you get those investment dollars in your bank account, you want to protect them," Sendek said. "We're (also) going into a macroeconomic environment where venture capital seems to be sort of becoming a little bit harder to come by."

Without protection from the FDIC, Sendek said a generation of climate-tech startups in the region would be wiped out financially and struggle to secure future investments.

Nico Pinkowski, CEO of Nitricity Inc.  a startup that transforms water, air and solar into nitrogen fertilizer  said now that he's made payroll and vendor payments, his biggest worry is how SVB's failure may impact other regional banks. Deposits at small U.S. banks dropped dramatically in the week following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, data by the Federal Reserve showed.

He said climate-tech companies like his survive because of the flexibility regional banks can provide.

"We need these banks to continue to be there and we need to rebuild trust," Pinkowski said. "Any and all ways the government can support rebuilding of trust makes ultimately a very large difference for companies like ours."

Khanna said Americans should feel confident in the U.S. banking industry. In the last 10 years, 73 banks have failed and the depositors at all of them were made whole, he said. In response to criticism that the government is bailing out billionaires, Khanna said SVB's situation is different from the 2008 financial crisis because the protection is for small businesses, nonprofits and tech startups  not bank executives and shareholders.

"(This wasn't) just bailing out the rich people in Silicon Valley," Khanna said. "These were the climate tech startups. These were the startups at biotech. And these were a lot of organizations that were actually serving the community."

Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, March 26, 2023
Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna removed himself from consideration in the race to succeed longtime California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday morning, opting instead to side with another Bay Area representative in one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate battles in years.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register.

Khanna told CNNs Jake Tapper on the State of the Union show that he planned to endorse East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee and work as her campaign co-chair in the 2024 race for Feinsteins seat.

I have concluded that despite a lot of enthusiasm from Bernie (Sanders) folks, the best place, the most exciting place, the action place, for me to serve as a progressive is in the House of Representatives, Khanna said on the program, adding that we need a strong anti-war senator, and she will play that role.

The move begins to crystalize a once-in-a-generation political battle to succeed Feinstein, who has announced her retirement after having served more than 30 years in the Senate. While Lee ranks as the most prominent Northern California representative to announce a campaign for the seat, she appears to face stiff competition from two representatives based in Southern California: Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Katie Porter.

While Khanna on Sunday said he has respect for Schiff and Porter, he sought to spotlight Lees 25-year record in Congress and her unique voice while endorsing her bid for the Senate.

She was the lone vote against the endless war in Afghanistan. She stood up so strongly against the war in Iraq. She worked with me in stopping  trying to stop  the war in Yemen and the War Powers Resolution, Khanna told Tapper. And frankly, Jake, representation matters. We dont have a single African American woman in the United States Senate. She would fill that role. Shell be the only candidate from Northern California and shes going to consolidate a lot of progressives.

The other two are formidable candidates. But I think Barbara Lee is going to be very, very strong.
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan received a delegation led by Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Parkhomchik and discussed matters related to cooperation between the two countries.

The government of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am that cooperation in agriculture, engineering and several other industries, as well as the full realization of existing potential within the framework of joint cooperative projects, were stressed by both sides.

They exchanged views also on possible new domains of mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework of the bilateral and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) multilateral agenda.
The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was also discussed during the talks between the defense ministers of Russia and Turkey, RIA Novosti reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD).

This telephonic conversation between Sergei Shoigu and Hulusi Akar took place at the initiative of Turkey, reports the Russian MOD.

"During the talks, the parties discussed the results of the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative [i.e., the grain deal] the Syrian and Karabakh settlement issues, as well as other domains of cooperation of mutual interest," added the Russian MOD.
US 'deeply concerned' by Azerbaijan's checkpoint in Lachin corridor

Edmon Marukyan: Peaceful Armenians of Artsakh taken hostage by Azerbaijan

Kanaani: Iran's military program is solely defensive

Ministry of Defense of Armenia: The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan has spread disinformation

Erdogan: Putin to take part in fuel delivering ceremony to Akkuyu

Security Council of the Republic of Artsakh makes a statement

Kosovo Serbs boycott local elections

An Armenian serviceman was lethally wounded in a position in Sotk

Armenians in Great Britain remember Armenian Genocide victims

Azerbaijan establishes checkpoint on Lachin-Stepanakert road

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day rally in Berlin

Azerbaijan blocks Hakari bridge on Artsakh-Armenia border

Faro Palace in Marseille in Armenian tricolor

Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Green Sunday

AK Party office in Istanbul attacked

Spain shipping Leopard 2 to Ukraine

Teenager hit by Toyota car

Russian citizens evacuated in Khartoum

Turkey represents Iranian interests in Albania

US military evacuates diplomats from Sudan

Armenian PM Pashinyan visits memorial

Fire breaks out in Martuni town

The Foreign Ministry of Artsakh: The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan released another provocative statement

Blackout threat at major events in France

Young men lost in Artsakh found

Baku "worries" for Armenia

Updated Turkey earthquake death toll

Greek City Times: India and Greece conduct exercises

Earthquake hits Greece

Trump: I have 'very good relationship' with Putin

NATO delegation arrives in Azerbaijan

Facebook bans Armenian Genocide memorial frames

ARF Hay Dat European Office prepares lawsuit

Armenia Ombudsperson delivers welcome speech at CoE

RA Ombudsperson receives CoE delegation

Head of Armenian Community of Georgia attacked in Tbilisi

MEP Kovatchev: Baku must stop aggression against Armenia

Pashinyan stressed the importance of launching Nvidia Research Center in Armenia

Armenia's representative presents objections to Azerbaijan's case before the International Court of Justice

Albania cancels visa-free travel for Russian citizens

UN worker killed in Sudan clashes

1 dead after small-engine plane crashes in Lithuania

European Union has already trained 16 thousand Ukrainian soldiers: Josep Borrell

Health ministry: Planned surgeries partially resume in Karabakh

Armenia deputy PM Mher Grigoryan attends Eurasian Economic Commission Council meeting in Moscow

MOD: No Armenia military convoy, escorted by Russian peacekeepers, entered Karabakh

Armenia, Lithuania sign Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in technology, innovation (PHOTOS)

Yerevan theater, cinematography institute has new rector

Israel to deliver 2 satellites to Azerbaijan

Parliament vice-speaker: Armenia stated that Karabakhs right to self-determination is limited by Azerbaijans wish

Ruling force MP: You should close doors of Armenia ARF organization

Chris Skinner to Lead Digital Transformation Workshops for Armenian Businesses

Caucasus Muslims Board chair calls Armenian Church for friendship

shamshyan.com: There are dead, injured after SUV falls 350 meters into canyon in Armenia

Quake occurs in Caspian Sea

Azerbaijan army incursions, criminal acts are video recorded in Armenias Tegh village (VIDEO)

Stoltenberg: NATO, allies discussing matter of sending various planes to Ukraine

China MFA: No one has right to interfere in Beijing-Moscow relations

Iran, Jordan FMs to meet to normalize relations

Trump calls North Koreas Kim Jong Un very smart, cunning, ruthless

PM: There is plan to build National Stadium of Armenia in Academic City

Sweden FM wants to cancel Armenian Genocide commemorative events to please Turkeys Erdogan

Prosecutor General: 37,612 crimes recorded in Armenia last year

US State Dept.: Ensuring cessation of hostilities, particularly in Karabakh, is of great importance to Blinken

Economy minister: Armenia does not in any way try to help Russia to circumvent sanctions

Armenia PM congratulates several Arab countries leaders on Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fitr

Karabakh FM holds online meeting with Russian political analysts, experts

Armenia to have new state foundation for construction, management of Academic City

Armenia PM: Government has invested $1.2bln in provinces since 2018

Newspaper: 71 properties belonging to Armenia MOD are put up for sale

Armenia authorities in hurry to build customs office on Turkey border

Armenia introducing system of mandatory military service for women on voluntary basis

Azerbaijan MFA sends note of protest to Russia foreign ministry

Istanbul governorate bans holding Armenian Genocide commemoration

Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire at Armenian combat positions in Verin Shorzha

CSTO chief announces risks related to situation in Karabakh, on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

More than 600 people have already been killed in Sudan conflict

Russia MOD: Ceasefire violation recorded in Karabakh

Storm hits earthquake-hit Turkish city: one dead, more than 30 others injured

Shots fired at Erdogan's party office

The European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the release of Kara-Murza

President Aliyev decides to fight against Azerbaijan history, Telegram channel says

Armenia official: Motorway leading to Karabakh via Kornidzor village will be completely ready by end of May

Armenia, Iran, India MFAs hold trilateral political consultations in Yerevan

Yerevan mayoral election slated for September

Borrell announces nomination of new EU ambassador to Armenia

US denies reports that Iran navy forced its submarine to surface in Strait of Hormuz

Iran navy forces US nuclear submarine to surface in Strait of Hormuz

Armenia premier to Louis Bono: Azerbaijan's aggressive policy is inadmissible

Karabakh police: Azerbaijanis fire at civilians doing agricultural work

Lukashenko: Russia, Belarus will resist attempts to pull them into 3rd World War

Catholicos on demanding Armenia PM Pashinyans resignation: Our fatherly exhortation not limited by time

Catholicos of all Armenians: I cant imagine that Artsakh can be part of Azerbaijan

Turkey starting extracting natural gas from Black Seas largest field

Yerevan prison inmate stabs 3 jail employees

Shahriar Heydari: We advise Azerbaijan authorities not to test Iran's patience

Armenia PM on Karabakh legislature factions: Not ruled out that they misunderstood this time as well

PM: Armenia also ready for CSTO monitors to be deployed here

Armenia's Pashinyan: Not yet fact that we are signing peace treaty with Azerbaijan

Artak Beglaryan: Dictator Aliyev openly acknowledges that he considers Armenia to be 'eternal enemy'
Saudi Arabia has condemned last weeks burning of the Quran and Turkish flag by Islamophobic extremists in Denmark, Arab News reported.

The Kingdom was joined by Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar that spoke out against the acts by the extremists, saying the actions provoked hatred against Muslimsespecially during Ramadan.

Far-right anti-Muslim group Patrioterne Gar Live broadcast footage on Facebook of supporters carrying banners with Islamophobic messages as they burned a copy of the Quran and the Turkish flag in front of the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced the incident as a hate crime adding that it would never accept such vile actions being allowed under the guise of freedom of expression, Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported.

And the ministry called on the Danish authorities to take action against those responsible and to ensure further incidents did not happen that threaten social harmony and peaceful coexistence, the report added.

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates spokesperson Sinan Majali, said the act incited hatred and racism.

The statement went on to urge the Danish authorities to prevent a repeat of such actions that fuel violence and hatred and threaten peaceful coexistence.

Meanwhile in a statement on the Kuwait Foreign Ministry warned that the burning of the Quran risked provoking an angry backlash from Muslims around the globe.

The ministry called for the perpetrators to be held accountable, making sure that freedom of expression is not used to offend Islam or any other religion.

And Qatar condemned in the strongest terms the burning of a copy of the Quran, warning that the latest incident represented a dangerous escalation of incidents targeting Muslims.
Presidential administration of Azerbaijan has again proposed to hold a second meeting with Armenian representatives of the Armenian community of Karabakh in Baku, APA reports citing the administration.

"Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan proposes to hold a meeting in Baku in the first week of April for the reintegration of representatives of the Armenian community of Karabakh, as well as to discuss the implementation of infrastructure projects in Karabakh as a continuation of the meeting held in Khojaly on March 1 and the invitation presented on March 13," reads the respective information.

Stepanakert has refused to discuss such a wording of the content of this meeting, declaring that there can be no question of "reintegration." Also, Nagorno-Karabakh reminded that diplomatic etiquette does not imply the transmission of invitations through mass media, and negotiations are possible only on equal terms and within the framework of international mechanisms.
At least six civilians were killed, and three Taliban soldiers and several others were injured as a result of the explosion that took place near the Afghan foreign ministry in Kabul, when the security forces tried to neutralize a suicide bomber. This was reported by Khalid Zadran, Spokesman for Kabul Police Command.

"At the Malik Asghar Square checkpoint in Kabul, the suicide bomber became the target of security forces... before reaching his goal. In the meantime, the explosives on him exploded, as a result of which six civilians were killed and several others were injured. As a result of the incident, three Taliban soldiers were also injured," Zadran wrote on Twitter.
Shots were fired Sunday from the Azerbaijani combat positions at Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) civilians working in a pomegranate orchard, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the Artsakh Police.

At 11:30am on Monday, Alyosha Zakaryan, the chief specialist of the Martakert region of the Artsakh Committee on Management of State Inspections, reported to the regional police department that sporadic shots were fired at them Sunday in the city of Martakert by Azerbaijanis.

The police officers have found out that around 11:30am Sunday, sporadic shots were firedfrom Azerbaijani combat positionsat the workers while doing agricultural work in the pomegranate orchard Martakert cityand belonging to the Artsakh Committee on Management of State Inspections.

No one was injured, but agricultural work was stopped.

The Artsakh Police passed this information on to the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh.
By Mariam Levina

Azerbaijan aims to completely expel Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh. This was stated by David Babayan, adviser and representative-at large of the Artsakh president, commentingat the request of Armenian News-NEWS.amon another "invitation" from Azerbaijan to the Armenians of Artsakh for a meeting in Azerbaijani capital Baku.

"Once again we see the invitation to the Karabakh society. It is clear that there can be no talk of equal dialogue, let alone negotiations.

"First, what does Karabakh society mean? Who are those people? Who will select them? Who will send them? Negotiations can be between equals. Dialogue can be between equals. Azerbaijan not only does not recognize us [Artsakh Armenians] as equals, but also does not recognize the existence of Artsakh at all. Their goal is very simple: so that no Armenian remains [in Artsakh]. And if someone remains, then only as a museum exhibit. Let's say in a safari park, if not in a concentration camp. Baku already has [that] experience: to try to create a military trophy safari park on the example of the Military Trophy Park [in Baku]. It is not ruled out that with the right to hunt those in the park...

"Naturally, in such a context, any meetings and discussions are unacceptable for us. As I already said, the negotiations can be on equal grounds and with the participation of third parties. Russia, the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group cannot be participants in the meetings.

"And in the proposals of Baku presented by the [Azerbaijani] media, nothing more is assumed than the dialogue of Mother Azerbaijan with some rebels, aborigines who, admitting their guilt, go to repent, admit their mistake, and came to beg on their knees to either let them go or live as a safari park exhibit.

"Besides, the word integration being repeated in Baku implies equality, volunteerism, mutually beneficial projects. We do not see any of the abovementioned. Not even a hint, not even a step forward, not even an attempt to normalize relations," concluded Babayan.
Robert Khachatryan, Minister of High-Tech Industry of Armenia, received Danish Ambassador Anne Toft Sorensen, and discussed with her the domains and perspectives of cooperation in the technological sphere between the two countries.

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am that Minister Khachatryan presented details about the activities and current programs of the ministry, and reflected on the state assistance and grant programs being provided to Armenias companies in the technology sector.

Ambassador Sorensen, for her part, spoke about Denmark's achievements in the technological sector, and noted that she is interested in the activities of Armenian companies and will make efforts to expand the scope of sectoral cooperation within this framework.

During the meeting, reference was made to the Engineering City project of Armenia, the latest achievements of Armenian sectoral companies, and the avenues for expanding cooperation in digitalization, cybersecurity, and several other domains.

Also, the parties reaffirmed the need and willingness to develop relations between Armenia and Denmark in high technology.
The farce called "Community of Western Azerbaijan" continues. This time, the actors of this play have sent a letter to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.

In the voluminous petition published by the Azerbaijani media, along with the complaints addressed to Armenia, there is also a demand to "send a fact-finding mission to Armenia to monitor the condition of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage."

To note, however, in the case when Armenians living in Azerbaijan made up a significant part of the intelligentsia of the country, the Azerbaijanis in Armenia mostly lived in the villages and, not to insult, it should be said that they did not contribute to the cultural heritage of Armeniaalbeit they were known for the fruits, vegetables, and greens they grew.

And practically all Azerbaijanis living in Armenia were able to leave peacefully at the initial phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, taking their belongings with themincluding dog houses. Azerbaijanis leaving Armenia were least interested in books. As a rule, they were left out of use.
A statement condemning the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor was adopted at the end of the meeting of the Council of the European Democrat Students (EDS), the student organization of the European People's Party (EPP), which was held in Tirana, the capital of Albania. Lilit Beglaryan, a member of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia wrote about this on Facebook.

The statement reads as follows:

The European Democrat Students strongly condemns the blockade of the Lachin corridor by state-sponsored environmentalists from Azerbaijan since December 2022. This action has caused a severe humanitarian crisis and is a blatant violation of the fundamental human rights and the ceasefire statement of 9 November 2020.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) who are being held hostage and are deprived of basic necessities such as food, electricity, gas and medication. We demand Azerbaijan to immediately reopen the Lachin corridor and respect the statement of 9 November 2020.

The continuous aggressive actions of Azerbaijan, the rhetoric of hatred and threats of force against Nagorno-Karabakh are unacceptable.

We urge Azerbaijan to resume negotiations on the settlement of the conflict and re-engage in the process of the OSCE Minsk Group, based on the Helsinki Final Act principles including the self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Furthermore, we call on the member states of the European Union to consider sanctioning Azerbaijan to address the repeated military aggressions by Azerbaijan on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, in violation of its sovereignty.

The European Democrat Students will continue to stand with the people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and demand justice for their rights and security.
08:53





The high court also said that the statements reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an aim to persuade the audience, and the intention appears to be to enlighten society for its betterment.





The HC's order was made available recently. Koshyari, whose tenure was dogged by controversies caused by his utterances about Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Phule and his wife Savitribai and Marathi people, stepped down from the post of the governor last month.





He had faced flak for calling Shivaji Maharaj an "icon of olden times", while Trivedi had allegedly said that the founder of the Maratha empire had apologised to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.





Justices Sunil Shukre and Abhay Waghwase, on March 20 dismissed a petition filed by Panvel resident Rama Katarnaware, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.





The petitioner claimed that the statements made by Koshyari and Trivedi who are non-SC or Scheduled Tribes (ST) members, at public speeches are disrespectful to these late political figures who were held in high esteem by members of society in general and members of the SC/ST communities in particular. The petitioner referred to several objectionable statements made by Koshyari and Trivedi on Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule and 'Marathi manoos'.





However, the bench in its order, said, "An in-depth consideration of the referred statements would tell us that they are in the nature of the analysis of history and the lessons to be learnt from history.





"They also show the intention of the speaker, which is that at least in the present times, we should learn from history and also realise the consequences of following certain traditions and what may happen perhaps for the worst, if those traditions are followed," the bench said.





It further said that these statements primarily reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an intention to persuade the audience, to whom they have been expressed, to think over and act in a way which is good for society. The intention behind the statements appears to be the enlightenment of society for its betterment, as perceived by the speaker, the bench said.





"These statements, therefore, cannot be seen, by any stretch of the imagination, to be disrespectful to any great person, held in high esteem by the members of the society in general and by the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in particular," the judges said.





In view of the above, the statements, which were made, do not prima-facie constitute any offence punishable under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act or any other criminal law, they said. -- PTI

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition seeking action against former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi for their statements on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and other icons, saying their remarks prima facie do not constitute an offence under any criminal law.
At least two die in US chocolate factory explosion

At least two die in US chocolate factory explosion

An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday evening killed two people and left several others missing as investigators begin to determine a cause.



West Reading Borough Police Department Chief of Police Wayne Holben confirmed there were two fatalities, nine people missing and several others injured by the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading.



The explosion at 4:57 p.m. sent a plume of black smoke into the air and resulted in the destruction of a building at the facility and damage to a neighbouring building. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, Holden said during a press conference.



There was no further danger, but Holden directed residents to avoid the area of the factory about 96 kilometres northwest of Philadelphia.



Tower Health spokeswoman Jessica Bezler said eight people were taken to Reading Hospital on Friday evening.



Two were admitted in fair condition and five were being treated and would be released, she said in an email to The Associated Press. She said one patient was transferred to another facility, but provided no other details.



Berks County fire crews remained on the scene on Friday night. (AP)
Singapore PM to meet Xi on China trip

Ahead of his trip, Lee Hsien Loong had said relations between Beijing and Singapore are very good. File photo: AP

Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday arrived in the mainland for a six-day trip at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang.



According to a statement from the Prime Ministers Office, Lee will visit Guangdong, attend the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan and then travel to Beijing, where he is expected to meet President Xi Jinping.



Though this is Lees first trip to China since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister had met Xi in November last year in Bangkok on the sidelines of the Apec Economic Leaders Meeting.



Ahead of his trip, Lee had said relations between Beijing and Singapore are very good in an interview with broadcaster CCTV.



Singapore last year warned that its economic growth could slow to a trickle in 2023 owing to weakness in key export markets including the United States, Europe and China. (Additional reporting by AFP)
Hungary ratifies Finland Nato accession

Hungary ratifies Finland Nato accession

The Hungarian parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing Fidesz party, ratified Finland's Nato membership Monday after months of diplomatically charged delay.



A large majority of lawmakers -- 182 votes for versus six against -- approved the accession of the Nordic country into the military alliance.



The vote means that 29 out of 30 NATO member state parliaments have ratified Finland's accession, with the last -- Turkey's assembly -- expected to also give Helsinki the nod next month.



Nato's expansion into Finland -- a country with a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia -- will roughly double the length of the bloc's current frontier with its Cold War-era foe.



Finland had initially aimed to join together with fellow Nato aspirant Sweden -- a Nordic power facing a litany of disputes with Turkey that ultimately sunk its chance to join the bloc before an alliance summit in July.



Helsinki and Stockholm ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to join the world's most powerful defence alliance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



Their applications were accepted at a June 2022 Nato summit but the bids still needed to be ratified by all alliance member parliaments -- a process that stalled once it reached Turkey and Hungary.



The nationalist Orban, who nursed close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin until the invasion, said in December that the ratification process would begin in February.



Budapest insisted that it supports both Nordic nations' Nato accession but complained that they had unfairly criticised Hungarian government policy.



EU member Hungary is also in talks with Brussels to unlock billions of euros in bloc funding held up over rule-of-law and corruption concerns.



The Hungarian opposition accused Orban's party of trying to put pressure on the bloc by refusing to put the issue on parliament's agenda for a vote.



The Finland vote delay "served the interests of Putin", said an opposition party leader, Ferenc Gerencser, before Monday's vote.



Fidesz said it will decide about backing Sweden's admission to the military alliance at a later date.



Last week, Orban's chief-of-staff Gergely Gulyas told reporters the Swedish bid will likely be ratified during the ongoing parliamentary session which runs until June 15.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling for Stockholm to take tougher action against Kurdish activists Ankara considers "terrorists". (AFP)
New Delhi [India], March 27 (ANI/BusinessWire India): The ISKCON temple at East of Kailash, New Delhi will be organizing its 25th-anniversary celebrations from 26th to 30th March 2023 at its premises. Each day more than 4000 guests are expected to take part in the events, to celebrate the inauguration of the temple on Rama Navami in 1998 by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Starting on 26th March, a mega youth festival will take place with nearly 4000 college students from Delhi-NCR on the theme of promoting and sharing India's cultural values of peace and harmony, especially in the light of its G20 Presidency. The key attraction would be the speech of India' Union Minister for Youth Affairs, Sports, Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur followed by presentations by the famous motivational speaker Dr Vivek Bindra and Prince Dance Group (India's Got Talent fame). On 27th March, the temple will host a special program for all the ISKCON members remembering this support and contributions to develop the movement into 16 centers in the city. JP Nadda, President of BJP, L. Murugan, Union Minister of State for I&B and Animal Husbandry, and Hema Malini, Member of Parliament and Cine Actress will be joining the festivities. A cultural night will be organized on 28th March with performances by school children on the life of Lord Rama, and classical music presentations among other events. Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Labour and Employment along with Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Minister of State for Culture and Foreign Affairs, will be present on the occasion. "The festivals showcase the journey of ISKCON in Delhi which started with one temple in Delhi and has today grown to become a community of 16 temples with thousands of devotees who contribute back to the society by organizing cultural events, spiritual workshops, running youth hostels, reforming prison inmates, providing free food among other activities. We are expecting more than 50,000 people to visit the temple during this period," said Yudhistir Govinda Das, Country Head of Government Relations and Communications for ISKCON. The celebrations will conclude with a grand Sri Rama Navami festival on 30th March which would see the abhishek of the Deities along with lectures, kirtan, and prasadam for all the devotees and guests. During this period special decorations can be seen in the temple complex along with visual galleries informing the visitors of the 25-year history and contributions of ISKCON in the city. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], March 27 (ANI/SRV): Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Nagpur, a leading business school in India, is now accepting applications for its 4-year BBA programme. Prospective students who aspire to become business professionals and seek international exposure can register now for BBA at SCMS Nagpur via SET 2023, as SET applications are closing on 12th April. Under the leadership of Director - Dr Sameer Pingle, SCMS Nagpur has developed a comprehensive BBA programme that provides industry exposure and experiential learning. It prepares students to solve complex business problems. The programme's blend of classroom learning and real-world experience, including internships and global immersion programs, ensures that students are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in today's business world. SCMS Nagpur's BBA programme offers a range of unique benefits, including an amazing campus life with on-campus events and fests, clubs and committees, blended learning, international exposure, and an industry-relevant curriculum. The school has signed MoUs with many companies such as Wipro, Reliance, and HDFC Bank, providing opportunities for students to work on live projects and gain practical experience. The placement record of SCMS Nagpur is impressive, with many students securing placements in top companies. Students were placed in reputed companies like Amazon, ICICI Bank, and Infosys, with the highest salary package, offered to be INR 7.5 LPA. The placement process at SCMS Nagpur is designed to match the aspirations of the students with the requirements of the recruiters. The placement team works closely with the industry to understand the latest trends and requirements. This helps them design the curriculum and provide relevant training to the students. The placement cell also provides pre-placement training, including resume building, group discussions, and mock interviews, to ensure that the students are well-prepared for the placement process. Students can look forward to gaining international exposure through the school's global immersion programmes. The school also organises various guest lectures, industry visits, and workshops to provide students with insights into the latest industry trends and challenges.' SCMS Nagpur's BBA programme has been carefully designed to meet the needs of today's business world, and with its excellent placement record, it is an excellent choice for students seeking a career in business management. Don't miss this opportunity - register now for SET 2023 before applications close on 12th April. For more information, please visit https://scmsnagpur.edu.in/. This story has been provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
New Delhi [India], March 27 (ANI/SRV): A premium student housing brand, The Hive Hostels has disrupted the Indian real estate industry with its remarkable growth. Within just two years of establishment in 2020, The Hive Hostels has expanded its presence to 10 cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore, with over 25 properties. With an impressive revenue of over 50 crores and an average occupancy rate of over 95 per cent, The Hive Hostels has become the preferred choice for students seeking premium living spaces that offer a unique and comprehensive experience. As the upcoming academic session approaches, The Hive Hostels is all set to expand its reach to six more cities in India, including Jaipur, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Manipal, Mohali, and Pune. Almost 10,000 students will eventually be enrolled as a result of this expansion. This will further enhance The Hive Hostels' position as India's leading luxury student housing brand. Additionally, the company is aiming to achieve total revenue of over 100 crores by the next financial year. The Hive Hostels offers a comprehensive array of services that cater to the modern demands of students. From nutritious meals to professional housekeeping, laundry facilities, and top-tier security, The Hive Hostels has covered it all. Adopting a tech-enabled approach, the brand ensures that students enjoy a seamless and user-friendly experience, from booking their stay to raising concerns and making rental payments. This further results in a hassle-free and ultra-comfortable stay for students. Additionally, what sets The Hive Hostels apart is its commitment to creating a truly immersive and enriching experience for students. The brand offers an array of community-building activities and personality development programs, elevating the standard of student living to new heights. With its cutting-edge facilities and modern, classy approach to luxury living, The Hive Hostels has emerged as the preferred choice among students. Speaking about the expansion plans, Bharat Agarwal, Founder of The Hive Hostels said, "Our success is a testament to the quality of our services and the hard work put in by our team. We are excited to expand our operations to six new cities, and we aim to provide the same level of luxury and comfort to our new students. We look forward to welcoming students to our properties and offering them a unique and memorable experience." The Hive Hostels offers a variety of amenities such as a gym, recreation rooms, and in-house food services, making it an ideal choice for students seeking a complete living experience. Apart from this, The Hive Hostels has also implemented strict COVID-19 protocols to ensure the safety of its students. The Hive Hostels is on a mission to transform the landscape of student accommodation in India by offering an unparalleled living experience that fosters the personal and academic growth of students. The brand's vision is to empower students to achieve their goals by providing them with an environment that is conducive to learning, growth, and development. With a focus on innovation, convenience, and quality, The Hive Hostels is redefining the standards of student living in India. With its expansion plans, The Hive Hostels is set to become the leading luxury student housing brand in India, offering students an unparalleled living experience. For more information, please visit: www.thehivehostels.com https://www.thehivehostels.com/hostel-listing/mumbai https://www.thehivehostels.com/testimonial This story has been provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
An MoU was signed between Himachal Pradesh and HLC Green Energy LLC here on Monday for collaboration on green hydrogen. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said he aims to make Himachal Pradesh the 'First Green State' by 2025 and a leading green hydrogen-based economy, and this MoU was a step towards it. The MoU was signed in the presence of Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Director Industries, Rakesh Kumar Prajapati and Managing Director of M/s HLC Green Energy LLC, Sanjay Sharma. The Chief Minister while expressing happiness over the signing of MoU said that Green hydrogen has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly, potential of reducing fertilizer prices and contribute nation's economy through import substitution, said that Himachal Pradesh was already famous for Green Hydel energy and will now encourage new clean energy projects such as ethanol, green hydrogen, green ammonia, solar. He said that the State has a clear-cut advantage on account of abundant green hydel energy and abundance of water resources and assured full cooperation and support from the state government to the company in setting up the hydrogen project. Industries Minister Chauhan said that the company intends to produce 0.3 million metric tons (MMT) of Green Hydrogen and 1.5 million metric tons (MMT) of Green Ammonia per year respectively. The land requirement for this project is around 20-25 acres and likely to be set up in Una and Kangra due to water and logistics suitability. The minister said that the manufacturing facility has planned to bring in an investment of more than Rs 4,000 crore, besides generating direct and indirect employment opportunities for about 2,500 individuals. Notably, in January 2023, Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to make India a global hub for the production, utilization, and export of such technologies. The green hydrogen mission will gradually lead to the decarbonization of industrial, transport, and energy sectors; a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others. The initial financial outlay for the mission is pegged at Rs 19,744 crore, which includes research and development activities. Under this mission, the central government aims to raise annual green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes, renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts, attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, lakhs of jobs, and most importantly over Rs 1 lakh crore cumulative reduction of fossil fuel imports. In the Budget Speech 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to launch a National Hydrogen Mission for generating hydrogen from green power sources. (ANI)
INOX Air Products (INOXAP), Indias largest manufacturer of industrial and medical gas, has announced that it has been awarded a prestigious contract for setting up its sixth air separation unit (ASU) at the Hazira unit of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) - a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the worlds leading steelmakers. The ASU will have the capacity to produce 1000 tonnes per day of Gaseous Oxygen and 1000 tonnes per day of Gaseous Nitrogen, besides other liquid medical and industrial gases. The ASU in Gujarat will be commissioned within a time span of 23 months. INOXAP's currently operational five ASUs at the AM/NS India's Hazira facility make it India's largest onsite industrial gas complex with a combined capacity to produce 9000 TPD of industrial gases. The commissioning of the sixth ASU would scale up the combined capacity of the industrial gas complex to 11,100 TPD. Speaking about the development, Siddharth Jain, Director, INOX Air Products, said, "The contract for setting up the sixth ASU at AM/NS India's Hazira facility is a unique distinction accorded to us, recognising our reliability, commitment and consistency in delivering high-quality product and services. It is indeed a matter of immense pride for us to be an integral part of AM/NS India's growth plans. "We are buoyed with the prospect of further scaling up the capacity of India's largest onsite industrial gas complex. We are committed to ensure that our capex plan fructifies in a productive manner, and stays on course to deliver upon its objective of augmenting the growth of India's infrastructure and manufacturing sectors and push our country closer to its vision of a $5 trillion economy within the next few fiscals." Wim Van Gerven, Director and Vice President (Operations), AM/NS India, said "We are pleased to partner with INOX Air Products on further expansion of India's largest onsite industrial gas production complex. This project will play an important role in supporting AM/NS India's ongoing steel manufacturing expansion programme at Hazira, aided by our mission to create Smarter Steels for Brighter Futures. This initiative will also strengthen our commitment to contribute to India's growth story." INOXAP's long-term, onsite gas supply partnership with AM/NS India began in 2005, when the erstwhile Essar Steel awarded a contract for a 885 TPD Cryogenic ASU on BOO basis. This relationship achieved newer heights when INOXAP was chosen as a preferred partner to outsource the majority of its captive ASUs, resulting in INOXAP acquiring all three ASU assets of 1,700 TPD capacity each from Essar Steel in 2015 and entered into a long-term contract for supply of all industrial gases on a BOO basis. In 2022, INOXAP gave the partnership a new dimension of speed and precision by commissioning the fifth ASU at the Hazira site in a record time, creating new global benchmark in the industrial gas industry. INOXAP has been servicing the needs of the Indian steel industry for close to five decades now. As an integrated industrial gas supplier, INOXAP offers efficient solutions, including application technology in areas like BF Enrichment, EAF O2 Lancing, Ladle Furnace PreHeating (Oxy Fuel Burners), RHF Enrichment, Argon Oxygen De-carburization, OxyFuel Assisted Melting and Molten Metal Blanketing (MMB) in Induction Furnace, and supplies of industrial gases for the same, either through on-site ASUs or through bulk supplies from its 47 plants across the country. --IANS san/arm ( 582 Words) 2023-03-27-19:24:02 (IANS)
Reliance Capital's lenders move to conduct a second round of auction is facing difficulties as the bidders are not said to be keen on another round under the insolvency resolution. The Supreme Court has listed the matter regarding the second auction for hearing in August. The Supreme Court on March 20 had admitted an appeal by Torrent Investments which was the highest bidder with Rs 8,640 crore against the lenders' decision to hold another round of auction. The court refused to stay the second round of the auction. It may be pointed out that the insolvency process of RCAP has been going on for more than 450 days, which is much longer than the time limit of 330 days. Torrent reportedly conveyed to the lenders recently that it is not willing to participate in the second round of auction. The other bidder, International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) of Hinduja Group also reportedly informed the lenders that it wants to withdraw its revised bid of Rs 9,000 crore, which it had made after the auction process, and retain the old offer of Rs 8,110 crore in the first round of auction. These developments have put a roadblock in the plan of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) to conduct a second round of auction with a base price of Rs 9,500 crore to maximise the recovery from the RCAP resolution process. In addition, a consortium of Cosmea Financial and Piramal, who had submitted binding bids for Reliance Capital in November has sought a refund of their earnest money deposit of Rs 75 crore each. While the CoC can pursue the extended challenge mechanism, the outcome of the auction will be subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court. In light of this, Reliance Capital is staring at liquidation, if the lenders and bidders fail to reach a workable solution to end the stalemate. Lenders would likely fetch Rs 13,000 crore if they go for liquidation. Torrent has proposed conducting a Swiss Challenge auction with their earlier bid of Rs 8,640 crore as the threshold. If this is agreed upon, Torrent will have the first right to match any counteroffer from Hinduja Group. The challenge mechanism may be considered flawed as bidders will be apprehensive of participating in open-ended processes. Since the Supreme Court will be examining the interpretation of Regulation 39 (1A) for the first time, the decision will have far-reaching implications on the future of IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code). The Swiss Challenge or closed envelope bid process might go against the apex court direction that allowed the lenders to go ahead with an extended auction. The dispute in the bid for Reliance Capital started when Hindujas offered to pay Rs 9,000 crore in upfront cash to the lenders, a day after the first round of auction concluded on December 21. The lenders decided to go for one more round of auction to enhance recovery from RCAP assets. Torrent, who made a bid of Rs 8,640 crore in the first auction, termed IIHL's post-auction revised bid of Rs 9,000 crore as invalid and challenged Hindujas' revised bid and the second round of auction as well in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). --IANS san/pgh ( 550 Words) 2023-03-26-20:56:03 (IANS)
Entrepreneur Lalhlupuii Ralte from Mizoram whose aim is to explore the untapped rich biodiversity of the state by conserving the indigenous plant species of the region. Mizoram, a northeastern state in India, is home to a rich biodiversity of plants and animals. She started a start-up, Zo Bio hub in 2018, which is focusing on promoting the cultivation and preservation of plant species while also empowering women in rural communities. Ralte has been working tirelessly to preserve the indigenous plant species of the region. However, over the years, many indigenous plant species have been lost due to deforestation, habitat destruction, and unsustainable harvesting practices. Zo Bio hub is a start-up that focuses on the cultivation, processing, and marketing of indigenous plant species in Mizoram. The company works with rural women farmers to produce high-quality products from these plants, such as essential oils, herbal teas, and natural cosmetics. By doing so, the company is not only conserving the biodiversity of the region but also generating income for these women and their families. Lalhlupuii Ralte's interest in plant conservation and entrepreneurship began at a young age. Growing up in a family of farmers, she witnessed firsthand the challenges that rural communities faced in sustaining their livelihoods. She also saw the impact of climate change on the region's agriculture and biodiversity. Determined to make a difference, she pursued a degree in agriculture and went on to work with various NGOs on sustainable agriculture and livelihood projects. After working in the development sector for several years, Lalhlupuii Ralte realized that entrepreneurship could be a powerful tool for creating sustainable solutions. In 2018, she founded Zo Bio hub with the aim of promoting the conservation of indigenous plant species while also empowering rural women. Zo Bio hub works with several indigenous plant species, including the Indian gooseberry (Amla), wild apple (Kaham), and the Himalayan rhubarb (Kengsawr). These plants have been used in traditional medicine for centuries and are highly valued for their medicinal properties. However, due to their high demand and over-harvesting, many of these plants are now endangered. Zo Bio hub's approach to conservation is based on the principles of sustainable harvesting and cultivation. The company works closely with rural women farmers to promote organic farming practices and provide training on plant cultivation and processing. By empowering women in these communities, the company is not only promoting gender equality but also creating a sustainable source of income for them. The products produced by Zo Bio hub are not only of high quality but also have a significant social and environmental impact. The essential oils and herbal teas produced by the company are not only promoting health and wellness but are also providing a source of income for rural women. Additionally, by promoting the cultivation of indigenous plant species, the company is contributing to the conservation of Mizoram's unique biodiversity. Zo Bio hub has received recognition for its work in promoting sustainable agriculture and conservation. In 2019, the company was awarded the Best Social Enterprise Award at the North East India Fashion and Design Week. The company has also been featured in various local and national media outlets for its innovative approach to conservation and entrepreneurship. Lalhlupuii Ralte's work with Zo Bio hub is an inspiration for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, conservation, and social impact. By combining her passion for plant conservation with her entrepreneurial skills, she has created a business that is not only making a difference in the lives of rural women but also contributing to the conservation of Mizoram's rich biodiversity. Her work is a testament to the power of entrepreneurship in creating sustainable solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. (ANI)
"The Honourable Speaker disqualified my leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. I had seen him off on Friday minutes before his disqualification. Rahul Gandhi, who gave me the opportunity to enter Lok Sabha in 2009, won't be there. Why do I have to be there? I am pained for the injustice to him," Tagore, who represents Tamil Nadu's Virudhnagar constituency, wrote on Twitter.

Tagore is said to be a close aide of Rahul Gandhi. He is the party-in charge of Goa.

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after a court in Gujarat convicted him in a defamation case.

The Surat district court in Gujarat on Thursday convicted Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case against him over his alleged 'Modi surname' remark in 2019.

The former Congress president was convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500. The maximum possible punishment under this section is two years.

Bharatiya Janata Party legislator and former Gujarat Minister Purnesh Modi had filed the case against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname..." remark.

--IANS miz/pgh

( 232 Words)

2023-03-26-23:16:05 (IANS)
The Congress Party in Shimla led by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu held a 'Sankalp Satyagraha' protest, at the Ridge, against the disqualification of former party chief Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. The Congress leaders along with several Cabinet ministers participated in the candlelight protest. Chief Minister Sukhu, while slamming the union government said that it can stop Rahul Gandhi in parliament, but not in public. "People and political parties did not face the situation that has arisen today in the country due to bad and anti-people / policies of the Union government. Rahul Gandhi is the voice of democracy and the party is the biggest political party. You can suppress his voice in the parliament but you can't suppress him in the people's court. He does not do politics for MP or for the seat of Prime Minister. Democracy is under threat today and we will have to save it," said the Chief Minister. While Cabinet minister Vikramaditya Singh during the protest alleged that democracy has been "throttled and killed" making the situation critical. "The Parliament is the temple of democracy but the opposition is not being allowed to take up the issues and is not able to raise their voice. The situation is critical democracy has been throttled and killed. For those who are trying to raise the voice of people, cases are being registered against them. We will have to fight this battle, if these kinds of atmospheres continue in the country the bright future of the country is in dark," Singh said. Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark. The decision came pertaining to his remark made in April 2019, where he had said "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka. The court approved Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts. Congress party held nationwide Sankalap Satyagraha to protest against the move to disqualify Rahul Gandhi. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra trained her guns on the ruling BJP and vowed to keep fighting for the people at the party's Sankalap Satyagraha to protest against the move to disqualify her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "Who thinks that they can silence us by scaring and humiliating us? Listen, we will not stop, I will see to it that the hard-earned money of the public is not being looted and given to few people," Priyanka Gandhi said in a hard-hitting attack on the ruling party at the Centre. "It was my family (Nehru-Gandhi) who nurtured the democracy of this country with their blood," she said. (ANI)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday condoled the death of veteran Malayalam actor Innocent, who passed away in Kochi. Offering his condolences over the actor's death, Pinarayi said that Innocent was an artist who gained an unforgettable place in the hearts of the audience. "As a politician also, he managed to touch the lives of the people and his social environment. Innocent who has been a well-wisher of Left politics contested the elections on the request of the Left Democratic Front and gained prominence for the work he has done as an MP," Kerala CM said. The actor, a cancer survivor was reportedly not keeping well for some time and was admitted to the hospital on March 3 with respiratory problems. He passed away at 10:30 pm on Sunday night, the VPS Lakeshore Hospital in Kochi said in a statement. He is survived by his wife Alice, and a son, Sonnet. The hospital said that the non-functioning of many organs and a heart attack led to the actor's death. A few years ago, the thespian had been diagnosed with cancer but in 2015 he announced that he was finally free of the disease. He had written about his battle with cancer in his book 'Laughter in the Cancer Ward'. The actor, who was last seen in Prithviraj Sukumaran's 2022 film 'Kaduva', has done over 700 films in Malayalam in a career that spanned over five decades. He had also served as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for 12 consecutive years. Considered one of the best comedians in Malayalam cinema, Innocent also appeared in villainous roles. With his unique voice and mannerisms, he had endeared himself to countless cinema lovers as well as a toast of mimicry artists. A former MP from the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency Innocent represented CPI(M). In 1979, he was elected as the municipal councillor of Irinjalakkuda municipality. However, offering his condolences to the actor's family, Pinarayi said, "Innocent's death is a huge loss to Kerala's art and cultural space as well as to the political landscape of the state". "Innocent has set an example with his own life by fighting the disease with determination until the last moment. He carried on his personal and public life with confidence despite the malaise of disease," the Kerala CM said. Opposition leader V D Satheeshan, while expressing grief over the actor's demise said that the actor was one who made his name meaningful with an innocent smile. "He patiently fight the disease and gave courage to society. There is no one else to replace Innocent," he added. (ANI)
The Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has seized narcotics worth Rs 16.68 crores in the last six months, an official said on Sunday. "About 10 kg of illegal smack, 21.02 kg of illegal opium, 7.1 kg of illegal charas, and 966.498 kg of Ganja have been seized from various districts, which are worth Rs 16.68 crores in the international market," ANTF DIG Abdul Hameed said. Hammed further said that during these operations, the team arrested 36 illegal drug dealers while recovering 13 vehicles, 1 illegal .32 bore pistol, and 9 live cartridges from the criminals. "In light of these actions, the government is putting together an action plan to strengthen the ANTF further," he added. However, to further strengthen the Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and completely eliminate the narco nexus in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government is working on a war footing to complete the construction of six new state-of-the-art forensic labs in the state. To combat drug traffickers, work on establishing cutting-edge forensic labs in six districts of the state is underway. This new lab is being built in Saharanpur, Ayodhya, Banda, Basti, Mirzapur, and Azamgarh. In this way, the state will have a total of 18 forensic labs. At present, 12 labs are functional in different districts. DIG, ANTF informed that it takes a long time to send the seized drugs to the forensic lab for testing. At the same time, it takes more than 15 days to receive the test results for these samples. "The new forensic lab will reduce the time it takes to deliver drug tests. In addition, the investigation report for these samples will be available within a week, which will help in putting drug dealers behind bars through effective court lobbying," he said. On behalf of the ADG, UP Police Headquarters, a proposal was made to the government to provide risk allowance to the ANTF in the same way that it is provided to officers and police personnel in UP, and discussions are ongoing at the government level, he added. Similarly, discussions are taking place at the government level regarding the division of jurisdiction of ANTF-operated police stations in Meerut, Barabanki, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Jhansi, and Saharanpur. "This may also receive approval soon. Aside from that, an amount of Rs 37.25 lakh will be released soon for the purchase of modern equipment for ANTF," ANTF DIG further said. (ANI)
This would be Murmu's maiden visit to the state after taking oath as the President of the country.

According to an official release on Sunday, the President will visit Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata to pay homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on March 27 (Monday).

"Subsequently, she will visit Jorasanko Thakurbari - Rabindranath Tagore's House to pay tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore," the release said.

The President will attend a civic reception to be hosted in her honour at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata on the same evening.

On March 28 (Tuesday), President Murmu will visit Belur Math.

"She will also grace the celebration of the completion of 80 years of UCO Bank in Kolkata," the release said.

Later, the President will visit Shantiniketan where she will grace the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati.

On March 19, President Murmu visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district.

"Visiting the iconic Vivekananda Rock memorial is a memorable experience for me. I marvel at the greatness of the late Eknath Ranade Ji who was behind the building of the spiritually charged complex", tweeted the President's official Twitter handle.

President Murmu was earlier on a week's visit to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep from March 16 to March 21. (ANI)
Director General of Police Umesh Mishra said that nearly 8,000 police personnel were part of the operation carried out under the supervision of Additional Director General (Crime) Dinesh M N.

"A special campaign was conducted by the Rajasthan Police on Sunday on the instructions of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot," an official statement said.

Mishra further said that Jaipur and Kota Range IGs monitored the operations from the control room while the district SPs were in the field.

Additional Director General of Police Crime Dinesh MN said that Kota police arrested 224 miscreants during raids in 112 hideouts of criminals in the city range.

"Kota rural police raided 121 criminals at 160 places, Bundi police raided 281 miscreants from 234 places, Baran police raided 129 miscreants from 221 places and Jhalawar police raided 226 miscreants at 270 places. A total of 984 accused were rounded up in Kota city," he added.

Four pistols and four live cartridges, narcotics substances including 2 gm smack also recovered.

"In compliance with the direction of the state police headquarter, Kota range police carried out a special campaign in the early hours of Sunday across Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran districts," Kota police range IG Prasan Kumar Khamesra said at a press conference.

Similarly, in the Jaipur range, 988 criminals were rounded up in Jaipur Rural, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Bhiwadi and Dausa. Four country-made revolvers, two pistols and as many live cartridges and three knives were recovered.

A total of 45 cases under various sections including those dealing with the Arms Act, NDPS Act, and Excise Act were lodged against them, the official said, adding such crackdowns will continue in the future.

Similar police action was also taken in the Churu district which is part of the Bikaner range. (ANI)
Sources earlier told ANI that the Congress leaders will intensify their protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha wearing black clothes.

Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will attend the Parliament by putting on black clothes, sources had said.

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

Notably, Congress has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and staged protests in the Parliament's ongoing Budget Session.

Like-minded Opposition leaders will meet today in the Rajya Sabha LoP chamber in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor of the house, according to sources.

This is the third week of the second part of the Parliament session and till now parliament is witnessing a logjam as the Opposition is demanding JPC on the Adani issue and Treasury Benches were demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London alleging that he defamed the country on foreign soil.

The ongoing second part of the Budget Session began on March 13 and will continue till April 6. (ANI)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday attended the All India Steel Conclave at Nava Raipur and appreciated the performance of the state industries during the covid pandemic. While addressing the event, he said, "Because of Chhattisgarh's industrial policy, industries didn't shut down even during the corona pandemic. Even at the cost of the government's loss, we gave an exemption in electricity so that industries keep running. The steel industry is the backbone of Chhattisgarh's economy." "However, for the last few years, this industry has been facing many challenges such as fuel crisis or the need for cheap raw material," Baghel added. The CM said," Our state exports coal to the entire country, we didn't let the supply of coal stop even during the Corona pandemic. I also urge the Central Government to grant coal linkage to steel traders from South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL)." "The condition of roads has deteriorated because of coal mines. Bad roads have also adversely affected transportation, making it costlier. That is why, during the establishment of any industry, roads should be included in the project," he added. Highlighting the pandemic phase, CM Baghel said, "When the second wave of Coronavirus arrived, then the national capital and other states faced the shortage of oxygen, but there was no scarcity of oxygen in Chhattisgarh. We readily issued licenses to industrialists to set up oxygen plants." "I requested the Prime Minister to provide some oxygen to steel plants as well so that the plants can operate. During the Corona pandemic, labourers from all over the nation were deserting, but such was not the case in Chhattisgarh. Because of a good industrial policy, industries continued to operate even during the pandemic," he added. "During the Corona crisis, when lockdown circumstances were formed, it seemed as if the steel sector of the state will perish, but we worked in unison. The government strengthened the steel sector and our steel industry became a source of strength for our government," CM Baghel further added. Baghel also said that during the pandemic, Chhatisgarh manufactured the highest quantity of steel and the industrial landscape of the state has changed completely in the last four years. "Even during the pandemic, our state manufactured the highest quantity of steel in the country. The industrial landscape of Chhattisgarh has completely changed in the last four years," said CM Baghel. In the program, the Forest and Environment Minister Mohammad Akbar, Raipur MP Mr Sunil Soni, and officials of Steel Conclave Ramesh Agrawal and Surendra Tripathi were present. (ANI)
Within minutes of the commencement of proceedings of both Houses, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm and Lok Sabha till 4 pm on Monday, amid Opposition MPs' protest in the second phase of the Budget Session. They were sloganeering over the Adani Group issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification. Earlier today, the opposition MPs held a meeting at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in the Parliament building on Monday to formulate the strategy for the day. The opposition parties which participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction). Trinamool Congress MPs also participated in the meeting which came as a huge development following Rahul Gandhi's suspension as MP from Lok Sabha. TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a critic of the BJP, supported Rahul Gandhi. "In PM Modi's New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of the BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy," the TMC Supremo had earlier said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed TMC's move to participate in the meeting stating that anyone who comes forward to "protect democracy" is welcome. "I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us," Kharge said. Meanwhile, the opposition MPs were seen donning black clothes in protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification. The Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, earlier in August last year, had worn black clothes and staged a protest against the Centre against price rise, GST hike on essential items and unemployment. They had marched towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of their stir against the issues. (ANI)
The deceased officer has been identified as Assistant Platoon Commander Vijay Yadav (58).

The incident took place between Temenar and Etepal area this morning, said a police officer.

Further, the police also informed that the officer was belonging to the 19th battalion of CAF's D-Company and was a native of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, a team of security personnel were out on an area domination exercise on Monday morning from Mirtur police station and when they reached a forest patch between Temenar and Etepal, the officer accidentally stepped over an IED placed by the Naxals resulting in an explosion.

Further information is awaited.

Earlier, an encounter broke out between a joint party of Indo-Tibetan Border Police and District Reserve Guard and Naxals in the forest area of Chote Burgum in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Sunday, officials said.

The Naxals fled the area taking advantage of forest cover, officials said.

During a search operation in the area, the security forces recovered two IEDs which were later defused at the spot. (ANI)
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hit out at the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP and said that the opposition leaders are wearing the black attire to show that democracy is being trampled in the country. Kharge alleged that the Centre used the probe agencies to bend those who did not bow before the government. The Congress leader's remarks came while addressing the media after a joint opposition march from the Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk wearing black attire as a mark of protest against the Centre over the Adani Group issue. "I thank the opposition leaders for raising their voice against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification. Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didn't bow," Kharge said. Explaining the advantages of the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition said that there will be transparency after the report is out. He further questioned the government stating that there will be more number of representations from the BJP and its allies in the JPC. "They ask for authenticity for everything in the Parliament. The government has not been able to answer the questions raised by us. MPs of 18 parties are here today. Not a single party is missing. We are asking for a JPC on the matter. The truth will come out. Records will be checked. Whatever will come out, will be known to all. There will be transparency. Why are you scared of constituting a JPC? You have a majority. You (BJP) will have more members in the JPC or will have your allies," he said. "You are scared which means that there is something fishy. So we are all together today to show unity," Kharge stressed. Calling it a black day for democracy, the Congress leader said that the government disqualified Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha with "lightning speed" and emphasised that neither Rahul Gandhi nor the opposition parties will be deterred. "In Rahul Gandhi's case, what he said in an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka, the case is filed in Surat, Gujarat. Because you wanted a favourable government. You want to use the police, you want to use, I can't say judiciary, but you want to use for your purpose to defame Rahul Gandhi. It is a black day in democracy. The BJP government disqualified Rahul Gandhi with lightning speed. Rahul Gandhi will not be scared. The opposition parties will not be suppressed no matter how much you try to do so. We will not bow. We will try to launch a campaign in this regard," he said. Speaking to ANI, Kharge said, "If you take the law into your own hands, democracy will be finished. No one will have the freedom to speak. So we are protesting. Why is the government silent on how Adani became such a big man? We want JPC." Earlier today, the opposition MPs held a meeting at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in the Parliament building on Monday to formulate the strategy for the day.The opposition parties which participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction). Trinamool Congress MPs also participated in the meeting which came as a huge development following Rahul Gandhi's suspension as MP from Lok Sabha. TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a critic of the BJP, supported Rahul Gandhi. "In PM Modi's New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of the BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy," the TMC Supremo had earlier said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed TMC's move to participate in the meeting stating that anyone who comes forward to "protect democracy" is welcome. "I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us," Kharge said. The Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, earlier in August last year, had worn black clothes and staged a protest against the Centre against price rise, GST hike on essential items and unemployment. They had marched towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of their stir against the issues. (ANI)
The Delhi High court on Monday directed Delhi Police to constitute a joint task force with Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police to monitor and stop the illegal sand mining in River Yamuna in the Alipur area. The High Court also expressed its concern over rampant illegal sand mining in the river. The High has also called for a further status report. Justice Prathiba M Singh on Monday directed the concerned Deputy Commissioner of police (DCP) to coordinate with the SSP Ghaziabad, UP and constitute a Joint Task Force (JTF) with the UP police to monitor and stop illegal sand mining in river Yamuna. The High court also directed that the joint task force (JTF) shall regularly monitor the Yamuna bank and ensure to stop illegal sand mining. The high court also said that the picket shall also be posted to ensure a stop to illegal sand mining. The bench also took note of the fact illegal sand mining is going on engaging dumpers and earth excavators. The high court expressed its concern over the environmental damage due to illegal sand mining. The bench also took note of the deed between the DM Ghaziabad and one security agency permitting excavators and JCB machines is also of enormous concern. The High court directed to send the copy of the order to the SSP Ghaziabad for intimation. The bench passed the direction after hearing the submission of Advocate for Petitioner Ravinder. The court also perused the status report filed by authorities. The report said that some portion of the area is in Delhi and some portion is in UP. It also stated that on March 14, 2023 tractor and trolly were sized by the authorities. However, the court filed the status report unsatisfactorily and passed the direction for the constitution of the JTF. The petition was filed one Ravinder alleging illegal sand mining in the river Yamuna. The high court called for a status report in February 2023. The matter has been listed in July. (ANI)
While addressing the media, Chief Minister Dhami said, "All necessary preparations for the G20 summit have been done from the administrative and security point of view".

"Police officials have been directed. Home department, police headquarters and the security agencies are keeping an eye on every activity," he added.

Earlier on Sunday a pre-recorded audio surfaced on social media in which Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a secessionist pro-Khalistan organisation called for a boycott of G20 meetings in Ramnagar.

SFJ president Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in the surfaced audio threatened to replace Indian flags with Khalistani flags in the G20 meeting claiming that Ramnagar is a part of Khalistan and not India.

Earlier this month SFJ President Pannu also made similar calls to boycott G20 meetings in Amritsar stating that Amritsar is a part of Khalistan. The G20 meetings in Amritsar concluded on March 17 amid tight security arrangements.

The G20 summit is set to be organised in Ramnagar from March 28 to 30. The three-day G20 meeting in Ramnagar will see the participation of 70 foreign guests and 30 Indian officials. (ANI)
The protesters were later detained by Delhi Police.

Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark.

Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha triggered a massive political row with the BJP stating that the Congress leader was "a habitual loose cannon" and the Congress alleging that he was got "deliberately disqualified".

Congress workers on Saturday held a protest in Wayanad over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, Youth Congress workers decided to march to the metro station to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister.

The protestors were stopped when they were marching to the Visvesvaraya metro station near the City Civil Court in Bengaluru.

In Punjab, the Chandigarh youth Congress stopped the New Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi train at the Chandigarh railway station over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament.

In Maharashtra, MVA MLAs stage a silent protest outside State Assembly against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a member of Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi's disqualification came pertaining to his remark made in April 2019, where he had said "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka.

The court approved Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts. (ANI)
Kerala Industries Minister P Rajeev was among those who offered their tributes to verteran Malayalam actor and former Member of Parliament who passed away in a hospital in Kochi a day ago. Expressing his condolences over the actor's death, Rajeev said, "There is no substitute for Innocent in Malayalam cinema. He was a personality who always stood with the left-wing movement. I was in the Rajya Sabha when he was in the Lok Sabha. Together we shared ideas of doing charity work." "He was able to reflect his politics in whatever comedy he performed and whatever he wrote. We have lost an actor and a philanthropist, loved by all Malayalis. He had been struggling for the past few days. He was a cultural worker who upheld humanity," the State minister added added. The actor, a cancer survivor was reportedly not keeping well for some time and was admitted to the hospital on March 3 with respiratory problems. He passed away at 10:30 pm on Sunday night, the VPS Lakeshore Hospital in Kochi said in a statement. The hospital said that the non-functioning of many organs and a heart attack led to the actor's death. He is survived by his wife Alice, and a son, Sonnet. Congress MLA Anwar Sadath also offered condolences over the actor's death and said that the actor always maintained a friendship with people's representatives. "He always maintained a friendship with people's representatives like us. He was an MP from my constituency. He showed the world how to fight cancer. We wonder if we will ever have an artist like Innocent. Apart from being an artist, he also worked as a public servant. He always had a love and affection for us", said Sadath. Saddened with the demise of Innocent, movie director, B Unnikrishnan said, "A replacement for Innocent is unthinkable. He was a great lover of humanity. He also had the ability to bring all the people in the film together. Neither can anyone else. Even those who raise dissent and criticism will admit it." "He showed democratic courtesy even to fraternal organizations. He always maintained a cordial relationship with them. His role in keeping Malayalam cinema a secular space will be remembered with gratitude by the coming generation, added Unnikrishnan. Born in Inrinjalakuda in 1948, Innocent entered the film industry in 1972 with the movie 'Nrityashala' starring Prem Nazir and Jayabharathi. The actor was last seen in Prithviraj Sukumaran's 2022 film 'Kaduva', and has done over 700 films in Malayalam in a career that spanned over five decades. He had also served as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for 12 consecutive years. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday tagged Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha's plea saying as per norms a woman cannot be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residence with other similar petition and listed the matter after three weeks. A bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi tagged the matter along with a similar petition by Nalini Chidambaram. The court listed the matter after three weeks and asked the parties concerned to file a note on the issue. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha, who is the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in her plea challenging the summons issued by ED against her, said as per norms a woman cannot be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residence. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha, said that whether she needs to be interrogated at home or in Delhi, Court is seized of and has issued a notice in similar petitions of Nalini Chidambaram and Abhishek Banerjee Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for ED said that Section 160 CrPC will not apply in PMLA cases as per the Supreme Court judgement in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary matter Senior Advocate Sibal said that this issue was not before Vijay Madanlal Choudhary of the PMLA case. He submitted that there is no procedure under PMLA for summons. He said that the summons issued to Kavitha is for investigation and the PMLA says if there is no procedure then Code will apply. Kavitha is being quizzed by ED in connection with a money laundering case related to Delhi excise policy irregularities matter. In a petition filed through advocate Vandana Sehgal, Kavitha has urged the top court to quash the ED summons dated March 7 and 11 stating that asking her to appear before the agency office instead of her residence is contrary to the settled tenets of criminal jurisprudence and thus, wholly unsustainable in law being violative of the Proviso to Section 160 of Cr.P.C. She has also sought that all procedures carried out by ED, including those in relation to the recording of statements be audio or videographed in the presence of her lawyer at a visible distance inter-alia by way of installation of appropriate CCTV cameras. She has also sought to set aside impounding order dated March 11 2023 and declare the seizure made thereunder null and void. In the petition, she said, "Despite the petitioner, Kavitha not being named in the FIR, certain members of the incumbent ruling political party at the Center made scandalous statements linking the Petitioner to the Delhi Excise Policy and the said FIR." "The political conspiracy against the petitioner (K Kavitha) unfortunately did not end with judicial intervention by way of the Suit. The Enforcement Directorate filed a remand application qua one of the accused on November 30, 2022, before the concerned Court. This remand application contained the personal contact details of the petitioner. There was no rhyme or reason to include the personal contact details of the petitioner in a remand application which did not even concern the petitioner. The act is all the more egregious considering the Petitioner is a lady," BRS leader said. "The subsequent events are extremely shameful and in the belief of the Petitioner, were orchestrated by the Enforcement Directorate at the behest of the members of the incumbent ruling party at the Center, as part of a larger conspiracy against the Petitioner," she said. K Kavitha further added that the said remand application containing the contact details of the Petitioner were leaked to the media and the public. "The remand application was shared extensively over social media. Such an act is petty, illegal, and an unfortunate reflection upon the malicious conduct of the Enforcement Directorate in consonance with the political party in power at Center," Kavitha said. Kavitha said that ED has also denied her request seeking to be examined at her residence, and the probe agency made a categorical statement that "there is no provision under the PMLA for the recording of statements at any persons' residence". "That immediately thereafter on March 8, 2023, at 11:03 pm, the Petitioner sent an email asserting her rights to be examined at her residence. However, the Petitioner after reserving her rights intimated to the Respondent that she will appear before them on March 11, 2023," Kavitha added. (ANI)
In the training program middle and senior level officers (DANICS & IAS) of GNCTD, will go for residential training at IIMs-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata for training as a part of "Vision@2047" and "Mission2023".

The training programs will be in addition to those under the "Karmyogi Bharat" and envisage to train decision-makers in the contemporarily relevant spheres like Public Private Partnership, Change Management, Leadership and Decision Science.

Earlier, UTCS had moved this proposal of collaboration with the IIMs after suggestions for comprehensive training were made by the Lt. Governor himself only.

As of now under the "Karmyogi Bharat" program, training programs on different topics are available on iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training) platform and it offers courses like Dakshta and Karmyogi Prarambh which educate IAS about leave rules, noting and drafting, office procedure, Code of Conduct for Government employees, stress management, effective communication, MS-word, MS-excel etc.

It may be noted that the last such program for 24 DANICS officers on "Management Development" at IIM-Ahmedabad was conducted in 2011-12 and thereafter for 30 officers in 2012-13. (ANI)
The loggerhead between the treasury bench and opposition parliamentarians continued as the latter continued to register their protest. Principal opposition party Congress shouted slogans over the Adani-Hindenburg issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the parliament.

The opposition MPs were seen donning black clothes today and they marched towards the Vijay Chowk.

On Friday, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark.

In April 2019, he made the remark "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka. The court approved Rahul Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts.

The Congress has since the start of the Budget session of Parliament been registering their protest over the Adani-Hindbenburg issue and questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relation with the Adani Group. Congress had been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee-led probe into the Adani issue and staged protests in the Parliament.

The ongoing second part of the Budget Session began was scheduled for March 13-April 6. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Mohammed Faizal's plea on Tuesday complaining that he has not been reinstated back to the Parliament despite the fact that his conviction has been suspended by the Kerala High Court order. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that list the matter tomorrow and tagged the petition related to the matter Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal has moved the Supreme Court stating that even though his conviction has been stayed by the Kerala High Court, he has not been reinstated back to the parliament. Earlier Kerala High Court suspended the conviction and sentence of Lakshadweep MP and Nationalist Congress leader (NCP) leader PP Mohammed Faizal and three others in a case of an attempt to murder. Kerala HC passed the order on a plea of Faizal and others challenging a trial court's order at Lakshadweep in an attempt to murder case. Faizal filed the application seeking to suspend the 10-year imprisonment. Earlier, the Kavaratti Sessions Court had convicted four persons, including Faizal. Thereafter, The UT Administration of Lakshadweep has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court order, which suspended the conviction of Lakshadweep MP and Nationalist Congress leader (NCP) leader PP Mohammed Faizal in a case of attempt to murder. In the plea, the Union Territory of Lakshadweep has challenged the impugned interim order dated January 25, 2023, passed by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam. Through the impugned interim order, the High Court has suspended the conviction and sentence imposed on Mohammed Faizal by the Sessions Court, Kavarthi, Union Territory of Lakshadweep, till the disposal of the criminal appeal. The High Court has also suspended the sentence of imprisonment of other accused till disposal of the appeal. Earlier, the Kavaratti Sessions Court had convicted four persons, including Faizal for committing offences punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections143, 147, 148, 307, 324, 342, 448, 427, 506 read with 149 relating to offences relating to rioting, attempt to murder, violence, kidnapping. They were all sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and were also directed to pay a fine of Rs one lakh each for attempting to murder Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister PM Sayeed in relation to a political controversy during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The UT Administration of Lakshadweep, in the plea, said that the consequence of Faizal's conviction by the Ld. Sessions Court, Kavarthi on 11.01.2023 was that by operation of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution read with Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Respondent, who was an elected Member of Parliament from Lakshadweep Constituency, stood disqualified by operation of law from the date of conviction and the Lok Sabha Constituency of Lakshadweep stood vacated. The Lok Sabha Secretariat had issued a Notification dated 13.01.2023 to the same effect in terms of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, i.e. by virtue of the conviction of the Faizal, he stood disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha representing Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Pursuant to this disqualification, the Election Commission of India issued a Press Note dated 18.01.2023 deciding to hold bye-elections to fill the vacancy in the Parliamentary Constituency of Lakshadweep on 27.02.2023. However, by the impugned interim order dated 25.01.2023, the High Court has suspended the conviction and sentence of the Respondent for offences including Section 307 IPC where the punishment of 10 years rigorous imprisonment was imposed and suspended the sentence of the accused. The administration said that the interim impugned order has suspended the conviction of the Respondent, only on the basis of consequences of an election, which are totally irrelevant to the entire issue. Section 389 CrPC for the purposes of suspension of conviction does not envisage the ground that was referred by the High Court while passing the impugned interim order, the UT said. "That the principles of democracy, purity of elections and decriminalisation of politics have all been accepted and acknowledged by the High Court but ignored by the Hon'ble High Court while passing the interim impugned order," UT said. "That the High Court has ignored the object and spirit of Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution. In the entire impugned interim order, there is no iota of discussion on the suspension of sentence, especially when the Respondent No.1 to 4 (accused persons) have been convicted under Section 307 IPC," the UT said in its plea. (ANI)
Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday moved a special calling attention motion during Zero Hour session in the Tamil Nadu assembly in connection with alleged malpractices in the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC). While moving the resolution in the state assembly, AIADMK leader Palaniswami said, "Two days ago, TNPSC released results for Group 4 and Land Survivor exams. Some 700 candidates passed out from a specific training centre which is at Karaikudi. This has raised doubts." "Similarly, around 2000 candidates have passed in Group 4 exam from a specific Training Center at Tenkasi. This result has triggered a controversy on social media," he added.Palaniswami demanded an explanation from the Tamil Nadu government. "It is worrying that many complications are happening in TNPSC exams. The government has to give a proper explanation for this," he said. Meanwhile in his response, Finance and Human Resource Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said that he will give a detailed explanation soon as the HRD department in the State is looking into the allegations. "I will give a detailed explanation regarding TNPSC allegations on some other day. When I got this news of allegations against TNPSC from social media and news outlets, I called the Human Resources Department Secretary and asked him to get clarification from TNPSC Officials," he said. Minister PTR further stated that the State needs upgradation of its practices of conducting exams and consultations with Chief Minister MK Stalin are going on in this regard. "One day I received a document asking for an additional Rs 45 crore more from the budget to conduct Group 4 exams. For 7,000 vacancies, 24 lakh people applied. Around 2400 centres were used and for this 6,000-7000 invigilators were needed. In today's times, this system of conducting examinations is faulty," the minister said. "To fill 7000 vacancies, 24 lakh people are writing exams so this is an example of a highly inefficient model. In the age of technology, many forest trees are being uprooted. Rs 45 crore is being spent to conduct an exam in one day. This system needs to be corrected and after a discussion with Chief Minister, we are taking measures. I need everyone's support in this," he added. Over the last couple of days unverified allegations have been circulating on social media that around 2000 candidates from a specific Training Centre at Tenkasi, have cleared the Group 4 exams. Leader of the Opposition Palaniswami raised the issue in the Tamil Nadu assembly during zero hour. (ANI)
Launching an attack on the expelled Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress party, Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Deepak Prakash on Monday said that both of them have no faith in democracy and the Constitution. While speaking to ANI, Jharkhand BJP president Deepak Prakash said, "Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party do not have faith in the constitution of this country and do not believe in the democracy, or judiciary of this country. It looks like that one day Congress will demand a separate country for their leader Rahul Gandhi as they have lost faith in the institutions of this country." "When Rahul Gandhi and Congress do not have faith in the democracy of the country, do not believe in the constitution, do not believe in the judiciary, do not believe in the Election Commission, they do not believe in the people of the country, then after all, for them, they demand to create a separate country," Prakash added. Opposition protests disrupted the ongoing Budget Session again today after the Parliament resumed at 11 am. The Congress has begun countrywide protests after party leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha last week. Moreover, several opposition parties have been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into Hindenburg's report on the Adani group. Congress-led opposition members on Monday protested outside Parliament by taking out a march wearing black clothes and shouting slogans, seeking a probe in the Adani matter. Former UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also participated in the protests outside Mahatma Gandhi's statue. Congress MPs wore black clothes to protest party leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday asked Madal Virupakshappa to file a reply on the Karnataka Lokayukta's plea against the Karnataka High Court's decision to grant anticipatory bail to BJP MLA in a corruption case. A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued a notice to BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, asking him to file a reply to Karnataka Lokayukta's plea. During the hearing of the Karnataka High Court today, the lawyer for the Lokayukta raised a strong objection to the bail application. Finally, the single-judge bench dismissed the bail application. The Supreme Court on March 14 agreed to hear the Karnataka Lokayukta plea against the High Court's decision to grant anticipatory bail to BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa in a corruption case. The counsel appearing for Karnataka Lokayukta mentioned his plea and sought an urgent hearing of his appeal against anticipatory bail granted to BJP MLA. Notably, BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa whose son was arrested while he was taking a bribe of Rs 40 lakh on March 3, appeared before Lokayukta in Bengaluru on Match 9. Anti-corruption branch of Lokayukta had arrested his son Prashanth Madal for bribery of Rs 40 lakh. Initially, the lawyer mentioned the plea before the bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who asked the petitioner to go before another bench headed by Justice SK Kaul. CJI said, "He is the part of a constitution bench who is hearing a different matter so they will not be able to take up Karnataka Lokayukta matter." When the lawyer mentioned his plea before a bench headed by SK Kaul, the judge said, "What was the urgency for listing of the plea?" The lawyer replied and said, "The accused is a sitting legislator." Thereafter, Justice Kaul directed to list the matter at the earliest. "The anti-corruption branch of Lokayukta caught Prashanth Madal, son of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa while taking a bribe of Rs 40 lakh. Over Rs 1.7 crore in cash was recovered from his office," Karnataka Lokayukta had earlier said. Lokayukta was on duty after getting a complaint about the demand for a bribe. Over Rs 1.7 crore cash was found at Prashanth Madal's office, Lokayukta officials said. Speaking to reporters, Virupakshappa said that the money found in the raid was his "earned money". "It was our earned money. I have not done any illegal transactions as president of KSDL. We kept the money from our groundnut plantation and crusher at home. This money was discovered during the Lokayukta raid. I have a document for that money and I will give it," he said. He further said that he would not quit the party even after the party expelled him from the primary membership. "However, I will not quit the BJP. I will prove my innocence in the case and I will get a clean chit in a legal battle. BJP is my mother party," he added. (ANI)
They said Rahul Gandhi has been asked to vacate 12, Tughlaq Lane in the national capital.

Rahul Gandhi has been given a period of 30 days to vacate the premises to avoid eviction, the sources said.

Congress workers have held protests in different parts of the country following Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.

The party has attacked the Modi government on the issue and said that it will fight the matter legally and politically.

The court verdict, which came last week, related to Rahul Gandhi's Modi surname remarks made during an election rally in April 2019 in Karnataka.

The court approved Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts. (ANI)
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Monday announced that BSP will contest the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. Taking to Twitter, Mayawati said, " BSP will contest elections alone on its own strength in Karnataka assembly elections to be held soon. Names of 60 per cent candidates were finalized in an important meeting held in Delhi today." "The list of selected BSP candidates will be released locally soon. Along with this, the state unit has been given strict instructions that in the remaining assembly seats, most of the party's dedicated and hardworking workers should be promoted and fielded in the election," he added. On BSP supremo Mayawati's decision to contest the Karnataka assembly elections alone, Yogi Government's Minority Welfare Minister in Uttar Pradesh Danish Azad said, "everyone has the right to contest elections, be it BSP or any other political party. It is her decision but I can say that today the country has faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The countrymen have full faith in the work done by Prime Minister Modi for the progress of the country, to increase its respect, no matter how hard the opposition parties try, but Modi ji rules in the hearts of people. I have full faith that BJP's victory is certain," he added. On Saturday, the Congress party announced the first list of candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections. The names of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and State party president DK Shivakumar are included in the first list of 124 candidates. Siddaramaiah will contest from the Varuna constituency while DK Shivakumar will be the candidate from Kanakapura. The Karnataka Assembly election is scheduled to take place this year. (ANI)
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress and Gandhi family, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday said the country was humiliated because of the "cowardice" of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "Merely using the surname 'Gandhi' the so-called family does not become Gandhi. The country was humiliated because of Nehru ji. The country was humiliated because of the cowardice of Nehru ji. Like a coward, Nehru ji handed over thousands of square kilometres of land to China. Tibet used to be our buffer state. He advocated for China in the United Nations for Tibet. He said Congress and the "so-called Gandhi family" consider democracy as a monarchy. Asked about Congress and the Opposition members wearing black clothes in Lok Sabha on Monday, Singh said, "We do not have any objection whether they come in black, yellow or in red clothes. But the manner in which they tore the copies and insulted the chair of the Speaker of the House has shocked the Parliament and the parliamentary system. Congress should apologise." On Rahul Gandhi's remarks over Savarkar, Singh said the Congress leader needs to take several births to understand the sacrifice of Savarkar. "It will take many births for Rahul Gandhi to understand Savarkar. He should apologize to the country," the BJP leader said. Taking a jibe at Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Union Minister said, "Even after walking 3,600 km, the party had no benefit. Elections were held in three northeast states. They were defeated in all these three states." Opposition protests disrupted the ongoing Budget Session again on Monday after the Parliament resumed at 11 am. The Congress has begun countrywide protests after party leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha last week. Congress-led opposition members on Monday protested outside Parliament by taking out a march wearing black clothes and shouting slogans, seeking a probe in the Adani matter. Former UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also participated in the protests outside Mahatma Gandhi's statue. Congress MPs wore black clothes to protest party leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark. The court verdict, which came last week, related to Rahul Gandhi's Modi surname remarks made during an election rally in April 2019 in Karnataka. The court approved Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts. Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha triggered a massive political row with the BJP stating that the Congress leader was "a habitual loose cannon" and the Congress alleging that he was got "deliberately disqualified". Congress workers have held protests in different parts of the country following Rahul Gandhi's disqualification. The party has attacked the Modi government on the issue and said that it will fight the matter legally and politically. (ANI)
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Monday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after party's MP Jaswantsinh Bhabhor and his brother Shaileshbhai Bhabhor, the MLA from Limkheda shared a stage with Shailesh Bhatt - one of the 11 men convicted for raping Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots and released on parole by the Gujarat government. Both Jaswantsinh and Shaileshbhai tweeted pictures of the launch of a Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) project in Karmadi village in Singvad taluka of Dahod district. Kavitha tweeted," Bilkis Bano Rapist openly shares the stage with BJP's MPs and MLAs. What have we become as a community that perpetrators of heinous crimes against women are being celebrated and given a platform while the victims plead for justice? India is watching!" While TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, "Bilkis Bano's Rapist Shares Stage With Gujarat's BJP MP, MLA. I want to see these monsters back in jail and the key is thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out. I want India to reclaim her moral compass." The Gujarat government released the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008. In March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal of the Enforcement Directorate challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to former Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan in a Yes Bank money laundering case being probed by the agency. A bench of Justices KM Joseph, Hrishikesh Roy and BV Nagarathna dismissed the plea of ED and said that the 60 or 90-day duration for the grant of default bail in a criminal case will include the remand period. The bench in its order said that the remand period will be calculated from the date Magistrate remanded the accused. The top court in September 2020 had stayed a Bombay High Court order granting bail to the promoters. On August 20, 2020, the High Court granted bail to the Wadhawan brothers stating that mandatory default bail is the sequel to the non-filing of the charge sheet. The High Court while grating bail had held that the ED failed to file its charge sheet in the case within the stipulated 60-day period. Challenging the High Court order, the probe agency approached the apex court. Wadhawans are accused of money laundering in the multi-crore Yes Bank fraud case. ED had arrested Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). CBI had also registered FIR against them. According to the CBI FIR, the scam started taking shape between April and June 2018, when Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the DHFL. In return, the Wadhawans allegedly paid a kickback of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family members in the form of loans to DOIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd held by the latter's wife and daughters, the CBI has claimed. (ANI)
The group of protesters hit the streets of Kolkata's Tiljala area, and vandalised public and private properties by setting them on fire after the body of seven-year-old girl from the same area was found inside a suitcase.

According to police, the girl was missing from Sunday morning and her body was found inside a suitcase at a neighbour's flat in the evening. Enraged by this, the locals agitated and started demanding action against the accused.

The locals are alleging that the girl was abducted and murdered before being stuffed inside a suitcase.

The uniformed personnel fired tear gas at the angry protestors.

Responding to the incident, Subhankar Bhattacharya, Deputy Commissioner, South East Division said that the situation is peaceful now.

"Yesterday, we received a complaint about a 7-year-old girl gone missing near Tiljala Police Station. During the search, the body of the girl was found inside a jute bag in a house in an apartment complex. Accused Alok Kumar was arrested immediately after. He has been remanded to police custody.

He said that later some people started stone pelting, and two people have been arrested in this regard. "Situation is peaceful, Sec 144 not imposed," he added.

Further information is awaited. (ANI)
A Delhi court recently convicted AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi for causing hurt. However, the court acquitted him of offences under the SC-ST Act. Tripathi is an MLA from Model Town. The alleged incident took place a day before the Delhi Assembly election in February 2020. Special judge Geetanjali Goel of the Rouse Avenue court said that the prosecution has proved the guilt of the accused Akhilesh Pati Tripathi beyond reasonable doubt for the offence under Section 323 IPC and he is convicted for the same. While he is acquitted of the offences under Sections 341/506 (1) IPC and under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989, the court said in the judgement passed on March 25. The court pointed out, "In the present case as well, it can be said that the incident arose out of political rivalry, more so given the fact that the elections were to be held on February 8, 2020 and the incident took place in the intervening night of February 7, 2020, and February 8, 2020." Further, in the circumstances of the case, it is difficult to believe the case of the prosecution that the accused had uttered any caste-related remarks against the complainant, much less to show any intention to humiliate or intimidate the complainant as he belonged to Scheduled Caste, the Judge Goel said in the judgement. Though the complainant had stated about the accused abused him by caste name, in the circumstances of the case as referred to above the offences under Sections 3(1)(r) and (s) of the SC/ST cannot be said to be established in the present case, the judge held. The Addl. PP had submitted that the complainant had been beaten and the MLC was there which showed simple injuries so Section 323 IPC was attracted. While the Counsel for the accused had argued that it was in fact the accused who was beaten. The court said, " However, it cannot be discounted that the incident had taken place and the MLC of the complainant shows simple injuries." The MLC of the accused also shows simple injuries but on that basis, the offence committed by the accused cannot be washed away, the judge noted. In view of the same, the offence under Section 323 IPC would be made out against the accused, the court said. The court listed the matter to hear arguments on the point of sentence on 13.04.2023. The court has directed the accused to furnish an affidavit of his assets and income within 10 days. The State has also been directed to furnish an affidavit of expenses incurred by the prosecuting agency within 7 days. This being a matter pertaining to an MLA needs to be disposed of expeditiously, the court said. The Victim Impact Report be called for in respect of the complainant Sanjeev Kumar from the learned Secretary- II, Central District Legal Services Authority, before the next date. The present FIR was registered on the basis of the complaint of February 10, 2020, by Sanjeev Kumar. He stated that he was a student. On February 7, 2020, at around 11:35 p.m., when he along with his friend namely Raj Kishore was going to his home, the accused along with his supporters stopped the complainant at Jhandewalan Chowk, Lal Bagh and took the key of his scooty and beat him badly. The accused used casteist abusive language, instigated his supporters and asked them to show their position, the victim alleged. He used the prohibited words to damage the image of the complainant and his parents, which was prohibited under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC-ST Act), 1989. It was also stated that the complainant and his family members called on 100 number and when the police came to the spot, the accused fled from the spot. The accused with his supporters beat the complainant with heavy objects. The complainant was admitted to Hindu Rao Hospital immediately. It.was also stated that the complainant belonged to Scheduled Caste. On the basis of the complaint, the FIR was registered under Sections 323/341/506/34 IPC and Sections 3(i)(r)(s) of the SC/ST Act. (ANI)
The Hindi version of the book "Reporting India" written by veteran journalist Prem Prakash was released in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal on Monday. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the Chief Guest at the book launch event organized at Taj Lake Front in Bhopal. "Chief Minister @ChouhanShivraj released the Hindi version of the book 'Reporting India' written by the founder of news agency @ANI and renowned journalist Shri Prem Prakash ji in Bhopal," Madhya Pradesh CMO tweeted in Hindi. The award-winning book on Prem Prakash's 70-year journey as a journalist is the story of the evolution of India and is the juxtaposition of an eyewitness account with an assessment of what the country was at different phases of time. In his address, CM Chouhan spoke about the journey of the ANI chairman saying that Prem Prakash with his diligence, loyalty, dedication and hard work, has thrown new light on the world of journalism. "Your life is truly an inspiration. Your contribution to the world of journalism is incomparable," Chouhan said. He also urged the younger generation to read the book as this will take them on a journey to that era of politics which they have not witnessed. CM Chouhan said that he will definitely read this book. "This is a very interesting book. I will definitely read this book whenever I will get time," he said. Launched in 2020, the book was named by the Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) as the Book of the Year in the non-fiction category in 2021. It provides a detailed account of the veteran journalist's professional life and the stories he covered from Jawaharlal Nehru's demise to the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The author had the privilege of witnessing the making of history in the times and tenures of all the Prime Ministers of India from behind his camera. Prem Prakash is a pioneer in Indian journalism and during his long career has covered some of the most important stories of post-Independence India including the 1962 war with China, the 1965 and 1971 wars against Pakistan, the Emergency, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri's fateful Tashkent journey. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday called upon the students of Nandi Medical College to treat their profession as a service. Holding an interactive session with the students of Nandi Medical College here on Monday, the CM said, "The country with 130 crore population did not have so much of doctors to match the population. Opportunities are in plenty for medical services in the country and it was more required both in the government and government sector." "Earlier, there was the menace of quacks but as the number of doctors has increased there has been a decline in the number of fake doctors. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi implemented the Ayushman Bharat scheme, more and more people are getting better healthcare facilities, and naturally, the number of quacks has declined," he added. "Karnataka has the maximum number of medical colleges and research institutes and the students who are studying medicine are really lucky," he remarked. CM Bommai on Sunday extended his support to set up Adi Jagadguru Panchacharya Pathashale and said, the state government will soon release the funds for it. "The state government will soon release the funds for Adi Jagadguru Panchacharya Veda, Agama, and Sanskrit Pathashale. Besides, all assistance will be given for the Gowshalas and for the mutt development," CM Bommai said at a function of Sri Adi Jagadguru Panchaccharya Veda, Agama, Sanskrit, Music, and Yoga Pathashale. "The mutt by teaching Veda and agama to the children is introducing their culture, tradition, and spirituality to them. The Pancha Peetas established by Adi Guru Renukaccharya is working for the welfare of the state," he said. Sri Kashi Jagadguru is a treasury of knowledge but works for the welfare of mankind without showoff. He has been actively involved in the uplift of the mutt because of which the Jangama Mutt has grown, CM Bommai said. Sri Vachananda Swamiji of Harihar Panchamasali Mutt, Union Minister for Coal Pralhad Joshi, Ministers Shivaram Hebbar, Shankarpatil Munenkoppa, and others was also present. (ANI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to take initiative in protecting the democratic rights for the sake of the people of the country, especially those hailing from financially weaker backgrounds. "My humble request to the President of the country is to ensure protection of democratic rights for the sake of the poor and all in the country. Please protect our country from any kind of disaster. Our roots lie in unity in diversity," she said while addressing a Citizens' Convention to felicitate the President at Netaji Indoor Stadium here. This is Murmu's first trip to West Bengal since she was elected President last year. On a two-day trip to the state, she will be attending the annual convocation of Visva Bharati University in Birbhum district on Tuesday, and is scheduled to go back to New Delhi on Tuesday night only. On the occasion, Benerjee addressed the President as a "Golden Lady". In her speech, she also referred to the rich heritage of West Bengal in the area of culture and social reforms. "The freedom movement and the process of social reforms in the country started from Bengal only," she said. In her speech the President was also all praise for the Chief Minister. "The Chief Minister has the rare quality of considering everyone as close to her and her own relations. I thank her for that. I am overwhelmed," Murmu said. She was all praises about the richness of Bengali as a language. "I find the Bengali language extremely sweet. When I listen to this language, I feel that I am near my own village. Such is the fragrance and sweetness of this language," she said. The BJP, however, decided to boycott this programme. According to them, when Murmu contested as the President last year, it was the Trinamool, who floated a candidate against her and hence felicitating her now was nothing but a show-off. --IANS src/vd ( 339 Words) 2023-03-27-19:46:04 (IANS)
The opposition parties on Monday decided to continue their 'black' protest on Tuesday against the BJP-led government over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi and "trampling upon democracy in the country" and a final call will be taken in the morning, sources said. The meeting of like-minded opposition parties was held at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge who had invited the leaders for a dinner. Sources said the meeting of like-minded opposition parties decided that the protest of opposition parties will continue and will be held in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament tomorrow with all of the opposition wearing black clothes. The final call will be taken at the meeting to be held at Kharge's chamber in Parliament, they said. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was among those present at the meeting of opposition leaders. Leaders from DMK, NCP, JD-U, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI-M, CPI, AAP, MDMK, TMC, RSP, RJD, National Conference, IUML, Samajwadi Party and JMM were among those present. Shiv Sena (UBT) was not present amid its concerns over Rahul Gandhi's remarks concerning VD Savarkar. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet later that leaders of 18 parties were present and decided to continue with their campaign against the Modi governmennt "that is destroying democracy and that has subverted all institutions". Congress general secretary KC Venugopal told ANI that every opposition party is together and they will move forward with the same energy. "Rahul Gandhi is not worried about the house. Whatever the government of India is doing with the country's democracy is a bigger issue, that is what he told. Every Opposition party is together, we had a cordial discussion and we will move forward with the same energy," he said. Opposition members took out a march in the morning wearing black attire or bands in Parliament premises as part of their protest. Days after his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi was sent notice by the Lok Sabha House Committee to vacate his official bungalow. Congress leader Harish Rawat said they were not surprised that notice has been given to vacate the bungalow. "Since Rahul Gandhi questioned the PM regarding the Adani issue, the government is trying to show that they will silence the voice that disagrees with them," he said. Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said the notice shows "BJP's hatred towards Rahul Gandhi". "For a period of 30 days after the notice is served, one can rightfully continue to stay in the same house. After the 30-day time period, one can continue to stay in the same house by paying rent at market rates. Rahul Gandhi comes under 'Z' plus security category," he said. Kharge earlier hit out at the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP and said that the opposition leaders are wearing black attire or black bands to show that democracy is being trampled in the country. Kharge alleged that the Centre used the probe agencies to bend those who did not bow before the government. Congress and its allies staged protests in some other parts of the country against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case by a Surat court. Indian Youth Congress workers were detained in Delhi after they protested over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark. Opposition parties have been pressing for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and the second part of the budget session has seen regular disruptions. (ANI)
Neither Sikhs in India nor the Indian diaspora advocate for Khalistan, said Indian World Forum president Puneet Singh Chandhok on Monday. "Indian diaspora strongly condemns the vandalisation of Indian missions. I request the Government of India to ensure foolproof action on anti-India fugitives including Amritpal Singh Sandhu and others for breaching the sovereignty and integrity of our nation. Their masters must be investigated and extradited from overseas too and be put behind bars," Chandhok said. "At the same time, United Nations Security Council is requested to impose sanctions on such individuals who are a threat to global peace and ban their organisations," he added. Hundreds of Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in the United States on Saturday. The protesters included turbaned men of all ages who raised pro-Khalistan slogans. They came in from different parts of the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area. The organisers used mics to make anti-India speeches both in English and Punjabi and targeted the Punjab Police for alleged human rights violations. Multiple events of protests by supporters of Khalistan have been staged outside the Indian embassy and the San Francisco Consulate. The Indian Consulate in San Francisco was also attacked on March 20. Pro-Khalistan supporters in the US threatened the Indian embassy and Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu during their protest. They issued threats and made announcements that the "hypocrisy" will come to an end and the people at the embassy would have nowhere to run to. The protesters made vague claims that the "Indian government is killing citizens from all communities all over the country." "This hypocrisy comes to an end now...... There will come a day when the windows of your cars will break and you will have nowhere to run to," they threatened the Indian embassy with slogans of "Khalistan Zindabad". Earlier, a pro-Khalistan protestor in London had climbed the High Commission of India's balcony and pulled down the Indian flag. A video of the same incident had gone viral on social video. In the viral video, the Khalistani protestor can be seen on the balcony attempting to bring down the Indian flag. At the end of the video, another man reaches the balcony from inside to avert any more harm to the flag. The Indian community on March 19 held a large gathering in front of the Indian High Commission in London against the "disrespectful act" of Khalistan supporters towards the Indian flag and demanded that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and the British government act against the perpetrators at the earliest. The desecration of the Indian Flag has led to an unprecedented outpouring of support from the diverse Indian community settled here in Britain. Expats from all across the UK travelled to London to express their solidarity with the Indian Flag and with the Unity of India. The gathering resoundingly debunked the idea of Khalistan, saying there are no takers for it. (ANI)
Xi reassures foreign firms on opening-up

08:22, March 27, 2023 By Ouyang Shijia, Zhou Lanxu and Ma Si ( Chinadaily.com.cn

Message to development forum says nation to create opportunities for world

China will steadily expand institutional opening-up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards, and will work with all countries and parties to share opportunities arising from it, President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.

In a congratulatory letter sent to the China Development Forum 2023, Xi said China will remain committed to its fundamental national policy of opening up to the outside world, pursue a mutually beneficial strategy, and continue to create opportunities for the world with new advances in China's development.

Xi said that at present, momentous changes of a like not seen in a century are accelerating across the world, regional conflicts and disturbances are frequent, and the global economic recovery is sluggish. He added that the facilitation of global economic recovery requires consensus and cooperation. The Global Development Initiative proposed by China has received wide support and an active response from the international community, said Xi.

Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and read out the congratulatory letter. In a keynote speech, he emphasized the importance of establishing a new development pattern. He said China aims to foster more open "dual circulation" development involving both domestic and foreign markets rather than a closed domestic loop.

Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China welcomes foreign companies to invest and do business in the country and share its development opportunities. China will comprehensively deepen reforms and opening-up, promote the building of a high-standard market system and foster a world-class business environment, Zheng said.

The country will also make appropriate reductions to the negative list for foreign investment, ensure national treatment for all foreign-invested enterprises, enhance the stability, scale and structure of foreign trade and promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

Citing China's economic performance in the first two months of 2023, Zheng said the Chinese economy is stabilizing and picking up, with a notable improvement in both supply and demand. The country has the confidence and capabilities to foster high-quality development.

China will strengthen coordination between fiscal and monetary policies as well as policies relating to employment, industry, investment, consumption, prices, environmental protection and regional development, which will support the country's high-quality development, he added.

Finance Minister Liu Kun said that China's fiscal policy will make strengthening support for market entities a priority to solidify the internal driving force for high-quality development, ensuring equal treatment for all market players, including private businesses and foreign enterprises.

Fiscal support will be delivered to medium-sized, small and micro enterprises, self-employed individuals and industries under stress to reduce their burden, Liu said.

The Ministry of Finance will increase macroeconomic adjustments, including boosting infrastructure investment in the areas of transportation, energy, hydraulics, agriculture and information. Consumption demand will be expanded by beefing up transfer payments and improving tax and fee benefits, he added.

Boosting technological innovation will remain a policy priority, Liu said. Efforts will be made to increase relevant expenditure, give better play to the key role of enterprises in innovation and improve fiscal and tax policies to promote industrial upgrades and boost emerging industries.

Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economist and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told China Daily that "China's strength right now is that it is on the cutting edge of many of the most important technology innovations for the future.  This will be very good for China's growth in the future."

Sachs said China's constructive role in the world economy is further deepening. China is already the leading trade partner with most of the world. And the country is now at the cutting edge of innovation and key technologies for sustainable development. Meanwhile, the world's second-largest economy is playing a larger role in the global finance system, he added.

"President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter at the opening ceremony of CDF  sends a very positive message to the world that China absolutely will continue to engage in a win-win manner with the world economy. I believe this is an accurate, correct and very important message," Sachs said.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said China's economy is experiencing a strong rebound that will deliver a welcome lift to the world economy, contributing about one-third of global growth in 2023.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Amid the government push for increasing milk production, the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal has produced the country's first cloned female calf of the desi breed Gir which can produce more than 15 litres of milk per day. "Under a project by National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal to work on cloning of indigenous cow breeds such as Gir and Sahiwal, India's first cloned Gir female calf named 'Ganga' weighing 32 kg was born and is growing well," the NDRI said in a release. Indigenous cattle breeds such as Gir, Sahiwal, Tharparkar, and Red-Sindhi, play a pivotal role in milk production and the growth of the Indian dairy industry. "We have cloned the calf from a cow of Gir breed which was giving 15-litre milk per day. As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directions to increase milk yield, we have started cloning the high-yield cows using the cloning technique," Vice Chancellor of GB Pant Agriculture university Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan said. He was the head of the NDRI when it started work on cloning high-yield desi breeds like Gir, Red Sindhi and Sahiwal breeds at the NDRI in 2021. The programme was started by National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal in collaboration with Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board (ULDB), Dehradun. NDRI chief Dr Dheer Aibgh said that Gir cattle are very hardy and well-known for their tolerance to conditions of stress and resistance to various tropical diseases. "Gir cattle are also very popular and have been exported to Brazil, the United States, Mexico, and Venezuela for the development of zebu cows," he said. A team of scientists comprising Dr Naresh Selokar, Manoj Kumar Singh, Ajay Aswal, SS Lathwal, Subhash Kumar, Ranjeet Verma, Kartikey Patel, and MS Chauhan have been working for over 2 years to develop an indigenous method to produce cloned cattle. To clone the Gir, oocytes are isolated from live animals using ultrasound-guided needles, and then, matured for 24 hours under control conditions. The somatic cells of elite cows are used as donor genomes, which are fused with OPU-derived enucleated oocytes. Following chemical activation and in-vitro culture, the developed blastocysts are transferred into recipient mothers to deliver the Gir calf. (ANI)
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said that the matter falls under the domain of the legislature and it will amount to directing Parliament to make a law to fix the age, hence it will not deal with the issue.

The petition, filed by one Shahida Quraishi, sought to enhance the legal age of marriage for women to 21 at par with men.

During the hearing, the bench observed it had dismissed a similar plea in February.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, objecting to the plea said that deciding the plea will be akin to legislating as this is in the domain of the legislature.

The apex court while dismissing that plea said that it had dismissed a similar plea and thus it will not entertain this petition also.

"The challenge in these proceedings is to the personal laws on the marriage age of men and women. We have decided a similar case on February 20, 2023... and thus plea stands dismissed," added the court. (ANI)
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi tagged CBI's plea along with a pending similar matter also filed by the investigating agency.

The CBI has challenged the Jharkhand High Court's April 22, 2022 order granting bail to 74-year-old Yadav in the case.

The former Bihar Chief Minister is currently out on bail due to ill health after his conviction in various fodder scam cases.

Yadav was sentenced to five years in prison with a fine of Rs 60 lakh by a special CBI court in Ranchi in connection with the fifth fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore by Doranda Treasury.

Yadav has been convicted in five fodder scam cases pertaining to the fraudulent withdrawal of money from Doranda, Deoghar, Dumka and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand. (ANI)
Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, on Monday expressed surprise as to why either the Centre or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) not taking it seriously when the state's total debt burden has crossed a whooping Rs 12.50 lakh crore. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former Finance Minister said that the state has "totally collapsed" after Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has become the Chief Minister and the people have never witnessed such a dire situation. "Still, why neither the Centre nor the RBI is taking the situation seriously," he asked. Ramakrishnudu told reporters that the YSRCP government not only created problems for the people of the state but also crippled the whole economy. He remarked that Jagan has the credit of pushing the economy to the lowest level. Expressing serious concern that every individual carries Rs 5.5 lakh debt on his or her head now, he said that by March 2024, the outstanding debts will go up further. Despite all this, the RBI is according permissions to the state to borrow more funds and the people in the coming days will be facing a massive burden of Rs 15,000 crore in the shape of revision of RTC and power charges and to meet the daily needs, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu maintained. Though the state government has been claiming that thousands of crores are being spent for welfare schemes, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says that the funds are not reaching completely to the beneficiaries, he pointed out. By that time the YSRCP Government completes its five-year term, the funds spent on the welfare schemes alone will reach Rs 2.70 lakh crore, he said adding that the financial imbalances are increasing by the day. The CAG has clearly mentioned in its report that Rs 48,000 crore has been misused in the 2019-20 fiscal while there are no accounts for Rs one lakh crore in the financial year of 2020-21, he stated. The CAG also mentioned in its report for 2021-22 that accounts for 1,18,000 crore have not been shown, Yanamala said and asked what the state government is doing with these funds without giving the details of the accounts. This clearly indicates that these funds worth lakhs of crores are being diverted, the former Finance Minister said and expressed concern that in the coming days the interest on these loans itself will be in lakhs of crores per annum. Ramakrishnudu asked as to why salaries in lakhs of rupees are being paid for the advisors. "What additional qualifications do they have," he questioned and said that the public money should not be paid as salaries for political advisors. All this is causing a huge burden on the exchequer, he said and asked how volunteers can be appointed with public funds. He also felt that the Central funds too are being diverted and expressed surprise that the Centre is not questioning this. The Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House felt an immediate need for the Centre to interfere and the RBI too should initiate proper steps to correct the situation. --IANS ms/vd ( 538 Words) 2023-03-27-20:20:02 (IANS)
Two persons were arrested in Bihar's Gaya on Monday on the charge of smuggling liquor from Jharkhand, concealed in the coffin of an ambulance, Excise Department officials said. The accused, identified as Lalit Kumar Mahto, a resident of Ranchi, and Pankaj Kumar Yadav, a resident of Chatra district in Jharkhand, had put a coffin in an ambulance to smuggle liquor. The excise sleuths have recovered 212 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquors of different brands inside the coffin. The incident came to light on Monday morning when the accused came from Jharkhand via NH19. They were intercepted at Dobhi check post in Gaya district. "We were doing routine checking of vehicles coming from Jharkhand and West Bengal. We have spotted an ambulance coming from NH19. Our personnel stopped the ambulance. When we asked the driver Mahto, he said that a dead body was inside the coffin. When we asked them to open the coffin, they became uncomfortable. When we opened the coffin, 212 liquor bottles of different brands were found in it," Gaya's Excise Inspector Dipak Kumar Singh said. The accused were booked under relevant sections of liquor prohibition act. Liquor has been banned in Bihar since April 2016. Still, smugglers are using different modus operandi to smuggle liquor from neighbouring states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. A large number of smugglers also used the Nepal border route to smuggle liquor bottles. --IANS ajk/vd ( 250 Words) 2023-03-27-20:56:04 (IANS)
To encourage mass production in the defence manufacturing sector, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on a technology transfer policy under which the technology of successfully tested products are being transferred to Indian industries for mass production by signing a licensing agreement. Till now, the DRDO has signed 670 agrrements with industries under this policy, Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt, said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Accoding to the Ministry of Defence, DRDO undertakes design and development of products for use by the Indian armed forces. After successful product trial and evaluation, the technology of the same is transferred to the Indian industries for mass production by signing a licensing agreement for transfer of technology. The current DRDO policy for transfer of technology came into force on August 19, 2019. Bhatt said in his reply that DRDO transfers both defence and dual use technologies to private companies. As per the licensing agreement for transfer of technology signed between the DRDO and the industry, the recipient industry is bound not to transfer or sublicence the technology obtained from the DRDO to any party without prior written approval of the DRDO. Moreover, the licensing agreement bounds the industry to take all necessary measures to ensure that the technology is not passed on, disclosed, or given access to, except to their directors, officers and employees and their subcontractors to whom it is necessary to pass on, disclose or give access to, for the purpose of execution or manufacture of the product under the said licensing agreement. --IANS gcb/arm ( 276 Words) 2023-03-27-21:26:04 (IANS)
The leaders of the Opposition parties attended a meeting convened by the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday evening wherein it was decided to continue with the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations of fraud and stock manipulation levelled against the Adani Group. Sonia Gandhi and disqualified Congress MP Rahul Gandhi were present at the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of Congress, DMK, Nationalist Congress Party, JD-U, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Left parties, AAP, MDMK, Trinamool Congress, RSP, RJD, National Conference, IUML, VCK, Samajwadi Party and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. The opposition leaders collectively decided to press for the JPC demand and continue with its protest in the Parliament. After the meeting, Kharge said, "To save one man, Modi ji is trampling the interests of 140 crore people. To protect PM's 'Param Mitr', the BJP stalls the Parliament that discusses people's issues. If no wrong was committed, why is the government shying away from Opposition's demand of a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee?" The Congress is organising a major show with 35 press conferences in two days to highlight the Adani issue. Meanwhile, after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case, Rahul Gandhi was on Monday asked to vacate his official bungalow on Tughlak Lane in Delhi's Lutyen's zone. As per rules, Rahul Gandhi has to vacate the house within 30 days. --IANS miz/arm ( 261 Words) 2023-03-27-22:28:04 (IANS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday fired his defence minister Yoav Gallant, who had called for a halt to plans to overhaul the country's court system, CNN reported. Netanyahu's office announced Gallant's removal in a statement after he became the first member of the cabinet to break ranks over the proposals, which have sparked weeks of protests. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to remove Defense Minister Yoav Gallant from his post," CNN cited the statement. Yoav Gallant called for a halt to the judicial reforms in a speech on Saturday, when Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the United Kingdom. Some military reservists have committed to pulling out of their service in opposition to the plans, which critics have said would undermine the independence of the judiciary, according to CNN report. Yoav Gallant said going ahead with the proposals could pose a threat to Israel's security. The statement by Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, upset Israel's coalition government. An official in Netanyahu's office said the Israel PM had lost confidence in Gallant, adding that he had not cleared the statement in advance and had "thus sabotaged efforts to reach a solution." Meanwhile, Israel's Consulate General in New York, Asaf Zamir, resigned after Netanyahu's decision to fire Gallant. In his resignation letter posted on Twitter, Zamir termed Netanyahu's decision a "dangerous decision." Thousands of people flooded onto the streets in protest on Sunday night in the wake of Gallant's firing, as per the CNN report. Yoav Gallant in his remarks on Saturday said the halt was required "for the security of Israel," citing the refusal of some Israel Defense Forces reservists to train in protest at the government plans. After his dismissal, Gallant reiterated his statement in a tweet on Sunday. He tweeted, "The security of the State of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life." Israel's former Prime Minister Yair Lapid has termed Gallant's removal from the government a "new low," as per the news report. In a tweet, he wrote that Netanyahu might be able to remove the minister but "cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition." He added, "The Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to the security of the State of Israel." Under the proposals, the Israeli government will have control over the appointment of judges, and parliament would have the power to override Supreme Court decisions, according to a CNN report. The government has said that changes are needed to rein in the Supreme Court, which they consider insular, elitist, and no longer representative of the Israeli people. Universities in Israel have announced that they will go on strike starting Monday. Meanwhile, Israel's largest labour union and business leaders said they would hold a press conference on Monday morning. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the Taliban will not respect human rights, including women's right to education until they are recognised by the international community, Khaama Press reported. Imran Khan said that the Taliban should be made part of the international community and then the human rights and matters related to the education of girls should be discussed, Khaama Press reported citing Britain's Channel 4 interview. "If you isolate them [Taliban], what influence are you going to have on them? If you mainstream and let them have a state, then talk about human rights. Right now, you push them on isolation; their money is frozen, so why would they listen to anyone?," Khaama Press quoted Imran Khan as saying in an interview with Channel 4. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said, "My advice is to get them involved, give them a stake in the international community so that when you tell them to have girls educated, they will listen to you; right now, they are not." Imran Khan's remarks come amid the human rights crisis in Afghanistan. Afghan women have been calling on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in Afghanistan. This is not the first time Imran Khan has asked the international community to recognize the Taliban. Earlier in 2022, Imran Khan, who was then Pakistan's Prime Minister said that there is "no other alternative to Taliban in Afghanistan," so the "only option the world has right now is to engage with the Taliban for things to move forward." In an exclusive interview with Fareed Zakaria for CNN, Imran Khan while speaking about Pakistan's diplomatic ties with the Taliban in Afghanistan said that the Taliban will have to be recognised by the world as it is about the well-being and future of about 40 million Afghans. "Afghanistan is on the verge of experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis," PM Imran Khan said. "Considering the circumstances, is there any other alternative to the Taliban in Afghanistan? No, there isn't," Imran Khan said. "Forty million people in Afghanistan are in dire straits because of the ongoing situation in the country," Khan said. He added that people of the US should understand that disliking the Taliban is one thing, however, thinking about the people of Afghanistan is another as they were facing "extreme difficulties." Imran Khan called working with the Taliban as the "only alternative" for the sake of Afghans "because turning the Taliban away would only lead to chaos in the country." He urged the international community to release the frozen assets of Afghanistan and provide humanitarian assistance to prevent an "economic collapse" of the country. (ANI)
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported citing South Korea's military. The development has also been confirmed by the Japanese Prime Minister's office. Japan PM's office in a tweet said, "North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow." South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military is analyzing related details, including the missile's flight distance and apogee, as per the news report. North Korea's ballistic missile launch comes at a time when Pyongyang has strongly protested the Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise of South Korea and the United States that started last week, according to a Yonhap news agency report. The US-South Korea drills are scheduled to end on April 3. Last week, North Korea tested a new underwater nuclear-capable attack drone, Al Jazeera reported citing the country's state news agency KCNA said on Friday. Significantly, the drone operated continuously for 59 hours underwater before being destroyed as part of a drill to intimidate the US and South Korean armed forces. The North Korean military deployed and test-fired the new weapons system this week during a military drill directed by Kim Jong Un, with the aim to determine if it could produce a deadly blast and wave on a "super-scale." According to KCNA, "This nuclear underwater assault drone may be launched at any coast and port or operated while being towed by a surface ship." The drone was placed in the water off South Hamgyong province on Tuesday and cruised underwater for 59 hours and 12 minutes, at a depth of some 80 to 150 metres, before detonating in waters off its east coast on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported citing the news agency. However, the South Korean news agency, Yonhap said that the drone's final target point was a mock enemy port set up in the waters of Hongwon Bay, Al Jazeera reported citing the media report. The drone exercise comes as a US amphibious assault ship arrived in South Korea to participate in the joint military exercise. (ANI)
March has been a month full of surprises in the Middle East, as after the shock created by the announcement that the formerly implacable arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to restore diplomatic relations, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia and Syria agreed to reopen their embassies, after the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr (21-22 April). This means that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been shunned by Arab leaders, due to the crimes perpetrated by his regime against Syrian citizens, is now expected to be welcomed back to the fold and we may soon see him taking part in Arab summits and the Arab League from which he was suspended in 2011. A few days ago, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had hinted that the suspension of Syria from the Arab League could be lifted but hastened to add that it was too early to discuss this possibility, as the matter could be examined during the forthcoming meeting of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia in April. Syria was suspended from the Arab League in November 2011, at the time of the Arab Spring, when the Syrian regime killed about 5,000 protesters and opponents. In the next ten years of the civil war that broke out in the country, various domestic and foreign forces were fighting the government and often each other, resulting in more than 600,000 deaths. The Bashar al-Assad regime has committed repeated and massive violations of human rights and on some occasions used chemical weapons. Most Arab countries imposed travel bans on senior officials of the regime and other sanctions, including limitation of investments and dealings with the Central Bank of Syria. The only Arab governments that refused to apply any sanctions on the Syrian regime were those of Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, where Iran - the ally of Hafez al-Assad - exercises great influence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking before the UN General Assembly last year, said that the Syrian government was responsible "for massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law" and added that "the perpetrators of these crimes and the use of chemical weapons against civilians must be held to account." Although at the beginning of the war, it seemed that the Assad regime will collapse, the intervention of Iran and mainly Russia, which has been carrying out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria, changed the whole picture and now it has become apparent that the regime will not be defeated. It should be noted that Saudi Arabia and Qatar sided with some of the rebels, while Turkey fought Islamic State (ISIL), the Kurdish-Arab SDF and the Syrian Army and currently occupies large swathes of land in north-western Syria. The United States fought the ISIL terrorists and sometimes the pro-government forces in Syria. A growing realization that the Damascus regime has prevailed, compounded by fatigue with the war, has led several Arab governments make second thoughts about the war in Syria and decide that it is in their national interest to restore relations with the Assad regime. The first country that changed its mind about its relations with Damascus was Tunisia in 2015, followed by the United Arab Emirates which reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018, saying that Arab countries should be present in Syria and work hard to resolve the conflict. Jordan sent a charge d' affaires to Damascus in 2019 and Oman followed suit in 2020. Last month, at the prompting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, announced that Cairo supported the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Syria. The devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria last month, with tens of thousands of dead and millions of people made homeless, created a wave of sympathy for the victims all over the world and prompted several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, to send hundreds of tons of aid to the quake victims. The announcement about the planned reopening of Embassies in Damascus and Riyadh made a few weeks after the devastating earthquake and the desperate need for the provision of international assistance to the victims, gave the Saudi Government an opportunity to change its policy on Syria, without losing face, and also to remove one of the reasons of confrontation with Iran, which has been a strong supporter of the Assad regime. If the rehabilitation of Assad and his return to the Arab fold is made dependent on him accepting the safe return of millions of Syrian refugees from Turkey and elsewhere, it would be easier for many countries to accept that he would no longer be an international pariah for the violations of human rights committed by his regime. The world opinion would more easily accept the bitter pill that he will not be punished for his crimes, if this will improve the plight of Syrian refugees seeking asylum in foreign lands and will allow them to return to their homeland in safety. James Dorsey, in an article published in Responsible Statecraft, points out that the Arab proposition to bring Assad in from the cold potentially opens a way out of a quagmire because "it would enhance the leverage of the United States and Europe to ensure that political reform is the cornerstone of Assad's engagement with elements of the Syrian opposition. In other words, rather than rejecting any solution that does not involve Assad's removal from power, the United States and Europe could lift sanctions contingent on agreement and implementation of reforms. Similarly, the US and Europe could make sanctions relief contingent on a safe, uninhibited, and orderly return of refugees." (ANI)
The Taliban has once again urged the United Nations (UN) to remove the names of its members from the blacklist, arguing that instead of putting pressure on Afghanistan's de facto authorities, the international community should engage with them, reported TOLOnews. After the Security Council failed to reach an agreement on whether to extend the travel exemptions, a UN waiver allowing 13 Afghan Islamic officials to travel abroad expired in August 2022. "We can say that there are between 20 to 25 people who are on the blacklist and they were sanctioned. Some of them have died, of those who are alive, very few of them are now working in the government," TOLOnews quoted Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid as saying. The inclusion of Islamic Emirate officials on the UN blacklist, according to Mujahid, violates the Doha agreement. "We have said many times that pressure and force will not bring any results. The war of the past 20 years has proven it that the people of Afghanistan will not surrender to pressure. Engagement and understanding are better and negotiations are a good option," Mujahid added, as per the Afghan news agency. The Doha Agreement notably is a comprehensive peace agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban for bringing peace to Afghanistan. It was signed in Doha in 2020. The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan was contingent on Taliban security assurances that Afghan territory would not be used as a launch pad for attacks against the US by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, a political analyst, Torek Farhadi that the ongoing humanitarian crisis and deprivation of basic rights of women is the reason behind the sanctions on the Taliban. "Ensuring the rights of women for education and work and including representatives that are not Taliban at the leadership level of Afghanistan after the intra-Afghan dialogue" is the reason for the sanctions, said Torek Farhadi, TOLOnews reported. Furthermore, political analysts claim that the Islamic Emirate members' continued presence on the UN blacklist is due to their failure to meet the demands of the international community. "I think it is part of the world's political pressure on the Islamic Emirate; until the Islamic Emirate observes the current system and current international laws," a political analyst, Saleem Kakar said in a separate statement. Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the crisis in the country has increased manifold, making the lives of people extremely miserable. Earlier this week, the UN experts in a statement said that the denial of women's rights to education by the Taliban in Afghanistan has no justification on any grounds as it has harmed not only them but also the country's future in a crucial way. The UN experts stressed that the continued "denial of girls and young women's right to school in Afghanistan marks a global low in education, harming an entire gender, a generation, and the future of the country," TOLO News reported citing the statement. "On 22 March 2023, schools should be reopening to girls across Afghanistan. Instead, it appears that for the second successive school year, teenage girls will be banned from resuming their studies - making Afghanistan the only country in the world that forbids girls and young women from attending secondary school and places of higher education," the statement reads as per the TOLO News report. The UN experts called education an "enabling right" which they stressed is crucial for realising other human rights like rights to work, and an adequate standard of living. (ANI)
The Supreme Court lawyer Vineet Jindal on Monday filed a complaint in Delhi Police against Pro-Khalistani protesters who are protesting at Indian Embassy, in Washington, USA and requested Delhi Police to lodge FIR against them and to take strict action against them by revoking their passport as per law. The complaint stated that the Protesters threatened and abused the Indian Ambassador to the USA, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and the staff of the Indian embassy in Washington. They also vandalized the Indian embassy and verbally abused an Indian journalist in Washington and also physically attacked him, also provoking and inciting the public at large against the Union of India just outside the Indian Embassy. On March 25, a group of Pro-Khalistani protestors abused and threatened Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Indian Ambassador to the US in Washington DC making inciting statements against India and Indian Government. Some of the protestors were also seen inciting violence and vandalising the Indian embassy. In a video widely shared on the internet, one of the Khalistani demonstrators is heard making baseless claims about alleged killings of religious minorities in India, stated the complaint. The statements made by the protesters clearly show that the intent of the protesters was to incite Sikhs and Muslims against the Indian state and Indian Government. The Protesters were seen trying to instigate violence against the embassy staff through their speeches and also doing physical damage to the property of the Indian Embassy. These acts and statements made by Pro-Khalistani protesters are instigating and provocative in nature which intend to create disharmony, hatred and enmity amongst the various religions and masses of India and incite the masses to fight against the Indian government, stated complaint. Most of the protestors are Indian Citizens and have Indian Passports, the complaint pointed out. Through their acts and statements, the protestors have committed offences under sections 153,153A,504,505,506,120 of IPC Which are cognizable and serious in nature. The complaint further requested the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against them and take strict action against them by revoking their passport as per law. Pro-Khalistan supporters in the US threatened the Indian embassy and Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu during their protest on Saturday. They issued threats and made announcements that the "hypocrisy" will come to an end and the people at the embassy would have nowhere to run to. The protesters made vague claims that the "Indian government is killing citizens from all communities all over the country." "This hypocrisy comes to an end now...... There will come a day when the windows of your cars will break and you will have nowhere to run to," they threatened the Indian embassy with slogans of "Khalistan Zindabad". Hundreds of Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in the United States. The protesters included turbaned men of all ages who raised pro-Khalistan slogans. The organisers used mics to make anti-India speeches both in English and Punjabi and targeted the Punjab Police for alleged human rights violations. (ANI)
Central American country Honduras has signed a joint communique formalising establishment of diplomatic ties with China, and severing its decades-long ties with Taiwan, Xinhua reported. A joint communique was signed by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina after they held talks in Beijing on Sunday. The comminique statest that the Government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. According to the communique, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras, in keeping with the interests and desires of the two peoples, have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communique, Xinhua reported. The two governments agreed to develop friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, the communique stated. The Government of Honduras shall sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan as of this day and undertakes that it shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China appreciates this position of the Government of the Republic of Honduras, the communique said. Taiwan's Ambassador to Honduras, Vivia Chang on Saturday returned home as ties between the island country and Honduras worsened as reported Taiwan News. When holding talks with Reina, Qin noted that the one-China principle is a prevailing consensus in the international community and a widely recognized basic norm in international relations. "Honduras has made an important decision to recognize the one-China principle and join the mainstream of the world, which is in full accordance with the fundamental and long-term interests of Honduras and its people, and is also a choice to stand on the right side of history and the side of the vast majority of countries," Qin was cited as saying. China highly appreciates Honduras' clear attitude and firm determination to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, he added, Xinhua reported. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras is fair and square, which is a historical trend that no person or force can stop, Qin said. Qin called on the two sides to strengthen their synergy and coordination and speed up consultations on important bilateral agreements and cooperation mechanisms. He also welcomed Honduras in supporting and joining the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, Xinhua reported. China will fully support Honduras' economic and social development and improvement of its people's living standards, Qin said, adding that China is willing to expand imports of Honduran speciality products, encourage Chinese companies to invest in Honduras, participate in large-scale infrastructure construction in Honduras, and give priority to the implementation of projects benefiting people's livelihoods. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras will not only benefit the two peoples but will also have an important impact on strengthening unity and cooperation among developing countries and promoting greater democracy in international relations, Qin said. For his part, Reina said the establishment of diplomatic relations between Honduras and China has opened a new era of bilateral relations and taken a historic step, which will greatly benefit the two peoples, Xinhua reported. Honduras promises to abide by the one-China principle and is ready to work with China to further enhance bilateral relations, advance bilateral cooperation in various fields at full speed, and strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral fields so as to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, Reina said. When attending a joint press conference together with Reina after their talks, Qin said Honduras has chosen to stand together with 181 countries in the world and made the political decision to recognize and pledge to abide by the one-China principle and establish diplomatic ties with China without any preconditions, which fully conforms to the fundamental and long-term interests of Honduras and its people, Xinhua reported. "This once again fully proves that adhering to the one-China principle is the right choice in keeping with the general interests of the world and the trend of the times," Qin said. "We want to make it clear to the Taiwan authorities that 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities go against the will and interests of the Chinese nation, go against the historical trend, and will only lead to a dead end," Qin said. Reina said Honduras is willing to strengthen cooperation with China on finance, trade, infrastructure, science and technology, culture and tourism, and maintain closer communication and coordination under multilateral frameworks, Xinhua reported. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Sunday also made remarks on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras. Noting that Honduras is an important country in Central America, the spokesperson said: "This is the right choice that is in line with the prevailing trend and supported by the people. China highly appreciates that." By following the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China stands ready to enhance friendly cooperation with Honduras in various fields to the benefit of the two countries and peoples, the spokesperson said. (ANI)
Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), appeared in Islamabad High Court on Monday to seek pre-arrest bail in several cases filed against him in the federal capital, Geo News reported. Imran Khan, who has multiple cases registered against him arrived in Islamabad from Lahore. Khan's lawyers petitioned the IHC for pre-arrest bail in the multiple cases registered in different police stations throughout the federal capital. The petition asks the court to prevent the federal government from arresting the PTI chief in those cases, claiming that the cases were filed for political revenge, Geo News reported. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Monday barred the television channels from live and recorded coverage of rallies or public gatherings by any party, organisation, and individual being held in the federal capital today, Geo News reported. The According to the regulatory body, the prohibition order includes a ban on any procession or rally being staged today in the federal capital under Section 27(a) of the PEMRA Ordinance 2002. The PEMRA ordered a ban on live coverages, rallies just before Imran Khan departed for Islamabad from Lahore to appear in the court for his cases.In an advisory issued on Monday titled "Prohibition order on live coverage under Section 27 of Pemra Ordinance 2002", the electronic media regulator stated that it has been observed with concern that satellite TV channels are showing live footage and images of a violent mob, attacks on police and law enforcing agencies, Geo News reported. "Such footage/images were seen on TV screens without any editorial oversight during a recent standoff between political party workers and law enforcing agencies in Lahore wherein, a violent mob used petrol bombs, injuring armless policemen and blazing police vehicles. The live telecast of such footage on different satellite TV channels created chaos and panic among the viewers and Police," it stated. PEMRA also said that such activism by the mob jeopardises the law and order situation and makes public properties and lives vulnerable. (ANI)
Following the humanitarian gesture by Japan, UNICEF will provide clean water for 30,000 people in four provinces across Afghanistan, and vaccines for 18.3 million mothers and children.

The Japanese government has made significant donations to UNICEF, including USD 18 million for essential vaccines for over 18 million mothers and children, as well as USD 3.6 million for water and sanitation facilities in public schools, the Afghan news agency reported.

Measles, rotavirus, tetanus and diphtheria, polio, hepatitis B, and other vaccines are among those available.

These funds will also allow UNICEF to provide oral polio vaccines to approximately 10 million children during national vaccination campaigns in 2023.

Taking to Twitter, the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan wrote, ".@JapanGovcontributes USD 21 million for life-saving vaccines for mothers and children, and water and sanitation in schools. Thank you @UNICEFAfg for your strong partnership with Japan! @MofaJapan_en @JICA_direct_en."

Unrecognized by most of the international community, the Taliban-led government has committed to disrespecting the human rights and rights of women.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the humanitarian crisis in the country has deepened. People lack basic amenities and are not allowed to speak freely.

Afghan women are staring at a bleak future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects of their lives within 10 months of Afghanistan's takeover.

The UN mission in Afghanistan has expressed concern about the announcement, saying that this decision contradicts numerous assurances regarding respect for and protection of all Afghans' human rights, including those of women and girls. (ANI)
Moments before a US aircraft carrier staged joint drills with South Korea in waters south of Jeju Island, Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, Yonhap News Agency reported. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said it detected the launches between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m. (local time) from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province. The missiles flew 370 kilometres before crashing into the sea, Yonhap News Agency stated in its report. Pyongyang's latest provocation came as South Korea and the US began the Ssangyong (dual dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week. It is set to conclude next Monday. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group also trained together with the South's major warships in waters south of the peninsula Monday, Yonhap reported citing the South Korean Navy. "On the basis of the South Korea-US alliance over the past 70 years, the South Korean and U.S. navies have established a robust combined maritime defence posture," Yonhap News Agency quoted the South Korean Navy Captain as saying. "This exercise not only demonstrated the alliance's overwhelming capability and (combat) posture but also served as an opportunity to further strengthen the combined defence posture to defend the Republic of Korea," he added. Last week, North Korea tested a new underwater nuclear-capable attack drone, Al Jazeera reported citing the country's state news agency KCNA said on Friday. Significantly, the drone operated continuously for 59 hours underwater before being destroyed as part of a drill to intimidate the US and South Korean armed forces. The North Korean military deployed and test-fired the new weapons system this week during a military drill directed by Kim Jong Un, with the aim to determine if it could produce a deadly blast and wave on a "super-scale." According to KCNA, "This nuclear underwater assault drone may be launched at any coast and port or operated while being towed by a surface ship." The drone was placed in the water off South Hamgyong province on Tuesday and cruised underwater for 59 hours and 12 minutes, at a depth of some 80 to 150 metres, before detonating in waters off its east coast on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported citing the news agency. (ANI)
Islamabad High Court has granted bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in seven cases registered against him in the wake of March 18 clashes at Federal Judicial Complex (FJC), Dawn reported. The PTI chief, in the petitions filed in the IHC on Monday, sought protective bail in seven cases registered against him at Golra, Bara Kahu, Ramna, Khanna, and CTD police stations.The cases are connected to the violence that occurred on March 18 outside the Federal Court Complex, where Imran had testified in the Toshakhana case. The former premier's petition was considered by a two-person IHC division bench constituting IHC President Justice Aamer Farooq and Judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.Imran Khan would experience "irreparable loss" if he were detained, according to the pleas, which were submitted through Lawyer Salman Safdar. They added, "Furthermore, being head of the single largest political party, there is an apprehension that his political adversaries and opponents would be able to further their nefarious designs and political ambitions if pre-arrest bail is not granted to the petitioner." A video posted to PTI's official Twitter account shows the party's leader approaching the courthouse as a huge contingent of Islamabad police surrounded his car, according to Dawn.Prior to the hearing, PTI leader Shireen Mazari alleged that the police detained the PTI chief's photographer, Imran G, as well as three other bystanders as they were travelling to the IHC. She tweeted, "These 4 unarmed civilians, one of whom is our official photographer, we with Imran Khan car on way to IHC and were arrested without having committed any crime and now apparently taken to Ramna police station. Then we are targeted for criticising the ICT police!"Videos of PTI party supporters being hauled away by guys wearing civilian clothing can be found on the official PTI Twitter account. The party asked, "It's shameful how PTI workers are being arrested in Islamabad today. Why are people not in even in uniform putting our people in prison vans."Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hasan Watto told Dawn that police have held at least 13 PTI supporters. PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has challenged the government to move negotiations further with the PTI. In his interview with Islamabad Today, quoted by Dawn, he said, "We never hesitate from holding talks but their intention has a taint ... they talk about holding dialogue but at the same time our supporters and activists are being picked up." Qureshi asked rhetorically, "Are they doing all this to make the environment favourable for talks?" Notably, the Islamabad administration imposed Section-144 (ban on public gatherings) in the capital city on Monday and warned of arrests in case of the violation of its order, Dawn reported. (ANI)
Israel President Isaac Herzog on Monday morning called on members of the governing coalition to immediately halt its planned overhaul of the country's judiciary, after the country witnessed a night of major protests, reported Jerusalem Post. "For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I am calling on you to stop legislation immediately. I turn to all the party leaders in the Knesset, coalition and opposition as one, put the citizens of the nation above all else and behave responsibly and bravely without further delay," Herzog said. Major protests continued in the city of Tel Aviv throughout Sunday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant who in a speech on Saturday night expressed his opposition to the legislation. Netanyahu met with coalition party leaders on Monday morning in order to decide whether or not to push forwards with the controversial bill to remake the Judicial Appointments Committee, which was passed in the Knesset Constitution Committee this morning and is now ready to be brought to the Knesset plenum for its second and third reading, reported Jerusalem Post. National Security Minister and Otmza Yehudit leader MK Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened today to quit the government if the judicial reform legislation freezes, according to reports by KAN and Channel 12 News. Ben-Gvir was heard shouting from within the meeting that the government should not back down. If Ben-Gvir leaves the government and quits the coalition, the coalition will no longer have a majority and the government will likely fall. Meanwhile, widespread strikes were announced in Israel to protest judicial reform. The country's Ben-Gurion Airport has banned flights leaving the airport until further notice and Workers' Union too have announced a strike, reported Jerusalem Post. The announcement of grounded flights was made by Israel's Airport Authority Committee Chairman Pinhas Idan.As for incoming flights, only flights that are already in the sky will be allowed to land. Passengers continued the check-in process after the announcement without knowing if their flights would actually depart. The flight board in the airport showed flights later on the day still intending on leaving but they won't necessarily leave, reported Jerusalem Post. A member of the Workers' Union said that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stops the judicial reform legislation, flights will return to functioning properly. The strikes are also being held in universities, hospitals and other sectors. Netanyahu is believed to still be holed up in his office, having reportedly spent the past several hours in various "security and legal" consultations with key ministers and advisers, notably including Justice Minister Yariv Levin. He can probably hear the calls for him to resign, perhaps even the youngsters' singing derisively that he's "messing with the wrong generation," reported The Times of Israel. Netanyahu's government was sworn in at the end of December. By January 4, the great judicial reform was announced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The opposition, everyone understood, would rail and rage; old elites watching their displacement would not go quietly into the night. But in the end, the frustration of three decades of judicial overreach now hardened into a grim determination, would see the coalition through, reported The Times of Israel. The Knesset (Parliament of Israel) recently proposed a series of judicial reforms. Israelis believe that the new changes will curb the power of the country's judicial system to question lawmakers. The reforms empower the Knesset to make judicial appointments at will. Citizens believe that the new changes are limiting the power of the Israeli Judicial System. Thousands are protesting against the reforms in the country. Under the current system, the Supreme Court (SC) of Israel has the power to strike down legislation if they are in violation of the basic laws of the country. (ANI)
The infighting between the US volunteers who went to Ukraine to fight Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, when President Volodymyr Zelensky called for help, is undermining the war effort. Justin Scheck, an international investigative reporter, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, the Ukraine correspondent, in an article in The New York Times (NYT) said that after a year of combat, many of these homespun groups of volunteers are fighting with themselves and undermining the war effort. Some have wasted money or stolen valour. Others have cloaked themselves in charity while also trying to profit off the war, records show. They rushed to Ukraine by the thousands and promised to bring military experience, money or supplies to the battleground of a righteous war. Hometown newspapers hailed their commitment, and donors backed them with millions of dollars, reported NYT. One retired Marine lieutenant colonel from Virginia is the focus of a US federal investigation into the potentially illegal export of military technology. A former Army soldier arrived in Ukraine only to turn traitor and defect to Russia, said Scheck and Gibbons-Neff. A Connecticut man who lied about his military service has posted live updates from the battlefield -- including his exact location -- and boasted about his easy access to American weapons. A former construction worker is hatching a plan to use fake passports to smuggle in fighters from Pakistan and Iran, NYT said. And in one of the more curious entanglements, one of the largest volunteer groups is embroiled in a power struggle involving an Ohio man who falsely claimed to have been both a US Marine and a LongHorn Steakhouse assistant manager, reported NYT. Such characters have a place in Ukraine's defence because of the United States' arms-length role: The Biden administration sends weapons and money but not professional troops. That means people who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a US-led war are active on the Ukrainian front -- often with unchecked access to weapons and military equipment, said Scheck and Gibbons-Neff. The New York Times reviewed more than 100 pages of documents from inside volunteer groups and interviewed more than 30 volunteers, fighters, fund-raisers, donors and American and Ukrainian officials. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The interviews and research reveal a series of deceptions, mistakes and squabbles that have hindered the volunteer drive that began after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Thousands answered Zelensky's call. Some joined military groups like the International Legion, which Ukraine formed for foreign fighters. Others took roles in support or fund-raising. With Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, under attack, there was little time for vetting arrivals. So people with problematic pasts, including checkered or fabricated military records, became entrenched in the Legion and a constellation of other volunteer groups, said Scheck and Gibbons-Neff. While ideology likely is one motivation for these soldiers, incentives such as high salaries, bonuses and opportunities for promotion and medals -- as well as pressure from families -- are also believed to play a major role. An estimated 1,000 to 3,000 such foreign fighters are believed to be active, with most serving in three battalions of the International Legion, according to analysts and academics monitoring them, who stressed that the numbers were rough approximations. The Ukrainian military did not reply to requests for details about the volunteers, or estimates of their numbers. They also did not address specific issues but did say that it was on guard because Russian agents regularly tried to infiltrate volunteer groups, reported NYT. Ukrainian officials initially boasted of 20,000 potential Legion volunteers, but far fewer actually enlisted. Currently, there are around 1,500 members in the organization, say people with knowledge of the Legion. Internal documents show that the Legion is struggling. Recruitment has stagnated. The Washington-based Counter Extremism Project wrote in March that the Legion and affiliated groups "continue to feature individuals widely seen as unfit to perform their duties." Meanwhile, US volunteers are involved in a messy, distracting power struggle. Moreover, as per Pentagon many of them had no military experience. Examples of wasted money in the hands of well-intentioned people are common. Mriya Aid, a group led by an active-duty Canadian lieutenant colonel, spent about USD 100,000 from donors on high-tech US-style night-vision devices. They ended up being less-effective Chinese models, internal documents show, reported NYT. Earlier this year, the Mozart Group, which two former Marines established to help Ukraine, disbanded after one sued the other, alleging theft and harassment. (ANI)
Chinese magnate Jack Ma has returned to mainland China after spending roughly a year overseas, according to people familiar with the matter, reported Wall Street Journal. Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s billion co-founder, travels have drawn a great deal of attention as China attempts to win back the trust of entrepreneurs after years of regulatory restrictions and Covid-19 epidemic measures that severely damaged the nation's private enterprises. Some in the business world saw the tech titan's prolonged absence as proof that the tech industry in China was still plagued by uncertainty. Ma, who spent the majority of the previous year in Japan, recently made a trip back to China, according to the sources quoted by Wall Street Journal. He recently visited Singapore and Australia and spent the most recent Lunar New Year in Hong Kong. Requests for comments from Alibaba and the Jack Ma Foundation were not immediately met with a response. At his first news conference in his new role earlier this month, China's new premier spent a significant amount of time assuring entrepreneurs that Beijing supports the private sector and that its "commitment in this area is unequivocal and constant." The South China Morning Post, which belongs to Alibaba, first announced Ma's return to China, reported Wall Street Journal. Ma has maintained a low profile after Ant Group Co. cancelled initial public offerings in Hong Kong and Shanghai that were expected to raise more than USD 34 billion in November 2020. The cancellations happened as a result of authorities' anger over Ma's remarks at a financial forum. Authorities then opened an investigation against Alibaba for allegedly engaging in anticompetitive activities on its e-commerce platform, and the company was ultimately slammed with a record-breaking USD 2.8 billion fine. Soon after, China began a broad regulatory crackdown on other private companies, increasing regulations on everything from video games and education to real estate. Ma relinquished leadership of Ant Group in January after the company's shareholders approved a restructuring of business. The crackdown on the fintech operations of more than a dozen internet companies was "basically" over, according to the party chief at China's central bank, who made the statement on the same day. Ma has mostly disappeared from public view since giving a speech that criticised regulators on the eve of the cancelled Ant listing in 2020. Regulators had pulled the plug on November 3, 2020, on the initial public offering of Ant Group, the internet finance giant, which had been all but ready to press "Go" on its USD 34-billion stock debut in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the New York Times had reported. NYT had reported that the initial public offering would have brought in more cash than did Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil giant when it went public last year. And Ant would have raised the money on the opposite side of the planet from New York, which has long been the favoured listing destination for Chinese tech groups. Ant Group's controller Jack Ma, executive chairman Eric Jing and CEO Simon Hu were summoned and interviewed by regulators in China, according to a statement from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. (ANI)
Lithuania's Ambassador to India Diana Mickeviciene on Monday said her country takes pride in having a close connection with the Sanskrit language and urged that more research should be done. "Actually it's a recognised, scientific fact that our language, which is my native tongue, Lithuanian is the closest living sister language of Sanskrit. We don't know how it happened, so, our idea is to research it -- make it more known. It's a pretty known fact in Lithuania, we take pride in this -- having this close connection. But, it's not so known in India, so our intention was to inform the people. Several years ago, our Embassy published this dictionary -- very symbolic, dictionary of 108 words which are identical in Sanskrit and in Lithuanian languages. They are very basic words like - Madhu, Deva, Agni," Mickeviciene told ANI. Lithuanian and Sanskrit Languages are some of the oldest in the world and share great similarities. Lithuanian Embassy in association with Vilnius University and Lithuanian Language Institute has published a dictionary of 108 words in Lithuanian and Sanskrit which sound and mean the same. "These are very primary, primordial -- you know when humans start speaking names like fire, heaven or god, which shows that the connection is not superficial. It's not just easy borrowing from one to another, but probably a very deep down relationship which I think needs to be researched and our idea is in fact to continue the research -- like to find an Indian scholar of Sanskrit who will take interest in Lithuanian language-- to pair them up with Lithuanian scholars of Sanskrit, so that they could sit together and do something much more. We can easily have 1008 words and even more identical words," she added. Mickeviciene has launched a new initiative that highlights the linguistic similarities between Sanskrit and Lithuanian. Speaking in Hindi highlighting the relationship between India and Lithuania and her love for the Sanskrit language, she said that it's difficult for her to delve into serious topics, but would like to say that she studied Sanskrit for two years. "I myself studied Sanskrit for two years and I know that it's far from just words, its grammar is quite related. So, very big similarities, conjugation of verbs and declinations of nouns, deep down its very structural connect," said the Lithuanian envoy. "In our universities, these are the language of scriptures and my study dealt with reading, understanding and translating Sanskrit but not speaking. I can talk in Hindi, I learnt Hindi 2-3 times and forgot it. I came to India this time with serious intention to learn Hindi and within six months I think that I can give a full interview in Hindi," she added. To further showcase this linguistic similarity Lithuanian Embassy in New Delhi has initiated a street art project in collaboration with Delhi Street Art, the Harcourt Butler school in Delhi and the winner of the Young Lithuanian Artist Talent Award, Linas Kaziulionis. The most common day-to-day Sanskrit-Lithuanian words like Sapna, Madhu, Agni, Deva in both Devanagari and Lithuanian script are being painted on the outer wall of the school in the colourful composition depicting windows with shutters in the traditional Lithuanian style and pattern, offering a glimpse into mysterious historical connection between Lithuania and India. The selection of the words is meant to appeal to the understanding of any passing-by reader. "Today we have unveiled a piece of street start which we have asked our artist who came from Lithuania and worked here for a week to depict that connection, to give a message to the passer-by in the street, so he stops and wonders -- what is this all about and probably take a deeper interest. So, he decorated the wall with windows with a very traditional Lithuanian window--colourful window frames, also a number of basic words which are identical to our language. So, I think, what we wanted to do is to use art, especially, street art as a medium to pass that message of historical connect, the message of friendship, as I was saying to say -- Dosti ka nishaan, hamari dosti ka nishaan aapke liye," added Mickeviciene. Talking about the friendship between the two countries Mickeviciene said, "It's probably easier for us to emphasize that we may be far away in the north, but we may be also very closely related so we can be friends, we are friends, and we can be fostering a closer relationship in culture. In economics, and also in business. I think it's usually important that we bring it forward to not just in culture, but to all the areas of mutual interest." She also expressed her fondness for the Hindi language and stated that black and white movies of actor Raj Kapoor are what she liked example 'Awara' and in recent times '3 idiots' has impressed her. Speaking in Hindi as a sign of friendship and how important is Hindi as a language between the two countries, she told, "Next month Indian Embassy will be established in my capital and I hope for more possibilities of Hindi language. We would like to popularise it and strengthen the relationship." The ambassador stressed both countries can definitely increase that influence in popularizing Hindi in Lithuania and said, "It's one of the great languages of the world that so many people so many millions or hundreds of millions of people speak. So I will definitely be advising and helping your newly established embassy to work on that, or the influence when movies but I think it's much more than movies in the poetry in any literature and just Hindi as a language of friendship of communication that we can talk about popularizing in Lithuania." (ANI)
Japan has demanded that one of its citizens who is currently being held in China be released as soon as possible and he be allowed to speak with consular officials, a top spokesman said on Monday, Kyodo News reported. China claims it has detained the man on suspicion of engaging in spying activities. Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the man is accused of breaking China's anti-espionage law but did not go into any detail. He is an employee of Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc, the company has verified. At a press briefing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated that the Japanese government is in touch with the man's relatives. He is in his mid-50s. According to Kyodo News, this month, Chinese authorities informed the Japanese Embassy in Beijing that they had detained a Japanese man in Beijing for allegedly breaking Chinese law, spokesperson Mao said. In a news conference held in Beijing on Monday, Mao also stated that in light of recent occurrences of such instances, Japan "needs to do more" to urge its residents not to partake in such activities and to better "educate" them on the subject. According to a source in the Japanese government, cited by Kyodo News, the man was detained by Chinese counterespionage officials. The episode, according to a diplomatic source familiar with Japan-China relations, raises severe worries since it may "give an immeasurable blow" to the two countries' ties. In a response to a question about international concerns regarding the alleged vagueness and arbitrary application of Chinese anti-espionage law, Mao responded, "Individuals engaged in unlawful practices should know what kind of illegal activities they have committed." China has a tradition of keeping court proceedings and allegations involving national security secret. Even after rulings are finalised, the details are not announced in most cases. According to the spokeswoman, China will handle the Japanese businessman's case, decide whether to release him and facilitate the Japanese embassy's access to the citizen for consular purposes. The man was arrested by Chinese authorities right before his planned return to Japan this month, said a source mentioned by Kyodo News. In order to safeguard national security, China has increased its monitoring of foreign groups and individuals. Several foreigners have been detained since the introduction of counterespionage and national security laws in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The Astellas employee is one of 17 Japanese citizens who have been jailed in China since 2014 on suspicion of taking part in espionage activities. The Japanese Foreign Ministry reports that five of them remain detained in China, Kyodo News reported. (ANI)
The citizens of Skardu are expected to suffer from severe water shortages as the water level in Sadpara dam, a key dam in the region, has dropped to a dead level, Dawn reported. The Sadpara dam, city's sole water source, supplies water for irrigation, drinking, and other uses as well as for producing electricity. Drinking water is being only provided to Skardu town during Sehri and Iftar hours due to the shortage. A local named Shakoor Abdullah told Dawn that the residents of Skardu are currently experiencing power outages lasting up to 22 hours and water shortages lasting 20 hours. Ishaq Jalal, one of the million residents of Skardu, claimed that the water crisis has gotten worse since the beginning of Ramzan. He said that only at Sehri and Iftar do citizens have access to drinking water. Jalal claimed that diverting water from surrounding streams into the dam was the only way to alleviate the shortfall. However, despite decades, the plan had not been materialised. Skardu's water and power supply has been neglected, and locals have criticised Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) officials for their poor management. According to a WAPDA official, the water level in the Sadpara dam has reached a dead level at this time. "Drinking water is being given to Skardu at specific hours following the reduction in water level," he said. The official claimed that during the summer, water from melting glaciers flows into the dam. From May through October, the inflows are consistent and sufficient to meet the demands for agriculture and drinking water as well as the production of electricity, he said. A WAPDA official told Dawn that from October to May, inflows significantly decrease and the authorities must rely on water reserves to meet local demand. The official also mentioned that poor weather caused uneven water flow from melting glaciers last summer. As a result, the dam could not be filled to its capacity. The WAPDA official further said that low water levels also resulted in decreased water flow, which inhibits the Hydro Power Station's ability to generate electricity and causes load shedding. He forewarned that because the reservoir is currently at the dead level and won't get better until the summer when the glaciers begin to melt, the scarcity was anticipated to last until May, Dawn reported. Major parts of Balochistan province in Pakistan are suffering an acute shortage of drinking water as the filtration plants installed by the regime have gone out of order due to poor maintenance, The Express Tribune reported. The report quoted a civil society member who said, "Only 25 per cent of Balochistan's dwellers have access to clean drinking water." Locals have urged the government to restore the non-functional water filtration plants so that they can have access to drinking water. Earlier, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo had ordered the authority concerned to repair the out-of-order filtration plants within a month. Resolving the water issue was a top priority of the government as it had established water filtration plants in every district of the province to provide clean drinking water but they went out of order due to poor maintenance, Bizenjo had said. This is not the first time that Pakistan has been struggling with water shortages.Earlier, Jiye Sindh Quami Mahaz (JSQM) has taken out protest rallies against water shortage in the Sindh province. The leaders while addressing the rally had alleged that Punjab province was conspiring to dry up Indus. They also bemoaned that the Punjab government has never gone by the 1991 water treaty on the distribution of water. The protestors also said that the elites associated with Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Sindh continue getting water, however, others who are without any influence and political connection, suffer. The water shortage in Sindh has been a great issue. Not only Sindh province but also Punjab province is facing up to 75 per cent water shortage. The Punjab province supplied 53,100 cusecs of water against its needs of 1,27,800 cusecs. (ANI)
The Indian Air Force contingent on Monday departed for India after successfully completing a four-week-long Cobra Warrior exercise held at the Waddington Air Force Base of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. "@IAF_MCC contingent departed for India this morning after a successful four-week long Cobra Warrior exercise held at UK@DefenceHQ@DefenceMinIndia@VDoraiswami@sujitjoyghosh@MEAIndia@IndianDiplomacy@RoyalAirForce," the Indian High Commission said in a tweet here. https://twitter.com/HCI_London/status/1640386459004698625?s=20 The exercise was held from March 06-23. It was a multinational exercise. Countries like Singapore, Finland, the USA, South Africa, and Sweden also participated in the exercise. The IAF sent five Mirage 2000 fighters along with IL-78 mid-air refueller aircraft, and two C-17 Globemaster. The aim of the exercise was to participate in diverse fighter aircraft engagements and learn from the best practices of various Air Forces. This exercise involves high-intensity, large-force, and tactical air warfighting operations. The Mirage-2000s were drawn from all three existing squadrons, including those that took part in the Balakot air strike in February 2019. The Cobra Warrior is one of the largest Royal Air Force exercises. During the exercise, the Royal Air Force provides special training to pilots from different countries. The exercise is being conducted for more than a decade. The Cobalt Warrior is considered one of the most challenging exercises in the world. During the exercise, the Royal British Air Force offered Qualified Space Instructors Courses, surveillance, Multi-Engine Tactics, Qualified Weapons Instructors, etc. To qualify for these war strategies the Air Force crew had to seek intense training provided by the British Royal Air Force. Finland, India, and Saudi Arabia joined Exercise Cobra Warrior for the first time. The initial plan was to bring in indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, but they were busy with another exercise, so the Mirage-2000s were deployed. The Saudi Arabian Air Force flew six Eurofighter Typhoons from RAF Coningsby base, while the Indian team, Finnish team, and Belgian Air Force flew six F/A-18 Super Hornets and six F-16s, respectively, from Waddington airbase. (ANI)
According to a report published in The Washington Post, the shooter, who is a young female, is dead, police said.

The suspect had entered the school building through a side door entrance and was confronted on the second floor of the Church and killed by the Nashville Police.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department tweeted, "An active shooter event has taken place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, on Burton Hiils Dr. The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead. Student reunification with parents is at Woodmont Baptist Church, 2100 Woodmont Blvd."

"We are responding to an active aggressor at 33 Burton Hills Blvd Covenant School. We can confirm we have multiple patients. Parents coming to the school should go to 20 Burton Hills at this time. This is an active scene," said Metropolitan Nashville Police Department in another tweet.

According to Craig Boerner, a spokesman for the hospital, three "paediatric patients" with gunshot wounds have been transported to Monroe Carell Jr Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. "After arrival, all were confirmed dead," Boerner said, reported The Washington Post.

According to medical centre officials, seven young students with gunshot wounds were sent to Monroe Carell Jr Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. All seven were declared dead upon their arrival.

In response to the attack, the Nashville branch of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has also deployed agents to assist the MNPD, Fox News reported.

Local TV stations captured footage of a street jam-packed with SWAT and police cars, their lights flashing. In another video, sirens could be heard blaring in nearby streets, The Washington Post reported. (ANI)
A sedan-sized great white shark weighing just under 1,500 pounds named Breton is currently traversing the waters near the North Carolina coast, according to a report by shark tracker OCEARCH.

The organization, which advocates for ocean and shark conservation, has been tracking Breton since September 2020, when he was tagged. The latest ping from Bretons tracker on Saturday afternoon indicated he was just off the eastern coast of Avon Island, of North Carolina's Pamlico Sound.

Breton, a male adult white who measures 13 feet 3 inches and weighs 1,437 pounds, is one of dozens of great white sharks tagged and tracked in an open source online database by OCEARCH.

The shark is making its way up the coast after spending winter in the warm coastal water off of Florida.

Shark follows newly uncovered migration patterns

Research published last year using data from sharks tracked by OCEARCH found that great white sharks in the Atlantic tend to spend summer and fall in the northern Atlantic waters near New England and Canada before migrating south to warmer water during the winter.

Breton, who has traveled more than 26,000 miles since 2020, was caught and tagged by the group near Nova Scotia, Canada in the fall, consistent with the newly uncovered migration patterns.

Breton, a 1,500 pound, 13 foot long white shark, was tagged by OCEARCH in 2020 off Nova Scotia.

White sharks demonstrate strong site fidelity, with individuals returning to the same location in multiple years, OCEARCH said in a release announcing its research. ...suggesting these animals use complex navigational cues to migrate over thousands of miles every year.

'Beaked whale': Little-known whale species found washed up on Florida beach

Last March, Breton was in fact tracked in the same area, OCEARCHs database shows.

Great white males can grow up to 13 feet long, Bretons size, but females can stretch up to 17 feet long, according to Smithsonian Ocean.

Another male great white named Jekyll is also currently swimming near North Carolina. A juvenile, Jekyll weighs roughly 400 pounds and measures at 8 feet 4 inches. He was tagged by OCEARCH of the Georgia coast in December.

Rescued at sea: After a whale sank their sailboat, Florida crew stranded in South Pacific

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Great white shark name Breton returns to North Carolina coast
Shutterstock.com

What do you know about tax deductions? In GOBankingRates 2023 taxes survey polling 1,002 Americans, 30% of overall respondents said the number of deductions, or tax allowances they could claim, was the aspect they least understood about their taxes.

Find Out: 5 Presidents Who Raised Taxes the Most, and 5 Who Lowered Them

See: 3 Signs Youre Serious About Raising Your Credit Score

Percentage-wise, understanding the amount of tax deductions remained consistent among almost all age groups. This is especially true of those ages 25 to 34 (34%), 35 to 44 (35%) and 65 and over (33%).

Rather than remain in the dark about expenses you can deduct, lets help simplify the tax process. Here are the biggest tax deductions Americans arent expecting this year.

Medical Expenses

Taxpayers may claim medical expenses among their itemized deductions, but only the amount over 7.5% of their adjusted gross income (AGI).

What medical expenses are taxpayers missing most? Portia Rose, managing director at Mazars, said some of the medical expenses she sees people miss include long-term care insurance costs and transportation costs to and from the doctor.

Take Our Poll: What Do You Plan To Use Your Tax Refund For?

Mortgage Interest and Real Estate Taxes

We see some people miss the real estate taxes they pay on their second home, inherited property or that piece of land they own in the Midwest, Rose said. Even though the deduction is limited on the federal level, some states allow the full deduction  New York State included.

Charitable Contributions

This includes cash and non-cash contributions. Taxpayers who clean out their closets and donate items to the local Salvation Army are recommended by Rose to get a donation receipt afterward.

Non-cash contributions are deductible as charitable contributions, Rose said. If the value is more than $5,000, an appraisal is needed.

College Savings Plan Contributions

While this is not a federal deduction, Rose said some states allow the contribution as a reduction for taxable income.

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Interest on College Education Costs

If a parent pays off a childs student loan and the child is not claimed as a dependent on the parents return, the child can deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest paid by the parent each year, said Lei Han  Ph.D., CPA and associate professor, department of accounting at Niagara University. There isnt a need to itemize to claim this deduction.

Self-Employment Tax Deduction

If you are self-employed and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes yourself, you can write off half of what you pay, Han said.

IRA Contributions

Rose said taxpayers may be able to deduct contributions to a traditional IRA. However, the amount of the deduction depends on your income and if you are covered by a retirement plan at work. Planning for this deduction, Rose said, should take into consideration long-term goals and whether a non-deductible Roth contribution would fit into your long-term goals.

Child Care Credit

If both spouses work or are looking for work, a credit can be claimed for the expenses paid for child care, so you could work, Rose said. This includes child care, after school care and summer camp (but not sleepaway camp).

Educator Expense Deduction

Eligible educators or schoolteachers may be able to deduct up to $300 spent on classroom supplies in 2022.

Small-Business Expenses

Those who started a small business or turned a hobby into a profitable enterprise may deduct many types of expenses relating to the business. Grant Freeman, chief customer officer at Thryv, recommends these most frequently overlooked small-business tax deductions:

Business Meals

Business meals are deductible, now at a 50% deduction to small-business owners. Freeman said to partake in these savings, the meal must be with a customer or employee and have a reasonable price point.

Holiday Party Expenses

Can you deduct holiday party expenses? The answer for small businesses is yes.

Freeman said holiday parties in 2022 are 100% deductible. You can also deduct up to $25 of each gift you give customers annually. Overall, gifts under $100 are considered de minimis by the IRS and arent taxed.

Retirement Plan Deductions

Small businesses that offer employees retirement plans may be able to lower their taxes with these deductions. A few types of retirement plans available to small businesses include Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plans, SIMPLE IRA, one-participant 401(k) and defined benefit plans.

Business owners can defer up 25% of an employees compensation to retirement savings through an SEP, Freeman said.

Equipment and Property Depreciation

If you own property or equipment used for your small business, you may be eligible for a larger depreciation deduction due to the Tax Cuts and Job Act (TCJA).

Freeman said the TCJA included a provision that allows business owners to take 100% bonus depreciation. This means they can deduct the full price of the asset in the first year.

Kids on the Payroll

If your children are under 18 years old and work for your business, Freeman said owners can deduct their salaries from the business income as a business expense.

Am I Missing Any Other Deductions?

Do you worry you might be missing out on other big tax deductions?

Rose recommends taxpayers meet with a tax professional before the end of the tax year, or the April 18, 2023, tax deadline, to make sure they have the documentation necessary to claim the deductions to which they are entitled.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 10 Biggest Tax Deductions Americans Arent Expecting This Year
Central Iowans are lucky to have so many Italian restaurants sprinkled throughout the metro making their versions of cavatelli, gnocchi, chicken Parm, and saltimbocca. Diners can find pricey restaurants meant for a special occasion or inexpensive standbys that can become part of a weekly dinner routine.

Family establishments and newcomers alike make this list, along with a group of classics at the end. Pizza lovers and pasta fans alike can find everything from a light lunch to a multi-course meal at these restaurants that can satisfy your craving for carbs.

Here, a look at some of the essential Italian restaurants in the Des Moines area along with time-honored classics.

Allora Cafe

Enjoy views of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park when you dine at Allora Cafe, located on the ground floor of the Krause Gateway Center. Open for lunch, the seasonal menu includes panini, soups, salads and pasta made with Iowa ingredients sprinkled throughout. You cant go wrong with the polenta and fresh pasta made in house.

Location: 1459 Grand Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-274-7787 or krausegatewaycenter.com/alloracafe

Hours: Open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Aposto

Tucked inside an 1880 Victorian mansion in Sherman Hill is Tony Lemmos Aposto. Youll find Southern Italian fare on the refined menu that changes with the seasons, along with an Italian-focused wine list. Lemmos cavatelli, a menu mainstay, is made with marinara, house Calabrian sausage, Romano and ground fennel. The dessert menu also changes throughout the year, but youll always find house-made ice cream and the chocolate torte as options.

Location: 644 18th St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-244-1353 or apostodm.com

Hour: Open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to close

More: A handy guide to 14 of the best restaurants in the East Village in Des Moines

Bianchis Hilltop Restaurant

Bianchis Hilltop Restaurant boasts a trifecta of Des Moines Italian food staples: thin cut onion rings, grinders, and thin-crust pizza. The restaurant also serves an array of baked pastas and salad options. For an appetizer, try the Italian egg rolls, made with Grazianos sausage and mozzarella in a spring roll wrapper, served with marinara sauce. The family-owned restaurant that opened in 1950 also offers daily specials.

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Location: 2820 Hubbell Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-265-2746 or bianchishilltop.com

Hours: Open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 10:30 p.m., and Saturday from 4 to 10:30 p.m.

More: These are the oldest Des Moines restaurants still in operation

Centro

Open since 2002 and led by chef partner George Formaro, Centro has a contemporary feel and New York Italian food. Try Formaro's twist on chicken saltimbocca, the Portobello fries or one of the rotating chef features that use seasonal ingredients. Visit on Mondays nights from 4 p.m. to close for half-priced pizza and Peroni beers. Centro also serves brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Formaro earned nominations for Best Chef Midwest from the James Beard Foundation in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and then for Outstanding Restaurateur in 2013 and 2014.

Location: 1003 Locust St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-248-1780 or centrodesmoines.com

Hours: Open Mondays through Thursdays from 4 to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

More: How Centro became a Des Moines restaurant staple from celebrities to caucus power tables

Christophers

A Des Moines staple since 1963, this Beaverdale gem is rooted in tradition. The family-run restaurant specializes in chicken Parmesan, the signature dish. Escargot and bruschetta with Boursin are popular appetizers. On Mondays and weekends, Christopher's offers a prime rib special. Sit in the dining room or eat in the lounge for a more casual experience.

Location: 2816 Beaver Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-274-3694 or christophersdsm.com

Hours: Open Monday through Saturday. The lounge opens at 4 p.m., the kitchen and dining room open at 5 p.m.

Cosi Cucina

The Ziti Cucina features spicy Graziano's Italian sausage, sundried tomatoes and a zesty tomato cream sauce.

Cosi Cucina has been welcoming diners since opening in West Des Moines in 1993. The signature dish, the Ziti Cucina, blends Grazianos Italian sausage and sundried tomatoes in a tomato cream sauce with penne pasta. Add meatballs and Diana sauce (the house red sauce) and it becomes the house pasta special. Enjoy happy hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and Sundays from 4 to 9 p.m.

Location: 1975 NW 86th St., West Des Moines

Contact: 515-278-8148 or cosicucina.com

Hours: Open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m.

Lucca

This upscale East Village restaurant features a four-course prix fixe dinner that is perfect for special occasions. Diners choose the first three courses and the fourth course is sample of desserts. For lunch, the menu includes salads, sandwiches and pasta. The salads are especially popular and many customers choose to add a salmon filet.

At dinner, some of the simplest items such as the cracked pepper and olive oil spaghetti and sage gnocchi are the most popular dishes from James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef Midwest in 2009 through 2012 Steve Logsdon.

Location: 420 E. Locust St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-243-1115 or luccadsm.com

Hours: Lunch hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner hours are Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to close.

More: 33 of the best places to eat in Des Moines: 2022 edition

Marinos Italian Restaurant

This casual restaurant has been located in various locations in the metro since 1997 and found a home in Johnston for the past six years. The large menu offers a variety of baked pastas; the cavatelli with sausage is a popular choice. There are three varieties of rollatini  lasagna, eggplant, and chicken  that evoke memories of Ginos, the north-side dining staple that closed in 2015. The Italian sandwiches are all baked to order in fresh dough with marinara and mozzarella.

Location: 5775 Merle Hay Road, Johnston

Contact: 515-255-3931 or marinosdsm.com

Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m.

More: 9 special occasion restaurants in Des Moines for celebrating birthdays, anniversaries

Portofinos Italian Restaurant & Pizza

Opened in Ankeny in 2020, Portofinos has an extensive menu and offers daily lunch and dinner specials and a soup of the day. If you want to try lots of dishes, order the pasta combo that includes lasagna, manicotti, cannelloni, ziti and tortellini all baked with marinara and mozzarella. Another popular menu option is the seafood combo with mussels, calamari, scallops and shrimp in a fresh marinara sauce served over linguine.

Location: 711 S. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny

Contact: 515-630-0182 or portofinositalianandpizza.com

Hours: Open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Simons

Unassuming from the outside, this cozy restaurant is perfect for date nights. Owner Simon Goheen and his staff are known for creating a positive, welcoming ambiance. Its not uncommon for there to be a wait, but Goheen has a space to hang out until your table is ready. For a starter, try the mushroom crostini and for an entree, order the steak de burgo or the chicken Florentine.

Location: 5800 Franklin Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-255-3725 or simonsdsm.com

Hours: Open Monday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.

Classic Italian restaurants in Des Moines not to be forgotten

Barattas at 2320 S. Union St., Des Moines. Get lunch, dinner or try a family carry-out meal from this south side Italian staple.

Chucks Restaurant at 3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines. Known for its thin-crust pizza in the Highland Park/Oak Park neighborhood, Chucks has been serving customers since 1956. It is open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Latin King at 2200 Hubbell Ave., Des Moines. The restaurant founded in 1947 and now run by Whitney VinZant specializes in chicken spiedini.

Noahs Ark at 2400 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines. This Des Moines favorite from the Lacona family opened in 1946 and specializes in Calabrese-style lasagna and veal alla mozzarella.

Tumea & Sons Restaurant & Lounge at 1501 SE First St., Des Moines. The pasta diablo is a popular dish at this family-owned restaurant that opened in 1998.

Heather Torpy is a freelance writer based in Des Moines.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Best Italian restaurants near Des Moines to try
These Temecula wineries offer beautiful tasting rooms and rolling vineyard views.

South Coast Winery

Temecula Valley is a Southern California gem that hides in plain sight, set less than 25 miles from the coast, one hour from San Diego, and two hours from Los Angeles. Commercial grapes have been grown in the region since the 1960s, and today nearly 50 wineries benefit from the microclimate here, generating award-winning varietals that span from malbecs to rieslings.

Perhaps the only things as pretty as Temeculas vineyard-covered rolling hills are the mountains that surround them  if youre having a glass of syrah at an outdoor tasting room here, views of Mount San Jacinto and Mount San Georgiano are likely companions. Ready to sip and ramble in this wine region? Here are 12 great wineries in Temecula to get you started  you might even visit some via cable car, if you so choose.

Ponte Winery

Visit Temecula Valley

A boutique producer, Ponte Winery makes only about 1,500 cases annually of its varietals, prioritizing quality over quantity. Were here for the giant tasting room (open daily) in a barn. Theres a restaurant and 90-room inn on site as well, perhaps the ultimate convenience when wine tasting.



Akash Winery

Visit Temecula Valley

Family-owned Akash Winery wins with its sweeping, sun-kissed patio with vineyard views. The realized dream of the Patel family, Akash opened for tastings in 2019 and also hosts all kinds of fun events, from movie nights and comedy shows to vineyard dinners. The tasting room is open daily.



Bottaia

Visit Temecula Valley

Reservations are highly recommended at this winery, which offers multiple bookable experiences for guests 21 and over. Try Italian-inspired, locally made wines in the barrel room or on the deck that overlooks the 45-acre estate. Theres also a guided charcuterie tasting with wine pairings and a wine blending lab experience (attendees bring their custom creation home with them). A family-friendly pool, cafe, and splash pad are open during the warmer months  and yep, you can sip wine (and cocktails) from your poolside chaise lounge. The tasting room is open Wednesday to Sunday, from noon to 6 p.m.



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Briar Rose Winery

If you lean nostalgic, it might be hard to resist this winery in a Snow White-inspired cottage. The original owner was a Disney Imagineer back in the day, and he skillfully created a real-life storybook setting here; stone picnic tables under giant shade trees make for a fairy-tale tasting room." The winery is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and reservations are required.



South Coast Winery Resort and Spa

South Coast Winery

Think Napa, only warmer and sunnier, is a slogan on this estates website. Founded in 2001, South Coast is one of the regions oldest wineries, and it offers 45 labels that range from cabernet sauvignon and grenache to sauvignon blanc and riesling. There are also bookable villas and suites with country-chic decor and a spa for hotel guests or day pass holders. The tasting room is open daily, though hours vary.



Carter Estate Winery and Resort

This winery is across the street from South Coast Winery, and the two share the same owners, operators, and winemakers, too. Though Carter Estate Winery makes all kinds of varietals, it is best known for its crisp sparkling wines. Come sip their blanc de blanc or brut sparkling while the sun sets beyond the vineyard. You can also spend the night in one of the resorts bungalows or suites; theres even a package that includes a hot air balloon ride. The tasting room is open daily.



Europa Village

Visit Temecula Valley

This winery resort aims to transport you to Europe, specifically Spain, France, or Italy. Bolero is a Spanish winery where guests can taste wine over tapas, sample olive oils, and listen to live flamenco guitar. For a French experience, head to Cest la Vie and wine taste while surrounded by roses. The trifecta will be complete later this year when Italian winery Vienza debuts. Tasting rooms at both Cest la Vie and Bolero are open daily.



Longshadow Ranch Winery

Longshadow Ranch Winery is home to Bonfire Saturday Nights  book a table and enjoy a glass of house cinsault or syrah alongside live music, a roaring fire, and snacks from a food truck. The ranch also has horses, llamas, and more, many of them rescue animals. You can give them a pet during a daytime tasting; the tasting room is open daily.



Fazeli Cellars

Visit Temecula Valley

Owner Bizhan BJ Fazeli wanted to pay tribute to his Persian heritage with this sprawling Temecula Valley winery. That means you can sample more than 20 varietals of wine here, then follow your tasting with a Middle Eastern-Mediterranean meal at on-site restaurant Baba Joons Kitchen. The tasting room is open seven days a week.



Leoness Cellars

Tasting here on the tiered, shaded patio is a delight. Come try the winerys viognier, syrah, cab franc, or merlot as you enjoy the valleys landscape. If you really want to learn more about the wine-making process, consider booking the Vineyard Tour and Taste offering, which sheds light on the winerys farming practices, barrel aging, and more  and a cheese and wine tasting is included. The tasting room is open seven days a week.



Altisima Winery

Altisima Winery

We love the modern Spanish vibe of this winery, with its angular tasting room and black chandeliers. Its a collaborative business, with eight Temecula families working toward the shared goal of highlighting both their Spanish roots and the valley they work in. Stop by for a tasting (available daily), then grab tapas at the on-site Gaspars Restaurant.



Miramonte Winery

Miramonte Winery

Thanks to an on-site bistro, Miramonte Winery might be best experienced by ordering a tomato and fromage board to go with your wine flight. Or, visit on a Friday night, when live music gets guests up on their feet and onto the dance floor. The tasting room is open seven days a week.



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If you have a new mom in your life it can feel impossible to find a way to make their lives easier as they deal with a lack of sleep, around-the-clock baby-caring duties and never-ending dirty diapers, in addition to all of the normal stressors of daily life.

More from Variety

Thankfully, there are more products than ever before designed to make a new moms life a little bit easier. From Hatchs popular sound machine to Bugaboos luxurious stroller, here are the best gifts for new moms to to buy this Mothers Day. And if the new mom in your life already has everything they need for their new tot, then check out this list of all the other best Mothers Day gifts to buy this year  for every category of mom in your life.

Hatch Baby Sound Machine

Hatch is the best baby sound machine on the market, offering soothing white noise, a customizable night light and a time-to-rise feature in its sleek build  all of which can be controlled from a phone.

Hatch Rest+ 1st Gen Baby Sound Machine

Price: $89.99

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Breast Pump

Haakaas manual breast pump is the best option for new moms because of its uncomplicated design. The manual silicone pump, which is hands-free and easy to clean, is a great alternative to an electric pump when theyre short for time.

haakaa Manual Breast Pump for Breastfeeding 4oz/100ml

Price: $12.94

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Black May Crossover Nursing Bra

A new mom can never have too many nursing bras, which are perfect for feeding on the go. This one from Girlfriend Collective is designed with an ultra-supportive crossover back and made out of soft, stretchy material and fluctuating cup sizes  and its made out of sustainable materials to boot.

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Black May Crossover Nursing Bra

Price: $48

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Waffle Robe

Moms rarely get to enjoy a long, slow shower but you can help enhance their me time with Parachutes bestselling waffle robe, whose soft texture and elegant design is inspired by the world most luxurious spas.

Parachute Waffle Robe

Price: $129

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Coterie The Diaper

The Coterie is every new moms dream brand, with a lineup of luxurious and genius diapers that are designed for better sleep and liquid absorption. Their diapers boast 70% more liquid capacity, 4x faster absorbency and 3x drying power compared to other diapers on the market, making their higher price point worth every penny.

Coterie The Diaper

Price: $90/Month

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L.L Bean Boat and Tote

No one has more things to carry around then a new mom, who has to worry about diapers and milk bottles and breast pumps all while keeping one hand free to carry their tot. This L.L Bean tote will make their lives just a little bit easier, thanks to its roomy main compartment and handy zip-top.

Boat and Tote Zip-Top

Price: $44.95

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Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3 Repairing Treatment

Olaplexs bond-repairing formula is so good it got its own profile in the New York Times. The No. 6 Bond Smoother is one of the brands top-selling products, infused with bond building technology to strengthen and protect hair from everyday damage, and can be particularly helpful for new moms dealing with thinning hair that can occur post-pregnancy.

Olaplex Hair Perfector No 3 Repairing Treatment

Price: $30.00

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Theragun Mini

New moms can be in as much need of a muscle soother as high-powered athletes. The Theragun massage gun is one of the most recommended tools by top trainers, including Hollywood fitness trainer Magnus Lygdback who says the Theragun is his go-to tool for recovery.

Lygdback told Variety last year about the Theragun: Theyre always one and two steps in front of everyone else. Theyre doing research on it, theyre actually paying for research to see how different types of vibrations will treat people differently. Theyre definitely by far the best. I have all of them.

Theragun Mini 2.0

Price: $199.00

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Bugaboo Fox 3 Bassinet and Seat Stroller (25% Off)

Anyone with a baby knows that a Bugaboo stroller is elite. The Hollywood-loved Fox 3 edition is one of the brands most popular styles, designed for both toddlers and newborns like. Plus, Bugaboo gives back to Baby2Baby, an organization providing children living in poverty with basic essentials.

Bugaboo Fox 3 Bassinet and Seat Stroller

Price: $1,349 $1,011.75

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Cozy Earth Bamboo Pajamas

A good nights sleep is of utmost importance to any new mom and a luxe pair of pajamas is one of the best ways to ensure an ultra-comfortable few hours of shut eye (even if they do have to deal with a few middle-of-the-night interruptions). This pair from Cozy Earth is made out of a breathable soft stretch-knit that feels degrees cooler than cotton. Plus, like all of Cozy Earths products, its made out of responsibly sourced materials. Check out more eco-friendly products to gift this year here.

Cozy Earth Bamboo Pajamas in Stretch-Knit

Price: $190

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Blue Bottle Coffee Subscription

Coffee might be the only salve for a sleep-deprived new mom. Blue Bottle, known for treating coffee as high art, road the rising wave of artisanal coffee. Their subscription service options are almost as extensive as their menu, offering deliveries for Single Origin, Blend, Espresso, cold brew and decaf. If the mom in your life isnt familiar with all of Blue Bottles blends, worry not: they can take their extensive quiz to get suggestions and subscribe from there. Check out more of the best coffee subscription services to gift in 2023 here.

Blue Bottle Coffee Subscription

Price: $15/Month

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Dagne Dover Wade Diaper Tote

Part tote and part diaper bag, this Dagne Dover accessory does (and carries) it all. It can clip to a stroller, has an extra zipper for easy access wipes, and comes with a mini changing mat and extra pouches.

Dagne Dover Wade Diaper Tote

Price: $215

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Mulberry Silk Eyemask (20% Off)

Help the new mom in your life drown out the stress of her day with this luxurious silk eye mask, which is proven to protect skin and hair from friction damage. Brooklinens Mulberry mask is naturally cool to the touch with breathable yet insulating fabric.

Mulberry Silk Eye Mask

Price: $29 $23.29

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A Raleigh teen has been arrested on charges of making threats against a school in Durham County.

On Wednesday, Research Triangle Park High School received a series of threats against the school, according to the Durham County Sheriffs Office.

Investigators identified 18-year-old Samuel Scipione of Raleigh as the one making the threats. Officers interviewed him with his parents, and he admitted making the threats against the charter school, the Sheriffs Office stated in a news release. Investigators do not think he intended to carry out the threats.

Scipione was arrested and charged with three counts of communicating threats of mass violence on an educational property. Scipione later bailed out and has been released from custody, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Threats against local schools and weapons brought to schools have become a theme of this school year.

In February, more than a dozen weapons were found in North Carolina Schools, including incidents at Hillside High School in Durham and Wendell Middle School in Wake County.

On Feb. 6, two students were shot, one of them fatally, near Hillside High. Last week, three teens were shot near Brogden Middle School in Durham. Two boys, both 16, died.

I implore every parent or guardian to sit down with your children and talk about this issue, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said in a statement. They need to understand that its not a joke, nor is it something law enforcement takes lightly. It is a felony and they can be criminally charged.
This is a breaking news story. Check back to idahostatesman.com for updates.

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A Washington state police department has arrested two people in connection to the death of a 22-year-old University of Idaho student.

Caden Young, of Boise, died Tuesday, March 21, in Centralia, Washington  which is about 25 miles south of Olympia  after a friend called police saying that Young was unconscious and not breathing, according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department and the Lewis County Coroners Office.

Police alleged in the news release that the two suspects provided illegal drugs to Young, and those drugs were involved in his death. The Idaho Statesman has reached out to the Centralia Police Department for more information.

The Lewis County Coroners Office told the Statesman by phone that Youngs toxicology report was still pending and wouldnt be completed for roughly two weeks.

A 22-year-old Moscow woman and a 36-year-old Tacoma man were arrested on suspicion of delivery of a controlled substance, according to the police news release. Both of the suspects are expected to appear at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lewis County Courthouse in Chehalis for their next hearing. They have been in custody at the Lewis County Jail since last Tuesday, online jail records showed.

University of Idaho Dean of Students and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Blaine Eckles reported Youngs death Thursday evening in a memo.

Young was a member and former president of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity. A journalism student, he wrote for the University of Idahos student newspaper, The Argonaut, in 2021 and was pursuing his interest in reporting on human rights and geopolitical issues, according to a Facebook post from the journalism college.

This has understandably been a difficult year for the Vandal Family, with the loss of several students since the start of the academic year last August, Eckles said in the memo. Please make sure to take care of yourself and others. As a community, we collectively mourn Cadens death and share our deepest condolences with his family and friends who are most impacted by his passing.
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Whether or not youre ready for it, the 2024 U.S. presidential election season has already begun.

President Joe Biden , a Democrat, has yet to formally announce a reelection plan but has repeatedly indicated his intention to run. If he does announce another campaign, he is poised to first face author Marianne Williamson as well as lawyer and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a Democratic primary.

On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump , former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and a couple entrepreneurs have declared their candidacies.

Additionally, Joe Exotic of Tiger King fame is running as a Libertarian. Other presidential hopefuls are only a matter of time.

Below is a list of 2024 presidential candidates from multiple parties who have officially entered the race. We will update this article as new candidates announce their election bids.



Republican Presidential Candidates

Nikki Haley



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Nikki Haley , 51, served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump from January 2017 through December 2018. Before that, she was governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. The daughter of Sikh immigrants from Punjab, India, Haley is considered the first woman of color to be a major candidate for the Republican nomination.

Haley was the first female and first Indian American to serve as South Carolina governor. She was on the short list of possible vice presidential running mates for Trumps 2016 campaign, despite making critical remarks about him in the past. As ambassador, she forcefully defended Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital and kept the international community attuned to threats from Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

Read more about Nikki Haley

Asa Hutchinson

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Hutchinson, 72, most recently served two terms as governor of Arkansas, leaving office in January 2023. He also served three successive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 1997. President George W. Bush appointed him director of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2001.

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A 1975 graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Law, Hutchinson is a vocal critic of Donald Trump and has suggested the former president drop out of the 2024 race amid his legal challenges. Donald Trump says a lot things, and they dont always appeal to the best of America, Hutchinson said. And so Id rather focus on what our future is about and how we can solve problems and how we can come together as Americans.

As Arkansas governor, Hutchinson signed several abortion restrictions into law and championed a series of tax cuts. However, he angered conservatives in 2022 when he vetoed legislation banning gender-affirming medical care for children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he held town halls and regular news conferences to combat disinformation and encourage Arkansas residents to get vaccinated.

Perry Johnson

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Johnson, 75, is a businessman and author who was notably disqualified from the 2022 gubernatorial primary in Michigan for collecting invalid petition signatures.

Johnson has no experience in elected office but placed third in the CPAC straw poll of Republican presidential nominees in March 2023. During his speech at CPAC, he described himself as pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-freedom.

According to The Perry Johnson Foundation, he is the founder and owner of more than 70 companies operating worldwide and is an expert in quality standards. Johnson earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois with a minor in economics and resides in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He is married with three sons.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Alamy

Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, is a biotech and health care entrepreneur, and the author of the books Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence and Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate Americas Social Justice Scam. He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in biology, and he received his juris doctor from Yale Law School, according to his campaign site.

He started the company Roivant Sciences, where he oversaw the development of five drugs that went on to become FDA-approved, according to his site. In 2022, Ramaswamy co-founded the Strive Asset Management firm, for which he serves as executive chairman. That year, he also spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. The New Yorker has called him the C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc.

Donald Trump

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Donald Trump , 76, was the 45th President of the United States, serving from 2017 to 2021. He was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The billionaire real estate mogul and former host of The Apprentice reality television series defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

During his time as President, Trump introduced strict immigration policies, including a travel ban for several predominantly Muslim countries; withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement; rescinded the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate; oversaw the countrys initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and appointed three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the first and only president in history to be impeached twice by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Read more about Donald Trump

Democratic Presidential Candidates

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Bobby, to manyis a best-selling author and environmental lawyer who has worked on issues like clean water. The 69-year-old is the son of former New York senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign, and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. He is also married to Emmy-nominated actor Cheryl Hines.

Kennedy spent decades of his life working on environmental causes and was president of Waterkeeper Alliance, a nonprofit he co-founded, for more than 20 years. He is an outspoken critic of vaccines, including for COVID-19. He created the anti-vaccine organization Childrens Health Defense and has repeatedly shared discredited claims linking vaccines to autism, according to CNN.

In a March 10 tweet, Kennedy said the focus of his then-unannounced campaign would be to end the corrupt merger between state and corporate power that has ruined our economy, shattered the middle class, polluted our landscapes and waters, poisoned our children, and robbed us of our values and freedoms.

Read More About Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Marianne Williamson

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Marianne Williamson, 70, is an author, political activist, and spiritual thought leader. She has written 14 books, four of which were No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, according to her business site. She previously ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.

Williamson founded Project Angel Food, a nonprofit that has delivered more than 15 million meals to ill and dying homebound patients since 1989. In 2004, she co-founded The Peace Alliance and supports the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace.

In a statement posted to her business site in February 2023, Williamson said she is running for president to help bring an aberrational chapter of our history to a close and to help bring forth a new beginning.

Libertarian Presidential Candidate

Joe Exotic

AP

Thats right: Joseph Allen Maldonado, known as Joe Exotic from the 2020 Netflix documentary series Tiger King, has declared his candidacy from prison.

Maldonado, 60, is a former Oklahoma zookeeper convicted in April 2019 of attempting to hire two men to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, in addition to more than a dozen wildlife violations. He was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in January 2020 but that was shortened to 21 years in January 2022.

On his campaign site, Exotic says he is running to take a stand against the worst of the corruption that our federal government has to offer. In an interview from prison in Fort Worth, Texas, Exotic told the New York Post on March 15 that he wants former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican, to be his running mate. He also ran for Oklahoma governor in 2018 and received 962 votes in the 2016 presidential election.

When Is the 2024 Presidential Election?

Election Day is November 5, 2024. Register to vote or check your registration status on the National Association of Secretaries of State website.

The Republican primary campaign season will begin on January 22, 2024, with the Iowa presidential caucuses. The first Democratic primary will be held in South Carolina on February 3, 2024.
A 29-year-old man was struck and killed by a semi on Interstate 41 in Fond du Lac County Saturday afternoon, according to authorities.

At this time, it is unclear why the man was on the interstate, according to Sgt. Jennifer Austin of the Wisconsin State Patrol Fond du Lac Post. The incident is under investigation by the Wisconsin State Patrol Technical Reconstruction Unit and a trooper, she said.

Shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, the Wisconsin State Patrol Fond du Lac Post, the Fond du Lac Sheriffs Office and the Fond du Lac Police Department responded to Interstate 41 northbound, north of Highway 23, for a singlevehicle crash involving a pedestrian, a news release said.

The preliminary investigation indicated that a 45-year-old Colorado man driving a commercial motor vehicle was traveling northbound on Interstate 41 when he struck a 29-year-old Fond du Lac man, according to the news release. The Fond du Lac man sustained fatal injuries.

Northbound lanes were closed for several hours and traffic was rerouted.

The identities of those involved in the incident are not being released at this time, the news release said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man, 29, struck, killed by semi on Interstate 41 in Fond du Lac County
Officials have identified 33 buildings owned by Los Angeles County as having a flaw that could cause them to collapse in a major earthquake. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

For six decades, a boxy downtown building has been the beating heart of Los Angeles County government  home to the five supervisors, half a dozen departments and hundreds of employees who filter through its halls each week.

For just as long, the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration has been vulnerable to collapse in the event of a major earthquake  one of 33 county-owned concrete buildings determined to be potentially at risk, county records show.

Many of the facilities house officials who would be critical to steering the county through an emergency. In addition to the Hall of Administration, they include the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, where autopsies are performed, and the headquarters for the departments of public health and health services, which house some of the two departments top officials downtown.

The list was provided to The Times as the county embarks on a landmark effort to identify and protect its stock of so-called non-ductile concrete structures from collapse in earthquakes. Last month, the Board of Supervisors set an ambitious 10-year deadline for officials to complete seismic upgrades on them  an undertaking that experts estimate will probably cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Non-ductile buildings have an inadequate configuration of steel reinforcing bars, which allows concrete to explode out of columns when shaken in an earthquake, a prelude to a catastrophic collapse. This flaw, now well known, was discovered in the 1971 Sylmar quake.

The vast majority of structures on the county's list were built during the post-World War II boom, when many concrete-frame buildings were erected with the potentially fatal flaw that can cause the same type of catastrophic collapse seen in the recent magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Experts said it is essential that these buildings be able to withstand a future major earthquake, which would be vital to local governments ability to function when Southern California is hit by a quake of comparable magnitude  something that last occurred more than 160 years ago.

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Autopsies! Do you think you want the coroner to be able to work after the earthquake? said seismologist Lucy Jones, a research associate at Caltech.

Heavy damage or collapse could not only cause injuries and deaths, but also hobble emergency response and force closures of neighboring buildings overwhelmed by a massive debris zone.

After an earthquake, you want your public health director to be able to do her job. You want the coroner to be able to do his job. And you want the county supervisors to be able to get together and make decisions and not be having to deal with their own trauma, with their own staff being injured, Jones said.

The collapse of the San Fernando Veterans Administration hospital, a non-ductile concrete building, in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake led to the deaths of 49 people. Non-ductile concrete buildings in downtown L.A. have been spared the kind of strong shaking the San Fernando Valley has faced in the last half-century. (Los Angeles Times)

Most of the 33 buildings are in the Los Angeles Basin, which has been spared the strongest shaking of L.A. Countys two most destructive earthquakes since World War II  the magnitude 6.6 Sylmar earthquake of 1971 and the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake of 1994.

The strongest shaking from both of those earthquakes was centered north of the basin, in the San Fernando Valley. The majority of the buildings were built in the 1960s and 1970s, with a handful built in the first half of the 20th century. The oldest building on the list  now a pharmacy service building for L.A. County-USC Medical Center  was constructed in 1917, according to the list.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake  which last hit Southern California in 1857  would produce 45 times more energy than the Northridge earthquake and cause strong shaking across a much wider zone of Central and Southern California.

In contrast to the San Fernando Valley, many buildings across the L.A. Basin have never experienced particularly severe shaking since they were built. The fact that these concrete buildings have survived prior earthquakes does not mean they would survive the next one, experts say.

We do know that there is seismic risk all over Southern California, and weve seen  and we saw again in Turkey  that that construction type does not perform well when subjected to strong shaking, said structural engineer David Cocke, former president of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. For communities to recover after a big earthquake, such essential buildings need to be up and running.

Vanessa Moody, senior manager with the county Chief Executive Offices Capital Programs Division , said the county began a two-year review in 2019 of its buildings in need of a seismic retrofit.

In 2021, structural engineering firms came back with the list of 33 potentially vulnerable county-owned concrete buildings. A spokesperson for L.A. County Public Works said the list does "not indicate a specific level of earthquake damage risk" and identifies structures that were built before 1978, are multistory and are classified as a non-ductile concrete building.

They include Pitchess Detention Center East Facility in Castaic, a jail where 36 inmates were housed as of earlier this month; clinics in South L.A., downtown and Hollywood; fire stations in Inglewood and West Hollywood; and libraries in Compton, Huntington Park and Montebello.

A Kaiser Permanente center in Granada Hills was a non-ductile concrete building and suffered a partial collapse during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The San Fernando Valley experienced much stronger shaking during that earthquake than downtown Los Angeles. (Jonathan Alcorn / Los Angeles Times)

The board unanimously passed a motion ordering officials to prepare new rules that would require non-ductile concrete buildings owned by the county, as well as any in unincorporated areas, to be retrofitted. Once the new rules go into effect, building owners would have 10 years to complete the retrofits.

Many of the buildings in need of seismic upgrades are hubs for health services. The list includes numerous buildings surrounding Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, the countys flagship public hospital in Boyle Heights.

The main hospital itself is new, housed in a building opened in 2008 that replaced the landmark Depression-era General Hospital, which is mostly mothballed and could be reconfigured into a homeless and affordable housing building after a seismic retrofit. State law requires hospitals to be seismically robust to ensure their doors can remain open to patients after a major earthquake, with a deadline of 2030.

But that state law does not require nearby buildings to be seismically sound, meaning parking structures and clinics surrounding major hospitals may be vulnerable.

Among those at possible risk is a parking structure, known as Lot 12, for County-USC's doctors, patients and visitors; and two buildings on Griffin Avenue that are home to the Violence Intervention Program, a partnership between the county and a nonprofit mental health provider that operates the largest child abuse program in the nation. Among the buildings potentially at risk is the Santana House, named for the musician Carlos Santana and his former wife, Deborah, who have financially supported the Violence Intervention Program.

Dr. Astrid Heger, director of the Violence Intervention Program, said the county informed her on Wednesday that there was concern about the structural integrity of the buildings the program uses. She said she has already identified a civil engineer  independent of the county  who will assess them.

Heger said she's concerned about the pace at which the county would actually complete the retrofit, and has already told officials that if a retrofit is needed for the Griffin Avenue buildings, she is prepared to find the funds independently to get the seismic strengthening done as quickly as possible.

"We will pay to have it retrofitted. We'll raise the money. To be honest with you, we cannot take any risks here at all. The county moves really slowly," Heger said. "We want to make sure we are ahead of anything that could be potentially dangerous for our patients and our staff."

After The Times told Heger the county was aware in 2021 of her buildings being potentially at risk in an earthquake, she said she was "surprised that we are learning about it this late in the process."

Heger said she has raised millions of dollars to renovate the two county-owned buildings on Griffin Avenue, which opened in 2003 and 2007, but this was the first she had heard of the possible seismic risk. "Im basically disappointed that I wasnt given the opportunity to address this issue much sooner," Heger said.

A major earthquake would take a severe toll on the mental health of the community.

"And in a mental health crisis in the county of Los Angeles, putting the largest provider out of whack would be devastating," Heger said.

Michael Wilson, a spokesperson for the county's Chief Executive Office, said the Department of Health Services was notified in January 2022 of all its buildings on the list, and that the office has been working with the department since then on next steps.

"The buildings on the compiled list are not in imminent danger but included because they meet established criteria for retrofitting," he said. "The county is methodically working on approaches to complete the retrofits as expeditiously as possible."

Olive View Hospital, a non-ductile concrete building, suffered major damage during the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. (Ken Lubas / Los Angeles Times)

Another important building possibly vulnerable to earthquakes is the County-USC Outpatient Clinic building, also known as Outpatient Building B, built in 1963. The Violence Intervention Program shares space in that building that serves as a forensic clinic of victims of sexual assault and child abuse, cares for elder abuse patients and screens children who may have been prenatally exposed to alcohol.

The site is also home to clinics for high-risk teenagers and children with chronic medical illnesses, including one focused on LGBTQ youths known as the Alexis Project.

The collapse of the San Fernando Veterans Administration Hospital, a non-ductile concrete building, led to the deaths of 49 people. (Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times)

The public works department is expected to ask the board to vote soon on a three-year, $35-million consulting contract to design seismic retrofits for the 33 buildings.

Moody said retrofitting designs are already underway for three of the buildings: the Hall of Administration, the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner in Boyle Heights, and Ferguson Administrative Services Center in Commerce, the hub for administrative services for the public health and health services departments.

The county had started designing seismic upgrades for these three buildings before the boards motion, Moody said. The county has allocated $134 million for the designs and preconstruction work  $95 million for the Hall of Administration and roughly $40 million for the two others, she added.

But Moody said the county hasnt yet started planning for the 30 other buildings on the list, which include the downtown home to the offices of the countys top health officials, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer and Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly.

The Department of Health Services runs the nations second-largest municipal healthcare system and operates four hospitals: Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center.

Officials have not yet decided which to tackle first, nor do they have a cost estimate, Moody said, adding, Were not there yet."

The county has already completed retrofits to the Hall of Justice  which houses employees of the Sheriffs Department and district attorneys office  and Bob Hope Patriotic Hall downtown, home of the county Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, as well as the L.A. County Public Works headquarters in Alhambra.

The motion that passed was not the first by any means, Moody said. This has been going on for over a decade.

The cities of L.A., West Hollywood and Santa Monica require non-ductile concrete buildings within city limits to be retrofitted, with deadlines ranging from 2027 to the 2040s.

Several non-ductile concrete buildings on the county's list are on the campus of Martin Luther King Community Hospital in Willowbrook. They include the Leroy Weekes Medical Support Building North, the Service and Supply Building South, and the Interns and Residents Building, which contains a 100-bed recuperative care unit.

Also at possible risk are the Hall of Records in downtown; two Department of Public Social Services buildings in South L.A.; a parking structure for the Eastlake Juvenile Courthouse; and the administrative headquarters of the county Internal Services Department in East L.A., which offers support to other county agencies in areas like contracts, purchasing and information technology.

A line of county ambulances and other vehicles are caught under the collapsed roof of a parking structure at Olive View hospital. (Boris Yaro / Los Angeles Times)

After the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, non-ductile construction was deemed so unsafe that it was banned in future buildings by the 1980s. But most local governments have done little to order older buildings be evaluated and strengthened if found to be deficient.

Forty-nine people died in the 1971 collapse of the Veterans Administration hospital in Sylmar, and three were killed when the newly built Olive View Medical Center saw buildings and stairways collapse, lurch or topple. A Kaiser Permanente office and clinic and a Bullocks department store partly collapsed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The same type of non-ductile flaw led to the collapse of freeways in the Sylmar and Northridge earthquakes and the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A police task force aimed at protecting senior citizens served arrest and search warrants at several locations in South Rome, which has resulted in 39 arrests and 40 firearms seized so far this year.

Operation Save Our Seniors (S.O.S.) has been in action for several weeks.

Operation S.O.S. is a response to the distress call from the senior community of South Rome who were pinned down by drug activity and violent crime, the Rome Police Department said in a statement.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

According to Rome police, they found the streets of South Rome jammed with people on the weekends and afternoons who were using drugs and soliciting illicit activity.

Officers have also observed homes peppered with bullet holes, windows boarded up, and drug operations that had taken over abandoned homes and vehicles.

The vibe from the open-air drug market was unfazed by police presence. On numerous occasions, the activity would briefly stop until patrols passed by, but then return to normal after police turned the corner, Rome police said in a statement.

Police said drug dealers brazenly walked the street and pointed guns at residents.

TRENDING STORIES:

Senior residents in the area told police they felt as though they were held hostage in their homes for fear of being assaulted or killed by stray gunplay.

The multi-jurisdictional police task force identified drive-through drug sales in some locations with dealers working from parked cars, as well as multiple houses used to sell drugs.

Rome police said that since January, Operation S.O.S. has served seven search warrants (five houses and two cars) which resulted in 39 arrests. 40 guns have been recovered.

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The task force also included contributions from the following agencies: Northwest Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force; Floyd 911; Rome-Floyd SWAT; Floyd County Sheriffs Office; Georgia Information Sharing Analysis Center; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms; Bartow County SWAT; Cartersville Police SWAT; and Georgia State Patrol SWAT, Aviation and Patrol.

IN OTHER NEWS:
UPDATE: On March 27, the child whose body was found was identified as Nasir Mitchell of DeKalb County, Georgia. He died from drowning after he went missing in Yellow River Park, the Gwinnett County medical examiners office told McClatchy News.

The original story is below.

A 4-year-old boy was found dead after taking a trip to a riverfront park with his mother, Georgia officials told news outlets.

Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services said the child vanished after his mom briefly looked away Saturday, March 25.

He was last seen in the water, and his mother witnessed him go under the rivertop, Capt. Ryan McGiboney said in video that WAGA recorded at a press conference.

First responders were called at about 5:45 p.m. to Yellow River Park in Stone Mountain, roughly 20 miles east of downtown Atlanta. The recreation area is popular with children on warmer days, McGiboney said in the video.

A 911 caller reported seeing a small child was floating down the river and unable to get out, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services said in a news release. Officials used drones, boats and other tools to search for the boy, though weather limited the use of some equipment, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Then on March 26, the body of a child that matched the missing boys description was found at about 10:30 a.m., firefighters wrote in a news release.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources identified the child as the one who disappeared. His body was found in about 4 feet of water and was taken to the Gwinnett County medical examiners office, WSB-TV reported.

Officials are asking people to pray for the family, firefighters told WANF.

The medical examiners office didnt immediately share additional information with McClatchy News, and the Department of Natural Resources directed questions to Gwinnett County officials on March 27.

McGiboney in the news conference encouraged people to wear a life jacket when near bodies of water.

4-year-old drowns after falling into river during family fishing trip, GA police say

Teens playing on frozen lake fall through ice, killing one, Georgia authorities say
Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio speaks with President Joe Biden following the State of the Union address in February 2023. Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images

Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur is concerned that her party is losing touch with working-class voters.

She made a chart showing that Democrats overwhelmingly represent the wealthiest congressional districts.

"How is it possible that Republicans are representing the majority of people who struggle?" she said.

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio worries that her party has become too disconnected from working-class voters  and she has a handy chart to illustrate the conundrum.

Kaptur, the longest-serving female member of Congress in American history, has represented a Toledo-area House district since 1983.

During an interview on Monday in her Capitol Hill office, the congresswoman produced a two-page chart that lists every US House district by median income in 2021, with Democratic-held districts highlighted in blue and Republican-held districts highlighted in red.

The result? A sea of blue on the first page, where the highest-earning districts can be found, and a splash of red on the second page, where the lowest-earning districts are listed.

"You could question yourself and say, well, the blue districts are the wealthiest districts, so it shows that the Democrats are doing better to lift people's incomes," said Kaptur. "The other way you could look at it is: how is it possible that Republicans are representing the majority of people who struggle? How is that possible?"

Kaptur told Insider that her office first produced a version of the chart during the last Congress, and that she was "trying to impress upon my own caucus" that Democrats overwhelmingly represent some of the wealthiest corners of America.

Exit polling from the 2020 presidential election somewhat complicates Kaptur's thesis. According to CNN, voters making less than $100,000 tended to vote for Biden, while former President Donald Trump garnered nearly 60% of voters who make between $100,000 and $199,000.

Among those making $200,000 or more, Biden and Trump were essentially tied.

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Nonetheless, her chart makes clear that lower-income districts like hers tend to be represented by the GOP  and Democrats' modern-day dominance in wealthy, highly-educated enclaves has come at the expense of traditionally-Democratic constituencies elsewhere.

"It makes a difference in how you speak," said Kaptur. "My hardest struggle is to have my staff speak in a way that the public I represent will hear. For Democrats, that's very hard."

According to the chart, a digital version of which was provided to Insider by her office, the Ohio congresswoman's district clocks in at number 341 with a median income of $57,732, according to US Census data.

By contrast, many other well-known Democrats represent higher-earning districts. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district, for example, is the 7th-wealthiest in the country.

"I'm not saying Nancy Pelosi didn't live struggle," said Kaptur. "But you have such a different perspective on where you need to move to help your communities, right?"

"There's an elitism that pervades when you have wealth," she added.

Kaptur has given a version of the chart to President Joe Biden, and says she presented the document to members at a recent caucus meeting. According to her, Democrats ranging from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries down to rank-and-file lawmakers are often taken aback by the visual.

"And then they're quiet, and they just study it," she said. "I don't know where it takes us, except I hope to a more enlightened future."

Read the original article on Business Insider
sorincolac / Getty Images/iStockphoto

If your dream is to retire somewhere exotic and where your retirement savings will go the furthest, South America is a good option to consider. With a vast array of cultures, landscapes and history, there is something for everyone.

Learn: Expert Says 'Silent Crisis' With Retirement Savings Looms Worldwide -- How To Act Now

More: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

Here are some of the best cities in South America to spend your retirement.

vale_t / Getty Images

Montevideo, Uruguay

Uruguay, a country bordering Brazil and Argentina, can be very attractive to retirees. For example, buying a home here allows retirees to automatically be eligible for a temporary residency visa, according to Expat Financial.

And in terms of health insurance, AARP reports that expat retirees are eligible to use the country's public health system, which charges small fees for care.

SmartAsset reports that the cost of living in Uruguay is 20.39% lower than the United States, citing data from Numbeo.com.

"While the cost of living will depend on your lifestyle and exact location, you should probably plan a monthly budget of about $3,000. Quality housing can be very affordable for retirees in Uruguay," according to SmartAsset.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think the US Should Raise the Medicare Tax on High Earners To Help Save the Program?

SL_Photography / Getty Images

Cuenca, Ecuador

The World Economic Forum notes that Ecuador has a combination of good climate, environmental and cultural diversity at an affordable price, which makes the country one of the best places to retire for Europeans and North Americans.

Cuenca, Ecuador's third-largest city, is its most popular destination for retirees and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And the city has an affordable cost of living and some of the best hospitals and medical care in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report.

In addition, you can join IESS (Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social), the national healthcare system, and pay premiums of $75 a month, according to AARP.

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Finally, buying property in the country is relatively easy and without restrictions. You may need to obtain government permission to buy in certain border areas, however, AARP notes.

Thinkstock / Four Seasons

Barranquilla, Colombia

Barranquilla, the country's fourth-largest city, is a port city on the north side of Colombia along the Caribbean coast.

International Living also notes that the city -- between Santa Marta and Cartagena -- is the main industrial, shopping, educational and cultural center of the Caribbean Region of Colombia.

Another attractive factor is that housing is much cheaper than in the U.S., as rent is about three-fourths lower in Colombia than in the United States, according to SmartAsset.

As far as buying property, there are no restrictions for foreigners, but AARP notes that it's best to find an independent, bilingual attorney not connected with the seller to assist with the transaction.

Finally, expats can opt out of the healthcare national system if they show proof of private coverage, according to AARP.

Photo Disclaimer: Picture depicts a street in Colombia's capital city, Bogota.

tifonimages / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Santiago de Chile, Chile

Chile is a popular retirement destination, as the country offers a variety of climates and landscapes, with desert, coast and mountains. Another attractive factor is the Chile's highly prized wine industry and the fact that the cost of living is approximately 34% cheaper than in the U.S., according to SmartAsset.

Foreigners can buy real estate in Chile without restrictions but must first get a RUT (Rol Unico Tributario), or taxpayer ID number, notes AARP. And in terms of healthcare, once you establish residency, you can use FONASA (Fondo Nacional de Salud), the public system of hospitals, clinics and medical centers used by most residents, AARP added.

While Santiago is more expensive than many other South American cities, it still is cheaper than living in the U.S., overall.

aaabbbccc / Shutterstock.com

Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza -- at the foot of the Andes -- is one of the most vibrant regional cities in Argentina, and is known for its award-winning wines, notes International Living.

In addition, it's a bustling city, has more than 300 days of sun per year and is "a natural playground for adventurers and wine-lovers alike," according to ExperienceMendonza.com.

The cost of living in Argentina is 50% to 60% less than in the U.S., so a couple can expect to live comfortably on $1,500 to $1,800 per month, while single individuals can expect to do so with $1,000 per month, according to SmartAsset.

In addition, the country has advantages for foreign retirees, including the rentista visa, which allows them to move to Argentina on a permanent residency visa with proof of income of $1,600 a month, according to Expat Financial.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Best Cities in South America To Spend Your Retirement
In the five days from the time Oscar Cabrals family reported him missing to the day his body was found last week, Kansas City police did not alert the public that a search was on for him.

The 18-year-old had been missing since leaving home at 5:42 p.m. on March 3, according to a missing persons flier that the family released over social media.

Family members reported his disappearance to police March 18. Police took a report but did not post his photo on social media or send out a news release to engage the publics help in finding him.

The Kansas City Police Department said Cabral did not meet the departments criteria for an active missing persons case.

On Thursday morning, utility workers discovered his body off a two-lane road near the heavily wooded trails inside Swope Park. Police have not provided details of how he died but have said they are investigating his death as a homicide.

Kansas City police have faced criticism in recent months for their handling of missing persons cases.

The discovery of Cabrals body came about two weeks after the body of 13-year-old Jayden Robker was found in a pond near his Northland neighborhood. In that case, the police department had waited four days to put out a public alert that he had been reported missing. Police have said in Jaydens case that the initial autopsy results did not show obvious evidence of foul play.

Families, social activists and neighborhood leaders say police are often not responsive to their concerns, especially in cases of missing people who are Black. Advocates have said the police department does not consistently follow the best practices in responding to reports of missing people.

Many advocates who study the best practices in the field say every department should have strategies for alerting community members of missing persons and communicating with them during a search.

Cabral reported missing

Police have said that when Cabral was reported missing March 18, the department took a report.

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His information was listed in the National Crime Information Center or NCIC and the states crime information system also known as MULES.

Federal authorities require police departments and other law enforcement agencies to report missing persons under the age of 21 as part of the Suzannes Law requirement.

But after those entries were made in the databases, it is not clear what efforts the police made to locate Cabral.

Capt. Corey Carlisle, a police spokesman, told The Star in an email Monday that the department actively looked for Cabral after he was reported missing. But Carlisle declined to say specifically what police did, citing the ongoing homicide investigation.

Carlisle said the department did not circulate a public flier because Cabrals disappearance did not meet the KCPDs criteria for that step.

The criteria include information that the missing person is under medical are, has mental health concerns, may be suicidal, has diminished mental capacity, has dementia or there is a strong indication of foul play.

Carlisle said police did not submit a missing persons report to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, a national publicly accessible database of missing persons. Some advocates say police should enter missing people into the NamUs system as a standard procedure.

Before his death, Cabral was spotted at 7:42 p.m. on March 17 near 4124 Northeast Vivion Road, otherwise known as Penguin Park, wearing blue sweatpants and a thick, gray sweatshirt with a zipper, according to a family members message over social media.

In response to questions about the Cabral case, police spokesman Sgt. Jacob Becchina provided a statement in writing:

KCPD handles missing teens in accordance with our department policies and state statutes that pertain to missing persons.

Criticism of KCPD missing persons investigations

In recent months, advocates and experts have pointed to best practices in missing persons investigations that Kansas City police do not follow.

The police department does not maintain a list of active missing person cases that is accessible to the public. It does not require the missing persons unit to file monthly reports tracking which cases are being closed or going unsolved, and it does not track the demographics of missing persons.

As a result, those who provide support to families of the missing say its nearly impossible to know what resources police are using to search for specific missing persons, or whether Black and brown communities are being disproportionately affected.

In Kansas City, it is left to detectives to decide whether individual cases are worth pursuing, based on whether that person is in immediate danger or might harm themselves, police say.

In Missouri, there is no statewide standard or protocol for investigating missing persons cases.

A bill in the Missouri House of Representatives filed by Republican Adam Schnelting of St. Charles County, would require police to report their missing to NamUS. Similar legislation has already been enacted in 13 states from Oklahoma to New York.

The Stars Matti Gellman contributed to this report.
5 high-efficiency washers for a laundry room life makeover

 Recommendations are independently chosen by Revieweds editors. Purchases you make through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

Shopping for a new washing machine can be challenging. Marketing jargon and gimmicks can make the whole experience rather confusing. One question we get often is in regard to high-efficiency washing machines.

Like, whats the deal with them? How do I know if my washer is high-efficiency? What are the best high-efficiency washers? And, what kinds of detergents work well with them?

Were going to answer these questions and more. Heres the skinny on every high-efficiency in your laundry room.

Make smart choices without hours of googling. Subscribe to The Checklist newsletter for expert product advice and recommendations.

What is a high-efficiency washer?

A high-efficiency washer classified by the ratio of capacity and water usage.

Let us rewind time a little bit to the year 1992. Kurt Cobain is still alive and the United States government is starting a program called Energy Star. The programs aim is to create a rating system to help consumers buy more environmentally friendly products.

For washing machines, this is partially determined by a units Integrated Modified Energy Factor (IMEF). The IMEF is the ratio between the size of the washer and how much hot water and electricity it uses.

Theres also the IWF or Integrated Water Factorthe ratio of the total water usage and size. In other words, the higher the IMEF and the lower the IWF, the more efficient a washer is.

As of 2023, in order for a washer to be considered high-efficiency, it must have an IMEF greater than or equal to 2.76 and a IWF lower than or equal to 3.2.

At Reviewed, we actually add an additional variable, which is the weight of laundry after washing. Because the more water-logged a load of laundry is, the more energy the dryer needs to expend. A more powerful spin cycle and a large capacity is why front loaders are almost always more efficient than top-load washers

Long story short, if a washer is big, and it conserves water (especially hot water) and electricity, it is considered high-efficiency. Virtually all modern front-loaders and most top-load washing machines are high-efficiency.

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What are the best high-efficiency washers?

When shopping for high-efficiency washers or high-efficiency detergents, look for a universal, elliptical-shaped label with an HE on it.

1. Electrolux ELFW7637AT

The Electrolux ELFW7637AT is simply the best front-load washer weve ever tested.

It has specialized features that help take the guesswork out of doing laundry. It has a place in the detergent drawer for pods. Theres a stain guide built into the machine to select the correct washers for grass, blood, and chocolate stains.

And best of all, the ELFW7637AT is highly efficient. The Normal cycle uses just 12 gallons of water total per cycle. By our calculations, this Electrolux is 31% more water and energy efficient.

$1,149 at Electrolux

2. Samsung WF50A8600AV

If your current washer feels cramped every laundry day, the WF50A8600AV might be just what youre looking for. With its 5.0-cubic-foot drum, this Samsung is both spacious and accessible.

People with lower-back problems should also check out Samsungs ADA-compliant risers. Our lab tests show that the WF50A8600AV is excellent at removing stains while also operating quietly.

On the efficiency front, our water meters calculate that the WF50A8600AV uses 12.45 gallons of water. When analyzing all the cycles, this washer uses about 29% less water and electricity than average.

$1,304 at Samsung

3. LG WKEX200HBA

The LG WKEX200HBA Wash Tower is a washer and dryer that comes prestacked. It serves as both a way to save space and provide convenience because the control panel for both units is located in between the two.

People with limited space will appreciate the design. And people who find themselves spending all day doing laundry will like the fact that the WKEX200HBA is one of the faster washers on the market. Its Quick Wash cycle takes 16 minutes for a 4-pound load and the Normal cycle is around 30 minutes with an 8-pound load.

On the water usage front, the Wash Tower clocks in at around 11.92 gallons for the Normal cycle. Its overall resource usage is 44% less than the average washer.

$2,299.00 at LG

4. Maytag MHW8630HC

People who are willing to wait for good things will like the Maytag MHW8630HC. It runs slow, but has one of the most powerful Heavy Duty cycles weve ever testedeven if it clocks in at three hours long.

However, that emphasis on slow and steady doesnt mean this Maytag is a huge resource hog. The Normal cycle on this washer only used 11 gallons of water and that super-long Heavy Duty cleaning cycle used a total of 15 gallons. Overall, the Maytag MHW8630HC used about 44% less water than average.

$1,348 at AJ Madison

5. Whirlpool WFW9620HC

The Whirlpool WFW9620HC is the kind of washer that does everything in its power to be easy to use. First it has an intuitive app that gives you all information about your laundry, plus ways to customize cycles to what you want.

Second, this Whirlpool washer has the XL Plus Dispenser that stores up to 40 loads worth of detergent and fabric softener and automatically dispenses the correct amounts based on the weight of the laundry.

And the WFW9620HC isnt bad at conserving water either. When analyzing all its cycles, our calculations show that it uses about 42% less water than the average washer.

$1,528 at AJ Madison

What is high-efficiency detergent?

HE detergents work well with less water.

Simply put, high-efficiency detergent (or HE detergent) is designed to work in low water levels.

If you want to know if you can use high-efficiency detergent in a regular washer, then yes, you generally can. Though youll have to add about a quarter cup extra because a regular washer will dilute the detergent from its higher water usage. However, the reverse is not true, so dont use regular detergent in a high-efficiency washer.

Shop the best high-efficiency laundry detergents

We have an in-depth buying guide on all things detergent. However, here are the highlights.

Persil ProClean : When it comes to cleaning clothes, Persil ProClean is the brand to beat. It absolutely aced our stain removal lab test.

Tide Original : Tide is a classic and based on our research and lab tests, its the best detergent for the money.

Persil ProClean Sensitive : If you have sensitive skin, but dont want to sacrifice any cleaning power, we suggest checking this one out.

Tide PurClean: Tides attempt at making an eco-friendly laundry is a triumph. Results from our lab show that it has similar stain removal properties as regular Tide. It works well at any water temperature, including cold water.

The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews and more.

Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

This article originally appeared on Reviewed: 5 best high-efficiency washers to shop now
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz met with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin's editorial board Monday to discuss her candidacy for a race that is already the most expensive court election in American history, one increasingly acrimonious as it enters its final days.

Protasiewicz, 60, is a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge. She is running against former Justice Dan Kelly for a 10-year term on the court. The Supreme Court race is nonpartisan, but Protasiewicz describes herself as a judicial liberal. If she wins the April 4 election that will change the political makeup of the court. Conservatives have held a 4-3 majority for over a decade.

More: Watch the Janet Protasiewicz editorial board interview in its entirety

The two met for the first, and only debate, in the campaign March 21 where the two accused each other of running deceitful campaigns and being an unprecedented danger to the state.

More:Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz says she's weighing a lawsuit over claims of decades-ago abuse, racism

On March 20, she answered questions from editors and reporters for nearly an hour at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels offices. Kelly's campaign canceled an interview with the editorial board on March 22 saying only, "We have to cancel today."

He has not rescheduled the interview as of late Friday afternoon despite repeated attempts by the Journal Sentinel. Kelly has subsequently granted a number of interviews and spoke at several events, including a virtual appearance at one with Matthew Trewhella, a Brookfield pastor who called the murder of an abortion provider "justifiable homicide," advocated for the creation of anti-abortion-focused militia and compared coronavirus pandemic-related mask mandates to the Holocaust.

Here are some of the highlights of her interview:

The line on state abortion restrictions since Roe overturned

Protasiewicz answers a question on abortion restrictions in the wake of the Dobbs case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned federal constitutional protection for abortion that had stood since Roe v. Wade. She said it would probably be constitutional for the state to restrict abortions after 20 weeks:

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Signing the petition to recall former Gov. Scott Walter and protesting Act 10

Before becoming a judge, Protasiewicz noted that she protested against Act 10, which rolled back collective bargaining rights for most public employees, and signed the petition to recall then Gov. Scott Walker. She talks about whether shed recuse herself from potential cases challenging the laws constitutionality if a case came before the court:

Recusing herself from cases where there may be a conflict of interest

Protasiewicz talks about the need to establish recusal rules for judges and the role she thinks the public should play in establishing them, specifically touching on her pledge if elected to not take part in cases involving the Democratic Party because she has received millions in donations from the party for her campaign:

On the record amount of spending and out-of-state contributions for race

Protasiewicz said she welcomed the national and international interest in the race and said Wisconsin is a microcosm for the country as a whole. She said donations have helped her communicate with voters across the state and allows her to meet and talk to people about the threat to democracy Kelly poses:

On the harsh rhetoric and tenor of the race for Supreme Court

She said her words have been tough because Kelly is an extremist, not a conservative, who worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election and worked out of the Republican Party offices for his prior judicial race:

Reach Jim Fitzhenry at jfitzhen@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz answers questions
Police officer outside Covenant School. AP Photo/John Amis

Three children and three adults are dead after a 28-year-old woman opened fire inside a Nashville private school on Monday morning. The attack marks the 129th mass shooting in the U.S. in 2023.

Authorities believe the gunwoman  identified as Audrey Hale, per NBC News  was "at one point" a student at the Covenant School, a private Christian institution that teaches preschool through 6th grade, though they were not able to say when.

The perpetrator entered the building through a side door and was carrying two assault-style rifles and a handgun, per The New York Times. Upon arrival, law enforcement "heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers," spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters. How Hale was able to enter the school in the first place is "still under investigation," added Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake.

In remarks, President Biden described the "heartbreaking" incident as "a family's worst nightmare" and called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban. "It's about time we began to make some more progress," he said.

Separately, Tennesee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he is "closely monitoring the tragic situation," and asked onlookers and bystanders to "join us in praying the school, congregation, and Nashville community."

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The shooting took place at the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville. Metro Nashville Police Department

Six people, including three children, are dead after a 28-year-old shooter opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville, police said.

The shooting occurred at the Covenant School on Burton Hills Boulevard, the Nashville Fire Department confirmed on Monday. The school is for students from preschool through sixth grade.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the suspect was a Nashville resident and was at some point a student at the school. Police have identified the shooter as Audrey Hale, who they initially said was a woman but later clarified was transgender. According to a LinkedIn profile, Hale used he/him pronouns.

A spokesperson for Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed in a statement to BuzzFeed News that three children with gunshot wounds were sent to Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt. All three were students at the school and were pronounced dead after arrival. The other victims include three adult staff members.

Metro Nashville Police Department identified the children who were killed in the shooting as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9-year-olds. The staff members killed were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; Mike Hill, 61, a custodian; and Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the Covenant School.

Speaking at a press brief following the shooting, Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville police, told reporters that the suspected shooter entered through the schools side entrance around 10:15 a.m. with at least two assault-style rifles and a handgun. On Monday evening, the police said Hale entered the building after shooting out the glass of a door to the church.

Police called the shooting a targeted attack, adding that Hale had bought the firearms legally. Officers found a map of the school along with a "manifesto," police said.

Weve also determined that there were maps drawn of the school in detail, of surveillance, entry points, et cetera," Drake said.

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He was killed by 10:27 a.m. after being engaged by Metro Nashville police .

Children from the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a deadly shooting at their school on March 27, 2023. Jonathan Mattise / AP

Drake told NBC Nightly News that he believed Hale targeted the school because of "resentment."

"There's some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school ... and that's why this incident occurred," Drake said.

Nashville police tweeted Monday evening that they found additional written material from Hale in Hale's car, which originally had helped them identify the shooter. Police have turned it over to the FBI, and it was revealed that Hale planned to target multiple locations, Drake said.

You can support the families of the victims of todays horrific shooting by donating to this fund. 100% of the proceeds will go to victims families. It is important that we stand together on this dark day for Nashville. https://t.co/gwv23RH6aW 10:39 PM - 27 Mar 2023

The American Public Health Association says gun violence in the US is a public health crisis. It is a leading cause of premature death in the country, responsible for more than 38,000 deaths annually. As of March 27, at least 4,190 people have died from gun violence this year, and another 5,676 have died by suicide, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive .

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting.

Too often our schools and communities are being devastated by gun violence, Jean-Pierre said. Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and educators to learn and teach.

Speaking at a White House summit for women-owned small businesses, Biden addressed the shooting by urging Congress to pass his assault weapons ban.

"We have to do more to stop gun violence. Its ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of the nation, Biden said. And we have to do more to protect our schools so they aren't turned into prisons.

John Cooper, Nashville's mayor, tweeted a link to donate to the families of victims of the shooting.

"You can support the families of the victims of todays horrific shooting by donating to this fund," the tweet reads. "100% of the proceeds will go to victims families. It is important that we stand together on this dark day for Nashville."

More on this

"The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is heartbroken by the horrific and senseless shooting that took place on Monday, March 27 at The Covenant School here in Nashville," the donation website reads. "Because of the outpouring of love from our generous and thoughtful community, we have established the Caring for Covenant Fund to manage the donations made in response to this tragedy. All donations made to the Fund, minus credit card fees, will be directed to The Covenant School to support the healing of those affected by this tragedy."
A 7-year-old boy missing since his moms body was found off a Moss Landing beach last week has been found dead, California sheriffs officials told news outlets.

The search began after a stranger found a 3-year-old boy alone on a Monterey Bay beach Wednesday, March 22, McClatchy News previously reported.

3-year-old boy tells CA officials his mom and brother are missing. Now search is on

The boy told the passerby his mother was missing and later told firefighters his older brother also was missing.

Searchers found the mothers body, and the U.S. Coast Guard began a search for the missing 7-year-old, according to McClatchy News.

On Saturday, March 25, divers found the boys body in 10 feet of water near the beach, Monterey County sheriffs officials told KOIN.

The two children and their 27-year-old mother had gone for a visit to a beach near the boat landing, KION reported.

She told me Im here at the beach, mom. Im with my kids, they wanted to come have fun, her mother, Luciana Urvano, told KSBW.

Moss Landing is a community of 250 people on Monterey Bay about 100 miles south of San Francisco.

Hiker plunges 100 feet from trail before rescue helicopter rushes in, officials say

Firefighters discover missing plumber asleep in crawl space under California home

Wind blows loaded police sniper rifle off roof during parade, New York cops say
Screen grabs of SCDF paramedics setting up stretcher (left) and smoking silver van (Photos: Yahoo SEA reader)

SINGAPORE - A 72-year-old man who was trapped in the driver's seat of a van that crashed into a footpath near Redhill MRT station on Monday (27 March) has died.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the traffic accident near 920 Tiong Bahru Road at about 3.20pm.

Upon arrival, the SCDF rescued the man using hydraulic rescue equipment.

In a separate statement, the Singapore police told Yahoo Southeast Asia that the van was believed to have "self-skidded".

The male driver was unconscious when he was conveyed to Singapore General Hospital, where he subsequently died, the police said.

Investigations are ongoing.

In two videos sent by a Yahoo Southeast Asia reader, smoke can be seen emitting from the van, with passers-by crowding the area.

The second video shows SCDF paramedics lifting the man from the ground onto a stretcher before wheeling the him away from the accident site.

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.
"I just hollered 'cooler!' And my husband opened the cooler door and started shoving us in," Tracy Harden said of riding out a storm at Chuck's Dairy Barn in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

ABC News/YouTube

Eight people survived a tornado that ripped through Mississippi last week by hiding in a walk-in refrigerator inside a local restaurant.

The twister  part of severe weather that killed more than 20 people when it moved through the area on Friday  came bearing down on Chuck's Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork just after 8 p.m., owner Tracy Harden told FOX Weather.

Tracy said she received messages from both her mother and sister warning her of a tornado shortly before an employee at the restaurant rushed to her with the same news, according to USA Today and Good Morning America.

Then, the lights flickered.

"I just hollered 'cooler!' And my husband opened the cooler door and started shoving us in," Tracy told GMA.

Related:Mississippi Couple Took Shelter in a Car Wash During Deadly Tornado: 'Everything was Flying'

Once inside, Tracy's husband "lost control of the door" as wind whipped around them and he tried to close it, per the report.

"Just before it shut, he looked up and he said, 'I see the sky,' so that let us know that this was way worse than anything we could have imagined," she told GMA. "And the roof was gone."

Barbara Pinkins, an employee at the restaurant, said she could hear the ceiling falling around them as they waited out the storm, per the report.

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.

When the storm subsided, a customer helped clear debris away from the cooler's door so those who sheltered inside could get out, USA Today and FOX Weather reported.

The refrigerator was the only part of the restaurant left standing after Friday's tornado.

"We stepped out to the back of the building  we stepped out through what would have been the back door, and our vehicles were totaled," Tracy told FOX Weather.

Story continues

"But then when we looked up, we just saw what used to be two motel buildings and 35 or more trailer houses are all gone, and they were all flattened," she added.

Related:Storm Chaser Volunteers to Build House for Mississippi Family He Rescued: 'Kind of a Miracle'

Tracy and her husband have owned Chuck's Dairy Barn for 16 years, per the reports. She said many of the town's few thousand residents enjoyed meeting up there.

"I care so much for my town, and our business is the place to go, not just to eat, but to be loved on and be comforted during anything," Tracy told USA Today.

Now, she and others that were in the path of Friday's tornado are picking up the pieces.

"We are okay," she told GMA. "I feel like I've said that a million times, but we are hurting, we are grieving, but we are alive so we are okay."

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Read the original article on People.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies Qiagen's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

51% of the business is held by the top 17 shareholders

Insiders have sold recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Qiagen N.V. (NYSE:QGEN), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 83% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Qiagen, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Qiagen

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Qiagen?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Qiagen already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Qiagen's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Qiagen is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 14%. Massachusetts Financial Services Company is the second largest shareholder owning 9.2% of common stock, and The Vanguard Group, Inc. holds about 3.7% of the company stock.

Story continues

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 51% of the ownership is controlled by the top 17 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Qiagen

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Qiagen N.V. in their own names. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$45m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 17% stake in Qiagen. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Qiagen you should know about.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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More students across North Carolina are being suspended from school. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, there was a 23% jump in long-term suspensions in the 2021 to 2022 school year compared to the one just before the pandemic, and minority students are being suspended at a higher rate.

Education reporter Jonathan Lowe investigated the disparity in punishments at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Angela Diazs 12-year-old son was too shy to speak on camera about his recent long-term suspension from Crestdale Middle School, but she was more than willing to talk to Lowe about his punishment she feels far exceeds the crime.

ALSO READ: CMS teacher suspended after grabbing and cursing at student

He found a vape, he thought it was interesting, he said everybody was vaping in school so why not take it in, Diaz explained.

When it fell out of his pocket and his teacher found it, she said the principal told her it constituted a severe violation.

The decision was 45 days and probation, which -- 45 days out of his home school -- I think it was unfair for a boy who, this was his first violation, Diaz said. This was unfair.

More students across North Carolina are being suspended from school. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, there was a 23% jump in long-term suspensions in the 2021 to 2022 school year compared to the one just before the pandemic, and minority students are being suspended at a higher rate.

Diaz made it clear that she was not excusing her sons actions. She said she leveled her own punishment.

Of course I did, he got his phone -- he wasnt allowed to go to his friends, she said.

She said he was suspended and assigned to alternative school Turning Point Academy because administrators thought marijuana was in the vape pen, which she disputes. On top of that, Diaz said those administrators enhanced the matter, accusing her son of distribution because he shared it with other students.

ALSO READ: CMS substitute teacher says she wont return to school after being attacked by 2 students

It was a naive mistake, she said. He did not know what he was sharing -- because I am not going to say distributing.

Rule 28 of the CMS Student Code of Conduct addresses alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Under Section C on marijuana, for a first time offense, administrators have the option of giving a short-term out-of-school suspension of up to 10 days with a referral to a student assistance program.

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However, the sale and/or distribution of the drug -- what Diaz says her son is accused of -- can lead to more severe consequences like long-term suspension or expulsion.

More students across North Carolina are being suspended from school. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, there was a 23% jump in long-term suspensions in the 2021 to 2022 school year compared to the one just before the pandemic, and minority students are being suspended at a higher rate.

Dee Rankin is a CMS school board member. Part of his duties include presiding over disciplinary hearings.

Right now, some of the suspensions, I think, are disproportionate in Black and brown communities, he said.

Data CMS released in February shows as of late December 2022, while Black students made up 36.2% of the overall student body, 68.2% percent of Black students received at least one out-of-school suspension.

Rankin said part of the problem appears to be varying interpretations of the infractions detailed in the code of conduct and the consequences connected to them.

ALSO READ: Alternative high school in west Charlotte struggling with safety concerns, teachers say

Some people are obviously choosing 30 to 45 days, and some are saying lets try something different to really get to the root of whats going on with that kid, Rankin said.

Hes concerned about how excessive suspensions can impact a students educational growth.

Even if you give the kid 10 days, thats two weeks out of school that youre missing, Rankin said. Thats a lot of work, thats a lot of class time.

He hopes his fellow board members will work with him to standardize the implementation of the Student Code of Conduct, provide better professional development for staff members, and more resources for students who have behavioral issues.

Im passionate about discipline because I think the school to prison pipeline is real, and its affecting our Black and brown kids, Rankin said.

Earlier this year, CMS said the reduction of out-of-school suspensions is a priority for district leadership and thats been communicated to school staff. Their efforts include increasing school safety and improving school climate while also providing alternatives to those suspensions.

Lowe reached out to CMS multiple times for a comment about Diazs sons case but has not heard back.

(WATCH BELOW: 7 students treated for carbon monoxide exposure after getting sick on school bus)
A 53-year-old Los Angeles man sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl at an Orange County library, California police say.

Christopher Eduard approached the girl in the childrens section at the Irvine Heritage Park branch of the Orange County public library Tuesday, March 21, Irvine police said in a news release.

Eduard asked her to help film a video, gave her his phone and had her read from cue cards, police said. He then exposed himself and sexually assaulted her, according to police.

Investigators pored over security camera footage to identify Eduard, who was arrested Friday, March 24. A search of his home found evidence linking him to the crime, police said.

Eduard faces charges including sexual assault of a child, production of child pornography and false imprisonment of a child to produce child pornography, police told McClatchy News.

Eduard was released from jail Saturday on bond, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Investigators believe he may be responsible for other crimes. They ask anyone with information to contact detective Nate Ridlon at nridlon@cityofirvine.org.

Irvine is a city of 310,000 people about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.

7-year-old found dead near California beach where stranger found his brother alone

Accused shoplifter bit off guards earlobe, Oregon officials say. Shes going to prison

Horseplay among friends with loaded gun kills 17-year-old, California police say
CHILLICOTHE  Her career path hasnt been linear, as she put it. But its been successful.

I had a pretty good childhood, recalled Jennifer Cochran. Growing up on the farm gave us plenty of work to do and taught us leadership and self-sufficiency. We had a lot of freedom to explore and take risks, which occasionally translated to injuries, but also gave us lots of shared history, memories and stories to tell. I dreamed of moving to a big city for a glamorous career as an actor, an editor, or a writer.

Jennifer Cochran, M.A. Manager of Communications and External Relaitions At Ohio University Chillicothe, stands in front of Bennett Hall at Ohio University Chillicothe on March 23, 2023, in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Today, Cochran is manager of communication and external relations at Ohio University Chillicothe.

I use my skills and experience as a communicator, she explained, to help design and execute a comprehensive communication and marketing strategy for Ohio University Chillicothe. I lead internal and external communication efforts designed to engage and inform a variety of audiences. I develop press releases, features, and news articles as well as recruitment materials and media plans, in addition to managing our website and social media channels.

I enjoy, she added, getting to hear the stories of our students and alumni and to tell those stories in ways that help our future students to see their own potential paths to the degrees they need to attain personal and professional goals.

Cochran grew up on a farm south of Jackson, in the house built by her great-great-grandfather. She graduated from Jackson High School, then earned a bachelors degree in journalism at Otterbein College.

After college she served a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA, coordinating a mentoring program with One to One Philadelphia. She then served two years as an English teacher in the United States Peace Corps in Armenia.

Afterward, she wanted to be closer to home and family, so Cochran came back to Ohio University in Athens to get a masters degree in international affairs, and work as communications director for the schools center for international studies.

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After serving in that role for a few years, she said, I stepped away from the university to devote myself to caring for my young children and retrained as a licensed massage therapist. I served two terms on Athens City Council. Then I returned to full-time work at Ohio University. My family moved to Chillicothe six years ago when my spouse accepted the directorship at the Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library.

In December, Cochran transitioned into her current role at OU Chillicothe.

We feel very fortunate to have Jennifer as part of our team, assessed Roberta Milliken, dean of campus and community relations at Ohio University Chillicothe. She brings a wealth of experience, creativity, and talent to her position.

I believe in the value of higher education, Cochran responded. Education opens doors for people, helps them to discover who they are and what role/s they will play in their communities.

To me, she concluded, life is not about a linear progression to a single goal. Its about learning and growing. Its about contributing to your community and society. And Im doing that. Not perfectly, by any means, but Im a work in progress. Arent we all?!

For more information about Ohio University Chillicothe, log on www.ohio.edu/chillicothe.

About the Series

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs  whether theyre unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Aces of Trades: Cochran leading the marketing efforts of Ohio University Chillicothe
Cuban electoral authorities reported a higher-than-expected participation rate in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, contrasting images published on social media and reports by Cuban independent media outlets and civil society organizations suggesting a low voter turnout following a boycott campaign by several opposition groups.

According to preliminary numbers provided Monday by the islands National Electoral Council, 76% of the eligible 8,120,072 voters cast a ballot, a number that diverges from a decreasing trend in voter turnout in recent years.

Still, it is the lowest participation rate in an election for the National Assembly members, which has taken place every five years since 1976. In 2018, that number was 86%.

Of those who voted Sunday, 10 percent annulled the ballots or left them blank, authorities said.

Several civil society and dissident groups dispute the data released Monday by the Cuban electoral authorities, which cannot be verified independently because Cuba does not allow independent elections observation.

Three small Cuban independent groups monitoring the elections  Observadores de Derechos Electorales, Comision Cubana de Defensa Electoral and Ciudadanos Observadores de Procesos Electorales  issued a statement reporting several irregularities, including not publishing the voter rolls in time, allowing unregistered voters to cast a ballot, excluding eligible voters from the electoral list, and coercing citizens into voting by sending volunteers to their homes carrying the ballots.

Cubalex, an organization that provides legal aid to critics of the government, said several independent journalists, dissidents and activists were detained or kept under surveillance on Sunday.

The independent group monitoring the election, as well as Cuban independent media outlets like 14ymedio, noted that many precincts in Havana and other provinces seemed empty at different times of the day. Some Cubans published photos on social media showing no long lines outside some polling stations.

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Cuban electoral authorities kept precincts open an hour after they were supposed to close at 6 p.m. without citing major disruptions as established in the electoral law.

The election occurred amid the worst economic crisis and the largest migration of Cubans to the United States in recent history. There are more than a thousand political prisoners as the government faces increased political opposition, prompting mass protests in 2021.

For months, members of the opposition and government critics have been urging the population not to vote in elections they said are fraudulent and provide Cubans with little choice.

Theres no direct vote for the president, the vice president or other top leadership positions in Cuba. Still, they all need to be elected members of the National Assembly first, which is why the government spends considerable time and resources promoting the official candidates.

Cubans cannot decide on different candidates for the same National Assembly seat nor select candidates from various parties. They can only vote yes or no on a list of candidates chosen by commissions made up of representatives of political organizations and municipal government assemblies.

There is only one candidate for each seat, and most are members of the government, the Cuban armed and security forces, the Communist Party, other political organizations and state companies.

Among the candidates were Cubas handpicked president and Communist Party Secretary Miguel Diaz-Canel, and several members of the initial group that came to power in 1959, including the countrys top leader and former president Raul Castro, 91; vice prime minister Ramiro Valdes, 90; Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, second in command of the Communist Party, 92; and revolution Comandante Guillermo Garcia Frias, 95.

The islands citizens also can only vote for the candidates proposed for the area where they live, so out of the current 470 seats, an average voter can only vote yes or no for two or three candidates for the National Assembly. That means most Cubans do not have a say on whether Castro or Diaz-Canel keep their seats.

Many Cubans show little interest in selecting the members of the National Assembly, as the parliament mostly rubber stamps the decisions taken by the Communist Party and other government bodies.

Since the system leaves little room for surprises, the 470 nominated candidates got elected Sunday.

Among those entering the National Assembly for the first time was Elian Gonzalez, 29, who as a boy was at the center of an international custody dispute and a political battle between Cuban exiles in Miami, Fidel Castro in Cuba and the Clinton administration.

Diaz-Canel called the Sunday elections a true display of civility, popular participation and socialist democracy. He dismissed criticism of the process by the U.S. Embassy in Havana and U.S. officials, telling reporters Sunday that the disrespectful opinions of the United States government slide off our back.

On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Havana called the election anti-democratic.

Elections without a choice  like this weekends national assembly elections in Cuba  are antidemocratic, the U.S. Embassy in Havana tweeted Monday. The Cuban people deserve real choices in real elections that feature candidates from more than a single political party and beyond the Communist Party.
Left to right: Habiba, Mahtab and Tamana - they are all devastated that young women in Afghanistan cannot attend school

"Every day I wake up with the hope of going back to school. They [the Taliban] keep saying they will open schools. But it's been almost two years now. I don't believe them. It breaks my heart," says 17-year-old Habiba.

She blinks and bites her lip trying hard not to tear up.

Habiba and her former classmates Mahtab and Tamana are among hundreds of thousands of teenage girls who have been barred from attending secondary school in most of Afghanistan by the Taliban - the only country to take such action.

One-and-a-half years since their lives were brought to a halt, their grief is still raw.

The girls say they fear that global outrage over what's happened to them is fading, even though they live with the pain every day - intensified this week when another school term started without them.

"When I see the boys going to school and doing whatever they want, it really hurts me. I feel very bad. When I see my brother leaving for school, I feel broken," says Tamana. Her voice trembles and tears roll down her cheeks but she goes on.

"Earlier, my brother used to say I won't go to school without you. I hugged him and said you go, I'll join you later.

"People tell my parents you shouldn't worry, you have sons. I wish we had the same rights."

"There was a little freedom at the beginning, but gradually that changed", Source: Habiba, 17, Source description: , Image: Seventeen-year-old Afghan Habiba

Any hopes they might have had of schools being reopened have been dented by the increasing restrictions the Taliban government has imposed on women.

"There was a little freedom at the beginning, but gradually that changed," Habiba says.

The first restriction following the secondary school ban came in December 2021, when the Taliban ordered that women would have to be accompanied by a male relative if travelling more than 72km (48 miles).

In March 2022, the Taliban government announced that secondary schools would reopen for girls, only to close them within hours.

Less than two months later, a decree was passed that women would have to wear clothing that covered them from head to toe, including a face veil.

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In November, women and girls were barred from parks, gyms and swimming pools. Girls were no longer allowed to choose subjects such as economics, engineering and journalism at university.

A month later, a massive blow was delivered when universities were closed to female students, and women were banned from working in domestic and international NGOs except those in the health sector.

"Life has no meaning without education. I think death is better than a life like this", Source: Mahtab, 15, Source description: , Image: A young Afghan woman named Mahtab

"If these limitations increase, I don't think this life is worth living anymore for women. We don't have access to our basic rights as human beings. Life has no meaning without education. I think death is better than a life like this," Mahtab says.

Mahtab had been injured in a bombing at Sayed Ul-Shuhada school in May 2021, when the Taliban were fighting the forces of the previous government of Afghanistan.

"I had injuries on my neck, face and foot. They were painful. But I was determined to continue studying," she says. "I even attended my mid-term exam, but soon after the Taliban came and it was all over."

The Taliban have said that schools and universities are only temporarily closed to women and girls until a "suitable environment" can be created. It is evident that there are divisions within the Taliban government on the issue, but so far any efforts by those who believe girls should be allowed to study have yielded no results.

Regarding some of the other restrictions, the Taliban say they were imposed because women were not wearing a hijab (head covering) or following Islamic laws. Enforcement of the Taliban's rules isn't uniform across provinces, but the regulations create an environment of fear and confusion.

"We always wear a hijab. But it doesn't make a difference. What do they mean? I don't understand," Tamana says.

In our time in Afghanistan before and after the Taliban takeover, we have never met an Afghan woman not wearing a hijab.

"When I see my brother leaving for school, I feel broken", Source: Tamana, 15, Source description: , Image: Tamana, a young Afghan woman

To counter the shrinking public spaces for women, Laila Basim had co-founded a library for women in Kabul which we visited in November last year. Thousands of books were neatly stacked on shelves that covered three walls of the room. Women came in to read books, and sometimes just to meet each other - an escape from being indoors in their homes.

Now the library is closed.

"Twice when the Taliban shut the library, we managed to reopen it. But the threats increased day by day. I got phone calls saying how dare I open a library for women. Once they came to the library and told women that they had no right to read books," says Laila. "It became too risky to run it, so I had to take the inevitable decision to shut it down."

Laila Basim has closed the women's library since this photo was taken in November

She says she will continue to find other means to fight the Taliban's policies.

"Of course, I am scared, but the closure of the library is not the end of the road. There are other approaches through which we can raise the voices of Afghan women. It is difficult and will require sacrifices, but we have started it and are committed to it," she adds.

For women who are the only earning members of their families, it's hard to even get from day to day.

Meera (name changed) is a widow in her mid-forties. She used to work as a cleaner at a girls' school, supporting her family of 10. She lost her job when the school closed, and, amid an economic crisis in the country, she's not found much work since.

She now begs on the streets of Kabul.

"I feel like I'm not alive. People know I have nothing so they try to help me out. It is better to die than to live a life without dignity," she says, weeping inconsolably. "If I get potatoes one day, I peel them and cook them. The next day I cook the peelings to feed my family."

Even amid her struggles, Meera wishes her daughters could go to school.

"If they could be educated, they could get jobs. One of my daughters wants to study law and another wants to study medicine. I tell them that I will find money for their education, even if I have to beg for it, but they can't go to university because the Taliban don't allow it," she adds.

"There is nothing except pain or sorrow in every house now," she says.

Additional gathering in Kabul.
A number of Agatha Christie novels have been rewritten for modern sensitivities, with racist terms removed and passages of text amended.

The news comes weeks after books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming were similarly edited following sensitivity reviews.

Christies Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have undergone edits such that original passages have either been reworked or removed in new editions published by HarperCollins, as reported by The Telegraph.

According to the publication, these new editions were either already released in 2020 or are set to be released. Insiders have said these editions used the services of sensitivity readers.

The Telegraph reports numerous changes to works from 1920 to 1976, with passages containing descriptions, insults or references to ethnicity having been altered  particularly for characters not from the UK.

Vocabulary has also been changed. The term Oriental, for example, has been removed, along with other racial descriptors in some instances.

In the 1937 Poirot novel Death on the Nile, a passage describing a Black servant as grinning because he understands the need to stay silent about an incident, no longer relays that he is Black or smiling. Instead, he is simply nodding.

The edits include amendments made to the inner monologue of characters such as Miss Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot.

David Suchet as Poirot (right) and Toby Jones as Samuel Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express from 2010 (Rex Features)

In a new edition of the Miss Marple novel A Caribbean Mystery (1964), the narrator praises a West Indian hotel workers lovely white teeth. This has now been cut, along with similar references to beautiful teeth.

The same book also no longer describes a female character with a torse of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed.

A passage in which a character fails to see a Black woman in the bushes at night has also been removed.

The n-word has also been cut, both in cases of Christies prose and the dialogue spoken by her characters.

In Death on the Nile (1937), references to the Nubian people have been cut, with the Nubian boatman now referred to as the boatman.

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Crime novels by Christie (Getty)

Christies 1920 debut novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles has been amended such that Poirots comment that another character is a Jew, of course no longer appears.

A young woman described as being of gypsy type is now only referred to as a young woman.

In the original 1979 short story collection Miss Marples Final Cases and Two Other Stories, Christie wrote of an angry judge with his Indian temper. This now reads his temper.

References to natives have either been replaced with local or removed altogether.

Christies books have previously been altered. Her 1939 novel And Then There Were None was originally released under another title that included a racist term.

Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time (Getty)

The Independent has contacted Agatha Christie Ltd, a company run by the writers great-grandson James Prichard understood to handle licensing for her literary and films rights, and HarperCollins for comment.

Last month, it was reported that Roald Dahls books were also being rewritten to remove language considered offensive.

The Queen Consort forced publisher Puffin UK to back down on its censorship after she intervened in the row over the decision to edit Dahls words.

Soon after, it was reported that Ian Flemings James Bond novels are also being edited, with racial references and racist language either amended or cut following a sensitivity review.
The war waged by publishers on author intent continues with the works of Agatha Christie.

Passages related to a persons physique, race, or ethnicity have been altered to accord to modern sensibilities, a new report from the Telegraph revealed. Christie, the mystery writer extraordinaire, now joins an ever-growing list of authors whose books are being retouched by sensitivity readers. That list also includes Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming, and R.L. Stine.

In Death on the Nile, the character of Mrs. Allerton complains about a group of children, saying: they come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I dont believe I really like children. The reference to their eyes and noses being disgusting is now missing from the text. The word Oriental has been removed in other instances. And a black servant, originally described as grinning, is now described as neither black nor smiling but simply as nodding.

In A Caribbean Mystery, the amateur detectives appreciation of a West Indian hotel workers lovely white teeth has been removed. Similar references to beautiful teeth are also stripped. A character described as having a torso of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed no longer has that feature. And a Nubian boatman, referring to the Egyptian ethnic group, is now just a boatman.

Other Agatha Christie novels feature similar alterations. Hercule Poirot no longer calls another character a Jew, of course. References to gypsies have been stripped throughout. An entire passage where a character fails to see a black woman in some bushes is now gone.

An Indian judges Indian temper is no longer modified that way. Natives are now locals and the word n***** is out of the revised editions.

It is not the first time Agatha Christies books have been revised, the Telegraph reported, but the scale of alterations appears novel.

The publisher of Agatha Christies novels is HarperCollins. The new editions are set to be released or have been released since 2020. Affected novels include the entire run of Miss Marple mysteries and selected Poirot novels. The Telegraph was told by insiders that the publisher employs the services of sensitivity readers.

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Authorial intent and the authors voice has been frequently cited by critics to slam such alterations. These changes are particularly complicated to make after the authors death.

Roald Dahl, whose childrens books were changed by Puffin Books recently, rewrote the Oompa-Loompas himself in the late 1960s after the first edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

After intense backlash, the publisher of Roald Dahl relented to a degree, allowing the original editions to be sold side-by-side with the revised ones. Readers will be free to choose which version of Dahls stories they prefer, read a statement from the publisher.

More from National Review
Foot Locker acquired 10 million new customers in the US last year through rising brands like On and Hoka. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Foot Locker and other sneaker retailers have learned their lesson about depending too much on Nike.

Foot Locker has allocated more wall space to emerging performance running brands like On and Hoka.

The sneaker retailer is also helping On and Hoka reach a younger audience.

Despite a renewed partnership with Nike, Foot Locker will continue to diversify the brands it sells under new CEO Mary Dillon.

Foot Locker and other sneaker retailers have learned their lesson from Nike's shifting strategy. Although Nike still sells at some retailers like Foot Locker, Nike is committed to putting its own direct-to-consumer sales first. In response, retailers have allocated more wall space to up-and-coming performance running brands.

The results have been promising. Foot Locker acquired 10 million new customers in the US last year through rising brands like On and Hoka. On and Hoka drove twice the number of customer acquisitions for Foot Locker compared to other brands in 2022, Dillon said at Foot Locker's investor day last week.

Foot Locker, a brand turning 50-years-old next year, is also helping On and Hoka reach a younger audience, the same audience that industry giants Nike, Adidas, and Puma have long benefited from.

"Brand partnerships like these are helping us to bring in new customers into our franchise as well as helping them expand to a younger and more diverse customer set than they may have today," Dillon said.

Both Hoka and On are favored by millennials and Gen Z, who often wear running shoes as casual wear. Deckers CEO Dave Powers told analysts last month that Hoka's new Solimar cross trainer launched without much brand marketing but is still in the top five styles purchased by women aged 18-34.

The number of On shoes sold at Foot Locker increased by 50% over the last three months of 2022, compared to the third quarter. Martin Hoffman, On's co-CEO and CFO, credited the growth partly to the "continued demand among younger consumers for products such as the Cloudnova," one of On's most popular silhouettes.

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On Running shoes on Foot Locker wall in Palisades Center. Danni Santana

Small, growing brands also typically spend hefty amounts to acquire each new customer with marketing and other efforts. Wholesalers can help bring that cost down.

"Acquiring a 21-year-old in New Jersey is more expensive for us to do than Foot Locker because Foot Locker has kept that relationship with that consumer," On co-CEO Marc Maurer told Insider in an interview.

In 2022, On increased the number of stores selling its sneakers by 15% and grew wholesale revenue 73%. And the company believes it has more room for growth. Its sneakers are available in less than 400 locations of the three major sneaker chains Foot Locker, JD Sports, and Dicks Sporting Goods. The retailers combined have over 1,800 brick-and-mortar locations in the US alone, not including other portfolio brands like Champs and Finish Line.

As for Hoka, wholesale revenue for the brand increased by 83% in its most recent quarter. The company has historically considered running specialty stores as its bread and butter but has recently expanded into Dicks Sporting Goods, REI, and Foot Locker.

"The door count and assortment of Hoka and On Running, are two great examples of newer brand partners thriving in the Foot Locker retail environment," Franklin Bracken, Foot Locker's chief commercial officer, said during investor day.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Artificial intelligence could impact the work tasks of roughly 80 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to new research, as the tech develops in ways that could augment or even displace some labor.

Researchers from OpenAI, OpenResearch and the University of Pennsylvania argue in a new paper, posted to arXiv, that around 80 percent of the workforce could have at least 10 percent of their work affected by the implementation of large language models, including Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPTs), in their industry.

Nearly 20 percent of workers could see at least 50 percent of their work tasks impacted  and around 15 percent of all work tasks in the U.S. could be completed significantly faster at the same level of quality with access to the artificial intelligence tool.

The researchers used AI to get to their findings and looked at exposure to the tech as a proxy for potential economic impact and didnt distinguish between labor-augmenting or labor-displacing effects.

Several occupations  including mathematicians, writers and authors, journalists, web and digital interface designers and tax preparers  as highly exposed, meaning the researchers predict GPT tech could significantly cut down work task time in the jobs.

The paper concludes that LLM technologies could have considerable economic, social, and policy implications if implemented in the U.S. workforce.

OpenAI developed the language processing system ChatGPT, which used advanced tech to generate human-like conversation, and its growing popularity has sparked both interest and concerns about the possible broader implications of using artificial intelligence in school, in the workforce and elsewhere.

Some have raised worries AI could be abused by students in school settings to generate essays with information pulled from the internet. Last week, fabricated AI-generated images of former President Trump being arrested circulated on the internet.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Donald Trump behind bars? Russian leader Vladimir Putin kneeling before his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping? You might have seen what seem to be realistic images like these circulating online, the result of rapid advances in artificial intelligence known as Generative AI.

Some ultrarealistic images of news events have already been mistaken for real ones and shared on social media platforms.

How can you tell a genuine image from a computer-generated one? Visual inconsistencies and a picture's context can help -- but there is no foolproof method of identifying an AI-generated image, specialists told AFP.

Recently developed AI tools such as Midjourney, DALL-E, Craiyon or Stable Diffusion can generate an infinite number of images by drawing on massive databases.

Many people use these tools for humorous or artistic purposes, but others rely on them to fabricate images of political news.

For example, a flood of AI-generated images circulated on Twitter after the meeting between Putin and Xi on March 20, 2023. Others portrayed French President Emmanuel Macron as a garbage collector as rubbish was mounting on Parisian streets amid mass strikes over controversial pension reforms.

Although most creators clearly state these widely shared images are fabricated, other photos circulate with no context or are presented as authentic.

Developers have launched tools such as Hugging Face to try to detect these montages. But the results are mixed and can sometimes be misleading, according to tests by AFP.

Hi, I'm a tech reporter that covers China, cybersecurity, & new media. Hundreds of people are sharing this photo of Xi Jinping & Vladimir Putin as they meet at the Kremlin. The two did meet, but it's highly likely this photo was generated by an AI program. Here's why: pic.twitter.com/6xqsDLxiMa  Amanda Florian  (@Amanda_Florian) March 21, 2023

L'#ia#photo a fait des progres dementiels en tres peu de temps, desormais le #fake sera la norme sur les #reseaux, doutez de ce que vous voyez par defaut, plus le choix.#midjourney#midjourneyv5pic.twitter.com/dJoZXGrbRy  Cryptonoo From 100K to 0 (@Cryptonoobzzzz) March 19, 2023

"When AI is generating pictures (from scratch), there is in general not a single original image from where parts are taken," David Fischinger, an AI specialist and engineer at the Austrian Institute of Technology, told AFP on March 21. "There are thousands/ millions of photos that were used to learn billions of parameters."

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Vincent Terrasi, co-founder of Draft & Goal, a startup that launched an AI detector for universities, added: "The AI mixes these images from its database, deconstructs them and then reconstructs a photo pixel by pixel, which means that in the final rendering, we no longer notice the difference between the original images."

That is why manipulation detection software works poorly, if at all, in identifying AI-generated images. A picture's metadata, which can sometimes reveal the source of an AI-generated image, is not helpful either.

"Unfortunately you cannot rely on metadata since on social networks they are completely removed," AI expert Annalisa Verdoliva, professor at the Frederick II University of Naples, told AFP.

Go back to the image source

Experts say one important clue is finding the first time the picture was posted online. In some cases, the creator may have said it was AI-generated and indicated the tool used.

A reverse image search can help by seeing if the picture has been indexed in search engines and finding old posts with the same photo.

This method makes it possible to find the source of images that allegedly show a violent altercation between former US president Donald Trump and police officers arresting him.

A Google reverse image search for one of these pictures leads to a tweet from Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative collective Bellingcat, published on March 20, 2023.

Higgins explained in a thread that he created the series of images with the latest version of Midjourney.

Screenshot of a Google search taken March 22, 2023

Making pictures of Trump getting arrested while waiting for Trump's arrest. pic.twitter.com/4D2QQfUpLZ  Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) March 20, 2023

If you can not find the original photo, a reverse image search can lead to a better-quality version of the picture if it has been cropped or modified while being shared. A sharper photo will be easier to analyse for errors that might reveal a montage.

A reverse image search will also find similar pictures, which can be valuable to compare potential AI-generated photos with those from reliable sources.

For one viral picture allegedly showing Putin kneeling before Xi, Twitter users such as Italian journalist David Puente pointed out that the decor in the room was different from that in pictures published by media covering the event.

Screenshot taken from Twitter on March 23, 2023

Photo captions and online comments can also be useful in recognising a certain style of AI-generated content. DALL-E, for example, is known for its ultrarealistic designs and Midjourney for its scenes showing celebrities.

Some tools, like Midjourney, leave a trace of AI-generated images on different conversation channels.

Visual clues

Even without knowing a photo's source, you may be able to analyse the image itself using visual clues.

Look for a watermark

Sometimes clues are hidden in the photo, such as a watermark used by some AI creation tools.

DALL-E, for example, automatically generates a multi-coloured bar on the bottom right of all its images. Crayion places a small red pencil in the same place.

Image generated by AFP on March 22, 2023 using DALL-E and the phrase: "A lolipop being held by a kid on a beach"

Image generated by Craiyon.com on March 22, 2023 using the phrase: "Pen on a table"

But not all AI-generated images have watermarks -- and these can be removed, cropped or hidden.

Tips from the art world

Tina Nikoukhah, a doctoral student studying image processing at ENS Paris-Saclay University, told AFP: "If in doubt, look at the grain of the image, which will be very different for an AI-generated photo from that of a real photo."

Using free versions of AI tools, AFP generated images that had a style similar to paintings of the hyperrealist movement, such as the left-hand example below showing an image of Brad Pitt in Paris.

Another creation below on the right was made with similar keywords on DALL-E. The image is not as obviously AI-generated.

AI-generated image using Stable Diffusion on March 22, 2023 using the phrase: "Brad Pitt, street of Paris, early and sunny morning, holding a croissant, near a bakery and old French car, wearing a white shirt, smiling, realistic, 4K"

AI-generated image created on March 22, 2023 using DALL-E and the phrase: "Brad Pitt in Paris, photo, shops in the background, 4K"

Visual inconsistencies

Despite the meteoric progress in Generative AI, errors still show up in AI-generated content. These defects are the best way to recognise a fabricated image, specialists told AFP.

"Some characteristics, often the same ones, pose a problem for AI. It is these inconsistencies and artefacts that must be scrutinised, as in a game of spot the difference," said Terrasi of Draft & Goal.

However, Verdoliva of Frederick II University of Naples warned: "Generation methods keep improving over time and show fewer and fewer synthesis artefacts, so I would not rely on visual clues in the long term."

For example, in March 2023, realistic hands are still difficult to generate. AFP's AI-generated photo of Pitt shows the actor with a disproportionately large finger.

An AFP journalist pointed out in February 2023 that a police officer had six fingers in a series of pictures allegedly taken during a demonstration against the French pension system reform on March 7, 2023.

The hand strikes again: these photos allegedly shot at a French protest rally yesterday look almost real - if it weren't for the officer's six-fingered glove #disinformation#AIpic.twitter.com/qzi6DxMdOx  Nina Lamparski (@ninaism) February 8, 2023

"Currently, AI images are also having a very difficult time generating reflections," Terrasi said. "A good way to spot an AI is to look for shadows, mirrors, water, but also to zoom in on the eyes, and analyse the pupils since there is normally a reflection when you take a photo. We can also often notice that the eyes are not the same size, sometimes with different colours."

Using the magnifying glass in the Invid-WeVerify tool highlights a colour difference between the two eyes in this AI-generated photo of Macron shared on Instagram. Not only did the picture feature two different shades of brown but Macron actually has blue eyes.

Screenshot of an Instagram post of an AI-generated image

Screenshot of an Invid-WeVerify analysis of an AI-generated image

Generators also often create asymmetries. Faces can be disproportionate or ears have different sizes.

Teeth and hair are difficult to imitate and can reveal, in their outlines or texture, that an image is not real.

And some elements can be poorly integrated, such as sunglasses that blend into a face.

Experts also say mixing together several images may create lighting problems in an AI-generated image.

Screenshot of an Instagram post generated by AI and posted by @joannsfar

Check the background

A good way to spot these anomalies is to peer into the photo background. While it may at first glance seem normal, an AI-generated photo often reveals errors, such as in these photos allegedly showing Barack Obama and Angela Merkel at the beach.

One of the people in the background appears to have his legs cut off.

"The farther away an element is, the more an object will be blurred, distorted, and have incorrect perspectives," Terrasi said.

In the fake photo of the meeting between Xi and Putin, a line on a column is not straight. The Russian leader's head also seems disproportionate compared to the rest of his body. Fischinger told AFP that the inconsistencies revealed an AI-generated image.

Inconsistencies are seen in this fake photo of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin

Use common sense

Some elements may not be distorted but they can still betray an error of logic. "It's good to rely on common sense" when you doubt an image, he said.

The photo below, generated by AFP on Midjourney and intended to show Paris, features a blue no-entry sign, which does not exist in France.

Photo generated with Midjourney on March 22, 2023 by AFP using the phrase: "Brad Pitt, street of Paris, early and sunny morning, holding a croissant, near a bakery and old French car, wearing a white shirt, smiling, realistic, 4K"

This clue, combined with the chopped fingertips of the central character, a plastic-looking croissant and a difference in lighting on some windows, suggests the photo is AI-generated.

The watermark at the bottom right of the image removes any doubt and signals that the shot is from DALL-E.

Finally, if an image claims to show an event but its credibility is in doubt, turn to reliable sources to look for possible inconsistencies.
Alex Jones, the InfoWars broadcaster and conspiracy theorist, said he believes that former President Donald Trump may be assassinated by the so-called deep state.

Mr Jones, who lost a defamation lawsuit after spreading disinformation about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, has said that if it appears as if Mr Trump may win the 2024 election, deep state operatives may take him out by blowing up his plane or shooting him.

The host was speaking on Sunday after Mr Trump had held his first 2024 rally on Saturday in Waco, Texas on the 30th anniversary of the deadly standoff by federal authorities and a religious cult leading to the deaths of 86 people, and spawning conspiracy theorists among Americans with anti-government sentiments.

It was one of the most lethal battles against law enforcement in US history, and Mr Trump spent a significant part of his speech railing against those investigating him for various alleged offences.

While Mr Jones said that he still has issues with Mr Trump, he called Mr Trumps violent rhetoric on Saturday hardcore, suggesting that his words would frighten those the conspiracy theorist has claimed are in control of the US and the wider world, Newsweek notes.

Mr Trump slammed the investigation into the 2016 hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels by his then-fixer Michael Cohen to avoid her speaking publically about an affair she alleges she had with Mr Trump in 2006.

The investigation is led by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who Mr Trump appeared to attempt to threaten last week when he shared a social media post of him holding a baseball bat juxtaposed to an image of the prosecutor.

Donald Trump posts article featuring picture of him holding baseball bat to Alvin Braggs head (Truth Social)

Mr Trump said on Saturday in Texas that his enemies are desperate to stop us, and that our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will.

Speaking to the press on his plane after the speech in Waco, Texas, he said, I think theyve already dropped the case.

Its a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing, he added. The ex-president has claimed on several occasions that the probe is politically motivated and he has rejected the allegations.

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If Mr Trump is indicted he would be the first US president to be charged with a crime. The grand jury reviewing the case is set to meet again on Monday, the Associated Press reported.

On Saturday, Mr Trump said his adversaries had failed and only made us stronger.

He added that 2024 is the final battle, its going to be the big one. You put me back in the White House, their reign will be over and America will be a free nation once again.

Whether Trump is for real or not, the deep state hates his guts and is scared of him, because they see him as a power rival, Mr Jones said on Sunday.

He said that Mr Trumps aggressive rhetoric was not a good thing in action, but that it did show that he was not being controlled by unseen powers, Newsweek noted.

Hes awake to whats happening and going on now, and I definitely like everything Im hearing from Trump, Mr Jones said.

It was amazing, he added. More hardcore stuff said at that rally than had been said in the last six, seven years of Trump combined, so Trump is definitely born-again hard, as they call it. I think theyll probably try and assassinate him or something, this is just insane.

Mr Jones spoke of the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July last year, arguing that it was an example of a killing of a conservative political leader.

If it looks like hes about to win again, I think theyre gonna shoot him. I think theyre gonna blow his aeroplane up, Mr Jones said of Mr Trump.

The InfoWars host asked his viewers what do we do other than Trump? going on to say that he was better than his top rival in the 2024 race, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has yet to officially announce a campaign.

Mr Trumps rhetoric grew increasingly violent on Saturday, mimicking the message he put forward in the lead-up to the January 6 insurrection.

If we dont win this election in 2024, I truly believe our country is doomed, he said, slamming demonic forces who are destroying the country.

Either the deep state destroys America or we destroy the deep state, he said.

Theyre flooding your towns with deadly drugs selling your jobs to China, mutilating your children  setting fire to your life savings, releasing violent criminals to prey on innocent people, the ex-president told the crowd.

I am your warrior. I am your justice. And I took a lot of heat for this one, but I only meant it in the proper way  to those who have been wronged and betrayed, of which there are many people out there, I will be your retribution, he added.

He said the investigations into him were something straight out of the Stalinist Russia horror show.

This is really prosecutorial misconduct, thats what its called. The innocence of people makes no difference whatsoever to these radical left maniacs, Mr Trump said.

The thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced, he added.
An Alexandria man and a Pineville teen both were sentenced to prison on Monday for shootings in 2021 and 2022.

An Alexandria man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the slaying of an elderly man in an Alexandria movie theater parking lot.

Antonio Bennett Brooks, 21, had been indicted on a second-degree murder charge in the July 19, 2021, death of 74-year-old Larry Baxley. The charge was reduced to manslaughter last month, and Brooks changed his plea to guilty to that charge and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Mary Lauve Doggett sentenced Brooks to 40 years on the manslaughter charge and 10 years each on the attempted murder charges. The sentences are to be served concurrently and without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Antonio Bennett Brooks:Alexandria man pleads guilty to lesser charge in 2021 murder of elderly Colfax man

Also on Monday, a 17-year-old Pineville boy was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for a March 2022 shooting that wounded another teen.

He was one of two teens indicted on charges of attempted second-degree murder in the March 11, 2022, shooting in Wardville. He was 15 at the time of the shooting. Both were charged as adults in the shooting.

Two other juveniles were given citations, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office stated at the time of the shooting.

Doggett sentenced the teen to 12 years and six months after he changed his plea to guilty Monday morning. His trial was to have been held this week.

March 2022 shooting:15-year-olds arrested on attempted murder charges in Wardville shooting

The other teen, also 15 at the time of the shooting, received the same sentence last month.

Both sentences are to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, according to online Rapides Parish Clerk of Court records.

And, lastly, the trial of 60-year-old Justin Grant Walters was moved to Sept. 18. A plea date was set for Aug. 9.

Walters faces charges of aggravated rape, second-degree kidnapping, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and other felony charge.

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He currently is serving a 20-year sentence on rape and kidnapping convictions out of Grant Parish. Law enforcement agencies in Grant and Rapides parishes had worked together in 2019, asking potential victims of Walters to step forward.

He was accused of holding women captive and beating or raping some of them, according to officials at the time.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Antonio Brooks, Pineville teen sent to prison in separate shootings
An Alexandria man was arrested after a late Sunday shooting left one man dead, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office.

An Alexandria man was arrested after a late Sunday shooting left one man dead, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office.

The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. near Tuma Drive off Old Boyce Road, an area bordered by La. Highway 1 and Interstate 49. Two people were wounded and taken to a hospital.

On Monday afternoon, the sheriff's office said one of those victims, 32-year-old Christopher Earl Chisem, had died.

Detectives got a search warrant after finding the car of a man identified as a suspect, 33-year-old Arthur Jamal Wallace, at a Gary Street home in Alexandria. But Wallace wasn't found there, according to a news release.

Pedestrian deaths:Investigations underway into wrecks that killed 2 pedestrians in Alexandria, Pineville

March 21 death:Alexandria man facing 2nd-degree murder charge in shooting death of woman, 19

Wallace turned himself in at the Rapides Parish Courthouse around 10:40 a.m., and detectives got arrest warrants for him. He was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1 on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

He remains in jail on a $1.5 million bail, according to the release.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective John Skrobarcek at 318-473-6727 or Crime Stoppers at 318-443-7867.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Victim in Alexandria shooting identified as Christopher Chisem, 32
By Julie Zhu, Kane Wu and Kevin Huang

HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba founder Jack Ma has returned to China, ending a stay overseas of more than a year that industry viewed as reflecting the sober mood of its private businesses, and which sources said eventually spurred the new premier to reach out.

The return of China's best-known entrepreneur may help to quell the concerns of its private sector after a bruising two-year regulatory crackdown.

Ma's re-emergence in public offers support for the government's softening tone toward the private sector as leaders try to shore up an economy battered by three years of COVID-19 curbs.

Online talk of Ma's return began emerging on Chinese social media early on Monday, before being confirmed by a school he had visited and the newspaper, the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.

During his visit, Ma, a former English teacher, discussed topics such as artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT and also said he hoped to return to teaching one day, the Yungu School said on its official WeChat account.

The school was founded by Ma and other Alibaba founders in the e-commerce giant's eastern home city of Hangzhou in 2017.

Ma returned to China last week, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Reuters was not able to establish how long he plans to stay in China this time round.

China's new premier, Li Qiang, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, had recognised Ma's return to the mainland could help boost business confidence among entrepreneurs and since late last year had begun asking Ma to return, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Some of these efforts involved asking people close to Ma, such as his business associates, to persuade the Alibaba founder in person while he was living in Japan, two of the sources said.

Reuters was not immediately able to establish whether Ma had returned due to Li's efforts.

Alibaba and China's State Council, or cabinet, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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'ALREADY BEATEN'

Ma's stay abroad came to symbolise a reversal of fortunes for China's private sector after his empire and the technology industry were the targets of Beijing's regulatory crackdown.

A speech Ma gave in 2020 criticising China's regulatory system is commonly accepted as the spark for the tighter government scrutiny and triggered his withdrawal from public activity.

In late 2021 he left mainland China and has been seen in photographs in Japan, Spain, Australia and Thailand.

Ma's return "boosts the sentiment of the broader platform and internet industry," said Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.

"Because that means the new top leadership has indeed been re-examining the position and the importance of the platform companies in China's economic development."

Zhang added, "The previous restrictive policies on the platform and internet sector are also expected to be adjusted."

Alibaba shares jumped more than 4% after news of Ma's return, before giving up some of the gains.

Li has been at the forefront of government's effort to bolster the private sector, saying this month that China's environment for entrepreneurial businesses would improve and that Beijing will treat all firms equally.

However, companies are hesitant, privately pointing to a lack of new supportive policies and the new regulatory framework ushered in by the crackdown.

That view is shared by long-time Asia analyst Fraser Howie, who has written several books on China's financial system.

"I can see how this sort of signals a relaxation but none of the laws and institutions set up to control the private sector have changed," he said.

"It doesn't matter at all to private business because he is already beaten. The state won, Jack has lost control, power, wealth and it's not coming back."

(Reporting by Julie Zhu, Kane Wu, Kevin Huang and Xu Jing; Additional reporting by David Kirton, Josh Horwitz and the Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Clarence Fernandez)
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding, returned to China recently after more than a year of overseas travel, and visited a school he founded in the city of Hangzhou.

On Monday, Ma met teachers and students at Hangzhou Yungu School, a private school covering kindergarten to high school, that was funded by Alibaba founders in 2017, according to sources familiar with Ma's schedule, and later confirmed by a post the school published on its WeChat account.

According to the post, Ma discussed with the school's faculty the future of education in the era of rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology. "We must use AI to solve problems, not to be controlled by AI," Ma was quoted saying

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

The billionaire added that technologies like ChatGPT have posed challenges for educators, and that it was only the beginning of the era of AI, according to the school's statement. Ma, who was an English teacher before founding Alibaba, said teaching was his favourite profession and he hopes he could return to it one day.

Ma returned to China after a brief stop over in Hong Kong, where he met friends and also briefly visited Art Basel. Ma is known to be very passionate about painting and the arts.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Alibaba's share price in Hong Kong rose in earlier trading, before closing 0.06 per cent lower on Monday, while the broader Hang Seng Technology Index lost 2.82 per cent.

Ma, who retired as Alibaba's chairman on his 55th birthday in 2019, has been travelling to different countries to learn about agriculture technology. His itinerary is closely followed by China watchers.

Although Ma has faded from public view in recent years, his whereabouts have become a litmus test for the friendliness of China's business environment, according to Angela Zhang, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong.

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This was especially true after the companies he founded - including Alibaba and its fintech affiliate Ant Group - came under regulatory scrutiny amid Beijing's intensified crackdown on the tech sector.

"The market seems to believe that the more public appearance Ma gets, the more friendly the government is towards private businesses," Zhang said.

Ma's return to Hangzhou this week has injected some much-needed confidence into the country's private sector, which should also help dispel worries about the personal safety of business entrepreneurs on the mainland.

In a shareholding structure overhaul of the Ant Group announced in early 2023, the voting power of Ma was diluted to make China's largest fintech company more "transparent and diversified". Under the changes, Ma will end an acting-in-concert pact with Ant's chairman Eric Jing, former chief executive Simon Hu and Alibaba veteran Jiang Fang, according to a statement.

After stepping down as Alibaba's executive chairman, Ma said he wanted to dedicate his post-retirement days to philanthropy, rural education and pursuing his interest in reviving China's rural sector.

Jack Ma in Thailand earlier this year, where he was pictured visiting a local food stall. Photo: Facebook alt=Jack Ma in Thailand earlier this year, where he was pictured visiting a local food stall. Photo: Facebook>

Ma has maintained his support for education in China through his Rural Teachers Initiative. At the end of last year, he gave a short video presentation to 100 teachers from China's rural areas, telling them that 2022 was "difficult" and "extraordinary".

In his rare appearances since retiring, Ma has been spotted in Europe, Japan and China, attending education and agricultural events. Earlier this year he was seen in Thailand as part of his study of farming and fishery, which followed a three-month stay in Japan where he looked into the operations and technology of fish farms.

During the Lunar New Year, Ma was in Hong Kong, where he was excited by what he saw as the city began to open up after nearly three years of Covid-19 travel restrictions, according to people close to him.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
(malik4asa / TikTok)

A video of an Amazon employee delivering a package in a police standoff has gone viral on TikTok.

The video , posted on 18 March by TikTok user mlktrk679, showed an Amazon delivery worker dropping off a package at a home surrounded by at least 10 law enforcement vehicles.

Amazon hard at work, the TikToker said while filming the interaction in Cary, North Carolina.

Wearing Amazons signature blue employee vest, the delivery worker casually walked the Amazon box up to the driveway where several law enforcement officers sat.

In the midst of a standoff, hes going to deliver his package, the TikTok user said.

Before the Amazon employee could approach the house further, the police stopped him and took the box, indicating they would pass it along to the owner.

As he made his way down the driveway, the employee took a photo of the interaction, a common practice for deliverers to indicate the package was dropped off safely, then walked off.

Go Amazon, the TikToker said.

The video received over 7 million views on TikTok and 1.3 million likes.

Commenters joked about the Amazon driver putting himself in the middle of a dangerous situation for the sake of work.

Package Delivery Note was handed to SWAT officer, one person wrote.

Dude isnt paid enough to care about his safety, another commented.

According to a report from local news station ABC11 , the delivery occurred during a nearly 24-hour-long standoff between SWAT team members and an armed man who barricaded himself in his apartment and held an 11-year-old boy hostage.

It is unclear who the intended receiver of the Amazon package was.

The standoff ended after the man died by suicide. According to police, he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

The 11-year-old boy was treated for gunshot wounds but was expected to make a recovery.

Terry Sult, Carys Chief of Police, offered condolences to the family of the man, adding,its always a sad time when someone is in crisis, and it should bring attention to mental health across the country.

The Independent has reached out to Amazon for comment.
(From left) Julie and Mason Leach of Amazon, and Sarah Harding and Paul Gunderson of the Gaylord Area Chamber of Commerce welcome the addition of the Amazon Delivery Partner Program to the chamber on March 22.

GAYLORD  Online retail giant Amazon needs to deliver a lot of packages every day. To supplement delivery firms like FedEx and United Parcel Service, Amazon is recruiting small businesses to join the company's delivery partner program.

Amazon pays participating businesses a per-package fee to deliver orders within a 6.5-mile radius to their neighbors homes.

"We ask (the small businesses) to help us deliver 20 to 50 packages a day. All (of the packages) are under 50 pounds," said Julie Leach, field acquisition manager for the company in Michigan.

The program is now in operation in Gaylord. Leach said an Amazon driver drops off the packages at participating businesses.

"They scan the packages into an app on their phone and then it builds a delivery route for them. They have until 8 p.m. (that day) to deliver the packages," she said.

Leach said all kinds of businesses have signed up for the program.

"We have a realtor, some boutiques, a pizza shop and a property management firm," she added.

Leach said Amazon does utilize individuals for some of its delivery services that are located near a sort center.

"For our rural areas this is the delivery model we are using," Leach said.

Leach said the businesses like the additional revenue they earn and the stability it can bring to cash flow. She noted that businesses must got through a vetting process Amazon has set up for the program.

"Businesses are required to carry general liability insurance and worker's compensation if they have employees," said Leach.

The delivery program is already in operation in Houghton Lake, Tawas and Traverse City, according to Leach.

"This started out as a pilot program and we have partners delivering packages every day in Michigan and it is going great," she said.

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Amazon also has a referral program that rewards someone who refers a business that eventually is accepted into the partnership.

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"A lady in Alpena referred seven businesses that became part of the program. She used the money from the referrals to purchase a new furnace," said Leach.

Those interested in the program or who have a referral can call Leach at (989) 501-1600.

 Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Amazon program pays local businesses to deliver packages
Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan was gunned down in front of his 2-year-old daughter Bexley in north Florida a little over a year ago in a crime so heinous, it captured international headlines.

Two men were recently arrested for the shocking slaying, and a clearer picture has emerged of what police have called a "targeted" and cold-blooded ambush of a father of four Feb. 16, 2022.

The tragic killing has laid bare the long simmering tensions between Bridegan and his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, with whom he shares 10-year-old twins.

It also left the slain man's widow, Kirsten Bridegan, the mother of his two youngest children, Bexley and London, 1, desperate to find answers.

JARED BRIDEGAN MURDER: EX-WIFE'S FAMILY SAYS SHE'S SEPARATED FROM HUSBAND

Gardner-Fernandez, 35, remains a suspect, although she has not been charged and has denied any involvement in the killing.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Gardner-Fernandez filed for divorce from Bridegan Feb. 23, 2015, after five years of marriage, calling the union "irretrievably broken" and telling the court, simply, "We dont love each other anymore."

When they met, they were both devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After they married, they soon welcomed twins, a boy and a girl.

However, Gardner-Fernandez began to stray from her faith and allegedly had an affair with a personal trainer, Fox News Digital exclusively reported.

Her parents, Shelli and Sterling Gardner, founded Stampin' Up!, a papercraft company with an estimated annual revenue of over $100 million a year, according to IncFact.

JARED BRIDEGAN MURDER: FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY ANNOUNCES ARREST IN MICROSOFT EXEC'S SLAYING

They had financially supported the couple during their marriage, and Gardner-Fernandez was allegedly irate when Bridegan ended up with a cash settlement after their split.

A tattoo parlor staffer said that around the time of the divorce, Gardner-Fernandez asked him if he knew anyone who could "shut him [Bridegan] up."

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The pair hammered out a joint custody agreement but continued to spar in family court over every issue that cropped up with their twins, from where they would attend school to modifications of their custody and child support agreements.

As the years passed, Gardner-Fernandezs filings grew more hostile and her accusations more extreme.

Kirsten and Jared Bridegan at their wedding in 2017. Jared Bridegan was gunned down Feb. 16, 2022, in an upscale suburb of Florida.

Meanwhile, Bridegan met and married Kirsten in 2017, and they welcomed two children, Bexley, now 3, and 1-year-old London.

Gardner-Fernandez met Mario Fernandez in 2018 at her CrossFit gym in Florida, where he worked in maintenance, and they soon tied the knot.

Bridagen dropped off his twins Wednesday evening at his ex-wifes house after taking them and Bexley out for dinner for a routine "date night."

About three miles from Gardner-Fernandezs home, Bridegan was lured from his Volkswagen Atlas at about 7:30 p.m. by a tire that had been placed in the middle of the secluded roadway minutes earlier.

A poster announced a $55,000 reward for information about the unsolved murder of Jared Bridegan.

As he stepped out to move it, he was repeatedly shot, and several bullets lodged in the interior of the vehicle near Bexley, who was strapped in her car seat.

Three full minutes passed before Bexley, crying hysterically near her dying father, was pulled from the car by a passerby who stumbled on the gruesome scene.

MAJOR BREAK IN JARED BRIDEGAN MURDER MYSTERY AFTER EX-WIFE MOVES CROSS-COUNTRY

The Jacksonville Beach Police Department, which remained tight-lipped about the investigation, repeatedly asked for the publics help identifying a dark blue Ford F-150 spotted near the crime scene.

A family portrait of Jared and Kirsten Bridegan.

Amid mounting public scrutiny and after hiring a prominent criminal defense lawyer, Gardner-Fernandez moved 2,800 miles to the Pacific Northwest late last year.

Her parents secretly purchased a $1 million home for her using an LLC in West Richland, Washington, while Fernandez moved to Orlando. She cut off all communication between the twins and their younger half siblings, with whom they had once been close.

In a stunning development, police arrested a man the Bridegans had never heard of, 61-year-old Henry Tenon, on charges of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, accessory after the fact and child abuse.

"Investigators revealed a single link between Jared Bridegan and Henry Tenon: Mario Fernandez," Melissa Nelson, the state attorney for Florida's Fourth Judicial District, said at press conference announcing the first major break in the case.

Fernandez was renting a home he owned in Jacksonville to Tenon at the time of the murder and had also hired him to do odd jobs at his other rental properties.

Tenon pleaded guilty to shooting Bridegan as part of a cooperation agreement that will send him to jail for 15 years to life. Minutes after Tenon admitted his role in the slaying in the Duval County Courthouse, Jacksonville Beach Police deputies and other agents arrested Fernandez in Orlando.

"Tenon's cooperation has both corroborated evidence collected during the investigation and provided additional evidence against Mario Fernandez for his role in the planning and execution of Jared's murder," Nelson said at the press conference announcing the charges against Fernandez.

Fernandez had written three checks to Tenon  but the arrest affidavit does not indicate when these were issued or for what amount.

Phone records show that Tenon and Fernandez communicated 35 times in February  the month of the slaying  30 times in March, and at least five times in the months that followed.

LISTEN: THE FOX TRUE CRIME PODCAST WITH EMILY COMPAGNO

Gardner-Fernandezs family was quick to distance her from her husband, saying in a company email to employees that the two had been separated for an "extended period of time." The email did not reference Bridegan by name.

Fernandez faces charges of second-degree murder with a weapon, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse  and prosecutors could seek the death penalty.

The police and the state attorney have repeatedly said the probe hasnt ended with the arrests of Fernandez and Tenon.

"We all remain committed to seeking the truth and that is the entire truth. And holding accountable every single individual involved," Nelson said.

Kirsten Bridegan, widow of Jared Bridegan, gives an exclusive interview with Rebecca Rosenberg on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

She was asked if more arrests are coming. "At this time Im not going to answer that question," she replied cryptically.

Bridegans family has said they will not rest until every person involved in his demise is brought to justice.

"There are more people," Kirsten previously told Fox News Digital. "This was orchestrated, this was planned and this was specific to Jared."

Attorneys for Gardner-Fernandez and Fernandez did not immediately return requests for comment.
An illustrated image of a Star of David being cut by scissors Illustrated/Getty Images

Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose in 2022 to their highest level since The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) first began tracking them in 1979. In a new report, the ADL recorded 3,697 cases of antisemitism, including assault, vandalism, and harassment, a 36 percent increase from the year before. The data follows an uptick in antisemitism over the past five years, and "the upward trend is alarming," CNN says. The report includes anecdotal evidence from victims and community leaders and police statistics, which all indicate an increase in hate-based attacks, "from offensive comments to antisemitic slurs written on property to physical attacks," CNN added. Last year there was a 69 percent increase in attacks against Orthodox Jews in particular, per the report.

"The brazenness of these attacks, sometimes in broad daylight, is a huge concern," Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL Center on Extremism, told CNN. The findings in the ADL's latest report validate what many in the Jewish community have been feeling, Segal said, "that antisemitism seems to be popping up everywhere and often."

'A new era for antisemitism'

The ADL refrained from speculating on motivations for the rise, but Aryeh Tuchman, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism, told CBS News that the "largest and most noteworthy bucket of incidents" contributing to the trend "is organized white supremacist activity." White supremacist networks produced more than double the amount of antisemitic propaganda from the previous year. The report also noted that antisemitic remarks from rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, contributed to the spike in anti-Jewish rhetoric. The ADL stated that the "impact of Ye's comments was felt on the ground across the country."

"We're in a new era for antisemitism," Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, told The New York Times. "We're now seeing Jews becoming a default target."

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'The solutions are not a mystery'

The root causes of antisemitism are complex, but "the solutions are not a mystery," wrote Frida Ghitis at CNN. The responsibility is "on everyone's shoulders" to stop the conspiracy theories, lies, and toxic messaging circulating on social media, cable news, and in the political sphere. "Students everywhere should learn about the Holocaust," and public safety agencies need "a commonly accepted definition of antisemitism," which will help them better identify and prevent hate crimes. And of course, politicians on both sides of the aisle "must do a more forthright job of calling out antisemitism in their midst."

Indeed, the ADL's audit should be a wake-up call for government officials, the organization said, calling on leaders to openly condemn antisemitism and urging them to launch "a concerted whole-of-government, whole-of-society response," including addressing antisemitic rhetoric online. Jewish Americans should increase security at their institutions "but also to remain proud and confident," Tuchman told CBS News. "These findings should be a call to action, but not the source of fear and alarm."

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By Patrick Wingrove

(Reuters) - Amgen Inc's battle with Sanofi and Regeneron at the U.S. Supreme Court over its cholesterol drug Repatha on Monday has some drugmakers hoping a ruling will reshape U.S. patent law and competition among companies that make antibody medicines.

In the dispute with Sanofi and partner Regeneron, whose cholesterol-lowering monoclonal antibody drug Praluent works in a similar way as Repatha, Amgen wants the court to rule on how much information it and others need to disclose when describing inventions in patents.

The court has been asked to weigh in on the validity of two patents for Repatha, which garnered sales of $1.5 billion in 2022 for Amgen, to determine whether Praluent infringes them.

The Supreme Court could maintain the legal status quo with its decision  expected by the end of June  which would keep the antibodies market open to numerous players. It could also decide to make it easier for drug companies to muscle competitors out of some market areas with broad patents that cover more ground.

Market research consultant Global Market Insights said the monoclonal antibodies market, which includes big-selling treatments for cancer, high cholesterol, COVID-19 and many other conditions, was worth $181 billion in 2021.

Under U.S. patent law, drug companies can get 20 years of market exclusivity for publishing their inventions, but must describe them clearly enough so skilled people can copy and use them without too much trial and error. Companies that describe inventions too broadly run the risk of having their patents canceled.

Amgen, supported at the Supreme Court by AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb and GSK, wants the high court to rule that it can use genus claims, which describe a set of characteristics or features common to a group, to describe what Repatha does in broad language.

If successful, Amgen would claim ownership of all antibodies that inhibit the PCSK9 protein, the mechanism of action for both Repatha and Praluent. Other companies could then do the same with their own antibody treatments in other disease areas.

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Sanofi and Regeneron, backed by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Eli Lilly < LLY.N> and at least six other companies, have argued that broad patent protection like Amgen is seeking is not allowed by U.S. patent law.

Patent lawyer Irena Royzman of Kramer Levin said the companies taking Sanofi and Regenerons side are doing so because a win would allow them to keep bringing competitive drugs to market more easily.

The J&Js, Eli Lillys and Pfizers recognize that if a particular company controls an entire therapeutic target, were all the poorer for it, Royzman said.

The case might also affect newer technologies used in medicine, such as CRISPR gene editing and messenger RNA, she said.

Amgen's side says if forced to only claim the structural components of their drugs in patents, competitors could easily design around them, disincentivizing investment in monoclonal antibodies.

Baird analyst Brian Skorney said the immediate financial impact of the decision is limited to the companies involved, although it could give some an advantage in future litigation.

Regeneron made $130 million from Praluent in the U.S. last year, and Sanofi collected $400 million in the rest of the world.

U.S. courts have so far sided with Sanofi. A Washington, D.C.-based federal appeals court that covers U.S. patent cases invalidated Amgen's patent claiming ownership of all PCSK9 inhibitors as a whole in 2021.

Amgen sued Sanofi and Regeneron in 2014. Both drugs use lab-made antibodies to block PCSK9 proteins that inhibit removal of bad LDL cholesterol from the blood, but they achieve that result through different chemical combinations.

(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
The author of a House bill to make it easier to sue the public and journalists over defamation claims says he is preparing amendments to the measure to clarify a provision that assumes that any statement from an anonymous source is false and to allow for alternatives to damages in some cases.

Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said in a interview on Friday that he intends to propose modifications to the bill, HB991, before it is taken up at its next stop, the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill, and its Senate companion, SB 1220, will eliminate longstanding protections for the news media in their coverage of politicians, government officials and public figures, make it easier to sue media outlets and change who is considered a public figure for the purpose of establishing a claim of defamation, libel and slander.

But the measure has come under intense criticism from First Amendment advocates, who say it is a direct violation of the free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution, and from both legacy media and conservative media outlets who warn that it will open the door to a barrage of lawsuits, including against conservative talk radio hosts.

This bill is effectively neutering our Conservative News/Talk radio station in Southwest Florida, 92.5 FOX News, from which most of you have benefited, said James Schwartzel, the owner of the Fort Myers-based radio station, in a letter to legislators.

READ MORE: Backed by DeSantis, lawmakers look to gut press freedom. It might not stop in Florida

Schwartzels station hosts conservative talk radio celebrities such as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. He warned that if the bill becomes law, his station will change our conservative programming, and announcers will quit. The devastation will be severe and swift. Republicans will lose one of their most prominent platforms to reach their base forever.

The criticism continued on Thursday when Congressman Cory Mills, a conservative Republican from New Smyrna Beach, sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Bay, and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, urging them to reconsider what he considers clearly unconstitutional language in the defamation bill.

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In the three-page letter, Mills outlined a litany of objections, including that it will target speech based on content and tilt the playing field in favor of plaintiffs in certain defamation actions by setting the burden of proof below the standard set by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Asked about it on Friday, Renner said he had not seen the letter but said he supported the bill, confirming for the first time that the Legislatures goal  as outlined by Gov. Ron DeSantis  is to set up a legal challenge to New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark Supreme Court ruling on libel and public officials.

READ MORE: There are warnings across the political spectrum as House panel OKs defamation bill

In that 1964 ruling, the court defined the new standard for actual malice  a key factor in determining whether someone was libeled  as making a false statement about a public official with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

Mills also objected to the bills provisions that any information provided by anonymous sources will be deemed false.

While I understand the motivation to create this presumption given the myriad examples of abuse by legacy media outlets, the legitimate instances were relying on any anonymous sources counsels caution, he wrote. For example, journalists routinely rely on granting sources anonymity in cases involving corporate and government whistleblowers, national security and law enforcement abuses, or egregious and illegal misconduct by power individuals.

He said the bill is not only unpatriotic, but it is not representative of the free state of Florida and warned that, if passed, it would stifle all media voices  whether liberal, conservative or neutral  that your constituents have come to trust and rely on, as well as any individual who chooses to exercise their rights to freedom of speech.

After Mills posted his letter on Twitter on Friday, Andrade was defiant. Calling @CoryMillsFL an imbecile will still not be considered defamation after this bill passes, he responded with a quote tweet and lengthy exchange. He suggested that Mills was aligned with liberal media outlets.

Respectfully youre acting like a [clown emoji], he wrote and referred to U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, who have each expressed interest in revisiting existing standards in defamation cases.

Andrade said that while he stands by the thrust of his proposals and disagrees with the analysis of both Mills and Schwartzel, there is room for some tweaks.

I want to make sure that theres no opportunity for misinterpretation, he said in an interview. Were gonna file amendments to tweak it and make it more clear.

Specifically, he said, he wants to allow media organizations to rely on multiple anonymous sources if needed.

If you have an anonymous source, but you also have primary sources you look to to verify that anonymous source, then youve proven a good faith attempt thats to the point where you should still overcome actual malice, he explained.

A second change he is pursuing would provide an individual with a defamation claim an avenue to have the statement corrected before they have to file for damages.

What I really want to have happen is this opportunity where, before we get to damages, before we get to public figure, before we get to actual malice, and all you want to do is clear your name, you have that opportunity in a fast, direct process, he said. Because right now there is no opportunity.

Public figures should expect some level of rough and tumble discourse and people getting it wrong about them, he said. I just want, when folks get it wrong about a public figure, to know that at least they got it wrong in good faith and made a good faith attempt not to get it wrong.

Andrade said he also disagrees that the bill is intended to become a vehicle to challenge the NYT v. Sullivan standards.

My intent is not to overcome Sullivan, he said, but to allow the state to set its own tort standards. Public figures like me, would still have to overcome actual malice to win damages.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Chinas global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the worlds most powerful communist country.

An investigation by The Associated Press has found that China and its U.S.-based advocates spent years building relationships with the states officials and lawmakers. Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didnt like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese governments image.

Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the U.S. and its Western allies have turned acrimonious. U.S. officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.

Beijings success in Utah shows how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

Utah is an important foothold, he said. If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.

Security experts say that Chinas campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Beijings campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the Justice Department.

A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic. A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP hes been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

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'DECEPTIVE AND COERCIVE'

Beijings interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the U.S. in 2015 that without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.

It is not unusual for countries, including the U.S., to engage in local diplomacy. U.S. officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the U.S. intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center in July warned state and local officials about deceptive and coercive Chinese influence operations. And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to cultivate talent earlyoften state and local officialsto ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijings agenda.

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the U.S. and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and Chinas tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered and shot down in U.S. airspace.

LEGISLATIVE AND PR VICTORIES

U.S. officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted. The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well-known to lawmakers.

Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislations sponsor. The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by U.S. national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards theyd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to become young ambassadors for Sino-American friendship.

Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state-controlled media in China.

A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. Hes so cool! Portraying Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Xi's letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldnt help but think how amazing it was that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xis letter was so kind and so personal.

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said in making such comments Utah lawmakers are essentially acting as mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party and legitimizing their ideas and narratives.

Statements like these are exactly what Chinas goal is for influence campaigns, he said.

SPY AGENCY INTEREST

Chinas interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education. U.S. officials have noted that Chinas civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show.

In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China. The Chicago student told an undercover agent hed been tasked by his spy handlers to meet people, some American friends." He was baptized at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent he'd been going to Utah more often lately before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former U.S. intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China. Hansen said China's spy service had tasked him with assessing various U.S. politicians views towards China. The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organize the first ever annual U.S.-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews. The U.S. State Department canceled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts.

UTAH IS NOT LIKE WASHINGTON D.C.

The AP found groups of up to 25 Utah lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007. Lawmakers have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges, while relying on China and host organizations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, theyve forged relationships with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijings agenda.

Utah is not like Washington D.C., then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.

In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him bullish about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other lawmakers.

Its a trip not worth taking, Hughes said.

Utah doesnt require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so its difficult to determine lawmakers' financial ties to China. Some of Utahs most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections.

Sen. Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he had clients in China  a dozen at times  some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients are based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them.

Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah.

Chinas not going anywhere. Chinas going to be a world force. Theyre going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavor, he said.

TIES FORGED BY TWO UTAH RESIDENTS

Many of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organizations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found.

The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favor with Beijing, according to emails and interviews.

In reviewing the APs findings, legal experts said the mens connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven.

If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters.

One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted in 1990 to the Mormon faith.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job -- as a paid representative of Chinas Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding sister relationship with Utah.

Les advocacy continued after he said he left Liaonings payroll, emails and interviews show. He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese Embassy set up meetings with state officials.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with Chinas ambassador to the U.S., Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting.

I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together. You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.

State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams thought could be used as potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, emails and interviews show.

Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in an email to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese Embassy to assign two staffers to work tirelessly on the request until it was fulfilled.

RELIGIOUS SALES PITCH

A hallmark of Les approach is to utilize his religion in his pitches to lawmakers. He quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his emails, text messages and letters, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the churchs president-prophet, has made about China.

Chinese officials have tried to cultivate friendly ties with the church. When visiting Utah, China's diplomats and officials often meet top church members as well as lawmakers, emails and other records show.

Expanding to China has been a top goal for the church, which plays a heavy role in Utah politics and the state's overall identity. Many of the states residents lived abroad as missionaries, and several of Utahs public schools have robust K-12 Chinese immersion programs.

While the church has historically been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Le sought to stop Utah lawmakers from supporting religious figures or groups discriminated against by the Chinese government.

When a Utah lawmaker sponsored a resolution in 2021 condemning Chinas well-documented and brutal crackdown of its minority Muslim Uighurs, Le chastised the legislator in text messages and compared unflattering media coverage of the Chinese government to that of the churchs founder, Joseph Smith Jr.

Pray to God and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as you ponder about these issues instead of solely relying on those biased media reports, Le said.

The resolution failed that year and a similar one introduced in January did not receive a hearing.

CHINA'S ADVANTAGES

Le has served as a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, which has ties to the United Front Work Department -- a Chinese Communist Party organization the U.S. government says engages in covert and malign foreign influence operations.

A United Front publication profiled Le in 2020 after he attended a meeting in Beijing of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious advisory body controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

I deeply feel the advantages of Chinas system, Le told the publication.

Le told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI in 2007 and 2018 about his Chinese government ties. He said his advocacy has always been self-directed.

I dont consider myself a lobbyist because Im not a lobbyist. Im just someone who cherishes the relationship between the U.S. and China, Le said in an interview in his Weber State office.

Adams, the Senate president, said he feels otherwise.

I do believe hes lobbying, Adams said. He advocates very hard on China.

LAWMAKER'S SON TURNED CHINA ADVOCATE

Another Utah resident whom lawmakers said regularly has advocated better relations with China was Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

Emails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah Senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah.

Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well connected with government officials there.

Ive heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritizing their relationship with Utah, Stephenson told lawmakers at a committee hearing. That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Sen. Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

The resolution passed with near unanimous approval.

A Chinese diplomats efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the states Senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda.

Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolutions origins.

It seemed rather innocuous to me, Anderegg said of his resolution. But maybe it wasnt.

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution.

TIES TO ALLEGED FRONT GROUPS

Stephenson has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show.

He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International. The companys chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online biography. The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Partys United Front.

Stephenson, also once worked for the China Academy of Painting, which has been used by Chinas Ministry of State Security as a front for meeting and covertly influencing elites and officials abroad, according to Alex Joske, the author of the recently published book Spies and Lies: How Chinas Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World.

Stephenson said he worked only briefly  without pay  for the China Academy of Painting. He added he did not witness any spy agency involvement.

WORK ALIGNED WITH CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S DESIRES

Stephenson said hes never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it.

I work to promote Utahs economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties, Stephenson said.

His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Party's messaging.

Stephenson urged Utahs elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that citys residents early in 2020 as they battled COVID-19, according to emails obtained by AP.

You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China, Stephenson said in an email pitching the videos.

The request originated with the Shanghai government, according to Stephensons email, and came as officials in China were scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his repeated warnings about the disease's dangers.

Many lawmakers recorded videos reading sample scripts Stephenson provided, and a compilation of those videos was uploaded to a Chinese social media website. The compilation ends with dozens of lawmakers in unison shouting jiayou!- a Chinese expression of encouragement -- on the Utah House and Senate floors.

___

Suderman reported from Washington. AP writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this story.

Contact APs global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
Filmmaker-actor Amy Jo Johnson wants people to know money is not the reason she's not suiting up for "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." (Chelsea Guglielmino / WireImage)

Amy Jo Johnson's absence from the upcoming Power Rangers reunion has nothing to do with money and possibly everything to do with spandex.

The actor and filmmaker, who played Pink Power Ranger Kimberly Hart on the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, has said a rumor that she declined a role in Netflix's 30th-anniversary special Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always for financial reasons is simply not true.

Please stop saying I didnt do [the] reunion because of money she tweeted on Sunday. Simply not true.

Maybe I just didnt want to wear spandex in my 50s, she continued, before saying she might have been unable to travel to New Zealand for a month for production. And, she added, maybe the reason for her absence was none of ur beeswax.

The movie was filmed before alum Jason David Frank  who played both the Green and then later the White Power Ranger, Tommy Oliver on the 1993 series  died by suicide last November. Johnson tweeted that both she and Frank had opted out of the reunion for their own reasons.

In January, Johnson tweeted that technically she hadnt rejected the project.

For the record I never said no  I just didnt say yes to what was offered, she said. But other fun stuff is in-store! Looking forward to watching my friends kick ass! #PowerRangers30

Although Johnson has decided to sit out the 30-year reunion, numerous other original cast members from the 90s show and the movie Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are suiting up for the special, including Steve Cardenas Red Ranger Rocky DeSantos, David Yosts Blue Ranger Billy Cranston, Karan Ashleys Yellow Ranger Aisha Campbell, Johnny Yong Boschs Black Ranger Adam Park and Walter E. Jones Black Ranger Zack Taylor

Johnson tweeted again on Sunday to celebrate her former Ranger colleagues' upcoming appearance: Excited to see my pals @David_Yost & @Walterejones rock it though!!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always hits Netflix on April 19.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Amy Jo Johnson has shut down reports that she rejected the offer of a role in the forthcoming Power Rangers reunion special over money.

The 52-year-old actor, who played Pink Ranger aka Kimberly Hart in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, will not appear in the movie Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, which is out on 19 April.

On Sunday 26 March, Johnson tweeted asking people to stop claiming she turned the film down because of the proposed fee.

Please stop saying I didnt do reunion because of money. Simply not true, she wrote. Maybe I just didnt want to wear spandex in my fifties.

Or I couldnt travel to New Zealand to film for a month. Or perhaps its none of [your] beeswax.

The Power Rangers reunion was filmed before alum Jason David Franks death. Johnson said both actors chose not to reprise their roles for their own reasons.

[Jason David Frank] and I both chose not to for our own reasons. They filmed before he passed, Johnson wrote, adding that shes excited to see her co-stars Davis Yost and Walter Jones rock it playing the Blue and Black Ranger, respectively.

This isnt the first time Johnson has addressed her absence from the reunion.

In a tweet on 18 January, she wrote: For the record I never said noI just didnt say yes to what was offered. But other fun stuff is in-store! Looking forward to watching my friends kick a**!

Please stop saying I didnt do reunion because of money Simply not true. Maybe I just didnt want to wear spandex in my 50s  or couldnt go to NZ for a month.Or none of ur beeswax  JDF & I both chose not to for our own reasons. They filmed before he passed. #PowerRangers  Amy Jo Johnson (@_amyjojohnson) March 26, 2023

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a web special serving to commemorate the 30th anniversary of both Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the Power Rangers franchise.

In the special, the Power Rangers travel back in time to stop Rita Repulsa from altering history.

The reunion is set to air on Netflix on 19 April.
Its now been more than six months since the bivalent COVID-19 shot was authorized for use in adults in the U.S. The updated formula targets the original virus strain and the highly contagious omicron variant.

But since its now been available for a considerable amount of time, many folks who got the shot when it was first offered in September are worried about waning protection, especially since the initial vaccine had a decrease in protection about four months after getting the jab. So do you need another dose to protect yourself from getting very sick?

This is a good and increasingly common question, said Dr. Mark Loafman, the chair of family and community medicine at Cook County Health in Chicago.

Earlier this winter, Canada and the United Kingdom updated their vaccine guidance to allow high-risk folks to get a second bivalent booster. And as of April 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a second bivalent booster for certain at-risk groups  but not for everyone.

What are these new guidelines? And do you actually need a second bivalent booster? Below, experts weigh in on what to know:

So, who can get a second booster dose?

A second bivalent booster dose is available for adults 65 and older under the CDC guidelines.

If youre ages 65 and older and received an updated COVID-19 vaccine dose (either Pfizer or Moderna) at least four months ago, you may now choose to receive an additional dose, CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund told HuffPost via email.



People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised also can get additional booster doses, according to the CDCs new guidance. If you fall into this category, you are eligible for additional bivalent booster shots two months after your last updated vaccine dose (again, either Pfizer or Moderna) with at least two months between each booster. This means immunocompromised people can get multiple booster doses every couple of months, depending on what they decide with their doctor.

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CDCs updated guidance allows more flexibility for healthcare providers to administer additional doses to their immunocompromised patients as needed, taking into consideration the individuals clinical circumstances, Nordlund said.

Why isnt a second dose available to all?

Considerations for a second dose arise from studies showing that protective antibody levels from the booster vaccine diminish over time, just as we experienced with the initial COVID mRNA vaccine, Loafman said.

Experts are still seeing good protection against severe disease and hospitalization in those who got the bivalent booster  meaning most people arent at risk for negative COVID outcomes because of the boosters protection.

Many people think its like a light switch, explained Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine in the department of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. They think when they reach six months theyre not protected at all, but that is not the reality. You still have substantial residual protection, Schaffner said.

Nordlund of the CDC underscored that the bivalent vaccine does still provide protection for most people  immunocompromised folks and people above 65 are just at higher risk for severe illness.

Its not clear if a second shot of the current bivalent vaccine will be recommended to all or if a new one will come through instead.

At the moment, the Food and Drug Administration seems directed at creating an annually updated booster, Schaffner said. Thats what theyve been talking about, thats what their expert advisory committee has been speaking about and has been supporting. And theyre moving in that direction.

He added that there may be developments throughout the summer months before fall, which is when experts think there will be a new updated booster available. A new booster would target the dominant strains come fall.

The bivalent booster offers residual protection, even if you got it months ago.

The bivalent booster offers residual protection, even if you got it months ago.

Very few Americans have actually taken advantage of the bivalent booster.

The majority of Americans have not received this updated booster shot, which strongly protects against hospitalization and death. In fact, only 1 in 5 people have received the bivalent booster, according to Loafman.

From every perspective I can imagine  science, public health, use of health care resources, compassion, respect for life, getting back to a real sense of normalcy, etc.  the low rate of booster dose uptake is an epic-level, heartbreaking tragedy, Loafman said.

A safe, simple way to stop most of this death and suffering is at our fingertip  and yet so far away. Imagine if only 1 in 5 of us wore a seat belt? he added.

According to Schaffner, if you compare unvaccinated people with those who got the bivalent booster, youll see that unvaccinated people are 17 times more at risk for hospitalization. When compared with people who are partially vaccinated, those who did not finish the vaccine series are 2.5 times more at risk.

If you havent gotten your first bivalent booster, you can still get the shot  and its currently free, which could change for some folks when the United States public health emergency declaration ends in May. Theres an online database you can use to find your nearest vaccination location.

The CDC also announced on April 19 that the original monovalent vaccine is no longer recommended in the United States  meaning, if you do not have the original shot that was first available in 2021, you do not need it before getting the updated bivalent booster shot.

Everyone 6 and older is eligible for a bivalent shot, according to the CDC. This guidance is straightforward for those 6 and over, but its a little more complicated for younger children. For additional guidance, reach out to your pediatrician or look at the CDCs guidelines.

Experts are still learning about COVID-19. The information in this story is what was known or available as of publication, but guidance can change as scientists discover more about the virus. Please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the most updated recommendations.

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After a few days of mostly sunny skies, rain is likely to return to the Victor Valley along with snow in the San Bernardino Mountains. Most of the rain is likely to fall on Wednesday in the Victor Valley. Snow is also expected on Wednesday and Thursday in Big Bear, Wrightwood, and other mountain communities.

After a few days of mostly sunny skies, rain is likely to return to the Victor Valley along with snow in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The latest spring storm will move through the area late Tuesday through Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Most of the rain is likely to fall on Wednesday in the Victor Valley. Snow is also expected on Wednesday and Thursday in Big Bear, Wrightwood, and other mountain communities.

Much of the Victor Valley is expected to receive less than a half-inch of rain, while Big Bear and Wrightwood should get anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow, the NWS reported.

Early indicators show modest snowfall above the 5,000-foot level.

High temperatures Wednesday through Friday should hover around the low to mid-50s in most parts of the Victor Valley, while Hesperia and Phelan dip into the high 40s.

Meanwhile, Barstow should remain mostly sunny, with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s.

The cold storm was expected to push ashore Monday night in the north and spread over the state through Wednesday.

The National Weather Service warned that the winds could easily topple trees because the very wet winter has left soils saturated.

The system could drop several feet of snow in the upper elevations of Northern Californias coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada, making travel difficult, forecasters said.

Powerful storms since late December have blanketed the Sierra in a massive snowpack with a water content that is more than 220% of normal, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

The Mammoth Mountain ski resort in the Eastern Sierra said that with 667 inches (16.9 meters) of snow at its main lodge and more than 840 inches (21.3 meters) on its summit, the resort was on the verge of breaking its record for snowiest season.

Sunny skies, along with highs near 70, should return across the High Desert and mountains on Saturday and Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Another round of rain for the Victor Valley, snow in the mountains
The suspect in espionage was detained a week ago

The foreigner, whose citizenship was not disclosed, confessed to the spying charge and now faces up to ten years in prison.

The man has been in Poland since January, collecting and passing information to Russia. He focused on critical infrastructure in the Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodeships in north-central Poland, investigators said. He also was spying on Polands security service.

The detainee confessed to espionage during interrogation. He also disclosed how he was recruited by Russian intelligence.

Read also: Poland busts Russian spy ring, says defense minister

The suspect was persuaded to spy while in Poland. The Russian special service has been working with the man since at least January 2023.

Poland detained nine people suspected of spying for Russian special services in early March.

Read also: Poland uncovers Russian spy network

Journalists said that the group was preparing sabotage on Polish territory and monitoring the transfer of Western weapons to Ukraine.

Later, Defense Minister Mariusz Baszczak confirmed that Poland had dismantled a Russian spy network operating in the country.

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
(Bloomberg) -- A Polish party known for its hostility toward the European Union and wariness of the nations unconditional support for Ukraine is making gains with voters six months before an election.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Confederation  an alliance of far-right and liberal factions calling for scrapping the income tax, banning abortion and curbing migration  almost doubled its backing in recent months to 11%, according to an Ipsos opinion poll.

That would put the party, once on the fringe of Polish politics, in third place behind the ruling Law & Justice party with 34% and the opposition Civic Platform at 27%  both unchanged since December  according to the March 20-23 poll, published on OKO.press website.

The emerging popularity of Confederation, which has made gains especially with young voters, could make it a political kingmaker if it forges a coalition with the ruling nationalists. Law & Justice, which risks losing its grip on power as it seeks a third term in office in a contest expected in October, has repeatedly dismissed speculation it may team up with Confederation.

The partys 36-year-old co-leader, Slawomir Mentzen, has compared the EU to a totalitarian state and gained a social media following with posts ranging from deriding the state pension system as a Ponzi scheme to advice on mixing drinks.

But hes made more strident comments in the past, remarking to a crowd in a 2019 video that his party should shun Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxes and the European Union. Mentzen has said the comments were taken out of context.

Former European Council President Donald Tusk, the Civic Platform leader, seized on the remarks. He told a rally over the weekend that a coalition between Law & Justice and Confederation would spell the final day of Polands EU membership.

Story continues

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Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens.

When a Wyoming judge temporarily blocked an abortion ban last week, she did so on karmically beautiful legal grounds: Republicans hated Obamacare so much that they amended the state constitution more than a decade ago to enshrine the right to make health care decisions.

Earlier this month, lawmakers in Wyoming passed a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy except in cases of rape or incest thats reported to police, or to save a womans life, as well as a separate ban on medication abortion. They also threw into the text that they dont believe abortion is health care, per the Associated Press and the Casper Star Tribune.

Read more

Abortion rights advocates sued, citing, among other things, the states constitutional amendment that guarantees adults the right to make their own healthcare decisions; the one that voters passed in 2012 with nearly 77 percent support. That amendment was passed in response to the Affordable Care Act, which conservatives viewed as an encroachment into their medical decisions. (Ohio has a similar anti-Obamacare amendment in its state constitution, as Quinn Yeargain explained in Bolts Magazine earlier this month.)

During a hearing, Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens pointed out the fatal flaw in the state lawmakers argument: An abortion can only be performed by a licensed medical professional, so what authority does the legislature have to declare that abortion is not health care? she asked. Owens made the same case about medication abortion: How is a doctor actually prescribing those pills not health care?

The state assistant attorney generals response was that, in effect, Wyoming wants embryos and fetuses to have more rights than women and pregnant people. I would concede that if you focus just on the pregnant woman, it becomes a little bit easier to say, well, this has to be health care, he continued. But if you view it from that other perspective, it clearly is not. (Abortion is absolutely health care. More than 1,200 women died from pregnancy and childbirth in 2021, and for every pregnant and postpartum person who dies, another 70 will come close to dying.)

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The plaintiffs in the case include an OB/GYN from the states only abortion clinic in Jackson and Wellspring Health Access, which was set to open a clinic last year in Casper before a 22-year-old woman set it on fire. That woman was arrested last week and clinic repairs are still ongoing, though they hope to open in April.

John Robinson, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, made this fetal supremacy

explicit by arguing that the legislature does not consider the woman an equal member of the human race and Wyoming. He also noted that the medication abortion ban has exceptions for treating miscarriages and if the womans life is in danger, further proving that abortion is medical treatment. How can abortion be health care in one statute prohibiting abortion and not the other? Robinson said.

Owens injunction is temporary and the case will now continue with challenges to both laws heard together; its not certain if theyll be struck down permanently or if the state supreme court will get involved.

Its undeniable that part of the reason were even talking about abortion bans taking effect is that President Obama and Democratic lawmakers failed to codify Roe v. Wade when they were in power. But its a small delight that conservatives disdain of the first Black president and his health care plan could end up being what protects abortion access in a small number of states.

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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has gone viral on TikTok after posting her first video, in which she addressed concerns about a potential TikTok ban.

Speaking to the more than 150 million US citizens who use TikTok, the New York lawmaker aimed to advocate for the social media app by laying out the arguments for and against a ban.

Do I believe TikTok should be banned? No, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said upfront in her video posted on Saturday.

Last week, Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, testified before members of the House Committee for Energy and Commerce regarding possible Chinese surveillance of US citizens through data harvesting on TikTok, as well as concerns surrounding childrens safety while using the app.

Mr Chew faced tough questions from members of Congress that left TikTok users worried about the future of the app, as it seems a future ban is becoming more likely.

But Ms Ocasio-Cortez described Congress potential legislation as putting the cart before the horse, saying she doesnt believes there is enough evidence to enact an all-out ban.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez is known for her adept use of social media to communicate with constituents and other Americans. Nearly 24 hours after posting her TikTok video, Ms Ocasio-Cortezs video had amassed more than a million views. By Monday, her video received 3.4 million views.

Usually, when the United States is proposing a very major move that has something to do with significant risk to national security, one of the first things that happens is that Congress receives a classified briefing, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.

And I can tell you that Congress has not received a classified briefing around the allegations of national security risks regarding TikTok, she added.

Banning TikTok would be the first time the United States has completely prohibitted a social media company from operating in the country. Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she believes the US should start a social media data protection bill  and start by looking at US social media companies first.

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In the past, Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress over allegations that the company improperly shared Facebook users data. Although Meta faced a penalty from the Federal Trade Commission, no formal legislation was created in the wake of the findings.

They say because of this egregious amount of data harvesting, we should ban this app. However, that doesnt really address the core of the issue which is the fact that major social media companies are allowed to collect troves of deeply personal data about you, that you dont know about, without really any significant regulation whatsoever, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said in her TikTok. Commenters on TikTok agreed with Ms Ocasio-Cortez and thanked her for advocating for them.

I am way more concerned about Meta than I am TikTok. I dont get ads about what I talked about at lunch on TikTok, TikTok user Margo Cady wrote.

Thank you for being a logical voice, user Sarah commented.

If they ban TikTok they need to ban Facebook, [Instagram], Twitter, etc! A TikToker wrote.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez also pointed to other solutions to protect users data other than a ban, like the EUs GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which provides data and privacy protection for people.

It just doesnt feel right to me, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said.
Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mi.) shared a tweet accusing Israel of being a violent apartheid government after sharing a false story alleging that Palestinians celebrating the first night of Ramadan in Jerusalem were attacked by security forces.

Dont look away, the Michigan representative implored her followers sharing an article from the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) which has since deleted its post.

Aviva Klompas, a former Israeli speechwriter at the United Nations, condemned the social-media post. Look at that. @RashidaTlaib caught spreading malicious lies about Israel.

Look at that. @RashidaTlaib caught spreading malicious lies about Israel. pic.twitter.com/MmNVxuh104  Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) March 27, 2023

Twitter appended commentary notes adding clarifying context that the incident did not actually occur how IMEU and Tlaib described it.

This was not an attack by Israeli police. A brawl broke out amongst young Palestinians at Damascus Gate & Israeli police separate them to restore peace, the social-media platform message noted citing reporting from Yahoo and the Jerusalem Post.

The incident reportedly began after a fight broke out amongst groups of teenagers outside the Damascus Gate. Israeli security services were subsequently dispatched to stabilize the situation amid concerns that material inciting violence had been disseminated leading up to the Muslim high holiday.

During the Sunday night proceedings, a crowd of Palestinians also chanted outside the Shechem Gate With blood, and spirit, we will redeem Al-Aqsa, one commentator noted.

Then violent started between two groups (*among* them, so just know it if you see bogus propaganda as if they got beaten) Which then required the police to intervene (I kinda think it should have happened once all the genocidal singing started, but what do I know) The police pic.twitter.com/hWljjeuVql  Adam Albilya    (@AdamAlbilya) March 23, 2023

Although Tlaib has yet to delete her original tweet from Sunday night, IMEU has since pulled the underlying article.

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The organization had accused Israel of environmental apartheid and engaging in ethnic cleansing.

Many Israelis, including senior Israeli political and religious leaders, believe the ethnic cleansing carried out during Plan Dalet didnt go far enough and openly call for further expulsions of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian communities, IMEU argues.

An earlier video post from IMEU was shared by Tlaib alleging too many are silent demanding President Joe Biden intercede on behalf of Palestinians.

@potus, this is the holy month of Ramadan & people are being met with violence while praying. When do we say enough with the unconditional funding? Too many have died with the silence + it enables more of this horror, violence, death and xenophobia, Tlaib tweeted.

Representative Tlaibs office did not respond to National Reviews request for comment.

More from National Review
The latest series of paintings from artist Daniel Heidkamp can help you see through time.

His exhibition Tempo is on display through April 9 at Acquavella Galleries in the Royal Poinciana Plaza.

The paintings are the result of Heidkamps 2022 travels throughout Italy, where he visited destinations of historical significance to the visual arts, reimagining those locations through his own lens.

When youre in these art-historically important places, it starts to be a loaded image that you create, Heidkamp said. You can feel it if you talk about it. Its an art energy. Youre feeling all these different forces and spirits.

Italy is the latest destination to receive this treatment from Heidkamps paintbrush, the artist having visited France, Germany and a few locations in the U.S. including upstate New York and Yosemite National Park in California.

Daniel Heidkamp stands between two of his paintings, "San Marco" and "Positano Swirl."

With each location, theres a visual language Heidkamp said he tries to analyze through his work. Im an American abroad taking it all in, he said. I almost paint with an accent, too.

More:Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair opens Thursday

More:New Palm Beach gallery sits at intersection of technology and fine art

More:Island a hotspot for galleries following their clients to South Florida

On location in Italy, Heidkamp captures scenes using primarily photography, with some drawing and oil pastel work as well. He looks back at historical paintings to try to decipher where each may have been set.

A standout piece in Tempo is Heidkamps Baratti Beach, where he imagines what the setting may have been if Sandro Botticellis The Birth of Venus was painted from a staged scene. The large shell on which the goddess stands in Botticellis painting is centered on the beach, with the artists tools at right, including tubes of paint, a canvas, a palette and brush.

Even if youre not into art, you know that image, Heidkamp said of The Birth of Venus. It almost whimsically asks, What if they had to do that from observation?

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As with many works of Italian art, Botticellis scene is imaginary, but Heidkamp said there must have been an actual landscape to serve as inspiration for the setting at some point.

In the case of Botticelli, there isn't that much information about where he might have traveled, but it was documented he was in Pisa at one point, Heidkamp said. That could lead to the Tuscan coast, with its coastal forests of pine trees  which are featured in some of Botticellis other works.

In his explosively colorful painting representing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius over Pompeii, Heidkamp shows the ancient Roman city that was preserved for centuries under volcanic ash. That ash packed into every nook, cranny, mouth and nostril of the homes and people of Pompeii and acted as a sort of time capsule.

I wanted it to be less about this fire and explosion, and more about the energy of the volcano representing the birth of Italian art, Heidkamp said, adding that its more about the vibes and color than it is about the destruction. The spirit of what would come in the next 1,000 years was kicked off by this explosion, he said.

While the volcano took many lives, it also managed to save a slice of Roman history, Heidkamp said, referring to the stunning frescos found on the walls of many Pompeiian buildings. Elsewhere, those frescoes have decayed over time.

This explosion, it allowed for artists in the future to see those earlier paintings, Heidkamp said, and the volcano was an explosion of art energy as much as destruction.

If viewing the exhibition chronologically, Heidkamp said Pompeii is a good place to begin. Next, he would suggest Night Venice, a sleepy look at a corner of the famed, water-filled city that is often viewed through an artists brushstrokes.

Heidkamp first saw the place in a painting by Gentile Bellini, Miracle of the True Cross at the Bridge of San Lorenzo. While Bellinis painting is filled with action, Heidkamps portrayal focuses on the place, which he said appears to have not changed much in the hundreds of years since Bellini painted it.

Heidkamp drew on inspiration from other painters work of the same era by filling the Venice night sky with those little geometric stars that were so popular in the 1400s and 1500s. I thought it would look cool, Heidkamp said. Its a look that almost reminded me of something more contemporary, almost twee.

After completing his Italian-inspired works, Heidkamp said hes not sure if he will continue to examine art-historical places in the same way. Something about doing Italy almost feels like some culmination of this project, he said, noting that he still has more pieces he has yet to complete. Its such a fertile ground for this type of thing that I think I can do more and more."

In assembling Tempo, Heidkamp was mindful of Palm Beach: One piece represents the Villa Medici in Rome, which was, in part, the architectural inspiration for The Breakers Hotel. I thought that was an interesting connection, and I decided to paint that with a nod toward your Breakers, Heidkamp said.

If you go

What: Daniel Heidkamps Tempo exhibition

Where: Acquavella Galleries, 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Suite M309, Palm Beach

When: Through April 9; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Information: www.acquavellagalleries.com

"Arco," by Daniel Heidkamp, at Acquavella Gallery.

"Tuscan Bloom," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"Villa of the Mysteries," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"Arezzo Regalia," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"Positano Swirl," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"Da Vinci Code," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"San Marco," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"Night Venice," by Daniel Heidkamp.

"Baratti Beach," by Daniel Heidkamp.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Artist Heidkamp's 'Tempo' show offers reimaginings of Italian work
For artist Karla Ortiz, the explosion in artificial intelligence that can stand in for flesh-and-blood artists is nothing more than identity theft.

A native of Puerto Rico, Ortiz is a California-based designer, a concept artist and painter who has worked for videogaming giant Ubisoft, Marvel Studios, the Wizards of the Coast fantasy game publisher and has exhibited her work in galleries.

But now her profession could be completely disrupted by generative AI, the technology behind apps such as Dall-E and ChatGPT, which in seconds can crank out original content -- illustrations, poems, computer code -- with only a simple prompt.

About a year ago, Ortiz discovered Disco Diffusion, an open source AI-based image generating tool, but it is not easy to use for those less tech savvy.

At first, she thought it was an interesting experiment, but quickly she realized that the program was using the work of many of her friends without them knowing it.

They asked to have their work removed, but to no avail, and they backed down. She told herself art theft is nothing new in their line of work.

"It's weird that this is happening, but whatever," she told herself at the time.

But months later, with the introduction of even more powerful programs such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which can generate images "in the style of" a chosen artist, she was brought face to face with the magnitude of the phenomenon.

Ortiz said she was shocked when she looked at how the programs were trained.

"All the training data, all the training material, it's our work."

In her studio, standing between her easel and her computer, Ortiz puts the final touches of oil paint on her latest work, "Musa Victoriosa," a woman surrounded by eagles, brandishing a laurel wreath.

This muse, which will be used to illustrate a copyright protection app, embodies artists defiant against technology.

To those who argue that human artists also draw inspiration from others' work, Ortiz says they are missing the point.

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"Just because I look at a painting that I love, it doesn't mean that I archive that influence and that it automatically becomes a part of how I paint," she said.

"Influences can only get you so far in art," she added.

"The rest is your training, your life, your experiences, your thoughts of the day; that extra bit of humanity that filters inspirations and experiences together and creates your own voice and work," she said.

She worries about young artists who need the time and experience to find their style but will be squeezed out by AI.

- 'Canary in the coalmine' -

"How does a person break in now? And if you break in and you do develop a style, that's wonderful, but what stops anybody from training a model on your work?"

Along with other artists, Ortiz filed a lawsuit in a California court against three generative AI companies, hoping one day to get the industry regulated.

This fight has strengthened bonds between creators, and not only designers, she said.

"I'm seeing more writers and also voice actors being very concerned because of the technology that can take your voice and mimic it perfectly," Ortiz said.

Silicon Valley investors "want to expand to pretty much every creative endeavor," she warned.

"Our profession was automated first so we kind of became the canary in the coal mine."

juj/arp/des/dw
FREEHOLD - An Asbury Park woman has been indicted in her toddler's fatal overdose earlier this year, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Monday.

A Monmouth County grand jury returned a five-count indictment against Quanique Smith, 26, who is charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter, two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance and third-degree hindering apprehension, Santiago said.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, January 5, Asbury Park Police responded to a report of an unresponsive child at an apartment on the 100 block of Langford Street, the announcement said. At the scene, they found the 2-year-old child

The child was taken to a local hospital and died shortly before 2 a.m., Santiago said.

An investigation found that heroin and fentanyl that belonged to Smith had been left in the family's home within reach of the 2-year-old and his 5-year-old sibling, the prosecutor said. The 2-year-old ingested the drugs, resulting in his death.

Smith was arrested later on the same day and taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, said Santiago. If convicted of aggravated manslaughter, she could face up to 30 years in state prison with 85% of the sentence to be served before the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jerseys No Early Release Act.

If convicted of the aggravated manslaughter charge, Smith could serve up to 30 years in state prison, according to Santiago. Convictions on second- and third-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by terms of up to 10 and 5 years, respectively.

Santiago is urging anyone with information about this matter to contact prosecutors office Detective Stephen Cavendish at 800-533-7443 or Asbury Park Detective Anthony Houlis at 732-502-4582.

Jenna Calderon covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; jcalderon@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park woman indicted in toddler's fatal overdose
Three men were arrested after deputies crashed a cockfighting event in North Carolina, officials said.

Deputies with the Nash County Sheriffs Office responded to an anonymous tip about a cockfighting event the morning of March 25, according to a news release from the sheriffs office.

When deputies arrived, they found a man standing guard at a gate and taking payments from vehicles coming onto the property for the cockfight, the release said.

Several attendees scrambled to escape after noticing the deputies and people were running to various locations off the property with chickens in their arms, deputies said.

Deputies said they found cages across the property, including some that still had chickens and roosters inside. The entry fee to the cockfighting event was $40 and there were between 20 to 30 vehicles at the site, officials said.

The fight hadnt taken place yet when deputies arrived. Three suspects were charged with Cock Fighting, which is a Class 1 Felony, deputies said. They were booked into the Nash County Detention Facility.

Nash County is about 50 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Missing tigers recaptured after escaping tornado-damaged zoo, Georgia officials say

Wingstop launches limited french-fry-flavored wings  and TikTok is rushing to try it

Water leak was actually pee from a python hiding in ceiling at cabin in South Africa

Bald eagles that tragically lost egg now welcome new eaglet, Minnesota video shows
The Attorney Generals office on Monday took control of the Paterson Police Department, an extraordinary step in one of New Jerseys largest cities three weeks after officers fatally shot a barricaded man experiencing a mental health episode.

Attorney General Matt Platkin did not mention the shooting of Najee Seabrooks specifically as the cause for takeover, instead saying there have been a number of events and concerns involving the department.

There is a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in this city, Platkin said at a news conference in Paterson announcing the action, drawing applause.

And under these circumstances, I cannot deliver on my duty to protect the people of Paterson and to keep officers safe who are sworn to protect them. And that cannot continue, he said. So something has to change, and it will change starting now.

Platkin named Isa Abbassi, a veteran of the New York Police Department, as Paterson polices officer in charge beginning in May; until then, State Police Maj. Fred Fife will oversee the department.

In addition to controlling the daily operations of the department, Platkin said his office will revise its statewide use-of-force policy to include protocols for barricaded individuals; convene a working group to to study policy recommendations for relationships between law enforcement and violence intervention programs; and bring the states relatively new Arrive Together program to the city. That program pairs mental health professionals with law enforcement for calls concerning mental and behavioral health crises.

In the March 3 shooting of Seabrooks  himself a member of the Paterson Healing Collective, a violence intervention group  police would not allow his colleagues into the home to try de-escalating the situation.

Police had been called to a home he was at for an individual in distress, according to the Attorney Generals office. Seabrooks, who had knives and a pocket rocket gun, was said to have been hallucinating and barricaded himself in the bathroom, the office said. Officers used less lethal force on Seabrooks over a nearly five-hour standoff, but they shot him after he lunged toward them with a knife in his hand, the office said.

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Advocates for criminal justice reform called for swift action from the state and from federal authorities, saying the city police had a problematic history before shooting Seabrooks that includes allegations and lawsuits involving excessive force.

The Attorney Generals action is a necessary first step toward justice, but there is still a need for accountability for the past harms and violence committed by the Paterson police department, the New Jersey Violence Intervention and Prevention Coalition said in a statement.

The group called for all Paterson police leadership to be removed, for the city to be compelled to invest in a non-carceral response team and for full transparency from the state as it moves forward. The Paterson Healing Collective, saying it appreciates the states actions and looks forward to working with the Attorney Generals office, also called for the officers involved in the shooting to be fired.

The culture and practice of this rogue police department has gone unchecked and we need these people held accountable, the group said in a statement.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, who has pushed back against outside intervention of the citys police force, said Platkin assured him the state will provide additional resources to the department. Given that, he said, "we look forward to working with the Attorney General's office once again" and the city is "eager" to review the office's plan and "build upon the reforms that we have already implemented."

Challenges that lay ahead

Its rare for the state to take over local law enforcement. The most recent notable instance  though slightly different  was a decade ago, when the city of Camden disbanded its police force and started a new one under the county. That was largely considered a success story, with homicides down and an improved relationship between police and the community.

The state is taking control of a department in one of the states poorest and most violent cities. Platkin acknowledged the dual challenges he is now ultimately putting on his shoulders: to try rebuilding a fragile trust between city residents and the police while also providing resources and training to officers whose jobs have become increasingly difficult and dangerous after years of financial challenges and leadership changes.

Those two goals go hand in hand: community trust and public safety, Platkin said. There is no safety without that trust.

Abbassi, the incoming leader of the department, has had a similarly difficult task in the past. Following the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police in 2014, Abbassi was named to help rebuilding community relationships with the police on Staten Island, which Platkin said led to reforms and enhanced safety. He was awarded the NYPDs most prestigious command recognition, the Unit Citation, for crime and violence reduction on Staten Island in 2019, Platkin said.

Abbassi served with the NYPD since 1997. Over his career, he had 21 allegations against him filed with the citys Civilian Complaint Review Board, according to a ProPublica database. Nearly all of the allegations were listed as exonerated or unsubstantiated, but two allegations, of abuse of authority, were substantiated, according to the database.

The Attorney Generals office declined to comment on Abbassis record, but said it is confident that Chief Abbassi will bring integrity and professionalism to his leadership of the Paterson Police Department.

Gov. Phil Murphy applauded Platkins bold actions.

In Paterson, it has unfortunately become clear that there is a deep lack of trust between the police and the community they serve. This not only harms public safety, but it also makes it more difficult and dangerous for law enforcement officers to do their jobs, he said in a statement.

I am confident that the Attorney Generals actions will ensure needed reform and give police officers in Paterson the resources, support, and training they need to effectively build trust and serve their community.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The Australian government took a major step toward implementing a key climate policy that would force chief greenhouse gas polluters to reduce emissions, with the minor Greens party pledging their support Monday.

The center-left Labor Party administration said the so-called Safeguard Mechanism reforms are essential to Australia reaching its target of reducing its emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The reforms would create a ceiling on the nations emissions and force Australias 215 biggest polluting facilities to reduce their emissions over time.

The Climate Council, a leading climate communicator, described the reforms as the first Australian legislation in a decade that would regulate greenhouse gas pollution.

With the support of the Greens 11 senators, the government only needs the backing of two unaligned or minor party senators to get the reforms through the upper chamber. Greens leader Adam Bandt said a hard cap on emissions would mean that half of the 116 new coal and gas projects proposed in Australia would not go ahead.

The amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed under the cap has not been made public. The cap would be reduced over time as polluters scaled back their emissions.

The Greens, through the negotiations, has secured a big hit on oil and gas, Bandt told reporters as he confirmed his partys support for the reforms.

The legislation was passed Monday by the House of Representatives, where Labor holds a majority of seats.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Safeguard Mechanism is the vehicle to achieve our commitment for 43% reduction by 2030.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said that without the mechanism, Australia would only reduce its emissions by 35% by the end of the decade.

Today were a big step closer to passing the Safeguard Mechanism reforms through Parliament, Bowen said.

The reforms would reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 205 million metric tons (226 million U.S. tons) by 2030, equivalent to taking two-thirds of Australias cars off the road in the same time, Bowen said.

Story continues

Big polluters would be able to buy carbon credits to help achieve their emission reduction targets. But polluters that use carbon credits to achieve more than 30% of their abatement would have to explain why they were not doing more to reduce their own emissions.

Opposition climate change and energy spokesperson Ted OBrien rejected the reforms, saying capping emissions would drive Australian industrial investment offshore to China and India.

This is not a plan to decarbonize the Australian economy but rather a plan to deindustrialize it, OBrien said.

The conservative opposition created the Safeguard Mechanism when it was in power in 2016. But the emission limits were so high that the 215 major polluters, which account for 30% of Australias emissions, were able to increase their emissions by 4%.

The previous government had set a less ambitious target of reducing Australias emissions by only 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

The Climate Council welcomed the Greens' deal with the government as a historic agreement.

This will be the Federal Parliaments first reform to genuinely cut pollution in a decade, Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said in a statement.

The Australia Institute, a left-wing policy think tank, was critical that the reforms would allow some new fossil fuel projects to proceed, though fewer than under the current mechanism.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokesperson Glenn Walker said the most important task for the Australian Parliament was to rule out new fossil fuel mines in favor of clean, future-proof industries.
If your idea of exercise is holding a beer while headbanging, prepare to sweat this summer.

Godsmack and Staind will co-headline an outdoor concert Friday, Aug. 18, at the Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater  and its sure to be packed with familiar favorites. Godsmack has more Top 10 rock songs than Foo Fighters or their hometown heroes, Aerosmith, the bands official bio brags. Stretching back to their four-times platinum self-titled debut, initially recorded in 1996 for $2,500, the veteran bands catalog of hits is enough to fill a marathon set without running out. Songs like I Stand Alone, Awake and Voodoo are certified anthems deeply encoded into hard rocks DNA.

Like Godsmack, Staind is a force of melodic, mainstream heavy rock  but with extra mopiness in its nu-metal delivery, thanks to frontman Aaron Lewis. The group, formed in 1995, has enjoyed hits such as Its Been Awhile, Outside and So Far Away. For the past decade-plus, Lewis also has pursued a career as a country singer (and onstage conspiracy theorist).

Tickets to the 7 p.m. concert become available to the general public starting at 10 a.m. Friday for $39.50 to $125 plus fees through fordidahocenter.com.

The Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater has become the Treasure Valleys primary outdoor venue for heavy metal concerts. Pictured: Korn performing in 2017.

Both bands have been to Boise before. Godsmacks most recent visit was in 2018, when it performed with Shinedown at what is now called ExtraMile Arena. Godsmack, Staind and Shinedown all appeared at the Idaho Center Amphitheater in 2012 at the Uproar Festival.

Godsmack has sold more than 20 million records worldwide, according to a media release; Staind has sold more than 15 million.
The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has sent shockwaves through the entire financial sector and marked the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Being the only publicly traded bank focused on Silicon Valley and startups for four decades, the swift collapse has particularly rattled the venture capital community and left climate tech startups in a crisis.

But the energy markets have not been spared, with oil prices crashing to multi-year lows following the ensuing banking crisis. Oil prices crashed spectacularly, with WTI crude falling from $80.46 per barrel just 10 days prior to the $67 range, while Brent declined from $86.18 per barrel to the $73 range, levels they last touched in December 2021. Commodity analysts at Standard Chartered warned that the oil price crash had been exacerbated by hedging activityspecifically, due to gamma hedging effects, with banks selling oil to manage their side of options as prices fell through the strike prices of oil producers put options and volatility increases. The negative price effect has been exacerbated because the main cliff-face of producer puts currently occupies a narrow price range.

And now the latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report published by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has revealed where that oil money flowed to.

Commodity analysts at Standard Chartered have combined the CoT data with the equivalent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) data and found that there was heavy selling of crude oil and gasoline, combined with a rapid move by funds into precious metals four days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank but six days before Brent hit a 14-month low of USD 70.12 per barrel.

Indeed, silver and gold saw a net increase in long positions while all other classes of crude and crude products apart from heating oil and natural gas saw a net increase in short positions.

Related: Will Brent Break Below $70 This Year?

During that period, money-manager net selling across the four main Brent and WTI

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Contracts hit a staggering 128.1 million barrels (mb) in the week to 14 March. Meanwhile,

StanCharts crude oil positioning index fell 41.6 w/w to -67.0, the largest single-week decline in six years, while its gasoline positioning index fell by 36.4 to -6.6, marking the first time it had turned negative in 20 months.

Not surprisingly, gold prices have jumped nearly 9% since March 10, and now sit at $1,995/Oz, not far from the all-time high while silver prices have rocketed over 16% to trade at $23.35/Oz.

Source: Standard Chartered Research

Banking Fears Linger

Previously, StanChart analysts had said that the unwinding of speculative length appears to be complete at this juncture, thus lowering selling pressure, but had warned that prices might retest the lows if the FOMC hikes its policy rate by more than the widely expected margin of 25bps. The markets have successfully scaled that wall of worry after the Feds hike on Wednesday came in-line with expectations. The Fed also indicated that the current rate hike cycle is nearing an end. StanChart expects last weeks gamma effects to reverse course with banks buying back positions thus reinforcing the short-term rebound. Beyond that, StanChart says oil prices will largely be dictated by OPECs and consuming countries strategic inventory policy shifts. The commodity experts are bullish that the path of least resistance for oil prices at this point is higher, not lower.

Yet oil prices, after a brief rebound, continue to face significant selling pressure, with both WTI and Brent crude down 2.5% on Fridays intraday session. Apparently, banking fears are far from over and this situation could linger for a while. The market appears to be reacting to some other unfolding banking drama whereby shares of Germanys Deutsche Bank have plunged 11% on Friday after its credit default swaps started pushing higher. Credit swaps are used for insuring the bank's debt against the risk of default, and rising rates means the market thinks the risk of DB defaulting is rising. DBs woes have put the European banking sector in reverse gear, taking down with them shares of Barclays, BNP Paribas, UBS and Societe Generale.

Underlying sentiment is still cautious and in this environment no one wants to go into the weekend risk-on, Nordea chief analyst Jan von Gerich has told Reuters.

This comes despite European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reassuring EU leaders that the euro area banking sector was resilient due to strong liquidity positions, ample capital and post-2008 reforms. She also said the ECB toolkit was ready to provide liquidity to the financial system if the need arises.

The bigger question here is whether the recent spate of bank failures and crises, including the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and liquidity crisis at banking giant Credit Suisse, can be written off as idiosyncratic events or mark the unfolding of another global financial crisis. Right now the markets remain jittery and dont appear to know what to make of the entire saga.

But as UBS Wealth chief investment officer Mark Haefele has said, the swift action by the FDIC to guarantee deposits and by the Fed to lend to banks that require funds will solve liquidity-related risks for U.S. banks and also for the U.S. branches of foreign banks.A week ago, we witnessed another rout for mid-cap regional banks stocks, before reports emerged that big banks would come to their aid. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) has crashed more than 25% since the SVB snafu, but appears to have stabilized lately.

That suggests that energy markets could also quickly recover after the dust settles.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Read this article on OilPrice.com
Learn about the origins of barbacoa and how to make it at home.

Karepa Stock / Shutterstock

You probably love barbacoa and can order it with confidence, but you may not understand what it actually is other than an exceptionally tasty meal. Never fear  here's everything you need to know about this delectable slow-cooked meat.



What is barbacoa?

The origin of the word barbacoa comes from the Taino language, specifically in pre-Hispanic Cuba. It referred generally to a wood-burning hole in the ground used to cook meats, says Jonathan Zaragoza, executive chef of Birrieria Zaragoza in Chicago. Spanish colonists observed indigenous people in the Caribbean cooking their preserved meats on racks over small, smoky fires, then adopted the technique as well as the word. It is from barbacoa that we get barbecue. But while barbacoa and barbecue share a linguistic root, barbacoa is distinct from barbecue in a couple of key ways.

Barbacoa as we know it today evolved in Mexico, where the most classic barbacoa is made in an oven dug into the ground, lined with heated rocks that cook meat enclosed in agave leaves, which keep the meat moist as it cooks. The final result, juicy, tender, seasoned shredded steam-roasted meat (which may be beef, lamb, goat, or mutton depending on the region) is meltingly tender, and beloved for good reason. Barbacoa isnt just a dish, its deeper than that, says Zaragoza. Its a method of cooking, an ancestral ritual, and for many, a religion. Its cooked for weddings and other celebrations.



Related:Lamb Barbacoa with Masala Adobo

How barbacoa gets its flavor

An adobo marinade is what gives barbacoa its signature flavor. The marinade is commonly suffused with vinegar, a myriad of spices including cumin, Mexican oregano, garlic, and black peppercorns, plus regional chiles such as guajillo, ancho, and pasilla. Barbacoa also gets its flavor from the juices in the meat as it gently cooks for many hours.

Karepa Stock / Shutterstock

How to make barbacoa at home

Start by selecting the correct cut of meat. To achieve barbacoas signature fall-apart texture, its important to use larger, tougher cuts of meat that benefit from a low-and-slow cook time. For beef barbacoa, cheeks, chuck, or a combination of the two works best. For lamb, a shoulder or leg of lamb will yield that prized end result.

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While the traditional method of an underground pit is wonderful, you dont need to dig a giant hole in your backyard to cook barbacoa. If you have an oven, roasting pan, and foil youre well on your way to making barbacoa, but a Crock Pot, slow cooker, or Instant Pot also work well. Barbacoa is a fantastic recipe you can start early in the morning and come back when ready for dinner. Whatever method you choose, keep in mind that extended cook time, and dont skimp on the planning and preparation you need for barbacoa.

How to serve barbacoa

Barbacoa can be served in a variety of ways, but salsas are the customary accompaniment. The most popular way to enjoy barbacoa is to serve it with tortillas, for barbacoa tacos. Zaragoza recommends making tacos dorados (fried tacos) and topping your barbacoa with Mexican crema, shredded cabbage, and salsa. Another great option is frijoles de la olla or simply stewed beans with a queso anejo (an aged queso fresco) and some avocado.



Any way you serve it, barbacoa is a celebratory dish. The moment you taste the tender, slow-cooked meat, you cant help but close your eyes, smile, and think about how barbacoa just solved all your problems.



For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Food & Wine.
In an attempt to boost survival, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will use a barge next month to move about 20,000 Tucannon River spring chinook smolts through the Snake and Columbia rivers hydrosystem.

The agency also will truck the same number of smolts from the Tucannon Hatchery and release them near the rivers mouth. But most of the 130,000 juvenile spring chinook raised at the hatchery will be released from the facility, directly into the river.

Tucannon River spring chinook are part of the Snake River run that is protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

It is the only Snake River population wholly within the state of Washington and it has been struggling for decades. A recent report listed the population to be in crisis and poor juvenile survival is one of the main reasons.

We have been in a downward spiral for the last five years, said Joe Bumgarner, a fisheries biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at Dayton. We are hanging on.

Last year, 273 adult spring chinook returned to the river. While still low, it was a pleasant surprise and better than the return of about 215 in 2021 and far superior to the 80 fish that made it back in 2020. This year, fisheries managers are forecasting a return of about 100 adults.

If we could get back 600 to 800 returning annually, people could get more comfortable, Bumgarner said.

Fisheries managers track juvenile chinook as they migrate downstream through the hydropower system and ultimately to the Pacific Ocean. In some years, as few as 30% of the fish released from the hatchery make it to Lower Monumental Dam, a distance of about 40 miles. AAs many as 30% can perish between the hatchery and the Tucannons mouth.

Bumgarner said the strategy of barging and trucking will allow researchers to determine where most of the mortality is occurring.

This is definitely us thinking outside the box  what else can we do to help this population?

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From the 1990s and into the early 2000s, the majority of salmon and steelhead smolts from the Snake River were collected at dams like Lower Granite and transported through the hydropower system in barges.

The strategy, which speeds migration and protects fish from predation and injury during dam passage, worked better for some populations than others. But it was considered insufficient as a blanket fish recovery strategy. It led to higher rates of straying and required more handling of the fish, which increased stress and injury.

Barging is still used today, but most smolts are now left to migrate in-river. The current strategy calls for mandatory spill at the dams to speed river flows and help the fish pass dams via their spillways, a safer route compared to going through turbines or elaborate fish bypass systems.

David Johnson, director of the Nez Perce Tribes Department of Fisheries Resources Management, said dams and the predator-friendly reservoirs they create are hammering the young fish.

He notes that the Tucannon is the only river in the Snake River Basin that empties directly into slackwater. He calls the run a poster child for dam breaching.

The mortality those fish face from release down to the first dam is greater than mortality fish face anywhere else in the Snake system to the first dam. That is huge mortality, he said. Logically its understandable because the fish are going directly into a slow-moving reservoir that is a haven for predators and causes all kinds of problems for the fish.

There is a risk both to barging and releasing smolts at the mouth of the Tucannon. Juvenile fish that make the journey from their home waters to the mouth of the Columbia River via barge often display a higher rate of straying when they return as adults.

Those that do make it back to the Tucannon River may fail to progress upstream to the hatchery or the prime spawning habitat.

But the fish are reared on water from the Tucannon and fisheries managers hope that helps them find their way home.

I think our strategy of having (the smolts) over winter on Tucannon River water for six to seven months should be enough to give them that cue, when they do come back, to go all the way. But we dont know, Bumgarner said.

About $2 million each year is invested in projects to improve spawning habitat on the Tucannon River. Biologists believe the work will benefit fish. But they need to see higher survival and more robust returns to really know. Thus far, the new habitat is largely empty.

The ultimate goal is to get more fish on the spawning grounds, Bumgarner said. We havent had a lot of fish on the spawning grounds, whether its hatchery fish or natural fish.

The tribe and department also are exploring moving some of the Tucannon River fish into a hatchery program on the lower Columbia River. The idea is to bypass the hydrosystem altogether and ensure the genetics of the run is preserved.

These are drastic measures we are having to take with that population of fish, Johnson said. I think its a troubling sign and I think its very much a poster child for why we need to do something different. For a tributary like the Tucannon that feeds right into a reservoir  the fish dont have much of a chance.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at 208-848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
Over the years, Mikayla Nogueira (@mikaylanogueira) has made a name for herself on TikTok by sharing entertaining makeup tutorials and taking her followers behind the scenes of various influencer events. But the influencer has had her fair share of scandals, including a very recent accusation that she fakes her Boston-sounding accent.

It all started when a video of the influencer from before her TikTok days started going viral. Noticeably absent from it, however, is her signature accent.

To really grasp the controversy, its important to know what Nogueiras fans have been hearing for years now when they watch her:

But in a newly-resurfaced clip, which was allegedly filmed when Nogueira was still in college, she sounds remarkably different.

In the clip, which appears to be part of a welcome video for accepted students of Bryant University, Nogueira introduces herself and explains that she works in the student center on the campus.

This is one of my favorite buildings, she shares before explaining that students can go there to hang out with their friends, study or even grab a bite to eat.

In the post caption, TikTok user Rea (@whointheworldisthisgirl) accuses the influencer of having two completely different voices and faking the accent she has now come to be known by.

In the comments, some people were shocked.

who is dat sounds like a whole different person, one commenter wrote.

I KNEW it, said another, who felt vindicated.

Mikaylas Lies Part. Infinity, someone else added.

But a lot of others jumped to Nogueras defense, insisting that it must just be her customer service voice.

Shes prob just trying to sound more professional, one person wrote.

Shes said a million times she used to be insecure about her voice so shed hide it but now she embraces it, added another.

The TikTok creator behind the unearthed clip wasnt buying that, though.

She also said it looks like false lashes,' Rea replied, in reference to Lashgate.

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Nogueira has actually addressed these rumors before, saying that shes been taunted for her accent her entire life and absolutely has tried to hide it.

Its not a f***ing Boston accent, Ive already said that, Nogueira insisted at the time. Its a f***ing redneck accent from where Im from.

As for this latest round of accusations, however, the influencer has apparently remained mum.

In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News  follow us here!

The post Beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira accused of faking accent after old college video resurfaces appeared first on In The Know.

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(Reuters) - Belarus on Monday accused Poland of causing long delays at its border with the European Union by slowing the movement of trucks, alleging that Warsaw was failing to implement bilateral agreements.

Poland, a fierce critic of veteran Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, in February closed one of its key border crossings with Belarus, citing security concerns, a decision Minsk called "catastrophic".

Strained ties between the two countries deteriorated sharply last year after Russia invaded Ukraine in what it called a "special military operation" and used Belarusian territory as a launch pad for the attack.

Poland has taken over a million Ukrainian refugees.

"Since Friday, a queue in front of the only accessible border crossing point on the Belarusian-Polish border, Kukuryki (Kozowiczy), has doubled in size and now totals 1,000 vehicles," the Belarusian border committee said in a statement.

"The main reason is the failure of the Polish side to implement bilateral agreements on the passage of trucks," it said, accusing Poland of only processing 61% of the typical number of trucks crossing the border over the weekend.

Poland's border service was not immediately available to comment.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
The Cincinnati Bengals have finally found some cornerback help in free agency with former second-round pick Sidney Jones.

According to The Scores Jordan Schultz, the Bengals have signed the 26-year-old defensive back to a one-year deal.

Jones was a second-rounder for Philadephia who spent three seasons with the Eagles before bouncing around with two teams and ultimately landing in Cincinnati.

The Bengals entered the offseason needing help at cornerback with both Tre Flowers and Eli Apple set to hit the open market and No. 1 corner Chidobe Awuzie still rehabbing an injury.

Adding Jones this late in the process helps the Bengals keep their draft options open and doesnt rule out the return of Apple or Flowers, if not both.

More Latest News!

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The Louisville Metro Youth Detention Services building in downtown Louisville off of West Jefferson Street. June 21, 2019

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed into law legislation Monday to reopen a youth detention center in Louisville that will now be run by the state, along with adding stricter rules for youths charged with or convicted of violent crimes.

House Bill 3, along appropriation measures in Senate Bill 162, will direct $13.4 million to the renovation and reopening of the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center, which the city closed in 2019 due to lack of funding. The reopened facility will now be operated by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, which also received additional funding for staffing, raises, services and security upgrades.

The high-priority legislation of the GOP supermajority was a reaction to incidents of rioting and violence at youth detention facilities across the state, an uptick in violent crimes where a juvenile was charged and kids from Louisville being shipped across the state to be detained.

More:Juvenile justice bill to add Louisville detention center passes House, with more funding

Among the reforms in HB 3 are mandatory detention holds on youths charged with serious violent crime (until they have appeared before a judge, at a maximum of 48 hours), possible criminal charges for parents found to not be cooperating with their child's diversion program, and the unsealing of criminal records for juveniles convicted or pleading guilty to violent crimes for at least three years.

Nearly all Democrats in the legislature voted against HB 3, mostly due to concerns over the provisions on mandatory detention holds for children and the unsealing of their criminal records.

Together, HB 3 and SB 162 would also appropriate $38 million for salary increases at the Department of Juvenile Justice and Department of Corrections, $4.5 million for the renovation of DJJ's Lyndon detention center, $9.7 million to hire 146 additional DJJ youth workers, $3.2 million for DJJ youth worker raises, $4 million for security upgrades to DJJ detention centers and $1.5 million to increase diversion and treatment services for detained youths  making up much of the funding requested by the Beshear administration to retain and recruit workers in the understaffed facilities.

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Beshear vetoes Senate Bill 7 targeting public employee unions

The governor also vetoed a bill that would prohibit the automatically deducted union dues of certain public employee from being used on political activities.

Senate Bill 7 would exempt firefighters and police officers, only applying to public school teachers and classified employees, with supporters decrying that union dues of the Kentucky Education Association and Jefferson County Teachers Association go toward the political campaign activities of their PACs.

While such employees can already opt out of having their dues go to political activities, under SB 7 teachers would have to opt in to contribute.

All Democrats voted against SB 7 in both chambers, with 14 Republicans peeling off to vote against it in the House and one in the Senate.

More:From anti-trans to Medicaid cuts, here are Beshear's vetoes and where they stand

In his veto message, Beshear wrote that SB 7 is an unconstitutional "attack on unions and teacher associations that support and protect hard working Kentucky families."

The governor also wrote that the bill would jeopardize $76 million of federal transit funds and is so broadly worded that it could prohibit payroll deductions for dental and vision insurance providers, financial services firms and charitable organizations.

The legislature could override the veto with the vote of a constitutional majority once lawmakers return to Frankfort Wednesday for the final two days of the 2023 session.

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KY governor signs bill to reopen Louisville youth detention facility
It looks simple enough.

A bit of rice, a slice of raw fish and maybe a vegetable or two  at first glance sushi appears like a meal that can be easily made by almost anyone with a little practice. But the Japanese dish is anything but simple, given the wide disparity in quality that can be found from restaurant to restaurant.

The Columbia area is full of restaurants that serve sushi. From California rolls to your classic spicy tuna rolls, theres likely something for everyone, whether youre a sushi newbie or a veteran. However, depending on the quality of ingredients and the presentation, how good the sushi is at those restaurants could vary greatly.

To make the search for quality easier, Yelp has compiled a list of the best reviewed restaurants in 2023 that serve sushi in the Columbia area.

Here are seven of the best places to get sushi in Columbia, according to Yelp.

Red Sake Japanese Restaurant

Location: 285 Columbiana Drive, Columbia

The Red Sake Japanese Restaurant website states that it mainly focuses on dishes that offer fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables. Customers can order sushi online or they can sit down and have all the sushi they can eat.

The restaurant offers classic sushi rolls like the California roll and the crunchy roll. It also has chef specialty rolls such as the phoenix maki roll, which includes spicy tuna, crunch with a slice of avocado and spicy mayo sauce. Then theres the dynamite roll that has three kinds of spicy fish, cream cheese and the chefs special sauce.

Camon Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Location: 1332 Assembly Street

Camon has prepared authentic Japanese cuisine and sushi since 1985 and is one of the first sushi bars in the Columbia area, the restaurants website states. Some of the more interesting sushi options on the restaurants menu include the lifesaver roll, which is avocado rolled without seaweed and filled with salmon, yellowtail with lemon zest on the outside; and the Camon roll, which includes shrimp, egg, cucumbers rolled inside and out and tobiko (fish eggs) on the outside.

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Antai Asian Dining

Location: 5084 Sunset Blvd., Lexington

Antai in Japanese means in good health, which the restaurant hopes to provide with its tasty sushi. Along with the traditional sushi offerings, Antai has a solid list of special rolls that offer a wide variety of flavors. Theres the caterpillar roll, which includes yellowtail, sea bream and escolar, topped with eel, avocado, scallions and sesame seeds and drizzled with spicy mayo and eel sauce. If you want something with a little kick, order the Godzilla roll, filled with spicy kani, tempura-fried and drizzled with spicy mayo and eel sauce. Or you could just try the house special, which has bluefin tuna, smoked salmon, sea bream, yellowtail, crab sticks, tobiko, scallions and avocado, all wrapped in a seaweed sheet.

M Vista

Location: 701 Lady Street

M Vista is a mixture of Chinese cuisine, Korean-style BBQ, Vietnamese and Thai, as well as Japanese sushi. Some of the restaurants specialty sushi rolls include the M Vista roll, filled with spicy scallops and sweet shrimp, topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail and avocado; the mermaid, loaded with smoked salmon, crab and cream cheese and topped with shrimp; and the angry dragon, which has shrimp tempura, mango and spicy tuna inside soy paper wrap, with crab salad and eel sauce on top.

Inakaya Watanabe

Location: 655 St. Andrews Road

Inakaya is a bit of a drive out from Columbias downtown, but it appears to be worth the trip, based on reviews. Customers can order one of several sushi dinner options that offer a variety of classic sushi to try. You can also mix and match from the house favorite rolls and specialty rolls. And if you and some friends are particularly hungry and dont mind sharing, theres the Omakase sushi boat, in which the chef creates a unique boat with sushi, sashimi and a special roll based on the days selection.

TakoSushi

Location: 1332 Main Street

Opening just last year on Main Street in the heart of downtown Columbia, TakoSushi is a bit unique in the world of Japanese cuisine, given that it offers Southwestern dishes like tacos and quesadillas along with traditional sushi. Enjoy a side of chip and salsa while you chow down on unique sushi, such as Dans 49 roll, which includes steamed shrimp chop chop, topped with crab chop chop and jalapenos.

SakiTumi Grill and Sushi Bar

Location: 807 Gervais St.

SakiTumi has offered quality sushi to Columbia since 2006. Tucked away in the Vista, the restaurant provides plenty of traditional sushi options for customers. But for those who want to get a little more hands-on, SakiTumi sells a quick, at-home sushi kit. The basic kit lets you try your hand at putting sushi rolls together yourself, without the hassle of tracking down hard-to-find ingredients.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Reuters

When you get on a plane and the pilot has a kamikaze headband tied around his head, get off the plane. This is one of two important political lessons offered by developments in Israel and the U.S. this past weekend.

The other is that just because a corrupt demagogue is willing to use mob violence to advance his agenda, that doesnt mean all public demonstrations are bad. In fact, when fundamental rights are at stake in a democracyand other institutions of society have been co-opted by craven politicianspeacefully taking to the streets is sometimes the only way to stop kamikaze politicians.

This Is Israels Most Dire Week Since the Yom Kippur War

Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump have made it clear they will use any available tool to protect themselves from prosecution and (even if it means bringing down their countrys democratic institutions) the rule of law and the countrys global standing. They have, for years, displayed their willingness to embrace kamikaze tactics for all to see, as both have sought to obstruct justice and attack prosecutors, judges, and laws simply because they threatened them personally.

Unfortunately for both Israel and for the United States, that has not stopped their political allies from supporting them. Bibi was reelected prime minister even while he was under indictment for corruption. Trump surely anticipates trying to do the same thing. And both have made it crystal clear that they have sought high office as a means of staying out of jail.

It has been a chilling spectacle for both countries. But perhaps there is a glimmer of hope. Because at least for the moment, the people of Israels active use of their rights to free expression and peaceful public assembly has forestalled Netanyahus attempt to eviscerate Israeli democracy by subverting the independence of its judiciary.

Following massive demonstrations, on Monday, Netanyahu announced he would postpone until after the Israeli parliaments month-long spring recess the controversial judicial reforms that have led to thirteen straight weeks of protests in Israel. Those protests came to a head this weekend, as objections to the reforms led Netanyahu to fire his defense minister and sent hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets, culminating in a general strike on Monday.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a meeting at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, amid demonstrations after he dismissed the defense minister as his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The threat Netanyahu and his coalition pose still looms (and of course, temporarily dodging this political bullet does nothing to help the millions of Palestinians who have been disenfranchised and denied their fundamental rights by Israel.) For that reason, Israelis with whom I spoke said it was likely the protests would continue.

Freezing the process solves nothing, said former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas.

Thats because the issue remains open and imminent. In a dangerous region of the world, by far the greatest threat Israel faces is from its current prime minister and the cluster of right-wing thugs that make up his ruling coalition.

Thats why its extremely important that the pressure on Netanyahu remains intense.

Heres How the U.S. Is Preparing to Handle Multiple Foreign Policy Crises At Once

The Biden administration faces a pivotal challenge. Privately, administration officials have expressed disgust with some of the statements coming from Bibis more radical cabinet officials, and are deeply opposed to the proposed judicial reforms. But publicly they have moderated their criticism, offering comparatively muted formulations about the importance of maintaining democracy in Israel or seeking compromises.

While the freeze may appear just such a compromise, listening to Netanyahus speechit was clear it was not. He used harsh language to condemn pro-democracy demonstrators as a minority of extremists willing to tear our country to shreds. Members of his coalition called for violent counter-demonstrations.

Further, in exchange for agreeing to the pause in implementing the judicial reforms, Netanyahu reportedly made disturbing promises to some of his most extreme supporterslike offering National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir the ability to form his own national guard within his ministry. This is an extremely bad idea, given Ben-Gvirs past history which includes a conviction as a supporter of a right-wing terrorist group.

Israelis protest near Israel's Supreme Court during a demonstration after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters

For all these reasons, the Biden administration needs to send a clear message privately to Netanyahu that any further moves to curtail democracy will lead to an immediate pause of a meaningful portion of U.S. aid to Israel. We have the leverage. We should use it.

Moreover, as Israels most steadfast ally, we have an obligation to defend it. Standing in the way of tyranny from within is one way in which the U.S. can live up to its commitment to defend Israel.

Absent a solid promise not to pause but to actually fully stop the judicial reform effort, the administration should also rethink the invitation Israel has to participate in the upcoming Democracy Summit. (The administration says the criteria for attending the event must remain flexible to countries with differing degrees or systems of democracy. Fair enough. But undercutting that position is the fact that invitations to democracy backsliders like Turkey and Hungary were, appropriately, withheld.)

Israels Unrest Could End Up Making Its Democracy Stronger

The Biden administration must recognize that whats happening in Israel could easily happen here. Our once and possibly future president continues to call for violence against prosecutors investigating him, invokes racist slurs against them and their backers, and continues to venerate the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as political martyrs. Should Trump succeed or Netanyahu do so with the apparent acceptance of the US government, Hungarys Viktor Orban, Turkeys Recep Tayyit Erdogan, Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Indias Narendra Modi will surmise that their moves against democracy will be more easily tolerated.

Democracy cannot and must not tolerate kamikaze politicians like Netanyahu, Trump and the others. The threat is too grave and given that they have been so clear about their intentions, we have no excuses for allowing matters to deteriorate even further than they already have.

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AMIR COHEN/ Reuters

Israels judicial overhaul, which has sparked massive outcry and protests, is being put on hold, Israels national security minister announced Monday.

Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the far-right Jewish Power party, said in a statement the pause will last until the next session of the Knesset. Ben Gvir said he still plans to bring the bill to a vote in April after the legislature's Passover recess.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in a speech that the overhaul is on pause, but that he will seek a compromise.

We will not give up but we will try to get to find a broad agreement, Netanyahu said Monday.

The prime minister urged calm in the interim, asking his supporters to continue to behave responsibility and dont get dragged into any provocations.

Netanyahu has been facing mounting pressure to put a stop to his plan to reform the countrys judicial system. Israels defense minister, Yoav Gallant, was the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out about the potential plans when he spoke out in recent days calling for them to be halted. In response to the challenge, however, Netanyahu fired him Sunday, sparking renewed anger and a surge of strikes over the plans.

Tel Aviv, today. Estimated as the largest protest in the history of Israel pic.twitter.com/2CEGz4cl2b  Danel Lushi (@DanelLushi) March 25, 2023

The bill would give Israels legislative body the power to overrule the Supreme Courts decisions by a simple majority and dramatically increase politicians power to appoint justices.

Critics have called the law a move toward dictatorship, while its supporters in the government have heralded it as a much-needed reform.

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Coordinator said in a call Monday the proposal flies in the face of the whole idea of checks and balances, later adding that U.S. President Joe Biden does not expect the situation in Israel to devolve into civil war.

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On Monday, hundreds of thousands Israelis turned out in cities across the country, as workers from airports to universities and McDonalds franchises walked off the job.

Netanyahu Ally Turns on Explosive Plan to Reshape Judiciary

Hours before his coalition partner announced he was backing down, Netanyahu attempted to calm the unrest.

I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brotherly people, he said in a tweet.

At the same time, Ben Gvir and the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged their own followers to take to the street in support of the reform.

Do not give in to violence, to anarchy, to objectors and wild strikes. We are the majoritylet's make our voice heard, Smotrich said in a video message to supporters.

The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has also called for an immediate stop to the plans. Israels Consul General in New York Asaf Zamir announced his resignation following the decision to fire the defense minister for challenging Netanyahu. Zamir called on other Israeli envoys to also protest the firing.

Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, levied a scathing critique at Netanyahu, in whose cabinet he once served.

We call it regime change from top down. They are trying to make Israel a dictatorship. We are not going to accept it. This is not going to fit into our basic values and collective psyche, Barak said.

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In an executive order signed Monday , President Biden barred federal agencies from using commercial spyware that threatens US national security or carries a risk of improper use by foreign governments and individuals. The order applies to all departments, including those involved in law enforcement, defense and intelligence. It also prohibits the use of spyware that in the past was used to disclose non-public information about the US government.

The executive order the Biden administration published on the White House website doesnt include a list of affected spyware vendors. Per TechCrunch , government officials declined to name specific firms when asked by reporters. However, the administration said the order includes US and foreign-made spyware. Judging from the criteria laid out in the order, known government spyware makers like Isreals NSO Group and Macedonias Cytrox are likely affected.

As TechCrunch notes, security researchers have long warned of the dangers posed by commercial spyware. Such programs frequently target previously undisclosed vulnerabilities that make entire software ecosystems unsafe. In the case of NSO Groups infamous Pegasus spyware, the firm exploited a CoreGraphics vulnerability in iOS that allowed the program to infect an iPhone without the victim needing to tap anything . Moreover, while many governments claim to use spyware sparingly to investigate serious crimes, that hasnt stopped some from using the software for domestic surveillance and to target political dissidents .

We are very concerned about the threat of digital authoritarianism and practices around the world but we are also very cognizant that the misuse of technology can occur in any state, a White House official told The Hill . So, we are taking steps to make sure that the way that we would like technology to be used is aligned with human rights and democratic principles all around the world.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban after six people, including three children, were killed in a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday, the White House said.

"We have to do more to stop gun violence. Its ripping our communities apart, Biden said at the White House. "I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban."

The Nashville shooter, a 28-year-old who was fatally shot by officers at the scene, had at least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, police said initially. Police later said the shooter had one semi-automatic rifle and two handguns.

Biden, a Democrat, has repeatedly called for a renewed assault weapons ban and stricter rules on gun sales, measures that need to pass Congress.

The House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans; any new gun safety legislation is unlikely this year, key lawmakers say.

"How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system or to require the safe storage of guns?" White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters before Biden spoke.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Jasper Ward and Stephen Coates; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass stronger gun safety legislation  including a renewed assault weapons ban  in the wake of Mondays shooting at a Nashville, Tennesee, private school.

Mr Biden called the shooting, which authorities have said claimed six lives, including those of four children, sick and heartbreaking, and praised law enforcement for their prompt response during an event to celebrate woman-owned small businesses at the White House.

I want to commend the police who reply and respond, credibly swiftly within minutes  Were monitoring the situation really closely  and we have to do more to stop gun violence. Its ripping our communities apart  and we have to do more to protect our schools so they arent turned into prisons, he said.

So I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons. It's about time that we began to make some more progress, he added.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lamented how often Americans are now gunned down in their schools while speaking to reporters at her daily press briefing.

While we don't know yet all the details in this latest tragic shooting. We know that too often our schools and communities are being devastated by gun violence. Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach, she said.

First Lady Jill Biden also weighed in on the tragedy in remarks at a National League of Cities event on Monday.

I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer, she said.

Ms Jean-Pierre also reminded reporters that Mr Biden signed the first meaningful gun legislation to pass Congress in decades  the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act  into law last year, and said the president believes that law is not enough.

We must do more. And he wants Congress to act because enough is enough, she said.

In his State of the Union. The president called on Congress to do something to stop the epidemic of gun violence, tearing families apart, tearing communities apart. How many more children have have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban to close loopholes in our background check system or to require the safe storage of guns, she continued. We need to do something  once again the President calls on Congress to do something before another child is senselessly killed in a preventable act of gun violence.

The White House press secretary also said Mr Biden will address the Nashville shooting in remarks later on Monday, and called the events in Tennessee unacceptable.

What we're seeing today what we're seeing in schools and communities across this country is unacceptable. Our children should be able to go to school feeling safe, feeling protected. People should be able to go to grocery stores feeling safe. And what we saw today is devastating. It's heartbreaking for any American any parent across the country or any American, and so that's why this President has been very clear from day one, he is going to continue to fight for those communities, she said.
Seminar on Chinese democracy, human rights protection held in Hunan

Xinhua) 08:26, March 27, 2023

CHANGSHA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A seminar on Chinese democracy and human rights protection was held Sunday in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

More than 30 experts and scholars from research institutions and related organizations attended the meeting.

Lu Guangjin, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, said Chinese democracy is an important achievement in China's political progress, with characteristics including socialist democracy, the running of the country by the people, and whole-process people's democracy.

Chen Youwu, dean of the law school at Guangdong University of Technology, said that the essence of Chinese democracy lies in respecting and safeguarding human rights, and Chinese democracy is a new form of democracy that realizes human freedom and equality.

Hu Yuhong, head of the institute of human rights research at East China University of Political Science and Law, said that there is no rule of law without democracy, and whole-process people's democracy enriches people's democratic rights.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World leaders will gather virtually this week for the second U.S.-organized Summit for Democracy, an event critics say illustrates the halting progress the Biden administration has made in advancing human rights and democracy as a focus of its foreign policy.

Starting Wednesday, the event involves 120 countries, civil society groups and technology companies and will include strategically important nations where rights groups have expressed concerns about the state of democracy, such as India, Poland and Israel.

Rights advocates have praised the administration for putting a spotlight on democracy, but say there is little evidence the countries joining the summit have made progress on improving their democracies, and that there is no formal mechanism to hold participants to the modest commitments made at the first meeting.

The administration has also been reluctant to make the hard choices needed to show it is putting human rights at the heart of its foreign policy, experts said.

"I think this administration, like any other administration, has just found that that is too difficult," said Tess McEnery, who worked on human rights issues in the Biden administration until August 2022 and is now with the Project on Middle East Democracy.

She added that because the U.S. is unable to drastically change the relationship with countries vital to its strategic interests like India, "instead we have a summit."

DEALING WITH DICTATORS

Crises like the war in Ukraine have only made Biden's goal of rallying democracies against autocratic rulers more difficult.

Washington has accused Russia of committing atrocities in its invasion and rallied other countries to support Ukraine. But this has sometimes come at the expense of a firm line on democracy and rights elsewhere, including in Venezuela, where a U.S. delegation visited in March to try to convince its authoritarian government to pump more oil.

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"The Biden administration has gone so far as to ... negotiate with one dictator to counter another," showing willingness to set aside principles to address pressing problems, said Christopher Hernandez-Roy with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a briefing call ahead of the summit.

U.S. officials reject criticism that they have pulled punches on human rights or democratic backsliding, but say they are aware of "legitimate criticism" directed at the administration over the issue.

"I will defend the fact that human rights comes up in every bilateral relationship we have," a senior Biden administration official said.

Conceived initially as an in-person gathering, the first summit was held virtually due to COVID-19. The second summit was delayed by several months and will now also be mostly online.

The virtual format adds to a sense that the summit has been de-prioritized, making it harder for participants to push bold reforms, said one civil society activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are involved in organizing the summit.

This year's summit will be co-hosted by the United States, Costa Rica, Zambia, the Netherlands and South Korea, an arrangement that U.S. officials say will encourage the countries to be more involved in the process.

(Editing by Don Durfee)
The White House is required by law to move forward on a minor regulatory update that could have enormous consequences, spurring construction of tens of thousands of new homes built to the nations greenest energy efficiency standards ever written.

Yet more than a year after the key federal agency in charge said it would complete the initial steps to advance the rule, the Biden administration has yet to release a draft of the policy to the public  a move that appeared to both violate the law and allow construction of as many as 20,000 new homes every month that will likely need costly upgrades in the future.

If enacted, the policy would save mostly low- and middle-income homeowners thousands of dollars in heating and cooling bills at a time when energy prices are soaring, inflation continues to sting, and the countrys aging electrical grids are buckling as Americans blast air conditioners to survive increasingly extreme heat waves. Over time, the highly efficient housing stock would, by one estimate, avoid up to 300 million metric tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions  nearly equivalent to the entire annual emissions of notoriously coal-addicted Poland.

But the proposal is lingering on an ever-growing bureaucratic docket. And no one seems to know why.

This is the low-hanging fruit of climate policy, said Lowell Ungar, the federal policy lead at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the advocacy group whose researchers calculated the number of homes and quantity of emissions that the policy would affect.

This is a way the administration can help lower-income families and help the climate at the same time, he added. And its just by following the law  not something novel or really difficult.

Its not hard to see how a rule about which energy-saving building codes a newly built house or apartment must meet to qualify for federal housing loans fails to generate excitement or political pressure.

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Boring as it may sound, its hugely important. The United States nearly 111 million buildings use roughly half the countrys energy  and on average waste upward of 30% of what they consume annually. Combining direct emissions from oil furnaces and gas stovetops with the fossil-fueled electricity powering refrigerators, televisions and neon storefront signs, buildings produce more than one-third of the countrys greenhouse gasses.

Retrofitting older buildings with more insulation, new windows and electric appliances can be complicated and expensive. That means every new home and office constructed today to outdated efficiency standards, or without the circuitry for electric heating and cooking, only digs the worlds No. 2 emitter into a deeper carbon hole that will cost more to climb out of.

None of that is news to this administration. Just two months after President Joe Biden took office, the White House publicly warned industry groups against blocking the shift away from gas-guzzling buildings. The Democrats landmark climate-spending law earmarked millions to help states and cities adopt the most recent energy codes. The administration even vowed in December to lead by example by setting a new gold standard for slashing the energy use of renovated or new federally-owned buildings.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on developing infrastructure jobs in the East Room of the White House on Nov. 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on developing infrastructure jobs in the East Room of the White House on Nov. 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

Overall, the Biden administration has been so good about building codes, they really understand you cant solve the climate crisis without really aggressively addressing buildings, said Ben Evans, the federal legislative director at the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council. This seems like a no-brainer. Thats why this delay continues to be really curious.

An administration spokesperson declined to comment.

At issue are the federal loans that help finance roughly one-fifth of all new home purchases every month. Primarily doled out via the Department of Housing and Urban Developments (HUD) Federal Housing Administration, the loans require new homes be constructed to certain energy-saving standards to qualify.

The federal government does not set building codes in the U.S.  that falls to states and cities. To guarantee contractors and manufacturers some degree of consistency, all 50 states use codes developed by the International Code Council, known as the ICC. Every three years, the private nonprofit convenes everyone from local governments to environmentalists, homebuilders to gas utilities to review and update the model energy codes that dictate everything from air flow to insulation to electrical wiring.

Its then up to states or municipalities to put the code on the books. The adoption rules vary by state. Some set statewide standards, while others allow cities and counties to go at their own pace. This can lead to stark discrepancies. While Idaho hasnt updated its code beyond the standards designed nearly two decades ago, Illinois by law adopts the latest version of the ICCs energy codes within a year of their release.

In 2007, Congress sought to raise the benchmark, passing a law that disqualified any new homes built below the ICCs 2006 efficiency standards from receiving federal housing loans through HUD or the Department of Agriculture. The legislation ordered the federal agencies to write their own efficiency standards, but provided a fallback option: Promptly review the latest ICC codes each time they come out to determine whether implementing them would jack up housing prices or reduce the availability of new housing. If everything checked out, the agencies could adopt the latest ICC energy codes in lieu of a standard designed in-house. Either way, the point was to continually raise the national benchmark for loan programs.

The ICC has updated its energy codes four times since, but the administration has adopted them just once: In 2015, when the Obama administration hiked the requirement for HUDs FHA loans to the 2009 code.

Workers lay a foundation at a new home construction site in Trappe, Maryland, on Oct. 28, 2022.

Workers lay a foundation at a new home construction site in Trappe, Maryland, on Oct. 28, 2022.

The law set deadlines for federal agencies to set their own standards, but the legal language was murkier on adopting the ICC codes as a stopgap  making it difficult for advocacy groups to sue the administration for missing deadlines, a common tactic for forcing action from a federal agency. And pressing for an agency-written standard did not seem like the fastest route to cleaner buildings.

Its hard enough getting them just to adopt the model code, Ungar said of the agencies. Theyve been so far behind, advocates have been much more focused on that rather than what might be an even slower process of writing new federal standards from scratch.

When President Donald Trump took office, the Republican administration simply removed the year 2009 from the federal certificates homebuilders must complete to qualify for the loans. The result was a confusing and effectively meaningless requirement that the new home needed to meet any ICC energy code standard.

As Trump tried rolling back even the most mundane efficiency standards and made the U.S. the only nation to withdraw from the global Paris climate accords, dozens of states and cities passed laws requiring them to zero out local emissions in the coming decades.

That created a problem. Counties, cities and towns have little power over automobiles and electrical plants, the countrys two biggest sources of emissions. Many of them did, however, have a say over what kinds of buildings are erected within their jurisdictions. And even those beholden to statewide rules could influence the model codes through the ICC.

While a wide range of professionals weighed in on writing the model codes each cycle, the final edition was put to a vote in which only government officials could cast ballots, lending democratic legitimacy to the private consortiums codes.

For years, that system mostly maintained the status quo, offering up codes that improved energy efficiency by a paltry 1% at most each cycle. In 2019, however, local governments eager to cut emissions registered to vote in droves. Organized through climate-focused groups like the Michael Bloomberg-backed U.S. Conference of Mayors, the officials this time approved the most ambitious slate of codes in years. The final version of the codes set to take effect in 2021 raised the efficiency of new buildings by up to 14% and required builders to include the circuitry for electric appliances and vehicle chargers in all new homes, saving a future homeowner who wants an induction stove or a Tesla thousands in electrician costs down the road.

Industry groups balked at the changes, calling the election illegitimate and challenging dozens of government officials eligibility to vote. When that failed, trade associations including the National Association of Home Builders and the American Gas Association asked the ICCs appeals board to overturn key provisions in the codes. The gas utilities appeals won, and the ICC struck the electrical wiring requirements.

Soon after, the ICC took the unexpected step of proposing to eliminate governments right to vote altogether. Municipalities would still vote on codes for things like swimming pools and plumbing, but the energy rules would instead be decided by consensus-oriented panels where industry would enjoy equal representation to local governments.

The proposal drew immediate backlash from governments, architects, green builders and efficiency advocates, who saw the move as a quiet coup by homebuilders and fossil fuel companies who already wielded disproportionate influence at the ICC.

This is the low-hanging fruit of climate policy. This is a way the administration can help lower-income families and help the climate at the same time. And its just by following the law  not something novel or really difficult.Lowell Ungar, ACEEE

As a final decision loomed in February 2021, the newly-inaugurated Biden administration urged the ICC against scrapping a system that appeared to work appropriately and delivered clear economic and environmental benefits. Such a change could, the Energy Department warned, undermine the codes legitimacy.

The ICC countered that not enough states were voluntarily adopting the most recent codes, and insisted that the committee model would actually make it easier to take big leaps in energy efficiency that would have more popular support. That March, the ICC approved the changes.

Gas companies hailed the change as a victory. In an internal 2021 document from the American Public Gas Association, the trade group representing gas utilities told its board of directors the new ICC system should be beneficial, allowing for a more balanced code-writing process that would ensure consumers have a choice in the energy they want in their home or business.

Sure enough, when the newly-assembled committees at the ICC started writing the energy codes last year, a gas utility executive in Missouri secretly sent an email that nearly torpedoed a provision to mandate the wiring for electric vehicle charging, the lack of easy access to which has become a major problem over the past two years as sales of battery-powered cars surged. The issue ultimately resolved itself, but the incident seemed to confirm advocates fears that a commonsense climate policy that passed under the old system would not even make it past the draft phase in this new process.

Construction workers walk on scaffolding around a new block of apartments in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 16, 2022.

Construction workers walk on scaffolding around a new block of apartments in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 16, 2022.

With that in mind, more than a dozen advocacy groups sent a letter in June 2021 to HUD, urging the agency to quickly adopt the 2021 energy codes. Doing so would be a straightforward but lengthy bureaucratic process. HUD would need to make a preliminary determination that the new codes would not harm availability and affordability, and submit that draft to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval, a process that is supposed to take 90 days or less. Once approved, HUD would publish the draft, accept public comments for up to two months, review those remarks, then submit its final determination to OMB. The final version could be applied to all the paperwork required to get a housing loan, and a green building boom could begin.

If highly prioritized, the whole process could reasonably take a year. In July 2021, Kevin Bush, HUDs deputy assistant secretary for grant programs, said in a letter that the agency expected to follow the law by publishing its draft determination for public comment later this year.

But HUD did not submit its draft to OMB until August 2022.

Eight months later, the as-yet-unpublished document remained unmoved from its spot on OMBs public docket until Monday. OMB said in the docket that it completed its review on Friday  a lengthy process that appears to have ended hours after HuffPost contacted the agency for comment.

Once finalized, that one determination will apply jointly to both HUD and USDA. The Department of Veteran Affairs is required by the same statute to follow an identical procedure. But Congress only passed that law last year, putting the agency on a different time frame. Its unclear when the determination will be made public.

Even just releasing the draft documents would likely have an impact, said Kim Cheslak, director of codes for the nonprofit New Buildings Institute and a member of the new ICC committee writing commercial building codes.

A federal stamp of approval for the 2021 energy codes gives more market momentum and says we know these things are achievable without increased cost, she said. It can really help the construction industry move forward as we need to move forward, and will have an immediate impact on thousands of homes.

Asked why she thought the White House hadnt done so, she replied: Inertia.

Then she sighed. The reason I think theyre not doing it is inertia and political pressure, she said. The ICC experienced similar political pressure. These groups have huge lobbying interests and arms.

Related...
Since entering the Oval Office, Joe Biden has been eager to avoid a replay of what he saw as an unpleasant episode from his time as vice president -- public brawling with Israel's pugnacious prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now as the US ally plunges into turmoil over Netanyahu's divisive bid to shake up his country's judiciary, the Biden administration has been raising its tone, if only by a notch.

Netanyahu on Monday agreed to pause his proposals to weaken the power of judges, nodding to mass protests and a general strike that even shuttered the Israeli embassy in Washington.

US officials for weeks spoke in general terms about the need for consensus and shared democratic values, but a White House statement late Sunday said the United States was "deeply concerned" about events in Israel after Netanyahu fired the defense minister for criticizing the legislation.

Last week, the State Department issued unusually strong criticism over the hard-right coalition annulling a law on Israeli settlements in the West Bank and over remarks by one of Netanyahu's firebrand ministers denying the existence of the Palestinians.

The reaction is still far from the open clashes during Barack Obama's presidency when Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, rallied with rival Republicans against a nuclear agreement with Iran.

David Makovsky, a close watcher of US-Israel relations at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Biden had managed a skillful balance.

"I think the Biden administration is actually playing this quite well," Makovsky said. "For Biden, at least when it comes to Israel, you don't air the dirty laundry in public -- he's not Obama in this way."

The statements on democratic principles -- and the lack of a White House invitation to Netanyahu since he returned to power in December -- already made abundantly clear to Israelis where the United States stands, Makovsky said.

"At the same time, the administration doesn't want to be seen as too heavy-handed and to become a punching bag for the right-wing in Israel."

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Netanyahu's son Yair already claimed that the United States is funding the protests, an assertion strongly denied by the State Department.

- Growing doubts among Democrats -

Biden, who spent 36 years as a US senator, has long enjoyed a cordial relationship with Netanyahu and a reputation as a supporter of Israel.

But views are changing within his Democratic Party as Israel moves further to the right. A recent Gallup poll found for the first time that more Democrats sympathized with Palestinians than Israelis, while Republicans remain staunchly pro-Israel, led in part by evangelical Christians.

A letter this month by a majority of Jewish members of the House of Representatives -- almost all of whom are Democrats -- urged Netanyahu to suspend the proposals which "could undermine Israeli democracy and civil rights."

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the Palestinian issue at a hearing last week, said the United States looks "very weak when we continually make statements without any kind of consequence."

Blinken did not take the bait and noted dryly that Netanyahu had promised not to revive settlements.

Logan Bayroff of J Street, the left-leaning pro-Israel US advocacy group, said the United States should do more to "stand unequivocally" with the protesters.

"This is a historic crisis moment in Israeli democracy," he said.

"There needs to be a clear, public tough red line on the actions that this government is taking to make clear that they're destructive ultimately to Israel's own interests, to US interests, and to shared democratic values."

Netanyahu's proposals prompted rare expressions of concern from Israel's military, highly respected within the Jewish state, as a growing number of reservists refused to serve.

- Consistency on criticism? -

Even the mild US criticism contrasts with the approach of Biden's predecessor Donald Trump who fully embraced Netanyahu and acted on an Israeli wish-list including recognizing Jerusalem as its capital.

Elliott Abrams, who held senior positions under Trump and previous Republican presidents, noted the Biden administration has not commented on the politics of another democracy, France, which has also seen massive, rowdy protests over President Emmanuel Macron's raising of the retirement age.

"How a democracy handles this kind of internal reform is something that we watch with interest and concern, but it's not for us to pick winners and take positions," Abrams said.

"I don't think we would appreciate other people intruding in our politics, and we should not do it either."

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President Joe Biden on Monday revived his push for a federal assault weapons ban in the aftermath of a deadly elementary school shooting.

I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapon ban. Its about time we begin to make some progress, but theres more to learn, Biden said at a Small Business Administration Womens Business Summit.

The event in the East Room of the White House began lightheartedly as Biden opened his address by discussing his favorite ice cream flavor and talking to kids in the audience.

I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream, Biden said. His speech quickly shifted to calling on Congress to ban assault weapons in the wake of the shooting.

Three adults and three children were confirmed dead following a mass shooting Monday morning at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville.



The 28-year-old female suspect, who has not been identified, was killed in an altercation with police. The woman had at least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, police said.

Biden called the shooting heartbreaking and a family's worst nightmare.

We have to do more to stop gun violence; its ripping our communities apart  ripping the soul of this nation, Biden said. And we have to do more to protect our schools, so they arent turned into prisons.

Biden has focused on reinstating the assault weapons ban that he helped pass in 1994 as senator, but which lapsed in 2004. The president doesnt appear to have the votes for an assault weapons ban in Congress.

How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

At an event in Washington on Monday, first lady Jill Biden also spoke about the shooting.

"I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer, Jill Biden said.
President Joe Biden once again called on Congress to pass a bill that would ban assault-style weapons in the wake of a shooting at a Nashville grade school that left three children and three adults dead on Monday.

We have to do more to stop gun violence. Its ripping our communities apart, the president said from the White House. Ripping at the very soul of the nation. And we have to do more to protect our schools so they arent turned into prisons.

I call on Congress, again, to pass my assault weapons ban, he continued.

The shooter was armed with two assault-style rifles and a pistol while carrying out the attack at The Covenant School, a private Christian school, authorities said. Police killed the shooter, identified as a 28-year-old woman, on the scene, officials said.

President Joe Biden spoke about the school shooting in Nashville during an event at the White House on Monday.

President Joe Biden spoke about the school shooting in Nashville during an event at the White House on Monday.

Its heartbreaking  a familys worst nightmare  and I want to commend the police that responded incredibly swiftly within minutes and ended the danger, said Biden.

The president has routinely called for banning so-called assault weapons. He made a similar plea after a string of shootings in California earlier this year that left 18 people dead and 10 others wounded.

Its just common sense, Biden said in a speech earlier this month after signing an executive order that would improve the enforcement of existing laws designed to prevent mass shootings.

Biden is limited in his ability to do more without Congressional action, and lawmakers have balked at his proposal to enact universal background checks for gun sales, ban assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and repeal immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.

Related...
President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning the U.S. government from using commercial spyware in a number of instances.

The administration decided to act after it came to light at least 50 U.S. government officials were targeted by commercial spyware that hacks into smartphones to surveil their owners, according to CBS. A White House official explained that the known victims who work for the U.S. span at least ten countries on multiple continents.

I hereby establish as the policy of the United States Government that it shall not make operational use of commercial spyware that poses significant counterintelligence or security risks to the United States Government or significant risks of improper use by a foreign government or foreign person, read the executive order. Spyware that will be targeted in particular is the spyware that has been used to target the U.S. government and Americans in the past and the spyware that is under the sway of foreign governments or actors.

There are, however, exceptions for government agencies to use commercial spyware if the agency head determines that the software does not pose a counterintelligence or national-security risk. The order will also not apply to spyware developed by government agencies themselves, such as programs by the NSA and CIA, which have a long history of unlawful surveillance.

The move follows earlier actions against commercial spyware, including the 2021 blacklisting of the Israeli firm NSO Group, which developed and supplied spyware named Pegasus to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target political dissenters. The FBI confirmed last year that it tested Pegasus for possible use in criminal investigations, according to Axios.

The administration framed the new order as the governments attempt not to contribute, directly or indirectly, to the proliferation of these programs. But some observers think it wont have much of an effect unilaterally, since other countries must act as well.

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The news comes as Congress attempts to reform and renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA), which has allowed warrantless surveillance of Americans in the past. Supporters say it has been successful in fighting terrorism by giving the intelligence community broad power to surveil foreigners. However, if Americans are in contact with those foreign targets, they can end up in a searchable database. Section 702, which does not require warrants to be obtained for those communications, runs contrary to established American surveillance law and even to Title I of FISA.

In 2021, the FBI ran nearly 3.4 million total queries of individuals in the U.S. through the Section 702 database. Additionally, the FBI has been criticized for using the database for matters that are not genuine national-security concerns.

Representative Darin LaHood (R., Il.), who is on the bipartisan Section 702 working group, explained that he believes he himself has been surveilled by the program. He made that determination after a Section 702 report was declassified, the New York Times reported. The report revealed that an FBI analyst violated the rules by making overly broad queries about an undisclosed member of Congress.

More from National Review
The United States on Tuesday opens its second Summit for Democracy with its eyes firmly on the rest of the world, seeking a united front against authoritarianism as Russia attacks Ukraine and as China launches a diplomatic offensive.

President Joe Biden took office pledging to champion democracy, and in his first year made good with the inaugural summit, which sought to reaffirm US leadership after his predecessor Donald Trump eroded democratic norms and the attack on the Capitol.

This time round, in a nod to concerns that the first edition was too much about US navel-gazing, Biden has tapped co-hosts on each continent -- the presidents of Zambia, Costa Rica and South Korea and prime minister of The Netherlands.

In total he has invited 121 leaders for the three-day, mostly virtual summit -- eight more than in 2021.

The summit comes as threats to democracy evolve "from what was seen as an important issue, albeit sort of a slow-moving threat, to one that is now both important and extremely urgent," said Marti Flacks, director of the human rights initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The sessions will bring in civil society representatives for discussions on a range of challenges to democracy including surveillance technology, which the United States sees as a growing threat as China makes rapid technological advances.

"In the absence of pending congressional action in that space, it is important that the administration is engaging bilaterally with other countries and also with companies on voluntary actions that can be taken in the interim," Flacks said.

- Shunning Turkey, Hungary -

The summit will open Tuesday with a virtual conversation on peace in Ukraine featuring President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Not only the message but the setting will be a striking contrast from the first summit where Zelensky, now a wartime leader in military fatigues, was clean-shaven and wearing a crisp black suit.

While Biden has kept his campaign pledge on the democracy summit, he has disappointed some human rights activists by easing his earlier vows to shun autocratic leaders.

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Biden last year visited both Saudi Arabia, acknowledging the kingdom's role in oil markets, and Egypt, the host of a climate summit and US partner in regional security, and has increasingly worked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Ukraine.

None of those three countries are being invited to the summit, a backhanded criticism especially of Erdogan, who faces reelection on May 14 after two decades in power in which he is accused of creeping authoritarianism.

Uniquely among European Union states, Biden is not inviting Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a fourth term last year but has been accused of deviating from liberal values by clamping down on the press, denouncing non-European refugees and speaking favorably of Moscow.

US partners shunned for the summit include Singapore, whose elections are generally considered free but which limits free assembly and regulates media, and Bangladesh, where hundreds have been arrested under the Digital Security Act.

The State Department declined to discuss criteria for inclusion.

"However, we reiterate that for the summit we aim to be inclusive and representative of a regionally and socioeconomically diverse slate of countries," a State Department spokesperson said.

"We are not seeking to define which countries are and aren't democracies."

Growing US partner India, billed as the world's largest democracy, is on the attendance list days after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament, the latest step under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has alarmed rights groups.

India's neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan, where Imran Khan was last year ousted as prime minister and later charged, is also on the list.

- More Africans invited -

Of the countries that received invitations after being kept away in 2021, five are in Africa including Tanzania, where President Samia Suluhu Hassan has promised to restore competitive politics, and Ivory Coast, where tensions have eased since 2021 elections passed off calmly, as well as The Gambia, Mauritania and Mozambique.

In Latin America, Biden is for the first time inviting Honduras, which won praise for authorities' improved conduct of 2021 elections, despite persistent violence and its recent dumping of Taiwan ties for China.

The summit comes as the United States focuses on Africa, where China and Russia have both been making inroads.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel during the week to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia -- whose president, Hakainde Hichilema, has been held up by Washington as a model on democracy and will hold his own events as a summit co-host.

Freedom House, the US-backed research group, in its latest annual report saw an overall deterioration in global democracy but also a growing number of bright spots.

Katie LaRoque, the group's coordinator for the summit, said that while a single meeting would not in itself be decisive, the gathering gives an opportunity.

Democracies can "coordinate policy changes that can contain rampant authoritarian aggression," she said.

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Marianne Williams, a self-help author and 2024 Democratic presidential contender, on Sunday in South Carolina touted her ability to improve the lives of working class Americans above and beyond that of President Joe Biden.

Williamson was the special guest of the South Carolina Democratic Partys Black Caucus, invited to speak at the caucus second annual Sunday Dinner at Brookland Baptist Church.

It was Williamsons first visit to the Palmetto State since announcing her candidacy for president earlier this month, part of a four-day swing with more visits planned in Columbia, Charleston and Florence.

Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson speaks with voters during an annual dinner hosted by the Black Caucus of the S.C. Democratic Party on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, S.C.

Williamson, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in 2020 but dropped out before the states primary, is Bidens first formal Democratic challenger, although her bid is a long shot in a state where Biden won the 2020 primary with nearly 49% of the vote. Biden has yet to announce whether hes running, though it is anticipated.

Still, during Sundays dinner, Williamson delivered an impassioned and colorful speech before a crowd of Black voters, positing that shes the right candidate for the nations highest office.

It is time for us to return the Democratic Party to the unequivocal principle of advocacy for the working people of the United States, Williamson said. My belief is that we should end the unjust economic system that says to Americans, Even though you live in the richest country in the world, somehow its complicated  to not have universal health care, tuition free college, free child care, paid family sick leave and livable wage.

Williamson, 70, is known for authoring several best-selling self-help books while serving as a spiritual guru to Oprah Winfrey. She also founded Project Angel Food, a nonprofit organization that began as a food delivery program to homebound people with AIDS and later expanded to people battling any critical illness.

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, who delivered the keynote address during Sundays event, said that Black voters need to stand up and become the voice lacking in what she calls a timid Democratic Party.

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We need each and every one of you to become missionaries for true superman justice and the American way, Cobb-Hunter said. We as Democrats are so nice; we dont want to step on anybodys toes and we have to be super inclusive. But Im here to tell you unless we get a Democratic Party that (has a backbone), we wont have a chance (against Republicans).

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, delivers the keynote address during the South Carolina Sunday Dinner, hosted by the Black Caucus of the S.C. Democratic Party on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in West Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina recently shifted to the front of presidential politics after the Democratic National Committee voted this year to overhaul its 2024 contest calendar, selecting South Carolina to replace Iowa as the first primary state.

Under the changes, South Carolina Democrats will vote Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire three days later. Georgia will vote a week later, followed by Michigan on Feb. 27.

Democrats say putting South Carolina first adds more diversity to the nominating contest, since Black voters make up two-thirds of the S.C. Democratic Party.

The S.C. Democratic Party will undergo a leadership change this year, after current Chairman Trav Robertson announced he will not seek reelection and instead will back Christale Spain. Catherine Fleming Bruce and Brandon Upson, chairman of the partys Black Caucus, also are seeking to be the next chair.

The South Carolina Democratic Black Caucus claims to represent more than 800,000 Black Democrats within the states Democratic Party, aiming they say to offer solutions to problems that have historically plagued the Black community.

Not all S.C. Democrats appeared thrilled with the caucus invitation to Williamson.

This is a great time to say I fully support and endorse President Joe Biden in his inevitable reelection campaign, Jalen Elrod, the third vice chair of the party, tweeted Sunday. Hes the most consequential and successful first term President since FDR and LBJ. We need real leaders for real challenges. Not New Age, best selling authors.

Other guests at Sundays dinner included Michael Moore, a descendant of Robert Civil War hero Robert Smalls, who has announced plans to run for the 1st Congressional District.

Despite her challenge to Biden, Williamson emphasized Sunday the importance of civility and respect.

I have no interest in any kind of personal put down of (Biden), who deserves the respect of the presidency  but we need a change, Williamson said.
A mostly vacant 15-acre property on Biscayne Bay near downtown Miami, once slated for a massive casino resort before being put up for sale, has drawn five bids topping an eye-popping $1 billion, according to the real estate brokerage marketing the property.

The land, former home to the Miami Herald and owned since 2011 by Malaysian casino giant Genting, is by far the largest privately owned vacant land remaining in and around downtown Miami.

The trophy site, which sits between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways, drew nine offers from U.S. and international interests, said Michael Fay, principal and managing director at brokerage Avison Youngs Miami office, which is representing Genting. Fay said Monday he could not name any of the bidders, citing confidentiality between the broker and client Genting.

Its an iconic property, Fay said, noting that its sale could set the highest price for a development site in the United States.

Fay said best and final offers from bidders are due by 5 p.m. Thursday and Genting could select a buyer as soon as next week.

Bloomberg, which first reported the bids, said the biggest offer was for just under $1.5 billion, but Fay declined to confirm that.

Genting put the property up for sale late last year, after Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava scrapped a contract with the company to build a monorail line from the site to South Beach because of sharply escalating cost estimates.

Genting bought the 15.5-acre property, which included the Heralds landmark Miami Modern building at One Herald Plaza and a series of adjacent parking lots, from its corporate parent McClatchy in 2014 for $236 million, a price considered high at the time.

Genting subsequently demolished the Herald building after a campaign by preservationists to save it failed. The property also includes the historically designated and legally protected Shrine Building, a 1930 Art Deco commercial building on Biscayne Boulevard. Though Genting renovated the building, it remains vacant.

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Genting released ambitious plans for a giant high-rise casino resort on the waterfont site, but failed to secure approval from the Florida Legislature for needed changes in state law to allow full-fledged gambling in the heart of Miami. In recent years, the property has been mostly idle except for special events housed in tents and other temporary facilities, like the Art Miami and Art Wynwood fairs and the Miami International Boat Show.

Genting has said it intends to retain ownership of the former Omni Mall and Hilton Hotel just north of the former Herald property, providing the company a large footprint should it secure a gambling license in the future.

Because the property sits next to the Omni Metromover Station, its zoning is set by Miami-Dade County instead of the city of Miami and would allow dense, high-rise commercial and residential development rising to around 60 stories.
Some school districts in Mississippi are worried about the financial and legal ramifications of a bill which would allow them to arm employees as a school safety measure.

Senate Bill 2079 would create a School Safety Guardian Program, an optional program that would authorize trained district employees to respond to school shootings. If a district chooses to participate and nominates a school employee (who must have an enhanced concealed carry permit), the employee would participate in a training course from the Department of Public Safety and undergo multiple screenings before being dubbed a School Guardian. A House addition to the bill would allow either school employees or outside people to serve in this role, a provision Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said he would prefer removed.

The proposed program, largely borne of concern regarding the rising rate of school shootings nationally, is intended to provide school districts with another way to increase school security. The risks associated with the program, including accidents related to carrying a gun and potential increases in insurance costs will likely prevent most districts from participating, though some districts have already expressed interest.

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Marcus Burger of Ross and Yerger, a local insurance agency, said one insurance carrier has already expressed to him it does not plan to cover any liability related to the program. He doesnt expect to see mainstream insurance carriers offer policies until the program has been around for a few years to give carriers a better understanding of the risks. When Kansas passed a law in 2013 to allow armed teachers (with no special training) on school campuses, the states primary liability insurance carrier declined to cover districts with armed employees. Burger added some higher-risk carriers may offer coverage, potentially for a higher premium.

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Enhanced concealed carry permit holders are already allowed to bring guns onto school campuses, but, a Mississippi Department of Education official told Mississippi Today in December, after the policy garnered attention last summer, that school districts had concerns about the added liability of more guns on campuses and the impact it would have on their insurance costs.

School shootings have been on the rise nationally over the last decade, with 93 incidents in the 2020-2021 school year. Mississippis most notable school shooting occurred in 1997 at Pearl High School. More broadly, the Clarion Ledger reported there have been at least 25 incidents involving guns and students in Mississippi over the last 40 years.

Twenty-eight states already allow school staff to be armed in some capacity according to a RAND Corp. report, but fewer have training programs targeting active shooter response.

In Florida, where a guardian program was adopted after the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, the state added liability protections to their professional liability policy for teachers who participated in the program. When the protections were added, the Florida Department of Education asked their Legislature for $200,000 to cover the additional cost  it is unclear if they received it.

In Texas, the number of districts participating in their guardian program has risen significantly since 2018, from 303 to 445. A Texas Association of School Boards 2022 report said most districts were only allowing commissioned peace officers, a broader term for people with any type of law enforcement experience, as school guardians.

Jim Keith, a school board attorney whose firm represents over 20 districts across Mississippi, said some districts he works with are interested in adopting the guardian program but he does not expect it to be widespread.

Some education officials and school leaders have said school resource officers, or police officers that work in or for schools, would be preferable to the guardian program, but acknowledged this program could fill a gap for some rural or financially stressed districts that lack qualified applicants or cant afford full-time school resource officers.

Lauderdale County School District Superintendent John-Mark Cain said his district works with the local sheriffs office to put a school resource officer on every campus, but he knows other districts that do take advantage of state law as it currently stands to arm staff.

The district sees (school resource officers) as the most opportune situation since we have that great partnership. However, we do understand that certain districts do not have that luxury, and those local boards will have to work with their attorney and their insurance to essentially measure that liability and that risk, Cain said.

Research on the impacts of school resource officers has not shown them to be effective at preventing shootings and they are linked with increased suspensions and arrests, but have been effective at stopping fights.

Mississippis proposed program includes legal protections for the guardians from both civil and criminal liability if they are actively responding to a shooter or other safety threat. The bill specifies guardians can still be sued if they fail to carry out their official duties.

Keith said in his reading of the bill, the civil protections for guardians would also extend to the school district. Keith added he is concerned about what exactly will fall under a guardians official duties.

He said it needs to be clear what those requirements are going to be to enable someone who is a guardian to make sure that they are acting within the course and scope of those duties. Because if they act outside it, then they lose their immunity, which means the school district could possibly lose its immunity.

Tindell, whose department is overseeing the program, said that he understands this concern but does not expect guardians to have rigidly outlined duties.

The primary duty is to protect the school from an active shooter and protect the students, he said. I think if theyre doing anything outside of that, that would be outside of the scope of their duties.

Some have also expressed concern about accidents occurring with the guardians gun, which Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, brought up during debate on the House floor. Rep. Nick Bain, R-Corinth, who was presenting the bill, said the school district and teacher would be liable in cases of accidents and the immunity provision in the bill would not apply.

If a teacher accidentally discharges a firearm because the gun falls out of the holster or theres a scuffle between students and they try to break it up and a student grabs the teachers weapon and somebody else thats not involved gets shot, whats the course (sic) of action for that? Hines told Mississippi Today after the debate.

Hines also expressed concern about the provision of the bill that requires guardians to have their gun on their person at all times, referring to it as overkill.

Tindell said this provision is important so that guardians are quickly able to respond if an active shooter situation arises, but that he would also be amenable to amendments allowing for the gun to be locked up at certain times. Tindell also highlighted that the bill requires a school shooting response plan and chain of command to be created and uniformly implemented across the state.

Like Hines, school leaders are worried about the increased risk that comes with more guns on school property. James Waldington, superintendent of the Greenwood-Leflore Consolidated School District, said he worries daily about guns being brought to campus by students, shooters and school resource officers.

Although I feel the bill is being discussed as another level of protection for our students (and) staff and I sincerely applaud that effort, to add another dimension to the educational environment where a loaded weapon is present is concerning, to say the least, he said.

The bill has passed both houses of the Legislature with a sizable majority, and currently heads to a conference committee to work out the differences between the two versions. Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, authored the bill and said the differences between the two versions are relatively minor.

Its likely Gov. Tate Reeves will sign the bill, as he included a version of the program in his legislative budget recommendations from November of last year.

When asked about possible increases in the cost of liability insurance for districts related to this program, Hill said she was not familiar with this concern but that similar programs had been adopted in other states and they still have liability insurance.

Hill said she chose to author this bill because the superintendent of her district asked for it.

Many of these campuses are rural, theyre spread out, the response time to have additional law enforcement is sometimes unacceptable, she said. Some school districts feel like they need more qualified people to be able to respond as a part of their security team.

Ken Barron, superintendent of the Yazoo County School District, said the district has its own police force to provide security, but that he might be interested in adding this program on top.

I could see this possibly being a benefit with the right parameters in place, he said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
In July 2022, reports emerged of a new militant outfit in northern Afghanistan. A Taliban-affiliated group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Tajikistan is reportedly in charge of the security of five districts in Afghanistans Badakhshan province. It has in its crosshairs the anti-Taliban resistance based in Tajikistan, the secular Tajik government and the Islamic State-Khorasan Province. So how new is the TTT? And what are the implications of its rising presence and profile in Afghanistans border districts for the region?

BACKGROUND: In July 2022, social media and Telegram channels were abuzz with discussions about the formation of a new militant group in northern Afghanistan, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Tajikistan (TTT). Also known as the Tajik Taliban, the group is reportedly led by Muhammad Sharipov aka Mahdi Arsalan, a citizen of Tajikistan. Whether the TTT is in fact new is debatable as its roots can be traced back to the al-Qaida-affiliated Jamaat Ansarullah (JA), which has been waging an armed insurgency in Tajikistan since 2006 to replace the Tajik secular state with an Islamic one. Indeed, the TTT comprises many second-generation fighters of the JA. Arsalan, for example, is the son and brother of JA veterans.

Since 2015-16, Arsalan and around 200 Tajik Islamists fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. In July 2021, as the Taliban advanced towards Kabul, it handed over the security of the districts of Kuf Ab, Khwahan, Maimay, Nusay, and Shekay in Afghanistans northern province of Badakhshan to Arsalan and his fighters. In the weeks and months that followed the Talibans capture of power in Kabul, thousands of Afghans opposed to its rule, including members of the Ashraf Ghani government, the ANDSF and ordinary ethnic Tajiks and other ethnic minorities, fled to the Panjshir Valley and onward to Tajikistan to escape Taliban brutality and join the anti-Taliban resistance. The Taliban regime tightened security along the border by deploying the Arsalan-led Tajik Islamist fighters to guard Afghanistans borders with Tajikistan and provided them with sophisticated American weapons, communication equipment, vehicles and combat gear. The TTT played an important role in the Talibans elimination of ANDSF soldiers fleeing to Tajikistan.

The TTT is therefore not a new armed actor in the Afghan-Tajik border areas. Its so-called emergence in July last year marked the renaming/rebranding of fighters who were already active in the region. However, its role in the region has evolved over the years.

IMPLICATIONS: If in their earlier avatar, the goal of the Tajik Islamists was to oust the secular government of Tajikistans President Emomali Rahmon, their focus has expanded over the past decade. As noted above, they fought the ANDSF-U.S.-led coalition forces. After the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, they are now in charge of the security of five Badakhshan districts.

In their current role as a Taliban-appointed force in charge of several border districts in Badakhshan, they are targeting the Afghan Tajik-dominated anti-Taliban National Resistance Force (NRF) and Tajikistans government, which is said to be sheltering the NRF, as well as the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP). Incidentally, the Taliban regime has denied the existence of the TTT, which means that the TTT remains a non-state actor but one that enjoys the protection of and proximity to the Taliban regime. While its existence in the shadows allows the Taliban regime to deny responsibility for its actions, the TTT has a free hand to act as it pleases.

The TTT could emerge as a potent weapon in the Taliban regimes hands to pressure Tajikistans government.

The Taliban and the Tajik government have a history of enmity. During the first Taliban regime (1996-2001), resistance to Taliban rule, which was led by the legendary Afghan Tajik commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, was based in Tajikistan and it was from here that Northern Alliance fighters, backed by massive U.S. air power, entered Kabul in 2001 to oust the Taliban regime. Since the Talibans return to power in August 2021, Tajikistan has once again underscored its hostility to the new regime. Unlike Afghanistans other neighbors, which adopted cautious stances vis-a-vis the new rulers in Kabul, Dushanbe has been vocal in its criticism, describing the Taliban regime as a threat to regional stability and slamming it for being non-inclusive. Furthermore, in a move that was probably aimed at reminding the Taliban of the Tajik governments long-standing support to the Afghan Tajiks, it conferred posthumously Tajikistans highest civilian awards on Ahmad Shah Masood and former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, both ethnic Tajiks. The announcement came barely a fortnight after the Taliban stormed to power.

Amid this long-standing hostility between the Tajik government and the Taliban, and the TTTs roots in the JA, the Taliban regimes appointment of the TTT to secure districts bordering Tajikistan was a deeply provocative move, which prompted the Rahmon government to step up the deployment of its armed forces and conduct military drills near the Tajik-Afghan border. Ties came under further strain in May 2022 when missiles launched from Afghanistan fell on Tajikistans side of the border.

The ISKP claimed responsibility for the missile attacks, which may have been aimed at embarrassing the Taliban regime by laying bare to the world its tenuous control over northern Afghanistan. It may have also been aimed at straining the Taliban regimes already fragile ties with Tajikistan. While the strikes in May 2022 caused no damage to property or human lives, future similar attacks by the ISKP may result in casualties that are likely to prompt a more robust response from the Rahmon government.

The rise of the TTT in the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border areas will add to President Rahmons woes. The Tajik region of Gorno-Badakhshan, which borders Afghanistans Badakhshan province, has been roiled in violent protests. There is a strong separatist sentiment running among the people of this linguistically distinct region. While the local population is largely Ismaili unlike the Sunni TTT or ISKP, these groups could fish in the troubled waters of this restive region.

In the context of the JAs affiliation with al-Qaida and the TTTs with the Taliban, and given the hostile relations between the al-Qaida/Taliban on the one hand and the ISKP on the other, the TTTs deployment in northern Afghanistan is likely to trigger more clashes between the TTT and the ISKP in the coming months. The ISKP is said to be recruiting among Tajiks on both sides of the Afghan-Tajik border and this puts it in direct competition and conflict with the TTT.

CONCLUSIONS: Global attention over the past year has been focused on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its string of violent attacks in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the TTT profile and presence in northern Afghanistan has been rising quietly. The TTT is well-armed and dangerous. It is a non-state actor which operates with the full support and protection of the Taliban regime. As it steps up operations against its enemies and pursues them into their safe havens in Tajikistan and elsewhere, the situation along the Afghan-Tajik border could ignite tensions. Tajikistans already fraught relationship with the Taliban regime could worsen in the coming months.

Dr. Sudha Ramachandran is an independent researcher and journalist based in India. She writes on Asian political and security issues. Her articles have been published in The Diplomat, China Brief, etc. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham reaffirmed her hope for the failure of a proposed nuclear waste facility in the southeast corner of the state after signing a bill intended to block the project.

In a Tuesday letter to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which is considering issuing a license for the project, Lujan Grisham pointed to the bills passage and stern disapproval of the project by the states citizens, tribes and pueblos.

A critic of the proposal by New Jersey-based Holtec International since taking office, Lujan Grisham continually argued it would create an undue burden of radioactive exposure to New Mexicans both in the area of the site and along rail transportation routes that would bring the waste to New Mexico.

More:Will a nuclear waste project move forward despite New Mexico's bill aiming to block it?

Holtecs plan would ultimately store up to 100,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel rods from reactors around the country at the site near the Eddy-Lea County line.

It was touted by local leaders from the counties, Carlsbad and Hobbs as a means to diversify the economy in the oil-dependent region. The two counties and two cities formed the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance that provided the land and recruited Holtec.

If completed, the company said the project would mark a $3 billion investment in the region and provide more than 500 jobs through the sites initial operation and several associated facilities.

More:Air shaft at nuclear waste site near Carlsbad halfway drilled, operational by 2026

But opponents, including Lujan Grishams administration, state lawmakers and environmental groups said the Holtec proposal would continue New Mexicos legacy of damage from nuclear activities.

And without a permanent repository available, they argued the Holtec site could become the permanent resting place for the waste.

Such a repository was in the past proposed at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but was opposed by lawmakers in that state and defunded during the administration of former-President Barrack Obama.

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More:Nuclear waste transportation fears lingering amid storage project in southeast New Mexico

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham discusses legislative accomplishments on Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Santa Fe, N.M. New Mexico's Legislature approved a $1.1 billion tax relief package at the close of its annual session as lawmakers tapped a financial windfall from oil production to break through entrenched cycles of poverty. National tensions over voting rights, abortion access and gun safety were on prominent display during a 60-day legislative session.

In her letter to NRC Chairman Christopher Hanson, Lujan Grisham argued Senate Bill 53, which was passed and signed March 17  the day before the 2023 Legislative Session closed  would prevent the described interim storage facility from operating without the states consent or the creation of a permanent repository.

The bill specified the State of New Mexico could not issue any permits such as for groundwater discharge, air quality emissions or others needed to operate the facility without the two conditions being met.

The State of New Mexico remains steadfast in its opposition to the issuance of a license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the proposed Holtec International facility in Lea County, New Mexico, Lujan Grisham wrote. We therefore ask that your agency immediately suspend any further consideration of the Holtec license application.

More:Bill to block nuclear waste in southeast New Mexico heads to House Floor for final vote

The NRC did on Tuesday notify Holtec that it was delaying its final decision on the license from March to May, citing unforeseen resource constraints in a letter from the commission.

The agency did file a final environmental impact statement (EIS) last year that found the facility as proposed would have little impact on the surrounding environment and recommended a license be issued.

The NRC also did issue a license for a similar nuclear waste storage facility in Andrews, Texas along that states border with southeast New Mexico, despite a bill passed by Texas lawmakers to ban such activities.

More:Safety, longevity of nuclear waste disposal near Carlsbad debated amid permit renewal

That facility was being built by Interim Storage Partners to augment the existing Waste Control Specialists site and store up to 40,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel.

NRC spokesman David McIntyre said New Mexicos bill had no impact on the federal licensing review process.

Holtec spokesman Patrick OBrien indicated the company believed New Mexicos legislation was preempted by federal law, specifically the Atomic Energy Act that stipulates only the federal government can regulate nuclear operations.

More:Bill to block nuclear waste project in New Mexico gaining momentum in State House

OBrien said the project would still move forward with support from local governments in southeast New Mexico and would provide a solution to the U.S. nuclear waste stockpile.

He pointed to a letter sent by Eddy and Lea County officials to President Joe Biden in support of Holtecs plan.

Our invitation to join the project over 8 years ago, the strong local support in the counties of Eddy and Lea, as evidenced by the recent letter to President Biden, and the strong demonstration of support throughout this legislative session, solidify our belief that the project is still viable, OBrien said.

Opinion: Holtec International's vision for New Mexico

He also argued nuclear waste management was a key element of increasing nuclear energy use to reduce pollution.

We will continue to work with our partners, key stakeholders, and governmental officials to help provide an interim solution to the spent fuel management impasse in the United States and help us maintain the momentum for a greener, carbon-free future, OBrien.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently affirmed the role of nuclear power in its efforts to reduce carbon pollution from energy development and began a rulemaking to see communities voluntarily accept siting of waste management facilities, offering $16 million in federal funds to interested local governing bodies.

More:Nuclear warhead development moves forward at federal lab in New Mexico

That consent-based philosophy was not part of Holtecs proposal, argued SB 53 sponsor Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-36) of Las Cruces, who said as his bill passed that it would give New Mexico a voice in Holtecs approval process.

And that voice clearly said no, Steinborn said.

New Mexico Sen. Jeff Steinborn

We protected our state from this short-sighted and long-term dangerous plan and in doing so, pushed the federal government toward what needs to be the real solution, which is a permanent repository, he said.

Opinion: Storing nuclear waste in Permian Basin threatens energy security, environment

Wendy Atcitty of indigenous advocacy group NAEVA said preventing the Holtec project would protect New Mexico from future incidents.

We say no to Holtec's high-level nuclear waste that would've made more communities susceptible to this toxic-dump disaster, she said. Protection is now, not when a spill, leak, derailment, or people are sick for many generations.

But Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway argued the project was already supported by previous legislatures and former-Gov. Susana Martinez.

He said blocking the project at this point would send a contradictory message to businesses looking to come to New Mexico.

What kind of message does that send to other companies about investing in New Mexico? We wonder why New Mexico has trouble growing in population and attracting industry, Janway said. Why would industry want to come to New Mexico when prior commitments are not kept?

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Gov. Lujan Grisham renews fight against nuke waste site in New Mexico
Following multiple recent bank collapses, some on Wall Street estimated the Fed would step back from its by-now customary rate hikes when it convened to discuss its monetary policy last week. That did not happen, however, and Fed chair Jerome Powell announced another 0.25 percentage point rate increase.

One prominent investor thinks that was unnecessary and counterproductive.

Obviously he (Fed Chair Jerome Powell) didnt need to do what he did, billionaire Barry Sternlicht said, likening the act to using a steamroller to get the price of milk down two cents, to kill a small fly.

With regional banks already under severe pressure, Sternlicht, the co-founder and CEO of Starwood Capital, a hedge fund that oversees over $100 billion, believes the latest rate hike could potentially cause more damage to banks.

While Sternlicht is worried about the latest increases impact on the economy, going by one of his picks, he appears well-prepared to withstand any more rate hikes.

Sternlicht is invested heavily in MFA Financial (MFA), a dividend stock yielding a monster 15%.

MFA is structured as a REIT, a class of companys long known for their high-yielding dividends. MFAs portfolio is composed mainly of residential whole loans, residential and commercial real estate securities, and MSR-related assets.

As of the end of last year, MFAs investment portfolio totaled $8 billion, although that declined from $8.3 billion at the end of 4Q21. Elsewhere in Q4, net interest income dropped by 20.7% from $70.15 million in the same period a year ago to $55.65 million. That said, at $0.48, adj. EP increased meaningfully from the $0.08 generated in 4Q21, and came in well ahead of the $0.30 forecast.

Of course, the most appealing aspect here is that sky-high yield. The quarterly dividend payout currently stands at $0.35, generating a yield of 15.3%.

That is no doubt attractive to Sternlicht, which has allocated 68% of his portfolio to his MFA holdings; he currently owns 10,638,539 shares worth $97.13 million.

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Sternlicht is not the only one showing confidence in this name. Stephen Laws, an analyst at Raymond James, holds a positive outlook for MFA. His optimism is based on selective new investments, conservative leverage, strong portfolio returns, and shares trading at ~80% of economic book value.

Given our outlook for attractive portfolio returns, an increased focus on business purpose loans, and the current valuation relative to our target, we believe the risk-reward is compelling, the 5-star analyst further added.

As such, Laws rates MFA shares an Outperform (i.e. Buy) along with a $12.5 price target. This suggests the shares will climb 37% higher over the coming months. (To watch Laws track record, click here)

The Streets average target is a little under Laws objective; at $12.33, the figure makes room for one-year returns of 35%. Rating wise, based on 2 Buys and 1 Hold, the analyst consensus rates the stock a Moderate Buy. (See MFA stock forecast)

To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Salesforce billionaire Marc Benioff dodged a bullet on Monday, as the hyper-aggressive activist investor Elliott Management announced that it would no longer try to nominate members to the companys board, helping stave off a potentially ugly battle.

Elliott recently invested billions of dollars in the software company, suggesting that it intended to influence corporate strategy. Prior to Mondays news, Salesforce had faced months of negative headlines; it announced plans to lay off 10 percent of its staff in January, and execs have floated the possibility of cutting even more.

Benioff nonetheless projected calm this week. In a joint statement with Elliott, he insisted that he had thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the firm and its managing partner Jesse Cohn, adding that he was grateful for Jesses mindful and constructive ideas.

Cohn also signaled peace, noting that he was pleased to see Salesforces commitment to profitable growth, responsible capital return and an ambitious shareholder value creation plan.

Liberal Tech Giants Employees Fume About Work for GOP

Had the two sides not reached consensus, things may have gotten hairy for Benioff since Elliott is notorious for its combativeness. Famously, in 2012 the firm had an Argentine naval ship seized while it was in port in Ghana amid a bitter fight over unpaid debt. The ship was eventually released, and Elliott settled the feud, netting over $2 billion in the process.

Benioff may have sidestepped a similar fate because of his rapid cost-cutting and Salesforces improving financials. Earlier this month, his company announced that it generated $31.4 billion in revenue during the most recent fiscal year, an 18 percent annual improvement. It also increased share buybacks, which has helped the companys stock rise more than 40 percent since January.

For years, Benioff has steadily cultivated a reputation as a prominent philanthropist. He signed the Giving Pledge, publicly lobbied for higher taxes on billionaires, and has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to combat climate change, fund California schools, and help open a new childrens hospital.

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That persona has taken some hits of late, including the revelation that Salesforce paid no federal income taxes some years and over Benioffs handling of the layoffs. In January, employees railed against the companys lack of transparency and the billionaires failure to answer basic questions about Salesforces direction.

According to Insider, Benioff lamented the layoffs with characteristic drama, likening the cuts to death. At the kickoff every year, you know, we, um, have a moment where we always say goodbye to everyone who's died during the year. And, um, loss is really difficult, he reportedly said. We need to kind of acknowledge that and give ourselves time to mourn.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The city of Detroit began demolition of the abandoned La Choy factory, a blighted landmark many didn't know existed, to make way Monday for additional development of the Joe Louis Greenway, a recreational pathway that is aimed at uniting various neighborhoods and expected to be completed in 5-10 years.

The former factory, a 100,000-square-foot structure at 8100 Schoolcraft, was built in the 1930s. It had a significant, but largely forgotten, role in how Detroit influenced what Americans ate, introducing millions of families nationwide to packaged and canned Chinese food.

In addition to opening up the space to recreation, the demolition removes a potential safety hazard.

Detroit started demolition of the abandoned La Choy Factory bordering Joe Louis Greenway path on Monday, March 27, 2023.

"It's the latest commercial demo effort in our campaign to aggressively attack all the structures we have identified for demolition," said Detroit's Demolition Director LaJuan Counts, who called the building an eyesore. "We have, currently, 114 properties on our targeted list, but we know there's well over 300 properties we're going to attack."

Over the years, as the La Choy was bought and sold, the factory passed through various hands. During World War II, it was owned by the government to make things for the war effort. And later, more than one company used the space to turn out car parts.

Before being entirely abandoned, the now city-owned property was used as a towing company junkyard.

In 2021, it was put on a list of blighted commercial properties targeted for redevelopment. The city said the demolition is expected to cost about $1.6 million and to unfold over several days this week, and then, it will take a couple more weeks to haul the debris to landfills.

'Helping cooks everywhere'

While many are familiar with La Choy  the brand name that bills itself as a company that "has delivered authentic Asian-inspired ingredients" going back to 1922, and is "helping cooks everywhere prepare quick and delicious meals for their families"  few realize it was founded in Detroit by two University of Michigan students.

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Ilhan New, a Korean immigrant, started the company with his college friend Wallace Smith, whom he met while studying at the University of Michigan, according to HistoricDetroit.org, a website that seeks to document the "stories behind the citys historic places."

New immigrated to Hastings, Nebraska, when he was 9, the website said. But left Nebraska to enroll at the University of Michigan. After college, he worked for Michigan Central Railroad and General Electric in New York and returned to Detroit starting La Choy with Smith, who ran a corner grocery store in Detroit.

Try some Chinese cuisine

The duo, according to HistoricDetroit.org, started La Choy after realizing there was a demand for mung bean sprouts. Fresh sprouts didn't have a long shelf life, but the entrepreneurs realized they could preserve and sell them in glass jars.

The company expanded to offer a variety of Asian foods including noodles, sauces, and specialty vegetables.

At one point, the website said, La Choy was the largest user of Michigan-grown celery in the nation, processing 5,000 tons of it a year. The company also printed recipe pamphlets, which promoted its products, but also urged housewives nationwide to cook Chinese cuisine.

Room for expansion

In 1937, La Choy built a new office and factory at 8100 Schoolcraft Road, the building which is now being demolished.

By then, the La Choy factory was "reputed to be Detroit's leading food industry as far as national distribution is concerned," according to a Detroit News report. The company said it put 8 million copies of its cookbook, "The Art and Secrets of Chinese Cookery," into the hands of Americans eager to try new foods.

New had left the company and sold his shares, HistoricDetroit.org said. New moved back to Korea to start a pharmaceutical company, Yuhan Corp, and Smith was killed in a lightning strike.

The new factory's architect was Giffels & Vallet of Detroit and A.W. Kutsche & Co. of Detroit was the general contractor. The structure was made of steel, concrete, and brick. It had two stories, with room for additional floors in the future if needed.

War halts food production

But instead of expansion, the company's production in Detroit was halted in 1942 as a result of restrictions on tin for metal cans and other goods during the war.

After her husband's death, Smith's widow, Miriam, took over his share of the company, according to HistoricDetroit.org. The Detroit plant was sold to the Department of Defense and relocated its operations to Archbold, Ohio, Miriam Smith's hometown.

Decades of different owners

Amy Elliott Bragg, who wrote about the factory for Crain's Detroit Business, traces the factory's ownership and use over several decades.

For a few years during World War II, Micromatric Hone Corp. ran the plant, and in 1945 bought it.

Meanwhile, the Beatrice Creamery Co., a conglomerate acquired La Choy and other companies and started operating in Detroit  again  but at a different location.

In 1963, Ex-Cell-O, a toolmaker, bought Micromatic. The plant, Bragg wrote, was purchased in the 1970s by the U.S. Fastener Corp., but in 1986, the building was taken over by Gilreath Manufacturing "for custom-injection moldings for auto parts." That company operated out of the building until 1997.

Creating a big greenway

The Joe Louis Greenway is a 27.5-mile path that is expected to connect more than 20 neighborhoods and other trails, such as the Dequindre Cut, and the Detroit Riverfront. It also will help connect Detroit to other cities including Hamtramck, Highland Park, and Dearborn.

Constructed segment of Joe Louis Greenway between Joy Rd. and Tireman Ave.

"The demolition of this structure is a major step towards the completion of the Joe Louis Greenway," Brad Dick, the city's chief operating officer said. "We are excited to continue this transformational journey not only in this neighborhood, but throughout the rest of the city.

When finished, the city estimated, the more than 40,000 residents will be a 10-minute walk from the greenway.

Watching it come down

Local residents can watch the demolition, as long as spectators stay behind the roped and taped-off areas. Counts warned that it might not be as exciting to watch as the Pontiac Silverdome implode. Instead of explosives, she said, the city is using an excavator to knock down the factory walls.

"If you've never seen a demo before," she said, "it's interesting to watch huge pieces of equipment take down a building in minutes."

Detroit started demolition of the abandoned La Choy Factory bordering Joe Louis Greenway path on Monday, March 27, 2023.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit begins demolition on abandoned La Choy factory
If youre going to jog and essentially drop dead on the sidewalk, youd want it to happen like it did for Jon Cook of Johnson County  whod still like to find the unknown blonde with a dog and other guardian angels who helped save his life.

Weve tried hard. Weve gone door to door. Ive tried going on (the app) Nextdoor, Cook, the global CEO of the marketing firm VMLY&R, said of the efforts he and his wife, Lisa, have made.

So far Cook, who may be among the luckiest people to have his heart stop, has had no luck finding them to offer thanks.

Cardiac arrests strike some 350,000 adults each year outside of a hospitals. Abnormal rhythms cause the heart to stop beating. (Heart attacks, with their narrow or blocked vessels, are a prime cause of cardiac arrest.) Only a tiny 10% of people survive them outside a hospital, the American Heart Association says.

Of course most people, unlike Cook, probably dont drop to the ground and, in some odd convergence in timing, have 10 strangers jump in to help  two of whom just happen to know CPR, followed by three others who arent just doctors, but cardiac physicians from the nearby University of Kansas Health System.

Hes one lucky guy, for sure, said KU cardiologist Prakash Acharya, who ultimately helped Cook regain his pulse and life that evening.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was similarly fortunate to be surrounded by trained medical personnel when, in January, he sustained a hit in Cincinnati against the Bengals that thrust his heart into cardiac arrest. He made a full recovery.

For Cook, it happened on Oct. 6.

Age 52, trim and a regular runner (4 miles, six times per week) with zero history of heart disease, Cook trotted from his home in Fairway for an evening jog. In February, he recounted the story in a video for KU and, this past week, shared it with The Star.

I really had no warning signs, he said, although, looking back, he now realizes he did.

Jon Cook collapsed while jogging on this stretch of Mission Road in Fairway, and several passersby stopped to help and give him CPR. When he awoke, he said, It didnt take me long to figure out how lucky I was.

The time: just after 7 p.m. Cook was on his own that night. His wife was in Colorado. His three daughters also live out of town. He was running south on Mission Road, with his earbuds in, rounding the curve beyond Shawnee Mission Parkway.

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He felt a rush to his head, getting all hot, Cook said. I went down to one knee, Oh, my gosh, whats happening?

He rested his arm atop a political yard sign; he looked up to see a blond woman with a dog walking toward him.

I havent found her yet, Cook said, but shes the one who must have flagged others down. I went out, passed out, lost pulse.

She apparently caught the attention of two other women who were either walking or driving by. Just then, Acharyas car was rounding the corner.

It was not his normal route, but that evening his brother-in-law was in town from San Diego. Acharya, still dressed in his hospital scrubs, was driving to meet him for dinner.

I was driving pretty slow, he recounted in the video. I see this man who is getting to the pavement. Hes trying to fall. Then I see this lady, by his side, with a dog, trying to get him down to the pavement.

He pulled into a driveway. The two women had begun resuscitation.

There were two ladies who were actually performing good quality CPR, he said.

Acharya stepped in. Cooks pulse returned, then died, then again returned.

He brings me back, Cook said of the doctor.

Right when I woke up, he told KU, I could hear the ambulance sirens coming. Then its the weird moment, I think those are for me.

He looked up, confused,to see what looked like 10 faces above him.

I thought I was in a movie, then I realized Im in the middle of this movie, he said. I have no idea what my role is in this movie. Then I figure out, I think Im the subject of this movie.

One of the women who had been giving him mouth-to-mouth spoke.

Her first comment to me was, You and I have been making out for 2 1/2 minutes, Cook said.

He spotted the man in the scrubs. I didnt know if that was a dream he was in doctors stuff, or if he actually was a doctor, Cook said.

Acharya wasnt the only doctor there. Two others from KU, cardiac anesthesiologists, had also stopped to offer aid. One found Cooks cellphone and called his wife.

I was sitting in my car, Lisa Cook said. And she said, Im with your husband. Hes had a heart attack. We performed CPR, but hes awake and talking.  I could hear the ambulance coming.  Its hard not to be crying on the phone talking to them. Youre shocked. You know they had just done CPR. He had died and they brought him back.

Thank God, she said, for the woman with the dog. Thank God for the two women who stopped and for Acharya driving a different route.

It didnt take me long to figure out how lucky I was, her husband said, adding, if you could script who, miraculously, could accidentally show up on the night you had cardiac arrest, unexpectedly, you couldnt have drawn it up any better.

Cook is back to good health, albeit with a defibrillator in his chest for good measure.

Cooks treating physician, electrophysiologist Rhea Pimentel, said his official diagnosis is cardiac arrest, secondary to left heart dysfunction and atrial arrhythmia. In other words, his heart was beating so fast, he didnt get enough blood to his brain. It caused his heart to suddenly stop beating and for him to collapse.

He was a little bit of a conundrum when he came in, Pimentel said. Hes very fit, very active, really had not had a lot of symptoms beforehand, probably up to the last couple of weeks.

Cook, looking back, now realizes he probably had unrecognized symptoms from the prior Sunday when he was out of town, four days before collapsing. Hed been jogging and and felt weak early on in his run, enough so that he needed to slow down, then stop and place his hands on his knees. He assumed he was just tired from work.

It wasnt enough for me to go to the doctor, Cook said.

Testing following his cardiac arrest revealed that Cook was prone to atrial flutter, in which the upper chambers of the heart beat excessively fast. The normal average resting heart rate for an adult is about 60 to 100 beats per minute. Cooks was hitting 300.

Atrial flutter is typically not a dangerous rhythm, Pimentel said. But any rhythm that goes fast enough  can cause a problem.

Cooks company now offers CPR training at work.

He concedes that, if he allows it, he can easily get lost in what ifs. Two nights prior to his cardiac arrest, he had been lifting weights in his basement. What if his heart had given out then with no one to help? What if he had jogged a different path? What if the woman with the dog hadnt flagged for help? What if the two other women werent as skilled in CPR? What if Acharya had driven a different way?

I kind of dont try to dwell there, Cook said. But I have to admit, if Ive got some time on my hands  Im on a long drive or a long flight, or I cant sleep sometimes  I do think about, you know, the scary factors of what could have been and how easily it could have been for one thing to happen slightly differently.

More, he thinks about how grateful he is. He is back to running  the exact same route.

Ive been running that stretch ever since, he said, with a watchful eye for the woman with the dog.

I still havent found her, but I think I will at some point, Cook said. Or the CPR Samaritans.

He knows what hell say.

For sure, obviously, thank you, Cook said. But I would say thank you not just for knowing and being certified in CPR. But its the act of having the courage to use it, to jump out of their lives and actually apply what they know.

So, Im appreciative. Im appreciative that they were brave enough to try.

Where to learn CPR in Kansas City

 Hands-Only CPR: The American Heart Association recommends a two-part CPR method that even children can learn. It has a Spotify list of Dont Drop The Beat songs that have rhythms to guide you through chest compressions. heart.org/cpr.

 American Heart Association classes: Find a course at heart.org/CPR. Classroom, online or hybrid. Classes are offered at dozens of sites across the metro. 1-877-AHA-4CPR or 1-877-242-4277.

 American Red Cross classes: Find one at redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr. In-person, online or hybrid. 800-RED-CROSS or 1-844-941-4698.
By Nick Starkov

KYIV (Reuters) - Orlando Bloom, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children's organization UNICEF and a star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Lord of the Rings" movies visited a children's centre in Kyiv on Sunday.

It was his first trip to Ukraine since 2016, the British actor said. He also met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"I would have never expected the war to have escalated throughout the country since I was there," Bloom said on Instagram.

"But today, I was fortunate to hear children's laughter at a UNICEF-supported Spilno centre, a safe, warm, and nurturing space for children to play, learn and receive psychosocial support."

The Spilno centres, spread throughout Ukraine, offer support for displaced children and their families, with more than half a million children and their caregivers having visited one in the past year, according to a UNICEF statement on its website.

As of March 26, at least 465 children have been killed in the 13-month long war Russia waged against its neighbour, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office.

"He knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address after meeting Bloom.

(Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by David Gregorio)
Blue Lights follows three rookie police officers during their probation period in the police force

"The good people are not always good and the bad are not always bad because that's real life. And that's Blue Lights."

Belfast has become synonymous with crime dramas, with shows like Line of Duty and Marcella filmed there.

The new six-part series from local creators Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn explores the unique challenges faced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Blue Lights follows three rookie police officers in their probation period.

Following the success of the writing duo's show The Salisbury Poisonings, Mr Lawn said they found the idea of writing about their hometown of Belfast really intriguing.

Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson were the writing duo behind the BBC's The Salisbury Poisonings

"As a writer, the dream is to interrogate and talk about your own place," he said. "And we had a lot to say about our own place."

The aim was to show the extraordinarily complex place Northern Ireland is, he added.

On their decision to explore the PSNI specifically, Mr Patterson said the police station was the perfect place to look at Belfast.

"Police officers literally go to every part of the city, they respond to all of the variants of people that live here," he said.

"So it just felt like the right mechanism to approach a topic about our home."

Actress Sian Brooke said her preparation for the role was fascinating

In front of the camera is Sian Brooke.

The actress plays Grace Ellis, who has made the decision in her 40s to leave her steady job as a social worker to join the PSNI.

Ms Brooke said her preparation for the role was "fascinating".

"[The cast] had an evening where we joined a patrol car, seeing the backstage side of policing and that actually it's not all that, some of it can be hanging about in a car for long periods," she said.

Martin McCann, who plays Stevie Neil in the drama, discussed the appeal of the show's portrayal of the complications and connotations that go along with being a police officer in Northern Ireland.

Actor Martin McCann says the series explores the real concerns of people joining the force

"Young people join the police force and do they really know what they're signing up for and can they handle it? Is it too much? Is it dangerous? These elements are explored, and that does make it quite unique," he said.

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While the show centres around police officers, Mr Lawn said the show was a universal story.

"Anyone who's ever started a new job or done anything completely new where the stakes are kind of high, will recognise what these three people are going through."

Blue Lights premieres on BBC One on Monday 27 March at 21:00 BST, with the full series available on BBC iPlayer.
Bodies of around 100 Russian military personnel were taken to a morgue in Russian-occupied Troitske, Luhansk Oblast, on 26 March.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Quote: "Russian occupation forces are continuing to suffer extensive losses. Bodies of around 100 Russians killed [in combat] arrived in a Central District Hospital morgue in Troitske, Luhansk Oblast, over the course of the past day alone."

Details: The General Staff also reported that around 140 Russian military personnel were taken to the hospital in Troitske with severe injuries.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
(Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. named Jill Schwartz co-head of global financial sponsors, replacing Kevin Sherlock.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Schwartz will also keep her role as executive vice chair of global corporate and investment banking, according to a memo to staff from Thomas Sheehan, the lenders head of global investment banking.

New York-based Schwartz will co-head the group, which advises on private equity deals such as leveraged buyouts and initial public offerings, alongside Saba Nazar. A Bank of America spokesman confirmed the memos contents and declined to comment further.

Financial sponsors represent a core component of our investment banking franchise across sectors and products, Sheehan wrote. Jill replaces Kevin Sherlock, who has informed me of his decision to pursue an opportunity outside the firm.

Sherlock is set to join Bank of Montreals investment bank as head of leveraged finance and private capital, Bloomberg News reported last week.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
The N.C. Zoo in Asheboro was evacuated Monday morning following a bomb threat later found to be a hoax.

In a news release, the Randolph County Sheriffs Office said it had received a call at 10:43 a.m. that a park representative had received a bomb threat through electronic means. The park began evacuating visitors immediately.

By 1:30 p.m., the zoo posted on its website that all school groups and employees had been evacuated. The zoo later said all public areas of the park had been searched twice and no suspicious items were found.

Sheriffs deputies assigned to the park were joined by others to secure the perimeter of the property, the release said. Investigators also asked for the Guilford County Sheriffs Office to put its bomb squad on standby.

Randolph County Sheriffs investigators were able to identify the person who sent the threat, saying it was a juvenile. Investigators said a juvenile petition will be filed in the case.

The park did not say how many visitors were there on Monday, but spring is typically the busiest time of year for the zoo.

The zoo hosts an average of 100,000 schoolchildren each year.

The zoo will return to normal operating hours on Tuesday.

Anyone with information about the threat can contact Randolph County Sheriffs investigators at 336-318-6658 or call Randolph County Crime Stoppers tip line at 336-672-7463. Anonymous tips may also be submitted via the Sheriffs Office app or the Crime Stoppers app.

Visitors who had to leave the park and want to ask about refunds or return tickets can send an inquiry to guestservices@nczoo.org. School groups needing to reschedule can email reservations@nczoo.org or speak with them at 336-879-7700 starting Tuesday.
The North Carolina Zoo was forced to close Monday morning due to a bomb threat, deputies said.

In a tweet around 11 a.m., zoo officials said they were closing immediately while law enforcement investigated.

The North Carolina Zoo is closing Monday March 27, effective immediately due to a security threat, and local law enforcement is investigating now. pic.twitter.com/6bhffxMoGR  North Carolina Zoo (@NCZoo) March 27, 2023

According to the Randolph County Sheriffs Office, there was a bomb threat at the zoo around 10:45 a.m. The person who made the 911 call, a zoo representative, said they received the threat through electronic means, deputies said.

ALSO READ: Threat of pipe bomb deemed not credible after CMS elementary school evacuated, police say

The zoo was evacuated and will remained closed until further notice, investigators said.

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call the Randolph County Sheriffs Office Criminal Investigations at 336-318-6658, or Randolph County Crime Stoppers tip line at 336-672-7463.

No further information was released.

This is a developing story. Check back for upates.

(WATCH BELOW: School threats have impact on mental health, students say)




Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) slammed House Republican calls for him to testify in front of lawmakers as a move that will hinder, disrupt and undermine his offices investigation into former President Trump.

It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere in pending local investigations, Bragg said on Twitter over the weekend. This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors.

Bragg is investigating Trump in connection with hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. The probe made headlines when Trump said he expected to be arrested in the investigation last week; however, an arrest has yet to happen.

The alleged revelation from Trump sparked outrage among Republican lawmakers in Congress, some of whom immediately called for Bragg to testify at a congressional hearing.

Bragg rebuked Republican appeals to get him to voluntarily testify. Braggs statement on Twitter came in response to a letter from a number of Republican House committee chairs, who argue that any potential indictment of Trump is politically motivated and part of a left-wing scheme to smear the now-presidential candidate.

Our Committees are conducting oversight of your reported effort to indict a former President of the United States and current declared candidate for that office, the chairs, including Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and James Comer (R-Ky.), said in the letter to Bragg. Notably, your reply letter did not dispute the central allegations at issuethat you, under political pressure from left-wing activists and former prosecutors in your office, are reportedly planning to use an alleged federal campaign finance violation, previously declined by federal prosecutors, as a vehicle to extend the statute of limitations on an otherwise misdemeanor offense and indict for the first time in history a former President of the United States.

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Bragg said the lawmakerss requests to get him to testify were an unlawful incursion on his investigation.

The grand jury investigating Trump ultimately did not end up meeting last week after the former presidents claim that an indictment of him was imminent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Traffic alerted to lane closures

U.S. Route 30 from the Fifth Avenue interchange ramps to just past the Ashland County line, has lane closures for pavement repairs this week, according a news release from the Ohio Department of Transportation. Crews are doing pavement repairs along U.S. 30 eastbound and westbound in the passing lane from Laver Road to Ohio 603. One lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction at all times.

The signal at Ohio 39 will be in flash mode in preparation for full operation in a couple of weeks. In addition, crews will work at the Ohio 13 and Longview Avenue intersection installing temporary loop detection until paving is completed and permanent signal timing can be installed.

Mainline construction project work along U.S. 30 will resume the first week of April, weather permitting.

Ohio 39 in the city of Mansfield, between East Sixth Street and Lafayette Avenue, is reduced to one lane of traffic for water line work. Traffic will be maintained by portable traffic signals. This portion of Ohio 39 is anticipated to close April 17 for 60 days for bridge demolition.

Annual tree seedling sale benefits Clear Fork FFA

BELLVILLE  The Clear Fork FFA Alumni Tree Seedling Sale, held in partnership with Richland Soil and Water Conservation District, will take place Saturday at:

Richland County Fairgrounds Nature Park - 9 a.m.-7 p.m. or until all seedlings are sold

Clear Fork High School back parking lot, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. or until all seedlings are sold

Planktown Market near Shiloh (at inside door), 9 a.m.-1 p.m. or until all seedlings are sold

If seedlings are left at Clear Fork High School or Planktown Market, they will be moved to the Richland County Fairgrounds.

The seedlings cost $10 per bundle of eight. Only cash or checks \is accepted. To purchase leftover seedlings, call Jim at 419-564-3881.

Tree species include Norway spruce, white pine, Douglas fir, balsam fir, Fraser fir, red mulberry, Ohio buckeye, common pawpaw, flowering dogwood, redbud, white oak, sugar maple, persimmon, tulip poplar, red oak, scarlet oak, black cherry, and black walnut. Bluebird, bat and butterfly houses will be available for $15 each.

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An order form and information about the sale may be found at richlandswcd.net or on the Clear Fork FFA Facebook page.

Upcoming meetings:

 Crestview Local Board of Education, 7 p.m., Tuesday, Board of Education conference room, 1575 Ohio 96, Ashland

 Shelby City Council Public Works Committee, 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, James E. Henkel Conference Room, City Hall, 43 W. Main St., Shelby

 Shelby City Council Ad Hoc Parking Committee, 4 p.m., Tuesday, James E. Henkel Conference Room, City Hall, 43 W. Main St., Shelby

 Shelby Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council (CRAHC), 9 a.m., Wednesday, James E. Henkel Conference Room, City Hall, 43 W. Main St., Shelby

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: ODOT announces work on U.S. 30 & Ohio 39; Clear Fork seedlings sale
Channel 9 is sharing an inside look at the new, $100 million Brightline Basecamp set to open in Orlando.

Brightline officials are sharing more details on the vehicle maintenance facility on Boggy Creek Road, just south of Orlando International Airport.

Photos: An inside look at Brightlines $100M vehicle maintenance facility in Orlando

The facility will be used to service up to eight of Brightlines trains at the same time.

Watch: Brightline reaches maximum speed for first time

Brightline will also be hiring nearly 200 workers from Central Florida to maintain the trains.

Get ready with Brightline 



See what a self-care sesh looks like for our trains at Basecamp in Orlando - where trains get squeaky clean and glammed up for your next ride. #OnTrackToOrlando pic.twitter.com/T4bYv91hcN  Brightline (@GoBrightline) March 20, 2023

Passenger service is expected to begin as soon as June.

Watch: Its phenomenal: 1st Brightline train arrives at Orlando

Brightlines senior vice president of corporate affairs spoke with Channel 9 about what else is ahead for the company.

See more in the video above.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Monday sanctioned two individuals and a company in Myanmar for supplying equipment used by the country's military junta.

Those sanctioned include a company and its director supplying Myanmar's air force with aviation fuel and a director at a second company that supplies restricted goods and technology, Britain's foreign office said.

The sanctions bar any financial dealings with UK entities and any travel to Britain.

"The UK condemns the military's increasingly brutal campaign against the Myanmar people," Britain's minister of state for the Indo-Pacific region, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said.

"The UK will continue to work closely with partners to hold the military regime to account and support the people of Myanmar, as they strive for a return to democracy and freedom."

The measures follow wider sanctions on Myanmar by the United States and its allies including Britain in February that marked the two-year anniversary of the military coup.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by Kylie MacLellan and Sarah Young)
Britain's Challenger tanks have arrived in Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the defence ministry in Kyiv said on Monday.

"They are in Ukraine already," spokeswoman Iryna Zolotar told AFP, without providing any other details.

The tanks are expected to be involved in any spring counter-offensive launched by Ukraine.

Ukraine's defence minister said earlier Monday he inspected a "new addition" to the country's forces -- Challenger tanks as well as Germany's Marder infantry fighting vehicles, plus Cougar armoured trucks and Stryker armoured personnel carriers from the United States.

"A year ago, no one would have thought that our partners' support would be so strong," Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Facebook.

He praised Britain's Challengers, calling them works of "military art".

In London, Britain's government said Monday that Ukrainian crews who have been training to use UK-donated Challenger 2 tanks are now ready to deploy to the frontline.

"Ukrainian tank crews have completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK and have returned home to continue their fight against Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion," the ministry of defence said in a statement.

The training began shortly after London announced in January that it would send 14 of the tanks to the front line.

The crews learned how to command, drive and "effectively identify and engage targets", said the UK ministry, which called it a "step change" in capability for Ukraine's armed forces.

"It is truly inspiring to witness the determination of Ukrainian soldiers having completed their training on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil," said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

"They return to their homeland better equipped but to no less danger. We will continue to stand by them and do all we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes," he added.

Lieutenant Colonel John Stone, who oversaw the training mission, said the British instructors were "hugely impressed with the level of competence displayed" by the Ukrainian crews.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Moscow would be "forced to react" if Britain follows through on a promise to deliver to Ukraine armour-piercing ammunition containing depleted uranium.

jwp-bur-as/rox
Generally, when a single insider buys stock, it is usually not a big deal. However, when several insiders are buying, like in the case of Kape Technologies PLC (LON:KAPE), it sends a favourable message to the company's shareholders.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Kape Technologies

Kape Technologies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Ariel Hochstadt bought UK214k worth of shares at a price of UK2.65 per share. That implies that an insider found the current price of UK2.86 per share to be enticing. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. Happily, the Kape Technologies insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

While Kape Technologies insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Kape Technologies is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Kape Technologies insiders own 58% of the company, currently worth about UK708m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Kape Technologies Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Kape Technologies insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Kape Technologies insiders think the business has merit. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Kape Technologies. While conducting our analysis, we found that Kape Technologies has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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The military junta in Burkina Faso on Monday suspended all broadcasts by the France 24 news channel in the west African country after it interviewed the head of Al-Qaeda North Africa.

Burkina Faso, which witnessed two coups last year, is battling a jihadist insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

"By opening its channel to the head of AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), France 24 not only acts as a communications agency for these terrorists but also offers ... legitimacy to terrorist actions and hate speech," the junta spokesman said, referring to a March 6 interview with AQIM head Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi.

"Therefore the government has decided... to suspend sine die the diffusion of France 24 programmes on all national territory," spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said.

The France 24 broadcast was cut around 0900 GMT on Monday, AFP journalists said.

On March 6, France 24 broadcast written replies given by al-Annabi to 17 questions posed by the news channel's specialist on jihadist issues, Wassim Nasr.

"We believe this is part of a process of legitimising the terrorist message and we know about the effects of this message in this country," Ouedraogo later told RTB national television.

- 'Totally unjustified' -

In Paris, France 24 hit back branding the Burkinabe government statement "outrageous and defamatory".

"The management of France 24 condemns this decision and disputes the baseless accusations calling into question the channel's professionalism," the broadcaster said.

It stressed that the AQIM chief's interview had not been directly aired but used as an account to confirm that the group had detained a French hostage who was released in Niger last week.

"The security crisis the country (Burkina Faso) is going through must not be a pretext for muzzling the media," France 24 said.

The French foreign ministry also issued a statement saying it "regrets" the suspension and voicing "constant and determined commitment in favour of press freedom".

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The European Union also deplored the decision by the Burkinabe authorities.

The accusation against France 24 is "totally unjustified," said Peter Stano, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

In December, the Burkina junta suspended Radio France Internationale (RFI), which belongs to the same France Medias Monde group as France 24, accusing the radio station of airing a "message of intimidation" attributed to a "terrorist chief".

- 'Loudspeaker for terrorist acts' -

Both RFI and France 24, which cover African affairs closely and are popular in francophone nations, have been suspended in neighbouring Mali, which is also run by a military junta fighting jihadist forces.

According to France 24 one third of Burkina's population watches the channel every week.

The military government in Ouagadougou said it would continue to "defend the vital interests of our people against anyone who acts as a loudspeaker for terrorist acts and the divisive hate speech of these armed groups".

In March, the ruling junta in Mali announced the suspension of the broadcasting authorisation granted to RFI and France 24, after they published stories implicating the national army in abuses against civilians.

One of the world's poorest nations, Burkina Faso's soldiers staged two coups in 2022 over the failure to tackle the threat from jihadist groups.

More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have been killed, according to one NGO estimate, and at least two million people have been displaced.

With jihadists effectively controlling about 40 percent of the country, according to official figures, junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore vowed to recover lost territory after taking power in September.

But jihadist attacks have escalated since the start of the year, with dozens of soldiers and civilians killed every week.

Former colonial power France has in the past year withdrawn troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic.

The pullout from Mali and Burkina Faso, where French soldiers were supporting the Sahel nations in the long-running insurgency, came on the back of a wave of local hostility.

csg/jca/fal/pvh/rox
Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Ma.) are set to launch a new congressional caucus this week focused on enshrining the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Exactly 100 years after the ERA was first introduced in Congress in 1923, the launch of this caucus serves to commemorate the centennial of the struggle for constitutional gender equality, the lawmakers said in a news release.

Bush and Pressley are set to host a press conference on Tuesday to formally introduce the new caucus.

The Equal Rights Amendment Caucus will partner with advocates, activists, scholars, organizers, and public figures to establish a constitutional right to gender equality, and raise awareness around the issue.

House Democrats introduced a resolution last year to formally recognized the ERA as part of the Constitution. President Biden has also backed congressional action to pass the constitutional amendment.

In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, which marked the three-fourths threshold of states necessary to amend the Constitution.

However, the ERA was not enacted because Virginias action came almost 50 years after the proposed constitutional amendment cleared both chambers of Congress in 1972.

States were granted a seven-year deadline that year to ratify the ERA, which was later extended to 1982. But only 35 states had ratified the ERA by then.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), under former President Trump, issued an opinion through its Office of Legal Counsel that the ERA couldnt be ratified because its deadline expired.

However, the DOJs Office of Legal Counsel under Biden noted that decision does not preclude the House or the Senate from taking further action regarding ratification of the ERA, and Biden last year urged congress to act immediately on the amendment.

We must recognize the clear will of the American people and definitively enshrine the principle of gender equality in the Constitution. It is long past time that we put all doubt to rest, Biden said at the time.

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Pressley and Bush, along with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), will speak on the House floor Monday about ERA and Black womens contributions in drafting, advancing, ratifying state-level ERAs.

After Tuesdays press conference, Bush is expected to join Generation Ratify, a youth-led organization supporting the ERA, for a civil disobedience action in front of the National Archives Museum, according to the news release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Usellis

The national law firm of Shumaker has hired a top strategist to help the firm expand and strengthen its reach in the market. As chief growth and strategy officer, Mark Usellis will work with leaders across the firm to help position Shumaker for long-term, sustainable success.

Usellis has more than 20 years of experience working with law firms as a chief marketing officer, chief strategy officer and consultant.

Prior to that, he spent 13 years in public affairs as a legislative director on Capitol Hill, as public affairs director for a large telecommunications company and as a consultant for a global public affairs firm.

Most recently, Usellis worked as COO and interim CEO for an international reforestation nongovernmental organization going through a leadership and business model transition.

Shumaker has several Florida offices, including one in downtown Sarasota. It also has offices in Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The 2023 board of the Interior Design Society, including the president, Jesse White, center in back.

Sarasotas Interior Design Society recently elected its 2023 board.

They are: Jesse White, Sarasota Architectural Salvage, president; Gail Forest, Gail Forest Design, vice president; Catherine Ceballos, Home and Design, treasurer; Karen Kaiser, Kirsch, secretary; Nicholas Ferris, Nicholas Ferris Photography, media chair; and members at large, Norman Rosenberg, Rosenberg Interior Technologies, Bob Hite, The Granite Place, and John Denke, La Casa Tile.

The IDS is an association of professional interior design entrepreneurs focused on helping our members grow their businesses, develop their talents, inspire each other and impact their communities.

Dunn

Dr. Neha Dunn has joined Drs. Hugh Windom, Jennifer Fergeson and Jean Ly at Windom Allergy, in Sarasota.

Dunn attended college at the University of Michigan and medical school at Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University.

She completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago and her Allergy/Immunology fellowship at National Jewish/University of Colorado.

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Dr. Dunn participated in several research projects focusing on aspirin-exacerbated lung disease, immune deficiency, chronic sinusitis and vocal cord dysfunction.

She started the allergy department at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, where she worked for six years as the lead physician.

Miller

At the recent JMX Brands Awards Breakfast, CEO Jim Miller presented five employees with the new Mortise and Tenon Award.

The leading brand of Amish furniture, sold through its website, https://www.dutchcrafters.com, has a longstanding culture of recognition all through the year in addition to this annual event.

Mortise and tenon joints are often unseen support for the framework of beautiful furniture, said Miller. Our Mortise and Tenon Award recognizes employees who often work behind the scenes to support the overall construction of the company and are critical for overall success.

Recipients are Customer Service Specialist Lafe Bianche, System Administrator Matt Dobeck, Bookkeeper Gwen Heaton, Administrative Assistant/HR Specialist Delinda Smith and Fulfillment Team member Fang Wang.

Bianche has single-handedly and calmly worked toward solutions that benefit our customers for nearly three years.

Dobeck worked in chat and online sales before his move to system administration last year. He troubleshoots all kinds of issues and manages the migration to new systems.

Heatons work ethic is admirable. For nearly 14 years, she has handled nearly all the bookkeeping. Her work has included customer service, shipping and logistics, purchase orders and collection calls.

Smith has been with JMX Brands for two years and is currently shouldering the responsibility of three jobs  Millers administrative assistant, office manager and HR specialist, all rolled into one. She is the go-to person when things go wrong.

Wang stands out as a member of the Fulfillment Team. In six years at JMX Brands, she has managed product updates, purchase order reviews and logistics management. She manages complexity on the back end with high efficiency and effectiveness.

Criteria for the Mortise and Tenon Award include working at JMX Brands for at least two years, working behind the scenes, often unrecognized, with others depending on you, being detail-oriented, accurate and efficient, and bringing success to the company that may not always be easily quantified.

Shinn

Byron Shinn has joined the board of directors of All Star Childrens Foundation, in Sarasota. Shinn is a partner with Carr, Riggs & Ingram CPAs and Advisors, a nationally acclaimed accounting and advisory firm.

Shinn has 42 years of public accounting experience. At Carr, Riggs & Ingram CPAs and Advisors, he provides professional services in the areas of internal audits, accounting, taxation and business consulting.

He merged his own firm, Shinn & Co., with CRI in 2018. Before starting Shinn & Co in 1993, Shinn held top positions at CRI and Arthur Andersen.

He received his degree in accounting from the University of South Florida in 1979.

Shinn serves on the boards of the EDC Sarasota, the Bradenton Area EDC and the Florida Maritime Museum.

The other members of All Stars board of directors are Graci McGillicuddy, chair; Dennis McGillicuddy, vice chair; and Ashley Coone, Elaine Crouse, Dean Hautamaki, MD, and Noah Riner.

All Star Childrens Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to interrupting the intergenerational cycle of abuse and neglect with children and families in foster care.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Law firm positioned for growth with new hire, more awards at JMX
From dairy farms in Tulare to strawberry fields in Salinas, farmers in California have been dealing with the relentless back-to-back West Coast storms washing out their crops and fields, hitting them financially.

The damage caused by the storms has threatened the state's vast agricultural production, which produces more than one-third of the nation's vegetables and three-quarters of the country's fruits and nuts, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

California's agriculture industry isn't just crucial for the country but also for the world's food supply. The state is the country's largest agricultural exporter and the nation's sole exporter of many commodities such as almonds, artichokes, dates, garlic and much more, according to the California Agricultural Statistics Review 2020-2021.

"Here in California, we feed the world, not just the country," dairy farmer Johnny Dykstra told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.

In an aerial view, a flooded farm is seen on March 10, 2023, near Strathmore, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

The damage caused by the multiple rounds of storms could affect the availability of these exports. While grocery prices are holding steady for now, they could rise in the coming weeks if crop losses or equipment damage worsen.

"The earliest estimate is that it will be hundreds of millions of dollars in damage," Jeff Cardinale, spokesperson for the California Strawberry Commission, told Wadell.

AccuWeather preliminarily estimates the total damage and economic loss from the intense rounds of moisture in California to be an additional $6 billion to $8 billion on top of the $31 billion to $34 billion estimated from January's storm impacts.

Some crops were completely wiped out as a result of the excess rain and flooding, which was caused when some cities such as San Francisco received nearly twice their historical average rainfall.

During a break in the rain, farm workers drain lettuce fields of flood water as an atmospheric river storm slams California in Salinas, California, on Friday, March 10, 2023. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"If there was a planted crop of leafy greens, that unfortunately is a total loss and will have to be plowed under simply for food safety reasons," said Norm Groot, the executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau.

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It's not just crop production that has been impacted by the storms, but also livestock and dairy farms, which accounted for over $42 billion in value in 2020.

"If the water gets in, there's not going to be any way to feed our cows or keep them safe and dry," Dykstra told Wadell.

While the abundance of rain and flooding have been detrimental to some crops, it has not been all bad news with some crops even benefitting from the extra moisture.

"The strawberry crop is actually looking really good this year for the 70 or 80% that did not have any flooding or any damage. They could actually overproduce because of the rain because of the mixture of soils," said Cardinale.

Crop fields in California. (California Strawberry Commission)

California accounted for nearly 90 percent of the United States' share of strawberries in 2020, which led the entire country. Monterey County produced about 34 percent of California's strawberries, leading the entire state.

"No one wants to feel too defeated yet because we're still in it. We're still fighting," said Dykstra.

Additional reporting by Bill Wadell.

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A proposed California bill would require large companies that do business in the state to report their greenhouse gas emissions. (Rick Loomis/Los Angeles Times)

Nearly three years ago, American Airlines pledged to eradicate its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in an effort to help avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

One of the largest airlines in the world, American carved a path toward its net-zero goal by focusing on six key sectors, including sustainable aviation fuel, fleet renewal and operational improvements.

At American, we know that the challenge of climate change is acute and imminent, and we recognize our industrys contribution to it, the airline's website says. We believe we have an obligation to our customers, team members, shareholders and the communities we serve to transition to operating a low-carbon airline."

But a recent report has called that commitment into question. The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor found American Airlines strategies to be of very low integrity, saying the airlines net-zero promise lacks a commitment to reduce its own emissions, and that its offsetting program has the potential to mislead customers.

The online retail giant Amazon fared somewhat better. Its "net-zero carbon" by 2040 pledge was found to be of "low integrity," because the promise "remains unsubstantiated," the report said.

American Airlines did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A spokesperson for Amazon declined to comment.

As the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urges humanity to slash carbon pollution by nearly two-thirds by 2035, many corporations have responded to demands for action by releasing pledges that appear to significantly reduce their contributions to global warming.

But without a standardized means of evaluating those pledges, environmental advocates say it is impossible to discern whether a corporation is making a sincere effort to cut carbon emissions.

Now, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has proposed a law that seeks to end corporate greenwashing  a false or misleading type of marketing that claims a company is environmentally friendly when it actually does little to combat climate change.

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Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, would require the California Air Resources Board to adopt regulations requiring public and private companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenues that do business in California to publicly reveal their greenhouse gas emissions across three scopes beginning in 2026. It would be the first law in the country like it.

Companies are out there making claims that they're net zero, or carbon neutral, or that they're on the path to net zero, and its really hard to assess whether those claims are true without understanding what the actual carbon footprint of the company is, said Julia Stein, deputy director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment at UCLA School of Law. There's no mechanism that we have right now that mandates disclosure of those emissions, so this would be a step towards that.

The bill would also authorize the state attorney general to file a lawsuit against a company for violations of the law. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee recently supported the bill in a 4-2 vote.

Large corporations have a big role to play in reducing carbon emissions, and transparency is a big step, Wiener said.

Opponents of the bill, including the California Chamber of Commerce, say that emissions reporting is "more of an art than it is a science," and worry that double-counting of emissions and other complications will give out-of-state businesses an unfair advantage over California-based corporations. They also question whether the Air Resources Board has the authority to regulate out-of-state companies bringing goods to California.

However, experts say there is an increasing public appetite for corporate climate disclosures.

A 2021 survey of 1,115 Americans found that 87% believe its important for corporations to be transparent about their climate impacts.

Other countries also have had greenwashing on their minds. The European Union this year proposed a law that would require companies to prove their green claims with evidence. And at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt last year, experts from the United Nations introduced a report cracking down on empty net-zero claims.

According to the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, the net-zero vows of 24 assessed companies added up to a combined 36% emission reduction by their respective target years.

"That's really quite shocking to see, particularly because those companies portray themselves as climate leaders in their communications or through those initiatives, but when we take a closer look, for most of them, we cannot confirm that, said Frederic Hans, a climate policy analyst at New Climate Institute and co-author of the report.

Mary Creasman, chief executive of California Environmental Voters, one of the bills sponsors, said that California is particularly suited to lead the country against climate change.

Being the [fifth] largest economy in the world, we have such a powerful role to play  to use our market share and our market power to advance climate action, she said.

California has a big enough economy that companies wont just say, OK, were not going to do business in California anymore. Thats impossible, she said.

Critics worry that small and medium size businesses will bear the financial burden of the bill.

Mandating companies to report their supply chain emissions would force large businesses to stop working with smaller ones, the California Chamber of Commerce wrote. Why? Because they might struggle to measure their greenhouse gas emissions and meet requirements, leaving these companies without the contracts that enable them to grow and employ more workers.

Under the proposed law, scope 1 emissions are defined as direct greenhouse gas emissions from a company and its branches. Scope 2 includes indirect emissions, such as electricity bought by the company. Scope 3 are emissions from the companys supply chain, including waste, water usage, business travel and employee commutes; it accounts for about 75% of a companys greenhouse emissions for many industries.

The chamber and other organizations also raised concerns that the law would fall predominantly on state businesses, saying that it's unclear whether the Air Resources Board actually has the authority to regulate companies doing business here.

"It seems likely that out-of-state or non-California companies would challenge such authority," read an opposition letter to the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality. "Because of this uncertainty, the burden will fall on California-based companies, giving out-of-state and foreign companies a market advantage, driving production out-of-state and increasing the cost of goods for California residents."

SB 253 is a revival of Sen. Wieners SB 260, which passed the Senate last year but was killed in the Assembly by one vote.

Wiener and some of the bills sponsors said Assembly leaders at the time had voted on some very tough climate bills before they brought his bill to the floor. By the time they did, there was fatigue and burnout among the members, Wiener said.

I cant guarantee that this or any bill will pass  it's a tough bill with a lot of aggressive, well-funded opposition  but we definitely have a path to getting this passed and to the governor's desk," he said.

But if it doesnt, conversations about carbon disclosure arent expected to end, experts say.

There is a significant amount of consumer and regulatory concern around greenwashing, and so even if this bill doesn't pass this year, I don't think this concept is really going anywhere, Stein from UCLA said. And I wouldn't be surprised to see other states consider similar legislation or consider things that they can be doing outside of the legislative process to prompt businesses to disclose emissions.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Two people were wounded in a shooting at a Sikh temple during a religious festival in Sacramento, California Sunday, according to authorities.

The Nagar Kirtan festival began at 9 a.m. Thousands of worshippers and spectators attended the Gurdwara Sahib, a Sikh temple, located at 7676 Bradshaw Road, the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office said.

Sacramento sheriff's deputies, pictured here, responded to Sunday's shooting at a Sikh temple in Sacramento.

Around 2:30 p.m., sheriffs deputies responded to a shooting on the temple grounds. Arriving officers found two men suffering from gunshot wounds.

Both subjects were transported to a hospital for treatment and were expected to survive, the sheriffs office said.

Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators arrived on scene to interview witnesses. The evidence they gathered indicated three East Indian men had been involved in a physical altercation.

TWITTER SUSPENDS KILLERCOPS ACCOUNT THAT PUT BOUNTIES ON POLICE OFFICERS AFTER MASSIVE LAPD DATA RELEASE

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One of the men pulled out a handgun and shot one of the other men. The third individual, whom the sheriffs office identified as 21-year-old Karman Sandhu, also pulled out a gun and shot the first individual.

Sandhu fled the scene on foot. He was later located and taken into custody by sheriffs detectives.

Anyone with information on this incident is being asked to contact the Sheriffs Office at 916-874-5115 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-HELP.

The violence came a day ahead of a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee that left three students and three adults dead. The shooter  identified as a 28-year-old woman  was shot and killed by police.
Canadas self-proclaimed "Crypto King" Aiden Pleterski was kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom after allegedly fleecing investors out of millions, court documents filed earlier this month claim.

Pleterski was petitioned into bankruptcy last August, and the 23-year-old is accused of running an investment scheme. Since bankruptcy proceedings began, $25 million Canadian worth of claims have been filed in his case.

Pleterski had told investors he would pool their money together and invest it in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange positions. But of the $41.5 million he received, Pleterski allegedly invested only $670,000, less than 2% of the total amount.

Meanwhile, Pleterski allegedly spent close to $16 million on his personal lifestyle, which involved renting private jets, going on elaborate vacations, and purchasing exotic vehicles, such as a Ferrari, four Audis, three Lamborghinis, three McLarens, a Land Rover, and a BMW.

In December, the bankruptcy cases trustee Rob Stelzer was notified by Toronto Police that Pleterski had been kidnapped. Documents filed on March 14 included testimony from Pleterskis father, Dragan Pleterski.

He was taken, Pleterskis father said. They basically held him for approximately three days, drove him around different various parts of Southern Ontario, beat him, tortured him, allowed him to make specific phone calls to specific people only.

One of the people Pleterski contacted while in captivity was his landlord, Sandeep Gupta. Pleterski asked Gupta for $3 million to pay his kidnappers, according to the court documents.

Pleterskis father testified that his son was eventually released, under the condition that he quickly find money to pay his kidnappers and refrain from contacting law enforcement.

He was released with the threat that he needed to come up with some money fast, and if he had went to the police, that there would be a lot more trouble, Pleterskis father said.

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According to Pleterskis testimony, trouble first emerged for the 23-year-old in November 2021, when he claimed to lose all of his investments at a time when crypto markets began to reverse from their all-time highs.

As his losses began to mount, he said he took very aggressive positions to try and get some people their money back.

I essentially tried to redeem myself [...] but obviously in doing so, I guess you could say greed took over, he testified. I was trying to make returns that obviously weren't feasible or weren't necessarily possible at the time, and it just caused more losses.
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Read also: Canada to transfer hundreds of recon drones to Ukraine

Todays sanctions list eight individuals and two entities, including senior officials in Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Law Enforcement Forces (LEF)for gross and systematic human rights violations in Tehran and in Kurdish and Azeri areas of northwestern Iranand senior officials involved in unmanned aerial vehicle and ballistic missile production in Iran, the message reads.

The statement notes that high-ranking officials involved in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles in Iran fell under the restrictions.

The sanctioned entities support the Iranian regime by helping them disrupt and manipulate the online communications of those protesting the regime or by supplying the LEF with tactical equipment used in the brutal suppression of demonstrations, the ministry said.

Read also: EU will sanction Russia if it deploys nukes in Belarus

This list of sanctioned individuals includes:

 Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of IRGC forces in Tehran

 Gholamhossein Mohammadi Asl, commander of IRGC forces in Ardabil Province

 Abbas Nilforushan, Deputy Commander of IRGC Operations Command

 Abbas-Ali Mohammadian, Chief of Police in Tehran

 Ghassem Damavandian, senior executive, Qods Aviation Industries

 Nader Khoon Siavash, Director of Aerospace Industries Organization

 Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, a company that manufactures equipment for security forces

 Ravin Academy, a training institute that specializes in cyber-security

Read also: How to counter Iran transferring ballistic missiles to Russia  Zaluzhnyis US adviser

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Canada imposed its previous sanctions package against Iran on Feb. 27.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Ryan Suppe, State Politics Reporter; and Hayat Norimine, Accountability Editor

With few bills remaining on its calendar, the House on Friday recessed until Tuesday.

In the meantime, some committees will meet. House State Affairs will take up two abortion-related proposals today. Chairman Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told the House that the proposals deal with fixes to existing anti-abortion law.

Sponsor House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, previously introduced legislation to clarify that the states criminal abortion ban does not prohibit birth control or treatment of miscarriages.

The Senate will reconvene this morning to work through a full calendar, which includes dozens of gubernatorial appointments that the Senate is responsible for confirming.

What would school vouchers mean for rural Idaho?

Challis, the seat and largest city in Custer County, is home to about 1,000 people, two public schools and no private schools. If a Challis resident wanted to attend a private school, the closest option is in Sun Valley  119 miles away.

Twenty of Idahos 44 counties didnt have a private school as of December, according to data compiled by the Idaho State Department of Education and analyzed by the Idaho Statesman. Of the states 120 private schools, about three in four were in one of four counties: Ada, Canyon, Kootenai and Twin Falls.

Legislation proposed this session would have diverted public school funds to private and home-school families through education savings accounts, a private school voucher mechanism.

But the lack of private school options in rural areas, and the concentration of private schools in urban areas, means that under a school voucher system, rural taxpayers would subsidize urban private schools at their own expense.

Rural schools depend heavily on state funding, Dale Layne, of the Idaho Rural Schools Association, told lawmakers last month. Education savings accounts and vouchers siphon dollars away from the rural schools to pay for students mostly in urban areas.

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Read Ryans full story here.

Gov. Little signs firing squad bill

Idaho could execute death row inmates by firing squad as early as this summer.

Gov. Brad Little on Friday signed a bill to let state officials use the method when they cant obtain lethal injection drugs. The Idaho Department of Correction will be tasked with creating policies to implement the new law and building a facility  an estimated cost of $750,000  for the executions. The law goes into effect in July.

While I am signing this bill, it is important to point out that fulfilling justice can and must be done by minimizing stress on corrections personnel, Little wrote in a transmittal letter after signing the bill. For the people on death row, a jury convicted them of their crimes, and they were lawfully sentenced to death. It is the responsibility of the state of Idaho to follow the law and ensure that lawful criminal sentences are carried out.

Read the full story by reporters Kevin Fixler and Ryan Suppe.

What to expect today

8 a.m. Senate State Affairs. The public can testify on a House bill that would criminalize transporting minors out of state to help them obtain an abortion.

1 p.m. House State Affairs. The committee plans to introduce two new bills to amend Idahos anti-abortion law, sponsored by House Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett.

1 p.m. Senate Judiciary and Rules. The public can testify on a bill that would raise judges salaries.

Find the full list of committee meetings and agendas for the House here, and for the Senate here.

Track other bills

Keep track of high-profile bills as they go through the legislative process. You can find yesterdays updates here.

If you like this newsletter, forward to a friend or colleague, and they can sign up here.
Care home

A French care home manager has been accused of placing false wills on wealthy retirees who died without heirs, so he could pillage their fortunes.

The retirement home boss is among nine people who stood trial on Monday in Cusset, in the Allier departement of central France, on charges of fraudulently amassing 6 million (5.3 million) in four years from a string of victims who died with no relatives to leave their estates.

Other defendants include a notary, an executor, a lawyer, a genealogist and an undertaker.

Prosecutors allege Patrick Hureau, who ran a care home in Frejus, in Provence, was tasked with identifying hapless victims on their last legs.

One of these, Victor Lambin, had mysteriously drawn up a last-minute new will that Mr Hureau is accused of slipping in his pocket.

The handwritten document left his entire estate to a certain Jean-Louis Magnin - an ex-notary accused of being the gangs mastermind and who was struck off in 2004 for abuse of weakness.

Alleged mastermind

Prosecutors were intrigued by the expensive lifestyle of Mr Magnin, who they claim pocketed most of the money. He had a taste for high-end cars, including a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, and a Porsche 911 Carrera, as well as a penchant for exotic foreign trips and racehorses - owning five thoroughbreds and co-owning another six. He owns around 60 properties around France.

Alain Carvel, a former associate of Mr Magnin, is accused of drawing up false wills and genealogist Christian Chambaud for confirming the absence of heirs. Sebastien Boussel and Parisian lawyer Georges-Henri Laudrain are respectively accused of drumming up business and officiating over legal signings.

The gang employed various creative wheezes, said prosecutors. One entailed drawing up a will leaving a victims entire estate to a woman who looked after the deceaseds cats, and who turned out to be Mr Magnins mother.

But the piece de resistance was a fake will in which Colette Gaty left her entire estate of more than 1 million (878,555) to my first love - who turned out to be none other than Mr Magnins dead father Jean. The son then became the universal beneficiary.

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Defendant denies wrongdoing

The gang was eventually charged thanks to the suspicions of an executor in charge of the estate of Daniel Mazeas, who hung himself in 2015 and had no heirs. A few months later, a Parisian lawyer, a notary and their chauffeur - Mr Magnin - turned up with a will they claim had been drawn up three days before this death.

It said he had left his house, apartment and garage to a fictitious old friend- a 70-year-old Lebanese woman who lived in Chelsea, London, and who prosecutors said turned out to be an accomplice. The executor grew suspicious because the handwriting did not match.

After fleeing to Dubai, Mr Magnin, who denies wrongdoing, had been detained awaiting trial since 2017, when he returned to France.

The other defendants accuse him of being the mastermind and say they were either unaware of his motives or received very little or no recompense for their work.
Jocelyne Grandu and others at the Community Kitchen and Pantry in Manhattans West Harlem neighborhood, March 17, 2023. (Andrea Mohin/The New York Times)

NEW YORK  For nearly three years, New Yorkers have been able to take advantage of a pandemic-era lifeline that provided people such as Jocelyne Grandu, a retired French teacher who lives in Harlem, with an extra $80 each month in food stamp benefits.

But with that federal assistance ending this month, more than 30 million people nationwide are expected to receive less help.

In New York City, more than 1.5 million people, or nearly 1 in 5 residents, could receive smaller food stamp benefits, according to nonprofit leaders  reflecting a loss of at least $160 million total in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits each month.

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What were seeing is really a catastrophe for well over a million New Yorkers, said David Greenfield, executive director of Met Council, a prominent Jewish nonprofit that oversees 100 food pantries. Were hearing from our clients that theyre rationing things like medication, theyre not going to be able to pay their rent and they can no longer pay for things like child care.

As Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council negotiate next years budget, Greenfield has called on the city to set aside nearly $13 million in emergency funding for food pantries, where demand for aid has surged: Visits to food pantries in the city rose by more than two-thirds last year compared with 2019.

The mayors office said in a statement that the end of the additional SNAP benefits presents a challenge for families that rely on these benefits to put food on the table. But with the end of federal pandemic aid and new labor contracts, the city is facing a budget gap of $12 billion in just a few years, according to an analysis by the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group. Adams, a Democrat in his second year in office, has proposed a $550 million plan to cut costs.

City Council leaders have criticized the mayor for proposing cuts to key services including libraries and universal preschool.

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As part of the federal pandemic policy, each SNAP recipient received an average of $251 a month. That amount is expected to decline by about one-third in March, according to the Agriculture Department, which administers the food stamp program.

For Grandu, 69, the loss of the extra benefits was upsetting. She visited a food pantry in Harlem last Friday looking for a warm meal and hoping to take home leftover bagels. She often takes home extra milk at lunchtime, too.

They give us a carton of milk and people sometimes dont take it, so I take two, and Im OK for the weekend, she said. This is one thing I have to purchase less of, because a carton of milk is so expensive.

New York City is still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Housing costs have soared, and the unemployment rate remains stubbornly higher than the national average  ultimately pushing more people to apply for assistance.

At the Community Kitchen and Pantry in Harlem last Friday afternoon, dozens of people arrived for a warm meal of steak and carrots and rice, served with an everything bagel, a banana and some orange juice. Sean Thomas, 40, said he came to the community kitchen, run by the Food Bank for New York City, because he had run out of food stamps.

Eggs are expensive, he said. Everything is expensive.

Greenfield sent a letter this month to Justin Brannan, chair of the Councils Finance Committee, urging him to restore a food pantry initiative that the city provided during the height of the pandemic.

Brannan, a Democrat from Brooklyn, said in an interview that he wanted to make food pantries a priority even at a time when the city is facing difficult budget decisions.

I think its definitely something that the council is going to take a serious look at, he said. While COVID might be in our rear view, the lines at our local food pantries certainly havent subsided.

A spokesperson for the mayor, Jonah Allon, did not respond to a request for comment about Greenfields appeal for additional funding for food pantries, and highlighted other city funding for food programs, including the Community Food Connection program.

We will continue to do everything in our power to help New Yorkers in need, he said.

At the same time, the Adams administration has been criticized for delays in processing food stamp requests, a problem that city officials have blamed in part on a staffing shortage. In January, the Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit against the city for failing to process applications and renewals for SNAP and cash assistance benefits within the 30-day time frame required by law.

The delays in processing SNAP requests are getting worse, according to new data from the citys Department of Social Services. The on-time rate in December 2022 was 22.4%, compared with 35.8% overall during the second half of last year.

City officials have also blamed the delays on a surge in demand. SNAP applications rose from nearly 27,000 in January 2019 to nearly 45,000 in January 2023, according to the Department of Social Services.

The slowdown exacerbates what other nonprofit leaders say is a hunger crisis in New York City. Leslie Gordon, president of the Food Bank for New York City, said she was deeply concerned about the cuts to SNAP and that her organization was bracing for a tsunami wave of people to reach our lines.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in her State of the City speech this month that the citys food stamp delays were unacceptable. In a statement, she said the council would be prioritizing food assistance in the city budget.

Adrienne Adams also called on New York state leaders to follow the lead of New Jersey lawmakers, who raised the monthly minimum SNAP benefit by providing state funding.

Greenfield said emergency funding from the city would help shore up the citys overburdened food pantry system, especially smaller groups that serve immigrant and minority communities, and would assist New Yorkers who are desperate for help.

Its having a dramatic impact, Greenfield said of the reduction in benefits. One woman who has three kids just told us shes thinking of leaving New York because she cant afford to live here.

One of Met Councils clients, Laurette Durrant, 68, of Queens, has been receiving $516 per month in food stamps for herself and her granddaughter. That amount will drop this month to $332, according to her SNAP specialist at Met Council. She said it was difficult to pay her rent and her electricity bills, and she hoped the federal government would consider bringing back the extra benefits.

That allowance helped me out so much, she said. I depend upon it.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
World Music Awards In Monte Carlo, Monaco On May 03, 1995. MONACO - MAY 03: World Music Awards In Monte Carlo, Monaco On May 03, 1995 - Celine Dion and husband Rene Angelil. (Photo by Jean-Pierre REY/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

It's Celine Dion Week.

Canadian superstar Celine Dion turns 55 years old on March 30, so all week, well be looking back at her incredible life  from the youngest of 14 kids in the small town of Charlemagne, Quebec, outside Montreal, to worldwide music icon.

Part 1: The Power of Love with Rene Angelil

We start with her marriage to manager-turned-husband Rene Angelil. The duo met when Dion was just a teen, and legend has it Angelil risked it all to manage her and banked on her success. The pair married in 1994. Angelil died in 2016.

Part 2: For the parents and the children

Celine Dion and Rene Angelil had three children: Rene Charles on Jan. 25, 2001, and twins Eddy and Nelson on Oct. 23, 2010. Dion herself is from a big family of 14 kids. Her parents, Adhemar and Therese, died in 2003 and 2020 respectively.

Part 3: Celine Dion's passion for fashion

Celine Dion's renaissance as a fashion darling in the 2010s was not completely unexpected  let's not forget the iconic backwards tuxedo suit from the 1999 Academy Awards red carpet. After teaming up with stylist extraordinaire Law Roach, Dion appeared at two Met Galas in stunning looks, and became a mainstay of Paris Fashion Week. Tres jolie.

Part 4: A powerhouse, an icon

And finally, as the icon turns 55 years old on March 30, we take a look at what made her famous to begin with: the music, the powerhouse vocals, and the performances. And while Rolling Stone might not consider her one of the most gifted vocalists of all time, she is No. 1 in our heart.
Chandler police

A shelter-in-place order and school lockdowns were lifted and Dobson Road reopened after being closed while Chandler police searched for a shooter on the loose.

The department said there was still a heavy police presence in the area as officers continued investigating. Some streets remained closed.

Chandler police confirmed the shooting was an "isolated incident" near the intersection of North Dobson and West Ray roads.

Police had told residents near Dobson and Ray roads to shelter in place as they searched for a shooter who was still at large in the area.

Officers were investigating calls of a domestic violence shooting near Dobson and Ray roads. The department said nearby schools were placed on lockdown or modified lockdown until the incident was resolved, asking residents to shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice.

"There is a heavy police presence in the area as we actively search for the subject involved," said Sgt. Emma Huenneke, a spokesperson for the Chandler Police Department. Huenneke said one person was taken to a hospital in relation to the incident.

Dobson Road was initially closed in both directions and Galveston Road was closed southbound from Ray Road as Chandler police worked to apprehend the shooter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler police search for shooter near Dobson, Ray roads; 1 injured
(iStock)

Each year, at 2am on the last Sunday in March, the clocks go forward in the UK which signals that beginning of Daylight Saving Time.

Although the day that the clocks go back in the fall is sometimes considered the good one as people get an extra hour in bed, the system of changing the clocks twice a year can be controversial.

In 2019, the European parliament voted to get rid of the change of clocks after a study found that 84 per cent of people in countries that took part in daylight saving time would like it to discontinue.

However, a YouGov poll found that majority of Britons were marginally in favour of keeping it, with 44 per cent voting to keep the current system and 39 per cent voting to scrap it.

There are also some health concerns linked to the time change, as some studies have shown it disrupts the bodys natural sleep cycles, which can affect both physical and mental health.

So what is the impact of turning back the clocks on our health?

How does changing the clock impact physical health?

According to the Mayo Clinic, the human brain has a biological clock, also known as a circadian rhythm, that runs on a 24-hour cycle.

Whether it is gaining an extra hour or losing an hour of sleep, this causes disruption to the sleep cycle and can be difficult for some people to adjust back to a normal schedule. Disturbed sleep could also potentially lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

A 2019 study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital examined the impact of sleep deficiency on heart disease in mice. It found that, after 16 weeks, mice who had their sleep cycles disrupted developed larger arterial plaques compared to the mice with normal sleep patterns.

The sleep-deficient mice also had twice the level of certain white blood cells in their circulation, and lower amounts of hypocretin, a hormone that plays a key role in regulating sleep and wake states.

This appears to be the most direct demonstration yet of the molecular connections linking blood and cardiovascular risk factors to sleep health, said Dr Michael Twery, director of the National Heart, Lunch and Blood Institutes National Centre on Sleep Disorders Research in the US.

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Losing an hour of sleep during the time change in the spring has been linked to a surge in heart attacks and strokes. In the US, hospitals report a 24 per cent spike in heart attack visits every year on the Monday after the clocks go forward.

Turning the clocks back means an extra hour in bed (Getty Images)

Research has also shown an increase in car accidents when the cars go back in the colder months as drivers adapt to the time change.

According to data by Zurich Insurance, drivers are more likely to have an accident between 4pm and 7pm in November, as the evenings get darker earlier. After the clocks change, the company noted a 10 to 15 per cent increase in accident volumes during that time compared to the rest of the day.

How does changing the clock impact mental health?

When the clocks go back in the autumn, we get an extra hour of daylight in the morning  however, this only lasts a couple of weeks before the days shorten and the sunrise gets later and later.

On the shortest day of the year, 21 December, the UK enjoys less than eight hours sunlight.

The increased hours of darkness can result in low mood and depression in some people, as well as fatigue, muscle pain and weakened bones due to a lack of vitamin D from exposure to sunlight.

Some people also experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD) as a result of the shorter days. According to the NHS, SAD symptoms include a persistent low mood, loss of pleasure or interest in normal everyday activities, irritability, feelings of despair or guilt, and sleeping for longer than normal.

The health service says that the lack of sunlight may stop a part of the brain called the hypothalamus from working properly, which may affect the production of melatonin (a sleep hormone) and serotonin (a mood hormone), as well as the bodys circadian rhythm.
At parties, on stages and in meetings, Changpeng Zhao, who has been charged with illegal trading in the United States, is rarely seen without his black polo shirt, emblazoned with the insignia of his crypto firm Binance.

The humble look is vital to the myth of Zhao, the boy from rural China who once flipped burgers for a living in Canada but now has a personal fortune estimated in the tens of billions.

"I'm a small entrepreneur," he told AFP last year when comparing himself to Elon Musk, adding for good measure that he was just a "normal guy" compared to the world's richest man.

Yet Binance has cornered much of the crypto-trading market.

The 45-year-old, who founded Binance in Shanghai in 2017, has emerged as the most visible figure in crypto after his great rival Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested last year over claims he masterminded a giant Ponzi scheme.

But Zhao's breakneck rise has also been dogged by controversy.

His cryptocurrency exchange has long been accused of facilitating money laundering, setting up complex structures to avoid regulation, and busting sanctions -- claims it denies.

US regulators on Monday said Zhao had presided over years of wilful evasion of the rules and wanted him and his company banned from trading in the US and fined.

- True grit? -

If the charges stick, it would be a major wrinkle in a carefully orchestrated rags-to-riches tale that has become almost mythical in crypto circles.

Zhao's early life in China was scarred by hardship when his parents were sent to the countryside for a dose of peasant reality -- a common punishment for those suspected of having capitalist sympathies during the Cultural Revolution.

After the family emigrated to Canada a decade later, young Zhao had to work at McDonald's and a petrol station to help the family survive.

This instilled "drive, grit, and initiative" into the young man and helped to create today's "crypto leader", according to the Binance website.

Zhao's nomadic childhood informed his adult life, which has seen him crop up everywhere from New York to Tokyo.

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The official legend has it that he caught the bitcoin bug during a conversation around a poker table, and started Binance a few years later.

He quickly left China and has since hinted that he might set up Binance in many jurisdictions -- Singapore, France, Malta, Dubai, Bahrain -- without definitively committing to any of them.

He often says he "favours good regulation over bad" and dismisses the idea of a company needing headquarters as a "complex issue", before swiftly changing the subject.

This opacity has made him a popular figure among crypto purists, who loathe any form of regulation, and for years kept regulators from knocking too hard at his door.

- Musk flirtation -

But the whiff of scandal finally got too much for the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which labelled Binance's compliance regime a "sham".

The regulator accused Zhao, among other things, of orchestrating a "secret plot" to help VIP customers evade the law.

Apparently in response to the charges, Zhao indicated on Twitter that he intended to ignore such "attacks".

When similar claims were made in the media last year, Zhao feuded openly with journalists and accused outlets, including Reuters, of peddling fake news.

Zhao's bruising run-ins with the media have seen him increasingly champion the free speech absolutism also favoured by Musk.

The Binance boss has curried favour with Tesla CEO Musk, throwing $500 million at the magnate's Twitter buyout.

Yet Zhao told journalists in November last year that the two men had not met in person.

"He's busy, I'm busy," said Zhao.

But ever mindful of his blue-collar image, he added: "If we happen to be in the same city, I wouldn't mind it. If he's a good drinker."

jxb/fb
Sexual assault charges against former Rangers pitcher John Wetteland were dismissed on March 23, more than six months after a judge declared a mistrial in the Denton County criminal case.

Wetteland was accused of molesting a boy three times more than a decade ago. He pleaded not guilty to the three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The Denton County District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the case being dismissed.

The trial against Wetteland began Aug. 30 in 462nd District Court. Witnesses, family members and Wetteland himself testified before the jury and Judge Lee Ann Breading. On Sept. 2, jurors deliberated for several hours and told the judge multiple times they could not reach a unanimous decision. Breading pressed the jury to keep trying to reach a verdict, but at about 5 p.m., she declared a mistrial.

According to authorities, Wetteland was accused of sexually assaulting the child three times between 2004 and 2006, starting when the child was 4 years old.

According to the childs mother, the child first told her in 2016  when he was 16  that Wetteland raped him as a child. She said she did not report the allegation to police. In his testimony, the alleged victim said he did not want to report the abuse and only wanted an apology from Wetteland, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

In his testimony, the alleged victim said he looked up to Wetteland and wanted to please him. The first time Wetteland sexually abused him, he said, he was confused. The abuse impacted him deeply into his teenage years, he testified, causing incontinence, suicidal thoughts and self-harm.

When the boy was 18, his mother testified, she told him to write a letter about the abuse and planned to send it to people connected with Wetteland.

Argyle school districts former chief of police read the letter to the jury during the trial. The letter, which the accuser wrote in Google Docs, detailed allegations that Wetteland sexually assaulted him in a shower.

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According to prosecutor Lindsey Sheguit, the document was saved on the Argyle school Google account, and the school districts monitoring system flagged it. Employees discovered the letter and reported it to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Derek Adame, one of Wettelands defense attorneys, and defense attorney Caroline Simone argued the abuse allegations are not true and were possibly fabricated by a man named Chris. Chris is not biologically related to the alleged victim but lived with him when he was a teenager.

Three members of the Wetteland family testified that they also believe Chris instructed the alleged victim to write the letter, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported. They described Chris as aggressive and jealous of Wetteland.

A grand jury indicted Wetteland, who lives in Trophy Club, in 2019. Bartonville police have said DFPS contacted the department about the case on Jan. 9, 2019.

Wetteland played for the Rangers from 1997 to 2000, as well as for the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners, and is in the Rangers Hall of Fame.
A 24-year-old Charlotte woman was killed Sunday in what police say was a domestic violence-related shooting.

Police arrested and charged Audie Lavonda Brack Belk Jr., 28, with murder, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news statement.

The suspect called 911 around 6 p.m. saying he shot his wife in the head, according to police dispatch audio obtained through Broadcastify. Paramedics found Janna Lee Barnes, 24, dead at the scene, a home on Teresa Lane, near the intersection of Pleasant Grove Road and Oakdale Road in northwest Charlotte, according to CMPD.

Its not clear from public records if Belk and Barnes were married.

This is the third domestic-violence-related homicide in Mecklenburg County this year, according to the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Last year, the organization recorded only one in the county.

Darren Curry, 42, stabbed and killed his girlfriend Feb. 24 before calling 911, according to police reports.

Elie Hugo Noel, 33, shot his ex-girlfriend  and then himself  in South End Feb. 13, according to police records and NCCADV.
A 15-year-old died in a crash this weekend while driving a car reported stolen two days earlier, according to police.

Paramedics found the teen dead at the scene Sunday morning just after midnight along South Tryon Street near Lake Wylie Elementary School and the South Carolina border, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release.

The 2015 Kia Optima he was driving was reported stolen Friday, according to police. Preliminary reports determined the 15-year-old was speeding along South Tryon Street when the vehicle lost control and crossed into oncoming traffic.

The Kia struck the drivers side of a 2015 GMC Acadia, police said. Paramedics took its driver to the hospital with serious injuries.
ChatGPT will shake up the education sector, researchers have warned (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

The artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT can score 90% in many exams including the American bar exam - so its perhaps not a surprise it can write academic papers, too.

In a new study, researchers used prompts to create content of a sort normally seen in academic journals.

The researchers say that the paper shows the sophistication of ChatGPT - and the challenges it poses for the academic community.

Professor Debby Cotton, Director of Academic Practice and Professor of Higher Education at Plymouth Marjon University, is the study's lead author. She said: "This latest AI development obviously brings huge challenges for universities, not least in testing student knowledge and teaching writing skills.

Looking positively it is an opportunity for us to rethink what we want students to learn and why.

 I'd like to think that AI would enable us to automate some of the more administrative tasks academics do, allowing more time to be spent working with students.

Read more: A 1988 warning about climate change was mostly right

Many school boards and universities have already banned ChatGPT - with New Yorks Yeshiva University adapting its cheating policy to cover content written by AI.

New York schools have also blocked access to the technology.

Corresponding author Dr Peter Cotton, Associate Professor in Ecology at the University of Plymouth, added: "Banning ChatGPT, as was done within New York schools, can only be a short-term solution while we think how to address the issues.

AI is already widely accessible to students outside their institutions, and companies like Microsoft and Google are rapidly incorporating it into search engines and Office suites. The chat (sic) is already out of the bag, and the challenge for universities will be to adapt to a paradigm where the use of AI is the expected norm."

Read more: Why economists worry that reversing climate change is hopeless

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is the latest chatbot and artificial intelligence (AI) platform touted as having the potential to revolutionise research and education.

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For the majority of the paper, they used a series of prompts and questions to encourage ChatGPT to produce content in an academic style.

The prompts included -

Write an original academic paper, with references, describing the implications of GPT-3 for assessment in higher education;

How can academics prevent students plagiarising using GPT-3?

Are there any technologies which will check if work has been written by a chatbot?

Produce several witty and intelligent titles for an academic research paper on the challenges universities face in ChatGPT and plagiarism.

Once the text was generated, the researchers copied and pasted the output into the manuscript, ordered it broadly following the structure suggested by ChatGPT, and then inserted genuine references throughout.

This process was only revealed to readers in the paper's Discussion section, which was written directly by the researchers.

In that section, the study's authors highlight that the text produced by ChatGPT  while much more sophisticated than previous innovations in this area  can be relatively formulaic, and that a number of existing AI-detection tools would pick up on that.

However, they say their findings should serve as a wake-up call to university staff to think about how their assessments are designed.

Dr Reuben Shipway, Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth, said: "With any new revolutionary technology  and this is a revolutionary technology  there will be winners and losers. The losers will be those that fail to adapt to a rapidly changing landscape. The winners will take a pragmatic approach and leverage this technology to their advantage."

Watch: How ChatGPT will change Hollywood
A Chicago, Illinois firefighter was arrested on Friday for allegedly promoting prostitution from his apartment on the north side of Chicago, according to reports.

FOX 32 in Chicago reported that in 2020, the Chicago Fire Department internal affairs division opened an investigation into 37-year-old Brendan Kennedy-Gasior, a member of the department.

Brendan Kennedy-Gasior was charged with allegedly promoting prostitution.

Kennedy-Gasior allegedly sent erotic messages out of his apartment on W. Bryn Mawr Avenue In the northern portion of Chicago.

MISSING ILLINOIS WOMAN FOUND WRAPPED IN SHEET, DUMPED IN SHOPPING CART IN CHICAGO ALLEY

The news station said the arrest report accuses Kennedy-Gasior of instructing a 23-year-old woman from Denver to charge men for erotic massages, while sometimes offering sexual favors.

Kennedy-Gasior is accused of telling the woman to charge $150 per half-hour session and $200 for a full hour, and of all the money collected, police said, he would receive half or $50 per customer.

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FILE- Police caution tape at a crime scene.

He allegedly placed paid advertisements for massages on websites like Adultlook and Adultsearch, and men would call the number in the advertisement to set up appointments.

TEXAS TEEN RESCUED FROM SUSPECTED TRAFFICKER'S NC SHED MAY HAVE MET HIM THROUGH VIDEO GAME

Of the 40-50 sessions the victim participated in, she told police she was paid $400 to perform a sexual act on a client, of which Kennedy-Gasior was given half.

All the sessions, police said, took place in Kennedy-Gasiors apartment while he was present in the apartment.

After Internal Affairs conducted the investigation, the division tipped off the Human Trafficking Team and Kennedy-Gasior was arrested.

He is expected to appear in court on Thursday, March 30.

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The Chicago Fire Department did not immediately respond to inquiries pertaining to what led to the investigation and whether Kennedy-Gasior was suspended with or without pay.
A six-year-old girl was the victim of a dog attack at Ackers Lane, Carrington, Greater Manchester. (Reach)

Police have seized 17 dogs after a six-year-old girl was the victim of a dog attack on a street in Manchester.

The child was attacked in the village of Carrington in Trafford, Greater Manchester, on Sunday afternoon.

She was later taken to hospital for treatment for her injuries and remains there in a stable condition.

Police said they were called to an address on Ackers Lane just before 2.40pm.

Neighbours said another girl and a man fought the dogs off the child, who was then carried away by a woman believed to be her mother.

Greater Manchester Police seized four dogs and nine puppies on Sunday, then said later they had recovered a further four dogs.

A van has also been found in south Manchester and is being examined by police as part of the investigation.

Three people were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of owning a dangerous dog. All three have since been released on bail.

Read more: What is nitrous oxide and why is it being banned?

Greater Manchester Police have seized 17 dogs after an attack on a six-year-old girl. (Alamy)

One man, who asked not to be named, said: "I have seen two big dogs on the street a lot. It's scary that this has happened here. She was just playing out and then this has happened to the poor little girl."

Police said they are working to locate individuals they believe have responsibility for the dogs.

Detective Inspector Matthew Dixon, from Greater Manchester Police's Trafford district, said: "This is a fluid investigation and so far we have recovered 17 dogs and made three arrests, as well as a vehicle of interest.

"However, the investigation is very much ongoing and anyone with information should contact police, quoting log 1612-26/03/23."

Greater Manchester Police said it has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over the incident.

Meanwhile, it was reported on Monday that hospitals in England are treating three children under the age of 16 every day for serious injuries caused by dog attacks.

The data was compiled by Hits Radio following a Freedom of Information request to NHS England.

The figures revealed that in the last eight-month period there were 255 procedures for skin repair carried out on children aged five and under because of dog attacks.

There were 246 procedures on five to nine-year-olds and 186 procedures on 10 to 14-year-olds, Hits Radio reported.
WASHINGTON  First lady Jill Biden said "our children deserve better" as she responded to a mass shooting at a Nashville school Monday that killed seven people including three children.

More: Covenant School shooting updates: 3 children, 3 adults dead after woman opens fire in Nashville

"I am truly without words and our children deserve better," Biden said, opening up remarks at a National League of Cities event in Washington. "We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer."

Three students and three staff members were killed after a woman opened fire at The Covenant School, a small private Christian elementary school in Nashville early Monday, according to local authorities. The shooter used two "assault-type" weapons and a handgun, police said.

Officers engaged and killed the suspect, according to police. Officials have not released a name of the suspect or offered a motive.

More: 'It's just common sense': Biden signs new executive action expanding gun background checks

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday March, 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise) ORG XMIT: TNJM101

The White House is in communication with Justice Department and Nashville officials, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre cited executive actions Biden has taken on guns but said its not enough, pointing to the presidents calls for Congress to ban assault weapons and close gun background check loopholes, neither of which have advanced amid Republican resistance in Congress.

We must do more. And he wants Congress to act because enough is enough. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act?

More: President Biden says 'no rationale for assault weapons' after Michigan State University shooting

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jill Biden after Nashville shooting: 'Our children deserve better'
Sarah Maslin Nir is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter for The New York Times and the author of both a memoir and a new children's novel. But before that successful writing career, she was a student who struggled to understand her schoolwork and pass her classes.

Nir's first kids' book, The Flying Horse, debuted this month and mirrors her life's struggles and passions. She's a devoted equestrian, who keeps her Dutch warmblood horse stabled in Hunterdon County. Her middle-grades novel features a girl with dyslexia, also named Sarah, and a horse. Both must overcome others' low expectations.

To promote her tale of two- and four-legged protagonists battling the odds, Nir will stick with the equine theme: Next month, she'll embark on a book tour of barns across New Jersey. From Cape May to Lafayette, shell be throwing book parties for humans and their horses.

Forget book stores. Journalist and horse lover Sarah Maslin Nir will take her book tour to barns across New Jersey in April.

Nir, 40, grew up in Manhattan and attended the Brearley School, a private school on the Upper East Side where classmates were expected to go on to Ivy League futures. She recalled it as a "really high-pressure" environment, where the aspiring writer struggled to keep up.

Nir, who still lives in New York, has never been diagnosed with dyslexia. But she struggles with "organizational issues" and "processing difficulties," she said.

"What the character struggles with in my book is an amplification of my experience," she said in an interview.

Instead of being helped as a child, Nir said, she was made to feel "stupid and lazy.

A life-changing mistake

It dawned on her that the problem might have nothing to do with her intelligence or commitment when, as a high school junior, she got a C-minus in English class and a perfect score on the SAT's English section all in one week.

I realized that what I was being graded on in school was whether or not I conformed and measured up, and I wasn't being graded on whether I knew English, she said.

Classmates headed for Harvard, Yale and Princeton after graduation. Nir applied to Columbia University three years in a row before finally getting in. It was there, while taking a philosophy test, that she had her next revelation.

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Author Sarah Maslin Nir and Trendsetter, her horse. Her new middle-grades novel features a young girl and a horse with the same names who struggle against others' low expectations.

The exam "was three hours long, and it was half our grade," she recalled. "At the end of the three hours, I put it down on the professors desk, and I realized it had a back and I had spent the whole time on the one half of it. So no matter how well I did, I was getting a 50 on that test." The professor invited Nir to come to his office to take the rest of the test.

"So I get to his office a day later and he puts a little blue book in front of me and it has 'A-plus' written on it. Her success on the half of the test she'd done showed she understood the work, the professor told her.

It was a moment that fundamentally altered her view of herself: For the first time she realized she could fall short and still be "smart.

I didn't know you could be disorganized and still intelligent, Nir said. I didn't know you could misspell words and still be good at writing. I thought it was one or the other. That interaction with the professor changed the whole trajectory of my life.

In 'The Flying Horse,' parallel struggles

In The Flying Horse," the first installment in a planned series, the fictional Sarah and a horse named Trendsetter, named after Nirs real horse, fight through parallel struggles wondering if their best is good enough.

They fail at everything they do," Nir said. "They really are talented and they really tried, but they failed all along the way. In the end what they learned is that they didn't have to be great. They just have to be good, and they always were, even when they failed. I never got that lesson.

Parenting: Why your parenting style won't work with digital kids: Tips from NJ mental health experts

Health care: Advocates say NJ needs to raise pay for disability aides as Amazon, UPS offer workers more

Nir was a freelancer before The New York Times hired her in 2011. She currently covers breaking news for the papers Metro section. Before that, she covered local news in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.

In 2016, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Unvarnished," an investigation of working conditions in New York Citys nail salon industry.

Simon & Schuster published her memoir in 2020. The publisher summed up Nir's "Horse Crazy" as a love letter to these graceful animals and the people who  like her  are obsessed with them.

"A horse is a prey creature, and that's the world that they live in," she said last week. "Being around them, I really found refuge in them, these big, silent creatures that somehow still soldier on despite being prey."

Nir's book tour

You can see Nir discuss "The Flying Horse" at these locations next month:

April 2: Cape May 4-H and Starfish Equine Rescue in Dennisville.

April 5: Scout's Coffee Bar & Mercantile in High Bridge.

April 22: My Happy Place Animal Sanctuary in Newfoundland and Amy Wunderlich Performance Horses in Lafayette.

Gene Myers covers disability and mental health for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: myers@northjersey.com

Twitter: @myersgene

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Sarah Maslin Nir 'Flying Horse' book tour visits New Jersey barns
China, commenting on Russia's statement about deploying nuclear weapons in Belarus, has stated that strategic risks should be reduced, and there can be no winners in a nuclear war.

Source: Ukrinform news agency, citing Mao Ning, an official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry

Quote from Ning: "The leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states issued a joint statement in January last year stating that it is impossible to win or wage a nuclear war.

The statement stressed the need to avoid wars between nuclear-weapon states and to reduce strategic risks."

Background:

On 26 March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, with the storage facility ready by July.

In January 2022, the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states, i.e., the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia issued a joint statement on preventing nuclear war.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






(Bloomberg) -- The Japanese government is seeking the release of an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc. detained by Chinese authorities.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The company is working with Japans foreign ministry to gather more information, a spokesman for Astellas said. Details on why the person was detained are still unknown. The government has requested a consular visit, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a briefing Monday.

More than a dozen Japanese nationals have been detained in China since 2015, according to Kyodo News and other Japanese media. Eight people have returned to Japan, seven are still in China facing trial or serving time, while one has died, the Mainichi newspaper reported last month. Five of them have been found guilty by China of endangering national security, the paper said.

Earlier this month, relevant Chinese authorities adopted compulsory measures in accordance with the criminal procedure law against a Japanese citizen for a case examination, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday at a regular press briefing in Beijing. This Japanese citizen of engaging of espionage activities and violating the criminal law of the PRC and the counter-espionage law.

NHK and other Japanese media reported over the weekend that the Astellas employee was in his 50s. He had worked for more than 20 years in China and was planning to return at the end of the month, FNN reported. He was detained in March for violating local law, according to the reports.

In 2020, a Japanese man was released from detention in China after completing a five-year prison sentence. The man moved to North Korea in the 1960s, later defected and returned to Japan, according to Kyodo News. He was detained in 2015 close to the Chinese border with North Korea and sentenced to five years in 2018, it said.

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In 2021, a male employee of a trading house Itochu Corp. was released after serving three years in jail in China, according to the Asahi newspaper. He was imprisoned for espionage in October 2019, it said.

Read more: China Releases Japanese Man Held For Five Years on Spying Charge

--With assistance from Yuki Hagiwara.

(Updates with Chinese foreign ministry comments in fourth paragraph.)

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An Associated Press investigation has revealed that China and its advocates based in the U.S. have been operating a successful influence campaign in the state of Utah.

The AP reported Monday that as a result of the efforts, "Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didnt like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese governments image."

U.S. officials also said the campaign is a threat to national security.

"Utah is an important foothold," Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah, told the AP. "If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere."

But a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China "values its relationship with Utah" and any "words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes."

In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

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The AP based its findings on dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records requests.

It uncovered that China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislations sponsor. The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by U.S. national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when its President Xi Jinping sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards theyd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to "become young ambassadors for Sino-American friendship."

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Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state-controlled media in China.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
China is investigating a US due diligence firm for "illegal" activities, a government spokesperson said Monday, after the company accused authorities of detaining five local employees and shutting down its Beijing office.

The New York-based Mintz Group is "suspected of illegal operations", Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, adding that "the relevant case is now under investigation".

Mao did not share further details about the investigation into Mintz Group, which specialises in investigations into fraud, corruption and workplace misconduct allegations, as well as background checks.

The firm said on Friday that authorities had "detained the five staff in Mintz Group's Beijing office, all of them Chinese nationals, and have closed our operations there".

The company has "retained legal counsel to engage with the authorities and support our people and their families", it added.

Mintz did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Beijing's announcement Monday.

Mintz Group has offices in 18 locations, including Washington.

Its Asia head, Randal Phillips, had said in 2017 that the United States should address structural imbalances in trade stemming from Chinese policies.

Phillips -- formerly a chief representative for the US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in China -- also testified before the congressional US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in 2018 on Beijing's efforts to exert international influence.

He is now based in Singapore, according to the group's website.

The detentions come in the face of some of the worst US-China relations in decades, as the two powers clash over everything from trade to human rights.

Tensions flared in February after the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon, which Beijing insisted was a weather monitoring device.

bur-oho/je/dhw/smw
China has more than just historical claims behind its ambitions to take Taiwan, specifically greater industrial production capabilities available on the island as well as an operational foothold in the area that could break up U.S. influence in the region, according to defense and intelligence experts.

"We're talking about a place that manufactures chips, which make the entire world economy move, and  we are way behind when it comes to manufacturing those chips here in the United States," Ilan Fuchs, adjunct professor at American Public University System, told Fox News Digital. "The current administration is trying to catch up, but it's going to take years and years and years to do."

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regularly touts its historical claim to Taiwan, looking to re-integrate the island through diplomatic means and, potentially, military action, if necessary. Party officials last summer issued a policy document on Taiwan that outlined a "one country, two systems" approach similar to that of Hong Kong and Macau, which have "special administrative region" status.

Soldiers disembark from AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles during the Han Kuang military exercise, which simulates China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) invading the island, on July 28, 2022 in Pingtung, Taiwan. Taiwan military launches five days of live fire drills involving all forces of the military to repel simulated attacks from China. (Photo by Annabelle Chih/Getty Images)

But Hong Kong has watched that status mean less and less after the CCP introduced a new security law to punish citizens found guilty of secession, subversion or "terrorism." Critics viewed the law as an effort to restrict opposition within the regions.

BIDEN SAYS CHINA-RUSSIA PARTNERSHIP IS VASTLY EXAGGERATED DURING CANADA VISIT

Military action, therefore, seems increasingly likely if Beijing seeks to take control of Taiwan. Such action might seem extreme to exert a historical claim over a territory, but experts made it clear that Taiwan offers significant advantages economically and strategically.

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"If the Chinese can then turn Taiwan into a base of operations, they have direct access to the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean," said Brent Sadler, senior research fellow in naval warfare and advanced technology at the Center for National Defense. "Most of the East China Sea is pretty shallow."

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"That has a problem when you get into submarine and anti-submarine warfare, it's a lot more conducive to submarines in the Pacific," he said. "So, if you're trying to break out of the first island chain, Taiwan is one way of doing that."

Sadler noted that there is belief that if China can "break" Taiwan, it can break "all the U.S. security alliances that are perceived as a threat."

Fuchs said that what the U.S. needs to worry about is "freedom of navigation," which would change world trade in a way "we can't afford."

CHINESE SPY BALLOON FIASCO REQUIRES FULL REVIEW OF US AIR DEFENSES, DAINES SAYS AT MALMSTROM AFB VISIT

"When it comes to freedom of navigation, that is something that, while it's still debatable as far as its scope  the scope of China's activity in the South China Sea is something we cannot overlook," he said.

"We saw what the problems were after COVID with supply [chain] issues  so, can we really afford to have this major trade just under Chinese control?" Fuchs added. "That is something that needs to be on the top of the agenda for policymakers."

Controlling Taiwan would provide China with another foreign operating base from which to project power in the region, amplifying any other disputes with neighboring countries, according to Emily de La Bruyere, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

La Bruyere warned that allowing China to reclaim Taiwan would prove a significant blow for the U.S. as it would signal that "the international system  is Chinas world now."

"The Taiwan question is constantly at play," La Bruyere, who focuses on China policy, told Fox News Digital. "China is adept at using it in order to pressure the U.S. to allocate resources the way China wants it to allocate resources."

"All China has to do is give a signal, a little bit more aggressiveness vis-a-vis Taiwan and the U.S. will pour money and political capital into sending military support to Taiwan, which risks preventing money in political capital from going elsewhere in the competition with China," she said.

FCC COMMISSIONER WARNS IT'S CRYSTAL CLEAR TIKTOK PUTS AMERICANS AT RISK FOR CHINESE SURVEILLANCE

That ability to manipulate U.S. foreign policy and investment without any actual military action on its part will continue to prove a powerful tool for China, she added.

Matt McInnis, senior fellow for the Institute for the Study of War's China program, highlighted the value in controlling Taiwans semiconductor industrial infrastructure, which currently produces 65% of the worlds semiconductors and almost 90% of the advanced chips.

A cargo ship is shown docked at a port in Keelung, Taiwan, on Jan. 7, 2022.

"If China was able to unify forcefully or account for Taiwan  they would gain the commanding heights of the semiconductor business globally and put the U.S. and our allies in a very difficult position to be able to maintain our current economic activity and, in some ways, maybe even our quality of life," McInnis said.

"The global supply chain for semiconductor production is so interdependent among Taiwan, the U.S., South Korea, the Netherlands, Japan and China," he added. "Capturing [Taiwan], which, of course, makes the most advanced semiconductors in the world  would really shift the balance of economic and technological power globally."
BEIJING (Reuters) -The slump in Chinese industrial firms' profits deepened in the first two months of 2023, weighed by lacklustre demand and stubbornly high costs as the world's second-largest economy struggled to fully shake the long-term effects of COVID.

The sharp 22.9% contraction followed a 4.0% fall in industrial profits for the whole of 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday, pointing to a downbeat start to the year for factories at large.

NBS statistician Sun Xiao attributed the decline to still soft demand despite an uptick in industrial output, according to a statement on the bureau's website.

Zhou Maohua, an analyst at China Everbright Bank, said a decline in auto sector profits was a notable drag on manufacturing profits, thanks in large part to a moderation in overall demand, production costs, fading auto subsidies and price wars.

"Currently, international commodity prices remain at high levels and overseas demand is still on a downtrend," Zhou wrote. "Industrial and manufacturing departments still need to offer policy support, alleviating fiscal, cost and financing pressures and stabilizing firm confidence."

Foreign firms posted a 35.7% decline in profits, while private-sector firms saw their profits down 19.9%, according to a breakdown of the 887.21 billion yuan ($128.92 billion) profits.

Profits sank for 28 of 41 major industrial sectors during the period, with the computer, telecommunications and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry reporting the heftiest fall at 77.1%.

The Monday data follows a flurry of economic indicators that show an uneven recovery from a bruising three-year battle against the COVID pandemic.

Factory output growth accelerated to 2.4% in January-February, data showed earlier this month. The reading slightly undershot a 2.6% rise forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.

While retail sales swung back to growth, property investment continued to decline despite robust government support aimed at reviving the ailing housing market.

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Beijing is seeking to get the economy back on a recovery track and set a modest growth target of around 5% for this year at this month's annual parliamentary gathering.

China's central bank this month unexpectedly cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves for the first time this year to help support the economic recovery.

During an executive meeting of the State Council, or the cabinet, China's new premier Li Qiang pledged to push the overall economy to improve persistently while fending off major risks effectively, according to state media.

Industrial profit numbers cover firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan from their main operations.

Combined January and February data are published for most economic indicators to flatten out distortions from the shifting timing of the Lunar New Year.

($1 = 6.8817 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes)
Kaichen Ma became obsessed with a woman after a first date - Durham Police

A student who became obsessed with a Muslim woman after a first date harassed her on 44 different phone numbers and sent a kilo of pork to her house.

Kaichen Ma tried to contact the victim after she repeatedly blocked him, sent prejudicial messages about her Muslim faith and had pork - which is Haram for Muslims - delivered to her university accommodation.

Ma would turn up uninvited to lectures his victim was attending at Durham University, and bought her unwanted gifts addressed to the love of my life including a pandora ring, cards and a plane ticket to visit his family in China.

The victim was left frightened to leave her student accommodation unescorted, suffered mentally and missing two weeks of her studies through fear she may come into contact with the defendant.

Ma, 21, of Tolleshunt Knights in Maldon, Essex, admitted charges of stalking and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Matthew Bean, prosecuting, told Durham Crown Court the pair met at a nightclub on Sept 30 and exchanged contact details, before a date was arranged a few days later.

Having dined at a Turkish restaurant and gone to the cinema, Ma tried to kiss the woman and touch her arm as he was walking her home.

She tried to explain she was not interested and that he was being too forward with her. Mr Bean said despite being repeatedly blocked by her, he would send her further messages using multiple different numbers, and turned up at her lectures, even though he was not on the same course.

He bought a ticket to a winter ball she was attending with friends, approaching her five times that night, despite being told to leave her alone.

Durham University - Kevin George / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Bean said she became exhausted with his persistence and in constant fear. Following his initial arrest on Dec 1, he was bailed on condition that he did not contact or approach the woman. But in December, he sent her further messages asking her to show mercy on him and urging her to drop the police complaint against him.

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He suggested she could join him on a visit to China, booking a flight ticket for her to Beijing. But in other messages, Ma made references to the Armenian genocide, knowing she was Turkish.

Ma also offered to pay her a month of his salary when he was in work, so that the harassment complaint would not be pursued, as well as messaging the victims sister.

Other messages inferred he would commit suicide, and some were of a more sinister nature, saying if she told police about the recent contact, in breach of his bail condition, he, had a way to handle it.

Having missed two weeks of university, when she did return to Durham in January her mother came with her due to the distress it was causing her.

He was arrested again after approaching the woman in the street on Jan 30 and he made no comment in his police interview.

Judge James Adkin said there were disturbing traits over his actions. He said his obsessive, persistent behaviour had a great impact on the victim and continued despite the bail condition not to contact her.

Imposing a 28-month prison sentence, he said Ma would serve half in custody and should then be deported.

He also made Ma subject to a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting or approaching the victim for 15 years.
Entrance to a Chipotle restaurant. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Chipotle Mexican Grill announced Monday that it will pay a $240,000 settlement to ex-employees of one of its Maine restaurants after it closed the location when employees tried to unionize.

The Mexican fast-food chain announced in 2022 that it was permanently shuttering the store in Augusta, Maine, after the employees there filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold union elections. The NLRB said that this closure was illegal, and sued Chipotle.

Following months of negotiations, the Maine AFL-CIO announced the nearly quarter-million-dollar settlement, which also included a number of conditions for the company. This includes posting notices in 40 stores across New England admitting they broke the law, and not continuing with any more union-busting efforts. The store also said any ex-employees would get preferential treatment if they re-applied.

Each ex-employee of the store will receive between $5,800 and more than $21,000 from the settlement, CNN reports, based on pay rates, hours worked, and salaries.

The settlement is "a win for food service workers across the country," Brandi McNease, a former Augusta Chipotle employee, said through the AFL-CIO. It "sends a message to corporations that shutting down a store and blackballing workers didn't work for Chipotle and it won't work for them either."

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press, Chipotle said it had settled the lawsuit "not because we did anything wrong, but because the time, energy, and cost to litigate would have far outweighed the settlement agreement."

Chipotle added that it "respects our employees' rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act" and is "committed to ensuring a fair and just work environment that provides opportunities to all."

There are currently at least 10 other open labor practice cases against Chipotle, AP reports.

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The explosion on Friday afternoon, which also resulted in 10 other people being injured, leveled one building and severely damaged another in West Reading, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia

Photo by Michael Rubinkam/AP/Shutterstock

Authorities are working to determine the cause of an explosion at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory that left seven people dead.

The incident occurred at the historic R.M. Palmer Co. factory just before 5 p.m. on Friday in West Reading, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It leveled one building and damaged another nearby, reported Associated Press.

A medical supply building, a church and an apartment building in the immediate area have also been condemned as a result of the blast, West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said on Twitter late Sunday.

Kaag added that local authorities are now trying to pinpoint the cause of the explosion and how they "can prevent it from happening in the future."

"Tonight, we were able to announce that all seven presumptive missing have been found," Kaag revealed on Twitter about the tragic death toll from the incident. "Please understand that this is still a devastating loss but we are truly grateful to bring closure to the families involved in the upcoming days."

We are still working diligently behind the scenes - please utilize us for resources if you were affected - I truly mean it when I say I am so proud of the community, the county, and I am so honored to be the Mayor of West Reading. pic.twitter.com/kWUCNqUh0a  Mayor Samantha Kaag (@SamanthaKaag) March 27, 2023

Related:Mississippi Couple Took Shelter in a Car Wash During Deadly Tornado: 'Everything was Flying'

Police have not released the identities of the victims, Kaag added. At least 10 others were injured in the explosion, a local hospital confirmed to NBC10 Philadelphia.

Residents described a massive explosion, saying it sent shockwaves throughout the community. "It sounded like a bomb went off," Doug Olexy told NBC10. "I mean, all of our houses shook. I've never heard as loud of an explosion in my life."

Story continues

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Photo by Michael Rubinkam/AP/Shutterstock

Related:At Least 13 Hospitalized, 1 Dead After Factory Explosion in Ohio

On Sunday, the chocolate maker released a statement regarding the tragedy.

"Everyone at RM Palmer is devastated by the tragic events at one of our West Reading facilities and we are focused on supporting our employees and their families," the company said. "We have lost close friends and colleagues, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all who have been impacted."

"We are sincerely grateful for the extraordinary efforts of all of the first responders and for the support of our Reading community, which has been home to our business for more than 70 years," the company added. "We will continue to coordinate closely with local and national agencies to assist in the recovery process."

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Read the original article on People.
Top Senate Democrats are urging President Joe Biden against reinstating a policy that would detain migrant families who cross the U.S. border illegally.

Bidens administration is reportedly considering reviving the much-criticized policy that Biden himself ended when he took office in 2021. It follows other moves by the administration designed to address the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, including barring migrants from applying for asylum in the U.S. if they have traveled through other countries.

Critics of the family detention policy say it would target vulnerable people, including children, and lead to family separations like the thousands of separations that occurred under President Donald Trump.

Under both the Obama and Trump Administrations, family detention had disastrous effects on migrant families and children, without any corresponding improvement in border security or deterrence. We urge you to learn from the mistakes of your predecessors and abandon any plans to implement this failed policy, reads a blistering letter sent to Biden on Monday by 19 Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.).

The letter was signed by top progressives in the chamber as well as several centrist Democrats, including Tim Kaine of Virginia, who faces reelection next year.

Republicans have hammered Biden over the soaring increase of migrant encounters at the border in recent years, accusing him of failing to do his job. His recent moves cracking down on migrants are seen as an effort to blunt GOP attacks ahead of his expected run for reelection in 2024.

In their letter to Biden, the Democratic senators argued that family detention hasnt worked as intended. Citing data from the Department of Homeland Security, they concluded that the policy does not appear to have deterred desperate families from attempting to come to the United States.

We understand that your Administration faces significant challenges  particularly in light of Congressional failure to pass immigration reform  to manage an influx of asylum seekers arriving at our southern border, the senators wrote. However, the recent past has taught us that family detention is both morally reprehensible and ineffective as an immigration management tool. We look forward to working closely with your Administration on more thoughtful and humane responses to such challenges.
Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden share a laugh after Biden's address to Parliament in the House of Commons, on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Friday, March 24, 2023. U.S. envoy David Cohen says Biden's visit was an authentic, intimate showcase of how important Canada continues to be to its southern neighbour. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The federal Liberals aren't the only ones declaring U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Ottawa a triumph for Canada-U.S. relations: Washington's envoy, too, described it Friday as an "overarching success."

Biden got what he wanted on several issues, including a clear timeline on key aspects of upgrading Norad, progress on critical minerals and signs the two countries are ever more aligned on China, said U.S. ambassador David Cohen.

On Norad, "the lingering issue of ongoing discussion  it wasn't a point of contention  was the timing of some of the commitments and what some of the commitments meant in terms of ... dollars," Cohen said.

Those commitments include a $7-billion plan that includes the first of new over-the-horizon radar systems within the next five years, with other upgrades to be completed in time for Canada to welcome its new F-35 fighters.

"For the first time, there is a clear date attached to the operability of at least the first of those (over-the-radar upgrades) being 2028, and that is the year that Norad was looking for."

Canada has also promised other Norad improvements, including a $7.3-billion refit for the system's northern forward operating locations, will be ready for the new fleet of jets which are to be fully operational by 2034.

The conversations about Norad have been going on for years, but were likely helped along by last month's encounter with what turned out to be a Chinese surveillance balloon drifting through North American airspace, Cohen said.

"I think the encounters focused everyone  Canada, the United States and frankly, maybe the rest of the world  on the aggressiveness of China, specifically in the Arctic," he said.

"I think the balloon provided a public sense of urgency that reinforced the need on the part of both Canada and the United States to pay special attention to continental defence."

The two countries also outlined Friday an ambitious vision for a robust and reliable supply chain on critical minerals, which are vital elements for the manufacture of electric vehicles, semiconductors and modern-day weaponry.

During a joint news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, however, Biden raised eyebrows when he seemed to suggest Canada has no ambitions for its critical-minerals wealth beyond extraction and export.

"We don't have the minerals to mine; you can mine them," Biden said. "You don't want to ... turn them into product. We do."

Cohen shrugged that off, chalking it up as an awkward effort to illustrate how compatible the respective strengths of the two economies promise to be.

"I think the point that he was trying to make was that there were tremendous complementary strengths and opportunities in the critical mineral space between Canada and the United States," he said.

"Canada has the critical minerals the United States doesn't have. As a result, Canadian participation in the critical minerals supply chain and value chains is a given."

As proof, Cohen pointed to the agreement announced Friday with IBM to expand a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in Bromont, Que., creating a corridor between Canada and upstate New York that will involve "every element" of the semiconductor supply chain.

One of the most immediate effects of Biden's visit was the overnight closure of the Canada-U.S. border to northbound asylum seekers, the result of a "supplement" to a 2004 migration treaty between the two countries.

Weekend media reports described both a mad scramble by migrants to get into Canada via the busy unofficial crossing at Roxham Road before Friday night's midnight deadline, as well as scores of would-be asylum claimants being turned away in the hours after the new agreement took effect.

It's part of a broader U.S. vision that aims to address the much larger issue of irregular migration across the continent and around the world, Cohen said.

"The work that we've done on the southern border has already had a dramatic impact over the past couple of months, and we're hoping to see a similar impact on the northern border," he said.

"But it's a very difficult issue. It's not as simple as a policy of saying, 'We're going to provide asylum for everyone who seeks it.'"

Cohen said Friday's visit also helped to blunt a U.S. perception that Canada represents a potential weak link in the effort to present a united foreign-policy front to China, a concern he acknowledged during confirmation hearings back in 2021.

But those were more the views of the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who were conducting the hearings than of the Biden administration, said Cohen  and these days, the two countries appear to be working from the same playbook.

"I think the impetus for the questions were  and there's no secret to this  that Canada has traditionally had a slightly more friendly relationship with China than the United States," he said.

That all appeared to change dramatically with China's politically charged detention in 2018 of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were finally freed in September 2021 and were on hand Friday for Biden's speech to Parliament.

"The Canadian perspective with respect to China has evolved, as has the United States," Cohen said.

"It is therefore not surprising that the stated policies of Canada toward China now look an awful lot like the United States' expressed views toward China."

One area where Biden might well have ended his trip to Ottawa disappointed was on Haiti, the impoverished, leaderless Caribbean nation that has devolved into gang violence since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

Canada has committed $100 million in fresh aid to support the Haitian National Police, but has stopped short of committing to any sort of military intervention, insisting the country is in need of homegrown solutions to the crisis.

The U.S. isn't giving up on the idea of a security force, whether or not it involves Canada, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told the CBC in an interview Sunday.

"We still find value in the potential use of some sort of security force in Haiti," Kirby said.

"Whatever comes out of that is going to have to be done in full consultation with the Haitian government as well as the UN, and we just aren't at that point right now."

The U.S. shares Trudeau's concerns about the state of the Haitian police and will continue to do what it can to bolster their capabilities, Kirby added.
A stretch of Atlantic shore on Long Island, where reminders of the Montaukett tribe abound, called Napeague Ocean Beach, a name drawn from a Montaukett word that means overflowed by the Sea, in Amagansett, N.Y., June 20, 2022. (Johnny Milano/The New

MONTAUK, N.Y.  New Yorks Native American tribes fought bitterly with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his efforts to tax their tobacco sales and seize a sizable share of their gambling proceeds, and they blamed him for the deterioration of a stretch of interstate that slices through tribal lands.



So when Cuomo resigned in disgrace in 2021, tribal leaders found reason to hope for more amiable relations with his successor, Kathy Hochul, who was born and raised in western New York, not far from the states largest reservation. A less prickly chief executive held out promise for greater accommodation.



Instead, the tensions between the tribes and the governors office have increased, with Hochul taking a series of actions that have left the tribal and state leaders as far apart as ever.



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While seeking to finance a new stadium for the billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills, Hochul, in her words, started playing hardball with the Seneca Nation by freezing its bank accounts until it handed over more than $500 million in gambling revenues. The tribe contends it never owed the money, although federal courts have backed the states demands.



She also nixed legislation that would have granted long-sought recognition to Long Islands Montaukett tribe, which was declared extinct over a century ago in racist court rulings that remain in force today.



But perhaps no official action by Hochul has angered the states Native Americans more than her veto last year of a bill that would have made it more difficult for developers to build atop the remains of Indigenous peoples ancestors.



Despite its reputation for being progressive, New York is one of just four states that offer no meaningful protections for unmarked graves discovered on private property. Even deep red states like Alabama and Wyoming offer more safeguards for Native American graves than New York does.



The bill that Hochul vetoed, known as the Unmarked Burial Protection Act, would have required builders to halt work after discovering ancient graves and associated artifacts, and to notify the local coroner or medical examiner. They would then call the state archaeologist, direct descendants of the dead and a new burial site review committee, who would help determine what to do next.



Powerful business and real estate interests, who have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hochuls campaigns, raised objections about adding new layers of bureaucracy that could slow development. Aides said campaign contributions played no role in her decision to issue the veto.



Hochul declined to be interviewed for this article. But in a Dec. 30 letter explaining her decision, she echoed some of those concerns, citing the lack of deadlines and saying landowners would be forced to accept decisions that impact their property.



She has promised to keep working with tribal leaders and their advocates to find a compromise. Still, Native American groups from Long Island to Niagara Falls said they felt the veto land like a gut punch.



Now we know clearly how she feels about the Native people in this state, said Chief Harry Wallace, the leader of Long Islands Unkechaug Nation and a driving force behind the unmarked graves protection effort. It turns out that shes just as much in support of the property developers as the previous governor was.



In January the states largest tribe, the Seneca Nation, adopted a resolution describing Hochuls veto of the burial bill as part of an ongoing pattern of disrespect for Indigenous New Yorkers.

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For more than two centuries, our governments, our people and our priorities have been greeted with a deafening silence and contempt from New York governors, said the Seneca president, Rickey L. Armstrong Sr. We see little hope for change based on recent actions.

There Is No Protection

In New York state, developers of privately owned land can build on top of  or even plunder  the ancient graves of Native Americans, enslaved people, Revolutionary War soldiers and European settlers without fear of consequences.

If theyre on your property, they belong to the landowner, said Lisa Anderson, curator of bioarcheology for the New York State Museum. There is no protection. So graves do get disturbed.

For years, one state legislator, Assembly member Steve Englebright, a Democrat from Long Island, tried to change that, filing eight burial protection bills from 2005 to 2021. Most of them died in committee. None ever made it to a vote.

Englebright chalked up the failures to the influence of building interests.

But last year Englebright filed a ninth bill, and, in a legislature that had become more progressive, nothing emerged to stop it. A companion bill introduced in the state Senate passed both houses unanimously, without debate.

The bills time had finally arrived in part because of the philosophical bent of members of the Assembly and the composition of the Senate basically being more tolerant of bills that might push up against traditional industry powerhouses, said Englebright, who lost a bid for reelection not long after the bill passed.

The same month, the Real Estate Board of New York, a group representing an industry that has given millions to Hochuls campaigns, brought its concerns to her, cautioning against the possibility of overregulation, records and interviews show. A memo written by a real estate board member warned that the legislation had the potential to create substantial delays if graves were found on job sites.

Hochuls office also reached out to the Partnership for New York City, whose executive committee members, a whos who of corporate CEOs in Manhattan, have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hochuls campaigns. In response, the partnership sent the governor a copy of the real estate boards memo, the partnerships CEO, Kathy Wylde, said.

Neither organization requested a veto, their representatives said.

Another influential group, the New York State Builders Association, raised its own concerns. The organizations executive vice president, Mike Fazio, said his group told the governors office that it supported the concept but opposed the bill as drafted over worries that it put too many burdens on property owners.

Hochul attempted to forge a compromise, but changes the bills opponents found more palatable  such as setting a timeline for removing or reburying bodies and defining the extent that property owners have a role  were rejected by Englebright, the bill author, and Wallace, the Unkechaug chief.

Hochul vetoed it, although her office has signaled she would sign a bill that sets clearer timelines and builds in protections for property owners.

Two members of the New York State Tribal Courts Committee, a panel that assists in resolving issues between sovereign nations and the courts, are now helping to negotiate a new version of the bill that would balance property rights with protections for human remains. The members, Mark A. Montour of Buffalo and Lizbeth Gonzalez of the Bronx, who both also serve as New York state appellate judges, say a resolution seems imminent.

A spokesperson for Hochuls office, Hazel Crampton-Hays, said the first version of the bill would have taken New York from one outlier position to another  from a state with no protections on private lands to one that could indefinitely hold up building projects if graves were discovered.

Recognition Denied

Hochuls aides say she is anything but hostile to Native American groups in New York state.

They pointed to several pro-Native moves by the governor, including her role in returning land to the Onondagas and plans to appoint a staff member solely dedicated to Native American affairs. And although she vetoed a hunting and fishing bill the tribes had pushed for, Hochul directed her administration to protect the rights of Native Americans whose hunting and fishing are protected by treaty law.

Also under the Hochul administration, the state Department of Environmental Conservation created an Office of Indian Nation Affairs to ensure issues that are important to Native Americans were heard by the agencys leaders.

I can tell you that this governor has been more supportive of our efforts to strengthen our relationship with the nations than any other governor, really any other governors in memory, not just her predecessor, said the commissioner of the Environmental Conservation Department, Basil Seggos.

But another veto by Hochul stirred anger among Native American leaders. This one amounted to a refusal to grant state recognition to the beleaguered Montaukett tribe of Long Island.

The Montauketts  who gave their name to the hamlet on the islands eastern edge  had lived in that area for centuries by the late 1800s, when a businessman, Arthur Benson, snapped up 10,000 acres in and around Montauk with a vision of creating a playground for the rich, connected to New York City by rail.

The tribe held perpetual leases on some of the land, and a decadeslong court battle ensued, culminating in a hearing in which Judge Abel Blackmar of Suffolk County State Supreme Court described the Montauketts as a shiftless people who served whites and mixed with other races, and, with several Montauketts sitting in the courtroom, declared the tribe to be extinct.

A state appeals court later upheld the decision.

State lawmakers in recent years voted four times to grant state recognition to the Montauketts, with Cuomo vetoing three of the bills and Hochul disapproving the fourth last December.

In a letter explaining the decision, Hochul cited a dispute between different groups over which one represented the tribe.

Some state legislators reacted with disappointment.

I was hoping with the new governor that we would get a fresh look, said state Assembly member Fred Thiele, a Long Island Democrat and sponsor of the bill. It certainly doesnt appear that way here.

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Facial recognition firm Clearview has run nearly a million searches for US police, its founder has told the BBC

CEO Hoan Ton-That also revealed Clearview now has 30bn images scraped from platforms such as Facebook, taken without users' permissions.

The company has been repeatedly fined millions of dollars in Europe and Australia for breaches of privacy.

Critics argue that the police's use of Clearview puts everyone into a "perpetual police line-up".

"Whenever they have a photo of a suspect, they will compare it to your face," says Matthew Guariglia from the Electronic Frontier Foundation says. "It's far too invasive."

The figure of a million searches comes from Clearview and has not been confirmed by police. But in a rare admission, Miami Police has confirmed to the BBC it uses this software for every type of crime.

Clearview's system allows a law enforcement customer to upload a photo of a face and find matches in a database of billions of images it has collected.

It then provides links to where matching images appear online. It is considered one of the most powerful and accurate facial recognition companies in the world.

Hoan Ton-That, founder and CEO of Clearview AI, speaking with the BBC

The company is banned from selling its services to most US companies, after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took Clearview AI to court in Illinois for breaking privacy law.

But there is an exemption for police, and Mr Ton-That says his software is used by hundreds of police forces across the US.

Police in the US do not routinely reveal whether they use the software, and it is banned in several US cities including Portland, San Francisco and Seattle.

The use of facial recognition by the police is often sold to the public as only being used for serious or violent crimes.

In a rare interview with law enforcement about the effectiveness of Clearview, Miami Police said they used the software for every type of crime, from murders to shoplifting.

Assistant Chief of Police Armando Aguilar said his team used the system about 450 times a year, and that it had helped solve several murders.

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However, critics say there are almost no laws around the use of facial recognition by police.

Assistant Chief of Miami Police, Armando Aguilar

Mr Aguilar says Miami police treats facial recognition like a tip. "We don't make an arrest because an algorithm tells us to," he says. "We either put that name in a photographic line-up or we go about solving the case through traditional means."

Mistaken identity

There are a handful of documented cases of mistaken identity using facial recognition by the police. However, the lack of data and transparency around police use means the true figure is likely far higher.

Mr Ton-That says he is not aware of any cases of mistaken identity using Clearview. He accepts police have made wrongful arrests using facial recognition technology, but attributes those to "poor policing".

Clearview often points to research that shows it has a near 100% accuracy rate. But these figures are often based on mugshots.

In reality, the accuracy of Clearview depends on the quality of the image that is fed into it - something Mr Ton-That accepts.

Civil rights campaigners want police forces that use Clearview to openly say when it is used - and for its accuracy to be openly tested in court. They want the algorithm scrutinised by independent experts, and are sceptical of the company's claims.

Kaitlin Jackson is a criminal defence lawyer based in New York who campaigns against the police's use of facial recognition.

"I think the truth is that the idea that this is incredibly accurate is wishful thinking," she says. "There is no way to know that when you're using images in the wild like screengrabs from CCTV."

Kaitlin Jackson, a New York defence lawyer

However, Mr Ton-That told the BBC he does not want to testify in court to its accuracy.

"We don't really want to be in court testifying about the accuracy of the algorithm because the investigators, they're using other methods to also verify it," he says.

Mr Ton-That says he has recently given Clearview's system to defence lawyers in specific cases. He believes that both prosecutors and defenders should have the same access to the technology.

Last year, Andrew Conlyn from Fort Myers, Florida, had charges against him dropped after Clearview was used to find a crucial witness.

Mr Conlyn was the passenger in a friend's car in March 2017 when it crashed into palm trees at high speed.

The driver was ejected from the car and killed. A passer-by pulled Mr Conlyn from the wreckage, but left without making a statement.

Although Mr Conlyn said he was the passenger, police suspected he had been driving and he he was charged with vehicular homicide.

His lawyers had an image of the passer-by from police body cam footage. Just before his trial, Mr Ton-That allowed Clearview to be used in the case.

"This AI popped him up in like, three to five seconds," Mr Conlyn's defence lawyer, Christopher O'Brien, told the BBC. "It was phenomenal."

Andrew Conlyn

The witness, Vince Ramirez, made a statement that he had taken Mr Conlyn out of the passenger's seat. Shortly after, the charges were dropped.

But even though there have been cases where Clearview is proven to have worked, some believe it comes at too high a price.

"Clearview is a private company that is making face prints of people based on their photos online without their consent," says Mr Guariglia.

"It's a huge problem for civil liberties and civil rights, and it absolutely needs to be banned."

Viewers in the UK can watch the Our World documentary into Clearview AI on BBC iPlayer
Global warming is changing the way trees grow, new research suggests.

Researchers studying hardwoods in northwest Ohio say a century of warming has extended their annual growing season by a month on average.

The scientists from Ohio State University compared recent observations to detailed notes a local farmer began taking in the 19th Century.

They say the research has implications for how well different types of trees will cope with future climate change.

Between 1883 and 1912, farmer Thomas Mikesell made meticulous notes on local tree growth, precipitation and temperature in his home town of Wauseon, Ohio.

Our planet has warmed by 1.1C since the industrial revolution about 200 years ago. With most of that occurring in recent decades, researchers say Mikesell's observations are a near unique pre-warming dataset to compare with modern times.

Lead author Prof Kellen Calinger-Yoak travelled to Wauseon herself in Spring and Autumn between 2010 and 2014, to monitor seven different species of hardwood.

She said that leaves stayed on trees about 15% longer than they did in Mikesell's day.

"Things are not the way they used to be - they are profoundly different," said Prof Calinger-Yoak. "An entire month of growing season extension is huge when we're talking about a pretty short period of time for those changes to be expressed."

Species responded to warmer temperatures in different ways - most kept their leaf colour longer into Autumn but some budded early.

The implications of the longer growing period are unknown.

Trees are vital in sucking planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and the researchers said a longer growing period probably meant they did more of that. But they warned that higher, fluctuating temperatures may also stress trees in ways so far unknown.

Species reacted differently to higher temperatures. Prof Calinger-Yoak said that suggested more species-specific research was needed with regard to the role of tree-planting in limiting climate change.

"When we're thinking about a relatively low-cost mitigation strategy, planting a whole bunch of trees that suck CO2 out of the air is a really good strategy, but to promote those activities you also have to have evidence of the level of benefit you'd derive from it," she said.
Clippers forward Paul George sprained his right knee in what he called a "freak accident" while jumping for a rebound in a game against Oklahoma City last week. (Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

With two weeks remaining in the NBAs regular season and the Clippers in a fight to clinch a playoff berth, All-Star wing Paul George says he doesnt know his timeline for a return, but Im gonna do whatever I can do to shorten the process of when I can return, he said on his podcast.

George sprained his right knee last Tuesday in what he called a freak accident while jumping for a rebound against Oklahoma Citys Lu Dort, but he did not suffer ligament damage. Surgery is not an option he or the Clippers are currently considering.

The team said he would be reevaluated in two to three weeks. Although the Clippers  and George  took that as a positive diagnosis, one that preserves the possibility of a return this season, within the team there is a belief that a first-round series  which would begin in mid-April  might be too soon.

I dont know when that [return] date is, but the last thing I can do is not be involved with whats going on because who knows how long injuries take, George said on an episode of "Podcast P" that was released Monday morning but was taped late last week. Every time Im injured, Im engaged in practices, engaged at shoot-arounds, Im engaged when we watch film. When Im at games like, Yo, this is what I see, this is how theyre guarding you.

George said he plans to attack rehab like its practice, a saying he credited hearing from Kobe Bryant.

Georges knee bent backward upon landing and, feeling pain he described as throbbing, he initially feared he had suffered a major knee injury that would require long-term recovery.

I like how Lu Dort competes hard. It was honestly just a wild play from his side, George said. I had the ball and he finished like through me. It would have been contact regardless. ... The way he hit me, my knee didn't have a chance to absorb my fall, so my leg kinda just got stuck. So when he hit me, my leg went backward because it's the only way my leg could have went, was backward. Immediately I just dropped the ball and fell to the ground and it was like that pain where you just close your eyes like, Damn.

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 The only thing going through my mind was, 'I hope I didn't tear no major s, I hope I didn't blow anything. I was like, Damn is this it, is this what it feels like when you tear your ACL, when you tear your MCL, is this that injury right here?"

Though one of the podcast co-hosts, Jackie Long, said dirty player in reference to Dort, George said he didnt believe Dort was trying to hurt him.

I don't think what he did was malicious," George said. "He wasnt trying to hurt me. He was just trying to play hard. He can get wild at times, but he's a hard worker, plays hard and was trying to get extra possessions. I don't knock him for competing.

George could not put pressure on his right leg and was helped off the court by members of the Clippers medical staff. By the time hed gotten to the locker room, before an initial evaluation began, some of the pain had subsided and some of his worst fears had, as well.

I felt the pain go down, so I was like, 'Oh, maybe it aint that bad,' he said.

The Clippers are 39-36 and are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of Golden State and one game up on seventh-place Minnesota, and only two games up on 10th-place Oklahoma City. The top six teams in each conference qualify for the first round of the playoffs while the next four teams enter a two-round play-in tournament at the end of the regular season, which is April 9.

The play-in tournament consists of the 7/8 game winner earning the seventh seed while the winner of the 9/10 game plays the 7/8 loser for the eighth seed.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Central Texas residents who spoke with Fox News criticized Elon Musk's reported plans to build a utopia-like town that would provide housing for his Austin-area employees, with two saying it reminded them of ill-fated mining communities.

"That sounds scary, like old mining towns," Roxanne, who moved to Bastrop County four years ago, told Fox News.

WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE

Tasha, also of Bastrop County, agreed.

"We're turning the clocks back and doing like coal miner town situation," the mother told Fox News.

Musk reportedly plans to construct his own town in Bastrop County near two of his companies facilities, SpaceX and the Boring Company, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, citing land records and people familiar with the plan. Musk has reportedly described his vision for the future town, called Snailbrook, as a type of Texas utopia in which his staff could live and work, according to the Journal.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Elon Musk has reportedly purchased thousands of acres of land in Bastrop County, Texas, as part of a plan to incorporate his own town.

Michelle, who moved to the Bastrop area last year, was skeptical.

"Utopia sounds very scary," she told Fox News. "If you  read the books, the utopia is not usually at all what it's presented to be."

ELON MUSK BRINGING TWITTER TO TEXAS? WHAT'S NEXT AS BILLIONAIRE DISSOLVES BOARD

The town will reportedly include a residential site that's already been established next to an under-construction Boring Company facility. A flag spotted Tuesday at the site, which will include modular homes and recreational spaces, read "welcome, snailbrook, tx, est. 2021."

The community will reportedly also welcome Tesla workers, headquartered in nearby Austin, in the hopes of offering them newly constructed homes at below-market rents.

"I hope that the people who live in those houses and in that community do not get stuck in the trap of the things that you saw in those types of planned communities for business," Tasha told Fox News. "Basically, they become your indentured servants because they have no way to have the mobility out of it."

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Elon Musk's Snailbrook residential site, which neighbors a Boring Company facility, is pictured on March 13, 2023, in Bastrop County, Texas.

Erin, who runs a farm overlooking the SpaceX facility that's under construction, said she felt Musk was "destroying" the surrounding pristine countryside to build his ambitious new town.

"Here he is saying that there's gonna be a utopia down the street," she told Fox News. "Well, there already is one."

None of Musk's companies returned a request for comment.

To hear more locals sound off on Musk's reported plan to build a Texas utopia, click here.
Emma Ginsberg. Emma Ginsberg

I took it as a sign when a campus matchmaking service paired me with my already serious boyfriend.

After that, we decided to make a pact that one day we'd get married  then he cheated.

I regret buying into the "we met in college" love story, and I partly blame the matchmaking service.

"Welcome Rookie Romantics," read the first email I ever received from Georgetown University's Marriage Pact in 2021.

At the time, I was a sophomore living with three friends in an apartment in Washington, DC, completing classwork online and casually seeing a boy I had met in my English class. As I read the details of the Marriage Pact, a student-run matchmaking service on campus, I felt excited.

In fall 2021, I participated in the Marriage Pact and was matched with the boy who I was then seriously dating. I took it as a sign that we were meant to be  until I learned he cheated on me with his ex.

The Marriage Pact is a schoolwide, student-run survey

The survey is released once a year at nearly 80 schools across the US, including Georgetown. It consists of 100 or so questions that are supposedly research-backed. An algorithm is then supposed to match you with the person on campus with whom you're most compatible.

But it doesn't end there. Once the survey is complete, and you receive your match's email address, you can meet them and consider making a marriage pact  that is, an agreement that if you're both single at a certain age, you will get married.

When I matched with my boyfriend, many accused us of cheating the system

Before I enrolled at Georgetown, a guide on my campus tour told us, prospective students, a probably bogus statistic: About 60% of Georgetown students marry another Georgetown student. As much as I wish it hadn't, that statistic stuck with me. The Marriage Pact exacerbated the pressure to meet my soulmate while on campus.

That's why I felt so lucky when I was matched with my boyfriend; it felt like a sign that we were meant to be together. It also felt like the plot of a fun teen-romance novel after we met in English class and geeked out over literature.

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I started to think about how great of a love story it would be if I had a collegiate marriage pact with my boyfriend.

When we matched, many of our friends accused us of taking the quiz together. We hadn't, and the match became part of our story as a couple. We ended up making an actual marriage pact after that, and we were even interviewed by the Marriage Pact company.

Less than 2 weeks later, I learned my boyfriend cheated on me with his ex-girlfriend

Within two weeks, I found out he cheated on me with his ex. He came clean about it the day after it happened, but the honesty didn't make it hurt any less. While he was telling me how it wasn't my fault, I was just sitting there, thinking that this was a plot twist I had not been prepared for  and that I needed to get out.

I decided to dump him a few days after that. We had been dating for a year and a half at that point. His actions conveyed that he had always believed there was someone else at Georgetown who was better for him than I was. It made me furious, and it destroyed the Marriage Pact illusion for me once and for all.

I now realize that it was a blessing because I shouldn't have been thinking about marriage while I was a student

Looking back, I realize the Marriage Pact got in my head. That my ex-boyfriend was the person at Georgetown with whom I was most "compatible" shouldn't have warranted a marriage pact between us. We had no business making that agreement at such a young age.

I regret buying into the romantic "we met in college" story, and I think the Marriage Pact is partially to blame.

Now, as a graduating senior, I remind myself that I didn't come to Georgetown to get a "Mrs." degree. I came to Georgetown to learn how to write a much more interesting story.

Editor's note: Marriage Pact did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Do you have a powerful or unique college-life story to share with Insider? Please send details to folito@insider.com.

Read the original article on Insider
By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia risks losing U.S. support in its fight against drug trafficking because of rising coca output and a bill that could allow criminal gangs to surrender and be possibly pardoned, the Andean country's attorney general told Reuters in an interview.

The bill, backed by leftist President Gustavo Petro, is part of the government's efforts to end the role of criminal groups in Colombia's internal conflict, which has run for almost six decades and has killed than more than 450,000 people.

The bill, which is being debated in Congress, would offer reduced sentences to criminal groups if they destroy their networks, recognize their crimes, offer reparations to victims and turn over weapons, assets and information about their activities, according to the government.

"A massive pardon is being presented to people who have committed crimes and would be released from prison without further measures," Attorney General Francisco Barbosa, a strong critic of the proposal, told Reuters in an interview.

The bill would "without doubt" help criminals to break the law, launder their assets and benefit from large-scale drug trafficking, Barbosa said.

The proposal does not include pardons or mass releases from prisons, Justice Minister Nestor Ivan Osuna has told Reuters.

Barbosa said a reduction in operations against criminal groups during Petro's term has impeded the execution of some warrants.

"Colombia is losing its capacity for control," he said. "I cannot, as attorney general, accept that it's understood that here what must be done is to sit down to negotiate surrender laws with drug traffickers."

Barbosa said he is worried the government's decision to reduce manual eradication of coca, the base ingredient of cocaine, and uphold the suspension of aerial spraying of drug crops with the pesticide glyphosate would boost coca output.

According to official U.S. figures, there were 2,340 square kilometers of coca in Colombia in 2021 and potential cocaine output of 972 tonnes. Figures from last year are not available.

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Washington is Colombia's top ally in the fight against drug trafficking and annually provides some $450 million in assistance to the Andean country.

The U.S. grades allies' efforts in counter-narcotics and a de-certification of Colombia could result in a loss of funding.

"There is a risk," said Barbosa about a decertification. "I hope Colombia fights not to become a narco-state. Total peace cannot simply be to empty the jails."

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin, editing by Deepa Babington)
EDISON  Township residents and businesses will have a choice who provides their internet and cable service.

The Township Council voted unanimously on Thursday to allow Comcast Xfinity to wire Edison for the service.

Councilman Joseph Coyle said the agreement with Comcast addresses Edison's most challenging issue for years.

"This is going to bring competition. We should support this, so we don't keep talking about Optimum's problems," Councilman Ajay Patil said before the vote.

Township Law Director Louis Rainone said Comcast will construct its own fiber network. He did not know how long it will take Comcast to wire the town but said he expected the work to begin immediately.

We are continuously looking at opportunities to bring our state-of-the-art products and services to more consumers and businesses where it is geographically and economically feasible to do so, and we look forward to bringing our Xfinity 10G Network to Edison providing residents with access to Comcasts full suite of Xfinity and Comcast Business services," Comcast said in a statement.

More:Kura Sushi in Edison combines revolving dining with prizes, high-tech additions

Under the agreement, Comcast would pay the township an annual fee of 3.5 percent of gross revenues.

Some Edison residents have long complained about the level of internet service provided by Optimum, the only major internet service provider in the township.

When Mayor Sam Joshi ran for office in 2021, he campaigned on the need for faster, reliable and affordable internet service. He announced plans for Comcast to come into town last month during his annual State of the Township address.

Council President John Poyner said it's good to see competition and Comcast's technology installed will be up to date.

Council members have said the internet issues with Optimum involved mostly older lines, while residents with the new fiber optic lines had few complaints.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Comcast Xfinity internet, TV coming to Edison NJ
Jennifer Aniston said she wishes we could laugh more at ourselves, rather than having to police every word in comedies.

"Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved," the "Friends" star, 54, told AFP in Paris, where her new film "Murder Mystery 2" with Adam Sandler, is set.

"Now it's a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life," she said.

In the past, "you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh -- that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were," she said. "And now we're not allowed to do that."

Aniston said the culture had changed dramatically since the days of "Friends" in the 1990s.

"There's a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of 'Friends' and find them offensive.

"There were things that were never intentional and others... well, we should have thought it through -- but I don't think there was a sensitivity like there is now."

These issues are perhaps the reason why Hollywood is turning out far fewer comedies in recent years, which Aniston said was a tragedy.

"Everybody needs funny! The world needs humour! We can't take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided," she said.

For co-star Sandler, the other big change has been the budgets, with comedies now expected to look as good as expensive blockbusters and dramas.

"You know what else has changed about comedies? The look," Sandler joked, pointing to his clothes.

"Remember when we used to make comedies? They would give you a budget, not too much money, and say: 'Do whatever you can with that.'

"And now they want us to look pretty awesome. We work harder on that," he said with a laugh.

"Murder Mystery 2" follows the hit Netflix film from 2019 in which Sandler's detective and his wife become embroiled in a whodunnit on holiday.

The sequel, streaming from Friday, sees the duo travel to Paris after a wealthy friend is kidnapped.

jz/er/fg
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has awarded the Golden Cross to Ruslan Zubariev, a senior soldier [equivalent to the rank of corporal  ed.] in the 92nd Ivan Sirko Separate Mechanised Brigade, and presented him with a weapon as an award.

Source: Zaluzhnyi on Telegram; Zubariev on Telegram

Quote from Zaluzhnyi: "I had the honour to decorate Ruslan Zubariev, a senior soldier in the 92nd Ivan Sirko Separate Mechanised Brigade, with the Golden Cross honorary badge and present him with a well-deserved honorary weapon.

Ruslan repelled an attack by superior enemy forces and showed valour and courage in battle."

Details: Zubariev uses the alias Predator.

He took part in a battle against Russian troops near Svatove, Luhansk Oblast, on 16 February 2023. Zubariev filmed a video and posted it on his Telegram channel, PREDATOR.

The footage shows the 21-year-old soldier destroying a Russian BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) and killing several invaders in 30 minutes of combat. Predator uses various weapons [an RPG-7 grenade launcher, machine gun and assault rifle] and throws grenades at the Russian troops from his foxhole.

Predator said the Russian group consisted of 11 soldiers and reinforcements could have joined them, as the Russian positions were 70 metres away.

A Ukrainian mortar crew and an IFV arrived to assist the Ukrainian defenders. The Ukrainian forces held their position and forced the Russian troops to retreat.

The soldier's military partner sustained a concussion during the combat, but still supported Predator with ammunition throughout the battle.

Later, Zubariev described the battle in detail.

Quote from Zubariev: "The day was as ordinary as could be. My partner and I took up our duty, stood guard for an hour and a half, and there was literally half an hour left before we'd be coming off duty and getting some rest, but we heard the sounds of a [moving] BMP-2. Thinking it was somewhere far away, I decided to get the anti-tank weapons ready, and about 10 seconds later, we got a call on the radio warning us that the same BMP-2 was moving in our direction.

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We didn't really understand what they were saying on the radio as the Russians were using jamming equipment, and when we were told again that vehicles were moving towards us, they were like 5 metres away, and then the events youve all seen on the video began.

Eventually, we repelled the attack, and those who managed to survive ran away. The rest of them are still lying there.

My comrade is fine. He was concussed at the time, but he could still help me; he gave me everything I asked for, listened and followed my orders, for which I am very grateful."

Details: Zubariev says Zaluzhnyi awarded him an M4 assault rifle. Previously, Predator had a customised AK-47 assault rifle. He said he had wanted to purchase an assault rifle, but the law forbids citizens to do so until the age of 25. Zubariev is 21.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!












Photo: The Canadian Press Odelia Quewezance speaks to media outside the Court of Kings Bench in Yorkton, Sask.

UPDATE: 9:35 a.m.

A Saskatchewan judge has granted bail to two sisters who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions.

Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 stabbing death of 70-year-old Saskatchewan farmer Anthony Dolff near Kamsack.

Defence lawyers asked for the Indigenous sisters to get a conditional release while their case is undergoing a federal conviction review.

The federal Justice Department started the review last year, saying there may be a reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice.

The Crown prosecutor argued that even if there were issues with the police investigation, there was still enough evidence to show the sisters were involved in the killing.

James Lockyer, the sisters lawyer, has said the women are victims of racism in the justice system and false confessions.

ORIGINAL: 6:35 a.m.

A Saskatchewan judge is set to deliver his decision on whether to give bail to two sisters who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions.

Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 stabbing death of 70-year-old Saskatchewan farmer Anthony Dolff near Kamsack.

Defence lawyers have asked for the Indigenous sisters to get a conditional release while their case is undergoing a federal conviction review.

The federal Justice Department started the review last year, saying there may be a reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice.

The Crown prosecutor argued that even if there were issues with the police investigation, there was still enough evidence to show the sisters were involved in the killing.

James Lockyer, the sisters lawyer, has said the women are victims of racism in the justice system and false confessions.

Lockyer told a bail hearing in January that the sisters encountered a police station full of white men after their arrest. He said they were held in the station for days despite court orders to have them moved and their statements were never recorded.

Crown prosecutor Kelly Kaip said it has also been a difficult 30 years for the farmers family, who also attended the sisters bail hearing. Kaip said Dolff was beaten before he was stabbed.

I don't want us to forget how much this haunts his loved ones," she said.

The sisters from the Keeseekoose First Nation have always maintained their innocence. Another person, who was a youth at the time, confessed to the killing.

Odelia Quewezance was 20 years old and her sister was 18 when they were arrested. Both sisters attended residential schools.

If released, Odelia Quewezance would live with her partner of 26 years and their children in a small Saskatchewan community, court heard. Nerissa wants to stay with Kim Beaudin, national vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, in his Saskatoon home.

Justice Donald Layh of the Court of King's Bench in Yorkton, Sask., had asked for more information on what conditions the sisters would have if they were released on bail before he reserved his decision.
The commander of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation, Rustam Muradov, is being accused of inept leadership of military operations in Ukraine, which led to heavy losses for the Russian military.

Source: Russian media outlet Vazhnye istorii

Details: The publication's sources close to the General Staff of the Russian Federation claim that Muradov is rightly accused of ineptly leading the hostilities in Ukraine. In particular, the unsuccessful offensive in February near the town of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, with heavy losses of people and equipment, could be a decisive reason for the suspension.

According to the source, near Vuhledar, "people were killed for nothing" because the operation was poorly planned  there was neither thorough reconnaissance nor proper artillery training, it was not possible to suppress Ukrainian firing points, and as a result there were significant losses that could have been avoided.

Background:

On 7 October 2022, a new commander of the Eastern Military District was appointed in Russia. It was Rustam Muradov, who previously commanded Russian troops in the occupied Donbas.

In early March, the NYT reported that Russia had lost a major tank battle for Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, ambushed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Social media regulation is where freedom and the nation collide. (Micah Fluellen / Los Angeles Times; Getty Images)

It's a strange premise to ask if America is a freer place with TikTok or without it, but social media these days is where personal satisfaction and the national interest most weirdly collide.

On Thursday, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee put on a bipartisan showboating for Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew during his contentious testimony over the app's corporate ties to China, among other issues. At stake is the company's continued access to its estimated 150 million monthly American users, whose data U.S. officials are concerned could be obtained by Chinese Communist Party officials. (ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government, Chew told Congress.)

Many of those American users were unimpressed with their leaders' performance, which included puzzling questioning about whether TikTok connects to your home WiFi network. "If you've ever watched a congressional hearing before, they're less about answers and more about grandstanding and making soundbites for the media in hopes that congressional members will get lots of post-game screen time," said one TikTok user, @photogsteve81, in a post commenting on footage of the testimony in a post with the hashtags #keeptiktokalive and #savetiktok.

A little cynicism is in order. America's vaunted social media companies, despite almost all the incumbent advantages they could muster, got out-competed by a Chinese upstart that put out a better product. (If the masses really wanted to spend our lives on Instagram Reels, we would have done it already.) In a battle of the free market and the free world, American social media users voted with their eyeballs. "What TikTok figured out in a way the other platforms haven't is you can actually motivate the user with mostly positive content and experiences without having to try to trigger them into rage and division, like we see on apps like Twitter or Facebook," @photogsteve81 said.

This is also the kind of thing that advertisers love to hear; Nike doesn't especially want to sell shoe ads next to your manifesto about storming the U.S. Capitol. Many TikTok users are indifferent to whether a foreign government knows their feelings about Maine Coon cats.

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But defenses of TikTok and other social media platforms also deserve scrutiny, on far more than mere national security grounds.

Like many Americans, I'm a regular TikTok user who can make 45 minutes of my life disappear at a moment's notice by guzzling any video the app chooses to serve me about cats, birds, politics, history, books and (I guess I'm learning something about myself) video games and military life. I've bought new albums because of songs I've heard on TikTok; there are comedy bits I now treat as mental lore. It's one of the rare slices of the internet where the comments section is often the most rewarding part of the overall experience. In these small ways, the app has transformed my life. The app's effect is undoubtedly far greater for many other users who have found genuine community on the service. This is what would be lost if TikTok were to be banned.

Yet we have to be realistic about the fact that TikTok is perhaps the most temperamental form of media yet created  where users have some of the least control over what we encounter  and that we swim through this vast wasteland of ephemera, like on every other social media platform, for the ultimate purpose of being shown as many ads as possible. Do we fully understand the affects on our attention span, our psychological health, our body image, our children? If the answer is no (and the answer is no), it seems prudent to be patient with even clumsy attempts to interrogate the radical commercial experiment in which we've all been participating, which touches not just every corner of our personal lives but every layer of our society.

For instance: How many American TikTok users even view Congress as a legitimate institution to regulate their private social media usage? If you want to take the long view, any TikTok-using adult who has survived the last two decades of American life has lived in a world where our relationships with knowledge, culture and politics have been decreasingly mediated by the boring, out of touch, corrupt, gate-keeping mainstream institutions like newspapers, churches, unions, clubs and political parties that used to rationally order, organize and channel the public's wandering spirits.

Although social anomie preceded social media, one of the great and probably unwitting original insights of Facebook when it first introduced the News Feed in 2006 was that the experience of being a free and free-thinking person in this country often felt like getting sandpaper dragged across your skin. After all  since we are reasonable people who can think for ourselves  why should we listen to the New York Times when its coverage got the 2003 Iraq invasion so wrong? Why should we keep going to Mass when the Catholic Church covered up priest abuse? Why should we trust politicians who seem bought and sold by the 1%? And why should we trust an institution that has shown even a whiff of contempt for our race, gender identity or political orientation?

It seems reasonable and even rational to complain under such circumstances, to build our evidence and make our cases against the people in charge, to reorganize ourselves into more neatly curated and less geographically dependent social formations. Despite extensive propaganda, platforms like Twitter didn't end up giving us direct democracy. But we did get a lot of direct action. Through cunning of the democratic spirit, it's now impossible to imagine going back to a world where the authority figures do all the talking. Social media feels like freedom, while it feels like our non-TikTok-loving elected representatives are just harshing our vibe over one of the few places where the vibes feel pretty good.

But we have to do better than feelings and definitions of freedom that consist of getting blindly pushed around by the environments that corporations built solely to profit from our impulses. A lot of online conversations actually don't seem to encourage the kind of thoughtful or empathetic exchange many of us would probably prefer. We really should support having accountable, representative institutions that fight for our interests but that nonetheless dispassionately seek truth with some insulation from distraction, emotion and fad. Sorry if it sounds boring, but we need spaces that support patience, self-detachment, dialogue and the long view. Across the world, authoritarian governments and leaders have long been happy to harness the atomized passions of social media to bypass and undercut the newspapers, churches, unions and political parties that historically keep them in check. It's possible for a platform to give the sensation of freedom while depriving us of its substance.

"Modern technology has created something of a monster, a communications system which bypasses the once-authoritative institutions that used to structure democratic discourse and provide citizens with a common base of factual knowledge over which they could deliberate," political philosopher Francis Fukuyama wrote in 2021 in the Journal of Democracy. "The private companies that are responsible for this outcome are now among the largest in the world. They possess not only enormous wealth which they can use to protect their interests, but also something of a chokehold over the communications channels that facilitate democratic politics." Fukuyama wasn't even talking about TikTok. He was talking about American companies like Google, Meta and Twitter.

The strength of civil society is in its close-to-the-ground pluralism, in its fine solidarity between the public and the private, where big meets little and the individual meets the many. After Facebook and Twitter executives banned then-President Trump for undermining the peaceful transfer of power in the U.S. in 2021, their hyper-concentrated power and centralized decision-making structures raised the awkward question of who elected them to maintain the American public square and safeguard the preconditions of the republic. That sort of thing is supposed to be everybody's job. To paraphrase Hegel, democracy isn't supposed to have heroes because heroes appear only in its absence. Social media CEOs shouldn't be heroes.

So unless you're really happy about how long you can go without looking at your phone, and feel satisfied that all this connectivity is the same thing as connection, and feel like you're in control, there's no such thing as a social media giant America should love.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript March 23, 2023

Operator: Hello and welcome everyone to the Second Quarter Fiscal 2023 Earnings Call for Commercial Metals Company. Today's materials, including the press release and supplemental slides that accompany this call, can be found on CMC's Investor Relations website. Today's call is being recorded. And after the company's prepared remarks, we will have a question-and-answer session and we'll have instructions at that time. I would like to remind all participants that during the course of this conference call, the company will make statements that provide information other than historical information and will include expectations regarding economic conditions, effects of legislation, U.S. steel import levels, U.S. construction activity, demand for finished steel products, the expected capabilities, benefits and time line for construction of new facilities, the company's future operations, the timeline for execution of the company's growth plan, the company's future results of operations, financial measures and capital spending.

These and other similar statements are considered forward-looking and may involve certain assumptions and speculation and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations. These statements reflect the company's beliefs based on current conditions, but are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including those that are described in the Risk Factors and forward-looking statements section of the company's latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's latest annual report on Form 10-K. Although these statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs, CMC offers no assurance that these expectations or beliefs will prove to be correct and actual results may vary materially.

All statements are made only as of this date. Except as required by law, CMC does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements in connection with future events, changes in assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, new information or circumstances or otherwise. Some numbers presented will be non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations for such numbers can be found in the company's earnings release, supplemental slide presentation, or on the company's website. Unless stated otherwise, all references made to year or quarter end are references to the company's fiscal year or fiscal quarter. And now for opening remarks and introductions, I will turn the call over to the Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Metals Company.

Ms. Barbara Smith.

Barbara Smith: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining CMC's second quarter earnings conference call. Before moving to our quarterly update, I would like to congratulate our current Director, Peter Matt, who has accepted the role of President of Commercial Metals Company. Peter has been an invaluable and insightful member of CMC's Board since June 2020. He is a seasoned executive well known in this industry with a strong reputation among many of you in the investment community who have interacted with him over the past six years, while he served as Chief Financial Officer of Constellium, the European based aluminum producer. I have every confidence Peter will make meaningful contributions to CMC's continued growth and shareholder value.

I would also like to welcome our new CMC employees at Tendon Systems and Roane Metals Group. You have joined at an exciting time for our company and I'm confident that your contributions together with those of your talented colleagues will make CMC's future even brighter. Both of these tuck in acquisitions align with our vertical integration strategy and our construction solutions capabilities. As we reported in our press release issued this morning, fiscal 2023s second quarter marked another period of historically strong performance. I'd like to thank CMC's approximately 12,500 employees for their commitment to safety and excellence in everything we set out to accomplish. Before diving into more details on the quarter, I would like to direct listeners to the supplemental slides that accompany this call.

The presentation can be found on CMC's Investor Relations website. As I noted, CMC's second quarter fiscal 2023 earnings were among the strongest in our company's 108 year history. We recorded net earnings of $179.8 million or $1.51 per diluted share on net sales of $2 billion. Excluding the impact of non-operational items, which Paul will discuss in more detail, adjusted earnings were $171.3 million or $1.44 per diluted share. CMC generated core EBITDA for the quarter of $302.8 million, a modest decrease of $20.3 million from a year ago, producing an annualized return on invested capital of 14%. I would now like to discuss current market conditions in both North America and Europe and provide our view on several powerful emerging structural trends that we believe will provide a positive backdrop for demand in our future order books.

Turning first to North America, we expect a strong spring and summer construction season. This view is supported by both CMC's internal indicators and the key external measures we track. The value in our downstream backlog ended the second quarter at a record level for this time of year and was up roughly 20% from a year ago. Volume in our backlog also increased on a year-over-year basis. Conversations with customers indicate that other fabricators are similarly situated with healthy backlogs they expect to ship over the coming construction season. CMC's downstream bidding activity, which provides our best view of developments within the future project pipeline also remains robust, increasing more than 30% on a year-over-year basis during the quarter.

Projects in the pipeline continue to represent a healthy blend of both private and public work. And activity is good across our geographies. Our near term view is echoed by external indicators that have been historically reliable. First is the Dodge Momentum Index, which tracks projects entering the planning phase and generally leads on the ground activity by nine to 12 months. The February reading increased by 43% from a year ago, reaching its third highest level on record. Both the commercial and institutional components were likewise strong, growing by 55% and 22%, respectively. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association last month released its tally of new highway contract awards, which increased 24% in calendar 2022. The total value of all state and local transportation construction awards increased by 25% the largest annual growth in the 25 years that the association has been tracking this data.

Projects such as these tend to be multi-year in nature, meaning, that awards in 2022 should translate into construction activity in 2023, 2024 and beyond. So to sum up, we continue to monitor a range of indicators such as inflation, interest rates and unemployment, which are fueling recessionary concerns. However, on balance, we continue to see good current activity and positive future signals in our key market segments. Taking a longer view, for several quarters now, I have discussed powerful structural trends that we see developing in our nation's economy generally and in CMC's construction markets more specifically. Slide 7 of the supplemental slide deck illustrates the magnitude of the programs and projects that are intended to revitalize America's transportation infrastructure, harden U.S. manufacturing supply chains, redirect our nation's energy trade and make our electrical grid greener.

Each of these areas involve significant multiyear investment that we expect will drive significant demand for our broad range of construction solutions products and services. Looking first at Infrastructure. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law in late 2021 substantially increase the amount of federal funding available to states and local governments to support highway construction. At the average run rate over the five year program, we estimate that federal funding will increase by 65% compared to the FAST Act and create 1.5 million tons of incremental rebar demand. There are signs this work is moving through the pipeline and should show up in bid markets during calendar 2023. One such sign is the Dodge Analytics Infrastructure Design-Phase Index, which increased by 400% on a year-over-year basis in the three months ended in February.

Beyond the federal level, state transportation budgets are well funded and growing. CMC's three largest states by steel volumes have drafted or approved multiyear highway construction budgets that on a combined basis represents an increase of 24% compared to the average levels of the past year. The combination of increased federal funding and rising state budgets should support a strong highway market for several years to come. Transportation infrastructure is also the most rebar intensive segment of the construction market. As an example, a dollar invested in highway work consumed 5 times to 6 times more rebar than traditional residential or non-residential structures. We also continue to see positive developments in the area of supply chain hardening and reshoring of critical manufacturing capability.

Thus last month, another semiconductor plant was announced in Utah, bringing the total number of planned facilities to 12 and planned investment across the industry to $287 billion. All of these facilities include multiple phases, are massive in size and consume large amounts of rebar. They also require extreme structural rigidity and extensive site logistics development, which makes them attractive targets for our Tensar product line. The current investment phase will take several years to complete, providing a prolonged source of demand for CMC's products and services. Significant investments are also planned for electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, with at least 20 facilities in some phase of planning or construction at a capital cost exceeding $60 billion.

Semiconductor and electric vehicle plants are the highest profile examples of supply chain hardening, but other industries are also experiencing increased activity or project planning. These include LNG facilities for the export of natural gas, as well as chemical and plastic plants. Last three years have exposed the vulnerabilities of a concentrated global supply chain. The pandemic and geopolitical turmoil have reminded us of the need for a more distributed set of sourcing options, ensuring reliability and flexibility in securing critical materials and equipment. The leadership of America's manufacturing companies agree. The survey conducted by Deloitte in late 2022 indicated that 68% expect to reshore a meaningful portion of their operations within the next several years.

Turning now to Europe. Current market conditions there are more difficult to assess and the near term outlook is less certain. Despite that, overall construction activity continued to grow on a year-over-year basis during the second quarter. However, residential activity which has been strong for more than a year is now showing signs of a slowdown due to the impact of rising mortgage interest rates as new mortgage origination contracted sharply on a year-over-year basis. To counteract this development, the government of Poland has advanced a plan to support first time homebuyers by offsetting much of the increased mortgage interest costs. The plan as drafted is expected to provide significant support to the residential construction market and has reached the final stages of approval.

As of today, the legislation is not yet law, but the outlook is promising. Industrial activity in Central Europe continues to be impacted by the ongoing energy concerns and weak economic sentiment. However, energy costs across the continent have moderated considerably from the peak levels, which should lead to a rebound in manufacturing activity. Our team in Poland has been able to maintain strong volumes despite this challenging backdrop by leveraging their operational flexibility. In fact, our shipments of finished goods during the second quarter were 33% above the long term average and down only 3% from a year ago. Looking ahead, we believe that lower European energy prices and the potential stimulate of Polish home buying will provide support to our key end markets.

We believe our strong competitive position, encompassing both costs and operational flexibility will allow us to maintain volumes above historical levels. Additionally, our natural gas contract pricing resets in early April, which should meaningfully benefit our cost of production. While on the topic of Europe, I would like to provide a few comments on the post-earthquake situation in Turkey. Thousands of lives lost and the millions of people displaced by the earthquake that occurred in early February is a great humanitarian crisis. Turkey's government is moving quickly to implement a large reconstruction effort, which will likely have impacts on global steel markets. Turkey is both the world's largest importer of scrap and exporter of rebar and plays a significant role in U.S. and European markets.

Current reconstruction plan would require approximately 5.5 million to 6 million short tons of steel. Depending on the time period over which this is consumed, the rebuilding plan could have a material effect on scrap or rebar pricing or both. I would now like to turn to the commissioning efforts of our Arizona 2 project. Project is on track for a start-up later this spring. We will begin cold commissioning both the melt shop and rolling mill shortly before moving into the hot commissioning phase. We expect to begin producing rebar for sale during our fourth fiscal quarter. Once AZ2 is fully operational, CMC will have one of the most advanced steelmaking complexes anywhere in the world. Not only will we achieve another industry first by producing merchant bar on a micro mill, but we will also have co located two of our micro-mills in a unique configuration.

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Pavel L Photo and Video/Shutterstock.com

We expect this arrangement of the two steel plants will provide meaningful operational efficiencies, including shared staff support, production optimization, improved production scheduling and shared site infrastructure. We are excited to begin production at this world class mill, which has been three years in the making. I would like to recognize CNC's highly skilled team of engineers, project managers and support staff for making it possible through your tireless efforts. Progress at Steel West Virginia, our latest major growth investment remains on (ph). We have applied for our air permit and expect to receive approval in the coming months. This timeline for permit approval has been made possible due to the support and cooperation of West Virginia's regulatory authorities.

Once approval is received, we will move forward with site preparation later this year. With that as an overview, I'll now turn the discussion to Paul Lawrence, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer to provide some more comments on the results for the quarter.

Paul Lawrence: Thank you, Barbara, and good morning to everyone on the call today. As Barbara noted, we reported fiscal second quarter 2023 net earnings of $179.8 million or $1.51 per diluted share compared to prior year levels of $383.3 million and $3.12, respectively. Results this quarter include a net after tax benefit of $8.5 million. This benefit included the settlement of an incentive related to previous capital investment at CMC Steel Oklahoma micro mill, partially offset by costs associated with ongoing commission defining efforts at AZ2. Excluding the impact of the second quarter items, adjusted earnings were $171.3 million or $1.44 per diluted share in comparison to adjusted earnings of $187.4 million or $1.53 per diluted share during the prior year period.

Core EBITDA was $302.8 million for the second quarter of 2023, representing a modest decline from the $323.1 million generated during the prior year period. Slide 12 of the supplemental presentation illustrates the year-to-year changes in CMC's quarterly results. Our North American segment achieved earnings growth, while Europe experienced a pullback. Consolidated core EBITDA per ton of finished steel was up $215 per ton remained well above the historical average and compared to $226 per ton a year ago. CMC's North American segment generated adjusted EBITDA of $299.3 million for the quarter equal to $308 per ton of finished steel shipped. Segment adjusted EBITDA improved 14% on a year-over-year basis excluding the large gain related to a land sale that was recognized in last year's second quarter.

The result was driven by higher margins on downstream and steel products over their underlying scrap costs. Downstream products were a particularly impactful contributor on a year-over-year basis as average selling prices improved by approximately $250 per ton compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2022. Though higher than a year ago, second quarter results were negatively impacted by a handful of factors that are worth calling out. First, we encountered several instances of disruptive weather within our core geographies. Freezing rain in Texas and Oklahoma, as well as extensive flooding in California have constrained second quarter volumes by a low to mid-single digit percentage when compared to a year-over-year level. Secondly, as we previously discussed we performed a major equipment upgrade at our largest U.S. steel mill during January and February, which had the effect of increasing controllable costs by roughly $15 million during the quarter.

As planned, we pre staged inventory to ensure our ability to meet customer expectations during this down period. Both capital and operating costs were in line with expectations. Finally, selling prices for steel products from our mills decreased by $56 per ton on a year-over-year basis and $35 per ton from the prior quarter. Margin over scrap on steel products increased by $34 per ton from a year ago. In comparison to our first quarter, metal margins decreased by $56 per ton. As you are aware, in early March, there have been several price increase announcements of $50 per ton across most long steel products. We are hopeful that these pricing adjustments will stabilize margins at historically strong levels heading into our busiest season. Turning to Slide 14 of the supplemental deck.

Our Europe segment generated adjusted EBITDA of $12.9 million for the second quarter of 2023 compared to $81.1 million in the prior year period. Decline was primarily driven by lower margin over scrap, higher costs for energy and a modest reduction in shipment volume. Our energy procurement remains competitively positioned relative to the broader European industry. However, higher contractual pricing for natural gas that has been in effect since October has increased our cost of production. As Barbara mentioned, pricing will again reset in April, which should lower our costs and benefit profitability. Europe volume decreased 3% compared to the prior year with higher rebar shipments offsetting much of the weakness in industrial steel, such as merchant bar and some wire rod grades.

CMC's volume significantly outperformed the broader Polish and European steel sector as we were once again able to leverage our operational flexibility to address the best opportunities in the marketplace. Demand conditions within Central Europe are challenging. The Polish construction market continued to grow by low single digit percentages, while industrial production has contracted for nearly three quarters. We believe CMC is well positioned for this current period of volatility in Europe. We are a low cost industry leader with operational flexibility to adjust to and serve changing market conditions. Tensar generated EBITDA of $8.9 million during the second quarter, which is generally its seasonally slowest period. EBITDA performance yielded a margin of 17.3%.

Margins were temporarily impacted by several weather related projects, as well as production issues in our Georgia facility. As a reminder, Tensar performance is included within CMC's existing segments. Of the $8.9 million in EBITDA, $7.4 million was included within CMC's North American segment, while the remaining $1.5 million was reported within the Europe segment. Turning to the balance sheet, liquidity and capital allocation. As of February 28, cash and cash equivalents totaled $604 million. In addition to cash and cash equivalents, we had approximately $895 million in availability under our credit term loan and accounts receivable facilities, bringing total liquidity to approximately $1.5 billion This liquidity provides us flexibility to address our upcoming maturity of our 2023 bonds.

During the quarter, we generated $186.5 million of cash from operating activities, with working capital being a negative factor. Our free cash amounted to $30.3 million defined as our cash from operations less $156 million of capital expenditures. Our leverage metrics remain attractive and have improved significantly over the last several fiscal years. As can be seen on Slide 18, our net debt to EBITDA ratio now sits at 0.5 times. We believe our robust balance sheet and overall financial strength provide us the flexibility to finance our strategic growth projects and pursue opportunists M&A, while continuing to return cash to shareholders. CMC's effective tax rate was 23.6% in the second quarter. Looking ahead to fiscal 2023, we currently expect the full year effective tax rate to be between 23% and 25%.

Turning to CMC's fiscal 2023 capital spend outlook, we expect to invest between $550 million and $600 million in total. Outside of normal sustaining investments, expenditures in fiscal 2023 are directed towards finalizing the construction in Arizona 2, funding major upgrade projects at two U.S. steel mills as well as initial investments related to Steel West Virginia. CMC continues to deploy capital to support our growth plan and reinforce our metallic sourcing strategy. In early March, we acquired Roane Metals Group in Tennessee. The transaction is intended to enhance the security of competitively priced inputs for our steelmaking operations in the state. We made two acquisitions during the first quarter with similar strategic intent. And earlier this week, CMC announced the acquisition of Tendon Systems, a leading producer of post tensioning solutions in the Southeast United States.

Transaction extends our existing capabilities in this product space. And enhances the breadth of offering we can provide to the market. Lastly, CMC purchased 330,000 shares during the fiscal second quarter at an average price of $52.04 per share. Transactions since the initiation of the buyback through Q2 have amounted to approximately $228 million leaving $122 million remaining under the authorized program. This concludes my remarks and I'll turn it back to Barbara for comments on the outlook.

Barbara Smith: Thank you, Paul. For the reasons I've mentioned, we are confident in our ability to deliver strong financial performance in the second half of fiscal 2023 and expect to generate sequential improvement in core EBITDA during the third quarter. The signals we watch most closely, including our downstream backlog, bidding activity, customer conversations and external indicators, all point to a generally positive outlook and row robust upcoming construction season in North America. Due to normal seasonality, finished steel product shipments are expected to increase from second quarter levels in both North America and Europe with the added benefit in North America of recovering some weather delayed volume. The recent price increases across our long steel products in North America are expected to stabilize metal margins.

However, costs in North America will also be impacted by a planned upgrade similar in scale to the outage taken during the second quarter. The outlook for metal margin in Europe is a bit more uncertain. However, our cost of production there should decrease from the second quarter as the price of natural gas purchases is reduced. We are excited to soon begin production at Arizona 2 and look forward to providing you with an update during our next earnings call along with an update on our fourth micro mill project in West Virginia. This world class operation is ramping up at just the right time as CMC will be able to better capitalize on the multiyear strength we see in our construction markets. Once again, I'd like to thank our customers for their trust and confidence in CMC, as well as all of our CMC employees for delivering yet another quarter of outstanding performance.

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There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Aroa Biosurgery (ASX:ARX) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). The first step is to compare its cash burn with its cash reserves, to give us its 'cash runway'.

See our latest analysis for Aroa Biosurgery

When Might Aroa Biosurgery Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. As at September 2022, Aroa Biosurgery had cash of NZ$50m and no debt. Looking at the last year, the company burnt through NZ$15m. Therefore, from September 2022 it had 3.2 years of cash runway. Notably, however, analysts think that Aroa Biosurgery will break even (at a free cash flow level) before then. In that case, it may never reach the end of its cash runway. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Well Is Aroa Biosurgery Growing?

At first glance it's a bit worrying to see that Aroa Biosurgery actually boosted its cash burn by 43%, year on year. Having said that, it's revenue is up a very solid 65% in the last year, so there's plenty of reason to believe in the growth story. The company needs to keep up that growth, if it is to really please shareholders. On balance, we'd say the company is improving over time. Clearly, however, the crucial factor is whether the company will grow its business going forward. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

Can Aroa Biosurgery Raise More Cash Easily?

While Aroa Biosurgery seems to be in a decent position, we reckon it is still worth thinking about how easily it could raise more cash, if that proved desirable. Companies can raise capital through either debt or equity. Commonly, a business will sell new shares in itself to raise cash and drive growth. By comparing a company's annual cash burn to its total market capitalisation, we can estimate roughly how many shares it would have to issue in order to run the company for another year (at the same burn rate).

Since it has a market capitalisation of NZ$379m, Aroa Biosurgery's NZ$15m in cash burn equates to about 4.1% of its market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

So, Should We Worry About Aroa Biosurgery's Cash Burn?

It may already be apparent to you that we're relatively comfortable with the way Aroa Biosurgery is burning through its cash. In particular, we think its revenue growth stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Although its increasing cash burn does give us reason for pause, the other metrics we discussed in this article form a positive picture overall. One real positive is that analysts are forecasting that the company will reach breakeven. Taking all the factors in this report into account, we're not at all worried about its cash burn, as the business appears well capitalized to spend as needs be. While it's important to consider hard data like the metrics discussed above, many investors would also be interested to note that Aroa Biosurgery insiders have been trading shares in the company. Click here to find out if they have been buying or selling.

Of course Aroa Biosurgery may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks that insiders are buying.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Thomas McKay, from administrator Begbies Traynor, said the Covid pandemic had caused the furniture sector to suffer

More than 100 workers have lost their jobs after a furniture business went into administration.

The administrator for Kettle Interiors UK Ltd, in Corby, Northamptonshire, cited "economic challenges" including increasing freight costs.

There were 126 people employed at its Macadam Road trading address - all of whom have been made redundant.

The family-run business sold furniture under a number a brands to UK and European retailers.

Thomas McKay, from administrator Begbies Traynor, said: "Due to the economic challenges facing the furniture sector, particularly the significant increase in freight costs since Covid in the last two or three years, Kettle Interiors has reluctantly been placed into administration.

"All staff have unfortunately had to be made redundant for reasons of insolvency, and we are currently working with PACE and local government departments to ensure all staff receive support and their full entitlements at this difficult time."

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk
Ryan Connor reckons with the after effects of the acid attack on Coronation Street. (ITV)

Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) became the victim of a horrifying acid attack in tonights devastating episode of Coronation Street.

The ITV soap previously announced that Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) would have acid thrown at her by her stalker, Justin Rutherford (Andrew Still), on her wedding day. But Ryan stepped between them and took the full force of the attack.

In powerful scenes, traumatised Daisy sprung into action to help Ryan, before ensuring that Justin was captured by the police for his hateful crime.

Read more: Coronation Street confirms acid attack as Charlotte Jordan reveals Daisy's horror

Meanwhile, Ryan's ex-girlfriend, Alya Nazir (Sair Khan), frantically rushed to the hospital in the aftermath of his ordeal. Ryan had been on the verge of leaving Weatherfield behind, but now his life has been turned upside down.

Stalker Justin's violent attack led to his arrest in Coronation Street. (ITV)

Coronation Street has been working with Acid Survivors Trust International (A.S.T.I) and The Katie Piper Foundation. Speaking for the first time about his shocking storyline, actor Ryan Prescott explains whats going through his characters mind. By this point, hes starting to see that his life is never going to be the same again.

Hes kind of trying to reach out and clutch onto whatever he can within his life, mainly the relationships within his life, that will allow him to kind of deny this reality. One of them being Alya - his relationship with Alya; [and] this newfound possibility with this new love interest Crystal, of him wanting to go and live the life he always wanted in Ibiza and continue with his DJ career.

As he sees these things kind of slipping away, he naturally tries to reach out and try and grab hold of them in desperation.

"But I think he knows, as soon as something like this happens  there are stages of acceptance and denial, but slowly, bit by bit, he starts to understand the gravity of his wounds and whats happened.

Alya was devastated to learn what had happened to Ryan. (ITV)

Discussing how Ryan's situation will affect him in the long-term, he adds: Its going to change his life forever, because it changes the way he interacts with the world. The difficulty within the parameters of soap is to show some kind of reality of the longevity of what it means to be an acid attack survivor; in this case, because the restoration period and recovery period is so long - if not lifelong. Its psychotherapy and physiotherapy for many years, if not for the rest of your life; PTSD and trauma therapy.

Story continues

Read more: Coronation Street spoilers: Acid attack in the Rovers, Amy reports rapist Aaron

Prescott has researched the experiences of real-life survivors, and he talks us through the journey that lies ahead: One of the things they teach in the therapy session is to deal with people looking at you in the street.

"Theres a whole phase of just trying to accept how people will react differently to you; and your face is the first thing that you look at in the mirror when you wake up, its your first means of communication and its the thing you most readily identify with yourself.

Ryan was preparing for a new life before he got roped into the wedding plans. (ITV)

When that changes, everything changes. I think that despite the massive shift that the incident causes, I think [Ryan] is determined to not let the experience define who he is, and he wants to try and somehow find his way back to that infectious spirit that he once had. But its a long road.

The actor is full of praise for the team behind the scenes at Coronation Street as he describes filming the harrowing scenes. The scripts were written by Ian Kershaw. Ians a fantastic writer, hes one of my favourites, he really is. He manages to draw a lot of reality into scenes, and still leave room for the actor to find the subtext.

So its not all black and white, theres a lot of room for creative license, and I think he naturally writes like that. The scripts were great, they were amazing; which is a godsend for a block like this - something so sensitive.

Andrew Still plays Justin Rutherford in Coronation Street. (ITV)

Our director, Mike Lacey, in the same respect, kind of creates a working environment where you feel comfortable, yet free enough, to explore what we like to call the wiggle room. The wiggle room is kind of like the in between the lines of what you can find creatively.

"I think thats where the best work comes to fruition, from that; through the collaboration of letting it evolve from the writers desk, to the editors, to when the director first sees it, then onto the floor when youre blocking through the scenes and then when youre actually shooting.

Read more: Coronation Street: Paul to receive Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis

To portray Ryans injuries on-screen, the show turned to one of the most well-known professionals in the industry - and Prescott was in awe of his work. A man called Davy Jones, a master of prosthetics, made [the mould for Ryans facial injuries]. We went to his workshop in the Wirral. Lovely guy, incredible guy.

We went into his workshop to have a mould set, and create a cast of my face, and then basically create pieces that would be layered, in order to create the types of scarring. There are different stages of the scarring, and the wounds as well, so weve had to focus on what stages come in when, and skin grafts and things like that. So there are a lot of things in play to kind of consider.

Ryan's life has changed forever. (ITV)

His workshop was something out of this world, he just had people on shelves, that looked so realistic - it was kind of chilling! But hes an incredibly talented guy. The colouration that will be done, has to be done by hand every time I come in.

"Theres about 15 people within the makeup team that will have to get used to putting it on, [and] the team, theyve just been incredible. Its about an hour in the chair, and an hour to get [the mould] off, and weve been cutting those times down, theyre getting faster. The hardest thing to do is match it with continuity.

Asked about the moment he found out about Ryans traumatic storyline, the star reveals the news came at the most unexpected time. Iain [MacLeod, Corries executive producer] first called me when I was on holiday. I was sitting on a sun bed by the pool in Crete. I didnt really know what to expect. He said there was going to be something big in the pipeline for Ryan.

(ITV)

Viewers will recall that Prescott previously played a strong supporting role in Yasmeen Nazir's (Shelley King) coercive control ordeal at the hands of her abusive husband. But the actor notes that his alter ego is best known for his more lighthearted scenes, so he's ready for the challenge ahead.

I had no idea that it would be something that gritty, because Ryan usually slides into the more humorous elements of the show. So to have something that serious, I was just excited to be honest. It kind of woke me up from being subdued, watching the ocean.

It left me full of excitement, and [its] something gritty to get into for Ryan; so I was excited to kind of explore different things for him. Its something of real substance, so as an actor you can kind of get stuck in a little bit more.

Coronation Street has worked with Acid Survivors Trust International (A.S.T.I) and The Katie Piper Foundation on the acid attack storyline, and help and support can be found via their websites.

Viewers who identify with Daisys story can contact the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300 or visit the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for help and support. You can also visit Safeguarding Hub for advice.

Watch Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod discuss the importance of covering the acid attack storyline
Dennis Jackson has been in the business since 1961

A chip shop owner is shutting for good after he first opened in a town more than 60 years ago.

Dennis Jackson, a staple part of the community in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, since 1961, said the cost-of-living crisis was partly to blame.

The 84-year-old will hang up his apron on 8 April and said it would be an emotional day.

"I'll have more than a lump in my throat I imagine," he said.

Jackson's Chippie, known locally as Jackos, first appeared in Market Street before moving to its current location, further down the same road, in 1982.

After leaving the air force, Mr Jackson said he had been "short of a job" until a friend of his dad's said he could work peeling potatoes in a chip shop.

Mr Jackson said rising food and energy costs played a big part in his decision to close up after more than 60 years

After crafting the art of peeling spuds, Mr Jackson learned how to fry fish.

"After a day, he said I was a born natural.

"It just seemed to suit me and I got all my money together, sold my scooter and bought my own place," he said.

Mr Jackson said his decision to close was age-related and financial.

Chip shops have been particularly hit, due to the cost of sunflower oil and energy.

"Fish and chips should be the cheapest meal out, but it's a struggle for a lot of people," he said.

"My fish costs went up double in 2022. I've been quoted for my gas and it's quadrupled. It's another 300 to find.

"Anybody can stand here and give the stuff away, but you still need to make a bit of profit at the end of the day."

Mr Jackson said he would feel emotional on his last day

Mr Jackson said he would feel emotional when he tips the last batch of chips into the fryer.

"But the time's right and you've got to have a bit of life afterwards," he said.

"I got through my 60s like a piece of cake, I sailed through my 70s quite all right but when I hit 80, I went a bit achy.

"Nobody in my family lived until they were 90 - I intend to break that record.

"What I'd like to say to the town is thanks for having me.

"My customers are the best in the world."

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.
Millions of Britons are being urged to be wary of scams. (Getty Images)

Millions of people in the UK have been warned to look out for scams as the dates for the latest cost of living payments were announced.

More than eight million households will receive a 301 payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this spring, the government announced on Monday.

It is the first of three payments, which will total up to 900, for those eligible and on means-tested benefits such as universal credit or pension credit.

Read more: Cost of living payment - how to find out if you're eligible

The first payment will be made between 25 April and 17 May.

It follows the 650 cost of living payment made to more than eight million people last year.

There will also be further payments worth 150 for eligible people with disabilities and 300 for pensioners due later this year, meaning some people will receive up to 1,350.

But Britons are being warned to be wary of scammers exploiting the cost of living payment to fleece people out of their money.

Cost of living scams

Last summer, Citizens Advice said more than 40 million people had been targeted by scammers as the cost of living crisis gripped the UK. Three quarters of adults were targeted, a 14% increase on the previous year.

Watch: Chancellor fixes energy price guarantee at 2,500 for three months

Citizens Advice said the most common scams were deliveries, postal or courier services (55%), someone pretending to be from the government or HMRC (41%), a scammer offering a fake investment or "get rich quick" scheme (29%), followed by rebates and refunds, banking scams, online shopping, health or medical scams and energy scams.

In January, the DWP used a social media campaign to warn people eligible for cost of living payments to watch out for scammers.

It told those who are eligible: "You do not need to apply for the payment. You do not need to call us. Payment to you is automatic. We will never ask for personal details by SMS or email.

How do you check if its a scam?

Campaigners have warned that scammers may use cost of living payments as a fresh opportunity to try and trick people into handing over their banking details or money, by purporting to represent government organisations.

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However, the 301 payment will be sent out automatically and directly to recipients  meaning those eligible do not need to apply or do anything to receive it.

The payment reference for bank accounts will be DWP COLP, along with the claimants national insurance number.

The latest warning

On Monday, consumer site Money Saving Expert - founded by broadcaster Martin Lewis - issued advice to people to look out for scams.

It said: "Payments will be automatic and you don't need to apply  beware scammers saying otherwise. If you qualify for these cost of living payments, you don't need to apply.

"You'll be paid automatically in the same way you usually get your benefits or tax credits. Watch out for texts or emails inviting you to claim or apply for the payment  they're scams."

People protesting against the high cost of living during strike action in London earlier this month. (Getty Images)

In its advice about the cost of living payment, the DWP says: "If you have had a message asking you to apply or contact someone about the payment, this might be a scam."

The department also said: "Do not give out private information (such as bank details or passwords), reply to text messages, download attachments or click on any links in emails if youre not sure theyre genuine."

Cost of living: What payments are available and how do you claim?

Citizens Advice said people should be wary of being asked to transfer money quickly or in an unusual way, or if they have been asked to give out personal information such as passwords and PIN numbers.

It warned consumers not to click on or download anything they don't trust, for example, if something is sent to them from a strange email address.

What should you do if you have been scammed?

DWP advice says if you are in England or Wales and you think you have been a victim of an online scam or fraud you should contact Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime.

Those in Scotland who have lost money because of an online scam or fraud should report the crime to Police Scotland.

Watch: Bank of England boss says inflation 'far too high'
Call them granny flats, granny units, in-law suites, casitas or garden cottages, but city planners call them accessory dwelling units  ADUs  and they could be coming to Oklahoma City. Legitimately, not just grandfathered in like your grandfather's garage apartment or backyard guest house.

ADUs are being considered as part of an overall overhaul of the OKC zoning and planning code, which now does not allow more than one dwelling per lot on most property zoned for residential use, except in older neighborhoods with recognized nonconforming structures that predate the city's code ordinance.

City planners are working to build on and implement the city's comprehensive guiding planning document, planokc, authorized in 2015. Community meetings and surveys the past few years yielded information and public opinion that are guiding the development of a new code to eventually be presented to the city council, said Lisa Chronister, assistant director of the OKC Planning Department.

An urban lot with two residences, a single-family home shown in back, and an ADU, accessory dwelling unit, in foreground.

In the meantime, planners are at work distilling broad ideas into specifics for a new code with new zoning districts based on land use typology areas, or LUTAs. Among many other changes, the code rewrite considers allowing for accessory dwelling units.

"We are still in the 'development phase' of the project, which includes presenting to various stakeholder groups," Chronister said. "It will be some time before the proposed new code is presented to Planning Commission or City Council. We have yet to present any detailed development standards for ADUs to any stakeholders but we are working on them."

Since ADUs would be new to OKC, here's an introduction.

What you need to know:Insights Realtors see in the OKC-area housing market right now

What is an ADU? A few different structures qualify as accessory dwelling units

The pandemic has pushed the demand for Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, like this one in Palo Alto, California, designed by Maydan Architects. They fill an increased need for affordable housing or a separate home office. Fortunately, more city and state regulations are allowing them.

An ADU is a secondary housing unit, not a specific kind of structure, according to BuildinganADU.com, a clearinghouse for all things ADU by builder Kol Peterson in Portland, Oregon, a leading city in ADU development. They be attached or detached from the main house. OKC planners are looking into both, Chronister said.

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Types of ADUs include:

Detached accessory dwelling units , sometimes called DADUs.

Garage conversion ADUs.

ADUs above a garage or workshop .

Addition ADUs, or "bump-outs" built onto an existing home.

Basement conversion ADUs.

Internal ADUs, where part of the primary house has been converted.

SMARTS:Jasco Products delivers smart home devices from a smart warehouse in Oklahoma City

What defines an in-law suite or ADU?

An urban lot with two residences, a single-family home shown at left, and an ADU, accessory dwelling unit, at right, over a garage.

"While their structural forms vary, ADUs share some common traits and face common design and development challenges," BuildinganADU.com says. "For one thing, the fact that theyre secondary housing units on single-family residentially zoned lots places ADUs into a unique category of housing. And ADUs also have some other distinguishing characteristics that help further define, differentiate, and distinguish them from other housing types."

According to BuildinganADU.com:

ADUs are accessory and adjacent to a primary housing unit.

ADUs are significantly smaller than the average U.S. house.

ADUs tend to be one of two units owned by one owner on a single-family residential lot .

ADUs tend to be primarily developed asynchronously from the primary house by homeowner developers.

A large range of municipal land use and zoning regulations differentiate ADU types and styles , and dramatically affect their allowed uses.

Vast numbers of informal ADUs exist compared to permitted ADUs.

OPPORTUNITY:What do OKC, Tulsa housing markets offer 'mortgage-ready' Latinos? Opportunity, study says

What are some city planning challenges to allowing ADUs?

Daniel Harrison and Erica Craycraft-Bartlett with OKC's Freese and Nichols, an urban planning and design consultancy, outlined basic questions in a presentation on alternative housing types to the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Planning Association:

 Defining ADUs: Is it attached to the main dwelling or detached? Does it have a kitchen? Occupancy: Can only family members live there? Can it be rented? Use: Is it still a single-family use? Can it be used for a home occupation? Dimensional standards: Is there a minimum size? Is there a maximum size or percentage of main building?

Who wants accessory dwelling units, ADUs, in Oklahoma City?

An ADU, accessory dwelling unit in back of a single-family home.

Researchers found "majority support among renters citywide but not majority support from owners" for ADUs, according to a 2021 Housing Affordability Study conducted for the city by Economic & Planning Systems Inc. Chronister said the biggest support is from people in the central part of the city.

An advisory group of housing industry representatives, private and public stakeholders, members of the community, and affordable housing advocates recommended exploring ADUs, with nearly 70% of the group in favor of using incentives for their development.

The advisory group also encouraged city planners to:

"Examine the market potential for ADUs among the growing population of young professionals who may be interested in living in more urban settings."

"Establish ADUs in appropriate context ."

" Remove minimum square footage for new developments  for land and dwelling units."

"Eliminate single-family zoning."

Can you afford to rent an apartment in downtown OKC? Here's the top 10 most, least expensive

What renters and homeowners think the city of OKC should do about ADUs and other housing issues

The study revealed residents' views on ADUs, housing diversity, improving housing quality, and other issues, and broke down findings by renter versus owner sentiments.

Acceptability of ADUs. "There is majority support among renters citywide, but not majority support from owners."

Comfort with Same Style Housing in Neighborhood. "There is more agreement from owners, but no clear statement of support either way."

Comfort with Gradual Changes in Housing Type Diversity. "As with the acceptability of ADUs, there is also majority support among renters, but less support among owners."

City Involvement in Remedying Housing Quality Problems. "Here there is a clear mandate from both renters and owners that the City should be involved in addressing quality problems."

City Ensuring Adequate Supply of Affordable and Safe Housing. "Here also is a clear mandate of support from renters and owners."

Market Will Take Care of Itself. "Nearly two-thirds of renters and just over half of owner believe that the market will not take care of itself."

SIGN UP:Weekly e-newsletter, Real Estate With Richard Mize

Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: In-law suites, accessory dwelling units, could come to OKC in code overhaul
Bipartisan support to ban TikTok in the U.S is mounting, but carrying out the action will likely be trickier than gaining the political power to enact it.

Any action the U.S. takes to try to block TikTok, the video sharing app owned by Chinese-based parent company ByteDance, will still have loopholes for users to access through workarounds and is almost certain to be challenged by free speech groups.

Its an enforcement nightmare, because any point of intervention that the government claims would have broader sweeping implications for other capacities for government intervention, which has free speech and free trade implications, said Aram Sinnreich, a communications professor at American University.

The internet infrastructure by design is distributed and decentralized, meaning there is no single choke point and makes this type of ban difficult to enforce, Sinnreich said.

A TikTok ban would have loopholes

(AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

The U.S. could require internet service providers to block American IP addresses associated with TikTok or push app stores to block downloading TikTok.

For new users, it would be easier to implement if downloads are blocked from dominant app stores. For the millions of TikTok users who already have the app downloaded, its more complicated.

Its not clear how they keep people from using an app that they already have on their phone, said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Even if the government carries out those actions, users can still find workarounds to access TikTok as they do in other countries such as China that limit access to certain social media platforms.

You can never really ban anything completely. Even China, which has a very sophisticated network for enforcing bans, people use virtual private networks to get around them. So no ban is ever going to be complete, West said.

Sinnreich said the situation, though, would exacerbate the divide between the haves and the have nots.

What would end up happening, just as it has more authoritarian regimes, is that the people with the education and the means would have access to the app, and the people without wouldnt, he said.

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TikTok faces building bipartisan scrutiny

TikTok CEO Shou Chew returns from break during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Thursday, March 23, 2023 to discuss privacy concerns and safeguarding children on TikTok.

The political momentum to ban TikTok has been building for months, and a threat from the Biden administration for ByteDance to divest TikTok coupled with a bipartisan grilling of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in the House last week, is seemingly raising the odds of Congress pursuing action that could ban TikTok.

The pressure is building as the app is under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), ordered by President Biden in June 2021.

Many lawmakers say TikTok poses national security threats due to its Chinese-based parent company owner. Critics argue that TikTok would be beholden to share data on U.S. users with the Chinese government, and that the Chinese government could use that data in a way that poses national security threats or spread propaganda to U.S. users.

TikTok has pushed back strongly against the allegations. In a statement after the hearing, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said Shou came prepared to answer questions from Congress, but, unfortunately, the day was dominated by political grandstanding that failed to acknowledge the real solutions already underway through Project Texas.

Project Texas is TikToks plan to store U.S. user data through Austin-based company Oracle.

Oberwetter said the House panel also did not address the First Amendment implications of banning a platform loved by 150 million Americans.

Banning TikTok raises free speech concerns

Supporters of TikTok hold signs during a rally to defend the app, Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington. The House holds a hearing Thursday, with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about the platforms consumer privacy and data security practices and impact on kids.

Free speech advocacy groups are already warning Congress against a ban. More than a dozen joined forces last week in a letter to Congress urging them against taking such action, and saying it would have serious ramifications for free speech expression.

The U.S. has taken action before to shut down certain apps and websites that are credibly accused of being used for human trafficking or rampant intellectual property infringement, Sinnreich said. But a ban on TikTok would represent a new level of government intervention into Americans online speech, if it were enforced in the same way, he said.

Sinnreich said a ban on TikTok would be an opportunistic, performative policy that preys on the worst of Americans xenophobia and nativism and would scapegoat one country and one company for the very grave sins that have are overwhelmingly perpetrated by American companies.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), posted her first TikTok video on Saturday arguing against a ban on the app for those very reasons.

The outspoken Democrat said a TikTok ban doesnt really address the core of the issue over data harvesting because of other social media companies that collect droves of deeply personal data.

So to me, the solution here is not to ban an individual company  but to actually protect Americans from this kind of egregious data harvesting that companies can do without your significant ability to say no, she said.

West said it also raises questions about where the U.S. draws the line on other Chinese-based companies, and companies with ties to production in China.

If one is serious about the national security threats, you cant just focus on one company and claim success. They really need to have a much more serious conversation about all the Chinese companies and how they want to handle them, West said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo: The Canadian Press Firefighters attend the scene of a house explosion that injured several people, destroyed one home and damaged others in Calgary, Alta., Monday, March 27, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

UPDATE 5:15 p.m.

At least 10 people were seriously injured Monday after an explosion destroyed one home, damaged several others and left part of the roof from the house that blew up in a yard across the street.

The fire department said the force of the explosion in northeastern Calgary created "a large debris field" and several fires. A tangle of what appeared to be charred beams, pink insulation and splintered wood could be seen where the house once stood.

Homes on either side were charred and one had a shattered window. A tree in front had a piece of plywood and other debris stuck in it.

Many of the injured were believed to have been inside the single-family home when it blew up and were sent to various hospitals in the city, the department said.

"Fire crews have been unable to access the source home at this time to search for any more patients due to structural instability," it said in a news release.

Battalion Chief Paul Frederick said late Monday afternoon that crews were still on scene putting out hot spots but hadn't yet been able to search the basement.

"We believe everyone is accounted for," he said.

Adam Loria, a spokesman for Calgary Emergency Medical Services, said the injured people sent to hospital are all adults.

He said six were in life-threatening condition and four received serious injuries.

"It was quite the group effort, not only with EMS, to ensure all patients were cared for and transported in a timely fashion, but as well with our first responder partners Calgary police and Calgary fire," Loria said.

Several neighbours also ran out to help before emergency crews arrived.

"Once the fire department got here, they cleared it out," said Lee McIntyre, who ran outside with his roommate as soon as they heard the explosion.

"A lot of the neighbours were out here trying to help out as much as they can, bringing water, bringing blankets and everything else trying to help everyone out."

McIntyre said his roommate and a couple others helped the people who lived in the house that exploded, while he tried to get to the woman who lived right next door.

"I was in my housecoat trying to kick in the door next door to get the lady out," he said.

The fire department, he said, ended up getting her out through a window. He didn't know whether she was injured, but he said many people in the main house were badly burned.

"The one guy was really bad," said McIntyre. "A lot of them had burns on their faces and their arms."

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she was among those who helped.

"We heard the explosion," she said. "I poked my head out to make sure they were OK, so I put some shoes on and ran out. It's kind of a blur, but there was already one or two people helping pull some people out of the basement.

"It was just a mess and there was fire coming out."

The woman said she took care of a man who couldn't make it past the middle of the road in front of the house.

"He was very badly injured," she said.

"His arms, his hands, his feet and leg  everything, everything was peeling off."

Ryan Richardson said his parents, Brian and Judy, brought five men who escaped out the back of the house into their garage across the back alley.

"They were the first people to attend to them, basically," he said. "They were worried about putting things on them because of how badly they were burned."

Other neighbours said they and their families felt the explosion as far as a few blocks away.

Bobbie Puttick, who lives eight houses down from the explosion, said it happened after he left for work, but his children were home at the time.

"They felt the house rock and they came out and took a video right away," he said.

"It's nuts to see the house gone. And to see the roof on the other across the street in the neighbour's yard."

The video shows his children running down the street, which is covered in broken trees and pieces of lumber.

"I think a house just blew up," one of them can be heard saying as they run.

As they get closer, the shaky video shows the house in flames.

Lorna Lammers said she heard the explosion from three blocks away.

"I was sitting at my kitchen table and I heard 'kaboom' and I thought something like a vehicle or something had run into my house or my garage," she said.

Lammers said she and her neighbours headed outside to see what had happened and she saw black smoke billowing into the sky. She said there was a lot of debris, including a mattress on the roof of a house.

Lammers said she had previously spoken to some men who lived in the home while walking her dog.

Power to the area was out for about eight hours and crews worked to clamp the natural gas line.

The fire battalion chief said investigators were still working Monday to determine the cause of the explosion, but he noted some neighbours reported smelling gas in the area.

ORIGINAL 11:15 a.m.

Fire officials say at least 10 people have been injured after an explosion destroyed a home in Calgary.

They say the force of the explosion created a large debris field, several fires and damage to surrounding houses in a northeastern neighbourhood.

Officials say the 10 injured were believed to have been inside the home when it blew up.

Crews have been unable to search the site and look for other victims due to structural problems.

Power to the area has been shut down and workers are trying to clamp the natural gas line.

Fire and police are on scene trying to determine the cause of the blast.
Cassie Lopez via KY Fun Mall

Cocaine Bear is having an incredibly busy year, which is surprising considering nearly four decades ago he died from ingesting too much cocaine that fell from the sky.

The stuffed black bear, who has been on display at the Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington since 2015, recently had his tragic death dramatized in a movie directed by Elizabeth Banks and was spoofed at the Oscars. Now, with his new fame, the bear has taken to officiating a wedding, his first, on Monday afternoon.

Flanked by flowers perched on makeshift Greek columns, with a large movie poster advertising Cocaine Bear on its left, the bear swapped his cowboy hat for a top hat to preside over the wedding of Armando Elizondo and Alexandra Venturino, a Pikeville couple.

Kentucky law requires marriages to be presided over by a human, and the couple was later lawfully wedded by Griffin VanMeter, the co-owner of the store, the store's spokesperson, Anne Livengood, said.

"Just to make sure it's actually binding," Livengood told BuzzFeed News.

Cassie Lopez via KY Fun Mall

Owners of the Kentucky Fun Mall claim that the bear in their shop is indeed the taxidermied body of the black bear in Georgia that overdosed on cocaine that had been flung out of a plane by a convicted drug smuggler in the '80s. Former agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who were involved in the case, however, have said the bear's decomposing corpse was found months after its estimated death.

"Our bear could not have been taxidermy," retired GBI agent Fran Wiley told Vanity Fair.

Still, the stuffed bear in Kentucky has claimed the legacy of Cocaine Bear.

The bear's potential as a wedding officiant was first floated publicly by VanMeter in an interview with Roadside America. Since then, Livengood said multiple people have asked the store about getting married by the bear, but only Elizondo and Venturino were serious from the get-go. The store did not charge the couple money for the ceremony, but Livengood said they might institute a wedding fee down the line.

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"It's fun for us to do it," Livengood said. "It's just a great thing to add to Cocaine Bear's resume."

More famous in death than in life, the local Kentucky-area legend became even more popular after Banks's movie hit theaters in February. In the film, Cocaine Bear is portrayed as a ferocious coke fiend who mauls humans and goes to great and violent lengths to get its fix.

The real story is far less vicious. In December 1985, the bear's 175-pound body was simply found in the woods among packages of cocaine that were ripped open, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at the time.

Universal Pictures

While the bear is now a popular attraction for locals and tourists in light of the movie's release, Livengood said Cocaine Bear's fame long preceded the film.

"That Cocaine Bear had grown so much in popularity is why a movie came out about it  not so much the other way around," she said.

More on this

UPDATE

Mar. 28, 2023, at 15:30 PM
Police arrested an Indianapolis man accused of using donations from his nonprofit to pay for sex acts and solicit a minor, according to court documents.

Tyree Coleman, 43, is the founder of Refuge Place Indy, which uses donations to assist homeless people in Indianapolis, according to court records. He is commonly known as Elder Coleman. Court records also connected him to Seven Pillars Faith Ministry/Refuge, but police said they could find no physical location for the organization.

Coleman is facing charges of rape, promotion of child sex trafficking, promotion of human sex trafficking and two counts of intimidation.

Plot thickens: Oatmeal murder case appeal points to new suspect, explores 'gap in evidence'

Coleman met the man he is accused of raping through his organization assisting homeless people, according to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest.

An attorney for Coleman was not yet listed in online court records. The phone number for his organization went straight to voicemail when IndyStar reached out for comment Monday.

Prayers and offers of clothing, shoes

Police began investigating Coleman in June 2022. Two teenage boys, ages 16 and 17, told police they were near Watkins Park when they saw Coleman and a group of men grilling and listening to music under a shelter.

The group waved the teens over. Coleman told the teens he was the elder of a local ministry, asked if they could pray together and said he wanted to buy them clothes and shoes, the teens told police.

After praying, Coleman and the teens exchanged phone numbers. Coleman later texted the 17-year-old boy and sent him money for new shoes. Then Coleman began occasionally praying with the teen on FaceTime.

While on a call, Coleman told the teen he was a registered sex offender, but God changed his ways, according to the affidavit. He also informed the teen of his sexual preferences then offered to buy the teen church clothes if they could meet at the mall.

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The 17-year-old declined to meet with Coleman, who also offered up to $1,000 for sex. The teen blocked Coleman's number and stopped interacting with him, police said.

More:Amanda Blackburn shooter has other murder case in crime spree dismissed, witness missing

The Department of Child Services interviewed Coleman while investigating. Coleman told the DCS worker he did nothing wrong and never made any propositions to the teenagers for anything sexual.

About one week after police spoke with the 17-year-old, Coleman was arrested on a charge of failure to register as a sex or violent offender. He was released from jail three days later on July 1, 2022.

A search warrant was granted for Colemans phones. Several messages showed Coleman offering unidentified men money for sexual intercourse or nude photos and videos, according to the affidavit.

Second accusation made against Elder Coleman

As the investigation continued, police received another complaint against Coleman. A man told police he became homeless in Indianapolis after arriving on a Greyhound bus in December.

The man was stranded without an ID after the bus left him behind, without his belongings, when he got off to use the bathroom. The man was traveling to northern Indiana from Missouri and no family members could pick him up in Indianapolis.

The man met Coleman while seeking food and clothes from church groups that assist homeless people downtown.

Coleman encouraged the man to get baptized and later told the man he could stay at his home and use it as transitional housing, according to the affidavit. Coleman took the man to buy new shoes and while in the store asked him about his sexual preferences.

After about a week and a half of living at the home, Coleman offered the man a phone and his own bedroom then asked for sexual favors, the man told police.

Coleman paid the man using donations people gave to the church.

After being raped while staying at the house the man was left with physical and emotional trauma, according to the affidavit. He did not initially call police because he had nowhere else to stay except Colemans house, he told investigators.

Coleman was arrested on the new charges Friday. He was previously convicted of criminal deviate conduct and sexual misconduct with a minor in 2008. He was sentenced to 10 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with five years of a suspended sentence, court records show.

Coleman often in the spotlight

WTHR reported Coleman was an assistant pastor and assaulted a 15-year-old boy following a church-sponsored event in the sex crime he was convicted of in 2008.

In the past few years, Colemans organization has been featured in local media with Coleman or his volunteers asking the public for donations.

In November, FOX59 reported the organization was providing about 150 homeless people with food at its events and was going to be giving out supplies for the winter.

In May, IndyStar interviewed Coleman for a profile about a woman killed in a downtown stabbing who he assisted through his organization.

While the organization often does outreach to people in need, there is no record of a partnership or award of funding between the city and Refuge Place Indy, according to the Office of Public Health and Safety.

Anyone with information on human trafficking activities can contact the IMPD human trafficking unit at at 317-327-1270.

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Police: Tyree Coleman took money from nonprofit to solicit teen
Editor's note: For the latest news on the Nashville school shooting, follow our coverage from Tuesday, March 28 here.

Clarification: This article was updated. Police initially misgendered the shooter, who they later said identified as a transgender man.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  The shooter who killed six people, including three children, at a Nashville elementary school Monday had detailed maps of the facility, considered another target and left behind writings that may shed light on a motive, authorities said.

The attacker, identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, was a former student at The Covenant School who broke in Monday morning by shooting the glass from a door. The intruder gunned down three young students and three staff members before being confronted and killed by police, Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said.

In surveillance footage released by Nashville police late Monday, Hale is seen driving to the school to carry out the shooting.

Armed with two AR-style weapons  one a rifle, the other a pistol  along with a handgun, Hale is seen shooting into glass doors to enter the building. The video then shows Hale walking in hallways and aiming an assault rifle before the video cuts off.

According to a tweet from Nashville police, the shooter had "significant ammunition."Drake said two of the weapons were legally purchased in the Nashville area but did not specify which ones.

Active shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale drove to Covenant Church/School in her Honda Fit this morning, parked, and shot her way into the building. She was armed with 2 assault-type guns and a 9 millimeter pistol. pic.twitter.com/mIk2pDmCwQ  Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 28, 2023

Police said five officers promptly responded to a 911 call that arrived at 10:13 a.m. When they arrived, the shooter fired on arriving police vehicles from a 2nd story window, the Nashville police tweeted, showing pictures of bullet-pierced windows on police cruisers.

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The officers found the assailant on the second floor of the building housing the school and a Presbyterian church and neutralized the threat by 10:27 a.m., police said.

I was hoping this day would never, ever come here in the city, Drake said, but we would never wait to make entry and go in and stop a threat, especially when it deals with our children.

Police initially identified the shooter as a female, but later said Hale was assigned female at birth and identified as a transgender man.

Drake said officers found written material along with a map describing how the assault would unfold, as well as a plan to shoot up a different Nashville school that Hale scrapped because of too much security.

Asked if there was a correlation between the shooters gender identity and the attack, Drake said: There is some theory to that. Were investigating all the leads and, once we know exactly, well let you know.

In an interview with NBC News, Drake said investigators believe Hale had some resentment for having to go to that school.

'AREN'T YOU GUYS TIRED OF THIS?': Woman who survived Highland Park shooting makes plea in Nashville

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday March, 27, 2023.

Victims identified, three of them under age 10

Police identified the victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs, all of them age 9, and Mike Hill, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Cynthia Peak, 61. Drake later said one of the children was 8 and about to turn 9 but did not specify who. The Tennessean said Koonce was the school's headmaster.

Three children and two adults were taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt with gunshot wounds, and all five were pronounced dead there, said Craig Boerner, spokesperson for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The sixth victim was not taken to the hospital, police spokesman Don Aaron said.

"This is the ultimate crime, when schoolchildren and caregivers are the victims of senseless gun violence," Glenn Funk, Davidson County District Attorney General, said in a news conference.

What happened in the Covenant School shooting?

The shooter entered through a side entrance of the school and went to the second floor "firing multiple shots," Aaron said, adding that all doors were locked.

Police received a call of an active shooter at 10:13 a.m., Aaron said. Officers responded "swiftly," entered the first floor and began clearing the area, he said. They "immediately went to the gunfire," he said.

WHAT IS AN 'ASSAULT WEAPON'? Nine states have banned them

Two of the five officers on the floor opened fire on the shooter and killed Hale by 10:27 a.m., Aaron said. The intruder was in a "lobby-type area," not a classroom, Aaron said.

Kendra Loney, a spokesperson with Metro Fire, said rescue crews responded and tried to save lives.

The remaining students were escorted out of the building with faculty and staff, and buses took them to a site where students were being reunited with their parents, Loney said. "We're sure that they heard the chaos that was surrounding this," she said.

One police officer had a hand injury from cut glass, Loney and Aaron said. No one else was wounded, Aaron said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will assist the Metro Nashville Police Department in the investigation, said TBI Director David Rausch. Officials with the FBI and special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on the scene.

President Biden: 'We have to do more'

President Joe Biden referred to the shooting as a "sick'' act and reiterated his call for Congress to ban assault weapons.

Biden ordered the American flag at the White House to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims. The White House later said the president spoke to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville Mayor John Cooper about the shooting.

We have to do more to stop gun violence,'' he said. "It's ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of the nation. We have to do more to protect our schools so they aren't turned into prisons."

First lady Jill Biden commented on the attack during her opening remarks at a National League of Cities event in Washington. "I am truly without words, and our children deserve better," she said. "We stand, all of us, with Nashville in prayer."

What is the Covenant School in Nashville?

The Covenant School is a private school founded in 2001 that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, according to its website. On a given day, slightly over 200 students and 42 staff members are at the school, Aaron said.

The school is on the campus of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the city's Green Hills neighborhood, about 9 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. It's next door to a Nashville Fire Department station and less than a mile south of Nashville's largest shopping district.

'OUR CHILDREN DESERVE BETTER': First lady Jill Biden responds to Nashville mass shooting

Because a church operates the school, no Nashville police officers were assigned to the building, Aaron said. Officers were reviewing video from the school, he said.

In response to the shooting, the school said it will continue to prioritize the well-being of the community and asked for privacy as community members process the incident.

"Our community is heartbroken. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church," the school said in a statement Monday night.

"We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing."

Harold Burke, Commander with MNPD, is seen near the scene of Covenant School after a shooter incident on Monday, March 27.

Parents wait for their children, Monday March 27, 2023 after a school shooting at Covenant School in Green Hills, Nashville

89th shooting on school grounds this year

The attack marks the 89th shooting on K-12 school grounds in 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. Last week, a 17-year-old student shot and wounded two faculty members at a high school in Denver.

I was literally moved to tears to see this and the kids as they were being ushered out of the building, Drake said.

There have been 130 mass shootings in the U.S. this calendar year, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as at least four people injured.

MASS KILLING DATABASE: Revealing trends, details and anguish of every US event since 2006

Illinois resident Ashbey Beasley was on vacation and about a block away from the school when she heard shots Monday morning. Beasley, who was at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park last summer when a gunman opened fire, ran over to the scene.

"Arent you tired of this," she said, taking over the microphones after a news conference. "How is this still happening?"

Students from the Covenant School get off a bus to meet their parents at the reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tennessee officials 'heartbroken' over school shooting

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said he was "closely monitoring the tragic situation."

Nashville Mayor John Cooper thanked first responders and medical professionals and said his "heart goes out to the families of the victims." He wrote on Twitter: "In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting."

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said she was "heartbroken to hear about the shooting." She wrote on Twitter: "My office is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, & we stand ready to assist. Thank you to the first responders working on site. Please join us in prayer for those affected."

Adrienne Battle, director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, said she was "grieving today over the tragic murder of children and school staff right here in our community," calling the killings an "unimaginable loss of life."

"We dont know all of the details of how or why this happened, and we may never fully know," Battle said. "At Metro Schools, we have invested considerable resources to strengthen security at our facilities in response to the far too many, far too often instances of school shootings across the nation over the years."

Church service remembers child

At the Woodmont Christian Church, a box of tissues sat at the end of each pew as the solemn crowd began the long process of grieving for the victims.

Senior minister Clay Stauffer shared through tears a story of Evelyn Dieckhaus at the end of the service. Dieckhaus was a third grader at the Covenant School and her sister, a fifth grader, is a member of the disciples class at the church.

Evelyns sister cried as she said, I dont want to be an only child.

The Woodmont Christian Church will be organizing a fund for the affected families as a way to help with counseling costs.

Contributing: Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY; Chris Gadd, Rachel Wegner, Kirsten Fiscus, and Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Covenant school shooting: 3 kids, 3 adults killed in Nashville
Theres no line at the Huntersville Cook Out, but the cashier is struggling to get the burger toppings right.

In a bubblegum-colored Toyota 4Runner, TikTok personality Dakota Wright corrects the employee when he reads the order back. In the passenger seat is his husband/co-star, Jackson Wright. Dakotas tone is firm but not demeaning.

No one can ever say were rude, Dakota tells me. He and Jackson have drawls as Southern as sweet tea and dried tobacco. Theyre the kind of accents you usually can only find outside city limits.

Almost two years ago, Dakota and Jackson found their niche at the Huntersville Cook Out. In April 2021 they showed off their orders with their friend and posted it to TikTok. By the time they got home, the video had 500,000 views. It hit 1 million views by midnight.

Since then, the duos food haul videos have become a mainstay on Dakotas TikTok, which now boasts 648,500 followers. Hes also got 79,800 Instagram followers and a growing YouTube presence.

Their videos are raunchy, punny and full of food. The highest-performing videos are about the restaurants you could find anywhere. Recent hits include visits to OCharleys, P.F. Changs and Cracker Barrel. They highlight local restaurants as much as possible.

We started this in the middle of the pandemic, Dakota explains. Right when restaurants were starting to open up for indoor again, I really started to hit those.

The videos have helped Dakota too.

Dakota had anorexia in his early 20s and dealt with binge eating later on. Its something hes worked on in therapy, but the videos he makes and the comments from viewers remind him he isnt alone.

People are like, I know youre not actually eating on camera, but the fact that youre so comfortable and laughing and having fun with food in front of your face is helpful, Dakota tells me. Jackson says the responsibility his husband feels as a role model has helped him regulate the emotions that exacerbate his eating disorder.

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Jackson still has a full-time job, but the account is a joint effort. Together the two of them are creating content that isnt like anything else on TikTok  and all theyre doing is being themselves.

I just want to showcase me being me, and hope that that changes somebodys mind, Dakota tells me.

I aint giving these people the time of day.

Dakota grew up in Cana, Virginia, an unincorporated community on the state border across from Mount Airy, NC. Jackson is from Clintwood, a small Virginia town close to the Kentucky border.

Despite similar settings, Dakota and Jackson had very different experiences being gay in the rural South. Jacksons mom worked at his school and his brother was on the football team, so people left him alone. He still grew up as gay kids often do: isolated and alone, living in his head and waiting for the day he could leave his small town.

My coping mechanism, Id say, was Let me be the funny one, Jackson tells me, because then theyll think of me as The Funny One, instead of The Gay One or The One with the Cleft Lip.

Down the interstate, Dakota was growing up in the opposite scenario. He was from a family of outsiders, despite the fact that his dad grew up there.

In eighth grade, Dakota helped with his middle schools televised morning announcements  hes always wanted to be on television, he says between sips of Diet Coke. The program aired with a short delay in the video.

I remember being in the room recording it and hearing myself on the TV and hearing people shout faggot, queer, stuff like that whenever I come on the camera, Dakota says. To hear that, with a 30-second delay, and try not to lose it  it was very difficult.

When Dakota started doing well on TikTok, there were some straight men who would try to mock their videos and the tone of their voices. After discussing it with Jackson, Dakota began calling out select mean comments. The videos making fun of them stopped.

Ever since Ive come out Im like, I aint giving these people the time of day, Dakota tells me. Im not gonna give them what they want. If they want to call me a slur, Im mouthy. I aint got no problem cussing somebody out. But Im not gonna let somebody see me cry or be hurt.

Jackson is more reserved than his husband and does not engage with the mean messages. But he admits that some of the ugly comments come from other LGBTQ people. Its a common theme within any marginalized community: in a culture where diversity is not cherished, the people who make it big are held to impossible standards.

We dont act like that, youre bad representation for our community, and Im just like, If youre gay, youre gay. Jackson tells me.

Dakota (left) and Jackson Wright at the Global Premiere of Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Groups Scream VI on March 6, 2023.

Something as little as an accent makes them feel not alone.

Although the Wrights are not from North Carolina, Huntersville is their home. They met in Greensboro at a Halloween party. They dont dream of moving to a big city despite the homophobia they experience in the South.

Dakota has a self-proclaimed Kris Jenner haircut and glowy skin. Jackson is muscular with a crew cut; Dakota jokes that people dont notice his husband is gay until he opens his mouth. They love Bravo so much they got engaged on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2018. The video of the proposal is full of references to The Real Housewives franchise. They dont dull themselves for others in real life or online.

Toxic masculinity is so dangerous, I think, Jackson tells me. It took away a lot of years of my life, worrying about how I talked before I walked in a room.

Both Dakota and Jackson say straight men who meet them are often scared to compliment the videos.

Ive had people DM me and say I used to hate gay people, I used to think you guys were weird, but seeing you guys coming together over food and making me laugh has changed how I feel, Dakota tells me. One person told him the only other gay person theyd seen in media was Neil Patrick Harris.

The Wrights are successful because they refuse to shy away from their true selves. They are reminding LGBTQ kids in places like Cana and Clintwood that they arent alone. They represent the kids who frequent Cook Out and Cracker Barrel, just like their straight classmates. The kids who love the South but are not always accepted by it can find solace in seeing someone who is unapologetic about being themselves.

Something as little as an accent makes them feel not alone, you know? Dakota tells me, referencing his viewers. It would be so easy for us to like, run away to a big city where wed be accepted, but at what point are you working against change if you just leave?
By Tom Wilson and Angus Berwick

(Reuters) -The world's biggest crypto exchange Binance and its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao were sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday for operating what the regulator alleged were an "illegal" exchange and a "sham" compliance program.

The CFTC sued Binance, Zhao and its former top compliance executive with "willful evasion" of U.S. law, "while engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit."

Zhao, a billionaire who was born in China and moved to Canada at the age of 12, called CFTC's complaint as "unexpected and disappointing."

"Upon an initial review, the complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint," Zhao said in a statement.

The lawsuit comes amid a broader and increasingly high-profile crackdown on crypto companies. For years, U.S. prosecutors and civil investigators have targeted crypto firms for illegal offerings and failures to comply with rules designed to prevent illicit activity. But the pace of such government activity has surged recently.

The CFTC said in its complaint on Monday that from at least July 2019 to the present, Binance "offered and executed commodity derivatives transactions on behalf of U.S. persons" in violation of U.S. laws.

Binance's compliance program has been "ineffective" and the firm, under the direction of Zhao, told employees and customers to circumvent compliance controls, the CFTC said, citing a number of practices first reported by Reuters in a series of investigations into the exchange last year.

The CFTC also accused Binance's former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim of "aiding and abetting" Binance's violations. Lim did not immediately respond to calls and messages from Reuters.

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A spokesperson for Binance, which dominates the global digital asset sector, said the firm will continue to "collaborate" with regulators.

Binance has made "significant investments" to ensure it does not have U.S. users on its platform, the spokesperson said.

CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said in a statement that Binance executives knew for years "they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance."

The CFTC is responsible for oversight of commodities and derivatives markets, including for Bitcoin. Firms such as brokers that facilitate U.S. customers' trading of such products are required to register with the agency.

Reuters reported in December that the U.S. Justice Department had been investigating Binance since 2018 for possible money-laundering and sanctions violations. Binance has processed at least $10 billion in payments for criminals and companies seeking to evade U.S. sanctions, Reuters has found.

Binance's cryptocurrency BNB, the world's fourth largest by market size, dropped around 4% on the news.

In a tweet on Monday afternoon, Zhao wrote "4" - a reference to a previous post listing his "Do's and Don'ts" for 2023. The fourth item on the list was "Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks," using an acronym for "fear, uncertainty and doubt" often used in crypto in relation to news perceived as negative.

'PIRATE SHIP'

Founded in Shanghai in 2017, Binance sits at the heart of the global crypto industry. Its core Binance.com exchange processed trades worth about $23 trillion last year, according to data provider CryptoCompare. Trading volumes hit $34 trillion in 2021, Zhao said last year.

With a holding company based in the Cayman Islands, Binance has never revealed the location of its core exchange. The CFTC charged the holding company and two other Binance units.

Binance did not require customers to submit information verifying their identity before trading and "failed to implement basic compliance procedures designed to prevent and detect terrorist financing and money laundering," the CFTC said.

The CFTC's complaint detailed Binance's efforts to retain U.S. customers even after the company, in partnership with a purportedly independent American firm, launched a U.S. exchange in 2019 to serve American customers in compliance with U.S. regulations.

Reuters previously reported that this American firm, BAM Trading, was in fact controlled by Zhao and managed by Binance as a de-facto subsidiary. The CFTC said when Zhao hired BAM's first CEO, he "described Binance as a pirate ship and explained that he wished for Binance.US to be a navy boat."

VIP CUSTOMERS

Though Binance's global business publicly said it was restricting U.S. customers from trading on its platform, the CFTC said Binance told its commercially valuable U.S.-based "VIP customers" how to evade its compliance controls.

Zhao kept information reflecting Binance's U.S. customer base secret from some senior managers, CFTC said. In October 2020, Zhao directed Binance personnel to replace the U.S. value for some data fields in Binance's internal database with "UNKWN", it said.

Binance traded on its own platform through some 300 "house accounts," directly or indirectly owned by Zhao, though the exchange had not disclosed this activity in its public terms of use or elsewhere, according to CFTC. The house accounts were exempt from Binance's "insider trading" policy, the CFTC said.

A top Binance executive told the Wall Street Journal in February that the company expected to pay penalties to resolve the U.S. investigations.

The CFTC said it is seeking monetary penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and permanent trading and registration bans.

(Reporting by Tom Wilson in London, Chris Prentice in Washington and Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Maria Ponnezhath; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Alun John, Marguerita Choy and Richard Chang)
Add Binance to the list of crypto heavyweights facing serious legal trouble. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Binance, founder Changpeng Zhao and former compliance chief Samuel Lim with allegedly violating both the agency's regulations and the Commodity Exchange Act. The company supposedly offered unregistered crypto derivatives, didn't ask users for mandatory identity verification, structured itself to avoid US regulation and even told customers how to dodge its own compliance system for US-based customers.

Zhao directed much of the rulebreaking himself, the CFTC claims, and there are reportedly chats and emails as evidence. Lim, who left Binance in 2022, is accused of knowingly aiding in the scheme. Among other things, he purportedly encouraged American users to mask trades through a VPN and even create new accounts through shell companies. The activity indicates that Binance's compliance mechanisms "have been a sham," CFTC chief counsel Gretchen Lowe says.

The Commission hopes to permanently ban Binance's registration and trading. It also hopes to levy fines and make the firm disgorge its gains. There's no estimated financial penalty.

We've asked Binance for comment and will let you know if we hear back. The company has historically defended itself against accusations. Zhao's brand is also facing a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation over its BNB token, and a long-running probe has looked into possible insider trading. Senator Elizabeth Warren recently sent Zhao a letter accusing him of creating a "hotbed of illegal financial activity" that enables crooks and sanction-dodgers.

The charges come in the wake of multiple scandals rocking the crypto industry. The fraud charges levelled against FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried are the most notable examples, but there are also allegations and investigations targeting Celsius' former CEO, Coinbase and Terraform Labs, among others. Binance is the largest crypto exchange left, and a US ban could significantly affect the industry as customers are forced to move to smaller outfits.

The CFTC is also staking out territory with this move. Both it and the SEC have argued that they should regulate crypto in the absence of laws outlining their roles. With these charges, the CFTC is signalling that it wants to be the de facto regulator for crypto trading. House and Senate members may limit the Commission's authority if they pass legislation, but the agency clearly isn't willing to wait before cracking down.

Updated 3/27 2:45PM ET: Binance tells Engadget it finds the charges "unexpected and disappointing," as it says it has been collaborating with the CFTC for over two years. It also points to a large investment in keeping Americans off its platform over that time, including a surge in its compliance headcount (from 100 to 750). It doesn't directly address allegations of helping customers bypass those restrictions.
By Dave Sherwood

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba said on Monday that voters had elected all 470 candidates for the National Assembly on the ballot over the weekend, calling the results a "home run," while opposition groups critiqued the elections as a farce.

Election officials said Monday that the initial turnout was 75.9%, topping participation in municipal elections in November and a referendum on the Cuban family code, which legalized gay marriage, in September.

"We want to thank our people ... for participating in a massive way in this electoral process of transcendental importance for the present and the future of the nation," Alina Balseiro, president of Cuba's National Electoral Council, said on state-run TV.

Participation in Sunday's election was widely seen by both pro- and anti-government groups as a proxy for gauging support for Cuba's communist leadership at a time of deep economic crisis and growing social unrest.

Though three of every four Cubans voted Sunday, that rate was still nearly 10 percentage points below participation in 2018 legislative elections and well below all previous elections under late President Fidel Castro, when nearly every Cuban of voting age typically cast a ballot.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who led a government campaign to encourage turnout on Sunday, called the results a "win" for Cuba.

"The numbers say more than words," Diaz-Canel said on Twitter. "It's a clean home run."

Opposition groups, primarily outside of Cuba, had encouraged voters to stay home in protest, calling the election a "farce" in a one-party system with no formal opposition or international oversight.

The U.S. embassy in Havana called the elections "antidemocratic" on social media.

Cuba defends its single-party system, saying it promotes unity and limits the sway of money in elections.

The 470 candidates on Sunday's paper ballot were vying for 470 open seats in the legislature. There were no opposition candidates.

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In order to win a place in the National Assembly, a candidate must, however, receive more than half the votes of those who cast ballots.

Balseiro said 72% of voters had chosen an option on ballots that allowed them to vote for all the candidates in one go, meaning that all 470 contenders were elected.

FOUL PLAY?

Watchdog organizations including rights group Cubalex, which has received funding from the U.S.-backed National Endowment for Democracy, alleged that independent observers, journalists and activists were harassed by Cuban state security, saw their internet cut, or were detained before or during the elections.

Cuba's government did not immediately reply to a request for comment on those allegations.

Cuba says it monitors its own elections and does not allow independent, international observers to follow the proceedings.

Lawmakers elected on Sunday will serve for five years. In their first session, slated for April, they will choose the next president of Cuba from among their ranks.

Diaz-Canel, who won a seat in the National Assembly on Sunday, is widely expected to be re-elected as president by his fellow legislators.

The new crop of lawmakers is also expected to pass laws governing controversial issues, including the regulation of the press and the right to protest in Cuba.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)
In the second year of Russias full-scale war against Ukraine, Moscow has shown its intent to fight and win the war without regard for the lives of its servicemen, or the damage caused to Russias economy and social fabric.

The Kremlins choice to announce partial mobilization in late September 2022 marked a turning point, a signal to ordinary Russians that the war could and would directly affect them.

The move was met by sparse protests and a mass exodus of military-age Russian men from the country, with estimates of those who fled ranging from 300,000 to 700,000.

On the stroke of New Year, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov appealed directly to Russians in a rare video address, warning of an imminent second round of mobilization. No such large-scale announcement has been made by the Kremlin, although reports abound of covert mobilization continuing in many regions.

Historian Ian Garner. (Courtesy)

The Kyiv Independent spoke to Dr. Ian Garner, Canada-based historian and specialist of Russian and Soviet wartime culture, on the trajectory of attitudes to the war of the Russian population, how they could shift over the next few years, and how this might affect Moscows pursuit of the war in Ukraine and at home.

Released in December, Garners book Stalingrad Lives: Stories of Combat and Survival explores how Soviet Union memory policy transformed the astronomical losses in the battle into a cult of heroism, while his upcoming title Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth will look at the interaction between top-down and bottom-up social processes spurring on support for the war against Ukraine in the youth of todays Russia.

The Kyiv Independent: There is ongoing speculation that in the future Russia could not only launch a second round of mobilization, but also close the borders for men of military age. What do you think of the likelihood of that happening?

Ian Garner: We've seen these rumors on the speculation around this circling for months now. The idea of bigger and bigger mobilizations, the idea that Russia will close the border, stop people fleeing. But they didnt need to do it last time, in September. There was talk of 700,000 men leaving but I'd be really dubious about that number, because that doesn't take into account the number of people who came back again. What I suspect now is that those who want to flee and those who can flee will have already done so.

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The chief means of avoiding military service is not just leaving the country, it's bribing the recruiters, bribing doctors to write you off, so I'd be really surprised if they do close the border. I just can't see what the benefit would be to the state, because they hit their recruitment target of 300,000 last time quite easily. Now, if the new target is 500,000, they're probably going to be able to do it as well.

There is every sign that Russia is becoming a more and more totalitarian, more closed off country and that the government is willing to do everything, including totally reforming its culture, totally reforming the economy in order to support not just this war, because the concept is now that Russia is a country continually at war and the threat isn't restricted to Ukraine.

Throughout the war there has been talk of Russias potential use of existing serving conscripts doing the regular military service, is the Kremlin worried that something like that might be a step too far?

I do think that there could be a kind of creeping frustration, especially as bodies are continually expended. The way that Russia is fighting around Bakhmut suggests that the strategy hasn't really changed to one of pure frozen conflict and stagnation. (Editors note: The interview was recorded in January). But the government is doing some things to wrest back that narrative. We've seen some groups of soldiers mothers, soldiers widows coming out of the woodwork in support of the war. Lately, we've seen Putin supposedly meeting soldiers mothers, some of whom turned out, of course, not to be mothers at all. The state is trying to say that, as regrettable as the fighting is, as regrettable as the sacrifice is, the state cares. The state is doing the best it possibly can for those who are dying and their families. It seems ludicrous from our perspective, but when you're on the inside of this propaganda world and you do have some sort ofif not complete trust inrespect for the Russian state more than the Western media, it's effective.

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Can you paint a picture of the mentality of the mainstream masses in Russian cities at the moment, is the Russian government successful in fighting a battle to win the hearts and minds?

I think that in a subtle and strange way, it is working. We know that there are still opposition elements within Russia. I know that social media would have you think that nobody in Russia cares, and everybody is completely indifferent to the suffering of Ukrainians, but that's not true. The problem that the opposition has, if we are saying that probably 15 to 20% of the population are deeply uncomfortable in some way with what's happening, is that who are they following? Nobody. There is no opposition leader because the state has jailed, slandered, libeled them so effectively over the last few years. Even online, I would argue that there is very little sense of any opposition movement, if you can even call it a movement.

On the other hand, there is a radical demographic that's probably the same size as the opposition, but on the other end, maybe a little bit bigger. This group seems full of life, full of ideas and impetus right now, because many people on this side, including amongst the youth, really feel like they are entering a kind of apocalyptic conflict where Russia has to fight the war against the West, against liberals, against homosexuals, against Ukrainians, against all of these things that are somehow diseasing Russia.

And in between we have something of a murky middle made up of around 50% of the population. Time after time in opinion polls, in focus groups anyway, these people show they are willing to follow the state, to do what they think or what the state thinks is best. That's why you get these quirky opinion polls where 60% of people say that the war should end, but 60% of people say that the war should continue if Putin says so. Those are the people that the opposition needs to win over but cannot because the state is doing such an effective job.

Through social media groups, through material that just permeates the culture of persuading people that Things may be bad now, you may have to make some sacrifices now, but remember the 1990s? Remember how America abused us? Remember the Soviet period when America was trying to destroy us? They're trying to do it again now. So, if you hate us, think how much worse it could be. And those people are thoroughly unmoved.

Where is Russias anti-war opposition? For many Ukrainians, watching queues of conscription-age Russians fleeing the specter of mobilization has proven bittersweet. Each body that crosses the border into Kazakhstan, Armenia, or Georgia is one less soldier to occupy Ukrainian soil. But why have the same crowds failed to appear at anti-wa Kyiv IndependentKatie Marie Davies

Do you see any potential alternative trajectories that this kind of frustration, fear, or panic could manifest along? Mass social disobedience, violent riots, strikes in workplaces, illegal border crossings, or just a new subculture of young men who stay at home all the time and stop going outside?

The answer might be that it's a combination of all of these things.

But more realistically, change is going to come from the top rather than the bottom. There is no promise that that change is going to be moving Russia in a more liberal or a more pacifist direction. Even change from the bottom may actually coalesce around the nationalist extremists, those who want to use even more firepower against Ukraine. And we're seeing some of that emerge on some of the more extreme right-wing telegram groups. Those people have a far greater reach than the opposition in Russia today, and the state tacitly permits them to criticize the state in certain ways. And they're playing a more dangerous game there than they are with the opposition. And so, in a sense, you have to be careful what you wish for, because we may see more widespread protests that are actually revanchist in nature, especially when we're thinking five, 10 years in the future rather than five or 10 weeks in the future.

We're at a really, really dangerous point. Over 2023 and 2024, the war will most certainly still be being fought very fiercely with high casualties on both sides. On one hand, the Kremlin is trying to foster this dominant kind of bottom-up agitation. On the other, the moment could come where suddenly the Kremlin's interests and the interests of those groups stop aligning.

There are so many different factions wandering around in Russian society. There is Dugin and his crowd, then there is Prigozhin who seems to be completely, almost brilliantly amoral. But the issue for the state begins when these factional disagreements, both with the regime and with each other, start to threaten the ability of the state to make and execute decisions.

Hypothetically, what happens if Dugin calls his youth fascist crowd to go out to protest in the center of Moscow? On the same weekend, Prigozhin decides, actually, I'm not going to attack Bakhmut, I'm going to go off and do something else. Whether it's refusing to fight, whether it's bringing all the troops back home again, we just don't know what's going to happen.

Russias key attack force, Wagner Group, embroiled in conflict with regular army The battle for Bakhmut has revealed a decade-long covert conflict in Russias Armed Forces. On one side, there is the regular Russian military. On the other side, Wagner Group, Russias most high-profile mercenary outfit. Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a confidante of Russian President V Kyiv IndependentAlexander Khrebet

You talk in your work about the cult of the dead and the war heroes as part of the rapid militarization we have seen in Russia. Do you see a potential limit to how far they might push the narrative in this unhinged direction if they feel they need to?

I think logically there must be some limit. But here is the conceptual danger that I lay out in the Z Generation book. So much of this thought exists in social media bubbles, where there is always this pressure to one up each other. Every time bad news hits, the pro-war crowd aren't rationally reassessing the way that the war is being conducted, they're simply fishing for clicks and rage baiting each other to say that we need to go one step further. We need to go one step more, it doesn't matter that people are dying, they say.

For these people, we have to understand that there is no conceptual difference between Russia and Ukraine. They are fighting a war in Russia to save Russia and Russians. They are genuinely convinced of this, its a sort of quasi-religious fact of life. It's a cult-like mentality, and cults don't respond to facts in the way you expect them to. When you challenge them with reality, they are more likely to actually double down deeper into cult-like thinking.

With the population so juiced-up on propaganda, if, one day, the Kremlin has had enough and wants to remove itself from this war, could this cult-like state of society be exited quickly?

It can be reversed, but the longer it goes on for, the harder it's going to be as you have new generations, new young Russians entering the public who know only how to speak this language of war and sacrifice and death, to see the West as something irrevocably tainted with vindictive Russophobia.

But the great failing of the Russian political project over the last 20 years has been, in a sense, instilling this sense of passivity because there are still vast numbers of Russians who mostly wish that the state would just butt out of their lives. I don't think the answer is in promising people new Western lifestyles because the West is just so associated with this, this Russophobia even into the murky middle. People are distrustful of the West, so it can't be a repeat of the ways that things were handled in the early 1990s, even if it would be rational.

What could have a really wide appeal is someone who represents a Russian alternative to Putin who says we're going to stop fighting these ground wars, we're going to leave you to live your life, we're going to promote private enterprise within a crackdown on criminals. Such change will have to come from the top, though, and it will require state reform.

Right now, I don't see any of the elites in Russia having any interest in doing that whatsoever, because they're all making pretty well out of the corruption of the state. And of course, many of them are genuinely attached to this ideology of Russia's historical messianic mission.

Kremlin propaganda more aggressive as Russia steps up attacks As Russia is escalating its war against Ukraine and using massive missile and drone strikes to destroy infrastructure, Kremlin propaganda is becoming even more bloodthirsty. The earlier disappointment of propagandists with repeated Russian defeats on the battlefield has been replaced with a feeling Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

From the states perspective, if you have this war that drags out and takes more and more lives while the only success they can talk about is taking Soledar or Bakhmut, how will the ideology evolve over time, when you have this proud country that's getting weaker and weaker, whose only remaining reason for existence seems to be to destroy Ukraine?

Well, I'll tell you very shortly that the answer is that the raison d'etre is not destroying Ukraine, it is saving Russia.

There was a story in Russian media just this morning (Jan. 16), saying that Ukraine has been shelling refugees with phosphorus weapons. The story is not Look how well we're doing in Bakhmut, it's If we don't continue fighting, then Russians, your brothers, your sisters are going to be killed.

It goes back to this understanding that there is no difference conceptually between Russia and Ukraine, which is completely distorted. But when you understand that Russia's under attack, it means we need to save ourselves. We need to save our people. Well, it is worth going and fighting, we dont have a choice but to keep pushing. Russia is fighting this isolated, lonely battle against a world that is against it and that has a real appeal to people.

I suspect at some point that this incredibly bloody, body-heavy form of warfare will start to draw to a close. Russia will pick some boundaries, declare a semi-victory, and say we are now protecting all of the people in the territory we've claimed. The narrative will be that Ukraine is occupying the parts of Russia that we've unilaterally declared to be ours. And Russia will just keep arbitrarily shelling and bombing Ukraine.

Could mobilization, battlefield defeats cost Putin his regime? Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has raised the stakes in his war against Ukraine, and he may be paying the price. By announcing the mobilization of conscripts on Sept. 21 and the illegal annexation of more Ukrainian territory on Sept. 30, he increased domestic instability in Russia. People who wer Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

Suppose society is only pushed more in this extremist direction, but Ukraine is still advancing on the battlefield, and suddenly we're talking about the capture of Donetsk or something like that. What do you think would break first internally in Russia?

We could absolutely see more escalation. I've been cynical and pessimistic so far, but a more positive reading of it would be to go back to the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, which everybody expected the Soviets would do very well. Sound familiar? Then, who would have thought what we would have in 1990? And the war became symbolic of this flailing nation that just wasn't really going anywhere. Everybody went about doing and saying the things that they believed were Soviet, but increasingly behaving in the opposite way. It is entirely possible to see a scenario where this war drags on for another 10 years, where Russian boys continue dying at the front and in this very underwhelming, disappointing way.

Everybody gets sick of the war, sick of the state. The elites grow frustrated because they can't enjoy the European vacations anymore. The middle classes are annoyed because those holidays in Dubai and Egypt and Cyprus become inaccessible to them. Consumer goods start drying up. Russia falls behind in a technological arms race, and eventually the periphery starts to break. We see protests around the edges of Russia, discontent amongst the more poverty-stricken regions of the country. Maybe we see protests in Moscow as well. Things could change really quickly, and then we could reach a tipping point.

But it's not coming tomorrow. We're talking five years, 10 years, or 15. But we have to understand that the state can get out of the war intact. There is no guarantee that Russia could collapse, but it is also unlikely that it will be able to continue to wage the kind of war that Putin seems to want.

Note from the author:

Hi, this is Francis Farrell, cheers for reading this article. I grew up on the other side of the world, but in Ukraine I have found a home unlike any other. Just like with so many of our readers, I understand that you don't have to be from near here to realize how important Ukraine's struggle is for freedom and human rights all over the world. The Kyiv Independent's mission is to lead the way in continuing to bring the best homegrown, English-language coverage of this war, even if the rest of the world's attention starts to fade. Please consider supporting our reporting.
You can get a BLT with a blowout at this Fresno salon.

Or, maybe just sip an espresso martini with your meal at a table.

Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon in Fresno are two businesses under one roof: a bistro and bar with an eclectic American menu, and a hair salon.

The restaurant and salon are at the northeast corner of Cedar and Nees avenues, behind DiCiccos. They operate separately under the same corporation.

And, no, you wont get hair in your food, promises Thomas Leonard, the president and CEO. The health department is even OK with the arrangement, he said.

Walk in the front door and youll probably do what most first-time customers do. Pause a moment and look to the left, where theres a bar, a standard restaurant dining room and a piano. Look to the right, where customers are tipping their heads back into a shampoo sink, or getting a cut and color in the 24-station salon.

After a beat, most customers understand the concept.

Though there was that one guy who walked in and said, Oh hell, I thought this was a saloon, Leonard recalled.

Sir, it is a salon, though there is also a bar, he pointed out.

Bistro and salon

Visitors to the Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon on Cedar and Nees are greeted with a bar to the left and hair styling stations to the right.

So how do a hair business and an eatery end up sharing space?

The spot used to be the International Gourmet Marketplace & Deli. It closed years ago and half of it became a salon, 8028 Salon.

Leonards wife got her hair done there. After a career in banking and finance and business consulting, he ended up partnering in the business.

They were planning a blow dry bar  where customers get a wash, blowout and style  for the remaining half of the space, but the pandemic put the brakes on that.

The spot had a kitchen, including one of the most expensive parts of a restaurant kitchen  a working hood for ventilation over the grill.

Leonard fondly remembers The Daily Planet, the restaurant and bar inside the Tower Theatre.

The dual usage stuck in his head and gave him an idea: Lets make this The Daily Planet. I dont have a theater, but I have a salon, and if you dont need that, theres a car wash behind us.

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So the bar was built, the menu created, and a donated baby grand piano thats more than 100 years old brought in.

Thomas Leonard, president and CEO of Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon, stands near the bistros 105 year-old baby grand piano. The restaurant, which Leonard says looks to capture the feel of the old Daily Planet, features live music on the piano a couple of times a week as well as karaoke.

The piano donation was arranged with help from the Fresno Music Academy & Arts business a few doors down. It belonged to the donors grandmother, a blind woman in Arkansas who learned to play by ear.

Look closely and you can still see the original owners name etched in the pianos lid, having bled through when she wrote her name on something atop it.

Local musician Nate Butler plays the piano from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. A trio of musicians plays about once a month.

And every Taco Tuesday, theres karaoke. There are carnitas, shrimp and barbacoa tacos on the menu every day, by the way.

Hairstylist Kathryn Sanchez, center right, works with a client in the salon section of Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon. The hair salon stays open close to the same hours as the bistro.

You dont have to get your hair done to eat here. But lots of women do, grabbing a cocktail or a light meal at separate seating on the salon side while waiting for their foil-wrapped hair to process, notes hair stylist Kathryn Sanchez.

Many customers are busy moms, and a few hours at a salon is an escape thats a step up from a Target or Starbucks run.

This is great because they have that opportunity to have a cocktail, some lunch, and get pampered a little bit, Sanchez said.

The two businesses are separate enough that they dont really intrude on each other.

Theres no smells, Leonard said. Its not like the old days where everything is stinky.

Perms and their pungent scents have mostly gone out of a fashion, and he wont allow a nail salon in the space due to the fumes.

Yes, you can hear the blow dryers going, but the sound is softer than some restaurants in town play their music.

The menu

Mushroom bruschetta from Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon is sauteed mushrooms with goat cheese, shallots and sweet pepper jelly on a toasted baguette.

The chef in the kitchen is Robert Payne. He got his start driving big trucks in the Army before being assigned KP duty one day.

He fussed about something to a senior officer and the man said, Well, if you can do it better  and I did, Payne said.

That launched a culinary career that included stints at Popolos Pizza, The Peppermill and the restaurant at the former Hacienda before starting Roberts Catering.

The food at Genesis is a lot different than the eggs Payne used to cook under a tent on old World War II compressed gasoline burners for 150 troops at a time though.

Here, the star of the menu is a mushroom bruschetta. Instead of tomatoes and basil, it features mushrooms sauteed in wine with shallots and served with creamed goat cheese and pepper jelly on baguette slices.

Another customer favorite is the marry me chicken. Originally attributed to Delish magazine, the chicken breasts in sun-dried tomato and Parmesan cream sauce is supposedly so good people offer to marry the cook.

Payne turns the otherwise brown dish into something colorful, the side of pilaf made with a pinch of turmeric for a yellow color, and bright orange carrots and other veggies.

The menu also features steak, rice bowls, sandwiches and salads, pasta and a build-a-burger.

There are some high-end wines and craft cocktails, too. That includes a chocolate old fashioned and a lavender love, a drink with Empress gin that gives it a purple color.

Like the interior of the business, theres a lot of variety when it comes to the food and drink here.

If you look at the menu, it has a lot of different things going on, Payne said.

Details: Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon are at 8028 N. Cedar Ave. Hours: The bistro is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. 559-314-8284.

Bartender Gina Baptista pours a Genesis espresso martini while working the bar at Genesis Bistro & 8028 Salon. The bistro features several unique craft cocktails on its menu.
[Source]

After years of searching and swirling rumors, the 14th Dalai Lama has officially revealed the identity of the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa: an 8-year-old U.S.-born Mongolian boy who will head Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.

The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 87, revealed the new Tibetan Buddhism leader in Mongolia during a ceremony held in Dharamshala, a city in Indias Himachal Pradesh state where the Dalai Lama is living in exile, on March 8.

We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today. His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara. One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious.

The seat for the 10th reincarnation has been vacant since the death of the boys predecessor on March 1, 2012, in Mongolia.

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The boy, pictured for the first time alongside the Dalai Lama as they performed the ceremony in India, will be recognized by his formal title as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism.

Besides the title, the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa will also be tasked with the crucial role of recognizing the next Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, the second-highest authority in the faith.

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Though his exact identity was not revealed over the fear of being targeted by the Chinese government, reports suggest that he is one of a pair of twin boys named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar who were born in the United States.

The twins parents are reportedly identified as Altannar Chinchuluun, a university mathematics professor, and their mother, Monkhnasan Narmandakh, a national resources conglomerate executive. Their grandmother, Garamjav Tseden, is reportedly a former member of the Mongolian Parliament.

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China has been trying to find a way to seat a pro-Chinese government Dalai Lama for some time now. In 2011, the Chinese Communist Party, through the foreign ministry, said the next His Holiness would only be appointed by Beijing, while the other candidate would receive no recognition.

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Since the Panchen Lama holds one of the crucial roles of recognizing the next Dalai Lama, the CCP tried to install their own after the mysterious disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a 6-year-old boy who was named the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism, in May 1995.

Six months after the arrest, Beijing revealed the real reincarnation of the Panchen Lama named Gyaltsen Norbu, who was born in Tibet to two Communist Party members.

The Dalai Lama first revealed during a visit to Mongolias Ulan Bator in 2016 that the forthcoming head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia had been born and that the search was already in progress for the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa.

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China retaliated following the Dalai Lamas visit, imposing fees on commodity imports from Mongolia and placing additional transit costs for deliveries passing through Chinas Inner Mongolia.

The Dalai Lamas furtive visit to Mongolia brought a negative impact to China-Mongolia relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Mongolian counterpart Tsend Munkh-Orgil. We hope that Mongolia has taken this lesson to heart.
Does one want to hear The Humpty Dance while sipping a $35 frozen martini at Valhalla?

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Digital Undergrounds 1990 single is an undeniable jam, if also deliriously juvenile. (Key lyric: I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom.) Yet, this was the soundtrack while sipping the most expensive cocktail Ive ever ordered in Chicago, one that starts with vodka frozen to the consistency of a slushy in a Pacojet, a multi-thousand-dollar chef tool specializing in micro-purees. Oh, did I mention the drink also contains both Kaluga caviar stuffed into an olive and cured caviar shaved on at the end?

The frozen martini at Valhalla on March 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Youd think the double dose of caviar would do nothing but inflate the price, but the brininess breaks through the steely edge of the vodka. Close your eyes, and you might be sipping on some scenic seaside ... except this locale also features The Humpty Dance bumping loudly from a nearby speaker. (Im spunky / I like my oatmeal lumpy)

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To be fair, no one at Valhalla picked that song to match the food, because the restaurant has no control over what plays at Time Out Market. Valhalla is carved into the mezzanine of the massive Fulton Market food hall, in full view of the crowds below. While chef Stephen Gillanders probably could have hidden the project behind a heavy curtain, he embraced the setup. Instead of covering it up, we said, Lets own it and do something really different, Gillanders said. We want people to laugh out loud and take pictures.

Interior of Valhalla inside Time Out Market in Chicagos Fulton Market district on March 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Valhalla asks a lot of questions about what it means to be a fine-dining restaurant in 2023. Its prices certainly put it in the same realm as nearby neighbor Next, if not as much as places like Ever and Oriole. But the atmosphere couldnt differ more.

Fair warning: Do not visit if you demand a serene evening in a room of neutral colors and hushed conversations. At Valhalla, youll undoubtedly need to lean in to hear your dining partners and politely ask the waitstaff to repeat themselves if more than a few feet away.

But I also cant think of a meal I enjoyed more over the past year.

Valhalla is Stephen Gillanders biggest statement yet, the one where his mercurial ingredient combinations hit the hardest and surprise the most. The kombu-cured fluke is one of the most visually stunning dishes Ive encountered as a restaurant critic. Gillanders ages the fluke for a few days to soften the texture, pairs it with funky fish sauce and creamy pine nuts, and then lightens the flavor with tart green apple cut into crunchy matchsticks. This is a very early entry for the best dish of 2023.

Kombu cured fluke at Valhalla on March 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Currently, to experience this dish youll have to order the $185 tasting menu. The 11-course menu starts strong, with the Snacks to Start featuring a succession of immaculately constructed bites, before the fluke dish and a few other seafood preparations arrive. The heavier dishes arent quite as memorable, though the pastries at the end finish the meal on a high note.

Valhallas a la carte menu is ultimately more exciting, allowing you to linger longer on the restaurants most creative dishes. According to Gillanders, this was deliberate. I wanted to make sure the a la carte menu was as enticing as the tasting menu, Gillanders said. With a tasting menu, someone comes in, says thats great, and then you dont see them again. Guests dont have a lot of reasons to come back. We wanted to be a place you can come and have a dish, a glass of wine and a dessert.

Id return just to order the maitake mushroom kebab. The kitchen amplifies the meaty qualities of the mushroom, before pairing it with sharp chevre, charred avocado and a slightly spicy Fresno chile sauce.

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Even better is the Rohan duck confit. The confit is textbook, with miraculously crisp skin that encases lusciously tender meat. Yet it also arrives coated in smoked gochujang, the moderately spicy Korean red chile paste, and rests in a refreshing gazpacho made with tomatillos. On the side, youll find delicate scallion-sesame crepes to roll up with the meat and dip in the cooling and tart gazpacho.

Nothing about this is remotely traditional, yet the dish feels so intuitive that it doesnt require any instructions from the server. Each bite vacillates between so many flavors and textures  spicy, acidic, salty, fatty, soft, crispy, hot and cold  it can be hard to pinpoint them all.

Rohan duck confit at Valhalla on March 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

If youve been following Gillanders, this isnt exactly surprising. After spending years with the acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Gillanders first made waves in Chicago with the now-closed Intro, before opening up S.K.Y. in 2018 and Apolonia in 2021. But when chatting with him on the phone, he makes sure to stress the importance of his team.

Hes right. Executive pastry chef Tatum Sinclairs creations are essential to any ending here, striking a delicate balance between playfulness without slipping into indulgence. The standout is the black marble Pavlova, which really does arrive looking like a monochromatic dome of marble. But crack the top meringue and youll unleash a filling so vibrantly colored it seems to glow.

Black marble Pavlova at Valhalla on March 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Along with helping conceptualize the cocktails, including the wild frozen martini, Jelena Prodan runs a lean but fascinating wine program. While you can happily order one of the wines by the glass, spring for the wine pairing if you can, which can be arranged even if you just order a few dishes from the a la carte menu.

Her enthusiasm is infectious, and each offering was better than the last, from the floral Louis Nicaise Brut Reserve Champagne to the remarkable Larkmead Firebelle 2013, a Merlot-forward red blend from Napa, supple and robust at the same time.

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With all this talent, is it a shame that Valhalla is located in a food hall, or does the informal atmosphere add to it? Youll have to decide for yourself. All I do know is that it takes an astonishing amount of talent to construct a meal so captivating that it eventually makes the roar of the crowd below fade into the background.

Physically, I hope we underpromise and overdeliver, Gillanders said. You walk into this fun casual place, but we take ourselves seriously. But we also arent (expletive) around. We want to show you the best of what we got.

nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com

Valhalla

Time Out Market, 916 W. Fulton Market

708-222-7971

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >

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Tribune rating: Between excellent and outstanding, 3 stars

Open: Wednesday to Sunday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Prices: Tasting menu $185; a la carte menu, $26-$48 per dish

Noise: Mostly very loud, though they have a quieter dining available if asked.

Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible, with elevators to the second level.

Ratings key: Four stars, outstanding; three stars, excellent; two stars, very good; one star, good; no stars, unsatisfactory. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
MADISON - Republican state Senate candidate Dan Knodl says if his election gives Senate Republicans a two-thirds majority, he would "certainly consider" support launching impeachment proceedings against Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz.

Wisconsin Republicans are defending a two-thirds majority in the state Senate that they achieved in November but quickly lost after the retirement of longtime GOP state Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills. If Knodl replaces Darling, Senate Republicans will have enough members to be able to remove state officials who are impeached by the state Assembly.

The Wisconsin Constitution allows lawmakers to remove state officials "for corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors," but Knodl said Sunday he would consider launching impeachment proceedings for criminal justice officials "who have failed" at their jobs.

Knodl, of Germantown, faces Democratic environmental lawyer Jodi Habush Sinykin of Whitefish Bay in the April 4 special election to replace Darling. The district represents areas of the north and northwest suburbs of Milwaukee.

Republican state Rep. Dan Knodl of Germantown and Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin of Whitefish Bay will square off in an April 4 special election for the 8th Senate District.

In an appearance on WISN-TV's political talk show "UpFront," Knodl said the "Milwaukee County justice system is failing" and said he believes its prosecutors and circuit court judges "need to be looked at" including Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Protasiewicz.

"She has failed," Knodl said. When asked directly if he would support impeaching Protasiewicz, Knodl said "I certainly would consider it."

Knodl did not immediately say whether his comments meant he would consider voting in favor of impeaching Protasiewicz if she is elected to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.

"It simply gives us some more authority in the areas of oversight and accountability of elected officials or appointed officials," Knodl told WISN-TV. "If there are some out there who are corrupt, who are failing at their tasks, we have an opportunity to hold them accountable."

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"I feel the Milwaukee County justice system is failing and that includes prosecution, so DA Chisholm I think should be looked at," he said. "The circuit court judges I think have failed the community by releasing or not having high enough bail on these criminals, the perpetrators. And so, they need be looked at  Janet Protasiewicz is a circuit court judge right now in Milwaukee and she has failed."

Sam Roecker, spokesman for Protasiewicz, did not directly respond to Knodl's comments.

"It's not surprising that the same people supporting this absurd plan to overturn the will of the people stand with (Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate) Dan Kelly, a partisan operative who advised on the plan to overturn Wisconsin's election results in 2020 and who has welcomed an insurrectionist to the campaign trail with open arms," Roecker said, referring to a letter Knodl signed with other 14 other Republican lawmakers urging then-Vice President Mike Pence to block President Joe Biden's 2020 victory over former President Donald Trump.

The letter asked Pence to put off certifying the presidential results a day before a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent Biden from becoming president. Kelly advised state GOP leaders on their participation of a plan involving battleground states like Wisconsin to gather Republicans in each state to submit false paperwork claiming to be electors for Trump, in an effort to persuade Pence to block certification of Biden's win.

Protasiewicz, Dan Kelly competing for Supreme Court

Protasiewicz faces former Justice Kelly in the April 4 election.

Kelly and Republicans have raised questions about how Protasiewicz, who worked as an assistant district attorney before being elected to the bench, has handled the sentencing of serious felons.

On at least three occasions, Milwaukee County prosecutors asked Protasiewicz to sentence a felon to time in prison for harming a child and she issued a sentence to time served in jail  ranging from 200 and 417 days  plus probation.

Protasiewicz has said her opponents are cherry-picking cases in her record, and defense attorneys note some defendants are in jail for as long as two years awaiting trial or a plea deal. Kelly has never served as a circuit court judge, so he has no record of criminal sentencing.

Chisholm came under fire for the low bail a prosecutor in his office recommended for Darrell Brooks in a domestic violence case that posted just days before he drove his 3,000-pound SUV through the Waukesha Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring dozens more.

Habush Sinykin points to the impeachment issue as among 'enormous consequences' of the special election

Habush Sinykin told WISN-TV on Sunday said if she is defeated by Knodl on Tuesday, she expects Republican lawmakers of launching impeachment proceedings against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, Attorney General Josh Kaul and other officials.

"Enormous consequences are attached to this election," she said.

In a statement Monday, Habush Sinykin said Knodl's comments show "partisan fights are more important to him than representing our residents."

State law allows a two-thirds majority in the state Senate to hold impeachment trials for state officials accused of corruption or crimes and misdemeanors if a majority of Assembly members vote to introduce impeachment articles, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.

The state Constitution and state law do not define what offenses for which a civil officer may be impeached, according to Legislative Reference Bureau director and general counsel Rick Champagne.

"The Assembly would need to identify the offenses in an Assembly resolution laying out the articles of impeachment. The articles would identify the offenses. Passage of this resolution would constitute an impeachment," Champagne told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in November.

If 50 members of the 99-seat Assembly have voted to impeach, the state Senate must conduct a trial. A conviction requires support from two-thirds of the state Senate, which could prove difficult as it would take every Senate Republican's approval. If convicted, an impeached public official is then removed from office and cannot hold another office in the future.

Republicans have a 64 to 35 majority in the Assembly. If Knodl wins election to the Senate he had would leave the Assembly and lift the Republican majority in the Senate to 22-11.

The only impeachment in state history took place in 1853 when the state Assembly sought to remove Levi Hubbell, the first circuit judge in Dane County and one of the first justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to the reference bureau and a 1999 article published by The Capital Times that sought to compare Hubbell's impeachment to proceedings underway at the time against President Bill Clinton.

Lawmakers may begin impeachment proceedings for elected state officials other than lawmakers and officials appointed to office, like the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state treasurer, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, judges and all cabinet secretaries.

"Once you get below state elected officers and appointed state officers, the government positions subject to impeachment get a little less clear," Champagne said.

Champagne said district attorneys are likely considered state civil officers under the state constitution for the purposes of impeachment but that the constitution does not define who is a state civil officer nor has a court weighed in on the question. The Wisconsin Constitution and state law also do not define what offenses could trigger an impeachment, according to Champagne.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Knodl says he would consider impeaching Protasiewicz if he's in Senate
A 19-year-old remains hospitalized in Georgia after he was forced to drink alcohol by teenagers, Georgia reports say.

Glynn County police said Trenton Lehrkamp was dropped off the evening of Tuesday, March 21 at Southeast Georgia Health Center. He was highly intoxicated from a mixture of controlled substances and alcohol.

The hospital told officials that three juveniles had dropped Lehrkamp off, according to a March 26 news release. The three juveniles registered their names with the ER but left before police arrived.

Officers said Lehrkamp did not have any signs of physical injury but there was spray paint on him.

Lehrkamp was put on a ventilator after he was deemed inconclusive to life; only passing 6 breaths per minute, according to a GoFundMe started by loved ones.

The 19-year-old  who is autistic  was bullied by a group of teenagers before he was hospitalized, 11Alives Kaitlyn Ross reported. The group taped Lehrkamp to a chair and force fed him alcohol, Ross said in a Facebook post.

On Wednesday, March 22, detectives obtained a search warrant for the St. Simons Island residence where Tuesdays incident occurred. Several pieces of evidence were collected and officers interviewed several minors associated with the incident, police said.

Detectives interviewed Lehrkamp about the incident on Sunday, March 26, according to the release. Lehrkamp was alert and conscious during the interview, and he and his family are working with police.

The incident involved several former and current Glynn County Schools students, according to a March 27 Facebook post. The district says it is cooperating with police.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact the Glynn County Police Department via the Silent Witness program at 912-264-1333 or 911silentwitness@glynncounty-ga.gov.

St. Simons Island is about 75 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida.

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The museum in Florence, Italy, that houses Michelangelos Renaissance masterpiece the David issued a remarkable invitation last week to parents and students of a school in Tallahassee.

Come visit, the Galleria dellAccademia said. See the statue for yourself.

The invite came after the forced resignation of the Florida charter schools principal after a parent complained that sixth-graders had been exposed to pornography during a lesson on Renaissance art that included the sculpture. It was yet another eruption in the states ongoing culture wars, and it left Florida open to international ridicule.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella even tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so she can be recognized there, saying, Art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect.

Of course, the parents and kids probably arent hopping on a flight to Europe to take the museum up on the offer any time soon. But the invitation wasnt about international travel anyway.

Keep an open mind

At its heart, it was an invitation to education. An invitation to open-mindedness. An invitation to remember that the 17-foot nude marble statue from 1504, carved by Michelangelo Buonarroti and representing the height of the Italian Renaissance, is considered a masterpiece around the world and maybe, just maybe, no one intended to harm your kids by letting them see it.

And what makes the invitation from Florence remarkable is that it is, well, constructive. Its a level-headed response to a moment of social friction. That shouldnt be particularly striking. But in Florida, where politicians are ceaselessly pushing anger and fear to stay in power, it is.

Here in the Sunshine State, we are increasingly braced for attack for being woke or sensitive or not sensitive or snowflakes or rewriting history or talking about diversity or saying gay. We are quick to feel offense, amped up over everything and ready to assume the worst of others.

Why think about anything for more than a moment when you can just pop off? Why listen to other viewpoints when you can stew in your own anger and fear? Its satisfying and feeds our frustrated inner child  in the short term. Its also destructive to democracy and to a civil society in the longer term.

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Fanning the flames

And the ever-widening river of fuel for all of this is coming from our elected leaders, who are identifying our vague fears and fanning them into fury. Its cynicism of the highest order, this exploitation of voters concerns. Sadly, Gov. Ron DeSantis is leading the charge, following in the footsteps of his mentor, Donald Trump. The left isnt immune, but the right has perfected this dreadful form of politics that has left us all feeling more miserable and alienated by the day.

This fight in Tallahassee isnt about a naked statue, though if parents want to keep their 11- and 12-year-olds away from seeing a famous statues genitalia in art class, that should be their prerogative. (Good luck keeping them off the internet, though.)

Nor is it about the school itself, which follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College  a conservative Christian school in Michigan  that has become a lightning rod for the woke wars.

Its about fear and the overreaction that comes with it. Its about the demand for parental choice that comes out of that fear  but only extends one way.

One or even two or three parents calling the David porn shouldnt be allowed to dictate what every other parent chooses for their child. By the way, if parents want to control the entire curriculum, theres a route to do that: home schooling.

The invitation from Italy is a reminder that we werent always this way. And we dont have to be this way now. We can choose  we have the power  to deal with our differences in a rational, and even optimistic, way rather than reflexively turning to the anger that politicians are gleefully stoking. We can try education before condemnation.

DeSantis is wrong. Florida is not where woke goes to die. Its where civility and thoughtfulness and reasonableness and kindness go to die.

But only if we let it.
The Louvre in Paris, the most visited museum in the world and home to the Mona Lisa, was shut to visitors all day Monday after workers striking over pension reforms blocked the entrance, AFP correspondents said.

The action came ahead of a new day of national strikes and protests in France against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.

The Louvre is closed on a Tuesday but, unlike many other museums in France, is traditionally open on a Monday.

"Due to public strikes, the Musee du Louvre is not able to be open for now. We thank you for your understanding," it said in English on Twitter.

Dozens of employees of the museum and other cultural sites stood outside the museum holding banners opposing the pensions reform and waving flags of their unions.

The museum was visited by almost eight million people last year, with long queues normally snaking outside its iconic pyramid entrance as visitors seek to view da Vinci's Mona Lisa and other masterpieces.

ls-may-sjw/fb
Spring is here and a welcome sight for some, but it also means itchy, watery eyes and sneezing allergy season for others.

For the first time in over a decade, Dayton is not ranked in the top 15 cities in the Allergy Capitals report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

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This report examines tree, grass, and weed pollen scores, over-the-counter medication use, and the number of allergy specialists. Then it ranks the most challenging 100 cities for allergy sufferers to live in.

Last year, Dayton was ranked as the 13th hardest city to live in; this year, it is ranked 88th with better-than-average scores. Only two Ohio cities are ranked higher, Toledo at 71 and Cincinnati at 78. Three other cities ranked lower than Dayton, Columbus, 92 Akron, 96, and Cleveland, 98.

This report does not show less pollen in the air, but better than average, worse than average medicine usage, and an average amount of available specialists.

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News Center 7s Taylor Robertson spoke with a family physician with Kettering Health Group who sees patients with allergy issues everyday about the allergy ranking of Dayton.

We do know that climate change is effecting peoples allergies and affecting pollen counts, Family Physician Kettering Health Group Middletown, Austin Williams, said.

William wonders if some areas got worse.

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While at the same time, weve had a really cold spring so far, and so potentially that has kept our pollen counts a little lower. Williams said.

Doctors say there are plenty of medications to combat the side effects.

Medicines like Zyrtec, Allegra, Xyzal is the new one on the market, but the ones I actually like are the nasal sprays, Williams said.

There are ways to avoid an allergy flare-up for allergy sufferers who want to enjoy the spring outdoors but do not like taking medication; avoid lawn care, do not hang up your laundry outside, do not keep outside clothes indoors, or stay inside.
Tropical cyclone Freddy churns between Mozambique and Madagascar on March 8, 2023 in this image from the NOAA-20 satellite.

A super-powered cyclone named "Freddy" has likely broken a number of mindblowing records since it formed in early February. The monstrous storm has crossed the Indian Ocean and made landfall three separate times, and may be the most energetic and long-lasting storm ever recorded.

Freddy was first named on Feb. 6 after forming off the north Australian coast. Since then, it has traveled more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) across the southern Indian Ocean to southeast Africa, where it finally appears to be dying down, according to the World Meteorological Association (WMA).

After damaging infrastructure on the islands of Mauritius and Reunion, which both avoided a direct hit, Freddy first made landfall on Feb. 21 as it plowed across the island nation of Madagascar. From there, the storm made landfall at Mozambique on Feb. 23 before briefly heading back out to sea, where it narrowly missed Madagascar again before turning around once more to hit Mozambique again on March 11, along with Malawi and Zimbabwe.

At least 148 people have been killed by Freddy and another 19 are missing, with death tolls likely to rise, according to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Related: Bermuda's hurricanes are twice as strong as they were six decades ago

Cyclone Freddy between Mozambique and Madagascar on March 8. The image was captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 satellite.

The cyclone dumped a mind-boggling amount of rain on land, leading to mudslides and flooding that have displaced tens of thousands and worsened a cholera outbreak in Malawi. Southern Mozambique received more than double its annual rainfall duringFreddy's landfalls, and Malawi received around 1.6 feet (0.5 meter) of rain in just 72 hours, according to WMA.

The cyclone has now moved back out to sea, where it is expected to finally dissipate.

Satellite footage of Cyclone Freddy approaching Madagascar.

Record-breaker

Though this still needs to be confirmed with storm data, Freddy is likely the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record, having lasted for at least 35 days. The previous record was set by Typhoon John, which whirled across the Pacific for 31 days in 1994. (Cyclones, which form in the southern hemisphere; hurricanes, which form in the Atlantic Ocean; and typhoons, which form in the Pacific Ocean, are collectively known as " tropical cyclones .")

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Freddy has also released an astonishing amount of energy during its long life. Scientists measure this using the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index, which tracks wind speed data over time. By Feb. 23, Freddy already had an ACE index of 66, making it the most powerful cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The trajectory of Cyclone Freddy between Feb. 6 and March 15.

By March 12, Freddy had reached an ACE index of 86, The Washington Post reported. If confirmed, that would make it the most energetic tropical cyclone ever recorded on Earth. The current record holder was Hurricane Ioke in 2006, which had an ACE index of 85.2.

Why has Freddy lasted so long?

Freddy has lasted so long because it has undergone several periods of restrengthening, where surrounding weather fronts strengthen wind speeds after they initially die down. Freddy has undergone at least four restrengthening events, which is the most ever seen in a tropical cyclone, according to NOAA. Further research will be needed to determine why this happened.

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NOAA experts also think that La Nina , an atmospheric phenomenon that cools large regions of Earth's oceans, could have played a role. The last two storms to take a similar path to Freddy across the Indian Ocean occurred in 2000, when there was a rare triple-dip La Nina that lasted three years. The current La Nina is also in its third year .

Experts suspect that human-caused climate change has played a role in strengthening the storm, although it is too early to say exactly how, according to WMA.

This story originally appeared on Livescience.
Health officials in Stanislaus County and the state are increasingly concerned about a deadly fungus that has spread in health care facilities and has been detected locally.

The fungus, called Candida auris, is resistant to drugs used to treat fungal infections. It can spread from person-to-person in hospitals and long-term care facilities and may cause severe infections with a high death rate, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Stanislaus Countys public health division released a statement Monday saying one case of Candida auris was detected in a county resident. The test sample was actually obtained at an outpatient location and further investigation did not link the case to any long-term care facility, the countys statement said.

In February, the California Department of Public Health released a health advisory about Candida auris cases in Stanislaus and Sacramento counties discovered since September 2022.

Near the end of January, a case was also identified at a hospital in Contra Costa County, leading health officials to believe there was more transmission of Candida auris in Northern California than previously indicated.

County public health said 70% of Candida auris cases in Southern California, where the fungus is more prevalent, have been in long-term acute care facilities and 20% in nursing homes, with the remainder in hospitals or other settings.

C. auris is easily spread among patients in healthcare settings and can persist in the healthcare environment for weeks, where it can spread through contact with contaminated surfaces or equipment and facilitated by excessive patient movement and poor hand hygiene in healthcare personnel, the public health statement said.

CDC advisories say the fungus was originally identified in Japan in 2009, and since then has surfaced in more than 30 countries including the United States. The pathogen spread in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The California Department Public Health said Candida auris mainly is found in health care facilities caring for patients who are seriously ill and are hospitalized for an extended period.

In general, the fungus is not a threat to healthy people, UC Davis Health said in a post last week. People who are very sick, or who have long or frequent stays in health care facilities or a weakened immune system are at increased risk for acquiring C. auris.

Almost 360 cases have been recorded in California in the past year, according to a CDC tracker. At 384, Nevada had the highest number of U.S. cases.

The infections are fatal in 30% to 60% of cases, but disease investigators have looked at a limited number of cases, the CDC says. Patients who died were seriously ill from other medical conditions.

Health officials believe the fungus spreads in a hospital through contact with contaminated surfaces or medical equipment. The most vulnerable patients are connected to central lines, tubes or ventilators and are hospitalized for an extended time.

The infections can enter the bloodstream. Special lab processes are essential for identifying the infection. The infections are hard to treat because some Candida auris strains are resistant to the drugs, the CDPH said.

The symptoms of infection include fever and chills, which are not affected by antibiotics.

The state is advising hospitals to put infected patients in a single room and conduct screening of high-risk patients and patient contacts for Candida auris.

The CDC guidelines say that nursing home patients with Candida auris can participate in meals and group activities if they wash their hands thoroughly on a regular basis, wounds are bandaged and items touched by the patient are disinfected after use.

Stanislaus County health officials are working with the state to engage long-term acute care hospitals and other health care organizations on preventing the spread of Candida auris.
Congress is inching closer toward repealing two Iraq war authorizations decades after their enactment, with bipartisan support emerging to reassert congressional authority, protect against a potential misuse of military force and send a message of support to Iraq, now a strategic U.S. ally.

The Senate is considering legislation to repeal Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs) for the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq after a strong 68-27 bipartisan procedural vote on March 16 to advance the bill.

And House Republicans appear ready for a debate on the Iraq war authorizations, should similar legislation move to the floor in the lower chamber.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) signaled his support for repealing authorizations for both wars, saying he was into it.

I dont have a problem with that, McCarthy said at a Republican retreat in Orlando, Fla., last week. I was not here to vote on either of the creation of those, but youre 20 years into this now.

McCarthy emphasized he would not support a repeal of another AUMF passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack to fight against global terrorism, which has been used to authorize a number of military actions across the world. The 2001 AUMF is not included in the House or Senate legislation.

The House Speaker is not the only Republican signaling support for the Iraq war repeals in the GOP-controlled House. Both Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) are co-sponsors of the House legislation introduced this year to repeal the Iraq war AUMFs.

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was seeing positive signals in the GOP conference for a discussion on the legislation.

I believe its time for us to have the debate both in the House and Senate, Bergman told The Hill. Because you can have a debate, and then you could look at it and say, Well, were not going to repeal it, but maybe were going to do something different.

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You consider what kind of powers the president should have, Bergman added, which could mean repealing it.

The 1991 Gulf War, supported by an AUMF passed that same year, involved a brief campaign as U.S. forces quickly and successfully repelled an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

An AUMF passed in 2002 supported an invasion of Iraq the following year.

Former President George W. Bush ordered military force after making the case Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hosting weapons of mass destruction and had supported Al-Qaeda. A United Nations task force later failed to find nuclear weapons in Iraq and no evidence ever emerged of Husseins ties with the terrorist group.

Hussein was ousted from power within two months after U.S. forces captured the capital of Baghdad. Bush quickly declared victory and said the major campaign was over.

U.S. troops remained in the country until 2011, when former President Obama pulled them out after years of fighting insurgent groups. American forces returned a few years later, at the request of the Iraqi government, with some 2,500 troops remaining there today.

Congress has tried for several years to repeal the AUMFs. This years effort comes as the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq passed on Monday, a day that was marked by the solemn remembrance of one of Americas most unpopular wars.

Khury Petersen-Smith, a Middle East fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a progressive think tank, said consideration of the repeals during the 20th anniversary of the war was fueling discourse and potentially setting the U.S. on the path to passage.

The fact that is the context in which this vote is coming up lends itself to passing, he said. I think there is a very limited, but no less important, reflection on the 2003 invasion of Iraq that is if not critical, then a bit regretful.

However, there remains some opposition to repealing the authorizations over concerns it would create a vacuum and give rise to U.S.-designated terrorist groups such as ISIS.

While a repeal would not force American soldiers to withdraw from Iraq, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on the Senate floor last week the U.S. needs the authorizations to make sure ISIS doesnt come back.

When they had a foothold in Iraq and Syria  all hell broke loose, Graham said. In 2023, Americans are serving in Iraq, and we owe it to them to make sure we can use whatever military force necessary to protect them.

Petersen-Smith from IPS said there may also be opposition to repealing the wars because the 1991, 2001 and 2002 AUMFs have institutionalized open-ended wars.

He also argued that opponents may see a repeal of the Iraq AUMFs as acknowledging the U.S. is guilty of horrendous human rights abuses.

Leading the effort to repeal the AUMFs on Capitol Hill are Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.), who have repeatedly warned that a sitting president can technically misuse the war authorizations if they remain on the books. Former President Trump justified a 2020 strike on Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad by citing the 2002 Iraq war AUMF.

The senators have also pushed for the AUMF repeals to relay a symbolic show of support to Iraq  a key partner for the U.S. in the Middle East  and to send a message to foreign adversaries that Washington can turn enemies into friends.

For veterans of the Iraq war, repealing the AUMFs would also serve as closure. The U.S. invasion cost the lives of more than 4,000 American troops.

Several organizations representing veterans and servicemembers have expressed clear support for the legislation, including the American Legion.

Sarah Streyder, the executive director of the Secure Families Initiative, a nonpartisan group that represents military spouses, family members and veterans, said she strongly supports repealing the dangerous, outdated Iraq war authorizations.

Occasions like the recent 20th anniversary of the Iraq war are solemn reminders that we need so much more than casual platitudes from our non-military neighbors  we need tangible policy action, Streyder said in a statement. We need voters and policymakers to show that theyve learned from the mistakes of the last 20 years to avoid suffering the same loss and sacrifice in the next 20.

Veterans of the Iraq war who are now in Congress could be among those who move the legislation forward. In his comments last week, McCarthy said lawmakers who served deserved a chance to weigh in on the AUMFs.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), an Army veteran who served for seven years in Iraq and was injured twice by explosive devices, said the AUMFs were being purposely misused for what was not their intended purpose.

It is also a direct abdication of our roles and responsibilities, Mills said, referring to Congress. I can tell you right now that Ill be happy upon repeal.

Meanwhile, the Senate considered and proposed several amendments to the legislation.

Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said a final vote could come early this week and passage was a matter of when, not if.

Americans want to see an end to endless Middle East wars, Schumer said. Passing this [bill] is a necessary step to putting these bitter conflicts squarely behind us.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and members of Ukraine's military pose in front of the first Challenger 2 tanks to arrive in Ukraine along with other military vehicles. (Photo: Defense Ministry / Facebook)

The first Challenger 2 tanks pledged by the U.K. are in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry reported on March 27.

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and members of the military were able to try out the Challenger tanks, Stryker and Cougar armored vehicles from the U.S., and Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany.

"Just a year ago, no one could have imagined the magnitude of support that would be provided by our partners," Reznikov said, as quoted by the Defense Ministry.

"Ukraine has managed to change the world. The incredible resilience of our people and the exceptional skill of our army have demonstrated to the world that Ukraine will emerge victorious."

Reznikov added that the new equipment will be a good addition to the existing weaponry on the battlefield, and that Ukraine would go on to restore its 1991 borders.

Alex Chalk, a top official at the U.K. Defense Department, said on Jan. 26 that the Challenger 2 tanks were expected to arrive in Ukraine at the end of March.

On Jan. 14, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the delivery of 14 Challenger 2 tanks and around 30 AS90 self-propelled 155mm howitzers as part of a major new package of military aid for Ukraine.
A rainy Saturday wasnt what most Bucks County and Philadelphia residents wanted to see this past weekend but the water runoff that flowed into the Delaware River during and after the storm may help to dilute a toxic chemical spill from a Bristol Township manufacturing plant into a river tributary Friday night, officials said Sunday.

Same chemicals released in Palestine, Ohio

The accidental spill of more than 8,100 gallons of latex emulsion chemicals, some of which flowed into the Otter Creek in Bristol Township and then into the Delaware in Bristol, included butyl acrylate, which gained notoriety as one of the hazardous chemicals released during a horrific train derailment last month in Palestine, Ohio, it was announced at a Philadelphia press conference Sunday on the spill.

Trinseo, a plant that manufactures acrylic resins on Route 413 in Bristol Township, estimated that the equipment failure allowed 8,100 gallons of a solution of water and latex polymers to be spilled into a containment area and then into the creek that flows into the river late Friday night.

Environmental remediation teams were still working to contain the spill Monday, as another round of rain sent more water into the contaminated creek. On Sunday, the Coast Guard said some 60,000 gallons of contaminated water had been collected.

Crews with Lewis Environmental were drawing contaminated water from the channel. Hundreds of gallons of potentially tainted water was gathered up and shipped away in large trucks.

Teams from the Banks Industrial Group installed four plastic dams to slow the spread of the contaminated water. But a milky white, bubbly sludge remained visible downstream.

Environmental teams placed rubber barriers to slow the spread of contaminated water in the Otter Creek.

Delaware River spill:Is Bucks County at risk after Delaware River chemical spill? What we know about drinking water

Details of Delaware River incident: Maps, timeline of the latex chemical spill that threatened drinking water in Philadelphia

What is butyl acrylate?

Butyl acrylate is a clear colorless liquid with a sharp, distinct smell less dense than water, which can form a surface slick on water, according to the National Library of Medicine. The chemical is used for making paints, coatings, caulks, sealants and adhesives, according to a story in the Columbus Dispatch about the train derailment.

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Short-term exposure to butyl acrylate can cause skin and eye irritation and respiratory problems.

The other chemicals are ethyl acrylate and methyle methacrylate. Both are colorless liquids that can irritate eyes, nose, lungs and throat.

The latex emulsion is a white liquid that is used in various consumer goods. Its pigmentation makes the water-soluble material visible in surface water, Trinseo said on its website.

The Brown's Shoprite in Bensalem was nearly out of bottled water Sunday afternoon. Supermarket shelves in Lower Bucks were empty Sunday afternoon after Philadelphia officials issued a drinking water advisory after chemicals that spilled in Bristol entered a Delaware River tributary. Aqua Pennsylvania, which supplies water in Lower Bucks said the spill has not impacted system.

How have officials monitored and secured water in Delaware River since spill in Bristol?

Many residents of Lower Bucks get their drinking water from Aqua Pennsylvania which said its water intakes in Bristol were immediately shut down and the drinking water here is safe.

"We continue to monitor the situation while also working closely with state and federal agencies. We will reopen our intake only when we are confident that the source water is safe for our customers and meets our stringent quality standards," Aqua stated. Aqua said its system uses water from multiple sources.

"Our Bristol Plant is upstream of the confluence of the spill, which gives us added flexibility," the utility said in another statement Monday afternoon. "While we continue to test the river water through our lab with highly specialized analysis equipment, we also perform other operational tests as we've begun turning on the plant when the tide moves downstream. And we monitor the tide and shut down the plant when it begins to move upstream."

Bucks County issued a statement Monday that there continues to be "no known adverse impacts to drinking water in Bucks County." The Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, the North Penn and North Wales water authorities and Pennsylvania American Water also stated that their water supplies are not affected.

"Pennsylvania American Water is monitoring the water quality of the Delaware River ...The company has determined there is no impact to our Yardley Water Treatment Plant, which is 15 miles upstream of the chemical release and serves Yardley Borough, Lower Makefield Township, and part of Falls Township," the company stated.

Philadelphia remains a concern after chemical spill

But Philadelphia officials have more concerns about the safety of the water taken from the river south of the spill by the Philadelphia Water Dept. For a time on Sunday morning, residents were urged to use bottled water and there was a run on supermarkets, including in Lower Bucks close to the border with the city.

At a press conference late Monday afternoon, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and other city officials said that water from city taps is safe until at least 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and urged residents to save three days worth of water in case the water entering the city system at its Baxter plant would show signs of contamination at that time.

Philadelphia police helicopters took aerial views of the river and determined there was no plume of toxins visible in the water, officials said Sunday.

The city is concerned that if contaminated water was found through testing, it would have to work its way through the system, which could take until next week, and that people and restaurants would be advised to use other sources of water until that happens.

Supermarkets there were already out of bottled water. The mayor said that people living on the other side of the Schuylkill River had no concern about their water, as it is not treated at the Baxter plant.

So far, the city has not seen any signs of contamination through 40 tests of the water involving the Baxter plant and city officials said it is safe to drink.

The mayor didn't blame Bucks County for the problem. "We have a good relationship with Bucks County and its government and this is a private company," Kenney said about the spill.

Riverkeeper won't drink from Delaware

Riverkeeper Maya von Rossum looks over Otter Creek as crews clean up a chemical spill Monday.

But Maya van Rossum wouldnt drink the water, she said Monday.

The longtime head of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network said she was deeply concerned about the release of information related to the spill and  in particular  notices sent to nonprofit organizations charged with protecting the environment.

DNR is routinely notified of spills that could impact the Delaware River watershed, said van Rossum. We received no indication of this event.

Among her concerns, the tidal flow of the Delaware could send chemicals both up and down the river. The river sloughs up and down, she said.

Her organization is sending right-to-know requests to the Coast Guard and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. In situations like this, we ask for everything, she said. We want to see everything related to this incident.

On Monday, van Rossum refrained from making an assessment of the possible environmental damage caused by the spill. The DNR needs much more information before it can determine the potential impact on the environment, including endangered fish species on the Delaware, van Rossum said.

The DEP said Sunday the water in the Delaware had not been contaminated and no fish or wildlife were injured, but they continue to monitor and take samples.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Aqua PA says Bucks County water safe despite chemical spill
Robotaxis in Beijing open new chapter of intelligent transport

By CAO YINGYING (China Daily) 08:46, March 27, 2023

Baidu and Pony.ai's autonomous driving vehicles test on the street in Yizhuang in Beijing's southern suburb. CHINA DAILY

Driverless cars ready for hire in suburb of capital, marking next step in sector's future

The scenes in science-fiction movies of people riding unmanned vehicles are becoming increasingly realistic, demonstrated by the recent availability of robotaxis in Beijing, which can be hired via mobile apps.

The city granted licenses to operate fully driverless robotaxi services to Chinese tech giant Baidu and autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai, earlier in March. It marked the first time that a fully driverless fleet of vehicles have been allowed to operate in a major city worldwide.

The two companies are among the leading players in China's autonomous driving industry, who have each deployed 10 autonomous vehicles in a 60-square-kilometer area in Yizhuang, a southern suburb of Beijing. They offer robotaxi services to citizens who can hail a ride through Baidu's Apollo Go and Pony.ai's PonyPilot+ apps.

Vehicles operate without a safety driver or human monitor inside. During the journey, passengers can communicate with support specialists verbally to receive assistance inside the vehicle.

The move follows the two companies beginning such road tests in the area on Dec 30. During the tests, Pony.ai said it achieved safety, stability and zero accidents in complex scenarios such as intersections and narrow roads, as well as in extreme weather conditions such as rain, snow and sandstorms.

Beijing set out a three-stage process for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in 2022. The first stage involves testing with a human safety driver, the second stage allows for a safety driver in the front seat and a passenger in the back, while the third stage allows for fully autonomous driving without a safety driver.

So far, the designated area in Beijing for autonomous driving has served more than 1 million people with mileage of more than 1.3 million kilometers.

Besides the capital, Baidu's ride-hailing services cover more than 10 cities in China, including Shanghai and Guangdong province's Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The company plans to expand its autonomous ride-hailing services to 65 cities in 2025 and 100 in 2030.

According to a head of Apollo Go, each vehicle can provide more than 15 ride services per day in first-tier cities on average. As of the end of January, it has accumulated more than 2 million orders, ranking it among the largest autonomous driving service providers in the world.

Global consultancy IHS Markit forecast that the market size of China's self-driving taxi services is expected to surpass 1.3 trillion ($188.6 billion) by 2030, accounting for 60 percent of the country's ride-hailing market by then.

McKinsey reported that autonomous driving could create $300-400 billion in revenue globally by 2035.

Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy Automotive Foresight, said that China's robotaxi fleet is the world's leading one, primarily attributed to the immense efforts put forth by companies conducting testing and the establishment of experimental zones by local governments.

Despite current limitations that require robotaxis to operate in designated zones due to complex road conditions and lack of legal shortfalls, their coverage is expected to expand as data accumulates and algorithms improve, Zhang said.

These unmanned vehicles mostly use multiple technologies such as lidar, cameras and ultrasonic sensors to obtain information about the surrounding environment. It then processes and judges through artificial intelligence algorithms to achieve autonomous driving.

The robotaxi is also expected to pave the way for the development of private autonomous vehicles, which have the potential to be a revolutionary technology capable of transforming people's lives, Zhang said.

Level 2 driving-assist features have become common in new cars. Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that more than 30 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the first half of 2022 had Level 2 driving-assist functions.

However, the large investment, long periods of research and development and delays to large-scale commercialization have shaken the capital market's patience for autonomous driving.

Waymo, one of the earliest players in the robotaxi race, had seen its valuation plummet from $175 billion in 2018 to $30 billion in 2022. Cruise, the self-driving unit of General Motors lost $500 million in value in the second quarter of 2022 alone, averaging more than $5 million in losses per day.

Meanwhile, Ford has disbanded Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle company that it jointly owned with Volkswagen.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company now believes the mass deployment of fully self-driving vehicles is "a long way off".

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Name a star or celebrity of the last 40 years and its likely that person was the subject of Bill Zehmes keen mind and artful writing, in such magazines as Rolling Stone, Playboy, Vanity Fair and Esquire, and in bestselling books in collaboration with Jay Leno and Regis Philbin, and about Andy Kaufman and Frank Sinatra.

Bill was a great writer but he was an even greater person, said Tom Dreesen of suburban Harvey, for years Sinatras opening act. Humble about his writing skills, and more interested in knowing about you than you knowing about him.

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Zehme was diagnosed a decade ago with colorectal cancer. Ever upbeat through it all, he was never strong enough since to write more than a bit for magazines or to complete his long-brewing biography of Johnny Carson.

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He was riding a medical roller coaster of hope and despair that ended on shortly after noon on Sunday, when the 64-year-old Zehme died in Weiss Memorial Hospital on the North Side. He had been hospitalized there since early March.

It was very hard, said actress Jennifer Engstrom, with whom Zehme lived and who had been his constant companion for more than a decade. There were many times during this month when we thought death was coming. He was not eating or drinking but he was fighting. He was so courageous, this month and over the last decade, and that helped get me and his sister through all this. It was inspiring. He always hated deadlines and I think he wanted to wait until his sister and I were both there in the room before he said goodbye. He was a gentleman to the end.

Said his younger sister Betsy, We never mentioned the word cancer. Never. This is a tragedy for all of us but when you consider that he beat the odds, living far longer than he should have with this disease, it goes to his spirit. We always told him he had superpowers even until the very end. Which he confirmed daily during his last days. Lets just say, he definitely did it his way, and we were privileged to be part of it. He was always trying to uplift us. He was the strongest person Ive ever known.

Zehme was born in 1958, the son of Robert and Suzanne Zehme, owners of Clemensen Florists in Flossmoor, a business that began in South Shore where Suzanne Zehmes father arrived from Denmark to help landscape the color-splashed Columbian Exposition in 1893.

A self-described geek at Thornwood High School in South Holland, Zehme attended Loyola University, majoring in communications and graduating in 1980. He began his career here, writing for local magazines and newspapers, including the Tribune, before being discovered by editors on the national scene. With a distinctive style that was impossible to imitate, he would become an inspiration for a generation of writers and as admired, prolific and successful as any nonfiction writer of his generation.

He was large in stature (at 6 feet, 5 inches), and in charm and personality.

I first met Bill ages ago when he interviewed me for Success Magazine , said Bob Sirott, longtime media fixture and morning host at WGN-720 AM. We became fast friends and bonded on the ridiculousness of showbiz. He was a regular on some of my television shows.

I loved that Bill would talk about the things guys usually dont talk about  like feelings. Ill forever cherish my text thread with him. That was his main means of communication in recent years. But it sparkled with the same unique flair, insight and humor as his many magazine stories, books and dinner conversations.

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As his stories came at a furious pace, he began to write books, the first being a humorous 1991 collaboration with fellow writer David Rensin called The Bob Book. Soon came his collaboration with Philbin in 1995s Im Only One Man!, followed the next year with Jay Lenos Leading with My Chin.

His Sinatra book was next in 1997. The Way You Wear Your Hat grew out of the last extensive interview given by Sinatra, the first he had granted to a reporter in more than 25 years. It was a hit.

What many argued was Zehmes best book came next. Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman was six years in the making and a book about that one-of-a-kind comic.

He was busy into the new century, dabbling in TV as an on-camera personality and lively guest; writing 2001s Hefs Little Black Book, an illustrated packed of advice and philosophy; and publishing in 2002 a collection of some of his magazine work, Intimate Strangers. He won the 2004 National Magazine Award for profile writing for his Esquire magazine piece about former Tribune columnist Bob Greene.

The next year he was deep into what he would refer to as Johnny world.

Johnny Carson had given Zehme the only interview he conducted after retiring in 1992 as host of the Tonight Show. The resulting story, which appeared in Esquire magazines May 2002 issue, pleased Carson so much that he wrote Zehme a note thanking him. A book deal was inked and Zehme got to work.

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No one could have imagined the extent of that work.

One night in 2013, Zehme walked into Twin Anchors, the venerable Old Town tavern and restaurant famous for its ribs (and that Frank Sinatra ate them whenever he was in town). Zehme once wrote, I love no place quite like I love this place. It is everything Chicago is supposed to be: familiar, old, neighborhoody, friendly 

There he talked about the Carson book, tentatively titled Carson the Magnificent: An Intimate Portrait.

In Johnny world, one thing leads to another, one person to another, he said.

He had spent all the money advanced by his publisher and still had work to do. NBC planned to make a miniseries biopic based on Zehmes book.

Now I just have to finish the thing, Zehme said.

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He packed his car with research materials and drove up to a secluded cabin to write. There, he began to experience terrible stomach pains and returned to Chicago where he was diagnosed by a doctor friend  he did not have health insurance.

I chronicled his fight with colorectal cancer in 2016. That was a bright moment but darkness came and the ensuing years were filled with all manner of health troubles and cancers insidious spread. He kept in touch with some close friends. He told me, One thing I have realized through all of this is that you better laugh every day of your life.

Caring for him through all of this was his younger sister Betsy, who he called my sunshine bomb and Engstrom, whom he called my everything. 

Now, as she deals with the pain of loss, she must decide what to do with his vast collection of materials gathered during his star-studded career.

He had told me that museum curators and art dealers have expressed interest in purchasing his vast collection of stuff. There is so much: books, papers, photos, artwork, tape recordings, a carousel horse and all the other stuff accumulated (and none discarded) during his busy life at the center of show business. It is a treasure trove, an amazing do-it-yourself museum, a haunted house.

He said, It looks like the movie set made for a mad professor of popular culture.

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His words defined an era and he once tried to explain how he went about the business of interviewing the celebrated. He said, I try to find why a certain person touches the rest of us, the essence of why we care about this person.

In addition to his partner and sister and her husband Bill and their son Luke, Zehme is survived by an adult daughter Lucy from a long ago marriage. A memorial service is being planned.

rkogan@chicagotribune.com
Delaware residents should not be affected by a chemical spill in Philadelphia that left portions of the Delaware River polluted, officials said Monday.

Approximately 8,100 gallons of latex finishing material, a water-soluble acrylic polymer solution, was spilled into Otter Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River, just before midnight on Friday, March 24, with the Coast Guard estimating as many as 12,000 gallons were released, according to Philadelphia Water Department.

Aerial view of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. A governmental agency created by compact in 1962, the Delaware River and Bay Authority owns and operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and the Forts Ferry Crossing.

The cause for the spill was a pipe rupture at the Altuglas plant in Bristol Township that spilled the hazardous liquid into a storm sewer, the company confirmed to WHYY News.

Same chemical released in Ohio

Chemicals released into the Delaware River include the same chemical released into a river in East Palestine, Ohio, after the Norfolk Southern train derailment, butyl acrylate, along with ethel acrylate and methyl methacrylate, chemicals used in the manufacture of plastics and coatings like latex paint.

Just before midnight Sunday, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services announced on Twitter that the states drinking water was not affected and no further caution was advised for Delaware residents.

MAPS AND TIMELINE: The latex chemical spill that threatened drinking water in Philadelphia

The Brown's Shoprite in Bensalem, Pa., was nearly out of bottled water Sunday afternoon. Supermarket shelves in Lower Bucks were empty Sunday afternoon after Philadelphia officials issued a drinking water advisory after chemicals that spilled in Bristol entered a Delaware River tributary.

DE drinking water has not been impacted by the chemical spill in a tributary of the Delaware River in Bristol, PA. Water treatment facilities that service DE do not take in water directly from the DE River. There is no impact to Delawareans at this time, read the tweet from DHSS.

The bottled water advisory issued by the city of Philadelphia applies only to residents who live east of the Schuylkill River.

The Water Department released a map over the weekend showing which areas were potentially impacted by the spill and which were safe to continue using their water as normal.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Philly chemical spill no impact on Delaware water: Officials
A Delta Air Lines flight. Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A Delta passenger was arrested after he opened the emergency plane door right before takeoff.

He slid down the emergency slide and later hopped onto a luggage cart.

The man was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation, an airport police officer told Fox News.

A man on a Delta flight was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport after he opened the plane door, activated the emergency slide, and slid down it minutes before his flight was scheduled to take off.

Delta Flight 1714 from Los Angeles to Seattle on Saturday was delayed due to an "unruly passenger" who exited the airplane while the "aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff," Delta Air Lines said in a statement seen by CBS News.

Fox News reported that the unnamed man, wearing a striped red and navy blue sweater with black pants, ran to the front of the aircraft and asked the flight crew: "What do I do now?"

New York Post (@nypost) March 26, 2023

At around 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the passenger pushed open the plane's emergency door and triggered the emergency exit slide, the Los Angeles Airport Police told CBS News.

The man then slid down the emergency slide and jumped onto the back of a baggage cart, where he was held by the airport crew until the police arrived, per Fox News.

"He is being taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation," Devin Feldman, an airport police officer, told Fox News.

"Due to the circumstances, FBI has been notified," Los Angeles Airport Police Captain Karla Rodriguez said to CBS News. "The aircraft was returned to a gate and passengers are in the process of being deplaned in order to be transported in another aircraft so that they can continue with their flight plans."

Representatives for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Los Angeles Police Department, and Delta did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Delta Air Lines passenger was arrested for opening an airplane exit door while it was preparing to take off from Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.

The passenger allegedly opened the door, activating the emergency slide, on Delta Flight 1714 bound for Seattle on Saturday morning. The plane was stopped at the time, waiting to taxi into position for takeoff, according to CNN.

Delta said in a statement that the flight returned to the gate due to an unruly passenger.

The aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff when the passenger exited the aircraft and was initially detained by Delta staff ahead of being arrested by local law enforcement, the airline said, according to a statement provided to CBS News.

Other passengers were reportedly accommodated on a different aircraft after the incident.

Airport police notified the FBI about the matter, Los Angeles Airport Police Capt. Karla Rodriguez said. Its not clear whether the passenger, who has not been publicly identified, faces charges.

Another passenger on the flight, Gillian Sheldon, told NBC Los Angeles the man was clearly agitated, or nervous or anxious or freaked out about something.
Protestors on the University of Pittsburghs campus blocked a portion of a busy roadway in Oakland on Monday evening.

Demonstrators were at the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard protesting a controversial event being held at the university.

RELATED >>> Pitt facing criticism over allowing events some call transphobic on campus

The event, called Gender: Who Decides? A debate on transgenderism and womanhood, was called anti-trans in a recent petition.

The university said it is committed to upholding the principles of free speech.

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Across the roughly 20-year heyday of education reform in the United States, few school systems experimented with the persistence and ambition of Denver Public Schools. Under the leadership of two hard-driving superintendents between 2005 and 2018, the district dramatically expanded educational options, granted more flexibility to school leaders and increased the stakes for poor academic outcomes.

Now, as that restructuring has come under increasing scrutiny from local opponents, researchers say that it led to some of the most significant learning gains ever measured. A paper released in December by scholars at the University of Colorado Denver finds that over a little more than a decade, the citys schools transformed from one of the worst districts in Colorado to one that outperforms more than half the districts in the state. Four-year high school graduation rates leapt from 43 percent to 71 percent during the same period, and the progress was shared by a diverse array of student demographics.

The results offer powerful evidence in favor of the so-called portfolio management model, an educational strategy that began to take hold in major urban school systems in the mid-2000s. Deliberately conceived as an alternative to the traditional methods of American school governance, the approach emphasizes greater autonomy for educators while focusing district authorities on centralized functions like enrollment and transportation.

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Denver was among the cities that fully embraced the model, experts have argued, making its successes particularly notable in education policy circles. Douglas Harris, an economist at Tulane University who has spent years studying reform efforts in New Orleans and elsewhere, said the new study had demonstrated proof of significant growth in Denver schools.

Douglas Harris

The effects are clearly large, Harris said. Just as a loose approximation, if you leapfrog that many districts, clearly youve seen a lot of improvement.

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But that improvement was accompanied by fierce opposition among many Denver families, teachers, and public school advocates, many of whom spent years protesting the course pursued by district leaders. While the closure of dozens of low-performing schools engendered the greatest controversy, the detractors have also claimed that top-down direction from the superintendent and school board generally eroded the communitys faith in the system. Those complaints eventually cascaded into a successful campaign to flip the board, replacing reform-friendly members with a new majority that has viewed the portfolio strategy much more skeptically.

Related Is Denvers Era of Education Reform Coming to an End? Outsider School Board Candidates Aim to Flip the Board This November

Parker Baxter  the studys lead author and an energetic advocate of the Denver reforms  said that the central finding in his work was simple and profound: that learning undeniably increased for the average Denver student over the 11 years he studied, and that no group was harmed.

The debate is framed in terms of whether these reforms helped or hurt the district overall, and this [study] provides the opportunity to evaluate that, said Baxter, who worked at Denver Public Schools from 2008 to 2011. The evidence we have is that students benefited from these reforms, even if they were not personally impacted by them.

Remarkable range of positive results

To get at the impact of the portfolio shift, Baxters study dives into test score data from 2008 to 2019  a period that encompasses most of Denvers reform era.

That phase began a little earlier, under the leadership of Superintendent Michael Bennet. Now a U.S. senator, Bennet spent three and a half years attempting to change a school system that ranked among the worst in the state. Under Bennet and his successor, Tom Boasberg, the portfolio model took shape.

Over 60 new schools were created in the decade that followed, while nearly 40 closed their doors permanently. Parents were presented with a bevy of novel school options, including a quickly expanding sector of charter and innovation schools. Those new offerings were integrated into a unified, district-wide application system that allowed students to freely select among different choices.

Boasberg, who left the district in 2018 after nearly a decade to take on leadership of the Singapore American School, said that each of those alterations was an ingredient in the success of the reforms, but that the indispensable factor was far simpler: a focus on attracting and retaining better instructional talent to schools, whatever their particular type.

Related Elevating Expectations in the Mile High City: How Tom Boasberg Reshaped Denvers Schools

Ideological heat around school choice and accountability tends to obscure the single-minded focus on quality during the implementation of the reforms, Boasberg added.

Theres a lot of political ideology around governance models, he argued. We really didnt care about that. We were about: Are you a good school, and do you serve all kids? The governance model was not important to us.

To what degree Denvers improvements were attributable to the portfolio reforms can be debated, but their scale is impressive. Before the 200809 school year, Denver was one of the 10 lowest-performing school systems in Colorado on both math and reading tests, performing below the 5th percentile of districts statewide. In 201819, it had risen to the 60th percentile in reading and the 63rd percentile in math. In comparison with a group of similarly low-performing districts in the state, Baxter and his coauthors found, the reforms triggered growth equivalent to between 1 and 1.5 extra school years over the period studied.

That general progress spilled over into secondary areas, such as district enrollment, which increased by nearly 20,000 students between 2004 and 2019. While white children saw the largest gains overall, results were also positive for African American students in literacy. Hispanic and low-income students saw positive results in math and English, though they were not large enough to be considered statistically significant.

Baxter called the range of positive results, across both subject areas and racial categories, remarkable.

The fact that we see significant positive results for students with disabilities, or for African American students in math  we would not necessarily expect a reform, even one that had such a positive impact systemwide, to also have these positive impacts for the most vulnerable subgroups.

Denver Public Schools declined to comment for this story.

Model hasnt gotten very far

Whatever the good news from the last decade of school governance, however, the next decade is much in question.

After the successful 2019 effort to flip the school board  replacing members who had largely backed Bennet and Boasbergs approach with a new group that enjoyed more support from the local teachers union  a pronounced change in direction has taken place in the district. Superintendent Susana Cordova, a veteran of the reform regime who stepped in to replace an increasingly controversial Boasberg, soon left town herself after a brief tenure marked by poor performance reviews. The boards new majority also voted to eliminate a school ratings system that had drawn criticism from educators.

Related For Years, Denver Public Schools Were a Haven for School Reform. After a Superintendents Resignation, What Comes Next?

Nevertheless, three years into what might be deemed the post-reform period, many of the hallmarks of the portfolio model remain in place. The pace of school closures has slowed almost to a halt, but schools of choice still enroll a substantial portion of Denver students, and charter and innovation schools maintain wide autonomy in terms of hiring, curriculum, and scheduling. Boasberg said that the interlocking reforms embedded during his time in office would be difficult to do away with  if only because they remain broadly popular.

The pieces do fit together, and thats a really important part of it, Boasberg said. Why would you want to change the funding system to give less money to poor kids? Why would you want to have charters serve fewer English language learners and kids with special needs? Why would you want to take choices away from families?

Tom Boasberg

The future for the portfolio approach is perhaps murkier. After reaching a high point in the middle of the 2010s, school reform in major districts has stalled due to both political pressure and internal exhaustion. The models exemplars  New Orleans, which largely swept away the pre-reform landscape following Hurricane Katrina, is perhaps the prototypical example  have achieved substantial gains. But a large group of cities that attempted the portfolio pivot, from New York to Chicago to Washington, D.C., never completed the transformation.

Harris observed that, after years of hype and advocacy, the portfolio vision hasnt gotten very far. That said, he added, its central ideas of expanded choice and unified district functions have left their mark in systems enrolling millions of students.

Making structural changes in the education system is a very slow-moving enterprise, and the fact that we do have this idea  call if portfolio, call it what you will  that has infused a large number of urban districts, even in an impure form, is significant.
YORKTOWN, Ind.  Delaware County sheriff's deputies reported a Yorktown man was highly intoxicated when he fired gunshots while driving a dump truck early Sunday.

Corey Lee Bennett, 35, was arrested in a traffic stop, shortly after 1 a.m.. along Tiger Drive near Yorktown Middle School.

Dispatchers a short time earlier had received a report of several gunshots being fired from a vehicle on Priest Ford Road. A deputy in the area also reported hearing five to six shots "coming from the west."

After that deputy pulled the dump truck over, Bennett left the vehicle, "cursing and say he was not going to do what we tell him," the deputy wrote.

He was then taken into custody by a Yorktown officer. Three juvenile passengers in the dump truck were later released to the custody of their parents.

More:Habitual offender from Muncie sentenced to 9 years on home detention

The deputy reported a firearm and a bottle of vodka were found inside the vehicle. Bennett reportedly claimed he had stopped on Priest Ford Road, got out of the truck and fired about 10 gunshots into a "random tree."

A breath test measured the Yorktown man's blood-alcohol content at 0.276. In Indiana, motorists with a BAC of 0.08 or higher are considered intoxicated.

Bennett  who reportedly said he had consumed about a pint of an alcoholic beverage  refused to submit to a blood test at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, prompting deputies to obtain a warrant for the blood sample, signed by Delaware Circuit Court 3 Judge Linda Ralu Wolf.

He was preliminarily charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and driving while intoxicated, and was later released from the Delaware County jail after posting a bond of $22,500.

He is set to stand trial Sept. 13 in Delaware Circuit Court 3 on four charges filed last June  battery against a public safety official, intimidation, resisting law enforcement and driving while suspended.

The Yorktown man is also scheduled to stand trial Sept. 13, in the same court, on four other charges filed in June  domestic battery, resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

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In Muncie City Court, he faces four charges  battery resulting in bodily injury, invasion of privacy and two counts of intimidation  filed last July.

According to court records, Bennett was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2019 and driving while suspended in 2021.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Deputies: Intoxicated dump truck driver arrested after gunshots
Its Monday, March 27, and if you blink, you might just miss the 2023 legislative session. Republican leaders are fast-tracking Gov. Ron DeSantis legislative priorities to help bolster what is expected to be a soon-to-be announced presidential campaign. As that happens, the Republican governor is refining his message for a national audience, most recently on foreign policy.

WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT

Legal reforms divide GOP: DeSantis signed into law a sweeping overhaul of Floridas legal landscape that will make it harder, and more expensive, to sue insurance companies. Some Republican senators have been concerned that the legal reforms tilt the scales too far in favor of insurance companies, and former President Donald Trump has called it an insurance company bailout.

Vouchers for all: A plan to offer every K-12 school-aged child in Florida a voucher or education savings account regardless of family income is headed to DeSantis for final consideration. But disagreements remain on how to fund the program, with major discrepancies between the House and Senate.

Permitless carry: A bill that would let people carry concealed firearms without a permit and without training passed out of the House on Friday, putting the bill just a step away from the governors desk.

Corporate wokeness: The Florida House passed a measure that would prevent consideration of environmental, social and governance standards in investing government money. It is a priority of the governor. The measures fate is now up to the Senate.

Fixing the affordable housing crisis: Since 2001, GOP lawmakers and governors have diverted more than $2 billion in tax dollars assigned to creating affordable housing and spent it on other things. Not this year. Lawmakers want to spend $711 million to build affordable housing, incentivize new construction through tax breaks and offer interest-free loans to help Floridians afford down payments.

The power of one: Legislation ready for a final vote would give businesses a powerful new tool in Florida: the ability to file a lawsuit and single-handedly block a new local ordinance or rule. The bill was designed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and opponents warn that, if approved, it will have a chilling effect on the willingness of cities and counties to manage their communities.

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Expanding an untested State Guard: When Gov. Ron DeSantis first proposed reviving the long-dormant Florida State Guard; he wanted 200 volunteers and a modest $5 million budget. Now its 1,500 members and a nearly $100 million budget  with police powers, helicopters, boats and possible cell phone-hacking technology, under a proposed budget backed by Republican leaders in the House that largely mirrors DeSantis vision.

Abortion restrictions: Legislation that would ban abortions after six weeks also includes $25 million for the states alternatives-to-abortion program. The goal is to expand the reach of pregnancy centers following the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling last summer to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that had protected abortion rights for half a century.

Healthcare equity targeted: In 2017, when Florida Department of Health officials crafted their once-every-five-years list of state health goals, they published what was then a noncontroversial top priority: improving health equity. When a new plan was written in 2022, equity was absent from the states priorities.

Crowds fill Main Street USA in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom on the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. (Photo by Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS/Sipa USA)

A show of defiance: The Walt Disney Company will host a major conference promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in the workplace in Central Florida this September, gathering executives and professionals from the worlds largest companies in a defiant display of the limits of DeSantis campaign against diversity training.

Shielding DeSantis travel details: Citing an increase in public records requests for the governors travel schedule, Florida legislators are advancing a bill that would shield from the public any information about how and where DeSantis and some other state officials go. The bill would impose the first-ever public records exemption for transportation records and would take effect retroactively, prohibiting anyone from scrutinizing how DeSantis has used his state travel in the past and as he prepares for a likely campaign for the Republican nomination for president.

Changing tunes on Ukraine: A week after calling the war between Ukraine and Russia a territorial dispute, DeSantis abruptly changed his message in an interview published Wednesday, saying Russia was wrong to invade its neighboring country and calling for Vladimir Putin to be held accountable. I think he is a war criminal, the Republican Florida governor told the New York Posts Piers Morgan. Ukraine, he added, has right to that territory.

Manufactured circus: DeSantis said he would not be involved in what he called a manufactured circus over a possible indictment of Trump by a New York prosecutor over allegations that Trump paid hush money to a porn actress before he was elected in 2016. I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just cant speak to that, DeSantis said.

Drag performers object to bills: Republicans in the House and Senate advanced bills that would make it easier for the state to crack down on drag performances in cases when children are present. Supporters of the measures say they want to protect children from sexualized content, but opponents  including several drag performers and charity fundraisers  say the proposed legislation is an attack on the LGBTQ community.

House bill sponsor Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, presents the bill Friday, March 24, 2023, in the Commerce Committee as several drag queens seated behind him watch the proceedings.

More classroom restrictions: DeSantis administration is proposing a rule that says teachers in grades 4 to 12 shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction on those topics  unless the lessons are expressly required by the states academic standards or are part of a reproductive health course. The State Board of Education will vote on it April 19, and if approved, it would go beyond what state law currently requires.

Teacher pay at issue: Members of the State Board of Education are considering ways to put pressure on local leaders of teachers unions and school board members amid delays in planned salary increases for teachers in some districts.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING

Heart transplant program on pause: Adult heart transplants are temporarily suspended at Miami Transplant Institute, run by Jackson Health and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The hospital confirmed it voluntarily placed its adult heart transplant program on temporary inactive status while it undergoes an in-depth review of our care.

DeSantis sends troopers to Miami Beach: DeSantis sent dozens of Florida Highway Patrol troopers to Miami Beach to re-enforce local officers patrolling spring break crowds. The troopers are tasked to patrol the streets, keep order and to prevent violent, illegal and unruly behavior, officials said. The sudden deployment is directly connected to violent crimes in the city over the last week.

Parkland dad arrested: A South Florida gun-control activist whose son was killed in the Parkland school shooting was arrested at the U.S. Capitol complex, charged with refusing a police officers orders after being removed from a Republican-led hearing about a federal gun regulatory agency.

Mental health on the hot seat: Invoking Floridas new parents rights law, the Miami-Dade School Board will review how students learn about managing their emotions, collaborating with others and developing their identities  a move that comes as the number of students experiencing mental health concerns has significantly increased in recent years.

Parents vs. Michelangelos David: The Tallahassee Classical School, a charter school, drew national attention after its board forced its principal to resign after three parents complained about an art teacher showing a picture of Michelangelos 16th-century sculpture David. The move ignited a national conversation about Floridas parental rights law and the state of education in Florida.

The Tallahassee Classical Schools principal was forced out after parents complained sixth graders were shown Michelangelos David, declaring it porn.

What does the board chair have to say about it? In an interview with Slate, the schools board chair, Barney Bishop III, explains how the decision stems from the view that parental rights are supreme and a curated curriculum that aligns with DeSantis vision.

In this weeks episode of Woke Wars, the weekly podcast of the Miami Herald opinion team, they tackle the Legislatures efforts to legislate issues pertaining to sexuality and gender issues.

Thank you for reading! The Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State newsletter was curated this week by Tallahassee Bureau Reporter Ana Ceballos. We appreciate our readers, and if you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at aceballos@miamiherald.com.

Please subscribe! Know someone whod like to get this free newsletter? Send this to a friend to receive it weekly.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' groundwork for a potential presidential campaign has drawn a second ethics complaint, this time coming from the head of the Florida Democratic Party.

The complaint centers on whether money DeSantis political committee spent on a three-day retreat at a Palm Beach resort hotel was an improper gift to the Republican governor. DeSantis in late February huddled with donors and Republican elected officials such as Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Tom Cotton of Arkansas at the Four Seasons at an event that was billed as a celebration of the Florida blueprint.

Campaign records show that Friends of Ron DeSantis paid the Four Seasons more than $235,000 toward the cost of the event.

Nikki Fried, the chair of the Democratic Party, filed a complaint late last week with the Florida Commission on Ethics that alleges that the committees spending violates a Florida law that bars spending money on activities that are unrelated to the political work of the committee. The committee was initially set up to aid DeSantis in his race for governor.

This is yet another example of Ron DeSantis arrogantly thinking he is above the law. No one is above the law," Fried said. While Floridians face some of the highest property insurance and mortgage rates in the states history, DeSantis is hobnobbing with special interest donors and lining his pockets with freebies."



Taryn Fenske, a spokesperson for DeSantis, quickly dismissed the complaint, which is similar to one filed earlier this month by a super PAC that supports former President Donald Trump.

Just like the one from two weeks ago, well just add this to the list of frivolous & politically motivated attacks, Fenske said on Twitter. Louder for the Dems in the back: Its inappropriate to use ethics complaints for partisan purposes.

Evan Power, the vice chair of the Republican Party of Florida who had filed an ethics complaint against Fried when she was still agriculture commissioner, lashed out as well.

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Nikki Fried filing an ethics complaint is like asking Freddy [Krueger] to set up a first aid tent, Power said in a statement. The ethics commission this month agreed to drop the case against Fried.

The brief complaint filed by the Democratic Party is much more focused than the one outlined by the head of Make America Great Again, the super PAC backing Trump. It contends that other improper spending by the committee also includes $142,000 spent on an event at a Miami hotel, along with nearly $12,000 spent at a Miami steak restaurant as well as money spent on DeSantis merchandise like promotional tumblers and t-shirts.

In Florida, political committees can accept unlimited donations from any donor. And in the past, the state panels that regulate ethics and campaign finance have given wide latitude on the type of spending allowed by these committees.

DeSantis is expected to formally launch a run for president later this year, and he has been holding events to promote his new memoir  and his Florida blueprint  in events both in Florida and select states including Iowa and Nevada.

The ethics complaints filed against DeSantis and his political committee may not be resolved quickly. The process can take months for the ethics commission to determine whether there is a legal basis for the complaint and to investigate it.
(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG shares rebounded and the cost of insuring its debt against default eased on Monday after sell-side analysts sought to reassure that the German lenders financial health was sound.

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Shares of Germanys largest bank closed 6.2% higher in Frankfurt, the best performing stock on Europes Stoxx 600 Banks Index. Commerzbank AG, Barclays Plc and Banco Santander SA were also among the biggest gainers.

Though there was no clear trigger for the declines on Friday, hedge funds have seemingly turned their attention to Deutsche Bank in the wake of the collapse of Credit Suisse Group and three regional US banks.

Deutsche Bank is not the weak link in the European banking landscape, Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Nicolas Payen wrote in a note, flagging that the lender had very solid fundamentals.

European regulators have pushed lenders to reduce leverage and improve their capital position, resulting in a far healthier balance sheet than during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.

Mondays relief was also reflected in a closely watched measure on Deutsche Banks creditworthiness: Spreads on five-year senior credit default swaps fell to 198.6 basis points on Monday from as high as 226.9 basis points on Friday, according to CMAQ pricing.

Deutsche Bank has de-risked and refocused its business model in recent years which should help the bank to generate less volatile and higher profit levels, Oddo BHF analyst Roland Pfaender said in a note Monday, after reiterating an outperform rating.

The gains also followed German Chancellor Olaf Scholzs comments late on Friday that theres no reason for concern about the bank.

Citigroup Inc. analyst Andrew Coombs meanwhile said Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have much lower exposure to the commercial real estate sector  one of the other reasons cited behind Fridays rout. Coombs added that the segment represents 7% of the banks total loans.

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The banks valuations also suggest room for catch up with peers. Deutsche Bank shares trade at 25% discount to the European banking index on a 12-month forward earnings basis, and they are valued at 0.28 times their book value.

Deutsche Bank did have concerns in 2016-17, but it is now on a fundamentally stronger footing after successfully restructuring its businesses, Monica Defend, head of the Amundi Institute, said.

--With assistance from Tasos Vossos and Jan-Patrick Barnert.

(Adds comment, updates shares)

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King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson in 1936, has long been rumored to have passed critical information to the Nazis to enable them to target the royal familys living quarters when they bombed Buckingham Palace in 1940.

Now, historian Alexander Larman has reopened the debate, saying Edwards American partner Simpson claimed the duke had tipped off the Nazis. He says incontrovertible proof of Edwards collusion may soon be uncovered in the royal archives, according to a report in the London Times.

Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival, Larman said that a surprising amount of information had been made available to him in the archives at Windsor Castle. He added that a royal archivist had told him: We are not in the business of protecting the Duke of Windsors reputation.

Edward was an admirer of Hitler and met him in Munich in 1937. The contemporary diarist Chips Channon wrote that Edward and Simpson supported the Nazis, and reported on rumors saying they were hoping to be installed as puppet rulers of the U.K in the event of a Nazi victory.

Larman told the festival that Simpson had claimed that Edward had provided inside information on the layout of Buckingham Palace.

Larman said: The Nazis knew what they were doing and that was because they had inside information [from the duke] I dont think he [Edward VIII] wanted to see him [his brother, George VI] dead but... he was in a position where he knew exactly where everybody was in Buckingham Palace.

Several bombs hit the familys private living quarters and the family was considered lucky to escape without injury.

The raid ultimately shored up support for the monarchy and the queen (better known in later life as the queen mother) famously said afterwards: I am glad we have been bombed. Now we can look the East End in the eye.

The historian Andrew Lownie, author of the book Traitor King about Edward VIII, dismissed the claims. Telling The Daily Beast there was no evidence to back up the claims that Edward colluded with the Nazis to help them pinpoint the familys rooms. He pointed out that similar claims have been made periodically over several decades.

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Lownie said: I was the first historian to see the new material on Edward Vlll under a more open policy at the Royal Archives who Ive found very helpful. The archivists claim everything they can release on him has been released subject to data protection and they were reading just ahead of me as I was working there last year.

The bombing raid on Buckingham Palace is an old chestnut. There is no evidence to support any internal leak whether from Duke of Windsor or anyone else. Larman makes the statement in his book with no evidence. The fact is Buckingham Palace was a sitting and obvious target and it wouldnt be difficult to drop a bomb on it.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The four defendants charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are, from left, consultant Jay Doherty, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore. (Brian Cassella and Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

More than four years after the FBI knocked on his door, former ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez finally began his long-awaited turn on a federal witness stand Monday, testifying about his role in an elaborate scheme to lavish associates of Michael Madigan with do-nothing contracts to win the powerful speakers influence.

Appearing relaxed and speaking in a direct, firm voice, Marquez took the jury to the heart of the allegations in the ComEd Four case, explaining the push to get in Madigans good graces, the legislative wins that followed, as well as his understanding that the hiring orders were coming directly from the speaker himself.

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The roster of subcontractors was curated by Madigans longtime confidant, Michael McClain, and read like a whos who of Madigans vaunted political operation, including two legendary precinct captains, a former assistant majority leader in the House and two former Chicago alderman at the center of Madigans Southwest Side base of power, according to Marquez.

Over the course of eight years, ComEd paid them hundreds of thousands of dollars, even though they had no particular expertise and ultimately did virtually no work for the utility. Some seemed to be downright incompetent, Marquez said.

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I know that they were brought on as a favor to Michael Madigan, Marquez testified. For Madigan to see ComEd positively. So that he could perhaps be helpful for our legislative agenda in Springfield.

[ ComEd Four bribery trial: What you need to know ]

During Marquezs testimony, prosecutors also played several of the key wiretapped recordings in the case, including a May 2018 call between McClain and Anne Pramaggiore, ComEds then-CEO.

Have you thought any more about Mike Zalewski? McClain asked on the call, referring to putting the retiring 23rd Ward alderman on the ComEd payroll.

Yeah I told Fidel to hire him, to get it done, Pramaggiore responded.

Marquez also told the jury about several intriguing behind-the-scenes political maneuvers, including the alleged plot to put former McPier boss Juan Ochoa on ComEds board and how the speaker allegedly gave the company the go ahead to kill a piece of legislation that had been pushed by his own daughter, then-Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

[ ComEd Four trial offering a fascinating and unprecedented look into the inner workings of Michael Madigans political power ]

Marquez, 59, who is considered to be the star witness for prosecutors, took the stand as the ComEd Four trial kicked off its third week Monday, and his testimony is expected to last several days.

Fidel Marquez, vice president of operations at ComEd in 2008. (Candice C. Cusic/Chicago Tribune)

On trial are McClain, Pramaggiore, former ComEd contract lobbyist Jay Doherty, and John Hooker, who preceded Marquez in the job before retiring in 2012 and becoming a contract lobbyist for ComEd.

Madigan and McClain, meanwhile, are facing separate racketeering charges alleging an array of corrupt schemes, including the bribery plot by ComEd.

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The defense has argued that what prosecutors say was bribery was actually nothing more than honest, legal political lobbying, and that there was no evidence Madigan did anything to directly help ComEd in exchange for benefits that flowed to his cronies.

Marquez began by telling the jury about being confronted by the FBI in January 2019 and his subsequent decision to cooperate and make secret recordings of his colleagues. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of bribery conspiracy and faces up to five years in prison, but if he testifies truthfully prosecutors will recommend no jail time, he said.

When asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu what he pleaded guilty to, Marquez responded, Conspiracy to corruptly influence and reward Speaker Michael Madigan.

He told the jury that Madigan wielded immense power in the legislature, noting the speaker could put up roadblocks at several stages of the legislative process and that ComEd would have difficulty passing legislation without repairing the relationship with him.

In the late 2000s, the companys relationship with Madigan was not a very good one, he said, adding that Madigans experience in getting inaccurate information during ComEds efforts to pass the failed merger legislation meant he grew to mistrust the utility.

Efforts had to be made to improve that relationship with Michael Madigan and regain his trust, Marquez said.

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At the forefront of that effort was McClain, whom Marquez described as very loyal to the utility but also somewhat of a double-agent.

If there was a difference between ComEd and Michael Madigan, if there was an issue, (McClain) would side with Michael Madigan, Marquez testified.

Pramaggiore, meanwhile, developed a close, if not somewhat personal relationship with Madigan after she took over as ComEds CEO in 2012, getting to know his family and traveling with the speaker on an economic junket to Turkey, Marquez said.

She was aware of his children, when Michael Madigan had a new grandbaby ... things of that nature, Marquez told the jury.

Defendant Anne Pramaggiore walks down Dearborn Street after exiting the U.S. Dirksen Courthouse in downtown Chicago following the first day of the ComEd Four bribery conspiracy trial on March 14, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Marquez said that top people in Madigans office participated in the negotiations of major legislation pushed by ComEd, including the 2011 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, which created a new formula rate and rescued ComEd from dire financial hardship.

During those negotiations, as well as in other talks about the ensuring Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016, Madigan continually sought sunset provisions in order to make the company return to Springfield to seek extensions to its electricity rate formulas, Marquez said.

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Marquez said that soon after the EIMA bill passed, Pramaggiore called a meeting at ComEd where they discussed a to-do list that had come from straight from Madigan. Among the items were to hire certain individuals, including a relative of then-state Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, he said.

Marquez says he first learned about the broader subcontractor plot in June 2013, via an email that McClain sent to Pramaggiore asking that Ed Moody, a longtime precinct captain for Madigans 13th Ward operation, be moved off my contract and onto Jay Dohertys or someone elses.

In November 2016, after Moody was named a Cook County commissioner, his contract was moved again to avoid a significant ethics concern, Marquez said. This time, he was to be paid by the consulting firm headed by Shaw Decremer, another Madigan lieutenant.

In an email to Marquez that was shown to the jury, McClain wrote: Fidel, our friend has talked to Ed Moody. Shaw is OK with his role. Please initiate all the paperwork. ... I thank you. Best, Mike.

Marquez testified that by our friend, he knew that McClain meant Madigan.

Marquez also testified that on McClains request, he agreed to pay $5,000 a month to former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, a former Madigan assistant majority leader who left the House to start a lobbying business.

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Speaker Mike Madigan confers with Rep. Edward "Eddie" Acevedo on the bench behind the Speaker's podium in the House chambers in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on April 29, 2010. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Marquez said he had reservations about Acevedos qualifications, but agreed to pay him anyway because he came from Madigan.

I considered Eddie Acevedo as a legislator who was very emotional, someone who was typically high maintenance, Marquez said. I didnt consider him as very smart.

He said at after-hours gatherings, Acevedo would drink excessively and become very sloppy.

Marquez testified McClain promised to have a Daddy Talk with Acevedo to rein him in.

At one point in his testimony, Marquez also explained a cryptic email that McClain wrote indicating that ComEd had the green light to kill a major bill that the speakers daughter, wanted passed in 2018, the last of her 16 years in the statewide post.

In the email, Marquez testified, McClain described to ComEd that the attorney general was seeking to make the legislation a legacy bill as she was heading out the door, but that he had secured permission for ComEd to block it in the House,

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Coming near the end of the spring legislation, McClains email told ComEd executives a month ago a friend of ours, meaning Madigan, alerted me and thereby us to this initiative. As we all know, that was code for we can go ahead and kill it.

McClain also wrote ComEd initially failed to kill the legislation and warned that now it has substantial legs, a term indicating the attorney generals bill had momentum.

One key part of the attorney general-backed bill would have required ComEd to give more assistance to low-income electricity users, but the company opposed it because other customers would pay more to cover the costs, Marquez testified.

Even as Lisa Madigan negotiated with ComEd, though, prosecutors have alleged her father was pressing the utility for two key jobs.

One Madigan push allegedly was to put Ochoa, the former chief of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, on ComEds board of directors. Madigan allegedly backed Ochoa, who previously battled the speaker over political issues, because he was a friend of then-U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez.

The second hire Madigan allegedly sought was for Ald. Zalewski, a longtime ally of the speaker.

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Prosecutors played a May 2018 recording between McClain and Pramaggiore in which he informed her the speaker wanted her to keep pressing to get Ochoa appointed to the ComEd board and Zalewski on a contract.

OK got it. I will keep pressing, Pramaggiore said.

McClain told Pramaggiore on the call that when he talked to Madigan about Ochoas potential financial problems, the speakers response was that Harry Truman filed for bankruptcy too.

Pramaggiore laughed. It is classic him! I love it. And he would know that, you know? she said.

Listen to the audio:

ComEd eventually put Ochoa and Zalewski into the positions Madigan allegedly requested, and the legislation Attorney General Madigan sought was defeated during a full-court press by ComEd lobbyists.

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Prosecutors showed McClain briefed Pramaggiore on Madigans political machinations during a call in 2018. McClain told Pramaggiore how Madigan was taking advantage of Democratic J.B. Pritzkers self-funding on his governor campaign, saying the speaker was going to regular givers in gubernatorial races, raised $13 million and had another million more stashed in campaign funds of legislative allies.

The last recording played in court Monday captured McClain and Marquez talking about revamping the magic list of Madigan-favored lobbyists that McClain kept. A previous witness testified that McClain kept the handwritten list on stationery from the Talbott Hotel in Chicagos Gold Coast.

There are two Republicans on that list, Matt OShea and Nancy Kimme, McClain said on the Dec. 5, 2018, call. OShea was a former Republican staffer, while Kimme was a lobbyist whod served as chief of staff to Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

OK, OK. Good to know that, Marquez replied.

Before Marquez got started Monday, jurors heard about how Pramaggiore had such a close relationship with Madigan that she called him first when she was given a promotion to Exelon Utilities, which is affiliated with ComEds parent company.

Soon after giving the speaker the happy news, which was not yet public, Pramaggiore called McClain, saying her promotion never would have happened without you and John (Hooker) and the speaker.

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Youve been my spirit guides and more on that, Pramaggiore told McClain, who at the time was waiting outside Madigans office at the Capitol while the speaker was meeting with his political nemesis, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

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Well we love ya, McClain responded. Im so proud of you.

Weeks later, McClain and Hooker were secretly recorded by the FBI talking about Pramaggiores move to the big time at Exelon.

When we pulled up, we had the little jet, Hooker said on the call, laughing. She had the big Exelon jet. The big one you can stand up in.

The grandeur of Exelons private jet also caught the fancy of Madigan, who joked with McClain on another recorded call that he might want to go back to work for a power company later in life, because the plane that Anne rides in? You could carry the president of the United States in the thing.

Pramaggiore abruptly stepped down from Exelon in October 2019, and was indicted the next year.

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WASHINGTON  Top Army officials expected to face difficult choices in 2024. They had warned reporters this budget might require them to ax legacy programs or delay some planned modernization efforts.

And in a worst-case scenario, the officials said, they might even have to cut key modernization efforts.

Indeed, the Army was facing obstacles as it prepared the fiscal 2024 spending plan, from rising inflation to missed recruiting goals to supporting war-torn Ukraine.

But in March the service rolled out a $185.5 billion budget with few surprises and none of the significant cuts officials had braced for. Instead the service had used Ukraine supplemental funds in key programs, allowing the U.S. Army to bolster several initiatives, even though its regular spending plan showed essentially no growth.

The supplemental funding is the untold story about how it helps the Army, Tom Spoehr, a research supervisor at the Heritage Foundation think tank, told Defense News.

The Army kept its budget close to FY23 levels, with its FY24 proposal calling for a 4.6% increase over the Armys $178 billion budget last year. But inflation means the new budget request falls about 2% below that FY23 enacted amount, Maj. Gen. Mark Bennett, the services budget director, told reporters in a March briefing.

The Army already received in total $8 billion in procurement funding and another $6.7 billion for operations and maintenance in FY22 and FY23 through congressionally appropriated supplementals. The money is meant to help the service replenish supplies sent to Ukraine.

The Army is expected to sign a multiyear contract in FY24 to buy Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, thanks to a new congressional authority. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The supplemental funding the Army received represents about one-third of its annual procurement budget.

In contrast, the Navy received $4.6 billion total in supplemental funding across FY22 and FY23, and the Air Force received $4.9 billion.

The supplemental funding doesnt just allow the Army to avoid painful cuts in FY24, Travis Sharp, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told Defense News. In fact, its accelerating the services modernization.

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The Army is getting back equipment that is in some way better than the equipment it gave up, he said, and theyre able to get it faster because the demand created by the war in Ukraine has allowed for either an expansion in the industrial base, or the per-unit cost of the systems is coming down because companies are making more.

Therefore, for a fixed amount of money, the Army can actually afford to buy more systems.

Moving past the M113

Take the Armys Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, for instance. Since Russia invaded its neighbor more than a year ago, the service has pulled from its stocks to send to Ukraine 400 of the 1960s-era M113 vehicles, which carry troops into battle.

As the Army weighs how best to replace those vehicles, top officials have made clear they do not want to buy more of the outdated M113s.

The services chief of staff, Gen. James McConville, told Defense News last year that the Army prefers to replace old equipment with new items. As he put it, the service doesnt want to add new-old stuff; what we want to do is buy new-new things.

U.S. soldiers on an M113 armored vehicle take part during a 2017 exercise in South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

The AMPV program was meant to replace the aging M113 fleet and help modernize an armored brigade combat teams fleet. BAE Systems won the contract nearly a decade ago; the company delivered the first AMPVs to the first unit earlier this month. The Army plans to build and field 2,897 vehicles total, according to FY24 budget documents.

Now, the Army is expected to approve AMPVs full-rate production this month.

In last years budget documents, the Army said it would buy 131 in FY24 for $682 million. Instead, according to FY24 budget documents, the service will only buy 91 AMPVs for $555 million.

That appears to be a significant cut, but the Army says it is using supplemental funding to bolster AMPV procurement.

Jim Schirmer, deputy program executive officer for the Armys Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems, said the service will direct Ukraine supplemental funding toward 154 new AMPVs. Roughly 100 will be built in FY24 and the rest later.

Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire toward Russian positions with a 155mm M777 howitzer near the city of Bakhmut on March 11, 2023. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)

In total, the Army expects to buy 197 AMPVs in FY24  more than double the number in its base budget.

Within the next two years, BAE Systems will ramp up production from 12 vehicles a month to 16, according to the Armys AMPV product manager, Lt. Col. Nate Costa.

In contrast, the FY23 budget request called for the Army to slow AMPV production across its five-year budget plan.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth this month agreed the Ukraine supplemental is helping speed up AMPB production, which in turn provides the service with a powerful fist that can punch hard at an adversary at a time and place of our choosing.

Along with upgraded tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker combat systems in FY24, she said, AMPV is part of the Armys investment in a faster, more survivable armored fist.

But AMPV isnt the only new program set to benefit. McConville has said the Army will replace M777 towed artillery systems sent to Ukraine with new High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, while also replenishing supplies of Stinger missiles sent to Ukraine with a longer-range version.

We want to modernize the force, McConville said. Were doing that, and we really appreciate Congress support in that.

Better deals

Sending thousands of weapon systems to Ukraine means the U.S. Army is also increasing the volume of some systems it planned to buy, leading to lower estimated costs.

In the case of HIMARS  the mobile rocket launcher that has given Ukrainian troops an improved ability to fire on enemy targets at stand-off ranges  the Army now plans to buy seven more in FY25 than previously expected.

According to FY24 budget documents, the service wants to increase production capacity from 60 to 72 launchers per year in February 2025. And by October of that year, the facility of HIMARS manufacturer Lockheed Martin will be able to make up to 96 launchers a year  enough for the United States and foreign customers.

Because of this ramp-up, FY24 budget documents indicate the launchers cost has dropped from $6.8 million to $6.4 million. The synergy of foreign military sales and the increased production capacity contributes to a decreased launcher unit cost, the document read.

The Army also plans to increase its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System production line at the same Camden, Arkansas, facility where HIMARS is built. According to Wormuth, the service plans to ramp up production from 6,000 rockets a year to 14,000.

A Lockheed Martin technician works on the HIMARS production line in Camden, Arkansas. (Jen Judson/Staff)

The service is expected to sign a multiyear contract in FY24 to buy GMLRS, thanks to a new congressional authority. Multiyear contracts, usually reserved for expensive and large programs, provide longer-term certainty to drive down cost.

The GMLRS per-unit price is expected to drop significantly. In FY23, the Army expected each one to cost nearly $189,000 in FY24; this year, it predicts a unit will cost just shy of $169,000, according to FY24 budget documents.

Accelerating modernization

The Army is under pressure to meet key modernization goals in FY24. A flat budget could have jeopardized several projects, but instead Ukraine supplemental funding could accelerate modernization.

For example, the Army planned, prior to the war in Ukraine, to spend $16 billion over 15 years to upgrade its aging organic industrial base, specifically focused on its 23 depots, arsenals and ammunition plants.

With the supplemental funding, the Army plans to use about $2 billion to get some of those projects done earlier.

We now have an opportunity  really a generational opportunity  working with Congress to improve the quality and modernization of our organic industrial base, our depots, our production facilities that we own, contractor-operated in most cases, Doug Bush, the Armys acquisition chief, said this month.

We also are working with congressional support, with industry to get production rates up, he added. Get after obsolescence, really improve the machinery of our precision munitions production capacity in this country for the Army, which in a fight with an adversary  a potential one like China  is going to be absolutely vital.

The Army has two dozen programs set to make it to the field by the end of 2023, including the first battery of hypersonic weapons, the Precision Strike Missile and the Mid-Range Capability missile.

The Army also expects to field several programs for the first time in FY24. Government contractor Kord Technologies will deliver the Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense system  which puts a 50-kilowatt laser on a Stryker combat vehicle  at the end of FY24. A few of those systems are already in testing.

And Leidos Dynetics will deliver the Indirect Fire Protection Capability to the first platoon along with two Lockheed Martin-Dynetics-developed prototypes of the IFPC-High Energy Laser system.

Of the two dozen new Army systems slated to enter the ranks by the end of this year, only one  the Extended Range Cannon Artillery  might miss that goal, Bush said this month. That delay is related to engineering challenges, rather than funding issues.

The Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor and the Improved Turbine Engine Program  which are not part of the 24 systems planned to reach the hands of soldiers in 2023  are both running behind for similar reasons, Bush said, but the delays are not dramatic.

This is normal, this is advanced technology. There are always some delays, he explained.

Asked earlier this month whether Ukraine supplemental funding spared the service from making cuts in this years budget request, McConville deflected, saying only that service leaders are trying to deliver the best Army we can with the resources we get.

Were looking for any way we can do that. We have, I think, a very good strategy. We have been very consistent, persistent in that transformation strategy, he said. We know what we need, we know what [industry] can produce.
An Endangered Missing Persons alert was issued for missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez on Saturday replacing an Amber Alert that was issued less than 48 hours before.

Whats the difference between the two alerts?

Endangered Missing Persons Alert

An Endangered Missing Persons Alert is meant for missing people of any age with an intellectual disability.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the following criteria has to be met for an Endangered Missing Persons Alert:

The missing person is diagnosed with an intellectual disability or an pervasive developmental disorder. Law enforcement require a written diagnosis from a physician or psychologist licensed to practice in Texas, or certified by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services or the Texas Department of State Health Services.

There is a credible threat to the health and safety of the missing person.

Made within 72 hours of the missing persons disappearance.

There is sufficient information available to broadcast to the public to help locate the missing person.

Amber Alert

An Amber Alert is the broadcast emergency response for a missing child ages 17 or younger.

According to the Department of Justice, the following criteria are guidelines to follow before issuing an Amber Alert:
Located inside Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Roundup Rodeo BBQ opened at Walt Disney World on March 23. (Photos: Julie Tremaine)

"Yard sale!" Woody yells, his voice full of alarm. "Guys, wake up, wake up, it's a yard sale outside!"

If you've seen Toy Story 2, you know what happens next. Woody, trying to rescue a fellow toy from being sold, is stolen by the dastardly Al and is nearly sold to a toy museum in Japan. So you might understand why, when Woody's warning rings out inside Roundup Rodeo BBQ, the new Toy Story-themed restaurant in Disney's Hollywood Studios, there's panic among the other toys.

"There's a yard sale at the front territory," Sarge announces. "Repeat. A yard sale at the front territory." But the Bucket O Soldiers quickly realize it's only a lemonade stand. All the toys inside the Roundup Rodeo can relax  you included.

At Roundup Rodeo BBQ, the newest restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Woody and company avoid the need to brave another yard sale. (Photo: Julie Tremaine)

Inside the new restaurant, everything is scaled to make you feel like you're one of the toys inside the rodeo that Andy has built in his backyard. At at recent visit to Roundup Rodeo BBQ, I was expecting good barbecue in a colorful, imaginative environment. I definitely was not expecting to have the best plant-based meal I've ever had at a theme park. But that's exactly what happened.

The restaurant opened on March 23, and is a family-style restaurant where you pay a flat fee for a four-course meal. For adults, it's $45 plus tax and gratuity, and for kids aged 3-9 it's $25. When you sit, everyone gets a bread course, The Prospector's Homemade Cheddar Biscuits with sweet pepper jelly, followed by a salad course of three salads. There's a tomato-cucumber salad with white balsamic vinaigrette, a watermelon-mint salad and a kale salad with green goddess dressing.

Toy Story fans will love the way this restaurant makes guest feel toy-sized during their meal. (Photo: Julie Tremaine)

From there, you pick either a meat plate or a plant-based one, and four of eight sides for the table to share. Among the selections: Mean Old Potato Salad, Force Field Fried Pickles and Slinky Doooooooooog's Mac and Cheese, with extra-long spiral pasta to match its toy inspiration.

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"Everything at the Roundup Rodeo is smoked in-house," chef Bobby Rivera, chef de cuisine of concept development for Walt Disney World, tells Yahoo Life. "We're really proud of that." The brisket is smoked for 16-18 hours before being served, and you can smell the aromas of the outdoor smokers all the way out to Slinky Dog Dash and Toy Story Midway Mania. (The restaurant is already booked solid; people who aren't able to get a table are going to be sorely disappointed when they get a whiff of that tantalizing scent.)

The Evil Dr. Smoked Ribs at Roundup Rodeo BBQ. (Photo: Julie Tremaine)

The meat platter comes with Evil Dr. Smoked Ribs that Rivera calls "fall-off-the-bone tender," Buttercup's Beef Brisket, There's a Sausage in my Boot grilled pork sausage and BBQ Chicken with Style." I tried the brisket and the ribs, and was really surprised to find that it wasn't just good barbecue for a theme park restaurant, it was good barbecue for a full-on Southern barbecue restaurant. The brisket had the pink smoke ring that's the hallmark of well-smoked beef, and the ribs were absolutely as tender as the chef promised they would be.

I'm an omnivore, but I like, and often eat, plant-based meat alternatives  and Rivera really talked up the plant-based offerings. "If you are a plant-based eater," he says, "we have an excellent  and I mean delicious  'meat' platter."

The plant-based options at Roundup Rodeo BBQ were impressive. (Photo: Julie Tremaine)

So, I asked for one to try. Trixie's Plant-Based Trio plate comes with Combat Carloflower with harissa and walnut gremolata, Scrumptious Bratwurst and a Rip Roarin' Rip Chop. I was completely blown away by how delicious it all was. The smoked cauliflower is crusted with an herbed walnut mixture and drizzled with flavorful harissa sauce, and the rib was a true marvel. "We take Impossible meat, we season it with our spices, we glaze it with our barbecue sauce and then we use a sugar cane that we char to make it that rib experience for our guests," Rivera describes. It was a little spicy and easily the best iteration of Impossible ground beef I've ever had, made even better with a dash of the house-made spicy barbecue sauce. (There are also sweet and classic versions.)

But the true star, for me, was the grilled bratwurst, which was smoky and so flavorful that if I hadn't known it was plant-based, I never would have guessed. Of all the foods I tried  I also sampled three sides and three desserts  the brat was the only thing I finished. I really liked everything I had, I just had a lot of food in front of me, and could only take a few bites of each.

I loved the toy-tastic place settings at this unique new addition to Disney's Hollywood Studios. (Photo: Julie Tremaine)

The restaurant's baked beans are made with smoked jackfruit rather than bacon. "That is actually one of my absolute favorites," Rivera says. "If I didn't say they were plant-based, nobody would ever know."

I didn't get to try those  and I was disappointed to not get to sample libations from the very promising cocktail list, like the Snake Eye Margarita made with tequila, watermelon juice, lime juice, agave and smoked chili bitters, or the Grown-up's Iced Chocolate and Rum, an adult take on chocolate milk made with chocolate rum, RumChata, chocolate and toasted marshmallow. But honestly, I'm not all that sad about missing them. It's just another reason to go back.

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Lifes newsletter. Sign up here.
Disney's stunning stage adaptation of its Oscar-winning animated blockbuster "Frozen" has finally swept into Oklahoma City for the first time ever, and if you get the chance to see it, don't let it go.

And if you're a Disney fan, a theater devotee or a caretaker, consider this your royal command to attend the elaborate song-and-dance spectacle if at all possible.

Second only to "The Lion King" in the pantheon of Mouse House musicals, "Frozen" boasts many of the hallmarks of a no-expense-spared Disney production: elaborate, high-tech scenic and lighting design, innovative puppets and first-rate performers dressed in lavish costumes made with globally sourced fabrics and adorned with stones, crystals, beads and faux fur.

Nominated for three 2018 Tony Awards, including best musical, Disney's "Frozen" is playing through April 2 at Civic Center Music Hall as part of OKC Broadway's 2022-2023 season, and here are five frosty highlights of the show:

Caroline Bowman stars as Elsa in the North American tour of the Disney musical "Frozen."

1. 'Let It Go' is even more epic in the stage musical

One of most effective earworms in recent Disney history, the Academy Award-winning anthem "Let It Go" has struck a strong chord with movie audiences  especially girls  since the blockbuster animated film bowed in 2013.

But "Let It Go" proves even more powerful in the musical, where it is positioned as the grand first act closer. Caroline Bowman's performance is pitch perfect in more ways than one, as her fearful monarch embraces her magical ice powers in the solitude of her newly devised ice palace.

The production deploys all kinds of theatrical tricks  from projections and special lighting effects to high-definition LED panels and stage fog  to build her frosty fortress on stage before the audience's very eyes. The crowd at the March 23 OKC evening performance oohed as Elsa conjured swirling snowflakes, ahhed as she raised a curtain to reveal a crystalline castle and gasped as her gloves and cape flew away.

And the fans cheered during the climactic quick change, as the queen's staid coronation dress changes in an instant  seriously, keep your eyes on the stage because it literally happens in a flash  to her iconic ice gown.

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Even better, the musical's bright Act 2 "Finale" reprises "Let It Go" with hopeful new lyrics. It starts as a duet between Elsa and Anna (Lauren Nicole Chapman) that builds into a big finish featuring the entire company.

Jeremy Davis stars as Olaf in the North American tour of the Disney musical "Frozen."

2. The musical adds more charming numbers beyond the film's songs

Originally slated to come to OKC during the 2020-2021 season before the COVID-19 pandemic forced audiences to temporarily "Let It Go," Disney's "Frozen" features the film's familiar songs, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the movie's award-winning songwriters, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

Thanks to Tony-winning choreographer Rob Ashford, the top-notch company and the talented touring orchestra, under the direction of Faith Seetoo, the movie's beloved numbers like "Love Is an Open Door," "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People" and "For the First Time in Forever" are even more engaging live.

In Summer," Olaf the snowman's (Jeremy Davis) sunny ode to the warm weather he longs for but has never actually experienced, is particularly fun as the stage suddenly transforms from an eternal winter storm to a bright day at the beach.

But the musical includes several new songs that help build the characters' arcs and move the story along. "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" gains a companion piece called "A Little Bit of You" that helps establish just how close royal sisters Anna and Elsa are as children.

Anna's nobleman beau (Will Savarese) gets a charming introductory number, "Hans of the Southern Isles," that gives extra punch to his storyline. And Anna and her grouchy ice-monger love interest Kristoff (Dominic Dorset) spar musically in the new duet "What Do You Know About Love?"

3. The musical is funnier than the movie, but with more dark moments

Although the movie is funny, the stage version of "Frozen" packs in even more humor. Much of that extra mirth comes courtesy the new Act 2 opening number "Hygge," in which chipper shopkeeper Oaken (Jack Brewer) explains the Scandinavian concept of coziness to Anna, Kristoff and Olaf.

But the musical also cranks up some of the darker emotions. Although Elsa's snow monster Marshmallow is sadly nowhere to be seen, the show includes her darkly powerful new anthem "Monster," in which the ice queen contemplates whether she should commit suicide to stop the nonstop winter she has accidentally unleashed.

Although they still get their perky number "Fixer Upper," the cuddly trolls of the film have been replaced with more mystical magic users called the Hidden Folk. They fit the stage show better, especially since it incorporates elements of the film "Frozen II," but the Hidden Folks' strange glowing eyes and intimidating Easter Island head-decorated hideout might creep out some youngsters.

Lauren Nicole Chapman stars as Anna and Will Savarese as Hans in the North American tour of the Disney musical "Frozen."

4. The 'Frozen' musical boasts plenty of cool theater magic

The show's stormy climax also gets a foreboding new song called "Colder by the Minute," which leads up to the cool stage treatment of Anna's defining moment of self-sacrifice. Not to give too much away, but the show's dramatic conclusion  much like the stage treatment of "Let It Go"  includes so much jaw-dropping theater magic that it's worth the price of a ticket just on its own.

This theater magic  that spellbinding blend of canny technology, clever stagecraft, relentless rehearsals, meticulous planning and cast and crew collaboration that makes it possible to bring such a sweeping fairy tale to life on stage  permeates so many aspects of "Frozen."

It's in the northern lights and snow showers that seem to leap right off the LED screens. It's in the imaginative puppet versions of Olaf and Sven the reindeer that delighted the OKC crowd the instant they trotted onto the stage. It's in the intricate maypole dance that introduces the audience to Anna and Elsa as children.

For many children, "Frozen" is their first big musical theater experience, and even if you've seen the animated film dozens of times, the stage version does not disappoint. Although my daughters  Brenna, 12, and Kyla, 6, who was one of the many youngsters at the March 23 OKC show to wear her Elsa costume  have been to the theater many times before, they were still enchanted by "Frozen."

Dominic Dorset stars as Kristoff and Collin Baja as Sven in the North American tour of the Disney musical "Frozen."

5. The talented touring company includes several Oklahomans

Of course, a musical is only as good as its cast, and the national touring company of "Frozen" has more talent than Scandinavia has snowflakes.

Plus, the cast includes five performers with Oklahoma ties: Oklahoma City University graduates Belinda Allyn, Michael Everett and Jessie Peltier are members of the ensemble, with Allyn also providing a regal presence as Queen Iduna, Anna and Elsa's mother, and Peltier serving as the company's fight captain and assistant dance captain.

University of Oklahoma graduates Natalie Goodin, an Oklahoma City native who graduated from Deer Creek High School, and C.K. Edwards, a Tulsa Booker T. Washington alumnus, also are part of the ensemble.

DISNEY'S 'FROZEN'

When : Performances through April 2.

Where : Civic Center, 201 N Walker.

Tickets: https://www.okcbroadway.com/frozen.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Don't miss these 5 cool highlights of Disney's 'Frozen' musical in OKC
The brain condition that led to the critical illness of a University of Georgia senior on spring break in early March has been diagnosed as a brain tumor, according to a recently updated GoFundMe page.

Radiation treatments were to begin this week for Liza Burke at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., according to her mother, Laura Burke.

Doctors in Florida were expected to begin radiation Monday on Liza Burke, a UGA student diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Burke, a student from Asheville, N.C., was on spring break two weeks ago in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, when she became unresponsive in her room after complaining of a headache. She ended up on life support at a hospital.

An update was posted late last week by her mother, who reported to friends and those who made donations toward her medical expenses, that the tumor on her brain stem likely lay dormant for many years before it became aggressive.

Sick student:UGA student suffering from brain hemorrhage moves to Florida hospital

Initially, medical authorities believed she fell victim to Arteriovenous malformation (AVM), which targets blood vessels that caused her brain to hemorrhage, according to Jennifer Ritter of Athens, who originally posted the page seeking donations.

Burke was flown from Mexico to the Mayo Clinic for her medical care.

Burkes mother reported that her daughter will not have a full pathology report until several days, but the radiologist planned to start radiation on Monday. Laura Burke said her daughter will receive 30 radiation sessions daily over the next five to six weeks, but she is breathing on her own.

Shes the leader in this fight, but we are her warriors marching into battle with her, Laura Burke said.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Doctors say UGA student who fell ill on spring break has brain tumor
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that David Wayne Hogle, Jr. (29, Cherry Point, North Carolina) has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a 13-year-old child to produce sexually explicit photos of herself and send them to him over the internet.

Hogle faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years, in federal prison and a lifetime term of supervised release.

Hogle was arrested at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point in North Carolina and was transported to Jacksonville for prosecution. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

According to court documents, on July 13, 2022, an FBI agent in Jacksonville began an undercover investigation to identify individuals using the internet to engage in sexual activity with children. This FBI agent (UC) posted a message in a chat room on a particular social media application (app) posing as the mother of a 13-year-old child.

App user Kaligula, who was later identified as Hogle, responded, Interested in domination, degrading, breeding, incest, and very young girls.

When asked about his age preference for children, Hogle responded, No lower age limit.

The UC explained that her daughter was 13 years old, and Hogle replied, Typically [I] like younger 

The UC confirmed that she and the child were located in Florida, and Hogle replied that he lived in North Carolina. After exchanging phone numbers, Hogle texted the UC, So when do I get to see  your daughter?

He stated that he had previously had sex with a 13-year-old and a 2-year-old. Hogle sent the UC a hyperlink to a cloud storage account that contained 28 photos of infants and toddlers being sexually abused.

On July 15, 2022, Hogle texted the UC, who was portraying the child, stating I understand youre only 13, so there are going to be a lot of things you still need to learn. I [am] happy to teach you about them.

Hogle then requested the child take a naughty pic or a video of her genitalia for him and directed her as to how to do so using her smartphone.

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The next day, Hogle texted the UC, asked again for an explicit photo of the child, and provided step-by-step instructions as to how to take a picture of the childs genitalia. To demonstrate what kind of picture he wanted the child to take, Hogle sent the child a photo of his own genitalia.

The FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) confirmed that Hogle was a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps stationed at MCAS Cherry Point in North Carolina. Further investigation revealed that Hogle was accessing the internet during his online conversations with the UC while onboard MCAS Cherry Point.

On July 29, 2022, Hogle was arrested by the FBI onboard MCAS Cherry Point.

During an interview with law enforcement, Hogle admitted that he had sent the UC a hyperlink containing child sexual abuse materials to show to the 13-year-old child, that he directed the child to take a picture of her privates, and that he was sexually interested in children aged double digits, ten, twelve and plus.

A search of Hogles computer revealed that it contained 162 images and 45 videos depicting infants, toddlers, and young children being sexually abused.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville, Florida and Greenville, North Carolina, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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One person was killed and two others were injured Sunday when a car collided with a pickup truck on a Midlands road, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

The two-vehicle collision happened at about 4:35 p.m. in Sumter County, said Master Trooper Gary Miller.

A 2015 Toyota Camry was driving north on S.C. 527, and when the car came to the intersection with U.S. 378 it disregarded a stop sign, according to Miller. The car collided with a 2003 Chevrolet pickup that was driving east on U.S. 378, Miller said.

The Toyota driver died while the driver and a front-seat passenger in the pickup were injured and taken to an area hospital, according to Miller. Further information on the conditions of the people in the pickup was not available.

The Sumter County Coroners Office has not publicly identified the Toyota driver.

There was no word if any of the people involved in the wreck were wearing seat belts.

This was the second death from a crash in Sumter County that was reported Sunday.

A passenger who was involved in a March 15 collision died at Prisma Health Richland hospital, Cpl. Tyler Tidwell said at about 11 p.m.

That crash victim has not been publicly identified by the coroners office.

The victim was a passenger in a 2011 Kia that was driving south on Patriot Parkway and hit the rear of a 2013 Ford that was stopped in traffic near the intersection with Louella Lane, Tidwell said. After the collision, the Kia ran off the right side of the road, according to Tidwell.

The Kia passenger was taken to Prisma Health Tuomey before being airlifted to the hospital in Columbia, according to Tidwell.

Neither the driver of the Kia nor any of the six occupants in the Ford were hurt, Tidwell said.

Through March 19, at least 184 people have died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,081 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least nine people have died in Sumter County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 29 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports that drug distributor AmeriSourceBergen is refusing to distribute Mifeprex to retail pharmacies in certain states, but was continuing to sell directly to health providers.

In a letter sent Monday to FTC Chair Lina Kahn, Duckworth accused the company of exploiting the political climate around abortion medication in order to maximize profits.

AmeriSourceBergen may be using broader political disagreements and active legal debates as pretextual cover and justification for engaging in anticompetitive, unfair and deceptive practices that are primarily concerned with maximizing profit margins, Duckworth wrote.

Mifeprex is the brand name of mifepristone, one of two drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for medication abortion. AmeriSourceBergen is the sole distributor of Mifeprex, meaning the companys decisions could have a significant impact on access to the legally approved drug for millions of Americans.

Pharmacies could still dispense the generic version, if they can obtain it.

Lauren Esposito, a spokeswoman for AmerisourceBergen, pointed to a statement posted online earlier this month. In it, AmeriSourceBergen said it does not independently decide what medications should be available to health care professionals as part of their treatment plans and does not make clinical decisions or values-based judgements on which FDA approved products it distributes.

Esposito noted that Mifeprex is available in all 50 states to certified providers like OB-GYN clinics.

The legality of access at retail pharmacies, which only became available in any capacity following a January 2023 FDA decision, is dynamic and rapidly evolving in individual states based on nuances in state laws and regulations that are under regular pressure from legal challenges, Esposito said. AmerisourceBergen will continue distributing to all sites of care  including retail pharmacies  in a way thats consistent with the law.

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Duckworths letter comes amid rising tensions about access to medication abortion in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Mifepristone has been used by more than 3 million women in the United States since receiving FDA approval more than 20 years ago, and top medical groups maintain it is safe and effective.

When the Biden administration in January made it possible for pharmacies to dispense mifepristone, major chains like Walgreens and CVS said they were working to obtain certification from the drugmaker to sell the pills.

But at the same time, GOP state officials have been working to clamp down and restrict access to the drugs, putting pressure on pharmacies and drug companies.

Walgreens waded into the controversy recently by saying it would not dispense mifepristone in 21 states after being threatened with legal action by GOP attorneys general  even states where abortion broadly, and medication abortion specifically, is currently legal.

Duckworth said she wants the FTC to look into whether AmeriSourceBergen is using the controversy over reproductive rights to its advantage.

The bottom line is that a major wholesale distributor with market dominance over a product that retail pharmacies may wish to purchase, appears to be using its monopolistic market power to conspire against doing business with an entire industry of retail pharmacies, Duckworth wrote.

Updated: 3:21 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
 Read the full article on Motorious

Are people too eager to sue these days?

Not everyone was happy with the surprise that Dodge would sell a batch of 2023 Durango Hellcats after saying 2022 would be the only model year of production. A group of 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat owners are suing the automaker for a list of reasons that reportedly includes false advertising and unjust enrichment.

Watch a Durango Hellcat race a Jeep Trackhawk here.

Not everyone is going to be sympathetic to these people. After all, they might have paid over $100,000 for their Dodge Durango Hellcat, but there were plenty of people who wouldve gladly shelled out for one and didnt get the chance. Sure, some got in there with the surprise 2023 models, but there are still people willing to chop off a body part to get one.

At the same time, other people know what its like to be supposedly burned by an automaker doing something like this. Sure, there are only seven 2021 Durango Hellcat owners who are filing suit like spurned lovers, but others have felt companies did them dirty by selling more of a supposedly rare product than those customer wouldve liked.

Well, well, well, how the turntables. Michael Scott put it best in the oft-quoted episode of The Office. When you buy a limited-edition car and hope to capitalize on that financially, there is the risk that later it might not be as valuable as you thought. Maybe its because the automaker will surprisingly make more, or in the case of the Chrysler PT Cruiser, everyone simultaneously stops caring about it. Life is full of risks.

The question here, which might ultimately be up to a jury and judge, is whether or not Dodge broke the law? But we can also ask if people are overly eager to sue over just about anything these days? Tell us what you think.

Source: Driving

Images via Stellantis

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A fire early Monday at an apartment complex in Overland Park damaged 20 cars, officials said.

Crews from Overland Park and Leawood responded to a carport fire just before 1 a.m. at the Club at Indian Creek Apartments in the 10400 block of Conser Street, said Jason Rhodes, a spokesman with the Overland Park Fire Department, in a news release.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the carport area in under 15 minutes, and it did not spread to any other buildings.

The fire destroyed seven vehicles. Another 13 were moderately damaged from heat exposure.

No injuries were reported. Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.
The International Criminal Courts March 17 decision to issue war crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin was shocking in more ways than one. This was the first time in 12 years a head of state has been charged by the international court; in 2011, Libyas Moammar Gadhafi was indicted on two counts of crimes against humanity for his indiscriminate crackdown on protests. Gadhafi, however, was a tinpot dictator of a small, largely inconsequential North African state  not a major player in the international system ruling one of the worlds largest oil and natural gas producers, with nearly 6,000 nuclear warheads to boot.

Theoretically, every country on the planet now has a choice to make: If Putin happens to set foot on their soil, will they abide by the ICC and formally arrest him, or will they give the Russian strongman a degree of sovereign immunity and allow him to pass through?

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For countries in the West, this isnt much of a question  Germany, for instance, wasted no time reminding people that it would be obligated to hand Putin over to The Hague if he were stupid enough to land on German territory. Others such as South Africa that are state parties to the court but are nonetheless skeptical of its remit may make a different calculation. There was a time not so long ago when South Africa permitted then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted for crimes against humanity in Darfur, to enter and leave the country unhindered.

While the ICC is empowered to issue what amounts to global arrest warrants, it has zero power to apprehend suspects. It relies on the participation of its members to do the enforcing. Yet, as shown in the Bashir case, states arent objective observers of transnational justice but entities with multiple priorities, one of which may include holding perpetrators accountable.

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There are also a number of states that dont believe the ICC should have the power to supersede the authority of national courts  the U.S., for instance, has its own troubled, complicated history with the court and strongly believes it has no right to charge its citizens. The ICC indictment, therefore, will complicate Putins travel plans, but its unlikely he will be brought to the defendants box as long as he avoids travel to countries that have signed up to the courts Rome Statute. (Luckily for Putin, China and Iran, his most important partners, arent on the list.)

[ Kerry Kennedy and Dick Durbin: Hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression in Ukraine ]

There are other options for holding Putin accountable, but these are also riddled with procedural complications. The ICC can open a case against a nonstate party if authorized by the United Nations Security Council, which is precisely what happened against Sudans Bashir. But Russia is a permanent member of the council, so it can squash those kinds of requests out of self-preservation.

The establishment of a special tribunal, like the one formed to investigate crimes in the former Yugoslavia, is an option as well, although this would also require the type of Security Council authorization that is simply impossible with respect to the Putin case. So-called hybrid courts, in which national authorities work with U.N. assistance to investigate and prosecute offenders, wouldnt work, either, since most of these are established after a formal request by the state itself. The special tribunal in Sierra Leone, for example, was initiated by the government of Sierra Leone at the time, and the situation was the same for the special tribunal that tackled crimes in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime.

Conceivably, Ukraine could send an official request to the U.N. secretary-general asking for technical, political and legal assistance for its own prosecutions. Ukraines Office of the Prosecutor General has vowed to investigate every single one of the 66,000 (and counting) allegations of war crimes that have been reported since Putin launched his invasion in February 2022. However, even this isnt a foolproof option: If Ukrainian prosecutors were able to tie specific individuals to specific crimes, would they have the capacity to catch those suspects and put them on trial?

Finally, there are diplomatic consequences that need to be considered as well. If Putin is now enemy No. 1 for much of the world, what incentive does he have to wind down the war by negotiating for a settlement? This may sound like a ridiculous question today, when Ukraine and Russia are far, far apart from even exploratory diplomacy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants every inch of Ukrainian land back in Ukrainian hands; Putin wants Kyiv to accept Russias illegal annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts in the east. Its hard to see a middle ground between those two positions.

[ Daniel DePetris: The US and Ukraine dont share the same priorities for the war ]

Yet in the event the war drags on and the combatants get tired enough to at least enter a negotiating process, it doesnt take a genius to see how the Putin indictment could be an obstacle to a hypothetical settlement. Would Putin end the war knowing he would still be an international fugitive, or would he use the ICC case against him as leverage? If Putin takes the latter course, would Ukraine and its backers in the U.S. and Europe be willing to suspend or drop the case for the sake of reaching a peace agreement?

Is justice more important than peace, or is peace more important than justice? Is there a way to have both? These are academic questions today but may be practical ones tomorrow.

We all would like to live in a world where the most serial offenders are held accountable for their actions. However, the real world has a habit of throwing wrenches into the works. The ICCs prosecution against Putin is no exception.

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Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is searching for a homicide suspect in connection with a fatal shooting Saturday on Mission Road.

Deputies are searching for 18-year-old Nathaniel Lee Cunningham Jr. after he allegedly shot and killed a man on the 2900 block of Mission Road.

"The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene," said Morgan Lewis, ECSO spokesperson. "Nathaniel Lee Cunningham Jr. is wanted for homicide, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and possession of a weapon by a Florida delinquent."

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Cunningham is considered armed and dangerous by the ECSO. He is approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs approximately 140 pounds, according to the ECSO.

Anyone with information on Cunningham's whereabouts is asked to call the ECSO at 850-436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at 850-433-STOP.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia homicide suspect Nathaniel Cunningham sought by ECSO
Top Mississippi lawmakers on Friday were still trying to decide how much money the state will spend on public schools during this election year, even as education advocates continued to push for a substantial increase.

Our students deserve clean, well-equipped, welcoming and energizing learning environments with access to the latest technology and innovative teaching methods, Mississippi Association of Educators president Erica Jones said in a statement.

More:Here are five things to look out for in the last week of the legislative session in MS

House and Senate budget writers face a Saturday deadline to file funding proposals for education, health care, prisons, transportation and other services during the fiscal year that begins July 1.

I can assure you that we're working hard, House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Read, a Republican from Gautier, said Friday.

All members of the House and Senate will get to vote on budget proposals in the days after the negotiators file them. Republicans control both chambers.

The budget is expected to be only slightly larger than the one for the current year. Overall spending is expected to be about $24.7 billion. About 47% of that, or $11.6 billion, is coming from the federal government.

Legislative budget writers often focus most of their attention on the state general fund, which comprises about 26% of the overall budget. That is expected to be nearly $6.4 billion for the coming year.

The Senate recently voted to revise the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the complex formula that is supposed to give public schools enough money to meet midlevel academic standards. MAEP was put into law in 1997. It has been fully funded only twice, and the last time was 16 years ago.

More:U.S. Secretary of Education visits Mississippi schools to talk programs, teacher pipeline

Senate leaders said their proposed MAEP revision would put an additional $181 million into school budgets, but Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has said he doesn't want more money going toward administrative expenses. House leaders also have not embraced the Senate proposal.

The Mississippi Association of Educators has more than 7,000 members. In her statement Friday, Jones said teachers deserve to have the resources they need to do their jobs, and schools need to ensure students are ready to learn and collaborate.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi education: Advocates seek more money from state budget
The Springfield Public School District 186 headquarters on West Monroe in Springfield, Ill., Monday, August 2, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

A key focus of Gov. JB Pritzker's budget proposal, the Illinois General Assembly has a plethora of education-centered bills it is considering during this spring session.

While more than 400 bills passed in the chamber alone in the four-day stretch, the state House of Representatives took action on several last week amid its frenzied leadup to Friday's third reading deadline.

This week is the state Senate's deadline to advance its bills to the next chamber, where it made some progress last Thursday and Friday by passing 68 bills.

Related:March madness in the General Assembly: Hundreds of bills pass House, Senate

The governor's budget proposal, now being reviewed by the General Assembly, includes millions in education funding from preschool through higher education. Most notably, he has called for universal preschool through the Smart Start Illinois program and $70 million to address teacher vacancies.

In the Capitol, lawmakers have responded to the governor's proposal with several initiatives of their own - adding new forms of curriculum and addressing the decline of literacy seen nationwide following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are a few bills seeing voting action so far in the state legislature.

Literacy issues

On Friday, the Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 2243. The bill sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester would require the Illinois State Board of Education to develop a comprehensive literacy plan.

In 2022, nearly 38 percent of Illinois 4th grade students did not meet grade level reading standards, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Todays students who struggle to read are tomorrows adults  adults who desperately need literacy to sign a lease agreement, fill out a job application, manage their own health care, support their childrens education and participate in democracy, Lightford said on the Senate floor Friday.

Deborah MacPhee, a researcher and professor at Illinois State University, said early literacy education has become politicized with debates taking place between competing systems of reading instruction.

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MacPhee said she liked that the bill requires the plan to involve education stakeholders. She said this will contribute to the ongoing conversation around what sorts of educational programs teachers should use.

In a 2022 study published in the journal Reading Horizons, MacPhee and her team found that 97 percent of Illinois teachers use phonics in their classrooms to teach reading. Despite the near universal adoption of this method, there is diversity across the state as to what programs are being used. Of the 80 percent of teachers using published curriculum for their phonics instruction, at least 41 different programs are used.

We have to be educating teachers to be using programs effectively, she said.

The House passed a literacy bill later that Friday in a 68-35 vote. House Bill 3147 creates the Literacy and Justice for All Act which permits the state Board of Education to form a rubric for use of the school districts regarding evidence-based, culturally inclusive reading instruction and literacy plans.

New courses

Ronnie Preston of Chicago, front, performs a tradition American Native Dance with Nizhoni Ward, 17, left, also of Chicago, on Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022 in the rotunda of the state Capitol while other Native Americans behind them sing and play drums. They were in Springfield with the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative to advocate for Native American concerns.

Additions to school curriculum could come through three House Bills passed last week, now heading to the Senate for further consideration.

Following a lobby day at the Capitol during last year's veto session, state Native American organizations are one-step closer to seeing one of its highest priorities enacted. House Bill 1633 passed 75-32 on Thursday to require all public elementary and high schools to craft a course teaching Native American history beginning in the 2024-2025 school year.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, said he worked with Native American groups in crafting the legislation. The American Indian Association of Illinois and the Native American Chamber of Commerce were among the bill's proponents.

You cannot truly understand our state or our country without learning about the experience of Native Americans, West said in a statement. We must preserve the history of Native Americans in Illinois, and it is absolutely critical for our young people to understand the Native American experience as they grow into the next leaders of our state."

House Bill 3924, sponsored by state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr, D-Naperville, passed unanimously on Thursday and calls for school districts to craft a unit regarding the dangers of fentanyl. The program would be taught in every state-required high school health course.

Legislation crafted by state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago would require schools to use phonics to teach reading. Though it was met with pushback from teachers unions, House Bill 2773 passed unanimously on Thursday.

Also being considered this week in the Senate Education Committee is legislation from state Sen. Donald Dewitte, R-St. Charles, that would order ISBOE to adopt an advanced manufacturing training program to be made available to all public schools. Senate Bill 993 is among five pieces of legislation on the committee's agenda for a Tuesday afternoon session.

Federal discussion

Mary Miller

The actions in Springfield came as the U.S. House of Representatives passed what has been called the "Parents Bill of Rights Act" last week along mostly party lines. House Resolution 5, not expected to be taken up in a Democrat-majority Senate, would allow parents to review the books, curriculum and budget related to their child's school.

U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., supported the legislation which included two provisions drafted by the 15th Illinois House District legislator. In a statement, she said the act will "protect children from radical gender ideology," as its permits parents to opt out their students from taking surveys pertaining to sexual orientation or transgender studies.

"Parents have the right to know what is being taught to their child and the right to opt their child out of any discussion about sexual orientation and gender ideology," Miller said.

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., joined fellow Democrats in opposition, where House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the bill an attempt to mainline rightwing ideology on school children. Five Republican Reps. also voted 'no' on the resolution.

Captiol News Illinois reporter Andrew Adams contributed to this report.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: These bills could bring changes to your school. What to know:
Earlier this year, the School District of Palm Beach County in Florida quietly stopped using the phrase social-emotional learning, or SEL.

The educational model  which teaches skills such as self-awareness, empathy and resilience  has over the past couple of years become linked to critical race theory by conservatives who accuse schools of woke indoctrination.

Palm Beach County schools, according to a document submitted to the state in February and obtained by USA TODAY, now call that model skills for learning and life." Recently updated resources reflect the change in verbiage, as does the districts website.

This pivot away from the phrase SEL may seem superficial, inevitable rebranding given the culture wars over how and what schools teach kids about race and identity. But the district has made other changes too. It recently pulled out of a national research partnership focused on SEL in schools, for example, and reduced its emphasis on certain resources.

Educators say similar rollbacks are happening across Florida, a trend reflected in a collection of records from some of the states largest districts at a time when students social and emotional well-being is especially fragile. And while news of Floridas library restrictions and rejected textbooks have made national headlines, some of these other shifts arent always so obvious.

As states ranging from Iowa to Montana consider legislation targeting SEL, the sometimes-subtle changes happening in Florida show the chilling effect state inquiries can have on work to support students mental health and make schools more welcoming places.

Its a tremendous blow to young people, said Christiane Gunn, a veteran social studies teacher in Broward County, Florida. Kids come to school with a lot of baggage. Right now, there's not enough available that's going to help them and it really scares me  whats going to happen to the social-emotional wellness of some of these children if these programs are cut?

Story continues

What is SEL? A look at what it is and why it matters

Critical race theory and DEI: What do those terms really mean?

'A form of intimidation': The case of Miami-Dade and Edgenuity

The records obtained by USA TODAY were districts responses to a 34-question survey sent to every school system in the state last month. The questionnaire, due less than a week later, asked them to catalog any materials or programs used in areas including SEL, civics and sex education, and to specify the number of schools using whole child, culturally responsive or trauma-informed teaching practices, among others.

The state did not respond to questions about the origin and purpose of the survey. The DeSantis administration has in recent months queried schools about various topics, including a survey to state colleges and universities about their spending on transgender services, and last year rejected a slew of math textbooks partly over their inclusion of SEL.

Minus: Florida rejects dozens of math textbooks over critical race theory, Common Core standards

Educators believe the surveys objective is in part to scare schools out of engaging with those materials and practices. Like SEL, the terms listed in the survey have come up frequently in debates over whether schools have a role in teaching about the trauma of racism and the intersectionality of LGBTQ identities and other sensitive or difficult topics. Some critics have suggested they promote concepts that have been  or could soon be  outlawed in the state.

In a memo sent to district leaders the day the survey responses were due, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. singled out Miami-Dade schools for their use of an SEL curriculum made by the company Edgenuity. Upon preliminary review, the curriculum appears contrary to Florida law, Diaz wrote, without elaborating.

I implore you to conduct a thorough review to ensure all content is compliant with Florida law, he continued. Edgenuity/Imagine Learnings divisive and discriminatory content branded as social-emotional learning (SEL) has no place in Floridas classrooms.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his 2023 State of the State address. DeSantis' administration is moving to unilaterally forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the controversial law critics call Don't Say Gay as the Republican governor continues a focus on cultural issues ahead of his expected presidential run.

Neither the department nor Diaz responded to requests for comment. But for Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, the state teachers union, the goal appears to be twofold: to create divides between schools and parents and to pressure districts into eschewing any materials that use the terminology deemed controversial.

If districts are getting surveyed on this stuff, its going to cause them to panic and worry that they may be called out and targeted and face consequences, Spar said, pointing to the vague language used in DeSantis-endorsed legislation, such as the law commonly known as the Dont Say Gay act. Florida is one of 18 states to have in recent years passed legislation or issued a rule restricting how teachers can discuss racism and sexism.

The survey was obviously sent out as a form of intimidation, said Liz Mikitarian, a retired elementary school teacher based in Brevard County. SEL is becoming a bogeyman.  And doing things like sending out that survey? Its definitely sending out a message: Were watching you.

The Miami-Dade School Board is now investigating SEL in the district to ensure it doesnt violate the Dont Say Gay law, also known as the Parents Bill of Rights. Meanwhile, DeSantis is poised to extend the provisions of that law, which bans instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades kindergarten through third, to students in older grades too.

"This is trickle-down censorship," said Julio Ligorria, a Miami-based political consultant who specializes in education policy.

A big book ban? U.S House passes GOP's Parents Bill of Rights Act

More: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs 'Don't Say Gay' bill into law

A distraction from academics or integral to learning?

In the eyes of critics such as Tiffany Justice, co-founder of the conservative activist network Moms for Liberty, SEL instills problematic values in kids while also detracting from their academic learning.

SEL delves into an area of the childs life that the school has no business working in, said Justice, who helped develop a guide for parents on how to remove such programming from their childrens classrooms. Its meant to replace the childs values and morals in the home with an idea of spirituality.

'We are war moms': Moms for Liberty dominates school board politics across US

At the root of SELs dark beginnings, according to Justice: the nonprofit Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, or CASEL. Justice believes CASEL, whose ubiquitous framework informs most SEL curricula, promotes new-age thinking and forces teachers to act as if theyre neuroscience experts or health professionals.

Aaliyah Samuel, the president and CEO of CASEL, said she is well aware of the claims. All of them, she said, are frustratingly false and a distraction from the critical work that we know is ahead for recovery. CASEL was founded and created the term SEL three decades ago, and has been a fixture in schools since. A body of research shows students who participate in CASEL-based programs have better academic and behavioral outcomes.

CASELs framework, notably, consists of the same competencies identified in Palm Beachs rebranded curriculum: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills and social awareness.

They arent morals or values, Samuel said, but rather skills needed to be successful in school and life. Trying to disentangle social and emotional learning from academics or from school is virtually impossible, said Samuel, who started her career as a public school educator in Florida teaching special education. All learning is social and emotional.

One meta-analysis of dozens of studies found an 11 percentile point boost in test scores among students who learn these skills. And, Samuel stressed, SEL isnt a substitute for mental health therapy but rather a form of prevention that can help protect kids from needing that care.

CDC survey: Teen girls report record levels of violence, sadness and suicide risk

With or without the fancy curricula, many teachers agree SEL is or at least should be an organic and core part of the classroom experience. As a kindergarten teacher, Mikitarian did SEL all day long. SEL is very broad umbrella (term) for teaching kids to be nice to one another to be nice to themselves, said Mikitarian, who left teaching around 2007 to focus on advocacy work and eventually started the group Stop Moms for Liberty.

Changing or banning the terminology doesnt get rid of teachers ability to engage kids in SEL, Samuel acknowledged. But it does make it more difficult for educators, students and parents to actually access the resources that we know are the best practices based off decades of research, Samuel said.

Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, center, is presented "The Sword of Liberty" by Moms for Liberty co-founders Tiffany Justice, left, Tina Descovich, second from right and executive director of program outreach Marie Rogerson, far right, during the first Moms for Liberty National Summit in 2022.

Samuel cited a conversation she had with a teacher. Samuel had asked the educator what would happen if she wasnt allowed to say social-emotional learning. What would that do to her classroom?

Youre still dealing with the same behaviors, youre still dealing with the same student needs, youre still dealing with it all, Samuel said the teacher responded. The difference is the types of tools and supports and professional development that Im able to have to understand, to manage, the behaviors, to connect with my students. It just makes me a better teacher.

Can we recover? Half of nation's students fell behind a year after COVID school closures.

An about-face on SEL

Schools across Florida went all in on social-emotional learning in the aftermath of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in 2018, thanks in part to legislation passed by Republican lawmakers. They incorporated lessons on grit and problem-solving and relationship-building. They trained staff on how to deal with students trauma and foster a healthy school climate.

At times it was teachers who said the efforts went too far. At a high school in Palm Beach County, for example, educators in 2021 expressed concerns about a plan to make SEL a daily requirement. Educators said it distracted from academics and put them at risk of getting in trouble for bringing sensitive topics into the classroom.

Now, some districts appear to be shying away from these initiatives. Throughout the state, there are a lot of conversations going on about the future of SEL, Florida Education Association's Andrew Spar said. In some schools, theres talk of stopping the use of any materials.

Opinion: Kids are in a mental health crisis. We need real resources  not culture wars.

The School District of Lee County, for example, several years ago touted its whole child approach, but in its responses to the February survey said it now only uses it in 3% of schools. The whole child model essentially treats students as multidimensional individuals and schools as community hubs that provide an array of physical and mental health supports.

Pinellas County Schools, which in 2021 won an award for its commitment to whole-child education, said in its answers to the recent state questionnaire that whole-child is now in zero schools.

Earlier this month, the Sarasota County School Board voted to suspend the districts character education program, which uses SEL. "It's a complete distraction," said Board Chairwoman Bridget Ziegler, who was appointed by DeSantis. Our focus must be on the academic rigor and our excellence of our students and not about anything else."

On pause: Sarasota School District poised to suspend character education program

Catherine Augustine, a researcher at RAND who has been studying SEL program partnerships in six communities across the U.S., including Palm Beach County, said the district recently declined to continue participating in the research. District officials, according to Augustine, cited concerns over state directives.

Until then, Palm Beach had been one of the studys shining star communities, Augustine said. Over the course of four years, it only became more invested in SEL and not less  and thats because they saw it was making a difference among students. The program Augustine and her colleagues studied focused on teaching elementary schoolers how to recognize their own and others emotions while also fostering strong student-adult relationships.

Augustine isnt sure whether that work has continued, and district officials were not available for comment.

Does social and emotional learning help kids? Yes, but experts say schools must be careful

'Scared to make connections'

Advocates say the need for educational experiences that support childrens mental health has never been greater.

The youth suicide epidemic that was already plaguing Florida and the rest of the country when SEL initiatives were first rolled out has only become more entrenched. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that nearly a quarter of teen girls in 2021 made a plan to kill themselves. Most experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Todays young people are still grappling with the ripple effects of the pandemics isolation and instability.

Barbara Segals school, also in Broward County, is all too familiar with the suicide epidemic. Earlier this school year, one of her students killed themselves on campus. The school offered resources  social workers, emotional support pets  but they were fleeting. If students at the low-income school wanted to speak with a professional, they had to fill out paperwork.

Teachers are scared to make connections with students, said Segal, also a social studies teacher. Mindfulness exercises, once a popular activity on campus, are no more, replaced with occasional moments of silence that Segal says students think are a joke.

SEL critics say removing it from schools doesnt mean students are being stripped of mental health support. DeSantis has approved tens of millions in funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. Schools, hes asserted, should focus on catching kids up on math and reading.

But the curricular fits and starts  and politicization of classroom learning  are taking a toll on that learning. In a recent survey by RAND and the Center on Reinventing Public Education, more than half of educators say politics has interfered with their ability to teach.

It is not a pleasurable experience in the classroom at this moment, Segal said. Our kids need stability right now. Not  this utter chaos.

'Shelves have been left barren': Florida teachers sue DeSantis' government over school library regulations

Contact Alia Wong at (202) 507-2256 or awong@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aliaemily.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeSantis administration's war on 'woke' targets SEL in Florida
Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the Education Department with recommendations to better protect student-loan borrowers.

She urged stronger oversight on for-profit institutions that engage in predatory behavior.

She also recommended oversight for OPM providers, and quick implementation of the gainful employment rule.

As millions of student-loan borrowers wait for debt relief, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to make sure President Joe Biden isn't letting protections for those Americans fall off his radar.

On Monday, the Massachusetts Democrat sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona  exclusively viewed by Insider  regarding efforts the department should take to ensure borrowers are protected from predatory behavior. After Biden announced up to $20,000 in student-debt relief for federal borrowers in August, he also outlined steps the department will take to hold potentially predatory programs accountable for actions that could load students up with debt, and Warren has some ideas on how to enforce that oversight.

"As I offer support for your effort to identify low financial value programs that saddle students with mountains of debt that they have little hope of repaying, I also write to bring to your attention several other areas where the Department can and should strengthen accountability and oversight of institutions of higher education that too often leave students with insurmountable debts," Warren wrote.

For-profit crackdown

Her recommendations focused on bolstering oversight over for-profit schools and ensuring predatory schools do not have access to the federal financial aid program. As Warren wrote in the letter, for-profits "have a long record of engaging in deceptive and manipulative practices and aggressively recruiting vulnerable students into low quality, high-cost education and training programs that leave students with high amounts of student loan debt and a greater likelihood to default on their loans."

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As Insider previously reported, for-profit schools have been under scrutiny by lawmakers like Warren for decades over allegations of misleading students into taking on more debt than they can afford to pay off. Biden's Education Department has reformed the borrower defense to repayment, which are claims students can file if they believe they were defrauded by the school they attended. If approved, their student loans would be discharged.

In her letter, Warren urged Cardona to ensure predatory schools cannot receive federal aid. She also reiterated her calls that the department hold executives of for-profit schools liable for costs that would normally fall on taxpayers when they shut down. The department released guidance earlier this month saying that would hold executives of private colleges financially liable for the cost of unpaid debts defrauded students took on.

Predatory tech companies that surge student debt

Warren also requested Cardona keep an eye on Online Program Management (OPM) providers  a rapidly growing industry that works with at least 550 colleges in the US to support online programs, including courses and recruitment efforts.

A 2011 loophole in the Higher Education Act has lawmakers concerned that OPMs are taking advantage of partnerships with colleges to prey on students. Specifically, the 2011 guidance allowed OPMs to collect 40-60% of a student's tuition as long as it provides a range of services, like marketing and advertising, and that the school's payment to the OPM covers all of those services.

"This loophole incentivizes OPMs to aggressively recruit students in order to boost their revenue, including calling prospective students multiple times a day, encouraging students with low academic GPAs to apply and take out federal Grad Plus loans that allow students to borrow as much as colleges charge," Warren wrote.

Borrower protection group Student Defense recently submitted a public comment to the Education Department saying that the loophole is illegal and urged it to rescind the 2011 Dear Colleague letter on OPMs.

"The gaps in online program management accountability are the next frontier in program oversight and accountability," Student Defense Litigation Director Eric Rothschild said in a statement. "These programs can increase access to higher ed, but too many students have been defrauded by the misleading marketing of companies whose profits depend on enrolling as many students as possible at all costs."

Prevent students from enrolling in programs they can't pay off

Former President Barack Obama established the gainful employment (GE) rule in 2014, which cut off federal aid for schools that offer career and certificate programs that left students with a large of amount of student debt compared to their post-graduation earnings. It aimed to prevent students from borrowing federal loans for programs they probably wouldn't be able to pay off.

But in 2010, former President Donald Trump repealed the rule, and Biden's Education Department pushed off reinstating it until 2024. Warren wrote in her letter that she is "concerned about the ongoing delays in its implementation."

"Further delay of the GE rule only will prolong the timeline for when poorly performing institutions could face penalties, exacerbating these institutions' harmful impact on students who are enrolled in these schools," she wrote, urging the department to start "building the infrastructure needed" to get the rule in place as quickly as possible.

This isn't the first time Democrats have urged quicker action on protecting students from enrolling in programs they might not be able to pay off. In February, Warren, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, sent a letter to Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal urging him strengthen protections for students that enroll in "low-financial-value programs," which could be done by reinstating gainful employment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Elon Musk has addressed William Shatners condemnation of Twitters new subscription program, which will charge users a premium in order to maintain their verified status.

Since Musks multi-billion-dollar acquisition of the social media platform in late 2022, he has controversially rolled out Twitter Blue, a plan that allows anybody to obtain a blue check mark for a monthly or yearly subscription.

Originally, a blue checkmark was given to notable accounts, typically high-profile individuals, celebrities, institutions, politicians and members of the media.

However, along with his new plan, hes warned that legacy accounts  those who received a blue tick prior to his Twitter takeover  are at risk of losing their status if they dont subscribe to Blue.

Its more about treating everyone equally. There shouldnt be a different standard for celebrities in my opinion, the Tesla CEO said in defence of the program, following criticism from Star Trek star Shatner.

Hey @elonmusk, whats this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter? the 92-year-old Canadian actor tweeted on Saturday (25 March).

Ive been here for 15 years giving my [time] & witty thoughts all for bupkis. Now youre telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free? What is this-the Colombia Records & Tape Club?

Its more about treating everyone equally. There shouldnt be a different standard for celebrities imo. https://t.co/rWi99sGPdq  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2023

Musks crackdown is expected to take effect on 1 April. This comes months after the initial plan rollout received a wave of parody accounts posing as brands, embarrassing Musk and his newly purchased platform. It was relaunched in December 2022.

In the latest update, the platform said it will begin winding down our legacy verified programme.

Those who wish to keep their checkmark will have to subscribe to Blue, which includes an 8 monthly fee for those based in the UK and $8 per month for those in the US, the site said.
Elon Musk told William Shatner that celebrities should be treated like all other Twitter users. Rick Kern/FilmMagic/ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk told William Shatner there shouldn't be different standards for celebrities on Twitter.

Shatner complained to Musk about having to pay for a blue checkmark on his Twitter account.

Shatner said he'd used Twitter for 15 years, giving "witty thoughts all for bupkis."

Elon Musk hit back at William Shatner after the actor complained about the blue checkmark on his Twitter account disappearing unless he pays for it.

Shatner, the "Star Trek" actor, was responding to Twitter's plans to scrap legacy verified blue ticks from users' accounts starting on April 1. Twitter says the only way users can keep their blue ticks is by signing up to Twitter Blue, a monthly subscription which costs $8.

"Hey Elon Musk what's this about blue checks going away unless we pay Twitter?" Shatner tweeted.

Shatner  who is also known for his iconic 1978 spoken-word cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man"  went to the edge of space in Blue Origin's rocket in October 2021, added he'd been on the platform for 15 years giving his time and "witty thoughts all for bupkis."

"Now you're telling me that I have to pay for something you gave me for free? What is this  the Colombia Records & Tape Club?" he asked.

Shatner appeared to be referring to Columbia House Records, a music club established in the 1950s. People joined Columbia House for a fee and got some music records free.

Just over 12 hours later, Musk quote-tweeted Shatner, saying: "It's more about treating everyone equally. There shouldn't be a different standard for celebrities imo."

Musk announced in November that Twitter would introduce an $8 monthly fee for users who want to be verified and keep the blue checkmark. Twitter Blue will offer users the ability to post long-form videos, see fewer ads, and have priority in search, according to Musk.

Stephen King, Josh Gad, and Lynda Carter were among the celebrities to criticize Musk over charging Twitter users for a blue tick.

Multiple celebrities  including Adam McKay, Jim Carrey, Shona Rhimes, and Elton John  quit Twitter after Musk acquired the platform in late October. Some cited concerns over misinformation and safety on Twitter.

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Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message which didn't address the inquiry.

Before Blue Origin sent Shatner into space on an 11-minute journey, Musk commented "Godspeed Captain" on NASA's Twitter post. Following the flight, the billionaire tweeted: "Congrats, was cool to send William Shatner to space."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, the Ethiopian nun revered for her distinctive piano compositions and charitable contributions, has died, according to Ethiopias state-run outlet Fana Broadcasting Corporate. She was 99 years old.

Guebrou was born on December 12, 1923, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As part of a well-off family, Guebrou began studying music in her youth, beginning with the violin in the early 1930s. She spent time as a prisoner of war as Ethiopia fought to gain independence from its Italian occupiers in the late 1930s, which interrupted her practice, but she resumed her studies in Cairo.

Guebrou committed to a monastic life as a young adult, taking up at Guishen Mariam monastery in Ethiopias Wello province at age 19, after the Ethopian government had denied her an opportunity to study music in London. She found spiritual clarity and satisfaction through music, composing for violin, piano, and organ; she found inspiration from classical and liturgical canons along with popular Western styles like blues and ragtime. Guebrou released her first album in 1967, donating the proceeds to young people in her community who were impoverished and seeking an education. She continued to release albums as a way to raise money for charitable causes, focusing on aid to Ethiopian children orphaned by war.

In Guebrous later years, her music attracted the attention of music fans outside her home country, who were drawn to her gentle, unique compositions. Director Garrett Bradley used her work to soundtrack her documentary Time, about the toll of incarceration. I like how open-ended time can be. Emahoys music is like that in many waysand yet it also is something radically pointed, Bradley told Pitchfork in 2020. She frames her own sense of time, she molds it to her liking. A new collection of Guebrous music, Jerusalem, is slated to arrive on April 14.

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In 2007, Guebrous family members helped establish the Emahoy Tsege Mariam Music Foundation, which underwent a revival in 2014. The nonprofit organization has a corporation that administers the rights to Guebrous music in addition to developing cultural programming in Jerusalem and Washington, D.C. According to FBC, Guebrou relocated to the Ethiopian Monastery in Jerusalem in 1984 after the death of her mother, and she remained for the rest of her life.

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
Josh Brolin was among the first celebrities to react to the news of the fatal shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday (27 March).

28-year-old shooter Audrey Hale was killed at the scene by police officers who were called to the citys Covenant School, officials say.

The female gunman  a former student at the school  killed three children (all aged nine) and three adults.

Brolin took to Instagram to plead for increased gun control laws in the country.

ENOUGH!!!!!! Whether youre a Its the people not the guns or a Its the guns, not the people to say that our country is actively doing anything in its power to help avert this absolute random slaughter of our children, categorizes you in either total denial or living some fantasy of ambush that should render you unfit to take care of yourself or others, the No Country for Old Men star wrote.

He continued: I thought all bets were off when children became targets. Whether peadophiles or shooters, end it f***ing now no matter what psychological/sociological manipulative spin any corporation puts on it.

Make our country great again by having some people [with] balls reinstated into the By the people, For the people system that was intended and has literally been bought out. F*** you, America, for not protecting your children.

Hale was armed with two assault-style firearms and a handgun when she broke into the building through a side door, police said.

Its hearbtreaking, US president Joe Biden said during an event on Monday. A familys worst nightmare.

We have to do more to stop gun violence, he added. Its ripping our communities apart. Its ripping at the very soul of the nation. We have to do more to protect our schools so they arent turned into prisons.

The Independents live coverage of the shooting can be found here.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  European Council President Charles Michel on Monday pledged to continue supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression for as long as necessary, adding that EU leaders will massively ramp up ammunition production to send to the war-torn country.

Michel met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, where the two leaders discussed EU support for Ukraine, security issues in neighboring Moldova, and Romania's bid to join Europes ID check-free travel zone, also known as the Schengen area.

We are again stepping up our military support, Michel told a news conference. Last week, we agreed to urgently deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. We will massively ramp up our production capacity.

Last week, EU foreign and defense ministers approved a plan for a fast-track purchasing procedure for direct negotiations with industrial providers of ammunition in Europe, and plan to send one million rounds to Ukraine within the next 12 months. But not all EU members want to partake in getting ammunition to Ukraine.

President Iohannis said this is not the time for hesitation in maintaining unity and solidarity with Ukraine as the war grinds on, adding that support must be maintained and strengthened on all levels.

The two leaders also discussed the unfolding situation in EU-membership candidate Moldova that has faced a protracted series of crises since Moscow launched its war in neighboring Ukraine.

Michel said Russia and its allies have stepped up efforts to destabilize Moldova by weaponizing energy, conducting cyber-attacks, staging protests, and other subversive activities.

Michel will on Tuesday travel to Moldova where he will meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean, in the capital Chisinau.

Despite Romania joining NATO in 2004, and the EU three years later, it was told last year along with Bulgaria that it must wait longer to participate in the Schengen zone  the worlds largest free travel zone  amid some countries migration concerns.

Michel expressed his full support for Romania's bid to join the Schengen area.
Police look over a bullet-ridden vehicle as they investigate where multiple people were shot in the 1600 block of West 63rd Street in Chicago on March 16, 2023. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

There are perhaps no greater buzzwords weve heard during the 2023 mayoral campaign than defund the police. It is a term that has polarized neighbors and tainted our public discourse in a way that isnt productive.

We need to engage more in order to address public safety in our city together. Although we may disagree on approach, it is my belief that through dialogue, we find agreement and a shared path forward. In that spirit, I want to provide context to this continued conversation on what some label defund for their own purposes.

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I actually dont believe fund or defund is the best way to frame this conversation. For those who have been effectively triggered by the term, here are some facts. First of all, the Chicago Police Department has seen only increased funding year over year. Secondly, the city of Chicago spends $3 billion of your tax dollars on CPD per year, when including the Office of Public Safety Administration. Lastly, just last year, around $90 million of your tax dollars went to police misconduct settlements alone. The budget continues to go up, not down, as do your taxes to cover cost.

In our society, I believe police must serve three core functions: apprehension, investigation and emergency response. But what do civilians call them for in addition to these three things? Domestic issues, homelessness, substance use disorder, mental health crises, a car parked in a permit area, neighbor arguments  you name it.

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The pandemic exacerbated many of these issues for officers who were working 16-hour days, working weeks on end without a day off, and being deployed into communities all over the city they may be unfamiliar with. This takes a toll on our officers, as well as the ability to effectively solve crime. This leaves officers in the position in which they are burned out and traumatized and lack the access they need to mental health support.

We are seeing officers take their lives because of the trauma that comes from being overwhelmed with work and responsibilities that are beyond a police officers job description. These consequences arent the result of a lack of funding; they are the result of mismanagement that ultimately makes us all less safe.

[ Editorial: We cant leave police to fight their stress battles alone ]

But if we fully funded the departments that address responsibilities forced on our officers  homelessness, mental health crises, substance use disorders, youth intervention, violence prevention, jobs, education  this would provide the opportunity for CPD to focus on its core functions of apprehension, investigation and emergency response when appropriate.

Blindly dumping funding into a mismanaged and overwhelmed workforce doesnt lead to safety. In fact, it has the opposite effect: It makes our city less safe, causes a rise in taxes and leads to more misconduct settlements as overworked and traumatized officers make bad calls.

If any department took 40% of tax dollars and produced worse results, people would demand an audit and inspection to make sure the department was using the funds properly. But because we are talking about safety, the dynamics become more about fear than data, and that dynamic creates the opportunity to capitalize off of fear.

To frame our collective safety as a funding issue is lazy at best and disingenuous at worst. Politicians know that if they talk tough on crime and say they will fill 1,600 positions, for example, it sounds comforting to people who are justifiably afraid. Even if a politicians plan isnt feasible to accomplish.

[ Kathleen OToole and Charlie Beck: Chicagos consent decree can improve policing for everyone ]

Every decade, the same rhetoric plays out, the same results happen and more money is mismanaged. If the plan worked, we would be safe. What we have not done is invested in the departments that tackle issues the Police Department shouldnt be and isnt actually responsible for, so that CPD can properly address violent crime.

When we propose doing just that, those who benefit from the money or from the fear of the people they can sway raise up their narratives to profit financially or politically. Wash, rinse, collect a check and repeat, while the subpar results remain.

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Its time to invest in people, programs and departments that help mitigate and prevent the factors that lead many to engage in criminal activity. Doing so keeps us safe and allows Chicago police to do their jobs effectively.

Our public safety conversation should be less about defunding CPD and more about achieving balance and management of our city budget. That is both the fiscally responsible and necessary thing to do.

What we should all agree on is that we need to audit CPD to make sure the department is effectively managing your tax dollars and its workforce. That is the place I believe we should all start.

Ald. Andre Vasquez represents the 40th Ward.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
The EU's antitrust authorities on Monday told Rome to claw back a 400-million-euro loan given in 2019 to then struggling airline Alitalia, which the bloc ruled was "illegal".

Alitalia no longer exists after racking up losses reaching more than 11 billion euros over two decades but, from its ashes, the Italian state created ITA Airways.

The European Commission, which acts as the bloc's antitrust authority, said the Italian state could not act as a private company and did not consider the likelihood that the loan would be repaid.

"The commission has concluded that no private investor would have granted the loan to the company at the time and that the loan gave Alitalia an unfair economic advantage vis-a-vis its competitors on national, European and world routes," it said.

The commission added in a statement that Italy must recover the money, plus interest.

The EU had already concluded in September 2021 that Italy's 900-million-euro loans to Alitalia granted in 2017 were illegal under the bloc's state aid rules.

It had cleared Italy's new carrier to get state funding and avoid paying back the money.

The EU and Italy agreed in July 2021 on a deal that created the new debt-free company, ITA Airways, which would take over some of Alitalia's assets.

But the commission had previously said that ITA Airways is not Alitalia's economic successor and is not liable to repay the 400-million-euro loan.

It is not clear how the money would be repaid but commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta told reporters that "the 400 million will be repaid by Alitalia within the limits of the revenues obtained from the sale of the assets of the company and the value of any remaining assets that is not sold".

Alitalia, on the brink of bankruptcy, had been placed under state administration in 2017 after failing to find a buyer.

The coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020 made the situation worse after flights ground to a halt worldwide.

raz/dc/imm
Flag of the European Union

First, it is necessary to disregard the Russian dictators statement and wait for the answer from the Belarusian side, the regime of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, who is already complicit in the brutal illegal aggression, said Stano.

He stressed that EU member states would react with new sanctions to the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.

He did not, however, spell out exactly what that sanctions might look like, explaining that such decisions are made by EU countries and the procedure is confidential.

Read also: Russias plans to move nukes to Belarus further involves it in military machine  Polands MFA

The spokesperson added that the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus would become a further escalation and a direct threat to European security.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced on March 25 that he plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, declaring that the collective West is already starting to use weapons with a nuclear component, forcing Russia to react accordingly.

He justified his decision on the UKs March 21 announcement that it will transfer depleted uranium shells for Challenger2 tanks to Ukraine. In turn, the UK Ministry of Defense stated that Putin was deliberately spreading false information.

Read also: Up to 10,000 Russian troops currently present in Belarus, border guards say

Read also: Ukraine calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting over Russias plans to move nukes to Belarus

Per Putins statement, 10 Belarusian aircraft have been converted by Russia for the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, while the Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system, which can carry a nuclear projectile, has already been provided to Belarus.

The Russian dictator also announced that construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1.

The European Unions chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, condemned Russias plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, stating that the European Union stands ready to respond with further sanctions.

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Ukraines Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the world community to take decisive measures to prevent the possibility of Russias use of nuclear weapons. The ministry called for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council to be convened immediately for this purpose.

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
Thousands of Eurovision fans attended events across Barcelona over the weekend

Every true Eurovision fan knows the song contest is much more than one Saturday night in May.

There's the anticipation of a host city announcement, the national final season when acts are chosen, and the bit we're at now - the pre-party stage.

Across Europe, over the next month, participants will perform at fan-organised events in preparation for the competition in Liverpool.

This weekend, thousands attended the first pre-party of 2023 in Barcelona.

"This is the best thing ever," this year's UK entrant Mae Muller explains as she meets some of her fellow competitors for the first time. "I get to go and see all these amazing places and people."

For Muller, it's not just an opportunity to take selfies and join WhatsApp group chats. It's also the first live performance of her entry I Wrote A Song, which she admits beforehand she's nervous about, but says "the excitement outweighs the nerves".

The bookies' odds can change during this build-up period as fans react to live vocals and choreography, and the artists see who their biggest competition is - but not every act takes part in these side events.

"I think for the fans it's so important the participants do this to show they actually care and they love the contest," 2015 winner Mans Zelmerlow explained on the BBC's Eurovisioncast.

As well as live performances, over three days of events in the Spanish city, seminar talks on the song contest were held, a walking tour of the city was organised and, of course, fans could dance until the early hours to music from 67 years of Eurovision in clubs.

I began covering Eurovision for the BBC in 2019 and I've seen the pre-parties get bigger each year. I was stunned on Saturday when I saw the queue to get into the venue - only to discover it was actually a line for a Robbie Williams gig at the same Palau Sant Jordi complex, which was used for the 1992 Olympics.

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But the true scale (next door) of the pre-parties, and how many there are now, was still a surprise to the Lithuanian contestant Monika Linkyte, who previously took part in 2015.

As well as this year's contestants, well-known acts from previous years also performed in Barcelona across three nights

This time around, she says, she can enjoy the experience more because she knows what's to come as the days to Liverpool are marked off on her calendar.

"These pre-parties are about fun," she tells me. "In the two weeks in Liverpool it's going to be stressful, but now you can just chill out."

Linkyte is one of the artists who have previously represented their country and are returning to the Eurovision stage this year, with a lot of discussion surrounding the bookies' current favourite - 2012's Swedish champion Loreen. After witnessing thousands in Barcelona singing back Linkyte's song Stay, she could easily place in the top 10 with her impressive live vocal.

After performing, Joker Out stayed to cheer on the rest of the participants on stage

At the pre-parties, you get a sense of who is a seasoned performer and who needs to build confidence before singing on one of the most-watched TV events in the world.

Joker Out, who were last year's best-selling act in Slovenia - and one of this year's many groups competing - can command a stage and have no struggle getting the crowd going.

"We've proved in the past few years [in Slovenia] we were worthy to be picked.

"We were talking with San Marino that this year looks more like a high school battle of the bands than Eurovision," they joke.

With only her dancers for support, Muller was one of the most anticipated performers over the weekend.

Her catchy lyrics have resonated with Europe, and she performed despite posting on Instagram she wasn't feeling well.

But as soon as she got off stage, she beamed: "Oh my goodness, I feel alive! I was very very nervous but I'm really happy it went well and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves."

There's room for improvement, and that's why Muller is doing "intense" rehearsals between now and May.

With her first ever performance of I Wrote A Song out of the way, it was time to relax, hanging out with Ukraine's act Tvorchi - who were chosen to fly their blue and yellow flag from a bomb shelter last December.

Spain has not won Eurovision since 1969

Pre-parties to come include Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Amsterdam and London. In Barcelona, unsurprisingly, the biggest crowd reaction by far went to Spain's Blanca Paloma.

Someone from Spanish broadcaster RTVE told me afterwards they feel a lot of pressure to repeat last year's success, when Chanel came third behind Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra and the UK's Sam Ryder.

It's a reminder of how many layers the competition has - it's a music contest, but can also impact the reputation of broadcasters if they don't get a result they want.

I travelled from the venue with the Spanish team, and although there was a slight language barrier between Blanca Paloma and myself, we found a way to communicate by singing previous Eurovision winning songs together on the streets of Barcelona.

We were exactly what this year's slogan says - united by music.

All the build-up, insights and analysis is explored each week on a BBC podcast called Eurovisioncast.

Eurovisioncast is available on BBC Sounds, or search wherever you get your podcasts from.
Everman police said at a news conference Monday afternoon that 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez is still missing and they havent found evidence to show whether hes alive or dead.

A Texas Amber Alert was issued Saturday for Noel, who authorities say has severe disabilities and has not been seen since November. The alert was changed to an Endangered Missing Persons alert after it was discovered that Noels mother, stepfather and siblings left the country on an international flight without him, police said.

On Monday, police were searching in the yard and inside the familys home on Wisteria Drive, which is a converted shed in the yard behind a larger house. Childrens bikes and a toy car were outside. Authorities towed a vehicle that was in the driveway.

Police also had a cadaver dog at the house Monday afternoon but it did not alert to any evidence of a body during the search, according to Police Chief Craig Spencer, who was at the home with other officers and later spoke at the press conference.

Authorities investigate near the home of missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez on Monday, March 27, 2023, in Everman, Texas.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 817-293-2923. Everman police also have set up an email address for tips at tips@evermantx.net

Video from a previous press conference held on Sunday is below:

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.
Three nine-year-old students and three staff members died after a shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.

The suspect, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, is also dead after being confronted and killed by police at The Covenant School in the Green Hills suburb of the city.

The shooting comes as the US is recovering from several recent gun violence incidents at schools, including the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas last year, a first-grade student shooting his teacher in Virginia, and a shooting in Denver, Colorado where two school administrators were wounded.

Heres everything we know so far:

The shooting

Police were called shortly after 10am CT on Monday 27 March to an active shooter situation at the school, which is connected to a church.

Hale arrived on the school campus in her Honda Fit, with security footage capturing the vehicle driving through the parking lot to the building.

Police said Hale was able to then forcibly enter the school door on the first floor of Covenant, where shots were fired, before moving to an upper level.

The first call to 911 about shots being fired came in at 10.13am, police said.

When officers rushed to the campus, the shooter opened fire on arriving police cars from a window on the second floor.

Officers entered the building and began clearing the building, police said.

While clearing the building, officers heard shots fired on the second level and moved to the second floor common area where they encountered Hale, police said.

Surveillance footage shows the shooter walking through a school corridor holding a gun (Metro Nashville PD)

Two police officers opened fire, fatally shooting Hale.

Mondays tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes.

Late on Monday night, police released around two minutes of edited surveillance video showing the killers car driving up to the school from multiple angles, including one in which children can be seen playing on swings in the background.

Next, an interior view shows the glass doors to the school being shot out and the shooter ducking through one of the shattered doors.

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More footage from inside shows the shooter walking through a school corridor holding a gun with a long barrel and walking into a room labelled church office, then coming back out.

In the final part of the footage, the shooter can be seen walking down another long corridor with the gun drawn.

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson said that three pediatric patients were transported to Monroe Carell Jr Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt, all having suffered gunshot wounds.

All three were pronounced dead after arrival, the spokesperson added.

Police said that Hale was armed with three guns including two assault-type weapons and one handgun. The guns were decorated with stickers, while one of the rifles had the word hell written on it.

At least two of the three weapons used in the shooting were believed to have been bought legally in Nashville.

The suspect

The suspect in the Nashville school shooting is 28-year-old Nashville native Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

Police have identified the suspected shooter by their name at birth; Hale reportedly was a transgender man who used he/him pronouns , though law enforcement officials initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Police did not provide another name.

Hale, who officials say was a former student at Covenant Presbyterian Church School, was shot dead by police on an upper floor of the school.

28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale pictured on Linkedin (linkedin)

Neighbours have revealed their shock at Mondays attack, describing Hale as a normal quiet person, from a family without any apparent interest in guns.

Audrey Hale was identified as the shooter

If I had to imagine, Audreys parents are probably just as shocked as everybody in the neighborhood isIt just doesnt seem real, Sean Brashears told The Daily Beast.

Theres nothing that would have led me to believe that she was capable of such a thing or that she or anybody in that family would have access to, much less ever used, a gun. They just dont seem like the family that, like, is around guns. Theyre not talking about going to a gun range or theyre not going hunting.

Another neighbour Sandy Durham said: I do know Audrey, Ive known her since she was a baby. I had just gotten out of the shower when all of this started happening. I didnt really know anything more than that. Something was going on next door. Its just tragic for everybody. The sweet children that were hurt, killed, the adults. All of it.

Asked if there were any warning signs, she said: Never. She was very sweet. I dont know what happened. Its very scary.

Another neighbour described Hale as coming from a great family.

This is a great family and its a tragedy, they told NBC News.

A LinkedIn account suggests Hale was an illustrator and graphic designer based in Nashville. The account says Hale was working for AH Illustrations and had previously been an illustrator at Nossi College of Art. It also mentions jobs with Grocery Shopper and as a cat sitter.

The Victims

Students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, Head of School Katherine Koonce, 60, Cynthia Peak, 61, and Mike Hill, 61, all died in the attack.

Koonce is listed on The Covenant Schools website as head of school and was one of the adult victims of the shooting say police.

One parent was quoted as saying by the BBC that Koonce was a saint.

She did so much for those kids, a parent of a student said. And now gave her life protecting them.

She knew every single student by name, she said. She did everything to help them when families couldnt afford things, it didnt matter. She found ways for them to stay.

Dr Kristy Mall, an educator, said on social media she attended graduate school with Koonce, calling the killing senseless.

Nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, a senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church (Family photo)

We HAVE to revamp how we handle mental illness in TN [Tennesse], she wrote on Twitter on 27 March.

Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a custodian, police said.

A woman who said she was Hills daughter said on Facebook that her father absolutely loved working at the school.

Nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, a senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to CBS News.

Meawhile, the sister of third-grade student Evelyn sobbed that I dont want to be an only child at a vigil on Monday.

The motive

The killers motive remains unclear but Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said in a press conference on Monday that the mass shooting was targeted.

Hale had drawn a detailed map of the school ground, including potential entry points, and carried out surveillance of the building prior to massacre, he said.

A manifesto was also found during a search of Hales home.

We have a manifesto, we have some writings were going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident, said the police chief.

We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place. Theres right now a theory that we may be able to talk about later but its not confirmed, and so well put that out as soon as we can.

He later told NBC News that investigators believe the shooter had some resentment for having to go to that school.

At Hales home, authorities seized a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun, and other evidence, police said.

Investigators have also spoken with Hales father.

Police said the Covenant School  a private Christian elementary  was the only school targeted but the suspect had been considering targeting another location  which was not identified. Hale apparently decided not to because of the level of security around that location.

Chief Drake said Hale was not believed to have any previous criminal record.

Covenant School Head of School Katherine Koonce, 60, was killed in the attack (Covenant School)

The police chief added that while there was no known history of mental illness, it was a lead that was being investigated.

However, a friend said that Hale had spoken about feel suicidal in the past and had messaged her minutes before the shooting saying Hale wanted to die.

In the chilling final messages, Hale issued a dark warning to friend Averianna Patton via Instagram on Monday morning that something bad is about to happen just minutes before the shooting unfolded.

In the harrowing messages sent at 9.57am, Hale revealed plans to die by suicide telling Ms Patton this is my last goodbye and that she would soon be reading about it on the news after I die.

One day this will make more sense, Hale wrote.

Ive left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.

Just 16 minutes later  at 10.13am  law enforcement received the first 911 call reporting shots fired inside The Covenant School.

Ms Patton, a former middle school basketball teammate of Hale who shared the messages with NewsChannel5, responded telling her friend you have so much more life to live.

Hale wrote back saying that I just need to die and that my family doesnt know what Im about to do.

Ms Patten told NewsChannel 5 that she contacted the Suicide Prevention Help Line at 10.08am to try to get her friend help.

Audrey has shared with others that she had been suicidal in the past and I knew to take this serious, Ms Patton said.

The school

The shooting took place at The Covenant School  the Presbyterian institution has around 200 students from preschool to sixth grade.

The school was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, the schools website states.

Its located in Green Hills, southwest of downtown Nashville.

The school employs 33 teachers, according to the site, which includes the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

The reaction

During an event in Washington, DC on Monday, First Lady Jill Biden said, we just learned about another shooting in Tennessee. A school shooting. And I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. And we stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper tweeted, in a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.

A child weeps while on the bus leaving The Covenant School following a mass shooting at the school in Nashville (THE TENNESSEAN)

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you, he added. As facts continue to emerge, I thank our first responders and medical professionals.

Jozen Reodica works in an office building in the area which went into lockdown as sirens blared.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she told the AP. And right now, its real.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the press that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting. Hes calling on Congress to pass tougher gun laws.

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school

We want to express the Presidents appreciation for the first responders and prayers for all the families affected by this shooting, she said on Monday. While we dont know yet all the details in this latest tragic shooting, we know that too often our schools and communities are being devastated by gun violence. Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach.

We must do more. And he wants Congress to act because enough is enough, she added.

In his State of the Union, the president called on Congress to do something to stop the epidemic of gun violence, tearing families apart, tearing communities apart, she said. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban to close loopholes in our background check system or to require the safe storage of guns.

We need to do something  once again the President calls on Congress to do something before another child is senselessly killed in a preventable act of gun violence, she added.

What were seeing today what were seeing in schools and communities across this country is unacceptable, the press secretary said. Our children should be able to go to school feeling safe, feeling protected. People should be able to go to grocery stores feeling safe. And what we saw today is devastating. Its heartbreaking for any American any parent across the country or any American, and so thats why this President has been very clear from day one, he is going to continue to fight for those communities.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, an anti-gun violence group, slammed Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

Tennessee @GovBillLee hasnt had time yet to tweet his thoughts and prayers for Covenant School, but when he does, remind him that this is exactly why police and citizens opposed the permitless carry bill he signed into law at a gun makers factory in 2021, Ms Watts tweeted.

SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ARE NOT ACTS OF NATURE, she added. They are senseless, preventable acts of man enabled by weak gun laws and lawmakers. This doesnt have to be our new normal. Our children dont have to be sacrificed in exchange for gun industry profits. We can stop this.

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenetweeted: My prayers are with the victims and families at the Covenant School in Nashville. Another absolutely horrific needless tragedy. Children and school staff should always be protected the same way politicians, money, precious stones, and gold are protected, but even more so, by good guys with guns.

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake speaks to the media following a mass shooting at Covenant School (AP)

Thank God for good guys with guns and thank God a good guy with a gun killed the evil mentally deranged shooter today, she added. Joe Bidens gun-free school zones have endangered children at schools leaving them as innocent targets of sick horrible disturbed people ever since he worked as a Senator to pass this foolish law. What a fool. What a failure.

Gun grabbers like Joe Biden and Democrats should give up their Secret Service protection and put themselves on the same level as our unprotected innocent precious children at school, she said. School shootings should NEVER happen and will end immediately when our nations children are defended the same way Joe Biden is by good guys with guns!!! End this now.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, the Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
A former Detroit police detective charged with accepting bribes from a towing company pleaded guilty in federal court Friday.

Michael Pacteles, 45, of Southgate, was accused of accepting bribes, including a vehicle and over $3,000 in cash, from an operator of a towing company in exchange for favors to the operator, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit.

Federal prosecutors said Pacteles removed stolen vehicles from the Detroit Police Department's database instead of properly recovering those that were in the towing company's possession. The government also said Pacteles agreed to provide restricted police information about vehicles to the towing operator.

After the stolen vehicles were removed from DPDs database, Pacteles told the operator he could "do what you want with them," according to court documents.

A police sergeant later learned what Pacteles had done and instructed him to recover the stolen vehicles. Pacteles resigned from the department in 2020.

Pacteles pleaded guilty to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, court documents show.

Pacteles was arrested in 2021 and was working for the Hamtramck Police Department at the time. He was the fourth Detroit police officer or former officer that had been charged in connection with Operation Northern Hook, an FBI investigation into city government corruption and Detroit's towing industry.

Earlier this month, former Detroit police officer Daniel Vickers was sentenced to two years and three months in prison for his role in the towing bribery scandal.

More:Ex-Detroit police officer sentenced in towing bribery scheme

Related:Pay-to-play, corrupt cops and predatory practices: This is Detroit's hidden world of towing

Former Detroit police Lt. John F. Kennedy, who at one point led the department's integrity unit, pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy last summer and is scheduled to be sentenced April 18. And retired Detroit police officer Alonzo Jones was sentenced to 15 months in prison last summer for accepting towing bribes.

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Also charged in the federal government's corruption investigation was City Councilman Andre Spivey, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to accepting $35,900 in bribes from an undercover law enforcement agent and a confidential FBI source in exchange for his political influence on a pending vehicle towing ordinance.

Spivey was later sentenced to two years in prison.

Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. She can be contacted at 313-264-0442, asahouri@freepress.com or on Twitter @andreamsahouri.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Detroit police detective pleads guilty to bribery in towing scandal
WASHINGTON  Former U.S. Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer Aaron Weis joined Google Public Sector as the companys managing director of technology.

In his new job, hell oversee the development and implementation of the technology strategy for the Google Cloud Platform, according to an announcement shared with C4ISRNET. His first day is March 27.

Weis left the Navy CIO post this month after more than three years atop the services information technology, cybersecurity and cloud computing portfolios. During his tenure, Weis pushed the concept of cyber readiness: a shift away from standard audits, waiting periods and bureaucracy and toward a continuous measurement of security, proficiency and digital resources.

Aaron Weis (U.S. Navy)

It is my assertion, as a little old DON CIO, that the way that we do and the way we approach the problem of cybersecurity is wrong. Were doing it wrong, he said in February at the West conference in San Diego. Readiness is a broader aperture than a 624-line checklist.

Weis is one of three defense CIOs to announce their respective exits in 2023. Raj Iyer left the Army earlier this year, and Lauren Knausenberger will leave the Department of the Air Force in June.

Iyer has since been hired by ServiceNow, an American IT company. Knausenberger has not publicly said what shell do next.
By Mari Saito and Maria Tsvetkova

BERLIN/NEW YORK (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Monday they searched the home of two pro-Kremlin activists, looking for evidence to corroborate a Reuters report that the couple donated cash to buy radios for Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Reuters reported in January that Max Schlund and his romantic partner Elena Kolbasnikova donated funds collected from supporters in Germany to a Russian army division fighting in Ukraine, and the money was used to purchase walkie-talkie radios, headphones and telephones.

European Union sanctions ban supplying, or financing the purchase of certain goods for the Russian military. The banned list includes radio gear. Under German law, the criminal penalty for anyone found to have violated sanctions is up to five years in prison.

Ulf Willuhn, a representative of the Cologne public prosecutors, said officers executed a search warrant on Monday morning at the couple's address, and took computers and folders containing written documents.

Asked by a Reuters reporter to comment on the move by prosecutors, Kolbasnikova said: "There's nothing for you to celebrate. Our time has not yet come, and yours is running out. Because neither I, nor my husband, have violated German law in any way, and justice will be restored."

Willuhn said prosecutors would use the evidence they took to evaluate if Schlund and Kolbasnikova had violated paragraph 18 of the German foreign trade and payments act, which sets out punishments for breaches of international sanctions.

He said the search was triggered in part by the Reuters reporting on the donation to buy gear for the Russian army division in Ukraine.

Alongside that, he said prosecutors had also been looking for evidence of whether the couple violated section 140 of the German criminal code, which covers speaking approvingly of criminal acts.

That line of inquiry relates to allegations, reported in the German media, that the couple displayed the "Z" symbol, used by supporters of the Russian invasion, and re-posted a recruitment ad for pro-Kremlin military contractors.

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In an audio message sent to supporters on social media on Monday, Kolbasnikova said she was not surprised the search had happened because the German authorities were "committing lawlessness" to try to silence political opponents.

"We will keep fighting ... God is on our side, and Moscow is at our backs. Three cheers for victory!" she said.

In a separate message to supporters, she said prosecutors were trying to build a case against her and her partner over providing help for the Russian army.

Kolbasnikova called on her supporters to attend a previously scheduled rally in Cologne on March 29 to protest in support of free speech and against what she described as "Russophobia".

A spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, said this month that Kolbasnikova was the victim of persecution by the German authorities.

(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in New York and Mari Saito in Berlin; Editing by Alison Williams)
Colombia's chief of police said he and other officers have used exorcism and prayer to tackle crime and the country's most powerful criminals, including drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar.

Sitting in his office surrounded by crucifixes, effigies of the Virgin Mary and other Catholic symbols, General Henry Sanabria told local media on Saturday that these religious practices have helped the police throughout the last 50 years of armed conflict in the South American country.

#ElGeneralContraElDiablo | El general Henry Sanabria, director de la Policia, revelo como es su lucha contra el Diablo: exorcismos son el arma de guerra clave contra los criminales. Este es el impresionante relato.



Los detalles  https://t.co/hpk51czcs2 pic.twitter.com/tnLQYHZYvn  Revista Semana (@RevistaSemana) March 26, 2023

As examples, he recalled police operations in which Escobar (in 1993), FARC guerrilla leader Alfonso Cano (2011) and his military chief known as "Mono Jojoy" (2010) were killed.

"The existence of the devil is certain. I have seen him. I have felt him," Sanabria said in an interview with Semana magazine, making the sign of the cross at every mention of the devil.

He told the magazine that recently a small group of unarmed police officers was surrounded by hundreds of violent protesters. Sanabria said that he arrived at the scene and pulled out a crucifix.

"They picked up everything and left," Sanabria said. "The policemen looked at me. They didn't dare ask me what had happened."

Sanabria claimed criminals use witchcraft, and said in one operation a police officer had been able to kill one of them by "praying while shooting."

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His statements have sparked fierce debates on social media in Colombia, a secular country with Catholic traditions.

President Gustavo Petro did not express concern.

"We know the beliefs of the general, but we try to make sure that these beliefs do not affect the rules, it is as simple as that," he said. "I think he has respected them, as far as we know."

Previous statements by the police chief have also caused controversy.

Sanabria has spoken against abortion, which is legal in Colombia until the 24th week of pregnancy, and the use of condoms, which he has called an "abortive method."

Last October, he described Halloween as a "satanic" holiday and wrote a tweet about Women's Day on March 8 that was accused of being sexist.

"A woman's charm makes her husband happy and if she is reasonable, she makes it last. A discreet woman is a gift from the Lord," he wrote.

Colombian police director, General Henry Sanabria speaks during a press conference in Bogota, Colombia a day after his motorcade vehicle was attacked during an anti-government protest, on October 24, 2022. / Credit: Sebastian Barros/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In recent days, Colombia has also employed more traditional methods to tackle crime and drug trafficking. Earlier this month, the country's navy intercepted two so-called "narco subs" -- semi-submersible vessels carrying large hauls of cocaine. One of the vessels also had two dead bodies on board.

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By Daniel Wiessner

, (Reuters) - A jury trial begins Monday to determine how much money Tesla Inc must pay to a Black former Tesla Inc factory worker who won a lawsuit accusing the electric car maker of tolerating severe racial harassment at its flagship Fremont, California assembly plant. The case is one of several involving working conditions at Tesla and other companies owned by billionaire Elon Musk. Here's a look at what's at stake.

WHAT DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS IS TESLA FACING?

Owen Diaz, a former elevator operator at the Fremont plant, won a 2021 trial against Tesla, saying he was subjected to harassment including racial slurs and racist caricatures. A jury awarded Diaz $7 million for emotional distress and $130 million in punitive damages, but a federal judge lowered the total award to $15 million. Diaz rejected the lower payout and opted for a new trial on damages.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said punitive damages should not be more than 10 times the award for emotional distress and other injuries.

Tesla faces similar but much broader claims of tolerating racist conduct in a proposed class action by Black workers and a separate lawsuit by a California civil rights agency. Those cases are in early stages and will not go to trial soon. Tesla has denied wrongdoing and called the agency's lawsuit politically motivated.

DOES TESLA FACE MORE BIAS CLAIMS THAN OTHER MAJOR AUTO MAKERS?

The handful of pending cases against Tesla is in line with what any large company can expect. What stands out is the consistency of the claims alleging rampant harassment of Black workers at Tesla's plant in Fremont. Lawsuits against most other companies come from individual plaintiffs making allegations that vary significantly. But all the cases against Tesla claim the company's small human resources team had inadequate staffing to deal with a stream of complaints from Black employees.

HOW BIG IS THE FINANCIAL THREAT TO TESLA AND MUSK?

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Tesla is among the world's most valuable companies with market capitalization of more than $580 billion, and Musk is the world's second richest person. So a jury award of tens of millions of dollars for Diaz would sting but not decimate the company or its founder.

Still, the case could prompt investors to scrutinize employment practices at companies owned by Musk, and raise concerns about pending cases involving many more Tesla workers. Last year, a Tesla shareholder sued the company and Musk in Texas federal court claiming their failure to address a "toxic workplace culture" had caused Tesla to lose high-quality employees and incur costs for defending cases and paying fines.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER EMPLOYMENT ISSUES?

Tesla is also fighting a spate of sexual harassment lawsuits by female workers at the Fremont plant and another factory near Los Angeles. A pair of other complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Labor last year accuse Tesla of wage theft and worker safety violations at its $1.1 billion truck factory in Austin, Texas. In another pending case, a former production manager claims he was fired for raising concerns about safety issues at the Fremont plant and a factory in Nevada.

Tesla is appealing a U.S. labor board's decision last August that said the company several years ago illegally barred workers at the Fremont plant from wearing shirts bearing union insignia. In separate cases pending at the labor board, former employees of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk's rocket company, claim they were fired for criticizing him and the companies' employment policies.

WHAT HAVE ELON MUSK AND TESLA SAID ABOUT THESE CLAIMS?

In a 2017 email to Tesla staff in response to Diaz's lawsuit, Musk stated that "part of not being a huge jerk is considering how someone might feel who is part of an historically less represented group." But he went on to say minorities should be "thick-skinned" and accept apologies from coworkers who insult them.

Tesla in court filings has said it does not tolerate discrimination, takes complaints by workers seriously and disciplines employees who violate anti-bias policies. The company also has said it regularly updates management and members of its board on initiatives meant to prevent discriminatory conduct, including in pay and promotions.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)
JetBlue is seeking permission to merge with Spirit Airlines. The U.S. Department of Justice is working to block the purchase. Does this make sense for air travelers?

JetBlue sells itself as an upscale low-cost airline, with 34 inches of seat pitch and no-cost amenities for which other airlines charge a fee. Spirit is the ultimate low-cost carrier, offering low fares with a la carte add-ons that permit travelers to choose the amenities and services they want.

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On the surface, the two airlines appear to be odd bedfellows for merging. Yet merging airlines is far more than just repainting airplanes and reconfiguring cabin seats.

Airlines rent gates at airports. When two airlines merge, they effectively gain more gate control. This could have a negative impact on airfares, as competition on some routes may be reduced. To counter such effects, the Justice Department has forced airlines to relinquish gates with a merger approval. When American Airlines purchased US Airways, American was forced to give up gates at several airports, including Ronald Reagan Washington National in Washington, many of which were controlled by US Airways.

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Studies suggest that airfares increase after airlines merge, though the variability of airfares, as measured by standard deviations, and the window of such analyses make the conclusions far from certain. Indeed, there are numerous factors that contribute to airfares changing. Competition is certainly one of them. Yet airfares generally increase or decrease based on the supply and demand balance on routes. In other words, how all airlines, not just those involved in a merger, reallocate routes and available seats must be considered.

What is often lost in the discussions of airlines merging is the economy of scale gained with size. Airlines operate with significant fixed costs. Whether a 140-seat Boeing 737 departs with 80 passengers, 100 passengers or at full capacity, the fixed equipment, airport fees and labor costs are essentially the same, with the marginal cost of extra fuel to carry a few more passengers effectively noise on their balance sheets. This means that profits are earned on the margins.

[ Sheldon Jacobson: Offering Precheck for free to boost the number of vetted flyers would optimize TSA security ]

Mergers can be beneficial to help airlines remain profitable. The question that then arises is how such profits are to be used.

One area of concern is serving smaller communities. Airlines use regional jets to feed passengers into their hub airports. The air travel meltdown during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lost or reduced service to many such communities. Though the profitability of serving such communities is low, the benefits to their economies are tremendous. If the Justice Department wishes to add conditions on airline mergers, this would be a good area to think about.

The merger of airlines like JetBlue and Spirit would not affect the national air travel equilibrium. Given that American, United, Delta and Southwest hold about two-thirds of the domestic market, adding a fifth major airline might put more pressure on these Big Four to keep airfares reasonable and, more importantly, expand service to gain competitive advantages.

Moreover, Spirit competes head to head with other airlines on 83% of its routes. JetBlue and Spirit compete on several routes, with Fort Lauderdale and Orlando at the top of the list. These two Florida airports are also widely covered by all the other airlines, including Southwest, which would put a cap on airfares after a merger.

Though preserving competition is often what the Justice Department cites to justify not approving a merger, the real issue may be limiting the power exerted by airlines. In general, large airlines have more clout than small airlines. Restricting mergers indirectly maintains the status quo and makes it easier to control airlines. Indeed, if the Justice Department could impose greater regulation and break the Big Four into smaller entities, it likely would. This would be a return to the pre-1978 period when airlines were highly regulated, which ended with the Airline Deregulation Act.

Discouraging airline mergers is less about competition and more about control. At some point, a minimal number of airlines will exist that serve the needs of flyers. Airlines would be wise to sacrifice some of their profits to maintain acceptable levels of service, so that partnerships, not adversarial relations, can be built with all stakeholders.

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If the Justice Department wishes to exert conditions on mergers, this would be the issue to focus on.

Sheldon Jacobson is a professor in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A data scientist, he applies his expertise in data-driven risk-based decision-making to evaluate and inform public policy.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
LONDON (Reuters) -Prince Harry, Elton John and five other high-profile figures are suing the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over allegations of phone-tapping and other privacy breaches.

As the case was heard at London's High Court for the first time on Monday, here are some details about the case and the background of lawsuits against the British press.

WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT?

The claimants allege Associated Newspapers  one of Britain's biggest newspaper publishers, whose titles include the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday  is responsible for unlawful information gathering over a period of 25 years, between 1993 and 2018.

The claimants' lawyers say Associated Newspapers tasked private investigators with unlawfully obtaining information about the claimants and "even commissioning the breaking and entry into private property". The publisher vehemently denies the allegations.

Harry said in his written lawsuit that he regards Associated Newspapers' alleged conduct as "a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana" in 1997".

One of the most notable claimants is Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in a 1993 racist attack. The Mail championed bringing her son's killers to justice and previously said the allegations involving her were "appalling and utterly groundless smears".

Lawrence says in her written case that she "feels a deep sense of betrayal" over the allegations that she was targeted.

John and his husband David Furnish allege in their written case that they were targeted on behalf of the publisher by a private investigator, which "included the landline tapping of their home in Windsor".

Associated Newspapers, which has not yet filed its written defence to the lawsuits, said in a statement that it categorically denies the allegations.

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WHAT IS THIS WEEK'S HEARING ABOUT?

Associated Newspapers is seeking to have the cases thrown out on the basis that they were brought too late.

It says the seven claimants must have known about allegations of unlawful information gathering made several years ago, which prompted a year-long public inquiry into press standards and years of litigation against various publishers.

Associated Newspapers argues the claimants should have known they could sue more than six years ago  meaning the cases should be thrown out of court.

In Harry's case, Associated Newspapers' lawyers argue the prince was aware that members of staff in the royal household had their phones hacked and refer to his memoir "Spare" which referred to the closure of the News of the World in 2011.

The claimants' lawyers say alleged unlawful information gathering was deliberately hidden by Associated Newspapers for years and they did not discover that they could bring a lawsuit until recently.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE PRESS?

Litigation over allegations of unlawful information gathering has been going on for years.

The vast majority of claims being brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, and Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the now-defunct News of the World and the Sun.

Harry is expected to give evidence in May at a High Court trial of his and others' privacy claims against MGN, which was launched in 2019 at the same time as a similar lawsuit against NGN. MGN is fighting Harry's case, which would be only the second "phone hacking" trial if it goes ahead and is not settled before it is heard.

John and Furnish, as well as actor Liz Hurley, have brought and settled lawsuits against MGN and NGN in recent years.

But these lawsuits mark the first time Associated Newspapers has been dragged into the row, which has seen hundreds of settlements in cases brought against MGN and NGN - which has always denied any liability in relation to the Sun.

The allegations made by Lawrence - whose fight for justice was long supported by the Daily Mail - will be most concerning to the publisher, which said it had "campaigned tirelessly for 25 years to obtain justice for Stephen Lawrence" when the lawsuits were announced in October.

Associated Newspapers said then that it had "the greatest respect and admiration" for Lawrence. The publisher added that it is "deeply saddening that whoever is cynically and unscrupulously orchestrating these claims" had persuaded her to believe the allegations.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin and Michael Holden;Editing by Alison Williams)
Explosions were heard and the air defence system was activated in Kyiv Oblast as several Shahed drones were destroyed.

Source: Kyiv Oblast Military Administration on Telegram; Colonel Yurii Ihnat, Spokesperson for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the joint national 24/7 newscast; Ukrainska Pravda; Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv

Details: The oblast military administration had reported the threat of drone attacks and the activation of the air defence system in the oblast.

The air-raid warning was issued in Kyiv Oblast at 22:06 (Kyiv time).

Update: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported that several Shahed drones had been destroyed in Kyiv Oblast.

"It's what always happens: from time to time, the enemy attacks Ukraine with Shaheds [136s or 131s  ed.]. They attack from the north and from the south front [Russias Bryansk Oblast and the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov  ed.].

If you hear explosions, the air defence system is probably activated. We urge citizens to follow security instructions.

We already have some results: several Shaheds were downed in Kyiv Oblast [they were flying through Chernihiv Oblast, the area of responsibility of Air Command Central  ed.], and, according to preliminary information, another one was shot down in the east [Operational Command Skhid (East)  ed.]. We will wait for the combat operations to be completed. After the all-clear is given, we will announce the results of the air battle."

According to Ukrainska Pravda, at least six explosions were heard in the city of Kyiv itself.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko later confirmed that there were explosions in Ukraine's capital. According to preliminary reports, they occurred in the Obolon and Sviatoshyn districts. All relevant services have been dispatched to the sites of the explosions.

The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that air defence equipment was activated in Kyiv.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
The civil rights of a 2-year-old girl were violated when she was fatally shot by police last March in southeast Kansas, a federal lawsuit filed Friday alleges.

Clesslynn Crawford was killed by a round fired by a Joplin Police Department officer during a hostage situation on March 26, 2022, in Baxter Springs.

Her family is suing the City of Joplin, the City of Baxter Springs and Cherokee County. The shooter, identified as Sniper One, is also listed as a defendant.

Officers with Baxter Springs had responded to a domestic disturbance at a residence that day. Eli Crawford, 37, opened the door and then shut it after seeing police, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said. Clesslynn reopened the door and her mother Taylor Shutte ran outside. The KBI said Crawford stepped outside and shot Shutte, 27.

He also shot at four responding officers, the KBI said. Police retreated and he continued shooting. Additional law enforcement responded, including Joplin polices SWAT team.

The KBI said Crawford fired more than 90 rounds.

Then a Joplin officer fired a round into the residence. They later located Crawford, the girls father, deceased. Shutte and Clesslynn were also found dead.

Nine days after the shooting, the KBI said Crawford died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Clesslynn died from the round fired by the Joplin police officer.

The lawsuit, filed in the District of Kansas, said the girl had done nothing wrong, had not violated any law, and was not suspected of any wrongdoing whatsoever, and that the defendants violated her clearly established fundamental civil rights. Those rights include the right to be free from unreasonable seizure, the right to bodily integrity, the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, and the right to not be deprived of life without due process.

The lawsuit alleges Baxter Springs, Joplin and Cherokee County failed to adequately train those involved, including the shooter, and that the supervisors failed to properly supervise the situation. It also includes a wrongful death claim.

The City of Joplin said it does not comment on litigation. The mayor of Baxter Springs did not return a voicemail seeking comment. Cherokee County did not return a message.
The mother of an Embry-Riddle student whose 2020 shooting death was ruled a suicide by Daytona Beach police has filed a lawsuit over the death of her son.

In the lawsuit, the family claims they have evidence that proves Alexander Bello-Ortiz did not die by suicide. They said that includes a recording from a Ring camera that captured a conversation between one of Alexs roommates and his dad after the shooting but before a 911 call.

Family attorneys chose not to share that audio, but said in it that the dad allegedly asks, Did you *expletive* kill him? and the roommate responds, I did *expletive.*

In the 911 call that was released, the roommate allegedly says, My roommate just collapsed he bleeding from one ear and his nose.

Read: Seminole County teacher accused of trafficking fentanyl, police say

If its up to me to not let anybody go through this, I will try to do that, by making sure whoever is responsible doesnt do it again, Bello-Ortiz mother Lourdes Ortiz said.

The family attorneys said they are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to a conviction.

They said a trial date for the lawsuit has been set for late 2024.

Read: Bicyclist, small dog killed in crash involving pickup truck in Brevard County

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Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in The Fast and the Furious. (Universal)

The summer of 2001 was a simpler time. The War on Terror was not yet a twinkle in George Bush's eye, Manchester United had won the Premier League for the third season in a row and The Fast and the Furious handbrake turned into cinemas leaving a trail of empty bottles of Corona in its wake.

When the mid-budget studio actioner was a hit with audiences (if not critics), even the film's biggest fans could never have expected the series would still be speeding down the highway over 20 years later. The original foursome of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster has grown to become a giant ensemble that makes the Dirty Dozen look like high school bullies.

Read more: Everything we know about Fast X

Over the years, the series has recruited Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell and even Helen Mirren for its array of street races, heists and globetrotting adventures.

Nine main films, one spin-off and enough on-set drama to write a book about, Fast X is set to screech onto our screens on 19 May so we have ranked the existing ten movies which have taken us from the sun-drenched streets of LA to outer space.

10 | The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (Universal Pictures)

Global box-office: $159 million

While not technically a spin-off, Tokyo Drift feels like a spin-off. Or a straight-to-DVD sequel with a proper film's budget. Vin Diesel cameos right at the end after he made a deal with Universal to gain the rights to the Riddick series. The drift races are memorable and exciting but Lucas Black and Bow Wow were not Diesel and Walker though Tokyo Drift does get points for casting martial arts movie legend Sonny Chiba as the head of the Yakuza.

9 | Fast and Furious 9 (2021)

Nathalie Emmanuel and Vin Diesel in F9. (Universal)

Global box-office: $726.2 million

Fast and Furious was never self-aware enough to jump the shark but space travel, story ruining retconning and Dom's long lost brother (with hair) go a long way to sending the series hurtling off a cliff.

Story continues

Read more: Fast & Furious - the story so far

The idea of replacing ex-wrestler Dwayne Johnson with ex-wrestler John Cena is more amusing than the pay off and the film also has a Statham-sized hole that nobody else can fill. F9 seemed more interested in 'lore' than blowing stuff up but the only person interested in Dominic Toretto's backstory is Vin Diesel.

8 | Fast & Furious (2009)

The cast of 2009's Fast & Furious. (Alamy)

Global box-office: $360.4 million

The sequel to save them all. After none of the original cast featured as a main character in Tokyo Drift, Walker, Diesel, Rodriguez and Brewster reunited for the fourth film which is more of a police procedural than anything else.

There's more plot mechanics in this one than the other nine combined and as a result has a much drearier tone. The opening is great and the fact it was a huge success is the reason we're getting hyped for Fast X fourteen whole years later.

7 | Fast & Furious 8 (2017)

Charlize Theron and Vin Diesel in The Fate of the Furious. (Universal)

Global box-office: $1.236 billion

The tread on the tires was wearing a little thin but the eighth instalment still had enough NOS in its tank to race past the finish line. The first film without Walker and the last with Johnson due to what can be politely called clashes with Diesel over quite literally everything including the amount of punches they're allowed to land on each other.

It does have one particularly stunning prison break sequence with The Rock in a hilariously large orange jumpsuit.

6 | 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Paul Walker in 2 Fast 2 Furious. (Universal)

Global box-office: $236.4 million

Directed by the late, great John Singleton, the first sequel saw only Walker return from the first film with Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes and Ludacris rounding out the rest of the cast with Cole Hauser as a Scarface-esque villain. Still in the mould of the first film but with candy cane colour pallet and a hint of Lethal Weapon, Fast and Furious was already well on its way to going bonkers.

5 | Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson in 'Hobbs & Shaw'. (Credit: Universal)

Global box-office: $760.7 million

Despite the massive success of Fast and Furious, Hobbs & Shaw remains the series' only spin-off as Johnson and Statham's characters go their own way to take on Idris Elba's Black Superman aka Brixton. The two stars have a fitting raport though Vanessa Kirby as Statham's sister pretty much steals the thing from all the male muscle.

4 | Fast & Furious 7 (2015)

Vin Diesel and Kurt Russell in Fast & Furious 7. (Universal)

Global box-office: $1.515 billion

It's okay to cry. Paul Walker tragically died during production with a large amount of the film still not shot so Diesel and director James Wan were left with the awful challenge of reconfiguring a blockbuster around the absence of one of its two leads.

Using Walker's brothers as stand-ins and CGI, Furious 7 doubles as a fitting tribute to a genuine star gone far too soon. The final moments, featuring Brian and Dom's vehicular goodbye is the type of fitting farewell most dramatists would sell their soul for. The Rock also flexes his arm out of a cast and Jason Statham and Vin Diesel play a game of chicken with cars where nobody blinks. Furious 7 contains multitudes.

3 | Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

Sung Kang as Han; Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges as Tej; Gal Gadot as Gisele; Vin Diesel as Dom; Paul Walker as Brian; Tyrese Gibson as Roman in Fast & Furious 6. (Universal Pictures)

Global box-office: $788.7 million

The one with the longest airport runway in cinema history, an amnesiac Michelle Rodriguez and a post-credits glimpse of our lord and saviour Jason Statham. The real highlight (apart from the now cartoonishly delightful levels of action) is Luke Evans' villain, who's more threatening as a hissing snake than some of the series' other bad guys who are all brawn no brains.

2: Fast & Furious 5 (2011)

Vin Diesel and The Rock in Fast & Furious 5. (Universal)

Global box-office: $626.1 million

After it looked like the fourth film would be the end of the line, Fast and Furious arose from the dead in Brazil by zooming away from the street racing in favour of a convoluted heist that literally sees a massive safe being dragged through the streets of Rio.

It's also the first appearance of Dwayne Johnson's soaked in babyoil Luke Hobbs complete with goatee. Featuring several all-time great action set-pieces including a train robbery of cars, Fast Five sent Dom and family into overdrive.

1 | The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in The Fast and the Furious. (Universal)

Global box-office: $207.3 million

The original and the best. A quasi-remake of Point Break but with street racers instead of surfer bros, The Fast and the Furious is an early 2000's time capsule for baggy jeans, rap rock and modified cars.

The film made immediate stars out of its laconic leading duo Vin Diesel and Paul Walker but you'd never have though 20 plus years later, they'd still be making these on ten times the budget.

Fast X is in cinemas from 19 May.

Watch below: Michelle Rodriguez thinks Jason Momoa is the 'best male villain' in the Fast franchise.
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trumps first wife, Ivana, was under an FBI counterintelligence inquiry into allegations about her connections in her home country of Czechoslovakia in the 1990s, according to excerpts from her FBI file obtained by Bloomberg News.

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The inquiry spanned several countries, with US legal attaches in Canada and Europe instructed to inquire about the circumstances of her emigration from then-Communist Czechoslovakia to Austria and later to Canada and to look into her association with individuals whose names are redacted from the release. The agency also dug through court records of her divorce from Donald Trump.

The files were classified as secret. In one document dated Feb. 14, 1989, the FBI said it recommended a preliminary inquiry be opened on Ivana Trump based on information the bureau obtained from a confidential source. According to the document, it is unknown if the allegations stem from jealousies of her wealth and fame. Investigation continuing. The FBI redacted the contents of that inquiry.

While the nature of the FBIs inquiry into Ivana Trump is unknown, it involved the bureaus counterintelligence division and was highly sensitive, according to the documents, and spanned at least two years.

Another file, from 1990, shows the FBI looking into a man connected to Czechoslovakian intelligence who arranged fictitious marriages and believed to have some connection to Ivana Trump, who was from Czechoslovakia. Theres little information in the records on Donald Trump other than a Jan. 16, 1989, Time magazine article headlined, Trump.

The documents also include a reference to Barrandov Film Industry, a Prague film studio and one of Europes largest. Its unclear why its mentioned, but its connected to Vaclav Havel, who served as the last president of Czechoslovakia. A then-unknown Ivana Trump appeared in an episode of a show filmed there called Pan Tau in 1970.

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The file goes on to say that a highly confidential and reliable source advised that Ivana Trump was in Czechoslovakia on June 4, 1990, where Havel gave her an autographed book.

The Prague Daily Monitor published a story after Donald Trump was elected president about Ivana not helping dissidents or exiles during the Communist regime. That may explain the FBIs interest in her visit to the country.

Ivana Trump, who died from a fall at her New York home last July, was the mother of Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump. She was 73.

Following her death, Bloomberg News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI for any records it had on Ivana Trump.

The bureau later confirmed it had located nearly 900 pages of potentially responsive documents but said it could take up to five years to release them. Bloomberg News sued to speed up the release. The FBI released 190 pages on Monday and said it would release the remainder of the records next month.

In a letter accompanying the release of the documents, the FBI said some of the files it maintained on Ivana Trump were destroyed and hundreds of other pages it found are being reviewed by other government agencies.

Many of the records released Monday were located in the FBIs cross-reference files, which the bureau defines as mentions of the subject of your request in files for other individuals, organizations, events, or activities.

The bureau has files on tens of thousands of Americans and foreigners, most of which relate to various FBI investigations. Ivana Trump was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Documents from those files, which could be news clippings, interview summaries with the subject and witnesses and notes, are withheld from public disclosure for privacy reasons while the person is still alive. Those privacy rights disappear, however, after the person dies.

The FBI redacted swaths of information from the files citing national security concerns, personal privacy, law enforcement techniques and procedures and because some information would reveal the identities of confidential sources and informants.

(Adds details from 12th paragraph)

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(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. stuck to its guns and didnt offer bailouts to keep two lenders from collapsing. Instead, it struck deals that included millions of dollars of sweeteners for the acquiring banks that sent their stocks soaring.

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In the case of Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed earlier this month, the headline number showed the FDIC offering First Citizens BancShares Inc. a hefty discount to buy the lender. But the agency also tossed in a $70 billion credit line and agreed to cover First Citizens losses in excess of $5 billion on commercial loans for the next five years, and extended $35 billion of borrowings to the bank in the form of a note.

When New York Community Bancorp Inc. took over Signature Banks deposits and some of its loans after the bank was seized by regulators, it scored a sweetheart deal, Wedbush analyst David Chiaverini said. The assets were priced to move quickly, he said, pointing to a 20% earning-per-share boost from the deal. Whats more, the FDIC excluded some of the more problematic deposits from the transaction. The stock gained 32% after the plan was announced.

The favorable terms underscore the urgency with which regulators sought to resolve two of the largest ever US bank failures, part of an effort to prevent the crisis spreading to other lenders. The deals also avoid the appearance of bailing out the failed lenders and their top managers, a sore point that drew heavy criticism after the 2008 financial crisis.

The main risks for a failed bank acquirer are being able to operate the failed banks assets profitably, and paying too much for the loan portfolio, said Gregory Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University. The loan portfolio was purchased at a substantial discount and with a government backstop, mitigating the risks to First Citizens. The stock market has recognized this as a very good deal for First Citizens.

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First Citizens didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The stock jumped 54% Monday and shares traded up 2.54% at 11:16 a.m. in New York Tuesday after touching an intraday record.

The $70 billion credit line was aimed at providing First Citizens with liquidity as it integrates SVB over the next two years, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Its unclear if any other bank has received such terms in previous transactions for failed lenders. New York Community Bancorp didnt mention an FDIC line of credit as it took over Signatures deposits.

This is not a typical deal term for an acquirer in these transactions to buy a failed bank, Jerry Comizio, an American University professor and former Treasury Department official, said in an email. It really highlights the FDICs desire to resolve this situation by providing a potential liquidity hedge against SVBs high level of uninsured deposits.

The government has taken extraordinary measures to shore up confidence in the financial system following their collapse, introducing a new backstop for banks that Federal Reserve officials said was big enough to protect the entire nations deposits.

Authorities have sought to keep federal involvement in bank rescues to a minimum to avoid getting tagged with a bailout. A spokesman for the FDIC said the transaction for SVB was done at the least cost to the deposit insurance fund, which was set up to provide deposit insurance and resolve failed banks. SVB shareholders and bondholders havent received any money from the agreement, according to the spokesman.

If First Citizens  or any bank for that matter  did not come forward, we would have had to liquidate the bank, which would have been more costly to the insurance fund than the agreement with First Citizens, the FDIC spokesman said in a statement.

Deposit Insurance

Dealing with the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank earlier this month hasnt been entirely without a cost. The deposit insurance fund will suffer an estimated $20 billion hit linked to SVB and a $2.5 billion blow from Signature, according to the agency.

While selling a failed bank typically requires concessions to make it palatable to a buyer, the FDIC will get a piece of some gains attached to the deal. With each, it got equity appreciation rights. For First Citizens, they are worth as much as $500 million and were already in the money as of Monday morning after the bank soared 53%, the most in more than 30 years following news of the deal.

The FDIC reached a similar agreement with NYCB worth as much as $300 million that would likewise turn a profit if the regulator exercised those rights as of Monday.

First Citizens also issued a $35 billion note to the agency as payment for the transaction. The $70 billion credit line is for five years, with the agency set to accrue interest equal to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 25 basis points.

The transaction is a 101% boost to First Citizens balance sheet, with an immediate positive benefit to tangible capital and earnings in exchange for collecting the SVB loans and integrating new deposit customers for the FDIC, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC analysts Christopher Marinac and Feddie Strickland said in a research note.

--With assistance from Katanga Johnson and Paige Smith.

(Updates with share price in sixth paragraph. An earlier version of the story corrected a company name in the final quote.)

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Pistol shots ring out and carbide lingers in the air at the gun range of an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, as Tomer Gal completes the final stage of his firearms licence assessment.

Like many Israelis increasingly fearful of surging violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Gal decided to get a gun licence -- a lengthy process that firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has sought to rapidly fast-track.

"It's for my security, but also for my household," said the 35-year-old, an electrical contractor from Rehovot in central Israel, after firing his 9mm handgun under the watchful gaze of an instructor.

Gal, whose employees include Palestinians from the West Bank, works on construction sites in Israel which he called "not the safest places".

While Gal began his application over a year ago, his visit to the Givat Zeev settlement's shooting gallery came weeks after the deadliest gun attack on Israeli civilians in more than a decade.

On January 27, a Palestinian shot dead seven people outside a synagogue before being killed by police in the Jewish settlement of Neve Yaakov, in annexed east Jerusalem.

Israel's police commissioner responded to the attack by calling on those eligible to carry a firearm to do so, and in the days that followed Ben-Gvir, head of the extreme-right Jewish Power party, said he would speed up licensing.

- 'Cut the bureaucracy' -

The synagogue attack was "an excellent example of the necessity and importance of civilians armed with guns", the national security ministry said, while lamenting a massive backlog in licence applications.

At the time, more than 17,000 applications were still being processed.

Ben-Gvir said it was his "duty to expedite the process and dramatically cut the bureaucracy", ordering official working hours increased to boost monthly licence clearances from 2,000 to 10,000.

Former military officers were also exempted from requiring an interview as part of the process, a temporary measure expiring in May.

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Attacks and security incidents traditionally increase interest in gun licences, an Israeli official told AFP, without providing further details on the recent hike in new applications.

The Israeli authorities' plan to further arm the population has sparked concern in some quarters.

Volker Turk, the United Nations human rights commissioner, responded to Ben-Gvir's proposal with a warning that greater gun ownership will "only lead to further violence and bloodshed".

Turk called on Israel's authorities to "reduce the availability of firearms".

"We know from experience that the proliferation of firearms will lead to increased risks of killings and injuries of both Israelis and Palestinians," he said.

Under current laws, prospective owners must either live or work in West Bank settlements, or undertake a job exposed to potential danger or friction with Palestinians.

Retired officers from Israel's security forces also potentially qualify.

Applicants undergo police and medical screenings, followed by an interview at the national security ministry's firearms licensing department.

Only then can they purchase a gun, complete training, and then finally get a licence.

- 'Not Switzerland' -

Gal's decision to buy a firearm came "around a year ago", following an 11-day war in May 2021 between Israel and Hamas militants in the coastal Gaza Strip.

The aftermath of the conflict saw a spate of knife attacks against Israelis and violent riots in mixed Jewish-Arab towns in Israel.

"It wasn't directly because of the terror wave, but it affected things," Gal said.

After the 2021 violence eased, Gal said he considered letting the licence application drop -- but when an Arab Israeli was accused of rape near his home, he bought his pistol.

"It was mainly pressure from my wife," he said. "She really felt insecure."

Yair Yifrach, 57, who owns the Givat Zeev shooting range, said recent violence had generated a rise in enquiries about gun ownership.

"After the Neve Yaakov attack, there's again... a rise in purchases, questions and phone calls," he said.

Yifrach, who has carried a gun for 35 years, believes firearms used responsibly can increase security.

"We don't have a police officer for each and every civilian in Israel," he said.

After the 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas, people "woke up" about the need to own a gun, Yifrach said.

"Even those who didn't want one realised they needed one. We're not in Switzerland."

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A heavily armed former student killed three young children and three staff in what appeared to be a carefully planned attack at a private elementary school in Nashville on Monday, before being shot dead by police.

Chief of Police John Drake named the suspect as Audrey Hale, 28, who the officer later said identified as transgender.

Hale left behind a manifesto, had maps of the school detailing surveillance and entry-exit points, and was "prepared for a confrontation with law enforcement," the police chief told reporters following the latest outburst of gun violence in the United States.

In an interview with NBC News, he said the suspect was likely plotting a broader attack, as the manifesto "indicates that there was going to be shootings at multiple locations, and the school was one of them."

Armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, Hale entered The Covenant School, a Christian academy, from a side entrance, allegedly shooting through a door -- firing multiple shots while advancing through the building, according to police.

Police identified the six victims, saying one of the three children was eight years old and two were aged nine, while the adults killed were aged 60 to 61.

One of the victims, Katherine Koonce, is listed as head of the school on the academy's website.

On Monday night, as the country digested another mass shooting that claimed the lives of children, people left flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the school. Some kneeled in prayer.

There was some initial confusion about the shooter's gender identity. While police referenced "she" and "her", the suspect's LinkedIn profile suggested Hale identified as a man.

Police said officers were on the scene within about 15 minutes of receiving the first emergency call around 10 am (1500 GMT), engaging the shooter, who returned fire before being shot dead.

Television images showed children holding hands as they left the school. One photograph showed a child sobbing through the window of her yellow school bus as it pulled away from the crime scene.

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Avery Myrick said her mother, a pre-kindergarten teacher at Covenant, hid as shots rang out through the school.

"She said she was hiding in the closet, and that there was shooting all over and that they had potentially tried to get into her room, and just that she loved us," Myrick told WSMV4 television, an NBC local affiliate.

School shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years.

President Joe Biden described the latest shooting as "sick" and said gun violence was "ripping the soul of this nation," as he urged Congress to pass a ban on the assault weapons often used in mass shootings.

- An American epidemic -

The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian institution with just over 200 students in preschool to roughly age 12.

The school was founded by and housed in the Covenant Presbyterian Church, part of a theologically conservative denomination, The New York Times reported.

The Times said one of the children who died in the shooting was Hallie Scruggs, the daughter of the church's pastor, Chad Scruggs.

Drake said investigators were working on a possible motive but said it was "not confirmed."

Asked whether Hale's gender identity may have been a factor, Drake said: "There is some theory to that, we're investigating all the leads."

He also told NBC that investigators had learned Hale might have had "some resentment to having to go to that school -- I don't have all the details of that just yet -- and that's why this incident occurred."

There have been 129 mass shootings -- defined as incidents in which four or more people were shot or killed -- so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

Biden's calls for Congress to reinstate the national ban on assault rifles, which existed from 1994 to 2004, has run up against opposition from Republicans, who are staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms and have had a narrow majority in the House of Representatives since January.

The deadlock in Washington has come despite the public uproar over high-profile massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people, including 20 children, were killed.

The 2018 murder of 14 students and three staff members in Parkland, Florida fueled a nationwide movement, led by young people, to demand stricter gun controls -- but failed to spur significant action in Congress.

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A 28-year-old suspect opened fire at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville on Monday, killing three children and three adults before being killed by police, officials say.

The slain children were identified by police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all aged 9. The adults were Cynthia Peak, a 61-year-old substitute teacher; Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian; and 60-year-old head of the school Katherine Koonce.

Police identified the shooter as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who was from the Nashville area and was once a student at the school. Authorities initially described Hale as female before clarifying that Hale was transgender, having been assigned female at birth before later identifying as male.

Heres everything we know.

How it unfolded

Children are evacuated after a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville on Monday. (Jonathan Mattise/AP)

The shooting at the Covenant School began shortly after 10 a.m., when police responded to a call about an active shooter at the school for preschool through sixth grade students.

The shooter, armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun, entered the school through a side entrance and traversed her way from the first floor to the second floor firing multiple shots, Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters.

Five responding officers arrived on the scene within 14 minutes of the first 911 call, Aaron said. Two of the officers entered the building, followed the sounds of gunfire and engaged the suspect on the second floor in a lobby area. They fatally shot her.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said police uncovered detailed maps of the school in a search of Hales home.

A police officer suffered minor injuries from broken glass. No one else was injured. The rest of the approximately 200 students and 50 staff members were evacuated. And students were taken to a nearby church for family reunification.

Americas latest mass shooting

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily press briefing on Monday. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot excluding the shooter, there have been 129 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, up from about 100 at this point last year.

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Three have occurred at schools, including the deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University on Feb. 13.

At a previously scheduled event in Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon, President Biden bemoaned the countrys latest mass shooting.

Its sick, Biden said at a womens business summit at the White House. Its heartbreaking  a familys worst nightmare.

Biden reiterated his call to Congress for an assault weapons ban.

We have to do more to stop gun violence, the president said. Its ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of our nation. And we have to do more to protect our schools.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also addressed the tragedy at the daily press briefing.

So were seeing the heartbreaking news of another shooting of innocent schoolchildren, this time in Nashville, Jean-Pierre said. While we dont know yet all the details in this latest tragic shooting, we know that too often our schools and our communities are being devastated by gun violence.

Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach, Jean-Pierre said.

At an event earlier in the day, first lady Jill Biden, an educator herself, informed attendees about the shooting.

I am truly without words, Jill Biden said. And our children deserve better.

Arent you guys tired of this?

Children being evacuated from the scene of the school shooting in Nashville on Monday. (Seth Herald/Getty Images)

Following a news conference with police in Nashville, a woman and gun control activist who said she survived the shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., last year gave an impassioned plea to reporters.

Arent you guys tired of being here and having to cover all of these mass shootings? Ashbey Beasley said, according to USA Today. Im from Highland Park, Ill. My son and I survived a mass shooting over the summer. I am in Tennessee on a family vacation, with my son, visiting my sister-in-law.

Beasley said she has been lobbying lawmakers in Washington, D.C., since the Highland Park massacre.

How is this still happening? How are our children still dying and why are we failing them? Beasley added. Youre not sick of it? We have to do something.
As children, my friends and I often raced across the rocks churned by the waves of Lake Michigan into mountains, crevices and caves. We didnt feel little. We felt wild, sure-footed and daring. When the rocks ran out, we leapt from the boulders into Lake Michigan.

I have many memories of Promontory Point growing up. Its the place that raised me. But my relationship with this human-made peninsula in the Hyde Park neighborhood has been haunted by the possibility of its destruction  with each summer marked by new Save the Point signs as local activists fought city governments attempts to tear down the points historical limestone revetment and replace it with the concrete that encircles much of Chicagos lakefront. Now, at long last, Promontory Point is on the cusp of receiving true protection as a city landmark.

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If all goes smoothly, the full City Council will vote April 19 to make Promontory Point a Chicago landmark. As a new cohort of aldermen fills the chamber, including many freshman council members, its relevant to review why achieving landmark status would be an important victory for community activism, historical preservation, public art and waterfront access.

During the more than 20-year fight to preserve the points limestone revetment, community organizers often found the City Council and the Chicago mayors office uncooperative at best and openly antagonistic at worst. As reported in the Chicago Reader in 2004, one Hyde Parker recalled Mayor Richard M. Daley saying at a community forum, Those people in Hyde Park, theyre not getting anything. Promontory Point can sink into the lake, and God help them if it does.

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With community activists, such as those seeking recompense for environmental damage in Little Village, often feeling unheard by the city, the April 19 vote is a chance for the new City Council to embrace a different narrative, one in which city and community interactions are governed by understanding, not hostility.

The limestone revetment, built in the 1930s, is the only remaining remnant of a huge public works project to protect Chicagos shoreline. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Promontory Point beautifully displays uniquely Chicago urban design. This alone makes it worthy of preservation, yet the limestone also contains an intimate record of the people who built a community on these rocks.

Photographer William Swislow has documented carvings on the revetment dating to the 1930s. As he noted in comments he made to the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers in January, preservation allows the art to be seen as it was experienced and left by the artists and their friends over the decades since the Point was constructed in the 1930s. This is an issue of public arts conservation. At stake are not just the rocks themselves but also the history of our city embodied by and carved into them.

Promontory Point is unique among Chicagos erosion barriers in that it functions as a beach. The stone steps offer a sense of seclusion, water access and a smooth texture to sunbathe not afforded by the citys concrete. The result is a stark difference in public use. Even the most heavily trafficked concrete installations exist as walkways only, and outside of downtown, the concrete revetment is hardly used at all. The vast slabs of concrete lie empty and sterile. Contrast this with the point, designated by the citys most serious swimmers the best place for open water swimming, and where beach games, BBQs and sunbathing reign all summer.

Promontory Points east side displays the effect of concrete versus limestone on public use. It is the only side of the peninsula already covered by concrete. People come to sit. They look at the lake, but they do not swim. The east side is the only side that denies the public physical water access. The community proposed limestone restoration plan for the eastern side includes access ramps that go all the way down to the water. The city plans provide access only to a concrete walkway. Restoration of the limestone revetment not only preserves our citys heritage, but its also a better design that allows citizens to experience Lake Michigan fully while it safely guards against further erosion.

[ Alison Cuddy: Promontory Point is crumbling under a fierce Lake Michigan. Slow water fixes may be critical. ]

We need innovative design along the lakefront. Chicagos beaches have disrupted the natural flow of sand along Lake Michigan, a dynamic system that moves sand toward the Indiana Dunes. While our sandy beaches have their pleasures, they starve ecosystems farther south of sand, and because the natural flow of sand is still in effect, if substantially altered, Chicagos sand beaches need to be periodically refilled from inland pits. This process is expensive. A conservative estimate in 2016 for the management of the North Shores public lakefront was around $3.7 million.

Dramatic fluctuations in lake levels caused by climate change have exacerbated these expenses as erosion is worsening. When understood as a beach, maintenance on the point suddenly looks exceptionally affordable. While structures like Promontory Point will not be the right solution for every community, the limestone beach offers an alternative way of thinking about water access in an era in which creative approaches to climate change will be vital to Americas Third Coast.

Preserving the peninsulas limestone design, by voting for Promontory Points landmark status, is an opportunity for the new City Council to stand for grassroots movements, for historical and artistic preservation, for access to the waters that have defined our great city and for wild sure-footed daring.

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Adelaide Addie Grosse is a science illustrator and communicator as well as an arts community organizer. Grosse has been based in Shanghai and Scotland but recently returned to her hometown of Chicago.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Workers take down the chain-link fence that has surrounded Echo Park Lake for the past two years. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Workers on Monday began dismantling the fence that has surrounded Echo Park Lake, two years after a massive homeless encampment was cleared out of the historic park.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who took office in December, ran on a promise to remove the temporary chain-link fence, calling it a "symbol" of the city's biggest failure on homelessness. The fence went up in 2021, just as scores of unhoused people were moved out of the park and into motels, hotels and homeless shelters in downtown, Westlake and elsewhere.

Soto-Martinez and Mayor Karen Bass carried out their own encampment operation in the area two weeks ago, taking dozens of homeless people from streets near Echo Park Lake and moving them into hotels in downtown and Silver Lake. Since then, Soto-Martinez has promised to send outreach workers into the park seven days a week to ensure that it remains safe and people do not move back.

"We look forward to continuing our work with the community to achieve our shared goals for the park, which include ... ensuring Echo Park Lake is safe, clean and accessible for all," Soto-Martinez said in a statement.

Some who were in the park on Monday morning had their doubts.

Reina Moreno, who walks in the park each day, said she does not want to see the park again filled with trash and human waste. Moreno, who lives nearby, said she's OK with crews taking down the chain-link barrier  "as long as they put up another one."

"If there is security here 24/7, then there won't be a problem," the 57-year-old hairstylist said. "But if they're not taking care of it, then there should be a fence  permanent."

Some residents who live closer to the lake have voiced similar concerns, calling for a nicer, permanent fence. They said the park was the backdrop for fistfights, shootings and fatal overdoses  including one involving an 18-year-old from San Diego County  when the encampment was at its peak.

Homeless advocacy groups have sought to counter the idea that the encampment was dangerous, calling it a beautiful and much-lauded homeless-run outdoor community that offered security, stability and healing for drug addiction and mental illness." Some argued that a fence would do nothing to address homelessness and other societal ills.

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Spencer Bowman, 25, was excited to see the fence come down. Seated on a bench facing the lake, he called the fence "an eyesore and a monument to that ugly period."

"It only seems to exclude and it is visually metal and gray and ugly," said Bowman, who works in post-production.

Two years ago, an encampment with nearly 200 tents covered much of the park, occupying nearly all of the grassy areas on the Glendale Boulevard side and much of its northern end. Hundreds of people showed up to protest the encampment's removal, leading to clashes between L.A. police officers and demonstrators, as well as scores of arrests.

On Monday, one of the workers removing sections of chain-link described the heated atmosphere in 2021, when he and others were installing the fence.

"We were getting yelled at by everybody," said the worker, who declined to give his name.

In November, Soto-Martinez defeated Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, who had not taken a position on the fence, saying he would follow the community's wishes on whether it should become permanent.

Soto-Martinez said earlier this month that voters in the district, which stretches from Echo Park to Hollywood and Glassell Park, chose to take the fence down when they elected him as their council member, since he had repeatedly promised to remove it during his campaign.

Echo Park, one of the city's most scenic open spaces, received a $45-million renovation a decade ago, which introduced new wetlands to various corners of the lake. In 2021, the Recreation and Parks Department allocated up to $600,000 for cleanup and repairs needed following the encampment's removal. A year later, O'Farrell committed $500,000 for a "needs assessment" of the park.

Soto-Martinez had been somewhat vague in recent weeks about the exact date of the fence's removal. In a recent statement, he said only that it would be gone by the end of Friday.

For weeks, Soto-Martinez has promised to have teams of unarmed responders available at the park during nighttime hours. City crews recently posted notices saying that one block of Lemoyne Street, between the lake and Sunset Boulevard, would be the site of a major sanitation cleaning on Wednesday.

Gil Mangaoang, who lives across from the lake's lotus bed, was not reassured. Mangaoang, who belongs to a group that has lobbied for a permanent fence, said he and his neighbors will work in the coming weeks to ensure the park remains clean and secure.

If crime and violence do return to the park, Soto-Martinez "will be a one-term council member," Mangaoang said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Finland is set to join NATO on Tuesday, days after Turkey ratified the Nordic countrys membership and set it on track to become the 31st member of the world's biggest military alliance.

All NATO members must vote unanimously to admit a new country into the alliance.

This is an historic week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels Monday, on the eve of a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers. The move, he said, will make Finland safer and our alliance stronger.

The addition of Finland, which shares a 1,340 kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia, will more than double the size of NATOs border with Russia.

Only a few technical steps procedures remain before Finland can join NATO's ranks:

ACCEPTANCE LETTERS

Turkey will on Tuesday hand its acceptance letter for Finland's accession to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The United States is the depositary, or safekeeper, of NATO under the alliances 1949 founding treaty.

SIGNATURES

Stoltenberg will then invite Finland to present Blinken with its own acceptance document, signed by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto authorized Haavisto to sign the document.

FULL MEMBERSHIP

Once Finlands membership acceptance document is handed over, the country will officially become a NATO member. A flag raising ceremony will be held at 1330 GMT (1530 CET) in Brussels on Tuesday.

FINLAND-SWEDEN

Finland and neighboring Sweden jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022. The countries, which have close cultural, economic and political ties, planned to enter the alliance simultaneously.

Swedens bid, however, has stalled due to opposition from Turkey, whose president has said his country won't ratify membership before its disputes with Stockholm are resolved. The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations.

Hungarys parliament also has yet to ratify Swedens accession to NATO, and it remains unclear when it will do so. Stoltenberg said Monday that he hopes Sweden will join in coming months, before U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet in Lithuania in July.
Firefighters found a dead person in the water near the pier on Alaskan Way.

The Seattle Fire Department tweeted about the incident on Saturday at 6:34 p.m.

There are four people on rocks underneath the pier that the fireboat will be assisting, said the SFD.

Firefighters are at the 2200 block of Alaskan Way with one person in the water.  Seattle Fire Dept. (@SeattleFire) March 26, 2023




First Citizens has agreed to buy a $72 billion chunk of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, the California lender formerly known as Silicon Valley Bank that was taken over by the FDIC two weeks ago after depositors, in a crisis of confidence, made a run on it. SVB served as lifeblood to thousands of startups before its collapse, the biggest in U.S. banking in years, sent shockwaves through the financial sector.

Seventeen former branches of Silicon Valley Bank will open as First Citizens Bank later today, the FDIC said.

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said in a statement that it estimates the failure will cost its Deposit Insurance Fund about $20 billion. It will provide an exact figure when the deal and FDIC receivership conclude.

There is significant money at stake here, but with depositors and confidence continuing to be shaky, it's taken weeks to get a deal done and each passing day has arguably devalued the assets a little bit. The FDIC has previously run two unsuccessful auction processes for Silicon Valley Bridge Bank , as it had to modify what it was selling, including breaking up the assets.

This deal with First Citizens includes purchase deposits and loans, worth about $72 billion, at a discount of $16.5 billion.

The FDIC noted that as of March 10, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, "had approximately $167 billion in total assets and about $119 billion in total deposits." It also added that around $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain in the receivership for disposition by the FDIC. Part of the deal also gives the FDIC "equity appreciation rights" in First Citizens BancShares, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina: common stock with a potential value of up to $500 million.

Note that the $90 billion in question here are not the assets of Silicon Valley Bank Financial, which had been the parent/holding company of SVB before it collapsed. That business is in a separate bankruptcy sales process, and it has essentially continued to operate as a going concern throughout the takeover by the FDIC of the deposit and loans business, which was renamed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank and is partly being sold today.

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As part of that FDIC's takeover, the freshly-formed bridge bank's deposits were not subject to the typical legal limit of $250,000 account, essentially giving depositors unlimited protection. When asked if this changed, in a statement to TechCrunch, the FDIC said that "Deposits are insured up to 250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category."

The collapse of Silicon Valley bank rattled the banking industry, especially regional banks, and prompted the FDIC to transfer all SVB deposits into a new "bridge bank" to protect depositors. Shortly afterwards, the Federal Reserve provided relief to the bank's depositors by ensuring they were fully protected. Depositors gained access to all of their money starting March 13.

Before the collapse, Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th largest bank in the U.S. Its abrupt meltdown, which temporarily left thousands of startup founders scrambling to make payrolls and continue business operations, was the largest bank failure in the U.S. since the 2008 financial crisis. The Monday deal follows a similar move at Signature Bank a week ago, which is being acquired by Flagstar.

In a memo sent to staff this morning, SVB Bridge Bank's CEO Tim Mayopoulos said that the "announcement follows a bidding process that involved substantial interest from multiple employees." He added, "this is a very positive outcome for SVBB. It keeps the bank together in a way that provides the most value for our customers." Mayopoulos will be stepping down to be replaced by Frank B. Holding, Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens.

"First Citizens has a proud history of growing organically and through strategic acquisitions that build our core capabilities in a careful and deliberate manner," said Holding, Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens, in a statement.

Holding, Jr, whose grandfather started the North Carolina-based lender, has overseen nearly two dozen acquisitions since taking over the top role in 2008. Last year, First Citizens acquired CIT, a lender to mid-sized businesses, for $2 billion.

The acquisition of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank will strengthen First Bank's ability to serve firms in the private equity, venture capital and technology sectors, he said.

"Specifically, we are committed to building on and preserving the strong relationships that legacy SVB's Global Fund Banking business has with private equity and venture capital firms. This transaction also will accelerate our expansion in California and introduce wealth capabilities in the Northeast. SVB's Private Wealth business is a natural fit for our high-touch and sophisticated level of high-net-worth customer service and approach," he added.

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank has exposed many of the banking industry's weaknesses and has led to scrutiny of the Fed's oversight. Silicon Valley Bank was unusually vulnerable due to its business model: it largely served tech and other fast-scaling startups, who, along with venture investors, deposited tens of billions of dollars during peaks in the funding cycle, but have been struggling to raise new capital since and quickly plowing through their savings. That situation was not helped by how SVB managed its own long-duration bonds in the face of rising interest rates, the sale of which resulted in losses that sparked the collapse in confidence.

Now, its collapse has ushered in another major chapter in finance: it's leading many to call for a change in how lenders value their assets in financial statements.

The Bank of England said last week that it had warned U.S. regulators over growing risks at Silicon Valley Bank long before its collapse.

Natasha Mascarenhas contributed to reporting this story.
People enter and depart a Silicon Valley Bank branch location through a glass door, in Wellesley, Mass., Monday, March 27, 2023. North Carolina-based First Citizens is to buy Silicon Valley Bank, the tech industry-focused financial institution that collapsed earlier this month. | Steven Senne, Associated Press

First Citizens Bank is set to acquire Silicon Valley Bank following its shocking collapse a few weeks ago.

The Deseret News reported that the Justice Department is beginning to investigate the cause of the collapse and the events leading up to it.

Heres what we know.

Related

What happened? The New York Times reported that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was the largest bank failure in the United States since the 2008 financial crisis.

First Citizens is set to take the sale of all loans and deposits from Silicon Valley Bank, according to NPR.

CNBC reported that the deal made gives $72 billion of SVB assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, but around 90 billion in securities and other assets will remain in receivership for disposition by the FDIC.

Admittedly, there has been a strong amount of runoff from the legacy Silicon Valley Bank this quarter, Craig Nix, chief financial officer of First Citizens, said. However, it is our intent to embrace the talents of our legacy SVB employees, embrace their business capabilities and then reiterate to their clients that First Citizens has an unwavering focus on holistic client relationships.

Related

What does this mean? CNBC reported that the First Citizens shares jumped more than 45% during Monday morning trading on Wall Street.

Per CNBC, the FDIC said in a statement on the deal, The 17 former branches of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, will open as First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company on Monday, March 27, 2023.

Lawmakers across the aisle have considered raising the federal insurance limit on bank deposits, according to the Deseret News.

I think that lifting the FDIC insurance cap is a good move, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, said on CBS News Face the Nation. Now the question is wheres the right number in lifting it.

As lawmakers are finding ways to handle the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and navigating the new FDIC partnership, First Citizens seeks to hold an emphasis on protecting bank customers and stockholders.

Prudent risk management approach will continue to protect customers and stockholders through all economic cycles and market conditions, First Citizens said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu halted his controversial judicial reform amid an intense backlash that has created one of the most significant domestic crises in the country's history.

The plan has been delayed until after the Knesset  Israel's parliament  recesses. It will be back for its next parliamentary session on April, providing time for a compromise.

"When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue," Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address. He struck a conciliatory tone but said he was determined to proceed with the judicial system changes.

Israeli labor unions launched a nationwide strike, malls and ports were closed and airlines were grounded as opposition to Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary threatened to upend the nation's economy.

The chaos came after floods of protesters stormed the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in response to Netanyahu's abrupt ousting of his defense minister, who had opposed his controversial judicial reform plan. The plan, driven by the country's new right-wing government, would weaken the role of the Israeli Supreme Court, and intense opposition has sparked what some analysts say is among the country's worst crises ever.

On Sunday, the protests included highway bonfires and knocking down police barricades outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem.

The Biden administration, which had issued a statement Sunday evening expressing deep concern, welcomed Netanyahu's decision to pause the judicial changes.

"We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday after Netanyahu's announcement. "Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support."

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Over the weekend, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a statement that Netanyahu's judicial overhaul posed a security threat to Israel, which prompted his firing. Military reservists have refused to sign up for duty because of the plan.

Gallant had been the first senior member of Netanyahu's political party to speak out against the plan. Still, many in the party were urging the prime minister to press ahead.

Dig deeper: Protesters flood the streets of Israel after Netanyahu fires minister opposed to controversial reforms

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard and The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Benjamin Netanyahu pauses Israel's judicial reform amid backlash
Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Monday that will expand school-choice vouchers to all students in the state.

Speaking at an Catholic all-boys school in Miami, DeSantis hailed the move as a major and historic victory for school choice. Todays bill signing cements us in that number one position because well be signing legislation which will represent the largest expansion of education choice not only in the history of this state but in the history of these United States. That is a big deal, DeSantis said to cheers.

House Bill 1 expands eligibility so that a parent of a student may request and receive from the state a scholarshipif the student is a resident of this state and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school in this state.

The scholarships previously had income caps, but priority will still be given to students who are low-income. Students whose household incomes are less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, or roughly $51,000 for a family of four, will be taken care of first.

The funds can be used by parents for an array of education-related expenses in addition to tuition.

If you just look at the private scholarships that students in Florida have been able to utilize and these are mostly low-income families, also middle-income families, we represent one-third of the entire number of scholarship recipients in the entire country, DeSantis said regarding the success of the old scheme.

Prior to the new law, students with disabilities were similarly prioritized. However, the new legislation will eliminate the waiting list for students with unique abilities to ensure their unique needs are met.

The number of students who will utilize the scholarships is expected to shoot up.

Additionally, several revisions will be made to Floridas Education Code. The bill reduces hurdles to a five-year temporary teacher certificate for anyone with a bachelors degree and for those with three years of effective or highly effective service. The bill also offers districts flexibility in facility costs for new construction, and offers student transportation flexibility to improve efficiency, while maintaining student safety.

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DeSantis explained during the press conference that the move bolsters the states strength in education and in particular, educational freedom, citing number one rankings from the Center for Education Reform and the Heritage Foundation.

Critics have argued that this will hurt public schools, but supporters have maintained that greater competition improves the system as a whole. The new scheme is expected to cost around $2.2 billion, though that number also includes the cost of students currently receiving vouchers.

Florida follows several other states who have also expanded school choice. Arkansas governor Sarah Sanders signed a bill into law earlier this month that does just that.

I am not interested in being a caretaker of the failed status quo. I vowed to be a changemaker for our people, she tweeted. Today, I am delivering on that promise, and will sign into law my transformational education plan, unleashing a new era of freedom, opportunity and prosperity for all.

More from National Review
A House panel Monday rolled out a proposal that could help speed up land acquisitions for a proposed statewide wildlife corridor by allowing some deals to bypass approval from the governor and Cabinet.

The House Agriculture, Conservation & Resiliency Subcommittee backed the proposal (PCB ACR 23-01), which, in part, would allow the Department of Environmental Protection to sign off on land buys up to $5 million without waiting for the governor and Cabinet to meet.

Currently, the governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, vote on all land deals topping $1 million.

Subcommittee Chairman James Buchanan, R-Osprey, said the bill would prioritize acquiring land at risk of development or within the footprint of the proposed 18 million-acre wildlife corridor, which is expected to link lands from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle.

This is streamlining the process in a big way and cutting down on the timeframe, Buchanan said.

A 2021 law, known as the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act, called for pumping $300 million a year into the corridor effort, with about 8 million acres needing to be secured. Lawmakers have a goal of acquiring 900,000 of the needed acres by the end of the decade.

The Senate on March 8 passed a bill (SB 106) that calls for a one-time $200 million expenditure next fiscal year to link bicycle and hiking trails to the corridor. That bill is pending in the House.

The bill approved Monday by the House panel also would direct $100 million a year to the Department of Environmental Protection for the Florida Forever conservation program. That money would come from the states Land Acquisition Trust Fund.

One thing that was talked about is making sure of consistency in funding over time. Thats one thing were doing in this bill, Buchanan said.

The Land Acquisition Trust Fund receives money through a 2014 constitutional amendment that requires one-third of the revenue from documentary-stamp taxes on real estate transactions to go to land conservation.

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Will Abberger, director of The Trust for Public Land, said dedicating $100 million a year to land preservation is a great start.

Abberger said he would like to see something closer to the full $251 million for land acquisition that was included in an initial House budget proposal for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. More than a decade ago, $300 million a year was directed into the Florida Forever program.

Having consistent predictable funding is critically important for meeting these goals, Abberger said.

An initial Senate budget proposal would provide $542 million for land-acquisition programs, including $300 million for conservation easements. Such easements protect the land from development while often allowing farming or ranching operations to continue.

Lawmakers have designated portions of the Land Acquisition Trust Fund money to various work across the state, with at least $200 million a year for Everglades restoration projects, $64 million to an Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir project, $50 million for a Lake Okeechobee watershed restoration project, $50 million for natural springs and $5 million for Lake Apopka.

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Pinellas County Sheriff's Office

The Florida plastic surgeon accused of murdering an attorney who went missing at his law office during a bathroom break had a bloody ballistic vest, masks, intravenous sedatives, brass knuckles, duct tape, and a taser inside his car when he was pulled over by authorities on Saturday, police said.

The damning new claims emerged in an arrest affidavit obtained by the Tampa Bay Times on Monday, nearly a week after 41-year-old Steven Cozzi mysteriously vanished from his Largo, Florida, law office.

Authorities say Cozzis body remains missing, but there was enough evidencelike security camera footage, fingerprints, and blood splattered throughout the bathroom near the lawyers officefor them to charge 44-year-old plastic surgeon Tomasz Roman Kosowski with his murder. Cozzi was allegedly killed while he was representing several of the doctors former patients in a lawsuit Kosowski had brought against them.

The suspected slaughter happened Tuesday morning, sometime before a telephone hearing was slated to include appearances by Cozzi and Kosowski at 10:30 a.m.

Florida Plastic Surgeon Accused of Killing Lawyer Who Vanished on Bathroom Break

Cops say Kosowski still tuned into the hearingpart of the lawsuit he filed against the former patients, claiming they soured his good name in a flurry of negative reviewsbut Cozzi never showed up.

An investigation revealed that Cozzi was missing but his wallet, car keys, and cellphone had been left on his desk. The bathroom near his office had blood on the door, in a stall, and at the bottom of the toilet, Kosowskis arrest affidavit said.

Eerie security footage also caused investigators to suspect foul play. The affidavit says an unnamed man was captured entering Cozzis law office about five minutes before he did Tuesday morning, wearing a backpack, gloves, and carrying a large box, the Times reported.

Two hours later, a man with a similar build to the gloved man was captured leaving Cozzis office with a large cart that had what appeared to be a red bag or blanket.

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The man, who was wearing the same backpack but had changed his clothes, was allegedly seen struggling with the weight of the cart as he tried to load it into the bed of a Toyota Tundra pickup truck. Cops said this struggle happened just minutes after Kosowski had finished his virtual hearing.

The Tundra, which cops said was purchased in October but never registered, was then driven to Kosowskis home in the nearby city of Tarpon Springs, the Times reported. A camera captured the trucks license plate and a photo of its bed, which allegedly appeared to contain a human body inside a red bag or blanket.

Security footage from Cozzis office never captured him leaving, cops said. A search there allegedly uncovered fingerprints that belonged to Kosowski in the buildings breaker room, which isnt normally accessed by the public, the Times reported.

Three Young Sisters in Tragic Drowning Were Actually Murdered, Cops Reveal

Police said they also uncovered white fibers in Kosowskis Tundra and in the bathroom, where a large quantity of blood had been cleaned up, according to an analysis by forensics experts.

The plethora of evidence led cops to pull over Kosowski on Saturday as he drove a Toyota Corolla in Pinellas County, the Times reported. A search was conducted at the scene, which allegedly uncovered the bloody ballistic vest and other alarming items inside a bag, like the intravenous sedatives that included the paralyzing agent succinylcholine.

Kosowski, a Dartmouth graduate who specialized in breast reconstruction, was booked into the Pinellas County Jail the following day on a charge of first-degree murder.

Cozzi, whod been an associate attorney at Blanchard Law since 2018, was a graduate of the Stetson University College of Law. His husband, Michael Montgomery, posted to Facebook on Sunday night, We are going to get Justice.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A Florida plastic surgeon was arrested over the weekend for allegedly murdering an attorney who represented the suspect's former employer in a lawsuit, the Largo Police Department announced.

Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski, 44, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Steven Cozzi, who disappeared from his law office on Tuesday.

Police were called to the scene and found that he had left behind his wallet, car keys, and cell phone, but was never seen physically exiting the building. A "strong chemical odor" was detected in the men's bathroom, where investigators found a significant amount of blood after a forensic analysis.

Detectives keyed in on Kosowski as their suspect while looking for a suspicious person who was seen at the office at the same time as Cozzi's disappearance. Cozzi's body has not yet been found, but a search of Kosowski's residence turned up additional evidence that led to his arrest on Saturday in Tarpon Springs.

STEPHEN SMITH'S MOTHER SENT LETTER TO FBI IMPLICATING MURDAUGHS IN 2016

Cozzi represented Kosowskis former employer and co-workers at the Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery, where he worked from 2016 to 2018 as a plastic surgeon doing breast reconstruction surgery, according to the Associated Press.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Kosowski filed a lawsuit against the Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery upon leaving in 2018, alleging another employee failed to file insurance claims for his patients, hurting his reputation as a doctor and costing him a significant amount of money. The lawsuit said that Kosowski's "promising young career has essentially been obliterated."

"Through no fault of his own, his career was put directly in jeopardy and his reputation has been deeply tarnished," the lawsuit reads.

Steven Cozzi disappeared from his law office on Tuesday in Largo, Florida.

The Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery did not return a request for comment on Sunday.

Kosowski was booked into the Pinellas County Jail in the early hours of Sunday morning and is being held without bail. Jail and court records did not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
A Chicago police evidence technician processes a crime scene on Jan. 6, 2023, at a gas station at 601 S. Independence Blvd. in Chicago, where a teen reportedly was shot and killed. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

One of the biggest changes in American society the past 50 years has been growing income inequality. That has, understandably, gotten an enormous amount of attention. But alongside that trend has been less attention to rising inequality in something even more basic: safety.

Over the last few years, Chicagoans across the city have been increasingly concerned about safety. The city is now on the verge of choosing a new mayor, and whatever the outcome, theres no doubt that the next administration will have safety at top of mind.

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By safety, I mean the type of crime the public cares most about: gun violence. Crimes involving guns  homicides, most of which now involve guns in Chicago; nonfatal shootings; and those crimes that involve the threat of a shooting, like armed robberies and armed carjackings  generate most of the trauma and fear of crime.

Its understandable why almost all Americans care about gun violence: Its a heartbreakingly terrible problem and one that is unique to America among the rich countries of the world. The homicide rate in the U.S. is, for example, four times higher than the United Kingdoms and nearly 20 times as high as Japans. Most of this difference is due to Americas far higher rate of killings with guns.

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Figure 1: Homicide rates per 100,000 residents by country, gun versus nongun. (Source: Gunpolicy.org) (University of Chicago Crime Lab)

While gun violence is a big problem for everyone in America, its not an equally big problem for everyone  and there are signs that safety inequality is growing over time.

One thing people often like to say is that at least gun violence today isnt as extreme as it was in the bad old days of the early 1990s, at the peak of the crack cocaine epidemic that swept across U.S. cities. Thats true if you live in a predominantly white or Latino neighborhood in Chicago. But thats no longer true if you live in one of the citys predominantly Black neighborhoods, where rates of gun violence are now even higher than in the early 1990s.

This widening inequality we see across Chicago neighborhoods seems to echo patterns we see across cities as well. Places like Baltimore and St. Louis follow a similar trend in safety to the predominantly Black neighborhoods in Chicago. In contrast, the homicide rates in cities such as Los Angeles and New York have, except for the last few years due to the pandemic, declined sharply for 30 years.

Figure 2: Trends in homicide rates per capita for Chicago community areas, based on 1990 racial composition. (Source: University of Chicago Crime Lab analysis of Chicago Police Department data. Neighborhoods categorized in the figure by 1990 racial composition; classifying neighborhoods by their composition in each year yields qualitatively similar results.) (University of Chicago Crime Lab)

One implication is that Chicagos, and Americas, failure to solve gun violence is very regressive in its impacts  meaning those already affected have become even more affected over time. Gun violence is a big reason for disparities in life expectancy between the South and West sides versus the North Side. And gun violence drives people and businesses out of affected neighborhoods. In that way, uncontrolled gun violence makes any effort at economic development that much harder.

[ Matt Paprocki: Crime in Chicago hurts small businesses. And closures, in turn, hurt Chicago. ]

Given these grim realities, let me try to offer a silver lining.

When it comes to income inequality, the public is very divided. In what may or may not come as a surprise, lower-income people think its a big problem. Rich people, not so much. This lack of political consensus is presumably one reason the country hasnt made more progress.

The politics of safety inequality, however, may be a little different. A much larger share of the American public thinks gun violence is a major concern compared with responses to income inequality. And similarly here in Chicago, surveys suggest that almost everyone in the city has come to care about safety as well.

This widely shared concern about safety creates an opportunity. The mayoral election is now right around the corner. Whomever the voters pick, let us all hope that the city can turn this moment of unified concern into lasting solutions. Success would benefit everyone  but particularly the most vulnerable among us.

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Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman distinguished service professor at the University of Chicago and Pritzker director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
The statue of 'David' by Michelangelo. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images

A principal at a Florida charter school was forced to resign after parents complained that a sixth-grade lesson featuring Michelangelo's David statue was pornographic.

The incident occurred during a Renaissance art lesson at Tallahassee Classical School when children were shown the statue, a nude depiction often considered one of the most famous sculptures in Western civilization. However, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that parents reacted angrily, with at least one saying the material was pornographic and others wanting to be able to approve the lessons before they occurred.

The principal, Hope Carrasaquilla, resigned "after she was given an ultimatum by the school board to resign or be fired," BBC News reported. The Democrat added that Carrasaquilla reportedly believed her resignation was directly related to the David lesson.

"It is with a sad heart that my time as the principal of Tallahassee Classical School has come to an end," she wrote in her resignation letter, obtained by The Washington Post. Barney Bishop III, the chair of the school board, confirmed to the Post that he had indeed given Carrasaquilla an ultimatum after three parents complained that David was not appropriate for their children to see.

Bishop also told the Post that there were "several issues with the principal, including not notifying parents ahead of time that their children would be shown the Renaissance statue."

However, in a heated interview with Slate, Bishop pushed back against the assertion that Carrasaquilla's resignation was based simply on children being shown the statue. Rather, he said, it was based on an "egregious mistake" the school made by not giving parents advance notice that David would be shown, something he says occurred in prior years.

"We're Florida, okay? Parents will decide. Parents are the ones who are going to drive the education system here in Florida," Bishop said.

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Emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) allotments (commonly referred to as food stamps) that were provided during the pandemic ended in March 2023 in most states across the U.S. Emergency allotments had already ended in 17 states by February. In Washington D.C., Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, February was the last month SNAP recipients received a higher benefit amount.

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While those who rely on SNAP benefits were greatly impacted as their food budgets were suddenly slashed, the move could also hurt the economy in other ways. Grocers, dollar stores, farmers markets and other businesses that accept SNAP may see reduced business moving forward in 2023.

Research indicates that SNAP recipients account for roughly 12% of all food and beverage sales online and in stores, according to CNBC. During the pandemic, with enhanced benefits, that percentage rose by 19% year-over-year, while non-SNAP shoppers drove just 1% of dollar growth.

A report from IRI showed that SNAP households purchased $74 billion of total food and beverage (minus produce, bakery, and deli) throughout the 2020 calendar year, up from $55 billion between August 2019 and August 2020.

More: Will Ending SNAP Emergency Funds Hurt Biden 2030 Anti-Hunger Goal?

Its not just grocery stores that will feel the pinch, either  although they will be greatly affected. One in five Americans now purchase at least some of their groceries at dollar stores, including Dollar General and Dollar Tree, according to a Coresight Research report recently covered by GOBankingRates.

While SNAP food cuts will affect farmers markets, grocers and other retailers, there are other proposed restrictions in the works that could also hurt these businesses, which typically operate at low profit margins.

The 2023 Farm Bill  currently under deliberation  could further restrict food choices of SNAP participants, according to Supermarket News. Right now, SNAP recipients can use their EBT card to purchase a wide range of fresh, frozen and processed foods, with exclusions limited to categories like alcohol, cigarettes, and prepared hot food. Legislation, if passed, could restrict foods to items approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This would limit food choice for consumers, particularly in areas with limited food access, and reduce sales for grocers.

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It is difficult in this very low margin business to develop capital and sustain a business without outside support, said Stephanie Johnson, vice president of government relations for the National Grocers Association (NGA), in a letter to Congress reported by Supermarket News.

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The NGA is pushing for incentives for grocers to expand in rural and low food access communities and the implementation of programs to help grocers roll out the technology to accept EBT as a form of payment online and in stores. While these programs could help grocers increase revenue through SNAP purchases, it wont make up for the money lost as SNAP recipients receive less per month to buy groceries.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Food Stamps: How Ending SNAP Emergency Allotments Could Hurt Big and Small Businesses
A former member of Berkut special police Valeriy Atakhov

The magazine identified Atakhov as the person who threatened and beat Ukrainian children that were illegally taken to so-called "educational" facilities.

Read also: Russia does not intend to return abducted Ukrainian children  Canadian intelligence

Atakhov was among the forces used to violently disperse protests during the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-14.

The Insider's journalists spoke with 17 children, who were recently returned to Ukraine, and with their parents. The children were beaten, threatened, and forced to stay in a cellar, 16-year-old Vitaliy said.

Read also: Russian Childrens Ombudsman said Moscow is ready to return 56 Ukrainian children

Vitaliy identified Astakhov by photo as their abuser.

Astakhov had already abducted Ukrainian children from Slovyansk to Russia's Rostov Oblast in 2014.

In the Druzhba (the name means friendship) childrens sanatorium and health-recreation center in Yevpatoria, Astakhov took children to a cellar, showed them a stick, and threatened to beat them for supporting Ukraine, Vitaliy said. He added that a girl from Kherson was hit and suffered a bruise.

"He said: 'I'll lock you in the basement, you'll sit there, and obey me,'" Vitaliy said of Astakhov.

There were no bedclothes in the camp, the boy said, only bare mattresses and pillows.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Strictly Come Dancing alumni Maisie Smith has opened up about the age gap between herself and boyfriend Max George.



Former EastEnders actress Maisie is 21, whilst The Wanted singer Max is 34. Ever since they got together, almost two years after both competed in Strictly's 2020 series, there has been a lot of discussion and critique about that 13-year age difference.

Speaking to The Sun, Maisie brushed off any criticism, stating that: "If it wasnt that, it would be something else.

Related: EastEnders stars who rarely share scenes reveal 26-year friendship

"People dont understand what goes on behind closed doors in a relationship, and I think they also forget that Im a consenting 21-year-old woman whos actually been working longer than Max!

"I dont notice the age difference and neither do my friends or family. My mum Julia is the one who reads through all the comments. I got a message from her yesterday, saying: 'Just ignore them, you two were made for each other.'

"I think that just puts it into perspective. I really dont care what a random person thinks of my relationship when everyone I do care about is incredibly supportive. Ive been in the business long enough to know you have to have a thick skin."

She also joked that she constantly brings up how The Wanted's 'All Time Low' was one of two songs she was allowed to have on her phone when she was younger, and that she used to have a poster of the boyband on her wall.

David M. Benett - Getty Images

Related: Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Aljaz Skorjanec admits he'd like to return as a judge

Elsewhere in the interview, she talked about how the couple were happy being friends and didn't realise they had fallen for each other until a cast holiday in Portugal to celebrate the end of the Strictly 2022 tour last year.

"I wrote in my Valentines card this year from strangers to friends, friends to lovers, and I love the way that it happened for us," Maisie added.

EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer.

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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Former three-term Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott has been hired as the new director of the Erie County Economic Development Department.

Sinnott, 57, who most recently served as city administrator of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, will now head a department that's been described by the administration of Erie County Executive Brenton Davis as the county's "lead economic development voice."

Joe Sinnott is shown in the Erie Times-News studio on April 25, 2019.

"Joe is a welcomed addition to the Economic Development Department," Davis said in a news release Monday. "We look forward to all that he brings to the county, including his vast knowledge and relationships formed over a successful tenure at the city of Erie."

The Economic Development Department seeks to invest, leverage and maximize returns on American Rescue Plan funds. It works toward high impact regional projects, business attraction and small business development and municipal engagement through its fusion cell, according to the news release.

Erie County Council voted in May to fund the department's three positions for at least two years, using $280,000 in ARP funds and another $50,000 from a National Association of Counties grant. The department is staffed by Assistant Director Jon Whaley and office manager Jeffrey Cooper.

Sinnott will fill a vacancy left by Wayne Awald, who was hired as director in October and fired on March 3 due to a "personnel matter," according to the administration. Awald had been hired at an annual salary of $85,841.

I am looking forward to joining County Executive Davis team as he works to create a better Erie County for all its citizens," Sinnott said in the news release. "I am very excited to be returning to Erie and working for my community again."

From January 2006 through December 2017, Sinnott served as Eries mayor, leaving office because of the city's three-term limit. Sinnott ran unsuccessfully for Erie County judge in 2019.

A Democrat, Sinnott is an Erie native, lawyer and a former member of Erie City Council. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland and had previously lived in the area.

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Sinnott was hired by Cleveland Heights on March 21, 2022. He earned $128,000 annually, according to Cleveland Heights officials.

Sinnott told Cleveland Heights City Council members hed had no intention of leaving so early in his tenure and was not looking for another job, however an opportunity in government back in Pennsylvania was too compelling to pass up,'" according to a Cleveland.com report.

Sinnott's salary has yet to be established or approved by Erie County Council.

He will begin his role with the county on April 10.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Joe Sinnott: Former Erie mayor hired as economic development director
Jury selection in the trial of artist Pras Michel, who rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the hip-hop group The Fugees, began Monday in Washington.

The case involving the Grammy-winning musician alleges he played a role in an international conspiracy and corruption scandal led by a Malaysian financier, and could see Michel sent behind bars for decades.

The 50-year-old Haitian-American faces 12 charges linked to illegal contributions to president Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, and a second plan alleging a secret lobbying effort connected to the Donald Trump administration.

Nearly three decades after the release of the smash album "The Score," Michel is now under fire over some $100 million said to be paid to him between 2012 and 2017 by the Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho.

Low, also known as Jho Low, is a key figure in what is known as the 1MDB scandal, which has rocked Malaysian political and financial circles.

According to the indictment, Michel channeled some of that money into Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, concealing the source of the funds via shell companies.

It is illegal for foreign nationals to contribute to US election campaigns.

"The object of the conspiracy was for Michel and Jho Low to gain access to, and potential influence with, Candidate A and his administration, by secretly funneling foreign money from Jho Low through Michel," the indictment said.

Court documents say Michel then pledged to lean on Trump's administration to drop a probe into Low's role in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Low, who remains at large with unknown whereabouts, was indicted in 2018 for corruption and money laundering linked to the looting of the fund.

Low and others are thought to have used the money to purchase luxury residences, yachts, art and to invest in film productions, including "The Wolf of Wall Street" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

The actor is among the potential witnesses who could be called to testify.

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The indictment also relates to a 2017 alleged conspiracy in which the musician agreed to participate in clandestine lobbying efforts to help the Chinese government "secure the return" of a dissident, the billionaire Guo Wengui, living in the United States.

Guo was arrested earlier this month, on separate allegations he defrauded thousands of investors to enrich himself.

Evidence about that case has largely been excluded from the Michel trial.

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NEW YORK  Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified Monday before the grand jury examining Donald Trumps alleged role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to a news report and related photograph.

A POLITICO reporter viewed a photograph of Pecker and his attorney exiting the courthouse Monday afternoon after The New York Times wrote about the testimony.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Peckers attorney, Elkan Abramowitz, also didnt immediately comment.

Monday was the first time in a week that the grand jury heard evidence in the Trump case. The panel was called off Wednesday and then examined an unrelated matter Thursday. The delay prompted a fiery response from Trump, leading some Democrats to rally around Bragg on Monday morning.

Braggs investigation is centered on a $130,000 payment facilitated by Trumps former fixer, Michael Cohen, and made to the porn star, Stormy Daniels. The adult entertainer alleged she had an affair with Trump and considered selling her story to the National Enquirer, at a time when Pecker was the tabloids publisher, according to federal prosecutors. Instead, Cohen paid Daniels directly, a step he told a court he took in coordination with and at the direction of Trump.

Trump has denied the affair and any wrongdoing with the payment.

Pecker previously testified before the Manhattan grand jury examining the Trump investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. It wasnt clear why he was called back to provide further testimony. Before the publisher, the grand jury heard from Robert Costello, a former legal adviser to Cohen, who is the prosecutions central witness in the case.

Costello said at a press conference after his testimony that he sought to discredit Cohen while speaking to the grand jury.

A Manhattan DA spokesperson declined to comment.
Valerii Astakhov, a former officer of the Berkut riot police, assaulted Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russia-annexed Crimea.

[Berkut was a Ukrainian special riot police force within the Ministry of Internal Affairs; it was formed in 1992. Prior to the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, Berkut had a history of illegal activities against Ukrainian citizens, such as racketeering, terrorism, physical violence, torture, anti-Ukrainian sentiment, and voter intimidation. Yanukovych deployed Berkut to disperse Revolution of Dignity protesters, and the force was responsible for most civilian deaths during the revolution. The government formed after the revolution dissolved the agency. During the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Berkut units stationed on the peninsula defected to Russia - ed.]

Source: The Insider

Details: The Insider reported that it had identified the person who threatened and assaulted Ukrainian children taken to Russian "educational" camps in Crimea. He was a former Berkut officer, Valerii Astakhov, deployed to disperse the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv in 2013-14.

The Insider journalist talked to 17 children who have recently been brought back to Ukrainian-controlled territory and their parents. Vitalii, 16, told her that the children were beaten, threatened, and held in a basement.

When shown Valerii Astakhovs photograph, Vitalii recognised him as the person who assaulted some of the children.

The Insider notes that Astakhov is known to have deported dozens of children from Sloviansk (Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine) to Rostov Oblast, Russia, in 2014.

Vitalii said that in the Druzhba (Friendship) childrens camp in Yevpatoriia, Astakhov would take children to a basement, show them a bat, and threaten to use it to beat them if they expressed support for Ukraine. Vitalii said that Astakhov hit and bruised a young girl from Kherson.

"He said, I will lock you up in the basement, and youll sit there and obey my orders," Vitalii described Astakhov as saying.

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Vitalii added that there was no clean bedding in the camp where he was held: only a dirty mattress and a pillow for each child.

The Insider reported that even kids who have not been assaulted complained of poor living conditions and inadequate food.

Reference: According to the Myrotvorets (Peacekeeper) Center, a non-government Center for Research of Signs of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and International Law, Valerii Astakhov served in Ukraines Ministry of Internal Affairs until 2014. He obtained Russian citizenship after the annexation of Crimea and joined the forces of the Russian Interior Ministry in Yevpatoriia.

Background:

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliaments Commissioner for Human Rights, said on 21 March that Ukraine has managed to get 15 Ukrainian children back home together with their mothers and legal representatives.

On 23 March, another two children were brought back to Ukrainian-controlled territory: a 9-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy.

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A former Steuben County assistant district attorney was charged with two counts of possessing child pornography in a federal criminal complaint that alleges more than 100 images were seized from his electronic devices.

James Miller, 63, of Corning made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson on Monday and was released on computer monitoring and other conditions, Trini E. Ross, U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, said.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles M. Kruly, New York State Police executed a search warrant at Millers Fox Ridge Road residence in May 2021 after receiving a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Millers email account uploaded suspected images of child pornography.

Kruly said a forensic review of a seized cell phone recovered 84 images of child pornography, while a separate analysis of a computer recovered 22 images of child pornography.

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Miller retired from Steuben DA's Office in 2021

Miller was an assistant Steuben County prosecutor for eight years, retiring around March or April 2021, according to Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker.

He previously worked in the Steuben County Public Defender's Office for more than 20 years, Baker said.

Prosecutors said the criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the New York State Police.

Additional assistance was provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

The date of Miller's next court appearance was not released.

Neal Simon on Twitter @HornellTribNeal. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: Former Steuben County assistant DA facing child porn charges
By Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang

TAOYUAN, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan's ex-President Ma Ying-jeou became on Monday the first sitting or former Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the Communist revolution in 1949, saying he hoped to bring about peace and improve relations.

Ma's office said he was met at Shanghai's Pudong airport by officials including Chen Yuanfeng, deputy head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. The visit has been criticised by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Ma's successor Tsai Ing-wen.

Speaking to reporters before leaving from Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan, Ma, 73, said he was "very happy" to be going on a trip where he will talk to students and pay respects to the graves of his ancestors in China.

Ma, in office from 2008-2016, is the first former or current Taiwanese president to visit China since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of a civil war with the Communists.

The trip comes at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei as China keeps up military and political pressure to try and get democratic Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.

"Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so peace can come even faster and sooner to us here," Ma said in short remarks.

Taiwan's ruling DPP criticised Ma for going on Monday, saying it was inappropriate given former long-time Taiwan ally Honduras had ended ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing the day before.

Ma is a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which favours close ties with China although it strongly denies being pro-Beijing. The KMT says outreach to China is needed now more than ever given the tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

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Ma met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in late 2015 shortly before Tsai was elected.

China has rebuffed Tsai's repeated calls for talks, believing her to be a separatist. She says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

Ma is not scheduled to meet any senior Chinese officials while there, but the head of his foundation said last week Ma will be "at his host's disposal" if they do arrange such a get-together.

Both supporters and opponents were at the airport for Ma's departure. Demonstrators from the pro-independence group Taiwan Republic Office were allowed to show banners inside the airport for only a brief period before being pushed out by police.

(Reporting by Fabian Hamacher and Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Peter Graff)
Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan set up bonfires and block a highway during a protest moments after the Israeli leader fired his defense minister, in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 26, 2023. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had called on Netanyahu to freeze the plan, citing deep divisions in the country and turmoil in the military. (Ohad Zwigenberg / AP)

Israelis embrace the ideal of democracy with the same fervor that Americans do. Its why, on Monday, the people of Israel effectively shut down their countrys economy in a defiant, urgent statement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus dangerous bid to overhaul  and in doing so weaken  the countrys judicial system.

Protests that have persisted for weeks peaked on Monday, as tens of thousands of demonstrators filled streets of Israels two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Save our startup nation read a massive banner held aloft by legions of protesters jammed into a major Jerusalem roadway. Overnight, security forces resorted to water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

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The nations largest labor union called a general strike. Banks, government offices and many businesses closed, and hospitals barely functioned with skeleton crews. For hours, flights were halted at Ben Gurion International Airport, though later they resumed. Israeli embassies and consulates around the world also closed.

Israels president, Isaac Herzog, pleaded with Netanyahu to heed the backlash from Israelis and suspend his governments push to weaken the nations Supreme Court. The entire nation is rapt with deep worry, Herzog said early Monday. Wake up now!

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Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 27, 2023. Tens of thousands of Israelis have poured into the streets across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan. (Oren Ziv/AP)

Ultimately, Netanyahu relented and announced Monday evening local time that his government would postpone legislation seeking an overhaul of the countrys judiciary. His move, however, only delays the legislation  hes not abandoning it.

Regardless of what happens with the measure, Bibis legacy will now include the ignominious stain of having plunged his nation into arguably one of the worst political crises in Israels 74-year-old statehood. If the measure becomes law, the Israeli leader risks severely compromising one of the worlds leading democracies, and even destabilizing a vital U.S. ally in the volatile Middle East.

Its a crisis that was wholly avoidable.

Last fall, Netanyahu made the disastrous mistake of succumbing to political expediency by forging an alliance with far-right Zionist leaders to maintain a grip on power. The coalition he assembled between his center-right Likud party and the far-right Jewish Power party and the Religious Zionism party enabled his victory in national elections.

The alliance wasnt just about votes. Netanyahu still faces a trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. His new far-right allies are vehement critics of Israels Supreme Court and have joined with Netanyahu in his push for a weakening of Israels judiciary. An Israeli high court stripped of some of its authority could enable Netanyahu to sidestep justice and avoid jail.

If enacted, the ruling coalitions proposal would skew to Netanyahus advantage membership on a committee that selects Supreme Court judges. Netanyahu also wants to dramatically curb the Supreme Courts authority to overturn laws that it rules as legally indefensible.

Its easy to understand why Israelis who so fiercely entwine democracy with national identity would revolt against such a measure. The Netanyahu governments attack on the judiciary directly threatens Israels principle of checks and balances. A weakened high court dominated by Netanyahu loyalists becomes a mere lever for the ruling right-wing coalition, rather than a protector of citizens rights  particularly the rights of non-Jewish minorities.

And it becomes a get-out-of-jail card for Netanyahu.

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Netanyahu should have been all too aware that his governments anti-democratic agenda would lead to national turmoil. He had been warned repeatedly.

Speaking in Tel Aviv in January, Herzog cautioned: The absence of dialogue is tearing us apart from within, and Im telling you loud and clear: This powder keg is about to explode. This is an emergency. That same month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu and later talked about the need to preserve core democratic principles and institutions, a remark clearly aimed at the Israeli prime ministers planned judiciary overhaul.

On Saturday, Netanyahus defense minister, Yoav Gallant, criticized the overhaul and urged his prime minister to abandon it. Netanyahu responded by firing Gallant, a move that triggered massive protests across Israel Sunday night. Many of those demonstrating were Israels military reservists incensed by Gallants firing.

President Joe Biden has a long-standing relationship with Netanyahu, and Americans and Israelis alike can expect him to work to persuade the prime minister to drop the overhaul plan and become a defender of checks and balances, rather than a foe.

Ultimately, however, Netanyahu must decide whats more important  self-preservation or the future of his nation and its democracy. A postponement of the judicial overhaul is far from sufficient. Outright abandonment of the plan clearly is the best option.

The choice should be easy. But even after the tidal wave of civil unrest his nation experienced Monday, theres no sign at all that hell make the right choice.

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Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
A former top aide to President Obama said Republicans targeting TikTok is "bad faith BS," the latest in a string of Democrats downplaying or defending the popular social media app amid Chinese espionage fears.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama senior adviser who now co-hosts Pod Save America, took to Twitter over the weekend to make the comments as fears surrounding the app continue to grow. Last year, a report showed that a TikTok team in China accessed data of U.S. TikTok users, including two journalists.

"The Republicans see the issue as a win-win," Pfeiffer tweeted. "If Biden doesn't ban TikTok, they can paint him as soft on China. If Biden does ban TikTok, he risks alienating the young voters who put him over the top in 2020. Per usual from the GOP, it's bad faith BS."

'SQUAD' DEFENDER OF ALLEGED CHINESE SPY APP TIED TO NONPROFIT THAT RECEIVED $150K FROM ITS PARENT COMPANY

Pfeiffer's comments follow several other Democrats rushing to TikTok's defense. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the app on Saturday and came out against a ban.

"This is not only my first TikTok, but it is a TikTok about TikTok," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Do I believe TikTok should be banned? No."

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"I think it's important to discuss how unprecedented of a move this would be," she continued. "The United States has never before banned a social media company from existence, from operating in our borders, and this is an app that has over 150 million Americans on it."

A trio of Democratic lawmakers also held a press conference on Capitol Hill last week defending TikTok. During the gathering, New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman claimed that politicians are hypocrites for singling out the app when its American-owned counterparts have allowed Russia, for example, "to interfere with our 2016 election" and have "allowed lies and misinformation to live on their platforms."

FBI DIRECTOR CHRIS WRAY TESTIFIES CHINESE-OWNED TIKTOK HAS POWER TO 'DRIVE NARRATIVES,' 'DIVIDE AMERICANS'

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Bowman also suggested that racism fuels TikTok's opposition. "Let's not have a dishonest conversation," he said. "Let's not be racist towards China and express our xenophobia when it comes to TikTok because American companies have done tremendous harm to American people."

Bowman, meanwhile, is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose affiliated nonprofit, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, in December received a $150,000 donation from ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. The donation went towards honoring members of the caucus.

California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, joined Bowman at the press conference. Like the Congressional Black Caucus, a nonprofit affiliated with the Hispanic caucus received a $150,000 donation from ByteDance in December, Fox News Digital previously reported. Ocasio-Cortez is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Republican lawmakers, on the other hand, have been sounding the alarm over what they say are Chinese spying concerns.

DESANTIS SAYS HE WOULD BAN TIKTOK NATIONWIDE IF GIVEN THE AUTHORITY: 'I DON'T WANT OUR KIDS ON' THIS STUFF

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been vocal about her opposition to a TikTok ban.

"The evidence that China is using TikTok to spy on and influence American citizens is clear, and it only keeps mounting as time goes on," Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wrote in a Fox News Digital op-ed.

"Moreover, Beijing's influence on ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is undeniable. Not only does Chinese law compel ByteDance to hand over data at a moment's notice, but the Chinese government also holds an ownership stake in the tech giant's key domestic subsidiary."

Last Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. During the hearing, Republican Florida Rep. Neal Dunn asked whether ByteDance had ever spied on American citizens.

"I don't think that spying is the right way to describe it," Chew responded.

Pfeiffer did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
(Bloomberg) -- Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Foxconn Technology Group, is embarking on a 12-day trip to the US, as the independent presidential hopeful seeks to convince voters of his ability to lead Taiwan and balance its business and security priorities.

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Gou, who ran an unsuccessful bid for Taiwans top job in 2019, is hoping to win the backing of the countrys main opposition party, the China-friendly Kuomintang, in a high-stakes election. Taiwanese voters are set to elect a new president next January.

The island has become the focal point of growing geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington, whose rivalry is putting increasing pressure on policymakers worldwide to choose between the worlds two biggest economies. China claims Taiwan as part of its own and still sees use of force as an option to take over the island, while the US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with weapons to defend itself.

The 72-year-old Gou, whose company assembles the bulk of Apple Inc.s iPhones in China, is scheduled to meet policy experts, entrepreneurs and other key figures after he embarks Monday. He plans to formulate a strategy to promote collaboration between the US and Taiwan, as well as bolster Taiwans economic partnerships in the global community during the trip, Gous office said in a statement.

Gou handed over the day-to-day operations of Foxconn to new management in 2019, when he ran for president, though he remains a board member of Foxconns flagship unit Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. to this day.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is also expected to transit through the US this week, on her way to visit diplomatic allies in Central America, in a visit that risks straining relations between the Washington and Beijing further.

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Gou said in February that he was waiting for the KMT to find a way for him to run in the partys primaries or become its candidate. The party has since decided to nominate a candidate without a primary election, though it is still unclear whom the KMT will eventually anoint.

After the tour of the US, which will also include visits to the Brookings Institution and Harvard University, Gou plans a visit to Japan, his office said.

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A tractor-trailer driver is facing charges after being accused of hitting and killing men who were changing a tire on the side of the interstate, Tennessee police said.

A group of eight men were traveling in a Chevrolet Express van along Interstate 81 in Kingsport, Tennessee, on March 26, according to a news release from the Kingsport Police Department on March 27.

The front left tire of the groups van went flat, causing the driver to pull onto the side of the road. Five of the passengers got out of the van to work on changing the tire, police said.

Saul Carrera, 60, from New York, was driving a red Peterbilt tractor-trailer on the interstate, according to police, when he veered off the right-hand side of the road.

Carrera sideswiped the van, hitting all five of the pedestrians who were working to repair the tire, police said.

The tractor-trailer then drove down the interstate a little further before jack-knifing and overturning on the side of the interstate, police said.

Four of the five men hit were killed, including Jesse James Delacruz, 49; Jose Urbano Serrano Ramos, 25; one man who was not identified and a 17-year-old whose name was not released.

The fifth man, another 17-year-old, was taken to the hospital with suspected major injuries, according to police. He remains in the hospital in critical condition.

The three men who remained in the van were not injured.

Police say Carerra was operating the tractor-trailer while impaired and issued an arrest warrant.

Carerra remains in the hospital in stable condition with injuries sustained during the crash.

He is charged with four counts of vehicle homicide by intoxication, reckless aggravated assault, felony reckless endangerment, driving under the influence in a commercial vehicle and failure to exercise due care.

Police said Carerra will be taken into custody once he is discharged from the hospital.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Kingsport is 94 miles northeast of Knoxville.

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Dangerously intoxicated man hospitalized after others force him to drink, GA reports say

Six found dead near flipped car after crash on Tennessee interstate, officials say

1-year-old run over and killed after wandering behind family friends car, GA cops say
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of major Apple Inc supplier Foxconn, will visit the United States this week, his office said on Monday, as he considers another run for Taiwan's presidency.

Gou will leave for the United States on Monday evening for a 12-day visit his office called a "journey of scientific and technological economic development" and will also speak at the Washington think-tank, the Brookings Institution.

"Not only the United States, but also other major democratic allies have been gradually paying attention to security issues in the Asia-Pacific region," his office said in a statement.

"The potential risks of regional conflicts highlight Taiwan's key role in the global cooperation system."

Gou will also visit the University of Maryland to talk about artificial intelligence, as well as Harvard Medical School, it added, but did not say if he would meet any U.S. officials while in the country.

Taiwanese presidential candidates traditionally go to the United States before elections given Washington's oversized role in ensuring Taiwan's security in the face of China's military threats to the island Beijing views as Chinese territory.

Gou has extensive business interests in China and is known for his close ties with Beijing leaders.

Gou, who stepped down as Foxconn chief in 2019, had originally made a presidential bid that year, but dropped out after losing the nomination for Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang, or KMT.

While Gou has said he is considering another run for the January 2024 presidential election, the KMT has yet to choose its presidential candidate.

KMT Chairman Eric Chu, asked on Saturday whether Gou would be included in the party's nomination process, did not give a definitive answer, but said Gou was an "important part of the blue camp", referring to the party's colours.

Chu and New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih are the current front-runners to be chosen as the KMT candidate.

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party has already chosen Vice President William Lai as its 2024 candidate, as President Tsai Ing-wen cannot run again after two terms in office.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard)
Andrew Popov / iStock / Getty Images

France could make it mandatory for influencers to note if their content was retouched or filtered.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the measure aims to limit the "destructive psychological effects" of filters.

It would also prohibit an influencer from promoting cosmetic surgery as part of a paid partnership.

France could make it mandatory for influencers to note if a photo or video they posted was retouched or filtered.

In a press conference on Friday, France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the country is the first European nation to create a comprehensive framework for regulating the influencer sector.

"We will make it mandatory to display the use of a filter or retouching on photo and video content during a paid partnership," Le Maire's account tweeted on March 24, explaining that they sought to "limit the destructive psychological effects" the practices had on internet users.

"Any promotion concerning cosmetic surgery, by an influencer as part of a paid partnership, will now be prohibited," the account continued.

The proposal is part of a bill that will be considered in France's National Assembly next week.

In the following weeks, the government will organize an oversight team within the Directorate General for Consumer Affairs, Competition, and Fraud Prevention that will be responsible for responding to reports from internet users. The team will have the power of injunction and sanctions.

Le Maire said in a tweet the regulations are meant to dually help support influencers as well as to protect consumers. He also warned influencers that "do not respect the law" that the government wouldn't be lenient.

It's not the first time France has sought to increase transparency in the circulation of manipulated images. In 2017, France passed a law requiring any commercial photos that had been retouched to make a model's body appear thinner or thicker to be labeled "photographie retouchee" (retouched photograph) to indicate such to viewers. The idea originated with France's former health minister, Marisol Touraine, who said it was important to avoid the promotion of "inaccessible beauty ideals and to prevent anorexia among young people" at the time, per Le Parisien. The same year, Getty Images announced it would no longer accept photos from freelancers that altered a subject's body.

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that influencers could not use "misleading" filters in paid beauty ads in 2021, with the ASA removing one post for "misleadingly exaggerated the effect the product was capable of achieving."

Read the original article on Insider
Shelves of textbooks

For the last decade Teague OShea has been in and out of college. Now, at 42 years old, he is trying again. Furthering his education was important to OShea, who had been working as an apprentice electrician for his local water district, but the rising cost of college made him question its worth.

California is a really expensive place to live and Im already paying for college, OShea said. Im paying $463 for three classes and Im like, Thats fine. But I cant imagine going full time and paying more. I cant imagine having to spend more money on books  I would not be happy.

OShea is working towards his associates degree in the Water Systems Technology program, which prepares students for careers in wastewater management or drinking water distribution and treatment. In the program, at least one major cost is covered: OSheas courses all use free non-copyrighted materials created by the college itself. That takes some of the pressure off OShea, he said, so he can focus on his goal of becoming a certified water plant manager.

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I feel like Im being prepared to re-enter the industry, he said.

California college students spend on average $938 per year on textbooks and materials, according to the California Student Aid Commissions 2021-2022 Student Expenses and Resources Survey, roughly half of that is on textbooks alone.

One idea under consideration by the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office is to fund community colleges to produce their own textbooks. The system must decide how to spend $115 million in state funds set aside to reduce the burden of textbook costs. Every community college will receive $20,000 to design zero-textbook-cost programs and an additional $180,000 to implement them. Some colleges will also get larger, competitive grants.

Colleges could spend the money on anything from publishing their own textbooks to using free, publicly available textbooks  known as open educational resources  created by professors at other schools. They could also simply give some students money to buy traditional textbooks.

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So we really see textbooks as almost a symptom to a bigger issue around students financial stability, right? Especially the students we serve that come into our colleges, many of them are already at a deficit without sufficient financial resources, said Rebecca Ruan-OShaughnessy, vice chancellor for educational services and support at the Chancellors Office.

Many community colleges already have some classes that use open educational resources, often marked in course catalogs as zero textbook cost. Yet those courses often fill up fast, Ruan-OShaughnessy said, and students arent always aware they are being offered.

Overall, open educational resources have so far failed to build the same level of traction that traditional publishers have. Even at College of the Canyons, one of the colleges most invested in the approach, only 35% of professors use open educational resources. And while many colleges give some eligible students grants for textbooks, they usually have to jump through administrative hoops to get them.

Ruan-OShaughnessy said the Chancellors Office wants to gather data about zero-textbook-cost courses across the states 115 community colleges, identify successes that have so far been isolated to individual campuses or regions, and create a long-term, sustainable model.

Jerry Vakshylyak, a student at Mission College in Santa Clara serving on the California Community Colleges newly created textbook-costs task force, still remembers having to spend $300 for a French textbook two semesters back.

It was just absolutely insane for an online copy for that French textbook, said Vakshylyak. He now makes sure to enroll in classes with zero-textbook-cost options. Im in mostly ZTC courses, primarily because of how much of a burden it could be with textbook costs, said Vakshylyak.

Vakshylak said that kind of help should be available to all students.

The statewide approach will help standardize and streamline the process for students to get into class with low instructional materials cost, he said.

Students have found creative ways to access academic materials. Since 2009, the website Z-library has been a hub for free scholarly journals and full college textbooks. But last year, the federal government shut it down, alleging copyright infringement. The online library is now back up but makes users log in where they are redirected to a personal domain.

East Los Angeles College student Rene Jimenez rents his textbooks, which he said saves him hundreds of dollars each semester. Renting makes so much sense when youre getting your general requirements done because you rarely need the textbooks for other classes, Jimenez said. Its way cheaper most of the time, so it alleviates some financial stress, which is important when everything these days is so, so expensive.

Some advocates say the recent focus on materials cost is an opportunity for a larger shift in the textbook business, and that colleges across the system should create their own cache of materials and textbooks that best serve the students that need them.

Its just a different way of thinking about how we use information resources and education, thinking about it more as part of the infrastructure on which we teach and learn, as opposed to products that you purchase from a publisher, said Nicole Allen, who as a student organized a campaign around textbook costs before becoming head of communications at the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, a nonprofit pushing for more open educational resources. And, I think that mindset shift is a really big opportunity in California.

A 2023 Student Public Interest Research Group report found that every dollar invested in open educational resources saves students $10 to $20. One of the benefits of investing in open educational resources is the continued use of them after the initial investment, Allen said.

Theres such a compelling case for investment in these types of resources. Because if you can build them, you can use them, said Allen. And others can use them, too, unlike traditional textbooks where if you buy a one-year subscription to a digital textbook, you have to buy that subscription again the next year, and the next year and the next year.

Tyler Reed, senior director of communications at McGraw Hill, one of the largest textbook publishers in the nation, says the onus is on all involved in higher education to deliver course materials with value that students can afford.

We believe there is room in the higher education ecosystem for all course materials options, including open educational resources. Lets give institutions, instructors and students the broadest range of choices, Reed said in a statement to CalMatters.

College of the Canyons has created a new department to focus on finding, adapting, authoring and publishing open educational resources. Current and former students are employed by the college to blend and splice free online texts into cohesive works to meet their needs, said James Glapa-Grossklag, the colleges dean of educational technology, learning resources and distance learning.

Additionally, if faculty members decide they need to write new material to fit the needs of their class, College of the Canyons will provide a stipend.

The campus has seen some success with this model. But adoption has been slowed by the fact that the college offers a lot of specialized disciplines, such as occupational therapy, welding and auto mechanics, for which no online educational resources currently exist, Glapa-Grossklag said.

There is definitely a rift between the humanities and STEM majors, said Kyra Karatsu, a College of the Canyons graduate working on the project. Theres all these resources for majors like communications or history. But when you start to look at classes like math, or even chemistry, theres not a lot of resources there.

One reason is the lock that the traditional textbook industry has on the market in those disciplines, said Mark Healy, the open educational resources coordinator for the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District, another early adopter of free textbooks. Math textbook publishers often bundle together online textbooks with other resources like online testing, he said, charging students hundreds of dollars for access codes that must be renewed if they take the class again.

Healy, who is also a psychology professor, has made all his classes zero-textbook-cost. Its really great to tell students that they dont have to pay anything beyond tuition to take the class, he said.

Story and Gonzalez are fellows with the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. This story and other higher education coverage are supported by the College Futures Foundation.

This story was originally published by CalMatters.
The Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles is one of 33 county-owned buildings at potential risk of collapse in a major earthquake. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County recently set out on a landmark effort to protect the types of vulnerable concrete buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria last month.

As part of the push, the Board of Supervisors asked officials to craft new rules that would require non-ductile concrete buildings owned by the county, as well as any in unincorporated areas, to be retrofitted.

The Times received the list of these county-owned concrete structures deemed vulnerable to collapse in the next major earthquake.

Among the most important buildings are the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, which is home to the five county supervisors; the Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, where autopsies are performed; and the headquarters for the departments of public health and health services, where some of the county's top health officials are employed.

Michael Wilson, a spokesperson for the county's Chief Executive Office, said the buildings on the list were included because they all meet the established criteria for retrofitting.

"The buildings on the compiled list are not in imminent danger," he said. "The county is methodically working on approaches to complete the retrofits as expeditiously as possible."

The 33 structures are considered to be non-ductile concrete buildings, were built before 1978 and have multiple stories. Non-ductile buildings have an inadequate configuration of steel reinforcing bars, which allows concrete to explode out of columns when shaken in an earthquake, a prelude to a catastrophic collapse.

This flaw, now well-known, was discovered in the 1971 Sylmar quake, and caused building and freeway collapses in L.A. in that temblor as well as the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Here's the full list:

Hall of Administration (500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles)

Chief Medical Examiner Service (1104 N. Mission Road, Los Angeles)

Chief Medical Examiner Administration/Investigation (1102 N. Mission Road, Los Angeles)

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Hall of Records (320 W. Temple St., Los Angeles)

Fire Station 171 (141 W. Regent St., Inglewood)

Fire Station 8 (7643 W. Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood)

Historic General Hospital (1200 N. State St., Los Angeles)

L.A. County-USC S. Mark Taper Foundation Family Advocacy, home of the Violence Intervention Program (1721 Griffin Ave., Los Angeles)

County-USC Medical Center-Science Hall - Building 90, also known as the Santana House, home of the Violence Intervention Program (1733 Griffin Ave., Los Angeles)

County-USC Outpatient Clinic (2010 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles)

County-USC Medical Center Parking Structure (Lot 12) (2020 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles)

County-USC Medical Center Interns & Residents Building (2020 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles)

County-USC Medical Center-Pharmacy Building (1100 Mission Road, Los Angeles)

MLK Leroy Weekes Medical Support Building - North (12021 Wilmington Ave., Willowbrook)

MLK Service and Supply Building - South (12021 Wilmington Ave., Willowbrook)

MLK Interns & Residents Building (12012 Compton Ave., Willowbrook)

Health Services Administration, the headquarters for the county departments of Health Services and Public Health (313 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles)

Health Services Headquarter Lot 29 Parking Structure (346 N. Fremont Ave., Los Angeles)

Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center (5850 S. Main St., Los Angeles)

H. Claude Hudson Comprehensive Health Center (2829 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles)

Central Public Health Center (241 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles)

Hollywood/Wilshire Public Health Center (5205 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles)

Department of Public Social Services' Adams & Grand building (2615 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles)

Department of Public Social Services' Metro Special District Office (2707 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles)

Adams/Grand Complex Parking Garage (Lot 46) (318 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles)

Alameda Street Garage (1055 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles)

Internal Services Department Administrative Headquarters (1100 N. Eastern Ave., East Los Angeles)

Compton Library (240 W. Compton Blvd., Compton)

Huntington Park Library (6518 Miles Ave., Huntington Park)

Montebello Library (1550 W. Beverly Blvd., Montebello)

Eastlake Juvenile Court Parking Structure (1605 Eastlake Ave., Los Angeles)

Ferguson Administrative Services Center (5555 Ferguson Drive, Commerce)

Pitchess Detention Center East (29340 The Old Road, Castaic)

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Funeral arrangements have been made for the three Sumter children who were killed in a murder-suicide.

A public viewing will be held this week, followed by a funeral service for 11-year-old Ava Holliday, 6-year-old Aason Holliday-Slacks and 5-year-old Aayden Holliday-Slacks, according to their obituaries on the Jobs Mortuary Inc. website.

The public viewing will be held from 2-7 p.m. Thursday at the Jobs Mortuary, at 312 South Main St. in Sumter.

On Friday, a 1 p.m. funeral service will be held at Christ Community Church, at 320 Loring Mill Road in Sumter.

Three siblings were killed in a murder-suicide in Sumter, S.C., on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. From left to right, the children are Ava Holliday, 11; Aason Holliday-Slacks, 6; and Aayden Holliday-Slacks, 5.

On March 21, Charles Slacks Jr. fatally shot his two sons and their half-sister, the Sumter Police Department said.

Little children sleeping in their own bed ... lives taken by a father and a stepfather, thats difficult to rationalize, Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said.

Slacks also shot and killed Carlos Evans, a 38-year-old command sergeant major in the U.S. Army, before turning the gun on himself, according to the Sumter County Coroners Office.

There was no word on funeral services for Evans.

Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos Evans, 38, was killed in a shooting where three children also died.

An Army veteran, Slacks recently began working as a civilian budget analyst with U.S. Army Central at Shaw Air Force Base, said Major Jason Welch, spokesman for the agency. Officials described Evans as Hollidays co-worker.

Aletha Holliday, Slacks ex-wife and the mother of the three children, saw Slacks shoot and kill himself after he fatally shot the others.

On March 23, Holliday thanked the community for its support in the wake of the tragedy.

From our family thank you for your prayers, condolences, and expressions of love, Aletha Holliday posted on Facebook. We just want to share beautiful pictures with you of Ava, Aason, and Aayden. We love them and will keep them alive in our hearts and minds. Please continue to pray for us.

Aletha Holliday is a 24-year veteran of the Army and is currently a culinary management sergeant major at Shaw and operates a bakery on the side, according to her LinkedIn page.

Aayden and Aason Hoilliday-Slacks were students at Millwood Elementary School in Sumter, and Ava Holliday was a sixth-grader at Alice Drive Middle School. Aayden was born in West Point, N.Y.; Aason in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Ava in Overland Park, Kansas, according to their obituaries.

Sumter School District is grieving the loss of three students, Sumter Superintendent William Wright said in a statement. Our sincere condolences are extended to the family. ... Our hearts are filled with sadness, and we will continue to lend support to one another during this time.
For the second time in a month, an openly gay Missouri Republican lawmaker will face a censure vote from the Jackson County Republican Party for trying to redefine marriage in the state constitution as between two individuals instead of a man and a woman.

The planned censure, scheduled for Monday evening, targets state Rep. Chris Sander, a Lone Jack Republican. The resolution accuses Sander of deviating from the partys platform for trying to recognize same-sex marriage through a constitutional amendment.

While federal law enshrines same-sex marriage, the Missouri Constitution still defines marriage as between a man and a woman under an amendment approved by voters in 2004. Sanders proposed constitutional amendment, filed this year, would bring Missouri in line with the federal Respect for Marriage Act signed by President Joe Biden late last year.

The Jackson County GOP censure and the Missouri Republican Party platform represent a small minority of leadership who conflict with our US Constitution, Sander said in a text to The Star. The committee members do not like gay Republicans.

Last month, Jackson County GOP Chair Mark Anthony Jones ruled a similar censure motion out of order, later calling it dead on arrival.

Mondays resolution was filed by party committee member Dave Thomas from Grandview, who also filed the previous attempt. The party will consider the censure at 7 p.m. at Tiff N Jays in Lees Summit.

The Missouri Republican Platform states that the Missouri Republican Party SUPPORTS Marriage as being between one man and one woman, the resolution says in part.

Jones, who serves as the spokesperson for the party, refused to comment when reached by phone Monday, telling The Star to quit calling.

Jones, who was first elected party chair in 2014, touts himself as the first openly gay elected Republican county committee chairman in the country, according to his Linkedin profile.

Teresa McBride, the county GOP vice chair, on Monday called on Sander to withdraw his constitutional amendment in an email filled with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

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The mere fact that you want to change the wording from one man and one woman to two individuals is an abomination to mankind and to God himself, McBride wrote in the email, obtained by The Star. The term two individuals could be defined and interpreted in many different ways and open the door for pedophiles to legally rape and physically harm children. That is disgusting and promoting an agenda as such, is an abomination to our country.

McBride did not return a call and text for comment on Monday.

The county party will consider another petition, also filed by Thomas, that states any member of the party could be censured for trying to define marriage as anything other than between a man or a woman.
Enforcement of binary gender norms has led to unwanted medical interventions on intersex and cisgender children. Javier Valenzuela/EyeEm via Getty Images

In 1976, a woman from Roanoke, Virginia, named Rhoda received a prescription for two drugs: estrogen and progestin. Twelve months later, a local reporter noted Rhodas surprisingly soft skin and visible breasts. He wrote that the drugs had made her so completely female.

Indeed, that was the point. The University of Virginia Medical Center in nearby Charlottesville had a clinic specifically for women like Rhoda. In fact, doctors there had been prescribing hormones and performing surgeries  what today we would call gender-affirming care  for years.

The founder of that clinic, Dr. Milton Edgerton, had cut his teeth caring for transgender people at Johns Hopkins University in the 1960s. There, he was part of a team that established the nations first university-based Gender Identity Clinic in 1966.

When politicians today refer to gender-affirming care as new, untested or experimental, they ignore the long history of transgender medicine in the United States.

Its been nearly 60 years since the first transgender medical clinic opened in the U.S., and 47 years since Rhoda started her hormone therapy. Understanding the history of these treatments in the U.S. can be a helpful guide for citizens and legislators in a year when a record number of bills in statehouses target the rights of transgender people.

Christine Jorgensen, who received gender-affirming treatments in the 1950s, was one of the first trans celebrities in the U.S. Bettmann/Getty Images

Treating gender in every population

As a trans woman and a scholar of transgender history, I have spent much of the past decade studying these issues. I also take several pills each morning to maintain the proper hormonal balance in my body: spironolactone to suppress testosterone and estradiol to increase estrogen.

When I began HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, like many Americans I wasnt aware that this treatment had been around for generations. What I was even more surprised to learn was that HRT is often prescribed to cisgender women  women who were assigned female at birth and raised their whole lives as women. In fact, many providers in my region already had a long record of prescribing hormones to cis women, primarily women experiencing menopause.

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I also learned that gender-affirming hormone therapies have been prescribed to cisgender youths for generations  despite what contemporary politicians may think. Disability scholar Eli Clare has written of the history and continued practice of prescribing hormones to boys who are too short and girls who are too tall for what is considered a normal range for their gender. Because of binary gender norms that celebrate height in men and smallness in women, doctors, parents and ethicists have approved the use of hormonal therapies to make children conform to these gender stereotypes since at least the 1940s.

Clare describes a severely disabled young woman whose parents  with the approval of doctors and ethicists from their local childrens hospital  administered puberty blockers so that she would never grow into an adult. They deemed her mentally incapable of becoming a real woman.

The history of these treatments demonstrates that hormone therapies and puberty blockers have been used on cisgender children in this country  for better or for worse  with the goal of regulating the passage from girlhood to womanhood and from boyhood to manhood. Gender stereotypes concerning the presence or absence of secondary sex characteristics  too tall, too short, too much body hair  have all led parents and doctors to perform gender-affirming care on cisgender children.

For over half a century, legal and medical authorities in the U.S. have also approved and administered surgeries and hormone therapies to force the bodies of intersex children to conform to binary gender stereotypes. I myself had genital surgery in infancy to bring my anatomy into alignment with expectations for what a male body should look like. In most cases, intersex surgeries are unnecessary for the health or well-being of a child.

Historians such as Jules Gill-Peterson have shown that early advances in transgender medicine in this country are deeply interwoven with the nonconsensual treatment of intersex children. Doctors at Johns Hopkins and the University of Virginia practiced reconstructing the genitalia of intersex people before applying those same treatments on transgender patients.

Given these intertwined histories, I contend that the current political focus on prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender people is evidence that opposition to these treatments is not about the safety of any specific medications or procedures, but rather their use specifically by transgender people.

How transgender people access care

Many transgender people in the U.S. have deeply complicated feelings about gender-affirming care. This complexity is a result of over half a century of transgender medicine and patient experiences in the U.S.

In Rhodas time, medical gatekeeping meant that she had to live full time as a woman and prove her suitability for gender-affirming care to a team of primarily white, cis male doctors before they would give her treatment. She had to mimic language about being born in the wrong body  language invented by cis doctors studying trans people, not by trans people themselves. She had to affirm she would be heterosexual and seek marriage and monogamy with a man. She could not be a lesbian or bisexual or promiscuous.

Many trans people still need to jump through similar hoops today to receive gender-affirming care. For example, a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, a designated mental disorder, is sometimes required before treatment. Many trans people argue that these preconditions for access to care should be removed because being trans is an identity and a lived experience, not a disorder.

Feminist activists in the 1970s also critiqued the role of medical authority in gender-affirming care. Writer Janice Raymond decried the transsexual empire, her term for the physicians, psychologists and other professionals who practice transgender medicine. Raymond argued that cis male doctors were making an army of trans women to satisfy the male gaze: promoting iterations of womanhood that reinforced sexist gender stereotypes, ultimately ushering in the displacement and eradication of the worlds biological women. The origins of todays gender-critical, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist, movement are visible in Raymonds words. But as trans scholar Sandy Stone wrote in her famous reply to Raymond, its not that trans women are unwilling dupes of cis male medical authority, but rather that we have to strategically perform our womanhood in certain ways to access the care and treatments we need.

The future of gender-affirming care

In many states, especially in the South, where I live, governors and legislatures are introducing bills to ban gender-affirming care  even for adults  in ignorance of history. The consequences of hurried legislation extend beyond trans people, because access to hormones and surgeries is a basic medical service many people may need to feel better in their body.

Prohibitions on hormone therapy and gender-related surgeries for minors could mean ending the same treatment options for cisgender children. The legal implications for intersex children may directly clash with proposed legislation in several states that aims to codify male and female as discrete biological sexes with certain anatomical features.

Prohibitions on hormone replacement therapy for adults could affect access to the same treatments for menopausal women or limit access to hormonal birth control. Prohibitions of gender-affirming surgeries could affect anyones ability to access a hysterectomy or a mastectomy. So-called cosmetic surgeries such as breast implants or reductions, and even facial feminization procedures such as lip fillers or Botox, could also come under question.

These are all different types of gender-affirming procedures. Are most Americans willing to live with this level of government intrusion into their bodily autonomy?

Almost every major medical organization in the U.S. has come out against new government restrictions on gender-affirming care because, as doctors and professionals, they know that these treatments are time-tested and safe. These treatments have histories reaching back over 50 years.

Trans and intersex people are important voices in this debate, because our bodies are the ones politicians opposing gender-affirming care most frequently treat as objects of ridicule and disgust. Legislators are developing policies about us despite the fact that most Americans say they do not even know a trans person.

But trans and intersex people know what it is like to have to fight to access the care and treatment we need. And we know the joy of finally feeling comfortable in our own skin and being able to affirm our gender on our own terms.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Like this article? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: G. Samantha Rosenthal, Roanoke College.

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G. Samantha Rosenthal is co-founder of the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project
The terminal building at Bult Field airport in Monee, a possible site for the South Suburban Airport, on March 8, 2023. The proposed South Suburban Airport would turn Bult Field into a cargo airport, to take advantage of the enormous growth in warehouses, intermodal facilities, rail and highways in Will County. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

We dont believe in ghosts. We do, however, believe in the specter of the Illinois boondoggle, a tax revenue-devouring phantasm that haunts taxpayers with empty promises of job bonanzas and an economic nirvana.

That specter has taken various forms over the years. The Illiana tollway was a proposed trucking highway that Illinois didnt need and couldnt afford. The $2 billion Crosstown Expressway concept lingered through the 1960s and 70s, till then Mayor Jane Byrne finally killed it. There have been others, many others.

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The one that makes us truly shudder, though, the one that makes Jacob Marley look like Casper, is the Poltergeist from Peotone, aka the South Suburban Airport.

Theres not a talisman or incantation in the world that can ward off the persistence of the Peotone pipe dream. It keeps coming back, even after the airlines have said thanks but no thanks again and again, even after hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have disappeared into the fantasy airports rabbit hole.

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Peotones latest iteration comes in the form of a cargo airport. The pitch from south suburban lawmakers and mayors centers on the explosive growth of e-commerce, and the need for transportation logistics to link up the Chicago region to the worlds online economy.

A bill recently proposed by state Rep. William Will Davis, a Democrat from south suburban Hazel Crest, would have the Illinois Department of Transportation seek potential developers for a South Suburban Airport within six months of the proposed legislations enactment.

So its been said, whos going to build it, who wants to build it? Davis said at a news conference last week. This is an effort to  see whos out there who has the capacity, the drive, the desire and the resources to build this airport.

Theres no doubt that Chicagos Southland region needs an economic shot in the arm. The steel mills and factories that were the economic bulwark of the south and southwest suburbs are long gone. And when the jobs go, people go and tax rates soar. Southland suburbs usually have some of the Chicago regions highest tax rates  according to 2021 data from the Cook County clerks office, Park Forests average composite property tax rate was a startling 41.56%; Riverdales was 31.09% and Phoenixs, 29.95%. No doubt, the region craves jobs, businesses and a far more robust tax base.

But theres never been any sign that a Peotone airport would provide that economic spark. Why? Because theres never been any indication that the airlines, either passenger or cargo, are interested in a third airport.

A view toward the runway at Bult Field in Monee, a possible site for the South Suburban Airport, is seen on March 8, 2023. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Proponents of the South Suburban Airport have been pitching the idea as far back as the 1980s. Former Gov. Jim Edgar backed it, as did former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who pleaded guilty in 2013 to wire and mail fraud charges and served prison time. Early on, we even liked the idea, with the caveat that private investors should shoulder the cost, and that the airlines show their commitment to the project.

But buy-in from the airlines at OHare International Airport and Midway Airport never came. At the time, both American and United airlines argued the location simply wasnt sufficiently appealing to their customers. And Southwest long ago went all-in on Midway Airport, which that airline dominates. Even Delta Air Lines now is sitting much prettier at OHares Terminal 5. Later, proponents of Peotone retooled the project into a proposal for a cargo hub.

But even that idea rests on a need that doesnt exist. OHares massive overhaul includes expanded capacity for cargo movement. Midway doesnt handle many cargo flights, but both Chicago Rockford International Airport and Gary Chicago International Airport have ample cargo capacity.

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Perhaps the Peotone cargo project would get a bit more traction if Amazon and other e-commerce giants had jumped on board  but theyve been silent on the idea. Thats because its cheaper to ship most cargo by either truck or rail. Goods shipped by air represent a smaller subset  usually more expensive items such as consumer electronic goods and pharmaceuticals, as well as time-sensitive products such as perishable seafood and some agricultural goods.

Even Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who we took to task in 2019 for earmarking $205 million for roads to the nonexistent airport, recently stressed the need to see solid interest from cargo airlines before proceeding with Peotone. What you dont want is, If you build it, they will come, right? Pritzker said. You need to make sure that youre building it because you have interest from cargo carriers who are committing to make that a cargo airport.

Pritzkers right. Why build an airport on the faint hope that the entities its intended for will suddenly have a change of heart and hop on the Peotone bandwagon? The Chicago region and the rest of Illinois have been haunted long enough by the imagined need for a third airport.

Be gone, Peotone pie in the sky! Torment us no more!

Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook.

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Georgia could pump millions of dollars into its economy by moving its 2024 presidential primary earlier in the year, according to new report.

The move, which is supported by national Democrats and the Biden administration, would shine the political spotlight on Georgia, prompting presidential candidates to invest more into the Peach State, according to the report by Thomas Smith, an Emory University finance professor. Smith was inspired to write the report when he realized there hadnt been much research on the topic after speaking to a reporter from Georgia Public Broadcasting.

In February, the Democratic Party approved reordering its 2024 presidential primary, replacing Iowa with South Carolina as the first state to hold its primary followed by New Hampshire and Nevada.

In the new order, Georgia would become the fourth state to hold its primary, voting on Feb. 13, 2024. In the 2022 midterm primary election, the state voted on May 24, and the 2020 primary was delayed to June 9 that year because of COVID-19.

Democrats say changing the order in which states hold their primaries will prioritize diversity, and the plan has been supported by President Joe Biden.

In 2020, by the time Georgia voted in its primary, Biden had a commanding lead in delegates, Bernie Sanders had already dropped out of the race and former President Donald Trump was essentially running unopposed in the Republican primary.

Politicians have already begun converging on Iowa, Smith told the Ledger-Enquirer, with Trump having held a rally recently and Nikki Haley likely in the process of setting up offices.

Theyre spending money, Smith said. Theyre renting facilities. Theyre holding rallies. Theyre buying supplies.

All of these factors bring additional money into the economy, he said, and creates the need to provide goods and services. Smiths full report can be read here.

Residents line up to vote during the primary election Tuesday at St. Paul United Methodist in Columbus. For election results, visit ledger-enquirer.com. Madeleine Cook/mcook@ledger-enquirer.com

Spending across the state

The economic benefits of an earlier primary include additional dollars spent by candidates, national committees and political action committees, according to Smiths report. This money would go toward:

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Offices and associated rents

Supplies

Catering

Printing

Transportation

Hosting campaign events, such as rallies and parties

Advertising

These organizations will not just set up 10 offices in Atlanta, Smith said, but will spread the offices out across the state in cities like Columbus, Macon, August, Athens, Savannah and others. This is because of the campaigns need for staging points, he said.

They need to be able to meet people where they live, Smith said. Unlike the Super Bowl where youre just going to have most of the spending concentrated in a very small area.

In scenarios where money will be spent on hotels, food and beverage, clothing and other goods and services, thats going to be a positive for the local economy, said Jerald Mitchell, president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

Jerald Mitchell, president and CEO of the Greater Columbus, GA Chamber of Commerce, gives the 2023 economic forecast for the city of Columbus during a luncheon Wednesday afternoon at the Columbus Georgia Convention and Trade Center. 01/25/2023 Mike Haskey/mhaskey@ledger-enquirer.com

Smith estimates that there will be almost $48 million of direct economic impact dispersed across the state, meaning political agents will buy goods and services from regional companies.

That spending could then generate another $63 million, because those companies would then spend money with other businesses. And on and on.

Your income becomes your spending, Smith said. Which becomes somebody elses incomethats the multiplier effect. The initial consumption turns into other peoples income, which now turns into their consumption.

Smiths report considered two scenarios of a potential 2024 primary. The first looked at the economic impact if there were 11 Republican candidates and one Democratic candidate, which Smith writes is the more likely scenario for the upcoming election. The second scenario he considered was the economic impact of 11 candidates for each major political party.

The report estimated that the total economic impact of direct and indirect spending from the most likely scenario would bring more than $111 million to the state.

Not taken into account in the report is the spending that would also be done by national news outlets, Smith said, which would also boost the economy.

Those first bunch of primaries have an oversized importance, Smith said. If the media comes to town, and you have more people hanging out and spending money, thats good for the economy.

Job creation and tax revenue

While spending would account for the bulk of the economic impact of moving the primary up, Smith estimated in his report that around 2,200 jobs would also be created by the move.

The additional money in the economy creates the need to provide goods and services, he said, which drive job creation.

These are politicians who are coming to town and spending a bunch of money, which is going to create jobs through economic activity, he said.

On average, presidential candidates spend about $4.2 million on wages each during a primary, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. About $3.8 million goes to full-time employee wages, according to Smiths report.

Whether the jobs created are permanent or temporary depends on the industry, Smith said. But because campaigns are long, individuals could earn a steady income.

People are already holding rallies in Iowa for a caucus that will take place early next year, he said. So, theyre already engaging with the economy in Iowa 10 to 11 months out.

Candidates will have to have offices and staff, said state Rep. Carolyn Hugley, and oftentimes it will be young people who will receive these positions.

Young people are often the ones who are working these campaigns and manning these offices, she said. And its going to give our young people an opportunity to gain experience that they might not otherwise get in terms of running a national campaign or working with the national campaign.

As a result of the increased spending and jobs created by the campaigns and companies providing goods and services, there will be more tax revenue, Smith said.

Around 75% of goods and services consumed by campaigns, national committees and PACs are subject to taxation at the state level, according to the report. Local tax rates will also be applied, he said, which will bring tax revenue to cities like Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Augusta and others.

Smiths report estimates that around $97 million in earnings from job creation will go towards the total economic impact in the most likely scenario for 2024, and almost $12 million of economic impact will come from tax revenue.

Additional tax revenue will give us, as a state, an opportunity to invest more in our citizens, Hugley said. That might be more investment in our schools, it might be more investment in our higher education. All of those things will be affected because more tax dollars are going to come in.

While Smiths report indicates that there will be a positive impact of becoming an early state in the primaries, Mitchell warns that it is important to understand that this is only one report that should be taken in a measured way.

There may be others that have different takes, he said. I think its our obligation to try to get all the information and understand the various points of views and what differing impacts could be.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger answers question about a proposed new voting system for Georgia during an interview Feb. 22 at the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga. Mike Haskey/mhaskey@ledger-enquirer.com

Ultimately, moving the primary up could give Georgians the opportunity to help set the tone for the presidential election, Hugley said. While Democrats have already approved the plan, changing the primary is also dependent on the Republican Party.

Reporting by NPR indicates Georgia Republicans have been hesitant to change the calendar, but Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has until this fall to change the rules.

Georgia is such a diverse state, Hugley said. And it will give candidates for the highest office an opportunity to learn what various communities are facing and what theyre fighting for.
Everyday household items previously belonging to the Murdaugh family were auctioned off Thursday in Georgia, including the leather couch that convicted killer Alex Murdaugh claimed he napped on the night his wife and son were fatally shot.

Phillip Jennings of Soperton, Georgia, paid $31,400 for two leather couches, two chairs, accompanying ottomans and a rug. Jennings said he also bought bedroom sets, mattresses, some fishing tackle boxes and other miscellaneous items which, he said, he will use along with the furniture at his premiere membership hunting lodge, the Broomsedge Rod and Gun Club in Soperton.

People have said things like it is morbid or it is cold-hearted and, no, its not, Jennings told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. That money is going to help the victims of these people who went through a very dark time in their life and were wronged.

Jennings said that although what happened is one of the saddest stories out there, he really just bought the items out of necessity to fill the rooms at his lodge. He said he has several pieces of furniture from the same Prosperity, South Carolina, manufacturer as the Murdaugh items, and buying them just made sense.

Hopefully, we allow those beautiful pieces that Maggie had to live on, Jennings said. Now, she cant come back but I would like to hope that, when I go, some of the great pieces Ive collected would live on and someone would enjoy them.

The hunters at the lodge, according to Jennings, will get great use out of the furniture.

We want everything to be preserved and taken care of, Jennings said. Were not running a come sit on the couch process. We want those couches protected just like the other components of our lodge.

Among the items shown that will be at the Liberty Auction sale include a leather living room set and pillows with Maggie Murdaughs initials embroidered on them.

Auction attracted many just to watch

The auction lasted about six hours at the Liberty Auction warehouse in Pembroke, Georgia, and buyers were lined up outside the warehouse hours beforehand just to get inside, according to reporting from CNN. For sale were everyday household items from the familys Colleton County estate known as Moselle, where the June 2021 murders took place.

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In a $3.9 million deal, the estate was sold to Jeffrey Godley and James Ayer, and the majority of the money will go toward settlements against Murdaughs oldest son, Buster, and the estates of Paul and Maggie, according to previous reporting.

Alex Murdaugh, the disbarred Lowcountry attorney, was convicted March 3 of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, on the estate and was sentenced to two life terms in prison. His attorneys have filed a notice with the court that they intend to appeal.

Also up for auction were dishware, turtle shell lamps and hunting trophies, which sparked outrage from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA asks Georgia auction house in charge of selling household items from Murdaugh family home to donate hunting trophies, animal heads instead of selling them Thursday.

In a letter penned by the organizations president, Ingrid Newkirk, on the day of the auction, Liberty Auction was asked to donate the items to PETA instead of putting them for sale.

Violence should have no place in our society, and were hoping youll donate the tortoise-shell lamps, mounted heads, and other decorations created at the expense of animals lives, Newkirk wrote in her letter.

The items were auctioned off, as planned, and one bidder reportedly paid $450 for deer antlers, and a set of longhorn antlers went for $10,000, according to CNN.

The sale also included beds, chests, tables, chairs, a popcorn maker, and picture frames that once hung on the walls of the Moselle estate, along with a large rack of hunting equipment, CNN reported.

Robert Daleys book Man with A Gun, a story about a man who commits an accidental homicide, was among the items sold.

The organization did not get a response from Lori Mattingly, the owner of Liberty Auction, PETA officials said.

A representative for Liberty Auction could not be reached for comment by The Island Packet

Jennings said the auction attracted many who came to watch and did not buy anything.

There were more sight-seers there than buyers, Jennings said. Only a small number of people were buying anything of significance.

Turtle lamps among personal items from Murdaugh family home listed for sale at auction Thursday in Pembroke Georgia.

Murdaugh background

Alex Murdaugh was convicted earlier this month after a nearly six-week-long trial that garnered nationwide attention and docuseries from media giants like CNN, HBO Max and Netflix. In addition to the murders, Murdaugh also faces charges for over 100 financial crimes involving money he stole from the family law firm and clients he represented, including the family of Gloria Satterfield, the familys housekeeper who died on their property in 2018 from a fall.

In the weeks since the trial, Murdaughs oldest son, Buster, says he has been harassed by members of the national media while at his condo on Hilton Head where he now lives with his girlfriend, Brooklyn White. The two have filed several police reports describing being followed by paparazzi while driving down U.S. 278 and photographed through the window blinds of their home.

Buster Murdaugh became the focus of media attention more recently when he released a statement via his lawyers denying any involvement in the 2015 death of a Hampton County classmate, Stephen Smith. At the time, 19-year-old Smith was thought to have been killed in a hit-and-run. Last week, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said it considers Smiths death was a homicide.

This has gone on far too long, Buster Murdaugh said in his statement. These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family.

The Smith family started a GoFundMe earlier this month to pay for the exhumation and independent investigation in Stephen Smiths death. As of Monday, $110,465 of their $15,000 goal was raised.
Georgia police are investigating reports that Trent Lehrkamp, 19, was forced to guzzle vodka and take mushrooms by a group of teens before he lost consciousness and was allegedly tied to a chair, urinated on and spray-painted, according to online reports and officials.

The Glynn County Police Department said in a press release Sunday that on March 21, they responded to Southeast Georgia Health Center around 10:40 p.m. after receiving a report of an alleged hazing incident.

Three minors allegedly dropped off Lehrkamp at the hospital and registered their names with the ER, the release says.

Lehrkamp had spray paint on him and was being "treated for a high level of intoxication from a mixture of controlled substances and alcohol," according to the release.

A Facebook post from an account calling itself Glynn County Citizens on Patrol shows a photo of four boys posing around a man who appears to be passed out with his head slumped to the side and covered in items and substances.

One of the boys is flashing both middle fingers. The post identifies the victim as Lehrkamp. A second photo shows a man, also identified as Lehrkamp, on a ventilator in a hospital.

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"The Glynn Academy students on St. Simons Island are about to make national news," says the caption above the photos. "These fine young men bound an unconscious and unresponsive boy to a chair, spray-painted him from head to toe, pissed on him, took a s--- in his lap and the list goes on and on. Then dropped him off at the ER. Now hes on a ventilator fighting for his life. This has all since been removed from SnapChat. Is this what our community has become?"

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY HAZINGS TURNED TRAGIC HAUNT CAMPUSES AS STUDENTS BEGIN THE FALL SEMESTER

School officials said some of the teens shown in the photo are current students at Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick, Georgia. Comments on Facebook indicate that Lehrkamp may be on the autism spectrum.

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A 10-second video clip, also posted to Glynn County Citizens on Patrol Facebook page, shows Lehrkamp seated in a chair at night, his head slumped over, as a hose is trained on him. At least nine people can be seen in the footage as a teen faces the camera and says, "This is dude perfect!"

Katie Baasen, Glynn County Police Department public information officer, confirmed to Fox News Digital that Lehrkamp is the victim in the video, which she said is from a prior incident, but doesn't know whether the same teens were involved.

Police interviewed Lehrkamp Sunday at the hospital after executing search warrants on the residence on St. Simons Island where the incident occurred, and have questioned several teens that were involved, the release says.

A GoFundMe account, titled Justice for Trent, says that Lehrkamp went out with a group of people he thought were his friends who had picked him up from his home.

"Trent wouldnt know until it was too late that these were not friends, but vile and abusive perpetrators who would go on to torture, humiliate, and assault him in inhumane, terrifying ways for hours," the post says. "He was dropped off in front of the ER doors. He was deemed inconclusive to life; only passing six breaths per minute. Since that evening, Trent has been on a ventilator in the ICU, battling fevers and a lung infection."

"Im sharing this to help support Trents family and the medical bills that will likely cripple them as a result of the tragic events that happened to Trent," Keller wrote on the page. "Im also sharing this to help bring awareness to the situation, as it has now been five days and still little has been done to bring justice for Trent and his family."

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL HAZING INCIDENT WITH HOT SAUCE, LAP DANCES SENDS STUDENT TO EMERGENCY ROOM

The fundraiser, organized by Erika Keller, had raised $29,587 as of Monday morning. Keller didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several of the individuals who allegedly participated in Lehrkamp's torture hail from prominent local families, sources told the Brunswick News. Many in the community have questioned whether this is the reason for the dearth of local coverage and lack of progress in the investigation, the outlet reported.

Glynn County Schools spokeswoman Brittany Dozier provided Fox News Digital with an email that was sent out to parents.

"We are aware of the allegations of an off-campus incident that involved several of our former and current students," the email states. "At this time, the Glynn County Police Department is actively investigating this matter, and we are cooperating. Please know that we take very seriously all concerns regarding the safety and well-being of our students, both on and off campus."

Lehrkamp's mother, who worked as a school teacher, passed away unexpectedly in 2021 at the age of 43, according to her obituary. His father didn't immediately return requests for comment.

The Glynn County Police Department is asking anyone with information to contact them via phone or email: 912-264-1333 or 911silentwitness@glynncounty-ga.gov.

Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
A Georgia teen is recovering in the hospital after an alleged hazing incident that happened last week.

The Glynn County Police Department confirmed they were investigating an incident that caused 19-year-old Trenton Lehrkamp to be hospitalized due to a high level of intoxication, from a mixture of controlled substances and alcohol, according to police.

Officers arrived at the hospital around 10:40 p.m. after being alerted by medical officials of Lehrkamps condition.

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The three teens who dropped off Lehrkamp signed in with the emergency room but then left before the police arrived.

Police said they did not see any signs of physical injury, but said they saw spray paint on Lehrkamps body.

Then on Wednesday, detectives searched a home on St. Simons Island where the incident occurred and they recovered several pieces of evidence from the home.

On Sunday, detectives said they interviewed Lehrkamp at the hospital. Police said Lehrkamp was alert and conscious and gave a statement to police about what happened to him.

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A GoFundMe said Lehrkamp has been on a ventilator at the Intensive Care Unit and has been battling fevers and a lung infection.

The GoFundMe has raised more than $35,000 as of Monday morning.

Police ask people who may have more information to come forward or to contact the Glynn County Police Department. You can do so through phone or email via the

Silent Witness program at 912-264-1333 or 911silentwitness@glynncounty-ga.gov.

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A new platform will allow 1,200 German banks the ability to offer bitcoin trading to their customers. Photo: Getty

A new platform has been launched that allows 1,200 German banks to offer bitcoin (BTC-USD) trading to their customers.

DWPBank, a leading Frankfurt-based bank, has announced plans to integrate bitcoin into its banking systems.

The digital asset platform, called wpNex, will allow 1,200 affiliated German banks to offer their customers the ability to buy and sell bitcoin while carrying out online banking activities, according to DWPBank.

Read more: Crypto live prices

"DWPBank wants to connect the world of traditional securities business with the world of trading digital assets," DWPBank said.

"To this end, it uses its central position in the German financial market with established interfaces to around 1,200 banks and savings banks and expands its portfolio to include trading and safekeeping of new assets."

DWPBank CEO Heiko Beck said the bank planned to expand its range of services by adding other cryptocurrencies, digital assets and tokenised securities to the new platform.

He said: "Digitised assets will become increasingly important in the future.

"That is why we are expanding our range of services in this area and focusing our portfolio more closely on the future opportunities that arise here."

The new digital asset platform was first trialed by MLP Banking AG, a client of DWPBank.

Read more: Bitcoin price falls below $28,000 after Coinbase's SEC notice

Head of account and securities settlement at MLP Banking AG Paul Utzat said: "In our MLP client portal, it is a logical addition to the existing wealth management offering."

Germany has been named one of the worlds most favourable countries for crypto, in a report by Coincub.

In February, another German bank, DZ Bank, also announced plans to offer bitcoin trading for its customers.

DZ Bank is Germanys second-largest bank by assets with 8,500 branch offices across the country.

Watch: The reasons why UK banks are blocking crypto exchanges | The Crypto Mile

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(Bloomberg) -- Top officials from Germanys three-party ruling coalition halted marathon talks in Berlin after negotiating through the night without reaching a final agreement on issues including modernizing highways and climate-protection measures. They will reconvene on Tuesday.

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Chancellor Olaf Scholzs Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats are trying to put recent public bickering behind them and push ahead with enacting policies agreed in the coalition accord that are important for Germanys transition to a more environmentally friendly and technologically advanced economy.

In a joint statement released after the talks on Monday, the three parties said theyd made good progress in trusting and constructive talks that began on Sunday evening at the chancellery and stretched for nearly 20 hours.

The negotiations had to be interrupted because Scholz and senior cabinet members were due in Rotterdam on Monday for meetings with the Dutch government.

We have made very, very good progress in the consultations, Scholz told reporters in Rotterdam. We know that there have been many decades in which everything proceeded much too slowly. That has to change and that will change.

The talks we have had so far  very trustful, very friendly with each other  are a good basis to continue them tomorrow, he added.

Although the coalition is unlikely to break apart anytime soon, the discord in Berlin has disrupted business at the European Union level and is an unwelcome distraction for Scholz as he focuses on Germanys role in the international alliance supporting Ukraine.

Tensions spilled into the open last week when Habeck, a member of the Greens who is also the vice chancellor, criticized the FDP and urged the three parties to avoid obsessing about opinion polls and their media profiles.

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Scholzs coalition had pledged to avoid the grueling all-night meetings that were a feature of Angela Merkels previous governments.

--With assistance from Kamil Kowalcze.

(Updates with Scholz comments from Rotterdam starting fifth paragraph)

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Leopard 2 tank

Read also: Military expert explains growing number of drone explosions in Russia

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov also posted photos of the recently arrived Western vehicles on Facebook.

It was an honor for me today to test a new replenishment in our reinforced units together with the commander of the Airborne Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major General Maxim Mike Myrohorodsky and our paratroopers, Reznikov wrote.

Challengers from Britain, Strykers & Cougars from the United States, and Marders from Germany. A year ago, no one couldve thought that the support of our partners would be this strong.

Reuters also reported that two armored recovery vehicles and three more Leopard tanks from Portugal arrived in Ukraine as well.

On March 14, CNN reported that Ukrainian military personnel had almost completed their training on Leopard-2 main battle tanks and that Germany would soon be able to send them to Ukraine. A senior Bundeswehr spokesman said that the AFU troops trained from 12 to 14 hours a day, six days a week, for five weeks.

Read also: Reznikov denies Ukraines involvement in Nord Stream explosions

On Jan. 25, after much hesitation, Germany approved the transfer of 14 Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine and their re-export from partner countries. On the same day, the United States announced the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the first tanks could be sent to Ukraine by the end of March.

The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said that a group of countries, including Germany, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, are working on transferring Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Read also: Zelenskyy and Grossi visited Dnipro hydroelectric station in Zaporizhzhya

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv needs 300-500 tanks to conduct a major offensive to liberate more Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
BERLIN (Reuters) - The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks pledged by Germany to support Ukraine in its war against Russia have arrived in Ukraine, the German Defence Ministry said on Monday.

Germany agreed in January to supply the tanks, regarded as among the best in the West's arsenal, overcoming misgivings about sending heavy weaponry that Kyiv says is crucial to defeat Russia's invasion but Moscow casts as a dangerous provocation.

"I'm sure that they can make a decisive contribution on the front," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a tweet.

Besides the 18 tanks, 40 German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and two armoured recovery vehicles had also reached Ukraine, a security source said.

The German army trained the Ukrainian tank crews as well as the troops assigned to operate the Marder vehicles for several weeks in Muenster and Bergen in northern Germany.

As well as the German vehicles, three Leopard tanks donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine, the security source said.

(Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Rachel More; Writing by Maria Martinez; Editing by Friederike Heine, Tomasz Janowski and Alison Williams)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany aims to purchase up to 28 self-propelled howitzers to replace weapons rushed to Ukraine out of army stocks last year, according to a budget draft seen by Reuters on Monday.

Heavy artillery-type weapons such as howitzers, long perceived as arms of the past by military experts, have made a huge comeback as Ukraine seeks to repel a Russian invasion.

The German parliament's budget committee will decide on the howitzer deal at a session on Wednesday.

The government in Berlin has supplied 14 howitzers to Kyiv, and originally intended to ask parliament for their replacement in summer only. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius brought the move forward after criticism that the backfilling of German military hardware was going far too slowly.

According to the budget draft, the defence ministry aims to procure at least 10 howitzers for some 180 million euros from German arms maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), and acquire options for the purchase of another 18.

The document said the ministry intended to soon trigger options for the procurement of 12 additional howitzers in order to replace all the weapons handed over to Ukraine and to also make up for spare parts supplied to Kyiv.

The Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzer is one of the most powerful artillery weapons in Bundeswehr (German military) inventories. It can hit targets at a distance of 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) with standard ammunition and at a distance of up to 100 kilometres with advanced types of ammunition.

(Reporting by Holger Hansen, writing by Sabine Siebold, editing by Rachel More and Mark Heinrich)
Germany has delivered promised Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, providing Kyiv with much-needed heavy weaponry against Russia.

The delivery of what Scholz said were "very modern" German-made battle tanks comes some two months after Berlin finally gave the green light for them to be sent.

Ukraine has appealed to its western allies to make good on their pledges of heavy arms to push back Russian forces, ahead of a possible spring counter-offensive by Kyiv.

"Yes, we delivered Leopard tanks as we announced," Scholz told a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Rotterdam when asked to confirm a report in news outlet Spiegel.

"We're providing very modern (tanks) which we have now delivered."

The Spiegel report said Berlin had delivered 18 of the advanced Leopards, with the last of the tanks having left Germany at the end of last week, before being handed over to Ukraine at the border.

Germany's defence ministry later confirmed the 18 Leopard deliveries, along with two armoured "Buffel" tank recovery vehicles.

About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also arrived in Ukraine, it said.

"Our tanks have made it into the hands of our Ukrainian friends as promised and on time," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

"I'm sure they can make a difference on the ground."

Berlin was keeping the route of the deliveries secret for security reasons, Spiegel said.

- 'Dangerous' -

Ukrainian soldiers were trained on the 2A6s, the most advanced of the Leopard models, on German military bases. They have also trained at Spanish bases.

At the end of January, Berlin finally gave the green light for Leopards -- among the world's most advanced tanks and used by militaries across Europe -- to be sent to Ukraine.

The US said at the same time it would send advanced American Abrams tanks.

Under German law, any country wanting to send the tanks to another country must first get approval from Berlin.

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Scholz's government initially said it was aiming to assemble, along with allies, two battalions of tanks for Kyiv -- about 60 tanks in total.

But they have since struggled to get the numbers together.

The German and Dutch cabinets held a special joint session in the port city of Rotterdam on Monday at the huge, mirrored depot of the Boijmans Van Beuningen art museum.

Scholz and Rutte said they had discussed military support for Ukraine and their "unique" military cooperation, which involves Germany and the Netherlands merging some armed units.

"The European message remains completely clear, even after more than a year: we support Ukraine in all areas and we will do so as long as it is necessary," Rutte said.

The Dutch premier also condemned recent Russian statements, including former president Dmitry Medvedev talking about targeting the International Criminal Court in The Hague with a hypersonic missile.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian Vladimir Putin over allegations of war crimes earlier this month.

"We find these type of statements irresponsible and dangerous," Rutte said.

"That also goes for the threat to put nuclear weapons in Belarus," he said, referring to plans announced by Putin to deploy tactical atomic bombs in Russia's ally Belarus.

dk/rox
Annalena Baerbock, Germanys Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, said she was planning to expel more than 30 Russian diplomats from Berlin.

Source: Focus, a German news magazine

Details: Focus reported that German security services concluded that Russian diplomats might be using their immunity to recruit as informers Germans who work in politics, business, science, and the Armed Forces as agents or to conduct sabotage operations and disinformation campaigns.

Focus noted that the residences of Russian secret services, located at the Russian embassy in Berlin and several Russian consulates, are staffed better than during the Cold War, counting nearly 160 officers.

Background: On 24 March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia summoned the charge daffaires of the Russian embassy and presented a diplomatic note on declaring a member of the diplomatic staff of the embassy persona non grata.

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Illustration of a T cell targeting SARS-CoV-2 particles

Illustration of a T cell targeting SARS-CoV-2 particles. Credit - Science Photo LibraryGetty Images

Even relatively easy bouts with COVID-19 can still take a toll on the immune system, according to a paper published Mar. 15 in the journal Immunityparticularly on T-cells, which provide long term and durable protection against viruses.

Mark Davis, a professor of immunology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection, and his team made the discovery when studying T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 among 72 people through the early months of 2021, as the first COVID-19 vaccines were becoming available. They used the most sensitive method available to track changes in T cell responses, relying on an engineered molecule that can detect up to five-fold more T cells targeting SARS-CoV-2 than other molecules. The researchers focused on three groups of people: those who were not yet vaccinated and had gotten COVID-19, those who were fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine and had not been infected, and people who had gotten vaccinated after recovering from COVID-19.

The researchers looked at a group of T cells called CD8 cells, or killer T cells, which destroy and remove infected cells during the latter part of an infection. Davis was surprised to find that levels of CD8 cells were lower among people who had gotten vaccinated after recovering from COVID-19, compared to those who had been vaccinated and never infected. The results differ from changes in antibodies, which are the bodys first line of defense and help block viruses from infecting cells. Studies of COVID-19 patients show that antibody levels in people who have been vaccinated and infected tend to be slightly higher than levels of antibodies among those who have been vaccinated and never been infectedcreating hybrid immunity. The opposite was true with CD8 cells. Sometimes you do experiments and dont always know what youre going to get, and something jumps out at you, and that was the case here, Davis says. The fact that they saw dramatically lower CD8 or killer T cell responses than everyone else indicated that there was some damagesomething was happening after the infection in these people.

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More from TIME

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Because researchers took multiple blood samples from the volunteers over the four-month study, they were able to delve deeper in how the T cell populations were changing, and confirmed the pattern. Vaccinated people who had not had COVID-19 generated CD8 T cells up to 67.1-times higher than they did before they got the shots. While people who had recovered from COVID-19 and then got vaccinated also produced higher levels compared to baseline, these were anywhere from 3.6- to 54-times lower than the levels generated by the first group. It turns out the virus suppresses CD8 responses, says Davis. It could be making it more difficult for CD8 cell populations to come back up again.

The message is that with this disease, we are not completely out of the woods yet when the virus is gone, says Davis. We generally think in terms of the T cell response that more is better, so what we saw in the reduction in the number of cells cant be good.

Researchers dont yet know what a weaker CD8 response against SARS-CoV-2 means for a persons health. But the study also showed that people in this group still benefited from the vaccinejust not as much as those who hadnt been infected before getting it. Levels of CD8 cells among those who had infections and then were vaccinated were still higher than levels among unvaccinated people.

The results raise the question of whether the apparent damage to CD8 T cell production might contribute to a greater risk of Long COVID, but more data are needed to explore that possibility. There can be lasting damage that might be resulting in something like Long COVID, or it might be something else, says Davis. We dont know yet.

Given these findings, can repeated COVID-19 infections continue to dampen the T cell response, and increase the likelihood of Long COVID or worsening symptoms? Its possible, since experts believe that the T cell response is responsible for the more durable protection that keeps people from experiencing severe disease resulting in hospitalization or death. But that question, too, remains unanswered.

These results, which shed light on how T cell immunity responds to natural infections and vaccines, should play a role in ongoing discussions about booster shots, says Davis. Another key will be studying whether the same pattern is found with other types of COVID-19 vaccines that dont rely on mRNA. He and his team also looked at CD4 T cells, or helper T cells, which work with antibodies soon after infection to block as many viruses from infecting cells as possible. They found that, unlike with other vaccines against viruses, the CD4 and CD8 T cell responses are not synchronous after immunization. Normally, both populations of cells rapidly increase in response to a vaccine, but after the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, levels of CD4 cells rose first, while CD8 cells didnt peak until two weeks later. Davis suspects that may be related to the mRNA vaccine formulation and the way the mRNA shots present the viral targets to the immune system.

We hope that with this study, people will look at some of the more recent vaccine formulations, not just mRNA, he says, to gain more knowledge about which formulation might produce the strongest T cell response. As more and more people get infected, the best impact of this would be to stimulate further investigations to see if we can boost those CD8 T cells.
[Source]

Three men who admitted to posting obscene photos taken with display characters in Japans Ghibli Park reportedly apologized to local officials last week.

Images of guests pretending to molest characters at the theme park in Nagakute, Aichi prefecture, began circulating on social media last month. In one photo, a male visitor can be seen taking an upskirt photo of Marnie, a 12-year-old character from the 2014 Studio Ghibli film When Marnie Was There.

It was not immediately clear how many visitors had taken such lewd photos, which have since been compared to other malicious trends. Over the last several weeks, Japan has also dealt with sushi terrorism pranks in which restaurant diners film themselves tampering with food or utensils.

The three male guests, who have not been identified, reportedly visited the Aichi Prefectural Government office on March 22 to apologize. An acquaintance who described the men as remorseful helped organize the meeting.

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They see the effect their actions are having, and theyre not sure how to set things right, the acquaintance said, according to SoraNews24. All three of them regret what they did, and want to apologize.

The guests are described to be in their 20s and 30s.

All live outside the prefecture.

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We took photos that went beyond the bounds of mischievousness and made people feel uncomfortable, the men said, according to The Mainichi. We will make every effort to refrain from doing anything foolish in the future.

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One of the men reportedly described his own actions as disgusting, while the others said they were disrespectful and in poor taste.

Gov. Hideaki Omura announced the mens apology in a March 24 press conference.

More from NextShark: Simu Liu touts Weibo messages from Chinese fans praising 'Shang-Chi,' expressing regret over China ban

The official initially considered taking legal action against those who have engaged in such behaviors, but opted to forgive the men.

I would like to sincerely accept their apology, Omura said. I would like to end this matter now.
(Reuters) - A giant recruitment advert for Russia's Wagner mercenary force has appeared on the facade of an office building next to a highway in north-east Moscow.

The advert, which covers 17 storeys, shows the group's logo and slogans such as "Join the winning team!" and "Together we will win", along with a picture of a masked man holding a weapon.

Wagner, which fights alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, has sought to replenish troop numbers ahead of a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The group is thought to have sustained heavy losses as it battles for control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, in what has become the longest, bloodiest battle of the war.

Its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, a 61-year-old ex-convict whose company grew wealthy by catering events and fulfilling contracts for the Kremlin and government ministries, said earlier in March that he aimed to recruit 30,000 new fighters by mid-May.

Private military companies are not allowed to operate inside Russia under the constitution, but can work abroad.

Moscow has backed Wagner with equipment and arms, and has made extensive use of its forces during its military campaign in Ukraine.

(Writing by Caleb Davis; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Gareth Jones)
Egg allergy sufferer Dolly Fisher, nine, with her twin sister Betty and brother Freddie, along with parents Craig and Carly-Jane. (Kennedy News and Media)

The parents of a nine-year-old girl with a life-threatening allergy say they fear missing out on their dream holiday to Disney World as their airline plans to serve egg dishes on board.

Carly-Jane and Craig Fisher, both 43, have spent 19,000 on a holiday to the resort in Florida next month with their three children, twins Dolly and Betty, nine, and Freddie, 12.

Dolly was diagnosed with an egg allergy when she was three, which is so severe she could go into anaphylactic shock and must carry an EpiPen.

The family say Virgin Atlantic refuses to take egg dishes off its menu despite their pleas.

Ms Fisher, a law firm manager from Rainham, Essex, contacted the airline last month to ask what meals they would be serving on the flight.

She said Virgin told her it would not be possible to remove any items from the menu for their trip.

The airline has since said that no egg dishes will be served in economy, where the family will be seated.

However, egg dishes will be served on the flight's Premium and Upper sections. Virgin says Dolly and her family will be seated at the back of the economy cabin as far away from the other sections as possible.

But Ms Fisher, who had asked the airline to remove all egg from the plane, said this is "not the most ideal solution".

She said she fears being told before boarding that the airline will not risk flying with Dolly on board.

"We have to find out what they're serving every time we fly because she could potentially die," said Ms Fisher.

"She goes into anaphylactic shock. It's awful, horrific. Her throat closes, she coughs, her airways close up.

"They weren't saying she couldn't go on the plane but it's at our risk. We could get to the gate and the pilot says they aren't willing to take the risk. It's such an anxious time.

Read more: Young girl hospitalised after 'attack by pack of dogs' in Greater Manchester

Carly-Jane Fisher asked Virgin Atlantic to remove egg products from its in-flight menu. (Kennedy News and Media)

"The last time we went away she was so anxious, she said she didn't want to ruin the family's holiday again. A little girl shouldn't have to deal with that. She didn't ask to be allergic.

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"We don't want to be awkward. I don't want to stop people enjoying themselves but I don't want my daughter to die."

Mr Fisher, a head of creative productions, said: "They said they couldn't change it for one flight, it has to be global, which I can't get my head around. It's one flight from Heathrow.

"It's the resistance that you get. There's no want to help or find a solution, it's very black and white. Half of the battle is they say they can give her other food. The allergy is so severe, it's airborne so it can't be anywhere on the plane."

Ms Fisher said: "If we don't get the flight, we lose 19,000. We've got a flight with easyJet before and they went above and beyond so it can be done.

"Why do people with a peanut allergy be afforded any more protection than someone with any kind of life-threatening allergy?"

She said she had recently gone back to work after five and a half years just to pay for the holiday.

Dolly Fisher, nine, with her siblings, parents and her grandparents, Freddie and Larraine Button. (Kennedy News and Media)

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told Yahoo News UK on Monday: The safety of our customers is always our top priority, and for special food requirements we ask customers to seek advice from our special assistance team in advance of booking.

For allergies we would strongly encourage customers to take all necessary precautions, including bringing their own meals on board and to prepare for the possibility of inadvertent exposure.

On this occasion, we were able to seat the family at the back of economy, away from the meals being served in Upper and Premium which contain eggs, as well as ensuring all the cabin crew are aware of the allergy whilst also advising the family to bring their own food on board."

But Ms Fisher said: "They said egg will still be in the upper classes but we would be moved further down the back at the plane - it's not the most ideal solution but it limits her risk.

"It's the only option we really have. I'm hoping that by creating a buffer zone as such around her with her mask and antihistamine it will be enough."
Ryan Russell was a self-described super healthy athletic dad of three who was enjoying personal and professional success. But then the mystery headaches began.

They felt like severe migraines, he recalled. Starting in April 2022, the pattern would be similar every time: Russell, 39, would drop his son off at school in the morning, work out and feel the pain coming on.

About 20 minutes after leaving the gym, I would just start to get an incredible amount of pressure in my head. It would lead to these headaches and it would cause some vision issues  tunnel vision, things like that, which was just really odd, Russell, now 40, who lives in State College, Pennsylvania, tells TODAY.com.

He sought out medical advice right away, but it took three doctors to figure out what was wrong. The first thought it might be an inner ear-related or COVID-related problem. The second wanted to try a holistic approach.

Finally, the third doctor sent Russell to get an MRI. He still remembers the aftermath of the scan.

If youve ever had an MRI, the expectation is youre in, you pop out and the techs tell you, Alright, well contact you in a couple days with the results, Russell said.

When they pulled me out, the radiation oncologist was there and asked me to please come with him and I wasnt able to go home.

What is glioblastoma?

The scan showed three lesions on his brain. Russell was rushed to a hospital for tests to figure out the next steps. In early May 2022, he underwent a craniotomy  surgery to remove a piece of the skull to access the brain. Doctors cut out one of the tumors, with that one chosen because its removal would have very little impact on Russells motor skills, language and emotion.

The diagnosis: glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of brain cancer. More than 13,000 Americans were expected to be diagnosed with it in 2022, according to the National Brain Tumor Society.

July 20 marks Glioblastoma Awareness Day, a disease that can affect anyone, at any age  the cause is unknown. Symptoms include persistent headaches, nausea, double or blurred vision, and changes in mood and personality.

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The disease comes with a grim prognosis: The five-year survival rate is less than 7%, the National Brain Tumor Society noted. Treatment is difficult because glioblastoma grows tentacles into the brain rather than forming a solid mass that doctors can target and remove.

You look up what it is and thats a pretty brutal read, Russell said. But he was determined to find all possible avenues of treatment, connecting with specialists at Duke University in North Carolina and Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

Trying a personalized vaccine

Russell received chemotherapy and radiation, the standard of care. He continues to receive Avastin treatments, described by the drug maker as a "tumor-starving" therapy, every other week.

Russell is also getting a personalized vaccine, for which he travels to Europe and pays out of pocket. That regimen began in December 2022 and will extend for at least a year.

When TODAY.com caught up with Russell in March 2023, he'd had three treatments, and planned to travel to Germany every five weeks for the therapy. Each treatment involves four shots into his abdomen.

He's had some side effects, most noticeably aphasia, which affects his short-term memory. "This is not major and doesnt have any ill effects on my daily activity," Russell says. "Im feeling very well."

The vaccine, made by a company in Germany, is not available in the U.S. because there havent been formal clinical trials in America for this particular shot, said Dr. Douglas Colkitt, a retired radiation oncologist in Sarasota, Florida, who has been consulting in Russells case.

Its a form of immunotherapy: Tumors create what Colkitt called a force field that protects them from being destroyed by the bodys immune system, and glioblastomas have one of the fiercest force fields. That makes it very difficult for conventional chemotherapies to have anything but minimal benefits, he said.

The vaccine approach takes cells from the tumor itself, plus certain cells in the blood stream, to create a personalized vaccine to help the immune system conquer the force field and destroy the tumor naturally, Colkitt noted.

Results from German trials have been very encouraging, he said, citing a small study that found more than 80% of patients who received the vaccine made it to three years after diagnosis.

There is, in my opinion, after much research, real hope for what is perhaps now the most difficult cancer in the human body to survive past a very limited window, Colkitt said.

But the study sample was small, just over 30 patients, and U.S. clinical trials of similar vaccines have been less encouraging, he noted.

Tumor vaccines for glioblastoma remain experimental, said Dr. Evanthia Galanis, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic's Brain Tumor Program in Rochester, Minnesota. They're available in the U.S. as part of clinical trials, but haven't met the efficacy threshold necessary for wider availability, she added.

Progress in treating glioblastoma has been "very slow," with only one drug and one device approved in the U.S. in the last 15 years, Galanis said.

Re-prioritizing what's important in life

Still, Russell said he was excited and very hopeful about the treatment. Doctors think his tumors have been slow-growing so hes been able to stay in relatively good health. The brain cancer is not affecting his speech or his ability to work as an associate professor of graphic design at Penn State University.

Russell undergoes a quarterly MRI and when TODAY.com caught up with him in March 2023, almost a year after his surgery, the latest MRI from two months prior showed no tumor growth since the original diagnosis, he says.

The dad is finishing designing a children's book, a project he began working on when he found out about his brain cancer.

He and his wife, Samantha, have been open with their three children about his diagnosis, though they dont call the disease cancer, and have emphasized theyre going to deal with it as a family. They maintain a blog to document their journey.

Meanwhile, Russell is focusing on the big picture.

Ive had the real luxury of being very successful in my life (but) I was always someone who was thinking about the next thing, and never celebrating, never enjoying what I was doing. And what this diagnosis gave me the opportunity to do was just re-prioritize and really start to think about: What is it that I want to do? he said.

No more putting off till tomorrow because we dont know what tomorrow is.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Five attorneys from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are on the Florida Bars monthly list of lawyers disciplined by the state Supreme Court.

In alphabetical order:

Richard Chosid, Lighthouse Point

Richard Chosid (admitted to the Bar in 1963) was the Paymaster in a transaction involving his client, John Thompson. When Chosid received $1.4 million, he distributed it as Thompson directed. Problem was, according to Chosids guilty plea for consent judgment, the money was supposed to be for securing a letter of credit for a third party.

READ MORE: A Broward attorney received $1.4 million. What he did with it got him suspended

For failing in his fiduciary duty by not learning earlier how the money was to be used, Chosid will serve a six-month suspension that starts April 17.

Richard Chosid

Julio Marrero, Miami

Julio Cesar Marrero (admitted in 1988) was disbarred on Feb. 27, but that doesnt kick in and he doesnt get kicked out until Wednesday, March 29. He filed a motion for rehearing with the state Supreme Court on March 8.

As for why Marreros disbarred, according to the referees report, several parts of the legal system believe Marrero used bankruptcy filings and motions to slow collections or foreclosure actions.

For example, on Oct. 21, 2018, he filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for Monticello 856. But a foreclosure action and deficiency judgment against Monticello and personal guarantor Omar Hernandez already had this case in post-judgment discovery in state court. OH Capital Collections was collecting the judgment. Hernandezs mother was going to be deposed on Oct. 22, an event delayed by the bankruptcy petition.

Marrero, the Bar said in its complaint, previously filed a number of bankruptcy petitions and removal actions related to the same debt at issue in the post judgment collection proceedings referenced above. These had all been dismissed by the bankruptcy court in a number of prior cases. Each of these prior filings coincided with, and obstructed, relevant dates in Capital Collections state court post judgment discovery efforts.

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Capital Collections filed to have Marreros bankruptcy filing dismissed. The day of the hearing, the Bar complaint says, Marrero claimed a medical procedure prevented his appearance. The referees report quotes a furious U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Laurel Isicoff:

I find that this entity  actually, this law firm  is participating in an abuse of the bankruptcy process, and so it is appropriate to dismiss this case with prejudice for a two-year period, and I so find. Moreover, I am going to separately issue an order to show cause why Mr. Marrero should not be sanctioned, including restricting or terminating his right to appear in bankruptcy court, for filing what appears to be at least this frivolous bankruptcy.

Isicoffs opinion was shared by U.S. District Court Chief Judge K. Michael Moore, who referred Marrero to the Courts Committee on Attorney Admissions, Peer Review and Attorney Grievance over his behavior in two cases. The Bar claimed there were 20 other cases in which Marrero pulled the same bad faith litigation tactics, gamesmanship and dilatory tactics as in the two cases Moore cited.

[Marreros] modus operandi is to file a notice of removal without (1) a civil cover sheet, (2) state court records or (3) paying the filing fee, the Bar alleges. [Marrero] then does not respond to the courts orders to show cause.

Marreros motion asks for a rehearing by claiming the referee decided the case based on a default to the facts as stated in the Bar complaint, a default to which he didnt agree. He claimed the Bar submitted an agreed motion for default with a material change that required Marrero file an answer rather than a response. Marreros response was a Motion to Dismiss that was rejected.

Marrero said he chose to limit this Motion to address a single oversight and misapprehension which the Bar and referee have caused, through bad faith tactics and a misleading record, respectively, and which has effectively deprived [Marrero] of his right to a trial on the merits.

The state Supreme Court has yet to rule on this filing.

Sabine Millien-Felix, West Palm Beach

As general counsel for Tamaracs Mainlands 3 homeowners association, Sabine Millien-Felix (admitted in 2004) filed a complaint against FPL, Power Secure and other entities, then neglected it. Millien-Felixs guilty plea says little to no significant action was taken and it was dismissed for lack of prosecution.

Millien-Felix also neglected to tell Mainlands of her neglect or the dismissal. Power Secure successfully motioned to get its attorneys fees paid.

Sabine Millien-Felix

Mainlands had fired Millien-Felix, but she still refiled the FPL case. When Power Secure said it was still owed $7,000 in attorneys fees, the cases got combined. Mainlands agreed to pay Power Secure $16,887 and dismissed the refiled FPL case. Millien-Felix is reimbursing Mainlands for that $16,887 at the rate of $500 monthly payments.

She began her 90-day suspension on March 11.

Joshua Moran, Weston

Two Florida Bar letters, one on Aug. 2 and one on Aug. 24, to Joshua Morans (admitted in 2012) Bar address requested a response to a complaint. Neither got answered. Indeed, both letters bounced back as undeliverable. A Sept. 9 letter to the Davie home Moran owns also drew no response as did an email to his registered Bar email address.

The Grievance Committee found that [Moran] failed to show good cause for failing to respond to the official bar inquiries and that the noncompliance was willful, the 17th Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee D decided in November.

Joshua Moran

Ghosting the Florida Bar when theres an official inquiry counts as contempt of court.

Morans suspension started March 19 and ends when he fully responds in writing to the Bars inquiry.

Susan Torres, Miami

Longtime client Raul Gregorio paid immigration lawyer Susan Torres (admitted in 2011) to file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals after his application for cancellation of removal of a non-lawful resident was rejected.

Torres did so, one day before the appeals due date. But, her guilty plea says, the appeal was later returned and rejected due to inclusion of an incorrect alien registration number.

When the returned paperwork landed at Torres office, her assistant grabbed it, made the correction and returned it to the Board of Immigration Appeals without telling Torres. The refiled paperwork was correct but late and the order of deportation became final.

Of course, Torres couldnt tell Gregorio what she didnt know. Had she known about the problem, she maintains ... she would have notified her client, preserved the original filing date for the appeal and cured any deficiencies.

Gregorio is still in the United States while another lawyer deals with his situation. Torres refunded Gregorio his money and has been publicly reprimanded.
A view of the Supreme Court building in Washington. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Is it a crime or free speech for someone to "encourage" immigrants to come to this country illegally, or remain here after their visas have expired?

The Supreme Court grappled with that question Monday in a clash between immigration law and the 1st Amendment.

It arose in the case of Sacramento man who charged immigrants $500 to $10,000 and falsely promised he could help them obtain U.S. citizenship. More than 470 immigrants paid for the bad advice from Helaman Hansen, and he was convicted of 15 counts of fraud as well as two counts of encouraging two immigrants to overstay their visas.

That latter charge won him a partial acquittal before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and sent his case to the high court.

Since 1952, federal law has made it a crime to "encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact" that doing so would be illegal.

Pointing to those broad words, the 9th Circuit ruled that the provision violated the 1st Amendment because it could be read to make it a crime for family members or friends to encourage a person to come to this country or to remain here illegally.

"We apply the overbreadth doctrine so that legitimate speech relating to immigration law shall not be chilled and foreclosed," the San Francisco-based appeals court said. The 15 fraud counts against the defendant were upheld along with a 20-year prison term.

The justices agreed to hear the government's defense of the "encourage" provision of the law, and most of them sounded skeptical of the free-speech claim, at least in this case.

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch said it was odd to argue that Hansen's right to free speech was violated.

"I don't think anybody could say he's been chilled from speaking. He's had no problem soliciting people here in this country and defrauding them to the tune of lots and lots of money," Gorsuch said, adding "this law has been on the books for 50 years."

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Justice Amy Coney Barrett agreed, noting there is no record of the law being used to prosecute otherwise innocent people for encouraging immigrants to stay in this country.

"The statute's been on the books for a long time. There's an absence of prosecutions. There is also an absence of demonstrated chilling effect," she said.

But the court's liberals said they saw a potential free-speech problem.

"We're criminalizing words related to immigration," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. "So why should we uphold a statute that criminalizes words and makes the punishment five years, which is rather significant?"

Justice Elena Kagan said the law's wording is so broad that it could threaten everyday conversations. What if a lawyer, doctor or neighbor advises someone they should stay in this country even if they are undocumented, she asked.

"A huge number of such communications are taking place every day, because for every person who's in this country unlawfully, there are probably some number of people who want that person to stay, family members, you know, whatever," she told Deputy Solicitor Gen. Brian Fletcher. "They say, 'I really think you should stay.' What happens?"

He replied the government has not and will not prosecute people for such family or friendly conversations. He argued the government takes a narrow view of the words "encourage or induce."

"Everyone agrees that in criminal law, the terms 'encourage' and 'induce' are terms of art that can refer narrowly to soliciting or aiding and abetting unlawful activity," he said. They do not extend to "abstract" or general comments about immigration, he said. In prosecutions, the government must show the defendant intended to violate the law.

If someone is prosecuted for giving friendly advice about immigration, the defendant should invoke the 1st Amendment as a defense, he said.

He urged the court not to strike down the "encourage or induce" provision based on "absurd hypotheticals" or because of the fear it could be potentially misused in future cases.

Several of the justices also noted that Hansen may be entitled to win a retrial for part of his case because the jury instructions were flawed.

The case was United States vs. Hansen, and a written opinion is expected by late June.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Russian troops struck Donetsk Oblast's city of Sloviansk on the morning of March 27, killing at least one person and wounding 25, according to Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

Two Russian S-300 missiles hit the city center, damaging administrative and office buildings, five high-rises, and seven houses, said Kyrylenko.

The number of casualties in Sloviansk is not final, as the rescue operation is ongoing.

President Volodymyr Zelensky published a video showing the consequences of the Russian attack.

"The enemy must know: Ukraine will not forgive the abuse of our people, will not forgive these deaths and injuries," Zelensky wrote. "All Russian terrorists will be defeated. Everyone involved in this aggression will bear responsibility."

Russian forces also launched a missile attack on the town of Druzhkivka, the oblast governor reported.

An orphanage in the town of Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, damaged by a Russian missile strike on the morning of March 27, 2023. (Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko via Telegram)

An orphanage was "almost completely" destroyed, but there were no casualties, he added.

Earlier the same day, Kyrylenko said Russian attacks had killed one civilian and injured two more in Donetsk Oblast over the past 24 hours.
There but for the grace of God go I.

Its what my grandmother would say to me when, as a child, I would judge the path another person might walk. Never has this applied more strongly than in the passage of House Bill 71, a bill that criminalizes gender-affirming care for transgender youth. With her words of wisdom in mind, I would ask that Gov. Brad Little veto this bill.

As the proud grandparent of a transgender young person, I know first-hand the care, caution and time that goes into treatment for these kids. Parents are doing everything they can to keep their kids safe, kids who have a much higher than average potential for suicidal ideation. They are walking a path that none of them have chosen. Our daughter is not a felon. She is the kind of parent any struggling child would be lucky to have as a mom.

Their journey began early and started with years of therapy, counseling and consultation with physicians. While legislators have said that they have heard that hormone blockers are being handed out on request, its simply not true. As with any other medical intervention, maybe even more so because of the delicacy surrounding this issue, these kids are treated with great care and consideration.

I know that people are concerned about gender reassignment surgery, though by all accounts it is not being done in Idaho. Had a standalone bill preventing surgery been passed, that would have been different. The Senate had the opportunity to amend the bill accordingly but declined. So now, life-saving hormone treatments are criminalized. We have seen in recent weeks news of physicians either leaving or refusing to come to Idaho.

These decisions only make that bad situation worse.

Like any other medical practice, Idaho has in place a Board of Medicine to address any complaints or malpractice. Imposing felony charges on parents who are just trying to help their kids live an authentic life, and to literally keep them alive, is excessive and cruel. Its a complicated experience to understand unless your family has walked this path.

So Governor, as you consider this bill, please remember, there but for the grace of God go I.

Maryanne Jordan is a former Boise City Council member, Democratic state legislator and formerly a community member on the Idaho Statesman editorial board.
FM: Nation welcomes US firms to do business

08:49, March 27, 2023 By MO JINGXI ( Chinadaily.com.cn

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang meets with a US delegation consisting of representatives from friendly groups and business circle in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has not changed its position on developing a sound, stable and constructive relationship with the United States, but the current ties are still chilly, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said.

He made the remark in Beijing when meeting on Saturday with a visiting US delegation representing friendly organizations and the US business community.

Extending warm greetings to the delegation, Qin said that US enterprises are welcome to expand their investment in China, and China will continue to provide a better business environment for companies from the US and other countries.

Qin, who is former ambassador to Washington, told the guests that with Xi Jinping's unanimous election as Chinese president at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress earlier this month, China will maintain the stability and consistency of its major policies and guidelines.

The country will be more open to the world as it continues to advance its high-level opening-up, and the Chinese economy and society are expecting a strong recovery, he said. Although all of these are boons for the US business community, it is regrettable that Sino-US relations are still chilly this spring, he added.

Qin said the two countries should respect each other, coexist peacefully and cooperate for win-win results, noting that sound bilateral relations require efforts from both sides.

The foreign minister urged the US to discard its zero-sum mentality, stop containing and suppressing China through unfair means, work with China to overcome current difficulties and bring bilateral ties back to the track of healthy and steady development.

Sino-US relations remain tense as Washington keeps using competition as a pretext to smear China and restrain its right to development.

On Thursday, the US added 14 Chinese companies to its red flag list, requiring US exporters to conduct greater due diligence before shipping goods to them, Reuters reported.

According to a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website, members of the visiting US delegation said that they are deeply aware of the vigor and vitality of China's socioeconomic development, as well as the Chinese people's expectations for developing bilateral ties.

The US business community supports the sound development of the Sino-US relationship and maintaining the stability of bilateral relations, they said, vowing to prevent the two countries from falling into a vicious circle of isolation or conflicts.

They also said they welcome more face-to-face engagements between the US and China, and look forward to further increasing flights between the two countries, in order to promote bilateral exchanges among various sectors and deepen cooperation on economy, trade and investment.

Cooperation between China and the US has brought enormous benefits to both peoples ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations. Newly released US official data shows that trade in goods between the two countries hit a record $690.6 billion in 2022.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank partnered with Just Harvest to host their years Empty Bowls Fundraiser on Sunday.

The event aimed to address hunger across the region by providing a simple meal of soup and bread.

Attendees were able to select their choice of a ceramic bowl made by local artisans to take home as a reminder that our neighbors are facing hunger.

Nearly 2,000 people attended the event.

Were back in person for empty bowls its the 27th year, said Lisa Scales, CEO of the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Its such a great gathering today. Met so many friends and supporters of the food bank. Theyre here to ensure our missions and make sure all our neighbors have consistent access to nutritious food.

More than $1 million has been raised between the two organizations since they began in 1996.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Residents of Greenland have switched to daylight saving time and moved their clocks one hour forward this weekend for the very last time.

Unlike most of Europe, Greenlanders will leave their clocks untouched come autumn when daylight saving time ends. While Europe and the U.S. debates whether to stick to the twice-yearly practice, Greenland - a vast Danish semi-independent territory in the Arctic - has resolved to perennially remain only three hours behind Copenhagen and most other European countries instead of four.

Greenland's parliament, Inatsisartut, voted to stick to daylight saving time year-round on Nov. 24 last year. Officials say it will give Greenlanders another hour of daylight in the afternoons and more time to do business with Europe and farther afield.

The shift of time zone marks an exciting new beginning, an equal connection to North America and Europe, and an opportunity to slow down in a fast-paced world, Visit Greenland, the local government's tourism office said in a statement.

Geographically, sparsely populated Greenland belongs to the North American continent but geopolitically, it is in Europe.

Greenland is part the Danish Realm and its southernmost tip is more than 3,200 kilometers (nearly 2,000 miles) west of Copenhagen.

Its 56,000 people mainly Inuit, indigenous people who chiefly live on the west coast in small towns and hamlets or remote coastal settlements.
Vladyslav Rashkovan

Vladyslav Rashkovan, an Alternative Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, reported the provision of the assurances in a post on Facebook on March 24.

The provision of financing assurances provides for the extension of the standstill regarding debt payments to the countries of the GCU over the period of the IMF program (2023-2027), he said.

Once the situation in Ukraine is stabilized (but by the end of the IMF program), the GCU vows to once again discuss the issue of restoring Ukraines debt sustainability.

Read also: Ukraine and IMF reach preliminary $15.6 billion funding agreement

The GCU said in a statement that it will grant a debt treatment consistent with the parameters of the IMF program  provided that private external creditors deliver a debt treatment at least as favorable.

The Group urges all other official bilateral creditors to swiftly reach an agreement with Ukraine on a debt treatment at least as favorable, the statement says.

After assessing several alternative scenarios for implementing the necessary debt treatment, Ukraine is committed to undertaking a debt treatment of Ukraines public external debt, Ukrainian authorities said in a statement on March 24.

Read also: IMFs new $15 billion program for Ukraine nearing conclusion

Goal: (i) to restore Ukraines debt sustainability; (ii) to preserve liquidity and reduce Ukraines financing gap during the program period, Rashkkovan said.

The Ukrainian authorities will assess a number of alternative scenarios for implementing the necessary debt treatment in order to maximize the efficiency and success of the process, being mindful of the objective to restore Ukraines market access as early as practicable, Ukraines Ministry of Finance said in the statement.

The Ukrainian government has retained financial and legal advisors to support this process.

Read also: IMF greenlights Monitoring Program for Ukraine

The Ukrainian authorities expect to begin discussions with commercial creditors in early 2024.

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IMF officials reached staff-level agreement on March 21 with Ukrainian authorities on a four-year IMF-supported program, with access requested of SDR 11.6 billion (about US$15.6 billion).

National Bank of Ukraine governor, Andriy Pyshny, said he expects final approval on the deal by the IMF Board of Directors in the coming weeks.

On July 20, 2022, the GCU, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, announced the suspension of service on Ukraines national debt by late 2023 and called on holders of Ukrainian Eurobonds to accept the countrys proposal for a two-year postponement of payments for commercial debt.

On Aug. 10, Ukraine received the necessary consent from holders of Eurobonds to defer payments and maturities on them for two years.

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
By Sofia Menchu

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala's presidential race kicked off on Monday, a day after the electoral authority finalized its approved candidate lineup for the June election, even as critics blasted decisions to disqualify some candidates while allowing others to run.

Polls point to two conservative women as early presidential front-runners.

The Sunday registry of candidacies by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) launched the three-month campaign to succeed conservative President Alejandro Giammattei, who is prohibited by law from seeking a second term, as well as for seats in Congress and mayor's races across Central America's most populous country and biggest economy.

The TSE has come under sharp criticism for allowing aspirants implicated in corruption to run, at a time when Giammattei and his allies face mounting accusations of dismantling anticorruption efforts via arrests of judges and prosecutors.

The TSE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The list of approved presidential contenders for the June 25 first-round vote stands at nearly two dozen, and if no one secures a simple majority a runoff between the top two finishers will take place on Aug. 20.

One of the leading presidential hopefuls is Zury Rios, a 55-year-old conservative former congresswoman who was banned from participating in the previous election due to the country's constitutional prohibition on children of ex-dictators as candidates. But this time the TSE is allowing her to run.

The other leading contender is former first lady Sandra Torres, who finished second in the last two elections.

A recent CID-Gallup poll puts Rios and Torres at the top of the field.

In 2019, Torres, 67, was arrested and jailed on corruption charges, but last November was freed after the judge determined there was insufficient evidence to convict her.

Roberto Arzu, another aspirant for the top job, was prohibited from running due to what the TSE said was his unlawful early start to the campaign.

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Thelma Cabrera, the only Indigenous presidential candidate, was also left out because her running mate, former anticorruption prosecutor Jordan Rodas, faces a criminal complaint from Giammattei's attorney general.

About four in 10 Guatemalans identify as Indigenous.

"The decision to disqualify these candidates is based on dubious grounds and could undermine the rights of the entire Guatemalan population to participate in free and fair elections," said Ana Mendez, Central America director for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

(Reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Matthew Lewis)
Rick Bowmer/Pool via REUTERS

On Monday, in the latest dramatic installment of the ski collision trial between Gwyneth Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, Paltrows attorney grilled Sanderson on the email he sent hours after the crash in which he told his daughters, Im famous.

Paltrows teams argumentthat Sanderson was the one who skied into Paltrow and that he is only suing in an attempt to take advantage of her celebritywas on full display here.

My head was scrambled. All I was trying to do was desperately communicate with my kids before they heard from someone else, Sanderson said in court on Monday when asked about the email. I didnt pick my words welland it was not at all how I felt... I was really trying to add some levity to a serious situation and it backfired. Little did I know this is where wed be.

Asked specifically if he thought it was cool that his collision had been with a celebrity, Sanderson said, absolutely not, adding, Im not into celebrity worship, so I didnt care at that point.

Gwyneth Paltrow Accused of Lying Under Oath During Ski Trial

Do you recall saying that you agree that saying Im famous was a crazy thing to say? Paltrows attorney Stephen Owens asked Sanderson.

Absolutely, its not me, Sanderson said. I dont buy into that.

But it was you, right? When you say it wasnt me, it was, in fact, you, Owens responded.

Its the other personality thats inhabiting my body right now, Sanderson said.

And you blame Gwyneth Paltrow for that? Owens asked.

Yes, Sanderson replied.

Earlier on Monday, the 76-year-old retiree cried on the stand while talking about his relationship with his daughters since the accident, which he said has been fractured. He also held back tears when discussing breaking up with his ex-girlfriend after the collision because he wasnt sure if he was going to recover from his injuries.

I cant ski anymore, Sanderson claimed. I was told if I did and I had another crash, I could wind up full time in a nursing home.

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Sanderson is seeking $300,000 in damages from Paltrow, claiming that their 2016 collision on a ski slope resulted in brain injury, four broken ribs, and emotional distress. Paltrow, who testified on Friday, is seeking a symbolic $1 and compensation for her legal fees.

The trial is ongoing in Park City, Utah.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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If you think the airport has been crowded and gridlocked in recent months, prepare for it to get even more congested as spring break travel ramps up.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is preparing for millions of spring break travelers, while also warning that it will start construction that will block off portions of the airport roadway right in the middle of the busy period.

Airport officials are now advising passengers to get to the airport at least 2.5 hours before their flights.

The Atlanta airport expects to handle more than 4.4 million passengers during the spring break travel period from March 26 through April 9. The busiest day will be March 31, when 330,000 passengers are expected to pass through the worlds busiest airport.

AAA also released its spring break travel forecast Tuesday, saying its survey results show 41% of Georgia residents plan to take a spring break vacation, up from 30% last year. More are planning to take international trips, including to the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe, the auto club said.

AAA said its survey also shows 87% of people in Georgia plan to travel this year, up from 56% last year, encompassing all types of trips. The results are based on a survey conducted Jan. 27-Feb. 2, with 400 Georgia residents responding.

Strong travel demand will bring more people through the Atlanta airports roads, parking decks and terminals  even amid ongoing construction closures.

Hartsfield-Jackson is in the middle of a massive parking deck construction project, and will prepare for its next phase of work later this month when all Terminal North lower-level lanes will close from 10 p.m. March 27 until 10 p.m. March 30. During that time, off-airport shuttles will use the North upper-level outer curb.

Phase 2 of the construction project to shore up the parking decks will run until June 2.

The parking deck work has reduced the number of parking spaces and caused lane closures since it began last year, frustrating travelers and motorists. The full project to shore up the structures, construct new parking decks and demolish the old ones will take years longer to complete.

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Its part of $800 million worth of construction work currently ongoing at the airport, including a Plane Train tunnel extension, ceiling work, and escalator and elevator work.

Over the next 18 months, the airport expects to start on $1.8 billion of construction work, including a massive project to widen Concourse D, the addition of three gates on Concourse E and the construction of a new parking deck where part of the South economy lot sits today.

The facility is 42 years old... so it just continues to age, said Frank Rucker, Hartsfield-Jackson deputy general manager of infrastructure, during the airports industry day on Tuesday.

This story comes from our partners at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more on the news and events in metro-Atlanta and Georgia, visit AJC.com.
Hayden Panettiere appeared on Facebook Watch's "Red Table Talk." Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Hayden Panettiere spoke to E! News about dealing with postpartum depression.

After giving birth to her first daughter in 2014, she thought there was something "wrong with her."

Panettiere said she "wished she knew to look out for it" before giving birth.

Hayden Panettiere spoke about going through postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, and said the experience made her wish she knew more about the symptoms before becoming a mom.

Panettiere, who spoke to E! News' Erin Lim Rhodes, said before giving birth in 2014, she never knew how common postpartum depression was and didn't know what to look out for.

After giving birth and experiencing it herself, she tried to cope with the depression by turning to substances, but it made "everything worse." Panettiere has previously opened up about her struggles with alcohol and opioid addiction.

"I just thought there was something seriously wrong with me," Panettiere told E! News. "So I thought, 'Fireball will fix this. Duh.' And it didn't. It does for a moment, but then it makes everything worse."

The star later said that when she was first going through it, the experience made her feel like she should be "able to get over this all by myself." Now, she says, she's learned postpartum depression is "OK and not abnormal."

Around 10% to 15% of new mothers will experience postpartum depression. Men can experience it as well. Common symptoms include sleeping issues, fatigue, and suicidal thoughts.

"I wish somebody told me that that was a possibility, told me it's OK if you birth your child and you're not immediately like, 'Oh my god, I love you more than anything in the entire world,'" Panettiere told E! News.

Panettiere checked into a treatment facility for her postpartum depression in 2015.

While grappling with depression and addiction, Panettiere gave up custody of her daughter Kaya in 2018, who lives in Ukraine with her father Wladimir Klitschko. In September, she opened up on an episode of "Red Table Talk." about the ordeal, which she said "wasn't fully my decision."

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Prior to her giving up custody, Panettiere said that Klitschko and her previously had an agreement that Kaya went back and forth between the US and Ukraine.

"I thought she was going over to visit him like she always did," the actor said. "And then once she was over there ... it was immediately, 'I want full custody of her,' which was a shock to me."

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Panettiere said Kaya had safely moved outside the country while her dad and uncle fight on the front lines.

Representatives for Panettiere did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
When Nicole Faccio was born, her left arm was already noticeably swollen.

"I probably gave heart attacks to a couple of people," the London-based project manager for a technology consulting firm tells TODAY.com. Born with primary lymphedema in Puerto Rico in the 1980s, Faccio says her parents "immediately started looking for help."

Lymphedema is a disorder affecting the lymphatic system. Normally, the lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system, carries lymph fluid throughout the body. But, in people with lymphedema, that system isn't working properly, so fluid collects and leads to swelling and other symptoms, the Mayo Clinic explains.

Without the help of Google and with much less known about the condition at the time, her parents eventually took her to Boston, where she was diagnosed with Milroy disease, a genetic disorder that affects the lymphatic system. (Faccio would later be diagnosed with WILD syndrome, a different rare genetic disorder that also causes lymphedema.)

Faccio's lymphedema causes swelling in her arm, legs and genitals, and it causes lymphatic masses to develop in her abdomen. As she grew up, her symptoms started to interfere with her life more and more. She also started experiencing digestive issues, brain fog and extreme fatigue.

"In my mid-20s, it just took over my body and my well-being," she says. But the doctors she saw weren't knowledgeable enough to really help. "(They) looked at me like I had octopus arms, like I was a specimen," she recalls.

Eventually, Faccio says she felt like she was "getting to the end of my functional life," and she didn't know what to do.

She took a chance and traveled to specialized clinics in other countries. And getting that care turned out to be essential to her physical and mental well-being. In particular, the experts she saw helped her come to terms with the tools, like compression garments, she'd grown to loathe.

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In that process, there was this freedom and opening up and finding that these tools are not my enemies  theyre my best friends, Faccio recalls. And thats when everything started changing.

Although she'd been taught to use techniques like compression bandaging from an early age, doing so also came with feelings of guilt and shame, as well as the urge to isolate and hide her body. She felt like the garments invited strangers' questions and made it harder for her to enjoy her life. So, she admits, she wasn't as consistent about using those tools.

"I come from an island ... Puerto Rico. The worst thing you could have told me is you have to cover your legs for the beach," she says. "It was my worst nightmare, but now I do it."

And she does it in style.

"I started challenging my own beliefs about the hiding," she says. "What if I put short skirts on with garments? What if I show them? Maybe it actually is a fashion statement."

She started wearing bright colors of compression garments rather than darker or flesh-toned colors designed for camouflage. And, knowing that she wanted to share her revelations with the rest of the community, she started posting photos and videos of herself putting the garments on and making them part of her outfits.

Faccio, who has more than 80,000 followers on TikTok and 24,000 followers on Instagram, recently won an award for her social media presence from Eurordis, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving life for people with rare diseases. She also hosts a podcast, Normal Adjustments, in which she speaks to guests about destigmatizing aspects of their lives.

Her videos, which regularly get thousands and hundreds of thousands of views, educate her audience about what life is like with lymphedema and offer empathy, understanding and humor for those also dealing with the condition. She doesn't shy away from the realities and negativity that can come with a visible chronic illness, she says, but she leads with positivity and simply aims to normalize her experience.

What to know about lymphedema

There are two main types of lymphedema, Erin Pinto, a nurse practitioner with the Jill and Mark Fishman Center for Lymphatic Disorders at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, tells TODAY.com.

People with primary lymphedema, like Faccio, are born with the condition due to a genetic mutation, while people with secondary or acquired lymphedema develop it as a result of something else, she explains.

"For example, patients who have breast cancer will get mastectomies and then develop a secondary arm lymphedema," Pinto says, "perhaps because of the disruption to the lymphatic channels or removal of lymph nodes."

In the beginning, for some people, "it's insidious, and patients may not realize they have swelling," Dr. Wei Chen, a professor of plastic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic who specializes in lymphedema microsurgery, tells TODAY.com. It may even go away overnight, because the person is positioned horizontally in bed, only to come back after they've been on their feet all day, he says.

But, from there, the swelling becomes more severe, and the patient can develop tissue fibrosis, a thickening of the skin that can limit their range of motion, Pinto explains.

So its important to recognize that lymphedema should not be dismissed as just benign swelling, Chen says. It can lead to serious complications, like bacterial skin infections in the affected area of the body.

"Lymphedema patients are considered regionally immunocompromised," he adds, because they're less able to fight off bacteria and infections in that limb. If a patient develops an infection like this, they often need to be admitted to the hospital to receive intravenous antibiotics, Pinto says.

"Many patients with lymphedema start to develop spontaneous infections, and with each episode of infection, they are predisposed to further infections," which get progressively harder to treat, Chen says. "So it's a vicious cycle." Sometimes, patients may even need to stay on preventive doses of antibiotics.

It's crucial to connect with a specialist

Lymphedema is a chronic condition, but it can be effectively managed, Chen emphasizes. Patients may be discouraged if they hear that there's no permanent cure for lymphedema, but he wants people to know that there are ways to reduce the symptoms and "live a productive life even with lymphedema."

The goal for patients is managing their symptoms, maintaining a good quality of life and keeping them out of the hospital, Pinto says.

Treatment options typically start with non-surgical techniques, like compression bandaging and manual lymphatic drainage, which are part of an approach called complete decongestive therapy (CDT), she explains. Pneumatic pumps, which encourage drainage by simulating the muscular movements of the lymphatic system, are also an at-home option.

Some people may also be good candidates for surgical treatments, which can achieve results that no non-surgical option really can, Chen says. The right approach depends on the underlying cause of a patient's lymphedema and the context of each unique case, he says.

The experts agree that the key to finding the right treatment plan is connecting people with lymphedema specialists. That includes certified lymphatic therapists or microsurgeons who can help confirm the diagnosis and give proper guidance for each individual patient.

What works for each person may be different because "lymphedemas have personalities of their own," as Faccio puts it.

Unfortunately, finding that care is often a challenge.

Ive heard that from a lot of patients and families," Pinto says. "There are very limited amounts of therapists who are certified specifically in CDT and who are able to fit for compression garments." Those compression garments can also be quite expensive with limited insurance coverage, she adds, and patients typically need to be fitted for them multiple times as the severity of their swelling changes.

Finding a qualified lymphedema surgeon can also be tough, Chen says, partly because of the extensive training required to perform microsurgeries and supermicrosurgeries like these. Poor insurance coverage for these procedures also disincentivizes many surgeons from pursuing this specialty and limits patient access, he adds.

Chen also encourages primary care doctors to better familiarize themselves with lymphedema and to not hesitate to get patients specialized care.

"Usually, patients are scared and feeling hopeless because they got the impression that health care providers have no idea what they're talking about," Chen says. "Frequently, patients feel that they know more about lymphedema than their doctors do."

Better education in medical school will lead to earlier diagnoses and, ultimately, better care for patients, he adds.

Finding  and creating  a community that understands

When Faccio began to embrace the tools she used to manage lymphedema and saw how much better doing so made her feel, she thought it would be selfish to keep this knowledge to herself.

Even though multiple celebrities have been diagnosed with lymphedema, Faccio says there still isn't much public knowledge about what people with the condition look like or deal with "because most of us are hiding our legs or not wanting to acknowledge it." And that's where her accounts come in.

So far, the response has been overwhelming, she says. Its been wonderful, and it validates my assumption of the amount of help that was needed. She gets questions from people all over the world, often about simple things, like where to get garments or how to keep skin from getting too dry.

And she's grateful to be part of an online lymphedema community that helps each other  even from afar. "It's been beautiful," she says.

CORRECTION (March 27, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated Erin Pinto's title. Pinto is a nurse practitioner with the Jill and Mark Fishman Center for Lymphatic Disorders at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, not a registered nurse.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Tameka Myles was at work Friday evening when she got the call every mother dreads.

You need to get here, her neighbor in Rolling Fork said. Jay is hurt pretty bad.

Immediately, Myles got in her Nissan Maxima with a coworker and raced home, with one thing on her mind: her son.

Myles knew the weather was bad that night, but she assumed it would pass, as usual. She figured her 10-year-old son Gregory Jay Brady Jr. would be safe at her cousins house while she was at work at the Bumpers in Belzoni about an hour away.

Instead, her hometown was decimated.

An EF-4 tornado ripped through the Mississippi Delta on Friday night. At least 25 people died, and dozens more were injured. Gov. Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency Saturday morning.

My city  my city is gone, Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker told CNN Saturday morning. But we are resilient and we are going to come back strong.

Driving through devastated Mississippi to get to her son

That night, Myles drove down pitch black roads and through downed power lines, one hand permanently pressed down on her car horn. She couldnt fathom the devastation around her in the place she had grown up.

On the way there, Myles got a call from another neighbor who had picked up her son and taken him to the Rolling Fork Motel.

It was the only place that she could get to, because they had everything blocked off, Myles said.

Myles arrived at the motel to see her son sprawled out on a bed, bleeding from his side.

I knew that I couldnt break down, she said. I had to get my baby some help.

Getting to rural hospitals in aftermath of Rolling Fork tornado

The neighbor had already tried to get her son admitted at the local hospital, Sharkey Issaquena Community Hospital  the only hospital in the county. But it was full, and later lost power and had to transfer its patients to other hospitals.

The rural hospital has been struggling to stay afloat and was, as of September, seeking a buyer. It has continued to lose money over the years, even after pooling its resources with other small hospitals to buy supplies at a discounted rate.

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EMTs said theyd return for Jay after taking someone already in the ambulance to Greenville, but the neighbor, a certified nurse assistant, knew the boy couldnt wait.

When Myles heard her son couldnt get emergency medical help, she was dumbfounded.

Malary White, chief communications officer at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said emergency responders were en route to assist survivors within minutes after the storm and ambulances were dispatched from across the state to Sharkey County.

But she conceded that medical resources were stretched.

Lets keep in mind we were dealing with a mass casualty situation, she said.

Can they do that? Myles kept asking. Myles couldnt understand why her son couldnt get help. But one thing was clear  she had to take matters into her own hands.

Weve got to get to Greenville

Myles and her coworker picked up Jay and loaded him into her car, before calling Jays father. They met up with him, transferred Jay to his car in the backseat because it was larger, and they sped the 41 miles toward Greenville, the closest place Myles knew Jay would be able to receive medical attention.

On the way there, Jays father kept calling Myles, telling her that Jay was complaining he couldnt breathe. Myles started crying. Her coworker begged Myles to let him drive, but she refused.

Were not stopping, she said. Weve got to get to Greenville.

As they rolled into Greenville at 10 p.m., Myles blew past five red stop lights. Her coworker hung his head out of the window, yelling at bystanders to get out of the way. When Myles spotted the Delta Regional Medical Center, all she could think was, Thank God we made it.

Twenty minutes later, Myles discovered that Jay had four fractured ribs, and one of his lungs was punctured.

Someone with a punctured lung runs the risk of fatal complications like cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, shock and death if not treated quickly.

Hed need to be put on oxygen and transferred to a larger hospital  nurses at Delta Health told Myles that the hospital didnt have the equipment to help Jay.

Saturday morning, Jay was taken by helicopter to Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital in Memphis. Myles joined him at noon.

That night, Myles pulled the recliner close to Jays hospital bed. She put two of her braids in his hand before he fell asleep, and told him to yank if he needed help. Then she slept for the first time in more than 24 hours.

My options were limited for hospital care in rural MS

Jay has since been taken off oxygen and is breathing on his own. Hes still got tubes in his side, but hes talking more and smiling, and Myles is relieved.

But shes haunted by the possibilities of what might have happened if she didnt have a car. She wonders how quickly theyd be able to get help if they didnt live in rural Mississippi.

My options were limited. I knew I had to do it myself, Myles said. I dont really want to think about me not being able to help my son.

She still has no idea how her son was injured. All Myles can find out about her cousin, who Jay was with during the tornado, is that hes in critical condition at a hospital in Jackson.

Its not clear when Jay will be discharged. Multiple times a day, he asks when they can go home. Myles hasnt told him yet that their home doesnt exist anymore. Their trailer and everything in it was destroyed.

And now, after her son couldnt get the help he needed, Myles isnt so sure that she wants to return home. Things are only set to get worse: One report puts a third of Mississippis rural hospitals at risk of closure, making it even harder to access health care.

I think what Im going to do is were going to move to a bigger area, where weve got support, Myles said. Where we can get help.
On March 27, an armed woman entered The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee that caters to students from pre-school through sixth grade. Before the 28-year-old assailant was shot and killed by the police, she murdered three students and three adults, according to NBC News. The names of the victims have not been released at the time of this writing.

The New York Times reported, "As of mid-March, the Gun Violence Archive has counted 129 mass shootings in the United States this year."

If you want to help after this senseless tragedy but are not sure how here's a list of different ways you can make a difference.

Donate to The Covenant School

Seth Herald/Getty Images

On the private school's website, there is a section for "giving opportunities," and you're able to make donations via credit card, check, corporate matching, and more.

Register to vote

Mark Makela/Getty Images

This is the simplest (and free) way to help enact change in our society. Presidential elections are not the only ones that matter in this country. There are also state and local elections that directly affect where you live specifically in the United States. Do some research on the candidates running for office in your hometown and state and vote for the people you think will be the best allies for making your home a safer place to live, such as checking to see if they support stricter gun control laws.

If you're unsure if you're registered to vote, Vote.org is a great tool to answer that question instantly. You can also check out Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan nonprofit that empowers people, especially first-time voters, to make their voices heard and bring about positive change in their society. Rock the Vote allows you to register to vote, check your registration status, get election reminders so you don't miss any important opportunities, and become a volunteer.

Donate to important causes supporting gun control

Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Several great organizations could use your financial help to continue the fight for enacting stricter gun control laws. Here are three:

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Everytown for Gun Safety According to their website, "The Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund is the education, research, and litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country. We build awareness about the complexities of gun violence in America so that every person  policymakers, volunteers, cultural influencers, business leaders, and more  can learn about the issues and become part of the solutions."

March for Our Lives Created by survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, MFOL puts young people at the front of this campaign, writing on their website, "We aim to create safe and healthy communities and livelihoods where gun violence is obsolete."

The Brady Plan In the early '90s, the Brady Bill was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton. "Brady Background Checks would now be required on all handgun purchases from federally licensed firearm dealers. Since its enactment in 1994, the Brady Background Check System has blocked approximately 4 million prohibited purchasers from obtaining a firearm," according to the organization's website.

Call your representatives

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

We know you've heard this a million times, but it's actually super important and won't take long to do. You can take different routes to find out 1.) who your representative is and 2.) how to contact them. We recommend checking out 5calls.org or searching for your rep on the official United States House of Representatives website.

Tell your reps what you want, such as stricter gun control laws, more vigorous background checks, etc. Let them know what matters most to YOU and what you think will make society a safer and more enjoyable place for young people to live in and thrive.

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Brad Valdes with Heritage Environmental Services helps carry away fluorescent tubes from a vehicle during a previous hazardous waste collection at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. This year's event is May 6 with registration opening Monday.

The City of Springfield is hosting a residential household hazardous waste collection event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 6.

The voucher-only collection is being held in collaboration with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

More:Less than two weeks before Election Day, Springfield council candidates tout experiences

Voucher registration opens Monday, March 27. To request a voucher, go to the city's Office of Public Works website or call 217-789-2255.

Acceptable items

Acids/Corrosives

Aerosol paints

Antifreeze/coolant

Cleaning products

Drain cleaners

Fertilizers

Fluorescent tubes/compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL)

Fuel additives/cleaners

Hobby chemicals

Insecticides/pesticides/herbicides

Lawn chemicals

Lead, acid or lithium batteries

Mercury thermostats and thermometers

Oil based paints

Old and outdated medications/pharmaceuticals

Old gasoline

Paint thinners/strippers

Pool chemicals

Solvents

Latex and acrylic paint is not a hazardous waste and will not be accepted at the collection.

Voucher/event facts

Registrants will be asked to pick a drop-off time. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and will end as soon as all time slots are filled.

Residents must have a voucher in hand or available on a mobile device to drop off items.

Lutheran High School's campus on West Washington Street has a date with the wrecking ball

Enter through Gate 6 and proceed to Lot 21 by following signs and traffic wardens. Exit is through Gate 7.

The program is open to all Illinois residents but is not open to organizations or businesses.

Other hazardous waste collections

Here is a list of other hazardous waste collection dates around the state. For a full list, visit the IEPA website.

April 15, Champaign, State Farm Arena, 1800 S. First St.

June 3, Macomb, Western Illinois University, 306 University Dr.

June 10, Taylorville, Christian County Fairgrounds, 1715 W. Spressor St.

June 24, Carbondale, Banterra Center south lot, 1400 Arena Dr.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Hazardous waste collection event planned at Illinois State Fairgrounds
The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses. A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like Westlake (NYSE:WLK). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.

View our latest analysis for Westlake

How Fast Is Westlake Growing Its Earnings Per Share?

Over the last three years, Westlake has grown earnings per share (EPS) at as impressive rate from a relatively low point, resulting in a three year percentage growth rate that isn't particularly indicative of expected future performance. So it would be better to isolate the growth rate over the last year for our analysis. Westlake's EPS has risen over the last 12 months, growing from US$15.66 to US$17.50. There's little doubt shareholders would be happy with that 12% gain.

One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. On the revenue front, Westlake has done well over the past year, growing revenue by 34% to US$16b but EBIT margin figures were less stellar, seeing a decline over the last 12 months. So if EBIT margins can stabilize, this top-line growth should pay off for shareholders.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. For finer detail, click on the image.

Of course the knack is to find stocks that have their best days in the future, not in the past. You could base your opinion on past performance, of course, but you may also want to check this interactive graph of professional analyst EPS forecasts for Westlake.

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Are Westlake Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Owing to the size of Westlake, we wouldn't expect insiders to hold a significant proportion of the company. But we do take comfort from the fact that they are investors in the company. Indeed, they have a considerable amount of wealth invested in it, currently valued at US$107m. We note that this amounts to 0.8% of the company, which may be small owing to the sheer size of Westlake but it's still worth mentioning. This still shows shareholders there is a degree of alignment between management and themselves.

While it's always good to see some strong conviction in the company from insiders through heavy investment, it's also important for shareholders to ask if management compensation policies are reasonable. Well, based on the CEO pay, you'd argue that they are indeed. For companies with market capitalisations over US$8.0b, like Westlake, the median CEO pay is around US$13m.

Westlake offered total compensation worth US$9.9m to its CEO in the year to December 2021. That seems pretty reasonable, especially given it's below the median for similar sized companies. CEO remuneration levels are not the most important metric for investors, but when the pay is modest, that does support enhanced alignment between the CEO and the ordinary shareholders. It can also be a sign of a culture of integrity, in a broader sense.

Is Westlake Worth Keeping An Eye On?

One positive for Westlake is that it is growing EPS. That's nice to see. The growth of EPS may be the eye-catching headline for Westlake, but there's more to bring joy for shareholders. With company insiders aligning themselves considerably with the company's success and modest CEO compensation, there's no arguments that this is a stock worth looking into. Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Westlake that you should be aware of.

Although Westlake certainly looks good, it may appeal to more investors if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, then this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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A woman who says she survived the 2022 Highland Park shooting, where a gunman killed seven and wounded many more, was present on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee, at the scene of a school shooting that left six dead.

Arent you guys tired of covering this. Arent you guys tired of being here and having to cover all of these mass shootings, the woman said, approaching news cameras.

How is this still happening? she continued. How are our children still dying, and why are we failing them? Gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens. It has overtaken cars.

Highland Park, IL parade mass shooting survivor goes on vacation to Nashville and ends up near another mass shooting, "It's only in America. Can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation and find themselves in another involved like near another mass shooting." pic.twitter.com/wHUKjQe1vT  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 27, 2023

The woman said she had been lobbying lawmakers in Washington since the Highland Park shooting, where Robert Crimo III allegedly used an assault rifle to kill seven people and wound scores of others during a 4th of July parade.

These mass shootings will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass gun safety legislation, the activist continued, adding, We cant even pass safe storage laws to protect kids from getting a hold of weapons that they shoot each other with.

At 10.13am CT, Nashville police were called to the The Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school, on reports of an active shooter.

A team of five officers encountered a 28-year-old Nashville woman who was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun and fatally shot her.

The shooter killed three children and three adults before police arrived.

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More than one mass shooting per day has occurred in the US in 2023, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

The shooting in Nashville is the fifth school shooting in the area since 2011, The Tennessean reports.

The Highland Park survivor wasnt the only one calling for stronger gun laws after the shooting.

A gun safety advocate highlighted Tennessees Republican governor signing open carry legislation after the mass shooting at the school.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, which advocates for gun safety, criticised Governnor Bill Lee for not initially putting out a statement after the shooting at Covenant Presbyterian School in Nashville. Metro Nashillve Police Department officers shot and killed the suspect.

Tennessee @GovBillLee hasnt had time yet to tweet his thoughts and prayers for Covenant School, but when he does, remind him that this is exactly why police and citizens opposed the permitless carry bill he signed into law at a gun makers factory in 2021, Ms Watts tweeted.
Officials closed a bridge in the Fairfax Industrial District of Kansas City, Kansas, Monday after an inspection determined it to be unsafe, the Kansas Department of Transportation said in a news release.

The bridge that carries the southbound lanes of Kansas 5 highway over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks closed at noon Monday after bridge inspectors consulted with KDOT engineering staff, said Delaney Thonlen, a KDOT spokeswoman.

The transportation department is evaluating options for emergency repairs as well as developing a traffic control plan. The bridge is closed between Sunshine Road and 10th Street.

Message boards announcing the closure were being put into place. The signs will direct drivers around the closure until a plan for detour signs is developed. Sign contractors will install the detour signs under an emergency contract.

KDOT has notified officials with Kansas City, Kansas, Wyandotte County and the Missouri Department of Transportation as well as adjacent businesses and the railroad of the bridges closing.
A hiker fell 100 feet from the Koolau Summit Trail on Oahu, requiring rescue by helicopter, Hawaii firefighters say.

The man had been hiking with a group on the trail near Kaneohe for about two-and-a-half hours when he fell from the ridge, the Honolulu Fire Department said in a news release.

Other hikers reported the fall to 911 at 9:06 a.m. Sunday, March 26, firefighters said.

A rescue helicopter ferried in rescuers, who hiked to the injured man and prepared him to be airlifted to safety, the release said. After landing at a staging area, he was treated by emergency medical services.

Firefighters did not detail the extent of his injuries.

Kaneohe is a community of 38,000 people on Oahu in Hawaii.

How to be prepared while hiking

If youre planning to hike, the National Park Service says there are 10 essentials you should take:

Navigation: Pack a map, compass and a GPS system. Make sure you study your route beforehand and understand how to use the tools.

Sun protection: Sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat can help protect your skin and eyes from UV rays.

Insulation: A jacket, hat, gloves, raincoat and thermal underwear can help you be prepared for rapidly changing weather conditions.

Illumination: A flashlight, lantern and headlamp can create light if you get stuck in the dark  and pack extra batteries.

First-aid supplies: Its a good idea to have a first-aid kit on hand while hiking. Check the expiration date on items before you pack them.

Fire: Matches and a lighter can help start fire to act as an emergency signal in times of need.

Repair kit and tools: Duct tape, a knife, screwdriver and scissors can be helpful if items break during your hike or you need assistance.

Nutrition: You should pack an extra days worth of food in case something goes wrong. Park officials recommend having salty and easy to digest snacks.

Hydration: You should drink water often and before you feel thirsty if youre hiking in hot weather. Keeping your body hydrated is of utmost importance, park officials said.

Emergency shelter: Packing a tent, space blanket, tarp and bivy can help you be prepared if severe weather breaks out or your plan takes a turn.

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There is still much to do in the struggle for womens rights because formidable interests continue to push society backward, Hillary Clinton said at Montclair State University on Sunday.

The former first lady was at the university to give the keynote address for a celebration hosted by Sen. Bob Menendez for Womens History Month.

We have to earn it every day, Clinton said in the 20-minute speech.

Her remarks were a clarion call to everyone in the 988-seat campus auditorium. She said there is a need for more voices to speak out against cruelty, hate-filled rhetoric and mean-spiritedness.

Recognizing womens rights, even enshrining those rights in laws and constitutions, is not the same as achieving full equality, said Clinton, a former New York senator who later served as the secretary of state under President Barack Obama.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH:The $20 question: Will Harriet Tubman's image grace currency by 2030?

Clinton noted the so-called Dobbs decision, for example, which overturned Roe v. Wade and took away a womans constitutional right to have an abortion.

We have to do everything in our power to make sure our daughters and granddaughters wont live in an America that sees them as second-class citizens, she added.

Clinton was greeted by a standing ovation, and on more than one occasion, she had to stop talking to allow the cheering to abate.

The 12th annual event, emceed by Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese, was held in honor of Menendezs late mother, Evangelina Menendez, and its purpose was to recognize five inspiring women with awards.

It was a triumph for women of all ages  even for the six Girl Scouts who led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Story continues below gallery.

Just as we celebrate 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed in Congress, we must redouble our efforts to protect fundamental rights that are under assault, Menendez said. Just as we honor five incredible trailblazers making a difference today, we must acknowledge that all of us have a responsibility to create the truly equal America that we deserve.

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The honorees included Lourdes Cortez, the chief executive officer and interim president of North Jersey Federal Credit Union, with branches in Garfield, Newark, Paterson and Totowa.

Under her leadership, the credit union has grown from $168 million in assets to $233 million.

Also receiving awards were Amanda Devecka-Rinear, the executive director of New Jersey Resource Project; Christine Girtain, the states teacher of the year; ADorian Murray-Thomas, the founder of SHE Wins Inc.; and Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers.

Menendez, 69, a Democrat in office since January 2006, drew a comparison in his remarks between the honorees and his personal hero: his mother, a Cuban refugee who escaped a dictatorship on the island nation to provide a more promising future for her family.

The crowd at Montclair State University listens to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (not pictured) deliver the keynote address during a women's history month event on Sunday, March 26, 2023.

There were no guarantees of that, Menendez said, but she toiled as a seamstress in a garment factory and never gave up on realizing the American dream.

On a good day, Menendez said, she stood maybe 5 feet 4 inches. But rooted in her faith and work ethic, she towered over others with the power of her love.

Other speakers at the event included the universitys president, Jonathan Koppell, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat representing the states 11th Congressional District and a Montclair resident.

Koppell said the event marked a banner day in the history of the university, which was established as a normal school  a training college for teachers  in September 1908.

The very premise of this institution was to be one that recognized that if we, as a society, do not cultivate the talent, intelligence and resilience of women, he said, we would be deeply harmed.

Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: devencentis@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Hillary Clinton visits local university for Women's History Month
Sound Transit officials have given the Tacoma City Council good and bad news regarding two light-rail extension projects.

At the March 21 City Council study session, Madeleine Greathouse, project director of Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension, said the project to lengthen Tacoma Link to Stadium District and Hilltop is 99 percent complete.

Greathouse told the council the remaining work includes station finishes, such as installing handrails, erecting signage reminding drivers they are sharing the roadway with trains, and completing side-street pavement. System-integration testing is ongoing to validate functionality, operation and performance, she said.

The extension will open sometime between late July and early September. Greathouse said she doesnt have a more exact date.

Were so close, but we still have a little bit of work to do and some of the remaining work is very critical, she told the council.

The project doubles the length of Tacoma Link, relocates the Theater District station and adds six stations. The 2.4-mile extension connects downtown with the Stadium District, Wright Park, hospitals and Hilltop.

The Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension has been delayed several times since construction began in November 2018. It was planned to be completed May 2022 but was pushed back by supply problems, additional work and pricier parts.

The last delay was announced in December. Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm said at the time that delay was caused by construction issues and the link extension would open by fall of 2023.

The project was expected to cost $217 million, but the price increased to at least $282 million, which is funded by a partnership with Sound Transit, city of Tacoma, federal transit money and other grants.

Timm said Sound Transit is approaching its 20-year anniversary of the Tacoma Link, which will be marked by the opening of the Hilltop extension.

There have been a lot of challenges to get here, Timm said. It has not been easy, but the commitment has never been stronger to get that open and serve the community this year.

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Tacoma Dome Link Extension delays

In February, Sound Transit announced another setback for the light-rail project to connect Tacoma to Seattle.

Timm said at the study session it was unfortunate news that the project is going to take longer than anticipated as it addresses issues with floodplains and cultural resources.

We need to make sure that we move forward with these generational investments with integrity and with intention, so they do no harm to the environment and to our partners, she said.

The Tacoma Dome Link Extension is now planned to open in 2035, a delay of 2-1/2 years.

Due to floodplain issues in Fife, two new station options will be proposed, on 54th Avenue West and 54th Avenue East. Diane Wiatr, Sound Transit high capacity development manager, said the station options are near where the City of Fife plans to build a new city center.

Sound Transit has proposed to move the route in south Federal Way to avoid adverse effects to cultural resources and construction challenges along the planned route along Interstate 5 to state Route 99, or also known as Pacific Highway.

Tacoma City Council and Pierce County Council sent a letter earlier this month to Sound Transit pressing Sound Transit to provide transportation to South Sound residents following the delay announcement.

Timm thanked the Tacoma council for its letter. She said Sound Transit will look at higher frequencies on the Sounder commuter rail and how it can support the region with ST Express bus service.

There have been a lot of issues over the years, and we just had one recently, but I think there will always be issues or challenges that come up, but how weve worked together to solve them is whats important, Mayor Victoria Woodards said at the study session.

The Sound Transit Board approved the two alternatives for the projects draft environmental impact statement at its Thursday meeting.

Pierce County Executive and Sound Transit board member Bruce Dammeier said the alternatives are necessary, but he wanted to challenge Sound Transit not to delay the completion of the Tacoma Dome Link Extension.

Weve got to be looking more creatively at ways we can deliver these types of projects on time, he said. We know that delays cost us hundreds of millions of dollars, so we have got to change our culture. Weve got to be more accountable to budget and schedule, and I think we have to look for more creative ways to maintain the schedule.

Tacoma Deputy Mayor Kristina Walker, who is a Sound Transit board member, said Pierce County riders were disappointed and frustrated but looked to mitigate the delay.

King County Council Member and board member Claudia Balducci said the entire board should support Pierce County in working toward short-term support and shifting its culture to be forward leaning into action to get service to riders and taxpayers as soon as possible.
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's ground forces commander said on Monday his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a "military necessity".

Ukraine's military said Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi had acted during a visit to the eastern front line to solve "problematic issues that prevent effective execution of combat tasks" and taken "operational decisions aimed at strengthening our capabilities to deter and inflict damage on the enemy."

It gave no details, and did not say when the visit took place, but Syrskyi's comments signalled Ukraine's intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.

"The most intense phase of the battle for Bakhmut continues. The situation is constantly difficult. The enemy suffers significant losses in human resources, weapons and military equipment but continues to conduct offensive actions," he said.

Praising Ukrainian forces' resilience in "extremely difficult conditions", he said: "The defence of Bakhmut is due to military necessity.... We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation".

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also visited the Bakhmut area last week and handed out medals to troops in a morale-boosting trip as Ukraine prepares for a possible counter-offensive after 13 months of war.

Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday the situation was being "stabilised" around Bakhmut.

Moscow sees capturing the city as vital to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region in eastern Ukraine, one of its main war goals.

Reminiscent of World War One, the battle has been fought from trenches with relentless artillery and rocket strikes across a heavily mined battlefield described as a "meat grinder" by commanders on both sides.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Orlando Bloom in Ukraine

During his hours-long journey by train to the Ukrainian capital, Bloom learned how to correctly pronounce the name of Ukraines state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia  a feat for most non-Ukrainian speakers.

@/orlandobloom/Instagram

Read also: Hollywood star Orlando Bloom visits children in Ukraine

In a video posted on Instagram on March 27, the actor brilliantly pronounces the name of Ukrzaliznytsia, joking that he says it better than Bono, who came to Ukraine last summer to perform in the Kyiv metro.

Sorry, Bono, I got it, Bloom said in the video.

Read also: Hollywood star Ben Stiller delights fans with photo in support of Ukraine

Bloom arrived in Ukraine this weekend. He visited the UNICEF Spilno Childrens Center in Kyiv and an orphanage in the village of Demydiv, Kyiv Oblast.

Later he met with Ukrainian President and former actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where he read excerpts from a speech made to British youth by Japanese mentor Daisaku Ikeda, a childhood inspiration for Bloom.

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
Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers.

Home and Away's Ziggy Astoni sparks a panic on UK screens next week as she disappears from her home without explanation.

Ziggy and her partner Dean Thompson recently welcomed the arrival of a baby girl, but they're about to face some emotional challenges.

After bringing their new daughter home, Ziggy starts to feel frustrated that her baby hasn't connected with her.

Related: Home and Away's Kirby and Theo share upsetting news with Remi

Ziggy also feels exhausted from lack of sleep and is upset that the baby seemingly starts crying every time she comes near her.

In an emotional heart-to-heart, Ziggy tells Dean that she fears their baby hates her.

Dean dismisses this and assures Ziggy that she's doing a great job.

Later, Dean is alarmed to find that he's now alone with the baby at the Astoni farmhouse as Ziggy has mysteriously disappeared.

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away star Kyle Shilling discusses importance of Mali and Rose story

Dean rushes off to go searching and leaves Ziggy some frantic voicemails.

Mali Hudson and Rose Delaney are both surprised when Dean arrives at the Surf Club and spreads the word that Ziggy is missing. They agree to help look for her.

The staff at the Diner are also worried over the news, so Marilyn Chambers offers to take care of the baby while Dean focuses on the search.

The mystery is resolved when Justin Morgan arrives at work at the garage and finds Ziggy asleep in the back of a car.

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away's Felicity sparks new concerns in 16 spoiler pictures

Justin calls Dean, who races to the garage to check on Ziggy.

Ziggy opens up about how much she's struggling, explaining that she just needed time out and some sleep. Irene Roberts is sympathetic and steps in to take Ziggy for a walk.

Irene offers some words of wisdom to Ziggy while they're out together, pointing out that she's being far too hard on herself.

Ziggy takes Irene's advice on board and starts to get into a better headspace. As Ziggy and Dean name their baby girl Isabella "Izzy" Astoni-Thompson and look to the future, have they reached a positive turning point?

Story continues

Home and Away airs these scenes on Monday, April 3 and Tuesday, April 4 at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5.

Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.

Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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A 73-year-old woman was working on an arts and crafts project inside her Clifton home when police say two men, one armed with a gun, entered, bound her with duct tape and ransacked the house. Police are seeking the public's help to find the men.

The Clifton Police Department responded to the home on Linden Avenue on Sunday and found the woman on the floor, bound at the ankles and wrists, with her mouth covered. She told police she was in the kitchen when the men entered and at first thought they were family members.

The men were dressed in all black, possibly wearing surgical masks, and they used the woman's own duct tape, police said. They allegedly stole an "undetermined" number of valuables before leaving the house.

New Jersey newsVerona car wash employee in intensive care after being hit by car

ComplaintPregnant women had poppy bagels before going to hospital. That's when the trouble started

The woman was able to remove the tape from her mouth and eventually retrieved her phone from her pocket to call 911.

Police believe the act was random. Anyone with information is urged to call the Clifton Police Detective Bureau at 973-470-5908.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Clifton NJ home invasion: Woman bound with duct tape by burglars
The first protest in two years took place in Hong Kong on Sunday under the close supervision of local authorities.

Approved by police, the demonstration was attended by dozens of people, who wore numbered badges around their necks for accounting purposes and whose signs were checked beforehand. No more than 100 people in total were permitted to participate, BBC News noted.

The rally was held to oppose a land reclamation project in the city. The Hong Kong government had proposed a plan to build public facilities including a garbage and rubbish treatment plant and a cement plant in the Tseung Kwan O neighborhood.

Stringent Covid restrictions in the special Chinese zone had prevented most protests after 2020. Huge protests against the Chinese regime erupted in Hong Kong in 2019, leading to the arrest and jailing of many activists. In response, Beijing imposed a national-security law in the name of restoring stability that made it easier to prosecute protesters for challenging the Chinese Communist Party. The policy chilled dissent and activism in the former colony, which previously enjoyed certain freedoms the mainland did not.

On Sunday, authorities demanded a reasonable excuse from protesters who wore masks during the event. During the 2019 unrest, Hong Kongs government exercised emergency powers to prohibit protesters from wearing masks so it could apprehend those accused of committing crimes, ABC News noted. Those in violation of that rule could face up to a year in jail and fines of $3,200 as punishment.

Cyrus Chan, one of the march organizers, told ABC that protesters coordinated with police in advance on banners and the messaging they displayed. Police instructed him and others involved not to wear all-black outfits, which were seen during the 2019 demonstrations, he said. Chanting slogans was allowed, BBC News said. Members of the press were also kept apart from protesters.

Its definitely strict, Chan said. We hope this is just an individual case. We hope to show them that Hong Kong society has the ability to have peaceful marches and they do not need to set that many conditions to restrict us.

More from National Review
A lottery player didnt wait to check her lucky ticket  leading to a loud celebration at a North Carolina convenience store.

I think everybody in the surrounding area knew we won, $1 million prize winner Jo Anne Brown told the N.C. Education Lottery. We were hootin and hollerin for sure.

Among those celebrating the big prize was Browns husband, Kerry.

Some things are just meant to be, he said March 27 in a news release. We all did a lot of happy crying.

The couple couldnt contain themselves after a trip to Fast Phils convenience store in Harmony, roughly 55 miles north of Charlotte. Thats where Brown spent $10 on a ticket for the Jumbo Bucks scratch-off game, officials said.

Brown was still in the store when she scratched her ticket and learned it was worth $1 million.

We just kept screaming, We are millionaires, Brown told the N.C. Education Lottery. It was like a dream.

Brown, an Iredell County resident, decided to take her prize in a lump sum of $600,000. She kept $427,503 after taxes, officials said.

Now, Brown and her husband might build a fishing pond for their grandchildren. In addition to helping family, the winner told lottery officials the extra cash could ease her retirement plans.

This money will help make that happen, Brown said in the news release. Its a life-changing event for us.

Its not the first time a lottery win has caused a celebration to break out inside a North Carolina store. Recently, a jackpot prize sent a man jumping up and down while another left a cashier hugging a lucky player, McClatchy News reported.

Off-duty worker buys NC lottery ticket at workplace. She got a life-changing surprise

Truck driver scratches her NC lottery ticket  then she sees all those little zeroes
House lawmakers sent a letter to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday demanding that he release all political prisoners being held in his country who were detained after tweeting, days after Riyadh released a woman who was initially arrested for posting tweets critical of the top leader.

The letter  which was first shared with The Hill  slammed bin Salman for infringing on the rights of Saudi Arabian citizens and accused him of undermining global political freedom. The lawmakers labeled his detainments barbaric prosecutions.

When you initially came to power, you spoke of making Saudi Arabia more open and tolerant. You promised to reform harsh laws and policies preventing the countrys progress. We had high hopes you were serious, the group wrote. Instead, not only have you further trampled on your own citizens rights to free thought and free speech, but you have undermined the essential freedoms that sovereign democratic countries strive to protect for our citizens. These outrages undermine global political freedom.

We condemn your barbaric prosecutions and call on you immediately to order the release of every individual you have detained and incarcerated for sending tweets, they added.

The Hill reached out to the Crown Prince for comment.

The request  led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and signed by 21 Democrats and one Republican  was sent almost one week after news broke that dual Saudi-U.S. citizen Saad Ibrahim Almadi had been freed after being imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for more than a year over tweets that were critical of bin Salman. The American, however, was put under a travel ban, and it remains unclear if the kingdom will drop the prohibition and let him return to Florida.

Almadi, 72, was detained when he arrived in Saudi Arabia in 2021 for a family visit and then sentenced to 19 years in prison because of social media posts he made in the past that were critical of how the kingdom was ruled.

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The lawmakers on Monday told bin Salman they were relieved to learn Mr. Almadi has been released from this Orwellian nightmare after widespread protest, adding that they early await word of whether your government will lift the travel ban to let Mr. Almadi return to his home in the United States.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of cracking down on human rights. In February 2021, the Biden administrations Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report that said bin Salman had approved the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been critical of the Saudi Arabian government. He was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

The letter sent on Monday cited Amnesty International in saying that 15 people were sentenced to prison for between 10 and 45 years in Saudi Arabia in 2022 for peacefully expressing themselves online. As of February 2023, according to the lawmakers, the organization recorded cases of 67 people who were prosecuted for exercising their freedom of expression and assembly.

We, the undersigned Members of the United States House of Representatives, urge you to immediately release all persons whom you have imprisoned for sending tweets, the lawmakers wrote. Jailing people for their expression, including criticism of their nations political rulers, is an intolerable violation of human rights and freedom of speech.

No human being should spend a day  much less 19 years or 34 years  behind bars because they have displeased a government ruler with their opinions, they continued. The people of Saudi Arabia have a right to their own ideas and to express themselves without state agents ripping them from their families and throwing them into jail.

The letter zeroed in on three cases of individuals who are detained in Saudi Arabia because of concerning tweets. Salma al-Shehab, a 34-year-old Saudi doctoral student at Leeds University in the United Kingdom, was sentenced to 34 years in prison in August 2022 for using a Twitter account to simply share posts of online critics of your regime. When her case was retried in 2023, the sentence moved to 27 years in prison.

The lawmakers cited Freedom House, which said al-Shehab had been held in pretrial detention for 285 days  at least 13 of which were in solitary confinement  and was not allowed access to an attorney during that time.

The same day al-Shehab was sentenced, according to the lawmakers, Noura al-Qahtani  the nearly 50-year-old mother who has five children  saw her sentence grow from 13 years to 45 years in prison. The letter said her new sentence is believed to be the longest ever levied for online expression.

Ms. al-Qahtani had fewer than 650 Twitter followers, but was nonetheless accused of using the Internet to tear the social fabric and violating the public order by using social media under the countrys expansive and vague counterterrorism and anti-cybercrime laws, the letter reads.

So a mother of five is now in prison for 45 years in Saudi Arabia for sending a tweet while some people in the country have never served even a day for committing murder, it adds.

The third case involves Mahdia al-Marzougi, a 51-year-old Tunisian nurse and Saudi resident who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in September after posting tweets commenting on events in Tunisia. Her sentence was initially three years, until the Specialized Criminal Court increased it by five-fold.

The lawmakers said it is unclearly exactly how the Saudi government was able to single out and apprehend these dangerous online thought criminals, but they noted that their prosecutions coincide with contemporaneous revelations that Saudi Arabian authorities infiltrated Twitter. They cited the case involving Ahmad Abouammo, who was found guilty of spying for the Saudi royal family in August 2022.

We are also aware that, through the Kingdom Holding Company, your family is a longtime financial investor in Twitter, which makes this sequence of events all the more shocking, they added.

Raskin was joined by 22 other letter signatories, including Reps. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), David Trone (D-Md.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A demonstrator wears an Israeli national flag on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 26. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In an intense show of anger, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday night to protest the judicial overhaul proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and supported by his ruling coalition of far-right nationalists and religious extremists. Israeli embassies shuttered across the world as Israelis in the countrys foreign service joined other government workers in striking in protest.

Airports closed, and so did universities, the nation paralyzed by a sweeping strike.

The protests, which had begun in January, appear to have shaken Netanyahu. On Monday evening, the embattled leader announced that he was delaying the divisive power grab, which requires legislative approval, until the next legislative session.

Im not ready to divide the nation in pieces, Netanyahu said in a televised address on Monday evening that punctuated one of the most remarkable periods in Israels tumultuous history.

What precipitated Sundays protests?

Protesters block the Ayalon Highway on March 26. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Protests have been taking place since Netanyahu proposed to subject Israels judiciary to oversight by politicians, and may well continue even after Mondays announced pause.

With the countrys politics moving increasingly to the right, the elimination of judicial review would curb the Supreme Courts ability to block illegal settlements on Palestinian land and to limit the influence of religious conservatives who want to pass laws constraining Israels more secular culture.

On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant took the unusual step of calling for Netanyahus proposal to be halted, citing protests from reservists refusing to serve. Gallant said active-duty soldiers and officers had voiced similar concerns.

I hear their voices, and I am worried. The events taking place and the issues in Israeli society do not skip the Israel Defense Forces, Gallant said. Unprecedented feelings of anger, pain and disappointment have risen from all over.

Netanyahu responded by firing Gallant on Sunday, leading to that evenings mass protests.

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In an inspiring show of democratic strength and determination, Israelis flooded the streets, wrote journalist Amir Tibon of the mainstream Haaretz newspaper. Hundreds of thousands of people came out without any organization or preparation, responding immediately to a decision they perceived as a dangerous step in a frightening direction.

Why are the judicial reforms so controversial?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, at his office in Jerusalem on March 5. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)

If implemented in full, the reforms outlined in January by Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin would allow a majority in the Knesset, Israels single-chamber parliament, to override the Supreme Court. Politicians would also have much greater say in appointing judges, a process now overseen by the Israeli Bar.

The proposals have been decried as antidemocratic and counter to Israels identity as a liberal Western democracy: Pure, unbridled majoritarianism, in the words of Natan Sachs, a Middle East expert at the center-left Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

Why does Netanyahu insist on these reforms?

Israeli anti-judicial-reform protests entered their 10th consecutive week. (Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

After the first wave of protests in January, Netanyahu insisted that his agenda is not only popular but necessary to curb the expansion of judicial powers that took place in the 1990s.

He has also argued that his reforms would bring Israels government in line with that of Western nations. Democracy is built on the proper balance between the three branches and this balance exists in every democracy in the world, he said. (President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron have condemned Netanyahus plan.)

But some Israelis believe that a more selfish concern motivates Netanyahu, who was indicted on three corruption charges in 2019 and could face prison if convicted. (The trial began in 2020; he has maintained his innocence.)

My assessment and opinion is that Netanyahu wants to bring about a situation in which his trial does not come to an end in a proper manner, former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said last month.

Who supports Netanyahu?

Protesters gather in Tel Aviv on March 27 amid ongoing demonstrations against the governments controversial push to overhaul the justice system. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)

As reports surfaced that Netanyahu was considering postponing the judicial plan, his far-right security chief Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign from his Cabinet, leading to a potential collapse of Netanyahus government.

The threat was delivered during a stormy meeting at the Knesset, during which Ben-Gvir could be heard screaming at the prime minister, the Jewish News Syndicate, a wire service, reported.

As much as Netanyahu is facing pressure on his left in the form of nightly protests, he is hemmed in on his right by extremists like Ben-Gvir, who are able to exercise enormous influence in his administration. In order to keep Ben-Gvir in his Cabinet, Netanyahu appears to have promised the controversial security chief what critics have described as a private militia.

Netanyahus unlikely victory in last years election put him in office for a sixth term. The victory, though, came with a price. Although the returning prime minister remains a member of the center-right Likud Party, he needed the support of smaller, far-right parties like Ben-Gvirs Jewish Power and the Religious Zionist Party, whose Bezalel Smotrich was appointed finance minister.

Instead of tending to the threat of an Iran approaching nuclear capacity  Netanyahus longtime preoccupation  the prime minister has instead been guided by the imperatives of hard-liners whose views many Israelis do not share.

Israeli settlers living on Israeli land constitute a strong basis of support for disempowering the judiciary because they view the courts as hostile to their cause. The Supreme Court has sometimes ruled in favor of Palestinians rights and is widely viewed on the Israeli right as an impediment to Jewish settlement in the West Bank and to an expansive vision of Greater Israel, explained Susie Gelman of Israel Policy Forum.

Another faction in favor of curbing judicial powers is the Haredim, as ultra-Orthodox Jews are known in Hebrew. Their share of the population is growing rapidly, and they have become increasingly assertive about their political views, which include intolerance of womens and LGBTQ rights.

The Haredim are exempt from military service, which is otherwise required in Israel. In 2017 the Supreme Court canceled their exemption, but the government (led by Netanyahu) continued to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from service.

Recent polls have found extremely high levels of support for the judicial reforms among the Haredi community, whose protections are much more likely to remain in place if Netanyahu ultimately prevails.

Whats next?

Netanyahu speaks to the media on March 16 in Berlin. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Netanyahu said on Monday that he would pause his efforts to pass his plan through the Knesset  but did not indicate that the reforms would be canceled outright, as the protesters have demanded. Also, in light of Netanyahus concessions to Ben-Gvir, Netanyahus detractors are unlikely to ease up.

Protests will continue, predicted Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer.
By Kylie MacLellan and Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) - Humza Yousaf, the man set to become Scotland's first Muslim leader after a bruising contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon, is an experienced minister who faces a tough task uniting the Scottish National Party around its independence bid.

Announced the winner in the race, which will see him become first minister in Scotland's semi-autonomous government, Yousaf will be the first Muslim to lead a country in Western Europe.

A close Sturgeon ally, he has been considered a continuity candidate, and his victory in the SNP's leadership vote signals that the party will not abandon its progressive policies.

He has however distanced himself from her planned route to independence, saying the party needs to get back to making the case for independence, rather than endlessly debating process.

He will also have to try to unify the party after a brutal leadership campaign that exposed divisions among the candidates over their approach to independence and social issues.

"We will be the generation that delivers independence for Scotland," Yousaf said in Edinburgh after the result.

"Where there are divisions to heal we must do so and do so quickly because we have a job to do and as a party we are at our strongest when we are united, and what unites is our shared goal of delivering independence for our nation."

Yousaf has said his faith is "not the basis on which I legislate" and that he supports equal marriage, following a row over the views of his main rival for the role, Kate Forbes.

He has also said he plans to challenge the UK government's decision to block a bill passed by the Scottish parliament that makes it easier for people to change their legal gender.

His progressive social views should preserve a deal with the Green Party to support the SNP government.

Born in Glasgow, the 37-year-old has a degree in politics from the University of Glasgow. After graduating he worked as an aide to a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) before being elected an MSP himself in 2011.

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His father is originally from Pakistan and came to Scotland in the 1960s, while his mother was born in Kenya to a family of South Asian descent. He has a child with his second wife and also a step-daughter.

A republican, Yousaf said an independent Scotland should look at ditching the monarchy, telling the National newspaper in an interview: "Let's absolutely, within the first five years, consider whether or not we should move away from having a monarchy into an elected head of state."

Yousaf was first appointed a junior minister in 2012, at the time the youngest person and first ethnic minority to be appointed to the Scottish government. He joined the cabinet in 2018 as Secretary for Justice and became health minister in May 2021.

Yousaf has come under fire for his record as health minister, with Audit Scotland saying last month the healthcare system was facing unprecedented challenges and the Scottish government needed to be more transparent about what progress is or is not being achieved.

It said the proportion of patients seen within the 4-hour target at Accident and Emergency departments was falling and hundreds of thousands of Scots were waiting for hospital procedures, outpatients appointments and diagnostic tests.

Yousaf said he would seek to deliver in government to earn the trust of the electorate, while he also looked to build a case for independence among the undecided.

"We've got more work - absolutely - to do to convince people," he said.

"We wouldn't be standing here if that wasn't the case."

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Alistair Smout, editing by Elizabeth Piper, Angus MacSwan and Andrew Heavens)
Humza Yousaf, the first Muslim leader of a major UK political party, faces an uphill battle to revive Scotland's drive for independence following the long tenure of his close ally Nicola Sturgeon.

The new and youngest Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, 37, says his own experience as an ethnic minority means he will fight to protect the rights of all minorities -- including gay and transgender people.

The Glasgow-born Yousaf took his oath in English and Urdu when he was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, before progressing to become the first Muslim to serve in the devolved government's cabinet.

He has been hailed by his supporters as a polished communicator who can unite the party as support stagnates for the SNP's central policy -- independence for Scotland.

Despite the UK government's opposition to a new referendum, and a Supreme Court setback, Yousaf vowed in his victory speech Monday to deliver independence in this generation.

And, as his wife and mother brushed away tears, he paid tribute to his paternal grandparents after they came to Scotland from Pakistan in the 1960s barely speaking English.

They would not have imagined "in their wildest dreams" that their future grandson would become the leader of their adopted homeland.

"We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message: that your colour of skin or indeed your faith is not a barrier to leading the country that we all call home," Yousaf said.

He also vowed to be his own man as Scotland's first minister. But far from running away from Sturgeon's controversial record, he also says he will keep his experienced predecessor on "speed dial" for advice.

That has fed into critics' portrayal of Yousaf as a political lightweight who will remain in thrall to Sturgeon's camp.

At the same time, he is promising a more collegial style of leadership. "Mine would be less inner circle and more big tent," he told LBC radio.

- Racist abuse -

With the independence push stymied for now, following Sturgeon's more than eight-year tenure as first minister, Yousaf takes over facing crises in healthcare and education under the SNP's own watch in Scotland.

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His record as Sturgeon's minister for justice and healthcare was savaged on the campaign trail by his chief rival, Kate Forbes, and Yousaf must also heal a fractured party after its bruising leadership election.

Yousaf says he was toughened after facing racist abuse growing up in Glasgow, especially after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

"I've definitely had tough times," he recalled, reflecting on his time in politics.

"I've thought to myself, 'goodness, is there more that I can take personally' because I also come under a tremendous amount of abuse online and, unfortunately, sometimes face to face."

Yousaf's Pakistani-born father forged a successful career in Glasgow as an accountant. The new SNP leader's mother was born into a South Asian family in Kenya.

Yousaf attended an exclusive private school in Glasgow, two years behind Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.

He studied politics at Glasgow University, and worked in a call centre before becoming an aide to Sturgeon's predecessor as SNP leader and first minister, Alex Salmond.

Yousaf entered the Scottish cabinet in 2012, serving in various roles including justice, transport and most recently health.

- Republican -

He married former SNP worker Gail Lythgoe in 2010, but they divorced seven years later.

In 2021 he and his second wife Nadia El-Nakla launched a legal complaint against a nursery, accusing it of racial discrimination after it denied admission to their daughter.

The complaint was upheld by education inspectors but the couple have now dropped it, and the nursery denied the accusations.

He was accused of deliberately skipping a Scottish vote to legalise gay marriage in 2014, due to pressure from Muslim leaders.

Yousaf insisted he had a prior engagement, and contrasts his own record to Forbes' religiously conservative views as a member of a Scottish evangelical church.

He says he will "always fight for the equal rights of others" and not legislate based on his own faith.

But one person's constitutional position will not be protected in a Yousaf-led Scotland -- that of King Charles III.

"I've been very clear, I'm a republican," he told Scottish newspaper The National, calling for debate on whether Scotland should move to an elected head of state.

srg/jit/jwp/ea
What just happened? Humza Yousaf has become the new leader of the Scottish National Party, winning 52.1% of the final vote among party members.

The Holyrood health secretary beat off Kate Forbes and Ash Regan to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, who announced her resignation in February.

Yousaf said: "I feel like the luckiest man in the word to be standing here as the leader of the SNP, a party I joined almost 20 years ago," he said, describing it as the "greatest privilege and honour of my life".

Within hours, Yousaf confirmed will ask the UK Parliament for a Section 30 order right away, which would allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a referendum on independence

Yahoo UK looks at what Yousaf's victory could mean for the SNP's key policy - Scottish independence.

What has he said about Scottish independence?

Sturgeon had suggested the UK's next general election would be a "de-facto referendum" on Scottish independence - however Yousaf previously said he was not "wedded" to the idea as much as Sturgeon.

However, he also said it was not out of the question.

Speaking to BBC Scotlands Good Morning Scotland programme last month, Yousaf said he wanted to hear from members of the SNP about the route they wanted to follow towards independence.

"Let's have that discussion, not just at a one-off special conference, as important as these one-off conferences are, let's take [the] approach where we have a conversation with our membership across the country and let's see what ideas are coming from that array of talent that we have within the membership," he said.

Humza Yousaf taking part in a SNP leadership hustings, at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. (Reuters)

"I think it will be obvious by the point when we have a sustained level of support for independence, at the moment it's not sustained, it fluctuates from poll to poll, what wed be looking for is assuring that we have sustained support, majority support for independence," he added, strongly suggesting the SNP under his leadership would be gauging the will of the Scottish people on the matter before pushing for another vote on the matter.

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After winning the vote, Yousaf stressed that he wanted an independent Scotland to be a part of Europe, describing himself as "a proud Scot" and saying he was sure the party could "deliver independence for Scotland".

Shortly after winning, he said he would follow the actions of Sturgeon and request a Section 30 and legislate for a new referendum - widely seen by his wing of the party as the gold standard for achieving separation.

The UK Government swiftly moved to quash it, with the PM's spokesman saying: "I think you know our well-established position."

Scottish independence: the latest polls

Support for independence has continued to grow over the past 45 years, despite appearing to splutter of late. Recently, results from individual polls by YouGov and Techie show the 'No' voters have a current majority - with 53.8% and 54.7% respectively - while the yes votes from the polls (taken in February) show 46.2% and 45.3% respectively.

The 'Yes' vote has dipped recently. Support for Scottish independence grew following the UK's vote to leave the EU in 2016 - with a poll in 2019 showing that support for independence had reached more than 50%.

However, 'Yes' support reached a real peak during the coronavirus pandemic - with polls showing support for independence grew to 56% in November 2020.

But since 2021, support for independence has waned once again, amid issues within the SNP and wavering support for Sturgeon. However, with a renewed pledge to fight for independence from Yousaf, future polls will be watched closely.

What happens next?

Yousaf has committed to upholding the SNP's power-sharing deal with the Green party, and is expected to meet with Green leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie - without whom he will not have a majority in Holyrood. As the only candidate to commit to Sturgeon's agreement with the Greens, it is expected that they will continue to back the SNP under his leadership.

King Charles will sign the royal warrant prior to the new first minister being sworn in. (Reuters)

Yousaf must then win a Tuesday vote at Holyrood to become Scotland's first minister. Other parties do have the option to put forward their own candidate to become first minister at this point - but the SNP leader is highly likely to win given the party's majority (barring any shock votes from the SNP's members).

A result is expected by the end of the day on Tuesday and must then be agreed upon by King Charles before Yousaf is sworn in on Wednesday in Edinburgh.
By Krisztina Than

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's parliament approved a bill on Monday to allow Finland to join NATO once its application has been ratified by all 30 members of the alliance, ending months of foot-dragging by the ruling Fidesz party on the matter.

Finland and Sweden asked to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Although Finland's bid has now been approved, the Swedish bill is still stranded in the Hungarian parliament.

The bill on Finland's NATO accession was passed with 182 in favour and six votes against, after Fidesz said last week it would back the motion.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that Turkey's parliament would also start ratifying Finland's accession. But it also held off approving Sweden's bid.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said he had urged Turkey and Hungary to ratify both applications.

A vote on Sweden's bid has not yet been scheduled in Budapest.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief political aide said on Twitter on Sunday the government backed Sweden's NATO membership and "now it's up to the parliament to make a decision."

"Some MPs are concerned due to Swedish government officials making a habit of constantly questioning the state of Hungarian democracy, thereby insulting our voters, MPs & the country as a whole," Balazs Orban, who is not related to the prime minister, tweeted.

Fidesz lawmakers usually act in line the policies of Orban's government as he has tightened his grip on the party.

Hungary is currently in talks with the European Commission which has held up disbursement of vital EU funds to the country due to corruption and concerns over the government's erosion of democratic rights. Orban denies the accusations.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Edmund Blair)
The remains of a man missing since 2018 were discovered by a pair of hunters looking for deer shed antlers, according to Indiana State Police.

The hunters came upon what they believed to be human bones on Saturday, March 25, in Spencer County, about 90 miles west of Louisville.

Bone matter was collected, and authorities determined Sunday that the remains were of Donald Westfall Jr., who went missing in June 2018.

For many of you, this has been a long time coming, Indiana State Police Sgt. Robbie Lambert said during a news briefing Sunday.

It remains unclear how Westfall died. Additional forensic examinations will be conducted, police said.

Westfall, who was 40 when he went missing, had last been seen in surveillance footage at a convenience store in Boonville, his cousin told WEVV.

His van was found the next morning on a back county road with the keys still in the ignition, but the vehicles battery had been removed.

There were multiple searches for Westfall and investigators said Sunday that thousands of hours had been put into the case.

Family members believe Westfall was murdered, WEVV reported.

We knew that we would one day find Donnie and be able to properly lay him to rest  and today is that day, family members said on a missing person page.

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A child was among several customers who tested positive for THC after eating ice cream sold at a New Hampshire cafe, police said.

The customers, who were unrelated to each other, arrived at hospitals with symptoms of dizziness, weakness and rapid heart rates before some of them tested positive for the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana on March 17 and 18, according to the Newmarket Police Department.

Now, the Food and Drug Administration is investigating the reports of illnesses related to the Angelos Amore brand of ice cream sold at Roots Local Cafe and Catering in Newmarket, police said in a March 24 news release.

The cafe forfeited the remaining ice cream in its restaurant for testing, police said in a March 24 news release.

We cannot believe or understand how this happened, the restaurant said in a statement shared March 24 to Facebook. Angelos Amore is no longer in business and Roots Cafe had no part in (the) making of this ice cream.

McClatchy News was unable to reach Angelos Amore for comment on March 27.

The cafe apologized to those affected by the ice cream in its statement and emphasized it has been removed from the shop.

All the customers who checked into a hospital for treatment, including the child, have recovered, police said. One person was monitored at the hospital overnight.

THC is known to produce feelings of euphoria with other common side effects including sedation, confusion, dry mouth and more. For some people, its psychoactive effects, such as hallucinations, dysphoria and paranoia, can be intolerable, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Newmarket, New Hampshire, is about 60 miles north of Boston.

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Idaho Gov. Brad Little

Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed an anti-transgender bathroom bill into law, along with a bill that could force school personnel to out LGBTQ+ students to parents.

Senate Bill 100, which the Republican governor signed Thursday, bars trans students in public schools from using multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities consistent with their gender identity. Every such facility is to be designated for male persons only or female persons only.

Anyone who encounters a person of what the bill calls the opposite sex in one of these facilities can sue the school district and, if successful, receive $5,000 for each instance.

The Idaho Family Policy Center, a Christian right group, drafted the bill, TV station KTVB reports. The groups website says that one of its priorities is promoting legislation that recognizes biblical truths in sexuality and gender.

The bill states that sharing restrooms and other facilities with members of the opposite biological sex generates potential embarrassment, shame, and psychological injury  as well as increasing the likelihood of sexual assault, molestation, rape, voyeurism, and exhibitionism. This plays into the myth that trans people are predators or that people will pretend to be trans to gain access to restrooms and other single-sex spaces.

Those who dont wish to use the facility designated for their birth sex can receive what the bill calls reasonable accommodations if they make a request in writing. Those accommodations dont include multi-user spaces.

The bill passed along party lines, Republicans for, Democrats against. Democratic Sen. Rick Just told CNN he voted against it largely because of the lawsuit provision. I dont believe its helpful to encourage citizens to seek damages whenever they feel aggrieved in the slightest way, he said.

Little also signed House Bill 163, a parents rights measure that requires public schools to notify parents or guardians of any changes in students mental health. It could lead to outing of LGBTQ+ students, the Human Rights Campaign notes.

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He is expected to soon sign Senate Bill 1016, which expressly allows public works contractors to refuse to provide transgender people access to bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, according to an HRC press release.

HRC condemned the spate of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. LGBTQ+ people in Idaho deserve the opportunity to live their lives with dignity and respect, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley said in the release. Unfortunately, the bills that Gov. Little is signing into law will make life harder on LGBTQ+ folks across the state. These bills will not accomplish anything other than to further alienate and stigmatize those already on the margins of life in this state.

Bills restricting trans peoples restroom access in schools were recently signed into law in Arkansas and Iowa as well. More than 420 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year, including more bathroom bills than in any previous year, according to HRC.
Idris Elba says Kamala Harris would make a good commander in chief, as the Luther actor appeared alongside the vice president at a stop during her tour of Africa.

The British performer visited a community recording studio in Ghana with Harris on Monday, along with Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Elba, whose production company announced a partnership earlier this month to support Africa-based talent and projects, said he and his wife first met Harris at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit last year.

[Harris] said, Hey, I really want to come to Africa. And we said wed love to do that, Elba recalled to White House press pool reporters in Ghana.

If you ever go to Africa, let me know, Elba said. So here we are.

Asked if Harris would make a good president, Elba responded, Do I think the VP would? Yeah, of course.

The Golden Globe Award winner and humanitarian praised Harris for making the trip.

I think its a great signal for VP to come to Ghana, to come to Africa and be that interface to show the rest of the world that actually it is a fantastic place to sort of look at in terms of partnership and investment, said Elba.

Harris kicked off the weeklong trip to the continent  which is also expected to take her to Tanzania and Zambia  on Sunday.

For me to be able to come here during this trip on my first full day really is symbolic of the connection that we have as people and a nation, Harris said during the stop with Elba and Ralph.

After Ralph sang Endangered Species to the crowd of music artists at the event, the Broadway star said, You must invest in yourself, in your art, first.

And then you birth it out to the world, Ralph said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A spike in illegal immigration and victory in a key lawsuit has given Gov. Ron DeSantis ammunition in support of his hardline stance on immigration policies.

Only the southwest border states of Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico have seen more undocumented immigrants than Florida so far this fiscal year, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Florida ranks just ahead of New York and well ahead of most other states nationwide, with a total of 57,816 contacts with those who have entered the country illegally between October and February. That is more than the number of contacts made in the state during the entire 2022 and 2021 fiscal years combined.

Of those, a total of 5,005 individuals have been apprehended.

Changing times: Trailblazing migrant lawyer got his chance from Florida lawmakers. Now, GOP wants that door closed.

DeSantis and Scott: Two Florida GOP governors with separate paths on immigration and elections

Immigration from four countries has fueled the growing trend, with authorities making contact with 19,442 Venezuelan nationals, 12,840 Cuban nationals, 6,344 Haitian nationals, and 4,201 Ukrainian nationals in Florida between October and February.

However, Cuban nationals account for the bulk of undocumented immigrants who were detained, accounting for 4,398 of the total 5,005 apprehensions this year. Only 349 Haitians were apprehended, and zero Ukrainians and Venezuelans.

On March 8, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump issued a 109-page final order ruling in Floridas favor in a lawsuit against the United States, placing the blame on federal Parole and Alternative to Detention policies for enticing foreign nationals into crossing into the United States illegally under the belief they would eventually be released into the country.

Florida argued that over 100,000 of those immigrants have been released into the state, causing a rise in the cost of public services, citing increases in the amount of undocumented children who attend public schools and costs of other services such as incarceration, unemployment benefits, and emergency Medicaid.

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For the most part, the Court finds in favor of Florida because, as detailed below, the evidence establishes that Defendants have effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand and little more than a speedbump for aliens flooding into the country by prioritizing 'alternatives to detention' over actual detention and by releasing more than a million aliens into the country  on 'parole'  without even initiating removal proceedings, Judge Thomas Kent Wetherell of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Florida wrote in the final order.

DeSantis touted Floridas legal victory against the Biden Administration during a recent stop in Iowa, where he also trumpeted state-level efforts to bolster enforcement.

When I became governor, we finally banned sanctuary cities in the state of Florida, we recently sued Biden over his catch and release policy and guess what, this week a federal judge in the Florida Panhandle ruled that his catch and release policy is illegal and unconstitutional. So they are going to have to change something, DeSantis said.

On March 9 the Biden administration issued a statement outlining new efforts to bolster border security while also enhancing legal pathways.

"Over the past two years, the Biden-Harris Administration has secured more resources for border security than any of the presidents who preceded him, deployed the most agents ever  more than 23,000  to address the situation at the border, prevented record levels of illicit fentanyl from entering our country, and brought together world leaders on a framework to deal with changing migration patterns," his administration said in the media release.

"The Administration has also put in place new measures to enhance security at the border and reduce the number of individuals crossing unlawfully between ports of entry while expanding and expediting legal pathways for orderly migration. The president also outlined new consequences for those who fail to use these new legal pathways."

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Illegal immigration rising in Florida: A closer look at the numbers
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office appears to throw shade at Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office appears to throw shade at Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas.

Paul Vallas, one of two finalists in the race for Chicago mayor, has often been critical of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D).

The Pritzker policies with which Vallas took issue included an election-year tax cut that Vallas saw as an effort to fool voters, a reduction in a tax credit for low-income private school parents and, most of all, the progressive governors cautious approach to reopening public schools and lifting mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on a conservative talk-radio show in December 2021, Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, argued that Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot were relying on executive orders to implement public health policy because it gives them the ability to act like dictators by circumventing their respective legislatures.

Pritzker has remained neutral in the Chicago mayoral runoff, which is due to conclude on April 4. In that contest, Vallas, a centrist, faces off against Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a progressive.

HuffPost nonetheless asked Pritzkers political staff whether he had any response to Vallas most striking criticism of the governor.

Pritzker campaign spokesperson Natalie Edelstein replied with a statement that both defended Pritzkers conduct and took a subtle jab at Vallas, homing in on his affinity for right-wing talk radio.

Throughout the pandemic, Governor Pritzker spent every day fighting to save peoples lives and livelihoods, Edelstein said. He did it by following the advice of the nations best virologists and epidemiologists, many of whom are at Illinoiss world-class research institutions and hospitals.

Leadership requires making tough choices and not pandering to the loudest voices driven by politics, she added. The next mayor of Chicago may be called upon to lead in a similar type of emergency and residents deserve to know if their next Mayor will listen to experts or instead to right wing talk show hosts when making decisions about peoples lives.

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HuffPost sought a response from the Vallas campaign.

Paul Vallas looks forward to working with state leaders in tackling all the issues facing Chicago, from making the city safer to improving education to confronting crisis situations whenever they emerge, Vallas campaign spokesperson Phil Swibinski said in a statement. As a lifelong Democrat, Paul respects Gov. Pritzkers leadership and voted for him in the past election.

The two mayoral candidates competing in the runoff  Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson (left) and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas  campaign in Chicago in February.

The two mayoral candidates competing in the runoff  Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson (left) and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas  campaign in Chicago in February.

Vallas, a charter-school proponent backed by Chicagos main police union, has run on a message of restoring public safety. He proposes filling the citys more than one thousand person police backlog and reviving community policing without raising any taxes.

Johnson, a former school teacher and organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, previously embraced the idea of cutting police funding to fund social programs. He is now running on using efficiency savings to add 200 detectives through promotion, as well as raising an array of taxes to finance youth jobs and comprehensive mental health care.

Liberal cities prolonged school closures and other non-pharmaceutical efforts to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have elicited criticism from across the ideological spectrum as even some progressives second-guess the tradeoffs of these policies.

But Vallass criticism of Pritzker is part of a pattern of bashing prominent Democrats and cozying up to right-wing activists, pundits, and even politicians, that has helped Johnson in his quest to define Vallas as a Republican  and apparently even irked Pritzker.

In other appearances on right-wing radio in recent years, Vallas has suggested that certain left-wing methods for teaching Black history create an excuse for bad behavior, and disparaged former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden.

Vallas has had a consistently frosty attitude toward Pritzker, whom he dissed in the same interview where he spoke critically about Obama and Biden.

Vallas even encouraged the leader of a right-wing parents rights group to run against Pritzker. He has since apologized for associating with the group after learning of its views on LGBTQ issues.

Vallas led Johnson by six percentage points in the only public poll conducted since the runoff got underway.

To close that gap, Johnson is hoping to convince enough moderate Democrats  especially moderate Black Democrats  that he is the only real Democrat in the race.

Related...
Before and after images show the devastation in the town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi after a tornado on Friday night (AP/Getty/ Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies)

Satellite images have captured the scale of devastation wrought by a huge tornado which ripped a 170-mile path across southern states on Friday night.

Several rural towns suffered significant damage from the twister which left 25 people dead in Mississippi, one dead in Alabama, and dozens more injured.

Aerial images, from space technology company Maxar, revealed that the little town of Rolling Fork, close to the Mississippi River Delta, was largely obliterated after it took a direct hit.

Satellite images showing (left) Walnut street in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on December 27, 2022, and (right) the same street in the aftermath of Fridays tornado (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies)

High-resolution satellite imagery captured on Sunday shows the extent of the damage when compared to previous images collected on December 27, 2022.

Neatly-kept neighborhoods of modest homes dotted with greenery have been transformed into unrecognizable piles of wood, metal and rubble, the trees ripped from their roots. Vehicles were flipped over like toy cars.

Residents took shelter from the tornado in bath tubs and hallways, and in one instance a restaurants walk-in refrigerator. Later, people broke into a still-standing John Deere store and converted it into a triage center for the wounded, The Associated Press reported.

In the town of Amory, local resident Leah Ann Hubbard told The Independent how she climbed into her bathtub with her dogs and pulled a mattress over them.

It was harrowing, all I heard was rain beating down, and it mustve been thunderous, she said. Its hard to remember because youre in fight-or-flight mode. Above all, you just feel the power.

You know that there is a monster swirling over your house and over your town, and theres nothing you can do. And youre just praying for yourself and for everybody else.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows homes along Walnut and Mulberry streets in Rolling Fork on Dec. 27, 2022 (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologie)

Walnut and Mulberry streets in Rolling Fork, on Sunday, March 26 2023 after a tornado wreaked havoc in the area (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies)

The tornado was given a preliminary rating of EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale of intensity, marking it as a rare and powerful storm with the ability to destroy buildings and toss large objects including vehicles.

More than 300 structures in Mississippi were entirely destroyed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said on Monday with more than 1,000 impacted overall. Shelters have been opened for those who are displaced.

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President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi on Sunday meaning that federal funds will flow to the worst-impacted areas.

But the threat isnt over yet in parts of the southeast. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday that there is a new risk of strong to severe storms with damaging wind gusts, hail and brief tornadoes today from southeast Alabama across central Georgia and heading into South Carolina.

Isolated instances of damaging winds were also expected through early evening, NWS said.

A tornado cannot be entirely discounted across parts of Georgia and southern South Carolina, the agency added.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Lawmakers belonging to India's main opposition Congress party wore black outfits, held placards that said "Save Democracy" and threw paper in parliament on Monday in protest against the disqualification of their leader Rahul Gandhi from the chambers.

Gandhi, 52, lost his parliament seat on Friday, a day after a court in the western state of Gujarat convicted him and sentenced him to two years in jail for a defamatory comment he made during an election campaign rally in 2019.

Gandhi is out on bail and his lawyers are expected to challenge the verdict in a higher court this week.

"The decision to disqualify Gandhi marks a black day in our country's democracy," Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, dressed in a black outfit and a black turban, told reporters outside parliament.

Gandhi told reporters on Saturday that he was disqualified from parliament for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his relationship with Gautam Adani, founder of the Adani group business conglomerate.

"We will continue to question Modi and his government for manipulating state-run assets to favour one company," Kharge said.

Gandhi and other opposition leaders say the prime minister's longstanding ties with Gautam Adani helped the business group secure investments from state-run firms and win big ticket contracts such as the management of six airports.

Both the government and the Adani group have denied the accusations.

The Adani group is trying to rebuild investor confidence after U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research accused it of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens - charges the company has denied.

Hindenburg's Jan. 24 report eroded more than $100 billion in the value of the company's shares.

Opposition lawmakers have been vocal about their demand for a joint parliamentary committee inquiry into Adani's finances, forcing the speaker to repeatedly adjourn proceedings of parliament.

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A senior federal minister said Congress lawmakers were insulting parliament by not allowing it to function.

"They are determined to humiliate parliament, which is the temple of democracy," trade minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

(Reporting by Rupam Jain; Editing by YP Rajesh and Christina Fincher)
India's parliament was adjourned twice on Monday after lawmakers held rowdy protests and threw paper at the speaker following the expulsion from the house of top opposition figure Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi lost his parliamentary seat on Friday after being convicted in a case that critics say shows how the rule of law is under threat in the world's largest democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The speaker called off proceedings less than a minute after opposition MPs wearing black erupted in shouting, some of them throwing bits of paper at him.

"I want to run the House with dignity," Speaker Om Birla said.

The session resumed several hours later only to be abandoned again after about 10 minutes as opposition MPs chanted anti-Modi slogans and waved "Democracy in danger" placards.

It was the latest in a string of stoppages in recent weeks in India's often raucous parliament among lawmakers representing India's 1.4 billion people.

Opposition MPs have been demanding a probe into potential links between Modi and the business empire of tycoon Gautam Adani, which has been hit by allegations of accounting fraud.

Debates have also descended into shouting matches over comments made by Gandhi in Britain in early March that Indian democracy is "under attack".

Opposition lawmakers from different parties also staged protests in New Delhi on Monday, the latest in a series of recent demonstrations.

Piyush Goyal, trade minister and a member of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Monday accused the opposition of "cheap politics" and "trying to mislead people".

Gandhi "has no right to consider himself above the law of the country", Goyal told reporters.

- Muted international reaction -

Despite facing criticism from human rights groups, Modi has largely been courted by Western governments which see India, this year's host of the Group of 20 economies, as a bulwark against China and potential player on the Ukraine war.

"Respect for the rule of law and judicial independence is a cornerstone of any democracy, and we're watching Mr Gandhi's case in Indian courts," US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, steering clear of condemning the opposition leader's expulsion.

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"We engage with the government of India on our shared commitment to democratic values, including, of course, freedom of expression," Patel told reporters in Washington.

Gandhi, 52, is the leading face of the opposition Congress party, once the dominant force of Indian politics, and is the scion of India's most famous political dynasty.

But Congress has for years been repeatedly crushed in elections by Modi's BJP and its nationalist appeals to India's Hindu majority.

The lower house of parliament ruled Gandhi ineligible to sit as an MP on Friday, a day after he was sentenced to two years for defamation. He is appealing.

The conviction stemmed from a remark made during the 2019 election campaign when Gandhi had asked why "all thieves have Modi as (their) common surname".

His comments were portrayed as a slur against the prime minister and against all those with the same surname, which is associated with the lower rungs of India's caste hierarchy.

A BJP spokesman said Thursday the court acted with "due judicial process" in arriving at its ruling in the case, one of several Gandhi is facing.

Legal action has been widely deployed against opposition party figures and institutions seen as critical of the Modi government during its nine years in power.

Domestic and international media have also come under growing pressure. Last month, tax inspectors raided the local offices of Britain's BBC.

The Editors Guild of India said the raids demonstrated a "trend of using government agencies to intimidate or harass press organisations that are critical of government policies".

On Saturday, Gandhi, who recently completed a walk across India that was hailed as a success by commentators, said he would "do whatever I have to do to defend the democratic nature of this country".

abh-ja-stu-sct/
(Bloomberg) -- Indonesias tax officers are mulling a proposal to split away from the Finance Ministry as a probe into a $20 billion scandal looms over them, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

A majority of tax officials support the plan that would remove the agency from under Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawatis watch, said the people, who asked not to be named, as theyre not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. The move would likely need approval from parliament and from President Joko Widodo to be realized.

Officials have held meetings to discuss the proposal and circulated state documents that would support the move, one of them said. A document that is already in the public domain discusses the governments plan to form a tax revenue body by next year.

Indrawati is already battling a crisis of confidence on two fronts as the government starts an investigation into more than $20 billion in suspicious transactions that the state watchdog found at her ministry. On one hand, Indonesians are calling for stronger action to root out corruption at the tax office. On the other, her moves to discipline officials who flaunt their wealth have led to discontent among some civil servants.

The finance minister has over the past few years focused on building the publics trust in order to improve tax compliance, which remains among the lowest compared to peers. Expanding Indonesias revenue base, especially among taxpayers, is key to helping the government improve its fiscal standing and even credit ratings.

The tax office is currently focused on institutional reform to become strong, credible and accountable through five pillars including structural, human resources and database improvement, said spokeswoman Dwi Astuti in response to Bloomberg questions on the plan. A representative for the finance ministry didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

Story continues

The plan to split from the ministry has taken on more urgency recently as tax officers are concerned after hearing the parliament may form a special panel to investigate them, said the people.

Proposals to have an autonomous tax agency have been discussed by at least two previous finance ministers, but parliament has yet to discuss the matter during Indrawatis time. Former finance chief Bambang Brodjonegoro said the move would help boost state receipts despite opposition from several corporate taxpayers.

--With assistance from Faris Mokhtar and Grace Sihombing.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Homeless men wait around for the offer of work in the slum area of Kamagasaki on April 23, 2016 in Osaka, Japan. Carl Court/Getty Images

Every year, tens of thousands of people in Japan go missing on purpose to get a second shot at life.

The South China Morning Post spoke to two men who have disappeared from their old lives.

"I was sick of the world. But I didn't have the courage to die," one of the men, Kodama, told the SCMP.

A slum in the Japanese port city of Osaka has a mysterious reputation  it's where people go when they don't want to be found.

The Kamagasaki slum is filled with "jouhatsu-sha," or "evaporated people," who upped and left their lives in other parts of Japan, a South China Morning Post documentary released on March 19 revealed.

Many of the slum's residents are people who have wandered there and resettled from other places, the SCMP reported. These people have chosen to literally vanish from their lives elsewhere, cutting themselves off from family and friends to start anew.

In 2021, around 80,000 people were reported missing in Japan, per Statista. Many of them chose to disappear because of debt, to escape their obligations and responsibilities, or just to press the reset button on their lives, per the SCMP.

One such "evaporated" person is Masashi Tanaka, 49, who said he chose to disappear after being abused by his mother. On the day the documentary was filmed, he had just been released from prison after serving time for drug charges.

He said that after he went to prison the first time, his mother told him: "You're already dead to me. Don't write to me again." Tanaka chose to go to Kamagasaki after that, where he lives alone.

Kamagasaki, also known as Airin Chiku, is an area in Osaka where people can get cheap accommodation and low-income jobs as day laborers. Hotels can be found at rates as low as $15 per night, and people stand at the side of the street hoping to get hired for odd jobs, per the SCMP.

The slum is Japan's largest "yoseba," a place where prospective employers can find day laborers, per human rights group Hurights Osaka. A 2008 investigation by The Guardian estimated that there were around 25,000 people living in the slum. Tokyo, too, is home to a similar slum  Sanya, where many day laborers live and hang around on the streets, waiting for work.

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Many people living in the Kamagasaki slum have changed their names to maintain their anonymity, per the SCMP.

And it is easy to maintain anonymity and hide in plain sight in Japan, per a report by the BBC in 2020. Sociologist Hiroki Nakamori told the BBC that because privacy is highly valued in Japan, missing people can withdraw money from ATMs without detection.

"Police will not intervene unless there's another reason, like a crime or an accident. All the family can do is pay a lot for a private detective. Or just wait. That's all," Nakamori told the BBC.

A man named Kodama, 64, told the SCMP that he ran away from home at the age of 27 with "very little money," just enough for a train ticket.

He had been laid off from his job, and traveled to Osaka where he was told that he would be able to find work. Kodama said he has not seen his family in over 35 years.

"If I went back, it would be awkward for everyone. So I'm going to leave and live on my own," Kodama told the SCMP.

He added: "I was sick of the world. But I didn't have the courage to die."

Read the original article on Insider
Action News Jax is investigating three proposed state laws that local leaders say could create a scenario that leads to the City of Jacksonville potentially selling its utility company, JEA.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Would you say this amounts to a state takeover? Action News Jax Ben Becker asked City Councilwoman Randy DeFoor. I would say it amounts to a taking, said DeFoor who sat on the JEA Special Investigatory Committee that examined the failed sale of the utility in 2019.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

JEA initially wrote an email to council members stating that House Bill 1331 specifically would create a total ban on earning a reasonable return on utility expenses - meaning the annual payment to the City would effectively go away because of numerous restrictions.

A recent amendment appears to loosen the language, but theres still questions of what will happen next with HB1331 along with SB1380 and SB1632.

The bills take aim at cities that critics claim are using too much utility money to bolster their general funds. Jacksonville receives about $122 million from JEA every year in place of property taxes.

In my opinion, its an effort to come in the back door to create a scenario where it would be beneficial for the city to sell JEA, said DeFoor.

Becker was there at the federal courthouse in March 2022, when former JEA CEO Aaron Zahn and CFO Ryan Wannemacher were both indicted for their role in the attempted sale.

Read: JEA board approves tripling base monthly charge

NextEra, which is FPLs parent company had submitted the highest bid for JEA at $11 billion.

State Rep. Wyman Duggans (R-Jacksonville) law firm worked for NextEra during the 2019 privatization effort, although he said he had no direct involvement.

Duggan supports the house bill, but downplays it impacts JEA negatively - actually he said JEA told him just the opposite, The formula under the bill would allow the amount of money JEA directly transfers to the city to go up $60 million over and above what they transfer now. Becker asked JEAs CEO Jay Stowe if thats true, but Stowe wouldnt confirm that exact number or any number.

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Im going to work hard every day to be sure we are doing the best thing we do and keep JEA in hands of the city and community and people we serve, said Stowe.

Read: INVESTIGATES: Councilmember Dennis offered job to resign, remove opposition to botched JEA sale

FPL sent Becker a statement regarding if the utility will pursue JEA again in the future.

While we do not comment on market rumors, I can tell you FPL is squarely focused on serving our existing 5.8 million customers across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable energy.

JEA said the mayors administration is taking a neutral position on the bills although you may recall Mayor Lenny Curry was a proponent of privatizing JEA in the past. The City did not respond to Beckers request for comment.

As for DeFoor, she said the Office of General Counsel will have to judge what to do next, If this passes, do we have a legal right to sue the State for the monies we would have received but cant because of this new legislation.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Duggan said there still could be more amendments to the bills. For example, a provision that would have stripped JEA of its ability to set its own rates, has been taken out of HB1331. The bills still must work their way through committees before heading to the floor for a possible vote. The measures are expected to be discussed at JEAs board meeting on Tuesday.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories
It hasn't been the best quarter for Telecom Plus Plc (LON:TEP) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 13% in that time. On the bright side the returns have been quite good over the last half decade. After all, the share price is up a market-beating 59% in that time.

So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.

View our latest analysis for Telecom Plus

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Over half a decade, Telecom Plus managed to grow its earnings per share at 7.9% a year. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 10% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We know that Telecom Plus has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? Check if analysts think Telecom Plus will grow revenue in the future.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. In the case of Telecom Plus, it has a TSR of 93% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

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A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that Telecom Plus shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 31% over the last year. That's including the dividend. That's better than the annualised return of 14% over half a decade, implying that the company is doing better recently. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Telecom Plus better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Telecom Plus .

We will like Telecom Plus better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on British exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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While it may not be enough for some shareholders, we think it is good to see the Culp, Inc. (NYSE:CULP) share price up 13% in a single quarter. But spare a thought for the long term holders, who have held the stock as it bled value over the last five years. Five years have seen the share price descend precipitously, down a full 82%. While the recent increase might be a green shoot, we're certainly hesitant to rejoice. The real question is whether the business can leave its past behind and improve itself over the years ahead. We really hope anyone holding through that price crash has a diversified portfolio. Even when you lose money, you don't have to lose the lesson.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

View our latest analysis for Culp

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Over five years Culp's earnings per share dropped significantly, falling to a loss, with the share price also lower. Since the company has fallen to a loss making position, it's hard to compare the change in EPS with the share price change. But we would generally expect a lower price, given the situation.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Culp's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About The Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

We've already covered Culp's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Culp's TSR, which was a 80% drop over the last 5 years, was not as bad as the share price return.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 13% in the twelve months, Culp shareholders did even worse, losing 35%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 12% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Culp you should know about.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on 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.

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Key Insights

Serviceware's estimated fair value is 13.48 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Current share price of 6.92 suggests Serviceware is potentially 49% undervalued

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Serviceware SE (ETR:SJJ) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Serviceware

Crunching The Numbers

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (, Millions) -1.55m 1.30m 2.40m 3.20m 5.50m 7.17m 8.69m 9.99m 11.0m 11.9m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 30.33% Est @ 21.28% Est @ 14.94% Est @ 10.51% Est @ 7.40% Present Value (, Millions) Discounted @ 6.3% -1.5 1.1 2.0 2.5 4.0 5.0 5.7 6.1 6.3 6.4

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = 38m

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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 0.2%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.3%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = 12m (1 + 0.2%)  (6.3% 0.2%) = 192m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= 192m ( 1 + 6.3%)10= 104m

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is 142m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of 6.9, the company appears quite undervalued at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Serviceware as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.041. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Moving On:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Serviceware, we've put together three essential factors you should further research:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Serviceware that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does SJJ's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every German stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament approved on Monday amendments to the elections law, a move that has angered independent lawmakers and small parties who say the new legislation could weaken their chances.

The amendments abandon an election law under which the last parliamentary election was held in 2021, in response to pressure from anti-government protests demanding fairer election law and the departure of Iraq's ruling elite.

More than 560 people, mostly unarmed demonstrators but also members of the security forces, have been killed since a wave of popular unrest began in October 2019, demanding an overhaul of a political system seen by many as profoundly corrupt.

The new amendments were pushed by a coalition of Shiite parties, known as the Coordination Framework, which is an alliance of Iran-aligned factions that control the majority of parliament, lawmakers said.

In Iraq's last general election, populist Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party was the biggest winner with 73 seats, but Sadr ordered his bloc to resign after months of stalemate over forming a new government.

Sadr's decision to depart parliament and politics strengthened the power of rival Iran-backed politicians in the assembly.

"Large parties controlling parliament plan to consolidate their powers and remove independents. They want to smash us," said independent lawmaker Hadi al-Salami.

Legislators rejecting amendments to the law tried to block the start of the session by shouting and chanting close to the speaker podium.

"No, no to the new law. We reject confiscating the real democracy," screamed one lawmaker while blowing a referees whistle in protest at holding the session.

Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi ordered security forces to remove lawmakers who tried to stop the vote outside the session hall, lawmakers said.

Parties voting in favour of amending the law defended their position and said democratic procedures were observed in legislating new law and that it was passed by majority.

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"Parliament voted for the new law after reaching a consensus among most political parties and no need for the fuss," said Shi'ite lawmaker Arif al-Hamami.

Opposition parties and analysts warned that the parliament vote could trigger protests and revive unrest in Iraq.

"Changing the law to make it serve the interests of larger political parties is a clear move to control both government and parliament and many Iraqis wont like it. Protests could return back soon," said Baghdad-based political advisor Ahmed Younis.

New election law will be applied in the next national election, for which no date has been set yet, and for the provincial election which parliament demanded to be held on Nov. 6.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, editing by Ed Osmond)
When ISISs territorial state was dealt its final defeat four years ago in eastern Syria, the world breathed a sigh of relief. For years, ISIS had terrified the globe. Using slick propaganda, the terror group had recruited as many as 50,000 foreign fighters from dozens of countries. ISISs declaration of an Islamic caliphate saw it transform into a worldwide movement, with activities on every continent. And when the U.S. led an international coalition to confront it, ISIS triggered a global campaign of retaliatory terrorist attacks that transformed international security.

In the years since its territorial defeat, a small force of 900 U.S. troops has remained in northeastern Syria to degrade ISISs insurgency, alongside a local partner, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who occupy a third of the country, counter to the agenda of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. To a large extent, that counterterrorism mission is succeeding.

On a recent visit to the area alongside U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla, I saw first-hand the vital and sustainable role being played by U.S. troops, whose support to SDF operations is the glue holding together the only meaningful counter to ISISs desire to resurge once again. From running an extensive aerial surveillance network, to coordinating the SDFs more than 100,000 fighters and facilitating civilian aid, stabilization and tribal engagement, these troops are indispensable. U.S. helicopters also medevac injured SDF personnel, as we saw after ISIS militants ambushed an SDF patrol, critically injuring one SDF fighter.

While the U.S. troop presence exists explicitly and only to combat ISIS, during my visit the constant threat of attack by Iranian-sponsored militias was palpable. Forces dedicated to coordinating U.S. drones flying over Syrian skies and to radar and air defense systems deployed in U.S. bases in Syria were laser-focused on the array of Iranian-produced drones known to have been used for kamikaze-style attacks on U.S. forces in the region. As CENTCOM has made clear, countering ISIS and preventing its resurgence is the second most vital U.S. priority in the Middle East, but the first is facing down the threats posed by a hostile Iran.



While an ISIS attack during our visit underlined the terror groups persistent threat, the reason for such a heightened awareness of Iranian threats was revealed on March 23, when an Iranian suicide drone hit a U.S. base in eastern Syria, killing a contractor and wounding five U.S. servicemembers. Such tit-for-tat incidents are far from new  this was the 79th Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Syria since January 2021  but the deadly nature of the attack was extremely rare. The U.S. has not suffered a combat fatality in Syria for years. Retaliatory U.S. airstrikes on Iran-linked positions in the area followed just hours later, but it is unclear if they would be sufficient to deter further attacks. That Russia has markedly escalated its flight of fighter jets into U.S.-controlled airspace in northeastern Syria has complicated things further. One such overflight occurred during our visit to the area  no coincidence given the presence of CENTCOMs leadership.

Yet despite the challenges from malign states, the fight against ISIS remains the utmost priority. Since late 2019, three successive ISIS leaders have been killed on Syrian soil, along with dozens of senior and mid-level commanders. In terms of counterterrorism, we are unquestionably degrading ISIS. However, the terror group has one invaluable advantage on its side: the remnants of its state in the former of its former residents. In the final days of the fateful battle against ISISs last stand at al-Baghuz in March 2019, streams of ISIS fighters and family members were captured. Today, more than 10,000 battle-hardened ISIS militants languish in 26 makeshift SDF prisons and a further 54,000 women and children reside in secured camps.



This detainee crisis represents a humanitarian and security challenge the likes of which we have never faced before. On the ground, the scale is staggering, as is the profound security threats associated with it. When you speak with residents, when you speak with the SDF securing the sites, when you speak with camp administration officials, you get a real sense of looming danger, CENTCOMs Kurilla told me after Blackhawk helicopters took us to the largest of the camps, al-Hol. We have to have a real sense of urgency to address this problem through repatriation, rehabilitation, and reintegration, Kurilla told me. This requires all arms of the U.S. government; it requires the international community.

The scale of this detainee crisis is unprecedented. Twenty-one years ago, 780 terrorism suspects were rendered to Guantanamo Bay, a self-contained detention facility on an isolated island thousands of miles from active conflict. Twenty-one years later, 31 remain there, despite concerted efforts by successive U.S. administrations to prosecute and repatriate prisoners. The ISIS fighters alone, numbering 10,000, would fill 13 Guantanamos at its original capacity. In northeast Syria, by contrast, we are dealing with a total of nearly 65,000 people from at least 55 countries, held in makeshift prisons and vast camps, amid ongoing civil conflict and an ISIS insurgency.

It is hard to understate the mammoth challenge associated with anything close to a resolution here. ISIS literally has an army in prisons  10,000 in Syria and 20,000 next door in Iraq. At least 5,000 of ISISs most dangerous and committed fighters currently reside in Ghweiran prison in Hasakah, northeastern Syria. The facility, a former school, is administered by our SDF partners and its defenses paid for by the U.S. and coalition allies. During a visit to the prison, I heard of a just-foiled ISIS prison break coordinated by an Iraqi leader inside and operatives outside.

Prison breaks are part of ISISs DNA. They were the key to its dramatic resurgence in 2014. In January 2022, ISIS launched a massive attack on Ghweiran prison, ramming several vehicles rigged with explosives into exterior walls, then driving pick-up trucks full of weapons into the facility to arm prisoners. The assault had been coordinated by inmates and ISIS operatives on the outside. Some local prison guards had almost certainly been coerced into facilitating the initial attack. Ultimately, the incident triggered a 10-day battle that drew in U.S. and U.K. special forces and left more than 500 people dead. British government money has since reinforced the prisons defenses, but ISIS is clearly not deterred.

But ISIS is not only interested in freeing its fighters  it is also determined to free the 50,000 women and children held in al-Hol camp, 40 kilometers away. Multiple major ISIS plots to attack al-Hol have been foiled in recent months. As we learned, SDF guards there have begun receiving ISIS threats by cell phone and now only enter the camp in U.S.-provided Bearcat armored vehicles. During a brief foray into the camp, we were flanked by multiple teams of U.S. special forces, American-operated Bradley fighting vehicles stood at every corner and U.S. drones and helicopters were in the sky above us.



The presence of more than 25,000 children in al-Hol is a humanitarian travesty and a ticking time bomb. In September, the SDF completed a weeks-long clearing operation in al-Hol that captured 300 ISIS operatives who had been living among the women and children along with weapons and explosives. A rocket-propelled grenade attack within the camp killed two SDF personnel, but equally concerning was the discovery of several ISIS schools, along with photo and video footage showing young children being taught ISISs ideology and support for violence and terrorism. The evidence we were shown from within the camp was similar to that created by ISISs propaganda outfits at the height of the terror groups power. For CENTCOM, this is ISISs next generation, to complement its army in detention.



The only resolution to this detainee crisis is returning the men, women and children to their countries of origin for prosecution or rehabilitation and reintegration. Logistically, the challenge here is daunting. The vast majority of the nearly 50,000 women and children are from Iraq and Syria. To date, Iraq has engaged in an impressive returns process, but even so, it will take at least six years to complete. Of the roughly 12,000 Syrians, almost all are from regime-controlled areas, which precludes returns altogether. Following a concerted U.S. diplomatic push, repatriation of third country nationals achieved considerable momentum in 2022, but even so, only 1 percent were actually transferred home. It can take as long as a year to complete a single repatriation case and when it comes to the 10,000 male prisoners, there is no international willingness to repatriate at all.

If the situation remains the same, it will take at least 30 years to return the women and children alone. But U.S. troops, key to containing ISIS and securing the facilities, will almost certainly not be in Syria anywhere near that long due to slowly building pressures at home to disengage from conflicts in the region. Whenever the troops do leave, all hell will break loose. The Syrian regime has an unspeakable track record when it comes to ISIS, having all-but-ignored its rise since 2011. Even earlier, from 2003 to 2010, Assads regime actively supported ISISs insurgency against U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, providing training, intelligence and financial support, as well as facilitating the arrival of more than 90 percent of its suicide bombers across Syrian territory.

Failing to deal with this detainee crisis is a dream scenario for ISIS. This is a priority for the U.S., with the State Department now convening an inter-agency working group dedicated to the issue. But this is not nearly enough. A major international diplomatic mobilization is required to elevate the response to this challenge to the level required.

When ISIS marched into Mosul and across Iraq and Syria in 2014, the biggest international coalition in modern history took form to intervene. A similar effort is required now. If not, a catastrophic ISIS resurgence is just a matter of time.


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Monday evening to pause a divisive plan to overhaul Israels judicial system until the next parliament session after widespread unrest.

As unprecedented strikes gripped Israel, Netanyahu said he was postponing voting on the judicial overhaul to allow time to reach a consensus.

I will turn every stone in order to find a solution, he said in a televised address. We are in the height of the crisis that is threatening our basic unity.

But he maintained that the overhaul was still needed.

"A large majority of the public today recognizes the necessity of democratic reform in the judicial system," he said.

Netanyahu spoke after a paralyzing day in which hundreds of thousands of people refused to work to protest the governments proposal. The general strike was called off after his speech.

Netanyahu changed his plans after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, who had been a major hurdle to postponing the vote, said he would agree to delay it.

A national guard under Ben-Gvirs ministry will be established as part of the agreement, his party said in a statement.

"I agreed to remove the veto for the postponement of the legislation, in exchange for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus commitment that the legislation will be brought to the Knesset for approval in the next session," said Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist.

President Isaac Herzog, who was among those who called for the changes to be halted, praised the decision and urged protesters on both sides not to resort to violence.

"This is the time to begin a sincere, serious and responsible dialogue that will urgently calm the waters and lower the flames," he said.

Unrest broke out Sunday night after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who became the first member of his Likud Party to speak out against the proposed changes. Gallant had warned that divisions over the plans threatened Israels security.

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"I welcome the decision to stop the legislation in favor of negotiations," Gallant tweeted Monday evening.

The proposal by Netanyahus hard-right coalition in January would threaten the independence of the Supreme Court and limit judges powers, critics say. It has faced stiff opposition, with Israelis regularly taking to the streets to demonstrate.

Earlier Monday, Israels largest trade union called for a general strike, which halted medical services to flights to meals served by McDonald's restaurants.

Protesters block a road and hold national flags as they gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv on March 27, 2023. (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP - Getty Images)

Before the proposal was paused, large crowds of protesters and counterprotesters gathered in the shadow of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, many waving Israeli flags. Some chanted into megaphones or banged on drums.

Leah Basa, 23, said she felt Netanyahu's plan would lead to the "downfall of democracy."

"I'm protesting the reform which is going to get rid of the checks and balances and get rid of the separation of powers," she said. "I think that it is causing so many rips in society. No matter which side wins, nobody is going to win in the end, because whether the reform passes or doesn't both sides just hate each other so much."

Israel judicial reform protests (Ohad Zwigenberg / AP)

Salome Dunaevsky, 57, said she felt Netanyahu's plan would cause chaos.

"It gives total power, almost total power, to the politicians," she said. "It means that there is no rule. You can do whatever."

But not everyone welcomed the delay.

"I feel terrible," Ori Rosenthal, 37, said. "We elected them to do the job, and they surrendered to everyone. The minority is terrorizing the majority, and that's not democracy."

Israeli diplomatic staffers were among those on strike Monday on the advice of their trade union, said a diplomat who was not authorized to brief the media. Israels embassies in Washington and elsewhere around the world shut as a result, and some diplomats replaced their social media profile pictures with the Israeli flag.

Peter Lerner, the head of international relations at Histadrut, the Israeli trade union umbrella group representing 700,000 workers, tweeted a video of cheering activists. He said the groups chairman, Arnon Bar-David, had just told the meeting: We are stopping the legal revolution.

In response to Netanyahu's address Monday evening, Bar-David ended the general strike and said he would assist him in leading negotiations.

"I call on all my friends in the government and in the Knesset, from the left and the right, to put ego aside and see the good of the people and the future of Israeli society before your eyes," he said.

Monday's unrest affected many sectors. Israel's airport authority confirmed just before 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) that all departing flights from Ben-Gurion International Airport would be grounded.

Two of Israels main seaports, Haifa and Ashdod, said in separate statements reported by Reuters that they would shut down in support of the general strike.

Big brands also took part in the protest: McDonald's said it would begin closing its restaurants across the country from midday (5 a.m. ET) before a full national closing beginning at 2 p.m. (7 a.m. ET).

Tens of thousands of Israelis have poured into the streets across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan. (Oren Ziv / AP)

Israels leading universities also closed Monday in protest against both Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan and Gallants firing, saying in a statement that the changes could lead to a brain drain in Israel and discourage international students.

Netanyahus planned overhaul also prompted international pressure.

Israels consul general in New York, Asaf Zamir, announced Sunday night that he would resign after 18 months in the job over the judicial changes and the defense ministers firing.

And the White House National Security Council said in a statement Sunday night that the most recent protests further underscore the urgent need for compromise.

As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship, it said.

Patrick Smith reported from London, Ali Zelenko reported from Jerusalem, and Elizabeth Chuck reported from New York.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Reuters

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked Yoav Gallant, Israels defense minister. Twenty-four hours earlier, Gallant had defied his boss and urged the Knesset, the countrys parliament, to pause its efforts to degrade the judiciary. For the first time since 1973, the Jewish State roils amid existential crises.

The State of Israel is in its greatest danger since the Yom Kippur War, Naftali Bennett, a past prime minister, tweeted. It doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong... We are brothers.

Netanyahu Ally Turns on Explosive Plan to Reshape Judiciary

Or not.

Netanyahus latest gambit triggered spontaneous protest. At midnight, thousands took to the streets in a show of anger, fear, and disgust. Come morning, the Histadrut (the national labor union) went on strike. Ben-Gurion (the nations main international airport) shut down. Israelis embassy in D.C. is shuttered.

The prime ministers ongoing corruption trial makes him a prisoner of the whims of others. No half-baked idea was too stupid, too cruel or too radical to win a hearing or almost become law.

The banner on Mondays Yedioth Ahronoth, the countrys leading Hebrew-language tabloid, blared: NETANYAHU PRESENTS A CLEAR , IMMEDIATE & MATERIAL DANGER TO THE SECURITY OF THE STATE.

The emperor has no clothes. Whatever magic he once wielded is gone. Today, Netanyahu stands as a would-be autocrat thwarted by a determined population. His nominal allies see a spent force.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister and racist poster child of the current government, reportedly lashed into Netanyahu this morning. We cannot fold like thisstopping the legislation, he shouted. Stopping the legislation will lead to the dissolution of the coalition. Welcome to politics.

People attend a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister as his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

For now, the Israeli electorate remains comprised of citizens, not subjects. The halachic state (government by religious law) may have to wait.

Then again, for many Netanyahu supporters, democracy is alien or antithetical. The legacy of Runnymede (commonly known as the birthplace of modern democracy) is not theirs. It does not speak to them.

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I dont think the Bible says anything about democracy, the late Sheldon Adelsona U.S. billionaire and major supporter of pro-Israel political groupsremarked in 2014. God didnt talk about Israel remaining as a democratic state, he continued. Israel isnt going to be a democratic state  so what.

Looking back a few months, Netanyahu's interview with the U.S. journalist Bari Weiss reads like a parody. I am a 19th-century democrat, Netanyahu smugly intoned. The other parties in Israel are not democratic.

Wow. He sure fooled Ms. Weiss. The rest of us not so much.

Bibis Israel Is Turning Into a High-Tech Version of Hungary

As was the case a half-century ago, hubris has played an outsized role in this self-inflicted drama. Back then, Golda Meir, the then-prime minister, ignored reports of Egypt and Syria planning for war. On Yom Kippur, war came, men died, and Israel barely survived.

This time, a pig-headed prime minister repeatedly defied a stream of non-stop warnings. He put self-pity and party ahead of country. Thanks to Netanyahu and his allies, Israel looks more like a shtetl with nukes than a functioning state.

Indeed, the hyper-demonstrative Netanyahu and his ill-conceived plan to make the judiciary his handmaid triggered wide-scale resistance among Israels military reserves. Pilots, intelligence officers, tank commanders, and infantrymen said, no more.

After Netanyahu canned Gallant, the journalist Barak Ravid tweeted that he was done serving. I have just notified my commanders that after the events of tonight I will not be reporting to reserve service anymore.

Fighting for a nation and a cause was one thing. Bolstering Netanyahu and his government was something else.

The U.S. is vexed. A member of President Joe Bidens National Security Council raised questions about the state of the IDF. We are deeply concerned by the ongoing developments in Israel, including the potential impact on military readiness raised by Minister Gallant.

The damage is real. Netanyahu and Co. now pin the blame on Gallant. God, they know better.

Key ministers in the present government never wore a uniform. The IDF deemed Ben-Gvir, Israels current minister of public security, unfit for duty.

In this vein, Israels haredim or ultra-Orthodox are, as a practical matter, exempt from military duty. By logical extension then, why should anyone else serve?

The question is no longer hypothetical. The divide between makers and takers, to use a Romneyism, stands behind much of this full-blown culture war. In Israel, there is little worse than being a freier, a sucker.

Israel Could Be Headed for a Cold Civil War

Netanyahus Sunday Night Massacre is just the latest chapter in a needless nightmare. We saw a similar movie unfold a half-century ago.

As the Yom Kippur War raged, Richard Nixon dismissed Archibald Cox, the independent prosecutor, on a Saturday night. His departure marked the beginning of the presidents end.

Even if a compromise is reached, plenty of damage has been done. The national psyche stands deeply scarred. The gash that runs through the country is raw. Time does not heal all wounds. In the U.S., the embers of Gettysburg still smolder.

Monday evening, Ben-Gvir announced that he had agreed to a pause in the drive to legislate the governments power grab. He expects the matter to be considered during the Knessets summer session. The demonstrations will continue.

If Netanyahu does push ahead with his plans, a constitutional crisis looms.

To quote Gen. Moshe Dayan, the defense minister amid the Yom Kippur War, The Third Temple is in danger.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Israels ceremonial president has urged an immediate halt to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus newly proposed judicial overhaul, which has prompted tens of thousands of people to gather in the streets in protest.

Isaac Herzogs plea comes hours after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who condemned the government reforms.

The firing also prompted universities across the country to shut their doors in protest and labor unions have called for a general strike.

Israel's largest trade union group, the Histadrut umbrella group, organized a strike on Monday that caused Israel's only international airport, Ben-Gurion, to ground departing flights out of the country. This impacted tens of thousands of travelers and an additional strike from the doctors' union is expected.

ISRAEL'S NETANYAHU FIRES DEFENSE MINISTER OVER OPPOSITION TO JUDICIAL OVERHAUL; PROTESTS ERUPT

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, leaves 10 Downing Street following brief talks with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 24 March 2023 in London, United Kingdom.

Histadrut represents more than 700,000 workers in health, transit and banking, among many other fields, and the strikes are intended to ratchet up pressure on Netanyahu to stop the overhaul.

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Herzogs plea came as reservists of Israel's military joined mass protests outside Netanyahus home in Tel Aviv on Sunday, raising concerns the protests could potentially escalate into violence, officials said.

According to Dan Arbell, a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israeli Studies at American University, Israeli Defense Forces reservists mostly remain out of political protests and their presence adds significance to the tens of thousands that have since gathered.

The reservists are mainly composed of former combat pilots, special forces members, and military intelligence officers, who will not answer calls for military service should the Netanyahu-led Knesset carry through with its planned overhaul, they have said.

The controversial plan includes passing legislation that would increase the legislative branch's control over the lawmaking process, among other instrumental initiatives.

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"The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat," President Herzog said. "Wake up now!"

ISRAELI FORCES KILL THREE PALESTINIAN MILITANTS IN WEST BANK GUNFIGHT

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Netanyahu, highlighted the severity of the ongoing crisis during an interview with Israeli Army Radio, where he said Israel was "in a landslide of losing control."

"We haven't been in such a dangerous situation in 50 years," Bennett said.

First, the plan would give Knesset  and not the courts  final control over new legislation as it would create an "override clause" that allows a simple majority of the parliament to re-enact any law struck down by the Supreme Court.

Netanyahu has publicly argued that unelected Supreme Court justices wield too much power.

"We must all stand up strongly against refusals," Netanyahu tweeted Sunday.

His Likud party similarly argued the judicial branch was too strong and said they favor restoring "balance for selecting judges and abolishing the undemocratic situation in which the judges appoint themselves."

"This method in which the representatives of the public choose judges is used in almost all democracies in the world," the political party said. "The claim that the abolition of the mechanism by which the judges appoint themselves is the 'end of democracy' lacks foundation."

Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, was critical of the proposed change and said in a televised speech on Saturday that it is "a clear, immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state."

"As Minister of Defense of the State of Israel, I emphasize that the growing rift in our society penetrates the IDF and security agencies," Gallant said per the report. "I will not allow this. But now, I declare loudly and publicly, for the sake of Israel's security, for the sake of our sons and daughters  the legislative process should be stopped."

ISRAELI PROTESTERS TAKE TO STREETS TO BLAST NETANYAHU 'JUDICIAL REFORMS' AS PM CALLS FOR UNITY

The legislation also changes the process for adding constitutional amendments and judicial appointments.

The courts are the only check to the executive and legislative branches, which are jointly controlled by the ruling coalition. According to Arbell, the new plan weakens the courts and increases the power of the coalition in charge, which is currently Netanyahus Likud party.

The party explained in a tweet on Monday, March 20: "The law does not allow the coalition or the opposition to take over the court, but guarantees that there will be diversity in the composition of the judges."

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut gave a public speech on Jan. 12, when she warned the proposed reforms are "meant to be a mortal wound to the independence of the judiciary and to turn it into a silent institution," Arbell reported.

Netanyahu reportedly spent Sunday evening consulting with advisors and is set to address the protests later Monday.

In addition to changing the relationship between the legislative and judicial branches of government, Netanyahu's intended government reforms include accelerating the privatization of the countrys media  allowing those in power to favor friendly outlets while also being able to brand less-than-friendly outlets as hostile, Arbell reported.

Another reform allows businesses the option to exclude certain customers or services based on owners or employees religious convictions.

The prime minister contends the legislation, which critics argue is potentially discriminatory, will protect religious practices.

"We will not advance any law against the Christian community," Netanyahu said on Twitter last week.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, and the Lukid party regained control of the government on Dec. 29, 2022.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the Parliament in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023.

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the Parliament in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday halted his attempt to weaken Israeli courts and boost his own power after public protests swelled to include strikes by thousands of government workers.

Netanyahu said he would engage in honest talks over his judicial plans  but also indicated a hard line in any negotiation by accusing his critics of representing an extreme minority that is ready to tear the country to pieces and ignite a civil war.

Earlier in the day, Israeli officials in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin, NewDelhi, Rome and Lisbon closed their embassies in accordance with a strike call from Israels biggest labor union, the Histadrut. Their decision reflected how alarmed many Israelis have become about the direction of their country. Israeli diplomats are some of their nations staunchest defenders, championing controversial policies like Israels crackdowns on Palestinians and its settlements in the occupied West Bank. But many influential Israelis came to believe Netanyahus plan will undermine their national security by hurting Israeli unity and permitting far-right policies that could destabilize the country.

Yoav Gallant, a senior member of Netanyahus Likud party, warned on Saturday that public uproar was splintering the ranks of Israels military. For the sake of Israels security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process must be stopped at this time, Gallant said.

In response, Netanyahu fired Gallant as defense minister  demonstrating his commitment to the power grab and sparking fresh outrage that culminated in the Histadruts decision to go on strike.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, stands on the floor of the Knesset, the country's Parliament, during a vote as people mass outside to protest his government's plan to overhaul the judicial system, in Jerusalem on March 27.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, stands on the floor of the Knesset, the country's Parliament, during a vote as people mass outside to protest his government's plan to overhaul the judicial system, in Jerusalem on March 27.

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More Israeli officials became outspoken over the weekend. Sending love to friends, family and colleagues in Israel this evening, Yiftah Curiel, Israels ambassador to Guatemala and El Salvador, tweeted on Sunday, above a video of street protests. Israeli democracy will prevail.

Along with the embassy closures on Monday, local governments in Israel shut down services, Israels main doctors union said its members would not be working and multiple private companies gave workers paid leave to join the general strike.

In capitals where Netanyahus speech came during regular working hours, Israeli embassies reopened after the news of his pause, Israeli Embassy in Washington spokesman Elad Strohmayer told HuffPost.

Netanyahu regained Israels top job in December 2022 by forming a coalition government with several hard-right parties. Their alliance argues that Israels judiciary has a liberal bias and excessive power. Their proposed changes would allow Israels Parliament to appoint judges, overturn Supreme Court decisions and resist judicial oversight of laws.

Yet independent analysts and opposition politicians noted that the judicial overhaul could personally benefit Netanyahu and some of his allies who face criminal charges by allowing them to empower friendly judges. And many Israelis worry that the changes would allow dramatic upheaval in how their society operates, for instance by letting ulta-Orthodox politicians institute hardline religious policies like limits on work on the Sabbath or by further diminishing the rights of Palestinians living in Israel or the West Bank.

Israeli businesses, notably the countrys influential tech sector, also questioned the changes and said they might hurt the nations economy. Everything that diminishes Israel as a democracy is going to have a negative impact on companies ... on our ability to do business here, and on our ability to do business globally, Talmon Marco, an entrepreneur who leads a hydrogen fuel startup called H2Pro, told HuffPost earlier this year.

Israels foreign partners have repeatedly urged scrutiny of Netanyahus proposed changes.

We urge you to use all diplomatic tools available to prevent Israels current government from further damaging the nations democratic institutions and undermining the potential for two states for two peoples, 92 House Democrats wrote in a March 8 letter to President Joe Biden. The proposals  would jeopardize Israeli democracy, which in turn would undermine the very foundation of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Stripping the judiciary of its check on the governing coalition would empower far-right lawmakers seeking to entrench settlement of the West Bank and advance a pro-annexation agenda, undermining the prospects for a two-state solution and threatening Israels existence as a Jewish and democratic state.

As Israel has seen massive and sustained protests against the plans, it is crucial that the Israeli government live up to the democratic ideals on which it was founded and avoid a constitutional crisis, continued the group of lawmakers.

Netanyahus attempt to curtail the independence of Israels judiciary is strongly supported by hard-right members of his government who were long considered fringe political forces, like national security minister Itan Ben-Gvir.

Netanyahus attempt to curtail the independence of Israels judiciary is strongly supported by hard-right members of his government who were long considered fringe political forces, like national security minister Itan Ben-Gvir.

The Biden administration is closely monitoring the situation in Israel, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a Monday press conference.

We remain deeply concerned by recent developments which further underscore in our view the urgent need for compromise, Kirby said. He declined to say whether Netanyahu will still address a Summit for Democracy meeting that Biden plans to host later this week.

Despite the pause, Netanyahus government is extremelyunlikely to fully abandon its effort, which represents a rare opportunity for historically fringe politicians who are now in power.

News of the halt first came from national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir  a far-right settler who has been convicted for supporting a Jewish terror group and was long isolated before Netanyahu gave him his current powerful post.

We must not give in to anarchy, Ben-Gvir recently said of the protests.

As part of the agreement to pause the judicial changes, Netanyahu agreed to establish a new national guard force under Ben-Gvirs leadership, the minister claimed. Such a policy would likely provoke additional anger among the thousands of protesters.

Netanyahu repeatedly summoned his own right-wing demonstrators to the streets on Monday to defend his proposal, Israels Haaretz newspaper reported. A poster circulated digitally by his party echoed narratives by fellow far-right leaders globally: Emergency  going up to Jerusalem! They wont steal our elections!

Related...
(This March 27 story has been corrected to add the locations of casualties in paragraph 19)

By Emily Rose and Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday put off a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul amid fears that Israel's worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.

It was unclear how far the bill's delay to next month's new parliamentary session would satisfy either side or cool a crisis that the army chief said on Monday made "this hour different to any before".

"From a will to prevent the rift in the nation, I have decided to delay the second and third reading in order to reach a broad consensus," Netanyahu said in a TV address, calling the move "a chance to avoid a civil war".

The government's plan to enable parliament to override Supreme Court decisions and hold control over judicial appointments triggered some of the biggest protests in Israeli history, with opponents calling the move a threat to democracy.

While some Israeli politicians tentatively welcomed the delay, some of Netanyahu's coalition partners called it a mistake and protest leaders said they would keep up demonstrations until the legislation was dropped entirely.

Shikma Bressler, one of the main protest leaders, said Netanyahu was trying to weaken the demonstrations. "Now is not the time to reduce the pressure, but to increase it," Bressler said.

Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges which he denies, has promised to ensure civil rights are protected but has not backed down from the central thrust of the reforms.

One of Netanyahu's hard-right coalition partners, security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he had agreed to the delay on a promise the bill would return after the parliamentary recess and a deal to form a National Guard under his ministry - a move opponents fiercely criticise as giving him his own militia.

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Tens of thousands of right-wing supporters of the law meanwhile rallied outside parliament at the urging of Ben-Gvir and other leaders.

Groups of Jewish settlers and far-right football fans favouring the judicial changes had also urged protests and police said they were reinforcing after social media threats of violent attacks on left-wing Israelis.

Netanyahu's decision to put off the legislation also followed opposition from the Histadrut labour union, which grounded flights at Ben Gurion airport and planned to close seaports, banks, hospitals and medical services.

The union called off the strikes after Netanyahu announced the delay.

The White House welcomed Netanyahu's announcement, urging Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible and adding that democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances.

'RIGHT THING TO DO'

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said stopping the bill was "the right thing to do". Herzog staged a rare intervention into politics earlier on Monday to plead with Netanyahu to halt his judicial overhaul for the sake of national unity.

Opposition leader Benny Gantz said the decision was "better late than never" but added he would not compromise on the "basics of democracy" in any dialogue on the new law.

On the streets, the views of Israelis attending the opposing rallies underscored the continued divisions.

"The proposal that Netanyahu is putting forward was very dangerous. Any democracy needs checks and balances," said Benjay Saier, an opponent of the new law.

"No one wants the reform to be stopped because it's not OK. They started a process and they need to complete it," said government supporter Avia Itzhaky, 23.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The crisis, among the worst in Israeli domestic political history, coincided with escalating violence in the West Bank. More than 250 Palestinian gunmen and civilians have been killed by Israeli forces and more than 40 Israelis and foreigners have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, around Jerusalem and in Israel over the past year.

Palestinian residents of Huwara, a town near Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said Israeli settlers and soldiers had stormed the town on Monday, firing rifles into the air. Witnesses said settlers torched a vehicle and hurled stones at an ambulance trying to reach the wounded.

Concerns over national security and what he called a "deep split" in Israeli society had prompted Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to urge Netanyahu to shelve the legislation, prompting the prime minister to decide to sack him on Sunday.

That decision triggered more mass protests overnight, aggravating Israel's weeks-long crisis and threatening fractures in the ruling coalition.

Gallant's removal fed accusations the government was sacrificing the national interest for its own, especially at a time when the army is reinforcing in the West Bank with violence there increasing.

Gallant welcomed Netanyahu's decision to put off the law.

The shekel, which has seen big swings over recent weeks as the political turbulence has played out, had strengthened as much as 1.6% on Monday, but the recovery fizzled later on and it ended just 0.1% stronger than upon opening.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell, Ari Rabinovitch, Dan Williams, Henriette Chacar, Emily Rose, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Steven Scheer; Writing by James Mackenzie and Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Alison Williams and Howard Goller)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will delay the process for discussions on the controversial planned judicial overhaul to next month.

Parliament will go on recess next week for the Passover holiday.

According to a statement from the far-right and coalition member party Jewish Power, the legislation would be pushed to the next session of the Israeli parliament to "pass the reform through dialogue," Reuters noted.

Earlier this month, the Israeli president warned of chances of civil war while announcing alternative changes to the judiciary in response to a planned overhaul by Tel Aviv's far-right coalition that triggered mass protests in recent weeks.

Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government seeks to implement significant alterations to the nation's top court. This move has sparked domestic uproar and alarm among Israel's western allies.

In February, Benjamin Netanyahu said he would be willing to mediate between Russia and Ukraine if asked by the relevant parties.

Netanyahu added that he was asked to be a mediator shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year but had to decline it because he was Israel's opposition leader then, not the prime minister.

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This article Israeli Prime Minister Delays Judicial Overhaul After Passover Holiday originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Israel Politics

Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan set up bonfires and block a highway during a protest moments after the Israeli leader fired his defense minister, in Tel Aviv, Sunday, March 26, 2023. Credit - Ohad ZwigenbergAP

We rushed out to the street in pajamas, the kids in our hands. We ran out to the street as if our house was on fire, because we knew that our house really was on fire. Our democracy was set in flames by our prime minister.

On Saturday night, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged PM Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend the judicial overhaul, For the sake of the security of Israel. Many of us hoped that this call, coming from the mouth of his own party member, would persuade Netanyahu to stop his attacks on the legal system, to pause and consider his actions. But Netanyahu dismissed Gallant, just as he dismissed Nobel prize winners, economy professors, tech professionals, medical researchers, and everyone else who begged him to reconsider his plan. On Sunday, less than 24 hours after his announcement, Gallant was fired.

Netanyahu was brutal, because he wanted to make sure that no other Likud member would dare to challenge him again. The timing was well planned9:30pm, the end of the day, long after the evening news. He didnt see it coming, and to be honest, we didnt either.

Read More: Israelis Are Waking up to the Threat From Netanyahus Government

When we rushed out of the house, a few minutes after the news came out, we had no idea that there would be thousands of us. We assumed that the chilly night and the late hourand the general exhaustion after almost three months of ongoing protestswould keep most people home. But as we rushed to the street in pajamas, we saw our neighbors standing there with us. And when we cried out Shame!, we heard the rage in the entire country.

As we blocked the main junction in Tel Aviv, we saw the photos from other parts of the countryJerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba. My colleagues at Shalvata Mental Health Hospital kept posting new pictures, urging each other to take to the streets. It seemed like no one was going to work tomorrow.

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Read More: Why Netanyahu Faces His Biggest Political Challenge Yet

I am writing these words at 3 a.m., Israel time, after seeing the streets fill with spontaneous protesters, marching, shouting, singing, blocking the roads. It was a frightening night, knowing how delicate the line is between protest and chaos. And yet, at the same time, it was one of the most beautiful nights in the history of this country.

But what about tomorrow? As I write this, I hope tomorrow will be a day of reconciliation in the Israeli society, the day in which we finally start to collect the pieces of our ruined house. But another option exists, and its a scary one. Only time will tell if tonight was the end of this radical push, or the beginning of a very dark era.
The White House on Sunday urged Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible, as widespread unrest broke out in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister for objecting to judicial reforms that Netanyahu is seeking to enact.

We are deeply concerned by todays developments out of Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. As the President recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

The turmoil started when Netanyahu, newly returned to office as the head of an unusually right-wing-powered coalition, announced a plan to overhaul the judiciary. Netanyahus package of judicial changes would essentially strip Israels top court of its independence and defang the nations courts by making it possible for the government to pass legislation that cant be reviewed by judges.

Protests against the measures have been widespread for weeks. Opponents have characterized the plans as anti-democratic and a boost to Netanyahus power at a time when the prime minister himself is facing criminal charges.

Its an attack on the very soul and nature of our democracy, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this month. Barak urged Israelis to resort to mass civil disobedience to block the judicial reforms.

On Saturday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke out against the legislation; on Sunday, Netanyahu fired him, saying, We must all stand strong against refusal.

Protests against Gallants firing immediately broke out in Israels major cities. The Associated Press reported that protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahus private home in Jerusalem.

The White House statement said that disagreements over Netanyahus current policies would not disrupt the U.S.-Israel relationship, which traditionally has been very close.

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U.S. support for Israels security and democracy remains ironclad, the statement said.

Given Americas close relationship with Israel, and the Biden administrations general hesitation to openly criticize such an important Middle Eastern ally, the White House statement on Sunday was relatively pointed.

The administration has known for a while that this Netanyahu-led coalition is an unusually extreme one, but it had hoped that Netanyahu could keep it in line. The prime minister had insisted that the far-right members of his coalition were joining him and not the other way around, and that he was in charge.

As a result, Biden administration officials had said they intended to hold him responsible for whatever happened. But they were also keenly aware of the many factors that Netanyahu is juggling, including his desire to avoid further prosecution on corruption charges  one of the reasons he is believed to have acquiesced to some of the demands of his coalition partners.

When asked on Sunday whether the administration had any immediate Israel-related plans beyond issuing the statement, U.S. officials did not offer comment.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister after he warned that a planned judicial overhaul could fracture the country's military, prompting tens of thousands of citizens to take to the streets in protest on Sunday evening.

Netanyahu's office released a short statement saying that the prime minister "has decided, this evening, to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant."

Gallant, a member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, said in a televised speech on Saturday that the judicial overhaul is "a clear, immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state."

"As Minister of Defense of the State of Israel, I emphasize that the growing rift in our society penetrates the IDF and security agencies," Gallant said. "I will not allow this. But now, I declare loudly and publicly, for the sake of Israel's security, for the sake of our sons and daughters  the legislative process should be stopped."

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attends a news conference at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Israel, March 9, 2023.

Netanyahu, who has argued that unelected Supreme Court justices wield too much power, has pushed forward with his plans for a judicial overhaul, which would give the governing coalition more say over judicial appointments and limit judicial review of laws.

"We must all stand up strongly against refusals," Netanyahu tweeted on Sunday. The prime minister was in his office at the Knesset on Sunday evening for hours of "security and legal discussions," according to the Times of Israel.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

ISRAELI FORCES KILL THREE PALESTINIAN MILITANTS IN WEST BANK GUNFIGHT

Thousands of Israelis have protested the judicial overhaul for months. Demonstrators clashed with police outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem on Sunday evening, Haaretz reports. Some protesters breached barricades around the prime minister's home, according to Channel 12 News.

Asaf Zamir, the Consul General of Israel in New York, resigned from his post on Sunday after Gallant's dismissal. Yair Golan, a member of the left-wing Meretz party and a former deputy chief of staff of the IDF, called on "all representatives of Israel in embassies spread across the globe to resign immediately."

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Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Channel 12 News that Israel "is in the greatest danger since the Yom Kippur War."

The Movement for Quality of Government in Israel, which opposes the judicial overhaul and has helped organize the demonstrations, condemned Gallant's dismissal on Sunday.

"Netanyahu has proved once again that he is unfit for office. He is not institutionally, ethically, or morally qualified," the organization said in a statement. "The Movement will consider legal action to stop this scandalous and disgraceful dismissal."

Opposition leader Yair Lapid called Netanyahu a "danger to the security of the State of Israel" after Gallant's dismissal.

"The dismissal of the Minister of Defense, Yoav [Gallant], just because he warned of a threat to Israel's security is a new low for an anti-Zionist government that harms national security and ignores the warning of all security officials," Lapid tweeted. "Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he cannot fire reality and cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition."

ISRAELI PROTESTERS TAKE TO STREETS TO BLAST NETANYAHU 'JUDICIAL REFORMS' AS PM CALLS FOR UNITY

Nearly 300 Israeli Air Force reserve soldiers and officers did not report for training earlier this month in protest of the judicial overhaul, according to i24NEWS. Hundreds of protesters who described themselves as volunteer reservists from military special forces and intelligence agencies also wrote a letter last week saying that they would not turn up for duty, the Israeli news outlet reported.

Universities across Israel will be shutting down on Monday, while some doctors are considering going on strike, Channel 12 News reports.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that U.S. officials are "deeply concerned by todays developments out of Israel."

"As the President recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship," Watson said. "Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support."

Netanyahu's coalition in parliament passed the first of a series of laws on Thursday that says an Israeli leader can only be deemed unfit to rule for health or mental reasons. The opposition claims that the law was passed specifically for Netanyahu, who is currently on trial for fraud, breach of trust, and other charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
David statue

The Florence museum that houses Michelangelo's statue of David has invited teachers and students from a Florida school to visit, after an uproar over an art lesson.

The school's principal quit after a complaint about a sixth-grade art class that included an image of the statue.

A parent had complained the image was pornographic.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of Galleria dell'Accademia, has now issued the invitation to the class.

She said the principal should be "rewarded, not punished".

"Talking about the Renaissance without showing the David, an undisputed icon of art and culture and of that historical period, would make no sense," Ms Hollberg said.

The controversy began when the board of Tallahassee Classical School - a charter school in Florida's state capital - pressured principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign after three parents complained about a lesson that included a photo of the 17ft nude marble statue.

The statue, one of the most famous in Western history, depicts the biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with a sling and his faith in God.

The board reportedly targeted Ms Carrasquilla because the parents claimed they weren't notified in advance that a nude would be shown, with one parent calling the statue "pornographic".

The incident has left Florentines and experts on Renaissance art bewildered.

The David is considered a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance and a symbol of humanist values. It has been displayed in the Galleria dell'Accademia since 1873.

Ms Hollberg said she was "astonished", stating that to think that the David statue could be considered pornographic means not only failing to understand the Bible, but Western culture itself.

"I cannot believe that actually happened, at first I thought it was fake news, so improbable and absurd was it," she said.

"A distinction must be made between nudity and pornography. There is nothing pornographic or aggressive about the David, he is a young boy, a shepherd, who even according to the Bible did not have ostentatious clothes but wanted to defend his people with what he had."

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The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, also invited the teacher who showed the students the image of Michelangelo's David to visit the city and its works of art.

"Mistaking art for pornography is simply ridiculous," he tweeted. "Art is civilisation and those who teach it deserve respect."

In an interview with Slate online magazine, Barney Bishop, chairman of the school board, said that last year the principal sent a notice to parents warning them that students were going to see Michelangelo's David, but this wasn't done this year.

He called it an "egregious mistake" and said that "parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture".

Statue of David

According to Florentine art historian and dean of the University for Foreigners in Siena, Tomaso Montanari, such an attitude is "disconcerting".

"First comes the dismay at the absence of educational freedom, as it should not be restricted or manipulated by families," Mr Montanari said.

"On the other hand, from a cultural perspective, the Western world has a tendency to associate fundamentalism and censorship with other societies, believing it possesses the capability to spread democratic ideals worldwide.

"But this cultural backsliding clearly highlights the presence of fundamentalist views within the West as well."

While several parents and teachers plan to protest Ms Carrasquilla's resignation at the school board meeting, she isn't sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.

"There's been such controversy and such upheaval," she said in an interview with the Associated Press. "I would really have to consider, 'Is this truly what is best?'"

Back in Florence, Ms Hollberg remarked: "From majestic statues to charming fountains and paintings, Italy is overflowing with works of art, not just in its museums, but in all its cities, squares and streets, with some featuring naked figures.

"Does that make it pornography? Should entire cities be shut down because of the artistic depictions of the human form?"
A Tallahassee, Florida principal resigned this month after parents were angered that students learned about Michaelangelo's David statue in art class. Now, the mayor of Florence has personally invited the school official to visit the city, where the statue is on display.

While many parents found the sculpture of a nude man "phonographic," it is considered one of the most iconic pieces of Renaissance art. Still, parents complained that sixth graders at Tallahassee Classical School should not have been shown a photo of the statue and Principal Hope Carrasquilla resigned.

The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, heard the news all the way in Italy and tweeted that "mistaking art for pornography is just ridiculous." Nardella invited the school official to Florence to recognize her on behalf of the city.

Uninsegnante della Florida e stata costretta a licenziarsi per aver mostrato agli studenti le foto del David di Michelangelo. Scambiare larte per pornografia e semplicemente ridicolo. pic.twitter.com/Gn8UM3HUqe  Dario Nardella (@DarioNardella) March 25, 2023

David, etched in marble between 1501 and 1504, is the main attraction at Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia. Another series of nude sculptures by Michaelangelo, referred to as prisoners or slaves, is also on display at the museum. The artist is known for many significant works of art, including the Sistine Chapel ceiling at the Vatican.

Tallahassee Classical School is a charter school that opened in 2020 and is affiliated with a conservative Christian college, Hillsdale College. The school's board chair Barney Bishop told CBS News that David is taught to students every year, but the administration notifies parents first and this year, a letter was not sent out.

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Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, allowing parents to weigh in about school lessons. The bill limits discussions on gender and sexuality in schools. Several other recent bills in the state would limit what is discussed in school settings  including one that limits teaching about menstruation.

Bishop said 97% of parents agreed to the lesson this year, but the 3% of parents who did not agree were "entitled to have that opinion," he said.

Carrasquilla was asked to resign over "a number of other issues," Bishop told CBS News. Bishop said the David photo was the latest incident under Carrasquilla and claimed that she blamed it for her resignation so the whole truth wouldn't be reported.

The school posted about the David incident on Facebook, sharing a photo of the statue and writing: "We have always shared David with our scholars and will continue to do so. We will follow our policy and notify our parents in advance so they can make their own decision if it is age appropriate for their child."

CBS News reached out to Carrasquilla for further comment and is awaiting response.

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TOMS RIVERA Jackson man wanted by police and driving a rented pick-up truck he did not have permission to operate caused a multi-vehicle crash on Route 70 and Massachusetts Avenue Thursday that left a juvenile in critical condition, authorities said.

Charles Sharkey Jr., 33, drew a slew of charges: four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault by auto, unlawful taking of a means of conveyance, causing death or injury while driving with a suspended or revoked license and several motor vehicle summonses, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a statement.

Sharkey was traveling east on Route 70 in a rented 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 approaching the Massachusetts Avenue intersection about 4 p.m. Sharkey ran the red light at the intersection and his vehicle grazed the rear of a westbound 2016 Honda CRV as it was turning left onto Massachusetts Avenue, Billhimer said.

Sharkeys vehicle then struck a 2017 Subaru Impreza that was trying to make a left-hand turn onto Massachusetts Avenue from the westbound left-turn only lane of Route 70, Billhimer said. The male driver behind the wheel of the Imprezza was transporting three juvenile passengers, he said.

Charles Sharkey has been charged with aggravated assault, assault by auto and other offenses in a multi-vehicle collision in Toms River on March 23, 2023.

The Imprezza was pushed backward and spun around. The Dodge Ram overturned, ending up on the driver's side, and burst into flames, sustaining heavy damage, Billhimer said. A 2021 Lexus RX 350 was grazed and sustained minor damage.

The driver of the Imprezza and two of his juvenile passengers were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical center in Neptune for treatment of minor injuries and were released. The third juvenile remains at the medical center with serious injuries and was in critical condition Friday, Billhimer said. No update was available.

More:Small fix, big results at third deadliest intersection in the U.S. in Ocean County

Authorities said Sharkey, who they said had been driving erratically, had a suspended license and two active arrest warrants and was using a cellular device before the crash. The Dodge Ram was a rental vehicle taken by Sharkey without the renters consent, authorities said. A sample of Sharkey's blood taken while at Monmouth Medical Center-Southern Campus in Lakewood for treatment of his injuries is pending test results, Billhimer said.

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Sharkey's record includes 39 motor vehicle violations and 19 criminal cases involving multiple charges since 2008, according to municipal court records. Sharkey was charged most recently in Jackson March 12 with reckless driving, operating under the influence and driving with an open container of alcohol or cannabis.

Sharkey's record includes nine criminal convictions that yielded prison sentences of more than seven years.

He remains in Ocean County Jail in Toms River awaiting a detention hearing and is being held on four weapons charges in addition to the charges from the crash Thursday. Lawyer information for Sharkey was not listed.

Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River NJ crash: Jackson man charged in accident injuring one
China says it's holding a Japanese man in his 50s for espionage.

Japan has demanded China release one of its nationals after the man was arrested by Beijing on allegations of espionage.

The man, an employee of drug-maker Astellas in his 50s, has been detained since early March.

China has detained at least 17 Japanese nationals for alleged espionage since 2015, according to Kyodo News.

Relations have long been strained over the disputed East China Sea islands, wartime history and Taiwan.

On Monday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said China had informed the country of the arrest through diplomatic channels and requested a consular visit.

But he did not disclose any details about the man's identity or his alleged offence.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said later in the day that the man was being held for espionage.

"China will handle the case in accordance with law and will protect the rights of the person in accordance with law," she said.

Ms Mao said Japan needed to do more to ask its citizens to refrain from engaging in such activities.

Astellas Pharma confirmed that the man was its employee but refused to divulge his identity.

In 2019, China detained a Japanese professor who specialises in modern Chinese history on suspicion of spying. He was released after two months.

China-Japan relations have shown no signs of improvement in recent years.

In February, the two countries held a security dialogue in Tokyo for the first time in four years. During which, Japan criticised China's ties with Russia and its alleged use of spy balloons while Beijing expressed concern over Japan's military build-up.
The Japanese government is reportedly seeking the release of an employee of Japanese pharma company Astellas Pharma Inc (OTC: ALPMF), detained by Chinese authorities.

The reasons why the person was detained are still unknown.

The Astellas employee was in his 50s and was detained in March for violating local law.

He had worked for more than 20 years in China and was planning to return at the end of the month, Bloomberg reported citing an FNN report.

The government has requested a consular visit, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a briefing.

More than ten Japanese nationals have been detained in China since 2015, according to Kyodo News and other Japanese media. Eight people have returned to Japan, seven are still in China facing trial or serving time, while one has died, the Mainichi newspaper reported last month.

The paper said five of them have been found guilty by China of endangering national security.

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This article Japanese Government Urges China To Release Astellas Pharma's Employee originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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Jeffrey B. Veltri is the new special agent in charge of the FBI in South Florida.

Before starting his career with the bureau a couple of decades ago, Veltri served as an assistant public defender in the Broward County Pubic Defenders Office.

While lawyers rising through the ranks of the FBI is fairly common, Veltris ascent from a local public defenders office defending accused indigents to the head of a major FBI field office probing federal crimes is an unusual path. The FBI Miami Field Office, with more than 400 special agents, juggles a variety of criminal investigations, from internet child pornography to healthcare fraud to counterterrorism investigations.

Veltri, who was recently appointed to his new position by FBI Director Christopher Wray, fits the field offices profile.

Veltri earned a bachelors degree in criminology from the University of South Florida and a law degree from the Widener University School of Law in Delaware. He started his FBI career as a special agent with the San Diego Field Office, investigating healthcare fraud and then international terrorism matters.

In 2006, Veltri was deployed to Iraq to work with the Justice Departments Regime Crimes Liaison Office and investigate war crimes, including advising the Iraqi Special Tribunals prosecution of former Iraq leader Saddam Hussein.

Five years later, he was promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to the Cyber Division at FBI headquarters.

In 2013, Veltri moved back to the San Diego Field Office to supervise healthcare fraud, civil rights and public corruption squads, and was also responsible for border corruption, human trafficking and child exploitation task forces.

Three years later, he was promoted to chief of the Civil Rights Unit in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters, overseeing all hate crime, police brutality and human trafficking probes.

In 2018, Veltri was named an assistant special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Office, followed three years later by a promotion to a section chief in the Security Division at FBI headquarters.
Jeremy Renner is updating his fans about his road to recovery after suffering dozens of broken bones in a near-fatal snowplow accident.

On Sunday, the Marvel star shared a clip of himself walking on an assisted treadmill during a recent physical therapy session.

I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will, the 52-year-old Avengers actor wrote alongside the video.

I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will. #minduful#intended#recoverypic.twitter.com/TuDFSMVJHY  Jeremy Renner (@JeremyRenner) March 26, 2023

Renner was struck and severely injured by a snowcat on New Years Day while trying to prevent his nephew from getting hit by the vehicle.

He had been using the PistenBully to tow his nephews truck out of the snow when it began sliding downhill, critically injuring Renner and leaving him with more than 30 broken bones.

After being airlifted to the intensive care unit of a regional hospital near his home in Reno, Nevada, Renner underwent multiple surgeries for blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries.

Since Renners accident, the two-time Oscar nominee  who returned home on Jan. 16  has shared numerous updates on his healing process.

Getting emotional with fans on Instagram in January, Renner gushed over the outpouring of encouragement from his fans and showed thanks for the love and bond with family and friends.

Morning workouts, resolutions all changed this particular new years . Spawned from tragedy for my entire family, and quickly focused into uniting actionable love, he wrote on the post, alongside a photo of himself in bed.

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These 30 plus broken bones will mend, grow stronger, just like the love and bond with family and friends deepens. Love and blessings to you all, Renner added.

Just weeks after his accident, the Hawkeye actor teased his new upcoming TV series Rennervations on Instagram, which he says will debut on Disney+ as soon as Im back on my feet.

We are so very excited to share the #rennervations show with you all on @disneyplus coming very soon!!!, Renner wrote on Instagram alongside a photo from the show. We are coming to YOU, all across the globe I hope youre ready!!!

Related...
Jeremy Renner showed his recovery efforts as he walked on a treadmill nearly four months after being crushed by a snowplow.

The 52-year-old actor was fastened inside an antigravity machine which allowed him to transfer 60% of the weight off his lower body and enabled him to have almost full range of motion in his legs.

In a video shared with his millions of fans on Twitter, the "Hawkeye" star said he was using "40% of his weight" to walk on the high-tech equipment.

The update was a stark contrast to how Renner began the year. On Jan. 1, Renner was airlifted to a local hospital in Reno, Nevada and had surgery after suffering blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries when he was "completely crushed" by his 14,000-pound PistenBully snowcat.

JEREMY RENNER'S SNOWPLOW IS ON HER WAY HOME FOLLOWING NEW YEAR'S DAY ACCIDENT

Jeremy Renner uses high-tech machine to walk again after snowplow accident.

Renner could be heard praising the apparatus for its unique features, which made his body feel like it was carrying "less weight."

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JEREMY RENNER GIVES UPDATE ON RECOVERY, STRENGTHENS MUSCLES AFTER BEING CRUSHED IN SNOWPLOW ACCIDENT

"It's like having a cane," he said of using the special treadmill, which is designed to ease effects of high-impact exercises.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe star wore a gray T-shirt as he walked on the device from what appeared to be in the comfort of his own home.

"I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will," he captioned the post.

Jeremy Renner uses unique treadmill to strengthen his legs.

He recently celebrated the homecoming of the PistenBully involved in the traumatic incident which could have cost him his life.

"She's finally making her way home," he wrote alongside a picture of his beloved snowplow.

JEREMY RENNER REVEALS WHAT BRINGS HIM HOPE AFTER SNOWPLOW ACCIDENT

"The cat get a police Escort. Feels like the Green mile!"

Renner was involved in an accident near his Lake Tahoe home while attempting to help a family member whose vehicle was stuck in the snow on the first day of the year.

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Jeremy Renner was excited to see his beloved snowcat return home after accident in January.

Jeremy Renner's snowplow received a "police escort" home.

A massive snowstorm the night before had left multiple vehicles stranded, and Renner attempted to move one vehicle from his driveway by using his PistenBully. He successfully moved the car, exited the PistenBully and was speaking with a family member when the snowplow began to roll unexpectedly.

Renner attempted to jump back into the 14,000-pound snowcat, but was run over. Dispatch reported a subject was "moaning loudly in the background" of a call at 8:58 a.m. where "serious bleeding" was recorded. Seconds later dispatch wrote, "subject is bleeding heavily from his head and other unknown injuries."

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It was also noted the caller wasn't sure "where all the blood is coming from." Additionally, the 911 call log stated that it's believed Renner's "right side of his chest is collapsed" and "upper torso is crushed."

Jeremy Renner shares hospital selfie after surgery following snowplow accident.

Renner has kept fans updated on his progress along the way, and has expressed gratitude for all the love and support.

He suffered chest trauma, broke over 30 bones, and has undergone multiple surgeries as a result of the accident.

Renner became a two-time Oscar nominee with "The Hurt Locker" and "The Town." He earned his own Disney+ series, "Hawkeye," after multiple appearances in MCU films, including "The Avengers" series.

He's gearing up for a new automobile renovation show called "Rennervations," where he will travel the world with his best friend, Rory Milikin, in search of decommissioned vehicles to refurbish a reuse in extraordinary ways.
SANFORD - The New Jersey man who suggested in a chatroom that white supremacists murder Sheriff Mike Chitwood and get him out of their way in Volusia County got to meet the lawman Monday.

Richard Golden, 38, of Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, arrived at the Orlando Sanford International Airport Monday afternoon and was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail.

Richard Golden, the New Jersey man who told white supremacists in a hate chat group to murder Sheriff Mike Chitwood, meets the sheriff when he arrived in Florida on Monday. Golden was extradited to Volusia County and taken to jail.

Golden was led off the plane by two members of the extradition team from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Upon reaching the bottom of the escalator in the check-in lobby of the airport, an investigator introduced Golden to the sheriff.

"I am Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood. I hope you enjoy your stay. Welcome to Florida," Chitwood said as Golden went past him.

Sheriff gets death threatsNew Jersey man arrested for posting death threats online aimed at Sheriff Mike Chitwood

Sheriff denounces hate groupsSheriff calls out 'punk thugs' who spread antisemitic propaganda in Volusia County

There was no reply.

Golden was arrested in New Jersey on March 6 and charged with second-degree felony written threats to kill or injure. Authorities described him as an unemployed, anti-law enforcement person who was living in a back bedroom at his mother's house.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood holds up the photo of Richard Golden, a New Jersey man arrested for posting death threats in a hate group chatroom to the sheriff.

Golden made the threat after Chitwood denounced a white supremacist group for spreading fear and antisemitic hate literature about the Jewish community in Volusia County.

"Just shoot Chitwood in the head and he stops being a problem," Golden wrote in the chat room, according to the sheriff. "They have to find a new guy to be the problem. But shooting Chitwood in the head solves an immediate problem permanently. Just shoot Chitwood in the head and murder him."

A large crowd gathered in the check-in lobby of the airport after seeing the media present and talked to Chitwood. After Chitwood explained to a man that Golden had threatened to put a bullet in his head and that the accused was being brought to Florida, the traveler was surprised.

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"This I have to see. He was on my flight and I didn't even know," the man said, pulling out his cell phone and readying his camera.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood greets extraditied prisoner Richard Golden at Orlando Sanford International Airport, Monday, March 27, 2023

After Golden walked away from Chitwood, he spoke to the media outside the airport.

"Nothing," Chitwood said when reporters asked if Golden said anything. "You saw what he did, He walked right by me."

Describing Golden as "gutless", Chitwood said people like Golden spread fear in communities. People who follow hate groups spend many hours on computers following their hate-filled rhetoric, he said.

"They threaten to put bullets in people's heads and they don't think they are going to be held accountable," Chitwood said. "Well, we are going to hold you accountable."

Chitwood said there are two other investigations that might result in extraditions to Volusia County.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Man who threatened to kill Sheriff Mike Chitwood arrives in Florida
London, UK - (NewMediaWire) - March 27, 2023 - Jeton Wallet is thrilled to announce that it has been recognized as the "Online Payment Service Provider of the Year" and awarded at the prestigious Sigma Eurasia 2023 awards ceremony. The ceremony was held on 14 March 2023 in Dubai and brought together some of the most prominent names in the iGaming industry to celebrate achievements and recognize innovative projects that have transformed the industry. This award is a testament to Jeton Wallet's dedication of providing efficient online payment solutions to its customers and consolidates its leading position in the market.



The Jeton Wallet team was among the distinguished guests in attendance, alongside over 300 esteemed individuals who were present at the gala event. The team was overjoyed to be bestowed with the "Online Payment Service Provider of the Year" award, which serves as a validation of their tireless efforts and dedication to delivering cutting-edge online payment solutions. The Jeton Wallet team remains committed to maintaining its position as a trailblazer in the online payment space, and will continue to innovate and provide unparalleled services to its customers. In addition to recognizing outstanding achievements in the industry, the Sigma Eurasia awards ceremony featured an art auction, with all proceeds going to the SiGMA Foundation.

Saaly Temirkanov, the Executive Director of Jeton Wallet, expressed his appreciation for Jeton being recognized as the "Online Payment Service Provider of the Year" stating, "Winning the 'Online Payment Service Provider of the Year' award is a great achievement for us and a confirmation of our position as a leader in the market. We strive to provide our customers with the best possible experience and are proud to be recognized for our efforts."



Jeton Wallet has established a strong reputation as one of the most reliable and trustworthy payment service providers in the market, owing to its unwavering commitment to continuous improvement. The company's cutting-edge technology and emphasis on customer service have set it apart from its competitors and positioned it as amongst the leaders in the industry. Jeton Wallet's success is a reflection of its dedication to providing exceptional service and ability to adapt to the changing needs of its customers. The company's innovative mind-set and customer-centric approach has resulted in a loyal customer base and numerous accolades, including the "Online Payment Service Provider of the Year" award. Jeton Wallet continues to strive towards providing the best possible payment solutions to its customers by investing in efficient technology and constantly innovating its services. Looking ahead, Jeton Wallet is dedicated to driving innovation in the online payment space and expanding its reach to new markets while maintaining its position as a leader in the industry. To achieve this goal, Jeton Wallet is continuously investing in cutting-edge technologies and building strategic partnerships with businesses and organisations worldwide. By providing a seamless, secure, and convenient payment experience to its users, Jeton Wallet aims to revolutionise the way people make online payment transactions and become the go-to payment solution for individuals and businesses alike with a strong commitment to customer satisfaction and a focus on delivering value. About Jeton Jeton is a payment provider that allows you to securely pay online and transfer money around the world. Jeton's trusted e-Wallet is used by shoppers and merchants in the UK, EU, and around the globe, enabling rapid and secure payments to be made and an all-in-one account solution in multiple currencies. Jeton offers services in more than 100 countries, 70 payment methods and 50 currencies.





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President Joe Biden should learn a lesson in leadership from Emmanuel Macron, his counterpart across the pond.

The French president has followed through on campaign promises to address pension shortfalls by raising the retirement age to 64 from 62.

Guess what? A lot of people dont like it, and the French have taken to the streets. Yet, Macron isn't deterred by the potential political fallout. He knows it must be done.

One cannot play with the future of the country, Macron said recently to government ministers.

Where's Biden's leadership?

Rather than talk straight with Americans about what must be done to ensure that U.S. entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare remain solvent, Biden prefers to play politics.

In the next 30 years, these programs face a $116 trillion shortfall, says Brian Riedl, senior fellow in budget, tax and economics at the Manhattan Institute. If reforms arent put in place now, we will hurdle toward a fiscal crisis that will spark significant tax increases (think European-style value-added taxes) for the middle class and high inflation and interest rates, among other ills.

President Joe Biden in the State of the Union address in February accused GOP leaders of wanting to make cuts to entitlements in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. That's not true.

This is going to end badly for us, Riedl told me. I think ultimately it's going to take a debt crisis for anything to happen because the public is completely unprepared for the situation we face and somewhat in denial.

Its not a pretty reality. And its not fun to talk about, which is why our politicians avoid it like the plague.

Doing nothing is Social Security's biggest threat

Bidens approach is to point fingers at Republicans who have dared raise these concerns and bring up the possibility that adjustments (i.e., cuts) must be made now  or we risk much greater pain down the road.

The biggest threat to Social Security are Republicans, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said this month.

Thats false. The biggest threat to the program is what Biden is proposing: doing nothing.

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His new big-spending, high-tax budget directs no funding to shore up Social Security and only passingly addresses Medicare shortfalls. Thats not leadership.

The president flat-out lied in the State of the Union address in February when he accused GOP leaders of wanting to make cuts to entitlements in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. They have said such benefit programs wont be part of immediate discussions around ensuring that the United States can cover its financial obligations.

Biden piles up massive US debt: If Democrats fail to negotiate with GOP on debt, it's America's future that's held hostage

When Republicans come out with their budget proposal, they should offer concrete reforms to Social Security and Medicare.

It's doubtful that will happen, however. In this political climate, Biden would use any proposed benefit cuts as a bludgeon leading into the 2024 presidential election. He and Democrats are gleeful about the prospect.

Trump's to blame, too

Its not just Democrats who are playing games with entitlements. So is former President Donald Trump, who is running for a third time. He has called out other GOP contenders (and likely contenders) such as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who have  smartly  backed reforms in the past.

Nikki Haley: Spending is out of control. And Democrats and Republicans share the blame.

Trump should know better. But hed rather play to populism, regardless of the dangers.

The Congressional Budget Office released a report in February that showed Social Security will run a shortfall in 2032  sooner than it had formerly projected. Under current laws, that will set off an automatic 20% reduction in benefits.

And that would be just the beginning.

Time to act is now

The United States blew past $31 trillion in debt last fall, and its on pace to keep piling on the debt at an ever faster clip, with entitlement spending driving much of the deficit.

Since 2021, the Biden administration has already added $5 trillion in new deficits over 10 years.

Lawmakers should not wait until a fiscal crisis forces austerity upon the government, observed Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, in a policy brief. The longer lawmakers wait to reform spending, the more dramatic and sudden the eventual impact of reforms and adjustments will be.

USA TODAY columnist Ingrid Jacques

The country is not on a sustainable path. Politicians like Biden who aren't straight about that care only for their own ambitions  not your future.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

More from Ingrid Jacques:

Michigan posts 'closed for business' sign to please unions. Biden wants the same for US.

Liberals call drag queen protesters 'bigots.' So what's it called when they attack free speech?

Are pay gaps 'sexist'? Democrats want more laws, but that could harm, not help, women.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: On Social Security, Biden could learn something from France's Macron
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry defended business and government leaders who travel to high-profile climate summits on gas-guzzling private jets.

In an interview with Yahoo News, Kerry took issue with criticism levied against leaders who fly on private jets despite lofty climate ambitions, saying those individuals are "working harder" than most to fight climate change. He also echoed an argument defending private jet travel he has previously used, suggesting so-called carbon offsets justify such high-carbon-footprint travel.

"They offset  they buy offsets, they offset, and they are working harder than most people I know to be able to try to effect this transition," he told the outlet late last week.

Kerry noted that he has spoken about private jet travel and carbon offsets with attendees of the World Economic Forum, an annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, where climate change is usually a central topic. Attendees of the summit this year were criticized after they took at least 150 private jet trips to regional airports near Davos in January.

JOHN KERRY'S FAMILY PRIVATE JET EMITTED OVER 300 METRIC TONS OF CARBON SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE

Greenpeace campaigner Klara Maria Schenk blasted officials for flying on "ultra-polluting, socially inequitable private jets to discuss climate and inequality behind closed doors."

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Despite defending his fellow world leaders, Kerry has opted against flying on private jets since assuming his current position at the State Department. He notably flew commercial to both United Nations climate summits that have taken place during his tenure as climate envoy.

"I didnt fly private while I was in this job," Kerry added in the interview with Yahoo News. "Ive had one, maybe two, private flights, which were military flights in order to get to China during COVID, where we were forced into that, but I fly commercially."

JOHN KERRY'S OFFICE CONSULTED LEFT-WING ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WHILE CRAFTING POLICIES, EMAILS SHOW

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Fox News Digital recently reported that Kerry's family sold its private jet, a Gulfstream GIV-SP, last year amid intense criticism over its carbon footprint. As of July, the month before the sale occurred, the jet had made a total of 48 trips lasting more than 60 hours and emitted an estimated 715,886 pounds, or 325 metric tons, since President Biden appointed Kerry to the position.

President Biden and Climate Envoy John Kerry are pictured during the 2021 United Nations climate summit in Scotland.

Although the plane was sold and Kerry has mainly traveled on commercial flights since January 2021, he argued in 2019 that his private jet use allows him to "fly to meet with people and get things done." He added that he had devoted his life to fighting climate change and that he offsets his carbon consumption.

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A carbon offset is a reduction of carbon emissions aimed at counteracting increased emissions elsewhere.

Private jet travel, which is by far the most carbon-intensive mode of transportation, emits 10 times more carbon than commercial planes and 50 times more carbon than trains, according to a 2021 report from the group Transport & Environment.
Former President Donald Trump and Jon Stewart Evan Vucci/ AP // Kevin Wolf/ AP

Jon Stewart said that conversations about Trump should not concern whether he should be indicted.

"I think the law should always take into account someone's popularity," Stewart said, sarcastically.

Instead, Stewart said, we should be focusing on finding a system of "consistent accountability."

Jon Stewart, the former host of "The Daily Show," said that he doesn't care about conversations surrounding whether former President Donald Trump would become a "martyr" should he be indicted.

Stewart, who spoke Saturday to Fareed Zakaria on CNN's "GPS," said that he was instead focused on finding a system of "consistent accountability."

Since January, a New York grand jury has been investigating Trump's connection to a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress. As the investigation comes to a close, Trump could face an indictment in the coming weeks.

Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who testified before the New York grand jury, was sentenced to three years in prison in connection to this payment. Cohen now alleges that Trump ordered him to make the payments.

Zakaria asked Stewart about whether Trump should be indicted, citing concerns that Trump, who received 74.2 million votes in 2020, could become a martyr for those who believe he is being treated unfairly by the justice system.

"I think the law should always take into account someone's popularity," Stewart replied, sarcastically. "I mean, what  what's happened to our country? It's as though you can't even commit financial fraud anymore."

Stewart continued, "The idea that someone may face accountability, who is that rich and powerful, is outrageous, and this country shouldn't stand for it."

After concluding his bit, Stewart explained that the "rule of law" does not consider "if that might make you a martyr to somebody."

"I'd much rather have the conversation be: what is the law? What exactly are we saying that he did? His lawyer went to jail for the same situation for a couple of years. So what is the crime? Is it a crime?" Stewart said.

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Stewart also spoke against the lack of "accountability in our financial systems" and brought up congressional stock trades as an example.

Following the news that he could be indicted, Trump took to social media to call for his followers to stand up for him, which experts think could give his most extreme followers a reason to resort to violence. Last week, Trump posted on Truth Social to warn about "potential death & destruction" should he be charged.

A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images

Records show Jonathan Majors was arraigned on Sunday in a New York City courtroom on several assault and harassment charges a day after he was arrested in connection to a domestic dispute .

According to the Manhattan district attorneys office, the 33-year-old actor was charged with assault, attempted assault, harassment, and aggravated harassment.

Majors was arrested on Saturday following what the NYPD described as a domestic dispute that caused a 30-year-old woman to be taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Per the complaint provided to BuzzFeed News, the victim told police that Majors struck her about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear.

She also said he grabbed her hand causing swelling, bruising, and substantial pain to her finger, and that he put his hand on her neck, causing bruising and substantial pain, according to the complaint.

A judge released Majors on his own recognizance and granted a limited order of protection. His next court appearance was scheduled for May 8.

Priya Chaudhry, Majorss lawyer, told BuzzFeed News on Sunday that he is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.

Chaudhry said that video and witness evidence would clear her client of wrongdoing and that the alleged victim had also recanted her allegations. Chaudhry added that the woman was having an emotional crisis.

We expect these charges to be dropped soon, Chaudhry said.

One of Hollywood's fastest-rising stars, Majors recently appeared in Creed III as Damian Anderson and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as Kang the Conqueror.

More on this
Jonathan Majors, at the London premiere of Creed III in February, was arrested on Saturday in New York on what authorities categorized as a "domestic dispute" involving an unidentified woman. His attorney said he's "entirely innocent" and expects that "all charges will be dropped imminently." (Photo: Reuters/Henry Nicholls)

Jonathan Majors is facing fallout after his weekend arrest for an alleged domestic dispute. His attorney maintains his innocence, saying he was the one who called 911 because of the unidentified woman's "mental condition," and released a screenshot of text messages the woman purportedly sent Majors after his arrest.

Details of the arrest and arraignment

The 33-year-old Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actor, who's seen as a rising star in Hollywood, was arrested Saturday in New York City on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment. It stemmed from a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. A 911 call was placed from an apartment at around 11 a.m.

"The victim informed police she was assaulted," a spokesperson for the NYPD said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. "Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition." Majors's relationship with the woman was described only as "domestic."

The California native was arraigned on a complaint that included misdemeanor charges for assault and aggravated harassment, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office told the outlet. In the complaint, the accuser claimed the defendant did "strike her about the face with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear." She also accused him of putting "his hand on her neck, causing bruising and substantial pain." The judge granted a limited order of protection. Majors was released on his own recognizance.

Majors's lawyer says he's "entirely innocent"

A spokesperson for Majors said in a statement to the AP on Saturday, "He has done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up."

The following day, his attorney Priya Chaudhry from Chaudhry Law doubled down on his innocence, saying in a statement obtained by the Hollywood Reporter that there is evidence he's "entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently."

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Chaudhry, who also represents Real Housewives of Salt Lake City's Jen Shah in her fraud case, blamed the incident on the woman having "an emotional crisis," according to the AP. She claimed there's evidence clearing Majors that includes "video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations."

On Thursday, five days after the incident, Chaudhry issued a new statement obtained by Yahoo Entertainment, saying, Majors "completely denies assaulting the woman." She claims Majors was the one who called 911 "out of concern for the womans mental health" on Saturday. "The police arrived with the paramedics, as is standard procedure, and arrested Mr. Majors due to an NYPD protocol requiring arrest in certain circumstances. On that same day, only 7 and 9 hours later, the woman sent text messages to Mr. Majors admitting that she was the one who used physical force against him. She also disavowed any allegations that he had done anything to her and confirmed that Mr. Majors called 911 because of her mental condition. These are those messages, redacting the womans name for her privacy."

In the messages, which Yahoo can't authenticate, it says, "Please let me know you're okay when you get this. They assured me that you won't be charged. They said they had to arrest you as protocol when they saw the injuries on me and they knew we had a fight. I'm so angry that they did. And I'm sorry you're in this position. Will make sure nothing happens about this."

It also said, "I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone. I only just got out of hospital. I love you." A few hours later, another message said, "They just called again to check on me and I reiterated how this was not an attack and they do not have my blessing on any charges being placed. I read the paper they gave me about strangulation and I said point blank this did not occur and should be removed immediately. The judge is definitely going to be told this. I know you have the best team and there's nothing to worry about I just want you to know that I'm doing all I can on my end. I also said to tell the judge to know that the origin of the call was to do with me collapsing and passing out and your worry as my partner due to our communication prior. Out of care. She promised all will be relayed."

A screenshot of what Jonathan Major's attorney says are texts that the woman he is accused of assaulting sent him after his arrest.

The fallout

The day after his arrest, the U.S. Army pulled its TV ad campaign featuring Majors. The goal of the campaign was to revive Army recruitment numbers.

"The U.S. Army is aware of the arrest of Jonathan Majors and we are deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest," Army Enterprise Marketing Office public affairs chief Laura DeFrancisco said in a statement. "While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete."

Jonathan Majors starred in the U.S. Army's "Be All You Can Be" recruitment advertisement campaign. (Photo: U.S. Army/Handout via Reuters)

This could have wider ramifications for Majors, who's one of Hollywood's "It" actors at this moment. He first drew drew attention appearing in The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) followed by Da 5 Bloods (2020), HBO hit series Lovecraft Country, which landed him an Emmy nomination in 2021, and Netflix's western The Harder They Fall (2021).

He's been busy, with starring roles in mega-successful Creed III, which came out March 3, and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which was released on Feb. 17. He also stars in Magazine Dreams, which made a big debut at the Sundance Film Festival and was sold to Searchlight Pictures with a Dec. 8 release.

Depending on the outcome of the case, it could impact his plans with Marvel Studios. Majors's role as Kang the Conqueror, variations of which he has played in the third Ant-Man movie as well as Loki (2021), is slated to be the primary antagonist facing off against the multiverse's mightiest heroes in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, slated for 2025.

Marvel has yet to issue any statements on the arrest. However, Marvel has been known to recast major characters, if necessary. Parent company Disney has also fired franchise stars and filmmakers for PR reasons.

What's next?

Majors is scheduled to appear in court on May 8.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on March 27, 2023 at 11:54 a.m. ET and has been updated to include new information.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  A New Mexico judge said Santa Fe's district attorney shouldn't serve as co-counsel in the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons supervisor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a 2021 movie rehearsal. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Monday said the district attorney should either lead the case on her own or turn it over entirely to another prosecutor.

Baldwin and movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and fines.

Hutchins died shortly after being wounded Oct. 21, 2021, during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza, on the set of the Western movie Rust.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies is regrouping after the resignation of special prosecutor Andrea Reeb in the wake of missteps in the filing of initial charges against Baldwin and objections that Reeb's role as a state legislator created conflicting responsibilities.

Carmack-Altwies has been preparing to appoint a new special prosecutor and also guide the complex case as co-counsel. But a defense attorney for Gutierrez-Reed objected to the arrangement, arguing it would be illegal under New Mexico law and fundamentally unfair to a 25-year-old defendant with limited financial resources.

Marlowe Sommer, the judge, said Monday during a court hearing by videoconference that the district attorney had misread key provisions of state law in assembling a team to prosecute the case.

Basically, what Im ruling, Ms. Carmack-Altwies, is that you are going to use (the law) in the way Ive interpreted it, which means that you may not co-counsel, or you stay the course and not use a special prosecutor and prosecute it on your own, Marlowe Sommer said.

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Baldwin's attorneys did not intervene in Monday's arguments. A weekslong preliminary hearing in May will decide whether evidence against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed is sufficient to proceed to trial.

Carmack-Altwies has several days to respond to the judge's ruling.

The district attorney said her agency is contending with a shortage of staff attorneys and that a new special prosecutor will need her help in getting up to speed on the case quickly. She also said her continued involvement as co-counsel would provide an extra measure of accountability as an an elected prosecutor to political constituents.

Defense Attorney Jason Bowles said the district attorney was unfairly exceeding her authority.

We are representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed  she is a 25-year-old female who does not have all of those resources and does not have a war chest, Bowles said. And the state is essentially saying we get to put all this money together, a special taxpayer appropriation, to go after not only Mr. Baldwin, but also Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Thats not what the statute was designed to do.
A Century Correctional Institute inmate was sentenced to 30 years in state prison the same night a jury found him guilty of unjustifiably killing a fellow inmate.

Markell Brent Sawyer was charged with the first-degree premeditated murder of fellow inmate Nelson Sanderson, but the jury convicted him of manslaughter with a weapon  a lesser included offense.

During the trial, Sawyer testified that he killed Sanderson in the prison bathroom on Aug. 17, 2020, with a padlock locked to the end of a makeshift rope. He claims he was in fear of being sexually battered by the 79-year-old.

"I was utilizing the toilet and my pants were down to my ankles and also my boxers, and so was Nelson Sanderson's when he came over to my stall," Sawyer said on the stand Friday.

Markell Brent Sawyer appears before Circuit Judge John Simon on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Sawyer was convicted of manslaughter for 79-year-old Nelson Sanderson in August 2020 while in Century Correctional Institute.

Sawyer's first day of trial:A 79-year-old Century inmate was beaten to death. The defendant says it was justified.

Sanderson's death announced:Florida DOC: 79-year-old killed in inmate-on-inmate assault at Century prison

Sawyer said he thought Sanderson was attempting to sexually batter him, and that concern  along with him previously hearing from other inmates that Sanderson was imprisoned for molesting an 8-year-old  led to both inmates wrestling in the bathroom.

According to testimony during the trial, Sanderson began screaming for help while both inmates were on the floor, prompting the sleeping inmates to enter the bathroom and asking Sawyer to stop.

After the two stopped wrestling, the other inmates left the bathroom, which is when Sawyer began beating Sanderson with the padlock, saying his fight or flight kicked in.

"No, I didn't (try to alert security) because I was afraid that (Sanderson's) friends with would help him," Sawyer said on the stand. "I thought they would get more help and get weapons."

During closing statements, Shea asked the jury to find Sawyer guilty verdict of first-degree premeditated murder, saying the 79-year-old man posed no threat to the 25-year-old Sawyer.

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"(Witness) Albert Spalding said the reason he had the broom and was thinking about getting involved in that was because the old man needed to be defended," Shea said. "The old man was in danger in that altercation. It wasn't the defendant."

Markell Brent Sawyer appears before Circuit Judge John Simon on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Sawyer was convicted of manslaughter for 79-year-old Nelson Sanderson in August 2020 while in Century Correctional Institute.

Gore said his client had the right to defend himself when Sanderson approaching him partially nude and showing an indication he might attempt to sexually batter Sawyer.

"An attempted sexual battery ... justifies the use of deadly force," Gore said. "I couldn't even argue it if there wasn't evidence of it. Right there, there is enough evidence for you to vote not guilty because of the justified use of force."

The jury had three options when deciding Sawyer's guilty verdict  first-degree-premeditated murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter with or without a weapon. The 12-person jury determined based on their recollection of the evidence that Sawyer did not premeditate the killing and did not evince a depraved mind regardless of human life.

Afterward, Escambia Circuit Judge John Simon levied the 30-year prison term and deemed it to run consecutive to his current prison sentence, which is scheduled to end Dec. 12, 2023.

At the time of the crime, Sawyer was serving a sentence for criminal mischief and theft related charges. Sawyers prior criminal history includes convictions for theft, armed burglary, several burglaries of dwellings and conveyances, and sexual battery.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Century inmate Markell Sawyer convicted of manslaughter
Tesla is back in court this week to defend itself against allegations from a Black former worker who claimed the automaker's Fremont factory is rife with racial discrimination and harassment. Tesla and the plaintiff, Owen Diaz, are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in San Francisco this week after jury selection begins Monday.

Diaz is seeking compensatory and punitive damages after alleging that colleagues repeatedly called him racist slurs, drew racist caricatures and swastikas, and generally presented a hostile work environment in the nine months between 2015 and 2016 that he worked as an elevator operator at the plant. Tesla management, he claims, did nothing to halt the abuse.

The new trial comes after Diaz and his lawyers rejected a $15 million payout last June, which Judge William Orrick reduced from a jury-awarded $137 million damages. Orrick had slashed the compensatory damages from $6.9 million to $1.5 million, as well as punitive damages from $130 million to $13.5 million, saying at the time that the jury award was excessive.

Orrick also said he couldn't find a controlling question of law to justify an immediate appeal of the reduced award, and that allowing for one would further delay a case that is already five years old. Diaz's lawyers said the payout was unjust and wouldn't deter future misconduct by Tesla.

Going back to court is a gamble for Diaz, who risks the possibility of even lower damages as a result of the new trial. Helen Rella, head of the employment law department at law firm Wilk Auslander, previously told TechCrunch that the most likely outcome, however, is for Diaz to be awarded something in between the $15 million and $137 million award.

Tesla has historically denied any wrongdoing. The company disbanded its press office in 2020 and could not be reached for comment.

The rehashing of Diaz's case comes as Tesla continues to fight against California's Civil Rights Department (CRD) in a separate racial bias lawsuit. The CRD first sued Tesla in February 2022 after receiving allegations that the automaker's Fremont factory is a racially segregated workplace where Black workers suffer from harassment, unequal pay and a hostile work environment. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the CRD must provide Tesla with details of the investigation it conducted prior to filing suit against the automaker. If the CRD wasn't thorough enough in its investigations, Tesla might be able to have certain claims dismissed.
SALT LAKE CITY  The beef between Charles Barkley and Kevin Durant continues.

After Barkley once again said Durant was sensitive during a '60 Minutes' interview that aired Sunday on CBS, Durant responded by quoting a tweet of the clip Awful Announcing posted.

This aint gettin tiring chuck? Ill never respect the words that come out ya mouth fam just deal with it, Durant tweeted.

Barkley was asked about Durant in the interview in which he stayed consistent with how he feels about the two-time finals MVP and 13-time All-Star.

This aint gettin tiring chuck? Ill never respect the words that come out ya mouth fam just deal with it https://t.co/ZGGCIs62El  Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) March 27, 2023

He's very sensitive, Barkley said. Great player. He's part of that generation who think he can't be criticized. He's never looked in the mirror and says 'Man, is that a fair criticism?'"

When Jon Wertheim followed up by asking if today's players are a little more sensitive to criticism, Barkley said, "that would be an understatement."

Earlier this year, Barkley addressed his relationship with Durant during an 'All The Smoke' interview on Showtime in which the Hall of Famer said he said Durant have been "cordial" and "taken shots" at each other.

"KD is a great, great player, he is a great, great player." Barkley said. "He's sensitive, 100% sensitive, but what I said and I'll stick by it .KD is a great, great player, but he's going to have to win a championship without the Warriors to get the old heads' respect."

Barkley won the NBA MVP award in his first season in Phoenix which ended with him leading the Suns to the 1993 finals as they lost to Michael Jordan and the three-peat Chicago Bulls.

Durant is in his first season with the Suns after Phoenix traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first round draft picks and a pick swap to Brooklyn for T.J. Warren and Durant right before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

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Phoenix is 3-0 with Durant in the lineup as he twisted his left ankle during a pregame workout on March 8 before what wouldve been his Suns home debut.

Having not played since, Durant is scheduled for a re-evaluation of the left ankle sprain this week and is on course to return Wednesday against Minnesota at Footprint Center.

Former NBA player Charles Barkley, center, watches West Virginia and Auburn from the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)

Durant is ruled out for Mondays game at Utah. The Suns canceled Monday's morning shootaround.

The Suns are 3-6 without him since that 3-0 run with him, but are coming off a 20-point home win Saturday over Philadelphia in the second of a back-to-back for both teams.

With eight games remaining, Phoenix (39-35) is fourth in the Western Conference.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Just deal with it': Kevin Durant and Charles Barkley beef continues
By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) - E-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc and its former largest investor, Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc, will face their first U.S. trial this week over claims that they created a public nuisance by marketing addictive e-cigarettes to minors.

Minnesota seeks to force the companies to pay for measures to remedy the harms of addiction. It says Juul sold its e-cigarettes in sweet flavors and promoted them on social media to appeal to underage consumers.

The state says teen vaping skyrocketed in the three years leading up to the lawsuit in 2019, with vaping by 11th graders increasing by more than 50% and by 8th graders nearly doubling.

Jury selection begins on Monday in Hennepin County state court with opening statements expected on Tuesday. Juul and Altria have faced thousands of similar lawsuits around the country.

Public nuisance, a legal theory more traditionally invoked in cases seeking to remedy damage to public amenities or waterways, has been used more in recent years, including in litigation over the opioid epidemic that has yielded more than $50 billion in settlements. This week's trial will be its first test against Juul.

"We will prove how Juul and Altria deceived and hooked a generation of Minnesota youth on their products, causing both great harm to the public and great expense to the State to remediate that harm," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement this month about the trial.

"At trial we will present a vigorous defense and show that the state's claims do not stand up as matters of facts and law," Juul said in a statement Friday.

Altria did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said in court papers that the surge in youth vaping in Minnesota took place largely before Altria took its 35% stake in Juul in 2018, and that as a minority, non-voting investor it should not be held responsible.

Both companies also argue that Minnesota itself is responsible because it has failed to use its $6.1 billion share of a landmark 1998 settlement between states and tobacco companies for its intended purpose of funding anti-smoking efforts. The litigation leading up to that settlement was also based on a public nuisance theory.

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The state also says Altria helped Juul market its products, including by providing it access to its sales force and including Juul advertisements in Marlboro products.

Juul last year agreed to pay $439 million to settle similar lawsuits with 34 states, not including Minnesota, and $1.7 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits by individuals and local government entities. Altria was not part of the settlements.

Juul, which has not admitted wrongdoing, in 2019 pulled most of its flavors from the market and halted much of its advertising under pressure from regulators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last June briefly banned the products, though it put the ban on hold and agreed to reconsider after the company appealed.

Altria this month announced that it had given up its investment in Juul in exchange for some of Juul's intellectual property. As of December, its share of Juul was valued at $250 million, down from $12.8 billion in 2018.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Josie Kao)
Alice Wang, attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, presents her argument as the appellee during the Kansas Supreme Court case Hodes & Nauser v. Kobach on Monday morning.

In arguments before the Kansas Supreme Court on Monday, attorneys and justices clashed over the impact Kansans' rejection of a proposed amendment to erode state constitutional abortion protections should have on two long-running and hotly contested cases related to abortion rights.

The court signaled it is unlikely to overturn their landmark ruling that the Kansas Constitution protects a right to an abortion, and which prompted the August abortion fight.

But the rulings in both cases could have a major impact on abortion rights in Kansas, even in the wake of the amendment vote.

More:Kansas abortion clinics are highly regulated. Will access change in the future?

Solicitor General Anthony Powell argued the vote should be disregarded, saying "Im not sure we can really say" whether voters were affirming the high court's abortion rulings when they went to the polls in August.

"As a matter of law, constitutional interpretation, the public vote doesnt matter, particularly when the constitution doesnt change," Powell said.

Kansas Solicitor General Anthony Powell argues as the appellant during the Kansas Supreme Court case Hodes & Nauser v. Kobach on Monday morning.

Some of the justices disagreed, however, with Powell undergoing over an hour of stiff questioning on the matter.

Justice Dan Biles pointed to language in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade arguing voters should weigh in on the issue of abortion.

"Weve done that in Kansas," Biles said. "We had a vote in August, and pretty overwhelming, to reject the prospect of amending the constitution. I think that is the elephant in the room."

One of the cases at issue is a continuation of the 2019 ruling, where the court issued its landmark decision, which also means any restrictions on the practice must past a higher legal standard.

Using that mandate, Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson struck down the law at issue, a 2015 measure banning dilation and evacuation abortions, a common second-trimester procedure, as there was not a safe alternative for abortion procedures in that time period.

In 2011, meanwhile, clinics challenged a new set of health and safety standards passed by the Legislature, though those regulations were never enforced as the matter drifted into the courts.

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That law includes a requirement that a medical professional be in the room when abortion medications are administered, mandates a post-procedure recover time and requires facilities disclose the firm they contract with to remove medical waste, a standard clinics say would chase away potential companies they could do business with.

In December 2021, Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Christopher also struck down the restrictions as overly burdensome and that the state's abortion clinics had operated effectively since the regulations were initially blocked, with no safety issues raised.

August amendment vote takes center stage in arguments

It took mere minutes for the court to broach the August abortion vote.

Powell said he felt the voters resoundingly said they did not want to ban abortion.

"Fair enough," he said.

But he also pointed to arguments from opponents of the amendments that Kansas had reasonable restrictions on abortion and argued that the dilation and evacuation ban was furthering that effort.

He said the 2019 ruling undermined public trust in the judiciary and that "there are some issues, and I think abortion is one of them, that cannot be settled by judicial fiat."

"Youve got to let the people work that out," Powell said.

Kansas Chief Justice Marla Luckert questions Solicitor General Anthony Powell during the Kansas Supreme Court case Hodes & Nauser v. Kobach on Monday morning.

But Chief Justice Marla Luckert pushed back, arguing that two avenues are available as a check on the judiciary: legislation and constitutional amendments.

"That was what was played out in August. That was the opportunity and I don't know there is a cap on that opportunity," she said.

Powell acknowledged the potential for another abortion vote, saying, "It wouldnt surprise me" if the matter was put before Kansans again.

Justices appeared skeptical of Powell's argument that the state had a compelling interest in banning dilation and evacuation abortions, with the solicitor general arguing they were "inhumane." Protecting the right to human life, he argued, was sufficient government interest for the law.

"I think dismembering a human being is a horrible thing," he said. "It is a horrible thing to dismember an inmate on death row. It is a horrible thing to dismember a pet."

But Justice Eric Rosen argued there was no evidence introduced in the case to support that point, a fact Powell appeared to acknowledge by saying, "It is hard to give you good evidence."

Alice Wang, attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, prepares her argument as the appellee during the Kansas Supreme Court case Hodes & Nauser v. Kobach on Monday morning.

Alice Wang, the attorney representing a Johnson County abortion clinic, said the court should affirm its prior ruling on abortion.

"The court found these rights belong to all Kansans and that Kansans do not relinquish those rights when they become pregnant," she said.

But Powell maintained the argument that the 2019 decision was improper, arguing that by the logic of that ruling all government regulations on issues such as vaccine mandates should have to meet a higher level of judicial review.

"I guess Im wondering, is this court then prepared to apply strict scrutiny to all those areas of personal autonomy that government regulates," he said.

Kansas abortion clinic safety regulations also at issue

In arguing in favor of the health and safety regulations, Powell said the restrictions were necessary because abortion deserves a higher level of regulation than other procedures because it involves taking a life. He pointed to a series of high-profile cases where abortion providers lost their medical licenses for unsanitary or unbecoming actions.

The regulations, he argued, would not actually impair the right to an abortion, even though clinics have argued they would be forced to close under the regulatory framework.

"We want to ensure physicians that perform procedures are doing them properly and with the utmost safety in mind," Powell said.

But Caroline Sacerdote, representing the abortion provider in the case, said the restrictions single out clinics but not similar practices that handle miscarriages and other medical fields.

There was, she added, no evidence presented that the regulations would improve the safety of women.

"Our issue is they target the fundamental right for unique restriction and there is absolutely no evidence that the restriction is warranted," she said.

Justice Caleb Stegall, the principle conservative justice on the bench, pressed Sacerdote on if the court must also apply a higher level of review to other conditions that implicate a right to bodily autonomy, the right cited by the high court in the 2019 ruling.

"Can you distinguish abortion and plastic surgery in a legal sense under Article 1 (of the Kansas Constitution)?" Stegall said.

The August amendment vote was less critical to arguments in the second case.

But even though its legal implications might be limited, Sacerdote said the vote still should send a clear message as the state once again waits for a key set of rulings on abortion.

"I would say Kansans' overwhelming rejection of that amendment doesn't directly bear on the legal question before the court today," Sacerdote told reporters following the hearing. "But it does undermine the argument that the 2019 decision recognizing the right to an abortion as fundamental is out of step with the will of Kansans."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas abortion amendment vote takes center stage amid key court cases
The lawsuit alleges that Kansas City police officers were told it would be easier to write up multiple citations during traffic stops in minority neighborhoods.

A white Kansas City, Missouri, police officer has filed a lawsuit with a slew of complaints against the Kansas City Police Department, including accusations that some in the division regularly used racist language and forced badge bearers to use racist policing tactics.

The lawsuit  which was filed mid-March in Jackson County Court by 21-year police force veteran Edward Williams, 44  alleges that KCPD officers were told to only respond to distress calls from predominately white neighborhoods and to target minority neighborhoods for issuing tickets.

According to NPR, officers were told it would be easier to write up multiple citations during traffic stops in minority neighborhoods. They were allegedly threatened with unfavorable shifts or told they would be kicked out of the traffic unit if they were unable to meet ticket quotas  which are illegal, according to Missouri law.

A white officer has sued the Kansas City Police Department, accusing some of regularly using racist language and forcing cops to use racist tactics. (Photo: AdobeStock)

Rick Smith, the former Kansas City police chief who retired in April 2022 after five years, was allegedly the ringleader of this behavior, according to the complaint, per NPR. The current chief, Stacey Graves, said last week the squad does not enforce the law based on demographics.

Williams says that he was retaliated against for being a whistleblower and was discriminated against after an injury. He is seeking monetary damages, per NPR.

The Kansas City Police Department has been plagued with accusations of racism for years. According to The Kansas City Star, police data shows that the KCPD used violence over 130 times during the summer protests in 2020. The following year, the killing of a Black man by police while at a convenience store sparked even more outrage.

In 2021, various civil rights organizations, including the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, signed a letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the department after reports of internal racism and instances of violence against Black and Latino people.

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Kansas City has experienced a consistent pattern of systemic violations including police-involved shootings with no accountability, biased and unreasonable searches and seizures, arrests without warrants, and abusive practices by plainclothes units, the groups said in the letter, per NPR.

In September 2022, the DOJ announced it had opened an investigation into the alleged racist hiring practices and treatment of Black officers in the division.

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The post Kansas City police officer files lawsuit alleging forced discrimination in minority neighborhoods appeared first on TheGrio.
Kansas City residents are voting on multiple ballot questions in the April 4 election. Those ballot questions include whether or not to add an additional local tax to marijuana sales and whether or not to impose additional taxes and fees to short term rentals like Airbnbs.

There will be three ballot questions on the ballot for Kansas City residents. Other area municipalities and counties have added a marijuana tax question to the ballot as well.

All KC voters can vote early leading up to the election at three locations: Union Station, The Whole Person and United Believers Community Church.

Whos running for Kansas City council, mayor? Your voter guide to the April 4 primary

Heres a breakdown of what Kansas City voters can expect to see on the ballot on April 4:

Marijuana Taxes

The first ballot question on April 4 will ask voters whether or not they agree with imposing an additional 3% sales tax to marijuana sales within the city. These kinds of taxes are known as excise taxes, similar to additional taxes put on alcohol and gas sales.

The additional 3% tax would be in addition to the existing 10.85% sales tax, which includes city, county and state sales taxes, and the additional 6% statewide weed tax. Theres also a chance Jackson County voters approve a countywide 3% excise tax on top of the city one.

So if the ballot question is approved, a regular consumer shopping in the Jackson County portions of Kansas City could see up to 23% in marijuana sales taxes.

The money would go through the citys health department and would be put toward city clean-up efforts, homelessness prevention and violence prevention.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and city officials hope that the additional 3% tax would lead to an average of $3 million in revenue in the first year and $10 million by the fifth year of taxing the recreational drug.

Other jurisdictions like Jackson and Cass countiesy will also be able to add their own 3% tax to marijuana sales, if voters approve. Depending on where you live, you might be asked to vote on both Kansas Citys marijuana excise tax, and a county level marijuana excise tax.

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Heres the exact question voters can expect on the ballot:

Kansas City

Question 1:

Additional Sales Tax on Retail Sale of Adult Use Non-Medicinal Marijuana

Shall the City of Kansas City impose an additional sales tax of three percent (3%) on the retail sale of adult use non-medicinal marijuana for the exclusive purpose of providing neighborhood quality of life improvements, to fund through the Department of Health, refuse and neighborhood cleanup services, homeless prevention services, and violence prevention services administered by the City?

Jackson County

Shall Jackson County, Missouri, be authorized to impose a countywide sales tax of three percent (3%) on all tangible personal property retail sales of adult use, non-medicinal marijuana sold in Jackson County, for the purpose of funding community services and veterans support services through a dedicated special revenue fund, and for other purposes authorized for the expenditure of county general revenues?

Cass County

Shall Cass County, Missouri impose a countywide sales tax of three percent (3%) on all tangible personal property retail sales of adult-use marijuana sold in Cass County, Missouri?

Platte and Clay counties do not have a marijuana tax question on the ballot for the April 4 election.

Short term rentals

The two following ballot questions are about short term rentals in Kansas City. One question will ask voters whether or not the city should impose a 7.5% tax, called a Transient Boarding and Accommodation Tax. This tax will be applied to short term rentals and any other lodging establishments that are not covered by the citys 7.5% convention and tourism tax.

The second question will ask voters whether or not the city should add a $3 fee onto each sleeping room rented out, per day. This would apply to short term rentals, like Airbnb and Vrbo, as well as hotels and motels.

Since 2018, more than 4,000 short term rentals have been listed in Kansas City on third party sites. In recent years, community members have raised questions about the benefits of the industry, which led to a city audit that explored where the city was missing out on money to be made from short term rentals.

The audit found that between July 2021 and August 2022, the city missed out on more than $2.28 million in potential tourism tax revenue from short term rentals. The city missed out another $353,600 in occupancy fees during that same time period.

The city does have a 7.5% convention and tourism tax that is already applied to hotel rooms, but the city does not collect this tax on Airbnbs and other short term rentals, because state law defines hotels as establishments that have eight or more rooms for guests.

In order to change the definition of a hotel to include short term rentals, the city would have to lobby state legislators to change the requirements for the convention and tourism tax.

In the meantime, the city is asking voters to approve a 7.5% Transient Boarding and Accommodation Tax that would apply to Airbnbs and other kinds of lodging establishments. The city is also asking voters to approve the $3 license fee that will apply to both hotels and short term rentals.

Heres what voters can expect to see on their ballot:

Question 2:

Transient Boarding and Accommodation Tax

Shall the City of Kansas City impose a Transient Boarding and Accommodation Tax of

seven and one-half percent (7.5%) to all lodging establishments, including short-term

rentals, not otherwise subject to the Citys Convention and Tourism Tax?

Question 3:

Shall the City be authorized to impose the following license fee for the

purpose of funding convention and tourism activities:

Up to an additional $1.50 per occupied sleeping room per day on all hotels, motels and tourist courts, with such fees being in addition to the existing $1.50 occupancy fee on hotels and motels for a combined fee of $3.00 per occupied sleeping room per day also to be applied to all short-term rentals conducting business within the City?

You can check out the sample ballot here.
Rep. Adam Smith, R-Weskan, chair of the House Tax Committee, proposed a tax cut package that combined Republican and Democratic priorities.

A new tax plan proposed by the top House Republican on taxes combines some, but not all, priorities of GOP legislators and the Democratic governor.

The new House package would also cost about half as much as tax cuts that previously passed the Senate.

The Senate tax plans totaled $2.8 billion over three years. If enacted along with the governor's budget proposal, they would have the state running a budget deficit within three years.

The House started with House Bill 2457, drafted by Rep. Adam Smith, R-Weskan and the chamber's tax committee chair. But that plan, which included a 4.95% flat tax, came in at a cost of about $2.1 billion over three years.

Smith said that number was "higher than what I anticipated and it's higher than what I have discussed with our appropriations chair. So we will have to, if we want to work this bill and pass it out, we'll have to make some reductions somewhere."

The pared-down version, which the House Taxation Committee put into Senate Bill 169 through a gut-and-go, is about $1.4 billion.

"I think this is within the parameters that the chairman of the appropriations committee gave me," Smith said.

Much of the savings came through increasing the flat tax to 5.25% and adopting Gov. Laura Kelly's proposed phase-out of the Social Security income tax cliff.

While the governor has been outspoken in her opposition to more expensive flat tax plans this session, it is unclear if the compromise package will be enough to get her support. It is also unclear if the House will even take up its own plan or if it will rely on the conference committee process as in years past.

More:'Everybody has an idea for a tax cut': Kansas Senate passes massive tax package

Kansas flat tax plan is now at 5.25%

The biggest piece of the package is the Republican priority of eliminating the current three-tier progressive income tax structure and imposing a flat tax. The price tag is $587 million over three years.

For supporters of a flat tax, "the rate wasn't quite as important as the concept of the flat tax," said Rep. Shannon Francis, R-Liberal, who made the motion to change the rate to 5.25%.

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To prevent low income earners from seeing a tax increase, Francis' amendment also increased the exemptions for untaxed income.

"The entire purpose of that is to make sure that nobody at any income level gets a tax increase," Francis said.

It was unclear how Kansans of various income levels will be affected by this flat tax plan. Documents provided to lawmakers were not made publicly available through the Legislature's website, which also did not have an updated draft of the legislation.

Rep. Tom Sawyer, D-Wichita, questioned how much benefit it would provide to people who are already in the 5.2% tax bracket. That bracket kicks in at $15,000 to $30,000 in income for an individual and $30,000 to $60,000 for a couple.

"I personally hate the flat tax, I'll just say that flat out," he said. "I believe in a progressive income tax. And if I had my way, if I was king, I would just add more brackets, raise the standard deduction to help people in the bottom end."

More:At $1.5 billion, Kansas Chamber's flat tax plan would be bigger tax cut than Brownback's

What else is in the newly proposed Kansas tax cut package?

The plan cuts corporate income taxes by accelerating tax cuts that are already anticipated. The top tax rate on businesses is currently 7%. That is expected to drop to 6% with two economic development megaprojects, Panasonic and Integra Technologies, under the APEX legislation.

After delays in certifying the first half of the APEX tax cuts, the House plan would avoid further delays by simply cutting the tax starting in tax year 2024 and eliminating the APEX provisions. Doing so is estimated to cost $94 million over three years.

"In essence, what we're doing is we're just accelerating that last half a percent, assuming that the Integra project would take effect," Smith said.

More:First, it was Panasonic and now Integra. Are tax-driven megaprojects good for Kansas?

More:Laura Kelly again pushes food sales tax cut. Can she convince entrenched Republicans?

A corresponding tax year 2024 cut to the privilege tax, which banks and credit unions pay instead of an income tax, would come out to $17 million over three years.

Phasing out the income tax cliff on Social Security benefits, which is a bipartisan proposal, would cut taxes $53 million over three years.

Adding a cost of living adjustment to the income tax standard deduction, a bipartisan proposal and priority of Senate tax chair Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, would cost $87 million over three years.

The state food sales tax cut would be accelerated, going to 0% this summer instead of in 2025, a priority of the governor. It would equate to an additional $359 million in tax cuts over two years.

The only property tax cut included in the bill is a bipartisan proposal to increase the exemption from $40,000 to $65,000 for the state's 20-mill property tax levy that helps fund schools. The provision equates to cutting $177 million in taxes over three years, saving homeowners $57.50 a year if their house is worth at least $65,000.

More:Kansas back-to-school sales tax holiday is likely, but how do you define school supplies?

More:Did your home value rise? Support for property tax cuts heats up in Kansas Legislature.

What didn't make the cut?

The plan is missing two tax cuts proposed by the governor and both Democratic and Republican officials: a back-to-school sales tax holiday and a sales tax exemption on diapers and feminine hygiene products.

The plan also doesn't fully exempt food from both state a local sales taxes. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, had been a big backer of exempting food from local taxes so consumers had a "true zero" after Kelly campaign slogan of "axing the tax" only applied to the state portion.

Local governments in the state would have lost upwards of $180 million a year in tax revenue, likely forcing them to increase property taxes unless the state compensated them.

More:Kansas Senate food sales tax cut would cost cities and counties. Here's what might happen.

The House plan also does not include a bigger tax cut on Social Security benefits, such as fully exempting them from state income taxes, or a broader exemption on all retirement income. Both proposals had been part of the Senate's package.

The flat tax also does not contain a provision for further buy-downs in the income tax rate, which has been a priority of the Kansas Chamber.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: New Kansas tax cut plan combines Republican, Democrat priorities
The Kansas Supreme Court on Monday will consider whether abortion should be a guaranteed right in the state constitution for the first time since the federal right to the procedure was eliminated.

Four years after the Kansas courts landmark 2019 decision establishing abortion as a right, justices will hear arguments about whether that decision was correct and what restrictions should be allowed under that right.

The oral arguments come nearly eight months after Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected an anti-abortion amendment and voted to uphold the 2019 decisions state-level protection for abortion.

The court will consider two cases that touch on both whether abortion should be a right in Kansas and to what extent the Legislature is allowed to regulate or restrict abortion if it is a right.

Their eventual ruling will determine whether two anti-abortion laws, which have never been enforced, can take effect. Both bills were signed into law by former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

The stakes are really high, of course, because either one of those cases could have a huge impact on the availability of care, said Emily Wales, president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates clinics in Johnson, Sedgwick and Wyandotte counties.

We feel pretty confident going into this hearing that the judges have already ruled on strict scrutiny standards for the constitutional right to abortion then they, of course, heard from the voters.

Danielle Underwood, a spokeswoman for Kansans for Life, the states largest anti-abortion advocacy group, said the organization hoped the Kansas Supreme Court will uphold these reasonable, compassionate limits that were enacted with strong bipartisan support.

Why is the Kansas Supreme Court talking about abortion?

The court will hold arguments in two cases related to abortion laws passed by the Legislature that have been struck down by lower courts since abortion was determined to be a right.

The first, is related to a 2015 law banning dilation and evacuation abortions, a type of surgical abortion that makes up about 6% of abortions in Kansas.

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In 2019, when ruling on a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the ban in Hodes v. Schmidt, the court made its landmark ruling determining abortion was a fundamental right in Kansas and setting a high bar for any infringements on access.

That ruling, however, did not end the case. The court determined the law should be enjoined and sent the question about whether the ban itself was constitutional back to a district court.

In 2021 a Shawnee County judge ruled that the law violated the state-level right to abortion and struck it down. Then-Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor, appealed the decision but asked the court to delay acting on the appeal until after Kansas voters decided on the August constitutional amendment.

On Monday, the court will finally hear oral arguments on the case from Kansas Republican Attorney General Kris Kobachs office and attorneys for the Hodes and Nauser Center for Womens Health, an abortion clinic in Overland Park.

They will consider two questions: Whether the court made the correct decision in 2019 when it declared abortion as a right and whether the Shawnee County District Court made the correct decision in 2021 in overturning the dilation and evacuation procedure ban.

The court will also hear arguments in the appeal of a separate lawsuit brought by the Hodes and Nauser clinic against the state. This case centers on a set of restrictive abortion health and safety regulations the Legislature passed in 2011.

In 2021 a Shawnee County judge ruled that the regulations were overly restrictive to abortion access and that abortion clinics already faced health and safety regulations as medical facilities.

Kansas justices will be asked to decide whether that Shawnee County judge made the correct ruling and whether the regulations infringe upon the state level right to an abortion.

How could these cases impact Kansans?

Its extremely unlikely that the court would overturn its 2019 decision establishing abortion as a right.

Three current justices of the seven-member court joined after the 2019 decision, but all three were appointed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly who supports abortion rights.

Three of the justices who handed down that 2019 decision remain on the court and are likely to rule the same way as they did four years ago. The sole dissenting justice in 2019, Caleb Stegall, who was appointed by Brownback, also remains on the court.

While the court is unlikely to change its position on abortion overall, it could offer more clarity on what restrictions are and are not allowed under the Kansas constitution.

The courts decision establishing abortion as a right meant restrictions on abortion had to clear an extremely high bar known as strict scrutiny to become law despite the right.

What is the court deciding on specific abortion procedures?

The 2015 bill, which sought to ban dilation and evacuation abortions - referred to by abortion opponents as dismemberment abortion - was deemed by the Shawnee County court to be unconstitutional because there was no reasonable alternative for patients in their second trimester and the law was not narrowly tailored to the states interest.

The court will be asked to determine if thats true. Their decision, and the justification behind it, will give lawmakers a better sense as to whether and when they can pass bills restricting specific abortion procedures.

In a brief filed ahead of the hearings attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the Hodes and Nauser clinic, argued that if the court determines the dilation and evacuation ban is constitutional they will have essentially invalidated the right to an abortion.

The state must prove a compelling interest to uphold the ban under the current interpretation of the constitution

In a brief filed last year, former Kansas Solicitor General Brant Laue argued the state had a compelling interest in promoting respect for the value and dignity of human life and regulating the medical profession. The dilation and evacuation ban did this, Laue said, by blocking a method that abortion opponents views as brutal.

Just because other methods of abortion will also lead to an unborn childs death does not mean the State cannot ensure that the death occurs in as humane a manner as possible, Laue wrote. He argued the only way to achieve the state interest is by banning the procedure.

Laues brief also devoted 14 pages to an argument that the court should overturn its decision finding a right to an abortion in the state constitution.

The Center for Reproductive Rights said in its brief that the court had deemed that the states argument for banning the procedure wasnt good enough.

That precedent holds that prior to viability, the only relevant state interest that rises to being compelling is a womans safety, the Center for Reproductive Rights argued.

Furthermore, the center argued the ban is not narrow enough to remain in law because it prohibits a safe procedure for second trimester abortions and would cause providers to resort to less safe options.

What is the court deciding on regulation of abortion clinics?

The case about the 2011 regulations bill will focus on what laws targeting abortion providers and clinics, rather than the procedure itself, are permissible under the Kansas Constitution.

The 2011 law has never been enforced because of court injunctions as litigation proceeded.

The law required medication abortions to be physically administered by a physician in the same room as a patient, and required physicians to perform tasks usually performed by a medical assistant. The law also established inspection requirements beyond what is expected of other facilities and established a minimum recovery time for patients.

Kansas Supreme Court justices could choose to uphold the Shawnee County Court decision overturning the law in its entirety or allow all or part of the law to take effect. They will determine whether the regulations in the law infringe upon the right to an abortion. If the laws do infringe upon the right to an abortion the court will determine whether they are narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest.

Laue, the former solicitor general, argued in a brief last year that the regulations did not impede upon the right to an abortion and that they satisfied the strict scrutiny standard because the state has an interest in protecting the health of patients.

The clinic regulations do not ban abortion, nor do they create any requirements a woman seeking an abortion must satisfy before she can exercise her right to choose, Laue wrote. He added that if an abortion provider failed to meet the regulations a patient would be able to find another provider.

The Center for Reproductive Rights urged the court to uphold the district courts decision to fully strike down the law.

The regulations, the centers attorneys said, make it difficult, if not impossible for the Hodes and Nauser clinic to continue providing abortion care by forcing them to make unnecessary changes to staffing, equipment and the facility itself.

The State has not shown any reason to treat abortion differently than comparable medical care, much less care that is more complex and carries greater medical risk than abortion care, the brief said.
Kazakhstan's president on Monday hailed "eternal friendship" with Beijing as he met with the ruling party chief in China's Xinjiang region.

Beijing has long been accused of rights violations against the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the northwestern region.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a Mandarin speaker, welcomed the "deepening all-round cooperation with China" as he met with the Xinjiang Communist Party secretary, Kazakhstan's presidency said Monday.

China is among key investors in energy-rich Kazakhstan, the largest country in ex-Soviet Central Asia.

Ma Xingrui said that Kazakhstan was a "priority area" of mutual cooperation.

"In general, China's cooperation with Kazakhstan is carried out through Xinjiang," Ma added.

Xinjiang, a region in northwestern China, shares a border with Kazakhstan.

Around 1.5 million ethnic Kazakhs live in Xinjiang while Kazakhstan is home to a large Uyghur diaspora.

Beijing stands accused of detaining over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang -- including some Kazakhs -- under security measures Washington and some lawmakers in other Western countries have labelled a "genocide".

China denies the allegations, saying its actions are aimed at combating terrorism.

China's leader Xi Jinping in September last year travelled to Kazakhstan on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

This month Xi invited the leaders of the five ex-Soviet Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan to attend "the first China-Central Asia" summit, in May.

The authoritarian republics of Central Asia were part of the Soviet Union and have been dominated by Moscow since the mid-19th century.

But Russia's influence is being challenged, increasingly since the invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing courting Moscow's traditional allies in the region.

dr-bk/as/nas/gw
A former student teacher, who identifies as nonbinary, is suing the Fort Osage school district, claiming they were removed from assignments and denied employment for using gender-neutral pronouns.

Olivia Jackson, a University of MissouriColumbia student who was assigned to teach vocal music in 2021, introduced themself at Fort Osage High School using she/her/they/them pronouns. Jackson also honored nonbinary students requests to be referred to by gender-neutral pronouns, following guidelines included in college curriculum, according to the federal lawsuit.

In response, Jackson claims an administrator told them that they were making students and parents uncomfortable, and that using gender-neutral pronouns was too personal and too political. The lawsuit says Jackson was removed from all student teaching assignments, denied employment with the district and stripped of a previously scheduled substitute teaching assignment.

We believe the School Districts actions silenced Olivias right to freely express their gender identity, those of their students, and perhaps most importantly, are not conducive to a safe and positive learning environment, Jacksons attorney Douglas Schreiner said in an email to The Star.

Olivia was, not surprisingly, devastated by what happened. Our goal in this lawsuit is to prevent this situation from happening again. Every teacher, regardless of their gender identify, should feel safe and supported by their school administrators.

Officials in the eastern Jackson County district countered in a statement that the lawsuit contains numerous inaccuracies and mistruths  both as to individuals mentioned and as to the Fort Osage R-1 School District. We will vigorously defend against this lawsuit and address the substance of those inaccuracies and mistruths in our pleadings.

The District is an equal opportunity employer and makes decisions about the hiring of teachers based on their ability to serve our students, regardless of their gender or gender identity.

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Schreiner said the allegations in the complaint are based on documents, text messages, and/or firsthand accounts. We look forward to proving these facts at trial.

Jackson started student teaching at Blue Hills Elementary School for the fall semester. The lawsuit claims that Jackson received positive feedback and was selected to fill a full-time music teacher position  an opportunity that was later revoked.

That spring, Jackson joined the high school, where they told staff, as well as their first class, that they were nonbinary and wanted to go by their preferred pronouns. Jacksons mentoring teacher allegedly told them that such an introduction was unnecessary because you can tell someone is a boy or girl by looking at them.

The teacher then stopped Jackson from introducing themself to other classes, the lawsuit says. And the teacher continually refused to acknowledge Jacksons nonbinary identity.

Jackson also respected high school students requests to use gender-neutral pronouns. The lawsuit says the university instructs student teachers to introduce themselves to their class by stating their preferred pronouns and honoring the pronouns requested by each student.

Jackson claimed to receive positive feedback for their work, including conducting during a spring concert. The school board approved Jacksons employment as a substitute teacher.

Jackson interviewed for a full-time music teacher position at Blue Hills and received assurances that they would be hired.

In May, the high school mentoring teacher removed Jackson from all teaching duties and instead required them to organize the music library. Jackson was called into a meeting, where the activities director said that they were making students and parents uncomfortable by using gender-neutral pronouns and that Jackson was hired to only teach students.

Jackson allegedly was no longer allowed to instruct the spring concert. And on May 11, the school board rejected Jacksons employment. Another person was hired for the job, so Jackson did not substitute teach as previously planned either.

The lawsuit argues Jackson suffered emotional distress and loss of income. Jackson is accusing the school district of violating their First Amendment rights and Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination.

Schreiner said previous cases of this kind have largely involved teachers who refused requests from students to use gender-neutral pronouns. Last year, the Geary County school district in central Kansas agreed to settle a lawsuit, paying a math teacher $95,000 in damages, after she refused to use a students preferred name and pronouns, citing religious reasons.

Over the past few years, several Kansas City area districts have seen controversy over policies regarding preferred pronouns for students and staff. And last year, the Grain Valley district, not far from Fort Osage, told high school teachers to remove cards and stickers indicating to students they are LGBTQ allies, sparking protests.

Missouri Republicans have proposed at least 27 anti-LGBTQ bills this session. They included a bill that would ban teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation at any grade level, no matter the class subject, going further than Floridas Dont Say Gay law that passed last year.
Ken Bruce admitted he was 'annoyed' by the way the BBC handled his departure from Radio 2. (BBC)

Ken Bruce has admitted he was "annoyed" by his forced early exit from BBC Radio 2.

The 72-year-old radio DJ chose to retire from his weekday morning show after 31 years with the BBC to move to Greatest Hits Radio. But his departure was "sped up" by bosses so his final show aired a month before his contract ended.

Bruce has now told The Times: I was annoyed because I thought, Im reasonable. Im not being difficult. Neither were you . . . I think the idea is just to create a bit of space between me and Vernon starting.

Read more: When does Ken Bruce start on Greatest Hits Radio?

He is to be replaced on Radio 2 by Vernon Kay.

Ken Bruce will start presenting on Greatest Hits Radio from 3 April. (Bauer Media)

He announced on Friday 24 February and revealed his final episode will be Friday 3 March, just one week later.

Bruce said it had been his decision to leave the radio station and he had not been interested in entering a bidding way for more money.

He said: "They were surprised, I think. They said they wanted to offer me another contract and theyd been planning to, but they hadnt actually done so yet, but by then Id made my decision."

Zoe Ball interviewed Vernon Kay about becoming the new Radio 2 mid-morning host.(BBC)

He added: I said quite clearly, Ive actually signed contracts. So there was no point in a bidding war. I wasnt going to start one. Thats not the way I work.

Ken Bruce's new show on Greatest Hits Radio will begin on Monday, 3 April.

He is taking his hit quiz game PopMaster with him.

Temporary replacement DJ Gary Davies launched new quiz Ten To The Top following his departure, which has fallen flat with fans.

Kay will take over mid-mornings on BBC Radio 2 in May.

Ken Bruce is taking quiz PopMaster with him to Greatest Hits Radio. (BBC)

Bruce first joined the corporation in 1977 as a BBC Radio Scotland presenter and his first regular slot on Radio 2 was the Saturday Late Show in 1984.

Read more: Ken Bruce signs off Radio 2 for the final time

His departure from Radio 2 comes amid a huge shake-up of the channel which has seen many older DJs leave, including Vanessa Feltz, Steve Wright, Paul O'Grady and Craig Charles, while Tony Blackburn's show has been moved from Friday to Sunday.

Watch: Ken Bruce bids farewell to the BBC
Some people walked away from the farm carrying sheep over their shoulders

Crowds have reportedly set fire to parts of a farm owned by the family of former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, apparently in retaliation for another day of fierce opposition protests.

A BBC journalist at the scene in Nairobi's outskirts saw the invaders stealing sheep, with one man saying he was selling it for $23 (19).

There were no police in sight and some of the looters were carrying machetes.

Others were felling trees, and many of the people on site had been bussed in.

Many businesses near the farm and in the city centre remained closed all day. A gas factory linked to opposition leader Raila Odinga has also been vandalised.

Mr Odinga, who is allied to Mr Kenyatta, has told the BBC that the attack on the former president's farm was carried out by thugs hired by the government. Kenya's government has not commented on the allegation.

Post-election violence is nothing new in Kenya. But attacks on the property of political leaders signals a big shift.

At least one person has been killed in the protests in the western city of Kisumu, an opposition stronghold, where police fired tear gas at protesters who burnt tyres and barricaded major roads.

Since the protests began last week, at least three people have been killed in the violence.

In Nairobi's Kibera neighbourhood, where Mr Odinga enjoys huge support, police have fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters.

Mr Odinga and his Azimio la Umoja coalition first called for demonstrations earlier this month to protest against government failures to curb rising prices, and what he says was the fraudulent victory of President William Ruto in last year's election.

Even though that win was upheld by Kenya's highest court, Mr Odinga insists that the election was "stolen" and has called for protests every Monday and Thursday.

The main men in this political tussle have all worked with each other at some point.

Mr Odinga is a former prime minister who has run for president unsuccessfully five times. As ex-President Kenyatta's tenure neared its end, he chose to back his former rival Mr Odinga instead of his own deputy Mr Ruto.

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Back in 2007 Mr Ruto backed Mr Odinga in that presidential election, which was won by Mwai Kibaki - supported by Mr Kenyatta.

The Kenyatta family is one of Kenya's biggest landowners. Kenya's political and business elites are tiny in number and often closely linked.

There is often a sort of gentleman's agreement after each election cycle between opposing sides. Attacks on property owned by political leaders, even though we don't know how they were organised, call that general understanding into question.

Some looters at the Kenyatta family farm claimed they were getting even for business losses caused by protests organised by Mr Odinga and allegedly sponsored by Mr Kenyatta.

Those comments and their actions seemed to echo the words of the leader of the majority in parliament Kimani Ichung'wah, who said at the weekend:

"If property of any Kenyan is attacked, we will also invade your farms and those who have no land will also be able to own land... You will pay the price if you continue to instigate violence and bloodshed in this country and that is my message to none other than Uhuru Kenyatta, the sponsor, sole sponsor, singular financier of Azimio and mercenary that is Raila Odinga."

When contacted by the BBC on Monday, Mr Ichung'wah denied that he had any links to the invasion of Mr Kenyatta's farm. He did not provide any evidence for his claims that the former president was financing Mr Odinga.

Mr Odinga denied any responsibility for the destruction of property.
An M1A2 Abrams at the Army Armor School at Fort Benning in Georgia on April 29, 2022. US Army/Spc. Joshua Taeckens

The US is rushing to get Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine ahead of schedule, US officials say.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the US is opting to send an older variant that can get to Kyiv faster.

Ukraine's forces are currently struggling with Soviet-era T-64s and say they need modern tanks.

At a critical moment in the war, the US is rushing to get powerful Abrams tanks to Ukraine ahead of schedule, a White House official said.

During an appearance on MSNBC, John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications for the National Security Council in the White House, said the US is "trying to prioritize on the kinds of systems that we know they're really going to need the most in the weeks and months ahead."

That includes artillery and air defense systems that Ukraine needs to counter a Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region. But Kirby also acknowledged that their troops need modern, powerful Abrams tanks as soon as possible  a weapon that can help them shatter Russian lines when they launch a counter-offensive.

"The Pentagon is working as fast as they can," Kirby said, "And I think they'll have more to say here soon about adjustments they're making to try to get Abrams tanks to Ukraine a little faster than previously expected."

Washington's original plan was to provide Ukraine with 31 of the M1A2 Abrams, a newer variant, which would have taken "over a year or so" to reach Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters later on Tuesday. Instead, the Pentagon will opt to fast-track the older M1A1 variants, Ryder said, with an expected delivery taking place by this fall.

Even with that sped-up timeline, it's likely that an anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive this year will have to start without the formidable Abrams.

US soldiers and an M1 Abrams tank in a wooded area during a multinational exercise at the Hohenfels training area in Germany. Nicolas Armer/Getty Images

The M1 Abrams tanks have a history tracing back to the Gulf War. Steady upgrades to the systems, as well as use in the Iraq War and Afghanistan, have shown them to be a prime force on the battlefield. Modern M1A2s can reach speeds up to 42 mph and are armed with a 120 mm main gun that can hit targets over two miles away.

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While Kirby didn't give a timeline for how quickly the US can get more Ukrainian soldiers trained on Abrams, he said there had to be "a supply chain" set up in order to help maintain and provide the tanks during combat. Kirby also mentioned that Ukrainian forces are just finishing training with the advanced Patriot missile defense systems at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Ryder told reporters during the Tuesday briefing that the US is trying to get Patriots to Ukraine on an "expedited timeline," as training went quicker than expected.

Meanwhile, US announcements on the Abrams tanks come at a critical time for Ukraine and its tank force. Soldiers say they're having problems with their old Soviet-era T-64 tanks, which need constant repairs and sometimes don't fire during combat. One commander reportedly said Ukraine was asking for Western tanks "because our machines are no longer pulling off what's being asked of them, they're no longer able to fulfill their assignments."

Abrams will eventually join a wave of tanks  like the German-made Leopard and Britain's Challenger  that are slated to arrive soon in Ukrainian hands, as Kyiv readies for a massive influx of heavy armor from NATO countries to push back against Russian advances.

Read the original article on Business Insider


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King Charles III and Queen Consort Camillas trip to France was supposed to be an exciting goodwill tour ahead of his coronation, but the striking workers and protests made it a less-than-ideal time to visit. It seems that the royals age might have had something to do with the postponement.

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With French President Emmanuel Macron trying to raise the retirement age to 64, he really cant have a 74-year-old working royal and his 75-year-old wife waltz into the country at such a tenuous time. Royal expert Dr. Tessa Dunlop, author of Elizabeth & Philip: A Story of Young Love, Marriage, and Monarchy, told the Mirror that the terrible optics were behind the cancelation of Charles tour.

There's a growing movement against the royal family ahead of King Charles' coronation. https://t.co/nxs4ctilqf  SheKnows (@SheKnows) March 20, 2023

With the upheaval showing no sign of stopping it was only a matter of time before Emmanuel Macron postponed King Charles first state visit. The optics would have been terrible for both parties, she noted. Amid riots against his efforts to raise the pensionable age to 64, the last thing the French President needed was another security hazard, especially in the form of a 74-year-old working King from a country where the retirement age has already been raised to a hardcore 68 for future generations.

Click here to read the full article.

Buy: Elizabeth & Philip $21.11

Dunlop remarked that this latest disappointment is a blow for the new King since hes endured a turbulent first few months as monarch. After consistently dealing with protestors in the U.K., the last thing Charles needs is tear gas, water cannon, and cobblestones in France. He selected the country for his first visit to help foster better bilateral relations just like his mom.

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It is no coincidence that the late Queens first overseas visit with Philip was to Paris in 1948  three months pregnant with Charles, morning sickness did not prevent Princess Elizabeth from wowing the crowds with her beautiful French and handsome husband, Dunlop said. The trip was seen as a fresh start for the neighboring countries post-war. As of now, there is no rescheduled date on the calendar, but Charles goodwill tour will have to wait and hopefully, his tenure on the throne will take a turn for the better.

Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.

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Launch Gallery: 35 Photos of Prince Charles & Princess Diana During Their 15-Year Marriage

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It likely came as a surprise to many people Monday when the Jackson County Supervisors announced their choice of a Catholic nonprofit to buy Singing River Health System.

The front-runner in the search for a buyer was considered to be Ochsner Health, a large nonprofit whose former president and CEO Warner Thomas said in an email to the Sun Herald they expected to submit a bid. Pete November took over as CEO on Nov. 1.

Instead the supervisors chose The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System and said in a press release that this health system is committed to providing patients with high-quality and accessible care.

They also believe in keeping care local, investing in our community and investing in our people, the press release said.

All the supervisors did Monday was select one company they decided was the highest and best bidder, said Ken Taylor, District 3 supervisor and president of the board.

Over the next two months the county and FMOLHS will complete due diligence. If they get through that process, he said, he looks for the sale to close in early September.

How the decision was made

Taylor didnt disclose the number of bidders or the purchase price, but said if the deal with FMOLHS doesnt go through, there are other competing bids the supervisors will then consider.

The sale is a joint effort between the county and Singing River Health System, who he said came to the supervisors a year ago looking for millions of dollars in strategic investment. The supervisors werent willing to increase taxes by the amount the hospital was looking for, he said, and together they decided to look for a like minded organization to buy the health system.

Selling to a religious non-profit is not an issue as far as were concerned, Taylor said. The hospitals will be run by doctors, he said, not by the church.

As part of the sale, Jackson County will take all of the cash and investments and assume all of the long-term debt, he said. That includes payments on a bond and the retirement plan, which together total about $100 million, he said.

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Tiffany Murdock, CEO of Singing River Health System, said Monday in an online memo to staff and retirees: This announcement and our future with FMOLHS will not impact your pension. The pension will continue to be funded for current employees and our valued retirees as it is today.

Singing River Hospital by the numbers

Acquiring Singing River Health System would be a major addition to the FMOLHS network of hospitals and clinics based in Baton Rouge

Singing River has:

Three hospitals in Pascagoula, Ocean Springs and Gulfport, with a combined 700 beds

The second-largest employer in Jackson County with more than 3,500 employees, physicians, staff and volunteers

An economic impact of more than $270 million per year

One of the largest emergency departments in the state, caring for more than 100,000 patients annually

About the buyer

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System reported at the end of the last fiscal year:

1,747 licensed beds among its hospitals

10,827 full time employees

1,915 active medical staff

229,296 emergency visits

44,592 operating procedures

The Catholic health care system provided more than $39 million in un-reimbursed care and community support to the underprivileged, according to the nonprofits website.

Other hospitals in the system

FMOLHS has hospitals, clinics and physicians throughout Louisiana and operates St. Dominics Hospital in Jackson, which has 571 beds. The website says the hospital cares for the sick and offers education and wellness services to the community.

Their other hospitals in Louisiana include:
At literally the last minute, on the last day to pass bills during the current legislative session, all of the anti-gay/transgender bigotry that had been under consideration was put into one omnibus bill, Senate Bill (SB) 150, which then passed both chambers.

Before the legislature votes to override the governors veto of this historically reprehensible bill, both Senate and House Republican caucuses will meet and heres what I hope will happen in the House Republican majority caucus:

David [Rep. David Osborne, Speaker of the House], you have the floor.

Thank you, Suzanne [Rep. Suzanne Miles, Majority Caucus Chair]. Friends, I asked for this meeting of our caucus because I want to tell you for the first time what I plan to do when we vote on overriding the governors veto of SB 150. After Steven [Rep. Steven Rudy, Majority Floor Leader] makes the motion to re-pass the bill the governors veto notwithstanding, I will vacate the chair and take my seat among you, allowing David [Rep. David Meade, Speaker Pro Tem] to preside. Then I will ask you to join me in voting against that motion and to sustain the governors veto.

Since we went home, I have thought of little else but this bill. I have come to the conclusion that not only is there no demonstrated need for this kind of legislation, but to allow it to become law would constitute an indelible stain on the peoples branch of government, our beloved General Assembly. I really dont care what other states are doing, my only concern is what we do here in Kentucky and how history will judge our actions. I simply cannot in good conscience support any longer a measure that so obviously discriminates against a group of people not because of who they are but because of what they are.

Our Republican Party was co-founded by Abraham Lincoln whom we honor at Lincoln Day dinners in almost every county in our districts. Do we still believe in his ideals of malice toward none and charity for all? Lincoln once wrote a letter to a fellow right here in Frankfort in which he said if slavery isnt wrong, nothing is wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, if this bill before us today isnt wrong, then nothing is wrong. Abraham Lincoln served four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives  he was once one of us!  could you imagine him sponsoring a bill like SB 150?

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And speaking of one of us, did you see our former colleague Jerry Millers testimony before the Education Committee? I did and it still haunts me. Did you see the pain in Jerrys eyes and hear the anguish in his voice as he described how a bill like this would devastate his family struggling to help his transgender grandson? I have a lot of faults but being totally indifferent to human suffering isnt one of them. And Jerry is clearly suffering. If we would never pass a bill so hurtful to the family of one of our own, then why would we consider doing that to anyone elses family?

Now I havent asked Jason [Rep. Jason Nemes, Majority Whip] to pressure you to vote with me today. Im only telling you what I intend to do because I take so seriously my responsibility to set a good example for our caucus. If you want a different Speaker after today, and it is because of this vote, then I will happily hand the gavel over to my replacement. I am so proud to serve with you  80 strong!  weve gained 36 seats since 2016, no other states Republican Party has had that kind of success! But we must use our power responsibly, or else all those decades wandering in the political desert as the minority caucus was for absolutely nothing. [The Speaker pauses for a moment.]

Well, any questions?

Rep. Kevin Bratcher, the longest-serving Republican House member (27 years) stands up but, instead of asking a question, he simply claps his hands. Spontaneously, the other Republican House members rise as one, applauding. As the applause continues, there is cheering, and the cheering becomes a roar  so sustained and loud it is heard in the governors office  and the cheering becomes a celebration, call it a new birth of freedom. Brushing away a tear that he is embarrassed to feel on his cheek, the Speaker shouts above the tumult: You people are amazing! I love you all and now lets get back to work!

Bob Heleringer served in Kentuckys House of Representatives from 1980-2002. He is a lobbyist for the Fairness Campaign and can be reached at helringr@bellsouth.net.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest nuclear saber-rattling has not prompted the U.S. to alter its strategic stance, the White House said Monday.

Putin announced plans Saturday to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, an ally that shares borders with Russia, Ukraine and three NATO countries. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. has not seen "any indications" the Kremlin intends to use nuclear arms.

"We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance," Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing. "But we have not seen any reason, right now, to change or adjust our posture."

Putin's justification for moving the nukes, that Britain plans to provide Ukraine with rounds containing depleted uranium, was dismissed by U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who said the armor-piercing ammunition is not a nuclear threat, it is common on the battlefield and Russia also uses it.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted that Putin's decision was an "irresponsible escalation & threat to European security," a position echoed by NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu.

Russia's response to the West? We don't care.

"Such a reaction, of course, cannot change Russia's plans,'' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "The president explained everything in his statements. There is nothing to add."

WAR CRIMES: US officials pledged to hold Russia accountable for war crimes in Ukraine. Congress wants receipts.

The Monastery of the Caves, also known as Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the holiest sites of Eastern Orthodox Christians, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 23, 2023.

Developments:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken chaired a virtual panel session Tuesday on A Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine featuring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Prosecutors in Poland say a foreign national suspected of spying for Russia will be held for three months pending investigation. The suspect, in Poland since January, has collected information about key infrastructure and security procedures, prosecutors said.

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ADS AND CASH: Advertising splash and cash: Kremlin urges Russians to join the fight in Ukraine as Putin vows to move nukes: Updates

Macron planning 'extensive' talks with Xi about Ukraine war

French President Emmanuel Macron intends to discuss a resolution to Russias invasion of Ukraine when he meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month during a trip to Beijing and Guangzhou.

In a statement in English, on the upcoming visit, Elysee said Monday that the two leaders would hold extensive discussions on the war that is in its second year.

The presidents of France and China will hold extensive discussions on the war in Ukraine to work toward restoring peace and compliance with international law, particularly the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, the statement said.

Xi has tried to position himself as a peace broker in the conflict and traveled to Moscow last week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron will visit China from April 5-8, Elysee announced.

Europe's biggest power plant remains on edge, UN expert warns

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has lost several of its power transmission cables during the war, and the perilous situation at Europes largest nuclear plant isnt getting any better," the U.N.s atomic energy chief warned.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi, who visited the plant with Zelenskyy, said the plant on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems to prevent a meltdown. The situation at the plant remains tense, Grossi said, because of the heavy military presence around it and a blackout that recently hit the facility. But he said his seventh trip to Ukraine underlined his commitment to provide support for as long as it takes.

Russia-Iran cooperation expands to cyberwarfare, worries U.S. officials

Russia is enhancing Iran's abilities to conduct cyberwarfare, including digital surveillance, a sign of a growing military cooperation between the countries that the U.S. considers a threat, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

In exchange, Teheran has sold the Kremlin drones to use in the war against Ukraine and agreed to send Moscow missiles and ammunition, the newspaper reported.

Russia has resumed its campaign of suicide drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, launching more than 70 of the Iranian-made Shahed aerial vehicles in March, the British Defense Ministry said in an update. That follows a two-week pause in February probably caused by a scarcity of supply.

Besides the technological help, Iran wants Russian helicopters and warplanes, the Journal said.

Kyiv has issues with UN report on human rights

A top official in Kyiv on Monday challenged a section in a U.N. report on human rights in Ukraine that said searches in the buildings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate could be discriminatory.

The report, released last week by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, raises concerns about Russian bombings that killed Ukraine civilians and severely damaged infrastructure. It also takes issue with harsh treatment of Ukrainians in Russian-controlled territory.

But it includes concerns for the treatment of Russian sympathizers in areas still under Ukrainian control  and the government's treatment of the church with strong Russian ties. The church has faced backlash amid the discovery of Russian passports and anti-Ukrainian propaganda during nationwide raids on its religious sites.

The report stressed the need to ensure that "all those facing criminal charges enjoy the full spectrum of applicable fair trial rights."

Ukraine Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko, in a Facebook post, urged the U.N. agency to refrain from "unbalanced political assessments" and base its reports on facts.

"Ukraine is a democratic state in which freedom of religion is guaranteed," Nikolenko said. "At the same time, freedom does not equal the right to engage in activities that undermine national security."

US intensifies pressure on Russia over war crimes

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are launching a full-court press to hold Russia accountable for war crimes it is accused of committing in Ukraine. A pair of House and Senate committees will hold hearings in mid-April to bring attention to atrocities such as the civilian massacres in Bucha and Mariupol that U.S. officials are helping the Ukrainian government investigate and prosecute.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, plans to have the Ukrainian prosecutor general and victims of war crimes appear before the panel on April 19.

Any person in the U.S. can relate to the situation: A brutal, aggressive killer just got into your house and is killing your children, and is raping people for no reason, just because they thought they can do that, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova told USA TODAY. Read more here.

Civilian toll continues to rise

Ukraine has suffered 22,424 civilian casualties since the start of the war, including 8,401 killed and 14,023 injured, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights announced. The agency "believes that the actual figures are considerably higher'' because counts in many areas have been delayed or are pending corroboration. Chief among those areas the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of the Donbas, where Russians occupy most of the territory and where fighting in recent month has been the most brutal.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine updates: US not altering course over Putin's nuclear plans
Lady Amelia Spencer seen wearing a golden sequins turtle neck and matching beige pants before the Michael Kors show on February 15, 2023 in New York City.

Lady Amelia Spencer's wedding dress is just as divine, as one might expect from such a stylish individual, and the atelier of choice would have truly delighted her late aunt Princess Diana. However, royal watchers are all wondering why she's broken with Spencer tradition.

Lady Amelia Spencer's wedding dress is by Atelier Versace, which is a lovely nod to Princess Diana, who was close friends with the Versace family.

Her wedding took place in South Africa with neither her royal cousins nor her father present.

In other royal news, Was Princess Margaret the reason for an armed bank robbery? Lets revisit the stranger-than-fiction case of the Walkie-Talkie bank job.

A post shared by Greg Mallett (@gregmallett) A photo posted by on

It goes without saying that Lady Amelia Spencer's wedding dress was as much of a showstopper as one might expect from one of the Spencer ladies - who always come dressed to impress.

After Princess Diana's niece teased of her wedding plans, it's been revealed that she's now wed. "It was genuinely the best day of our lives. It was better than I ever imagined," she told HELLO! of her nuptials to long-term love Greg Mallet.

Before the big day even happened, images of pre-wedding celebrations - shared on her twin sister Lady Eliza Spencer's Instagram account - showed that everyone was in high spirits ahead of the event.

A post shared by Eliza Spencer (@elizavspencer) A photo posted by on

Prince William's cousin Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, walked his sister down the aisle as her father Charles, Earl Spencer was unable to attend the event. This is the second of his daughters' weddings that he didn't attend, having missed Lady Kitty Spencer's nuptials - which has left some fans scratching their heads.

The big day took place on March 21 at Quoin Rock Manor House on a mountaintop in the stunning winelands of the Western Cape of South Africa. The event was attended by close friends and family of the happy pair, but family members Prince William and Kate Middleton put duty first and missed the big day.

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Even with the stunning scenery, guests were no doubt captivated by the loved-up couple, and Lady Amelia Spencer's wedding dress which was a custom Atelier Versace wedding dress.

Greg Mallett, Lady Amelia Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer and Michael Lewis attend the Grand Reveal Weekend for Atlantis The Royal, Dubai's new ultra-luxury hotel on January 21, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

According to HELLO! the gown took over two and a half months to create and is made from custom rebrode lace. Fit for the day in question, it comes with a train that's two and a half meters long, is laden with Swarovski crystals, and features structured shoulders with a hand-embroidered neckline.

The intricate flower patterns that run throughout the gown give us Grace Kelly vibes and also reminds us of Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

Greg Mallett and Lady Amelia Spencer attend the launch of 818 Tequila in the UAE hosted by Kendall Jenner with an after party at Cloud22 during the Grand Reveal Weekend for Atlantis The Royal, Dubai's new ultra-luxury hotel on January 20, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Discussing the gown, Lady Amelia said, "I'm the luckiest girl in the world, it's honestly the most beautiful dress Ive ever seen."

She also praised the design team at Versace and how happy she was to work with them, dubbing every single member of the design house's team 'angels.'

If the train wasn't enough glam, she also had a five-meter-long silk veil and though that was a remarkable feat in itself - some fans wondered why she didn't wear the Spencer tiara.

One fan, commenting on an Instagram post shared by HELLO! said, "Despite my disappointment of not seeing all the Spencers together (including William or Harry), and the Spencer tiara, I wish the newlyweds all the best in their new life together."

Another added, "She and sister Kitty both didn't wear the Spencer Tiara."

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing a wedding dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel and the Spencer family Tiara, ride in an open carriage, from St. Paul's Cathedral to Buckingham Palace, following their wedding on July 29, 1981 in London, England.

The tiara was most recently worn by her cousin Celia McCorquodale - niece of the 10th Earl Spencer Charles - at her wedding in the Spring of 2018. Traditionally, it is worn by women in the Spencer line, including the late Princess, on their wedding day.

Although Lady Amelia, and indeed her sister Lady Kitty, broke with tradition by not sporting the tiara - she did pay tribute to her aunt's memory.

"I think she would be very proud to see me on my wedding day," she said. "I know the Versace family also absolutely love Diana, so there's a very special connection that we have."
Since 1975, Clara Bridges has lived at Peachtree Senior Tower.

The oldest living resident of the largest housing authority in Georgia celebrated her 102nd birthday on March 24.

Clara Bridges, or Mama Bridges as she is affectionately known, marked her big day with friends and family at the Peachtree Senior Tower where shes lived since 1975, according to a news release.

Clara Bridges celebrates her 102 birthday. (Credit: YouTube Screenshot Fox 5 Atlanta)

Mama Bridges represents the best of Atlanta, our state and our region, said Eugene E. Jones, Jr., president and CEO of Atlanta Housing, which previously owned the property. We are privileged and honored to still have her in our lives, and the love and compassion she shares is a living example for us all, Jones added.

The Peachtree Senior Tower was recently converted under the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) initiative. The program was established by the Obama Administration in 2011. Atlanta Housing continues to provide subsidies and resident services to the property, according to the news release.

After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School, Bridges completed nursing programs at Clark College and Grady Hospital. As a member of the U.S. Army, she served honorably at four military installations. Upon retiring in 1976 from nursing after 33 years, Bridges became the first Black resident of Peachtree Senior Tower where she has lived ever since.

I love it here, Bridges told an interviewer during her birthday celebration, per the news release.

Its been a home, a community and a family. Ive seen so many people  all the people have come [to this community]. And they have tried to give our community the besttell Atlanta Housing there is no other! she added.

As part of her birthday celebration, the building dedicated a room in her honor called Claras Place, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.

The Atlanta native said she often looks back over her life and asks herself, Have I lived my life that was given to me to live? Cause [its] a lot [of us] who [would] take someone elses life and live, she explained. But I wanted mine, she added.

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When asked for the secret to her longevity, the World War II veteran said, People dont know, God rained down on us. Days like this, people dont realize what senior citizens go through. How did you get there, Ms. Bridges?' she said she is often asked. I said, just a closer walk with God.

Bridges reportedly spoke to Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on her birthday.

Whenever somebody this age calls, Gods speaking, said King, according to the news release. I hope we dont take this moment for granted or lightly.

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The post Largest housing authority in Georgia celebrates the 102nd birthday of oldest living Black resident appeared first on TheGrio.
I love being the bearer of good news. And the good news for today is the street-naming for one of Miamis native sons, activist, Football Hall of Famer, and my longtime friend Larry Little. The recognition began Monday morning (March 27), at Littles alma mater Booker T. Washington High School, 1200 NW Sixth Ave. in Overtown.

The street that bears Littles name is Northwest 11th Terrace, from Northwest Sixth Avenue to Northwest First Avenue, which is near Dixie Park in Overtown. Thats where he first started dreaming of a football career when he was only 9.

Growing up, Little attended Miami-Dade Countys public schools  Paul Laurence Dunbar and Phillis Wheatley Elementary schools and graduated from Booker T. Washington Junior/Senior High school (BTW) in 1963.

Then, when I was in the ninth grade, I took a chance and auditioned for BTWs football team. I was only 13 at the time, and didnt know how good, or bad I was. But I loved the game, and it was about that time I started dreaming of making football my lifetime profession, Little said.

Football practice back then was held at Dixie Park, a few blocks from the school, and near Northwest 11th Terrace, which is the designated street to bear his name. Later football practice was moved to Dorsey Park, dubbed the Dust Bowl because of the lack of grass on the football field.

Larry Little and Mercury Morris share a light moment during a street-naming ceremony held at the Booker T. Washington High School auditorium on March 27.

I started playing under Coach James Everett, and during my last two years of high school, my coach was Alkin Hepburn, Little said.

After graduating high school Little entered Bethune-Cookman College (now University), where he was a two-time selection to the All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, where the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats posted winning records. He began his professional football career in 1967 with the San Diego Chargers and was later traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1969. With the Dolphins Little earned the starting right guard position and played an important part in the teams advancing to three consecutive Super Bows in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

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In 1972, he was a part of the Dolphins perfect championship season, the only undefeated NFL champions in modern history, a title the team still holds.

Little played 12 seasons with the Dolphins, earning All-Pro honors six times, was a Pro-Bowl selection on five occasions and was Offensive Lineman of the Year in the 1971 through 1973 seasons. From 1971 through 1975, and again in 1977, Little was named first team All-NFL. He was also named second team All-NFL in 1978 and All-AFC five times. He served as captain of the Dolphins for 10 years.

When Little retired from the pro football scene in 1980, he went to work as the athletic director at Miami Edison High school. In 1983, he became the head football coach at Bethune-Cookman University. And in 1992 He became the first African American coach in the World Football League, coaching the Ohio Glory, which was owned by the NFL.

In 1993, Little became the head coach at North Carolina Central University. That same year, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was also the first Dolphin player from Florida to be inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. And in 2004, he was inducted into the Booker T. Washington Athletic Hall of Fame.

In all, Little has been honored more than 250 times for his community service which includes inductions in the Black College Hall of Fame (2013) and the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) Hall of Fame in 2021.

When Little retired in 1999 from North Carolina University and moved back home, he got involved in community activities and with the Miami-Dade County Public School System as the Community Liaison Specialist.

Larry Little wipes tears from his eyes during a ceremony held at the Booker T. Washington High School auditorium on March 27. Northwest 14th Street between Seventh Avenue and First Avenue is now Larry C. Little Street.

In Jan. of 2022, Little retired for the third time, and last time, he said. Today he enjoys working with the foundation named for him, which supports inner city youth programs such as the Larry Little Gold Coast Summer Camp and raising scholarship money to help young people further their education.

Last year Little and his partners Freddie Woodson and Rudy Barber, raised $40,000 through the Larry Little Golf Tournament, a part of which went to Bethune-Cookman Universitys scholarship program.

Given Littles involvement in the community and with its youth, it is easy to see why his former coach the late Don Shula once called him a real inspiration, not just for the way he performs, but also for his influence on our younger players.

His late brother David, who died 17 years ago, played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was inducted in the Florida Sports Hall of fame in 2020.

When I asked him what the street-naming means to him, Little said: I have had lots of honors and recognitions throughout my career. But this is one of the biggest honors I have ever had. This one ranks among the top, he said.

Little is the third of seven siblings. He, and his wife Rosie are the parents of four, grandparents of 10 and great-grandparents of four.

Scherley Busch is founder and creative director of the Florida Women of Achievement Photo Documentary, a traveling photo exhibit of notable Florida women.

Founder of traveling photo exhibit honored

Kudos to Scherley Busch, who last Wednesday, along with her committee, pulled together a lovely reunion luncheon honoring the Florida Women of Achievement. Busch is founder and creative director of the Florida Women of Achievement Photo Documentary, a traveling photo exhibit of notable Florida women.

The event, held at the Riviera Country Club in Coral Gables, was hosted by Ed and Carol Williamson (Carols photo is included in the exhibit), and was the first time since the pandemic that women in the exhibit were able to meet and make plans for a permanent home for the 31-year-old exhibit.

It was in the late 1980s that Busch first conceived of the idea of such an exhibit. Her motivation was first, to make an artistic statement and then to record the history of the contributions of Florida women. In 1992, Buschs dream became a reality when she presented the first 12 women in an exhibit to the South Florida community at a luncheon. Among those in the first exhibit were the late Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who was 104 years old at the time.

The idea, she said, was to present these women as the role models they are to children, as well as to adults. The exhibit exemplifies what can be accomplished with a dream and the drive to make the dreams a reality, Busch said.

Since then, the exhibit and its educational programs, which includes lectures and videos featuring the honored women, have been presented in over 60 venues, including the U.S. Senate Russell Rotunda, the Florida State Capitol, the Florida Governors Mansion, the HistoryMiami Museum, The Miami Herald and at other public and private venues in and out of Florida.

For sponsorship opportunities, to see photos of the women in the exhibit, and for more information go to, www.floridawomenofachievement.org, or call 786-371-1992.

This column was updated to reflect that the street-naming ceremony was held Monday. Additional photos were also added.

Bea Hines can be reached at bea.hines@gmail.com.
A Columbia man filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft of illegally blocking a proposed citizen-driven ballot question that would have prevented lawmakers from making it harder for voters to amend the state constitution.

The lawsuit, filed by Columbia resident Harry Cooper in Cole County, argues that Ashcroft, a likely candidate for governor in 2024, unlawfully rejected Coopers filing, did so after a 15-day deadline and refused to provide a reason, as required by state law.

It alleges that Ashcrofts actions create a pretext where the secretary of state could block any ballot question he does not like.

Apparently Jay Ashcroft doesnt care about law and order, Cooper said in a statement.

JoDonn Chaney, Ashcrofts spokesperson, said in an email to The Star that the secretary of states office was served the lawsuit and it is currently under review.

Coopers proposed ballot question would have asked voters in 2024 to approve a measure preventing state lawmakers from passing laws that make it harder for citizens to amend the states initiative petition process. It also would have allowed lawmakers to serve 16 years in either chamber instead of the current eight year per chamber cap.

The ballot measure would have reduced the legislative term limit to 12 years if lawmakers pass any laws that restrict the publics ability to amend the state constitution.

Coopers petition was in response to Missouri Republican lawmakers proposing a flurry of bills that would make it harder for voters across the state to approve amendments to the state constitution. The legislation comes in the wake of Missouri voters approving several liberal-leaning policies such as recreational and medical marijuana.

According to the lawsuit, Cooper filed two versions of his ballot question with Ashcrofts office in mid-February. Ashcrofts office notified Cooper 12 days later that the petition had been approved.

Ashcroft, according to the lawsuit, then reversed course on March 9, and notified Cooper that the proposals had been rejected. The lawsuit alleges that this rejection happened after the 15-day deadline required by state law and Ashcroft gave no reason for rejecting the proposal.

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Its important to make sure that doesnt become a legally sanctioned avenue for any current or future secretary of state, Matt Vianello, Coopers attorney, told The Star.

The lawsuit further alleges that Ashcroft has rejected a number of other ballot initiatives this year through a similar process.

For Ashcroft to reject initiative petition sample sheets after they have been approved, reject them after the 15 day approval/rejection period has passed and reject them without providing any actual reasons flies in the face of well-established legal precedent in Missouri, the lawsuit said.
Rescuers searched Monday for more than 60 people reported missing after a landslide triggered by months of heavy rain killed at least seven people in southern Ecuador.

The mudslide happened overnight Sunday into Monday, burying dozens of homes and injuring 23 people in the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of Quito, officials said.

Shocked residents, many in tears, stood waiting for news Monday as crews with shovels, pick axes and sniffer dogs dug through the debris to get to survivors stuck between sheets of twisted metal and split tree trunks.

"Five are buried here," Manuel Upai, a 40-year-old laborer, told AFP, referring to relatives of his as he stared at the muddy ground.

Alausi, a village of some 45,000 people surrounded by green hills, also saw several public buildings hit by the avalanche, which damaged roads and closed three schools.

"I managed to escape with about 15 minutes to spare," survivor Jose Agualsaca told local TV network Teleamazonas, saying he was rushing to get things out of his house before the mud came.

Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter that firefighters from neighboring areas had been rushed to the village to help people affected by the tragedy.

He urged all citizens to evacuate the affected areas.

The government mobilized the national police, armed forces, the health ministry and the Red Cross to help with the rescue efforts.

"We have activated temporary accommodation and mobilized sleeping kits for those that have lost their homes," said a government statement on Twitter.

- Landslides, floods -

Since the start of the year, heavy rains in Ecuador have caused the deaths of 22 people, destroyed 72 homes and damaged more than 6,900 residences, according to the SNGR risk management secretariat.

The downpours have caused close to 1,000 dangerous events, such as landslides and flooding.

The area affected by Sunday's disaster had been in a designated yellow alert risk zone since February following other landslides.

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Sunday's landslide came just over a week after 15 people were killed when a strong quake struck in Ecuador's southwestern border region with Peru.

The earthquake, registered at a magnitude of 6.5 by local authorities, caused 22 landslides that blocked roads in the provinces of El Oro and Azuay.

Afterward, the government declared a two-month state of emergency in 13 of the country's 24 provinces, allowing economic resources to be redistributed to affected areas.

In February, heavy rains forced oil pumping in the country to be suspended for five days for safety checks over fears that a major oil pipeline could have been damaged by the collapse of a bridge.

Ecuador's Andean valleys can have a rainy season that lasts from October until May.

pld/lv/bc/sw/mlr/dw/dhc
Image via Getty/kali9

Early Saturday morning, six people were left wounded by multiple gunmen opening fire on a crowd of pedestrians in Shreveport, Louisiana, KTBS reports.

The incident unfolded at 1:45 a.m. when multiple shooters appeared from a silver sedan on Market Street and started randomly shooting into a crowd.

Police stated that three women and three men were injured, with two of the victims sustaining serious wound.

After a brief pursuit of the gunmen, officials located a possible suspect vehicle near North Shreveport, resulting in one person being brought to custody.

It is safe to say that the persons responsible for this crime do not care about their victims, do not care about downtown, and do not care about our city, stthe citys Downtown Development Authority said in a statement,

They are the outliers in a city filled with many more good people than bad. The Downtown Development Authority stands with police and other partners to employ whatever means are available to bring any responsible parties to justice. Meanwhile, we will continue our work to make downtown a place filled with art, events, business, and opportunities. We refuse to let the bad people win, they added.

In a separate event, seven people were injured in a mass shooting around 11 p.m. on Friday. A gunmen opened fire at group of people having a cookout in a residential neighborhood, striking them. One is facing life threatening injuries.

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Three children and three adult staff members died from gunshot wounds in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, police said, after a woman armed with two assault-style weapons and a handgun opened fire in a school.

Officials said the 28-year-old white woman, whose name has not yet been released, entered the school through a side entrance and was killed by police, bringing the death total in the shooting to at least seven. Police did not specify the ages of the victims.

Police had initially indicated the shooter as a teenager. Officials now believe, based on initial findings, that the Nashville woman was once a student at the school.

Police released the names and ages of the victims later on Monday. The three students  Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney  were all nine years old. The three adults that were killed were in their 60s  Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

Law enforcement officials said they responded to a call reporting a shooting at the Covenant School at 10:13 a.m. local time and cleared the first floor of the school. Officers then heard shots being fired on the second floor and moved toward the gunfire, engaging with the shooter and killing her. The shooter was dead by 10:27 a.m.

The only other injury reported was an officer who was cut by glass.

Police said that on a typical day, there are usually around 209 students in the school. There were no school resource officers on the campus, according to police, since it is a private school.

The Nashville Fire Department said earlier on Twitter that it responded to the Covenant School, which is described as a Christian elementary school with a preschool department, according to the schools website.

We can confirm we have multiple patients, the department said, adding that this is an active scene.

The Metro Nashville Police Department confirmed that an active shooter event took place at the school and that the shooter was engaged by officers and was killed.

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WKRN in Nashville reported that the FBI and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives were responding to the incident.

Officials said that a reunification area had been established at a nearby church.

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) wrote on Twitter.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said his office was closely monitoring the situation.

Julia Mueller contributed to this report, which was updated at 5:25 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanons caretaker prime minister reversed an unpopular decision made by his office to delay the start of daylight saving time by a month, saying Monday the Cabinet decided to implement the change in two days.

Najib Mikatis comments came after the governments initial decision earlier this month was widely criticized around the country with many, including the countrys largest church, saying they will not abide by the decision.

The new daylight saving time will start at midnight Wednesday, Mikati said after a Cabinet meeting that only discussed the issue.

With some institutions implementing the change while others refused, many Lebanese found themselves in the position of juggling work and school schedules in different time zones  in a country that is just 88 kilometers (55 miles) at its widest point.

Last week, the government said it will delay the start of daylight saving time by a month until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. That led to mass confusion in a country already experiencing the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

In some cases, the debate took on a sectarian nature, with many Christian politicians and institutions, including the small nations largest church, the Maronite Church, rejecting the move.

The small Mediterranean country normally sets its clocks forward an hour on the last Sunday in March, which aligns with most European countries. However, on Thursday, the government announced a decision by Mikati to push the start of daylight saving to April 21.
Clock tower in Lebanon. ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon will begin daylight savings time on Wednesday of this week, the country's caretaker prime minister announced Monday, undoing his "unpopular" and chaotic choice to delay the change by a month, ABC News reports.

"The new daylight saving time will start at midnight Wednesday," Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced following a Cabinet meeting.

Lebanon was initially scheduled to change its clocks as normal, on the last Sunday in March. But a few days before the switch, Mikati suggested pushing the time change to April 21, a move believed to be in support of the country's Muslim population and its observance of the holy month of Ramadan. (Because of daylight savings, sunset would fall around 7 p.m. rather than 6 p.m., meaning Muslims would have to wait an additional hour before breaking their fast.)

But a number of organizations, including Lebanon's Maronite church, the country's largest Christian institution, objected to the change, arguing it would "cause chaos in the country and put it at odds with international standards," CNBC summarizes. Consequently, millions of citizens are now abiding by two different zones. Even Apple and Google are confused, CNBC continues  on iPhones and iPads, Lebanon's time zone is unchanged; on Google, the clock is one hour behind.

Though some have made light of the clock discrepancy by posting memes online, others, like Lebanese writer Mustapha Hamoui, believe the problem is a bit more insidious than it appears at first glance.

"The summer time issue is not a trivial matter, but a symptom of a deeper crisis of Christian political representation in Lebanon, and it deserves serious attention," Hamoui wrote on Twitter. "It was a grave insult for many Christians to witness Berri and Miqati decide on a matter that affects everyone's lives without even asking for their opinion."

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House and Senate conferees met for days including through the Easter weekend in 1997 to hammer out an agreement on the landmark Mississippi Adequate Education Program legislation that was ultimately approved by both chambers.

All of those often intense and combustible meetings were open to the members of the media, who were on hand to see Senate negotiator Hob Bryan, D-Amory, storm out of the meeting in response to House proposals he found objectionable. Reporters also were on hand when the conferees, with the exception of then-Senate Appropriations Chair Dick Hall, R-Jackson, signed the compromise on the school funding formula, sending it on to the two chambers that approved it overwhelmingly.

Joint rule 23A of the Mississippi House and Senate stipulates that all official meetings of any conference committee on a bill or on a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment shall be open to the public at all times, unless declared an executive session in accordance with the provisions of Section 25-41-7, Mississippi Code of 1972.

That is the rule now, approved overwhelmingly by members of the House and Senate in 2020. It was not the rule in 1997 when House and Senate negotiators held open conference committee meetings on the MAEP. The House and Senate negotiators just thought it was the right thing to do.

As the 2023 session quickly approaches its scheduled conclusion, there are about 250 bills in conference, meaning on each bill three senators and three House members appointed by the two presiding officers are meeting to work out the differences in the House and Senate versions of the legislation.

Despite the joint rules approved by the House and Senate saying conference committees shall be open, many House and Senate members would have a bonafide conniption if a group of reporters or the general public tried to walk in on their conference meeting. Some conference committee meetings might be open on occasion, but not often and not like it used to be.

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There was a time in the Legislature when reporters sat in the office of then-Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant as House and Senate negotiators tried to solve a budget deadlock. Reporters crowded into the office of then-Senate Appropriations Chair Jack Gordon and watched conferees talk about cars and food because they had nothing else to say about the then-ongoing budget impasse.

At one point, Republicans, including now-Speaker Philip Gunn, but at the time the minority leader, complained that the Democratic leadership of Speaker Billy McCoy was not negotiating on the budget in good faith with the Republican leadership of the Senate. McCoy and his budget leaders welcomed members of the House Republican minority to come to the open conference committees, where they could watch the budget negotiations in person.

In fairness to the current leadership, conference committees have never been completely open. The nature of the process makes that virtually impossible. At the end of the session, when conferencing kicks into high gear, a lot is going on and legislative leaders are not necessarily thinking about the importance of transparency, but simply trying to meet constitutionally imposed deadlines.

And often agreements are reached on bills with no formal conference meeting. The two primary conferees  one from the House and one from the Senate  might meet in passing in the halls of the Capitol and hammer out an agreement and ask the other conferees to sign off on the agreement at their convenience.

And truth be known, members of the media and the general public would not be interested in many of those bills.

But there are major pieces of legislation where there would be intense interest.

In the early 1990s, then House Education Chair McCoy and Senate Education Chair Ronnie Musgrove began holding their conference meetings in the open. There was no rule requiring them to do so. They just looked at it as an effort at transparency and perhaps good government.

The idea of the open conference committees grew, to a large extent, out of their actions. In theory, legislators still embrace the idea of open conference committee meetings in their joint rules, but in reality not so much  at least not so much thus far.

This analysis was produced by Mississippi Today, a nonprofit news organization that covers state government, public policy, politics and culture. Bobby Harrison is Mississippi Todays senior Capitol reporter.
As a proud Army veteran, I am deeply concerned with the largely undiscussed harm that the current wave of health care restrictions for LGBTQ+ families being passed in state legislatures will have on our military families. I am writing to be a voice on behalf of those who will be significantly impacted by these harmful laws, specifically SB 150 here in Kentucky.

The negative effects of these laws on our military community cannot be overstated, with more than 31,000 active duty soldiers at Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, 12,000 guard and reserve service members, and 10,000 military civilians in Kentucky. LGBTQ+ service members and families often rely on specialized care off-post, and laws such as SB 150 will make it harder, if not impossible, to receive necessary services.

The Exceptional Family Medical Program (EFMP), which provides care to military families, is now having to classify states as safe or unsafe for LGBTQ+ service members because of the flood of anti-LGBTQ+ bills sweeping through red state legislatures. This is not the future we want for Kentucky. Politicians shouldnt be posing as physicians, writing bills like SB 150 that endanger Kentuckians and run counter to medical best practices and Kentucky values. In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) formally recommended giving youth access to comprehensive gender-affirming and developmentally appropriate health care. And again in 2021, announced its opposition to public policies that prohibit trans minors from having access to gender-affirming care.

Kentucky parents, students and medical professionals all testified against SB 150, yet the Kentucky General Assembly still advanced this prejudicial legislation. As a last ditch effort to lift up the voices of my military brothers and sisters, Im hoping our concerns will reignite conversation before the final override veto vote. As promised, Governor Andy Beshear vetoed SB 150.

For those who arent familiar with a military lifestyle, change of station for our active duty is challenging enough without the added fear of being moved to a state where their child cant receive essential care, or will be bullied or harassed because of the precedent these bills set with their anti-rhetoric. Our deployed soldiers need to be able to focus on their mission and stay safe, not losing sleep worrying about the basic rights and well-being of their families back home. This is unacceptable and goes against our core values as a nation that supports its military and their families. These laws will only add to the already significant stress that our troops and their families experience.

As a veteran, I know firsthand the sacrifices that our military families make. It is our duty as a nation to ensure they have access to the care and services they need to thrive. If LGBTQ+ people, and others, do not have the right to bodily autonomy, to live their daily lives without fear and harassment, we will never know true freedom. We simply cannot tolerate cruel, discriminatory laws that harm our LGBTQ+ service members and their families. For the sake of our national defense, combat readiness, and the mental health of our troops, Kentucky must reaffirm its support for LGBTQ+ service members and their families by rejecting SB 150.

Moore resides in Lexington, Kentucky and is an Army veteran who served two tours in Africa and Afghanistan. Moore is also a candidate for House District 45.
U.S.-hosted Summit for Democracy aims for confrontation: expert

Xinhua) 08:49, March 27, 2023

This photo taken on March 21, 2023 shows metal barricades placed near the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The reason behind this is that the Cold War mentality, present in the U.S.-led West, is still at work, in addition to strategic and economic competitions, Davor Gjenero noted.

ZAGREB, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The second Summit for Democracy, hosted by the United States, is aiming not for democracy but confrontation with countries like Russia as its opponent and China as its competitor, said Davor Gjenero, a Croatian political analyst.

Through the so-called Summit for Democracy, set for March 29-30, the United States, according to its "American democracy" standard, attempts to divide the world into "democratic" and "non-democratic" countries.

By selectively inviting "democratic" countries to attend the summit, the United States aims to establish a bloc or camp, led by the United States, to isolate and confront countries that it regards as enemies, opponents and competitors, Gjenero said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Therefore, such a summit is not for promoting democracy but for provoking confrontation and that is "a defeat for democracy," Gjenero noted.

A demonstrator holds a slogan during the anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., the United States, Feb. 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The reason behind this is that the Cold War mentality, present in the U.S.-led West, is still at work, in addition to strategic and economic competitions, Gjenero noted.

He said that the so-called "American democracy" standard is not the only standard for democracy and can not be applied everywhere and it is not up to the United States to judge whether one country is democratic or not.

Moreover, Gjenoro pointed out that the "American democracy" has been experiencing a crisis, as serious social problems, including social division, racial conflicts, political polarization, and a widening gap between the rich and poor, have been plaguing the United States.

"Every country in the world is specific, every country has its own history, customs and traditions. So every country has the right to its own path of democratic development, and no country can have a monopoly on that," Gjenero said.

This photo taken on Jan. 20, 2023 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Gjenero said he believes that China has been following its own path of democratic development according to its own national conditions.

While China's economic development has attracted worldwide attention, and the same is true in terms of its democratic development, although the United States and some Western countries have turned a blind eye or simply refuse to admit it, Gjenero added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Len Trumper may get an honorary street designation around the Illinois State Armory, pending Springfield City Council approval. Trumper brought in big name acts like KISS, Cheap Trick and AC/DC to Springfield mainly in the 1970s and 80s. Many of the shows were staged at The Armory.

A portion of Second Street between Monroe and Adams streets could become "Len Trumper Way" under a proposal by Mayor Jim Langfelder.

It goes before the city's committee of the whole Tuesday and could be voted on by the full city council on April 5.

Trumper, an independent promoter, brought acts like KISS, Boston, Bob Seger, Ozzy Osbourne, Cheap Trick and The Cars to a number of Springfield venues, including the Illinois State Armory, under Whatever Productions in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Before iPhones and social media, Len Trumper concerts gave Springfield 'something to do'

The honorary street designation would be around The Armory, which is now undergoing a $122 million state-funded renovation project.

The 73-year-old Trumper chronicled shows he promoted in his 2021 book "Len Trumper Presents Whatever Productions" (Outskirts Press).

The Springfield native got his start in the business as an 18-year-old freshman at then-Springfield Junior College in 1967.

More:Rockers Foreigner will play BoS Center with Head East on May 16

"Everywhere you went, people (in Springfield) said, 'There's nothing to do,'" Trumper told The State Journal-Register in 2021. "I thought, well, I can try to do something. Put on a show and hire a local band. I thought it was needed."

Trumper promoted his shows while holding down a job as a warehouse foreman at American Metals Supply Co.

Def Leppard performs at State Farm Stadium during The Stadium Tour featuring Motley Crue, Poison, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. Len Trumper promoted Def Leppard concerts in Springfield.

Trumper often booked upcoming acts before they hit it big, including AC/DC, Def Leppard and Black Oak Arkansas.

In addition to The Armory, Trumper staged shows at the Nelson Recreation Center in Lincoln Park.

Trumper's book is for sale at Penny Lane, 2901 S. MacArthur Blvd., and Recycled Records, 625 E. Adams St.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield City Council to consider designating street Len Trumper Way
If youve ever taken out a mortgage, theres a good chance the lender who made the loan to you sold it to another bank or investor before you made your first payment. Theres also a good chance that if youve had your mortgage for a few years, it may have been sold at least one or two more times. Why all the paper shuffling? The answer is fairly straightforward.

Lenders typically sell loans for two reasons. The first is to free up capital that can be used to make loans to other borrowers. The other is to generate cash by selling the loan to another bank while retaining the right to service the loan. Cash is generated when the old lender charges the new lender a fee for collecting and disbursing the monthly payments. In the end, your loan could be owned by lender B, while you make payments to lender A.

Gary Sandler

On a personal note, I once obtained a mortgage loan from one of the local community banks here in Las Cruces. I was informed at the closing that my loan had already been sold to what financial guru Clark Howard calls a Multi Mega-Bank (MMB). In turn, the MMB sold the loan to the General National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). Until the mortgage was paid off, I continued to make my monthly payments to the MMB, who retained the servicing rights, even though Ginnie Mae was the owner of my loan.

Federal law protects borrowers when loans are bought and sold by requiring that both the old and new lenders notify you in writing within 15-days of a sale that a transfer has taken place. The letters should provide the name of the new lender, how and where payments can be made, and when your next payment is due. You should continue making payments to your old lender until you receive the letter from the new lender. While the loan is being transferred, borrowers are afforded a 60-day grace period that prohibits the new lender from collecting late fees or declaring a loan delinquent. In addition, the terms of your original mortgage are set in stone and cannot be modified by the new lender or servicer.

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If payments are not credited properly or some other issue arises during or after the transfer, its up to you to pursue a remedy in a timely manner. Step-one is to notify the new lender in writing. The letter should be addressed to the customer service or other department designated by the lender to receive correspondence and should not be included with your regular monthly payment. The lender is required to respond within 20 days of receiving your letter. Lenders also have 60 days to resolve the problem if the issue requires extraordinary efforts to investigate.

Not satisfied with your lenders response, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB (www.consumerfinance.gov). The CFPB requires that your lender address the complaint within 15 days of when they receive notification from CFPB. Complaints having to do with fraud, unfair business practices or identity theft can be filed with Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov/complaints) or the New Mexico Attorney Generals office (www.nmag.gov/file-a-complaint.aspx).

So, who owns your mortgage? There are three ways to find out. First, call or write to your servicer. Most have a secure email option on their website through which you can ask. I did just that while doing research for this column and received a response within 30 minutes. You can also ask Freddie Mac (www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage or 1-800-FREDDIE) and Fannie Mae (www.knowyouroptions.com/loanlookup or 1-800-2FANNIE) if they own your loan.

If those efforts fail, contact the folks at Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (www.mersinc.org or 1-800-679-6377). MERS Servicer ID is a free service that provides information on the current servicer and investor (owner of the note) for loans registered on the MERS System.

See you at closing.

Gary Sandler is a full-time Realtor and president of Gary Sandler Inc., Realtors in Las Cruces. He loves to answer questions and can be reached at 575-642-2292 or Gary@GarySandler.com.

Read more Real Estate Connection:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Your lender sold your loan. Now what?
Professor Carlos Brown teaches a Spanish-language class at Los Angeles City College on March 17. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: I read with interest editorial writer Minerva Canto's article on multilingualism in America, pointing out that 78% of U.S. residents speak only English. Although the U.S. doesnt currently emphasize language learning, for a brief period that was not the case.

The Soviets' surprise launch of the first man-made satellite, Sputnik I, in 1957 came as a wake-up call for the United States. In response, the Eisenhower administration created the National Defense Education Act Title IV fellowships.

While the main purpose was to provide the U.S. with engineering and mathematics experts, it also paid students to pursue foreign languages. I received generous funding to get a doctorate from Stanford in German.

I went on to teach German at UCLA and Pomona College totally debt-free. But in 1973, Americas priorities shifted. The foreign language requirement was abolished by colleges almost everywhere after all, doesnt everyone speak English?  and after eight years in the field, my position was eliminated.

The ranks of college-level language teachers were decimated. I never found another job teaching a foreign language.

Eric Wilson, Santa Monica

..

To the editor: I wish my Hungarian parents had encouraged me to speak and learn that language. But they were so fearful that if I did I would have an accent like theirs in English, which marked them.

Therefore, the language the elders in the family spoke was forbidden to me. I could always understand what they were saying  I had to know the secrets  but I could never join in. I feel I missed something important.

I believe fluency in other languages is important and helpful, not only for a possible job, but perhaps even more for the mental acuity that language acquisition provides.

Margo Kasdan, Seal Beach

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Editor's Note: This week's letters to the editor include a few of the hundreds of responses The Oklahoman received following an editorial published March 19. The responses, which came from individuals across the political spectrum, were overwhelmingly in favor of the sentiments expressed in the editorial.

Why are major companies not choosing Oklahoma?

State leaders are perplexed when companies dont choose Oklahoma to site big new facilities. Volkswagen, Panasonic and Tesla all considered Oklahoma, but built elsewhere. Why?

Corporations may consider quality of life, as well as financial issues. Maybe they want locations with proven interest in public education, physical and mental health care, wealth disparity and reasonable minimum wages, quality infrastructure and acceptance of diversity without regard to race, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The logo of German car maker Volkswagen (VW) can be seen Sept. 11, 2020, at the company's factory in Dresden, eastern Germany. The automaker is the latest company to chose another location over Oklahoma for a facility.

Oklahoma ranks 43rd in the nation for quality of life, according to the World Population Review  among the bottom 10 states. Womens safety is an issue, as Oklahoma ranks first in the nation for the highest incidence of domestic and social violence. Maternal and infant mortality rates are highest in states with severe anti-abortion laws. Oklahoma ranks No. 19 in maternal and infant mortality.

Oklahomans always help victims of tornadoes, floods, fires and earthquakes. Were tough and proud, having survived the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, and united to weather the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing. Now we need to smooth out and improve our state quality of life, so that companies will choose to locate here.

 Nathaniel Batchelder, Oklahoma City

More:Editorial: It's time for Ryan Walters to end disparaging rhetoric or resign

Political zealots have run 'conservatives like me' to the other side

Having been educated in public schools, served on a public school board and known multitudes of public school success stories, the opinions and ideas expressed by our state school superintendent are troubling. His lack of understanding of public education, proclivity to extol lies about critical race theory or our woke system, and complete disrespect of our public school teachers and administrators make me wonder how he was ever elected.

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I have been a registered Republican for over 50 years, but Walters and his community of political zealots who think like him have run me and other conservatives like me to vote for many candidates on the other side of the fence. Walters reminds me of the proverb:

He who knows and knows that he knows is wise, follow him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep, wake him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a child, teach him.

But he that knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool, run from him.

All of us have heard stories of teachers leaving Oklahoma, and Im aware of at least one former Teacher of the Year who decided instead to run from far-right views. If we could only convince Walters and his cronies to run from us.

 George Cohlmia, Edmond

Ryan Walters, state schools superintendent, is pictured Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, at the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting.

State Board of Education should reject these unfair rules

Is a public hearing really a hearing if no one is there to hear it? Superintendent Ryan Walters and three of the five state school board members chose not to attend the public hearings about proposed rules impacting library media programs and parental rights held on March 17. Apparently they have no regard for the citizens in attendance that overwhelmingly opposed these rules, including many articulate students who are most impacted by them. These rules were written, not in order to operationalize a law passed through the legislative process, but by edict by Superintendent Walters. Legislating through the rule-making process far exceeds the boards and the superintendents authority and should be rejected.

These edicts also call for severe punishments for school districts without any right to due process. The rules do not outline how a complaint is filed, how an investigation would be conducted or how a district would be given the opportunity to speak to the accusations before the board downgrades their accreditation status. Because terms used in these rules are broad and highly subjective, without a process for districts to speak to any accusations, they will be used as weapons to punish districts, like they did Tulsa Public Schools, by downgrading their accreditation status without due process.

The state school board should reject these unfair rules and help Superintendent Walters stay in his lane as an agency head and not a legislator. Otherwise, the board may find itself in the crosshairs of another lawsuit for using the rule-making process to legislate  as is happening in Florida where their state school board is being sued for this very thing.

 Sherri Brown, Edmond

Oklahoma on the national stage for no good reason

Thanks to Ryan Walters and state legislators, Oklahoma was once again highlighted in national media for its ignorance and bigotry. Walters continues to be an embarrassment to the entire state with his thinly veiled comments and outright racist pronouncements. He is trying to ruin public education in Oklahoma and making a mockery of teachers and schools in the process.

Members of the Oklahoma House affirmed the right of schools to physically punish all students, including disabled students who likely could not understand why they were being struck. The excuse some of them have made is that they thought they would be voting against the Bible if they voted for a bill that would exclude disabled students from physical punishment. Ignorance and cruelty. What a combination. Wonder why international companies dont want to bring their businesses to Oklahoma?

 Delores Jackson, Oklahoma City

'Woke'  the lazy person's way to express everything for which they have been misled

I was an educator in Oklahoma for over 30 years. Retired as a high school principal. I realize Ive been retired a long time, but I have many friends in education and where the superintendent of public instruction is getting his idea regarding critical race theory is beyond me. I never once heard the words in all my years of education. And woke is the lazy persons way of trying to express everything for which they have been misled.

What is sad is he does not have a clue as to the racism he displays when he does his many one-act plays on Twitter. I am very sorry to say, however, he is the face of many Oklahoma voters. They only know to vote a straight ticket and do what social media or their singular cable news station tells them to do. I only wish they would take the time to educate themselves as to the real facts and not listen to a few minutes of someones opinion.

 Jimmy Green, Dallas, Texas

Ever wonder why?

Thank you, thank you! Oh, Ms. Bunyan, we have needed that for a long time. I cannot tell you how much my family and I appreciated your splendid column. When legislators and the governor wonder why global businesses won't bring business here, it is precisely because of destructive nonsense like that coming from Ryan Walters.

 Jon Womastek, Oklahoma City

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Letters: On Oklahoma's Volkswagen loss, Ryan Walters' politics
(Bloomberg) -- Libya has signed a deal with Honeywell International Inc. to build a 30,000 barrels-a-day refinery in the OPEC nations southwest.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The pact agreed Sunday is part of a broader plan by the National Oil Corp. to boost the North African countrys energy facilities and raise its oil production to 2 million daily barrels, Libyan oil company Zallaf Libya Oil and Gas, said in a statement Sunday.

The facility around Ubari city will provide fuel for surrounding regions and feed a power station thats set to be built nearby, the company said. It didnt give details on the cost of the project.

Libya is home to Africas largest oil reserves, but its exports have been stymied by political chaos for much of the period since the 2011 overthrow of long-time dictator Moammar Al Qaddafi. A measure of stability has prevailed in recent months, with crude output averaging about 1.2 million barrels a day since September.

The state oil firm NOC has said meeting the production target of 2 million barrels a pay in three to five years will require substantial investment.

--With assistance from Salma El Wardany.

(Updates with details on power station, background.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story incorrectly linked the reactor's development with Rolls-Royce automobiles.

As NASA continues its plans to send humans back to the moon, another country will be funding the effort to get humans living and working on the celestial body.

The British manufacturer Rolls-Royce announced its going to be taking its research out of the this world, as the company received funding from the UK Space Agency to develop a nuclear reactor on the moon, which could power a lunar astronaut base.

"Space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for so many of the transformational technologies we need on Earth," George Freeman, Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, said in a statement.

The moon could have its own time zone: Space officials push to create standard lunar time

What are the full moon dates for 2023?: The next full moon will be on April 6

Artist rendition of nuclear reactor Rolls-Royce plans to put on the moon by 2029.

Why is Rolls-Royce researching a nuclear reactor on the moon?

Rolls-Royce said it is working on a micro-reactor program to develop technology that will "provide power needed for humans to live and work on the moon."

A power source on the moon would support communication systems, life-support and science experiments while on the on the moon, which would "dramatically increase" the time spent working outside of Earth, the company added.

"This innovative research by Rolls-Royce could lay the groundwork for powering continuous human presence on the Moon," said Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency.

Why a nuclear reactor?

The agency said a nuclear reactor is small and lightweight compared to other means of power, and could enable continuous power regardless of available sunlight or other environmental conditions.

What's everyone talking about?: Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news of the day.

How much funding is Rolls-Royce getting?

Rolls-Royce will receive 2.9 million, which equals around $3.5 million, to research how a nuclear reactor could function on the moon.

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In addition to bringing more jobs to develop the research, the company said the funding will allow it to strengthen its knowledge in:

The fuel used to generate heat

The method of heat transfer

Technology to convert that heat into electricity

"This funding will bring us further down the road in making the Micro-Reactor a reality, with the technology bringing immense benefits for both space and Earth," said Abi Clayton, director of future programs for Rolls-Royce.

When will a nuclear reactor be on the moon?

Rolls-Royce plans to have a nuclear reactor ready to send to the moon by 2029.

Future moon missions

The announcement from Rolls-Royce comes less than a month after the UK Space Agency announced funding for companies to develop communication and navigation services for future moon missions.

Meanwhile, NASA on Wednesday revealed the spacesuits astronauts will wear during the upcoming Artemis III mission, which plans to send humans back to the moon in 2025.

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rolls-Royce plans nuclear reactor on moon that could sustain life
If passed, Assembly Bill 418 would ban red dye No. 3  which appears in some brands of fruit juices, hard candies, fruit cups and more  from food products across California, along with four other additives. (Brandon Ly)

Skittles, strawberry Yoohoo and Walmart yogurt-dipped pretzels  what do these all have in common? They contain the controversial red dye No. 3 or titanium dioxide, which some California lawmakers are now waging war against.

A new bill could ban five chemicals prevalent in thousands of U.S. food items, including certain brands of fruit cups, sliced bread, fruit juice, cake mixes, trail mix and more.

Assembly Bill 418, introduced by Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), seeks to prohibit red dye No. 3 for good along with brominated vegetable oil, titanium dioxide, propylparaben and potassium bromate.

Red dye No. 3, a synthetic dye derived from petroleum, and titanium dioxide, which is a pigment often found in paint primer, are used for coloring food and are the most prevalent of the five proposed banned additives. The proposal cites a range of studies linking these additives to increased cancer risk, adverse behavioral development in children and decline in reproductive health, among other ailments; some studies tested their effects on humans, others on lab animals.

The legislators say they hope the bill, if passed, will inspire change nationally. And it could force food manufacturers to reformulate the ingredients in their products.

Red dye No. 3 has been banned from cosmetics and select uses in the U.S. since 1990, but it's still commonly found in food. All five of these additives have been banned from food use in the European Union.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is really behind the rest of the world in protecting consumers from unsafe and toxic food chemicals, said Gabriel. In a lot of ways, the chemical companies get to grade their own homework.

Chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern brought some celebrity wattage to a virtual news conference with lawmakers, where the bill was announced. "Everyone in America should be confident the food we bring into our homes and serve our families is safe," Zimmern said, "and I say that as a parent of a child myself. But as we know, that's not always the case."

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A representative for the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates color additives in the U.S., said that the FDA "routinely reviews new scientific information on the authorized uses of ingredients"; if those are deemed unsafe, the FDA can rescind its own approvals, alert the public and aid in recall efforts. Industry groups have maintained that red dye No. 3 is safe at the levels that people normally consume it.

Gabriel stressed that the bill does not seek to ban products outright. Instead, Gabriel, Wicks and representatives for the bills co-sponsors  including nonprofits Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group  said they hope that it will spur companies to alter their ingredients if the bill becomes law. Many manufacturers have already done so for products sold in the European Union, such as Skittles.

Consumers today can order Skittles and other such items that don't contain red dye No. 3 from Europe. This is evidence that these five additives are unnecessary, said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president of government affairs.

As someone who worked for the food industry, the only reason that companies are fighting to preserve these chemicals is because it's inconvenient to change their recipes, Faber said. He previously served as head of government affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Assn., now known as the Consumer Brands Assn.

The bill provides time for companies to change their recipes for sale in the state; if signed into law, the new regulation would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.

According to the EWG, red dye No. 3 appears in nearly 3,000 food products; the nonprofit's running tally of items containing the additive includes Pop Tarts frosted confetti cake bites, Sara Lee brownies with sprinkles and SuperValu gummy bears, among hundreds of other items. Titanium dioxide helps to whiten foods such as Kroger fat-free half-and-half, Campbell's Healthy Request chicken corn chowder and Little Debbie honey buns.

Red dye No. 3 appears in nearly 3,000 food products. (Brandon Ly)

An emulsifier primarily found in citrus drinks, brominated vegetable oil keeps citrus flavoring from floating to the surface. Both potassium bromate and propylparaben are often found in baked goods, the former adding rise and strength to bread and pizza doughs, the latter serving as a preservative in items such as tortillas, honey buns and trail mix.

The EWG, Consumer Reports,d Wicks and Gabriel consulted more than two dozen peer-reviewed studies that found ties between the five additives and health concerns, including a 2022 investigation of titanium dioxides possible adverse effects on the human intestine; a 2002 study on propylparabens relation to a decrease in testosterone in rats; and a 1999 study that found potassium bromate produced tumors in rats, mice and hamsters.

Each of these chemicals has well-documented health risks, including a higher risk of cancer, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems, harm to the nervous system and even damage to our DNA, Zimmern wrote in his newsletter last week, recapping his virtual appearance. Each is either already prohibited or restricted from use in processed food for sale in the EU. And notice their uses? Yup, primarily cheap goods that target our children.

Due to studies finding links to cancer causation, certain forms of red dyes have been banned from cosmetics in the U.S. since 1990, and calls for prohibiting other uses of the dye continued throughout the decades. More recently, multiple organizations petitioned the states health department in December to administer warning labels on food that contains specific food dyes. The initiative began in part due to a 2021 California study on synthetic dyes neurobehavioral impacts on children, which found that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in children.

Because these products are so omnipresent in snack food and marketed so heavily in kids direction, our children are exposed at a higher risk than adults. That's why this is really important, Wicks said during the virtual news conference. If the FDA is not going to keep our communities safe, then it's up to us here in the states to take action and to take decisive and swift action on this.

According to a representative for the FDA, while the FDA reviews ingredient petitions and manufacturer-provided evidence that additives are safe for consumption, the onus falls on manufacturers to ensure products' safety.

"Its important to underscore that food manufacturers are responsible for marketing safe foods," the FDA representative told The Times. "The food industry has a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of the ingredients they use in foods before they go to market."

The International Assn. of Color Manufacturers, a global trade organization that represents the color-additives industry, did not respond to requests for comment regarding the states proposed AB 418.

But in response to Californias 2021 report noting links between artificial food dyes and neurobehavioral problems in children, IACMs public statement called the evidence insufficient."

In response to the European Commissions ban of titanium dioxide as a food additive, IACM released public comment urging the commission to reconsider its decision; the European Food Safety Authoritys panel that informed the EU ban, IACM said, used nanomaterials that were not representative of titanium dioxides form and method used in human consumption, rendering the panels findings not relevant.

Titanium dioxide has a long history of safe use as a color additive, IACMs statement read.

According to the Environmental Working Group, there are thousands of food additives we can ingest. And the good news is that, in all likelihood, most of these chemicals are safe, Faber told The Times. When EWG and Consumer Reports looked at the 10,000 or so chemicals and the chemicals that had been banned in the EU and were still showing up in the U.S., we found five where there was such compelling evidence of harm that it made sense for the California Legislature to ban them.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
In a stunning upset, Wild On Ice won the 18th running of the Sunland Derby on Sunday afternoon at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.

Let go at odds of 35-1, Wild On Ice raced past 1-2 post time favorite Hard To Figure and second favorite Henry Q to win the race in a time of 1:51.39 over 1 1/8th miles in the Grade III, $600,000 race.

The winning trainer was Joel Marr and the winning jockey was Ken Tohill, both longtime competitors at the Sunland Park track.

Wild On Ice, which started from the No. 7 post, returned $72.80 to win and the winning owner was Frank Sumpter of Lamesa, Texas.

Low Expectations finished second and Henry Q was third.

Wild On Ice earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby and Marr was non-committal to taking the horse to Louisville. The Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Well see how he comes out of the race, Marr said. Im really happy for the owner, Frank Sumpter, hes a great owner and has worked hard. We weren't really thinking about that (Kentucky Derby) coming in here, but we'll see what happens.

Jockey Ken S. Tohill atop Wild on Ice, #7, win the 18th running of the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino in Sunland Park, New Mexico, Sunday, March 26, 2023.

Wild On Ice has won three of five starts and broke a two-race losing streak. He was ninth in the Riley Allison Derby and third in the Mine That Bird Derby, both at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.

It was the first Sunland Derby win for Tohill and Marr. Marr previously won the Sunland Oaks with Blamed.

We knew he was a nice horse, we werent sure if he was this nice, Marr said. In the two races previous, he had some trouble in those races. Ken did a great job of riding him and Wild On Ice finished strong. It feels great to win the race, everyone in the barn did a great job and my team did a great job. Wild On Ice trained well for this and he gave us a great effort.

Marr, a winner of nearly 1,400 career races and nearly $30 million in purses, is perhaps best known for his work with the unbeaten New Mexico-bred racemare Peppers Pride, a winner in all 19 of her career starts from 2005 through 2008.

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Sumpter also bred Wild On Ice, who is a Texas-bred son of Tapizar.

This is a great win, I couldnt be happier, said Sumpter, who has a long history in horse racing. Its really a team win, Im happy for Joel Marr, for Ken Tohill and I have so many people to thank for helping me get here to this point. This is the biggest win of my career.

Sumpter, who earned $356,400 for the win, is the brother of former jockey Gary Sumpter, who won the 1976 All American Futurity aboard Real Wind.

How Did He Do That, who is owned by El Paso's Judy and Kirk Robison finished fourth.

Jockey Alfredo J. Juarez, Jr. celebrates after riding Flying Connection (1) in the win in the Sunland Oaks during the 18th running of the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino in Sunland Park , New Mexico , Sunday, March 26, 2023. The trainer is Todd Fincher.

Sunland Oaks

Flying Connection won the 1 1/16th miles, $300,000 Sunland Oaks for trainer Todd Fincher and jockey Alfredo Juarez, Jr. The winning time was 1:43.90.

Love Tank finished second and Don't Get Pickled was third. The 3-5 post time favorite, Doinitthehardway finished fourth. It was the first Sunland Oaks win for Fincher. Flying Connection has now won four of seven races and all four wins have been in New Mexico, including two at Sunland Park.

"Flying Connection is a strong minded horse," Fincher said.

Fincher indicated after the race that if the filly comes back well, the next stop for her may be a spot in the starting gate for the Grade I Kentuky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5.

"That's the plan right now," Fincher said. "We're really proud of her effort."

Jockey Alfredo J. Juarez, Jr. celebrates by throwing flowers up in the air after riding Flying Connection (1) to the win in the Sunland Oaks during the 18th running of the Sunland Derby at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino in Sunland Park , New Mexico , Sunday, March 26, 2023. The trainer is Todd Fincher.

Flying Connection, who is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Nyquist, earned 50 qualifying points to the Kentucky Oaks on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby.

The winning owners were Brad King, Randy Andrews, Chris Coleman, Jim Cone, Suzanne Kirby and Lee Lewis and they earned $176,400 with the win.

"It's a great feeling to win this race," King said. "Flying Connection has come a long way in her career and we're excited for her and the future. Todd is a great trainer and we've been great friends for a long time. He gets his horses prepared for every challenge."

Other stakes races

Craft Money won the 1 1/16th miles, New Mexico Breeders' Oaks for trainer Nancy Summers and jockey Leandro Goncalves.

I Think I'm Here , owned by Charles Dunleavy III, rallied late to take the 20th running of the New Mexico State University Handicap under Juarez, Jr.

Valentino Who owned by Juan Carlos Gutierrez, posted an upset under Jose Vasquez in the 18th running of the New Mexico Breeders' Derby.

Dean's List won the 6 1/2 furlong Bill Thomas Memorial Stakes for trainer Ray Ashford, Jr. and with Goncalves aboard. Dean's List has won five of eight races.

Cityonethenile won the one mile, Harry Henson Handicap for trainer Andres S. Gonzalez and jockey Amanda Sweeten.

More: El Paso jockey fares well El Paso jockey Luis Fuentes continues to shine at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino

Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Longshot Wild On Ice wins Sunland Derby at 35-1 odds
Saudi Arabia, to the surprise of many, chose China to broker its deal with Iran in March 2023. Chinese Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image

The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers.

The agreement, officially called the Joint Trilateral Statement, was signed in Beijing on March 11 and begins the process of restoring diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran. Those ties were severed in January 2016 after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Iran in the aftermath of the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric who had criticized Saudi treatment of its Shiite minority.

As an analyst of Saudi foreign policy, Ive seen how the kingdoms decision to engage in this way with Iran and China is part of a broader diversification of the kingdoms international relationships that has unfolded over the past decade. To close observers of geopolitical trends in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, the China-brokered deal fits into a pattern.

From being firmly a part of the anti-communist camp during the Cold War and closely tied into U.S.-led regional security networks in the Persian Gulf, Saudi foreign policy is now taking a nonaligned stance that has become increasingly consequential for how Saudi Arabia pursues its interests.

Saudis question US partnership

The relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is often said to revolve around an oil-for-security dynamic in which the Saudis provide the former and the U.S. the latter.

In reality, ties have spanned a far wider spectrum than that and have been more complicated, with periods of high tension  stemming from events such as Saudi participation in the Arab oil embargo in 1973, or the involvement of Saudi citizens in the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks in 2001.

But since the Arab Spring protests in the early 2010s, U.S.-Saudi relations have frayed, both in Riyadh and in Washington. The perception among Gulf leaders that the Obama administration abandoned former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the Egyptian revolution in 2011 left them deeply rattled. They feared that the U.S. could abandon them just as it had done Mubarak, a longtime partner of 30 years.

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This was compounded by the Gulf states exclusion from U.S. negotiations with Iran, initially in secret bilateral talks in 2013 and subsequently as part of the P5+1 framework of the U.N. Security Council permanent members, plus Germany, which culminated in the Iran nuclear deal in 2015.

And then in 2019, a missile and drone attack on Saudi oil infrastructure temporarily knocked out half the kingdoms production. The attacks were linked, but never formally attributed, to Iran. President Donald Trump responded by declaring it had been an attack on Saudi Arabia, not on the U.S., drawing a distinction between their interests. Trumps remarks, and subsequent inaction, caused shockwaves in Riyadh and other Gulf capitals as leaders began to question U.S. credibility as a reliable regional partner.

Finally, in 2021, the chaotic nature of the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul, Afghanistan, served to reinforce deeply-rooted perceptions about U.S. disengagement from the Middle East, irrespective of the situation in reality.

The Saudi Vision 2030 program aims to build large-scale tourism, infrastructure, recreation and other projects to diversify the kingdoms economy. Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images

Pivot to booming China

It is against this backdrop of pragmatic acknowledgment of its own vulnerabilities to regional and global tensions  and entrenched uncertainty about the role of the U.S. as a long-term partner  that Saudi Arabia began to broaden its international relationships, with particular attention on China.

Officials across the Gulf believe China will replace the U.S. as the dominant economic and energy superpower in the 21st century. For more than a decade, a majority of oil and gas from the six Gulf monarchies has flowed east to Asia in quantities that far exceed the cargoes heading west to Europe and North America.

In a further sign of deepening bilateral ties, in December 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia to sign investment agreements across 34 sectors, ranging from green energy and information technology to construction and logistics.

Moving toward reconciliation with Iran

Meanwhile, the Saudi outreach to Iran has been more than three years in the making.

It began after the 2019 oil attacks and focused initially on de-escalating regional tensions. Saudi and Iranian officials held five rounds of dialogue in Iraq between 2020 and 2022 to try to bridge the issues that divided them. These meetings formed the backdrop to the China-brokered deal in Beijing.

Reports have suggested that Saudi Arabias King Salman has invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the kingdom, possibly during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that began on March 22. Any such visit would indicate a political will on both sides to move beyond the two decades of rancor and acrimony that followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and doomed an earlier phase of Saudi-Iranian rapprochement at the turn of the century.

A Saudi reconciliation with Iran would undermine attempts by the U.S. and Israel to increase Irans international isolation and is consistent with a Saudi desire to de-escalate regional tensions. This is particularly the case as Vision 2030, a plan to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil revenue, reaches its halfway stage and begins to implement the infrastructure and tourism giga-projects associated with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Launched in 2016, Vision 2030 has struggled to attract international buy-in, in part due to investor concerns about regional insecurity and its spillover into Saudi Arabia.

Balancing act on Ukraine

Saudia Arabias unwillingness to take sides in great power competition is also evident in policy responses to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, has resisted pressure to take sides in an era of strategic rivalries. One manifestation of this balancing act has been the Saudi decision to work with Russia within the framework of the oil producers group OPEC+  and at the same time engage with U.S. officials over issues of oil output and prices.

The Saudi deal with Iran and choice of China as an intermediary is consistent with a deeper shift in Saudi foreign policy, which has been evident for some time. By adapting to changing circumstances, Mohammed bin Salman is looking to Saudi Arabias future and trying to strike a wider balance of power in what he sees as an eventual post-American Gulf.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University.

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Kristian Coates Ulrichsen 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.
Former professional bull rider Jamon Turner has been giving kids in Shreveport an opportunity to learn about agriculture and now he's taking his Western Play Day on the road.

Restructured as Just Believe's Western Playground, the special clinic allows kids to take part in learning about different trades while playing games and winning prizes.

This special event is more than just a fun weekend on the farm.

"I'm trying to bridge the gap between some of these churches that want to serve, but don't really have a way of reaching inner city communities," Turner explained. "Each one of the churches is going to have a team and their team is going to comprise of the students, the trainers and the coach. So, they're using all of those different avenues to try and accumulate coins."

Jamon Turner (center) laughs as kids play Tic Tac Toe with cows during his Western Play Day, Just Believe, Saturday, March 5, 2022 at his ranch in Haughton.

The weekend event is customizable to your kid's interests. Simply choose one clinic and one trade out of each category. This is for ages 12 - 20.

Trades - Take first-hand look at several in the agricultural field: Cattle Production Framing Farrier Equine Dentistry

Clinics - what would you like to learn more about: Horsemanship Breakaway Sorting

Fun - make some new friends and get dirty in the Wild West: Team Challenges Ranch Games Prizes



"Each one of these trades is something you can learn and create an LLC yourself. Hardly any of them require any kind of certification and none of them require an actual Vocational College," said Turner. "You're always going to need agriculture. I don't care what happens, you're always going to need to figure out how to take care of the soil."

Jamon Turner's Western Play Day, Just Believe, Saturday, March 5, 2022 at his ranch in Haughton. Turner has expanded the program to reach more of North Louisiana's kids.

Originally, this event cost $90 per student for the whole weekend, in order to make it more accessible, Turner covered more of the expenses out of his own pocket to lower it to $45.

"I'm sponsoring half the students already, so if I can find another sponsor that's willing to pay for the tuition for the other half of the students, it'll be free for everybody," Turner explained.

Read all about Jamon Turner here:Meet the Louisiana cowboy looking to help Shreveport's kids find a way to believe

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If you're interested in helping out by sponsoring or volunteering, visit the Just Believe website and fill out the proper forms.

Visit the website to also register your kids for the Western Playground at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds in Shreveport on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30.

Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at mgwhite@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Check out the fun event teaching kids about agriculture in Louisiana
Now that the Louisiana governor's race field appears set, the pressure will build among the Republicans to see if any of them can catch and then pass Republican front-running Attorney General Jeff Landry.

That's what it will take to join Democrat Shawn Wilson, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' former transportation secretary, in advancing to a two-person runoff election.

With Wilson having galvanized the Democratic support, veteran pollster John Couvillon said he is a virtual lock to emerge from the Oct. 14 primary election and into the runoff.

Louisiana Capitol, spring 2022.

Landry leads the Republicans with a devoted base and deep pockets, but Sen. Sharon Hewitt, Rep. Richard Nelson, Treasurer John Schroder and former Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack all believe Landry is polarizing with a ceiling of support they can surpass.

They'll have to prove it with polls and money or their shelf life will expire even before qualifying begins Aug. 8-10, LaPolitics Weekly Publisher Jeremy Alford said.

More:In Louisiana, women represent less than 20 percent of seats in Legislature

"Up until now the question has been who else is getting in," Alford said. "The real question and intrigue now is what Republicans will get out. You've got a lot of Republicans and if they stay at the table some of them are going to starve."

Conservative Christian trial attorney Hunter Lundy of Lake Charles could be a wildcard after signaling he's willing to spend millions of his own money. "The field may be settle, but it's not peaceful," Alford said.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: 60-second read: Explaining Louisiana governor's race field
Oris x Bracenet mood

The Oris X Bracenet uses abandoned fishing nets in the dial. Credit - Courtesy of Oris

As watchmakers from around the world gather in late March in Geneva for one of the industrys biggest eventsthe Watches and Wonders fairSwitzerland-based Oris will announce a luxury divers watch with a swirly blue and green dial. Theres nothing remarkable in that, except that the dial of the Oris X Bracenet (2,350 Swiss francs, or $2,508) is made of upcycled ghost fishing nets recovered from the ocean. Luxury watches have always been about communicating more than the time, and what this one gets across is its makers sustainability program.

Oris became climate neutral in 2021 and frequently collaborates with conservation organizations. It stands out against others in the Swiss watch industry, which have been slow to respond to consumer appetite for products with a strong environmental profile.

The scale of the ambivalence was exposed five years ago when the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) published a report examining Swiss watchmakings social and environmental impact, concluding that it does not meet good environmental standards. Well-known names like Rolex, Omega, and Patek Philippe were classified as latecomers and nontransparent, while only IWC received praise. (Oris wasnt included in the report.)

This could prove a thorn in the industrys side. Deloittes 2022 annual report on the Swiss watch industry found sustainability and environmental impact is now the third most powerful driver behind a watch purchase (after brand and price) for buyers in China, the worlds second largest importer of Swiss watches. With climate-conscious millennial and Gen Z consumers now purchasing luxury in greater numbers, the trend will likely gather momentum.

More from TIME

But the luxury-watch industry appears to be waking up. Strategies vary: last year, IWC hired supermodel Gisele Bundchen as an environmental and community-projects adviser, Chopards watches contain only so-called ethical gold from traceable sources, while Panerai and Breitling have replaced wooden boxes with lower-impact packaging.

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Damien Oettli, head of the markets team at WWF Switzerland, says that the industry has started to take the first steps to address sustainability issues but that too many brands are still only paying lip service to the problem.

The watch sector has recovered well from the pandemic, with record exports last year. But its growth has hampered its sustainability efforts. Richemont, parent company of Cartier and Montblanc, said in its 2022 sustainability report that its emissions had increased from the prior year.

For consumers, luxury watches with clear sustainability efforts remain scarce. Some brands, like Oris, have used recycled materials. Two years ago, Panerai said it had set a record for the watch with the most recycled components, claiming the Submersible eLAB-ID was 98.6% recycled by weight. Ulysse Nardin used recycled fishing nets for the Ocean Race Divers case. Both were limited in production.

Watchmaker Panerai said its Submersible eLAB-ID was 98.6% recycled by weight Courtesy of Panerai

A more common approach for companies is to partner with an environmental project. Omega, for example, has helped fund conservation projects with the GoodPlanet Foundation, among other initiatives.

In the fall, Breitling used its Super Chronomat Origins to spearhead its switch to what it calls artisanal gold and lab-grown diamonds by the end of 2025. These will be responsibly sourced from accredited suppliers and backed by end-to-end traceability, says CEO Georges Kern. As a watchmaker, this is where we can use our influence.

Other brands are teaming up. Last April, Cartier and luxury group Kering established the Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030. The concept is similar to the Fashion Pact of 2019, which saw more than 250 companies commit to science-based targets and meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Chanel, Gucci, IWC, and Jaeger-LeCoultre are among its 25 member brands. All have signed up to the U.N.s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

One thing brands engaged in sustainability agree on is their hold over consumers. We have to reduce our footprints, says Panerai CEO Jean-Marc Pontroue, but also to educate and convince the wider public so that they become part of the change.
President Emmanuel Macron summoned government ministers for a crisis meeting on Monday, as tensions ran high a day before another major day of strikes and protests against his pension reforms.

Nearly two weeks after Macron rammed the new law through parliament using a special provision sidestepping any vote, unions have vowed no let-up in mass protests to get the government to back down.

They have called for another big day of action on Tuesday, the 10th such mobilisation since protests started in mid-January against the controversial law, which includes raising the retirement age to 64 from 62.

Macron, whose approvement ratings in opinion polls are at a low point, said last week he accepted the "unpopularity" that came with the reform.

His prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, meanwhile said that while there was no plan to drop the legislation, she was ready for fresh dialogue with unions.

"We have to find the right path... We need to calm down," she told AFP in an interview on Sunday.

Starting on Monday, Borne has scheduled talks over three weeks, including with members of parliament, political parties, local authorities and unions.

A state visit to France by Britain's King Charles III, which had been due to begin on Sunday, was postponed because of the current unrest.

- 'Very big move' -

Instead of hosting the UK monarch for a day of pomp and ceremony, Macron was instead due to meet Borne, other cabinet ministers and senior lawmakers for the crisis talks at the Elysee from 1:15 pm (1115 GMT), the presidency said.

Borne was to present the plan for consultations to the president at Monday's meeting, and then take it to Macron's allies and cabinet members, presidential sources said.

If unions accept her offer for talks, Borne is expected to put new measures on the table designed to ease the impact of the pensions law targeting physically demanding jobs, conditions for older workers and retraining.

But early reactions were not promising for the prime minister.

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Laurent Berger, the head of the moderate CFDT union, who has taken an unexpectedly hard line against the pension reform, said he would accept the offer of talks but only if the reform was first "put to one side".

Berger called on the government to come up with a "very big move on pensions".

Left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon said on Sunday that there was "a very simple way" to return to peaceful relations, and that was "to withdraw the law".

The protest movement against the pension reform has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second mandate, with police and protesters clashing regularly in Paris and other cities since the reform was forced through.

- 'Highly disrupted' -

Last Thursday, the previous major protest day, police reported 457 arrests across France and injuries to 441 police officers.

Government spokesman Olivier Veran called Melenchon and his party "profiteers of anger", while Green party lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau accused Macron and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin of stoking the unrest.

According to Paris mass transit operator RATP, metros and suburban trains will be "highly disrupted" on Tuesday.

Rubbish collectors in the capital are continuing their strike, with close to 8,000 tonnes of garbage piled up in the streets as of Sunday.

France's civil aviation authority has told airlines at Orly airport in Paris, as well as the Marseille, Bordeaux and Toulouse airports, to cancel 20 percent of flights for Tuesday and Wednesday.

French police have meanwhile come under severe criticism for heavy-handed tactics during recent demonstrations.

The Council of Europe said on Friday that peaceful protesters and journalists had to be protected from police violence and arbitrary arrest.

On Sunday the IGPN, the internal affairs unit of the French police, said it had launched 17 investigations into incidents since the protests began.

burs-jh/sjw/gil
Madonna has added a Nashville date to her forthcoming greatest hits tour in protest against the introduction of anti-LGBT+ bills in Tennessee.

Earlier this month, Tennessee became the first state in the country to effectively ban public drag performances and drag shows for children.

On Monday (27 March), Madonna announced that a special new date had been added to The Celebration Tour, which takes place this year and will see the Vogue singer joined by RuPauls Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen.

On 22 December, the legendary musician will now play at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Discussing the bills, Madonna said that the oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; its creating an unsafe environment.

It makes America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of colour, she said. Also, these so-called laws to protect our children are unfounded and pathetic.

Madonna added: Anyone with half a brain knows not to f*** with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the queer community.

Presale tickets will go on sale on Tuesday (28 March), with general sale beginning on Friday (31 March). A portion of proceeds from the show will go to trans rights organisations.

A portion of sales from the show will go to trans rights charities (Getty Images for The Recording A)

In addition, it was announced that seven more US dates had been added to The Celebration Tour, with shows in Washington DC, Philadelphia, Palm Springs, and Sacramento, as well as a second show in Phoenix and a third show in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

The bill passed in Tennessee places restrictions on where drag shows can be performed, following backlash to drag shows for children.

Under the bill, male or female impersonators are now classified as adult cabaret performers, thus effectively banning drag shows from being performed in public or in front of children.

Performers who violate the new law could face a misdemeanour criminal charge, and repeat offenders could be charged with a felony.

The law also bans gender-affirming healthcare such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender minors, in effect forcing them to detransition within the next year.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  Malaysia and Cambodia signed two agreements on Monday on the employment of Cambodian migrant workers, as Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made his first visit to Phnom Penh since becoming his countrys leader in November.

Anwar was accompanied by his ministers of foreign affairs, religious affairs and human resources, Malaysias foreign ministry said ahead of his one-day trip.

He held talks Monday morning with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and was to meet with King Norodom Sihamoni and top lawmakers later in the day.

The two governments signed agreements on the recruitment, employment and repatriation of Cambodian workers in Malaysia. Malaysia, one of Southeast Asias richer countries, employs low-wage workers from Cambodia, one of the regions poorer nations.

Anwar's trip comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He was also scheduled to meet with members of Cambodias small Islamic community, almost all of whom belong to the Cham ethnic minority. Islam is Malaysias official religion, while Cambodias population is predominantly Buddhist.

At a news conference after meeting with Anwar, Hun Sen praised relations between the countries and said they agreed to promote cooperation in trade, agriculture, tourism, energy, education and industry. He urged Malaysia to buy more rice from Cambodia.

Cambodia is Malaysias 58th largest trading partner and its eighth largest among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to Malaysia's foreign ministry.

Trade between Malaysia and Cambodia totaled $683.6 million in 2022, an increase of 20.8% from the previous year, it said.
A man launched fireworks in the yard of a high-rise building

The detainee faces up to five years of imprisonment.

The police were informed about the setting off of fireworks in Kyivs Sviatoshynskyi district. A video of the fireworks was posted on Telegram.

Police officers registered the report and immediately began searching for the persons involved.

"Checking the information, the police found out that the fireworks were launched in the yard of a house on Oleksandr Makhov Street. Police seized the used 36-shot pyrotechnics from the scene," the statement reads.

Read also: Another new modular town for IDPs opens in Kyiv Oblast

kyiv.npu.gov.ua

District police officers, together with operatives, conducted door-to-door checks, interviewed about a hundred locals and watched surveillance video. As a result, the police identified the suspect and detained him with the help of special forces from Police Regiment No. 1, the police reported.

The Kyiv Oblast resident, 28, was detained according to Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. He had prior illegal drug possession convictions.

The suspect wanted to celebrate his friends birthday, the police said.

Read also: Two agents who collaborated with FSB in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhya exposed by SBU

Investigators seized the remains of fireworks packaging, lighters, and the clothes the offender was wearing when committing the crime, during a search of the apartment.

The Sviatoshyno Police Department initiated criminal proceedings over the incident under Part 1 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine  hooliganism.

The District Prosecutor's Office served him a notice of suspicion.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Twists and turns continue in an Edwardsville murder case involving prominent attorney Randy Gori, who was robbed and stabbed to death three years ago while at home with his two children.

First, accused killer Timothy Banowetz changed his plea from not guilty to guilty minutes before his 2021 trial was set to begin in Madison County Circuit Court. Then, he dismissed his court-appointed attorney at a sentencing hearing and started representing himself.

Now Banowetz, 31, a former St. Louis college student serving a 70-year prison sentence, is asking Judge Kyle Napp to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his sentence. The office of States Attorney Tom Haine argues that his motion comes too late.

A hearing is scheduled for April 13.

The plea was not made voluntarily and was made because of both coercion and inadequate representation, Banowetz stated in his hand-printed request filed on Dec. 5, 2022.

I was told by my lawyer that I should take the deal because it was what the Gori family wanted. Then Sheriff Lakin, who had accepted a bribe (aka, political contribution) from the family, had me moved out of protective custody into general population.

Banowetz went on to maintain that his former attorney, Madison County Public Defender Mary Copeland, never showed him discovery (disclosure of evidence) or discussed a defense strategy.

Copeland said that her only job was to make sure that my conviction would hold up on appeal, Banowetz wrote. When I found out that the judge that would be sentencing me had accepted a $40,000 bribe (political contribution) from Gori, I asked her to file for a change of venue and Copeland refused to even file it for me.

I then told Lauren Trager from News 4 about the bribe, and instead of Judge Napp removing herself from the case, she issued a gag order and Sheriff Lakin blocked me from using the phone.

Banowetz was referring to his KMOV-TV interview from the Madison County Jail on the day before his trial was scheduled. He told Trager, an investigative reporter, that he felt unsafe and had been threatened not to reveal information he knew about Gori.

Story continues

Banowetz said he couldnt get a fair trial in Madison County due to Goris political connections and contributions to Napps election campaigns.

I feel like I should have a judge thats impartial, Banowetz said at the time.

Timothy Banowetz, the man who pleaded guilty in the 2020 stabbing death of Edwardsville attorney Randy Gori, filed this motion on Dec. 5, 2022, asking Judge Kyle Napp to withdraw his guilty plea. Hes serving a 70-year sentence at Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro.

$28,000 in contributions

Randy Gori, his wife, Beth Gori, and his law firm, Gori Julian & Associates, have contributed $3.2 million to the campaigns of judges, legislators and other state and local politicians, mostly Democrats, since 2009, according to an Illinois State Board of Elections database.

That includes about $28,000 to campaign committees for Napp, who ran for election in 2012 and reelection in 2018; and $700 to committees for former Sheriff John Lakin, who retired last fall.

Napp didnt respond to a BND request for comment last week. KMOV-TV reported in 2021 that the judge promised to be fair and impartial in the Banowetz case, as required by her oath of office.

Madison County Chief Judge David Hylla, who shared a campaign committee called Citizens for Judicial Excellence with Napp in 2018, declined to answer questions last week about the process involved when defendants want to withdraw guilty pleas and vacate sentences.

Copeland didnt respond to a request for comment last week. Chief Deputy Marcos Pulido spoke on behalf of Lakin and the Madison County Sheriffs Office.

Because this is an ongoing court case, and because there is a motion to withdraw (Banowetzs) plea, we would not make any comment, Pulido said. The case is still pending.

Under Illinois law, attorneys cant give money directly to judges, but they can contribute to their campaign committees.

Legality aside, its long been debated whether such contributions affect judicial decisions or create a public perception of impropriety, according to a study by Thomas McClure, professor of legal studies and acting chair of politics and government at Illinois State University in Normal.

A defendant in Illinois has 10 days after a judge is assigned to a case to get him or her replaced without specifying a reason. After that, another judge would have to find just cause for replacement.

There certainly would be evidence (in the Banowetz case), based on the contributions, that there was a connection between the judge and the victim, McClure said.

But probably what would happen is the judge would testify that, I dont think thats going to influence my decision because Im just going to look at the facts. And that is very difficult to dispute.

On March 6, Madison County Assistant States Attorney Chad Loughrey filed a motion to dismiss Banowetzs request to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his sentence.

Loughrey argued that, under an Illinois Supreme Court rule, a defendant has 30 days from his sentencing date to file such a request, and Napp notified Banowetz of this deadline in open court.

According to court documents, Banowetz claims that he mailed the request to withdraw his guilty plea on Dec. 20, 2021, from Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, where hes incarcerated. Loughreys motion states that Illinois Department of Corrections records dont support this.

There is no practical explanation how the defendants pleading could have been mailed on December 20, 2021, yet not be received by the Clerk of the Court until December 5, 2022, Loughrey wrote.

There is no evidence that the defendant made any inquiry or attempt to determine the status of his pleading at any time after the date he purported to deposit said pleas in the U.S. Mail.

Madison County Circuit Court Judge Kyle Napp presides over the the sentencing hearing of Timothy Banowetz on Dec. 10, 2021. Banowetz had two months earlier pleaded guilty to the 2020 murder of Edwardsville attorney and philanthropist Randy Gori at his home.

Murder and robbery

Police found Randy Gori, 47, dead in his sprawling, isolated home at 4586 Mooney Creek Lane, northeast of Edwardsville, about 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, after getting a 911 call from a woman who reported being attacked by a man in the driveway.

The following Monday, former Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons announced that Banowetz was being charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint and an offense related to vehicle theft.

The charges alleged that Banowetz bound the hands of Gori and two children before using a knife to stab Gori, then stole cash and two cellphones and fled in Goris black 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV.

Former Assistant States Attorney Jacob Harlow, the lead prosecutor, later stated that he had evidence proving that:

Banowetz was facing a Jan. 13, 2020, deadline for paying a $10,000 tuition bill at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and didnt have the money.

Banowetz searched online for binoculars, zip ties and fake guns, as well as information about Gori and his family and directions to their home, in advance of the murder.

Banowetz ran up to Gori and his children, ages 13 and 15, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, holding what he represented as a gun when they returned home from dinner, forced them to the ground and zip-tied their hands.

Banowetz instructed the three to go inside through the garage, demanded money, searched the home and took their cellphones, as well as Goris wallet.

Banowetz slit Goris throat and stabbed him multiple times in the basement while the children were upstairs.

Banowetz was apprehended Sunday morning, Jan. 5, 2020, in a wooded area about 1,200 feet from the home, where he was looking for his Ford truck, which had been towed.

Banowetz was wearing clothes stained with Goris blood and shoes that appeared to match those worn by the suspect in surveillance video; and carrying more than $4,000 in cash stolen from Goris kitchen.

Haine also told reporters that Banowetz was talking to police when he inadvertently pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket that appeared to be a checklist of steps to committing the alleged crime.

It read: Watch with binoculars from woods, use gun and knife to subdue, zip-tie hands and Duct-tape mouth, have withdraw $4 to $6 million from bank, kill all of them and take zip ties and Duct tape off, burn bodies and house.

Attorney Randy Gori, known for representing clients in asbestos cases and donating large amounts of money to charity, was found stabbed to death in his rural Edwardsville home on Jan. 4, 2020. Former college student Timothy Banowetz pleaded guilty to the murder.

Estranged from family

Banowetz lived in Wenzville, Missouri, and later St. Louis, but authorities believe he was homeless at the time of his arrest. His familys former attorney said he had been estranged from them for months.

Investigators and prosecutors found no evidence that anyone else was involved in the Edwardsville murder or that Banowetz had a personal relationship with Gori, according to Haine.

The jury hadnt yet been seated for Banowetzs trial on Oct. 5, 2021, when he announced that he had decided to accept a prosecution deal and plead guilty to one count of first-degree murder and two counts of armed robbery. The other charges were dropped.

Banowetz notified Napp at his sentencing hearing on Dec. 10, 2021, that he was dismissing his court-appointed attorney and wanted to represent himself.

The judge questioned Banowetz about his educational background and whether he had any legal experience; he didnt. She asked if he was under the influence of any substances or had been threatened or intimidated. He said he was making a conscious choice.

Napp advised Banowetz that proceeding pro se was risky, given the gravity of the case, but granted his request. She appointed Copeland as stand-by counsel.

Banowetz tried to withdraw his guilty plea at the sentencing hearing, claiming he hadnt been provided with documents from the pre-sentencing investigation. Napp and Copeland disputed this.

Im not going to let you play games, Napp told Banowetz, citing previous refusals to cooperate during the investigation.

Banowetz didnt object to any evidence presented by prosecutors and offered no mitigating evidence of his own at the sentencing hearing. Napp noted several times that Banowetz was shaking his head so it would be reflected in the record.

When the judge asked if Banowetz had anything else to say at the end of the hearing, he replied, It really doesnt matter. Youre going to give me the maximum. She sentenced him to 60 years in prison for murder and 10 years for armed robbery.

At a press conference afterward, Haine characterized Banowetz as a delusional, violent narcissist who showed absolutely no remorse for murdering Gori and terrorizing his children.

Haine noted that Banowetz limited his options for appeal by pleading guilty, representing himself at the sentencing hearing and offering no mitigating evidence in his defense.

He is a man who should go into obscurity now, Haine said.
A woman is believed to have been dead for days when officers found her body in her boyfriends home, Oklahoma police say.

Officers in Oklahoma City went to the home Saturday, March 25, after a witness saw a possible deceased person at the residence. Jake Harris, the 31-year-old resident, refused to exit the home when officers tried to talk to him, according to Oklahoma City police.

Harris was armed with a weapon when he barricaded himself inside the home for hours, KFOR reported. He was eventually taken into custody, police said.

We kept (him) on the phone until he agreed he wasnt coming out. He fired several shots off in the house, and he refused to come out so they breached the door and ... he surrendered himself, Oklahoma City Police Capt. Ivan Esau told KOKH.

The victim, 40-year-old Amanda Miller, was found inside the home dead from an apparent gunshot wound, according to police. Miller was Harris girlfriend.

The two had a disagreement when Ms. Miller was shot by Harris with a shotgun, police said. It is believed the shooting took place several days prior.

Harris was charged with first-degree murder and booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Oklahoma City police at 405-297-1200.

Husband stabs wife to death during Bible study at his sisters house, Minnesota cops say

Ex-boyfriend assaulted woman before fleeing, Florida cops say. Then her dad shot him

Officers find family of 3 dead after going to apartment for welfare check, TX cops say
An Arkansas man has been reunited with his family more than a year after he went missing, cops say.

Harley McCourt, now 27, was reported missing in October 2022 when his dad said he left their Little Rock home without his wallet and cell phone, according to the Pulaski County Sheriffs Office.

I knew something was wrong. And so, I went, and I started searching everywhere. I looked in the closets, under the bed, his mom, Kim McCourt, told THV 11.

A $10,000 reward was later offered for McCourts safe return.

The family searched for McCourt for more than a year until he was spotted in Texas earlier this month, KARK reported. Family told the TV station the 27-year-old was stopped by an officer and had identification in his backpack, but authorities were unable to detain him because he was not committing a crime.

Family members drove seven hours to Galveston to begin looking for McCourt. They were taking a break along the beach when they saw his familiar face.

I couldnt believe it. He was walking down the beach, he had an umbrella, his glasses, and he had a COVID mask on still, McCourts sister, Brittney Crumpton, told KARK.

The sheriffs office said in a March 11 Facebook post McCourt was unharmed.

Galveston is nearly 500 miles southwest of Little Rock. Its unclear how McCourt ended up in Texas.

Yesterday I got to put my arms around my son, Kim McCourt said on a Facebook page devoted to helping find her son. Something I had prayed hard for since Oct. 2021. Harley is back with his family and my heart is full again.

Teen missing from Texas found locked in building over 1,000 miles away, NC cops say

Kidnapped kids from Missouri are found a year later in Florida grocery store, cops say

Missing 17-year-old believed to have been groomed is discovered safe, Michigan cops say
Two people were taken to the hospital after a shooting in Dayton on Thursday.

Police were dispatched to a shooting complaint in the 300 block of Wyoming Street around 11:10 p.m., a spokesperson for Dayton police confirmed.

Upon their arrival, they discovered that a 23-year-old man had been shot.

>> 1 taken to hospital after house fire in Dayton over the weekend

A second person who had been shot, an 18-year-old woman, left the scene and flagged down DFD medics who transported her to Miami Valley hospital for treatment, the spokesperson said.

Police loaded the first victim into a cruiser and transported him to Miami Valley Hospital, according to the spokesperson. He is currently in critical condition.

The second victim is in non-life threatening condition.

Homicide detectives were called to the scene to investigate.

Dayton police are asking anyone who may have information on this incident to contact 937-333-1232 where they can speak with a detective.




The Manchester Police Department is investigating an officer-involved shooting incident that wounded a man on Sunday night.

According to police, the shooting took place at 261 Maple St on Sunday a little before midnight.

One adult male was wounded and taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition, authorities said

No officers were injured in this shooting and there is no threat to the public.

The New Hampshire Attorney Generals Office and New Hampshire State Police are assisting with this investigation.

Maple St will be closed from Valley St to Auburn St for an extended time.

The AGs office said that all parties have been identified.

Additional information is not available at this time.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
The Manhattan grand jury considering charges against former President Trump is expected to reconvene on Monday, according to a report.

The expected session Monday comes after its last planned session Wednesday was canceled, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

Trump said he expected to face arrest last week after a years-long investigation involving the former president's alleged hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2020 election campaign.

It was reported last week that Bragg's office would likely issue an indictment for alleged hush-money payments.

NY GRAND JURY NOT EXPECTED TO CONSIDER TRUMP CASE THURSDAY, SOURCE SAYS

Former President Trump stressed the importance of restoring law and order in America in his first speech in Washington, D.C., since leaving office.

Jurors are scheduled to meet this afternoon in the lower Manhattan municipal building, the New York Post reported. It is unclear if the jurors will hear from witnesses or begin deliberations, according to the outlet.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump held a rally Saturday in Waco, Texas, where he suggested Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg already dropped the case.

"I think they've already dropped the case," Trump told reporters aboard his plane after appearing at a campaign rally in Waco, Texas.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg during a press conference in New York on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022.

"It's a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing."

Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have demanded Bragg testify before Congress about the probe, which Bragg's office slammed in a statement over the weekend.

TRUMP HUSH-MONEY GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS 'CANCELED' FOR WEDNESDAY, SOURCES SAY

"We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence. It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations," the office said.

"This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors," the statement went on. "As always, we will continue to follow the facts and be guided by the rule of law in everything we do."

Story continues

FLASHBACK: MANHATTAN DA BRAGG SUSPENDED TRUMP INVESTIGATION 'INDEFINITELY,' STOPPED PURSUING CHARGES

Former President Trump, left, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Jessica Chasmar and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Fremantle is restructuring management of its Italian operations by promoting Marco Tombolini to the role of CEO Fremantle Italy.

Tombolini, who since May of 2022 was Fremantle Italy co-CEO, will now Take the helm of all areas and functions of the company, with the senior management of Fremantle Italy reporting directly to him, a Fremantle statement said.

Gabriele Immirzi  who had long served as Fremantle Italy CEO prior to sharing the CEO role with Tombolini since last May  has now stepped down but is staying in the Fremantle fold becoming co-CEO with Lorenzo Mieli of The Apartment Pictures.

Fremantle-owned The Apartment is the expanding film and TV shingle behind upcoming big-budget Apple TV Italian original series Ferrari and Angelina Jolie-directed anti-war drama Without Blood, among other high-profile titles. Fremantles other Italian companies are Wildside, which is run by Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa and recently produced new Disney+ original series The Good Mothers, which won a prize in Berlin, and Lux Vide the outfit behind TV series Medici, Devils and Leonardo.

Fremantle also operates under its own label in Italy, producing a slew of talent shows such as X Factor and Got Talent as well as other content including docs.

Marco Tombolini is a former CCO of Endemol in Italy who in 2010 became managing director of Sony Spain and subsequently became managing director of Toro Media and Talpa Italia. Tombolini joined Fremantle Italy in 2018, first as director of its Wavy division at the time and then as its chief strategy officer.

The Italian restructuring comes after Fremantle in January unveiled a new European leadership team appointing Italy-based former Paramount Global exec Jaime Ondarza, as head of Southern Europe. Ondarza now oversees Fremantles production businesses in France, Israel (Abot Hameiri), Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

Story continues

I have known Marco for many years and have always admired his remarkable talent, vision and ability to work in a team, commented Andrea Scrosati, Fremantles Group COO and CEO of Continental Europe, in a statement.

I am sure that thanks to his leadership and the support that he will receive from Jaime Ondarza as CEO Southern Europe, Fremantle Italy will continue to grow, creating even more innovative shows capable of engaging and inspiring audiences, he added.

Italy is one of the most important countries for our group in terms of the extraordinary creativity the countrys talents express, along with their excellent professionalism and ability to deliver, Scrosati went on to note. Marcos appointment confirms our commitment to continue investing in this market, creating new jobs and supporting the growth of the countrys cultural industry, Scrosati said.

It is a privilege to be able to count on Marco at the helm of Fremantle Italy, said Ondarza in the statement. He has demonstrated talent and vision and I am sure that with his leadership the company will reach even more ambitious goals, he added.

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As court-martial proceedings begin for the Marine behind the wheel in a fatal vehicle rollover that took place outside Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in 2022, hell be getting support inside the courtroom from an unlikely source: several of the parents of Marines killed and hurt in the tragedy.

Lance Cpl. Luis Ponce-Barrera, 20, faces charges of manslaughter and reckless operation of a vehicle in the January 2022 rollover of a medium tactical vehicle replacement, or 7-ton truck, that hed been driving to a landing zone on base.

The 19 Marines in the back were ejected. One, 18-year-old Pfc. Zachary Riffle, was fatally crushed by the truck, and another, 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Jonathan Gierke, was hit and killed in the traffic median by a following joint light tactical vehicle that couldnt stop in time. All the other troops were injured, some critically.

Ponce-Barreras trial was set to begin Monday, according to a military docket. But a half-dozen family members of Marines involved in the rollover say theyve come to believe the junior Marine shouldnt be held solely accountable for a mishap made possible by lax training standards and a casual approach to risk.

Heading up the campaign for answers and accountability from the Marine Corps are Jen and Rebecca Riffle, Pfc. Riffles stepmother and mother.

After compiling a library of documents related to the rollover, and speaking with Ponce-Barrera himself, Jen Riffle said she believes that Ponce-Barrera didnt have the training he needed to drive the 7-ton, and that the Marine Corps has failed to implement the corrections needed to stop a tragic series of on-duty rollovers. She also said shes not satisfied with the care the surviving Marines have received following the traumatic incident.

2 Marines killed, 17 injured in North Carolina rollover

It doesnt feel like anybodys looking up the chain of command to see what the hell happened, Riffle told Marine Corps Times.

In the lead-up to the court-martial, she said, Lt. Gen. David Ottignon, commanding general of Lejeunes II Marine Expeditionary Force, has declined repeated requests for a meeting, even as he made decisions regarding a prospective plea agreement. And, she said, a detailed series of questions about the circumstances of the incident have gone unanswered.

Story continues

The command could not respond to specific questions about the rollover in order to preserve the integrity of the trial, a spokeswoman for II Marine Expeditionary Force, 1st Lt. Rebekah Harasick, told Marine Corps Times via email.

There will likely be more than two dozen witnesses who participate in this case, and Lt. Gen. Ottignon has declined to meet with any potential witnesses in order to avoid creating any actual or perceived bias or personal interest in the cases outcome, she said. This does not reflect a lack of interest in hearing from Marines families.

According to a line-of-duty investigation reviewed by Marine Corps Times, Ponce-Barrera was part of a two-vehicle convoy tasked with transporting two dozen Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 24 to Lejeunes Landing Zone Condor for helicopter support training around 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2022.

Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gierke, left, and Pfc. Zachary W. Riffle, right, pose for a recruit training graduation photo at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. (Marine Corps)

Approaching the base from its backside, near the small town of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, the 7-ton was traveling west on North Carolina Highway 210 when it took a turn onto U.S. 17, toward the Landing Zone.

Witness accounts offer different guesses as to how fast Ponce-Barrera was driving: One Marine guessed the truck was traveling at 55 miles per hour; others estimated it made the turn between 30 miles per hour and 40 miles per hour.

At any rate, the turn spelled immediate trouble. The trucks right rear wheel came off the road, and the vehicles bulk and momentum carried it over in a roll to a forceful landing on its right side.

Witnesses say Ponce-Barrera had braked late as the 7-ton approached a red light at the intersection of the two highways. When the light turned green, they said, he panicked, hitting the gas and taking the sudden turn far too hard. All the trucks passengers were ejected as the truck shuddered into the median on its side.

Some vehicle passengers who gave statements said theyd observed Ponce-Barrera accelerating too much and braking too hard at multiple points on the 30-minute journey, despite the fact the Marines had plenty of time to reach their destination.

For Jen Riffle, thats all beside the point.

In February, after months of efforts to make contact, she said she and other family members had a Zoom meeting with Ponce-Barrera, facilitated by his military defense attorney, Capt. Brentt McGee.

A child of immigrants, Ponce-Barrera told her, she said, that he had had 20 total hours of experience driving heavy military vehicles, and that hed never driven a 7-ton with a turret on top until that day. He wasnt even supposed to drive that day, she said; he was tapped at the last minute to fill in for another Marine.

He talked about, you know, trying to get the feel of the brakes and gas and everything, she said. It just makes me think of a newer driver.

The 2020 Marine Corps order that lays out licensure requirements for tactical motor transport vehicles does not specify the minimum number of driving hours required, it emphasizes the responsibility of leaders to ensure drivers are ready.

Successful licensing of an applicant does not signify the operator is capable or prepared to operate a vehicle in every situation or environment, it states. It is every commanders responsibility to continue to build upon these basic skills through implementation of an operator development, skill progression and sustainment training program.

Riffle couldnt help feeling that Ponce-Barrera was set up to fail. And when he asked, at the end of the two-hour call, if shed sit beside him on the defense side, she didnt have to think about it long.

Its one of those things where we feel like its the right thing to do, she said. Hopefully, thatll speak volumes without saying anything.

William Gierke, Jonathan Gierkes father, also planned to be in the courtroom. His feelings about the trial are mixed, but he does believe accountability should stretch farther than it appears to in this case.

Ultimately, I guess they should go further up the chain of command, and find out who was the instructor, who were the ones involved in his training, you know? he said of Ponce-Barrera. Was he just newly licensed and they said, heres a seven-ton vehicle youve gotta drive with 17 people in the back?

The father of another Marine whod been Zach Riffles roommate, and who sustained a traumatic brain injury in the rollover, said he didnt feel the highway transport of 17 Marines was an appropriate tasker for a then-teenage lance corporal fresh out of training.

The Corps handling of the tragedy, he said, put a bad taste in my mouth. He spoke anonymously to avoid repercussions for his son, who is likely to testify in the trial.

I know. And Im willing.

The families in this case are just the latest to call for meaningful change following a deadly series of vehicle rollovers in the Army and Marine Corps.

A 2021 Government Accountability Office report found 123 troops had died in noncombat tactical vehicle incidents between 20102019, and that driver inattention, supervision lapses and training shortfalls were common causes.

For the Marine Corps, the report recommended establishment of better-defined roles for vehicle commanders and procedures for risk management; ensuring full staffing of personnel responsible for vehicle safety; defining specific performance standards and criteria to assess driver skills; and verifying that leaders are communicating to units about topography hazards at ranges and training locations.

Marine Corps leadership concurred with all the findings, and submitted an action plan in November 2022 detailing how they planned to address them. But the Government Accountability Office still lists them all as open, meaning that satisfactory action has not been taken.

Tactical military vehicle accidents in the Marine Corps and Navy are at a 10 year low, according to military data. But these grieving families are still questioning it

In recent years, the charge for reform in tactical vehicle training and supervision has been led by Michael McDowell, a fellow in New Americas International Security Program whose son, 1st Lt. Conor McDowell, was killed in a May 2019 light armored vehicle rollover at Camp Pendleton, California.

McDowell ultimately was determined not at fault in the accident. In 2022, Michael McDowell was behind a successful push to create a pilot program that would install black box data recorders on a number of tactical vehicles to assess their operation.

How come this is happening? McDowell said of the unexpected phenomenon of victims families standing, to varying extents, in support of the mishap vehicles driver. Well, its part of a pattern. Its blame down, not blame up, and we need to blame up. Because these generals are public servants and public officials.

Ponce-Barreras court-martial is currently docketed to run from Monday through April 14, though that timeline may shift.

Regardless of the outcome of trial, the families who lost Marines or continue to help them recover from serious injuries understand their losses can never be made whole.

Rebecca Riffle, Zach Riffles mother, remembers her sons winning smile and how he excelled at everything he tried. He gave up his senior year of competitive wrestling, she said, to enlist in the Marine Corps.

And I said, Zach, you understand that by joining, that you were writing a blank check to your country, payable up to and including your life? And he said, Yes, Mom, I know. And Im willing.
China's economy and stock markets are expected to see strong growth this year because of the impetus provided by the border reopening and government policies, according to investment guru Mark Mobius.

Mobius, who had earlier expressed concerns about China's capital controls, said he was positive on the country, but believed that the country would be more attractive to foreign investors if Beijing relaxes its control on capital flows.

"My view on China has not changed," he told the Post in an interview. "We are still looking at investment opportunities in China. I'm still positive about investing in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan."

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

After three years of maintaining a stringent zero-Covid policy, China gradually began easing it in November before fully reopening its borders in January. The new economic leadership is again seeking to win over doubters, with vice-premier Ding Xuexiang saying the country would continue to open up its markets and strengthen efforts to attract foreign investment.

People visit Jianchang ancient city during the Spring Festival holiday in Xichang. The end of zero-Covid restrictions in China will provide a boost to the economy, Mark Mobius said. Photo: Xinhua alt=People visit Jianchang ancient city during the Spring Festival holiday in Xichang. The end of zero-Covid restrictions in China will provide a boost to the economy, Mark Mobius said. Photo: Xinhua>

"The Chinese government is taking measures to revitalise the economy," Mobius said, adding "it is a very good sign" that Beijing is committed to supporting private enterprise.

"The important thing is for the government to allow private enterprises to work without too much regulation. Because at the end of the day, it is a free-market economy that will really drive growth."

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Mobius, dubbed the "father of emerging markets" for his more than 30 years of experience investing in emerging markets, surprised the market in an interview with Fox Business earlier this month, when he warned investors to be careful with their investments in China as he could not get his money out of the country.

Mobius stepped down as chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group in 2018 to establish Mobius Capital Partners.

China's currency is not freely convertible due to the country's closed capital account as offshore remittances are subject to approvals by the nation's foreign exchange regulator. The State Administration on Foreign Exchange, however, clarified there were no new controls in place following Mobius' remark.

Mobius agreed the issue was not related to any policy change in China, but because of the restrictive documentation requirements under the current control rules.

Mobius said he had sold a flat in Shanghai 18 years ago and deposited the money at a Shanghai branch of HSBC. When he recently asked the bank to transfer the money from Shanghai to an account with the bank in Hong Kong, he was asked to submit a lot of documents related to the sale and taxation records among others.

"Capital controls in China prevent individuals from getting money out if you don't have the proper documentation. It was the documentation issue that resulted in me not being able to get my money out earlier," he said, adding that the issue has now been resolved.

Still, he believes removing capital outflow restrictions would benefit China's economy.

"If you had money in America and you wanted to get it out, you don't have to produce that kind of documentation. If China would relax its capital controls, it would be an even more attractive market to international investors."

Mobius, who has not travelled to China since the pandemic, plans to visit the mainland and Hong Kong in the summer.

Mobius, who turns 87 in August, said the recent banking crisis in the US and Europe would not develop into a global financial crisis like the one in 2008, as central banks have reacted quickly enough to contain the risks and prevented it from spreading around the world.

Three midsize US banks including Silicon Valley Bank had collapsed over the past month, unleashing market turmoil that spilled over to Europe, forcing Credit Suisse to be sold to UBS last weekend.

"It is not going to affect China. The Credit Suisse thing is really a European-centred problem. Of course, there is some concern about banks in general wherever they may be, but this is not going to affect China that much," Mobius said.

"In the US, the central bank moved very quickly to reassure depositors of the banks that were in trouble. The fact that there are so many depositors involved means that the government has got to come to the rescue, otherwise, all confidence in the banking system will be lost."

Mobius' positive view on China is shared by other analysts.

"The outperformance of the Chinese economy in the months ahead due to the reopening should provide a window of opportunity for both Chinese and Asian companies that are less dependent on exports," said Tai Hui, APAC chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management.

"We also expect the US dollar to weaken, and this should benefit Asian and emerging market assets."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Clare Davies was promoted to the Mets Chief People and Resources Officer in September 2022

Sir Mark Rowley has defended Clare Davies, his 200,000-a-year human resources chief, after whistleblowers claimed a catalogue of Metropolitan Police failings identified in the Casey review could be laid at her door.

Ms Davies, appointed an OBE for services to policing in 2017, was promoted by the new commissioner when he took over last year, becoming the Mets chief people and resources officer.

But last weeks report by Baroness Louise Casey was extremely critical of the forces HR operations, describing the Met as an organisation that is incoherent and unstrategic.

Despite Scotland Yards HR budget almost doubling to 68.5 million in recent years, with many services being outsourced, the Casey review identified problems in planning, recruitment, training, supervision and misconduct.

A whistleblower and several senior sources told The Telegraph that Ms Davies could not escape responsibility for many of the Mets structural problems, with one describing her as hopelessly out of her depth and another saying she was a toxic senior leader.

However, Sir Mark said: Clare is a valued member of our senior leadership team and she has my full support. We have accepted the findings of Baroness Caseys report. We do so collectively. Any suggestion that responsibility rests with a single individual is both untrue and deeply unfair.

Our senior leaders bring experience, diversity and energy to the challenges that lie ahead of us. They are united in their determination to lead, to set our frontline up for success and to play their part in delivering the police service Londoners deserve.

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metroplitan Police Commissioner - James Manning/PA

Ms Davies who has been at the Met since 2013, has known Sir Mark for many years, having worked with him at Surrey Police when he was Chief Constable there between 2009 and 2011.

He has described her as a valued member of the senior leadership team, and the Met insisted she has his full support.

But one whistleblower claimed: She is a toxic senior leader. There are quite a few talented people who would be interested in signing up to help the commissioner with the turnaround of the Met but refuse to join because theyd have to work with her.

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Another long-serving and very senior Met source told The Telegraph: Mark is one of the brightest people I know, and some of Claires limitations are very, very obvious, and those two statements dont sit well together.

I know a number of people have said to Mark that Clare is a problem, and if he is going to face the challenges going forward he has got to have better than that around him, who are capable of really nimbly changing our recruitment and training processes.

Vetting of recruits very worrying

Ms Davies, who in 2020/21, before her promotion, was paid 203,677 including 46,648 of pension contributions, describes her responsibilities as including resourcing, workforce, planning, leadership and talent, employee relations and business partnering.

But the Casey review concluded that failings in many of the Mets structures and practices fostered a culture in which poor performance, behaviours and attitudes can go unchallenged.

The report criticised the lack of training and supervision for new recruits, with only 13 per cent of frontline officers completing a performance development review.

One Met source said the recruitment and vetting of recruits was very worrying, adding: We are putting all this effort into the department of professional standards to get [rogue officers] out, but at the other end you are letting in people who are potentially going to create huge problems down the line.

Under Ms Daviess, tenure the Met has also spent huge amounts of money outsourcing services, including a 428.5 million 10-year contract signed with Shared Support Services Connected Limited (SSCL) as part of cost-cutting measures in which back-office tasks were relocated to shared service centres.

The result of outsourcing so much of HR to SSCL was that, as Baroness Casey noted, embedded on-site HR staff who could help officers deal with rogue police under their command were withdrawn, leaving supervisors relatively unsupported.

Eight-year deal for police training

One former Met source said: A decade ago, if Im a Detective Chief Inspector and I have a problematic member of staff, as I often did, there was an HR manager who was on my management team.

I could go down the corridor and say what do I do? That was really, really effective. Then they took all these people out of local management teams, centralised it and outsourced it. The quality of service went through the floor.

Another huge HR outsourcing contract signed under Ms Davies was an eight-year deal for new officer training costing 300 million, but one former officer said: Its horrifically bad. Police officers turning up in boroughs barely knowing how to do anything.

As for broadening the diversity of its workforce, the review said the Met has no credible plan to do so to a point where it genuinely reflects the diversity of Londons population.

Baroness Casey said such a gaping hole was worrying, particularly given the amount of money spent by the Met on human resources, and its heavy and growing use of and expenditure on contracted out services and consultants.
Martine McCutcheon has detailed her experiences of perimenopause, explaining she has been living with 'crippling anxiety'. (Getty Images)

Martine McCutcheon has shared how she is coping with some of the symptoms of the perimenopause, revealing that she has been living with "crippling anxiety" that made her feel she had lost her mind.

The actor, 46, discussed the update in an honest post on Instagram, detailing the symptoms she'd been experiencing in the period leading up to the menopause and the treatments she'd tried to ease them.

"Peri menopause [sic] symptoms... Such Fun!" she wrote. "I have the hot flushes, the insomnia, the brain fog and fatigue  The list goes on doesnt it?!"

The former EastEnders star went on to say that as she has been living with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia since her 20s and although she has been able to cope with those symptoms, the additional symptom of the perimenopause has been more difficult to handle.

"What Ive personally not heard mentioned as much, is the crippling anxiety you can get with the peri menopause," she continued.

"A kind of irrational anxiety that makes no sense whatsoever! You feel like youve lost your own damn mind!"

Read more: How menopause can affect your mood and other things you need to know

McCutcheon explained that she wanted to share her own battle with anxiety in the hope it might help others going through something similar.

"Just in case any of you out there feel the same and feel scared or worried - You aren't alone!"

Martine McCutcheon has shared her perimenopause symptoms on Instagram and explained the treatments that have helped. (Getty Images)

The Love Actually actor went on to explain how the side effect had impacted her to such an extent that she had lost her confidence with driving.

Thankfully, she has now found a treatment which seems to be helping.

"Im now feeling much better and Im working my way back to my own 'normality'," she continued.

"I changed from the HRT (hormone replacement therapy) patches to the gel and it made a big difference within days for me I was thinking maybe the HRT wasnt going to work for me and I know many women who cant use it, manage to find other ways to get through this phase comfortably.

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"But the gel has really made a difference, so Im feeling grateful for that - although Ive also had a few anxious days again lately, so Im still tweaking and working out the most efficient combo to be the best I can be."

As well HRT, McCutcheon shared some other changes she's made to combat the anxiety.

"Ive just had a brisk walk, Ive meditated and I now feel much calmer and content," she added. "Im sending any of you going through the peri meno/meno all my love, strength and the belief that you WILL be the true you again - With bells on And that the best is yet to come! We can do this!"

Watch: Mental health services failing to consider impact of menopause, putting women at risk of suicide

Last year the actor was praised for her honest description of her mental health struggles in a candid post shared to Instagram.

To reflect the fact that mental health struggles can impact us differently at different times, she shared two images, taken on separate occasions.

In the first photo, she was looking reflective as she sat inside wearing a woollen hat, while in the second she looked much more upbeat as she walked her dog in a park.

In the accompanying caption, McCutcheon spoke about her own personal issues, while lending support to those who face their own mental health problems.

"To those who battle with any kind of mental health issue & yet put on their make up, or get up & fight for another day, or try new ways to live, love, & generally work their way through this thing called life - I salute you," the star wrote.

"Sometimes it's far from easy. I've always been pretty open about my health issues - Both mental & physical but there is also so much more to me - So it's something I've touched on rather than focused on. I didn't want any kind of victim label, as I actually feel the opposite of that."

Read more: Kathy Burke considered taking own life during menopause

The star was sharing her perimenopause experiences so others would feel less alone, pictured with her husband Jack McManus. (Getty Images)

Read more: 'And Just Like That' highlights perimenopause symptom: What are flash periods?

McCutcheon has previously opened up about suffering migraines from hell as a result of Lyme disease and fibromyalgia.

The star, who is mother to a seven-year-old son with her husband Jack McManus, has suffered several health issues.

In 2011 she was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), which is also known as chronic fatigue syndrome and can cause extreme tiredness.

McCutcheon isn't the only celebrity to share their struggles with the perimenopause and menopause recently.

Earlier this month Lisa Snowdon discussed the stigma she believes still exists in talking about the menopause, while also revealing the stress triggers she has been trying to avoid while going through it.

The TV and radio presenter, 51, has reflected on how she managed her symptoms after she went into perimenopause aged 44.

Read more: How can alcohol affect you during menopause?

While Snowdon says taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) "really helped" her, she also advises women to work out their triggers to help manage stress as they enter the menopause.

As we get into the perimenopause and menopause, processing stress can be hard. Working out your triggers can help," she tells Women's Health magazine.

If its certain people, try to avoid them. If its caffeine, stop at one coffee. And if you say yes to everything, be mindful of that.

We may not be able to do all the things that we used to do, but we can go a bit slower and look after ourselves.

Davina McCall has also previously discussed her experiences of the menopause, detailing the surprising first perimenopause symptoms she experienced from the age of 44.

The presenter, now 55, revealed she'd noticed "overnight" changes to her legs and hair, as well as a "frightening" newfound forgetfulness.

Writing in The Mirror, the star explained: "Id wake up in the middle of the night and the sheets would be soaking.

"I felt my entire body had turned into a prune. My legs were super dry when I got out of the shower. Something had changed with my hair too  and it felt like it had all happened overnight."

McCall continued: "Then there was the forgetfulness: my phone was in the fridge, my keys ended up in the bin. This reached really frightening levels, I forgot everything. Words, names, events  everything."

McCall now wants to raise awareness of medications  like modern hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and modern transdermal HRT  which can help manage symptoms.
JERUSALEM  Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets of cities across the country Sunday night in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leaders judicial overhaul plan.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahus private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest deepened a monthslong crisis over Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass protests, alarmed business leaders and former security chiefs, and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

But as droves of protesters flooded the streets late into the night, Likud ministers began indicating willingness to hit the brakes. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Israeli media said leaders in Netanyahus coalition were to meet Monday morning. Later in the day, the grassroots protest movement said it would hold another mass demonstration outside the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem.

In a brief statement, Netanyahus office said late Sunday the prime minister had dismissed Gallant. Netanyahu later tweeted: We must all stand strong against refusal.

Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets in protest after Netanyahus announcement, blocking Tel Avivs main artery, transforming the Ayalon highway into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags and lighting a large bonfire in the middle of the road.

Demonstrations took place in Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem, where thousands of people gathered outside Netanyahus private residence. Police scuffled with protesters and sprayed the crowd with a water cannon. Thousands then marched from the residence to the Knesset.

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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks during a joint statement with his U.S. counterpart following a meeting on March 9, 2023, in Lod, Israel. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Inon Aizik, 27, said he came to demonstrate outside Netanyahus private residence in central Jerusalem because bad things are happening in this country. He called the judicial overhaul a quick legislative blitz.

Netanyahus decision came less than a day after Gallant, a former senior general, called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next months Independence Day holidays, citing turmoil in the ranks of the military.

Gallant had voiced concerns that the divisions in society were hurting morale in the military and emboldening Israels enemies. I see how the source of our strength is being eroded, Gallant said.

While several other Likud members had indicated they might follow Gallant, the party quickly closed ranks Sunday, clearing the way for his dismissal.

Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahus public diplomacy minister, said Netanyahu summoned Gallant to his office and told him that he doesnt have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.

Gallant tweeted shortly after the announcement that the security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life mission.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Gallants dismissal harms national security and ignores warnings of all defense officials.

Israels consul general in New York City, Assaf Zamir, resigned in protest.

Avi Dichter, a former chief of the Shin Bet security agency, is expected to replace Gallant. Dichter had reportedly flirted with joining Gallant but instead announced Sunday he was backing the prime minister.

How did we get here?

Netanyahus government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would would grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.

An Israeli soldier uses an unmanned surveillance drone to monitor Palestinian stone throwers in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron as Israeli settlers visit a holy site in 2015. (Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images)

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past three months to demonstrate against the plan in the largest demonstrations in the countrys 75-year history. The State Department dismissed as completely false claims repeated by Yair Netanyahu, the prime ministers son, that the U.S. government was financing these protests.

Leaders of Israels vibrant high-tech industry have said the changes will scare away investors. And former top security officials have spoken out against the plan, while key allies, including the United States and Germany, have voiced concerns.

In recent weeks, discontent has surged from within Israels army  the most popular and respected institution among Israels Jewish majority. A growing number of Israeli reservists, including fighter pilots, have threatened to withdraw from voluntary duty if the laws are passed.

Israels military is facing an increase in fighting in the occupied West Bank, threats from Lebanons Hezbollah militant group and concerns that archenemy Iran is close to developing a nuclear-weapons capability.

Manuel Trajtenberg, head of an influential Israeli think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies, said that Netanyahu can dismiss his defense minister, he cannot dismiss the warnings he heard from Gallant.

Meanwhile, an Israeli good governance group asked the countrys Supreme Court on Sunday to punish Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the countrys judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023. (Oren Ziv/AP)

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a fierce opponent of the overhaul, asked the court to force Netanyahu to obey the law and sanction him either with a fine or prison time for not doing so. It said he was not above the law.

The prime minister said the appeal should be dismissed and said that the Supreme Court didnt have grounds to intervene.

Netanyahu is barred by the countrys attorney general from directly dealing with his governments plan to overhaul the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement that the Supreme Court acknowledged in a ruling over Netanyahus fitness to serve while on trial for corruption. Instead, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is spearheading the overhaul.

But on Thursday, after Parliament passed a law making it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, Netanyahu said he was unshackled from the attorney generals decision and vowed to wade into the crisis and mend the rift in the nation. That declaration prompted the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to warn that Netanyahu was breaking his conflict of interest agreement.

The fast-paced legal and political developments have catapulted Israel into uncharted territory, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

We are at the start of a constitutional crisis in the sense that there is a disagreement over the source of authority and legitimacy of different governing bodies, he said.

Tia Goldenberg with The Associated Press contributed from Tel Aviv.
Local residents gather to discuss possible plans to revamp the Front Avenue and Elm Street interchanges with I-75 in Monroe during an open house hosted by the Michigan Department of Transportation March 15 at the River Raisin Battlefield Visitor Center theater.

The Michigan Department of Transportation hosted an open house to gather public opinion, answer questions and present information about possible plans to revamp a section of interchanges on Interstate 75 in Monroe.

The event took place at the River Raisin Battlefield National Parks Visitor Center theater on Mar. 15. It was part of MDOTs ongoing Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study, which aims to help create plans to improve I-75 near the bridge over the River Raisin, including possible improvements to the Elm Avenue and Front Street exits.

Earlier report:Open house on I-75 Monroe interchanges project set for March 15

The open house began with some mingling and greeting while attendees talked and viewed mapped plans on display. Mike Davis Jr., region planner and study manager for MDOT, began the presentation by explaining what a PEL is and some background on the current study. He said these specific plans started about a year ago, and the PEL is slated to conclude this summer. Davis said that whatever the outcome, the project would likely not begin until 2028.

Next, Mark Cochran, Monroe's director of economic and community development, addressed the audience to explain more background about redevelopment plans in the area and how they relate in the bigger picture.

This conversation with the community really started in 2017  knowing that MDOT was going to be looking at this section of I-75 and recognizing the unsatisfactory conditions of the interchanges with Front and Elm Street, Cochran said.

Cochran added that the city engaged local business owners and others to gather opinions and options prior to MDOTs study. He explained that the planning efforts have been harmonious, and he is confident that stakeholders in the area are having their voices heard during the process.

I want to thank MDOTs openness to looking at what the city has done along the way to help guide the work moving forward, he said.

Cochran also talked about how these plans might fit in with the citys current master plans as well as how potential project outcomes might be serendipitous for improvements along Elm Avenue.

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We want to make sure that whatever impacts are done as part of the I-75 project at Front and Elm positively impact the surrounding neighborhoods, Cochran said. We appreciate all these projects working in tandem together.

Todd Davis, of engineering firm WSP, said that the PEL has taken other nearby projects and existing interchanges into consideration, especially the four that grant entry to Monroe via I-75.

We also are looking at whats going on at Dixie and Laplaisance because whatever happens here, depending on alternatives, would affect traffic, Davis said.

WSPs Dan Beard took the stage to present alternative proposed plans to deal with the interchanges, most with an A and B version  A versions keep both interchanges active, and B plans have the Elm Street interchange closed.

Beard explained a scoring system that considered various factors such as safety, environmental impact, aesthetics, and traffic operations. One of the highest-scoring plans, Alternative 3, would utilize collector-distributor (CD) roadways to keep both sides of the river open to traffic to and from I-75. This means including parallel roadways that run alongside the main freeway through the interchange area, separated by a barrier.

Beard said that so far, public responses have shown that many prefer to keep Elm Street access to and from I-75, though many acknowledged the safety issues associated with the current layout. Presently, the interchanges are close together with sharp corners and inconvenient entryways, according to public feedback.

Matt Wendling, also with WSP, said the possibility of keeping the Elm Street interchange has been a major part of the conversation.

Matt Wendling of engineering firm WSP explains some of the potential plans for the Front Street and Elm Avenue interchanges on I-75 during an open house March 15 at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

We wanted to keep Elm open, so every one of these alternatives we came up with had that option to make sure we did whatever we could to keep Elm open, Wendling said.

Wendling said that this area is particularly difficult from a planning perspective, so they have been sure to move cautiously and consider numerous factors along the way.

Weve had more constraints on this area than we have on many projects, Wendling said. Youve got environmental issues, natural habitat, protected wetlands, trails, railways, heavy industrial, and youve got a wastewater treatment plant in the shadow of the bridge.

You couldnt pick a more difficult area, but were always up for a challenge, he added.

Todd Davis said that the overall goal is to improve safety and functionality in the area while minimizing impacts on the natural environment. Regardless, he said that it is clear that something has to change in that area.

These interchanges would not be built today.

For more information about the PEL and to participate in MDOTs survey, visit tinyurl.com/I75ElmFrontStudy.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: MDOT talks with public about plans for Elm, Front I-75 exits
Arizona lawmakers are continuing work on a bill to reform medical cannabis laws.

Parents of autistic children argued that medical pot has benefited their kids and thus should be added to the conditions of eligibility for low-cost medicinal cannabis cards.

I have no beef with them or the lawmakers pushing through reforms. I have a beef with us, the people of Arizona.

Why do we keep living this fiction that medical marijuana is real? That the stuff bought at the dispensaries can be used to legitimately treat disease?

The big lie Arizona keeps telling itself

Medical marijuana is the lie that led Arizonans in 2020 to pass Proposition 207 to legalize recreational weed  the party pot.

It was the camels nose that got under the tent in 2010 and began the further decriminalization of a favorite, and what seemed at the time fairly benign, street drug.

Arizona bill:Would cut price of medical cannabis cards by $100

Today the camel is fully in the tent where we fan it with palm fronds and feed it grapes.

Lots of Americans wanted to legalize marijuana. They were sick of the drug wars and the bottomless pit of spending on police raids and prison housing. Sick of the bloody interdictions and all the nonviolent junkies in jail.

Both sides fought to legalize pot

What began as a liberal enterprise to end the Nixon War on Drugs had in the end the support of conservatives like William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater and Pat Robertson.

Thus, legalization was a bipartisan project. We all own it. And any of us with any sense knew that medical marijuana was the useful fiction to start treating drug users with health care instead of tossing them in the clink.

Legalization has won. So why do we keep pretending that dispensary marijuana is medicine?

Why do we treat that pot like pharmaceutical drugs that have gone through the gauntlet of hard research and clinical trials to finally win approval to be popped, injected or inhaled?

Little evidence of marijuana's health effects

Arizona voters legalized medical cannabis in 2010, then 10 years later legalized recreational use.

In 2019, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an important essay in The New Yorker pointing to a report by the National Academy of Medicine and the many unknowns about the effects of marijuana on health.

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While there is evidence that marijuana can treat pain, he wrote, very little is known about the efficacy, dose, routes of administration, or side effects of commonly used and commercially available cannabis products in the United States.

He continued:

Is it good for epilepsy? Insufficient evidence. Tourettes syndrome? Limited evidence. ALS, Huntingtons and Parkinsons? Insufficient evidence. Irritable bowel syndrome? Insufficient evidence. Dementia and glaucoma? Probably not. Anxiety? Maybe. Depression? Probably not.

What is becoming clear is that todays legal, more potent marijuana, has unexpected consequences, wrote Gladwell, as he thumbed through chapters 5 through 13 of the National Academy of Medicines 2017 report.

Does the use of cannabis increase the likelihood of fatal car accidents? Yes. By how much? Unclear. Does it affect motivation and cognition? Hard to say, but probably. Does it affect employment prospects? Probably. Will it impair academic achievement? Limited evidence. This goes on for pages.

FDA is well aware of our mind games

As the state of Arizona does follow-up reforms to its medical marijuana laws, we bathe in the cognitive dissonance that dispensary pot is medicine backed by science.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is well aware of our mind games. On its website this day, it tells us, The FDA understands that there is increasing interest in the potential utility of cannabis for a variety of medical conditions.

Then it drops the hammer:

To date, the FDA has not approved a marketing application for cannabis for the treatment of any disease or condition.

Yes, the FDA tells us, the agency has green-lighted one cannabis-derived drug product: Epidiolex (cannabidiol), and three synthetic cannabis-related drug products: Marinol (dronabinol), Syndros (dronabinol), and Cesamet (nabilone).

It warns about 'serious safety risks'

All require prescriptions.

Importantly, the FDA has not approved any other cannabis, cannabis-derived, or cannabidiol (CBD) products currently available on the market.

FDA authorities close with a warning that unapproved cannabis-derived products are being used to treat things such as AIDS wasting syndrome, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis spasticity and chemotherapy-induced nausea.

The use of unapproved cannabis and cannabis-derived products can have unpredictable and unintended consequences, including serious safety risks.

Also, there has been no FDA review of data from rigorous clinical trials to support that these unapproved products are safe and efficacious for the various therapeutic uses for which they are being used.

Admit it: The science on this is lacking

On March 20, Arizona lawmakers in the House Health and Human Services Committee passed proposed reforms to medical marijuana, as reported by The Arizona Republics Ryan Randazzo.

The proposed legislation, which enjoys wide support, would reduce the maximum price of medicinal cannabis cards to $50 from $150, add autism and post-traumatic stress disorder to conditions eligible to receive cards and wave the card fee for military veterans.

Among other things it would also outlaw medical marijuana edibles in the shapes of animals, fruit, toys or cartoons to align with rules for recreational cannabis and would authorize DHS to set aside $10 million a year for cannabis clinical trials, increasing that figure from the current $5 million.

I have no serious disagreements with the bill. I like the greater investment in clinical trials.

My point is that we can continue our fantasy that medical marijuana is what it says it is  medicine  or we can acknowledge that the science is still very much lagging.

I know science took a beating in the COVID-19 pandemic, and no one trusts scientific authority anymore, but we dont want to live in a world guided by psychics and soothsayers.

If were going to restore science to its place of authority, we can start by casting off the myth of medical marijuana.

Phil Boas is an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Marijuana is not yet legitimate medicine. But we've bought the lie
The 33rd Galaxy Awards, China's prestigious literary science-fiction award, were unveiled in Yingjing county in Southwest China's Sichuan province, Mar 26, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

The 33rd Galaxy Awards, China's prestigious literary science-fiction award, were unveiled Saturday in Yingjing County in southwest China's Sichuan Province, featuring winners from younger generations.



Ben Lu won the best medium-length story award for his work "Upstart," Wang Nuonuo won the best adaptation potential award for "Turing Food Stall," and A Que won the best short story award for "2039: Era of Brain Computer Interface." All three winners were born in the 1990s.

A white paper on 2022 Chinese sci-fi network literature was released during the award ceremony, noting that there are 42,000 new sci-fi web-writers in China, of whom 72 percent were born in the 2000s, while some 70 percent are undergraduate students or hold a bachelor degree or above.

The white paper also shows that in 2022, the number of online readers of sci-fi increased by 39.73 percent compared with 2021, while 70 percent of sci-fi readers were younger than 30 years old.

Established by China's most popular sci-fi periodical "Science Fiction World" in 1985, the Galaxy Awards is the oldest award in China's sci-fi field. The first awards were given in 1986.
House Bill 71 recently passed the Idaho House with overwhelming support and was passed by the Idaho Senate with amendments that now go back to the House for concurrence. If passed, the law would criminalize the provision of gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18 in Idaho. Specifically, the bill would subject physicians to felony charges if they provide puberty blockers, hormone treatment or gender-affirming surgery to transgender individuals under 18.

The reality is HB 71 will cause harm by denying youth access to life-saving evidence-based medicine. At this point, every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychiatric Association, supports gender-affirming care for youth.

If every relevant medical organization in this country recognizes the importance of providing gender-affirming care to youth, why does the Idaho Legislature contradict years of research by medical experts?

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among all adolescents, and the rates of both suicide attempts and suicidal thoughts disproportionately affect transgender adolescents. Data indicates that 82% of transgender individuals have considered suicide, and 40% have attempted suicide, with rates of suicidality being highest among adolescents. Access to gender-affirming care is a critical part of improving these statistics, as studies show that pubertal suppression for transgender adolescents interested in treatment is associated with favorable mental health outcomes.

This bill marks a concerning turn in this state toward limiting the rights of Idahoans to make medical decisions and allocating that power and responsibility to politicians. Decisions regarding life-saving evidence-based medical care should not rest in the hands of legislators lacking medical education and proximity to the needs of transgender youth. Rather, these decisions should be made privately among the patient, their health care provider and their family.

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As medical students in Idaho, state lawmakers have created a challenging decision for us when evaluating where to practice. We want to honor our Idaho roots and return to practice in this state, as we know Idaho is in desperate need of physicians. In fact, as of 2020, Idaho had the lowest number of physicians per capita, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges Idaho Physician Workforce Profile.

However, we also must honor our oath to do no harm in our practice. The reality is that this law, if passed, will prevent us from keeping that oath by barring us from providing care we know is necessary and will impact our decision on where to practice in the future.

Less than a year ago, a classmate took action by writing a similar op-ed addressing the near-total abortion ban in Idaho. That law takes away the medical freedom of the people of Idaho, just as HB 71 would.

Just this week, a hospital in North Idaho announced that it would no longer provide certain obstetric services, citing the political climate in the state. Physicians choosing to practice in other states because of oppressive state laws is no longer hypothetical  it is a harsh reality that the state of Idaho is not well-positioned to handle.

HB 71 will continue to worsen the problem many rural counties in Idaho are facing: dangerous physician shortages.

In addition to the authors of this article, 51 of our classmates have voiced their opposition to HB71. With that, we have three requests.

First, we ask the people of Idaho to voice your opposition to this bill. Write to or call your legislators and Gov. Brad Little and share this message with others who may be unaware of this bill.

Second, we ask the lawmakers of Idaho to please vote NO on this bill.

Third, if the bill passes, we ask Gov. Little to veto it.

Medical decision-making must be kept in the hands of patients, families and providers. Regardless of your views on gender-affirming care, consider this issue a matter of medical freedom. This bill would rob Idaho citizens and physicians of their autonomy, and it is your duty as lawmakers and voters to prevent that. Please choose to stand on the side of freedom and vote in opposition to HB 71.

Ari Garabedian, Ian Holland, Marisabel Reinhardt, and Sara Meotti are first- and second-year medical students at the University of Washington in the Idaho WWAMI regional program located in Moscow, Idaho. Together, they lead a service-learning advocacy group for the Idaho WWAMI program that advocates for health care equity in the state of Idaho.
Sandusky County Public Health Nurse Laura Bogard stands by a new curb in Gibsonburg on a snowy day. Bogard helped the village utilize state Creating Healthy Communities grant funds for a pedestrian infrastructure project.

GIBSONBURG - The Village of Gibsonburg and the Sandusky County Health Department teamed up to encourage outside physical activity by making the village safer for pedestrian traffic. With the help of funding from a Creating Healthy Communities (CHC) grant through the Ohio Department of Health, the village adopted a Complete Streets Policy based on the National Complete Streets Coalition model.

The coalition, which launched the nationwide Complete Streets Policy movement in 2004, is a program of the nonpartisan nonprofit Smart Growth America.

The Complete Streets Policy provided the impetus for Gibsonburg to implement a pedestrian infrastructure project that includes the installation of sidewalk ramps, new curbs, improved school signage, flashing radar speed signs and crosswalks.

On our end, this got started with concerns that residents and parents had regarding sidewalks in town and around schools, said Gibsonburg Village Administrator Marc Glotzbecker.

Sandusky County Public Health Nurse Laura Bogard, left, and Gibsonburg Village Administrator Marc Glotzbecker worked together to implement a Complete Streets Policy in Gibsonburg. The policy sets safety guidelines for the village and was the impetus for a pedestrian infrastructure project.

Sandusky County Public Health Nurse Laura Bogard approached Glotzbecker with the idea of implementing a Complete Streets Policy using CHC grant funds. CHC grants focus on increasing public accessibility to healthy, affordable food and to opportunities for physical activity. Tying a CHC grant to a Complete Streets Policy made sense.

Gibsonburg used its relationship with health department to move forward

The timeline was perfect because we were already having that conversation, Glotzbecker said. Weve always had a good relationship with the health department. Theyve helped with various programs in our town.

The overriding focus of the project was to make the streets accessible to people of all ages and abilities. The sidewalks are now safer for people who walk, ride bikes, use wheelchairs or push strollers.

The ultimate goal was to make the community more walkable for residents so they can have more physical activity, Bogard said.

The Complete Streets Policy project began with a multi-element assessment of the villages needs. Bogard headed an active living survey to assess residents needs and wants. Village Fiscal Officer Jeff Holcomb spent hours rating the sidewalks to give the village workable statistics to draw from as they chose which areas to work on. Walk audits were done through a collaborative effort between the village, the health department, Ohio Department of Transportation and the Sandusky County Regional Planning Commission. To truly evaluate sidewalk accessibility, Glotzbecker pushed a pumpkin in a stroller around town to recognize barriers.

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One of the improvements brought on by Gibsonburgs Complete Streets Policy was this new flashing radar speed sign.

Early in the project process, a Complete Streets Policy writing group was assembled that included Glotzbecker, Bogard, Village Councilman Charlie Gerwin, John Willey from Regional Planning, and village residents Danielle Mason, and Jessica and Gene Conlon.

Its good when people who live in town want to be a part of bringing positive change, Glotzbecker said.

A Complete Streets Policy ordinance was adopted in May 2022, making the policy law in the village. The ordinance makes the policy an ongoing project and sets guidelines for street evaluations in the future.

Village is one of few in region to adopt policy

Gibsonburg is one of only a few Northwest Ohio cities that have implemented a Complete Streets Policy.

Toledo and Sylvania are the only two in the Northwest Ohio area that have passed the policy as an ordinance, and that was in 2014. Bowling Green passed a resolution in 2015, but it is not permanent like an ordinance, Bogard said. So Gibsonburg is one of the first in this area to write a policy and adopt it as an ordinance.

Glotzbecker is proud of the village for being proactive on street safety and accessibility.

In Gibsonburg, we pride ourselves on being first, he said. Were serious about what we want Gibsonburg to look like 50 years from now.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Gibsonburg Complete Streets Policy keeps residents walking
MSNBCs Mehdi Hasan said the 2024 GOP choice of Donald Trump vs. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis isnt really much of a choice at all.

Its one Florida fascist or another, I mean that, the TV host said on Sunday night. Dont for a second think the Florida governor is any less extreme, any less dangerous, any less authoritarian than Donald Trump.

DeSantis, Hasan noted, has struggled to differentiate himself from Trump on matters of policy while continuing his attacks on the LGBTQ community, the media, Dr. Anthony Fauci and more.

DeSantis will take on everyone: The doctors! The media! The gays! Hasan said. But he wont take on the former president.

As a result, some party insiders say DeSantis cant beat Trump for the GOP presidential nomination. Hasan noted one private Republican gathering in which donors reportedly suggested that DeSantis hold off on running until at least 2028.

His own people! His own buddies! Hasan exclaimed. They see him as a potential loser, too. The calls are coming from inside the house.

Hasan said hes reminded of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) describing the 2016 choice of Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Choosing between those two, he said at the time, was like choosing between being shot or poisoned, Hasan said.

See more below:
On any given Thursday evening in 2019, youd likely find me drifting down a dimly lit street on the border of Mexico Citys Centro Historico and Colonia Juarez neighborhoods. Walking along Calle Bucareli with a group of friends, Id soon arrive at the spot: an unmarked concrete garage at the foot of an office building, the official-unofficial location of Nazas. Without fail, there would be a crowd of cool kids assembled curbside, smoking cigarettes and swirling glassesnot mezcal, nor tequila, but natural wine. Delicately navigating the uneven sidewalk, Id say my hellos then barrel into the bundle of sweaty bodies inside, dancing well into the morning courtesy of a DJ spinning old-school Cumbia on vinyl.

When I moved to Mexico City five years ago, Nazas was my introduction to the capitals natural wine scene, which was booming even then. While today, Mexico Citys reputation as a natural wine capital is indisputable, its not a stretch to say Nazas played a pivotal role in spreading the word. At this weekly clandestine party, bottles were ordered and poured by the gallon. Nearly every interesting artist, chef, designer, and scenester went. And you had to be invited to know the unmarked location, which only added to its mystique.

Though Nazas shuttered during the onset of the pandemic, the hostsAlonso Maldonado, owner of natural wine distributor, Fermentos; Jair Tellez and Milena Pezzi, proprietors of the restaurant, Amaya; and the founders of La Metropolitana design studio, where said garage was locatedand their legacy continue. Its this original cohort of enthusiasts and their respective projects that paved the way for the citys latest arrivals to continue pouring the funky elixir in ever-increasing quantities.

Courtesy of Caiman

One of the original projects is Tellezs brick-walled, mosaic-tiled eatery in Colonia Juarez, just a few blocks from where Nazas was hosted. On a recent afternoon, I join him and Maldonado to discuss where Mexico Citys natural wine scene officially took root. Tellez says its the day he began dry-farming grapes under the tutelage of the France-born, Chile-based natural winemaker Louis Antoine Luyt in the fields of Tecate, in Mexicos windswept north. Im no winemaker, laughs Tellez, somewhat underselling the impact he had when he launched Bichishort for bichicori, meaning naked in the indigenous Yaqui languagein 2013, the first natural wine brand produced in Mexico.

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Courtesy of Hugo

At the time, there was neither a market for natural wine in Mexico City nor a place to sell itso Tellez then opened Amaya in 2016, the first restaurant of its kind to feature a natural-only wine list. After Maldonado took over the distribution of Bichi, the two quickly set about realizing their shared vision for Mexico City to become a natural wine haven. When Noma came to Tulum for a six-week pop-up in April and May of 2017, Bichi was the only Mexican wine Rene Redzepi served. Word quickly spread throughout the countrys culinary community, leading to the first wave of new openings with natural wine lists, including Le Tachinomi Desu in Colonia Cuauhtemoc, the citys first natural wine and sake bar. (Owner Edo Kobayashi was so dedicated to the standing bars natural wine list he even flew over rare varietals in his suitcase from Japan.)

A few blocks from Amaya is Cicatriz, a popular Colonia Juarez watering hole led by brother-sister duo Jake and Scarlett Lindeman. While Scarlett cooks, Jake pours. Weve been committed to having a natural wine program since we opened in 2017, says Jake. We worked with Maldonado to stock Bichi from day one, but there werent many other options available at the time. Jake recalls American and French visitors being thrilled to find a place where they could drink natural wine on vacation as the global trend proliferated from hotspots like Paris, Copenhagen, and New York. The Mexican market, he says, needed a bit more time to get behind the concept. Most residents were used to conventional wine: full-bodied Spanish reds and oaky chardonnays, says Jake Lindeman. But following some initial pushback, the local demand for the styles funkiness increased.

Photo: Jake Lindeman

Partnering with Maldonado, Jake opened the citys first natural wine shop, Escorpio, in Colonia Juarez. The shop stocks international labels as well as bottles by Mexican winemakers like Lucas Dacosta Ramos, who produces the natural-wine label Piel de Luna in Valle de Guadalupe, and Cava Garambullos orange wine and sparkling pet-nat, produced by winemakers Natalia Lopez and Branko Pjanic in the rural highlands near San Miguel de Allende.

Photo: Jake Lindeman

A similar trajectory is true for France native Gaetan Rousset. He first began importing natural wine into Mexico in 2016 with his brand Loofok, and later went on to open Loup Bar in Colonia Roma in 2017. When I moved here, almost all wine sold in Mexico City was conventional, but now thats not the case, says Rousset. Our scene has evolved immensely in the last six years and will continue to do so given most new restaurants are focused on product quality, for which natural wine is an obvious fit.

Following the close of Nazas, Mauricio Guerrero (along with his co-founder of La Metropolitana, Alejandro Gutierrez, and the architect Francisco Pardo) opened Caiman in late 2020, a natural wine bar on bustling Avenida Nuevo Leon in Condesa. Filling the void left by Nazas, Caimanoften playing host to crowds of patrons around its distinctive marble, U-shaped bar topbecame the new late-night spot to know.

Courtesy of Caiman

Today, there are plenty of locales to imbibe natural wine, both old and newand the trend is showing no signs of slowing. Theres Cafe Sismo in Colonia Centro, a Nazas-esque natural wine party by Lucas Cantu and Carlos Matos, the founders of the architecture studio Tezontle. There are the Colonia Juarez spots like Mediterranean eatery and natural wine bar Ellys, where owner Andres Herran spins his rare collection of vinyl records, and Masala y Maiz, where chef-owners Norma Listman and Saqib Keval prepare dishes inspired by the cultures of Mexico, India, and East Africa, all paired with natural wine. Theres the cozy Vigneron wine bar in Colonia Roma, while just a few blocks away is Hugo El Wine Bar on the border of Roma Norte and Condesa, where a daily rotation of five natural wines is offered by the glass. Residents of the city can now even get natural wine delivered directly to their abode through online shops like Salvaje Vinos, or attend Maldonados pop-up natural wine festival, Volver Volver, to scope out the latest varietals.

Courtesy of Ellys

On a cool spring evening, I meet a friend at NIV in Condesa, the citys latest natural wine bar that opened just days before. Two of the bars founding partnersTanguy de Bodinat of Climats wine importation company and Alison Van de Berghe of AVDB, a veteran of the hospitality and wine industriesare in attendance. When Van de Berghe joins us at our table, we ask her to surprise us with her favorite wine on the menu. A cool glass of Amphora Brisat orange winea natural varietal made in clay amphoras by the female-owned Spanish winemaker Pares Balta near Barcelonaarrives at our table, along with small plates like ravioli al uovo and citrusy kampachi.

Within an hour, weve already moved to the bars speakeasy-style back room, a candle-lit space walled off by velvet curtains. While showing us the rum and mezcal infusions her team prepares in thick Dame Janes glass bottles, Van de Berghe tells me how, despite having worked in wine for nearly a decade, ranging from small-scale vineyards in California to Chile, shes both impressed and optimistic about Mexicos natural wine scene and its vintners. Mexico Citys wine culture has exploded in the last few years, both in terms of places to drink and the quality of wines being imported, says Van de Berghe, as she passes me a glass of coffee-infused rum on the rocks. Its clear the talent here is ubiquitous, and it feels like a dream come true to open NIV. To be a part of it all.

Originally Appeared on Vogue

More Great Living Stories From Vogue
Concerns lingered that oversight of oil and gas industry was inadequately funded in New Mexico, despite an almost $9.6 billion budget approved by lawmakers during this years legislative session that concluded March 18.

House Bill 2, the General Appropriation Act of 2023, was passed by lawmakers in the State House and Senate three days before the session concluded and was awaiting signature into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The States two main regulatory agencies for oil and gas, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), both saw increases in state appropriations via HB 2 at 21 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively.

More:Oil giants fueling refinery expansions as Permian Basin oil production to grow in April

But Santa Fe-based environmental group WildEarth Guardians said increasing spills and other environmental impacts from New Mexicos booming oil and gas industry meant more resources were needed from the state.

The group pointed to 1,450 liquid spills throughout the state last year, averaging four spills per day and totaling about 5.4 million gallons of contaminants.

These largely included oil and gas wastewater, also known as produced water by the industry, and WildEarth Guardians said the vast majority occurred in Eddy and Lea counties  the two counties that contain the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico.

More:$440K in fines issued to Carlsbad-area oil and gas company for air pollution violations

Its the U.S. most active oilfield, shared by New Mexico and West Texas but in a March 21 letter to NMED and EMNRD officials, the group said expanded production meant greater efforts from the State to prevent pollution while transitioning to lower-carbon fuel sources.

In this climate, our state has but one pragmatic choice: to meaningfully decrease oil and gas production and work towards a just transition away from energy generation that offloads its toxic burden onto communities and the environment, the letter read.

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The toxic legacy of current oil and gas production in New Mexico is already staggering. We urge you to adopt the recommendations above to prevent your agencies from making it worse.

More:Carlsbad, New Mexico activists demand stronger oil and gas rules in Washington, D.C.

The letter also called on the State to prevent the use of produced water outside of the oil and gas industry, amid efforts to increase treatment and reuse of the water, and asked NMED and EMNRD to enact greater oversight for the States ongoing research.

Melissa Troutman, climate and energy advocate at WildEarth Guardians said despite shortfalls in its enforcement capabilities, the State continued to permit new oil and gas wells that threatened the environment.

She said EMNRDs Oil Conservation Division (OCD), its main compliance arm, was especially underfunded.

More:More than 3,000 acres of New Mexico public land being sold for oil and gas amid protests

Permitting thousands of new oil and gas operations despite massive shortfalls in law enforcement is unjust, wasteful, and incongruent with climate goals, Troutman said. At four spills a day and a years-long backlog of spills that still need remediation, its impossible for the OCD to handle the oil and gas industrys pollution problem.

The State of New Mexico banned spills of liquid or gas waste two years ago, meaning such events would immediately incur fines, but Soni Grant of the Center for Biological Diversity based in New Mexico said the State had so far failed to enforce its recently tighten restrictions.

These also included a ban on routine flaring  the burning of excess natural gas  and required all operators in the state to capture 98 percent of produced gas by 2026.

More:Pollution bills struggle in New Mexico legislature. Here's what passed and failed

The NMED also added increased leak detection and repair requirements in rules enacted last year, but Grant said the state had not properly issued penalties to operators in violation.

Although New Mexico prohibited toxic liquid waste spills in 2021, the oil and gas industry has had thousands of spills since then and state regulators havent issued penalties for the pollution, Grant said.

To curb pollution and protect public health and the environment, the Oil Conservation Division needs to hold the industry strictly liable for its spills.

More:Oilfield lawmakers claim success in killing bills aimed at energy pollution in New Mexico

As oil booms, New Mexico could need more oversight

EMNRD spokesman Sidney Hill said the OCD's added funding from the session would prove helpful, although continued expansion in the state's oil and gas production expected in the "next few years" would mean the agencies need would grow along with the industry.

"Most predictions that we have seen forecast continued growth in the industry at least for the next few years," Hill said. "If those predictions prove accurate, OCD will likely continue to seek funding for staffing, equipment, and other technology to provide resources to try and keep pace with some of that growth."

He said OCD's budget requests were largely for increased staffing for its engineering, inspection, legal, permitting and environmental oversight activities attempting to address its incident backlog.

"These additional resources certainly will enhance OCDs ability to conduct its very important regulatory functions," Hill said. "For instance, additional field inspectors will enable us to increase the number and cadence of site visits/inspections.

The Division would also use the funds for better technology to look for leaks and increase its oversight of operators throughout New Mexico.

"OCD continues to investigate the potential for new tools and technology to enhance its work," Hill said. "When we find evidence that a specific tool will be helpful, we will submit a request for funding."

NMED Cabinet Secretary said during the legislative session that HB 2 did not give his agency enough resources to do its job.

He pointed to a $2 million special appropriation NMED requested from lawmakers to help fund expected increased permitting activities in advance of tighter restrictions expected from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to worsening ground-level ozone, or smog, in the Permian Basin.

The higher ozone levels were believed the result of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) release by oil and gas facilities in the region.

Kenney said the bill was also inadequate to allow the agency to increase staffing, address groundwater contamination and worker safety throughout the state.

We have plenty of oil and gas operators who do comply with state and federal law. We have many that do not, which contributes to our ozone problem, Kenney said. Were just continuing to pave the way for deeper levels of regulatory oversight from the federal government. We cant hold the companies accountable because we dont have the budget to do that.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Does New Mexico have the money to hold oil and gas accountable?
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The Mexican government will not ban the popular video sharing social media application TikTok, the country's president said on Monday, even as the United States moves closer to a possible prohibition on the Chinese-owned app due to security concerns.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador vowed "complete freedom" when asked about the platform during his regular morning news conference, after TikTok's chief executive faced a grilling by U.S. lawmakers last week.

Some U.S. lawmakers are calling on the government to ban the app, alleging it could be used for sweeping data collection, content censorship and harm to children's mental health.

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday the United States has not presented any evidence that TikTok presents a threat to national security.

Meanwhile, Canada announced last month a ban on the app from government-issued devices, also citing risks to privacy and security.

Other countries and entities have also elected to ban TikTok.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Isabel Woodford)
Eastbound Interstate 90 traffic passes beneath a wildlife bridge under construction on Snoqualmie Pass, Wash., on Oct. 4, 2018. New Mexico will build its first wildlife highway overpasses for free-roaming cougars, black bears, bighorn sheep and other creatures large and small and will also set aside $100 million for conservation projects, under two bills signed Thursday, March 23, 2023. by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SANTA FE - New Mexico will build its first wildlife highway overpasses for free-roaming cougars, black bears, bighorn sheep and other creatures large and small and will also set aside $100 million for conservation projects, under two bills signed Thursday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Advocates for the initiatives say the state stands to capture millions of dollars in federal matching funds for wildlife crossings and an array of established conservation programs. New Mexico hopes to expand efforts ranging from river stewardship to outdoor adventures for young people from low-income households.

The state's first wildlife bridge is likely to span a state highway that traverses remote desert oilfields and Native American lands of the Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation and several pueblo communities, including a treacherous hotspot for wildlife-auto collisions north of Cuba, New Mexico.

Several hundred large animals  primarily deer and elk  are killed in the state each year by collisions that can also total cars and severely injure human passengers. The state estimates property damage from such wrecks at nearly $20 million annually, while unbroken roads also fracture habitats for monitored species of concern including the ornate box turtle, white-nosed coati and gila monster.

Recent casualties include a roughly 4-year-old mountain lion that previously bore kittens and was struck and killed on State Highway 550 at Santa Ana Pueblo in January at night.

Interstate 90 traffic passes beneath a wildlife bridge under construction on Snoqualmie Pass, Wash., on Oct. 4, 2018. New Mexico will build its first wildlife highway overpasses for free-roaming cougars, black bears, bighorn sheep and other creatures large and small and will also set aside $100 million for conservation projects, under two bills signed Thursday, March 23, 2023. by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Glenn Harper, manager of the Santa Ana Pueblo Range and Wildlife Division, said the pueblo is committed to establishing safe corridors for wildlife and that it shared a trove of GPS tracking data when state agencies were identifying the first crucial locations for bridges. The state Legislature commissioned the plan in 2019.

"We have a pretty good sense of where these animals want to cross the highway," Harper said. "As communities are growing around the pueblo, it becomes a cultural preservation issue. The pueblo is closely tied and entwined with the natural world."

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Nearby states including Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Nevada already have invested substantially in wildlife crossings. And California last year broke ground on what it bills as the world's largest  a bridge over a major Southern California highway for mountain lions and other animals hemmed in by urban sprawl.

The second New Mexico bill signed Thursday places $50 million in a permanent trust aimed at generating investment earnings, plus a $50 million spending account to underwrite established programs in environmental stewardship, forest management, watershed health, outdoor recreation, agriculture, historic preservation and species protection.

Many Republicans in the legislative minority opposed the conservation trust bill over concerns the state might expand public land holdings by unfairly outbidding individuals including ranchers. Opposition among Republican legislators to the wildlife crossings plan was more muted.

The state joins others in the Western U.S. that already fund their own, similar conservation trusts that help them apply for federal financial awards. Such trusts are underwritten by lottery proceeds, taxes on cannabis or money borrowed from bond investors, said Brittany Fallon of the conservation group Western Resource Advocates.

At a signing ceremony inside an REI Co-op store, Lujan Grisham highlighted New Mexico's efforts to set aside billions in investment accounts for future spending on conservation programs, infrastructure and early childhood education.

More is needed to ensure natural wonders survive the next 50 years amid a financial windfall in state income linked to local oil production, she added.

"We have to start thinking big in the context of how expensive it is to do the right public safety and conservation work," Lujan Grisham said. "It is in fact expensive because it is a generational investment in the well-being" of New Mexico.

Last week the Legislature sent the governor a record $9.6 billion annual spending proposal, along with a $1.1 billion tax relief package. She has until April 7 to veto any provisions.

Morgan Lee is a reporter for the Associated Press.

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This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico OKs its 1st wildlife bridges to limit collisions
It was just after 6.30 one evening last April when Las Cruces police officer Jared Cosper responded to a mental health call. The family of Amelia Baca, a 75-year-old grandmother with dementia, had called 911, saying she appeared to be off her medication and was threatening them. They needed help.

Cosper, trained in crisis intervention, according to a subsequent lawsuit, arrived at the Bacas front door and instructed family members to step outside. Police body camera video shows Bacas granddaughter thanking the officer and asking him to be very careful with her.

The elderly woman  who spoke only Spanish  came to the door, a kitchen knife in each hand.

Drop the fucking knife, Cosper shouted. As the family begged and screamed in protest, he shot and killed her.

Now, nearly a year after Bacas tragic death, Las Cruces has launched an alternative response program, designed to send social workers and paramedics instead of armed officers to the scenes of 911 calls for mental health crises, drug overdoses and threats of suicide. Project Light (for lessen the incidence of grief, harm and trauma) has won $1m in federal support, secured by Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan.

God forbid you have a mental health crisis in New Mexico  because youre going to get shot Loren Gomez of the Southwest Organizing Project

Its a model thats been embraced by other locales in New Mexico and across the country, driven in part by a rise in homelessness, a national mental health crisis and this chilling statistic: people with untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be killed by police, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that promotes reforms in psychiatric care.

The trend falls within a broader cultural reckoning with systemic racism, one that comes on the heels of high-profile police killings, including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville. And the subject is receiving renewed attention this week, as Virginia sheriffs deputies stand accused of murdering a handcuffed and shackled man in a psychiatric hospital by pinning him to the floor for roughly 11 minutes.

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But civilian response efforts have had only varying success. Denvers Star program, launched in 2020, is often credited with lower crime rates, while Cahoots, in Eugene, Oregon, has been credited with saving millions of dollars each year. Civic leaders broadly praise programs like these for reducing the number of of police shootings.

A program in Albuquerque, on the other hand, has struggled to effect such change. In 2020, the city announced a new civilian department, Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS), to respond to an increase in mental health crises. The announcement came just days after police shot 26-year-old Max Mitnik in the head after his family called for help.

Albuquerque bet big on the new department, supporting it with a nearly $12m annual budget, a large vehicle fleet and scores of new hires, who respond to low-risk 911 calls for mental health issues, homelessness and overdoses.

But despite that investment, Albuquerque police shot and killed at least four people last year who were experiencing mental health crises, compared with two such shootings in 2021. Overall, the department hit a 10-year high for police shootings, records obtained by Searchlight New Mexico show. Albuquerque police fired at people 18 times in 2022, killing 10.

The impact of the new program in Las Cruces has yet to be seen. But while the two cities are very different, they share a common problem: an acute dearth of mental health care.

Of the growing number of civilian response efforts in New Mexico, leaders acknowledge, its difficult to measure success. People in the throes of a mental health crisis are still likely to be met with an armed police response, and advocates say that leaves them highly vulnerable.

A history of problems in Albuquerque

The Albuquerque police department (APD) introduced crisis intervention teams as far back as the 1990s. Their presence didnt put a dent in fatal police shootings, however.

Albuquerques police department is one of the deadliest in the country. Its been under a federal consent decree and monitoring since 2014, when officers killed James Boyd, a homeless man with schizophrenia who was camping in the Sandia foothills. According to the watchdog group Police Scorecard, the APD has logged more police shootings per arrest than 76% of all other departments in the nation.

The 2014 consent decree mandated that 40% of APD officers receive specialized training in enhanced crisis intervention.

Still, problems remained. Demands for reform culminated in 2020, after an officer shot 26-year-old Max Mitnik, who was experiencing a schizoaffective episode.

Mitnik, who lived with his parents in Albuquerque, had recently stopped taking his medication, according to a lawsuit filed by his family. He expressed a desire to be hospitalized but feared he would hurt his parents if they drove him, so his father called 911 and asked for a crisis intervention team.

The familys lawsuit describes what happened next:

When the two officers arrived  both trained in advanced crisis intervention techniques  Mitnik asked them to drive him to the hospital but had second thoughts after they handcuffed him. He was later uncuffed, then went back inside the house, grabbed a paring knife and locked himself in a bathroom, where he cut himself in the neck. He eventually came out of the bathroom, clutching the knife, and looked at responding officer Jose Ruiz. I am going to suffer a lot if I dont kill myself, Mitnik allegedly told Ruiz. Will you please kill me, sir? Kill me.

Ruiz responded only by saying, OK, the lawsuit alleges, and then shot Mitnik twice  in the head and in the hip. Mitnik needed to have a portion of his skull replaced and is now partially paralyzed, his family said in court.

Less than two weeks later, Mayor Tim Keller announced the launch of Albuquerque Community Safety.

Unlike many cities with civilian responders, ACS is its own separate, fully fledged department, operating alongside the citys police and fire departments. It employs about 70 responders, who answer calls seven days a week. And its drawn credit from national experts for jumping in with both feet.

When ACS began answering calls in 2021, dispatchers were inundated. They still are. Calls have spiraled from a few hundred a month to up to 2,000-plus. In the past two years, civilian responders have gone to the scene of nearly 27,000 calls, a report concluded. Responders help connect people with resources, such as mental health providers or homeless shelters, and give out packs of food and water. They can also transport people to medical care facilities.

The recent police shootings in no way reflect poorly on ACS, police officials say. Instead, they link the shootings to Albuquerques increased gun violence and homicides  120 last year, up from the previous record of 110 in 2021.

Advocates offer other reasons. They point to Denver, where nearly a third of calls for civilian responders are referred by a police officer. If officers arrive on the scene of a nonviolent call and see that it is a mental health crisis, they can reassign the call to a social worker or behavioral health professional.

That kind of handoff has rarely happened in Albuquerque, both ACS and police officials acknowledge.

A sister killed

Elaine Maestas has seen the systems flaws first-hand. Bernalillo county sheriffs deputies shot her sister to death nearly four years ago.

Elisha Lucero, 28, had been living in an RV outside her uncles South Valley home when she had an outburst. She had been suffering symptoms of psychosis ever since the removal of a brain tumor two years earlier. Family members dialed 911.

In the past, whenever they had called for help, Bernalillo countys mobile crisis team had responded and taken Lucero to the hospital. This time, however, two sheriffs deputies showed up. Incident reports said the young woman charged at them with a kitchen knife. They shot her 21 times.

She was shot until she was no longer a recognizable person, said Maestas. She has become one of New Mexicos most prominent voices for police reform  helping to create a billboard campaign with her sisters face and the message: What if emergency responders came armed with compassion instead of guns? Elisha Lucero, 1991-2019. #Justice4Elisha.

In 2020, Maestas started volunteering with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, hoping to make a difference by advocating for policies that could salve the damage brought on by police violence. She joined the ACLU staff a year later, but when a job opened at ACS in 2022, she jumped at the opportunity to be a responder.

These days, her frustration is palpable. After years of fighting, Maestas looks at New Mexicos police reform as little more than putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. Despite Albuquerques massive investment in civilian response, she says police continue to respond to the gray calls  suicide threats, nonviolent mental health calls, family requests for help  with guns loaded.

Reform advocates echo her concern.

Related: Officers in Cop City raid shot pepperball gun into activists tent first

God forbid you have a mental health crisis in New Mexico, said Loren Gomez, an organizer with the social justice nonprofit Southwest Organizing Project. Because youre going to get shot.

This story was originally published by Searchlight New Mexico and is posted here as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Guardian.
Miami Beach elected officials voted Monday to support a curfew in South Beach, a secured perimeter around Ocean Drive and a rollback of alcohol sale hours during the peak of spring break in March 2024.

The move comes on the heels of a month that saw big crowds and two deadly shootings on Ocean Drive, one year after a pair of shootings injured five people on the same street during the same weekend in March.

Multiple city commissioners said they wanted draconian measures to try to prevent spring break crowds from visiting and congregating in South Beach.

Spring break as we know it is over, said Vice Mayor Steven Meiner. Completely over. Were done.

The details of the measures still need to be hashed out.

Commissioners directed City Manager Alina Hudak and her staff to consider what times and dates a curfew should be in place, how to establish a secured perimeter around the citys most iconic commercial strip, and the specifics of a liquor sale rollback.

Officials said the measures should perhaps apply from the second weekend of March through the third weekend, a period of more than 10 days. Those weekends, particularly the third, have brought the biggest crowds to South Beach in recent years.

The message has to be resoundingly clear: Miami Beach is shutting down spring break, Commissioner Alex Fernandez said.

After the second fatal shooting earlier this month, Hudak enacted a midnight curfew for one night. The city commission voted not to reissue a curfew for this past weekend, when crowds were smaller.

Is there a stronger legal argument for the city now?

Some Miami Beach residents questioned why the city hadnt announced a curfew earlier, in anticipation of the third-weekend crowds, rather than waiting until deadly incidents took place.

Officials said legal concerns were a significant factor. Last year, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge struck down the citys attempt to impose a 2 a.m. alcohol curfew in South Beach during spring break after the Clevelander hotel filed a lawsuit.

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But City Attorney Rafael Paz said Monday that, given the pattern of spring break violence and unruly crowds over several years, he believes the city now has a strong legal case to announce safety measures ahead of time.

We now have a record, year after year, of the same problem on the same weekend in the same area, he said.

The citys safety measures could potentially include ticketed events with metal detectors to try to prevent people from bringing guns to Ocean Drive. That would require the city to book events in the coming months and figure out the logistics of closing off an area surrounded by a public beach and numerous points of entry.

Officials said they hope announcing the moves in advance will discourage tourists from coming to Miami Beach next March to drink and party during spring break.

The entire month of March should just be family beach month, Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez said. Were going to turn into, like, Naples for the month of March.

Commissioner Ricky Arriola, who voted for a secured perimeter and alcohol sale rollbacks but cast the lone vote against the preemptive curfew, said that approach would hurt nightlife and other businesses and send the tourist hub down the wrong path.

Be careful what you turn off, because you may never be able to turn it back on, he said. I, for one, dont want to become Naples because I choose to live in Miami Beach.

Cultural program questioned

Miami Beach officials spent more than $3 million for a second straight year on programming during each weekend of March on Ocean Drive, in nearby Lummus Park and on the beach. But it didnt deter large spring break crowds from gathering in the area.

Some observers, such as the rapper and promoter Luther Uncle Luke Campbell, have criticized the city for failing to create a safe environment and programming that appeals to the young, Black visitors that make up the majority of spring break visitors to Ocean Drive  and for using spring break chaos to justify the citys broader move away from nightlife and toward a quieter, more residential feel.

Others, including city officials, have pointed out that spring breakers seem to come for the weather and the block party atmosphere, not to attend events.

The preemptive safety measures, Mayor Dan Gelber said Monday, are how we message to the world that maybe they want to go somewhere else.
A doctor whose official license address is a West Miami-Dade plastic surgery center with a spotty record was arrested on a first-degree murder charge in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area Saturday night.

Largo police still havent located the body of attorney Steven Cozzi. But, the department said, their investigation of Cozzi as a missing person led to the Tarpon Springs door of Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, 44, as a murder suspect.

Kosowskis address with the Florida Department of Health remains 8396 SW Eighth St. in Miami-Dade, the address of Xiluet Plastic Surgery. Xiluet has two pending administrative complaints against it, one alleging shortcomings in its office surgery setting and another alleging state inspectors were prevented from entering a year later. Both occurred after the death of a Brazilian butt lift patient. That death didnt happen under Kosowskis care.

READ MORE: Xiluet Plastic Surgery blocks state inspectors from entering, complaint says

A Google search turns up pages for Kosowski at Xiluet Plastic Surgery and Kendall Plastic Surgery websites, but both are dead links.

Xiluet Plastic Surgery, 8396 SW Eighth St., got hit with two administrative complaints from the Florida Department of Health on Dec. 10, 2021.

A doctor, a lawsuit and a lawyer

A Pinellas County lawsuit filed by Kosowski in 2019 says he began working for Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery, based in Dunedin, in 2016. Laufer is one of the defendants in the lawsuit, which centers around payment issues. The lawsuit blames the person handling the billing for insurance problems that affected Kosowskis payment and customer service and satisfaction.

As a direct result of (the billers) incompetence, and outright lies, as well as that of the remaining Defendants, Dr. Ks reputation has been greatly harmed, which may likely never be rehabilitated, the lawsuit says. Dr. Ks promising young career has essentially been obliterated by (the billers) actions and inactions as well as those of the other Defendants.

One of the attorneys representing the defendants in the ongoing lawsuit: Blanchard Laws Steven Cozzi.

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Largo police said they got a call on Tuesday that Cozzi had left his office, but left behind the modern trinity of traveling anywhere  wallet, keys and cellphone. Also, Cozzis car was still at the office, and no one saw him leave.

During the investigation, there was a strong chemical odor in the mens bathroom of the office and small drops of blood, Largo police said. A subsequent forensics investigation revealed a significant amount of blood in the same bathroom.

Looking into a suspicious person and car seen at the office around that time took the investigation in Kosowskis direction, police say. After hitting his home with a search warrant, they took Kosowki into custody.

Anyone who knows anything about the case can call Largo police at 727-587-6730.
Delegates attend a parallel session of the Economic Summit of the China Development Forum (CDF) 2023 at a branch venue in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]



Senior executives from tech giants in the United States spoke highly of the Chinese market and supply chain after their long-delayed return to the China Development Forum this weekend, a sign that industry experts believe reflects their recognition of one of their biggest markets worldwide.

Tim Cook, CEO of US tech giant Apple Inc, started his speech to the forum on Saturday by saying that "it was so wonderful to be back". It was his first trip to China since the COVID-19 pandemic.

He spoke of the way Apple's relationship with China has changed from focusing on supply to "more and more interactions with Chinese customers" later.

"Apple and China grew together, a symbolic kind of relationship both enjoyed," he said.

Amid market rumors that some US tech firms are exploring the possibility of moving production and assembly away from China, Cook didn't directly mention the issue but spoke highly of the company's "very large supply chain", millions of developers and thriving App Store.

The US tech giant assembles most of its components in China and has 5 million registered Chinese mobile app developers in its iPhone ecosystem.

Cook was among a group of delegates from leading multinationals attending the forum. Others include Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer.

Noting at a subforum that the digital economy is quickly transforming the world, Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Inc, emphasized that "no single company can do it alone".

"Qualcomm has a long history in China that spans nearly three decades. We are proud of the deep relationships we have built over the past 30 years and the new partnerships we are building today," he said.

Bourla said that by supplying technology and semiconductors to wireless communications, advanced and power-efficient computing, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence, Qualcomm has worked closely with companies across industries and around the world  including in China  to innovate and advance social development and drive economic growth.

He said that one of the most significant trends is digital transformation, which has quickly become a strategic imperative for sustainable growth and innovation, even in the current macroeconomic climate.

Bourla said that China's recent plan for its overall digital development, which is designed to accelerate the creation of a "digital China", is a vivid example.

Despite rising calls from US officials to decouple from China, Huang Qifan, former mayor of Chongqing, emphasized that such an undertaking could never succeed.

"China has a uniquely massive single market, unified in terms of law, tax, business rules and other factors key to economic development," Huang said.

India, for instance, which is a potentially larger market than China, is fragmented and its market is governed by different state-level laws and business rules, he said.

"Thus, China's single market advantage greatly lowers costs related to manufacturing, research and development, fixed asset investment, logistics, market development and even raw material procurement. This scale advantage can reduce manufacturing costs by 30 to 40 percent," he added.

Instead of worrying about economic and geopolitical uncertainties, Huang said that China should develop future industries, like automated new energy vehicles and humanoid robots for housekeeping services, and turn them into world-class and durable products, to be globally competitive.
Scientists have long known that wild seabirds ingest bits of plastic pollution as they feed, but a study Monday shows the tiny particles don't just clog or transit the stomach but can subvert its complex mix of good and bad bacteria too.

Plastic-infested digestive tracts from two species of Atlantic seabirds, northern fulmars and Cory's shearwaters, showed a decrease of mostly beneficial "indigenous" bacteria and more potentially harmful pathogens.

There was also an increase in antibiotic-resistant and plastic-degrading microbes, researchers reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Certain types of microplastic, the findings suggested, may be leeching chemicals that disrupt the birds' so-called gut microbiome.

Microplastics -- produced when plastic products break down in the environment -- are directly and indirectly ingested across most animal food chains.

They can be found in every corner of the world, from the deepest oceans trenches to top of Mount Everest.

In humans, they have been detected in the blood, breast milk and placentas.

The new study supports previous findings that prolonged ingestion of microplastics causes an imbalance of healthy and unhealthy bacteria in the stomach, a condition known as gut dysbiosis.

The implications are far-reaching.

Like humans, birds have evolved with a vast network of microbes, including bacteria, that live in our bodies in communities called microbiomes.

Some microbes cause diseases, but most exist as "friendly" bacteria with a critical role in digestion, immune response and other critical functions.

"There's a symbiosis that goes on -- and that's the case in the seabirds as well as in humans," lead author Gloria Fackelmann of Ulm University in Germany told AFP.

Little is known about the effects of individual microbes on the body.

But overall, a growing body of research points to the harmful impacts of microplastics on animal health.

The tiny particles -- less than five millimetres in diameter -- can cause cell death and allergic reactions in humans.

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Chemicals in microplastics have also been linked to increased risks of cancer, reproductive problems, and DNA mutations.

The authors hope the findings in seabirds will spur related studies for humans.

"If this manmade substance could alter our microbiome, I think that should make people think," said Fackelmann.

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"When will it end?" wrote first-grade teacher Melissa Tempel on Twitter after the Waukesha, Wisconsin school board banned rainbow-themed songs from an upcoming concert

Kevin Winter/Getty

A Wisconsin first-grade teacher is speaking out after multiple rainbow-themed songs were vetoed from her students' spring concert.

Melissa Tempel, a dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary, called out the Waukesha County board of education on Tuesday over the decision to ban the song "Rainbowland" by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, as well as the Muppet Movie classic "Rainbow Connection."

"My first graders were so excited to sing 'Rainbowland' for our spring concert, but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?" wrote Tempel on Twitter.

Related:What to Know About Florida's Controversial New Bill Banning LGBTQ Topics in Schools

School District of Waukesha Supt. James Sebert did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Tempel also shared lyrics from the 2017 collab featured on Cyrus' sixth studio album Younger Now, which include: "Living in a Rainbowland / The skies are blue and things are grand / Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise / Where we're free to be exactly who we are."

"Let's all dig down deep inside / Brush the judgment and fear aside," the song continues. "Make wrong things right / And end the fight / 'Cause I promise ain't nobody gonna win (come on)."

Related:Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton's Cutest Moments Together

Although Tempel said she was told that the song was banned because Cyrus, 30, "is controversial," she "thought for sure" the decision had to do with Parton's popularity with drag queens and the LGBTQ community.

"Oh well, I can't stop my students if they still sing 'Rainbowland.' It's a fun, catchy song!" she wrote.

On Thursday, Tempel gave an update that "Rainbow Connection" was unbanned thanks to emails from parents and local group Alliance for Education. "I don't know where I'd be without them," she wrote.

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Becky Gilligan of the Alliance for Education tells PEOPLE in a statement that the organization "continues to advocate for our community," adding: "This is the most recent decision by a school district administration intent on stifling the diversity and denying equality to the community it serves, further ostracizing Waukesha in the eyes of the nation."

Kevin Mazur/Getty Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton

Sarah Schindler, whose daughter is in Tempel's class, told the Los Angeles Times that the school board went through a "conservative flip" in recent years due to local outcry over COVID-19 policies.

"With that have come some policy changes that have been causing some controversy in our community," said Schindler. "One of those is a controversial topic policy saying that teachers can't have any kind of signage that could be deemed political. ... Discussion of pronouns with students was another thing that came up. And teachers aren't allowed to wear rainbows."

According to the School District of Waukesha's nondiscrimination statement, it "does not discriminate in its admissions, programs, activities, services or employment" on any basis prohibited under federal law, explicitly including "sexual orientation" in its list of protected groups.

RELATED VIDEO: Dolly Parton on Creating Hope & Giving Back: "Believe in Something Bigger Than Yourself"

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed H.B. 1557, largely scrutinized as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, into law last March, many states have adopted similar pieces of legislation making it illegal for teachers to discuss topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity with students.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

As of last month, a record 340 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation have been introduced across the United States in 2023, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Consequences of a drone explosion in the city of Kireevsk, Tula region of the Russian Federation, March 27, 2023

The drones flying (into Russian territory) are not yet the turning point, and I think theres more to come, he said.

Since Ukraine has many developments because it is Ukraine that has developed a fairly effective aiming system, which has no equivalent in Central Europe. In fact, it gives us hope that well have many more opportunities to destroy the enemy.

Read also: Unidentified, unmarked drone crashes in Russias Tula Oblast

The drone explosion in Russias Tula Oblast is only the beginning of confirmation of ideas expressed by Generals Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Mykhailo Zabrodskyi in an article last September, said Musienko.

I just want to remind you that there was an article last September written by Generals Zaluzhnyi and Zabrodskyi about increasing capabilities in 2023 to be able to strike enemy military facilities on the territory of Russia  not only in the operational rear, but also on the territory (deep inside) of Russia, the expert said.

And maybe now these facts are the increase in operational capabilities that they wrote about and counted on this year.

The enemy must understand that he will not be able to hide and be completely safe even on the territory of Russia, as long as hes waging war against Ukraine.

Read also: Overnight Russian suicide drone attack launched from Russias Bryansk Oblast, Air Force says

A huge explosion rang across the Russian town of Kireevsk in Tula Oblast on the afternoon of March 26, rattling windows and setting off car alarms.

Soon photos and footage appeared on social media of a five-meter-wide crater at what was said to be the impact site of an unidentified drone.

Other footage circulating on social media showed a local resident with what appears to be fragments of the drone.

Later Russias emergency services said that a drone with an explosive warhead had caused the blast.

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
Sarah Verardo is used to fielding hard questions from her daughters.

The North Carolina mom of three is married to Sgt. Michael Verardo, who was catastrophically wounded when he stepped on an IED while on patrol with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistans Arghandab River Valley in 2010. Michael lost his leg and has undergone more than 100 surgeries since returning from war.

But Verardo's middle daughter recently posed a question that left her speechless.

"Mary Scott asked me if I could go out to dinner with her dad soon. 'Like on a date mama!,'" Verardo, 38, shared in an emotional Instagram post. "I told her that because he goes to bed so early and the other challenges he faces, it didnt seem likely."

Little Mary Scott immediately replied that she was sad for her mom and wanted her parents to go on a date.

"I told her I dont need to go on a date, that I have hundreds of memories of dates stored up and they bring me such happiness," Verardo wrote. "'I have memories, I dont need dates,' I told her."

But the 7-year-old's reply left Verardo speechless.

"'I dont have memories of him mama,'" she said Mary Scott replied.

Verardo called her daughter's response a "knife to (the) heart."

"I work hard to look on every bright side, because there is almost always one. I stay in the light, because the sadness of what could have been is too much for me to comprehend," Verardo said. "But instead of dressing it up or playing it down, I validated her feelings. It IS sad. It IS hard. It DOES look different than wed all hoped."

Verardo tells TODAY.com that Michael's traumatic brain injury is not something she hides from their daughters.

When Michael was medically evacuated from Afghanistan to Walter Reed, there were so many unknowns Verardo says, adding that Michaels unit, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne, sent 24 men home as casualties and had a 60% Purple Heart rate.

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The unit was hit so hard that it had its own wing at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Michael was on imminent death status and miraculously survived that first night, Verardo says. "Then he survived another night and another night ... Before that deployment, things were seen as very black and white. When Michael got his deployment orders, we thought there were two options: He is going to war and either hell come home or he wont."

But its the middle ground that so few talk about.

"Candidly, Im still in it, Verardo tells TODAY.com as Michael's caretaker.

According to the CDC, more than 450,000 U.S. service members were diagnosed with a TBI between 2000 and 2021. TBI can cause a range of symptoms including memory loss, speech impairment, confusion, cognitive impairment and inability to regulate body temperature.

One day Michael is present  he knows our girls, he is alert and can hold a short conversation, Verardo says. Other days, were not so lucky. My girls are aware of so much and yet understand so little.

Verardo is the author of the children's book "Hero at Home" to help explain war injuries to kids.

I have difficult conversations with the girls about their dad, Verardo says. I, of course, keep the conversation positive, but children are very aware, and I cant explain away the reality.

Early on, Verardo worked with a child psychologist to help her explain difficult truths to little ears.

I often tell the girls, 'Dad has a sleepy brain  it seems like his brain and body keep changing but he still has the same heart,' she explains.

March marks Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Month, but for the Verardos, spreading awareness is a yearlong effort.

Last month, Michael went to the end of our street with a helper to walk with the girls from the bus stop, Verardo tells TODAY.com. I watched from the driveway as our second-grader, Grace, sprinted home in tears. Grace said two boys were walking behind them and one asked the other, 'Whats wrong with that man?'

"Ever protective of her daddy, Grace tried to explain her embarrassment, frustration, sadness and anger to me. 'It wasnt his leg, Mama. They asked what was wrong with him. Like maybe it was about how he was walking or staring or not talking.'"

After speaking to their mother, Verardo realized the boys could understand the leg injury but not the TBI, an injury that is far harder and more debilitating than anything that can be seen.

We are proud of Michael every day," Verardo says. "Hes had over a decade of speech, visual, physical, cognitive and occupational therapies and works hard every day to give it all he has."

Verardo tells TODAY.com that the families of TBI survivors often absorb the blast impact long after the service member is medically evacuated.

"TBI survivors are remarkable, and no two cases are the same," she says. Life looks very different than I thought it would, but I am so very grateful.

Related video:

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
FIRST ON FOX: The Democratic candidate for Mississippi governor crashed Republican Gov. Tate Reeves tour of tornado damage to campaign after storms ravaged the state and killed at least 25 people.

Reeves, alongside other invited officials that included federal lawmakers and Biden administration officials, traveled to Rolling Fork, Mississippi , to survey the damage caused by the deadly tornado last week.

Democrat gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley and his campaign staff also traveled to Rolling Fork  outside of his official constituency as Northern District commissioner  where his campaign staff took pictures of him and posted them to his campaign Twitter account.

RECOVERY EFFORTS CONTINUE IN TORNADO RAVAGED MISSISSIPPI WHERE AT LEAST 25 WERE KILLED

Democrat Mississippi gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley's campaign staff take photos of him at the tornado survey that featured elected officials though he was not invited to attend, according to a source.

"This morning, we toured Rolling Fork alongside [Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.,] and [Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas]," Presley wrote on his campaign Twitter account.

"The devastation here is beyond belief, but the resolve and toughness of the citizens of this town is even stronger," he continued. "#MississippiStrong."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

According to a person who was on the scene as part of the states official response, Presley "was not invited to the survey by the official organizers."

"Local officials who were part of the response were confused and offended that he showed up to draw attention to himself," the source said. "He appeared to be talking with Congressman Bennie Thompson most of the time, and was likely tipped off by him about a good chance for a photo op."

"It was inappropriate, awkward and embarrassing for his campaign staff to be racing around catching photos while officials who are actually engaged in supporting Rolling Fork were trying to do their jobs," the source continued, noting Reeves "had no campaign staff there, and neither did any of the invited officials."

"The campaign staff identified themselves as a campaign official to a federal staffer who was bewildered why they were there," the source added.

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According to a person who was on the scene as part of the states official response organized by Gov. Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Presley "was not invited to the survey by the official organizers."

The source also told Fox News Digital the "visit was organized and led by the Governors Office" and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), and that Presley and his staff "hung around the official press conference looking like he was trying to insert himself into that, until staff directed him and other bystanders to stand with the press."

A spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association (RGA) blasted Presley for campaigning off the death and destruction of the tornadoes.

"At a time when the rest of the state has come together to focus on helping their neighbors, Brandon Presley is focused on his own political ambition," the spokesperson said.

"He should be better than this," they added.

Presley's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

A spokesperson for the Republican Governors Association blasted Presley for campaigning off the death and destruction of the tornadoes.

The governor, meanwhile, has posted tornado recovery posts to his official Twitter account but has not posted anything to his Team Tate campaign account .

Help began pouring into one of the poorest regions of the U.S. after a deadly tornado tore a path of destruction for more than an hour across a long swath of Mississippi, even as furious new storms Sunday struck across the Deep South.

At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through more than a half-dozen towns late Friday. A man was also killed in Alabama after his trailer home flipped over several times.

"Everything I can see is in some state of destruction," said Jarrod Kunze, who drove to the hard-hit Mississippi town of Rolling Fork from his home in Alabama, ready to help "in whatever capacity Im needed."

Kunze was among volunteers working Sunday at a staging area, where bottled water and other supplies were being readied for distribution.

Search and recovery crews resumed the daunting task of digging through flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced.

The storm hit so quickly that the sheriff's department in Rolling Fork barely had time to set off sirens to warn the community of 2,000 residents, said Mayor Eldridge Walker.

"And by the time they initiated the siren, the storm had hit and it tore down the siren thats located right over here," Walker said, referring to an area just blocks from downtown.

The mayor said his town was devastated.
"You can replace it," William Barnes says of the Silver City house he shared with his wife Carolyn before it was destroyed by a tornado on Friday. "But if I was gone, you could not replace me"

AP Photo/Michael Goldberg

There's nothing left of the home William Barnes shares with his wife Carolyn in Silver City, Miss., after tornadoes swept through the area on Friday evening, killing at least 23.

"Everything is gone," Barnes, a 58-year-old supervisor at a catfish processing plant, tells PEOPLE. "It's all gone."

Barnes heard there were tornado warnings when he was at work on Friday, but he and his wife didn't turn on the news when they came home that evening. They ate catfish and green salad for dinner, then Carolyn took a shower and spoke to her sister on the phone.

"Then the tornado horn went off," Barnes says of hearing sirens blare. "They said we got five minutes to get out."

After grabbing his wallet and keys, the couple quickly left the double-wide mobile home, which Barnes says they purchased less than a year ago and just recently furnished, to take shelter at his mother's brick house next door.

As soon as they got there and sat down with his mom, the lights went out.

William Barnes

Related:At Least 23 Dead, Dozens of Others Injured After Tornadoes Hit Mississippi: 'Loss Will Be Felt'

"We got in the hallway," Barnes says. "And about that time, that's when this storm hit. The windows blew out my mother's house and everything. Then after that, the door came [off]. I had to actually turn my back and stop the door from hitting my wife."

Just as quickly as the storm started, it was over, Barnes tells PEOPLE. When the rain stopped, he took a flashlight and went outside to to check on his home but only saw wreckage. "I went next door and found out  oh, it was over with," he says. "Our house and everything was gone."

Still, there's plenty to be grateful for: "We were blessed with our life," Barnes adds. "Everybody was saved."

William Barnes

Barnes spent all day Saturday sifting through the debris, looking for anything he and Carolyn can salvage. They found some important documents, old photos and children's diplomas. He planned to go back Sunday to see if he could find clothing.

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While searching, they began to comprehend the power of the storm. "My house is spread over a block," Barnes says.

Related:Mississippi Couple Took Shelter in a Car Wash During Deadly Tornado: 'Everything was Flying'

Neighbors, he adds, have found parts of his house's frame inside their home "Some of my house is inside their house," he says. "I'm starting over from scratch."

Even at his mother's brick home, where Barnes and his wife survived the storm, the windows were blown out and the carport was destroyed.

William Barnes

"It's not safe. She's staying with my sister," Barnes says of his mom. "You can't stay there."

Barnes says for now he's focused on what he hasn't lost  like his family.

"I don't believe I really took all this in yet. It seems like to me that when it hits me, it probably will hit me hard, but I'm just trying to be strong," he says. "My daughters came down, you know, I have four kids. I have three daughters and a son. And so they came down and they're trying to help. I'm trying to be strong for them cause they are upset. I understand everybody gets upset about stuff, but like I said, it's just material things. I'd rather for you to see me than see the house."

William Barnes

"You can replace it," he adds of his house and the new furniture that was destroyed. "But if I was gone, you could not replace me."

Related:Storm Chaser Volunteers to Build House for Mississippi Family He Rescued: 'Kind of a Miracle'

Silver City, where the Barnes home was destroyed, and other rural towns in Mississippi, like Rolling Fork, were the most impacted by the storm, which are also blamed for at least one death in Alabama.

William Barnes

President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for federal aid to assist in Mississippi's recovery efforts.

Barnes wanted to share his story to help others. "Anytime you see a warning for a tornado, take cover," he says. "The life you save will be your own."

"I'm grateful to be alive," Barnes adds. "I'm real grateful for that. Because it could have been different."

Some of the ways you can help tornado victims include donating to the United Way of West Central Mississippi, which is focusing on water donations and financial support, as well as the American Red Cross, which is helping provide food at a number of local shelters.

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On Wednesday (March 8), a white Mississippi news anchor for WLBT named Barbie Bassett recited Snoop Doggs popular catchphrase, Fo shizzle, my nizzle, on-air. The commentary was in reference to a story about the Death Row Records owners latest business venture, Snoop Cali Blanc.

Fellow WLBT anchor Wilson Stribling joked that a colleague may get a Snoop Dogg-inspired tattoo, following in the likes of Martha Stewart. To which Bassett replied, Fo shizzle, my nizzle. Meteorologist Patrick Ellis was visibly stunned after the comment was uttered.

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Weeks later, according to Clarion Ledger, Bassett may have been fired due to the racially insensitive remarks. Though the colloquialism is common African-American Vernacular English, it translates to for sure, my n***a.

Longtime Mississippi news anchor appears to no longer be employed with the news team after saying, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle" on airhttps://t.co/O5tFTsac1g pic.twitter.com/hs01IyVQaL  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 24, 2023

This isnt the first instance where Bassett has had to apologize for a racial comment. She was reprimanded back in October 2022 after calling Carmen Poesher Black colleaguegrandmother a grandmammy live on air. Bassett later issued an apology.

She stated, Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe. Now, I would like to apologize to you. That is not the heart of who I am. And for that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness and I apologize to everyone I have offended. I will learn from this and participate in training so I can better understand our history and our people. I cant mend the hurt my comment caused. I pray youll forgive me and that youll extend grace through this awful mistake.

Neither the Mount Westmore rapper or WLBT have made a public comment on the matter, but its Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry shared on social media, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters. The Clarion Ledger also reported that Bassett is no longer listed as part of their news team.

Click here to read the full article.
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV)  A woman was arrested after she allegedly shot and killed a man on Facebook Live in Mississippi on Saturday.

Officials with the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office (LCSO) said deputies responded to a domestic violence call in Columbus shortly before 8 a.m.

They found that a 28-year-old man, who lived at the home, had died from a single gunshot wound.

Florida woman charged after boyfriend dies in suitcase

According to LCSO officials, the victim and 28-year-old Kadejah Michelle Brown were in an argument that turned physical. Brown then allegedly shot the victim, which officials said was captured on Facebook Live.

They said evidence was found at the scene, including a handgun.

Authorities confirmed the man was Browns husband, who was trying to leave the home.

Brown was arrested and charged with murder. She was booked into the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.

Florida dad allegedly shoots, kills daughters ex-boyfriend after domestic dispute: police

A bond wasnt set for Brown Saturday.

There was a history of domestic violence between Brown and the victim. This was a tragic and senseless murder, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim. Fortunately, Brown is in custody, and we look forward to the criminal justice system holding her accountable, said Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A Mississippi woman allegedly fatally shot her husband while streaming on Facebook Live, authorities say.

Lowndes County Sheriff's Office responded to a domestic violence call at 500 Green Tree Drive around 7:42 a.m., Saturday, according to a press release. When they arrived, they found a man dead from a single gunshot wound.

Deputies arrested Kadejah Michelle Brown, 28, after believing she shot and killed her husband. She is charged with murder.

The sheriff's office only said the victim was 28 years old, but the coroner's office confirmed to the Commercial Dispatch his name was Jeremy Brown, a resident of the home. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

TORNADO LEVELS HOMES IN GEORGIA, 'PEOPLE TRAPPED' AS SEVERE WEATHER PILES ON REGION POST-MISSISSIPPI DISASTER

Investigators believe the couple was involved in an argument that turned physical. The incident was captured on Facebook Live.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Only the audio part of the shooting went on Facebook, the Commercial Dispatch states.

"The phone had been thrown down, and then you heard the shot," Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins told the newspaper.

A 9 mm handgun was recovered at the scene along with other physical evidence, the sheriff's office said.

CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF BILOXI NAMES PRINCIPAL MISSISSIPPI SUPERINTENDENT OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Sheriff's deputies in Mississippi say a 9 mm handgun was recovered at the scene along with other physical evidence.

Brown was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center, where she is being held awaiting her initial appearance. No bond has been set at this time.

The incident remains under investigation.

"There was a history of domestic violence between Brown and the victim. This was a tragic and senseless murder and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim. Fortunately, Brown is in custody and we look forward to the criminal justice system holding her accountable," Hawkins said.

"There was a history of domestic violence between Brown and the victim," Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said.

Similar violence against family members has happened across the U.S. this year.

Earlier this month, an Alabama man was arrested after being accused of killing his parents.

Trinell Brown, 25, allegedly admitted the crime to witnesses, Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.

Investigators believe Brown went to his parents' residence to "confront them about an ongoing family dispute," before he allegedly shot and killed them.
Molly-Mae Hague has opened up about a little-discussed side effect of giving birth  constipation.

The former Love Island star gave birth to her and Tommy Furys daughter Bambi in January. She recently posted her first YouTube vlog in a month to share updates about her postpartum progress with her 1.7 million subscribers.

Hague, 23, revealed that she experienced severe constipation for nine days after her daughter was born, describing it as harder than my labour.

I know that sounds crazy, she added. I was actually at one point in the shower with [sister] Zoe stood outside, and I was crouching down in the shower that constipated that I was screaming for her to call me an ambulance.

It had been probably about nine days and I hadnt been for a poo, and the feeling was taking over my whole body and I was literally going green, and I physically couldnt [go].

From the vaginal birth I had, I was so messed up down there in that region. I had lost all ability down there to push, Hague explained.

She added that other mothers watching her vlog will hopefully be able to relate to her experience.

Constipation is a common issue for new mothers and typically lasts for a few days after birth, the NHS said.

According to the Baby Center, trouble with bowel movement could be due to any number of reasons, including a sore perineum (the skin between the genitals and anus), pain medication, changes in sleep patterns, increased stress and anxiety, dehydration and diet changes.

Hague also spoke candidly about how her life has changed since becoming a mother.

(@mollymae / Instagram)

I would say that becoming a mum is the best thing thats ever happened to me, but its also the hardest thing thats happened to me  like, wholeheartedly, I have found it really, really hard, she said.

The one word to describe the last two months would be overwhelming. I have been so overwhelmed every single day. You almost cant believe the 360[degree turn] that your life has taken.

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At another point in the 11-minute vlog, Hague said she didnt feel like myself and had been filming the video for two hours without much success.

Ive just been trying to talk and nothing is coming out. I feel like what Im saying isnt making sense and my brain is jumbled and my brain just isnt my brain anymore. I just dont feel like myself, you know? she admitted.

Hague has navigated the first two months of Bambis life largely by herself, as partner Fury was in training for his big fight against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul last month.

Fury won the fight in Saudi Arabia on 26 February and dedicated his win to Hague and Bambi. He previously admitted in a video before the fight that Hague had been looking after their baby on her own because he was unable to break from his training for the serious fight.

He has since returned to the house they own together in the UK. The couple purchased their first home together in March 2022.
You are here: Business

A Boeing 767 freighter carrying 45 tonnes of goods is seen at the Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, March 19, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]



SF Airlines, China's largest air-cargo carrier, has expanded the size of its freighter fleet to 80, the cargo carrier announced Sunday.

A Boeing 767-300 widebody freighter arrived on Sunday at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport and joined the fleet of SF Airlines, the aviation branch of China's leading courier enterprise SF Express, said the cargo carrier.

Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of SF Express. It has made stable progress over the past decades by expanding its global express services to 84 countries and regions.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, SF Airlines was founded in 2009 as China's first private air express carrier. Around 30 percent of its freighters are widebodies.

The expanding fleet helps SF Airlines to enhance the air express capacities on the network at home and worldwide. It is currently operating 150 cargo flights each day on average.

Intensifying efforts to promote high-quality development, SF Airlines will continuously expand the fleet size and strengthen its air-logistics service capacities, said the cargo carrier.
Fox News

A mother visiting Nashville took over the Fox News airwaves on Monday afternoon to call out the countrys lack of gun safety as yet another mass shooting unfolded at a Nashville school.

As reporters and TV crews waited for a police press conference to start, the woman walked up to the microphone to say she was in town on a family vacation with her son and had survived a mass shooting last July.

Arent you guys tired of covering this? Arent you guys tired of being here and having to cover all these mass shootings? the woman, who said shes been lobbying in D.C. for safer gun laws, said.

How is this still happening? How are our children still dying and why are we failing them?, she continued. ...These mass shootings will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass gun safety legislation.

When the right-wing network cut away, even their reporter agreed. The woman said it quite succinctly, he said. Arent you tired of this? Yes we are tired of this.

Rifle-Toting Woman Kills 6 in Nashville Christian School Shooting

The woman was identified by local reporters as Ashbey Beasley, who survived the July 4 parade shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. She was a block away from Covenant School on Monday, visiting relatives, when she heard shots ring out, she said.

Beasley told USA Today last year that she turned to lobbying lawmakers as a form of therapy after she and her son were caught up in the Highland Park massacre. Theres no absolute answer thats going to prevent every single gun death. But we have to do everything in our power to do the things that we know will work, she said at the time.

Authorities said three children and three adults were killed by a female gunman in the shooting at Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, on Monday morning.

The shooter, a 28-year-old woman armed with at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun, was also killed by cops as they arrived on the scene, a police spokesperson said.

Story continues

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GoFundMe

Three young sisters who disappeared from their Texas home last year before searchers found their bodies in a nearby pond had not drowned, but were strangled to death before being dumped in the water, according to local authoritiesand the childrens mom says she suspected foul play from the jump.

Fuck everyone elses feelings, I want answers, Shommaonique Oliver told The Daily Beast in her first interview.

When the remains of ZiAriel Oliver, 9, Amiyah Hughes, 8, and Temari Oliver, 5, were found on July 30, 2022, the circumstances surrounding the tragic discovery were at first unclear.

That is unknown, whether they were swimmers or not, Lieutenant Game Warden Jason Jones told Texarkana NBC affiliate TKAL at the time. None of them had life jackets on, so I dont know how strong of swimmers they were or if [they] were swimmers at all.

On Friday, Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton announced that the girls had lacerations on their faces and died by strangulation, and were in fact the victims of a homicide. Olivers 31-year-old cousin was babysitting the kids and their three siblings, who were unharmed, at the time while Oliver was at work.

Oliver, 28, got a call from the cousin, who was using a neighbors phone, at around 9 p.m. on July 29, she told The Daily Beast. He told her simply that my kids were missing, Oliver recalled.

He didnt say how many, he just said missing, Oliver said on Sunday. So as Im driving home, Im calling 911something that he should have done from the jump, and then call me.

Deputies from the Cass County Sheriff's Office, wardens from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and fire rescue crews from Cass County Emergency Services District No. 2 mounted a search for the girls. They discovered a pair of shoes at the edge of a pond roughly 200 yards away from Olivers home, according to Cass County Sheriff Larry Rowe. (My kids would never go into a field barefooted, Oliver told The Daily Beast.) A dive team from neighboring Bowie County was brought in, and the childrens bodies were recovered in the early morning of July 30.

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Now, Olivers cousin, who did not answer phone calls or respond to email requests for comment, is being prevented from speaking to investigators by his motherOlivers auntaccording to Oliver.

Why wont [she] let him talk to the police, or take him down to the police? Oliver said. ...All I want is justice for my babies.

The cousin, for his part, has a relatively minor criminal history that includes misdemeanor weapons, narcotics, and criminal mischief arrests.

Things are difficult for Oliver in the aftermath of her loss, though she said she is holding okay, I guess.

Not a day goes by that she doesnt think about ZiAriel, Amiyah, and Temari, she continued, saying, All I ever tried to do was work and be a good mother for my six kids.

Now, Oliver said, shes barely eking out a living as she continues to mourn. Shes bringing in some money at the moment, designing and selling t-shirts.

At the same time, since her story hit the national news, Oliver claims she has been regularly harassed by total strangers.

People call Oliver from fake numbers and message her on Facebook from burner accounts, calling her a deadbeat mom, saying she got what [she] deserves, and that her kids are better off dead, she said.

This world dont give a damn about nobody but they self, Oliver shot back on Sunday. They need to put all that energy into finding out what happen[ed] to my babies, and not trying to come at me about my kids.

Oliver is trying to raise money to make ends meet, via GoFundMe, which has generated a little over $18,000 to date.

Shelton, the Cass County DA, said on Friday that investigators have interviewed numerous witnesses, and that DNA testing continues. No suspects have been named, and no possible motive for the alleged triple homicide has been revealed.

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Ashbey Beasley speaking to reporters Fox News screenshot / Via Twitter: @BGrueskin

A mom who survived the July 4 shooting at a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, with her then-6-year-old son found herself once again at the scene of a mass shooting on Monday.

Ashbey Beasley asked a powerful question to reporters outside the deadly shooting at a school in Nashville.

"Aren't you guys tired of being here and covering this?" Beasley asked. "Aren't you guys tired of being here and having to cover all of these mass shootings?"

The Fox News control room doesnt quite know what to do with this mom whos speaking so eloquently about gun violence (good TV!) but wants stronger gun-safety laws (cant have that!) Via @atrupar 05:56 PM - 27 Mar 2023

On Monday morning, a shooter killed three children and three adults at the Covenant School, a private Christian grade school. Beasley, who said she was in Tennessee to visit her sister-in-law, heard about the mass shooting and passed the reunification center.

And that's when Fox News and other stations caught her interaction with reporters on camera. Beasley told reporters that since surviving the Highland mass shooting in July, which left seven people dead and 48 more injured, she has been lobbying in Washington, DC, for gun control, meeting with more than 130 lawmakers.

"How is this still happening?" Beasley said. "How are our children still dying, and why are we failing them? Gun violence is the No. 1 killer of children and teens. It has overtaken cars.

"These shootings and these mass shootings will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass gun safety legislation."

In an interview with USA Today on Monday, Beasley said she became drawn to activism after seeing how her son was struggling to cope with the trauma of the shooting.

"The activism has sort of become my therapy," Beasley told USA Today. "There's no absolute answer that's going to prevent every single gun death. But we have to do everything in our power to do the things that we know will work."

Story continues

On Monday afternoon, Beasley was tweeting updates about the Nashville shooting. Her Twitter feed is full of calls for gun control and updates of her meetings with lawmakers, including one with Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz after a January incident where a toddler was captured on surveillance video playing with a loaded gun.

"I chatted w/@mattgaetz today," Beasley tweeted. "While Im concerned that he said he doesnt believe in seat belts, Im relieved that he agrees that a diapered 4-year-old year with a gun is horrible. That is common ground & we should work on #gunsafety solutions together!"

Shortly after the mass shooting in Highland Park, she attended a congressional hearing with gun manufacturers where the role of the firearms industry was being investigated for the country's high rates of gun violence.

"The idea that we, as a country, cannot go to a mall without the idea creeping in the back of our heads that someone could shoot us is unacceptable," Beasley told Nightline at the time. "That we are scared to send our children to school with fear that they won't come home is unacceptable."

More on this
LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP)  More than 180 disoriented Rohingya Muslims, some of whom needed medical attention, arrived in the early morning in Indonesias northernmost province of Aceh, an official said Monday.

From the information we received, the boat took them and told them that they have arrived at their destination and left them at the beach, said Andy Rahmansyah, East Aceh police chief.

He said the authorities are still collecting more information and giving medical aid to some of the refugees.

Ali Hussein, one of the refugees, said the boat took them from Bangladesh before it fled and left them in the dark after the group disembarked to the beach.

It was difficult there. When we were gathered, we got offered a rate for the boat and we agreed to go to a far place, whether it is Indonesia or Malaysia, Hussein said.

The group of 184, including women and children, arrived by fishing boat at Kuala Matang Peulawi, a coastal area in Peureulak subdistrict in East Aceh.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh after an army-led crackdown in August 2017. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes.

Most of the refugees who left the camps by sea have attempted to reach Muslim-majority Malaysia, but many have ended up in Indonesia along the way.

More than 500 Rohingya landed in Aceh in 2022. The most recent group was in February, when 71 people landed at a beach in Aceh Besar district. In early January, 184 weak and hungry Rohingya refugees landed on Kuala Gigieng beach, also in Aceh Besar district.

___

Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
Cairo  Archaeologists have announced the discovery of more than 2,000 rams' heads at the temple of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II  a find that the man in charge of the dig said surprised even veteran Egyptologists and showed the endurance of Ramses' impact, as the skulls were left there a millennium after the pharaoh's rule.

A mummified ram's head, discovered in a storeroom in the ancient temple of Ramses II in Abydos, Egypt, is seen in a photo provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, March 25, 2023. / Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

A team of archaeologists with New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) made the discovery in the city of Abydos, one of the oldest cities and richest archaeological sites in Egypt. It's located about seven miles west of the Nile River in Upper Egypt, some 270 miles south of Cairo.

The ram skulls were found stacked in the northern precinct of the temple, said Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which announced the discovery on Saturday.

"We came across some random pieces of skulls first," Dr. Sameh Iskander, head of the ISAW mission, told CBS News. "We didn't know what they were, but as we continued our excavation and exploration, all of sudden we found a whole area filled with ram skulls."

Ram skulls, discovered in a storeroom in the ancient Temple of Ramses II in Abydos, Egypt, are seen in a photo provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, March 25, 2023. / Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

"These are obviously offerings that were made to the temple of Ramses during the Ptolomaic period, which shows even 1,000 years after Ramses II, that he was still revered." Ramses II ruled over ancient Egypt for about 60 years before his death in 1213 BC.

Iskander explained that some of the ram heads were still mummified, while "others could have been mummified but the wrappings or the covers of mummifications were not there anymore."

The skulls were found among other objects, from papyrus to leather artifacts and statues, about six feet under the contemporary surface of the desert in what had been a storeroom of the ancient temple.

The large number of skulls found in the same place was "surprising even for Egyptologists," Iskander said.

Almost 2,000 ram skulls discovered at the temple of Ramses II, in Abydos, Egypt, are seen in a photo shared by archaeologist Esam Shehab, of New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW). The discovery was announced on March 25, 2023 by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. / Credit: Esam Shehab/New York University Institute for the Study of the Ancient World

"We are sure they were all dumped at the same time, so this was not an accumulation of skulls that were brought in over the years, but they came from somewhere else and were dumped into this magazine at some point for some reason which we don't know yet," he told CBS News. "It is significant because this place where they ended up is not just any place in the temple, so they were brought there for a reason. They were not just dumped in the desert but were inside this revered domain of the temple."

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The archeologists also unearthed a large structure made of mudbricks with walls about 16 feet thick dating back about 4,200 years, to ancient Egypt's Sixth Dynasty.

"It is a major structure that will change our concept of the landscape of Abydos. This wall was built for something, it was at least 30 feet high." Iskander said. "We don't know exactly what this wall is. It's possible that this was a wall of the antient Abydos, which was never found. Could it be something else? Maybe, that's what we are working on now."

A large wall made of mudbricks, with walls about 16 feet thick, dating back about 4,200 years to ancient Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, is seen where it was discovered at the temple of Ramses II in Abydos, Egypt, per a March 25, 2023 announcement by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. / Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

The mission also found other mummified animal remains, including dogs, goats, cows and gazelles.

Beside the massive structure, one very small object also captured Iskandar's attention.

"We also found a small bronze bell in excellent condition with the clapper, so we can hear the same sound of the ancient time. I was very happy to find it," he said. "It was probably used to mark a herd."

A small bronze bell, discovered in the temple of Ramses II in Abydos, Egypt, is seen in a photo provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, March 25, 2023. / Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities

The head of the American mission, whose team has worked at the Abydos site since 2008, spoke to CBS News after traveling back to New York. He said a lot of research was still needed to find explanations for the latest discoveries.

"I hate to keep saying 'we don't know,' but this is the nature of archaeology. We keep working on findings that might lead to something, or not," he said, adding that he and his team may even need to "leave it to the next generation  they may have a better idea or other discoveries."

"Every year we have lots of finds and we come back very happy with the new finds, but we also come back with a huge sack full of questions," he said.

Israel protests put pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu over controversial judicial reform plan

Donald Trump speaks about possible indictment, Ron DeSantis at 2024 campaign rally

After deadly tornadoes ravage Mississippi, storm chaser describes what he saw in Rolling Fork
isla bryson - Mike Gibbons

More than 60 per cent of transgender prisoners behind bars in Scotland only began transitioning after they were locked up, it has emerged.

Data obtained under Freedom of Information laws state there were, at the start of last month, 19 transgender prisoners in custody, 12 of whom (63 per cent) are recorded as beginning their transition after their date of admission.

There were seven trans women - biological men identifying as female - being allowed to serve their sentences in the womens estate, despite the public and political outcry this year over transgender double rapist Isla Bryson.

Bryson was initially sent to Cornton Vale womens prison near Stirling to await sentencing after being convicted but was later moved to the male estate.

The 31-year-old only began transitioning from male to female in 2020 after being charged with raping two women. Bryson was known as Adam Graham at the time of the offences.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) said in their response that of those seven, less than five individuals in our care were recorded as beginning their transition after their date of conviction.

The new revelations have sparked fresh condemnation of the SPSs controversial transgender prisoner policy and fuelled claims that prisoners transitioning after being sent to prison are gaming the system for their own ends.

Kenny MacAskill, the Alba Party MP and a former SNP justice secretary, said: This is far from reassuring and confirms that self-ID is being used to avoid going to male prisons by male prisoners who have convictions for very serious crimes.

The SPS policy is currently being reviewed. A series of measures were brought in on an interim basis following an outcry over the Bryson case.

Potential impact on female prisoners

This means that initially, new prisoners are sent to jails that correspond with their biological sex though they can be moved later following reviews. There were claims that another violent prisoner, Tiffany Scott, was also set to be moved to a womens jail before the overhaul.

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Teresa Medhurst, chief executive of the SPS, said that of the seven trans women in female jails, four had been convicted and three were being held on remand.

She added: The four sentenced individuals all had an index offence in the non-sexual crimes of violence group. The remanded individuals are alleged to have committed offences in the non-sexual crimes of violence group and the crimes against society group.

Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory MSP, said: That the majority of these prisoners decided to transition only after being sent to prison is of obvious suspicion and concern.

Following the Isla Bryson and Tiffany Scott scandals, the SNP should deliver their transgender prison review as soon as possible.

A fundamental consideration must be the motivation of those claiming to be transgender and the potential impact on female prisoners, many of whom are vulnerable and have suffered from male violence.
Leeds Bradford Airport, United Kingdom - 6 May, 2022: Various Aircraft parked up. - Bradley Caslin

If you fancy some surfing for the weekend, you will soon be able to avoid the snarl-ups on the A30 by hopping on a plane from London to Cornwall.

Or alternatively, fly from Bournemouth to Edinburgh if you want to catch the festival later in the summer. Or from Belfast to Cardiff if you're keen to watch some rugby without the hassle and expense of a long journey by sea and train. From this weekend, the main full-service and budget airlines are all launching lots of new routes connecting different parts of the UK.

The reason? From April 1st, Air Passenger Duty will be halved on purely domestic flights, taking the levy down from 13 a ticket to just 6.50. But hold on. If a tax cut can stimulate growth, demand and jobs in the airline industry couldnt the same trick work elsewhere?

Cut spirits levies to stimulate the booming whisky industry. Or slash business rates to pull the High Street out of its endless decline. The list goes on and on.

In reality, we have seen time and time again how tax cuts stimulate growth and create new jobs. Perhaps at some point the Treasury might even notice  and start applying them more broadly.

It would make a good pub quiz question, and one that is likely to catch out even the most committed political nerds. Name one tax that Rishi Sunak actually cut either as Chancellor or Prime Minister.

In the year to March 2022, Sunak imposed tax rises on a similar scale to those brought in during a decade of Gordon Brown's chancellorship. In the year since, he has hiked corporation tax and introduced an energy profits levy.

But we can at least credit Sunak with halving Air Passenger Duty on domestic flights, with the reduction coming into force this weekend. It will bring down costs at a time when many British tourists were lamenting the price of air travel both at home and abroad.

The levy, which is charged on a per passenger basis, has always had a distortionary effect, as comparative travel methods are not subject to a similar duty on their passengers. The reduction is welcome, and is a welcome departure from France's brutal ban on domestic flights between cities linked by a train journey of less than two and a half hours.

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You could criticise that decision on environmental grounds, and indeed lots of green lobby groups are already outraged by it.

They have a point. This government is so fixated on arbitrary climate targets that it is willing to contemplate power cuts rather than drilling for more oil in the North Sea or allowing shale oil and gas to to be developed. And yet it is offering a tax reduction that will make flying across the country in a carbon-belching Boeing 737 cheaper.

Still, no one ever accused this administration of logical consistency, so we can put that point to one side. And while it has previously been claimed that APD is a Pigouvian tax which allows passengers to offset their environmental impact, the levy was not originally intended as such. It has always simply been an additional revenue stream for the government.

Despite environmental concerns, one thing is clear. The cut to APD has persuaded the airlines that lots more routes between British cities will now be commercially viable.

The regional airline Eastern Airways is now flying from Newcastle to Aberdeen and Humberside to Newquay. In a submission to the Treasury arguing for the cut, and released though the Freedom of Information Act, easyJet argued our analysis shows that if domestic APD is reduced by 50 per cent, this would support an overall 31 per cent increase in domestic volume, to 10.6 million passengers.

Others are even more upfront about it. The halving of APD on domestic flights from Apr 23 has allowed Ryanair to add more domestic routes to our UK schedule for Summer 2023 London Stansted to Belfast [and] Cornwall and Edinburgh, argued the airline's reliably opinionated boss Michael OLeary as the company unveiled a range of new domestic flights for this summer.

Halving the tax on domestic flights has already led to the introduction of new routes, opened up much-needed space for smaller regional airlines to expand, created new opportunities for pilots and cabin crew, and widened choice for customers.

CEO of the low coast aireline Ryanair Michael O Leary speaks during a press conference, in London, on March 2, 2022 announcuing the 14 new routes from the three London airports. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images) - TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

It would be hard to think of a clearer, practical example of how tax cuts stimulate growth.

We could surely take that lesson, and apply it elsewhere. It is not as if there is any shortage of candidates. We could, for example, beef up the planned investment zones, which have been watered down so much by the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as to be virtually meaningless, so that companies paid a lower rate of corporation tax if they based themselves in an area where the government wanted to boost growth.

It is reasonable to assume that plenty of small businesses and entrepreneurs would be happy to move to the Humberside or North Wales if they paid 15 per cent in tax, the global minimum, rather than the new 25 per cent rate.

We could scrap the BBC Licence Fee, and allow the corporation to be turned into, for example, a subscriber-owned mutual.

We could make business rates affordable again, or fundamentally reform the tax to remove its perverse incentives and prevent High Streets from being cluttered up with charity shops while allowing entrepreneurial retailers to try out new formats. The list goes on and on.

The important point is this. We have seen the power of specific, targeted tax cuts to create new industries, to stimulate demand, to help consumers, and to increase job opportunities, time and again.

We saw it with the launch of the entrepreneurs rate of capital gains tax, which led to a significant increase in the number of new businesses, and with the tax breaks on venture funding that unlocked lots of new money for startups and scale-ups. And we will see it again this weekend with new air routes connecting different parts of the UK. The hope is that, eventually, the Treasury will sit up and take notice.
An entrance to a Silicon Valley Bank Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

First Citizens Bank has agreed to purchase all of failed California lender Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans plus a big share of its assets, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said late Sunday. All 17 Silicon Valley Bank branches will open Monday as First Citizens banks, operating as "Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank," the FDIC said.

The purchase of SVB is the latest effort by federal regulators and private banks to stem the flight of cash from midsize lenders after the March 10 collapse of SVB, based in Santa Clara, and the subsequent teetering of San Francisco-based Signature Bank. The current banking crisis centers on regional banks with fewer in $250 billion assets, below the threshold of higher scrutiny by bank regulators. The FDIC said last week that New York Community Bancorp had agreed to buy "substantially all" of Signature Bank's deposits and some of its loans.

First Citizens, a regional lender based in Raleigh, North Carolina, will buy $119 billion in SVB deposits and $72 billion in loans, at a discount of $16.5 billion. Another $90 billion of SVB securities and other assets will remain under FDIC control. First Citizens, the 30th biggest U.S. bank with $109 billion in assets before the deal, will rise to No. 25, The Wall Street Journal reports. The FDIC said it will share First Citizens losses or potential gains from SVB's commercial loans, and forecast that SVB's collapse will cost the federal Deposit Insurance Fund about $20 billion.

"We look forward to building relationships with our new customers and positioning our company for continued success as we affirm our commitment to support the integrity of our nation's banking system," First Citizens CEO Frank Holding Jr. said in a news release.

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Maria Lourdes Ortiz, the mother of Alexander Bello-Ortiz, speaks to the media with her husband and Alex's stepfather, Harold Dolph, and attorney John Phillips, Monday, March 27, 2023, during a press conference in front of the Daytona Beach Police Department.

A mother brought her frustration and sorrow to the doorsteps of the Daytona Beach Police Department Monday as she demanded justice for the death of her son, an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student who died of a gunshot wound in 2020.

Alexander Bello-Ortiz's death was ruled a suicide. But his mother, Maria Lourdes Ortiz, filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year in federal court in Orlando alleging that Bello-Ortiz's roommate, John Burlein, shot and killed him.

Burlein has denied responsibility in his attorney's response to the lawsuit. His attorneys have not responded to an email from The News-Journal seeking comment.

While the Daytona Beach Police Department has reopened the case, Lourdes Ortiz told reporters Monday that she feared nothing would be done.

The Daytona Police Department has allowed the people responsible for my sons death to escape their responsibility, Lourdes Ortiz said just outside police headquarters as a couple of detectives watched nearby.

Her attorney, John Phillips of Jacksonville, said his office is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible.

Phillips said the family has not received any information from the police department regarding the case.

Attorney John Phillips speaks to the media as he stands with Alexander Bello-Ortiz's parents, his investigator and many supporters, Monday, March 27, 2023, during a press conference in front of the Daytona Beach Police Department.

As the mother spoke, friends and family stood behind her holding signs and a large banner that read, Justice for Alex Bello. Another sign said, We wont be silent. Some of the signs had a picture of a smiling Bello-Ortiz in his cadet uniform.

Besides frustration with the police department, Lourdes Ortiz expressed sorrow at the loss of her son, who was her only child.

Suicide case reopened:Daytona Beach Police reopen 2020 case of ERAU student's suicide

Sheriff welcomes accused:New Jersey man who issued death threat to sheriff extradited to Volusia County

I wont be able to see (his) accomplishment, Lourdes Ortiz said. I wont be able to see him grow up. I wont be able to see even my grandkids. I wont be able to see what he could have been, because his life was taken. And, unfortunately, the Daytona Police Department is endorsing this behavior by not holding the people responsible accountable.

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Alexander Bello-Ortiz

She said that Bello-Ortiz was an Eagle Scout and a United States Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet.

When asked for Police Chief Jakari Youngs response to the mothers comments, police spokeswoman Carrie McCallister wrote that the case was reopened last year when police were advised of new evidence.

At this time, it is considered an active death investigation, McCallister wrote.

McCallister did not respond to a follow-up email again asking for Young's comments regarding the mothers statements.

The lawsuit against John Burlein

Lourdes Ortiz and her husband, Bello-Ortiz's stepfather, Harold Dolph, filed the lawsuit against Burlein; his father, Joseph Burlein; Gregory Lynn Trax; Brenden Tyler Rubio; Henry Lax; and Robert Kramer. The lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages.

John Burlein and Kramer were Ortiz's roommates at a home at 941 Vernon St. in Daytona Beach. Ortizs parents had purchased the home as an investment for themselves, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that John Burlein and his friend, Lax, were caught on a house security camera conspiring to break into Bello-Ortiz's room and steal a rifle Bello-Ortiz had been keeping for an acquaintance.

On Sept. 6, 2020, around 11:43 a.m., roommate Kramer went out for a jog and John Burlein stayed home. Within minutes, Bello-Ortiz and Burlein began to argue, escalating to a physical confrontation, the lawsuit states.

Alex pleaded to John to get off him, according to the lawsuit.

John taunted Alex with a gun, and then at 11:56 a.m., John Burlein shot Bello-Ortiz in the head, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that audio recordings from Ring cameras recorded an exchange between John Burlein and another person, believed to be his father, on speaker phone.

"On the phone, moments after (the shooting) occurred, John admitted to his father that he shot Alex, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that Joseph Burlein directed John to reposition the gun and tell an accompanying story to make Alexs shooting look like a suicide.

Did you (expletive) kill him? one person asked.

I did.

The lawsuit states that the Burleins conspired to mislead investigators and make it appear that Bello-Ortiz had shot himself.

John Burlein called 911 more than five minutes after shooting Bello-Ortiz, claiming that Bello-Ortiz had collapsed, the lawsuit states.

During the eight-minute 911 call, John Burlein did not mention that he heard a gunshot, that Bello-Ortiz had been shot or that a firearm was involved, according to the lawsuit.

Daytona Beach Police prepared a report based on information from Burlein which was not corroborated, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also states that police did not cordon off the crime scene or separate potential suspects or swab potential suspects hands for gunshot residue, the lawsuit states.

And while the police report alleged that Bello-Ortiz was on drugs at the time of the shooting, toxicology results refuted that allegation.

The lawsuit states that a day before the shooting, John told his friends, Brenden Rubio and Robert Kramer, that (John) wanted to shoot Alex."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: ERAU student's death was homicide, mother says in wrongful death suit
Correction: The live feed of Ashbey Bensons comments, which aired on Fox News, came from a local CBS affiliates video camera. A previous article contained incorrect information.

A woman who said she and her son survived the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, took over a livestream being aired on Fox News on Monday as reporters gathered for a press conference following a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that left three students and three adults dead.

How is this still happening? How are our children still dying and why are we failing them? the woman, identified as Ashbey Beasley, said in front of cameras following a press conference by law enforcement.

These shootings will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass gun safety legislation.

The remarks from Beasley were broadcast on Fox News. Audio from the feed from CBS affiliate WTVF briefly cut out and then returned as she finished her plea for gun safety laws.

As the feed cut away, Fox News anchor John Roberts said he and his colleagues were growing weary of covering school shootings.

Yes, we are tired of this. Were very tired of reporting on school shootings week in and week out, he said.

The shooting occurred at a private church-based elementary school. Police also killed the shooter, who was identified as a 28-year-old woman who was heavily armed with at least two assault-style weapons and a handgun, according to police. The woman was believed to be a former student at the school.

The shooting in Illinois at a Fourth of July parade, which Beasley said she was at with her six-year-old son, left seven people dead. Beasley said she had spent time since the shooting lobbying lawmakers to pass gun safety reform.

I have been lobbying in D.C. since we survived a mass shooting in July, Beasley said.

Beasley said she was on vacation with her son in Tennessee to visit her sister-in-law when the shooting happened.

A November article from local news affiliate ABC7 in Chicago detailed Beasleys efforts to speak with lawmakers about gun reform, including visits that she had scheduled with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Az.), Mark Kelly (D-Az.) and former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)

Updated: 5:15 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
You are here: Business

Daqing Oilfield, China's largest onshore oilfield, has produced over 2.5 billion tonnes of crude oil as of Sunday, said the oilfield, a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation.

The oilfield, discovered in 1959, accounts for 36 percent of China's total domestic onshore crude oil production.

Over the past six decades, Daqing Oilfield has maintained stable oil production, and once produced more than 50 million tonnes of crude oil annually for 27 consecutive years. In recent years, its annual oil and gas production has stood above 40 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

Daqing Oilfield is one of China's largest oil production bases. Located in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, the oilfield has made a significant contribution to China's modern petroleum industry.
[Source]

James Hong brought host Katie Phang to tears during his appearance as a guest on MSNBCs The Katie Phang Show on Sunday.

Following the historic Oscars sweep by Everything Everywhere All at Once, Hong, 94, wore a cap with googly eyes  a nod to one of the films popular icons  during his interview with Phang.

The two discussed the Oscars, with Hong describing it as probably the biggest affair Ive ever been to, with a line to the entrance stretching across five blocks.

Hong then went on to talk about his early experience as one of the few Chinese Americans living in downtown Minneapolis, and how doing impressions and training himself in front of his mirror gave him a leg up when he finally moved to Hollywood.

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Hong, whose career in Hollywood has spanned over 70 years and includes over 700 credits in film and television, shared the difficulties of being typecast into stereotypical roles during his first decades as an actor.

We did not represent the important people in the walk of life in America, said Hong. We were never real people. We didnt really have any real feelings.

Helping to form the East West Players, an Asian American theater organization in Los Angeles, in 1965 would boost opportunities for Hong and fellow Asian American actors: We showed the so-called Hollywood producers what we were capable of  that we were really actors!

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Phang concluded the interview by mentioning Hongs three daughters and eight grandchildren, saying that they must be really proud of him. She continued by sharing that she lost her father almost four years ago and thanked Hong for all the things he has done and continues to do for the Asian community.

After Hong asked if Phangs father had seen her as the only Asian with her own name on the program, Phang began to get visibly emotional.

"Im actually getting choked up because youre asking me," she said. "No, he passed away from Alzheimers and Lewy body dementia on Fathers Day of 2019, so he never got to see me do this. But I know he was proud of me, he was very proud of me."

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Hong responded that Phangs father would be proud of her, saying, Im sure your father, and I being a father, we would be very proud of our children stepping forward, carrying our name forward.

Phang, who started at MSNBC and NBC News as a legal analyst in 2017, became a part of MSNBCs weekend lineup with the launch of her show in April of last year. She is also a trial attorney and media relations and crisis management consultant, founding partner of Phang & Feldman and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law.

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Many retirees plan to earn extra income to supplement their retirement spending. But how much can a retired person earn without paying taxes? The answer to this question varies based on your situation. Understanding the tax rules surrounding retiree income can help avoid an expensive surprise when tax time rolls around. If you need help sorting through the details of your situation, try using SmartAsset's free financial advisor matching tool.

Don't miss out on news that could impact your finances. Get news and tips to make smarter financial decisions with SmartAsset's semi-weekly email. It's 100% free and you can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up today.

When Does a Retiree's Income Trigger Taxes?

Retirees who are still working likely have at least two streams of income: Social Security benefits and a paycheck from a job. The Social Security benefits you receive can be taxable if 50% of your benefits, plus all of your other income, is greater than the specific limits for your filing status. These amounts are as follows:

Single filers, qualifying widowers and heads of households bringing in more than $25,000, based on the math above, may have to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits.

Married couples filing separately that have lived apart for an entire year who bring in more than $25,000, based on the math above, may have to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits.

A married couple filing jointly bringing in more than $32,000, based on the math above, may have to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits.

With that, the benefits you receive may or may not be taxable based on your other income. For example, let's say that you are a single filer that received $20,000 in Social Security benefits. Additionally, you earned $20,000 at a part-time job. When you run the numbers, 50% of your benefits plus your other income would be $30,000. With that, Uncle Sam would require you to pay federal taxes on a portion of your Social Security benefits.

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As another example, let's say a married couple filing jointly receives Social Security benefits of $20,000. You also bring in $20,000 through other sources. With that, 50% of your benefits plus your other income would be $30,000. That's less than the base amount for married couples filing jointly. So, you wouldn't have to pay federal income tax on any of your Social Security benefits.

Take the time to run the numbers on your unique situation to find out how much you can earn before you are taxed on that income.

How Will Your Social Security Be Taxed?

If a portion of your Social Security benefit is taxable, there's no avoiding the federal income tax. But you won't pay taxes based on your entire Social Security benefit. Instead, you will pay taxes on 50% or 85% of your total Social Security amount.

If you're a single filer with an income between $25,001 and $34,000, you'll pay taxes on 50% of your Social Security benefits. But as a single filer who has a total income of more than $34,000, you'll pay taxes on 85% of your Social Security benefits.

Married couples filing jointly with an income between $32,001 and $44,000, you'll pay taxes on 50% of your Social Security benefits. But as a married couple filing jointly that has a total income of more than $44,000, you'll pay taxes on 85% of your Social Security benefits.

Exceptions to This Rule

Every rule has an exception. In this case, filers in certain states need to be aware of their state's tax requirements.

There are 12 states that tax Social Security benefits. These include Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. However, almost every one of these states allows for some kind of deduction, credit or income limit to minimize the tax burden at a state level.

New Mexico doesn't provide a way to minimize the burden. Instead, you'll pay state taxes on all of the Social Security income taxed at a federal level.

Can Retirees Ever Stop Filing Taxes?

Filing your taxes is often an unwelcome chore. In some cases, there may be a point in your golden years when you can stop filing and paying taxes altogether. So how much can a retired person earn without paying taxes or even filing their taxes? For retirees 65 and older, here's when you can stop filing taxes:

Single retirees who earn less than $14,250

Married retirees filing jointly, who earn less than $26,450 if one spouse is 65 or older or who earn less than $27,800 if both spouses are age 65 or older

Married retirees filing separately who earn less than $5

Retired heads of household age who earned less than $20,500

Retired qualifying widowers who earned less than $26,450

For those with an income below the listed thresholds, you may not have to pay taxes. But even if you don't have to file your taxes, it's usually your best interest to file anyways. That's because you might qualify for a tax return, which could represent a big boost for your budget.

If you aren't sure whether or not you can stop filing taxes, the IRS has a helpful tool to help you find out. But talk to a financial advisor before deciding to skip filing your taxes. It could mean missing potential benefits.

Bottom Line

Retirement can be expensive. But depending on your income, you may be able to save on tax costs. It is possible to earn money during retirement and not have to pay taxes on the earnings. Just be aware of what the limits are, given your own situation. Also, check in with the tax code changes regularly because there are frequent changes to the rules.

Retirement Tax Planning Tips

Consider working with a financial advisor as you coordinate your earnings with your tax planning. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If youre ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Our income tax calculator can help you understand marginal and effective tax rates and your annual tax liability.

Photo credit: iStock.com/insta_photos
By Marisa Taylor and Rachael Levy

(Reuters) - Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink has approached one of the biggest U.S. neurosurgery centers as a potential clinical trials partner as it prepares to test its devices on humans once regulators allow for it, according to six people familiar with the matter.

Neuralink has been developing brain implants since 2016 it hopes will eventually be a cure for intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness.

It suffered a blow in early 2022, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its application to progress to human trials, citing major safety concerns, Reuters reported earlier this month.

The company has since been working to address the agency's concerns, and it is unclear if and when it will be successful.

Neuralink has been talking to Barrow Neurological Institute, a Phoenix, Arizona-based neurological disease treatment and research organization, to help carry out the human trials, the sources said.

The talks may not result in a team-up. Neuralink has also discussed partnering with other centers, added the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential deliberations.

Reuters could not verify the latest status of the talks. Neuralink representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Francisco Ponce, director of Barrow's Center for Neuromodulation and Neurosurgery Residency Program, declined to comment on Neuralink but said Barrow was well-positioned to conduct such implant research because of its long track record in the field.

The FDA declined to comment on Neuralink's efforts to find a partner for its clinical trials.

Neuralink's latest efforts come as it faces two known U.S. federal probes into its practices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Inspector General began looking into potential animal-welfare violations at Neuralink last year. Current and former employees have detailed concerns to Reuters about the company's rushed animal experiments, resulting in needless suffering and deaths.

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The U.S. Department of Transportation has said it is investigating the potential mishandling of hazardous pathogens during the company's partnership on animal trials with University of California, Davis between 2018 and 2020.

Barrow has helped standardize brain implant surgeries in which the patient can remain asleep, a key step in making it more acceptable to a broad set of the population, Ponce said.

This is in line with Musk's vision for Neuralink's brain chip. The billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc and majority owner of Twitter has said Neuralink's brain implants will become as ubiquitous as Lasik eye surgery.

The devices Barrow has been implanting so far are different than Neuralink's. Barrow works with deep brain stimulation devices, which received FDA approval in 1997 to help reduce Parkinson's tremors and have been implanted in more than 175,000 patients.

Neuralink's implant is a brain computer interface (BCI) device, which uses electrodes that penetrate the brain or sit on its surface to provide direct communication to computers. So far, no company has received U.S. approval to bring a BCI implant to the market.

(Reporting by Marisa Taylor and Rachael Levy in Washington; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Bill Berkrot)
The pageantry of Myanmar's annual military parade did little to mask the sinister message - the country's armed forces won't stop fighting those opposing their rule, whatever the cost.

A civil war has engulfed the country since a military coup in 2021.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, and more than a million have been displaced.

But General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, showed no signs of backing down in a rare speech.

The regime, he said, would deal decisively with what he described as "acts of terror" by armed resistance groups. And, he added, countries which have condemned his coup - supporters of terror, he branded them - were wrong and should join the military in shaping its own form of democracy.

It was a lavish parade, with Gen Min Aung Hlaing cutting a regal figure as he inspected the thousands of multi-coloured and impeccably-ordered troops in an open-top jeep - an unapologetic extravagance when so many Burmese people are enduring terrible economic hardship, but one which was meant to demonstrate a man in uncontested command of his army and country.

Armed Forces Day, which the parade commemorates, is a curiosity. It used to be called Resistance Day, in honour of the 1945 decision to resist the Japanese occupation. That must surely be an uncomfortable memory for an army which faces so much popular resistance to its rule today. It is, however, one of the few occasions when outsiders can hear the military commander speak.

Like so many other speeches by military leaders in Myanmar, this one too seemed stuck in the past. Gen Min Aung Hlaing ran through old grievances, real and perceived, blaming British imperialism and Japanese fascism, which he said had divided the people of Myanmar and pushed the armed forces to intervene repeatedly in its political life for the past 75 years.

Chinese-made K8 trainers have been used extensively in attacks on opposition villages

There was Orwellian double-speak too, such as blaming Aung San Suu Kyi and her party for attempting to seize power through their resounding election victory in November 2020, when it was the men in uniform who actually seized power at the point of a gun, and at such catastrophic cost to the country.

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The army and its supporters are still alone in calling that election fraudulent.

It is the soldiers, shouldering their duty with much sacrifice, who desire peace, Gen Min Aung Hlaing said - a jarring juxtaposition of reality for the thousands of Burmese who have suffered unspeakable brutalities at the hands of some of the same soldiers who marched with such well-drilled precision on Monday morning.

He also promised a return to democracy - saying elections will be held eventually and power handed over to "the winning party" - and invited the international community to join him in achieving this.

But with Ms Suu Kyi convicted on implausible charges, and locked up not far from where he was speaking, his version of democracy will be one where the military calls the shots. No civilian will be allowed to challenge its dominance as Ms Suu Kyi did for so long, and at the age of 77 she is unlikely to be allowed to play any significant role again.

International censure and sanctions have increasingly isolated Myanmar, but it retains the support of China and Russia, whose attaches attended the parade.

Some activists staged protests on Monday, saying they were cursing Min Aung Hlaing and the military

That support was visible in the form of Chinese and Russian aircraft and helicopters - Russian MI35 gunships, Chinese K8 ground attack aircraft and recently purchased FTC2000 jets - which have been terrorising populations in insurgent areas with air strikes, some less than 100km (62 miles) from the capital. They also showed multiple rocket launchers, a potentially devastating weapon if they choose to use them.

The message was clear: the army is strong, united, and able to impose its will on the country.

In many ways this feels like a return to the long years of suffocating repression under successive authoritarian regimes between 1962 and 2010 in Myanmar, with the military sticking to familiar themes from that time, of crushing internal enemies and defending the "three national causes", which put unity above everything else.

From the security of its fortified citadel, the military appears to believe that brute force, used on an increasingly exhausted population, will eventually cement their regime.

And with the economy in wretched shape since the coup, many Burmese people want a return to some kind of normality, on almost any terms.
(Reuters) - Myanmar's military ruler on Monday urged his foreign critics to get behind his junta's planned return to democracy, instead of siding with a resistance movement he called "terrorists" bent on destroying the country.

Addressing an annual armed forces day parade, Min Aung Hlaing, whose February 2021 coup plunged Myanmar into chaos, said international condemnation of his military rule was based on false narratives by a shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

The junta will hold an election in August that has already been widely dismissed as a sham. It is likely to be dominated by a proxy party of the military that was trounced in the past two elections.

"The military and government need to take action against the terrorist groups that are trying to devastate the country and are killing people," Min Aung Hlaing said.

"I would like to urge the international community to collaborate with all the efforts of the current government in prudence to be on the right path to democracy."

His coup abruptly ended a decade of tentative democracy and unprecedented economic development in Myanmar, which has been under military rule for five of the past six decades.

Many political parties have been decimated or refuse to take part in the election, with some siding with the shadow NUG, which is seeking international support and backs militias behind guerrilla attacks on security forces.

Human rights groups accuse the military of committing atrocities in operations against the resistance fighters, including attacks on the civilian population. The United Nations says at least 1.2 million people have been displaced.

The junta says it is targeting terrorists, not civilians.

Min Aung Hlaing in his address said Myanmar's sovereignty must be respected and stressed that "lawful actions will be decisively taken" against terrorists, with martial law to be imposed in important areas that needed to be brought under control.

(Reporting by Reuters Staff; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Jon Boyle)
[Source]

North Korean women and girls who have fled to China in search of freedom and safety have found horror instead, according to a new report from the international human rights group Global Rights Compliance (GRC).

The report sheds light on the dire conditions faced by hundreds of thousands of women who ended up falling victim to sexual slavery and forced pregnancy at the hands of sex trafficking gangs in the border region between China and North Korea, known as the Red Zone.

The researchers highlighted how pandemic lockdowns, closed borders, and news blackouts in both countries exacerbated the human rights abuses the vulnerable refugees suffered.

"Gender-based violence is a vicious cycle for North Korean women who cross the DPRK-PRC border." Director Hanna Song urged the international community to break this cycle at the 52nd UN HRC event co-hosted by Global Rights Compliance, FIDH, NKDB, and TJWG. pic.twitter.com/4etdMSyv8F More from NextShark: Onlyfans creator claims having sex with Meta employees led to unbanning of her Instagram account  Global Rights Compliance (@GRC_HumanRights) March 22, 2023

GRC, which has been working closely with the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) and other North Korean human rights organizations in Seoul, estimates that there are now between 150,000-200,000 North Korean defectors in China and that about 70-80% of them are trafficked into the sex trade.

More from NextShark: NYC admission lottery system sees Asian students less likely to land in their desired high schools than their counterparts: report

According to the NKDB, there have been over 82,000 recorded cases of violations against North Korean women. The situation is made more alarming by reports indicating girls as young as 12 are trapped in the Red Zone.

Many of these women would rather endure abuse and sexual exploitation than risk returning to the oppressive conditions in North Korea. Those who are forcibly repatriated are often labeled as "traitors" and subjected to invasive strip searches during interrogations, followed by immediate imprisonment.

Speaking during the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, NKDB Director of International Cooperation Hanna Song urged the international community to put an end to the "Gender-based violence is a vicious cycle for North Korean women who cross the DPRK-PRC border.

More from NextShark: Questions pile up as facts about Tibetan singers alleged death from self-immolation is suppressed

Chinese and North Korean organized crime networks reportedly generate over $105 million annually from the trafficking of North Korean women.

Among those sold for just a few hundred dollars was a North Korean woman who was trafficked to the Northeast Chinese city of Yanbian.

In her testimony with NKDB, she revealed that after living with a Han Chinese for one year, she was beaten for not being able to bear a child.

More from NextShark: 'You will be my miracle': Singaporean woman with stage 4 cancer delays urgent treatment in order to save her unborn daughter
Tragedy struck at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, where an armed 28-year-old woman fatally shot three children and three teachers.

NBC News reported police later killed the shooter.

The post Nashville Christian School Shooting Leaves 3 Children, 3 Adults Dead; A 28-Year-Old Woman Said To Be Shooter appeared first on Blavity.

According to authorities, they received calls that there was an active shooter at the Covenant School at 10:13 a.m. CT. Authorities believe she entered the school through a side entrance on the schools first floor.

The police department response was swift, Don Aaron, a police spokesperson, told the press. They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers.

Aaron explained that five police officers approached the shooter, who authorities later identified as Audrey Hale, and two opened fire on her.

By 10:27 the shooter was deceased, Aaron said, NBC News reported. The names and ages of the three students and three staff members killed havent been released.

Firefighters helped the other students at school during the attack as swiftly as possible, hoping to spare them from seeing the tragedy.

We were on scene to help them mitigate anyone from seeing exactly what else was going on, fire department spokesperson Kendra Loney shared. But were sure they heard the chaos surrounding this.
Six people - three children and three staff - have been killed in a shooting by an ex-student at a school in the US city of Nashville, Tennessee.

Three of the victims were pupils aged nine or under at Covenant School. Police named them as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.

The adult victims were named as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

The private Christian school has about 200 students.

It teaches pupils from three years old up to around 12.

Ms Peak was a substitute teacher working at the school that day. Mr Hill was a janitor and Ms Koonce was described as the Head of School on Covenant's website.

Police said the suspect was 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender.

Hale was armed with three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle, and was shot dead by police.

Police received the first call about the incident at 10:13 local time (15:13 GMT) on Monday.

The suspect drove to the school in a Honda Fit and got in by firing through one of the school doors, which were all locked.

Video later released by Nashville police show Hale using a gun to gain entry by shattering glass panes on the front doors, then wandering the school's deserted corridors - at one point walking past a room labelled "Children's Ministry".

In the CCTV footage, Hale is wearing what looks to be a protective vest and carrying an assault-style rifle in one hand, with a second, similar weapon also visible hanging from the left hip.

Hale fired shots on the ground floor before moving to the building's second floor.

As police cars arrived, Hale fired on them from the second floor, striking one in the windscreen, said police.

One officer was injured by broken glass. Police rushed inside and shot the suspect dead at 10:27.

A search of a nearby parked car led officers to "firmly believe" that Hale was a former student of the school, said police.

Police spoke with the attacker's father during a search of a nearby home that was listed as the shooter's address.

Story continues

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said investigators there found a manifesto and "a map of how all of this was going to play out", including entry and exit points at the school building.

He also said the shooter had conducted surveillance while planning the attack.

After the shooting, parents gathered at a nearby church to be reunited with their children. As buses of children arrived, they hung their heads and hands out of the windows to wave to their parents, according to the Tennessean newspaper.

A growing memorial outside the school

The Presbyterian-affiliated Covenant School is located in the upmarket Green Hills neighbourhood, just south of downtown Nashville.

The mother of one pupil said her son had been left traumatised by the shooting.

"I think he's doing better now that he knows that the shooter is dead," Shaundelle Brooks told BBC News.

"These are conversations we shouldn't be having," she added. "We're failing our children."

By nightfall on Monday, the entrance to Covenant looked like that of any other church that has a school, except for the growing memorial and police presence.

There was a sign outside promoting registration for a summer programme and the Easter Sunday service schedule.

"When I heard it I couldn't get any more work done. I was sad and angry," says Mark from south Nashville.

"Bringing flowers is my way of paying respects to the lives lost."

Mark and Barbara at the church

In a statement, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said the city had "joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting".

President Joe Biden called the shooting a "family's worst nightmare".

"We have to do more to stop gun violence," he said, once again calling on Congress to pass gun control laws. "It is ripping our communities apart, and ripping at the very soul of this nation."

The attack was America's 129th mass shooting of 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit that tracks gun violence data.

According to data compiled by Education Week, there have been 12 school shootings that have resulted in deaths or injuries in the US this year up until the end of last week.

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As a public service, The Tennessean has made this content free. Follow the latest updates on the Covenant School shooting as they happen in our live blog here.

Seven people were killed in a mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville on Monday, including three children and the shooter.

Police identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who police killed at the scene. Hale was a former student at The Covenant School, according to police.

Hale was an illustrator and graphic designer who used he/him pronouns, according to a police spokesperson. Police said Hale was transgender and they initially identified him by his birth name and gender.

Police say Hale had planned other targets; manifesto and writings being reviewed

Hale's attack was targeted and the department is reviewing a manifesto and "some writings," planning for an attack on Monday, police Chief John Drake said in a news conference Monday afternoon.

Hale had also planned to attack another location, which Hale realized was too heavily secured and decided against, Drake said.

In an interview with CBS Mornings on Tuesday, Drake said there were other targets, including a mall, outlined in materials obtained at Hale's residence following Monday's shooting.

"We think (Monday's shooting) was targeted and planned," Drake said.

"We strongly believe there were going to be other targets, including maybe family members and one of the malls here in Nashville."

Drake said that Hale, who attended Covenant School, had "some history" with the school which may have played a role in the motive for Monday's shooting.

"What detectives have said so far is there is possibly some resentment for having to go to that school. There's a connection with that family."

Where did Hale go to school?

Hale attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School from 2006 to 2010. Hale then went to the Nashville School of the Arts and graduated in May 2014, Nashville schools spokesperson Sean Braisted said.

Story continues

While at Nashville School of the Arts, Hale ran track for Martin Luther King High School, meet records show. She went on to attend Nossi College of Art between 2018-2022, according to LinkedIn.

In a statement, the college confirmed Hale was a student and a "talented artist."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to (Hale's) family, to the victims and their families and to our city," the statement said. "Due to federal guidelines (FERPA) followed by our institution, we are not allowed to disclose further personal information."

Audrey Hale was being treated for 'emotional disorder' before Monday's shooting

Following extensive interviews with the parents of Audrey Hale, Metro Police were able to determine that Hale was under doctor care for an emotional disorder, and Hale's parents believed Hale did not have any firearms at the time of the shooting, Drake said Tuesday.

Drake confirmed that law enforcement were previously unaware of Hale or about his treatment. Drake said that had it been reported to police that Hale was suicidal, MNPD would have intervened.

Police also confirmed that there is no motive at this timethe previously found manifesto in Hales vehicle on scene had talks about the school, a map, a drawing of entry points and assaults that would take place.

Drake added that no specific student or faculty member was targeted in the attack. According to Drake, Hale appeared to have some training to shoot from a higher level, and knew to stand away from the glass so (he) wouldnt be an easy target.

What type of weapons did the shooter use in Nashville shooting?

Police said Hale was carrying two assault-style weapons, a KelTec SUB2000 and a Grunt Rifle, and an M&P 9mm handgun. Hale legally bought seven weapons from five different gun stores, three of which were used during Monday's shooting, Drake said during a Tuesday press briefing.

What are the stickers on Hale's firearms?

Photos and security footage released by Metro Police Monday evening showed the shooters firearms a KelTec SUB2000, a Grunt Rifle and an M&P 9mm handgun.

Emblazoned on the weapons were multiple stickers, which The Tennessean is working to identify.

On the KelTec SUB2000, two decals can be seen.

Top: Security footage shows the Spitfire logo on the magazine of the Grunt rifle. Left: The edge of the Stussy logo can be seen on the extended magazine of the KelTec SUB2000, as seen in photos released by Metro Police. Right: The KAWS logo is taped to the other side of the Grunt rifle, as seen in photos released by Metro Police.

One, along the extended magazine, is the edge of American fashion house and surf-wear company Stussys logo. The logo is a rendering of Stussy founder Shawn Stussys signature.

The second, which resembles tape with writing on it and is along the top of the firearm, has yet to be identified.

On the Grunt Rifle, two decals can be seen.

In photos provided by the police department, a picture of a KAWS figure is taped to the magazine. KAWS, born Brian Donnelly, is an American graffiti artist popular for his pop art and brand collaborations. This specific sticker is from a collaboration with Bape Sta, a street fashion footwear brand.

In security footage of Hale entering the school, a second sticker can be seen on the other side of the magazine.

This sticker is the Spitfire logo, a skateboarding supply brand founded in 1987.

On the M&P 9mm handgun, a singular decal has yet to be identified.

How did police respond?

A five-member police team killed Hale in a lobby area on the second floor of the school. Hale shot out the glass in a set of doors to enter the school through a side entrance, police said.

In body-worn camera footage released early Tuesday, officers are shown arriving at the scene of the shooting in separate vehicles.

Lets go! Officer Rex Engelbert shouted, as he pushed his way into the building.

Police began scanning classrooms and adjacent bathrooms on the schools first floor. With alarms sounding in the background, officers calmly but forcefully communicated with each other.

About 90 seconds after entering the building, officers heard something.

It sounds like its upstairs," one said.

Within seconds, they encountered Hale. Police fired, killing Hale.

Hale message former teammate just before shooting

Hale sent direct messages from The Covenant School parking lot to a former middle school basketball teammate minutes before Monday's shooting.

Averianna Patton told The Tennessean on Tuesday that she received messages from Hale at 9:57 a.m. while on Covenant School property, apologizing and stating that Hale wanted to die. Hale also said in the messages to Patton that a March 13 Instagram post was actually a suicide note.

"Something in me was like, 'No, you need to help. Do something,'" Patton said.

Patton called the Suicide Prevention Helpline minutes after reading the messages. The helpline recommended that Patton call police, which she did. By that time, unbeknownst to Patton, Hale had shattered glass doors and entered the Covenant School.

More coverage of The Covenant School shooting

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Who was the Nashville shooter: What we known about suspect Audrey Hale
One dead and 'multiple' wounded as gunman opens fire at Christian school in Nashville (MNPD)

A gunman was shot and killed and multiple people were injured after a shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.

An active shooter event has taken place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, on Burton Hills Dr. The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead. Student reunification with parents is at Woodmont Baptist Church, 2100 Woodmont Blvd, Metro Nashville PD tweeted on Monday morning.

The fire department confirmed that there were multiple people injured in the incident.

We can confirm we have multiple patients. Parents coming to the school should go to 20 Burton Hills at this time. This is an active scene, the department said in a statement.

ATF sending agents to scene of shooting

17:30 , Graeme Massie

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) is also sending agents to the scene. The agency stated on Twitter Special Agents from the Nashville Field Office are responding to assist the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department with an active shooter incident that has occurred at the Convenant School, the agency tweeted.

Shooter dead and multiple injured in shooting at Nashville Christian elementary school

17:28 , Graeme Massie

Police have set up family reunification area nearby.

Shooter dead and multiple injured in shooting at Nashville Christian school

Fire Department confirms multiple patients'

17:24 , Graeme Massie

Gunman dead after shooting at Nashville elementary school

17:22 , Graeme Massie

Nashville elementary school shooting

17:20 , Graeme Massie

This is a live blog covering a shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.
You are here: Business

Workers produce electric buses on the assembly line of a new energy vehicle plant in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, March 24, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]



China's major industrial firms experienced a decline in profits during the first two months of this year, however there are signs of recovery in sight as demand continues to improve, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

Industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.91 million U.S. dollars) saw their combined profits reach about 887.21 billion yuan in the period, down 22.9 percent year on year, the NBS said.

In the first two months, revenues fell, affected by yet-to-fully-recover market demand, more than costs, while factory-gate prices also dipped, resulting in the profit contraction, said NBS statistician Sun Xiao.

The combined revenues of industrial firms dropped 1.3 percent year on year to 19.3 trillion yuan, and operating costs edged down 0.2 percent, the NBS data showed.

The power production and supply sector reported a profit increase of 53.1 percent from a year earlier, driven by booming industrial manufacturing, while the mining sector saw a decline of 0.1 percent, the data showed.

Warming consumption helped consumer products firms narrow their profit decline by 13.4 percentage points from December. The tobacco industry and the liquor, tea and beverages sector saw profits grow by 9.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Emerging sectors remained robust, with the sales of power batteries and photovoltaic equipment leading a 41.5-percent profits surge for the electric machinery sector, according to Sun.

Industrial profits will gradually rebound in the near future as the recovery of economic activities and market demand consolidate, said Sun.
Three children and three adult staff members are dead after a mass shooting event Monday at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashvilles Green Hills neighborhood.

Among the victims are three 9-year-old children: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. The adult victims are Cynthia Peak, 61, Mike Hill, 61, and Katherine Koonce, 60. Police said Peak was a substitute teacher, Hill a custodian and Koonce Covenants head of school.

The shooter, identified as 28-year-old Nashville native Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was killed by responding officers, according to police. Hale is believed to be a former student of the school, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. Police said they have found a manifesto, a map detailing entry points into the school and other materials. Local and federal law enforcement on Monday afternoon continued a search of the Nashville home Hale shared with parents and also said they have found no prior criminal history.

Drake said Hale may have had plans to target another school.

Its a very unfortunate situation, Drake said of the tragic loss of life. He was moved to tears to see children being ushered out of the building following the shooting, he said. My heart goes out to the families of all six victims.

All of the victims families have been notified, according to police. Families of students and staff gathered at a nearby church that served as a reunification center.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Monday morning also addressed the tragedy at separate public appearances.

Its sick  heartbreaking  a familys worst nightmare the president said. He called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban and urged students and teachers to seek out counseling.

We stand with Nashville in prayer, Jill Biden said.

The shooting took place Monday morning inside the school where 209 students and 42 staff are present on a typical day. The school, operated by Covenant Presbyterian Church, is located in one of Nashvilles most affluent neighborhoods.

Story continues

Nashville Police responded to a report of an active shooter incident made at 10:13 a.m., said Don Aaron, a police department spokesman.

At 10:27 a.m. the shooter was killed by two of a five-member police team that responded, he said. Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron, left, and Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Loney, right. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Aaron said the shooter was armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun. Hale entered by shooting through a side door at the school and went to the second floor, police said. The shooting took place on the second floor, a lobby-type area, not inside a classroom.

Drake said they believe two of the weapons were legally obtained in Nashville.

One officer suffered a hand injury from cut glass, Aaron said. That is the only other injury Im aware of, he added.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed students from the pre-K-6th grade school on Burton Hills Road were transported to Monroe Carrell Jr. Childrens Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

The private school had no onsite school resource officer, Aaron said.

The school did have security cameras. There is video from the school we are viewing now to try and learn exactly how all of this happened, Aaron said.

Nashville Police plan to release video of officers confronting the shooter.

A nearby vehicle yielded clues to law enforcement about the shooters identity, the police chief said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will handle the officer-involved shooting, while Nashville police will field the larger investigation, law enforcement officials said during a 2 p.m. briefing.

Its a horrible, senseless tragedy, and we will be here working with our partners to get through this, said TBI Director David Rausch.

The Senate and House planned to gavel in Monday evening and then adjourn out of respect for the victims.

Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Nashville, issued a statement on the incident, which took place in his South Nashville statehouse district.

This is an unimaginable tragedy for the victims, all the children, families, teachers, staff and my entire community, Freeman said.

I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this. Im praying for my neighborhood, my city and my state, he said. It is time to pull together and provide all the love and support that we can to those affected by this terrible catastrophe. It is time for serious action. A Metro Nashville Police vehicle heading to the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. on March 27, 2023 (Photo: John Partipilo)

State Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Nashville Democrat, spent the day at Covenant School reuniting parents with students in the church sanctuary. The school also located in her district.

No parent should have to go through this. This has been the worst waiting room Ive ever sat in, Campbell said.

Campbell, in part, blames what she calls a diseased gun culture for the shooting deaths. Tennessee passed a permitless carry law in July 2021 allowing anyone except felons, two-time DUI offenders and stalkers to carry handguns without a state permit process.

The law applies to residents 21 and older, but bills are moving this year in the General Assembly to lower the age limit to 18.

Campbell said when she spoke out against the legislation two years ago on the Senate floor, the bills sponsor told her this is the price we pay for freedom.

This has nothing to do with freedom. This is the antithesis of freedom. These parents are sitting here with minutes turning into hours waiting to find out whats happened to their children, Campbell said.

Gov. Bill Lee said on Twitter early Monday afternoon he was monitoring the situation.

As we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation and Nashville community, Lee said.

The House Republican Caucus issued a statement calling the shooting deaths a horrific act of violence carried out by a disturbed individual.

This is an ongoing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Three students and three adult staff members were shot and killed at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday. @MNPDNashville on twitter

Police identified the shooter who killed three students and three adult staff members at a Nashville school Monday.

The female suspect was shot and killed by police following the attack at The Covenant School.

According to the Violence Project, 98% of all mass shooters are men.

A 28-year-old assailant opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, killing three elementary school students and three adult staff members, according to police.

Police said they received a call about the shooting at 10:13 a.m. local time. The suspect, who has been identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was shot and killed by police at 10:27 a.m., police said.

After initially describing the attacker as a woman, the police said later that Hale was transgender. But on Monday, a police spokesperson walked back that determination, saying investigators hadn't learned the shooter's gender identity and that the term "transgender" may have been used "prematurely."

Social media accounts that appear to be the shooter's used he/him pronouns and a male name was written on one of the guns found at the shooting scene.

Guidance from the Trans Journalists Association encourages reporters not to make assumptions about a person's gender identity or presentation.

Victims included three 9-year-olds, identified by police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61, were also killed, according to Nashville police.

The school's website listed Koonce as the Head of School at Covenant.

The suspect was armed with three weapons at the time of the shooting, including two "assault-style" weapons and one handgun, police said.

A motive for the shooting has not been given, but Nashville police said they searched the Honda Fit the suspect drove to the school prior to the shooting and found written materials inside. John Drake, the Nashville police chief, said the suspect had a "manifesto" and detailed maps of the school.

Story continues

While the suspect falls just over the average age range of mass shooters, it is incredibly rare for a mass shooter not to be a cisgender man, according to the Violence Project's mass shooter database.

Dr. Jillian Peterson, a researcher at Hamline University who runs the Violence Project and has compiled a database of every US mass shooting since 1966, previously told Insider that often, mass shootings are carried out by men between the ages of 18 and 25.

According to the FBI, in 2021, the vast majority of mass shooters that year fell between 19 and 34 years old.

The Violence Project database, which has not yet been updated to reflect Monday's mass shooting, reported that 98% of mass public shooters are men.

Of the 191 mass shooters cataloged in the database, only four were women, and two of those four women partnered with a man in the shooting.

"The shooting today is a stark reminder that mass shootings are not exclusive to men," a statement from the Violence Project shared with Insider said.

In 2021, of the 61 mass shooters recorded by the FBI, only one was female.

The FBI's data says that 83% of mass shooters in 2020 and 98% of mass shooters in 2021 were men. In 2020, of the 42 mass shooters, 35 were men.

When looking just at K-12 mass school shootings compiled in the Violence Project database, "perpetrators were 100% male," making Monday's shooting the first mass school shooting carried out by a woman, according to the Violence Project.

Most of those school shooters were current or former students of the school they targeted, according to the Violence Project.

Police said Monday that the shooting suspect was "at one point a student of that school."

According to the Violence Project, men are responsible for more than 90% of worldwide homicides because of a "host of biological, social, economic, and cultural factors, including societal expectations and gender roles."

But in terms of mass shootings, suspects sometimes carry out "copycat shootings," or when perpetrators see themselves in and relate to former mass shooters. The statement from the Violence Project adds that 64% of mass school shooters showed interest in or studied previous mass shootings before carrying out their attacks.

Additionally, "mass shootings are driven by despair and they are a form of suicide," according to the Violence Project, which adds that this case is not an exception because the mass shooter died at the scene. According to their database, 92% of mass school shooters were suicidal before they committed a shooting.

"Perpetrators often pick a target that represents their grievance, and they want to communicate their anger to the world with a final act of horrific violence," according to the Violence Project statement.

While a motive for this attack has not been announced, according to the Violence Project, 73% of mass school shooters had a history of childhood trauma and 85% showed signs of a crisis leading up to the shooting.

Mark Bryant, Executive Director of Gun Violence Archive, told Insider men are more often responsible for mass shootings than women are because they turn to guns as a tool more easily than women do.

"Guys, in general, from the time they were three or five have played with guns and so there's more of a straight-up use of guns as a tool," Bryant said. "When it comes time, guys are more fascinated by guns than girls tend to be."

Read the original article on Insider
Nurses are the foundation of our healthcare system, but like many professions right now, there is a dire shortage nationwide.

New data shows well need more than 275,000 additional nurses over the next decade.

If you need a nurse, you need a nurse. If we get to a point in this shortage where schools dont have nurses, jails dont have nurses, emergency rooms dont have nurses, it will affect everybody, said Dean Sarah Szanton, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Dean Sarah Szanton warns this is whats at stake if the ongoing nursing shortage isnt taken seriously. She runs the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore where youll find the next generation of nurses like Erick Reyno.

I was really into the mental health aspect of physical fitness, said Erick Reyno, nursing student.

Even as a student, he said its been difficult watching nurses leave the profession.

I have to remind myself this is going to be hard. This is part of the journey but remember there is a bigger picture that i want to work on at least personally in the end which is influence how mental health is taken care of, said Reyno.

Another factor is an aging workforce. Federal data shows about a third of nurses could be at retirement age within the next decade.

Were going to need more and more flexible models. People in their 70s may still want to work but they might want 4 hour shifts instead of 12-hour shifts, said Dean Szanton.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, more than 91,000 qualified applications were turned down in 2021 alone. officials say thats because theres a shortage of nursing school educators along with classroom space and clinical sites for teaching.

Generally, nurse educators earn less than their clinical peers, said Szanton. So, you can imagine for a job thats just as hard, its inspiring, but just as hard and takes just as much qualification, if not more [they] need to be paid adequately, said Szanton.

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Some lawmakers want to find a bipartisan solution. This includes addressing other barriers.

Republican and physician Bill Cassidy said many states require a masters degree to become a nursing educator.

I have worked with certificate nurses who have been by the bedside for 20 years who knew nursing. The idea that we cannot use someone such as she in order to educate others, I think doesnt acknowledge how much she knows, said Senator Bill Cassidy, (R  Louisiana).

Nurses have also been advocating for change.

They are pushing for a new bill called the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act-- or the FAAN Act. Szanton said this bill would address many of their concerns like more financial aid for students, better support for faculty and new classroom space.

Back in Baltimore, some students say they also want more diversity.

I dont have as many faculty who look like me - its one or two here and there but I was like you know what one day maybe I can be that person for someone else, said Reyno.

Officials say the nursing shortage may vary depending on where you live. They expect rural hospitals and underserved communities in urban areas will be hit the hardest.

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - The secretary of Russia's Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said that NATO countries are a party to the conflict in Ukraine, according to excerpts from an interview with Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta cited Patrushev as saying: "In fact, NATO countries are a party to the conflict. They made Ukraine one big military camp. They send weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian troops, provide them with intelligence".

Patrushev, a former chief of the FSB internal security service, is widely seen as one of the most hawkish members of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by David Goodman and Bernadette Baum)
A substitute teacher packed Twisted Teas, marijuana and a half-smoked blunt in his backpack Monday. He was arrested before the day ended.

Police arrested Thobani Viki, 30, after Third Creek Middle School staff noticed a very strong marijuana odor coming from a classroom Monday, according to an Iredell County Sheriffs Office news release.

Viki was employed through Educational Staffing Solutions, a company that helps school systems fill positions, the sheriffs office said.

He is on probation for an earlier conviction for driving while intoxicated in Alamance County, according to the release. He now has a $10,000 bond after being charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, misdemeanor possession of marijuana paraphernalia, and misdemeanor possession of a malt beverage on school property, sheriffs office records show.

Sheriff Darren E. Campbell said the arrest was a prime example of why having SROs at every school is so vital to the safety and security of our schools.
A key ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday agreed to delay plans to push through a controversial judicial overhaul that has drawn unprecedented public, government and military opposition and raised alarm from the U.S.

Israels far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir has agreed to delay until May discussions surrounding the judicial reforms, his political party Otzma Yehudit, or Jewish Power, said in a statement, the Times of Israel reported.

The move comes amid pointed warnings from the U.S. to Netanyahu to pursue compromise with opposition lawmakers around the judicial reforms, which critics warn would destroy the bedrock of Israels democracy by stripping the independent oversight of the judicial branch.

Weve been very clear privately with Israeli leaders, as well as publicly, with our concerns over developments in the last 48 hours, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday morning, and again, strongly urge Israeli leaders to compromise here.

The judicial reforms, which are said to include allowing the government to overrule Supreme Court decisions and have greater control over appointing judges to the bench, have drawn unprecedented opposition. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis participating in weeks of protests, prompting commitments of refusals among some of Israels most elite military units and, on Monday, triggering a general strike among government workers.

President Biden has warned directly to Netanyahu that the judicial reforms risked threatening the shared values of the U.S. and Israel relationship and urged the Israeli leader to pursue compromise with the opposition.

It really does come from a placeof supporting the very idea of checks and balances and the idea of consensus support. Thats where the Presidents main concerns come from, Kirby told reporters.

U.S. lawmakers have also expressed deep concern that the judicial overhaul is a crisis for Israels democracy.

Updated: 12:44 p.m. ET.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rally Against Israeli Goverment's Judicial Overhaul Bills

Thousands of Israeli Right Wing protesters rally in support of Israeli Goverment's judicial overhaul bills out of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on March 27, 2023. Credit - Gili YaariNurPhoto/Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended but not abandoned a plan to overhaul the countrys judiciary following mass protests. Netanyahu agreed to delay the proposal, which appeases far-right parties, only after his controversial national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir signed off on it.

Ben-Gvir, a far-right extremist with a record of anti-Arab rhetoric, was long considered an outcast in Israeli politics but was pivotal in Netanyahus return to power last November. A coalition of far-right parties, including Ben-Gvirs Jewish Power Party, gave Netanyahu what proved to be the decisive margin. Now, Netanyahu cant back away from the proposed judicial reforms entirely without risking Ben-Gvirs critical political support. If Netanyahu loses Ben-Gvir, he loses his government and he has to pacify him, says Tomer Persico, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and a Rubinstein Fellow at Reichman University in Israel. He is the most volatile, unpredictable and extreme element of Netanyahus coalition, so hes the loose cannon that has to be reckoned with.

Netanyahu announced Monday that he had agreed with Ben-Gvir that the judicial reform, which would weaken Israels Supreme Court, would be passed by the end of the Knessets summer session. Ben-Gvir gave up very little in that negotiation, notes Shaul Magid, a professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College: Its like kicking the can down the road, Magid says.

Netanyahu also agreed to create a new security force to report to Ben-Gvir, which some experts worry could be used against protesters the next time the judicial overhaul will be up for a vote in the Knesset. Its unbelievable, youre basically giving a minister, a right-wing radical minister, the right to establish his own national guard that can be used to police protests under his authority, says Magid.

Story continues

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested outside the parliament Monday, decrying the proposal to severely weaken Israels legal branch as antidemocratic. Flights at the main international airport were grounded, workers launched a nationwide strike and so many military reservists vowed to strike over the plan that the Defense Minister called for it to be withdrawn; Netanyahu dismissed him.

Read More: Israelis Are Taking to the Streets Because Our House Is on Fire

The proposed law would give parliament the ability to override the Supreme Courts decisions. This reform would have collapsed the separation of powers in Israel, Perisco says. In Israels system, the only check on the power of the legislature, which is ruled by the coalition, is the Supreme Court, notes Natan Sachs, Director of the Brookings Institution Center for Middle East Policy.

The bill could pave the way for more extreme legal changes, such as outlawing Arab parties, a plan the far-right in Israel has previously proposed. Even if the Supreme Court rules such a change is illegal, a simple majority in parliament could override that decision, says Shibley Telhami, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. The judicial overhaul would also personally benefit Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption in three cases.

That Ben-Gvir and the far-right are now calling the political shots is in part due to a rightward shift for young Israelis, Telhami says. It isnt just that these guys are outliers; its that they now have a reservoir of public support. He points to a 2016 Pew Poll in Israel that found almost half of Israeli Jews supported expelling Arabs from Israel. (Some 20 percent of Israelis are Palestinian.)

Israels far-right parties have greatly benefited from having Netanyahu in power. They have never had so much power you cant imagine that they will just dump him because they would lose all influence, Telhami says. As well as national security, another right-wing extremist, Betzalel Smotrich, controls the finance ministry.

For Magid, these protests have gone beyond judicial reform and democracy. Theyre also about the nature of Zionismthe belief in a Jewish stateand national identity. The protests have exposed deep fault lines between Israels secular and hardline religious population. It has been brewing under the surface of Israel for decades, Magid says. Many secular and centrist Israelis fear that settlers are stealing the country.

Israels occupation of Occupied Palestinian Territories, which international human rights groups have termed as apartheid, or Israels treatment of its own Palestinian citizens, have barely featured in the protests. Telhami says its unlikely, but possible, that the protests might provide an opportunity for introspection Will that get them to empathize with the fact that the Palestinians have been under a military rule for more than a half a century with no end in sight? Will that inspire Israelis to start empathizing with them and demanding, not just freedom for themselves and democracy for themselves, but also democracy and freedom for the Palestinians?

Theres no indication of that for now, he adds.
(Bloomberg) -- After a day of almost unprecedented strikes and protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said hell delay a controversial plan to weaken the judiciary and prevent the nation being torn to shreds.

Most Read from Bloomberg

As tens of thousands of demonstrators remained on the streets Monday night, Netanyahu said hell seek talks with opponents to reach a compromise over how much power the high court can have over the legislature.

When there is a chance to avoid a civil war through dialog, I, as prime minister, will take a pause for dialog, he said in a televised address from this office.

The climbdown means at least a four-week delay to parliamentary votes on a bill that has split Israeli society in two, triggering one of the most sustained periods of civil unrest in the countrys history. The strength of opposition moved up a level over the weekend, when Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the economy was brought to a virtual standstill Monday due to a nationwide strike.

The overhaul aims to give politicians dominance in the selection of judges, a move opponents say will threaten Israels democracy. However, there will be a rebalance of power between the high court and the legislature one way or another, the prime minister said, signaling the likelihood of more upheaval to come.

Israel Latest: Netanyahu Set to Delay Plan as Protests Escalate

Netanyahu was speaking after workers in multiple sectors ranging from ports to shopping malls and hotels stopped doing their jobs. A main union group called off the strike following his comments, while Israeli embassies said theyd reopen and the airport said it would resume flights.

Netanyahu made his speech after coming to agreement with a key rightist member of his coalition, Itamar Ben Gvir, whod originally threatened to leave the government if the judicial overhaul was delayed. As part of his agreement to accept a pause, Ben Gvir will be granted oversight over a new national guard that he says is needed to increase security.

Story continues

Opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid said they are ready for talks although expressed concern about the sincerity of the offer. They said theyd go to President Isaac Herzogs house for the discussions.

Others said the speech didnt go far enough and theyd continue to fight.

No Cooling Down

We are not going to cool down anything, Shikma Bressler, a physicist who has been leading protests, said by phone. We know Netanyahu for too long and we care about the country too much to be tricked and fooled again. The legislation is not going forward this week, so that is a great victory for the struggle. But we have a long road ahead of us.

The demonstrations have gone on weekly or more for some three months. Theyve been led by business people, tech innovators and members of elite military units, mostly secular Israelis who fear Netanyahus new right-wing religious government will pull the society too far toward theocracy.

Lapid said on Monday night that what had happened over the previous 24 hours, including the firing of Gallant, was madness, a loss of control and a loss of direction. It is proof that this government has lost its brakes. He said if the legislation truly stops, he is open to negotiation.

Meanwhile, supporters of the judicial overhaul havent spent much time on the streets because their leaders have been in charge and promising to pass the bill. Now they too are promising to make their angry voices heard. Already on Monday night, there were acts of vandalism and some confrontations between the two sides.

April in Israel is filled with holidays including Passover, Memorial Day and Independence Day, offering some respite due to vacation plans, but a compromise may not prove easy to reach in the longer term.

--With assistance from Amy Teibel.

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
A protest leader has vowed that action will continue because the overhaul vote would only be delayed.

As long as the legislation continues and is not shelved, we will be on the streets, said Dr. Shikma Bressler, one of the main leaders of the protest movement.

Dr Bressler said Netanyahu and his coalition colleagues are clearly determined to press ahead with their dictatorship laws in the next Knesset session, a month from now, Times of Israel reported.

The statements of the prime minister and his extremist partners are an admission of their intention to bring the dictatorship laws back to the table in the next parliamentary session, harming the economy and the security of the country, she said.

It comes after Israels main labour union called off a nationwide strike after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would delay his judicial overhaul plan to the next parliamentary session.

Addressing the nation after a day of demonstrations, Mr Netanyahu said: Im not ready to divide the nation in pieces.

We are facing a crisis that is a real threat for the national unity of our people.

Key Points

Israeli PM agrees to delay judicial overhaul until next parliament session

Thousands take to the streets in Israel after Netanyahu sacks defence minister

Why are there protests in Israel?

Protests set to continue despite delay to judicial overhaul

Protests set to continue despite delay to judicial overhaul

20:38 , Martha Mchardy

Some protest leaders say the protests are set to continue because the overhaul vote would only be delayed.

As long as the legislation continues and is not shelved, we will be on the streets, said Dr. Shikma Bressler, one of the main leaders of the protest movement.

Dr Bressler said Netanyahu and his coalition colleagues are clearly determined to press ahead with their dictatorship laws in the next Knesset session, a month from now, Times of Israel reported.

The statements of the prime minister and his extremist partners are an admission of their intention to bring the dictatorship laws back to the table in the next parliamentary session, harming the economy and the security of the country, she said.

Story continues

White House welcomes Netanyahu delay in judicial overhaul and urges compromise

20:08 , Martha Mchardy

The United States has welcomed the decision by by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay a decision on divisive plans for a judicial overhaul until next month, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Netanyahu on Monday delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul until next month amid fears that the countrys worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.

We welcome this announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise. A compromise is precisely what we have been calling for. And we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible, Jean-Pierre said.

The United States remains concerned about the situation in Israel and President Joe Biden has shared his concerns about a proposed judicial overhaul directly with Netanyahu, the White House said on Monday.

We remain concerned by the recent developments, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, calling for compromise.

Kirby noted that Israel had been invited to a U.S.-organized Summit for Democracy later this week.

Kirby said Biden has been very forthright with Netanyahu about his concerns. Asked if Biden was worried that Israel would devolve into civil war, Kirby said he was not.

He said U.S. concerns about the judicial reform legislation were that it would fly in the face of the principle of having checks and balances in government.

All of that concern comes from ... a place of respect and friendship and admiration for the Israeli people, for Israel as a country and for Israels democracy, Kirby said.

In pictures: Israel protests

20:00 , Martha Mchardy

Protestors wave flags in Jerusalem on 27 March 2023 (Getty Images)

Protesters gather outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations and calls for a general strike against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system (AFP/Getty)

Israeli police officers remove a protester blocking a main road (Getty Images)

Israel Politics (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press All rights reserved)

Israeli police stand guard as protesters gather outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem (AFP via Getty Images)

Watch: Benjamin Netanyahu defends 'democratic' new judiciary reform

19:40 , Martha Mchardy

Why are there protests in Israel?

19:20 , Martha Mchardy

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Israel evening to protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus controversial reforms to the countrys judicial system.

Chanting the country is on fire, demonstrators gathered outside Mr Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem on Sunday evening to demand the draft legislation be withdrawn, only to be dispersed by police water cannons. Bonfires were meanwhile lit along Tel Avivs biggest motorway, forcing road closures and causing traffic mayhem.

On Monday, the protests continued, while Israels largest union, Histadrut, which represents 700,000 workers across a huge variety of professions, called for an immediate general strike. Universities have closed their doors until further notice and flights from Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport have been grounded, as pressure grows to halt the legislation.

Joe Sommerlad reports:

Why are there protests in Israel?

Is it safe to travel to Israel?

19:00 , Martha Mchardy

At the time of writing, all flights leaving Tel Avivs Ben-Gurion Airport, Israels primary aviation hub, have been suspended until further notice due to widespread strikes announced by the Workers Union.

Flights that are already in the air will be the only ones permitted to land, it has been reported.

Despite this, passengers continued the check-in process without knowing if their flights would depart.

The live departures board shows flights scheduled to leave later in the day, but these are not expected to go ahead.

A spokesperson for the Workers Union said that if Mr Netanyahu stops the judicial reform legislation, flights will return to normal, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Read more here:

Is it safe to travel to Israel? Latest travel news

UK welcomes Netanyahu's decision to pause judicial overhaul

18:57 , Martha Mchardy

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly welcomed Israels decision to pause legislation to reform its judiciary, as he emphasised the importance of a robust system of checks and balances.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The UK welcomes the decision today by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause legislation to reform IsraelAAAs judiciary, Cleverly said in a statement after Netanyahu delayed the decision until next month amid widespread protests.

It is vital that the shared democratic values that underpin that (UK-Israel) relationship are upheld, and a robust system of checks and balances are preserved.

Israeli labour union calls off nationwide strike after judicial overhaul delayed

18:44 , Martha Mchardy

Israels main labour union called off a nationwide strike after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would delay his judicial overhaul plan to the next parliamentary session.

The strike that I announced this morning will end, said Arnon Bar-David, chairman of the Histadrut labour federation, on Monday, praising Netanyahu for the move and offering help in forming a reform with mutual agreement.

Benjamin Netanyahu decries extremist minority ready to divide our nation'

18:42 , Martha Mchardy

Israeli PM Netanyahu decried what he called an extremist minority ready to divide our nation, in an address to the nation today.

Mr Netanyahu said he is not ready to divide the nation in pieces amid mass protests over a planned judicial overhaul.

Israeli PM Netanyahu says delaying judicial overhaul to reach broad consensus

18:33 , Martha Mchardy

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would delay his flagship judicial reform to the next parliamentary session.

From a will to prevent the rift in the nation, I have decided to delay the second and third reading in order to reach a broad consensus, he said in a prime time televised address delivered after some of the biggest street protests in the countrys history.

Israeli PM Netanyahu: I will turn over every stone to find a solution'

18:24 , Martha Mchardy

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he will turn over every stone to find a solution to the protests over a planned judicial overhaul, in an address to the nation.

Mr Netanyahu is addressing the nation after a day of protests.

Israeli PM Netanyahu: We are at a dangerous cross roads

18:22 , Martha Mchardy

The country is at a dangerous cross roads, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to the nation.

Mr Netanyahu is addressing the nation after a day of protests.

Government will delay the second and third readings of justice bill

18:20 , Martha Mchardy

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will delay the second and third readings of the justice bill following a parliamentary session.

He adds that the delay comes from a will to reach a broad consensus.

Israeli PM Netanyahu: Im not ready to divide the nation in pieces

18:18 , Martha Mchardy

Im not ready to divide the nation in pieces, Israeli Benjamin PM Netanyahu said in an address to the nation.

Mr Netanyahu is addressing the nation after a day of protests.

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses nation

18:14 , Martha McHardy

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has started speaking.

Mr Netanyahu is addressing the nation after a day of protests.

White Houses Kirby says Biden has shared concerns with Netanyhu

17:45 , Martha Mchardy

United States president Joe Biden has shared his concerns about the situation in Israel directly with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid protests over a planned judicial overhaul, the White House said on Monday.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Mr Biden has been very forthright with Mr Netanyhu.

Right-Wing Israeli lawmaker says halting judicial overhaul plans would be a mistake

17:25 , Martha Mchardy

Right-Wing Israeli lawmaker Simcha Rothman told the Israeli Channel Seven pro-settler media channel that halting the governments planned judicial overhaul would be a mistake, after a key coalition member said passing the legislation would be delayed to the Israeli parliaments next session.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to make statement shortly

17:23 , Martha Mchardy

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to make a statement shortly, his office has said.

It comes amid a sprialling political crisis over plans to overhaul the judicial system that have caused street protests across the country.

Israel parliament approves 2023-2024 state budget in preliminary vote

17:02 , Martha Mchardy

Israels parliament has given initial approval to the states 2023-2024 budget on Monday in a key test of the governing coalition amid a battle over the governments flagship judicial overhaul plans.

sraels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks at the Knesset, Israels parliament, in Jerusalem (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The cabinet last month had approved the budget draft that the Finance Ministry expects will be fully ratified by the end of May. The budget allocates spending of 484.8 billion shekels ($136 billion) this year and 513.7 billion next year.

The budget next heads to parliaments finance committee, where it typically undergoes changes before final votes in the full plenum.

Lawmakers voted 62-52 in favour of the spending package, just after an announcement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was delaying the discussions on his legal system overhaul.

Netanyahu sacked his defence minister on Sunday for opposing moving forward on the plan at the current time, setting off mass protests and rifts within his own Likud party and other coalition partners.

We are bringing significant structural reforms that will accelerate economic growth, along with a significant budget investment, a response to security needs ... and wage requirements, while proportionately restraining spending, said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich before the vote.

The ministry has set budget deficits of 0.9 per cent in 2023 and 0.8 per cent of gross domestic product in 2024, up from a 0.6 per cent surplus in 2022.

Israels economy is set to grow around 3% this year from a 6.4 per cent spurt in 2022, while inflation remains above a 5 per cent rate despite aggressive interest rate increases.

The budget will allow the government to implement its policy, while maintaining fiscal responsibility that will help stabilize the economy and prevent the worsening of inflation, Smotrich said.

Approving the budget is a critical step - it conveys to the public, rating companies and investors that Israel is acting responsibly and will help ensure stability.

Rating agencies have warned that the judicial reforms could pressure Israels sovereign credit ratings.

Judicial overhaul delayed for at least several weeks, national security minister says

16:59 , Martha Mchardy

A powerful partner in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government says the countrys proposed judicial overhaul has been delayed for at least several weeks.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says he agreed to a delay in the legislation until parliament reconvenes for its summer session on April 30.

There was no immediate confirmation from Netanyahu.

In a statement, Ben-Gvir said the interim period would give time for a compromise agreement to be reached with the political opposition.

But he said if a deal is not reached, the package would be approved in the summer session.

Ben-Gvir has been a leading proponent of the overhaul, and his statement could pave the way for Netanyahu to announce a delay.

Israels Netanyahu to delay controversial judicial reforms in wake of mass protests

16:50 , Martha Mchardy

Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will delay controversial reforms to the judicary in the wake of mass protests, according to the far-right Jewish Power party, a member of the ruling coalition goverment.

The partys leader, the security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said in a statement that he had agreed to delay the governments overhaul of the judiciary in exchange for a promise it would be brought after the upcoming parliamentary recess.

I agreed to remove the veto to reject the legislation in exchange for a commitment by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the legisltaion would be submitted to the Knesset for approval in the next session.

Chris Stevenson reports:

Israels Netanyahu to delay controversial judicial reforms in wake of mass protests

Israel's Ben-Gvir says agrees to delay judiciary reform package

16:45 , Martha Mchardy

The head of one of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus hard-right coalition partners said on Monday he had agreed to delay the governments overhaul of the judiciary in exchange for a promise it would be brought after the upcoming parliamentary recess.

I agreed to remove the veto to reject the legislation in exchange for a commitment by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the legisltaion would be submitted to the Knesset for approval in the next session, security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a statement.

This hour different to any before, says Israeli army chief of staff

16:31 , Martha Mchardy

Israels army chief of staff called on soldiers on Monday to continue to do their duty and act with responsibility in the face of bitter social divisions over government plans to overhaul the judiciary.

This hour is different to any that we have known before. We have not known such days of external threats coalescing, while a storm is brewing at home, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in remarks made public by the military press office.

Israeli PM agrees to delay judicial overhaul until next parliament session

16:24 , Martha Mchardy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will delay the process for discussions on the controversial planned judicial overhaul to next month, a statement from the far-right and coalition member party Jewish Power said on Monday.

The statement said the legislation would be pushed to the next session of the Israeli parliament in order to pass the reform through dialogue, the statement said.

Parliament will go on recess next week for the Passover holiday.

Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrate outside parliament

16:08 , Joe Middleton

Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament in an effort to halt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Demonstrators turned the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners.

Large demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Haifa and other Israeli cities drew thousands more.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. Im here for the fight to the end.

Israeli police officers remove a protester blocking a main road (Getty Images)

Pictured: Israelis against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu

16:01 , Joe Middleton

Israeli police detain a protester outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem (AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli police stand guard as protesters gather outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem (AFP via Getty Images)

Protesters gather outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem (AFP via Getty Images)

Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu defends 'democratic' new judiciary reform

15:08 , Joe Middleton

Why are there protests in Israel?

14:04 , Joe Middleton

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Israel evening to protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus controversial reforms to the countrys judicial system.

Chanting the country is on fire, demonstrators gathered outside Mr Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem on Sunday evening to demand the draft legislation be withdrawn, only to be dispersed by police water cannons. Bonfires were meanwhile lit along Tel Avivs biggest motorway, forcing road closures and causing traffic mayhem.

On Monday, the protests continued, while Israels largest union, Histadrut, which represents 700,000 workers across a huge variety of professions, called for an immediate general strike. Universities have closed their doors until further notice and flights from Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport have been grounded, as pressure grows to halt the legislation.

Joe Sommerlad explains why protests have started in Israel.

Why are there protests in Israel?

Israeli embassies join strike action

13:45 , Joe Middleton

Israeli embassies worldwide were instructed to join a strike on Monday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus judicial overhaul plan, a workers union letter seen by Reuters said.

The letter, citing a nationwide strike in Israel declared by the Histadrut labour federation, said Foreign Ministry activities in the country and abroad would be limited to emergency services

Israel protest: Flights suspended from Tel Aviv airport

13:15 , Joe Middleton

Mass protests in Israel after Netanyahu sacks defence minister

12:35 , Joe Middleton

Protestors have taken to the streets in Israel after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister.

The country has faced weeks of mass protests over controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Mr Netanyahu fired Yoav Gallant on Sunday (26 March) after the retired army general called for a halt to the reforms.

The security of the state of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life, Mr Gallant said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the sacking is a new low for the government.

Mass protests in Israel after Netanyahu sacks defence minister

Israels justice minister backs Netanyahu on judicial overhaul

11:56 , Joe Middleton

Israels justice minister said he would respect any decision prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes about the future of a bitterly contested judicial overhaul, adding that lack of unity in the government could bring it down.

A situation in which everyone does as they wish is liable to bring about the instant fall of the government and collapse of the (ruling party) Likud, Yariv Levin said in a statement. We must all strive to stabilise the government and coalition.

Two main ports in Israel stop work

11:10 , Joe Middleton

Two main ports in Israel have announced that they had stopped work in adherence to a labour strike in protest at the religious-nationalist governments judicial overhaul.

Haifa and Ashdod ports said in separate statements that work was halted after Israels main labour union announced a general strike earlier on Monday until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu stopped judicial legislation.

Netanayhu government survives no-confidence vote in parliament

10:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus religious-nationalist coalition government on Monday survived a no-confidence motion filed by the opposition in protest at its judicial overhaul plan.

The motion failed by a vote of 59-53, the Knesset speaker said.

Israel ally US says it is deeply concerned by protests

09:57 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was deeply concerned by the developments in Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Watson said in a statement.

(EPA)

Opposition to Netanyahu plan mounts as unions launch strike

09:53 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israels largest trade union group launched a strike across a broad swath of sectors Monday, joining a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary  a plan that is facing unprecedented opposition.

The strike by the Histadrut umbrella group, which represents more than 700,000 workers in health, transit and banking, among many other fields, could paralyze large parts of Israels economy, which is already on shaky ground, ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu to suspend the overhaul.

Departing flights out of the countrys main international airport were grounded in protest, affecting thousands of travelers. Other sectors were also falling in line, with local governments, which manage pre-schools and other essential services, as well as a main doctors union announcing they would walk out.

The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahus decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway, closing the throughway and many others throughout the country for hours.

(AP)

Breaking: Netanyahu tells coalitions heads he will pause judicial overhaul

09:51 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Breaking news:

Benjamin Netanyahu has told coalition heads he will pause the judicial overhaul that has sparked the mass protests in Israel, according to the countrys broadcaster Kan.

Stay tuned for live updates.

Thousands take to the streets in Israel after Netanyahu sacks defence minister

09:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Israel after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister and his counsel general in New York resigned.

The country has faced weeks of mass protest over controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Mr Netanyahu fired his defence minister on Sunday after the former army general called for a halt to the divisive reforms, drawing concerns internationally, including from the United States.

Yoav Gallant, a senior member of Mr Netanyahus ruling party, called for the changes to be paused until after next months Independence Day holidays.

Thousands take to the streets in Israel after Netanyahu sacks defence minister

Welcome

09:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

... to our liveblog where we will keep you updated with the latest on the protests in Israel.
By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli defence chief whose dismissal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought the country's constitutional crisis to a boil is staying in office until further notice, aides said on Tuesday, suggesting government indecision on how to proceed.

Beset by three months of unprecedented protests against his nationalist-religious coalition's signature plan to overhaul the judiciary, Netanyahu on Monday hit the pause button and called for compromise negotiations with the centre-left opposition.

"Our goal is to reach agreements," he said in a pre-Passover toast to his staff, likening the crisis to a squabble among family gathered for the Jewish festival that begins next week.

But prospects appeared clouded. The opposition, citing the continued presence of the highly contested bill on parliament's line-up, threatened to boycott any talks should it proceed.

"The walls of suspicion and hostility are higher than ever," President Isaac Herzog, who has offered to mediate between the sides, lamented in a speech.

Herzog was set to hold a first meeting with the delegations on Tuesday, his office said.

The suspension of the reforms stabilised Israel's shaken economy and was welcomed by Western powers. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Reuters he was launching a diplomatic outreach aimed at reburnishing Israel's democratic credentials internationally.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel said Netanyahu could get a long-awaited invitation to the White House soon. But questions lingered about Netanyahu's credibility - including in his own camp - after open dissent by some senior Likud party colleagues.

Among these was Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who on Saturday broke rank by openly calling for a halt to the overhaul in the name of preventing anti-reform protests from spreading in the military. A day later, Netanyahu said he was firing Gallant.

Ordinarily, that termination would have gone into effect on Tuesday. But Gallant aides said he never got the notification letter formally required to begin the 48-hour countdown to his removal from office, and was continuing to work.

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Asked whether Gallant was being kept on or replaced, spokespeople for Netanyahu and Likud had no immediate comment.

PM'S POPULARITY SLUMPS

An opinion poll by top-rated Channel 12 TV found that 63% of Israelis - and 58% of Likud voters - opposed Gallant's ouster. Similar majorities supported Netanyahu pausing the reforms.

But with 68% of Israelis faulting him for the crisis, Channel 12 found that, were an election held today, Netanyahu and his coalition allies would lose. Two of those parties, Religious Zionism and Jewish Power, voiced misgiving at the reform pause.

Cohen sought to recast the reforms, the storm they prompted and Netanyahu's outreach to his opponents as sources of pride.

"The events of these weeks should only bolster our position in the world," Cohen told Reuters, adding the judicial overhaul showed "that we want to strengthen democracy and public trust".

Cohen said he would convene foreign ambassadors next week to drive home that message after briefing Israel's diplomats on it.

U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides sounded upbeat about the mostly non-violent protests, telling Israel's Ynet TV: "That's the beauty of democracy. People are expressing their views."

"We want to continue making sure that this continues," he added. In a separate interview with Israel's Army Radio, Nides said Netanyahu could expect to be invited to meet U.S. President Joe Biden some time after next month's Passover holiday.

Critics fear Netanyahu, who is under trial on graft charges that he denies, plans to use the reforms to curb the independence of the courts. He says he seeks balance among branches of government.

Jewish Power's leader, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said Netanyahu had assured him that if compromise efforts over parliament's Passover recess of April 2-30 fail, the coalition would pursue the reforms unilaterally.

In parliament, the coalition tabled for final readings the bill that would give Netanyahu greater control of the system for selecting judges. A parliamentary spokesperson called this a technicality. Asked how soon the coalition could call a ratification vote, he said: "In theory, the day after."

If that happens, opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz said in a statement, they would quit any negotiations.

While Israeli streets were mostly quiet on Tuesday, some of the tens of thousands of Israelis who have held escalating protests against the judicial overhaul said they would return.

"I will continue protesting until these reforms are completely dropped, because this isn't a set of reforms, this is a coup by the executive," said Eitan Kahana, a 27-year-old demonstrator in Jerusalem.

(Reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by Howard Goller, Alexandra Hudson and David Holmes)
A team of Chinese researchers has made a significant breakthrough by developing a platform that has realized, for the first time in the world, high-pressure in-situ quantum magnetic detection based on silicon vacancy defects in silicon carbide.

This technique may shed light on the mechanism behind the occurrence of superconducting, which is the ability of certain materials to conduct direct current electricity without any energy loss, under certain conditions, including those involving high pressure. It may also pave the way for exploring new quantum materials.

The researchers, led by experts from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as the University of Science and Technology of China, used ion implantation to generate shallow silicon vacancy defects on the surface of a processed silicon carbide anvil cell to avoid the problem of temperature variations in high-pressure sensing.

Using optically detected magnetic resonance technology, they observed the pressure-induced magnetic phase transition of a magnet at about seven gigapascals, according to the study published in the journal Nature Materials on Friday.

The work is "quite interesting" and could "open the door to new studies of quantum materials," said a peer reviewer of the paper.
[Source]

Netflix announced two new anime series, "Ooku: The Inner Chambers" and "Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune," during this year's Anime Japan convention at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center over the weekend.

Directed by Abe Noriyuki and produced by Studio Deen, "Ooku" is the first anime adaptation of the popular manga of the same name by Yoshinaga Fumi.

"Ooku" is based on stories that emerged from the Ooku women's quarters located within Edo Castle in Chiyoda, Tokyo.

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The show envisions a world where gender roles are reversed following a plague that threatens the male population, leaving women to take over positions of power.

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"Ooku" is slated to premiere later this year.

Meanwhile, "Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune," which is based on a military sci-fi novel written by Carlo Zen, follows a young man who rises against oppressive authorities in a futuristic version of Earth.

His journey begins when he is recruited into an interplanetary military unit that suffers from a 70% casualty rate.

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The new series will premiere in May.

During the recent convention, Netflix also showcased teaser art of the upcoming anime "Pluto," which is based on the 1964 story arc "The Greatest Robot on Earth" from Osamu Tezuka's "Astro Boy," created by Urasawa Naoki and his long-time co-creator Nagasaki Takashi.

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In addition to "Ooku" and "Yakitori," Netflix has a diverse lineup of anime series and films coming later this year.

"Ultraman Final" will be released on May 11, followed by the film "Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King" on June 16 and "The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburg Part 2" in August. "Kengan Ashura" Season 2 will be available in September, while "BASTARD  Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy" Season 2 will be released later in the year.

"Gamera  Rebirth," "My Happy Marriage" and "Akuma Kun" are also scheduled for release in 2023, but specific dates have not yet been announced.
Ibrahim Baycora, with cap, after the city of Paterson appointed him its police chief, Feb. 4, 2020. Baycora was recently fired by Paterson Mayor Andre Seyagh. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The New Jersey Attorney Generals Office on Monday announced that it has taken full control of the Paterson Police Department, including daily operations and internal affairs investigations, citing a dire lack of public trust in the department.

The unprecedented move comes less than a month after Paterson police killed Najee Seabrooks, a 31-year-old violence intervention activist, who was fatally shot during a mental health crisis.

Due to a number of events and concerns relating to the Paterson Police Department, there is a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in the City of Paterson, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement. People throughout Paterson deserve a public safety system that protects and serves all members of its community, just as the members of the Paterson Police Department deserve adequate resources, support, and innovation from their leadership.

Platkin added that the sweeping change represents a pledge of safety and success to the community.

The states third-largest city, Paterson has 157,000 residents, 63% of whom are Hispanic and 25% are Black, according to the latest census data.

Isa Abbassi, the AG offices current chief of strategic initiatives and a 25-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, will become the officer in charge of the PPD in May, according to the press release. In the interim, several members of the attorney general offices staff and the Department of Law and Public Safety will carry out the role and daily responsibilities.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In addition to the leadership changes, the office also outlined several key initiatives aimed at improving public safety in the city and throughout the state. The moves include expanding a program into Paterson that would allow an officer trained in crisis intervention to be paired with a mental health screener in response to a mental health or behavioral crisis situation.

The state will also revise its protocol for barricading individuals in a room or space that pose significant challenges and risks for all involved as well as create a working group to study and produce policy recommendations for better partnership between law enforcement entities and community-based violence intervention groups.

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Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said he welcomes the intervention from the state attorney generals office.

We are eager to review the Attorney General's plan and timeline, as well as to share and build upon the reforms that we have already implemented, Sayegh said in a statement to Yahoo News. We will do everything we can to continue to improve our Police Department for the residents of Paterson.

The shooting

The initiatives seem to address a number of challenges facing the Paterson Police Department, all of which were exacerbated in recent weeks with the killing of Seabrooks.

The March 3 shooting followed a four-hour standoff between Seabrooks and police, according to the Paterson Press. Police had responded to calls of a mentally disturbed person in his home; when they arrived at the scene, Seabrooks had allegedly barricaded himself inside the apartment. After prolonged negotiations, police claim that Seabrooks let officers into his home and charged at them with a knife. According to the state attorney generals office, two officers fired their weapons at Seabrooks, striking him. He was later pronounced dead at St. Josephs Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

Community activist Najee Seabrooks. (Paterson Healing Collective)

Seabrooks, who worked with the Paterson Healing Collective (PHC), a group dedicated to providing support for survivors of violence, had contacted members of PHC, but officers refused to let them intervene.

Officials also said they could not deploy their Tasers because Seabrooks had broken pipes in the apartment and started a small fire that left significant amounts of water on the floor, making the use of the electrical device too dangerous.

Paterson police: A troubled history

Earlier this month, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) and 47 other groups statewide wrote a joint letter to the Department of Justice urging them to launch their own investigation into the PPD, alleging years of unlawful and unconstitutional conduct. Advocates cited at least two dozen news reports and past PPD audits in the last decade.

These incidents included the killing of 27-year-old Jameek Lowery, who died in January 2019 after consuming illegal drugs and expressing feelings of paranoia before being repeatedly struck by police officers trying to restrain him on an ambulance gurney. There was also the death of 25-year-old Thelonious McKnight, who was killed in late 2021 while fleeing police.

The PPD takeover isnt the first time a major city in the state has been overhauled. In 2014, the Newark Police Department was placed under a court-ordered federal monitor after a Justice Department investigation uncovered civil rights abuses and misconduct by Newark officers. Two years later the department was overhauled by a consent decree, which instituted a number of reforms, including training on stops, searches and arrests, as well as bias-free policing. The department remains under the decree through at least this summer. In an apparent sign of progress, no officer from the department fired a single bullet in 2020.

Julio Cortez/AP

Community members and advocates alike are hopeful that more change will come to the Paterson Police Department as a result of the state attorney general leadership changes. At a press conference on Monday, advocates urged that the officers involved in Seabrooks killing be fired. Platkin says he is making it his goal to restore confidence in law enforcement in the city.

This announcement will not quell the strife in the City of Paterson overnight, Platkin said. Exercising control over the police department and bringing in nationally recognized police leadership for the department is the first step of a process towards a safer and more just City of Paterson.

_____

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: family handout (2)
NEWPORT  The Iraq war began 20 years ago, and officially ended in December 2011 when American troops lowered the flag of command that flew over Baghdad. While many Americans have forgotten about the war or simply moved on, the veterans who served there generally seem to think it is worth reflecting on and remembering.

All of the veterans quoted in this article now call Newport home, and all are members of Newport VFW Post 406. They all came to the decision to serve in the US military for different reasons and from different backgrounds, and they all walk different paths in life now, but they share the common bond of having once put their lives on the line for their country in the Iraq War, and they all carry that experience with them in civilian life.

With a recent survey by The Veterans and Citizens Initiative showing the majority of Americans either do not know any Iraq War veterans or have never spoken to an Iraq War veteran about their service experience, The Newport Daily News decided to speak with local veterans about the legacy of Operation Iraqi Freedom and what it means to them to serve their country in the military and participate in their society as civilians after service.

In this file photo taken Wednesday, April 9, 2003, an Iraqi man, bottom right, watches Cpl. Edward Chin of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, cover the face of a statue of Saddam Hussein with an American flag before toppling the statue in downtown in Baghdad, Iraq.

Crystal Arel, Newport police officer

Crystal Arel is a Newport police officer now, but in July of 1999 she was a 17-year-old getting ready to leave her hometown of Warren and head to basic training at Fort Gordon, a U.S. Army base in Georgia. That in itself was a huge cultural experience in a completely new environment, but she had no idea that only four years later she would be riding through the desert in an armored convoy from Kuwait to Baghdad in the opening months of the war. That dusty ride turned out to be the start of a decades-long journey marked by tenacity and hard work on the way to becoming the first female officer on the Newport Police Departments Special Response Team.

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Reflecting on the value of conversations with civilians and with other veterans about the war, she said:

Sometimes (talking about it) stirs up things you dont really want to stir up. How do I feel about it? To be honest with you, I dont know. I cant answer that question. I dont know if it was good, I dont know if it was bad. I dont know if we did something good for them. I want to think that. I want to think that if we didnt go over there life would have been 100 times worse for them, but its something that I will actually never know.

Anselm Richards, field studies program coordinator at US Naval War College

Anselm Richards, now the field studies program coordinator at the US Naval War College, is originally from Philadelphia but grew up summering in Newport and graduated from Salve Regina University. Before marrying his college sweetheart and moving to Newport permanently, Richards enlisted with the historic First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry of the Pennsylvania National Guard, one of the oldest military units in the country. He served as a platoon leader in the Iraqi city of Ramadi from June 2005 to June 2006, taking part in intense combat on a near-daily basis in what many at that time considered to be the most dangerous place on earth.

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Could the message be any more loud and clear that we as an American people need to serve? Richards asked rhetorically. We need to give back to our country, we need to give back to our society in whatever capacity we see or feel that. It doesnt have to be with a gun and a uniform; it could be to go work at a voting station or go give blood  the idea of giving back of oneself to the betterment of a society, I would argue, is almost forgotten about.

Dan Cormier, US Naval War College professor

Dan Cormier, who in addition to teaching courses at the Naval War College also works as the senior instructional design manager at Newports Naval Leadership & Ethics Center, served three tours in Iraq and eventually retired as a colonel with the Army's 1st battalion, 30th infantry unit before starting his academic career.

Befitting a man who would go on to get his masters degree in international relations and his Ph.D. in diplomatic history, Cormier experienced a variety of temporal, geographic and geopolitical settings during his service in Iraq; he served as the operations officer for a battalion stationed in Fallujah during his first tour shortly after the fall of Baghdad, then as the operations officer for an entire brigade in Baghdad during his second tour. In his third tour, Cormier was ranked Lieutenant Colonel and led the first battalion of the 30th infantry unit for the duration of its deployment from December 2009 until October 2010 in the oil-rich and ethnically diverse city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

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"I wouldnt want to take anything away from those soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who served honorably, courageously, and demonstrated discipline and heroism; to me that is still a valid viewpoint. At that level thats all you can do  you serve your country honorably and hope your senior leaders are doing the right things, said Cormier.

But I think at the strategic level certainly, I dont know how you can think of it as a success, he continued. I think what we have done is basically broken Iraqi governance into sectarian factions; we have opened the door for Iran and China to gain more influence in the region. I think part of that is because our approach was flawed. It wasnt inevitable it had to turn out that way; we had a clear misunderstanding of sociopolitical realities of Iraq and the region and we tried to force some American model into that region that was not ready for it.

Paul Radion, project manager at Mantis Innovation

Paul Radion, who now works for a company focused on energy efficiency solutions for large facilities, retired as a captain in the Armys 2nd brigade, 1st armored division in 2009 and has lived with his wife in Newport ever since. Radion, who grew up in Woonsocket, is a third-generation veteran on both sides of his family  his father was a Vietnam veteran, his mother served in the Army Reserves and both of his grandfathers served in World War II.

Radion enlisted in the army after receiving his bachelors degree in chemical engineering at URI, got stationed as an officer in Baumholder, Germany and completed two tours in Iraq. In November 2005 he deployed to Kuwait, spending about six months there before a Shia Muslim mosque in the southern Iraqi city of Samarra was blown up, unleashing a tidal wave of sectarian violence. His brigade was subsequently distributed through Baghdad and Mosul, and he spent six months conducting operations across the city of Baghdad. In his second tour, from April 2008 to May 2009, his brigade was spread across a wide area of Iraq as they took over for multiple units and started preparing the transition of responsibilities to Iraqi troops.

Radion reminisced about eating lunch with his aging father, who at the time was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer which originated during his service in Vietnam, when he was 24 years old and preparing to enlist in the Army. It was 2003, and people across the street from the restaurant were protesting against the invasion of Iraq. The memory has stuck with him through all of these years. When asked about his thoughts on those protestors now as a 45-year-old veteran looking back after two tours in Iraq, he said:

Its tough for me to go ahead and see it, but I appreciate (the right to protest) and its an essential part of being an American. That is something that is a freedom of speech, a form of discourse, in order to determine what the country is going to do. A simpler example I keep in mind is when I see somebody burning the American flag, I abhor it; I hate it. I absolutely hate it. The only thing I can do is say hey, I went to war, I served in the military to enable that person to do that. And as much as I disagree sometimes with things I hear and see, it is essential that those voices be allowed to be as loud as they want to be, and my hope is that they are as factually based as possible.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Iraq War 20th anniversary: Newport veterans reflect on service
Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, leaves 10 Downing St. following brief talks with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on March 24, 2023, in London. (Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is a legendary master of political survival. For once, he may have overplayed his hand.

As he frantically plots a strategy to emerge from the worst domestic crisis in Israel's 75-year history, Netanyahu must find a way to keep his radical, ultra-Orthodox coalition partners on board while attempting to pacify the hundreds of thousands of angry Israelis filling the streets in the name of defending democracy.

If he fails, his government could easily dissolve. If that were to happen, it is unclear who would fill the void or what new unrest could be ignited.

Israel has long been synonymous with conflict, but for the moment, the most serious existential threat it faces comes not from its Arab neighbors but from its own internal divisions.

Netanyahu late Monday announced he would postpone  but not cancel  his plans to overhaul Israel's Supreme Court and judiciary in a way that would make judges more beholden to politicians. He said he was acting "to avoid civil war." Critics say the plan would destroy the checks and balances that have made the courts an important pillar of Israeli democracy.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address.

The vote in the Knesset, or parliament, will be delayed until after the Passover break, which starts next week.

It was not clear, however, whether postponement would placate the opposition, which has swelled from the left to include Israelis of all political persuasions as well as the military, the Mossad spy agency and high-tech entrepreneurs.

Anti-government protesters burn tires near Beit Yanai, Israel, on March 27, 2023. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

After 12 weeks of regular demonstrations, a far larger segment of Israeli society was galvanized over the weekend when Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who became the first government member to openly criticize the judicial overhaul. The retired major general warned that the plan had already weakened Israel's national security by alienating legions of military personnel, from elite combat pilots to army reservists who refused to report to duty in protest.

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Israel burst into rolling chaos Monday. The countrys largest trade union  the umbrella organization Histadrut, with some 800,000 members  called on members to observe a general strike. That forced a partial shutdown of the international airport  which Israel has prided itself on keeping open through numerous crises  with outgoing flights canceled and thousands of passengers stranded.

The protest strike also triggered walkouts at universities, hospitals, ports and even all of Israel's embassies and consulates the world over. Public transportation was curtailed, and the fast-food behemoth McDonald's closed its doors.

After Netanyahu's remarks Monday night, Histadrut called off the strike.

Israel's figurehead President Isaac Herzog, who has warned of the danger of Israel plunging into civil war, urged Netanyahu to halt the judicial overhaul. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat, Herzog said Monday. Wake up now!

Herzog later welcomed Netanyahu's decision to pause.

In what might sound to many Americans like a familiar tactic, Netanyahu cast his critics and not himself as a threat to the countrys security, and sought to position himself as a victim of perfidious judges and prosecutors. He is on trial on corruption charges for allegedly doing favors for wealthy businessmen in exchange for gifts and favorable media coverage.

The most radical members of his government are not likely to give Netanyahu much space to maneuver.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir talks to reporters ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 19, 2023. (Abir Sultan / Associated Press)

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist security minister whose history of anti-Arab hate has made him a lightning rod for much of the criticism of the government, said that when the debate over the judicial changes resumes, lawmakers would consult with the opposition to find a compromise. But if that proves impossible, he said, the overhaul would proceed.

Earlier, he had warned Netanyahu not to "surrender to anarchy." In fact, some of the same right-wing political allies who threw Netanyahu a lifeline in forming this government now appeared poised to turn on him if he tried to compromise with his foes.

Nor has Netanyahu found much support abroad. His polish as a statesman has long been a major component of his carefully crafted self-image and a tool for creating distractions from domestic political crises.

But those vaunted powers appeared to be deserting him as he made the recent rounds of the main European capitals, dogged by demonstrators and chastised by the leaders of France, Britain and even Germany, loath to criticize Israel ever since its establishment after the end of World War II. Expatriate Israelis, including many American Jews, have emerged as among his most vehement critics.

The Biden administration has taken a more measured approach, refusing to defend Netanyahu but also refraining from harsh condemnation as he has repeatedly violated his pledges to American officials not to expand Jewish settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank and his promises to seek consensus on his judicial overhaul.

Senior administration officials said they are pursuing quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy. But they also acknowledge they don't want to criticize Israel too forcefully.

"We have been very consistent and very clear both privately ... [and] publicly that the concern about this pending legislation is that it would fly in the face of the whole idea of checks and balances," John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S National Security Council, said Monday.

Kirby said President Biden, in a telephone conversation last week with Netanyahu, was "very, very forthright" in stressing the need to "find a way forward based on compromise ... with the broadest possible base of popular support."

Israel was one of 122 countries the U.S. invited to Washington for its Summit of Democracy this week, and Netanyahu is scheduled to speak. U.S. officials, repeatedly pressed, refused to comment on whether he was still part of the program.

Even before he began presiding over the most right-wing government in the states history, Netanyahu had long exploited the fault lines that have riven the country into warring camps. It was part of his formula for success.

Mounted police disperse anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on March 27, 2023. (Oren Ziv / Associated Press)

But weeks of protests have also created odd political alliances, with some traditional rivals finding common ground in the notion that the prime minister has embarked on an enormously destructive path.

And in the Jewish diaspora, some of Israel's most loyal supporters have begun to come out against the plans and actions of Netanyahu's government.

At a rally outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington over the weekend, several hundred protesters  mostly American Jews  waved blue-and-white Israeli flags and chanted "democracy!" in Hebrew and English as they called for Netanyahu to shelve permanently his plans for the judiciary.

Martin Indyk, one of the most well-known U.S. diplomats involved in the Middle East, spoke to the crowd. He admitted it was the first time he had ever addressed a protest rally, since he was usually on the inside, making policy.

"Israel is in trouble," said Indyk, a two-time U.S. ambassador to Israel and special envoy and Middle East negotiator in the Obama and Clinton administrations. Subordinating judges to politicians in a country that doesn't have a constitution, Indyk warned, "will undermine not only Israel's democracy but it will undermine the relationship between the United States and Israel."

The strategic interests and values that the U.S. and Israel share, including the hundreds of billions of dollars Washington has dedicated to Israel's military capabilities, "have also been undermined as a result of this assault on Israel's democracy," Indyk said.

Most of the participants identified themselves as lifelong Zionists dedicated to Israel. And that, they said, is why they were protesting.

"This demonstration in no way, shape or form can be perceived as anti-Israel," said Susie Gelman, longtime activist in Jewish organizations and now chair of the Israel Policy forum, an advocacy group. "This is for Israel ... for Israel's future, which is so closely linked to our future as American Jews."

Similar rallies are being held in capitals all over the world.

At an anti-Netanyahu protest in Berlin on Monday evening, demonstrators shouted Shame! Shame! when word emerged of the deal under which the prime minister would temporarily pause his effort to ram through the changes to the judiciary  but would also mollify a key far-right partner.

Hes acting only out of his own private interests, 29-year-old Israeli pianist Matan Fishov, who is living and working in the German capital, said of the Israeli leader. Im so worried about our democracy.

Wilkinson reported from Washington and King from Berlin.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Donald Trump, then a Republican Presidential candidate, at a campaign event in Dallas, Texas on June 16, 2016. (Eric Thayer/The New York Times)

Secretive talks in the waning days of a campaign. Furtive phone calls. Ardent public denials.

American history is full of October surprises  late revelations, sometimes engineered by an opponent, that shock the trajectory of a presidential election and that candidates dread. In 1880, a forged letter ostensibly written by James Garfield claimed he wanted more immigration from China, a position so unpopular it nearly cost him the election. Weeks before the 1940 election, Franklin D. Roosevelts press secretary kneed a Black police officer in the groin, just as the president was trying to woo skeptical Black voters. (Roosevelts response made history: He appointed the first Black general and created the Tuskegee Airmen.)

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But the scandal that has ensnared Donald Trump, the paying of hush money to a pornographic film star in 2016, is in a rare class: an attempt not to bring to light an election-altering event, but to suppress one.

The payoff to Stormy Daniels that has a Manhattan grand jury weighing criminal charges against Trump can trace its lineage to at least two other episodes foiling an October surprise. The first was in 1968, when aides to Richard M. Nixon pressed the South Vietnamese government to thwart peace talks in the closing days of that election. The second was in 1980. Fresh revelations have emerged that allies of Ronald Reagan may well have labored to delay the release of American hostages from Iran until after the defeat of Jimmy Carter.

The tortured debate over precisely which election law might have been violated in 2016 is missing the broader point. All three events might have changed the course of history.

There have been three cases at a minimum, said Gary Sick, a former national security aide to Carter who for more than two decades has been pursuing his case that the Reagan campaign in 1980 delayed the release of the hostages from Iran. And if you had the stomach for it, youd have to say it worked.

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The potential criminal charges against Trump for his role in the passing of hush money to Daniels  falsifying business records to cover up the payment and a possible election law violation  may seem trivial when compared with the prior efforts to fend off a history-altering October surprise.

This month, a former lieutenant governor of Texas came forward to say that he accompanied a Reagan ally to the Middle East to try to delay the release of American hostages from Iran until after the 1980 election. And notes discovered in 2016 appeared to confirm that senior aides to Nixon worked through back channels in 1968 to hinder the commencement of peace talks to end the war in Vietnam  and secure Nixons victory over Hubert Humphrey.

Hold on, Anna Chennault, Nixons emissary to the South Vietnamese, told Saigon government officials, as she pressed them to boycott the Paris peace talks. We are gonna win.

But the chicaneries of 1968 and 1980 were left to historians and partisans to sort out and debate decades later. What separates the allegations against Trump is that they could make him the first former president to be indicted by a grand jury, forcing him to answer for charges in a court of law.

The concept of an October surprise has been around American politics since at least 1838, when federal prosecutors announced plans to charge top Whig Party officials with most stupendous and atrocious fraud for paying Pennsylvanians to vote in New York for their candidates.

Two weeks before the 1888 election, Republicans published a letter from the British ambassador to the United States suggesting that the English favored Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate. It galvanized Irish American voters, and Cleveland lost the presidency to Benjamin Harrison.

Just days before the 2000 election, Thomas J. Connolly, a defense lawyer and former Democratic candidate for governor in Maine, confirmed that George W. Bush had been arrested for driving while intoxicated in the state in 1976. Some have said it cost Bush just enough votes to turn a narrow popular vote victory into one of the most contested presidential elections in American history.

What links the allegations of 1968, 1980 and 2016 is the fear that such a surprise would happen. In all three cases, those accused of perpetrating the skulduggery palpably worried that it would.

It is probably as old as campaigning itself, said John Dean, the Nixon White House lawyer whose testimony before the congressional Watergate committees helped bring to light perhaps the most famous campaign dirty trick of all time. Im sure that when campaigns learn of negative stories, they do all they can to suppress them.

The accusations against Trump are of a different scale than 1968 or 1980. No Americans were left to languish in captivity. No armies remained on the battlefield longer than necessary. No civilians died in napalm conflagrations. Indeed, the passing of hush money to Daniels is hardly the worst accusation leveled against a president who was impeached for withholding military aid to Ukraine to extract a political favor, and impeached again for inciting a riot designed to overturn a lawful election that he lost.

But because the 2016 election was so close, the suppression of a late-breaking sex scandal just may have delivered the White House to one of American historys most divisive leaders. Trump lost the popular vote by 2.1 percentage points, and won the presidency by securing victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a combined 78,652 votes, a smaller total than a sellout crowd at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Trumps opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, suffered her own surprise when just days before the 2016 election, then-FBI Director James Comey reopened a closed investigation into emails she sent on a private server when she was secretary of state. Given the margin, that alone may have cost Clinton the White House.

Daniels claim that she had sex with Trump in 2006 while his wife, Melania, was nursing their only baby had been floating around since 2011, seemingly raising few fears in Trump world. But in early October 2016, that changed when The Washington Post published the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump described in lewd terms how he groped women.

Amid the ensuing furor and defections from some Republican leaders, the effort to buy Daniels silence went into overdrive. Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and others feared that a second punch, landing just after the Access Hollywood outrage was dissipating, could knock their pugilistic boss out of the presidential race and expose them to legal action.

It could look awfully bad for everyone, Dylan Howard, the editor of The National Enquirer, wrote in a text to Cohen, noting that if Daniels went public, their work to cover up her account of a sexual encounter might also become known.

The 1980 election is remembered as a landslide victory, hardly one that seemed vulnerable to a late-breaking course change. But in fact, aides and allies of Reagan openly feared the release of the hostages in the campaigns final weeks could reelect Carter, so much so that the term October surprise is often attributed to the Reagan camps trepidations.

All I know is theres concern, not just with us but I think generally amongst the electorate, well, this Carters a politically tough fellow, hell do anything to get reelected, and lets be prepared for some October surprise, Reagans running mate, George H.W. Bush, said at the time.

Gerald Rafshoon, who was Carters White House communications director and campaign media adviser, said in an interview that he was confident the release of the hostages would have secured the presidents reelection. The polls had been tightening that fall amid rising optimism about the captives release. Then Carters position collapsed.

If the little farmer cant handle a two-bit ayatollah, Rafshoon recalled one woman telling him, Ill take my chances on the cowboy.

He added: Its not that I hold any grudges about those sons of bitches. Ive gotten on with my life, and so has Jimmy.

Sick is not so sure a hostage release would have had much impact. It would certainly have changed some votes, but would Carter have won? He only won one state, he said. People who run campaigns get very paranoid and talk themselves into these things.

The election of 1968 is a closer call.

Ken Hughes, a researcher at the Miller Center of the University of Virginia, whose book Chasing Shadows chronicled the Nixon campaigns efforts to impede peace talks, said Nixon had a strong lead in the polls over Humphrey in mid-September. By mid-October, Nixons lead was down to 8 percentage points. Then, days before the election, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam, and the news media began reporting chatter of looming talks to end the war.

Again, the candidate who went on to win showed his fears, which were based on Nixons conviction that Democratic dirty tricks in 1960 had denied him the presidency. Keep Anna Chennault working on SVN, or South Vietnam, Nixon implored, according to the notes of a top aide, H.R. Haldeman.

On the eve of the election, The Christian Science Monitor was preparing an article on the efforts of the Nixon campaign to thwart the peace talks. Johnson convened a conference call with his security Cabinet to seek advice on whether to confirm the story, which he knew to be true from FBI and CIA wiretaps.

Some elements of the story are so shocking in their nature that Im wondering whether it would be good for the country to disclose the story and then possibly have a certain individual elected, his secretary of defense, Clark Clifford, said of Nixon on a recorded call. It could cast his whole administration under such doubt that I would think it would be inimical to our countrys interests.

White House officials said nothing.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is staying silent as his state considers doling out potentially hundreds of billions of dollars to Black residents in reparations as a way to make amends for slavery and subsequent discrimination.

Newsom, a Democrat, has yet to take a position or comment publicly on the prospect of his state potentially enacting a slew of recent reparations proposals that are gaining steam in California. The governor's office didn't respond to any of Fox News Digital's repeated requests for comment regarding his views on the issue and whether he's considered taking executive action to implement the plans being discussed if the California Legislature doesn't act.

The California Reparations Task Force, which was created by state legislation signed by Newsom in 2020, is considering a proposal to give just under $360,000 per person to approximately 1.8 million Black Californians who had an ancestor enslaved in the U.S., putting the total cost of the program at about $640 billion.

The task force's final recommendations for reparations will be submitted to the California Legislature, which will then decide whether to implement the measures and send them to Newsom's desk to be signed into law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference after meeting with students at James Denman Middle School on Oct. 1, 2021 in San Francisco, Calif.

NEWSOM UNDER PRESSURE TO TAKE EXECUTIVE ACTION ON REPARATIONS IF CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE DOESN'T ACT

Newsom's silence on reparations comes amid growing calls for him to use his power to unilaterally enact the task force's proposals for the state's Black residents if the legislature doesn't.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"The task force is doing the grunt work of preparing final recommendations, but at the end of the day these recommendations are non-binding and still require uncompromising political will to enact remedies that will begin to address centuries of compounded harm," Dreisen Heath, an expert and leading reparations activist, recently told Fox News Digital. "Governor Newsom has the authority to enact these recommendations, if they are in fact aligned with the entire descendant community's wishes, following the issuance of the final report on July 1, and should do so, if state lawmakers fail to act."

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Last year, the state task force made several preliminary recommendations in an interim report. A final report with the panel's official recommendations is due by July 1 to the state legislature.

The committee was created amid the unrest following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. None of the panel's nine members, the majority of whom were appointed by Newsom, are White.

MEET SOME OF THE CONTROVERSIAL INDIVIDUALS BEHIND SAN FRANCISCO'S $5M REPARATIONS PUSH: 'AMERICA, YOU OWE US'

The task force had initially proposed $220,000 per person for Black Californians last year but recently increased the figure by more than 60% to $360,000 as one of many ideas being mulled to give out reparations.

Economists and scholars consulting with the task force came to the latest proposal by using a model that evaluated California's racial wealth gap, calculating damages related to injustices such as housing discrimination, mass incarceration and health harms.

It's unclear how California would pay for large-scale reparations. Newsom announced in January that the state faces a projected budget deficit of $22.5 billion for the coming fiscal year. Then weeks later, the California Legislative Analyst's Office, a government agency that analyzes the budget for the state legislature, estimated in a subsequent report that Newsom's forecast undershot the mark by about $7 billion.

Still, Lisa Holder, a task force member and president of the far-left Equal Justice Society, vowed in a recent opinion piece that the committee's "recommendations will be breathtaking."

Meanwhile, as California considers statewide reparations, the city of San Francisco is weighing its own reparations proposals at the local level.

NEWSOM'S CALIFORNIA PUSHES BILLIONS IN REPARATIONS PAYMENTS AS STATE FACES BUDGET DEFICIT DISASTER

Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors expressed "unanimous" support for a draft plan of more than 100 reparations recommendations for the city, including a proposal to dole out $5 million each to qualifying Black residents. The proposal of $5 million lump-sum payments would cost non-Black families in the city at least $600,000, according to Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

The city board also expressed interest in other forms of reparations for San Francisco's roughly 50,000 Black residents, such as a guaranteed annual income of at least $97,000 for 250 years and a home in the area for just $1 a family.

Another idea under consideration is a "comprehensive debt forgiveness" program that would clear all personal, educational and credit card debt of low-income Black households.

Like California, San Francisco is also facing a massive deficit, estimated at $728 million, making it unclear how the city would pay for such a reparations plan.

According to Heath, local efforts in San Francisco or other cities to pay out reparations shouldn't absolve any state, including California, or the federal government from also paying out their own reparations.

"San Francisco's work at the local level must function to address localized harms and does not negate the U.S. government or the state of California for redressing its crimes," she recently told Fox News Digital. "It is not the job of any city to remedy harms manufactured by the federal or state government."
An international manufacturer with long-standing operations in the Charlotte region is once again expanding.

Mooresville and Iredell County recently approved incentives for NGK Ceramics USA Inc. to invest $9.4 million into its operations in the area. The company, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based NGK Insulators Ltd., operates a manufacturing facility on Mazeppa Road in Mooresville and has a warehouse at Mooresville Business Park East. The expansion will help to automate some of the companys inspection lines and extrusion finishing areas.

ALSO READ: Mooresville orders removal of memorial at park after teens death

Town documents state that NGKs new investment calls for the retention of 600 jobs.

Keep reading here.

(WATCH BELOW: Town of Davidson opens new town hall and community center)
YORK, Maine  A New Hampshire man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Monday on charges stemming from a violent home invasion in which he and three others targeted the residence for marijuana and cash.

Jason Candelario, 34, of Manchester, was sentenced in Maines U.S. District Court on conspiracy, robbery and firearm charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday. Prosecutors say he and three others attempted to rob a home on Rowe Falls Lane on Aug. 2, 2019, resulting in the homeowner being shot.

Court documents state the homeowner operated a marijuana manufacturing and distribution business at the home.

Jason Candelario, 34, of Manchester, was sentenced in Maines U.S. District Court on conspiracy, robbery and firearm charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

Police said Candelario, Derek Daprato, Luis Carpio and Andrew Soboleski plotted the robbery, traveling as a group from Hooksett, New Hampshire, to the York residence in two cars. They said the group brought a backpack containing duct tape, zip ties and empty garbage bags.

Previous story"York home targeted for marijuana, money- 4 plead guilty to heist that ended in gunfire

Candelario and Carpio, according to prosecutors, got out of the car and hid in the woods near the homes garage. When the homeowner backed into the garage, prosecutors say Candelario and Carpio rushed into the garage armed with handguns and wearing masks.

The homeowner was accompanied by two others, and a violent altercation ensued, according to prosecutors. They said the homeowner and one of the robbers ended up on the ground, while one of the other robbers came around the vehicle to aid in subduing the resident. A firearm was discharged, and the bullet struck the homeowner in the lower abdomen, they said.

Lawsuit:Judge allows suit alleging Taser 'torture' by York County Jail guards to go to trial

Candelario and the other robbers then fled the scene, police say, and the homeowners girlfriend, who was in the car at the time of the incident, called 911. The homeowner was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery to remove the .45 caliber bullet from his abdomen.

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Police said they identified one of the suspects after an officer captured the license plate of a passing car near the scene seven minutes after the 911 call reporting the shooting. The car was later connected to Carpio. Police also used DNA, Facebook records, cell phone records and cell tower data to show that the four men were connected and in the area at the time of the robbery.

All four of the suspects have pleaded guilty in the case.

Candelario's prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the DOJ. He was also ordered to pay $180,277.06 in restitution. Candelario had four prior felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law. Police said they learned in the Rowe Falls Lane investigation that Candelario also allegedly perpetrated a similar armed robbery a few weeks prior, captured on video on July 20, 2019, in Canton, Massachusetts.

More:U.S. Supreme Court to hear disability activist's lawsuit that names Wells, Maine, hotel

Not the first the time home was targeted

The Row Falls Lane home was also the target of another home invasion and robbery just three months prior to the August 2019 incident, and also resulted in the homeowner being shot. All three suspects in that attempted robbery are now serving prison sentences  Nathaniel Rivera, Eric Mercado and Steven Hardy.

Police said Rivera traveled to a York home with two women on May 3, 2019, where they met the homeowner and drank alcohol and went into a hot tub. While the four were in the hot tub, Mercado and Hardy entered the home and ordered the victim to go into a bathroom, but he refused and fled, which is when the robbers shot at him and hit him in the leg, according to court records.

Although police did not confirm the two incidents took place at the same residence or involved the same victim, neighbors said both took place at the same address and involved the victim.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH man gets 14 years for marijuana heist in York, ME; homeowner shot
President Biden is channeling Reagan, not Clinton, Carter or Obama, when he says the U.S. will stick with Ukraine against Russia for "as long as it takes." (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Once upon a time, the roles were reversed.

Democrats were, if anything, skeptical of foreign intervention. Many, especially in the liberal and progressive wings of the party, saw war as inhumane, policing the world as folly and the Pentagon as bloated. Humbled by failure in Vietnam, the party that gave us Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern and Jimmy Carter pursued cooperation rather than conflict as the order of the day.

Republicans, on the other hand, were more unabashedly hawkish  willing to flex U.S. military muscle and project power in support of an American-led world order. For the most part, they believed that if you gave the Soviets, the Chinese or Islamic State so much as an inch in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East or elsewhere, dominoes would begin to tumble. Peace through strength was the mantra.

But today, that paradigm is being flipped on its head.

Earlier this month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his candidacy for president, said that further support for Ukraine is not a vital interest of the United States. He brushed off the war between Russia and Ukraine as a mere territorial dispute. Last week he "clarified" that Russia was in the wrong, but reiterated that he would oppose an escalation of American involvement.

His comments align DeSantis, to one degree or another, with former President Trump, whose isolationist, America first impulses are well known. About Ukraine, Trump has said, That war has to stop, and it has to stop now.

DeSantis also lines up with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the new House speaker, who has vowed that Republicans wont agree to a blank check for aid to Ukraine.

And he lines up with plenty of other conservative Republicans, such as Kari Lake (the loser in last year's race for Arizona governor), who sounded in a recent speech more like Tom Hayden than Ronald Reagan: We are living on Planet Crazy, where we have hundreds of billions of dollars of our hard-earned American money being sent overseas to start World War III.

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Yes, theres been pushback from the Republican establishment. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former United Nations Ambassador and 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, for example, are among those who support robust aid for Ukraine.

But the reality is that the America-first approach is gaining traction because it has significant backing from Republican voters, 40% of whom believe the U.S. is giving too much aid to Ukraine, compared with only 15% of Democrats who agree, according to the Pew Research Center.

While those changes are rippling through the GOP, President Biden and the Democrats are swinging the other way: Well stick with our Ukrainian allies as long as it takes, Biden says, as he gives them more howitzers, rocket systems and armored vehicles, because nothing less than the American-led international order is at stake.

Biden  channeling Ronald Reagan, not Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama  describes Ukraine as just one front in a global battle between autocracy versus democracy. Do you want to live in a repressive world led by Russias Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping and their allies or in an enlightened liberal democracy of the sort we have in the U.S. and Europe?

As Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, put it: Today it is Russia and Ukraine. Tomorrow it will be other nations.

It's true that the U.S. is not actually fighting a war, just arming its allies in Ukraine. But according to a survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, liberal Democratic voters now support putting boots on the ground around the world more than independents, moderate Democrats or Republicans. More than half of liberal Democrats would support sending U.S. troops to intervene if Russia invaded a NATO ally, or if North Korea invaded South Korea or if China invaded Taiwan.

So whats going on here? Are we witnessing a true ideological realignment that will endure? Or is this merely situational, the result of some combination of Putins invasion, the upcoming presidential election and the Trump phenomenon?

Several experts told me I shouldnt assume a long-term shift is underway. They suggested there was a lot of political posturing and jockeying going on, especially because of Trumps disruptive presence in the 2024 race.

The pendulum is swinging, but Im not sure we have clarity on how far its swinging or exactly in what direction, said Andrew Bacevich, chairman of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Bacevichs position is that theres not that much difference between the parties in any case. He argues that the party in power  whichever it is  tends to emphasize the importance of strong American leadership and the minority party generally shows more sensitivity to risks, costs and tradeoffs.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, doubts we're seeing a true realignment. He argues that plenty of progressive Democrats are unenthusiastic about our involvement in Ukraine. And while its true that GOP voters are growing more skeptical of a muscular foreign policy, hes not sure itll last.

Their leaders are saying what they think they have to say to get the nomination, he said. The interesting question is whether Trumpism, with its isolationist impulse, will dominate in Republican circles after Trump is off the scene. Or will there be a return to 41ism and 43ism?

Haass was referring to the more internationalist policies of President George H.W. Bush and his son. (Remember Iraq?)

For my part, Id like to see less ideology, less rhetoric, less jockeying over 2024  and more pragmatism. In a sane world, Republicans and Democrats would come together in search of a coherent policy that would help the people of Ukraine in their fight against Putin's unjustifiable aggression, without letting us drift into a new Cold War or get dragged into an escalating quagmire.

That's too much to hope for, though, given the sorry state of American politics.

@Nick_Goldberg

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
PATERSON  In an announcement that stunned city officials and rank-and-file cops, the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office seized control of the Paterson Police Department on Monday, taking over day-to-day law enforcement operations in the New Jersey's third-most-populous city.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Patersons new chief, Engelbert Ribeiro, was being relieved of command after less than a month on the job and the new officer in charge would be Isa Abbassi, a 25-year veteran New York City cop credited with improving community relations after the police-custody killing of Eric Garner on Staten Island in 2014.

There is a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in this city, said Platkin, flanked by members of his staff and the New Jersey State Police at a press conference outside Paterson police headquarters.

NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announces on the steps of Paterson Police Department that the Attorney Generals office is taking control of the department in Paterson, NJ on Monday March 27, 2023.

State officials said the Attorney General's Office has not yet decided whether to make changes in the command structure of the Police Department or to keep the same captains in charge of such as divisions as narcotics, Internal Affairs and patrol. Patersons public safety director, Jerry Speziale, will remain in his civilian role, state officials said.

Platkin said the state would bring more resources to the Paterson Police Department, but he did not provide details.

No city official participated in the announcement. Mayor Andre Sayegh  who has had close ties to Gov. Phil Murphys administration  also was not present for the event. Sayegh had been opposed to the possibility of the federal Justice Department intervening in his citys department.

Mike Kelly:These tactics might have prevented Najee Seabrooks' death

Given that resources were promised by the attorney general, we look forward to working with the Attorney Generals Office once again, the mayor said. Moreover, we are eager to review the attorney general's plan and timeline, as well as to share and build upon the reforms that we have already implemented.

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Minutes before Platkins speech, city employees removed the metal fence barriers that have blocked the front entrance to police headquarters since protests erupted after Paterson police officers fatally shot Najee Seabrooks on March 3.

State officials said the takeover stemmed from systemic problems, rather than a single incident, and Platkin did not mention Seabrooks by name during his comments.

But the attorney general made what seemed to be at least five indirect references to the Seabrooks shooting, which happened after a nearly five-hour standoff between Paterson cops and a 31-year-old violence intervention specialist going through a reportedly drug-induced mental health crisis while wielding knives.

For example, Platkin said the state would revise its protocols for when police are supposed to use force on people who are barricaded and how mental health workers should be used in such situations.

More:Paterson says goodbye to Najee Seabrooks, activist killed in police shooting

Reaction from advocates and elected officials

NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announces on the steps of Paterson Police Department that the Attorney Generals office is taking control of the department in Paterson, NJ on Monday March 27, 2023.

Several of Seabrooks family members and his co-workers at the Paterson Healing Collective attended Platkins announcement and cheered out loud over the state intervention. Casey Melvin, one of the Healing Collectives leaders, said it was too early in the process to comment about the attorney generals actions.

Councilman Michael Jackson expressed concerns about the racial makeup of the state officials who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Platkin at the announcement, noting that the group of mostly white men did not reflect Patersons Black and brown population.

That doesnt show me they want the community to be part of the solution, Jackson said.

Social justice activist Corey Teague said he was satisfied with the state takeover for the time being."

Its a small step, Teague said, adding that he hoped the state would succeed in rebuilding trust between the citys cops and the community.

Ribeiro and Speziale could not be reached for comment.

Gov. Phil Murphy, in a statement released Monday, expressed support for Platkin's move  and lauded Platkin's announcement that the ARRIVE Together initiative  a experimental new program from Platkin's office that aims to rethink how police interact with people experiencing mental health crises  would be launched in Passaic County. Mayor Andre Sayegh has heralded a similar mental health-police partnership called Connect and Protect, which would partner staff from St. Joseph's University Medical Center with Paterson Police in responding to people in crisis.

I applaud Attorney General Platkin for taking bold action to bring change to Patersons Police Department," Murphy said. "In Paterson, it has unfortunately become clear that there is a deep lack of trust between the police and the community they serve. This not only harms public safety, but it also makes it more difficult and dangerous for law enforcement officers to do their jobs. I am confident that the Attorney Generals actions will ensure needed reform and give police officers in Paterson the resources, support, and training they need to effectively build trust and serve their community."I am also grateful that Attorney General Platkin has announced that he will bring ARRIVE Together to Paterson," Murphy said. "This groundbreaking initiative represents a sea change on emergency response to individuals facing mental health crises, and will decrease the danger to everyone involved.

Our view:Can Najee Seabrooks' fatal shooting be the moment to change Paterson's police? | Editorial

State police assume control for now

NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announces on the steps of Paterson Police Department that the Attorney Generals office is taking control of the department in Paterson, NJ on Monday March 27, 2023.

Platkin said Abbassi will start working in Paterson in May. In the interim, the city Police Department will be overseen by Major Fred Fife of the New Jersey State Police, Platkin said. He will be joined by state police Capt. Jafca Mandziuk and Assistant Attorney General Joseph Walsh in overseeing the Paterson department.

Platkin said the goal of the takeover is restoring confidence in the Paterson police and he would not specify how long the state intervention would last.

Many Paterson cops learned of the intervention Monday morning in a memo from Platkin.

I am exercising this extraordinary power of my office to better support your department, the attorney general said. For too long, this department has suffered fiscal challenges, and been subjected to the whims of a revolving door of leadership.

These challenges along with the high-profile cases of misconduct  some of it being criminal  on the part of a few officers have sullied the good name of hundreds of officers trying to do good work here and the trust between the community and the department has deteriorated as a result, Platkin continued.

The status quo is not addressing these longstanding issues, he added. A change is needed.

NJ Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announces on the steps of Paterson Police Department that the Attorney Generals office is taking control of the department in Paterson, NJ on Monday March 27, 2023. At right, Colonel Patrick J. Callahan of the NJ State Police.

During the afternoon press conference, Platkin said there have been dozens of instances in which the Attorney General's Office took control of local police departments. Officials on Monday did not say whether the state intervention would affect the role of the Passaic County Prosecutors Office in connection with the Paterson police.

Last fall, city social justice activists called for Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes to resign because her office had not pursued criminal investigations of Paterson cops later arrested and convicted by the FBI.

The state intervention comes as legislators, community leaders and activists have been calling for a federal takeover of the Paterson Police Department in the aftermath of the Seabrooks shooting.

This announcement will not quell the strife in the city of Paterson overnight, Platkin said. It will not immediately restore public confidence that the police are committed to providing every resident of Paterson with fair, just and effective public safety.

Nor will it address the concerns of officers asked to do a hard and dangerous job in a community that  after years of fiscal challenges and a revolving door of police leadership  has lost faith in its police department, making the jobs of those officers even more difficult, Platkin added. Rather, the actions taken by my office today represent a pledge to the residents and officers of Paterson that the state of New Jersey is committed to the safety and success of the entire Paterson community.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ news: Attorney general takes over Police Department
You are here: China

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2023 in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2023. Ding read out a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the forum. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has stressed further advancing opening-up and sharing market opportunities with the world.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2023.

He read out a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the forum.

Emphasizing the importance of establishing a new development pattern, the vice premier said China aims to foster more open "dual circulation" involving both domestic and foreign markets rather than a closed domestic loop.

The country will continue to widen market access, improve the business environment, fully implement the national treatment of foreign-funded firms, and make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, Ding said.

Efforts will be made to promote coordinated development among different regions, encourage localities to exploit their comparative advantages in advancing opening-up, and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, he added.

Ding also called for international cooperation to build an open world economy and share opportunities through opening-up, urging global efforts to strengthen international macro-economic policy coordination, safeguard multilateralism, deepen technological cooperation, pursue green growth impetus, and actively advance the Global Development Initiative.

The China Development Forum 2023, themed "Economic Recovery: Opportunities and Cooperation," opened in Beijing on Sunday. It is hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Experts, entrepreneurs, government officials and representatives of international organizations from all around the world attended the opening ceremony.
Saturday noon came and went with a whimper. The New Mexico legislature adjourned sine die, and I couldnt care less.

Child welfare reform? Nope. Meaningful tax reform? Oh, hell no. Good government reform? Talk to the hand.

Merritt hamilton Allen

At first, I was pleased to see the state severance permanent fund funded to almost 30% of the total budget, or nearly $3.25 billion. Then the total funding amount recommended in the House budget to fund the severance permanent fund was slashed 44% by the Senate in the last week of the session to fund even more stuff in a budget bill totaling nearly $10 billion.

I absolutely hate that. The $375 million pulled out of the severance permanent fund funding by the Senate Finance Committee went to fully funding free college tuition and $500 tax rebates.

I really hate that.

Maybe we should work on our K-12 system and high school graduation rates before we go down the free college road (and what about some management accountability for our public universities as they keep raising tuitiontalking to you, NMSU). And if we have enough money to give it back to the taxpayers, change the tax system or make the rebates recurring based on oil and gas revenues, like Alaska.

Even more egregious, the most basic accountability measures for our Child, Youth and Family Department (CYFD) failed to be heard for a full vote again. No independent entity to hear stakeholder or client complaints. No real reform. CYFD will remain a closed and dysfunctional department lacking accountability for its internal failures. Children will die in its care and we will read the heartbreaking accounts as the worst cases are exposed in the media.

Independent redistricting died with bipartisan support. I continue to shake my head at Republicans who believe after 110 years that somehow the Democrats will give them an equal seat at the table in 2031 when its time to redraw our political maps again. Voters should pick their politicians. In New Mexico, Democratic politicians carefully pick their voters every ten years with careful mapmaking.

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Open primaries  where New Mexicos decline-to-state voters would be able to vote in primaries, as they can in more than 40 other states  was stopped in the House Judiciary committee. Chairwoman Christine Chandler (D-43) represents Los Alamos County, which has the highest number of DTS voters in the state. She refused to give Senate Bill 73 its second hearing in the House, effectively killing it. One wonders what she is afraid of.

Then there is the generally futile Voting Rights Act which was passed. The only positive thing I can say about it is that the section that would allow 16-and 17-year-olds to vote in state and local elections was removed to separate legislation and did not pass. The Voting Rights Act accomplishes two things.

First, it automatically registers everyone to vote, which means a bunch of new DTS voters (if you are automatically registered, you wont be enrolled in a party) are immediately disenfranchised because they cant vote in publicly funded primaries. Thats hardly encouraging people to join in the electoral process.

Second, the automatic registration and ability to be permanently placed on a mail-in ballot list is going to encourage the GOP to challenge every election going forward, within reason or not. It will not statistically improve voter turnout and it will make a group already hostile about election integrity more so.

To be fair, the legislature had over 1,000 bills to hear in just 60 days. But the proposal to study professionalizing the legislature  considering longer sessions and paying legislators  also failed.

We will only get out of what we put into a part-time, unpaid legislature. In 2023 that looks to be the largest spending bill ever, no real tax reform, a state-funded abortion clinic, and free college in a state where nearly 1 out of 3 kids isnt graduating from high school.

But cheer up, dear reader. Its time to start fundraising for 2024.

Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appears regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican, she lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run two head of dog, and two of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.

Read more from Merritt Hamilton Allen:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: No winners in the 2023 legislature
Last Thursday, North Carolina regulators approved a controversial net-metering plan that will cut the future value of rooftop solar systems for Duke Energy customers. On the same day, the regulators also rejected an incentive package that had been devised to make the utilitys proposed solar reform more palatable to key solar industry players in the state.



Thursdays rulings from the North Carolina Utilities Commission add yet another layer of complications to a long-running rooftop solar policy struggle thats split solar and environmental advocates in the state. In 2021, a coalition of groups including the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association and leading U.S. residential solar installer Sunrun reached an agreement with Duke to support a plan that linked the utilitys net-metering proposal with a separate set of incentives that would soften the economic blow to future rooftop-solar customers.

Now that regulators have nixed that incentive package, its unclear how all the solar groups that previously supported Dukes net-metering reform will react.

In a Friday statement, Will Giese, Southeast regional director for the Solar Energy Industries Association, called the decision a step forward for North Carolinas rooftop solar market that preserves the ability of residents to choose the power that works for them. Many other states in the Southeast have net-metering programs that offer significantly less certainty or value for customers who want to install solar on their rooftops.

Representatives of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association declined to comment Friday on the commissions decisions, saying that the association was still reviewing them. A staff member of the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represented nonprofit groups Vote Solar and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in negotiations for the 2021 agreement, also declined to comment on the decisions until the group had had a chance to review them.

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Meanwhile, another group of solar companies, environmental groups and community advocates have opposed Dukes net-metering plan from the start. Those groups, including more than a dozen North Carolinabased solar companies and more than 50 nonprofit groups, say Thursdays double whammy of decisions has only strengthened their opposition.

This ruling is just rotten, Jim Warren, executive director of NC Warn, the nonprofit group leading the opposition, said in a Thursday interview, adding that the decisions give Duke Energy everything they asked for, and more.

Duke spokesperson Randy Wheeless disagreed in a Friday statement, calling the commissions decision a constructive outcome to more than a year of negotiation and collaboration that creates a program that will be fair to solar and non-solar customers alike.

Whats in the new net-metering plan?

The net-metering plan approved on Thursday significantly changes how customers with rooftop-solar systems are paid for the energy they produce and how theyre billed for power from the utility grid.

Customers who decide to add rooftop solar in the future will be hit with new minimum bills. Utility customers of Duke Energy Carolinas will have to pay a minimum monthly bill of at least $22, and customers with Duke Energy Progress a minimum of $28. For customers of both utilities, these monthly minimums will limit the bill reductions they can achieve by selling solar power back to the utility.

Customers who decide to opt in to solar net metering will also be required to switch to rate plans that charge more for electricity when that power is more expensive for the utility to supply to the grid. These new time-of-use and critical peak pricing plans would replace the utilitys existing flat rates for electricity, which average 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Instead, customers on these new plans will be charged between 5.6 and 7.7 cents per kilowatt-hour during the periods of highest solar generation, but as high as 17 to 19 cents per kilowatt-hour during mornings and evenings, when Dukes grid is facing the highest demand for electricity. Existing net-metered customers will be allowed to remain on the current rates until the start of 2027.

Customers on net-metering tariffs earn retail rates for the power they export to the grid. Because the new lower rates correspond to time periods when home solar arrays tend to produce more power than customers can use, that rate plan is expected to lower the total value of net-metered solar for customers. For the typical solar customer in North Carolina, Duke estimates that the current average monthly bill savings of $80$98 will fall to $40$68 under the new plan.

Duke has said that these changes are needed to reduce the cost shift that solar-equipped customers enrolled in net-metering plans impose on customers who dont have solar on their roofs.

This is a critical issue for solar net-metering policy battles in multiple states. Utilities argue that paying solar-equipped customers the full retail electricity rates for the power they send back to the grid, as many state net-metering regimes do, compels utilities to increase rates on the rest of their customers to make up for the ongoing costs such as maintenance and upgrades of equipment that solar customers are no longer paying. Rooftop-solar advocates say that utilities have fudged the math on these cost shifts, ignoring some of the financial and social benefits that rooftop solar provides to the grid in order to stifle competition from a new source of electricity.

Utilities across the country have undertaken similar efforts to change net-metering rules that pay customers full retail rates for the power they send back to the grid. One of the most noteworthy shifts in net-metering policy is taking place in California, the countrys leader in rooftop solar, where regulators late last year approved significant reductions in the payments for rooftop-solar exports, while adding new policies meant to expand access to solar for lower-income and disadvantaged customers.

Losing efficiency incentives, adding a battery pilot program

Solar groups that agreed to support Dukes net-metering plan in both North Carolina and South Carolina have said that they did so because the utilitys proposed cuts in net-metering payments for rooftop-solar customers were an acceptable alternative to the threat of even steeper cuts. But their support hinged on Dukes offer of a separate package of incentives to make this lost solar value sting a bit less. Regulators rejected that incentive package in a Thursday ruling.

The package would have offered an incentive worth roughly $2,500 off the full installation cost of a typical 7-kilowatt solar system for customers using electric heating who signed up for the utilitys smart-thermostat rewards program. Eligible customers would also have received an initial $75 bill credit and an additional $25 credit per year.

Commission staff concluded that this incentive package had been improperly defined by Duke Energy as an energy-efficiency plan rather than a solar-rebate plan, prompting the commission to reject it.

Instead, the commission ordered Duke to offer the solar installation incentives only to a limited group of customers as part of a pilot project. That pilot will offer incentives only to customers who install batteries along with solar systems, with a total cumulative cap of 10 megawatts of installed solar capacity per year across both Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress service territories.

Batteries can be valuable not only for backup power during grid outages like those that struck North Carolina this winter, but also for storing solar power for later use at times of the day when its more valuable to the grid. Californias new net-metering regime also offers increased value for rooftop solar systems that are paired with batteries.

Giese of the Solar Energy Industries Association called North Carolinas new solar-plus-battery incentive a smart, innovative approach, setting the bar for other states in the region to consider the benefits of these technologies for strengthening energy security in the face of extreme weather.

The plan approved by North Carolina regulators on Thursday also allows solar-equipped customers to choose an alternative rate structure in place of the time-of-use rates the previous plan would have made mandatory. Giese described this alternative rate option as a welcome glide path that ensures monthly crediting for solar customers through 2026 and provides critical certainty for current customers and those considering going solar.

But Warren said these changes dont alter the underlying harm of the new net-metering structure, which will jeopardize the growth and affordability of rooftop solar in North Carolina.

NC Warn has vowed to legally challenge the North Carolina Utilities Commissions decision to approve Dukes net-metering plan on the grounds that it ignores a 2017 law requiring an independent cost-benefit analysis to be conducted before changes can be made to net-metering policy.

The North Carolina Attorney Generals Office has echoed those concerns, questioning the legality of Dukes use of internal studies rather than publicly vetted data to claim that net-metered solar customers are increasing costs for other customers who lack solar.



John Szoka, the former North Carolina state representative who led the passage of HB 589 in 2017, which set the current net-metering reform process in motion, said after the laws passage that its not up to the utility to determine whether net metering is good or bad, adding, were not putting the fox in charge of the henhouse here.

For a deeper dive into the controversy surrounding the net-metering reform plan proposed by Duke Energy, see Canary Medias previous coverage.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Monday morning, according to reports.

Reuters reported that South Koreas military confirmed the missile launch, as did Japans Coast Guard, which said the projectile had fallen from the sky.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 2023/01/01: A TV screen shows a footage of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Yongsan Railway Station in Seoul. According to the South Korean military that North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the Korean Peninsula's east coast. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Ryongsong area in Pyongyang at 2:50 a.m., on January 1, 2023, adding the missile flew some 400 kilometers before splashing into the sea. North Korea launched around 70 ballistic missiles in 2022 alone.

Flight range and other details were not immediately available.

NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES ANOTHER SET OF MISSILES AMID US CALLS FOR UN INTERVENTION

Mondays incident comes just days after a round of missiles were fired from the South Hamgyong province, last Wednesday.

North Korea also fired a round of missiles from its shores on Monday, prompting the U.S. Department of State to comment on the need for greater intervention from other member of states of the United Nations.

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US AND ITS PARTNERS STAGE WARFARE DRILLS AS JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA STRENGTHEN ALLIANCE AGAINST CHINA, NORTH KOREA

"The United States condemned the DPRK's March 19 ballistic missile launch, which came just three days after the DPRK's most recent ICBM launch," State Department principal deputy spokesman Vendant Patel said last week. "This launch is in violation of multiple Security Council resolutions, and it's the latest in a series of launchers that pose a threat to the DPRK's neighbors."

Kim Jong Un, North Koreas dictator, oversaw last weeks test and said the exercises improved the militarys war capability. It also highlighted the need to ensure the country is ready for any "immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack" against the U.S. and South Korea.

Earlier this month, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, warning against US-South Korean military drills taking place in the region.

Timothy H.J. Nerozzi of Fox News and Reuters contributed to this report.
(Bloomberg) -- North Korea test-launched two short-range ballistic missiles, adding to its barrage in recent weeks as Pyongyang protests joint military exercises by the US and South Korea.

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The missiles were fired starting about 7:47 a.m. local time from the Chunghwa area just south of Pyongyang, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message. The missiles were launched about 10 minutes apart and flew about 350 kms (220 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of about 50 kms before landing outside of Japans exclusive economic zone, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said.

Kim Jong Uns regime has not commented on the latest launch, but its propaganda apparatus has been trumpeting recent tests of weapons it says will strike fear into the enemies. North Korea has been seeking new ways to deliver nuclear attacks on the US and its two most important allies in Asia, South Korea and Japan.

Last week, it tested what it billed as a new underwater drone that can create a radioactive tsunami. It has also rolled out new missiles to hit US forces in South Korea and this month conducted its first test of a mock nuclear warhead affixed to a missile that could hit western parts of Japan.

The US and South Korea last week began their largest amphibious exercise in about five years in a training drill called Ssangyong. The US Navys Nimitz aircraft carrier group is due to arrive in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday, military officials in Seoul said. The exercises and American military presence are certain to anger Pyongyang, which has already ramped up its provocations to new levels.

The timing of the latest missile launches appears to be in protest of US-South Korean military drills and the arrival of the USS Nimitz and we can expect more to come because the regime has a technological and political reason to do so, said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow in Seoul at the Center for a New American Security.

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She added that continued testing helps Pyongyang advance its technology, strengthens its nuclear weapons capability and increases its leverage if there is a resumption in now-stalled talks with the US.

Some defense stocks in South Korea and Japan, such as LIG Nex1 Co. and Hanwha Aerospace Co. opened higher on Monday. Share expected to benefit from improved inter-Korean ties dropped, underperforming the broader benchmark.

Over the weekend, North Koreas external propaganda outlet Uriminzokkiri criticized the joint military exercises as being of an offensive, not defensive, nature and saying the situation on the peninsula is bound to become more explosive.

North Korea, which had fired 13 ballistic missiles from Feb. 18 to just before the latest launch, has for years called joint drills a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war. The US and South Korea in January announced plans to step up the scale of their joint military exercises. Japan, which North Korea regards as mortal enemy, has also joined some of the drills in recent months.

Kim Jong Uns regime on March 16 fired what it said was a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol went to Japan for a summit to repair ties and improve security cooperation with their mutual US ally.

The barrage over the past several weeks has included two ICBMs able to hit the American mainland and what appeared to be a new close-range ballistic missile designed to hit US bases in South Korea. The tests also included two cruise missiles fired from a submarine, which appeared to be another first.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the leader, has warned Pyongyang would turn the Pacific into a firing range if the US continued drills. She also hinted the state could start testing whether its warhead designs can withstand the heat of reentering the atmosphere.

North Korea has demonstrated its missiles could fly as far as the US but there are questions as to whether the warheads would be able to stay intact to reach their targets.

The US and South Korea pledged to step up their exercises at a meeting of their defense ministers in Seoul in late January. The drills had been scaled down or halted under former President Donald Trump, who was hoping the move would facilitate his nuclear negotiations with the North Korean leader.

Those talks produced no concrete steps to wind down Pyongyangs nuclear program, which has only grown larger as disarmament talks sputtered. In recent months, Japan has joined in some of the drills that have included the US and South Korea, a move that angered Pyongyang, which has responded with shows of force to signal its displeasure.

--With assistance from Ryotaro Nakamaru and Youkyung Lee.

(Updates with US aircraft group and comments from analyst.)

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North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, South Korea's military said, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests that Pyongyang says are in response to major US-South Korea defence drills.

The two allies were conducting a joint amphibious landing exercise on Monday, days after concluding Freedom Shield, their largest combined military drills in five years.

North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion, and has repeatedly warned it would take "overwhelming" action in response.

"Our military detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from around Chunghwa area in North Hwanghae province from 07:47 am (2247 GMT) towards the East Sea," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The missiles each flew around 370 kilometres (230 miles), it added, calling their launch a "serious act of provocation damaging peace and stability of the international community as well as the Korean peninsula".

The Japanese defence ministry also confirmed the launch, with Japanese media citing officials as saying both missiles fell outside the country's exclusive economic zone.

North Korean state media last week said the US-South Korean military drills called for "stronger war deterrents", including a "multi-faceted and offensive nuclear attack capability".

The North Korean military has carried out multiple drills of its own in recent weeks, including the test-fire of what state media described as an underwater nuclear-capable drone, and its second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this year.

State media said the "underwater nuclear attack drone" drill, personally overseen by North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, was staged "to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis".

Kim also led a two-day drill last week simulating a "nuclear counterattack", according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea's claims have been questioned by experts, who have said they are not the same as credible demonstrations of capability.

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But they added that Pyongyang was moving on from simply stockpiling nuclear warheads and attempting to advance and diversify launch mediums.

Analysts had previously said Pyongyang would likely use the US-South Korea drills as an excuse for more missile launches and perhaps even a nuclear test.

- 'Advanced missile threats' -

In the face of growing threats from North Korea, the United States and South Korea have ramped up their security cooperation.

Last week, the US military said it conducted for the first time remote launcher "deployment training" for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) -- a missile defence system -- during Freedom Shield.

"In the face of DPRK's advanced missile threats, the training of our THAAD forces... demonstrates the ironclad commitment to support and defend" South Korea, US Forces Korea said in a statement, using the acronym of North Korea's official name.

North Korea last year declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power and Kim recently called for an "exponential" increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

Kim also ordered the North Korean military this month to intensify drills to prepare for a "real war".

The South Korean defence ministry said the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier -- was due to arrive in the southern city of Busan on Tuesday.

Both militaries carried out joint naval drills on Monday, which are aimed at strengthening "extended deterrence through the deployment of US strategic assets in the face of growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats", a defence ministry official told reporters.

sh/qan
SEOUL, South Korea  Fighter jets roared off the USS Nimitz as the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies expanding drills.

The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the Norths weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

US, South Korea announce largest field exercises in five years

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats.

The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive at the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

The United States has deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day, said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group Eleven. We can continue to deploy those assets and we will.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the Norths capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japans military said the missiles, which landed outside Japans exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

FILE - U.S. Army soldiers wait to board their CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, Sunday, March 19, 2023. (Ahn Young-joon/AP, File)

Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.

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Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Koreas illicit nuclear weapons and missiles programs.

North Korea, which has weathered tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2016 over its nuclear developments, didnt immediately comment on the launches.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and live-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against the Norths rising threats.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

USS Ronald Reagan, South Korean ships launch drills

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

The weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The countrys leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical whether such a device was a major new threat and Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Monday that it considers the North Korean claims likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets, communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signaling that its practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the Norths announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Koreas air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seouls three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the Norths leadership and key military facilities.

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
North Korea on Monday test-fired two more missiles hours before the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz began joint military exercises with South Korean warships.

Tensions in the Korean Peninsula have been high as the U.S. moves to build its relationship with South Korea and as North Korea protests the military drills, showing its own nuclear force in response.

The latest two missile firings mark North Koreas seventh missile test this month.

South Koreas military said the two short-range ballistic missiles were launched from a western inland area south of North Koreas capital of Pyongyang and flew over 200 miles. Japans military said the missiles traveled on an irregular trajectory.

North Korea is severely threatening the Korean Peninsula and the regional security order through multiple ballistic missile launches including ICBMs, and implications of their offensive use of nuclear weapons through their self-proclaimed nuclear counterstrike tactical trainings,' said South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Seung-kyum Kim in a statement after visiting the USS Nimitz.

The South Korea-U.S. alliance will respond in a resolute and overwhelming manner to any and all enemy provocations and aggression and will make it profoundly clear the following fact: any attempts of an enemy nuclear attack will surely mean the end of their regime, Kim said.

Last week, North Korea said it used a ballistic missile launch to simulate a nuclear attack on South Korea.

The U.S. has upped its presence in the region while China gets friendlier with Russia and more upset over the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City on April 13, 2022. Islam Dogru/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Two tigers escaped a Georgia safari that saw "extensive tornado damage."

Initial reports said there was one missing tiger, but it turned out two escaped their enclosure.

Both animals were "found, tranquilized, and safely returned" to Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari.

Two tigers escaped their enclosures at a Georgia safari park after tornadoes ripped through the area Sunday morning.

Fortunately for residents but maybe not for the tigers, the animals were soon found, tranquilized, and returned to their enclosures, according to reports.

Amid warnings of a tornado watch, as well as a flood watch, the Troup County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook Sunday morning that they had received a report from the safari of a missing tiger.

By 10:45 am local time, the sheriff's office shared an update: There were actually two loose tigers, but they had been re-captured.

Wild Animal Safari confirmed in a statement on Facebook that there were two tigers missing following "extensive tornado damage."

"Like much of Southwest Georgia, Pine Mountain Safari sustained extensive tornado damage this morning," the statement said. "Fortunately, none of our animals and employees were hurt. However, several animal enclosures were breached, and two tigers briefly escaped. Both have now been found, tranquilized, and safely returned to a secure enclosure."

The safari offered its thanks to "everyone who kept our animals and crew in your thoughts."

Read the original article on Insider
On a recent trip toward the Hudson River, I noticed the road signs of the small communities on the eastern portion of Broome County. We passed Damascus and Windsor, heading toward Deposit. Near Oquaga Lake was the sign that indicated we were near McClure. What, you have never heard of McClure? Thats all right. There are many hamlets scattered around the Southern Tier region. My problem is that the name of the hamlet is actually misspelled.

It is named after the original settler of that area  William Macclure  not William McClure. In fact, the original name of the hamlet was Macclure Settlement  and someone along the way decided they should shorten it. Yet, it is not his name, and William Macclure played an important role in the settlement of this region.

William Macclure was born in 1725 in Chester, New Hampshire, to James and Jean Macclure. Williams father died when he was young, and his mother insisted on him having a good education. William was proficient in mathematics and taught school  first in Connecticut, and later in Dutchess and Orange counties in New York. The family relocated to Orange County in 1777, and William continued to teach for a while.

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The land patents of Broome County with the Fisher, Norton, and Macclure patents in the lower right.

His skills brought him into the world of surveying at a time when the number of investors in land patents wanted someone to map and document their new properties. In 1787, William Macclure was hired by George Fisher and Isaac Norton to survey their land patents in an area near Cookhouse (now called Deposit) in a portion of what was then Montgomery County in New York state. Macclure would also act as the agent for these two landowners.

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It was an opportunity for Macclure, and he set out for the land patents with his horse, Ohio (often just called Hio in his journals). The horse was docile and took him through the virgin forests as he followed the former Native American trails into the frontier territory. Macclures assistants came up river using a canoe from Carpenters Point, near Port Jervis.

Once he arrived on the lands to be surveyed, he went about constructing a log cabin in which to live. He called his home Castle William on the banks of the Ononquaga Creek. He worked during the summers and falls to complete his task. While his was a life alone during this period, he was not lonely. There were a few other early inhabitants that lived in the region. During one bad period called the Pumpkin Flood, food became scarce, and Macclure sent back his assistants by canoe to replenish the food stock.

A postcard of Macclure, about 1910.

During the winter, Macclure would return to Orange County, and on Feb. 26, 1791, he married Sarah Farnham in Goshen, New York. She would die in 1807 in childbirth, but the marriage produced eight children  most of whom were born in Macclure Settlement. He would marry Lydia Austin later in life. He wrote of the births and deaths in his journals, which have been reproduced in "The Letters and Diaries of William Macclure: Surveyor and Pioneer, 1725-1826, and published by the Broome County Historical Society.

He noted how many visitors he would put up in his small cabin. Two of them in 1790 were the first census takers for the federal government. Interestingly, in the 1790 census, they left out William Macclure from his home area  first misspelling his name, and then omitting him from the official government record  just like Rodney Dangerfield  he got no respect.

The Macclure post office that closed in 1921.

William Macclures globe at Old Onaquaga Historical Society.

During one bad winter, Macclure became so sick he could no longer raise himself from his bed. His faithful dog stayed with him for a while, and then left the cabin and made his way to the only neighbor, Cornelius Hynback, near Cookhouse. Hynback came back with the dog and nursed Macclure back to health.

William Macclure would live until 1826, dying at his beloved Castle William. Several generations of Macclures continued to live in the region for many years. Now Macclure Settlement/McClure Settlement/McClure seems like a lost memory. His letters ended up in the collection of the Deposit Historical Society, his globe at Old Onaquaga Historical Society and his journals at the Broome County Historical Society  all preserved for the future.

Gerald Smith is a former Broome County historian. Email him at historysmiths@stny.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Broome County history includes noted settler William Macclure
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

This reporting is featured in this weeks edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

The New York Times has left no stone unturned in its quest to crack down on staffers who signed an open letter last month criticizing the papers trans coverage.

After weeks of hauling staffers who signed it into meetings with high-level editors Carolyn Ryan and Marc Laceymeetings described to Confider as intimidating tongue-lashing sessionsmanagement sent written warnings to around 20 staffers, accusing them of conspiring against the paper and endangering their co-workers.

Your colleagues whose work was criticized in the letter, some by name, have carried out their work in a fair-minded, sensitive, and journalistically sound fashion, Ryan and Lacey wrote in the letters sent earlier this month, according to a copy obtained and reviewed by Confider. They have endured attacks and threats as a result of the letter. By signing, you have not only amplified that campaign but endorsed it, too. That is harmful to them personally and to our reputation for providing quality, independent journalism.

The warning memos, which were put on March 9 into each employees personnel file, came after hundreds of Times staffers and contributors claimed in their open letter that the paper treated gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language. The open letter was a point of contention within the staff union itself, as dozens of reporters signed a separate letter lashing their colleagues fundamental misunderstanding of our responsibilities as journalists.

Like what youre reading? Subscribe to the Confider newsletter here and have The Daily Beast media teams stellar reporting sent straight to your inbox every Monday night.

In its letter earlier this month, management further warned staffers that should they engage in anything similar in the future, they could be subject to further punishment. This letter serves as a reminder of the expectations for your conduct generally, as well as under company policies and guidelines, read the note from Ryan and Lacey.

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The stark warning has rankled some Times staffers, who have floated new responses including filing an official grievance through the Times Guild or, eventually, departing the Times altogether. Such a drastic measure, should it occur, could result in a queer brain drain at the paper, one staffer told Confider.

Another point of frustration among staffers has been managements urging for internal discussion and debate in their letter despite there having been multiple past attempts to raise concerns about the Times trans coverage through internal means prior to the public open letter. Confider previously reported on such efforts, including an ultimately fruitless October 2021 meeting involving Ryan and then-executive editor Dean Baquet.

Other staffers questioned to Confider why those who signed the trans coverage letter have been subject to such scrutiny while those who publicly denounced Sen. Tom Cottons infamous June 2020 op-ed calling for troops to quell riots walked away without discipline.

Reps for the Times and the NewsGuild both declined to comment.

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Zambia commissions Chinese-built hydropower plant to tackle power deficit

Xinhua) 08:54, March 27, 2023

This aerial photo taken on March 23, 2023 shows the dam at Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua)

CHIKANKATA, Zambia, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday.

The five generators at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station, constructed by the Chinese firm Sinohydro Corporation Limited, added a total of 750 megawatts to the country's national grid.

Noting that China and Zambia completed the power station in "an ingenious way," Hichilema said the project showed the friendly relationship between the two countries, and his government is committed to further growing the relationship with China.

Hichilema added that the completion of the project was not only good for the country's energy sector but for the economy as a whole as energy is critical to drive an economy.

Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Du Xiaohui said that the project was an important symbol of China-Africa friendship and cooperation.

China, he said, will continue to contribute to the all-weather, all-dimensional and high-quality cooperation with Zambia.

Staff members of Sinohydro Corporation Limited attend the commissioning ceremony for the fifth generator at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia, March 24, 2023. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Staff members of Sinohydro Corporation Limited attend the commissioning ceremony for the fifth generator at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia, March 24, 2023. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (front) pushes the start button when attending the commissioning ceremony for the fifth generator at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia, March 24, 2023. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

This photo taken on March 24, 2023 shows the transformer substation of the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua)

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (front) cuts the ribbon when attending the commissioning ceremony for the fifth generator at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia, March 24, 2023. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

This aerial photo taken on March 23, 2023 shows the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua)

This photo taken on March 24, 2023 shows generator sets at the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

This aerial photo taken on March 23, 2023 shows the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua)

This aerial photo taken on March 23, 2023 shows the dam at Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua)

This aerial photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station in Southern Province, Zambia. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema officially commissioned a Chinese-built hydropower plant, following the switching on of the plant's fifth generator on Friday. (Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Stanislaus County Deputy Sheriff Eric Fulmer must be held accountable for causing a deadly accident while driving 121 mph in predawn fog.

Its disappointing that he escaped potential criminal liability in the January 2022 death of 21-year-old Saul Betancourt of Modesto. But Fulmer should still face consequences. He should lose his job.

Fulmer braked 1.5 seconds before broadsiding Betancourts Camaro at nearly 90 mph near Newman, according to a CHP report that Bee reporter Erin Tracy obtained and that rightly found Fulmer primarily responsible for the accident.

Although Fulmers department-issued Nissan Maxima with flashing lights was most likely not visible to Betancourt, the report said, Betancourt had rolled through an intersection at 6 mph, an action deemed an associated factor in the collision. That sliver of responsibility probably saved the off-duty detective from facing prosecution, but it shouldnt have.

In District Attorney Jeff Laugeros first opportunity since his 2022 election to hold a law enforcement officer liable in someones death, Laugero sided with the officer.

The DA gets points for fully and transparently explaining his reasoning to Tracy, something his predecessor, former DA Birgit Fladager, was loathe to do after the many times she refused to go after officers whose actions killed others.

Laugero wasnt confident, he said, that his attorneys could convict Fulmer of vehicular manslaughter for various reasons, including weather conditions, an off-duty sergeants opinion that Fulmers speed was not excessive and Fulmers excuse for speeding. He said he was rushing to help a fellow deputy fighting someone in Newman, and Fulmer thought of Ronil Singh, an officer gunned down there during a traffic stop in 2018. On the way, Fulmer should have heard radio traffic indicating that other officers were closer than Fulmer, but he kept going  until the crash.

Its unfortunate that Laugero, a former policeman, didnt even try.

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The CHP conclusion is logical: If you drive 121 mph in the fog  so fast that others cant see you, even with sirens blaring and your lightbar flashing  and you crash into someone, its your fault.

Gross negligence, negligence or innocence rightly should have been a decision for a jury of Fulmers peers. Thats how weighty matters are decided in a society committed to rule of law.

At least try lesser charge

If Laugero didnt think a felony conviction was realistic, he might have at least brought a misdemeanor charge. That would have demonstrated  in an era of heightened sensitivity to police behaving badly  that a new authority is in town, one who does not believe that someone with a gun and a badge can do no wrong.

Earlier this month, a Sacramento police officer was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for pulling a U-turn in October without lights or siren in front of a motorcyclist, who died after slamming into the patrol vehicle. In letting that play out in court  whatever the outcome  the Sacramento County DAs office made the right call.

Fulmer is not entirely absolved, however. He and the Sheriffs Department face a civil wrongful death lawsuit brought by Betancourts survivors, one of whom suffered serious injuries in the same crash.

More immediate is the question of Fulmers employment. After recovering from serious injuries suffered in the crash  the deputy was not wearing a seat belt  he returned to duty for a time, but at some point was placed on paid leave. One wonders whether that coincided with the CHP finding Fulmer mostly responsible, or with the Sheriffs Departments own conclusion that driving fast and furious violates department policy.

That policy does not allow deputies to disregard others safety, even when using lights and sirens, and says they must reduce speed at intersections. Severe discipline is in order.

Because Fulmers actions violated department policy, resulting in death, it is appropriate that he be dismissed from duty.
You're probably doing your laundry more often than you need to.

You're probably doing your laundry more often than you need to.

If you reflexively throw your clothes in the hamper after every wear, it may be time to rethink your laundry habits.

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to how often to wash or rewear an article of clothing  its really a personal choice, said Carolyn Forte, executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institutes Home Care and Cleaning Lab.

But I suspect most people probably wash  or even dry clean  their clothing more often than needed, she told HuffPost. Americans do a lot of laundry and tend to put many things in the wash after a wear or two.

Not only can laundering your clothes too frequently decrease the longevity of the garment, it also has a significant impact on the environment.

The average American household does about 300 loads of laundry a year. A single load can use anywhere from 7 to 25 gallons of water, depending on the machine (older models use even more). Washing your clothes in hot water increases energy usage, and using the dryer  instead of air drying  is a big energy guzzler, too. And dont get us started on dryer sheets.

Most people probably wash ... their clothing more often than needed.Carolyn Forte of the Good Housekeeping Institute

At the same time, its important not to wait too long between washes, as that may lead to some potential skin issues, yeast infections and odor problems.

Sweat, oils, dead skin cells and microorganisms like bacteria or fungi can be transferred over to clothing, dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner, associate professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told HuffPost. As the soiled garment sits, it gives microorganisms time to grow and multiply. These microorganisms can grow on the garment and be transferred back to your body if you wear it again.

One example: Rewearing sweaty socks can cause athletes foot or worsen an existing case, Zeichner said.

Dr. Aanand Geria, a dermatologist at Geria Dermatology in Verona, New Jersey, said not washing your clothes often enough can also lead to folliculitis and

acne flare-ups.

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Dirty clothes can trap oil, dead skin cells and other debris against the skin, leading to clogged pores and acne breakouts, he told HuffPost. The bacteria and sweat accumulating on unwashed clothes can also cause a foul odor that can be difficult to remove, even after washing.

But some articles of clothing dont need to be laundered as often as others. We talked to experts to find out which items should be washed every time, which can be reworn and which other factors should be taken into consideration.

What To Wash After Every Wear

One rule of thumb from Zeichner: Generally speaking, the closer a garment is to your skin, the more often it should be washed, he said. Intimates that are exposed to heavy sweat or potential body soils should be washed daily. 

That includes things like underwear, socks, undershirts and workout clothes, Forte said. But if you didnt break a sweat in your activewear, you can probably get away with rewearing it  just let the pieces air out in between.

And anything else that is visibly dirty, stained or has an odor can be thrown in the laundry, cleaning expert Becky Rapinchuk  the woman behind Clean Mama  told HuffPost.

What To Wash Every Few Wears

Clothing that comes into contact with your skin but isnt sweaty or soiled can be worn a second time without washing, Zeichner said.

Pants, sweaters, blouses, bras and pajamas can usually be worn a few times before washing, Forte said. Especially if theyve been worn for a short period of time without any sweating or soil.

If youre just hanging around the house or work from home and dont perspire much, you can probably wear your clothes three or four times before washing them, Miami dermatologist Dr. Annie Gonzalez previously told Brightly.

The closer a garment is to your skin, the more often it should be washed.Dr. Joshua Zeichner, dermatologist

Jeans can also be worn at least a few times before washing. In fact, Theyll last longer and generally look better when softened up with wear, Rapinchuk said. And some experts say you can wait 10 wears or more between washes.

One caveat: If youre someone who doesnt wear underwear, you should wash your pants or leggings before wearing them again due to the direct contact with your genitals, New York City dermatologist Anthony Rossi previously told CNN.

What You Can Wash Less Frequently

Clothing that doesnt make close, sustained contact with the body doesnt need to be washed all that often.

Outerwear like coats, jackets and items worn over other clothing, like bathrobes and sweaters, can go longer between washes as they tend to be worn for shorter periods of time, Forte said.

The same goes for the dressier pieces in your closet that you may only wear occasionally.

Things like suits, evening gowns, and cocktail dresses are typically made of delicate fabrics that require special care, Geria said. They can often be worn multiple times before cleaning, especially if they are not heavily soiled or stained.

But if you really worked up a sweat  like, say, dancing the night away at an outdoor wedding  then you may choose to hand wash or dry clean the garment before wearing it again.

How To Keep Clothes Fresh Between Washes

For a boost of freshness, let clothes air out outside between wears.

For a boost of freshness, let clothes air out outside between wears.

Planning to rewear items a few times before tossing them in the laundry? Here are some expert-backed tips and tricks to keep in mind.

Between wears, dont just tuck the garment away in a drawer or the back of your closet. Hang it somewhere more open or even outdoors, if you have the space to do so. You can also use a garment steamer or spray the item with a product like Febreze Clothing Odor Eliminator, Forte suggested.

Rapinchuk recommends briefly throwing an outfit that needs a little refresh in a warm dryer with a damp washcloth or towel.

Give it 15 minutes or so to tumble and hang it back up to wear again! she said.

To extend the time between washes, you can also try spot-cleaning stains or hanging a garment in the bathroom while you shower as another way of steaming it, sustainable fashion expert Orsola de Castro previously told The Guardian.

For denim that needs a refresh, some people swear by sticking their jeans in the freezer overnight. It wont kill most bacteria, as some have claimed  but if it makes the jeans feel cleaner to you, then we wont stop you.

Related...
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing pharmacy benefit managers, accusing them of manipulating the market to achieve higher profits.

Calling them "modern gangsters," Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Monday accused pharmacy benefit managers of illegally driving up drug prices for patients who rely on insulin and other key medications.

Medications shouldnt cost an arm and a leg, metaphorically or literally, Yost said in a written statement. Insulin is just a symptom of the problem; PBMs are the disease.

InvestigationThe Rising Costs of Prescription Drugs

Yost filed a lawsuit in Delaware County Common Pleas Court against Express Scripts, Prime Therapeutics, Ascent, Humana Pharmacy Solutions and two parent companies.

He alleges the companies collude to control drug prices and have failed to live up to promises to negotiate lower drug prices from manufacturers and deliver those savings to patients. Instead, Express Scripts created a complex 'pay to play' rebate scheme that pushes manufacturers to boost drug prices in order to get their medications on preferred lists.

Yost noted that 1.1 million Ohioans are diabetics, hundreds of thousands of whom rely on daily insulin injections. Express Scripts ran a scheme that fueled insulin prices rising from about $20 per decades ago to $300 to $700 per unit now, Yost said.

A message was left with Express Scripts seeking comment.

What is a pharmacy benefit manager? What does it do?

A pharmacy benefit manager plays an important role in how much you are paying for prescription drugs. The company acts as a middleman negotiating for lower prices and discounts with pharmacies and drug manufacturers on behalf of your health plan. It decides which drugs are covered by health plans. Profit is generated by rebates and fees charged to pharmacies, manufacturers and others.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sues pharmacy benefit managers
Oklahoma police are conducting three new homicide investigations for incidents occurring on Friday and Saturday, including two shootings and one fentanyl overdose.

These bring the department's number of homicide investigations to 15 so far in 2023.

Here's what police know about each investigation so far.

OKC police investigating fentanyl overdose as a homicide

About 1 p.m. Friday, March 24, police responded to a motel at 4820 W Reno Ave., where they found Stephen Muller, 43, dead "from an apparent drug overdose."

While investigating, police said they learned a woman had been in the room with Muller and "supplied and distributed the fentanyl he ingested, then fled the scene before officers arrived. She made no attempt to render aid to Muller, who was completely unresponsive."

Police found the woman at a nearby gas station, and after they interviewed her, she was booked into the Oklahoma County jail on a murder complaint. She has not been formally charged.

OKC man allegedly shoots woman he's dating. What police know

Just before 11 a.m. Saturday, police responded to a call at 4212 Altadena Ave., where they'd been told there was a possible deceased person.

The resident refused to come out of the house for police. The Oklahoma City Tactical Unit, or SWAT team, responded and was able to take the suspect into custody after several hours.

Police said they found Amanda Miller, 40, in the home, where she died from an apparent gunshot wound. Miller and the suspect were dating, according to the police investigation, and the shooting likely occurred several days before when the two had a disagreement.

The suspect was booked into the county jail on a murder complaint, but has not been formally charged.

OKC police investigating shooting death with help of witnesses

Police were called to the scene of a shooting Saturday evening, where they found a victim and a minor child who had witnessed the shooting at Cornerstone Apartments, off Interstate 240.

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Officers learned the suspect and the other victim, Maria Aguilar, were still in the apartment. The suspect and Aguilar were previously in a relationship and share a child together, police said.

"Investigators learned Maria Aguilar and (the suspect) became involved in an altercation after (he) showed up unannounced at the apartment," police said in a release. "This altercation led to (the suspect) shooting and killing Maria and shooting and injuring another adult female."

The suspect surrendered and was taken into custody, and he was sent to an area hospital for what appeared to be self-inflicted injuries before being booked into jail on complaints of murder, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and possession of a firearm while committing a felony. He has not been formally charged.

The other victim is expected to recover, according to police.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC police investigating two shooting deaths and a fentanyl overdose
State Rep. Dean Davis apologized Thursday afternoon to fellow lawmakers for an "unnecessary distraction" following his arrest.

Dean Davis wasn't in the House chamber when his colleagues voted overwhelmingly to strip the three-term Oklahoma state representative of his committee assignments.

The state House of Representatives officially censured Davis after police released video of his recent arrest on a public intoxication complaint. In the video, Davis, R-Broken Arrow, repeatedly told an Oklahoma City police officer that he couldn't be arrested because the legislature is in session.

More:Oklahoma Rep. Dean Davis claimed 'legislative immunity' during his arrest. Are state officials really exempt?

State law grants members of the Legislature certain privileges that ensure they can participate in the legislative session, including the right to vote on legislation and speak in debate inside the Capitol without fear of arrest. During the arrest last Thursday morning, Davis told an officer "you don't know how bad you messed up" when he was told to leave the patio of a closed bar.

The censure motion will prevent Davis from participating in committee work unless he issues a public, written apology to the Oklahoma City Police Department and his fellow lawmakers. He could not be reached for comment Monday after the House vote.

House Floor Leader Jon Echols said that if a legislator claims a privilege that they are above the law, "we won't put up with it."

"Nobody wants to do this. But what we have to do is show the citizens of the state of Oklahoma that we are not above the law, that we are ordinary public servants, and as a matter of fact, not only are we not above it, we are subject to it more than others," Echols said.

Just a few hours after he was released from jail last week, Davis spoke on the House floor to apologize for "creating this unnecessary distraction from the important work of the House."

It's clear that the apology wasn't enough.

Davis' arrest triggered a firestorm of controversy and questions about how House leadership would react. Just three weeks ago, the House censured another member, state Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City, after it was claimed that Turner impeded an investigation by providing sanctuary to a protester at the Capitol who was accused of assaulting a state trooper. Turner has not been charged with any crime, but they received the same censure punishment as Davis.

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Turner voted against Davis' censure and urged their fellow lawmakers to think more about helping people than punishing them.

"When we continuously provide a space that is willing to criminalize people, or put people in a social, political or physical prison and not provide the resources that they need, we do a disservice to them," Turner said.

The censure vote on Davis passed 81-9.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma House member censured after public intoxication arrest
Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat answers questions Monday, March 27, 2023, during Senate committee on education, finance and appropriations meet to consider amendments to House Bill 1935 at the Oklahoma Capitol.

Despite Oklahoma's House speaker threatening against it, three Senate committees approved changes to two key education bills that would increase public school funding, give teacher pay raises, and offer tax credits to families of private-school and home-school children.

The Senate's committees on education, finance and appropriations hosted an unusual joint meeting Monday. The trio approved amendments to House Bills 1935 and 2775 with overwhelming support.

House Speaker Charles McCall, the author of the two bills, warned he would view changes to either legislation as an act of "sabotage." He said the House would not consider any education bills that come from the Senate if HB 1935 and 2775 were amended.

Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat wrote amendments to both bills. Treat, R-Oklahoma City, called McCall's threat "asinine" and doubted the bills would pass his chamber without any changes.

More:Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall gives ultimatum to Senate on school funding, tax credit bills

"I know that (McCall) put a lot of work in it, and we honor that work," Treat told reporters on Monday. "Today we improved those measures that came over."

McCall, R-Atoka, is still reviewing the Senate amendments, said Daniel Seitz, a spokesperson for the speaker. He declined to comment further.

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat answers questions Monday, March 27, 2023, during Senate committee on education, finance and appropriations meet to consider amendments to House Bill 1935 at the Oklahoma Capitol.

What changes did the Oklahoma Senate make to the HB 1935 on private school funding?

Under the Senate's version of HB 1935, families with students attending private schools could receive a $7,500 refundable tax credit per child to apply to educational expenses, $2,500 more than the House proposed.

Families of home-schooling children would qualify for a $1,000 refundable tax credit for the entire household, not $2,500 per student like the original text suggested.

The Senate introduced a household income limit of $250,000 to qualify for the tax credits. The House bills included no income cap.

On top of the $500 million increase to public-school funding that HB 2775 proposed, the Senate added a $30 million grant program that would allow school districts to give merit-based bonuses to teachers and support staff who are high-performing and take on extra responsibilities.

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Bonuses couldn't exceed $5,000, and school districts could give them to no more than 10% of their teachers and support staff.

Changes the Senate made to HB 2775, on teacher pay raises

The Senate committees also changed the teacher pay raises within HB 2775.

McCall suggested a $2,500 raise across the board, no matter how much each teacher already makes. The Senate opted for a different structure, one that mirrors Senate Bill 482 from Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond.

More:Oklahoma teachers could get pay raise from $541 million proposed education plan

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat answers questions Monday, March 27, 2023, during Senate committee on education, finance and appropriations meet to consider amendments to House Bill 1935 at the Oklahoma Capitol.

The minimum pay scale for teachers would rise by $3,000 for educators with up to four years of experience, by $4,000 for those who worked five to nine years, by $5,000 for 10 to 14 years in the classroom and by $6,000 for 15 years or more.

"We know what the market's telling us. This is a career field where we have not been able to sustain the pipeline and get new men and women into the teaching profession," Pugh said. "We've got to respond to that marketplace and make this more attractive."

SB 482, which proposes the same pay-raise structure, already advanced to the House after passing a full Senate vote.

Treat said he met with McCall and Gov. Kevin Stitt on Monday before the committee votes.

The governor had endorsed both of McCall's bills and, despite the ultimatum hanging between the House and Senate leaders, said all sides are "on the same page" in supporting public schools and educational choice.

"I still think cooler heads are going to prevail," Stitt said Friday of the ongoing negotiations.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, center, speaks Wednesday, May 15, 2019, during a news conference as Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, left, and Speaker of the House Charles McCall stand at his side as they announce the Fiscal Year 2020 budget deal at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City.

Stitt acknowledged reaching a final agreement might require lawmakers to "move some buckets (of money) around."

The House's package is estimated to cost $800 million if left untouched. McCall said the tax credits alone could cost up to $300 million if all current private-school and home-school families applied.

The Senate estimated the income cap will limit the cost of its tax credit plan to $98.75 million, according to a fiscal impact analysis by the chamber's staff.

The total estimated price tag of the Senate's proposal is $630 million.

"We wanted to make sure that whatever we do is sustainable through the long term," Treat said.

Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nurias work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate amends bills on private school help, teacher pay
One migrant was found dead and three others were taken to a nearby medical facility after being found train boxcar in Eagle Pass, Texas over the weekend.

It was the second time in two days that authorities discovered migrants trapped in a train car in the Lone Star state.

Two migrants died and ten others were hospitalized on Friday after police in Uvalde responded to a tip about numerous undocumented immigrants suffocating inside of a train car.

On Saturday, U.S. Border Patrol agents searched a boxcar in a Union Pacific railyard in Eagle Pass after one of the individuals in the car called 911.

In a statement to The Hill, Union Pacific said that the U.S. Border Patrol notified them that it found 12 individuals in a company boxcar.

Union Pacific is deeply saddened by this incident. Our commitment to safety and to guarding human life is central to who we are as a company and as people, the company said.

These incidents stand as a grim reminder of why we make every effort to stop people from trespassing on our property and on our trains.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The largest Methodist church in South Carolina will soon sever its connection to the countrys largest Methodist denomination.

The congregation at Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church in Lexington has voted to separate itself from the United Methodist Church over what the church sees as a theological and scriptural divergence between the conservative Lexington church and a denomination that has become more accepting of LGBTQ people.

The move is a culmination of a long process that has seen other churches around the country reconsidering their connection to the United Methodist Church.

The S.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church offered churches the opportunity to decide if they wanted to continue their affiliation with the denomination by March 1. More than 97% of worshipers at Mt. Horeb voted to separate from the United Methodist Church at a meeting on Feb. 26, church communications director Stephanie Malone confirmed to The State. The decision still has to be accepted by the annual meeting of the S.C. Conference in June.

For decades, leaders in The United Methodist Church have been distracted and divided by disagreement regarding Christology, biblical authority and interpretation, sexual ethics, and the definition of marriage, Mt. Horeb says in a separation guide posted to the church website. Where practices deviated from church doctrine as outlined in Holy Scripture and The Book of Discipline, the denomination has suffered from a lack of accountability and enforcement.

The Book of Discipline is the foundational rulebook that lays out the official doctrine and organization of the United Methodist Church, which all member churches are expected to follow.

Among other advantages in separating from the larger denomination, it allows us to fulfill our mission without interruption or redirection by progressive agendas currently being set by some United Methodist leadership, the online booklet says. That includes following what the church calls scriptural authority in regards to marriage and human sexuality.

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We believe in celibacy in singleness and fidelity in marriage, with marriage being defined between a man and woman, it says. Mt. Horeb relies on the Scriptures and what orthodox Christians have always believed about God to guide all matters of human relations, including sexual ethics.

Mt. Horeb isnt the only church leaving. On the same day its congregation voted to separate, the 750-member Chapin United Methodist Church voted by the same margin to drop the United from its name.

The issue that gets all the press is the issue of human sexuality, but it goes so much deeper than that, said Chapin pastor Jody Flowers, who said relations within the United Methodist Church have grown increasingly divided and contentious on basic understandings of both Scripture and how the church should be governed.

Many of those in positions of key leadership, those setting the direction ... they go away from those mutually agreed upon values that have not changed in writing. The Book of Discipline is unchanged, but its not upheld, Flowers said. Do we want to continue to fuss and fight about it, or do we want to be a church? If we stay, were seen as either condemning or condoning, but we want to be a converting church.

Christianity Today reports that more than 1,800 churches in the United States have disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church since 2019, or about 6% of the denomination. Information about the number of South Carolina churches that have the United Methodist Church was unavailable. S.C. Conference spokesman Dan OMara said no final resolution will be made until the conferences June meeting, and the separation process of individual churches is being treated as confidential until then.

The split is similar to those in other major Protestant churches in recent years that have faced internal struggles over whether and how to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. As some churches have named openly LGBTQ clergy or blessed same-sex marriages, other believers have peeled away from established denominations they feel no longer share their values.

We grieve any loss of connection within the body of Christ, acknowledging the potential for impact such departures could have, said the Rev. Fran Elrod, superintendent of the United Methodist Churchs Columbia district. Still, United Methodists are praying that the future ministry of these congregations will be fruitful in forming and growing disciples.

We are focused on strengthening the churches that are remaining with the denomination, supporting and resourcing them as we have always done in The United Methodist Church, Elrod said.

In its 30 years of existence, Mt. Horeb has grown to a congregation of more than 5,000, at one time including former governor, former UN ambassador and presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

On its website, Mt. Horeb notes that a release from the state conference will allow the church to keep all of its property. Meanwhile, delaying the separation could push a final decision to the 2024 state conference meeting, which could leave fewer churches left to fund operations of the continuing United Methodist denomination while A new senior pastor could be appointed to Mt. Horeb with a revised mission and ministry focus. Existing worship and programs may be redesigned in a more progressive direction.

The church has not decided if it will join another denomination, according to a questions page on its website. Among the options mentioned there are the conservative Global Methodist Church, largely made up of congregations that previously broke away from the United Methodist Church, or the older evangelical Free Methodist Church.

Flowers said the Global Methodist Church has become the default option for former United Methodist congregations, but that Chapin Methodist will hold meetings to discuss other options, including the Free Methodists, the smaller Congregational Methodist Church, or the Foundry, a looser connection of independently-run Methodist churches.
Israels President Benjamin Netanyahu, once considered to be a political ally of Donald Trumps, has come out swinging against the former US president in a new interview that touched on Mr Trumps meeting with disgraced rapper Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

The comments were made during an interview with journalist Piers Morgan, due to air in the coming days on the streaming service Fox Nation. Excerpts were released on Monday by Fox News.

Speaking with Morgan, Mr Netanyahu said that Mr Trump should be rebuked and condemned for his meeting with Fuentes, who regularly rants about the Jewish people and is known for his denial of the Holocaust.

"I thought it was horrible. I think its a big mistake. Its wrong from every point of view. [Antisemitism] should not be countenanced, it should not be accepted, it should be rebuked and condemned and thats what I do. And I dont care where it comes from, or from whom," said Mr Netanyahu.

It was a strong statement that showed how far-reaching the effects of that fall meeting with Fuentes and West have been; Mr Trump was widely criticised by both Democrats and Republicans back in November when the dinner was first revealed.

The dinner itself arose as a result of Wests vanity campaign for president in 2024, a sequel to his bizarre bid for attention in 2020 which resulted in the onetime megastar winning only a handful of votes and the rapper mostly failing to get on the ballot.

West linked up with another disgraced right-winger, Milo Yiannopoulos, last year as he began his second presidential campaign. That hiring almost immediately ended in abject disaster, with Yiannopoulos engineering the Trump-West meeting at Mar-a-Lago and letting Fuentes tag along. Yiannopoulos ended his work as Wests campaign manager shortly thereafter.

Intentional or not, the meetup between Mr Trump and Fuentes only added to the growing criticism of the former presidents relationship with Jewish Americans and the concept of anti-Semtism. The ex-president has also made a number of statements appearing to question the loyalty of Jewish Democrats over the issue of their support for Israel, drawing the same allegations of anti-Semitism which were amplified by the November Mar-a-Lago meeting.

Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces protests at home and abroad over legislation he is pursuing to weaken Israels Supreme Court, an issue that he revealed in the same interview with Morgan has now drawn criticism from President Joe Biden.

Speaking about a recent call with the US president, Mr Netanyahu said that Mr Biden raised [concerns about the integrity of Israels democracy] and I assured him what I assured you: That Israel was, is and will remain a democracy.
Three years after announcing its sixth fund, OpenView Venture Partners is back with $570 million in capital commitments for its new, seventh fund. It represents a 25% increase over the firms $450 million sixth fund, its largest to date.

The Boston-based venture capital firm gave its intent to raise the fund back in January 2022, according to an SEC filing that noted OpenView intended on a hard cap of $800 million. In another filing made last September, the firm reported it had raised just over $517 million toward that goal.

The way that we've always built the firm and the funds is to stay relatively small and concentrated, Mackey Craven, OpenView partner, told TechCrunch. When we went out to raise the fund, the way we size them is bottoms up: looking at how many partners we have, the average investment size they make, how many investments we make in a year and how many years we want to be out. That gives you a range, and that range is from right about where we closed the fund.

The firm will continue to focus its investments on high-growth software startups, investing globally across business software categories including infrastructure, applications, cybersecurity and vertical software.

While there is some turmoil in the financial markets and the banking system, Craven says the product markets for software, looking broadly, are stronger than theyve ever been. He notes that global software spend is about twice what it was five years ago and is still growing at double-digit rates.

He attributes that growth to what he called a go-to-market model for software companies for product-led growth, a term that Craven said was coined years ago by partners Kyle Poyar and Blake Bartlett to describe what was making businesses more efficient.

We profiled OpenView in 2020 when it closed its sixth fund, and in terms of when it invests in companies, Craven told my colleague Alex Wilhelm that the firm looks for companies that have between $1 million and $10 million in annual recurring revenue.

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Three years later, Craven said that criteria hasnt changed much, explaining that OpenView tends to be the first investor in a company after it is generating revenue, no matter if it was bootstrapped or venture-backed before that. For example, he said his first investment was in cloud monitoring platform DataDog after it had $1.7 million in ARR.

It's more than 1,000 times larger than that right today, but that's very similar in the scale of businesses that we're investing in right now, Craven said.

Kyle Poyar further explained, It's more about the underlying qualitative characteristics of the business. It says specifically, we'd love to see the company find product-market fit with their customers, and they're showing signs that they're ready to scale with building out their teams and their go-to-market motions. That tends to correspond with that revenue range rather than the revenue range being the focus.

When asked how different it was to go after funding in todays economic climate versus when OpenView was raising for its sixth fund, Craven responded, it absolutely is a more challenging fundraising environment, but noted that the firms core partners have worked together for over a decade, so there was still a strong set of supportive limited partners who were receptive to getting in on another fund, one that was also larger.

OpenView invested in 16 companies with its sixth fund and expects with its seventh fund  being 25% bigger  it could invest in up to 20 companies over the next few years.

As of today, the firm made its first investment from Fund VII in a company called Rewst, which is doing robotic process automation for the managed service provider sector.

Rewst is in a combination of themes were excited about, like vertical software and the increasing automation of software workflow, Craven said. It turns out that in the managed services ecosystem, the vast majority of the work that they do, and outsource, is workflow-oriented. The entrepreneur has built a business in this space before and is off to a great start.

Meanwhile, business software spending is expected to rise despite analyst predictions that consumers will scale spending. When it comes to trends within this area that the firm is following, Craven said that companies are continuing to spend in areas that deal with risk, for example, cybersecurity.

Another is automation: Companies rely increasingly on software instead of on people to do some of those activities. As a result, the firm is looking at domain-specific applications of machine intelligence and software around integrations, automation and workflow, he said.

Poyar also said vertical software and product-led growth are two additional themes that will continue to be among investments.

Regarding vertical software, there's a lot of folks who really need software, but don't have great solutions because that is a market that has historically been underserved by software players, Poyar added. We coined the term product-led growth in 2016 because of trends we were seeing in the software market. That's now a part of the market that is continuing to grow as product-led businesses. By just building products that customers love, they are growing in a way that's more efficient and more effective than their peers.
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

Benjamin Netanyahu may not realize it yet, but his dare against the political odds is over. Israels longest-serving prime minister, who was reelected in November despite an ongoing corruption trial and whom even rivals acknowledged was a political magician, is out of tricks. This fall wont happen imminently, but his coalition of ultra-nationalists, religious fundamentalists and the merely corrupt is losing its moral legitimacy, even among growing numbers of its voters.

Netanyahus fatal mistake was his firing Sunday of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for calling on the government to halt its judicial revolution  legislation that would erode the independence of Israels Supreme Court and destroy the nations fragile system of checks and balances, effectively concentrating governance in the hands of the prime minister. Gallant noted the deepening rift within the army over the plan, and the growing protest movement among army reservists refusing to serve, and warned that the nations security was at risk.

In firing Gallant and ignoring his warning, Netanyahu placed loyalty to himself above loyalty to country. With Iran approaching the nuclear threshold, possibly in a matter of weeks, even as Palestinian terror attacks increase and Hezbollah probes weaknesses in Israels northern border defenses, perhaps in preparation for the next war, Netanyahu is presiding over the erosion of the militarys cohesion. The man whod convinced Israelis that only he was tough and shrewd enough to keep Israel safe in the Middle East has betrayed Israeli security.

Immediately after Netanyahu announced Gallants firing, tens of thousands of young people gathered in the streets, blocking traffic and lighting bonfires through the night. Their ranks, and a general strike, continue to grow as I write today. Meanwhile, several members of Netanyahus Likud Party in the Knesset declared their support for suspending his judicial legislation and negotiating with the opposition on reform instead. For the first time, Netanyahus grip on his party had faltered.

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In a national speech Monday night in Israel, the prime minister announced a temporary halt to the legislation.

Netanyahus miscalculation was to assume that the Israeli public would acquiesce in his transparent attempt to extricate himself from his legal troubles  he faces multiple charges  by initiating the most far-reaching judicial transformation in the nations history. Instead, since January, an astonishing protest movement spontaneously emerged, initially drawing tens of thousands and now hundreds of thousands to weekly demonstrations around the country.

By simultaneously assaulting liberal Israelis on multiple fronts  from diminishing democracy to augmenting ultra-Orthodox power to indulging political corruption to tolerating growing settler violence  this government left large numbers of Israelis feeling disenfranchised and desperate.

Resorting to the divisive political strategy that has served him in the past, Netanyahu tried to delegitimize the protesters, denouncing them as anarchists and leftists, by which he meant, not patriots. His son Yair went one step further, calling the protesters Nazis. Meanwhile, some Netanyahu supporters began physically attacking demonstrators, with no rebuke from the prime minister.

But this time the usual tactics didnt work. There is no more patriotic protest movement anywhere than this movement for Israeli democracy, which is led by veterans of the countrys toughest combat units and whose symbol is the Israeli flag. Even more than rage at Netanyahu, the strongest emotion one senses among the protesters is an overwhelming love for Israel and fear for its future.

The man who rose to power as the guardian of Israeli patriotism has been defeated by a movement of patriots.

Netanyahus tragedy is that, at the end of his long political career, he now endangers his own most precious legacies. The leader who presided over Israels high-tech revolution jeopardizes the Israeli economy with his judicial recklessness, as the tech companies contemplate relocating abroad and leading economists warn of impending disaster.

Thanks to the Abraham Accords, which the Trump administration initiated and Netanyahu endorsed, Israel established relations with four Arab countries, in effect ending the Arab worlds siege against the Jewish state. Yet by including extreme anti-Arab parties in his coalition, he is endangering the durability of those agreements.

No world leader did more to focus international attention on the danger of a nuclearizing Iran. Netanyahus solemn vow was that the Jewish state would never allow a regime promoting Holocaust denial and that was committed to Israels destruction to acquire nuclear weapons. Yet Netanyahus judicial plan has left Israel and its army distracted and divided. If Iran acquires the bomb, that too will be Netanyahus legacy.

There is something biblical in the tragedy of Benjamin Netanyahu. Followers often greet him with an old Hebrew song celebrating King David but substituting Netanyahus nickname: Bibi, King of Israel!

No doubt Bibi has been tempted to compare himself to David, ancient Israels greatest king. But in an interview with journalist Bari Weiss shortly after he was elected last fall to his fifth term, Netanyahu inadvertently revealed a darker foreboding about his place in history. Asked to name his favorite biblical character, Netanyahu replied, King Saul. He was tragic.

Saul, the first king of Israel, ended his reign in defeat, half-mad and disgraced, replaced by the upstart David. Netanyahu, the most talented and ambitious leader of his generation of Israeli politicians, might have been another David. Instead, as more and more sectors of Israeli society turn against him, and his hero story is transformed from savior to destroyer, it is the specter of Saul that torments his end.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
People who make education policy and determine where to allocate funding claim they know what families want from public schools. This past admissions season in New York City, I had the privilege of working with several community organizations to help parents of students in grades pre-K through high school apply to traditional public, public charter, religious and private schools. What I heard from them did not necessarily line up with what Id been assured families were most concerned about.

The majority of families I worked with were low-income and of color. They lived in northern Manhattan or the South Bronx, and roughly half did not speak English as their first language.

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These are exactly the families whose interests elected officials, community organizers and pundits claim to be looking out for in the tussle over education policy. I have been writing for over a decade about how to improve NYC schools, especially for those in underserved communities. The bulk of my opinions were formed based on research released by think tanks, universities and pollsters, and by talking with families across racial and socio-economic boundaries.

Related Adams: New York City Has a Plan for Completely Integrating Its Schools. Great. Now Can We Talk About Why Kids Arent Learning?

This past fall, winter and spring, however, was the first time I consulted with a critical mass of families who demographically were an exact match for the NYC school system, which is 72% economically disadvantaged, 21% students with disabilities, 14% English learners, 41% percent Hispanic and 24% Black. In the process, I received a strong education of my own about what really matters to families, versus what Id been led to believe matters to them. Below are the top five issues that came up repeatedly, in order of importance:

Transportation: Before they wanted to know anything about a school, parents wanted to know how their children would get there. They wanted to know if the school offered busing. Many stressed that they did not want their children going to school in their own neighborhoods, and they did not want them taking public transportation. (I have written before about the importance of easily available transportation, and how NYCs top gifted-and-talented schools say they want diversity but do little to help students physically get there.)

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Safety: This was the No. 1 issue cited by parents about why they do not want their kids attending the schools in their neighborhoods. It went hand in hand with discipline and classroom management. Parents told me they would be willing to have their children attend school out of district, even out of borough  no matter the travel time  as long as it was safe and teachers knew how to prevent bullying. This is why they so desperately wanted busing to get them there.

Afterschool: Since most of the parents I spoke to worked, they were not available to do midday pick-up. They wanted to know if the schools offered no-cost afterschool programs or care until the end of the business day.

Special Needs: Matching the city statistics, about 20% of the families I spoke to had children with Individualized Education Programs. These plans called for either Integrated Co-Teaching classrooms  where students with disabilities are taught alongside typically developing peers by two teachers, to better accommodate all learners  or on-site services like speech, occupational or physical therapy. They wanted to know if the school really offered them or just paid lip service to it, like so many schools theyd already experienced.

Academics: A schools academics came up only after all of the above issues had been covered. What I heard over and over again from low-income, English learner and/or parents of color was: We want a school that doesnt underestimate our child. We want a school that assumes our child can learn, despite their perceived disadvantages. One mother complained of a teacher who, after her son had read all the appropriate level books in the classroom library and wanted more challenging ones, told them, I have nothing more to offer him. A dad lamented that his daughter was told to help other children who were struggling if she had finished all her work, instead of being given learning materials appropriate to her level.

School diversity is repeatedly identified by self-proclaimed experts as the cause of all NYC school ills. It is invoked as the most important issue when it comes to choosing schools. So, after these parents finished explaining what they were looking for in a school, I would bring up school diversity and ask how important it was to them, to make sure I didnt overlook anything.

Related Gifted Schools Say They Want Diversity  But Don't Help Students Get There

Every single parent replied that while it would be nice for their child to not be the only one at their school, that wasnt nearly as important as everything theyd already listed. When I asked a Spanish-speaking mother if shed be interested in a dual-language program for her son, she looked at me as if I were a complete idiot and pointed out, He already speaks Spanish. I want him to learn English.

I have been writing for over a decade about how to improve NYC schools, especially for those in underserved communities. This past fall, winter and spring, I received a strong education about what really matters to families, versus what I had been led to believe matters to them. I learned that, before I spoke or wrote, I should first shut up and listen.

I can only advise my fellow pundits and community organizers, not to mention politicians who make policy and, especially, allocate funds, to do the same. And then to act accordingly.
With the joyless low debauchery of a presidential campaign now descending on us, the coming duel of Ron DeSantis (unannounced, as yet) against Donald Trump (announced) has already prompted assignment editors to bum-rush their writers with a new demand: Devise a strategy that will allow the leading student of Trumpism to defeat the originator in a rhetorical rumble.

Thats particularly true as the conventional wisdom in Washington congeals around the notion  at least temporarily!  that DeSantis is fumbling amid Trumps ceaseless blows.

Should DeSantis stage preemptive strikes? Play rope-a-dope? Keep above the fray? Fight him, punch for punch. Shower his one-time political mentor with the cascades of lies, interruptions, exaggerations and insults that have become Trumps signature moves? Or is there a smarter, untried way to best Trump without being pummeled into oblivion? The answers lie in Trumps history as a debater and in DeSantis ability to plan ahead for the Trump onslaught.

When playing offense, the first thing DeSantis must understand is that you cannot beat Trump by going after his many negatives, a rule the Florida governor has yet to grasp. Last week, when discussing the expected hush-money prosecution of Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, DeSantis tippled a little shade on Trump by saying, I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some kind of alleged affair. The remark gathered ooohs and ahhhs from pressies, but did it move the conversation? Nearly everybody, including Trump supporters, believes he had a fling with Stormy Daniels and paid her to shut up about it. And that realization is already baked into Trumps political value. The same goes for Trumps purloining of classified documents or his jigging with the Georgia election count. Taunting Trump with his bad behavior never seems to do him any harm.

The same goes for attacks on Trumps vulgarity. His cruelty. His penchant for interruption (Slates Jeremy Stahl counted 128 interruptions of Joe Biden or moderator Chris Wallace at one of the 2020 presidential debates.) Or his vile treatment of the truth. Remember during a 2020 campaign rally when he baselessly alleged that Biden was on drugs: Look, hes been doing this for 47 years, and I got a debate coming up with this guy, Trump said. They gave him a big fat shot in the ass, and he comes out and for two hours hes better than ever before. It makes sense to fact-check a guy like this for the historical record, but not for political purposes. Challenging his lies wont slow his advances because hes got a bottomless supply of lies he can spend down.

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Even the rumored indictments and prosecutions of Trump wont give DeSantis much in the way of ammunition. Again, these allegations are already discounted in the Trump price. Trump in prison orange wouldnt be much of an aid, either.

If you dont agree that accentuating Trumps negatives will cut him down to size, just look at the body count of Republican presidential candidates from 2016 who incorrectly thought they could beat Trump by calling out his racism, misogyny, sociopathy or ideological heterodoxy. Not even opponent Ted Cruz, a college debate champion and graduate of Harvard Law School, could land a punch on him in 2016. Should DeSantis take this well-trod route, hed end up sputtering and defeated, just like all of his Republican countrymen who have gone before him. Youre not going to win in an insult slugfest with Donald Trump, an advisor to Marco Rubios 2016 campaign told POLITICOs Sally Goldenberg recently. Thats his strength.

Trumps vulnerabilities reside in his positives, and thats where DeSantis should probe for cracks and fissures. This is no independent discovery. GOP campaign strategist Karl Rove was famous for eroding an opponents strengths. For example, under the Rove lens during the 2004 presidential campaign, patriotic war veteran Sen. John Kerry was portrayed as something of a weakling as he challenged President George W. Bush (who, unlike Kerry, spent the Vietnam War in the Texas Air National Guard). Sometimes peoples strengths turn out to be really big weaknesses, Rove told Fox News in 2007. We tend to  you know, people tend to sometimes in campaigns accentuate things that they think are big and important, and they exaggerate them.

What are Trumps positives? In his campaign 2016 kickoff, he promised, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and Ill have Mexico pay for that wall, and continued to praise his wall throughout the 2020 campaign. The wall turned out to be a Potemkin affair, with PolitiFact finding in 2020, What the administration has mostly done is replace old and outdated designs with newer and improved barriers. DeSantis could easily out-wing and out-demagogue Trump on the border (remember his airlift of asylum seekers to Marthas Vineyard?) by savaging Trumps wall as an illusion.

DeSantis could squeeze Trump on his Covid response, and already has, moving to the right of the former president with vaccine skepticism. When Trump fired back, DeSantis taunted him by saying that voters approved of his policies and rejected Trumps because he won reelection and Trump lost.

Trumps North Korea policy, one of the biggest slices of cake on the Trump vanity menu, would also be a ripe target for DeSantis. He could ridicule Trump for having achieved nothing more in his romance with Kim Jong-un than the exchange of perfumed love letters. Trump has long claimed to represent working- and middle-class voters who have been discarded by political elites; DeSantis could puncture his populist appeal by depicting that crusade as a sham of hot air. He could compile a greatest hits compilation of the goofiest White House moments from the tell-alls and investigative books about the Trump administration to tarnish Trumps alleged leadership skills. He could accuse Trump of going soft on Biden because in one recent week, Trump attacked Biden on Truth Social once for every time he attacked DeSantis.

To defeat Trump, DeSantis must play offense, and the best example of how to play offense against Trump can be found in a recent piece by scholar Jennifer Mercieca, whose 2020 book, Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump, throws bright light on his dark rhetorical skills.

Mercieca judges that porn star Stormy Daniels has bested Trump over the course of her five-year public battle with him. Daniels refused to be intimidated by Trumps threats (ad baculum) and shrugged off his lawyers attempts at coercion. She didnt let Trump reduce her to an object (reification) of scorn or hatred. And when she retaliated against him, it was with the artillery of humor, insulting his manhood. In addition to his...umm...shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women, and lack of self-control on Twitter AGAIN! And perhaps a penchant for bestiality. Game on, Tiny, Daniels tweeted.

Maybe Daniels should be running against Trump instead of DeSantis.

DeSantis should enter the contest with real optimism because, as 2020 showed, Trump can be beaten. Not only can he be beaten, but beaten by a wide margin by a wobbling Democrat who is barnacled to a half-century of liberal Democratic policies and is nobodys idea of a demagogue-tamer. Trump threw everything he had at Joe and still came up a loser. Never mind the early national polls, which show Trump whipping DeSantis. The primaries are a long way away, Gov. DeSantis! Its not too late for you to go into training with Stormy Daniels for your big bout!

******

Send TKOs to Shafer.Politico@gmail.com. No new email alert subscriptions are being honored at this time. My Twitter feed is an object. My Mastodon and Post accounts have been coerced. My RSS feed is behind their oppression.

CORRECTION: Marco Rubio's first name was misspelled in the original posting of this story.
A refugee mom of eight holds her newborn in her tarp and bamboo home in January 2018. | Holly Richardson

The first thing that struck me was the sheer, overwhelming mass of humanity. Literally wall-to-wall tents, with orange tarps for the roofs, black tarps for the side walls and bamboo supports were the homes for a million people. My first visit to a Rohingya refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, was in January 2018, less than six months after a mass exodus from genocidal attempts on Rohingya lives in Myanmar.

One of the refugees I met was sitting on the floor of her tent with a new baby in her lap and and her other children milling around. Two months before I met them, they had made their way to the no mans land between Myanmar and Bangladesh. There, they waited for two weeks before they could cross the river separating the two countries. They had no food, so she, her husband and their seven children ate leaves and grass to keep something in their bellies.

She was also eight months pregnant.

Once in Bangladesh, their family was provided with shelter and some food  rice, lentils and oil. Shortly after arriving, this 35-year-old refugee gave birth to her eighth baby, unattended, on the dirt floor of her tent. Her name is lost to me now. I have no way to find her again. She has blended with the million other refugees that are seemingly forgotten by the rest of the world.

The shelters that the refugees were living in measure approximately 8 feet by 12 feet, and are without running water or electricity. Raw sewage ran down the hills in little rivulets  and I was there in the dry season. I saw my first case of rickets, a softening and weakening of the bones leading to a bowing of the legs that can become severe, as with the little boy I saw. The size of an average 2-year-old in the United States, he could barely stand and his cries signaled that he was in pain.

Those million refugees have now been in one of the largest refugee camps in the world for more than five years. That little baby born in the camps  if hes still alive  has never known anything other than the camps, and he faces, at best, an uncertain future. Almost 50% of the refugees are under age 18.

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Mahmud Hossain Opu, Associated Press

Bangladesh is one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world. It has approximately half of the population of the United States crammed into an area around 32,000 square miles smaller than Utah. It also ranks as third in the world most often hit by natural disasters. The Bangladeshi government is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol, and the country has struggled in its approach to refugees.

For starters, the Rohingya refugees have been treated as temporary, with repatriation back to Myanmar as the primary goal. Long term, that is likely a reasonable plan, but in the present and foreseeable future, it is unrealistic. Why would the Rohingya go back to a country where the military that tried to exterminate them is in charge?

Bangladesh has tried to resettle refugees on a silt island called Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal with limited success. Some refugees, growing increasingly desperate, are undertaking dangerous and often fatal sea crossings. The United Nations noted that the number of attempts spiked 360% in 2022, with more than 3,500 attempting sea crossings compared to about 700 in 2021.

Formal education for Rohingya children is prohibited. Human Rights Watch found that some Bangladeshi officials threaten the refugees with denial of aid, deportation and even arrest if the Rohingya continue with their own schools. Nonformal education is being offered under a joint agreement with the Bangladeshi government and nonprofit organizations, but the education programs are prohibited from teaching children in Bangla. All curriculum must be from Myanmar, and Rohingya school children must recite the national anthem of Myanmar.

This curricula reminds them they belong to Myanmar where they will go back some day, a deputy refugee commissioner told an AFP journalist.

Related

Once the eighth grade is completed, there are essentially no options for teens, or the adults. They are not allowed to work in Bangladesh. Girls often end up getting married off young, and boys are prime targets for drug traffickers, human traffickers and extremist groups that recruit from within the camps. To pile on to their difficulties, a deliberately set fire on March 5 left 15,000 Rohingya refugees homeless. A government official leading the probe said militant groups started the fire in order to dominate the camps.

The fire came a couple of weeks after the World Food Programme announced it would be forced to cut back its food assistance for all refugees, down to just $10 per person per month, due to lack of funding. As a point of reference, extreme poverty is considered to be anything under $1.90 per day. This food assistance is 30 cents per day.

Tom Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, said, These rations cuts are a stain on the conscience of the international community. ... Reversing these cuts in food aid is literally a matter of life and death for Rohingya families.

According to The Washington Post, United Nations and Bangladeshi officials said less than half of the required funding is set to go to the Rohingya refugees this year. The war in Ukraine and other crises have siphoned off available funds and, as the Rohingya refugee influx passes five years, its no longer considered a crisis.

Tell that to the refugee mom of eight and her family.

Mahmud Hossain Opu, Associated Press

Holly Richardson is the editor of Utah Policy.
Spring Whale Watching Week on the Oregon Coast offers one of the best chances to not only see one of natures most majestic animals, but to see them a bit closer.

Gray whales make two annual migrations  one southbound to the Baja in winter and another northbound to Alaska in spring.

Not only is the weather nicer in the spring, but the whales also tend to be easier to see, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department ranger Peter McBride said.

Explore Oregon Podcast: How to see Oregon's whales so close 'you can hear them breathe;' science of great grey whale migrations

The gray whales are usually closer to shore on their return trip, typically around a mile or so out, and the weather is a little warmer for visitors, McBride said.

This year, spring Whale Watching Week is March 28 to April 2. For those six days, trained volunteers will be stationed at 17 of the best whale watching sites to help visitors spot whales, share information and answer questions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.

A gray whale breaches off the Oregon Coast near Depoe Bay.

Decline in gray whale numbers

There should be a measure of joy in seeing whales swimming this season, especially following a spate of dead whales that washed up on Oregon Coast beaches this winter.

Four whales washed ashore in January  including two at Fort Stevens State Park. Lots of Oregonians traveled to the coast to see (and smell) the beached whales.

While it isnt unusual for whales to wash ashore on the Oregon Coast, and indeed an average of six whales wash ashore each year, it did come in the midst of a decline in gray whale numbers overall. The gray whale population is estimated at 16,650, down 38% since 2016.

A family looks for gray whales during Whale Watch Week at the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay Dec. 28, 2022.

"NOAA Fisheries in 2019 declared an Unusual Mortality Event for gray whales that migrate along the West Coast because of a sharp increase in strandings followed by a decline in the population," NOAA Fisheries spokesman Michael Milstein said. "The population produced the fewest surviving calves on record last year since counts began in 1994."

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Where are good spots to see the whales?

The best spot overall to see whales  and to do so from a warm indoor spot or an outdoor viewpoint  is the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay, which is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Visitors to the center can enjoy interactive whale exhibits and take in the panoramic ocean views. Binoculars are provided. Rangers from Oregon State Parks will also be on hand to answer questions about the whales, a news release said.

The best time to see whales is the morning, when the ocean is backlit, but those traveling out should be sure to bring warm clothes.

Staffed whale watching sites

Fort Stevens State Park - Peter Iredale Shipwreck

Neahkahnie Mountain Overlook

Cape Meares Lighthouse

Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint

The Whale Watching Center

Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint

Cape Foulweather

Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

Yachats State Recreation Area

Cape Perpetua Turnout

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Umpqua Lighthouse

Shore Acres State Park

Face Rock Scenic Viewpoint

Ophir Wayside

Harris Beach State Park

Unique place to see whales  or mom-and-babies

Cape Lookout is one of Oregon's best spots to view whales.

In the past one of the sites staffed was the tip of Cape Lookout State Park. Even though its not this year, it remains one of the best places to spot a whale, being 2 miles out into the ocean.

Its also a place where you have some of the best chances to see a truly magic sight  a mother and calf whale swimming north, just below the cape.

Gray whale mothers will often keep her calves  born just a month or so earlier in the warm Baja waters  close to shore, passing remarkably close to places such as Cape Lookout, to avoid the detection of orcas (killer whales), which hunt calves during the northbound migrations.

Orcas hunt the newborn calves, but because they use echolocation, they like to be out in deeper water, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department whale expert Luke Parsons said on the Explore Oregon Podcast. Because of that, gray whale moms will bring their calves super close to shore because the rocks and waves make it too turbulent for orcas to hunt very well.

Cape Lookout can be a really cool spot in the northbound migrations because it sticks out so far it can kind of capture those mother and babies swimming back up north, and its pretty unreal how close theyll come to shore.

Naturally, those types of sightings are rare, but they do happen and its one of the reasons whale watching week remains so popular in spring.

To reach the tip of Cape Lookout, follow the Cape Trail 5 miles round-trip on a spectacular and moderately difficult hike.

For more information, got to bit.ly/3TBmzvg

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon and Hiking Southern Oregon. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregons spring Whale Watching Week returns, offers closer views
A female osprey has completed a "remarkable" transatlantic journey from Scotland to Barbados.

The bird of prey, which was tagged last summer in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park in Renfrewshire, was spotted on the Caribbean island earlier this month.

The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation said it covered 4,124 miles during its epic journey from Lochwinnoch.

And one expert said it was the first time a UK osprey had been observed in the Americas.

Nature conservationist and writer Tim Mackrill said ospreys had been colour-ringed in the UK since the late 1960s.

This has provided a wealth of valuable data on everything from longevity to migratory movements.

Writing on the foundation website, Mr Mackrill said: "We have received some very interesting re-sightings over the years, from a bird that returns to winter on the Canary Islands each year, to others which have migrated as far south as the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

"However, earlier this month we received what is undoubtedly the most remarkable record of all."

Osprey graphic

Mr Mackrill said the foundation was contacted by conservationist Michael St John, who photographed a female with a blue ring on its left leg.

He added: "Nothing unusual there until I noticed where he had seen it - Bawdens Irrigation Pond in the north of Barbados in the Caribbean.

"The ring number was clearly visible - KW0, which indicated it was a bird from Scotland."

The osprey was first observed six miles away at Fosters private wetland on 25 October but on that occasion Mr St John had not been able to read the ring.

KW0 was one of two chicks ringed on 23 June last year at a nest in Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park by the Clyde Ringing Group.

It is estimated they left Scotland on migration in late August or early September.

Mr Mackrill said some Finnish Ospreys were known to migrate to South Africa for winter, which is a greater distance.

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But he added that most of the Scottish osprey's journey was across the Atlantic.

Its route is thought to have been from south-west Ireland to Barbados, which is about 3,800 miles.

'Incredible exploits'

Mr Mackrill said: "It is highly unlikely that even an osprey could have completed this in a single flight, even with strong tailwinds, and so it is probable that she took the opportunity to rest on boats, which may themselves have been travelling to the Caribbean from the UK.

"It could be that KW0 stopped-off on the Azores en route to Barbados.

"One thing we can be certain of is that KW0 must have departed on migration in exceptional condition in order to have survived this remarkable transatlantic crossing."

Mr Mackrill said the bird appeared "very settled" and may well remain on the island for the foreseeable future.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, RSPB Scotland's head of species and land management, said: "Ospreys never cease to amaze us with their incredible exploits but this latest sighting of a ringed Scottish osprey in Barbados is certainly one of the best yet.

"The RSPB is pleased to have played a pioneering role in Scotland, encouraging the osprey's return as a breeding bird from the 1950s at Loch Garten in the Highlands, and we can now see this species gradually re-occupying all of its former range across the UK."
An Ottawa trash collector was injured in an explosion Monday morning.

Police received a call just before 6 a.m. that the garbage collector was at work compacting trash in the truck when there was an explosion. An object from the explosion hit the trash collector, and they drove to a hospital with minor injuries.

The Olathe Fire Department bomb squad was contacted and responded to help with the investigation.

Ottawa police and fire officials, the Olathe bomb squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are working to investigate the incident.

Police said there is no ongoing threat to the community.
MILAN  After selling a majority stake to consumer investment giant L Catterton and presenting its fall 2023 collection during Paris Fashion Week, A.P.C. is capping off a busy month by officially planting a flag in Italy. The contemporary fashion label has opened its first store in Milans arty Brera district, which will be celebrated with a cocktail event on March 30.

Italy has always been in our development plan but it was mostly a question of timing. Our recent growth on the Italian market has been a strong sign that it was now the time to open, told WWD Jean Touitou, who founded the brand in 1987.

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Touitou noted that the country counts many hyper-qualitative specialty stores, and distributing the brand in wholesale has been very profitable for us over the last years, thanks to our local partner Giacomo Piazza (247 showroom). Having said that, we feel we were missing a dedicated space to express A.P.C. values. The store is clearly a strong lever to achieve this strategic objective.

Asked about the location selected, Touitou said Brera has the cool vibes that we can have in Paris when we are in Le Marais.

The new A.P.C. store in Milan.

To further enhance the familiar vibe, the company partnered with longtime collaborator and design studio Laurent Deroo Architecte for the interior project.

Laurent Deroo has designed A.P.C. stores over the last 20 years so there is not really a question [of] what partner [to select] when it comes to architecture but more which project, since Laurent always adapt his design to the local context, Touitou said.

For this unit, the studio was inspired by the Arte Povera movement and Italian modernist artist and furniture designer Enzo Mari, to develop functional and sober interiors, nodding to A.P.C. own collections carried at the store, encompassing womens, mens, denim and accessories lines. As hinted by the store facade and the triangular window detail standing out on the wooden door, graphic and angular wood displays dominate the space and contrast with ice gray walls.

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Inside the new A.P.C. store in Milan.

Whether the Milan store marks the first of a series in Italy is to-be-determined, since Touitou said the roll out plan is still under discussion.

The A.P.C. retail network is still very small compared to our competitors, so we have room to expand either in countries where we already have stores or in new countries: the plan is obviously to open but we dont want to rush, added the founder.

The brand has more than 70 company-owned stores across Europe, the U.S., Australia, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

Inside the new A.P.C. store in Milan.

The overall distribution strategy remains unchanged: we want to keep our geographical balance (Asia, Europe, the U.S.) together with our channel balance (retail, wholesale, digital), said Touitou, adding that continuity should be the main word to characterize this strategy, so no revolution is to be expected.

Ditto for the product: as reported earlier this month, while speaking to journalists after the show in Paris, Touitou said nothing is going to change after the L Catterton investment, and he will continue to head the creative side.

Inside the new A.P.C. store in Milan.

There, he also said he felt a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders after a tough business spell during the pandemic, and that he was not the right person to lead the business to the next level, though the time was right for it to grow.

Speaking to WWD following the sale news, L Catterton Europe partner Eduardo Velasco said that A.P.C. has revenue of more than 100 million euros and he believes it is poised for growth up to 500 million euros.

Inside the new A.P.C. store in Milan.

L Catterton is backed by luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and has invested heavily in fashion brands, including Birkenstock, Etro, Ganni and John Hardy, in recent years.

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PANAMA CITY BEACH  Despite some uncertainty, this past weekend did not bring a chaotic wave of crime to the Beach.

In a Sunday afternoon post on the Panama City Beach Police Department's Facebook page, Chief J.R. Talamantez dubbed the weekend a success, noting local law enforcement "successfully prevented any significant incidents" from occurring across the area.

The weekend was advertised for "take over events" similar to Panamaniac in 2022.

In a Sunday afternoon post on the Panama City Beach Police Department's Facebook page, Chief JR Talamantez dubbed the weekend a success, despite concerns of possible take over events throughout the area.

"Our collective memories of last year's takeover weekend, when law enforcement faced numerous challenges, have only strengthened our resolve to protect our community," Talamantez wrote in the post. "We have taken the lessons learned from last year and developed a strategic plan to ensure a safer and more enjoyable environment this year. I am pleased to say that our planning and preparation have proven effective in maintaining order.

"Panama City Beach remains a welcoming haven for all who wish to enjoy its beauty, but we will stand firm against any lawless and dangerous activities."

The unknown:Bracing for chaotic weekend, Panama City Beach police have arrested 400 this spring break

Extra precautions: Bay County law enforcement plans special event zones to limit spring break chaos

As of about 11:30 a.m. Monday, the post had more than 700 reactions, about 100 comments and almost 90 shares.

Nearly every comment praised Talamantez, his officers and other local law enforcement agencies for their efforts in keeping the community safe.

Panama City Beach police declined on Monday to release arrest data for the weekend, saying they would do so on Tuesday.

The weekend's uncertainty stems from March 26-27 of last year, when more than 160 people were arrested throughout Bay County in connection to Panamaniac, an unsanctioned event that gained traction on social media and brought waves of unruly tourists to the Panama City Beach area.

Those arrested over the two days racked up almost 260 combined charges, of which more than 70 involved drugs, 60 involved guns and 15 involved alcohol.

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Local law enforcement officials discovered flyers circling on the internet for similar events slated to occur this past weekend.

Talamantez said in the post a key factor in the weekend's success was his department's partnerships with other departments not only across the Bay County, but in surrounding regions as well.

"I am immensely proud of the hard work, professionalism and dedication shown by our officers in carrying out their duties," he wrote. "Their unwavering commitment to protecting and serving our community is truly praiseworthy.

"I (also) am grateful to the businesses that have taken proactive measures during this time, as well as the local and county leaders for their unwavering support in providing tools and resources to help us maintain order."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach police say weekend wasn't as chaotic as feared
Paramount Global has named former Activision Blizzard and Snap exec Kristin Southey as its new investor relations chief.

Southey becomes executive vp of investor relations, reporting to CFO Naveen Chopra. She succeeds Anthony DiClemente, who will remain with the Hollywood studio through mid-April to ensure a smooth transition, the company said.

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Southey earlier was head of investor relations for Snap Inc. and spent 15 years in the same role and as treasurer at Activision Blizzard. In her new role, Southey will oversee relationships with Wall Street analysts and serve as part of Paramounts finance team as the studio emerges from the re-merger of Viacom and CBS under CEO Bob Bakish.

With a wealth of experience and track record of success, Kristin is ideally suited to communicate to the investor community how the Companys global, multiplatform strategy is positioned to create value at a time when our differentiated approach shows momentum across content and platforms, Chopra said in a statement.

Paramount under Bakish has managed a newly-merged entity that includes traditional media like Paramount films, CBS programming, Nickelodeon shows and franchises, and new streaming platforms like Paramount+ and Paramounts free, advertising-supported streaming service Pluto TV.

To improve the economics of its streaming offerings to secure profitability, Paramount has also become the latest Hollywood conglomerate to revamp its streaming setup and strategy, unveiling a sweeping combination of the Paramount+ streaming service and Showtime.

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(Bloomberg) -- The garbage standoff in Paris, one of the most visible signs of public frustration over President Emmanuel Macrons plan to raise the minimum retirement age, appears to finally be abating.

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The amount of trash on the streets fell to 7,800 metric tons on Sunday from 9,800 tons the day before, the biggest drop since garbage collectors went on strike three weeks ago. It slid further on Monday to 7,300 tons. Over the weekend, 421 garbage trucks made the rounds in Paris, twice the number of a normal Sunday, according to City Hall. Three incinerators outside Paris resumed service on Friday, which helped ease the situation.

We made a big push this weekend, Emmanuel Gregoire, the deputy mayor for urban planning, told Franceinfo radio on Monday.

The French capital was hit by strikes and violent protests after Macrons government rammed through an unpopular pension reform without a full parliamentary vote. Unions have planned another day of demonstrations on Tuesday.

Paris authorities said blockades in some garages and treatment centers were still hampering garbage collection. The situation is also exacerbated in narrow streets, where trash heaps are preventing trucks from passing through.

Employees at Derichebourg, a contractor that handles waste in several arrondissements in Paris, were mulling a strike after issuing a notice on Sunday. Garbage collectors at Pizzorno, which is responsible for the 15th arrondissement, ended their strike last week.

Half of the citys arrondissements rely on private companies for garbage collection and the other half on municipal workers.

Trash mounds reached their daily peak of 10,000 tons for the third time last Friday, a day after unions held another strike against the pension reform.

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(Reuters) - Some parts of Twitter Inc's source code have been leaked and the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk is seeking information on the person responsible, a legal filing showed.

According to the filing, "various excerpts" of Twitter's source code, which is used to run the company online, were posted on Github, a Microsoft-owned platform for sharing code for software development, by a user named 'FreeSpeechEnthusiast'.

Github said it took down the code on Friday at Twitter's request.

Twitter has asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to order Github to produce "All identifying information" associated with the 'FreeSpeechEnthusiast' user name, the March 24 filing showed.

Github did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether it has supplied such information. It also did not comment on how long Twitter's source code had been publicly available.

Twitter also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news was first reported by the New York Times.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Nilutpal Timsina; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Carl Holder steps out from the intricately designed white concrete columns that frame the sunrise-colored exterior of 402 W. Lewis St.

He glances down the sidewalks, peering on at downtown Pascos empty promenades.

If you look down the street, all the way down to 6th and 7th (avenues), you dont see anybody on the sidewalks, says Holder, 72, on a recent Monday afternoon.

Then he shifts east toward the old Bank of America building, and points to rows of empty storefronts.

You cant look at this area and say theres any sort of economic vitality here.

Downtown Pasco has been a focal point for revitalization efforts in recent years, with the city investing millions into infrastructure and adopting its first master plan in hopes that the nine-block business district will become a cultural and economic hub.

The area already employs almost 8,000 and plays host to several annual events, such as the Fiery Food Festival, but struggles persist with crime and a steady number of unhoused individuals.

Thats why Holder is looking to bring a new industry to the area: retail cannabis.

And he wants to start first by opening a shop in his building at 3rd Avenue and Lewis Street.

Having a heavily regulated, sustainable business downtown would bring more foot traffic and serve as a magnet to neighboring Hispanic businesses, Holder argues.

I certainly think this store would get rid of a lot of riff-raff, he said.

Carl Holder wants to see a retail cannabis store in a former Pasco bank building.

Pasco is on track to lift its ban on retail cannabis in its commercial and industrial zones sometime in the coming weeks or months.

It would be the first of the Tri-Cities city governments to allow retail shops in the city limits. And it would be the first anywhere in Franklin County.

There are three in unincorporated Benton County and Prosser.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board  which aggressively regulates and enforces cannabis retail, production and processing  has limited Pasco to just four state retail licenses based on the citys population size.

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This GIS map shows all the commercial (C1, C2 and C3) and industrial zones (I1, I2 and I3) where the Pasco City Council is considering lifting its ban on retail cannabis. Downtown Pasco would also be included.

Here are the three businesses already in line to open a store when the city agrees to open:

Biggies Pot Shop

Eric Larson, an executive with Evergreen State Investments LLC, says he plans to open Biggies Pot Shop this summer if Pasco lifts its ban.

Larson and his business partner, Thomas Platfoot, hold title certificates for a state retail license under the name Clear Mind Cannabis.

Platfoot had operated a delivery service for medical patients in Vancouver under the business name Clear Mind Medical until changes in regulation took place in 2016.

Larson said hes been out shoelacing Pasco, looking for buildings to lease or buy.

Theres a lot that goes into these stores that people dont understand, all the way from security to how you organize traffic flow, he said.

Hes keeping his options open, but theyve shied away from downtown in search of more high-traffic areas.

I think theres more opportunities in other parts of the city, Larson said.

Green2Go

Steve Lee, co-owner of Green2Go in Finley, said he wants to open a Pasco location as soon as possible, but didnt give a timeline because the city council hasnt finalized details and its ordinance.

Hes still looking for a storefront or any option that works.

Jessy and Steve Lee stand in July 2016 in the sales area of their marijuana dispensary, called Green2Go, in Finley.

Im glad they went with the zoning choice they made because that was the only way that any store would open up and be successful, said Lee, who served four years on the Kennewick City Council and was the mayor pro-tem.

Finding space in Pasco has proven to be a challenge, though, since the best locations in the city are undeveloped, he said. Lee said most pot shops are not looking to build because those projects would have to be financed either privately or with cash because of federal restrictions.

Plus, Pasco has so many schools, parks, playgrounds, arcades and registered child centers that it eliminates more than 80% of the available commercial spaces in Pasco, Lee said.

Steve and Jessy Lee have been involved in the cannabis industry since 2012, when they started out as a delivery-based medical cannabis collective and later had a walk-in medical marijuana dispensary in West Richland. The couple also bet that Pasco would eventually lift its retail ban, so they applied for a license and title certificate.

In 2016, they opened their mom-and-pop pot shop Green2Go in Finley just outside the Kennewick city limits to make retail fresh, obtainable and safe for Tri-City residents, Steve Lee said previously.

He believes it will be hard for all three Pasco stores to find pockets to operate in because of the rules and political pressures.

Lee said he wouldnt be surprised if all the shops ultimately ended up in east Pasco or near the King City truck stop.

Lucky Leaf

Lucky Leaf  a Spokane cannabis retailer run by Pasco native David Morgan  plans to open shop in Holders downtown building.

Holder, a retired energy consultant who lives in Richland, has owned the 5,100-square-foot building along Lewis Street since 1999.

The building was erected as a Seattle First National Bank, Holder said. The single-story building features two walk-in vaults with foot-thick stainless steel doors manufactured by the Mosler Safe Company. Its a nice utility considering cannabis dispensaries are cash-based businesses.

A cell phone repair store leased the space for a decade until the owner moved out in March 2022.

Holder said hes trying to breathe life back into the building.

Carl Holders vacant building is at 402 W. Lewis St. on the corner of 3rd and West Lewis Street in downtown Pasco. He would like to see a retail cannabis business occupy the space to bring what he believes will be a positive economic impact to the downtown area.

It has real history. Its made out of concrete and steel. You would never build a building like this anymore. Its in as good a shape today as it was in the 30s, and it will be the same in the next 300 years, he said.

As Holder tells it, Seattle First eventually sold the building to construct a new one across 3rd Avenue in 1969.

After a number of sales, Holder eventually came to own it by way of the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District. Several businesses have occupied the building since its glory days as a bank, including congressional campaigns, a tax and advisory business, an internet provider and an online second-hand retailer.

Im a building owner. Im looking for stability, long tenure and profitability, and Lucky Leaf checks all the boxes, Holder said.

Holder added that hes ready to invest $25,000 in new lights, windows and interior improvements to the building once the ban is lifted.

This is going to be the catalyst for a revitalization. Its going to bring investment, and people and press, Holder said. Itll be something spectacular for downtown Pasco, something we havent ever had for downtown Pasco.

Decade in the making

Holder reached out to Morgan about bringing a Lucky Leaf store to Pasco about 14 months ago.

In February 2022, Holder sent a letter to the city council asking it to reconsider the ban, setting off a flurry of debate among Pasco residents.

Lucky Leaf Co. cannabis store in Spokane in January 2019.

The city last fall hosted two listening sessions for residents, and hundreds chimed in. Some skeptics in the business community said it would be better to zone retail cannabis in industrial zones only and that they should keep it out of downtown and commercial districts.

Morgan had been involved in previous efforts to open a shop downtown in 2014 with another property owner next door to Holder, but faced hurdles with a moratorium on marijuana-related businesses.

The Liquor and Cannabis Control Board also reversed its decision to allow a license to Morgan downtown because it would have opened within 1,000 feet of Peanuts Park and a plaza that hosts the citys farmers market.

Holders old bank building also in within the 1,000-foot buffer of Peanuts Park, but he said they plan to file for an exemption since it doesnt fit the traditional sense of a childrens park as listed in state law.

This map from the City of Pasco shows marijuana restricted zones and their buffer areas. These areas include schools and parks. Recreational retail cannabis stores would not be allowed to operate in these areas.

The citys moratorium ultimately led to a citywide ban on all retail, processing and production operations passed by the city council in 2014.

But Morgan tried opening a shop again in 2015 in the King City truck stop area along Highway 395, citing a change in law that allowed local governments to collect some of the 37% sales tax.

Morgan was ultimately forced to close again because of the existing ban and because he was operating without a city business license. He later transferred his cannabis license to Spokane.

Prohibiting cannabis retail in Pasco has zero positive effects for Pasco and its residents, Morgan said in a letter sent to the city council last week.

Carl Holder would like to see a retail cannabis store in a former bank building he owns in Pasco. He says it will bring what he believes will be a positive economic impact to the downtown area.

Its in Pascos best interest to allow cannabis retail businesses which will keep spending in Pasco and enable Pasco to collect its share of sales and excise taxes. Allowing cannabis retail in Pasco will create jobs and contribute to Pascos economic development having a majority trickle effect on ancillary businesses that supply goods and services to cannabis retail.

He later told the Tri-City Herald that he was extremely happy with the councils decision to broadly lift the ban.

Cannabis retail establishments have run flawlessly in Walla Walla, Yakima, West Richland and Finley, so I see no reason whatsoever to make me believe the same couldnt be said for Pasco, he said.

Pasco could receive at least $200,000 in revenue annually through a per capita distribution from the states 37% excise tax, said city spokesperson Jon Funfar. That would not include any additional revenue that may be raised from local sales.

Washington voters passed Initiative 502 more than a decade ago to legalize and comprehensively regulate the production, possession and retail of cannabis statewide. Today, Washingtonians must be 21 years old or older to buy recreational pot.

While the initiative passed with 55% statewide approval, 61% of voters in Franklin County were opposed to it. But opinions have shifted over time.

A 2021 community survey showed that 46% of Pasco residents would not back changes to allow marijuana retail sales in city limits, while about 45% said they would strongly or somewhat support it.
More than three decades after landmark legislation became law, Penn State is taking steps to return most of the Native American remains claimed by the university.

Penn States Matson Museum of Anthropology has preliminary plans in place with at least a half-dozen tribes to return the ancestral remains of nearly 50 people this year.

The renewed emphasis comes as more institutions across the country attempt to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act (NAGPRA), which requires federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funds to repatriate or transfer Native American human remains and cultural items to their rightful owners.

Penn State is far from the only institution working toward compliance with NAGPRA. Heres a look at how the university stacks up to its peers in the Big Ten conference and across the Keystone State.

A look at Pennsylvania institutions

Twenty-one institutions located in Pennsylvania have reported possessing Native American remains taken from across the country, according to a database published by ProPublica in December. Many of them are federally funded museums and universities, including Penn States anthropology museum.

Penn State itself possesses at least 56 sets of Indigenous remains from outside of Pennsylvania, ProPublicas database reported using data tracked and recorded by the National Park Service. At least 18 of them have been made available for return, signifying the university published a list of the tribes that are eligible to make a repatriation claim. Once remains are made available for return, physical transfers can occur, though strict regulations can lengthen that process.

Federal law does not require institutions to report when physical transfers of remains were completed, ProPublica said, which can cloud the accuracy of the nonprofit newsrooms count of remains made available for return.

According to ProPublicas database, no Pennsylvania institution possesses more Native American remains taken from across the country than the State Museum of Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg-based museum had at least 1,085 sets of remains under its belt as of December and, at that point, had made only 177 sets, or 16%, available for return.

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The Carnegie Museum of Natural History possessed the second-most with 751 sets of Indigenous remains and made just 104 available for return. The University of Pennsylvanias Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology ranked third with 632 sets of Native American remains, but made 228, or 36%, available for return.

Of the 21 Pennsylvania institutions listed, seven had made their entire collection of remains available for return. The U.S. Department of the Interior led the way with 42 sets, followed by others across the commonwealth, including Kutztown University (21), the Wistar Institute (4) and Bryn Mawr College (3).

Conversely, ProPublicas database also organized a group of 26 institutions from across the country that reported possessing Native American remains that were taken from within Pennsylvania. Once again, the State Museum of Pennsylvania led the pack by possessing 1,030 sets of Indigenous remains from what is now the commonwealth, representing nearly all of the museums collection. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (591 sets) and the California University of Pennsylvania (183 sets) round out the top of the list.

A somber undertaking: Penn State renews efforts to return Native American remains

Comparing to Big Ten peers

A collection of ancestral remains like Penn States is not uncommon throughout the Big Ten, the 14-member conference of major research universities spread throughout much of the Midwest and mid-Atlantic.

At least 10 Big Ten schools possessed the ancestral remains of at least one Native American as of December, according to ProPublicas database. No institution possessed more than Indiana University Bloomington, which once possessed a collection of nearly 6,000 total remains  the fifth-largest in the country. The University of Nebraska State Museum, which is situated on the universitys flagship campus in Lincoln, previously held more than 2,000 sets of remains.

Half of Penn States conference peers have already made the majority of their collections available for return, ProPublica reports. As of December, Michigan State had made all but one of its 525 sets of remains available for return, leading the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin have already made at least 90% of their respective collections available for return.

While Indiana had designated more than 1,000 sets of remains as available for return, more than 80% of the schools total collection remained unavailable as of December.

ProPublicas database said figures were unavailable for four Big Ten member institutions: Northwestern University, University of Maryland College Park, Ohio State University and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

UK one of largest holders of Native American remains that havent been returned to tribes

What to know about NAGPRA

Movements to return Native American remains, funerary objects and cultural items to their rightful owners are largely grounded through the NAGPRA, which Congress passed in 1990. In addition to requiring the repatriation or transfer of Native American remains, the act requires federal institutions to do so by consulting with Indigenous populations, properly identifying and reporting remains and cultural items in inventories and collections and executing repatriation processes with caution.

Shortly after NAGPRAs passage, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would take roughly 10 years to repatriate applicable objects and remains to Native American tribes. That process has drawn out for three decades and counting due to, in part, murky regulations and a lack of institutional will, ProPublica reported in a December investigation.

To comply with NAGPRA, museums, federal agencies and organizations receiving federal funds are required to evaluate their collections for Native American remains and cultural items. Applicable bodies must also provide public notice before repatriating or transferring items.

Failure to comply with NAGPRA can have wide-ranging impacts for these institutions, occasionally including criminal prosecution if they sell or profit from Native American human remains or cultural items that were obtained in violation of the act. Noncompliance could also result in civil penalties.

Additionally, noncompliance could prevent institutions from receiving federal grants that aim to assist in consultation, documentation and repatriation processes through NAGPRA.

NPS maintains its own online databases and publishes regular reports regarding NAGPRA compliance across the country. More information is available online at nps.gov/subjects/nagpra.
The Delaware River, which flows past Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a source of water for millions

Philadelphia officials say the city's water is safe to drink for now after a chemical spill in a local river.

A pipe ruptured on Friday at chemical plant Trinseo PLC, leaking hazardous material into a tributary of the Delaware River, a source of water for millions of people.

Officials asked people to drink bottled water, leading to empty shelves.

But local authorities said later on Sunday there had been no contamination in the city's water system.

"We have enough [tap] water to sustain a safe use for drinking, cooking - all purposes - through till at least 11:59 p.m., Monday, March 27," Mike Carroll, the city's deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure and sustainability, told reporters on Sunday. "The potential for contamination is diminishing over time."

The Delaware River Basin supplies water to over 15 million people across 4 states, according to the US government.

The Pennsylvania chemical spill occurred after a pipe burst at Trinseo PLC on Friday, leaking 8,100 galloons of a latex-based solution into Otter Creek in Bucks County, just north-east of Philadelphia, according to local authorities.

The company, which manufactures plastics and latex binders, said the leak seemed to be due to an equipment failure.

City officials said in a mobile phone alert earlier on Sunday that contaminants had not been found in Philadelphia's water, but recommended residents buy bottled water "out of caution" because they could not "be 100 percent sure that there won't be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the afternoon".

Local stores began selling out of water after the alert.

But in an updated message to residents on Sunday. the city said sampling from the city's water showed there was "no need to buy water at this time".

Mr Carroll said on Sunday that rain and tidal conditions would help the river "flush itself out" and that the water in Delaware "should be ok" in a matter of days, according to US media outlets.
This photo shows the skyline in Philadelphia along the Schuylkill River, Thursday, May 16, 2019. On March 26, 2023, Philadelphia officials announced that there was a chemical spill in the Delaware River, warning of potential drinking water contamination. | Matt Rourke, Associated Press

On Sunday afternoon, Philadelphias 1.5 million residents received a tap water advisory alert, stating that a chemical spill from a latex plant had flown into the Delaware River, the citys source of tap water. Almost instantly, people took to the streets to stock up on bottled water, and lines for grocery and convenience stores grew longer as water supply grew more scarce.

On Monday, city officials said during a press conference that Philadelphias tap water will be safe to drink and use until Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., and encouraged residents to fill containers with tap water while they can.

Related

The news: The chemical spill first occurred on Friday at a Bucks County latex plant when an equipment failure dumped around 8,100 gallons of latex emulsion solution into a tributary of the Delaware River, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

As of Monday afternoon, officials have found no contamination in Philadelphias drinking water, according to The Associated Press, and also said the latex emulsion solution is nontoxic to humans.

Officials stated that they will continue to test the Delaware River to confirm that it is uncontaminated.

Based on the latest hydraulic modeling and sampling results, we are confident that tap water from the Baxter plant will remain safe to drink and use at least through 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 28, 2023. Latest updates here: https://t.co/g0jrCcy17q pic.twitter.com/Iujz6YdljI  Philadelphia Water (@PhillyH2O) March 27, 2023

Details: According to NBC Philadelphia, some residents arent taking their chances when it comes to drinking water.
Philadelphia residents on Sunday were advised to drink bottled water after chemicals were released into the Delaware River in a neighboring county.

The Philadelphia Water Department said Sunday it was responding to a spill of a latex product that Occurred along a Delaware River tributary. The spill would potentially affect water treated at the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant, the department said.

"At this time, no contaminants have been found in our tap water system. Out of an abundance of caution, residents in the impacted areas may want to switch to bottled water," the department said.

PENNSYLVANIA CHOCOLATE FACTORY EXPLOSION LEAVES FIVE DEAD, TWO MISSING: REPORT

Later Sunday, the department said it was confident, "based on updated hydraulic modeling and the latest sampling  that tap water from the Baxter plant will remain safe to drink through 11:59 p.m., March 27."

Bucks County health officials said a leak at the Trinseo Altuglas chemical facility in Bristol Township spilled between 8,100 and 12,000 gallons of a water-based latex finishing solution into the river. Officials said it is non-toxic to humans and no known adverse health effects have been reported in the county.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Officials said intakes to the city's Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant were closed after the spill but they were opened overnight to maintain minimal water levels to avoid damage to equipment and to supply water for fire safety and other essential needs.

A map showing the potentially impacted areas of the chemical spill.

State environmental officials are leading the response. Pennsylvania American Water said its Yardley Water Treatment plant about 15 miles upstream of the release remains unaffected. Aqua said it shut off the intake to its Bristol water system to protect customers and had seen no impact from the spill.

Trinseo senior vice president of manufacturing and engineering Tim Thomas told WPVI-TV Saturday that the material posed no risk to the public. "It's like the material you find in paint," he told the station. "It's your typical acrylic paint you have in your house, that's what really this material is, in a water base."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Philadelphia residents have been told by city officials that they are confident tap water will be safe to drink until at least midnight on Monday.

On Saturday night, the Philadelphia Water Department said that it was monitoring the spill of a latex product into a tributary of the Delaware River, and that the citys drinking water could be impacted.

Stores in Pennsylvanias largest city quickly ran out of bottled water after officials initially advised residents to use it out of an abundance of caution.

City officials also advised residents to stock up on two days of water for emergency use. Photos and videos on social media revealed bare shelves in many stores and long lines forming.

The City of Philadelphias latest update on Sunday afternoon stated that there was no need to buy bottled water.

Customers can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time, it added.

Officials also said that the water was safe for bathing, cooking and washing and had been treated before reaching Philadelphia.

The leak occurred late on Friday evening at the Trinseo Altuglas chemical facility in Bristol Township, according to Bucks County health officials.

Between 8,100 and 12,000 gallons of a water-based latex finishing solution spilled into the river.

While authorities said that testing did not reveal contamination, they could not be 100 per cent sure of no traces of chemicals in tap water.

I want to reiterate that the health risks are very low if present at all. No acute effects are associated with low-level exposure, said Michael Carrol, from the Citys Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, in a statement on Sunday.

Our best information is that people who ingest water will not suffer any near-term symptoms or acute medical conditions. We foresee no reason to seek medical attention related to this event.

Additionally, there is no concern over skin exposure or fire hazard. Bathing and washing dishes do not present a concern. Likewise, we have no concern over inhaling fumes at the levels we are evaluating.

Again, this advisory is being issued out of an abundance of caution to prevent any theoretical, long-term public health impacts.
Water utilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania and New Jersey continue monitoring a Friday night chemical spill in a river tributary northeast of Philadelphia.

The utilities say there's no risk to people so far from the latex polymer release, and none of the contaminant has been detected in city water supplies.

Utilities are tracking a plume of contamination in the river, and updates are expected later today in Bucks County and the city of Philadelphia.

In Philly, the city said its water should be safe through at least 11:59 p.m. Monday, based on the time it takes water from the Delaware River to move through its system.

The water available to customers has been treated and tested to confirm that it is "safe to drink and use for bathing, cooking, and washing," the city said in a news release Monday morning.

Elsewhere, Pennsylvania American Water said it had determined there was no impact to its Yardley water treatment plant 15 miles upstream from the spill. "We will continue to monitor the source water and provide updates if we receive additional information," the water company said.

The Brown's Shoprite in Bensalem was nearly out of bottled water Sunday afternoon. Supermarket shelves in Lower Bucks were empty Sunday afternoon after Philadelphia officials issued a drinking water advisory after chemicals that spilled in Bristol entered a Delaware River tributary. Aqua Pennsylvania, which supplies water in Lower Bucks said the spill has not impacted the system.

What happened in Pennsylvania?

An estimated 8,100 gallons of a 50/50 mix of water and a latex polymer solution was released Friday evening when a pipe failed at a Trinseo Altuglas acrylic resins manufacturing facility. The plant is in Bristol, roughly 17 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

The material overflowed a containment system and entered a storm drain, where it flowed into Otter Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River in Bucks County, plant owner Trinseo said in a news release.

The company and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said the latex mixture is nontoxic to humans. Trinseo said the mixture is a white liquid that's visible in surface water.

Why are people buying water in Philadelphia?

Earlier on Sunday, Philadelphia's water department said residents who receive water from the city's Baxter drinking water treatment plant might want to use bottled water "out of an abundance of caution. However, by Sunday afternoon, the city told residents there was "no need to buy water."

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"Customers can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time," the city said.

The department said it was confident water from its Baxter facility would be safe to drink and to cook with through at least 11:59 p.m. Monday. That was based on the time it takes water from the Delaware to enter the utility's Baxter intakes and move through the treatment system.

No contaminants had been found through Monday, city officials said.

What's the latest update with Philadelphia water?

At 11 a.m. Monday, the Philadelphia Water Department said the spill could potentially affect water treated at its Baxter Water Treatment Plant, which draws water from the Delaware River and services part of Philadelphia.

Residents who want to make sure they have water available can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time, the city said.

The tidally influenced Delaware will flush itself out, especially given the influx of rain that fell Saturday, city officials said, but they planned to continue testing the water from the river throughout the day on Monday and into Tuesday to be certain.

Where does Philadelphia get its tap water?

The Philadelphia Water Department uses water from the Delaware River and the Schuylkill River, pumping it to a reservoir or basin where sediments settle out. Chlorine is added to kill pathogens, and then the water is pulled through filters and treated for drinking.

The city is using a computer model to track the movement of the plume of contaminant through the river.

Two additional Philadelphia water treatment plants draw water from the Schuylkill River and have not been impacted by the spill, the city said.

Residents can find out if their area is affected here: Spill map

Is the water safe to drink in south New Jersey?

New Jersey American Water said its water is safe to drink. Delaware River water provided to customers in South Jersey was "not impacted" by the spill, the utility said.

However, the utility did ask customers in three counties  Burlington, Camden and Gloucester  to limit nonessential water use to reduce demand at its facility in Delran, where water is pulled from the Delaware River.

Environmental group responds

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental advocacy group, suggested Monday that people in the region monitor and report smells or any impacts on fish and wildlife.

"The public is worried and has a right and need to know what is going on when there is a hazardous release," said Maya van Rossum, the network's leader. The network chided state and federal agencies for not releasing more timely live reports or issuing emergency notifications to residents.

It is always a concern when there is a spill of chemicals or hazardous materials to our River system," van Rossum said. "Once a chemical is released, the flow of the water, including the tidal effects of the estuary reach of the river, can carry the impacts significant distances."

Contributing: John Bacon and Thao Nguyen with USA TODAY and Jim Walsh of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After Delaware River spill, utilities say water safe in Pennsylvania
Community members listen to a presentation on the Pueblo's Budget organized by Poder in Action in Maryvale on Jan. 27, 2023 / Miembros de la comunidad escuchan una presentacion sobre el Presupuesto del Pueblo organizada por Poder en Accion en Maryvale el 27 de enero de 2023

Leer en espanol

An alternative to Phoenix's budget proposes to reallocate about half of current police department funding toward the needs of low-income neighborhoods of color in the city.

The $465 million budget, dubbed the Pueblo's Budget, was released in late January by Phoenix-based nonprofit Poder in Action and aims to prioritize access to housing, neighborhood infrastructure, education, child care and mental health resources for community members living in the most underserved areas across Phoenix.

The project was led by immigrant women, most of them mothers, and other community members who organized meetings with Phoenix residents to understand their needs around neighborhood resources and encourage them to think further about how the city chooses to spend public money.

A lot of priorities came from these meetings, said Juana Rita, one of the Phoenix-based immigrant moms who led the process. As people of color, there are many resources we dont have in our communities. It is quite difficult, even worse, for undocumented folks.

The ideas collected from the 335 participants were developed into a participatory budget, a democratic approach to public money spending where community members can decide how to allocate part of a public budget.

(The budget) covers basic things, things that our neighborhoods have needed for decades of being abandoned by the city, said Isabel Garcia, community safety strategist with Poder in Action. We know what its like to live in our neighborhoods, what our needs are  and we know the solutions."

Successful participatory budgets have been implemented in cities like Boston, Seattle and Sacramento, California, according to the Participatory Budgeting Project, a nonprofit that helps organize individuals in deciding how local governments in the U.S. and Canada spend public funds.

In Arizona, a similar project was approved in the Phoenix Union High School District to allocate the $1.2 million school resource officer budget to fund initiatives from students, staff, parents and guardians to redesign school safety.

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According to Ben Laughlin, policy coordinator at Poder in Action, the organization will advocate for the implementation of its budget before the City Council this spring during public budget hearings in April and following opportunities in May.

Additionally, the organization has met with outgoing District 8 Councilmember Carlos Garcia and is expecting to meet with representatives from Districts 4, 5 and 7 in the upcoming months to talk about potentially implementing the budget. An Arizona Republic analysis found that about three-quarters of Phoenix's Hispanic population, and nearly 70% of city residents with incomes below the poverty level, live in one of these four districts.

Even so, the City Council has long prioritized police funding, and the Pueblo's Budget asks for an amount far larger than what the city has ever invested in participatory budgeting.

'We deserve this and more'

The Pueblos Budget proposes additions of about $200 million for human services, about $130 million for housing, around $75 million for parks and recreation and a cut of $465 million from the current $850 million police budget, leaving it at roughly $385 million.

With only half of the police budget, we could implement our entire budget. We deserve this and more, Isabel Garcia said.

In recent years, activists have called for city leaders to take a harder look at the impacts of police violence on Phoenix communities, especially those of color, in the wake of deaths like those of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Sean Bickings in Tempe and Tyre Nichols in Memphis, all of which happened during interactions with the police.

Isabel Garcia speaks at an event celebrating the windup of The Pueblo's Budget on Jan. 27, 2023 / Isabel Garcia habla en un evento que celebra la elaboracion del Presupuesto del Pueblo el 27 de enero de 2023

Poder in Action is one of several organizations in Phoenix leading that fight.

For the 2022-23 fiscal year, the city budgeted 38% of its operating general fund for the police department, 6.8% for parks and recreation and 0.1% for housing, meaning the police department gets nearly $4 of every $10 in general fund spending, and housing gets about a penny.

According to a full budget report released by the organization, most of the issues facing communities of color in metro Phoenix stem not only from the lack of resources allocated to them but also from a massive investment on policing."

The report states that heavy police presence in lower-income neighborhoods of color  often labeled as high-crime areas  results in a higher criminalization of its residents, perpetuating the stigma around crime rates by racial identity, and consequently bolstering a higher investment in police each year, according to the report.

Rita views the defunding of the police department as a way to better address community needs.

We started fighting for the police budget, to stop giving the police so much money, when we saw that they were criminalizing people for no reason  just because were people of color, Rita said. Instead, we want them to invest in accessible mental health centers, in housing for all people on the streets. They hire people to patrol our parks, but they don't hire people to keep the area clean, she said.

Adriana Garcia Maximiliano, chief of staff of Councilmember Garcia's office, said she believes the organizations advocacy has highlighted the gaps the city still has in serving residents, but she doesnt think the council will discuss allocating funding from the police department to other community projects during the upcoming budget cycle, especially when the council "has prioritized investing more into the police department, she said.

Garcia Maximiliano said the funding they are asking for could come from sources other than the police department's money, like COVID-19 relief funds and other federal grants. We have to look at all the ways to find the money for the programs the people want, she said. When it comes to infrastructure, parks, all that stuff, were constantly looking for grant money for that."

Newly elected District 8 Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington, who will be sworn in on April 17, was not immediately available for comment.

Rita said although she expects resistance, she hopes the city will fund the projects theyre pushing for.

"When we talk to the council about these priorities, there's going to be opposition," she said. "It's something we're going to work on, we hope they give us that budget. In the past they have given us many excuses, but I have faith that now that we have well-defined what the community is asking for, they will pay more attention to us."

Demanding more:Crime survivors call for trauma center, more resources at rally in Phoenix

A budget 4 years in the making

The organization said the budget took over four years to complete, as its members built relationships with Latino, Black and Indigenous communities in Phoenix and collected preliminary information about the most urgent needs they face.

The budget report says the organization identified four main needs based on experiences shared by community members:

Access to mental health and substance abuse resources.

Affordable housing and shelters.

Resources for parents and caregivers.

Education resources for youth.

Juana Rita speaks during a presentation of the Pueblo's Budget in Maryvale on Jan. 27, 2023 / Juana Rita habla durante una presentacion del Presupuesto del Pueblo en Maryvale el 27 de enero de 2023

By the summer of 2022, Poder in Action began organizing community meetings to further discuss needs and potential solutions around these themes. A total of 32 meetings with 335 participants were held between September and October.

We trained people from the community to go and have conversations with people in their neighborhoods, with their family members and their friends to talk about the most important needs in their neighborhoods, said Isabel Garcia with Poder in Action. From those conversations, we were able to create our Pueblos Budget."

The meetings took place in different areas across Phoenix, but they were focused on west, south and central Phoenix, where Hispanic residents on average represent more than 60% of the total population.

According to Marta Avedano, a Poder in Action community volunteer, participants from all districts across Phoenix attended the meetings, but the majority lived in Districts 5, 7 and 8. About one-fourth were from Maryvale, the report states.

About 70% of participants identified as Latino, most of which only spoke Spanish, the report says. Nearly 15% of participants identified as white, and less than 5% as Black.

Each meeting included a group discussion about neighborhood resources. According to the budget report, some of the most pressing issues that came up were rising costs, tenants' rights violations, a lack of housing, shelters and eviction prevention resources, and limited access to affordable mental health, among many others.

Participants were not insisting on luxurious things  they wanted the building blocks of any healthy community, the report states.

The ideas collected during the meetings were then condensed into smaller investment projects which were prioritized through community voting in late October.

Phoenix City Council:Members approve $25M to more quickly address homelessness

'A long-term fight'

According to Adam Waltz, public information officer with Phoenix's Budget and Research Department, implementing the Pueblo's Budget would mean changing the current budget development process, which "would come at the direction of city leadership, including the city managers office and the mayor and city council," he said.

The city's budget process is monthslong, stretching from August to June until the City Council votes to adopt the budget for the incoming fiscal year in July, according to Amber Williamson, budget and research director for Phoenix.

By the end of March, city staff presents a trial budget to council members. Community members can provide their feedback by contacting the research office via email or phone, submitting a comments and questions form, participating in public budget hearings or using the Fund PHX online interactive tool.

Waltz said the city considers community feedback on budget priorities throughout the development process.

"These processes have yielded specific results in the past and include new parks, pickleball courts and money for other community-initiated priorities," he said.

However, public voting is not a part of the process to decide how public money gets spent. Only council members can vote before adopting the budget, Williamson said.

The city does provide avenues for participatory budgeting, however  in significantly smaller doses.

According to Waltz, in 2019 the City Council approved giving general fund money for participatory budgeting projects to the mayor and council offices. For the current fiscal year, the city gave $25,000 to each council office and $50,000 to the mayor "with the intent that the public decide how that money is spent," he said.

Phoenix-based nonprofit Poder in Action held an event celebrating the Pueblo's Budget in Maryvale on Jan. 27, 2023 / La organizacion Poder en Accion organizo un evento que celebra el Presupuesto del Pueblo en Maryvale el 27 de enero de 2023

Council offices for the four Pueblo's Budget target districts told the Arizona Republic they have invested that funding in some community-led initiatives. It's up to each council office to decide how to reach out to the community and how to select the projects that get the funding.

"The money that the city offers for the community to decide how it is spent is only crumbs, it is a few thousand dollars, which is not enough to change the conditions of our lives," Garcia said.

The organization said the city could do a better job of involving its residents, especially those from underserved neighborhoods.

Some of their complaints include poor Spanish interpretation during budget hearings, meetings that are arranged at dates and times that make it difficult for working residents to attend and that year after year the council has ignored community demands and voted against what residents have expressed.

Garcia Maximiliano with the District 8 office said she thinks the current process the city has to involve the community has lots of room to improve in being more accessible to non-English speakers and marketing out information to the public regarding the budget process.

She encouraged the organization and people in the community to be active during upcoming budget hearings in order for these programs to become a priority for the council, she said.

Isabel Garcia said the Pueblo's Budget is a long-term project and the organization plans to look into ways to support the community without city funding.

Theyre still in our budget and were still going to fight for the city to fund those things. But in the meantime, we can take things into our own hands," she said. We know that we are not going to get the money this year, or even next year. This is going to be a long-term fight."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix community budget seeks more for neighborhoods, less for police
Katelyn Markham

CORRECTION: John Carter's attorney said in court Monday he has every reason to believe a fee agreement (for his legal services) would be in place by week's end. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the type of deal he discussed in court.

FAIRFIELD, Ohio - Bond was set at $1 million Monday for John Carter, Katelyn Markhams fiance who is under indictment on two murder charges in her 2011 slaying.

Carters attorney, Christopher Pagan, pleaded not guilty on his behalf during his first appearance before Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Daniel Haughey.

More:Fiance indicted on murder charge in death of Katelyn Markham

The case will return to court on Tuesday, April 4, for a pretrial hearing.

The case is really strong. We really have a great case, Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser told the judge as he asked for the $1 million bond. I thank the defense for giving me the opportunity to show what they are getting into.

The prosecutor revealed some key new details in court:

A forensic anthropology report shows there were sharp, blunt-force trauma wounds to Katelyns wrist bone.

The report also indicates her remains were found in a location different than where they originally were dumped.

Prosecutors found and have copies of what Gmoser says are writings, some with Carters name on them, in a binder found when authorities recently searched his mothers house where he was living at the time Katelyn vanished.

Gmoser then read some of the chilling writings aloud in court.

He said they show the conflict and demon within between Carter and himself.

 Deep down, I love her. You ought to kill her. But I love her. She must die. I cant kill her. Yes, you can. No. Yes. How do you talk me into all these things? Im just that good. But youre bad. I know. How do I kill you? You cant. Youre right. About what? Nothing.

 I slit your wrists with the key to your heart.

Katelyn Markhams father was in court during the arraignment.

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So was John Carters mother.

Both declined to comment.

Dave Markham and his daughter, Ally, 26, leave the Butler County Common Pleas courtroom following the arraignment of John Carter, 34, Monday, March 27, 2023, Carter is charged with the death of his fiance, Katelyn Markham (Dave's daughter) on August 13, 2011. Her body was found two years later. The judge set the bond at $1 million. The new court date is April 4. Markham and his daughter, along with other supporters, wore butterflies on their shirts. Markham said, Katelyn loved butterflies. They remind me of her. Ally was a young teenage when her sister went missing.

Carter is returning to the Butler County Jail where he's been since his arrest Wednesday.

Carter was taken into custody just before 4 p.m. as he taught a class at Neusole Glassworks on Kemper Springs Drive according to Forest Park police. Hes worked there for years, FOX19 NOW has confirmed.

A Butler County grand jury secretly indicted Carter on March 13 with two counts of murder for Katelyns death, court records show.

Judge Haughey ordered the indictment unsealed the morning after his arrest.

The indictmentaccuses Carter of purposely causing Katelyns death in Butler County on or about Aug. 13, 2011, through Aug. 14, 2011.

The second murder count alleges he caused her death on the same dates as a proximate result of committing or attempting to commit, a violent felony offense (felonious assault).

Carter was the last person to see Katelyn alive at her apartment on Aug. 13, 2011, and called 911 to report her disappearance, according to Fairfield police.

He told the call taker the couple planned to move out of state in October to Colorado but delayed the move until November.

We could have pushed the date back a year and it would not have mattered, he said during the 911 call, according to a recording released to FOX19 NOW. "I didnt want to make her do anything she didnt want to do, and she did not feel like she was being forced into anything.

When asked what he meant by forced, Carter responded, just going to Colorado, the marriage, the whole thing. It was entirely up to her.

He also said during the 911 call, a Sacred Heart Festival is going on right up the street, and there are a lot of questionable people there.

Katelyns disappearance and unsolved homicide case have made national news for years.

Her remains were found on April 7, 2013, at Big Cedar Creek in southeastern Indianas Cedar Grove. A couple looking for scrap metal spotted a human jaw in a plastic grocery bag.

Carter immediately asked to be kept away from other inmates when he was booked into the jail, Sheriff Richard Jones told FOX19 NOW.

The jail granted his request for whats called Protective Custody or PC, the sheriff said.

It's for a small group of inmates who dont want to be with the general prison population because they fear for their safety, he said.

Inmates in PC are monitored 24 hours a day but are not on suicide watch.

John Carter, 34, was arraigned, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Butler County Common Pleas Court before Judge Daniel Haughey, Carter is charged with the death of his fiance, Katelyn Markham on August 13, 2011. Her body was found two years later. His attorney, Christopher Pagan, pleaded not guilty on his behalf. The judge set the bond at $1 million with the next court date on April 4.

Carter is held in a cell by himself and can remain isolated as long as he wants, the sheriff said.

Carters arrest didnt shock Katelyn Markhams father, Dave Markham, who says he suspected him all along.

Carters mother released a statement last week declaring her son is definitely not guilty.

Carter is the second person arrested in this investigation.

Jonathan Palmerton of Fairfield was arrested on a perjury charge last month. Hes accused of lying to investigators, according to his indictment.

A judge set his bond at $50,000.

Palmerton was due in court the day after Carters arrest last week to enter a plea or to receive a trial date.

That was canceled, however.

His attorney requested and received a delay until April 20, court record show.

Enquirer media partner provided this report.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Katelyn Markham killing: $1M bond for fiance, writing revealed
Ammunition

In the coming days, the Council of Ministers will adopt a special long-term program that will support the production of ammunition in different parts of our country, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform quotes Morawiecki said.

Read also: Hungary says it will block Ukraine joining EU and NATO because of Ukraines education law

We want private and public companies to produce ammunition. Today we know that these munitions are in short supply throughout Europe, and I can say that it is no secret that they are in short supply throughout NATO.

Morawiecki noted that artillery rounds remain Ukraines most pressing need on the battlefield.

So, as we agreed at the last European Council, we will supply the ammunition, while financing will be provided from the EU budget, Morawiecki added.

Read also: Germanys Rheinmetall stands ready to fill Ukraines ammunition needs, pending additional EU spending

The PM stressed that the number one goal would be to increase ammunition supply.

"Secondly, we want our ammunition production plants  Dezamet, as well as other plants that we will create or increase their production capacity, to be able to produce enough ammunition to cover Polands needs," he said.

Read also: EU to approve joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine next week, Bloomberg reports

Morawiecki noted that the EU program to transfer a million shells to Ukraine by the end of the year is "very ambitious."

Read also: Poland wont send all its MiG-29 jets to Ukraine, says Polish deputy FM

He also added that Russia uses 20,000-50,000 artillery shells per day, while the Armed Forces of Ukraine use 2,000-6,000 of modern NATO-standard shells.

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
MiG-29

No, I dont think well give all MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, he said.

Jabonski noted the transfer of combat aircraft to Ukraine would take place gradually.

First of all, for these deliveries to be effective, the official said.

At the same time, we must bolster Polands security.

Read also: Slovakia gets discount on U.S. helicopters after announcing transfer of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine

Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that Warsaw could give all its MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. According to open sources, Poland has 22 such jets.

Duda announced on March 16 that his country would transfer the first four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days. However, there is currently no information about their transfer.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Feb. 18 that Poland is ready to transfer its MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, but in a coalition with other countries.

Slovakia handed over its first four MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine on March 23.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said that providing Ukraine with MiG-29 fighter jets would be a major help, but they are unlikely to be a game-changer at the front.

Read also: Is it even possible to equip MiG fighter jets with Western missiles?  Air Force answers

Ukraine needs modern multi-purpose aircraft to gain air superiority and strike ground targets, said Ihnat.

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
Last week, a $3 million settlement in a case involving the deaths of Marisa Vicosas two young daughters was approved in York County Court.

The agreement outlined the York County Regional Police departments missteps and errors in handling the case, including alleged inaction by its chief, Tim, Damon, and one of his lieutenants, Kenneth Schollenberger, to serve Marisas estranged husband with an emergency Protection from Abuse Order and execute a search warrant at the familys Windsor Township home.

After York County Judge Clyde Vedder approved the settlement agreement, the attorney for the police department filed a brief response acknowledging that a settlement in the case had been reached but denying that the police department had any liability on its behalf of that of its agents for the tragic consequences of the violent and murderous acts of Robert Vicosa."

The police department also denied that any asserted act or failure to act  caused, or contributed to, the deaths of Giana Vicosa and Aaminah Vicosa, according to the three-page response filed by the departments attorney, Gregory Hirtzel, of Lancaster.

Sisters Giana, left, and Aaminah Vicosa sit on pumpkins in a submitted portrait.

Robert Vicosa, a disgraced Baltimore County police officer, killed his daughters, Gianna, 7, and Aaminah, 6, after a weeklong ordeal that began with the restraint, drugging, torturing and rape of Marisa.

On Nov. 12, a Friday, Vicosa lured his estranged wife to the home they had previously shared under the auspices of celebrating her birthday with her daughters. Marisa had been living with her mother and the couple shared custody of their daughters.

After the girls went to bed, Vicosa and a friend, Tia Bynum, also a Baltimore County police officer, restrained Marisa and forced her to ingest an unknown drug. Then, Vicosa repeatedly raped her that night and into the next day. Robert Vicosa threatened to kill her, her family and their children if she tried to leave.

Marisa was able to convince her estranged husband to allow her to leave the house the afternoon of Nov. 14, ostensibly to return to her mothers house to fetch clothing and her laptop. Robert Vicosa again threatened to kill her, her family and their children if she did not return or sought help from the police.

Story continues

Previously:Torture, rape, murder & police negligence: Vicosa settlement details tragic failures by cops

The manhunt:Seven days of horror end on a rural Maryland road with two ex-cops and two girls dead

Marisa did contact the police and York County Regional Police Cpl. Daniel Miller, the shift supervisor, called Schollenberger, who declined to report for duty to supervise any plan to rescue the children, who the corporal determined to be in grave danger. Schollenberger then contacted Damon, who also chose not to report for duty.

Miller and his fellow officers came up with an alternative plan, having Marisa file for an emergency PFA and seeking a search warrant for the Vicosa family home on Pleader Lane. Schollenberger and Damon approved the plan, as did an on-duty assistant district attorney.

District Judge Ronald Haskell issued the PFA and the search warrant at 8:56 that Sunday night.

Police officers planned to serve the PFA and execute the warrant that night, believing that the lives of Vicosas daughters were in danger. Damon overrode the plan, deciding instead to wait until the next morning when he believed the girls would be on the school bus and away from the home.

Marisa had told Miller that her children were homeschooled and would not be on a school bus that Monday morning. Damon, according to the petition filed in the settlement, never talked with or sought any input from Marisa.

At about 3 p.m. that Monday, when police went to serve the PFA and search warrant the next morning, Vicosa was gone. Police also executed a search warrant for Bynums nearby home, but neither Robert Vicosa nor his children were there. Police did not detain Bynum. Nor did they place her under surveillance, even though it was determined later that she had been in constant contact with Vicosa.

A manhunt for Vicosa ensued.

Three days, and two stolen cars later, on Nov. 18, Pennsylvania State Police spotted the second stolen car in Waynesboro, near the Maryland border. They alerted Maryland police.

Shortly after crossing the border on Route 418 near Smithsburg, Maryland, the car veered off the road and came to rest in a culvert.

Police later determined that Robert Vicosa, seated in the back seat with his daughters and Bynum drove, shot and killed the girls before killing Bynum and then himself.

Marisa had filed a private criminal complaint against Damon, later withdrawing it.

The state Attorney General's office reviewed the police response, the results of which are contained in a letter to the York County District Attorney's office. The letter was not made available to Marisa's lawyer, Philadelphia attorney Harold Goodman. Goodman, according to the settlement, was briefed on its contents and wrote in the settlement petition that the letter describes "major concerns with certain lapses and decisions leading up to the abduction and murder of Giana and Aaminah. The York Daily Record has sued for public disclosure of the letters contents, litigation that is currently before the state Commonwealth Court.

Goodman later entered negotiations with the police department seeking a settlement to stave off a lengthy and costly civil suit. After 10 months, a settlement was reached, awarding the estates of each child $1.2 million and awarding Marisa $800,000.

Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Police deny any wrongdoing in the Vicosa case in a court filing
Amber Woodby, 35, was identified as the victim of a fatal shooting Wednesday near Jefferson Street and Seventh Avenue.

The victim of Wednesday's shooting in Phoenix was identified by police as 35-year-old Amber Woodby.

Phoenix officers responded to a shooting call at about 8:11 p.m. on Wednesday, police said.

Officers checking the area near Jefferson Street and Seventh Avenue found a woman with gunshot wounds, according to Sgt. Brian Bower, a spokesperson for Phoenix Police Department.

Officers provided medical aid until Phoenix Fire arrived to take her to a hospital where she died from her injuries, Bower said.

Detectives responded to take over the investigation. The suspect remains outstanding, according to police.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police ID woman killed in central Phoenix shooting, suspect at large
Lady Lake police released new details Monday about what led up to a deadly shooting inside an Applebees in The Villages earlier this month.

Lady Lake police said Dishaun Hudson got into an argument with a man and woman in the parking lot of the restaurant and fired shots into the air as they drove off.

Investigators said Hudson then went inside the restaurant and demanded to know who called the police.

Police said a customer with a concealed weapons permit said he was in fear for his life when he shot Hudson after Hudson reached into his pants. Hudson died from his injuries.

Read: Man dies after being shot inside closed Applebees restaurant in The Villages

Police said they have not found Hudsons gun.

The state attorneys office will decide whether charges will be filed in the case.

Read: None of it makes sense: Questions remain after man shot inside Applebees in The Villages

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
EATON, Ind.  Eaton police say they have no reason to believe anyone helped Scottie Dean Morris avoid detection during the eight days the 14-year-old Eaton youth was missing.

The Delta Middle School student disappeared after he left his family's Indiana Avenue home on the evening of March 16.

He was found, near Hartford and Harris streets, about 10:30 p.m. Friday.

"At this time there is no reason to believe Scottie was assisted by anyone while he was gone," the Eaton Police Department said in a Facebook posting on Monday. "However, this is still an open investigation."

More:Eaton teen is found; investigation continues

The teen reportedly indicated he was hiding on a rural property during the days he was missing. The news releases issued by Eaton police have not referred to his whereabouts.

"He has been medically checked out and has been cleared," Monday's Facebook statement said. "This will be the last update on this case at this time. Due to Scottie being a juvenile, we have to protect his rights to privacy."

The statement said the Indiana Department of Child Services has "this case now."

Large parties of searchers combed Eaton and the surrounding area in the wake of the teen's disappearance.

Last Thursday, hundreds of residents gathered at a local church for a candlelight vigil and a march to a local park, where they prayed for the boy's safe return.

Eaton police on Monday expressed thanks to "everyone that assisted in this search."

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Police: 'No reason to believe Scottie was assisted'
American abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956) stands amid some large paintings in his studio at 'The Springs,' East Hampton, New York, August 23, 1953. Tony Vaccaro/Getty Images

A previously unknown painting by Jackson Pollock was discovered last week, per officials.

Authorities found the painting in an art-trafficking bust, Bulgarian National Radio first reported.

Experts estimated the painting could rack up to $54 million at an auction, according to BNR.

Authorities in Bulgaria came across something they probably didn't expect when raiding an art-trafficking ring: a painting that experts believe is a previously undiscovered work by Jackson Pollock, Bulgarian National Radio first reported.

The Bulgarian authorities conducted a raid of an international art-trafficking ring last week when they came across a painting from the abstract expressionist painter with a dedication inscribed on the back to the late American actress Lauren Bacall, per officials as reported by BNR.

"Dedicated to my very talented and dear friend Lauren Bacall, Happy Birthday," the message reads, a spokesperson for the art bust said, per Bulgarian News Agency BTA. The message on the back of the painting is also dated September 16, 1949, which coincides with the actress's birthday, BTA reported.

A photo of part of the painting can be viewed at Bulgarian National Radio's website.

Five works from famous artists, whose identities were not disclosed, were also uncovered in the raid by a team of Greek authorities, according to BNR. Officials from Bulgaria and a Greek anti-crime unit were working together to investigate the art-trafficking ring, which spanned from Bulgaria to Athens to Crete.

Experts at Bulgaria's National Art Gallery, where the painting was delivered, confirmed the style of the painting corresponds to the techniques Pollock often featured in his paintings from 1945 to 1950, according to BTA. The experts at the gallery also estimated the painting could rack up to $54 million at an auction, according to the Bulgarian news site Novinite.com.

No other details about the painting have been disclosed. But it's likely the painting may feature Pollock's "drip style" technique, reported Architectural Digest.

Pollock, who died in a car accident in 1956, only left behind a small collection of work. Previously, Pollock's most expensive painting sold for $61,161,000, in 2021, according to the art market website Mutual Art.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Dame Rachel de Souza said: The findings of this report make for disturbing, but sadly not surprising, reading - Anthony Upton

Police are strip-searching children in their patrol cars, the Childrens Commissioner has revealed in a disturbing new report.

Almost 3,000 children were strip-searched by police in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, according to the report by Dame Rachel de Souza.

Nearly a quarter of incidents involved a child aged between 10 and 15, while the youngest recorded case concerned an eight-year-old.

The findings are published in a disturbing new report, which warns that police are failing to properly safeguard children.

Among 2,847 cases identified by Dame Rachel were 14 examples of children being strip-searched inside police vehicles or schools.

Children strip-searched in takeaways

While the location was not recorded in 45 per cent of cases, other places where children were searched included private businesses, takeaway outlets, and amusement parks.

Furthermore, 1 per cent were conducted within public view, and 6 per cent of strip-searches were conducted with at least one officer of a different gender than the child being searched present.

More than half took place without a designated appropriate adult present, showing widespread failures to comply with statutory codes of practice for strip searching children.

Disturbing but not surprising

Dame Rachel said: The findings of this report make for disturbing, but sadly not surprising, reading. This data, combined with that which I received from the Metropolitan Police last year, is the clearest indication yet that what happened to Child Q was far from an isolated incident.

I have severe concerns at the ethnic disproportionality shown in these figures, and at the lack of appropriate protection for children during what is often a traumatic and humiliating experience.

It bears repeating that there is sustained attention on this issue not because of a police whistle-blower or a government report, but thanks to the bravery of a 15-year-old girl in speaking up. Without her, these failures would have gone uncovered and unnoticed.

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We urgently need to strengthen guidelines around strip-searches, with oversight and inspection to ensure police forces follow these properly, and to robustly challenge a culture that has allowed widespread failures to go unchallenged.

The case of Child Q

The case of Child Q concerned a 15-year-old Black girl who was strip-searched at her school in Hackney, east London, in 2020.

Details of her case were revealed last year and drew widespread condemnation.

During the incident, she was removed from an exam and taken to her schools medical room to be strip-searched by two female Metropolitan police officers, who were looking for cannabis.

Her teachers remained outside, no other adult was present, her parents were not contacted, and no drugs were found.

The girls intimate body parts were exposed and she was made to remove her sanitary towel, according to a review into the incident.

The Childrens Commissioners report also found that Black boys accounted for more than a third (37 per cent) of strip searches.

Black children more likely to be strip-searched

Black children are also more than six times more likely than their White counterparts to be strip-searched, the report found.

Further data shows that only 36 per cent of Black children trust the police, compared to 75 per cent of White children.

The Commissioner made a series of recommendations around strengthening national guidelines for strip-searching, improving data to drive transparency and accountability and improving practice and compliance in all police forces.

She stipulated that schools should be specifically excluded as an appropriate location for a strip search, and parents or guardians should be informed before a strip or intimate search of a child in custody or under stop-and-search powers.

Last year, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) issued recommendations to the Met Police over safeguarding issues highlighted by referrals concerning the strip-searching of children.

The watchdog had received 12 referrals concerning strip-searches from the Met last summer. The IOPC said at the time it would be investigating two of the cases.

Protecting a childs dignity

The Met was advised to ensure an appropriate adult was present and steps were taken to protect a childs dignity during a search.

A Home Office spokesperson said: Strip-search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police.

No one should be subject to strip-search on the basis of race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to prevent this.

Any child subject to a strip-search should be accompanied by an appropriate adult unless there is an urgent risk of serious harm, or where the child specifically requests otherwise and the appropriate adult agrees.

Such searches must be carried out by an officer of the same sex as the child.

We take the concerns raised about childrens safeguarding extremely seriously.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently investigating several high-profile incidents of strip-search of children and it is vital that we await their findings.
WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish government advisory body has recommended banning the use of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on the work phones of public administration employees, Polish media reported on Monday.

"The Digitization Council expresses a positive opinion regarding the order to remove the Chinese TikTok application by public administration officials and employees from their work phones," it was quoted as saying in the recommendation by wyborcza.pl website.

The recommendations of the Council are not binding for the government.

A string of Western governments and institutions have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including the UK parliament, the Dutch and Belgian administrations and the New Zealand parliament.

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Jan Harvey)
David Houle

About a year ago, in this space, I wrote a series of columns about how much Sarasota was changing. These columns triggered more and longer emails than at any other time I have been a columnist here at the Herald-Tribune. The thrust of the columns was that the sleepy, cultured, beautiful, affordable slice of paradise we call Sarasota was fast becoming unrecognizable.

Since that time, and for the first time since I have lived here, I have had numerous conversations with people about how Sarasota is turning unpleasant. The most frequent complaints have been around housing costs, traffic gridlock, overdevelopment, and the real issue of employers being unable to attract employees from out of state due to these problems.

Sarasota is going through what many other beautiful places have faced. People vacation at a place, fall in love with it, and either buy a second home or move to it. Aspen is the classic case. In the 1960s and 70s, it was an idyllic ski resort. When the affluent people moved in real estate took off and there was no place for workers to live. The ski resorts couldnt find workers and the restaurants couldnt find staff. The city eventually built several dormitory-like apartment complexes miles up the road and bussed workers to town. Aspen is now one of the wealthiest per-capita and per-density locations in the U.S.

This feels like the future roadmap for Sarasota in 2023.

This column is about the state of Florida and how it is changing. Why? Politics is changing Floridas brand to the world due to politicians and their political agendas.

As with most of you readers, I speak to people living in other states and countries daily. Invariably, the question is what is going on in Florida?

What people from around the country and the world have gathered about our state over the last couple of years is:

books are being banned

red tide seems to have become an annual event

women do not have equal rights

gay people are discriminated against

Disney World is bad

education at Floridas public universities is being politicized

guns are prevalent and can be carried by anyone, anywhere

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Every single one of these points has been raised to me by people I know who live elsewhere.

Tourism is one of the biggest economic drivers for the state of Florida. In 2022, some $30 billion dollars from 140 million tourists was spent here.

The list above, created by politicians serving personal agendas, is not a tourism-friendly list. To briefly go down the list:

People who believe in education and books now hold our state in low regard. I do not know a single person who is for the banning of books, except Florida politicians

I believe that red tide is mainly due to what we humans do on land, with fertilizers, run-off, and rampant development. I know of people who did not come to the state for spring break because of this.

State politicians are making it clear that women are second-class citizens. Women make up more than 50% of the worlds population and in the US a sizable majority are for abortion rights.

There are a lot of gay people in the world, and they now know that Florida, its governor, and other politicians, are anti-gay. Many will no longer visit

In 2021, Disney World was the most visited theme park in the world with 12 million visitors.

The complete takeover of New College in our community feels like a fascist act. Who is going to apply to attend from out of state? Recently, I have heard and read from several sources that the perception of high-schoolers applying to college, and their parents, is that the curricula of all state universities are controlled by politicians and that they should apply elsewhere.

The effort by the governor and the legislature to make it legal to have almost anyone be able to open-carry a gun is remarkably anti-tourist. Just wait until a tourist gets shot while walking on the beach. In this hyper-connected world, that meme will fly around the world.

This is not the profile of the state I visited all my life. It is not the state that I moved to part-time in 2005 and full-time in 2015.

Politicians focused solely on gaining power are not helping the Florida brand. I dont think they care or even have thought of this.

What do you think?

Sarasota resident David Houle is a globally recognized futurist. He has given speeches on six continents, written 13 books and is futurist in residence at Ringling College of Art and Design. His websites are davidhoule.com and the2020sdecade.com. Email him at david@davidhoule.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Politics is changing Florida's brand | The Futurist
Drew Cloud puts her ballot in the dropbox on Monroe Street next to the Sangamon County Complex Tuesday Nov. 8, 2022.

A Cor Strategies poll on the Springfield mayor's race puts challenger Misty Buscher up by two percentage points over incumbent Mayor Jim Langfelder with a week to go before the April 4 consolidated election.

The poll was based on a survey of 510 registered voters in Springfield conducted from March 9-12.

The poll gives Buscher, the current city treasurer, 39% and Langfelder 37% with 25% undecided.

Northwestern Law School legal team seeks pardon for Black man hung after 1908 Race Riot

There is a margin of error of plus/minus 4.33%, according to Cor Strategies.

Langfelder is seeking a third term as mayor.

Cor Strategies is a center-right political company based in Inverness, Illinois. The company works on political campaigns, but it also does polling in elections statewide.

Langfelder and Buscher both said they have not employed Cor Strategies in the municipal election.

The 25% of undecided voters is "relatively normal, especially for a municipal campaign," said Michael Butler, a Cor Strategies marketing organizer based in O'Fallon who works in central and southern Illinois.

He noted both Buscher and Langfelder have been running on the records of their respective offices.

Butler said Buscher's accusation of Langfelder's so-called "pay-to-play" tactics has resonated with voters.

At a March 9 press conference, Buscher said she was "offended" that Langfelder took a $2,500 campaign contribution from Springfield attorney and past political candidate George Petrilli after Petrilli allegedly had a $42,000 debt forgiven by the city.

The fines and utility bills were racked up over Petrilli's ownership of a property in Enos Park. The story first came to light in Illinois Times.

Langfelder told The State Journal-Register that he returned Petrilli's check.

Mayor, Incumbent Jim Langfelder, left, shakes hand with treasurer and candidate for mayor Misty Buscher before debating at the Hoogland Center for the Arts Wednesday Jan. 25, 2023.

Butler said another effective point for Buscher has been her emphasis on public safety and making sure that that law enforcement has the support and resources that they need.

That has earned Buscher the support of both the police and firefighters unions.

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Butler said the message Langfelder has pushed through his TV ads and campaign mailers is that he has gotten the city through difficult situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Illinois budget stalemate which went from July 1, 2015, to August 31, 2017.

"Highlighting their records and accomplishments, that's what incumbents do," Butler said. "That's what's to be expected."

Buscher, reached late last week, said she is taking nothing for granted about the poll numbers.

"Anytime someone tells you you're up, clearly that's a good thing, but I am working extremely hard every single day," she said.

Voters across the state, not just in Springfield, are fed up with "pay-to-play politics," Buscher added.

"I think it's something our citizens are tired of and just want people to hold themselves accountable and be honest, which is what you should expect from any politician, in my opinion," she said. "The citizens deserve to know what's going on with their money."

Langfelder said as mayor he has "nothing to do with debt relief or (waiving debts)," particularly regarding the Petrilli situation. He said Petrilli went through "an administrative court process."

Langfelder believed the Cor Strategies poll is trying to "steer the narrative or change the narrative because what we've heard (numbers-wise) is contrary to that. We want to make sure people go out to the polls. We want as many people voting because I'm a firm believer, the more people who vote, that helps us out."

Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray said 8,786 vote-by-mail ballots have been received county-wide through mid-day Monday.

In the poll, 62% of respondents said they planned to vote on Election Day, 25% said by mail and 13% said they would vote early, in person or drop-off.

Butler said it was important for Langfelder to put up good number on early voting since Buscher is getting support from the Republican side, voters who tend to wait to vote on Election Day.

This is the first election in which voters who have enrolled in the Permanent Vote by Mail program automatically received their ballot by mail without having to submit a separate application to do so. Voters have until Thursday to enroll in Permanent Vote by Mail program if they want to vote in the April 4 election.

Early voting is also open at the clerk's temporary office is on the first floor of the former State Journal-Register building on South Ninth Street. The entrance is on Ninth Street, between Monroe Street and Capitol Avenue.

"The big question statewide, in a lot of these races, whether it's school board, city council, mayor or whatever it is, is how many of these permanent vote by mail voters are going to return their ballots," Butler said. "You have people who maybe vote in mid-terms and presidential elections, but they have historically not voted in municipal elections. They're going to be receiving ballots and are they going to send those back in or stay on their coffee tables?"

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield mayor's race tight a week before election
Another strong storm system that was evolving into a bomb cyclone Monday will bring flooding rain, powerful winds and heavy snow to much of California this week.

The Golden State was slammed by a similar bomb cyclone last week, which killed two people and resulted in a tornado that damaged buildings and injured people in Southern California.

This week, two separate storms joined forces over the northeastern Pacific Ocean and were set to slam into the state by Monday night, AccuWeather said. The dangerous weather will begin in the northwestern part of California late Monday, and then advance south through central and southern areas into Tuesday and Wednesday.

The storm will then roll into the western and southwestern U.S. amid colder temperatures, spreading snow well inland across portions of the Intermountain West, AccuWeather said.

Rain falls on pedestrians on the University of Southern California campus on March 21 in Los Angeles. AccuWeather said lighter rainfall could linger into Thursday for the area.

WHAT IS A BOMB CYCLONE?: A winter hurricane, explained

More heavy rain, snow for California

"A powerful Pacific storm system will begin to approach the West Coast on Monday. Moisture spreading inland will significantly increase precipitation chances across northern California and the Pacific Northwest," the National Weather Service said.

The weather service said the storm will result in moderate to heavy rainfall along the coast.

AccuWeather said the heaviest rainfall will be on Tuesday, and lighter rainfall could linger into Thursday for Southern California. Small hail is also possible later in the week.

The system could also drop several feet of snow in the upper elevations of Northern Californias coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada, making travel difficult, forecasters said.

In Southern Californias mountains, the storm could drop snow at elevations as low as 2,500 feet and possibly on foothills, forecasters said.

Strong winds could knock out power

Northern California, specifically the Bay Area, will again be susceptible to strong winds, which could leave many residents and businesses in the dark. The Pacific Gas and Electric Co.said roughly 610,000 customers were affected during last week's bomb cyclone.

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Wind gusts as high as 100 mph are possible in the mountains, which could lead to "dangerous blizzard conditions," AccuWeather said. The Bay Area could have wind gusts around 50 to 60 mph.

"With an already saturated ground due to recent heavy rain, downed trees and power outages are a real concern," AccuWeather meteorologist Andrew Johnson-Levine said.

Storms in the Southeast

In the Southeast, more severe weather was expected as the region recovers from a flurry of tornadoes that hit the Mississippi Delta region, thrashing rural areas and leaving more than 20 people dead. Flood and tornado watches and warnings were in effect Monday across much of Mississippi and Georgia.

Strong storms produced damage in areas west and south of Atlanta on Sunday, bringing hail to many in the metro area and causing roads to close because of fallen debris. A frontal boundary will be the focus for additional waves of showers and thunderstorms across north and central Georgia on Monday.

Additional rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches were expected, and locally higher amounts of over 3 inches were possible.

Contributing: John Bacon; The Associated Press

Winter storm tracker

National weather radar

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Powerful bomb cyclone storm system to hit California this week
A prayer vigil will be held Thursday, March 20, 2023, for Donnie Gray Jr., the 15-year-old boy who was reportedly shot and killed by a fellow teenager on March 16.

SOUTH BEND  A prayer vigil will be held Thursday for Donnie Gray Jr., the 15-year-old boy who was reportedly shot and killed by a fellow teenager on March 16.

On Site Prayer Ministry will hold the vigil beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Walker Field Park, on Ewing Street, across from Rum Village Park.

Prosecutors have filed criminal charges of reckless homicide against a 16-year-old boy who officials say pulled the trigger that led to Donnie's death.

Community members also held a vigil for Donnie on March 17 outside the County-City Building.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Prayer vigil planned for 15-year-old killed at Prairie Apartments
Just before rushing to different hospitals to give birth, two women who did not know each other ate bagels that contained poppy seeds. Both were shocked to learn the hospitals tested them for illicit drugs and reported them for possible abuse or neglect, according to their complaints.

Both tested positive for drug use due to the poppy seeds, stated their complaints filed with the state. Now the two New Jersey women are looking to affect policy changes on how hospitals handle drug testing.

The lawsuit accuses Hackensack University Medical Center and Virtua Voorhees Hospital of drug testing the two women without their knowledge or consent when they arrived to give birth. They claim the hospitals' practice of drug testing pregnant individuals is a violation of the state's Law Against Discrimination on the basis of sex and pregnancy discrimination.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey filed two complaints to the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights on behalf of these women, only known as Kate and Kaitlin.

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Poppy seed bagels at Hearth Artisan Bread in Plymouth.

According to the complaints, only one test was given to each woman, which were positive, and both Kate and Kaitlin's infants tested negative for opiates. Yet, they had the Department of Child Protection and Permanency called on them after their drug tests came back positive, reporting them for possible abuse or neglect.

"Discriminatory testing policies like these upend what should be a time of joy for families, and so often subject them to further trauma and unwarranted investigation by the state," said ACLU staff attorney Molly Linhorst.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Attorney General said the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights does not comment on pending investigations. Hackensack University Medical Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists "specifically rejects the practice in part because of the devastating legal consequences that a positive test can present," said the ACLU.

Organ transplants: The US organ transplant system is outdated  and costing lives. An overhaul is underway.

Eating poppy seeds can lead to positive opiate tests

Eating poppy seed bagels may lead to tests coming up positive for opiates such as heroin, morphine and codeine in urine samples, according to Winchester Hospital.

The Pentagon issued a warning to its active duty military personnel in February, warning them some varieties of poppy seeds could have higher codeine contamination.

"Research shows that morphine and codeine can sometimes be detected in the urine up to 48 hours after ingestion of poppy seeds from some pastries, such as bagels, muffins, and cakes," stated the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the national organization for U.S. Olympic sports.

Kate said she never realized poppy seeds could cause a positive drug test while Kaitlin told her nurse that she had eaten an everything bagel containing poppy seeds, and the nurse told her it could have caused the positive results, the complaints stated.

Linhorst said the DCR's job is to investigate alleged discrimination and determine whether or not it occurred. Following an investigation, it may go before an administrative law judge for a judgment and the Division for Civil Rights director can affirm, reject or amend and remand it.

'More woman with very similar stories'

The women approached the ACLU within a week of each other not long after giving birth, which was alarming to the civil rights organization, Linhorst said.

"We're seeing this as a broader state issue," Linhorst said. "We've been hearing from more women with very similar stories."

Similar cases have been filed in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois and have resulted in policy changes and monetary damages, Linhorst said.

Linhorst said more women are reaching out and sharing their stories because they realize they aren't alone in their experience. She said, statistically, discrimination of this kind is more likely to happen to Black mothers and infants.

Kaitlin said she later found that the lab's testing threshold was "far, far lower than what the federal government uses."

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Drug testing is discriminatory and causes stigma, ACLU says

Linhorst said the goal is to create a precedent to have other hospitals take notice that "these practices of drug testing are unlawful and discriminatory." She also wants hospitals to recognize that it could be race-based discrimination as well.

"I felt like the doctors were questioning my character and parenting skills," Kate said. "Im terrified of ever going to a hospital again; Im always going to worry that our family could be torn apart. Thats why we are doing all we can to stop this from happening to anyone else."

Kaitlin and Kate are looking to have their medical records amended so they don't reflect the positive drug tests. Linhorst said the women are concerned that the tests could be used to stigmatize them or lead to providers not trusting them.

"Because of what happened, I live in fear of medical tests and how they might be used against me as a mother," Kaitlin said.

In addition to trying to make a lasting change, the women are looking for damages for the emotional trauma they endured following the drug tests. Lindhorst said at least one of them still pays "significant hospital bills" from her and her infant's stay.

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Poppy seed bagels led to positive drug tests in pregnant NJ women
Clarification: This article was updated. Police initially misgendered the shooter, who they later said identified as a transgender man.

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden renewed his call for Congress to ban assaults weapons and high-capacity magazines, singling out the two assault-style weapons a suspect allegedly used Monday to kill three children and three staff members at a Nashville school.

It's heartbreaking, a family's worst nightmare, Biden said. We have to do more to stop gun violence. It's ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of the nation. We have to do more to protect our schools so they aren't turned into prisons."

More: Covenant School shooting updates: 3 children, 3 adults dead after woman opens fire in Nashville

Biden called the shooting "sick" and applauded the swift response of Nashville law enforcement to take down the shooter. He noted that the suspect, identified late Monday afternoon as a 28-year-old transgender man, had two "assault-type" weapons  which he wants Congress to ban  in addition to a pistol, according to Nashville police.

So, I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban. It's about time that we begin to make some more progress.

President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks about the school shooting in Nashville during an SBA Women's Business Summit in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Washington. Biden has called on Congress again to pass his assault weapons ban in the wake of the Nashville shooting. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Three students and three staff members were killed after the shooter opened fire at The Covenant School, a small private Christian elementary school in Nashville early Monday, according to local authorities. Police officers engaged and killed the shooter.

Officials identified the suspect as 28-year-old Audrey Hale of Nashville. Police found writings and maps of the school at the suspect's home but said they weren't ready to provide a possible motive.

More: 'It's just common sense': Biden signs new executive action expanding gun background checks

'Our children deserve better,' first lady says after Nashville shooting

Bidens push to reenact a ban on assault weapons, which expired in 2004, has gained no traction in the Republican-led House and even faces an uphill climb in the Democratic-controlled Senate despite a series of gun shootings nationally.

Story continues

First lady Jill Biden said "our children deserve better" as she responded to the shooting while addressing a National League of Cities event in Washington.

"I am truly without words," she said. "We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer."

Opinion: Don't you tell me it's too soon to talk guns

Opinion: How many more students and teachers must die before lawmakers act to stop gun violence?

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday March, 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise)

The White House is in communication with Justice Department and Nashville officials, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Jean-Pierre cited executive actions Biden has taken on guns but said its not enough, pointing to the presidents calls for Congress to ban assault weapons and close gun background check loopholes, neither of which have advanced amid Republican resistance in Congress.

We must do more. And he wants Congress to act because enough is enough. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act?

Last year, amid calls for gun reform after mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York, Congress approved bipartisan legislation more modest in scope that provided incentives for states to adopt red-flag gun laws and enhanced background checks on young buyers.

Facing dim prospects for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, Biden has reverted to executive action less sweeping that gun control advocates want.

More: President Biden says 'no rationale for assault weapons' after Michigan State University shooting

Earlier this month, Biden signed an executive order that seeks to increase the number of background checks conducted during gun sales. The order stops short of requiring universal background checks, instead directing Attorney General Merrick Garland to clarify what it means to be "engaged in the business" of selling firearms.

Federal law requires that individuals in the business of selling guns be federally licensed and therefore check the backgrounds of buyers. Under the order, Garland will use his discretion to ensure gun sellers "willfully violating the law" and those unaware of background requirements become compliant.

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

Police officers gather near The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., after a deadly shooting on March 27, 2023.

Biden remarks on Nashville school shooting

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After Nashville shooting, Biden renews call to ban assault weapons
Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announces her presidential run in Charleston, S.C, on Feb. 15, 2023. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

The 2024 race for the White House is in motion. Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden said in October 2022 that he intends to seek a second term, even if he stopped short of making an official announcement. But  in what is expected to be a crowded Republican field  only a few candidates had announced their bids by late March 2023.

Former President Donald Trump, the last Republican to hold the office and party standard-bearer, said in November 2022 that he will seek the partys nomination. And Republican Nikki Haley, one-time U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, announced in February 2023 that she is running.

In the weeks and months ahead, more presidential hopefuls likely will enter the race. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, is expected to jump in after his states legislative session ends in May. And Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, appears ready to announce soon.

Each candidate, along with their campaigns, makes decisions about the right time to jump into the race. But how do they decide?

The Conversation asked Rob Mellen Jr., a political scientist who studies the presidency, to explain five things presidential hopefuls consider before running for the highest office in the land.

President Joe Biden speaks on March 14, 2023, in Monterey Park, Calif. Mario Tama via Getty Images

1. Incumbent eligibility

The first thing potential presidential candidates consider is whether the incumbent president or, for the party out of office, the standard-bearer, is eligible to seek office.

Candidates who oppose incumbents - and popular past presidents of the same party - face nearly insurmountable obstacles, largely due to incumbent popularity. It offers officeholders seeking reelection a significant advantage. Between 1952 and 2000, for example, incumbent presidents enjoyed a 6 percentage point bonus in the popular vote.

Typically, incumbents have advantages because of their track records, name recognition  which affects a candidates level of voter and financial support  and their ability to direct federal money to the geographic areas that support them.

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While the incumbents advantages typically cause potential challengers to think twice before running for president, there have been exceptions. In 1980, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts unsuccessfully challenged incumbent President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. Kennedy failed, though, and his bid divided the Democratic Party.

Republican Ronald Reagan, a former governor of California, beat Carter in the general election and became the nations 40th president.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a copy of his book in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 10, 2023. Rachel Mummey/The Washington Post via Getty Images

2. The number of possible opponents

Potential candidates also consider the number of opponents they will have to compete against. A crowded field with numerous candidates makes it difficult for more than a three or four to gain traction before the first primary contests, which are usually held in January and February of election year.

If they are not the incumbent, a party standard-bearer or someone with otherwise significant name recognition, candidates with a lot of opponents typically find it tough to get their messages across, especially if they are competing against political stars.

During the 2016 Republican campaign, for example, 17 candidates entered the race, but only Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz stood out. Because of Trumps celebrity status  earned from years of marketing himself as a billionaire and through reality television fame  Trump got a lot of attention from the media. His bombastic personality also played well with a segment of the Republican base. He drew significant media attention that other candidates could not match. And Cruz gained traction by finishing first in the Iowa caucuses, which allowed him to be competitive in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries that followed.

3. Likely voters

Candidates have a few ways to identify their likely voters. They can visit early contest states and test their messages, just like Trump, DeSantis, Haley and Scott have been doing in Iowa and South Carolina. Or, they can deliver speeches at major gatherings of party loyalists, such as the annual Conservative Political Action Conference.

Conducting polls is another way for candidates to figure out how broad, or narrow, their bases of support are.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina speaks in Des Moines, Iowa, on Feb. 22, 2023. KC McGinnis/The Washington Post via Getty Images

4. Campaign Finance

Most presidential candidates also have to figure out how to finance what could become a lengthy bid for the party nomination. The main question they have to answer for themselves is, where will the money come from for sustained primary battles?

Connecting with wealthy backers who can can contribute large sums to a super PAC that supports the candidate can be the key to a candidates staying power.

Sometimes, committed large donors enable candidates to stay in the race much longer than expected, just as having backing from wealthy supporters and a super PAC prolonged former House Speaker Newt Gingrichs failed presidential bid in 2012.

But, as Gingrichs run proved, having the backing of a super PAC, which is legally prohibited from coordinating efforts with candidates and their campaigns, is not a guarantee of success.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs 2016 campaign had the backing of the super PAC Right to Rise with a budget of over US$100 million. But his run for president ended after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the South Carolina primary.

Whether or not potential candidates have access to significant financial support influences their decisions to enter the race. It is extremely expensive to run a competitive campaign because of costs associated with staffing, travel, advertising and more. But candidates who fare well in the early contests tend to raise more money and survive longer in the primary process.

Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks on Feb. 22, 2023, to a crowd in East Palestine, Ohio, site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment earlier that month. Michael Swensen via Getty Images News

5. The mood of the electorate

The mood of the electorate also influences potential candidates decisions about whether to run. If the incumbent president is very popular  a rarity in modern American politics  it may scare off some would-be challengers.

But the public can be fickle. An incumbent may be popular a year before the general election, just as George H.W. Bush was in early 1991, only to see their popularity fade the following year. Bush lost the election to Bill Clinton in 1992.

The political fortunes of unpopular incumbents also can shift. In 1983, Reagans favorability ratings were very weak, but he rebounded by 1984 and beat Democratic candidate and former Vice President Walter Mondale in a 49-state landslide victory.

During presidential election years when there is no incumbent, as in 2008 and 2016, potential candidates calculations dont have to include incumbent popularity. In 2016, both Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who sought the Democratic nomination, were able to tap into an electorate looking for change by appealing to supporters with populist messages.

Trumps effort successfully secured the Republican nomination, while Sanders effort came up short as the Democratic party favored its first female nominee, former Sen. Hillary Clinton.

From determining whether an incumbent president is vulnerable to a challenge from within the party to the likelihood of defeating an incumbent of the opposite party, a significant amount of strategic planning is involved in any effort to win the presidency. And the planning begins long before the day candidates announce their intention to run.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation is trustworthy news from experts, from an independent nonprofit. Try our free newsletters.

It was written by: Robbin Mellen Jr., University of South Florida.

Read more:



Robbin Mellen Jr. 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.
The Duke of Sussex has arrived at the High Court in London for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.

The publisher is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

Prince Harry has travelled to the UK for the court hearing (REUTERS)

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

In a statement announcing the launch of the legal action, released by Hamlins law firm, it was alleged the unlawful acts included hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The publisher hit back at the allegations, describing them at the time as preposterous smears and a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.

A spokesperson for ANL also said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

The Duke of Sussex at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London, ahead of a hearing claim over allegations of unlawful information gathering brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (PA)

A four-day preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is due to begin on Monday, which is set to include ANLs bid for the claims to be dismissed without a trial.

More follows on this breaking news story...
The Duke of Sussex lost friends due to paranoia over unlawful stories published about him in the papers, the High Court has heard.

Sir Elton John and actor Sadie Frost were among those in court alongside Prince Harry on the first day of their High Court challenge over Associated Newspapers Ltds (ANL) allegedly unlawful activity at its titles, which included the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.

The court heard on Monday that Prince Harry had lost or cut off friends as everyone became a suspect, since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of articles about him.

The lawyer for the group, also including actor Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, told the judge that Sir Eltons landline had been tapped, and that the publisher had unlawfully obtained a copy of he and David Furnishs first child before the couple had even seen it themselves.

The publisher has previously described the groups allegations as preposterous smears.

Key Points

Prince Harry tells court he lost friends due to paranoia over unlawful stories

Sir Elton John in court as judge told publisher saw copy of childs birth certificate before him

Publisher brands allegations preposterous smears

Why is Prince Harry in court again?

Prince Harry not expected to see Charles or William as he makes surprise return to UK

Prince Harry lost friends due to paranoia over unlawful stories, court told

13:45 , Sam Rkaina

The Duke of Sussex had suspicion and paranoia caused due to the publication of articles by Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) using unlawfully gathered information, the High Court has been told.

In written submissions for ANL, lawyers for the publisher quoted from documents filed on Harrys behalf.

Adrian Beltrami KC, for ANL, said the dukes case was that suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associateds publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a suspect, since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associateds newspapers.

Story continues

The barrister continued: The dukes pre-action letter also stated that at the time he had become paranoid and suspicious by unexplained disclosures of private information in your (ANLs) publications.

Mr Beltrami added: He stated that the repeated, wrongful disclosures... had a serious and profound effect upon (him) at the time of their publication and that he had painful memories... regarding the extent to which ANL publicised private and sensitive information relating to his private and family life.

Publisher commissioned breaking and entering into private property, court told

16:13 , Andy Gregory

Associated Newspapers commissioned breaking and entering into private property, the lawyer for the group of figures challenging the Daily Mail publisher told the High Court.

Each of the group has been the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the publisher or those acting on its instruction, in deeds carried out covertly between 1993 to 2011, lawyer David Sherborne said.

Some of them related to articles which were the product of those underlying unlawful acts through which the product was exploited or misused, he added.

Because those unlawful acts were covertly carried out and concealed at the time through the use of phrases that were deliberately misleading his clients were put off the scent and did not bring their claims separately earlier, he said.

The defendant has continued this concealment through its strenuous public denials that it has done any of those acts at all, Mr Sherborne added.

15:53 , Andy Gregory

Sir Elton John has left the High Court after attending the first day of the hearing in his claim against Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.

The musician waved at the cameras as he left the court (REUTERS)

Mail on Sunday publisher paid investigator to unlawfully' find address of politicians lover, court told

15:51 , Andy Gregory

Associated Newspapers Ltd paid a private investigator to unlawfully find the address of a man it believed was the lover of Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes, the High Court has been told.

Referring to the believed lover as HJK, Sir Simons lawyer David Sherborne said in written submissions that that the the Mail on Sunday wanted a photograph of HJK [and the claimant] in order to be able to publish a story about their relationship.

Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire unlawfully obtained the mans mobile phone number, called it and through means of deception managed to blag his home address, Mr Sherborne alleged, adding: Despite this, no story was published in the end in the Mail on Sunday as a bigger story broke, namely the revelation of an affair which the then deputy prime minister, John Prescott, had had with his secretary.

The documents go on to say that ANL paid Greg Miskiw, a freelance journalist, for the work done by Mr Mulcaire in relation to the claimant, as referred to above, described as Simon Hughes boyfriend.

Mr Sherborne added: The claimant has suffered considerable distress and harm, as well as the loss of his dignity or standing and his personal autonomy through the unlawful acts, its resultant invasions of his privacy and its deliberate exploitation and/or misuse of his unlawfully or illegally obtained information.

Doreen Lawrence says trusting Mail made her wonder if she failed her murdered son'

15:42 , Andy Gregory

Baroness Doreen Lawrence said she wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail as she did caused her to have delayed or have failed her murdered son, the High Court has heard.

In court documents made available to the press on Monday, her barrister David Sherborne said she feels anger, shock and upset about allegedly being targeted by the Daily Mail.

Baroness Lawrence never once suspected publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd of the allegations due to her trust in the Daily Mail, which campaigned to bring the killers of her son Stephen Lawrence to justice, her lawyer said.

She wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail as she did caused her to have delayed or have failed her murdered son, he added. She asks herself whether more individuals could have been arrested, whether earlier investigations might have been more successful, and whether she could have got justice.

Elton John had not seen copy of first childs birth certificate before it was obtained by ANL, court told

15:39 , Andy Gregory

Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish had not seen a copy of their first childs birth certificate before it was unlawfully obtained by Associated Newspapers Ltd, the High Court has heard.

The couple found it particularly disturbing to understand the deliberate tactics deployed by Associated to bypass the confidentiality and ethical protections afforded to medical information, said their lawyer David Sherborne.

They were appalled by the unlawful articles published about the first claimant that were sourced this way. Worse still was Associateds unlawful obtaining of their first childs birth certificate, before they had even seen a copy themselves.

They were heartbroken by the derogatory headline that Associated attached to it, clearly calculated to profit and generate public sensation about an event that they had so carefully guarded to keep precious. The fact that these unlawful articles, which carry so much upset, were founded through unlawful acts that were all the time deliberately concealed from them has enraged them.

Doreen Lawrence believes sons murder was exploited by Daily Mail, court told

15:35 , Andy Gregory

Baroness Doreen Lawrence believes the murder of her son Stephen was exploited by Associated Newspapers Ltd to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers, and to profit, the High Court has been told.

In written arguments, her barrister David Sherborne said she feels anger, shock and upset, adding: Most of all, however, she feels a deep sense of betrayal.

She finds it hard to believe the level of duplicity and manipulation that was clearly at play, knowing now as she does that the Daily Mails outward support for her fight to bring Stephens killers to justice was hollow and, worse, entirely false.

The claimant now sees that the Daily Mails true interests were about self-promotion and using her and her sons murder as a means to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers, and to profit.

The claimant cannot think of any act or conduct lower than stealing and exploiting information from a mother who buried her son for this reason. She feels used and violated, and like she has been taken for a fool.

Doreen Lawrences Stephen was murdered in a racist attack in 1993 (PA Media)

Sir Elton Johns landline was tapped and gardener targeted by ANL, court told

15:16 , Andy Gregory

Sir Elton John and David Furnishs landline phone was tapped by a private investigator on the instructions of Associated Newspapers Limited, the High Court has been told.

Documents filed on the couples behalf, made available to the media on Monday, said that as well as having the landline at their home in Windsor tapped, Sir Eltons personal assistant and the couples gardener were also targeted.

Their lawyer David Sherborne said in the written submission: The claimants are outraged that Associated engaged in these unlawful and illicit acts in order to publish unlawful articles about them.

They are also mortified to consider all their conversations, some of which were very personal indeed, were tapped, taped, packaged and consumed as a commercial product for journalists and unknown others to pick over, regardless of whether or not they were published.

The hurt remains the same, knowing that their lives have been treated as a commodity and their precious, priceless moments of privacy degraded in this way.

Mr Sherborne added: In particular, they consider their private home a sacred space. To learn now that this was ruthlessly invaded, their home so violated, and their family and loved ones targeted, all through unlawful acts designed to steal and exploit their information, is unforgivable to them.

Elton John and David Furnish frightened by unexplained press disclosures, court told

15:08 , Andy Gregory

Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish found the unexplained disclosure of their private information in the press frightening and as a result have someone watching cameras in their home every night, the High Court has been told.

Associated Newspapers Ltds lawyer Adrian Beltrami KC quoted the pair as claiming that the repeated, wrongful disclosures ... had a serious and profound effect upon [them] at the time of their publication.

They were aware of the extent to which Associated publicised private and sensitive information relating to their private and family life, and they became deeply paranoid and suspicious by unexplained disclosures of their private information in [Associateds] publications, even where measures were taken to protect their privacy, Mr Beltrami added.

Mr Beltrami said they stated that they found these disclosures frightening, and as a consequence now have someone watching the cameras in their home of residence every night.

However, Mr Beltrami said their case was being brought too late, arguing there can be no doubt that by the start of 2016 Sir Elton and Mr Furnish were very much alive to the issue of (unlawful information gathering) by the press.

The barrister added that they have not provided any satisfactory explanation as to what necessary fact, as opposed to evidence, they did not know by October 2016 to articulate the essential elements of a claim against Associated.

Elton John arrives in court

14:08 , Sam Rkaina

Sir Elton John has arrived in Court 76 of the Royal Courts of Justice.

The singer sat at the back of the large courtroom, arriving shortly before the hearing resumed for the afternoon.

(REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

What happened the last time Prince Harry was in court against a newspaper?

14:00 , Thomas Kingsley

Last July the High Court ruled a Mail on Sunday article on the Duke of Sussexs legal claim against the Home Office contained parts that were defamatory.

The Duke of Sussex sued the Mail on Sundays publisher over a story on a separate High Court case over the decision to remove his automatic granting of police protection in the UK.

The February article carried the headline: Exclusive: How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret... then - just minutes after the story broke - his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute.

Lawyers for Harry had argued the article was defamatory and suggested the duke had improperly and cynically tried to manipulate public opinion.

Associated Newspapers lawyers argue it is too late for Duke to bring forward claims

13:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Lawyers for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) are arguing that the seven people in the privacy claims, including the Duke of Sussex, could have brought claims before October 2016, and were too late to have them heard now.

Adrian Beltrami KC, for the publisher, said in written submissions that the duke does not offer any reason why he could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the basis for his inferential claim against Associated before October 2016.

Quoting from Harrys letter of claim, he continued: Indeed, the Duke was aware throughout this period of the intense interest in his life shown by the media and by Associated, of strange things happening around his phone communications, of unexplained disclosures of private information in Associateds publications and of journalists from Associated regularly turning up at different locations which you would never expect them to, including South Africa... despite the extreme lengths my security team and I went to in order to protect my security and privacy.

In truth, the duke had sufficient knowledge to articulate an inferential case against Associated long before October 2016, Mr Beltrami said.

(REUTERS)

Photos from the day as Prince Harry case begins

13:30 , Thomas Kingsley

(REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

(PA)

Judge grants anonymity for Daily Mail journalists involved in alleged phone-tapping

12:57 , Thomas Kingsley

The judge overseeing the Duke of Sussex's dispute with ANL has made an order temporarily preventing the reporting of the names of journalists linked to allegations against the publisher.

Mr Justice Nicklin permitted a bid by ANL to have a reporting restriction imposed while the publisher attempts to have the claims from Harry and others against it dismissed without a trial.

The judge said it was "not usual for the court to impose reporting restrictions at such an early stage of proceedings" but concluded in this instance it was "in the interests of fairness and the administration of justice".

The court heard that with ANL yet to file a formal defence in the cases, there was not yet a full response to any "adverse comments" that might be made about the journalists. Mr Justice Nicklin said it would not be in the public interest to "for one side of a series of allegations to be put when one side is absent".

The judge also granted reporting restrictions over certain information in court documents, that ANL alleges lawyers for the Duke of Sussex and others are using in breach of orders made by Lord Justice Leveson in his inquiry into press standards.

Mr Justice Nicklin said the temporary reporting restrictions would be revisited once he reaches a judgment over the preliminary issues being argued in court this week.

12:31 , Thomas Kingsley

Adrian Beltrami KC, in written submissions, argued the legal actions against his client Associated Newspapers have been brought too late and are "stale".

The barrister said the individuals have to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, they might have had a claim against ANL for alleged misuse of their private information.

Mr Beltrami said that more than a decade after the Leveson Inquiry and several criminal and civil proceedings over phone hacking, "it would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters".

He continued: "The claimants have failed to show that they have a real prospect of discharging their burden at trial and the court should not hesitate to dismiss these stale claims at an early stage, thereby avoiding what would otherwise be a considerable waste of time, costs and the court's resources."

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude on Thursday.

Lawyers for Prince Harry claim unlawful acts include breaking and entry into private property'

12:16 , Thomas Kingsley

David Sherborne, for the group of high-profile individuals, said the unlawful acts in the claim include commissioning the "breaking and entry into private property", illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening to live landline calls and obtaining medical records.

He said in written submissions: "The claimants each claim that in different ways they were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday."

"They range through a period from 1993 to 2011, even continuing beyond until 2018," the barrister added.

ANL's lawyers have said privacy claims brought by seven high-profile individuals including the Duke of Sussex and Baroness Lawrence should be dismissed without a trial.

11:50 , Thomas Kingsley

The Duke of Sussex has made a surprise return to the UK for the first time since the late Queen's funeral - but is not expected to meet with the King or the Prince of Wales.

Just weeks ago, Harry laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

The King was due to be away on Monday on the first official state visit of his reign, but the trip to France was cancelled due to rioting over pension reforms, meaning Charles is now in the UK at the same time as Harry for the first time in six months.

But Buckingham Palace said the King was not in Windsor or London and would be leaving for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday morning.

(Getty Images)

11:31 , Thomas Kingsley

Court proceedings began with a bid by ANL's lawyers to have certain reporting restrictions imposed in the case.

The Duke of Sussex sat towards the back of the courtroom, occasionally taking notes in a small black notebook as legal arguments were made by ANL's barrister Catrin Evans KC.

Actress Sadie Frost, who is also bringing a claim against the publisher, sat two seats away from Harry.

Sadie Frost arrives in court ahead of hearing

11:25 , Thomas Kingsley

(REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

ICYMI: Prince Harry and Sir Elton John launch legal action against Daily Mail publishers over phone hacking

10:45 , Thomas Kingsley

As the preliminary hearing is set to begin, lets throwback to October when Prince Harry, among other high profile figures, announced they would be taking Associated Newspapers to court.

A group of individuals including Prince Harry and Sir Elton John have launched legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over phone-hacking allegations.

The allegations include the commissioning of individuals to surreptitiously listen into and record peoples live, private telephone calls whilst they were taking place and the impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception.

Additional claims include the accessing of bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation.

These individuals have been the subject of public interest during the course of their careers and personal lives. They are united in their desire to live in a world where the press operates freely, yet responsibly. A press that represents truth, is sourced in fact and can be trusted to operate ethically and in the interests of the British public, the statement said.

Read the full piece from October below:

Group including Prince Harry launch legal action against Daily Mail publishers

Duke arrives in court room

10:32 , Sam Rkaina

The Duke of Sussex has arrived at Court 76 of the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the preliminary hearing in his claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

Harry, along with six other people including Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, is suing the Daily Mail publisher for misuse of private information.

The duke entered the central London courtroom at shortly before 10.30am, wearing a navy tie.

Prince Harry arrives in court

10:30 , Sam Rkaina

(REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

(REUTERS)

Publisher brands allegations preposterous smears

10:29 , Sam Rkaina

In a statement announcing the launch of the legal action, released by Hamlins law firm, it was alleged the unlawful acts included hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The publisher hit back at the allegations, describing them at the time as preposterous smears and a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.

A spokesperson for ANL also said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

A four-day preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is due to begin on Monday, which is set to include ANLs bid for the claims to be dismissed without a trial.

Duke of Sussex arrives in court

10:15 , Press Association

The Duke of Sussex has arrived at the High Court in London for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.

The publisher is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.
Prince Harry is appearing at the High Court in London this morning for a hearing in the case against Associated Newspapers.

Associated Newspapers, which produces British publications like the Daily Mail, has been accused of invading the privacy of celebrities like Harry, Elizabeth Hurley and Elton John, who are all plaintiffs in the case against them.

Today's hearing is a preliminary one, and a lawyer representing Associated Newspapers is requesting that the entire case be thrown out as the company denies the allegations.

A judge will decide if the case will move forward. The hearing is expected to last four days.

MEGHAN MARKLE, PRINCE HARRY'S FROGMORE COTTAGE EVICTION AN ACT OF REVENGE FROM PRINCE CHARLES? EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Harry's appearance at the hearing comes as quite a surprise as none of the plaintiffs were expected to attend in person.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Harrys presence at the High Court in London is a sign of the importance he places on the case.

PRINCE HARRY WINS LATEST LEGAL BATTLE AGAINST UK'S MAIL ON SUNDAY OVER DEFAMATORY STORY

He and the other plaintiffs are asking for damages for misuse of private information after the media company allegedly hired private investigators to "secretly place listening devices inside peoples cars and homes."

Associated Newspapers is also being accused of phone tapping, paying police officials for private information, and other alleged invasions of privacy that haven't been made public yet.

This is just one of several lawsuits that Harry has brought against the British media.

He's also suing Associated Newspapers for defamation over an article from Mail on Sunday that was titled "Exclusive: How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret then  just minutes after the story broke  his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute."

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Prince Harry claimed Mail on Sunday's implication that the Duke of Sussex lied in his initial statements regarding the security lawsuit libeled him.

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Prince Harry is currently juggling multiple lawsuits against the British press.

In July, Nicklin, the judge in the case, ruled that the article was defamatory, allowing the case to proceed. The judge has not yet considered issues such as whether the story was accurate or in the public interest.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are no strangers to taking legal action.

Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, has also been involved in legal battles against the publisher, suing them for another invasion of privacy after it shared excerpts from a letter she'd written to her estranged father.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
 Flash

Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, sending a warning to NATO over its military support to Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West.

Putin said the move was triggered by the United Kingdom's decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

He said Russia's move would not violate nuclear nonproliferation promises. But it is one of Moscow's most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its special military operation in Ukraine 13 months ago, Reuters commented.

The United States  the world's other nuclear superpower  has reacted cautiously to Putin's statement, with a senior official saying there were no signs Moscow planned to use its nuclear weapons.

Putin likened his plans to the US stationing its weapons in Europe and said that Russia would not be transferring control to Belarus.

"There is nothing unusual here either: First, the US has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," Putin told state television.

"We agreed that we will do the same  without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons."

Tensions have grown over the war in Ukraine after the US and its NATO allies sent heavy supplies of Western weaponry to Kyiv.

Some Russian politicians and commentators have long speculated about nuclear strikes, saying Russia has the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons if it is pushed beyond its limits.

"Tactical" nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains on a battlefield rather than those with the capacity to wipe out cities.

The US believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by tactical aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds, The Associated Press reported.

Experts told Reuters the development was significant, since Russia had until now been proud that unlike the US, it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders.

The United States said it would "monitor the implications" of Putin's announcement.

"We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon," US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. "We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance."

Counter to NATO

Putin did not specify when the weapons would be transferred to Belarus, which has borders with three NATO members  Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. He said Russia would complete the construction of a storage facility there by July 1.

It was also unclear where in Belarus the weapons would be stationed. The transfer is expected to expand Russia's nuclear strike ability along NATO's eastern border.

Putin said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country again as a counter to NATO.

"We are not handing over (the weapons). And the US does not hand (them) over to its allies. We're basically doing the same thing they've been doing for a decade," Putin said.

"They have allies in certain countries and they train ... their crews. We are going to do the same thing."

Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, Putin said, adding that it had already transferred to Belarus a number of Iskander tactical missile systems that can launch nuclear weapons.
Toby Melville/Reuters

Prince Harry made a stunning appearance at Londons High Court on Monday for the first hearing of a lawsuit accusing the publisher of the Daily Mail of phone-tapping and privacy breaches.

The Duke of Sussex brought the action along with other celebrities including Elton John and actress Elizabeth Hurley against Associated Newspapers, but no one was expecting the semi-retired royal to show up at the central London court in person.

The hearing on Monday will consider the initial legal arguments in the case and a judge will then decide if the case can proceed further. The media company denies the allegations.

Harry, one of seven claimants in the case, says he and others have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy. The group announced last October that they were bringing legal action against Associated Newspapers for misuse of private information.

At the time, law firm Hamlinswhich is representing the Duke of Sussex and actress Sadie Frostalleged that the media giants activities had included hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside peoples cars and homes, snooping on private phone calls, paying police officials for sensitive information, and impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information.

Prince Harry and Elton John Sue The Daily Mail, Alleging Phone Tapping and Burglaries

Full details of the claims have not yet been made publicly available. But Associated Newspapers has called the allegations preposterous smears and will try to have the case thrown out over four days of hearings in the English capital.

Despite his unexpected presence in London, Prince Harry will not meet his father King Charles or his brother Prince William while he is in England this week, with sources in both camps telling The Daily Beast they are too busy to make time to see him.

William and Kates children were on the first day of their Easter school holidays Monday and the family was not in Windsor, where Harry is believed to be staying at his home Frogmore Cottage, which he is shortly due to vacate on the orders of the king.

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The king was also thought not to be in London or Windsor, with suggestions that he had retreated to his country home, Highgrove, after a state visit to France was cancelled at the last minute due to street rioting over there.

The apparent lack of enthusiasm by the royals to meet with Harry will crush any last remaining hopes he may have held that his family would sit down for face-to-face talks with him before the coronation.

Harry has said that he wanted such talks as condition of attending the coronation, and also said he wants an apology to my wife for the bad way they allege she was treated when they were working members of the royal family.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper to promote his memoir Spare he said: The ball is very much in their court, but you know, Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologize for anything that we did wrong There needs to be a constructive conversation, one that can happen in private that doesnt get leaked.

The Daily Beast has consistently been told by reliable sources, however, that the royals do not believe they have anything to apologize for and will make no such gesture.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Duke of Sussex arrived at the High Court shortly before the start of a four-day hearing, which also brought out Elton John and Sadie Frost

Justin Ng / Avalon Prince Harry arrives at the High Court in London

Prince Harry made a surprise appearance in London on Monday.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, attended the High Court for the first day of a legal case in which he and other prominent figures including Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Jude Law's ex-wife Sadie Frost are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for illegal information gathering.

Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and tie, Prince Harry watched intently during the proceedings, sometimes taking notes, from his seat two rows behind the leading lawyers in the case. Frost also sat nearby, and John arrived at the High Court later in the day.

The four-day hearing will consider legal arguments from both sides and will conclude with a judge's ruling on whether the case should go to trial. Associated Newspapers are arguing that the case should be thrown out.

Related:Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Eviction from U.K. Home Is 'Just the Start' of King Charles' Slim-Down Plan

The Duke of Sussex arrived at the High Court in London on Monday for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers pic.twitter.com/8Y2OjZLyZR  PA Entertainment (@PAshowbiz) March 27, 2023

It is the first time Prince Harry has been in the U.K. since the funeral of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth in September. PEOPLE understands that he jetted into London to show his support for the case and informed both his father King Charles, 74, and brother Prince William, 40, that he would be in the U.K. and attending the proceedings.

Harry will likely not see William while he is in the U.K., however, as the Prince of Wales is currently taking some time off with his wife Kate Middleton, 41, as their three children  Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4  are on a school break.

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Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images Prince Harry

It is not expected that he will see his father King Charles, 74, either. The British monarch was due to be in France at the beginning of his now-postponed tour. The King and Queen Camilla, 75, will leave for Germany on Wednesday instead.

When it was announced in October 2022, Harry's lawyers claimed that he was among seven individuals who had "become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers."

James Veysey/Shutterstock Elton John

The claimants alleged in their lawsuit that unlawful practices included the placement of listening devices in their cars and homes by private investigators, the surreptitious recording of private telephone calls, the payment of police "with corrupt links to private investigators" for sensitive information, impersonation to obtain medical information from hospitals and care facilities and illicit manipulation into accessing bank accounts, credit histories and other financial transactions.

Associated Newspapers deny the allegations, calling them "preposterous smears," the BBC reported.

Related:Veteran Reacts to Prince Harry's 'Personal' Message on 'Car S.O.S.': 'He Has Done So Much'

Justin Ng / Avalon Prince Harry on March 27

The other claimants in the case are John's husband David Furnish, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, who is the mother of race-attack victim Stephen Lawrence and Sir Simon Hughes, a leading Liberal Party politician and former U.K. government minister.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Justin Ng / Avalon

The lawsuit is just one of a number of cases that the Duke of Sussex is involved in against British newspaper groups. Prince Harry is also undertaking a separate libel lawsuit against Associated Newspapers centering on a Mail on Sunday article about the royal's legal battle with the British government over his police protection in the country.

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Read the original article on People.
The Duke of Sussex has made a surprise return to the UK for the first time since the late Queens funeral  but is not expected to meet with the King or the Prince of Wales.

His trip  for a High Court hearing in London in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering  will be seen as demonstrating the strength of his determination over the legal action.

Just weeks ago, Harry laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

The King was due to be away on Monday on the first official state visit of his reign, but the trip to France was cancelled due to rioting over pension reforms, meaning Charles is now in the UK at the same time as Harry for the first time in six months.

But Buckingham Palace said the King was not in Windsor or London and would be leaving for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday morning. Harry is also unlikely to be meeting up with William.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not currently in Windsor because of the youngsters school Easter holidays.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate their UK home Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, in a move sanctioned by the King, meaning Harry could spend some of his time packing up any remaining possessions.

Harry was critical of his Camilla in his memoir Spare

The duke is also taking legal action against the Home Office over security arrangements when he is in the UK, raising questions about his own security provisions during this visit.

More follows on this breaking story...
London  Britain's Prince Harry was back in the U.K. Monday for an unannounced appearance at the country's High Court as legal proceedings began in a privacy case in which the prince and six others are suing the Associated Newspapers group, which publishes the Daily Mail tabloid. Harry, the California-based youngest son of King Charles III, is among the high-profile figures, including singer Elton John, who brought the action against the newspaper group claiming "gross breaches of privacy."

The well-known litigants claim to have "highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers," according to an October 2022 statement from Hamlins, the law firm representing the group.



Britain's Prince Harry leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, March 27, 2023. / Credit: Alberto Pezzali/AP

The alleged breaches of privacy include the hacking of cell phone messages, deceitfully obtaining medical records, bribing police officials, and illegally accessing bank records, the statement said.

Associated Newspapers (not to be confused with the U.S.-based Associated Press news agency) has denied the allegations, calling them "preposterous smears" and "unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims," according to the BBC.



Harry is already locked in a separate legal battle with Associated Newspapers, having filed a libel suit over an article published by the Mail on Sunday tabloid under the headline, "Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret." Two years ago he also accepted an apology and damages from the publisher over other articles in a separate libel lawsuit.

Harry's return to London is believed to be the first by the Duke of Sussex since the funeral of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, and it comes amid questions over whether Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will attend King Charles' coronation ceremony in early May.

What to know about King Charles III's upcoming coronation

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U.K. media outlets said Harry was not expected to see his father or his older brother William, the Prince of Wales, during his visit to the U.K. this week. Kensington Palace, the official residence of heir-to-the-throne Prince William, said the prince and his family were away from the London area this week as many schools were out for the Easter holiday.

Speculation about whether Harry and or Meghan will attend the king's coronation ramped up after news broke that the couple had been asked to vacate their U.K. residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle earlier this month.

The pair gave up their status as senior, "working" royals amid tension with other members of Harry's family that played out in spectacularly public fashion, through interviews and a tell-all book by Harry claiming racism and mistreatment.

"Nothing was okay," Harry said of his relationship with his family in a "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper when his memoir, titled "Spare," came out.

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Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans to be bought by First Citizens Bank

Donald Trump was "speaking very much to his base" at campaign rally, former RNC spokesman says
A super PAC aligned with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is adding another former Trump campaign aide to its ranks.

Matt Wolking, who served as deputy communications director for Trumps last presidential bid, announced on Monday that he would join the super PAC Never Back Down as its strategic communications director.

Wolking headed up former President Trumps rapid response operation in 2020 before serving as communications director for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkins (R) successful campaign in 2021. He most recently worked at the GOP consulting firm Axiom Strategies as vice president of communications.

Jeff Roe, the founder and CEO of Axiom Strategies, recently joined Never Back Down as an adviser.

In a pair of tweets on Monday, Wolking said that, while former President Trump was the right person for the job eight years ago, Republicans now need a disciplined leader who wins instead of loses, never backs down, fights smart, and puts the mission before himself.

On each count, Governor Ron DeSantis is the strongest choice, Wolking tweeted, adding in a second post: Governor DeSantis is bold, effective, and knows how to finish the job, so with him as president we will finally be able to win so much that well be tired of all the winning.

Im proud to support him and join @NvrBackDown24 as strategic communications director.

Wolking is the latest former Trump aide to get on board with the effort to recruit DeSantis into the 2024 presidential race. Last week, Erin Perrine, who served as director of press communications for Trumps 2020 campaign, joined the super PAC as communications director.

Never Back Down was formed earlier this month by Ken Cuccinelli, a former deputy Homeland Security secretary in Trumps administration.

DeSantis hasnt yet announced a run for the White House, though hes actively preparing for a campaign and is expected to jump into the race later this year after the Florida state legislature wraps up its annual session. In recent weeks, hes traveled to early voting states like Iowa and Nevada, and he is expected to make stops in other critical states like New Hampshire, Michigan and Pennsylvania in the coming weeks.

While Trump remains the frontrunner in the nascent 2024 Republican primary, early polling shows DeSantis as the most formidable challenger to the former president. Trump and his allies have attacked DeSantis relentlessly in recent weeks in an effort to weaken him ahead of an expected presidential bid.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Ministry of Reintegration stated that pro-Ukrainian sentiment is growing in Crimea

The agency noted that the number of yellow ribbons, patriotic graffiti, and leaflets with anti-war appeals has increased significantly on the streets of the temporarily occupied settlements of the peninsula.

"In this way, non-indifferent citizens are making it clear that the return of the peninsula to Ukrainian control is inevitable," the statement reads.

Read also: Crimean occupiers are starting to panic, presidents permanent rep to Crimea says

The guerrilla movement has significantly stepped up its activities, which is evidence of the high morale of patriotic Crimeans, said the ministry.

"Meanwhile, Russian proxies and military commanders are taking their families out in fear and selling their property," the Telegram post said.

They are afraid. They are trying to compensate for their fear by increasing the amount of military equipment on the peninsula.

Read also: Russian military, occupation authorities in Crimea selling up, moving out amid fears of losing control of peninsula

Read also: Russians starting to evacuate from occupied Crimea, says Ukrainian intelligence

The ministry noted that the Crimean coast is gradually being turned into a line of defense, so it is likely that this year's holiday season in Crimea will be disrupted.

"Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities are urging Crimeans to be careful and cautious, not to fall for any provocations," the agency stressed.

If possible, report on the location of the enemy or their equipment.

This can be done using the chatbot "eVoroh" or the platform of the National Resistance Center.

"The de-occupation of Crimea will definitely happen! It will happen soon. We will do it. All together! said the ministry.

Defense Intelligence representative Andriy Yusov previously stated that the Russian occupation "authorities" had started evacuating temporarily occupied Crimea.

Russian military commanders on the peninsula and the occupation administration are actively selling real estate and taking their families out of Crimea, he said.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Trista Mixon is serving as a student prosecutor for the Colorado 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Colorado 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostners office is addressing its staffing shortages by launching what Chostner calls the most robust student prosecutor internship program in the state.

The office has contacted more than 70 law schools nationwide in search of interns. Under the supervision of a licensed attorney, interns will serve as prosecutors for misdemeanor, petty and traffic offense cases under the Student Practice Act. Chostners office aims to hire five or six student prosecutors by May or June.

New Pueblo Bustang route:CDOT launches Trinidad to Pueblo Bustang Outrider route with a month of free rides

One intern, Trista Mixon, already works for the office. She is a student at the University of Dayton who plans to graduate with a hybrid law degree in May and take the Colorado Bar Exam in July. She began pursuing a career in law after 12 years in the U.S. Air Force.

I cant say I am an attorney because I am not, but I feel like I am doing that work, she said.

Mixon spends almost every day in the courtroom from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. She has prosecuted about 20 trials under the supervision of attorney Jeff Lindsey. As a student in a hybrid law degree program, she travels to Dayton, Ohio, once per semester to take four days worth of in-person classes. However, she spends most evenings in her Pueblo office taking classes on Zoom and completing coursework.

Starting on May 6, the day of her graduation, she will have paid time off until July to study for her bar exam.

The 10th Judicial District Attorneys office internship program launched on Jan. 1. Pueblo County government put out a call for applicants on March 20 that will remain open until March 28 at 11:59 p.m. on governmentjobs.com.

Prosecutorial staffing shortages have impacted DA offices throughout the country due to the COVID-pandemic. The 10th Judicial District has capacity for 27 attorneys, but currently has 17. While there has been a struggle to find licensed attorneys, Chostner hopes that the internship program will act as a pipeline for future prosecutors.

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Were only 90 days into it and its already bearing fruit, Chostner said of the program. I think it will have even more production in the next 12 months.

To be considered for an internship, individuals must be currently attending an American Bar Association-accredited school, have studied law for at least two years and meet Student Practice Act qualifications.

Student prosecutors have responsibilities like those of deputy district attorneys, including the handling of misdemeanor cases, writing of appeals and research. Student prosecutors must practice under a licensed attorneys supervision.

They are not licensed to practice law on their own ... the state statute, the Student Practice Act allows them to get that experience, but only under the supervision and monitoring of a licensed attorney, Chostner said.

While student prosecutors will handle misdemeanor cases, they are not authorized to handle felony cases. However, they may be authorized to observe certain felony cases.

Student prosecutors are paid as entry-level attorneys  making $5,700 to $8,550 per month. They are given retirement benefits, medical benefits and the option to pay for student housing on the Colorado State University Pueblo campus.

People interested in the internship program can file student prosecutor applications online at county.pueblo.org/human-resources-office/talent-and-people-services/apply-county-job.

Trees Please:Pueblo nonprofit Trees Please targets Dutch Clark, Abriendo Avenue for planting efforts

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo DA office launches prosecutor internship program
Map of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is the easternmost and smallest of the Greater Antilles, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Basin to the south.

Neither a state nor independent, the island has been a US territory since 1898.

Everyone born on the island is an American citizen and holds a US passport. However, residents cannot vote in US presidential elections, unless they are registered to vote in one of the 50 states.

Puerto Rican culture is a blend of Amerindian Taino, Spanish and African influences with Spanish being the island's first language.

Tourism is an important money-earner and the island attracts millions of visitors each year. But crippling public debt, poverty and high unemployment have seen many of the islanders leave for the US mainland.

COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO: FACTS

Capital: San Juan

Area: 9,104 sq km

Population: 3.2 million

Languages: Spanish, English

Life expectancy: 73 years (men) 82 years (women)

LEADERS

President: Joe Biden

Governor: Pedro Pierluisi

Pedro Pierluisi holds a press conference after being sworn in as Governor of Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico on, August 2, 2019

Pedro Pierluisi became governor i August 2019 after the resignation of his predecessor, Ricardo Rossello after a group chat on the Telegram app between Rossello and his staff was made public, which contained offensive remarks and which mocked Puerto Rican's struggles after 2017's deadly Hurricane Maria.

MEDIA

Man reading newspaper in Puerto Rico

Broadcasting is regulated by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Home-grown comedies, talk shows and Spanish-language soaps are staple fare on local TV stations. The multichannel offerings of cable TV are widely available.

News and talk and Spanish-language pop music are among the most popular radio formats.

TIMELINE

The San Felipe del Morro fort is a reminder of Puerto Rico's colonial past

Some key dates in the history of Puerto Rico:

1493 - Christopher Columbus claims the island for Spain on his second voyage to the Americas. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon establishes the first settlement in 1508.

1500s - The indigenous Amerindian Taino population is virtually wiped out by disease and new settlers. African slave labour is imported.

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1868 - A popular uprising against Spanish rule is suppressed but becomes a symbol of the independence struggle.

1898 - Spain cedes Puerto Rico to the US at the end of the Spanish-American War.

1900 - US Congress establishes a civil government under the Foraker Act but maintains strict control over island affairs. Puerto Ricans are granted US citizenship in 1917 under the Jones Act.

1940s - Puerto Rico gains partial self-rule with popularly elected governors.

1952 - Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the United States. Under US administration, it experiences growth but nationalist sentiment is still present.

1960-70s - Violent separatism - A series of bombings and killings in the 1970s and 1980s are blamed on pro-independence group, the Macheteros, or Cane Cutters.

1998 - Puerto Ricans back continued commonwealth status in a referendum.

2003 - The US government stops military training on the offshore island of Vieques after protests.

2006 - The expiry of a federal tax break for US corporations in place since 1976 triggers economic recession.

2012 - Puerto Ricans vote for US statehood for the first time in a non-binding referendum on the island's status.

2017 - The territory declares bankruptcy - the largest ever for a US local government.

2020 - In a non-binding referendum, Puerto Rico votes again to become a US state.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - An ally of President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia has the weapons to destroy any enemy, including the United States, if its own existence is threatened, accusing Washington of underestimating Moscow's nuclear might.

The comments from Nikolai Patrushev, the influential secretary of Russia's Security Council, are the latest from a senior Russian official to raise the spectre of a nuclear showdown between the world's two largest nuclear powers, something Moscow says it wants to avoid.

"American politicians trapped by their own propaganda remain confident that, in the event of a direct conflict with Russia, the United States is capable of launching a preventive missile strike, after which Russia will no longer be able to respond. This is short-sighted stupidity, and very dangerous," Patrushev told the state Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday.

"Russia is patient and does not intimidate anyone with its military advantage. But it has modern unique weapons capable of destroying any adversary, including the United States, in the event of a threat to its existence", he said.

Russia has said that one of the reasons why it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year in what it calls its "special military operation" was to counter a perceived security threat stemming from Kyiv's rapprochement with the U.S.-led NATO defence alliance.

Since then, Moscow has accused the West, without presenting public evidence, of making nuclear threats against it, and has spoken of its readiness to use nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances if the very existence of the Russian state is imperilled.

On Saturday, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would station tactical nuclear missiles in its close ally Belarus, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Kyiv and escalating a standoff with the West.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
(Bloomberg) -- While Russian President Vladimir Putins plan to station nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus is unlikely to change Europes strategic balance, it has put him at odds with a pledge he made with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping just days earlier.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Russia and China declared that all nuclear weapons states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad in a joint statement at the end of Xis visit to Moscow last week. Then Putin announced on state television late Saturday that Russia will place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus for the first time since the Soviet Unions collapse, even as he insisted the move wouldnt breach Moscows non-proliferation commitments.

Putins statement cast doubt on the outcome of his meeting with Xi, said Tariq Rauf, the International Atomic Energy Agencys former nuclear non-proliferation director. He seems to be nuclear signaling to a domestic audience, trying to reassure his own public that Russia is doing OK, that the war in Ukraine is going all right.

Non-proliferation analysts say there arent any technical barriers preventing Russia from deploying weapons to secure Belarusian bunkers by July. Putin said storage facilities would be ready by July 1, without indicating when Russia would send nuclear arms to its allys territory.

His attempt to escalate confrontation with the US and NATO over Russias war in Ukraine received a cool response in Washington and among Kyivs allies in eastern European states that border Belarus. Officials in Poland and the Baltic States criticized Moscows latest nuclear saber-rattling, while insisting the deployment, if it happens, would be of largely symbolic significance in security terms.

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Why Putins Tactical Nuclear Threats Raise Alarm: QuickTake

The reaction should be calm and firm, Polands European Union Affairs Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek told reporters in Poznan on Monday. We cannot let them frighten us. We should continue our efforts to support Ukraine without letting emotions get in the way.

Russian nuclear weapons are already stationed in Kaliningrad, its exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania, and are geographically closer to military targets in the Baltic Sea and western Europe than they would be if stationed in Belarus.

With Russian troops bogged down in eastern Ukraine, Xis three-day visit to Moscow was by far the most significant since Putin began the invasion more than 13 months ago, and it produced a flurry of economic and nuclear agreements. Putins intention to return nuclear weapons to Belarus suggests Beijing and Moscow may interpret their commitments differently, with former US Ambassador Michael McFaul saying it showed a lack of respect toward Xi.

Under the current circumstances, all sides need to focus on making diplomatic efforts toward a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and work together for deescalation, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday, adding that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won.

Ten aircraft adapted to carry nuclear weapons have been prepared in Belarus, Putin said. Russian Iskander short-range missiles  capable of carrying nuclear warheads  have also been sent to Belarus, and training for crews would begin there on April 3, he told state TV.

As part of the Soviet Union, Belarus stored scores of mobile warheads and tactical nuclear weapons at various bases during the Cold War. Technical barriers to rejuvenating that infrastructure are low, according to Robert Kelley, a former US nuclear-weapons engineer and intelligence analyst.

Its really just about security and if youre heavy on guns and guards it wont be much of an issue, he said, adding that the decision to deploy in Belarus is a political one that isnt linked operationally to the war in Ukraine. The Belarusian military airfield of Baranavichy has facilities that can probably be quickly converted to host weapons, he said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko allowed Putin to use his countrys territory to launch Russias invasion of Ukraine in February last year and has consistently supported the Kremlin leaders actions, while holding back from allowing his own military to take part in the war.

Why Belarus Is in Lockstep With Russia Over Ukraine: QuickTake

Putin defended his decision to move nuclear weapons to Belarus by saying the US had long stationed them in North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. Germany and the Netherlands are among US allies that host nuclear weapons. Finland may also revisit its nuclear policy once completing its membership in NATO.

Russia is showing weakness, not strength, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter. Serious sanctions, troop deployments in the Baltics and more air+sea defence systems on the eastern flank of NATO would send a message of solidarity and determination, not fear and prevarication.

--With assistance from Natalia Ojewska, Aaron Eglitis and Slav Okov.

(Adds timing in the fourth paragraph, Chinese statement in ninth)

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A free trade agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) came into effect on Sunday, the first such economic deal Israel reached with an Arab country.

Officials from both countries signed a customs agreement on Sunday, enabling the free trade agreement signed in May 2022 to come into effect, said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

The customs agreement was signed by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja in the presence of Netanyahu.

According to the statement, the free trade deal is expected to reduce customs duties and lower the cost of living while increasing business between the two countries. Additionally, Israeli companies will gain access to UAE government tenders, the office said.

"The taking effect of the free trade agreement is important news for the Israeli economy, for the strengthening of ties with the UAE and is further testament to the importance of the Abraham Accords," Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said.

The Abraham Accords are a series of U.S.-brokered deals Israel reached with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020 to establish diplomatic relations.

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the UAE is Israel's 16th largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume reaching over 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.

Israel is currently in talks with Bahrain to sign a free trade agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Eurasian Economic Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on November 9, 2022. Contributor/Getty Images

Putin has made a lot of nuclear threats since the war in Ukraine began.

But the threats appear to be carrying less and less weight. The West seems skeptical he would actually use a nuke.

Putin's latest threat involves moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a variety of nuclear threats since he launched his invasion of Ukraine last year, prompting condemnation and alarm across the world, but with each new threat, Moscow's rivals and adversaries seem to be growing increasingly skeptical that Putin would actually use such a weapon.

Over the weekend, Putin announced a plan to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders members of the EU and NATO, by summer. Tactical nuclear weapons (also known as battlefield nukes) are generally intended for use on a smaller scale at shorter ranges and are less powerful than strategic nuclear weapons. That said, tactical nuclear weapons still have the capacity to wreak havoc and kill tens of thousands of people.

Though NATO condemned Putin's rhetoric as "dangerous and irresponsible," the alliance also said that it had "not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own." In other words, NATO signaled that it was monitoring the situation but not taking any major steps in response.

Similarly, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Sunday told CBS News the White House hadn't seen anything to indicate Putin was preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons "in any way whatsoever in Ukraine."

"I can also tell you that we haven't seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture," Kirby said.

Ukraine shares a border with Belarus and saw Russian troops invade via the Kremlin-allied country last year, and its foreign ministry called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to Putin's latest threat. But Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also mocked Putin as "too predictable" in response to the news.

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"Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, [Putin] admits that he is afraid of losing & all he can do is scare with tactics," Podolyak said via Twitter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Vladimir Astapkovich, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Many top analysts largely view Putin's bombastic rhetoric on nuclear weapons as a sign of the Russian leader's frustration over how poorly the war in Ukraine has gone for Russian forces.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based research organization that has closely tracked the war in Ukraine and provided frequent updates, said that Putin's announcement on placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus were part of an "information operation" and "irrelevant to the risk of escalation to nuclear war, which remains extremely low."

Putin is vying to "exploit Western fears of nuclear escalation," ISW said, adding that it continues to assess that the Russian leader is "a risk-averse actor who repeatedly threatens to use nuclear weapons without any intention of following through in order to break Western resolve."

Last year, there were serious concerns that Putin could resort to using nuclear weapons as Russia failed to reach its goals in the war. CIA Director Bill Burns last April warned that Putin might use a nuclear weapon if becomes desperate enough. But those fears have seemingly faded. On Monday, for example, nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione tweeted that he got "bumped" from a scheduled interview with Sky News to discuss Putin's nuclear threats because the network instead decided to focus on a celebrity trial involving Gwyneth Paltrow in relation to a 2016 ski accident.

Just days before Putin said Russia would send tactical nukes to Belarus, he was hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow. Xi in early March also hosted Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko in Beijing. GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, who chairs the House select committee on US competition with China, on Sunday told ABC News that Putin's repeated "nuclear saber-rattling" was a concerning, but should not deter the US from continuing to arm Ukraine with vital weapons.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Kremlins threats to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus is not news for the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine; Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, just raises stakes with his statements.

Source: Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, in a Svoboda. Ranok programme broadcast

Quote: "Suffering defeat on the battlefield in the conventional war, Putin resorts to nuclear blackmail. Again, these arguments are not new. Another thing is that there are new circumstances. It is clear that he is raising stakes, even though the US and the EU react to this situation unambiguously, making it clear that they are not buying into this blackmail."

Details: Yusov recalled that back in January, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine warned that Putin could use the territory of Belarus for nuclear provocations.

Alexander Lukashenko also hinted that this is one of the possible scenarios. Specifically, changes to the Constitution of Belarus were made.

In addition to this, there were reports about the deployment of the operative tactical rocket system Iskander, which can carry nuclear weapons, in Belarus.

Yusov stressed that such nuclear threats are a "naphthalene instrument of nuclear blackmail". He stated that so far Russia has been "juggling" threats.

Background:

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. PAVEL BYRKIN/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Putin 'humiliated' China's Xi Jinping a week after their summit, a former US ambassador said.

Michael McFaul said Putin's decision to station nukes in Belarus was a snub to Xi.

Putin and Xi strengthened their alliance at a summit in Moscow last week, but tensions remain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "humiliated" China's President Xi Jinping by revealing plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, according to former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.

The announcement, made on Saturday, marks the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that Russia has said it will store tactical nuclear weapons on foreign soil.

McFaul pointed to the timing of the announcement, saying it had come just days after Russia issued a joint statement with China in which they declared their opposition to countries stationing nuclear weapons abroad.

"Not very respectful to his 'good friend' Xi!" tweeted McFaul, who is currently a professor of Political Science at Stanford University.

McFaul said the announcement would particularly rankle Beijing given that Belarus' President, Viktor Lukashenko, had recently made a state visit to China.

"Both Putin and Lukashenko humiliated Xi. Remember, Luka was just treated to a fancy state visit to China. Xi just came to Moscow. Can't imagine this decision is going down well in Beijing," he tweeted.

Xi signalled to Russia last November that the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would be a red line, Politico said.

China has handed the Russian economy a lifeline amid punishing sanctions over the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and has refrained from criticising Russia's invasion, providing the Kremlin with crucial diplomatic support.

At last week's summit, Putin and Xi presented a common front against the global power of the US and its allies.

However, analysts told Insider that the summit indicated that the balance of power between Russia and China had tipped in China's favour, and that Xi had secured lucrative access to the Russian economy while offering little in terms of extra support.

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Xi appeared to press home the advantage last week, by inviting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to the first China-Central Asia summit, the AFP news agency reported.

The states are all former members of the Soviet Union, and long regarded as part of Russia's sphere of influence.

Read the original article on Business Insider
U.S. and European officials do not believe Vladimir Putin intends to transfer tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus anytime soon, according to three senior officials involved in diplomatic conversations about Moscows recent threat.

Putin announced on Saturday that he planned to send the battlefield weapons across the border to store in a facility that is under construction and would be ready in July. If such a shipment happened, it would mark the first time Russias nuclear weapons have existed outside of the country since the 1990s.

Putin did not clarify when he intended to send the weapons, but the Western officials said they do not have any evidence to suggest Putin is going to move forward with the shipments in the near future. The Russian president appears to have made the threat to try to rattle the Ukrainians and distract from the Kremlins losses on the battlefield, the officials said.

The officials said they have not seen any indication  such as satellite imagery or other intelligence  that shows Russia is moving forward with an immediate plan to deploy nuclear weapons. The officials represent both U.S. and European governments and were granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive national security issue.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby made similar comments to reporters on Monday.

"We haven't seen any movement of any tactical nuclear weapons or anything of that kind since this announcement, and we certainly haven't seen any indication that Mr. Putin has made some sort of decision to use weapons of mass destruction, let alone nuclear weapons inside Ukraine, he said.

The assessment and comments by U.S. and European officials underscore the degree to which Western governments are batting down Putin's messaging despite previously warning about the Russian president's potential use of nuclear weapons earlier on in the conflict.

John Bolton, a national security adviser during the Trump administration, said on Monday that even if Putin made good on moving the weapons, it really wouldn't make that much difference in my view.

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During an appearance on CNN, Bolton noted that Russia has already staged nuclear missiles and other weaponry in the exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.

That's a place which has long been basically a Russian military facility, he said. So the capabilities Russia already has in the Kaliningrad enclave are the ones that could be most threatening. I don't think the idea of moving some tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus changes that balance.

Belarus is among Russias closest allies and is a supporter of Putins invasion of Ukraine. Leaders from the two countries have previously spoken about staging advanced weaponry, including nuclear weapons, in Belarus. Putins comments follow previous statements he made during a December press briefing in Minsk in which he said that Russia was training pilots from Belarus to fly aircraft capable of carrying a special warhead.

The Russian presidents most recent comments come as the Russians and Ukrainians are locked in an intense battle in the city of Bakhmut. Both sides have lost a significant number of troops and ammunition in recent weeks.

One of the Western officials described the fighting as a battle of yards and one that is likely to continue for weeks if not months. Putins threats about sending nuclear weapons to Belarus are meant to distract from Russias failures on the battlefield, that official said.

An adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said the countrys intelligence services are monitoring Moscows activities closely, but said Ukrainian troops would continue to focus their efforts on countering the Russian forces in the eastern part of the country.

Western officials have not completely ruled out the possibility that Putin could resort to not only sending nuclear weapons to Belarus but also using those weapons if his forces continue to lose ground.

Over the past year, Putin has threatened the use of nuclear weapons on several occasions.

In a September speech, he claimed NATO and the West were engaging in nuclear blackmail. To those who allow themselves to make such statements about Russia, I would like to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction," he said. "And if the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff. In the weeks that followed, Western officials scrambled behind the scenes to respond to the threat. U.S. officials discussed with allies the validity of Putins remarks, warned about Russias increasing threats and pushed back against Moscows messaging. Since then, warnings about Russias potential use of nuclear weapons have quieted, and concerns among Western officials about Moscows threats have also dissipated.

One of the European officials described the reaction among their countrys national security officials as calm. Its being seen as another scare tactic by Putin, the official said.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, officials are focused on continuing to push its Western allies for additional funding and weapons to fund its operations in Bakhmut and elsewhere in the country. A delegation of Ukrainian parliamentarians is in the United Kingdom lobbying officials there for additional resources, including jets, according to a person with direct knowledge of those conversations.
OSHKOSH  A longtime judge in Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 2 is facing an election challenge for the first time in two election cycles in what has been a tightly contested campaign.

Judge Scott Woldt, who was appointed to the bench in 2004, ran unopposed in 2011 and 2017 races, but he now is facing off in the April election against former Winnebago County judge LaKeisha Haase.

This is the first time Woldt is seeking reelection after he was suspended without pay for seven days by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2021 because of misconduct.

Haase, who was appointed to the court in Dec. 2020 and served until April 2022 when she lost a re-election bid to Mike Gibbs, and Woldt are seeking a six-year term on the bench.

The Oshkosh Northwestern reached out to the candidates to answer questions about what sets them apart in the race and how they would preside as a judge in Winnebago County. Candidates' responses are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Some responses have been lightly edited for clarity in the Q&A format.

LaKeisha D. Haase

LaKeisha Haase

Age: 44

City of residence: Oshkosh

Occupation: Litigation attorney with Renning, Lewis & Lacy, s.c.

Highest education level: Juris Doctor, Marquette University Law School

Relevant experience: Winnebago County Circuit Court judge, Branch 4; trial attorney with the Wisconsin State Public Defenders Office; Litigation attorney in both the federal and circuit; Judicial assistant in Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 4; court assistant in Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 1; volunteer attorney for Winnebago Free Legal Assistance Clinic; Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court Professional; presiding judge for State High School Mock Trial Competitions

Facebook page: LaKeisha D. Haase, Judicial Candidate

Scott C. Woldt

Scott Woldt

Age: 61

City of residence: Oshkosh

Occupation: Circuit Court Judge in Winnebago County Branch 2 since 2004

Highest education level: UW-Oshkosh, B.S. 1984; Hamline University School of Law, J.D. 1987

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Relevant experience: Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 2, 2004 to present (19 years)

Facebook page: Keep Judge Woldt

ELECTIONS:Q&A: Mayoral candidates discuss top issues in Oshkosh, how they would lead city council

ELECTIONS:Q&A: Oshkosh Area School Board candidates share views on biggest issues, partisanship ahead of April election

Why are you running for this office?

Haase: The Supreme Court found that my opponent openly and callously disregards his obligation to be fair, reasoned, impartial and courteous. This has destroyed the publics confidence in our judiciary. Winnebago deserves a judiciary that reflects its values and abides by the judicial oath. I will restore integrity to the bench.

Woldt: I have served as Circuit Court Branch 2 judge since 2004. My hard work protecting our communities isnt finished. I have presided on over 190 jury trials and handled more than 30,000 cases through disposition. There is a 35,000-case backlog in the Wisconsin Courts. There is no case backlog in Branch 2.

Why are you the best candidate in this race?

Haase: My experience on the bench and expansive legal career, coupled with my commitment of service to our community. Ive never been overturned on appeal, suspended from the bench or had a single judicial complaint filed against me. Preparedness, integrity and commitment to the rule of law are my guiding principles.

Woldt: I have established rehabilitative programs as Chair of the Safe Streets Committee, which I started. I started the Winnebago County Drug Court, which I presided over for 10 years. I have developed programs with mandatory treatment for OWI offenders. These programs reduce crime while saving taxpayers their hard-earned income. Experience matters.

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Our subscribers make this coverage possible. Click to see The Northwestern's special offers at thenorthwestern.com/subscribe and download our app on the App Store or Google Play.

What are residents telling you are the most important issues, and how would you work to address them?

Haase: Residents are expressing their concerns, verbalizing their mistreatment and demanding change from the judiciary in Branch 2. The repeated and incessant judicial misconduct is appalling and distressing to residents. My commitment to the canons of ethics, integrity and transparency will aid in earning back the communitys trust and confidence in our judiciary.

Protection of the community is always a concern, which coincides with the drug epidemic. We continue to use the same programs we have been using for years to tackle problems that are ever-changing. We must constantly assess and adjust our strategies or risk never adequately addressing the problems.

Woldt: How do we address drug and alcohol use in the community? The primary purpose of the Winnebago County Safe Streets Committee, which I started 19 years ago, is community safety. We seek a balance between punishment and rehabilitation by providing alternatives to incarceration. Our focus includes treatment and programs to instill accountability in citizens involved in drug- and alcohol-related offenses against our community. Drug Court and the Safe Streets Treatment Option Program, SSTOP, get non-violent offenders the treatment they need. Results of these programs show a decrease in recidivism of approximately 50%. As of 2023, participants have performed over 85,000 hours of community service.

Contact Bremen Keasey at 920-570-5614 or bkeasey@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Keasinho.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Winnebago County judicial candidates state their case before April election
A rampage Monday at Nashville's Covenant School that left three children and three adults dead -- plus the gunwoman -- is only the latest in a tragic and relentless cycle of US school mass shootings.

Police said they believe the shooter, a 28-year-old Nashville woman armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, was a former student at the school.

Here are America's deadliest classroom gun massacres of the last quarter century.

- Robb Elementary School (2022) -

Nineteen students and two teachers were shot dead on May 24, 2022 when an 18-year-old gunman stormed their Uvalde, Texas elementary school and opened fire.

As families mourned the victims, an uproar swelled over the police response. Officers eventually shot and killed the assailant responsible for America's worst school shooting in a decade.

But it soon emerged that more than a dozen officers waited for over an hour outside classrooms where the shooting was taking place and did nothing as children lay dead or dying inside.

In October the education board that oversees schools in Uvalde suspended the police force whose bungled response to the mass shooting was widely criticized.

- Santa Fe High School (2018) -

Ten people, including eight students, were killed when a 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire on his high school classmates in rural Santa Fe, Texas.

Classes had just started on the morning of May 18, 2018, when the shooting began.

Following the tragedy, Texas Governor Greg Abbott unveiled 40 recommendations, mainly focused on increasing armed security on school campuses and stepping up mental health screenings to identify troubled children.

Gun ownership can be a point of pride for many Texans, and even some Santa Fe High School students spoke out against linking the shooting to the need for better gun control.

- Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (2018) -

On February 14, 2018, a 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who was expelled for disciplinary reasons returned to the Parkland, Florida, school and opened fire.

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He killed 14 students and three adult staff.

Stoneman Douglas students have become crusaders against gun violence under the banner "March for Our Lives," lobbying for tougher gun control laws and organizing protests and rallies.

Their campaign took off on social media, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of young Americans -- but so far failing to bring about significant legislative action.

- Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012) -

A 20-year-old man with a history of mental health issues killed his mother in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, before blasting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Twenty children, aged six and seven, were shot dead, as well as six adults. The shooter then committed suicide.

The parents of Sandy Hook victims have led numerous campaigns to toughen gun control laws, but their efforts have largely failed.

Conspiracy theorists have falsely claimed the massacre was a government hoax, involving "actors" in a plot to discredit the gun lobby. The far-right agitator Alex Jones was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion in damages for making such claims.

- Virginia Tech (2007) -

A South Korean student at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute opened fire on the Blacksburg, Virginia, campus on April 16, 2007, killing 32 students and professors before taking his own life.

Thirty-three people were wounded.

The gunman had apparently idolized the shooters at a 1999 school massacre in Columbine, Colorado, referring to them as "martyrs" in a video, part of a hate-filled manifesto he mailed to police during his assault.

- Columbine High School (1999) -

Two teenagers from Columbine, Colorado, armed with an assortment of weapons and homemade bombs, went on a rampage at their local high school.

Twelve students and a teacher were killed during the April 20, 1999, massacre. Another 24 people were wounded.

Columbine, whose name has become synonymous with school shootings, was one of the first -- and still counts among the deadliest -- such shootings in the United States.

bur-mlm/ec
GREEN BAY  More than 36 years after 22-year-old Lisa Holstead's death, a Racine man was sentenced Monday morning to 10 years in prison.

Lou Griffin, 67, was sentenced Monday for homicide by reckless conduct, with 10 years the maximum penalty available under laws in 1986, when the crime was committed.

Lou Griffin is taken out of the courtroom past family members of Lisa Holstead following his sentencing hearing on March 27, 2023, in Green Bay, Wis. Griffin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for homicide by reckless conduct for killing Holstead in 1986.

In August 1986, Holstead's body was found in a marshy area of the northwest side of Green Bay, near Ken Euers Nature Park. She had been strangled with a piece of her own clothing. For more than three decades, the case remained unsolved and became Green Bay's oldest cold-case homicide.

Six of Holstead's family members  two sisters, her brother, her niece, her son and her granddaughter  all made witness statements during the sentencing hearing. They described the negative impact the long cold case had on their family, and expressed their displeasure with the maximum available sentence.

Steven Holstead holds a photo of his sister, Lisa, and looks directly at Lou Griffin during a sentencing hearing on March 27, 2023, in Green Bay, Wis. Griffin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for homicide by reckless conduct for killing Lisa Holstead in 1986.

Holstead's family members addressed Griffin directly. Some took the stand wearing shirts displaying an photo of Holstead.

"The pain it caused our family cannot even be described to you. Many tears. I have thought about Lisa all these years, every day," Steven Holstead said. "It's been 13,377 days since you murdered her."

Holstead's family also shared memories and described Lisa Holstead's characteristics including that she was kind, outgoing, trusting, creative, and a great mother to her son, Jeremy Holstead, who was 5 years old when she was killed.

Steven Holstead said the family had limited photos and no videos of his sister. While presenting his statement at the witness stand, he showed a framed picture of Lisa Holstead and played an audio recording of her singing as a child.

Alexis and Jeremy Holstead, granddaughter and son of Lisa Holstead, speak during a sentencing hearing for Lou Griffin on March 27, 2023, in Green Bay, Wis. Griffin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for homicide by reckless conduct for killing Lisa Holstead in 1986.

In 2020, Griffin was connected to the cold case through forensic genetic genealogy. Police collected Griffin's DNA from beer cans and a cigarette butt and found it matched with a 1998 DNA analysis of semen found at the scene.

According to a criminal complaint, Griffin told investigators he had been high on cocaine and was drinking alcohol on the night of Aug. 12, 1986. He said he may have had sex with Holstead, but denied killing her.

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Griffin has a history of violence against women, including strangulation. He was living in Green Bay for a month before Holstead's death, after he was released on parole from the Green Bay Correctional Institution for second-degree sexual assault of a child.

Since 2020, the case has been "very litigous," Brown County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Hinkfuss said. Griffin previously faced more serious homicide charges, but entered a plea deal of no contest to the reduced charge in January.

When delivering Griffin's sentence, Hinkfuss said Holstead's homicide was "a brutal, despicable and heinous act," but the sentence he delivers is bound by the laws as they were at the time of the crime.

Brown County District Attorney David Lasee requested the maximum possible sentence, while acknowledging that it was "woefully inadequate."

"The serious of this crime cannot be overstated," Brown County District Attorney David Lasee said. "He failed to take accountability and avoided justice for 34 years. The impact that has had on the family is significant."

Peter Heyne, one of Griffin's three attorneys, requested a lesser sentence, saying Griffin had already been sitting in jail for two years and was in poor health.

A photograph of Lisa Holstead sits in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing for Lou Griffin on March 27, 2023, in Green Bay, wis.

When delivering his sentence, Hinkfuss said Griffin has continued to victimize Holstead's family by offering no explanation and failing to take responsibility. He explained the limitations of the sentence he was able to give, since Wisconsin's current sentencing system, known as "truth in sentencing," wasn't enacted until 2000. Under current Wisconsin law, homicide by reckless conduct, a Class C felony, carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Griffin will be eligible for parole after serving one quarter of his sentence, and must be released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, Lasee said. He will also need to pay restitution  the amount will be determined at a later date.

RELATED:Forensic genealogy led to Racine man's arrest in 1986 homicide of Lisa Holstead of Green Bay

RELATED:Brown County cold case from 1986 ends Friday with a no contest plea by Racine man linked to case by DNA test

Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Racine man sentenced to 10 years in prison for 1986 cold-case homicide
WASHINGTON  The Mississippians who gathered to revise their state constitution in 1890 with new voting restrictions couldn't have been clearer about their intent: "We came here to exclude the Negro," a leading member of the group said at the time.

More than 130 years later, the Supreme Court is weighing whether to hear an appeal that challenges a key element of that effort  a permanent voting ban on people convicted of certain felonies  that remains part of Mississippi's constitution today.

Eleven states, including Mississippi, don't automatically restore voting rights after convicted felons serve their prison sentences, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But voting rights experts say that even among those states, Mississippi is an outlier because of how difficult it is for people to regain the right to vote.

Roughly 1 in 7 Black voting-age Mississippians is disenfranchised, according to the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group.

"If the court were to take on this case  and hopefully, as we are arguing, rule against Mississippi  it really would convey a point that the right to vote is the essence of our democratic society," said Patricia Okonta, an assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. "Any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of a representative government and should be outlawed."

What's at stake in the Supreme Court case on Mississippi's voting ban?

At Mississippi's 1890 constitutional convention, delegates eliminated the right to vote for people convicted of felonies thought to be "Black crimes," a perception based largely on which crimes were prosecuted. So while burglary, theft, arson and forgery were included as crimes that could wipe out a person's right to vote, murder and rape were not added to the list until 78 years later in 1968.

Two Black residents of Mississippi, one convicted of forgery and the other of embezzlement  both unable to vote because of the provision  sued in 2017 asserting that the provision violated the equal protection clause. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sided with the state, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate the provisions were motivated by discriminatory intent and holding that any "racist taint" had been "cured" by amendments to the provision.

The Supreme Court has rescheduled the appeal for consideration five times since February. The court will eventually decide whether to grant or deny review.



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In a series of recent decisions, the Supreme Court has slowly reduced the scope of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

'Government under the control of the white people'

Twenty-five years after the end of the Civil War, as African Americans began to gain political power throughout the nation, Mississippi enacted voting prohibitions intended to suppress that movement.

The state's senior senator, James George, said that the convention's "first duty" would be to change the state's constitution to ensure "a home government, under the control of the white people of the state," court records show. One county delegate declared that the state's government should be "for all time in the control of the white race."

The constitution that emerged barred people convicted of "bribery, burglary, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretenses, perjury, forgery, embezzlement or bigamy," from voting. There is little disagreement that the drafters selected crimes that they thought would suppress the Black vote.

What's at issue in Harness v. Watson is whether the "taint" of a Jim Crow-era law can be "cured" by later amendments. In 1950, the state amended the constitution to remove burglary from the list of crimes. In 1968 the state amended the provision again to include murder and rape. The rest of the prohibition remains as it was in 1890.

Because there is no evidence of discriminatory intent when the state revised the constitution in 1968, Mississippi has argued, the provision is in the clear.

"The state's 1950 and 1968 enactments purged any taint from the 1890 law," Mississippi told the Supreme Court. In both cases, the state said, "voters approved in its entirety the new list of crimes by majority vote and without improper purpose."

Poll workers wait for voters in Mississippi in 2022.

What's the big picture?

In a series of recent decisions, the Supreme Court has slowly reduced the scope of the Voting Rights Act of 1965  a landmark law signed by President Lyndon Johnson that was intended to ensure African Americans have equal access to voting. In 2021, a divided court upheld absentee ballot restrictions in Arizona in a decision that is expected to make it harder to win other voting discrimination suits.

Last fall, several of the court's conservatives expressed skepticism about a challenge to Alabama's congressional map, which includes 1 district out of 7 with a majority of Black voters even though African Americans make up 27% of the state's population. A decision in that case, Merrill v. Milligan, is expected by June.

In the Mississippi appeal, both sides rely heavily on a Supreme Court precedent from 1985. A unanimous court invalidated a provision of Alabama's constitution approved in 1901 that permitted disenfranchisement for crimes "involving moral turpitude." The Mississippi plaintiffs say their constitution is similarly discriminatory but the state counters that, unlike Mississippi, Alabama had never amended the provision.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court asked to toss Jim Crow voting ban aimed at Black felons
Great Lavra Bell Tower, January 6, 2023

The report mentions that Ukraines SBU security service conducted searches in monasteries, offices, educational institutions, and other properties of the UOC-MP in Kyiv, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Volyn, Kherson, Ternopil, Poltava, and Zakarpattya oblasts.

Read also: What will happen to the Moscow Patriarchate monks at Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra?

The UN claims that in some cases, SBU officers interrogated clergy using a polygraph.

"OHCHR is concerned that the states activities targeting the UOC-MP could be discriminatory," the UN said.

OHCHR also recalls the need to ensure that all those facing criminal charges enjoy the full spectrum of applicable fair trial rights.

There have been numerous reported cases of UOC-MP clergy supporting Russias war on Ukraine, and several cases of priests from the Moscow-ledchurch acting as collaborators in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Rats on the sidewalk on West Broadway, New York City, in 2018. Credit - Charlie Hamilton James

Not every politician is willing to admit they owe their election to rats. But Laura Mikulski, city councilwoman for Ferndale, Michigan isnt shy about attributing her political careerliterallyto skeevy, long-tailed rodents.

Mikulski, who educated herself in all things rat control, is the co-founder of the Ferndale Rat Patrol. She created a citizens movement to accurately assess the local scope of its burgeoning rat problem, embrace less environmentally harmful methods of pest control, and even host a month-long census, called Traptoberfest, in which participants win gold-painted spring trap trophies for bringing in the most dead rats. Nobody knows Laura Mikulski, the councilwoman, who won election in 2019, says. But they all love The Rat Lady.

If Mikulskis political path thus far sounds unlikely, its nothing compared to her next move: guide Ferndale as it embarks on its first experiment with rodent fertility. As in, birth control for rats.

ContraPest, the birth control for rats. Inside a ContraPest kit, there is a bait station and a feeder tray. Courtesy SenesTech

In April, Ferndale will begin trialing one of the more innovative weapons in the anti-rat arsenal: a product, called Contrapest, that has the potential to change the way cities around the world address their own rat situations by limiting the rodents ability to reproduce. Senestech, the company that makes the plant-based product, claims it prevents the critters from reproducing for 45 days per dose, reducing populations humanely without posing danger to other animals or the environment. And thanks to another innovative discovery by a small Danish biotech startup that will allow a key ingredient to be grown in labs, it will soon be a lot more readily available.

As climate change, population growth and land-use changes increase conflicts between humans and wildlife around the world, contraceptives are proving a promising pest-control alternative to traditional methods to mitigate these impacts, such as culling, that can can be ineffective, environmentally harmful, and often publicly opposed, explains Giovanna Massei, director of the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control Europe. Already, contraceptives in different formats are being used to reduce deer populations in U.S. suburbs, monkeys in Thailand, and feral pigeons in Barcelona.

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A photo of a rat drinking ContraPest, from a ContraPest user. The rat is on top of a bait station with a clear lid. Courtesy Tom Ohmart, FYXX Foundation

No one has invented tiny rat condoms yet, so ContraPest is an EPA-registered oral contraceptive that rats consume simply by eating it. It works via two active compounds, one of which induces a kind of menopause in females while the other, called triptolide, limits sperm production in males. Delivered cumulatively over time, the product has reduced populations by 95%, according to Senestechs own research.

Senestech says its compound is non-toxic and poses no danger to other animals or the environment. And although rats must continue to consume it to maintain the contraceptive effects, according to Senestech CEO Joel Fruendt, uptake hasnt been a problem. Its very sweet, so they love it, he says. Its like a milkshake for rats.

The world is going to need a lot of these milkshakes. Although its unclear whether actual populations increased during the pandemic or simply sightings of them, cities from Boston to Portland are reporting record numbers of complaints about the rodents. By December of 2022, the problem had grown so confounding in New York City that mayor Eric Adams posted a job announcement for a highly motivated and somewhat bloodthirsty rat czar. And the problem is not limited to the U.S.

In September 2019, then Brooklyn borough President Eric Adams announces the results of a pilot program aimed at curbing the rat population in New York. In December, Mayor Adams' administration posted a job listing for Director of Rodent Mitigation, a position that pays between $120,000 and $170,000 a year. Angela WeissAFP/Getty Images

In Londonwhich has struggled with the critters since the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in the 1600sthere is more than one rat for every five inhabitants. In Paris, the numbers are even higher: between 1.5 and 1.75 per resident. In Mumbai, city catchers kill 1,000 rats each night. And an astonishing 100 million rats are estimated to burrow beneath the streets of Mexico City.

Beyond their reviled reputation, rats also pose a serious threat to human health and infrastructure. They spread diseases like leptospirosis (which killed a record number of New Yorkers in 2019 and is spread primarily through contact with rat urine), decimate harvests, and destroy property. And as an invasive species in many parts of the world, they pose a grave threat to biodiversity.

Rat biology bears some of the blame. The average litter for the common Norway rat ranges from five to 12 pups. With females having three to six litters in their year-long lifetime, a single pair of rats breeding in ideal conditions can produce 15,000 descendants in a year.

Local graffiti asking people to use the bins in their housing estate in Canning Town to avoid inadvertently feeding rats on Oct. 17, 2022 in London. Mike KempIn Pictures/Getty Images

But the rise of rats cant all be chocked up to rodent randiness; humans, with their garbage bins that act like buffet lines and their sewer pipes that make such cozy homes, have also helped rats thrive.

Its one of the species that has benefitted from the success of humans, says biologist Naia Morueta-Holme, professor of macroecology at the University of Copenhagen. Besides being spread by humans from their native range in Asia, they benefit from human constructionsfirst granaries, then cities have provided food sources and perfect habitat for rats.

Even the signature human invention of plastic has contributed, by making a lot more food accessible to rats now that trash is generally put out in flimsy bags rather than sturdy metal cans. And global warming brought on by humans has also boosted populations; warmer winters allow rats to breed during months that were previously too cold.

Against this rising army of rodents, most available weapons fall short ethically, environmentally, efficiently, or all of the above. Traps can be cruelglue traps often leave the animal starving for days before dying, while rats caught in snap traps will chew off their own limbs to free themselves. Chemical poisons cause pain before death and are toxic to other animals who might ingest them, and their residue can contaminate soil and water. Rats learn to avoid bait that makes them sick and can even build up resistance to some rodenticides.

City sanitation officers dispose of rats turned over by residents in exchange for cash at the City Environmental Management Office in Marikina, Manila, Philippines, on Sept. 15, 2022. Ezra AcayanGetty Images

Contraception avoids those problemsthough as a novel product targeting an especially unloved creature, Contrapest has a particular obstacle to overcome: blood thirst. Although rats are highly intelligent animals who can be trained to detect both cancer and landmines, they also have a long history of skeeving people out thanks to their associations with trash, sewers, and diseases going back to the Black Death. As the popularity of rat-control YouTubers (yes, there is such a thing) like Twin Home Exterminators and Shawn Webb attests, people want to see dead rats, says Senestech CEO Fruendt.

Until now, the labor and expense involved in attaining one of the products active ingredients had also been a challenge. Used in traditional Chinese medicine, triptolide is derived from a rare plant called Thunder God Vine that grows in the countrys mountains and is mostly harvested by hand. Each plant produces so little triptolide that, in the region, the substance is worth 15 times its weight in gold.

Thats where Danish biologist Johan Andersen-Ranberg comes in. He has figured out a way to get common yeast, injected with the proper genetic code, to grow triptolide. Its a bit like brewing beer, he says. You feed sugar to yeast, and you get this precious substance on the other side.

Yet having discovered a way to produce the triptolide in the lab, Andersen-Ranberg realized he had no idea what to do with it. So, like any highly-trained scientist, he Googled it, and learned that Senestech had recently begun marketing its product based on natural triptolide for rat control. Together with business partner Jon Christensen, Andersen-Ranberg launched a startup called TriptoBio, and entered into a partnership with the American company. Now, while they wait for EPA registration for the lab-grown compound specifically, theyre scouting locations and working on how to scale up their triptolide-producing yeast.

Jon Christensen, Left, and Johan Andersen-Ranberg of TriptoBio at a greenhouse used to grow various plants for research purposes at the University of Copenhagen in Feb. 16. This Danish biotech startup will allow a key rare ingredient to be grown in labs. Thomas Nielsen

Although he didnt start his research with rat birth control in mind, the scientist is excited about the application. I like that its a bigger problem that everyone can relate to. Rat pest control is kind of like sewers; sewer systems have probably done more to improve health in modern society than anything else but no one talks about them. This could have a similar impact.

Senestech expects that the lab-grown version will allow it to guarantee supply as it ramps up production while reducing costsimportant steps as it attempts a paradigm shift in pest control. Even so, challenges remain, especially in big cities.

When ContraPest was trialed in Washington, D.C. in 2019, it reduced camera-detected rat sightings by 90%, according to the companys results. But according to a spokesman for the Department of Health, the district decided not to continue with the product after the results proved inconclusive.

Although the DOH declined to go into more detail, Daniel Neves, head biologist for the UK pest control company Inoculand has some ideas on why the substance may be less effective in urban settings than rural ones. As someone with many years of experience (and the horrifying stories of rats streaming up through the toilets of newly built homes to prove it), he knows that the key to controlling rodents is access.

That product can be very efficient, Neves says, But if the rats dont come to where it is, there will always be a reservoir of them. And the main problem with rats is that they live deep in the sewers where it is hard to get to them.

A rat in Tribeca, New York City. Charlie Hamilton James

Other experts have been thrilled with Contrapest. Wesley Parker, the co-owner of Parker Eco-Pest Control in Seattle, was initially skeptical about the products claims, but after partnering with a wildlife population management foundation called FYXX to run a study in Seattles Queen Anne neighborhood in spring 2022, her doubts were erased.

It does require some patience, but the results speak for themselves, Parker says. Not only did we see the population go down by 90% in a matter of months, but we heard anecdotally from businesses adjacent to the test site that theyve never been rodent-free until now.

Shes convinced that the new technique is at least part of the future. Birth control plus physically sealing up a structure will soon be the gold standard for eco-friendly rodent control.

Thats certainly what Laura Makulski is hoping for when Ferndale starts its own ContraPest trial next month. Public support for the initiative is strong, despite the relatively high price tag (the pilot project will cost the city roughly $8,000 for a years supply).

We have that support because weve educated people here so they want to do better, and the things that weve been doingusing normal rat poisons that kill our owlsthats not doing better. We have to be smarter.
 Flash

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent a message of sympathy to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over the latter's contraction of influenza and pneumonia.

In his message, Xi said that upon learning of Lula's illness and thus having to postpone his visit to China, he would like to extend his sincere sympathy to the Brazilian president and wish him a speedy recovery.

Xi also welcomed Lula's early visit when it is convenient for both sides.
TV loves itself some mobsters. Theres no getting around it. From Tony Soprano to Nucky Thompson to Frank The Fixer Tagliano, were enchanted by the bad guys and what they bring to the table (generally menace and blood, not necessarily in that order). Shows like The Sopranos, Peaky Blinders and Boardwalk Empire  as well as The Untouchables in the early 1960s  have captivated us and generated plenty of awards attention in the bargain.

And now here comes another show with malice in its heart, if a wink in its eye, looking to compete for some Emmy attention: Tulsa King, the Paramount+ series that launched its first season last November and is plotting to enter production on season two soon (likely early this summer). Its a crime dramedy set in Tulsa, Oklahoma that stars Sylvester Stallone in his first scripted starring role on TV.

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SEEWill Sylvester Stallone land an Emmy nomination for Tulsa King?

Stallone portrays New York Mafia capo Dwight The General Manfredi and catches up with him just when hes released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests at heart, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal enterprise in a place thats about as far from New York as Saturn is from Boise.

Those backing the show (which was created by Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone fame) have opted to submit Tulsa King for Emmy consideration as a comedy, with Stallone put up as lead comedy actor. It makes sense when you consider there so much thicker competition among dramas. Not that either genre is a cakewalk.

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SEETulsa King showrunner Terence Winter on writing for Sylvester Stallone: I had his voice in my head

With that in mind, lets take a look at a dozen of the more intriguing mob-themed shows that TV has produced, heading back six decades or so.

THE UNTOUCHABLES (1959-63)  Not the 1987 movie starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro but the classic black-and-white series that ran on ABC for four seasons. It starred Robert Stack as the uncorruptible Justice Department chief Eliot Ness , a real-life fed who took on Al Capone and the Chicago mob back in the day. It won two Emmys in 1960  for lead series actor (Stack) and for its editing.

CRIME STORY (1986-88)  Michael Mann produced this NBC drama set in the early 1960s that dealt with Chicago Police Detective Lieut. Mike Torello (the underrated Dennis Farina ) and his pursuit of organized crime from Chicago to Las Vegas  in particular a hotshot young mobster named Ray Luca (Anthony Denison). Show was nominated for three Emmys  notably for its cinematography and hairstyling.

WISEGUY (1987-1990)  This exceptional series starred Ken Wahl as Vinnie Terranova, an undercover agent whose job is to infiltrate criminal organizations at great threat to his continued health. His superior officer is played by a pre-Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul Jonathan Banks. Great writing, great bad guys. The show was nominated for seven Emmys, including top drama series in 1989.

THE LAST DON (1997)  Not technically a series but a mere miniseries, its included here because it was so first-rate. Based on a novel by The Godfather writer Mario Puzo , Last Don deals with a mob clans various travails, starring Danny Aiello, Joe Mantegna, Kirstie Alley and Daryl Hannah . It earned three Emmy bids, including for top miniseries and for Mantegna and Alleys supporting work. They wuz robbed!

THE SOPRANOS (1999-2007)  The mob series against which all others will forever be compared (and possibly every other drama, period), The Sopranos tells the story of a Jersey-based Italian-American mob clan with an ingenious mix of darkness and mirth. It won 21 Emmys, including three for Outstanding Drama Series, six for its writing, and three apiece for stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco .

BROTHERHOOD (2206-08)  An underappreciated, very dark three-season entry, Brotherhood examines an Irish family the Caffee brothers on Rhode Island. One brother ( Jason Clarke ) is a local politician while another ( Jason Isaacs ) is aligned with the Irish Mob. Annabeth Gish also has a key role in a series that never received any Emmy attention, but it wasnt for a lack of trying.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE (2010-14)  Martin Scorsese co-produced this classic HBO Prohibition-era drama set in Atlantic City in the 1920s that starred Steve Buscemi as a local politico named Nucky Thompson who consorts with everyone  from the aristocracy to the lowlife gangsters  in an effort to survive. It won nearly as many Emmys as The Sopranos (20), mostly below the line.

LILYHAMMER (2012-14)  This comedy-drama comes about as close as any in TV history to the storyline and vibe of Tulsa King. The starred Steve Van Zandt of Sopranos and Springsteen fame as a former New York-based gangster named Frank The Fixer Tagliano whos trying to start a new life in middle-of-nowhere Lillehammer, Norway after getting placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program. A fun show, well produced.

MOB CITY (2013-14)  Frank Darabont , writer-director of The Shawshank Redemption created this neo-noir TNT crime drama set in the gangster and corruption-encrusted Los Angeles of the 1940s. Its based on the true story of the Los Angeles Police Departments battle against Bugsy Siegel and the L.A. Mob. It was nominated for three Emmys in 2014 (for sound editing, visual effects and hairstyling).

PEAKY BLINDERS (2013-22)  This period crime drama is set in Great Britain, in case you thought America and Italy had cornered the market on mobsters. Its based on a real-life criminal gang that terrorized England in the wake of World War I, with a brilliant cast led by Cillian Murphy . The show found a much larger international audience after a deal was signed to have Netflix carry it worldwide in 2021.

OZARK (2017-22)  Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner lead the exceptional cast of this Netflix drama about a Chicago financial advisor who is forced to uproot his family and move to the Missouri Ozarks after he runs afoul of a Mexican drug cartel for which hes laundering money. Its won four Emmys, three by the phenomenal Garners supporting work and one for Batemans direction.

GODFATHER OF HARLEM (2019-23)  This show would get an awful lot more attention if it didnt show on MGM+ (formerly Epix). A prequel to the 2007 feature American Gangster, it stars Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker as the real-life NYC gangster Ellsworth Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s gets out of prison and winds up taking over the Harlem heroin market. Why? Because he can.

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Dont miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala.  Raytheon Technologies exited the U.S. Armys Precision Strike Missile competition in early 2020 after struggling to get to a first flight test. But now, after making a deal with the service, the company has partnered with Northrop Grumman for a chance to develop a future increment of the munition.

Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were the initial competitors, developing the PrSM to replace the Armys Tactical Missile System. PrSM is one of the key technology development programs in the Armys long-range precision fires portfolio, part of the services new wave of modernization priorities identified in 2017.

The Army awarded Raytheon a $97.7 million contract in February to advance its design for the Long Range Maneuverable Fires program, planned to become the PrSM Increment 4 effort. This fourth step focuses on dramatically extending the range of PrSM, possibly from its current planned 499 kilometers (310 miles) to more than double that distance.

Working collaboratively with Northrop Grumman, the team will mature its innovative design, featuring advanced propulsion technology as a key enabler for extending range, as well as enhancement for survivability and lethality, according to a Raytheon statement.

The two companies will design, build and test the propulsion subsystem for DeepStrike-ER, which they describe as an advanced missile solution that will demonstrate the capability to achieve the Armys desired range and effectiveness against next-generation threats.

Brad Barnard, Raytheons executive director of precision fires and maneuver, told Defense News the company is developing an entirely new missile design rather than reworking its PrSM approach from the previous competitive effort.

Raytheon was developing a PrSM missile in an Army-led competitive technology maturation and risk reduction phase, but struggled to get the weapon ready for flight tests. The Army and Raytheon mutually decided to end the effort in March 2020.

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By that time, Lockheed had already participated in two successful test flights. The firm is now preparing to field the first increment of the missile to the Army this year.

The service has plans to field PrSM in capability increments, with the second focused on adding a ship-killing capability through an enhanced seeker, with fielding planned for fiscal 2026. The Army has not disclosed a plan and path for the third increment.

Lockheed also announced Monday the U.S. chose it to develop a missile for the PrSM Increment 4 effort, noting its weapon can be fired from existing Army launchers to defeat distant threats at ranges that significantly exceed those of the PrSM baseline.

According to the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium, that contract award is worth $33 million.

Lockheed said in a statement the first phase of the effort will focus on design and risk reduction. There will be optional follow-on phases that lead to flight tests.

The Army has not shared a detailed schedule for design development.

The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, made by Lockheed Martin, will fire the PrSM.

In October 2021, the Army conducted a long-range flight test of PrSM that is believed to have exceeded the current range requirement of 499 kilometers. The Army has not disclosed the distance it traveled during the flight test at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, but the goal was to see how far the weapon can travel beyond its previous requirement.

The original intent was to reach a maximum of 499 kilometers, but Americas 2019 withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia has allowed the U.S. Army to develop the missile to fly farther. The treaty had prevented the development of missiles with ranges between 499 and 5,000 kilometers.
Rainbow City Mayor Joe Taylor is unhappy with the latest twist in Sen. Andrew Jones efforts to rein in occupational license fees levied by his city and four others in Etowah County.

Jones' SB65 was approved on a 5-4 vote last week by the Senates County and Municipal Government Committee. It would cap occupational taxes at 1%, and require any municipality with a higher rate to reduce it by two-tenths of a percent annually until it hits 1%.

Twenty-five municipalities levy such taxes in Alabama, and five of the seven that have a higher rate than 1% are in Etowah County  Attalla, Gadsden, Glencoe, Rainbow City and Southside, each at 2%.

Should Jones' bill pass, Etowah County would be solely impacted by another section: Any county with two or more municipalities collecting more than a 1% occupational tax as of Jan. 1, 2023, would have to hold a referendum in 2028 on whether the tax should continue at all once the rate is reduced to 1%.

The Senate committee added an amendment to the bill specifying that no drawdown of occupational taxes would occur until the January after any indebtedness by a municipality that is encumbered by such taxes is paid off.

However, its another revision that has Taylor upset.

Jones original bill stipulated that occupational taxes couldnt be levied in any property annexed into a municipality after Jan. 1, 2023. The revision changes that generic property to property that is an industrial megasite of 1,000 or more acres.

Taylor, who attended the Senate committee hearing on the legislation, sees that as a shot at Rainbow City. Last year, it reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the Etowah County Commission that it would eventually annex Etowah Countys 1,100-acre Northeast Alabama Regional Megasite, to provide infrastructure and basic services.

Taylor called the move a threat to what would be the best economic development driver this area has seen in its history.

With the occupational tax in place, Rainbow City would receive more revenue once companies are up and running, and employing workers, at the megasite. However, Taylor said county governments generally cant provide the type of services and meet needs to the extent that cities can, such as fire and police protection, business code enforcement and parks and recreation offerings, which was the motivation for the proposed annexation.

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Jones, R-Centre, said hes passionate about Etowah Countys megasite, and worked to earmark local fee revenue for it and to amend the Growing Alabama Tax Credit to prioritize megasites in general, resulting in millions of dollars in investments.

He reiterated his belief that occupational taxes are a hindrance to economic development. I want to see the megasite succeed, but I am confident that taxing prospective new jobs is not the way to ensure that success, he said.

Taylor and the other county mayors whose cities levy the tax have disputed that; he again noted that Tuskegee, which has the highest occupational tax in the state at 3%, recently landed South Korean automotive supplier Samkees first U.S. plant.

Jones also pointed out that NEAR was originally conceived as a county-wide site, not as a tax revenue land-grab for a nearby city.

Rainbow City presently gets about $2.4 million a year from its occupational tax. Taylor reiterated what other mayors have been saying since Jones efforts became known: They cant lose that money without it impacting the level of services they deliver to their cities residents.

Taylor said any economic growth isnt going to keep up with the drawdown, adding, All we can do is take a very reactive position that well have to cut services.

He said Rainbow Citys budget is already tight, and the city doesnt spend an excessive amount of money on personnel, trying to make up for smaller salaries with better benefits.

But the reality, as Taylor sees it, is that the funding will have to be replaced from other sources, such as increased property taxes that would impact Rainbow Citys property owners  not just to maintain services, but to preserve the citys bond rating.

We have a double-A-plus bond rating because of prudent management, he said, which could drop if the occupational tax money used for debt service goes away. If we have the inability to borrow money, it will stymie our economic development.

Jones called the threats of increased property taxes an attempt to scare the taxpayers, noting that Rainbow City increased its sales tax by 1% in December despite the mayor stating that budgets were flush when he took over.

Taylor accused Jones of trying to do an end run around the process by introducing what effectively is a local bill in the guise of a statewide bill, because he knows the rest of the countys delegation won't provide the unanimous consent needed to bring a local bill to the floor.

He called Jones actions a personal attack on his district and political grandstanding, because he wants to be seen as the senator who eliminated the occupational tax. He said the senator agreeing to the amendment on occupational taxes encumbered for indebtedness  which could take years  shows hes less serious about eliminating the tax than he is about gaining a victory.

I dont like taxes, period, Taylor added. But I like police and fire protection and paved streets a lot more than I dislike taxes.

He said a senator during the committee hearing on the bill said people might not like Alabamas tax system, but its the way we do business. Along those lines, Rainbow Citys occupational tax has been in place, and its proceeds have been a key part of the citys budget, for more than 60 years.

Its taken us 60 years to get a senator wise enough, Taylor said, to think he knows better about how cities should conduct their business.

Jones said, I'm here to work for the people of my district, not play politics, and challenged Taylor to support a simple solution to the controversy: allowing the people of Etowah County vote on the issue.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Rainbow City mayor again criticizes occupational tax bill
PARIS (AP)  After spending decades portraying generals' wives, a countess and a courtesan, Renee Fleming walked gingerly onto the stage of the Bastille Opera in a blond wig, red coat and black gloves to depict Pat Nixon, former first lady of the United States.

John Adams Nixon in China, a 1987 work among the most acclaimed American operas, received its Paris Opera premiere on Saturday night to eight minutes of applause following a revelatory production by Argentine director Valentina Carrasco that replaced literalism with metaphor. The lasting images were of a dark American eagle pitted against a bright red Chinese dragon and of ping-pong tables symbolizing both diplomacy and the quest for superiority.

You really have to be in your mid-60s to even remember this other than as its something that you learn about in school, said Fleming, a 64-year-old soprano who bid farewell to the standard repertory six years ago. Im sorry, but in the context of whats going on now, Watergate doesnt seem quite as horrific as it did at the time.

Thomas Hampson, a 67-year-old American baritone, starred as President Richard Nixon, complete with hunched shoulders and a sweaty face he repeatedly dabbed with a white handkerchief. Hampson broke out Nixons stiff V-for-victory motion with arms outstretched during curtain calls.

Hampson was a high school senior in Spangle, Washington, when Nixon made the seven-day trip to China in 1972, the first visit by an American president following the 1949 communist revolution.

The whole effort of an American president to just simply shake hands across the globe was extremely impressive, Hampson said. Nixon will always and forever be Watergate. But there are parts of the presidency of Richard Nixon and parts of Richard Nixon that we just have to parse out and respect for what it is.

Adams, now 76, made the trip from his California home and signed autographs during intermission, then joined the curtain calls. He wrote the opera with librettist Alice Goodman.

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They are larger-than-life characters. They created these personae, as most politicians do, but between Mao and Kissinger and Madam Mao and Nixon, theyre kind of political archetypes and I think that just captures the public imagination, he said.

Nixon launched at the Houston Grand Opera with realistic sets by Peter Sellars that were reproduced for the 2011 Metropolitan Opera premiere. The Paris Opera became the first major European house to stage it, and Nixon debuts at Madrids Teatro Real on April 17 in a John Fulljames staging that first appeared at the Royal Danish Opera in 2019.

Fleming was making her Santa Fe Opera debut on a rainy night in August 2019 when company artistic director Alexander Neef approached her with an idea.

He said, `Im going to Paris and I want you to come for the first three of my seasons,' Fleming recalled Neef saying of his job starting in 2021-22. I was sort of shocked and said, `Well, let me see what I can think of that I could sing.

Carrasco, now 49, was living in Rome in 2020 and rushed to see the monument Ara Pacis Augustae after an impending pandemic closure was announced. While walking in, she received a call from Neef asking her to stage Nixon.

I thought it was a sign, Carrasco said

She had a flash to a childhood memory of seeing From Mao to Mozart, a film with violinist Isaac Stern that won the 1981 Academy Award for best documentary feature. A segment stuck in her head in which Stern gives a master class and tells a student to swing her instrument while playing as if swinging a ping-pong paddle.

Ping-pong is good because its like a terrain divided in two, like the Cold War, an Iron Curtain in-between, Carrasco said. Its a winner-loser situation, and I thought it was an interesting metaphor for the world. And Ping-Pong is a very beautiful choreographic for a visual. And the tiktok, tiktok, tiktok of the ping-pong ball reminded me of many places where the music is very percussive. And then, of course, there was Ping-Pong Diplomacy.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts a strong cast that includes Xiaomeng Zhang as Chou En-lai, Joshua Bloom as Henry Kissinger, John Matthew Myers as Mao Tse-Tung and Kathleen Kim as Madame Mao. There are seven more performances through April 16, and the April 7 show will be streamed in France and aired later on Medici and Mezzo.

Carrasco splits the stage in two levels early on, scenes of diplomacy on top and torture on the bottom.

Kissinger plays table tennis against Chou, each dressed like a wrestler entering a ring. Chou wins the match 69-1  China repeatedly cheats by not crediting Kissinger with points he won. Carrasco had tried 49-3 during a rehearsal, using the numbers for the French constitution article that allowed the retirement age to be lowered without French Assembly approval.

A clip of the Stern film is shown between the second and third acts.

Fleming prepared by speaking with former Nixon aide Frank Gannon and reading Will Swifts Pat and Dick: The Nixons, an Intimate Portrait of a Marriage.

I didnt know he was funny. I never would have guessed that, Fleming said. I didnt know anything about her. So all of this material is really interesting. She was fiercely protective of him and of her children.
Feverpitched / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Like just about everything else, rental prices in the United States have been on a steep rise in recent months, averaging a record high of $1,792 a month in February, according to Realtor.com. Many tenants are having a hard enough time making ends meet without having to dish out a higher rent payment every month.

See: 2022 Financial Forecast for Renters  Will Rents Go Down Anytime Soon?

Find: Rent Jumped 17% in a Year, Reaches New High  Heres Where Youll Pay the Most

If you find yourself in danger of falling behind on the rent, several resources are available that can help you cover some of the extra costs, or at least list various options so you can figure out a Plan B. Heres a quick look at some of them.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program

The U.S. Treasury Departments Emergency Rental Assistance Program was established in 2020 to provide financial help to struggling renters impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds were distributed directly to states and U.S. territories, which then provide rental assistance to eligible tenants. You will need to contact your state agency to see if you qualify. Just be aware that some states have already used up all of their funds.

See: Is Rent-To-Buy the Next Hot Market? Wall Street Thinks So

HUD Rental Assistance

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments Rental Assistance program offers numerous resources to find affordable apartments, apply for public housing, enroll in the Section 8 voucher program, learn more about options in your area and familiarize yourself with your rights as a tenant.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is set up to help low-income families, the elderly and the disabled afford housing in the private market by paying all or part of the rent. Housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, so participants are able to find their own housing  including single-family homes, townhouses and apartments.

Similarly, the public housing program helps low-income, elderly and disabled tenants find affordable apartments in their area. You can apply by clicking here to contact a public housing agency in your state.

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Explore: Affordable Housing  Rent Control Laws Are Back in These States

A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the PHA on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program.

HUD also lets you search for affordable housing in the Low Income Housing Tax Credits database, which lists properties that have benefited by the credit. You can find the database here.

If you need advice, contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency here, or call toll-free at 800-569-4287.

Find: Renting on Your Own for the First Time? Heres Your Financial Checklist

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is another federal agency set up to help with housing costs. It works in partnership with state and local organizations to distribute money to help landlords and tenants struggling to keep up with rent and other bills. Many programs take applications from both landlords and renters. Learn more here, or browse frequently asked questions about eligibility and other topics here.

For additional information, contact your local protection bureau agency.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 2023 Housing Market Correction: Rental Prices Hit Record High
U.S. Rep. Gabriel Gabe Vasquez visited several cities in New Mexico's second district early last week including Las Cruces, Belen and Alamogordo, stopping at Holloman Air Force Base to learn the innerworkings of the facility.

Vasquez plans to visit communities throughout his Second Congressional District frequently for the remainder of his term, which is up for re-election next year, said Vasquez spokesperson Valeria Ojeda-Avitia.

We plan to be back most district work periods and plan to be in the district as often as possible," she said.

Vasquez started his visits on March 13 in Socorro with a discussion on the shortage of healthcare workers in the region at the Socorro Mental Health clinic.

U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez at the Socorro Mental Health Clinic

He also stopped by manufacturing facilities like Airnov and Big Tuna Pipe with a commitment to growing New Mexicos manufacturing industry, expanding jobs, and strengthening local economies, according to a press release from Vasquez's office.

Vasquez's last stop on March 20 was in Alamogordo at Holloman Air Force base (HAFB).

"Holloman Air Force Base had the pleasure of hosting a visit from Congressman Gabe Vasquez from New Mexico's 2nd District March 14. It was an absolute honor to show him and his team what Holloman is all about and why we are America's premiere training wing," read a statement from HAFB.

Vasquez was recently chosen to join the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and said he took this opportunity to learn about serving and supporting service members to inform his work on the committee.

U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez at Holloman Airforce Base

I visited rural manufacturing facilities, rural healthcare clinics and met individually with constituents in Alamogordo. Im looking forward to taking the feedback I heard back to Washington to continue fighting for the livelihood of our communities, Vasquez said in a statement.

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Gabe Vasquez stops at Holloman Air Force Base during district tour
BERLIN (AP)  Two horses fit for a queen, please.

That's what Britain's Queen Elizabeth II had asked for as a gift during her state visit to Germany in 1978, weekly Der Spiegel reported Monday.

The expensive present raised eyebrows among German bureaucrats at the time, who noted that the Holsteiner and the gray Elizabeth requested cost more than any other offering made to a visiting head of state since the end of World War II.

Nevertheless, Germany's then-President Walter Scheel approved the gift in the interests of good bilateral relations, Der Spiegel reported citing previously confidential archive papers.

The magazine reported that the papers also noted the late monarch's aperitif preferences  gin and tonic  and dislike of helicopters.

Records showed that the British embassy had concerns about possible protests if Elizabeth visited Dresden during her trip in 1992. In the end she did attend a church service and was largely welcomed by locals in the city that was flattened by Allied bombing raids during the war, Der Spiegel reported.

Another sensitive issue during the trip was the question of whether Elizabeth would make a speech at the Bundestag. Der Spiegel reported that it was then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl who raised objections, possibly because of his lingering anger at Britain's efforts to block German reunification a few years earlier.

In total, Elizabeth made five state visits to Germany, most recently in 2015, though only files older than 30 years were released.

The report comes days before Elizabeth's son, King Charles III, makes his first state visit to Germany. The monarch was originally meant to visit France first, but plans for that trip were postponed due to anti-government protests in the country.

Charles' three-day visit to Germany from Wednesday to Friday will include stops in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg as part of a diplomatic outreach effort before his coronation on May 6. Unlike his mother, Charles will be permitted to speak before the Bundestag on Thursday.

Britain's royal family has ancestral ties to Germany. Before changing its name to Windsor due to concerns about anti-German sentiment during World War I the family bore the name Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, indicating its German heritage.
As congressional Republicans prepare for a budget showdown later this year with President Joe Biden, they say they will insist on large cuts to federal spending. So far, though, they have left out some pretty important details: What those cuts might be.

Republicans have been more willing to talk about what they wont cut. Party leaders have promised not to touch Medicare and Social Security. Republicans generally oppose reductions in military spending and veterans benefits. And neither party can do anything about interest payments on the debt that the government has already accumulated. Combined, these categories make up almost two-thirds of federal government spending.

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The largest remaining category involves health care spending that benefits lower- and middle-income families, including from Medicaid and Obamacare. Hard-right Republicans, like some in the Freedom Caucus, have signaled they will propose reductions to these programs. Party leaders, for their part, have said they would eye cuts to anti-poverty programs such as food stamps.

But cuts like these would have a big potential downside for Republicans: The partisan shifts of recent years mean that Republican voters now benefit from these redistributive programs even more than Democratic voters do.

As The Atlantics Ronald Brownstein recently wrote, The escalating confrontation between the parties over the federal budget rests on a fundamental paradox: The Republican majority in the House of Representatives is now more likely than Democrats to represent districts filled with older and lower-income voters who rely on the social programs that the GOP wants to cut.

Almost 70% of House Republicans represent districts where the median income is lower than the national median, according to researchers at the University of Southern California. By contrast, about 60% of House Democrats represent districts more affluent than the median.

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The politics of class, as Brownstein puts it, have been inverted.

Upside Down

Ive written before about the tensions that this inversion has created for Democrats. The party increasingly reflects the views of upper-income professionals who tend to be more liberal on social issues than most swing voters. Todays left is less religious and patriotic than the country as a whole and less concerned about crime and border security. The left is more focused on differences among Americans, especially by race, gender and sexuality, than on what Americans have in common.

This shift has been happening for a long time, but it has accelerated in the past decade. The new left is very conscious of identity, my colleague Nate Cohn wrote last week. Obama-era liberals tended to emphasize the commonalities between groups and downplayed long-standing racial, religious and partisan divisions. (In that article, Nate make a thoughtful attempt to define woke.)

These developments have created challenges for the Democratic Party. It has continued to lose working-class white voters and recently lost some Latino and Asian American voters. Biden and his aides spend considerable time thinking about these problems, and he has tried to take a less elitist approach. Democrats dont pay nearly as much attention to working-class folks as we used to, he has said.

But the new class dynamic also creates challenges for the Republican Party. For decades, it was the party that skewed affluent. It still had to manage the differences between its higher-income voters and its evangelical voters, but Republicans were mostly comfortable pushing for lower taxes and smaller government (other than the military). Paul Ryan, the former House speaker, embodied this outlook.

Donald Trump was able to engineer a hostile takeover of the party in 2016 partly because he recognized that many Republican voters had no interest in Ryan-style cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Trump promised to protect those programs and, unlike most Republican politicians, criticized trade deals. These positions helped him win the nomination and then the general election, as Matthew Yglesias of Substack has argued. In the 2024 Republican campaign, Trump is already using a similar strategy.

While Trump was president, however, he mostly did not govern as a populist. He acted more like a President Paul Ryan might have, cutting taxes on corporations and the affluent while trying to shrink Medicaid and repeal Obamacare. Those Trump policies werent popular. They contributed to the Republican Partys huge losses in the 2018 midterms and probably hurt Trumps reelection campaign too.

Polls show that even many Republican voters oppose cuts to government health care programs. The same message is evident in the outcome of state-level ballot initiatives: Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Utah have all voted to expand Medicaid.

The GOP Dilemma

The Republican Party has not yet figured out a solution to this problem. If the party were guided solely by public opinion, it might put together an agenda that was well to the right of the Democratic Party on social issues while also calling for higher taxes on the rich. There is quite a bit of economically populist appetite even among Republicans for raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, Bryan Bennett, who oversees polling at the Hub Project, a progressive group, told The Atlantic.

But the Republican Party retains enough of its wealthy base that it remains staunchly opposed to tax increases. Instead, Republicans say the solution to the budget deficit involves less spending. But the specific cuts they have talked about so far  like calls to reduce Medicaid and food stamps  dont come close to balancing the budget. Other Republicans have talked about reducing the woke bureaucracy, but it is not clear what that would entail.

The math doesnt actually work, my colleague Catie Edmondson, who covers Congress, said. This is such a dilemma for Republicans.

Adding to the challenge for Kevin McCarthy, the speaker, is the slim Republican House majority. McCarthy can lose only four votes and still pass a bill without Democratic support. It is very hard to envision a Republican budget that can satisfy the Freedom Caucus and still get votes from Republicans in swing districts, Carl Hulse, The New York Times chief Washington correspondent, told me.

Whats next: Sometime this summer or fall, the U.S. government is likely to reach its debt limit. To avoid defaulting on debt payments  and risking a financial crisis  Congress will need to raise the limit before then, and Republicans say they will insist on cuts as part of a deal.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
Egyptian Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities

A group of American archaeologists from New York University has made two important discoveries while working in the area of the temple of Ramses II, uncovering an ancient building and more than 2,000 mummified rams heads from the Ptolemaic period.

The discoveries were made in a newly discovered warehouse room within the northern area of the templebased in the ancient city of Abydos, around 270 miles from Cairowith some dating back at least 4,300 years.

Among the ram heads, the Egyptian Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement, were a group of goats, dogs, wild goats, cows, deer, and an ostrich.

Ramses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, is known to be one of the great rulers of the ancient Egyptian era, dominating lands and expanding Egypts rule during its most powerful period. He reigned from 1279 to 1213 BC, during what is known as the New Kingdom period.

The offerings are believed to have been left 1,000 years after the death of the Egyptian pharaoh.

The discovery of the rams heads is critical in understanding the two millennia following Ramses death, said Sameh Iskander, head of the mission, as it suggests the pharaoh was still worshipped for years to come.

The discovery of this large number of embellished rams may have been used as offerings during an unprecedented worship of the rams in Abydos during the Bipidus period, in addition to suggesting that the sanctification of King Ramses II in Abydos remained after his death for a thousand years, Iskander said.

In ancient Egypt, the ram was an important symbol of power and fertility.

Along with the animals, a huge, palatial structure from the Sixth Dynasty era was also discovered, with several statues, papyri, ancient tree remains, leather garments, and shoes inside.

The structure, with a distinctive and unique architectural design featuring its huge thick walls about five meters in width, could help re-establish the sense of the ancient landscape of Abydos before the construction of the Ramses II temple, Iskander said.

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ROLLING FORK, Miss.  James Anderson was in bed when he heard the tornados roar. Startled, Anderson, 61, rolled onto the floor just as his homes windows exploded under the pressure of the storm.

It sounded like someone had a machine gun, he said.

Through the chaos, he shouted for his sister, Barbie Anderson, to grab her grandchildren  an infant and a 7-year-old  and run. Barbie pulled them into a hallway, shielded their bodies with hers and prayed.

James Anderson and his sister Barbie stand in front of their home where they stayed during the tornado that ripped through Rolling Fork, Miss., two days earlier, on March 26, 2023. (Imani Khayyam for NBC News)

Lord, she pleaded, please take care of us.

The Andersons lives were spared, and their small brick home was left standing. But in a small Delta town of about 2,000 people, hardly anyone escaped the storm without losing someone they knew or loved. As rescue and recovery crews poured into town, James Anderson learned that his fiancees adult daughter, April Johnson, was one of at least 26 people killed in the storm. She'd been working at the local Family Dollar when the roof collapsed, Anderson said.

His fiancee will be left to care for Johnsons five children.

The grandmother now has to be the mother all over again, he said.

A damaged home, left, in Rolling Fork, Miss., on March 26, 2023. Downed trees behind James Anderson's home, right. (Imani Khayyam for NBC News)

Early Sunday, President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Mississippi and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts, the White House said in a statement.

With more storms forecast for Sunday afternoon, residents and cleanup crews hurried to clear downed trees, patch broken windows with black garbage bags and cover damaged roofs with blue tarps. A few blocks from the Andersons home, mountains of debris  remnants of destroyed lives and businesses  began to line Highway 61, the famous Blues Highway that runs from New Orleans to Minnesota.

Mae Smith and Will Smith rest as they wait for family to arrive at the Red Cross shelter in Rolling Fork, Miss., on March 26, 2023. (Imani Khayyam for NBC News)

Displaced residents rested at a Red Cross shelter set up in a National Guard armory. Mae and Will Smith, both 71, spent the past two nights at the shelter, after a tree crashed onto their home. As the storm bore down, Mae Smith made her granddaughter sleep in a room on the side of the house with fewer trees.

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Glad, I did, she said. The bed is full of glass.

The downed tree trapped Will Smith, whos disabled, in his room. Volunteers fired up chain saws to cut a path through the home to get him out.

Mayor Eldridge Walker (Imani Khayyam for NBC News)

I miss my house, he said at the shelter. I wish none of this had happened.

Rolling Forks mayor, Eldridge Walker, spoke with a reporter and first responders at a John Deere store that has been converted into a staging center for the rescue and cleanup effort. Walkers eyes brimmed with tears as he talked about the losses.

Listen, everybody knows each other, regardless of what side you live on, he said. I have friends that Ive lost in this storm.

Walker said he will grieve with his constituents twice  once as their mayor and again as a co-owner of a local funeral home.

As mayor, Walker said, hell do everything in his power to help them get back on their feet. As funeral director, hell be there to hold their hands as they mourn all thats been lost.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A Burke County deputy on Saturday was arrested by a Richmond County deputy at an event in Augusta Commons.

Burke County sheriff's Sgt. Allen Crispin is charged with disorderly conduct, according to a news release from the Burke County Sheriff's Office.

While at the event with his wife and brother-in-law, Crispin witnessed an act of physical child abuse just after 8 p.m., according to the release.

Crispin and his family heard an infant crying and when they looked in the direction of the cry, they saw a man slap the infant in the face, according to the release. The child, seated in a baby stroller, continued to cry as the man started to leave the area with the child.

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A woman, who appeared to be with the man and infant, walked hurriedly behind as the adults started to verbally argue, according to the release. Crispin followed them as he walked toward a nearby Richmond County deputy who was working a special duty assignment at the event.

After reporting the incident to the Richmond County deputy, Crispin and the deputy "became involved in a verbal altercation," and the deputy arrested Crispin, according to the release. Crispin was committed to the Richmond County Detention Center.

According to Sgt. John Perry with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, an incident report was not generated.

Perry said Monday the citation "is not available at this time."

Crispin was later released from custody and sought medical attention for numbness in both hands and shoulders, according to the release. The case has been assigned to the Internal Affairs Division.

"Any witnesses or other persons with information regarding the incident and/or the identity of the persons involved in the physical child abuse incident are asked to contact law enforcement authorities," according to the Burke County Sheriff's Office.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Deputies from two counties get into "verbal altercation," one arrested
Congress ought to consider a mandatory death penalty for school shooters, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Monday after the latest high-profile mass shooting this year claimed the lives of seven people at an elementary school in Tennessee.

We need to consider an automatic death penalty for school shooters, Scott said on Twitter. Life in prison is not enough for the deranged monsters who go into our schools to kill innocent kids & educators.

Its not clear if an automatic death penalty would change the calculus for would-be mass shooters since they often die at the scene of their crimes. On Monday, for instance, police shot and killed the 28-year-old woman who allegedly murdered three children and three adults at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Scotts suggestion showcases Republicans unwillingness to consider gun control measures as a way of reducing gun violence, the leading cause of death among children as of 2020.

President Joe Biden, by contrast, almost immediately repeated his call for a ban on assault weapons.

The shooter in this situation reportedly had two assault weapons and a pistol, Biden said Monday at the White House, referring to early information from Nashville police. I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban.

A school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last year helped motivate Congress to modestly expand the FBIs gun background check system and provide funding for mental health services, but lawmakers never seriously entertained a ban on assault rifles, even though theyre often the weapon of choice for mass shooters.

The 18-year-old who used an assault rifle to murder 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde was eventually killed by police.

Active shooter incidents have become more frequent in recent years, according to a recent FBI report that counted 61 such incidents in 2021, up from 40 the previous year and 30 the year before that.

Of the 61 mass shooters in 2021, 11 died by suicide, 14 were killed by police and four were killed by another civilian, according to the FBI.

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Its not clear if Scott intends to introduce actual legislation or just wanted to put the death penalty idea out there. It would be highly unlikely to garner enough support to become law.

Unfortunately, some of these school shooters, basically, this is a way for them to commit suicide, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), one of the leading authors of last years bipartisan gun law, told HuffPost. Im willing to work with anybody who has a reasonable suggestion. Weve been able to do that fairly productively on the background check side.

Scotts proposal for an automatic death sentence for school shooters might not be constitutional. The Supreme Court said in 1976 that automatic death penalty punishments violated the Constitutions ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Scott also called for people to pray for all facing the unimaginable in Nashville. This is horrible & must stop, he said.

Igor Bobic contributed reporting.

Related...
Savannah will see an increase in taxes levied on hotel stays within city limits following the Georgia General Assembly's passage of the long-sought increase to the hotel-motel tax.

The money collected through the 2% increase will be used to fund improvements to Rousakis Plaza on River Street, as well as segments of the Tide-to-Town trail network and the restoration of the Historic Waterworks building. Since this legislation was a local bill, only the nine members of the Chatham legislative delegation voted on the increase during Monday's session.

Visitors and locals walk down River Street the day after St. Patrick's Day.

The bills sponsor, House 165 Rep. Edna Jackson, said earlier this month the bill would be a boon for River Street and the needed improvements to Savannah's waterfront.

If our River Street is in disarray, when you look at it, and you look at other areas where [visitors] are going  you want to have something that is representative of a city that is as old as ours, Jackson said.

More:A long-sought Savannah hotel-motel tax increase is imminent. Here's what you need to know.

More:Where would increase hotel-motel tax funds go? River Street. Canal District. Trail network.

More:'The whole waterfront needs a facelift.' River Street merchants say improvements overdue

Hotel-motel details

The hotel-motel tax is distributed to the city government, the Savannah Convention Center, the Savannah Civic Center and Visit Savannah, the area's marketing arm. The former 6% rate generated $34.6 million in 2022, according to a city report on the fee. The same report anticipated an 8% hotel/motel tax would have generated $46.2 million the same year.

Water Works conceptual plan

But the division of revenue also changes with the 2% bump.

A new hotel-motel tax agreement includes changes to the distribution formula. Under the former structure, half of the taxes go to the city, a third goes to Visit Savannah and the remaining 16.7% is directed to the Savannah Convention Center and the Savannah Civic Center.

But a resolution crafted by Savannah City Council in February 2021 refined how revenues generated by an expanded hotel-motel tax would be spent. The new formula calls for 37.5% to go to the City of Savannah's general fund, 33.8% to Visit Savannah and 14% to the Savannah Convention Center. The remaining 14.7% would go toward tourism product development, a project list put together by the local government using state guidelines.

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Savannah's projects include the redevelopment of the River Street waterfront; expansion of the Tide to Town urban trail network; renovation of the Historic Waterworks building near the Enmarket Arena; trails, sidewalks and other connections between the Historic District, westside neighborhoods and the new arena; museum development; a new water-access facility on Savannah's southside; wayfinding signage; and West Bay Street gateway enhancements.

Read it:Bill increasing Savannah's hotel-motel tax by 2%

Other local bills

Other local bills passed on Monday included a provision that would increase the pay of Savannah-Chatham County Public School board members. Both were sponsored by first-year Rep. Anne Westbrook, who serves House District 163. She said while this bill wasn't necessarily a heavy lift, she was proud to provide a raise for board members.

The salary increases put each of the eight school board members at $25,000 per year, and the School Board president at $35,000 per year. Previously, board members received $12,000 per year, and the School Board president received $16,000 per year.

"[School board members] work really hard in this day and age, they get so much scrutiny, so much feedback from the public, plenty of it negative," Westbrook said. "They work really hard for our kids and we were happy to make that happen for them."

Read it: Bill increasing compensation of School Board members

Additionally, the Georgia Legislature passed a bill that would limit the terms of Savannah City Council, another measure sponsored by Westbrook. These are the first bills introduced by Westbrook to pass both the House and Senate.

The legislation follows the passage of an agenda item by City Council earlier this year. The resolution requested the Legislature pass a bill limiting alderspersons to three four-year terms in any one seat, starting when the next council is seated in January 2024. Terms of less than four years will still be recognized as a full term, but prior terms, including those of the sitting council, wont count towards this total.

For instance, prior to becoming mayor, Van Johnson represented Savannahs 1st District for four four-year terms. But these terms wouldnt count towards his total, since he served in those positions prior to July 1, 2023.

Read it:Bill enacting 3-term limits for Savannah City Council

Savannahs charter already term-limits the mayor, restricting officials to two four-year terms consecutively. Technically, this limit doesn't restrict a mayor from holding the office for two terms, skipping a term, and then coming back, but that hasn't happened in recent memory.

The charter reads: "any Mayor who has been elected for two consecutive four-year terms of office shall not be eligible to be elected for the succeeding term."

Council voted 7-2 to approve the term limits, with Alderwomen Bernetta Lanier and Alicia Miller Blakely in opposition.

While each of these bills has cleared the Georgia House and Senate, they still require Gov. Brian Kemp's signature before they become law.

Chatham County Delegation Chairman Ron Stephens said the passage of these local bills is an example of the cooperation that he's come to expect from the area's representatives.

"It's been a good year," Stephens said. "As usual, we worked together while others fought, and the legacy of the Chatham County delegation rides on."

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah gets long-sought Hotel-Motel tax increase after years of push
ROLLING FORK, Miss.  A quick-thinking woman saved herself and eight others by rushing everyone into a dairy cooler as an EF-4 tornado tore the building down around her.

Tracy Hardin is still cleaning up the lot where her business, Chucks Dairy Bar, used to be in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. All that is left is a metal cooler that saved her life on Friday night. In just moments, the tornado tore apart what Hardin and her husband worked to build for 16 years.

"We knew we were going to have some storms," Hardin told FOX Weathers Katie Byrne, with a quivering voice. "We just didn't know it would be this bad."

OVER 20 DEAD AFTER MISSISSIPPI TORNADOES LEVEL TOWNS WHILE CARVING 100-MILE PATH OF DESTRUCTION ACROSS SOUTH

The cooler that kept 9 people safe while a tornado tore through the town killing dozens.

HOW ARE TORNADOES RATED?

She said her customers and employees were talking about the incoming weather all day and thinking the worst would go north of Rolling Fork. At 8:05 p.m., both her daughter and sister sent texts warning of a tornado in town.

"Then one of my cashiers came to me running and said, My mom is on the phone, and she said, there's a tornado,'" said Hardin. "And at that moment, the lights flickered, and I just hollered, Cooler!"

She and her husband gathered the employees and customers and "shoved" them into the walk-in freezer, nine people in total. Hardins husband battled with winds to get the door closed.

The cooler is the only part of the store that wasn't torn apart. Two days later it stands on an empty lot.

"Just as he was closing the door, he looked up, and he said, I see the sky. And that just let us know that the roof was gone, and this is more serious than we could have imagined," she said.

Everyone was squeezed in tight, praying, screaming and crying, she said. They heard the building moving, and all of a sudden, it stopped.

Once the storm had passed, her husband tried to push open the door, but it wouldnt budge. One of her customers from earlier in the day heard the group screaming when he got out of his shelter, Hardin recalls. With a broken arm, he cleared away bits and pieces of the dairy bar that blocked the cooler door and set them free.

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NWS STORM SURVEYOR: MISSISSIPPI TORNADO HAD WORST TORNADO DAMAGE HE'S EVER SEEN

A deadly tornado tore through the community of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on Friday, March 24, 2023.

"We stepped out to the back of the building, which the building was gone, but we stepped out through what would have been the back door, and our vehicles were totaled. And that's what we saw first," she said of her first glimpse of Rolling Fork. "But then when we looked up, we just saw what used to be two motel buildings and 35 or more trailer houses are all gone, and they were all flattened."

She later learned that she lost neighbors and friends to the twister. She showed Byrne where the nearby mobile home park used to be. She said she got to know the kids because they would come into her store to wait for the school bus and visit for after-school snacks. But the mother will never return to the store.

"We have a family, 5 or 6 kids and the mothers gone. She died back there," Hardin said. "She was holding her kids, and she was sucked out of the trailer."

DRONE VIDEO SHOWS DEVASTATION MILE-WIDE TORNADO LEFT BEHIND IN MISSISSIPPI

Images show the destruction in the aftermath of a violent and deadly tornado in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

Hardin is expecting more tough news. Chucks Dairy Bar was a meeting place for the town of just under 2,000 residents.

"This is the place in the community to go to and not just to eat, but if you're hurting or if you're happy, and they want to share their news. This is where they come," she said with a trembling voice. " And I've done this for 16 years, and this wasn't home to me, but they welcomed me with open arms 16 years ago. And they've been my family ever since. And we just want to try and get it back."

Twenty-five people were killed in Mississippi and one in Alabama by several tornadoes. One cut a path 100 miles long. The towns mayor told FOX Weather that every business on Highway 61, like Chucks, were completely destroyed.
ROLLING FORK, Miss.  The stunned residents of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, are slowly starting to pick up the pieces and salvage whatever is left of their community just days after a monster tornado sliced through town, destroying everything in its path.

At least 21 people were killed in Mississippi during the severe weather outbreak on Friday night, with most of the casualties reported in Rolling Fork, which has a population of fewer than 2,000 people.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

And as residents begin the recovery process, FOX Weather is speaking with those who survived the violent twister and hearing incredible stories from the night their lives changed forever.

FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray has been on the ground in Rolling Fork since the day after the storm.

He spoke with several residents, including one who described surviving the tornado in a bathtub and a woman who was huddled with friends and said it felt like the tornado was "trying to suck us up."

ROLLING FORK BUSINESS OWNER SAVES LIVES BY SHELTERING EMPLOYEES IN COOLER DURING MISSISSIPPI TORNADO

On Monday morning, Ray spoke with Rolling Fork resident Darren McGee who said he was at his mother-in-laws home with her and his wife when the tornado began creeping closer to his location.

He said he was outside the home but was on his way indoors to get something to eat. Thats when his partner called him on the phone.

"So, I put my headphones on so I could eat real quick because I heard a storm was coming," he said.

After eating and still talking on the phone, he said he placed his phone on a charger.

FATHER SHIELDS 1-WEEK-OLD BABY AS MISSISSIPPI TORNADO DESTROYS HOME

"I was like, you know, let me go to the bathroom," he said. "As soon as I went to the bathroom, I was going to grab the door, I guess, and the next thing I know, I was down."

He said it felt like it was over in an instant.

"It was just so quick," he said. "Faster than a blink, you know?"

The next thing McGee knew, it was over.

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"I turned and looked up, and all I could see was like, rain," he added. "I could see the stars in the sky and stuff like that."

SHE NEVER GOT OUT OF BED: MISSISSIPPI TORNADO VICTIM SAYS SISTER NEVER HAD A CHANCE AGAINST STORMS

Thats when he knew he needed to escape the rubble and find his mother-in-law and wife.

"I just braced myself real quick," he said. "And then I jumped on top of (the debris), and I looked around. I was just looking around and screaming for my wife and my mother-in-law."

He said he finally heard his wifes voice and approached her to remove the dirt and debris. He was then able to get to his mother-in-law, but she was buried under more rubble.

"Then thats when the storm chaser people came, and they came, and they really did the last of it by helping her out because they said they knew what they were doing," he said. "Because she was buried under a glass mirror or something."

And upon returning to the home on Monday, McGee told Ray that he couldnt even find where or how he was able to get out.

NWS STORM SURVEYOR: MISSISSIPPI TORNADO HAD WORST TORNADO DAMAGE HE'S EVER SEEN

The remains of crushed house and cars are seen in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 25, 2023, after a tornado touched down in the area.

"It just looked like the apocalypse, like a movie or something," he said. "It was just pitch black. Everything was dark. And then I could see the stars. The rain stopped."

Besides a swollen face and some leg injuries and soreness, he told Ray that he was doing well, given the circumstances.

His wife, too, was relatively unscathed, but his mother-in-law was complaining about chest pain, and shes been at a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, ever since.

McGee says the reality of what happened on Friday night has set in.

"I just figure its just a part of life," he said. "You know, things like that happen. You know, just some things like that are out of your control. What are you going to do? You know, just be grateful to God."

Now, Mcgee said hes focused on whats ahead for him and his family.

DRONE VIDEO SHOWS DEVASTATION TORNADO LEFT BEHIND IN MISSISSIPPI

"I was walking the streets all night with a wet coat because I had nowhere to go," he added. "I was over there at Deer park for a while, and I went to the Army, and I walked to the hospital in the middle of the night looking at all the damage in the dark."

When he went back to the home, Mcgee said he was able to find his cell phone, wallet and ID.

"I was telling people, you know, Ive been through blizzards. Im good with blizzards," he said. "You know, this is my first tornado. Why did it have to be an EF-4? But I knew it was over. I know when the wind hit me, it had to be over 150 mph."

He said he spoke to storm chasers the following day, who told him the National Weather Service had assigned the tornado a preliminary rating of EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds of at least 166 mph.

"Well, I kind of figured that," he said. "Because it hit so fast. Everybody says it sounds like a freight train, but I, you know, I got hit when I was talking, and my partner told me, Yeah. I heard you. It sounded like a train and then nothing."

IT'S BEEN NEARLY 10 YEARS SINCE AN EF-5 TORNADO LAST STRUCK US AND THAT'S THE LONGEST SPAN ON RECORD

Catastrophic tornado damage in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

In the days after the powerful tornado, Mcgee said everyone had been helpful.

"Everybody is nice. My community is beautiful," he said. "Everybody. It was just beautiful. It was a beautiful sensation."

And while hes grateful to be alive, he said hes not taking that for granted.

"I always know not to take life for granted," he said. "It can be taken. And thats always been proven, and it just got proven again. So, you know, Im just grateful and just humble about life, you know? Just grateful."
Willie Macon stood outside his mother-in-laws home Monday morning making a phone call where he could get a better signal.

Passersby could hear the hum of a nearby generator in the background.

We just got that last night, Macon said.

The 58-year-old Rolling Fork resident said he and his wife Lucy are staying at her mothers since their home down the street was flattened by a tornado that ripped through the town Friday night.

Theres nothing left, he said. Its all gone.

His son, Willie Macon Jr., was badly injured in the storm. He was taken to an area hospital but was sent home because he didnt have insurance, his father said.

Willie Macon, 58, pauses in the morning light Monday following Friday's violent tornado in Rolling Fork.

The Macons' story is all too familiar in this Mississippi Delta town of fewer than 2,000 people. On Monday, residents were trying to sort out their lives on a day when they would have been returning to work. Many had no work to report to. Others had no way to get there. All of their lives were affected by the tornado that killed 21 across the state.

Death toll downgraded by MEMA:MEMA: Death toll downgraded to 21 in Friday's deadly tornadic activity

Hotel rooms offered to Rolling Fork:Mississippi tornado recovery: Free rooms available for Rolling Fork area disaster victims

Can MS legislature help tornado familiesMS lawmakers promise necessary funding for tornado relief with days left in session

Mississippi Emergency Management officials had previously announced 25 dead before downgrading the toll Monday. More than 24,000 people remained without power Monday morning.

Macon Sr. works in Vicksburg, but he is unable to get there, because his car was destroyed, too.

The thing is, what we need most is housing and transportation, he said. Weve got plenty of food. We are so grateful for that, but we need a place to stay and a way to get somewhere.

A house with only a chest of drawers sits in the morning sunlight in Rolling Fork on Monday.

Sixty-eight-year-old Dorothy Williams, one of many survivors of the EF-4 tornado, said the reason she survived is because of her faith in God and a spiritual wake-up call moments before the tornado hit.

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Ive lived in Rolling Fork for 50 years and we have never experienced this amount of damage, Williams said. A few months before the storm hit I was remodeling my home, but the storm added additional damage. Ive told people I heard the voice of God, which is what woke me up.

Williams said she knows that still small voice was God because of the amount of faith she has possessed throughout her life.

If you look around at all the damage that was done with trees being pulled out of the ground and cars flipped upside down, after that you got to know there is a God.

Williams' brother, James Williams, lives two houses down. His home sustained some damage, but a large tree in the front yard fell parallel to the house. Most of the tree landed in the front yard. A limb from the tree damaged part of his roof.

Rolling Fork:Mayor comforts town destroyed by tornado in dual role as funeral director

While survivors of the tornado are working to put the pieces back together, local churches and emergency officials are coming together to help residents find a sense of hope.

One of those entities is First Baptist Church of Flora.

Newly selected lead pastor Dontae Fontenot, 56, of Flora said being part of helping survivors is only the beginning and they are the hands and feet of Jesus.

Sunday church disrupted:The first Sunday after the storm in Rolling Fork leaves some churches closed, destroyed

We know the Bible tells us to help our brother in the time of need and that is what we have been doing since the tornado hit last Friday.

Fontenot said people from Nebraska, Missouri and Wisconsin have came to donate food and water just for the city of Rolling Fork.

Volunteers came from nearby cities as well, including Lakeeta Washington, 38, and her children, 17-year-old Shaniya Washington and 14-year-old Marzavion Washington, who brought supplies from Greenville to donate to the victims in Rolling Fork.

"We are all family," Lakeeta said.

Do you have a story to share? Reach Joshua Williams jlwilliams1@gannett.com or Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Rolling Fork MS picking up pieces as jobs, housing, transit disrupted
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in Pinellas Park, Fla., March 8. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss restrictive education policies and advocacy for parental rights have resulted in multiple books being banned from public schools. But the controversy over whats deemed appropriate for students hasnt been limited to literature.

This month, there has been fallout when a film about civil rights was pulled and a principal was forced out of her job over the issue of nudity in a piece of classical art. Both occurred after complaints from parents, emboldened by state laws requiring curriculum transparency from schools.

The Republican governor has been at the forefront of a nationwide right-wing push to restrict what is taught in schools, generally focusing on removing books that discuss race, sexuality or gender that are often written by nonwhite or LGBTQ authors.

Earlier this year, DeSantis forced changes to an AP African American studies course after rejecting the initial curriculum. He has signed bills banning the teaching of critical race theory, an academic study of systemic racism in the country. He is also looking to ban the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity through high school graduation, an expansion of last years "Dont Say Gay" bill, which banned the teaching of those subjects from kindergarten through third grade.

Members and supporters of the LGBTQ community at a rally in Miami Beach, Fla., in March 2022. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Because of a law passed last year that DeSantis said requires transparency in curriculum and library options, school districts have pulled hundreds of books from the shelves in order to review them to make sure they dont violate any of the governors new education policies. The book bans have included The Bluest Eye, by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison. After 20 books by author Jodi Picoult were pulled in Martin County, she responded in a Daily Beast op-ed.

The banned books on these lists are not salacious or revolutionary, Picoult wrote. What children are actually being exposed to are lives different from their own, and mindsets different from their own  which creates compassion and empathy. In other cases, children are being exposed to ideas and mindsets exactly like their own, which provides representation and validity and a sense of belonging. We know categorically that kids who feel marginalized and who read books with characters like themselves wind up feeling less marginalized.

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The legislation aims to preserve the rights of parents to make decisions about what materials their children are exposed to in school, according to a press release from DeSantiss office.

In a floor speech in the House last Thursday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., highlighted some of the books being banned, including Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner, which covers the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, a dystopian novel about a right-wing misogynistic regime. Raskin contrasted the Republican claims of keeping children safe via book bans with the party's lack of action on guns, which is now the leading cause of death for those ages 1 to 18.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., testifies before the House Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee on Feb. 9. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

We need more politicians reading in America and fewer politicians trying to censor books in America, Raskin said.

DeSantis called the charges of book bans a hoax earlier this month, saying the accusation reveals that some are attempting to use our schools for indoctrination. In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards. Florida is the education state, and that means providing students with a quality education free from sexualization and harmful materials that are not age appropriate.

DeSantis, a former congressman first elected governor in 2018, has not formally announced that he is running for the presidency, but many Republicans have pushed him as the top alternative to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 nomination. While DeSantiss policies helped him win an easy reelection in November and have earned him praise from conservative pundits, polling has shown the war on education isnt popular among the general public.

Former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, March 25. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)

A Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted earlier this month showed 36% support for requiring public school books to be reviewed for content the government deems inappropriate, versus 44% opposition. A Wall Street Journal/NORC poll found that 61% of respondents were more concerned that some schools may ban books and censor topics that are educationally important versus 36% who were more concerned that some schools may teach books and topics that some students or their parents feel are inappropriate or offensive. Overall, DeSantis has begun to lag further behind Trump in polling for next years presidential primary.

This month, the push to affirm the power of individual parents to drive curriculum in the state resulted in two incidents.

'Ruby Bridges' film pulled

U.S. marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960. (AP)

The Tampa Bay Times reported Monday that Pinellas County had pulled "Ruby Bridges," a film about a 6-year-old who integrated New Orleans public schools in the 1960s, after a complaint from the mother of a second grader. The 1998 Disney film, which had been a part of the Black History Month curriculum, is now being reviewed after the parent, Emily Conklin, said it might result in students learning that white people hate Black people, citing the use of racial slurs and scenes of white people threatening Ruby as she entered the school. (In real life and in the film, she was escorted by federal marshals.)

No time has been set to formally review the film and decide if it is allowed to be shown in schools.

Many from historically marginalized communities are asking whether this so-called integrated education system in Pinellas County can even serve the diverse community fairly and equitably, wrote Ric Davis, president of the Concerned Organization for Quality Education for Black Students, in an open letter.

Principal forced out over Michelangelo statue

A reproduction of Michelangelo's David statue at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The Tallahassee Democrat reported last week that the principal of a public charter school, Tallahassee Classical School, had submitted her resignation over complaints from parents that sixth graders were shown images of Michelangelos famous statue David in art class. After complaints from three parents because their children had seen the sculpture of a nude man, including one parent who called it pornographic, Hope Carrasquilla was forced out.

Carrasquilla told HuffPost that normally parents are notified about the viewing of classical artwork but that the letter didnt go out this time due to a series of miscommunications.

Explaining his decision in an interview with Slate last week, the school board chairman, Barney Bishop III, said, 98 percent of the parents didnt have a problem with [the lesson], but that doesnt matter, because we didnt follow a practice, adding that the rights of parents, that trumps the rights of kids.

Bishop said he told Carrasquilla she could resign or he would have the board vote to terminate her without cause. While this was not tied directly to any of the new Florida laws, Bishop said the move was in accordance with the governors vision.

Parents are the ones who are going to drive the education system here in Florida, he said in the interview. The governor said that, and were with the governor. Parents choose this school because they want a certain kind of education. Were not gonna have courses from the College Board. Were not gonna teach 1619 or CRT crap.

The Florida Department of Education told Yahoo News that the decision was not related to any state law.

"The Statue of David has artistic and historical value," Alex Lanfranconi, the department's director of communications, said in a statement. "Florida encourages instruction on the classics and classical art, and would not prohibit its use in instruction. The matter at Tallahassee Classical School is between the school and an employee, and is not the effect of state rule or law."

Over the weekend, the mayor of Florence, Italy, invited Carrasquilla to visit his city, where the statue is on display, saying he wanted to "give her recognition on behalf of the city.

"Art is civilization, and whoever teaches it deserves respect, Dario Nardella wrote (in Italian) in a tweet.

Carrasquilla said in a statement that Bishop was more concerned about litigation and appeasing a small minority of parents, rather than trusting my expertise as an educator for more than 25 years. Tallahassee Classical School teaches a curriculum based on the work of Hillsdale College, a conservative institution in Michigan that has lesson plans being used across the country.

This story has been updated to include a statement from the Florida Department of Education.
The new arrival is third in line to the throne of Luxembourg

Maison du Grand-Duc / Kary Barthelmey

Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg's new baby is here!

On Monday, the Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg announced that the heir to the throne and his wife welcomed their second child  a boy. The royal couple is already parents to Prince Charles, 2.

"Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess are delighted to announce the birth of their son at the Maternite Grande-Duchesse Charlotte in Luxembourg on Monday, 27th March 2023 at 10:04 am," the court said in a statement.

The statement also included the new arrival's name: Prince Francois.

"The newborn Prince will be named Francois Henri Luis Marie Guillaume," the court said. "He weighs 3.575 kg and measures 53 cm."

"Princess Stephanie and her child are both healthy and well," they continued. "The Crown Prince, the Crown Princess and his brother Prince Charles are looking forward to introducing Prince Francois to you."

Related:Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg Is Getting Married This Spring  with Two Weddings!

Celebrating the baby's birth in both royal and modern tradition, the Grand Ducal Court added that a 21-gun salute will be fired in Prince Francois' honor, and members of the public are invited to send well-wishes in a digital guest book.

The newborn prince becomes third in line to the throne of Luxembourg, behind dad Prince Guillaume and big brother Prince Charles  and may have arrived a few days early. In September 2022, Prince Guillaume, 41, and Princess Stephanie, 39, announced that they were expecting their second child due in April.

"Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess are delighted to announce that the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess are expecting their second child," the court said in a statement. "The birth is scheduled for April."

Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Prince Francois is the sixth grandchild of Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg. The royals are also grandparents to Prince Gabriel, 17, and Prince Noah, 15, the sons of Prince Louis, and Princess Amalia, 8, and Prince Liam, 6, the children of Prince Felix and Princess Claire.

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Just before Christmas, Guillaume and Stephanie released three adorable photos with Charles to mark their last holiday season as a family of three.

S.Margue/Maison du Grand-Duc

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

"Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie, together with Prince Charles, wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" courtiers tweeted.

 De Prenz Guillaume an dPrinzessin Stephanie, zesumme mam Prenz Charles, wenschen Iech schei Chreschtdeeg an e glecklecht neit Joer! 

MGD/S.Margue pic.twitter.com/wy83wWaQdZ  Cour Grand-Ducale (@CourGrandDucale) December 22, 2022

The family was all smiles in the classic snaps, which showed Prince Guillaume holding Prince Charles before a twinkling Christmas tree, Princess Stephanie holding her son as he played and Prince Charles checking out a Christmas village.

From royal births to royal weddings, this spring is extra special for the royal family of Luxembourg. Next month, Prince Guillaume's younger sister Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg is set to wed Nicolas Bagory with two wedding ceremonies.

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Read the original article on People.
Tamila Tasheva, Presidential Representative of Ukraine in Crimea, has reacted to the inclusion of the non-governmental organisation KrymSOS (CrimeaSOS) in the register of "non grata" organisations by the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia.

Source: Tamila Tasheva on Facebook, Russian state-owned media TASS

Quote: "Indeed, the goal of KrymSOS" has always been not just about the protection of human rights, but the de-occupation of Crimea and dealing with the consequences of the war. Well, such "official recognition" of the effectiveness of the activity motivates us to continue working."

Details: The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation stated that KrymSOS "poses a threat to the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation". They say that the goals of the organisation's activities  the deoccupation and reintegration of Crimea, "are aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation".

Furthermore, the Russians complain that KrymSOS seems to be actively participating in an information campaign "aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" since the beginning of the war against Ukraine in 2014.

"I congratulate my colleagues on this "recognition", [the ones] together with whom we founded KrymSOS and all those who are currently working on the initiative and continue its activities, aimed at the liberation and reintegration of our Crimea, and, perhaps, a little at the destruction of Russia," Tasheva emphasised.

For reference: KrymSOS was established on 27 February 2014. The activities of the organisation are aimed at highlighting the illegal nature of the occupation of Crimea and the repressive policy of the Russian Federation towards Crimeans, maintaining the peninsula's ties with mainland Ukraine, as well as the consolidation of Ukrainian society through the protection of the rights, freedoms, and rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other people who suffered because of the war.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






MOSCOW (Reuters) -Moscow may seek compensation for the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines from two explosions last September, but the future of the projects is unclear, according to a Russian diplomat cited by the news agency RIA Novosti.

The pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, were ruptured by unexplained blasts that Moscow called an act of international terrorism.

"We do not rule out later raising the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosion," Dmitry Birichevsky, head of the Foreign Ministry's department for economic cooperation, said in an interview with RIA.

He did not say who Russia would seek damages from.

The two pipelines had a combined capacity of 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, more than the 101 bcm that Russia exported outside the former Soviet Union in 2022.

Birichevsky said the future of the pipelines was not clear.

"At the moment, it's very difficult to speak about the future of the Nord Stream pipeline system. On the whole, according to experts, the damaged lines could be restored," he said.

The Kremlin has said it is for all shareholders to decide whether the two pipelines, each consisting of two pipes, should be mothballed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would establish who was behind the blasts before claiming any compensation.

"For now, the data indicates that such a large-scale act of sabotage and a terrorist attack against critical infrastructure could not have been carried out without the participation of the state and special state services," he said.

"You see that Western countries are taking all possible measures to cover up this issue ... But Russia will do everything possible to prevent this from happening."

Sources familiar with the plans told Reuters last week that the pipelines, built by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom, would be sealed up and mothballed as there were no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them.

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Nord Stream 1 opened in November 2011, having cost 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion). Construction of the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021, but it never came onstream before Germany froze the project as Russia was about to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Birichevsky said Western countries were opposing a U.N. Security Council resolution drafted by Russia urging an independent international investigation.

"Despite this, we intend to continue to insist on a comprehensive and open international investigation with the mandatory participation of Russian representatives."

($1 = 0.9289 euros)

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jamie Freed, Alex Richardson and Kevin Liffey)
The Security Council of Russia claimed that Russia has a unique weapon capable of destroying even the US.

Source: Russian Kremlin-aligned media outlets RIA Novosti and TASS with reference to Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Security Council

Quote from Patrushev: "Russia has a unique weapon, which is capable of destroying any opponent, mainly the US, in case there is a threat to Russias existence."

Details: He also added that "American politicians certainty that Russia will not be able to respond to a preventive strike by the US is a short-sighted and dangerous foolishness."

Patrushev stated that after the collapse of the USSR, Russia allegedly "corrected its mistakes" and now "can facilitate both internal stability and protection from external dangers."

He also claimed that the US is trying to "suppress" Russia, and then will allegedly move on to China.

He traditionally repeated that "the West has seriously miscalculated, counting on the collapse of the Russian economy and protest of the population against sanctions", and that Russia allegedly "remains calm" under the sanctions pressure.

Background:

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Russian missiles punched through buildings in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sloviansk on Monday, killing two people in their cars and wounding more than 30, police said.

A blood-stained cap lay at the side of the street Monday afternoon, next to a parked car whose front seat was covered with blood and shattered glass.

Dmytro Nogin, a senior officer from Kramatorsk district police, told journalists that "at around 10:30 there was a missile attack on the city".

"Two people have already died," he said.

"It was people driving by, chance victims."

Police said 32 were wounded, five very seriously, after two Russian-made S-300 missiles hit the street close to the centre.

Mayor Vadym Lyakh said separately that 36 people received injuries.

Sloviansk is around 25 miles (40 kilometres) as the crow flies from the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, where a bloody battle has been running for months. It was briefly captured by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

A large three-storey administrative building had a huge hole in its facade and windows blown out.

Nogin told AFP it was a railway office where people were undergoing a medical assessment, but two people at the scene called it a military enlistment centre.

- 'Everything's destroyed' -

AFP journalists saw a flak jacket being removed from the rubble.

Oleksandr, 34, who was standing outside with his face bandaged, told AFP that he had come for a medical assessment at a "military enlistment centre".

Outside, several cars were completely burnt out and a digger truck lifted a huge chunk of masonry from one.

Those who died were simply driving past, police said.

"A woman from that car died," Nogin pointed to a burnt-out vehicle. "Another died from that green car."

Three women were sweeping up broken glass from outside a small building opposite.

"I came just as it went bang, I work here," hairdresser Yelena, 42, said tearfully.

"We came and saw everything's destroyed. It's good we weren't there. If we'd been working, we probably wouldn't be alive. It would have blown everyone away," she said, appearing to be in shock.

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"Some of my clients even worked at the military recruitment office. Thank God they are alive," she added.

- 'Torturing of our people' -

"I came here for work," said Viktor, 57, examining his destroyed car outside the worst-hit building, describing himself as a railway worker.

"There were a lot of people there. Just with me there were 22 people, plus the staff who work here," he said.

"These people had come on our business. At that time two rockets flew in," he said.

"All the tiles were falling off the walls. I hid in a doorway in a corner," he said.

"Near to me, a person was seriously injured."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of "terrorism".

"The enemy must know: Ukraine will not forgive the torturing of our people, will not forgive these deaths and wounds," he said on social media.

Another town in the eastern region of Donetsk, Druzhkivka, was also targeted with two missiles hitting an orphanage premises, police said, with "no information about victims".

AFP journalists saw a soldier patrolling through the locked gates of the centre, where no children were to be seen. He said his commanders had forbidden press access.

Russian forces have made the capture of the Donetsk region their main military priority and claimed to have annexed the region last year despite not fully controlling it.

bur-am/as/giv
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  The U.N.'s atomic energy chief warned during a meeting Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the perilous situation at Europes largest nuclear plant isnt getting any better as relentless fighting in the area keeps the facility at risk of a disaster.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's six reactors are in shutdown and it is receiving the electricity it needs to prevent a reactor meltdown through just one remaining power line. It has on occasion had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems.

In a meeting with Zelenskyy in southern Ukraine covered exclusively by The Associated Press, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation at the plant remains tense because of the heavy military presence around it and a blackout that recently struck the facility, something that has occurred repeatedly since Russian forces took it over last year.

Grossi plans to visit the plant this week for the second time following Russias invasion 13 months ago. The Vienna-based agency has staff permanently deployed at the plant since Grossi's last visit in September.

Earlier this month, fighting interrupted power supply to the plant for half a day, forcing staff to activate backup generators.

Grossi had expressed alarm at that development.

Each time we are rolling a dice, he told his agency at the time. And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out.

Grossi and Zelenskyy met in the the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is in Ukrainian-held territory, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the nuclear plant with the same name.

The IAEA said in January it was placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraines nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of accidents, including the now-closed Chernobyl plant whose deadly nuclear accident in 1986 spread fallout over much of Europe.

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Grossi emphasized that his seventh trip to Ukraine underlined his commitment and support for as long as it takes.

Also attending the meeting were other IAEA officials, the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, and the head of nuclear operator Energoatom, Petro Kotin.

While in Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskyy also inspected military positions in the partially-occupied province and awarded soldiers military honors. He visited wounded soldiers at a hospital and an apartment building that Kyiv claims was hit by a missile on Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 30.

Residents were still shocked by the experience.

Its terrifying. I cannot find the words to tell you, said Hanna Budkova, 39, who was in a busy playground in front of the apartment block with her nearly 2-year-old daughter. Im afraid to go anywhere near the windows.

Zelenskyy later visited Nikopol, a frequently shelled city across the Dnieper River from the nuclear power plant, according to the presidential office.

Elsewhere, two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire. Zelenskyy described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin's forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the winter.

In the eastern Donetsk region, about 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported.

Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said.

Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the front-line city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was bombarded 20 times, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

Several explosions shook the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, damaging a building where Russian security forces are quartered, said the exiled elected mayor Ivan Fyodorov. The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Earlier, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, according Yermak, the head of the presidential office. Bloom, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

At his meeting with Zelenskyy, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday at a meeting in the Netherlands that Germany has fulfilled its promised delivery of 18 advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. Canada, Norway and Poland also have sent such tanks to Ukraine.

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This has corrected that the Zaporizhzhia plant is not currently providing power.

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Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In the Russian town of Yefremov, residents say they are shocked by the case of a father separated from his 13-year-old daughter because of her drawing criticising Moscow's offensive.

Located around 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the Russian capital, the town of 37,000 people has all the outward signs of patriotic support for the year-long campaign seen across the country.

"For A World Without Nazism" reads a billboard on the main street -- alongside the letters "Z" and "V" used by Russian forces in Ukraine.

But its inhabitants are quietly divided over the fighting and have been shaken in recent weeks by a case that has become a testament to the repression of any criticism of the offensive.

It all began last year when 13-year-old Maria Moskalyova made a drawing at school showing missiles next to a Russian flag heading towards a woman and child standing by a Ukrainian flag.

Her headmistress immediately contacted the police, who said they found comments criticising the offensive on the social media profiles of the girl's father, 54-year-old Alexei Moskalyov.

Moskalyov is due to go on trial on Monday on a charge of "discrediting Russia's armed forces" which carries a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison under a law adopted last year.

Moskalyov is also at risk of losing parental rights in a separate trial set to begin on April 6, according to his lawyer Vladimir Bilyenko.

Since March 1, Moskalyov has been under house arrest while his daughter has been taken to an orphanage and forbidden from calling her father, according to town councillor Olga Podolskaya.

The mother is estranged from the family.

The case in this otherwise placid town in Russia's Tula region has garnered national attention and led to an online petition calling for the child to be returned to her father.

Even Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary force spearheading Russia's offensive, has voiced support for Maria and criticised local authorities for their actions.

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- 'I want this to be over' -

In the streets of Yefremov, few inhabitants were prepared to speak openly about the case -- or about their views on the campaign in Ukraine.

"Separating a father from his daughter is horrible. She just expressed a point of view," said Alexandra, a student.

A pensioner who declined to give her name said her life had changed since February 24, 2022 -- the day Russian troops crossed into Ukraine.

"I'm not accusing anyone. I see victims on both sides. I want this to be over as soon as possible," she said.

At the local cemetery, several fresh graves of soldiers killed in what Russia calls its "special military operation" could be seen.

The offensive has felt even closer to home in the past month with three Ukrainian drones reported to have struck in the region.

These developments have increased concern in a small town where everyone knows each other.

In the central square, two elderly women with red arm bands said they were part of a neighbourhood watch initiative set up by residents to report any suspicious activity.

"They told us there is a risk of an attack and we have to keep order," said one of the women, who were sitting on a bench.

- 'They are depressed' -

Alexander Salikhov, a 66-year-old retired engineer, said he wanted peace but added that "we have to free Russian lands" in Ukraine.

Dmitry, a 50-year-old businessman, said he had gone bankrupt because of Western sanctions which have caused major disruption in supply chains.

"What does the future hold? The power is in the hands of the security services and we are on the brink of nuclear war," he said.

Podolskaya said residents were conflicted.

"They are depressed. They do not understand what is happening. But they cannot take to the streets. They are afraid of getting sacked -- they have mortgages and children," she said.

Marianna, a pregnant 31-year-old, said she was more optimistic although she said she was worried about her husband getting mobilised.

"We hope it will end and our son will be born in a peaceful world and he will not have to fear military action," she said, revealing that the couple plan to call him Bogdan -- a popular Ukrainian name.

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KIREYEVSK, Russia (Reuters) - Residents of the small Russian town of Kireyevsk expressed shock and anger on Monday that an alleged Ukrainian drone had been downed over their houses, bringing down roofs and ceilings and putting their lives in danger.

"Its absolutely outrageous to shoot it down over a residential area. There's a field just 500 metres from here. They could have shot it down over there. Why over our houses? People were wounded," said Kireyevsk resident Elena, 35, who like some others declined to give her surname.

"What if the children had been at home? They would have been killed. Nobody gave it a thought. It was allowed to happen. They just dont care. I have no other explanation."

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Sunday it had electronically disabled a Ukrainian drone, which veered off course and crashed onto Kireyevsk, a town of about 25,000 inhabitants 220 km (140 miles) south of Moscow.

A Reuters camera crew saw wrecked family houses with smashed tiled or corrugated iron roofs and mangled windows, although the main impact site was closed to media.

Emergency services said on Sunday there was a large blast crater. The state-run news agency TASS quoted local officials on Sunday as saying three people had been hurt, none seriously.

"We were used to seeing these things online, but now we've felt it ourselves. Now we know how it is," said Yuri Ovchinnikov, who was home with his wife at the moment of impact. "The whole house shook."

"I graduated from an aviation academy; my specialisation was aircraft control systems, so I know how it works. Why didn't they shoot it down, I wonder? They were caught napping. And they should be honest about it."

Seventy-year-old Svetlana sobbed as she contemplated a neighbour's narrow escape from the blast, and the damage to her own home: "We dont know what to do. I walk into my house - the floors crack, the walls crack. Im afraid to go in."

Kyiv did not respond to a request for comment. It usually withholds comment on reports of attacks inside Russia.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey)
Russian occupiers shelled Slovyansk in the morning of March 27

Russian troops hit the city with two S-300 missiles at around 10:30 a.m. Office buildings, five high-rise buildings, and seven private houses were destroyed.

All of the emergency services are working at the scene.

Read also: Slovyansk power plant under attack

Pavlo Kyrylenko/Telegram

The State Emergency Service reported that fires in three cars have been extinguished. Debris removal and rescue operations are ongoing, and information about the victims is being clarified.

"Another day that began with Russian terrorism," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented.

The enemy must know: Ukraine will not forgive the abuse of our people, will not forgive these deaths and injuries. All Russian terrorists will be defeated. Everyone involved in this aggression will be held accountable.

Read also: Nine-year-old boy dies as a result of injuries sustained in Zaporizhzhya high-rise attack

Pavlo Kyrylenko/Telegram

The Russians also fired two S-300 missiles at the town of Druzhkivka, hitting an orphanage. Preliminary reports indicate there were no victims. Kyrylenko posted a photo of the destroyed building.

Russian troops regularly attack civilian targets in Donetsk Oblast.

Pavlo Kyrylenko/Telegram

Read also: Russians shell Slovyansk, Kharkiv, Nikopol, and Marhanets overnight

The day before, they launched a missile attack on the frontline town of Avdiyivka, damaging high-rise buildings, a hotel, and a court building. Before the Slovyansk attack, Russians had killed one person and wounded two others in the past 24 hours.

As well as Donetsk Oblast, Russian invasion forces regularly attack with artillery and missiles civilian residential areas in other Ukrainian oblasts close to Russian territory or Russian-occupied territory, including Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Mykolaiv.

The International Criminal Court recently announced that it was opening two war crimes cases against Russia, one of which concerns illegal attacks on civilian infrastructure.

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
Russians intend to shoot wild animals and engage in the restaurant business in Dzharylhak National Nature Park, in the temporarily occupied Skadovsk district in Kherson Oblast.

Source: Journalistic Research Centre

Journalistic Research Centre reports that, according to the registration documents of the Russians, in February, the occupiers illegally registered the Dzharylhak National Nature Park under Russian legislation.

The so-called "Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Kherson Oblast" has appointed Russian citizen Sergey Stramnov as the park's director.

Mouflons. Photo: JRC

The registration documents state that the main activity of the national park is "hunting, trapping and shooting of wild animals".

Additionally, the occupiers want to allow fishing, clay and salt mining, construction, transportation of passengers by water transport, tour services and restaurant business.

"Similar activities were prescribed by the occupiers for other captured nature protection institutions in Kherson Oblast," Journalistic Research Centre writes.

Red fox. Photo: pimleijen/Depositphotos

According to Ivan Moisiyenko, Vice-Dean of Kherson State University, Serhii Suvorov, the deputy director and ex-chief of the State Inspectorate in Kherson Oblast, became a traitor to the national park.

"Another collaborationist was Kirin Dmytro Leonidovych, the deputy director of the Nizhnyodniprovskyi National Nature Park. Both he and Suvorov were removed from their positions, and before the liberation of the right-bank Kherson Oblast on 11 November 2022, both fled to the occupied territory," Ivan Moisiyenko added.

Background: Russian invaders are shooting birds in Kherson Oblast that are included in the Red List.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Rwanda opposition figure Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired a Hollywood movie on the country's genocide, arrived in Qatar on Monday, three days after being released from prison, diplomats said.

The 68-year-old, whose 25-year jail term was commuted by President Paul Kagame, was to undergo medical checks and rest before flying to the United States on Wednesday, the diplomats told AFP.

"He needs care but will fly on to the US on Wednesday," said one Doha-based diplomat following the case.

Rusesabagina was released late Friday after 938 days in prison under an accord, mediated by Qatar, between the US government and Rwanda.

Reportedly in fragile health, Rusesabagina stayed at the Qatar ambassador's residence in Kigali before flying to Doha. Qatar authorities did not immediately confirm his arrival in the Gulf state.

Rusesabagina was a hotel manager who helped save hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide. His story was turned into "Hotel Rwanda" featuring Don Cheadle.

But Rusesabagina became a fierce critic of Rwanda's longstanding leader Kagame and formed his own political party.

Rusesabagina left Rwanda in 1996 for Belgium but his family said he was tricked into taking a flight in 2020 that was diverted to Kigali.

Rusesabagina was convicted in September 2021 of backing an armed rebel group after a trial that his supporters denounced as a sham. He was tortured whilst in detention, according to his family.

Talks on a release started at the end of 2022 and final details were hammered out last week when Kagame met Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, in Doha, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

In an October 2022 letter released by the government on Friday, Rusesabagina pledged to leave "Rwandan politics behind me" and spend the rest of his life in the United States in exchange for clemency.

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Acclaimed Iranian-American author, scholar and human rights advocate Azar Nafisi, best known for her national bestselling Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, will present the commencement address and be awarded an honorary degree at Salve Regina Universitys 73rd Commencement on Sunday, May 21.

The university, which has been celebrating its 75th anniversary throughout the 2022-2023 academic year, will also award honorary degrees to Dr. M. Therese Antone, R.S.M., Salve Regina chancellor who served as the universitys sixth president from 1994-2009, and to Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, United States Marine Corps (retired). The commencement ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in a tent on the seaside lawn of McAuley Hall.

Azar Nafisi

Born and raised in Iran, Nafisi published her acclaimed memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran, in 2003. The book  an account of the tightening oppression of the Islamic Revolution  appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 100 weeks and has been translated into 32 languages. It recounts Nafisis experiences as an English professor working with a group of students at the University of Tehran. She was dismissed from that role in 1981 for refusing to cover her hair.

Azar Nafisi

Nafisi emigrated to the United States in 1997, where she has continued to teach and write. Her memoir and subsequent books weave together her love of literature and the link between the liberal arts, free thinking and free societies. In addition to Reading Lolita in Tehran, Nafisi is the author of That Other World: Nabokov and the Puzzle of Exile, The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books, and Things Ive Been Silent About, a memoir about her mother.

She has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her cover story, "The Veiled Threat: The Iranian Revolution's Woman Problem," published in The New Republic, has been reprinted into several languages. Her 2022 work, Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times arms readers with a resistance reading list, ranging from James Baldwin to Zora Neale Hurston to Margaret Atwood.

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Nafisi has won numerous literary awards, including the 2004 Non-fiction Book of the Year Award from Booksense, the Frederic W. Ness Book Award, the 2004 Latifeh Yarsheter Book Award, an achievement award from the American Immigration Law Foundation, as well as being a finalist for the 2004 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Memoir. In 2006 she won a Persian Golden Lioness Award for literature, presented by the World Academy of Arts, Literature and Media. In 2011, Nafisi was awarded the Cristobal Gabarron Foundation International Thought and Humanities Award for her determined and courageous defense of human values in Iran and her efforts to create awareness through literature about the situation women face in Islamic society.

Nafisi held a fellowship at Oxford University, teaching and conducting a series of lectures on culture and the important role of Western literature and culture in Iran after the Revolution in 1979. Between 1997 and 2017, she was a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., and also served as director of The Dialogue Project & Cultural Conversations.

Winner of the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award, Nafisi has been awarded honorary doctorates from numerous colleges and universities, as well as being named a Georgetown University/Walsh School of Foreign Service Centennial Fellow in 2018, and being awarded the Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square at Salve Regina University in 2023.

M. Therese Antone, R.S.M.

Appointed chancellor at Salve Regina in 2009, Sister Therese served as the universitys sixth president from 1994-2009. A member of the Sisters of Mercy, her Salve Regina career has included tenure as a professor of mathematics and management, and as executive vice president for corporate affairs and advancement. She has teaching and leadership experience at all educational levels and also served as treasurer for the Sisters of Mercy serving in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Central America.

M. Therese Antone

During her tenure as president, Sister Therese oversaw more than $65 million in fundraising and helped grow the universitys endowment from $1.3 million in 1994 to more than $40 million by 2009. She managed the investment of $90 million in capital improvement projects, including the preservation of several 19th-century estates that make up Salves seaside Newport campus. Her commitment to campus stewardship garnered awards and recognition for the university from preservation agencies across the country, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Getty Campus Heritage Program.

Sister Therese also led university initiatives to refine its mission and develop a new core curriculum. During her tenure, applications for admission to Salve Regina more than tripled. In 1996, her work with the U.S. Congress helped establish the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, a center on campus honoring the legacy of Rhode Islands longest-serving U.S. senator, Claiborne Pell. To honor and recognize Sister Thereses service and leadership to Salve Regina, the universitys Board of Trustees dedicated the Antone Academic Center for Culture and the Arts in 2008.

A Rhode Island native and a Salve Regina alumna, Sister Therese has extensive governance experience, including service on the Diocesan Finance Council and the boards of University of Detroit Mercy, Misericordia University, AAA New England, BankNewport, Lifespan Health Corporation and Beacon Mutual Insurance Company. She currently serves on the board of the Newport Hospital Foundation, Mercy Investment Services, Davis Educational Foundation and Global Net Lease. Sister Therese was appointed to the R.I. State Ethics Commission in 2015.

In addition to many other honors and awards, Sister Therese was a recipient of the John E. Fogarty Achievement Award and the Mercy Higher Education Leadership Award. She is also an inductee to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Sister Therese was a Fulbright senior specialist at Krasnoyarsk University in Russia, and the state of Kentucky commissioned her as a Kentucky Colonel in 2008.

She holds a doctorate in education with emphasis in administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University. She holds a master's degree in mathematics from Villanova University and completed the international senior executive program at the MITs Sloan School of Management. She has a bachelors degree from Salve Regina and is a graduate of Cumberland High School.

Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, USMC retired

Four-star Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, U.S. Marine Corps (retired), served his country in numerous diplomatic roles, including as the U.S. special envoy to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and in missions to Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. In Gen. Zinnis final tour of duty from 1997 to 2000, he served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command. Over the course of his distinguished 39-year military career that took him to over 70 countries in many command assignments, Gen. Zinni earned 23 personal awards and 37 unit, service and campaign awards. He retired in 2000.

Gen. Anthony C. Zinni

Gen. Zinni joined the USMC in 1961 and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant in 1965 after completing his undergraduate degree in economics at Villanova University. He earned graduate degrees in international relations from Salve Regina and in management and supervision from Central Michigan University. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from Villanova, the College of William and Mary, and Maine Maritime Academy.

Gen. Zinni has held academic positions that include the Stanley Chair in Ethics at the Virginia Military Institute, the Nimitz Chair at the University of California, Berkeley, the Hofheimer Chair at the Joint Forces Staff College, and the Harriman Professorship of Government at the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William and Mary. He has worked with the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva.

He was chairman of the board of BAE Systems Inc., and a member of the board of Dyncorp International before being appointed an executive vice president. He also served as president of International Operations for M.I.C. Industries, Inc. Gen. Zinni is the author of two best-selling books on his military career and foreign affairs: Battle Ready and The Battle for Peace. His most recent book, Leading the Charge, was published in 2009.

He attended The Basic School, Army Special Warfare School, Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the National War College. In addition to his masters degree from Salve Regina, he holds a bachelors degree in Economics from Villanova University and a master of arts degree in Management and Supervision from Central Michigan University.

Gen. Zinnis decorations include: the Defense Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V and gold star in lieu of a second award; the Purple Heart; the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star in lieu of a second award; the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V and gold star in lieu of second award; Navy Achievement Medal with gold star in lieu of a second award; the Combat Action Ribbon; the Vietnamese Honor Medal; the French National Order of Merit; and the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Salve Regina University graduation speakers: Azar Nafisi, Anthony Zinni
Sam Neill has reflected on 1992 Jurassic Park, recalling that he was slightly irked by the films marketing campaign.

The 75-year-old actor opened up about his long career in his recently released memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?

Neill acted opposite Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern in Steven Spielbergs dinosaur blockbuster.

The actor said he felt slightly insecure about his leading part in the movie, in which he plays paleontologist Dr Alan Grant.

I was racked by the usual insecurities, Neill wrote in his book, questioning why he had been cast in the role given that he had thought of himself as an ordinary guy on screen.

Why me? Im certainly not an action hero. The idea of me going hand to hand with Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger is simply absurd, he said.

Im more of the ordinary guy on screen. If indeed I was supposed to be that sort of action guy, I was already, I think, 45 years old, and as always had left things about 10 or 15 years too late.

He said his imposter syndrome deepened due to the films marketing campaign, which focused on its CGI dinosaurs as opposed to the actors.

(Getty Images for The Star)

The impostor syndrome would be enhanced later on when we were out and about promoting the movie, Neill wrote.

The more or less official line from Universal Pictures was that, with Jurassic Park, they had set out to prove that they, with Spielberg, could make huge blockbusters without movie stars.

This was true enough, but I think it slightly irked us, the actors, to be reminded from time to time we were not real stars.

Jurassic World, the sequel to 1993's Jurassic Park, has stormed into the global record books (ILM/Universal Pictures/Amblin Entert)

Neill continued: It also rather overlooked the well-established and highly respected careers of Laura [Dern], Jeff [Goldblum], and Dicky [Richard Attenborough]. As it turned out, we know now that Harrison Ford turned down the part, so the no movie star plan may be not entirely true.

The actor made a point to emphasise how grateful he was to star in the film, clarifying that he was only slightly irked by the marketing campaign.

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I emphasise the word slightly, because more than anything we were all delighted to be working with Steven, he wrote. And to be working on something that would be absolutely groundbreaking, as it turned out.

Elsewhere in the memoir, Neill reflected on the near-death situation that he and the Jurassic Park cast and crew faced when shooting in Hawaii.

The actor also reflected on his friendship with Robin Williams with whom he worked on the 1999 film Bicentennial Man.

Neill revealed that he is being treated for stage-three cancer. He said that he is now cancer-free but that he will be on chemotherapy medication.
In pics: beautiful villages ready for Boao Forum

Xinhua) 09:00, March 27, 2023

This aerial photo taken on March 25, 2023 shows a view of Mocun Village in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. The Boao Forum for Asia will hold its annual conference from March 28 to 31 in Boao, a coastal town in China's island province of Hainan. With constant efforts of local government in recent years to build "beautiful villages" in this town, Shamei, Mocun and Nanqiang villages have gradually become models of harmonious villages here. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

This photo taken on March 25, 2023 shows a road of Mocun Village in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. The Boao Forum for Asia will hold its annual conference from March 28 to 31 in Boao, a coastal town in China's island province of Hainan. With constant efforts of local government in recent years to build "beautiful villages" in this town, Shamei, Mocun and Nanqiang villages have gradually become models of harmonious villages here. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

This aerial photo taken on March 24, 2023 shows a view of Nanqiang Village in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. The Boao Forum for Asia will hold its annual conference from March 28 to 31 in Boao, a coastal town in China's island province of Hainan. With constant efforts of local government in recent years to build "beautiful villages" in this town, Shamei, Mocun and Nanqiang villages have gradually become models of harmonious villages here. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

This aerial photo taken on March 25, 2023 shows a view of Shamei Village in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. The Boao Forum for Asia will hold its annual conference from March 28 to 31 in Boao, a coastal town in China's island province of Hainan. With constant efforts of local government in recent years to build "beautiful villages" in this town, Shamei, Mocun and Nanqiang villages have gradually become models of harmonious villages here. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
'Peaky Blinders' star Sam Neill recalled filming the 'deeply disturbing' rape scene in season two.

The actor's character, Major Campbell, attacks Polly Grey who was played by Helen McCrory.

Neill said his friendship and trust with McCrory helped make the scene less awkward to film.

Sam Neill has had a hugely impressive career since he first started acting in 1975, starring in a number of iconic movies like "The Omen III," "Jurassic Park," and "Event Horizon." But the star is also known for his work on the screen, including the critically acclaimed British crime drama, "Peaky Blinders."

He plays the cruel government agent, Major Campbell, who is in charge of tracking down a shipment of stolen guns in Birmingham and bringing the Peaky Blinders gang to justice for their long list of crimes.

The series never shied away from showing brutal violence on screen, and an infamous scene in season two sees Campbell rape Polly Gray (Helen McCrory) in exchange for freeing her son from prison.

Neill recalled what it was like having to film the episode in his recently released memoir, "Did I Ever Tell You This?"

He explained: "Easily the most difficult bed scene I've ever done was in 'Peaky Blinders.' My character, the hideous Major Campbell, rapes Aunt Polly, played by Helen McCrory. It is deeply disturbing, and I was anxious about how we would go."

Surprisingly, the star wrote that he and McCrory used humor to get through the difficult scene, explaining that they found the same things funny.

"For one thing, this was acting out a situation, a crime, utterly beyond my imagination. By the time we shot this, I knew [co-star] Helen very well. We found the same things funny, I respected her deeply, and I think she felt the same about me. We spent a whole morning shooting this horrible, horrible scene."

He added: "As it turned out, we did very well indeed. The more hideous the behavior, the more hilarity. The worse I was, the more we laughed. The trust was there, which allowed us to go to the extremes."

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Helen McCrory sadly passed away in 2021 from cancer, and Neill remembered her as "one of the greatest people I've ever worked with. A grand actress and a fine person."

The actor also touched on what it's been like filming bed scenes over the years, and said he's "fairly confident" that he's never felt too "uncomfortable" during filming.

Neill said: "I'm sure I sound like the dinosaur I am but after forty years plus of such things, I can put my hand over my heart and say I am confident that none of us, me and whoever else was in bed, has ever been uncomfortable in a bed scene. It's just been a matter of behaving like a civilised human being, making sure that you're friends, and getting through the day as best you can."

He went on to say that he always checks in with his scene partner to make sure they're okay with whatever's happening in the script, and if they're okay with the crew being on set.

"I always make sure that the person I'm playing with is okay with the crew around, with what direction we are being given and so on. We collaborate," Neill said. "The whole business is mortifying for everybody, and the more you can take the curse off it with humour, the better."

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visit its website to receive confidential support.

Read the original article on Insider
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday threw his support behind the mass demonstrations in Israel against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus push to overhaul the judiciary in the country.

I applaud the hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens peacefully protesting against their extreme governments actions, Sanders, who spent time living in Israel in his youth, tweeted. Israel deserves a fully democratic government that protects the rights of all and works to assure peace and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested on Monday, with many workers striking to take part.

Sanderss tweet came shortly after reports emerged that Netanyahu and his allies are expected to delay the judicial changes.

Itamer Ben Gvir, Netanyahus national security minister, announced late on Monday that the effort would be shelved until the summer session in parliament that kicks off on April 30. That would allow for a compromise resolution to be reached.

According to The Associated Press, Ben Gvir said Netanyahu agreed to bring the proposal up for a vote when parliament reconvenes if no agreements are reached during the recess.

The demonstrations have paralyzed much of the country in recent days. Flights out of Tel Avivs Ben Gurion Airport have been grounded while the nations largest trade union of 800,000 workers went on strike against the governments blueprint.

Adding to the fury among protesters, Netanyahu fired Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after the latter called for the prime minister to pause the judicial changes.

The proposed overhaul would hand parliament the ability to overturn decisions by the Israeli Supreme Court and give the governing coalition power over judicial appointments.

Detractors of the plan say it would turn the idea of checks and balances on its head and hand Netanyahu more power while he is facing three separate corruption charges.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Last week, Sandfire Resources Limited (ASX:SFR) insiders, who had purchased shares in the previous 12 months were rewarded handsomely. The shares increased by 3.4% last week, resulting in a AU$84m increase in the company's market worth. In other words, the original US$176k purchase is now worth US$210k.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Sandfire Resources

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Sandfire Resources

The Independent Non-Executive Director Sally Langer made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$100k worth of shares at a price of AU$5.27 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$5.86. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Sandfire Resources insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Sandfire Resources is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Sandfire Resources

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Sandfire Resources insiders own 1.2% of the company, worth about AU$31m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

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So What Do The Sandfire Resources Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Sandfire Resources shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders own shares in Sandfire Resources and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Sandfire Resources. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Sandfire Resources you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Santa Paula High School

Police arrested a 16-year-old student at Santa Paula High School Friday for allegedly possessing a handgun on campus, according to a statement Monday from Santa Paula Police.

The student remains in custody at the county's Juvenile Justice Center, the agency said in a news release.

Following up on information from social media, a school resource officer identified the student and worked with school staff and additional officers to locate the student and remove him from the classroom, the release said.

Officers found a handgun, magazine and ammunition in the student's backpack, then arrested the student and notified parents through the district.

Police asked that parents and guardians to keep an eye on what items students bring to campus and to monitor social media, cell phone and computer use.

"Remind students if they see something, say something," police said in the release.

Individuals with information regarding weapons on school campuses can notify the Santa Paula Police Department by dialing 911. Tips can also be reported anonymously to WeTip by calling 800-782-7463 or visiting mobile.catapultems.com/santa-paula-usd/Sites.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Santa Paula High student arrested for alleged handgun possession
The SAT and ACT exams are designed to measure students college readiness and academic achievement as they prepare for college.

Heres what parents and students should know about taking the tests in Texas.

Is the SAT or ACT required for Texas college admission?

While Texas universities do consider ACT and SAT scores, many do not require them for admission.

Six Texas colleges require applicants to submit test scores, 13 colleges recommend submitting test scores and 51 colleges does not require the test scores, but they consider the scores in admission selection process.

About 39% of students submit SAT scores and 21% submit ACT scores.

What are the testing dates for the SAT or ACT?

Visit the College Board website or the ACT website for testing dates, or speak with your schools counselor, the Texas Education Agency says. You can also call the College Board at 866-392-3017 or ACT, Inc., at 319-337-1270.

How can I register for the SAT or ACT?

Visit the College Board website or the ACT, Inc., website for registration information. There, youll also find the code number for your high school, information about score reports and how to interpret your test scores.

What are the average test scores at Texas colleges?

The average SAT score at Texas colleges is 1,106 and the average ACT score is 23, per collegeevaluator.com. The SAT score is made up of Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, Mathematics and Essay. And the ACT is made up of English, Mathematics, Reading, Science and Writing.

Rice University has the highest average SAT and ACT scores, with 1,530 and 35. Huston-Tillotson University has the lowest average SAT score of 910 and Sul Ross State University has the lowest ACT score of 16.

SAT and ACT prep tips

Students score better on the SAT when they study and practice before taking the exam. And students who take the SAT a second time usually improve their scores, according to Texas on Course. Khan Academy and the College Board provide practice activities including full-length practice tests and online practice.

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ACT results indicate what students have learned throughout high school. The ACT Academy is a free online learning platform designed to help students improve their scores and ACT Online Prep is another online test preparation program.

Alternatively, find out if your school offers an SAT or ACT prep course or find a local prep course that you could take. Also, utilize online study resources such as www.princetonreview.com, kaptest.com and sat.collegeboard.org/practice.

Click here to learn more about the testing process.
A recording of a conversation that likely took place between Iosif Prigozhin, a music producer, and oligarch and billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov has leaked online and is gaining traction in Russia. In the audio, Prigozhin and Akhmedov criticise Russias leadership, in particular President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin called the recording a "symbiosis" of spoken and computer-generated speech.

Source: Meduza, a Latvian-based Russian media; Fontanka; Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories), an investigative media outlet founded by Russian investigative journalists; Iosif Prigozhin on Telegram

Details: Meduza reported that the recording of a conversation, which likely took place between Iosif Prigozhin and Farkhad Akhmedov, was posted on YouTube on 7 March, but did not gain traction until 24 March, when it was widely shared by Russian media. Akhmedov did not comment on the recording. Prigozhin called it a "fake" at first but later conceded that it contained some of the things he said.

In the recording, two men discuss the possibility that military and security forces in the Kremlin want to blame Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu for Russias military failures in Ukraine. The person believed to be Iosif Prigozhin says that Putin "put them head-to-head against each other on the chess board" in order to "save himself". His interlocutor, believed to be Farkhad Akhmedov, replies that Russia is a "president-ruled country" and that "the president will bear all responsibility" and "will be called to account".

Akhmedov then says that the Russian government "f***ed us up" and "f***ed up our children, their future, their destiny". Prigozhin agrees and says, "To be honest, they are of course all criminals."

Prigozhin is also openly sceptical about Russian propaganda claims that Russia is at war with the West, saying that the Kremlin "lost to Kvartal 95" [President Zelenskyys comedy show before he was elected the President of Ukraine - ed.].

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Akhmedov advises his interlocutor to "stay away from them", meaning the Kremlin officials.

Referring to Putin, he says: "He will not reverse course, but he cant go forward either. This is how hell be. Theres infighting. These people are like cockroaches in a glass jar; theyre already fighting one another. Theyll form groups. Theyll eliminate one person, then start attacking each other, going for each others throats. Drowning each other. Because they are drowning. They know this is the end".

The entire conversation is suffused with criticism of Putin, government officials and oligarchs in his inner circle. The person believed to be Akhmedov calls Putin "Satan".

"He is Satan. Totally vacuous, f**k. Both [Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council] are messed up. F**k, theyre both Lilliputian, immature, messed up," he says.

More details: After the audio went public, Russian music producer Iosif Prigozhin at first said it was a "fake" "generated by [artificial] neural networks".

"This is a fake recording with, allegedly, my voice and my conversation with an influential person. I want to say that modern technologies, like neural networks, make it possible to fake not just a persons voice but also an entire conversation. You know, the Internet is now just a giant pile of trash [...] making it possible to discredit any person. Everyone knows what my political stance is; it is in all of my interviews and in the public sphere," Prigozhin said in a video he posted on Telegram.

On 26 March, however, he changed tack, saying that "the recording is composed of phrases that I said and phrases that were [computer-] generated and that I have never uttered."

"People can say whatever they want in private conversations. What matters is what you really say and how you act under various circumstances in life," Prigozhin said in an interview with Fontanka.

He confirmed that he maintains contact with Akhmedov and said that the two last spoke in January, though he claimed to not remember what they discussed.

"Weve had all sorts of conversations. Sometimes he would pour his heart out, and sometimes I would. Its regular human communication. Maybe we said some things that could have been used to splice this [recording] together. This was done seamlessly," Prigozhin said.

He also said he was afraid of the consequences he might be forced to bear after the recording has been made public.

"All this is extremely unfortunate for me. Especially because I dont know the majority of people mentioned in this conversation. Others I only met a couple of times," he added.

Investigative media Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories) said that its source in the Russian Federal Security Service said the recording was genuine.

"The audio of the conversation between Prigozhin and Akhmedov is genuine, and the Federal Security Service has recently held a meeting and instructed officers to take appropriate measures," the source said.

They noted that by claiming that the recording was fabricated, Prigozhin was trying to absolve himself of responsibility.

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The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers have vowed to meet before the end of the holy month of Ramadan to implement a landmark reconciliation deal, the two countries said Monday.

Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held their second phone call in less than a week and discussed "a number of common issues... in light of" the surprise agreement brokered by China announced on March 10, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

"The two ministers also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting between them during the current month of Ramadan", which ends in the third week of April, SPA said.

Iran's foreign ministry said the two men "discussed the latest status of the agreement between the two countries" and "talked about a joint meeting in the holy month of Ramadan".

"They also discussed the constructive path of relations between the two countries," the Iranian statement said.

Neither statement specified the exact date or location of the highly anticipated meeting, which Saudi officials have said is the next step in restoring ties seven years after they were severed.

Riyadh cut relations after Iranian protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in 2016 following the Saudi execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr -- just one in a series of flashpoints between the two longstanding regional rivals.

The deal is expected to see Shiite-majority Iran and mainly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia reopen their embassies and missions within two months and implement security and economic cooperation deals signed more than 20 years ago.

An Iranian official said on March 19 that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had favourably received an invitation to visit Saudi Arabia from King Salman, though Riyadh has yet to confirm.

Amir-Abdollahian told reporters the same day that the two countries had agreed to hold a meeting between their top diplomats and that three locations had been suggested, without specifying which.

The detente between Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude oil exporter, and Iran, strongly at odds with Western governments over its nuclear activities, has the potential to reshape relations across a region characterised by turbulence for decades.

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(Bloomberg) --

Most Read from Bloomberg

Ammar Al Khudairy, the chairman of Credit Suisse Group AGs largest shareholder, has resigned just days after his comments helped trigger a slump in the stock and bonds that prompted the Swiss government to step in and arrange its takeover.

Al Khudairy, who became chairman of Saudi National Bank in 2021 when it was created via a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, is leaving due to personal reasons, according to a statement on Monday.

His departure comes twelve days after he said in a Bloomberg TV interview that Saudi National Bank would absolutely not be open to further investments in Credit Suisse if there was another call for additional liquidity.

The Swiss banks stock plunged to the lowest level on record and its credit spreads surged following his comments. That helped drag all European banks lower as investors shied away from risk following the collapse of three lenders in the US.

The SNB Chairman was a victim of giving his honest opinion at such a tense time for Credit Suisse, said Mohammed Ali Yasin, capital markets specialist and investment advisor. In hindsight, seeing the buyout rate of CS by UBS, his answer was the right course of action: awaiting for the crisis to be clearer.

In the days after his comments to Bloomberg TV, Al Khudairy sought to calm the market, telling CNBC that the panic surrounding Credit Suisses share slide was completely unwarranted.

While his remarks were consistent with the Saudi firms previous stance, Al Khudairys comments were largely seen as the tipping point for Credit Suisses chances of survival. Days later, UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse in a historic, government-brokered deal aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that had started to spread across global financial markets. UBS offered to pay 3 billion francs ($3.3 billion) for its rival in an all-share deal that included extensive government guarantees and liquidity provisions.

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Saudi National Bank, which is 37% owned by the kingdoms sovereign wealth fund, saw the value of its investment in Credit Suisse plummet by about $1 billion in a matter of months after it acquired a roughly 9.9% stake for 1.4 billion francs last year. During that time, shares in Saudi National Bank had slumped by about a third, wiping more than $25 billion off its market value before Credit Suisses deal with UBS. The stock was trading up 1% in Riyadh on Monday.

Al Khudairy said in October that he likes Credit Suisses new leadership and their resolve to execute on its turnaround plan, but that any additional equity for the moment was out of the question.

Middle East Backing

Deep-pocketed Middle Eastern investors have been backing global banks such as Credit Suisse for many years. During the financial crisis, sovereign funds in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait plowed about $69 billion into firms such as Barclays Plc, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc., according to boutique adviser and data firm Global SWF.

The most recent losses on Credit Suisse are a stark reminder of a series of investments made by Gulf investors during the 2008 financial crisis - many of which ended in financial loss or legal battles. Regional investors are becoming more cautious of making fresh investments in global banks after emerging as some of the hardest hit in the Credit Suisse turmoil.

Born in 1963, Al Khudairy spent his career in Saudi Arabias financial sector running some of the kingdoms top institutions. Hed been chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley in Saudi Arabia.

Al Khudairy also founded alternative assets management business Amwal AlKhaleej and Amwal Capital Partners, based in Riyadh and Dubai.

He will be replaced by SNB Chief Executive Officer Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi. The bank also appointed Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji as acting CEO. He was previously deputy CEO and head of wholesale banking at the Saudi lender.

--With assistance from Dana Khraiche.

(Adds comment and details on Al Khudairy throughout.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Katherine Cheng/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Current efforts to deal with a looming Social Security funding shortfall have barely made it past the idea stage, and at least one U.S. lawmaker is putting the blame squarely on President Joe Biden.

Learn: 7 Ways Baby Boomers Are Wasting Money in Retirement  and How To Stop It

Discover: 3 Ways to Recession Proof Your Retirement

In a speech last week on the Senate floor, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Biden has resisted efforts to meet with legislators to discuss Social Security reform, and that a plan to address the funding shortfall is noticeably absent from the presidents recent budget proposal.

Cassidy also questioned White House claims that Biden is ready to meet with Congress on fixing Social Security, which will lose a major funding source when the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund runs out of money by the middle of next decade. The fund currently pays about 20% to 25% of Social Security benefits. When it runs dry, the program will have to be funded solely through payroll taxes.

Saying the president stands ready to work with Congress on a solution to Social Security is a lie. There is no evidence that is true, Cassidy said during his March 23 speech.

Those comments referenced earlier Senate testimony by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who indicated Biden is ready to talk about Social Security reforms.

If President Biden is truly willing to meet with a bipartisan group of senators to fix Social Security, then I apologize for my comments to Secretary Yellen, and I look forward to the meeting, Cassidy added. President Biden has a reputation as a dealmaker. Lets make a deal.

Cassidy has a personal interest in Social Security reform, having co-led a recent bipartisan initiative to bolster the troubled program along with Sen. Angus King, a Maine Independent who caucuses with Democrats. Their initiative includes the following proposals, which they say are still open to negotiation:

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Change the formula that calculates monthly Social Security benefits from one based on a workers average earnings over 35 years to a formula based on the number of years spent working and paying into Social Security.

Help finance Social Security by creating a sovereign wealth fund that could be funded with $1.5 trillion or more in borrowed money. If the fund fails to generate an 8% annual return, both the maximum taxable income and the payroll tax rate would be increased to ensure Social Security stays on track to be solvent for another 75 years.

During his speech, Cassidy said his coalition of legislators has not been able to get an appointment with Biden to discuss the proposals.

The reason we keep requesting a meeting with him is because he has to make the deal, Cassidy said. He has to be the one to tell those who work for him to work with us to save Social Security. Either the president chooses to do nothing  and that choice guarantees a massive benefit cut  or he chooses to come up with a real plan to save Social Security.

A Senate aide told Fox News Digital last week that there have been multiple requests from both sides of the aisle to meet with President Biden, and those have not been met. The aide added that staff-level talks have been ongoing between the White House and the Senate, but no senior White House officials or lawmakers had been involved.

White House officials were not immediately available for comment. One reason they might not be anxious to negotiate the Cassidy-King proposals is because the Biden administration has shown no desire to discuss cuts to Social Security  and some Social Security advocates see raising the full retirement age as a type of cut.

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See: 14 Key Signs You Will Run Out of Money in Retirement

Instead, many Democrats favor raising more revenue by increasing the annual income cap for Social Security payroll taxes. Currently, any wages over $160,200 are not subject to Social Security taxes. Some lawmakers, mostly Democrats, want to raise that to $250,000 or higher. Others have proposed raising the payroll tax rate on Social Security, which is currently 6.2% of wages paid by both employees and employers.

EDITED: The bullet point that mentions FRA being lifted to age 70 was removed. Per a Cassidy spokesperson, the senator has no plans to raise the full retirement age to 70. Nor is that figure under consideration.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Social Security Slowdown Blamed on Biden; GOP Calls Presidents Meeting Requests A Lie
Four agents of the Russian Federation were detained during a large-scale special operation

The traitors were detained during a large-scale special operation in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts, said the SBU.

The network included eight locals. One used his status as an assistant to a sitting member of parliament and a journalist as cover.

Russian agents collected intelligence on the locations and movements of Ukraines Defense Forces in the regions.

Read also: FSB interested in conversation between Akhmedov and music producer Prigozhin

Read also: Casualties reported in fire at Russian FSB building in Rostov-on Don

They paid particular attention to the routes the military used and the location of railway stations where the Armed Forces unloaded weapons.

The agents also reconnoitered the locations of ammunition depots, firing positions, checkpoints, and fortifications that Ukrainian troops use on the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

The network was formed by two FSB officers before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. It included a traitor who had previously been recruited by the Honorary Consul of Russia in Kharkiv.

Four members of the group were detained, while the other four are in Russia.

Read also: SBU exposes Russian intel agent group, including nurse of Ukrainian combat unit

During the search, Russian symbols and pro-Kremlin literature were found in the possession of the agents.

The detainees were served a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason committed under martial law).

The suspected traitors were remanded in custody ahead of their trials.

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
Patricia Oliver, the mother of Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is argues with lawmakers during a hearing recess on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 23, 2023. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

A Parkland victim's parents were taken out of Congress last week, days before another mass shooting.

Manuel and Patricia Oliver interrupted a House gun regulations committee hearing last Thursday.

3 schoolchildren and 3 adults were killed at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday.

The parents of a school shooting victim interrupted a Congressional gun regulations meeting last week, shouting at Republican lawmakers before being escorted out by Capitol police. Now, just days later, another mass shooting has left three schoolchildren and three adults dead in Nashville, Tennessee.

Manuel and Patricia Oliver, parents of 17-year-old Parkland, Florida, shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, attended a House committee hearing on gun regulations last Thursday, NBC reported. The two were removed after interrupting the hearing.

According to Politico, Patricia Oliver yelled, "You took away my son," at GOP Texas Representative Pat Fallon before Fallon and another Republican lawmaker called in Capitol police to remove her and Manuel Oliver.

Video footage shared by Democrat Florida Representative Maxwell Frost shows Manuel Oliver being arrested by police in the hallway outside the committee hearing.

Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) March 23, 2023

Just days after the incident, another mass shooting has shaken the US. On Monday morning, a 28-year-old woman opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three children and three adult staff members.

Victims included three 9-year-olds, identified by police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61, were also killed, according to Nashville police.

The suspect was armed with three weapons at the time of the shooting, including two assault rifles and one handgun, police said.

The mass shooting marks the 129th recorded this year, according to Brady, a non-profit working to prevent gun violence.

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Read the original article on Business Insider
NEW YORK (WPIX)  Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer is calling on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to send a specialized team of experts to the tri-state area to address the increasing threat of xylazine, also known as tranq. The veterinary sedative has started to saturate street drugs in New York City and on Long Island.

Xylazine is dangerous, its deadly, and its here, said Schumer. Its a deadly, skin-rotting zombie drug that evil drug dealers are now mixing with fentanyl, heroin and other drugs.

Last week, the DEA issued a rare public safety alert about the widespread threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, which places users at a higher risk of a deadly overdose. The administration claims Mexican cartels source the drug from China and then bring it into the United States.

Schumer is proposing a two-part plan. The first part asks for more federal dollars to help fund law enforcement, substance abuse treatment and mental health services.

Tranq turns up in Queens self-storage units: indictment

The second piece of the plan urges the DEA to deploy a Diversion Control Team to the tri-state area, which includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Schumer said the team of investigators, special agents, chemists and others can help stem the spread of xylazine.

The diversion teams are to drugs like the Navy SEAL teams are to our national security, said Schumer. They can swoop in on an area and deal with a drug problem.

Because xylazine is not an opioid, it does not respond to the overdose-reversal drug Narcan. That is especially problematic for doctors and first responders.

We are still advising our medical communities to administer Narcan, said Dr. Mike Varshavski, a family medical doctor and YouTube content creator with more than 10 million subscribers. We do want to reverse the opioid effect of fentanyl, and when you come to one of these cases on the street who is unconscious and potentially consumed an illicit substance, we dont know which substance they have consumed.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, there are resources available. Learn more here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Scientists said Monday they have discovered water inside tiny beads of glass scattered across the Moon, suggesting that one day it could be extracted and used by the "explorers of tomorrow".

The Moon was long believed to be dry, but over the last few decades several missions have shown there is water both on the surface and trapped inside minerals.

Mahesh Anand, a professor of planetary science and exploration at the UK's Open University, told AFP that water molecules could be seen "hopping over the lunar surface" when it was sunny.

"But we didn't know where exactly it was coming from," said Anand, a co-author of a new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The study, carried out by a team led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the glass beads are "probably the dominant reservoir involved in the lunar surface water cycle".

The team polished and analysed 117 glass beads which were scooped up by China's Chang'e-5 spacecraft in December 2020 and brought back to Earth.

The beads are formed by tiny meteorites that bombard the surface of the Moon, which lacks the protection of an atmosphere.

The heat of the impact melts the surface material, which cools into round glass beads around the width of a strand of hair.

As well as finding water in the beads, the scientists detected "a telltale signature of the Sun," Anand said.

Investigating further, they determined that the hydrogen necessary to make up the water was coming from solar wind, which sweeps charged particles across the Solar System.

- 'Sustainable' source of water? -

The other ingredient for water, oxygen, makes up nearly half of the Moon, though it is trapped in rocks and minerals.

This means that solar wind could be equally contributing to water on other bodies in the Solar System lacking an atmosphere, such as Mercury or asteroids, Anand said.

The glass beads may make up around three to five percent of lunar soil, according to the study.

A "back of the envelope" calculation suggested that there could be around a third of a trillion tonnes of water inside all the Moon's glass beads, he added.

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And it only takes mild heat of around 100 degrees Celsius (210 Fahrenheit) to liberate the water from the beads, Anand said.

While much more research is needed, he said that heating and processing these materials could supply the "explorers of tomorrow" with water -- or even oxygen -- to help them search "other worlds in a sustainable, responsible manner".

The European Space Agency's robotic drill PROSPECT, scheduled to launch for the Moon in 2025, could be the first to be able to collect and extract water in such a way, Anand said.

NASA's VIPER mission, planned to launch late next year, will head to the Moon's South Pole aiming to analyse water ice.

And in the coming years NASA's Artemis mission plans to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.

dl/giv
The ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) elects a new leader on Monday, with the winner taking up the role of first minister in the Scottish Parliament.

Here are the three contenders:

- Kate Forbes -

At just 32, Forbes would become one of the world's youngest political leaders if she wins.

She was first tipped for the SNP leadership in 2020 after stepping in to deliver the budget with only a few hours' notice, when finance minister Derek Mackay resigned unexpectedly.

Born in Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, Forbes spent her childhood at a Gaelic-language school in Scotland as well as in India, where her parents worked as missionaries.

Forbes worked as a chartered accountant for Barclays in London before returning to Scotland, becoming a member of the Scottish parliament (MSP) in 2016.

Forbes, a member of the conservative Free Church of Scotland, got off to a rocky start by saying she would have opposed same-sex marriage had she been an MSP.

That put her strongly out of line with the SNP's centre-left base and lost her support, although she pledged to "defend to the hilt everybody's rights".

Forbes has called for a new generation to lead the SNP, saying that "more of the same is not a manifesto -- it is an acceptance of mediocrity".

She also said not enough groundwork had been done to prepare for independence.

- Humza Yousaf -

Yousaf, 37, has been endorsed by more MSPs and MPs than his two rivals and is considered the frontrunner and preferred candidate to succeed Nicola Sturgeon.

His supporters hail him as a polished communicator who can unite the party.

Yousaf has served in the Scottish government since 2012 in various roles including justice, transport and latterly health.

He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, taking his oath in English and in Urdu.

His close ties with Sturgeon make him the continuity candidate and the one who would aim to maintain the power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.

Yousaf, who is Muslim, has vowed to challenge the UK government's block on controversial gender recognition legislation.

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He also argues that independence can only be won by pushing progressive values and wants the SNP to talk more about the vision for independence than the mechanism, to appeal to floating voters.

Yousaf, however, has his own political problems from mounting issues in Scottish healthcare on his watch and from contentious hate crimes legislation he pushed as justice minister.

If Yousaf wins, he will be the first ethnic minority leader of a devolved government and the first Muslim to lead a major UK party.

- Ash Regan -

Though she was a government minister for four years, Regan, 49, was relatively unknown outside the Scottish Parliament until she resigned over the Sturgeon-led government's proposed gender recognition law.

Regan has accused her opponents of being "wishy-washy" on independence and has pledged to unite "Yes" groups and political parties through an independence convention.

She has proposed treating every election as a vote on independence, wants to introduce a separate currency if Scotland does so and has even produced mock-ups of what the new money will look like.

Regan worked in public relations, marketing and event management in England before returning to Scotland to join a pro-independence think-tank.

She was a prominent member of the Women for Independence movement and joined the SNP after the 2014 referendum, becoming an MSP in 2016.

Sturgeon appointed her community safety minister two years later.

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A man that fell into a barge was rescued by a crew from the Seattle Fire Department on Monday, according to Chopper 7 footage from the scene.

At about 1:08 p.m., crews responded to a confined-space rescue near the 3500 block of West Marginal Way Southwest.

According to medics, the man was unable to climb out of the barge.

Firefighters used an aerial ladder to lower a harness into the barge to carry the man out to safety.

Once he was removed from the barge, he was evaluated and transported to a hospital for further care.
Sargassum seaweed on Miami Beach in 2020 Pedro Portal / Miami Herald / Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Sparkling blue waters, warm sand, palm trees  and a giant mass of seaweed that smells like rotten eggs. This uninviting picture may be the reality along the Caribbean and Floridas east coast as the headline-grabbing seaweed blob (which experts say isnt a blob at all) continues to grow in the Atlantic and is expected to eventually wash ashore sometime this summer.

The foul-smelling seaweed, which is actually a type of floating brown algae called sargassum, provides shelter for marine critters , protects shorelines from erosion, and acts as biomass for food, fuel, and pharmaceuticals. But it also attracts insects, hurts tourism, smothers sea turtle nests, and could put your health in harm's way.

This particular patch of seaweed is making the news because of its size; its estimated to be 5,000 miles wide, or about double the width of the US. Its about the same size or bigger than the one that hit in 2018 , which was the largest ever and affected shores from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico.

When piled up and left untouched on sand, sargassum can decompose, releasing hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, and other harmful gasses into the air that can cause respiratory problems. The seaweed contains heavy metals like cadmium and arsenic that can be toxic to the eyes, skin, liver, kidneys, and lungs. In large quantities, rotting sargassum can also support the growth of disease-causing germs, such as fecal bacteria.

The seaweed is a common sight on beaches, particularly in the summer. It generally travels not in a massive blob but rather in patches that can stretch for miles, hooking together like chains or velcro and moving along with the help of winds and ocean currents.

It usually accumulates in the Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic, with some wandering into the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. But ever since 2011, the seaweed has been growing in size and more frequently floating into other coastal areas, including Florida, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Its not clear why sargassum is growing in volume, but an increase in seawater temperature and nutrients from runoff, as well as changes in ocean currents and wind patterns may be to blame.

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Its difficult to track sargassum, given its complex motion, growth, and decay, but researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say there is a strong chance that it may reach the Florida coast this summer.

Some reports show parts of the patch have already made its way to the northern coast of Cuba and the east coast of Florida .

It sounds like a major summer bummer, so we asked experts whether these health risks are serious enough to warrant canceling your beach trips or just avoiding the affected coasts altogether.

How serious are the health risks associated with sargassum?

It's not the end of the world, and Florida is not going to be buried in seaweed. But you have to assess the risks and what you're comfortable with, said Mike Parsons, a marine science professor at the Florida Gulf Coast University who also studies how the environment influences human health.

When you see these things and people start canceling flights and everything, is it a little premature? I dont know, but if you're exposed to it, pay attention to what your body is telling you, Parsons told BuzzFeed News. Are you getting headaches? Do you feel nauseous? If you do, get away and get some fresh air.

Although sargassum releases a host of toxic gasses, exposure to hydrogen sulfide  a colorless gas with a strong rotten egg smell  is your biggest concern. The risks of hydrogen sulfide depend heavily on how much youve been exposed to and for how long. It can irritate your eyes and respiratory system , causing dizziness, headaches, difficulty breathing, confusion, weakness, nausea, irritability, stomach upset, and vomiting.

At the highest doses of exposure, the gas can lead to coma, seizures, heart attack, and unconsciousness , but thats unlikely to happen from spending time near seaweed at the beach, according to Helena Solo-Gabriele, an engineering professor at the University of Miami who studies the environments impact on human health.

Strong coastal winds will likely dilute most of the toxic gasses, leaving only small concentrations that will have little to no effect on your health, Solo-Gabriele told BuzzFeed News.

Whats more, the chances you actually run into giant patches of sargassum at a beach when vacationing this summer are slim, Solo-Gabriele said, because local communities, resorts, or hotels will likely sweep as much as they can away. (Toxic exposure usually happens about two days after the seaweed has been decomposing on the shore, so in theory it should be safe for people to remove it.)

However, not all coastal communities have access to resources that enable them to remove sargassum from all beaches. For example, Caribbean countries such as Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, and Saint Martin have been dealing with sargassum invasions in recent years.

Between January and August 2018, doctors in Guadeloupe reported more than 3,340 cases of acute exposure to hydrogen sulfide , and those in Martinique reported more than 8,060 cases, including three patients who required intensive care, according to a correspondence published in the Lancet. Researchers say the number of medical consultations related to chronic exposure to the gas is also increasing in local populations in these countries.

Whos most at risk of experiencing health issues from sargassum?

People with respiratory conditions such as asthma may be more sensitive to hydrogen sulfide spewing from rotting sargassum, Parsons said, so you may want to consider avoiding beaches with lots of buildup or make an extra effort to stay away from seaweed on the shore.

That said, the risk to the general population is low. But people who live or work on or near affected beaches, including lifeguards, restaurant employees, and hotel guests, may be more likely to develop headaches or feel nauseous if sargassum is left to rot on the shore.

Is it safe to swim in water with a lot of sargassum floating around?

The short answer is yes  butwould you really want to?

Parsons said the only real risk for people swimming in sargassum-infested waters is that they could get tangled in the seaweed, panic, and potentially drown.

Otherwise, you may experience some skin irritation if it brushes your body. Sargassum has tiny thorns that Parsons said could scratch you. The seaweed doesnt necessarily sting or cause rashes, but little critters that live in it could irritate and bite you .

Its basically a little city, Parsons said. Youll find all kinds of golden shrimp, sargassum shrimp, and crabs.

Sargassum also contains heavy metals that are toxic to humans and animals and do, to an extent, disperse in seawater, Parsons said. But the risk is quite literally a drop in the bucket given how vast the ocean is. Heavy metals in sargassum become a problem if people use the seaweed for other purposes like compost because the toxins can seep into vegetables or other foods that are grown in the soil .

Its also worth noting that rotting sargassum can support the growth of fecal bacteria, which feeds on the seaweed and helps break it down. They are naturally found in the large intestines of warm-blooded animals, like humans. Sometimes beaches close because high levels of fecal bacteria like E. coli are detected in the water following sewage contamination or other events, making it dangerous to swim in.

This doesn't necessarily mean that theres a bunch of poop in the ocean, but this type of bacteria is associated enough with fecal matter that when you see high abundances of it, you conservatively should assume that theres some fecal source nearby, Parsons said. But on the other hand, there's always going to be some around, and so if there is another food source like decaying seaweed, they're going to take advantage of that, which means they're going to multiply.

But again, the likelihood you get sick from sargassum-munching bacteria is low because the seaweed would likely be raked away periodically, which will help prevent its growth.

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Photo: Paolo Patrizi

Beautiful and troubling photographs of how the world is changing and heating up are part of a competition to pressure one of the worlds leading camera companies to drop its controversial views on climate.



Business accountability watchdog Action Speaks Louder launched the Cameras Dont Lie competition in February in order to pressure photography giant Canon to distance itself from the climate denial the group says is being perpetuated at a nonprofit Canon supports.

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Canon has two faces; while branding itself as an environmentally-friendly and socially responsible company, it has created a think tank, the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS), which is a platform for climate denial, the campaigns website reads.

The Canon Institute for Global Studies was founded by Canon in 2008 with the aim of contributing to the development of Japan and the rest of the world, according to a company press release. As the Guardian reported last year, a fellow at the Institute, Taishi Sugiyama, has written multiple blog posts for the Institute that question the science behind climate change and endorse content and theories from prominent denier-led groups and institutions. A report released by a think tank last year also found that Canon has significantly lower climate ambitions than competitors like Nikon, Sony, and Panasonic, and recently lowered its emissions reductions targets.

Earther reached out to the Canon Institute as well as Canon for comment but did not hear back by time of publication. Multiple articles mentioned in the Guardian piece from Sugiyama, including one article calling Thunberg a communist as well as a description of a childrens book he wrote that encourages kids to investigate the effects of global warming based on facts, remain live on the site.

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Canon has pushed back on the allegations that it has lackluster environmental goals as well as the charges from Action Speaks Louder.

The statements referred to by Action Speaks Louder are those published by Mr. Sugiyama, who is affiliated with CIGS. CIGS operates independently and is unrelated to the business activities of Canon. The research and statements published by Mr. Sugiyama are solely his own, the company told PetaPixel early last month. Therefore, Canon is not in a position to officially respond to inquiries from Action Speaks Louder. Global environmental issues are one of Canons management core pillars, and Canon remains committed to contributing, through a variety of means, to the realization of a net-zero CO2 emissions society.

The finalists here were selected from more than 180 entries from 30 countries. The winning image, Vanishing Island of Dhal Chor Bangladesh by photographer Paolo Patrizi, shown above, was on display in Times Square in New York City in March, ahead of Canons shareholder meeting.

Click through to see the winning photograph and other finalists in the campaign.

Vanishing Island of Dhal Chor, Bangladesh

Photo: Paolo Patrizi

Rapid erosion and rising sea levels are increasingly threatening the existence of islands off the coast of Bangladesh. Dhal Chor, Monpura and Bhola are some of many islands on the bay of Bengal affected by increasingly rapid erosion and some of the fastest recorded sea-level rises in the world, Patrizi said of his photo. These vanishing islands are shrinking dramatically.

Hatonuevo mining complex, Colombia

Photo: Cesar David Martinez

Martinez told the campaign: The biggest open pit mine in Colombia and one of the biggest in the world, shows the deep impact that the extraction of one of the worst polluter and greenhouse gases causes in nature and environment: The coal.

Amami Oshima Island, Japan

Photo: Hisayuki Tsuchiya

Tsuchiya described his photograph: The breeding and calving of humpback whales are gradually moving northward due to global warming. Microplastics are also increasing, and the ecosystem of whales is changing.

Lake Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan

Photo: Kanade Endo

While traveling alone in Hokkaido, I noticed a strong smell of decay on the shore of Lake Abashiri. The source of the smell was diatoms that had grown so abnormally that they filled the sand of the lakeside and the rotting corpses of salmon, Endo said.

Presquile Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Photo: Katherine Cheng

Cheng said of her photo: On the first day of 2023, the Presquile Provincial Park and its coastal trails were flooded with water. Typically on January 1, the ground and nearby lake would be covered in ice and snow in Ontario. However, record-high temperatures have been broken across the province this year, leaving many trails, river ice rinks and ski hills closed.

Mt. Zao, on the border of Yamagata and Miyagi Prefectures, Japan

Photo: Kazuaki Koseki

On a clear night at the end of May, when the snow had melted from the trees, I looked up wistfully at the withered ice and the starry sky, and continued to gaze at these trees, clasping my hands and praying, Koseki said. Global warming and climate change are believed to be one of the reasons for the death of these trees. Other possible reasons include the impact of tourism development and attraction of tourism.



Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Photo: Marcin Zajac

I came to Yosemite to photograph something completely different and when I arrived to the park it was covered in smoke, Zajac told the campaign. I considered going back home to avoid camping in smoke, but eventually I stayed around. When at night the smoke cleared for a bit it was surreal to see the fire burning in the valley. The thick smoke didnt seem to discourage climbers though  if you look carefully you can see lights from their headlamps as they climb up El Capitan.

Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan

Photo: Marie Abe

In the summer of 2022, rising sea temperatures caused the coral reefs around Ishigaki Island to almost completely die after large-scale bleaching, Abe said. This is the appearance of the bleached coral with dazzling pastel colours that will be attractive for a little while before it decays.

San Francisco, California, USA

Photo: Patrick Perkins

Perkins said of his photo: The day before I took this photo, there had been severe fires all up and down the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. My sisters house had burned down, and my fathers house had been threatened. My father told me that they had woke up at 2am to fight the fire from spreading onto their land, and my sister had drove home the next day to find her house burned down in a separate fire. The day after I heard that, the sky in San Francisco where I live turned orange from all the smoke. I went out with my camera to try to document what felt like a biblical event. This shot won Unsplashs photo of the year in 2020.

Kolkata, India

Photo: Satyaki Acharya

A waterbody in Kolkata, India has dried up due to the intense heat event before the summer season has set in properly, Acharya said. The million footprints are proof of the struggle people undertake everyday for some water.



Nyaung Oo Township, Mandalay Region, Myanmar

Photo: Wai Maung

This photo shows the local people in central Myanmar were combating climate change by forest restoration and rehabilitation (i.e., planting trees in a barren land near their village), Maung said of his photo. Before planting, rectangular pits (trenches) were dug for capturing and storing sufficient rainwater. Cow dung & biofertilizers were put inside the pits. The purpose of tree planting is to restore the watershed area and to create a fuelwood supply plantation. For survival and subsistence, planting trees is one of the local strategies to cope with harsh climatic and edaphic conditions.

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BRICK - Ocean University Medical Center has unveiled a $20 million center for heart and vascular procedures in a move designed to keep up with an aging population in a fast-growing county.

The Dr. Robert H. and Mary Ellen Harris Heart & Vascular Center, at 17,750 square feet, is twice the size of the hospital's previous catheterization laboratory and will bring together two related specialties into one unit.

"The cardiovascular system is one system," said Dr. Ali Moosvi, the hospital's director of cardiac catheterization. "Ideally, (treatment) should be together. That's why we did it. It was better for patient treatment."

Ocean University Medical Center, owned by Edison-based Hackensack Meridian Health, has been growing fast. In recent years, it has added a $82 million emergency department, three dozen private-patient rooms and a teaching program.

How safe is your hospital? Monmouth, Ocean County grades are out

Dr. Ali Moosvi (left), chief of cardiology at Ocean University Medical Center, speaks with vascular surgeon Dr. Frank Sharp and Alana Speaker, heart and vascular services manager, in one of the new operating suites that is part of the new $20 million cardiac and vascular center at the hospital in Brick Friday afternoon, March 24, 2023.

The expansion might turn out to be fortuitous. As the giant baby boomer generation reaches retirement age, Ocean County's population has increased quickly during the pandemic, surpassing neighboring Monmouth County, as people moved from northern New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia in search of more space and more affordable housing.

"Think about the population growth even since COVID," Robert C. Garrett, president and chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian, said during a ribbon-cutting event Friday for the heart and vascular center. "We're seeing it in the emergency department. We're seeing it all over the hospital. And certainly a center like this is more important than ever."

Helping a growing, aging population: Brick approves 200-bed assisted living center on busy Route 88 parcel

One of the new operating suites that is part of the $20 million cardiac and vascular center at Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Friday afternoon, March 24, 2023.

The center is above the emergency department, built in space that had been empty. Its construction was six years in the making, with delays chalked up to the pandemic.

Helping its cause was $10 million in private donations, including a gift from Mary Ellen Harris, president of the Golden Dome Foundation based in Middletown.

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The case for a new heart and vascular center got stronger last year when New Jersey lawmakers agreed to allow the hospital to perform elective angioplasty and stenting  a procedure that opens clogged coronary arteries and previously could only be performed here in case of an emergency.

The center is geared to treat heart disease, the leading cause of death nationwide. It includes three multi-purpose labs for catheterization and vascular procedures that are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including robotic devices and video screens.

Most staff unboosted: Over half of Monmouth, Ocean nursing homes have COVID outbreaks

One of the new operating suites that is part of the $20 million cardiac and vascular center at Ocean University Medical Center in Brick Friday afternoon, March 24, 2023.

Dr. Frank Sharp, a vascular surgeon, said he and his team of six doctors would be able to perform complex, high-tech and minimally invasive procedures.

"Today marks a new era of vascular care in our community," Sharp said. "These rooms contain the latest imaging technology allowing vascular surgeons and cardiologists to efficiently and carefully intervene on diseased blood vessels in the body."

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ocean University Medical Center in Brick NJ opens heart, vascular lab
The Senate on Monday cleared a final procedural hurdle toward repealing two Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF), setting the stage for a final vote on the bill this week.

Senators voted 65-28 to end debate on the measure to repeal the 1991 authorization for the U.S. invasion of Kuwait and the 2002 AUMF that paved the way for the Iraq War the following March. Sixty votes were required to advance the measure.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said a final vote could take place as early as Tuesday. The upper chamber last week voted 67-28 on the motion to proceed to the bill. Senators also voted down a series of amendments from Republican members late last week but more amendment votes are taking place this week.

Schumer on Monday lauded the process that has led up to a looming final passage vote.

Were allowing Republican amendments, and most importantly, were not being dilatory, Schumer said on the Senate floor. I hope this can be a method, a pattern of what we do in the future.  What happened on this AUMF bill is a good model for us for the future to get things done with bipartisan cooperation.

Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) are the lead co-sponsors of the legislation and argue that formally putting an end to the two AUMFs would signal support for Iraq, a strategic partner of the U.S.

Were going through the responsible, much-needed and much-neglected work of finally, legally bringing a war to a close, Young said in a recent press conference.

More amendment votes are set to take place in the coming days on a number of items related to the AUMF that led to the Iraq War. A number of those are focused on Iran, the driving issue for a number of Senate Republicans who oppose overturning the AUMFs.

One amendment authored by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) would require Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to certify in an assessment to Congress that repeal will not degrade the effectiveness of United States-led deterrence against Iranian aggression.

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Another one proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says the 2002 Iraq AUMF is not independently required to allow the president to take military actions against affiliates of Iran and to take actions for the purpose of ending Irans escalation of attacks on, and threats to, United States interests.

However, others unrelated to the Iraq AUMF are also being proposed. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) have amendments on issues pertaining to Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, Afghanistan and Israel, respectively.

The vote comes on the heels of last weeks 20th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. U.S. forces formally withdrew from Iraq in 2011.

Despite the lack of fighting in Iraq in recent years, the 2002 AUMF has been utilized in that time. Former President Trump cited it when he ordered a missile strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

Final passage of the AUMFs in the Senate would shift the process over to the House, which could be set to follow suit. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters last week that he would support the effort, as long as a separate 2001 AUMF for the war on terrorism remained on the books.

Im into it, McCarthy told reporters during the House GOPs retreat in Orlando, Fla., last week I dont have a problem repealing that.

I was not here to vote on either of the creation of those, but youre 20 years into this now, McCarthy said. I still want to take actions if there are terrorists anywhere around the world. If were keeping that one AUMF and removing another one, thats personally where I am.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The majority of Senate Democrats on Monday pressed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to maintain access to abortion care for service members and their dependents, warning that restricting such care could hurt national security.

In a letter led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, the 38 lawmakers tell Austin that it is imperative that the Department of Defense continue to take action to protect the rights of service members and their families to access abortion care.

State laws restricting or prohibiting our service members from accessing reproductive care send a message that the United States does not trust those who serve in uniform  whom we trust to protect our country  to make their own decisions about their health care and families, the letter reads. These laws also jeopardize the health and overall readiness of our military.

The letter was coauthored with Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and signed by 36 Democrats as well as Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine).

In the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last June, 13 states have outlawed most abortions, with several others severely restricting the procedure.

The RAND Corporation estimates that 40 percent of active-duty women who serve in the United States face limited or no access to abortion services where they are stationed, according to the letter.

Prior to the courts decision, the Department of Defense allowed abortion services at military treatment facilities under limited circumstances, including pregnancy caused by rape or incest or endangering the health and life of the woman. In most other cases, service members were required to pay out of pocket themselves at civilian medical facilities.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Pentagon officials have vowed to continue to allow abortion services at military treatment facilities, including in states where the procedure is no longer allowed or limited.

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Austin first announced in October that the Pentagon would also provide leave to service members and their dependents for travel required to access reproductive health care and would reimburse individuals for the trek.

Policies released in February gave additional details and guidance on how the directives would function.

In his October decision, Austin argued that restricting access to reproductive care will interfere with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.

Senate Republicans, however, are skeptical, with 12 asking Austin for the data to back up his readiness claims.

Led by Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the lawmakers in a letter earlier this month accused the Pentagon of a blatant attempt to circumvent numerous federal statutes and policies that can only be interpreted as a purely political action taken without consulting Congress.

The divide has also led to a hold on President Bidens nominations for top Pentagon positions since February, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) last week vowing to maintain the freeze until the policy is altered.

And in a contentious Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) included abortion access in the military as among so-called social experiments and radical agendas, at the Pentagon.

In Mondays letter, Senate Democrats argue that state laws restricting abortions will not stop service members from needing or seeking care.

Abortion restrictions and bans only force service members to travel farther to states that have not restricted abortion, further compromising both the financial security of the service members and military readiness, they write. Our service members should not be forced to needlessly risk their personal health and safety for routine health care simply because they pledged to protect and defend our nation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Senate Republicans on Monday cast doubt on the possibility of legislative action on firearms in response to the shooting at a school in Nashville, Tenn., earlier in the day.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters that he does not believe the Senate can go any further on firearm-related bills or on expanding background checks than the chamber did last year when it passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act following the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The legislation was the most consequential gun safety package signed into law in three decades and became law with bipartisan support, with Cornyn as the lead GOP negotiator for the legislation.

I do not, Cornyn told reporters when asked if the votes are there to take any additional steps. I would say weve gone about as far as we can go unless somebody identifies some area that we didnt address, he added about background checks specifically.

Three 9-year-old children and three adults were killed during Mondays shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. The shooter is believed to be a former student at the private Christian school.

Fifteen Senate Republicans joined with every Democratic member to pass the bipartisan bill last summer. Four of those members retired at the end of last year.

Among other things, the law expanded background checks for individuals under the age of 21 who wanted to buy a gun by giving local authorities more time to look at their mental health records and juvenile past. It also boosted mental health services funding for states and incentivized localities to implement red-flag laws, which would allow for guns to be temporarily confiscated from anyone considered too dangerous to keep them in their possession.

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters that more details surrounding the shooting need to emerge before lawmakers can discuss possible legislative remedies.

I dont know. Im not sure of the answer to that until we get more of the facts in  in this case, the lady who was the perpetrator of all this and how she acquired firearms and all that. I think those are all questions we need to get answered, Thune said.

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We dont know all of the details yet, Thune said, noting that the Senate also took action in 2018 with the Fix NICS bill that aimed to improve reporting of background checks.

Will there be action on red-flag laws?

One item where there is not expected to be further action specifically is on red-flag laws, multiple GOP senators said. Tennessee is not among the current list of states that have them on the books, but a push for universal red-flag laws is not an effort leading Republicans plan to be part of.

Youre not going to see us move anything remotely at the federal level for red-flag legislation, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told The Hill.

Tillis, who was among the 15 Senate Republicans who voted for last years bipartisan package, added that his focus is set on the ongoing implementation of that legislation and, specifically, the behavioral health and crisis intervention order provisions that were part of that.

Earlier on Monday, President Biden re-upped his call to ban semiautomatic weapons  a long-standing position of his.

Its about time that we begin to make some more progress, Biden said, adding that the White House would continue to monitor the situation.

Republicans criticized the president for the early call to ban assault weapons and noted that it is unclear what type of firearm the shooter used specifically. It has been reported that she used two assault-style guns and a pistol.

The president just keeps coming back to the same-old tired talking points, so hes not offering any new solutions or ideas. If he does, I think we should consider them, but so far I havent heard anything, Cornyn said. I dont know whats being proposed other than why President Biden keeps coming back to, which is a ban on assault weapons, which would require the confiscation of 16 million semiautomatic weapons that are owned by law-abiding citizens.

Democrats push for action

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 ranked Senate Democrat, in remarks on the Senate floor called for legislative action in response to the latest school shooting.

Once again, thoughts and prayers are not enough, Durbin said, adding that these school shootings are happening with a sickening regularity in this country.

I urge my colleagues to come together on a bipartisan basis. We cant say that weve solved this problem or even addressed it seriously when incidents like today in Nashville, Tennessee, continue in America, Durbin continued. We need to pass more reforms.

Other Senate Democrats indicated they want Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to start putting partisan bills on the floor for votes, such as an assault weapons ban and legislation calling for universal background checks.

I think America wants to see where people stand on some of these issues, said Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), the lead Democratic negotiator on last years bill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Biden's failure to win Senate confirmation of two nominees this month reveals Biden as an "out of touch" president who is nominating people to lead the government who are so radical, that they cannot be unanimously supported by senators who usually vote with Democrats, Republican lawmakers told Fox News Digital on Monday.

"Members of Bidens own party torpedoing his picks to fill traditionally non-partisan positions underscores how out of touch this administration is with the priorities of the American people," said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. "Missourians do not want climate alarmists, free speech censors, or defund the police apologists overseeing their everyday lives."

Over the weekend, the presidents pick to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Phillip Washington, withdrew himself from consideration following multiple reports that hesitation by Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinemas, I-Ariz., forced his committee vote to be delayed.

That came after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) nominee Gigi Sohn pulled herself out of the running for that long-empty seat, citing "unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks" from Republicans. However, she withdrew shortly after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced he would oppose her nomination  likely a decisive vote in the closely-divided Senate.

FAA HAS OPERATED WITHOUT A SENATE-CONFIRMED DIRECTOR FOR NEARLY A YEAR

Republicans say President Biden's failure to get two nominees through the Senate shows he's out of touch with members of his own party.

Manchin and Sinema have previously made headlines for foiling some of the presidents more progressive agenda items, including scuttling the filibuster to pass the Voting Rights Act and the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better spending bill.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

This month, they have done the same with Bidens picks for the FAA and FEC  both of whom already faced intense Republican opposition. Sohn was heavily criticized for her partisan social media presence, while Washington was accused of not having enough experience to lead the safety and regulatory flight agency.

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Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., whose panel vetted both candidates, told Fox News Digital on Monday that she was "glad" to see Sinema and Manchin agree with GOP arguments against the nominees.

"Gigi Sohn and Phil Washington were both unfit for the positions President Biden nominated them for, and Im glad to see senators across the aisle agreed with the Republicans on the Commerce Committee that Gigi Sohn was entirely too partisan, and Phil Washington was grossly under-qualified to serve," Lummis said.

BIDEN FAA NOMINEE STALLS IN SENATE COMMITTEE AS REPUBLICANS CALL HIM UNQUALIFIED

Phil Washington, chief executive officer of Denver International Airport and administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration nominee for President Biden, during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee nomination hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

On a new episode of his podcast that aired on Monday morning, Commerce Committee ranking member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took credit for torpedoing both nominations.

"Both of them now, we've taken them down. And it was not by accident. Look  it is a good thing," the Texas senator said. Cruz said of Washington, whose only aviation experience is his current tenure as head of the Denver airport, "I had several Democrats say why, why are they nominating this guy?"

Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., a pilot and fellow member of the Senate Commerce Committee, told Fox News Digital on Monday that it was unsurprising that both Sohn and Washington faced "bipartisan pushback."

REPUBLICAN SENATOR SLAMS BIDEN'S FAA NOMINEE: A 'COMPLETE MISMATCH'

Gigi Sohn testifies during a Senate confirmation hearing examining her nomination to serve on the Federal Communications Commission on Feb. 9, 2022.

"When the president continues to play politics with nominations for important positions in his administration instead of focusing on their actual qualifications for the job, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that these nominees are going to face bipartisan pushback," Budd said.

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"This was clearly the case with Mr. Washington, who demonstrated that he did not have the basic aviation knowledge necessary to serve as administrator of the FAA. Ms. Sohn was an activist partisan who would have injected her far-left views into the FCC, which is an agency that has tremendous power over free expression. They simply were the wrong choices for the important positions they were nominated to lead," the senator added.
Senate Republicans announced on Monday they will introduce a resolution to overturn President Bidens student loan forgiveness plan.

The senators are introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would dissolve Bidens plan  which is held up at the Supreme Court  to forgive up to $20,000 for borrowers with federal loans. The Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost about $400 billion over the next 30 years.

The resolution is led by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the ranking member for the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), with 35 other Republican colleagues signing on.

The CRA allows Congress to review and overturn any regulations created by a federal agency.

The Government Accountability Office determined Bidens student debt relief plan was subject to the act.

President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans, Cassidy said. It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes.

The resolution would have to make it through the GOP-controlled House and Democrat-led Senate and be signed by the president.

Biden would likely veto the resolution, but the CRA vote would force some in his own party to take a decisive stance on his plan.

While the Senate is controlled by Democrats, not all are in lockstep about student loan forgiveness, with some criticizing Biden when the plan was announced.

I just thought that it was excessive, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said shortly after Biden announced the plan.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) introduced a companion CRA resolution in the House, which has a high chance of passing because it is controlled by Republicans.

President Bidens so-called student loan forgiveness programs do not make the debt go away, but merely transfer the costs from student loan borrowers onto taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, Good said. Congress should stop these unilateral actions, and I am proud to lead the fight in the House to hold President Biden accountable for his reckless, unfair, and unlawful student loan proposal. I hope all my colleagues will join me and support this effort.

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The resolutions have been introduced as the Supreme Court is still considering the legality of the program.

During oral arguments in February, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court seemed skeptical the Biden administration had the legal authority to give out debt relief without congressional approval.

A final decision by the court is expected in May or June.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans are attempting to overturn President Joe Bidens student loan forgiveness program by deploying a procedural tactic that allows them to avert a filibuster and pass it by a simple majority.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Senators Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn and Joni Ernst introduced the Congressional Review Act resolution singling out Bidens 2022 executive order, which would forgive as much as $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower. The program, which is currently blocked while it awaits a Supreme Court ruling, is limited to those that make less than $125,000 a year for individuals or $250,000 for households.

Opponents of the student forgiveness program argue that it is unfair to borrowers who have already paid back their debt or took measures to avoid accruing student loan debt.

President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans, Cassidy, the top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said overturning Bidens student debt relief program would harm students of color, the children of immigrants and middle class families.

Its hard to believe that at a time when millions of Americans are struggling with student debt, Republicans are showing how callous and uncaring they are by trying to block debt relief that would literally transform the lives of so many for the better, he said on the Senate floor Monday.

Black college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than White college graduates, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Story continues

The Government Accountability Office determined earlier this month that the student loan forgiveness plan is subject to the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to overturn rules issued by federal agencies.

At least 30 senators must sign the petition to bring it to the floor. With the Democrats 51-49 Senate majority, the resolution would need some Democratic support to get the requisite 51 votes. Its unclear whether all Senate Republicans will support it.

--With assistance from Laura Litvan.

(Updates with Schumer, starting in fifth paragraph.)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Therapist Siobhain Crosbie outside High Court after hearing in dispute with rival Caroline Ley - Champion News

A sex therapist embroiled in a 2m court clash over claims she stole clients from a rival's business by hijacking her online profile has blamed a "quirk of the Google algorithm" for the drama.

Siobhain Crosbie, who charges up to 200 a session for help with issues including "sexual dysfunction" and "transgender difficulties", claims former friend and protege Caroline Ley stole her clients after the two women fell out in December 2011.

But psychosexual therapist Ms Ley, 51, who studied under Ms Crosbie and worked for a time from her therapy practice, APS Psychotherapy and Counselling, in South Woodford, east London, before leaving to set up her own practice nearby, said it's a problem caused by the way the search engine merges listings.

But Ms Crosbie, 55, claims that subsequently her own business mysteriously nosedived and it was not until 2016 that she discovered online enquires for her counselling service via Google were being diverted to Ms Ley's business.

She claims Ms Ley, a "sex addiction" specialist who charges 100 for an individual 50-minute session, deliberately interfered with the online search tools and profiles in order to poach her clients.

Cyber fraud allegations

She is now suing for 1,422,418.80, plus interest of 456,109, alleging "cyber fraud".

But Ms Ley denies the claims, blaming "a quirk of Google's algorithm" for the "mash-up" of details from the two businesses, due to them both having been run from the same address at one time.

She is also countersuing, demanding "substantial" damages for libel and harassment over what she claims has been a "carpet bombing" campaign by Ms Crosbie to blacken her name on social media.

Gervase De Wilde, for Ms Ley, told Mr Justice Julian Knowles that the two women became friends and later colleagues after meeting on holiday in 2005.

Ms Crosbie was already an established therapist and Ms Ley subsequently undertook a degree in psychology and a placement with Ms Ley as part of her training before renting a counselling space from her in 2010 and 2011 as she established her own practice, he said.

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The two women however "parted ways professionally and personally at the end of 2011," he said, with Ms Ley going on to set up her own business nearby, in Buckhurst Hill.

Ms Crosbie told the judge from the witness box that it was shortly after this that she noticed her business beginning to flatline.

She said that, from 2012, she experienced a "drop in enquires" and was told by her clerical supervisor that "the phone hadn't been ringing for three months."

A message was read to the court she sent in 2012, stating: "things are absolutely sh*te financially".

She told the judge that the side of her business involving renting spaces to other therapists was so badly affected she had to cut the number of rooms she was renting out from three to one.

Phone number 'redirection'

Her barrister, Janaka Siriwardena, told the judge: "At some point in March 2016, she discovered that if you clicked onto the phone number on her web listing, this connected to a phone number controlled by Ms Ley.

"Also, clicking on the directions icon led a web visitor to directions to Ms Leys (business) address.

"In March 2016, Ms Crosbie complained to Ms Ley that she had deliberately directed potential visitors to her own business and as a result, that Ms Crosbie had suffered a loss.

"Ms Crosbie also discovered that a listing for her business on psychotherapy.co.uk coincidentally again led to Ms Leys business.

"Except Ms Crosbie did not consider this to be coincidental, but both acts were carried out deliberately as a means of passing off Ms Leys business as being similar or associated with Ms Crosbie.

"Further, logos and photos associated with Ms Crosbies listing were found on Ms Leys listings.

"It does not appear to be denied that both the address icon and telephone number functioned to lead away any potential visitor away from Ms Crosbie's listing to something controlled by Ms Ley.

"Her explanation for this is Google's 'merged listing' process applied to similar businesses that led to an inadvertent state of affairs which then became contentious.

"Ms Crosbie's case is that the diversion went beyond Google's merged listing process. The state of affairs persisted over a number of years.

"Ms Ley must have been made aware of any error during such a length of time."

In reply, Ms Ley's barrister told the judge: "At some point in March 2016, Ms Crosbie discovered a listing...apparently displaying the address of her business, Ms Ley's phone number and Ms Crosbie's website.

"She complained to Ms Ley unreasonably that this amounted to her having 'taken over her website'."

He dismissed the problem with the online listings as "a quirk of Google's algorithm...both businesses having operated briefly from the same premises".

'Carpet bombing'

Ms Crosbie had gone on to complain of "cyber fraud" to the police and embarked on a four-year social media campaign against her rival, the barrister said.

"By 2020, both the extent of Ms Crosbie's campaign of publications and the seriousness of the allegations she was making against Ms Ley had intensified, causing enormous distress anxiety and reputational damage to her," he told the judge.

"Ms Crosbie's campaign of publications is a paradigm case of harassment: it is persistent and deliberate; it is unacceptable and oppressive; it is targeted against Ms Ley and it is calculated to cause and has caused Ms Ley alarm and distress.

"Ms Crosbie carpet bombed the Facebook groups where both their colleagues, peers and students congregated online with repetitions of her allegations.

"It is hard to conceive of any complaint against a former colleague based on a business dispute, no matter how well-founded, could justify the terms in which Ms Crosbie made her allegations of wrongdoing. These encompassed criminality, fraud, dishonesty, tax evasion.

"The court is respectfully asked to dismiss Ms Crosbie's claim as being totally without merit and to grant judgment on Ms Ley's counterclaim, making an award of substantial damages for defamation and harassment and granting an injunction."

He called Ms Crosbie's case of passing off "illogical" and "unsupported by the facts or evidence now before the court".

The judge has now reserved his decision until a later date.
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast

When news broke on Sunday night that the storied journalism institution known as The Texas Observerthe great incubator of national industry talent and Lone Star State muckraker once helmed by the irreverent Molly Ivinsa wave of fury, sadness, and hopelessness washed over the states press corps.

Nationally recognized journalists called the closure everything from an ego-driven tantrum to a damn shame, and it seems theyre just getting started. Some arent ready to give up on the historic magazine. But Im paralyzed by sadness for what was my first real reporting home and what was, for Texas, a place uniquely and steadfastly dedicated to holding a spotlight onto injustice and oppression.

Ive never talked about this publicly, but Ill admit it now: It was a fluke that I even got my first-ever journalism fellowship at the Observer.

The interview went well, I thought. They liked me, but not as much as they liked four other candidates. I had graduated college early, but I had nowhere to go next. It wasnt until one of the other chosen fellows had to drop out due to a family emergency that I got the call to move to Austin. Of course, I did it in a heartbeat. Moved into a vegetarian co-op in West Campus, bought a ton of business-casual clothing at the mall, mapped the walking distance from my brothers east-side apartment to the Texas Capitol.

You Want to F*ck With Me Tonight?: Horror Stories from the Texas Capitol

This was a dream come true. The Observer was founded in 1954 by Ronnie Dugger and its history includes a six-year period in the 1970s under Ivins, a truly inimitable leader.

We will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit, Dugger once wrote. For her part, Ivins called the magazine a publication in a class by itself in the book Fifty Years of the Texas Observer, which was published in 2004.

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And it was a dream to report for them. The Texas Observer was the place for watchdog, muckraking journalism in Texas. The statehouse wasand still isfull of clownery, and there was only one outlet truly willing to report on it with teeth. Everyone else had seemingly become inoculated to the sexism and racism and the this-is-just-how-it-works of Texas politics. But the Observers editors didnt care about ruffling feathers, as long as the story was true and smart and well-told. The Observer did not bend for access to officials. It was a place beloved by journalists and loathed by the corrupt.

And then, on Sunday, The Texas Tribune broke the news: The Texas Observer is shutting down and will lay off its 17-person staff, including 13 journalists. Emily Ramshaw, the co-founder and CEO of The 19th* and the former editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune tweeted holy shit and then called it a damn shame.

Holy shit.



Texas Observer, legendary crusading liberal magazine, is closing and laying off its staff https://t.co/4KpqJjrEgT via @TexasTribune  Emily Ramshaw (@eramshaw) March 27, 2023

During my first-ever week at the Observer, I pitched my mentor Forrest Wilder (now at Texas Monthly) and then-editor Dave Mann (now a senior editor with American Public Media) on the sexism I was witnessing; I thought the warnings they were giving me about who not to be alone with should be reported out into a story. They gave me exceptional advice: Write down everything. If theres a story there after a few months of digging, well run it.

In 2013, at the age of 21, I finished my expose on sexism in the Texas Capitol. It went viral. But no policy changes were made. And nobody, and I mean nobody else in the entire statehouse press corps, would have run that story. Of course, four years later, I was able to write multiple follow-up stories in 2017 at The Daily Beast during the height of #MeToo, and it resulted in policy changes and panels and a lot of big showboating and taking a stand against sexism. None of that would have been possible without the Observer.

That same year, in 2013, then-contributing editor Saul Elbein published a hard-hitting story about a practicing physician whose patients kept ending up maimed and dead. Afterward, the physician, tagged Dr. Death, was sued and charged and convictedand then sentenced to life in prison.

There were a stunning number of award-winning, world-changing pieces of journalism out of such a small shop. The 2000 investigation on an undercover drug bust that disproportionately targeted Black Texans from Nate Blakeslee. Nearly everything written by National Magazine Award finalist and author Melissa del Bosque.

This was the Observer at its best; it made way for others to do what was right. It was always willing to go where no one else dared. Digging beyond headlines with rigorous, fact-based reporting that was not pretending to be neutral to injustice. We seek not only to inform, but to empower our readers, as we work to hold public officials and corporations accountable, reads the Observer website. Our reporters recognize that oppressed people are experts on their own lives.

Today, the Observers editor has said it is focused on reporting out womens health issues, political extremism, Texas rivers and on the Biden administrations border policies. That is, until the newsroom shuts down on Friday.

Elbein told me Monday that, for generations of Texas journalists, the Observer served as a career incubator and proving grounda place that gave us the guidance and leeway to do big, serious stories at a time in our careers when other publications would have had us fetching coffee. That sentiment was repeated over and over again on Monday. Other notable Observer alums include Lawrence Goodwyn, Jake Bernstein, James K. Galbraith, and Jim Hightower.

Elbein, now a Texas reporter for D.C. outlet The Hill, also noted that its loss will leave a sizable hole in the Texas media landscape.

But it also opens a lane for a publication to replace itone with a mandate and management system better suited to Texas as it is, rather than what it was, and that can reach the kind of mass audience the Observer long ago gave up on, Elbein added.

Women Expose The Secret Sexual Predators Inside Texas Politics

Pamela Colloff, the prolific and acclaimed Texas crime reporter who once won the MOLLY National Journalism Prize given out by the Observer in honor of Molly Ivins, called the magazine a model for many of us. (Full disclosure: I was on the judging committee for the award for several years.)

Right now we need more, not less, independent journalism that speaks truth to power. Its a devastating loss for journalism and for Texans, said Colloff. I cant overstate how much The Texas Observer shaped and inspired generations of journalists, or what an important incubator of talent it was, decade in and decade out.

Kolten Parkera former editor at the Observeron Monday called the news hard to swallow.

Its a sad day for independent journalism, for Texas and for the extremely talented and dedicated staff of The Texas Observer, said Parker. It provided for me, as it did countless other journalists, a space to craft hard-hitting journalism that owed nothing to anyone or anything except the truth. The high editorial standards and freedom of the Observer is liberating for writers, readers and voiceless communities in Texas. The biggest immediate concern is the people who found out their livelihood is gone through tweets on a Sunday night. Hire them.

The Tribune reported that the decision to shut down the legendary publication was ultimately made by the board of the nonprofit Texas Democracy Foundation, which owns the magazine. The group reportedly voted on Wednesday to approve the layoffs.

Asher Elbein, a contributing editor and longtime freelancer at the Observerand Sauls brotherwas the most willing to place blame firmly on the shoulders of the organizations board, calling them cronyistic, inattentive, irresponsible and reactionary.

It was the boards decision-making over the past few years that drove serious staff turnover at the Observer, said Elbein. It was the boards decision to make a difficult dispute among staff worse by taking a nearly finished issue and throwing the publication into a hiatus. The board gutshot the Observer, wondered why it was dying, and now claim that an inability to fund it means they have to put it out of its misery. Well, yeah. Times are tough for independent journalism. Theyre tougher still when these were the people tasked with making sure it could continue.

Infuriating news abt @TexasObserver It's not true that there was no future for a publication like the Observer in Texas.On the contrary. It's needed now more than ever. I spent a decade there. You don't just shut down a historic publication overnight like it's nothing. Shameful.  Melissa del Bosque (@MelissaLaLinea) March 27, 2023

He added, If the board doesnt feel that they can help The Texas Observer survive, thats naturally their prerogative. But they should turn it over to the people who make it, who have a vested interest in keeping it alive.

Robert Frump, who ran the magazines business operations as a special adviser, resigned in protest on Thursday, according to the Tribune.

Our reader base and our donor base is aging out, Frump told the website. Theres a nostalgia for Molly Ivins and Ann Richards and their era, and thats a lot of what still drives the Observer. We werent able to build a bridge to the younger, progressive generation. I think the legacy is worth fighting for, but I do understand why the board feels the way it does.

Del Bosque tweeted on Sunday evening that the news was infuriating, adding that its not true that there was no future for a publication like the Observer in Texas. On the contrary. Its needed now more than ever. I spent a decade there. You dont just shut down a historic publication overnight like its nothing. Shameful.

Women Say Texas Senators a Creep. Court Says Hes a Fraud. But He Wont Leave Office.

Jeff Rotkoff, an Austin-based veteran Texas progressive advocate and organizer, said that the magazine was once one of many constellations in the political sky.

The Observer was unafraid to call a lie a lie, and to unapologetically distinguish right from wrong, said Rotkoff. Its been home to some of the best Texas storytelling, because journalists at the Observer werent saddled with obligations to false equivalency. Todays news is a heartbreak not just for so many talented journalists and Observer alum, but for anyone who knows we cant build a Texas future for all our families and all our kids without brave, brash, accountability journalism.

But maybe it isnt a funeral after all.

Dan Solomon, a senior editor at Texas Monthly, tweeted Sunday, Voting to pull the plug after decades without crowdfunding or publicly seeking new funding sources is incredibly short-sighted, and I hope its not too late to do those things. He added, The rest of us who cover Texas will have to work harder than ever if the observer folds. Its been an incredible asset to the state, and to the mission of holding power accountable in a place where that is not something many are inclined to do.

Steven Monacelli, a former special investigative correspondent at the magazine, reported Monday that Texas Observer editorial staff have offered a counter proposal: Have the board members who voted for closure resign while top editors will work voluntarily and be given the chance to try to raise funds. Theyve also asked for a staffer to be added to the board as a voting member, adding that the Observer would need to raise about $200,000 to avoid immediate closure.

Said Solomon, If the board doesn't take them up on this, I don't know how you can view that decision as anything other than an ego-driven tantrum.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market - but in the process, they risk under-performance. That downside risk was realized by Arvida Group Limited (NZSE:ARV) shareholders over the last year, as the share price declined 45%. That's well below the market decline of 3.7%. At least the damage isn't so bad if you look at the last three years, since the stock is down 24% in that time. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 20% in the last 90 days.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

Check out our latest analysis for Arvida Group

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Unfortunately Arvida Group reported an EPS drop of 0.5% for the last year. The share price decline of 45% is actually more than the EPS drop. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, a year ago. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 3.20.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Arvida Group's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Arvida Group's TSR for the last 1 year was -43%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Arvida Group shareholders are down 43% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 3.7%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 0.1% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks, for example - Arvida Group has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on New Zealander exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Investing in stocks comes with the risk that the share price will fall. Anyone who held Imperial Metals Corporation (TSE:III) over the last year knows what a loser feels like. In that relatively short period, the share price has plunged 50%. Longer term investors have fared much better, since the share price is up 39% in three years.

It's worthwhile assessing if the company's economics have been moving in lockstep with these underwhelming shareholder returns, or if there is some disparity between the two. So let's do just that.

Check out our latest analysis for Imperial Metals

Imperial Metals wasn't profitable in the last twelve months, it is unlikely we'll see a strong correlation between its share price and its earnings per share (EPS). Arguably revenue is our next best option. Shareholders of unprofitable companies usually expect strong revenue growth. Some companies are willing to postpone profitability to grow revenue faster, but in that case one does expect good top-line growth.

In the last twelve months, Imperial Metals increased its revenue by 29%. We think that is pretty nice growth. Meanwhile, the share price tanked 50%, suggesting the market had much higher expectations. It may well be that the business remains approximately on track, but its revenue growth has simply been delayed. To our minds it isn't enough to just look at revenue, anyway. Always consider when profits will flow.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Imperial Metals' earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 9.2% in the twelve months, Imperial Metals shareholders did even worse, losing 50%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 2% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Imperial Metals better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Imperial Metals (2 make us uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

Story continues

Imperial Metals is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Canadian exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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We're definitely into long term investing, but some companies are simply bad investments over any time frame. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. For example, we sympathize with anyone who was caught holding Southern Cross Media Group Limited (ASX:SXL) during the five years that saw its share price drop a whopping 91%. And we doubt long term believers are the only worried holders, since the stock price has declined 50% over the last twelve months. More recently, the share price has dropped a further 16% in a month. We really feel for shareholders in this scenario. It's a good reminder of the importance of diversification, and it's worth keeping in mind there's more to life than money, anyway.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

View our latest analysis for Southern Cross Media Group

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

In the last half decade Southern Cross Media Group saw its share price fall as its EPS declined below zero. The recent extraordinary items contributed to this situation. At present it's hard to make valid comparisons between EPS and the share price. However, we can say we'd expect to see a falling share price in this scenario.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

What About Dividends?

As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, Southern Cross Media Group's TSR for the last 5 years was -85%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Southern Cross Media Group shareholders are down 45% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 3.6%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 13% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Southern Cross Media Group better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Southern Cross Media Group that you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of companies that have proven they can grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Australian exchanges.

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A Fresno woman was sentenced in federal court on Monday for making more than $300,000 in fraudulent claims for COVID-19 relief payments.

According to the Department of Justice, Cecilia Aquino received six years and three months in prison for a crime spree where she submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and loan applications in seven states using stolen identities.

Over four months in 2020, the 32-year-old made EDD claims and applications using various misrepresentations, including that the pandemic had cost the named individuals money in their interior design business, and as a stripper.

Aquino used money received from the fraud for personal expenditures, including gambling, rent and shopping, the Justice Department said.

The Clovis Police Department investigated the case, along with the FBI, the SBA Office of Inspector General and the Department of Labor as a California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force operation.
Sheetz hopes to hire 130 new employees and will host hiring events Wednesday in all Pittsburgh-area locations.

The company is also hosting hiring events across its other locations this spring as they hope to hire 2,000 employees company-wide.

Prospective employees must apply online at jobs.sheetz.com prior to attending Wednesdays hiring event. Those who applied online will participate in on-the-spot interviews.

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Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is joining a crowded field to be the leader of Texas's largest city after serving decades in Congress.

Sheila Jackson Lee wants to come home to be your mayor, for the city of Houston," Lee said in a video announcement posted Monday on Twitter.

"I will not be able to do it without each and every one of you.

The 73-year-old lawmaker, a fiery progressive who has been in the House since 1995, will be among roughly a dozen contenders vying for the seat.

Houston's elections are nonpartisan, but seven out of 11 candidates are Democrats and Lee is almost assured to be at the top of the pack given her name recognition.

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"Let the fire start now," Lee said Sunday at City Cathedral Church.

Here are some things to know:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee would make history

For starters, if Lee were to win that would make her the first Black woman to be mayor of Houston, which is the fourth largest city in the country.

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More: Voting rights in the United States: A state-by-state analysis

This bid comes as a time when the top four U.S. cities in the country  New York, L.A., Chicago and Houston  all have Black mayors.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson talks with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, during a break in her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022.

There has been speculation for months that Lee, who coasted to victory in Texas's 18th congressional district, would run for mayor. And because the election is this year, she won't have to give up her House seat.

From Congress to City Hall?

Lee's candidacy, which has been rumored for months, is another example of a progressive firebrand in the House looking to leave Washington this year, and run for their top local office instead.

Elections: Chicago voters end mayor Lori Lightfoot's bid for reelection

The most high-profile example was last November when California Rep. Karen Bass broke barriers to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. She is L.A.'s first Black woman mayor after serving years in Congress.

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December 11, 2022: Karen Bass, the first Black woman elected Los Angeles mayor, left, is sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris, a longtime friend and former California attorney general in Los Angeles, Calif.

Earlier this year, Illinois Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia made a bid for Chicago mayor, but he failed to advance in the February runoff.

Lee's decision is also a bit of a homecoming. She served for four years n the Houston city council in an at-large position, and previously as a municipal judge.

Lee supports federal police reform

Lee's decision to run is happening at a time when cities are at the forefront of the national political dialogue over violent crime, police abuse and home rule.

The Texas congresswoman has been outspoken about the need for changes to law enforcement in the wake of high-profiled police killings, such as the Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Tyre Nichols cases.

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In 2021, she hosted some of Floyds relatives when supporting a reform package named in his honor (which failed to see daylight in Congress).

Lee renewed a call to pass those changes earlier in March when responding to findings from a federal investigation connected to Taylor's death of the Louisville Metro Police Department.

Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone is greeted by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) as he and Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges arrive to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"All of these actions have been rejected by good police officers across the country," Lee said.

"That is why I renew my call for nationwide policing and public safety reform and working on the commitment to introduce federal legislation with my congressional colleagues."

Who else is running for Houston mayor?

The Houston mayoral contest to succeed incumbent Sylvester Turner, who is term-limited, has been underway months before Lee's entry.

It includes heavy-hitters in Texas politics, namely state Sen. John Whitmire, who is viewed as the early frontrunner and raked in early support from big name leaders, including an endorsement by Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a colleague of Lee.

Elections: Karen Bass sworn in as first female mayor in Los Angeles by Vice President Harris

Great to be with friends at the 30th Anniversary Heroes Gala. Thank you to the Assist the Officer Foundation for everything they do for our officers who are injured or critically ill. pic.twitter.com/iTMV1TvlZu  John Whitmire (@whitmire_john) March 26, 2023

Other candidates in the race are Amanda Edwards, a former City Council member; Robert Gallegos, a Houston City Council member; Gilbert Garcia, former chairman of the city's Metropolitan Transit Authority; and Chris Hollins, a former Harris County clerk.

Crime could matter most

Whitmire is known for being a moderate Democrat who works with the GOP in the Texas legislature, which could make for an uneasy pathway to win in a blue-leaning city such as Houston.

A Republican-leaning poll found 29% of Houston voters listed crime as the most important issue in 2023, followed by 15% who cited infrastructure and 10% who said it was affordable housing and homelessness.

More: In Chicago runoff election for mayor, Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson differ on crime

Whitmire has leaned into a tougher on crime approach leading up to the mayoral race, such as his call for requiring bail bond companies to collect 10% of a bail amount before a person is released from jail.

No one should finance an armed robber or murders bond," Whitmire told a local TV station last November. "That just incentivizes them to go commit more crimes."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee running for mayor in Houston: What we know
Silicon Valley Bank branch

The assets and loans of collapsed US lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) are being bought by rival First Citizens BancShares.

Investors welcomed the deal, sending First Citizens shares up more than 40%.

The rise helped drive broader gains in banking shares, which have been in turmoil since SVB's failure sparked fears over the stability of the sector.

In Europe, worries over the strength of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse led to a rushed takeover by rival UBS.

The deal for SVB brings to a close a saga that started earlier this month after a run on the bank forced US regulators to take over. Its collapse was swiftly followed by the failure of another US lender, Signature Bank.

The demise of the two were the biggest bank failures in the US since the financial crisis of 2008.

Under the SVB takeover deal, all 17 former SVB branches will open under the First Citizens brand on Monday. SVB customers are being advised to continue using their current branch until they receive notice from First Citizens Bank that their account has been fully moved across.

First Citizens is based in Raleigh, North Carolina and calls itself America's biggest family-controlled bank. It has been one of the largest buyers of troubled banks in recent years.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, the US financial regulator that announced the deal, said First Citizens had bought around $72bn of SVB's assets at a discount of $16.5bn - a deal that will make the bank one of the 25 biggest in the US.

The FDIC said it would retain control of about $90bn of SVB's assets and estimated the cost of the SVB failure to its deposit insurance fund would be about $20bn. It will also receive an equity stake in First Citizens worth up to $500m.

The FDIC said it had received 27 bids from 18 bidders before settling on the First Citizens deal. 

The UK arm of SVB was bought by HSBC earlier this month for 1.

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Threat of rising rates

Interest rates were cut sharply during the 2008 global financial crisis and again during the Covid pandemic as central banks around the world sought to encourage economic growth.

But rates have been rising over the past year as central banks try to rein in soaring prices.

These rate rises have hit the value of investments that banks keep some of their money in, and contributed to the bank failures in the US.

The worry that has unnerved financial markets is that there could be other problems in the banking sector, which have not yet emerged.

Central banks around the world have stressed that the banking system is safe and lenders are well capitalised.

Sarah Hewin, head of Europe & Americas research at Standard Chartered bank, told the BBC's Today programme that there is a "very febrile environment" among investors.

"At the moment there's a lot of psychology rather than reality which is running markets."

On Sunday, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said there was a "need for vigilance" given the turbulence in the banking sector and warned it was "clear that risks to financial stability have increased".

"At a time of higher debt levels, the rapid transition from a prolonged period of low interest rates to much higher rates... inevitably generates stresses and vulnerabilities."
Six people found dead near a flipped car are believed to be between 1 and 18 years old, Tennessee officials said.

In addition to killing several young people, the crash sent a woman to a hospital in critical condition early Sunday, March 26, according to Robertson County Emergency Medical Services.

Capt. Wayne Bennett of the Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department told WKRN the scene was one of the worst hes been on after nearly two decades on the job.

Its just a tragic loss, Bennett told the TV station. You cant imagine what the families are going through of these victims.

First responders were called at about 2 a.m. to Interstate 24. The crash was reported at mile marker 23, near the Tennessee Highway 49 exit and roughly 25 miles northwest of Nashville.

At the scene, Robertson County EMS said it saw a car lying upside down with very extensive damage.

Near the car, crews found a man in stable condition and a woman with critical injuries. Both were taken to medical centers, officials wrote in a news release.

First responders also reported discovering six girls who may have been thrown from the car and couldnt be saved.

All were female and ages appeared to have ranged from 1-18 yrs of age, the EMS department wrote. All of the 6 patients who were pronounced as deceased were found outside of the vehicle.

A ninth person at the scene was the driver of the other vehicle involved and didnt report any injuries.

Officials in their news release didnt say how the crash happened. The Tennessee Highway Patrol, which reportedly is investigating the deadly wreck, didnt immediately share additional information with McClatchy News on March 27.

Coordination to involve professional mental health and counseling services for responders has been established, officials wrote in their news release. Our leadership team will work closely with everyone involved in coming days to ensure those who are interested have access to these important resources.

Story continues

The Tennessee Department of Transportation said the crash closed Interstate 24 west, which reopened to traffic as of about 11 a.m.

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Emergency responders said the vehicle that crashed suffered "very extensive damage"

Six young girls were killed on a Tennessee highway after the vehicle they were in crashed on Sunday and flipped upside down.

Officials said the ages of the girls range from one to 18 years old.

Two adults, a man and a woman, were also inside the vehicle and suffered injuries, with the woman in critical condition.

It was not immediately clear if any of the victims are related, or what the cause of the crash was.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said it is investigating the crash.

Emergency responders in Tennessee said they responded to the incident at 01:58 local time (06:58 GMT) on Sunday on Interstate 24 in Robertson County, north of Nashville.

They arrived to find a car that was flipped upside down "with very extensive damage," Robertson County Emergency Medical Services said in a statement.

The victims of the crash were found outside the car and are believed to have been ejected, officials said.

The driver, an adult male, suffered minor injuries, and one adult woman was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries. The other six young girls "were pronounced as deceased with injuries that could not be resuscitated," emergency responders said.

Only one other vehicle was involved in the crash, officials said, adding that the driver of the second vehicle "had no complaint of injury."

"Our office recognizes the incredible difficulty of this scene," Robertson County emergency responders said. "Please keep the families and persons involved in your thoughts and prayers."
Benjamin Von Wong, the Canadian artist who became Crypto Twitter's main character last week after unveiling his Skull of Satoshi installation, said the work was never meant to be anti-Bitcoin.

It was an optimistic hope that Bitcoin could shift away from the needless burning of fossil fuels without losing all the other features that make Bitcoin safe, secure, and decentralized, Von Wong wrote in a Twitter thread.

He also said that when he began working on the installation, he genuinely believed that Bitcoin mining, which uses the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm, was a simple black-and-white issue.

Ive spent my entire career trying to reduce real-world physical waste, and PoW felt intuitively wasteful," wrote Von Wong. "Of course, I was wrong.

I made the Skull believing that Bitcoin Mining was a simple black-and-white issue. Ive spent my entire career trying to reduce real-world physical waste, and PoW felt intuitively wasteful. Of course, I was wrong. Few things in the world are black and white. Dumb me. /4  Von Wong (@thevonwong) March 25, 2023

The Skull of Satoshi was unveiled last week as part of the year-long campaign helmed by Greenpeace, the international environmental NGO, which seeks to highlight the enormous climate impact of Bitcoin mining.

The initiative, supported by the other environmental organizations and the likes of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, is called Change the Code, Not the Climate and seeks to move Bitcoin to a more environmentally friendly proof-of-stake (Pos) mechanism. The move would mean changing the leading cryptocurrency's underlying code.

After the fierce backlash the idea received from the Bitcoin community, Greenpeace now says that it's "not necessarily suggesting that Bitcoin should switch to some existing form of PoS.

Story continues

We are pointing to the fact that other cryptocurrencies realized that PoW has an energy problem and changed, Rolf Skar, special projects manager at Greenpeace USA, told Decrypt. Bitcoin is the laggard in this area and is sticking to decade-old technology while other newer cryptocurrencies are using different consensus mechanisms and cutting their carbon emissions.

As for the artist himself, Von Wong said that he spent the last few days speaking to various members of the Bitcoin community and now wants to take a pause and refrain from participating in more public discourse and spend more time quietly and privately observing and learning until I know exactly how my contributions can objectively contribute to helping the environment.

I needed to first string together some official responses to the Twitterverse and had been trying to digest all the different fragments of information that I was receiving from various places, Von Wong told Decrypt. I'm trying to better understand the nuance between progress and perfection.

Badass: Greenpeaces New Skull of Satoshi Artwork Is a Hit With Bitcoin Fans

Changing the Bitcoinmission impossible?

According to Greenpeace, which earlier hinted that transitioning Bitcoin to PoS would require a soft fork, the organization is optimistic about technological innovation and human creativity, so we arent going to throw up our hands and declare that this is 'impossible.'

The climate crisis demands that we allnot just Greenpeace or Bitcoinfind ways to ensure a just and green future. We regularly work on issues that are objectively more complicated and difficult to figure out than changing Bitcoins code," Skar told Decrypt. "It is only impossible if we refuse to try.

People working closely with Bitcoin, however, are far less optimistic.

Every node in the Bitcoin network verifies the new block header to be smaller than the given number, defined by mining difficulty. If you change that rule, all nodes that don't want to update to a new software version will fall off the consensus. That effectively will create a hard fork situation, Viacheslav Zhygulin, co-founder and CTO of stroom.network, a liquid staking protocol for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, told Decrypt.

According to Zhygulin, while Bitcoins open-source code allows anyone to make changes, all major upgrades to the Bitcoin network over the past decade, including SegWit and Taproot, have been executed as soft forks, and that there are no chances for a successful hard fork any time soon.

Unlike soft forks, hard forks are not backward-compatible and require all node operators on the network to update to the latest software at a specified time.

Bitcoin Improvements and Tweaks: A Brief History

There is virtually no chance that a hypothetical Bitcoin on PoS would be accepted as the original Bitcoin, and it's highly improbable that it would ever come into existence, Phil Harvey, the CEO of Bitcoin mining consulting firm Sabre56, told Decrypt.

According to Harvey, the Bitcoin code has been designed to be practically impossible to change, as doing so requires agreement from all network participants.

In the past, factions of nodes have hard-forked the code, but the resulting coins have not been considered Bitcoin anymore. This rigid design is largely due to the core developer and early adopter group's ideological commitment to the principles of sound money. While they might abandon Bitcoin, it's highly unlikely that they would ever switch to a PoS system, said Harvey.

The Sabre56 founder also said that the value of digital assets stems from their ability to solve financial and other problems.

Bitcoin's use case as a sound, decentralized, immutable, uncensored, globally accessible, and self-custodied reserve currency is intrinsically connected to PoW. Its pillars, such as the halving cycles, mining economics, and block validation, all rely on this consensus mechanism," Harvey told Decrypt. "Introducing PoS to the Bitcoin network would change its entire identity and value proposition.
Gov. Spencer Cox poses for a photo after signing HB311 Social Media Usage Amendments at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday. The action marks the nations first major social media regulations becoming law. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

The showdown between big tech companies and the state of Utah has officially begun, as Gov. Spencer Cox signed the nation's first major social media regulations into law on Thursday.

Passed by the Legislature earlier this month, SB152 and HB311 are touted by lawmakers as necessary to counter the alleged harms social media platforms enact on teenagers. But the bills have drawn strong pushback from industry groups and have raised concerns about freedom of speech and privacy.

Cox and legislative leaders have pointed to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showing that 57% of teen girls persistently felt sad or hopeless in 2021, and nearly 1 in 3 considered suicide.

"I'm so proud of the great work that you all were able to accomplish together with your colleagues in the Legislature," Cox told lawmakers during a ceremonial signing of the bills Thursday. "These are first-of-their-kind bills in the United States, and that's huge that Utah is leading out on this effort."

SB152, sponsored by Cox's brother-in-law, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, requires that minors get parental consent before signing up for social media, beginning March 1, 2024. In order to prevent minors from creating accounts without their parents' approval, it requires companies to verify the ages of all users in Utah.

The bill specifies that platforms cannot rely solely on government-issued IDs to verify age, and it remains unclear how companies will be required to do that.

McKell said lawmakers have had a strong partnership with advocates in crafting the bill "because it's our kids and we care. And there is a really, really big problem out there."

"I think this is the first step," he continued. "I'm really optimistic with what I've seen. ... We are going to make a difference, and it's going to start here in Utah."

SB152 also requires companies to treat minor accounts differently than adult accounts by limiting their appearance in search results, disabling direct messaging with certain accounts, preventing the collection of minors' data, prohibiting targeted advertising toward minors, and enabling parental controls for their children's accounts.

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"We believe that these bills are not the solution in and of themselves," said Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan. "These are tools to help parents and that's why we ran these bills."

Teuscher is the sponsor of HB311, which creates a private right of action for individuals to sue over alleged harms to teens and adds a legal presumption that social media is harmful to teens. Companies will now have the burden of proof to demonstrate that their products are not harmful to teens.

HB311 also prohibits algorithms or other features that a company knows to cause a minor to become addicted to social media.

Most major social media companies have not taken a public stance on the bills. A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, told KSL.com the company has developed dozens of safety tools for its products.

"We want teens to be safe online," the Meta spokesperson said in a statement provided to KSL.com. "We've developed more than 30 tools to support teens and families, including tools that let parents and teens work together to limit the amount of time teens spend on Instagram, and age verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences. We automatically set teens' accounts to private when they join Instagram, and we send notifications encouraging them to take regular breaks. We don't allow content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, and of the content we remove or take action on, we identify over 99% of it before it's reported to us."

"We'll continue to work closely with experts, policymakers and parents on these important issues," the statement continued.

NetChoice, a tech industry trade association, called the bills unconstitutional. In a news release, the group argued they violate the First Amendment by banning anonymous speech online and by infringing on adults' lawful access to constitutionally protected speech.

"Utah will soon require online services to collect sensitive information about teens and families, not only to verify ages but to verify parental relationships ... putting their private data at risk of breach," said Nicole Saad Bembridge, the associate director of the NetChoice Litigation Center. "If people don't have or are unwilling to submit the required documentation, they would lose access to critical information channels."

The Association of National Advertisers also said the bills violate First Amendment rights by denying minors access to advertisements and businesses to share messages.

"In doing so, the law limits the ability of older teens to get important information they need," including information about colleges, job opportunities and other resources, said Chris Oswald, executive vice president of the association. "As other legislators look at these issues, we encourage them to consider more nuanced standards that recognize the difference between a 7-year-old and a 17-year-old, so we can protect younger children without denying older teens access to the wealth of ad-based content and information available to them online."

Between now and March 1, 2024  when the bills go into effect  the Utah Division of Consumer Protection will set up a system for age verification. The division will also receive $280,000 in one-time funds and $220,000 in ongoing funds to investigate and enforce violations of the law.
One person is dead and another is injured after a car crashed into a Roslindale triple-decker Sunday afternoon.

The person who died was on the sidewalk when the silver vehicle crashed into the front of the building on Washington Street around 5 p.m., the Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden told Boston 25 News.

Another person found near the car was hospitalized. Both victims, men in their 60s, according to the DAs office.

Boston police arent speculating on what caused the accident, but some neighbors told Boston 25 News theyre always worried about speeding cars on the street.

I take my kid to daycare about 10 blocks away and it shouldnt feel dangerous to do so, Sam Bruno said.

Officials spent hours at the scene of the crash gathering evidence.

Suffolk Co. DAs office now tells #Boston25 one dead, one injured in connection w/ accident. Were told neither of the male victims was inside vehicle  Drew Karedes (@DrewKaredes) March 26, 2023

Its not clear if the driver of the car will face any charges.

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[Source]

South Carolinas Senate passed a bill preventing alien land ownership on Thursday.

Approved by a 31-5 vote, the bill will prevent citizens of foreign adversaries from buying property in the state. As defined by the U.S. Department of Commerce, foreign adversary countries include China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

The bill aims to prevent corporations controlled by a foreign adversary from acquiring real property and reduce the amount of real property that an alien or corporation may acquire.

The bill is expected to impact Chinese-owned companies, even if only partially owned.

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Chinese citizens would also be prevented from collectively owning more than 20% of a landowning company or individually owning more than 10%.

Thus, while those with adversary nation citizenship would be able to open local businesses, they would be unable to own the land needed for operations.

Chinese citizens will also be banned from buying any new property.

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Exceptions to the bill include U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents of the U.S. and foreign citizens purchasing land under five acres for residential purposes.

According to AP News, the bills leading sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, was prompted to introduce the bill in late February to prevent a Chinese biomedical companys $28 million purchase of 500 acres within the state.

Referring to the Trojan Horse Greek myth, Massey stated:

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We need to look inside that wooden horse before we let it in the gate. And there are some countries that have given us more of a reason to look inside the wooden horse before we let it in the gate. These five [countries] have specifically given us reason to have more scrutiny and to be a little bit more concerned.

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The bill is one of many similar measures fellow U.S. states have taken in recent months.

With the recent case of a suspected Chinese spy balloon increasing worries regarding national security, at least 11 other states have begun considering legislation limiting or banning foreign adversary land ownership.

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South Dakota's House failed Monday to override Gov. Kristi Noem's recent veto of a bill that would have created government regulations for the use of cryptocurrency in the state.

The bill had passed smoothly throughout the legislature, and Noem's veto of last week was upheld on a 37-30 vote.

Proponents had argued the bill would have centralized different cryptocurrency systems through one government oversight commission, boosting transparency. But opponents saw the proposed regulations as a tool for potential government surveillance and overreach, saying they wanted more time to see how such legislation fares in other states.

Six other states have passed the Uniform Commercial Code's update, which requires tangible records of cryptocurrency exchanges so that they can be considered money. National commercial standards aim to regulate digital currency exchanges by adding transaction records, but Noem said such a step would take away from South Dakotans market freedoms.

It would be imprudent to create regulations governing something that does not yet exist. More importantly, South Dakota should not open the door to a potential future overreach by the federal government, Noem said in a statement last week in vetoing the bill.

As similar bills emerge in other state legislatures, Republican counterparts like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota have expressed concerns about possible government surveillance akin to China's heavy-handed oversight of its markets. The suspicions over regulation of a Central Bank Digital Currency come a year after President Joe Biden's executive order to explore a federal bank-owned digital currency. Biden's step triggered a burst of misinformation, including claims it would create a cashless society.

Bill proponents argued that those who believe the government would replace cryptocurrency companies with a federal system are mistaken, and that the bill simply would have bridged federal government and digital currencies, which are not currently recognized as money.

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The bill's sponsor, House Republican Hugh Bartels, said he expects most of the country will pass such code updates amid the rise of various forms of cryptocurrency.

The misconception is that this bill is authorizing central bank digital currency, Bartels said. Its just setting up a way to do business with it.

The first most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, launched more than a decade ago. While fundamentally digital money, cryptocurrencies are not backed by any government institution.

___

This story has been corrected to show the House vote was 37-30, not 36-30.
Space rockets launched from China have more than quadrupled over the past decade, with more than 60 last year alone, according to a new survey.

In 2013, China accounted for less than a fifth of all rockets launched worldwide, ranking behind Russia and the United States. By 2018, China had launched to the top spot. The country was overtaken by the United States the following year but reclaimed the number 1 title in 2021.

FILE: A Long March-5B Y2 rocket carrying the core module of China's space station, Tianhe, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on April 29, 2021 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.

In that year, China and the United States accounted for around 80% of worldwide space rocket launches, Kyodo News reported, citing a survey by Japans Cabinet Office.

Last year, the United States returned to the top spot. Of 177 rocket launches, the United States accounted for nearly half. More the 60 of those launches were attributed to SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk.

CHINA THREATENS SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES AFTER US WARSHIP AGAIN SAILS BY CONTESTED PARACEL ISLANDS

As the survey demonstrates, China has been increasing investment in enhancing its space program in recent years, creating new threats to U.S. security in outer space.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

A recent report from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Challenges to Security in Space explains that of 541 satellites China has sent to space, most are used for reconnaissance or intelligence gathering.

FILE: This photo taken and released on August 20, 2021, by China Manned Space Engineering Office via CNS shows Chinese astronaut Tang Hongbo coordinating inside the Tianhe core module as his colleague Nie Haisheng conducts a spacewalk.

The U.S. has maintained superiority in many aspects of space. It is the only country to land a man on the moon. The last landing was in 1972, and now the race to return to the moon is a central focus for China and Russias space programs.

China and Russia have plans to construct an International Lunar Research Station by 2035. The base would primarily consist of robotic technology with the capability of supporting human visits.

Fox News Bret Baier and Amy Munneke contributed to this report.
Stanely Tucci eating pasta. CNN, Josh Ong/Insider

Stanley Tucci posted a TikTok video preparing a pasta casserole for breakfast.

His fans praised him for being relatable and how attractive he looked in the video.

The video is now one of Tucci's most watched and liked TikTok posts.

Stanley Tucci's got his fans eating pasta for breakfast.

In a recently posted TikTok video, Tucci shared how he made a pasta casserole with leftovers. The 62-year-old actor said that he ate the dish for breakfast and prepared the homemade recipe at just 10 a.m.

"Breakfast, brunch or lunch? Not sure but it was f'ing delicious. #foodtok," said the video's caption.

Tucci has around 1.2 million followers on TikTok, where many of his fans enjoy watching him cook up Italian cuisine. Tucci is known for his roles in films including "The Lovely Bones," where he was nominated for best supporting actor at the Academy Awards in 2009.

His career filmography has included several food-related movies. In "Big Night"  which he co-wrote and co-directed in 1996  Tucci starred as an Italian immigrant running a New Jersey restaurant. He also played husband to American cook Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep, in "Julie & Julia," in 2009.

In the video, Tucci said he used leftover Farfalle pasta in the dish and a few other traditional Italian ingredients.

"So I sauteed garlic, onion, pancetta and some peas, and then put them into a little casserole dish with the pasta and then Bechamel sauce, and mixed it all up with things of butter on top and parmesan," Tucci added.

To end the video, Tucci pulled the pasta casserole out of the oven to show what the dish looked like.

"Oh my God, and what time is it? It's only 10 o'clock in the morning, and I think I'm going to have it right now," he continued.

Several of Tucci's fans praised him for being relatable.

"10 a.m. pasta? He's just like me for real," a TikTok user commented on the video.

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Another user agreed, writing a comment that noted: "Tucci can eat pasta anytime of the day."

Other fans took notice of Tucci's appearance and demeanour instead.

"Why is he fine?" noted one TikTok user, referring to how attractive they found Tucci.

Another user also shared how she felt about Tucci, writing: "Why am I attracted but also intimidated by this man?"

Tucci, who's posted 36 videos so far, has garnered tens of millions of views and over 5.4 million likes on TikTok.

While it's only been a week since Tucci posted the video, it's already one of his most viral TikToks of all time. Tucci's pasta-for-breakfast video garnered some 4.5 million views and over 730,000 likes at the time of writing.

Tucci's video on what he ate for lunch in April last year remains his most-viewed video, with 6.4 million views and almost 960,000 likes.

Read the original article on Insider
You star Lukas Gage has confirmed that hes in a relationship with celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton, amid speculation that the pair have been dating.

The 27-year-old opened up about his relationship status during an interview on Today on Monday. He went on to explain how much he admires his partner, as the program showcased photos of them together.

I feel very happy, very lucky and very much in love, Gage said. Hes a good looking man.

The White Lotus star also looked at a photo of him and the 39-year-old snowboarding, before adding: We have fun together. We go on adventures.

This interview marks Gages first time publicly opening up about his relationship with Appleton, whos notably styled Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez. The actor was briefly asked about the speculation surrounding his romance, in an interview with The New York Times published last week, but wouldnt confirm anything.

More specifically, he discussed how his and Appletons recent posts of each other on Instagram had sparked rumours that theyre in a relationship.

If they want to think that, they can, he said, regarding what fans thought about their photos. Im a pretty open book about most things in my life, but I have a problem with the culture of everyone needing to know everybodys business and nothing can be sacred. Its a weird line that Im still trying to figure out.

However, days after the interview was published, Appleton opted to speak out about the relationship for the first time. During an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, actor Drew Barrymore asked him if there was anyone special in his life. In response, the hairstylist said yes and described how happy he hes been with his significant other.

Im very happy, very much in love, he said. And I feel very grateful to be able to share my time with someone very special. Love is a really special thing, and I think meeting someone that you really connect with is really, really special.

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As the Charlies Angels star described him as a great catch, Appleton hugged her and lifted her up. The program went on to showcase Appletons Instagram post from last month, which featured him and Gage on an all-terrain vehicle in Mexico.

After this photo was initially shared on Instagram in February, sources had confirmed to Just Jared that the Euphoria star and hairstylist were dating. Gage captioned his post, le major  meaning the best in Spanish, while Appleton wrote Joyride in the caption of his post.

In the comments section of Gages photo, Appleton left a flirty message, writing: Stud, along with a single heart eye emoji. Meanwhile, the actor went to the comments of the stylists post and wrote: Buenos
LANSING  In late 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging in Michigan, the state's top law enforcement agency quietly began tracking what it deems hate or bias incidents against police.

The agency counted 10 incidents of what it describes as anti-police bias and recorded them under its hate/bias category in the four months between September and December of that year, Public Affairs Representative Lori Dougovito said in an email. The incidents, like hate crimes, are reported by Michigan police agencies to state police for inclusion in its Michigan Incident Crime Reporting reports. Those reports are eventually shared with the FBI.

In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, the agency recorded 148 such incidents, which included bias from suspects arrested for crimes ranging from non-aggravated assault to obstructing police. MSP doesn't have a standard definition for what constitutes as an "anti-police" bias and leaves the determination up to the reporting officers from the local agency.

Governors of four states have signed bills to officially track anti-police incidents as hate crimes, including Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas. Kentucky considers a person to have committed a "hate crime" against police if the person knew or believed the victim was a police officer and intentionally committed a crime against them because of their job.

More:Report: Michigan ranked 4th in nation for white nationalist incidents

There is no criminal code for bias incidents against police in Michigan, where tracking is at the impetus of state police, not the state Legislature. A bill to make targeting emergency personnel including police because of their job a crime in 2017 languished in the Legislature.

Dougovito said the agency tracks incidents of bias against police to better understand what prompted a crime to occur and how to create safer environments for police.

Christina DeJong, a Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice professor, said she is concerned about the effort devaluing hate crimes against underrepresented groups.

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"Hate crimes are meant to protect disadvantaged or underrepresented groups in our country, and police officers do not fall into those categories (unless a police officer can argue that they were targeted for violence because of their race or gender)," she wrote. "The intent of hate crimes is to protect those with less power in our society, and police have a significant amount of power."

'We're looking to support our officers'

Michigan State Police illuminate a house on Mechanic Street in Sturgis and issue commands to surrender to a man who was wanted on felony charges Monday, March 6, 2023.

Michigan State Police officials define a hate crime as a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated in whole or in part, by the offenders bias against a race, ethnic/national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or mental/physical disability group.

The department recorded 610 incidents in 2021 involving hate crimes, involving 769 victims, 564 of which were people. The largest category of hate crimes involved race, with 439 incidents, or 57% of hate crime. Anti-Black or anti-African American bias comprised the majority of those complaints with 269 incidents, MSP said.

Anti-law enforcement was the second-largest category, at 148 incidents, or 19% of complaints, the department found.

The majority of hate crimes fall into four categories: intimidation or stalking (196 incidents), non-aggravated assault (126), damage to property (87), and aggravated/felonious assault (80).

Incidents of anti-law enforcement bias were included in a list of more than 25 crimes, such as non-aggravated assault and obstructing police to damage to property to weapons offenses to embezzlement.

MSP Outreach and Community Engagement Coordinator Breanna Ballinger said in an email that criminal incidents include a mandatory entry for suspected bias motivation, and that entry is used to indicate if the incident was in part or wholly motivated by hate bias.

"These entries are utilized to create the states hate crime data, which is then forwarded to the FBI for inclusion in their annual publication," she wrote.

Former Republican state representative Klint Kesto from Commerce Township argued having more data on crimes gives legislators an opportunity to address the root of a crime and create policies that would prevent future ones from occurring.

He was among a group of legislators, including then-state Rep. Andy Schor, a Democrat, who introduced bills in 2017 that would have made targeting a victim based on their vocation as a corrections officer, police officer, EMT or firefighter a hate crime. During that time, legislators in other states tried to pass what was colloquially called Blue Lives Matter bills to strengthen penalties against people who are found guilty of such crimes.

More:3 Michigan State Police troopers charged for using 'excessive force' in Owosso arrest

Kesto intended to develop more training for police when doing their day-to-day duties.

"As policymakers, we're looking to support our officers and have their back," he said. "To not stand for people to committing the crimes and victimizing them on a false sense of emergency just to attack them, they don't deserve that."

His bill wasn't to make every act against police to be a hate crime, he said. But he was focusing on targeted attacks such as a Dearborn man who attempted to fire a handgun at an officer and was killed by police in December, or when a man shot two State Police troopers earlier this month.

'It dilutes the power of a hate crime'

People run after police deploy tear gas in downtown Lansing, Mich., Sunday, May 31, 2020. [AP Photo/Matthew Dae Smith via Lansing State Journal]

Skeptics are nonetheless concerned about the statistics being used to harm minorities and create a victimization mindset among police.

The Blue Lives Matter laws and the movement started as a direct response to Black Lives Matter, said Chris Williams, a University of Chicago sociology doctoral student whose research examines how laws exacerbate racism, classism, sexism, ableism and sexual orientation discrimination.

"It dilutes the power of a hate crime," he said. "If anyone can be a part of a hate crime statute, then it doesnt mean anything. The reason hate crimes were even a thing was tied to the fact that there's a group of people under targeted attack."

Wayne State University psychology professor Pontus Leander wondered who is recording the incidents as biased. He pointed to a study he conducted in 2020 with a team of psychologists that looked at various mass shootings and found people are more sympathetic to hate crimes when it supports their own interests.

Who is reporting the incident of bias, he added, matters because they may view it differently than the person who reported it.

Williams added that tracking incidents of bias against police creates a slippery slope for people who interact with police. He questioned whether a protester who shouted anti-police rhetoric within the hearing of a police officer could be accused of anti-police bias in Michigan, or charged with a crime in other states with laws on the books.

Williams doesn't buy the argument that tracking incidents of bias is helpful to law enforcement. He said there are already criminal statutes for people who attack or interfere with law enforcement such as assaulting a police officer, failing to yield to emergency vehicles or evading arrest.

"The story is they were an occupation, but the way they started to be included isn't because of employment status, but as minority status as blue calling themselves as a racialized minority," he said of law enforcement.

What's next?

Members of the Lansing Police Department and the FBI are on scene at Comerica Bank in the 5200 block of S. Cedar in Lansing Wednesday afternoon, June 28, 2017. A bank robbery was reported at 2:51 p.m. A male left the bank and left on foot. Tracking with K-9 was unsuccessful. [MATTHEW DAE SMITH/Lansing State Journal]

None of the recorded incidents of bias are sent to the FBI with a hate designation, Dougovito added, as the tracking only serves to give police a deeper look into officer safety and the motivation behind crimes.

That could change in the future.

"...in 2019, MSP personnel corresponded with representatives of the FBI who identified four other states (Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) that were already collecting Anti-Law Enforcement as a Hate/Bias designation and indicated that the FBI would be looking into collecting this designation at the national level in the future," she wrote.

The FBI did not respond to a message left seeking comment.

Both Williams and DeJong said they aren't against protecting police more, but doing so under the category of hate crimes creates more harm than good.

"It's important to track crimes committed against police officers, but I would recommend that it be done separately rather than under the umbrella of 'hate crime,'" DeJong wrote. "Adding crimes against the police to the hate crime category distorts what those laws are intended to measure."

Support local journalism and get unlimited digital access! Subscribe for only $1 for three months!

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at 517-267-1344 or knurse@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: State Police now tracking incidents of bias against police officers in Michigan
Federal and local law enforcement announced the conclusion of a months-long investigation into an international drug trafficking conspiracy on Monday with the indictments of 27 men allegedly tied to Pierce County, white supremacist prison gangs and Mexican cartels.

The lead defendant and alleged principal organizer, Jesse James Bailey, 39, was based in Steilacoom and is suspected of distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs throughout Pierce County, according to federal law enforcement. Bailey and others allegedly established ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and Aryan Family prison gang while incarcerated in Washington. Investigators also uncovered parts of the operation in Arizona and Alaska.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Nick Brown told reporters at a news conference that Bailey had the strongest ties to the cartel and was an influential leader in the Aryan Family gang. Brown said his staff, led by two assistant U.S. attorneys, focused on prosecuting higher-level drug distributors. So far 24 of the 27 defendants indicted by a grand jury have been arrested in Washington and Arizona.

The other defendants in custody are: Candice Bailey, 41, Steilacoom; Thomas Carver, 59, Auburn; Bryson Gill, 30, Buckeye, Arizona; Yehoshua Kilp, 37, incarcerated in Washington; Gustavo Castellanos-Tapia, 34, Burien; Ronald McComb, 58, Ridgefield, Keagen Larsen, 28, incarcerated in King County; Sean Moinette, 54, Spanaway; Michael Warren, 63, Shelton; Michael Slocumb, 44, Concho, Arizona; Isaac Cervantes, 24, Phoenix; Sara Thompson, 37, Bonney Lake; Shawn Ellis, 31, Renton; Eric Smith, 52, incarcerated in Washington; Joseph Hempel, 45, Burien; Daniel Hammond, 41, Puyallup; Philip Boorkman, 40, Seattle; CLa Morales, 36, Pierce County; Ronnie Griffin, 64, Tacoma; Anna Sarnes, 37, Quilcene; Anthony Escoto, 51, Tukwila; Dana Hanson, 57, Burbank; Justin Hanson, 48, Burbank.

Brown said many of the defendants would appear in federal court throughout the day Monday. They face a range of charges from conspiracy to distribute drugs, drug possession with intent to distribute. It remained unclear what weapons charges prosecutors could bring against the defendants, many of whom were barred from owning guns due to previous convictions.

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William Tripp, 34; Stephanie Yepez, 42; and 30-year-old Gregory Beers of Edgewood were still wanted by authorities on Monday morning.

FBI agents led the investigation involving wiretaps, confidential informants and numerous drug and firearm seizures during the past year-and-a-half, according to Brown. The DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, Tacoma Police Department and state Department of Corrections also partnered on the case, in addition to other state and local law enforcement.

Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle DEA office Jacob Galvin said authorities seized enough fentanyl to kill the combined populations of Seattle and Tacoma, plus 500,000 more people.

If it had not been for this partnership, this organization would not have been dismantled, said Seattle Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer.

The FBI led a drug trafficking investigation involving wiretaps, confidential informants and numerous drug and firearm seizures in Washington state and Arizona during the past year-and-a-half.

Those seizures were on top of the drug stashes and 48 guns authorities secretly confiscated using information from court-authorized wiretaps during the investigation, according to Brown. The seized drugs included 830,000 fentanyl pills and 223 pounds of meth.

After the drugs went missing, the suspects speculated rivals stole them and even reported some seizures as thefts to law enforcement, Brown said. Some defendants moved to Arizona during the investigation believing it was safer.

Brown said the investigation into where the weapons came from and whether they were used in crimes remains ongoing. He did not specify how investigators believe the American distributors were using the money and said he did not know whether the funds were used to further white supremacist ideology.

The cartels are engaged in daily violence, Brown said about the seized weapons. When asked where the trafficked narcotics were headed, Brown said, The drugs are going everywhere.

Special Agent in Charge at the Seattle FBI office Richard Collodi said the investigation began with a probe of white supremacist prison gangs in Washington that then became focused on illicit drug suppliers and distributors.

On the surface, we see the makings of a movie, Collodi said. What we dont see, but I would like to emphasize, is the patience by law enforcement.

Identifying the full scope of a conspiracy can take years, added Collodi.

Hammer noted that although many of the drugs that reached Washington came through California, fentanyl is cheaper to get ahold of in the Pacific Northwest.

We are literally being inundated in this region, Hammer said.

Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore thanked the federal and state law enforcement who worked with his officers and said he was pleased Tacoma was safer without the seized guns and drugs on the streets. He pledged that the work would continue.

Its not a one-time partnership, Moore said. We needed this.
Porn actor Stormy Daniels hit back at critics on Twitter amid the ongoing investigation by the Manhattan District Attorneys Office into the hush money payment she received from former President Donald Trumps then-fixer Michael Cohen in 2016.

Ms Daniels alleges that she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006. She was paid off to keep quiet about the supposed extramarital activity.

Mr Trump insulted Ms Daniels during his Saturday rally in Waco, Texas, rejecting all allegations of an affair.

Sex with Stormy Daniels is traumatic enough. Hasnt President Trump been punished enough? one Twitter user said.

I think he needs another spanking, Ms Daniels responded.

You realize this is now evidence right? one Twitter user asked.

Evidence of what? That hes been spanked? Thats common knowledge, the adult actor shot back.

Really? You claimed bankruptcy to avoid PAYING YOUR COURT ORDERED JUDGEMENT, yet you have a ranch? Guess you lied about being bankrupt, one Twitter user claimed. If anyone should be in jail, its you.

Ms Daniels said it was her new favorite rumor. I guess Im now bankrupt? Maybe Ill get lucky and someone will buy that margarita machine for me off my Amazon list so I can enjoy a frozen beverage as I float in my pool and giggle at your tweets.

Why did you sleep with him even though you knew he had a wife? one Twitter user asked Ms Daniels.

Why did he invite me to his room, take off his clothes and corner me when I came out of the bathroom even though he knew he had a wife? she replied.

You could have turned him down but you didnt [and] you knew he had a wife, another account holder said.

To which Ms Daniels simply replied, so did he.

In one tweet she noted that Mr Trump was on his third wife and that he was cheating with me and many others.

So you knew he is married yet you proceeded. So you are a cheater, one Twitter user told Ms Daniels.

Yep. The sorcery of my magic voodoo vag was too much for that poor little man and it forced him to forget all about his vows, take his clothes off and corner me. Its ALLLL my fault, she said mockingly.
Correction (March 27): An earlier version of this article incorrectly described where each species was located.

Corrected article continues below:

While exploring an isolated lagoon in the mountains of Ecuador, researchers found several colorful plants  one of which was a new species.

The joint team of Ecuadorian, U.S. and German researchers found two striking new species of carnivorous plants growing near a lagoon and on a mountain in southern Ecuador, the researchers said in a study published March 24 in PhytoKeys journal.

The lagoon, Lagunas Negras de Jimbura, is nestled at the summit of a table-top mountain in a portion of the Andes mountain range. The mountain is situated about 50 miles east in the Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve. The region  stretching from southern Ecuador into northern Peru  is known for its exceptional biodiversity, the study said.

Among the areas lesser-studied plants are the butterworts, also known as the Pinguicula. Butterworts are carnivorous plants that digest small insects that get stuck to their slimy leaves, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

About 115 species of butterworts have been identified, with the largest portion of this diversity centering on Mexico, the study said. Only a handful of butterwort species have been identified in Ecuador, but the researchers thought the mosaic-like microhabitats of the Andes could hide previously unknown species.

The lagoon where the carnivorous plants were found.

The colorful plants growing around the Lagunas Negras de Jimbura and Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve proved them right.

The researchers identified one of the new species as Pinguicula jimburensis, a nod to the lagoon area where it was discovered, researchers said in the study. Photos show the long, skinny red stalk of the plant and its bright purple-white flower.

The Pinguicula jimburensis flower has white petals leading into a funnel-shaped tube trap, the study said. Seen straight on, the opening of the flower appears to have a central tooth similar to that of predatory mammals, researchers said.

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Several views of Pinguicula jimburensis.

This butterwort species was found growing among thegrass in the swampy areas near the lagoon. Photos show the white-purple flowers sprouting up from other yellow and green plants.

A photo of Pinguicula jimburensis growing among marshy grass.

The other new species was named Pinguicula ombrophila, the study said. The new plants name means rainloving in Latin and refers to the mountain habitat where it was found. Photos show the plants green center and purple-brown leaf-like parts with a small, pastel purple flower growing upward.

The Pinguicula ombrophila was discovered growing on bare rock walls, the study said. It grows to about 1.5 inches in length and a similar width.

A close-up photo of Pinguicula ombrophila.

Because the two species live near other butterwort species, they may compete for insect prey, the study said. Researchers theorized the different colors and shapes of the flowers may attract different prey, but more research is needed to evaluate this theory.

Scientists assessed both new butterworts to be vulnerable species, the study said, and recommended further research into Ecuadorian butterworts.

Lagunas Negras de Jimbura is part of Yacuri National Park in southern Ecuador. The lagoon is about 480 miles south of Quito, the capital city, and very close to the Ecuador-Peru border.

Beautiful fish with vibrant lavender and yellow coloring is new species. Take a look

Stunned biologist looks into tortoise hole to see alligator smiling back in Georgia

Creature of island mythology is real  and a new species, researchers in France say
damircudic / Getty Images

Individuals who earn less than $125,000 and couples whose income is under $250,000 could be able to apply for up to $10,000 in federal student loan forgiveness. It doubles to $20,000 for Pell grant recipients. But whether or not borrowers are able to get loan forgiveness depends on the Supreme Court, which is currently deciding on the fate of the plan.

Student Loans: Court Allows $6 Billion in Forgiveness Funds To Proceed for 200,000 Borrowers

Find: How To Build a Financial Plan From Zero

During the time the online application for student loan forgiveness was live, at least 26 million borrowers submitted applications and over 16 million borrowers were approved. But due to the Supreme Courts debate over the plan, applications are no longer being accepted, and no relief has yet been provided to any applicants.

So whats next? That depends in part on the Supreme Courts decision. Still, its essential to know about a few key dates that are coming up.

June 30

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a final decision on the loan forgiveness plan by June 30. If the justices decide in favor, borrowers may start receiving student loan forgiveness within weeks. If the Court shuts down the program, relief goes out the window, and the Biden administration will be forced to reassess.

August 30 (or so)

President Bidens extension of the student loan moratorium is set to end 60 days after either June 30 or the date that the Supreme Court rules on the student loan forgiveness plan, whichever comes first. Unless the Biden administration extends the pause again, federal student loan repayments would resume by around August 30.

December 31

Last year, the Biden administration announced the IDR Adjustment, a one-time initiative that will give millions of borrowers retroactive credit toward student loan forgiveness under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. The Education Department will issue a one-time adjustment that will be applicable to past repayment periods, toward a borrowers 20- or 25-year student loan forgiveness term. Even borrowers who arent currently in IDR plans can access this program, Forbes reported. The effective date for this initiative has changed a few times; it is currently scheduled for December 31.

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Take Our Poll: What Do You Plan To Use Your Tax Refund For?

Get Your Paperwork in Order Now

Though applications for the student loan relief program are on hold, make sure that you have all relevant documents in hand by June 30 in case the court rules in its favor. Gather all student loan debt records available to support your request. Learn more about eligibility requirements here.

More From GOBankingRates

Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Student Loan Forgiveness: 3 Key Dates To Mark on Your Calendar
Gadsden State Community College is bringing back, for the first time since 2020, its annual International Festival.

Set for 4 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. April 6 in the Science Building on the East Broad Campus, it will be the 43rd installment of the event designed to expose the community to other cultures and allow people to meet the colleges international students  such as Yi-Fen Shen.

Shen is a native of Taiwan, where she was born Yoyo Shen. Can you believe that? she said. My mother thought it was cute.

Yi-Fen Rachel Shen, left, is pictured with her American host family, the Addisons of Horton  Emmeline, Trace, Danessa and Scotty.

Her English instructor in elementary school picked up a book, turned to a page and randomly selected her new name  Sandy. In high school, she decided to change her name again and asked her friends to pick one. She is now known as Rachel.

We can change our name to whatever we want it be, Shen said. Ive had several names but I think Rachel has stuck.

Growing up in Taiwan wasnt easy. Shen said her family was broken, and she was also struggling academically. Students were not given course options, and the schedule was very stringent.

We went to school from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., she said. Struggling students had to stay later for extra schooling. A lot of times I didnt get home until 10 p.m.

Shen said she failed all her math classes and made Cs and Ds in language and science courses.

They taught us math like we were all going to be engineers or doctors, she said. They didnt teach us real-life math skills. It felt like the teachers wanted us to fail. They were not student friendly like they are here.

So, Shen explored other options. She went to Thailand and taught the Chinese language, and later volunteered at a language school in the Philippines. In 2018, at age 21, she found her way to Alabama as an exchange student.

My mom wanted my English skills to improve and she wanted me to experience other parts of the world, she said. It was important to her that I get an education.

Shen first attended Douglas High School, where her limited knowledge of the English language was a problem. I couldnt talk, she said. It took me about a year to learn to read and speak the language.

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She eventually became more confident in speaking English and succeeded in her academic courses.

Americans are so friendly, and the teachers are so helpful, she said. The way they taught me was much different than what I was used to, but it worked very well for me.

They started with the basics," she said. I have a better understanding of math and science now. Im pretty good at the language. I can make jokes now. I can order food for myself. I can go shopping by myself. Life is good.

Shen lives with the Addison family  host parents Scotty and Danessa and their children Emmeline, 7, and Trace, 2  in Horton.

During my first year, I didnt want to be here, she said. But they showed me a lot of love and patience. They accept me as part of the family. Im not left out of anything. They treat me like they treat their biological children. I love them all so much.

Shen transferred to Coosa Christian School in 2020 to continue her studies. She returned to Taiwan for six months during the COVID-19 pandemic, but couldnt wait to return to her Alabama family and brought Lucy, a 3-year-old Formosan mountain dog she rescued, back with her.

Shes living her best life, Shen said of Lucy. We live in the country, so she loves running around in the fields and playing with the cow.

Shen earned a high school diploma in 2021 and knew she wanted to attend Gadsden State. Its close to my home with the Addisons, and its affordable, she said. Im getting a good education without having to pay so much. Its much more affordable than a four-year university.

She is taking general studies courses at Gadsden State and plans to apply to the registered nursing program. She lives in the colleges dormitory, Fowler Hall, on weekdays, and is the treasurer for Students Without Borders, an organization for both international and American students designed to create cultural understanding.

We have so much fun together, she said. We have picnics. We go to Gadsden State sporting events. We have traveled to Huntsville. We enjoy being together and learning from each other.

Shen said she looks forward to participating in her first International Festival. Im thrilled to be able to share my country with others," she said. No one really knows a lot about Taiwan. I cant wait to speak in Chinese to people. Its going to be a lot of fun.

The event is sponsored by the colleges Division of Languages and Humanities, the Alabama Language Institute and Students Without Borders.

It will begin at 4 p.m. with the Parade of Nations in the Science Building Auditorium. Afterward, those attending can explore exhibits set up by students featuring their home countries. The closing ceremony at 6 p.m. will recognize ALIs 50th anniversary and alumni from the institution.

This is a great opportunity for people in our service area to meet some of Gadsden States international students, said Elise Harbin, an instructor with ALI, which helps students improve their English skills. Our students always enjoy interacting with the local community and immersing themselves in the culture. They enjoy sharing their culture as well. Its a wonderful learning opportunity for everyone.

Gadsden State has been accepting international students since 1968, and more than 6,000 such students from at least 145 countries have attended the school. It currently has 35 international students from 25 countries, who speak at least 16 different languages.

International students studying at Gadsden State and other American institutions bring immeasurable academic, cultural and economic value to our campuses and local communities, Harbin said. We are so proud to have such a vibrant, diverse and active international population at Gadsden State.

For more information about the program, visit www.gadsdenstate.edu/international.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gadsden State to hold first International Festival since 2020
James Cromwell at HBO's "Succession" season four premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 20, 2023 in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

"Succession" star James Cromwell's animal rights protests have landed him behind bars several times.

The Ewan Roy actor told Page Six that he has "lost track" of the number of times he's been arrested.

He said gluing himself to Starbucks to protest its vegan milk upcharge in 2022 was "a lot of fun."

"Succession" actor James Cromwell has said that he's "lost track" of the number of times he's been arrested over the years.

The 83-year-old actor who portrays Ewan Roy, the estranged brother of Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and the grandfather of Greg Hirsch (Nicholas Braun) in the HBO drama said he can't actually remember how many times he's been put in handcuffs for participating in protests.

Speaking to Page Six on the red carpet at the drama's season four premiere last Monday, Cromwell guesstimated that he's been to jail "seven or eight times, maybe more."

If "The Green Mile" actor is correct, that means he's been arrested more times than one of Hollywood's most vocal and persistent protestors, Jane Fonda, who has been arrested six times.

Cromwell, who is an honorary director of animal rights charity PETA, has taken part in a number of protests in recent years over the mistreatment of animals. In 2022, he superglued his hand to a table at Starbucks in protest of the coffee chain's higher prices for vegan milk.

According to Vulture, the actor became vegetarian in 1975 and took up veganism 20 years later in 1995 after he starred as Farmer Hoggett in "Babe" which followed a piglet with grand ambitions to become a sheep pig rather than just meat for slaughter.

James Cromwell as Ewan Roy and Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch in "Succession." HBO

Speaking about the Starbucks incident, Cromwell told the outlet: "Oh, glue was fun. I had a lot of fun with that one."

He explained that following the protest, the branch in question had to be temporarily shut down while it was fumigated because he and the other protestor had used glue that could only be removed with acetone, which is a carcinogen.

"Which is good, because what they were doing was horrendously stupid, charging for non-dairy creamers," Cromwell said of the store's closing.

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"It's not very good for your skin, but it comes off," he added. "Never quite fast enough for the police who have come because they're all sitting there wondering how soon I'm gonna get out."

USA Today reported that Cromwell was also arrested on the Texas A&M University campus in 2019 during another PETA protest. At the time, Cromwell was fighting the university's use of dogs for medical research purposes.

Read the original article on Insider
(Bloomberg) -- South Africas populist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, has seen its support plunge by about half in the last eight months, a Social Research Foundation poll shows.

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The survey, conducted before a national shutdown called by the EFF for March 20, showed the party would win 6% backing assuming there was a 66% election turnout. That compared with 12% in July, similar to what it won in the 2019 national elections.

The ruling African National Congress would garner 52% support, while the biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, would get 24%, the SRF said. The poll canvassed the views of 1,517 registered voters across a range of age groups, races and regions.

The poll is the latest indication that the EFF, which was formed in 2013 on a platform of nationalizing everything from land to banks, may be losing steam just over a year before elections. Its calls for a shutdown garnered limited support among the public, with most businesses staying open and protests attracting small crowds in all towns other than in the capital, Pretoria, where a few thousand people attended.

While support for the ANC and DA is stable that for the EFF is down sharply, the SRF said, cautioning though that the survey had a national margin of error of 4%.

If the impact of voter turnout were disregarded, the EFF would win 8.4% support, the ANC 45.9% and the DA 23.3%, the poll showed. The EFF won 10.6% of the national vote in 2019, the ANC 57.5% and the DA 20.8%.

Some smaller parties look set to put in a stronger showing. Support for the Inkatha Freedom Party, a Zulu nationalist party, doubled to 6% since July assuming a 66% turnout level, while backing for the right-wing Freedom Front Plus rose to 3% from 2%, the poll showed.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court seemed inclined Monday to rule against a man convicted of violating immigration law for offering adult adoptions he falsely claimed would lead to citizenship.

Attorneys for Helaman Hansen told the justices during approximately 90 minutes of arguments that the law he was convicted of violating was too broad. But the court's conservative majority in particular seemed willing to side with the government and conclude that it is not.

Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that the law has been on the books for 70 years without some of the issues Hansen's lawyers worried about. He also expressed no sympathy for Hansen himself, who he said was taking advantage of very vulnerable people.

He had every intent in the world to keep these people here to take their money with no prospect they'd ever actually get citizenship, Gorsuch said.

The case involves a section of federal immigration law that says a person such as Hansen who encourages or induces a non-citizen to come to or remain in the United States illegally can be punished by up to five years in prison. Thats increased to up to 10 years if the person doing the encouraging is doing so for their own financial gain.

The federal government says that from 2012 to 2016 Hansen  who lived in Elk Grove, California, near Sacramento  deceived hundreds of non-citizens into believing that he could guarantee them a path to citizenship through adult adoption.

Based on Hansen's promises, officials say, people either came to or stayed in the United States in violation of the law, even though Hansen knew that the adult adoptions he was arranging would not lead to citizenship. The government says at least 471 people paid him between $550 and $10,000 and that in total he collected more than $1.8 million.

Hansen was ultimately convicted of encouragement charges as well as fraud charges. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the encouragement charges and another 20 years on the fraud charges. But a federal appeals court ruled that the law on encouragement is overbroad and violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment and overturned just those convictions.

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The court's three liberal justices seemed more concerned about the reach of the law. Justice Elena Kagan asked what happens to all the cases where a lawyer, doctor, neighbor, friend or teacher says to a non-citizen: I really think you should stay. Kagan wanted to know whether those people could or would be prosecuted under the law.

But Brian Fletcher, arguing for the Biden administration, pointed to the history of the government's use of the law over decades and said those aren't the kinds of cases the government pursues. Kagan seemed to credit that explanation later in the argument.

A ruling in the case, United States v. Helaman Hansen, 22-179, is expected by the end of June.
The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will not take up a challenge to Kansass GOP-drawn congressional map.

The justices in a brief, unsigned order rejected an appeal from a group of Kansas voters, who argued that a lower court used the wrong legal standard in upholding the map.

A state trial court had initially struck down the map, finding the legislature intentionally discriminated against minority voters because of their race in designing the congressional district boundaries.

The map split Wyandotte County, which is home to Kansas City, and the challengers asserted the move eliminated the ability of minority voters to continue electing their preferred candidate. The state, meanwhile, argued the changes were necessary to respond to population growth in the area.

The Kansas Supreme Court then reversed in favor of the state, finding that the challengers failed to show that the minority voters in question were sufficiently numerous to form their own majority-minority district.

The 4-3 decision ruled the showing was a precondition for the challengers to bring their claim, a reference to the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark Thornburg v. Gingles case.

But the challengers contended that Gingles should only apply to Voting Rights Act lawsuits that claim a map resulted in discrimination. The voters say their lawsuit challenges the map as intentional discrimination, a claim brought directly under the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause.

Under this conception of the Fourteenth Amendment, where minority voters are fewer in number or more dispersed, states have carte blanche to intentionally discriminate against them in drawing districts  even if the legislature announced that it acted specifically to disadvantage minority voters, the challengers wrote in their brief to the justices.

This intolerable rule would apply across most of the country, given the relatively small number of areas with sufficiently numerous and concentrated minority populations.

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The challengers original complaint in state court included additional claims of political gerrymandering, which the federal courts do not have the authority to hear. The case only later shifted to entirely focus on the issue of race.

Describing the case as a creature of state law, the GOP-led state contended the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the challenge.

Even if the court did have jurisdiction, Kansas argued the map was lawful and did not involve intentional discrimination.

Petitioners argument is premised on the theory that this case involves intentional minority vote dilution, the state wrote. But it is not plausible that the Kansas Legislature enacted SB 355 with a racially discriminatory purpose. Petitioners claims would therefore fail regardless of the answer to the question presented.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A convicted drug trafficker pleaded guilty in US federal court Friday to participating in the assassination of Haitis president in 2021.

Rodolphe Jaar, 50, pleaded guilty in Miami, Florida, to conspiring to provide material support, providing material support and conspiring to kidnap and kill President Jovenel Moise, according to court records.

Jaar, who is Haitian and Chilean, is the first of 11 defendants charged in the US to be convicted in the plot. His sentencing is scheduled for 2 June.

Dozens have been arrested in Haiti, but the cases are at a virtual standstill amid death threats that have spooked local judges.

Moise was shot 12 times at his private home near Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince, on 7 July 2021.

While the assassination occurred in Haiti, prosecutors believe most of the planning and funding occurred in South Florida.

Authorities said the original plan was to detain Moise weeks earlier and whisk him to an unidentified location by plane, but that fell through when the suspects couldnt find a plane or sufficient weapons.

According to court documents, Jaar provided weapons, food and lodging for Colombian commandos and others.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Jaar has provided information to help federal agents build stronger cases against the other 10 defendants in US custody.

Jaar was previously convicted of cocaine trafficking in 2013 and sentenced to four years and three months in prison.
(Bloomberg) -- Faced with growing public concern about the hastily-brokered merger of UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG a week ago, leading government figures involved in the deal turned to the local press to try to sell a skeptical public on the tie-up.

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First it was Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter who on Saturday said the Swiss government was compelled to intervene to save Credit Suisse as the troubled bank wouldnt have survived another day of trading amid a crisis of investor confidence. She was followed Sunday by the head of Switzerlands banking regulator, who said the banks former management may face investigation.

CS would not have survived Monday, Finance Minister Keller-Sutter said in an interview with Zurich newspaper NZZ. Without a solution, payment transactions with CS in Switzerland would have been significantly disrupted, possibly even collapsed.

The impact of a disorderly bankruptcy may have been as much as double Swiss economic output, the minister said, citing expert estimates. More broadly, we should have expected a global financial crisis as the crash of CS would have sent other banks into the abyss.

The government-brokered purchase of Credit Suisse by UBS last weekend has been widely criticized for running roughshod over investors rights as well as possibly saddling Swiss taxpayers with a huge burden. But Keller-Sutter said the alternatives were worse.

The Swiss parliament will hold an extraordinary session after the Easter weekend to discuss questions surrounding the deal, according to the newspaper NZZ.

A poll by GFS on Friday showed that more than half of Swiss dont approve of the deal. A second survey commissioned for Swiss Sunday tabloid SonntagsBlick showed that four in five Swiss want to see UBS spin off Credit Suisses domestic bank now because of concerns that a combined bank will stifle healthy competition.

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All other options were more risky for the state, Keller-Sutter told NZZ. A temporary nationalization of Credit Suisse may have lasted far longer than the government wanted as experience also shows that it can take years or even decades before the state can withdraw from ownership of a bank.

But the Swiss public remains skeptical. The SonntagsBlick poll also showed that 61% of those surveyed said they either definitely or probably agreed with the idea of Switzerland nationalizing and later re-selling the bank.

An orderly wind down was also ruled out, because not only would the damage have been considerable, according to Keller-Sutter, but Switzerland would have been the first country to wind down a globally systemically important bank. It was clearly not the moment for experiments.

Keller-Sutter, a Free Democrat whos faced some disquiet about the deal from some in her own right-of-center party, denied that the rescue amounted to a bailout, saying theres no money flowing from the federal government to the bank. But she conceded the deposit guarantees are comparable to an insurance policy, making them indirect state support.

Finma Two-Step

On Sunday it was the turn of the president and chief executive of Finma, Switzerlands banking regulator, to spread their message in separate interviews with Switzerlands two leading German-language Sunday papers.

Echoing comments by Keller-Sutter, Finma President Marlene Amstad pushed back against the notion foreign regulators, particularly in the US, put pressure on Switzerland. The Swiss authorities decided for themselves which solution was best, she told NZZ am Sonntag.

Finma has come under scrutiny over whether it shouldve done more to prevent Credit Suisses collapse. Amstad rejected the suggestion that Finma didnt intervene early or aggressively enough to tackle Credit Suisses problems, pointing to the six enforcement proceedings against the bank in recent years.

We intervened earlier, and very intensively, where there were breaches of supervisory law. But especially when we act harshly, it usually doesnt become public, Amstad told NZZ am Sonntag.

Criticism of Finma also hinges on the fact that it lacks the authority to fine banks or individuals to dissuade bad behavior. Amstad said she welcomes a debate about giving Finma the tools to deter excessive risk-taking or rogue bankers.

When it comes to the responsibility of individual decision-makers, however, it is evident that there are gaps that need to be closed, Amstad said.

Even with a limited arsenal, Amstad told NZZ am Sonntag that Finma is weighing up whether to open proceedings against Credit Suisse.

CS had a cultural problem that translated into a lack of accountability, Amstad told NZZ am Sonntag. Often it was not clear who was responsible for what. This favored a negligent handling of risks.

Were not a law enforcement agency, but were exploring options, she said.

--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss.

(Updates with parliament special session in sixth paragraph)

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ZURICH (Reuters) - Sight deposits held by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) jumped last week, data showed on Monday, suggesting that both Credit Suisse and UBS may have taken big chunks of emergency liquidity to secure their merger.

Sight deposits - cash held by the SNB for commercial banks overnight - jumped to 567 billion Swiss francs ($619 billion) from 515 billion francs a week earlier.

The 52 billion franc increase was the second-highest on record, just behind a 52.4 billion franc leap in August 2011 when the SNB was selling huge amounts of francs to relieve pressure on the safe-haven currency.

Last week's rise indicates that both UBS and Credit Suisse may have used some of the 200 billion francs in extra liquidity offered by the SNB as part of a state-sponsored rescue of Credit Suisse.

UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs in stock in a merger engineered to avoid more market-shaking turmoil in global banking.

Credit Suisse had already said it would take 50 billion francs from the SNB under its emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) facility before the UBS takeover.

As part of the rescue, another 100 billion francs was offered by the central bank to both UBS and Credit Suisse under an extended version of the ELA scheme, while Credit Suisse also had access to 100 billion francs under a public liquidity backstop.

The SNB declined to comment on Monday on the use of the facilities. Credit Suisse and UBS also both declined to comment.

"The increase is likely to be a result of Credit Suisse using the extra liquidity offered by the SNB, and could also include UBS using the facility too," said Karsten Junius, an economist at J.Safra Sarasin.

"How much exactly is difficult to say, but all banks could also be increasing liquidity at the moment."

Credit Suisse tapped the Swiss National Bank for "a large multi-billion amount" last weekend to secure its liquidity, the country's finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter told Swiss broadcaster SRF on Saturday.

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She said this was because customers had again withdrawn money but also because counterparties were demanding guarantees when doing business with the bank.

($1 = 0.9166 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Switzerland, which pioneered prescription heroin and safe injection sites decades ago, is now experimenting with decriminalising recreational cannabis, with the drug now available in some Basel pharmacies.

"This is 1,000 times better," said Paul, a 42-year-old resident of the northern Swiss city, as he picked up a package of cannabis from his local pharmacy.

After buying his drug of choice on the street from "weird people or criminals" for the past 25 years, Paul, who asked that his last name not be published, is taking part in a pilot programme allowing him to acquire it over the counter.

"People are happy, since they for the first time can buy it legally," pharmacist Lucas Meister told AFP, showing off a stash of colourful packages containing various dried cannabis flowers and hashish-based products.

His is one of nine pharmacies that have been chosen to take part in the two-year pilot for the legal sale of recreational cannabis.

Thousands of people applied to take part in the trial, but Paul, who mainly uses the drug to treat his depression, was among just 400 chosen.

- Not encouraging consumption -

Cannabis is legal for medical use in the wealthy Alpine nation, but only in extreme cases, such as pain relief for cancer patients.

Low-potency cannabis can also be purchased legally for non-medical use, but only when it contains below one percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the component that gets recreational users high.

And while more potent cannabis is illegal, carrying up to 10 grammes of more potent cannabis for one's own consumption is not punishable by law.

But while there are already a few ways to consume the drug without risking run-ins with police, pressure has been mounting for legalisation.

In 2021, around 70 percent of the population favoured liberalising the laws, up from 58 percent three years earlier, according to the Swiss health ministry.

"We have to get out of the illicit cannabis framework, but ensure strict regulation," said Barbara Broers, vice president of a federal commission on issues surrounding addiction.

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"It is important that people have access to controlled and regulated products, but we are proposing to ban advertising and to have plain packaging, as with cigarettes in some countries," she told AFP.

"This is not about encouraging consumption."

- Small steps -

The Swiss government has opted for a small-steps approach, and authorised trials to take place over the coming decade.

In Basel, participants are aged 18 to 76, and the aim is to study "the effects of regulated cannabis sale... on mental health and on consumption behaviour," Marc Walter, a psychiatry professor at the University of Basel and head of the study, told AFP.

So far, participants have been especially drawn to "products with a very high level of THC," he said.

The five-gramme packs that Meister keeps in his pharmacy safe contain products with THC levels ranging from 4.5 to 20 percent.

They are priced at between eight and 12 Swiss francs ($8.70-$13) per gramme, depending on the THC level, in line with black market pricing.

The pricing level was very deliberate, according to Marc Brungger, an executive at the Swiss company Pure Production, which is producing cannabis for the Basel trial.

"If prices are too low, people would try to resell the product, and if they are too high, they would turn to the black market," he told AFP.

Other major Swiss cities, including Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne, are planning to launch similar trials.

- 'Pure and organic' -

In Basel, Paul said he is thrilled to leave street dealers behind and to finally know with certainty what he is getting: "Pure and organic cannabis", grown in Switzerland and quality-guaranteed by the Swiss authorities.

"I want to consume cannabis, not chemicals made in China," he told AFP, voicing horror at the arrival on the street of synthetic cannabinoids -- laboratory-made molecules that mimic the THC effect.

The marketing specialist said it was a shame Switzerland had not taken a more direct route to legalisation, as in some US states, Canada and Uruguay.

But Walter said he was happy "Switzerland has chosen another route".

"As a scientist, I prefer that."

Frank Zobel, head of Addiction Switzerland, agreed, pointing out that taking things slow and steady to see how the population responds was a very Swiss approach.

That model proved itself in the 1990s, he said, noting how Switzerland had slowly introduced prescribing heroin for medical use.

"There too, there were four years of pilot trials, and today it is a treatment that is covered by medical insurance," he said.

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Taiwan ex-president Ma Ying-jeou travelled to China on Monday, embarking on the first cross-strait visit by a current or former leader of the island in more than seven decades, a trip Taipei's ruling party called "regrettable".

Ma's 12-day trip will not involve any official meetings, his office said, with his focus on paying tribute to his ancestors and promoting youth exchanges.

"I hope to improve the cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiastic interactions of young people, so peace can come to us faster and sooner," the 73-year-old said at the airport.

The former president's departure comes a day after Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has vowed to retake it one day.

In a statement on Monday, President Tsai Ing-wen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused Ma of "endorsing" Beijing's Taiwan policy with his visit.

"We should be more united... but it's regrettable that the KMT stands with the Chinese communists and ex-president Ma disregards public disapproval to visit China at this moment," the party said.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war won by the Communist Party, with the defeated nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party fleeing to the island.

Ma is a senior leader of the KMT, which currently sits in the opposition in Taiwan and advocates for warmer ties with China, but denies being pro-Beijing.

Taiwan will hold a presidential election next year, with the KMT and DPP the main contenders for the position.

Ma oversaw a dramatic improvement in cross-strait ties during his 2008-16 rule, which culminated in a summit between him and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015.

Beijing has ramped up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan under Ma's successor, Tsai, poaching nine of Taiwan's allies, leaving only 13 countries that diplomatically recognise the island.

China and Honduras began formal diplomatic relations on Sunday, with Taipei accusing Beijing of using "coercion and intimidation" to lure away its allies.

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At Taipei airport on Monday, a handful of demonstrators protested against Ma's visit, saying he had "betrayed Taiwan" by travelling to China.

They were removed by police to an area outside the main airport building shortly thereafter.

China's foreign ministry offered no comment Monday on the visit, with spokesperson Mao Ning saying it was "not a diplomatic issue".

Ma was born in Hong Kong in 1950 to Chinese immigrant parents from Xiangtan in Hunan province, which he will visit in addition to the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing and Changsha, his office said last week.

aw/aha/ser
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that her country refuses to "engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China" after Honduras opened ties with Beijing on Sunday, ending relations with Taiwan that date back several decades.

"It is with deep regret that today we end our diplomatic relations with Honduras," Tsai said in a statement on Sunday. "These past few years, China has persistently used any and all means to suppress Taiwans international participation, intensify its military intimidation against Taiwan, and disrupt regional peace and stability."

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang shake hands with Honduras Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina during the ceremony of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse March 26, 2023, in Beijing, China.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Honduran President Xiomara Castro of trying to start a bidding war for their diplomatic relations, with the Central American country allegedly asking for billions in aid.

US DENIES THAT CHINA EXPELLED AMERICAN WARSHIP FROM NEAR DISPUTED ISLANDS

"The Castro administration demanded massive amounts of economic aid, totaling billions of US dollars, and weighed Taiwans assistance proposals against those submitted by China," the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"Based on the long-standing friendship between the two countries, Taiwan proposed assistance programs with the greatest sincerity and to the best of its capabilities. But Honduras continued to make willful and peremptory demands, even publicly releasing incorrect information, causing harm to the government of Taiwan."

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An empty flag pole where the Honduran flag used to fly is pictured next to flags of other countries at the Diplomatic Quarter which houses embassies in Taipei, Taiwan March 26, 2023.

China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory under its "one-China principle," dismissed the allegations that it had bought Honduras' diplomatic relations.

"The remarks are preposterous and groundless. Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said in a recent interview that President Castro made the decision to grow relations with China in response to the trend of the world and in light of the realities of Honduras," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday. "The one-China principle represents the prevailing trend of the world and has the overwhelming support of the international community."

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CHINESE OFFICIAL SNAPS AT REPORTER: 'THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TAIWANESE PRESIDENT'

Castro, a socialist who became president last year, originally said on March 14 that she had instructed Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina to open relations with Beijing, explaining that it was a sign of her "determination to comply with the Government Plan and expand the borders freely in concert with the nations of the world."

Honduras President Xiomara Castro of the Freedom and Refoundation Party (Libre) speaks during a ceremony to present credentials from the National Electoral Council certifying her victory in the Presidential Elections on December 30, 2021, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Taiwan now only has formal relations with 13 nations, including seven in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nicaragua, which shares a border with Honduras, cut ties with Taiwan in December 2021, saying at the time that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory."

In a warning to other countries, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused China on Sunday of making "ostentatious commitments to lure Taiwans diplomatic allies into switching diplomatic recognition."

"However, once China achieves its diplomatic objectives, it often fails to uphold its pledges, leaving some beneficiary countries mired in debt," the ministry said in a statement.
By Gustavo Palencia

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -Taiwan must vacate its embassy in Honduras within 30 days, a senior Honduran official said on Monday, after President Xiomara Castro severed ties with Taiwan in favor of China in a bid for more investment and jobs from the Asian giant.

Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio Garcia issued the order on local television on Monday, following the government's announcement over the weekend that it had opened formal diplomatic relations with Beijing while simultaneously ending its decades-long relationship with Taiwan.

Castro's main conservative opposition later announced it would reverse the opening to China if it regains power.

China has long argued that democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. Communist-run China demands that countries it has ties with must adopt its position.

Taipei's embassy in Tegucigalpa's leafy Palmira neighborhood was for years one of the Central American capital's most prominent foreign outposts, as well as the country's second-biggest embassy after the U.S. embassy.

In his remarks, Garcia said 30 days "is more than enough time to pack up and leave," adding that officials aim for an "orderly, friendly" exit.

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu said 30 days was an "international norm", and that they would comment further later.

The move by Honduras came just before former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou began a historic visit to China, the first by a former or current Taiwanese president since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of a civil war with the Communists.

The visit has been sharply criticized by Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The Honduras deputy minister also stressed the need for a diplomatic mission to China.

"We have to go there to explore the big projects that China can give us," he said, suggesting that China could invest some $10 billion in Honduras in a boon for local workers.

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The foreign ministry also announced that Honduran students with scholarships in Taiwan would be able to transfer their studies to China.

Liu said Honduran students' scholarships would last until the end of the current term, and then they would be provided one-way tickets home.

The move leaves Taiwan with only 13 formal allies, mostly poor and developing countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

In its own statement on Monday, the conservative National Party pledged to re-establish ties with Taiwan if it can retake the Honduran presidency in 2026.

"We will do the impossible to restore relations with our brothers and sisters in the Republic of Taiwan," it said, promising to enshrine allegiance to Taiwan in the country's constitution.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Additional reporting by Sarah Morland, and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer, Josie Kao and Sandra Maler)
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, seeking closer ties with Western democracies in the face of Chinese pressure, welcomed a large Czech delegation to the island on Monday, a boost for Taipei after once-loyal ally Honduras switched allegiance to Beijing.

Although the number of countries that retain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan has dwindled to just 13 after the move by Honduras on Sunday, U.S. allies such as the Czech Republic have been bolstering support for the democratic island even as they also only officially recognise China.

The roughly 150-person Czech delegation arrived in Taipei on Saturday, led by the speaker of the lower chamber of the Czech parliament, Marketa Pekarova Adamova.

Tsai, meeting Pekarova Adamova at the presidential office, noted she had come to Taiwan despite "great pressure", in a veiled reference to Chinese criticism of her visit.

"Taiwan and the Czech Republic have both been through authoritarian rule and deeply understand that democracy has not come easily, so we can become firm partners with each other on the road of upholding democracy and freedom," she said.

Pekarova Adamova told Tsai the Czech Republic and Taiwan are strong partners.

"We believe in the same values and principles, among them the most important are freedom, democracy and protection of human rights. Nobody can threaten us from adhering to these rights," she said.

Speaking earlier to reporters after a Taiwan-Czech business forum, Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said that the timing of the Honduras announcement and the Czech delegation's arrival were two different things, but that the Czech visit was important.

"This visit of the delegation to Taiwan certainly represents that Taiwan is in a democratic alliance," she said.

Newly elected Czech president Petr Pavel drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing in January after taking a call from Tsai, a clear shift from his predecessor's attempts to win Chinese business.

Pekarova Adamova's trip to Taiwan follows one by Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil in 2020.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Gerry Doyle)
What changes will Scotland manager Steve Clarke make for Spain? (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Scotland take on Spain in the second of their 2024 Euro qualifying double-header at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.

The Scots began their campaign with an encouraging 3-0 win over bottom seeds Cyprus on Saturday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the main talking points ahead of the visit of La Roja.

An unusually good start to a qualifying campaign

The victory over Cyprus was the first opening day win in a Euro qualifying campaign since a 6-0 victory over the Faroe Islands at Celtic Park in 2006.

In previous Euro campaigns it has felt like Scotland almost immediately had to play catch-up but three points is a solid if expected start to Group A fixtures.

Top seeds Spain, who beat Norway 3-0 at home on Saturday night, will of course be tougher opponents but manager Steve Clarke knows a positive result will offer even more encouragement going into Junes double-header against Norway and Georgia.

Scott McTominay to start?

The Manchester United midfielder came off the bench on Saturday to secure the points for Clarkes side.

John McGinns first-half strike separated the two sides but it was getting a little nervy until McTominay showed his finishing prowess with two strikes from inside the box in the final minutes.

Clarke started with a 3-4-3 formation with attacking midfielders Stuart Armstrong and McGinn supporting Che Adams.

Callum McGregor is a fixture in the holding midfield area so if there is any change to the more defensive-minded playmakers then it likely that Ryan Jack will make way for McTominay.

Che Adams to be replaced by Lyndon Dykes?

The Southampton attacker dropped out of the squad with a calf knock picked up against Cyprus and Clarke admitted the loss was a blow.

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland was drafted in as a replacement on Sunday but will almost certainly start on the bench.

Clarke also has Ryan Christie and Jacob Brown in his squad but Dykes, recently recovered from a debilitating bout of pneumonia, took over from Adams on Saturday and is likely to start against Spain.

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The QPR striker has scored eight times in 27 international games  including winners against the likes of Slovakia, Moldova and Austria  but a goal against the Spanish would endear him further to the Tartan Army.

Does Clarke play three at the back again?

Defence will be key to a positive result against Spain. Clarke played three centre-backs against Cyprus  Ryan Porteous, Grant Hanley and Kieran Tierney  which allowed him to use the Arsenal defender along with captain Andrew Robertson.

The former Kilmarnock, Reading and West Brom manager may well be pondering a return to a back four against Spain but would that include Tierney as one of the two centre-backs?

Moreover, will Clarke be tempted to replace the youngest member of the squad, 20-year-old Aaron Hickey, who had a fine game at right-back against Cyprus, with Nathan Patterson who was his replacement after 79 minutes on Saturday?
Tax refunds are consistently coming in smaller than last year, according to the latest weekly data from the Internal Revenue Service, an outcome many tax experts had anticipated.

Still, the agency appears to be on top of the filing season, a reversal from the last few years.

The average refund amount was $2,933 based on 53.9 million tax returns processed through March 17, the IRS reported, down 11.3% from $3,305 during the same period last year, when the agency processed 51.7 million refunds. In total, the IRS has doled out $158.1 billion in refunds versus $171.1 billion last year.

Tax experts this year warned that refunds could be smaller since most of the pandemic-era benefits have expired, a setback for taxpayers counting on that cash influx.

Its a big deal, Joanna Ain, associate director of policy at the not-for-profit Prosperity Now, told Yahoo Finance. We have tax refunds that are down which historically have made a huge difference in the lives of families that count on this kind of boost in their income each year. With inflation up, their necessities go up.

Client Paul Chirico of Los Angeles works with tax preparer Erika Arbulante at H&R Block in Los Angeles, California. (Credit: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Why refunds are smaller this year

Many of the tax benefit enhancements under the American Rescue Plan expired this year.

For instance, the Child Tax Credit decreased to $2,000 per child dependent compared with last seasons $3,600. Its also no longer fully refundable, meaning taxpayers wont receive the full credit if the amount is more than how much tax they paid. Those most impacted were lower-income households.

The maximum Earned Income Tax Credit amount for eligible single filers with no children also fell to $500 this season from $1,502 last year. The Child and Dependent Care Credit  which includes out-of-pocket costs for child care and day camps  was reduced this year to $2,100 from $8,000 last year.

The loss of the above-the-line charitable deduction along with the expiration of the mortgage insurance premium deduction could also result in lower refunds.

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Whatever we tell clients, a smaller refund can be bad news, Rus Garofalo, founder and president of BrassTaxes, told Yahoo Finance. Weve told some clients they owe more tax than they thought when they were thinking they were getting a bigger refund. Its hard.

IRS speeds up processing

Margaret Moore, an IRS clerk, searches through taxpayer documents that have been stored in the IRS cafeteria due to a lack of space at the Internal Revenue Service in Austin, Tx., on Friday, June 10, 2022. (Credit: Matthew Busch for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

One positive change year is how the IRS is handling the tax season.

As of March 17, the agency had processed just over 63.1 million returns, an increase of 2% over the same time a year ago when it got through 61.9 million returns. It has also distributed over 49.1 million refunds, an increase of 8.5% from 45.3 million refunds during the same period a year ago, the IRS data noted.

Thats a significant improvement for American taxpayers who have faced back-to-back challenging tax seasons. Increased funding to help onboard staff and modernize the agencys dated technology have also appeared to help the taxpayer experience this year and lessen the paper backlog that has dragged on for two years.

Fewer taxpayers are seeking help on the IRS website, which could indicate this years tax season is less confusing. With only three weeks left until tax day on April 18, 20.7% fewer people have browsed the IRS website, the weekly data showed.

The decline could also mean that taxpayers are getting through to the IRS by phone, which was next to impossible in the past two years. IRS employees answered only 11% of taxpayer phone calls in 2021 and 13% in 2022, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate.

Avoid unnecessary delays by filing electronically

One way to avoid delays is by double-checking your tax return, filing electronically, and requesting direct deposit for your refund. So far, roughly 97% of the nearly 71.7 million tax returns filed this season have been received electronically, according to the IRS.

The IRS is expecting 168 individual tax returns to be filed before the April 18 tax deadline.

Electronic filing helps reduce math errors and identifies potential tax credits or deductions the taxpayer may be eligible to claim, the agency said in a statement last week. Filing electronically and choosing direct deposit is the fastest and most secure way to receive a refund.

Gabriella is a personal finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @__gabriellacruz.

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A couple have rekindled their teenage spark after 32 years apart after reconnecting on Facebook. (SWNS)

A couple have revealed how they have rekindled their teenage romance, following a 32 year gap apart, after rediscovering each other on social media via Facebook.

It was love at first sight when teenagers Dawn Gray, 15, and Lee Richards, 17, initially met on Southend Pier in July 1991.

Gray caught Richards' eye and when he called out to offer her one of his chips the pair got chatting.

Having swapped numbers, Richards' called Gray a few days later and started visiting her every weekend, the new relationship quickly turning into a summer romance.

But despite Gray admitting to falling in love with Richards she eventually bowed to pressure from her single pals and called things off.

Her teenage sweetheart was left heartbroken by the split, and though he says he often thought of calling at her parents' home over the years, the former couple went their separate ways with both going on to have other long-term relationships and starting families.

Fast forward more than three decades, however, and a newly separated Richards, now 49, decided to look up his former love via Facebook to see if there was still any hope.

Read more: Maisie Smith reveals 'thick skin' as she defends 13-year age gap in her relationship

Dawn Gray and Lee Richards met as teenagers on Southend Pier in July 1991, aged 15 and 17. (SWNS)

Having found her profile he sent her a message in January this year and within days they were chatting for hours on the phone, before meeting up just a few weeks later.

Now back together as a couple, Gray and Richards say they are just as keen on each other as they were when they met all those years ago as teenagers.

"It was meant to be," Gray, a teaching assistant from Rainham, Essex, says of their rekindled romance.

"We picked up again just like that  like time hadn't passed.

"When he arrived at my door after all that time we just stood laughing  it just felt like when we were young again.

"It will always feel like that with him."

Watch: Ben Affleck jokes about Jennifer Lopez's love for Yellowstone

Describing the secrets of their relationship, Gray says they are able to talk about anything together.

Story continues

"We just go from subject to subject, and we laugh so much," she explains.

"It's no problem if we don't have money to do anything, we're just happy to be together."

Recalling their relationship first time around, Gray says it was love at first sight from both sides.

"We felt so comfortable together right from the start," she says.

"We just started chatting and mucking about. That's what we do now too."

Richards, a window cleaner from Holt, Norfolk, also recalls an initial spark from their very first meeting: "When I saw her for the first time I knew there was something special about her, and she looked stunning.

Though they actually lived ten miles a part, they met on a day trip to Southend, hitting it off immediately and chatting for hours before Gray's parents came to find her.

Read more: Kirsty Gallacher reveals she suffered a breakdown post-divorce: 'I was running on empty'

Richards and Gray are now enjoying their rekindled romance three decades on. (SWNS)

And Richards says those same feelings were still there when they met up more than three decades later.

"It honestly feels like we've never been apart," he says.

"When I saw her on the doorstep recently I just wanted to give her a huge kiss."

Having gone their separate ways after their break-up, Gray was married for ten years and had son Jack, 23, and daughter Ellie, 21.

After her divorce, she had another long-term partner, who is the father to her second daughter, Ruby, 11, but they separated in 2019.

Meanwhile Richards had been in a partnership for 28 years which ended in 2019. He was encouraged to put himself on social media by his daughters.

The first thing he did was look up his old flame on Facebook and send her a message.

They met on Gray's doorstep on February 17, and now spend every Friday to Monday together and chat for an hour every evening, and during their lunch breaks.

Both had been dating but hadn't clicked with anyone else.

"We were ready to be together," adds Gray.

"I've often thought about him over the years."

Richards also had a feeling it would be second time lucky for the couple: "I just knew it would be alright when I messaged her.

"The time was right."

Read more: Florence Pugh stuns in Erdem crop top as she reunites with ex Zach Braff on red carpet

Childhood sweethearts Dawn Gray and Lee Richards believe they were meant to reunite. (SWNS)

The couple aren't the only ones who have managed to rekindle a romance later in life.

Last year, a British woman who moved to the US to get over her childhood sweetheart shared how her plan didnt work  when the duo reunited 24 years later and got married.

Amanda Piper, 49, split from first love, Jonathan, 52, when she was 18, after two years of dating.

But when the young couple broke up, Amanda relocated to Arizona, US, in 1991, to move on from the relationship and "try something different".

Having married in America and had three sons, when that relationship broke down her thoughts returned to her first love and then Jonathan  who was by then divorced and had a daughter  added Amanda as a friend on Facebook out of the blue in October 2015.

The pair began talking and all their old feelings came flooding back. They rekindled their love, before tying the knot in Las Vegas when he flew over to visit the following August.

Additional reporting SWNS.
Restaurant owner Edith Liborio, as always, greets her customers with a smile and buen dia as they pile into Carys Esmeralda Grill for the lunch rush each day.

But her warm demeanor belies a growing anxiety.

The land on which her restaurant sits just went up for sale. Now, she says, her future is that much more uncertain.

In total, roughly 38 acres of prime real estate on the periphery of east Cary one of the last remaining large tracts inside downtown limits  hit the market Wednesday. The property, six parcels in all, lies at the corner of E. Chatham Street and SE Maynard Road.

It includes a mobile home park, a pond and retail buildings: Chatham Estates, Chatham Square Shopping Center and Maynard Plaza.

The propertys owner, Curtis Westbrook Sr., owner of the real estate management company Westbrook & Associates, says hes selling because of health issues. It could fetch as much as $50 million, according to its listing agent, Lee & Associates CEO Moss Withers.

Thats more than $1 million an acre.

Were already speaking with a handful of solid buyers and feel this will move quickly, Withers told The News & Observer Wednesday, the day the listing went live. The land sale was first reported by the Triangle Business Journal earlier this month.





Aerial view of roughly 38 acres of prime real estate in east downtown Cary  one of the last remaining large tracts inside of town limits  which hit the market this week. The property, six parcels in all, lies at the intersection of E. Chatham Street and SE Maynard Road.

Carys explosive growth

The sales interest  and its hefty price tag  is another sign of Carys rising status in recent years as companies and developers flock to the area and developable land becomes more scarce. The property is about a six-minute drive from Fenton, a new mixed-use development that opened to much fanfare last year.

The listing also underscores the towns growing affordable housing crisis. Along with the regions explosive growth, home prices and rents continue to skyrocket. Many low-income workers say its becoming almost impossible to live in the same community that they serve and help make prosper.

For tenants like Liborio, who runs her restaurant out of Chatham Square and lives in the adjacent mobile home park, fear remains high that they could now be displaced with more development in east Cary.

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For Liborio, it means facing the double-whammy of losing both her livelihood and home, all at once.

Ive poured my life savings into the business for the last seven years, she said in Spanish, through a translator. Many of the people living in the mobile homes come here to eat. Its my business. It affects my whole life.

The property accommodates 140 mobile homes. Residents estimate as many as 600 people could be forced to relocate if the land sells to a developer. Many are worried about leaving behind friends, neighbors, schools and jobs.

Its hard. Where are we going to go? said Maria Guadalupe Garcia, 38, a ministry assistant who lives at the park with her husband and three children.

They pay $400 to lease a lot at the park. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Cary is $1,577  up 15% year-over-year, according to rental listing site Zumper.

When I read the headlines, they say Cary is blooming. Yes, its blooming for some people, but not for all people, Garcia said.

Photo of Chatham Square signage. The shopping center is included in a 37-acre parcel of land in Cary that hit the market on March 22.

Edith Liborio, owner of Esmeralda Grill in Chatham Square, is worried that she faces displacement. The land on which her restaurant and home sits just went up for sale in Cary this week.

A lifetimes work

Across the street, Westbrook, the propertys owner and landlord, works from the office building that he built on E. Chatham Street. The buildings number, alongside his familys name, are carved into the buildings brick facade: 701 Westbrook. From his second-floor corner office, he has a birds eye view into Esmeralda Grill, the shopping center and some of the mobile home park that existed before even hed come to town.

The person I bought the park from had started it in the 1950s, Westbrook recalled. Its been there, he said, a long time.

Westbrook came to Cary as a country boy from Newton Grove, 40 miles southeast of Raleigh, and started up his real estate company as a one-man office in the late 1960s, he said, just as nearby Research Triangle Park was beginning to take shape. Over the span of four decades, he amassed the large assemblage of commercial properties, making more than $1.5 million in net operating income in 2022 alone.

But its time to phase down, he said, and spend more time with his grandchildren. Im 82. Ive had two major heart operations in the last year and a half.

On March 16, the firm said, it emailed tenants to inform them of Westbrooks intent to sell. It also tried to assuage tenants concerns over the possible change of ownership, noting any purchase would be a slow process and could take years to complete.

Westbrook said hed like to see someone buy the property to manage, like hes done for so many years, rather than to redevelop. But ultimately, he said, its not up to him.

I love my tenants, and they love me. But I dont have any control over it. Its purely up to who buys it. It would make no sense for me to put conditions on the sale.

Five of the six parcels are zoned general commercial and could allow for up to 12 stories of development, Westbrook said. The other parcel, the mobile home park, is zoned residential multifamily.

My property has gotten old and needs to be revived, Westbrook said. Everything changes. This is just a continuation of Carys growth.

Tenants mobilize

Tenants at Chatham Estates, however, are hoping that they will be able to stay and also benefit from the towns growing wealth.

Most of the parks residents are Latino and emigrated from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras. Many are laborers or service workers  cleaning, landscaping and building the new high-end developments that are quickly going up around town.

Last week, about 70 people stood outside in the cold at the parks entrance to discuss the propertys impending sale. They say they dont begrudge Westbrook for selling the property at this stage in his life, but they want to know their rights.

Katia Roebuck, an organizer from the nonprofit ONE Wake, attended to field some of their concerns. Her group has successfully helped other mobile home residents find resolutions, like those who faced displacement at Wake Forests Wellington Mobile Home Park in 2021. In that case, she said, the developer ended up paying relocation costs.

Roebuck said shes already reached out to town officials to address residents concerns. She hopes to set up a meeting in April.

Theyre going to be displaced. This is a fact, she said, unequivocally. The residents would like to stay, but everybodys smart enough to know that thats not whats going happen, especially with the price that the owner is asking for.

She wants to work with the town of Cary and a future developer for some type of assistance for them.

Morgan Mansa, director of the towns housing and community partnerships, said shes aware of the propertys listing and the town has been contacted by a few groups regarding concerns.

We have a keen eye on this, Mansa said, and welcome the opportunity to work with any potential new owners to communicate Carys housing vision and needs.
The State Network is a coordinated effort for issuing missing person and public safety advisories by the Texas Department of Public Safety and other entities.

There are eight alerts in the State Network, and each has different criteria.

Amber Alert

Amber Alert is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman from Arlington who was kidnapped and brutally killed in 1996. The alert also stands for Americas Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.

According to the Department of Justice, the following criteria are guidelines to follow before issuing an Amber Alert:

There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.

Law Enforcement believes the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.

There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an Amber Alert to assist in the recovery of the child.

The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger.

The childs name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.

Silver Alert

The statewide Silver Alert was designed to notify the public of missing older adults with a documented mental condition.

The Texas Department of Public Safety outlines the following criteria for issuing a Silver Alert:

The missing person is 65 years or older or has been diagnosed with Alzheimers Disease.

The missing person has a diagnosed impaired mental condition and their disappearance poses a credible threat to the their health and safety. Documentation of a mental condition diagnosis from a medical or mental health professional is required in order to issue the alert.

The senior citizens disappearance is due to their impaired mental condition and alternative reasons for the disappearance have been ruled out

The Silver Alert request is made within 72 hours of the senior citizens disappearance

There is sufficient information available for the public to assist in locating the senior citizen

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Blue Alert

Blue Alerts are designed to alert the public of criminals who kill or seriously wound local, state or federal law enforcement officers.

The Texas Department of Public Safety outlines the following criteria for issuing a Blue Alert:

A law enforcement officer must have been killed or seriously injured by an offender.

The offender poses a serious risk or threat to the public and other law enforcement personnel.

A detailed description of the offenders vehicle, vehicle tag or partial tag must be available to broadcast to the public.

The investigating law enforcement agency of jurisdiction must recommend activation of the Blue Alert to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Endangered Missing Persons Alert

An Endangered Missing Persons Alert is meant for missing people of any age with an intellectual disability.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the following criteria has to be met for an Endangered Missing Persons Alert:

The missing person is diagnosed with an intellectual disability or an pervasive developmental disorder. Law enforcement require a written diagnosis from a physician or psychologist licensed to practice in Texas, or certified by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services or the Texas Department of State Health Services.

There is a credible threat to the health and safety of the missing person.

Made within 72 hours of the missing persons disappearance.

There is sufficient information available to broadcast to the public to help locate the missing person.

Camo Alert

A Camo Alert is designed to notify the public of a missing current or former member of the United States armed forces.

The Texas Department of Public Safety outlines the following criteria for issuing a Camo Alert:

The missing military member is registered for the Camo Alert program.

The missing person is confirmed to be a current or former member of the United States armed forces, including the National Guard or a reserve or auxiliary unit of any branch of the armed forces.

The missing person suffers from a mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury.

The disappearance poses a credible threat to the military members health and safety or the health and safety of another.

CLEAR Alert

A CLEAR Alert is designed to assist law enforcement in locating missing, kidnapped or abducted adults or adults who are in immediate danger of injury or death. CLEAR Alert stands for Cayley Mandadi; DLisa Kelley; Erin Castro; Ashanti Billie and the Rest.

The Texas Department of Public Safety outlines the following criteria for issuing a Camo Alert:

The missing person is 18-64 years old.

The missing adult is in imminent danger of bodily injury or death.

The CLEAR Alert is requested within 72 hours of the individuals disappearance.

There is sufficient information available to broadcast to the public to help locate the missing person.

Power Outage Alert

Power Outage Alerts can be requested by the Public Utility Commission of Texas or any of the four independent organizations with oversight of the Texas power grid.

This alert is issued when power supply is inadequate to meet demand for the state or a region.

Active Shooter Alert

Active Shooter Alerts are designed to alert the public of a nearby active shooter situation and encouraging them to avoid the area or to shelter-in-place.
Texas bayou discovered remains belong to missing 2-year-old girl: report

The Harris County, Texas, medical examiners office identified remains discovered in a Pasadena bayou last week, as those of missing 2-year-old Nadia Lee, according to reports.

FOX 26 in Houston reported on March 20 that Houston Police said Nadias remains were discovered in Vince Bayou, though a full verification was needed by the medical examiners office.

Nadia Lee, 2, was last seen on Oct. 16. Her father has been arrested in connection with the death of her mother, Houston police said.

Nadias father, Jyron Charles Lee, 26, was charged in the murder of his common-law wife, 22-year-old Nancy Reed, as well as the death of Nadia, who was last seen on Oct. 16 on South Richey Street in Pasadena, Texas.

TEXAS GIRL, 2, MISSING AND FATHER CHARGED WITH KILLING COMMON-LAW WIFE: TIMES NOT ON OUR SIDE'

Reed was found unresponsive in a hotel room on Oct. 13. Earlier that night, a 911 call was made about the couple having a child custody dispute. Neither parent, at the time, claimed to have any missing children, according to police.

Two other children, ages 1 and 3, were with Lee and the woman, police said, and one of the children was Lees.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Texas murder and missing girl

The dispute was settled, police said, and officers left.

SEARCH FOR MISSING TEXAS BOY TAKES STRANGE TURN AS FAMILY FLEES COUNTRY WITHOUT HIM: POLICE

But at about 10:30 p.m., authorities were called back to the scene, and Lee told officers he got into an argument with Reed and put her in a choke hold to prevent her from hurting the children.

Reed was taken to the HCA Hospital  Clear Lake, where she was pronounced dead.

Lee was detained at the scene, and after an investigation, was charged in his wifes murder. The two children at the scene were not injured, police said.

MISSING INDIANA TEEN BELIEVED TO BE IN 'EXTREME DANGER' FOUND SAFE

It was later learned that another child, Nadia, was not at the scene, FOX 26 reported. After unsuccessfully locating Nadia, the case was handed over to the Missing Persons Division.

Lee was in charge of Nadia at the time of her disappearance.

Detectives received information during the investigation that there may have been foul play, so the Homicide Division took over the case and confirmed they had enough information to determine foul play was a factor.

The medical examiner, as of Friday, was still determining how Nadia died.

Lees bond is set at $1.85 million.
According to a New York Times report, parts of Twitters source code were leaked online. Court filings published Friday reveal Twitter claimed copyright infringement to have the code taken down from Github as soon as possible. The code was removed the same day, but theres no report on how long it was online for  or the leak's scope or depth. The Twitter executive who spoke with the NYT said the company's primary concern was that the source code could be used in future hacking efforts.

Twitter executives suspect it's the work of a former employee who left "within the last year." That might not narrow down the hunt for the leak. Since Elon Musk purchased Twitter last October, the company has shed roughy 80 percent of its staff.

 Mat Smith

The Morning After isnt just a newsletter  its also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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The billionaire bought the company last year for $44 billion.

In timely fashion, Twitter owner Elon Musk says he valued Twitter at about $20 billion, according to an email seen by The Information and The New York Times. (Although this was before the reports of the source code leak.) Musk shared the valuation, a significant drop from the $44 billion he paid to buy the company last fall, in a memo he sent to Twitter employees on Friday announcing a new stock compensation program.

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You'll still be able to download games you've already purchased.

It's the end of an era: Nintendo is shutting down its Wii U and 3DS eShops today at 5 PM PT (8 PM ET). After that, you'll no longer be able to purchase new games for those consoles, but you'll still be able to redownload titles you've already purchased. Some games will disappear forever, with 450 digital-only Wii U games, 600 digital-only 3DS games and 530 virtual console titles gone (at least from official channels), according to Video Games Chronicles estimates.

Story continues

Continue reading.

Itll leave when its good and ready.

TMA

All five seasons of Arrested Development, including the two financed by Netflix, were set to leave the service on March 15th. However, the series is now staying put, thanks to a licensing agreement the company reached with Disney-owned 20th-Century Fox, the shows original rights holder. According to Vulture, the new deal gives Netflix exclusive streaming rights to the series. As a result, the shows first three seasons will not be available to watch on Hulu as of later this year. Notably, the deal reportedly gave Disney the option to sell the linear TV rights for all five seasons.

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Moore famously predicted the miniaturization of computers in 1965.

Gordon Moore, co-founder and former CEO of Intel, has passed away at 94. He was the last surviving member of the Intel Trinity, which also included his fellow founder, Robert Noyce, and their first hire, Andy Grove. In 1965, Moore wrote a paper that envisioned the miniaturization of computers, introducing the world to his prediction dubbed Moore's Law.

He predicted the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double every year, leading to the creation and production of smaller and more powerful chips that would, in turn, enable advancements in technology. By 1975, he adjusted his estimate for the doubling of transistors to every two years, though top chipmakers disagree on whether Moore's Law still holds.

Continue reading.
nashville-shooting-covenant.jpg Nashville School Shooting - Credit: Metro Nashville Police Department/AP

Three children and three adult staff members are dead following a school shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday morning. Officials said a suspect  28-year-old Nashville area resident Audrey Hale  is also dead, and multiple patients have been reported following the shooting.

A hospital spokesperson confirmed to Rolling Stone that three pediatric patients with gunshot wounds were taken to Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt, where they were pronounced dead after arrival.

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The six victims fatally shot by the active shooter at Covenant School, a private Christian school at Covenant Presbyterian Church, are identified as students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney  one was age 8, the others age 9; the adult staff members were substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, age 61, the head of the school Katherine Koonce, 60, and school custodian Mike Hill, 61, per the Metro Nashville Police Department.

During a Tuesday afternoon media briefing, Nashville Chief of Police John Drake offered an update on the shooter, saying that Hale had legally purchased seven guns from various gun stores in Nashville. Three of those weapons were used in Mondays shooting. Hale apparently kept the guns hidden in the familys home unbeknownst to Hales parents, who, according to Drake, believed their child shouldnt own guns  Drake said Hale was being treated for an undisclosed emotional disorder.

Police also said there currently remains no motive for the attack but added that the building was the target, not specific students or staff. This school, this church building, was a target of the shooter, Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said, but we have no information at present to indicate that the shooter was specifically targeting any one of the six individuals who were murdered.

Story continues

On Monday afternoon, police officials provided more details on the shooter throughout three separate media briefings. Hale, who authorities said identified as transgender, left a manifesto that pertained to the date of the incident and a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place. Officials confirmed it was a targeted attack, and another location was mentioned within the information officials uncovered. Still, they believe this was a lone assailant, though the investigation is ongoing. Its unclear what pronouns Hale was using at the time of death.

Weve identified the shooter as Audrey Hale, 28-year-old that lived in the Nashville area. We have investigations ongoing now at the residence on Brightwood Avenue, Drake said in its third briefing on Monday afternoon. We have made contact with the father that lived at that residence and are putting together more intimate information. Weve also determined there were maps drawn to the school in detail of surveillance, entry points etc. We know and believe that entry was gained through shooting through one of the doors is how they actually got into the school.

The shooter died after exchanging gunfire with police, Metro Nashville Police (MNPD) said in a statement. During its first media briefing, Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said police received a call on Monday morning at 10:13 a.m. about an active shooter at the school. Officers entered the first story of the school to begin clearing it when they heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter and female who was firing, he said. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers. He added that the shooter had at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun.

In a second briefing, Drake said the children had been identified, and their family members notified. As for more information on the shooter, he said, From my initial findings is that at one point, she was a student at that school. But unsure what year, all of that, but thats what Ive been told so far.

Drake was joined by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch and District Attorney General Glenn Funk, who spoke of their involvement. As [MNPD] investigate the homicides, then we felt it was most appropriate for them to continue that investigation, Raush, who said Funk asked TBI to assist, stated. We will assist in our role as an independent oversight on the officer-involved situation and so that that will be the role of TBI.

I came out on the scene today because our current operating procedure is that when an officer is involved in a shooting that TBI comes out, Funk said. And I knew that this was a unique case. And I wanted to make sure that everything was handled appropriately.

President Biden also addressed the tragedy. He commended the police and said the White House is monitoring the situation. We have to do more to stop gun violence. Its ripping our communities apart ripping at the very soul of our nation, he said, calling on Congress to pass his assault weapons ban. Its about time that we began to make some more progress, but theres more to learn. But I just wanted to send my concern hearts out to so many parents out there, Biden said.

During the first media briefing, Aaron said one officer was also injured during the incident.

FBI and ATF Nashville special agents have also responded to the scene and are assisting local authorities.

This is a developing story

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Photo Illustration by Erin OFlynn/The Daily Beast/National Library of Medicine/Flickr and Public Domain

Theres a WW in Exam Room 3. Good luck with that one, my colleague called out to me in reference to my next patient. I grabbed the chart, looked at her complaints, took a deep breath to steel myself, and walked into the exam room.

When I was in medical school, and then a new doctor in the 1990s, WW was the acronym for patients who came in complaining of a cluster of symptoms: weight gain, brain fog, irritability, joint pain, decreased sex drive, poor sleep, and fatigue. These were whiny women.

I Learned the Hard Way Just How Barbaric American Health Care Is

We knew enough to understand these patients were likely entering menopause, but we had precious little instruction or education on the proper diagnosis, management, and treatment of it. Further, wed been taught that women tend to complain and somaticize symptoms because of dissatisfaction with life circumstances and stress. The Its all in her head medical mantra was very much alive and well. If she was found to be postmenopausal, we would offer hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and send her on her way. If she was transitioning into menopause, well, we offered nothing.

I was in the last year of my training in obstetrics and gynecology in 2002, when the preliminary results of the publication of the Womens Health Initiatives study on HRT were releasedwhich included misrepresented facts that scared women (and their doctors) into stopping all hormone replacement therapy. This left an entire generation of women suffering and orphaned of any meaningful medical management. Their whining continued, and we advised our patients to tough it out. The lucky ones were offered antidepressants as a cure-all for their symptoms, which likely made these women feel all the more dismissed, broken, infuriated, and helpless.

Photo Illustration by Erin OFlynn/The Daily Beast/National Library of Medicine/Flickr and Public Domain

In the United States alone, one-third of the female population is peri- or postmenopausal. More than one million women experience complete menopause each year, with about 5 percent starting the process as early as their forties. Symptoms of perimenopause can begin seven to 10 years before complete menopause occurs. You may assume that, given these numbers, womens health-care providers should discuss the management of menopause and perimenopause routinely and openly. But even in 2022, this essential aspect of womens health care is still stigmatized and shrouded in shame.

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A large part of this stems from the cultural guilt associated with growing, which holds that once women lose their fertility, they must be withered, washed-out, and unworthy.

Sadly, the negative societal perceptions of menopause and failure of the medical community to prioritize the health of this large group of individuals has resulted in a knowledge gap among women entering this phase of their lives, which could have a substantial negative influence on their overall quality of life. If you dont feel comfortable talking about your symptoms with friends, family, and, most crucially, your doctor, you may find it difficult to comprehend (let alone control) what is exactly happening to your body.

Twenty years of clinical practice, countless hours of reading the latest studies, and my own menopause journeycomplete with all the same life-disrupting symptoms my many patients have long complained ofhave taught me that the WHI study was severely flawed, with many of its findings subsequently disproven.

Hormone replacement therapy is safe for the vast majority of patients who are without contraindications, and the risk of breast cancer is minimal. HRT promotes overall quality of life, improves vulvovaginal health, decreases the risk of osteoporosis, and, when started early, may be protective for cardiovascular disease and Alzheimers.

Meet the Doctors Taking to the High Seas to Perform Abortions

Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon.

There has been an explosion over the past decade in the number of women telling their stories on social media and finding more sympathetic listeners, in the form of other women.

Unwilling to accept the status quo and suffer in silence, this generation of menopausal women is sharing their journeys, names of helpful healthcare providers, as well as functional strategies for navigating this time in their lives. They are arriving at medical appointments armed with research articles, lists, and resources to share with their providers so that they can better advocate for the care they deserve.

Celebrities such as Naomi Watts, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama, and Salma Hayek are all openly discussing their own menopause journeys, thus helping to lift the secret, shame, and taboo surrounding this transitional time.

Michelle Obama Gets Candid on Undergoing Hormone Therapy for Menopause

Menopause specialists such as Dr. Jen Gunter, author or The Menopause Manifesto, Dr. Louise Newson, and Dr. Heather Hirsh are leading important conversations on social media and their followers are loving it, by the hundreds of thousands. When I turned to social media to discuss my own menopause journey, the conversation exploded into two million TikTok followers eager to participate, share their stories, and ask for advice.

Change is coming in science, too. The North American Menopause Society is promoting groundbreaking menopause treatment research, offering training and certification in menopause care, and providing a helpful list of certified providers on its website.

Other medical societies, such as the American Heart Association, are recognizing the importance of the menopause transition on disease states, specifically cardiovascular disease risk. And most recently, a team of researchers from the University of East Anglia and the University of Edinburgh have found evidence of the potential importance of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in reducing the risk of Alzheimers disease in women carrying the APOE4 gene, which puts them at genetic high risk for the disease.

There is also growing understanding that if a woman has a contraindication to hormone replacement therapy, there are a multitude of other pharmacologic, over the counter, nutritional, and supplementation options to help with symptoms and promote health.

But there is still so much more to do. The outpouring of stories of frustration, misdiagnosis, gaslighting, and confusion have made many womens health care providers realize there is a systemic problem in how we provide basic care to a woman during her menopausal journey and in how we teach and train our providers to care for these patients. They also now seem to appreciate there is a problem with how our society views and treats menopausal women in general.

Photo Illustration by Erin OFlynn/The Daily Beast/National Library of Medicine/Flickr

A simple PubMed search on pregnancy finds 1.1 million research articles over all time, but when menopause is searched, only 94,500 articles come up. This 10:1 ratio holds over the past 10 years as well.

Since more people will become menopausal than bear children, and we can make just as much impact in their overall health in menopause as in pregnancy, it is staggering that menopause receives such little research attention.

It is no secret that a phenomenal disservice has been done to our gender.

This stage of life is just as important as the childbearing years.

You are not a whiny woman, you are not crazy and no one, especially your health-care provider should make you feel as if you are. You dont have to take it anymore. You have options for treatment and care. You are a person who deserves a beautiful, healthy menopause, one thats filled with strong muscles and bones, a clear mind, and a body free from pain and disease.

Mary Claire Haver, M.D., is a board-certified OB/GYN and a Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist. She has chosen to focus her practice on the care of the menopausal woman. She is the author of the national bestseller, The Galveston Diet: The Doctor-Developed, Patient-Proven Plan to Burn Fat and Tame Your Hormonal Symptoms.

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Far-left Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib , a progressive "Squad" Democrat, got bodied by Twitter for her "lies" that a brawl between Palestinian teenagers in Jerusalem was actually the "violent apartheid government of Israel" targeting Palestinians with the military.

Tlaib, one of the most notorious anti-Israel House lawmakers, has made numerous wild claims about the Jewish homeland, including being an "apartheid" state that targets Palestinians and claiming a person cant be progressive if they back Israel.

Her latest claim came on Sunday when Tlaib responded to a post from the pro-Palestinian nonprofit the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) showing a fight that broke out at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem during Ramadan festivities.

RASHIDA TLAIB, SQUAD-LINKED COMMITTEES PUSHED LARGE SUMS TO ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISTS CONSULTING FIRM

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., one of the most notorious anti-Israel House lawmakers, has made numerous wild claims about the Jewish homeland, including being an "apartheid" state that targets Palestinians and claiming a person cant be progressive if they back Israel.

IMEUs tweet Tlaib was responding to accused Israel of "apartheid" and claimed "Israeli soldiers" were attacking "Palestinians celebrating the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in occupied Jerusalem."

"This is the violent apartheid government of Israel," Tlaib claimed in a quote tweet of the post from IMEU.

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"Dont look away," she continued.

However; the Michigan Democrats latest baseless online claim against the Israeli government saw her bodied with an information check from Twitter itself revealing the actual cause behind the video.

"Video shows police breaking up a brawl between Palestinian teenagers that broke out at the Damascus Gate," the context box reads, linking out to a Jerusalem Post article on the altercation.

Twitter also fact-checked IMEUs video, linking to the Jerusalem Post article and a tweet regarding the incident .

Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaibs office asking if the congresswoman would correct or delete the tweet but received no response.

Twitter users blasted Tlaibs post, including antisemitism watchdog StopAntisemitism who wrote "Twitter calling out Rashida Tlaibs lies is a perfect start to the week."

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Mispacha Magazine editor Yochonon Don pointed out that a "US congress member just lied on Twitter" about the video.

"Don't normalize this," Don wrote.

Musician Phil Labonte laughed at the "community notes" under Tlaibs tweet.

IMEUs website attacks the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a "racist right-wing government" as well as outlandish claims against Israel, such as "environmental apartheid."

Additionally, IMEU claims that the Israeli government engaged in " ethnic cleansing " targeting Palestinians through a conspiratorial "Plan Dalet" that "turned most Palestinians into stateless refugees and marked the start of Israels apartheid system on 78% of the land of Palestine."

"Many Israelis, including senior Israeli political and religious leaders, believe the ethnic cleansing carried out during Plan Dalet didnt go far enough and openly call for further expulsions of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian communities," the organization claims.

"These threats and incitement fuel the fears of Palestinians rooted in the memory of the mass expulsions of 1948 and the knowledge that it could happen again," they continued.

Two committees associated with Democrat Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and another "Squad"-linked committee transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to a firm run by an anti-Israel activist over the past two years, filings show.

The progressive entities combined to push nearly $270,000 to Unbought Power LLC, a Florida-based consulting and advocacy firm owned and operated by Rasha Mubarak, a community and political activist who has openly expressed anti-Israel viewpoints several times on social media platforms.

Tlaib's latest claim came on Sunday when the congresswoman responded to a post from the pro-Palestinian nonprofit the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) showing a fight that broke out at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem during Ramadan festivities.

Many members of the "Squad"  a group of far-left Democrats in the House  have come under fire in the past over controversial remarks deemed antisemitic. Late last year, Democrat Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz set her sights on Tlaib after she claimed individuals couldn't be progressive if they support Israel. Democrat Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has repeatedly been in hot water over her anti-Israel comments.

The Squad-linked money flowed to Mubarak's firm this past election cycle. Tlaib's campaign paid Unbought Power $179,000 for fundraising services in 2021 and 2022. At the same time, her leadership PAC, Rooted in Community Leadership, added $44,000 in payments, a Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings found. Mubarak, meanwhile, also serves as treasurer of Tlaib's leadership PAC, according to its records.

The Squad Victory Fund, a joint fundraiser that props up the campaigns and leadership committees of the far-left Squad members, including Tlaib, Omar and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , also wired several payments to the company. The fund added Unbought Power to its payroll last summer and paid $44,000 to Mubarak's firm for fundraising help for the remainder of the year, their filings show.

Tlaib's two committees and the Squad Victory Fund were the only federal entities to pay Mubarak's consulting company, according to a search of the FEC database.

Fox News Digital's Joe Schoffstall contributed reporting.
TOKYO (AP)  Tokyo has demanded that China release a Japanese national who was detained in Beijing earlier this month on suspicion of spying, Japans top government spokesperson said Monday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference that Japan's Embassy in China was informed by Chinese authorities that a Japanese man in his 50s was taken into custody in Beijing earlier in March.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing that the Japanese citizen is suspected of engaging in espionage activities in violation of the criminal law ... and the Anti-Espionage Law of the Peoples Republic of China.

All foreigners who visit and live in China must abide by Chinese laws, and those who break the law and commit crimes must be held accountable according to the law, Mao said at a regular news briefing.

He said that similar cases involving Japanese citizens have occurred repeatedly and urged the Japanese government to strengthen education among its citizens and send them reminders.

In Tokyo, Matsuno said the Japanese government had demanded the early release of its citizen. Japan also requested that Chinese authorities allow the man access to Japanese consular officials. He said Japan's government is providing as much support for him as possible, including communicating with relevant parties.

A Japanese pharmaceutical company, Astellas Pharma Inc., acknowledged that the man detained is its employee, but declined to disclose further details, including his name, position and whether he is based in China. The company said it was seeking information from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

More than a dozen Japanese citizens with business or other connections to China have been arrested in the past over allegations including spying. A Japanese diplomat was detained for questioning in 2022 and released hours later, prompting strong protests from Japan.

Tokyo and Beijing have been increasingly at odds in recent years as Japan considers China's growing influence in the region as a threat to its national security and the economy.
Grow business online with right marketing strategies

Mumbai, India --News Direct-- Digitalwebdia

DigitalWebdia, best leading digital marketing agency from India, has launched a new campaign aimed at helping small businesses in the USA to improve their online presence. The campaign is designed to provide businesses with the tools and expertise needed to create a strong online presence and reach more customers. This expansion of DigitalWebdia from India to the United States will provide the best of the best services to all business owners in the United States at the most competitive rates in the industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the business landscape in the United States, with many small businesses struggling to adapt to the new normal. The shift towards remote work and online shopping has meant that having a strong online presence is more important than ever before. However, many small businesses lack the resources and expertise needed to create a successful digital marketing strategy.

DigitalWebdia's new campaign aims to bridge this gap by providing small businesses with affordable digital marketing solutions. The campaign includes a range of services designed to help businesses improve their online presence and reach more customers.

One of the key services offered by DigitalWebdia is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). By improving a website's ranking in SERPs, businesses can attract more organic traffic and increase their visibility online. DigitalWebdia's team of SEO experts can help businesses to optimize their website for search engines and increase their online visibility.

Another important service offered by DigitalWebdia is social media marketing. Social media has become a vital tool for businesses looking to connect with customers and promote their products and services. DigitalWebdia can help businesses to create a strong social media presence by developing a social media strategy and creating engaging content that resonates with their target audience.

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Visit Official Website of DigitalWebdia and Request a Quote Today!

Best Digital Marketing Agency in India: DigitalWebdia

DigitalWebdia is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Himachal Pradesh, India, that specializes in providing innovative and effective marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes. With years of experience and a team of skilled professionals, DigitalWebdia has gained a reputation as one of the best digital marketing agencies in the country.

One of the key strengths of DigitalWebdia is its ability to provide customized marketing solutions to each client based on their unique needs and goals. Whether it's SEO, PPC, social media marketing, or content marketing, website development, or graphics desigining the agency has the expertise and resources to create and implement effective strategies that deliver measurable results.

Another factor that sets DigitalWebdia apart from other digital marketing agencies is its commitment to transparency and communication. The agency works closely with its clients to ensure that they are kept informed every step of the way, and that their feedback and input are always taken into consideration.

DigitalWebdia has a proven track record of helping businesses achieve their marketing goals and drive growth. Its client portfolio includes businesses in a wide range of industries, from startups to established corporations.

Visit Official Website of DigitalWebdia and Request a Quote Today!

Key points that make DigitalWebdia one of the best digital marketing agencies globally

1. Customized strategies: DigitalWebdia understands that each business is unique and requires a tailored approach to digital marketing. The agency creates customized strategies that are designed to meet the specific needs and goals of its clients.

2. Experience and expertise: With years of experience and a team of skilled professionals, DigitalWebdia has the expertise and resources to create and implement effective marketing strategies that deliver measurable results.

3. Transparency and communication: DigitalWebdia values transparency and communication and works closely with its clients to ensure that they are kept informed every step of the way. The agency welcomes feedback and input from its clients to ensure that their needs and goals are being met.

4. Innovative solutions: DigitalWebdia is always on the lookout for new and innovative marketing solutions that can help its clients stand out in a crowded digital landscape. The agency stays up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices to deliver cutting-edge solutions.

5. Measurable results: DigitalWebdia believes in delivering measurable results to its clients. The agency uses a data-driven approach to track and analyze the performance of its marketing strategies, making it easier for clients to see the impact of their investment.

6. Expertise Industry: Travel, Small Businesses, Automobile, Tech, Agriculture, Hotel, Lifestyle, Professional Services, Finance, Education and Manufacturing.

DigitalWebdia to become the best digital marketing agency in the USA in 2023 with their new campaign to boost online presence for small businesses

DigitalWebdia's campaign also includes website design and development services. A well-designed website is essential for businesses looking to establish a strong online presence. DigitalWebdia's team of web designers and developers can create custom websites that are optimized for search engines and provide a great user experience.

Other services offered by DigitalWebdia include pay-per-click advertising (PPC), email marketing, SEO, local SEO, website development, and content marketing. These services can help businesses to attract more customers and increase their revenue. Learn how to Activate USA Network.

DigitalWebdia's new campaign is particularly relevant for small businesses that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With many businesses struggling to survive, having a strong online presence can make all the difference. By leveraging the power of digital marketing, small businesses can reach more customers, increase their revenue, and stay competitive in a challenging market.

Commenting on the launch of the new campaign, DigitalWebdia's CEO said, "We are excited to launch this new campaign aimed at helping small businesses in the USA to improve their online presence. Our team of experts has years of experience in digital marketing, and we are committed to helping businesses succeed in these challenging times."

Visit Official Website of DigitalWebdia and Request a Quote Today!

In conclusion, Overall, DigitalWebdia is a best-in-class digital marketing agency in Himachal Pradesh, India, and now going worldwide with USA that provides customized, innovative, and effective marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes. Its commitment to transparency, communication, and client satisfaction has helped it earn a reputation as one of the top agencies in the industry.

Contact Details

Digitalwebdia

Sanjay Sharma

info@digitalwebdia.com

Company Website

https://digitalwebdia.com/

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Move Bolsters Firms Commitment to Infrastructure and Higher Education Practices

New York, NY --News Direct-- Siebert Williams Shank

Siebert Williams Shank & Co. (SWS), the nations leading woman- and minority-owned, non-bank financial firm, has announced the hiring of Marvin Markus and Mark Liff, two financial industry veterans whose decades of experience will further strengthen and expand the capabilities of the firms infrastructure and higher education divisions.

With the addition of Marvin Markus and Mark Liff, our firm is adding two senior bankers with a long track record of success for some exceptionally well-respected clients and major, large-scale transactions. We are thrilled that they selected Siebert Williams Shank for the next and greatest stage of their careers, said Suzanne Shank, President & CEO.

Siebert Williams Shank is strong because of the remarkable talent and professionals we are attracting to be part of our firm. Even in times when other firms have paused their hiring initiatives, we have remained focused on strategic growth.

Markus was the lead banker in the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan following the 9-11 terrorist attacks under the "Liberty Bond program, including Towers One, 3, 4 and 7 of the World Trade Center, and the Manhattan headquarters for Goldman Sachs and IAC. He has been a trusted advisor to public sector clients, including: the Empire State Development Corporation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, United Nations Development Corporation, Veterans Administration along with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

Markus, a 40-year veteran of infrastructure investment and banking will serve as a Senior Advisor and Managing Director. In this role, he will strengthen the infrastructure and real estate practice of SWS, lending his experience to financing initiatives that intersect the municipal markets, including real estate and structured finance and securitization.

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Over the course of his career, Markus worked at Goldman Sachs, Paine Webber, Kidder Peabody, and Bear Stearns, where he held senior roles and led significant financings. These included tax-exempt projects on behalf of numerous governmental clients at the federal, state, and local level, as well as international sovereign entities.

He also served two terms as Chair of NY City Rent Guidelines Board and the New York City Redistricting Commission. Prior to his move into investment banking, he was the Deputy Commissioner of the citys Department of Housing Preservation & Development and led its policy and intergovernmental affairs.

I am thrilled to join a first-class investment banking operation. Siebert Williams Shanks reputation for expertly executed funding of top infrastructure projects is second to none. I could not imagine a better fit and be able to continue facilitating the most important transactions of our time,said Markus.

Mark Liff has joined SWS as a Managing Director following a decades-long career providing comprehensive investment banking services to major private and public colleges and universities, as well as prominent not-for-profit institutions. At institutions that include UBS Financial Services, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, Liff helped develop and implement complex financing and directed credit/rating strategies for major higher educational institutions, including Cornell University, Princeton University, New York University, California Institute of the Arts, University of Massachusetts, University of Connecticut, Lehigh University, Boston University, and all of New Jerseys public colleges and universities.

Gary Hall, President of Infrastructure & Public Finance at SWS said: Siebert continues to make strategic hires to add top tier talent to grow our different practice specialties and regional teams. Marvin and Marks depth and breadth of experience will raise the bar for our infrastructure and higher educational practices and allow SWS to continue delivering deeper and impactful opportunities to clients across the nation.

Mark has driven major investment opportunities and transactions for clients, including the Rhode Island Convention Center Authoritys 14,000 seat capacity Amica Mutual Pavilion acquisition, and in New Jersey, he served as senior manager to the States most recent Higher Education Capital Improvement Fund credit restructuring and bond issuance.

He has served in senior capacities for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority (NJEFA), Maine Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority (MHHEFA) and Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation (RIHEBC), for which he helped establish that states public schools revenue bond program.

On the nonprofit side, Mark served as senior banker to institutions, including: the American Red Cross, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Childrens Aid Society, UJA-Federation, Institute for Advanced Study, Institute of International Education, YMCA of Greater New York, New England Aquarium, Low Income Investment Fund, American Museum of Natural History, Salvation Army, and Consumer Union of the United States.

I am excited to join the Siebert Williams Shank team to help public and private colleges and universities and other not-for-profits achieve their strategic and financing objectives said Liff.

Dually headquartered in New York, NY and Oakland, CA, SWS is an independent non-bank financial services firm that offers investment banking, sales and trading, research, and advisory services. SWS counts 74 Fortune 100 companies among its clients.

Contact Details

Butler Associates

Tom Butler

+1 646-213-1802

TButler@ButlerPR.com

Christian Agredo

+1 646-213-0286

CAgredo@ButlerPR.com

Company Website

https://www.siebertwilliams.com/

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MILAN (Reuters) - Tourist properties in Tuscany, a prime destination for upmarket foreign holidaymakers, will have to limit the use of water in their swimming pools this summer because of fears of shortages as Italy faces another drought.

Acquedotto del Fiora (ADF), the aqueduct serving a third of Tuscany through a network more than 8,000 km (5,000 miles) long, will outlaw the use of regular drinking water to fill private swimming pools open to guests between June and the end of September.

Rural villas and farmhouses used for so-called "agriturismo" will instead need to replenish their pools with water from private wells or delivered separately by tankers, which will push up their costs.

ADF President Roberto Renai said measures adopted last year needed to be repeated because of the impact of "persistent climate change".

It was already forbidden to use regular water supplies to fill swimming pools in privately owned villas not open to paying guests.

Federico Taddei, president of an association representing farm owners in Tuscany's Siena province, said there was great concern about the potential impact of the ban.

"Every day we have to change 1 or 2% of the water. Over four months the change is equivalent to one and a half pools," he said. "This is the minimum necessary to maintain a pool with clean water that can be used by the tourists who choose our province."

Siena province, famous for its Chianti wine production, hosts 1,200 agritourism facilities and is the largest such centre in Tuscany. About one in five Siena tourist farms has a swimming pool for visitors.

(Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro, editing by Keith Weir and Mark Heinrich)
Monterey County, Calif.  A California mother and her 7-year-old son were found dead last week after the woman's 3-year-old child had reported them missing, police said.

Authorities were alerted to the missing pair shortly after 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, when a 3-year-old boy told a "good Samaritan" that his mother was missing, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.

Firefighters found the boy's mother, identified as Florencia Ramirez-Urbano, a short time later near a boat launch in Moss Landing, about 20 miles north of Monterey County, authorities said.

Ramirez was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators then discovered the woman had another child  a 7-year-old boy  who was also missing.

Rescued: 22-year-old man lost at sea off Florida coast rescued by family hours later

Miracles: Two men and a sailboat vanished into open ocean. 10 days later, a miracle arrived

Coast Guard crews searched for the boy on Thursday and Friday before discovering his body on Saturday.

Authorities haven't confirmed how Ramirez and her son ended up in the water but said the boy may have started to drown and his mother jumped in to help, SFGATE reported.

"This is a tragic situation," wrote Pasculli, Monterey County spokesman, in an email Monday.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia  the 757  and loves all things horror, witches, Christmas, and food. Follow her on Twitter at @Saleen_Martin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California mother, 7 year old son found dead in apparent drowning
Debra Lee believes that Black women have the opportunities to lead impactful careers guided by their dreams  regardless of which field we choose to pursue.

Debra Lee believes that Black women have the opportunities to lead impactful careers guided by their dreams  regardless of which field we choose to pursue.

Therewasa tweetfrom a few years ago, by a user named @stonefox___, that had no choice but to go viral because of how profoundly it resonated, even as a cute joke.

Black women be like: Im boredlet me get a degree, it simply stated.

Many Black women online, myself included, felt the irony of the tweet; we are constantly underestimated and underpaid, yet we often make our incredible achievements appear effortless. And the numbers match the anecdotes  over the past decade or so, the rate of Black women earning degrees has continued to rise, despite us having to navigate systemic inequities and microaggressions within the workplace.

Many people of color, Black women especially, still work twice as hard to get half as far. Since grade school, Ive had to plan my career trajectory carefully, always anticipating the roadblocks and limitations. Contrary to popular belief, however, the barriers in your path dont end even if you get to the top.

Debra Lee, former CEO of BET Networks, is a shining example of Black woman excellence that has been and continues to be tested. In her recently released memoir, I Am Debra Lee, she details the joys of her long and fulfilling career, but also the rough terrain along her 13-year stint as the top exec that helped shape her character.

Lee, now 68, believes that Black women have the opportunities to lead impactful careers guided by their dreams  regardless of which field we choose to pursue. Our journey will inevitably be filled with resistance because the world is uncomfortable with what were capable of. But as Lee (and the viral tweet) proves, we have an infallible formula for success  however we decide to define it.

Women seldom get to take credit for some of the culture-shifting things they do at work. Can you describe a change you pushed for at BET that youre particularly proud of?

The main shift I tried to make was [for] the programming to be more scripted and high quality, so that we could have sitcoms and dramas because thats what our audience was asking for. It took cable networks a while to get into original programming, and I said, If other networks can do it, we can do it too.

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Over time, we were able to shift the way people thought about hip-hop and the way the artists thought about themselves. It took a while, but over time the artists were growing up and becoming businessmen and more women were getting into hip-hop. I can see the change.

How are Black women still underestimated in the corporate world and comparable work environments?

I think, many times, we still remain invisible. When it comes to promotions and salary increases, we have to fight for every inch of space we take up. Sometimes still, Im in rooms and a Black woman will say something and no one will pay any attention to it.

We still face a lot of racism in the corporate world and in the world just in general, but you do see womens groups and Black female groups being more active and outspoken as we fight for our own growth and upward mobility and as we fight for our families and our kids.

I hope things get better, and sometimes it feels like they are: We just got our first Black female Supreme Court Justice and our first Black female vice president, so steps are being made. But, a lot of work goes into it behind the scenes.

"I Am Debra Lee," memoir from former CEO of BET Networks.

How did your experiences growing up prepare you to make the career and financial decisions you did throughout your career?

The way I grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, in a very segregated community, gave me a lot of self-identity. I was a big TV watcher  even though there are only three channels. I remember when Fox was started. That was the fourth network and that was a really big deal.

But you didnt see a lot of images of Black people on network TV. When we did, we were so happy about it, and I was a loyal Soul Train watcher, every Saturday. That gave me a sense of how needed authentic images were and how much work there was to be done.

I never thought Id end up in TV, but I did, and having that opportunity made me happy to be able to shape those images and provide that kind of programming.

What advice would you offer Black women who are aiming to move upwards in their careers  especially those who dont come from generational wealth?

Which is most of us, right? [Laughs]

Id say think outside the box. For a long time, we were pushed into areas like being a lawyer or being a doctor [because] our parents wanted us to be able to support ourselves, and those were historically the professions where you can be sure you can make money, but thats not true anymore.

Now people can be artists or managers  I found publishing very early in my career and found out that I loved it. If I hadnt done that [work at BET], I probably would have gone into publishing. I would encourage young women to really think about what they want to do and follow their dreams.

In your book, youre very open about how your relationships and your career intersected. How does it feel to be so vulnerable with the public, given that Black women are judged so harshly?

I feel good about it because the response has been very positive. Ive heard from all kinds of women that they have stories similar to mine in various ways.

People have thanked me for doing this, and there are the women who say, Youre brave, youre courageous [] Thank you for telling your story.

I was one of the few women at the level I was in the media space, and my feeling was if I didnt tell my story, who would? So its really important for me to deal with the challenges and the wins.

In thinking about your life up until now  because we know that our reaction to whatever happens to us in life is powerful  what advice would you give your 22-year-old self, specifically about emotional stability?

What I think Id tell myself is, to be myself. Find something you really love doing and be concerned about your career path, but enjoy it.

And, if you find yourself in a situation that youre uncomfortable with or youre not being promoted as fast as you want to be, or people are treating you in a way that you dont think is respectful  sometimes you have to leave. So, I would tell myself: Stay firm. Be bold. Use your voice. And ask for what you want.

Today, what is your favorite quality about yourself?

I like my sense of humor. I think its gotten me through some really hard times. Ive always had [one], and you know, I just think it keeps me grounded.

I try not to take anything too seriously in the corporate world. I think we beat up on ourselves too much as women, and as Black women, when something goes wrong  but men dont do that. They just keep on moving.

Ive seen so many men get promoted for failing. I mean, literally, Oh, that division he runs isnt working, lets move him somewhere else. And next thing you know, hes got a promotion. I remember I was having dinner with a woman who was in the music industry, and her phone kept ringing, and I finally said, Arent you gonna answer your phone? It might be an emergency.

And she said to me, There are no emergencies in the music business. And I never forgot that. You have to take things in proportion to life, and life is so much more serious than what we do from day to day.

Related...
Several cars on a Canadian Pacific freight train derailed in North Dakota late Sunday, spilling hazardous material in the area, the railway said.

Some of 31 rail cars involved were carrying hazardous materials, and an initial assessment found a liquid asphalt leak at the derailment site in rural Richland County, southeast of Wyndmere, a Canadian Pacific spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.

The railways emergency response teams and hazardous materials experts are on site with local first responders to conduct a full assessment. No injuries or fire has been reported, and there is no threat from the leak to waterways or public safety, according to Canadian Pacific.

Valley News Live, which first reported the derailment, said its estimated cleanup will take seven to 10 days. Authorities told KVRR-KFGO that the leaking material is flammable, but snowy conditions are cooling the leak and lessening chance of fire.

The Hill has reached out to Richland County for more information.

The incident comes after a high-profile train derailment in Ohio last month that spilled hazardous materials into the land, air and water in East Palestine, prompting temporary evacuations and sparking environmental and health concerns.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
This year the Oneida Nation is experimenting with growing hemp fiber for industrial purposes.

ODANAH  The Bad River Ojibwe Tribe in northern Wisconsin this month posted a job application for a legal consultant to assist the tribe with opening a retail cannabis business on the reservation.

The posting points out that Wisconsin has not yet legalized cannabis and the consulting service requested would be for a future project.

The job posting was released March 20, less than two weeks after the State of the Tribes Address in which Sokaogon Tribal Chairman Robert Van Zile encouraged legislators in Madison to legalize cannabis and have the tribes in Wisconsin be part of operations.

Some tribal officials are seeking a medical marijuana compact similar to the gaming compact the state has with the tribes.

The general pulse of cannabis policy reform in Wisconsin has been stagnant, and it was very encouraging to hear Chairman Van Zile address legalization at the State of the Tribes Address this month, said Rob Pero, a Bad River tribal member who launched the states first Native American independently-owned CBD company.

Canndingenous: First independent Native American-owned CBD hemp company in Wisconsin launches with start-up help

He said he wasnt involved with Bad Rivers business development team, but did congratulate those involved.

Ultimately, we are so excited for Bad River to start the discovery phases of entering the cannabis industry, Pero said. As a member of Bad River and a business owner in the space, I'm really happy to see them take this step.

Rob Pero (center) is pictured with his uncles Kim Pero and Ed Pero at a hemp farm in Wisconsin for his new company Canndigenous, which is the first Native American-owned CBD company in Wisconsin.

Last year, Pero founded the non-profit Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association as a way for tribal citizens and organizations to talk to each other in a safe space to explore what can be done legally in the cannabis industry in Wisconsin and elsewhere in Indian Country.

We (the ICIA) recommend that tribes should be taking the steps now to poise for legalization, he said. At our Wisconsin Cannabis Industry and Policy Summit last month, we met with tribes from all over the state who are in this preliminary, exploratory phase, just trying to determine what the next steps are.

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Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association: Wisconsin's first Native American owner of cannabis business launches national nonprofit to strengthen industry

Matthew Fletcher, professor of law at the University of Michigan who specializes in tribal law, doubts tribal nations can have much success in the cannabis industry without a change in federal law.

"The only way to do that would be on tribal trust land/Indian Country land, and since federal law still bans cannabis, no, theres no way," Fletcher said. "That doesnt mean tribes wont do it, but they are at the complete mercy of the whims of the federal governments decision to prosecute or not. Its no way to do business. Same is true even if the state makes it legal."

But Pero believes tribes that are interested can still find their own unique way to enter the industry and help diversify revenue.

There are complexities and risks to consider while states legalize and the federal government drags its feet, he said. The real factors weve found that have been obstacles to tribes across the country have to do with capacity and the resources needed to begin developing feasibility statements. And once they decide to begin weighing the opportunity, every tribe will have a different road map to follow.

Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox

Both medical and recreational cannabis is legal for sale and consumption in Illinois, which has collected about $36 million in tax revenue from cannabis from Wisconsin residents, according to a state estimate.

Its going to take ongoing work to destigmatize cannabis, but it will be good for the state, for public health, for sustainability initiatives both economic and climate friendly, Pero said. Were here to consult with Bad River and other tribes looking to explore their options as they need it.

The current deadline to apply for the cannabis legal consulting job with Bad River is April 18.

Read more about Wisconsin's Indigenous communities:

Frank Vaisvilas is a Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.You can directly support his work with a tax-deductible donation online at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Wisconsin tribe pursuing retail cannabis as a way to diversify revenue
Donald Trump made a series of Truth Social posts in the early hours of Monday morning  hours before the grand jury investigating the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels is poised to next meet in Manhattan.

In a sign the former president could be losing sleep over his potential looming criminal indictment, he was furiously sharing posts until 3.30am ET complaining about everything from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs probe to mail-in ballots and his political rival Ron DeSantis.

In one post, Mr Trump accused the Biden administration of being involved in the investigation into the payments to adult film star Ms Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.

Remember, the DOJ is running the local Manhattan D.A.s prosecution, they just dont want their fingerprints on it. They placed a TOP person in the Office! he claimed.

In another, he repeated his derogatory nickname for Ms Daniels  and also managed to spell her name wrong.

I won a Federal lawsuit for almost $500,000 against Stormy Horseface Danials. Never had an affair with her, and would never have wanted to! he claimed.

Mr Trump also made a return to one of his favourite, longrunning gripes  mail-in ballots  claiming that they are a MASSIVE FRAUD.

When sharing that post, the former president appeared to forget his comments earlier this month where he performed a sudden backflip over the voting method and urged his followers to get on board.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in early March, Mr Trump said it was time to change our thinking on mail-in voting  claiming they have no choice but to try to beat Democrats at their own game.

In a final Truth Social post at around 3.30am ET on Monday, Mr Trump shared a clip from a Fox News interview with Steve Hilton in which the political commentator gave Mr DeSantis a new nickname.

Ron Dukakis, Mr Trump wrote  a reference to Democrat Michael Dukakis.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The name marks just the latest nickname tried and tested by Mr Trump as he continues to take aim at the Florida governor  a onetime ally believed to be his biggest Republican competition in the 2024 race.

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Mr Trumps latest Truth Social rants come as the Manhattan grand jury could next meet as soon as Monday in the hush money case.

Manhattan prosecutors have been investigating whether Mr Trump falsified the Trump Organizations business records when Mr Trumps former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made a payment of $130,0000 to Ms Daniels days before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors claim that the money was used to silence Ms Daniels about an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has long denied having an affair with the adult film star.

Mr Trumps former fixer and personal attorney Cohen was convicted of tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations related to the payments to Ms Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

The former president claimed he was going to be arrested last Tuesday (21 March) in the case and called on his supporters to protest.

But Tuesday came and went with no indictment and the grand jury did not hear the case on 22 and 23 March as had been expected, pushing back any potential indictment.

Now, Monday (27 March) is the next time the panel could hear the case as, typically, it has been meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

At least one more witness is expected to appear and Cohen could also be called back to the stand as a rebuttal witness before the grand jury will vote on whether or not Mr Trump will make history as the only former or current US president to ever be indicted on criminal charges.
NEW YORK (AP)  First Citizens will acquire much of Silicon Valley Bank, the tech-focused financial institution that collapsed this month, setting off a chain reaction that caused a second bank to fail and tested faith in the global banking sector.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other regulators had already taken extraordinary steps to head off a wider banking crisis by guaranteeing that depositors in SVB and failed Signature Bank would be able to access all of their money.

While more than half of Silicon Valleys assets will remain in U.S. receivership, the First Citizens deal announced late Sunday, at least initially, seemed to achieve what regulators have sought: a shoring up of trust in U.S. regional banks.

At the opening bell Monday, shares of midsized banks like Keycorp, Zions and First Horizon rose 8%. First Republic Bank, which received a $30 billion rescue package from 11 of the biggest banks in the country as it teetered in the wake of the Silicon Valley collapse, jumped 23%.

Visual explanation:Silicon Valley Bank collapse explained in graphics

Fact check:Video of Silicon Valley Bank collapse in 'The Simpsons' is altered

Customers of SVB will automatically become customers of First Citizens, which is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The 17 former branches of SVB will open as First Citizens branches Monday, the FDIC said.

European shares opened higher Monday, with German lender Commerzbank AG up 2.4% and BNP Paribas up 1.2%. Anxiety over contagion in the banking sector quickly spread to Europe this month and regulators there brokered a takeover by UBS of troubled Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

Shares of Deutsche Bank tumbled 8.5% Friday for similar reasons, rising interest rates, but stock in the German bank bounced back 3.6% Monday.

Silicon Valley, based in Santa Clara, California, collapsed on March 10 in a bank run after customers rushed to withdraw money due to fears over the bank's solvency. It was the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history after the 2008 failure of Washington Mutual. Two days later, New York's Signature Bank was seized by regulators in the third-largest bank failure in the U.S.

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A First Citizens Bank sign is seen in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday March 27, 2023. North Carolina-based First Citizens will buy Silicon Valley Bank, the tech industry-focused financial institution that collapsed earlier this month. (AP Photo/Jonathan Drew)

In both cases, the government agreed to cover deposits, even those that exceeded the federally insured limit of $250,000, so depositors were able to access their money.

New York Community Bank agreed to buy a significant chunk of Signature Bank in a $2.7 billion deal a week ago, but the search for a buyer for SVB took longer.

The sale of Silicon Valley Bank involves the sale of all deposits and loans of SVB to First-Citizens Bank and Trust Co., the FDIC said.

The acquisition gives the FDIC shares in First Citizens worth $500 million. Both the FDIC and First Citizens will share in losses and the potential recovery on loans included in a loss-share agreement, the FDIC said.

The FDIC will retain about $90 billion of Silicon Valley Bank's $167 billion in total assets, as of March 10, while First Citizens will acquire $72 billion at a discount of $16.5 billion, the FDIC said. It said it estimates Silicon Valley Bank's failure will cost its industry-funded Deposit Insurance Fund about $20 billion.

First Citizens Bank was founded in 1898 and says it has more than $100 billion in total assets, with more than 500 branches in 21 states as well as a nationwide bank. It reported net profit of $243 million in the last quarter. It is one of the top 20 U.S. banks and says it is the largest family-controlled bank in the country.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Raleigh, NC's First Citizens acquires troubled Silicon Valley Bank
The menu served at the state dinner of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden prompted mockery from Twitter users for being bland.

The 24 March dinner took place during Mr Bidens first state visit to Canada as president.

Alberta beef braised short rib and Quebec maple mousse cake, was served, but social media posters mainly took aim at the white bean hummus.

The full menu included a first course of Cedar salt and seaweed-crusted rare-seared East Coast yellowfin tuna, the white bean hummus, with cucumber, pickled radish, and bitter greens, along with flaxseed cracker and lemon parsley emulsion.

The main course consisted of the short rib, butternut squash puree and Yukon gold potato pave, wildflower honey roasted carrots and fine green beans, in addition to Pelee Island cabernet sauvignon jus.

For dessert, wild blueberry and Quebec maple mousse cake was served, as well as screech rum caramel and sweetgrass meringue, along with fresh berries.

Suresh Doss, a food writer, wrote, this is embarrassing. What a lame menu. White bean hummus.

Jesus eff, if this Canada hosts Biden dinner menu were served in a restaurant itd be called a hostage taking. This is some joyless, earnest Cancon sh**e, food writer and restaurant critic Chris Nuttall-Smith said.

You can almost sense that this is the $79 pp option at a mid-tier catering company, Ken Hunt added.

One Twitter user said, this reads like the menu in Air Canadas executive class.

Welcome to Canada, Mr. President. Lemon parsley emulsion? Chris Johns said.

At the very least have caribou or elk or bison on the menu, one Twitter user noted.

I guess itd be weird if they just ordered him Chinese takeout. But itd be way better too, Farah Ng added.

They lost me at the white bean hummus and flaxseed cracker parts. Feels like this menu was put together 10 years ago, Sandy Nayani said.

Journalist Stephen Maher said it reminds me of the food at the parliamentary restaurant. Hotel cooking for older people who prefer their food on the plain side.

Its the leaders of Canada and America, two moneyed white men, why would anyone expect their meals to have flavour? one Twitter user asked.

I would hope that it was well-made and tasty, but yeahthats pretty unimaginative. Somebody get Joe a Warden Station beef patty. Something that will excite! Jerome Persuad added.
Last week, a fisherman broke a 13-year-old state record after landing a northern pike that Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials called a true monster of a fish in a news release.

According to the agency, Thomas Francis was fishing on Hayden Lake, a popular pike spot north of Coeur dAlene, on March 21 when he hooked the massive fish.

Francis told Fish and Game officials he knew the fish was a big one as soon as it bit and took off across the bottom of the lake, taking his line with it.

I knew that wasnt normal, and I could tell it was something special, Francis said in the news release. Suddenly I got slack line, as she was coming straight up from the bottom. She came flying out of the water, and it was obvious she was a huge fish.

Francis said that after he reeled the fish in, he found a boat at the dock that had scales. But the fish maxed out the scales 30-pound limit, so he began the search to find a scale that could accurately weigh his catch.

The angler found a certified scale and finally learned how huge his pike was  40.76 pounds. Thats more than half a pound heavier than the previous record pike, which was caught in Twin Lakes, just a short drive from where Francis caught his fish.

The previous record fish was nearly 2 inches longer than this one, which measured 49 inches from end to end. However, the fish Francis caught was significantly bulkier, with a girth measuring 26.5 inches. The previous record fish was 22.75 inches around.

Francis told Fish and Game that he fishes for pike nearly every day. The fish, which are carnivorous and have a reputation for aggression, are common in North Idaho.
Marion Curtis via AP, File

David Pecker testified Monday before the Trump hush-money grand jury in Manhattan.

The former Trump ally and ex-publisher of the National Enquirer may be the panel's last witness.

Pecker's testimony was first reported by the New York Times.

The grand jury weighing the Trump hush-money case in Manhattan heard testimony by one-time Trump ally and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker on Monday, the New York Times reported.

Pecker testified for about 90 minutes at the lower Manhattan building where the panel meets; Insider can confirm that he arrived and left in a car driven by district attorney staff.

The panel is weighing charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with a $130,000 payment on the brink of the 2016 presidential election.

The payment purchased a contractual promise of silence from adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who was shopping around her account of having a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, federal prosecutors have said.

Trump has denied a sexual encounter with Daniels and any wrongdoing in the hush-money matter.

The ex-publisher was one of the first witnesses to testify before the grand jury, and he is expected to be among its last.

Star prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and "fixer," had believed he would be the final witness after spending two days testifying before the grand jury in mid-March.

But since then, there was testimony last Monday by a surprise defense rebuttal witness, former Cohen legal advisor Robert Costello. The grand jury did not meet the rest of last week.

Pecker's role in buying and suppressing negative stories to protect Trump, his friend, was described in federal court papers in 2018 and was likely central to his grand jury testimony.

The details of Pecker's so-called "catch and kill" efforts on behalf of Trump were part of the 2018 federal case against Cohen, who pleaded guilty to fronting the $130,000 payment to Daniels. Federal prosecutors called the payment an illegal campaign contribution designed to influence the election by burying Daniels' potentially damaging account.

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The ex-publisher "offered to help deal with negative stories about (Trump's) relationships with women by, among other things, assisting the campaign in identifying such stories so they could be purchased and their publication avoided," court papers said at the time.

Trump was reportedly in the room in 2015 when Cohen discussed hush-money payments with Pecker.

The grand jury is expected to reconvene on the hush-money matter Wednesday afternoon.





Read the original article on Business Insider
Former President Donald Trump claimed that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has already dropped his investigation into the Stormy Daniels hush money payment after his earlier claim that hed BE ARRESTED last week.

Trump has railed about the investigation in recent days and, according to Axios, made his latest baseless suggestion while on his plane with reporters following his Waco, Texas, rally on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Bragg referred to the case as an ongoing matter.

I think theyve already dropped the case, Trump said. Its a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing.

Former President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on his plane after a campaign rally in Waco, Texas on Saturday.

Former President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on his plane after a campaign rally in Waco, Texas on Saturday.

Trump, who claimed hes the most innocent man in U.S. history at his rally, whipped up his crowd by bashing Bragg and hurling insults at Daniels, the porn actor who says she was paid off to keep quiet about her affair with Trump.

Trumps posts on his Truth Social platform show hes focused on the case as the DAs grand jury reportedly is to meet on Monday.

In one post, Trump claimed DA has no case. In another, he suggested the Department of Justice was running the local prosecution.

Related...
Former US President Donald Trump dances while exiting after speaking during a rally at the Waco Regional Airport on March 25, 2023 in Waco, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A former Trump Organization executive thinks Donald Trump is "enjoying" fighting off his legal woes.

Barbara Res says Trump is likely trying to "make the most of" his multiple legal battles.

Res, who worked with Trump for 18 years, has been critical of him since he first entered politics.

A former Trump organization executive said she thinks former President Donald Trump isn't living in fear of being imprisoned and might actually be "enjoying" his many legal battles.

"He's feeling pressure but not the kind of pressure that a normal person would feel. I don't think he's fearing jail or anything like that," said Barbara Res, a former Trump Organization executive, told CNN's Fredricka Whitfield on Sunday. Res started working for the Trump Organization in 1980 and became an executive vice president at the company before she quit in 1998.

Res  speaking from her experience of working with Trump for 18 years  said he is likely attempting to "make the most of" his legal woes and riling up his supporters to "get some mileage" out of a possible indictment.

The former president would also never lay low the way high-profile figures typically might do when faced with legal trouble, she said.

"If there were any possibility that this could have a negative effect on him, he would immediately run to twist it around and just spin it, and that's what he's doing," she said, per clips of the interview seen by Insider.

"But he likes what he's doing. I think he's enjoying this to some extent," she said.

Trump faces a possible indictment from the Manhattan district attorney's office as it investigates his involvement in a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. While no indictment has been confirmed, Trump has taken to social media to rail against the potential indictment, and wrongly predicted he'd be arrested on Tuesday.

The former president has warned of "potential death and destruction" if he is indicted and urged supporters to "PROTEST" and "TAKE BACK OUR NATION" in the event of his arrest.

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Trump has also framed the New York investigation as an abuse of the justice system, and told reporters that he believed an indictment would boost his numbers in the 2024 election. He has even strategized about how he can maximize his publicity with a "perp walk" in New York, per The New York Times.

On CNN, Res said she thinks Trump's ego is front and center in his playbook for responding to the indictment.

"To an extent, his ego is always involved. The way he spins this somewhat involves the ego to the sense that he is so great, so powerful, so wonderful that his enemies are doing everything they could possibly do to bring him down but of course, they won't," she said.

Res, an engineer, worked closely with Trump on several of his construction projects before he became president, including the building of Trump Tower between 1980 and 1984.

In an interview with Insider's Natasha Solo-Lyons, Res shared how her time working with the billionaire revealed his true character, like his penchant for ignoring expert advice, and that he seemed to hire only people he thought would be loyal to him.

Res left the Trump Organization in 1998. She has been critical of Trump ever since he entered politics in 2016.

Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
More than four months after launching his third straight White House run, former President Trump remains the front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to the latest national polls.

Trump stands at 44% support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents questioned in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clocking in at 30%. Additionally, an average of all the most recent national surveys which included a question on the 2024 GOP nomination battle compiled by Real Clear Politics indicates the former president at 44% and the Florida governor at 29%.

Trump became the first major Republican to declare his 2024 candidacy when he launched his third straight campaign for the White House in mid-November, shortly after the 2022 midterm elections. DeSantis remains on the 2024 sidelines as of now but is widely expected to enter the race. In an interview that ran Thursday on Fox Nation, the Florida governor said "stay tuned" when asked about his political future.

RON DESANTIS STARTS PUNCHING BACK AT DONALD TRUMP

File photos of former President Trump, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is likely to launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks or months, stands at 5% support in the Reuters/Ipsos survey, which was conducted March 14-20 and released on Saturday.

In the Real Clear Politics compilation of all the most recent surveys in the emerging 2024 GOP presidential field, Pence stands at 6% support. So does former ambassador to the United Nations and former two-term South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who launched a GOP presidential campaign early last month.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

More than two years after leaving the White House following his 2020 election defeat at the hands of President Biden, Trump remains the most popular and influential politician in the Republican Party. Earlier this month, Trump once again overwhelmingly won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The largest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists has become a Trumpfest since the former presidents 2016 election.

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TRUMP HAULS IN $1.5 MILLION SINCE WARNING OF LOOMING INDICTMENT

However, Trump has taken plenty of incoming fire over his perceived negative impact on the GOPs lackluster performance in the midterms, received some unfavorable reviews following his campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and faced criticism over controversial comments and actions in the past couple of months. Separately, legal scrutiny focusing on Trump is intensifying, and possible indictments in the coming weeks could make him the first former president in American history to face criminal charges.

DeSantis saw his popularity soar among conservatives across the country over the past three years due to his forceful pushback against coronavirus pandemic restrictions and his aggressive actions as a culture warrior going after the media, corporations and teachers' unions.

The governor scored an overwhelming 19-point gubernatorial re-election victory in November, and in recent speeches he has pitched policy victories in Florida as a roadmap for the entire nation. He has been traveling across the country, highlighting his "Florida blueprint" and promoting his newly released memoir, "The Courage to Be Free."

Sources in DeSantis wider orbit have said any presidential campaign launch would come in the late spring or early summer, after the end of the current legislative session. However, the governors latest travel itinerary to the early voting states of Iowa and Nevada and a trip next month to New Hampshire are sparking more 2024 speculation.

TRUMP IS DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT AS HE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT A THIRD TIME

Trump views DeSantis as his chief rival and has repeatedly and increasingly blasted the Florida governor in recent months. In the past week, he has spotlighted the gains he has made over DeSantis in national polling.

"His Polls have crashed," Trump said of DeSantis in a statement last week.

Trump kept up the jabs Saturday in Waco, Texas, as he held his first campaign rally of the year.

"Man, hes dropping like a rock," Trump said of DeSantis. Using one of his derogatory nicknames for the Florida governor, the former president argued "they keep saying DeSanctus could do well with farmers. I dont think so. Based on polls, hes not doing well with anything."

However, with roughly 10 months to go until the start of the first nominating primaries and caucuses, it is still very early in the 2024 cycle, and the field is far from set. The race for the GOP presidential nomination is not a national contest, but rather a battle for delegates up for grabs in the individual states nominating contests.

Polls in the early voting states have been all over the map. DeSantis topped Trump by 12 points in a public opinion survey by the University of New Hampshire in late January, in the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating calendar. However, Trump held a massive lead over DeSantis in the Granite State according to a more recent survey from Emerson College.

New surveys from a leading Republican polling firm  Public Opinion Strategies  that were conducted the past two weeks suggested Trump up by the lower double digits in a crowded field in New Hampshire and tied with DeSantis in Iowa, the state that kicks off the GOPs caucus and primary schedule.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., on November 15, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A Manhattan grand jury will be back Monday afternoon on the Trump 'hush-money' case, sources tell Insider.

It is unknown if the secret grand jury will hear from additional witnesses or is nearing a vote.

The panel has not heard the case since a surprise defense rebuttal witness testified last Monday.

A New York state grand jury will be back on the Trump 'hush money' case Monday after a week-long hiatus, according to two law enforcement sources.

The sources spoke to Insider early Monday.

The panel is weighing evidence of former President Donald Trump's alleged involvement in a 2016 pre-election payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Federal prosecutors have called the payment an illegal campaign expenditure.

Prosecutors under Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are considering felony charges of falsifying business records, Trump's defense lawyers have said. Bragg arrived for work on Monday at 8 a.m.

It's unclear whether the grand jury, which meets in the afternoon, will hear additional witnesses Monday, or if they are nearing a vote. The panel also meets Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

The grand jury has been meeting in secret in a lower Manhattan building that has been surrounded by an international press corps over the past week, even on days when it does not sit.

The grand jury last met on Monday, March 20, when it heard testimony by a rebuttal witness at the request of Trump's defense team.

The witness, Robert Costello, a former legal advisor to star prosecution witness Michael Cohen, said afterward that he testified in hopes of damaging Cohen's credibility.

Cohen, meanwhile, has insisted that his testimony is corroborated by documents and the testimony of additional witnesses. The grand jury is believed to have heard from two former Trump advisors, Hope Hicks, and Kellyanne Conway, who may have knowledge of the payment from their time on the 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in connection with the $130,000 hush-money payment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Donald Trump Holds First Rally Of 2024 Presidential Campaign

Former U.S. President Donald Trump dances after speaking during a rally at the Waco Regional Airport on March 25, 2023 in Waco, Texas Credit - Brandon BellGetty Images

This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIMEs politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox.

If you believe that politics carries more than a passing similarity with theater, as the late activist Harvey Milk argued, then its worth dusting off a classic 1975 script from John Kander and Fred Ebb to explain this current moment in Republican politics. Toward the end of the first act of Chicago, celebrity murderess Velma Kelly reaches an uncomfortable realization: her star power is limited by the churn of news, and to stay on top she needs a fresh schtick to capture the fickle publics attention. What she needs is a collaborator. I simply cannot do it alone, actresses like Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, and Catherine Zeta-Jones have sung in a mix of panic and defeat.

At this moment, Donald Trump is Americas real-world Velma Kelly: boxed into a corner, his ability to command headlines fragile, and his future contingent on allying with the news story that poses his biggest threat. And, in this case, his Roxy Hart isnt one person, but severalall those in New York and Washington and Georgia working to make Trump the first ex-President in history indicted on criminal charges. Without the dancing partner of legal threats, Trumps return to power is less certain; with prosecutors like Alvin Bragg as his foil, Trump might be able to take his vaudeville act all the way to the top once again thanks to a public that cannot look away from a figure willing to play fast and loose.

The legal circle around Trump appears to be tightening, with the Manhattan District Attorney apparently the nearest to issuing an indictment over alleged fraudulent bookkeeping that bought an adult film stars silence about an affair just before the 2016 election. Elsewhere, Georgia prosecutors are continuing their investigation into Trumps hamfisted efforts to undo Joe Bidens win in the state. Federal prosecutors are digging into Trumps handling of classified documents after he left the White House, plus his role in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

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With characteristic pluck, Trump has harnessed those campaign-ending-for-anyone-else threats into rallying cries. Other candidates would see them as daunting obstacles on the path to power; for Trump, theyre a useful asset that can further convince his flock that heand theyface victimhood at the hands of the elites. Candidates facing far less serious peril would speak of these challenges in a sotto voce; Trump turns them into his 11 oclock belt from center stage.

Either the Deep State destroys America or we destroy the deep state, Trump said Saturday evening at his rally in Waco, Texas, whose timing and location were hard to ignore. As Americans rememberedand some even mournedthe U.S. governments deadly siege of a cult compound in Waco exactly 30 years prior, Trump was nursing his supporters distrust of government and even fact-based history.

For a spell earlier this year, Republicans seemed at least open to exploring other alternatives to a third Trump nomination for the White House. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis seemed the most likely contender. But the urge to be RonCurious has faded, and his poll numbers similarly took the hit. Trumps precarious position has forced Republicansand even some independentsto rethink their antipathy for the ex-President. They may not love Trump, but they cant help but to feel some suspicion at the prospect that a payment to save a married businessman the embarrassment of having a porn star detailing their alleged sexual encounters would be what ends Trump. The potentially attached bookkeeping crimes and maybe even the under-valuing of Manhattan properties to dodge tax liabilities isnt great, but also probably not disqualifying in the minds of a lot of Republican voters.

Hence, the rallying moment behind Trump. Much like an anti-heroin politics, theater, and Taylor Swift lyrics alikethe public finds the draw to cheer for them strong.

Without the legal threat staring down Trump, he would have to lean even more heavily on his record, his grievances with other corners of the government, or maybe even outline what exactly he would do if elected to a second term. (Besides bringing vengeance against his enemies, of course.) Even then, those arent exactly enough to keep a skeptical GOP set salved against more Trump blisters that, two years after he left the White House, are just starting to heal. The uncertainty over indictments and the subsequent drama carries with it much the same anxiety that accompanied both of Trumps history-making impeachment trials, events that forced many Republicans to defend Trump lest they find themselves excommunicated and recast in this production.

To be sure, as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie observed, indictments dont help anyone. But Trump may prove they dont exactly hurt, either. The former President has raised millions so far from his self-announced pending arrest. The threat to his candidacy has drawn support from even some who flirted with NeverTrumpism. The stubborn streak inside the GOP that Trump fed for years is tough to shake, and the defiance incumbent with Trumpism has changed the political DNA for a lot of these voters.

Trump is unlikely to have been as strong at this point heading into the second quarter of this calendar year without the unexpected boost from prosecutors. His mainstream defenders dont much like it, but theyll take anything that helps the Republican Partys chances of making Joe Biden a one-term President. Much like Trumps realization that he needed something to jazz up his act, the GOP is casting about with its own Velma Kelly-esque act of desperation, to borrow from the script, to find a new partner. Yet no one in the wings has anything like Trumps star power. At least not at this point in Act One of 2024.

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GUANGZHOU, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of imported exhibits for the 133rd China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, which will kick off both offline and online on April 15, arrived in south China's Guangzhou of Guangdong Province, from Thailand on Sunday.

The exhibits are mainly made in Thailand, and they include pruning machines, air coolers, spray machines and other products suitable for outdoor agricultural production.

The time-honored Canton Fair will resume all on-site activities in Guangzhou from April 15 to May 5, after being held largely online since 2020 due to COVID-19 prevention measures.

More than 500 enterprises from nearly 40 countries and regions are expected to participate in the import exhibitions at this fair.

The exhibition area will be expanded from 1.18 million square meters to 1.5 million square meters this year.

It is estimated that more than 30,000 Chinese and overseas enterprises will take part in the trade fair, and participating Chinese enterprises include more than 5,000 leading manufacturing and high-tech enterprises.

The event has been held twice a year since 1957. 
Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll Getty/Getty

A judge ruled Monday that DNA evidence can't be mentioned at Trump's upcoming rape trial.

E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for defamation and battery over her claim he raped her in the mid-1990s.

The case is headed to trial in Manhattan federal court next month.

The judge presiding over E. Jean Carroll's rape and defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump has banned lawyers from even mentioning DNA evidence in front of the jury when the case goes to trial next month.

US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled Monday that both sides would be "precluded from any testimony, argument, commentary or reference concerning DNA evidence" during the trial, which is scheduled to begin April 25.

Kaplan's order brings to an end a yearslong fight between Trump and his rape accuser over DNA on the dress she says she was wearing when she alleges Trump assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Carroll's lawyers had the dress sent out for forensic testing when she sued Trump in 2019, and unidentified male skin fragments were found. Carroll's lawyers asked Trump to submit a DNA sample to test against the samples found on the dress, but for years, he refused.

A picture of E. Jean Carroll's dress included in the lab report. New York County Supreme Court

When Trump brought Joe Tacopina onto the case earlier this year, the new attorney made a last-minute offer to submit Trump's DNA sample. But the discovery period to exchange evidence had already passed, and Kaplan denied the offer, writing that Trump made "no persuasive reason" for not submitting his DNA in a timely manner and that he "failed to demonstrate good cause to reopen discovery."

While DNA evidence was thrown out of the case, Trump's lawyers continued to fight for the chance to question Carroll about her comments insinuating she had DNA evidence to prove her sexual-assault claim.

In 2021, Carroll tweeted about Trump's mounting legal issues, writing, "Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney, has Trump's taxes. Fani Willis, the Georgia Prosecutor, has Trump's phone call. Mary Trump has her grandfather's will. And I have the dress. Trump is basically in deep shit."

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She also acknowledged in her deposition that she publicly claimed to have Trump's DNA.

Alina Habba, one of Trump's attorneys, argued in a motion last month that the defense is entitled to question Carroll "with respect to the fact that she publicly, and falsely, proclaimed that she was in possession of Defendant's DNA" to support their argument that Carroll "manufactured her defamation claim for the purpose of garnering publicity."

In his ruling Monday, Kaplan refuted that Carroll's statement was false since the dress was never tested, and Trump's DNA could very well be on it. He also said bringing up DNA at trial would be "distracting and needlessly confusing for the jury, and ultimately would not contribute materially to a fair result in this case."

Attorneys for Trump and Carroll declined to comment when reached by Insider on Monday.

Carroll first sued Trump for defamation in 2019, when he loudly denied her rape claim in statements to the press, calling her a liar and saying she made up the story to sell her memoir. That lawsuit has been put on hold while an appeals court determines whether Trump can even be sued in that case. Trump is arguing that a federal law protects him from being sued for comments he made while president.

Late last year, Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump for defamation and battery. It is headed for trial on April 25. The defamation claim centers on comments Trump made after leaving the White House. Carroll was also able to sue for battery after New York passed a law temporarily allowing plaintiffs to bring sexual assault lawsuits after the statute of limitations had expired.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Former president Donald Trump returned to his old position that mail-in ballots are used to cheat after he had previously told his supporters that they needed to change our thinking about the voting practice.

The former president criticised the use of mail-in ballots on his networking platform Truth Social.

The Democrats used Covid inspired Mail In Ballots to CHEAT, he said. Even Jimmy Carters Commission said that Mail In Ballots will lead to massive cheating, which they they have. France, and others, gave up on them  MASSIVE FRAUD. Now they are using PROSECUTORS to CHEAT  No shame. They are the lowest of the low!

The former president repeatedly criticised mail-in votig throughout the 2020 presidential election, despite the fact he voted by mail himself. Republicans have historically preferred using mail-in ballots, but Mr Trumps critiques have led to many more Republicans opposing the practice.

Mr Trumps words come despite the fact that earlier this month, he said Republicans should embrace mail-in voting after Democrats used the practice in the 2022 midterm election.

Republicans must compete using every lawful means to win, Mr Trump said when he gave the closing speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference recently. That means swamping the left with mail-in votes, early votes & Election Day votes. Have to do it. We have to change our thinking because some bad things happened.

The former president has previously called for Republicans to revert to handmarked paper ballots and to reduce early voting.

We used to have paper ballots, he said in a rally in Davenport, Iowa, earlier this month. We didn't have mail-in you know, mail them in anytime you want.

Mr Trump has also called for requiring an identification card to vote.

During his rally in Waco, Texas, he repeated his lies that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Trump touted a Twitter poll conducted by "@catturd2" showing him with a strong lead over DeSantis.

A pro-Trump super PAC also reshared the poll on Monday, tweeting, "New poll results from @catturd2."

@catturd2 quoted the tweet shortly after and added, "HAHAHA."

Former President Donald Trump touted an unverified Twitter poll at a rally held in Waco, Texas, over the weekend. The poll, conducted by the pro-Trump Twitter user "@catturd2," claims to show Trump with a strong lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of the 2024 race.

"You'll see some numbers that are incredible," Trump told the crowd at the rally. "We just had one today  69 [percent] for Trump, and I think 18 or 19 for 'DeSanctimonious.'"

MAGA Inc., the new super PAC associated with Trump, reposted the poll to Twitter on Monday. According to a photo attached to the tweet, @catturd2 conducted the poll on March 22.

"New poll results from @catturd2," the tweet said.

MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) March 27, 2023

Shortly after MAGA Inc. reposted the poll, @catturd2 quoted the tweet and wrote, "HAHAHA."

Both accounts are verified because they're subscribed to Twitter Blue.

"It doesn't matter who does the poll--whether from Monmouth, Morning Consult, Harvard/Harris, or @Catturd2 -- President Donald Trump is dominating the field and dominating every poll," Alex Pfeiffer, a representative for MAGA Inc., told Insider in a statement.

@catturd2 has a long history of supporting Trump, spreading pro-Trump conspiracy theories, and amplifying his most ardent followers. That's according to Rolling Stone, which published a lengthy profile of the Twitter user, who lives in Florida, last month.

The former president has also taken notice of the user, who is among Trump's most prolific fans on the internet.

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After @catturd2 tweeted last April that he had been hospitalized, Trump sent him a signed note with the tweet printed on it and wrote, "C  Get Better Soon."

Monday's tweet from MAGA Inc. came as Trump has ramped up his criticisms of DeSantis, who's widely expected to launch his own presidential campaign in the coming months.

In addition to lambasting DeSantis' record as Florida's governor, the former president frequently refers to his one-time ally as "Ron DeSanctimonious." Last week, Trump's team called DeSantis "Rob" in a press release, though a spokesperson later said that it was merely quoting a Daily Mail headline.

And according to Bloomberg, Trump is also workshopping other nicknames for DeSantis ahead of the GOP primary debates, including "Tiny D," "Ron DisHonest," and "Ron DeEstablishment."

DeSantis, meanwhile, has largely refrained from making personal attacks against Trump and brushed off his barbs.

"I don't really know what it means, but I kinda like it, it's long, it's got a lot of vowels," DeSantis recently told the New York Post of his "Ron DeSanctimonious" nickname.

"We'll go with that, that's fine," he added. "I mean, you can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because that's what we've been able to do in Florida, is put a lot of points on the board and really take this state to the next level."

And as Trump faces a possible indictment from the Manhattan district attorney's office over a $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, DeSantis has accused the DA, Alvin Bragg, of prosecutorial overreach. But he also threw in a thinly veiled insult aimed at the former president.

"I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair," DeSantis said last week. "I just I can't speak to that."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Brandon Bell/Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images

The crowd went quiet when Trump mocked Gov. Ron DeSantis during his rally speech in Waco, Texas.

Trump claimed DeSantis begged him for an endorsement in 2018 with "tears in his eyes."

The crowd was only responsive when Trump mocked other people, like Stormy Daniels.

Former President Donald Trump's jabs at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a rally in Waco, Texas, on Saturday were met with a muted response from his usually adoring audience.

During his speech, Trump said DeSantis begged him for an endorsement with "tears in his eyes" when running for Florida governor in 2018. Trump first made the unsubstantiated claim about DeSantis in February.

Trump then segued into a comedy bit where he pretended to be a sobbing DeSantis, saying: "Sir if you'll endorse me I'll win, please, please sir, endorse me."

The crowd, which had been cheering up until that point, was subdued when Trump made these comments, per a Fox News livestream and social media videos of the rally seen by Insider. The audience continued to be silent while Trump bragged about helping to get DeSantis elected and railed against the possibility that DeSantis may run against him in 2024.

"I'm not a big fan," Trump said of DeSantis, calling the governor a "disciple" of former Speaker Paul Ryan, a vocal Trump critic.

In contrast, Trump's rally crowd jeered loudly when he trash-talked other people. These included Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who alleges that Trump paid her hush money to keep her quiet about an affair; Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg; and Trump's 2016 rival, former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Although DeSantis has not officially announced a 2024 presidential bid, he will be Trump's biggest rival if he does choose to run.

Trump's comments come as he is neck-deep in an investigation led by Bragg over his potential involvement in hush money payments to Daniels. Trump could face up to four years in prison if convicted.

Representatives for Trump and DeSantis did not immediately reply to Insider's requests for comment made outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Former President Trumps mounting legal troubles and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnells (R-Ky.) extended absence from the Capitol have created a momentary leadership vacuum atop the Republican Party, which is struggling to find its direction ahead of the 2024 election.

Republican lawmakers are divided over the question of whether Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the GOPs leader, and they have different views on whether the center of power in Congress resides more with McConnell or Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

In terms of the future of the party, its a jump ball right now, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

The GOP is searching for its identity after the transformation it underwent during the Trump era. It also finds itself divided over major issues, such as whether to advocate for reforms to entitlement programs or to continue its embrace of a muscular and outward-facing national security policy.

Many Senate Republicans want to move past Trump, whose daily dramas they see as a drag on the GOP brand and detrimental to their candidates. Trump has more influence in the House, something apparent as House Republicans attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) last week.

Even GOP senators acknowledge that Trump still has huge support among the partys voters, despite facing multiple investigations and possibly multiple indictments  though his popularity has slipped some since losing the 2020 election.

In terms of the connection with the American public, with the Republican Party voter, clearly Donald Trump has an enormous impact and DeSantis is trying to pull some of that away, said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), an outspoken Trump critic.

Romney argued that the party that doesnt control the White House often has a scrambled leadership picture.

Anytime you dont have the White House, the leadership is going to be more diverse. Particularly when you have a presidential contest going on you have different voices being heard, and theyre not all the same, he said. Youre searching, if you will, for that unifying theme. I think that will happen when we have a nominee.

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Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) says she sees DeSantis, not Trump, as the partys political leader.

But she thinks McCarthy will emerge as the partys most prominent leader in Washington as he battles with President Biden over attaching fiscal reforms to debt-limit legislation. Then, she says, the nations focus will shift to the campaign trail.

Everybody knows that the debt-ceiling negotiations are on him, she said of McCarthy. I think that for the next few months that his profile will be high and then as the presidential campaign emerges, those candidates will be in the drivers seat.

She said the leadership of the party is now largely between DeSantis and Kevin.

Graham, a Trump ally, sees the party leadership split between Trump and McCarthy.

I think Trump is still the largest force in the Republican Party. I think Kevin McCarthy institutionally is in charge of one of the [congressional] bodies and I think the Republican Partys center of gravity is in the House in terms of having legislative power, he said.

One Republican senator allied with McConnell said the Senate GOP leaders job is much more secure than McCarthys, noting that it took 15 ballots for McCarthy to get elected Speaker.

The senator said that McConnell may ultimately have more room to negotiate a deal with Biden to avoid a national default because McCarthy has to be so careful not to anger members of the House Freedom Caucus to keep the Speakership.

Many Republican lawmakers had high hopes that DeSantis would dethrone Trump as the party leader after he won a resounding reelection victory in Florida.

But DeSantis lags Trump by large margins in various polls, and his performance on the national spotlight in recent weeks has gotten mixed reviews.

Some Republicans are second guessing DeSantis for getting drawn into a war of words with Trump, whom they see as the most skilled trash talker in politics.

A second GOP senator, who requested anonymity to talk about DeSantiss decision to trade shots with Trump, said it appeared to be a change of strategy.

It looked to me like his strategy was to wait until May or June, aggressively be governor  but now he appears to be abandoning that, the lawmaker said.

The senator said DeSantis also flip-flopped on the importance of the war in Ukraine by back-peddling from his earlier comments downplaying the conflict as a territorial dispute and not a vital interest for the U.S.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), one of the few Senate Republicans who has endorsed Trumps 2024 presidential bid, said DeSantis has yet to show how he handles the pressure on the national stage.

Hes not running for governor. This is running for president of the United States and leader of the free world. Everything you say is going to be blown up, he said.

McConnells absence from the Capitol after tripping and suffering a concussion on March 8 has added to the sense of uncertainty over the partys direction.

The 81-year-old leader embodies the traditional pro-defense, pro-corporate and pro-trade values of the GOP that have receded with rise of Trumps brand of conservative populism.

In terms of members of the Republican Party, voters who identify themselves as Republicans, its clear that Donald Trump is the closest thing there is to a leader because he has such support. In terms of elected Republicans, I do think people look to McConnell more than anybody else, said Al Cross, a professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky and a longtime commentator on Kentucky politics.

Cross said elected Republicans look to McConnell as their leader because he has a proven track record handling tough political problems, such as the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts at the end of 2010 and 2012 and the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He noted that elected Republicans admire McConnells message discipline and his ability to plan out strategy well in advance.

He observes the old maxim, You never get in trouble for something you didnt say, and his colleagues in the Senate elected him time and again because they know hes a good leader, he said.

Sen. Sen Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is one of McConnells closest friends in the Senate, said we certainly miss him but she predicted Im positive hell be back.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), another McConnell ally, said the leaders absence has been a bump in the road.

Were still taking direction from Mitch McConnell, he said. Hes still involved.

Asked whos leading the Republican Party nationwide, Wicker replied: The leader of the Republican Party in this end of the building is Mitch McConnell.

Updated at 7:03 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former US President Donald Trump points to crowd members before taking the stage at a 2024 campaign rally at the Waco Regional Airport on March 25, 2023 in Waco, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Many attendees at Trump's weekend rally in Waco said they'll support him no matter what.

The embattled former president is running for the 2024 nomination while under investigation.

"All the solutions we need are strictly Donald J. Trump," one diehard fan told Insider.

WACO, Texas  Baking in the central Texas sun for hours on end struck Jason as a small price to pay for the chance to bask in his hero's presence.

"I"m just waiting for Trump," the Waco resident, who declined to give his last name, told Insider.

The first-time rallygoer joined a sea of like-minded admirers, some of whom spent over 12 hours wandering around the heat-reflecting tarmac at Waco's regional airport. They all gathered to hear the embattled former president officially begin his 2024 campaign.

Because it was his first visit to the immediate area, mutiple attendees told Insider they had to be there, hailing it as the "opportunity of a lifetime" and "a dream come true."

Nothing was going to turn back the Trump faithful. Not the mile-plus hike many participants had to make to the airport as police turned back drivers without valid boarding passes nor the lack of cold water for sale by the on-site vendors.

After flying in from Palm Beach, Florida, Trump gave the crowd the first stump speech of his presidential bid: a listless recap of everything that's irked the scandal-plagued 2024 candidate throughout his post-presidential life.

He lashed out at authorities looking into issues ranging from his alleged involvement in the deadly January 6, 2021 siege at the US Capitol to the $130,000 hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels. He took some shots at anticipated 2024 rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, even though recent polling shows Trump with a commanding lead so far. And then he wound the whole thing up by making vague promises about fixing the entire world  if the crowd committed to sending him back to the White House.

"You will be vindicated and proud," Trump assured the spellbound audience.

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That was music to many onlookers' ears.

The only thing that really matters

Many of the people Insider interviewed at the day-long rally said they either totally ignored or couldn't remember much about the preceding speakers, a roster that included Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Republican Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida mingles with MAGA supporters during former US President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas. Warren Rojas/Insider

"We got here for Trump. Just for Trump," Connor Adams said of how he and his wife, Nguyen, had timed their visit.

Connor Adams told Insider he'd trekked to Waco from the left-leaning enclave of Austin, Texas, where President Joe Biden thumped Trump by 45 points in 2020. He wanted to commune with fellow conservatives and check in on "what's really going on with our country."

He said he was thrilled Trump had talked about sewing up the southern border and shutting down what Adams called the "pushing of transgenderism" in public schools. Adams added that he's against transgender awareness campaigns "trying to make it a normal thing, when it seems to be a mental disorder," and appreciates that Trump wants to fight it.

Nguyen Adams, who said she wouldn't call herself a full-fledged Trump supporter, told Insider she was there mainly out of curiosity.

"I wanted to listen to a man who was a former president who was vilified," she said, adding that "he deserves to tell his side."

Linda Chambers, a resident of Robinson, Texas, had no such doubt, telling Insider that she wholly agreed with the local official who earlier in the day billed re-electing Trump as the solution for everything from closing the southern border to fixing the flagging economy.

"All the solutions we need are strictly Donald J. Trump," Chambers said. "All the solutions."

First-timer Jason couldn't agree more.

"Whatever he says is just golden for me," he said of the former president.

'How did it all go to hell?'

Charla Sisk, a Waco resident who said she'd heard Trump speak at previous rallies, pushed back against the idea that Trump stokes violence or is solely out for revenge.

"I think that he's very positive about what he's gonna do with America," she told Insider, praising Trump for striving to "pull us out of this big mess we're in right now."

She added that Trump defending himself, including incendiary jabs thrown at Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, is simply part of that process. "It's just saying, 'Hey, this is what happened? What are we going to do about it?'"

Trump is the only candidate Sisk said she'll support for president, though she'd like to see failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake round out the 2024 ticket. When asked whether House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, an ardent Trump defender, stands a chance in the veepstakes, Sisk burst out laughing.

"I'm not gonna vote for anybody from New York," she said. Trump was born in Queens, New York, lived in Manhattan for most of his adult life, and only switched his primary address to Florida at the age of 73.

Nate, a resident of Lockhart, Texas who declined to give his last name, conceded that Trump's narcissism, while exhausting, is also "kind of why he got elected" in 2016.

"It gets annoying," Nate said of Trump's harping about his 2020 loss. "If I had to listen to him while we were at dinner, I'd say, 'Hey, buddy, we're done. Let's talk about something else.'"

Still, Nate said he supports Trump "because he's not a politician." Trump spent four years in the White House, has run for office three times, and now regularly stumps for candidates all across the country.

A shirt proclaiming former US President Donald Trump as the "Maga King" was for sale at one of the stalls set up by vendors outside his campaign rally in Waco, Texas. Warren Rojas/Insider

Chris, a Waco resident who declined to give his last name, said all the other 2024 candidates should save themselves the trouble because he's not considering any alternatives.

Sporting a cowboy hat crowned with a MAGA visor featuring a faux head of Trump's wispy blond hair, he told Insider: "I'm Trump all the way, no matter what. From A to Z, I love everything about him."

Chris' neighbor, Edy, who described herself as a "native Texan, under invasion," said Trump's 2020 loss was a real shock to the system.

"President Trump made me feel safer. The world is not safe," Edy told Insider, adding that she's worried that America is being taken over by communists and freedom-hating domestic terrorists.

The prospect of somehow losing the country she loves worries Edy, leaving her in a panic that is echoed in the frustrations that pour out of Trump whenever he's handed a microphone.

"I don't understand how he lost an election when we had the best economy, the safest border," she said of the personally jarring last few years. "I mean, it's like it all went to hell. How did it all go to hell?"

Read the original article on Business Insider
Space Coast officials project TUI Airways' United Kingdom holiday travelers will help generate record-shattering passenger traffic this year at Melbourne Orlando International Airport, providing an economic boost during their typical two-week Florida vacations.

Plus, the international travel giant TUI Group is bringing Marella Discovery  an 11-deck cruise ship with seven restaurants and seven bars  to Port Canaveral to launch new weeklong sailings from May to November.

On Monday, the European vacation-package company's first 2023 flights from England to Melbourne are scheduled to land at 1:35 p.m. from Manchester and 3 p.m. from Birmingham.

TUI will operate flights from eight U.K. cities through mid-December, using the Melbourne airport's newly christened $72 million terminal expansion as its Central Florida vacation-package hub.

More:Melbourne airport unveils $72M 'coastal-casual' terminal expansion amid historic traffic

More:Fastest in Florida: Brightline train zooms up to 130 mph between Orlando and Cocoa

787 Dreamliners that hold about 350 passengers each. So when weve got three on the pad, youre talking about 1,000 passengers. Were not used to that," Jack Ryals, the airport's senior adviser for local and regional affairs, told a Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization committee on March 15.

"Its really something that weve had to prepare for," Ryals said.

The TUI Group operates 1,200 travel agencies and online portals, five airlines with about 130 aircraft, more than 400 hotels and 16 cruise liners. Last year, TUI moved its Central Florida gateway operations from Orlando Sanford International Airport to Melbourne, per a seven-year contract. Passengers travel from Europe to Florida, not vice versa.

In 2022, the Melbourne airport logged 122,550 enplanements and 119,893 deplanements from TUI passengers, with July and August each accounting for about 20,000 passengers, according to the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

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Now, local tourism officials face challenges persuading more of these U.K. travelers to stay on the Space Coast for at least part of their vacation  rather than boarding buses and rental cars and traveling directly to the Orlando area's theme parks and attractions.

The Office of Tourism surveyed a sampling of TUI passengers landing in Melbourne, and found that:

Only 10.4% of the passengers surveyed said they stayed on the Space Coast for at least part of their vacation, with many of them staying in a hotel in Cocoa Beach.

In comparison, 84.8% spent at least part of their vacation in the Orlando area.

Of passengers staying on the Space Cost, 88.2% said they were likely or very likely to return for a visit to the Space Coast.

All of the passengers surveyed who stayed on the Space Coast said they were likely or very likely to refer a friend, family member or colleague for a visit to Florida's Space Coast.

The typical overall stay for a TUI passenger in Florida was 14 days, with those spending at least part of their vacation on the Space Coast typically spending one to three days here.

The Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex and seeing a rocket launch were cited by many of the passengers as a reason to visit the Space Coast.

The fuselage of the first TUI Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Melbourne Orlando International Airport, which landed in March 2022.

TUI's press office declined an interview request for this story. A TUI executive team and U.K. media are expected to attend an April 30 reception at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, said Greg Donovan, airport executive director.

Marella Cruises, a division of the TUI Group, plans to begin weeklong cruises out of Port Canaveral in May on the Marella Discovery, which has a capacity of 1,830 passengers based on double-occupancy of its cabins.

The ship has 26 sailings scheduled from Port Canaveral, running from May 7 to Nov. 5.

But Space Coast residents won't be able to buy a ticket, according to Port Canaveral officials. The sailings are open only to people who purchase a travel package from TUI that includes flights from the U.K. to Melbourne.

TUI helped the Melbourne airport's total counts of incoming-departing passengers soar from 372,287 in 2021 to 701,257 in 2022. That was an 88% jump.

The airport's all-time record was established in 1990 with 765,723 total passengers. Ryals said airport officials are projecting a record-breaking 850,000 total passengers this year.

Many TUI passengers disembark in Melbourne and board buses bound for Orlando theme parks and attractions. But Ryals said about 60% of TUI passengers rent cars instead.

Indeed, the airport's car rental agencies reported total gross sales of $9.53 million during 2021. That figure more than doubled to $19.78 million last year as TUI made its Melbourne debut.

They stop and get gas before they come back. They eat in restaurants. They go to the zoo. They go to the Space Center. Great economic impact on our area, Ryals told the Space Coast TPO committee.

In the future, Ryals said TUI can develop Brevard County-oriented travel packages that provide European tourists a peaceful alternative: "You cannot spend two weeks at the (Orlando) theme parks without going nuts when you have a small family."

Passengers from Manchester, England, navigate the Melbourne Orlando International Airport after deplaning TUI's inaugural flight in March 2022.

On March 10, airport officials unveiled the Jack L. Ryals Welcome Center a short walk from the domestic and international baggage claims. The facility will serve as the starting point for TUI passengers' Florida vacations, as it houses support services, rental car desks and a ground-transportation depot.

Ryals addressed TUI's potential long-term economic ramifications for the Space Coast in an essay in the book "Melbourne Orlando International Airport: A History from 1928 to 2022" by Melbourne Airport Authority Chairman William Potter.

"History in areas such as Fort Myers and Sarasota would indicate that eventually tourism from a particular country generates the sale of real estate and a demand for second homes in Florida," Ryals wrote.

"TUI was a tremendous win for our area for many reasons," he wrote.

Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: TUI starts second year of Melbourne flights, adds Port Canaveral ship
WSMV 4

A local TV reporter covering a school shooting in Nashville Monday made an incredible admission while live on the scene: Many of you might not know this, but I am actually a school shooting survivor.

Joylyn Bukovac, a reporter for WSMV-4 in Nashville, said Mondays incident brought back horrible memories of her own experience, which happened while she was in eighth grade.

She did not disclose the exact incident but mentioned a date on TwitterFeb. 5, 2010which corresponds to a shooting at Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, in which one student died.

In a segment Monday afternoon from the stations studio, she said that covering the shooting at Nashvilles Covenant School, in which six people have died so far, brought the memories of that day flooding back.

She added that she was in the schools hallway when gunshots rang out.

I hid underneath the risers in my choir class and those minutes and hours of waiting to be released by police officers, it just felt like a lifetime  And so I know exactly what some of these kids are going through today, she said.

Three children and three adults were killed at the private Christian school Monday when a woman who police have identified as Audrey Hale, 28, stormed the building by shooting through a locked door to gain entry. Police said she had detailed maps drawn up of the school and a manifesto. She was also reportedly a former student of the school.

Earlier in the day during a live shot from the scene, Bukovac shared her advice for parents, especially those of the Covenant students, who want to talk to their children about what happened.

My biggest advice is for all the families here: If your student witnessed the unthinkable today, just be very gentle with them. Let them talk when theyre ready, because the shock that theyre going to be feeling when theyre coming home is going to be unfathomable, she said.

I wasnt really ready to talk about it for two years, really, she continued. So just give them some time. If theyre not ready to talk, dont be overly concerned. Everyone copes in their own way, so just really be there for them and open up that line of communication.

Story continues

I appreciate all the support Ive received after sharing my story. I dont talk about it much, but I think about what happened on February 5, 2010 often. I just want people to know they arent alone.



I also want to discuss solutions. As a mom, I am worried for the future https://t.co/Fbd0fEpZyt  Joylyn Bukovac (@joylynrbukovac) March 27, 2023

Bukovac later tweeted that she appreciated all of the words of support shed received throughout the day, and said the fact that she is now a mom made the entire experience even more heartrending.

Reporting on a school shooting as a school shooting survivor, and now as a mom, has been indescribably heart breaking," she said. Something needs to change."

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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(Reuters)

Elon Musk has reportedly valued Twitter at around $20 billion, less than six months after acquiring the social media company for $44 billion.

In an email to employees seen by The Wall Street Journal, Mr Musk told them they would receive stock awards based on a $20 billion valuation of the firm.

He also told workers that Twitter can be thought of as an inverse startup due to the rapid reshaping that he has undertaken over the last five months. During that same time, Mr Musks net worth has fallen by around $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

I see a clear, but difficult, path to a >$250B valuation, Mr Musk wrote in the email.

Twitters main source of revenue has traditionally come through online advertising, however several high-profile advertisers withdrew following Mr Musks controversial takeover of the platform.

Mr Musk has attempted to supplement these losses by relaunching the paid-for subscription service Twitter Blue.

During a Twitter Spaces session in December, Mr Musk claimed that the companys financial situation had forced him to take drastic measures in order to cut costs.

I spent the last five weeks cutting costs like crazy, he said.

I now think that Twitter will, in fact, be okay next year... Roughly cash flow break even.

Part of these cost-cutting measures involved reducing Twitters workforce from around 7,500 to below 2,000.

No Twitter representatives were available for comment on the latest valuation, with Twitters communications team among those disbanded following Mr Musks takeover.

The email address that was used by the team, press@twitter.com, now autoreplies with a poo emoji.

In separate news, Twitter revealed in court filings that part of its source code had been leaked online, raising questions about security at the company.

Legal documents filed with the US District Court of the Northern District of California alleged that a hacker by the name of FreeSpeechEnthusiast had posted excerpts of the Twitters underlying code to the platform GitHub.
By Elon Musks estimate, Twitter is worth around $20 billion  less than half what he paid for it just five months ago.

Thats according to an internal email obtained by The Information, in which Musk laid out a new stock compensation plan for the relatively few employees remaining at the company, which he described as an inverse start-up.

As a private company, Twitter doesnt have to make its financial figures public, so its impossible to verify the figure. An email from HuffPost seeking further comment was responded to with a poop emoji.

Twitters second largest shareholder, Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk acquired the microblogging platform last October for $44 billion, acknowledging at the time he was obviously overpaying for the site. As part of the deal, the erratic billionaire forced Twitter to take on $13 billion in debt, requiring $1 billion in yearly interest payments alone.

But advertising revenue, which comprises the bulk of Twitters earnings, plummeted after Musk took over, thanks to a series of disastrous and sometimes comically inept decisions. More than half of Twitters top 1,000 advertisers have pulled their money from the platform since Musks acquisition.

A plan to offset lost advertising revenue by selling blue verification labels for $8 hit an early snag when users realized the company had stopped actually verifying users identities.

well this is going to be fun pic.twitter.com/sMab5OvAXa  Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) March 26, 2023

Chaos engulfed the platform while fake  yet verified  accounts proceeded to go viral.

The verified account of former President George W. Bush, for instance, tweeted, I miss killing Iraqis, while an account impersonating pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. tweeted, We are excited to announce insulin is free now, after which the real Eli Lillys stock dropped precipitously.

Story continues

Twitter halted the chaotic rollout, then proposed businesses pay $1,000 a month for a new gold checkmark.

The company relaunched its blue checkmark sales program in December. But in its first three months, Twitter Blue only generated $11 million in mobile subscriptions, nowhere near enough to offset lost advertising revenue.

Musk hopes to see an uptick in subscriptions on April 1, when Twitter plans to sunset its legacy checkmark program completely. After that, a blue checkmark wont denote anything except that the account pays Twitter $8 a month.

Well this is going to be fun, the verified account of Monica Lewinsky tweeted on Sunday, along with a screenshot of six other Monica Lewinsky accounts, one of them verified.

In what universe is this fair to people who can suffer consequences for being impersonated? She added. A lie travels half way around the world before truth even gets out the door.

Related...
Scholar: 'Summit' would go unnoticed

09:01, March 27, 2023 By YIFAN XU in Washington ( China Daily

A foreign policy expert in the United States says the upcoming US-led second "Summit for Democracy" is not going to be noticed very much.

Jack Midgley, principal of the global consultancy Midgley &Co and an adjunct associate professor in the security studies program at Georgetown University, told China Daily that the meeting has low political value in the US and it will get little attention in the world.

"What we're seeing now is just a demonstration of activity. The American State Department and the administration want to show that they're active. We're starting the election season again, and it's more important to show activity than results," Midgley said. "I don't think this new summit will have much impact at all."

As per the White House's announcement in November, the US, with the governments of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia, is set to host the so-called summit on Wednesday and Thursday via video link.

"The countries ... typically will issue a declaration. Each country will make certain commitments. In most cases, these are commitments to actions that they were going to take anyway. They're commitments that are not measurable. They're commitments that are not necessarily funded," he said. "And frankly, I just don't see that many countries or many diplomats will take this 'summit' into account. It's not a terribly big or well-funded or popular effort."

The Joe Biden administration hosted the first such virtual gathering in 2021. There have been major changes in the geopolitical regime since then, Midgley said.

Significant contrast

"Of course, the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine has been an important change. But that's not the only thing that has changed. China's diplomatic presence in the world has increased very sharply in the last two years. And I think it has drawn a contrast between the approaches of the two countries that are being noticed and paid attention to worldwide," he said.

In the report entitled "The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022" released last week, China's Foreign Ministry noted that there is no single model of a political system that is applicable to all countries in the world.

"The US has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy, and other countries have their own unique models of democracy that suit their respective national conditions," the report said.

Midgley said most US diplomacy in the last several years has been about the administration of sanctions, the application of military assistance, and other security-related approaches, while the Chinese approach has been much more focused on development and less on internal politics of others. "This has made it possible for Chinese diplomacy to do things that US diplomacy cannot do," he said, giving the example of the Saudi-Iran agreement.

Under China's mediation, the Iranian and Saudi Arabian officials signed an agreement in Beijing on March 10, announcing the reestablishment of diplomatic relations seven years after severing them.

"We should not miss the difference in the basic approaches of the two countries. In the US case, it's defense and security-led. In the Chinese case, it's economics and development-led. And history will tell us which one has worked better," Midgley said. "But so far, at least in recent years, the Chinese approach is doing very well."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will pay an official visit to China from March 27 to April 1 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang and will attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023.

Lee, 71, has been in politics since the 1980s and has served as Singapore's second minister for defense, minister of trade and industry, deputy prime minister and minister of finance among various ministerial appointments.

He assumed the office of prime minister in August 2004 and has been consecutively re-elected to date. 
Two police officers were injured in a chase that ended in Medford Sunday evening.

The chase ended at the intersection of Auburn and North Streets, according to a Boston Police spokesperson.

Viewer video sent to Boston 25 News captured the end of the arrest around 6:30 p.m. The suspect can be seen on the ground as a handful of officers take him into custody.

Eight cop cars were coming down West Street, there was a helicopter in the air swarming around, there was an ambulance, a fire truck, said neighbor Chris Berg. Ive honestly never seen anything this crazy going on, Ive definitely heard stories about something like this going on, Ive never seen it in person.

Medford police say the chase began in Boston.

It is still unclear why Boston Police were arresting this suspect.

The two injured officers have non-life-threatening injuries.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
A CBP agent at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Ysidro, California. SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP via Getty Images

The United States will announce a deal with Mexico to stop illicit substances from crossing the southern border, NBC News reported Monday, with Americans working to halt the flow of guns into Mexico while the Mexican government cracks down on fentanyl moving into the U.S.

Two sources familiar with the deal told NBC that the Mexican military and police will focus on stopping the raw materials used to create fentanyl. This will include "shutting down labs that make the deadly synthetic opioid and going after key players in the illicit fentanyl trade," NBC News reports.

Mexican drug smugglers have made significant efforts in the past few years to try and move fentanyl across the border. Statistics from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed that more than 14,000 pounds of the drug were seized at the border during fiscal year 2022.

In return for this crackdown on artificial opioids, the Biden administration has agreed to tighten its grip on American weapons flowing into Mexico. The illegal smuggling of guns into Mexico remains a consistent problem, and "U.S. gun manufacturers make up seven out of the top 10 companies whose guns are most frequently seized by the Mexican military," according to The Trace, a non-profit news outlet covering gun violence.

Mexico reportedly told U.S. officials that "any conversation about fentanyl's taking U.S. lives should also address" American guns taking Mexican lives.

This tentative agreement is a result of a months-long negotiation between the Biden administration and Mexican officials. Prior to this, NBC News said, the relationship between U.S. and Mexico in the drug war cooperation was "at its lowest point in decades."

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has previously denied his country has a fentanyl problem, saying, "We do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl," instead blaming the U.S. for "social decay."

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(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog head will not travel to Russia this week, but a visit is possible in the near future, Russian news agency RIA reported early on Monday, citing Moscow's permanent representative to international organisations in Vienna.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi announced on Saturday that he would visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine this week to assess the serious situation there.

When asked if Russia planned to invite Grossi to Moscow in the near future, permanent representative Mikhail Ulyanov said that was "quite realistic", according to RIA.

"Not next week, but somewhat later, the visit of Rafael Grossi to Russia may well take place," Ulyanov added.

Grossi is pressing for a security zone to be erected around Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant with six reactors, which has come under repeated shelling during the 13-month war Russia has been waging against its neighbour.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie Freed)
(Reuters) - The United States is deeply concerned by events in Israel and "strongly urges" leaders there to find compromise as soon as possible, a White House spokesperson said on Sunday after the firing of Israel's defense minister triggered mass protests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, a day after Gallant broke ranks with the government and urged a halt to a highly contested plan to overhaul the judicial system.

"We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens," White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Some three months since taking office, Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition has been plunged into crisis over the bitter divisions exposed by its flagship judicial overhaul plans.

The overhaul package would tighten political control over judicial appointments, handing the executive wider freedom to name judges to the Supreme Court.

"As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship," Watson said.

"Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support."

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu)
By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to U.S. steel import tariffs imposed in 2018 under former President Donald Trump - a policy he touted as defending American national security - and largely maintained by President Joe Biden.

The justices turned away an appeal by a group of U.S.-based steel importers of a lower court's ruling rejecting their challenge to the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs under a Cold War-era trade law.

At issue in the case was whether the findings in a 2018 report to Trump that recommended he impose steel tariffs were subject to second-guessing by courts under federal administrative law.

The report by then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross determined that excessive steel imports were threatening U.S. national security, with the imports causing domestic steel plants to close and undermining the U.S. "ability to meet national security production requirements in a national emergency." In March 2018, Trump ordered a 25% tariff on steel imports from most nations. He also ordered a 10% tariff on aluminum imports.

Several companies that import steel products, including subsidiaries of Colmar, Pennsylvania-based Dorman Products Inc and Turkish steel producer Borusan Mannesmann, sued in the U.S. Court of International Trade. They argued that the Ross report was "arbitrary and capricious" under a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act.

The trade court in 2021 ruled against the steel importers, finding that the Ross report could not be challenged in court because it was not a "final agency action."

On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit broke with the trade court, ruling that the Ross findings did constitute a final agency action. However, the Federal Circuit found that the report's findings were not subject to court review under administrative law and that the policy otherwise complied with federal law.

Story continues

The Biden administration, which has largely maintained Trump's tariff policy, urged the justices not to take up the appeal. Trump is a Republican and Biden a Democrat.

In imposing the tariffs, Trump invoked Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which allows a U.S. president to restrict imports of goods critical to national security. Exemptions were granted to some countries, but the tariffs became an irritant in foreign relations including with European allies.

Trump at the time said the tariffs were necessary for national security to maintain healthy domestic production, and said the United States was committed to building its ships, planes and other military equipment with American steel.

During his presidency, Trump rattled the world trade order by imposing unilateral tariffs to combat what he called unfair trade practices by China, the European Union and other major trading partners of the United States. China and some other countries retaliated by imposing tariffs on U.S. goods.

The Supreme Court last year refused to hear a separate challenge by steel companies to Trump's 2018 decision to double tariffs on steel imports from Turkey, also on national security grounds.

(Reporting by John Kruzel in Washington; Additional reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly praised Israel's decision to pause legislation to reform its judiciary on Monday, emphasising the importance of "checks and balances" after widespread protests over the contested plans.

"The UK welcomes the decision today by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause legislation to reform Israels judiciary," Cleverly said in a statement after Netanyahu delayed the decision until next month amid mass protests.

"It is vital that the shared democratic values that underpin that (UK-Israel) relationship are upheld, and a robust system of checks and balances are preserved," Cleverly added, echoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's stance.

Sunak received Netanyahu last week in London, where the Israeli leader was met with hundreds of protesters, some of whom held up Israeli flags and shouted chants, such as "Boosha!" which means "for shame!" in Hebrew.

Netanyahu has faced weeks of uproar over his religious-nationalist coalition's pursuit of changes to the judiciary that would give the government sway in choosing judges and limit the Supreme Court's power to strike down laws.

(This story has been refiled to say Sunak received Netanyahu last week, not earlier this week, in paragraph 4)

(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Raiffeisenbank         

Sberbank is currently unable to carry out operations in Europe due to sanctions, and the bank's assets are blocked to comply with an EU decision.

The National Bank of Ukraine stressed that Sberbank is owned by the Russian government, so the blocked assets of Sberbank in Austria are assets of the aggressor state that should be subject to recovery for use in the rebuilding of Ukraine.

Sberbank Austrias losses due to the termination of its operations directly impact the Russian state budget through decreasing revenue, which Russia uses to finance the war on Ukraine, the NBU noted.

Read also: Almost 70% of Austrian firms operating in Russia continue to work as normal

"Taking into account the above arguments, such an 'exchange' between the RBI and the Russian government does not stand up to any criticism  neither in terms of sanctions regulation (as the agreement will require lifting restrictions at least partially), nor in terms of fairness," the regulator said.

By agreeing to such a deal, (Raiffeisen Bank International) is saving a Russian bank under sanctions and depriving Ukraine of the opportunity to receive reparations.

At the same time, the NBU noted that the decision by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention to add Raiffeisen Bank International to the list of international sponsors of war will not have a direct impact on the work of the Ukrainian branch of Raiffeisen Bank, which was confirmed by the Ukrainian branch.

The NACP added Raiffeisen Bank International on March 23 to the list of international sponsors of war for continuing to operate in Russia and officially recognizing the so-called peoples republics of Donetsk and Luhansk through its representative office in Russia.

In 2022, the bank transferred almost five times more money to the Russian budget than in 2021. The bank paid EUR 559 million ($602 million) to the budget of the aggressor state, which is equal to the cost of about 95 Kalibr missiles.

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In addition, the U.S. sanctions authority has launched an investigation into Raiffeisen Bank International and its operations in Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas.

According to Austrian media reports, Raiffeisen Bank International plans to exchange its assets in Russia for Austrian assets of Sberbank of Russia.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is demanding that Raiffeisen leave Russia.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine fears its Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station could by late summer face a shortage of water to cool reactors because Russian forces have let water out of a reservoir that supplies the plant.

Ihor Syrota, director general of the state-run Ukrhydroenergo hydropower generating company, told Reuters there was no immediate danger to Europe's largest nuclear plant, which has been occupied by Russian forces for the past year.

But he voiced concern about what would happen if water levels fell further at the Kakhovka reservoir on the River Dnipro, which supplies the plant and millions of people in southern Ukraine, including in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The level has fallen because Russian troops who control the reservoir, and also the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and dam, have let some water out through sluice gates, he said.

Nuclear plants need enough water to cool their reactors and to help prevent a nuclear meltdown. Syrota said the Zaporizhzhia plant still needed water to cool its reactors even though they have been shut down.

"An issue (with lack of water for cooling) could arise in the summer, in late summer," Syrota said in an interview, adding that the reservoir could be drained in days if all sluice gates were open.

"I hope we don't get to that situation. I hope we de-occupy faster," he said, referring to a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture occupied territory.

State nuclear power company Energoatom said last month the water level at the reservoir was usually 16 metres but had dropped to 13.8 metres. It said a fall to 12.8 metres would be an emergency, and 12 metres would a critical situation.

Syrota said the level had risen since then thanks to the winter thaw.

"They (the Russians) are discharging a certain volume and we have raised the level to 14.30 metres from 13.50-13.60 metres. But still the gates (of the dam) are open," Syrota said.

Story continues

IAEA CHIEF'S VISIT

The Russian forces occupying Ukraine have not commented on the water level. Russia's RIA news agency has reported that the Russian military is repairing one of the six hydrogenerators at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant accounted for around 20% of Ukraine's national power generation before Russia's invasion in February 2022, but has not produced any electricity since September, when the last of its six reactors was taken offline.

Monitors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, have been posted at the station since September and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi will visit it this week to assess the situation there.

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of shelling the site of the plant, which lies near front lines. The IAEA wants to create a security zone around the plant to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident, nearly four decades after the Chornobyl disaster.

Russia and Ukraine also accused each other last year of planning to blow up the Kakhovka dam, a step that would unleash a devastating flood across a large area.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Zaporizhzhia Oblast  In a split-second, two Ukrainian jets appear over the road, releasing chaff that sets off a couple of Russian anti-aircraft missiles.

It allows one of the planes to hit a Russian position that billows with black smoke rising over the trees, leaving no doubt on how close the two sides are to one another.

Such skirmishes are frequent in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where most battles are fought with artillery duels, air sorties, and localized clashes over a few villages nearby.

Close to the southern front line of Russian-controlled territories, a quick drive down the bumpy roads of the oblast reveals trenches with soldiers, shovels in hand, plowing through the fields on long lines along the way.

Preparations to fortify the area look well underway, but the spring counteroffensive promised by the Ukrainian government in the south still seems to be in the distant future for the soldiers stationed there, harassed by Russians' constant shelling.

Surviving Avdiivka: Russia intensifies assault on city deemed a second Bakhmut AVDIIVKA, Donetsk Oblast  Avdiivka is an eerie city to drive into in March 2023. One year into Russias full-scale war against Ukraine, but nine years into the Donbas war, the compact city just 10 kilometers from the center of occupied Donetsk is barely holding on. There is little choice Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell

The situation on the front line remains challenging for Ukraine in the south, but Russian troops cant advance, Southern Operational Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said on March 14. The U.K. Defense Ministry attributed it to Russias aggravating artillery ammunition deficit.

A Ukrainian officer in his fifties, who declined to give his name for safety reasons because he leads a mobile anti-aircraft unit in the region, told the Kyiv Independent that the front was "moderately stable" despite a few Russian attempts to break through Ukraine's defensive lines.

"They're looking for our weak spots," he says, "but we haven't let them take even a meter."

Story continues

The southern front line in Zaporizhzhia Oblast has been stable since summer, despite localized clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces. (Lisa Kukharska)

Stable front line

The front line hasn't moved much since May last year despite a few localized engagements, police officer Valentyn Ilchuk, call sign Burzhui, told the Kyiv Independent.

"Kamianske was attacked a couple of weeks ago, Orikhiv is being attacked all the time, and for Huliaipole, we lost positions and retook them," he says.

The shelling never stops on the front line, slowly reducing cities nearby into uninhabitable, dangerous piles of rubble and forcing residents who stayed to live all day long in shelters.

However, there is no sign of a significant offensive so far, from one side or the other, the officer assesses.

There was a lot more fighting between February and May last year, taking and retaking positions, and then the front stabilized, he says.

According to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces are unable to conduct large-scale, simultaneous offensive campaigns on multiple axes.

Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukrainian military intelligence, said on March 23 that Ukrainian forces fixed Russians to multiple areas on the front line, and that the Russian troops in occupied Crimea and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were preparing to defend, not attack.

Russian forces occupied 60% of Zaporizhzhia Oblast as of June last year, according to local authorities, and the situation hasn't evolved since.

Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, one of the senior commanders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on March 20 that due to Russia focusing its offensive effort on Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, there are not enough forces and means to conduct offensive actions in other directions.

The Russians are trying to create the impression that they are preparing offensive actions in other operational areas, primarily in Zaporizhzhia, in order to divert the attention of our military command, Naiev told RBC Ukraine news outlet.

Russian artillery ammunition deficit, likely aggravating over the recent weeks, has led to "extremely" tight ammunition restrictions in many areas of Ukraine's front line, including the south, the U.K. Defense Ministry concluded on March 14.

"This has almost certainly been a key reason why no Russian formation has recently been able to generate operationally significant offensive action," the ministry said.

On the ground, soldiers confirm that the southern front line is relatively stable.

"It's a bit frozen, our men are manning their positions, Russians take care of theirs," Ilchuk says.

Ilchuk is a corporal who serves in the Thor Group, formerly a police special operation unit, now working in collaboration with Ukraines intelligence, tasked with scouting and reconnaissance missions in the region.

He admits that he expected more action when he arrived in the area after the Kherson counteroffensive.

"It feels like this general direction is a bit abandoned by both parties," he says.

Ukrainian soldier Valentyn Ilchuk, call sign Burzhui, monitors a colleague's drone near the front line. (Valentyn Ilchuk)

Ilchuk believes Ukraine threw significant resources to the Donbas, where fierce battles have been ongoing around Bakhmut to deplete Russian forces ahead of a potential counteroffensive in the southeast.

Ilchuk believes that neither Ukrainians nor Russians have concentrated enough manpower or firepower in the southern direction to advance, compared to the Kherson offensive that began in August, in which he took part.

Kherson was the only regional capital Russia had managed to capture since the launch of the full-scale war in February.

Russians troops were forced to completely withdraw from the city amid Kyiv's advancing months-long counteroffensive during the summer of 2022, culminating with the town's liberation on November 11, 2022.

"It's getting more intense these days, but it's much less intense than Kherson was. I'd never seen that much heavy gear in my life," he said of the Kherson operation.

With up to a hundred tanks and a couple of hundreds of armored vehicles, "it looked like f***ing Mad Max," he says. He says he hasnt seen a similar level of concentration of equipment where he is now.

Ilchuk thinks the stalemate may continue as Russians lack the resources to advance further.

Troop concentration

Compared to eastern hotspots such as Bakhmut or Vuhledar, on the southern front line, the Russian forces are far less concentrated, and the regiments are spread out, according to open-source military maps such as DeepState.

Still, the concentration of troops keeps increasing, according to Ashot, call sign "Doc," a drone unit commander garrisoned in the region.

Ukraine's intelligence claimed on Feb. 6 that Russia was prepared to mobilize 300,000 to 500,000 troops to sustain a significant offensive in the Donbas and "possibly" in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast in spring and summer.

From above, Ashots drones recently witnessed a growing concentration of Russian troops, but he didn't specify how many. And yet, he said they brought less and less equipment with them compared to the beginning of the invasion.

"The Russian army received a lot of new soldiers, but they come without tanks or armored vehicles, even without new artillery," he says.

And it's the same all along the southern front line, from the village of Malynivka to nearby Orikhiv.

Ashot believes such a concentration of troops is part of Russia's strategy to try and exhaust Ukraine's Armed Forces while sparing their equipment.

"They try to keep their equipment for the next offensive," he says.

And Russians are learning from their initial mistakes, according to the mobile air defense officer.

"They learned from Ukrainian tactics," the air defense officer says. "First, (they send) a small group of people, and then, their machines join the fight."

Ukrainian forces advance roughly one kilometer in some villages, such as Novodanilovka and Mala Tokmachka, along the front line, but Russians are trying to take them back relentlessly.

"We kill and wound them, but they keep coming," the officer says, asking for more modern, Western weapons to take better shots at Russians.

War from above: A day with drone unit defending Ukraines south Editors Note: The Ukrainian soldiers featured in this article dont share their family names for security reasons. ZAPORIZHZHIA OBLAST  A couple of running gray silhouettes appear on the phone screen of drone unit commander Ashot, call sign Doc. They saw the drone, see? he pointed at them. Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query

Only five of the 24 men who shared his quarters during the opening months of 2022 are still alive.

"It's tragic how many young men died because of wasted time over Western weapons," the officer says. "They give us enough weapons not to surrender, but it's not enough," he adds.

Waiting to strike

Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers are looking forward to a potential counteroffensive that many believe might still happen in the south despite fights in the east.

Ukraine's upcoming spring counteroffensive will aim to "drive a wedge into the Russian front in the south between Crimea and mainland Russia," Skibitsky said in an interview with German media back in February.

Skibitsky said he thinks Ukraine will be ready for its counteroffensive in the spring but said the exact moment it begins would depend on a number of factors, including the supply of Western weapons.

"Right now, the situation is difficult, but we're holding the line and even advancing a bit, even if it's for one kilometer or two," says a soldier, call sign "Taxist," who declined to provide his name because his family remains under Russian occupation.

The heavily fortified Russian-occupied city of Melitopol is a vital point for Ukraine. Controlling it could help break Russia's supply line from occupied Crimea to the east, while the city could be used as an outpost to launch a broader counteroffensive on the east bank of the Dnipro River. (Lisa Kukharska)

The soldier believes it would be tough to take back Melitopol, occupied since late February 2022, and turned into a fortress with a series of concrete-built echelon defense lines.

Melitopol, located roughly 100 kilometers from the current southern front line, has regularly been depicted as the next big target for Ukrainian Armed Forces in the south.

Taking Melitopol, located between Kherson and Mariupol, would allow Ukraine to cut Russian supply lines from Crimea to Donbas and push further toward Berdiansk and the Azov Sea.

However, the soldier says Russian forces had almost a year to dig in.

Satellite images taken in January show that Russians built anti-tank ditches and trenches for their soldiers, establishing at least three lines of defense before reaching Tokmak, roughly 25 kilometers from the current front line and north of Melitopol.

"It's gonna be a tough fight," Taxist said. "But we have enough artillery for the moment and good morale."

Note from the author:

Hello, this is Alexander Query, back from the southern front line, to give you an accurate glimpse of the current situation. My colleagues and I are trying to be your eyes and ears on the ground, so you can understand whats happening in Ukraine because the war continues far from the headlines. Well continue to deliver on this mission, but we need your help and support to keep us going. If you enjoyed this reading, please consider supporting us.
(Bloomberg) -- Kyiv faced a new drone attack late Monday. Hungary backed Finlands accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, putting Helsinki a step away from joining the defense alliance.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Turkey, the only other NATO member not to act on Finlands accession bid, is expected to vote before its parliament goes into recess ahead of the May 14 elections. The US is pushing for Finland and Swedens applications to be completed before the alliances July summit.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiys government has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over Russias move to station nuclear weapons in Belarus and the EU has threatened additional sanctions.

Key Developments

Hungary Ratifies Finlands NATO Bid, Leaving Sweden Behind

Ukraine Visit Buoys Japan Premier Kishida Before Local Elections

Putin Says Russia to Place Tactical Nuclear Arms in Belarus

Ukraine Official Creditors Extend Freeze to 2027 Amid IMF Loan

Russia Seeks 400,000 More Recruits as Latest Ukraine Push Stalls

(All times CET)

Kyiv Under Second Drone Attack This Month (11:10 p.m.)

Explosions were reported in the northern and western parts of Kyiv late Monday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Rescue teams were dispatched, Klitschko said without elaborating. He said he had no information yet on casualties but that one shop on the outskirts of the city was on fire.

Local media and social networks in Ukraine reported multiple drones entering the countrys airspace on Monday, some of which were shot down by the nations air defenses.

The last time Ukraine was under a significant drone and missile attack was March 9.

Deaths Reported in Russian Attack in Eastern Donetsk (5:20 p.m.)

At least two people were killed and more than 30 others injured when S-300 missiles hit the towns of Slovyansk and Druzhkivka, Ukrainian national police said on Facebook. A rescue operation is ongoing and the casualty toll expected to rise. Administrative buildings, infrastructure objects, several multi-stored residential buildings, as well as dozen of cars and an orphanage were destroyed.

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Germanys 18 Leopard Tanks Now in Ukraine (5:05 p.m.)

A German government official announced the news, confirming an earlier report by the magazine Spiegel. The battle tanks of the model 26A were handed over at the border and will soon be used on the battlefield by Ukrainian troops who were trained in Germany in the past two months. Initially, Germany had only promised 14 Leopards, but later added four more in order to able to create a full battalion of 31 tanks together with supplies from Poland and other EU states.

EU Is Working on Sanctions of Moldovan Oligarchs (12:36 p.m.)

The European Union is looking to sanction Moldovan oligarchs that are accused of helping to destabilize the country, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Moldova had earlier called on the EU to sanction oligarchs it says are working with Russia in seeking to foment violence and overthrow the government, and several EU states have backed those calls, Bloomberg previously reported. Russia has dismissed the claims.

The EU is working on a legal basis that would allow it to sanction the individuals, said the people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The bloc hopes to have that framework in place by June when a European Political Community summit is due to take place in Chisnau, the capital of Moldova.

Baltic Nations Call for More Sanctions on Belarus and Russia (10:48 a.m.)

Russias plans to place nuclear arms in Belarus are desperate moves designed to destabilize Europe, and allies should respond by imposing sanctions on Belarus, Lithuania and Latvias foreign ministries said.

The EU and G-7 should impose more sanctions against Russia and Lukashenkos regime and close all the loopholes in the existing ones, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter. These are desperate moves by Putin and Lukashenko to create another wave of tension and destabilization in Europe, Lithuanias Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Lithuania will call for the adoption of new sanctions.

EUs Borrell Threatens More Sanctions on Russia (8:03 a.m.)

Stationing Russian nuclear arms in Belarus, as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday, would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security, Josep Borrell, the European Unions foreign policy chief, said on Twitter. The EU is ready to respond with more sanctions, he said.

Frances foreign ministry also condemned Putins agreement to deploy nuclear arms in Belarus, calling on Moscow in an emailed statement to show a sense of responsibility.

Kyiv Calls for Urgent UN Security Council Meeting (8:03 a.m.)

Zelenskiys government has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over Russias move to station nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Ukraine expects effective actions to counteract the Kremlins nuclear blackmail including from permanent members of the council, Ukraines foreign ministry said in a strongly worded statement.

The Russian presidents vow to station Russian nuclear arms in Belarus is yet another step by the criminal Putin regime, the ministry said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
TEHRAN, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, discussed in a phone call on Sunday the holding of a bilateral meeting in the coming days.

China, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced on March 10 that the latter two had reached a deal that includes the agreement to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions within two months.

This was the second phone conversation between the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers in a week, following the signing of the agreement between Tehran and Riyadh on the normalization of bilateral ties in Beijing, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's website.

The two foreign ministers also discussed the latest condition of the Tehran-Riyadh agreement and exchanged views on the holding of their bilateral meeting in the fasting month of Ramadhan, which will end in late April.

They also highlighted the "constructive path" on which the bilateral relations are moving.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in early 2016 in response to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric. 
Controlling Medicare drug costs can help with deficit

There was a big headline with a long column March 12 blaming the federal government for high drug prices. Which government, when?

In 2005, Republicans were in control, under President George W. Bush. Their Medicare reform bill forbid Medicare from bargaining for better prices with pharmaceutical companies. Republicans continued that prohibition.

President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech, said it: Finally, it looks like Medicare will be allowed to bargain for all drug prices. I hope so.

I heard Larry Kudlow over and over say: Let the free market work! Biden did say he capped the price of insulin at $35 per month for Medicare recipients. And he did say he would like to cap the price of insulin for everybody. But where did he say expanding price controls to cover all Americans, and not just Medicare recipients, is the solution to lower pharmaceutical prices, as the writer of this opinion piece claims?

Biden did say: "In the last two years, my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion  the largest deficit reduction in American history. Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. Because of those record deficits, no president added more to the national debt in any four years than my predecessor.

Republicans refusing, since 2005, to allow Medicare to bargain with pharmaceutical companies also added to the deficit year after year. TCPalm long ago had a tiny news article telling how many billions of dollars that refusal to let the free market work had cost us by then.

Perhaps its time for your columnist to look up those numbers. After all, arent his wages paying into that Medicare fund?

Helen Frigo, Jensen Beach

New College students protest before a board of trustees meeting on campus in February.

Guns vs. books: Lawmakers' priorities awry?

As a retired Indian River County teacher of 30 years, I am furious that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his foot soldiers imply that those in my profession are immoral.

Story continues

I never saw a pornographic or obscene book in the library or on a classroom shelf. The claim that there are such books, which by extension means teachers are sanctioning them, is a baseless and infuriating lie.

I love this quote: "When we ban books before we ban guns, we prove we are more concerned with children learning than we are of them dying."

This is a truth America must admit to.

Joan Fox, Vero Beach

Local authors make for great guest speakers

Our book club in Lake Park, Tradition, recently had the pleasure to have a presentation and question-and-answer session with local author Larry David Allman.

Allman discussed his latest books Downward Dog In Miami and TACTICAL YOGA: A Guide to the Strategic Use of Posture, Breath and Meditation. A most interesting and informative discussion followed with his views and experiences on the creative and writing process, getting published, marketing and promotion and health-related aspects in his books.

This was our first time having a published author in person. It was both different and dynamic. It was a lot more interesting than the static normal of just reading and discussing a book among members.

Allman emphasized that there are several local authors who have published numerous books, and specifically mentioned Fred Berri and Ellen Gillette as two of the most successful.

Other book clubs and community associations should avail themselves of this rich local resource we have here on the Treasure Coast: published authors who share their experience and expertise  in person.

Dr. Judy Di Mattia, Port St. Lucie

Taliban special force fighters arrive inside the Hamid Karzai International Airport after the U.S. military's withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 31, 2021. The Taliban were in full control of Kabul's international airport on Tuesday, after the last U.S. plane left its runway, marking the end of America's longest war.

Biden has proven ineffective in many areas

I was confused when I read a response to my letter claiming Joe Biden was responsible for the fiasco in Afghanistan during the withdrawal. Did the writer actually say or imply withdrawal negotiations conducted years ago with Taliban officials must be adhered to regardless of the changing conditions on the ground?

I heard presidential Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre try that excuse during a conference. Nobody bought it then or should believe it now. If current conditions have to be ignored and all that matters is what Donald Trump negotiated, then the question that begs to be asked: Why do we need Biden at all?

Biden had two years to establish foreign policy with his signature. Is he is incapable of that? Republicans already knew that, but if this country is to move forward, Democrats have to admit it!

The weakness of Biden in foreign policy is apparent to the entire world. Chinese have started sabre rattling over Taiwan and North Korea is now testing missiles over the Sea of Japan. This countrys domestic policy is also in shambles. Mexican cartels have been sending fentanyl across our southern border in greater amounts that weve seen before. Our energy supply has been disrupted by shutting down the oil pipeline, resulting in the loss of 11,000 jobs.

All of these actions were taken by Biden but somehow, through the magic of political spin, its Trump's fault! How ignorant do you think the American voters are? It may work with lockstep Democratic voters but, it doesnt fly with Republicans or independents.

The only thing I can see Biden has done is get a trillion-dollar spending boondoggle passed. Why do so many Democrats believe that the more money spent equates to good governance?

Frank Fuchs, Fellsmere

'Equity' seems like some Robin Hood movement

Over the past couple of months I have read a lot and listened to many articles and news stories about "equity."

The fact these stories even are presented has amazed me. As I understand it, those that are in favor seem to imply it is giving a certain class of people an advantage over those not within that class.

Over the years, companies I had been associated with tried to not discriminate, in compliance with the law, because of race, creed, color or religion. I will add sometimes, not always, successfully.

But here we are now with companies, government, colleges, etc., attempting to do the same thing, but instead of calling it discrimination, they have renamed it equity. It seems like their argument is they are attempting to take from the rich and give to the poor. The problem with that theory is within the classes of people discriminated against, there are not only rich, but middle class and poor. Discrimination is discrimination and you can't change the fact by giving it a different name.

Edward Marasi, Port St. Lucie

Ukraine talk shows DeSantis, Trump unfit to handle foreign policy

Ron DeSantis is another appeaser with no sense of history.

Recently, DeSantis said the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia was a "territorial dispute." He went on to say protecting Ukraine was not a vital U.S. interest.

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia.

Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II.

So would DeSantis say Hitler's invasions of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and all that followed were merely territorial disputes?

If Vladimir Putin succeeds in Ukraine, will Belarus be next? And then what?

Sadly, DeSantis and Donald Trump seem to have no sense of history. Neither is fit to lead our foreign policy.

Richard Sheehan, Vero Beach

Companies selling lumber have impact on climate change

Climate change is increasing temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns and causing extreme weather, resulting in fatalities and damage to infrastructure across the United States.

Protecting the North American boreal forest, the world's largest undisturbed forest, from logging is critical for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. Companies can have a larger impact on our climate than individuals can  especially companies that sell wood, like large home-repair stores.

Scott MacArthur, Port St. Lucie

Trifecta of letters spark responses, summary on nation's state

I thought that I was finished writing letters to the editor, but the hat trick of letters March 15 was too much to bear.

Regarding the first letter: Newsflash! The election wasnt stolen! Some families might be unaware of this because, although Fox News has confessed publicly to lying about this hoax, they will not air their admission for fear of losing their viewers. They know that some people wont look anywhere else for news.

Yes, I agree that D.C. is a swamp, but the former president, through his crime-boss tactics, has attempted to replace the swamp with a cesspool, as evidenced by the jail time to which his associates have been sentenced.

Regarding the former president's business dealings, I trust people are aware of his financial problems and questionable dealings.

Regarding the second letter: As a college professor, I have never encountered a university that teaches anti-American values or anti-capitalism. Im guessing some writers think otherwise, because their opinions have been supplied to them via whatever conspiracy sites they enjoy.

The letter writer mentions respect for authority and belief in the family. Has the writer observed the former presidents behavior in this regard?

Regarding the third letter: The writer seems concerned about a woke agenda. The writer must know being woke means someone is informed, educated, and conscious of social injustice. There are power-hungry people in our society who use woke as a slur against that which is good. I plan to stay woke.

In summary: The primary cause of a democracy failing is a failure to accept election results without evidence, followed closely by access to a conspiracy outlet and the banning of books. Does this sound familiar? Think Nazi Germany, Russia, China, North Korea, and now, America.

Daniel Kraft, Port St. Lucie

Stop Woke Act helps universities clean house effectively

As the Parents' Bill of Rights law shakes sense back into school administrators who allowed diversity, equity and inclusion training in policies and politics to infect education, The Stop the Woke Act is coming in for a landing.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has unnerved progressives who cling to gender affirmation, racial justice and a perverted view of America overall.

The replacement of the New College board of trustees in Sarasota kicked off the housecleaning season while the state Legislature is in session. The bugs under the rugs claimed that fascism is coming if professors couldnt push diversity, equity or inclusion in their admittedly left-leaning institution. It's funny how the TCPalm photo of New College protesters only showed Caucasian students worried about how there wouldnt be enough people of color in their school.

Not enough diversity. Wait, how many LBGTQ+ handicapped Asians do you have at the college now? Not enough inclusion.

If the New College graduates everyone with a B+ in core courses, is there any room for a summa cum laude organization or a valedictorian? Equity is the very definition of everyone getting the same results from different levels of accomplishment. This doesnt feel like your daddys school.

The president of the United Faculty of Florida said the impending insurrection would bring a choice of freedom or fascism. Is that the same freedom as the Air Force Academy mandating classes on white supremacy, West Point cadets appreciating systemic racism, or Annapolis future warriors taking classes in queer theory or implicit bias?

The governor says $34 million is spent on these woke programs and hiring radical teachers to push them.

If youre just hiring the best, youre part of the problem?

Bring in the large vacuum cleaner fast.

Norman Grant, Vero Beach

Who should judge whether someone's American?

I often read letters to the editor about how lefties and Democrats are un-American.

The DNA thing is wonderful. It tells a lot about where you came from. According to my DNA tree, my mother's family came to Massachusetts in the 1690s. My fathers family landed in Virginia in 1705. I was born in Florida to a father who was a combat veteran of Vietnam. Im a combat vet from the Gulf War, and my son is a combat vet of Afghanistan.

Right-wingers do not get to decide who is American and who is not. Real Americans dont play the victim; real Americans dont attempt to overthrow the federal government. The Republican Party will never decide who is an American and who is not.

Don Whisman, Stuart

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: DeSantis, Biden, Trump take hits; Medicare costs; books, guns; Ukraine
Key developments on March 27:

Russian missile strike on Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast kills 2, injures 32

Zelensky meets with UN nuclear watchdog chief in Zaporizhzhia

Fierce battles ongoing for three cities in Donetsk Oblast

Ukraine considering every option in Bakhmut, will 'act adequately,' military commander says

Der Spiegel: Germany transfers 18 Leopard 2 tanks pledged to Ukraine.

On March 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a region still partially under Russian occupation.

The trip marks his third visit to front-line regions within the past week. While there, Zelensky met with Ukrainian service members and Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Zelensky and Grossi discussed the protection of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant  Europe's largest nuclear power plant, located in Enerhodar along the southern bank of the Dnipro River, which has been under Russian control since March last year.

The plant was disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid several times due to Russian attacks. Investigations using satellite imagery and other resources have revealed that Russia had positioned armored vehicles and additional military equipment near the plant's six reactors.

"I met President Volodymyr Zelensky today and had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraine's nuclear facilities," Grossi wrote on Twitter following the meeting.

Despite not being fully occupied, Zaporizhzhia Oblast is among the four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed to have annexed following sham referendums in September 2022.

Ukraine holds back on southern counteroffensive, soldiers say Zaporizhzhia Oblast  In a split-second, two Ukrainian jets appear over the road, releasing chaff that sets off a couple of Russian anti-aircraft missiles. It allows one of the planes to hit a Russian position that billows with black smoke rising over the trees, leaving no doubt on how close the Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query

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Fierce battles ongoing for three cities in Donetsk Oblast

In eastern Donetsk Oblast, Russian forces maintain their aggressive campaign, seeking to occupy the entirety of the Donbas area, comprised of both Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

The fiercest battles are ongoing for the cities of Avdiivka, Marinka, and Bakhmut, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported in its regular evening update on March 27.

The Ukrainian military repelled 41 Russian attacks in the region, according to the report.

In the battle for Bakhmut that has been raging for the past eight months, Ukraine is considering "all possible options," Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, said during his visit to the front line.

"We are considering all possible options for the development of events and will act adequately to the current situation," Syrskyi empathized, as quoted by the Defense Ministry media center on March 27.

He described the battlefield situation in the area as "consistently difficult," praising Ukraine's military for "heroically restraining the enemy's onslaught" in extremely difficult conditions and "leaving no chance for the enemy to realize its plans."

The commander further explained that the defense of Bakhmut is driven by "military necessity" and relies on the strategic use of the city's defensive capabilities, established fortifications, and equipped fire structures.

I work, then I cry: Exhausted medics near Bakhmut fight for every life Editors note: In this story, the Kyiv Independent is not disclosing the Ukrainian soldiers full names or their deployed positions due to security concerns amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Donetsk Oblast  At an abandoned building about 20 minutes drive from Bakhmut, wounded Ukrainian soldiers pou Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima

On the previous day, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, reported that the Armed Forces had managed to "stabilize the situation" around the embattled Bakhmut, saying that while fighting persists in the area, it has lessened in intensity.

Meanwhile, the German magazine der Spiegel reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Berlin has transferred 18 Leopard 2 tanks pledged to Ukraine, as well as around 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

Ukraine has been pleading for the Western-made battle tanks for months, saying it could significantly influence the situation on the battlefield. Germany finally agreed to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allowed the re-export of the same models from other countries in late January.

Russian missile strike on Sloviansk kills 2, injures 29

Russia keeps attacking residential areas in Ukraine. On the morning of March 27, Russian forces hit the city of Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast. The oblast governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said the strike had killed at least two and injured 32 people.

Two Russian S-300 missiles hit the city center, damaging offices, apartment buildings, and houses, according to Kyrylenko.

Zelensky shared a video showing the aftermath of the Russian attack, promising that Ukraine would not forgive the tragedies inflicted on its people.

"All Russian terrorists will be defeated. Everyone involved in this aggression will be held responsible," Zelensky said.
The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has shared footage of a Russian drone being shot down over the territory of Ukraine.

Source: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Details: Ukraine's Air Force has reported that the Russian drone was shot down by fighters from Air Command Tsentr (Centre).

   ,      . pic.twitter.com/4gEuUIYFLe     (@ukrpravda_news) March 27, 2023

Background:

Russian occupation forces deployed drones in an attack on Kyiv Oblast on the night of 27-28 March. The drones were flying over Chernihiv Oblast, which falls under the responsibility of Air Command Tsentr (Centre). Ukraines Air Force has confirmed that several drones were shot down in Kyiv Oblast.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
By Nick Starkov

KYIV (Reuters) - Russia is turning Ukraine's Avdiivka into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday.

Some 2,000 civilians are left in Avdiivka, a Donetsk region city some 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the besieged Bakhmut, according to officials. The city had a pre-war population of more than 30,000.

"I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," the city's military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said on the Telegram messaging app.

The evacuation of the utility workers that were still left in the city has begun and mobile reception will be turned off soon, "because there are informers of the Russian occupiers in the city," Barabash added.

With Russian forces making recent gradual gains on the flanks of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military warned last week that the city could become a "second Bakhmut" - where months-long fierce fighting has turned the town into rubble.

On Sunday, Russian shelling targeted two high-rise buildings in Avdiivka, which is just 10 km from the northern outskirts of the city of Donetsk, which has been under Moscow's control since 2014.

One person was injured in numerous air strikes on Avdiivka on Saturday, according to Ukrainian military.

"You have to go, you have to pack your things, especially with your children," Barabash said.

Russia has denied targeting civilians in the now 13-month war it has waged against its neighbour. The war, which has no end in sight, has seen thousands killed, millions displaced and tens of Ukrainian cities nearly or partially wiped out.

(Reporting by Nick Starkov; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie Freed)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has described the assumption of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about the "discriminatory nature" of the searches in the buildings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate [UOC MP  ed.] as unbalanced.

Source: Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Facebook

Quote: "In a recent report on human rights in Ukraine, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR  ed.] noted that searches in the buildings of the UOC MP could be of a discriminatory nature.

Ukraine is a democratic state, in which freedom of religion is guaranteed. At the same time, freedom is not the same as the right to be engaged in activities that undermine national security.

We call on OHCHR to refrain from unbalanced political assessments and base its reports on facts."

Earlier: The day before, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights suggested that searches by Ukrainian security forces in the buildings of the UOC MP may be of a "discriminatory nature."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has neutralised the Russian FSB agent network that was adjusting fire at the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts.

Source: SSU; Prosecutors Office in Donetsk Oblast; Ukrainska Pravdas source in law enforcement agencies

Details: According to the SSU, the group consisted of eight local residents.

SBU counterintelligence officers gradually documented the criminal actions of Russian agents and detained four members of the Russian network.

Another four are in the territory of the aggressor country. Comprehensive measures are being taken to bring them to justice.

It is reported that one of them used the status of an assistant to a current MP of Ukraine and a journalist's certificate as a cover.

According to Ukrainska Pravdas source, this citizen is Oleksandr Dobrodomov, who is an assistant consultant to Valerii Hnatenko, the MP from the banned Opposition Platform  For Life party and former mayor of Druzhkivka. In the event of the occupation of the oblast, Dobrodomov offered himself for the position of "mayoral adviser".

According to the investigation, the agent network was formed by two FSB officers prior to the full-scale invasion. It included an agent who had previously been recruited in Kharkiv by the Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation. Other members of the group were involved in covert cooperation with the aggressor remotely or during their trips to Russia. Each of them was assigned the alias and worked out a conspiratorial legend.

After 24 February 2022, the FSB "activated" its agents to conduct intelligence and sabotage activities against Ukraine.

The prosecutor's office said that supporters of the "Russian world" collected information about the locations of military equipment, checkpoints and firing positions of the Armed Forces, confirmed the data and sent photos and videos after the strikes.

In particular, text messages and screenshots on Google Maps contained coordinates of tanks, trenches, posts, roads, and the movement of armoured vehicles and long-range weapons in the cities of Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, as well as in the city of Kharkiv and the Bohodukhiv district.

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The Russians "zone of special attention" included the routes of military equipment chains and the locations of railroad stations where Ukrainian weapons were unloaded.

They were paid in roubles for their work for the occupiers.

The SSU said that during searches at the suspects' residences, mobile phones used by them to communicate with the Russians were seized. The SSU also found Russian symbols and pro-Kremlin literature in their homes.

In addition, according to the coordinates revealed during the investigation, counterintelligence officers found their hiding place with weapons that the occupiers left behind while fleeing the counteroffensive of the Defence Forces in Kharkiv Oblast.

Based on the collected evidence, SSU investigators served the detainees with a notice of suspicion of state treason committed under martial law. The court remanded four suspects in custody while denying their release on bail.

The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 15 years or life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

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One pack of salt could be purchased for 500 hryvnias

Ukraines Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, said on Telegram on March 27 that the money will be used to fund a new fleet of suicide drones.

UNITED24 and Artemsil, Ukraines largest salt producer, released a limited batch of salt to commemorate the first anniversary of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The special batch was made from 20 tonnes of salt previously mined in the now-occupied town of Soledar. The batch consisted of 100,000 200g packs and cost UAH 465 ($12.7) per pack.

Read also: Artemsil salt from legendary Soledar on sale to mark 1st anniversary of full-scale invasion

Read also: Wagners Prigozhin claims he visited Soledar salt mines, Ukraine denies

The funds will be spent to purchase over 2,200 FPV drones, Federov said.

This was made possible thanks to everyone who purchased this pack of strength, he said.

And also thanks to the contributions of our donors and businesses that have continuously supported the army for more than a year.

National retail chain Silpo and online marketplace ROZETKA supported the initiative, covering some costs, while platform users covered the rest.

Read also: Zakarpattia to replace Ukrainian salt production lost in Donbas

More than UAH 8 million ($218,767) was raised thanks to the raffle of five packs of salt signed by the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence services, General Kyrylo Budanov.

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
GENEVA (AP)  U.N.-backed human rights experts said Monday there is evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed against Libyans and migrants in chaos-stricken Libya, including women being forced into sexual slavery.

The investigators commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council also faulted the European Union for sending support to Libyan forces that they say contributed to crimes against migrants and Libyans, and called on EU authorities to review their policies toward Libya.

The findings come in an extensive new report, based on interviews with hundreds of people, including migrants and witnesses, that wraps up a fact-finding mission created nearly three years ago to investigate rights violations and abuses in the North African country. The mission shared its findings with the International Criminal Court.

Oil-rich but largely lawless Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better quality of life in Europe. A ctivists have long decried horrible conditions faced by migrants who were trafficked and smuggled across the Mediterranean.

Spokespersons for the government in the capital of Tripoli, which works in western Libya, and the forces of a powerful commander that controls eastern and southern Libya, were not immediately available for comment.

The investigators found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity were committed against Libyans and migrants throughout Libya, said Mohamed Auajjar, the head of the fact-finding mission. Speaking in Arabic through a translator at a news conference in Geneva, he said his team unearthed "numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, torture, rape, enslavement, sexual enslavement and enforced disappearance.

The Libyan coast guard, which has received training and equipment from the EU, has worked in close coordination" with trafficking networks in Libya, the report said. The wide-scale exploitation of vulnerable, irregular migrants churned up significant revenue that spurred continued rights violations, it said.

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The support given by the EU to the Libyan coast guard in terms of pull-backs, pushbacks, (and) interceptions led to violations of certain human rights," said investigator Chaloka Beyani. "You cant push back people to areas that are unsafe, and the Libyan waters are unsafe for the embarkation of migrants.

He said the European bloc and its member states weren't found to be responsible for war crimes, but "the support given has aided and abetted the commission of the crimes.

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told reporters Monday that the EU did not fund the Libyan coast guard nor any other entity in Libya, adding that the EU assistance was meant to improve their performance.

We are providing assistance to help them improve their performance when it comes to search and rescue, be it with vessels, be it with equipment, or previously training with a focus exactly on human rights, he said.

The investigators documented enslavement, rape  at times at gunpoint  and other sexual abuse against women and men, including by guards working both for state authorities and trafficking groups.

Investigators cited evidence of crimes against humanity in prisons in parts of eastern Libya controlled by forces of commander Khalifa Hifter, as well as in areas controlled by an umbrella group of militias led by Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, an infamous warlord known as Gheniwa in the capital, Tripoli.

The U.N. migration agency, in its latest report published in mid-March, tallied nearly 700,000 migrants with 42 nationalities in Libya as of the end of last year. The investigators said the situation of human rights has been getting worse.

The missions mandate is ending when the human rights situation in Libya is deteriorating, parallel State authorities are emerging, and the legislative, executive and security sector reforms needed to uphold the rule of law and unify the country are far from being realized, it said.

Libya was plunged into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed, and left the country divided between rival governments on the east and west. The United Nations has been struggling to try to shepherd the country toward new elections.

The International Criminal Court has an ongoing investigation in Libya that was originally called for by the U.N. Security Council during the upheaval that led to Gadhafis ouster. In November, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said his office had joined a coalition of nations investigating human trafficking in the country.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
The UN Security Council on Monday rejected a Moscow-drafted resolution calling for an independent inquiry into the sabotage last year of the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany.

Western countries have blamed the explosions under the Baltic Sea last September on Russia, but the Kremlin has accused the West of sabotage.

The resolution got three votes, with China and Brazil backing Russia and the other 12 members abstaining.

The resolution called for the creation of a commission to "conduct comprehensive, transparent and impartial international investigation of all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, including identification of its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices."

Russia said it had been left out of investigations launched by Sweden, Germany and Denmark, all of which have rejected the accusation.

"We have serious and very well-founded doubt as to the objectiveness and transparency of national investigations conducted by some European states," said Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia.

He pointed to "increasing suspicions" that the three probes aimed "not to shed light on what happened with the acts of sabotage, but rather to hide evidence and to clean up the crime scene."

"I think that after today's vote, suspicion as to who is behind the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream is just obvious," he added.

Several members assured the three countries conducting the investigations of their confidence, and denounced what they dismissed as an attempt by Russia to divert attention from its invasion of Ukraine.

"It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russia's predetermined and political narrative," said Deputy US ambassador Robert Wood.

A previous version of the resolution seen by AFP stressed that the sabotage had taken place after "repeated threats to the Nord Stream by the leadership of the United States" but the line was subsequently omitted.

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Nearly six months after the explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, the responsibility for the attack remains a mystery.

The White House has flatly rejected a self-published report by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh that US Navy divers helped by Norway planted explosives on the pipelines last June and detonated them three months later.

The New York Times pointed to a "pro-Ukrainian group" opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing US intelligence sources.

abd/ft/dw
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.
SAO PAULO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and two others injured during a shooting at a nightclub in Sao Carlos, a city in Brazil's southeastern state of Sao Paulo, local police said Sunday.

The incident occurred on Saturday night when a man, who was thrown out of the club for being drunk, returned with a gun and opened fire on the crowd.

Two men died instantly and two others were hospitalized with injuries.

The 36-year-old assailant was shot dead by two police officers who were on duty in the area, local Police Commissioner Gilberto Aquino said.

After being expelled from the club, the attacker, wearing a helmet, returned to the party by car and began shooting, according to Aquino.

The party was a fundraiser for health centers in the state. 
Unions in Israel have launched widespread strikes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired a defense official who challenged his controversial plan to reform the nations judiciary.

Netanyahu ousted Yoav Gallant on Sunday after the defense minister broke ranks to call for a pause to Netanyahus judicial reform plans over concerns about turmoil within Israels military.

Gallants firing prompted a surge of nationwide demonstrations, and Israels largest trade union group has called for its hundreds of thousands of members across multiple sectors to stop work in protest. The Histadrut umbrella group covers nearly 800,000 workers in health, banking, transit and other industries.

Departing flights have also been grounded at Israels main international airport, local governments were expected to close preschools, and doctors were expected to walk off the job as part of protests that could debilitate Israels economy.

The demonstrations have crowded main streets in Tel Aviv, and protesters have gathered around Netanyahus private residence in Jerusalem.

The Biden administration said late Sunday that its deeply concerned about Gallants firing, which appeared to signal Netanyahu would go forward with his judicial shake-up.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also expressed worries about the Israeli prime ministers reform plans, which would give the executive body more power and let the government override Israel Supreme Court decisions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The carrier has more in store for its expansion plans.

Courtesy of United Airlines

I looked out the plane window as we flew over the Arabian Gulf. Dubais famous landmarks were slowly coming into view: first, the Palm Jumeirah, then the Burj Khalifa. We crossed the glittering city and made our way over the rolling sand dunes of the desert as we descended.

This wasnt just any flight. It was the inaugural flight for United Airlines' nonstop journey from Newark, New Jersey, to Dubai. This route now makes United the only U.S. carrier to fly direct from the U.S. to United Arab Emirates' most populous city. (United previously had a direct flight between Washington, D.C. and Dubai that was canceled in 2016, according to Reuters.)

The milestone flight is an expansion of United's partnership with Emirates, which the airlines first announced last fall. The new route means United serves a total of 35 destinations across the Atlantic Ocean, and it's indicative of the carrier's international expansion plans.



"It's important to have metal in the market," Patrick Quayle, the senior vice president of global network planning and alliances at United, told Travel + Leisure before boarding the Dubai flight. "It's really about creating an opportunity for our passengers to have that ability to fly United ... it really is symbolic to have a United plane going there."

Alison Fox

Alison Fox

After boarding the 13-hour and 30-minute flight, I settled into Uniteds Polaris business class. The flight took off at 9:40 p.m. and I enjoyed a late-night dinner. Later, I watched as the airline's famous ice cream sundae cart rolled down the aisle  dished out by none other than an apron-wearing Quayle himself  before turning my seat into a bed to catch a few hours of sleep.

As a bonus, United handed out commemorative pajamas and orange-and-cardamom baklava to celebrate the inaugural flight. The airline also gave each passenger a box of dates when we landed.

Alison Fox

But direct flights to Dubai is not Uniteds end game. It's just one part of their 2023 expansion plan. In May, the airline will launch a brand new flight to Malaga, Spain, from its Newark hub. Plus, it will resume flights to Stockholm (also from Newark) for the first time since 2019. United is also adding new flights to destinations it already serves, connecting San Francisco and Rome, Washington, D.C. and Berlin, and more.

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"Were looking at more expansion, we're looking at some new cities, and we're looking at connecting existing dots," Quayle told T+L. "It's really like making a cake: There are all these different ingredients and you have to mix them appropriately [to] get a great outcome."

Last year, United added five new destinations, marking its largest-ever transatlantic expansion: Amman, Jordan; Bergen, Norway; Azores, Portugal; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; and Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands.

And Quayle said the airline isnt done yet. "This has been our strategy for a long time," he said. "What I found is that breadth matters, so having a broad range of destinations matters."

Alison Fox

Once on the ground in Dubai, I made my way through the citys stunning architecture and bright lights that made it feel alive and humming after dark. I checked into my room at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai and walked to the window, looking down at the city lights from my room on the 48th floor.

I took in the glowing Burj Al Arab, which was lit up green that night, and spotted the Atlantis, The Palm in the distance. Standing there, I could see why Dubai was on Uniteds list, and couldnt wait to explore more.

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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
Amelia Sherman, 19, isnt the first in her family to fall in love with creating music; however, she is the first to keep her "pitch perfect" in an a cappella group.

I started getting into music when I was in elementary school and ever since I was younger I joined the choir and played the piano  music has been a big part of my life for a while, Sherman said.

Now a freshman at the University of Delaware, Shermans musical talent was discovered by Vocal Point, a gender-inclusive a cappella group with a focus on '80s music. The group has a storied history and tradition that stretches back more than 20 years to the groups founding in 1998. It is UD's oldest a cappella group, according to the colleges website.

On Saturday, Sherman competed as part of the a cappella group in the 2023 Mid Atlantic International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Semifinals  a premier a cappella competition that showcases some of the best art of singing from high school and colleges across the nation.

Throughout the groups history, Vocal Point has produced an album and three EPs and performed nationally. This year, the group celebrated its 25 years with a schedule of competitions and concerts, the website states.

Sherman said the a cappella group caught her attention at the universitys Fall 2022 Involvement Fair  an event held each year for students to connect with organizations on campus. In September, the freshmen auditioned for six a cappella groups at the college, she said.

I got into all of the groups, but I chose to be in Vocal Point because I thought I would blend well with them and I do  it was a good choice on my part, Sherman said. Ive never competed with an a cappella group before, so this is a new experience for me.

Amelia Sherman solos with Vocal Point of the University of Delaware during the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Mid-Atlantic semifinal competition at the Playhouse on Rodney Square, Saturday, March 25, 2023.

Sherman is one of Vocal Points 15 members, all led by President Nick Quintana.

Vocal Point did not place in Saturday's competition, but the group won a separate award for outstanding choreography. Their setlist featured Dai Freyrs tune Think About Things, Michael Jacksons Thriller and Christina Aguileras Fall in Line. Quintana said the group intends to create a story through their musical selections.

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We can sing something perfectly or execute a dance move perfectly, but if it doesnt make the audience feel something, then were really missing out on an opportunity to perform, said Quintana, adding that each person in Vocal Point collaborates on song selection and choreography.

The University of Delaware's MelUDees, including Cole Walker (in tie) and Sydney Levine (front), performs during the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Mid-Atlantic semifinal competition at the Playhouse on Rodney Square in Wilmington on Saturday, March 25, 2023.

More:NBA YoungBoy, Eminem, Post Malone and Straight No Chaser have ties to Delaware TikTok star

Vocal Point competed against a fellow UD a cappella group, MelUDees, and other groups from Rutgers, Temple, Villanova, James Madison, George Mason, Johns Hopkins and West Chester universities. This year marked Vocal Point's eighth time in the competition.

Each group was given 10 minutes to impress the judges and was judged on vocal and visual performance. A University of Maryland a cappella group, DaCadence, placed first in the semifinals and will go on to represent the Mid-Atlantic region in the national tournament.

Quintana credited his team on their award and said he is looking forward to next year's ICCAs.

"We went into semifinals knowing that every competitor was going to be really good, so we went in with the mindset of whatever the outcome was, that we were going to put it all out on the stage and thats what we did. ... We have to keep that momentum going," Quintana said.

Members of University of Delaware's Vocal Point receive the award for "Outstanding Choreography" during the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Mid-Atlantic semifinal competition at the Playhouse on Rodney Square, Saturday, March 25, 2023.

Vocal Point will return to the stage on Saturday, April 1, in Washington, D.C ., for Sing Out for Shelter 2023, an annual benefit concert to raise money to fight homelessness. Those interested in tickets or more information can visit augmented8.org.

Have a tip or story idea? Contact local reporter Cameron Goodnight at cgoodnight@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-324-2208. Follow him on Twitter at @CamGoodnight.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Vocal Point, a UD a cappella group, competes to go to national contest
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra

Read also: UOC-MP complains about Kyiv Cave Monastery ban

The journalists noticed that some religious icons have vanished from the Lavra, and priests didnt answer questions about how that might have happened. Other priests said they were going to remove everything except the relics, since they consider all property, including icons, to be property of UOC-MP.

On March 10, Ukraines Culture Ministry decreed that UOC-MP must vacate the premises it leases the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra by March 29.

Read also: Ukraine wants Moscow Patriarchate to vacate Lavra by March 29, says culture minister

In response, UOC-MP stated that the Ministry of Culture had issued an "ultimatum" and that their demands have no legal basis.

The Synod of UOC-MP stated on March 23 that they were deprived of the right to stay in the monastery "without any reason" and that the authorities "despise and destroy shrines."

The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Reserve terminated agreements with the UOC-MP to lease the Assumption Cathedral and the Refectory Church on the territory of the Upper Lavra on Jan. 1.

Read also: SBU detains Russian FSB agents in eastern Ukraine, including assistant to MP

For the first time in history, the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Metropolitan Epiphanius, held a Christmas service in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on Jan. 7.

The State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience concluded on Feb. 1 that UOC-MP remains a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church, despite the Church Council's declaration of "full autonomy and independence."

Read also: Zelenskyy imposes personal sanctions against religious organizations affiliated with UOC MP

In 2022, the Security Service (SBU) began inspecting UOC-MP religious buildings throughout Ukraine, discovering anti-Ukrainian literature and symbols in many churches.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Could taxpayers wind up bailing out wealthy customers at banks such as Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and others that are struggling?

Depends on who you ask.

The White House and fellow Democrats are adamant that taxpayers wont feel such pain.

No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Let me repeat that: No losses will be borne by the taxpayers, President Joe Biden said after the two California banks failed.

Monday, First Citizens Bank & Trust Company bought substantially all loans and certain other assets, of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Seventeen SVB branches reopened Monday as a Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank.

While First Citizens Bank is buying SVBs loans at a discount, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation estimated Monday that the cost of the SVB failure to its insurance fund would be about $20 billion. The exact cost will be determined when the FDIC terminates the receivership, an FDIC statement said.

Congressional committees plan hearings this week on the trouble at Santa Clara-based SVB and New Yorks Signature Bank. On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee plans to hear from top federal regulators, and on Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee will examine the issue.

What concerns many Washington lawmakers is that if the FDIC continues the practice of compensating all depositors, or if several banks teeter at once, a lot more money would likely be needed.

And that, said many Republicans, would mean consumers could get hit with higher costs. They worry that the financial institutions would pass on their higher fees and costs to consumers and that smaller, healthier institutions would wind up bailing out less responsible banks.

Consumers are bailing out the banks when FDIC insurance coverage is extended to large deposits, said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove. Ultimately that is spread directly to all bank depositors through higher fees. That is a bailout.

And, tweeted Senate Banking Committee member Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, it is outrageous to ask Wyoming community banks to foot the bill for the bailout in the form of higher fees.

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Currently, deposits are insured up to $250,000 for each account by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations deposit insurance fund.

The FDICs fund, which taps insured banks for quarterly premiums that provide the insurance, plans to pay all of SVB and Signature deposits, even though most accounts had far above the account limits. If the fund needs more money, the government could tap banks for a special assessment.

A consumer bailout?

Theres no easy answer as to whether consumers will see higher fees, though it appears unlikely.

President Biden was emphatic in asserting that no taxpayer funds would be used to bail out Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. And the administration is aware of the significant political blowback it would get from using taxpayer funds for future bailouts, said Peter Lee, professor of law at the University of California-Davis Law School.

He said that while other banks could wind up contributing to cover the costs from uninsured deposits at failed banks, any cost shifting to consumers in the form of higher fees will probably be less than what Republicans are predicting, particularly because of President Bidens recent calls to crack down on junk fees, such as service fees from banks.

Biden in his State of the Union address last month called for an end to such fees, often included in the cost of services provided by banks as well as airlines, hotels, ticket sellers and others.

The politics of bailouts

Rescuing failing banks is politically tricky. The administration has been aggressively assuring Americans that the nations financial system is stable and protected.

Soon after the collapse of SVB and Signature, federal regulators held briefings for California lawmakers making such assurances.

Not everyone was satisfied. It was utterly unassuring, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, said. The FDIC was lost in bureaucracy.

The regulators issued a strong statement two days after SVB ran into trouble, aiming to reassure the public they were taking strong steps to keep the banking system sound.

No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer, wrote Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg. They repeated that assurance for Signature Bank customers..

The Republican skeptics, who insist they also want to encourage a stable financial system, saw the bank issue as another example of an out-of-touch White House.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, combined the bank policy with Bidens effort to forgive billions in college student loans.

Such policies show the president is taking the side of wealthy elites over hard working Montanans, said Daines, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee..

Democrats countered that taxpayers would not wind up paying for banks failures Taxpayers are not on the hook for that, said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, flatly.

Republicans are not convinced that somehow, consumers will wind up being charged.

There is no money fairy. There isnt anything free. Anything free, somebody had to work for,said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., a Senate Banking Committee member.

All the banks in America that are going to have to pay for the Presidents bailout, he said. They are just going to pass on those costs, including but not limited to their depositors.
Editors note: This is the first part of a two-part series on the politicization of fentanyl overdoses.

The Republican takeover of the House shifted congressional oversight of the border, with GOP lawmakers using their new powers in efforts to link the fentanyl crisis to migration.

Fentanyl has increased the stakes in the decades-long drug war, inflaming the preexisting opiate crisis and bickering over border security, with a heightened lethality not shared by other recreational drugs.

The GOP has put a spotlight on fentanyl, portraying it as the connective tissue among immigration, crime, border chaos and the overdose epidemic.

In recent weeks the drug has been a fixture of GOP hearings, with House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) claiming backpacks full of fentanyl [are] pouring into our country while border officers are stretched thin in responding to migrants.

But statistics around fentanyl paint another picture, one in which American citizens are trafficking the drug to meet U.S. demand, with 90 percent of fentanyl captured as it is driven into the country through border crossing checkpoints.

To hear many of my colleagues, youd be led to believe that vulnerable migrants are the ones bringing these drugs into the United States, said Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) who represents an El Paso district along the border.

What we have failed repeatedly to do in our country is talk about the demand for these drugs. And you know, the focus has always been on the supply. And I really wish my colleagues would be as passionate about addressing addiction and the demand for illegal substances as they are passionate about the supply of them, she said.

Were never going to get past our substance abuse issues as a country until we deal with both ends. And until we talk about this in an honest way, Escobar added.













A flood of fentanyl

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has been used in regulated pharmaceutical production since the 1960s. But its recreational use, backed by production from illegal labs, has proved especially dangerous given the potency of a drug up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

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As a street drug, fentanyl is largely produced by clandestine labs in Mexico from chemical precursors sourced from China, according to the State Departments 2022 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

The drug killed some 70,000 Americans last year, part of a growing trend of synthetic opioids that now account for more than three quarters of all overdose deaths.

Its path to the U.S. is surprisingly straightforward; data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows 90 percent or more of fentanyl seizures have happened at U.S. ports of entry, while a fraction of fentanyl is captured between ports of entry.

And U.S. Sentencing Commission data shows that the vast majority of those convicted of trafficking fentanyl into the U.S. are American citizens.

A review of sentencing records from the Cato Institute found that last year, 86 percent of those convicted of trafficking fentanyl were U.S. citizens, while 9 percent of those who brought fentanyl into the country were foreigners with no legal status in the U.S.

Despite arresting over 700,000 illegal entrants so far this year, less than 1 percent of CBPs fentanyl seizures have come from people carrying it across the border illegally, David Bier, the groups associate director of immigration studies, told lawmakers last month. Maybe its right to investigate the scourge of fentanyl deaths. But immigrants are not the cause.

Experts say its easier for cartels to have people with U.S. passports transport the drug, crossing the border at a designated port where the risk of search is minimal and the majority of cars are waved through.

That trend was on display as fentanyl seizures spiked at the start of the pandemic, with former President Trump shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border to all but essential traffic  including returning U.S. citizens.

The limited traffic meant officers were able to search a greater share of cars crossing the border, and the proportion of border searches that found fentanyl shot up fourfold.

Meanwhile, the data shows little correlation between migration and fentanyl.

When migration goes up, fentanyl numbers dont change; when migration goes down, fentanyl numbers dont change either, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council.

If it were true that high numbers of migrants led to more fentanyl making it across the border without being detected, you would expect to see that in the drug and migration data. But you just dont, he said.

Fentanyl at the forefront

Regardless of how fentanyl is crossing the border, its consumption and lethality have made it a political red meat issue.

Though many in the GOP now stop short of accusing asylum-seekers and economic migrants of acting as mules for smugglers, they still link migration to drug smuggling on the premise that smugglers direct migrant flows to open smuggling lanes.

Still, polling has shown that Americans by and large conflate the two issues; an NPR-Ipsos poll in August found that more than half of respondents believed an invasion was taking place at the southern border, and 50 percent said migrants carrying fentanyl over the border are responsible for the increase in drug overdoses.

Despite Department of Homeland Security data pointing to U.S. citizens at ports of entry as the main source of fentanyl, Republicans say high overdose death rates suggest other streams of fentanyl into the country.

CBP drug seizure numbers only capture screened activity at ports of entry (POEs). Unlike its ability to track known gotaway aliens, CBP does not have the capability or technology to track drugs entering between POEs, Green told The Hill in an email.

And Republicans generally are not buying the administrations analysis of trafficking routes  the laser focus on ports of entry, say Republicans, raises more questions than it answers.

Green noted that fentanyl overdoses continued to increase during the pandemic, when ports of entry were ostensibly closed to nonessential travel.

How is this possible if fentanyl doesnt get trafficked between POE? And even as fentanyl seizures remained stagnate at POEs when they reopened, the number of deaths from fentanyl continued to rise, Green said.

How do we explain that? This fentanyl is coming from somewhere, its time for this administration to stop diverting blame or making excuses and instead put a stop to it.

Still, the potency and irregular quality of cartel lab fentanyl raise the possibility that any substantial supply of the drug will result in a high overdose death rate.

Its something both Republicans and Drug Enforcement Administration officials have noted when referring to statistics that enough fentanyl has been seized to kill every American. Thats in part because just two milligrams, an amount akin to the size of the tip of a pencil, can be deadly.

But Reichlin-Melnick said theres little evidence to suggest fentanyl is pouring across the border by those on foot. In his own review of roughly 500 publicly reported incidents over the last two years in which CBP agents seized fentanyl either at or between ports of entry, just nine were reported as having been brought in on foot.

There is no doubt that this does happen on an isolated basis, he said. But there is no evidence the amount of fentanyl or other drugs that come across the border in such instances are anything other than the trickle compared to what is coming in through the front door at ports of entry.

The Department of Homeland Security recently touted the newly installed technology that helps them root out fentanyl at ports of entry, noting that non-intrusive inspection technology, including the deployment of Multi Energy Portals in the cargo environment helped law enforcement seize 900 pounds of fentanyl in the first week of a new project targeting the drug, called Operation Blue Lotus.

That marked an increase from the average weekly haul in February 2023, which was about 575 pounds, and an average of 283 pounds in weekly seizures in 2022.

Meanwhile, Democrats are still fuming that many Republicans voted against the infrastructure law passed in 2021 that included funding for modernizing land ports and boosting screening at the border.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said the high seizure rates at ports justify the investment there.

Why is not the investment in that security deterrent? And youre still dealing with stopping the product, youre stopping the source. Pretending that everybody that is here, every migrant is somehow carrying the fentanyl into this country, its part of the stereotype created to talk about the border and sealing the border, said Grijalva.

You have to deal with the source, no question, he added. But to ignore demand, ignore treatment, ignore other kinds of interventions to continue to try to satisfy this false narrative about weve got to seal the border, thats the only way to stop it serves their political interest more than it does solving the problem.

Public health or border issue?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, monthly synthetic opioid deaths have grown tenfold since 2015, alarming lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Michael Barnett, an associate professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, said the opioid epidemic began as an offshoot of a successful marketing campaign pushed by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

But the crisis has shifted over decades, with many users now seeking fentanyl as a substitute for heroin and prescription opiates. Mexican production of fentanyl, he said, is meeting a growing U.S. demand  one the government has failed to stem.

This is, I think, a classic messaging tactic, which is blaming outsiders for a problem that is a very American, very complex policy issue, Barnett said.

And it makes for way better on TV to show pictures of the border and talk about enforcement issues and individual horror stories of things that are happening at the border than to talk about the nitty gritty of how we get people access to services they need, he added.

But really, were the ones who have to take responsibility for it, because blaming others hasnt gotten us very far.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Jeff Mason and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not back away from its nearly eight-year-old deployment to Syria, where it is battling the remnants of Islamic State, despite attacks on U.S. forces there last week by Iran-backed militia, the White House said on Monday.

A one-way attack drone struck a U.S. base in Syria on March 23, killing an American contractor, injuring another and wounding five U.S. troops.

That triggered U.S. retaliatory air strikes and exchanges of fire that a Syrian war monitoring group said killed three Syrian troops, 11 Syrian fighters in pro-government militias and five non-Syrian fighters who were aligned with the government.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said he was not aware of any additional attacks over the past 36 hours but cautioned, "We're going to stay vigilant."

Kirby also referred to President Joe Biden's remarks on Friday, in which Biden warned Iran that the United States would act forcefully to protect Americans.

"There's been no change in the U.S. footprint in Syria as a result of what happened the last few days," Kirby said, adding the mission against Islamic State would continue.

"We're not going to be deterred ... by these attacks from these militant groups."

Syria's foreign ministry on Sunday condemned U.S. strikes, saying Washington had lied about what was targeted and pledging to "end the American occupation" of its territory.

Iran's foreign ministry also condemned the strikes, accusing U.S. forces of targeting "civilian sites."

U.S. forces first deployed into Syria during the Obama administration's campaign against Islamic State, partnering with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces. There are about 900 U.S. troops in Syria, most of them in the east.

Prior to the latest spate of attacks, U.S. troops in Syria had been attacked by Iranian-backed groups about 78 times since the beginning of 2021, according to the U.S. military.

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Iran has been a major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's 12-year conflict.

Iran's proxy militias, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah and pro-Tehran Iraqi groups, hold sway in swathes of eastern, southern and northern Syria and in suburbs around the capital, Damascus.

(Reporting by Jeff Masson; writing by Jasper Ward and Phil Stewart; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Cynthia Osterman)
The United States has seen no evidence of Russia moving nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus or elsewhere.

Source: John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, on air during a broadcast by CBS, as reported by European Pravda



Details: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a TV interview on 25 March that Moscow and Minsk had reached an agreement on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

"We have not seen any indication that he's [Vladimir Putin  ed.] made good on this pledge or moved any nuclear weapons around," noted Kirby.

According to Kirby, the United States has also seen no signs that Putin has any intention of using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Kirby emphasised that nothing has forced the United States to change its own position on nuclear deterrence.

"With the rhetoric coming out of Moscow, and with the rhetoric that's been coming out since the beginning of the war, we've seen nothing that would cause us to change our own strategic deterrent posture," said Kirby.

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By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top animal care official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury last year as part of a criminal probe into animal researcher breeder Envigo's abuse of beagles is retiring, according to an internal email seen by Reuters on Monday.

Dr. Betty Goldentyer, a deputy administrator of the animal care program within the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced her plans to step down at the end of April in an email to USDA staff.

Reuters exclusively reported on March 9 that a federal grand jury ordered both Goldentyer and Dr. Robert Gibbens, another top animal care official, to testify last year in the Western District of Virginia. Federal prosecutors questioned them about their management of the Envigo inspections and why they did not act against the company despite repeatedly documenting the mistreatment of thousands of beagles.

Envigo is owned by biopharmaceutical company Inotiv Inc .

APHIS is the regulatory agency responsible for ensuring compliance with federal animal welfare laws at animal facilities across the U.S. from zoos to research facilities.

Goldentyer, who has been with the USDA's animal care program since 1988 and served as its deputy administrator since December 2019, did not provide a reason for her decision in the email.

An APHIS spokesperson did not have an immediate comment on the retirement, and Goldentyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

APHIS, Goldentyer and Gibbens also previously declined to comment on the grand jury testimony in the Envigo case, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.

"There is plenty of time to finish up those last few projects - and for goodbyes," Goldentyer wrote in an email seen by Reuters. "I don't know what retirement will look like for me but it's exciting... Have a good week and wish me luck."

Envigo, a major U.S. animal research breeder, shuttered its Cumberland, Virginia, facility last year after the Justice Department searched it in May 2022 and seized 446 dogs in "acute distress."

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The company later settled civil charges alleging it had shown a disregard for the dogs welfare, and it agreed to forfeit more than 4,000 beagles that remained onsite.

The Justice Department's parallel criminal and civil investigations into Envigo came after APHIS inspectors documented more than 60 violations of animal welfare laws at Envigo between July 2021 and March 2022.

Although APHIS has the authority to confiscate animals, revoke or suspend licenses, and pursue fines through negotiated settlements or administrative proceedings, it never acted against the company.

Reuters reviewed more than 800 pages of internal APHIS records related to the Envigo inspections that were obtained through a public records request by the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

The records showed there was a sharp divide between top APHIS officials and inspectors over how to handle the litany of problems that successive inspections found at the Envigo facility.

On March 16, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sent a letter to members of Congress and USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack that raised concerns about findings in the Reuters story.

"We call on you to immediately launch an investigation and terminate USDA staff found to be complicit in impeding inspections, investigations, and enforcement against Envigo," the animal advocacy group wrote.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Josie Kao)
Paul Vallas is running ahead of Brandon Johnson in the Chicago mayoral race with little more than a week to go before the April 4 runoff, according to a new Emerson College Polling/WGN-TV/The Hill poll released Monday.

Forty-six percent of Chicago voters say theyre backing Vallas, a former Chicago Public Schools CEO, in next weeks runoff, putting him 5 points ahead of Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and former teacher. Thirteen percent are still undecided in the race.

Vallass lead grows slightly when undecided voters were pressed on which candidate theyre leaning toward. In that scenario, Vallass support rises to 53 percent while Johnson comes in with 47 percent, the poll found.

The data, however, reveals a stark demographic divide in the mayoral runoff; 58 percent of young voters  those between 18 and 24 years old  favor Johnson, while Vallas performs better among voters 50 and over, drawing 52 percent support.

And men are also leaning toward Vallas, with 52 percent saying they plan to vote for him over Johnson. Women, meanwhile, are more evenly split; forty-three percent say theyre backing Johnson, while 41 percent are supporting Vallas.

Vallas and Johnson emerged as the top two vote-getters in a nine-way mayoral race last month that also saw incumbent Lori Lightfoot become the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose reelection.

The contest has increasingly centered on crime and public safety, pitting Vallass tough-on-crime approach against the more reform-minded proposals of Johnson, who has called for the city to address the root causes of crime.

The Emerson College Polling/WGN-TV/The Hill poll found that most Chicago runoff voters  52 percent  believe that crime is the most important issue in the race. And 61 percent say that they feel that theres more crime in Chicago today than there was a year ago.

Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College Polling, said that that perception factors into whom voters are planning to support in next weeks runoff.

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Of those who feel there is more crime in Chicago than there was a year ago, 59 percent are voting for Vallas and 27 percent Johnson, Kimball said. Of those who think there is the same amount of crime, 60 percent plan to support Johnson and 27 percent Vallas.

At the same time, most voters  54 percent  say they trust Vallas more to handle crime in the nations third-largest city. Thirty-eight percent say Johnson is better equipped to take on the issue, according to the poll.

The Emerson College Polling/WGN-TV/The Hill poll surveyed 1,000 very likely Chicago voters from March 23-25. It has a credibility interview  similar to a margin of error  of +/-3 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina in Beijing, capital of China, March 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina on Monday in Beijing.

Han conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings and best wishes to Honduran President Xiomara Castro.

President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to China-Honduras relations and welcomes President Castro to visit China as soon as possible to jointly draw a blueprint for bilateral relations, Han said.

The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras meets the trend of the times, and is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples, Han said.

China stands ready to work with Honduras to carry out exchanges concerning state governance, and welcomes Honduras to join the Belt and Road cooperation to turn complementary strengths into the energy of comprehensive cooperation, he added.

China is willing to work with Honduras to enhance coordination and cooperation in international affairs, jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries and build a community with a shared future for humanity, said Han.

Reina conveyed President Castro's sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping, and said President Castro is willing to visit China as soon as possible.

It is a historic step taken by Honduras and China to establish diplomatic ties, said Reina, adding that the Honduran side will uphold the one-China principle, learn from China's successful development experience, and deepen practical cooperation with China to benefit the two peoples. 

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina in Beijing, capital of China, March 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)
TheStreet.com

Electric vehicle enthusiasts have been waiting patiently for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to start producing and delivering the Cybertruck, the company's first pickup truck. Musk on April 19 said that Tesla will make the first deliveries of the Cybertruck in the third quarter of 2023. The company said that the pickup truck would have a payload capacity up to 3,500 pounds and a towing capability of over 14,000 pounds.
A crash in Bingham County left two people dead, including a Meridian woman, and two hospitalized on Sunday.

A 41-year-old man from Chester was driving a Lincoln Navigator north on Interstate 15 with a 38-year-old female passenger from Rexburg when the vehicle crossed the median into the southbound lane of traffic, according to an Idaho State Police news release.

The Lincoln collided with a Toyota driven by a 19-year-old woman from Caldwell who had an 18-year-old female passenger from Meridian.

The two passengers in both vehicles died of their injuries at the scene, while the two drivers were transported to a local hospital, Idaho State Police reported. Only the woman from Caldwell was wearing a seat belt. Their names have not been released.

The interstates southbound lanes were blocked for three hours near milepost 94 after the collision. Idaho State Police said they were were continuing to investigate.
A vehicle belonging to the family of a missing Texas boy who has severe developmental and physical disabilities has been found abandoned at DFW Airport, CBS Texas' Olivia Leach and Alexis Wainwright report.

Authorities say they turned an Amber Alert for six-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, of Everman, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, into an Endangered Missing Persons Alert on Saturday night.

"I need to be very clear that we currently do not have any physical evidence related to Noel's status as a missing person. What I do know is that we have a six-year-old disabled boy [who] cannot be accounted for," said Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer.

Everman police say they learned Saturday night that Noel's mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, his stepfather and Rodriguez-Singh's six other children had boarded an international flight.

Noel Rodriguez-Alvaraz in undated family photo. / Credit: CBS Texas

"At approximately 9 p.m. last night, we learned that the mother, stepfather and siblings had all left the country on a Turkish Airways flight to Istanbul that flew out on March 23," said Spencer.

Noel wasn't listed as a passenger on the flight.

Child Protective Investigations (CPI) asked Everman police on Thursday evening to conduct a welfare check on Noel at the family's home, Spencer said.

Cindy Rodriguez-Singh told police Noel was with his biological father in Mexico. But CPI found out that wasn't true. Family members also told CPI they hadn't seen Noel since November.

"It appeared to the CPI investigator that the mother was intentionally avoiding authorities," said Spencer.

"(CPI) informed us that they had attempted to make contact with the mother of the child and had learned that she had taken the children from school and had not returned to school that day. That's when the concern began," Spencer disclosed.

He told a news conference Sunday that CPI had prior investigations and actions against Cindy Rodriguez-Singh.

Police have obtained an arrest warrant for her for allegedly giving a false report about a missing person.

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What's more, "(Noel) has a requirement to be on oxygen at certain points in time and we don't know if he's getting that," said Spencer.

Everman police have been working with the Texas Rangers and FBI on the case.

"We have a six-year-old disabled boy who cannot be accounted for, is missing, and the mother is not willing to cooperate with investigators to simply assure that the child is safe, and we are desperately seeking the public's help," Spencer told reporters.

"This is one of the strangest cases that I have ever worked," Spencer observed. "The mother has custody of the child. Our sole mission here is just to try to make sure that that child's OK."

Police said they're not sure Turkey was the family's final destination. They said Noel's stepfather is a U.S. immigrant from India.

CBS Texas spoke with a homeowner who said Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, her husband and kids lived in a home behind his house on his property.

Jeremiah Childers works at a gas station down the road from the family's home and lives two doors down from them. He says Noel's mother was a regular customer here.

"I have seen the child that they're looking for," said Childers. "I had seen her and the children out before you wouldn't think anything was really wrong with the situation."

Police are desperately looking for the public's help in finding Noel.

"To know that I was so close to something like that, I feel a little bad, like I wish I could do more to help," said Childers.

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As a history-maker already, Harris marks further history as the first sitting female, Black and south Asian U.S. vice president to visit the continent.

Vice President Kamala Harris has officially arrived on the continent of Africa. Americas first woman, Black and south Asian president, is currently in Accra, Ghana, and later this week, will visit Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Lusaka, Zambia.

As a history-maker already, Harris marks further history as the first sitting female, Black and south Asian U.S. vice president to visit the continent.

Harris is fulfilling President Joe Bidens pledge for him and members of his cabinet to travel to the continent this year after hosting African leaders in December of 2022 for a U.S.-Africa summit, where the administration committed billions of dollars of investments in the region.

US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a speech at the Kotoka International Airport on March 26, 2023 in Accra, Ghana. Vice President Harris is visiting the African continent for the first time in an official capacity. (Photo by Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images)

During a recent White House press briefing, John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, the Biden-Harris administrations several trips to Africa this year is about relationship building as we work on this relationship one at a time because every country on the continent is different.

The African countries planned for the vice presidents visit, and the United States, are working to strengthen issues of national security and economic security through the expansion of access to the digital economy, support of climate adaptation and resilience, and strengthening business ties and investment, including through innovation, entrepreneurship, and the economic empowerment of women.

Africa matters, the continent matters, the relationships across the continent matter, Kirby told members of the press.

This trip is receiving much attention as the vice president plans to travel with several prominent politicians and civilians. The delegation of leaders will only be part of the Ghana leg of Harris Africa tour.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, filmmakers Spike and Tonya Lee, Morgan State University President David Wilson, National Urban League President Marc Morial and his wife Michelle Miller, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump are some of those in Ghana with VP Harris.

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ACCRA, GHANA  MARCH 26: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris waves upon her arrival at the Kotoka International Airport on March 26, 2023 in Accra, Ghana. Vice President Harris is visiting the African continent for the first time in an official capacity. (Photo by Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images)

Crump told theGrio that while on the trip, he will meet with his Ghanaian attorney counterparts to discuss the due process law in America. The famed attorney plans to be part of the historic trip until April 30. He will return to the United States for the funeral service of Irvo Otieno, the Black man killed while in police custody inside a Virginia hospital.

In Ghana, West Africa, each day of the trip offers a different topic and focus. On Tuesday, Vice President Harris is expected to deliver a major speech to the youth of Ghana. That same day, Harris will visit the Cape Coast slave castle, where she will speak about the brutality of slavery and the African diaspora.

Also, on Tuesday, according to Crump, there will be a big dinner thrown by the president of Ghana for the U.S. vice president. Wednesday focuses on women as Harris convenes a roundtable of women entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship and economic empowerment will be the centerpiece for announcing a series of continent-wide public and private sector investments to close the digital gender divide.

The scheduled topics and events for Harris are being celebrated, particularly focusing on the combination of women and economics. Actor Idris Elba, whose father is from Sierra Leone and mother is from Ghana, said of the Harris visit, she is a very powerful woman who is respected across the continent by other very powerful women on the continent. So I think it will be a great trip for her.

On Thursday, the Vice President travels to Tanzania, where she will meet with the countrys president and participate in a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy there.

Friday, and for the rest of the trip, Harris travels to Zambia, where climate change, business and food security will be the focus.

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The post Vice President Harris historic week in Africa to highlight women and economic development appeared first on TheGrio.
Authorities identified the three children and three adults who were shot to death at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday  a horror the citys police chief said he hoped would never, ever come here in the city.

The student victims at The Covenant School were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney  two of whom were 9 years old and one was about to turn 9. The three adults killed were 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, the 60-year-old head of school Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old custodian Mike Hill.

When we send our kids to school or to any place of safety, we expect them to live, learn, have fun and come back from that days experience. We dont anticipate things like this, John Drake, chief of the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, said at the third press briefing of the day.

Authorities identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who was killed by officers at the scene. Police believe Hale was a former student. They said the shooter was in possession of three weapons at the school: a rifle, an assault-style pistol and a handgun. Two of the three weapons were obtained legally in the Nashville area and the shooter has no history at all of past criminal activities, Drake said.

A group prays with a child outside the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville after the fatal shooting.

A group prays with a child outside the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville after the fatal shooting.

Police are investigating a manifesto they found at Hales house that includes a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place, the chief said. There is no confirmed motive, Drake said, but police have a theory that we may be able to talk about later.

A two-minute video of school surveillance camera footage showed Hale driving to the school and then shooting through a glass door to enter the building.

Once inside, Hale can be seen walking through the hallways holding an assault-style weapon.

In an interview with NBCs Nightly News, Drake said Hale targeted random students, and felt resentment for attending the private school.

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Theres some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school, Drake told NBCs Lester Holt.

On Tuesday, authorities released body camera footage from the scene, showing how the five officers who responded to the scene killed Hale, whom they believe gained access to the school by shooting through a door to the building.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper, who also spoke at the latest press conference, denounced the frequency of gun violence.

The leading cause of kids death now is guns and gunfire, and that is unacceptable, Cooper said. After decades of automobile accidents being the top killer of children in the U.S., the New England Journal of Medicine published findings last year that firearm fatalities were now the top cause.

Guns are quick; they dont give you much time, Cooper added. So even in a remarkably fast response, there was not enough time. And those guns stole precious lives from us today in Nashville.

Tennessee has some of the weakest state gun laws in the country and lacks many of the safeguards wanted by gun reform advocates, including universal background checks, waiting periods for firearm purchases and assault weapon restrictions.

Marita Vlachou contributed reporting.

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By Francesco Guarascio

HANOI (Reuters) - A Vietnamese ship monitored a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Saturday in a Russian-operated gas field in Vietnam's South China Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ), data show - the latest Chinese patrol in a pattern stretching more than a year.

Chinese coast guard ships have sailed directly into energy exploration blocks operated or owned by Russian firms in Vietnam's EEZ about 40 times since January 2022, according to vessel-tracking data from Vietnamese research organisation South China Sea Chronicle Initiative (SCSCI), an independent non-profit.

China considers the area part of its expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea marked by a "nine-dash line," a boundary the Permanent Court of Arbitration found in 2016 to have no legal basis. It has built artificial islands and airfields on some reefs and islets in the sea to widespread concern in the region and in the United States.

Both Vietnam and Indonesia have asked China to avoid these areas in their EEZs - although the zones are not territorial waters and do not have sailing restrictions under international law. The patrols mirror Chinese Coast Guard activity elsewhere in the South China Sea, where such vessels have been used to assert territorial claims.

"China is asserting jurisdictional rights to seabed energy resources and (has) used its coast guard to put pressure on regional states," said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Maps created by SCSCI and analysed by Reuters, using Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals from those vessels, show Chinese ships last year followed nearly identical routes at least 34 times from Vanguard Bank, a submerged feature near the boundaries of Vietnamese and Indonesian exclusive economic zones (EEZs), to two Russian-controlled blocks 50 nautical miles (92 kilometres) away - at times getting close as 1 nautical mile from the main wells.

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Russia's state-controlled Zarubezhneft is the operator and a shareholder of one the two blocks, 06-01; Russia's gas giant Gazprom is a shareholder in the other, 05-03, which is operated by a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, the country's state-owned fossil fuel company, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank in Washington.

The Chinese ship on Saturday sailed through both blocks, data show, as well as two others. The Vietnamese ship Kiem Ngu 278, operated by a fisheries law enforcement agency, followed the vessel, data show, at times closing to distances of just a few hundred metres.

From those blocks, roughly 630 nautical miles from China's Hainan island, the Chinese ships typically return on a direct route to Vanguard Bank, where they are stationed, data reviewed by Reuters show. The Chinese ship on Saturday instead sailed to Malaysia's EEZ.

A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said the Chinese Coast Guard carries out patrols in the areas under China's jurisdiction in the South China Sea while respecting international law, and said it was not aware of patrols in energy exploration blocks operated by Russian firms.

A spokeswoman for Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Friday that Vietnam acts in the South China Sea to protect its legal rights.

Zarubezhneft, Gazprom, and Russia's foreign ministry and embassy in Hanoi did not respond to requests for comment.

Exclusive economic zones generally extend 200 nautical miles (370km) beyond its shores. By international law, a country's territorial waters - in which it can control all activities - typically extend about 12 nautical miles from its shores. Conflicts can arise where such claims overlap.

Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei are among other countries that have competing claims in the South China Sea.

The gas-rich fields exploited by the Russian companies are among the furthest from Vietnam's coast and are close to the strategic boundary with Indonesia's EEZ, and to blocks claimed by China.

Since at least November, the Chinese Coast Guard ships have also expanded their routes, moving through block 12-11, which is jointly operated by Zarubezhneft and PetroVietnam, on their way to oil and gas field 12W, explored by Britain's Harbour Energy, SCSCI data show.

The patrols of the area operated by Harbour Energy started just before Indonesia and Vietnam signed an agreement in December 2022 setting their EEZs' boundaries in the South China Sea, which paved the way for gas deals.

Harbour Energy declined to comment.

Harbour Energy and Zarubezhneft are developing the nearby Tuna gas field in Indonesia's EEZ, from which Jakarta plans to export gas to Vietnam via a pipeline starting in 2026. The project is currently suspended because of Western Ukraine-related sanctions on some of the companies involved.

Chinese Coast Guard vessels have also patrolled the Tuna block; in January, Indonesia deployed a warship to monitor a Chinese ship there.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Laurie Chen and Joe Cash in Beijing, and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
MADRID (Reuters) - Officials evacuated people from three small villages in eastern Spain on Monday as winds and dry weather fanned a wildfire ravaging the area.

Flames shot high into the air and plumes of smoke billowed from trees close to houses in another village, in a video shared by Valencia's regional weather agency AVAMET.

"We are receiving images that we would not want to see. The fire is gaining strength and is at the gates of Montan," AVAMET said on Twitter.

Spain's first major wildfire of the year has swept through woodlands in the Valencia and Aragon regions over the past five days, forcing around 1,500 people to leave their homes.

The villages of Higueras, Pavias and Torralba del Pinar, with a combined population of about 75, were the latest to be cleared, emergency services said.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the unseasonably warm weather was a consequence of climate change, as he visited the firefighting command centre in the Valencian province of Castellon early on Monday.

"The climate emergency is not a future emergency, it is a current and urgent crisis," he said.

Spain is experiencing a long-term drought after three years of below-average rainfall.

A European Commission report this month observed a lack of rain and warmer-than-normal temperatures during the winter, raising drought warnings for southern Spain, France, Ireland, Britain, northern Italy, Greece and parts of eastern Europe.

Authorities fear a repeat of 2022, when 785,000 hectares of forests were destroyed in Europe - more than double the annual average for the past 16 years.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Andrew Heavens)
Vladimir Duthiers is expanding his role at "CBS Mornings" to include featured hosting duties. (Evan Agostini / Invision / AP)

CBS News has promoted Vladimir "Vlad" Duthiers to featured host of its daily morning program.

The Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning journalist has long contributed to "CBS Mornings" as a correspondent, guest anchor and host of the show's "What to Watch" segment, which he will continue to helm in this new position.

"This will mean there will be more of Vlad on CBS Mornings," CBS News President Neeraj Khemlani said Monday in an internal announcement to staff.

"Hell tell more business, arts, and culture stories. And there will be more Vlad on 'Talk of the Table' in addition to his signature 'What to Watch' segments. ... Vlad has been featured on virtually all our broadcasts and platforms. He has excelled at every assignment and has been a pioneer in streaming."

In addition to maintaining his "What to Watch" duties, Duthiers will keep his role as anchor of "CBS News Live" on the CBS News Streaming Network. The popular newscaster, who joined CBS in 2014, has covered for the network everything from antipolice brutality protests and deforestation in the Amazon to presidential debates and the 2018 royal wedding.

Recently, he has been busy documenting some personal news  becoming a father this year  via his heartwarming "Vlad the Dad" reports.

During Monday's "Talk of the Table" segment, "CBS Mornings" co-anchors Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson enthusiastically congratulated Duthiers on his promotion and expressed admiration for their longtime colleague.

"I'm grateful for all of these individuals who've supported me," Duthiers said on Monday's broadcast. "You meet people sometimes at the high levels of their professions and they say, 'I work really hard, and I'm really smart, and that's why I'm here.' I'm none of those things. I'm somebody who was seen."

"Vlad, take that back," King interjected. "You are all of those things, and you did work really hard. This didn't just happen."

The "CBS Mornings" team also reflected on Duthiers' journey from professional with a 20-year career in global finance to 39-year-old intern at CNN where longtime anchor Anderson Cooper recognized his talents and hired him as an associate producer.

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"Were looking forward to seeing where Vlad takes us next," Khemlani said in Monday's staff memo.

"We know that whatever he does, hell do it with enthusiasm, energy, and an infectious smile that lights up the screen."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Bear Grylls offered the Ukraine president a square of chocolate to 'break the ice' during their first meeting in Kyiv - Bart Corpe

Volodymyr Zelensky's security team pounced on some chocolate offered to him by Bear Grylls over fears the survival expert could have been trying to poison the Ukrainian president.

Grylls offered Mr Zelensky a square of Cadbury's to break the ice during their first meeting on a trip to Ukraine to film a new documentary - but the presidents security team were not pleased.

They refused the offering in case Grylls, 48, was trying to assassinate Mr Zelensky.

"I get it," Grylls told Good Morning Britain on Monday as he discussed his new Channel 4 documentary 'Bear Grylls Meets President Zelensky'.

"Normally when I've done this before with world leaders, the wild does half my job for me - it's a great leveller. It's a great ice-breaker - you're out in the mountains."

Grylls has shared food with other world leaders, including bits of salmon caught by a bear with former US president Barack Obama in Alaskas wilderness.

During his visit to Ukraine, Grylls witnessed the destruction brought by Russias invasion and met locals whose lives had been changed forever.

Grylls said that the goal really with this show is to get to know the real guy behind the podium, actually what he [Mr Zelensky] is like as a man and learn how Ukraine is surviving its war.

During his visit to Ukraine, Bear Grylls witnessed the destruction meted out by Russian military

Mr Zelensky and Grylls discussed alleged Russian war crimes, including sexual violence and the forced deportation of children.

The Ukrainian president said, however, that the war had taught him that people from different countries share the same values, including love for their children.

Since the beginning of the war, Mr Zelensky has been separated from his family, something he said has been difficult on his nine-year-old son, who wears a soldiers uniform every day.

Grylls described Mr Zelensky as really humble, down to earth and totally focused - but said that travelling to his secret bunker was an experience out of a Bond film.

Everyone I met in Ukraine, even if I said what do you think of Zelensky? and they go: whatever I thought before is irrelevant, whether I liked him or not. The whole countrys together and were all behind him.

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He went on to draw comparisons between the Ukrainian president and Winston Churchill, with Grylls saying Mr Zelensky has the same sense of destiny as Britains wartime leader.

He says - like all of Ukraine - weve put everything on hold: our life, our ambitions, our family, our work, our futures, our dreams, everything. For one purpose: to defend our country. Theres power to that.

Celebrity visits

Several celebrities have travelled to Kyiv since the invasion to meet Mr Zelensky and show their support for Ukraine.

On Monday, Pirates Of The Caribbean star and Unicef ambassador Orlando Bloom made the trip.

The actor praised the incredible stoic nature" of Ukraines people and encouraged Mr Zelensky to "go win" the war.

He told Mr Zelensky that it was "remarkable to see how you are holding this country" and reassured him that Unicef is taking the issue of missing children "incredibly seriously, just as the rest of the world is watching".

Mr Zelensky replied that "we have a good country, we hold each other", adding that Blooms visit "sends a big message".

"Go win," Bloom concluded, "Slava Ukraine".

Bloom shared a clip of the meeting on Instagram, writing: "The war is destroying the childhood of Ukrainian children.

"Thousands of schools in Ukraine have been damaged or completely destroyed. Almost 2.7 million Ukrainian schoolchildren are forced to study online or in a mixed format.

About 1.5m Ukrainian boys and girls are at risk of developing depression, anxiety and other psychological problems.
During her first full day in Accra, Ghana, on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with the nation's president, raising human rights issues and growing competition from China in the region during their bilateral meeting.

Currently being discussed in Ghana's parliament is the "Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Value" -- a bill that would imprison those that identify as LGBTQ and criminalizes advocacy for LGBTQ rights.

Harris said on Monday that she discussed human rights with Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo but did not specifically comment on the anti-LGBTQ bill before parliament.

During a joint news conference, Harris was asked about the Biden administration's commitment to calling out any foreign government that advanced anti-gay legislation or violates human rights.

While Harris did not directly address the bill, she said "I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting the freedom and supporting the fighting for equality among all people, and that all people be treated equally. I will also say that this is an issue that we consider, and I consider to be a human rights issue, and that will not change."

PHOTO: Vice President Kamala Harris, and Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo, address a news conference in Accra, Ghana, March 27, 2023. (Misper Apawu/AP)

President Nana Akufo-Addo repeatedly refused to say what he would do if the bill passed -- saying he would wait to see what his parliament does.

In addition to Ghana, Harris will visit Tanzania and Zambia this week -- two countries that have anti-LGBTQ laws.

Harris, whose trip is seen as a U.S. effort to counter growing Chinese influence on the continent, also announced the U.S. will provide $100 million to support stabilization in the region.

Additionally, Harris was asked what guarantee she could make to Ghanaians that the U.S. is more committed to their future with China, and what it says about U.S.-Ghana relations.

"The president and I had a conversation on this very topic," Harris said. "But the conversation was not about China as much as it is about the enduring and important direct relationship that the United States has with Ghana and with African nations."

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President Akufo-Addo brushed off the attention given to China's presence in Africa.

PHOTO: Vibrate Space founder Sandy Alibo welcomes US Vice President Kamala Harris at Vibrate Space, a community recording studio for young creatives, at the Freedom Skatepark in Accra, Ghana, on March 27, 2023. (Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

"It may be an obsession in America. But there is no such obsession here," Akufo-Addo said.

Akufo-Addo called out former President Donald Trump for never visiting the continent and said that he hopes President Joe Biden would make it.

The $100 million to support stabilization will go to Ghana, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and Togo.

On the economy, Harris said "I recognize the challenges that Ghana is facing, especially in the wake of a global pandemic and the disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

"We must work together as an international community to ease the debt burden that is facing far too many countries," Harris said.

PHOTO: Vice President Kamala Harris is welcomed by Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo in Accra, Ghana, March 27, 2023. (Misper Apawu/AP)

Later on Monday, Harris visited Vibrate Space, a community recording studio, with actors Idris Elba and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

"Your reputation collectively, all of the artists, everything that you have done, is an international reputation," Harris told a group of Ghanaian artists, including Baaba J and Ansah Live.

Elba said he said he thinks this trip is going to be "significant" to Black Americans in the United States.

"When we think about Africa and we think about African Americans, and we think about Ghana, Ghana has been for the last four or five years a sort of a meeting point for African Americans and the Diaspora to come around Christmas time, the holiday time, and reconnect with whatever roots they think they have in Africa," Elba said.

He was optimistic that the vice president was also here to bridge gaps between Ghana and investments in the country -- calling it an "active step in the right direction."

Harris travels to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Wednesday afternoon, and then departs Tanzania for Lusaka, the Zambian capital, on Friday. She is scheduled to meet with the presidents of both countries.

VP Harris, in Ghana, addresses human rights amid anti-LGBTQ efforts in Africa originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
TEHRAN, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. sanctions have prevented the Iranian children suffering epidermolysis bullosa (EB) from accessing special wound dressings needed to keep them alive and reduce pain, said the CEO of an Iranian non-governmental organization responsible for supporting the EB patients.

Managing Director of EB Home Hamidreza Hashemi Golpayegani made the remarks in an interview with Iran's Mizan news agency, which was published on Monday.

He blamed the U.S. "illegal and undocumented" sanctions for preventing Iran from importing the special dressings, which are the most essential requirement of those patients.

Golpayegani noted that between May 2018 and May 2019, 15 EB patients died in Iran due to a lack of access to the dressings.

EB patients are often referred to as "butterfly children" because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly's wings. According to official statistics, about 800 EB patients have been registered in Iran.

The U.S. sanctions against Iran have intensified since 2018, the year when Washington pulled out of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Following the reimposition of the U.S. sanctions, a Swedish company stopped selling its special medical dressings to Iran.

Golpayegani noted the Swedish company sent a written apology, promising to prepare the ground for sending the dressings and removing the obstacles posed by the sanctions.

Although the United States claims that humanitarian items, including medicine and foodstuff, are not included in the sanctions list, its embargoes on Iran's oil exports and banking sector have, in practice, prevented the country from importing such goods. 
Saying she's grown weary of receiving no information about the incident, a Hagerstown woman said her family has retained an attorney to investigate the death of her brother-in-law in a February confrontation with West Virginia State Police on Interstate 81 that's now drawing the scrutiny of West Virginia's governor.

Gov. Jim Justice last week called for a sweeping investigation of West Virginia State Police after revealing various allegations of wrongdoing, including an unspecified "loss of life" on I-81 in Berkeley County. Justice said in a news briefing that he viewed video of the incident and added it is "very, very concerning."

It appears to be the same Feb. 12 incident The Herald-Mail reported in which Eddie Exline, 44, of Hagerstown, died after a confrontation with a trooper on I-81 about 2 1/2 miles north of the North Queen Street exit in Berkeley County.

Eddie Exline

Previously:West Virginia state police superintendent resigns amid probe

Justice, who announced the investigation following the resignation of former state police Superintendent Jan Cahill, said the probe will also look into allegations that include a state police employee placing a video camera in a women's locker room in a southern West Virginia facility and a theft of money by a trooper at a Charleston, W.Va.-area casino. In the wake of Cahill's resignation, Justice named Jack Chambers, deputy director of Capitol police, to serve as interim superintendent and to oversee the investigation.

Regarding the I-81 incident, state police said previously in a news release that the trooper who was in the confrontation with Exline responded to the North Queen Street exit around 9:15 p.m. for a person walking south on the highway.

The trooper found Exline and a brief struggle occurred. Exline, who lived on Virginia Avenue, became unresponsive and troopers were unsuccessful in reviving him at the scene, police said in a news release following the incident. Exline later died at Berkeley Medical Center.

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State police said they were called to the scene for an intoxicated male walking on the interstate. But Exline's sister-in-law, Sarah Exline of Hagerstown, said previously that she finds it hard to believe her brother-in-law had been drinking. Eddie suffered from mental health issues and was afraid of consuming anything like alcohol for fear that it would complicate his condition, she said.

Exline said her brother-in-law was always afraid that authorities such as the FBI were after him, and she believes he was "definitely running from something" when he was on the interstate. Sarah Exline said Eddie had family ties to West Virginia in the past and believes that's possibly why he was in Berkeley County.

'It's been a rough couple of weeks'

In a phone interview Thursday, Sarah Exline said she and her husband, James, Eddie's brother, have not heard anything from West Virginia State Police. Exline said she's frustrated that Gov. Justice and others have been talking about the incident while she and her family haven't been told anything or received an apology.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks. My husband is not taking it very well," she said. "We don't even know what happened. I just feel like if our officers are protecting people, why are they dying in their care?"

Exline said she and her husband retained Charleston, W.Va., attorney John-Mark Atkinson to investigate Eddie's death.

Atkinson said in a phone interview that he sent a Freedom of Information Act request to state police last month requesting any video camera footage, written reports, autopsy results and "anything you can think of" regarding the Feb. 12 incident. State police declined the request due to an ongoing investigation, he said.

"We're still waiting on that information to find out exactly what happened," Atkinson said.

More:Family says man who died after police struggle on I-81 had mental illness

What is the Exline family attorney planning to do?

Since he has not received any updates from state police, Atkinson said he sent certified letters on Wednesday to Chambers' office and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office stating that he's been retained by the Exlines to serve as a personal representative of Eddie. Atkinson said he told Chambers and Morrisey in the letters he plans to file a claim against state police over Eddie's death and requests that all evidence in the case be preserved.

"It's just a heads-up that we're going to file a lawsuit," said Atkinson.

State police in the agency's South Charleston headquarters could not be reached for comment Thursday or Friday. They have been reluctant to release details such as how the struggle began, the name of the trooper and whether the officer is on administrative leave.

John Mangalonzo, press secretary in the attorney general's office, said Friday the agency received Atkinson's letter. He could not comment more because the incident is under investigation.

Jordan Damron, director of communications in Justice's office, said he believes attorneys representing the state are going to prohibit Justice from saying anything more about what he saw in the video, given it's under investigation.

State police previously rejected Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Herald-Mail for any dash camera or body camera footage of the incident.

State police paralegal Mendi Craddock said in a Feb. 24 email that the request was being denied under an exemption in West Virginia law dealing with investigation of crimes by law enforcement and the use of records for internal purposes.

Justice said during last week's news briefing that the incident involving the video camera being placed in a women's locker room happened several years ago in a state police facility in Kanawha County, where Charleston is located. The state police employee involved later died of a heart attack. Justice said three troopers found a thumb drive connected to the video and stomped on it in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The theft of money case happened when a man playing a video game at a casino in Nitro, a town near Charleston, got up to go to the bathroom, Justice said. An envelope fell out beside the man's seat and a trooper who was nearby picked it up and kept money inside, Justice said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Family sends West Virginia State Police claim over death of MD man
We recently hit an important date in the 2023 legislative session. Wednesday, March 8 was house of origin cutoff, meaning it was the last opportunity for bills introduced in the House to be passed to the Senate and vice versa.

We debated and voted on hundreds of bills over the last several weeks and more than 300 made it out of the House and moved over to the Senate.

One of those bills is House Bill 1589. This is a radical policy that had opposition from both sides, including every Republican, yet it still passed 52-44.

The bill would prohibit any large gas company that serves more than 500,000 retail natural gas customers in Washington  only Puget Sound Energy fits that description  from providing natural gas service to any new commercial or residential location starting in June of this year.

The bill, which is the first proposal of its kind in the country passed just a few days after a group of building industry members and tradesmen filed a lawsuit against the State Energy Code Council for a similar natural gas ban on a statewide level.

Theres a reason its the first proposal of its kind. Its expensive, poorly thought out, and it will delay construction and design. Even the bills sponsor, Rep. Beth Doglio, D-Olympia, admitted energy rates would go up due to the transition from natural gas.

So, what can we expect to get in return? Unknown environmental impact. But we do know the stockholders will see the benefits, while customers will pay for it. Why pass a bill thats going to raise the cost for both residential and commercial customers, increase the costs of building, and slow new housing projects? This is bad policy.

Meanwhile, there was another extremely important bill that did not make it to the Senate because Democrat leaders decided not to bring it up for a vote. House Bill 1363, the vehicular pursuit law sponsored by Rep. Alicia Rule, D-Blaine, was intended to correct legislation passed in 2021. House Bill 1054 has given criminals a sense of freedom because they know getting to a vehicle means they can simply drive away from law enforcement.

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The result is our communities have suffered. Instead of increasing public safety, this law has made things worse, by tying officers hands and putting innocent people at greater risk. This experiment has failed and has had tragic consequences.

This year, a group of 40 legislators, 20 from each side of the aisle, offered a real solution. House Bill 1363 wouldve restored the initial pursuit threshold back to reasonable suspicion, instead of probable cause.

Despite being watered down, the bill made it out of both the House Community Safety, Justice, and Reentry and House Transportation committees. But thats as far as it got.

House Republicans used a procedural motion in attempt to bring the bill up for debate and a vote, but House Democrats blocked the motion, killing the bill. This is truly heartbreaking for our law enforcement partners and even more importantly, for neighborhoods and communities throughout Washington.

This legislation is critical and in some cases the results of the current law have been tragic. Recently, two children in Sunnyside were killed by a wrong-way drunk driver because police were not able to pursue him. State troopers attempted to go after the man about an hour before the accident, but current law doesnt allow it. This was a preventable tragedy that never shouldve happened.

Many of our communities are not safe. Law enforcement wants to help, but their hands are tied. They need this important tool restored so they can protect Washingtonians.

I know people have different opinions, but the fact is, both decisions by the majority party are going to hurt Washington. Thats not good policy!

Rep. Mark Klicker, R-Walla Walla, represents Washingtons 16th Legislative District.
Looking forward to a walk in Bellefontes parks? Thanks to a new program, one local group is looking to make access to Talleyrand and Masullo parks a lot easier for residents.

Downtown Bellefonte Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to growing local businesses and preserving the towns historic culture, was selected to join Safe Routes to Parks Pennsylvania Activating Communities. Safe Routes Partnership is a national nonprofit organization that works to improve walking access to schools and parks across the country.

For 2023, the organization granted four Pennsylvania cities  Bellefonte, Erie, Scranton and Shenandoah  training to help improve access to parks and green spaces.

For the next 10 months, Downtown Bellefonte Inc. will work with Safe Routes to develop a plan to improve walking routes from downtown Bellefonte to Talleyrand and Masullo parks. Jennilyn Schuster, main street manager for Downtown Bellefonte Inc., said the goal of the program is to connect all of Bellefontes outdoor assets. Not only would additional trails or walkways connect greenspaces, they would also connect communities and businesses separated by Spring Creek.

A major part of the grant is creating equitable and accessibly walkways that all community members can access, including those with mobility restrictions.

Outdoor rec is essential, thats what makes a vibrant community, Schuster said. Theres a huge physical and mental health factor in that too.

Although previous feasibility studies have been done to see how parks could connect, those pathways are not yet in place. Safe Routes Partnership is not building the infrastructure needed for the project, the grant instead serves to assist and train local groups to take action. Schuster said Safe Routes will help guide the communities through the process to find grants and funding for the initiatives as well.

The grant will help Downtown Bellefonte Inc. build the framework to connect Talleyrand and Masullo park, but future plans could explore connecting Bellefonte parks to Krauss Park in Milesburg and The Arboretum at Penn State.

We want a vibrant community, right? Schuster said. And we want to make sure that people have access to all of these outdoor amenities.
Statue of justice (court or lawsuit file illustration)

LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Lafayette attorney Earl McCoy is wanted on a warrant for his arrest in his charge of attempted sexual battery.

Special Judge Heather Barajas signed the warrant on Friday, setting McCoy's bail at $2,000 cash only, according to the warrant.

As of Tuesday morning, McCoy has not yet been arrested, and the warrant still appears to be active.

The Journal & Courier left a voicemail for McCoy asking for comment and inquiring when he might turn himself in to authorities. He has not returned the call.

McCoy hired Lafayette attorney Brian Dekker to represent him. Dekker filed a motion with the court March 17 asking that a warrant not be issued for McCoy's arrest. Instead, the motion requested that an initial hearing be set and that McCoy will attend, according to the motion.

Barajas' signature on the warrant makes McCoy's motion moot.

A special prosecutor charged McCoy on March 15 with attempted sexual battery, a Level 6 felony.

McCoy recently served as WLFI-TV18's on-air legal analysist for the Delphi murder case against Richard Allen, who is accused of killing teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams on Feb. 17, 2017.

In 2018, McCoy was a GOP candidate for Tippecanoe County prosecutor. However, he lost in the primary.

Additionally, he was a GOP candidate for Tippecanoe Circuit judge in 2014. He also lost that race in the primary.

McCoy, 53, and some of his employees went out for drinks on May 6, 2022, and as the group began to break up, McCoy asked a woman employee to let him back into the office, claiming he forgot his keys, according to prosecutors' probable cause affidavit.

After the woman let him back into the office, he spoke with her in the conference room and began to asking her sexual questions, according to prosecutors. He then tried to kiss her, which was when the woman pulled away from him, according to the affidavit.

McCoy pinned her in the room, grabbed her hand and tried to force it to his crotch, according to the affidavit.

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The woman freed herself from the encounter and later reported it to police, according to the affidavit.

When interviewed by police, McCoy admitted trying to kiss the woman, but he denied trying to force the woman to touch him, according to prosecutors.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Warrant issued for arrest of Lafayette attorney
Anthony Joshua is back in action this weekend as he takes on Jermaine Franklin in London.

Joshua will aim to bounce back from two straight defeats by Oleksandr Usyk, who outpointed the Briton in 2021 to become unified heavyweight champion and retained the titles against AJ with another decision win last August.

As Joshua, 33, looks to build towards another world-title fight, he faces American Franklin at the O2 Arena on Saturday. The pair will clash in a main-event contest  the biggest fight of 29-year-old Franklins career.

Heres all you need to know about how to watch the fight...

If youre content to just stream the fight, all you need is a DAZN subscription. The worldwide streaming platform offers three tiers: Monthly Saver (9.99 per month - with a commitment to 12 months); Flexible Pass (19.99 per month); and Annual Super Saver (99.99 per year - to be paid up front). Joshua vs Franklin will be available on all three of these plans.

If you wish to watch the fight on Sky, you will need a Sky+HD or Sky Q subscription as well as a DAZN subscription, but only the Monthly Saver and Annual Super Saver plans will allow you to access DAZN 1 HD  Skys new channel 429.

A statement from DAZN last week read: Please note, DAZN 1 HD is not available on Sky Stream or Now TV, and you must have a HD-enabled Sky box. Furthermore, the channel will not be available to customers who subscribe to Sky through Virgin Media, nor will it be available on Sky Glass.
Travel with Eugene Levy on Apple TV+.

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Beloved "Schitt's Creek" and "Best in Show" star Eugene Levy has returned to our screens this year. His new series, "The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy," follows the actor as he travels around the globe, from Costa Rica to Finland and beyond.

Make smart choices without hours of googling. Subscribe to The Checklist newsletter for expert product advice and recommendations.

The series debuted on Apple TV+ in late February. You can catch all eight episodes when you sign up.

Where can you watch "The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy"?

"The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy" is currently available to stream on Apple TV+.

Sign up for Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is available on Apple devices, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD, and third-generation Apple TVs, as well as Panasonic, Playstation, Xbox, Vizio, Samsung, LG and Sony Smart TVs and Roku, FireTV, Android TV and Google TV streaming devices.

What is "The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy" about?

The series follows Eugene Levy, a self-professed reluctant traveler, as he travels (occasionally at the recommendation of son Dan Levy) to eight different places around the globe, including Finland, Costa Rica, Venice, Utah, Maldives, South Africa, Lisbon and Tokyo.

How can you sign up for Apple TV+?

You can sign up for Apple TV+ to stream "The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy." You'll pay $6.99 a month for the service, or $69.99 for the year. New subscribers will sign up online or download the Apple TV+ app.

If you prefer to bundle your streaming services, you also sign up for an Apple One account which bundles Apple TV+ with other Apple services like Music, Arcade and iCloud+ starting at $16.95/month. In addition to the series, Apple TV+ offers plenty of other original series like

Sign up for Apple TV+

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

This article originally appeared on Reviewed: How to watch 'The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy'
At a news conference on Sunday, Everman police gave a timeline of the investigation and search for missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez.

Noels mother left the country with her husband and other children before an Amber Alert was issued for her missing son, Police Chief Craig Spencer said.

Other family members told police they havent seen Noel since November.
You don't have to look far to catch lawmakers behaving badly. Just watch the Arizona House and Senate on TV.

I was watching our Legislature at work on azleg.gov when three incidents caught my attention.

When Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix asked Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson, for evidence to support her bill, Wadsack spit out I dont owe you anything in the way of proof.

OK.

Then I watched Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King to support his bill banning the use of government money for diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

You know the quote  the one about judging people on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

Well, I judged you, Jake Hoffman, on the content of your character as you bullied Dr. Theresa Cullen into withdrawing her bid to be the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

The third instance was in the Senate Elections Committee when Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, got so angry at a person testifying against proposed election restrictions that he had to leave the room to cool off.

These are just three of the people Arizonans elected to represent them. Do they represent you?

I urge you to watch our legislators at work and let their behavior direct your voting decisions in the next election.

Kathleen Dubbs, Tucson

Ban all farming? Big mistake

Kudos to Joanna Allhands for her excellent column on getting farmers to save water. Far too many political commentaries are totally one-sided and add nothing to the discussion. Allhands column brings reality and substance.

As she thoughtfully explains, banning all farming in Arizona to conserve water isnt the best solution.

While the proportion of land used for farming will decrease, banning all farming, as some extremists advocate, would do serious harm.

As Allhands notes, Arizona produces some critically important crops. Getting them from other locations could be risky and would result in environmental damage.

More letters:Washington El was right to cancel that contract

And some Arizona land is uniquely suited for certain crops, including alfalfa, resulting in very high yields here. Producing these crops elsewhere would require much more acreage to achieve the same yield.

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Serious research and experimentation are underway, including at the University of Arizona, to try to reduce the amount of water required to grow alfalfa and other crops and even to identify other plant species that could replace alfalfa as livestock feed.

Allhands also points out that lots of Arizona farmers are embracing these alternative initiatives.

Conserving Arizonas limited water supply is a task all Arizonans, urban and rural, residential, commercial and industrial, need to participate in. Wiping out Arizona farming is not the right answer.

We need more and better funded research to find cutting edge technology and solutions. Allhands deserves to be commended for adding to the discussion!

John Shadegg and William K. Perry

Shadegg represented Arizona in Congress from 1995 to 2010. Perry is a fourth generation Arizona agricultural entrepreneur.

The well-armed are also polite

Montana was recently identified through Google search data as the most polite state in the union with people always saying please and thank you.

They were also recently identified as having the largest number of firearms per person of any state. The obvious conclusion is that a well-armed populace is a polite populace!

Ray Jussila, Gilbert

Why make Trump a martyr?

I am not a Donald Trump supporter in any way, but at the same time, I fail to understand Democrats who want to put him behind bars.

The Dems are absolutely desperate for this and are openly wondering why Trump has not yet been arrested.

Folks, be careful what you wish for. If you succeed at putting Trump in prison, you will make him a martyr for the MAGA Republicans. Do you really want that?

In any cause, having martyrs tends to give them strength and greatly increased support. Martyrs gain followers at an alarming rate. Do you really want that?

The best way to move beyond Trump is to soundly defeat him once again at the polls in 2024. If you make him a martyr, he will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Is that what you really want?

Parker Anderson, Prescott

Trump allegations perfectly suit him

Columnist Phil Boas argument that the Stormy Daniels case is the wrong case to indict Trump suggests DAs should pick and choose more carefully the crimes they prosecute, which is an odd argument when applying the law.

Personally, I think a case involving sleaze, bribery, hush money, sexual peccadilloes and a cover up, totally befits the character of the man.

That 74 million Americans voted for him is no argument at all and a reflection of a system that can elevate someone of dubious moral character to the pinnacle of power.

Alan Austin, Phoenix

Whats on your mind? Send us a letter to the editor online or via email at opinions@arizonarepublic.com. And consider joining our moderated Voices: Engaging Arizona group on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona senators are out of bounds. This is how they behave in public?
A couple visiting a national park in South Africa made a memorable discovery after they suspected their cabin had a water leak.

Mica Bafatakis and her boyfriend visited Kruger National Park and decided to stay the night at one of the parks cabins in the Satara Rest Camp, Bafatakis posted on Facebook on March 16.

The park is home to numerous large animals such as lions, giraffes, wildebeest and hyenas as well as smaller animals such as owls, badgers, bats and many others, according to the parks website.

The couple spent the night at the cabin. The following afternoon, when water fell from the ceiling on my boyfriends leg, we reported a water leak to the reception, Bafatakis said on Facebook.

When we came back I wanted to double check the roof as I had a suspicion of a snake, she wrote. When I looked up it was a python in our roof.

The python was slowly slithering around the rafters of the ceiling, a video shared by Bafatakis to a South Africa National Park Facebook group shows.

After finding the unwelcome visitor above them, the couple realized the water they felt earlier was actually pee from the snake, Bafatakis said on Facebook, noting the pee stank.

The cabin where the snake was hiding in the rafters.

Management immediately called in rangers to attend to the snake, Isaac Phaahla, spokesperson for Kruger National Park, told the South African outlet TimesLive.

The rangers spent about two hours trying to get the python to come down, Bafatakis said. Their efforts were unsuccessful. The python slithered back up into the ceiling where it wasnt visible.

The couple were offered another unit which they accepted and checked out the next morning, Phaahla told TimesLive. The park is a unique wilderness area and these incidents do happen, but all efforts are made to ensure visitor safety, he said.

Following the incident, officials are pruning trees closer to the visitors units and closing holes which have been opened by squirrels with wire mesh, he told TimesLive.

Kruger National Park is about 255 miles northeast of Johannesburg, near the border of South Africa and Mozambique.

Story continues

Mysterious thrashing in Florida swamp was alligator eating an alligator, woman learns

Rare creature with a long tail fin washed up on a South African beach. Take a look

Python escaped and ended up behind refrigerator  in someones 29th-floor apartment
A Wayne State University building, pictured on West Warren Ave. in Detroit.

Wayne State University has suspended a professor who allegedly posted on social media that people would be justified in killing those with whom they have disagreements, according to a note to the university from President Roy Wilson.

The university became aware of the post Monday morning, Wilson said in his email. The professor, whose identity was not revealed, works in the university's English department. A university spokeswoman declined further comment.

"The post stated that rather than 'shouting down' those with whom we disagree, one would be justified to commit murder to silence them," Wilson wrote. "We have on many occasions defended the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but we feel this post far exceeds the bounds of reasonable or protected speech. It is, at best, morally reprehensible and, at worst, criminal.

"We have referred this to law enforcement agencies for further review and investigation. Pending their review, we have suspended the professor with pay, effective immediately."

The Free Press was unable to reach the professor for comment.

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In the post attributed to him, the professor writes about "free speech on campus." The Free Press confirmed with two sources that the post was the one being scrutinized. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had not been cleared to talk to the media about the matter.

"Although I do not advocate violating federal and state criminal codes, I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down," the post says.

It goes on to say that "right-wing" groups invite speakers to campuses to provoke a reaction from left-wing groups.

"The protesters get blamed instead of the bigoted speaker; the university administration finds a perfect excuse to side publicly with the racists or phobes; the national and international press has a field day saying that bigots are the ones being oppressed, rather than the people those bigots actually hate being the victims of oppression."

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The post then cites Sholem Schwarzbad, a Jewish, Russian-born French poet, who in 1926 assassinated Symon Petliura, the former head of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Schwarzbard, who had lost his family in the 1919 pogroms, held Petliura responsible for the deaths and killed Petliura on a Paris street.

"Remember that Schwarzbad was acquitted by a jury, which found his actions justified," the post concludes.

Staff writer Christina Hall contributed to this report. Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wayne State suspends professor it ties to post advocating violence
ACCRA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed after two buses collided in Ghana's Eastern Region, an official confirmed on Monday.

Jennifer Naa Yarley Quaye, commander of the Eastern Regional Division of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), told Xinhua that two buses loaded with passengers and traveling in opposite directions on Sunday collided head-on around Bonsu Junction on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

"Nine people, including two females and seven males, died on the spot. Officials from the GNFS and the Ghana Police Service rescued 11 persons with injuries and sent them to the government hospital in Kibi, a community not far from the highway," the GNFS official said.

Bodies of the dead were also deposited at the Kibi Government Hospital mortuary awaiting identification. The police are carrying out further investigations to ascertain the cause of the accident. 
The man who investigators said threatened to kill Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is now in Central Florida.

Richard Golden was extradited by law enforcement by plane to the Orlando Sanford International Airport, and Sheriff Chitwood met him at the airport.

Chitwood previously said he wanted to meet the suspect who threatened him for standing up for the Jewish community to look him in the eye.

Golden, 38, made the long descent down the escalator at the Orlando Sanford International Airport, where Chitwood was waiting for him.

READ: Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood announces arrest in recent activity by hate group

After introducing himself to Golden, Chitwood said, I hope you enjoy your stay. Welcome to Florida.

Golden said nothing as he was led away by deputies to an SUV outside. He is being charged with making a written threat to kill or cause injury to Chitwood after the sheriff took a stand against a neo-Nazi hate group following hateful rhetoric in Daytona Beach and other cities during the Daytona 500 last month.

Rabbi Ron Lennick, the executive director of the Jewish Federation for Volusia and Flagler counties, said this is an example of standing up to hate.

READ: This is pure, pure, pure evil: Sheriff Chitwood responds to recent wave of anti-Semitism

I wanted to be here today, to look this person in the eyes, and this person did not look anybody in the eye, Lennick said. Whether thats a matter of shame, and guilt, I dont know.

Golden is being held at the Volusia County Jail on $100,000 bond. Chitwood said this may not be the last arrest like this.

READ: Orlando police address antisemitic flyers passed out in Lake Nona neighborhood

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Criticism of Israel's new far-right, ultra-religious coalition government continues to mount amid a backlash to its judiciary reform plans and spiraling violence between Israeli security forces and Palestinians. Below is the latest on what's happening, and why.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu announced a delay Monday in implementing controversial reforms to the nation's judiciary. Thousands of Israeli workers had gone on strike Monday after a weekend of massive protests over the plans  the latest demonstrations against the proposed changes.

Critics say the changes being pushed by Netanyahu's far-right coalition government would allow the executive branch to reverse decisions made by Israel's Supreme Court and undermine the country's system of democratic checks and balances.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets over the past two months to demonstrate against the changes being sought by Netanyahu's government, and the protests ramped up dramatically over the weekend when the premier fired his defense chief for calling for a halt to the planned judicial reforms.

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. / Credit: Ariel Schalit/AP

The strike action, called by Israel's biggest umbrella labor union group, saw workers in sectors from transport to diplomacy walk off the job, heaping pressure on Netanyahu.

Israeli reservist Air Force pilots joined the protests against the proposed reforms earlier this month. In a letter sent by dozens of reserve pilots to their chief of staff, which was published by Israeli media on Sunday, the reservists said they would not attend an upcoming scheduled training. Military reservists are often called to take part in limited periods of training each year in Israel, where military service is compulsory.

"We will continue to serve the Jewish and democratic State of Israel at all times and across borders... [but] we have decided to take a one day break to talk about the disturbing processes the country is going through," they said in their letter.

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"Explosive potential"

Despite meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials in Jordan to try to maintain the increasingly fragile peace, violence and anger may be on the brink of boiling over. Tension often increases in the heart of the Middle East as Jews mark Passover and Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan.

Since the start of the year, a series of Israeli army raids have killed and injured scores of Palestinians in the West Bank. Seven Israelis were killed, meanwhile, in an attack outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem that was the deadliest attack of its kind in years.

After two young Israeli men from a nearby settlement were killed in the West Bank city of Hawara, Israeli settlers rampaged through the area, torching homes and cars in what has been described as a "pogrom."

Netanyahu recently began his sixth term as Israel's prime minister  a return to power made possible by the veteran politician forging a coalition with members of extremist, far-right and ultra-religious political parties that had long existed on the fringes of Israeli politics.

After returning to office, Netanyahu appointed some of these controversial figures to leadership roles within his government, including finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a self-avowed "proud homophobe" who was once arrested on suspicion of organizing an attempted terror attack.

Israeli Minister of Finance and leader of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich arrives to attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 5, 2023. / Credit: Getty Images

After the rampage in Hawara, Smotrich called for the Israeli government to "wipe out" the Palestinian village. His remarks brought a stark rebuke from U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price, who called them "irresponsible, disgusting and repugnant."

Smotrich later backtracked on his remarks, and Netanyahu over the weekend said he "wanted to thank Minister Bezalel Smootrich (sic) for making clear that his choice of words regarding the vigilante attacks on Harrawa following the murder of the Yaniv brothers was inappropriate and that he is strongly opposed to intentionally harming innocent civilians."

Another controversial government minister is Itamar Ben-Gvir, a radical ultra-nationalist who has chanted "death to Arabs" in the past and was convicted of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization. As the new Minister for National Security, Ben-Gvir is now in charge of Israel's police.

Mounir Marjieh, an advocate for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, told CBS News that Palestinians living in the occupied territories expected more violence at the hands of Israeli police and military forces, and a further curtailing of rights under the new extremist coalition.

"Palestinians are coping with a system that is built on the premise of Jewish domination, hegemony and superiority," Marjeih said. "It's a daily struggle to live here, to stay here."

In February, Israel's parliament passed legislation that allows the government to strip Palestinians with Israeli citizenship or residency of those rights and deport them to the West Bank or Gaza if they're convicted of nationalistic attacks and they receive money from the Palestinian Authority. Critics call the legislation racist and say it violates international law.

One of Ben-Gvir's first acts in his new role was to visit the highly sensitive site in Jerusalem that Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram al-Sharif, the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. His visit was seen by many inside and outside Israel as a challenge to the status quo arrangement under which the site has long been managed to maintain peace. The visit drew a warning from the U.S. State Department against "any unilateral actions that undercut the historic status quo."

Israel's new far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in the foreground, is seen visiting the holy site in Jerusalem known as Al-Aqsa Mosque by Muslims and Temple Mount by Jews, January 3, 2023. / Credit: Reuters

"What Ben-Gvir has done is very risky in so many ways," Marjeih said. "We are speaking about one of the most volatile geographic locations in Jerusalem There is a very clear arrangement that governs that place. Breaching that arrangement has an explosive potential."

Ben-Gvir has already banned the Palestinian flag from being flown in public spaces. He's seeking to amend gun laws to make it easier for Israelis to procure firearms, and has pledged to accelerate settlement building in the occupied West Bank. New settlement construction undermines any eventual two-state solution that would see an independent Palestinian nation created alongside Israel. He has also vowed to loosen the rules of engagement for police and soldiers, and pledged tougher treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

"I think there is enough reasons after the appointment of that Israeli politician to feel constant, to feel constant fear," said Marjeih.

Boaz Bismuth, a member of Israel's Knesset, or parliament, from Netanyahu's Likud party, told CBS News that Ben-Gvir had "made mistakes in the past  but he told me, 'I made mistakes. I have changed,' and I believe him."

Bismuth said Ben-Gvir "detests terrorists  but doesn't detest or hate Arabs."

Boaz Bismuth, a member of Israel's Knesset, or parliament, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, speaks with CBS News in Jerusalem, in January 2023. / Credit: CBS News

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited the region in January and met Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He voiced America's continued support for a two-state solution, but said ending the conflict was "fundamentally up to them. They have to work together to find a path forward that both defuses the current cycle of violence and, I hope, also leads to positive steps to build back some confidence."

When asked if he supported a two-state solution, Bismuth said, "No."

"My message to America is, thank God  that we are friends," he said. "We share the same values. Yet we can also disagree."

"A dramatic change"

Some Americans who have made their lives in Israel expressed deep concern over the new government and the direction in which the country is headed. Tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered on the streets of Tel Aviv for weeks to protest the proposed judicial reforms, as well as proposed changes to anti-discrimination legislation that could see the rights of women, LGBTQ+ people, liberal Jews and other minority groups curtailed, in some cases for religious reasons.

"Americans have to know that this is not just a continuation of other right-wing governments. This is a dramatic change," Moshe Chertoff, who grew up in California and moved to Israel in the 1970s to live on a socialist kibbutz, told CBS News. "I don't understand what kind of extreme Judaism that is. It's definitely not the Judaism that I knew or that I'd say 75% of American Jews know."

Moshe Chertoff, a California native who moved to Israel in the 1970's to live on a socialist kibbutz, is seen at home in late January 2023. / Credit: CBS News

Some prominent Jewish Americans in the U.S. also have concerns about the changes Israel's new hardline government may usher in. Last month, nearly 170 prominent American Jewish leaders published an open letter calling for "a critical and necessary debate about Israeli policies."

"Our criticisms emanate from a love for Israel and a steadfast support for its security and wellbeing," the letter said. "Some will try to dismiss their validity by labeling them antisemitic. We want to be clear that, whether or not one agrees with a particular criticism, such critiques of Israeli policy are not antisemitic. Indeed, they reflect a real concern that the new government's direction mirrors anti-democratic trends that we see arising elsewhere  in other nations and here in the U.S., rather than reinforcing the shared democratic values that are foundational to the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Abraham Foxman, a Holocaust survivor and the former leader of the Anti-Defamation League, told CBS News that if the new Israeli government undermines civil rights or democracy in Israel, it could leave many American Jews with some serious questions.

Abraham Foxman at the 2014 annual meeting of the Anti-Defamation League in Los Angeles. / Credit: Michael Kovac/WireImage/Getty

"The escalation in violence makes it more urgent for the Netanyahu government to make compromises in some of the proposed legislation to maintain the support of allied democracies and the diaspora Jewish communities," Foxman said. "The Jewish community, especially in the United States, is a liberal community. Judaism has liberal values. If the values in the state of Israel change vis-a-vis relationships with the LGBT community, the non-Orthodox, Arabs, etc., it will impact the relationship. ... I want this government to know that if it tampers with democracy, if it tampers with the basic relationship between Israel and the Jewish people, it will have consequences. The consequences will be: it will be more difficult to defend Israel."

Opposition Israeli Knesset member and Reform rabbi Ghilad Kariv told CBS News that only half of Israelis had voted for the new government, and a majority are not ultra-religious.

"Our duty is not to give up. Our duty is to remember that many Western democracies are facing major challenges in the last few years, and today," Khariv said. "We are part of a global wave of ultra-nationalism and the rise of the far-right. You see it in Europe. You also see it in America. And our duty is to remember that there are millions of Israelis that are fully committed to the core democratic and liberal values of Israel."

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The King, and Queen Consort, will make their first foreign visit as monarchs when they travel to Germany on Wednesday. (Getty)

King Charles is set to make his first foreign visit as monarchy, as he and the Queen Consort, Camilla, travel to Germany on Wednesday.

Charles will be the first post-war foreign head of state to receive a ceremonial welcome with full military honours at Berlins Brandenburg Gate, and the first British monarch to address Germanys federal parliament, the Bundestag.

It will be King Charles' 29th official visit to Germany, while Camilla will be making her fourth official visit to the country  the pair were last in Germany in 2020.

The king had been due to visit France on Sunday to meet French president Emmanuel Macron before travelling on to Germany, but Downing Street announced last week that the trip would be postponed after pension reform protests in the country spiralled into violent clashes.

He was planning to visit the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to lay a wreath, open an exhibition at the Musee dOrsay and enjoy a banquet with Macron and the first lady, Brigitte Macron, at the Chateau de Versailles.

But the plans were changed following the violent protests in the country last week.

Buckingham Palace said the change was a "postponement", with the German leg of the trip still going ahead. In a statement, a spokesperson said: Their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found.

Charles and Camilla's planned trip to France has been postponed after riots broke out last week as part of protests against new pension policies. (Reuters)

Last Friday, Macron told the king that the state visit would be rescheduled so that his majesty will be welcomed in conditions which correspond [to] our friendly relationship, the Elysee Palace said.

When is King Charles going to Germany?

Charles and Camilla will travel to Germany on Wednesday. They will stay in Berlin before Charles addresses the German parliament on Thursday.

In line with his passion for the environment, Charles is expected to visit an organic farm known as Brodowin Eco-Village, near Berlin, which is known for its local and seasonal produce.

Charles and Camilla will also meet Ukrainian refugees in Germany and visit the St Nikolai Memorial, where a church was destroyed during an Allied raid in the Second World War.

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According to the royal website, the King will learn more about the port of Hamburgs adoption of green technologies during his visit, meeting representatives from some of the firms involved.

He will also attend a celebratory reception with Hamburg residents and members of the local British community, accompanied by the president, marking the end of their state visit on Friday.

Read more: Exclusive: Less than half of Britons back Harry being invited to King's coronation

As part of his state visit, Charles will become the first British monarch to address Germanys federal parliament, the Bundestag. (Getty)

Why is King Charles visiting Germany?

The trip has been planned to further strengthen ties between the UK and Germany, and offers an opportunity for the King to learn more about climate change action in Germany, and how the country is following an eco agenda.

Details published on the Buckingham Palace website said: "The visit will celebrate Britains relationship with Germany, marking our shared histories, culture and values.

"It will also provide an opportunity to look forwards and demonstrate the many ways the UK is working in partnership with Germany, whether that be to tackle climate change; respond to the conflict in Ukraine; seize trade and investment opportunities or share the best of our arts and culture.

Read more: Jamaica moving ahead with plans to dump 'foreign monarch' King Charles

"As well as speaking to the strength of the UKs bilateral relationships with Germany, Their Majesties visits will include engagements highlighting the importance of sustainability and community  key themes which have been embraced by citizens of all our countries.

"There will also be opportunities to reflect on the sacrifices and challenges of our shared past, out of which has come an enduring legacy of cooperation and reconciliation."
Everman is a small city of 6,154 people in the southeast corner of Tarrant County. It is the 350th largest city in Texas by population, according to the U.S. Census data. It covers roughly 1.8 square miles. The average household income in Everman is $58,231 with a median age of 37.5.

An Amber Alert was issued Saturday morning for a 6-year-old boy from Everman, police said. However, the Everman Police Department said in a release that Child Protective Services informed them that Noel hadnt been seen by his family since November 2022.

Noel suffers numerous physical and developmental challenges and family members have expressed great concern for his safety, the release said.

The family of the 6-year-old boy left the U.S. on a Turkish Airways flight without him just two days before an Amber Alert was issued, Everman police said at a news conference Sunday.
By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States welcomes the decision on Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay a decision on divisive plans for a judicial overhaul until next month, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Netanyahu on Monday delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul until next month amid fears that the country's worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.

"We welcome this announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise. A compromise is precisely what we have been calling for. And we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible," Jean-Pierre said.

The United States remains concerned about the situation in Israel and President Joe Biden has shared his concerns about a proposed judicial overhaul directly with Netanyahu, the White House said on Monday.

"We remain concerned by the recent developments," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, calling for compromise.

Kirby noted that Israel had been invited to a U.S.-organized Summit for Democracy later this week.

Kirby said Biden has been "very forthright" with Netanyahu about his concerns. Asked if Biden was worried that Israel would devolve into civil war, Kirby said he was not.

He said U.S. concerns about the judicial reform legislation were that it would "fly in the face" of the principle of having checks and balances in government.

"All of that concern comes from ... a place of respect and friendship and admiration for the Israeli people, for Israel as a country and for Israel's democracy," Kirby said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Jasper Ward and Susan Heavey; Editing by Howard Goller and Tomasz Janowski)
(iStock)

Its official: spring is well and truly upon us, which means its time for the clocks to go forward.

While the arrival of winter brings darker mornings and evenings, turning the clocks back allows us to have more sunlight in the morning.

Plus, on the day the clocks change we get an extra hour in bed too, so were not complaining.

Heres everything you need to know about when and why the clocks go back:

When do the clocks change in 2023?

The clocks move forward one hour at 1am on Sunday (26 March).

And looking ahead to the autumn, the clocks then go back an hour on Sunday October 29 at 1am.

Each year, the clocks go back an hour at 2am on the last Sunday of October.

When this occurs, the UK will switch from British Summer Time (BST) to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

If you have a smartphone or device, the clock on it should automatically update in the early morning.

The clocks went forward an hour on Sunday 27 March last year, which marked the beginning of British Summer Time.

Why do the clocks change?

Following summer solstice in June the days gradually become shorter.

Therefore, by turning the clocks back an hour during autumn, this provides people with more sunlight in the morning. Turning the clocks forward in the spring brings lighter evenings.

Why was Daylight Saving Time introduced?

British Summer Time was first introduced as part of the Summer Time Act of 1916.

William Willett, an Edwardian builder and the great-great-grandfather of Coldplays Chris Martin, had devised a campaign in which he proposed that the clocks go forward in spring and back in winter so that people could spend more time outdoors during the day and save energy, hence the term Daylight Saving Time.

Willett wrote about his proposal in a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight, which was published in 1907.

The government later adopted his ideas in 1916 during World War I - a year after Willett died - as politicians believed it would help reduce the demand for coal.

While the Summer Time Act may have been established following Willetts proposal, he wasnt the first to put forward the idea of preserving daylight by changing the clocks.

In 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote about a similar idea in a satirical letter sent to the editor of the Journal of Paris. In the letter, Franklin suggested if people got up earlier when it was lighter, it would make economic sense as it would save on candles.

The ancient Romans also followed a similar practice in order to use their time efficiently during the day.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus appears to be another attempt to raise the stakes in the conflict in Ukraine.

It follows Putin's warnings that Moscow is ready to use all available means to fend off attacks on Russian territory, a reference to its nuclear arsenal.

A look at Putins statement and its implications:

HOW DID PUTIN EXPLAIN HIS MOVE?

Putin said that President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has long urged Moscow to station its nuclear weapons in his country, which has close military ties with Russia and was a staging ground for the invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia already has helped modernize Belarusian warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons  something that Belarus' authoritarian leader has repeatedly mentioned.

In remarks broadcast Saturday, Putin said the immediate trigger for the deployment of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was the U.K. government's decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium. Putin toned down his language after first falsely claiming that such rounds have nuclear components, but he insisted they pose an additional danger to the civilian population and could contaminate the environment.

Putin also said that by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia will be doing what the United States has done for decades by putting its nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. He alleged the Russian move doesnt violate an international treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons, even though Moscow has argued before that Washington has breached the pact by deploying them on the territory of its NATO allies.

Putins move contrasted with a statement that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued after their talks in the Kremlin last week, which spoke against nuclear powers deploying atomic weapons outside their territories, in an apparent jab at the U.S.

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WHAT ARE TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and a much lower yield than nuclear warheads fitted to long-range strategic missiles that are capable of obliterating whole cities.

Unlike strategic weapons, which have been subject to arms control agreements between Moscow and Washington, tactical weapons never have been limited by any such pacts, and Russia hasnt released their numbers or any other specifics related to them.

The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.

While strategic nuclear weapons are fitted to land- or submarine-based intercontinental ballistic missiles that are constantly ready for launch, tactical nuclear weapons are stored at a few tightly guarded storage facilities in Russia, and it takes time to deliver them to combat units.

Some Russian hawks long have urged the Kremlin to send a warning to the West by moving some tactical nuclear weapons closer to the aircraft and missiles intended to deliver them.

WHAT EXACTLY WILL RUSSIA DO?

Putin said that Russia already has helped upgrade 10 Belarusian aircraft to allow them to carry nuclear weapons and their crews will start training to use them from April 3. He noted Russia also has given Belarus the Iskander short-range missile systems that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads.

He said the construction of storage facilities for nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1. He didnt say how many nuclear weapons will be stationed there or when they will be deployed.

Putin emphasized that Russia will retain control over any nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, just like the U.S. controls its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its NATO allies.

If Moscow sends nuclear weapons to Belarus, it will mark their first deployment outside Russian borders since the early 1990s. Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan inherited massive nuclear arsenals after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but agreed to ship them to Russia in the following years.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES BEHIND PUTINS MOVE?

With his latest statement, Putin again is dangling the nuclear threat to signal Moscows readiness to escalate the war in Ukraine.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It would also extend Russias capability to target several NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe.

The move comes as Kyiv is poised for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory occupied by Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russias Security Council, warned last week that attempts by Ukraine to reclaim control over the Crimean Peninsula was a threat to the very existence of the Russian state, something that warrants a nuclear response under the countrys security doctrine. Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Every day of supplying Western weapons to Ukraine makes the nuclear apocalypse closer, Medvedev said.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said that Putin's goal is to discourage Ukraines Western allies from providing Kyiv with more weapons before any counteroffensive.

Putin is "using nuclear blackmail in a bid to influence the situation on the battlefield and force Western partners to reduce supplies of weapons and equipment under the threat of nuclear escalation, Zhdanov said. The Belarusian nuclear balcony will be looming over not only Ukraine, but Europe as well, creating a constant threat, raising tensions and rattling the nerves of Ukrainians and their Western partners.

WHAT ARE UKRAINE AND THE WEST SAYING?

Ukraine has responded to Putins move by calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. A U.N. spokesman referred questions on the issue to the Security Council, which had announced no meeting on it by Monday afternoon.

The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that U.S. officials havent seen any movement of any tactical nuclear weapons or anything of that kind since Putin's announcement on Belarus. He has said Washington has seen nothing to prompt a change in its strategic deterrent posture.

NATO rejects Putins claim that Russia only is doing what the U.S. has done for decades, saying that Western allies act with full respect for their international commitments.

Russias nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said, adding that the alliance hasnt yet seen any change in Russias nuclear posture.

Lithuania, which borders Belarus, described Putins statement as yet another attempt by two unpredictable dictatorial regimes to threaten their neighbors and the entire European continent, calling them desperate moves by Putin and Lukashenko to create another wave of tension and destabilization in Europe.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, visiting Romania, said at a news conference Tuesday that Moscow's decision to deploy the weapons "will certainly lead to additional sanctions being put on Belarus and the level of new sanctions will be much more painful.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry rejected Western criticism, casting the deployment as a response to unprecedented Western pressure and arguing that the move wouldn't contradict the international agreements because Russia will retain control of them.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Washington and its allies had ignored Russia's calls for the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe. It reaffirmed Moscows right to take the necessary additional steps to ensure security of Russia and its allies."

___

Aamer Madhani in Washington, Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania, and Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

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Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A March 19 letter writer bemoaned Fox News Tucker Carlsons access to the footage of the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The writer suggested that only the violence be shown and footage showing otherwise should be hidden away. The writer seems to propose that Carlsons honest, full-reporting of the facts is not appropriate and that cherry-picking disclosures is better.

This reflects the reporting common today in most news organizations, but particularly at CNN and MSNBC. They seldom lie, but they very selectively choose the footage or facts to report and ignore contrasting footage or facts that present a story that does not reflect their narrative. We saw this in stories on the origin of COVID-19, the six-year railing against Donald Trump and the deafening silence on reporting the Biden family connections to Chinese money.

- J. Mark Bronson, Fort Worth

Read more readers opinions here.
Stocks of regional banks surged Monday after regulators announced a sale of Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans, an agreement that demonstrated how much government assistance will be required to stoke new deal making during this banking crisis.

The buyer, First Citizens Bancshares (FCNCA), ended the day up 54%. The stock of another troubled regional lender, First Republic (FRC), was 12% higher as that San Francisco lender considers a number of options to stabilize its situation. The stocks of PacWest Bancorp (PACW) and Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL), two other California lenders that came under investor pressure following Silicon Valley Bank's failure, also rose.

The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and New York's Signature Bank earlier this month will be examined publicly Tuesday during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington. Witnesses include Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Martin Gruenberg.

The chairman may face questions about how his agency handled the Silicon Valley Bank auction. It took Mr. Gruenberg's agency roughly two weeks to find a buyer for parts of the bank, and FDIC agreed to sell Raleigh, N.C.-based First Citizens $72 billion in loans at a discount of $16.5 billion while pledging to share any losses (or gains) on those loans in the future.

The FDIC said that such a loss-sharing agreementa tactic that also used frequently during the 2008 financial crisis when trying to find buyers for failed bankswill maximize recoveries on the assets by keeping them in the private sector.

First Citizens also decided not to take an additional $90 billion in securities that the FDIC will now have to sell on its own. Silicon Valley Bank loaded up on bonds that are now worth much less as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates. One big question during the sale process was whether the bank's investment portfolio would go for "pennies on the dollar or if it's unsaleable, said a person familiar with the process.

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The total hit to the FDIC's deposit insurance fund, the backstop for protected depositors at all banks, will be $20 billion. The FDIC is also providing a line of credit to First Citizens for "contingent liquidity purposes," the bank said. FDIC gets shares of First Citizens valued up to $500 million.

A First Citizens Bank sign in Durham, N.C. (AP Photo/Jonathan Drew)

FDIC made some similar concessions on March 19 when it found a buyer for parts of New York's Signature Bank, which went down on March 12. It gave the new owner, Flagstar Bank, a discount of $12.7 billion on its purchase of $12.9 billion in loans and kept another $60 billion in loans Flagstar didn't want.

The deal making by regulators is the latest example of how much government intervention has been required thus far to get the current banking crisis under control. Federal officials initially agreed to cover all depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and New York's Signature Bank and free up more liquidity at the Federal Reserve so that banks could tap new financing if needed. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have agreed to consider additional steps if needed.

Their goal was to calm any panic and slow a withdrawal of deposits from vulnerable regional banks. During the week ending March 15, small banks lost $120 billion in deposits, according to new data from the Federal Reserve. The 25 biggest banks gained $67 billion in deposits during the same period. Powell said last week that deposit flows had stabilized.

First Republic, which caters to wealthy customers on both coasts of the U.S., was among the banks that lost deposits during the initial tumult. In fact, 11 of the nation's biggest banks decided to inject $30 billion in uninsured deposits to take that situation around. There have been discussions about government backing to make the lender more attractive to a buyer or potential investor, Bloomberg has reported.

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
App icons on a phone

Governments and institutions around the world have been banning TikTok from officials' phones and devices, over the past few months.

The Netherlands and Norway have joined the list of countries banning the video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, from government-issued devices.

And despite TikTok's insistence it is independently run and shares no users' data with the Chinese government, France has become the latest country to restrict officials' access to it.

But at the same time, it has also become the first country to do the same for all "recreational" apps - including:

Netflix

Instagram

Candy Crush

Twitter

The ban, monitored by France's cyber-security agency, will affect about 2.5 million civil servants.

"Recreational applications do not deliver sufficient levels of cyber-security and data protection to be deployed on administration's digital tools," Civil Service Minister Stanislas Guerini said.

"These applications may therefore constitute a risk to the data protection of these administrations and their public officials." Although, exceptions could be granted for "institutional communications" purposes.

So it looks like France, unlike the rest of the West, is viewing Chinese and American technology companies in a similar way. Although, it is not the first instance of technology tension between the US and France.

In 2019, France approved a digital-services tax despite threats of retaliation by the US, who argued it unfairly targeted American technology giants such as Google and Facebook.

And since 2018, France has been vocally opposed to the US Cloud Act, which gives American law-enforcement authorities the power to request data stored by most major cloud providers, even if it is outside the US.

France has had a prominent voice in the Gaia-X project - set up to:

address the conflict between the US Cloud Act and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

set European cloud standards

ensure customers' data is stored and processed in Europe, "immune" from non-European laws

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Analysis box by Joe Tidy, Cyber reporter

Day after day, governments and public bodies are banning TikTok from staff devices - but France's decision to clamp down on all "recreational apps" stands out and is being praised by privacy campaigners.

Fears about TikTok have reached fever pitch - but alongside the furore, people are beginning to question the privacy practices of other apps too - regardless of where the companies are based. And this feels like a moment privacy campaigners have been waiting for.

Questions are being asked about how data is collected and used by the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and even Candy Crush.

The political focus is currently on TikTok because its parent company is in China - but the French government is clearly saying all these social-media companies have questions to answer.
HARARE, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday chaired a resource mobilization meeting where various business organizations pledged to donate cash, blankets and medical consumables, among others, to victims of Cyclone Freddy in Malawi.

Permanent Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana said at the meeting that one of the leading fast food outlets in the country has committed to donating food to the victims, and a pharmaceutical company has also promised to provide medical supplies.

Cyclone Freddy left more than 500 people dead in Malawi and also caused deaths in Mozambique and Madagascar as it swept through parts of southern Africa for the second time in early March.

The cyclone hit when Malawi was already grappling with a cholera outbreak. Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has launched an international appeal for assistance to ease the situation.

The Zimbabwean government on Saturday handed over 300 tons of maize meal to Malawi to help victims cope with the effects of the cyclone, amid promises of more donations in the near future.

It has also established a disaster relief committee chaired by Zimbabwean Minister of Local Government and Public Works July Moyo to draw up a comprehensive assistance package for Malawi. 
SNP Leadership Hopefuls Hold Hustings For Party Members

Humza Yousaf during an SNP Hustings event on March 1, 2023 in Cumbernauld, Scotland. Credit - Andy BuchananPool via Getty Images

Humza Yousaf was elected as Scotlands new First Minister on Tuesday after a majority of lawmakers backed him to become the first ever racial minority and Muslim to lead the country. Yousaf will be sworn in Wednesday and takes over from Nicola Sturgeon, Scotlands first female leader and the countrys longest-serving one yet.

As immigrants of this country who knew barely a word of English, they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that their grandson would one day be on the cusp of being the next First Minister of Scotland, Yousaf said of his grandparents at Edinburghs Murrayfield Stadium on Monday. We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message that your color of skin or indeed your faith is not a barrier to leading the country that we all call home.

Yousaf was announced the Scottish National Partys sixth leader in Edinburgh on Monday, marking the end of what had become an acrimonious and unpredictable leadership contest. Of the three candidates, which included the Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes and former junior minister Ash Regan, Yousaf was widely seen as the continuity candidate and the favorite of the SNP leadership (save for Sturgeon, who declined to endorse a successor). In the end, he secured the backing of 52.1% of the SNPs card-carrying members, who were the only ones eligible to vote in the leadership contest.

Yousafs victory isnt historic for Scotland alone. He is the first Muslim politician elected to be a national leader in a Western democracy, according to Sunder Katwala, the director of the British Future think tank. Yousaf is also the first ever ethnic-minority leader of a devolved U.K. government. That his victory comes so soon after the election of Britains Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last year and Irelands Taoiseach Leo Varadkar returning to power in December 2022 means that, for the first time in history, the British, Scottish, and Irish leaders are all of South Asian origin.

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While Yousaf is expected to build on Sturgeons progressive policiesincluding supporting the Scottish governments reforms to make it easier for people to legally change their gender, which were ultimately blocked by the British government in Westminsterhis backers say Yousaf will nonetheless carve out his own leadership style. Theres more to Humza than perhaps people recognize, Ian Blackford, the SNPs former Westminster leader, previously told TIME, adding: He will be very much a team player. He will show leadership, but he will have people around the table with him.

But perhaps the most immediate challenge facing Yousaf will be to unite his party. The leadership contestthe first the nationalist party has held in nearly two decades, because Sturgeon ran for the top post in 2014 unopposedexposed deep divisions within the SNP, prompting some of the partys senior members to even speculate about the possibility of a potential split. Such an outcome would be a major boon for the Scottish Labour and Conservative parties, both of which have struggled to best the SNP in recent elections. The most immediate electoral test for Yousaf will be the next U.K. general election, due to take place by January 2025.

That doesnt give them very much time, says Nicola McEwen, a professor of territorial politics at the University of Edinburgh, noting that if the SNP loses seats in that contest, Yousaf might not have the tenure that Nicola Sturgeon or her predecessor had.
DNY59 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Its spring, which means its a new tax season. Maybe youve done really well for yourself in the past by getting a generous refund from the state and federal government. So that must mean that a bigger tax refund this year is definitely better than a small one, right?

Not necessarily.

Find Out: All the States That Dont Tax Social Security

Is Your State Tax-Friendly? Only 5 Were Given an A-Grade (and 4 Failed)

In 2022, taxpayers saw their average individual tax return go up to about $3,176 compared to the $2,549 in 2020 for the 2019 fiscal year, according to a report from the IRS. That mightve been much-needed money in your pocket then, but it could come back to haunt you in 2023.

Are you ready to file? Heres what you need to know.

Why Is Getting a Large Refund a Bad Thing?

When you get a tax refund, the government is returning some of the money that your employer withheld from your paycheck on your behalf throughout the year. Thats right: the federal government collected too much money from you all year long, and when it sends you a refund, its just giving back the difference. Dont make the mistake of thinking that they are giving you extra money  its all an accounting cycle thats looking for balance.

In 2022, the IRS issued $642 billion in refunds and outlays and $602 billion in unpaid assessments. Thats a whole lot of money that was steered around the checking accounts of the people who earned it and into the governments coffers.

In effect, the American taxpayer gives the government an interest-free loan, one that in the previous years has reached upwards of three-quarters of a trillion dollars. If youd rather not loan the government your money for free, you can get a smaller refund by having less money withheld from your paycheck.

Take Our Poll: Are You Concerned About the Safety of Your Money in Your Bank Accounts?

How To Better Use Your Money Than Overpaying in Taxes Just To Get a Refund

If you have less money withheld, youll keep more money in each paycheck. You can then save or invest this money so that it earns you even more money. If you dont think it matters because you like to splurge your tax refund every year anyway, you would be better off saving that money in an interest-bearing account and taking it out at tax time to indulge yourself.

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Some taxpayers might be perfectly aware of why they get a refund, but would still prefer the big lump-sum payment instead of slightly larger paychecks throughout the year. In other cases, they might be afraid that theyd spend that smaller amount every pay period without noticing it, so they use their withholding as a savings account of sorts. Here, too, the smarter move is to keep the entire paycheck and set up a recurring auto-transfer that puts whatever amount the IRS would have taken directly into an interest-bearing savings account.

How Do I Know If My Refund Is Too Large?

If youre in the $1,000-plus range for your refund, which many people are, it means youve allowed the government to sit on more than a grand of your money over the past year. In the event that your tax refund is high like this, you can decrease your tax withholdings to reduce the size of your refund. The less money you have withheld, the more money youll get in each check and the smaller your tax refund will be.

Just keep in mind that if you reduce your withholdings too much, youll end the year with an outstanding balance and the IRS will be dropping off a tax bill when you file your returns.

How Do I Adjust My Withholding?

Your employer withholds your estimated tax payments from your paycheck and sends them to the IRS on your behalf. Those withholdings used to be calculated based on your income, filing status and withholding allowances.

The IRS completely revamped the process three years ago in 2020, doing away with allowance numbers, and redesigned Form W-4, which you must submit to your employer to change your withholdings.

To get started, gather your pay statements, information about any other income you earn and your most recent tax return and use the IRSs Tax Withholding Estimator tool to walk you through the process.

You should also consider using the tool if you have a change in your life circumstances, like getting married, having a baby, experiencing a change in your spouses working status or getting a second job. And if you find youre still getting a larger refund than youd like or you end up having to pay the IRS at filing time, adjust your withholdings again.

So, what can you do with the extra money you get in each paycheck?

The same thing many people do with their tax refunds, like pay off debt, or save or invest it. You could even take that big vacation if you want. The difference is, you can do it sooner because you dont have to wait for the IRS to process your return and send your refund  and youll hopefully have a little extra money from the interest you earned.

More From GOBankingRates

Jake Arky, Andrew Lisa and Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Why a Tiny Tax Refund Is Good for Your Finances  and How To Make It Happen
President Biden applauds Canada for 'opening new, legal pathways' for migrants

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed into law Democratic bills to repeal the state's right-to-work law that allowed workers to opt out of paying union dues or fees. She also reinstated a prevailing wage law that requires union-level wages and benefits for state-funded construction projects.

"Today, we are coming together to restore workers rights, protect Michiganders on the job, and grow Michigan's middle class," Whitmer said in a statement Friday. "Michigan workers are the most talented and hard-working in the world and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect."

In repealing right-to-work, Whitmer reneged on a promise she made at the outset of her first term as governor to veto legislation containing appropriations. Because voters cannot subject bills that include spending provisions to a referendum, Whitmer signed an executive directive vowing to reject bills that included appropriations to circumvent the public's right to a referendum.

The spending in the right-to-work repeal bills mirrors what Republican lawmakers did last decade. Democrats also include appropriations approved by Whitmer in the prevailing wage bill, dedicating funds for the purpose of educating the public on the major labor law changes.

Just over half of states have right-to-work laws in place. With the stroke of her pen, Whitmer made Michigan the first state in nearly 60 years to abandon the policy opposed by labor advocates.

"Today is a historic win for workers everywhere," said state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, who introduced one of the bills to repeal right-to-work. "We're entering a new chapter in Michigan."

More:Democratic lawmakers send Whitmer bills to repeal right-to-work, reinstate prevailing wage

More:Michigan Senate Democrats pass bills repealing right-to-work law

The bills passed along party-line votes. Without any GOP support, the bills won't go into effect immediately. Instead, the changes will kick in 90 days after the end of the legislative session.

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Republicans argue repealing right-to-work jeopardizes state efforts to attract businesses to locate to the state. Companies don't want to set up shop in places where workers could lose their jobs if they refuse to pay union dues or fees, they argue.

"Gov. Whitmer and Democrats have hurt Michigans ability to compete to attract high-paying careers," said House Republican Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township in a statement. "Without right-to-work, businesses will find more competitive states for their manufacturing plants and research and development facilities, and workers and careers will drift away."

Democrats disagree and contend that right-to-work is unfair because it allows "free riders" who benefit from the contracts negotiated on their behalf without paying into the union. The law has led to weakened unions and chipped away at their ability to negotiate better employment terms, they argue.

Slightly more than 9% of Michigan private sector workers were union members in 2021, compared with just over 11% in 2012, according to federal data compiled by researchers available at unionstats.com. Nearly 46,000 private sector workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement were not dues-paying union members.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks about the BlueOval Battery Park Michigan to be built in Marshall during a press announcement at Ford Ion Park in Romulus on Monday, February 13, 2023.

In addition to repealing right-to-work for private sector workers, Whitmer also signed a bill that does the same for public sector workers in the event the U.S. Supreme Court reverses a previous decision barring public sector unions from requiring employees covered by collective bargaining agreements to pay union dues.

Democrats also celebrated Whitmer's signature to restore Michigan's prevailing wage law, which was first put on the books in 1965. Over 50 years later, Republicans in the state Legislature repealed the law in 2018.

Last year, Whitmer issued an executive directive reinstating prevailing wage for projects bid out by the Department of Technology, Management and Budget. But unlike the bill she signed, her directive did not apply to state-funded construction projects bid out by local school districts.

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Whitmer repeals 'right to work' in Michigan, revives prevailing wage
wind power

The development of wind farms in Europe and the US is at risk from supply chain bottlenecks, a global trade group has warned.

Shortages of parts and assembly capacity risks holding back the technology required to cut carbon emissions, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Politicians need to act now to prevent constraints emerging in the second half of the decade, the body added.

It comes as several wind farm developers and manufacturers have sounded the alarm over rising costs and slow grid connections.

Morten Dyrholm, chairman of the GWEC, said: Scaling up wind energy requires healthy industries and healthy industries require thriving markets.

There are challenges on the horizon that require bold policy action and strong support for the industry from governments.

Electricity generation from wind has grown rapidly over the past 20 years, supplying almost 1,900 terawatt-hours globally in 2021.

The International Energy Agency says that figure needs to climb to almost 8,000 terawatt-hours by 2030 in order to hit net zero goals.

The development of new turbines stalled last year amid cost pressures and logistical bottlenecks, with 77.6 gigawatts built globally.

But the market is now ready to bounce back, as China, Europe and the US ramp up their efforts to cut carbon emissions and cut their reliance on gas.

However, the surge in demand means spare capacity in global supply chains is likely to disappear in many areas by 2026, the GWEC said.

With the supply and production of many wind turbine parts currently concentrated in China, the crunch is likely to be felt in the US and Europe.

Europes capacity to assemble nacelles  the boxes containing the gearbox and other crucial parts  for offshore wind turbines will need to double by 2030, according to GWEC.

Policies designed to boost local manufacturing risk worsening supply crunches by shutting off capacity abroad, it added.

For Europe and the US, we expect sufficient supply [of onshore wind nacelles] throughout this decade if western turbine manufacturers can smoothly mobilise the capacity they own in China and India.

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However, if the free flow of the global wind supply chain is interrupted by proposed regional initiatives such as Made in Europe and Made in the USA  and no new nacelle assembly capacity is built at the same time  we expect to see supply chain constraints in both regions by the middle of this decade.

China led the growth in wind power last year, installing 47pc of new onshore wind capacity and 70pc of new offshore wind capacity.

It is forecast to account for 61pc of new wind capacity in 2023, GWEC said.
Many senior citizens wear medical alert systems so if they have an emergency, the business can send help right away.

Jo Ann Detloff wears a Medical Guardian around her neck and swears by it.

MORE ACTION 9: Homeowner fed up with nuts from neighbors tree falling onto property

She told Action 9s Jason Stoogenke that her device broke a few months ago and the company told her to ship it back.

(I) thought it was all good, she said.

Apparently, it wasnt. The old device was still activated and went off somewhere between Charlotte and Pennsylvania.

According to Medical Guardians brochure, the company knows the customers location. This says you can find me no matter where I am, she said.

Instead of the company sending first responders to where the old device was at that moment, it sent firefighters to her house to see if she was OK. But Detloff wasnt home and when she didnt answer the door, she says, They had to pry open my back door, and I have two deadbolts.

Detloff doesnt fault firefighters. No. Not at all, she said. (They were doing) everything they could do to save me.

Detloff blames Medical Guardian for the mistake, and she asked the business to pay for her door.

They would pay half for the door, she said. I said, Wait a minute. How do you figure Im half responsible in any of this? I dont understand.

MORE ACTION 9: Family sues, claiming car dealer added roughly $40,000 to price, forged their names

After time passed with no change, Detloff turned to Action 9, which emailed Medical Guardian. The company responded:

We sincerely apologize for the role that Medical Guardian played in the incident at Ms. Detloffs residence. At Medical Guardian, our teams undergo extensive training to assist in the set up and return of devices and, unfortunately in this particular instance, Ms. Detloff was not informed by our team to turn off her device prior to returning it. When the alarm went off in transit and emergency responders were unable to reach her, they took whatever measures were necessary to ensure her well-being which led to the damage of her doors. Our primary concern is always the well-being of customers and we are glad that Ms. Detloff is safe. We will be reimbursing the cost of damages and have reached out to personally apologize.

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Detloff says the repairs cost about $3,000.

It was like 1,000 bricks were lifted off of me. I dont know how to say it any better. I mean, it was like finally. Finally, she said.

If you have a medical device like this one or any brand and get rid of it, make sure you deactivate it.

Advice from Action 9 if you feel a company should pay for damage:

- Be persistent.

- Keep good records.

- Let Action 9 know if you need help.

(VIDEO: Sophisticated scheme swindles couple out of life savings)
Police are investigating after a woman was found shot to death in the Mechanicsville neighborhood Sunday night.

Police said they responded to reports of a shooting at 732 Ira St. SW around 7 p.m.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The found a woman at the scene with an apparent gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital, where she died.

TRENDING STORIES:

Homicide investigators are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Its unclear if foul play is involved. The womans identity hasnt been released.

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Fox News aired an activists fiery plea for stricter gun control measures following a press conference about the latest mass shooting at an American grade school.

Arent you guys tired of covering this? Arent you guys tired of being here and covering all these mass shootings? a woman asked members of the media after officials gave an update on the shooting Monday at The Covenant School, a Nashville Christian school. The suspected shooter, a 28-year-old woman armed with two assault-style rifles and a pistol, killed three children and three adults, according to authorities. The suspect was shot and killed by police, officials said.

Fox News was airing live footage from CBS affiliate WTVF. The network seemed ready to cut away from the activist, who identified herself only as having recently lived through the mass shooting at a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, last July. But the camera stayed on her for another minute as she laced into lawmakers for their inaction on even the most basic gun control measures.

I am on vacation with my son visiting my sister-in-law, said the woman, later identified on social media as Ashbey Beasley. I have been lobbying in D.C. since we survived a mass shooting in July. I have visited with 130 lawmakers ... these mass shootings will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass gun safety legislation.

The woman there said it quite succinctly: Arent you tired of this? Fox News anchor John Roberts replied from the studio as the local field reporter prepared for a live shot. Yes, were tired of this.

wow. a woman makes a passionate case for gun control during a press conference about the Nashville school shooting pic.twitter.com/tQDdSrBZZ6  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 27, 2023

Police are still releasing information about what precipitated the nations 13th school shooting this year. The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian school for about 200 children in pre-K through sixth grade.

Story continues

Lawmakers reached a rare bipartisan consensus last year on a modest gun control package, which beefed up background checks and incentivized states to enact red flag laws after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. It was the first national gun control law passed in nearly three decades and was opposed by the National Rifle Association, the massive pro-gun, pro-GOP lobby. But it was far short of what activists had sought from a deeply polarized Congress.

The gun lobby also holds massive sway over the nations largest conservative station and its opinion anchors, whove railed against gun control measures the NRA opposes.

About an hour after the womans remarks went viral, Fox interviewed former FBI special agent Nicole Parker, who pushed the need for more locked doors in schools to prevent shootings.
Three people were shot on Sunday night at two locations in Fort Worth during a 45-minute period, police said.

A man was shot in the back about 7:30 p.m. at a business strip center in the 1700 block of South Riverside Drive, Fort Worth police said.

The victims injury is not life-threatening, and he was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, police said.

The assailant left in a vehicle that police said they found near Richmond Avenue and Daniel Street. The assailant was not in custody.

Two people were shot about 8:15 p.m. at the Buttercup Apartments in the 3800 block of Stalcup Road in east Fort Worth in a drive-by shooting involving suspected gang members, police said.

A 28-year-old woman who was shot in the leg said the assailants were in two groups of people who exchanged gunfire from vehicles, police said. The victim said she was an uninvolved and was struck by a stray bullet. Both groups of assailants left in vehicles, the victim said.

The victims injury is not life-threatening, and she was taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, police said.

Also shot at that scene was a 27-year-old man who about 10:30 p.m. arrived by private vehicle at John Peter Smith Hospital.

The victim said he was shot near Interstate 20 and McCart Avenue in south Fort Worth. A police record indicates the shooting occurred at the Buttercup Apartments.

The victim said he was walking with a companion on a sidewalk when he heard gunfire, felt pain and found he had a graze wound to the right ankle, police said.

The victim said he was unfamiliar with the area where the shooting occurred, did not see who fired upon him or from where the gunfire originated, police said.

No assailants in the Buttercup Apartments shooting were in custody, police said.
For those of us who live in big cities like New York or Los Angeles, running into a celebrity on a seemingly insignificant day isnt out of the ordinary  its pretty common, actually.

Emily Newton (@balancedfactor), a 23-year-old, Toronto-based podcast host, posted about the one time she ran into and even flirted with a Gossip Girl star.

POV: you walk into chace from gossip girl at the bar and didnt realize but say hey you look familiar how do I know you and flirt with him for 10 mins and then realize afterwards why he was familiar, she writes.

In less than two weeks since posting, Emilys video has 841,600 views and 167,400 likes.

Chace Crawford, who famously portrayed Upper East Side hunk Nate Archibald on The CWs Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012, currently resides in Toronto, Canada, while filming Prime Videos The Boys.

Emily posted a follow-up video revealing more details about her run-in with the Hollywood actor.

Basically, I walk into the bar, and some guy bumps into me as Im going to go check in my coat, and hes like, Oh my gosh, Im so sorry like my hands are full, and Im like, No problem. And as Im walking away, Im like, Man, that guy looked really, really familiar. Like, I swear Ive met him before. I should go like ask him,' she explains. So I go, and I tap him on the shoulder, and Im like, Have we met before? Like, I swear, you look so familiar. And he was like, I dont know. Maybe we have. You also look really familiar, too.'

and shes like, Emily, that was literally Chace from Gossip Girl.

Emily decides to keep going with the conversation, during which Chace hands her a drink.

And so as the bar got super busy, they headed out. They did their own thing, and then I was with my friend group, and my friend comes over to me, and she was like, Emily, do you know who you were just talking to? And I was like, No, but he looked so familiar. Like, I swear Ive met this man before. And shes like, Emily, that was literally Chace from Gossip Girl. Like, do you remember Nate?'

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Obviously, I remember Nate, Emily adds. Like, how oblivious am I?

Gossip Girl fans commended Emily for keeping her cool the way she did.

Ok but iconic of you to just keep flirting no matter what, someone responded.

babe..fumbled. how are you after this? another fan wrote.

But did he flirt back, one user asked.

Earlier this year, Chelsea Zeferina (@chelseazeferina) passed another famous face on the streets of New York City.

The thing about living in New York is youll just be walking down the street having a casual day. You know, just like walking home from the store. And youll walk by someone, and youll be like, Wow, that person looks familiar,' she says. And then youll realize its one of your favorite musicians of all time. And youll look them dead in the eye and just keep walking like nothing happened.

Anyway, I just walked by Phoebe Bridgers, Chelsea reveals.

Kaite Hubler (@gingeraleprincess) was casually strolling around Central Park when she saw a familiar, famous face.

On the same path but, like, in opposite directions. I was met with this guy who was like, I dont know early forties, she says. And I looked at him, and I was like, I know him. I dont know if he like works at my office or if hes one of my friends dads, but I have surely met this man before.'

I looked at him, and I went, Good seeing ya.'

While awkwardly passing the man on the path, Kaite felt the need to say something to him.

I have to say something because it would be so rude not to, she says. So as we were doing that I looked at him, and I went, Good seeing ya.'

It was Oscar Isaac, she realizes.

timothee chalamet watched me spill a venti caramel macchiato down my shirt after slipping ice

Commenters on Kaites video shared their own awkward celebrity encounters.

I did this exact thing once to Steve Carell walking on the beach path between Venice and Santa Monica, one user replied.

I did something similar, but it was Paul Rudd, another said.

timothee chalamet watched me spill a venti caramel macchiato down my shirt after slipping ice, someone wrote.

While these situations definitely sound a bit awkward or, in Emilys case, like a missed opportunity, at least these creators have a good story to tell!

In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News  follow us here!

The post These women have run into some of their favorite celebrities without even realizing it: Ok but iconic of you to just keep flirting no matter what appeared first on In The Know.

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CAMDEN  Delaware River water provided to South Jersey customers is not impacted by a chemical spill that has polluted a stream in Pennsylvania, a utility company says.

But New Jersey American Water also asked customers to reduce water use in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

It said the cutbacks would help maintain "optimal operation" at a Delran facility that treats Delaware River water.

The firm made the request Sunday afternoon, following a chemical spill from a manufacturing plant into a river tributary in Bristol, Pennsylvania. It issued a second statement on Monday evening, saying circumstances were unchanged.

More: Is Bucks County at risk following chemical spill? What we know

More: Protection from harmful chemicalDelran water treatment plant gets $2.5M upgrade to target contaminant

No impact for South Jersey 'at this time'

In its original statement, the firm said the spill at this time has not affected the treated drinking water delivered to customers in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

We continue to monitor the quality of the Delaware River and have activated our business continuity plans to continue to provide safe, reliable service to customers in this three-county region, Mark McDonough, the utilitys president, said on Sunday.

McDonough added Monday that state and federal agencies, and other water firms are also testing the river, including the area around the plants intakes

"No contaminants have been detected," he said.The utility has asked customers in the three South Jersey counties to limit "non-essential water use until further notice."

The company said it will announce updates through its customer-notification system.

It said Sunday that the cutback period is expected to last from 24 to 48 hours.

Updates will also be posted under Alerts at www.newjerseyamwater.com and on the companys social media channels.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: NJ American Water says Delaware River supply 'not impacted' by spill
NAIROBI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African bloc, on Monday appealed for 2.69 billion U.S. dollars in funding to save millions of people at risk of starvation in Kenya, Uganda and Somalia due to drought.

The situation continues to worsen, with 47 million people being highly food insecure and some at risk of dying of starvation, IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said.

"Some 70 percent of these 47 million people live in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia," he said in a statement released in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. "This is why, today, we solemnly call on the international community to help us prevent a major humanitarian disaster by committing requisite resources to save lives and livelihoods in the short term, and continue investing in resilience building in the medium and long term."

According to the bloc, Somalia needs 1.6 billion dollars to provide food and non-food items to the drought-affected communities and the internally displaced people (IDPs); Ethiopia needs 710 million dollars to provide support to key sectoral needs in the coming four months; and Kenya requires 378 million dollars to provide food, water, and vaccination to the affected counties until October.

IGAD said the drought has led to terrible consequences, including severe water and pasture shortages, a million displaced people and over 10 million livestock and wildlife deaths, and reduced crop and livestock production, all of which are increasing food insecurity.

Gebeyehu said that recovery will require resources and time, and the institution is working to prevent future disasters from having such severe impacts. 
Vladimir Putin fishes in the remote Tuva region in southern Siberia - ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP

The long-debated agreement on Power of Siberia 2 (POS2)  a massive pipeline project to pump gas from Western Siberia to China via Mongolia  has become emblematic of the one-sided and slightly abusive relationship between China and Russia since the start of the Ukraine war. It is not good news for Moscow.

Ahead of Xi Jinpings recent visit to Russia, Putin boldly announced that the pipeline deal was ready to be signed off, prematurely labelling it the deal of the century. But Xi, unmoved by such excessive zeal, declined to sign anything. No mention whatsoever of POS2 appears in the official statements Xi made during the meetings. In the final joint communique, all a disappointed Putin could comment was that more work still had to be done on study and approval.

It is in this context that we should read Xis parting words to Putin  oracular and ominous  that referred to changes coming, such as havent been seen for a century, which we can push forward together. China watchers have been poring over these words for every last nuance, but its pretty clear that Xi was framing himself as leader, with Putin nominally by his side, of a revisionist assault on the liberal world order.

Beijings vision for the Peoples Republic of Chinas centenary in 2049 is the global triumph of a fully developed, rich and powerful China. This will not include sharing power with a chaotic Russian kleptocracy. The harder Xi focuses his efforts on realising the China Dream, the more implacably will his political and economic coercion be directed at Putin and Russia, and the weaker and more dependent both will become.

Xis revisionist goals entail wiping out the shame of historical territorial losses. He has imposed Communist authority on Hong Kong, seeks to do so in Taiwan, and undoubtedly has the same ambition for the 600,000 square kilometres  three times the area of Great Britain  which Tsarist Russia wrested from Opium War-weakened Manchu control in 1858-60 under the Treaties of Aigun and Peking. This area includes parts of Siberia, from which Putins much-vaunted pipeline deal would extract resources to sell to China.

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Since the Chinese Communist Party regime derives much of what it parades as legitimacy from these revanchist campaigns, paying Putin for Siberian resources feels like buying family silver back from a robber. Beijing regards its loss of Mongolian lands in the same way, given the crucial Soviet role in breaking Mongolia away from the remnants of Chinese authority in the early 20th century.

Already, cross-border economic activity in Siberia by uncounted Chinese communities, including in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, tacitly revive historical Chinese claims to this resource-rich and highly strategic region. For decades, Chinese gangsters have been smuggling precious Siberian resources back to China through a porous frontier  often in collusion with Russian criminals. Its a clear breach of Russian sovereignty.

Putins disastrous assault on Ukraine may have drawn his gaze far away from Russias 4,200km border with China, along with many thousands of soldiers who should guard it, but the Chinese remain focused. Xi Jinpings zero-sum ambition for the great rejuvenation of China is imposing itself step by step on Russian soil.
The state of Texas is vying to introduce new tax benefits for filmmakers thanks, in part, to the success of Taylor Sheridans Yellowstone series.

The Western drama starring Kevin Costner was filmed in the small town of Venus, Texas, providing a vital boost to the local economy.

However, many TV shows and films set in Texas are not actually filmed there because surrounding states offer more attractive tax incentives to producers.

In 2022, the entertainment industry pumped $1.5bn (1.22bn) into the economies of New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma, according to The Hollywood Reporter, much of which was spent on projects set in Texas.

These states have similar natural environments to Texas, but with more attractive tax incentives.

New Mexico, for example, offers filmmakers refundable tax credits of 25 to 35 per cent on in-state spending up to $110m (89.6m).

If the new bill, introduced in the Texas state legislature on 7 March, is passed, films/shows will be eligible for 30 to 42.5 per cent tax credits on in-state spending with no cap.

Kevin Costner in Yellowstone (Paramount)

In February, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said: My goal is for Taylor [Sheridan] to move all of his TV and movie production to Texas. Working together, I think we can get it done.

Yellowstone has been mired in some controversy of late over reports that its lead actor Costner is leaving the series over disagreements with Sheridan about shooting schedules.

The actors attorney refuted this claim, stating: The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season five of Yellowstone is an absolute lie.

Some reports have gone as far as suggesting that True Detective star Matthew McConaughey was being considered for a franchise extension should Costner leave the role.
[Source]

A large fire erupted in New York Citys Chinatown on Friday, injuring at least 10 people and displacing over 50 residents.

The three-alarm fire started in a ground-floor souvenir shop at 47 Mott Street before climbing up to the apartments in the six-story building at 2:30 p.m. local time on Friday.

It looked pretty small, but then it started spreading real quick, witness Jhesson Ynoa told CBS News. It looked like an inferno. We started hearing pops, pops. The pops were getting louder, so we thought something was gonna blow up.

Footage of the incident shows the dramatic moments residents escaped the building, including a woman with a child in her arms being rescued from the raging flames.

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I encountered one of the residents who helped people, New York State Assemblymember Grace Lee told PIX11 News. He was escaping in his bathrobe. He got down safely with two other people with children. He was really worried about his cat.

Ten people suffered minor injuries, including two civilians and eight firefighters, as 140 firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.

It was really for the efforts of the firefighters that came in quickly, quickly got into the building that mitigated any loss of life, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Assistant Chief Thomas Currao said.

Story continues

More from NextShark: Indian Restaurant Destroyed with Racist, Trump 2020 Messages in New Mexico

They were met with heavy fire conditions. They had fire racing up the front of the building. Occupied building. Very, very challenging.

The FDNY has yet to determine the cause of the fire.

Following the fire, many residents whose apartments were destroyed registered with the Red Cross for emergency shelter.

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The souvenir store, Fu Hao Gift Shop, was opened a little over a year ago by Inamul Haque Bhuiyan. Souvenirs littered the street as Bhuiyans livelihood was reduced to rubble.

Im broken, Bhuiyan told Spectrum News. Very quickly, very quick. Less than one minute. I call 911 and then I come outside.
KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met troops in southeastern Ukraine on Monday, the latest stage of a tour of frontline regions since a top general said a counterattack against Russian forces could come soon.

"I am honoured to be here today, next to our military," Zelenskiy wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app that was accompanied by footage of him handing out medals to troops in the Zaporizhzhia region.

In separate trips last week, the president met soldiers in eastern Ukraine near the small city of Bakhmut, where fighting is intense, and spoke to officials and residents in the southern region of Kherson, where Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops last year after months of occupation.

Ukraine's ground forces commander said on Monday Kyiv was planning its next move after Moscow shifted the focus of its offensive from a flagging assault on Bakhmut to the town of Avdiivka further south.

In separate posts, Zelenskiy also released footage of himself visiting a command centre and meeting regional civilian and military officials.

"We are working and keeping all important issues under control," he wrote.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, Editing by Gareth Jones and Timothy Heritage)
(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Monday that safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station could not be guaranteed until Russian troops left the facility.

The president, quoted by his website, said he met Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the Dnipro hydroelectric power station - northeast of the Zaporizhzhia plant.

Russian troops occupied the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, in the early weeks of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and each side has repeatedly accused the other of shelling the facility.

Zelenskiy was quoted as telling Grossi that staff at the Zaporizhzhia plant were under constant pressure from Russian occupying forces, who he said were failing to uphold safety rules and interfering in technological processes.

"Without an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and staff from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and adjacent areas, any initiatives on restoring nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure," the presidential website quoted Zelenskiy as saying.

In later comments in his nightly video address to Ukrainians, Zelenskiy decried the year-long Russian presence at the plant as "radiation blackmail" and the worst incident to occur in the history of nuclear power.

"No other terrorist has plumbed such depths with the cynicism that Russia constantly achieves, always reaching new lows," Zelenskiy said.

"Holding a nuclear power station hostage for more than a year -- this is surely the worst thing that has every happened in the history of European or world-wide nuclear power."

The longer the Russian occupation of the plant continues, he said, "the greater will be the threat to the security of Ukraine, all of Europe and the world".

According to the account of Zelenskiy's meeting with Grossi, the Ukrainian president also outlined the problems caused by Russian attacks at the Dnipro hydro plant.

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Grossi's role in upholding energy security in Ukraine, he said, was "extraordinarily important".

Zelenskiy met troops in southeastern Ukraine during a tour of the region. His website said he also visited the town of Nikopol, on the opposite side of the Kakhovka reservoir from the Zaporizhzhia power station and subject to repeated Russian shelling.

In a tweet issued earlier on Monday, Grossi said he and Zelenskiy had a "rich exchange" on the protection of the plant and its staff. He added that he reiterated the IAEA's full support for Ukraine's nuclear facilities.

Grossi has repeatedly called for a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia plant and is due to visit it again this week.

(Writing by Rachel More and Ron Popeski; Editing by Matthias Williams, Alison Williams and Cynthia Osterman)
President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on March 27. (Photo: President's Office)

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on March 27, his office wrote.

Zelensky stopped by the city of Nikopol, which has been targeted by Russian attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion, to learn about the situation there and in neighboring areas.

According to the President's Office, nearly 5,000 buildings have been destroyed in Nikopol, including medical and educational institutions.

During the visit, Zelensky was briefed on ongoing efforts to restore civilian infrastructure and enhance defense measures against potential future attacks.

Ukrainian-controlled Nikopol region sits across the Dnipro River from the city of Enerhodar, built around Europes biggest nuclear power plant and occupied by Russian forces since March 4, 2022. Russia has used the plant as a base to launch attacks on Ukraine.

Head of the Nikopol District State Administration Yevhen Yevtushenko reported on March 27 that Nikopol was targeted by drones, resulting in one injury and property damage.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Ukrainian soldiers at frontline positions in southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast on March 27, according to the President's Office.

During his visit, Zelensky received updates on the operational situation on the front line and presented personnel with awards.

"I have the honor to be here today and thank you for protecting our state, all of us, our sovereignty, our cities, our children," Zelensky told the servicemen.

The president met with military command, local officials, and regional law enforcement leadership, discussing the readiness of military units, the socio-economic situation in the region, and the needs of internally displaced persons.

Zelensky also visited a local hospital, where the wounded Ukrainian soldiers are being treated. He met with the servicemen and doctors and handed them state awards.

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on the same day he met with the Ukrainian president in Zaporizhzhia to discuss the protection of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

I met @ZelenskyyUa today in Zaporizhzhya City & had a rich exchange on the protection of the #Zaporizhzhya NPP and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the @IAEAorg to #Ukraines nuclear facilities. pic.twitter.com/fSPIMnYfhL  Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) March 27, 2023

Partially occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast is among the four regions Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed after sham referendums in September 2022.

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This is already the third Zelensky's trip to the frontline areas over the past week.

On March 22, he visited the Ukrainian positions near Donetsk Oblast's Bakhmut and then traveled to the eastern city of Kharkiv, just 30 kilometers away from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Rafael Grossi and Volodymyr Zelenskyy

"The Dnipro hydroelectric station is an essential part of the system that sustains the nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. Zelenskyy showed me the recent damage suffered by the dam," reads the message.

They also exchanged thoughts on protecting the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP and its staff. Grossi reassured that Ukraines nuclear facilities have the full support of the IAEA.

Read also: Nine-year-old boy dies as a result of injuries sustained in Zaporizhzhya high-rise attack

Read also: IAEA director general Grossi to inspect Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP in Ukraine

Russia damaged the Dnipro hydroelectric dam during one of its mass missile attacks at the end of December. Russia also damaged the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, resulting in the level of the water in the reservoir dropping sharply. Zaporizhzhya NPPs reactor cooling systems rely on there being a sufficient level of water in the reservoir to operate correctly.

Earlier, Grossi announced that he would again visit to Zaporizhzhya NPP.

He said that IAEA has abandoned the idea of a demilitarized zone around the plant. The agency is looking now for a "behavioral" rather than a "territorial" solution, which would include a commitment not to attack the station or use it for attacks.

Zelenskyy claimed earlier that international organizations have proved to be unable to resolve the situation with the Zaporizhzhya NPP. Other mechanisms need to be sought, he believes.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
For the first time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in departure  in the city of Dnipro.

Source: Zelensky in his video address

Quote: "I have just held a meeting of the Staff  for the first time away, in Dnipro. Right here  in the strategic city of the centre of our country, after visiting Marhanets and Nikopol, Zaporizhzhia, the frontline positions of our warriors in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The commanders of the operational areas reported the actual situation. General Syrskyi, General Tarnavskyi  they were there in person. Those who lead the defence in Donetsk Oblast, in the hottest areas. There were also online reports by commanders of the operational and strategic groups of troops covering the south and the north.

There was a report by the Commander-in-Chief and others."

Details: Zelenskyy reported that the general situation in the front-line areas, the strengthening and protection of Ukrainian borders along the entire length of the frontline, from Kherson Oblast to Kharkiv Oblast, were discussed at the meeting.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the frontline positions of the Ukrainian military during his visit to Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Source: Presidents Office of Ukraine

Quote: "I am honoured to be here today and thank you for protecting our state, all of us, our sovereignty, our cities, our children.

I wish us all victory. Live and fight. With people like you, we will definitely win."

Details: The president was reportedly briefed on the operational situation in the various parts of the frontline and the current supply of ammunition and equipment.

Zelenskyy also decorated the servicemen with state awards. The defenders of Ukraine received the third-class Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and third-class Order For Courage from the president.

In return, the soldiers presented the head of state with a coin which symbolises military brotherhood.

For reference: As ArmyInform, a news agency of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, has reported, there is an informal badge [coin] in many countries military fraternities. It is called differently, for example, a coin or medallion, a challenger coin, a challenge medallion, a coin of attraction, or a challenge coin. However, the military often uses the word in the original language, i.e., coin.

The coin size is supposed to be smaller than the palm of a hand, and sincere words should be spoken when shaking hands. Usually, the coin is made of different metals, from simple to more expensive. Most often, the shape of the item is round, but there are also triangular signs, chevron, oval and diamond shapes.

This tradition was introduced in Ukraine along with the reform of the NCO corps in the countrys armed forces.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
BANGKOK, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Air pollution continued to plague Thailand's northern provinces, with air pollution in some regions reaching unhealthy levels, government reports showed on Monday.

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) reported that air quality in most of the country's 17 northern provinces reached unsafe levels, with PM 2.5 soaring to 561 micrograms per cubic meter in some areas in Chiang Rai province, 11 times higher than the national safe limit of 50 micrograms.

People in Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Nan and Chiang Mai provinces are advised to take extreme caution this week, PCD official Sakda Tridech said on Monday.

The Thai government has attributed the intense air pollution to smoke from forest fires and agricultural burning.

Satellite images from the Thai Geo-Informatics and Space Development Agency showed 5,572 fire hotspots were reported on Sunday in the country, the highest in five years.

Beginning Tuesday, summer monsoon winds would start affecting the upper northern region, which might ease the density of fine dust, Sakda said in a weekly air pollution forecast.

Amid efforts to ease the air pollution problem, the National Environment Board urged local authorities in the northern provinces to ban burning activities until the end of April.

During the first nine weeks of this year, more than 1.32 million people in Thailand have been affected by air pollution-related illness, according to the Public Health Ministry. 
Following Zaporizhzhia Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Nikopol district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which is being constantly shelled by Russians.

Sources: message from the Office of the President

Quote: "The Head of State observed the situation in the Nikopol district, the consequences of the enemy's terrorist attacks on Nikopol, Marhanets and other settlements in the region."

Details: Zelenskyy was informed that almost 5,000 buildings in the district were destroyed. In particular, medical and educational institutions.

Nikopol is located on the right bank of the Dnipro River. The left bank in this area is controlled by Russian invaders.

Background:

On Monday, the Office of the President also reported that Zelenskyy visited the front positions of the Ukrainian military personnel in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukrainians to support the military, contribute to fundraising campaigns, and get involved in awareness raising.

Source: President Zelenskyys video address

Quote from Zelenskyy: "It is wrong and unfair when our warriors who come from the front have the feeling that for many behind the frontline the war is seemingly already over. For those who are far from Donetsk Oblast, Nikopol, Saltivka, the [Ukrainian-Russian] border in Sumy Oblast, and Zaporizhzhia...and whose thoughts are also far from the trenches, from the daily pain of many Ukrainians.

Now, just like a year ago, we cannot be far from the war even in our thoughts, although we can thank our soldiers that hostilities are physically far from many of us. Now, just like a year ago, it is important that as many Ukrainians as possible help defend our state and help secure more support globally for us to win."

Details: President Zelenskyy urged everyone in Ukraine to support the countrys defenders "whenever possible" and to join volunteers fundraising campaigns when people can afford to do so.

"It is very important for everyone who has influence in the information sphere to contribute to the information front. This applies not only to journalists but to everyone who can spread the truth about [Russian] aggression.

The world must hear as loud and clear as it heard last year that [Russias] aggression against Ukraine continues. The world must know that ending the war and liberating Ukraine from Russian evil this year is a joint task of the entire civilised world. Because "civilised" means, among other things, determined to defend civilization," Zelenskyy concluded.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






The Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce is holding its 10th Annual Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 6 at the Forest Public Library.

Last year, the job fair had 30 exhibitors representing businesses in the region, a news release states, and this year expects to have more.

Exhibitors include Croft Senior Services, Bedford Weaving, Peaks of Otter Restaurant and Lodge, Coleman-Adams Construction, Star City Communications, Blue Ridge Overland Gear, Bedford County and Wooldridge Heating, Air, and Electrical.

The job fair is free for job seekers, and a variety of full-time, part-time and seasonal jobs will be available, the release states.

In addition to being open to the public, the Chamber is working with Bedford County Public Schools to bring high school seniors to the event.

Along with other local professionals, the Chamber will offer free workforce development workshops to the public, with topics ranging from achieving an authentic job fit to dressing for success to mastering the interview.

Radio434 and TheMIKEShow will be in attendance to conduct man-on-the-street interviews with businesses, job seekers and sponsors.

The fair will offer free headshots, giveaways and lunch for purchase on site, courtesy of Munseys Smoke Shack.
With increases in Lynchburgs water, stormwater and sewer rates proposed for a second consecutive year, the citys water resources director said the higher water and stormwater rates are due to increased operational costs and infrastructure needs.

According to City Manager Wynter Bendas fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, water rates would increase by 5.7%, to $2.93 per hundred cubic feet. Stormwater rates would increase 7.4% to $4.48 per single family unit, and the sewer increase would be larger, jumping 12.1% from the fiscal year 2023 rate of $7.22 to $8.10.

The citys proposed increase to the sewer rate is tied to a state-mandated combined sewer overflow (CSO) consent order, a decades-old order which aims to reduce how much untreated wastewater goes into the James River during heavy rains. The order dictates the average annual residential sewer bill must be at least 1.25% of the median household income.

According to U.S. Census data, Lynchburgs median household income is $54,015.

Once the city is out from underneath the CSO order, Lynchburg Water Resources Director Tim Mitchell said, it will not be required to keep the sewer rate at or above that mandated level.

Meanwhile, Mitchell briefed Lynchburg City Council last week on the reasonings for the proposed water utility rate increases, pointing to the surging price of materials for the department.

Mitchell said the cost of some of his most important chemicals have gone up more than double since last year.

Additionally, Mitchell said, the water and stormwater rate increases are tied to significant infrastructure needs and increasing regulatory demands.

With an aged water infrastructure  the second oldest in the country  the need for investment is critical to keep the citys water infrastructure in good shape, Mitchell said.

The departments master plan identified the need to replace 162,000 feet of water lines over the next five years, Mitchell said. It also outlined the need for a new 2-million-gallon water tank.

According to Mitchell, the proposed $66.1 million in capital spending over the next five years would allow almost $45 million in distribution system improvements, $8.5 million in water facility improvements, and $1.6 million associated to lead and copper rule compliance revisions.

Mitchell is hoping the department can replace at least 1% of the water system per year in order to get the department on a 100-year life cycle for water lines, which would take about five miles per year, instead of the citys current rate of two-and-a-half miles per year and 200-year life cycle for water lines  in other words, Mitchell wants to double the current speed of water line replacement.

The proposals in the capital improvement plan assume about 3.8 miles of replacements per year.

Mitchell cited a clean water crisis in another locality as a reason to invest in Lynchburgs water infrastructure.

I dont want to give anybody the impression that were anywhere near where Jackson, Mississippi, is now, Mitchell said. But my concern is that if we dont continue with the water system renewal, 30, 40 or 50 years from now we could potentially be in the same situation as Jackson because were falling further behind every year instead of trying to keep it even with the renewal pace that we need to be at.

In late August, after severe storms and flooding, infrastructure failures at the citys water treatment plant resulted in the stoppage of drinking water treatment, resulting in a lack of clean drinking water for residents of Jackson.

The rising costs of materials also is impacting the sewer rate, in addition to the CSO order, Mitchell said. In fiscal year 2024, the department is seeing an increase in the cost of chemicals totaling about $990,000.

For sewer capital spending, Mitchell proposes $211.1 million over the next five years, $108.9 million of which will go directly towards CSO projects such as a proposed CSO tunnel, which will help the city complete CSO project 52 with an underground tunnel spanning about 4,300 feet from CSO 52 near the Point of Honor trail towards U.S. Pipe.

The city was granted $50 million in APRA funding for the project, but must match the required $20 million to complete the tunnel.

In addition to CSO projects, also included in the capital spending is $41.8 million in sewer collection improvements, $39.4 million in water resource recovery facility projects, and $14.1 million for the Richland Hills sewer project, $6.6 million of which is American Rescue Plan Act funding.

The newest of the three utility rates, the stormwater rate, is increasing due to debt servicing, Mitchell said. Because it is relatively new, the fund is primarily new debt without any old debt dropping off.

Mitchell told the councilors stormwater infrastructure improvements are a big need for the city right now, with $25.7 million in capital spending proposed in the capital improvement plan. Of that, $18.2 million will go toward infrastructure renewal, while $7.5 million will go toward best management practices in addressing federal and state stormwater mandates.

Despite a second straight year of proposed rising water utility rates, Mitchell told the councilors the citys combined water and sewer bill is still well below the state average, while the stormwater bill remains below the state median.

According to Mitchell, at 5,000 gallons per month, a combined water and sewer bill of a Lynchburg resident with the proposed rates comes out to $74.46, while the state average is $89.53. The states median stormwater rate is $4.50 per month, compared to $4.48 in Lynchburg.

Lynchburg City Council is set to hold a public hearing on the proposed water resources rates at 6 p.m. April 4 in Council Chambers inside City Hall, 900 Church Street in Lynchburg.
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Weather Alert

...FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures 26 to 31 are expected. * WHERE...Portions of southwest and west central Iowa and east central and northeast Nebraska. * WHEN...From 10 PM this evening to 9 AM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above- ground pipes to protect them from freezing. &&
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen (R) shakes hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 27, 2023. Cambodia and Malaysia on Monday vowed to further promote their bilateral relations and cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, energy, agriculture, education, and labor among others for mutual benefits. Anwar arrived in Phnom Penh on Monday morning for a one-day official visit at Hun Sen's invitation. (Photo by Ly Lay/Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Malaysia on Monday vowed to further promote their bilateral relations and cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, energy, agriculture, education, and labor among others for mutual benefits.

The commitment was made during a meeting between Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

"We discussed cooperation in various areas, highly valued our bilateral relations, and vowed to further enhance bilateral cooperation in all areas including trade, investment, tourism, energy, connectivity and people-to-people contact," Hun Sen said in a joint press conference after the meeting.

"We encouraged both sides to continue exchanging high-level visits more often and at all levels to build closer friendship, to further increase mutual trust and to expand the broader scope of bilateral cooperation," he added.

According to the Cambodian leader, the trade volume between the two ASEAN member countries was valued at 620 million U.S. dollars in 2022, up 24 percent from 500 million dollars in 2021.

At the press conference, Anwar said regional and international issues such as the Myanmar situation, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and the Korean Peninsula, among others, had been discussed, saying that both sides had "similar views" on these issues.

The Malaysian prime minister also thanked Cambodia for helping 287 Malaysians who had been victims of job scams in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Anwar promised to encourage Malaysian companies to buy milled rice and cashew nuts from Cambodia.

At the end of the meeting, the two prime ministers witnessed the signing of two memorandums of understanding regarding the recruitment, employment and repatriation of Cambodian workers in the domestic sector and in the formal sector.

Anwar arrived in Phnom Penh on Monday morning for a one-day official visit at Hun Sen's invitation. 
Morocco has condemned in the strongest terms the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran in the Danish capital of Copenhagen in front of the police.

Although this heinous act was committed in front of the diplomatic representation of another Muslim country, the Kingdom of Morocco considers it a provocative act that also concerns it, and affects the sanctities and feelings of more than a billion Muslims, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, said the Moroccan Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Morocco called on the Danish authorities to firmly enforce the law in order to address such irresponsible, provocative behavior and not to allow the recurrence of such acts under any pretext, the statement said, stressing the need to deter all forms of hatred against religions and harming the feelings of their followers.
Chinas investment in Tanzania has hit a record $1.8 billion since President Xi Jinpings visit in the East African country 10 years ago, while bilateral trade between China and Nigeria has taken dip by about a third in 2022 compared to 2021.

Chinas direct investment stock in Tanzania is 2.5 times that of 2012, according to the announcement that was made during a conference commemorating President Xi Jinpings visit to Tanzania. In the 10 years following President Xi Jinpings previous visit to Tanzania, China has invested in projects in Tanzania totaling $1.8 billion. Chinese investment has had a significant influence on the nation in terms of trade investment, job creation, and relationships, according to executive director of the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC), Gilead Teri. For the past 10 years, China has registered 1,908 projects worth $1.6 billion in the mainland and 15 projects in Zanzibar worth $220 million, he said. Tanzania is fast becoming a booming investment destination, as its investment portfolio continues to grow under the leadership of President Samia Hassan Suluhu.

Meanwhile, Nigeria and Chinas bilateral trade decreased by $80 million in 2022 compared to the previous record year of 2021, even as both nations work to optimize their trade relations. Wang Yingqi from the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria said that the trade record was $219 million in 2022 and $300 million in 2021 and added that the Chinese government has invested in the Lekki Free Trade Zone as a result of the Public Private Partnership with the federal government and the Lagos State Government. In response, the executive secretary of the NIPC, Saratu Umar, reaffirmed the federal governments commitment to fostering closer business ties with the Chinese government in support of both nations investment drives and said it was finally time for Nigeria to start exporting finished goods to China.
Chad has announced the nationalization of assets of a former subsidiary of US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil in Chad, which comes after the company divested from them in December 2022

A decree signed by Chads president, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, on Thursday (23 March) declared that all the assets, prospection rights, operating permits and oil-transport authorizations held by Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc. are nationalized. The firms sale for $407m to London-listed Savannah Energy plc had been announced by the UK firm on 9 December but it was immediately contested by the Chad government that said the sale had gone ahead despite the governments express objections and in violation of its right of first refusal. The company holds concessions in a number of productive fields, as well as rights over oil extracted there and a share in a pipeline transporting crude to neighboring Cameroon for export via the port of Kribi.

The government warned then that it may ask courts to block Savannahs purchase of Exxons assets in the country and take further steps to protect its interests. Exxons assets included a 40% stake in Chads Doba oil project, which comprises seven producing oilfields with a combined output of 28,000 barrels per day (bpd). It also included Exxons interest in the more than 1,000km Chad-Cameroon pipeline from the landlocked nation to the Atlantic Gulf of Guinea coast through which its crude is exported. But on Friday (24 March), Savannah said it plans to pursue all its legal rights to contest Chads move a day earlier to nationalize its upstream assets in the African country. The actions of the Republic of Chad are in direct breach of the Conventions to which SCI and the Republic of Chad are, amongst other parties, its statement read. Chad, which has the 10th largest reserves in Africa, exports 90% of its oil.
Rwanda plans to amend its constitution to allow for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held at the same time.

A statement said the cabinet approved at last weeks meeting a proposal by President Paul Kagame to amend the countrys constitution to allow harmonization of parliamentary and presidential elections calendars. Authorities however did not provide details on when the future change will be carried out.

Parliamentary elections are currently scheduled to take place in August this year, but if the constitutional change is implemented, they may be pushed back to next year to be held simultaneously with presidential polls.

The east African country last amended its constitution in 2015, to allow Kagame to extend his rule by a seven-year term commencing in 2017, followed by two further five-year terms.

The lawmakers term is five years. Kagame has been leading the Eastern African country since 2000.

Officials have in the past said there was a need to hold both elections at the same time to reduce the cost of running them.
A delegation of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), led by its president, Chakib Alj, conducted, March 21 to 24, a working mission in Switzerland to explore ways to strengthen trade and investment links between Morocco and the Swiss Confederation.

During this visit, the delegation held a series of meetings with representatives of various Swiss economic organizations, including Christoph Maeder, president of EconomieSuisse, the CGEMs counterpart organization, Stefan Barny, director of the Global Network of Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Swiss export and investment promotion agency, Michel Rheinegger, director of the Africa-Switzerland Business Circle, and Vincent Subilia, president of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation said in a statement.

Discussions focused on the complementarities between the Moroccan and Swiss economies, on the opportunities that the Kingdom presents to investors, especially as a gateway to the African continent, as well as on the sectors of common interest in which Moroccan and Swiss companies could co-invest, share their know-how and operate a technology transfer. Moroccan sectoral economic missions to Switzerland and vice versa will be held in the coming months, the statement added.

The CGEM mission in Switzerland was marked by the organization, in Lausanne, of a meeting with members of the Association of Executives of Moroccan Origin in Switzerland (ACOMS), an opportunity to exchange views with these high-potential Moroccans ready to actively contribute to the socio-economic development of their country by initiating projects with high added value.

The meeting discussed several topics such as the development of skills as a lever for growth and the Royal Project of the Investment Charter which provides entrepreneurs with a series of incentives to promote private investment and job creation in Morocco.

According to figures from the Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Protection, trade between the two countries reached 778 million Swiss francs in 2022, an increase of 18.9% compared to 2021.

After recording a value of 347 million Swiss francs in 2021, Swiss exports to Morocco reached a value of 414 million francs in 2022, posting an increase of 19.3%, reports the Office. As for Moroccan exports to Switzerland, they rose from 307 million Swiss francs in 2021 to 364 million in 2022, an increase of 18.6%.
Morocco has imported more soft wheat from the EU following a drought that compromised the countrys harvest last year.

The North African country is planning an additional purchase of 1.5 million tons in the March-May period, Reuters reported.

Revived black sea competition have helped push down prices although these remain still higher compared to the pre-Russia-Ukraine war period.

Higher wheat, sugar and cooking gas prices led the government to increase spending on subsidies last year to 44 billion dirhams, compared with 1.3 billion in 2021.

Speaking to MPs last week, finance minister Nadia Fettah Alaoui said soft wheat stocks were enough to cover three months of Moroccos needs, while hard wheat reserves covered two months.

The central bank said it expects Moroccos cereals harvest to stand at 5.5 million tons this year, up from 3.4 last year.
South Africa: Social protection system stimulates economic growth

President Cyril Ramaphosa says expanding the social protection system is one of the critical tools government has implemented to ensure that some of the needs of the most underprivileged South Africans are addressed while also stimulating economic growth.

The President said this when he addressed the nation through his weekly newsletter.

He emphasised that contrary to what some may believe, expanding the social wage is not simply an indication that more people need grants today than before.

The Social Relief of Distress Grant [SRD Grant] that was introduced in 2020 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic has reached more than 11 million people at its peak, and has lifted millions of people out of food poverty. According to research, approximately 50 percent of the purchases made by SRD grant recipients are groceries.

Social grants also act as a stimulus for the economy as a whole, increase spending in townships and rural areas, and improve employment outcomes. An interview-based study by the University of Johannesburg of informal tradersfound that the SRD Grant stimulated customer spending, provided capital to purchase stock, and enabled the new businesses to be initiated, he said.

President Ramaphosa insisted that in a similar vein, the Presidential Employment Stimulus Initiative (PESI) has also provided a platform for participants to gain a foothold in the labour market.

[Many] participants in thePESI have gone on to find work after they have completed the programme. The school assistants programme has provided opportunities for 750 000 young people to date in over 22000 schools, reaching every corner of the country.

Over 72 percent of participants in the PESI said that having gained their first work experience, the programme helped them to gain a foothold in the labour market thereafter. In all of these ways, South Africas world-renowned social protection system provides important benefits for many in our society, not only those who receive social grants, he said.

The President said the social protection system also provides benefits to those who are not receiving grants.

It supports economic growth from the bottom up, enables business activity, and strengthens social solidarity and stability. It is one of the greatest achievements of our democratic society, and one that we should all be proud of, he said.

President Ramaphosa reaffirmed governments commitment to addressing inequality through means that show real benefits.

The SRD alone represents a significant step in our commitment to provide a minimum level of support below which no South African should fall. [We] are working on options to provide basic income support for the unemployed, within our fiscal constraints, beyond the expiry of the SRD Grant in April next year. [We] are working on options to provide basic income support for the unemployed, within our fiscal constraints, beyond the expiry of the SRD Grant in April next year.

If the focus of our struggle for liberation was to end apartheid and achieve political freedom, the focus of our efforts now must be to address inequality and ensure that every South African enjoys the fruits of democracy, the President said.

Honing in further on inequality, President Ramaphosa highlighted that government is making steady progress in addressing the challenge while also implementing reform.

It is now well recognised that inequality constrains growth, and that growth which takes place in unequal societies tends to reproduce those patterns of inequality.

This is why our economic policy is guided by the need on the one hand to implement structural reforms to stimulate growth and enhance our economic competitiveness, while on the other hand expanding social protection and public employment and supporting the social wage, President Ramaphosa said.

Beyond the benefits and upsides of the social protection system, President Ramaphosa reminded the nation that social security is also a right protected by the highest law in the country  the Constitution.

The right to social security is explicit in the Bill of Rights. This is an approach that recognises that social security is essential to other rights, including the right to dignity. It is this right that has underpinned the progressive expansion of South Africas social protection system over the past three decades.

In 1999 just over 2.5 million people were receiving social grants. Today that number has increased to over 18 million people. In addition, more than two million indigent households also receive free basic water, basic electricity and solid waste removal services as part of this governments commitment to free basic services for the poor, President Ramaphosa said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-03-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
MNCs ready to grab chances on return of global biz trips

(China Daily) 09:02, March 27, 2023



A visitor views exhibition boards at the exhibition area of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca during the fifth China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Nov 7. [Photo/China Daily]

With market recovery, confidence in growth, expansion returns to mainland

BEIJING  Global firms are ready to grab opportunities in the recovering Chinese market, with some making long-awaited business trips and others staying on top of the latest policy moves.

For Oliver Blume, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen AG, his recent business trip to China solidified his optimism.

"China is the most important market for us and we will continue to expand our product lineup in the country," Blume said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.

Following the Spring Festival holiday, Blume spent a full week visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Changchun in Jilin province and Hefei in Anhui province, exchanging ideas with Chinese colleagues, business partners and representatives from local governments.

Such face-to-face talks and intensive on-site visits have led to a deeper understanding of the Chinese market. "We predict that the Chinese automobile market will sustain its recovery momentum in 2023. The market prospect for new energy vehicles is particularly bright," said Blume.

Bullish on China's economy, he said Volkswagen will build new technology partnerships in the Chinese market.

Volkswagen AG is not the only global heavyweight seeking to further understand the Chinese economy to enable it to grasp its opportunities.

After China optimized its COVID-19 response, dozens of multinationals have reached out to the Ministry of Commerce for assistance in arranging business visits to China, Shu Jueting, a spokesperson of the ministry, said earlier at a news conference.

To better meet the needs of multinationals, Shu said the ministry will strengthen regular exchanges with foreign-invested companies and overseas business associations and fully implement national treatment of foreign-funded firms.

On March 15, at a news briefing dedicated to foreign businesses in China, Vice-Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping reaffirmed China's commitment to continuously advancing opening-up.

Sheng introduced in detail the positive signals released by this year's Government Work Report as well as the country's favorable conditions for foreign firms to expand investment, including a growing market scale, extended incentives from opening-up policies and new emerging growth momentum.

Leon Wang, executive vice-president of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, showed a keen interest in China's policy environment and paid particular attention to the Government Work Report.

"China has renewed its pledge to intensify efforts in attracting and utilizing foreign investment in this year's Government Work Report. We think the country's further opening-up and better business environment for overseas companies can be expected," said Wang.

"As one of the world's biggest medical markets, China has become AstraZeneca's most important growth engine," he said.

In 2023, AstraZeneca will speed up research and development in China, and rely on its regional headquarters in Beijing, Guangzhou, Guangdong province; Wuxi, Jiangsu province; Hangzhou, Zhejiang province; Chengdu, Sichuan province; and Qingdao, Shandong province to promote whole industry integration.

The company is looking forward to the Boao Forum for Asia and the China Development Forum in late March, and will hold offline activities themed "AstraZeneca R&D China Science Day" in Shanghai.

A recent survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China also pointed to growing optimism, as over 90 percent of the surveyed companies said they consider China to be one of their most important investment destinations, with 75 percent of the respondents planning to reinvest in China in 2023.

Official data from the Ministry of Commerce shed light on the investment dynamics. In the first two months of 2023, foreign direct investment on the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 6.1 percent year-on-year to 268.44 billion yuan ($39.18 billion).

The International Monetary Fund has raised its projection for China's economic growth in 2023 to 5.2 percent. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and other investment banks have also revised their forecasts upwards.

With the synergy effect of various policies in play, China's economy is expected to pick up and again become an important "locomotive" of global economic growth, said Zhang Ming, deputy director of the Institute of Finance under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

For Wang, this year's official growth target of around 5 percent is a strong suggestion of China's determination to stabilize its economy.

"We have also seen the country's resolution in optimizing and deepening reform in the service sector, which is a shot in the arm for AstraZeneca," he said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
WELLINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Customs will offer payment plans and remit late payment penalties for businesses impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.

"This is part of the government's ongoing commitment to assist economic recovery in the regions," Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri said on Monday. The cyclone, with a considerable scale of damage, killed 11 people in the North Island.

The cabinet has approved the declaration of Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent extreme weather as an emergency under the Customs and Excise Act 2018. This means Customs can further support the government's response efforts by allowing duty payers who agree to payment plans relief from interest or penalties, Whaitiri said.

Damage from recent extreme weather events has affected many people and businesses, especially in the Gisborne and Hawke's Bay regions, including producers of wine and beer, she said, adding that this customs initiative offers some relief to these affected businesses to help with their recovery.

"It will be a long road, with many vineyards and breweries facing extensive damage," Whaitiri added.

Meanwhile, the government introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill on Monday to further support the recovery and rebuild from the cyclone.

The government learned from experiences following the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes in 2011 and 2016, respectively, that it will take some time before they completely understand the consequences of the damage caused.

This bill provides the flexibility necessary to allow communities and local government, supported by the government, to respond quickly to issues that occur during recovery efforts without needing to anticipate every power or statutory provision that may need to be amended, said Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty. 
The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Libya has called for accountability for the crimes against humanity committed in Libya, expressing deep concern over the countrys deteriorating human rights situation.

In its final report released Monday in Geneva, the UN Mission said there are grounds to believe a wide array of war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by State security forces and armed militia groups.

The investigation, which outlines a broad effort by authorities to repress dissent by civil society, documented numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, rape, enslavement, extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance.

Nearly all survivors interviewed had refrained from lodging official complaints out of fear of reprisals, arrest, extortion, and lack of confidence in the justice system.

Migrants, in particular, have been targeted and there is overwhelming evidence that they have been systematically tortured. The report said there were reasonable grounds to believe that sexual slavery, a crime against humanity, was committed against migrants.

There is an urgent need for accountability to end this pervasive impunity, said Mohamed Auajjar, the Missions chair. We call on Libyan authorities to develop a human rights plan of action and a comprehensive, victim-centred roadmap on transitional justice without delay, and hold all those responsible for human rights violations accountable.

Libyas Government is obligated to investigate allegations of human rights violations and crimes in areas under its control in accordance with international standards. But the practices and patterns of gross violations continue unabated, and there is little evidence that meaningful steps are being taken to reverse this troubling trajectory and bring recourse to victims, the report said.

The FFMs investigations found that Libyan authorities, notably the security sectors, are curtailing the rights to assembly, association, expression, and belief to ensure obedience, entrench self-serving values and norms, and punish criticism against authorities and their leadership.

Attacks against human rights defenders, women rights activists, journalists, and civil society associations have created an atmosphere of fear that has sent persons into self-censorship, hiding or exile at a time that it is necessary to build an atmosphere that is conducive to free and fair elections for Libyans to exercise their right to self-determination and choose a representative government to run the country, the report said.

State authorities and affiliated entities  including the Libyas Deterrence Apparatus for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DACOT), the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), the Internal Security Agency (ISA), and the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), and their leadership  were repeatedly found to be involved in violations and abuses.

Detainees were subjected regularly to torture, solitary confinement, held incommunicado, and denied adequate access to water, food, toilets, sanitation, light, exercise, medical care, legal counsel, and communication with family members.

The report also said women are systematically discriminated against in Libya and concluded that their situation has markedly deteriorated over the last three years.

The Mission called on the Human Rights Council to establish a sufficiently resourced, independent international investigation mechanism, and urged the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a distinct and autonomous mechanism with an ongoing mandate to monitor and report on gross human rights violations with a view to support Libyan reconciliation efforts and assist the Libyan authorities in achieving transitional justice and accountability.

The FFM said it will share with the International Criminal Court its findings and a list of those accused of committing human rights violations and international crimes.
Supporters of the Tunisian National Salvation Front have decided to start an open sit-in at the headquarters of the Al-Irada party in Tunis from this Monday, to demand the release of all political detainees, said the Fronts president Nejib Chebbi.

Speaking at a press conference, Chebbi was quoted by TAP news agency as saying that the sit-inners essentially demand explanations from the judiciary regarding the case of conspiracy against the internal security of the state and the criminal acts attributed to the political figures detained in this case.

They demand that the detainees in this case be classified as political prisoners in order to benefit from decent conditions of detention until their release.

Nejib Chebbi insisted on respect for the dignity of these prisoners and their right to meet their families in good conditions.

The head of the Front deplored the indecent and inhumane conditions of detention of those accused of conspiracy against the State, who are not separated from ordinary prisoners.

When announcing the protest movement last week, the NSFT called on the judiciary to address the detentions, emphasizing that the sit-in would continue until the demands were achieved, and that it may escalate to a hunger strike.

According to press reports, besides NSFT members, political and human rights figures and families of the detainees are participating in the sit-in.

The defense committee of the detainees had also denounced their detention conditions, that were made worse following instructions from higher authorities, accusing President Kais Saied of managing the case personally.

The detainees have been transferred to filthy, pest-ridden rooms that do not meet the minimum health and safety conditions, in an effort to abuse and humiliate them, the committee had said.

However, TAP reported, the pressure exerted by civil society, in particular the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) and the Organization Against Torture in Tunisia (OCTT), has borne fruit. Indeed, many of these prisoners are now in much better conditions.

For his part, Abdellatif Mekki, a member of the National Salvation Front, said that considering the detainees in the case of conspiracy against state security as political prisoners would greatly improve their conditions.
Cambodia expressed, Monday from Rabat, its full support to Moroccos sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its respect to the Kingdoms efforts to reach a negotiated political solution to the Sahara issue.

This position was expressed in a joint statement issued after talks between Cambodian Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prak Sokhonn, and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

The Kingdom of Cambodia fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco and respects its efforts to reach a negotiated political solution to this regional conflict, Sokhonn, who is on an official visit to Morocco this March 27-28, was quoted as saying in the joint statement.

The Cambodian official also stressed Cambodias full support for the efforts undertaken by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his Personal Envoy for the Sahara Staffan De Mistura, which are in line with the parameters of the relevant Security Council resolutions on this issue.

He welcomed in this regard the serious, realistic and credible efforts made by Morocco.

During the visit, Sokhonn will discuss with Moroccan officials means to strengthen relations and cooperation between the two countries and sign an agreement on air connectivity with Morocco.

Announcing the visit, Cambodias Foreign Ministry had said in a press release that Sokhonn will have a bilateral meeting with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita to discuss the strengthening of Cambodia-Morocco relations and cooperation in various areas such as economy, trade, tourism, agriculture and education, as well as regional and international issues of common interest and concern.

The talks will highlight by the signing of several cooperation agreements including the Agreement on Air Services, the press release said, adding that this agreement aims to promote tourism, business, and trade links between the two nations.
Beverly Pollock, a charter Nebraska Women Journalists Hall of Fame member who co-published the Keith County News in Ogallala for 34 years with her husband, Jack, died Thursday in Bellevue at age 86.

Services will be held sometime in May or June, the Pollocks son, Andy, said in a Sunday Facebook post.

She was born in Lincoln on June 21, 1936, to Glenn and Sylvia (Lewis) Buck. Her father was president, publisher and board chairman of Nebraska Farmer magazine, according to Pollocks obituary on the website of Ogallalas Draucker Funeral Home.

Beverly Buck, a fourth-generation Nebraskan, acquired her western Nebraska roots when her parents bought the Rolling Stone Ranch in Cherry County in the 1940s. The family continued to live mainly in Lincoln.

After her 1954 graduation from Lincoln High School, she studied journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board member, she graduated with distinction in 1958.

She met Jack Pollock, the son of District Judge F.H. and Gladys Pollock of Stanton, while both worked on the Daily Nebraskan student newspaper.

Jack, who became the papers editor-in-chief, and Beverly, who rose to the same position with The Cornhusker yearbook, became charter members of the Daily Nebraskan Hall of Fame in 2019 as winners of its Legacy Award.

After their marriage on Sept. 13, 1958, the Pollocks joined the Sidney Telegraph under longtime editor and co-publisher Jack H. Lowe. They were among several alumni from Lowes time with distinguished Nebraska journalism careers, including now-retired Omaha World-Herald Publisher John Gottschalk, editorial page editor Frank Partsch and reporter David Hendee.

Jack and Beverly Pollock moved to Ogallala in 1960 to join the Keith County News, then owned and published by W.E. Boola and Marge Buechler.

The couple bought the paper in 1966 and owned and published it together until 2000, when they retired and sold it to current owners Jeff Headley, Marilee Perlinger and Judy Curtis.

Jack Pollock died at age 77 on Feb. 20, 2009, five months after he and Beverly had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Both Pollocks regularly won state, regional and national journalism awards. Jack Pollock was Nebraska Press Association president in 1976, received the NPAs Master Editor-Publisher Award in 1993 and was inducted into the Nebraska Journalism Hall of Fame in 2000.

Beverly Pollock also regularly contributed to the News pages, covering the Ogallala school board, pitching in on news stories and writing editorials signed BBP in like fashion to her husbands pieces signed JSP.

Her best-known contribution was her weekly column, The Diary of a Year-Round Beach Bum, referring to the Pollocks lives raising children Andy and Allison in the K-1 Cabin Area on Lake McConaughys southeast shore.

Beverly Pollock, one of six inaugural Nebraska Women Journalists Hall of Fame members in 2011, won the Emma C. McKinney Memorial Award at the 2002 National Newspaper Association convention for outstanding leadership and service to her community in the profession of journalism.

She assembled a Lonesome Dove special section for the News on Keith County tourism, named for the 1985 Larry McMurtry novel and 1989 TV miniseries that prominently featured Ogallala. It won a first-place Nebraska Press Women award and a second-place award from the National Federation of Press Women.

Beverly Pollock also served on a variety of local, regional and state boards, including the Nebraska Humanities Foundation, the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, the University of Nebraska Foundation, NUs Presidents Advisory Council and the 13th District Judicial Nominating Commission.

She was secretary of the former Keith County School District 18 board when her children attended that K-8 elementary school. She was a former womens division president of the Ogallala/Keith County Chamber of Commerce, president of PEO Chapter CL and charter president of the American Association of University Womens Ogallala branch.

Beverly Pollock was most proud of her 1995-2004 service on the Nebraska Community Foundation board, including on its executive committee, her obituary said. She helped revitalize the Ogallala-based Keith County Foundation Fund and affiliate it with the state foundation.

She was a 50-year-plus member of Ogallalas First Congregational United Church of Christ, where she taught Sunday school, produced the monthly church newsletter for 11 years and Sunday church bulletins for many more years for the church and Brules United Church of Christ, Congregational.

Beverly Pollock also was a longtime member of the Goodall City Library board and president of the Ogallala Library Foundation board.

Her husband and a sister, Barbara Buck, preceded her in death.

Survivors include her son, Andrew (Kris) Pollock of Pleasant Dale; daughter Allison (Larry Jr.) Welch of Beaver Lake; seven grandchildren; and her brother, Glenn, of Pensacola, Florida.

Memorials have been established at the Keith County Foundation Fund, the Ogallala Library Foundation and the 21st Century Endowment Trust at First Congregational United Church of Christ.

***

Editors note: The writer began his newspaper career with the Keith County News as a carrier (1974-78), wrote an Ogallala High School activities column (1981-82) and worked for the News during college vacations (1983-86).
Protesters near Mar-a-Lago. Photo: Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

In March, as Donald Trump put out word that he was about to be arrested  by a SOROS BACKED ANIMAL for A CRIME THAT DOESNT EXIST  Florida governor Ron DeSantis floated a subtle contrast. Look, I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just  I cant speak to that, he told reporters, alluding to Trumps very extant crime.

To emphasize his own, porn-star-free marriage, DeSantis gave an interview to Piers Morgan in the New York Post. The Post, like most of the Murdoch media empire, has been operating almost indistinguishably from DeSantiss proto-campaign for president. (We see him as the future of the party, a Fox News producer wrote in an email a few years ago.) This article fawned over DeSantiss family, showing the devoted couple and their adorable children in a series of photos. And yet the weak point in this pitch turned out to be the candidate himself, whose attempted paeans to marital bliss were alarmingly devoid of anything resembling emotion.

Shed let it be known that she was happy and that we were ready to go to the next level, so I dont think it was a super-shock, but it was good to get that one in the win column, and I dont think I could have done any better in life, DeSantis recalled of their engagement. Not just to have a friend  we have three wonderful kids, shes a great mother, shes a great First Lady. Shes really the whole package.

Here was a friendly media organ trying desperately to gin up some Camelot mystique on his behalf, only for DeSantis to display less passion about his marriage than he musters for the subject of capital-gains taxation. DeSantiss description of his wife (the total package, great at being First Lady, big win for Ron) sounds like a series of bullet points written for him by a staffer. You can see why DeSantis believed, in the abstract, this message would work in his favor. But you also wonder if it can compete on an emotional level with Trumps hysterical denunciation of the endless witch hunt.

The DeSantis campaign has been an exercise in trying to wean the base off its Trump addiction and onto what the Republican elite regards as a healthier substitute. DeSantis has worked tirelessly to identify and replicate the components of Trumps appeal, from his mannerisms to his policies. And while DeSantiss synthetic version of Trumpism has won over plenty of converts, it has not managed to fully replace the touch and feel of the genuine article.

As the two leading Republican candidates have begun circling each other, they have adopted largely similar platforms: denouncing wokeism, questioning Joe Bidens support for Ukraine, promising to crush their liberal enemies. The main substantive contrast to date has come on two issues. On vaccines, DeSantis has depicted the jabs as dangerous, refused to endorse giving them to kids, and opened an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by pharmaceutical firms. He has so successfully transformed Trumps once-glimmering achievement Operation Warp Speed into a political liability that Trump not only has declined to take credit for a program that saved millions of lives but is now reminding his fans that DeSantis used to believe in the COVID vaccine himself.

The other issue contrast is DeSantiss record of endorsing cutting and privatizing Medicare and Social Security. One of Trumps innovations as a late-in-life political candidate was to recognize that the Republican base, much of which is getting on in years, does not share the conservative elites hatred for the New Deal. DeSantis has not yet even defended his positions, which he co-opted at the height of the tea-party wave.

So each candidate has one favorable issue to use against the other. But both of them seem to sense the race is not likely to be determined on the basis of issues. The biggest matter that currently divides them is Trumps enormous legal jeopardy.

The former president is staring down four potential criminal indictments. The first, which provoked Trumps claim he was about to be frog-marched into prison, concerns the Manhattan district attorneys probe into his payoffs to a woman with whom he had an affair. This investigation employs a shaky legal theory and could well result in acquittal. The second is a Georgia investigation into Trumps efforts to pressure state officials into discarding the election results and declaring him the winner. The remaining two potential charges are being investigated by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. One concerns Trump taking, refusing to give back, and allegedly lying about and concealing classified documents (the legal case seems cut and dried). The other is for potentially inciting an insurrection on January 6, 2021 (the relevant law in this case is a little less clear since presidents whipping up crazy mobs is not something lawmakers thought they had to directly ban).

How Republicans respond to these legal charges, should any or all of them materialize, will likely determine the outcome of the race. DeSantiss pitch to the base is that he can endorse more or less the same positions as Trump and attack all the same enemies but do so more effectively and without all of Trumps baggage. He is a winner, and Trump is a loser. It doesnt matter if they think Trump lost because Biden, antifa, and Dominion Voting Systems stole the election. DeSantis refuses even to say Trump legitimately lost. All he needs to get across is that Trump did lose in the undeniable sense that he no longer occupies the White House.

By this way of thinking, Trumps criminal exposure only makes him even more of a loser. DeSantis will almost surely speak of Trumps legal predicament in sympathetic terms. Liberal prosecutors and the Biden regime (as DeSantis calls it) are abusing their power and persecuting law-abiding citizens like poor Donald. That said, wouldnt Republicans rather have a nominee who has avoided this misfortune? One with the freedom to run a traditional campaign and who will not be potentially confined to communicating to the public via collect calls from prison?

Trumps message will work at the emotional level. They are after him because he is so dangerous to their power. The fact that DeSantis is not the target of a witch hunt does not make him more clever or more innocent. It shows he is controlled opposition, as Donald Jr. put it. Trump has linked DeSantis to Republicans like Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush  sellouts in the eyes of his base. The fact that DeSantis will be able to stump the Midwest without an electronic-monitoring bracelet shows he is less dangerous to the Establishment, not more.

Trumps theory of the case relies on a series of paranoid fantasies, but that does not necessarily make it any less viable in a Republican primary than DeSantiss more straightforward rationale. Trump has repeatedly used his own misconduct to bind his supporters more tightly to his cause.

DeSantis is obviously aware of the dynamic, and he has diligently worked to make the libs hate him as much as they hate Trump. He has even conjured his own legal trouble, having overstepped his authority in Florida repeatedly (allegedly misappropriating funds to lure migrants to Marthas Vineyard, illegally firing a prosecutor, violating the First Amendment with his Stop WOKE law). You can almost imagine a future DeSantis holding a press conference outside a liquor store he just robbed in a bid to get his own mug shot.

All this painstaking work has generated a real upsurge in support for the Florida governor. And yet he may discover that manufactured passion never feels quite like the real thing.

&.c, by Jonathan Chait Irregular musings from the center left. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.
New York Magazines March 1-14, 2021 cover Illustration: Pentagram for New York Magazine

Coming almost a year after the gutting of Roe v. Wade and months after a surprising midterm election, the March 27April 9 issue of New York Magazine examines the Democratic Partys push to make abortion the centerpiece of its legislative agenda. Writer-at-large Rebecca Traister takes readers inside the partys internal debates over how best to push to legalize abortion with a focus on how its playing out in Michigan and in Washington, D.C. Traister writes that while the Democratic Party has historically tiptoed around reproductive rights, in the last year, many female government officials nationwide have demanded that the party prioritize abortion rights in their policy agenda.

I started reporting on this piece the week of the midterm elections, and people were suggesting that abortion was less likely to motivate people to vote. On the contrary, it was a huge motivating factor, says Traister. During the midterm elections, millions of voters sent a clear message to the Democratic Party. They asked for leadership on this. But its a tough problem. How do you lead through chaos? How do you lead Democrats when theres a structural deficit with being the minority of the House, having to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, and having a regressive Supreme Court. On a federal level, the leadership of the party is still in the hands of a generation that wasnt sure it wanted to take on abortion as a core issue a few years ago in the first place.

And then theres the instance of Michigan. Michigan stands out because its an example of where the generational turnover occurring in the Democratic Party has happened, at least for now. And part of that generational turnover is tied to the 2018 election, says Traister. In Michigan, when I saw that Gretchen Whitmer filed her lawsuit, she was one of few elected officials behaving with preparedness. So thats why Michigans unique. There was already legal maneuvering to avert the crisis post-Dobbs.

The cover was commissioned and created in partnership with Pentagram / Emily Oberman. Emilys work is unique in that it blurs the line between promotion and design  often using language and humor to make an emotional connection.

Elsewhere in the issue, Allison P. Davis profiles Emily Henry, a contemporary romance writer who has managed to put pieces of herself in each of her heroines, and Tom Scocca takes readers through the intricacies of the new LED lights in your homes, handheld gadgets, and restaurants and why their quality and functionality are so bad. Also: Andrea Long Chu on Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kara Swisher in conversation with Sam Altman, and Adam Platt on the Full Immersion glut.




the next Knives Out should feature Jeremy Renner as the guy who dies, and he should go method with the performance  Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 1, 2023 I am cracking up at Robert Evans cursing him literally today.

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And before anyone comes for me, I just am not terribly worried about him given that he's abused previous partners.

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yeah, i just read about him allegedly biting his daughter when she was 4 and also the threat of murdering his daughter's mother and himself because he's a horrible horrible person.



edit omg wow i didn't realize his ex is 20 years younger than him and they met when she was like 18-19 years old and had a baby like a year or so later. nope, nope, nope. And then the threats against Sonni's life and alleged abuse against his little daughter which i don't want to get into rn.



i hope the worst tbh



Edited at 2023-01-02 07:47 am (UTC)

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i swear i learn so much from ontd comments

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Yeah someone needs to undo that 

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omg

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Has somebody checked on the 1 (one) Renner stan this site has?

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Iirc they got banned a few months ago.



Edited at 2023-01-02 07:16 am (UTC)

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idk why this is so funny lmaooo



do you know why?! im a nosy bitch

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lol at everyone reacting with laugh emojis! I wasn't expecting that!





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Aw i actually like the occasional (1) unhinged stans in here

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They got promoted to stanning nicki

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I was convinced that person was trolling

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I don't even know the stan's username which means I do not go into Renner posts, ever

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https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/123464258.html?thread=20523635522#t20523635522



Edited at 2023-01-02 04:39 pm (UTC)

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I fully admit to having a brief phase around Hurt Locker/Avengers 1 and making posts here because I thought he was a good actor but that all changed very fast because he's a shit human

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There was an airport accident, non-celeb that shook me today.



TW

[ Spoiler (click to open) ] A baggage handler was killed when sucked into an engine. It makes me so sad Accidents with big machines are so scary. I hope he is able to recover. It sure seems like the first day of the year brings a lot of bad news really quickly? Or maybe it is just because it is the first of the year.There was an airport accident, non-celeb that shook me today.TW

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It is scary how it can happen in a second. I know someone whose family member was sucked into a tractor used for crop processing (I don't know the correct terms).

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A combine harvester?

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oh god that is a nightmare

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I was riding a quad bike when in Namibia and going up the hill and it flipped. It was like time stood still. I kicked it over me but my knee was super swollen.



It was only afterwards once we were back that the guide told me he thought he was coming to a dead body. I was super lucky.

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO

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I had a job where we did engineering projects in a variety of industrial plants, so Ive had to do a shit-ton of OSHA and various safety trainings. The variety of ways heavy machinery can kill you is astounding.

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Holy fuck. Absolutely traumatizing for everyone involved. And what a terrible, preventable death D:

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I hope his family is okay

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trying to opt for the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything" route so what i'll say is that i wish the Renner app still existed so I could experience this news fully

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one of my favorite movies. me and my sister quote this film everyday

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Is the snowblower okay?

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NO bc i was gonna comment this but thought it was too mean lmfao

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Oh wow scary

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Now I have Mr Plow stuck in my head.

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And underoo chaos:













Edited at 2023-01-02 11:26 am (UTC) I woke up and chose violenceAnd underoo chaos:

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my friend's dad started his own snowplowing business in the 2000s and we all call him Mr. Plow... to this day I have no clue the actual business name

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My grandfather's snowblower scared the shit out of me as a kid. That thing was a monster and could act a wood chipper, meat grinder. He never allowed anyone else to use it because he thought it was 'that' dangerous.





My SnowJoe is just this little baby and spits out semi-heavy snow but doesn't feel like it will kill me in the process.

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A snow plow took out my dad's car while it was parked on the side of the road... thankfully no one was inside at the time, but seeing the damage to my dad's car has made me low key terrified of snow plows ever since.



Edited at 2023-01-02 07:11 am (UTC)

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I am not familiar with snow plows having spent most of my life in Florida and then Portland, Oregon, where such things simply don't exist, but it sounds legit terrifying

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This info is super vague which like obviously hes entitled to his privacy but also it makes me think that the accident was pretty bad. Critical but stable means its bad but not currently getting worse so like idk. And the kind of stuff that can go wrong with heavy machinery like a snow plow? Seems like it might be really serious.

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Critical but stable means hes very ill but is not going to die today. Its not good.

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If I learned something from Carrie Fisher is that "stable" just means "it's not getting worse".





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Yeah I dont know if hes going to pull through. I hope his kids are okay.

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Right? That was my thought too. It seems to have all the information, and yet everything is missing.



I suppose it could be so bad they're trying to ease into it publicly.

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Yeah, very concerning.

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yeah a family member was critical but stable when she broke her spine and it was threatening to sever her spinal cord (she's fine now luckily). i'm not trying to be too much of an asshole cause it could be really bad.

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That's scary :/

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HANOI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam expects its retail sales to expand by 2.5 times to around 350 billion U.S. dollars by 2025, Vietnam News reported on Monday, citing the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Vietnamese retail market, currently worth 142 billion dollars, has an untapped potential due to economic and population growth.

Vietnam's population is going to reach 100 million soon in April, marking it as the 15th most populous country in the world. A population of 100 million would mean a sizable domestic market, and possibilities to attract more foreign direct investment, said the United Nations Population Fund.

Over the next decade, 36 million more may join Vietnam's consumer class who spend at least 11 dollars a day, according to a 2021 report by consulting group McKinsey, noting that Vietnam's consumer class would grow rapidly from 10 percent of the population in 2000 to 75 percent by 2030.

Vietnam's total goods retail sales and consumer service revenues increased 19.8 percent year on year to approximately 5,679.9 trillion Vietnamese dong (about 239 billion dollars) in 2022, higher than an official target of just 8 percent and the previous year's growth of 10.15 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

HSBC analysts saw multinational corporations in Asia looking for ways to make new investments in both retail and manufacturing sectors in Vietnam including semiconductors, electronics, mobile components, plastic, renewable energy, and logistics industries.

Thai retail conglomerate Central Group has recently announced an additional investment of 1.45 billion dollars to expand its selling platform in Vietnam. The retailer sees its operations in the country making the largest contribution of about 22 percent of the group's total sales, said its country chief executive.

Vietnam's economic growth is backed by public investment, exports, domestic consumption and foreign direct investment. Companies with investments from foreign firms account for about 70 percent to 80 percent of the country's total exports and 25 percent of domestic investment, according to government data.

Vietnam's economy grew 8.02 percent last year, exceeding the average of 7.1 percent from 2016 to 2019, mainly due to a rebound in domestic consumption following COVID-19 and solid performance in export-oriented manufacturing, said the World Bank. 
The European Union needs to work on a divide among its member countries regarding the role of nuclear energy in achieving their renewable energy goals. This disagreement may delay the progress of one of the EU's primary climate policies.

On Wednesday, negotiators from EU countries and the European Parliament will engage in their final round of discussions to establish more ambitious EU objectives to expand renewable energy throughout the next decade. These goals are crucial for Europe's commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030 and to become independent of Russian fossil fuels. However, the negotiations have become bogged down by a dispute over whether fossil fuels produced using nuclear power should be considered part of the renewable energy targets.

France is spearheading a push to classify "low-carbon hydrogen"  hydrogen produced from nuclear energy  as equal to hydrogen created from renewable electricity. France is joined by countries such as Romania, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, all of which seek greater acknowledgment of nuclear energy's CO2-free contribution to climate objectives.

On the other hand, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, and Luxembourg oppose this view, arguing that including nuclear power in renewable energy targets would divert attention from the urgent need to expand solar and wind energy across Europe significantly.

On Monday, EU ambassadors met again in an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute. During a meeting of EU countries' ambassadors last Friday, nations reaffirmed their established positions, according to EU officials. This has led to doubts surrounding the success of the negotiations in finalizing the law.

In addition to the nuclear energy debate, countries disagree on other aspects of the law, such as the types of wood fuel that can be considered renewable energy sources.

France, one of the world's leading nuclear-powered nations, is interested in whether nuclear energy is recognized under renewable energy targets. The country plans to construct new reactors and modernize its extensive fleet of nuclear facilities.

Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the French energy minister, will host a meeting of pro-nuclear countries' ministers on Tuesday to discuss the issue further, according to a source from the French ministry.

France has also expressed disappointment with other recent EU decisions prioritizing renewable technologies over nuclear power.

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that "cutting-edge nuclear" projects would only receive access to specific EU incentives designed to support green industries. In contrast, "strategic" technologies, such as solar panels, would be granted full benefits.

As the EU strives to achieve its climate goals, the disagreement over the role of nuclear energy in renewable energy targets could significantly delay progress on one of the bloc's central climate policies. The outcome of the final round of negotiations on Wednesday and the subsequent discussions among pro-nuclear countries' ministers may determine the future direction of the EU's renewable energy strategy.

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As green energy projects are being rolled out worldwide, and political policies are catching up to climate targets, one thing thats lagging behind is community support. Increasing renewable energy capacity to the level thats needed to leave fossil fuels behind requires the backing of the public and a movement away from the not in my backyard point of view. In addition to the unwillingness to embrace renewables when its close to home, a flurry of misinformation has hindered many projects in recent years, demonstrating the need to re-educate and encourage greater support for green in practice as well as theory.

In New South Wales, Australia, there are plans to cluster major wind and solar projects across five Renewable Energy Zones (Rez), established by the NSW government, to enhance storage and transmission potential. The town of Welcha sits in the New England Rez, which has major wind potential. But poor public opinion continues to stand in the way of the development of major new renewables projects in the region, as the government and private firms push to boost the regions clean energy capacity to support a green transition.

Danish renewable energy major Vestas is the biggest stakeholder in the planned Winterbourne windfarm, which was initially announced in 2004 with construction expected to finally begin in 2024. It is expected to have a capacity of 700 MW when complete, with an investment of over $1 billion. To achieve this level of wind power, the farm will have up to 119 turbines with a maximum height of 230 metres. Related: German Grid Operators Unveil 128 Billion Plan For Green Energy Shift

Despite the project offering huge potential for a movement away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives in the region, many locals are not so keen on the development. Some residents worry about the appearance of the turbines, while others are concerned about their impact on tourism and the threat to biodiversity in the area. To counter these concerns, project developers are providing a $1 million community development fund for the towns 3,000 residents. A further $750,000 will be made available annually once the project is up and running, as well as an additional $1,000 for every megawatt generated over 600 MW. Vestas also anticipates the creation of up to 400 jobs in the building phase and 16 long-term maintenance jobs, bringing vital employment opportunities to the region.

But Welcha isnt the only place where residents are concerned about new wind projects. This is a sentiment thats being felt down the whole of the Australian east coast, following the launch of several green energy projects. And outside of Australia, its a concern that has been heard across Europe and North America for decades. The not in my backyard (nimby) point of view has been repeated time and time again, first with the explosion of fossil fuel projects and now in the development of renewable energy capacity across the rural landscape.

When it comes to wind turbines, the level of misinformation that has spread in recent years is significant. And while some of the tales may have been true in the technologys nascent phase, recent innovations have improved the turbines immensely, leaving less cause for concern. Some of the worries, that have been disseminated via social media, include the noise pollution caused by the turbines, as well as completely false discourses such as the negative health effects of low-frequency infrasound, as well as suggestions that wind energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and photos of wind turbines breaking, burning, and falling. This has led residents near proposed wind farms worldwide to lobby against the developments. As state governments and local councils contend with the concerns of the local communities, trying to dispel the misinformation, many wind projects are being delayed or cancelled altogether.

In the Netherlands, proposed wind farms in an estimated one-fifth of Dutch municipalities have been negatively affected due to a lack of local support, with dozens being cancelled or delayed. Meanwhile, the percentage of Swedes in favour of greater investment in wind energy fell from 74 percent in 2009 to 65 percent in 2019. And in Germany, several wind project operators are battling against protestors in court for their developments to go ahead.

To change the negative opinion of wind farms, many local councils and project developers are now engaging in discussions with communities and calling for active citizen participation. This can help to address some of the concerns, dispel misinformation, and communicate the benefits of the project. In addition, greater information from the government about how new renewable projects could help to lower energy prices and boost energy security could bolster public approval. But the failure to rapidly address public concerns and offer comprehensive education on wind energy and other renewables projects could lead to the further spread of misinformation and the persistence of the nimby viewpoint.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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Russias crude oil exports by sea have held above the 3 million barrels per day (bpd) mark in the past six weeks, after the EU ban on fuel imports from Russia took effect and after Moscow said it would lower its production by 500,000 bpd, tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

In the most recent week to March 24, Russias seaborne crude oil exports fell by 123,000 bpd but were still above 3 million bpd, at 3.11 million bpd, per the data cited by Bloombergs Julian Lee.

While weekly shipments can be very volatile, tanker tracking in the six-week period to March 24 also showed a similar small decline in Russian shipments. This suggests that Russian crude oil exports have held resilient this year, and the voluntary production cut hasnt shown yet in Russias crude exports to the global market.

Most Russian exports are headed to China, India, or unknown destinations in Asia, which, history shows, usually means that the cargoes end up in one of the two biggest Asian importers of crude.

Russia was the single largest crude oil supplier to China in January and February, overtaking Saudi Arabia which was the number-one supplier of oil to China last year.

As China accelerated the buying of cheap Russian crude oil at discounts to international benchmarks, Chinese imports of crude from Russia jumped by 23.8% year over year to 1.94 million bpd in January and February 2023, per data by Chinas General Administration of Customs cited by Reuters.

Russia, for its part, said last week it will continue its 500,000-bpd crude oil production cut through the end of June this year. Initially, Russia intended to cut that amount from its production in March.

It remains to be seen if there will be sufficient appetite for Russian oil products now that the price cap is in place or if its production will start to fall under the weight of sanctions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Oil Market Report for March.

Revenues are already dwindling, the agency noted.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Saudi Aramco plans to build a $10-billion refining and petrochemical complex in China over the next three years, taking advantage of the countrys growing demand for energy.

The complex will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude daily, Aramco said in a news release. The Saudi major will supply 201,000 barrels per day to the facility.

The project will be carried out in partnership between Aramco and two Chinese companies. Construction works should begin in the second half of this year, with the project scheduled for completion in 2026.

This important project will support Chinas growing demand across fuel and chemical products. It also represents a major milestone in our ongoing downstream expansion strategy in China and the wider region, which is an increasingly significant driver of global petrochemical demand, said Aramcos head of downstream, Mohammed Al Qahtani.

The news follows another report, from December last year, that said Aramco had struck a deal with Chinas Sinopec to build a 320,000-bpd refinery and petrochemical cracker in China, highlighting the latters major role in global oil consumption yet again.

Refining and petrochemical investments have been a priority for Aramco as it seeks to secure long-term demand for its main product, even as it expands local refining capacity as well.

According to the International Energy Agency and other forecasters, a bet on petrochemicals is a good long-term bet in the oil industry amid expectations of a decline in oil demand for transport fuels.

Indeed, the IEA has projected that petrochemicals will account for more than a third in oil demand growth by 2030, rising to 50% of demand by 2050 as transport electrifies.

If the expected global transport electrification does not take place on the expected scale, however, this higher demand for petrochemicals will simply be added to total oil demand, including for transport fuels.

China is the most obvious destination for new petrochemical projects: the country is the worlds largest crude oil importer and one of the top three consumers of the commodity.

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The banking collapses that have sapped confidence in oil markets and brought oil prices closer to the $70 per barrel mark have been followed with great interest across the Middle East. For the first time in many months, flat prices were close to fiscal breakeven level as countries like Bahrain, Algeria or even Oman are now asking themselves if balancing the budget is a manageable task. There is no indication that OPEC+ will act, however, should prices slip even lower on the heels of another banking crisis, the likes of Saudi Arabia or even the UAE might be prompted to at least express their readiness to cut. Talking of cuts, after several months of decreasing formula prices for Middle Eastern producers, prices into April were on the up. In the case of Asia, NOCs were buttressed by the widening in the Dubai cash-to-futures spread which rose to $2.00 per barrel, meaning they had all the right reasons to hike. Chart 1. Saudi Aramcos Official Selling Prices for Asian Cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai average).





Source: Saudi Aramco.

In recent public utterances Saudi Aramco top officials remained upbeat about global oil demand growth in 2023 and reiterate that spare capacity to produce more crude is shrinking, which should see the price-setting clout of the Saudi NOC increase over time. Benefitting from the changes in the futures curve as well as solid refining margins in Asia, Saudi Aramco increased the April selling prices for most of its Asian grades. Arab Super Light is the only exception, with its April OSP down $1.00 per barrel to a $4.95 per barrel premium to Oman/Dubai, whilst the heaviest grade on offer, Arab Heavy, was hiked by $2.50 per barrel, whizzing into positive territory vis-a-vis the Middle Eastern medium sour benchmarks (despite its technically worse quality). As the worlds most voluminous oil grade Arab Light only got a $0.50 per barrel hike from March, the tendency in Saudi pricing has resolutely been towards a shrinking light-heavy spread. The difference between Saudi Arabias lightest and heaviest grade is now slightly above $4 per barrel, in January the spread stood at almost $9 per barrel.

Related: Drop In U.S. Gasoline Prices Likely To Be Temporary



Chart 2. Saudi Aramcos Official Selling Prices for US-bound cargoes (vs ASCI).





Source: Saudi Aramco.

Overall exports from Saudi Arabia have been declining for several months, indicating that talks of robust demand growth might have been exaggerated, especially seeing the state of purchasing activity in Europe and the Americas. After showing great promise in late 2022, exports into Europe have consistently been a good 10-15% lower since. Considering Poland now makes up 40% of all imports into Europe, core demand from Northwest European refiners has been on par with 2021 levels. Nevertheless, Saudi official selling prices into both Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean were hiked month-on-month, with once again Arab Heavy lifted the most, by $1.30 per barrel in both regions. As Saudi flows to the United States have shrunk to just 300,000 b/d, a third of what they were 10 years ago and lower than COVID-hit levels seen over 2020-2021, Saudi Aramco obstinacy to change US pricing is continuing, with all four exportable grades rolled over from March and Arab Heavy still being priced at a $6 per barrel premium to ASCI.

Chart 3. ADNOC Official Selling Prices for 2017-2023 (set outright, here vs Oman/Dubai average).





Source: ADNOC.

The successful IPO of ADNOCs gas unit, raising $2.5 billion for a 5% stake in the business, buoyed the appetite of the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates, and even though negotiations on its buying of international trading company Gunvor have stalled, there is still a lot to come from ADNOC this year. When it comes to official selling prices for April, February trading of Murban on the IFAD exchange led to a slight increase in the outright price of the grade, coming in at $83.36 per barrel compared to $82.63/bbl in March. Whilst the UAEs lighter grades Umm Lulu and Das have witnessed only marginal changes, being rolled over and hiked by 15 cents per barrel, respectively, the market value of medium sour Upper Zakum has been markedly improving. Following a buying spree from Chinese state-owned companies in January-February, with them buying almost 20 million barrels of Upper Zakum on the spot market, the grade has been hiked to a $1.20 per barrel discount to Murban, the narrowest since December 2021.

Chart 4. Iraqi Official Selling Prices for Asia-bound cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai).





Source: SOMO.

It is frequently said that Saudi Arabia was the big winner of 2022, with high oil prices lifting its GDP growth to 8.7% and providing Saudi Aramco with a $161 billion net profit tally, however Iraq has also benefited greatly from the hydrocarbon windfall. The recent court ruling of the International Chamber of Commerce which sided with Baghdad in its claim against Turkey (for allowing Kurdish exports to happen without the consent of Iraqi authorities), triggering a halt in Kurdish exports as the Turkish port of Ceyhan is now demanding explicit Iraqi approval to load, can be seen as yet another resounding victory for Baghdad. Simultaneously, Iraq is also changing from within as the state oil marketing company Somo has nonchalantly fired its CEO and replaced him with Ammar Abdal al-Anbagi. This is all to show that Iraq is changing, time will show whether it is for the better or for the worse.

Chart 5. Middle Eastern medium sours into Europe (vs Dated Brent and ICE Bwave).

Source: SOMO.

When it comes to Iraqi formula prices into April 2023, Somo continues to chart a slightly different course from Saudi Aramco. This time around Somo hiked Basrah Medium by $0.95 per barrel to a slight -$0.15 per barrel discount to Oman/Dubai, which is slightly more than Arab Medium, whilst the heavy sour Basrah Heavy was lifted by $1.95 per barrel, less than Arab Heavy. Trading at a -$3.90 per barrel discount to Oman/Dubai, the fact that Basrah Heavy is getting more expensive is good news for the Iraqi budget, too, as exportable volumes of the lighter and sweeter Basrah Medium (though still quite heavy and sulphurous by any international yardstick) will be shrinking when the 140,000 b/d Karbala refinery starts up. The Iraqi state oil marketer lifted European prices more than Saudi Aramco, up by $1.25 and $1.75 per barrel for Basrah Medium and Basrah Heavy, respectively, with its sentiment buoyed by solid demand from Greece, Turkey and the Netherlands, with the tree accounting for almost 80% of Europes total demand.

Chart 6. Iranian Official Selling Prices for Asia-bound cargoes (vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: NIOC.

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When it comes to Iran, the most notable development has been the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh, brokered by China. Long-time foes after years of being embroiled in a quasi-proxy war in Yemen as well as other hotspots across the Middle East, the unexpected normalization of ties could allow for a rapid revival in security cooperation, trade and bilateral investment. The Chinese-brokered deal also means that the geopolitical premium in the Persian Gulf will now subside as tankers are less likely to be harassed and Yemeni missile attacks will become less likely (very important for Saudi Arabia considering how close its new refinery in Jizan is to the Yemeni border). For April-loading cargoes, the Iranian national oil company NIOC decided to toe Saudi Aramcos line and hiked its Asian prices by $0.50 and $0.90 per barrel for Iran Light and Iran Heavy, respectively. With exports now stably above the 1 million b/d mark, Iran is well-placed for the gradual return of Chinese demand even if it continues to rely overwhelmingly on the Asian powerhouses purchasing interest.

Chart 7. Kuwait Super Light Crude Official Selling prices, compared with Arab Extra Light (vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: KPC.

Kuwait has been standing out amongst Middle Eastern oil-producing countries, for it was generating mostly negative headlines over the past weeks. The never-ending political deadlock got more entrenched with the reappointment of a former prime minister and the annulment of 2022 elections, then an oil spill in the western part of the country led KPC to declare a state of emergency. As dour as things might look currently for KPC, the good news seem to be just around the corner  oil exports in March have finally dropped, a sign that the countrys much-anticipated Al Zour refinery is closer to a full commissioning. Amidst all this, Kuwaits state oil company KPC has hiked the April OSPs of Kuwait export crude into Asia by $0.75 per barrel, 15 cents less than Aramcos Arab Medium, taking the spread between the Kuwaiti and Saudi medium sour grade to its widest since May 2020. Whilst shrinking availability should suggest better pricing, it might happen that Kuwait sees the exact opposite until it fully recalibrates its exports.

By Gerald Jansen for Oilprice.com

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Oil prices rose by 2% early on Monday, with the U.S. benchmark up above $70 a barrel again, driven up by a halt to Kurdistans 400,000-bpd of crude exports and signs of easing concerns about the global banking sector.

As of 10:17 a.m. EDT on Monday, WTI Crude, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $70.76, up by 2.31% on the day. The international benchmark, Brent Crude, was up by 2.04 % at $76.41.

Oil was rising at the start of the week after Kurdistans crude oil exports  around 400,000 bpd shipped through an Iraqi-Turkey pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan and then on tankers to the international markets  were halted late last week by the federal government of Iraq. As of Monday, there were no signs of resumption of the exports from the semi-autonomous Iraqi region.

Last week, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Iraq against Turkey in a dispute over crude flows from Kurdistan. Iraq had argued that Turkey shouldnt allow Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and the Turkish port of Ceyhan without approval from the federal government of Iraq.

After the ruling on Thursday, Turkey told Iraq it would respect the ruling, while Baghdad halted the exports from Kurdistan. Norways DNO ASA, which operates in Kurdistan, confirmed the halt of the exports, saying that it had been instructed by the Kurdistan Regional Government to temporarily cease oil deliveries to the Iraq-Turkey pipeline for export.

Apart from the supply scare from Kurdistan, oil prices were also supported early on Monday by signs of easing concerns about the banking system in the United States.

On Sunday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said that First Citizens BancShares would buy the failed Silicon Valley Bank, assuming all deposits and loans of SVB from the FDIC.

U.S. regulators are also weighing expanding an emergency lending facility for banks, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg this weekend.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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ExxonMobils swathe of world-class oil discoveries in offshore Guyana, estimated to contain over 11 billion barrels of oil, has captured the worlds attention. This includes considerable scrutiny from Nicolas Maduro the autocratic president of neighboring socialist Venezuela. A longstanding and bitter territorial dispute has embroiled the two South American countries, with Caracas claiming nearly 62,000 square miles or roughly three-quarters of Guyanas territory, including territorial waters containing the Stabroek Block. Guyana refutes the more than century-old claim, which has become a powder keg waiting to explode, and most of the international community agrees. The dispute has flared with such intensity there are genuine fears Maduros saber-rattling will escalate. As Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine demonstrates, dictatorial illiberal rulers do not respect international law and will use force to resolve disputes.

The bitterly contested region, known as the Essequibo, encompasses all of Guyanas land east of the Essequibo River or nearly three-quarters of the former British colonys sovereign territory, which before independence in 1966 was known as British Guiana. Spain had originally assumed control of large parts of the Essequibo as part of the colony of the Vice Royalty of New Granada, but the constant distraction of battling independence movements in Latin America prevented Madrid from cementing its claim. To define the boundaries of British Guiana London, in 1835, commissioned German-born explorer Robert Herman Schomburgk to map the western part of the colony and demark a border with Venezuela. The boundary selected by Schomburgk sparked the now more than a century-long territorial dispute between Venezuela, which had emerged as a sovereign state in 1831 and elected to exercise its colonial legacy after gold was discovered in the Essequibo.

After considerable pressure from the U.S., the border between Venezuela and the colony of British Guiana, which became Guyana after independence in 1966, was settled in 1899 by the Washington Treaty of Arbitration. The agreement granted Venezuela control of the land surrounding the mouth of the Orinoco River, while Britain was given all land west of the Essequibo River. Caracas was extremely dissatisfied with the treaty and, after decades of simmering tensions, in 1962, declared the Treaty of Arbitration null and void.

Since then, the dispute has ebbed and flowed, with numerous attempts by international bodies to resolve the long-standing altercation. In 1966, the United Nations attempted to find a solution with the parties signing the Geneva Protocols, which stipulated that Venezuela, the United Kingdom and Guyana will find a peaceful and satisfactory solution to the dispute. This saw the creation of the Good Offices Process by the U.N. to mediate Venezuelas territorial claim. After nearly three decades of Guyana and Venezuela being unable to reach an agreement, the matter was referred to the International Criminal Court of Justice, or ICJ, in 2018. The court has accepted the case but made little headway with Maduro, who ironically is facing an ICJ probe for crimes against humanity and refuses to recognize the courts jurisdiction. By November 2022, the ICJ concluded its preliminary hearing on the objections raised by Venezuela, where Caracas argued that Guyanas case should be dismissed.

After smoldering for decades, Caracas territorial claim on Guyana flared in intensity after Exxons swathe of more than 30 world-class oil discoveries in Guyanas offshore Stabroek Block. A significant portion of that block lies in the territorial waters of the region disputed by Venezuela. Exxons discoveries have found over 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources and catapulted Guyana on the path to becoming a leading regional oil producer and exporter. By the end of January 2023, Guyana was pumping 393,000 barrels of oil per day, all of which was coming from the Exxon operating Stabroek Block. That has transformed the former British colony into the sixth largest petroleum producer in Latin America and the Caribbean, with output forecast to exceed one million barrels daily by 2027, which will make Guyana the third largest oil producer in the region.

The Stabroek Block oil discoveries have transformed Guyana from an economic backwater into a major global petroleum producer and launched the impoverished South American country into the economic stratosphere. Guyana now possesses one of the worlds fastest-growing economies, with IMF data showing 2022 GDP expanded by a stunning 57.8% and is expected to grow by another 25% during 2023. Georgetowns oil revenues are surging in value. Information from the Bank of Guyana, the countrys central bank, shows the former British colony earned $1.4 billion from royalties and oil sales in 2022, which was more than double the $608 million received in 2021. It is anticipated by Guyanas government and industry analysts that oil revenue will exceed $1.6 billion during 2023 and climb to over $7.5 billion by the end of the decade.

As a result, it is easy to understand Maduros interest in Essequibo at a time when Venezuelas economic crisis has finally bottomed, and Caracas is desperate to rebuild a shattered oil industry and pump more petroleum. The intensity of the saber-rattling by Venezuelas autocratic leader is rising, with the dispute a handy distraction for Venezuelas people from the countrys economic and humanitarian crisis. After experiencing a post-pandemic surge in production, PDVSA appears incapable of lifting output any higher. The OPEC members production has plummeted from a peak of over three million barrels per day during 1998, before Hugo Chavez became president, to 700,000 barrels per day for February 2023. The catastrophic collapse of Venezuelas oil industry, the petrostates' economic backbone, has devastated the economy and triggered a prolonged humanitarian catastrophe described as the worst to ever occur outside of war.

PDVSA is incapable of significantly lifting production volumes or achieving the ambitious production targets set by Maduro and his oil minister Tareck El Aissami without a massive capital investment estimated to be at least $110 billion. That will only occur once Washington substantially eases sanctions, which is highly unlikely for the foreseeable future. By annexing the Essequibo, Caracas will gain access to the regions considerable mineral wealth, including the substantial oil resources contained in the offshore Stabroek Block. Over the last decade, there have been frequent incidents of Venezuelan naval vessels harassing shipping in Guyanas territorial waters in the disputed zone, including drilling vessels contracted by Exxon. In 2021 two fishing vessels from Guyana were detained for weeks by Venezuelas navy.

Since 2015 Maduro has regularly vowed to reconquer the commodity-rich Essequibo. Caracas frequently deploys ground forces to the border with Guyana and conducts military exercises in the region. In early 2018, Brazils military revealed it had discovered plans for Venezuelas invasion of Guyana, which would see Caracas use force to annex the Essequibo. Brazils then-President Michel Temer pledged to defend Guyana if Venezuela invaded, but it is difficult to see if Brasilia could deploy sufficient forces in a timely manner to repel Venezuelas attack.

If Venezuela launched a military assault to annex the Essequibo, there is very little that Guyana could do to repel such an event. Venezuelas military apparatus outnumbers the Guyana Defense Force by at least a whopping 100 to 1 in personnel while Caracas possesses modern fighters and naval craft to which Guyana has no viable response. Maduros close ties with the Kremlin means Venezuela has received extensive military aid from Russia, including modern weapons systems, such as small arms, tanks and fighter bomber aircraft, and training by Russian advisers. While Russia promised in 2022 that military aid to Venezuela will not be used against Colombia, no such assurances have been made regarding Guyana. The overarching consensus is that without U.S. intervention, a Venezuelan invasion of the Essequibo will be successful.

The risks of the border dispute boiling over and exploding into conflict are very real. Heightened tensions between Caracas and Washington over sanctions and U.S. Department of Justice indictments against Maduro, as well as members of his government, increase the risk of conflict erupting. Maduro also uses the dispute as a means of distracting Venezuelans from the suffering they are enduring because of his policies, with the dispute one of the only points on which he and Venezuelas opposition agree. Putins invasion of Ukraine, despite the international outcry, has emboldened authoritarian illiberal rulers like Maduro to see the application of force as a viable tool to achieve their goals.

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Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

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China Energy Engineering Corp. is considering building a 1,000-megawatt floating solar plant on Zimbabwe's Kariba dam at the cost of nearly $1 billion. This ambitious project is expected to provide clean and renewable energy to the region, helping Zimbabwe move towards a greener future.

The proposed solar farm would be the largest of its kind in Africa and one of the biggest in the world. It would cover an area of over 2,500 hectares, making it larger than some cities in Zimbabwe. The solar megaproject could generate power for as many as two million homes.

This project is part of China Energy's commitment to providing clean energy solutions for developing countries around the world. In addition to this project, they have also invested heavily in other renewable energy projects, such as wind farms and hydroelectric dams throughout Africa.

The floating solar farm will be built on Lake Kariba, located between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The lake provides an ideal location for this type of project due to its large size and relatively calm waters. The lake also holds a large amount of water that can be used for cooling during peak hours when temperatures are high.

The project is estimated to take three years to complete and will create thousands of jobs during the construction and operation phases. It will also help reduce carbon emissions by replacing traditional sources of electricity with clean energy sources such as solar power.

In addition to providing clean energy solutions for Zimbabwe, this project could also benefit other countries in the region by providing them access to reliable electricity sources at competitive prices. This could spur economic growth throughout Africa as more people gain access to affordable electricity sources that are both reliable and sustainable.

China Energy's proposal for a 1,000-megawatt floating solar plant in Zimbabwe is an exciting development that could bring much-needed renewable energy solutions to the region while creating jobs and reducing carbon emissions simultaneously. If successful, this project could set an example for countries looking towards renewable energy solutions as they work towards a greener future for all citizens across Africa and beyond.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

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Kurdistans crude oil exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan continue to be shut in for a fourth day after the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq and the federal government in Baghdad failed to reach an agreement during the weekend on the resumption of crude flows.

Officials from the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government met on Sunday in Baghdad, but no breakthrough in talks has been achieved, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Monday.

If the crude oil exports, at around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 400,000 bpd, do not resume soon, oil prices could go higher amid lower global supply.

At the end of last week, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Iraq against Turkey in a dispute over crude flows from Kurdistan. Iraq had argued that Turkey shouldnt allow Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and the Turkish port of Ceyhan without approval from the federal government of Iraq.

After the ruling on Thursday, Turkey told Iraq it would respect the ruling, while Baghdad halted the exports from Kurdistan.

Norway-based DNO ASA, one of the major producers in Kurdistan, said on Monday that it had been instructed by the Kurdistan Regional Government to temporarily cease oil deliveries to the Iraq-Turkey pipeline for export following an arbitration ruling in favor of Iraq against Turkey and its state-owned pipeline operator BOTAS for transporting Kurdish oil without prior approval from Baghdad.

On Saturday, DNO began diverting oil production from its operated Kurdistan fields to storage tanks, which can accommodate several days production from the Tawke and Peshkabir fields, the company added.

The investment climate in Kurdistan is currently not conducive to major oil industry investmentsdespite Kurdistan officials claims to the contraryamid a bitter dispute between the KRG and the federal government of Iraq over who has the right to control the oil resources and revenues in the semi-autonomous region.

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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Ukraine is demanding an emergency United Nations meeting and NATO has warned Russia against dangerous and irresponsible moves after Vladimir Putin announced he would turn Belarus into a station for tactical nuclear weapons.

Despite Putins announcement and Ukraines emergency meeting demands, NATO appeared to seek to downplay the development, criticizing the Russian leaders nuclear rhetoric but also noting that the Western military alliance had not seen any changes in Russias nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.

NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation, alliance spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.

On Saturday, Putin said Russias decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was a response to the UKs decision last week to give Ukraine armor-piercing rounds with depleted uranium.

"There is nothing unusual here either: First, the US has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," Putin told Russian state television.

Putin noted that his move was no different than the U.S. stationing weapons in Europe.

"We agreed that we will do the same  without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons."

"Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments," Lungescu said in a statement. "Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments."

Kyivs view is that Minsk is now a nuclear hostage to Moscow.

Russia will begin training in tactical nuclear weapons on April 3, while the construction of a special storage facility for the weapons is slated to be completed by July 1, The Moscow TImes reports.

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Russia is believed to have some 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, according to The Associated Press. Putin claims that Belarus already has 10 Russian tactical nuclear-capable aircraft as well as Iskander tactical missile systems.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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DHAKA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- State-owned Petrobangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation) has moved to set up three more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in addition to the existing two currently being operated to regasify imported gas.

The proposed three new LNG terminals, which will be set up in Payra in the south-western corner of Bangladesh and Moheshkhali and Matarbari in the southeastern region of the country, would have about 3,000 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMcf/d) regasification capacity, Petrobangla Chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker was quoted by Bangladeshi leading private news agency UNB as saying in a report on Monday.

Sarker said that of the three LNG terminals to be set up, two will be floating while the other will be a land-based terminal.

According to official sources, all three LNG terminals will be set up on the basis of unsolicited offers received from local and foreign companies.

"Negotiations are progressing fast," the Petrobangla chairman said recently, adding that after government approval for setting up the terminals, it will take three to five years to get them installed and ready for operation.

He also justified Petrobangla's move to setting up the new LNG terminals, saying that the country's demand for gas supply is growing rapidly, and it will reach 6,500 MMcf/d by 2030 from the current demand of 4,000 MMcf/d against a supply of 3,000 MMcf/d.

If the moves are not undertaken, the country will experience more deficit in gas supply, the Petrobangla chairman said. 
Russia could demand compensation for damages over the sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, a senior Russian diplomat told Russian news agency RIA Novosti in an interview.

We do not rule out raising the issue of compensation for damages as a result of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Dmitry Birichevsky, Head of the Economic Cooperation Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying.

The official did not specify with whom Russia would seek compensation.

Russia will continue to insist on an investigation into the blasts that involves Russian representatives, Birichevsky said, adding that the Western countries are actively sabotaging work on a Russia-proposed draft UN resolution calling for an independent investigation.

The Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged in late September in still unexplained circumstances. Nord Stream 1 was carrying gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, while Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.

Various investigations into the Nord Stream explosions continue amid accusations from Russia that some Western intelligence services are hiding something.

Swedens refusal to share information about the sabotage of Nord Stream is puzzling, and withholding the results of the investigation means that Swedish authorities are hiding something, Russias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in January.

Last month, Russia called for an international investigation into the sabotage of Nord Stream after a U.S. investigative journalist wrote that the United States was behind the explosions of the gas pipelines.

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Russia does not expect that findings on the Nord Stream blast investigations will be made public, Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Seven of Nebraskas large health systems will make wearing masks optional in most areas of their hospitals and clinics by April 3, officials announced in a joint statement Monday.

The announcement came from Boys Town National Research Hospital, Bryan Health, CHI Health, Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, Methodist Health System and Nebraska Medicine. CHI Health lifted masking requirements March 20.

In the statement, health system officials noted that the virus that causes COVID-19 is still circulating and that they are still treating patients experiencing complications from prior infections.

But they noted that health care providers know more about the illness and that vaccines are available that are extremely safe and effective in preventing serious disease and death. Oral medications also are available to help prevent the disease from progressing.

We are better suited to treat patients with COVID-19 and they are consuming less intensive care resources, they wrote. We are also experiencing less employee absenteeism due to COVID-19 infection.

Cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations due to the virus have decreased nationally in recent weeks. Nebraskas 1,406 reported cases for the week ending March 23 has held fairly steady, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

However, the Nebraska Infectious Disease Society, made of up specialists in infectious diseases, earlier this month urged health systems to continue requiring masks to protect the vulnerable.

The health care system officials said in their statement that their staffs will mask if asked by patients.

Health system officials also noted that they have coordinated the care of thousands of people from across the region with COVID-19 over the past few years. Working together and sharing experiences and capacity, they wrote, was vital during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues today.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is expected to end the public health emergency for COVID-19 on May 11. The change is expected to impact U.S. health care policies and practices for many COVID-19 related services, they wrote.

Health officials noted that masking policies may vary across their facilities. Masking requirements will remain in effect on units or in areas that required the wearing of masks and protective equipment prior to the pandemic.

Health system officials asked for understanding if conditions change and they have to reinstate preventive measures. They also advised Nebraskans to stay up to date on COVID-19 and influenza shots and boosters.

The immense challenges everyone faced over the last three years was met through collaborations  across health systems, and with the public, they wrote. Collectively, we saved countless lives, prevented and treated severe illness, and we witnessed incredible compassion from our teams that cared for patients and families.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2023
Gene Fulton says he was able to crawl out of his pickup truck that was flipped by the Rolling Fork, Mississippi tornado on March 24.
Eight inmates at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln took two guards hostage 68 years ago today.

An army of prison guards and Nebraska safety patrolmen with submachine guns, shotguns, rifles, revolvers and tear gas stood guard in towers overlooking the maximum-security building at the Nebraska State Penitentiary  also known as the prison "jail"  until the mutiny ended.

Warden Herbert Hann shed some light on how the revolt had been possible. He said soft-steel bars in the building and the inexperience of the two guards enabled the prisoners to gain control of the building about 10:30 a.m. The guards were being held on the third floor of the building, which was used to house prisoners who violated prison rules.

Guard Warren B. Miller was the first captured as he climbed stairs to the third floor to bring an inmate some tobacco. Prisoner John Ward had sawed through the bottom two bars of his cell. He knocked out the sawed bars and sprinted up the stairs after Miller and put a homemade knife to the guard's throat. He then forced Miller to summon a fellow guard, Eugene Swanson, up to the third floor. By then, other prisoners emerged with knives and clubs made of pipes.

A third hostage, Gerald Hoffman, was sent to Lincoln days before the uprising by Otoe County authorities for safekeeping. He was not serving a penitentiary sentence. He said the inmates had talked about the revolt for days and were well-prepared with knives.

"Those boys had knives 6 to 7 inches long and sharp enough to cut your head off," Hoffman said.

Upon the release of the hostages and the inmates' surrender, Gov. Victor Anderson promised to hold private interviews with five of the eight inmates. The prisoners had a nine-point list of grievances regarding changes to the prison routine. The prisoners were upset by indefinite sentences they had been given in solitary. One of the rebels had been held in solitary for nearly three years at the time of the revolt.

The eight convicts, fearing starvation, agreed to surrender and accept stiff institutional punishments. They and the hostages had lived for more than three days on a loaf of bread and a jar of sugar.

After 65 hours, the three hostages emerged unharmed from an isolated fortress. Moments later, eight convicts stepped from the building, one at a time, hands behind their heads.

The convicts surrendered on terms laid out by Anderson. The eight men had to serve time in the hole for 15 days, 60 days of solitary confinement and 90 days under third-grade restriction.

Photos: 1955 siege of the Nebraska State Penitentiary
A somewhat surprising snowstorm that dropped farther south than expected Sunday will be followed by warmer weather this week in Omaha and eastern Nebraska.

(Omahans) who slept in late (Sunday) could have missed (the snow) entirely, Taylor Nicolaisen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said Sunday. It fizzled out early.

The final snow total Sunday at Eppley Airfield was 1 inch. A total of 3 inches of snow was reported near Boys Town at 156th Street and West Dodge Road.

Bennington and Elkhorn recorded about 3 inches of snow. Heavier snow totals were found in a line along U.S. Highway 30 from Blair to Columbus, he said. Fremont, Blair and Columbus received about 7 inches of snow.

Scribner reported 7 inches of snow. The heaviest report came from north of Columbus near Platte Center with 8 inches of snow on the ground.

The forecast initially called for 1 to 3 inches (of snow) farther north, Nicolaisen said. It really, really fell much harder than expected north of Interstate 80.

The storm prompted Nebraska officials to close Interstate 80 near North Platte to the Colorado border about 5:30 a.m. The Nebraska Department of Transportation announced at 1:30 that I-80 had reopened, but winter driving conditions existed in the western part of the state as well as Wyoming and Colorado.

A warmup is expected to begin Monday in Omaha with high temperatures in the mid-40s. Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday are predicted to approach 50 degrees, Nicolaisen said.

By the time we get to Thursday, we are predicting temperatures in the mid-60s, he said. Weve only had one day in the mid-60s so far this year and that happened on March 15.

The higher temperatures on Thursday could usher in a round of thunderstorms overnight into Friday, Nicolaisen said. The high temperature on Friday is forecast to peak in the 50s.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2023
LINCOLN  Halfway through debate on a bill that would ban gender-altering care for individuals under 19, one Nebraska lawmaker told how the legislation would directly impact her family.

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, a vocal opponent of Legislative Bill 574, shared that her 12-year-old son is transgender. Her son testified against the bill at its hearing last month, arguing that the restrictions threaten an already vulnerable population.

This bill is such an affront to me personally, Hunt said Wednesday.

Lawmakers have been debating LB 574 on the floor for the past two days. A vote is expected Thursday, when the bill will need 33 votes to advance to the second round. The legislation has spurred strong reactions both in support and opposition since it was first introduced by Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, with Hunt one of the loudest critics.

Hunt hadnt mentioned her son in her arguments against the bill until Wednesday, and said she hadnt been planning on mentioning him. She feared the hateful rhetoric expressed by several of LB 574s supporters would lead to her being accused of grooming her son to be trans, as she is a bisexual woman herself.

However, Hunt said her mind changed while listening to the arguments in support of the bill, saying that most of it was inaccurate and that it shows the supporters are uninformed.

I wouldnt be able to live with myself if I didnt do everything in my power to block this bill, Hunt said.

Multiple LB 574 supporters, including Kauth, have claimed that gender-altering care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, can be accessed easily and quickly. They contend that such serious medical decisions shouldnt be made by someone whose brain is still developing.

But Hunt said the reality of her sons health care looked very different.

Hunt said her son underwent counseling for over a year, consulting with multiple medical experts regarding his gender identity. Even to this day, she said, her son isnt undergoing any medical intervention, because Medicaid has denied their requests for gender-altering care four times. Paying out of pocket for the treatment would cost roughly $7,000 a month, she said.

Thats the reality of what trans health care is like in Nebraska, Hunt said.

Hunts remarks went largely unacknowledged by her fellow lawmakers Wednesday, aside from a handful of senators who thanked her for sharing her story. Most of Wednesdays debate centered around competing research presented in support of each side of debate, with both sides arguing that their information is legitimate, and the opposing information is flawed.

Lawmakers went back and forth about which medical organizations should be trusted to weigh in on the debate. On Tuesday, Kauth circulated a statement from the Nebraska State Board of Health, expressing its opposition to irreversible surgical and hormonal manipulation of minors.

The statement was referenced several times on the microphone by LB 574s supporters, but opponents argued the opinion wasnt reliable as the board is made up of gubernatorial appointments, and a minority of its members actually have expertise on the subject at hand.

Opponents have frequently cited other medical organizations that have affirmed their support for offering gender-altering care to young people, including the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the Nebraska Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.

However, Sen. John Lowe of Kearney, a co-sponsor of LB 574, called these groups into question Wednesday. He read a statement from two Kearney physicians that claimed the organizations are controlled by big pharma and have financial motivations behind supporting such treatment.

Several lawmakers on both sides of debate have acknowledged that members of the Nebraska Legislature do not have the expertise to definitively say whether gender-altering care for minors is good or bad. However, each side came to a different conclusion based on this observation.

Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington, who opposes the bill, argued lawmakers are not equipped with enough medical knowledge to keep someone from receiving health care they say is necessary.

But Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair argued that since the information on gender-altering care isnt conclusive, the safest option is to hold off on offering such treatment. Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Omaha area shared a similar sentiment on Tuesday.

I dont know enough to say its OK, Linehan said.

So far, opponents have succeeded at preventing any amendments to LB 574 from being considered, with an amendment from Kauth waiting in the wings that would drastically limit the bills impacts. The amendment would remove restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and would only ban gender-altering surgeries for people under 19.

Though several of the bills proponents have indicated their interest in the amendment as a compromise, the bills opponents have rebuked these attempts. Several critics have expressed that no amount of amendments would earn their support.

You cannot amend this piece of crap, said Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2023
Six years after her award-winning documentary, Standing Bears Footsteps, aired on PBS, Christine Lesiak received a call from the U.S. Postal Service seeking information on the historic Nebraska activist.

Chief Standing Bear, the Ponca chief who won a landmark 1879 court case that ruled that Natives were people under the law with inherent rights, was nominated by the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in 2017.

The committee is appointed by the postmaster general and recommends subjects for future stamp designs.

People see (stamps) no matter where they live  whether they buy the stamp or its on a letter they receive, they know this is a person whos important, Lesiak said.

Once a recommendation is approved, the team works with art directors to oversee the creation of stamp designs. The directors work with professional designers, artists, illustrators and photographers to produce about 35 stamps a year.

In February 2018, the USPS team began reaching out to people who knew Chief Standing Bears life and biography, such as Lesiak and fellow Nebraskan Joseph Starita, whose novel I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bears Journey for Justice is the basis for a movie expected to begin production this year.

Lesiak and Starita previously met while doing research for their respective projects and said they were more than happy to help the process along.

I think we both thought the stamp would come out right away, but it didnt, Lesiak said. I wondered if it would ever happen.

Now, more than five years after its conception, the stamp is set to be released May 12.

The chief is running with a pretty fast crowd  one whose cultural depth and diversity is dazzling, Starita said. The United States Postal Service will release stamps honoring Toni Morrison, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chief Standing Bear  a magnificent African American writer, a courageous Jewish American Supreme Court justice and a heroic Native American chief whose landmark legal victory made him a civil rights icon.

Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp  a color rendition of a black-and-white photograph taken in 1877, mainly based on courtroom descriptions and transcripts.

Standing Bear had no idea hed be so well-known, Lesiak said. When he died, his story had been all but forgotten.  Hed never have thought hed have a statue and a stamp and a documentary and a book.

The stamps impact will go far beyond the pages of stamp collectors books. Starita, who has worked extensively with Nebraskas Native communities, said he was excited about the stamps potential impact on Native people.

Especially the children, who need their own heroes, real heroes, not cardboard cutouts and moldy stereotypes from bygone eras, Starita said. In the end, you cant be what you cant see.  Native people can now see Standing Bear in a book, in a documentary, as a statue on Centennial Mall and in the U.S. Capitol  and soon as a beautiful stamp on thousands of envelopes crisscrossing the country.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2023
TIRANA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A security guard was killed at the premises of a TV station when unidentified gunmen fired gunshots at the building in Tirana, capital of Albania early on Monday, police said.

The armed attack took place around 1:00 a.m. local time and the 60-year-old security guard was killed in a booth outside the building of Top Channel TV station, according to the police.

Police have found a burnt SUV car in Tirana with two automatic rifles inside on the scene of the attack. The motive of the perpetrators is unclear and the investigation by a police team is underway.

Prime Minister Edi Rama condemned the armed attack and sent condolences to the family of the victim. The criminal aggression against the television station should receive a clear response from the law enforcement agencies, he said. 
The federal government has given a directive for the overhaul of all unity schools, otherwise known as Federal Government Colleges across Nigeria.

The permanent secretary of the federal ministry of education, Sunny Echono, said this during the monitoring of the 2019 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) in Abuja on Saturday.

The NCEE is an entrance examination into the unity schools.

Mr Echono said President Muhammadu Buhari gave the approval to the ministry of education to rehabilitate dilapidated structures and construct new classrooms in Unity Schools to accommodate more pupils.

We are pleased that Mr President graciously approved that we should begin to rehabilitate many of these unity colleges, he said.

According to him, there is a challenge of access to education in Nigeria. He said part of the schools intervention is to bring more children into the school system.

We are improving our libraries, the laboratory and other amenities, said Mr Echono.

We are also recruiting additional teachers. Both the regularisation of PTA teachers and new equipment are ongoing.

The minister of power, works and housing, too has come to our aid in Abuja, and he approved some interventions to rehabilitate classrooms in Abuja unity schools.

Mr Echono was accompanied by the Acting Registrar of NECO, Abubakar Gana and other officials. They monitored the examination at Model Primary School, Maitama, and Government Day Secondary School, Wuse 2.

NECO Speaks

Also speaking, Mr Gana attributed the drop in the numbers of candidates who sat for the 2019 national examination into Unity Schools to lack of political sponsorship.

He said the state with the lowest number of application for the 2019 NCEE examination is Zamfara State with 59 candidates. Lagos is the state with the highest number, with over 23, 000 applications.

So far, this year, we registered 75, 635 as at yesterday which is a drop (compared to 2018).

He said the number of applications dropped because of the politics in the country.

Politics in the sense that everyone is struggling to ensure that his candidates are admitted in federal school because of the quota system, he said.

He said the council deployed its staff over the country to serve as providers in all the 457 centres and one in Benin Republic.

According to him, the number of candidates to be admitted will be based on the carrying capacity of the schools. The process is being handled by the ministry.

The result will be ready by Wednesday. Merit is 60 per cent and quota and others, 40 per cent. There will not be any other screening after the examination, he said.

A parent, Zuerat Ajan, commended the ministry for adequate arrangements for a hitch-free examination.

But they can do more, they need to improve the facilities in the schools too, she said.

Background

Currently, Nigeria has 104 unity schools across the country.

News reports show that 79,878 pupils sat for the examination into federal government colleges in 2018, while 78,378 sat for the exams in 2017.

The first set of unity schools was set up by the British, before independence. Three new ones were established in Warri, Sokoto, and Enugu in 1966 while Yakubu Gowon, in 1973, established the schools in all the 12 states that existed then.

NECO is an examination body in Nigeria that conducts the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and the General Certificate in Education in June/July and November/December/ respectively.

NECO was created by the regime of former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, in April 1999.
(CNN) -- Ellen Min doesn't go to the grocery store anymore. She avoids bars and going out to eat with her friends; festivals and community events are out, too. This year, she opted not to take her kids to the local St. Patrick's Day parade.

Min isn't a shut-in. She's just a Korean American from central Pennsylvania.

Ever since the US government shot down a Chinese spy balloon last month, Min has withdrawn from her normal routine out of a concern she or her family may become targeted in one of the hundreds of anti-Asian hate crimes the FBI now says are occurring every year. The wave of anti-Asian hate that surged with the pandemic may only get worse, Min worries, as both political parties have amplified fears about China and the threat it poses to US economic and national security.

"You can't avoid paying attention to the rhetoric, because it has a direct impact on our lives," Min said.

That rhetoric surged again this week as a hostile House committee grilled TikTok CEO Shou Chew for more than five hours on Thursday about the app's ties to China through its parent company, ByteDance. After lawmakers repeatedly accused Chew, who is Singaporean, of working for the Chinese government and tried to associate him with the Chinese Communist Party, Vanessa Pappas, a top TikTok executive, condemned the hearing as "rooted in xenophobia."

Chew had taken pains to distance TikTok from China, going so far as to anglicize his name for American audiences and to play up his academic credentials  he holds degrees from University College London and Harvard Business School. But it was not enough to prevent lawmakers from blasting TikTok as "a weapon of the Chinese Communist Party" and as "the spy in Americans' pockets," all while mangling pronunciations of Chew's name and the names of other officials at its parent company, ByteDance. After Chew's testimony, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said the CEO should be "deported immediately" and banned from the United States, saying his defense of TikTok was "beneath contempt."

There are good reasons to be mistrustful of ByteDance given that it is subject to China's extremely broad surveillance laws. (TikTok has failed to assuage concerns the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to improperly access the data, despite a plan by TikTok to "firewall" the information.) And the Chinese government's authoritarian approach to numerous other issues clashes with important American values, said many Asian Americans interviewed for this article.

But they also warned that policymakers' choice to use inflammatory speech  in some cases, language tinged with 1950s-era, Red Scare-style McCarthyism  endangers countless innocent Americans by association. Moreover, politicians' increasingly strident tone is creating conditions for new discriminatory policies at home and the potential for even more anti-Asian violence, civil rights leaders said.

"We are afraid that, more and more, the actions and the language of the government is premised on the assumption that just because we are Chinese or have cultural ties to China that we could be disloyal, or be spies, or be under the influence of a foreign government," said Zhengyu Huang, president of the Committee of 100, an organization co-founded by the late architect IM Pei, the musician Yo-Yo Ma and other prominent Chinese Americans. "We want to deliver the message: Not only are we not a national security liability  we are a national security asset."

But as the country wrestles with China's influence as a competitive global power, caught in the middle are tens of millions of Americans like Min who, thanks to their appearance, may now face greater suspicion or hostility than they experienced even during the pandemic, according to Asian American lawmakers, civil society groups and ordinary citizens.

From 'Kung-flu' to national security

The heated rhetoric surrounding China has undergone a shift from the pandemic's early days, when xenophobia linked to Covid-19 was unambiguous.

At the time, Asian Americans feared an uptick in violence inspired by derogatory phrases such as "Kung-flu" and "China virus." That language had emerged amid then-President Donald Trump's wider criticisms of China, which had led to a damaging trade war with the country. It was against that backdrop that Trump first threatened to ban TikTok, a move some critics said was an attempt to stoke xenophobia.

In recent years, criticism of China has significantly expanded to encompass even more aspects of the US-China relationship. Concerns about China have gone mainstream as US national security officials and lawmakers have publicly grappled with state-backed ransomware attacks and other hacking attempts. The Biden administration has sought to confront China on how the internet should be governed, and like the Trump administration, it's now taking aim at TikTok, again.

As that shift has occurred, criticism of China has stylistically evolved from blatant name-calling to the more clinical vocabulary of national security, allowing an undercurrent of xenophobia to lurk beneath the respectable veneer of geopolitics, civil rights leaders said.

In January, House lawmakers stood up a new select committee specifically focused on the "strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party." At its first hearing, the panel's chairman, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, said: "This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century  and the most fundamental freedoms are at stake."

A week later, US intelligence officials warned that the Chinese Communist Party represents the "most consequential threat" to US global leadership. An unclassified intelligence community report released the same day said China views competition with the United States as an "epochal geopolitical shift." (Even so, the report maintained that the "most lethal threat to US persons and interests" continues to be racially motivated extremism and violence, particularly by White supremacy groups.)

While some policymakers have added that their issue is with the Chinese government, not the Chinese people or Asians in general, leaders of Asian descent say the caveat has too often been a footnote in debates about China and not emphasized nearly enough. Leaving it unsaid or merely implied creates room for listeners to draw bigoted conclusions, critics said.

"That can't be a footnote; it can't be an afterthought," said Charles Jung, a California employment attorney and the national coordinator for Always With Us, a nationwide memorial event to remember the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings that killed six Asian women. "I'm speaking specifically, directly to both GOP and Democratic politicians: Be mindful of the words that you use. Because the words you use can have real world impacts on the bodies of Asian American people on the streets."

Rising tensions between US and China

The current climate has led to at least one US lawmaker directly questioning the loyalty of a fellow member of Congress.

California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, who was born in Los Angeles and is the first Chinese American elected to Congress, last month confronted baseless claims of her disloyalty from Texas Republican Rep. Lance Gooden. Gooden's remarks were swiftly condemned by his congressional colleagues. But to Chu, the incident was an example of the way politics surrounding China, technology and national security have fueled anti-Asian sentiment.

"Rising tensions with China have clearly led to an increase in anti-Asian xenophobia that has real consequences for our communities," Chu told CNN.

Concerns about xenophobia are bipartisan. Rep. Young Kim, a California Republican, told CNN there is "no question" that anti-Asian hate crimes have risen since the pandemic.

"This is unacceptable," said Kim. "Asian American issues are American issues, and all Americans deserve to be treated with respect. We can treat all Americans with respect and still be wary of threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party."

But even in discussing the Chinese government's real, demonstrated risks to US security, the way that some Americans describe those dangers is counterproductive, needlessly provocative and historically inaccurate, said Rep. Andy Kim, a New York Democrat and a member of the House select committee. Even the name "Chinese Communist Party" can itself prime listeners to adopt a Cold War mentality  a framework whose analytical value is dubious, Kim argued.

"A lot of my colleagues, especially on the select committee, use rhetoric like, 'This is a new Cold War,'" said Kim. "First of all, it's not true: The Soviet Union was a very different competitor than China. And it's framed in a very zero-sum way ... It's very much being talked about as if their entire way of life is incompatible with ours and cannot coexist with ours, and that heightens the tension."

In a November op-ed, Gallagher and Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio directly linked that rhetoric to TikTok, calling for the app to be banned due to the United States being "locked in a new Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party, one that senior military advisers warn could turn hot over Taiwan at any time."

Confrontational posture leads to bad policy

Just because China may view its dynamic with the United States as an epic struggle does not mean Americans must be goaded into doing the same, Kim argued. Beyond the violence it could trigger domestically, a stark confrontational framing could cause the United States to blunder into poor policy choices.

For example, he said, the right mindset could mean the difference between legally fraught "whack-a-mole" attempts to ban Chinese-affiliated social media companies versus passing a historic national privacy law that safeguards Americans' data from all prying eyes, no matter what tech company may be collecting it.

Security researchers who have examined TikTok's app say that the company's invasive collection of user data is more of an indictment of lax government policies on privacy, rather than a reflection of any TikTok-specific wrongdoing or national security risk.

"TikTok is only a product of the entire surveillance capitalism economy," said Pellaeon Lin, a Taiwan-based researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. "Governments should try to better protect user information, instead of focusing on one particular app without good evidence."

Asked how he would advise policymakers to look at TikTok, Lin said: "What I would call for is more evidence-based policy." Instead, some policymakers appear to have run in the opposite direction.

Anti-China sentiment has already led to policies that risk violating Asian-Americans' constitutional rights, several civil society groups said.

John Yang, president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, pointed to the Justice Department's now-shuttered "China Initiative," a Trump-era program intended to hunt down Chinese spies but that produced a string of discrimination complaints and case dismissals involving innocent Americans swept up in the dragnet. The Biden administration shut down the program last year.

More recently, Yang said, proposed laws in Texas and Virginia aimed at keeping US land out of the hands of those with foreign ties would create impossible-to-satisfy tests for Asian-Americans, showing how anti-China fervor threatens to infringe on the rights of many US citizens.

"National security has often been used as a pretext specifically against Asian-Americans," Yang said, referring to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and the racial profiling of Muslim-Americans following Sept. 11. "We should remember that many Chinese-Americans came to this country to escape the authoritarian regime of China."

Though he fears the situation for Asian-Americans will get worse before it gets better, Yang and other advocates called for US policymakers to stress from the outset that their quarrel lies with the Chinese government and not with people of Chinese descent.

"We know from experience in the United States that once you demonize Chinese people, all Asian people living in this country face the brunt of that rhetoric," said Jung. "And you see it not just in spy balloons and the reactions surrounding it and TikTok and Huawei, but also in modern-day racist alien land laws."

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Min was no stranger to racially motivated violence: Her home was regularly vandalized with eggs, tomatoes and epithet-laden graffiti ("Go home, gooks"); her father once discovered a crude homemade explosive stuffed in his car.

But fears of racism stoked by modern US political rhetoric has forced Min to change how her family lives in ways they never had to during her childhood.

Last year, amid another spate of assaults targeting elderly Asian-Americans, Min said her mother sold the family dry-cleaning business and moved to Korea, following Min's father who had moved the year before.

"It was a sad reality to say that as much as we want our family close to us and their grandchildren, they will be safer in Korea," Min said.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Asian Americans are anxious about hate crimes. TikTok ban rhetoric isnt helping."
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The United Kingdom (UK), says it has placed no fewer than 10 Nigerians on its visa ban watchlist for alleged ethnic profiling and undermining democracy during the just concluded general elections.

British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, who spoke in an interview with Nigeria Info FM on Sunday, deplored the attacks and anti-Igbo messages deployed by some politicians especially in Lagos State to scare away voters from the South East saying it was unacceptable.

He said many mega cities around the world have recorded huge strides because of their diversity of human capital and that attacking and preventing non-indigenes from actively participating in the political process would only impede the growth of Lagos State.

READ ALSO: Finally, DIeazani lands on INTERPOL watchlist

The envoy, however, declined to name those already penciled down by the UK government, saying the list was growing to accommodate more culprits.

We watched very closely. We have a list, we are working through our list but we dont publish those names. I know people say we should, but we have laws, and the law prevents us from doing that. We said we will do this and we will do this. And we are gathering the kind of information that will enable us to do this, on specific individuals. At the moment the list is between 5 and 10 and it is growing.

The United States had also imposed visa bans on certain individuals in Nigeria who were deemed to be undermining democracy.

After winning his re-election bid as governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu called for unity in the state and condemned attacks fueled by ethnic discord.

He said elections should be based on competence and experience rather than ethnicity or religion, adding that the true Lagos spirit is welcoming and liberal.

But the UK envoy said: If you live in London, you are a Londoner, a British-Pakistan, is a Londoner. The British Prime Minister lives in London. My boss, the British foreign Secretary, is clearly British-Sierra Leone and lives in London, they are Londoners.

READ ALSO: Aisha Yesufu slams UK Government for failing to offer citizenship to her children studying

Why is it that people who pay taxes, who work, who provide teachers, who build businesses, who create jobs, who live in Lagos, who happen to be from a different ethnicity to some other people are not Lagosians? Of course, they are. The strength of Lagos is its diversity, and if Lagos cant be that kind of cosmopolitan melting pot of culture and language and all the things it should be, then really how is Lagos going to succeed?

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People chanting anti-Igbo messages and walking on the streets by polling units on election day is totally unacceptable. Not just in Lagos, but also in Enugu and Rivers where we had our teams as well and many other places. It was a very much tougher day for voters which shouldnt be. But we saw people vote in spite of that, which is truly impressive about the elections.

He also expressed displeasure over controversial comments made by Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

When asked if there were triggers of violence leading up from the campaign to the election, the UK envoy said he was puzzled as to why Fani-Kayode would make such statements, adding that the APC should have distanced itself from the former ministers utterances.

Yes, lets be specific, there were some people, like Femi Fani-Kayode, what is he saying and why is he saying it? I dont understand, Llewellyn-Jones said.
Nigerians have been told that they will yearn for President Muhammadu Buhari to return when he leaves office.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and publicity, Mr Garba Shehu made this known in an interview with Channels Television.

He lamented over the level of criticisms thrown at the president, asserting that leaders are not loved while in office.

Citing the case of Goodluck Jonathan who he says was persecuted out of office, but has now become the favorite of many Nigerians, Mr Shehu was of the opinion that this same yearning will happen after Buhari has handed over to the next president.

As regards the cashless policy, Mr Shehu affirmed that the current cashless policy of the present administration is desirable and therefore irreversible.

According to him, cashless is the way forward for Nigeria because cashless nations and in fact, all advanced nations of the world have gone cashless.

Acknowledging the challenges that have accompanied the change, the presidents spokesman said it is sad that the only people who should have been more pained are the ones who are inflicting pains on the lower segment of the society.
(CNN) -- The founder of one of the world's biggest dumpling empires has died.

Yang Bing-yi, who set up the Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung, "passed away peacefully" at the age of 96, the company said in a statement Saturday.

It did not mention the cause of death but said that private funeral arrangements were underway and that the family has asked for privacy.

Born in 1927 in China's northern Shanxi province, Yang immigrated to Taiwan when he was 20 "with 20 dollars in his pocket," the company said.

He opened a small shop in Taiwan's capital Taipei with his wife, naming it Din Tai Fung and selling cooking oil and Xiao Long Bao, steamed Chinese soup dumplings often made with pork.

The business took off and the restaurant became synonymous with dumplings as well as dishes like steamed buns, egg fried rice and noodles.

It expanded into a franchise, with outlets in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Singapore.

Further recognition followed -- it was awarded its first Michelin star in 2009 and listed as one of the "world's best travel franchises" on a CNN Travel list in 2014.

Its restaurant at the Taipei 101 skyscraper hosted Hollywood star Tom Cruise in 2013, who dined and joined chefs to make soup dumplings.

This story was first published on CNN.com "From 20 dollars in his pocket to a dumpling empire: Din Tai Fung founder dies, age 96."
Former presidential candidate of Young Progressives Party (YPP), Kingsley Moghalu has reacted to allegation by human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), that he resigned from his party because he was given appointment by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

While speaking at the 2019 Felabration symposium held at the NECA HOUSE on Tuesday, October 15, 2019, Falana accused Moghalu of resigning from his party because he was given an appointment by the ruling party, APC.

Is Dr. Moghalu still around? I think it is unfair to single out Dr. Moghalu for recognition, Falana said. We should not celebrate opportunism. Here is a politician who contested on the platform of a party, who has moved conveniently to the APC. Theyve just given him an appointment and he has just discarded his own political party. I dont think that is fair for all.

However, in a swift reaction through his official Twitter page, Moghalu described the allegations as a surprise and an embarrassment.

He, therefore, demanded an apology and a public retraction from Falana.

The statement on his social media page reads:

Yesterday, October 14, 2019 I attended Felabration 2019: The Fela Debate, an annual event to celebrate the life and work of the late musical icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti that held in Lagos.

At a point in the event, the compere announced my presence to the audience, noting that I was a presidential candidate in the 2019 elections, and highlighted my unique connection to the event: my candidacy had been formally endorsed by Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, who was also present at the 2019 Felabration; and my Yoruba name Ayodele has been given to me at my birth in Lagos by the late Mrs. Fumilayo Ransome Kuti, Felas mother. I left the event at the beginning of the Question and Answer session.

To my great surprise and embarrassment later in the day, I saw and viewed a video news report entitled Femi Falana (SAN) publicly attacks @MoghaluKingsley for joining APC.

These statements are false. I am not a member of the APC. I have not been given any appointment by the APC government. This effort to malign my character and reputation, by an individual I have always respected, was a complete shock to me.

It is surprising that a man of Mr. Falanas standing, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria no less, could make such weighty statements without verification.

The media that reported this attack on me by Mr. Falana without checking the veracity of his statements acted in dereliction of their professional ethics and have actively spread fake news.

I demand and expect an apology and a public retraction of this falsehood from Mr. Falana.

Moghalu explained that since the elections he has moved into advocacy for electoral/political reforms and voter education in Nigeria.

I contested in the 2019 presidential election as the flag bearer of the the Young Progressives Party (YPP). Since the elections I have convened To Build a Nation (TBAN), a non-partisan citizens movement focused on advocacy for electoral/political reforms and voter education in Nigeria. In order to strengthen the integrity of the movements non-partisan stance, I recently announced my resignation from the YPP. I am NOT a member of any political party.

Meanwhile, KanyiDaily had reported that Moghalu announced his resignation from partisan politics, saying he need to push for electoral reforms ahead of 2023 general elections.

Hence, he was now going to dedicate his time to a citizens movement called Build A Nation (TBAN).
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has warned against the militarization of elections in Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Bayelsa States during the March 9, 2019, governorship and state assembly elections.

The PDP led by the National Working Committee, took a peaceful protest to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Abuja, to voice out their complaints.

Stakeholders are of the view that the presidential and National Assembly elections which held on February 23 in Nigeria, may have come and gone, but there are varying issues which many felt should be properly handled, as Nigerians go for another round of elections.

It is anticipated that on March 9, people of voting age will once again exercise their civic responsibilities, electing governors in 29 states and the state legislative arm, which the INEC said it is well prepared for.

However, the PDP has become to the desperation of the ruling APC to truncate the true will of the people and resort to capturing of states even where they are not popular.

PDP is, therefore, worried that the ugly incidents caused by the heavy presence of security personnel during the February 23 polls, which left innocent Nigerians dead, may once again play out in the Saturday elections.

The PDP led by the National Chairman, Uche Secondus, took a protest to INEC, insisting that the military be kept away from polling units and collation centers.

A little drama ensued when the partys Chairman insisted that the Chairman of INEC must receive the protest letter.

The Federal Government had after a meeting with service chiefs at the Villa assured that more security will be deployed to trouble spots across the country for the governorship and state assembly polls. However, PDP suspected a replay of the first general elections where the military were used to allegedly manipulate the elections for the ruling APC.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  Consumers may experience power interruptions as the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) denied the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' (NGCP) month-on-month extension of ancillary services (AS) agreements, or standby power supply deals.

In a statement, the NGCP said the regulator rejected its request after it opened the bids for AS more than a week ago. Contracts may be awarded no later than April 18.

However, due to regulatory processes, a provisional approval from the ERC for the new deals may not be expected earlier than June 2023, the NGCP added.

Many of NGCPs AS agreements have expired. We have resorted to month-to-month extensions of our existing agreements to ensure the sufficiency of services while the procurement process is ongoing, it said.

With ERCs denial of this interim arrangement, our hands are tied. The Philippine Transmission Grid shall be vulnerable to power interruptions resulting from an artificial lack of AS. Without an existing AS power agreement, NGCP cannot nominate power plants to provide the critical services, the NGCP said.

According to NGCP, ancillary services support the transmission of power from generators to consumers to maintain reliable operations.

The failure to secure one might lead to fluctuations, which can damage sensitive equipment.

We have done much to improve the procurement process, but above all else, we must be able to provide these services. With this disappointing development, our hands are tied," it said. "If we sign interim extensions, we expect the ERC to issue us yet another show cause order. If we do not, we will be unnecessarily subjecting consumers connected to the grid to avoidable and damaging fluctuations or worse, interruptions."

Reacting to the NGCP's statement, ERC chair Monalisa Dimalanta said: "ERC awaits NGCP's filing of a Motion for Reconsideration, which is provided for under the Revised Rules of Practice of the Commission, so we can officially revisit our ruling."
Some angry Nigerian youths has destroyed a Chinese company in Ogun State for refusing to pay its workers after allegedly locking them inside their facility despite the stay-at-home order of the Federal Government following the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

The angry workers of the company could be seen protesting their forced detention inside the Chinese factory in a video that has gone viral on the internet.

A worker, who took to Twitter, said they were held inside the company for 14 days of the lockdown without proper feeding and theyre now asking them to leave without any payment.

@renoomokri Nigerian youths protesting against a Chinese company (Goodwill ceramics) in Ogun Guangdong Free trade zone Igbesa. We were held inside the company for 14 days of the lockdown without proper feeding and theyre now asking us to leave without giving us anything. pic.twitter.com/gI376R8ZPu  Wilfred (@Wilfredshady) April 13, 2020

Another video shows the angry workers and youths breaking glass and destroying materials in the company, while the Chinese management are running inside the admins office.

Chinese officials, as well as the security detail attached to the company, were alleged to have fled the scene as the mob continued to vandalise the company.

A background voice in one of the videos said the police and military had arrived at the scene but could not stop the irate youths who had vowed to destroyed all the materials of the Chinese company.

Watch the video below:
CHARLESTON  A 19-year-old woman and her parents have been awarded $40 million by a Coles County jury in a medical malpractice suit over injuries the woman suffered during her birth at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center.

The award is the highest Illinois malpractice verdict reported outside Cook County, according to the Jury Verdict Reporter. It is the highest verdict ever in Coles County.

The Mattoon-based health system has responded that the "verdict does not reflect the facts of this case" and that "awards of this massive size are devastating to this region."

The jury found that injuries suffered by Kiera Campbell during her birth were preventable if the hospital staff and a nurse had not delayed calling the doctor to perform an emergency C-section, according to Campell's legal counsel, Levin & Perconti and Spiros Law, P.C.

Kiera Campbell and her parents, Todd and Jaime Campbell, testified during the three-week trial, with the parents describing how their daughter's severe and permanent brain injuries have impacted their lives.

The lawsuit was filed 15 years ago, when Kiera was 4. Prior to the case going to trial earlier this month, the defense reportedly had offered $3 million to Kiera and her family to settle the case. During the trial, the plaintiffs' lawyers asked the jury to award them between $35 and $37 million. The jury increased the amount to $40 million in its verdict Thursday.

We prosecuted this case for 15 years and persisted in rejecting the defense argument that Kiera wasnt injured to the extent we said," said Mike Bonamarte, managing partner at Levin & Perconti. "On the outside, Kiera looks like a normal 19- year-old but the damage to her brain has limited her potential.

Physically, Kiera is high functioning. Cognitively, her executive functioning is significantly impaired. The verdict is just and reflective of the complete compensation that Kiera deserves for the harm that was done to her by the conduct of the defendants.

In a statement issued on Monday, Sarah Bush Lincoln affirmed that a Coles County jury rendered a $40 million verdict in favor of a plaintiff alleging medical malpractice that occurred 20 years ago. The case alleges an injury at birth causing cognitive disabilities.

There are no words to describe the level of our disappointment at the verdict and the devastation that is caused by egregious awards like this," said SBL President and CEO Kim Uphoff in the statement. "The verdict does not reflect the facts of this case. We support our medical staff and clinical teams and stand by the care that was delivered.

Uphoff added that, "Awards of this massive size are devastating to this region. Nuclear verdicts are on the rise and they have devastating impacts on businesses, entire industries and the community at large."

The plaintiffs say Jaime Campbell was 40 weeks pregnant in May 2003 when she began bleeding and suffering abdominal pain and cramping. When she arrived at the hospital in the early morning, it was apparent a placental abruption had occurred.

A doctor was not called to the hospital until the situation was dire, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys. Kiera Campbell suffered from a seizure disorder, mild cerebral palsy and speech and developmental delays as a result of the delayed delivery.

Through intensive physical, occupational and speech therapy, Kiera Campbell has made many advances, but she still faces cognitive and intellectual disabilities including a significant executive function disorder and memory deficits, her attorneys said.

Thanks to the tireless work of Kieras parents and her own hard work and perseverance, she has accomplished so much more than was expected," said Miranda Soucie, partner at Spiros Law. "She graduated from high school and has a part-time job. The jurors could only imagine the life Kiera could have had without these severe disabilities given her work ethic and supportive family."

The jury's verdict reportedly includes $20 million for future disability, $5 million for past disability, $4.75 million for future emotional distress, $750,000 for past emotional distress, $500,000 for past pain and suffering, $5 million for future caretaking expenses, and $4 million for future lost earnings.

In a statement, Todd Campbell said the verdict comes as a great relief for the family.

"We would like to thank our legal team for telling our story, the judge for allowing our story to be told and the jury for their attention and time in hearing our story, he said. We will never get what most people call normal, but we can finally put this behind us and move forward in securing our daughters future. We no longer have to worry about Kiera being taken care of if something ever happened to us.

READ THE DOCUMENTS:

Most popular girl names in the 60s in Illinois What's in a name? #50. Rhonda #49. Rebecca #48. Cindy #47. Melissa #46. Jacqueline #45. Jill #44. Maria #43. Robin #42. Catherine #41. Margaret #40. Tracy #39. Janet #38. Theresa #37. Kathy #36. Teresa #35. Carol #34. Amy #33. Kelly #32. Tina #31. Brenda #30. Cheryl #29. Diane #28. Denise #27. Tammy #26. Sharon #25. Angela #24. Kathleen #23. Barbara #22. Nancy #21. Dawn #20. Debra #19. Elizabeth #18. Christine #17. Jennifer #16. Pamela #15. Lori #14. Sandra #13. Deborah #12. Donna #11. Cynthia #10. Michelle #9. Julie #8. Patricia #7. Linda #6. Laura #5. Kimberly #4. Karen #3. Susan #2. Mary #1. Lisa
NORMAL  The planned call-in forum on the Illinois State University Police Department re-accreditation scheduled for today (Monday, March 27) has been canceled, wit plans to reschedule it for a later date.

The public is still invited to send an email their feedback to ILEAP@illinoisstate.edu today.

The accreditation agency, Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, plans to reschedule a new call-in forum but a new date has not yet been selected, the university said in a press release Monday.

ISUPD has been accredited by ILEAP since 2019. The re-accreditation includes public feedback, along with campus visits and inspections.

Photos: Scenes from Sunday's Elite Eight action
VIETNAM WAR VETERANS RECOGNITION EVENT

Officially, March 8, 1965, marked the arrival of the first U.S. combat troops in Vietnam. March 29, 1973, is the day U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam was disestablished and the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam. March 29, 2023 is designated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day, a time to pay special tribute to the 9 million veterans who served during the Vietnam War era. A Vietnam War veterans recognition event will be held at the McLean County Museum of History in downtown Bloomington (old McLean County courthouse) at 11 a.m. March 29. A short program will be followed by military recognition of the branches of military, three-shot volley by rifles, Taps, bagpiper and a tribute flyover if the weather permits. Come join us at this event and show these veterans how much we appreciate their service in the countrys first and hopefully last unpopular war."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

As we take the time to reflect on the Vietnam War on this auspicious anniversary, let us not forget or minimalize the difference between those who served and those who protested.

"The signs of the Vietnam War protestors said, 'Make love not war!' It didnt seem to me that they were capable of either."  Ronald Reagan

NEW VA MISSION STATEMENT

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced an updated version of its 1959 mission statement. The new mission statement reads: To fulfill President Lincolns promise to care for those who have served in our nations military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors." The VA currently serves more than 9 million veterans of which 600,000 are women veterans, 50,000 veteran caregivers, and more than 600,000 veteran survivors. This new mission statement primarily changes references to male veterans in Lincolns original quote to be more inclusive of the current veteran population and recognizes that survivors, dependents and caregivers now have some access to some VA benefits based on their relationship to the veteran.

VETERANS FAIR 2023

Central Illinois Veteran - Warriors organization will host a Veterans Fair on May 23, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Interstate Center, 1106 Interstate Drive Bloomington, Illinois. There will be many organizations with resources to answer questions and provide resources for veterans. The event is open to the public. More information will be provided as we get closer to the date of the event. For more information about Central Illinois Veteran  Warriors visit info@civw.org.

SCAMS TARGETING VETERANS

Last year veterans and active duty members lost $287 million to scams. Military veterans and their families have access to special government resources based on their service. Unfortunately, scammers see these perks or benefits as targets for their scams. Fraudsters do not care if you are putting or have put your life on the line to protect your (and the fraudsters) country and way of life! Many scams target veterans' money and banking information by posing as someone from the Department of Veterans Affairs, a military charity, or a group providing discounted services to veterans. The most common fraud scammers against veterans include friends, relatives or romantic interests; phishing scams from fake government agencies; charging to acquire free military records; fraudulent investments and military pension frauds; offering secret government funding; demanding security deposits for veteran-discounted properties; posing as veteran-friendly employers or schools or charities. The scams and the fraudsters are far too numerous to detail here. Visit aura.com/learn/veteran-scams, which is an excellent resource on the internet that describes each type of scam and how to recognize it before you are scammed.
CHICAGO  It was never any secret that Michael Madigan was the most powerful politician in the state during his record run as Illinois House speaker and captain of the state Democratic Party.

But the testimony that has unfolded in a Chicago federal courtroom over the past two weeks has offered a fascinating  and unprecedented  look into the closely guarded inner workings of Madigans political might.

Through wiretapped conversations, internal documents and the sworn accounts of key insiders, prosecutors in the ComEd Four bribery trial have laid bare the political machine as it existed during Madigans decadeslong run at the apex of the political food chain.

Before stepping down in 2021 as the investigation closed in, Madigan, now 80, held sway over not only the fate of legislation in the General Assembly, but also the political and professional futures of hordes of lawmakers, lobbyists, job-seekers and, of course, a nearly fanatical crew of campaign workers driven by stateside acolytes and his 13th Ward political army.

Jurors have so far heard an FBI wiretap of Madigans private Sunday morning meeting with his inner circle of advisers, and listened to other calls where the famously reclusive speaker  so cautious that he preferred to borrow cellphones rather than use one of his own  hashed out strategy, plotted the ouster of a key ally and complained of the follies of political friends and foes alike.

I understand we have a lot of people walking around trying to find things to complain about, but every once in a while the speaker gets to do what he wants to do, Madigan told his inner circle in one secretly recorded call from December 2018, which was played in court last week.

Madigans tongue-in-cheek comment, said with his typical dry wit, might be the biggest understatement in a trial where witness after witness has testified that during the height of Madigans reign in the House, his political power was unmatched, with a leadership style described by one longtime ally as fear and intimidation.

Proving up Madigans influence to the jury is a key element of the prosecutions case against four associates of the speaker accused of conspiring to bribe the powerful speaker to help ComEds legislative agenda.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, have been quick to point out through cross-examination that despite being a dominant political force, Madigan was no king who could simply get complex legislation passed with a snap of his fingers.

The defense has argued that what prosecutors say was bribery was actually nothing more than honest, legal political lobbying, and that there was no evidence Madigan did anything to directly help ComEd in exchange for benefits that flowed to his cronies.

Politicians, and I dont want to shock anybody, politicians act in their own best interest a lot, Patrick Cotter, who represents defendant Michael McClain, told the jury in his opening statement earlier this month. Mike Madigan acted in his own best interest all the time.

Cotter said Madigans staff negotiated every significant, complicated bill that ever came before the General Assembly, not just ComEd-related legislation. They did it, he said, because thats their job.

Charged in the case are McClain, a retired ComEd lobbyist and one of Madigans closest confidants; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; John Hooker, a longtime ComEd lobbyist; and Jay Doherty, who was a consultant and lobbyist for ComEd and the ex-president of the City Club of Chicago.

The indictment alleged ComEd poured $1.3 million into payments funneled to ghost subcontractors who were Madigans associates, put a Madigan-backed candidate on the ComEd board, and gave coveted internships to families in his 13th Ward, all part of an elaborate scheme to keep the speaker happy and help the utilitys legislative agenda in Springfield.

Prosecutors also alleged that ComEd agreed to hire and then renew a contract for the Reyes Kurson law firm, headed by longtime Madigan associate Victor Reyes, to curry favor with the speaker.

Madigan and McClain, meanwhile, are facing separate racketeering charges alleging an array of corrupt schemes, including the bribery plot by ComEd.

The most significant testimony of the governments case came Thursday from Will Cousineau, one of Madigans top political operatives, who for years had a front-row seat in the speakers legislative and campaign operations.

In what can only spell bad news for Madigan, whose own trial is set for April 2024, Cousineau revealed on the witness stand that he was granted immunity from the U.S. attorneys office, shielding him from prosecution as long as he testifies truthfully when the government calls on him.

For years, Cousineau, 45, was a constant presence on the Illinois House floor, where he would strut freely from desk to desk of elected officials and speak bluntly with the authority granted to him by Madigan.

But Cousineau cut a far different profile in court last week, where he appeared uncomfortable on the witness stand and spoke so softly that prosecutors repeatedly told him to speak up.

Cousineaus testimony offered the jury both a broad look at Madigans overall operation as well as a blow-by-blow of the passage of one of the key pieces of ComEd legislation at the center of the indictment: The 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act.

He testified that the last-minute arm-twisting of lawmakers orchestrated by the speaker on the bill helped make the difference between passing the legislation or it coming up a few votes short. Environmental and organized labor lobbyists also rallied behind the bill that Exelon, ComEds parent company, said needed to pass to keep open the clean-air nuclear plants and save jobs.

Cousineaus testimony describing Madigans backroom muscle illustrated the deft political jujitsu that a politician can perform outside of the public view to whip up votes from other lawmakers in order to pass a bill that he actually did not vote upon himself.

The move to refrain from voting, which Madigan sometimes employed on various legislation, created the illusion that hed recused himself or steered clear of the issue when he in fact sent his troops out to round up votes.

When Cousineau was asked in his direct testimony whether Madigans direction to go out and work the bill made a difference, he answered, I think it was a part of it, yes.

But on cross-examination, Cousineau said the effort to marshal votes for the Future Energy Jobs Act was no different from what happens on many bills that have lots of moving parts and varied interest groups and stakeholders.

So in this big dramatic call, essentially what happened is the speaker asked you to do your job just as he had many, many times before? Cotter asked.

Yes, that was certainly part of my job, Cousineau replied.

Yeah. It wasnt drama. It was Tuesday, Cotter shot back. It was just another day at work for you, right? (The) speaker wants me to get some votes for something that the Democratic caucus and the speaker favor, right?

Yes, I mean, this was a big vote, but there are plenty of big votes that we took, Cousineau said. When asked if he felt hed done anything illegal, Cousineau answered, No, sir.

Madigan put so much faith in Cousineau that he gave him the most politically important position on the speakers staff and made him political director of the Madigan-controlled state Democratic Party, an organization that Madigan mostly co-opted to help House Democrats hold the majority and keep his 36-year nationwide record run as leader of the House intact.

Technically, Cousineau ran Madigans House issues development staff and was seen as the speakers in-house political director  a power vested in him to keep the close tabs on the House Democratic operations. He worked on candidate recruitment and assigned staffers to help out on primary and general election campaigns as they filed for leave of absences during the campaign seasons.

Often during his testimony, Cousineau would be asked who would make the final decisions on what went down. To no ones surprise, the answer would be clear: Michael J. Madigan.

The secret recordings between McClain and Cousineau revealed a closeness  a relationship forged in the trenches as they worked together to deliver for the speaker time and again in the arcane and intensive world of Springfield politics.

Once Cousineau left Madigans office to become a lobbyist, they spoke with the fondness and respect of a mentor giving his star protege sage advice, a point underscored by a secret recording of their call on April 11, 2018  only weeks after billionaire J.B. Pritzker won the Democratic primary to take on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, Madigans nemesis.

You sound tired, McClain told Cousineau on the call played in court.

McClain then lightheartedly asked Cousineau how it was going with his relatively new work as a lobbyist, which McClain jokingly referred to as the dark side.

Cousineau described how it was stressful but that nothing will be as stressful as those campaign days. Further, Cousineau said the campaigning was good training.

But McClain quickly got to the bottom line: As long as we always remember who our real client is.

Yep, Cousineau replied.

Its not easy, but it mollifies it, said McClain.

McClains comments echoed other evidence showing he always considered Madigan to be his primary client, even when lobbying for ComEd or some other entity. As one former ComEd executive testified, McClains dual roles were so well known he was viewed as a double agent.

Also evident from the first two weeks of testimony has been the revolving door between Madigans office and lucrative careers in the private sector as lobbyists or for businesses with interests in Springfield.

Among them was Cousineau, who testified that he interviewed for a high-placed executive job with ComEd in 2017. Pramaggiore tried so hard to get Cousineau to come work for ComEd that she pumped up previous offers the company presented to him and then upped the ante by proposing a signing bonus, according to Cousineau.

Instead, Cousineau went to Cornerstone Government Affairs, based in Washington, where he signed up as a contract lobbyist for ComEd, part of a growing list of clients eager to pay to have a guy so well connected to Madigan on their side.

Even though he had left the speakers staff and had a portfolio of lobbying clients, Cousineau took part in the Sunday morning strategy session with Madigan in a telephone conference call on Dec. 9, 2018, only weeks before Pritzker and the new General Assembly were sworn in.

Also on the call were McClain, theoretically retired from lobbying but still working for ComEd as a consultant while juggling multiple political assignments from Madigan; Heather Wier Vaught, a former chief legal counsel for Madigan who had recently registered as a contract lobbyist for ComEd; the speakers chief of staff, Jessica Basham; his House lawyer, Justin Cox; and Craig Willert, who held the job Cousineau once held under Madigan.

Prosecutors used a snippet of the conversation to demonstrate McClains influence as a close adviser to the speaker when Madigan asked the group to help him decide what lawmakers should serve on which committees, who should chair the committees, and who should be on his leadership team.

But in the case of the majority leader, I view that as my appointment, Madigan said in his flat, Southwest Side accent. And I have no compunction about saying that to anybody that wants to listen to me.

He concluded his point with his wry comment that every once in a while the speaker gets to do what he wants to do.

But McClain took the Sunday conference call into a deeper set of factors, such as developing a couple of extra controlled committees, a phrase used for important committees loaded with loyal lawmakers, such as the Revenue Committee and the Executive Committee, where chairs can withstand the attacks and protect strong allies of the House Democratic caucus.

McClain explained that having strong chairs leading committees gave the speaker the opportunity to kill bills in subcommittees rather than having to use his all-powerful House Rules Committee, which often took the heat when the speaker wanted to block a bill he didnt like.

And the bonus that McClain explained is that the bill could be buried in a working subcommittee, telling Madigan it is another venue to get his way without your fingerprints.

It is not unusual, of course, and Republicans would likely do the same kind of maneuver if they held the majority in the House. But that hasnt been the case for more than a quarter of a century.

The secret recordings also gave a glimpse into how McClain played an integral role in Madigans fundraising operation  another key source of the speakers power.

On one call, from October 2018, Reyes, the political operative who was once one of Madigans lead connections to Hispanic politics, asked McClain where to hand in a batch of $90,000 in political contributions he rounded and a second batch of direct contributions.

McClain, who had helped Reyes negotiate a favorable contract for legal business with ComEd, replied he should take one batch to the law office, which prosecutors have said was Madigans downtown law firm. McClain said taking the money to the law office will punctuate a little bit more, Victor.

Laughing, Reyes said, Got it. OK. Ill do that.

McClain also advised where the rest should go and told Reyes to make sure the money got recorded on the magic list, described in the trial as a collection of lobbyists and others long helpful to the speaker.

I got it, Reyes said, laughing again. I got it.

PHOTOS: The career of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan December 2013 March 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 December 2013 January 2015 January 2015 February 2015 August 2015 October 2015 April 2016 May 2016 November 2016 July 2017 July 2017 August 2017 August 2018 January 2019 January 2019 2019 June 2019 May 2020 January 2021
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26)  The Philippine National Police (PNP) found more firearms and explosives in its second raid on the sugar mill linked to former Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves.

The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Sunday presented to the media assorted firearms and explosives which they said were dug up from the grounds of the HDJ Bayawan Agri-Venture Corp. Tolong compound, a sugar mill in Barangay Caranoch, Santa Catalina town in Negros Oriental.

Police on Friday conducted an initial raid on the sugar mill owned by the company that Teves heads, where 16 firearms and thousands of rounds of live ammunition were found.

All in all, there are 16 firearms that we have found last March 24. But yesterday, during the continuation of the implementation -- the compound is a vast area -- we found explosives during the excavation of a place which was predetermined by our witnesses, CIDG chief legal officer PCol. Thomas Valmonte said.

Among the explosives discovered in a deep pit were a rocket-propelled grenade and an improvised explosive device (IED).

These IEDs, if you possess that, there is an intention of terrorism, meaning act of terrorism, Valmonte added.

The three suspects were arrested during the operation, including the sugar mills head of security, according to Valmonte.

The CIDG official said the seized firearms and explosives will be submitted to the PNP Forensic Group and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Group for further examination.

Valmonte said the operation was based on the search warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court of Mandaue City, Cebu. It was also pursuant to the CIDGs flagship campaign against loose firearms called OPLAN Paglalansag Omega.

The former governor previously said he is willing to cooperate with authorities following the first raid.

Pryde Teves is the brother of Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who was earlier tagged as a mastermind behind the brazen assassination of Governor Roel Degamo.

CNN Philippines' Dumaguete-based journalist Roy Bustillo contributed to this story.
The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project is instituting measures for the formation of a task force to combat illegal gold mining ( galamsey) in the Ashanti Region.



The task force, to be known as Asanteman Task Force Against Illegal Mining, will be a corporate social responsibility initiative of the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin.



It is part of efforts by the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project to pursue responsible gold mining in the Ashanti Region.



The task force, which will undertake mainly intelligence activities, will add up to the efforts of the Asantehene to restore sanity to the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector in the Ashanti Region.



E ON 3 Group, the company that was given authorisation by the Bank of Ghana to mint the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin, explained that the coming of the task force is a testament to the untiring efforts of His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to root out illegal gold mining from his mineral-rich Kingdom.



The task force will play a major role in anti-illegal gold mining activities. His Majesty has warned chiefs under his authority that any of them whose lands and rivers have been destroyed by illegal miners will be summoned for questioning and anyone who fails to provide a reasonable explanation will be sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others. The time is up to support the Asantehene on this move, and the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin will do exactly that, a source at E ON 3 Group said





The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project is aware and appreciates the fact that His Majesty is not against gold mining , but what he abhors is the irresponsible manner some people undertake their activities, which impacts the environment negatively.Otumfuo has been at the forefront of the fight against illegal gold mining, and he has declared 2023 an action year as he moves to protect lands and water bodies in his Kingdom from the activities of illegal miners.The E ON 3 Group source said, to support the Asantehene achieve his anti-galamsey objectives, the task force will investigate galamsey activities, and submit a report to him.The source added: " The investigations will be wide, covering even chiefs suspected to be engaged in the illegal activities, and we appeal to Otumfuo to destool any chief found culpable.The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project will also organise education programmes for chiefs, on how to fight illegal gold mining in their communities.Explaining the importance of the training, the source said the chiefs manage the lands on behalf of the Asantehene, and therefore they need the required training on how to perform their duties effectively in order to ward off galamsey activities." Through the training, the chiefs will know what is expected of them, " the source indicated.Chiefs in the Ashanti Region are to ensure that people who come to their areas with prospecting and other licenses do not use those licenses to undertake illegal gold mining.So if for instance, the Minerals Commission gives license to someone to mine in a community, the chief in that community is expected to monitor the license holder to ensure that he does the right thing rather than going behind to do galamsey," the source addedThe source warned that chiefs who fail in that regard will be reported to Otumfuo.A legal team will be constituted by the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project to help in the prosecution of persons caught in illegal gold mining, and also perform other legal issues relating to combating galamsey in the Ashanti Region.The legal team will be made up of crack lawyers who are ready to do the job required of them.Furthermore, the Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project is taking steps to formally appeal to the Chief Justice and the Attorney General to ensure the expeditious trial of cases relating to illegal gold mining in the Ashanti Region.

Blacklisting



The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project appealed to His Majesty to talk to the international community to blacklist financiers of illegal gold mining in his Kingdom adding that it would not be out of place if such persons are denied visas by the Embassies.



We know those who are engaged in galamsey, and once they are arrested and the evidence of their involvement is clear, their names will be sent to the Embassies for them to be blacklisted.



The talking has gone on for far too long, and the time for action to restore normalcy is now, the source said.



The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project believes that over-focusing on the arrest of labourers at illegal gold mining sites while leaving financiers off the hook is not the way to go in the fight against galamsey.



While such labourers should not be allowed to go free, emphasis must be on the real culprits who finance the galamsey activities. These are the people who buy the excavators.



"So when the labourers are arrested, there should be a follow-up with the arrest of the financiers," the source appealed.





The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project will also undertake reclamation of mined-out lands in the Ashanti Region, to restore the disturbed lands to their previous natural resource setting, while minimizing environmental impacts.The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project is aware that the lands have been destroyed so it is not talking, but rather it will take action that will restore the lands to their natural states." As we are doing sensitisation on anti- galamsey, we know the land is destroyed and so we are going to do reclamation as our corporate social responsibility," the source said.The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project appealed to the Asantehene to caution politicians and other people of influence against engaging in galamsey activities in the Ashanti Region.This is because anyone found culpable will be exposeThe Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin was launched on December 12, 2021 to recognise His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene for his tremendous role in bringing an end to the protracted Dagbon conflict, as well as other peace-building and national development initiatives.Access Bank is the official banking partner for the gold coin, while GLICO and Coronation Insurance Company Limited are the official insurance companies. Other partners are Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), KLG Group/KGL Foundation and Gold Coast Refinery.For the responsible gold mining initiative, the partners are, E ON 3 Group, Manhyia Palace, Ansong Askew, Bank of Ghana, Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), Minerals Development Fund, Africa Responsible Mining, KGL Group/KGL Foundation, supported by World Gold Council, Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and PX Precinox.The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project appealed to His Majesty to talk to the international community to blacklist financiers of illegal gold mining in his Kingdom adding that it would not be out of place if such persons are denied visas by the Embassies.We know those who are engaged in galamsey, and once they are arrested and the evidence of their involvement is clear, their names will be sent to the Embassies for them to be blacklisted.The talking has gone on for far too long, and the time for action to restore normalcy is now, the source said.The Otumfuo Commemorative Gold Coin project believes that over-focusing on the arrest of labourers at illegal gold mining sites while leaving financiers off the hook is not the way to go in the fight against galamsey.While such labourers should not be allowed to go free, emphasis must be on the real culprits who finance the galamsey activities. These are the people who buy the excavators."So when the labourers are arrested, there should be a follow-up with the arrest of the financiers," the source appealed.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A 2020 New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate hopeful for Adansi Asokwa, Sammy Binfoh Dakwa, has called on Ghanaians, particularly residents of Adansi Asokwa, to support the Member of Parliament for the area, Kobina Tahir Hammond, to succeed in his new role as Minister of Trade and Industry.



The Adansi Asokwa legislator was confirmed on Friday March 24 2023, by Parliament as the Minister of Trade and Industries, awaiting swearing in by President Akufo-Addo. He was confirmed together with five others who were appointed by the President to replace some ministers who resigned from the NPP government for various reasons, including on health grounds and to pursue presidential ambitions.



Others who were confirmed on Friday are Bryan Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture, and Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.



The rest are Dr. Mohammed Anim Adam, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Osei Bonsu Amoah, Minister of State at the Local Government Ministry, and Dr. Stephen Amoah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.



Illustrious son

Describing Mr Hammond as illustrious son of Adansi Asokwa, in a statement released over the weekend, Mr Binfoh stated that Mr Hammond has over the years dedicated his life to the service and wellbeing of Ghana, having been in parliament for about 22 years and served in various capacities in different sectors of the country, including as a Deputy Minister of Energy. I, therefore, have no shred of doubt that he will deliver in his new role.



The many people in Adansi-Asokwa, particularly the young ones, and my good self, will give him all the support he needs to deliver on his mandate, mindful of the fact that this administration and the current Parliament he serves in have barely two more years to deliver, he said.



Breaking the 8

He noted that the Adansi Asokwa MP is coming in at a time the hard working Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration is determined to increase Ghanas export and decrease our imports.



With his experience, we, his constituents, believe the President could not have had a better choice to help achieve this objective than Mr Hammond.



Knowing that his achievement within the short period that he would serve in office will go a long way to brighten the NPPs chances of Breaking the 8, we wish him the best of luck in his new role, he said.



Mr Binfoh also used the opportunity to congratulate all other Ministers who were confirmed by Parliament on the same night.

Source: Peacefmonline









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Power has been restored at the Keta Municipal Health Directorate which houses the vaccine store of the municipality.



This comes hours after the Daily Graphic published a story on how vaccines for routine immunization, including recent deliveries, risked getting expired at the directorate because the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) had disconnected power supply to the facility for the non-payment of bills.



The move was in spite of the government categorising some health amenities, including vaccine stores, operating theatres, medical laboratories, designated pharmacies and consulting rooms as crucial and strategic, requiring uninterrupted supply of power



The Keta Municipal Director of Health, Emmanuel Kona, told the Daily Graphic that power supply was restored at the directorate soon after 3 p.m. last Saturday.



He said the vaccines were all intact because the directorate utilised the large stockpile of ice packs in the store at the time of the disconnection to preserve them.



Mr Kona said apart from the ice packs, a downpour which followed the disconnection helped to keep temperatures at low levels and that also helped to preserve the vaccines.



Subsequently, the COVID-19 vaccination took off smoothly in the Keta Municipality last Saturday, Mr Kona revealed.



He said the five-day COVID -19 vaccination exercise targeted 3,600 people in the municipality.



Mr Kona did not immediately disclose how many people had so far benefitted from the vaccination exercise but said the response from the public was encouraging.



Life is back to normal at the directorate, we are grateful to the Daily Graphic for showing concern over the disconnection at the directorate, we hope this never happens again, he added.



Mr Konas story was corroborated by the acting Volta Region Director of Health, Dr Senanu Kwesi Djokoto.



The regional health director said the regional health directorate had held cordial discussions with the ECG and was seriously working out modalities for the regular payment of electricity bills.



Dr Djokoto pointed out that the restoration of power to the Keta Municipal Health Directorate was in the broader public interest.



For his part, the acting Volta Regional Manager of the ECG, Michael Buabin, said apart from health directorates, there was power at every hospital in the region.



He said health facilities in the Volta and Oti regions owed the ECG about GH8.9 million.



Mr Buabin said the debt had piled up since 2021 by municipal and district hospitals, CHPS compounds, bungalows of health workers and health directorates.



He said the Ho Teaching Hospital, which owed the ECG GH1.4 million prior to the exercise, had so far made part payment of GH40,000.



The Ho Municipal Hospital, Mr Buabin said, was indebted to the ECG to the tune of GH420,000, while the Peki Government Hospital was yet to clear its debts of GH362,000.



Meanwhile, the Keta Municipal Hospital owed the ECG GH465,400, he added.



Debt collection



The ECG last Monday embarked on a nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise to recover all unpaid bills, amounting to GH5.7 billion from its customers.



The exercise, which is expected to last for a month, targets domestic users, businesses, organisations, ministries, departments and state agencies for power consumed from 2022 to February this year.



This has led to the disconnection of power to some installations of national importance, while compelling many companies and organisations to draw instant cheques to the ECG.

Source: Graphiconline









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The Trade Commissioner of the Republic of Vanuatu to Ghana, Amb. Pof. Hugh Aryee, has on behalf of the President and the people of the Republic of Vanuatu, heartily welcomed the Vice President of the United States of America, H.E. Kamala Harris to Ghana.



He said he believes this auspicious visit will deepen engagements with the Continent and Ghana, and will also open several economic avenues and global trade markets for Ghana and the other trading partners and countries, including Vanuatu which recently opened its Trade Mission to Ghana.



He happily opined that this occasion is also coming in the wake of the USA delegation confirming to the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Hon. Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Jotham Napat for more pragmatic steps towards improving relations with Vanuatu. One of such steps is to physically setup the USA embassy on the soil of Vanuatu and the possibility of increasing its aid to Vanuatu.



He wished H.E. Kamala Harris a fruitful and glorious visit to this land of peace, rich culture and beautiful people.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Seat of Ghanas Presidency, the Jubilee House, was last night lit with the national colours of both Ghana and the United States of America signifying the bond of friendship that exists between the two countries.



The beautiful light colour display is a show of goodwill from Ghana to the US, especially when Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting Ghana to begin a three-day official visit to the country, touted as the Gateway to Africa.



This has got many Ghanaians talking about the significance of the beautiful scenery and why this time.



The stunning lights had garnered some commentary on social media with some making apprehensive comments about whether this is a paid stunt.



Others are upbeat about the gesture and see it as a global tourist attraction and think this will further enhance the bond of friendship between the two countries.



To add more to this gesture, on March 7, 2022, the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa and the Al Wasl in Dubai, lighted up Ghanas colours following President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos visit to that Country on March 7, 2022, ahead of Ghanas delegation to the Dubai EXPO 2020.



In viral posts shared by various media platforms and social media users, the beautiful buildings projected Ghanas colours in Dubai to the admiration of the world.



The projection of national colours enhances diplomatic relations between countries and that is what Ghana intends to achieve with the US.



Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff arrived in Accra on Sunday to begin a week-long journey from Ghana, then to Tanzania and finally to Zambia.



The visit to Ghana, among others announced by Vice President Harris, is to reinforce the economic partnership between Africa and the US, as well as address the climate crisis and supply chains and work together on international rules and norms.



In particular, the US Vice Presidents trip is focused on increasing investments in Africa and facilitating economic growth and opportunities in areas such as economic empowerment of women and girls, digital inclusion, youth entrepreneurship and support for increased Food security and climate change.



Vice President Harris expressed excitement about Ghanas future as well as Africa and the impact on the rest of the world, including the US.



With the median age of Africa being 19 years, Vice President Harris said she sees growth of opportunities, innovation of possibilities and a great opportunity not only for Africa but the rest of the world.



By the Year 2050, it is expected that one in four people on earth would be African.



Most Ghanaians who are delighted with the visit of the second most important person in the US are expecting to see some commitments from the US to facilitate Ghana-IMF $3 billion bailout, as well as job creation, particularly for the youth.



Vice President Harris is expected to meet with President Akufo-Addo to discuss bilateral relations and address the Presidential Press Corps on matters relating to investments and international cooperation between the two countries.



Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD

Source: Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD









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Ecozoil Ltd., a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) has organised a training and sensitisation exercise at Azizanya in the Ada-East District, Greater Accra Region.



This programme was a collaboration between Ecozoil and the traditional authorities, municipal assembly and community leaders.



It was aimed at sensitising the residents of Azizanya on the importance of wearing life jackets following the recent boat accident which claimed 5 lives.



The training exercises formed part of Ecozoils monthly sensitisation and training exercise they offer to users of the Volta Lake under the Volta Lake Transport Safety Project (VLTSP) and also a response to the recent boat accident on the lake at Azizanya.



The event was attended by boat owners, the chief of Azizanya, deputy coordinating director of the Ada East District, the chief fisherman, residents of Azizanya and nearby communities who frequently engage in water-based activities.



As part of the exercise, Ecozoil distributed 100 life jackets to boat operators and members of the community.



The exercise was conducted by workers of Ecozoil and trained waters savers. About 1000 personnel received training in Basic Water Survival and Rescue Training by the Ghana Navy under the VLTSP.



The training covered areas including the importance of wearing life jackets while on water; proper use and maintenance of life jackets; basic boat safety rules and regulations.



Additionally, the trainees were taken through how to respond to emergencies on water.



The initiative by Ecozoil Ltd., was well received by the Azizanya community, with many residents expressing their gratitude for the education provided.



For his part, the Chief of Azizanya, Nene Nartey Narh Azango III, pledged to work together with Ecozoil Ltd., to continue promoting safety on the Volta Lake.



The Deputy Coordinating Director of the Ada-East District Assembly, Bernard Barnor Brock, entreated boat owners to adhere to safety practices and commended Ecozoil for their effort towards promoting safety on the Volta Lake.



He reiterated that the assembly will continue to work hand in hand with Ecozoil to enforce the wearing of life jackets to prevent drowning incidents.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The US Government has pledged a US$100 million to help countries in the Sahel Region to prevent threats of violent extremist activities.



The Vice President of the US Kamala Harris, who announced the offer Monday afternoon in Accra, March 27, 2023, said the money will help countries such as Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Togo.



The second couple of the United States of America, who arrived in Accra yesterday, March 26, 2023, are visiting Ghana from March 26 to 29, then Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from March 29 to 31. Their final stop will be Lusaka, Zambia on March 31 and April 1, according to an official communication.



The visit is not only the first to Africa by the US Vice-President but also the first time a Black US Vice-President is visiting Africa, as well as the highest profile trip yet by the current US administration, as she is the most senior Biden administration official to visit the continent.



Speaking at the Jubilee House in Accra, where the US Vice President and Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo are giving formal speeches, said the US Government was pleased with the role Ghana had been playing to ensure the stability of the Sahel region.



"We also recognize Ghana's significant contribution to the Sahel and I thank you for your leadership there," Vice President Kamala said.



She said "to help address the threat of violent extremism and instability, today, I'm pleased to announce one hundred million Dollars in support of Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo."



She said last week, President Joe Biden announced a strategic plan for coastal West Africa as part of the United States strategy to prevent conflict and promote stability, stressing that "Today, the funding and announcement I have just made will help to implement them."



She expressed the hope that the support that the US Government has announced for the West African region will help to address security governance and development issues in the region.

Source: Graphiconline









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In order to make Medical Education accessible to all, Family Health University College has officially launched Family Health Medical School Endowment Fund; the Fund would cater for the needy but brilliant Ghanaian students, who have the passion for becoming medical doctors in future, but cannot afford the cost.



The theme for the launch is "Empowering the Needy for 21st Century Medical Education".



Medical education is expensive, such that, it can only be afforded by the few rich in the society, whilst a great number of persons with the passion for the profession, are unable to access it due to financial constraints.



The main objective of the Fund is to provide financial support to needy, but brilliant students who have the desire to be trained as Medical Doctors.



In a welcome address, the Founder and President of Family Health University College, Prof. Yao Kwawukume commended past students of the institution who are doing well in serving in cities and rural areas across the country.



He said, reports received so far point to the fact that, people in the cities and rural areas where Family Health Medical School Doctors are working, appreciate their contributions a lot.



Prof. Kwawukume further expressed his appreciation to the Governing Council and Board of Trustees, for the effort made in establishing the Endowment Fund to ensure that the less privileged in society are not left behind, as far as medical education are concerned.



He however, appealed to the general public to contribute towards the Fund in order to give hope to the needy but brilliant students.



In an interview, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Naa (Dr.) Alhassan Andani, disclosed that, for a unique institution like Family Health University College, of which vision is to be a prime center for the education and training of health professionals, for the advancement of human health, it is important that an Endowment Fund is established to provide scholarship to the needy but brilliant students, towards the realization of their dreams of becoming medical doctors.



He added that, besides the provision of scholarship to needy but brilliant students, part of the Fund would be used to organize research, and lecture series, and also to acquire teaching and learning aids to ensure that institution provides the best of medical education within the sub-Saharan region and beyond.

The benefits to be derived from the Endowment Fund, according to Naa Andani, are huge, and that is what the society pays for good medical education.



He therefore, entreated both individuals and corporate bodies to contribute generously towards Family Health Medical School Endowment Fund.



A past student of the institution, who went through her medical training by the benevolent support of a philanthropist, encouraged the general public to contribute towards Family Health Medical School Endowment Fund to benefit other less privileged in society, as far as medical education is concerned.



The Board of Trustees members for the Endowment Fund include; Naa (Dr.) Alhassan Andani  Chairman (Former Chief Executive, Stanbic Bank); Dr. Peter Kwame Yeboah  Member (Executive Director, CHAG); Rear Admiral Geoffrey Mawuli Biekro (Rtd)  Member (Former Chief of Naval Staff); Mrs. Merene Botsio Benyah  Member (Ghanas Ambassador to Italy/Legal Practitioner/Consultant); Mr. Barton Kwaku Glymin  Member (Former Head of MIS, Operations; and Investment & Development (SSNIT); and Rev. (Dr.) Joyce Aryee  Member (Executive Director: Salt & Light Ministries). Ms. Adjoa Adubea Koram (Assistant Registrar, FHMS) is the Secretary to the Board.



Family Health University College started in a garage at 51 Guggisberg Street, Korle Bu in 1997 as a Diagnostic Centre, and was later moved into a rented premise at Zoti Road as Family Health Hospital.



In 2007, it was relocated to its permanent site at Teshie, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and directly opposite the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.



The Family Health Medical School is affiliated to the University of Ghana, and accredited by both the Medical and Dental Council of Ghana (MDC), and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).



The Medical School offers a six-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) programme for SSCE and A Level candidates, and a four and a half-year Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) Graduate Entry Medical Programme (GEMP) for first degree holders in science-related disciplines.



Family Health Medical School has recently been approved by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduate (ECFMG), making its students and graduates eligible to apply for ECFMG Certification and United States Medical Licensing Examination(USMLE).

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Transatlantic military alliance, NATO has slammed Vladimir Putin after he announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus.



Putin said his plan to send tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was similar to the United States stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.



The move is one of Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals yet and a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine, which has called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in response.



"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday, March 26.



"NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own." Lungescu said Putin's non-proliferation pledge and his description of U.S. weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark.



"Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments," she added in a statement.

"Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments."



Ukraine's security chief, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russia's plan would destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow.



Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging point for the latter's invasion of Ukraine last year.



The United States, also a nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Russia's planned deployment.



"I can tell you we've seen nothing that would indicate Mr. Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way whatsoever in Ukraine," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told broadcaster CBC on Sunday.



"And I can also tell you that we haven't seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture."



Tactical nuclear weapons are those used to make specific gains on a battlefield, rather than those capable of wiping out cities.













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The High Court in Accra is demanding the medical certificate confirming the death of Dr Frederick Yao Mac-Palm, who was standing trial for an alleged overthrow of the government.



Dr. Mac-Palm, a medical practitioner was the first of 10 persons standing trial but was said to have passed on to glory on Saturday, March 25.



He was expected in court today, Monday, March 27, where he was to face further questioning from Bright Allan Debrah, the third accused person.



The Chief Executive Officer of the Citadel Hospital was charged together with seven others for conspiracy to commit high treason and high treason.



But ACP Dr. Benjamin Agordzo and Col. Kojo Gameli have both denied a charge each for abetment.



In court on Monday, March 27, when the case was called before a three-member High Court panel presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, Lawyer Maud Opoku who held brief for Lawyer Ephraim A. Vordoagu, said the first accused person has passed on.



With respect, My Lords, the family of Dr. Mac-Palm has told us that, on Saturday, March 25, he passed on to glory, Lawyer Maud Opoku told the court.



Asked by Justice Asare-Botwe if they have any evidence of that information, the Prosecution Winifred Sarpong, a Principal State Attorney, said upon hearing the information, they asked National Intelligence Bureau to verify from the hospital



She said the facility has since confirmed the news.



But the panel which also includes Justice Hafisata Amaleboba and Justice Stephen Oppong, all Justices of the Court of Appeal said the court would need a medical certificate confirming his demise.



We are going into whether the man is alive or dead and not the cause of death, the president of the panel noted.



EIB Networks Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, who was in court reports that some of the nine other accused persons were in black outfits while the case has been adjourned to March 29.









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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday recommended the filing of murder charges against six other suspects in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.

DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano said in a media briefing that prosecutors recommended the filing of nine counts of murder against the six people for the killing of Degamo, Jessie Boy-ay, Jose Marie Ramirez, Jomar Canseco, Crispin Vallega, Jerome Maquiling, Florence Quinikito, Joseph Renada, and Michael Fabugais.

They will also be charged with 13 counts of frustrated murder and three counts of attempted murder, he said.

The cases will be tried jointly with the previous cases for murder filed by the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Negros Oriental against the four previous respondents who were caught and subjected to inquest proceedings recently, Clavano added.

One of the six indicted surrendered to authorities on March 18 while the five surrendered three days after.

The NBI-NCR, acting as complainants, states that these individuals voluntarily surrendered to the joint task force Degamo, Clavano said.

Details of the affidavits, statements, and other evidence, however, will be kept confidential because of the investigation.

On Monday, Justice Secretary Crispin Boying Remulla said 11 suspects are under the custody of authorities.

READ: Remulla: Major player in Degamo slay also involved in two failed assassinations vs. governor

Reacting to Remullas statement tagging Negros Oriental Rep. Arnie Teves as one of the masterminds, Clavano said they are looking at the evidence on hand.

This is purely political. When you say this is purely political, yung political rival and a known rival of Degamo is the Teves family, he said. We will only go where the evident takes us.

READ: SOJ: Rep. Teves among the suspected masterminds behind Degamo assassination
Slamm Technologies Limited  a leading global Information Technology (IT) services provider  has partnered with AmaliTech Ghana Limited to provide employment opportunities and industry experience to young Ghanaians in the technology space.



The collaboration, formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), will focus on three areas upskilling students in web and software development; mentorship programs, as well as employment, National Service, and internship opportunities at AmaliTech.



Speaking at the ceremony, Head of IT Training Support and Services at Slamm Technologies, Prince Carl Tuffuor Frimpong, who signed the MoU on behalf organisation explained that the partnership aims to bridge the skills gap in the country and equip young persons with the necessary tools to excel in the digital world.



This MoU is to support the development of Ghana's youth by providing them with valuable employment opportunities and industry experience in the technology sector. As part of the initiative, Slamm Technologies will seek to connect its graduates with digital and non-digital programs offered by AmaliTech and these programmes are designed to equip participants with the skills needed to work as freelancers or secure decent job opportunities upon completion of their training, he said.



He stated that the agreement forms part of Slamm Technologies' effort to contribute to the rapidly growing tech space and the country's overall economic growth.



The partnership between Slamm Technologies and AmaliTech Ghana Limited represents a valuable opportunity for Slamm Technologies to expand its reach, improve the employability of its graduates, and support the growth of the tech industry in Ghana, Mr. Frimpong further remarked.



On his part, the Director of Operations at AmaliTech Ghana, Matthew Opoku-Darkwa, reiterated the need to train more young people, especially women, in the digital space. According to him, Slamm Technologies represents the ideal partner to help recruit people operating in the tech space, particularly women, to their service centre.



This agreement is in place to encourage more participation in the tech sector, and we need to support our young people who are interested in technology, particularly women. This agreement aims to prepare these students for the local as well as the global job market, he said.



He was optimistic that the union will achieve its objective of giving young people who are interested in technology jobs that require technical skills for both the domestic and global markets.



Elaborating further on the opportunities presented by the partnership, Executive Secretary at Slamm Technologies, Cinzia Amartei, stated that graduates of the Software Development programme would be considered for promotion to Level 2 of AmaliTech's GTP programme.



This, she added, would hinge upon passing assessments in areas such as HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).



The graduates would also have access to AmaliTech's Digital Innovation Programme for National Service and freelancing opportunities, she noted. The primary objective is to connect Slamm Technologies graduates with AmaliTech's Graduate Trainee Programme, with a focus on web and software development, although not limited to it.



Successful completion of the programme would lead to employment as a software developer, she said.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Former President John Mahama has expressed his disappointment over what he described as "betrayal" from some NDC Members of Parliament.



This follows the approval of some Ministerial nominees.



NDC MP for Ketu South, Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie has taken to same facebook to respond to John Mahama's 'disappointment' post.



According to her comment under the post, she took pictures of her vote as "evidence of loyalty to God, country and party".



"I love you, Sir.



"Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and leadership. I took pictures of my vote as evidence of my loyalty to God, country and party. I am responsible for my actions and inactions.



"You and I cannot be held responsible for the actions and inactions of others.



"I promise you, we will work harder than ever. May the heavens and the earth give you courage and good health in these trying times," the former Toursim, Culture and Creative Arts Deputy Minister in the National Democratic Congress during their term in office between 2013 and 2017 when John Dramani Mahama was President commented under his post.



Parliament on Friday approved the appointment of six ministerial nominees through a secret vote.



Adansi Asokwa MP, Hon Kobina Tahir Hammond was confirmed as Minister for Trade and Industry with 154 yes votes as against 116 NO votes, while Dr Stephen Amoah was approved as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry after polling 146 votes against 123 NO votes.



Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong was approved as the Minister of Food and Agriculture with 167 YES votes. The Member of Parliament for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam, was okayed as Minister of State at the Finance Ministry with 152 YES votes.



Stephen Asamoah Boateng is the new Minister for Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, while Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah heads to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as Minister of State, having garnered 149 YES votes.



This result shocked the Minority to the roots with some accusing members of treachery and greed.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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United States Vice-President, Kamala Harris says she has come to Ghana to address some of the issues that relate to the partnership between America and the other African countries, and also to strengthen the economic relations between the US and Ghana.



According to her, I am here to address some of the issues that relate to the partnership between this continent, its people, and the people of the United States and to reinforce the work that we will continue to do together be that on addressing the climate crisis, to supply chain, to our work together on international rules and nuance.



She said this when she was welcomed at the Kotoka International Airport by Ghanas Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, Sunday afternoon to begin her three-nation African tour.



Addressing the media at the Airport, she explained that I am very excited about the future of Africa. I am very excited about the impact of the future of Africa on the rest of the world including the United States of America. When I look at what is happening on this continent and the fact that the median age is 19 years old, and what that tells us about the growth of opportunities, of innovations, of possibilities, I see in all of that great opportunities and not only for the people of this continent but the people of the world.



She explained that We are looking forward to this trip as a further statement of the long and enduring and very important relationship and friendship between the people of the United States and those who live on the continent of Africa.



In particular on this trip, I intend to do work that will focus on increasing investment here on the continent, and facilitating economic growth and opportunity, specifically in the areas of economic empowerment of women and girls, empowerment of youth entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and to support the work that must be done to increase food security, including adaptation to the effect of economic crisis Vice-President of the United States Kamala Harris stated.



Vice President Bawumia led the government delegation including Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. Also at the airport to welcome Vice President Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff were the US Ambassador to Ghana Virginia Palmer and a host of school children carrying miniature flags of Ghana.



While in Ghana, Harris is expected to meet entrepreneurs, students, women, and farmers.



She will also visit the Cape Coast Castle, where slaves were kept in the Central Region, during the slave trade era.



Harris is scheduled to leave Ghana on March 29 to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania before ending the tour in Lusaka, Zambia on 2 April.











Source: Daily Guide









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The Firm's complexity involves a lot more than money, though. Another aspect that's difficult for outsiders to grasp is its myriad rules, regulations and traditions. Some are noncontroversial (e.g., bowing or curtseying to the Queen), but many others seem silly or off-putting. Women are always supposed to wear pantyhose, for example, and never cross their legs while sitting. Makeup should be minimal, and couples aren't supposed to engage in any PDA  not even hand-holding. Oh, and you shouldn't close your own car door. Who's making these rules, insisting they be followed or allowing them, at times, to be broken? Clancy says it's unclear.

"The operations of the monarchy are complex, and there are many different individuals involved in running the institution, from public relations to HR to financial advisers," she says. But tradition is important, as it's a form of historical legitimacy for the monarchy.

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And this is where things loop back to Prince Harry and Markle. For one final, major component of The Firm is the royal rota, or pool system comprising a group of reporters and photographers from seven U.K. publications. For the past 40 years, the royal family has granted the rota special access to their royal engagements in exchange for coverage, as coverage helps maintain the monarchy's relevance. These press members are expected to share material with each other. Today, four of the rota publications are tabloids, including the Daily Mail and the Sun. And these rota journalists often write about Markle harshly, and sometimes in a racist manner.

" " A selection of headlines from British newspapers in response to Meghan and Harry's interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 8, 2021. Most of the papers represented are members of the royal rota. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

One of the biggest reasons the couple left the royal family, according to the Winfrey interview and other press accounts, appears to be their distress and disgust with the rota, and their wish to escape its orbit. U.K.'s National Union of Journalists expressed concern at the time of the decision in 2020 to leave the rota, stating that as the royal family is partially funded by the public, "we cannot have a situation where journalists writing about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex can only do so if they have the royal seal of approval," according to Town and Country.

And although their separation from The Firm  and the rota  means no more income from the sovereign grant or the Duchy of Cornwall, the two should be just fine. In stepping back from their royal duties, Harry and Meghan (as they'd now like to be called) are allowed to earn a living on their own. The couple quickly inked a three-year podcasting deal with Spotify allegedly worth $25 million and a five-year Netflix deal, allegedly worth over $100 million. These deals will allow them to produce documentaries, films, podcasts, kids' programming and other content down the road.

Now That's Incredible Harry and Meghan are actually 15th cousins. Their shared ancestor is an Englishman named Ralph Bowes, who was born in 1480 and is connected to both Queen Elizabeth II and Markle's father, Thomas Markle.
Other wrongfully convicted don't have time to wait for a new trial. Take the case of Elvis Brooks. Brooks was sentenced to life in prison in 1977 when he was just a teenager for murder and armed robbery of a bar in New Orleans. The conviction was based only on the eyewitness testimony of three white strangers who had been inside.

But there was other evidence: fingerprints left on two beer cans on the bar by the real perpetrators. This evidence was suppressed by the prosecutors who convicted him; it was never provided to Brooks or his attorneys.

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When the Innocence Project New Orleans learned of the fingerprint evidence, they filed an application for post-conviction relief in January 2019 alleging Brady violations, which means the government failed to disclose evidence favorable to the accused. The state objected, but the Orleans Parish district attorney's office gave Brooks two choices: Plead guilty to the lesser offenses of manslaughter and three counts of armed robbery and be immediately freed, or remain in prison awaiting a new trial that could take years. Brooks, who was 62 at the time, chose the plea and was released.

Many of the exonerated accept these "deals with the devil" just to be freed, but in exchange they can never receive compensation from the state or file civil suits for wrongful convictions. Some plea deals also protect the prosecutors from disciplinary action, according to The Washington Post. And in the eyes of the law, Brooks is still guilty of crimes he adamantly denies committing.

"Elvis Brooks was wrongfully convicted and it is wonderful that he is being reunited with his family after 42 years," Charell Arnold, one of Brooks' attorneys at Innocence Project New Orleans, said in a statement. "Mr. Brooks never sought a plea agreement. It is deeply unfair that an innocent man would be forced to choose between entering a plea to secure his immediate freedom and waiting years more in prison to prove his innocence through litigation. This situation is particularly unfair given that the State has known about the new evidence presented in this case since 1977."

Both Brooks and Wright have told the lawyers at the Innocence Projects that worked with them that they are the fortunate ones. "People have been so kind and so warm toward me  so gracious toward me. I'm grateful to all those people. ... Even on the street, wherever I go, people hug me or they want to shake my hand," Wright told the Innocence Project. "It's so humbling to me because I'm no different from anybody else. When I tell people that I'm the luckiest guy in the world, they look at me like, 'Yeah, right,' and they laugh. But people don't have an idea, man. I am the luckiest man in the world, and not just for one reason, but for a whole lot of reasons."

And unlike Brooks, who can't seek compensation for his wrongful incarceration, some exonerees can receive financial reimbursement and services to help them adjust to a life of freedom. Whether they are entitled to a financial award and how much varies by state. But what none of them can ever get back are the years of missing out on their lives and those of family and friends.

Now That's Sad As of January 2020, the Innocence Project has documented more than 365 DNA exonerations in the United States alone  21 were on death row. Nearly all  97 percent  were wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and/or murder and despite being innocent of the crimes, approximately 25 percent had confessed and 11 percent had pleaded guilty. These innocent people spent an average of 14 years in prison.
Many of the names we use today for Christian sects  Baptists, Methodists, Mormons  were originally used as insults, including "Quaker."

"'Quaker' was a derisive term that was thrown at George Fox one of the many times he was hauled into court for breaking the law," says Healey. "The magistrate made an insulting comment about the quaking, shaking and other emotional manifestations of the spirit that accompanied Fox's meetings, which were highly apocalyptic in nature."

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According to one story, Fox didn't take kindly to the name and retorted that it was the magistrate who should be quaking and trembling for breaking the word the Lord.

The name that Fox and the other early Quakers preferred to call each other was simply "friend," taken from John 15:14, in which Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." As Quakers began to get more organized, they took on the name the Religious Society of Friends or just the Society of Friends. Today, the word Quaker has lost its derogatory connotation and is used interchangeably with the Society of Friends.

Speaking of terminology, Quakers adopted their own type of "plain speech" that distinguished them from other groups, as well as a plain manner of dress. Until the 20th century, Quakers exclusively used the pronouns "thee," "thou," "thy" and "thine" because "you" was reserved for the upper classes and Quakers wanted to erase such class distinctions. Quakers also ditched the standards months and days of the week because they were named after pagan gods. Instead, they said "First Month" and "Second Month" or "First Day" and "Second Day," with Sunday being the first day of the week. Even today, some Quaker meetings will list their worship service as "First Day at 10 a.m."

" " The marriage of Pennsylvania founder William Penn and Hannah Callowhill took place at the Friends' Meeting House, Bristol, England in 1696. Quaker weddings were known for the simple dress worn by the bride and groom and the absence of any officiant. All members present signed the marriage certificate as witnesses. Spencer Arnold Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
" " President Joe Biden participates in a conference phone call with governors affected by a snowstorm in the Midwest and Southwest Feb. 16, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

The minute that Joe Biden assumed presidency of the United States, the clock started ticking on his first 100 days in office.

Well before he was elected, Biden was promising decisive action in his first 100 days to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, rebuild the economy and address racial injustice and inequality.

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But why the fascination with a president's first 100 days? After all, we elect presidents for terms of 1,460 days. What's so important about these first three months and change?

Blame FDR.

"We started using the term 'first 100 days' after Franklin D. Roosevelt's first 100 days," explains Jonathan Ladd, associate professor of public policy and government at Georgetown University. "FDR's first 100 days were so productive that we've talked about it ever since."

FDR came to office in 1933 in the depths of the Great Depression. He signed 76 pieces of legislation in his first 100 days, including 15 major overhauls and new programs. He took the U.S. off the gold standard, revamped the banking system and created jobs through the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

No president since has even come close to FDR's productivity  Kennedy passed 26 bills, Reagan just 9, Obama only 11  but that hasn't shaken the fixation on the first 100 days. It remains a benchmark of political efficiency and a convenient measure of a new president's power. A study showed that before the 81st Congress (1949-1951), the average number of laws passed during a president's first 100 days was 46, compared to 16 for later time periods.
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A graphic comparing the size of Anchitheriomys buceei with an average North American Beaver and an average man in the United States. Outlined in white are fossil bones in the UT collections, including a partial skull and jaw, and portions of the radius and ulna that make up the elbow. Credit: UT Jackson School of Geosciences/ National Center for Health Statistics/ USDA Forest Service.

A new species of ancient beaver that was rediscovered by researchers in The University of Texas at Austin's fossil collections has been named after Buc-ee's, a Texas-based chain of popular travel centers known for its cartoon beaver mascot.

The beaver is called Anchitheriomys buceei, or "A. buceei" for short.

Steve May, a research associate at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences, said that the beaver's Texas connection and a chance encounter with a Buc-ee's billboard are what inspired the name.

May is the lead author of the paper that describes A. buceei, along with another, much smaller, species of fossil beaver. Published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, the paper provides an overview of beaver occurrences along the Texas Gulf Coast from 15 million to 22 million years ago based on bones and archival records in the UT collections.

While driving down a highway in 2020, May spotted a Buc-ee's billboard that said "This is Beaver Country." The phrase brought to mind the Texas beaver fossils he had been studying at UT's Texas Vertebrate Paleontology Collections.

"I thought, 'Yeah, it is beaver country, and it has been for millions of years,'" May said.

A. buceei lived in Texas about 15 million years ago. To the casual observer, it probably wouldn't have looked much different from beavers living in Texas today, according to study co-author Matthew Brown, the director of the Jackson School's vertebrate paleontology collections. However, one key difference is size. A. buceei was biggerabout 30% larger than modern beaversthough still much smaller than the bear-size beavers that lived in North America during the last Ice Age.

The UT collections includes A. buceei fossils from six Texas sites. But most of what researchers know about the new fossil beaver comes from a unique partial skull from Burkeville, Texas. The fossil is a fusion of bone and brain cast that was created when sediment naturally seeped into the beaver's brain cavity eons ago, creating a rock replica of the brain as the specimen fossilized.

High-resolution X-ray images of the skull obtained at UT Austin's Computed Tomography Lab brought small anatomical details of the skull into clear view. These details helped May and Brown confirm that the skull belonged to a new species. But they weren't the first to suspect it.

The skull was originally collected by a team of Texas paleontologists in 1941. One of them, Curtis Hesse, a museum curator at Texas A&M University, said in notes that he intended to name it a new species. However, Hesse died in 1945 before he could complete his study and publish his findings. Eighty years later, May and Brown, with the help of new technology and a better understanding of the fossil record of beavers, picked up where Hesse left off.

"New discoveries in the field capture lots of attention, but equally as valuable are the discoveries made in existing museum collections," Brown said. "We know that these opportunities are littered throughout the drawers in these cabinets."

After hearing about the ancient beaver named after his business, the founder and CEO of Buc-ee's, Arch "Beaver" Aplin III, said that Buc-ee's has a longer history in Texas than he initially thought.

"Buc-ee's was founded in 1982, but we may need to rethink our beginnings," he said.

More information: Steven May et al, Anchitheriomys buceei (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Miocene of Texas and a review of the Miocene beavers from the Texas Coastal Plain, USA, Palaeontologia Electronica (2023). DOI: 10.26879/1236 Journal information: Palaeontologia electronica
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Overall effects of IPEGCH4N on mitigating GHG emissions from staple food production in China. Credit: Nature Food (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-023-00694-0

Agriculture accounts for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the path to carbon neutrality is not straightforward. Researchers from Land-CRAFTCenter for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Futures at Aarhus University and others have, through a comprehensive life cycle analysis of data from China, identified an integrated biomass pyrolysis and electricity generation system coupled with commonly applied methane and nitrogen mitigation measures that, together with the right management of agricultural land, can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Chinese staple crops.

Since the Paris Agreement to combat global warming was reached in 2015, many countries have committed to becoming climate neutral, i.e., achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. The world's largest agricultural country, China, is also committed to join the green transition. As the largest agricultural country, China is also the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, yet it has set itself a target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

According to Professor and Head of Land-CRAFT at Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, this places huge demands on agricultural systems. "Agriculture in China accounts for about 14% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions, and the production of staple foods such as rice, wheat and maize take up about 70% of the country's cultivated land. This is a very large area, and the cultivation of these staple crops account for large emissions of methane and nitrous oxide because they are grown with intensive use of fertilizers and irrigation. So, it has been difficult to see how China's production of staple crops could achieve carbon neutrality by 2060."

Management cannot do it alone

According to the researchers, several management methods have already been tested, all of which help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from crop production in one way or another. Intermittent irrigation, for example, has been tested to reduce methane emissions from rice fields. In addition, the use of nitrogen fertilizers has been reduced, and attempts have been made to improve the ability of crops to use nitrogen more efficiently, so that they need less and thus reduce nitrous oxide emissions. In addition, the focus has been on increasing soil organic carbon content by increasing the amount of straw returned to the soil.

"Although all these management methods work well, they are insufficient to achieve carbon neutrality," says Butterbach-Bahl, and points out that this is partly because the effect of one management method can be negated when they are used in combination.

"When you reduce one greenhouse gas, it can lead to an increase in another. For example, intermittent irrigation effectively reduces methane emissions from rice fields, but at the same time increases nitrous oxide emissions from those same fields. The same trade-off is seen with several of the other management practices; the increased emissions of either methane or nitrous oxide can completely outweigh the benefits of the management practices," he says.

Biochar is the new black

So, management methods alone will not pave the way for climate-neutral food production. According to the researchers, more is needed, and pyrolysis of straw into biochar could prove to be part of the solution. It has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time increase the soil's organic carbon content.

"We can see that using biochar in rice fields significantly reduces methane emissions. This happens because the organic carbon in biochar decomposes much more slowly than in straw. The slower decomposition also means that the carbon from the biochar is sequestered in the soil for a longer time, it is a more long-term solution than straw," says Butterbach-Bahl, who has been involved in a comprehensive life cycle analysis of, among other things, an integrated pyrolysis and energy system to find solutions that can help China towards climate-neutral agriculture.

The study shows that in addition to carbon sequestration and reduced methane emissions, biochar can also help reduce nitrous oxide emissions. This happens through complex microbial processes in the soil that inhibit denitrification, where nitrate is converted into nitrous oxide and other gases.

Integrated pyrolysis and energy production lay the foundations for a greener future

"There is another advantage to pyrolysis. Pyrolysis of straw into biochar also produces biogas and bio-oil. These are by-products, but they can be used to generate electricity through an integrated pyrolysis and power generation system," says Butterbach-Bahl.

The energy produced by such a system can replace fossil fuels, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Our analysis shows that with this integrated pyrolysis and power generation system, combined with commonly used management methods to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions, we can achieve carbon-neutral production of staple crops in China," says Butterbach-Bahl. He stresses that when talking about carbon neutrality, the researchers are referring to a state where the sum of emissions of all greenhouse gases (CO 2 , methane and nitrous oxide) from crop production is offset by CO 2 removal through carbon sequestration in the soil and CO 2 compensation through lower fossil fuel consumption.

The life cycle assessment included an analysis of the production of staple crops as it is today, as well as scenarios with different combinations of management methods, one scenario with biochar, and one with biochar and energy production from the integrated pyrolysis and energy system.

"Our analysis shows that only the combination of the integrated pyrolysis and energy system and different management methods can ensure carbon-neutral production of staple crops in China. In addition, this method can help reduce nitrate leaching into the aquatic environment and reduce emissions of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, that can cause acidic rain. And there is the added benefit of increasing yields too.

"Therefore, we conclude that this method can bring China, and perhaps other countries too, one step closer to the national goal of carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability in agriculture in 2060," says Butterbach-Bahl.

The study is published in the journal Nature Food.

More information: Longlong Xia et al, Integrated biochar solutions can achieve carbon-neutral staple crop production, Nature Food (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-023-00694-0 Journal information: Nature Food
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Credit: ESB Professional/Shutterstock

Whiteness is an invention of the modern, colonial age. It refers to the racialisation of white people and the disproportionate privilegesocial, linguistic, economic, politicalthat comes with this. Crucially, as an invention, whiteness is not innateit is taught.

As an educational project, whiteness is designed to maintain racial hierarchies. Whether or not that intention remains or is recognized in modern schools, the racism underpinning that educational project continues to shape education in England.

Black children are more likely to face disproportionate disciplinary procedures and be excluded. They face discriminatory hair policies, and, when their speech is deemed to differ from "standard" or "academic" English, they face anti-black linguistic racism.

And in recent years, whiteness and anti-black linguistic racism have become further normalized under the so-called "what works" agenda of education policy.

The UK government launched the What Works network in 2013, in order to design policies, and how they are delivered, on the basis of what they called "the best" research evidence available.

In education, this claim that policymaking is scientifically objective and evidence-led is used to bolster the idea that the resulting policies will effectively do what they say, namely tackle inequality. However, my work shows how what-works-based education policy is not objective or neutral. It normalizes white, middle-class language and can result in the use of non-standard, non-academic language being disciplined in schools.

The 'what works' agenda

Between 2021 and 2022, I conducted research in two different secondary schools in London. I observed classrooms, did interviews and analyzed policies and lesson materials.

Both schools had majority white staff, serving mostly black children from low-income families. Both schools had subscribed to a "what works" approach to language teaching.

The first school had introduced "evidence-led" curriculum materials, entitled English Mastery. Teachers I collaborated with reported how these materials encouraged them to correct how their pupils spoke, avoiding language deemed to deviate from standard norms.

As a result, black children simply kept quiet or produced minimal answers, which they were further criticized for. Being made to internalize the ideology that their language was deficient resulted in their identity being eroded, an impact which research bears out.

This ideology was further articulated by the staff I interviewed. One teacher said "what works" curriculums would "address persistent errors" and curtail the use of "colloquial" speech, thereby allowing marginalized children to "function properly in the world". Another teacher described how management had insisted on a "standard English only" policy because they deemed classrooms to be full of what they termed "poor quality talk".

Research has long shown that standard and academic English are not neutral categories but social and colonial constructions based on the language of the white middle classes. Yet in these schools, acquiring standard and academic English is seen as the path to social justice. Similar thinking has been shown to underpin decision-making at Ofsted, the UK schools inspectorate and national policy too.

Despite the claimed intentions around racial equity and justice with which they are marketed, "what works" materials risk reproducing anti-black prejudice. They define any student as "functioning" or "working" as one who models their language on whiteness. And they still result in working-class, black children facing language discrimination, because, as research shows, beliefs about so-called "proper language" always relate to beliefs about race and class.

The 'word gap'

In another school I studied, management had designed policies to tackle the so-called "word gap". Since the 2010s, there has been a resurgence among education specialists in Englandpolicy makers at Ofsted, authors of teacher textbooks and the education publishing industry at largeof this idea, which is rooted in 1960s theories of verbal deprivation and was recycled in 1990s educational psychology.

As education secretary in 2012, Michael Gove told the UK parliament that the lack of attainment in children from disadvantaged backgrounds was due to "growing up in households where they are not read to and where they do not have a rich literary heritage on which to draw". Amanda Spielman, chief inspector at Ofsted reiterated this position in 2018: "These children arrive at school without the words they need to communicate properly."

This reductive argument poses that the solution to systemic inequalities but in giving marginalized children more, "better" words than what their families and communities provide them with. In other words, it blames not the socioeconomic system for failing these communities but the communities themselves for not having the right language and literacy practices.

In one school, where management had subscribed to this kind of thinking, believing that it was in the best interests of marginalized children, I found that word-gap interventions meant black working-class children were much more likely to have the way they speak categorized as deficient. Rather than developing their vocabulary, this strategy too resulted in children keeping quiet in lessons, internalizing the idea that their language was not academic enough.

Challenging anti-black linguistic racism

Educational linguists have consistently pointed out that language hierarchies are not based on empirical fact but stem from institutional racism. As sociologists Remi Joseph-Salisbury and Derron Wallace put it, "speech codes and vernacular associated with black youth are seen as oppositional to, and disruptive of, academic orientations".

To counter this, the teachers I collaborated with in my research designed new classroom materials that would, instead, affirm students' voices. We worked with the black British writer Benjamin Zephaniah, using his 2020 novel Windrush Child and interviews he has given in which he talks about his experiences of having his language and racial identity policed.

His experiences matched many of the students we worked with. For example, when asked to complete a linguistic profile of themselves, one student Joy, who, with Nigerian heritage speaks English and Yoruba, drew a portrait of herself with her mouth clamped shut. She was able to unpick how her Yoruba, previously, had been silenced in school.

Children were encouraged to interrogate the intersections of power, class and race which sees their own language stigmatized. Their discussions were also, crucially, joyful and full of love for black language and culture.

Another teacher collaborated with parents and students on a new whole-school language policy, which insisted that black children are just as linguistically dexterous as their white peers and emphasized that there is no racial justice without linguistic justice. The first draft of the policy stated:

We do not believe in the existence of a word gap and wholly reject such deficit and racist descriptions of language. If a gap does exist, it exists in the way that people perceive language, rather than how they use it.

Beliefs about language are never just about language. They reflect institutional power dynamics. As one black teacher I collaborated with put it:

We need to stop thinking that the way children speak is the problem, and start thinking about the way that adults listen as the problem

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. is among those being considered by prosecutors as masterminds of the assassination of former Gov. Roel Degamo, Justice Secretary Boying Remulla disclosed.

In an interview on Monday, reporters asked Remulla if the suspected masterminds behind the killing of the Negros Oriental governor were within reach or if they could be contacted.

They can be contacted I think, theyre always on social media. Meron nga yung isa nag-text sa akin diba [one of them even texted me] I told you last week, Congressman Teves texted me, Remulla said.

Theyre [Teves] being considered as masterminds but I dont know yet I have to get it from the panel of prosecutors. But right now, the way its progressing, thats the direction were heading to, he continued.

One of the suspects in the shooting earlier named Congressman Teves as a mastermind behind the assassination.

Remulla said the Department of Justice was considering at least two masterminds behind the assassination.

Three, maybe four? We dont know yet we have to get our facts together, pero at least two, maybe three, he added.

Meanwhile, he also revealed that there had been two failed assassination attempts on Degamo before one succeeded last March 4.

READ: Remulla: Major player in Degamo slay also involved in two failed assassinations vs. governor
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One in five young adults live in unaffordable housing and spend 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs. Credit: Shutterstock

Canada is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. Over the past 20 years, housing prices have increased at double the rate of income growth. Partly fueled by dramatic interest hikes, rental prices have also risen precipitously in recent months. In March 2023, the year-over-year rent increased by 9.7 percent.

Young adults are among the groups most adversely affected by the housing crisis. One in five young adults live in unaffordable housing and spend 30 percent or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs.

Rising housing costs, declining real wages and increasing job instability have been identified as key reasons why young adults have limited access to affordable housing.

During this time, Canada has also witnessed the diversification of young adults' living arrangements. More young adults live with their parents, extended family or roommates, primarily because there is a greater need to pool resources to cover high housing costs.

A young adult's living arrangement is the product of their ability to transition into an adult economic role and gain access to private safety nets during financial crises.

The diversification of Canadian young adults' living arrangements during the housing affordability crisis raises two questions. First, among young adults, who are the ones with the highest risk of having unaffordable housing? Second, to what extent does living with family or roommates reduce young adults' risk of having unaffordable housing?

The predicted percentage of Canadian-born young adults versus foreign-born young adults having unaffordable housing. Credit: Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj, Author provided

Young adults' housing vulnerability

Our study addresses these questions by documenting variations in young adults' risk of having unaffordable housing according to their living arrangements. We focus on young adults between 25 and 34 years of age.

We show that young adults living alone with their children have the highest predicted risk of having unaffordable housing. Over half of Canadian-born young adults living alone with their children live in unaffordable housing. Those who live alone are a close second: 38 percent of young adults who live alone do so.

Living with parents, extended family or roommates reduces young adults' predicted risk of having unaffordable housing. However, the protective effect of living with parents or extended family is greater than that of living with roommates. For example, seven percent of Canadian-born young adults living with parents live in unaffordable housing compared with 16 percent of young adults living with roommates.

Unequal risks based on nativity status

Many foreign-born young adults come to Canada without their parents or without having extended family in Canada. As such, these young adults may not be able to pool resources with parents or kin to cover housing costs.

The predicted percentage of Canadian-born young adults who have moderate versus severe unaffordable housing. Credit: Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj, Author provided

Due to labor market discrimination, others may not have access to the financial resources necessary to establish independent households. They may also have fewer social ties in Canada, meaning that they have limited access to information about housing vacancies.

Our findings reveal that foreign-born young adults are generally more likely than Canadian-born with the same living arrangement to live in unaffordable housing. Fifteen percent of foreign-born and seven percent of Canadian-born young adults who live with their parents live in unaffordable housing.

Those who live alone with their children are an exception. Foreign-born young adults who live with their children only are less likely than their Canadian-born peers to live in unaffordable housing. This is partly because a higher share of foreign-born single parents have been previously married.

Particularly concerning is that foreign-born young adults with housing unaffordability issues are disproportionately more likely to have severely unaffordable housing, spending at least half of their pre-tax income on housing.

Reducing housing vulnerability

Canada is implementing its National Housing Strategy, which aims to invest at least $82 billion to address the housing needs of Canadians. Within this strategy, young adults have been identified as one of the groups with the most unmet housing needs.

The predicted percentage of foreign-born young adults who have moderate versus severe unaffordable housing. Credit: Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj, Author provided

When implementing this strategy, the Canadian government should increase the supply of affordable housing units that meet the housing needs of young adults in Canada.

In particular, the government should create more affordable housing that can accommodate young adults who live alone or only with their children. Doing so will reduce young adults' risk of having unaffordable housing and the burden it places on families by forcing them to subsidize the housing needs of young adults.

To fuel the post-pandemic economic recovery, Canada is aiming to welcome 500,000 new immigrants a year by 2025. Immigration and Settlement Services should consider allocating more resources to address the housing needs of these newcomers into Canada.

Doing so will protect immigrants from having severely unaffordable housing and ensure that housing affordability in Canada does not erode any further. Access to affordable housing will create an environment where young adults and all Canadians can thrive.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Proportion of Limited Partners in the Same State as the Funds they Back. This figure shows the proportion of a funds limited partners (LPs) that are located in the same state as the fund by vintage year for minority and non-minority owned groups. The sample comprises U.S.-based and -focused private capital groups that raised a fund between 2000 and Q2 2021 according to PitchBook. Minority is an indicator that equals one if at least 50% of the senior partners or founders are Black or Hispanic. Overall, it appears that minority groups are more likely to have local limited partners. Credit: SSRN Electronic Journal (2022). DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4222385

A new study by Johan Cassel Pegelow, Assistant Professor of Finance at Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, examines the racial diversity, or rather lack thereof, within the private capital industry.

"Racial Diversity in Private Capital Fundraising," co-authored by Johan Cassel Pegelow, Josh Lerner, Harvard University, and Emmanuel Yimfor, University of Michigan, and posted to the SSRN pre-print server, explores fundraising for minority-owned private capital groups. The study primarily focuses on understanding if the investor side can explain part of the low prevalence of minority-owned private capital groups.

"We show that Black and Hispanic-owned funds are more likely to invest in Black and Hispanic-owned entrepreneurs," says Johan Cassel Pegelow. "This implies that the lack of diversity among private capital groups hampers the ability of minority entrepreneurs to attract the necessary capital to grow their businesses to their full potential."

The authors provide evidence that minorities attempting to enter the private capital industries by raising a first fund appear to face more difficulties in doing so than non-minorities. For those private capital groups that have successfully entered the market, minorities appear to face a different dynamic when attempting to raise follow-on funds. In particular, investors appear to be particularly intolerant of failure in minority-owned funds.

The authors conclude that the evidence is consistent with a story in which part of the underrepresentation of minorities stems from the demand of investors, rather than merely being explained by supply-side factors.

This finding is supported by three main explanations. First, prior research shows that underperforming groups may be inclined to inaccurately inflate their valuations to make it seem as though they are performing better than they are. Therefore, investors may be particularly skeptical about minority groups that report that they are underperforming. If investors believe that minorities are more likely to be inflating valuations at that point, then they would infer that the performance is, in reality, worse than reported. However, the authors do not find evidence consistent with such belief, as minority groups appear to have more conservative valuations for investments still held and that are subject to possible inflated valuations, while exited investments have performed as well as those of non-minority groups.

Second, they are unable to find evidence to support any concerns that minority groups would face difficulties when scaling up, for example, that they would struggle in hiring staff or struggle to scale up and deploy larger amounts of capital if raising a larger fund. However, the data does not support any such notion of difficulties in scaling up.

Finally, the researchers discuss the impact of racial awareness on the ability of diversely owned private capital groups to raise capital. They examine two very different types of racial awareness to evaluate whether this is relevant: variation in racial awareness across the country as a result of high-profile fatal encounters between unarmed minorities and police and the ethnicities of Chief Investment Officers of local public pension funds and endowments. They find that fundraising success is higher for diversely owned private capital groups during periods of high racial awareness (in states and years where there has been high coverage of a fatal encounter of a minority civilian with police). They also find that minority-owned private capital groups are more successful in raising funds if they are headquartered in a state where at least one pension fund or endowment has a Chief Investment Officer that is a minority. Not only does it increase the likelihood of raising a follow-on fund in general, but it also increases the likelihood that the particular pension fund or endowment invests in that fund.

"The evidence is consistent with an idea that investor attitudes matter for the fundraising success of minorities in the private capital industry," says Johan Cassel Pegelow.

The findings of this study have the potential to increase awareness surrounding minority-owned private capital groups, leading to higher levels of investment and performance improvement. The study itself, regardless of findings, provides the opportunity for other private capital groups to learn how they can better support minorities in their industry.

"As our evidence suggests that investor attention to racial issues improves the ability of minorities to raise capital, we can only hope that our research contributes to increasing awareness of the issue," says Johan Cassel Pegelow.

The research is available as a working paper on the SSRN Electronic Journal.

More information: Johan Cassel et al, Racial Diversity in Private Capital Fundraising, SSRN Electronic Journal (2022). DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4222385
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

As New Zealand considers how to better prepare for a future affected by climate change, the insurance sector needs to be part the discussion on where and how we build our homes.

This involvement should include input into future building standards. Insurers should also play a key role in deciding which areas of New Zealand are removed from residential useaka red-zonedand when this red-zoning should occur.

If insurers are not involved in the discussions on how the country adapts to climate change, we risk whole sections of the country becoming uninsurable.

Frequent disasters make homes uninsurable

It is clear the risk of damage from climate change has increased in recent years. In late January and early February, large swathes of the North Island were hit by damaging weather systems that left 750 homes red stickeredmeaning entry to the property was prohibited. Thousands more need significant repair.

Over the past few years, insurers have responded to the increasing risks by raising premiums in general or suggesting that clients at more risk increase their excesses. Insurers have also begun to charge premiums based on individual property risk.

As the threat of natural disaster increases, insurers will have no choice but to raise some clients' premiums to unaffordable levels or withdrew the offer of insurance all together.

The general rule of thumb is that any event which occurs once every 30 years will make a property uninsurable. Some areas of New Zealand, like the East Coast or Edgecumbe, are well past that in terms of the frequency of natural disasters. Cover in these areas is only provided as a public relations gesture.

But as the risk of a significant event increases, the companies that guarantee retail insurers for the most extreme eventsknown in the business as reinsurerscould force the withdrawal of all cover in some areas. These reinsurers could decide that some parts of New Zealand are simply too risky.

A threat to home ownership

This decision to pull out of certain areas will have a negative effect on home ownership. Banks routinely require a house to be insurable before considering a mortgage. Banks also consider whether a house will be insured for the entire length of the home loan.

The difficulty here is that areas which are currently low risk could become high risk in the future thanks to climate change. This rising risk is likely to lead to a situation where insurers will be forced to withdraw cover from clients who still have decades left on their mortgages.

Alternatively, if a property is currently insured but is likely to become uninsurable during the lifetime of a mortgage, banks may become very conservative in issuing home loans to areas they consider risky.

An additional problem is that council consents for housing have been based on statistics of past climate eventsset at a one-in-a-hundred or one-in-two-hundred year level. As we have recently seen, climate change makes these statistics dubious.

Instead, consents need to be based on multiple scenarios, given the various potential climate futures. New Zealand needs to determine clearly which areas are likely to be affected and plan ahead.

A role for insurers

The best path forward would be to establish a multi-disciplinary expert group that includes members of the insurance industry and reinsurers, to create a set of criteria and scenarios for housing development.

This group could set the guidelines councils use to determine if a rural area should be opened to new housing development, for example, or if an existing housing area should be red-zoned, with houses removed at a definite future date.

By including insurers, new building standards could be set so that homes better withstand climate change, improving the likelihood of them being insured.

Insurers could then be required to use the mutually agreed criteria to set risk-based premiums. If all insurers use the same criteria, then competition would be based on price and service, and not hidden risk models.

The risk models which insurers create, based on those criteria and the climate scenarios, could be open to public debate. The pricing attached to the risk factors could be flexible as climate change makes some areas higher risk.

A dynamic understanding of risk

In the end, red-zoning needs to be seen as dynamic rather than static. There needs to be the option to withdraw insurance coverage in the future, based on evolving models of climate change risk. And all potential risks need to be clearly communicated to potential buyers though land information memorandum (LIM) reports.

Taking this collaborative and transparent approach would mean insurers could be required to guarantee an offer of insurance renewal for a fixed number of years, allowing buyers to match the length of their insurance to their mortgage term.

The role of EQC or the reinsurers would be to back these fixed-term insurance policies in the case of significant disasters.

Working with the insurance industry would offer a level of certainty as we face an uncertain futurehelping New Zealanders protect their homes in the face of changing risks.

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Credit: Caleb McElrea, Author provided

Saving endangered species is an uphill battle in Australia, the mammal extinction capital of the world. But the first step, threatened species listing, can be confusing, tedious and time-consuming.

To demystify the rigorous (yet arduous) process for listing threatened species, we describe the experience of listing fat-tailed dunnarts in Victoria.

This feisty little predator stores fat in its tail, much like a camel's hump. For too long it was considered common, but evidence shows the species is in decline and needs help to recover.

Threatened species listing affords extra protection, but there are no guarantees. We need to keep the pressure on policy-makers and public servants to ensure our most vulnerable species receive the protection they deserve.

A shameful record of extinction

Australia has the highest mammal extinction rate in the world. We have lost 39 land mammals since European settlement. That's a rate of about one to two mammal species per decade since the first post-1788 Australian mammal extinction, probably in the 1840s.

In total, 67 animals and 37 plants are declared extinct under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). That includes 39 mammals, 22 birds, four frogs, one reptile and one earthworm.

A further 499 animals and 1,374 plants are listed as threatened with extinction.

Threatened species listing gives the conservation status legal standing and mandates actions to secure species populations, allowing eventual removal from the list. This may include developing a recovery plan that stipulates actions to reduce threats (such as habitat loss, predation, or competition with invasive species) or to increase populations (such as captive breeding and translocations).

Listing also triggers environmental laws. Proposed developments that might harm or otherwise impact threatened species or their habitat should be referred for assessment under the EPBC Act. The development may be stopped entirely (although this rarely happens), modified to reduce potential impacts, or offsets may be required to compensate by helping the species at another location.

Cause for confusion

A species at risk of extinction may be listed as threatened under either state or federal legislation. However, there are several aspects of the listing process that may cause confusion.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species has five criteria:

A: population size reduction

B: geographic range (declining area or extent)

C: small population size and decline

D: very small or restricted population

E: quantitative analysis (reflecting the population's viability).

Each criterion has specific thresholds that a species must fall below to be considered threatened. However, a species only needs to meet one of the five criteria to be eligible for listing as threatened.

The catch-all term "threatened" includes different levels of extinction risk, from vulnerable through to endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild, and finally, extinct. The risk of extinction increases with each step.

Fat-tailed dunnarts are short lived, which means successful breeding is important for populations to survive. Credit: Emily Scicluna, Author provided

For example, a species is classified as vulnerable if it has suffered a 30% reduction in population size over ten years or three generations. If the decline was 50% or more, it is classified as endangered, and critically endangered if the decline was greater than 80%.

Similarly, a species is vulnerable if its entire population consists of less than 1,000 adults, endangered if it is fewer than 250 adults, and critically endangered if less than 50 adults.

To further complicate matters, every state and territory, and the Commonwealth, has its own threatened species legislation. This means a species can potentially be listed as threatened in one jurisdiction but not in another.

For example, koalas are listed as threatened under the federal EPBC Act (due to drastic declines in NSW, Queensland and the ACT) but not under Victoria's Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. So a species can be threatened in one state but not in another, and can be threatened at the state level but not at a national level.

Finally, someone (or usually a group of people) must take the time and effort to formally nominate a species as threatened. While anyone can nominate a species for listing, the nominator must provide compelling evidence that the species satisfies at least one of the IUCN criteria.

This is not a trivial undertaking, so the official lists of threatened species are almost certainly an underestimate of the true number of species that are threatened. But this is exactly what I did.

Listing the fat-tailed dunnart

Early in my Ph.D. candidature (in February 2018), my goal was to use fat-tailed dunnarts as a model species for some of their more endangered relatives, such as the Tasmanian devil or eastern quoll.

The fat-tailed dunnart is a small, carnivorous, nocturnal marsupial that weighs around 15 grams (about the size of three grapes). They are incredibly cute, ferocious predators (of insects, that is) who store energy reserves in their tail, much like a camel's hump.

The species is widely distributed across southern and central Australia in a range of habitats. In Victoria, they are largely confined to grasslands and open woodlands.

When I began my Ph.D. research, fat-tailed dunnarts were assumed to be "common", based on historical records. But no-one was really looking for them. So when I set out to find them, I couldn't.

My main study site was at the Werribee Western Treatment Plant. In the early 1970s, 700 fat-tailed dunnart were trapped there over four years. Using the same methods, with double the survey effort, I found none.

In the intervening 43 years, 75% of suitable dunnart habitat at this site had been cleared. When I extended my search further west into Victoria's grasslands, fat-tailed dunnarts were still present but only in very low numbers. As the last remaining small mammal in Victoria's grasslands, this was highly concerning.

Over time I realized that this species was a threatened species in its own right.

Gathering the evidence

In 2019, I began to pursue statutory listing and protection for fat-tailed dunnarts in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. So what did that involve?

The tail of the fat-tailed dunnart contains body fat, stored when food is plentiful. This can give the tail a swollen appearance when times are good. Credit: Caleb McElrea, Author provided

I needed to provide the following:

Species description, life history, generation length, habitat, and distribution. Basically, everything there is to know about the species. Generation length is crucial: if a species has slow reproductive rates, it will be more difficult to recover from population crashes.

Key threats. I needed to provide evidence that fat-tailed dunnarts were experiencing habitat loss (conversion of grasslands to crops), being heavily preyed upon by invasive species (mostly by rats) and that the remaining populations were becoming geographically isolated, therefore restricting gene flow.

Evidence of decline. This is where it gets really tricky. I needed to provide evidence that fat-tailed dunnarts met at least one of the five IUCN criteria mentioned above. This was challenging because there were no long-term survey datasets available for fat-tailed dunnarts. How do you show a decline when no one knew what the original populations were?

I was able to garner enough data and evidence from my Ph.D. research, the Atlas of Living Australia, and compiling incidental recordings of this species from other surveys to convince the Scientific Advisory Committee to support the nomination of the fat-tailed dunnart.

Specifically, I was able to show that the Victorian population had declined by more than 60% from 200009 to 201019. This satisfied the threshold for population decline (criterion A) of at least 30% over the past 10 years (vulnerable).

I was also able to demonstrate that fat-tailed dunnarts now only occupied 1,427 square kilometers in Victoria, meeting the threshold for vulnerable under criterion B (geographic range). I satisfied not one, but two IUCN criteria.

Protecting the dunnart

Once the vulnerable listing is formally ratified, planning decisions that involve clearing potential fat-tailed dunnart habitat need to consider the species. At least that's the idea. In practice, legislative protection does not always translate to on-ground protection.

Loopholes, offsets, ministerial discretion and findings of "low to moderate impact" mean projects that clear threatened species habitat go ahead more often than not.

Despite promising signals and intent from the federal government, threatened species habitat continues to be cleared at alarming rates, pushing species towards the brink of extinction. The process for listing threatened species is rigorousas it should bebut it is a means to an end.

Unless threatened species laws are enforced and strengthened, the effort required to have a species listed as threatened will be in vain.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Equilibrium states of the volume of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) (black dots) with respect to pre-industrial as a function of atmospheric CO 2 concentration (top left) and corresponding temperature anomaly (top right). The blue curve refers to increasing CO 2 concentration starting from the pre-industrial GIS, the other curves to decreasing CO 2 starting from a completely ice free GIS (red curve) and from intermediate states (yellow and purple curves), respectively. The bottom panel illustrates the GIS thickness at the points AD. Credit: Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022GL101827

The Greenland Ice Sheet covers 1.7 million square kilometers (660,200 square miles) in the Arctic. If it melts entirely, global sea level would rise about 7 meters (23 feet), but scientists aren't sure how quickly the ice sheet could melt. Modeling tipping points, which are critical thresholds where a system behavior irreversibly changes, helps researchers find out when that melt might occur.

Based in part on carbon emissions, a new study using simulations identified two tipping points for the Greenland Ice Sheet: releasing 1000 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere will cause the southern portion of the ice sheet to melt; about 2500 gigatons of carbon means permanent loss of nearly the entire ice sheet.

Having emitted about 500 gigatons of carbon, we're about halfway to the first tipping point.

"The first tipping point is not far from today's climate conditions, so we're in danger of crossing it," said Dennis Honing, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research who led the study. "Once we start sliding, we will fall off this cliff and cannot climb back up."

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The Greenland Ice Sheet is already melting; between 2003 and 2016, it lost about 255 gigatons (billions of tons) of ice each year. Much of the melt to date has been in the southern part of the ice sheet. Air and water temperature, ocean currents, precipitation and other factors all determine how quickly the ice sheet melts and where it loses ice.

The complexity of how those factors influence each other, along with the long timescales scientists need to consider for melting an ice sheet of this size, make it difficult to predict how the ice sheet will respond to different climate and carbon emissions scenarios.

Previous research identified global warming of between 1 degree to 3 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) as the threshold beyond which the Greenland Ice Sheet will melt irreversibly.

To more comprehensively model how the ice sheet's response to climate could evolve over time, Honing's new study for the first time used a complex model of the whole Earth system, which includes all the key climate feedback processes, paired with a model of ice sheet behavior. They first used simulations with constant temperatures to find equilibrium states of the ice sheet, or points where ice loss equaled ice gain. Then they ran a set of 20,000-year-long simulations with carbon emissions ranging from 0 to 4,000 gigatons of carbon.

From among those simulations, the researchers derived the 1,000-gigaton carbon tipping point for the melting of the southern portion of the ice sheet and the even more perilous 2,500-gigaton carbon tipping point for the disappearance of nearly the entire ice sheet.

As the ice sheet melts, its surface will be at ever-lower elevations, exposed to warmer air temperatures. Warmer air temperatures accelerate melt, making it drop and warm further. Global air temperatures have to remain elevated for hundreds of years or even longer for this feedback loop to become effective; a quick blip of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) wouldn't trigger it, Honing said. But once the ice crosses the threshold, it would inevitably continue to melt. Even if atmospheric carbon dioxide were reduced to pre-industrial levels, it wouldn't be enough to allow the ice sheet to regrow substantially.

"We cannot continue carbon emissions at the same rate for much longer without risking crossing the tipping points," Honing said. "Most of the ice sheet melting won't occur in the next decade, but it won't be too long before we will not be able to work against it anymore."

More information: Dennis Honing et al, Multistability and Transient Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Anthropogenic CO 2 Emissions, Geophysical Research Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1029/2022GL101827 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters
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The number of people burdened by SLR is significantly higher when the risk of isolation is considered, rather than only the risk of inundation. Credit: Nature Climate Change (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01642-3

A trio of environmental engineers, two with the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, the third with the University of Maryland, has developed a way to illustrate the impact of sea level rise isolation associated with global warming.

In their paper published in Nature Climate Change, Tom Logan, M. J. Anderson and Allison Reilly describe mapping isolation areas along both coasts of the U.S. and used the maps to calculate how many people would be impacted. Logan and Reilly have also published an associated Research Briefing in the same journal issue outlining their work.

As climate change progresses, ice on mountaintops and in the Antarctic and arctic regions continues to melt, resulting in a rise in ocean levels. Prior research has typically focused on areas that will be submerged, such as islands and coastal city areas. In this new effort, the researchers point out that another problem will ariseisolation. They note that rising coastal sea levels could encircle some areas, leaving those living or working on higher ground isolated.

They also note that sea level rise could also cover some roadways, preventing people from driving from point to pointanother type of isolation. Either type of isolation, they note, could be permanent, or periodic, coinciding with tides or heavy rains. They also note that such types of isolation could prevent people from traveling to places such as the grocery store, their school, or the hospital, forcing them to move.

In this new effort, the researchers sought to calculate the number of people in the U.S. (the lower 48 states) that would be impacted by such types of isolation based on three different levels of ocean rise; 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 meters by the end of the century.

To conduct their calculations, the team first created a map using OpenStreetMap to depict those coastal areas at risk of isolation. They then compared their maps with sea level impacts projected by NOAA. Then finally, they tracked all such neighborhoods and compared them with nearby essential facilities such as schools, hospitals and grocery stores. They found that approximately 500,000 people will likely experience isolation by the year 2080 under the 0.5-meter sea rise scenario, and that the number will rise to over 1 million under the 1-meter sea rise scenario.

More information: T. M. Logan et al, Risk of isolation increases the expected burden from sea-level rise, Nature Climate Change (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01642-3 Risk of isolation increases the urgency and spatial extent of climate change adaptation, Nature Climate Change (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01647-y Journal information: Nature Climate Change

 2023 Science X Network
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This visualization shows water features on New Yorks Long Islandshown as bright pink splotches. Purple, yellow, green, and dark blue shades represent different land elevations, while the surrounding ocean is a lighter blue. The data was collected on Jan. 21, 2023, by SWOTs KaRIn instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) missionled by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)has sent back some of its first glimpses of water on the planet's surface, showing ocean currents like the Gulf Stream in unprecedented detail. SWOT is also capturing views of freshwater features such as lakes, rivers, and other water bodies down to about 300 feet (100 meters) wide.

The satellite will measure the elevation of nearly all the water on Earth's surface and provide one of the most comprehensive surveys yet of our planet's surface water. SWOT's measurements of freshwater bodies and the ocean will provide insights into how the ocean influences climate change and the water cycle; how a warming world affects water storage in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs; and how communities can better manage their water resources and prepare for floods and other disasters.

"SWOT's advanced imagery will empower researchers and advance the way we manage fresh water and the effects of sea level rise across the globe," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Water is one of our planet's most important resourcesand it's proven to be vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. SWOT will provide critical information that communities can use to prepare for the impacts of a warming climate."

A whole new view

As seen in these early images, on Jan. 21, 2023, SWOT measured sea level in a part of the Gulf Stream off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia. The two antennas of SWOT's Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument acquired data that was mapped as a pair of wide, colored strips spanning a total of 75 miles (120 kilometers) across. Red and orange areas in the images represent sea levels that are higher than the global average, while the shades of blue represent sea levels that are lower than average.

For comparison, the new data is shown alongside sea surface height data taken by space-based instruments called altimeters. The instrumentswidely used to measure sea levelalso bounce radar signals off of Earth's surface to collect their measurements. But traditional altimeters are able to look only at a narrow beam of Earth directly beneath them, unlike KaRIn's two wide-swath strips that observe sea level as a two-dimensional map.

The spatial resolution of SWOT ocean measurements is 10 times greater than the composite of sea surface height data gathered over the same area by seven other satellites: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, Jason-3, Sentinel-3A and 3B, Cryosat-2, Altika, and Hai Yang 2B. The composite image was created using information from the Copernicus Marine Service of ESA (European Space Agency) and shows the same day as the SWOT data.

KaRIn also measured the elevation of water features on Long Islandshown as bright pink splotches nestled within the landscape. (Purple, yellow, green, and blue shades represent different land elevations.)

"Our ability to measure freshwater resources on a global scale through satellite data is of prime importance as we seek to adjust to a changing climate," said CNES Chairman and CEO Philippe Baptiste. "In this respect, the first views from SWOT give us a clearer picture than ever before. These data will prove highly valuable for the international scientific community in the fields of hydrology, oceanography, and coastal studies."

This initial inland image is a tantalizing indication of how SWOT can measure details of smaller lakes, ponds, and rivers in ways that satellites could not before. Such data will be used to produce an extraordinary accounting of the freshwater on Earth's surface in ways useful to researchers, policymakers, and water resource managers.

"The KaRIn instrument took years to develop and build, and it will collect information on bodies of water across the globedata that will be freely and openly available to everybody who needs it," said Parag Vaze, SWOT project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
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A woman in Rolling Fork, Mississippi walks amid the remains of homes destroyed by a massive tornado that ravaged parts of the southern US state, killing at least 25 people and leaving dozens of others injured.

Storm-ravaged Mississippi struggled on Sunday with the aftermath of a huge tornado that tore across the southern US state, killing at least 25 people, with devastated communities bracing for a fresh bout of extreme weather.

Search-and-rescue workers surveyed the damage of shredded homes, flattened buildings and smashed cars in Rolling Fork, a small town all but wiped out by nature's wrath.

After President Joe Biden freed up disaster aid, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned residents of Mississippi and neighboring Alabama of potential new "supercell thunderstorms" through late Sunday that could "produce a few strong tornadoes and very large hail."

The NWS gave Friday's tornadowhich left a trail of havoc more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) long across the statea rating of four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with ferocious winds of up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour.

Dozens of people have also been injured, and officials say the death toll could rise.

Under warm spring sunshine and cloudless blue skies, stunned residents walked among obliterated homes, sifting through debris and comforting one another as crews fought fires, conducted searches and cleared emergency routes.

Before-and-after satellite images released late Sunday showed utter ruin across parts of Rolling Fork, with homes destroyed and trees ripped out of the earth.

This combination of satellite images shows Walnut street in Rolling Fork, Mississippi before and after a powerful tornado leveled much of the southern US town on March 24, 2023.

The American Red Cross moved into a National Guard building in Rolling Fork hours after the storm razed much of the town, home to around 2,000 people.

An area was set up as an infirmary and boxes full of food and medical supplies were shuttled in to support storm victims who had lost everything, said John Brown, a Red Cross official for Alabama and Mississippi.

Anna Krisuta, 43, and her 16-year-old son Alvaro Llecha took shelter at the site, saying their house was in pieces.

'Heartbreaking'

The severe weather also left a man dead in Alabama when he was trapped under an overturned trailer, the sheriff's office in Morgan County said.

Officials including US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas gathered in Rolling Fork Sunday afternoon, praising rescue efforts and pledging support "for the long haul."

A resident embraces an emergency responder near a fire at a home in Rolling Fork, in the southern US state of Mississippi, after a deadly tornado hammered the area.

"It is heartbreaking to hear of the loss of life, to see the devastation firsthand," Mayorkas told a press conference held with Governor Tate Reeves and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) head Deanne Criswell.

He warned that the country is seeing "extreme weather events increasing... in gravity, severity and frequency and we have to build our communities to be best prepared for them."

Earlier Sunday, Criswell said on ABC that the tornado zone was "still very much in life-saving, life-sustaining mode."

She praised first responders, saying some "may have lost their homes themselves," and that FEMA had sent teams, with more on their way, to "help plan for and start the recovery process."

Biden's emergency order to support recovery efforts will provide grants for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, the White House said on Sunday.

People collect essentials at a relief center in Silver City, Mississippi in the aftermath of a deadly tornado.

Emergency supplies

Reeves thanked Biden on Twitter "for recognizing the scale of the damage in Mississippi and quickly approving our disaster declarationa critical step in disaster response."

Electricity repairs were underway Sunday to restore service, but by evening the number of customers without power rose to 61,000 total in thunderstorm-hit Mississippi and Alabama, monitor poweroutage.us reported.

Volunteers poured in from surrounding towns, including Lauren Hoda, who traveled 70 miles from Vicksburg to help.

"When I woke up this morning, I wanted to cry for the people of this town because I don't think they had much time before (the tornado) came," she said.

She spent Saturday night in Rolling Fork bringing donations of water, food, canned goods, diapers, wipes, medicine and toothpaste from collection points.

The National Weather Service gave the tornado a preliminary rating of a four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

Similar destruction plagued twister-hit Silver City, where residents were seen salvaging what they could from their destroyed homes

Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon notoriously difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.

 2023 AFP
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

If companies want to ensure pregnant employees and new moms stay on their payrolls, they'd do well to offer competitive maternity benefits.

So suggests new research by Samantha Paustian-Underdahl, the Mary Tilley Bessemer Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Florida State University College of Business.

Paustian-Underdahl's findings show that when women see their maternity benefits as less favorable than peers at other companies, they are more likely to experience pregnancy discrimination, and ultimately decide to leave their jobs.

However, the study also suggests that this becomes less of an issue when pregnant women and new mothers believe they are supported by their supervisors.

"Our study is the first to show that maternity benefits, specifically, can be very important for retaining pregnant women and mothers in the workplace," Paustian-Underdahl said. "We think investing in these benefits and investing in supportive supervisors are really important" if organizations want to hold on to their female employees.

Paustian-Underdahl's study will appear in a coming print edition of Personnel Psychology, a scholarly journal that publishes psychological research with a focus on the workplace. It is already available online.

FSU business doctoral student Andrew Keyes co-authored the study, as did faculty members Laura M. Little of the University of Georgia, Ashley M. Mandeville of Florida Gulf Coast University and Amanda S. Hinojosa of Howard University.

For working pregnant women in this country, Paustian-Underdahl says, the problem starts with accessibility to benefits. The U.S. remains the world's only high-income country that doesn't guarantee paid leave for mothers of infants, according to the World Policy Center.

The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, stipulates up to 12 weeks of leave for eligible employees of covered employers for the birth of a child and care for a newborn. But only a little more than half of the private-sector workforce qualifies for FMLA, the study points out, and participating employers are not required to pay employees who choose this benefit. Only 24% of private-industry workers and 27% of state and local government workers had access to paid family leave in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"There are many examples of companies that offer very good maternity benefits, but most people in the United States work for smaller companies that offer none at all," Paustian-Underdahl said. "That means many women must really patch together their maternity leave through, for example, short-term disability insurance, if they have it, and any unused paid time off or unused vacation days."

Citing previous research, the new findings emphasize concepts of identity threats and perceived value for working pregnant women: Upon learning of her pregnancy, a woman undergoes an identity transition from a working woman to a pregnant working woman. And because coworkers and supervisors often perceive pregnant workers as fragile, less competent and less committed to their jobs, pregnancy can initiate fear of stigmatization at work in women.

"Organizations that maybe don't have the budget to provide more maternity leave benefits could at the very least make sure they're training their supervisors to be supportive," Paustian-Underdahl said. "That can help ensure that pregnant women feel supported, are not experiencing discrimination and are more likely to stay with the company."

More information: Samantha C. PaustianUnderdahl et al, Examining the role of maternity benefit comparisons and pregnancy discrimination in women's turnover decisions, Personnel Psychology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/peps.12577 Journal information: Personnel Psychology
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A schematic diagram of the lunar surface water cycle associated with impact glass beads. Credit: Prof. Hu Sens group

Lunar surface water has attracted much attention due to its potential for in-situ resource utilization by future lunar exploration missions and other space missions

Now, a research group led by Prof. Hu Sen from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has found that impact glass beads in Chang'e-5 (CE5) lunar soils contain some water.

Detailed studies show that these glass beads are likely a new water reservoir on the moon, recording the dynamic ingress and egress of solar wind-derived water and acting as a buffer for the lunar surface water cycle.

This work was published in Nature Geoscience on March 27.

Many lunar missions have confirmed the presence of structural water or water ice on the moon. There is little doubt that most of the moon's surface harbors water, though the amount is much less than on Earth.

Surface water on the moon displays diurnal cycles and loss to space, indicating that there should be a hydrated layer or reservoir at depth in lunar soils to sustain the retention, release, and replenishment of water on the surface of the moon. However, previous studies of water inventory of fine mineral grains in lunar soils, impact-produced agglutinates, volcanic rocks, and pyroclastic glass beads have been unable to explain the retention, release, and replenishment of water on the surface of the moon (i.e., the lunar surface water cycle). Therefore, there must be a yet-unidentified water reservoir in lunar soils that has the capacity to buffer the lunar surface water cycle.

Doctoral student He Huicun, under the guidance of Prof. Hu Sen, proposed that impact glass beads, a ubiquitous component in lunar soils with an amorphous nature, were a potential candidate for investigation of the unidentified hydrated layer or reservoir in lunar soils.

She systematically characterized the petrography, major element composition, water abundance, and hydrogen isotope composition of the impact glass beads returned by the CE5 mission, aiming to identify and characterize the missing water reservoir on the moon's surface.

The CE5 impact glass beads have homogeneous chemical compositions and smooth exposed surfaces. They are characterized by water abundance up to about 2,000 g.g-1, with extreme deuterium-depleted characteristics. The negative correlation between water abundance and hydrogen isotope composition reflects the fact that water in the CE5 impact glass beads comes from solar winds.

The researchers also analyzed water abundance along six transects in five glass beads, which showed the hydration profiles of solar wind-derived water. Some glass beads were overlapped by a later degassing event. The impact glass beads acted as a sponge for buffering the lunar surface water cycle. The researchers estimate that the amount of water contributed by impact glass beads to lunar soils varies from 3.0  1011 kg to 2.7  1014 kg.

"These findings indicate that the impact glasses on the surface of the moon and other airless bodies in the solar system are capable of storing solar wind-derived water and releasing it into space," said Prof Hu.

More information: A solar wind-derived water reservoir on the Moon hosted by impact glass beads, Nature Geoscience (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-023-01159-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01159-6 Journal information: Nature Geoscience
Chinese FM meets U.S. delegation

Xinhua) 09:06, March 27, 2023

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang meets with a U.S. delegation consisting of representatives from friendly groups and business circle in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang had a meeting with a U.S. delegation consisting of representatives from friendly groups and business circle in Beijing on Saturday.

Extending welcome to them, Qin said that China's attitude towards developing a healthy, stable and constructive China-U.S. relations remains unchanged.

China always believes that the two countries should respect each other, coexist peacefully, and cooperate for win-win results, he said.

Noting that sound bilateral relations require efforts from both sides, Qin urged the U.S. side to abandon its zero-sum mentality, stop containing and suppressing China through unfair means, and work with China to bring the bilateral relations back to the track of healthy and stable development.

Qin said the U.S. businesses are welcome to expand their investments in China, and China will continue to improve business environment for foreign companies.

Members of the U.S. delegation said, during the visit, they deeply felt the vigor and vitality of China's economic and social development, and the Chinese people's expectations for developing bilateral relations.

They expressed their support for the sound development and stability of the relations, and their commitment to preventing the two countries from falling into a vicious circle of isolation or conflicts.

They also said they welcome more face-to-face contact, and look forward to further increasing flights between the two countries, promoting exchanges among various sectors, and deepening bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  Police have arrested three Chinese nationals and a Vietnamese suspected to have kidnapped and killed a Filipino-Chinese businessman after receiving ransom money from his family.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said its Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) arrested the suspects on March 23, five days after the victim was abducted on March 18 in Quezon City, and a day after his body was disposed of in Tanza, Cavite.

It identified the Chinese suspects as Bei Huimin, Jielong Shen and Sun XiaoHui, and the Vietnamese national as Hong Puc Le.

The PNP said it immediately launched an investigation after the victims family reported the kidnap for ransom. However, while the probe was ongoing, the suspects killed the businessman and threw away his body in the morning of March 22.

Police sought the assistance of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center to identify and locate the alleged perpetrators.

Authorities said they first arrested the Chinese nationals after the three withdrew the ransom money inside a bank in Paranaque City.

Police said hours later, in Taguig City, they also caught the Vietnamese suspect whose bank account was used to receive the 560,000 payment for the victims release.

The arrest of these individuals is an important step forward in our efforts to dismantle their group and protect our communities. Rest assured that justice will spring out and we will get to the bottom of this, PNP-AKG Director Brigadier General Rodolfo Castil Jr. said in a statement.

The AKG added that the suspects were brought to its headquarters for proper disposition.
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A visualization of SOFIA data measuring a signal or "light signature" of water overlaid on a visualization of the Moon as it appeared at the time of the observations in Feb. 2022. Darker blue indicates a higher concentration of water. Near the top left of the studied region, a ridge is visible in dark blue, where the water is particularly concentrated on the shady side of a steep lunar feature. Halfway down the left side of the region is Moretus Crater. The inner wall on the crater's upper half is clearly delineated in dark blue, indicating a greater presence of water on this shady surface. Although the right side of the region is drier overall, water can still be seen tracing the insides of craters in light blue. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio/Ernie Wright

A new study using the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has pieced together the first detailed, wide-area map of water distribution on the moon. SOFIA was a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR.

With clear, identifiable lunar features marked out by the water data, the study provides hints about how water may be moving across the moon's surface, particularly near its south polean important area for space exploration.

The new map covers about one-quarter of the Earth-facing side of the lunar surface below 60 degrees latitude and extends to the moon's south pole. Given the large region covered, the researchers could easily identify how water relates to surface features on the moon, staying away from sunlight and favoring cold areas.

"When looking at the water data, we can actually see crater rims, we see the individual mountains, and we can even see differences between the day and night sides of the mountains, thanks to the higher concentration of water in these places," said Bill Reach, director of the SOFIA Science Center at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and lead author on the study, which was presented at the 2023 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

In late 2024, NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land in the region studied by SOFIA, atop Mons Mouton, to conduct the first resource mapping mission beyond Earth. The flat-topped lunar mountain will be a region of emphasis in the next paper from the team that led the current study of SOFIA data.

This current finding, along with two previous SOFIA results about the amount and distribution of water on the moon's sunlit surface, tracks a unique light signature of water. Other missions observing wide areas of the lunar surface have studied different wavelengths of light, which can't distinguish water from similar molecules, such as hydroxyl. The moon's water is present in the soil and might be found as ice crystals, or as water molecules chemically bound to other materials. A new study using the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has pieced together the first detailed, wide-area map of water distribution on the Moon. The new map covers about one-quarter of the Earth-facing side of the lunar surface below 60 degrees latitude and extends to the Moons South Pole. In this data visualization, SOFIAs lunar water observations are indicated using color, with blue representing areas of higher water signal, and brown less. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio/Ernie Wright

Instead of determining the absolute quantity of water in the region, the researchers compared the data obtained around the moon's south pole to a relatively dry reference region near the moon's equator to see how its abundance changes. The water was found in greater concentrations on the shadowed sides of craters and mountains, similar to the way skiers on Earth know the slopes receiving less direct sun retain snow longer. This suggests the moon's local geography plays an important role in the amount of water present.

As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the moon under Artemis, the agency has identified 13 candidate landing regions near the lunar south pole. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon, and lunar water could be a critical resource for establishing a long-term human presence.

"With this map of SOFIA data, and others to come, we are looking at how water is concentrated under different lunar environmental conditions," said Casey Honniball, a visiting assistant research scientist and VIPER science team member at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland, who was involved in the work. "This map will provide valuable information for the Artemis program on potential prospecting areas but also provides regional context for future science missions, like VIPER."

In addition to the southern region for which the new map results were created, SOFIA observations of sites relevant to other missions are in the archive and now being analyzed. NASA Artemis-related missions will target both polar and non-polar regions, including Lunar Trailblazer, which will orbit the moon to map its hydroxyl and water.

Where the moon's water may be coming fromwhether it is ancient and exists inherently in the moon's minerals as a result of early volcanic processes on the moon or is contemporary and delivered by asteroids, comets, or solar wind, and whether it is migrating along the moon's surfaceis another important question left open by the SOFIA observations. VIPER will aim to better understand this distinction, which is important in determining if the water is widespread and deep within the surface, or only scattered at or near the surface.

It's clear, however, that even at its lowest limit, the moon contains much more water than we once believed.

"Our common knowledge from the Apollo era that the moon is bone dry was wrong," said Paul Lucey, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and co-author on the paper. "We already know it's wrong, but the question is by how much."

The study is published in The Planetary Science Journal.

More information: William T. Reach et al, The Distribution of Molecular Water in the Lunar South Polar Region Based upon 6 m Spectroscopic Imaging, The Planetary Science Journal (2023). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/acbdf2 Journal information: The Planetary Science Journal
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Mitochondria. Credit: Wikipedia commons

Scientists from Vanderbilt University, the Universidad de la Republica in Uruguay, and other research centers have achieved a scientific tour de forceresurrecting a "dead antibody" to reveal the mysteries of cytochrome c, a versatile protein that is an essential part of the cell's energy-generating capacity, and of life itself.

Cytochrome c is primarily confined to the inner membrane of the mitochondrion, the cell's energy generator. When released to the inner-cellular fluid (cytosol), however, it plays a major role in apoptosis, the highly regulated, programmed death of cells that are no longer needed.

The protein also has been detected in secretory and bacterial vesicles, suggesting that it may be involved in other, as-yet-undiscovered functions. To date, however, alternate conformations of this proteinlike the disguises of a quick-change artisthave eluded scientific scrutiny.

In 2009, using a unique monoclonal antibody, Uruguayan scientist Rafael Radi, MD, Ph.D., and collaborators at Universidad de la Republica, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and University of Minnesota detected a new, tridimensional structure of cytochrome c in the cytosol and nuclei of non-apoptotic cells.

Unfortunately, the source of the antibody, a hybridoma originally created by Ronald Jemmerson, Ph.D., at the University of Minnesota, was lost when the liquid nitrogen tank storing it at sub-freezing temperatures failed.

Attempts to rebuild the hybridoma, a fusion of the antibody-producing immune cell with an immortal cancer cell, were unsuccessful.

A decade later, technological advances enabled Radi's team in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, in collaboration with Vanderbilt colleagues and others, to determine the antibody's full amino-acid sequence and rebuild it in the laboratory.

Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrated that their resurrected antibody detected alternative conformations of cytochrome c in living cells.

The biological role of these conformations may involve regulation of gene expression. More broadly, they concluded, this antibody "represents a unique tool encompassing knowledge of protein dynamics and plasticity."

Radi, whose work has helped define the role that free radicals, oxidants and mitochondrial dysfunction play in human disease, is professor and chair of Biochemistry, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Republica, and an International Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

He also is an adjunct member of the Vanderbilt University faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and Vanderbilt Institute for Chemical Biology.

"This work illustrates the synergy of great science and collaborative spirit that exemplifies Vanderbilt core labs," said Carnahan, associate director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, who has advanced the use of human monoclonal antibodies to prevent life-threatening viral infections.

Radi met Carnahan during a visit to Vanderbilt in 2013, and the two discussed how to "resurrect" a lost antibody by generating a recombinant version of small amounts of the original antibody Radi had in his lab.

Carnahan followed up with an e-mail: "The VU Mass Sepctrometry facility core has never performed de novo antibody sequencing. They may be willing to give it a try."

"That initial help was a key step toward reconstructing the primary sequences of the light and heavy antibody chains," Radi said.

"In addition, the Vanderbilt group also cooperated in the bioinformatic analysis and the molecular biology and biochemistry that enabled the expression and purification of the recombinant antibody."

Radi said he was grateful for all who participated directly in the project, and for the support of Lawrence Marnett, Ph.D., former dean of Basic Sciences in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

"It was an incredible amount of work and took a long time, but I am very proud and excited of what was accomplished collaboratively," Radi continued. "Vanderbilt played a central role in all of this.

"Now, with this unique tool in hand again for the community, it is likely that novel functions of cytochrome c in mammalian cell biology will be identified and revealed," he said.

More information: Florencia Tomasina et al, De novo sequencing and construction of a unique antibody for the recognition of alternative conformations of cytochrome c in cells, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213432119 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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This schematic shows the experimental setup for serial crystallography, which uses a nylon chip containing tens of thousands of protein crystals that can be quickly scanned with an X-ray beam. Credit: Argonne/Andrzej Joachimiak

Eadweard Muybridge's electrifying photos of a galloping horse set the world on fire when he created the precursor to what became motion pictures. For today's scientists, a new upgrade to one of the world's most powerful hard X-ray light sources could improve the way molecular movies are made. These could reveal hidden secrets of different chemicals, potentially paving the way for new treatments and pharmaceuticals.

Scientists typically use different forms of a technique called crystallography to reconstruct the molecular structure of proteins. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have now used and expanded a new method called serial crystallography, developed previously at X-ray free-electron laser facilities. A paper based on the study appeared Nature Communications.

Combining serial crystallography with observations over short time scales (from a tenth to a hundredth of a second) allows scientists to detect real-time changes in the shape of proteins and bound molecules during chemical reactions. The technique offers a unique advantage over previous forms of crystallography, as individual crystals can be smaller and they only need to be illuminated with X-ray beams once, and for a short period of time.

The upcoming upgrade to Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science user facility at Argonne, will create X-ray beams that are up to 500 times brighter than those currently generated at the facility. This will allow for serial crystallography to be more broadly available at the APS, said Argonne distinguished fellow Andrzej Joachimiak, who is also the director of the Structural Biology Center (SBC) at the APS and a professor at the University of Chicago.

"Serial crystallography is really in its infancy and has largely been the purview of specialized facilities with free-electron lasers," said Joachimiak. "With the APS Upgrade, we will have the ability to study all sorts of reactions as they happen, especially for biological systems." Snapshots of moxalactam cleavage by L1 from S. maltophilia captured by TR-SSX (20  4000 ms). Protein is in yellow, zinc ions in magenta, water molecules are labelled red, moxalactam is in stick representation with carbon atoms in green prior -lactam cleavage, orange right after cleavage (150 ms) and blue in the final product during conformational adjustments. Movie shows conformational changes to model of moxalactam in the L1 active site. Credit: Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35029-3

In a recent experiment in conjunction with researchers at the University of Chicago, Joachimiak used serial crystallography to examine the reaction of an antibiotic drug and an enzyme isolated from a drug-resistant pathogen. The result could help give researchers a better idea of the molecular mechanisms that enable certain bacteria to gain antibiotic resistance.

The research team made use of SBC at beamline 19-ID and the specialized capabilities of the BioCARS beamline at 14-ID, managed by the University of Chicago. According to Vukica Srajer, a BioCARS research beamline scientist and a co-author on the paper, the beamline is one of a few in the world that can perform serial crystallography on incredibly short time scales. Researchers used BioCARS to perform time-resolved serial crystallography.

By doing an X-ray scan of a plastic chip that contained a suspension of thousands of individual protein microcrystals, Joachimiak and his colleagues were able to quickly and accurately reconstruct several protein structures. The researchers used a "pump-probe" technique in which they shined ultraviolet light on the sample to initiate a reaction. They then used the X-ray beam to observe the result at different time points.

"Previous attempts at doing this kind of crystallography would destroy the crystals before we could get the complete data," Joachimiak said. "Because we're only shining the X-ray beams on each particular crystal for a very short period of time, we can get over 40,000 images from one chip. This dramatically speeds up our crystallography efforts and gives us the ability to see into protein mechanisms over several time scales we'd never before been able to resolve."

The advantage of doing serial crystallography, according to Joachimiak, is that it allows scientists to observe changes in the protein's structure as they happen. In the case of an enzyme, it also gives scientists the ability to look at how the enzyme's active site interacts with another molecule, or substrate.

In the study, Joachimiak and his colleagues looked at a protein-enzyme complex called a beta-lactamase, which gives certain pathogens antibiotic resistance. With serial crystallography, the researchers were able to notice a buildup of zinc atoms that triggered the enzyme to break through the antibiotic molecule.

"It's as if you were trying to open a jar with a stuck lid," Joachimiak said. "You keep twisting and twisting and it doesn't move initially, until ultimately it suddenly gives way."

According to Joachimiak, a water molecule becomes activated by zinc ions to break the bond of the antibiotic. "Serial crystallography shows us exactly when the zinc makes the reaction happen," he said. "You can watch it happen in real time."

Mateusz Wilamowski, a researcher at Jagellonian University in Poland and a former postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago, who also helped perform the research, said that the ability to resolve the dynamics of this particular class of molecules could have broad-reaching implications. "There are many other proteins like this that rely on similar mechanisms," he said. "Nobody has been able to study the intermediate transitions of the molecule that we were able to visualize."

Regular protein crystallography does not allow for the creation of these molecular movies because scientists can only collect a handful of images before destroying the crystal, Joachimiak explained. "It's truly a revolutionary technique that will have a huge impact on how we can observe and ultimately design better drugs," he said.

Wilamowski also believes that the results will help enable intelligent drug design, as future research could pair the APS Upgrade with quantum mechanical calculations to improve already existing molecules.

More information: M. Wilamowski et al, Time-resolved -lactam cleavage by L1 metallo--lactamase, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35029-3 Journal information: Nature Communications
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Through coercion and deception, more than 20 million people around the world are forced into labor that generates more than $150 billion in annual profits, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

At an extreme, modern slavery and human trafficking involve exploitation that a person cannot refuse or escape because of threats, violence, coercion and deception. Despite the illegality, tens of millions of people are victimized by organized traffickers each year with estimates that one in four are children, according to the ILO.

A study from the University of Notre Dame examines how human traffickers systematically target girls and women from impoverished villages in India and take them to big cities like Mumbai, where they transform objections into compliance. The study draws from interviews with girls and women forced into the sex industry, human traffickers, brothel managers, doctors, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and police officers, in an effort to better understand the cycle and ultimately invoke change.

"Organizing the Exploitation of Vulnerable People: A Qualitative Assessment of Human Trafficking" is published in the Journal of Management by Dean Shepherd, the Ray and Milann Siegfried Professor of Entrepreneurship in Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, along with Vinit Parida and Joakim Wincent from the Lulea University of Technology in Sweden and Trent Williams from Indiana University.

Continuing a research theme of adversity in entrepreneurship, Shepherd looked to the red-light districts of the major cities in India and focused on women entering the sex industry. He quickly discovered that almost none of them had made a conscious decision to offer "service"they were tricked and sold into the industry.

Shepherd said girls from very poor rural villages are lured into the major cities through deceptive recruiting practices, including bait and switch"sometimes explicitly by family members, or the family turns a blind eye to the fact that it happened. A boy pledges love, promises marriage, they run away and she is sold. Or, the promise of a job in the city as a cleaner, but instead they get taken. And the girls can never go back home because they would never be accepted, even though the family members often caused or aided their victimization."

The team interviewed two dozen current and former workers forced into the sex industry, including "Shrita" from Nashik in Western India. She told them she was befriended by a woman who took her from her village to Mumbai when she was around 15 years old, and promised to return her to her family. Instead, Shrita was sold to strangers and raped by five to seven "customers" per day for years.

"I used to cry a lot," she said. "I used to say no. They all said no one will take you back. Your life will be a mess. They said where your village is, we will tell everyone you are like this and they will kill you. I even tried suicide. They saved me. I got stitches. I understood nothing can be done and I have no support."

Now 42, Shrita managed to survive and escape.

Through interviews with Shrita and others like her, along with dozens of conversations with traffickers, recruiters, aid workers and others, the team uncovered a cycle of human exploitation that involved four interrelated practicesdeceptive recruiting, entrapping through isolation, extinguishing alternatives by building barriers and ultimately converting the exploited into exploiters.

"They were broken away from their connections and isolated, and the stigma now associated with themnot through their own actions, but other people's actions against themmeant that it was impossible to go back home," Shepherd explained. "All former connections were broken off, leaving them entrapped with no options."

The team found that brothel owners force the girls to repay the cost of their initial purchase along with other "debts" including accommodation. Police are often corrupt. They conduct raids, but are paid off by the brothel managers and the girls are returned. As the girls get older and begin to earn more responsibility and freedom, they repeat the cycle.

For Shepherd, that was the most shocking.

"They are beaten, they are drugged, they are raped, all of it just horrible," he said. "But then they eventually recruit other girls. They become highly desensitized in the end and brainwashed as well."

The team found an NGO working with a group of former sex workers who started a business making fabrics. The women couldn't return to society, so they lived and worked together in a rare example of successful escape from the cycle.

Shepherd hopes this study can offer new insights into counter-organizing including NGO interventions like this one. He says it's essential to understand a situation before it can be improved.

"If we can offer girls and women alternatives other than the sex industry after having been in the sex industry, then they won't have to become recruiters," he said, while acknowledging the enormity of institutional forces working against them.

"One way to help would be get rid of poverty in India and in other developing economies with high levels of poverty and corruption," he said. "That's no easy task. Eliminate the demand for the sex industry, police corruption and patriarchal societies. They're all massive problems with no easy fixes. But that shouldn't stop us from considering what we might be able to do."

Specializing in entrepreneurship under adversity, Shepherd was recognized in 2017 as the world's leading scholar in entrepreneurial research. Much of his research has confirmed the adage that "necessity is the mother of innovation." After devastating trauma such as being sold into sexual slavery, many people find entrepreneurship can provide the only choice to survive.

More information: Dean A. Shepherd et al, Organizing the Exploitation of Vulnerable People: A Qualitative Assessment of Human Trafficking, Journal of Management (2021). DOI: 10.1177/01492063211046908 Journal information: Journal of Management
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The Supreme Court of Norway ruled that the development of wind power at Fosen in Trndelag county violated human rights and the Sami's right to carry out their cultural livelihood. What will happen to the wind farm and the mountain area remains uncertain. Credit: NTB

Wind turbines are contributing to the Southern Sami losing grazing land for their reindeer husbandry. This livelihood is central to the identity of the Southern Sami culture and thus to their language, researchers say.

The Sami's fight against the billion-dollar development in Roan and at Storheia in Trndelag county won an important victory when the Supreme Court of Norway in 2021 determined the government's concession for wind power development at Fosen to be invalid.

The Supreme Court ruled that the development was a violation of human rights and the Sami's right to their cultural practices. What will happen to the wind farm and the mountain area remains uncertain.

"This is a pattern that has been going on for generations, and it makes me wonder about the process. We're talking about a small microgroup that gets stung. That upsets me," says Trond Risto Nilssen, an NTNU researcher at the Department of Teacher Education.

Threat for entire culture

Nilssen is one of the authors of the book The Indigenous Identity of the South Saami, which was published in 2019, two years before the remarkable Supreme Court verdict. In the book he writes about how the practice of reindeer herding for the Southern Sami"a minority within the minority"is central to both the language and culture of the ethnic group.

"The construction of wind turbines in Southern Sami lands raises issues of the greatest importance for the Southern Sami as an ethnic group. This is about rights and about the Southern Sami language. Furthermore, many Southern Sami believe that reindeer herding is the most important carrier of their culture, such that threats to grazing areas are a threat to the entire culture," Nilssen wrote.

He maintains that the Southern Sami identity is strongly linked to reindeer herding itself.

"We're talking about a marginalized group under great pressure, where reindeer husbandry is an identity marker. Every area that is gobbled up by development thus takes on great importance."

"An identity marker can be understood as something that is important for an individual's understanding of him- or herself," Nilssen said.

"Who are we, who is in the group we belong to? What are the characteristics of this community? Reindeer herding includes traditional knowledge and that's one thing, but this also has linguistic aspects. This becomes apparent when older and younger Southern Sami are interviewed," Nilssen said.

Southern Sami language is almost extinct

The Southern Sami language has long been characterized as endangered and is described as a minority language even in the Sami context. How many people speak Southern Sami is uncertain, but it is assumed that fewer than a thousand people have mastery of the language. The difference between Southern Sami and the much more widespread Northern Sami is often described as being like the difference between Norwegian and Icelandic.

"Without reindeer herding, the Southern Sami language wouldn't exist today," says linguist Inger Johansen.

Johansen is a senior lecturer at Nord University where her research includes Sami language and culture. She says that the Southern Sami language is now in the process of improving its position after almost being threatened with extinction. The language has been particularly vulnerable due to extensive assimilation among the Sami in southern Norway. She notes that reindeer husbandry has served as a counterweight to assimilation.

"The Sami have always engaged in various types of industry, not just reindeer husbandry. On the coast, the Sami have tended to combine farming and fishing in the same way as Norwegians, whereas reindeer herding has been more common in inland regions," she said.

Reindeer husbandry has given the Sami a livelihood that is unique to them and that they have managed independently.

Reindeer husbandry has thus played an extremely important role, especially in the Southern Sami areas. It would be wrong to say that they've had the mountains to themselves, because reindeer herding has been regulated, and cabins and roads have been built, snowmobiles are a presence and windmills have been erected. But they have been left alone to practice their livelihood.

The further south in the country you go, the more the Sami have been in the minority.

"The Sami have assimilated to a greater extent in the south than in the north, and in coastal areas the Sami have disappeared to a greater extent than in the mountains, where they have been able to exercise their livelihood more independently," she said.

Tiny and invisible minority

On the Trndelag coast, the Sami language and culture have largely disappeared. Traces of the language can still be found in many place names or in anecdotes.

"The Sami on the Trndelag coast have been a tiny and invisible minority, and those who pursue reindeer herding at Fosen today have been completely overrun by society at large in the wind power case," says Johansen.

What consequences will there be for the language if the Southern Sami lose their reindeer husbandry ranges?

"I think the loss of grazing lands will have major consequences, even though the language today has more legs to stand on than just reindeer herding. Not that many years ago only a handful of public positions used Southern Sami as the working language. Today there are so many positions that it's impossible to fill them all. But there are still a lot of Southern Sami children who aren't receiving the education they're entitled to, and we're seeing that the language has been lost in many families," Johansen says.

Johansen says the lack of resources continues to be a problem.

"The Southern Sami population is scattered, and Sami who don't live in Snasa or Rros, where there are Southern Sami teachers, find that they have to go through a lengthy process to get adequate language teaching. Things look good on paper, but the reality is that there aren't enough teaching aids and knowledge," she said.

Commission requests an explanation

The two researchers are now looking forward to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report, due to be released by 1 June 2023. The commission was set up by the Norwegian Parliament in 2018 to investigate injustices committed against the Sami, Kven and Forest Finns as a result of the Norwegianization policy.

Dagfinn Hybraten, the commission's chair, last autumn asked the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) to explain how the ministry plans to safeguard both the state's ownership interests and the state's human rights obligations in the Fosen case and in future land conflicts regarding industrial development in the reindeer herding district.

Hybraten told NRK earlier this year, "We've noted from the many inquiries that we've received for the commission, that a lot of people are worried about whether they can count on this Supreme Court judgment to actually have consequences."

OED has announced that they will secure a solution to maintain the operation of the wind power plants, while simultaneously safeguarding the reindeer herding rights. Leif Arne Jama in the Fosen reindeer herding district told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) that the Sami perceive the time the ministry is taking as a great burden, and that he fears they will be the last Sami able to pursue reindeer husbandry as a livelihood in Fosen.

"The Southern Sami must be guaranteed the possibility to preserve their culture and language," says Nilssen.

"Preserving the culture and language requires having an active and lively cultural practice. My observation is that reindeer herding is very important for maintaining the Southern Sami identity, including for Sami who don't engage in reindeer herding themselves," Nilssen said.

Linguist Johansen also emphasizes the importance of reindeer husbandry to the culture.

"The Sami language can't survive independently of the rest of the culture and the Southern Sami identity. Reindeer herding is very central as a culture and identity marker here. It's critical for the entire Southern Sami culture to make arrangements so that engaging in reindeer herding in the future will continue to be possible as well," she says.
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Close up of the newly described species Arex quixotiana. Credit: Pensoft Publishers

The knowledge of biodiversity in allegedly well-known places is not as complete as one would expect, and its detailed study by researchers continues to offer surprises. These are the findings from a new study of the flora of south-central Spain. The paper is published in PhytoKeys.

Now, Spanish botanists from Pablo de Olavide University (Seville, Spain) have described a new plant species of the papyrus family (Cyperaceae) restricted to the La Mancha region in south-central Spain. This region is in fact well-known for classic literary fans, who might recognize the name as the main setting in Miguel de Cervantes' (15471616) masterpiece "Don Quixote."

The epic novel, which tells the story of the life and journeys of Alonso Quijano, a Spanish hidalgo (nobleman), who becomes the knight-errant Don Quixote de la Mancha, is commonly considered to be one of the greatest literary works ever written, with its number of editions and translations thought to be only surpassed by those of the Bible.

The new species, now scientifically known as Carex quixotiana, belongs to sedges of the genus Carex, a group of herbs included in the papyrus family (Cyperaceae). The classification (taxonomy) of these plants is difficult, as it is a highly diverse and widely distributed genus, whose species are frequently hard to tell apart. In fact, C. quixotiana has itself evaded the eyes of expert botanists for decades, because of its close resemblance to related species.

"Cryptic species are frequent in complex plant groups, such as sedges, and integrative studies encompassing different data sources (e.g. morphology, molecular phylogeny, chromosome number, ecological requirements) are needed to unravel systematic relationships and accurately describe biodiversity patterns," says Dr. Martin-Bravo, senior author of the paper.

Representative photo of the habitat of the newly described species Carex quixotiana. This is a riparian forest (Ciudad Real, Solana del Pino, Robledillo River). Note the grass-like C. quixotiana plants in the lower right corner. Credit: Santiago Martin-Bravo. License: CC-BY 4.0

After a preliminary genetic study pointed to something odd about specimens of what was later to be known as Carex quixotiana, the authors set off on exhaustive field collecting campaigns across La Mancha. As they studied additional populations of the plant in further detail, using morphology, phylogenetics, and chromosome number, the scientists confirmed that they were looking at a species previously unknown to science. Understandably, the distribution range of the newly discovered species, restricted to the mountain ranges surrounding La Mancha (Sierra Madrona and Montes de Toledo), made the authors think about Cervantes' masterpiece.

So far only known from 16 populations, Carex quixotiana prefers habitats with high water availability, such as small streams, wet meadows and riverside (riparian) forests.

Since little is known about the species' demographics, including the number of mature individuals in the wild, further investigation is required to determine its conservation status. However, based on what they have learnt so far about the species, the authors of the present study assume that "it is an Iberian endemic with a relatively small number of populations and distribution range, which would benefit from legal protection and inclusion in in-situ/ex-situ conservation programs."

In conclusion, the scientists point to their results as yet another proof of how much there is still to learn about Earth's biodiversity, even when it comes to supposedly well-known organisms, such as flowering plants, and countries, whose flora is presumed to be fully documented. The "Flora Iberica," for example, which covers Spain and Portugal, has only recently been finalized, the team reminds us.

"In the present biodiversity crisis scenario, it is critical that we do not neglect basic scientific disciplines like taxonomy, since cataloging biodiversity is a fundamental step towards its preservation and, thus, sustainable management," say the researchers.

More information: Carmen Benitez-Benitez et al, Carex quixotiana (Cyperaceae), a new Iberian endemic from Don Quixote's land (La Mancha, S Spain), PhytoKeys (2023). DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.221.99234 Journal information: PhytoKeys
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Dr. Evan Gora inspects a recent lightning strike at a forested field site on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Credit: Jeff Burchfield

Many tropical forests are experiencing increases in lightning and lianas, thanks in part to global change. This one-two punch is likely causing an increase in the death of small trees, which could lead to shifts in composition of tropical forests and their ability to store carbon. A paper in the journal New Phytologist reports on this development.

Tropical forests experience 35-67 million lightning strikes each year, and strikes appear to be becoming more frequent. Evan Gora, the paper's lead author and a Research Fellow at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, explains, "Lightning is a major cause of tree death and forest disturbance, yet it has been understudied as an agent of change. We wanted to understand why some lightning strikes kill more trees than othersand discovered that lianas play an outsized role."

Lianas are woody vines with long climbing stems that are common in the tropics. In competition for sunlight, lianas grow up trees and into their canopies. Gora and colleagues found that liana density is positively associated with the number of trees killed and damaged by lightning. The team's research indicates that this is because lianaswhich are highly conductiveserve as a pathway for electrical current to move from large to small trees.

"Large trees are more likely to be struck by lightning," Gora notes. "When lianas are in the canopy, they amplify the effects of lightning strikes, resulting in more severe damage to neighboring trees. By physically connecting trees that would otherwise be separated, lianas act like jumper cables, delivering deadly electrical current to smaller understory trees that would otherwise survive a lightning strike."

The research took place in a lowland forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, the only tropical forest where lightning impacts have been systematically quantified. Here, it is estimated that lightning kills more than 16% of tree biomass annually, including 40-50% of the largest trees. Past studies found the ecological effects of individual lightning strikes to be highly variable, with the few strikes described ranging from 1-116 trees damaged and 0-65 trees killed.

A novel lightning detection system was used to reveal the mechanisms underlying this variation, and whether the presence of lianas influenced the severity of lightning disturbance. Surveys were conducted on 78 lightning strikes located in areas where lianas had been mapped; 1,921 trees with conspicuous lightning damage were monitored. Tree condition was evaluated within four months of the lightning strike, and up to four times within 23 months post-strike.

For 65 of the lightning strikes, the team identified the source of the electricity to 85% of damaged trees (1,434 of 1,681). These included: (1) physical contact with a liana, (2) physical contact with a tree, (3) flashover from a nearby liana, or (4) flashover from a nearby tree. They then evaluated how forest structure impacted lightning disturbance severity for 22 lightning strikes (569 lightning-damaged trees).

When liana density was high, lightning disturbance was more severe, with more small trees damaged or killed. Large trees (greater than 10 cm) had no associations with forest structure, indicating that lianas primarily transferred electricity to small trees. This was supported by observations of the source of electric current. Physical contact with lianas had a strong positive relationship with the number of trees that were damaged or killed per strike. Liana flashover and tree physical contact also had positive relationships with lightning severity, however, these relationships were weaker than liana physical contact.

Lianas did not increase the area or footprint damaged by lightning, but they increased the severity of lightning disturbance to neighboring trees. Gora explains, "Lianas appear to move electricity from large trees to smaller understory trees, with our field observations indicating that small trees are damaged and killed more frequently when liana density is high and trees have direct contact with the vines."

The authors caution that there could be a positive feedback loop in forests where liana density is especially high, such as seasonal and young tropical forests. Lianas make lightning disturbance more severe, potentially leading to deeper canopy gaps that then become hotspots for liana regeneration, which in turn amplify the severity of future lightning strikes. This positive feedback loop could have major implications for the dynamics of liana-tree competition and forest carbon budgets.

Gora concludes, "Lianas and lightning, two understudied phenomena that are sensitive to global change, interact to shape tree survival. More work is needed to identify the tree species that will be most impacted, those that will be resilient, and how this will ultimately change forest composition and carbon storage over time."

More information: Evan M. Gora et al, Lianas increase lightningcaused disturbance severity in a tropical forest, New Phytologist (2023). DOI: 10.1111/nph.18856 Journal information: New Phytologist
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Reduced FDX1 releases ES-bound Cu in vitro. (A) A schematic representation of in vitro assay to determine FDX1-mediated release of Cu from ES. (B) UV/Vis spectra of 50 M human FDX1 Red /FDX1 Ox  50 M ESCu(II) in Tris buffer (10 mM Tris, 50 mM NaCl, pH 7.5). (C) UV/Vis spectra of the BCSCu(I) complex in the presence of increasing concentrations (0 to 55 M) of FDX1 Red or (D) FDX1 Ox protein. FDX1 Ox/Red proteins were mixed with 1 mM BCS in Tris buffer, and 20 M ESCu(II) was added to start the reaction. The final dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) concentration in the solution was 20% after injection. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2216722120

A new study has uncovered a unique way in which the anti-cancer drug elesclomol enables copper delivery in cells, aiding in the search for treatments for copper deficiency disorders such as Menkes disease.

Menkes disease is an extremely rare hereditary copper-deficiency disorder in infants. It is characterized by progressive neurological injury culminating in death, typically by the age of three.

A Texas A&M AgriLife Research team led by Vishal Gohil, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Bryan-College Station, first discovered the therapeutic potential of elesclomol for treating copper deficiency disorders. Additionally, previous research by Gohil's team showed that elesclomol could be used effectively in a mouse model to treat Menkes disease.

The new study, "FDX1-dependent and independent mechanisms of elesclomol-mediated intracellular copper delivery," was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences. The research was led by Gohil, with Mohammed Zulkifli, Ph.D., a research scientist in the same department, as the first author of the study.

The study was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the University of Houston, Oregon Health and Science University, University of Missouri and the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy multidisciplinary science and engineering research center.

Elesclomol and copper deficiency

Genetic defects in copper transport to copper-containing enzymes, referred to as "cuproenzymes," result in fatal disorders such as Menkes disease. No effective treatment is currently available for these copper deficiency disorders.

"To realize the full potential of elesclomol, it was necessary to gain a mechanistic understanding of how this drug makes copper available to different cellular cuproenzymes," Gohil said. "We needed to look at the mechanism by which copper brought into cells by elesclomol is released and delivered to cuproenzymes present in different subcellular compartments."

He said the study used a combination of biochemistry, cell biology and genetics to demonstrate that the release of copper from elesclomol occurs both inside and outside mitochondria.

Vishal Gohil, Ph.D., left, and Mohammad Zulkifli, Ph.D., right, in the Gohil Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Credit: Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Michael Miller

Copper and human health

Copper is an essential trace element required for the activity and stability of several cuproenzymes involved in a wide array of physiological processes.

"Copper is an essential micronutrient, and genetic mutations that prevent copper transport across cellular membranes or its delivery to cuproenzymes can result in lethal human disorders such as Menkes disease," Gohil said.

Currently, no Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies are available for treating Menkes disease. Additionally, direct administration of hydrophilic copper salts has shown limited efficacy in clinical trials.

"We hypothesized that this limited efficacy was likely due to inefficient copper delivery across cellular membranes, so there was an unmet need to identify compounds that can safely and effectively transport copper across biological membranes and restore cellular copper balance," Gohil said.

The study

Previous research had shown that ferredoxin 1, FDX1, a mitochondrial enzyme, was the protein target of elesclomol. In the current study, Gohil and his team showed that FDX1 releases copper bound to elesclomol by reducing it to a form of copper cells can use. The study also showed that even when FDX1 was absent, elesclomol could still bring some copper into cells in other unknown ways.

Zulkifli said FDX1 can also help release copper from other clinically used copper-transporting drugs, but compared with elesclomol, these drugs are much less dependent on FDX1 to make the copper bioavailable to cuproenzymes.

"These modes of copper release by elesclomol are distinct from those of other currently used copper-transporting drugs," Zulkifli said. "This may explain the high potency of elesclomol in rectifying copper deficiency."

Building on past research

Previous studies by Gohil and his team have highlighted the therapeutic potential of elesclomol in treating diseases of copper deficiency. Some of this previous research also showed that elesclomol can restore the levels of cytochrome c oxidase protein complex, a critical copper-dependent enzyme required for mitochondrial energy production.

The Gohil lab also demonstrated that elesclomol improves copper deficiency in yeast, zebrafish and mouse models by delivering copper to mitochondria and restoring the function of the cytochrome c oxidase.

Additionally, the use of elesclomol to treat copper deficiency disorders is at the center of a licensing agreement between The Texas A&M University System, managed through the Intellectual Property and Commercialization office of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, and California-based Engrail Therapeutics.

More information: Mohammad Zulkifli et al, FDX1-dependent and independent mechanisms of elesclomol-mediated intracellular copper delivery, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2216722120 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A message of faith and hope first delivered by Pope Francis in the middle of the 2020 coronavirus lockdown will be sent into space, the Vatican announced Monday.

The speech of the pontiff praying alone in an empty St Peter's Square have been turned into a "nanobook" measuring less than two millimeters wide, which will be launched into orbit on June 10.

It will travel around the Earth on a purpose-built satellite at an altitude of about 525 kilometers, dispatched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The "Spei Satelles" (Satellites of Hope in Latin) projectwhose cost and funding has not been revealedis being coordinated by the Italian Space Agency in conjunction with various Italian institutions.

Agency president Giorgio Saccoccia said the Vatican had asked for "a solution that would allow the Holy Father's words of hope to cross the earth's borders and reach from space the greatest possible number of women and men on our troubled planet".

On March 27, 2020, the pope urged followers who felt "afraid and lost" in the face of what was then a terrifying new virus to have faith.

The project is not the pontiff's first encounter with spacein 2017, he held a video call with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where he asked them about "man's place in the universe".

Six years earlier, his predecessor Benedict XVI also rang the ISS.

 2023 AFP
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Light curve showing the change in brightness of the TRAPPIST-1 system as the innermost planet, TRAPPIST-1 b, moves behind the star. This phenomenon is known as a secondary eclipse. Credit: European Space Agency

An international team of researchers has used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to measure the temperature of the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b. The measurement is based on the planet's thermal emission: heat energy given off in the form of infrared light detected by Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).

The result indicates that the planet's dayside has a temperature of about 500 Kelvin (roughly 230C), and suggests that it has no significant atmosphere. This is the first detection of any form of light emitted by an exoplanet as small and as cool as the rocky planets in our own solar system. The result marks an important step in determining whether planets orbiting small active stars like TRAPPIST-1 can sustain atmospheres needed to support life. It also bodes well for Webb's ability to characterize temperate, Earth-sized exoplanets using MIRI.

"These observations really take advantage of Webb's mid-infrared capability," said Thomas Greene, an astrophysicist at NASA's Ames Research Center and lead author on the study published today in the journal Nature. "No previous telescopes have had the sensitivity to measure such dim mid-infrared light."

Rocky planets orbiting ultra cool red dwarfs

In early 2017, astronomers reported the discovery of seven rocky planets orbiting an ultracool red dwarf star (or M dwarf) 40 light-years from Earth. What is remarkable about the planets is their similarity in size and mass to the inner, rocky planets of our own solar system. Although they all orbit much closer to their star than any of our planets orbit the sunall could fit comfortably within the orbit of Mercurythey receive comparable amounts of energy from their tiny star.

TRAPPIST-1 b, the innermost planet, has an orbital distance about one hundredth that of Earth's and receives about four times the amount of energy that Earth gets from the sun. Although it is not within the system's habitable zone, observations of the planet can provide important information about its sibling planets, as well as those of other M-dwarf systems.

Illustration showing what the hot rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b could look like. TRAPPIST-1 b, the innermost of seven known planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, orbits its star at a distance of 0.011 AU, completing one circuit in just 1.51 Earth-days. TRAPPIST-1 b is slightly larger than Earth, but has around the same density, which indicates that it must have a rocky composition. Webbs measurement of mid-infrared light given off by TRAPPIST-1 b suggests that the planet does not have any substantial atmosphere. The star, TRAPPIST-1, is an ultracool red dwarf (M dwarf) with a temperature of only 2566 K and a mass just 0.09 times the mass of the Sun. Credit: European Space Agency

"There are ten times as many of these stars in the Milky Way as there are stars like the sun, and they are twice as likely to have rocky planets as stars like the sun," explained Greene. "But they are also very activethey are very bright when they're young and they give off flares and X-rays that can wipe out an atmosphere."

Co-author Elsa Ducrot from CEA in France, who was on the team that conducted the initial studies of the TRAPPIST-1 system, added, "It's easier to characterize terrestrial planets around smaller, cooler stars. If we want to understand habitability around M stars, the TRAPPIST-1 system is a great laboratory. These are the best targets we have for looking at the atmospheres of rocky planets."

Detecting an atmosphere (or not)

Previous observations of TRAPPIST-1 b with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, as well as NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, found no evidence for a puffy atmosphere, but were not able to rule out a dense one.

One way to reduce the uncertainty is to measure the planet's temperature. "This planet is tidally locked, with one side facing the star at all times and the other in permanent darkness," said Pierre-Olivier Lagage from CEA, a co-author on the paper. "If it has an atmosphere to circulate and redistribute the heat, the dayside will be cooler than if there is no atmosphere."

The team used a technique called secondary eclipse photometry, in which MIRI measured the change in brightness from the system as the planet moved behind the star. Although TRAPPIST-1 b is not hot enough to give off its own visible light, it does have an infrared glow. By subtracting the brightness of the star on its own (during the secondary eclipse) from the brightness of the star and planet combined, they were able to successfully calculate how much infrared light is being given off by the planet.

Comparison of the dayside temperature of TRAPPIST-1 b as measured using Webbs Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to computer models showing what the temperature would be under various conditions. The models take into account the known properties of the system, including the planets size and density, the temperature of the star, and the planets orbital distance. The temperature of the dayside of Mercury is also shown for reference. The dayside brightness of TRAPPIST-1 b at 15 microns corresponds to a temperature of about 500 K (roughly 230C). This is consistent with the temperature assuming the planet is tidally locked (one side facing the star at all times), with a dark-colored surface, no atmosphere, and no redistribution of heat from the dayside to the nightside. If the heat energy from the star were distributed evenly around the planet (for example, by a circulating carbon dioxide-free atmosphere), the temperature at 15 microns would be 400 K (125C). If the atmosphere had a substantial amount of carbon dioxide, it would emit even less 15-micron light and would appear to be even cooler. Although TRAPPIST-1 b is hot by Earth standards, it is cooler than the dayside of Mercury, which consists of bare rock and no significant atmosphere. Mercury receives about 1.6 times more energy from the Sun than TRAPPIST-1 b does from its star. Credit: European Space Agency

Measuring minuscule changes in brightness

Webb's detection of a secondary eclipse is itself a major milestone. With the star more than 1,000 times brighter than the planet, the change in brightness is less than 0.1%.

"There was also some fear that we'd miss the eclipse. The planets all tug on each other, so the orbits are not perfect," said Taylor Bell, the post-doctoral researcher at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute who analyzed the data. "But it was just amazing: The time of the eclipse that we saw in the data matched the predicted time within a couple of minutes."

Analysis of data from five separate secondary eclipse observations indicates that TRAPPIST-1 b has a dayside temperature of about 500 Kelvin, or roughly 230C. The team thinks the most likely interpretation is that the planet does not have an atmosphere.

"We compared the results to computer models showing what the temperature should be in different scenarios," explained Ducrot. "The results are almost perfectly consistent with a blackbody made of bare rock and no atmosphere to circulate the heat. We also didn't see any signs of light being absorbed by carbon dioxide, which would be apparent in these measurements."

This research was conducted as part of Guaranteed Time Observation (GTO) program 1177, which is one of eight approved GTO and General Observer (GO) programs designed to help fully characterize the TRAPPIST-1 system. Additional secondary eclipse observations of TRAPPIST-1 b are currently in progress, and now that they know how good the data can be, the team hopes to eventually capture a full phase curve showing the change in brightness over the entire orbit. This will allow them to see how the temperature changes from the day to the nightside and confirm if the planet has an atmosphere or not.

"There was one target that I dreamed of having," said Lagage, who worked on the development of the MIRI instrument for more than two decades. "And it was this one. This is the first time we can detect the emission from a rocky, temperate planet. It's a really important step in the story of discovering exoplanets."

More information: Thomas Greene, Thermal Emission from the Earth-sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b using JWST, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05951-7. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05951-7 Journal information: Nature
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  More complaints will be filed this week against the arrested suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday.

We are hoping to file the complaints by Thursday or Friday, or within this week, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told CNN Philippines The Source.

Murder and other complaints were earlier filed by authorities against the arrested suspects.

Remulla did not specify what the new complaints will be, but noted they will initially involve the 11 arrested suspects. More personalities may be added as the panel of prosecutors evaluate the pieces of evidence, he noted.

Pending this assessment, the DOJ chief said it is possible the alleged mastermind, Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves, will be included because there are many factors that point out to him as really involved in the case.

Among those linking Teves in Degamo's assassination on March 4 is the safehouse used by the suspects, which is either owned or controlled by the lawmaker, Remulla said.

Based on that pwede na talaga syang i-indict, but we are still looking at the other evidence that is there, he added. At tsaka mayroon pa kaming mga hinahanap na tao na makakatulong pa para maisara ang buong kaso.

[Translation: Based on that he can be indicted already, but we are still looking at the other evidence that is there. Also, we are still looking for people who can help in closing the case.]

Remulla said they are still looking for 2-3 people possibly involved in the murder case.

Teves, who has denied his connection to the killing, has refused to return home, citing security concerns.

He flew to the United States for medical purposes late-February, but has yet to return after his travel authority expired on March 9. This prompted the House of Representatives to suspend him for two months due to disorderly behavior.

Earlier this month, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed multiple murder complaints before the DOJ against Teves and five others in relation to killings of at least four persons in 2019.

The PNP-CIDG also filed complaints for illegal possession of firearms and explosives against Teves, Jr. and his two sons.
By Saio Marrah

The Chairman of the Political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) Abdullai M. Bangura has said some political parties may not be able to contest the upcoming 2023 general elections because they are not functional which contravenes the PPRC Act of 2022.

Bangura was speaking at a stakeholders seminar on the state of electoral justice in Sierra Leone held at the Country Lodge Hotel in Freetown on Thursday 23rd March 2023 by the Centre for Accountability and the Rule of Law (CARL), a Sierra Leone-based civil Society organization.

He said the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone has also asked the regulatory body to submit a list of registered and functional political parties in lieu of the upcoming June 24 general elections.

According to him, out of the existing 17 registered political parties, only the governing Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), the main Opposition, the All Peoples Congress (APC), and the National Grand Coalition (NGC) are functional.

The Chairman said for a political party to be functional according to the regulatory bodys new act, the organs of the political party must be functional by holding district, regional, and national lower-level elections of the party.

Holding delegate conferences and elections for national offices are all among the functions of the organs of a political party as well.

The Chairman also pointed out that political parties are also obliged to have regional offices across all the regions in the country, which is yet to be attained by most.

He made reference to the just concluded Nigerian elections, for which he said only 18 out of 76 registered political parties contested the elections because the rest were unable to fulfill the criteria, saying that the same situation will repeat itself in here Sierra Leone.

He also noted that the three political parties that have functional organs are yet to submit a report of their campaign financing to the regulatory body, which he said is a must according to law.

The PPRC Chairman said the campaign finance report for political parties includes how they get their money to support the campaign activities, and how they intend to spend it.

He said this is to prevent political parties from being sponsored by criminal organizations and by other people that cannot justify the sources of their earnings.

He also informed the stakeholders that the process of registration of a movement to a political party must be of a national nomenclature by having at least 50 registered members across the entire 16 districts in the country.

He pointed out that with the new act, PPRC can now regulate the conduct of political parties in relation to how they comport themselves towards their opponent like the use of abusive language and obstruction, which he said the authority can fine and sanction them for violation.

According to him, the commission can now also move in and address intra-party issues and ordinary members can now call on PPRC to address grievances within the party.

He highlighted that the new law has made it mandatory for political parties to ensure they give 30% to women in all the various positions.

On the issue of selecting a female candidate in every three nominees, in all elected public offices, he said there are discussions with political parties as to whether the female candidate shall be placed at the top, or in between the two men or otherwise.

The event brought together journalists, electoral management bodies, the Sierra Leone Police, and Civil Society groups among others.

Copyright  2023 Politico (24/03/23)
By Chernor Alimamy Kamara

In a verified document read in parliament and widely circulated on social media, the Speaker of Sierra Leone Parliament Dr. Abass Bundu has called out the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for allocating a European Union 3 million Euros contract to other subcontractors that he said lacked the technical capacity and as such did a substandard job.

The contract was meant for the renovation of Parliament which some have reached completion and others ongoing.

Speaking on the 23rd of March 2023, the Speaker said the renovation work is a result of an EU grant of 27 million Euros in 2016 to support the governance sector in Sierra Leone of which Parliament was allocated the sum of 3 million Euros for the said project.

However, he said the 3 million Euros allocated to Parliament has been implemented in ways that fall far short and certainly do not meet their expectations.

He explained that the contract for the renovation works was awarded by the EU office in Freetown to UNOPS which he said subcontracted to a number of subcontractors that evidently lacked the technical capacity to deliver work.

Dr. Bundu stated that some of the subcontractors have performed manifestly poorly and considerably below par, using materials and workmanship that are grossly substandard. He said, as a result, the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) in July 2022 authorized the parliamentary Clerk to constitute a Parliamentary Quality Assurance Committee to assess the renovation.

He said the Committee has completed its assignment and has produced an excellent report notwithstanding the lack of cooperation by the UNOPS.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the Assurance Committee for a job well done, he said.

The Speaker emphasized that unless immediate remedial measures are taken to ensure that Parliament gets value for money through the rectification of the deficiencies and shortcomings in the works already done, they view UNOPS and its subcontractors to have committed contempt of Parliament, citing sections of the countrys Constitution.

He said that Parliament will not allow UNOPS to take refuge behind the shield of diplomatic immunity.

Once they have descended from their exalted position as diplomats and come to the marketplace as contractors, by that act alone they cannot juristically be allowed to claim immunity from the rules of the marketplace that relate to contractors, he said.

UNOPS is a United Nation agency that provides infrastructure, procurement, and project management services.

Copyright  2023 Politico (24/03/23)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  The local government of Pola, Oriental Mindoro, one of the areas severely affected by the recent oil spill incident caused by the sunken MT Princess Empress, said it has yet to receive proper instructions regarding the distribution of compensation as residents rush to get their claims.

Wala pa pong binibigay sakin na list of requirements. Dapat ipasa po yan sa punongbayan, kami ang magbababa sa barangay, hindi po pwedeng i-announce ng insurance company, i-announce na makaka-claim by Monday. Ang mga tao, dadagsa po, kawawa kami, Pola Mayor Jennifer Cruz told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday.

[Translation: They have yet to give us the list of requirements. They should give it to our office instead of the insurance company just announcing they could claim on Monday. The people will rush, it will be hard for us.]

Following a meeting with the insurer of the sunken tanker, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Bonz Dolor announced last week that a claims office will be set up in the capitol to assist affected residents in their application for compensation.

While the governor himself already made an appeal, Cruz said many residents still flooded her office to ask for assistance to be able to reach the capitol.

She reminded her constituents to stand by for further information before heading to the claims office because they could only end up getting less than what is appropriate depending on the damage they incurred.

On Sunday, House tourism committee vice chair Rep. Marvin Rillo said claims resulting from the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro may exceed 1.1 billion, the amount of compensation paid when a similar incident occurred in Guimaras in 2006.

Cruz said they are currently focusing cleanup operations in five barangays, while six other villages are under observation.

The mayor said they also need more assistance from the national government, specifically in terms of alternative livelihood for the thousands of fisherfolk unable to fish because of the oil spill.

The tanker loaded with 900,000 liters of industrial oil sank off Naujan town on Feb. 28.

More than 170,000 people have been affected, including over 13,000 fisherfolk, the government said.
QUEENSBURY  A family of two was displaced from their home on Sunday following a fire in the early afternoon.

West Glens Falls Fire Department Chief Tyson Converse said the full department responded to the blaze. A front window was smashed in order to help battle the flames. Converse said that the call came in around 2 p.m. on Sunday.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Converse said, but they believe it ignited in the kitchen.

Other local departments sent coverage to the scene as well.

Queensbury Central Volunteer Fire Company sent one engine, Bay Ridge sent one engine, South Queensbury Fire Department sent one heavy rescue, and South Glens Falls had one engine to standby at the West Glens Falls firehouse, Converse said.

The American Red Cross issued a news release late Sunday evening regarding donations and assistance to the family.

The Red Cross provided financial assistance for necessities such as shelter, food and clothing to two adults. Volunteers also offered health services and comfort kits containing personal care items, the release said. In the coming days, Red Cross staff and volunteers will remain available to help those affected by the fire as they navigate the road to recovery.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday revealed that one of the arrested suspects who had a major role in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo on March 4 was also involved in two other failed attempts to kill the local official last year.

That person was involved not only in the last assassination attempt that succeeded, but in two other failed assassination attempts for Governor Degamo, Remulla told CNN Philippines The Source. So he was already the object of an assassination plan since last year, since December last year.

In a press conference last week, authorities said a suspect, who was a major player in the assassination of Degamo, had surrendered.

Remulla said the former soldier was a direct participant in the murder, which also left eight others dead.

Prior to his death, Remulla said Degamo visited his office twice regarding attempts to kill him.

In an interview with reporters, Remulla disclosed the circumstances behind the two failed attempts: one involved a marksman with a sniper, and the other a rifle grenade

Yung sa [with the] rifle grenade, they had a problem with distances. Baka matamaan din sila [they might have gotten hit], it might backlash on them, he said.

Yung sa marksman naman [with the marksman] through a rifle, di natuloy dahil [it didnt succeed because it was] hazy, hindi naging clear yung view [the view wasnt clear], he added.

Remulla added that the conspiracy to kill Degamo began more than 100 days ago.

Asked why this was only brought to light now, Remulla said authorities before probably did not pay much attention to it because of their affiliation with Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves, the alleged mastermind of the assassination.

"One more reason why we had to bring in military intelligence because we could not rely on some of the intelligence that we were used to rely on because of this compromised system," Remulla added.

So far, 11 suspects linked to the killing are under the custody of authorities, Remulla said.

While he cannot reveal if the suspect, who was ex-military, pointed to Teves as the mastermind, Remulla noted the statements of those arrested were generally in line with each other.

More complaints are expected to be filed against the arrested suspects this week, he added.

Authorities are still hunting for the mastermind and other people involved in the murder. These personalities are possibly part of a big criminal organization which is behind other activities, like illegal gambling, in Negros Oriental. It is also possible that Teves is part of the group, Remulla said.

Teves, who has denied his involvement in the case, has yet to return to the country after he flew to the United States for medical purposes, due to security concerns.
GRANVILLE  Two people are dead following a vehicle crash in North Granville on Saturday night.

New York State Police and the Washington County Sheriffs Office responded to the accident, which took place at 9:56 p.m. between the rock cuts on State Route 22.

According to a news release from the sheriffs office, the crash involved two vehicles. One vehicle was driven by Doran Pratt, 56, of Hampton, with one passenger, Joshua Wood, 40, of Hampton. The second vehicle was driven by Myles Pauquette, 20, of Granville.

Upon arrival to the scene, it was determined that Myles Pauquette and Josh Wood were confirmed to be deceased on scene. Doran Pratt was transported to Glens Falls Hospital for medical treatment, the release said.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office was assisted on scene by the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office Accident Reconstruction Team and the New York State Police. The Granville Rescue Squad, North Granville Fire Department, Saratoga County Sheriffs Office also assisted with the response, the news release said.

The accident remains under investigation. Additional information was not released.

A GoFundMe online fundraising page was created by a Theta Tau Mu Gamma chapter in Buffalo for Pauquette. The fundraiser has exceeded a goal of $5,000 to go to family and has raised a total of $7,420 so far. To make a donation, visit https://gofund.me/fc55d67e.

Myles was one of everyones favorite fraternity brothers and always made people feel like they belonged, a message on the GoFundMe page said.
On Thursday, troopers arrested Carney and charged her with 13 felony counts of second-degree possession of a forged instrument, felony third-degree grand larceny and 13 misdemeanor counts of fifth-degree criminally possessing stolen property.

She was arraigned at the Moreau Town Court and taken to the Saratoga County Jail without bail.
ALBANY  Ahead of the April 1 state budget deadline, Gov. Kathy Hochul has set out a top negotiating priority. At a news conference last Wednesday, Hochul stated that, "Protecting New Yorkers is my No. 1 priority. Full stop."

After Republicans effectively stressed rising crime during the 2022 governors race, Hochul is trying to push through another revision to the states bail laws, amid heavy pushback from Democrats who control the State Senate and Assembly.

At the same time, Hochuls agenda has gotten a boost from an unlikely source. The New York Times reported this week that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg L.P., has donated $5 million to help fund an issue-oriented nonprofit group, American Opportunity, that is promoting Hochuls agenda as she faces opposition on numerous fronts from the Legislature.

In her remarks Wednesday, Hochul said she supported the premise of the 2019 law eliminating cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges: That financial means should not dictate whether a person is released from jail to await trial.

"But since the bail laws were passed in 2019, theres been a number of revisions," she said. "That's not a sign of the original bills failure. It's a sign of our collective commitment to get it right."

Hochul is trying to change a provision of the 2019 law requiring judges to use the "least restrictive" means to ensure a defendant returns to court. She said that would avoid confusion with other parts of law giving judges greater discretion over whether to require bail in violent felony or serious misdemeanor cases.

"I want to remove any question about whether a judge has discretion to set bail," Hochul said. "I want to make it absolutely clear that judges have both the authority and the accountability for these important decisions."

Citing new state data from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, Hochul said that while shootings were down in New York, the states crime "index"  which includes murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft  saw a 21% spike statewide between 2021 and 2022.

Outside New York City, the rise was 14%, with that overall increase driven by increases in larceny and motor vehicle theft. On the other hand, the murder rate was down 11% outside New York City and in the state as a whole.

Hochul doubled-down on the bail issue after both the state Senate and Assembly rejected Hochuls proposal in their one-house budget plans released in mid-March, one of many instances where the Legislature disagreed with the governor.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Republicans blaming the 2019 bail law for rising crime was comparable to recent comments by Republicans, who blamed Silicon Valley Bank's recent collapse on the company's liberal politics.

"We've always been interested in fighting crime, but again, comparing the bail reforms we've done around misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies to a spike in violent crime is as absurd as comparing the 'wokeness' of the bank to the bank's failure," Stewart-Cousins said.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said last week that were "not going to incarcerate people into crime dropping. And I just think if people want to continue that narrative, it works politically, God bless them. That's not going to solve the problem. I think responsible people want responsible solutions."

A recent study, conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, found that recidivism actually was down for less serious crimes since the 2019 law took effect, while there was "no clear effect in either direction for cases remaining bail eligible."

Bloombergs backing of Hochul has added an additional wrinkle both to the crime issue and to state budget talks generally.

The nonprofit backing Hochul's agenda, American Opportunities, is affiliated with several officials from the Democratic Governors Association, a group that works to elect Democratic governors across the country.

Bloomberg gave $5 million to the group even though he did not financially support Hochul during her 2022 election campaign. But Hochuls budget has aspects likely appealing to Bloomberg, including no income tax hike on high earners, as well as lifting the cap on charter schools in New York City, two more issues where the Legislature disagrees with the Democratic governor.

The Times also reported that a top Hochul fundraiser was soliciting smaller donations for the group. But who else is giving likely will not be known until July, when a filing from the nonprofit is due with state lobbying regulators.

The group is running millions of dollars in television ads, as well as mailers asking New York residents to contact their lawmakers and press for Hochuls agenda.

The group's website states that Hochul is "prioritizing public safety and is dedicated to making New York the best place to raise a family  without raising income taxes." The website notes Hochul's efforts to fight gun violence  a longtime major priority for Bloomberg  but does not mention the bail issue.

Bloombergs support of Hochuls agenda has angered some Democrats in the Legislature, who recall their fights with the former New York City mayor over issues like the his police departments widespread use of "stop and frisk" in minority communities. And they note that Bloomberg, one of America's richest people, is leading the fight in New York against increased income taxes.
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Throughout April, customers shopping at ACMEs Sea Isle City location can benefit the Knights of Columbus Madonna Maria Council 3560 by purchasing reusable bags.

The Knights of Columbus of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Sea Isle City has been selected as Aprils ACME Give Back Where it Counts Reusable Bag Program beneficiary. The Council will receive a $1 donation from each $3 reusable shopping bag purchased.

The Give Back Bag Program has donated more than $150,000 to more than 2,100 nonprofits since the program began in August 2019.

Our Council is excited about being selected for this opportunity to earn funds to be used in our local community, said Ed McFadden, grand knight of Council 3560. It will help us to contribute food and other necessary items to the needy. We thank ACME for selecting us for this important opportunity. All proceeds will go to supplying food to those in need in Cape May County.

To learn more about the Knights of Columbus of Saint Joseph Church, email mcfaddene1@comcast.net. For more information on the ACME Give Back Bag Program, visit acme.2givelocal.com.
PLEASANTVILLE  The Board of Education unveiled a $120 million budget for the 2023-2024 school year last week.

The planned budget represents a 1.4% decrease in total expenditures and revenues from the budget that was submitted for the 2022-2023 school year. While there has been a significant growth in state aid, that additional help is being countered by a drop in federal relief grants that had been plentiful over the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spending on the general fund for the 2023-2024 school year is budgeted at about $97.3 million, amounting to a $7 million increase over the $90.3 million spent on the general fund in the 2022-2023 school year, a proportional increase of about 7.5%. A share of that money is being utilized for a $1.12 million increase in funding for itemized regular programs for the school district, which is rising from $1.62 million to $2.74 million. A budget line on the itemized appropriations budget attributes the increase to a new science series and instruction program as part of a new curriculum and instruction initiative.

About $1.84 million is allocated to debt service, a $100,000 decrease from last years total of $1.94 million.

As with other districts in Atlantic County, Pleasantville Public Schools are benefiting from a hike in state aid. Equalization Aid, which typically accounts for the large majority of help sent to a district, increased to about $61.3 million from $53.5 million the previous year, a 14.44% increase. State aid overall rose by about $7.9 million from $71.2 million to $79.1 million, an 11.14% hike.

Trenton has been similarly generous with nearby school districts. There was an increase of 10.8% in state funding for the 25 school districts across Atlantic County to a total of $47.9 million. Atlantic City received an additional $19.1 million from the state for a total of about $115.2 million.

That boost in aid has not been benefited school districts equally. The Atlantic City and Pleasantville school districts alone account for $27 million, or 56.4%, of the total that went to Atlantic County. Ten Atlantic County school districts lost funding, while Cape May County as a whole saw a 7.4% decrease in state aid across its school districts.

The cut for some districts has led some South Jersey state legislators, including Sens. Vince Polistina, R-Atlantic, and Mike Testa, R-Atlantic, Cape May Cumberland, to argue the funding is unfair. A bill currently advancing through the Legislature would restore about two-thirds of the aid cut from school districts.

Federal aid cuts

The controversial allocation of aid is rooted in the formula for equalization aid, which weighs how much revenue a district can generate and the expected cost of an adequate education in the district. The latter figure, in turn, is influenced by qualities of the student body, such as total enrollment size, the number of students enrolled in free-or-reduced-price lunch programs and the number of students who have limited English proficiency. The local share of revenue the state expects a school district to raise is expressed in terms of both property values and income levels in the district.

While Pleasantville Public Schools are benefiting from increased state aid, there has been a significant drop due to cuts in federal aid. The grant and entitlement spending for the 2023-2024 school year is budgeted at $20.9 million, a nearly $8.5 million decrease from the $29.4 million in grant spending in the 2022-2023 school year. The itemized budget attributes that 28.9% cut in funding to the exhaustion of funds from the federal American Rescue Plan, which funded an array of special programs in the district over the last year. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law in March 2021, and it included $122 billion in aid for primary and secondary schools throughout the country.

While the state funds the lions share of district spending, the budget requires a 2% increase in the tax levy from about $9.8 million to $10 million. How that impacts taxes is determined by the change in the school districts ratable base from year to year.

The district is also benefiting from about $208,000 more in tuition from out-of-district students, from about $564,000 to $772,000. An explanation of the item in the budget attributes that aid to an increase in students from Absecon enrolling in Pleasantville schools, a consequence of a controversial send-and-receive agreement between the school districts. Absecon School District officials attempted to sever the agreement between the districts, which sends a handful of Absecon students to Pleasantville High School each year. They argue that education at Pleasantville is substandard and that the district could be better served by sending its students to other districts.Leadership change

Significant change underway in Pleasantville. The Board of Education voted against renewing the contract of Superintendent Natakie Chestnut-Lee at a special meeting in February. The decision almost 16 months after the board first voted to suspend Chestnut-Lee over an allegation that she had not been candid about why she left a past position. Chestnut-Lee disputes that allegation and wrote a letter to the board prior to its non-renewal vote saying she was not interested in returning.

The future of the superintendent position had created significant discord on the board. Efforts are currently underway to gauge community opinions on how the board should a hire new superintendent. A town hall on the superintendent search was held at the Pleasantville High School cafeteria Thursday, and a second such town hall will be held at the same location at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
VENTNOR  Results from a yearlong resiliency study showed how flooding affected the area in and around the Dorset Avenue bridge and how to alleviate future flooding through infrastructure, prioritizing flood mitigation improvement projects and determining crucial vulnerabilities, such as holes in walls in low-lying areas.

This was a study to look at how we can add options to make that better. This does not force us to do anything at this point, said Mayor Lance Landgraf. This was really a study to show us where we are, what happens with certain elevations of tides and floods, and rain events.

Marc DeBlasio, one of the citys consultant engineers, worked with his team and municipal engineer Ed Stinson to conduct the study, which was funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

This report was developed for the purpose of educating the city, public and private property owners of the existing flooding challenges facing the city, DeBlasio said.

The study area roughly south of Calvert Avenue and north and east of Inside Thorofare is an area that we all know floods quite often, Landgraf said.

Although the area around the Dorset Avenue bridge is protected by a system of bulkheads owned by private property owners and varying in heights and materials, along with storm sewers and pump stations, the study showed the tide gauge water elevation level in the area was over 2 feet 263 times. The tide went over 2 feet 162 times, and above 3 feet 19 times.

DeBlasio said those tide gauge numbers were important to see the sweet spot over 3 feet where the city could see a dramatic drop-off in flooding.

The engineers categorized their recommendations into three categories.

Category A was infrastructure projects such as elevating roads in cooperation with private property owners, replacing or retrofitting bulkheads to meet height medians and building pump stations at strategic locations along the bay. Retrofitting, replacing and supplementing storm sewer inlets and pipes would also help, according to the report.

Category B was preventive actions to reduce the areas susceptibility to flooding, such as enacting ordinances that require new bulkheads to be constructed at a minimum 8 foot elevation, considering lot grading and drainage ordinances, adopting policy on current sea level rise based on data collected by Rutgers University and recommendations from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and encouraging elevating or floodproofing new and existing buildings.

Category C consisted of ways the city could preserve and restore its natural resources through corporate partnerships, such as continuing to participate in the New Jersey Coastal Coalition and Atlantic County Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Other suggestions included evaluating local ordinances to ensure theyre consistent with DEP and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulations, preserving open spaces prone to flooding and evaluating areas in the city that will become vulnerable to future flooding.

The next step for the city is to authorize a pump station design via ordinance at next months meeting by applying for grant funding.

This can change our community if this is done, even if half of it is done, said Landgraf. I think this can change the lives of people living in the Heights and traveling throughout the Heights.
MAYS LANDING  The Coalition for a Safe Community hosted its annual teen summit at Atlantic Cape Community College on Friday to tackle one of the seminal issues facing young people today  mental wellness.

Students from high schools across Atlantic County met with different organizations and service providers to discuss the kinds of stress teenagers face and the strategies they can use to help lead healthier lives.

Perry Mays, the chair of the Coalition for a Safe Community, said the summit was meant to help prepare students for the future and help them respond to healthy ways.

The event is organized by students, who selected this years topic.

They want to make sure mental wellness is taken care of, so they can make good decisions, Mays said.

About 200 students from Atlantic City, Buena Regional, Egg Harbor Township, Oakcrest, Absegami, Cedar Creek, Hammonton, Mainland and Pleasantville high schools attended.

There was also an array of local organizations offering information, including the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office, the Inland Family Success Center, Jewish FamilyService, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the FBI Newark Office.

Students attended three breakout sessions focusing on different mental health issues over the course of the day, with groups of students rotating between each seminar.

One session focused on time management and life balance.

Another session taught students about the risks of alcohol and drug abuse.

A third session focused on relationships and social media.

One of the most indicative pieces of mental health is whether students are connected, said Dr. Kim Spagone, a social emotional learning coordinator at Mainland. Do they feel like they belong in their school, do they feel like they belong among their peers, do they feel like they belong in their family. So, helping students recognize what is healthy and what is unhealthy in all different types of relationships, can help see things that arent working so well and try and find things that do.

Aniyah Wright, a sophomore at Cedar Creek, said she thought the sessions related to the challenges the teenagers face in lives.

It allowed me to learn a lot about different topics that are important at this age, Wright said.

Chloe Malone, a Mainland junior and a member of her schools Coalition for a Safe Community club, helped lead efforts to plan the event. She said she thought the event had broad appeal for her classmates.

Its great that we come experience it and see how it plays through, Malone said.

For Coalition Student Chair Kylie Camac, a Mainland senior, the summit Friday comes after four years of work with the organization. She said she first began working with the organization her freshman year and took to a leadership role so she could advocate for her fellow students.

She said she conferred with the other student representatives to decide on a theme that best reflected the needs of high school students, particularly after their experiences with the pandemic over the last three years.

Its great to see what weve been working for all this time just come together and everybody get to actually gain something from it, Camac said. And hopefully, people are learning and taking away what they can from it.

Camac said she felt empowered and more connected with her peers.

I think this has definitely helped me have a voice and speak up and become a leader and also listen to people around me and what those around me need, Camac said.

Student Vice Chair Alianna Dorsey, an Oakcrest junior, said the efforts organizing the summit could serve as a basis for helping other students throughout the area.

I feel like if you start with a smaller group, it can expand to help many more students around the county, Dorsey said. And I just feel like its so good to make a difference in our community, because thats where it starts.

The coalitions work to have students lead efforts to make a difference in their lives is beginning to expand across South Jersey. Pastor Thomas Dawson, of the Soar Church in Woodbine, was in attendance representing the Coalition for a Safe Community of Cape May County. He said helping people manage their mental health when they are teenagers helps set them right for their futures.

Were here just to try to make a positive impact, Dawson said. Its about pouring into them now and helping them try to navigate through the pathways of life.

Angela Collado, a program supervisor for Inland Family, said it was important for her organization to do outreach to young people to make them and their families aware of the services available to them. Inland Family, located in Egg Harbor Township, is a free community center that offers Atlantic County families a battery of social services, including nutrition and health classes and services, budgeting and finance seminars, family game and art nights access to other community-resource providers and on-site employment training.

The summit comes as mental wellness has been increasingly identified by public health experts as a pressing concern in American adolescents. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory in December 2021 warning about the psychological well-being of students in the country, warning that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an ongoing youth mental health crisis.

Coalition for a Safe Community Secretary Patrice Dawson, no relation with the Woodbine pastor, led efforts to organize with the events, collaborating with student leaders to develop the summit itinerary. She said bringing students together and centering their perspective was a critical component of the program.

When I was growing up, we came from a generation where students should be seen and not heard, but the student voice is so very important, Patrice Dawson said. And I think as we collaborate with them and as we hear their voices, we have a better understanding of what their needs are, what their wants are and more importantly what their concerns are.
DR DEEPAK KULKARNI, 3D Hernia Laparoscopic Surgeon & Endoscopist, Healing Hands Clinic

Understanding hernia: diagnosis and treatment

I am a mother to my 16-month-old son. I have recently noticed a small bulge near his right thigh. Sometimes its unnoticeable. The swelling increases every time he cries. Is this common in kids? Im worried.

Hernias can occur at any age but are most common in newborns but may not be noticeable for several weeks or months after birth. When your child has an inguinal hernia, you can usually see a bulge in the groin or scrotum. The bulge will typically come and go. It may get bigger after your child is straining or crying. It may go away or get smaller during the night while your child is asleep or relaxed. (Straining and crying do not cause hernias despite some myths).

Your child will need herniotomy surgery to fix an inguinal hernia. The surgery is performed under minimal anaesthesia and usually takes less than an hour and is typically an outpatient procedure. This means your child can go home the same day as the procedure. If an inguinal hernia is not treated, it can cause serious problems. Healing Hands Clinic houses expert doctors whom you can consult and get treatment without any delay.

My grandfather is 78 years old. He was operated on for an umbilical hernia 16 years ago. But after six months, it reoccurred. The size has also increased with time. We are scared about surgery again. Is there a permanent solution?

Incisional/recurrent hernia is likely to develop three-six months after abdominal surgery. After a thorough consultation and analysis by Dr Deepak Kulkarni, this recurrent issue can be tackled with the most advanced technique mentioned above. The polypropylene mesh used covers the hernia defect from three sides; above, below and center. This repair is suitable for treating large-sized and even recurrent hernias.

I am a 51 years old, male. I used to work with heavy tools and machinery. I have had this swelling over my abdomen for a long time. It never caused any pain, until recently. This bulge reduces in size when I lie down. I am overweight. I have no other medical history. Can losing weight help this problem? Please help me with a permanent solution.

A ventral hernia occurs due to a weak spot in the abdomen enabling a part of the intestine to protrude through a cavity muscle area. The doctor will go through the history of your symptoms followed by a brief physical examination. Losing weight may reduce the pain /discomfort. If left untreated- they get bigger, more painful and more complicated. Advanced laparoscopic repair of hernia proves most beneficial because of its smooth recovery. The success of a hernia surgery depends to a large extent on the surgeons skills. We have performed over 4,000 successful hernia repair surgeries at Healing Hands Clinic.

Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/opinions/data in the article are the sole responsibility of the expert/organisation. Send your queries to thebottomline@punemirror.com
India has lodged a strong protest with the Canadian government and summoned the high commissioner over Khalistan protests outside the Indian missions and consulates over the last few days in that country.

The High Commissioner was summoned on Saturday.

The High Commissioner of Canada was summoned yesterday to convey our strong concern about the actions of separatist and extremist elements against our diplomatic mission and consulates in Canada this week, the ministry for external affairs said in a statement.

The Government of India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic Mission and Consulates, it said further.

The Government of Canada was reminded of its obligations under the Vienna Convention, the ministrys statement said. Last Sunday, an event in Canada was cancelled due to security concerns after a violent protest by the Khalistan supporters. IANS
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27)  The family of Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Arnie Teves Jr. is hopeful that he will soon come home and face the accusations against him.

"We don't have intention to leave the province and we are the one facing all these. It is our hope that he will finally decide to come, the lawmakers brother, former Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves, said in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines on Monday.

He also believes his brother will be safe upon return to the Philippines as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself vowed to provide security to the congressman.

On Feb. 28, Rep. Teves went to the United States for medical treatment. He has since been out of the country despite calls for him to return to the Philippines to face the accusations against him.

The Department of Justice revealed that it was considering him as one of the potential masterminds behind the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo.

READ: SOJ: Rep. Teves among the suspected masterminds behind Degamo assassination

A suspect behind the shooting also named the congressman as a mastermind.

Meanwhile, a sugar mill owned by Pryde Teves was raided by authorities. They found 18 million in cash, guns, ammo, a rocket-propelled grenade, and an improvised explosive device.

Dumaguete-based journalist Roy Bustillo contributed to this story.
In order to encourage the state's production of coarse grains, including millets, Yogi Adityanath's government has chosen Ayodhya as the location for the pilot project.

According to a spokesman, the state government intends to spend approximately Rs 100 crore, as proposed by the agriculture department, to promote coarse grain production and consumption in the state.

The state government wants people to eat more coarse grains and is working on a plan to release grants and subsidies for the establishment of processing plants.

It would also help to achieve the target of doubling farmers' income because coarse grains require less water for irrigation and have lower farm input costs than other crops like wheat and paddy.

The state government is encouraging farmers to grow popular coarse cereals such as maize, jowar, bajra (millets), and jau (barley).

Om Prakash Mishra, Deputy Director of Agriculture, stated: "For farming purposes, approximately 1,200 hectares of land in the Ayodhya district's Sohawal and Pura Bazaar areas have been identified. We have begun to provide farmers with technical assistance for coarse grain farming. The government will also provide them with high-quality seeds in the near future."

IANS
Agitators seek justice for party leader Rahul Gandhi

Delhi Police on Monday detained Indian Youth Congress (IYC) protesters while they were climbing barricades in a bid to march ahead from the Jantar Mantar, a police official said.

The IYC members were protesting against senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Parliament.

The protesters were carrying flags of the IYC, and placards saying Satyameva Jayate while demanding justice for Rahul Gandhi.

According to the police, some protesters were detained and fake notes of Rs 2,000 carried as a symbol of demonstration were also seized. The detained protesters were taken to Mandir Marg police station in police buses, a police official said. IANS
LS approves amendments to Finance Bill amid sloganeering; Cong workers wave black scarves

The Lok Sabha was on Monday adjourned for the day amid noisy protests by the Congress-led opposition seeking a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe in the Adani issue, even as the house approved the Finance Bill 2023 as amended by Rajya Sabha. The amendment recommended by the upper house was related to the figure on percentage hike in the securities transaction tax (STT) on options trading.

Meanwhile, as soon as the lower house reconvened at 4 pm, Congress MPs along with DMK and Left members, rushed to the well of the house, shouting slogans seeking a probe into the Adani issue. Wearing black clothes, Congress, DMK and Left members waved black scarves and placards while shouting slogans at the Chair, where Rama Devi was seated.

Trinamool Congress, NCP, JD-U and BSP members were also seen standing near their seats.

Amid the ruckus, Rama Devi allowed laying of papers and after the Finance Bill with the above-mentioned amendment was passed by voice vote, she adjourned the house till Tuesday.

Earlier, amid the oppositions demand of a JPC probe, the Rajya Sabha passed the Finance Bill without discussion before adjourning the House for the day. IANS

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Oppn members stage protest outside Parliament

Congress-led opposition members on Monday protested outside Parliament by taking out a march wearing black clothes and shouting slogans, seeking probe in the Adani matter. Former UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also participated in the protests outside Mahatma Gandhis statue. Congress MPs were wearing black clothes to protest party leader Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Lok Sabha. IANS

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Govt scared of probe in Adani case: Kharge

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that he had no answers to questions posed by the now disqualified MP, Rahul Gandhi on Adani issue. He asked, Why are you scared of a JPC? You have a twothirds majority in Parliament, then why are you scared? IANS
Kharge, Priyanka, Wasnik, Venugopal launch stir despite cops denying permission

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mukul Wasnik, KC Venugopal have arrived at Rajghat, indicating that they will go ahead with the Satyagraha despite police denying permission.

Scores of workers and leaders have already reached the venue.

Party General Secretary KC Venugopal tweeted, After silencing our voice in Parliament, the government has refused to let us hold a peaceful Satyagraha at Bapus Samadhi as well. It has become a habit for the Modi government to disallow every opposition protest. This will not deter us, our fight for truth, against tyranny goes on.

The Daryaganj SHO said that section 144 is imposed in the area.

The Congress is planning a nationwide agitation from Monday, a day after Satyagraha.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that democracy is under attack and that he is not scared to ask questions about the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group. He made the remarks while addressing a press conference in Delhi.

My voice is being suppressed, Rahul Gandhi said and claimed that he spoke to the Speaker against the false accusations made by four ministers but was not allowed to speak.

He also alleged that the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani is not new. I will not stop asking questions about whose money is the Rs 20,000 crore that has come out from shell companies, he added.

Delhi police increase deployment

In an order to tackle any untoward incident at the Rajghat where the Congress workers are observing Satyagraha, the Delhi police deployed its force and brought tear gas to be used in an emergency situation.

Telangana protest

Telangana Congress, led by Manikrao Thakare, the in-charge of Congress party for Telangana, staged a satyagraha at at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Sunday to protest against disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament. IANS

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Duragraha not Satyagraha: BJP

The BJP launched a scathing attack on the Congress and called its Satyagraha as Duragraha on Sunday.

Rahuls Twitter bio changed

Two days after getting disqualified from the Lok Sabha, Congress Rahul Gandhi on Sunday changed his Twitter bio and wrote DisQualified MP.
Indian heavy lift rocket LVM3 successfully placed the 36 satellites of UK-based Network Access Associates Ltd

ISROs heavy lift rocket LVM3 places 36 OneWeb satellites in low earth orbit

Indian heavy lift rocket LVM3 successfully placed the 36 satellites of UK-based Network Access Associates Ltd (OneWeb) in low earth orbit (LEO) on Sunday morning, the Indian space agency said.

The 43.5-metre tall LVM3 rocket that weighed 643 ton carried 36 satellites, totalling 5,805 kg or about 5.8 ton, to the space.

The rocket blasted off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 9 a.m. here and ascended towards the skies with thick orange flames at its tail.

Just over 19 minutes into its flight, the LVM3 began to sling the 36 small broadband communication satellites in low earth orbit (LEO).

The 36 satellites were slung in their intended orbit in a batch of four satellites.

Our team will now continue to work through the morning to confirm contact with all our spacecraft, OneWeb tweeted.

Speaking about the mission S Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary, Department of Space said that the rocket has done extremely well and the space agency is looking forward to continuing its relationship with its commercial partners.

Somanath also said the success of the mission is giving his team the confidence to progress further towards Indias first human space mission Gaganyaan as this will be the rocket that will be flying with the countrys astronauts.

Expressing his happiness at the performance of the LVM3, Somanath added that there has been incremental progress towards the countrys human space mission.

According to him, ISRO is gearing up for another commercial launch with its lighter rocket called Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The Indian space agency will also begin its launch campaign for another rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mk II (GSLV-Mk II), Somanath added.

On his part, the Chairman and Managing Director of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) D. Radhakrishnan said: The OneWeb mission was a challenge as the cryogenic engine has to be maneuvered couple of times to place the multiple satellites at their intended orbits.

The NSIL is the commercial arm of Indias Department of Space.

The satellites have been placed into a 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of 87.4 degrees.

The rocket missions success on Sunday has taken the total number of foreign satellites launched by India since 1999 to 422.

The Indian space agency ISRO has codenamed the mission as LVM3-M3/OneWeb India-2 Mission.

The LVM3 (formerly GSLV-Mk III) is a three stage rocket with the first stage fired with liquid fuel, the two strap on motors powered by solid fuel, the second by liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine.

The ISROs heavy lift rocket has a carrying capacity of 10 ton to the LEO and four ton to the Geo Transfer Orbit (GTO).

OneWeb, is a joint venture between India Bharti Global and the UK government.

With this launch, OneWeb backed by Indias Bharti Group and the UK government has 618 satellites orbiting in space.

By completing the constellation, OneWeb is taking a pivotal step forward in delivering global coverage including India, the company had said.

The Sunday launch is the 18th for OneWeb. IANS
A woman in the US has tracked down her lost Apple AirPods to an airport workers home two weeks after she left them on a plane, a media report said.

Earlier this month, Alisabeth Hayden, who lives in Washington state, was on her way back from a trip to Tokyo to visit her husband in Seattle was separated from her AirPods during the layover from a plane in San Francisco, reports CNN. At San Francisco International Airport, she realised she had left her jacket behind, with the AirPods in its pocket. She got back the jacket from a flight attendant and boarded her next flight to Seattle when she found that the jacket pocket was open and the Airpods were not there.

Hayden utilised in-flight Wi-Fi to monitor the earphones using the Find My app, which tracks Apple devices. She then realised that the AirPods were moving and ultimately stopped at an address in the Bay Area in the US.

Hayden marked her headphones as lost on her app, pinging an alert and her number to the person who had them.

Later, she hired a detective, who traced the address from where the AirPods were pinging to an airport contractor. The worker stated that the headphones were given to him by a cleaner, who denied knowing anything about the scenario. IANS
A Rock Island man currently serving a term on conditional discharge for an aggravated battery conviction was arrested on a murder charge by East Moline Police after a shooting early Sunday left another man dead.

Zaccheus Nathaniel Hayes, 24, is charged in Rock Island County Circuit Court with one count of first-degree murder.

The charge is a Class M felony under Illinois law that carries a minimum prison sentence of 20 years, up to a maximum of 60 years if there are no aggravating factors. Aggravating factors, such as if the murder was committed during the commission of another felony, could elevate the sentence to life in prison.

According to a news release issued by East Moline Police Capt. Jason Kratt, at 5:07 a.m. officers were sent to 146 15th Ave., for a report of shots fired. Officers were told that a male had sustained a gunshot wound.

Officers located a wounded man outside of the home and began providing life-saving measures. The victim was taken to Genesis Medical Center, Silvis, where he died.

Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said Sunday that the name of the victim was not being released pending family notifications.

East Moline officers, along with officers from Moline and Silvis police departments and Rock Island County Sheriffs deputies, secured the scene.

Officers were then told that Hayes had run inside the house.

After receiving a description of Hayes, officers set up a perimeter and attempted to call Hayes out of the house. Their attempts were unsuccessful.

At about 9:30 a.m., Hayes was seen running from the area on foot. He was caught in the south alley of the 100 block of 16th Avenue.

Hayes was being held Sunday night without bond in the Rock Island County Jail. He is expected to make a first appearance on the murder charge Monday in Rock Island County Circuit Court, where a judge will set bond and schedule a preliminary hearing in the case.

A search warrant was issued and the house was searched by the Moline-East Moline Crisis Containment Unit. The crime scene was processed by the Illinois State Police.

According to Rock Island County Circuit Court electronic records, Hayes is currently serving a sentence of two years on conditional discharge, a form of unsupervised probation.

During a hearing March 24, 2022, in Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony that carries a prison sentence of two to five years. He also served 115 days in the Rock Island County Jail. He was to be released from conditional discharge on March 24, 2024.

On April 17, 2019, Hayes was charged in Circuit Court with one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle and two counts of aggravated fleeing.

Hayes pleaded guilty to the aggravated fleeing charges and was sentenced Jan. 21, 2022, to serve three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The Illinois DOCs electronic records do not indicate that Hayes served any prison time nor if he is currently on parole. The weapons charge was dropped in a plea agreement.

Hayes also is awaiting trial in Scott County on one count each of possession of a controlled substance-cocaine- second offense, and possession of a controlled substance-marijuana-second offense. The cocaine charge is an aggravated misdemeanor under Iowa law that carries a two-year prison sentence, while the marijuana charge is a serious misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to one year in the Scott County Jail.
Mike Sedam has driven Pettibone Avenue in Muscatine hundreds of times. But Feb. 26 was different.

"I don't remember the whole incident because the injury pretty much blanked me out," the 41-year-old said.

What Sedam can't recall is about 6:15 that morning, driving to a Muscatine job site. It was raining, the fog was thick and an endloader was in front of him. Somehow, his vehicle wound up under one of the machine's tires.

The whole roof on his vehicle collapsed, crushing his skull. He was taken by ambulance to UnityPoint Health-Trinity Muscatine.

"The only thing I remember is waking up next to her," Sedam said, motioning to his wife, Jessica.

She was at her third-shift job when she received a Facebook message from one of her husband's coworkers, sending along a phone number for his boss, whom she was urged to call right away.

"I left work and headed there, but I had no idea how bad it was. All they said was 'car accident,' " she said.

On the way, she called her husband's boss, who handed the phone off to the nurse. The nurse warned her that Mike was in critical condition and wanted to prepare her.

"I just couldn't believe it," she said. "I wanted it to not be happening."

The hospital team in Muscatine wanted to transport Sedam to Iowa City by helicopter, but the weather had worsened as the day went on. Instead, he was taken by ambulance and rushed into surgery.

One month after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the rural Milan iron worker has gained most of his skills back. His memory still is recovering, but the physical, occupational and speech therapy he's getting through the Quad Cities Rehabilitation Institute is bringing him back.

"When I saw him in Muscatine, I wasn't even sure he would make it at all," Jessica Sedam said. "It's a miracle."

He sat beside her in a chair at the rehab institute on Friday. His brown boots were covered by a pair of well-worn jeans. In his lap was a white construction helmet with straps. He's required to wear it when walking to prevent injury in case of a fall. When he's wearing it, his scars are hardly visible.

Tattoos line the backs of his hands, which were covered by a grey sweatshirt. On his chest was a green and blue ribbon his sister made for him. The green represents brain injury awareness and the blue TBI awareness. His wife wore one to match.

March has always been important to the couple  their anniversary is March 17. But now, it has a whole new meaning.

"This will be forever with us," Sedam said.

While he doesn't remember much about the crash, he said it feels as if he's living in a movie. Hearing what happened to him and reading the reports still are surreal. When he wakes up in the morning, though, he reaches up to touch the scar on the left side of his head. It's his reminder of the crash and of his will to survive.

"I don't remember what they gave me for chances, but it wasn't great," he said. "But here I am now."

Sedam was released from Iowa City and moved to the rehab institute on March 1. During his weeklong stay, he was able to visit with family and even his puppy.

"I felt great here," he said. "I went from the University of Iowa, where I was limited to my bed, and then I came here."

In Moline, he was one of the youngest people in the center and helped others recovering from their injuries. The ability to be up and moving boosted his spirits.

"Being here in the Quad-Cities is great," he said. "I'm a union ironworker. We built this place. That's been the best part of my healing process."

While in rehab, he worked with Ryan Heuer, director of therapy operations. He said the institute took in people ages 16 and older. While the most common affliction people are recovering from is a stroke, he said, brain injuries are not uncommon.

According to the Brain Injury Association of America, nearly 2.8 million Americans sustain a TBI annually.

Staff worked with Sedam on everything from walking and running to daily tasks, such as showering and eating. Raising awareness for brain injuries is important for safety, but it's also for celebrating people who have overcome the unthinkable, Heuer said.

"Mike's a good example. If people bump into him in the streets, they'd have no idea the obstacles he's overcome," he said.

A CT scan is scheduled soon and will determine when he can have another surgery. He's hoping to be back to work soon after. For now, he's happy to be recovering at home.

When he was being released from Iowa City, staff wanted to put him in a rehab institute in the area. Instead, he asked to go back to the Quad-Cities. He had a special connection to the rehab building.

"Can I go home somewhere?" he asked. "I know who built that."
The man killed in Sunday's shooting in East Moline has been identified.

Christopher F. Bivens, 38, of Bettendorf, died of a traumatic gunshot wound, Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said.

Toxicology tests were also performed, and the results were pending as of Monday afternoon.

The investigation was ongoing Monday, Gustafson said. The East Moline Police Department, Gustafsons office and the Illinois State Police were all participating.

Zaccheus Nathaniel Hayes, 24, is charged in Rock Island County Circuit Court with one count of first-degree murder.

Hayes is serving a term on conditional discharge for an aggravated battery conviction and was arrested on a murder charge by East Moline Police.

The charge is a Class M felony under Illinois law that carries a minimum prison sentence of 20 years, up to a maximum of 60 years if there are no aggravating factors. Aggravating factors, such as if the murder was committed during the commission of another felony, could elevate the sentence to life in prison.

According to a news release issued by East Moline, at 5:07 a.m. officers were sent to 146 15th Ave. for a report of shots fired. Officers were told a male had sustained a gunshot wound.

Officers located Bivens outside of the home and began providing life-saving measures. He was taken to Genesis Medical Center, Silvis, where he died.

Officers were then told that Hayes had run inside the house.

After receiving a description of Hayes, officers set up a perimeter and attempted to call Hayes out of the house. Their attempts were unsuccessful.

At about 9:30 a.m., Hayes was seen running from the area on foot. He was caught in the south alley of the 100 block of 16th Avenue.

Hayes was being held Monday night without bond in the Rock Island County Jail.

During a hearing March 24, 2022, in Circuit Court, Hayes pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony that carries a prison sentence of two to five years. He also served 115 days in the Rock Island County Jail. He was to be released from conditional discharge on March 24, 2024.

Hayes also is awaiting trial in Scott County on one count each of possession of a controlled substance-cocaine- second offense, and possession of a controlled substance-marijuana-second offense. The cocaine charge is an aggravated misdemeanor under Iowa law that carries a two-year prison sentence, while the marijuana charge is a serious misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to one year in the Scott County Jail.
Despite repeated failures over a three-year period to address deficiencies in its application, a gravel pit proposed east of Shepherd finally met all of its statutory requirements and has been permitted by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

DEQ announced issuance of a permit for the 67-acre Donnes site in a Thursday press release. Riverside Contracting Inc., of Missoula, plans to extract up to 690,000 cubic yards of gravel from the acreage near the corner of Shepherd and Frey roads.

Deficient

Yet in several emails from DEQ, Riverside was repeatedly asked and failed to address issues identified at a 2019 community meeting where residents had expressed concerns.

As late as Oct. 4, 2022, a DEQ environmental science specialist said Riversides plan of operation still had not adequately addressed concerns regarding protection of the shallow groundwater resources that local residents use for drinking water and domestic needs; provisions for noise and visual impacts on nearby residential areas; the interrelation of the pit hydrology to the neighboring Crooked Creek watershed; and maintaining the conveyance of irrigation water through ditches contained near and within the site or the interrelation of pit hydrology with the ditches.

As a result, DEQ told the company the application was not acceptable. The letter goes on to note it is the third notice of unacceptability identifying extensive, significant deficiencies in your application regarding the plan of operation, hydrology, and impact on adjacent and nearby landowners.

Change

By Nov. 14, Riverside had responded to DEQs request for information, but in a Dec. 20 letter to the company, the state agency again said Riverside did not fully address the deficiencies noted by DEQ in October.

In a Feb. 22 letter from DEQ, Riverside was granted another 30 days to address the deficiencies  this after almost four years of back and forth. The agencys unit coordinator signed the February letter to Riverside as the DEQs scientist, who had been overseeing the matter, had resigned to take another job.

Although the timing of the scientists departure and the approval of the permit seem suspect, DEQ public relations specialist Moira Davin said that was not the case.

They (Riverside) had met all of their deficiencies, thats why the permit was issued, she said.

The permitting process for the Donnes open-cut mine took longer than average, Davin said, but the amount of time it takes to finalize a permit can be dictated by the gravel company. She said once deficiencies in a permit application are identified by DEQ, the company has up to a year to respond. DEQ, on the other hand, has less than a month to respond, Davin said.

With each submittal to DEQ, Riverside got a little closer before finally providing enough information to move forward with the permit, said Dan Walsh, DEQ Mining Bureau chief.

Mining

According to details contained in the permit, Riverside will dig three 20-foot deep pits over time. To conduct the work, equipment such as a crusher, pug mill and screen, an asphalt plant, loaders and haul trucks will be utilized. The company has paid a bond of more than $422,000 in accordance with state requirements.

Several Shepherd-area residents had opposed the mining, worried about its impact on residential wells and nearby Crooked Creek, a Yellowstone River tributary.

The approved application does not address previous deficiencies identified by the DEQ, including protection of the shallow groundwater resources that local residents use for drinking water and domestic needs, resident Kati Grove wrote in an email.

She also cited concerns about the interrelation of the gravel pit to the hydrology of nearby irrigation ditches.

Hydrology reports included in the application indicate water levels could drop by as much as 8 feet in area wells, yet it was approved anyway," she added.

But the DEQ document stated, the operation will not dewater or pump groundwater and therefore will not influence the groundwater levels or flow direction. Dust control measures will also be implemented.

Slow go

Authorization of the gravel pit took so long that two new homes were constructed adjacent to the site, with their septic systems within 150 feet of the pits boundary, according to the permit.

Other changes on the ground also occurred. In 2020, neighbors filed a lawsuit in District Court against landowners Frank and Cindy Donnes, who own the land where the pits will be located. The lawsuit also named neighbors to the north and south of the proposed mine, according to a Yellowstone County News story. The lawsuit contended the Donneses had dug trenches to dewater their property that was flowing onto their land.

New legislation may have also played into the delayed permitting process. In 2021, House Bill 599 was enacted, despite complaints from conservation groups.

House Bill 599 made changes to the public engagement process and removed DEQs authority under the Opencut Mining Act to require noise mitigation, place restrictions on hours of operation, and assess nearby water resources, the DEQ wrote in its news release.

However, since the Donnes permit was reviewed under prior law, DEQ had conducted a water resources assessment to review potential impacts on hydrology, which included nearby streams, ditches, wetlands, groundwater and water rights, the agency stated.

Once the legislation was enacted, Riverside Contracting had the opportunity to have the Donnes site reviewed under the new legislation, but chose to remain under the prior law, DEQ said. A representative for Riverside did not return a telephone call for comment.

Elsewhere

Last year the revised law caused heartburn for some rural residents near an Arlee gravel pit. Resident Hannah Talbot told the Missoulian she was frustrated by how the new rules limited public notification and involvement in the process. The Arlee gravel pit will also be mined by Riverside Contracting.

In the last Legislature, supporters of the measure had cited the slow process of permitting, the amount of documentation required and the high demand for building materials like sand and gravel for road and construction projects as reasons for the change.

Because the Donnes site was considered under the old rules, public comments, issues related to water, wildlife, noise, visual impacts and hours of operation were revised in the permit, DEQ said.

For example, if the Donnes pit temporarily operates outside of the typical hours stated in the permit (Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), temporary extended hours would have to be published in the local newspaper, and the operator would be required to provide written notification to Yellowstone County Commissioners and residents within a half-mile of the site. Additional measures would also be implemented during night operations such as lights focused downward to minimize light pollution and reverse-activated strobe lights rather than beeping to minimize noise pollution.
(CNN)  Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has dramatically broken ranks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for a pause in the government's drive to overhaul Israel's court system.

The minister's Saturday night speech -- when Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the United Kingdom -- made him the first government minister to call for a halt in the controversial legislation that would weaken the independence of the courts.

Gallant is a member of Netanyahu's Likud party. His comments open a rift in Israel's already delicately balanced coalition government that could mean the plans are unable to advance.

He said the pause was needed "for the security of Israel."

"Any manifestation of refusal that eats away at the strength of the IDF and harms the security system should be stopped immediately," Gallant said, a reference to the refusal of some Israel Defense Forces reservists to train in protest at the government plans.

As he was delivering his speech, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators were out across the country protesting against the plans for the 12th week in a row.

Under the proposals, the government would have control over the appointment of judges, and parliament would gain the power to override Supreme Court decisions.

The government argues the changes are essential to rein in the Supreme Court, which they see as insular, elitist, and no longer representative of the Israeli people. Opponents say the plans threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy.

The military reservists' protest is seen as a particular worry for Israel's government, as they are regularly called up to train and serve, even in peacetime.

Soon after the defense minister's comments, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant.

"Gallant gave in tonight to blackmail and threats from all those anarchists who call for resistance and use the [Israel Defense Forces] as a bargaining tool," Gvir tweeted.

"Gallant was elected by the votes of right-wing voters and in practice promotes a left-wing agenda. At the moment of truth he collapsed under the pressure of the media and the protesters. I call on the Prime Minister to fire him immediately."

Piling further pressure on Netanyahu, Israel's High Court on Sunday gave him a week to a respond to a petition calling for him to be held in contempt of court.

The legal move by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel comes after the attorney general told Netanyahu he acted illegally and violated a court-imposed conflict of interest order by saying he would personally involve himself in the judicial overhaul.

Part of the bill -- which effectively strips the courts of the power to declare a prime minister unfit for office -- has already been pushed through.

Critics say Netanyahu is pushing through the changes because of his own ongoing corruption trial; Netanyahu denies this.

Netanyahu himself has given no indication he will back down. In a speech on Thursday he said he would address the concerns of "both sides," but pledged to continue with the reform plans.

Likud lawmaker Danny Danon said it was too soon to know if there were enough rebels in the party to stop the legislation, telling CNN, "We will only know Monday," when members of the party meet in the Knesset, or parliament.

Netanyahu and his allies control 64 seats in the 120-seat legislature, so in theory five Likud rebels could deprive the coalition of an absolute majority. But lawmakers can abstain or be absent, bringing down the number of votes a law needs in order to pass.

Or, as Danon put it to CNN: "You don't really need 61."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Israeli defense minister breaks ranks and calls for halt to judicial overhaul."
Bob Ciura is the President of Content at Sure Dividend. With an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a BA in Finance from DePaul University, Ciura brings several years of experience in financial modeling and equity valuation to the Real Money team. As a value and income investor with a specific focus on strong dividend-paying companies, he provides regular coverage on Real Money on dividend investing.

Ciuras specialty is in financial writing  he has been featured on Fox Business, CNN, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, and Newsmax. When he isnt covering financial news, he can be found reading, fishing, and trying new restaurants around Chicago.
Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2023: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Narayankaji Shrestha has said that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the proposed Kathmandu-Raxaul railway project would be prepared within a month.





Nepal would receive the report within a month after the study is completed of the proposed Kathmandu-Raxaul railway project, DPM Shrestha said on Monday amid a press conference to make clear about the progress made so far since he assumed the office in last December.





India has informed us that the DPR of the proposed Kathmandu-Raxaul railway will be prepared within a month, Shrestha said.





Nepal and India had signed in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on October 8, 2021 for the study of proposed Kathmandu-Raxaul railway. According to the MoU, the DPR of the railway project has to be prepared by India on its own cost through its own company.





India has already sent a team to work in Nepal o prepare the DPR of the project. However, the company has yet to submit report though goal was set earlier to complete within 18 months.





The preliminary report prepared by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) has stated that the length of the proposed Raxaul-Kathmandu railway would be 136 km. The proposed railway project is proposed to build through Nijgarh to Khokna, which would become about a 40 km section and the proposed railway will have a tunnel and about 35 bridges.




Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2023: Controversial model Durgesh Thapa has dragged into controversies. For now, he has been alleged of beating and stealing gold chain of a person in Kathmandu.

A complaint has been lodged at Maharajganj Police Circle against three people including Durgesh Thapa alleging them of physically assaulting Rhythm Chhetri at a picnic program organized at forest banquet.





DSP Angur GC at Maharajganj Police Circle has confirmed that Chhetri has lodged a complaint against three people including model Durgesh Thapa. It is said that Chhetri has also alleged Thapa and team of stealing a gold chain he was wearing during that time.




No doubt youve heard of Dish Network, the Colorado-based satellite TV subscription service. It and a competitor  DirecTV  offer cable-television channels wirelessly. Many of their customers live beyond the reach of local cable TV systems.

Its unclear how many subscribers Dish Network has in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Recently, Ive become somewhat acquainted with two. One is Betty Turner of Glenvar. The other is Joyce Kasey of Roanoke.

Both want to quit their monthly Dish Network subscriptions. Both have been trying to contact the satellite service for more than a month, by every means they can divine. Those efforts got stymied at every turn.

Independently of each other, they turned to yours truly. Legitimately or not, I have a rep for being able to help aggrieved consumers in such situations.

Tom Turner (Bettys son) reached out first. His mom and dad, Ned Turner, recently moved from Christiansburg to Glenvar. One of the final pieces of that move was canceling their Dish Network subscription.

Hourslong waits on hold

Tom Turner wrote me a few emails about Bettys attempts last weekend. Heres the first:

Longtime reader here. I could use your help. My mom and dad are downsizing their home and relocating. The problem is, we cannot contact Dish Network to cancel their TV/Internet service at their old home in Christiansburg.

You cannot do this online  only over the phone, Turners email went on. Dish Networks website has messages about some sort of online breach and customer service outages. My mom has been trying for a month. I tried today on 3 separate [calls].

I was told that there was a 7 minute wait, then stayed on hold for an hour. Later in the day, I was offered a 94-minute wait and a 103-minute wait. I called this evening and was dropped after the wait warning.

All we want to do is cancel the service. Thanks for your attention!

Then last week, I got a phone call from Joyce Kasey. She left a voicemail message, If you need another complaint about the Dish Network, I can fill you in on the details.

It sounded like she was aware about Turners complaint. But when I called and asked, Kasey wasnt. She assumed thousands of Dish Network subscribers were unhappy for the same reason she was: An inability to get hold of the company. And she figured, rightly, that some were reaching out to me.

15 calls in one month

Kasey said shed been trying to contact Dish for more than a month, and estimated shed made 15 calls in that time. On the only occasion she reached a live person  after sending two hours on hold, the Dish rep said they couldnt hear me, Kasey said.

She made those calls on her cellphone. And whenever she was warned shed have to hold for a spell, Kasey did. Shed put her cellphone down then plugged it into its charger so the juice wouldnt run out. One time. Kasey said, she left her phone on hold for five hours but was unable to connect.

If no one can contact them, they should have a substitute number for customers to call, Kasey told me.

Wednesday by email, I reached out to the companys media desk, at news@dish.com. And I copied two different Dish Network customer service executives, too, names drawn from the companys website.

The email outlined Turners and Kaseys complaints, their Dish account numbers, addresses and more. It asked for a reply by the end of the day Thursday.

When Id got none by Friday morning, I resent the email with a few additional details. And the second time, I added two additional Dish executives to the CC line, for a total of four execs copied. That one elicited no response, either.

However, on Thursday morning, Kasey received a call from Dish, and the rep who contacted her was able to get her account canceled. As of Friday afternoon, nobody had contacted Turner or me.

Thats unusual for large corporations, which generally respond to media quickly, to find out why they may be cropping up in the news. Naturally, companies want to protect their reputations, and usually they also want to get in front of upcoming articles.

Ransomware hackers strike

Then I started to do a little more digging into Dish.

I hit pay dirt on the website of the Better Business Bureau in Englewood, Colorado, which is where Dish Network is based. The website features 3,200 complaints about Dish Network in the past three years and more than 1,000 in the past 12 months.

Many are quite recent. A common theme was an inability to contact Dish Network.

BBB allows companies to respond in writing to complaints, and its website displays those responses, with personal information redacted.

A number of the companys replies to the BBB suggest Dish Network is in the middle of a crisis.

One, dated March 21, tells the story. The company suffered a cyberattack in February. Other news accounts described it as a ransomware attack, in which hackers typically lock a corporation out if its own computer systems, then demand payments to restore critical services.

On February 23, 2023, we experienced a cybersecurity incident that has affected some of our internal communications, customer call centers, and internet sites. We immediately activated our incident response and business continuity plans to contain, assess, and remediate the situation. Cybersecurity experts and outside advisors were retained to assist in the evaluation of the situation, and we notified appropriate law enforcement authorities.

Because of this incident, some of our customers are having trouble reaching our service desks, accessing their accounts, and making payments. Please know we are working as quickly as we can to address these and any other service-related issues. DISH TV customers can now make a payment through a secure payment form on our website.

We also continue to increase our call center capacity and social media response capabilities. We have more agents helping customers every day. . . . Working to restore all of our customer experiences is a top priority, but it will take a little time before things are fully restored.

. . .Were sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Thats the most I expect to get out of Dish.

I also checked the companys stock price. One year ago, that was just under $31 per share. Friday afternoon, Dish Network was trading for $8.60. The share price has tumbled 72% in the past 12 months. Percentage-wise, thats more than Bitcoin has dropped year-over-year.

All of which suggests if youre a Dish subscriber and youre trying to get hold of the company, you may be out of luck, at least for a while.

Or perhaps you can reach them via the Better Business Bureau chapter in Englewood, Colorado. That outfit seems to be able to get Dish Networks attention.
Design and architecture firm Hickok Cole has some new digs in Scotts Addition after a period of rapid growth and additional high-profile clients in the Richmond area.

Hickok Cole officially relocated its operations into a 3,823-square-foot warehouse-turned-creative office at the former ABC distribution facility at 3005 W. Marshall St. The new space is designed to aid collaboration for its creative work and to add a more inviting customer experience as clients come to confer on designs.

The studios layout prioritizes flexibility with an open office layout with natural light though operable glass garage doors and preserved skylights. It has three conference spaces that open up to the rest of the studio, and a vast library integrates into the space as a fourth meeting area.

Weve capitalized on the industrial charm of the original warehouse and weaved in hospitality-inspired strategies including the use of texture and color to create inviting gathering spaces, said Patrick Gegen, senior associate and design director. We tried to repurpose as much as possible from our former office and supplement with sustainably sourced materials or refurbished vintage pieces to establish an eclectic and polished creative environment reflective of our design approach and culture.

The Richmond design studio now offers the full trifecta of Hickok Coles services  architecture, interiors and creative.

The Washington, D.C.-based firm started in 1988 and came to the Richmond area in 2015. It first used co-working spaces like Gather, also in Scotts Addition, before landing its first office space at 28 E. Broad St. in the Arts District in 2020 with four employees. After increased action in the Richmond area, the company is up to 13 employees, which made the new space a necessity.

The Hickok Cole Richmond story began in Scotts Addition and, six years later, were coming full circle. Whats most exciting about returning to this neighborhood is the ability to better serve both our clients and staff with an inspiring space that reflects our aspirations and supports our future, says Jessica Zullo, associate principal and Richmond studio director.

Leaders said the firms client base grew in Southern markets like Charlottesville, Richmond and Raleigh. Those areas have had a growing number of jobs in their specialties of multifamily, commercial interiors, hospitality and retail design.

There has been a pretty steady growth through the pandemic, and it hasnt gone down, Zullo said.

Even leading up to the pandemic, leaders said there was a shift toward making office spaces more inviting for employees with amenities and styles similar to those of the residential sector. Since the pandemic began in 2020, Gegen said there has been a greater shift in multifamily work to have co-working space for remote workers incorporated into apartment designs.

This past year, Hickok Cole delivered an award-winning renovation of Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian, Wellsmith Apartments at Libbie MillMidtown and The Current in Manchester.

The firm will continue its work with Gumenick Properties for the incoming Harps Landing project at Libbie Mill  Midtown. It also is designing a student housing tower slated for delivery next year at 321 W. Grace St. in collaboration with Pinecrest Development. In Raleigh, it is working on a major multifamily community in the citys booming North Hills development alongside Kane Realty.

Though working virtually for most of the pandemic, a number of people on Hickok Coles growing team expressed a desire to live in the Richmond area.

We do enjoy being a part of the city, Zullo said. All of us are urban people at heart, and thats the type of design that we do. Being somewhere that is relatively walkable where we can interact with other local businesses, more creative people, restaurants, coffee shops, that kind of thing, thats important to our staff.

While mostly centered on jobs in the Mid-Atlantic, the firm also has had projects in Salt Lake City and Nashville, Tennessee. The new office space has capacity to grow to about 20 people.

From the Archives: The egg industry in Richmond 1940s to 1980s Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs Eggs
Bon Secours will open a clinic in Manchester next week dedicated to treating uninsured patients.

The Community Health Clinic, which opens April 3, is at 2301 Everett St. and mainly will provide follow-up care and chronic disease management.

The building is an extension of Bon Secours Care-A-Van, a recreational vehicle outfitted as a mobile clinic that serves uninsured residents in South Richmond and other locations.

Bon Secours chose the location because a high number of patients in South Richmond kept visiting the Care-A-Van.

A two-story, 8,000-square-foot building, the clinic was previously a tobacco warehouse purchased by drug recovery organization CARITAS. It features eight exam rooms, a lab and office space for about 50 employees. It will be open to patients Monday through Friday, by appointment only.

CARITAS operates its headquarters on the north side of the building, and Bon Secours is renting space on the south side.

Health leaders expect the clinic to treat a mostly immigrant population, whose ailments include diabetes and high blood pressure. It also will provide vaccines for children. Twelve percent of Richmond residents do not have health insurance, according to the American Community Survey.

It cost $3 million for Bon Secours to redevelop the space, $2 million of which came from an estate gift donation.

When Bon Secours announced the facility last June, it planned a January opening. The roughly three-month delay was caused by lags in installing the buildings HVAC system, according to a spokesperson for Bon Secours.

The Care-A-Van will continue its operations.

50 photos from the RTD Archives
Costa Maya ejidos continue with protests over Maya Train stop change

Costa Maya, Q.R.  South ejidos continue with their dissatisfaction regarding the governments decision to move a Maya Train stop. The ongoing protests took place again this weekend in south Quintana Roo with the arrival of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. However, Lopez Obrador was unable to meet with the ejidos as requested.

Instead, they were met by Governor Mara Lezama who addressed the disgruntled group telling them, I cannot promise what I am not going to fulfill.

Governor Mara Lezama told the disgruntled group I cannot promise what I am not going to fulfill. Photo: March 25, 2023.

The group of ejidos held a demonstration in front of the military camp at Xpujil, Campeche, to request at least five minutes of the Presidents time. Instead Lezama said she would meet with them in coming days, reviewing their issues beforehand.

The southern group of ejidos are still pushing for a Maya Train stop that was moved from Nicolas Bravo to be returned to the town which would see the government stick to the original plan.

Earlier this year, the government announced a move that would see a stop, not a station, relocated from the town of Nicolas Bravo 17 kilometers away from the community near the archaeological zone of Kohunlich.

The change of stop affects section 7 of the Maya Train.
Thanks almost entirely to the killing of George Floyd, Black Lives Matters approval rating has more than doubled from where it stood four years ago, surging from 27% in 2016 to 57% today. While the slogan wins public support, the racially tinged socialism espoused by the organization Black Lives Matter should concern everyone who cherishes freedom.

BLM proudly proclaims its belief that all black Americans should receive a guaranteed minimum income and free healthcare, schooling, food, real estate, gender reassignment surgery, and abortion; bring an an end to all jails as we know them; disrupt the traditional family; demand reparations on behalf of foreign nations; and form a global liberation movement that will overturn US imperialism [and] capitalism.

Americans could be excused for not knowing that BLM is a political organization with an agenda no less comprehensive than reshaping the entire world. The media have not reported its aims  at least, not in context of the recent riots. In the public imagination, Black Lives Matter is nothing more than a ubiquitous black square on social media platforms. Americans rightly outraged by incidents like the indefensible killing of George Floyd by a police officer with a long history of complaints adopted the slogan to demand proper treatment under the law  one of cornerstones of Western civilization. They often protest to this end and, as long as those protests are peaceful, they are exercising the first freedom enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

However, they have no inkling that Black Lives Matter is not just a maxim or a graphic to be posted online. It is a radical pressure group that embraces a vista of controversial, extremist positions. Those who march under its banner are unwittingly putting themselves in a position to be identified by BLMs activists as endorsing these beliefs.

BLM activists have made no secret of their views. When we started Black Lives Matter, it wasnt solely about police brutality and extrajudicial killing, one of BLMs three co-founders, Opal Tometi, confessed to The New Yorker. The issue was just a spark point to begin calling for the defunding of police, a moratorium on rent, a moratorium on mortgages and utilities and issuing demands relating to housing and education and health-care systems.

To present their demands more completely, the Black Lives Matter Network joined dozens of like-minded groups to found the Movement for Black Lives, sit on its united front, and adopt its policy platform.

[T]he U.S. is a country that does not support, protect or preserve [b]lack life, the M4BL original statement says. And so we seek not reform but transformation. While the planks often amount to little more than platitudes, replete with grammatical errors, the platform offers a clear demand for socialism under the cover of racial reconciliation. The steps the organizations propose include:

Reparations through racial socialism: The M4BL platform, which BLM endorses, states, We demand reparations for past and continuing harms, including both corporate and government reparations for a litany of ills that include food apartheid and racialized capitalism. Government reparations will take the form of a guaranteed minimum livable income for all Black people. M4BL/BLMs universal health care policy mandates that wealthy residents pay for a portion of their services while low-income and working class folks receive free services. The new system will be modeled on France or Germany. Black Americans will also receive government-funded control of food sources, housing and land. Robust reparations programs will include full and free access for all Black people (including undocumented and currently and formerly incarcerated people) to lifetime education at any university, community college, or technical education facility, as well as retroactive forgiveness of student loans.

Replacing education with agitprop and welfare services: Under the M4BL/BLM manifesto, public schools would be transformed from centers of education to the delivery points of intersectional/multicultural studies and comprehensive welfare programs, including free abortion for minors (without specifying a minimum age):

A constitutional right at the state and federal level to a fully-funded education which includes a clear articulation of the right to: a free education for all, special protections for queer and trans students, wrap around services, social workers, free health services (including reproductive body autonomy), a curriculum that acknowledges and addresses students material and cultural needs, physical activity and recreation, high quality food, free daycare, and freedom from unwarranted search, seizure or arrest.

To ensure an intersectional approach, the group continues, the public school budgeting process must include representation from specific populations of people, including formerly and currently incarcerated people.

Defunding the police and ending prisons: BLMs best-known demand is to defund the police. M4BL also proposes an end to arrests of any black students, and an end to all jails, detention centers, youth facilities and prisons as we know them. House arrest would be promoted equally with imprisonment. The government would also expand Pell grant funding to educate inmates and [a]llow access to gender affirming surgeries in penitentiaries at taxpayers expense.

Dismantling the family: Black Lives Matter endorses two contradictory policies: We make our spaces family-friendly, it states. It then looks forward to the destruction of the traditional family:

We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and villages that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.

Children raised in fatherless homes are more likely to drop out of school, abuse drugs or alcohol, be victims or perpetrators of physical and sexual abuse, live in poverty, commit other crimes, and go to prison than those raised in intact, two-parent householdsthe nuclear family structure BLM is warring against. Two out of every three black children live in single-parent families, making them 271% more likely to do so than non-Hispanic white children. To leave this out of racial disparities calculations is reckless, as Thomas Sowell has noted. Without loving families, no society can long govern itself, says Jennifer Roback Morse, the founder of the Ruth Institute and a frequent collaborator with the Acton Institute. BLM agrees but chooses to outsource much of the parents responsibilities to the government.

Start a global liberation movement to overthrow capitalism: The interlinked systems of white supremacy, imperialism, capitalism and patriarchy shape the violence we face, the M4BL/BLM platform states. As oppressed people living in the US, the belly of global empire, we are in a critical position to build the necessary connections for a global liberation movement. Until we are able to overturn US imperialism, capitalism and white supremacy, our brothers and sisters around the world will continue to live in chains.

The BLM-endorsed document adds that its struggle is strengthened by our connections to the resistance of peoples around the world fighting for their liberation.  The movement for [b]lack lives must be tied to liberation movements around the world. It does not list the foreign liberation movements with which it wishes to align. However, they will hold the United States and Israel in contempt.

America is an empire, and American wars are unjust, the M4BL manifesto states baldly. And Israel is an apartheid state. Americas alliance with Israel makes the U.S. complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.it makes US citizens complicit in the abuses committed by the Israeli government. BLM does not state what punishment it would mete out to civilians complicit in genocide. However, it demands lawmakers cut the US military budget by 50%, which will lead to the closure of the over 800 U.S. military bases the U.S. [operates] around the world and the return of troops deployed overseas  a move many Americans, especially libertarians, support.

Higher taxes, with a specifically racial focus: The group writes confusingly that governments have increasingly decreased the use of progressive taxation. As a result, the wealthiest Americans and powerful corporations continue to evade their fair share of taxes, it says. The top 1% of U.S. income earners pay 37% of federal income taxes, and the top 10% pay 47% of all taxes, while the bottom 44% pay nothing. Begin by raising the top marginal rate first to 50 percent and then gradually up to 80 percent, M4BL suggests.

The federal government should focus on taxing bads not goods. BLM would increase the death tax, the capital gains tax, impose new taxes on real estate transfers and financial speculation, and create a national wealth tax. Each state would follow suit by imposing a heavily progressive state income tax on individuals and corporations and 50 state wealth taxes. All tax reform legislation must be drawn up in accordance with racial equity goals to help build the wealth of households of color.

Reparations for drug dealers: M4BL/BLM would legalize prostitution and the possession and sale of all drugs, no matter the quantity. Prisoners convicted of these crimes would be released and their records retroactively expunged. But thats not far enough for Black Lives Matter: Any government savings must be invested into reparations to all people who have been adversely impacted by the drug war and enforcement of prostitution laws. The government must also ensure that people criminalized by the war on drugs are able to participate in legal drug markets where decriminalization has already taken place. Many libertarians support decriminalizing some or all drugs (and prostitution), but they typically envision government regulations on the manufacture and sale of narcotics. One of their most resonant selling points is that repeal of drug prohibition will take the drug business out of the cartels hands. BLM would guarantee the Medellin cartel a piece of the action.

Reparations for foreign nations and terrorist states: The M4BL/BLMs thirst for racialized wealth redistribution doesnt stop at the waters edge. Their manifesto demands reparations for foreign nations, as well. The group insists the U.S. make reparations to countries and communities devastated by American warmaking, such as Somalia, Iraq, Libya and Honduras.

Let incarcerated prisoners, illegal immigrants, and felons vote: The M4BLs voting reforms demand universal voter registration, as well as preregistration for 16-year-olds, enfranchisement of formerly and currently incarcerated people, local and state resident voting for undocumented people, and a ban on all disenfranchisement laws. Felon disenfranchisement laws date back to ancient Greece. M4BLs drive to expand the range of eligible voters sleights the rule of law while favoring core Democratic Party constituencies, which favor more expensive government welfare policies.

This list of policy proposals is far from comprehensive. If anything, BLMs demands are more expansive and government-expanding yet. However, this gives an accurate flavor of the platform Black Lives Matter would implement if given the opportunity. It is not one that should be shared by people of faith or supporters of limited government, unalienable rights, and equal justice under the law.

(Photo credit: Shutterstock)
A Moneta woman who was found with a loaded handgun in her carry-on bag at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport last month had her initial court hearing Monday in Roanoke General District Court.

On Feb. 12, Susan Goodman Epperly, 64, was charged with carrying a weapon in an airport terminal, a misdemeanor, according to Virginias online court case information system.

Epperly had a .380 caliber revolver loaded with five rounds in her carry-on bag, which was inspected after it passed through an X-ray unit, the Transportation Security Administration reported.

On Monday, Epperly appeared in Roanoke General District Court with her attorney, Raphael Ray Ferris. She pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor weapons charge, which was taken under advisement for six months.

Her plea agreement with the commonwealth, represented by Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jason Morgan, also called for the destruction of the confiscated handgun.

Ferris said Epperly has already paid a $2,500 fine to the TSA, which may impose financial civil penalties of up to $14,950 per violation.

Youve been given a great opportunity here, Judge Thomas Roe said. Take advantage of it, OK?

Epperly is scheduled to appear in court again in September. She is the first person to be charged in Roanoke in 2023 with the airport weapons charge. In 2022, a record-setting eight weapons were seized at the Roanoke airport terminal.
(CNN)  For months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets across the country to protest far-reaching changes to Israel's legal system some say threaten the country's democratic foundations.

At its core, the judicial overhaul would give the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and therefore the parties in power, more control over Israel's judiciary.

From how judges are selected, to what laws the Supreme Court can rule on, to even giving parliament power to overturn Supreme Court decisions, the changes would be the most significant shakeups to Israel's judiciary since its founding in 1948.

The proposed reforms do not come out of nowhere.

Figures from across the political spectrum have in the past called for changes to Israel's judiciary.

Israel has no written constitution, only a set of quasi-constitutional basic laws, making the Supreme Court even more powerful. But Israel also has no check on the power of the Knesset other than the Supreme Court.

Here's what you need to know.

What are the changes and what are the reasons behind them?

The judicial overhaul is a package of bills, all of which need to pass three votes in the Knesset before they become law.

One of the most important elements for the Netanyahu government is the bill that changes the makeup of the nine-member committee that selects judges, in order to give the government a majority of the seats on the committee.

Netanyahu and his supporters argue that the Supreme Court has become an insular, elitist group that does not represent the Israeli people. They argue the Supreme Court has overstepped its role, getting into issues it should not rule on.

Defending his plans, the prime minister has pointed to countries like the United States, where politicians control which federal judges are appointed and approved.

Another significant element of the changes is known as the override clause, which would give the Israeli parliament the power to pass laws previously ruled invalid by the court, essentially overriding Supreme Court decisions.

Supporters say the Supreme Court should not interfere in the will of the people, who vote the politicians into power.

"We go to the polls, vote, and time after time, people we did not elect decide for us," Justice Minister Yariv Levin said while unveiling the reforms at the beginning of January.

Another bill, now voted through, makes it more difficult for a sitting Prime Minister to be declared unfit for office, restricting the reasons to physical or mental incapacity and requiring either the prime minister themselves, or two-thirds of the cabinet, to vote for such a declaration.

How does the move affect Netanyahu?

Although several bills could affect Netanyahu it is the one about declaring a prime minister "unfit for office" that has the biggest implication for the Israeli prime minister.

Critics say Netanyahu is pushing the overhaul forward because of his own ongoing corruption trial, where he faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing.

That bill is largely seen by opposition leaders as a way to protect Netanyahu from being declared unfit for office as a result of the trial.

As part of a deal with the court to serve as a prime minister despite being on trial, Netanyahu accepted a conflict of interest declaration. The Attorney General determined that the declaration meant Netanyahu could not be involved in the policy-making of the judicial overhaul. A petition is currently in front of the Israeli Supreme Court to declare Netanyahu unfit for office on the grounds he has violated that conflict of interest declaration and the attorney general has written an open letter to Netanyahu saying he is in breach of the deal and the law.

Critics also argue that if the government has a greater say in which judges are appointed, Netanyahu's allies will appoint judges they know will rule in Netanyahu's favor.

Netanyahu, it should be said, has completely denied this and has claimed his trial is "unraveling" on its own.

In the past, Netanyahu has publicly expressed strong support for an independent judiciary. Asked why he's supporting such an overhaul despite those public proclamations, Netanyahu told CNN's Jake Tapper: "I haven't changed my view. I think we need a strong, independent judiciary. But an independent judiciary doesn't mean an unbridled judiciary, which is what has happened here, I mean, over the last 25 years."

What do the changes mean for the Palestinians?

Weakening the judicial branch could limit both Israelis and Palestinians in seeking the court's defense of their rights if they believe they are compromised by the government.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank could be affected, and of course Palestinian citizens of Israel or those who hold residency cards would be directly affected. Israel's Supreme Court has no influence on what happens in Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Critics of the changes worry that if the politicians have more control, the rights of minorities in Israel, especially Palestinians living in Israel, would be impacted.

Last year, for example, the court halted the evictions of Palestinian families in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, where Jewish groups have claimed ownership of land the families have lived on for decades.

At the same time, Palestinian activists have argued that the high court has further entrenched Israel's occupation of the West Bank, having never considered the legality of Israeli settlements there, even though they're considered illegal by most of the international community.

The high court has also been the subject of complaints from Israel's far right and settlers, who say it is biased against settlers; they have condemned the court's involvement in approving the eviction of settlers from Gaza and the Northern West Bank in 2005.

What do opponents say?

The overhaul has caused concern across Israel's financial, business, security and academic sectors.

Critics say the overhaul goes too far, and will completely destroy the only avenue available to provide checks and balances to the Israeli legislative branch.

They warn it will harm the independence of the Israeli judiciary, and will hurt rights not enshrined in Israel's quasi-constitutional basic laws, like minority rights and freedom of expression.

According to polling released in February by the Israel Democracy Institute, only a minority of Israelis support the reforms. The vast majority -- 72% -- want a compromise to be reached and, even then, 66% think the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down lawa and 63% of Israelis think the current method of appointing judges should stay as it is.

Members of the typically apolitical high-tech sector have also spoken out against the reforms. Assaf Rappaport, CEO of cybersecurity firm Wiz, has said the firm won't be moving any of the $300 million capital it recently raised to Israel because of the unrest over the overhaul.

Israel's Central Bank Governor Amir Yaron told CNN's Richard Quest that the reforms are too "hasty" and risk harming the economy.

Several former Mossad chiefs have also spoken out against the reforms, warning division over the issue is harming Israeli security. Hundreds of reservists in Israel's army have warned they will not answer the call to serve if the reforms pass, saying they believe Israel will no longer be a full democracy under the changes.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the government's legislation was "misguided, brutal and undermines our democratic foundations," and warned Israel was potentially on the brink of a "civil war." Although the Israeli presidency is largely a ceremonial role, Herzog has been actively speaking with all parties calling for negotiations.

And on the international front, Israel's allies, including the United States, have also expressed concern about the overhaul.

According to the White House, US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu in a mid-March phone call "democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support."

What happens next?

Protest organizers say they plan to intensify their demonstrations until the legislation is halted. But the government says it received a mandate from voters to pass the reform when it was elected last November.

But in mid-March, the coalition government softened its plans for the first time, announcing that it had amended the bill that would reform the committee that selects judges. Instead of having the vast majority of the appointed seats on the committee, the government-appointed members would have a one-seat majority.

On March 23, even after his own defense minister nearly gave a speech calling for the legislation to be halted out of concern for how it would affect Israeli national security, Netanyahu vowed to keep advancing the reforms.

He called for opposition politicians to meet with him to negotiate, something they have said they will only do if the legislative process is halted.

Complicating matters further, should the bills pass parliament the Supreme Court must then potentially decide on laws curbing its own power. This raises the possibility of a constitutional standoff. Would the Supreme Court strike down the laws, and if so, how would the government respond?

This story was first published on CNN.com, "A threat to democracy or much-needed reform? Israel's judicial overhaul explained."
David Wayne Kingreas long search for justice took another step this month as Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved more than $50,000 in compensation for Kingreas wrongful conviction and the year he spent in jail.

Kingrea, 49, of the Pilot community in Montgomery County, said Thursday that the money will help him and his wife care for their special-needs son Dylan. What is planned to be a series of payments and community college tuition waivers is to begin in July.

Its a new beginning once this comes, Kingrea said.

Kingrea traced his legal ordeal back almost 12 years, when detectives began questioning him in a child abuse case.

The son of a former girlfriend accused Kingrea of molesting him, launching a process that saw Kingrea arrested on six charges, five of which were dropped or thrown out, then convicted by a jury in 2014 of taking indecent liberties with a minor. Kingrea was jailed for 12 months and had his name put on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry.

Then in 2020, his accuser, now grown, came forward and said that he had lied about Kingrea sexually abusing him. Last year, the Virginia Court of Appeals issued a writ of actual innocence and threw out Kingreas conviction.

Such cases are rare  Kingreas attorney, Fred Kellerman of Christiansburg, said that in 30 years of practice, he could not recall another case similar to Kingreas.

The National Registry of Exonerations project at the Michigan State University School of Law logged six exonerations in Virginia in 2021, one in 2020, and one in 2019.

Virginia has a process, and a formula, for compensating people who are locked up after a wrongful conviction. It requires approval by the General Assembly.

The delegate in whose district Kingrea lives, Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, did not respond to requests to assist with the compensation, Kingrea and Kellerman said.

Instead, Kingreas compensation was steered through the legislature by Del. Richard Rip Sullivan, D-Arlington. Sullivan said last week that he took up the effort at the request of Del. Jason Ballard, R-Pearisburg, whose district is near Kingreas home but who was already at the cap for the number of bills he could propose in this years session.

I was happy to help  I did what I was able to do, Sullivan said.

Sullivan noted that during years in office, he had sponsored compensation bills for several people who had been incarcerated, then had their convictions overturned. But the compensation is for incarceration only, not for the disadvantages of being wrongly listed on what Sullivan called the purgatory of the Sex Offender Registry.

When you are on the Sex Offender Registry, it affects everything, from your ability to get a job to peoples willingness to speak to you at the Safeway, Sullivan said.

Besides carrying the bill to compensate Kingrea for his year behind bars, Sullivan introduced separate legislation that would also compensate anyone who is incorrectly placed on the Sex Offender Registry. The proposed rate was about $25,000 per year on the registry, or somewhat less than half the amount paid for a year of being wrongfully jailed.

Sullivans bill stalled in committee and was not brought forward for a vote. He said that he plans to keep working on it next year.

From the time he was accused, Kingrea had insisted that he was innocent. At his trial, after jurors found him guilty and were pondering his sentence, Kingrea told them, Its a hard pill to swallow that Ive been convicted of something I did not do.

Kingrea, who had married in 2012, returned from jail adamant that the real price exacted for his conviction was being paid by his son, who was born in 2015 with a long list of health problems.

Dylan was diagnosed with X-linked creatine transporter deficiency, which affects his brain and muscles; Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, which is a rare form of epilepsy; cerebral palsy; autism spectrum disorder; and more. He takes many medications, is prone to seizures, and sometimes must be restrained. He wears a helmet and uses a wheelchair at Montgomery County Public Schools.

Kingreas wife, Michelle, works in the schools as a custodian. But David Kingrea, until his exoneration last summer, was barred from approaching school property as a convicted sex offender.

If his son had a problem, David Kingrea could not pick him up. If there was a meeting to plan Dylans school experience, Kingrea could not attend if it was held at a school.

Every issue that involved his special needs child that needed Davids attention, there had to be a workaround because he couldnt be at the school, Kellerman said.

As for the money now being paid to his client, Kellerman called it hopefully life-changing money for the Kingreas.

It is a significant amount and they need it for Dylan, Kellerman said. But, he added, it will never, ever be enough to pay David for the time he was locked up.

Kingrea was unable to find a lasting job after being placed on the Sex Offender Registry. He recounted being hired at a restaurant, then being let go as soon as the manager found out about his conviction. We get kids here, he recalled the manager saying.

Much of Kingreas time is spent caring for his son, he said last year.

For the last few years, the Kingreas gave had a GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/Please-help-sweet-little-Dylan-get-a-sensory-room, trying to raise money for a sensory room that would basically be a padded addition to their mobile home where Dylan would have more space to play and watch videos.

Some money has been raised, but much of it went to needed repairs to the aging mobile home, just to keep it livable, Kingrea said last year.

Last week, Kingrea said that when the state compensation arrives, the plan is to finally build the sensory room.

Our home is old but its full of love, he said.

Kingrea said that Dylan has good times and worse times, and can go from loving you to being very aggressive, but that he and Michelle carry on.

He was laughing and having a good time yesterday, so were happy, Kingrea said. We just take each day as it comes.

According to the bill signed by the governor, Kingrea is to receive $58,942, with $30,353 to be paid, possibly in multiple installments on a schedule starting in July. The remaining $28,589 is to be used to buy an annuity sometime in the year following July, with details to be worked out between Kingrea and state officials.

The bill also conveys $10,000 in community college tuition waivers that can be used for career and vocational training during the next 2 years. Kingrea said he hoped to start with a computer class.

Maybe Ill finally be able to work one, he said, laughing.

Kingrea said that his first reaction to news that the compensation was approved was gratitude.

First and foremost, Id like to thank everybody whos worked so hard on this.  Im eternally grateful, he said.

And to see at the top of the approved legislation a description of the accusation against him, followed by the words a crime that he did not commit, brought a sense of vindication that Kingrea said was overwhelming.

Im overjoyed, Kingrea said. I cant even put it into words really. Its a sense of peace.
Radford University is planning to stabilize enrollment 1 percent at a time during the years ahead.

University President Bret Danilowicz emphasized one of his top priorities during a board of visitors meeting last week.

His goal, as president since last summer, is to stop a yearslong decline in the number of students attending Radford.

This is a quantitative goal, its measurable. You either stabilize the number of students you have at the institution, or youre decreasing that number, Danilowicz said. In an ideal world it increases, but I want to stabilize ... Thats where were at.

He defined enrollment as the number of new plus continuing students. Three years after the onset of coronavirus, Radford Universitys total enrollment for spring 2023 is 7,718 students, Danilowicz told the board of visitors.

Thats about 4,000 students fewer than in spring 2020, after the fall 2019 opening of Radford University Carilion boosted overall enrollment to almost 12,000 at the time, according to university data.

If we increase the retention by at least 1% a year, Danilowicz said, even if we hit our minimum of a percent a year, we actually start turning around enrollment at the institution.

Radford retained 68% of its students last year, compared to an average of almost 86% retained across public four-year institutions in Virginia, according to state data.

Retention has an impact, Danilowicz said. New students have an impact, both the freshmen and transfers.

Last semester, fall 2022 enrollment was down from 2021 attendance by about 1,200 total students, according to university headcounts. That decrease was better than Radford administrators expected, board documents said.

Actual 2022-23 fall enrollment was 4.5% more than budgeted resulting in larger than projected tuition and fee revenue, a budget document said. University operating revenues are projected to be above forecast by $3.3 million.

Enrollment tools presented during the board meeting Friday show the number of Radford students projected to decrease to 7,146 total for fall 2025, and stabilize during years after. But a rebound could happen sooner, if retention rates pick up, Danilowicz said.

A percent is a good goal for next year, he said. I do anticipate in future years elevating that, because I think we can accelerate that increased retention thereafter at a much faster rate.

Enrollment projections for the near future suggest a nationwide shrinkage in the overall number of new college students.

One of the things, just in the national data, is this slow decline in the number of new students who will be entering the pipeline at universities, Danilowicz said. When they translate that to the Commonwealth over about a 10-year period, they expect somewhere between a 7[%] to 10% reduction in new students that will be enrolling at universities.

That change is likely real, he said. At least, its real for traditional new undergraduate students, young people who just graduated high school.

But its up to institutions, and to Radford, to figure out how do we create a pipeline of students that still keep us enrollment neutral? Danilowicz said. For me, its not all about our traditional students then.

The university is strategically focused on five areas to stabilize enrollment, said board of visitors member Lisa Throckmorton: marketing and communication, partner engagement, recruiting strategy, affordability and experiences.

The school is refining its marketing strategies, upping its marketing investment to $1.2 million, and plans to launch a redesigned website in October, she said.

A factor in student enrollment decisions is university distinctiveness, Danilowicz said.

We are continuing to understand how we best define our distinctiveness as an institution, Danilowicz said. Part of this is through the brand identity that we have been working on.

He said Radfords strengths include a focus on experiential learning and undergraduate research, proximity to the natural environment and a sustainable campus. He said Radford looks and feels like a private college, but its one of the most affordable schools in the state.

We are a distinctive institution, Danilowicz said. We just need to help people understand that, including those abroad in the Commonwealth, and then using that to solidify our enrollment.
Correction March 28, 2023, 9 a.m.: The originally published version of this article incorrectly reported the day of the governor's visit to the Roanoke Valley. He visited Monday, March 27.

DALEVILLE  Gov. Glenn Youngkin made a few stops in the Roanoke Valley on Monday in part to sign legislation, while also touring the Daleville Eldor plant in Botetourt County.

Youngkins first stop in Roanoke was at Round Hill Elementary School where he signed the pieces of legislation to support Virginians with developmental disabilities and their families, according to the governors office.

The bills were patroned in the Senate by David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, which is why they were signed in Roanoke, according to Macaulay Porter of the governors office.

One directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to take steps to amend the family and individual supports, community living, and building independence waivers to provide greater financial flexibility to individuals with developmental disabilities who are receiving waiver services.

Another requires each public high school in the Commonwealth to publicly identify on its official website the faculty member responsible for special education, transition planning and coordination.

And a third requires the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder workgroup to make recommendations on reducing barriers to and improving the access of paid work-based experiences for English language learner students.

Youngkin told those in attendance the bills will improve the lives of so many Virginians, including those with developmental disabilities, who contribute so much to the culture and success of our vibrant Commonwealth. We must continue to strive to equip our students with the skills to compete and education is such an important part of that process.

Suetterlein shared similar sentiments in the release.

I would like to thank Governor Youngkin and the many advocates including The Arc of Virginia, the Roanoke City School Board, and the Commission on Youth for coming together around these ideas that will improve the lives of so many Virginians, he said.

Later, after eating lunch at Texas Tavern, Youngkin made his way to Botetourt County for a tour of the Eldor Corp. manufacturing facility that opened in 2018.

The Italian company manufactures ignition systems, electronic control units and hybrid and electric vehicle systems that are shipped to its customers around the world.

After a private meeting with Eldor executives, Youngkin was shown a brief video by the company before touring the facility and interacting with its employees.

Luca Forte, an Eldor board member, shared with those in attendance why the company chose Botetourt instead of another location in the U.S.

We came over to Virginia and we said this looks like Italy, he said. The people were very supportive, easy going  and we wanted to run a company with a matching culture.

Forte also praised many people from Roanoke and Botetourt for helping make project possible.

Youngkin expressed his gratitude to Eldor executives for choosing Southwest Virginia, and said it will lead to more industrial development going forward.

This part of America is becoming the next generation of the supply chain in the automotive industry and its happening all over this region, he said. Thats why Im so happy youre here, but also you will draw other companies with you so thank you.

Photos: Gov. Glenn Youngkin tours Eldor Automotive Powertrain in Daleville
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" " This is the last complete image of asteroid moonlet Dimorphos, taken by the DRACO imager on NASA's DART mission from about 7 miles (12 kilometers) from the asteroid and 2 seconds before impact. The image shows a patch of the asteroid that is 100 feet (31 meters) across. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

In November 2021, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) robotic spacecraft took off into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on a mission to intercept and change the orbit of an asteroid.

The $325 million spacecraft traveled 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth and Monday, Sept. 26, it achieved its goal of crashing into Dimorphos, a small asteroid that orbits a second, larger piece of space rock, Didymos, as the pair travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun.

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While there was never any threat of Dimorphos hitting Earth, it provided a safe target for testing technology that someday might help to protect Earth from a catastrophic collision with a killer asteroid, such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and 75 percent of plant and animal life 66 million years ago.

When it reached Dimorphos Monday, DART slammed into the space rock at a speed of about 4.1 miles (6.6 kilometers) per second, hopefully giving the asteroid enough of a jolt to alter its orbit around its partner, just slightly, but enough that the alteration can be observed by telescopes on Earth. The investigation team will now observe Dimorphos using ground-based telescopes to confirm if the impact altered the asteroids orbit.

"DART is a test of the effectiveness of the kinetic impactor technique for altering an asteroid's orbital path, and of the spacecraft technology used to deliver a kinetic impactor to the target asteroid," Lindley Johnson, NASA planetary defense officer, explains via email.

Here are five things you should know about DART.
MULLINS, S.C.  A group of eight students from Missouri Western State University were in town last week volunteering their time during spring break to help the Marion County Habitat for Humanity with construction of a disaster relief volunteer dormitory to house individuals arriving in Marion County to assist with home building and repairs.

Students from the collegiate challenge Montana Frakes, Summer Fude, Addison Boyle, Hunter Thornburg, Becks Henderson, Julia Utterback, Joshua Clary and Hannah Murphy made the trip thanks to student union funding.

Marion County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Ricky Hardee said its been hard getting volunteers other than college groups. The students fill the biggest need, he said. Students also arrived from Siena College and Villanova University.

This is the last group, Hardee said. The disaster relief dormitory is in response to Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence, Hardee said.

Hardee said the building is designed to accommodate 38 individuals in bunk beds, with two additional bedrooms for husband-and-wife teams. The dorm will also include a commercial kitchen and dining area with four bathrooms.

Hardee said the project is not only proactive when disaster strikes but also can be utilized for a variety of needs.

Marion County Habitat for Humanity site manager Maxie Hardee said the volunteers have done a lot of painting and trim work.

Were really close to getting to the end of the job, Maxie Hardee said. This team here we really appreciate them coming and hopefully by the end of the week we will be finishing up.

For more information call 843-464-3747.
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 A SCOTUS week full of federal criminal case oral arguments | Main | Continuing criticism for Prez Biden's Justice Department for attending to the rule of (capital) law 

March 27, 2023

Justice Gorsuch (joined by Justice Kavanaugh) dissents from denial of cert in criminal contempt case

The Supeme Court's new order list this morning has only one cert grant in a civil case, but it concludes with a notable five-page dissent from the denial of certiorari in Donzinger v. US, No. 22274. Here is part of the factual backstory as explained in the dissent authored by Justice Gorsuch and joined by Justice Kavanaugh involving prosecution of a lawyer for criminal contempt:

When Mr. Donziger failed to comply fully with the courts orders, it held him in criminal contempt and referred the matter to the U. S. Attorneys Office for prosecution. See 38 F. 4th 290, 295 (CA2 2022). After some deliberation, however, the U.S. Attorney respectfully declined to take up the case. Ibid. (alteration omitted). Apparently displeased with this decision, the district court responded by setting up and staffing its own prosecutors office. Ibid. In the bench trial that followed, that office secured a conviction and the court sentenced Mr. Donziger to six months in prison. Ibid. Throughout these proceedings and on appeal, Mr. Donziger objected. He argued that the district court had no lawful authority to override the Executive Branchs nonprosecution decision and that our Constitutions separation of powers exists in no small measure to keep courts from becoming partisans in the cases before them. Despite his arguments, the Second Circuit affirmed Mr. Donzigers conviction. Id., at 306. Judge Menashi dissented. Id., at 306315.

Justice Gorsuch goes on to explain the shaky precedents and laws cited to support the unusual process for convicting the defendant here. And he concludes the dissent this way:

However much the district court may have thought Mr. Donziger warranted punishment, the prosecution in this case broke a basic constitutional promise essential to our liberty. In this country, judges have no more power to initiate a prosecution of those who come before them than prosecutors have to sit in judgment of those they charge. In the name of the United States, two different groups of prosecutors have asked us to turn a blind eye to this promise. Respectfully, I would not. With this Courts failure to intervene today, I can only hope that future courts weighing whether to appoint their own prosecutors will consider carefully Judge Menashis dissenting opinion in this case, the continuing vitality of Young, and the limits of its reasoning. Our Constitution does not tolerate what happened here.

March 27, 2023 at 10:18 AM | Permalink

Comments

The Supreme Court should have taken this one. When there are credible allegations of judges acting in an ultra vires manner, the Supreme Court needs to deal with it.

Posted by: federalist | Mar 27, 2023 12:53:36 PM

I agree with Gorsuch, Steve Menashi and federalist. The district court's actions are inconsistent with separation of powers.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Mar 27, 2023 2:17:11 PM

Over many years, I have found that many state and federal Judges fail to grasp the limits of their contempt powers and authority. My own cousin, former (and now retired) Kentucky Family Court Judge Tamra Gormley held a husband in a domestic violence order case in summary direct criminal contempt of court for speaking to his wife out in the hallway, beyond the Judge's sight or hearing. The Judge was advised about the hallway conversation by her bailiff and did not hear it or see it herself. The husband was pro se. She asked him questions about what he had done in the hallway without reading him his Miranda rights and advising him that he did not have to answer her questions, but if he did answer them, she might use the answers to hold him in criminal contempt. After he responded to her questions, she had him placed in handcuffs in the Courtroom and taken to jail for contempt. The problem was that she lacked the legal power and authority to hold him in summary criminal contempt, because what had transpired was outside her sight and hearing, in the hallway. Instead, she should have set the matter down for a hearing on a later date, after the defendant had an opportunity to retain counsel to defend him (or appoint a public defender), since "criminal contempt" is a criminal case, to which the Sixth Amendment provides a right to be represented by counsel. On appeal, Judge Gormley was reversed by the Georgia Court of Appeals. The Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission sanctioned her with a 45 day suspension without pay and a public reprimand. See, Honorable Tamra Gormley, Judge vs. Judicial Conduct Commission, Appeal Nos. 2009-SC-0736 and 2010-SC-0010 (Ky. January 20, 2011). I use this example to remind readers that as members of the Judicial Branch of Government, Judges have the inherent right, under appropriate circumstances (supervisory powers), to hold people in direct criminal contempt of court for events that occur in their presence in the Courtroom. On the other hand, indirect criminal contempt applies to events that occur outside the presence of the Court, which are subject to the right of the Executive Branch prosecutors to decide whether or not to seek an indictment. It seems unprecedented for a Federal Judge to set up his own private prosecutors, after the U. S. Attorney's Office has declined to seek an indictment and prosecute for this kind of contempt. The Supreme Court should have taken this cert. Petition and written a clear opinion spelling out the distinctions about the criminal contempt pwoers of Federal Judges.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 27, 2023 2:23:51 PM

Should say reversed by the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 27, 2023 2:25:32 PM

I would note that my state has a similar rule to the one at issue here.

Direct criminal contempt (i.e in sight or hearing of judge), summary proceeding.

Indirect criminal contempt -- local prosecutor or prosecutor appointed by the court.

I assume a lot of states have rules that mirror the federal rules.

Posted by: tmm | Mar 27, 2023 5:10:08 PM

In 1908, Hamilton County Sheriff Joseph Shipp (Chattanooga, Tn.) was tried by the U.S. Superme Court (although the trial was actually held in Chattanooga by order of the USSC). The USSC ordered the trial to determine the Sheriff's culpability in regards to his contempt of court conviction. Shipp had been found in contempt by the federal district court and appealed to the USSC. The trial was then ordered by the higher court.

In a ruling by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. ordering the trial, the justice stated, in part: "This court (the USSC) is preeminent as speaking the last word for the judicial power.....while the inferior Federal courts look to Congress for their actual being, function and jurisdiction" In other words, only the USSC may convene a trial, while the 'inferior' courts must seek such power/authorization from Congress.

There is an excellent book chronicling this case (which stemmed from a lynching of a young black man in Chattanooga), entitled "Contempt of Court" (1999) by Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips, Jr. Highly recommended.

Posted by: SG | Mar 27, 2023 7:20:42 PM

S.G., you might find it interesting that an attempt to lynch a black World War I veteran, who had killed a 10-year old white child, in Lexington, Kentucky in 1920 went the opposite direction from the case you mention. Will Lockett was caught and accused on killing 10-year old Geneva Hardman on February 4,1920. A lynch mob wanted to kill Lockett before he could have a trial, but the Circuit Courthouse and jail in Lexington were protected by National Guardsmen who had been sent by the Governor of Kentucky. On February 9, 1920, the lynch mob surged forward and some pistol shots were allegedly fired at the National Guardsmen, who returned fire (perhaps even with a machine gun!). Six men were killed and 20 were wounded. Two policemen and a soldier were also seriously wounded. The Governor requested Federal help, and 1,200 Army soldiers came to Lexington aboard special trains, carrying tanks and machine guns. An Army General placed Lexington under Marshall Law for 2 weeks. Will Lockett confessed to having previously murdered 2 women in Indiana and a woman in Louisville, Kentucky (where he had enlisted in the Army during World War I). In one of the shortest capital court proceedings in history, in February 2020, Will Lockett pleaded guilty to having murdered 10-yeqar old Geneva Hardman. A jury was empaneled to select and recommend a sentence, as required by the Kentucky Constitution. The jury heard brief evidence and recommended the death penalty. The Judge sentenced Will Lockett to death. The Court proceedings, from guilty plea to death penalty sentencing (including picking the jury!) allegedly took only 20 to 30 minutes. No appeal was made, because the defendant had pleaded guilty. Lockett was executed in the electric chair at the Kentucky State Penitentiary 30 days after being sentenced.

Also, the last public hanging in America occurred in August 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Public executions were on their way out in America. The Sheriff of the county where the black defendant was convicted of raping a white woman refused to carry out the death sentence. The female sheriff of Davies County wrote the Governor and offered to carry out the sentence if he would send her the prisoner, which he did. 20,000 people turned out to watch the hanging. In 1936, it was unusual to elect a woman county Sheriff. The female Sheriff of Davies county was elected to the position after her husband, who had held the job for 30 years, died in office. The voters elected his widow to become the new Sheriff.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 28, 2023 12:04:05 AM

Jim,

Thanks for that info. Our American history is replete with cruelty, racism and injustice. It would be a damn shame if we, as a society, allowed our government representatives to prevent these truths from being taught to our children.

Posted by: SG | Mar 28, 2023 3:29:41 AM

Speaking of out of control courts--Judge Boasberg, the same 'rat hack judge who swallowed the "I thought I could doctor emails because they were mistaken and present them to a court" mitigation defense (which was BS--Clinesmith knew what he was doing) is the same judge ordering Mike Pence to testify. Mike Pence is too much of a wuss to call this judge out. What Pence should say: "It is no surprise that this Obama judge--the same one that let a DOJ lawyer doctor documents filed with a court of law to get off scot free--is issuing this unprecedented order in the service of partisan political ends. Chief Justice Roberts, you warranted to the American people that there was no such thing as an Obama judge, Democratic or Republican judge--Boasberg has made you a liar.'

Posted by: federalist | Mar 28, 2023 2:36:16 PM

SG, It would be a damn shame if we, as a society, allowed our government representatives to allow these facts to be used to make children feel like they are responsible for these outrages.

There, I fixed it for you.

Posted by: federalist | Mar 28, 2023 2:38:38 PM

Mr. Federalist

And your solution is what? It seems to me that many participants of this blog are keen on offering their observations and analysis, yet seldom couple that with a workable solution. Are you, Mr. Federalist, suggesting these historical facts should be what? White-washed?

Posted by: SG | Mar 28, 2023 9:00:04 PM

SG --

My solution is that we should teach our children what my parents taught me -- that you are fully responsible for what you do, but you are not responsible for what other people did that you could not affect.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Mar 28, 2023 10:35:35 PM

Bill,

Nice try. Changing the subject (a ploy often used by lawyers On Both Sides) may work in front of a jury but not with me today. Your answer is wholly unresponsive. If you noticed, I had asked Mr. Federalist how he would present the historical facts I had outlined in my earlier post. Taking responsibility, while thought provoking, clearly fails to address the issue. Perhaps Mr. Federalist would like to give it a try.

Posted by: SG | Mar 29, 2023 1:56:49 AM

I thought I did answer your point--by fixing what you had to say. You seem to imply that I think that historical facts ought not be taught. Nothing can be further from the truth. What I oppose is (a) propagandizing history and (b) using history to impose ideology on children. A 10 year old white child is not tainted by any of these historical facts any more than a 10 year Turkish child is responsible for the Armenian genocide. Just recently, in Springfield, Ohio, a group of black kids bullied white kids into kneeling and reciting "Black lives matter." Wonder where they got the idea to do that?

Posted by: federalist | Mar 29, 2023 8:43:17 AM

Compare the result in this Donzinger criminal contempt matter at the U.S. Supreme Court with the result in United States v. Humberto Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655, 659-670 (1992), where the Supreme Court defied its own precedents and approved the kidnapped from Mexico of the physician who kept DEA Agent Kiki Camerana alive and screaming during 2 days of torture, before he was killed. Ironically, where Dr. Alvarez-Machain was tried in Los Angeles, the District Judge granted him a directed verdict of acquittal, because the witnesses necessary to prove the Government's case could not be subpoenaed to come from Mexico to Los Angeles to testify. Later, Dr. Alvarez-Machain pursued a Federal civil rights case against the Government agents who had arranged his kidnapping in Mexico. Although he prevailed in that civil rights case, the he was awarded a nominal sum of damages, about $1,200 or $1,500. The point in both cases is that no man is above Federal criminal laws.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 29, 2023 11:48:07 AM

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(CNN)  Actor Jonathan Majors, who has recently starred in "Creed III" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," was arrested Saturday morning in an alleged domestic dispute, New York police say.

Majors, 33, was taken into custody following a 911 call made from an apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, according to a statement from the New York Police Department.

"The victim informed police she was assaulted," the statement said. The 30-year-old woman had "minor injuries to her head and neck," police said.

Majors faces charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, according to the NYPD.

An attorney for Majors, Priya Chaudhry, said the actor is "completely innocent" and was "provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows."

"We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently," Chaudhry said in a statement Sunday.

That evidence would include two written statements from the woman recanting the allegations, the attorney claimed, as well as video footage from a vehicle where the incident purportedly occurred and testimony from the driver and other witnesses.

"All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever," Chaudhry said.

Majors is no longer in police custody, according to the NYPD Saturday night.

In the wake of the allegations, the US Army announced it is pulling two recently released recruiting ads featuring Majors, saying in a statement it was "deeply concerned."

"While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete," the statement from the Army Enterprise Marketing Office said.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "Actor Jonathan Majors is arrested on assault charge in New York, police say"
South Korean girl group Red Velvet will return to Singapore for their latest concert tour next month.

The five-member group will perform on April 21 for their R to V concert tour.

#RedVelvet Tour

Red Velvet 4th Concert : R to V  SINGAPORE 23.04.21

 YOKOHAMA 23.05.03-04

 MANILA 23.05.07

 BANGKOK 23.05.13-14  JAKARTA 23.05.20

 PARIS 23.05.24

 BERLIN 23.05.27

 AMSTERDAM 23.05.30

 LONDON 23.06.06#RtoV#RedVelvet4thConcert_RtoV pic.twitter.com/dkBOTkFPYY  Red Velvet (@RVsmtown) March 27, 2023

Concert venue and ticketing details have to be released.

The K-pop group will also tour Asian cities Yokohama, Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta before traveling to Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and London.

Other stories you should check out:
Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China April 29, 2019. (PHOTO: Madoka Ikegami/Pool via REUTERS)

SINGAPORE  Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will embark on a six-day official visit to China from Monday (27 March) to 1 April, marking his first trip to the country in four years and his first since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lee's visit to China also marks the first time he has been there after China reshuffled its top leadership since its 20th party congress in October 2022 and the annual parliamentary meetings in March.

The Prime Minister's Office said on Sunday (26 March) that during his visit, Lee will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and visit Guangdong and Hainan provinces at the invitation of China's new premier Li Qiang.

In a recent interview with China Central Television, Lee praised the relations between Singapore and China, describing them as "very good".

He also noted that China's rise must be met with give and take from all sides, saying that "the world cannot afford a conflict between China and the rest of the world, and in particular between China and the US".

Lee's delegation to China includes his wife, Ho Ching, as well as government officials and ministers from various sectors such as foreign affairs, trade and industry, health, and national development.

In Guangdong, Lee will meet Huang Kunming, Secretary of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Guangdong Provincial Committee, as well as with Singaporeans in the province.

Lee will deliver a speech at the Bo'ao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan, where the theme is "An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges". He will also meet with the Secretary of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee, Feng Fei.

While in Beijing, besides meeting China's President, Lee will also attend a welcome ceremony and lunch banquet hosted by Premier Li.

Lee will then meet with National People's Congress Chairman Zhao Leji, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning, and Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee Yin Li.

Story continues

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will serve as Acting Prime Minister in Lee's absence from 27 March to 28 March, followed by Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean from 29 March to 1 April.

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.
  ST.GEORGE'S MANSIONS5.41  2.8 10.7  University Hill1.61 1500   2026 Action Team  CPI1.7%   Google Survey suggests Over half of respondents consider data analysis and visualisation as "must-have" skills, Google Hong Kong launches Google Career Certificates Program 2023 TVB 4600 IKEA3172  0.07%  1.57%9%   CFO  780 2023  90  2027 2.24%8%5%  TwitterTwitter 0.64% 1.81%H14% 90 75% ETUDE House424  
SHELDON, Iowa  Authorities have released the identity of a woman found dead Thursday inside her Sheldon home.

Jody Lynn Duskin, 62, was found by a family member at 604 Fourth Ave. The Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy Saturday and determined her death was a homicide, according to an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation news release.

Duskin's son, Nathaniel Kassel, 41, of Rock Rapids, was arrested Friday in Flandeau, South Dakota, on charges of first-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm. He remains in custody in the Brookings County Jail in South Dakota and will be returned to O'Brien County after a judge approves his extradition.

The DCI has released no other details about the case.

A search of Iowa online court records showed Kassel has a limited criminal history with no violent crimes. He was fined $100 for a misdemeanor theft charge in 2011 and had a fine suspended for a disorderly conduct conviction in 2015, both in Lyon County. He was placed on probation in 2011 in Osceola County after pleading guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. He also has a 2017 drunken driving conviction in Sioux County.
HARTINGTON, Neb. -- Final arguments for and against dismissing charges against a woman charged with murder in connection with a Laurel, Nebraska, quadruple homicide will be made on paper rather than in person.

During a brief hearing Monday, District Judge Bryan Meismer set an April 17 deadline for attorneys to file briefs on Carrie Jones' plea in abatement. Neither side made oral arguments.

Meismer continued Jones' arraignment, which had been scheduled for Monday, to May 22 in anticipation he will have made a ruling on the plea in abatement by then.

Jones, 43, of Laurel, is charged in Cedar County District Court with charges of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a felony in connection with the Aug. 4 shooting death of Gene Twiford.

Jones' attorneys argue prosecutors failed at a previous hearing to present sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that Jones aided and abetted her husband, Jason Jones, who also is charged with killing Twiford and three others.

At that February hearing, a Nebraska State Patrol investigator testified Jones told him Twiford had verbally harassed her for three years. The day before the shooting, Jones pointed a loaded handgun at her husband, then held a knife to his throat and told him he needed to stand up for her and end the harassment. She told the investigator she didn't tell her husband to kill Twiford, but did say shed do it if he didnt.

Hours later, Twiford, 86, was found shot to death, along with his wife, Janet, 85, and their daughter Dana Twiford, 55, in their burning home at 503 Elm St.

Jones' attorney, Nathan Stratton, argued prosecutors hadn't shown Jones persuaded her husband to kill Twiford.

At the hearing's conclusion, Judge Douglas Luebe found probable cause for Jones to face trial and ordered her bound over to district court.

Jason Jones, 43, is charged with four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony and two counts of first-degree arson. Hes accused of shooting the Twifords and also Michele Ebeling, 53, who lived across the street from the Jones' home. He's also charged with setting fire to both homes in the early morning hours of Aug. 4.

Badly burned, Jason Jones had stumbled into his home that morning with his wife's assistance and stayed there until he was arrested the next day and taken to a Lincoln, Nebraska, hospital for treatment of his burns. Carrie Jones was arrested Dec. 16 and remains in custody on a $1 million bond.

Prosecutors have filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Jason Jones if hes found guilty of first-degree murder. His attorney has filed a motion to quash portions of Nebraskas death penalty statute, saying theyre unconstitutional. Both sides have filed briefs and await Meismer's ruling on the motion.

Because of the motion, Jones has yet to be arraigned and is being held without bond at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln, where he continues to receive medical treatment.
SIOUX CITY -- A Minneapolis environmental engineering firm will present recommendations for residential, commercial and industrial sewer rate increases in Sioux City.

Last April, the council green-lighted a $617,700 consulting services agreement with Hazen and Sawyer, P.C. to evaluate whether to upgrade or replace the city's aging wastewater treatment plant.

In January, representatives of Hazen and Sawyer told the council reconstruction of the plant is likely to be the best investment for the city. Rebuilding the existing wastewater treatment plant, which is between 50 and 60 years old, would cost an estimated $580 million, while constructing a completely new plant father south would run in the neighborhood of $900 million.

During Monday's council meeting, which begins at 4 p.m., Will Marten and Tim Devine, of Hazen and Sawyer, will present the recommended sewer rate increases, which would help fund the wastewater treatment plant facility plan improvements project. After the presentation, council members and the public will have the opportunity to comment and ask questions.

City staff is requesting that the council approve the recommended sewer rate increase during three subsequent council meetings, according to city documents. The documents did not mention the amount of the increases being proposed.

The city would pay for the wastewater treatment plant project with a combination of funding, including American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The city received $40.6 million from ARPA, a COVID relief package signed by President Biden in March 2021. The facility plan developed by Hazen and Sawyer was funded with $500,000 from the ARPA. The rest of the money came from the sewer fund.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources requires the city to have a facility plan to guide the city's wastewater treatment services for the next two decades.

In January of 2022, the Iowa DNR filed suit against the city over alleged repeated environmental violations at the plant, which dated back to March 2012. The city faces fines adding up to millions of dollars.

In response, the city concedes there have been past violations. But, in each case, the city self-reported them to the DNR upon discovery. The city also has denied allegations that city officials intentionally misled state regulators about the operating capabilities of the plant, calling them "reckless and libelous."
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  The suspect in a Nashville school shooting on Monday had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance before killing three students and three adults in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

The suspect, who was killed by police, is believed to be a former student at The Covenant School in Nashville, where the shooting took place.

The shooter was armed with two assault-style weapons  a rifle and a pistol  as well as a handgun, authorities said. At least two of them were believed to have been obtained legally in the Nashville area.

The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

The website of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001, lists a Katherine Koonce as the head of the school. Her LinkedIn profile says she has led the school since July 2016.

Police gave unclear information on the gender of the shooter. For hours, police identified the shooter as a 28-year-old woman and eventually identified the person as Audrey Hale. Then at a late afternoon press conference, the police chief said that Hale was transgender. After the news conference, police spokesperson Don Aaron declined to elaborate on how Hale currently identified.

The attack at The Covenant School  which has about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade, as well as roughly 50 staff members  comes as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

I was literally moved to tears to see this and the kids as they were being ushered out of the building, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Monday during one of several news conferences.

Drake did not give a specific motive when asked by reporters but gave chilling examples of the shooter's prior planning for the targeted attack.

We have a manifesto, we have some writings that were going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident," he said. "We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church. The affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, where the Covenant School is located, is home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers.

President Joe Biden, speaking at an unrelated event at the White House on Monday, called the shooting a familys worst nightmare and implored Congress again to pass a ban on certain semi-automatic weapons.

Its ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation, Biden said.

Before Mondays violence in Nashville, there had been seven mass killings at K-12 schools since 2006 in which four or more people were killed within a 24-hour period, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. In all of them, the shooters were males.

The database does not include school shootings in which fewer than four people were killed, which have become far more common in recent years. Just last week alone, for example, school shootings happened in Denver and the Dallas-area within two days of each other.

Monday's tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received the initial call about an active shooter at 10:13 a.m.

Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, Aaron said during a news briefing.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10:27 a.m., Aaron said. One officer had a hand wound from cut glass.

Aaron said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

Other students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

Rachel Dibble, who was at the church as families found their children, described the scene as everyone being in complete shock.

People were involuntarily trembling, said Dibble, whose children attend a different private school in Nashville. The children  started their morning in their cute little uniforms, they probably had some Froot Loops and now their whole lives changed today.

Dr. Shamendar Talwar, a social psychologist from the United Kingdom who is working on an unrelated mental health project in Nashville, raced to the church as soon as he heard news of the shooting to offer help. He said he was one of several chaplains, psychologists, life coaches and clergy inside supporting the families.

All you can show is that the human spirit that basically that we are all here together  and hold their hand more than anything else, he said.

Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens and fire trucks blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. And right now, its real.

From her office nearby, Kelly Stooksberry could see parents rushing to park their cars on the side of the road before sprinting to locate their children. She saw one woman fall to her knees and grab her chest.

It was gut-wrenching, she said.

Nashville has seen its share of mass violence in recent years, including a Christmas Day 2020 attack where a recreational vehicle was intentionally detonated in the heart of Music Citys historic downtown, killing the bomber, injuring three others and forcing more than 60 businesses to close.

Tennessee state senators met for about 12 minutes on Monday after agreeing to delay taking up any bills due to the shooting. The session started off with an emotional prayer from the guest pastor.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wrote down a prayer today and I quickly realized that I cannot," said Pastor Russell Hall, with his voice trembling. "I stand before you today heartbroken.

Photos: Scenes from the mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville

A look at some of America's deadliest school shootings Intro Until the massacre at Colorados Columbine High School in 1999, the number of dead in U.S. school shootings tended to be in the single digits. Since then, the number of shootings that included schools and killed 10 or more people has mounted. The most recent two were both in Texas. In May 2022, an 18-year-old attacker killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In May 2018, a 17-year-old killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School near Houston. Most of the victims were students. Columbine High School, April 1999 Red Lake High School, March 2005 Virginia Tech, April 2007 Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 2012 Umpqua Community College, October 2015 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, February 2018 Santa Fe High School, May 2018 Robb Elementary School, May 2022
A western Pennsylvania man found dead in a home filled with poisonous snakes last week had been bitten, but thats not what killed him, according to police.

Aliquippa police told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the 23-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, had bite marks on his wrist but they were from an old snake bite unrelated to his death.

Police said the Beaver County coroner could release the mans cause of death in two or three weeks, as toxicology results are also pending. The Trib reported that the man was found in a bathroom on Tuesday.

The Beaver County Times reported that the people in the home had recently moved to the area to sell reptiles.

A 3-year-old girl was found in a highchair near poisonous snakes, The Times reported, which prompted a visit from Beaver County Child and Family Services. Police told the Trib that no violations were found.

Aliquippa code enforcement officer Jim Bologna told the Trib that about 60 venomous snakes, including a cobra and two black mambas, were among over 200 snakes held in latched cages. The poisonous snakes were taken to a local exotic pet store by the Beaver County Humane Society.

Besides the snakes, there was also a poisonous lizard and a dwarf caiman crocodile, the outlets reported. Venomous snakes are prohibited in Aliquippa and Bologna told the Trib that the owners could face fines up to $1,000 for each snake.

The Times reported that the residents are allowed to remain in the home with the non-poisonous snakes and lizards.

The most dangerous snakes in the world Sea snakes West African carpet viper Egyptian cobras Monocellate cobras Puff adders Mambas Russell's vipers Krait Malayan pit vipers Papuan taipans Brown snakes Lancehead vipers Rattlesnakes
(CNN)  North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Monday morning, South Korean authorities said, the latest in series of missile firings as South Korean and United States forces engage in their largest military exercises since 2017.

Japanese authorities said the two missiles are suspected of having flown on "an irregular trajectory," with a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) and at a distance of of 350 kilometers (217 miles).

Irregular trajectories could mean the missiles are maneuverable, in contrast to regular ballistic missiles, which travel in an arc.

The missile launches come as South Korean and US forces engage in large-scale military exercises involving thousands of troops on the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Following Monday's missile launch, the South Korean military said it would continue operating the Warrior Shield field training exercise at high intensity until they end in early April.

Two large US Navy platforms, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island are near the southern coast of South Korea preparing to participate in exercises later this week.

North Korean missile launches tend to spike when Washington and Seoul hold joint military drills.

The latest US-South Korea exercises are among the largest the two allies have put on since they scaled back such military displays in 2017, when then-US President Donald Trump tried to offer an opening for North Korea to negotiate an end to its long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs.

That opening has long since closed, with North Korea last year conducting a record number of missile tests while pledging to develop its nuclear program to arm the missiles.

The North's missile testing has picked up again in recent weeks, as tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to escalate.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "North Korea launches at least two unidentified ballistic missile into waters off eastern Korean peninsula"
The U.S. Supreme Court has invited the federal government to weigh in on whether state and local governments can regulate how long trains can block railroad crossings.

The invitation means the high court might eventually give a full hearing to the appeal of a lower court ruling that invalidated Ohios blocked crossing law. Theres no guarantee the court will grant the appeal, but this week's court order keeps the door open for now.

Countless people have died when emergency vehicles were delayed at rail crossings, The Kansas City Star reported in an investigation of railroad safety lapses.

The high court refused to hear a similar case last year in which Oklahoma argued that lower courts were split over which federal agency has authority over blocked crossings and asked the justices for clarification.

Over the past 20 years, lower courts have repeatedly ruled that state and local restrictions on train movements are preempted by the federal laws that govern the railroad industry. Some of those restrictions were passed recently in response to growing concerns that trains were blocking crossings more often and for longer periods. Other states, like Kansas, adopted their laws more than a century ago.

While the courts have ruled that only the federal government can regulate train movements, the states note that Congress has failed to pass any laws limiting how long trains can block a crossing.

Ohio argues that lower courts misinterpreted a federal statute passed in 1995 that dissolved the Interstate Commerce Commission  which had oversight of railroads  and transferred much of its authority to a new agency, the Surface Transportation Board. The Federal Railroad Administration also regulates railroad safety.

Nineteen states, including Kansas, signed onto a brief late last year supporting Ohios appeal of a 2022 Ohio Supreme Court ruling negating that states law that set a five-minute limit on trains blocking crossings.

Those states claim that lives are imperiled when police, firefighters and paramedics are unable to quickly respond to emergencies because they are blocked by trains parked at or moving slowly through public crossings.

In its latest brief, Ohio cited The Stars reporting, which found the problem has grown worse in recent years due to the freight rail industrys business practices, such as running longer trains on their track.

The Star reported several instances in which people died after emergency crews were delayed at blocked crossings.

In 2021 near Leggett, Texas, nearly an hour passed between the time the mother of 11-week-old KTwon Franklin called 911 and when paramedics were able to load the baby into an ambulance because a train blocked their access. He died at a hospital three days later.

A year earlier in Noble, Oklahoma, 66-year-old Gene Byrd collapsed with a heart attack and died when the rescue squad rushing to save him was blocked by a train parked at a crossing.

Ohio cited both deaths in its appeal as evidence of the need for regulation.

Blocked grade crossings endanger Americans nationwide. When parked trains block roads for prolonged periods, they delay first responders, Ohios attorney general and solicitor general argue in one of their briefs. That delay endangers lives. Blocked crossings also caused inconvenienced people to make bad choices  climbing over stopped trains to make it to school on time, for example.

The Star reported several instances of people who were killed or lost limbs when they climbed through stopped trains that suddenly began to move.

Photos: Railroading Heritage of Midwest America
The remains of an army reservist who went missing in action in Vietnam in 1972 have been identified.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that the remains of Larry A. Zich, an army reserve chief warrant officer from Lincoln have been identified.

In April 1972, Zich was assigned to a detachment with the 37th Signal Battalion, 1st Signal Brigade. On April 3  his 24th birthday  he was the copilot of a helicopter combat support mission to Quang Tri City, Vietnam.

During the flight, the pilot told ground control that he was lost, and believed he was near Quang Tri. Following the transmission, the helicopter and crew could not be found on radar. The crew was declared missing, and an aerial search was initiated, but no sign of the helicopter or crew was found.

Zich's remains were identified in October 2022.

In April 1988, the Defense Intelligence Agency received human remains from a Vietnamese refugee. The remains reportedly belonged to nine individuals who died in an aircraft crash near Quang Nam Province during the Vietnam War.

The remains were then sent to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii, where scientists from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency were eventually able to identify Zich's remains thanks to dental and anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

The release said Zich, who was born in Sturgis, South Dakota, will be buried in Lincoln, at a date yet to be determined.
Sioux City residents should expect temperatures in the 40s. The forecast calls for it to be a cold 44 degrees. A 20-degree low is forecasted. Expect periods of sun and clouds. The area will see gentle winds today, with winds only reaching 8 miles per hour, coming from the North. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Visit siouxcityjournal.com for more weather updates.
Extreme heat waves in Europe may be linked to melting Arctic sea ice

Posted on 27 March 2023 by greenman3610

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections

Global warming is melting the Arctic ice cap, and thats having unforeseen effects on the worlds weather  even thousands of miles away from the North Pole. Some climate scientists have begun to link increasingly common heat waves in Europe to what is called a double jet pattern.

In this weather pattern, the jet stream, which is typically a narrow band of fast-moving air in the upper atmosphere, splits into two branches with Europe in between. This phenomenon causes a heat dome effect in which European countries are trapped in a pattern of prolonged, extreme heat. More than 40,000 people died as a result of the 2022 European heat wave, according to preliminary estimates. Watch the video to learn more.
How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous!

Dear How to Do It,

Okay, so this person and I have been having sex for years. He is the only man who Ive been sexually active with, and he claims Im the only women hes been sexually active with as well. All of a sudden, he started peeing blood and he went to the doctor only to be told he has chlamydia. I dont understand how this is happening and only coming out right now after all these years weve been together. Is this possible without cheating? Or did he get it from someone else and hes lying to me? Is it possible he somehow got it from me when hes the only man Ive been with?

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 Need Answers

Dear Need Answers,

Occams razor is pointing in the direction of him having cheated. The reason that you dont understand how this is possible is because the chances of contracting chlamydia through nonsexual contact are slim to none, leaning hard on the side of none. There are STDs that can pass through nonsexual contact (for example, theres some data to suggest gonorrhea can be transmitted via kissing) outside of the context of childbirth, but to my knowledge, chlamydia is not one of them.

Notice how Im hedging, though. I cant say for certain that youve been cheated on.

Its hard to be absolute here because human experience is vast and STDs are tricky. I ran your scenario by Dr. H. Hunter Handsfield, professor emeritus, University of Washington, and a nationally recognized STD expert, and he told me via email that false positive tests do happen, but theyre rare. He also said that apparently new infection sometimes means previous tests were falsely negative. Untreated chlamydia can live in the body for years, though data is scant and imprecise (due to ethical concerns and the inability to ascertain the exact date of infection). When I spoke to Handsfield last year for a similar question, he told me that for men, symptoms of urethral chlamydia have been observed clinically for six months (this is, by the way, based on pre-antibiotic data, since its not ethical to actually test untreated infections when treatment is available), and thats obviously shorter than the years youve been with this guy.

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Its somewhat perplexing that your partner admitted the chlamydia diagnosis to you, as it almost certainly indicates cheating, but he did not actually admit to cheating. Why would he tell an apparently incomplete story, one whose blanks can be filled in so easily? Perhaps he thinks youre gullible enough to believe that he somehow got chlamydia spontaneously or through immaculate contraction. Perhaps this is his indirect way of admitting cheating. Or maybe he didnt cheat and this is an absolute freak occurrence. In any event, some clarity is needed. Now that you are better informed, its time to have a conversation. Be open but firmknow that the chances of his chlamydia coming from something other than cheating are extremely slim, but that its at least within the realm of human possibility.

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Get the How to Do It Newsletter Sex advice from Rich and Stoya, plus exclusive letter follow-ups, delivered weekly. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

Dear How to Do It,

Im a middle-aged, cishet guy. I am not especially kinky. Also, I have always tried to be extremely considerate of women, to the point where I have missed out on sexual opportunities because I am afraid of being perceived as aggressive, or because I misread clear signs of interest out of nervousness or uncertainty. (Is it ok if I kiss you now? You shouldnt have asked.)

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A few years ago, I started to casually date someone who was very into very serious BDSM. I was clear that this was not my thing, and that I wouldnt be able even to try to accommodate her needs; she was fine with this, because she had other partners who could satisfy these desires. But, because shes willing to tolerate pretty much anything, I can do pretty much anything I want to her. I can treat her like my own personal living fuck-doll, and she loves it. And  it turns out that I really love it too. I may not want to whip her, but its great to ass-fuck her without asking permission; I dont have rape fantasies, but its great that if Im on another date and call her up for a threesome, shell come right over.

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I dont see her very often anymore because she moved a bit out of town, but I think all the time about the sex we had, and how much I love it. But I also think, a lot, about what kind of guy this makes me. If I read this letter, Id think, this guy is an asshole. But I dont want to be an asshole; I want to be the type of guy who doesnt get laid because hes too polite, not the kind of guy who expects his girlfriend to cater to his every whim. Even watching rough-sex porn actively turns me off. I dont want to be the kind of person who likes this.

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So I dont know what to think. Am I, in fact, an asshole? Or am I too socially conditioned to be a nice guy that Im afraid to acknowledge my own desires? And what does it mean going forward? I cant begin to imagine how to communicate to a new partner that Id occasionally like to treat them like a living fuck-doll, and I dont know if Id actually feel comfortable with a long-term partner who herself would be ok with that.

 What Am I?

Dear What Am I,

I dont think that the sexual relationship you describe is proof of your essence, per sehow it played out was via a combination of your inclinations, your partners, the chemistry between the two of you, and the opportunity that was presented. Consent, as you know, is essential, but there is a particular bliss that comes from being so in sync with someone that theyre down to do whatever with you and youre fully aware of this. Besides, your desires are not what make you an assholewhat you do with them is. Even Christ was tempted. I think, in fact, one could make the argument that he who fights temptation and lives a life of righteousness has a stronger, and, if you will, better character than he who never experiences temptation at all and skates by. Laziness is not a hallmark of a strong characterhe who fights for his integrity earns it.

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There are people who are dominant and thats just how they are. Those people, especially within the rubric of BDSM, ethically express this via conversations, contracts, safe words, and aftercare. Theres a market for this type. Some people like to play the role of living fuck-doll. However, treating them like a person in other contexts is crucial. While your taste does make assholeishness possible, it does not automatically qualify you for that distinction. I think youd do well to find a sub, and do even better once said sub is secured, to let them dictate how theyd like to be treated and whenif that includes being a living fuck-doll, all the better.

Alternately, you can advertise on FetLife or a similar kink site that a living fuck-doll is, in fact, what youre looking for.

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The last clause of your last sentence is potentially telling; clearly, shame has guided the writing of your letter. Its one thing to have it for yourself; its another thing to impose it on others, or let it color your assessment of them. Have compassion. People are into wild shit sexually. What that makes a person is  someone who is into wild shit. Thats all. Variation within the realm of consensual sex is morally benign. Do you respect the partner that you had such amazing sex with? I truly hope soshe gave you such immense pleasure that she taught you things about yourself and set a new standard against which to judge future partners. Good person, good shmerson, that sounds like a hell of a woman, a living fuck-doll worthy of worship. If you cant square someones humanity with their sexual taste, you probably shouldnt be having sex at all. Thats where youd enter asshole territoryso try to steer clear.

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Dear How to Do It,

Im stuck in a particular thought process I need help escaping regarding the end of a FWB situation. We paused things about six months ago, in part because they were feeling overwhelmed with their work load, and because sex in general was making them feel a lot of dysphoria as they explored their gender identity. We are still friends, and the relationship is good, and I am perfectly fine with that. However, lately they have started making comments about how they wish hooking up was easier, and how much Tinder and such suck for queer people in our area, though nothing about us in particular. Its worth noting that this kind of topic was common before we started sleeping together, so its not new or weird for us.

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I am hesitant to bring up a conversation of possibly hooking up again, as I dont want to put any pressure on them one way or another, I understand that wanting to sleep with someone could still mean not with me in particular, and I really do respect that these could just be abstract ideas they want to air out. However, I have also been prone to miss obvious cues in the past, and cant tell if these are hints they are now in a different place mentally, and willing to un-pause the sex part of our relationship. On top of that, both of us have a habit of assuming the other will make the first move. How does one go about conversations like this without making a good thing awkward? Or is this a case where I should just let sleeping dogs lie, assuming my friend would let me know if they had any interest?

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 Friendship Is a Benefit

Dear Friendship,

Your trepidation is wise, as your FWBs stated reasons for pausing your sex life with them might have not told the whole story. It can be really tough to tell someone that youve had consistent sex with, Actually, lets not. But many fuck-buddy relationships exist in a gray area of possibility while being defined by a lack of commitment. That can make for a relational haze: Are we doing this? Are we not? Can we still? What if were extremely horny?

I think given the boundary that they already set and your desire to keep things as free of awkwardness as possible, you should wait until the next time they bring up the general topic of hooking up and its discontents. If they say something like, Its really hard to hook up, you can respond with, Well, Im always around to help you relieve some frustration. And leave it at that. The idea is to point to the seed that has been planted without getting anywhere near behavior that might be considered pressuring or coercive. Just remind them that youre down, and let them do what they will with that informationmaybe theyll laugh it off, maybe theyll take you up. Youre handling the sex pause maturely and well, so I think you get to have a little bit of hope, as a treat.

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Did you write this or another letter we answered? Tell us what happened at howtodoit@slate.com.

Dear How to Do It,

I have an intense sex drive. Ive always enjoyed long-term FWB situations because dressing up, fun kinky situations, outdoor flings, pretty much full-on pleasure for both parties came easily.

Now fast forward a few years: Im married to a really good man. We have young children together and both work full-time, opposite shifts. Everything is wonderful minus our sex life. Ive talked to him (without confrontation), showed him porn examples, guided his hands while having sex. Part of the problem is that hes turned off many sexual switches for me. He made a comment that I had a squirrel tail bum. He shot me down the first and only time I dressed up sexually for him, asking whats the point?it would be on the floor faster than I put it on. (Hes apologized for the comments.) Ive gotten Brazilian hair removal done. Nothing seems to fix my switches that are off. Theres no foreplay, touching prior to sex, or a fun spark. Ive never had this issue with a FWB Ive connected with; its always fun, were laughing, its not a pattern of simplicity. I feel Ive become too comfortable with my husband and Ive pushed my sexual needs aside. Hes a true creature of habit and pattern. I know he masturbates in the bathroom, and I watch porn daily.

After sex I usually watch porn.

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Recently, I reconnected with a FWB I had 10+ years ago. We had remained non-sexually in contact over the years. This is someone that opened my eyes and many times my legs to my sexual intensity needs. I feel like many of those switches are on with him but still off with my husband. Why do I feel so broken in my marriage? Should I accept its really hard to find the whole package  either youre a sexual match or youre a partner in everyday life without sexual needs filled?

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 Teetering

Dear Teetering,

Why do you feel so broken with your husband? Well, lets see. Theres no foreplay, touching prior to sex, or a fun spark. (Your words.) Youve attempted to teach him what youre into, to no apparent avail. Hes said negative things about your body and kinky interests. Youve answered your own question several times over.

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Theres lacking chemistry, and then theres working from two different labs. Your husband is smoking in the parking lot. This is not for lack of effort on your part, which sucks. A conversation emphasizing just how dire things are might be useful, but it just as easily might not. I dont think you have to settle for an unsatisfactory sex life. You could choose that routeyou see how having some things, but not everything, you want is relatively satisfying. Were built to connect. But its those people that we connect with on many levels that show themselves as true partner material. Theres too much missing here to convince me that your husband qualifies. That said, its rare to find someone who is everything to you, and then when you do, thats a huge responsibility for that person to keep up. This is part of why Im such a big proponent of nonmonogamysometimes we connect with people and want to stay connected even after the sex fizzles (or wasnt there to being with).

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So, you have options. I think you should carefully consider them, but I also think you should act with your interests in mind. They arent being satisfied by your partner, and you deserve to at least pursue satisfaction. You can have a frank conversation about your sex life. You can use that to transition into a conversation about opening your relationship. While I know it would be difficult considering the children, you can break up in an attempt to find someone with whom you form more connections. But I think you should do somethingyour letter is sad, and you dont deserve to stay that way.

 Rich

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My wife of seven years and I have gotten into horror movies during quarantine. I use quotes because Ive always hated horror movies. My wife has been indifferent, but ever since we watched a classic from the 90s early in the sheltering in place, Ive noticed that scary movies make her very into me, and sex usually happens. Im not sure if she has connected the dots like I have, because shes started putting together horror nights for us and asking for tips for our new hobby online. I just like that they seem to make her horny. I really hate watching these movies, but I can tolerate them if it means taking her mind off of things, and it leads to stress relief for me too. She recently talked about the movies on a Zoom call with my brother, and he laughed and said Stephen hates horror movies. I shrugged, and she didnt say anything to me about it, but Im starting to feel guilty
Former President Donald Trump once promised that, under him, his supporters would get tired of winning. He must not have been talking about in the courtroom. On Friday it was reported that Trump has suffered yet another devastating judicial defeat in his campaign to thwart the various criminal investigations targeting him. D.C. District Judge Beryl Howell rejected his claim of executive privilege to stop his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and other top aides from testifying in special counsel Jack Smiths Jan. 6 probe.

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Indeed, it may be the costliest moment yet in Trumps long losing streak against Smith, greatly increasing the odds of federal charges against the former president.

Meadows testimony matters enormously. He was one of the few staffers in continuous contact with Trump on Jan. 6 as the siege occurred. And in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, according to NPR, Meadows was also at the very center of Trumps plans to overturn his presidential election loss.

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For example, Meadows traveled to Georgia, seemingly on Trumps behalf, on Dec. 22, 2020, and was apparently involved in setting up Trumps call the following day to the states chief elections investigator, Frances Watson. That call was tape-recorded, as was Trumps infamous Jan. 2, 2021, phone call to Brad Raffensperger, Georgias secretary of state, in which Meadows participated. (Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is also investigating those events.)

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Meadows also has vital testimony about Jan. 6 itself. Evidence the House Jan. 6 committee gathered showed that he had advance intelligence about the coming violence. If so, Smith will want to know about any discussion with Trump about those early warnings.

Likewise, Smith will surely seek Meadows testimony about a damning conversation to which Cassidy Hutchinson, Meadows aide, testified in Congress. She said Meadows told her that Trump, upon hearing that the insurrectionists were screaming Hang Mike Pence!, replied that Pence deserved it.

In addition, Meadows withheld about 1,000 text messages subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee, after providing more than 2,300 others. The committee has shared the documents it received with the special counsel, and he will certainly want those additional withheld messages, along with Meadowss testimony about them. (Meadows refused to testify before the Jan. 6 committee, making an executive privilege claim similar to the one that has now been rejected in court.)

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As for Howells ruling that Meadows and the others must testify, we dont know her exact reasoning because her ruling is under seal. But we do know its foundations.

In a 1977 case involving former President Richard Nixon after hed left the White House, the Supreme Court said the incumbent president who succeeded him was in the best position to assess the present and future needs of the Executive Branch in deciding whether the privilege applies. Trumps successor, President Joe Biden, has consistently declined to support Trumps privilege claims around Jan. 6.

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In January 2022, the Supreme Court rejected those claims when Trump unsuccessfully sought to block release of White House documents to the Jan. 6 committee.

In another Supreme Court decision involving Nixon, 1974s celebrated White House tapes case, the court held that the Presidents generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial.

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Although this criminal trial isnt yet pending, we have that specific need here in spades. Indeed, another federal judge found that Trump, more likely than not, conspired to defraud the United States in connection with the effort to persuade thenVice President Mike Pence to reject certain states electoral votes, and also conspired to obstruct Congress on Jan. 6. Then there are the crimes for which the Jan. 6 committee issued criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, such as inciting, assisting, and giving aid or comfort to insurrectionists.

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Trump is expected to appeal, as usual. Though his prospects are dismal given the precedents, appeals can take time.

Then again, it took less than a day for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit this month to reject another Trump appeal to keep his lawyer Evan Corcoran from providing evidence about Smiths Mar-a-Lago documents investigation. It seems clear that judges are losing patience with the former presidents dilatory litigation tactics.

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At any rate, Smiths focus on Meadows suggests that the special counsel is preparing his endgame. In conspiracy cases, prosecutors proceed first to gather evidence from the least culpable witnesses and last to gather evidence from those who are most culpable and closest to the investigations target.

As for Meadows endgame, with executive privilege off the table, his most likely recourse to block questioning will be the Fifth Amendment. Based on what we know from the Jan. 6 committees extensive public record, Meadows has serious criminal exposure of his own.

If Meadows invokes his right to remain silent, the DOJ will decide whether to compel his testimony by granting him immunity. Such grants eliminate a witnesss criminal exposure and therefore his right to remain silent.

Whatever Smith decides, he now has the upper hand. He has shown that he picks his battles smartly, starting only fights in which he is confident he can prevail. The special counsel has apparently not gotten tired of winning in his relentless investigations of Donald J. Trump.
In February, the Democratic National Committee voted to change the order of its primary, upending decades of political tradition, and really upsetting New Hampshire in the process.

The change to the calendar isnt final yet, so New Hampshires leaders, including Sen. Maggie Hassan, Secretary of State David Scanlan, and Gov. Chris Sununu, are wasting no time voicing their strong opposition to itpointing out that it has been enshrined in state law since 1920 that New Hampshire maintain its spot as the first state in the nation to hold a primary.

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But its a little more complicated than that: New Hampshire truly was first until 1972, when Iowa side-swept the Granite State by holding the first national presidential caucus that calendar year, which technically allowed New Hampshire to claim that it was still first in the nation for primaries. (Yes, its confusing.)

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The new primary schedule would put South Carolina first, while tying New Hampshire and Nevada at second, followed by Georgia and Michigan. (Since the DNC booted Iowa from the No. 1 spot, it will need to decide a new date for that states storied caucuses, hopefully with no glitches this time around.)

The calendar change was recommended by President Biden, and would not affect the Republican schedule.

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How dare he? How dare he think he can influence New Hampshire that way? Its just outrageous, said Laurie Jasper, a member of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women, to NBC News, of Bidens masterminding.

In a letter to the DNC, Biden pushed for this new primary schedule because it would diversify the voters that get a say in the early nomination process. It probably also helps that in 2020, South Carolina decisively revived Bidens presidential campaign.

New Hampshire, with a 93 percent white electorate, is arguably not the most representative state of the U.S. electorate. Yet Hassan, along with other New Hampshire elected officials, argued in an op-ed in the Boston Globe that pushing up a more diverse state in the primaries didnt need to come at the expense of pushing down New Hampshire. These did not have to be mutually exclusive, the officials wrote. They also argued that having New Hampshire and Nevada share the same primary date would hamstring candidates, and warned that Republicans have already started blaming Democratic leadership for New Hampshire losing its first-in-the-nation primary and touting the GOP as the only party that cares about Granite Staters.

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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has been more blunt. So now the national Democrat Party is trying to change our state law. If it werent so serious, it would be an absolute joke, he told local TV station WMUR.

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New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas also told WMUR: What happened with the DNC was a total betrayal by Joe Biden, adding that Granite State Democrats were not done fighting to keep New Hampshire first.

Iowa, it should be said, is not so happy either. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds accused Democrats of abandoning rural America and denying Iowans a voice in the presidential nominating process. Its disappointing that there wasnt much of a debate, but thats what happens when a ruling elite gives orders from the top down, she tweeted in December.

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But New Hampshire is perhaps facing an even greater existential crisis, having spent decades staking its identity on being the leaders of each primary election season every four years, which conveniently forces candidates to spend a lot of time and money in the state.

This is the most outrageous maneuver, and so blatantly transparent. It really shows what the presidents true colors are, said Neil Levesque, head of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, to NBC News. Hes a candidate, potentially, who is trying to rig the election in a way that best suits him.

And yet, all of this steam could be for nothing. Each state involved in the Democratic primary-schedule shuffle will need to comply in order for it to stick. So far, Michigan has moved to change its primary according to the DNCs plan, but Georgia and New Hampshire arent complying as of yet. They have until June 3 to pass necessary legislation to change state laws to make the DNCs wish come true.
Vladimir Putin announced on Sunday that he would soon store a small number of Russian nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. The European Unions high representative for foreign affairs denounced it as an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. The Ukrainian foreign affairs ministry called it yet another provocative step by Putins criminal regime.

But does it matter? Not reallythough the move might backfire, if the West shrewdly exploits it.

The U.S. Defense Departments calmer response was the appropriate one: We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture. Putins move is mainly rash and baffling. To the extent that talking about nukes near Ukraines borders is provocative, then, yes, it is also provocative, but entirely as shownot worthy of a fuss.

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Heres the thing: Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, meaning weapons of fairly short range and fairly low explosive yield, designed to be used against military targets on a battlefield. Some are missiles, some are bombs that can be dropped from airplanes; most are either in western Russia or could be moved there.

Putting another dozen or so on Belarusian soil gives Putin no advantage, nor does it alter the strategic situation in any way. It doesnt put Russian nukes any closer to Ukraine than many already are. Nor would a nuclear weapon launched from Belarus exempt the Russian homeland from nuclear retaliation by the West. The weapon would be owned and launched by Russia. (Putin has made it clear he is not transferring control of these nukes to authorities in Minsk; Moscow would remain in control, just as Washington is in control of U.S. nuclear weapons on NATO bases.) As a result, Russia would be the target of a return blow.

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Putin seemed to be doing this as a show, but the show is gratuitous: a way of keeping his nuclear threat front and center without doing anything thats really dangerous.

For a moment, I wondered whether there might be some new subtlety in nuclear-deterrence strategy, or some strange jag in Russian military thinking, that might rebut my conclusion. So I emailed Sir Lawrence Freedman, professor emeritus of war studies at Kings College, London, and one of the preeminent thinkers and scholars on military strategy. He replied: Deterrence theory is about risk assessment and is not scientific. But any nuke launched by Russia against humans would be treated the same whether launched from Russia or Belarus.

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Think back to Cuba, Freedman added, referring to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev placed nuclear missiles on the island. President John F. Kennedy warned him that an attack on the United States from those Cuban basesjust 90 miles offshorewould be treated the same way as an attack from bases in Russia.

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Perhaps, at some point, President Joe Biden should make the same point to Putin, just in case one of Putins all-too-clever advisers might have convinced him otherwise: Any Russian nuclear attack, whether launched from Russia or Belarus, would trigger very serious consequences.

Meanwhile, Putin might have simply caused himself a bit of very avoidable harm. Just four days earlier, at their gaudy Kremlin summit, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed a joint declaration, noting, among other things, All nuclear-weapon states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad. This was meant as a slam against the United States, the only country that does base some of its nukes abroadabout 100 of them, which could be loaded onto bombers, in five NATO countries.

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It might be a daring move for Putin to tear up one article of his new accord with his dear friend to the east, but, more than that, it is a stupid move. The joint statementand the summit in every dimensionreflected, above all, Moscows distinctly junior role in this partnership, and Xi, like his fellow dictator, has no patience for insubordination from lesser, dependent powers.

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Xi had already backpedaled from his description of China-Russia relations, just before the invasion of Ukraine, as an alliance of no limits. The phrase was not repeated at last weeks Kremlin summit; nor, despite Putins desperate hopes, did Xi issue any moral or material support for Russias stalled military.

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Biden is keen (though, given political realities, not too keen) to find ways to calm down the tensions in U.S.-China relations, to explore avenues of common interests and to prevent conflicting interests from erupting into war. For one thing, it is not in U.S. interests to have unequivocally hostile relations with both Russia and China; for another, its a good thing, in its own right, to tamp down the chances of a big war in Asia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was about to fly to Beijing for a meeting with Xia possible prelude to a summit with Bidenwhen the balloon crisis erupted. The meeting was canceled; tensions heated. But the crisis turned out to be much less fraught than many tried to portray it. A renewed overture is quite plausible in the near future.

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In that overture, Biden could, among many other things, point to Putins flagrantand, even more inexcusably, senselessbetrayal of the statement he had signed with Xi just days earlier. Xi seems to know well that his partnership with Putin holds risks, that its only value to China is the inconvenience it imposes on the United States and Europe, and that it might be worth dropping if the truly major powerswhich certainly do not include Russiadevise some ways of working together.

If Biden and Xi can figure out a way to reintroduce diplomacy into their relationship, it may happen because Putin overstepped his boundaries and committed yet another self-destructive act. That might wind up being the main consequence of his nuclear gambit in Belarus.
This article is co-published with Zocalo Public Square.

Welcome to State of Mind, a section from Slate and Arizona State University dedicated to exploring mental health. Follow us on Twitter.

I was 12 when I went to prison. Though Mom was the one behind bars, it felt like the system shackled me, too.

Visits to see Mom at the Los Angeles Century Regional Detention Facility were rare.

Even when I managed to find an adult to take me, I wished I didnt have to love her this way. Pressing the black visitation phone to my ear, only tears escaped. With a glass wall between us, we used the time to silently fall apart, together.

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I am just one of millions of young people who have had an incarcerated parent. For each one of us, the consequences of Americas incarceration crisis are personal and profound; we are more likely to experience a number of physical and mental health conditions, from depression and anxiety to asthma. Today, as a student at Columbia University hoping to become a lawyer, I am ready to be our advocate. I want to inspire criminal justice reform in order to alleviate the systems lasting impacts on families of the incarcerated.

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Mom is a Mexican immigrant who arrived in Los Angeles in 1991. She brought with her an eighth grade education and pennies but also daring eyes full of dreams. America quickly humbled her. She ended up working long shifts as a cashier at a Chevron station.

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When she got home, shed tell me all about the customers who came in. She was yelled at for simply doing her job. Go back to your country, they told her. Even though America rejected her, Mom was determined for my three sisters and me to belong.

An A? Why not an A-plus? she would ask me after my teacher returned a test. I didnt understand what the big deal was.

Now, as I look back, I know that Moms toughness was motivated by love. She taught me that I didnt have room for error; I had to work twice as hard as my white, affluent peers to be taken seriously. It is thanks to Mom that I am still a proud academic perfectionist.

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Mom is, and has always been, my beloved. As she began to struggle with addiction, when I was just 12, I made sure she was fed and cared for. But I knew what she really needed was something I couldnt give her: rehabilitation.

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I was hopeful when Child Protective Services eventually got involved, but they only made a bad situation worse. A social worker simply showed up at my middle school one day and told me I wouldnt be going home because I was entering foster care. A police escort took me to my younger sisters schools to break the news to them gently. After all, the social worker told me, it was my responsibility, since I was the oldest.

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The most painful part of this traumatic experience was that I didnt get the chance to tell Mom bye. With me gone, who would make sure she was OK?

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All I could do was focus on my little sisters. My twin, Ariel, and I became their maternal figures. We cooked food for them, stayed up late when they were sick, told them I love you. We were simply there.

As my sisters and I moved from foster home to foster home, Mom lived with my grandpa, where her addiction intensifiedand made her the perfect criminal, as far as police were concerned. They stopped Mom one day, searched her, found a screwdriver in her purse, assumed it was a weapon, and whisked her off to jail.

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Many incarcerated moms look like mine. The Sentencing Project, a D.C.-based nonprofit, reports that Latinx women are 1.3 times more likely to be incarcerated than white women. With a Spanish accent and an inadequate lawyer, Mom had the odds stacked against her. As I had been busy serving my sentence in foster care, she started serving hers in prison.

After several years, when Mom eventually got out and regained custody, life didnt get much better for us. Twenty-seven percent of formerly incarcerated people, according to data published in 2018, are unemployedand she was one of them. A box on a job application signaled an automatic rejection: Have you ever been convicted of a crime?

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She eventually got a job as a babysitter, making around $250 a week. The gig helped put food on the table and pay the rent, but I envied the child she babysat. Why did she get to be held in Moms arms?

To help make ends meet, I juggled a few jobs in high school. I volunteered with various foster care, feminist, and racial justice nonprofits, which I began to call my family. They empowered me to tell my story. I made speeches to California legislators and helped pass a juvenile justice reform bill. I participated in research that helped expand higher education for foster youth.

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I am the safety net for my family. I want more for us than sharing a one-bedroom apartment forever. So, hammer in hand, I shattered the walls. Statistics suggest I should have been held back, or dropped out of high school altogether. Im lucky to be among the estimated 2 percent of children with incarcerated moms who will graduate from college. Even when you are wealthy and white, its rare to get into Columbia, with its 3.73 percent acceptance rate. As admissions decisions are released this spring, Im not expecting many kids like me to receive acceptances here, if they even applied.

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Being complacent about these inequities is the real crime. Since 1991, the number of children with incarcerated mothers has increased by 131 percent. Throwing more moms in jail is not the solution to underlying problems, like addiction and mental illness, that require rehabilitation and treatment. My mom was still an addict post-release, just an addict with a felony. Given that kids in foster care are more likely to end up in prison themselves, I easily could have joined her.

Mom tells me to move on. She often comforts me with words like Were together now, Angel. Let it go. But when she hugs me tight, I can feel shes afraid to lose me again. In a way, she already has: Im on the other side of the country. Most kids look forward to college as a time of independence, but Ive already been on my own for far too long. Mom didnt regain parental rights until I was almost 18 years old. At least my younger sisters get to grow up with her.

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My emotional pain will never truly heal. I still flinch when someone knocks too loudly at the door, because thats how the police and social workers always arrived. I know someday when I am a lawyer, tears will cascade down my cheeks as I walk through the courtroom doors. It was in court that my lawyers gave me a teddy bear, every six months, after denying me parental reunification.

All of my experiences ensure that I will fight harder for my future marginalized clients. I know what it means to be seen as a criminal because youre Black, a woman, a foster child, and the daughter of an incarcerated mom.

I was 12 when I went to prison. I wonder when Ill be free.

State of Mind is a partnership of Slate and Arizona State University that offers a practical look at our mental health systemand how to make it better.
A.I. image generators are divisive. But few can deny that they have gotten really good. Within seconds, you can type in a prompt to make a photorealistic image of Donald Trump getting arrested or turn your strangest idea into something tangible.

Over the coming years, A.I. companies will release even more advanced models that will remind us that this is just the beginning. At least one of these tools will be different in an important way: It will be prohibited from seeing 80 million of the images that helped teach its predecessors to draw and paint. If you think of A.I. image training sets as lesson plans and word-to-image tools like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion as college students, its kind of like saying that incoming freshmen are prohibited from taking one of the outgoing seniors core requirement classes. Why? Because two Berlin-based musicians persuaded the head of a multibillion-dollar company to give artists more power.

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Many illustrators, designers, and photographers are furious that their work had been scraped from the internet to train an A.I. Last September, Mathew Dryhust, an artist and academic, and the experimental electronic artist Holly Herndon, created HaveIBeenTrained, a tool that enables you to see if your images have been used and then request that future A.I. models avoid them. It recently became clear that this was more than a subversive art project when the CEO of the company behind Stable Diffusion, one of the most widely used A.I. image generators, gave people a March 3 deadline to opt out using Herndon and Dryhursts tool. Millions of requests poured in, Dryhurst told me. As of this week, around 40,000 artists and many companies, including Shutterstock, a major image distributor, have opted out.

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For those that want opt out of upcoming open SD 3.0 dataset release, please visit https://t.co/TrwuNzISII by @spawning_ by March 3rd.



Dataset is based on @CommonCrawl so always respects robots.txt ie images usable by Google search AI etc, but collaborating to go further.  Emad (@EMostaque) February 24, 2023

Its very common in a lot of art circles where people are like, I wrote an essay or a video about my cool idea,  said Dryhurst. And were like, No, why dont we just build the thing? 

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The project raises some uncomfortable questions about the rapidly evolving world of A.I. content creation. Mainly: Is this the best way to bring order to the Wild West of image scraping? And also: If companies go along with these opt-outs, are they really the good guys, or should they have avoided copyrighted images in the first place?

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For some people, the pandemic was a time to master sourdough. For Dryhurst, it was a time to see what artificial intelligence knew about his wife. In order for an A.I. tool such as DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, or Midjourney to conjure up your lookwithout you feeding it reference imagesyou need to meet a certain threshold of notoriety, Dryhurst explained to me over Zoom a couple of weeks ago from his home studio in Berlin. (Herndon was busy with their 3-month-old baby in the other room.)

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Dryhurst does not himself meet that threshold.

Type Mathew Dryhurst into DALL-E, and you get three athletes and a long-necked aspiring mayor:

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But, as Dryhurst correctly predicted, Herndon is the A.I. version of Googleable.

Heres Google Holly:

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And heres DALL-Es Holly, with her signature ginger hair.

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Herndon has a Ph.D. from Stanford Universitys Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics and has been praised by many an outlet for somehow creating club bangers that raise profound questions about neural networks. Perhaps just as impressively (or disturbingly, depending on your vantage point), when you type a building that looks like Holly Herndon into CLIP, a predecessor of DALL-E, you get a white apartment building with her bangs.

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When Dryhurst saw this image , he thought, Oh dear. Not because the couple felt helpless. (Herndon went and created a self-portrait series using CLIP, which Pussy Riot auctioned at Sothebys and another site sold as NFTs.) It was because he correctly predicted that an ethical tsunami was about to hit. Throughout 2021 and 2022, several companies released tools that were even more advanced and accessible than CLIP. People whod never had any interest in A.I. discovered that they could type in an artists name and not just reproduce their haircut but draw or paint in their style. Suddenly, everyone wanted to know: What had the machines been studying?

Dryhurst and Herndon, along with several engineer collaborators, created a new company called Spawning to help artists take control of their A.I. identities. Their first project, the HaveIBeenTrained tool, makes it easy to search through the billions of images within LAION-5B, an open-source training set that is used, for example, by Stable Diffusion. (Other popular A.I. tools use proprietary training sets that would not be searchable in the same way.)

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Iris Luckhaus, an illustrator based in Berlin, was one of many artists who turned to HaveIBeenTrained in December, soon after Lensas Ill-turn-you-into-a-hot-superhero app hit the top of the app charts. She wondered whether her own illustrations had helped train Stable Diffusion, the A.I. model Lensa relied on. Indeed, through the tool, she learned that 3,280 of them had, including early drafts of illustrations that she hadnt realized were findable on the internet.

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I felt violated and terribly angry, Luckhaus said. Just because she puts artworks online, thats not an invitation to just do with them as you pleasein this case, to create a tool that she is concerned will replace human artists. She refuses to use A.I. image generators because exploiting other artists makes her feel just as dirty as buying cheap clothes made with child labor, she said.

Dryhurst and Herndon are OK with allowing A.I. models to study their own images, but they feel that consent is important, so they added an opt-out feature to HaveIBeenTrained. Of course, that was useless without an agreement from an actual A.I. company to abide by their rules. They picked Stability AI as an initial target partly because the company had created Stable Diffusion, one of the most popular A.I. image-to-text tools on the market. Within two months of Stable Diffusions August 2022 debut, it had more than 1 million users, and 200,000 developers had licensed the software to make their own image-creation apps and tools. In October, Stability AI raised $101 million. (The company is currently seeking to raise money at a valuation of $4 billion, according to Bloomberg.)

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Emad Mostaque, the founder and CEO of Stability AI, agreed to abide by their rules. We think it would be really a very powerful gesture for you to, in advance of training another model, respect any claims that came in, Dryhurst said he told him. And perhaps partly because they have friends in common, Mostaque responded with something like Yep, thats cool. And thats how two creators who are best known for wild, technology-subverting art experiments came to be two of the official gatekeepers of our A.I. art future.

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Herndon and Dryhurst show how new collective structures can fill a void left by the absence of clear A.I. laws or government oversight, Paul Keller, the director of policy at Open Future, a European think tank focused on digital policies, recently wrote. Eric Wallace, an A.I. researcher and Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, called Spawnings work significant and said it shows that a power-to-the-people mindset can shape policies in the rapidly advancing A.I. space. (Wallace was involved in a recent study that demonstrated that popular A.I. tools can be prompted to spit out exact copies of copyrighted artworks.)

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Not everyone is as complimentary. The musicians simply created a system for thieves to return stolen goods, some argue; A.I. companies should train their tools on images that people have chosen to opt in, not put it on artists to opt out. Being able to plagiarize a work just because the artist didnt find this campaign is absurd, one photographer, who goes by @Withanhmedia on Twitter, wrote. Artist manifestos and lawsuits make a similar point. In February, Getty Images, which is notoriously protective of its images, sued Stability AI, arguing that by copying more than 12 million of its images, the company had committed brazen infringement of intellectual property.

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The second critique says that its too late to get A.I. tools to unsee artistic influences, since the current models are already being used. In a twist on this, Christoph Schuhmann, one of the founders of LAION, told CNN last year that opting out is useless unless the entire A.I. industry respects requests. (LAION has not yet formally agreed to remove opted-out images from future training sets; only Stability AI has.)

Still others say that Spawning, a tiny company, is not equipped to be the worlds official A.I. referee. Yes, their free tool makes it easy to opt outor, another feature, opt inimages, but verifying identity is a huge undertaking, they say. (Spawning says its fine-tuning its system.)

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A rather different rebuttal to the effort is that theres no legal basis to give artists any kind of control over whether machines study their work because, as Peter Kafka of Vox summed it up: Theres no law against learning, and turning one set of dataeven if you dont own itinto something entirely different is protected by the law.

Alongside these arguments, youll find artists like Neil Turkewitz, a copyright activist, who praised the Spawning endeavor on Twitter while also arguing that its best to see it as a step towards accountability and not the destination. Luckhaus agrees that the realm of training sets needs regulation as well, but for now, Spawning is the only endeavor offering her a concrete way to protect her images. For that, she is grateful.
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A key reason behind the growing popularity of the window washing business is its relevance in both residential and commercial markets. Both home and business owners are keen to keep their glass surfaces clean, and thats where window washing companies provide a real service.

Best Professional Window Washing Equipment and Tools

Driven by the growing demand for clean windows, a number of small players have entered this business. And that has made window cleaning a competitive space.

If you want to succeed in your glass cleaning business, you must ensure you have the right tools at your disposal. With the best glass cleaning tools, you will find it easier to bag new projects and increase income. Lets take a closer look at all the tools you must have in place to start your own window-washing business.

Squeegees

Squeegee is a T-shaped equipment with a rubber blade. Its one of the most important tools you are going to need to set up your window cleaning business. It will help you achieve a streak-free way to clean the dirt off the windows. Most high-quality squeegees come assembled in three pieces. These are channel, handle and rubber. You can replace the rubber when it wears itself out. The rubber is available in sizes 4-24 inches. Most glass cleaners prefer the ones in 14-18 inches.

Scrubbers

When it comes to cleaning windows, you want your tool to clean efficiently and gently. Thats exactly what a scrubber does. A good scrubber will be able to hold up to 5 times more water than ordinary cloth for efficient cleaning.

Scrapers

Also known as window razors, scrapers are highly efficient in removing dust, dirt, dead insects, paint and construction debris from windows. For the smaller areas, you can go with a one-inch scraper. For the larger corners, scrapers of up to six inches are available. Its worth noting that most scrapers come equipped with the option of blade replacement.

Poles

For high-up windows or multiple floors, you are going to need poles. Its best to invest in extension poles that can help you access tight corners and difficult to reach places. When purchasing a pole make sure the extension handles lock tight so you can clean comfortably.

Holsters and Belts

As a window cleaning business owner, you are going to need a number of tools. To carry all your supplies, you are going to need a sturdy belt and holster. When you buy a holster, you must make sure it can carry spray bottles, dry towels, mop, squeegees, and steel wool. By wearing a belt with a holster, youll be able to access all your supplies easily. Moreover, it will help you ensure all your supplies are dry.

Buckets

Some of the most basic tools youre going to need to run your business are buckets. You should buy at least a couple of buckets so you can access clean water easily. Empty buckets will also come in handy when you want to keep dirt away from your supplies.

Brushes

Brushes are useful when you want to achieve spotless cleaning. With the right brush, youll be able to clean efficiently without much effort. When choosing the best brush, make sure you look for features such as an ergonomic handle, durable bristles and ease of use.

Towels and Sponges

Two other basic tools that you are going to need on an everyday basis are towels and sponges. There are a number of options available, but the best ones are microfiber towels that can come in handy for different purposes.

Sponges are also an essential item on your list. They are efficient in removing dust stuck in gaps and window corners. Invest in a sponge that can hold excess water without ripping.

Soaps and Chemicals

You cannot complete any cleaning assignment without soaps and chemicals. Keep in mind, there are hundreds of options available here. But the best ones are good for cleaning and are soft on the skin. You will find many highly efficient soaps that easily dissolve dirt and grime, saving you time and effort.

Storage and Organization

Since youll work with a number of tools and supplies, storing them properly should also be a priority. You can use organizing tubs to store much of your dry supplies. You may also want to invest in mobile toolboxes that are easy to handle.

Window Washing Tool Technology

Thanks to innovation, cleaning windows has become a lot easier today. Technological advancement can help you achieve desired results without spending too much time or effort. Take pure water cleaning system, for example. Innovative technology can provide chemical-free cleaning by using deionization and reverse osmosis.

Ladders

Every glass cleaner needs sturdy ladders for a host of reasons. While a good extension pole will help you reach difficult corners, youre still going to need ladders from time to time. When investing in a ladder, make sure you buy a sturdy one.

Mop

Also referred to as the wand, a mop comes in two parts: T-bar and sleeve. With the right fiber and bristles, you are ready to tackle any cleaning assignment.

Tips for Achieving Clean Windows

Whether you want to clean patio doors or French windows, there are certain things you must keep in mind to achieve the best results. Lets take a look at some tips that will come in handy.

Invest in the right window cleaning tools: To achieve the desired results, you must buy tools that can do the job for you. Apart from a good squeegee and scrubber, you should also have an effective cleaning solution at your disposal.

To achieve the desired results, you must buy tools that can do the job for you. Apart from a good squeegee and scrubber, you should also have an effective cleaning solution at your disposal. Get two scrubbers: One scrubber for each side of the window can make it easier for you to clean the windows with minimal effort and time.

One scrubber for each side of the window can make it easier for you to clean the windows with minimal effort and time. Make your own cleaning solution: A simple yet economical way to clean windows is by making your own cleaning solution. You can mix kitchen dish cleaner with biodegradable soap to create your own product. You can also use vinegar to improve the cleaning effect.

A simple yet economical way to clean windows is by making your own cleaning solution. You can mix kitchen dish cleaner with biodegradable soap to create your own product. You can also use vinegar to improve the cleaning effect. Clean windows when its cloudy: During hot summers, your cleaner will dry out quickly before you get a chance to clean your windows properly. By cleaning windows on cloudy days, youll be able to minimize the glare on the glass.

During hot summers, your cleaner will dry out quickly before you get a chance to clean your windows properly. By cleaning windows on cloudy days, youll be able to minimize the glare on the glass. Avoid spraying cleaner directly: When youre sweeping the dirt off the window screen, use a small brush first. You may also use a small vacuum to suck up the dirt. By doing this, you will make sure there is no muddy dirt on the surface before you apply the cleaner.

When youre sweeping the dirt off the window screen, use a small brush first. You may also use a small vacuum to suck up the dirt. By doing this, you will make sure there is no muddy dirt on the surface before you apply the cleaner. Avoid using rags or papers to dry windows: Papers and rags may leave scratches on the surface. Thats why, its best if you use microfiber cloths to leave glass streak free.

Where to Buy Window Cleaning Tools

Once you have gathered a list of all the supplies youre going to need, the next step is to buy the tools. For this, you have several options at your disposal. You can go online or pay a quick visit to a store. Lets look at the options in detail.

Amazon

This is your one-stop shop for all your cleaning supplies. You can find everything from paper towels and glass cleaner to rubber squeegee blades and microfiber cloths here.

Home Depot

Another option to consider is Home Depot. At Home Depot, you can get some of your supplies delivered right to your doorstep.

Walmart

Walmart also provides a number of options when it comes to window cleaning tools. You can even shop at their online store and have your tools delivered.

Alibaba

If youre looking to buy some used equipment that wont cost a lot, you can try Alibaba. Here, you will find several options at cheaper prices.

What Do Professional Window Washers Use for Soap?

When it comes to the cleaning solution, most professional window washers go for dish soaps like Joy and Dawn to achieve the best results.

What Window Washer Tool Helps Clean Windows Too High to Reach?

To access tight corners and the high and difficult to reach places, youre going to need ladders and extension poles.

What Is the Best Window Cleaning Tool?

The best window cleaner tool is a 2-in-1 microfiber scrubber and squeegee.

Can You Start a Successful Small Business Washing Windows?

Theres never going to be a time when house owners and businesses are going to be okay with dirty windows. To cater to this demand, a number of small businesses provide window cleaning services. By taking on the daunting task of keeping the toughest dirt off windows, you can set up a successful business.

Final Thoughts

Even as the demand for professional window cleaners continues to pick up, the number of businesses entering this market is increasing rapidly. As a window cleaner, you must therefore brace yourself for competition. To stand out from the rest, you need to have the right tools to do the job. You must also have the expertise and customer satisfaction to bag new contracts. The best way to achieve success is by taking on tasks where you can truly show your skill.

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A border collie's journey has come full circle as she recently returned to Northern California for a check-up with a veterinarian. It's all part of a greater journey involving thousands of miles from Costa Rica to the Arctic Circle.
William "Bill" Curtis Bashore, Jr., 92, of Solomons, MD and formerly of Bethesda, MD, passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 23, 2023. Born October 11, 1930 in Gettysburg, PA to William C. Bashore, Sr. and Indus (Oyler) Bashore, he grew up in Bethesda, MD and graduated from Landon, a private school for boys, in 1948. He attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, graduated in 1952, and then returned to Bethesda to attend Georgetown University School of Dentistry in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1956.



Bill then volunteered for service in the U.S. Air Force. Receiving his 1st Lieutenant bars, he served for two years, 1956-1958, at Spangdahlem Air Force Base near Trier, Germany. There, he met his wife-to-be, Susanne "Susi" Wollscheid, who was serving at nearby Bitburg Air Force Base as a translator, proficient in English, French, and German.



When his enlistment ended, Bill returned to the United States as Captain and, being the third dentist on the paternal side of his familial line, joined his father's dental practice. Susi soon followed and they were married in 1959. Together they built their home with attached dental office facilities in Bethesda and began what became Bill's private practice of thirty-nine years, with Susi serving as dental assistant for the first six until the children came. While there were occasional visits to Germany, the family primarily spent their summers either at their cottage in the Sherwood Forrest community on the Severn River, or at their beach condo in Ocean City, MD.



Bill was preceded in death by Susi, his beloved wife of almost fifty-one years. He is survived by two daughters and their families: daughter Belinda Steiner, son-in-law Patrick Steiner, grandson William Steiner, and daughter Melissa Christensen, son-in-law Troy Christensen, and grandchildren Zachary and Eva Christensen. He is also survived by his second wife Jerre S. Musser.



Bill was fond of chess, Cadillacs, and playing cards, especially bridge. These may or may not have been on his mind when he would say, "You can't let books interfere with your education." There was only one single bumper sticker that he ever put on one of his cars (not a Cadillac), and that bumper sticker said, "Ignore your teeth and they'll go away." When the stock market was up, and when the stock market was down, he would simply claim, "Well, money's just a way of keeping score." He was well-liked, perhaps even loved, by all who knew him. He was kind, generous, good-natured, and always prepared for witty repartee, both giving and taking with the warmest sense of enjoyment. Truly a gentleman, he will be sorely missed.





Visitation



Monday, March 27, 2023

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Lusby, MD 20657



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Monday, March 27, 2023

10:00 AM

Rausch Funeral HomeLusby

20 American Lane

Lusby, MD 20657
Jeff Molina comes out after being outed, Zaya Wade talks about transition and name change, and a college in Massachusetts refuses to admit trans and non-binary students.

UFC Fighter Comes Out As Bi After Being Outed

Jeff Molina, a bantamweight and flyweight fighter for the UFC, came out as bisexual on Twitter after being outed with an alleged sex video.

"Not the way I wanted to do this but the chance to do it when I was ready was taken from me," said Molina.

Molina highlighted the homophobic culture surrounding the MMA and that he's attempted to suppress his attraction to men for most of his life.

Despite the horrid circumstances, Molina's announcement was met with mostly praise and support from the MMA world.

"At the end of the day, I know my character, morals, and who I am as a person. As much as Im getting hated/shitted on Im getting an equal amount of support & it means a fuck ton," said Molina in his announcement.

Zaya Wade Speaks On Legal Transition And Name Change

Photo via Instagram.

On Feb. 24, Zaya Wade received an official name change and legal recognition of her transition after she came out in 2020.

In an interview with InStyle, Wade credits step-mom Gabrielle Union for being an inspiration to fashion and talks about an influential time.

"When I was a kid, I used to take her heels and catwalk in them, which has clearly paid off, but I don't do that anymore," said Wade.

Wade appeared on her first-ever magazine cover with DAZED this month, where she opened up about having a "giant support system" in her family.

Wade feels most empowered "when my family surrounds me." She also feels the "strongest" when with her family.

Wade looks forward to being able to "grow together" with the entire LGBT community.

Wellesley College Refuses To Admit Trans Men, Non-binary Students

Wellesley College, Wikimedia Commons.

Wellesley College, the Massachusetts women's school, faced a non-binding vote from students to allow transgender men and non-binary students to be allowed to attend. Despite this vote, the college plans to keep its policies the same.

"Although there is no plan to revisit our mission as a women's college or our admissions policy, we will continue to engage all students in the important work of building an inclusive academic community where everyone feels they belong," said Johnson.

Wellesley's "gender policy" states that it "invites applications from all those who live as women and consistently identify as women," including non-binary people, as well as trans women "who were assigned female at birth and who feel they belong in our community of women." The college also states that it supports students who transition after being admitted and that they may stay enrolled.

"Anecdotally, it is clear that trans students exist at Wellesley, but we arent given the numbers needed to prove that to the outside world," said Wellesley News.
One of South Floridas most popular galas is leaving the ballroom and hitting the pool.

Diversity Honors, presented by the Harvey Milk Foundation (HMF), honors women and men who exemplify the spirit and values inspired by martyred LGBT rights activist Harvey Milk.

The event, set for 7 p.m. April 1, is once again being held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, but this year will be held at their opulent pool. The seventh edition of the party will be under the stars with poolside dinner and an open bar.

HMF and Diversity Honors remain important advocates for equality. HMFs Miriam Richter said, Even though Harvey has been gone almost 50 years, there is still a long way to go to achieving equality and acceptance for all. The messages to the LGBTQ+ community and the world, that he so beautifully articulated, are still needed daily, and his exemplary embodiment of true authenticity is still a model for the world.

The evening will be hosted by Jacey Birch of WPLG. Seven people and one organization will be recognized for their decades of service and dedication to South Floridas LGBT community. The honorees include Commissioner Nicole M. Ramirez, Queen Mother of the International Court System, who has been a Latino/LGBTQ+ activist for over 50 years.

Carol Moran is receiving the Harvey Milk Medal. She was instrumental in launching the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida (now The Pride Center at Equality Park) capital campaign to find its first home and served as the campaigns board president. As the current co-owner of Apt. 9F restaurant, she remains a visible force who advocates on the right side of history.

Damian McKinney is Stoli Groups global CEO. Under his leadership, the spirits brand has flourished and is unwavering in its support of worldwide LGBT initiatives and innovative activations, and is getting the HMF Global Leadership Award.

Florida State Senator Shevrin Shev Jones, the only gay person in the body, will receive the Diversity Honors Award.

RuPauls Drag Race legend Latice Royale uses her platform to raise awareness, support equality, and advocate for social change. She is getting the Diversity Honors Award as well.

A pair of South Floridas most influential music legends will also get Diversity Honors Awards. Jacqueline Lorber, president and CEO of South Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Sebrina Maria Alfonso, founder and music director of South Florida Symphony Orchestra, are an award-winning entrepreneurial and creative LGBT duo who helm the regions largest symphony, now celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Bears of South Florida is celebrating its 20th anniversary and will get the Diversity Honors Award. The organization hosts fun events for great causes, and has awarded more than $150,000 in grants.

For tickets and more information, visit DiversityHonors.org.
A sexual health bill filed by a GOP lawmaker would bar girls from talking about their menstrual cycles in school before the 6th grade.

But as state Rep. Ashley Gantt (D) pointed out in a subcommittee hearing some girls get their periods as early as 4th grade.

So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in fifth grade or fourth grade, will that prohibit conversations from them since they are in the grade lower than sixth grade? Gantt asked according to the Washington Post.

Rep. Stan McClain responded, It would.

The bill passed, 13-5, along a party line vote in the committee.

Gnatt also asked whether teachers could face punishment if they discuss menstruation with younger students.

Later McClain said hed be open to amendments and the bills intent was not to prevent discussions between girls and teachers about menstrual cycles.

My concern is they wont feel safe to have those conversations with these little girls, she said, according to TIME.

I thought it was pretty remarkable that the beginning of a little girls menstrual cycle was not contemplated as they drafted this bill, Gantt told the Post.

Annie Filkowski, the policy and political director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, slammed the bill.

This bill shines a bright light on Floridas political leaders perpetual thirst for power and control, Filkowski said in a statement.

According to the Post girls start menstruating between the ages of 10 and 16. But studies from around the world are showed surge in early puberty for girls during the pandemic, with some girls getting their periods as young as 8.

According to the USA Today, medical providers recommend talking to children about puberty and changes in their bodies before they occur.


Yet another Kill The Gays bill was approved last week in the Ugandan parliament.

The East African nation has for years attempted to criminalize same-sex relations.

Once again theres globalist outrage over the countrys latest anti-LGBT legislation.

According to the Washington Post the law would expand existing restrictions and punishments for same-sex activity, criminalizes doing business with LGBT rights groups and calls for the application of the death penalty in certain cases for gay sex carried out by serial offenders.

The law now goes to President Yoweri Museveni, who recently described homosexuals as deviations from normal.

The passing of this discriminatory bill  probably among the worst of its kind in the world  is a deeply troubling development, said Volker Turk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement. He added: If the bill is signed into law, it will render lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda criminals simply for existing, for being who they are. It could provide carte blanche for the systematic violation of nearly all of their human rights and serve to incite people against each other.

The U.S. condemned the proposed law with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken saying on Twitter: The Anti-Homosexuality Act passed by the Ugandan Parliament would undermine fundamental human rights of all Ugandans and could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS. We urge the Ugandan Government to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation.

According to the Post though right-wing religious activists in the U.S. have for years campaigned in Africa pushing the countrys enacting anti-LGBT legislation.

Versions of the bill have been around since 2009, and in 2014, Musevenis government passed a similar law, whose first iteration included the death penalty for HIV-positive people and for engaging in gay sex with a minor. It was ultimately struck down by the court for not following due parliamentary process, the Post writes.

Foreign Policy did a deep dive on the subject recently in a story, How U.S. Evangelicals Helped Homophobia Flourish in Africa.
365.bank does not agree with the conclusions of the police.

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The police imposed a fine of 2 million on 365.bank, which wants to go to court.

The fine relates to cashless and cash transactions worth millions of euros. The police conclude that the bank did not pay special attention to the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, despite the fact that the transactions were unusually large and of an unusual nature.

The police also say that in several cases the amount of funds was clearly disproportionate to the nature of the stated business activity or the declared assets of the clients.

In response, the bank states that the field of combating money laundering is an extremely complex and dynamic area, in which legislation and practical guidelines regarding transactions are constantly changing.

"Unlike the police, which evaluate these transactions after several years, the financial institution itself must evaluate client transactions exclusively on the basis of information available in real time," says the bank.

In 2021, a similar fine of 1.5 million for the same reasons was imposed on CSOB bank.

At the time, according to the investigation, between 2016 and 2019 more than 500 million passed through the bank to Asia, Turkey, Belarus and the United Arab Emirates. Often clients from abroad set up accounts and used them to transfer money to other sanctioned countries.
Atlanta is home to some of the most absolutely delicious flavor experiences to be had anywhere in America, from bars to barbecue to fine dining and beyond. The coffee scene is, of course, second to none, and this week for On The Menu were visiting local favorite Chrome Yellow Trading Co. in the Old Fourth Ward to learn more about their Whiskey Caramel Latteplus a host of other delicious signature drinks.

Your cafe has been open since 2015! In that time, a lot of drinks have come out the doorwhat have been some of your favorite signature drinks?

Weve been at our location on Edgewood Ave in Atlanta for almost eight years now. We have introduced several signature drinks during this timesome of which we have not been able to remove from the menu due to the favor of our guests. We are particularly fond of the Grapefruit Coldbrew Soda, which we serve straight up in a Topo Chico bottle. Its basically a fun coffee riff on a Paloma. Take a Topo Chico, pour a few ounces out, and then top it with Point Counter Point cold brew concentrate and house made grapefruit syrup. Its delicious. We also make a London Fog concentrate in house from Rishis Earl Grey Lavender, orange zest, vanilla, and thyme. It makes a great latte, sure, but weve also been using it as a component in all sorts of drinks lately.

Tell us about the coffee you serve and sell at Chrome Yellow.

When we began in 2015, we were a Stumptown partner. Years later we became a multi-roaster featuring Methodical Coffee and many more roasters all around the country. We also worked directly with Methodical to develop our own label. Today, we roast our own coffee on a Loring S7 that sits in the back space adjacent to the cafe. It is a beautiful roasting space with plenty of natural light and we enjoy working while the coffee shop hums with discourse and the sounds of coffee brewing. We roast and serve coffee from a number of coffee producing countries but find a particular affinity for Colombian coffee. We feel like you can taste the entire world in a cup from Colombia depending on variety, process, or region. And we particularly love the coffees we have purchased from Rodrigo Sanchez and Claudia Samboni of Aromas del Sur through Ally Importers. Their main lot washed Caturra often features in our blends and were always looking forward to whatever wild and crazy micro-lots theyre harvesting next.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chrome Yellow Trading Co. (@chromeyellowtradingco)

Apart from coffee, what other products does Chrome Yellow specialize in?

Owner and co-founder Kyle Taylor has a keen interest in design and apparel. And you can see his passion all over our merchandise. Over the years we have done several collaborations with brands we feel share a similar interest and attention to detail: Ebbets Field, Oxford Pennant, Topo Designs, 3sixteen, Appointed the list is long and fruitful. To put it simply: we carry and stock whatever it is we want to wear or use at the time. CY branded apparel, candles, brewing equipment, and stationary items.

We were drawn to your whiskey caramel latte. Can you tell us more about this drink?

The whiskey caramel latte is exactly what it sounds like (minus the alcohol). We take a double shot of Huxley or Point Counter Point, 8-10oz of steamed milk, and add it to a house made whiskey caramel sauce. Thats the fun part. We make a base caramel from scratch and then add a whiskey reduction and a whole bunch of heavy cream. When its all said and done, it makes for a truly decadent and complex coffee beverage.

Where else can we find your coffee?

We only recently began roasting in our own space and accepting wholesale partners! So this is a brand new endeavor for us in 2023. However, we would like to shout out a few of our local partners drinking our coffee while they do amazing, creative work in their own spaces: Staplehouse, The Commodore, Tuesday Coffee + Shoppe, Maze Studios, and Straight To Tell. For locals, they can get our coffee delivered straight to their doorstep every week through The Rounds sustainable delivery service.

Whats next for Chrome Yellow Trading Co. in 2023?

Chrome Yellow Coffee is ready to grow more outside of its walls in 2023! We have had such an amazing run since 2015 as a cafe within this space that we fully intend to continue to nurture and excel within. But we also look forward to bringing more of what we do to other cafe partners, creative spaces, and homes. We are excited for the growth this will bring within our own team and for the myriad ways we can collaborate to build stronger collaborations with likeminded people.

Thank you!

Photos by Haley James.

On The Menu is proudly presented by Oatly. Check out more signature drinks in our On The Menu archive.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230326/kiev-attempts-to-conduct-uav-attack-drone-disabled-in-tula-region-says-defense-minister-1108810475.html

Kiev Attempts to Conduct UAV Attack, Drone Disabled in Tula Region Says Defense Minister

Kiev Attempts to Conduct UAV Attack, Drone Disabled in Tula Region Says Defense Minister

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine attempted to carry out an attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of Strizh type on Sunday, but the drone's navigation system... 26.03.2023, Sputnik International

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russia's special operation in ukraine

drone attack

russia

ukraine

tula

sergei shoigu

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Earlier in the day, the regional health department said that at least three people received minor injuries after an explosion occurred in Tula's Kireyevsky district. The region's emergency service told Sputnik that, according to preliminary data, the explosion had been caused by a fall of the UAV, which carried ammunition. The statement also said the Russian air defense unit stationed in the Tula Region, which included the Pole-21, S-300 and Pantsir missile systems, provided for a "reliable protection" from attacks coming from that direction. The Tu-141 drone was created by the Soviet Union as an unarmed reconnaissance drone. Ukraine has been modifying them for lethal use in long-range attacks.The statement added that the specialists from the Russian Defense Ministry, emergency situations department and law enforcement services were operating on the site.

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China to celebrate 2023 National Tourism Day in May

Xinhua) 09:27, March 27, 2023

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced plans to celebrate the National Tourism Day in May, in a bid to boost the recovery and development of the country's tourism industry.

According to a notice released by the ministry on Friday, online and offline tourism activities will be held across the country from May 1 to 31 to observe the National Tourism Day, which will fall on May 19.

The main venue for the celebration will be set up in Heshun, an ancient town in Tengchong, southwest China's Yunnan Province. An exhibition will be held in the town from May 19 to 21 to present the country's latest achievements in tourism commodities.

The notice called on local authorities to take steps to boost tourism, including issuing vouchers for cultural and tourism activities, providing preferential policies for the elderly and the disabled, and offering artistic performances for public welfare, among others.

Local authorities should provide real-time tourism information through websites, WeChat accounts and other platforms, the notice said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230326/philadelphia-residents-advised-to-drink-bottled-water-after-chemical-plant-spill-1108810369.html

Philadelphia Residents Advised to Drink Bottled Water After Chemical Plant Spill

Philadelphia Residents Advised to Drink Bottled Water After Chemical Plant Spill

Philadelphia authorities have advised residents to opt for bottled water over tap water for drinking and cooking following a chemical spill in a tributary of the Delaware River.

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americas

us

philadelphia

department of environmental protection

us coast guard

chemical plant

pipeline

water pollution

contamination

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Late last Friday, Trinseo PLC, a chemical plant, suffered a pipeline rupture, releasing over 8,000 gallons of a water-soluble acrylic polymer solution into Otter Creek, which feeds the Delaware River, the primary source of drinking water for approximately 14 million people across four states.Michael Carroll, Philadelphias deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure and sustainability, said at a news conference on Sunday that no contaminants have been detected in the water system thus far.He added that traces of chemicals may be present in the tap water, and suggested that a low level of exposure would not pose a threat to human health, such as skin exposure, or fire hazards, and that bathing or washing dishes would not present a concern.The Philadelphia Water has also released a map of districts, which could be exposed to contamination.Following the Philadelphia spill, many residents have expressed concern and are resorting to purchasing bottled water.The Trinseo plants vice president, Tim Thomas, compared the spilled material to water-based acrylic paint.The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection confirmed that water samples taken at the site had not uncovered any contaminants. Still, the US Coast Guard recommended that people avoid the cleanup site. However, the spilled chemicals, butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, both odoriferous liquids used in making adhesives, caulks, and paints, can cause breathing difficulties and eye and skin irritation. Butyl acrylate was one of the hazardous substances in the February Ohio train derailment that caused a toxic chemical fire.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230326/russian-house-in-central-african-republic-hosts-event-for-orphans-1108805041.html

Russian House in Central African Republic Hosts Event for Orphans

Russian House in Central African Republic Hosts Event for Orphans

On March 25, an event was organized at the Russian House in Bangui for Central African orphans. Several dozen children had the opportunity to gain knowledge about Russian culture and receive gifts.

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africa

central african republic

central africa

russia

help

cooperation

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About 30 children on 25 March visited the Russian House, a cultural center for strengthening ties between the Central African Republic and Russia located in Bangui, the African's country's capital, which continues its work after the attempted attack on its chief, Dmitri Syty.The children from the Foundation for Christian Humanitarian Action (FAHC) orphanage, played games organized by the center's staff, reports say.The kids watched Russian cartoons and later received "tasty and useful gifts", according to media.The event "left neither the children nor the adults indifferent", reacted Thierry Divine Malekamba, a teacher who accompanied the children to the event.Strengthening of Cultural Links Between Russia and CARThis is not the first event organized for children by Russia in Bangui. In early January, several scouts visited the Russian House to get learn more about Russian culture and history. They played traditional Russian games and watched Soviet and Russian cartoons.Furthermore, at the end of 2022, the Russian Embassy in CAR put up a Christmas tree in Bangui. Students from the local Orthodox school attended the ceremony.The Russian House in Bangui first opened in December 2021. The center includes a children's playground and three conference rooms that serve as a cinema, as well as free Russian language classes for Central Africans.Russian Cultural Institution Targeted by AttackIn mid-December 2022, the activities of the Russian House in Bangui were disrupted by an attack. Dmitri Sytyi, director of the cultural center, was injured when a package exploded in his hands, and he later had to be moved to Russia where he was hospitalized. In February, four DHL employees were arrested during the ongoing investigation into the case. The perpetrator of the attack remains unknown.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230308/central-african-womens-association-organizes-event-in-bangui-to-support-russia-ties-1108186515.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/almost-16-of-gas-stations-in-france-affected-by-fuel-shortages---reports-1108847648.html

Almost 16% of Gas Stations in France Affected by Fuel Shortages - Reports

Almost 16% of Gas Stations in France Affected by Fuel Shortages - Reports

The proportion of gas stations in France experiencing a fuel deficit has reached 15.72%, media reported on Monday. The reports also indicates that in some departments of France more that half of gas stations suffer from lack of fuel.

2023-03-27T20:46+0000

2023-03-27T20:46+0000

2023-03-27T20:46+0000

world

france

emmanuel macron

pensions

pension reform

protests

strikes

gas stations

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The affected gas stations are currently running low on at least one type of fuel they used to have on March 1, that is gasoline and (or) diesel, the French broadcaster reported, adding that 7.38% of gas stations have no fuel at all.In the country's western department of Loire-Atlantique, around 55.06% of gas stations lack fuel, while in some other departments in the west of France  Mayenne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Maine-et-Loire  shortages affect more than 40% of them, the media reported.Earlier in the day, France's largest refinery plant, Gonfreville-l'Orcher, which is owned by TotalEnergies, completely stopped its work due to its employees' strike against the pension reform.On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne triggered an article in the country's constitution to enable the passage of the disputed pension reform without a parliamentary vote, which sparked a massive backlash in French society. French President Emmanuel Macron expressed hope that the reform would be implemented by the end of the year.The reform provides for an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64. Since January, people all across France have been taking to the streets to protest against the measure.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/raging-french-protests-highlight-macron-still-losing-despite-winning-no-confidence-vote---analyst-1108771386.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/budapest-urges-sweden-to-stop-insulting-whole-of-hungary-to-get-nato-bid-accepted-1108813533.html

Budapest Urges Sweden to Stop 'Insulting All of Hungary' if They Want Their NATO Bid Accepted

Budapest Urges Sweden to Stop 'Insulting All of Hungary' if They Want Their NATO Bid Accepted

According to Budapest, it doesn't take a stand in matters of Swedish domestic political affairs and expects the same courtesy from Sweden concerning Hungarian issues.

2023-03-27T05:57+0000

2023-03-27T05:57+0000

2023-03-27T09:12+0000

world

nato

scandinavia

sweden

finland

hungary

nato expansion

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turkiye

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Hungarian politicians expect Sweden to refrain from what they see as unfounded criticism of Budapest. A declaration to this effect is needed for Hungarian MPs to accept Sweden's bid to join NATO, Balazs Orban, chief of staff for the Hungarian Prime Minister, has said.He stressed that Budapest doesn't voice its opinion of Swedish domestic political affairs and expects the same courtesy from Sweden concerning Hungary.Today, the Hungarian parliament is expected to vote on Finland's entry into NATO. By contrast, a vote on the Swedish bid is not even planned. Balazs Orban said that Hungary and Finland have a "unique historical friendship" and that it is confident problems will be solved on that front."It seems that we have managed to get reassurance from the Finns that these problems will not persist, but in case of Sweden there is a different situation," he said.Only last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the West's criticism of democratic and cultural issues in Hungary hinders cooperation, especially when it comes to NATO expansion.Finland and Sweden launched a joint bid to join NATO after the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, abandoning their long-held policy of non-alignment. So far, they have struggled to gain full acceptance, as all 30 members of the bloc have to agree, and Hungary and Turkiye have resisted admitting them.After a protracted debate accompanied by a relentless charm offensive from both the Nordic countries, Budapest and Ankara have announced their readiness to ratify the Finnish bid only - not the Swedish one. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this year that Stockholm should not count on Ankara's support for its NATO bid because of the recent Quran-burning protests in Sweden.Hungary, however, is in the midst of a protracted spat with the EU. Brussels has frozen billions destined for Budapest and accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban of eroding media freedom and undermining the EU's fundamental values. In a resolution, the European Parliament stamped Hungary as a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy". According to Szijjarto, remarks such as these make it hard for Hungary to support Finland and Sweden's bids to join NATO.Hungary, bordering Ukraine, has also diverged from the EU in its response to the Ukrainian conflict. Budapest has blocked arms shipments to Kiev from its territory and struck energy deals with Moscow.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/swedish-prime-minister-says-finland-will-join-nato-earlier-than-his-country-1108789923.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/burkina-faso-suspends-france-24-over-interviewing-terrorist-group-leader-1108834510.html

Burkina Faso Suspends 'France 24' Over Interviewing Terrorist Group Leader

Burkina Faso Suspends 'France 24' Over Interviewing Terrorist Group Leader

The France 24 news channel has been suspended in Burkina Faso due to an interview with the leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the country's transitional authorities announced today.

2023-03-27T18:24+0000

2023-03-27T18:24+0000

2023-03-27T18:24+0000

africa

west africa

burkina faso

ouagadougou

france 24

radio

channel

suspension

terrorist

al-qaeda in the islamic maghreb (aqim)

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The France 24 news channel has been suspended in Burkina Faso due to an interview with the leader of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the country's transitional authorities announced today.Burkina Faso "regrets that the head of a terrorist organization such as AQIM, recognized as such by the international community, can benefit from the editorial freedom of France 24 to express himself at length on its airwaves," according to a statement by government spokesman Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo.Ouedraogo argued that by giving the floor to the head of a violent militant group, France 24 was "not only acting as a communications office for these terrorists, but, worse, it is providing a space for the legitimization of terrorist actions and hate speech."France 24, in turn, denied any wrongdoing. It called the accusations unfounded and criticized the West African country's government, which has been at odds with France over the French military presence in the region, for taking the channel off the air without due notice.Interview in QuestionThe decision by the Burkinabe government comes a few weeks after France 24 interviewed the leader of AQIM. On March 6, the French television channel announced that Yezid Mebarek, also known as Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi, who claimed the title of "emir of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" in 2020 after a French raid reportedly killed his predecessor, replied to 17 questions posed to him by France 24.The channel published a short excerpt to prove its authenticity. A France 24 journalist reported the terrorist leaders answers. One of the questions concerned the fate of Olivier Dubois, a French journalist taken hostage in April 2021 and released on March 20, 2023.Tensions With French MediaIn Burkina Faso, the French channel was put on notice in early February, following the questioning of its correspondent in the country in January. According to the country's High Communication Council, France 24 broadcast "false information" in January about women kidnapped in the town of Arbinda in northern Burkina Faso.The channel described the kidnappers as "Islamist rebels," while the African country's authorities had previously said they were "armed terrorist groups."France 24 is not the only media outlet the transitional authorities of Burkina Faso, which came to power in late September 2022, have complained about. In December 2022, the government suspended another state-funded French media outlet, RFI, "until further notice." The outlet was accused of a "serious violation" and of disseminating "misleading information."However, tensions with French media are not the only challenges Franco-Burkinabe relations have been facing lately.For instance, on March 16, Burkina Faso's authorities arrested an International Crisis Group consultant on charges of espionage, who was later released following a short detention, according to a statement from the group.The detention took place nearly three months after two other French citizens were expelled from the West African country for the same reason.On top of that, at the end of February, the Burkinabe authorities terminated a military assistance agreement with France, signed in 1961. In addition, amid growing criticism of the French military presence, the authorities in Ouagadougou demanded on January 18 that France withdraw its troops within a month. *A terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230315/pan-african-activist-slams-french-channel-for-censorship-1108408050.html

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interview with a terrorist, burkina faso suspends france 24, france 24 aqim interview
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/compensation-claims-for-nord-stream-blast-after-identifying-responsible-justified-kremlin-1108824665.html

Compensation Claims for Nord Stream Blast After Identifying Responsible Justified: Kremlin

Compensation Claims for Nord Stream Blast After Identifying Responsible Justified: Kremlin

Russia's claims for compensation for the sabotage at the Nord Stream gas pipelines after the identification of perpetrators are justified, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday

2023-03-27T10:32+0000

2023-03-27T10:32+0000

2023-03-27T10:53+0000

nord stream

russia

turkiye

nord stream sabotage

belarus

nord stream 1

nord stream 2

nord stream ag

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"If we are talking about, let's say, sabotage by one or more states, while the data indicate that such a large-scale act of sabotage and a terrorist act against critical infrastructure could not have been committed without the participation of the state and special services to their full potential. Well, then, of course, this would be a completely justified question," Peskov told reporters when asked who compensation claims can be presented to. Such a large-scale sabotage against Russia like the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines could not have been committed without national intelligence services, the official added. There are no official results of the investigation yet, but US journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh alleged that the explosions were organized by the United States with the support of Norway. The US denies its involvement in the incident.On Putin's Reported Visit to AnkaraKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied reports Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Turkiye."No," Peskov said when asked if preparations for Putins visit to Ankara are ongoing.Earlier in the day, Turkish media reported that Ankara is preparing for Putins visit and its details are kept in secret.On Russia's Plans to Deploy Tactical Nuclear Weapons in BelarusThe West's reaction will not affect Russia's plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Peskov highlighted.Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Moscow and Minsk had agreed to station Russia's tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, without breaching Russia's commitments on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. In response, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the EU is ready to respond with new sanctions if Belarus proceeds with its plan to host Russia's tactical nuclear weapons, since this allegedly threatens European security.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230323/denmark-believes-object-found-near-nord-stream-located-there-long-before-blasts-media-reports-1108718669.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/putin-russia-will-be-force-to-react-if-west-starts-using-weapons-with-nuclear-components-1108657136.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/does-the-us-have-any-nuclear-weapons-in-europe-1108820891.html

Does the US Have Any Nuclear Weapons in Europe?

Does the US Have Any Nuclear Weapons in Europe?

Does the US Have Any Nuclear Weapons in Europe?

2023-03-27T15:40+0000

2023-03-27T15:40+0000

2023-04-08T14:44+0000

us

russia

vladimir putin

proxy war

ukraine

tactical nuclear weapons

belarus

new start treaty

buchel air base

aviano air base

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The announcement by Russia's President Vladimir Putin that Moscow and Minsk have agreed in principle on Russia being able to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory, made in an interview for the Russia-24 broadcaster on Sunday, set off a media storm. Bombastic rhetoric has come from the Kiev regime and a host of politicians representing the so-called collective West. Ukraine demanded an urgent UN Security Council meeting on March 26, accusing Russia of making Belarus a "nuclear hostage." The EUs hawkish top diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned of "escalation and threat to European security," despite himself saying last year that the Ukraine conflict would be "won on the battlefield." The Foreign Ministry of Germany, a country which has pledged Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, decried the "nuclear intimidation attempt.The comparison made by President Putin with NATO's nuclear involvement is misleading and cannot justify the move announced by Russia, Germany's Foreign Ministry was cited as stating by Welt.The announced move, which could be done without violating Russias obligations under the New START Treaty, Vladimir Putin said on March 26, was prompted by the recent UK announcement of depleted uranium (DU) munitions deliveries to the Kiev regime to be used in the ongoing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.President Vladimir Putin pointed out that Washington has long been "placing tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of allied countries, NATO countries, in Europe.""We have agreed that if necessary, we will do the same thing."Putin assured that Russia has every intention of maintaining control over the nukes it would send to Belarus, with construction of required storage facilities to be completed by July 1, 2023.Where are US nukes hidden, and does the US have missile defense in Europe? Sputnik has the answers.Which NATO Countries Have Nukes?At the moment, nuclear weapons are possessed by three North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies: the United States, United Kingdom, and France. The US boasts the lion's share of all nukes, according to Statista. Cited Pentagon data indicates that there are at present 5,428 nuclear warheads on at least 652 delivery vehicles in the US, including 400 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and 14 nuclear-capable Ohio-class Trident submarines. The currently deployed number of US nuclear warheads stands at 1,350.Why Are US Nukes in Europe?Ever since the mid-1950s, US-owned nuclear weapons have been deployed across military locations in Europe. Then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized storage of such weapons on the continent amid allegations of the threat emanating from the Soviet Union. Now, it should be noted that the 30-member security alliance of countries in North America and Europe itself does not "own" any nuclear weapons. In line with the so-called principle of NATO nuclear sharing, nuclear warheads are stored across Europe at air bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkiye, according to the Washington-based non-profit organization Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.Accordingly, nuclear bombs, as well as nuclear-armed missiles, were deployed by Washington to allied European states. These included the United Kingdom (from 1954) and Greece. Since 2008, the UK has not hosted US nuclear weapons, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation states. Greece also hosted Washington's nukes on its soil as part of the NATO nuclear-sharing agreement. At the American bases in the country, it reportedly stored some nukes in the form of artillery shells, others as bombs, and some on Lance missiles. However, after Greece said it wanted to scrap the deal, the US freed the country's territory of the last of its nukes in 2001, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.Nuclear sharing is the alliances arrangement ensuring that the benefits, responsibilities and risks of nuclear deterrence are shared across the whole of the bloc, NATOs official website states.How Many US Nukes Are Hidden in Europe?As for the exact figures of nukes stashed away in European stockpiles, Washington and its NATO allies are cagey about it. Around 100 US nuclear weapons were estimated to be stored at six of the alliances bases on the territory of five member states - Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkiye, according to Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation data.Furthermore, this "open secret" about the presence of Washington's nukes on the continent was accidentally leaked in 2019. The details surfaced in a reference inserted in a nuclear deterrence policy assessment document. Titled A new era for nuclear deterrence? Modernisation, arms control and allied nuclear forces, it was published by a Canadian senator for the Defense and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Albeit subsequently deleted, the reference was seized on by European media outlets. A bevy of publications then rushed to reveal that Europe was being used to store an estimated 150 US nuclear weapons.What Kind of Nukes Does US Have in Europe?At the secret locations scattered across the European continent, US nuclear weapons mainly consist of B61-3 and B61-4 gravity bombs, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Dual-capable aircraft can be used to carry such nuclear weapons. Furthermore, as part of the National Nuclear Security Administration's B61-12 bomb's Life Extension Plan, updated warheads are scheduled for deployment by the year 2024 to hosting nations. As for the American nukes stored at European bases, they are kept in Weapons Storage and Security System (WS3) underground vaults. The weapons themselves are not deployed on aircraft, the nonprofit underscores. Only Washington can resort to Permissive Action Link (PAL) codes to arm the nukes, after which they would be loaded onto NATO-designated aircraft. Where Are US Nukes Hidden in Europe?The US nuclear weapons are stored at six American and European military bases on the continent, according to the leaked details of the NATO-affiliated body's 2019 report, which found their way into the press. These locations are as follows: Kleine Brogel base in Belgium, Buchel in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi-Torre in Italy, Volkel in the Netherlands, and Incirlik in Turkiye. When the accidental mention of locations was scrubbed from the above-cited report, and the document found its way officially into the press, it contained an unspecific reference to aircraft "that could carry nuclear weapons."The European Allies often cited as operating such aircraft are Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Turkey, the document stated, referencing a report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative dated 2018.The divulged data and locations follow previous indications shedding light on the presence of America's nuclear weapons. For example, WikiLeaks cited a diplomatic cable sent by then-US Ambassador to Germany Philip Murphy in November 2009, which seemed to confirm the presence of US nuclear weapons on Dutch soil. It stated:Does US Have Nuclear Weapons in Germany? Germany, which has neither signed nor ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), is one of the five NATO members hosting US nuclear weapons on its soil in line with the bloc's nuclear-sharing deal. An estimated 10 to 15 B61 nuclear bombs are reportedly stashed away at the Buchel Air Base of the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, according to data from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).How Many US Nukes Are in Italy?Italy, similarly, is a party to NATO's nuclear-sharing agreement. Deployed at the Aviano and Ghedi Air Bases, around 40 B61 nuclear bombs are assigned to the country's Air Force, ICAN states.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/us-nukes-in-europe-where-are-they-stationed-1108844053.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/putin-wests-weapons-supply-to-ukraine-wont-be-enough-to-outgun-russia-1108787875.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230408/where-are-us-nuclear-weapons-located-1109264542.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/putin-russia-will-be-force-to-react-if-west-starts-using-weapons-with-nuclear-components-1108657136.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/eu-uk-intensify-talks-on-defense-cooperation-amid-successful-windsor-framework-reports-say-1108821800.html

EU, UK Intensify Talks on Defense Cooperation Amid Successful Windsor Framework, Reports Say

EU, UK Intensify Talks on Defense Cooperation Amid Successful Windsor Framework, Reports Say

Senior officials of the European Union and the United Kingdom have stepped up talks on potential steps for closer defense and security cooperation, following a successful signing of a new agreement on Northern Ireland called Windsor Framework

2023-03-27T09:49+0000

2023-03-27T09:49+0000

2023-04-12T17:05+0000

uk

defense

cooperation

military

european union (eu)

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In recent weeks, officials held a number of informal but regular discussions on improvement of coordination in various areas, which in particular include increased European arms production, people briefed on the talks said. Last week, UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey held "productive" bilateral meetings with senior EU officials at the Schuman Security and Defence Partnership Forum, the people added. In late February, the EU and the UK reached the agreement in order to resolve the outstanding issues with the previous agreement, including the checks imposed on UK goods arriving in Northern Ireland. On Friday, the countries formally signed the agreement. The pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) opposed the move. Discussions between EU and UK officials focus on "incremental" progress, rather than a formalized security and defense cooperation agreement, sources close to the talks said, adding that officials fear a potential backlash from Eurosceptic members of UKs ruling Conservative Party. Meanwhile, the military operation that Russia launched in Ukraine a year ago prompted Brussels and London to boost cooperation on security issues and concerted defense industrial planning to meet a significantly increased demand for arms production, the newspaper reported, adding that officials also seek to explore potential areas of cooperation in other areas such as intelligence-sharing, joint defense missions, and possible ties with the European Defense Agency.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20160522/uk-pan-eu-army-1040057799.html

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defense cooperation, eu, uk, new agreement on northern ireland
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/fallout-from-us-bank-failures-could-still-be-large-says-fed-1108846352.html

Fallout From US Bank Failures Could Still Be Large Says Fed

Fallout From US Bank Failures Could Still Be Large Says Fed

The fallout from Silicon Valley Bank, the first US financial institution to fail in this months banking crisis, could have far-reaching implications even as the nations banking system remains "resilient."

2023-03-27T19:34+0000

2023-03-27T19:34+0000

2023-03-27T19:34+0000

americas

us federal reserve

silicon valley bank

credit suisse group ag

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"It appeared that contagion from SVB's failure could be far-reaching and cause damage to the broader banking system," Michael Barr, the Feds Vice Chair for Supervision, said in a speech released ahead of his testimony to the US Senate on Tuesday on what triggered the banking crisis and the next steps planned by the central bank. Silicon Valley faced huge withdrawals of customer depositors nearly three weeks ago, and was followed in rapid succession by another bank, Signature, that faced a similar predicament, forcing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to take control of the two. A third lender, First Republic, was rescued later by a consortium of banks led by JPMorgan Chase, the largest US banking group. The crisis took on an international dimension after major Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse underwent financial troubles of its own that forced it to be bought by rival and compatriot UBS. Just last week, Deutsche Bank of Germany was in the news as well as its shares tumbled amid a spike in the cost of insuring it against a potential credit crunch. The crisis on the US front appeared to abate somewhat on Monday as First Citizens BancShares Inc said it will acquire the deposits and loans of the failed Silicon Valley Bank, closing one chapter in the crisis of confidence that has ripped through financial markets. Barr assured Americans that the countrys banking system was safe as a whole, describing it as sound and resilient, with strong capital and liquidity. The review undertaken by the Fed of SVBs failure suggested that the central bank needs to enhance the so-called stress testing of banks with multiple scenarios that can capture a wider range of risk and explore changes to liquidity rules and other reforms that could improve resiliency, Barr said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230318/at-least-186-us-banks-at-potential-risk-of-a-run-similar-to-svb-economists-warn--1108531654.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/foreign-ministers-of-iran-saudi-arabia-discuss-upcoming-meeting---ministry-1108811566.html

Foreign Ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia Discuss Upcoming Meeting - Ministry

Foreign Ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia Discuss Upcoming Meeting - Ministry

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud have discussed their upcoming meeting over the phone, the Iranian Foreign Ministry informs.

2023-03-27T01:34+0000

2023-03-27T01:34+0000

2023-03-27T01:35+0000

world

saudi arabia

iran

hossein amir abdollahian

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"Iranian FM has, during a telephone conversation, held talks with his Saudi counterpart over the latest state of the agreement between Tehran and Riyadh & the upcoming meeting between the two top diplomats," the Iranian foreign ministry said on Twitter. The Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that the two foreign ministers had agreed to hold a bilateral meeting as soon as possible to facilitate the resumption of work of the diplomatic missions of the two countries. At the start of this month, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with China's mediation, agreed to resume diplomatic relations, which were broken off in 2017 after Saudi Arabia's diplomatic missions in Iran were attacked following the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite preacher.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/germany-announces-initiative-to-rebuild-ukraine-pledges-27mln-for-interstate-partnership-1108834036.html

Germany Announces Initiative to Rebuild Ukraine, Pledges $27Mln for Interstate Partnership

Germany Announces Initiative to Rebuild Ukraine, Pledges $27Mln for Interstate Partnership

German Development Minister Svenja Schulze launched an initiative on Monday to rebuild Ukraine, even as the conflict continues in the eastern European country.

2023-03-27T13:36+0000

2023-03-27T13:36+0000

2023-03-27T13:36+0000

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"Ukraines reconstruction begins now  Governments alone will not be able to shoulder such a huge task. Entire societies are needed. In Germany, we see a lot of interest in contributing to Ukraine's reconstruction," she said. The Ukrainian Reconstruction Platform will bring together communities, companies and individuals in Germany and Ukraine, Schulze added. Germany will spend 25 million euros ($27 million) on strengthening cross-border partnerships. Last fall, Kiev estimated the post-conflict reconstruction of the country at around $750 billion, while the European Commission estimated the damage caused by Russia's military operation at 600 billion euros.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/guterres-to-fulfill-request-of-unsc-amid-vote-on-russias-draft-resolution-on-nord-stream-blast-1108842810.html

Guterres to Fulfill Request of UNSC Amid Vote on Russia's Draft Resolution on Nord Stream Blast

Guterres to Fulfill Request of UNSC Amid Vote on Russia's Draft Resolution on Nord Stream Blast

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will always fulfill requests of the Security Council, the UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday ahead of the vote on Russia's draft resolution asking Guterres to investigate the Nord Stream blast.

2023-03-27T17:41+0000

2023-03-27T17:41+0000

2023-03-27T17:41+0000

nord stream sabotage

un security council (unsc)

antonio guterres

nord stream

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"If there is a resolution and the Security Council asking the Secretary-General to do something, the Secretary-General does that thing," Dujarric told a briefing. The draft, which calls for the establishment of a UN-led commission, as well as for the UN member states, including those conducting their relevant national investigations to cooperate with the Commission, will be voted on Monday afternoon.In February, Russia presented a UN Security Council draft resolution requesting the UN Secretary General to conduct an independent international investigation to verify the facts that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh put forward claiming the United States sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines.In September 2022, underwater blasts occurred at three of the four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 underwater pipelines built to carry a combined 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe annually. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden launched separate investigations into the incident.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/compensation-claims-for-nord-stream-blast-after-identifying-responsible-justified-kremlin-1108824665.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/how-does-us-humanitarian-aid-influence-local-african-wheat-market-1108837522.html

How Does US Humanitarian Aid Influence Local African Wheat Market?

How Does US Humanitarian Aid Influence Local African Wheat Market?

The US humanitarian aid for African countries has a negative impact on local food production, says Arkady Zlochevsky, chairman of the Russian Grain Union.

2023-03-27T16:33+0000

2023-03-27T16:33+0000

2023-03-27T16:33+0000

africa

us

wheat

wheat exports

humanitarian aid

market

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US humanitarian aid for African countries has a negative impact on local food production, says Arkady Zlochevsky, chairman of the Russian Grain Union, in the wake of the recent extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world's biggest grain exporters, amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russian exports.The deal was brokered by Turkiye and the UN in order to address the rising food prices in the wake of the Ukraine crisis and the threat of famine in lower-income countries. Zlochevsky believes that the problem of poorer countries in Africa and other parts of the world is "basically based on purchasing power," which according to him "is not high," making them "directly affected by the hysteria that has swept through the markets."The Russian businessman says that the struggle of lower-income countries with rising food prices started with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and later escalated. Speaking of the US humanitarian aid approach towards these nations, Zlochevsky argues that it "destroys local production."He further argues that US humanitarian supplies "never meet 100% of the needs in the territories where they are sent." According to him, they only cover 5-10% of the needs of those nations. And at the same time, Zlochevsky says, US humanitarian aid destroys the sales market for local firms and the motivation to increase local production. According to the expert, the US is creating these humanitarian aid programs not to "distribute these resources for free." Instead, they thereby hold those markets for their own products. "This is a conscious policy, this is supposedly a gift..." the businessman asserts.Zlochevsky insists that US humanitarian aid is mainly aimed at selling American products to global humanitarian organizations, such as the UN World Food Program.Zlochevsky adds that when he looks at the potential of Africa, "there are paradoxical things that are often inaccessible to us." He says that Africa has "quite fertile soils," and there are more moisture reserves than in other parts of the world. The grain deal signed by Russia, Turkiye, Ukraine, and the United Nations in July 2022 was due to be renewed for 120 days on March 18 unless either of the signatories object. Russia said it did not mind extending the deal, but only for 60 days, which was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.The accord provides for the export of Ukrainian grain, food, and fertilizers over the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The package agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea.As much as 25 million tons of grain and other food products have been delivered to 45 nations since July 2022 thanks to the deal, according to United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric's press briefing earlier this month.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230112/russia-can-cover-40-of-algerias-milling-wheat-demand-in-2022-2023-season---grain-union-1106243534.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/hungarian-parliament-votes-for-ratification-of-finlands-accession-to-nato-1108840692.html

Hungarian Parliament Votes for Ratification of Finland's Accession to NATO

Hungarian Parliament Votes for Ratification of Finland's Accession to NATO

The Hungarian Parliament voted on Monday for the ratification of Finland's accession to NATO.

2023-03-27T16:33+0000

2023-03-27T16:33+0000

2023-03-27T16:39+0000

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hungary

finland

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On March 17, the head of the ruling faction Fidesz, Mate Kocsis, said that the Hungarian Parliament will vote on Finland's membership in NATO on March 27 and a parliamentary group will decide on Sweden later. The admission of Finland to NATO was supported by 117 deputies, 40 opposed, and another 18 abstained, according to the parliament's website.On May 18, three months after the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO membership applications, abandoning decades of neutrality. Turkiye initially blocked their bids due to its concern over Helsinki and Stockholm's long-standing support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara regards as a serious threat to its national security. Turkiye lifted its objections after Erdogan and the two Nordic leaders met in Madrid in June 2022, where they signed a security memorandum to unblock the process of Finland and Sweden's accession.The accession process came once more to a standstill for Sweden in January this year following the Quran-burning incident in Stockholm. Erdogan said the country should not count on Ankara's support for its NATO bid, but expressed no reservations regarding Finland's bid.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/swedish-prime-minister-says-finland-will-join-nato-earlier-than-his-country-1108789923.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/israels-president-calls-on-government-to-immediately-stop-adoption-of-judicial-reform-reports-say-1108813035.html

Israels President Calls on Government to Immediately Stop Adoption of Judicial Reform

Israels President Calls on Government to Immediately Stop Adoption of Judicial Reform

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, amid protests in the country, called on the government to immediately halt the adoption of judicial reform.

2023-03-27T04:35+0000

2023-03-27T04:35+0000

2023-03-27T04:56+0000

world

israel

reform

protests

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog, amid protests in the country, called on the government to immediately halt the adoption of judicial reform. Late on Sunday night, thousands of protesters broke through the last police checkpoint in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem. Police used water cannons against the demonstrators.The Sunday mass protest started after Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who became the first key Israeli minister to call for a halt of the controversial judicial reform on Saturday.On Friday, organizers of the protest movement against the judicial reform in Israel declared a "week of paralysis," which would include nationwide demonstrations against the divisive legislative action. Earlier this week, hundreds of activists swarmed outside the residences of prominent Israeli government officials  including Tourism Minister Haim Katz, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others  to protest against the judicial reform.Mass protests against the judicial reform have been held in Israel for 12 straight weeks. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government plans to pass a key part of the proposed legislation in the coming days.In January, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin rolled out a legal reform package that would limit the authority of the Supreme Court by giving the cabinet control over the selection of new judges, as well as allowing the Knesset to override the court's rulings with an absolute majority. In mid-February, the Israeli parliament approved the first part of the legislation. The second half was approved by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, at the beginning of March.The reform's opponents argue it will undermine democracy in Israel and put the country on the verge of a social and constitutional crisis.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/hundreds-of-thousands-protest-against-judicial-reform-in-israel-1108791293.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/judicial-reform-protests-could-netanyahu-navigate-his-coalition-through-crisis-1108844150.html

Judicial Reform Protests: Could Netanyahu Navigate His Coalition Through Crisis?

Judicial Reform Protests: Could Netanyahu Navigate His Coalition Through Crisis?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to postpone the judicial reform legislation until the summer following protests. How could the unfolding tensions... 27.03.2023, Sputnik International

2023-03-27T18:47+0000

2023-03-27T18:47+0000

2023-03-27T18:47+0000

analysis

israel

protests

benjamin netanyahu

middle east

us

joe biden

biden administration

demonstrations

judicial reform

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"I think that the reform was just one aspect of the tensions in Israeli society, when a part of Israeli society feels that the demographic trends in Israel are dooming it to be always in a minority," Professor Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told Sputnik.In January, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin proposed a legal reform package that would limit the authority of the Supreme Court by giving the Israeli government control over the selection of new judges, as well as allowing the Knesset to override the court's rulings with an absolute majority. In March, the attempt by the Netanyahu cabinet to ratify it into law was met by widespread protests. Opponents of the reform argue it would undermine democracy in Israel and put the country on the verge of a social and constitutional crisis.Major nationwide protests erupted in Israel late Sunday night after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over his opposition to a planned judicial overhaul.According to the Israeli media, approximately 100,000 people protested outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday, with Israeli conservatives organizing a counter-protest. In Tel Aviv, a group of demonstrators gathered on the Ayalon Highway, and blocked traffic at the Hashalom interchange. Protests also took place in Haifa and Beersheba.Netanyahu's Likud Party signaled willingness to hit the brakes and put the reform on pause. For its part, Otzma Yehudit reportedly threatened to leave the government over Netanyahu's intention to postpone the legislation. However, on Monday, the party's leader, Ben-Gvir, said that a compromise had been reached with Netanyahu. "The reform will pass," Ben-Gvir tweeted. "The National Guard will be established. The budget I requested for the National Security Ministry will be passed in its entirety.""First of all, we should realize that the attorney general made a clear statement that Netanyahu is not allowed to deal with the legal reform because he is involved in a trial himself, and there is some kind of a conflict of interests, despite the fact that the attorney general also has a conflict of interests, because legal advisers are also part of the reform," said Inbar.Is Israel on the Brink of New Elections?It's not clear how the tensions surrounding the reform could backfire on the Netanyahu Cabinet. Still, as per Dr. Kobi Michael, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, Netanyahu's decision to freeze the process "will be considered as the first crack and there is a good reason to assess that we begin counting the days towards new elections or a new coalition.""Netanyahu lost his reputation as Mr. Security and a leader at the highest international level. We began a new era in Israel yesterday night. It was a huge achievement of the Israeli vital and vibrant democracy. Israeli society demonstrated its strength and its influence on the political arena. A legal government is not necessarily a legitimate government, and there is no doubt about the limits of power that any government could have," claimed Michael.Professor Zeev Hanin, a political science lecturer at Ariel University and Bar-Ilan University, believes that even though "Netanyahu is indeed a political genius and an economic expert of great caliber," "at the moment, not everything is in his power."For his part, Inbar deems that the Netanyahu government will continue to rule.Sputnik's interlocutors drew attention to the fact that the Biden administration interfered in Israel's domestic affairs, calling on Netanyahu to lend a sympathetic ear to the opposition and reach a compromise."It's quite clear that the Biden administration is not happy with the right-wing government," said Inbar. "And it supports the opposition. I won't be surprised to find out that American money is flowing into Israel in support of the opposition to the reform."All in all, the unfolding problem is unlikely to shatter Israel's internal status quo, despite tens of thousands marching in the country's cities, according to the observers. One should not overestimate the internal split; Israel won't be undermined from within, Hanin concluded.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/mass-protests-engulf-israel-as-water-cannons-detentions-and-arson-ensue-1108819053.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/netanyahu-tells-coalition-work-on-judicial-reform-to-be-suspended-reports-say-1108820366.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/lawmakers-to-move-ahead-with-tiktok-bill-to-protect-americans-from-chinas-technological-tentacles-1108815947.html

Congress to Move Ahead With TikTok Bill to Protect Americans From China's 'Technological Tentacles'

Congress to Move Ahead With TikTok Bill to Protect Americans From China's 'Technological Tentacles'

US lawmakers will move ahead with TikTok legislation to protect American users from "the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party", House Speaker says.

2023-03-27T07:05+0000

2023-03-27T07:05+0000

2023-03-27T07:54+0000

americas

us

tiktok

ban

kevin mccarthy

credit suisse group ag

bytedance

china

user data

joe biden

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American lawmakers intend to push ahead with a bill aimed at addressing national security concerns about Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday. Reiterating the allegations that user data was being accessed by the Chinese government, McCarthy waxed eloquent, tweeting that it was time to "protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party." He also referenced the recent grilling that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced at a US House Committee, saying that he had failed to be "honest" in admitting "what we already know to be true."The US House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on March 23 featuring testimony from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Lawmakers questioned him about the platform's data privacy practices and alleged ties to the Chinese government. Chew offered assurances that Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., which owns the short-form video-sharing app, takes multiple efforts to safeguard US user data. He repeatedly rejected claims that the platform colluded with the Chinese government. However, obdurately skeptical US lawmakers reiterated their calls for a ban.The popular social media app launched in 2016 by the Beijing-headquartered technology company ByteDance allows users to create, watch, and share mainly 15-second videos on mobile devices. The platform, which reportedly boasts about 150 million monthly active users across America, has long been in the US government's crosshairs. The mere fact that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company placed a target on its back, with White House officials claiming that Chinas law would require ByteDance to aid authorities in intelligence and national security matters if asked. Accordingly, TikToks alleged ability to give Beijing the data of the apps users in the US has triggered national security concerns.The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a bill in early March, allowing President Joe Biden to ban TikTok nationwide. The panel voted 24-16 along partisan lines in favor of H.R. 1153, which is intended "to provide a clarification of non-applicability for regulation and prohibition relating to sensitive personal data under International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and for other purposes."The measure now advances to the House of Representatives. A TikTok ban would require passage by the full House and the Senate before POTUS can sign the measure into law. Furthermore, on February 27, President Biden gave government agencies 30 days to ensure that the video-making app is not on any federal devices and systems. More than half of America's states have already taken steps toward a partial or full ban of TikTok on government devices.Back in 2020 the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to ban TikTok as well as the Chinese media platform WeChat, allegedly in order to protect Americans privacy. TikTok, which separated its US division from ByteDance in 2020 and handed over data security to the US-based Oracle in 2020, has repeatedly rejected allegations that it shares information with the Chinese government.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230326/senator-says-white-house-very-much-in-favor-of-bill-to-ban-tiktok-1108807856.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230324/congress-hearings-over-tiktok-social-media-app-are-anti-china-witch-hunt-1108747626.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230301/china-blasts-tiktok-ban-says-push-shows-us-insecurities-over-young-peoples-favorite-app-1107887554.html

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us lawmakers, tiktok legislation, to protect american users, technological tentacles,e chinese communist party, house speaker, kevin mccarthy, access to apps user data, security concerns
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/moscow-may-raise-issue-of-compensation-for-nord-stream-related-damage---foreign-ministry-1108812041.html

Moscow May Raise Issue of Compensation for Nord Stream-Related Damage

Moscow May Raise Issue of Compensation for Nord Stream-Related Damage

Russia could eventually raise the issue of compensation for damage due to the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, told Sputnik.

2023-03-27T02:06+0000

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2023-03-27T04:14+0000

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"We do not exclude the possibility of later raising the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines," Birichevsky said. He pointed out that, against the backdrop of US journalist Seymour Hersh's investigation, Russia has proposed a UN Security Council draft resolution asking for an independent international investigation into the Nord Stream sabotage. In February, Hersh published an article stating that the US and Norway collaborated in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/seymour-hersh-biden-blew-up-pipelines-over-german-foot-dragging-on-ukraine-aid-1108770914.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/new-snp-leader-to-be-finally-crowned-after-heated-battle-1108818456.html

New SNP Leader Finally Crowned After Heated Battle

New SNP Leader Finally Crowned After Heated Battle

The election of a new leader of the Scotland National Party was launched after the surprise resignation of former popular party leader, Nicola Sturgeon.

2023-03-27T10:13+0000

2023-03-27T10:13+0000

2023-03-27T13:32+0000

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Humza Yousaf has become the next SNP leader. His contenders in the race were Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, and Yousaf paid tribute to them: "I know that collectively we will continue to work hard as part of team SNP," he said.Mr. Yousaf was predictably the candidate with the best chances of succeeding Ms. Sturgeon. He previously occupied the posts of transport minister and justice secretary, and currently holds the position of health minister. His rival Kate Forbes is well-known for her deep Christian conviction, which led to her to opposing gay marriage and criticizing having children outside of wedlock as wrong. Eventually, she lost a great amount of party support.Some political experts claim that Kate Forbes is more popular in Scotland overall. That being said, she went on maternity leave from her role as finance secretary and has now decided to get back into politics.The third candidate is the not-so-famous, 49-year-old Ash Regan. She had announced her intention to unify the Yes voters for Scottish independence, blaming her opponents of being "wishy-washy" on the topic. However, critics mocked Ms. Regan's idea of creating a physical "readiness thermometer" to test Scotland's readiness for independence. The proposed device would allow Scots to monitor progress towards a second vote on the constitution.The race to occupy the SNP leadership spot is taking place after Nicola Sturgeon had announced her decision to step down, which came as a shock both for her supporters in the Party and in Scotland overall. The country's first woman prime minister said it was of her own free will, because she just knew she should leave at a time that's right.And it's not only about Nicola Sturgeons departure, her husband and the chief executive Peter Murrell also resigned from his post along with the head of the party's communications, after they persistently denied the record decline in the number of party members that had been previously reported by the media.On Tuesday, the new SNP leader will face a Holyrood vote to be appointed as the new FM, with the final ceremonial swearing-in taking place on Wednesday at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.The disturbances within the party are taking place against the backdrop of attempts by Scottish nationalists to hold a second independence referendum. The UK Supreme Court ruled on November 23, 2022, that the initiative to hold such a vote falls outside the jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230215/nicola-sturgeon-to-resign-as-scottish-first-minister-1107457082.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/new-start-talks-depend-on-us-abandoning-its-hostile-policy-toward-russia-russian-envoy-says-1108822706.html

New START Talks Depend on US Abandoning Its 'Hostile Policy' Toward Russia, Russian Envoy Says

New START Talks Depend on US Abandoning Its 'Hostile Policy' Toward Russia, Russian Envoy Says

The prerequisites for talking about the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) will emerge only if Washington abandons its hostile policy toward Moscow

2023-03-27T10:01+0000

2023-03-27T10:01+0000

2023-03-27T10:01+0000

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"Our demands are quite modest, clear and absolutely justified. We need the United States to give up its hostile policy toward Russia, and then there will be prerequisites for talking about the New START treaty," Ulyanov said. Relations between Russia and the United States went downhill after Moscow launched a military operation in Ukraine a year ago. In February 2023, Moscow announced the suspension of its participation in the New START, which was signed by Russia and the US in 2010 and envisaged mutual inspections of the strategic nuclear facilities of the two countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US had demanded that Russia unconditionally fulfill its obligations under the treaty while acting arbitrarily concerning its own obligations.Russia is not satisfied with behind-the-scenes consideration of the issue of the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines by the United States to Australia, an open discussion is needed, Mikhail Ulyanov added.He added that Russia and China are actively opposing the behind-the-scenes discussions and called for a competent, professional, and depoliticized consideration of this issue from the perspective of nuclear non-proliferation and IAEA safeguards.Earlier this month, AUKUS (the trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States) announced a multi-phased plan to supply Australia with conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines and technology for their production.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230301/russia-handed-note-to-us-on-suspension-of-moscows-participation-in-new-start-moscow-1107905853.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/private-trip-steeped-in-political-overtones-ex-taiwan-leader-to-make-landmark-mainland-china-visit-1108799203.html

Private Trip Steeped in Political Overtones: Ex-Taiwan Leader to Make Landmark Mainland China Visit

Private Trip Steeped in Political Overtones: Ex-Taiwan Leader to Make Landmark Mainland China Visit

Ex-Taiwan regional leader Ma Ying-jeou to make a landmark visit to mainland China.

2023-03-27T05:00+0000

2023-03-27T05:00+0000

2023-03-27T05:00+0000

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The private foray of former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou to mainland China from 27 March to 7 April has been already described as everything ranging from a "landmark" visit capable of mending febrile cross-strait relations, to a political ploy orchestrated by Beijing. This will be the debut visit of any former or present leader of Taiwan to mainland China since 1949. The government in Taipei is all that is left of the republican government routed by the Communist Party of China in the civil war in 1949, when the new Peoples Republic of China was founded in Beijing. Although the PRC views the island as its wayward province, destined for eventual reunification, Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous country, though it stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any foreign state having official contact with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.What is behind the timing of this visit, and how could it affect relations between China and Taiwan? Sputnik examinesYouth Exchanges & Homage to AncestorsFlanked by a delegation of about 30 students and several former aides, Ma Ying-jeou, a member of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT), is scheduled to begin his 12-day visit to mainland China in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, on Monday. The Taiwanese politician's trip to the People's Republic of China will then involve stopovers in Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai, according to the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation.Mas trip will purportedly have two main purposes: to facilitate student exchanges, and to enable the ex-regional leader to pay his respects to the graves of his ancestors in China, according to Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director, Hsiao Hsu-tsen. He explained that college students from Taiwan will be granted a chance to meet peers from Shanghais Fudan University and Changshas Hunan University.He also emphasized:"There is no itinerary in Beijing and no meeting with mainland leaders, including Mr Xi Jinping... The trip is to central China, we have not arranged to go to Beijing."Ma Ying-jeou himself was cited as saying:Indeed, this appears to echo the recent sentiments expressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. During a speech before the National Peoples Congress (NPC), Chinas legislative body, Xi said earlier in March that his government would actively promote the "peaceful development" of cross-strait relations and "unswervingly" promote reunification with Taiwan. Furthermore, the new Chinese premier, Li Qiang, also emphasized that Chinese people on both sides of the strait were "one family" and restoration of normal trade and exchange across the waterway was "everyone's common expectation and requires joint efforts".Ma Ying-jeou's time in office marked a period of increased contact between Taiwan and China. Back in 2010, Ma successfully negotiated a trade pact with Beijing, but that same deal served to ignite protests in 2014. Ma Ying-jeou insisted at the time that the deal would bring economic benefits, but critics slammed it as making Taiwan too economically dependent on China. In 2015, while he was still in office, Ma met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a symbolic meeting - the first between the leaders of the two sides since the Taiwan split.After Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected President of Taiwan in 2016, exchanges of the nature advocated by Ma were put on the backburner.Mixed ReactionsBeijings Taiwan Affairs Office has welcomed Mas visit to mainland China.The Office added that the scheduled stops to pay respects to ancestors during the annual tomb sweeping festival was a "shared tradition" for Chinese people irrespective of where they live. As for Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT), its chairman Eric Chu Li-luan is reported as having voiced support for the trip, hoping it might promote peace across the Straits.The office of President Tsai Ing-wen was cited as confirming that the Taiwanese former leader had notified her of his visit schedule. The office added that it "hoped Ma, in his role as a former head of state  can show the value of Taiwan's democracy and freedom and the position of equality and dignity in cross-strait exchanges.""Highly improper and undignified" was how the visit has been slammed by Taiwan's pro-independence advocates. As could be anticipated, they warned that Ma Ying-jeou might "sell out" the island, or would be probably wielded as a "ploy" by Beijing.Furthermore, lawmakers of the DPP denounced as "highly improper and undignified the fact that Ma Ying-jeou was making the round trip flight on board Beijings flag carrier Air China. Another thing that rankled with Ma's detractors is that he agreed to be addressed as Mr Ma Ying-jeou rather than as former president by the hosting side.Timing & SpeculationsMa Ying-jeou's visit comes after the Central American nation of Honduras announced it would establish formal diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China on 15 March. The Foreign Ministry of Honduras also announced on 25 March that it had severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Taipei has diplomatic ties with 14 countries (which, by definition, officially recognize it), with the list including Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Eswatini, Tuvalu, and the Vatican.Over recent years, a number of countries, including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, Panama, Kiribati, the Solomon Islands and Nicaragua, decided to cut ties with Taiwan and establish official relations with China instead. Under the one-China principle, a country must sever its ties with the breakaway island to establish official relations with Beijing.Another aspect about the timing worth noting is that it comes alongside Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens scheduled visits to the islands Central American allies - Guatemala and Belize in transit through the United States from 29 March to 7 April.It should be noted that members of the KMT party occasionally visit China. Thus, ahead of Ma Ying-jeous visit, Andrew Hsia, vice-chairman of the KMT, spent 10 days on the mainland in February, meeting with the head of the Taiwan Affairs Office. And Taipei Mayor Chiang Wang-an hosted Shanghai city officials in February.Weighing the potential impact of the former Taiwan leader's visit, many Chinese analysts were cited by the media as touting the symbolic nature of the trip. Some speculated Ma sought to "transmit the idea of peaceful exchange". Bearing in mind the forthcoming elections in Taiwan in early 2024, some observers told China's outlets that the visit could be taken as a deliberate demonstration that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT, or Kuomintang) and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were "going in different directions in their mainland policies".The DPP, which favors Taiwans independence, suffered major losses in local elections late last year, with the KMT winning control of 13 cities and counties (including key mayoral seats in Taipei, Taoyuan and Keelung). The vote was viewed as a litmus test for the DPPs political course ahead of the 2024 race to elect Taiwan's next chief administrator.The present developments play out against the backdrop of heightened tensions between China and the United States. Washington, which pays lip service to the 'One China Policy' of recognizing Beijing's sovereignty over Taiwan, has been maintaining trade and unofficial political relations with the government in Taipei.Beijing was further incensed when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a provocative visit to Taiwan last August, prompting the Chinese People's Liberation Army to stage massive military drills around the island that included shooting ballistic missiles over it. Beijing has repeatedly warned the US against supporting Taipei, as well as any notions of Taiwan declaring independence from China.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/chinese-foreign-ministry-says-taiwans-attempts-to-gain-independence-doomed-to-failure-1108644000.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230313/one-family-xi-li-tell-lawmakers-china-to-promote-peaceful-development-of-taiwan-reunification-1108349243.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230326/honduras-severs-diplomatic-relations-with-taiwan-1108792770.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/taiwanese-leader-to-travel-to-belize-guatemala-in-transit-via-us-1108636128.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230320/taiwans-dpp-shelves-all-out-mobilization-law-changes-reminiscent-of-white-terror-dictatorship-1108618995.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/russian-security-council-chief-us-champion-in-number-of-wars-its-unleashed-around-the-world-1108828037.html

Russian Security Council Chief: US 'Champion' In Number of Wars It's Unleashed Around the World

Russian Security Council Chief: US 'Champion' In Number of Wars It's Unleashed Around the World

The US has long been a "champion" in the number of wars unleashed in different parts of the world and violations of the sovereignty of other states, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Monday.

2023-03-27T12:19+0000

2023-03-27T12:19+0000

2023-03-27T12:19+0000

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"Although proclaiming democratic slogans both opportunistically and inappropriately, Washington has long claimed top place in violating the sovereignty of states, in the number of wars and conflicts it has unleashed, in the brutal and illegal pursuit of citizens of other countries," Patrushev said in an interview ahead of a second 'Summit for Democracy' launched by the United States.Patrushev added that "if the US really decides to move towards democracy and stop humiliating its vassal allies, we will only welcome it." According to the Russian Security Council chief, corporations in the US have been shaping Washington's foreign policy as they seek to create hotbeds of tension in the world for the sake of billion-dollar profits.NATO countries have made no secret of their main goal in the Ukraine conflict - that is to defeat Russia on the battlefield and then dismember it, Patrushev asserts. NATO instructors and advisers are training the Ukrainian military, and mercenaries are fighting as part of neo-Nazi battalions, he added. Washington's confidence that a preventive missile strike on Russia will go unanswered in the event of a direct conflict is "a very dangerous mistake" - Russia has a unique weapon that can destroy any enemy, including the United States, if its existence is threatened, Patrushev warned. According to the official, the main task of the present US political regime is to scare the people during the systemic crisis into which the United States fell.It is "self-evident" that the United States will not want to hear criticism against itself, Patrushev claims. He went on to say that China is the main economic competitor of the United States, and after attempts to suppress Russia, the United States will take on China. According to him, Russia irritates the US because "not only does it pursue an independent policy of bolstering the multipolar world, but in many ways surpasses America in spiritual, moral and military spheres.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/putin-russia-will-be-force-to-react-if-west-starts-using-weapons-with-nuclear-components-1108657136.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230326/jittery-us-customers-pulled-almost-100bln-in-deposits-amid-banking-crisis-fed-data-shows-1108793779.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/senior-iranian-qatari-officials-discuss-economic-ties-regional-global-issues-report-1108841973.html

Senior Iranian, Qatari Officials Discuss Economic Ties, Regional, Global Issues: Report

Senior Iranian, Qatari Officials Discuss Economic Ties, Regional, Global Issues: Report

The Secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, held talks with the Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, to discuss economic cooperation between Tehran and Doha as well as global and regional issues, Iranian media reported on Tuesday.

2023-03-27T17:07+0000

2023-03-27T17:07+0000

2023-03-27T17:07+0000

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During the talks, Shamkhani highlighted the importance of boosting trade and economic ties between the countries and developing joint infrastructure projects, the report said. The Iranian official also said that a number of Western countries aimed at creating a rift between Iran and Qatar, which made it important for the two states to stay alert when developing bilateral relations to avoid serious issues. The Qatari diplomat, in turn, welcomed the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, saying that the move would be an important step contributing to stability and security in the Middle East. Earlier in the month, Iran and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement mediated by China to resume relations, as well as open embassies and representative offices within two months. The deal marked the renewal of official diplomatic ties that were cut by Saudi Arabia in 2016 after protesters stormed its embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, by Riyadh.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230311/china-brokered-iran-saudi-deal-threatens-to-push-us-out-of-the-gulf-and-washington-knows-it-1108298905.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/two-missiles-launched-by-pyongyang-fall-outside-of-japans-exclusive-zone---report-1108811097.html

Ballistic Missiles Launched by North Korea Flew 350 Kilometers: Japans Defense Ministry

Ballistic Missiles Launched by North Korea Flew 350 Kilometers: Japans Defense Ministry

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The two suspected ballistic missiles launched by North Korea on Monday morning landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese... 27.03.2023, Sputnik International

2023-03-27T00:11+0000

2023-03-27T00:11+0000

2023-04-06T12:15+0000

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South Koreas news agency reported, citing the South Korean military, that North Korea test-fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan on Monday. The Japan Coast Guard issued two warnings on Monday, suggesting that two launches were carried out by Pyongyang. Japans Defense Ministry said that the missiles traveled 350 kilometers (217 miles) and reached an altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) before falling into the sea.The first warning was issued at 07:50 local time (22:50 GMT on Sunday). Ten minutes later, the second warning was issued by the Japan Coast Guard.Kyodo reported citing government sources on Monday that the first missile landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. NHK said citing government sources that the second missile also landed outside the exclusive zone.Last week, North Korea tested a ballistic missile that also landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the test was part of a military drill designed to test the country's ability to respond to a nuclear attack with nuclear weapons of its own.South Korea and the United States held joint military exercises in the region earlier this month in an operation named "Freedom Shield 23." North Korea called the drills preparation for a "war of aggression" by the United States and South Korea.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230324/lethal-cruise-what-is-the-new-underwater-drone-north-korea-claims-to-have-tested-1108754913.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/uganda-satisfied-with-military-cooperation-with-russia-president-museveni-says-1108822115.html

Uganda Satisfied With Military Cooperation With Russia, President Museveni Says

Uganda Satisfied With Military Cooperation With Russia, President Museveni Says

This article is about Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni saying during an interview with Russian media that Uganda highly values its cooperation with Russia, as well as with the former Soviet Union, in the defense sphere.

2023-03-27T11:00+0000

2023-03-27T11:00+0000

2023-03-27T11:00+0000

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Uganda highly values its cooperation with Russia, as well as with the former Soviet Union, in the defense sphere, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said during an interview with Russian media.Besides the defense sector, the Ugandan leader said that there is a variety of spheres where Kampala and Moscow could cooperate in the future, including oil, healthcare, agriculture, along with other sectors.In addition, the president said that the two countries could also cooperate in areas related to peoples daily needs, including food, housing, clothing, medicine, transportation, and communication, adding that such cooperation "depends on who deals better with what."The African leader argued that in a tropical climate, there are some things that cannot be done in cold countries, which could serve as a basis for economic exchange.Speaking of the second Russia-Africa Summit and economic forum scheduled to be held in Russia's city of St. Petersburg in July, Museveni confirmed his intention to attend the 2023 summit not only to boost bilateral cooperation with Moscow, but also to support the "ideology of equality and brotherhood" between Russia and Africa.On October 22-24, 2019, President Museveni took part in the first Russia-Africa summit that was held in the Russian city of Sochi, under the slogan "For Peace, Security and Development." Apart from that visit, the Ugandan head of state has visited Russia twice, in August 2009 and December 2012. Last year, Russia and Uganda celebrated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230219/africa-knows-its-enemy-ugandan-fm-lambasts-western-colonizers-for-attempts-to-isolate-russia-1107589040.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/un-security-council-to-vote-on-russian-resolution-requesting-probe-into-nord-stream-blasts-1108813736.html

UN Security Council to Vote on Russian Resolution Requesting Probe Into Nord Stream Blasts

UN Security Council to Vote on Russian Resolution Requesting Probe Into Nord Stream Blasts

The vote on the Russian resolution calling on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to create a commission to investigate explosions that occurred at the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September will take place at 19:00 GMT on Monday.

2023-03-27T05:19+0000

2023-03-27T05:19+0000

2023-03-27T08:29+0000

nord stream sabotage

russia

nord stream

un security council (unsc)

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In February, Russia presented a draft UN Security Council resolution requesting the UN chief to establish an international independent commission to verify the allegations that US journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh put forward claiming that the explosions were organized by the United States with the support of Norway.Earlier, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy said that China will co-author the UN Security Council resolution.The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions last September. Nord Stream's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take.Russia considers the explosions of the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet, but US journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh alleged that the explosions were organized by the United States with the support of Norway. The US denies its involvement in the incident.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230324/danish-energy-agency-invites-nord-stream-operator-to-lift-object-found-near-pipeline-1108740678.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/unsc-fails-to-adopt-russia-drafted-resolution-calling-for-nord-stream-probe-1108846652.html

UNSC Fails to Adopt Russia-Drafted Resolution Calling For Nord Stream Probe

UNSC Fails to Adopt Russia-Drafted Resolution Calling For Nord Stream Probe

The UN Security Council on Monday failed to adopt a Russia-drafted resolution calling for the establishment of a commission to investigate the Nord Stream sabotage.

2023-03-27T20:17+0000

2023-03-27T20:17+0000

2023-03-27T20:17+0000

nord stream sabotage

the united nations (un)

united nations security council

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china

brazil

nord stream

nord stream 2

nord stream pipeline

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The UN Security Council on Monday did not support a Russian-Chinese resolution on an international investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Streams.The resolution was supported by Russia, China and Brazil; no one voted against it, while Albania, Great Britain, Gabon, Ghana, Malta, Mozambique, UAE, USA, France, Switzerland, Ecuador, and Japan abstained.The resolution was also co-authored by Belarus, the DPRK, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Syria and Venezuela. However, they are not members of the UN Security Council and did not participate in the vote.It is currently known that Sweden, Denmark and Germany are conducting their own investigations into the incident.Earlier, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said that Russia had been diligently working on the text for a month, removing all contradictory points for "constructively-minded partners." Now Western countries, which demonstratively did not join this work, are left with only one "argument" - that an international investigation is not required because they trust the investigations of Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the Russian representative said.If the resolution had been adopted, the Security Council would have asked "the UN Secretary-General to establish an international independent commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and impartial international investigation into all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, including the identification of perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices.The UN Secretary-General would have been given 30 days to report to the Council on the modalities of establishing such a commission. If adopted, the Security Council would call on "UN member states, including those conducting their respective national investigations, to fully cooperate and share information with the Commission."According to the document, the UNSC would also call for "the involvement of relevant parties in the investigations that some states are conducting."In addition, as noted in the draft resolution, the Security Council stresses that "all those responsible for organizing, financing and carrying out this act of sabotage must be brought to justice.In September 2022, underwater blasts occurred at three of the four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 underwater pipelines built to carry a combined 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe annually.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230208/unverified-account-of-renowned-journalist-says-us-planted-explosives-destroyed-nord-stream-1107081241.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230325/seymour-hersh-biden-blew-up-pipelines-over-german-foot-dragging-on-ukraine-aid-1108770914.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/us-military-spending-has-nothing-to-do-with-defense-its-offensive-anti-war-activist-says-1108831866.html

US Military Spending Has Nothing to Do With Defense, Its Offensive, Anti-War Activist Says

US Military Spending Has Nothing to Do With Defense, Its Offensive, Anti-War Activist Says

US anti-war activist and journalist David Swanson has accused Washington of warmongering, as its military spending has been more than the next 9 or 10 or 11... 27.03.2023, Sputnik International

2023-03-27T19:04+0000

2023-03-27T19:04+0000

2023-03-27T19:04+0000

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David Swanson told Sputnik that members of the US Congress are responsible for escalating wars around the globe, with the US having by far the largest military spending. The peace activist accused US congressmen of lining their pockets on military purchases. Swanson suggested the idea of introducing a bill on cutting military spending every year by $100 million, but complained that it would never pass all voting stages. "Its not defense spending, its an offensive spending," he stated, accusing pacifist members of Congress of simply passively voting "no" on military budget increases. According to the activist, such lawmakers show no initiative in pushing bills to cut spending.His comments come following another military spending increase, raising it to $842 billion, proposed by the Biden administration on March 23. This is 13.4 percent higher than last year's request.The author of the book Leaving World War II Behind also accused the mainstream media of lying that all these wars and arms purchases are inevitable and people just can't do anything about it. He proposed various ways to change the status quo, calling for people to resist it and protest across the US to stop aggressive wars. The journalist suggested learning from the Europeans, we can do what's being done to our shame and embarrassment in much greater numbers in Rome and London and Paris, he argued.Check our By Any Means Necessary podcast to find out more!

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230321/we-need-to-do-more-stoltenberg-calls-for-nato-members-to-pump-out-even-more-military-spending-1108657244.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230310/why-bloated-us-military-spending-cant-ensure-its-dominance-over-russia-china-1108266963.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/us-senate-to-vote-on-setting-up-inspector-general-for-ukraine-aid-this-week-1108846845.html

US Senate to Vote on Setting Up Inspector General for Ukraine Aid This Week

US Senate to Vote on Setting Up Inspector General for Ukraine Aid This Week

The US Senate will vote on a measure this week that would appoint an inspector general to oversee US funding being sent to Ukraine amid Russia's special military operation, US Republican Senator Josh Hawley said in an article published on Monday.

2023-03-27T20:04+0000

2023-03-27T20:04+0000

2023-04-20T17:06+0000

americas

josh hawley

us arms for ukraine

military aid

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"This week, the Senate will vote on my amendment to set up an inspector general to track every single taxpayer dollar going to Ukraine," Hawley said in an op-ed published on Fox News. There is no single authority at the moment responsible for overseeing US spending in Ukraine, leaving the situation open to potential waste, fraud and abuse, Hawley said. The United States needs to also monitor military equipment being sent to Ukraine and Ukrainian anticorruption efforts, Hawley said. Western countries ramped up their military support for Ukraine after Russia launched a special military operation there on February 24, 2022 there. The US military and nonmilitary assistance provided or committed to Ukraine well exceeds $100 billion and includes air defense missiles, launch rocket systems, tanks, self-propelled artillery, anti-aircraft guns and various types of ammunition. The Kremlin has warned against further arms supplies that could mean the direct involvement of the US and NATO in the conflict.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230305/hungarian-lawmaker-says-lethal-aid-makes-eu-nato-nations-party-to-ukraine-conflict-1108071993.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/western-attempts-to-hinder-russian-diamond-exports-contradict-industry-interests-moscow-1108822867.html

Western Attempts to Hinder Russian Diamond Exports Contradict Industry Interests: Moscow

Western Attempts to Hinder Russian Diamond Exports Contradict Industry Interests: Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Western countries attempts to interfere with Russian diamond exports may lead to disruption of supply chains, which runs counter to the interests of the industry as a whole, Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, told Sputnik.

2023-03-27T10:06+0000

2023-03-27T10:06+0000

2023-03-27T10:06+0000

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russia

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exports

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"It is clear that the restrictive measures that are being developed, whatever they may be, risk disrupting established supply chains and thus inimical to the interests of the diamond industry as a whole. In this regard, Westerners are trying to provide a plausible pretext for their irresponsible actions, including on various international platforms," Birichevsky said. Russia is one of the largest diamond industry players, accounting for 30% of world production, the official noted. He noted that opponents should be aware that any attempts to prevent Russian diamond exports are non-market oriented. Earlier this month, top US and European Commission officials met with diamond industry leaders to discuss ways to cut-off billions in revenue to Russia. In February, the Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed to further sanction the Russian diamond industry in an attempt to slash Russian revenues amid Moscows special military operation in Ukraine. The G7 said in a joint statement that they would engage key partners on further measures on Russian diamonds, including rough and polished ones. On Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he expected the European Union's 11th package of sanctions to target Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and Russian diamonds.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220817/western-countries-call-for-labeling-russian-diamonds-bloody-reports-say-1099688019.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230327/zaporozhye-regions-official-confirms-iaea-director-generals-visit-to-znpp-on-march-29-1108830437.html

Zaporozhye Region's Official Confirms IAEA Director General's Visit to ZNPP on March 29

Zaporozhye Region's Official Confirms IAEA Director General's Visit to ZNPP on March 29

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi is scheduled to visit the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) on March 29, Vladimir Rogov, a senior official of the Zaporozhye regional administration, told Sputnik on Monday.

2023-03-27T12:06+0000

2023-03-27T12:06+0000

2023-03-27T12:06+0000

russia

zaporozhye npp

russia

international atomic energy agency (iaea)

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"The visit is scheduled for March 29 and will be timed to another rotation of the IAEA's experts group that is deployed to the station. On our part, the delegation's security will be fully ensured. The region's residents expect Grossi to tell the truth during the visit, that the power station is being shelled by the Ukrainian army," Rogov said. On March 23, Grossi said that IAEA was not reviewing the possibility of establishing a demilitarized zone around ZNPP anymore, and would only accept a mutual ceasefire. On March 25, the IAEA said Grossi's next visit to ZNPP could take place the following week. Located on the left bank of the Dnepr River, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe by number of units and energy output. It came under Russia's control in early March 2022 and has since been repeatedly shelled, raising international concerns over a possible nuclear accident. An international mission led by Grossi visited the plant from August 31 to September 5. IAEA observers have since been staying at the plant on a rotational basis. Following the visit by the mission, the IAEA published a report in which it confirmed multiple attacks on the ZNPP. On October 5, 2022, the ZNPP was placed under the control of Russian institutions by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. On December 8, Moscow sent proposals to the IAEA with specific parameters for creating a security zone around ZNPP.

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A lot of youth today at age 17 aren't totally committed to their future plans and endeavours as life progresses. One exception is Kyle Swift. This 17-year-old is laser focused and has begun taking on plenty of responsibilities in preparation for his future goals and plans in harness racing.

Swift, a senior at Akron (N.Y.) Central School, spends the beginning and end of his hectic day at Buffalo Raceway while sandwiching high school classes in between. His tireless devotion and hard work in his mother's barn, the Swift Racing Stable, earned him the Buffalo Raceway March Horseman Of The Month Award sponsored by JP Fitzgerald's.

"I thought it was pretty cool," Swift said when learning he was the recipient of the March honour. "It's nice to be recognized. I am a groom but I am also known as the 'warm up guy.'"

He arrives daily at Buffalo Raceway around 6 a.m., helping with the 17-horse barn. It includes feeding, training of the animals and other tasks that may arise. Swift then heads out to Akron Central School by 11 a.m. where he takes three main courses. When classes end at 2:30 p.m., he swings home to change clothes, grab a coffee and then shuffles back to Buffalo to either help with that night's card entries or just tending to the horse's needs on the off days.

"The school has been very good to me, working with me on my schedule while allowing me to help with the barn at the same time," said Swift.

"School is a priority for me, but the barn is also because that is what I want to do when school is over," he added. "I want to be a driver and I am putting my time in. I can get my license when I turn 18 which will be on July 1 so I will be ready."

He admitted he is counting down the days.

Swift has had 70 qualifiers already under his belt along with 30 fair races so when that magical date rolls around, he'll be set to go.

But he also said his father, Ray Fisher Jr., gave him some sound advice.

"My Dad said, 'You are going to start off small.' He said they'll put me on a couple of drives when they can, but I'll have to earn my keep and stay humble."

As far as a social calendar, Swift put it into perspective.

"I am not a party-type kid. Working with horses isn't a job to me...It's something I enjoy doing. I just want to put in my time, work hard, train and drive because that's what I am planning to do in the future."

Swift will have to carve out a little time, however, and enjoy his gift certificate from this month's sponsor, JP Fitzgerald's, which is located at 4236 Clark Street in Hamburg, N.Y.

(Buffalo Raceway)


With two locations, Mitchell Community College will display the artistic talents of students at the downtown Statesville spring art crawl on Friday from 5:30-8:30 p.m. while paying tribute to a celebrated artist and former director of the art department of the college for 32 years  Don Moore.

GGs Art, Frames, Gifts, at 101 W. Broad St., will feature the works of Don Moore which are available for purchase with a percentage of the sales to benefit the Friends of the Arts Fund at Mitchell Community College.

A woodwind trio of music students  Melina Gutierrez and Olivia Stang on clarinet, and Gage Beaver on tenor saxophone  will perform at GGs along with voice major Wynston Lyles.

The student work of the Mitchell Art Club will be on display at Iredell Museums, at 134 Court St. This display of Mitchells talent in arts and music highlights the very type of aspiring students that the Friends of the Arts Fund benefits  a cause that was close to Don Moores heart.

More than 55 Don Moore paintings are already on display at GGs, but during the art crawl, one Don Moore painting will be raffled off with 100% of the proceeds to benefit the Friends of the Arts Fund. Tickets will be $10.

This is a memorial to Don and his love of the community, and the community to him. I wanted to support Mitchell, and I like hosting a memorial for Don because he was such a beloved citizen who contributed so much to this community over the many years, said Gloria Hager, owner of GGs, who first met Moore while attending her first art show in her 20s at the Canterbury Shop (where Walgreens of Davie Avenue sits now). I think over the years, Ive sold more of Don Moores art than any other local artist. This collaboration with Mitchell Community College is an example of the community working together  and thats what we need more of, especially in the arts.

Moore passed away at the age of 78 on Feb. 10, 2022. As an award-winning artist and teacher, Moore was an integral part of the art community, dedicating his time to the Iredell Artists Guild, Mooresville Artist Guild and Iredell Museums. He was a lifetime member of The Artist Guild of Statesville and served on the advisory board for Mitchell Community Colleges Fine Arts program.

Moore is remembered for his sense of community and his lasting impact. Whether inspiring his art studio students or encouraging members in the community, Don Moore sought ways to help others. Always smiling, he had a great sense of humor with a unique empathy that revealed itself through his paintings.

His work stems from places around this region which functions as a grounding for Moore. I particularly like his pieces that overlay his personal history, lineage and self-portrait, said Rogelio Calvo, art chair at Mitchell Community College. A staple of the art community and one of Statesvilles treasures, Don Moores work and life should be seen and remembered.

Moores vast collection of works consist of landscapes, nudes and surrealist motifs, alongside renditions of reality which display themes of memory and the passage of time. In many of the paintings, images seem to be transparent, even fading or transcending into the background or foreground, implying a permeability of form  from past to present to future. His recent work shows a culmination of his lifes experiences and all that he learned in his commitment to the community and his more than three-decade career as an art instructor at Mitchell Community College.

Don Moores paintings will be on display at GGs Art, Frames, Gifts until April 25. After this date, Moores work can be viewed at Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury.
Has North Carolina cleared the air?

One Triad legislator thinks the state has done enough to end annual vehicle emissions inspections everywhere but in Mecklenburg County, which continues to register North Carolinas highest ozone pollution readings.

Eighteen of the 19 counties currently subject to emissions inspections now fall far enough below the Environmental Protection Agencys safety standards for ozone that they should be exempt from the yearly diagnostic tests, said Sen. Steve Jarvis, who represents Davie and Davidson counties.

Davidson  along with Forsyth, Guilford and Randolph in the Triad  is among the counties now subject to the inspections that would be exempted under Senate Bill 341, co-sponsored by Republicans Jarvis and Sen. Carl Ford of Rowan and Stanly counties.

This is something thatll be a major benefit to our lower-income tier of the entire state, Jarvis said in a phone interview this week. Theyre hit the hardest by the emissions testing when a lot of times a (indicator) light will come on and theyll have to spend $500, $1,000 for issues that are usually just sensors. The cars not doing anything bad. Its just a sensor thats bad.

A spokesman for the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality said this week that the agency is evaluating the bill. A spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Transportation referred to the NCDEQ response when asked about the legislation.

Safety tests would continue

Under North Carolinas legislation, safety inspections would still be required statewide every other year on all vehicles that are at least three years old. Safety checks include lights, turn signals, tires, brakes, wipers, windshield and horn. But the diagnostic testing related to emissions would be scrapped.

At least 30 states require some level of vehicle emissions testing, which are based on levels of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.

An emissions evaluation electronically assesses and monitors the performance of engine components, emissions controls and sensors, and the vehicles computer itself. The findings are communicated to a technician through diagnostic trouble codes.

Inspection stations can currently charge up to $30 for the combined emissions and safety inspections, and are allowed to keep $23.75 of the fee. The remainder goes to the state to support oversight for inspections, the highway trust fund, air quality, and emergency and rescue squads.

The bill calls for continuing emissions testing in Mecklenburg because it has remained close to the EPAs safety standard of 70 parts per million for ozone, while other counties have fallen well below that level, Jarvis explained.

One other reason we didnt want to take Mecklenburg out too soon is because of all the (testing) equipment thats in place, he added. If (ozone levels) would turn in a different way, you dont want all of a sudden to have to reinvest for all the equipment.

Good and bad ozone

Ground-level ozone, which can cause serious health conditions, is considered an effective indicator of pollution while atmospheric ozone is beneficial because it protects Earth and its inhabitants from the suns ultraviolet rays.

Manmade pollution has eaten away at the atmospheric ozone layer, which has allowed more of the suns ultraviolet light to come through and warm the planet.

Emission-control systems in vehicles have improved as a result of evolving technology and increased regulation, but faulty equipment still can allow the car or truck to produce higher levels of pollution. Those are the problems inspections are expected to catch.

Purely electric vehicles do not have fuel-burning engines, so they dont send pollution into the atmosphere and are not subject to emissions testing (although they still require safety inspections).

SB341 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations.
To see how much $100,000 is actually worth in different parts of the country, SmartAsset compared the after-tax income in 76 of the largest U.
PEARISBURG  As Mary Huskey Palmers murder and abduction case moves closer to a jury trial, it is also entering a new area of Virginia law.

Palmer, 52, of Pearisburg, is accused of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of her husband nearly two years ago.

Arthur Woody Palmer III, who was 38 when he died on July 3, 2021, was a sergeant at the New River Valley Regional Jail. He and the former Mary Huskey married in late 2018. At the time of his death, they were living separately and seeking a divorce.

Mary Palmer also is charged with abducting her husbands daughter from a prior relationship, who was then 12, and with an assortment of other offenses that include theft of Arthur Palmers vehicle and of cell phones belonging to Palmer and his daughter. A charge of felony child abuse stems from an accusation that she kept Arthur Palmers daughter in the room as he died from a chest wound.

In all, Mary Palmer is to face 11 charges, and the possibility of a life sentence, at a jury trial scheduled to begin July 24 in Giles County Circuit Court. The trial is set to last four days.

A pretrial hearing on Wednesday was a chance for attorneys to set the stage for their upcoming presentations to jurors. Commonwealths Attorney Bobby Lilly and defense attorney Fred Kellerman of Christiansburg sparred over Kellermans plan to bring the case into what Lilly described as new territory by introducing evidence about Mary Palmers mental health that until recently would not have been allowed in Virginia courts.

A law approved by the General Assembly in 2021, which took effect at about the time of Arthur Palmers death, allows new types of mental health evidence to be considered during the guilt or innocence portion of criminal trials.

Mary Palmers trial could become one of the first where the new evidence is actually brought in, Brad Haywood, a founder of Justice Forward Virginia, an advocacy group that pushes for changes to the criminal legal system, said last week.

Virginia criminal law held that mental health could be considered only when a defendant was seeking to be declared not guilty by reason of insanity, basically through a finding by a state-approved psychiatrist or clinical psychologist that someone could not control or understand their conduct. Mental health was otherwise immaterial.

A perpetrator is either legally insane or sane; there is no sliding scale of insanity, declared the Virginia Supreme Court opinion in Stamper v. Commonwealth, a 1985 case that limited use of mental health evidence.

Mental illness that was short of legal insanity could be brought up only during the sentencing portion of a trial, after a defendant was found guilty.

But the 2021 law changed that in Virginia, allowing attorneys to bring in evidence of other mental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder or developmental or intellectual disabilities, that might aid in understanding someones behavior.

I think its important to show a whole picture of what happened when a criminal offense occurred, said Lauren Whitley, president of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the chief public defender for Fredericksburg and the counties of King George, Stafford and Spotsylvania.

Whitley noted that the shift brought Virginias rules for evidence in criminal trials into line with those in most other states. She predicted it would come to be seen as a significant change.

But for now, she and other observers said, there was a great deal of uncertainty about how to handle the new evidence.

Theres a lot to be worked out thats not included in the statute, Whitley said.  Its a new area of law and were still feeling our way along.

Jeremy Theisen, a former assistant commonwealths attorney in Roanoke and now an assistant prosecutor in Spotsylvania County, expressed similar thoughts in an article for the Virginia State Bar, warning that juries may have to contend with a confusing combination of expert testimony regarding a defendants mental condition.

Haywood, the chief public defender for Falls Church and Arlington County, said that both prosecutors and defense lawyers might misunderstand the new law.

Theres a lot of confusion about what the rule of evidence entails. There are people who are thinking its a diminished capacity defense and its not, Haywood said.

The new law, Virginia Code 19.2-271.6, states that mental health evidence can only be allowed into a trial if it tends to show the defendant did not have the intent required for the offense charged.

The law also says that evidence of a mental illness, disability or disorder can only be introduced if it can be shown that it affected a defendant at the time of an offense, and that it meets the diagnostic criteria of the American Psychiatric Association.

Haywood said that the law may affect a smaller group of cases  and the evidence may have a smaller impact on outcomes  than some attorneys think.

Theres very limited circumstances where this rule would ever lead to acquittal, Haywood said.

In Palmers case, perhaps the most obvious defense application of mental health evidence would be to question if Palmer could truly form the malice necessary for a murder charge. Part of Virginias definition of malice is the intent to commit a wrongful act, without justification or excuse. Without malice, a wrongful death might be charged as manslaughter.

Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, as opposed to the 40-year maximum for second-degree murder.

Palmers other charges carry potential penalties of decades more behind bars, and Lilly has noted that Virginia law allows a prosecutor to argue for a life sentence for the robbery charge involving the childs cell phone.

At the pretrial hearing on Wednesday, Kellerman said that he hoped to present evidence to jurors that Palmer suffered a mental illness at the time of her husbands death, and that it affected volitional issues.

After her arrest in 2021, Palmer was found to not be mentally competent to assist in her own defense and her case was put on hold while she received mental health treatment. The case resumed after she was declared to be restored to competency.

Appointed to defend Palmer due to her indigence, Kellerman needed a judges approval for the state to pay an expert to review and present the mental health evidence. Judge Lee Harrell said that he would allow it.

After Wednesdays hearing, Lilly echoed the uncertainties about the effects the new mental health evidence could have, both on Palmers case and more widely.

There are mental health issues that dont rise to the level of sanity, Lilly said.  We dont know how many doors this has opened.
Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria.

The Syrian government has condemned the heinous attack launched by the U.S. occupation forces on some areas in Deir-ez-Zor province and affirmed its adherence to ending the U.S. occupation and extending the authority of the Syrian State over all of its territories, SANA reported.

Syria condemns the brutal attack launched by US forces against some areas in the Deir-ez-Zor Governorate, which caused several fatalities, injuries and property damage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement.

The Ministry added that the U.S. lies about the targeted sites as a failed attempt to justify this act of aggression, constituting a flagrant violation of Syrias sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.

According to the Foreign Ministry, these aggressions constitute a continuation of the attacks committed by the Israeli occupation and Daesh terrorists against the residents and cover up the U.S. occupation forces continued looting of Syrian oil.

Syria reaffirms its pledge to end the American occupation, extending the authority of the Syrian State over all of its territories and stopping the American sponsorship and support for separatist terrorist militias, The Ministry said.

Iran Warns

In a statement, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said the terrorist attacks by the U.S. hit civilian targets and constituted a violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty, according to Al-Jazeera.

The U.S. claims that it is present in Syria to fight Daesh [ISIS] that itself had a major role in creating is just an excuse to continue its occupation and loot Syrias national wealth, including its energy resources and wheat, he said.

Kanani also said Iran only has military advisers on the ground in Syria at the request of its government, rejecting U.S. and Israeli claims that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has a sizeable military presence in Syria.

The U.S. said its raids against what it claimed were facilities affiliated with the IRGC came as a response to a drone attack that killed an American contractor in Syria earlier in the week. A war monitor said 19 people were killed in the U.S. attacks.

After the attacks, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. does not seek conflict with Iran, but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people.

Earlier on Saturday, Keyvan Khosravi, the spokesman for Irans Supreme National Security Council, had threatened an Iranian response if its positions were targeted.

Any excuses to attack bases that have been established on Syrian soil at the request of the Syrian government to combat terrorism and Daesh agents will be met with a reciprocal response without hesitation, he was quoted as saying by state-run media.

Iranian-backed Syrian militia claims responsibility

Liwa al-Ghaliboun, a pro-government militia, claimed responsibility for Thursdays drone attack on a U.S. base near Rmelan, which killed an American contractor and injured at least six others.

The statement, disseminated on Telegram and shared by North Press, claims the operation was conducted for the brutal and terrorist crimes committed by the American occupation forces. Other operations will follow, it added. The group furthermore called on the US to leave the region, saying, Americans will not enjoy security in Iraq and outside of it until a complete exit of the American occupation forces from our country.

Little is known about the group. Aymenn Jawad al-Tamini, a researcher tracking Syrian militias, says Liwa al-Ghaliboun started between 2011 and 2013 but has only had an online presence since 2015. It comprises Syrian Shia or Shia converts from the countrys Alawite community. Many of its members hail from Syrias coastal area or the Shia stronghold Sayyidah Zaynab, south of Damascus. Recently, it has dropped its entry requirements stipulating that members be part of the Shia religion.

President Biden

President Joe Biden on Saturday notified Congress of his decision to authorize an airstrike in Syria this week against what the U.S. said were Iranian-affiliated facilities.

The strikes, Biden said in his letter to Congress, were made to protect and defend the safety of our personnel, to degrade and disrupt the ongoing series of attacks against the United States and our partners, and to deter the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran backed militia groups from conducting or supporting further attacks on United States personnel and facilities.

The president added that the US strikes were conducted in a manner intended to establish deterrence, limit the risk of escalation, and avoid civilian casualties.

House Democrats

Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said on Sunday that the U.S. military will not leave Syria after a string of attacks from Iran-backed militias on American bases in the country last week left one U.S. contractor dead and five service members wounded, saying, were not going anywhere.

Were not going anywhere; we have to stay in northern Syria and work with our partners in Iraq as well in fighting ISIS, Krishnamoorthi said in an interview with ABCs This Week on Sunday.

More than 900 U.S. troops are in Syria, tasked with fighting back any emerging remnants of ISIS. The U.S. said last week that an Iranian-backed group struck an American base in northeast Syria with a drone last Thursday, leaving one contractor dead. The U.S. responded with precision airstrikes on Iranian-backed groups on the same day, at the direction of President Biden.

A rocket attack hit a second U.S. base on Friday, with no casualties reported.

I think the Biden administration did exactly what it had to do in responding to these Iranian militias, Krishnamoorthi said.

Criticism

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (REP) had a better assessment when he said, The weak, uncertain response to the initial attack obviously did not work. I fear additional weak and uncertain responses will lead to more American deaths and embolden our enemies. Its a reasonable fear.

The wall street Journal criticized the US response to the Iranian aggression.

The discrete reprisal didnt seem to deter the militias. Hours later, they fired ten rockets at a second U.S. base in eastern Syria. The U.S. says the rockets missed their target, but the lesson is that the militias dont fear a U.S. response, WSJ reported.

The Pentagon and White House boasted about the U.S. retaliation with the usual pledge to stand ready to do it again at a time and place of our choosing. It also offered thoughts and prayers for the dead and wounded. But wounded Americansand those still in harms waydeserve better than sympathies and a tit-for-tat exchange that wont impress anyone.

The big picture here is that Iran and other adversaries are concluding that the U.S. wants out of the Middle East and are willing to spur the exit by inflicting casualties. The U.S. has 900 men and women in Syria and another 2,500 in Iraq. Theyre vital in preventing Islamic State rebels from reviving their caliphate in Syria.

Iran wants to run Syria as a protectorate and would love to push the U.S. out of both countries. Its militias would then challenge the Iraqi army for domination in Iraq, and its client government in Damascus would consolidate control and threaten Israel.

If President Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin believe in the U.S. mission in those countries, their first obligation is to protect Americas soldiers and citizens. That means putting fear in the minds of our enemies that if they attack Americans, they will be met with a withering and deadly response.

Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps soldiers participate in a military drill in the northwestern region of Aras along the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Oct. 18, 2022.

What happened

The United States launched airstrikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria on Thursday after a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and another contractor were wounded when a suicide drone hit a coalition base near Hasakah in the countrys northeast.

The intelligence community believes the drone to have been of Iranian origin, the Defense Department said in a statement.

The U.S. retaliated with airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria, which hit buildings that housed drone/aviation assets and vehicles used by groups affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). One activist group said the U.S. strikes killed fighters on the ground.

On Friday, rockets targeted the Conoco gas field in northeastern Syria, according to a U.S. official, injuring one American service member, who is in stable condition. Less than an hour later, said the officials, three suicide drones attacked the Green Village, a U.S. installation in the area. Two were shot down and one damaged a building. There were no injuries. Earlier Friday, a 10-rocket attack on Green Village had yielded no casualties or damage, according to U.S. officials.

During a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday, President Joe Biden said, Make no mistake, the United States does not, does not emphasize, seek conflict with Iran, but be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people, thats exactly what happened last night.

He extended condolences on the death of the U.S. contractor and wished a speedy recovery for those who were wounded.

UNHCR: Illegal Migration Bill extinguishes most refugees right to seek asylum

The United Nations refugee agencys representative to the UK has warned that the Governments Illegal Migration Bill effectively extinguishes the right to seek asylum in the UK for all but a very few refugees.

The controversial Bill, aimed at tackling Channel crossings, returns to the House of Commons on Monday for its committee stage, and MPs will scrutinize it over two days.

Vicky Tennant of the UNHCR told Sky News Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme that the proposed legislation is in breach of international law and the UKs obligations under the International Refugee Convention.

But the Home Office said it is satisfied that this legislation is within the bounds of international law and is compatible with the Refugee Convention.

Ms. Tennant said: Well, were very concerned that this sets a global precedent. It effectively extinguishes the right, as youve said, to seek asylum in the UK for all but a very few refugees.

We know that those coming across the Channel broadly reflect the nationalities of countries affected by the crisis, by persecution globally.

So were talking about countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Albania, several of these, as Ive said, countries that are producing high numbers of refugees.

She added: We think the focus of attention really needs to be on the asylum system, on asylum processing, getting that working properly, so people can present their claims.

If theyre not refugees, decisions can be made quickly, they can be returned to their own countries, and if they are refugees, they can embark on that integration journey.

We think thats in everyones interests, not just the refugees interest, but also the interests of the British public.

The Bill aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorized means, but the UNHCR has called it an effective asylum ban.

Pressed on what action the UNHCR might take if a country is found to be in breach of international law, she said there is no sanction as such but claimed violations have an impact globally.

Ms. Tennant added: You know, we have to remember that the vast majority of refugees are hosted in countries neighbouring their own.

So more than 69/70% are in countries neighbouring their own.

Now, if youre a country like Turkey, hosting more than three million refugees or Bangladesh hosting, you know, just short of a million refugees with all the impact that has on your economy, on your infrastructure on your services.

And then you look at a country like the UK much further away, much less impacted, many fewer refugees, that sends a really unfortunate signal.

So we believe that if this goes ahead, if other countries were to follow suit, it really would have a very significant impact on refugee protection globally.

Quartet meeting of Agriculture Ministers of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria starts in Damascus

Activities of the 4th meeting of Agriculture Ministers of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria kicked off Sunday at Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus.

The two-day meeting, according to SANA, will discuss outcomes realized during the 4-way meetings held in the past year in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, in addition to means of enhancing trade exchange and food security, mechanisms to support regional projects, confronting climate challenges and land degradation, and improve agricultural production in the four countries.

The meetings will also include dialogue sessions, a presentation of the strategies of the agricultural sector and the agricultural calendar of the four countries, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding in the agricultural field, followed by a day visit to research and scientific centers specialized in the agricultural sector.
Syrian regime officials participated in an economic meeting in Paris, according to Orient Net.

The Assad regime is constantly looking to exploit any political, economic, or cultural event to try and reestablish itself after years of isolation. Recently, the regimes media and affiliated social media pages celebrated the participation of one of its officials in an economic meeting in Paris. The Assad News Agency (SANA) reported on March 15th that the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce had taken part in the Arab-French Economic Summit, represented by Masan Nahhas, a member of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce.

During the summit, Nahhas stated that Syria was invited to attend by the Union of Arab Chambers and called for the lifting of sanctions on the country. The Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce and the Syrian-Iranian Joint Chamber of Commerce, of which Nahhas is the secretary, confirmed Nahhass participation in the summit and noted that French President Emmanuel Macron sponsored it.

Nahhas even noted that Macron sponsored the meeting. He posted photos of his meeting with the participants in the meeting, including the director of the Paris Chamber of Commerce.

It has nothing to do with the government

Nahhass participation in the economic meeting in Paris raised questions about the extent of the facilities provided by the French government to Assad regime officials and whether the meeting organizer is governmental or private.

Syrian human rights defender Zaid al-Azm, who lives in France, published a post on his Facebook page in which he said: News is spreading on some pages of social networking sites that a delegation from the Damascus Chamber of Commerce of the regime authorities has visited the French capital Paris and participated in a conference organized by the Paris Chamber of Commerce.

The fact of the matter is that someone from the Damascus Chamber of Commerce participated in an event organized by another chamber completely different from the Paris Chamber of Commerce, the Arab Chamber of Commerce in Paris, the latter of which is a private association that has nothing to do with the French government, Azm said.

Azm commented, there is no truth that an official Syrian delegation representing the regime came to Paris. The fact is that the one who came represents only himself. Secondly, the Chamber of Commerce he visited was the Arab Chamber of Commerce in Paris, which is not a government institution at all.

Media reports had earlier revealed that French officials had contacted Assads consulate in Paris to deport refugees, with the aim of ascertaining two migrants and obtaining a consular passport for them to return them to Syria.

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.
Sources say Riyadh has made "clear requests" to Assad regarding drug trafficking, according to Iyad al-Jaafari in al-Modon.

Analyzing the possibility of official normalization between the regime and Saudi Arabia can shed light on the Syrian economy. Despite discussions of the Arab Initiative and the political demands for normalization with Assad in exchange for large sums of money, such negotiations appear unrealistic given recent regional developments. Instead, reports suggest that the narcotics issue has taken center stage, serving as the common thread among media leaks about recent negotiations between Damascus and Riyadh over the past three months. Saudi media sources have confirmed this. A consular normalization at the level of charge daffaires is expected to occur during an upcoming visit by the Saudi foreign minister to Damascus, serving as a gesture of goodwill in exchange for anticipated measures by the regime regarding the drug trafficking issue. These sources say Riyadh has made clear requests regarding this matter.

To explore this matter, let us consider the following question: Is it feasible for the Assad regime to forgo an annual revenue of $3 to $5 billion from drug trafficking to Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront, in exchange for consular normalization? Additionally, what short-term economic benefits can the regime gain from a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia, particularly in combating drug trafficking?

One potential answer concerns Syrian agricultural exports to the Gulf market. According to Syrian official sources, there has been a recent increase in these exports, leading some to speculate that this reflects a developing relationship of normalization with Gulf countries. However, it is premature to draw such a conclusion without annual statistics that can provide a more comprehensive assessment of the volume of Syrian agricultural exports to the Gulf. It is worth noting that these exports typically fluctuate seasonally, with some seasons showing improvements while others decline. Currently, truffles and citrus fruits are among the most sought-after Syrian exports in the Gulf. We may see an active fruit export season early in the summer, similar to last year, before exports decline.

It is worth noting that the recent increase in Syrian agricultural exports to the Gulf market may be due, in part, to a significant decline in the volume of Syrian exports to the Gulf last year. While official figures for this decline are unavailable, semi-official estimates suggest it may have been as high as 50%. This decline was largely caused by the discovery of Captagon shipments in Syrian fruit and vegetable exports on more than one occasion. This led to increased restrictions on Syrian exports to Gulf countries. This underscores the importance of addressing the drug trafficking issue, as reducing it would positively impact Syrian exports to these countries.

This comparison highlights the economic feasibility of rapprochement with the Gulf as opposed to the economic feasibility of drug trafficking, particularly from the perspective of the regime. At the end of last year, the total value of Syrian exports (not limited to the Gulf region) was approximately $700 million, which is less than a quarter of the minimum proceeds from drug trafficking. Even if we assume an optimistic scenario and imagine that trade volume between the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Syria returns to its 2010 level of about $1.7 billion (exports and imports), this figure still falls below half of the minimum annual drug revenues.

Of course, the above comparison does not seem appropriate in normal circumstances different from what exists in Syria. It compares the interests of a gang that benefits from drug trafficking with those of a state that benefits from the export of agricultural and manufactured goods. But does the decision-maker in Damascus think with a state official mentality? The answer leads us to question the regimes seriousness in curbing drug trafficking to the UAE and Saudi markets, even if it has promised to do so. Not to mention questioning the ability of the head of the regime to impose. This is why the beneficiaries of drug trafficking operations within his regime and those close to him must do so, even if he wants to.

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 leadership of the Ghaliboun Brigade said it was resolute in executing advanced operations against the U.S. occupation forces, according to Athr Press.

On Thursday, March 24th, the Ghaliboun Brigade, a military unit, targeted the US occupation forces at Rmeilan airport in northeastern Syria using a drone. The attack resulted in the death of one American soldier and injuries to others.

The Ghaliboun Brigade released a statement on its Telegram channel declaring that their drone regiment, the Islamic Resistance Liwa al-Ghaliboun, successfully targeted Rmeilan airport in the occupied Syrian Arab Republic where U.S. forces were stationed. The attack took place at noon on the first Thursday of the holy month of Ramadan, precisely at one oclock in the afternoon Baghdad time. The US occupation acknowledged the operation, which resulted in the death and injury of several of its soldiers.

The speaker further stated, Our current operation and any subsequent ones, with Gods will, are a natural and lawful response to the heinous crime committed against the leaders of Al-Nasr and their comrades, may God be pleased with them. Additionally, it is a response to the vicious and terrorist actions carried out by the U.S. occupation forces in our region and country.

The speaker went on to affirm that the leadership of the Ghaliboun Brigade is resolute in executing more precise and advanced operations against the U.S. occupation forces, utilizing continuously developed weaponry. They emphasized that the American military will not have security in Iraq or beyond until the complete withdrawal of US occupation forces from the country is achieved.

The statement released did not explicitly specify the identity of the Victorious Brigade, but based on their emphasis on Baghdad time, it is likely that they are an Iraqi group. However, in a previous report by the Brookings Institution, the Victorious Brigade was mentioned as one of several popular resistance factions backed by Iran. The report suggested that these groups had originated from Lebanon in 2016.

On Thursday evening, a notable escalation occurred in the eastern Syrian region when a drone attacked the American Kharab al-Jir base in Rmeilan, located east of Hasakeh. The attack resulted in the death of one U.S. soldier and injuries to six others. In response, U.S. forces targeted locations in Deir ez-Zor. The conflict continued to intensify as U.S. bases in the Omar oil field and the Coneco gas field were later targeted with missiles.

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.
Apple has already released iOS 16.4 candidate version for testing to developers and now the company is all set for the final roll out of this next operating system update. Want to know when? Apple has not yet disclosed the exact date for rolling out the iOS 16.4 update. However, it is expected to be released to the public as soon as this week. This software update will bring several new features and changes to various iPhones, starting with iPhone 8 and all the newer models, including iPhone SE.

Wondering how will you be able to download the iOS 16.4 update once released? In order to install the iOS 16.4 update, after it is released, you will have to go to your iPhone's Settings and then click on General. After this click on Software Update and do as directed on the screen of your device.

Meanwhile, if you want to know what are the expected features and updates that the iOS 16.4 can bring to your iPhone, here are some of the updates you can get:

1. New emoji: iPhone users will get to play around with 31 new emojis including shaking face emoji, three new heart colors and more. The first draft of these emojis were unveiled last year but they have not been added so far. Now, with the iOS 16.4 update, it is expected to be rolled out to everyone.

2. Web push notification: The web-based push notifications via Safari on the iPhone will allow users to receive notifications from websites through Safari. According to a report by MacRumors, "Only websites that a user saves as a web app on the Home Screen can request to send push notifications."

3. Crash Detection optimizations: The iOS 16.4 will also bring additional Crash Detection optimizations for iPhone 14 models. Several U.S. states and Canada complained about an influx of false 911 calls from skiers and snowboarders, after which Apple has been working on the same.

4. Music app interface: Users will now see queued songs appearing in a small banner towards the bottom of the app instead of a full-screen pop up.

5. New Siri voices: It was earlier revealed that the keyboard is getting new language support for Korean, Ukrainian, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu but it turns out that even Siri will be getting new voices as Apple adds more languages. Siri gets Arabic and Hebrew voices.
Aligned with the vision of Make in India and Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Mission (Self Reliant India), Indias leading consumer durables & air conditioner brand, LG Electronics India, inaugurated local manufacturing line of Dual Inverter Air Conditioner Compressors at its Greater Noida manufacturing facility. The new facility was inaugurated in the presence of Government officials, LG Global executives, Manufacturing MD & other senior dignitaries. LG India has always consolidated its market and technological leadership in the market. We were the first brand to convert 100% of the line up from ON/OFF to Dual Inverter in both Split & Window segments and with this new line inauguration LG became the first brand to manufacture its own Dual Inverter Air Conditioner compressor in India.

With an investment of approximately INR 100 crores and an annual production capacity of over 1 MN, the new facility equipped with advanced technologies and machinery, is set to manufacture Dual Inverter Air Conditioner compressors. This milestone will further strengthen the market leadership of LG India in the Air Conditioner industry.

Speaking of the inauguration, Hyunjin Lee, Manufacturing MD, LG Electronics India said, We have been continuously serving the Indian market for the past 25 years by providing consumers with latest products & technologies. We are well aligned with honorable PMs vision of MAKE IN INDIA and continuously expanding our local manufacturing. Recently, we started manufacturing Side by Side Refrigerators at our Pune manufacturing facility. Today we are launching Dual Inverter Air Conditioner compressor manufacturing line at our Greater Noida manufacturing facility. This continuous expansion is a step towards making Self-Reliant India a reality and LG Electronics aims to make India a powerful manufacturing hub. We have invested approximately INR 100 crores in setting up this Air Conditioner Compressor manufacturing line and are continuously working towards strengthening our local operations.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

This newly manufactured fixed guide vane of a hydropower turbine system was additively created at the DOE Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S Dept. of Energy

Over 100 years ago, the hydropower industry, which today generates 32% of all U.S. renewable energy, was built using traditional manufacturing processes. Surging energy demand, higher material costs, and supply chain hurdles have led researchers to rethink manufacturing.

A new report published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory assessed how advanced manufacturing and materials, such as 3D printing and novel component coatings, could offer solutions to modernize the existing fleet and design new approaches to hydropower.

For the assessment, ORNL brought together representatives from the hydropower industry advanced manufacturing industries, research institutions, and groups committed to environmental stewardship.

Their collaboration identified existing infrastructure challenges and how advanced manufacturing could enhance new design capabilities, improve system and component performance, reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing and better address environmental concerns.

"Hydropower has enormous potential in securing a cleaner, more sustainable energy future," said ORNL's Mirko Musa. "We can build upon its success, layer by layer."
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:

HCAI grand challenges. Credit: International Journal of HumanComputer Interaction (2023). DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2022.2153320

A University of Central Florida professor and 26 other researchers have published a study identifying the challenges humans must overcome to ensure that artificial intelligence is reliable, safe, trustworthy and compatible with human values.

The study, "Six Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenges," was published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction.

Ozlem Garibay '01MS '08PhD, an assistant professor in UCF's Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, was the lead researcher for the study. She says that the technology has become more prominent in many aspects of our lives, but it also has brought about many challenges that must be studied.

For instance, the coming widespread integration of artificial intelligence could significantly impact human life in ways that are not yet fully understood, says Garibay, who works on AI applications in material and drug design and discovery, and how AI impacts social systems.

The six challenges Garibay and the team of researchers identified are:

Challenge 1, Human Well-Being: AI should be able to discover the implementation opportunities for it to benefit humans' well-being. It should also be considerate to support the user's well-being when interacting with AI.

Challenge 2, Responsible: Responsible AI refers to the concept of prioritizing human and societal well-being across the AI lifecycle. This ensures that the potential benefits of AI are leveraged in a manner that aligns with human values and priorities, while also mitigating the risk of unintended consequences or ethical breaches.

Challenge 3, Privacy: The collection, use and dissemination of data in AI systems should be carefully considered to ensure protection of individuals' privacy and prevent the harmful use against individuals or groups.

Challenge 4, Design: Human-centered design principles for AI systems should use a framework that can inform practitioners. This framework would distinguish between AI with extremely low risk, AI with no special measures needed, AI with extremely high risks, and AI that should not be allowed.

Challenge 5, Governance and Oversight: A governance framework that considers the entire AI lifecycle from conception to development to deployment is needed.

Challenge 6, Human-AI interaction: To foster an ethical and equitable relationship between humans and AI systems, it is imperative that interactions be predicated upon the fundamental principle of respecting the cognitive capacities of humans. Specifically, humans must maintain complete control over and responsibility for the behavior and outcomes of AI systems.

The study, which was conducted over 20 months, comprises the views of 26 international experts who have diverse backgrounds in AI technology.

"These challenges call for the creation of human-centered artificial intelligence technologies that prioritize ethicality, fairness and the enhancement of human well-being," Garibay says. "The challenges urge the adoption of a human-centered approach that includes responsible design, privacy protection, adherence to human-centered design principles, appropriate governance and oversight, and respectful interaction with human cognitive capacities."

Overall, these challenges are a call to action for the scientific community to develop and implement artificial intelligence technologies that prioritize and benefit humanity, she says.

The group of 26 experts include National Academy of Engineering members and researchers from North America, Europe and Asia who have broad experiences across academia, industry and government. The group also has diverse educational backgrounds in areas ranging from computer science and engineering to psychology and medicine.

Their work also will be featured in a chapter in the book, Human-Computer Interaction: Foundations, Methods, Technologies, and Applications.

More information: Ozlem Ozmen Garibay et al, Six Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenges, International Journal of HumanComputer Interaction (2023). DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2022.2153320
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Xcel Energy started shutting down its Monticello nuclear power plant Friday after the company's repair of a leaking pipe did not fully do the jobcausing more radioactive water to seep into the ground.

Xcel officials said they plan to do a full analysis of why the pipe sprang a leak once the utility completes the shutdown, which will take a couple of days.

Groundwater well testing at the plant Wednesday indicated that a tritium leak into groundwater, first reported last week, had restarted, Christopher Clark, Xcel's Minnesota president, told reporters Friday at the Monticello Community Center.

The new leak was in the "hundreds of gallons," according to Xcel, far smaller than the initial leak of about 400,000 gallons. Tritium is a moderately radioactive form of hydrogen created in nuclear power production.

The company is voluntarily shutting down the plant; the action wasn't forced by state or federal regulators, Clark said.

"We could have continued to operate the plant safely," he said. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, or MPCA, confirmed it did not ask for the plant to be shut down.

The company wanted to resolve the leak immediately rather than wait for a scheduled April 15 plant shutdown for refueling. "We want to put this behind us," Clark said.

The plant may not be reopened before the 25-day planned outage, when the reactor's nuclear fuel is replaced.

The Monticello plant runs 24 hours a day and plays a critical role in Xcel's electricity production. However, the shutdown is occurring during a "shoulder season" when power demand is relatively low, Clark said.

"Our other plants can fill in pretty easily for Monticello coming offline," he said.

Clark reiterated that neither the original leak nor the new one pose a threat to the environment or drinking water. The tritium leak has not moved beyond Xcel's property or into the Mississippi River, he said, which the MPCA confirmed.

Xcel reported high groundwater levels of tritium to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November.

The company then discovered that a 3-inch pipe between the plant's reactor and turbine buildings had been leaking. There is only a half-inch space between the buildingsmaking the leak hard to detect, Xcel officials have said.

Xcel remedied the leak about a month after detecting it. Essentially the company put a container beneath the pipe to catch the leaking water and send it back into the plant's water processing system.

But the leak was severe enough to cause the container to overflow, Clark said, leading to more tritium-laced water seeping into the ground. "Within the last couple of days, we realized the catchment was no longer capturing the water," he said.

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Xcel "tried a quick patch and it failed."

Once the Monticello plant is shut down completely and the nuclear reactor cooled off, Xcel will remove the pipe and conduct several tests on it. "What we want to do is cut that pipe out and do a full root cause analysis," Clark said.

The pipe, which carries water back from the plant's turbine generation building to its reactor building, is original equipment, Clark said. The plant opened in 1971.

"We don't know the cause of the leak," he said. "Obviously, with a pipe of that age, we can all speculate."

Lyman said he was not aware of another situation where a plant shut down only to address leaking tritiuma widespread problem for the nuclear industry over the past two decades.

"The industry has always played down the significance of these things (tritium leaks) and obviously, shutting the plant down in response would be a pretty extreme action," Lyman said.

The shutdown, he added, "likely suggests that there may be a deeper issue" at Monticello.

Clark said that during the shutdown, Xcel will do a battery of tests, including to see if the leak is part of a larger problem. "I think we are dealing with an isolated situation here."

Xcel, the MPCA and the Minnesota Department of Health simultaneously announced the original leak last weekprompting criticism over why months had passed since the problem was detected.

Asked Friday whether that criticism helped prompt the quick disclosure of the second leak, Clark said "absolutely."

The tritium levels found in a groundwater monitoring well at the Monticello plant have been well above standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. But "in the quantities being discharged, it actually dilutes very quickly," Clark said.

"Even if tritium-tainted water hit the river, it would very quickly be diluted so as to not pose a danger," he said. "It is very unlikely that this tritiated water could reach the drinking water supply."

Monticello's drinking water intake is upriver from the nuclear plant; Becker's is on the other side of the Mississippi.

"If it reached the river, all 400,000 gallons of it at once, the volume of the river would dilute it so much, that it would be well below the limits of our concern, and almost to the limits of our detection," Dan Huff, assistant commissioner for the state Department of Public Health, said earlier this week.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees that the leak is not a danger and resident inspectors were aware of it, said spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng.

Clark said Friday that Xcel does not yet have a cost estimate for leak-related repairs. "Our belief now is that we will be able to absorb the costs in our normal budget," he said. "That could change."

If Xcel's operations budget isn't adequate to the task, the company would have to ask Minnesota utility regulators to pass the costs to ratepayers.

2023 StarTribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A person types on a laptop keyboard in North Andover, Mass, June 19, 2017. The U.S. government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued Monday, Oct. 27, 2023, by President Joe Biden. Credit: AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File

The U.S. government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued Monday by President Joe Biden.

The order responds to growing U.S. and global concerns about programs that can capture text messages and other cellphone data. Some programsso-called "zero-click" exploitscan infect a phone without the user clicking on a malicious link.

Governments around the worldincluding the U.S.are known to collect large amounts of data for intelligence and law enforcement purposes, including communications from their own citizens. The proliferation of commercial spyware has made powerful tools newly available to smaller countries, but also created what researchers and human-rights activists warn are opportunities for abuse and repression.

The White House released the executive order in advance of its second summit for democracy this week. The order "demonstrates the United States' leadership in, and commitment to, advancing technology for democracy, including by countering the misuse of commercial spyware and other surveillance technology," the White House said in a statement.

Biden's order, billed as a prohibition on using commercial spyware "that poses risks to national security," allows for some exceptions.

The order will require the head of any U.S. agency using commercial programs to certify that the program doesn't pose a significant counterintelligence or other security risk, a senior administration official said.

Among the factors that will be used to determine the level of security risk is if a foreign actor has used the program to monitor U.S. citizens without legal authorization or surveil human rights activists and other dissidents.

House Select Committee on Intelligence ranking member Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn speaks during the committee's annual open hearing on worldwide threats, at the Capitol in Washington, March 9, 2023. Himes said in a committee hearing last year that commercial spyware posed a very serious threat to our democracy and to democracies around the world. He said Monday the new order would be a critical tool" that should be followed by other democracies taking steps against spyware. Credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File

"It is intended to be a high bar but also includes remedial steps that can be taken ... in which a company may argue that their tool has not been misused," said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under White House ground rules.

The White House will not publish a list of banned programs as part of the executive order, the official said.

John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab who has long studied spyware, credited the Biden administration for trying to set new global standards for the industry.

"Most spyware companies see selling to the U.S. as their eventual exit path," Scott-Railton said. "The issue is the U.S. until now hasn't really wielded its purchasing power to push the industry to do better."

Congress last year required U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate foreign use of spyware and gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the power to ban any agency from using commercial programs.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a committee hearing last year that commercial spyware posed a "very serious threat to our democracy and to democracies around the world." He said Monday the new order should be followed by other democracies taking steps against spyware.

"It's a very powerful statement and a good tool, but alone it won't do the trick," he said.

A logo adorns a wall on a branch of the Israeli NSO Group company, near the southern Israeli town of Sapir, Aug. 24, 2021. The best known example of spyware, the Pegasus software from Israel's NSO Group, was used to target more than 1,000 people across 50 countries, according to security researchers and a July 2021 global media investigation, citing a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers. The U.S. has already placed export limits on NSO Group, restricting the company's access to U.S. components and technology. Credit: AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File

Perhaps the best known example of spyware, the Pegasus software from Israel's NSO Group, was used to target more than 1,000 people across 50 countries, according to security researchers and a July 2021 global media investigation, citing a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers. The U.S. has already placed export limits on NSO Group, restricting the company's access to U.S. components and technology.

Officials would not say if U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies currently use any commercial spyware. The FBI last year confirmed it had purchased NSO Group's Pegasus tool "for product testing and evaluation only," and not for operational purposes or to support any investigation.

White House officials said Monday they believe 50 devices used by U.S. government employees, across 10 countries, had been compromised or targeted by commercial spyware.

Despite NSO's assertions that the program is supposed to be used to counter terrorism and crime, researchers found the numbers of more than 180 journalists, 600 politicians and government officials, and 85 human rights activists.

Pegasus use was most commonly linked to Mexico and countries in the Middle East. Amnesty International has alleged Pegasus was installed on the phone of Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee just four days before the journalist was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. NSO has denied the allegation that its software was used in connection with Khashoggi's murder.

The family of Paul Rusesabagina, credited with saving more than 1,200 lives during the Rwandan genocide, a story depicted in the movie "Hotel Rwanda," has also alleged it was targeted by spyware. Rusesabagina was lured back to Rwanda under false pretenses and jailed on terrorism charges before his release last week. Rwanda has denied using commercial spyware.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Several residents of the Southside neighborhood in College Station addressed the city council last week, and were under the impression that the city is no longer enforcing the no-more-than-four ordinance, which restricts the number of unrelated people living in a single-family home.

However, at the end of the Thursday meeting, the council and city staff wanted to make it known they are enforcing the law of the ordinance, which was established in 1940, two years after the city was founded.

Several people spoke during Hear Visitors at tonights council meeting regarding the citys no-more-than-four ordinance. To clarify, the city has taken no formal action to eliminate enforcement of the ordinance or grant amnesty, City Manager Bryan Woods told The Eagle via email following the council meeting. We continue to work with all stakeholders, including Texas A&M, to address concerns and establish a path toward compliance. We have a unique opportunity to address the issue, and through a combination of actions and strategies, we hope to address this long-standing situation.

Alyssa Halle-Schramm, long range planning the most recent adoption of the ordinance was in 2020clarified some of the language.

It didnt change the number, but in 2020 they cleaned up definition of family and made it clear who is included in the term family and it clarified how they count the number of unrelated people, she said Friday.

The unit of family counts as one, and residents can have essentially three different persons who are unrelated to the group of people in the unit, she said. She also previously told The Eagle that Southside neighborhood has properties zoned general suburban and should be single family homes. However, they have seen permits come in that arent in compliance.

Currently there is a home with 11 bedrooms and 11 baths and she said it was purposely built to violate the no-more-than-four ordinance.

During Thursdays meeting, eight people asked the council to enforce the no-more-than four ordinance, including Fred Dupriest who lives in the historical neighborhood of Southside.

At previous council meetings he has presented photographs as evidence of houses he has viewed that seem to be in violation based on the number of cars parked there. During Thursdays meeting he said it was his understanding the city was making a promise to not enforce the law.

It is not amnesty and we need to stop marketing it as such, amnesties are forgiveness for a past deed, we have actually promised not to enforce in the future. That is what we have done and now if we bring a case forward and we say, We think it is over occupied, you [College Station] might investigate but you will not summon to court, you will not convict, and you will not establish a record of criminal activity by the owner, he told the council. How are you going to say that for 83 years, it was essential to have a four unrelated restriction and now it is not?

Gen. Joe Ramirez, vice president of student affairs at Texas A&M, gave a presentation at the March 9 council meeting regarding off-campus housing and cooperation between College Station and the university. During that discussion the word amnesty was used.

At the end of each council meeting, the councilors discuss future agenda items they would like presented at future meetings. And given that eight residents who spoke at the meeting believed the city wasnt enforcing it, Councilman Dennis Maloney asked that city staff put together a presentation that made it known they are enforcing it.

We havent agreed to [granting amnesty], but out in the public there is this belief that we have, Maloney told the council at the tail end of the meeting. And I would like to dispel that rumor.

Mayor John Nichols said he never agreed to granting amnesty to anyone regarding the ordinance.

I have never agreed to not enforce our no-more-than four. I have never agreed to any statement about amnesty, he said. I understand that word was used by someone in that [March 9] presentation, and frankly I dont want to get into discussion of something I have no intention of ever doing.

Former College Station City Councilwoman Blanche Brick also spoke at the meeting and said the issue of code enforcement was obvious when she was on city council.

For two terms I urged the council to enforce the no-more-than four unrelated individuals to protect the quality of life, while I saw the single-family neighborhoods being lost. But I was always told, it was too difficult, and we need to do a better job of educating the students, she said. I respect General Ramirez and his plans to work with the city to inform students of better housing choices. I would remind the council that there have been continuing efforts to do this over 12 years, it is enforcement, not education, that has been lacking.

Tiffany McFarland, also of the Southside neighborhood, said she supports neighborhood integrity through occupancy enforcement. She said she bikes her child to school, and due to the overflow of vehicles, she has found it is not safe to take her child to school on a bike.

I think we would all like to live in a city where laws are enforced and where there are consequences to breaking the law, she said. Lets first hold the property owners accountable and we can welcome and embrace the university students while still teaching them about consequences and that the Aggie code of conduct is not an empty recitation.

Nichols asked city staff to bring an update to the council once more information is gathered regarding Texas A&Ms plan of action and an update on enforcement activities.

Debbie Eller, the citys director of community services, told The Eagle on Friday that the city is enforcing the ordinance and will be doing a presentation regarding the enforcement efforts in the future.

To contact the citys planning and development department, call 979-764-3570.
StockNews.com upgraded shares of Arch Resources (NYSE:ARCH  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ARCH. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Arch Resources from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Arch Resources from $207.00 to $204.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 17th.

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Arch Resources Price Performance

Shares of ARCH opened at $129.63 on Friday. Arch Resources has a fifty-two week low of $110.97 and a fifty-two week high of $183.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.93.

Arch Resources Cuts Dividend

Arch Resources ( NYSE:ARCH Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The energy company reported $23.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $10.90 by $12.28. The firm had revenue of $859.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $798.37 million. Arch Resources had a net margin of 35.73% and a return on equity of 114.13%. The firms revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $13.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Arch Resources will post 38.17 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $3.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. Arch Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Rosemary L. Klein sold 1,549 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $255,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,999 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,319,835. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Arch Resources news, VP Rosemary L. Klein sold 1,549 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $255,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,835. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew C. Giljum sold 199 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.08, for a total transaction of $28,074.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,726,254.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,337 shares of company stock valued at $1,430,173. Company insiders own 8.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arch Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arch Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Arch Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Arch Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Arch Resources by 113.8% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 295 shares of the energy companys stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Arch Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 88.71% of the companys stock.

Arch Resources Company Profile

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Arch Resources, Inc engages in the production and distribution of thermal coal. It operates through the following segments: Powder River Basin, Metallurgical, and Other Thermal. The Powder River Basin segment contains the companys thermal operations in Wyoming. The Metallurgical segment contains metallurgical operations in West Virginia.

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Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective decreased by Oppenheimer from $53.00 to $44.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the financial services providers stock. Oppenheimer also issued estimates for Bank of Americas Q1 2023 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q2 2023 earnings at $0.90 EPS, Q3 2023 earnings at $0.97 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $0.83 EPS and FY2023 earnings at $3.56 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BAC. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Bank of America from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Atlantic Securities lowered Bank of America from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lowered Bank of America from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $39.28.

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Bank of America Stock Performance

NYSE:BAC opened at $27.14 on Thursday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $33.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.87. Bank of America has a twelve month low of $26.32 and a twelve month high of $44.39. The stock has a market cap of $217.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Bank of America Dividend Announcement

Bank of America ( NYSE:BAC Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.09. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 23.93%. The firm had revenue of $24.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $24.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The companys revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 2nd. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.59%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of America

In other news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 319,803 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,959,648.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Bank of America news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 214,745 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.91, for a total transaction of $7,711,492.95. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 214,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,711,564.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 319,803 shares in the company, valued at $10,959,648.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BAC. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 16,611 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 92,587 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,066,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of America by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 8,895 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Vision Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,662 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 13,785 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 68.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bank of America

(Get Rating)

Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses.

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Accenture (NYSE:ACN  Get Rating) had its price objective boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $310.00 to $327.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Accenture from $310.00 to $290.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 19th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Monday, March 13th. Piper Sandler cut Accenture from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and set a $268.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Accenture from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $317.56.

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Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN opened at $272.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $171.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $271.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.10. Accenture has a fifty-two week low of $242.80 and a fifty-two week high of $345.30.

Accenture Announces Dividend

Accenture ( NYSE:ACN Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.59 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 11.00%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.54 EPS. Research analysts predict that Accenture will post 11.49 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 13th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 12th. Accentures dividend payout ratio is presently 41.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 10,296 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $2,892,455.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,158 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,405,306.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 10,296 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $2,892,455.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,158 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,405,306.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.08, for a total value of $1,449,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,444 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,509,299.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,475 shares of company stock valued at $10,225,149 in the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prostatis Group LLC boosted its stake in Accenture by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Prostatis Group LLC now owns 41,894 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,738 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 213,660 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $57,013,000 after acquiring an additional 33,876 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,627 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Accenture by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 20,140 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $5,374,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.97% of the companys stock.

Accenture Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB  Get Rating) in a research report released on Friday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the oil and gas companys stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Core Laboratories from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded Core Laboratories from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Core Laboratories has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $21.83.

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Core Laboratories Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CLB opened at $20.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $945.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.44 and a beta of 2.65. Core Laboratories has a 1-year low of $13.19 and a 1-year high of $34.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $23.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.68.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

Core Laboratories ( NYSE:CLB Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.01. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 3.97%. The business had revenue of $127.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Core Laboratoriess revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Core Laboratoriess payout ratio is 9.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in shares of Core Laboratories during the first quarter worth $1,980,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,945 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 39,192 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 14,354 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 68,839 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 5,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 39,895 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 4,909 shares in the last quarter. 97.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Core Laboratories NV engages in the provision of proprietary and patented reservoir description, production enhancement, and reservoir management services to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the Reservoir Description segment and Production Enhancement segment. The Reservoir Description segment encompasses the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock, fluid, and gas samples and provides analytical and field services to characterize properties of crude oil and petroleum products.

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Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN  Get Rating) by 117.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,172 shares of the information technology services providers stock after buying an additional 41,753 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.s holdings in Accenture were worth $20,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accenture by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 96 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. My Personal CFO LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Norwood Financial Corp bought a new stake in Accenture in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Accenture by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 123 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.97% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $290.00 to $279.00 in a research report on Monday, December 19th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Accenture in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Accenture from $310.00 to $290.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Accenture from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and set a $268.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.00.

Accenture Stock Performance

NYSE:ACN traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $272.08. The stock had a trading volume of 513,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,341,732. The stock has a market cap of $171.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.25. Accenture plc has a twelve month low of $242.80 and a twelve month high of $345.30. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $271.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.10.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.59 billion. Accenture had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The businesss revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 12th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Accentures dividend payout ratio is presently 41.25%.

Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.08, for a total transaction of $1,449,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,444 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,509,299.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 10,296 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.93, for a total value of $2,892,455.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 44,158 shares of the companys stock, valued at $12,405,306.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,250 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.08, for a total transaction of $1,449,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,444 shares in the company, valued at $9,509,299.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,475 shares of company stock valued at $10,225,149. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Accenture

(Get Rating)

Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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First Resource Bancorp (OTCMKTS:FRSB  Get Rating) is one of 168 public companies in the National commercial banks industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare First Resource Bancorp to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

First Resource Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Resource Bancorps peers have a beta of 0.83, meaning that their average share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Resource Bancorp and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio First Resource Bancorp $21.79 million $5.63 million 6.70 First Resource Bancorp Competitors $7.80 billion $1.63 billion 8.91

Analyst Ratings

First Resource Bancorps peers have higher revenue and earnings than First Resource Bancorp. First Resource Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for First Resource Bancorp and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score First Resource Bancorp 0 0 0 0 N/A First Resource Bancorp Competitors 1008 6704 6403 263 2.41

As a group, National commercial banks companies have a potential upside of 34.12%. Given First Resource Bancorps peers higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Resource Bancorp has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

51.9% of shares of all National commercial banks companies are owned by institutional investors. 8.6% of shares of all National commercial banks companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares First Resource Bancorp and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets First Resource Bancorp 25.81% N/A N/A First Resource Bancorp Competitors 24.56% 12.39% 1.15%

Summary

First Resource Bancorp peers beat First Resource Bancorp on 9 of the 10 factors compared.

First Resource Bancorp Company Profile

(Get Rating)

First Resource Bancorp, Inc. is a holding company that engages in the provision of community banking services through its subsidiary, First Resource Bank. Its subsidiary offers lending and depository services for businesses, professionals, and individuals in the Delaware Valley. The company is headquartered in Exton, PA.

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Gold Reserve (OTCMKTS:GDRZF  Get Rating) and Vista Gold (NYSE:VGZ  Get Rating) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Gold Reserve and Vista Golds net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Gold Reserve N/A -18.18% -17.88% Vista Gold N/A -40.97% -37.30%

Risk & Volatility

Gold Reserve has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vista Gold has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Gold Reserve $90,000.00 1,382.64 -$10.60 million ($0.11) -11.36 Vista Gold N/A N/A -$4.93 million ($0.04) -13.30

This table compares Gold Reserve and Vista Golds top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Vista Gold has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Gold Reserve. Vista Gold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Gold Reserve, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.5% of Gold Reserve shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.9% of Vista Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 12.8% of Gold Reserve shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.8% of Vista Gold shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Gold Reserve and Vista Gold, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Gold Reserve 0 0 0 0 N/A Vista Gold 0 0 1 0 3.00

Vista Gold has a consensus target price of $2.25, suggesting a potential upside of 323.01%. Given Vista Golds higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vista Gold is more favorable than Gold Reserve.

Summary

Vista Gold beats Gold Reserve on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gold Reserve

(Get Rating)

Gold Reserve Inc., an exploration stage company, acquires, explores, and develops mining properties. It primarily focuses on the Siembra Minera project that holds gold, copper, silver, and other strategic mineral rights comprising an area of approximately 18,950 hectares located in Bolivar, Venezuela. The company was incorporated in 1956 and is based in Spokane, Washington.

About Vista Gold

(Get Rating)

Vista Gold Corp. engages in the evaluation, acquisition, exploration, and advancement of gold exploration and potential development projects. It focuses on Mt. Todd in Northern Territory, Australia project. The company was founded on November 28, 1983 and is headquartered in Littleton, CO.

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Hershey (NYSE:HSY  Get Rating) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $250.00 to $255.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $231.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $251.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of Hershey from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $244.00 to $269.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Hershey from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $248.07.

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Hershey Stock Up 1.6 %

HSY opened at $247.86 on Thursday. Hershey has a one year low of $201.42 and a one year high of $248.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $234.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Hershey Announces Dividend

Hershey ( NYSE:HSY Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.25. Hershey had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 57.76%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Hershey will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.036 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $4.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Hersheys payout ratio is currently 52.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.95, for a total value of $3,433,778.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,443 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $36,972,090.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hershey news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 1,512 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $357,406.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,713 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,241,478.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.95, for a total value of $3,433,778.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,443 shares in the company, valued at $36,972,090.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,365 shares of company stock worth $11,921,873 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,857 shares of the companys stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 350,316 shares of the companys stock worth $81,123,000 after purchasing an additional 15,006 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 32,133 shares of the companys stock worth $7,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 89,771 shares of the companys stock worth $20,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.17% of the companys stock.

About Hershey

(Get Rating)

The Hershey Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of chocolate, sweets, mints and confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America and International and Other. The North America is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada.

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Jefferies Financial Group reissued their buy rating on shares of British American Tobacco (LON:BATS  Get Rating) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a GBX 4,100 ($50.35) price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BATS. Royal Bank of Canada set a GBX 3,500 ($42.98) price target on British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, February 10th. Credit Suisse Group set a GBX 3,900 ($47.89) target price on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Monday, February 13th. UBS Group set a GBX 4,100 ($50.35) price target on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a GBX 4,000 ($49.12) price objective on British American Tobacco in a report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reissued an overweight rating and set a GBX 4,000 ($49.12) price target on shares of British American Tobacco in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of GBX 3,788 ($46.52).

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British American Tobacco Trading Up 1.7 %

LON BATS opened at GBX 2,872 ($35.27) on Friday. The company has a market cap of 64.33 billion, a PE ratio of 973.56, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.34. British American Tobacco has a 12 month low of GBX 2,823.50 ($34.67) and a 12 month high of GBX 3,645 ($44.76). The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 3,086.80 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 3,248.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 56.98.

British American Tobacco Increases Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 28th will be paid a GBX 57.72 ($0.71) dividend. This represents a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This is an increase from British American Tobaccos previous dividend of $54.45. British American Tobaccos payout ratio is 7,830.51%.

In other news, insider Karen Guerra purchased 3,300 shares of British American Tobacco stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 3,055 ($37.52) per share, for a total transaction of 100,815 ($123,805.72). In other British American Tobacco news, insider Karen Guerra acquired 3,300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 3,055 ($37.52) per share, for a total transaction of 100,815 ($123,805.72). Also, insider Susan Jane Farr bought 392 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 3,170 ($38.93) per share, for a total transaction of 12,426.40 ($15,260.22). Insiders bought 3,706 shares of company stock valued at $11,368,831 over the last quarter. 8.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About British American Tobacco

(Get Rating)

British American Tobacco p.l.c. provides tobacco and nicotine products to consumers worldwide. It offers vapour, tobacco heating, and modern oral nicotine products; combustible products; and traditional oral products, such as snus and moist snuff. The company offers its products under the Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Rothmans, Camel, Newport, Natural American Spirit, being Vapour, THP, and Modern Oral brands.

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Phreesia (NYSE:PHR  Get Rating) had its price objective raised by JMP Securities from $34.00 to $39.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PHR. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Phreesia from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Phreesia from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Phreesia from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Phreesia to $41.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Phreesia from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $38.07.

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Phreesia Stock Performance

Shares of PHR stock opened at $31.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.38 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 3.94. Phreesia has a 12-month low of $13.19 and a 12-month high of $40.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

Phreesia ( NYSE:PHR Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 22nd. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $76.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.50 million. Phreesia had a negative return on equity of 50.33% and a negative net margin of 62.71%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.90) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Phreesia will post -2.97 EPS for the current year.

In other news, SVP Michael J. Davidoff sold 28,555 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.10, for a total value of $1,030,835.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 108,749 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,925,838.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Phreesia news, SVP David Linetsky sold 11,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.55, for a total transaction of $449,999.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 205,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,127,089.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Davidoff sold 28,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.10, for a total transaction of $1,030,835.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 108,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,925,838.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,347 shares of company stock valued at $1,694,845. Company insiders own 5.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Phreesia

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PHR. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Phreesia by 154.6% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,426 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Phreesia by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. FourThought Financial LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the companys stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Phreesia by 85.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,137 shares of the companys stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Phreesia by 610.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,524 shares of the companys stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Phreesia by 266.6% during the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 5,381 shares of the companys stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 3,913 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.23% of the companys stock.

About Phreesia

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Phreesia, Inc is a healthcare software company, which engages in the provision of patient check-in solutions for medical practices. The firm offers appointments, clinical support, integration, registration, patient activation, analytics and reports, revenue cycle, patient surveys, and privacy and security products.

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Stephens Inc. AR reduced its stake in shares of Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:FAX  Get Rating) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,207 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 57,739 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. ARs holdings in Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund were worth $695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund by 12.5% during the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 40,128 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund by 0.7% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 657,421 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund by 2.3% during the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 217,087 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 4,883 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund by 4.6% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 115,815 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 5,074 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund by 2.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 276,433 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the period. 23.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund Stock Performance

Shares of FAX traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $2.65. The stock had a trading volume of 174,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 852,938. Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund Inc has a 52 week low of $2.26 and a 52 week high of $3.44.

Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund Dividend Announcement

About Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 24th will be given a dividend of $0.0275 per share. This represents a $0.33 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd.

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Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund Inc is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments (Asia) Limited. It is co-managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments Australia Limited and Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited. The fund invests in fixed income markets of Asia, Australia, and New Zeland.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FAX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:FAX  Get Rating).

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UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH  Get Rating) has earned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.75.

UMH has been the topic of several recent research reports. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I restated a buy rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of UMH Properties in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. TheStreet upgraded UMH Properties from a d+ rating to a c rating in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on UMH Properties in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock.

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Insider Transactions at UMH Properties

In other UMH Properties news, EVP Daniel O. Landy acquired 1,900 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.42 per share, for a total transaction of $33,098.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 24,670 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $429,751.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Michael P. Landy purchased 2,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.80 per share, with a total value of $29,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 270,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,004,791.20. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel O. Landy purchased 1,900 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.42 per share, with a total value of $33,098.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 24,670 shares in the company, valued at $429,751.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 6,552 shares of company stock worth $106,482. Company insiders own 10.95% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UMH Properties

UMH Properties Price Performance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMH. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in UMH Properties by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 58,369 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,435,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 373,985 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $9,197,000 after purchasing an additional 18,507 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 12,773 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,163 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 8,238 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 53,796 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.25% of the companys stock.

NYSE UMH opened at $14.34 on Monday. UMH Properties has a fifty-two week low of $13.73 and a fifty-two week high of $25.46. The stocks 50-day moving average is $16.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 4.18.

UMH Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th were paid a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from UMH Propertiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. UMH Propertiess payout ratio is presently -122.39%.

UMH Properties Company Profile

(Get Rating)

UMH Properties, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership and operation of manufactured home communities in seven states throughout the northeast. These states include New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana and Michigan. Manufactured home communities provide long-term appreciation, recession resistant qualities, and stable income streams.

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United Lithium Corp. (OTCMKTS:ULTHF  Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 200 shares, a decline of 96.5% from the February 28th total of 5,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 155,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.0 days.

United Lithium Price Performance

ULTHF stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $0.18. The company had a trading volume of 70,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,859. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.17. United Lithium has a fifty-two week low of $0.00 and a fifty-two week high of $0.40.

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About United Lithium

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United Lithium Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of natural resource properties. It explores for lithium deposits. The company holds 100% interest in the Bergby Lithium Project, located in Sweden. It also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Barbara Lake property comprising 56 mining cell claims that covers an area of approximately 2,147 hectares land in the Barbara Lake Area of the Thunder Bay Mining District, Ontario, Canada.

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US Foods Holding Corp. (NYSE:USFD  Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.45.

Several research firms have recently commented on USFD. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on US Foods from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on US Foods from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Barclays raised US Foods from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a report on Thursday, January 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on US Foods in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on US Foods from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, February 17th.

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Insider Buying and Selling at US Foods

In other US Foods news, EVP Jay Kvasnicka sold 2,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $98,445.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,049 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,396,492.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 7,600,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $295,108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Kvasnicka sold 2,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $98,445.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 63,049 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,396,492.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,670,152 shares of company stock valued at $297,784,317. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On US Foods

US Foods Trading Up 0.3 %

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 221.6% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 107,400 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,840,000 after acquiring an additional 74,000 shares during the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of US Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $445,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,853 shares of the companys stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 470,026 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,427,000 after acquiring an additional 3,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of US Foods by 137.5% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 124,426 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 72,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.06% of the companys stock.

Shares of NYSE USFD opened at $35.11 on Monday. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $37.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.83. US Foods has a 52-week low of $25.49 and a 52-week high of $41.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

US Foods (NYSE:USFD  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $8.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. US Foods had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 0.78%. On average, analysts anticipate that US Foods will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

US Foods Company Profile

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US Foods Holding Corp. operates as a foodservice distributor. Its products include frozen and dry food and non-food products to foodservice customers throughout the U.S. The company offers services under brands Chefs Line, del Pasado, Glenview Farms, Cattlemans Selection, Cross Valley Farms, Harbor Banks, Hilltop Hearth, Devonshire, and Metro Deli.

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StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM  Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

WSM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $114.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Friday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $109.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $205.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $127.47.

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Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $117.70 on Friday. The businesss 50-day moving average is $125.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.62. Williams-Sonoma has a fifty-two week low of $101.58 and a fifty-two week high of $176.89.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

Williams-Sonoma ( NYSE:WSM Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 16th. The specialty retailer reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.41 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 80.17% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.42 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 21st will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 20th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonomas previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Williams-Sonomas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,104,812 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $788,279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064,242 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,539,856 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $176,960,000 after acquiring an additional 238,064 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 917,546 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $105,450,000 after acquiring an additional 13,092 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 815,713 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $93,742,000 after acquiring an additional 213,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 726,398 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $83,478,000 after acquiring an additional 83,343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.49% of the companys stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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Williams-Sonoma, Inc engages in the retailing of home products. It operates through the following segments: Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids and Teen and Other. The Other segment includes net revenues from international franchise operations, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham.

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YORK  Malcom Brown, 31, of Johnston, Iowa, has been charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm in a case where he allegedly assaulted and threatened a York woman before firing a gun into the air at the York interchange.

York Police officers responded to a call from a woman at a York hotel, who had been in contact with a man and a woman who said she was concerned about their behavior. She said the man had been in her room earlier, he was drinking and making her uncomfortable. She also said he had a handgun in his front jeans pocket.

Court documents indicate she asked the man to leave and eventually he did. But later, a woman started banging on her hotel door.

The officers suspected they knew the identity of the woman and as they were looking for her, they saw her outside her room. She indicated her children were in the room, as well as her boyfriend, who she identified as Brown. She told officers he was drunk and sleeping. She also whispered, according to court documents, that while they were in her car in the hotel parking lot, he had pulled her across the center console by her hair and allegedly said something to the effect of If I go to jail tonight, when I get out, Im going to come kill you. She then alleged Brown exited the vehicle and fired one round from his handgun into the air.

Officers were able to place Brown in restraints while he was asleep, according to court documents. They said that during a search of his person, they found a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with one magazine containing 12 rounds with one in the chamber. The handgun was found in his underwear.

Officers said they spoke with the young children who collaborated what their mother said, with a 5-year-old saying she heard a gunshot, was frightened and fell to the ground, according to court documents.

It is further alleged that officers found one spent 9mm casing in the area of where the vehicle was parked.

Browns arrest record shows a second offense domestic assault in Polk County, Iowa, which makes him prohibited from possessing a firearm.

This past week, Brown pleaded not guilty to the charge and a jury trial was scheduled for later this summer.
January 23, 1945  March 25, 2023

Ronald Keith Dickson, age 78, of York, formerly of Stromsburg, passed away March 25, 2023 at Bryan East in Lincoln.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at Calvary Lutheran Church in Swede Home with Pastors Evan and Hillary Christensen officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in the Swede Home Cemetery.

Ronald was born January 23, 1945 in Stromsburg to Robert and Rogene Dickson. He attended Benedict Public Schools and graduated high school in 1963. Upon completing his education, he began driving truck for Dickson Johnson Trucking and also started farming. In 1965 he joined the Army National Guard in York, where he served until 1971. He continued to farm and in 1975 formed Dickson Inc., with his father, a trucking company where he and several drivers hauled cattle in a several state area.

In 1985 he was united in marriage to his wife Carole at their home in Stromsburg. They resided in Stromsburg until 1999, when they moved to Sundance Lake near Clarks, where they lived until 2015. Then, thinking of retirement, they moved to a home in Stromsburg. Recently Ron and Carole moved to York.

Ron continued taking care of and spending time at his farm. He enjoyed his many friends and he had a great love for fishing, feeding birds and watching all kinds of nature. He especially enjoyed the many dogs he had through the years. He loved his family and he especially enjoyed teaching his grandchildren to fish. He delighted in hooking a big catfish, handing them the pole, and watching them reel it in.

Ron was a faithful member of Calvary Lutheran Church in Swede Home, where he served two terms on the church council and enjoyed ushering and greeting people. He formed many friendships at Calvary.

He leaves to mourn his wife, Carole of York; two stepchildren, Noal (Stacy) Schinzel of Valley and Kyla Gorji of Lincoln; four step-grandchildren, Riley and Clare Schinzel of Omaha, Bradyn and Sydney Dose of Lincoln; two sisters, Jeannine Johnson of Stromsburg, Deborah Dickson of Lincoln; one brother, Calvin (Kelly) Dickson of Clear Lake, Iowa; seven nephews and nieces; eleven great-nephews and nieces and a host of relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Rogene Dickson and brother-in-law, Mardell Johnson.

Memorials are suggested to the family to be designated later.

Dubas Funeral Home of Stromsburg and Osceola have been entrusted with arrangements.
For most months in the year, Supplemental Security Income recipients get their SSI payment on the first day of the month. But when the first day of the month falls on the weekend or a federal holiday, you receive your SSI payment on the last business day before the first day of the month. That means you may get two SSI payments in the same month.

We do this to avoid putting you at a financial disadvantage and make sure that you dont have to wait beyond the first of the month to get your payment. It does not mean you are receiving a duplicate payment in the previous month, so you do not need to contact us to report the second payment.

Heres how this will work in April. April 1 falls on a Saturday, so we will issue your SSI payment for the month of April on March 31. In this example, you get two SSI payments in March.

The first March payment, on March 1, is your regularly scheduled payment for March. The second March payment, on March 31, is your SSI payment for the month of April.

On our website, we provide a Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments for the current and upcoming calendar year at www.ssa.gov/pubs/calendar.htm.

Securing today and tomorrow starts with being informed. Please share this information with your friends and family.

Supplemental Security Income

Q: Im on Supplemental Security Income and live with my two brothers in an apartment. My SSI payment is cut by one-third because the Social Security office says I dont pay enough of the household expenses. How much of the expenses must I pay in order to get the full SSI rate?

A: Under the rules of the program, you must be paying an equal share of the expenses. Because there are three of you in the household, you must pay one-third of the expenses. If you are not paying an equal share of the rent, utilities, groceries and other household expenses, your SSI payment must be reduced. To learn more, visit www.ssa.gov/ssi

Q: Who is eligible for Supplemental Security Income?

A: People who receive SSI are age 65 or older, blind, or disabled with limited income and resources. Go to www.ssa.gov/ssi for income and resource limits. The general fund of the U. S. Treasury makes SSI payments. They do not come out of the Social Security Trust Fund.
No injuries have been reported from Saturdays shooting on the South Carolina State University campus, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division

SLED says it will provide additional information when it becomes available for release.

The university reports that the campus was placed on lockdown about 11:30 p.m. after campus police received reports of shots fired in the vicinity of the Hugine Suites student apartment complex.

Surveillance video captured photos and license plate information of potential suspects.

The lockdown was lifted just before 3 a.m. Sunday.

S.C. State asked SLED to investigate the incident.
The stories of two couples who overcame family and social strictures to form lasting relationships. From Oslobodjenje.

[Transitions editors note: This article is one in a series of five examining the phenomenon of mixed marriages  joining couples of different religions or ethnic groups  in North Macedonia and Bosnia, each a country whose demographics reflect both the diversity of the former Yugoslavia and of migration patterns in recent years. The stories were published in the Skopje daily Nova Makedonija and in Sarajevos Oslobodjenje.]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country where time is measured before and after the war, marriage between different nationalities and ethnicities is not uncommon. Yet, despite this, mixed marriages are still stigmatized and subject to a powerful social taboo. The reason behind this is the ethnically motivated war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a conflict that set a trend of divisiveness regarding how people lived when the country was a republic of Yugoslavia.

Dzeneta and Boris

Uncertain Ground

In urban areas, marriages between different nationalities and ethnicities are not rare. In smaller communities, the situation is different; people here often are reluctant to express their views on this subject openly.

Smaller towns and rural areas are difficult places to come to grips with the phenomenon of interethnic relationships. For one thing, its very hard to find such marriages, which makes people extremely reluctant to talk about this issue.

The mere mention of mixed marriages caused great discomfort among those we spoke with for this article. Many members of such couples declined to share their stories with us even after previously agreeing to talk. Some couples agreed to share their stories on condition of anonymity because they did not want to reveal their identities for fear of being judged by the community for openly discussing problems they faced as they built their relationship.

Individuals who, in the name of love, crossed the barriers in their minds and souls, who disregarded what society and their surroundings told them and formed a family with someone of a different nationality, religion, or ethnic groups  these are the heroes of our five stories. They are couples who had to defend their life choices and find ingenious ways to organize their lives together and reconcile differences.

Shock in the Family

The first married couple we met told us how difficult things were at first.

My family was shocked at my relationship with Boris and did not approve of my choice in the beginning, Dzeneta says. This phase seemed endless to Dzeneta and her partner, yet despite the obstacles, their love remained strong and they consider their decision to live together and start a family as one of the best they ever made. Experts confirm that couples who were exposed to pressure from their surroundings grow even closer together.

Assailed by open disapproval and conflict, they tried to find a joint solution to quell the opposition from Dzenetas family. Even after marriage, they still faced difficult choices, including naming their children. They made a simple agreement: the wife chooses the name for a girl and the husband for a boy. The childrens names were never a problem for us. It was important that they would be beautiful, modern, and that we like them. My wife Dzeneta and my mother came up with our daughters name, and I had the privilege to choose the name of my heir, Boris says.

Their home is built on an atmosphere in which all holidays are celebrated. Both religions are observed in our home, we celebrate both Catholic and Muslim holidays. Our children benefit from getting to know all customs and differences, Dzeneta says.

In the social context, there was a certain critical minority that used petty provocations and ambiguous questions to try to stand in the way and to get involved in things that a person of common sense should never get mixed up in, she says. Dzeneta took her husbands surname, and this too raised questions. After the birth of their child, the municipal official in charge of registering births called Dzeneta and asked if there were not some mistake with the childs name. Still recovering from childbirth, Dzeneta asked the official to explain. The response was that the name does not suit the surname.

Dzeneta responded by telling the official she should be ashamed of such statements and of harassing a mother with such poorly thought-out questions. There were also official barriers to cross when registering the nationality of the child as Bosnian, because such declarations are by default treated as part of the constitutional category of others.

[Transitions note: The Bosnian constitution adopted in 1995 at the end of the Bosnian War distinguishes between the three main constituent groups of Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks (or Bosnian Muslims), on one hand, and other minorities, who are not eligible for some high political offices. The other category includes Roma, Jews, and anyone who chooses not to align with the three leading groups.]

Boriss family accepted his girlfriend from the very beginning. Although there were disagreements and problems on the part of Dzenetas family, in the end, love won, along with the desire to build a life together.

He continued, It doesnt matter to me what a persons name is, what nationality or religion they are. I grew up in a Catholic family, but in our home, we celebrated Eid ever since I was little.

I dont know how it would have been if our relationship was accepted from the start, but the situation is ideal now. The families got to know each other; they visit each other for the holidays, and there is regard and respect, Dzeneta adds.

Our home was always full of people; we respected everyone and we brought people together with positive energy. I try to raise my children in the same spirit  to celebrate every holiday, to respect everyone, and to not allow someones religion to be an obstacle to friendship or a reason for conflicts, Boris says.

Neven is Not a Muslim

The struggle that Suada Tripkovic waged with herself about her choice of partner lasted about six months. The internal turmoil arose because Suada comes from a traditional religious Muslim family, and Neven is not a Muslim.

The situation was further complicated by her family history. Suadas brother was a victim of the war in the 1990s. In the beginning, Suada tells us, she tried to end the relationship when she realized it was turning into something more serious; she tried to avoid the complications arising from different nationalities and the family disappointment due to instilled fears and prejudices.

When I finally made the decision to live according to my beliefs, I knew that it was the right decision. I couldnt let a name become an obstacle to the honesty, respect, and selflessness with which Neven gained my trust, and I put essence and character before nationality and religion, she says proudly.

It was not all smooth sailing at the outset, she acknowledges. She had to overcome her parents disappointment and the disapproval of her extended family, who because of all the trauma and pain caused by the war, thought that we should not unite through marriage with another religion.

When she told her father she was marrying a person who is not a Muslim, he only said, it is not the same here as in Austria or Slovenia; here in Bosnia and Herzegovina it is a problem to marry someone of another faith.

Suadas mother worried that her daughter would not be accepted by the family of her future son-in-law. But as it turned out, his family still cherished Yugoslav values, unburdened by issues of religious or national identity. Accustomed to mixed marriages in the immediate and extended family, they attached little importance to matters of religion.

Suada says her parents suffered greatly at the beginning of her relationship with Neven.

At first, my mother tried to intimidate me, saying that if I did it, if I marry a person of a different religion, I will no longer have parents.

After the initial shock, and the thoughtless questions and statements by the neighbors, it took time for her parents to work through the situation. Eventually, they understood that their daughters choice was made, and they accepted it, wished her luck, and started to get to know their son-in-law.

When it came time to choose names for their babies, not wanting to rub salt in the wound, they rejected an old Biblical name that they both liked, and found appropriate alternatives. They say they are raising their children to respect human values and be accepting of others views.

We do not burden them with religion; instead, we teach them that they are Bosnian and Herzegovinian. We are aware that such a qualifier in a society like this represents others and a minority, so we join with them among those people who are fewer in number, but greater when it comes to understanding and feelings, the Tripkovices say.

We are Bosnians and we feel that way, but in our country they want to put us into one of three available nationalities and at every turn we are expected to declare to which of these three peoples we belong, they say, highlighting an issue which, although often talked and argued over, even adjudicated in favor of the others by the European Court of Human Rights, remains unresolved.

In our home there are people of all nationalities and ethnicities from Bosnia, and also people from abroad that we are friends with. At Eid, we visit one side of the family; at Easter we paint eggs; at Christmas we visit an uncle and the other part of the family; we celebrate New Year holidays and birthdays with close friends, the Tripkovices say.

The only people who do not enter our home are priests and imams because religions as institutions are rigid, exclusive, and explicit. We, on the other hand, are open to diversity.

It is not nations and religions that divide people, the couple believe, rather, it is fear, prejudice, misunderstanding, politics that feed off divisions and gives rise to strongmen. The real problems in this politically and economically disorganized country, they feel, are the struggle for existence, the cost of living, and the rights of working people.
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Early signs of spring floods are emerging in southern Wyoming.

The National Weather Service currently predicts that as the unusually high snowpack that has accumulated across the state through the winter starts to melt this spring, minor flooding  the agencys lowest classification  will be likely along the North Platte River near Sinclair and Saratoga.

Minor flooding is minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat, said Kevin Low, senior coordination hydrologist at the Missouri Basin River Forecast Center. Once you get into moderate, which is the next level, then you begin having inundation of structures and roads.

Whether those forecasts are upgraded, or whether they eventually extend to any other parts of the state, will depend on how much more snow falls and how quickly it melts, Low said. The Laramie and Popo Agie river basins, in particular, are on officials radar.

Last June, when catastrophic flooding forced Yellowstone National Park to evacuate all of its visitors and close for more than a week, experts described what happened as a worst-case scenario. An unusually cool, wet spring left more snow than normal on the mountains. Then an intense rainstorm swept through and washed it away in a matter of hours.

Yellowstone finally restored public access to the last of its marooned entrances in late October, using a temporary road. The work of replacing the original roads and fixing other park infrastructure is expected to drag on for years.

The sorts of conditions that devastated Yellowstone dont seem to be materializing in Wyoming this year, Low said. He added, though, that they can be tricky to forecast, especially months out. The atmospheric river that hit Yellowstone at exactly the wrong time, for example, looked like it would move in a slightly different direction almost until it arrived to dump inches of rain over the northernmost reaches of the park.

Wyomings snowy winter comes on the heels of several very dry years, when a lack of snowfall in the Colorado Rivers Upper Basin contributed to drought conditions that temporarily encompassed all of Wyoming and fed growing concerns about the water supply in Lower Basin states.

Most of Wyoming  like much of the Intermountain West  faces a higher-than-normal risk of flooding when this years meltoff arrives. Only the two river gauges near Sinclair and Saratoga, however, show that the odds of flooding are above 50%. Snowpack in the area has not only reached up to double its expected depths for this time of the year, but has already exceeded its median annual peak, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Normally we don't see flooding from just snowmelt itself, so in that respect, it is unusual, Low said of those North Platte forecasts. It's not radically unusual.

As things stand right now, Low said, I'm fairly certain that we will see, for instance, minor flooding along the North Platte. But could things change? By all means. Things could get worse, or things could get better.

Close A pedestrian walks to a nearly submerged bench along the rising North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse in Casper on Monday. A white duck washes itself along the banks of the North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday afternoon in Casper. The duck attracted a number of observers as it followed the rivers rising waters out towards the walking path. A young tree sits surrounded by rising water in the North Platte River near Casper's Morad Park. Nebraska's largest reservoir could be full by Sunday, but officials aren't yet sure whether that portends downstream flooding. Riverside furniture is submerged along properties in Paradise Valley as water rises from the North Platte River banks on Monday afternoon. The North Platte River is seen near Robertson Road in Paradise Valley as it swells up to its banks on Monday afternoon. Kamiya Kurpinski, 9, and her brother Maverick Kurpinski, 5, walk along what is normally a sidewalk near the Tate Pumphouse as the North Platte River overflows its banks Monday afternoon in Casper. Water along the North Platte River rises over the legs of the Striking Silver fly fishing statue near Jonah Bank on Monday afternoon in Casper. A small island around the statue is normally visible during regular water flows. Maeva Williams and Gabriel Cisneros put on their life jackets before launching their raft for a float along the swollen North Platte River on Monday afternoon at the Robertson Road Public Access Area in Paradise Valley. The two are playing parts in an upcoming Stage III play and planned to spend their time on the river going over lines. Patti Jolly snaps a photo of a flooded section of the trail along the North Platte River in front of the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. Water from the North Platte River creeps up near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. A group of cyclists stop as they approach flooding from the North Platte River near the Tate Pump House on Monday morning in Casper. Unusually high flows have caused water to pool in low-lying areas around Casper and Mills. A man inches close to the edge to photograph water rushing over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The overflow began over the weekend and is expected to continue through the month. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The reservoir has overflowed four times in the past 30 years. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation expects the spillover to continue through June and into July, although that depends on how much water enters the reservoir system. Water cascades over the spillway at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. Photos: High water on the North Platte River A pedestrian walks to a nearly submerged bench along the rising North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse in Casper on Monday. A white duck washes itself along the banks of the North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday afternoon in Casper. The duck attracted a number of observers as it followed the rivers rising waters out towards the walking path. A young tree sits surrounded by rising water in the North Platte River near Casper's Morad Park. Nebraska's largest reservoir could be full by Sunday, but officials aren't yet sure whether that portends downstream flooding. Riverside furniture is submerged along properties in Paradise Valley as water rises from the North Platte River banks on Monday afternoon. The North Platte River is seen near Robertson Road in Paradise Valley as it swells up to its banks on Monday afternoon. Kamiya Kurpinski, 9, and her brother Maverick Kurpinski, 5, walk along what is normally a sidewalk near the Tate Pumphouse as the North Platte River overflows its banks Monday afternoon in Casper. Water along the North Platte River rises over the legs of the Striking Silver fly fishing statue near Jonah Bank on Monday afternoon in Casper. A small island around the statue is normally visible during regular water flows. Maeva Williams and Gabriel Cisneros put on their life jackets before launching their raft for a float along the swollen North Platte River on Monday afternoon at the Robertson Road Public Access Area in Paradise Valley. The two are playing parts in an upcoming Stage III play and planned to spend their time on the river going over lines. Patti Jolly snaps a photo of a flooded section of the trail along the North Platte River in front of the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. Water from the North Platte River creeps up near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. A group of cyclists stop as they approach flooding from the North Platte River near the Tate Pump House on Monday morning in Casper. Unusually high flows have caused water to pool in low-lying areas around Casper and Mills. A man inches close to the edge to photograph water rushing over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The overflow began over the weekend and is expected to continue through the month. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The reservoir has overflowed four times in the past 30 years. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation expects the spillover to continue through June and into July, although that depends on how much water enters the reservoir system. Water cascades over the spillway at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova.
Community members in Rock Springs gathered recently to plan the citys first Pride event, slated for June 10.

In a press release, the Rock Springs Pride Event Committee met at the last minute to see if there was enough community interest to plan and host such an event. The response they were met with was great, so they are moving forward with plans for a visible, supported and joyous event telling people of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies that they are appreciated and respected for who they are.

Plans for the citys inaugural Pride event include a Pride Community Day with a dog show, Pride Bingo or scavenger hunt, an art show, community window displays, music, and more, the press release noted. The events will be open to anyone, family friendly and sponsored, supported, and driven by community members.

The next planning meeting will April 5 at Bitter Creek Brewing in Rock Springs. Those who cant attend but are interested in helping in other ways can email the committee at rockspringspride@gmail.com.

Casper, Jackson Hole, Cheyenne and Laramie also have Pride events and celebrations.
Trinidad and Tobago should expect more visitors to the islands in the 2024 cruise season, according to Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell.

He explained that for the past six months, the Ministry of Tourism, along with Tourism Trinidad Ltd (TTL), has been increasing its marketing reach and putting action plans in place to increase arrivals.
The community of Aranjuez has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in recent times.

Reports of murders, home invasions and robberies have become more commonplace.

But when the Sunday Express visited the area on Friday, residents recalled a time when Aranjuez was so safe, they could sleep with their doors open.

It was a close-knit community where everybody knew everybody and crimes were few and far between.
It was about half a century ago, but I remember it as though it were yesterday.

We had been to the cinema, then went for ice cream at the then-popular Dairies Restaurant on Phillip Street.

As we were walking towards the car, I observed a crime in progress, drew it to the attention of my date, and suggested we report it at the nearest police station.
Pasolini film screening kicks off in east China

Xinhua) 10:36, March 27, 2023

NANJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A screening event featuring works by renowned Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini opened Friday in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The event will last until Sunday and screen seven of Pasolini's films shot in the 1960s, including Accattone, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Mamma Roma, and Oedipus Rex.

A themed exhibition, an Italian-style coffee market, and other activities will also be held over the weekend to immerse the visitors in Italian arts and cultures.

The event is supported by the Jiangnan Branch of the China Film Archive (CFA) and the Italian Embassy in China. It is also the first event since the launch of the CFA Jiangnan Branch earlier this month.

Located in Suzhou, the new CFA branch will focus on developing cultural products, cultivating talent, and organizing art film screenings in the future.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Here are the scheduled road closures for the week of March 26:

The exit ramp lanes from N. I-10 Frontage Rd. to SR-77 Northbound at Mile Post 70 will be closed from Sunday, March 19, at 8 p.m. to Friday, March 31, at 6 a.m.

The N. I-10 Frontage Rd Eastbound between W. Walker Rd. to W. Orange Grove Rd. will be closed from Monday, March 20, at 5 a.m. to Saturday, April 1, at 5 a.m.

Reconstruction of the on ramp from I-10 Eastbound to E. Valencia Rd. will close all lanes from Sunday, March 26, at 8 p.m. to Monday, March 27, at 5 a.m.

Reconstruction of the on ramp from I-10 to I-10 Eastbound at Mile Post 267 will close all lanes from Sunday, March 26, at 8 p.m. to Monday, March 27, at 5 a.m.

Reconstruction of the exit ramp from I-10 Westbound to E. Irvington Rd. will close all lanes from Sunday, March 26, at 8 p.m. to Thursday, March 30, at 5 a.m.

Pavement work on east- and westbound I-10 will cause intermittent lane restrictions between Kino Parkway and Valencia Road from Sunday, March 26, at 8 p.m. to Friday, March 31, at 5 a.m.

The eastbound on- and off-ramps at Valencia Road will be closed from Sunday, March 26, at 8 p.m. to Monday, March 27, at 5 a.m. The westbound on- and off-ramps will be closed from Monday, March 27, at 8 p.m. to Tuesday, March 28, at 5 a.m.

The westbound off-ramp at Palo Verde Road will be closed from Tuesday, March 28, at 8 p.m. to Wednesday, March 29, at 5 a.m. and again from Wednesday, March 29, at 8 p.m. to Thursday, March 30, at 5 a.m.

The westbound on- and off-ramps at Kino Parkway will be closed from Thursday, March 30, at 8 p.m. to Friday, March 31, at 5 a.m.

Reconstruction on the off ramp from I-10 Westbound to E. Valencia Rd. will close all lanes from Monday, March 27, at 8 p.m. to Tuesday, March 28, at 5 a.m.

Reconstruction on the on ramp from E. Valencia Rd. to I-10 Westbound at Mile Post 267 will close all lanes from Monday, March 27, at 8 p.m. to Tuesday, March 28, at 5 a.m.

The interchange ramp lanes on to I-19 Northbound from S. Freeway at Mile Post 63 to I-10 Westbound at Mile Post 63 will be closed from Monday, March 27, from 10 p.m. to Tuesday, March 28, at 4 a.m.

The westbound and eastbound lanes of W. Sunset Rd. between the N. I-10 Frontage Roads on both sides of I-10 will be closed from Monday, March 27, at 12 Midnight to Sunday, April 9, at 12 Noon.

The N. I-10 Frontage Rd. Westbound between W. Sunset Rd. and W. Orange Grove Rd will be closed from Monday, March 27, at midnight to Sunday, April 9, at 11:59 p.m.

The exit ramp from I-10 Westbound to N. I-10 Frontage Rd. will be closed from Monday, March 27, at midnight to Sept. 1, 2025, at midnight.

The on ramp from N. I-10 Frontage Rd. on to I-10 Westbound at Mile Post 251 will be closed from Monday, March 27, at midnight to Sept. 1, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.

Real-time highway conditions are available on the Arizona Department of Transportations Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov.

It is also available by downloading the AZ511 app, calling 511 or through ADOTs Twitter feed, @ArizonaDOT.
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SEATTLE  Shawn Lee, a high school social studies teacher in Seattle, wants to see lessons on the internet akin to a kind of 21st century drivers education, an essential for modern life.

Lee has tried to bring that kind of education into his classroom, with lessons about the need to double-check online sources, to diversify newsfeeds and to bring critical thinking to the web. Hes also created an organization for other teachers to share resources.

This technology is so new that no one taught us how to use it, Lee said. People are like, Theres nothing we can do, and they throw their hands in the air. I disagree with that. I would like to think the republic can survive an algorithm.

Lees efforts are part of a growing movement of educators and misinformation researchers working to offset an explosion of online misinformation about everything from presidential politics to pandemics. So far, the U.S. lags many other democracies in waging this battle, and the consequences of inaction are clear.

But for teachers already facing myriad demands in the classroom, incorporating internet literacy can be a challenge  especially given how politicized misinformation about vaccines, public health, voting, climate change and Russias war in Ukraine has become.

The title of a talk for a recent gathering of Lees group: How to talk about conspiracy theories without getting fired.

Its not teaching what to think, but how to think, said Julie Smith, an expert on media literacy who teaches at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. Its engaging about engaging your brain. Its asking, Who created this? Why? Why am I seeing it now? How does it make me feel and why?

New laws and algorithm changes are often offered as the most promising ways of combating online misinformation, even as tech companies study their own solutions.

Teaching internet literacy, however, may be the most effective method. New Jersey, Illinois and Texas are among states that have recently implemented new standards for teaching internet literacy, a broad category that can include lessons about how the internet and social media work, along with a focus on how to spot misinformation by cross-checking multiple sources and staying wary of claims with missing context or highly emotional headlines.

Media literacy lessons are often included in history, government or other social studies classes, and typically offered at the high school level, though experts say its never too early  or late  to help people become better users of the internet.

Finnish children begin to learn about the internet in preschool, part of a robust anti-misinformation program that aims to make the countrys residents more resistant to false online claims.

Finland has a long history of combating propaganda and misinformation spread by one of its neighbors, Russia, and expanded its current efforts after Russias 2014 invasion of Crimea set off another wave of disinformation.

Media literacy was one of our priorities before the time of the internet, said Petri Honkonen, Finlands minister of science and culture. The point is critical thinking, and that is a skill that everybody needs more and more. We have to somehow protect people. We also must protect democracy.

One recent report on media literacy efforts in western democracies placed Finland at the top. Canada ranked seventh, while the U.S. came in at No. 18.

In Finland the lessons dont end with primary school. Public service announcements offer tips on avoiding false online claims and checking multiple sources. Additional programs are geared toward older adults, who can be especially vulnerable to misinformation compared to younger users more at home on the internet.

In the U.S., attempts to teach internet literacy have run into political opposition from people who equate it to thought control. Lee, the Seattle teacher, said that concern prevents some teachers from even trying.

Several years ago, the University of Washington launched MisinfoDay, which brought high schoolers and their teachers together for a one-day event featuring speakers, exercises and activities focused on media literacy. Seven hundred students from across the state attended one of three MisinfoDays this year.

Jevin West, the University of Washington professor who created the event, said he heard from educators in other states and as far away as Australia who are interested in creating something similar.

Maybe eventually, someday, nationally here in the United States, we have a day devoted to the idea of media literacy, West said. There are all sorts of things we can do in terms of regulations, technology, in terms of research, but nothing is going to be more important than this idea of making us more resilient to misinformation.

For teachers already struggling with other classroom demands, adding media literacy can seem like just one more obligation. But its a skill that is just as important as computer engineering or software coding for the future economy, said Erin McNeill, a Massachusetts mother who started Media Literacy Now, a national nonprofit that advocates for digital literacy education.

This is an innovation issue, McNeill said. Basic communication is part of our information economy, and there will be huge implications for our economy if we dont get this right.
JERUSALEM  One of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts, a nearly complete 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible, could soon be yours  for a cool $30 million.

The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment tome containing almost the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, is set to go on the block at Sothebys in New York in May. Its anticipated sale speaks to the still bullish market for art, antiquities and ancient manuscripts even in a worldwide bear economy.

Sothebys is drumming up interest in hopes of enticing institutions and collectors to bite. It has put the price tag at an eye-watering $30 million to $50 million.

On Wednesday, Tel Avivs ANU Museum of the Jewish People opened a weeklong exhibition of the manuscript, part of a whirlwind worldwide tour of the artifact in the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States before its expected sale.

There are three ancient Hebrew Bibles from this period, said Yosef Ofer, a professor of Bible studies at Israels Bar Ilan University: the Codex Sassoon and Aleppo Codex from the 10th century, and the Leningrad Codex, from the early 11th century.

Only the Dead Sea Scrolls and a handful of fragmentary early medieval texts are older, and an entire Hebrew Bible is relatively rare, he said.

Starting a few centuries before the Codex Sassoons creation, Jewish scholars known as Masoretes started codifying oral traditions of how to properly spell, pronounce, punctuate and chant the words of Judaisms holiest book. Unlike Torah scrolls, where the Hebrew letters are devoid of vowels and punctuation, these manuscripts contained extensive annotation instructing readers how to recite the words correctly.

Precisely where and when the Codex Sassoon was made remains uncertain. Sharon Liberman Mintz, a senior Judaica specialist at Sothebys, said that radiocarbon dating of the parchment gave an estimated date of 880 to 960. The codexs writing style suggests its creator was an unspecified early 10th-century scribe in Egypt or the Levant.

Its like the emergence of the biblical text as we know it today, Mintz said. Its so foundational not only for Judaism, but also for world culture.

Though its certainly ancient and rare, scholars say the Codex Sassoon doesnt match the pedigree and quality of its contemporary  the Aleppo Codex.

Any Masoretic scholar in their right mind would take the Aleppo Codex over the Sassoon Codex, without any regret or hesitation, said Kim Phillips, a Bible expert at the Cambridge University Library. He said the scribal quality was surprisingly sloppy compared to its counterpart.

The Aleppo Codex, dated to around 930, has been considered the gold standard of the Masoretic Bibles for around 1,000 years. The Codex Sassoons margins contain an annotation from a later scholar who says he checked its text against the Aleppo Codex  referring to the manuscript by the Arabic title a-Taj, the Crown.

The Aleppo Codex is more precise than the Sassoon Codex, theres no doubt, Ofer said. But because its missing (a third of its pages), in those parts that are absent, there is great significance to this manuscript. The Codex Sassoons 792 pages make up around 92% of the Hebrew Bible.

These venerable manuscripts were protected and treasured by Syrian Jewish communities for centuries until the 20th century. How the Sassoon Codex survived the ages is an epic in its own right.

A note on the manuscript attest to its owners in centuries past: A man named Khalaf ben Abraham gave it to Isaac ben Ezekiel al-Attar, who gave it to his sons Ezekiel and Maimon.

It later migrated east to the town of Makisin in whats today northeast Syria, where it was dedicated to a synagogue in the 13th century. Sometime in the following decades, the synagogue was destroyed and the codex entrusted to Salama ibn Abi al-Fakhr until the synagogue was rebuilt.

It never was rebuilt, but the book survived.

Its whereabouts for the next 500 years remain uncertain until it resurfaced in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1929, and was bought by a legendary collector of Jewish manuscripts whose name it still bears.

David Solomon Sassoon was a Bombay-born son of an Iraqi Jewish business magnate who filled his London home with a massive collection of Jewish manuscripts.

His capacity was astounding, both in terms of number but also in terms of what he was able to find, said Raquel Ukeles, head of collections at Israels National Library.

Sassoon roved across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa buying up old books, and by his death in 1942, he had amassed over 1,200 manuscripts.

Sassoons estate was broken up after he died and the codex was sold by Sothebys in Zurich in 1978 to the British Rail Pension Fund, which had started investing in art several years earlier, for around $320,000.

The pension fund flipped the Codex Sassoon 11 years later for 10 times its hammer price. Jacqui Safra, a banker and art collector, bought it in 1989 for $3.19 million and is now putting it up for auction.

If the target price is realized, the Codex Sassoon could not only eclipse the most expensive Jewish document ever sold  the 2021 sale of the Luzzatto Machzor, a 14th-century prayerbook, for $8.3 million. It also could break the record for the priciest historical document ever sold at public auction. That honor is currently held by a 1787 copy of the U.S. Constitution sold in 2021 for $43 million.

Yoel Finkelman, a former curator of Judaica at Israels National Library, said that prices for Judaica manuscripts have skyrocketed in recent years, but Sothebys proposed range is a different league.

Few institutions, and only a small handful of ultrawealthy collectors, could afford such a price tag. There is precedent, however, of museums joining forces to buy prized manuscripts or philanthropists donating their purchases to libraries and other bodies.

Ukeles said that the National Library managed to purchase seven of Sassoons manuscripts when his collection was auctioned off in the 1970s, but this one got away. And so for us, this is an opportunity to bring this great treasure home.
The body of a 46-year-old Tucson man was found in the street on the city's southeast side and police are investigating the death as a homicide.

The body of Gabriel Munoz was found about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the 2000 block of South Irving Avenue, near East 29th Street and South Alvernon Way, Tucson police said in a news release.

No details about how Munoz died have been released, but police did say the body showed "obvious signs of trauma."

Investigators are working to establish a motive and to find more witnesses, the release said.

Anyone with information is asked to call 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line.
Lincoln Journal Star. March 23, 2023.

Editorial: State needs to act to foster affordable housing

Nebraska has what soon may be an affordable housing crisis.

Already acute in Lincoln and Omaha, the affordable housing shortage extends across the state, where 70 of 93 counties experienced population losses in the 2020 census, some of that decline attributable to a lack of houses and apartments where residents can afford to live.

While the definition of exactly what affordable housing is and how it differs from workforce housing can be debated. But the need for additional housing for those who earn the states median income and below and those moving to the state already exists and is continuing to grow each year.

Sen. Jane Raybould, who dealt with affordable housing issues during her time on the Lincoln City Council, has proposed a bill, LB481, that aims at assisting cities and counties in their efforts to increase affordable housing by authorizing the issuance of special obligation bonds to finance public improvements to encourage development and renovation of affordable housing.

North Platte Telegraph. March 26, 2023.

Editorial: State chamber, OTOC urge worldwide net to lure workers

We offer cheers from greater Nebraska to two noted but not naturally allied metro groups for joining to rally Nebraskans to solve a mutual challenge.

Its the imperative need to bolster Nebraskas workforce, which The Telegraph and our longtime sister paper, the Scottsbluff Star-Herald, explored at length last Sunday.

The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry (led by Gering native Bryan Slone) and the faith-based advocacy group known as Omaha Together One Community are inviting disparate interest groups to join them in looking abroad to help fill nearly 50,000 jobs open as of January.

Theyre not talking about illegal immigration. Its Americas legal immigration system they have in mind.

That system, with its work visas and green cards, per-nation quotas and bountiful harvests of red tape, has yielded some talented, well-motivated new Nebraskans despite its flaws.

They include the multinational array of medical professionals Great Plains Health has recruited for some years.

They also include South African workers on Scotts Bluff County farms and ranches and people like 21st Century Equipment export manager Alex Tkachenko, who has shuttled between Scottsbluff-Gering and his native Ukraine for more than a decade.

It can take years to get such people here for a time. It takes more should they want to come back for good.

But once theyve tasted Nebraska, theyre more likely to return. Thus the state chambers and OTOCs conviction that we need to invite more and lobby Congress to make doing so easier.

With Sustainable Beef taking shape and related businesses expected, Lincoln Countys impending need for more workers is obvious.

But nearly 800 jobs already were going begging here in January, when the unemployment rate was 2%. Scotts Bluff County had almost 1,150 open jobs and a 2.6% jobless rate.

Its a similar story across the state. Weve got the jobs if we can find the people to fill them (and, by the way, build the housing theyll need).

Generations of immigrants built this nation and state. We could do far worse than to again invite eager world citizens to try out The Good Life.

McCook Gazette. March 21, 2023.

Editorial: Celebrating National Ag Day

Fewer and fewer of us live on the farm and are involved in direct ag production, but todays National Ag Day is a good time to remind us that, realize it or not, most of us have direct ties to the farmland that surrounds our communities.

We arent named the Cornhusker State for nothing; were near the top in corn exports and at the top in one of the major industries  beef  as well as others near the top, such as ethanol and hogs.

Nebraskas 10 leading commodities (in order of value) for 2021 cash receipts are cattle and calves, corn, soybeans, hogs, dairy products (milk), hay, wheat, misc. crops, chicken eggs, and dry edible beans.

Our farms and ranches utilize 44.8 million acres (18,129,916 ha), 92% of the states total land area.

Were fortunate to have aquifers below it. If poured over the surface of the state, the water in those aquifers would have a depth of 37.9 feet (11.6 meters).

Nearly 80,000 miles of rivers and streams add to Nebraskas bountiful natural resources.

There are 22 million acres (8,915,803 ha) of rangeland and pastureland in Nebraska, half of which are in the Sandhills.

In 2020, every dollar in agricultural exports generated $1.03 in economic activities such as transportation, financing, warehousing and production. Nebraskas $7.1 billion in agricultural exports in 2020 translates into $7.4 billion in additional economic activity.

Nebraskas top five agricultural exports in 2021 were soybeans and soybean products, corn, beef, ethanol, and pork.

Nebraska had 44,800 farms and ranches during 2021; the average operation consisted of 1,000 acres (405 ha).

In 2022, Nebraska ranked second in ethanol production capacity, with 24 operating plants having a production capacity of almost 2.5 billion gallons. Approximately 32% of Nebraskas 2022 corn crop was utilized in ethanol production.

Livestock or poultry operations were found on 48% of Nebraska farms.

Production of all our bounty finds its way to places like Japan, Mexico, China and South Korea, as well as many other makets.

If you make your living working on a farm, distributing agricultural products or supplying all the things it takes to keep a farm going, thank you.

If you dont work directly in agriculture, take a little time today to think about the miracle agricultural production involves  a magical mix of sunshine, soil and water combined with the hard work and ingenuity that makes it all possible.

END
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP)  The fiance of an art student who went missing nearly 12 years ago pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in her death during his initial court appearance Monday.

Bail was set at $1 million for John Carter, 34, of Hamilton, who was arrested Wednesday and remains in the Butler County Jail. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for April 4.

The charges stem from the August 2011 disappearance of Katelyn Markham, who was last seen at her home in Fairfield. At the time, Markham was a few weeks away from finishing her graphic arts degree at the Art Institute of OhioCincinnati, and Carter has said they were planning to move to Colorado later that year.

Skeletal remains identified as Markhams were found in 2013 in a wooded area in Cedar Grove, Indiana, about 20 miles (about 32 kilometers) west of her home in Fairfield. Authorities ruled her death a homicide.

In February, Jonathan Palmerton was arrested in connection with Markhams death on a felony perjury charge. That case remains active, authorities said, but specific details on why he was charged have not been disclosed.

This story has been corrected to delete details regarding a possible plea deal in the near future.
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP)  The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that all cases currently assigned to a Yavapai County Superior Court judge recently arrested on suspicion of extreme DUI will be reassigned to other judges.

The high court also said the Commission on Judicial Conduct will conduct any investigation it believes appropriate involving Cele Hancock, who was arrested by Prescott police on March 19.

After getting a call about a possibly impaired driver, police said Hancock was found parked outside a grocery store.

She drove off before being pulled over by a police officer.

According to police, Hancock showed signs of alcohol consumption and she failed several sobriety tests.

Police said breath tests showed Hancock initially had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.158% with later tests at 0.219% and 0.214% all far above Arizonas DUI threshold of 0.08% for drivers.

State law defines extreme DUI for drivers who have a blood-alcohol content of 0.15% or higher.

Police said Hancock was cited and released.

No person is above the law. This rule applies equally to judges, John Napper, the presiding judge of the Yavapai County court, said in a statement Monday. I am certain this criminal case will proceed as it would with anyone else. I also believe the Commission on Judicial Conduct will conduct a complete and thorough investigation, Napper added. The Yavapai County Superior Court is prepared to assist and cooperate with the commission to complete its work.

Hancock has been licensed to practice law in Arizona since 1996 and was first elected to the Yavapai County bench in 2010.

A call to Hancocks office Monday seeking comment on her case wasnt immediately returned.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill Monday that exempts military pay from state income taxes for active duty, National Guard and Reserve members.

Under this bill, North Dakota service members income taxes are estimated to drop by $4 million between 2023 and 2025, the governor's office said. Military pay includes federal costs for training, education, mobilization and bonuses as well as state pay when called to support an emergency on state active duty.

Burgum's office said military service members often live in states with exemptions for military pay or no income tax as their official state of residence.

He said by taking this action, "North Dakota is recognizing the sacrifice of military service and building on the momentum of our ongoing efforts to make ours the most military-friendly state in the nation, Burgum said.

State Sen. Scott Meyer of Grand Forks, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement that the bill will help active duty members and their families decide where to set their state residency. He also said it will assist with National Guard recruitment.

During testimony on the legislation, proponents said that 12 states have already exempted military pay from state income taxes, including Minnesota, and 14 states partially exempt it. Nine states have no income tax, including South Dakota.

North Dakota currently has about 5,500 National Guard and Reserve members and nearly 7,300 active duty service members, primarily at the Grand Forks Air Force Base and Minot Air Force Base, according to the Department of Defense.
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP)  The family of a toddler who was fatally shot by a police officer during a standoff last year between her father and law enforcement has filed a federal lawsuit over her death.

Kansas authorities have said that 2-year-old Clesslyn Crawford was shot by a Joplin, Missouri, police officer during a confrontation March 26, 2022, in Baxter Springs.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation had said Crawford's 37-year-old father, Eli Crawford, shot and killed the girl's mother, 27-year-old Taylor Dawn Shutte, and fired at officers for more than three hours before fatally shooting himself.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the girl's family sued the cities of Baxter Springs and Joplin along with Cherokee County and the unnamed officer who fired the shot that killed the toddler. The lawsuit said they were responsible for the girl's death.

Those cities and Cherokee County didn't immediately respond to calls from the newspaper seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Officers from the Joplin police department and Cherokee County sheriff's department responded to the standoff. Joplin is 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Baxter Springs.
Ever since Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro set foot in Oklahoma to collaborate on a film adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon, the big question has been this: When will the movie be released?

The answer arrived Monday, when Apple Original Films announced that Killers of the Flower Moon will open on a limited basis on Oct. 6 and open wide in theaters on Friday, Oct. 20, before streaming globally on Apple TV+.

The movie is based on David Granns best-selling book that depicts the serial murders of oil-rich members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s. The brutal crimes came to be known as the reign of terror.

Filming took place in Tulsa, Pawhuska, Fairfax and other Oklahoma towns in 2021. Sightseers flocked to Pawhuska, a primary filming location, to be eyewitnesses to the making of the film and to try to catch a glimpse of the films stars.

In addition to De Niro and DiCaprio, the Killers of the Flower Moon cast includes Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, Tantoo Cardinal, Jade Myers, Jillian Dion and JaNae Collins.

The Apple Studios film was directed by Scorsese and written for the screen by Eric Roth and Scorsese. Scorsese and the Killers of the Flower Moon team strove for authenticity and worked with the Osage tribe in that regard, the Tulsa World has reported.

Geoffrey Standing Bear, principal chief of the Osage Nation, said this in 2021: We didnt want it to be just the FBI story or just the Osage who were deceased. We wanted them to see our culture and see as us people. We want to hear our language.

A news release from Apple Original Films did not address widespread reports that Killers of the Flower Moon will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France. The 2023 Cannes Film Festival is scheduled for May 16 through May 27.

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In Tulsa World Magazines first issue dedicated to music, we wanted to go local. Not only is the local music scene alive today, but it also has deep roots.

Some of the biggest names in rock, country and pop got their first shot on the stages of Tulsa.

Tulsas own Paul Benjaman says it often: Music has always been Tulsas greatest natural resource.

While you do hear a lot of cover songs as you scan the music scene, you can also hear Tulsa bands playing songs written by other Tulsans. By other Oklahomans. Many are hits. Others are tunes that keep giving Tulsa a place on the schedule at the South by Southwest festival in Austin and other national stages.

"The Tulsa music scene is second to none," said Kevin Smith, co-owner of Maggie's Music Box in Jenks with his wife, Amy, who has spent the past 12 years booking bands in Tulsa. "You can go to Nashville and see up-and-comers who our guys would blow away."

So, in the home of legendary Cains Ballroom, perennial national arena of the year candidate BOK Center, century-old Tulsa Theater and state-of-the-art casino venues, we dispatched Scene Writer Grace Wood, Columnist Bill Haisten, Editor Jason Collington and Staff Photographers Ian Maule and Daniel Shular to find the smaller local stages, watch bands and talk to musicians who keep bringing the crowds. Here is your guide.
Election deadline: Early walk-in voting will be available Thursday and Friday at county election boards for several area school districts.

Districts with a seat on the April 4 ballot include Anderson, Berryhill, Bixby, Chelsea, Claremore Sequoyah, Inola, Mounds, Oologah-Talala, Sand Springs and Tulsa.

Candidate chat: The Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association and the League of Women Voters will host a TPS District 1 candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Webster High Schools television studio.

The event will also be livestreamed on the TCTA Facebook page.

With redistricting completed after the legally required boundaries were due to the Tulsa County Election Board, campuses within District 1 for this election include the entire Webster feeder pattern, plus Council Oak, Emerson and Wayman Tisdale elementary schools.

Teacher of the Year: Owasso Public Schools announced Thursday night that a special education teacher and a paraprofessional are its Teacher of the Year and Support Employee of the Year.

A special education teacher at Owasso High Schools East campus, Stephani Barger has been with the district for 17 years.

In addition to her duties as a paraprofessional at Ator Elementary, Ilia Barger helps with translation needs for the schools Spanish speaking families. She has been with the district for 15 years.

Looking for littles: Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten enrollment opens at 9 a.m. Monday for Jenks Public Schools. Students who completed pre-kindergarten with the district do not need to re-enroll.

Kiefer Public Schools is hosting pre-kindergarten roundup Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on an appointment basis. Families are asked to call the elementary school office at 918-321-5444 to schedule a time.

Owasso Public Schools will host pre-kindergarten and kindergarten kick start events Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Education Service Center, 1501 N. Ash. Representatives from up to two elementary schools will be on site each day to help with enrollment and conduct student readiness screenings.

Grant announcement: PSO announced Friday it was awarding 54 Teacher Vision Grants to educators across Oklahoma to underwrite classroom projects. Grant awards range from $160-$500.

Local recipients include teachers from Broken Arrow, Chouteau-Mazie, Grove, Jay, Jenks, Okmulgee and Oologah-Talala.

Jolene in Tahlequah: The Cherokee Nation announced Friday afternoon that it will partner with Lake Area United Way and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to provide a free book each month to children attending one of the tribes childcare sites.

Tribal officials said they hope to expand participation to include children born at a Cherokee Nation hospital and through the tribal citizenship registration process.

School board schedule: The boards of education for Berryhill, Tulsa Tech and Woodland are scheduled to meet Monday.

TPS board of education has a special meeting on Wednesday.
With the state missing out on some $63 million annually in federal student aid, officials are confident a proposed new requirement for high school seniors to complete applications will lead more of them to take advantage of it.

The new policy, referred to as universal FAFSA, is currently awaiting a state House vote on Senate Bill 93. It previously passed the Senate 37-8.

The policy, which would go into effect July 1, would make completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) a graduation requirement for the states public high school seniors unless they opt out.

I think the move is the right direction. The states that have done it have seen nice bumps in college-going rates, Allison Garrett, state higher education chancellor, said of the policy, which was a feature of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education 2023 legislative agenda.

Oklahoma currently ranks 45th in the country in FAFSA completion, she said.

We are leaving $63 million on the table every year that the government would give Oklahomans to go to higher ed, Garrett said. We just as a state walk away from it.

She added: We dont want this new policy to block a kid from graduating from high school, but we want to create the expectation that youre going to do this.

The move would be another step toward state leaders goal to up degree attainment. With the number of critical occupations requiring college degrees projected only to increase over the next five years in Oklahoma, just 26% of residents currently have a bachelors degree.

Like other states whove implemented universal FAFSA, Oklahoma students would be able to opt out of the requirement. Those who are 18 or older could opt out themselves. Otherwise, the opt-out form could be filled out by a parent or school counselor.

However, the regents are confident that by making FAFSA a requirement, many more students would end up completing it. And that, in turn, would lead to more of them pursuing degrees, while accumulating less debt.

For each $1,000 more in student aid, retention of that student increases by 4%, Garrett said. So if we get more of our students qualifying for FAFSA, it will drive more of those students into higher education. They will retain at higher rates. Theyll have lower levels of student debt upon completion.

A key benefit of FAFSA is access to federal Pell Grants, which are designed to assist students from low-income households and which, as grants, do not have to be repaid.

At the end of the day, were able to help more students complete a college degree, Garrett said. Theyre going to be financially much more secure and job-wise much more secure.

Time-intensive process

Tulsa-area public school officials are already believers in the value of FAFSA.

Were already on it, Krystal Hutchinson, director of postsecondary readiness for Tulsa Public Schools, said, adding that the district has made a priority of increasing completion, including it as a goal in a strategic plan adopted last year.

Weve been working really hard on it, she said. And were starting to see the benefits. Its something that we believe strongly in and we want to support our students in completing it.

Union Public Schools, likewise, has prioritized FAFSA.

John Federline, Union assistant superintendent, said: Its something we push really hard. Its one of the main roles of our college and career center (at Union High School).

While both districts welcome the idea of increasing FAFSA completion and agree that universal FAFSA can help, they have some concerns about the impact on their time and resources.

The Oklahoma law does not allocate any extra funding toward implementation.

In theory (universal FAFSA) is great, Federline said. However, Im a little bit wary of the practical day-to-day of what it would mean for our staff.

Emily Ashley, a Union college and career advisor, has helped many seniors successfully complete their FAFSA and secure financial aid.

It is very hands-on and time-intensive, she said. It takes a lot of time and manpower.

The application can take up to an hour to complete and requires personal financial and tax return information.

You cant just seat 30 kids in a classroom and expect them to walk through it, Ashley said. Every situation is different.

Tulsa-area FAFSA rates Estimated 2022-23 FAFSA completion percentages for a few Tulsa-area public school districts, per Federal Student Aid data. Berryhill: 50-54% Bixby: 70-74% Broken Arrow: 60-64% Jenks: 70-74% Owasso: 70-74% Sand Springs: 50-54% Sapulpa: 60-64% Tulsa Public Schools: 50-54% Union: 55-59%

Given their experience with FAFSA, Union officials say receiving extra funding is crucial.

I just think putting the resources at district level to help make that happen is the only way it could actually be successful, Ashley said.

Higher education leaders say once the policy is adopted they will be ready to support local schools however they can and help resolve resource issues.

Garrett said while the policy comes with no dedicated funding, the regents potentially could allocate monies from the general operations budget.

Well work to see exactly what sorts of support we can provide through our (higher ed) institutions and through the state regents office to help pull this off in a really positive way for the state of Oklahoma, she said.

We want to make sure that we roll this out right, and we have communication and the support that will be needed, Garrett said.

Dramatic jumps

Of the handful of states who have adopted universal FAFSA policies, all have seen increases in completion rates. For some, its been dramatic.

One of them, Alabama, rose from 34th in completion rates nationally to ninth. Texas, meanwhile, vaulted from 23rd to fifth.

In a recent National College Attainment Network report on universal FAFSA, the adopting states were asked about what theyve learned so far about implementation.

They stressed the importance of communication around the rollout of the policy, including with school officials and counselors and with the families and students who the requirement directly affects.

Also critical, they report, is access to resources and funds to support the effort.

Ahead of the Oklahoma bills likely passage, TPS officials are already looking to the examples of other states, Hutchinson said.

So that we can get ahead of the things that we need to be thinking about, weve been working with Impact Tulsa, she said. Theyre helping us to understand where these universal FAFSA policies have been enacted across the nation, and what works well and what doesnt work well.

TPS hopes the momentum its gained already in increasing FAFSA completion will help. Currently, each high school provides a minimum of two FAFSA nights a year and most offer more. Districtwide financial aid events are offered each semester.

Ashley said at Union, creating awareness and frequent opportunities have been key to FAFSA completion.

The district starts early informing students and families. A Financial Aid Night is offered once a semester, bringing in college professionals from financial aid offices.

Union also holds a FAFSA Week every year.

We set aside an entire week of our staff time and students come in and complete their FAFSA, Ashley said. We also offer weekly FAFSA help, so students have an opportunity every week to come in and get help.

As for higher education leaders, they hope universal FAFSA can contribute to another broader goal: raising awareness for more families that college is possible.

Garrett said: I still think there are a lot of students and parents who are saying yeah, its just not an option for us. They dont realize that between Oklahomas Promise (scholarship program) and Pell they could be getting $12,000 or more a year in assistance toward a higher education degree.

That would come close to covering the tuition and the fees at several of the institutions offering four-year degrees in the Tulsa area.

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Video: COVID-era grads skipping college over debt risks, jobs
OKLAHOMA CITY  A state lawmaker is pushing to shield the personal information of judges after his wife, a district court judge, faced a credible death threat as a result of her work.

As local judges say theyre facing a growing number of threats, Rep. Preston Stinson, R-Edmond, filed legislation that would allow current and retired members of the judiciary to petition state and local government agencies and private entities to prevent the public from viewing their personal information.

Under House Bill 2794, a judge could ask for personal information such as their home address, personal email address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security number, bank account details and license plate number to be marked private.

The legislation would also bar data brokers from knowingly selling the personal information of a judge or their immediate family members.

More focus has been put on the issues of judicial privacy and security after a 2020 incident in which a man disgruntled with a New Jersey judge arrived at her home disguised as a deliveryman and shot and killed her adult son.

More recently, the U.S. Supreme Courts Dobbs decision over the summer resulted in abortion rights protesters rallying outside several justices homes. In June, police also arrested an armed man outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaughs home who said he intended to kill the justice.

About two years ago, Stinson realized how many hoops judges have to jump through to shield their personal information when his wife, an Oklahoma County district court judge, faced a death threat.

When the man who made the threat was going to be charged, the Stinsons home address was initially included on the arrest warrant that would be a public record. Stinson said his wife ultimately had to get a court order to have their address removed from the paperwork.

Stinson said Oklahoma lawmakers appear to have more appetite to act on judicial privacy this year due to high-profile incidents in other states and Congress passing legislation to shield federal judges personal information online. About a dozen Oklahoma judges testified about threats they faced and their privacy concerns in a fall interim study Stinson hosted on this issue.

I feel like this issue has become more ripe in the past year, Stinson said.

Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, and Stinson proposed a similar bill last year that never cleared the Oklahoma House. Now, HB 2794 has passed the House and is headed to the Senate, although Stinson admitted hes still working out some of the details.

Stinson said he intends for HB 2794 to apply to all Oklahoma judges. The bill would allow judges to ask entities to shield the private information of their immediate family members, too.

As a spouse (and) family member of a judge, theoretically, I would be covered under this to have my information removed, Stinson said. I have no intention of doing that. Thats not what this was about.

Stinson also said he consulted with a House attorney before introducing the legislation that could pertain to his wife.

Judicial privacy is an issue across the country, said former Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, the states administrative director of the courts. She noted bills similar to Stinsons have been introduced in at least six states this year.

Some other states have already passed laws to restrict access to judges personal information, she said.

Threats against judicial officers at all levels are on the rise and have been, in my observation, the last three to five years, Askins said.

Oklahoma County District Court Judge Richard Ogden agreed, although he said he couldnt speculate as to why threats against judges are becoming more frequent.

There have been several instances in Oklahoma County where people have been charged with crimes for threatening a judges life. In some cases, judges have had to get local law enforcement stationed outside their homes due to credible threats, he said.

Ogden helps lead the legislative committee for the states Judicial Conference and is treasurer of the Oklahoma Judges Association. Both groups support Stinsons bill, which is based on model legislation, he said.

We felt that its important to try to do the best we could to protect our judicial personnel, Ogden said.

The Oklahoma Press Association is monitoring HB 2794, said Mark Thomas, the groups executive vice president. Thomas said he aims to tweak some of the bill language pertaining to media outlets reporting on judges and judicial conduct.

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The front half of Jasmine Stewarts north Tulsa living room is traditional. She has clean white sofas and a framed picture of her family, well-lit by skylights.

But for about nine hours each weekday, the back half is taken over by 10 children up to 4 years old. They play on a colorful mat, use a large table for arts and crafts, dig supplies and headphones out of totes lined up on a shelf, and sleep in cribs in her sunroom.

Stewart is among the 1,430 Oklahomans who operated a day care out of their home in any given month in 2022. These day cares make up the bulk of Tulsas 371 licensed child care businesses.

A north Tulsa native, Stewart said she entered the child care industry at age 18 with the goal of becoming a child psychiatrist. She decided to open her own facility in 2018.

(I) just wanted this to be my social work, my wraparound services to offer what I feel like I was called to do, Stewart said.

Data shows that providers like Stewart are already scarce, as 55% of the states population lives in what has been termed a child care desert. Zoning codes play a role in that scarcity, regulating where in-home child care like Stewarts can and cannot be offered.

To address the problem, a first-term state legislator from Tulsa has authored a bill that would prevent local governments from limiting child care capacities. Meanwhile, the Tulsa City Council is considering removing some local regulations, including one prohibiting day cares with more than seven children from operating in neighborhoods without a city board exemption.

At issue is whether municipalities can strike a balance that maintains the character of neighborhoods while increasing the availability of affordable, quality child care close to home.

Regulations in Tulsa

Almost half of Oklahomas 77 counties, including Tulsa, are defined as child care deserts, according to the Center for American Progress, which studies social issues including childcare. Last fall, the state Department of Human Services cited the groups national study, which applied a child care desert label to communities with fewer spots in licensed day cares than children who need them.

An Oklahoma Watch analysis of Department of Human Services data shows the majority of Tulsas in-home child care is concentrated in the citys north and west neighborhoods.

In November, the Tulsa City Council started its reconsideration process. Final recommendations havent been made, meaning that Stewart is still preparing to have to appear in front of the citys Board of Adjustment, which would expect her to prove that her business is in line with the spirit and intent of the zoning code and wont be injurious to the neighborhood or public welfare.

Requesting the exemption would also mean paying a $500 fee that equates to about two weeks of tuition for one student, and several hours away from work on a weekday.

The alternative  downsizing to seven kids to avoid the hassle  would mean breaking up friendships and letting go of two assistants who handle most teaching responsibilities and serve meals. For Stewart, whos always had the goal of growing her facility, it would feel like a return to square one.

Tammy Maus, the president of the Licensed Childcare Association of Oklahoma, said while the restrictions impacts on child care owners might be the most obvious, effects on parents can also be significant. She said many parents arent able to work if they dont have someone to care for their children, and some families prefer the flexible hours and tight-knit environments of in-home child care.

If Stewart decides to downsize, it would leave Jeryaun Perry and other parents vying for one of three fewer spots. And if Perry is unsuccessful, it would mean a disruption in his familys routine as they return to the frustrating search for child care.

Perry, 38, moved from Oklahoma City to Tulsa about five months ago and started searching for child care for his 1-year-old daughter, Lynnox, before finding Stewarts facility.

He said he was immediately impressed with her care and flexibility, and her business allows him and his wife to work from home, making it worth the 10-minute commute.

It was kind of a blessing that we were able to find (Stewart) at the time we were able to find her, Perry said. (If the zoning requirements arent changed), itd definitely be an injustice to a lot of families who definitely need the care.

Community concerns

About 100 community members wearing bright blue shirts in support of child care providers gathered at Rudisill Regional Library for a town hall last month hosted by Vanessa Hall-Harper, who represents north Tulsa on the City Council.

Jackie Evans sat near the front of the room, surrounded by other providers. Shes run a home-based child care in north Tulsa for about 23 years and said shes been able to keep her 12 slots full consistently because of her history in her community.

She said shell meet any requirements to maintain her enrollment, but other providers might not have those options. They already operate on slim margins and she fears that if theyre faced with too many obstacles, they might be discouraged from child care completely.

Crystal Pearson, a north Tulsa resident who said she lived across the street from an in-home child care before it moved a few weeks ago, sat on the edge of the room quietly for the first 20 minutes. But after questions about the origin of the regulations in the zoning code, she spoke up to say that she believes the goal of the city is to make sure businesses are operated safely, not to close down facilities.

The neighborhood is first  the people that live here, Pearson said. And if youre bringing something into the neighborhood thats going to be injurious or contradictory, that does not need to take place.

Pearson and two other neighbors filed a city complaint against the day care that she lived near in November 2021, prompting a city investigation and ultimately, the city councils zoning code review. Since the day care changed ownership 11 years ago, the neighborhood has experienced increased traffic and noise, she said.

Tara Tumey, who lived near the same day care, said families waiting to pick up their children often block the narrow neighborhood street. As president of her neighborhoods block club, she said she tried to advocate for older neighbors who might need quick access to emergency services.

Tumey said she believes theres value in having in-home child care in her community, adding that she went to two home-based centers as a child and enjoyed them. But she said loosening regulations on the facilities could put young lives at risk.

Solution proposed

State Rep. Suzanne Schreibers bill passed through the House on Tuesday but must still make it through the Senate. And if it dies before then, towns that want to streamline their own regulations will have to undergo a process like Tulsas.

DHS defines an in-home child care as one with seven kids or fewer, and a large child care home as one that has between eight and 12 kids. Its 99-page guide on licensing requirements includes information on caregiver qualifications, but it doesnt have many of the requirements that appear in some zoning codes, like specific lot size requirements.

Amy Friedlander, a consultant for the nonprofit consulting group Opportunities Exchange, said in-home child care regulations vary by state, and local restrictions often add a complicated layer. Some states have aimed to streamline their regulations.

A 2019 California law defines running an in-home child care as a residential use of property and bars local governments from requiring in-home child care owners to get a business license or pay a fee or tax. A 2021 Colorado law requires local governments to zone in-home child care as residential homes and bans them from implementing rules that dont apply to other residential properties.

Schreiber said she doesnt intend to prevent city governments in Oklahoma from creating regulations that limit noise and traffic in neighborhoods. She wants to stop them from acting as DHS, which she said most local governments dont want to do anyway. In Tulsa, that would mean getting rid of the requirement that larger in-home day cares ask for a special exception, she said.

DHS knows kids and how to keep kids safe, said Schreiber, a former Tulsa Public Schools board member. As a state, weve entrusted (the) authority to do that licensing process. Thats where weve put that  not on a local zoning board.

Zoning codes in other Oklahoma towns differ from Tulsa. Yukon and McAlester requirements align with DHS capacity limits. Edmond doesnt allow day cares with more than eight kids to operate in residential areas, city spokesperson Bill Begley said. He also said the city hasnt received any complaints from child care providers about the capacity limits, and it will adjust its requirements based on any laws that pass.

Schreiber said she plans to continue acting as an advocate for in-home child care providers regardless of the bills fate.

For them to be able to be there for their kids but try to fight a zoning law  I dont want that for them, Schreiber said. I want them to be there and be able to take care of their kids and earn money for it.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  A proposal regarding THC potency limits is among several bills regulating medical marijuana still alive this session after being advanced from their respective chambers of origin.

Senate Bill 440, by Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan, would direct the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to create rules limiting the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potency of medical marijuana and related products sold in dispensaries.

The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 43 to 4 and heads to the House for consideration.

After the failure of a state question proposing to legalize recreational marijuana, Gov. Kevin Stitt said it showed voters thought more regulation of medical marijuana was needed.

According to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummonds office, the state has witnessed an explosion of marijuana growers since the 2018 legalization of medical marijuana, which has been a Trojan horse for organized criminals.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs Control estimates that nearly half of the states 6,229 marijuana grow operations are illegal, Drummonds office said.

Oklahomas illegal marijuana grow operations pose a serious threat to public safety, particularly in rural communities invaded by organized criminals from China and Mexico, Drummond said.

In addition to proposing limits to the potency of cannabis products made available in Oklahoma, Garvin has authored measures related to obtaining a patient license.

SB 439 would require the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to issue a list of qualifying medical conditions needed for a minor to successfully apply for a patient card.

The state question that legalized medical marijuana did not list which conditions would be necessary to seek a physicians recommendation for treatment using cannabis.

Telemedicine appointments with niche providers have grown in popularity since Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana. Garvin proposes doctors be required to conduct an in-person exam of minor applicants, with exceptions for those who are home-bound.

That measure, part of SB 439, passed the Senate by a vote of 43-4 and heads to the House.

The so called pre-pack proposal from Garvin would require growers and processors to sell only pre-packaged cannabis items to dispensaries in most cases. SB 645 passed by a vote of 39-6 and heads to the House for consideration.

Another bill heading to the House for consideration, Garvins SB 264 would authorize the OMMA to use secret shoppers to find businesses out of compliance with the states marijuana laws and rules.

SB 808, by Sen. Joe Newhouse, R-Tulsa, would allow OMMAs executive director to shut down a licensee for an emergency, without notice or a hearing, if needed to protect the environment.

Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said she was concerned about the lack of definitions in the bill, adding the director would be given broad discretion. She said it was not clear what would meet the level of emergency.

The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 38-9 and heads to the House for consideration.

SB 913, by Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, would require commercial growers to obtain at least a $50,000 bond to ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations. The point would be to defray the cost of any necessary restoration of the property, including removing equipment, destruction of waste and remediation of environmental hazards.

Growers who have owned the land for five years before submitting an application would be exempt.

The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 42-5 and heads to the House for consideration.

SB116, by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, would prevent new growing operations from within 1,000 feet of a place of worship.

The measure passed the Senate by a vote of 34-10 and heads to the House for consideration.

This will create a very confusing environment for business owners and misses the mark on what is trying to get done here, Kirt said.

She called it a very reckless approach.

SB 80, by Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, would allow municipalities to prohibit medical marijuana businesses from certain areas. Businesses in operation prior to the law could continue to operate with a license.

Coleman said the measure provides local control.

The measure passed by a vote of 45-5 and heads to the House for consideration.

HB 1616, by Rep. Rande Worthen, R-Lawton, requires any elected or appointed state, county or municipal official to disclose conflicts of interest or ownership interests in the medical marijuana business to OMMA.

The bill passed by a vote of 65-29 and heads to the Senate for consideration.

HB 1711, by Rep. T.J. Marti, R-Broken Arrow, would require growers to report their monthly usage of electricity and water to the Oklahoma Medical marijuana Authority.

Supporters have said the measurer is needed to ensure growers are producing the amount of plants they said they would raise and not more.

The measure passed the House by a vote of 88-0 and heads to the Senate for consideration.

HB 1347, by Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, would require OMMA to competitively bid for a seed-to-sale inventory tracking system. A lawsuit related to the states current vendor, Metrc, has yet to be resolved.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 84-6 and is pending in the Senate.

A related measure, SB 177, would have required OMMA to provide no less than three and no more than five inventory tracking systems selected by competitive bidding. The measure died in the Senate.

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10 things that are still illegal under Oklahoma's medical marijuana laws Cant get a prescription for marijuana Cant use marijuana in the workplace or be impaired on the job Cant transport marijuana across state lines Can't get a doctor's recommendation inside a dispensary Can't try the product while shopping Cant smoke marijuana where tobacco also prohibited Can't give marijuana away Cant drive while impaired on marijuana Cant possess an excessive amount of marijuana Can't smoke where you're told not to Check out our latest digital-only offer and subscribe now
The 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd's seminal album 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' is being celebrated across the globe.

The remastered deluxe box set of the 1973 record has been released today (24.03.23) to mark the seminal LP's major milestone.

Plus fans can get their hands on the CD and first-ever vinyl issue of 'The Dark Side Of The Moon - Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974', and the book 'Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon: 50th Anniversary'.

To further mark the occasion, in New York, the iconic Empire State Building will be illuminated with the band's 50th Anniversary prism spectrum artwork, which will spin in its mast. The display will start at sunset tonight (24.03.23) and will be seen throughout the city. Those not in the Big Apple can view it from the Empire State Building Live Cam.

Meanwhile, in Italy, a light show at Milan's Duomo square saw the prism cover 500 square meters, plus the rainbow ray of lights and the white beam, from 8pm on Thursday (23.03.23).

Fans are also able to have an immersive experience listening to 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' at planetariums across the globe.

On what to expect, a press release notes: "Each song has a different theme; some futuristically looking forward and some a retro acknowledgment to Pink Floyd's visual history, all relating to a time and space experience, embracing up to the minute technology that only a Planetarium can offer. A truly immersive and all-encompassing surround sound and visual treat that will transcend reality and take you way beyond the realms of 2D experience."
Stretching out on the world's best beach won't come easy. Baia do Sancho is accessible only by boat or via ladders descending down steep cliffs to the golden sand below.

The beach is in Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago some 220 miles (354 kilometers) off the coast of mainland Brazil, part of the country's Pernambuco state. Visitors to the islands arrive by plane or boat.

Getting there takes some doing, but what awaits tenacious travelers is worth the effort, according to its new Tripadvisor ranking. Baia do Sancho is the world's best stretch of shoreline for 2023, according to the travel site's annual list of the world's best beaches, which was released on Tuesday.

Last year, Baia do Sancho was No. 7 on the list.

The beaches list is part of Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice Awards, which are determined based on millions of reviews submitted by travelers over the course of 2022.

Tripadvisor looks at the quality and quantity of ratings in determining the rankings.

The rest of the best

The Caribbean earns three spots in the 2023 top 10, including No. 2 Eagle Beach in Aruba, No. 5 Grace Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos and No. 9 Varadero Beach in Cuba. Last year, Grace Bay and Varadero beaches were ranked first and second, respectively. Eagle Beach was No. 5 in 2022.

The top 10 list also includes one beach in the United States -- Maui's Ka'anapali Beach at No. 10. The beach ranks first on Tripadvisor's separate list of top 10 US beaches for 2023. Ka'anapali didn't make it into the top 10 on the global list in 2022 and was No. 17 on the US list last year.

Located on the island's western shore, Ka'anapali boasts three miles of white sand and a famed cliff diving ritual at Puu Kekaa, or Black Rock. Each evening at sunset, torches along the cliff are lit by a diver who then plunges off the rock in a reenactment of a feat by Maui's King Kahekili.

Europe has three beaches in the 2023 top 10 -- Reynisfjara Beach in Vik, Iceland, at No. 4, Praia da Falesia in Olhos de Agua, Portugal, at No. 6 and Italy's Spiaggia dei Conigli at No.8. Only one of the three also appeared in 2022's top 10 -- Spiaggia dei Conigli in Sicily was No. 10 in 2022.

The white crescent and shallow turquoise waters of Spiaggia dei Conigli on Sicily's Lampedusa island are a sharp contrast to the black sand, deep blue water and striking geometric basalt column formations of Reynisfjara Beach, which appeared in "Game of Thrones."

Australia earns one slot in the top 10, with No. 3 Cable Beach in Broome, located in Western Australia's Kimberley region. One of Broome's most sought-after experiences is a sunset camel ride along this 14-mile (22-kilometer) stretch of Indian Ocean coastline. Cable Beach was No. 11 on last year's global list.

No. 7 Radhanagar Beach on Havelock Island (Swarag Dweep) in the Andamans represents India on the list. The beach drops one slot from its No. 6 ranking in 2022.

Top 10 beaches in the world for 2023, according to Tripadvisor

1. Baia do Sancho - Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

2. Eagle Beach - Aruba, Caribbean

3. Cable Beach - Broome, Australia

4. Reynisfjara Beach - Vik, Iceland

5. Grace Bay Beach - Turks and Caicos, Caribbean

6. Praia da Falesia - Olhos de Agua, Portugal

7. Radhanagar Beach - Havelock Island, India

8. Spiaggia dei Conigli - Sicily, Italy

9. Varadero Beach - Cuba, Caribbean

10. Ka'anapali Beach - Maui, Hawaii

***

Top 10 beaches in the US for 2023, according to Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor has a separate list devoted to US beaches.

In the United States, Hawaii had the strongest showing with three beaches in the top 10, while Florida and California both had two. Beaches in Georgia, Oregon and Maine were also among Tripadvisor's top 10.

1. Ka'anapali Beach - Maui, Hawaii

2. Siesta Beach - Siesta Key, Florida

3. Driftwood Beach - Jekyll Island, Georgia

4. Hanalei Beach - Kauai, Hawaii

5. Ho'okipa Beach Park - Maui, Hawaii

6. Henderson Beach State Park - Destin, Florida

7. Cannon Beach - Cannon Beach, Oregon

8. Coronado Beach - Coronado, California

9. Ogunquit Beach - Ogunquit, Maine

10. La Jolla Cove - La Jolla, California
Many Australian firms have tapped into the Vietnamese market due to Vietnams strengthened political security, apart from an efficient anti-corruption crackdown, heard a seminar on Vietnam-Australia education, culture, and cuisine promotion in Hanoi on Monday. The Australian side strongly believes that Vietnam will further improve transparency and the investment climate. The event, jointly organized by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Hanoi authorities, and many enterprises, acted as a start for a series of similar seminars to be held in five cities and provinces this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Australia. An Austrade representative delivers a presentation on the performance of the Vietnam-Australia partnership in 2022. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre Australia picks Vietnam as an investment destination thanks to political security Eliza Chui, a representative of Austrade, said that many factors had encouraged Australian firms to do business in Vietnam, including the countrys political security, rapid post-COVID-19 recovery, golden population, anti-corruption efforts, and transparency. Vietnam is Southeast Asias sixth-largest economy, while the nation is home to 291 industrial parks, making it more attractive to foreign investors, said Chui. After the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese people tend to pay attention to their health, so they are willing to seek high-quality products, smoothing the path for Australian exports. Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Australia totaled some 23.5 billion Australian dollars (US$15.6 billion) in 2022, making Australia Vietnams seventh-largest trade partner. Meanwhile, Vietnam became Australias 10th-biggest trade partner. Furthermore, Vietnam is Australias fifth-largest education partner, sending 27,000 Vietnamese students to Australia and seeing over 8,000 students pursuing degrees at Australia-invested universities in the Southeast Asian country. Two-way trade in the agro-forestry-fishery sector reached a new record of six billion Australian dollars (US$3.9 billion) last year. Tony Harman, Australian agriculture counselor at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, delivers a speech at the seminar. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre Australia set to import Vietnamese grapefruit, passion fruit Tony Harman, Australian agriculture counselor at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on the sidelines of the seminar that the event was not only aimed at introducing Australian products to Vietnamese customers, but also at creating a chance for Australian firms to learn more about and buy Vietnamese farm produce. Many Vietnamese agricultural products are being shipped to Australia, including dried, frozen, and fresh produce. The Vietnamese shrimp is a much sought-after product in Australia and has gained a dominant position on the market, said Harman. We are working to import grapefruit and passion fruit from Vietnam to diversify fresh fruits on the Australian market and provide Australian customers with Vietnams high-quality products, he revealed. Australia is focusing on marketing honey products, kangaroo meat, deer meat, peaches, cranberries, and baby formulas to the Vietnamese market. In addition, Australia will make life easier for the import of Vietnamese shrimp, passion fruit, and grapefruit, while issuing certificates to Vietnams food irradiation and disinfection facilities. In response to a topic about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two countries last year on sending Vietnamese workers to Australia for work in agriculture, Harman said that both sides were stepping up efforts to implement the memo, and will issue further notice in the near future. As per the MOU signed in March last year, Australia will issue agricultural visas and receive nearly 1,000 farm workers from Vietnam each year. However, in September last year, Australia announced the suspension of agricultural visas. Instead, the Australian government shifted to a program with a focus on workers from Pacific island nations and Timor Leste. Representatives of Australian firms have a discussion with their partners on the sidelines of the seminar. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been committed to continuing to follow all agreements with Vietnam, while the two countries are in the process of discussing the implementation of these deals. The series of seminars on Vietnam-Australia education, culture, and cuisine promotion is part of the activities to celebrate 50 years of the two countries relations. After the event in Hanoi, other seminars will kick off in Hue and Da Nang in March, and in Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, and Can Tho in September. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Many Australian firms have tapped into the Vietnamese market due to Vietnams strengthened political security, apart from an efficient anti-corruption crackdown, heard a seminar on Vietnam-Australia education, culture, and cuisine promotion in Hanoi on Monday.

The Australian side strongly believes that Vietnam will further improve transparency and the investment climate.

The event, jointly organized by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Hanoi authorities, and many enterprises, acted as a start for a series of similar seminars to be held in five cities and provinces this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Australia.

An Austrade representative delivers a presentation on the performance of the Vietnam-Australia partnership in 2022. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre

Australia picks Vietnam as an investment destination thanks to political security

Eliza Chui, a representative of Austrade, said that many factors had encouraged Australian firms to do business in Vietnam, including the countrys political security, rapid post-COVID-19 recovery, golden population, anti-corruption efforts, and transparency.

Vietnam is Southeast Asias sixth-largest economy, while the nation is home to 291 industrial parks, making it more attractive to foreign investors, said Chui.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese people tend to pay attention to their health, so they are willing to seek high-quality products, smoothing the path for Australian exports.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Australia totaled some 23.5 billion Australian dollars (US$15.6 billion) in 2022, making Australia Vietnams seventh-largest trade partner.

Meanwhile, Vietnam became Australias 10th-biggest trade partner.

Furthermore, Vietnam is Australias fifth-largest education partner, sending 27,000 Vietnamese students to Australia and seeing over 8,000 students pursuing degrees at Australia-invested universities in the Southeast Asian country.

Two-way trade in the agro-forestry-fishery sector reached a new record of six billion Australian dollars (US$3.9 billion) last year.

Tony Harman, Australian agriculture counselor at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, delivers a speech at the seminar. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre

Australia set to import Vietnamese grapefruit, passion fruit

Tony Harman, Australian agriculture counselor at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on the sidelines of the seminar that the event was not only aimed at introducing Australian products to Vietnamese customers, but also at creating a chance for Australian firms to learn more about and buy Vietnamese farm produce.

Many Vietnamese agricultural products are being shipped to Australia, including dried, frozen, and fresh produce.

The Vietnamese shrimp is a much sought-after product in Australia and has gained a dominant position on the market, said Harman.

We are working to import grapefruit and passion fruit from Vietnam to diversify fresh fruits on the Australian market and provide Australian customers with Vietnams high-quality products, he revealed.

Australia is focusing on marketing honey products, kangaroo meat, deer meat, peaches, cranberries, and baby formulas to the Vietnamese market. In addition, Australia will make life easier for the import of Vietnamese shrimp, passion fruit, and grapefruit, while issuing certificates to Vietnams food irradiation and disinfection facilities.

In response to a topic about the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two countries last year on sending Vietnamese workers to Australia for work in agriculture, Harman said that both sides were stepping up efforts to implement the memo, and will issue further notice in the near future.

As per the MOU signed in March last year, Australia will issue agricultural visas and receive nearly 1,000 farm workers from Vietnam each year.

However, in September last year, Australia announced the suspension of agricultural visas. Instead, the Australian government shifted to a program with a focus on workers from Pacific island nations and Timor Leste.

Representatives of Australian firms have a discussion with their partners on the sidelines of the seminar. Photo: Duy Linh / Tuoi Tre

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been committed to continuing to follow all agreements with Vietnam, while the two countries are in the process of discussing the implementation of these deals.

The series of seminars on Vietnam-Australia education, culture, and cuisine promotion is part of the activities to celebrate 50 years of the two countries relations.

After the event in Hanoi, other seminars will kick off in Hue and Da Nang in March, and in Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, and Can Tho in September.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park J.V. Co. (VSIP) on Saturday signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with nine Vietnamese provinces to develop smart and sustainable industrial parks (IPs). VSIP is a joint venture between Becamex IDC Corporation, under the Peoples Committee of Binh Duong, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, and Sembcorp Development Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapores Sembcorp Industries, a leading energy and urban solution provider. The signing ceremony was part of the 'Binh Duong: Initiation - Connection - New Development' program, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, leaders of ministries, agencies and localities, and hundreds of investors. It was also an expansion of a broader MOU between Becamex and Sembcorp Development inked during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs state visit to Singapore early last month. Smart and sustainable IPs will be considered in nine provinces, including Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh, and Nam Dinh, based on the VSIP model in Binh Duong. Deputy PM Khai hailed the green industrial park model, the association of industrial development with urban areas and services, and the synchronicity of traffic and social infrastructure in Binh Duong Province. This helps Binh Duong, together with Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provinces, become key pillars of the southern key economic zone and contribute significantly to the state budget and Vietnams development. The deputy prime minister asked the nine provinces to learn from Binh Duongs experience in developing Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in the coming time, especially in site clearance to prevent complaints and lawsuits and ensure benefits for enterprises, the state, and local residents. Vo Van Minh, chairman of the Binh Duong Peoples Committee, said the province would cooperate closely with the nine provinces and accompany investors and enterprises to develop industrial park projects soon. They will jointly mull over the conversion from IPs in association with urban areas and services to smart service urban areas, enhance the application of science and technology to increase the added values of products, and bring practical benefits to enterprises and residents. Leaders of Binh Duong Province and nine other provinces and Singaporean partners sign memoranda of understanding to develop more VSIPs in Vietnam. Photo: Ba Son / Tuoi Tre Earlier on the same day, Deputy PM Khai and his governmental delegation visited the VSIP 1 in Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province. This is the first VSIP which was developed in 1996 and covers an area of 500 hectares. VSIP last month obtained approval from the Vietnamese government to set up its second IP in the north-central province of Nghe An, or its 13th IP in Vietnam. Among the 12 operating VSIPs, three are located in Binh Duong and the remaining facilities are in Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Quang Ngai, and Can Tho, among others. These industrial parks, with a total area of more than 10,000 hectares, have attracted about US$18.4 billion in investment from 882 investors from 30 countries and territories, and created jobs for around 288,000 workers. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai (first row, L) and delegates listen to an introduction on the first VSIP in Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province on March 25, 2023. Photo: Q.T. / Tuoi Tre The Binh Duong Peoples Committee on Saturday also handed over investment certificates to enterprises. In the year to March 15, the province attracted $437 million in foreign direct investment, raising the total foreign investment so far in the province to $39.7 billion, poured into nearly 4,100 projects. The province also concluded cooperation agreements with large domestic firms, such as Deo Ca, Sungroup and FPT, to develop infrastructure, hospitality tourism, and digital transformation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Park J.V. Co. (VSIP) on Saturday signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with nine Vietnamese provinces to develop smart and sustainable industrial parks (IPs).

VSIP is a joint venture between Becamex IDC Corporation, under the Peoples Committee of Binh Duong, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, and Sembcorp Development Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapores Sembcorp Industries, a leading energy and urban solution provider.

The signing ceremony was part of the 'Binh Duong: Initiation - Connection - New Development' program, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, leaders of ministries, agencies and localities, and hundreds of investors.

It was also an expansion of a broader MOU between Becamex and Sembcorp Development inked during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs state visit to Singapore early last month.

Smart and sustainable IPs will be considered in nine provinces, including Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Ha Tinh, Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh, and Nam Dinh, based on the VSIP model in Binh Duong.

Deputy PM Khai hailed the green industrial park model, the association of industrial development with urban areas and services, and the synchronicity of traffic and social infrastructure in Binh Duong Province.

This helps Binh Duong, together with Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provinces, become key pillars of the southern key economic zone and contribute significantly to the state budget and Vietnams development.

The deputy prime minister asked the nine provinces to learn from Binh Duongs experience in developing Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in the coming time, especially in site clearance to prevent complaints and lawsuits and ensure benefits for enterprises, the state, and local residents.

Vo Van Minh, chairman of the Binh Duong Peoples Committee, said the province would cooperate closely with the nine provinces and accompany investors and enterprises to develop industrial park projects soon.

They will jointly mull over the conversion from IPs in association with urban areas and services to smart service urban areas, enhance the application of science and technology to increase the added values of products, and bring practical benefits to enterprises and residents.

Leaders of Binh Duong Province and nine other provinces and Singaporean partners sign memoranda of understanding to develop more VSIPs in Vietnam. Photo: Ba Son / Tuoi Tre

Earlier on the same day, Deputy PM Khai and his governmental delegation visited the VSIP 1 in Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province. This is the first VSIP which was developed in 1996 and covers an area of 500 hectares.

VSIP last month obtained approval from the Vietnamese government to set up its second IP in the north-central province of Nghe An, or its 13th IP in Vietnam.

Among the 12 operating VSIPs, three are located in Binh Duong and the remaining facilities are in Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Quang Ngai, and Can Tho, among others.

These industrial parks, with a total area of more than 10,000 hectares, have attracted about US$18.4 billion in investment from 882 investors from 30 countries and territories, and created jobs for around 288,000 workers.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai (first row, L) and delegates listen to an introduction on the first VSIP in Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province on March 25, 2023. Photo: Q.T. / Tuoi Tre

The Binh Duong Peoples Committee on Saturday also handed over investment certificates to enterprises.

In the year to March 15, the province attracted $437 million in foreign direct investment, raising the total foreign investment so far in the province to $39.7 billion, poured into nearly 4,100 projects.

The province also concluded cooperation agreements with large domestic firms, such as Deo Ca, Sungroup and FPT, to develop infrastructure, hospitality tourism, and digital transformation.

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The first direct flight from Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan to Da Nang City, central Vietnam landed on Sunday following a long COVID-induced hiatus, carrying some 180 Japanese tourists to the central Vietnamese coastal city. The VN319 flight operated by Vietnams national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines touched down at Da Nang International Airport at 2:25 pm, marking Japans reopening of regular international air routes to Da Nang. Da Nang tourism authorities, Vietnam Airlines, Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation JSC, and other relevant agencies held an artistic performance to welcome these Japanese travelers. The tourists were also offered souvenirs. Three of them received three return air tickets for the Narita - Da Nang route from Vietnam Airlines as well. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan was a leading source market of Da Nangs tourism. Nguyen Xuan Binh, deputy director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that there will be more flights carrying Japanese tourists to Da Nang in the near future. The three luckiest passengers of the flight receive return air tickets from Vietnam Airlines. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre According to the department, Japan is a key source market for Da Nang with stable growth. In 2019, the number of Japanese tourist arrivals to Da Nang reached over 183,000, almost double the 92,000 arrivals in 2015. Since Vietnam reopened its doors to international tourists in March last year, the city has welcomed some 27,000 Japanese visitors, news site Vietnamplus reported. Vietnam Airlines reported that four flights per week will be operated on the Narita - Da Nang air route between March and June this year. The frequency will rise to seven flights per week from July to boost tourism and trade exchange between Japan and the central region of Vietnam. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

The first direct flight from Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan to Da Nang City, central Vietnam landed on Sunday following a long COVID-induced hiatus, carrying some 180 Japanese tourists to the central Vietnamese coastal city.

The VN319 flight operated by Vietnams national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines touched down at Da Nang International Airport at 2:25 pm, marking Japans reopening of regular international air routes to Da Nang.

Da Nang tourism authorities, Vietnam Airlines, Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation JSC, and other relevant agencies held an artistic performance to welcome these Japanese travelers.

The tourists were also offered souvenirs. Three of them received three return air tickets for the Narita - Da Nang route from Vietnam Airlines as well.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan was a leading source market of Da Nangs tourism.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, deputy director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that there will be more flights carrying Japanese tourists to Da Nang in the near future.

The three luckiest passengers of the flight receive return air tickets from Vietnam Airlines. Photo: Tan Luc / Tuoi Tre

According to the department, Japan is a key source market for Da Nang with stable growth.

In 2019, the number of Japanese tourist arrivals to Da Nang reached over 183,000, almost double the 92,000 arrivals in 2015.

Since Vietnam reopened its doors to international tourists in March last year, the city has welcomed some 27,000 Japanese visitors, news site Vietnamplus reported.

Vietnam Airlines reported that four flights per week will be operated on the Narita - Da Nang air route between March and June this year.

The frequency will rise to seven flights per week from July to boost tourism and trade exchange between Japan and the central region of Vietnam.

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Ca Mau, the southernmost province in Vietnam, will organize a shrimp festival for the first time in early June this year, which will incorporate multiple activities such as forums, seminars, exhibitions, and cooking contests featuring a myriad of shrimp dishes. The shrimp festival is the largest and most anticipated event under the provinces 'Ca Mau-Destination 2023' program to promote local tourism. The provincial tourism authority is rolling up its sleeves for the launch of the program, said Tran Hieu Hung, director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Ca Mau. Aside from the shrimp festival, the southern province will host a hot-air balloon fest and a southern-style traditional sweet food festival. The previous edition of the program last year attracted more than 159,000 tourist arrivals, generating over VND108 billion (US$4.6 million) in tourism revenue for the province. Ca Mau leads the nation in shrimp farming area, at roughly 276,000 hectares with an annual output of over 220,000 metric tons. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Ca Mau, the southernmost province in Vietnam, will organize a shrimp festival for the first time in early June this year, which will incorporate multiple activities such as forums, seminars, exhibitions, and cooking contests featuring a myriad of shrimp dishes.

The shrimp festival is the largest and most anticipated event under the provinces 'Ca Mau-Destination 2023' program to promote local tourism.

The provincial tourism authority is rolling up its sleeves for the launch of the program, said Tran Hieu Hung, director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Ca Mau.

Aside from the shrimp festival, the southern province will host a hot-air balloon fest and a southern-style traditional sweet food festival.

The previous edition of the program last year attracted more than 159,000 tourist arrivals, generating over VND108 billion (US$4.6 million) in tourism revenue for the province.

Ca Mau leads the nation in shrimp farming area, at roughly 276,000 hectares with an annual output of over 220,000 metric tons.

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A new pedestrian street is now open to the public along Hai Ba Trung Street in Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province, making it the third of its kind to be launched in this central Vietnamese city. The Hue government on Sunday evening held an opening ceremony for the third pedestrian street, which is aimed at serving tourists on the weekend. The ceremony gathered thousands of visitors who came to experience traditional folk games and enjoy a wide selection of foods. This one-kilometer-long Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street costs roughly VND97 billion (US$4.1 million) in investment. The stone-paved route boasts various plants and a lighting system. Throngs of visitors stroll along the newly-launched Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street in Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province, central Vietnam. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Hoang Minh, a resident of Hue City, said what he liked most about this new pedestrian street was that the entire route is nicely paved with stones, instead of asphalt. This route at night will be as busy as Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, he said. Vo Le Nhat, chairman of the Hue City Peoples Committee, said the operation of Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street on the weekend is expected to promote night tourism in Hue, which is dubbed the 'city of festivals.' The citys administration also set up many stalls showcasing traditional crafts on this pedestrian street, the official added. The Hue administration had earlier launched a pedestrian street inside the Hue Imperial Citadel and another one in the backpacker area linking Chu Van An, Vo Thi Sau, and Pham Ngu Lao Streets. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

A new pedestrian street is now open to the public along Hai Ba Trung Street in Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province, making it the third of its kind to be launched in this central Vietnamese city.

The Hue government on Sunday evening held an opening ceremony for the third pedestrian street, which is aimed at serving tourists on the weekend.

The ceremony gathered thousands of visitors who came to experience traditional folk games and enjoy a wide selection of foods.

This one-kilometer-long Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street costs roughly VND97 billion (US$4.1 million) in investment.

The stone-paved route boasts various plants and a lighting system.

Throngs of visitors stroll along the newly-launched Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street in Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province, central Vietnam. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Hoang Minh, a resident of Hue City, said what he liked most about this new pedestrian street was that the entire route is nicely paved with stones, instead of asphalt.

This route at night will be as busy as Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, he said.

Vo Le Nhat, chairman of the Hue City Peoples Committee, said the operation of Hai Ba Trung Pedestrian Street on the weekend is expected to promote night tourism in Hue, which is dubbed the 'city of festivals.'

The citys administration also set up many stalls showcasing traditional crafts on this pedestrian street, the official added.

The Hue administration had earlier launched a pedestrian street inside the Hue Imperial Citadel and another one in the backpacker area linking Chu Van An, Vo Thi Sau, and Pham Ngu Lao Streets.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
This week on Back in Time for the Corner Shop, its the 1970s and the Ferrones humble corner store has transformed to be more like todays mixed business convenience store, the hours are long and competition is fierce.

Activism is at an all-time high with youth and women using their voice to fight for equality and liberation. While newspapers deliver the news thrice daily, Cleo magazine is at the forefront of encouraging gender equality with racy male centrefolds and rule- breaking female fashions. In this episode, Ita Buttrose, former editor of Cleo magazine outlines how the magazine challenged the status quo.

As a nation, our attention shifts to health with the reduction in tobacco advertising, and smoking, but a rise in processed foods has an impact on the national waistline.

Trailblazing womens surf champ Pam Burridge inspires Sienna to stand tall on a surfboard.

Demtel TV salesman Tim Shaw gives the Ferrones tips on the art of upselling in the face of rising competition from supermarkets.

And Socceroo Craig Foster educates the Ferrones about the beginnings of Australias obsession with football and a game that put us as a nation on the world stage.

8pm Tuesday on ABC.
Veteran UK star Brenda Blethyn has confirmed her intent to return to the role of Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.

On social media she told a fan she was all in for more mystery episodes.

The hit series has screened 12 seasons following production disruption by the pandemic.

The series has proven a big hit for ABC, winning its Sunday time slot and lifting considerably in Total TV numbers.

British broadcaster ITV is yet to fornally confirm a 13th season, which appears to now be a fait accompli.
Not-for-profit broadcaster Imparja is calling on the government to improve access for Indigenous Australians ahead of the voice to parliament referendum.

According to Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology research, up to 80% of Indigenous households have no working free television service due to damaged cabling or dishes and defunct set top boxes.

Instead of being included in a community debate about the need for Indigenous voices to be heard by decision-makers, remote Indigenous Australians will be out of the loop, Imparja Television CEO Mr Alistair Feehan said. Its a bitter irony that the very people the voice is designed to assist wont have a clue whats going on in Canberra.

If we are serious about using the Voice to Parliament to include First Nations peoples in policy debates, we must connect them to those debates through a television in their homes. This is a very basic service other Australians take for granted.

We need the Government to step up on this. A demonstration of good faith with Indigenous communities would be if we left Canberra this week with a firm commitment to a plan for the restoration of basic remote television services and a regular program of equipment repair and maintenance.

Imparja is also fighting for survival. Without urgent additional funding, remote Australians who can access television will receive fewer channels from 30 June as Imparja struggles to keep the doors open.

While successive past governments have recognised Imparjas perilous financial position, they have only offered morsels. We are now at crisis point. This is crunch time.

The Alice Springs-based broadcaster, established in 1987, broadcasts across 3.6 million square kilometres on the VAST platform, spanning Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, NSW and Victoria with an estimated over one million resident viewers.

We cannot continue to provide the range of services we provide today when there simply isnt the commercial revenue available to support them. We are at the point now where either the Government contributes towards the cost of these services or some services will go black on 30 June, Feehan said.

There has rarely been a more important time for all Australians, including First Nations people living in remote areas, to be connected and involved in a public policy discussion.
The Equity Foundation has announced Australian stunt performer Chris Anderson is the recipient of the 2023 Equity Lifetime Achievement Award.

He was nominated by many Australian performers, who described him as a living legend having done more for the stunt industry than any other.

One of Australias most experienced stunt performers and stunt coordinators, Anderson has contributed his talent and expertise to more than 100 screen productions.

Since his official grading as a stunt coordinator in 1982, he has spent the last 40 years mentoring and training countless stunt performers through all stages of their careers, with many now representing Australia on the global stage.

Equity president Jason Klarwein said,Chris Anderson is renowned for generously sharing his knowledge, experience and time with the next generation of Australian stunt performers and stunt coordinators. Chris has worked consistently, diligently and modestly for the last four decades delivering visually spectacular screen stories, while keeping other performers and colleagues safe. Equity is so pleased to honour one of the worlds finest stunt performers with our Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a most deserving recipient.

Anderson has been an Equity member since 1976, actively involved in MEAAs National Stunt Committee and National Grading Committee for almost the entirety of his 40-year career.

Its an honour to receive this award from my peers, in an industry that is very dear to my heart and feel blessed to have been a part of all my adult life, he said.

Anderson will be honoured at an awards ceremony in Sydney in May.
The Block appears to be embracing a 1950s theme this year judging by a letter sent to residents of Charming Street, Hampton East.

The letter from Nines promo department, which appeared on Reddit, advises of filming of a promo last Saturday using period cars, which are in keeping with the style of the original homes set to feature.

We will bring various 7 x 1950s cars to park on the street and period piece props and costumes, it read, requesting locals not to park contemporary cars on the street for the duration.

With local neighbour concerns dating right back to Series One, Executive Producer Julian Cress has always been pro-active in communications with local residents including giving out his mobile number.

Nine is yet to advise a formal theme for 2023, and thus far had not even confirmed the location.

Sources confirm all protocols were followed on Saturday and the shoot went off without a hitch.
Italy and Poland have opposed a deal struck over the weekend between Brussels and Berlin that would exempt vehicles than run exclusively on e-fuels from a 2035 ban on the combustion engine.

Bulgaria and Romania abstained during a discussion at the ambassadors level on Monday morning, according to five officials from different countries who spoke to Euronews on condition of anonymity.

But their joint resistance falls short of the necessary votes to halt the legislative approval, widely expected to be completed on Tuesday.

The Brussels-Berlin deal relates to an agreed-upon regulation that is set to impose a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions on new sales of cars and vans sold across the European Union as of 2035.

The law was designed by the European Commission as "technologically neutral," but given that CO2 emissions will be measured at the exhaust pipeline, it will effectively outlaw sales of petrol and diesel cars after the cut-off date.

By contrast, sales of electric vehicles will be allowed.

Earlier this month, Germany, a country that hosts a world-class automotive industry, mounted a surprising opposition campaign and blocked the final green light of the regulation, which had been meticulously negotiated between member states and the European Parliament.

The German hold-out shocked officials and diplomats, who saw it as a betrayal of the long-standing rules of procedure. Numerous MEPs and several member states, such as France, Spain and the Netherlands, have said the text was closed and would not be reopened.

The deadlock prompted a rare intervention by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, calling for the respect of "legislative predictability."

"We cannot go back on deals because this is ultimately about trust between co-legislators and the credibility of the legislative process," Metsola said last week.

In a bid to break the impasse, European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who is in charge of the European Green Deal, engaged in direct talks with Volker Wissing, Germany's federal minister for digital and transport.

Story continues

Wissing, a liberal politician from the pro-business FDP party, personally pushed for a tailor-made exemption for e-fuels, an emerging technology that combines hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce synthetic fuels.

E-fuels can be poured into existing cars, therefore ensuring the survival of the combustion engine after the 2035 deadline. Although they can theoretically be climate-neutral, detractors argue e-fuels are energy inefficient and have limited commercial viability.

The intense negotiations between Brussels and Berlin bore fruit over the weekend when the two sides found a compromise.

The deal has not yet been made public.

"Europe remains technology-neutral. Vehicles with combustion engines can also be newly registered after 2035 if they only use CO2-neutral fuels," Wissing tweeted on Saturday, celebrating the news.

The regulation, together with the e-fuels exemption, was discussed by ambassadors on Monday morning with the goal of including it on the agenda of Tuesday's meeting of energy ministers.

It was during this exchange of views that Italy and Poland raised objections.

Italy had previously called for an exemption for biofuels, which emit fewer CO2 emissions than oil-based fuels but have been criticised for their land use.

"Forcing electrification may, on the contrary, entail the risk of non-acceptance by the market, which could harm car and van producers. It would also prevent the technological development of hybrid engines with a very low environmental impact," Italy wrote in the meeting's minutes, seen by Euronews.

"Any additional costs resulting from the new burdens should be borne by manufacturers and not passed on to citizens," Poland said.

Bulgaria and Romania expressed points of view interpreted as an abstention, diplomats said, while Finland regretted the omission of biomethane, a gas-based type of fuel.

But with Germany on board, the remaining reluctant countries were unable to form a blocking minority, paving the way for the regulation to be formally voted  and likely adopted  on Tuesday.

Once the law is approved, the European Commission is expected to release more details of the deal and outline the next legislative steps to implement the e-fuel exemption.
Hungarys parliament has approved Finlands bid to join NATO.

The measure, passed with 182 votes for and six against, came after Hungarys government had for months frustrated allies in NATO and the European Union by repeatedly postponing the vote after nearly all other alliance members ratified Finlands bid.

Uncertainty for Sweden

While Hungarys approval was greeted with relief in Helsinki and elsewhere, NATO accession for Sweden remained up in the air as members of Hungarys governing party insisted they will wait for Stockholm to clear up lingering disagreements before they go to a vote. Finland and Sweden jointly applied for membership following Russias February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Adding to the uncertainty over Swedens bid are Turkeys own objections, amid accusations that Stockholm is too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations.

Agnes Vadai, a lawmaker with Hungarys opposition Democratic Coalition party, said Monday that the governing Fidesz party had been using pretexts to delay ratification for the two countries, and that further stalling could push a vote into early April or even May.

There is no real reason for not supporting these countries, Vadai, a former secretary of state in Hungarys ministry of defense, told The Associated Press. NATO accession shouldnt be a question of personal feelings and blackmailing.

NATO awaits on Turkey

Turkey is now the only one of the 30 NATO members not to have ratified Finlands accession. Full unanimity is required to admit a new member into the alliance.

However, Turkeys parliamentary committee on foreign affairs last week approved Finlands NATO membership application, and a vote on accession is expected to be held before Turkeys presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

While Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has long signaled his countrys support for NATO expansion, his government has alleged that Swedish and Finnish politicians have told blatant lies about the condition of Hungarys democracy which has left some ruling party lawmakers unsure of whether to support the accession bids.

Story continues

EU funds frozen

The EU, which includes 21 NATO countries, has for years accused Orbans government of cracking down on media freedom and LGBTQ rights, overseeing an entrenched culture of official corruption and co-opting state institutions to serve the interests of the governing Fidesz party.

Some Hungarian opposition politicians and analysts believe the countrys foot-dragging on ratification had aimed at pushing Sweden and Finland to support the release of billions in EU funds earmarked for Budapest that have been frozen over alleged breaches of the blocs rule-of-law standards.

But Samuel Agoston Mraz, director of the pro-government Nezopont Intezet thinktank in Budapest, said Hungary wont make a move regarding Sweden until Turkey decides on whether to approve the countrys NATO membership bid.

Mraz said Hungary does not want to make decisions against the Turks and also wants guarantees from Stockholm on improving bilateral relations.

Hungary is a supporter of a unified NATO. It does not believe in Turkey versus all the other member states, Mraz told AP.
(Bloomberg) -- Russias seaborne crude flows are holding strong, meaning a pledge by the Kremlin to cut the nation's production sharply has yet to feed through into supplies to the international marketplace.

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The nations shipments slid by 123,000 barrels a day to 3.11 million barrels a day in the seven days to March 24, according to tanker tracking by Bloomberg. The less-volatile four-week average dipped by a similar amount. Its the sixth straight week they've held above 3 million a day.

Russia pledged to lower output by 500,000 barrels a day from this month through June in response to a Group of Seven price cap on the nation's crude sales. The planned cut has yet to show up in cargo data. Since the reduction was announced oil prices have fallen sharply, suggesting little trader anxiety about the threatened curtailment.

Any production drop will initially be offset by reduced demand from the nations refineries during a period of seasonal maintenance. Lost pipeline flows to Europe are also adding to the volumes available for export by sea.

The output reduction will be made from a baseline level of around 10 million barrels a day, Novak said. But the actual reduction may be smaller, with January and February output rates both assessed below that level by the International Energy Agency. With Brent crude currently trading near $75 a barrel and market forecasts showing a surplus in the first half of the year, Russias OPEC+ partners may welcome a unilateral output cut from the groups second-largest producer.

The increase in seaborne flows seen at the start of the year, which is most apparent in the four-week average data, probably reflects the diversion of crude previously delivered to Poland and Germany through the Druzhba pipeline. Flows to Germany halted at the end of 2022 and deliveries to Poland dropped to about 60,000 barrels a day under the countrys last remaining supply contract with a Russian company.The loss of those pipeline markets means an additional 500,000 barrels a day of Russian crude is now being exported through the countrys ports, despite the European Union ban on imports of almost all of Moscows crude and refined fuels and a G7 price cap that together prompted Moscows threat to cut output.

Story continues

The combined volume of crude on vessels heading to China and India plus smaller flows to Turkey and quantities on ships that havent yet shown a final destination slipped back in the latest four-week period, to an average 3.1 million barrels a day, dropping to their lowest in six weeks.

As the ultimate destinations of cargoes loading in late January became apparent, flows to China rose to new post-invasion highs, though those levels havent been maintained with February-loading cargoes. Historical patterns suggest that most of the vessels currently identified as Unknown Asia destinations and heading for the Suez Canal will end up in India.

Ship-to-ship transfers of cargoes in the Mediterranean continue apace. This has been most visible off the Spanish north African city of Ceuta and off the Greek coast near Kalamata. At least 55 cargoes have been transferred between ships in those two locations since the start of the year. The volume transferred off the coast of Greece, mostly in the Bay of Lakonikos, soared in February, rising to more than 10 million barrels, equivalent to 360,000 barrels a day. That compares with 4.4 million barrels, equivalent to 156,000 barrels a day transferred off Ceuta.

A tanker carrying a cargo of Russian crude remains anchored off the Ghanaian port of Tema more than a month after it arrived at the west African country. The National Petroleum Authority granted a delivery period for the cargo to be unloaded, but national security considerations have held up the process, according to people familiar with the matter.

Crude Flows by Destination

Crude flows in the week to March 24 slipped by 123,000 barrels a day from the previous week. On a four-week average basis, overall seaborne exports dropped by the same amount to 3.32 million barrels a day.

All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade. Those are shipments made by KazTransoil JSC that transit Russia for export through the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk.

The Kazakh barrels are blended with crude of Russian origin to create a uniform export grade. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan has rebranded its cargoes to distinguish them from those shipped by Russian companies. Transit crude is specifically exempted from European Union sanctions.

Four-week average shipments to Russias Asian customers, plus those on vessels showing no final destination, fell below 3 million barrels a day for the first time in five weeks. Shipments dropped to 2.99 million barrels a day in the period to March 24, compared with 3.18 million barrels a day previously.

While the volumes heading to China and India appear to have declined, history shows that most of the cargoes on ships without an initial destination eventually end up in one or other of those countries.

The equivalent of 467,000 barrels a day was on vessels showing destinations as either Port Said or Suez in Egypt, or which already have been or are expected to be transferred from one ship to another off the South Korean port of Yeosu. Those voyages typically end at ports in India or China and show up in the chart below as Unknown Asia until a final destination becomes apparent.

The Other Unknown volumes, running at 426,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to March 24, are those on tankers showing a destination of Ceuta, Kalamata or no destination at all. Most of those cargoes go on to transit the Suez Canal, but some could end up in Turkey. An increasing number are being transferred from one vessel to another in the Mediterranean for onward journeys to Asia.

Russias seaborne crude exports to European countries remained at a low of 63,000 barrels a day in the 28 days to March 24, with Bulgaria the sole destination. These figures do not include shipments to Turkey.

A market that consumed more than 1.5 million barrels a day of short-haul crude, coming from export terminals in the Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic has been lost almost completely, to be replaced by long-haul destinations in Asia that are much more costly and time-consuming to serve.

No Russian crude was shipped to northern European countries in the four weeks to March 24.

Exports to Turkey, Russias only remaining Mediterranean customer, recovered most of the previous weeks loss, rising to an average of 136,000 barrels a day in the four weeks to March 24. Flows there are less than one-fifth of the high they reached in September.

Despite not being a part of European sanctions on Russian crude exports, Turkeys role as a lifeline for Moscow since the EU import ban came into effect on Dec. 5 has dwindled. The Star refinery near Aliaga, owned by Azerbaijans Socar, is cutting down purchases of Russian crude, with flows to the plant averaging about 50,000 barrels a day in January and February, compared with about 180,000 barrels a day from August to October. Just two cargoes of Russian crude have been delivered to the Star refinery so far in March, with two more heading to the port of Aliaga, where the refinery is located alongside another belonging to Turkeys Turkiye Petrol Rafinerileri AS, known as Tupras. Those cargoes could go to either plant.

Flows to Bulgaria, now Russias only Black Sea market for crude, remained at 63,000 barrels a day for a second week. Despite Bulgaria securing a partial exemption from the EUs import ban, the use of Russian crude has fallen to one-third of what it was in October, with Lukoil PJSC switching back to using non-Russian crude in its refinery at Burgas. Flows of Russian crude to Bulgaria remain the lowest since April.

Flows by Export Location

Aggregate flows of Russian crude edged lower to 3.11 million barrels a day in the week to March 24. A slump in exports from the Pacific was only partly offset by higher shipments from the other three regions.

Figures exclude volumes from Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade.

Export Revenue

Inflows to the Kremlin's war chest from its crude-export duty edged lower by $2 million to $42 million in the seven days to March 24, while four-week average income was unchanged at $43 million.

President Vladimir Putin has signed into law amendments to the way Russias oil price is assessed for tax purposes. From April, rates of mineral extraction tax and profit-based tax on oil companies will be calculated using a decreasing discount to prevailing Brent prices, rather than assessments of Urals crude. Export duty, which will be phased out at the end of 2023, will not be affected by the change.

The duty rate for March was set at $1.94 a barrel, the first increase since December, based on a Urals price of $50.51 a barrel during the assessment period that ran from Jan. 15 to Feb. 14. April will remain virtually unchanged, with export duty on crude set at $1.95 a barrel. Thats based on an average Urals price of $50.80 a barrel, more than $34 below the average Brent price during the assessment period of Feb. 15 to March 14.

Origin-to-Location Flows

The following charts show the number of ships leaving each export terminal and the destinations of crude cargoes from the four export regions.

A total of 28 tankers loaded 21.8 million barrels of Russian crude in the week to March 24, vessel-tracking data and port agent reports show. Thats down by 850,000 barrels, or 4%, from the previous week. Destinations are based on where vessels signal they are heading at the time of writing, and some will almost certainly change as voyages progress. All figures exclude cargoes identified as Kazakhstans KEBCO grade.

The total volume on ships loading Russian crude from Baltic terminals rebounded from the previous weeks drop to average 1.36 million barrels a day.

Shipments from Novorossiysk in the Black Sea jumped to their highest since May, with flows hitting 750,000 barrels a day. Shipping crude from the Black Sea, rather than the Baltic, can cut the journey time to India by more than a week, as long as tankers dont suffer long delays transiting the Turkish Straits that connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Arctic shipments were unchanged, with two Suezmax tankers loading in the week to March 24.

Flows from the Pacific slumped to their lowest in more than three months. Seven tankers loaded at the regions three export terminals in the week to March 24, down from 13 the previous week. There was an apparent gap in activity at the Kozmino export terminal between Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon, which restricted departures from the port to just four vessels.

India is continuing to take an significant volume of ESPO crude, accounting for six out of 24 cargoes loading so far this month, compared with two out of a total 30 shipments in February.

The volumes heading to unknown destinations are all Sokol cargoes that have recently been transferred to other vessels at Yeosu, or are currently being shuttled to an area off the South Korean port from the loading terminal at De Kastri. Most of these are also ending up in India.

Note: This story forms part of a regular weekly series tracking shipments of crude from Russian export terminals and the export duty revenues earned from them by the Russian government.

Note: All figures exclude cargoes owned by Kazakhstans KazTransOil JSC, which transit Russia and are shipped from Novorossiysk and Ust-Luga as KEBCO grade crude.

Note: Data on crude flows can also be found at {DSET CRUDEJ }. The numbers, which are generated by a bot, may differ from those in this story.

--With assistance from Sherry Su.

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Ukrainian crews have completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK and returned home to continue their fight against Russias invasion.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Ukrainian soldiers return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger.

Members of Kyivs armed forces travelled to Britain shortly after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in January that the UK would send 14 Challenger 2 tanks to help oust the Kremlins invaders from Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the training has been completed after UK military officials spent several weeks instructing Ukrainian personnel how to operate and fight with the tanks.

Instructions included how to command, drive and work together as a Challenger 2 tank crew and effectively identify and engage targets, the MoD said.

Mr Wallace, who visited the Ukrainian troops during their training at Bovington Camp in Dorset last month, said: It is truly inspiring to witness the determination of Ukrainian soldiers having completed their training on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil.

They return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger.

We will continue to stand by them and do all we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Lieutenant Colonel John Stone, who oversaw the training mission, said: It has been a privilege for the Combat Manoeuvre Centre team to deliver this training to our Ukrainian partners.

We have all been hugely impressed with the level of competence displayed and have no doubt that our friends will use the Challenger 2 tanks most effectively in the battles to come as they fight to defend their homeland.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace met Ukrainian soldiers during a visit to Bovington Camp to view their tank training (Ben Birchall/PA)

The MoD described the Challenger 2 vehicles as a step change in capability for Ukraines armed forces, saying the machines would offer them some of the most modern and sophisticated gunnery systems in the world.

The Ukrainian troops will return with the Western tanks in time for a reported spring counter-offensive by Kyiv that is said to be in the works.

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With the US supplying Abrams tanks, and Germany and other European allies providing Leopard 2 tanks, any strike on Russian lines is expected to involve the Western tanks manned by Kyivs forces.

In what has been one of the bloodiest battles seen in Europe since the Second World War, Ukraine is continuing to hold the eastern city of Bakhmut.

The top commander of Ukraines military, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said on Saturday that the situation was stabilising, with his forces pushing back against Russian troops in the long and grinding battle for the salt-mining town in the Donbas.

British military intelligence also said Russian president Vladimir Putins troops appeared to be moving to a defensive strategy in eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukraines government has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to counter the Kremlins nuclear blackmail after Moscow revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.

Mr Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.
Benjamin Pavards sweet strike edged World Cup finalists France to a narrow Euro 2024 qualifying victory in Dublin as the Republic of Ireland were made to pay for one fatal error.

Pavards 50th-minute contribution, which came after he had picked off Josh Cullens ill-advised pass across the edge of his own box, secured a 1-0 Group B victory to go with Fridays 4-0 rout of the Netherlands.

However, it took a brilliant 90th-minute save from Mike Maignan to deny Nathan Collins a last-gasp equaliser in a grandstand finish.

The worlds third-ranked side were made to work desperately hard for the points by an Ireland team sitting 48th in FIFAs table two years to the day since they suffered the humiliation of a 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Luxembourg at the Aviva Stadium.

France dominated possession for much of the game, but were unable to trouble keeper Gavin Bazunu until Cullens rare slip let Pavard in as Stephen Kennys men, who handled superstar Kylian Mbappe well, defended diligently and tried to hit them on the break.

Irelands fate in this campaign was never likely to be decided on their results against France, and their trip to Greece in June before Gibraltar head for the Aviva will be far more indicative, but Kenny will take heart from the way his young team committed to his game-plan in the face of the sternest of tests.

With wide frontmen Chiedozie Ogbene and Jason Knight dropping in when they were out of possession, the home side were compact, although they were breached with nine minutes gone when Randal Kolo Muani was played in over the top and rounded Bazunu, only for his back-heeled pass to Olivier Giroud as he was driven wide to be cut out by Collins.

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The Republic were squeezed ever deeper as France turned the screw with Antoine Griezmann orchestrating, and it took a good 16th-minute block by John Egan to keep Mbappe at bay.

With what little share of the ball they were afforded, Ireland did their best to fulfil Kennys instructions to take risks without ever really threatening to pierce the French defence, but they needed Bazunu to spring from his line to prevent any damage after Griezmanns 24th-minute corner had ricocheted across his six-yard box.

Griezmann instinctively stabbed wide as he attempted to turn Theo Hernandezs 32nd-minute drive past Bazunu and then missed the target with a header from Pavards cross as French frustration mounted.

In the event, a team which had scored three times inside the opening 21 minutes against the Dutch left the pitch at half-time locked in a stalemate having been unable to break down a stubborn and disciplined Irish rearguard.

However, the home side faltered within five minutes of the restart to hand the visitors the lead.

Benjamin Pavard, not pictured, scored for France (Niall Carson/PA)

Cullen intercepted Adrien Rabiots misplaced pass on the edge of his own penalty area, but then played the ball square, where Pavard pounced before smashing a shot past the helpless Bazunu off the underside of the crossbar.

It might have been 2-0 had Evan Ferguson in the defensive wall not got his head to Griezmanns 55th-minute free-kick, although the Atletico Madrid star turned up on the edge of his box to block Knights goal-bound strike after Ogbene had burst clear down the right three minutes later.

Moussa Diaby tested Bazunus resolve with a swerving 69th-minute effort and the Southampton keeper repelled Rabiots attempt from distance six minutes later, but Molumby and substitutes James McClean and Alan Browne all went close to an equaliser in a tense conclusion.

But for Maignan, who had seconds earlier clawed the ball from underneath his crossbar, Collins would have snatched a famous draw at the death.
Financial markets can't seem to shake off the jitters sparked by the spectacular collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the biggest American bank to fall since 2008, and the government-brokered takeover of Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest lender.

Despite repeated assurances from policymakers, stocks of European banks continue to be hit by the ongoing turmoil, with shares going down again after having seemingly recovered.

Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Societe Generale and BNP Paribas are among those who have seen their value take a plunge in recent days, adding to the state of general disquiet.

Inevitably, the latest news has shed light on an uncomfortable question that has for years beset the eurozone: Why is the banking union still unfinished business?

The banking union dates back to 2012, a time when the eurozone was going through a devastating debt crisis that challenged the survival of the single currency itself.

"We affirm that it is imperative to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns," EU leaders said in a joint statement signed on 29 June 2012.

Eurozone banks were considered to have excessively close links with their home countries because they were mostly buying bonds from their own governments, rather than diversifying across the bloc.

This concentrated exposure to sovereign debt was compounded by the fact that retail deposits were protected first and foremost by domestic legislation.

This co-dependence meant that as soon as banks were in distress, the problems could easily spill over into the national government  and vice-versa.

The banking union was designed to weaken this bank-sovereign connection and inject a fresh European dimension by harmonising rules, reducing fragmentation and ensuring taxpayers' money was not further used to rescue failing banks.

The political impetus led to the project's first two pillars  the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM)  to be agreed upon relatively fast.

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The SSM granted the European Central Bank stronger powers to monitor the health of eurozone banks, while the SRM set up a common fund  paid by banks themselves  to address insolvent institutions.

But the brand-new structure was left limping, as the third and last pillar remained conspicuously missing: the European Deposit Insurance Scheme.

A persistent stalemate

Under current EU rules, deposits of up to 100,000 are protected in case of a bank failure.

This protection, however, is provided at a strictly national level, reinforcing the bank-sovereign cycle.

In 2015, the European Commission proposed the creation of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) in order to guarantee all deposits across the eurozone enjoyed an equal level of protection, regardless of the bank's location and the country's fiscal health.

EDIS would introduce a collective, supranational safety net built upon domestic provisions and paid for by banks according to their level of risk.

In practice, this EU-wide protection layer would dissuade clients from desperately withdrawing their deposits as soon as bad news hit a bank, as was the case with Silicon Valley Bank.

But the sharing of banking risks across borders was rejected by Northern European countries, who argued the eurozone's financial health needed considerable improvements before setting up EDIS.

"An agreement on a common deposit insurance was hampered by the weak state of the banks in some peripheral countries, with Germany fearing that it would have to pay for Italian banks," said Daniel Gros, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

"The present turmoil is not caused by the absence of a third pillar, but by the fact that deposits have become much more volatile than anticipated by regulators (and markets)."

Nicolas Veron, a senior fellow at Bruegel, believes the opposition runs much deeper and is based on an intrinsic contradiction: while countries "pay lip service" to European ambitions, they are keen to retain national control.

"In a way, governments are of two minds," Veron told Euronews.

"On the one hand, they understand that completing the banking union is necessary for the eurozone to be resilient, and they want the eurozone to be resilient sincerely. But at the same time, there are so many aspects of the linkages they have with national banking sectors that they like and don't want to get rid of."

The persistent stalemate has raised doubts over the 2015 proposal, which technically remains on the table despite numerous rounds of unsuccessful negotiations.

"We still think EDIS is a good idea. But as it's with the co-legislators now, it's part of the normal decision-making process," a European Commission said.

As an intermediate step, the EU's executive is working on a "common framework for bank crisis management and national deposit guarantee," in line with the conclusions of a 2022 euro summit.

But that framework is set to fall short of a fully-fledged European scheme, consolidating the missing pillar as the elephant in the room.

In reaction to the latest financial jitters, some EU leaders, such as French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, called for the completion of the banking union but without offering a clear answer on how to break the impasse.

In a statement to Euronews, the German Federal Ministry of Finance said "several preconditions must be fulfilled" before resuming talks on EDIS, such as a further reduction of banking risks, a stronger crisis management framework and measures to limit the sovereign-bank nexus.

"It's still somewhat premature to draw conclusions from current cases on future regulation. We will need more detailed analysis," a spokesperson from the ministry said.

For Veron, who has closely followed the debate around the banking union since 2012, the present conversation lacks the momentum that only a full-scale crisis can create.

"This kind of thing only makes progress when there's a big crisis. And sorry if what I say sounds too cynical, but I think at this point there isn't a big banking crisis in the eurozone," Veron said.

"This is great news because it suggests the European Central Bank has been doing a decent job as a supervisor. Maybe we'll discover tomorrow morning that some eurozone banks have big problems. But at this point, it hasn't been the case, even with what's happened in the marketplace."
KYIV, Ukraine  Ukraines top security official on Sunday denounced the Kremlins plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying that Russia was taking its ally as a nuclear hostage.

But Moscow said it was making the move in response to the Wests increasing military support for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plan in a television interview that aired on Saturday, saying it was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

A look at the uranium-based ammo the UK will send to Ukraine

Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews, he said.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, tweeted Sunday that Putins announcement was a step towards internal destabilization of Belarus that maximized the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The Kremlin, Danilov added, took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

On Saturday, Putin argued that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country again to counter NATO. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members  Latvia, Lithuania and Poland  and Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground to send troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 25, 2023. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Both Lukashenkos support of the war and Putins plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has been denounced by the Belarusian opposition.

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over the ones it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said.

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Russia has stored its tactical nuclear weapons at dedicated depots on its territory, and moving part of the arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict by placing them closer to Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there.

The U.S. said it would monitor the implications of Putins announcement. So far, Washington hasnt seen any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

In Germany, the foreign ministry called it a further attempt at nuclear intimidation, German news agency dpa reported late Saturday. The ministry went on to say that the comparison drawn by President Putin to NATOs nuclear participation is misleading and cannot be used to justify the step announced by Russia.

Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report from Berlin.
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq

By Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Saudi Aramco raised its multi-billion dollar investment in China by finalising and upgrading a planned joint venture in northeast China and acquiring an expanded stake in a privately controlled petrochemical group.

The two deals, announced separately on Sunday and Monday, would see Aramco supplying the two Chinese companies with a combined 690,000 barrels a day of crude oil, bolstering its rank as China's top provider of the commodity.

Aramco said on Monday it had agreed to acquire a 10% stake in privately controlled Rongsheng Petrochemical Co Ltd for about $3.6 billion.

The deal includes the supply of 480,000 bpd of crude oil to Rongsheng-controlled Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) for 20 years, Aramco added.

It follows a preliminary agreement Aramco reached with the Zhejiang provincial government in 2018 for a 9% stake in ZPC.

The deals are the biggest to be announced since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the kingdom in December where he called for oil trade in yuan, a move that would weaken the U.S. dollar's dominance in global trade.

Aramco's investments highlight Riyadh's deepening ties with Beijing which have raised security concerns in Washington, Riyadh's traditional ally.

In a deal brokered by China, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to re-establish relations earlier this month after years of hostility that had fuelled conflicts across the region.

Beijing's secret role in the breakthrough shook up dynamics in the Middle East, where the United States was for decades the main dealmaker.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates have said that they would not choose sides amid an increased polarisation of global politics, and they were diversifying partners to serve national economic and security interests.

The deal also highlights growing competition between Saudi Arabia and its ally Russia in crude supplies to China.

Western sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine forced Russia to divert its oil away from Europe and to sell it at steep discounts to other markets, including China.

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Russia unseated Saudi Arabia as China's top oil supplier in the first two months of the year.

Aramco is already selling crude to the east China plant which operates an 800,000-bpd refinery, the single largest in China, under sales agreements renewed annually.

The Rongsheng deal comes on the heels of Aramco's agreement with Chinese partners on Sunday for an oil refinery and petrochemical project in the northeast Chinese province of Liaoning that is expected to start in 2026 to meet the country's growing demand for fuel and chemicals.

The Liaoning project, in the city of Panjin, will be Aramco's second major refining-petrochemical investment in China and follows the world's top oil exporter reporting a record profit of $161 billion in 2022.

Joint venture Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO) will build and operate the Panjin complex that will house a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery and a cracker with annual production capacity of 1.65 million tonnes of ethylene and 2 million tonnes of paraxylene, Aramco said in a statement.

UPGRADE

The Liaoning province project is expected to cost 83.7 billion yuan ($12.2 billion), partner Panjin Xicheng Industrial Group said in a statement on Sunday.

It is an upgrade from the joint venture's plan announced in early 2022 to build a $10 billion plant that includes a 1.5 million tpy ethylene alongside the 300,000-bpd refinery.

Construction at the Panjin complex will start in the second quarter after the project secures the required administrative approvals, Aramco said. The plant is expected to be fully operational by 2026, it added.

Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil as feedstock for the plant.

State-owned NORINCO Group, a Chinese military equipment maker, owns 51% of HAPCO while Aramco and Panjin Xincheng hold stakes of 30% and 19%, respectively.

Separately, Aramco on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with the southern Chinese province of Guangdong to explore cooperation in sectors including energy, finance, research and innovations, according to a post on the provincial government's website.

Guangdong, China's largest provincial economy, has drawn global firms like Exxon Mobil and BASF, each building large-scale petrochemical complexes producing high-value chemicals.

Aramco has been ramping up its China presence. In another deal reached last year, Aramco agreed with Shandong Energy an initial pact to explore a potential crude supply agreement and chemical products offtake deal.

Earlier this month, Saudi Aramco also broke ground on a $7 billion project to produce petrochemicals from crude oil at its South Korean affiliate S-Oil Corp's refining complex in the port city of Ulsan.

($1 = 6.8778 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu; additional reporting by Andrew Hayley in Beijing, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh and Ahmad Ghaddar in London; Editing by Sonali Paul, Christian Schmollinger and Christina Fincher)
Ukraine calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting over Russias plans to move nukes to Belarus

The ministry called for an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council to be immediately convened for this purpose.

The latest statements by the Russian Federation about its intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus are another provocative step by the criminal Putin regime, which undermines the foundations of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the architecture of nuclear disarmament, and the international security system in general, says the official statement of the Foreign Ministry published on March 26.

The global community is increasingly alarmed by the Russian governments intentions, given that they come amidst Russias ongoing unprovoked aggression towards Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry pointed out that Russia has been unable to achieve victory on the battlefield, despite the heinous crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Kremlins forces against Ukrainians during its aggressive invasion and war.

Read also: Belarusian opposition leader reacts to Putins plans to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Ukraine also urges Belarusian society to prevent the implementation of plans to station nuclear weapons on their territory, which would violate its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Ukraine warns that such a move would make Belarus a further subject to Kremlin control and would have dire consequences for its future.

Ukraines Foreign Ministry also called on countries of the Group of Seven and the European Union to warn Belarusian authorities about the consequences for Belarus if it agrees to accept tactical nuclear weapons from Russia on its territory.

Ukraine expects effective actions to counter the Kremlins nuclear blackmail by the UK, China, the United States, and France in particular, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, which bear special responsibility for preventing threats of aggression with the use of nuclear weapons, the Foreign Ministry said.

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Ukrainian diplomats call on all members of the world community to convey to the criminal Putin regime the categorical unacceptability of its next nuclear provocations and to take decisive measures to effectively deter and prevent any possibility of the aggressor states use of nuclear weapons.

Russia once again confirms its chronic inability to be a responsible steward of nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and prevention of war, not as a tool of threats and intimidation. The world must be united against the one who endangers the future of human civilization, the ministry statement read.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced on March 25 that he plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, declaring that the collective West is already starting to use weapons with a nuclear component, forcing Russia to react accordingly.

Read also: Putin planned to deploy nukes in Belarus before full-scale invasion of Ukraine  ISW

He justified his decision based on the March 21 announcement by the United Kingdom that it will transfer depleted uranium shells for Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The UK Ministry of Defense said that Putin was deliberately spreading false information.

The British Army has been using depleted uranium in its armor-piercing projectiles for decades. It is a standard component that has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capability. Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to misinform, the UK Ministry of Defense said.

Per Putins statement, ten Belarusian aircraft have been converted by Russia for the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, while the Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system has already been provided to Belarus, which has the capability to carry a nuclear projectile.

The Russian dictator also announced that construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1.

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Ukrainian town at the frontline of the war to evacuate municipal workers

The city of Avdiivka announced on Monday the evacuation of its municipal employees, who are located on the front in eastern Ukraine.

"Avdiivka looks increasingly like a place taken from post-apocalyptic films. Therefore, a difficult decision was made to evacuate municipal workers who at least tried to maintain the cleanliness and vitality of the city," Vitaliy Barabash, head of the local military administration, announced on social media.

He "strongly recommends leaving the city", adding that the Russian rockets and projectiles "spare nothing and no one".

Russian troops have been trying for months to take Avdiivka, which has been on the frontline since 2014 and the start of the war between Ukrainian forces and Kremlin-led separatists. As a result, the city is regularly bombarded by Russian forces.

In June, the Russians cut off one of the two main access roads to the city and positioned themselves to the east and south. In recent months, they have advanced and taken villages to the southwest and north, as if to take Avdiivka in a pincer movement, failing to be able to take it frontally.

Although only 13km from Donetsk, the Russian-controlled capital of the region, the city had 30,000 inhabitants when the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Pounded by artillery and more recently by the air force, it has only some 2,300 inhabitants, including 1,960 identified who receive humanitarian aid, Barabash added.

Avdiivka is currently one of the two most difficult theatres of combat on the front, with Bakhmut, located 60km further north.

Zelenskyy meets IAEA chief and frontline troops in Zaporizhia

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, met at a hydroelectric station in the Zaporizhia region on Monday.

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"I had a rich exchange with Mr Zelenskyy on the protection of the site and its employees," Grossi wrote in a tweet, accompanied by a photo of the two men.

The two leaders visited the site of a hydroelectric plant in Dnieper responsible for supplying the nuclear power plant, occupied by the Russian army and regularly suffering from power cuts.

Earlier, Zelenskyy was in the region of Zaporizhia, "in the front line" on the southern front.

"Thank you for protecting our state (and) all of us. Thank you for protecting our homes, our territorial integrity and life in Ukraine," he told them, according to a statement from the Ukrainian presidency.

Last week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy moved to the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russia, after going near Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting in the east, and in the northeast region of the Kharkiv region.

On Telegram, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was "certain" of a Ukrainian victory over Russia, after more than a year of war against Moscow's army.

According to the Ukrainian presidency, Zelenskyy visited the command post of the operational group of troops and held a meeting with the military officials of the Zaporizhia region on Monday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with with U.N. atomic energy chief Rafael Mariano Grossi during a visit to Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday March 27, 2023. - Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Two dead as Russian missiles hit multiple cities in Donetsk

A Russian bombardment in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk left at least two dead and 29 injured, the regional governor announced on Monday.

"There are two dead and 29 injured in Sloviansk, administrative buildings and offices have been damaged as well as five buildings and seven houses," Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Facebook, adding that Russian forces had "hit the centre of the city with two S-300 missiles".

The governor added that another city in the Donetsk region, Druzhkivka, had also been targeted by an attack.

"Two S-300 missiles hit the Druzhkivka orphanage and almost completely destroyed it," he said, adding that the strike had no casualties according to initial information.

"Another day that began with terrorism from the Russian Federation. The aggressor state struck our city of Sloviansk," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

"The enemy must know: Ukraine will not forgive the torture inflicted on our people, will not forgive these deaths and injuries," he added.

Russian forces have made capturing the Donetsk region their top military priority and announced last year that they had annexed it, although multiple reports rule out complete Russian control in the region.

Ukrainian soldiers fire an AS90 as they take part in a military exercise at a military training camp in an undisclosed location in England, Friday, March 24, 2023. - Kin Cheung/AP

Poland and EU aim to boost munitions production for Ukraine

Officials from Poland and the European Union on Monday discussed artillery munitions manufacturing as part of a new, 2 billion program to supply Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces and to replenish Europes dwindling stocks.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton visited a munition plant in Nowa Deba, in southeast Poland, accompanied by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.

The visit came just days after Brussels announced a program to reimburse countries offering artillery ammunition to Ukraine from a 1 billion fund. The program also aims to spend an equal amount on increasing production in 11 countries with such manufacturing capacity.

Breton said the EU is determined to quickly do what is needed in light of a conflict that's expected to drag on. He also encouraged other EU countries to transfer ammunition to Ukraine as soon as possible.

Morawiecki said munitions are what's most urgent needed by Ukraine's armed forces with Kyiv slated to receive a million rounds later this year.

He said Ukraine uses up to 6,000 artillery shells daily as opposed to Russian forces which use 50,000 rounds of various types of ammunition per day.
A major forest fire continues to rage in Spains eastern Castellon region, a day after more than 1,500 people had to be evacuated from their homes.

Local officials said the fire had engulfed more than 4,000 hectares of land since it broke out on Thursday, marking an early start to the nations fire season amid bone-dry conditions.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Emergency services in the region said eight villages had been evacuated, as well as a home for older people in Montan.

Some of the evacuated residents have moved into shelters operated by the Red Cross and other charities.

Meanwhile, firefighters and soldiers continued to tackle the fire.

The Spanish military and the nations ecological transition ministry deployed additional support to try to bring the blaze under control.

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MIAMI & LIVERMORE, Calif., March 24, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Wine Group (TWG)  one of the worlds foremost producers of award-winning wines  and Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (Southern Glazer's)  the worlds preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol  today announced that they have expanded their relationship to form a national strategic alignment. The new agreement includes a portfolio expansion in the open markets of the District of Columbia, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, as well as the brokerage markets of Maine, Mississippi, and New Hampshire. The Wine Group will begin the transition of its portfolio to these markets beginning April 1, with Southern Glazers exclusive responsibility taking effect May 1.

Through this national alignment, The Wine Group will benefit from Southern Glazers vast route-to-market efficiencies, unmatched National Accounts capabilities and reach, dynamic centers of excellence, industry-leading Proof eCommerce platform, and deep data insights for wine and spirits.

"As The Wine Groups portfolio continues to grow, our national alignment with Southern Glazers will not only provide us greater efficiencies to drive strong brand performance and consumer acquisition across our expanded market footprint, but will enable us to serve all our customers more efficiently," said John Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, The Wine Group. "Our long and trusted relationship with Southern Glazers provides us great confidence in executing the next stage of our portfolio development strategy in the years to come."

"We look forward to building upon our decades-long relationship with The Wine Group," said Wayne E. Chaplin, Chief Executive Officer, Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits. "We are also honored that they chose us as the best partner to help them execute and optimize their consumer-focused portfolio expansions and long-term commercial growth strategy."

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About Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits

Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits is the worlds preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. In 2022, Southern Glazers was listed as one of Forbes Best Employers for Diversity. In 2021, Southern Glazers was selected as a U.S. Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, as well as named by Newsweek as a Top 100 Most Loved Workplace. Southern Glazers urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits.

About The Wine Group

An industry leader, The Wine Group (TWG) is one of the worlds foremost producers of award-winning wines across more than 60 wine brands and many winery facilities in California, New York, and Australia. Headquartered in Livermore, California, TWG is an industry innovator when it comes to developing, marketing, and selling wine brands beloved by consumers around the world, including Cupcake, Franzia, Benziger, Imagery, Tribute, 7 Deadly, Cooper & Thief, The Dreaming Tree, Charles Smith Wines, and more. The Wine Group believes in producing wine using sustainable and earth-friendly practices to foster healthy land and agriculture for generations to come. The company demonstrates environmental stewardship through its commitment to clean energy and by ensuring that all its vineyards are certified sustainable or biodynamic. To learn more, please visit: www.thewinegroup.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230324005249/en/

Contacts

Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, LLC

Cindy Haas

Vice President, Public Relations

Office: (305) 625-4171, ext. 1166

Mobile: (786) 498-7640

Email: cynthia.haas@sgws.com

or

Sofia Estevez

Manager, Communications & CSR

Office: (305) 625-4171, ext. 1162

Mobile: (954) 870-1273

Email: sofia.estevez@sgws.com

The Wine Group

Catherine Brew-Cain

Director, Corporate Communications

Mobile: (415) 509-1502

Email: catherine.brew-cain@thewinegroup.com
The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood

The Princess of Wales is highlighting the role that businesses can play in early childhood development, as part of her new venture.

The Princess  who shared the content as part of her Business Taskforce for Early Childhood  not only contributed to a Financial Times op-ed encouraging employers to prioritise family wellbeing in the workplace, but she also took part in a recorded conversation with the CEO of Iceland Foods, Richard Walker OBE, about the need for businesses to create a supportive environment for parents and families with young children.

In the six-minute clip, Kate can be seen wearing an elegant ivory tweed blazer over a matching jumper and dark trousers, while standing in the aisles of the Iceland food warehouse in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The blazer is a reworn high street pick from Zara.

During the talk, Kate highlights the importance of community support and mental-health awareness, before noting that the UK supermarket chain  which is one of eight companies taking part in the Business Taskforce  now has emoji posters at checkouts to help young children consider their different emotions. She added, "My hope would be that more businesses follow suit and have things like emoji posters so we can build a more compassionate, empathetic society."



The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood

Last week, the royal delivered a speech at the inaugural meeting of the Taskforce at partner Natwest's headquarters. The project will play an essential role in the princess' work to "transform the way in which society prioritises and supports children and the ecosystems around them in their earliest years," according to a Kensington Palace statement.

For the event, Kate wore a business-casual ensemble composed of a sleek cream blazer over a white scoop-neck top, black pleated trousers, and black suede pumps. She accessorised simply with a black belt with a gold buckle, gold hoop earrings, and her sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring from Prince William.

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Promoting a constructive role for the business community

Despite the fact that Covid-19 has been brought under control, the impact of the pandemic still remains. According to the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) announced in 2022, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, businesses in all industries and localities are faced with a series of problems, namely difficulty in accessing customers (60%), labor shortage (53%), cash flow imbalance (52%) and supply chain disruptions (52%). All of these factors impact business growth and competitiveness.

It is apparent that businesses on a global scale are under pressure to change after the pandemic revealed unsustainable patterns in existing production and consumption. Climate change remains one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century.

In this context, successfully implementing a growth strategy and gradually putting sustainability at the heart of the business strategy becomes imperative for both the public and private sectors. This is a global trend that includes both Vietnam and Singapore.

Recorded at VSBF, co-organised by VIETSTAR Training & Consulting JSC and Singapore Management University (SMU) in May 2022 in Hanoi right after the country opened up after the pandemic, leaders and organizations participating in this forum all agreed that that incorporating sustainability into the heart of business strategy along with efficient business practices, enhanced stakeholder interaction and improved governance will help obtain better long-term financial performance and value creation.

VSBF 2022 has promoted a constructive role, being the first forum in Vietnam to focus in-depth on sustainable business solutions. As the forum concluded, Vietnamese enterprises initiated their plans to put sustainability at the heart of business activities and incorporate sustainability into business strategies based on lessons learned from successful corporations and businesses.

Driving sustainability and inclusive growth in the digital era

In terms of trade, Vietnam is one of the 10 biggest exporters to Singapore, with double-digit turnover growth per year. According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, as an open global transshipment market, Singapore reported total trade turnover of up to SGD1.2 trillion in 2021, twice as much as its GDP. Regarding investment, by the end of 2022, Singaporean businesses have invested some USD6.46 billion in Vietnam, accounting for 23.3% of the total foreign investment capital and have ranked as one of the top investors in Vietnam.

Vietnam has 140 valid investment projects in Singapore, with a total registered capital of more than USD586 million.

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Singapore, and the third anniversary of the establishment of VSBF.

On May 12, 2023, the third VSBF in Hanoi will dive deep into driving sustainability and inclusive growth in the digital era within the framework of the green digital economy development strategy set at the beginning of this year.

The event is expected to be attended by 150 Vietnamese and Singaporean high-level leaders, namely Chairman of Temasek Holdings and Group President & CEO of Sembcorp Group, which is an investor of 12 Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP). In particular, VSIP is considered a symbol in the Vietnam-Singapore strategic relationship. On the Vietnamese side, there will be the participation of the Leader of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC), Chairman of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, strategic experts as well as top scholars from SMU, GE and EY.

Sharing with us, Ms. Mary Pham Thu Hang, VietStar CEO & VSBF Director, said: The VSBF is not only a forum for sharing governance insights and business solutions for achieving sustainable growth and development, but also the interaction of two Southeast Asian cultures; a destination of friendship where like-minded leaders together create value, drive sustainable and inclusive growth and share responsibilities to the community for a better world.
Leveraging the Groups expertise in water solutions, Keppel will provide the Phu Dong and Tan Thanh communes in Tien Giang with water filtration systems capable of producing 12,000 litres of clean water a day for domestic use. The initiative is estimated to positively impact the lives of over 20,000 local villagers in Tien Giang. In April, Keppel will deliver another water filtration system to a commune in Long An to support another 10,000 villagers.

The handover ceremonies, held in the Phu Dong and Tan Thanh communes in Tien Giang province, were officiated by Nguyen Thanh Luan, Deputy Secretary of Tien Giang Provincial Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, together with Mr Joseph Low, President (Vietnam) of Keppel Land, and in the presence of over 150 residents, who were among the first to collect the filtered water.

Joseph Low, President (Vietnam) of Keppel Land, said: We are heartened to be able to make a difference to the livelihoods of drought-affected communities in the Mekong Delta through the Living Well initiative, which harnesses the capabilities of the Keppel Group to provide solutions for sustainable urbanisation.

This initiative is aligned with Keppels commitment to sustainability and our ongoing efforts to uplift the communities where we operate. We hope that our efforts will not only positively impact the lives of the locals in Tien Giang but also raise awareness about the impact of climate change, which is one of the key causes of drought and saltwater intrusion.

Tran Van Tro, Vice President of Phu Dong Commune Peoples Committee, Tan Phu Dong district, Tien Giang province, said: Saltwater intrusion has severely impacted the daily lives of the villagers. We are excited and thankful that the Living Well initiative, sponsored by Keppel, will offer us better access to clean water every day.

In 2022, Keppel launched Living Well in the Dai Hoa Loc and Bao Thuan communes in Ben Tre Province, providing water filtration systems that offer about 20,000 villagers better access to clean water. The project took a year of planning, including land surveys, inspection and testing of the systems.

Following Living Wells success in Ben Tre, and with the support from its media partner Tien Phong newspaper, Keppel is expanding the initiative to Tien Giang and Long An, two of the most drought-stricken areas in the Mekong Delta.

Beyond Vietnam, Keppel plans to replicate this initiative in other markets in Asia where the company has a presence.

Keppel Land, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, entered Vietnam in the early 1990s and has grown to become one of the country's largest foreign investors and contributors to urban development, with more than 20 projects and total registered investment capital of about US$3.5 billion. The company is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen, contributing to and enriching the lives of local communities wherever it operates.
BRUSSELS  The central coastal province of Binh inh introduced its economic and investment potential to Belgian businesses at a hybrid conference in Brussels late last week.

The event, part of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Belgium, offered a chance to connect Belgian firms and their Vietnamese peers.

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao said that economic and trade cooperation has been one of the bright spots in the Viet Nam- Belgium partnership over the past 50 years.

Belgium is an important trade partner of Viet Nam in Europe, especially in areas of Belgium's strengths and Viet Nam's demand such as agriculture, new energy development, logistics, port infrastructure, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, Viet Nam is a major trading partner of Belgium and Europe in Asia. Moreover, Vietnamese and Belgian products are complementary, he said.

After the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect in August 2020, despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical fluctuations, two-way trade has still expanded, reaching 3.9 billion euros in 2021 and over six billion euros last year, representing a year-on-year surge of 60 per cent, noted the diplomat.

The ambassador highlighted advantages of Binh inh, including geographic location, infrastructure system, tourism and renewable energy potential.

He pledged that the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium will support the strengthening of cooperation among Vietnamese localities and those in Belgium and the EU.

First Vice President of the Belgian Senate and President of the Belgian-Vietnamese Alliance (BVA) Andries Gryffroy underlined that Binh inh is a "golden gate" to Southeast Asia.

He said that in September, a delegation comprising businesses from the Flanders region will visit Viet Nam.

The BVA will continue to serve as a bridge connecting the two markets, he stated.

Speaking to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Brussels, Emiel Neyrinck from the Union of Independent Entrepreneurs (UNIZO) of Belgium, said that he realises the great potential of Binh inh in economy and tourism, and will introduce it to UNIZO members.

Meanwhile, Senior Area Manager for Asia-Pacific of the Wallonia Export and Investment Agency Isabelle Pollet said that Wallonia has many strong firms in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and renewable energy that can cooperate with the Vietnamese side.  VNS
HA NOI Investors are likely to have few opportunities to disburse when the market is entering a sideways state with low liquidity, said brokerages.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose 0.16 per cent to close Friday at 1,046.79 points.

The index had risen 0.16 per cent last week.

An average of 502.4 million shares were traded on the southern exchange during each session last week, worth VN8.8 trillion (US$374 million).

The trend of accumulation is a reasonable trend in the current period because after a period of strong downtrend, the market has experienced a technical recovery phase since the beginning of this year and it is heading towards the balance area to accumulate, said Saigon-Hanoi Securities Co (SHS).

"In the past 6 weeks, VN-Index has changed very little, the trading volume is also decreasing, which are typical signals of the accumulation process," said SHS.

According to SHS, in the short term, there are not many opportunities to disburse when the market is entering a sideways state. Sideways is a state that occurs when securities prices move within a stable range, without forming a specific trend.

With low liquidity, although the risk of volatility is not high, the short-term upside opportunity is insignificant. However, the accumulation period is a good opportunity for medium and long-term investors when good stocks have been discounted to attractive prices after the recent downtrend period.

This analysis group recommend that medium- and long-term investors can continue to gradually disburse to increase their holding proportion to prepare for a new uptrend after this accumulation period. With good fundamentals, stocks with stable growth potential are moving in the current accumulation state.

From a technical point of view, Vietcombank Securities Co (VCBS) said that with the current situation, investors should closely observe the market at the point range from 1,035 - 1,040. If there is good accumulation and the cash flow increases again, they can disburse money in industry groups such as oil and gas, securities, and real estate. At the same time, it is necessary to keep a careful approach at the moment and limit early disbursement when there is no clear increase in cash flow.

The VN-Index will continue to fluctuate in a narrow range from 1,030 to 1,070 points this week. In the context that the market has not formed a clear uptrend, buying and holding stocks should only be done with a long-term vision, from 6 months to one year.

Meanwhile, short-term trading faces high risks and is only suitable for professional investors. At the same time, portfolio management should still be a top priority. Investors should maintain a moderate proportion of stocks and limiting the use of leverage at the current stage to control risks.

According to Quang Hinh, Head of Macro Policy and Analysis Department of VNDIRECT Securities Joint Stock Company (VNDIRECT), the real estate industry witnessed a positive trading week last week thanks to the news that CapitaLand Group (CapitaLand) - one of Asia's largest diversified real estate groups with headquarters in Singapore, had negotiate to buy Vinhomes' projects. The real estate stock's rally was led by Vinhomes (VHM), up 13 per cent, followed by Novaland (NVL) up 3.5 per cent, Nam Long Group (NLG) up 4.4 per cent and at Xanh Group (DXG), up 1.3 per cent. VNS
HA NOI  Large foreign financial groups have actively penetrated the Vietnamese consumer finance market, which has significantly helped accelerate the digitalisation of the countrys financial services.

United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has recently completed the acquisition of Citigroups consumer banking business in Viet Nam, which includes Citibanks unsecured and secured lending portfolios, wealth management and retail deposit businesses.

Not only UOB, multinational financial groups from countries in the Asian region are also strongly promoting mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital contributions in Vietnamese commercial banks to promote their consumer lending activities.

There has been recent information that Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui (SMBC) has reached a number of agreements to buy more than 1 billion shares of Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPB), equivalent to 5 per cent of the banks shares, thoibaonganhang.vn reported. Currently, both parties have not yet made official announcement on the transfer, but sources said the value of the deal could reach US$1.4 billion and could be completed by the end of this month.

In fact, SMBC and VPBank are not unfamiliar parties. From early 2021, through SMBC Consumer Finance, MSBC spent $1.37 billion to acquire 49 per cent stake of VPBanks subsidiary FE Credit. This shows the purchase of more than 1 billion VPB shares is most likely be part of the strategy to boost consumer finance segment that SMBC has built up for months.

In addition to SMBC, other large financial groups, such as MUFG from Japan, Srisawad from Thailand and KB Kookmin Card from South Korea, are also actively hunting to buy consumer finance units of Vietnamese banks. For example, from August 2021, Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) signed agreements to transfer 100 per cent of the capital at SHB Finance to MUFGs Krungsri from Thailand. At the end of 2022, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) approved the list of SHBs leaders including members from Krungsri. This shows the transfer of SHBs capital at SHB Finance to Krungsri is going to the final stage to be completed in 2025.

According to experts, with the active participation of multinational corporations, the Viet Nams consumer finance market will see a strong breakthrough with diversified products and services and strong development in microfinance digitalisation.

In fact, besides large corporations from Japan, South Korea and Thailand, large Vietnamese groups and corporations, such as Masan, FPT, Viettel and Bamboo, have also made strong investments in the consumer finance segment. For example, in February, Masan invested $105 million in Trust IQ to develop artificial intelligence applications in retail and consumer finance to its customers. Masan has also cooperated with Techcombank to create the WINLife ecosystem to exploit the personal financial needs of customers who are using Masans retail and consumer services.

Investment in digitalisation is currently the key for large financial companies to compete and expand their market shares as a large number of customers with consumer finance needs have turned to cashless applications and modern borrowing technologies.

Currently, financial companies investing heavily in digitalisation such as VietCredit and MCredit are having very positive growth rates. In particular, MCredit, with the backing of MB and Shinsei Bank, has applied artificial intelligence and cloud computing applications to serve more than 2 million customers, which has helped MCredit rank third among the group of finance companies with the largest market share in Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, despite having a smaller size, VietCredit has also had a remarkable growth rate when it recorded a loan balance of more than VN4.4 trillion by the end of 2022 and a pre-tax profit growth of 52 per cent over the same period of 2021.

To compete for customers and maintain market share, large financial groups such as FE Credit, Home Credit and HD Saison also have had to make strong investments in developing new digital application platforms. FE Credit has invested in Ubank application to replace FE Credit Mobile to become a major neobank in the region in the next few years. Meanwhile, HDSaison has also invested in a new application on the mobile platform to exploit the group of small traders in traditional markets. HDSaison last year was very successful in adding 1.2 million new customers to develop consumer loans.

According to experts, after welcoming strong investments and cooperation from major financial group in the region, the Viet Nams consumer finance market is experiencing increasingly fierce competition and M&A deals from multinational corporations targeting the countrys consumer finance segment are forecast to be the leverage to strongly stimulate the wave of digitalisation and microfinance coverage in the country in the coming years.  VNS
HA NOI Viet Nam exported 7,420 tonnes of coffee worth US$18.77 million to the Netherlands in the first two months of the year, up 93.1 per cent in volume and 105.7 per cent in value year on year, according to the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

The average export price of Vietnamese coffee to the market also rose by 5.7 per cent to $2,517 per tonne from one year ago.

In February alone, the country shipped 4,100 tonnes of coffee worth $10.11 million to the Netherlands, up 110.3 per cent in volume and 136.6 per cent in value compared to February 2022.

Last year, the major suppliers of coffee to the Netherlands were mainly from the intra-EU market, including Belgium, Germany, France, Finland, and Italy. Meanwhile, Dutch coffee imports from non-EU markets also enjoyed double-digit growth, with Viet Nam becoming the second largest foreign supplier.

Experts have advised Vietnamese enterprises to boost coffee exports to the Netherlands which is considered the gateway into the European market.

They also recommended that Vietnamese firms study consumer demand, logistics services, and distribution systems to further penetrate the Dutch and European markets. VNS
HA NOI VPBank on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement with Japans Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) - a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG) to issue 15 per cent equity stake through a private placement, officially welcoming SMBC as a foreign strategic investor of the bank.

The investment from SMBC will help the bank raise VN35.9 trillion (approximately US$1.5 billion), of Tier 1 capital (equal to VN30,160 per share), increasing its owner equity to approximately VN140 trillion from VN103.5 trillion. This comes as part of the capital raising plan that VPBank has been implementing during 2022-23 in order to enhance its long-term financial strength and support the bank to reach an ambitious growth strategy over the next five years.

Following the latest SMBC strategic investment, VPBank will become Viet Nams second largest bank in terms of owner equity, which allows it to serve a wide range of customer needs in various segments, including retail banking, corporate banking and SMEs. The robust capital stance will also back VPBank in serving large-scale enterprises, particularly the FDI and multi-national companies that have been or will be investing in Viet Nam.

The new investment also proves a strong and trusted collaboration between SMBC and VPBank, since the two parties entered into a Business Partnership Agreement in May 2022. Previously, in 2021, SMBC Consumer Finance Co Ltd  a subsidiary of SMFG  also acquired 49 per cent equity stake in FE Credit, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VPBank.

SMBC, through this investment, will contribute towards VPBanks growth by leveraging its know-how and business expertise accumulated in other Asian markets. SMBC is thus expected to help accelerate the digital transformation at VPBank, in order to deliver customer-centric banking products and services and superior customer experience.

Furthermore, thanks to the great reputation of a large financial institution like SMBC, the strategic deal is anticipated to attract and encourage potential FDI companies among the 200,000 corporate clients of SMBC to come and expand their investment in Viet Nam. These potential enterprises, once enter Viet Nam successfully, will also likely to become clients of VPBank.

For SMBC itself, through the rapport built with a local bank like VPBank, the group will be able to strengthen its foothold in the country and exploit opportunity to serve local investment projects, particularly those in the field of infrastructure construction and green and sustainable growth that the group has been paying attention to in recent years.

As one of the earliest-established joint-stock commercial banks in Viet Nam, VPBank has achieved sustainable development throughout its 30-year history. VPBank is now the leading commercial bank in Viet Nam in terms of efficiency and profitability, with strong presence in retail and SME segments. It is also the digital pioneer implementing end-to-end digitisation to deliver distinctive customer value propositions.

As at December 31, 2022, VPBanks total assets amounted to approximately $27 billion, with a network of 251 branches national wide. VPBank is also among the best-capitalised banks with CAR at approximately 15 per cent well beyond the regulatory requirement, which has strengthened its balance sheet and provides headroom for future growth.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is one of the largest commercial banks in Japan. With offices in 39 countries and regions including the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania, SMBC has an extensive global network and growing international presence.

SMBC and its group companies offer a broad range of financial services, including deposit taking, lending, securities brokering and trading, securities investment, money transfer, foreign currency exchange, corporate bond trustee services and custody services, financial futures underwriting, investment trust sales and other commercial banking activities. VNS
HCM CITY  More than 200 titles of books for children and teenagers by Vietnamese writers have been reprinted and distributed by the HCM City-based Tre (Youth) Publishing House this month.

The publication promotes the habit of reading among young people.

Literature book, comic books, colouring books and reference books are offered.

Poem collections and short stories by young writers such as Mai Chi, Anh Tuyet and Ha Trieu are also featured.

Highlighted books include Huong Rung Ca Mau (Scent of Forest in Ca Mau), a famous short stories collection by late cultural researcher and author Son Nam of Kien Giang Province.

The work was first released in 1962 and has been reprinted several times by leading publishing houses. It was translated and taught at Paris University Diderot.

Huong Rung Ca Mau includes 18 short stories featuring Mekong Delta cultures, southern people and their lifestyles.

Tre Publishing House released the book in a new version of 204 pages including paintings by young artists.

Nam was born in U Minh Ha in Rach Gia Province (now Kien Giang) in 1926. He studied in Can Tho and took part in the resistance war against the French in 1945. He passed away in HCM City in 2008.

Nam wrote more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books, 400 short stories and did many research works. His books have attracted millions of readers from different generations.

His readers call Nam a living dictionary on the southern land because his writing features his love for and knowledge of the southern region.

We are working to provide more Vietnamese titles for children and teen readers this year, an official of the publishing house said.

In order to raise the awareness of parents about the importance of books for children, Tre Pubishing House will organise book fairs and host discussions with leading childrens book authors, educators and psychologists this summer.

The printer has signed contracts with well-known authors, including young writers, to create books in literature, history and the arts targeting children and teenagers.

Its long-term campaign Vietnamese Writes Books for Vietnamese Children began in 2018 and has supported local writers to offer more quality publications for young readers.  VNS
HOI AN  After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Viet Nam International Choir Competition is set to resume in the ancient town of Hoi An from April 2 to 6.

The event has received registrations from 20 teams representing nine countries and territories, and will feature 13 events with eight grades held at the city's theatre.

Organised by Interkultur and Hoi An in 2011, the competition expects to gather thousands of artists performing in the mens and womens mixed and equal voice of sacred choral music, hymn, chamber, and folklore with age groups of youth, teen, and adult.

The opening ceremony of the event will take place at the Hoi An Theatre at 8pm on April 2, and the troupes will hold a parade from the theatre to wind through the Old Quarter of Hoi An after the award ceremony on April 4.

The competitions organisers will present gold medals and certificates to winners of eight categories. Teams will also participate in a public performance, International Melody, and local performances of art troupes from 7.30pm at the Japanese Bridge, Kazik Park, and Ba Mu Pagoda on April 3-4.

Interkultur brought the first choral competition to Hoi An in 2011, and central Thua Thien-Hue hosted the second edition in 2012. The competitions jury will be selected by Interkultur, and ang Chau Anh will be the only Vietnamese representative in the jury.

The biennial competition is considered a rendezvous for international choir teams and friends coming to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site.

In the previous competition in 2019, the Vocalista Angels, a children's choir team from Indonesia, won the Viet Nam International Choir Competition, while the Vietnamese choir of the National University of Art Education was awarded the silver prize in the mixed choirs.  VNS
BINH THUAN  National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue has expressed confidence in the prospects of Binh Thuan Province, citing its recent socio-economic achievements and potential for growth.

Hue highlighted the upcoming opening of the North-South Expressway and completion of Phan Thiet Airport as factors that will contribute to the province's development.

Hue made the remarks during a working visit with the Standing Board of Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee in Phan Thiet City on Sunday.

The growth rate of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) reached 7.75 per cent, of which the agriculture  forestry  fishery sector increased by 2.5 per cent; the industry  construction sector increased by 6.66 per cent; the services increased by 14.88 per cent.

Of the 17 main targets, 16 have been achieved and exceeded the targeted plans. The export turnover of goods reached US$775.9 million, an increase of 23.09 per cent compared to 2021. The import turnover reached $1,341.93 million, up 15.5 per cent compared to 2021.

The Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee said the monitoring activities of the Provincial Delegation of the National Assembly and the Provincial People's Council have become more and more practical, focusing on hot issues of voters and the public's concerns.

Monitoring activities have pointed out inadequacies and shortcomings in implementing legal policies at all levels and sectors and required immediate solutions.

At the same time, these activities have collected the recommendations of the competent authorities to make comments on the adjustment and development of legal documents, it said.

It proposed that the planning for titanium exploration, mining and processing, and titanium reserve should be completed for sustainable development. It also said the construction of the La Nga 3 Reservoir project in Tanh Linh District should be conducted soon to ensure water security in three provinces of Binh Thuan, ong Nai, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The investment in Phu Quy island district should be strengthened and the financial support from oil and gas revenues exploited in Binh Thuan waters should be invested in fishery infrastructure development and create livelihoods for local fishermen, it said.

At the meeting, Senior Lieutenant General Pham Hoai Nam, Deputy Minister of National Defence, praised the recent development of Phu Quy Island but said it remained modest.

Phu Quy Island is the country's frontier and outpost area with an important strategic position in national defence and security. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in building better infrastructure to serve the development of the marine economy while ensuring national defence and security.

Nam also noted that the civilian-military airport in Phan Thiet City has a very important role, stressing the construction of the airport must be completed by the end of next year.

He suggested the province handle site clearance to ensure the construction progress.

Nam also asked the province to pay more attention to ensuring national defence and security; educate fishermen to contribute to ensuring security in the province; and coordinate between the military forces, the police forces and related forces to effectively handle arising situations.

Hue suggested that the provincial Party Committee should evaluate and review the implementation of action plans, schemes and resolutions of the 13th National Party Congress and the resolutions of the Central Committee, the National Assembly, the Government and the province.

The top legislator suggested that the standing board of the provincial Party Committee study and promulgate the programme to review and perfect guidelines and policies in the province.

Hue emphasised that planning is the most prominent issue in recent times. The National Assembly has issued resolutions on planning, so Binh Thuan needs to urgently complete the dossier, submit it for approval, and implement it from 2021 to 2030.

The province must carefully review and study the planning to ensure its consistency with the regional and national planning, which will bring into full play the potential and advantages of the province.

NA Chairman Hue also congratulated Binh Thuan Province on successfully organising the 2023 National Tourism Year, saying the event will contribute to the provinces breakthrough and prosperity in 2023.

On the same day, the NA Chairman Hue and the delegation offered incense and flowers to President Ho Chi Minh at the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Binh Thuan Province and paid a visit to the historical site of Duc Thanh School, where Uncle Ho worked as a teacher before going abroad 113 years ago. VNS
HCM CITY  The HCM City Peoples Court on Monday (March 17) decided to delay the appeals trial of Alibaba Company owners and employees who were earlier found guilty of "property fraud" and "money laundering", causing more than 4,500 victims to lose over VN2.4 trillion (US$101 million).

The appeals trial of Nguyen Thai Luyen, 36, chairman of the company, and 14 other defendants, was delayed until May due to the absence of a number of defense attorneys, according to the court.

Along with other defendants, Luyen has repeatedly said he did not commit property fraud and the company did not lie when providing information about the land plots for sale to customers.

At the first trial last December, the court found Luyen guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment for property fraud, and his wife Vo Thi Thanh Mai to a total of 30 years in prison for property fraud and money laundering.

Other defendants received from three years (suspended sentence) to 27 years in prison for property fraud.

In addition, the court ordered Luyen and his wife Mai to pay 4,550 victims VN2.4 trillion in compensation. It also told Mai to pay back VN13 billion she got from money laundering.

After the first trial ended, 18 out of 23 defendants appealed, but three defendants later withdrew their appeals, according to the court.

According to the indictment, in 2016, Nguyen Thai Luyen established HCM City-based Alibaba Real Estate Joint Stock Company with 22 affiliate companies to invest in 58 projects in ong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Thuan provinces.

Luyen assigned his relatives and 2,600 trusted employees to act as legal entities of these companies to illegally appropriate property.

Taking advantage of peoples lack of understanding of the law in the transfer of land use rights, Luyen and his accomplices counterfeited residential projects, illegally divided and separated land plots and sold them to thousands of people to illegally appropriate VN2.4 trillion.

To create trust and attract customers, Luyen promised to buy back the land at prices 30 per cent higher after 12 months or 38 per cent higher after 15 months from the date of payment.

He also told purchasers they could rent the land back for 2 per cent per month from the date of signing if the customers paid 95 per cent of the contract value.

With this method, most customers who received land transfers in the form of residential plots offered by the company did not receive the certificates of land use rights. Instead, Alibaba Company paid interest or repurchased the land according to options contracts or attached contract addendums.

According to the court, Alibaba Company was not permitted to divide and separate land plots, and the land was not residential as advertised by the company. The offering of options or attached contract addendums was a means of luring people to the projects.  VNS
Minh Phuong

HOUSTON  Lena's Asian Kitchen, the brainchild of Vietnamese chef Le Quynh Trang, embodies the spirit of 'more than a working place'.

While the healthy meal preparation service provides fresh and pre-cooked Asian dishes, it also serves as a beacon of hope for domestic violence survivors.

With a firm commitment to helping those affected by domestic abuse start anew, Trang's kitchen has become a safe space for those seeking refuge and support.

Trang said: "My aunt and my mom suffered domestic abuse. That's why I always feel enthusiastic and encouraged to help the victims.

"Then, when I moved to the US and took a culinary school here, I decided to open a cooking business and devote my life to helping the survivors.

"That's how Lena's Asian Kitchen was born."

A kitchen of hope

Trang's kitchen now has six staff, of which three are survivors of domestic abuse.

Lena Asian's Kitchen is open from Monday to Thursday, with Sunday as a day for preparation. The kitchen typically serves around 300 meals a day for diners in Houston and has customers up to 100 kilometres away.

Each day, the meals are prepared to order and then shipped to diners' doors.

Although her business model might not receive as many customers as a dine-in restaurant, it does provide a safe working environment for her staff.

"The domestic abuse survivors coming here have no experience in the kitchen, especially a commercial kitchen," Trang said. "They don't even have any work experience because some of them are locked up their whole life and never go anywhere."

"So it takes some time to train them and nurture them because the kitchen environment is really tough. Long hours of working and yelling might sometimes trigger domestic abuse survivors.

"If I open a high-end restaurant, it is going to be really hard for them to learn the skills or to be able to catch up with the work. That's why I open a meal prep service first. When my staff get more stable with the work and feel comfortable in the kitchen, I will plan to expand the business into catering.

"Furthermore, if their skills keep improving, I will consider doing more."

Trang has helped numerous survivors get back on their feet.

D.M, who has chosen not to reveal her identity, is a 22-year-old woman who has been working at the kitchen since its inception as a web developer. Despite facing various challenges, D.M. now has greater confidence in herself thanks to Trang's support.

"I experienced housing instability before, now I don't feel that I can live completely on my own, but I've improved my skills by figuring things out in a working environment instead of at school," she said.

"I'm glad that there's someone who is willing to employ people in domestic violence situations that don't look like the norm.

"I believe in myself now. Whenever I think I can't, I always keep going and Lena is always there to support us. She always tries to encourage me to keep moving."

Domestic violence has long been a problem; victims can be either gender and abuse can be physical or emotional. Often it comes from family members. Prolonged domestic violence can leave victims in a state of instability and cause trauma afterwards.

With the mission of helping out survivors overcome these difficulties, Trang set up the Lena Foundation, to deliver meals to survivors and provide them with the support they need to move forward.

Trang said: "I have Lena Foundation, which is a charity organisation, where we bring food to Houston survivors of domestic abuse and survivors of human trafficking.

"I really want to grow it so it can reach out to more survivors in Houston."

Spreading Vietnamese cuisine to the world

Cooking seemed to come naturally to Trang.

At the age of 30, when Trang thought it was too late to start a new career, she bravely took her first steps in a cooking venture after settling down in the US two years prior.

Trang said: "The passion that comes to me the long way round. I was a banker and an English teacher in Viet Nam.

"I love my jobs, but deep down, I always feel something is missing.

"So when I moved to the US and ended up cooking a lot at home, I realised that food is always a true passion of mine."

Seven years later, she has won a James Beard Award, an award to recognise chefs in the United States, worked with high-profile chefs and even opened her own business.

She is proud that her dream to bring Vietnamese cuisine to the world has come true.

"Food is one big part of the culture of a country. The fact that we can bring original and authentic Vietnamese dishes from our kitchen to our customers is a really big deal.

"Through food, they can understand more about the country, more about the people and more about the cultures.

"My meal prep we offered to everyone, customers eat it, and they really love it. They love our 'thit kho' (caramelised meat), they love our 'ca kho'(braised fish), and they love our 'ga kho gung' (braised ginger chicken). It is wonderful."

Her creativity in cooking has carved a deep impression on diners, which makes them return for more meals.

Icy Koo, a customer from Texas, loves Vietnamese food because of its freshness.

"I've eaten Trang's meal prep quite often, it's very enjoyable and tasty.

"One thing I really love about Vietnamese food is the freshness and all the herbs and vegetables they add to it and different spices as well."

Her meals include macro counts, so customers know how many calories, carbohydrates, fat and protein are in each meal.

Lena Asian's Kitchen model has made a good impression on customers because of its delicious food and its compassionate mission.

Lauren Austin said: "She's so diverse with her cooking skills, that even if you're eating one thing, one week, you're going to eat something new and fresh. You're going to have new fresh experiences with her cooking. And there's honestly no place like that in Houston.

"The best thing besides her food is the fact that she has a foundation that helps domestic abuse survivors. So she hires people that have a hard time finding a job and helps them get on their feet. That's really admirable."

By combining culinary expertise with a dedication to social responsibility, Trang with Lena's Asian Kitchen has become a hope for those in need of support and nourishment.

Her plan is to expand the business all over Texas and then the US to provide more jobs to more domestic abuse survivors everywhere.

Trang said: "It's a big milestone for me to open Lena's Asian Kitchen because cooking is a really hard job, especially when you do it alone. So I guess I am proud of myself for overcoming challenges.

"At the same time, our kitchen concept is so rare because we provide jobs for the less fortunate. And we're really proud that because of us, they can have an apartment of their own, provide for their kids, and get back on their feet.

"And last but not least, I'm proud that I'm here to spread Vietnamese cuisine to more people. A lot of different people from different countries or different nationalities have ordered meals from us and cherished Vietnamese food, that is really wonderful." VNS
Using the climate change scare to promote abortion

By Tom Harris

web posted March 27, 2023

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to speak to Campaign Life Coalition Ottawa about climate change and the potential threat that climate alarmism poses to the objectives of pro-lifers. The title of the event is Why global warming alarmism is a threat to unborn children and the pro-life movement.

In preparation for the event, I researched whether climate activist groups had anything to say about abortion and were surprised to see they do indeed. While their position is usually cloaked in supposed respect for womans rights, many of these groups strongly support abortion, and it is clear that their drive for de-population is a major reason for it. For example, in his Feb 6, 2017 interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Michael Brune, then Sierra Club Executive Director, was asked:

Last year on the anniversary of Roe v Wade, you all issued a press release saying that the Sierra Club stands in solidarity with [the pro-abortion] Planned ParenthoodWhy does legal abortion make the environment better?

Brune answered with the usual justification about believing in empowering women, etc.

So Carlson asked again:

What does that do with the environment? Like how specifically does more abortion or legal abortion help the environment?

Brune finally admitted:

Well, it helps to address the number of people that we have on this planet. We feel that one of the ways in which we can get to a sustainable population is to empower women to make choices about their own families.

Bingo.

They want abortion because they want fewer people on Earth to supposedly protect the environment, specifically to stop climate change, a wholly impossible objective, of course. Brune next boasted about how the Sierra Club is working hard to transition off of fossil fuels to move towards clean energy. Yes, that too, would reduce Earths population since moving off these reliable fuels at any time in the foreseeable future would result in poverty, famine, and wars, killing billions.

This seems to have been going on for a long time. In the 1998 news release, Sierra Club Spends Millions on Pro-abortion Propaganda, Life Site reported that Sierra was paying for political ads on TV and radio, promoting, among other things, abortion rights.

And they apparently still support this objective. For example, in the wake of the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court last year, Sierra published Why Environmental Justice Is Part of Reproductive Justice | Sierra Club, a convoluted article that attributed the courts decision to relegate abortion law to the states to ecofascism.

Other enviro groups have been saying similar things for years, presumably for the same reason:

An open letter in support of Planned Parenthood, sent on March 22, 2017, to leading federal elected officials, was signed by: Alaska Wilderness League Green For All Green Latinos League of Conservation Voters Natural Resources Defense Council Oil Change International Safe Climate Campaign Sierra Club The Climate Reality Project



World Wildlife Federation (WWF) published Healthy People, Healthy Ecosystems, A Manual on Integrating Health and Family Planning into Conservation Projects, in which they stated:

Reproductive health programs include such activities asreducing the practice of unsafe abortion, providing post-abortion care

Center for Biological Diversity opposed Republican plans to defund Planned Parenthoods reproductive health services and pass a 6-week abortion ban. Their online article, TACKLING THE POPULATION PROBLEM stated bluntly:

Human population growth is at the root of our most pressing environmental issues

World Watch Institute has decried, The legal absurdity of decreasing access to safe abortion in developing countries puts the US administration in clear violation of the 1994 Cairo Program of Action. In World Watch Magazine, March/April 2007, Volume 20, No. 2, by Richard Hayes was stated:

Theres no reason we cant draw lines that protect abortion rights and medical research while prohibiting applications of genetic science that open the door to profoundly undesirable outcomes.

Some media agree. In Is Having A Baby In 2021 Pure Environmental Vandalism? Vogue Magazine writer Nell Frizzell worried

feverishly about the strain on the earths resources that another Western child would add. The food he [the child she was originally considering having] ate, the nappies he wore, the electricity he would use; before hed even started sitting up, my child would have already contributed far more to climate change than his counterpart in, say, Kerala or South Sudan.

University of Ottawa Gwartney Professor of Economic Education and Research Dr. Peter Jacobson demonstrated in an article that pro-life advocates should study that her fears are generally misguided.

Or how about Kids are cute, but theyre not really eco-friendly, a 2017 Times Trends article being shared on the Web (and refuted in Does the value of children depend on their usefulness?  Children are a gift, not a liability).

It is not just that environmental groups are supporting abortion to supposedly help achieve their climate goals. Pro-abortion organizations are using the climate scare to promote their agenda as well. The Virginia-based Population Research Institute sums up the latter situation well in their important video, Climate Change is an Excuse for Abortion. Here are some excerpts (see here for the complete video):

Climate crisis advocates blame human activity as the leading cause for climate change. So why not push for global access to abortion and contraception under the guise of climate activism to address the source of all climate change  humanity?

This is precisely what the abortion industry has attempted to do.  Groups in the abortion industry have slowly been distancing themselves from the eugenics and population control movement, and re-branding themselves in a different type of campaign that promotes womans rights.

With this rebranding, they fall under a broader movement that provides them more flexibility and sway to push their ultimate goalinternational abortion laws under the guise of womans rights and womens health. This new rights category has made it possible for abortion advocates to use womans autonomy as a guise in order to rebrand the movement as a champion of a movement now at the forefront of agendas across the world: Climate Change.

They [sexual and reproductive health and rights groups] claim that an inevitable and necessary step to combat climate change is with family planningThe international Planned Parenthood Federation insists that contraception and abortion are basic human rights that women, especially in impoverished countries, lack. Clearly, the abortion lobbies association with the climate crisis has not changed its population control agenda. Rather, it has empowered them to make their population control agenda more relevant by means of embedding fear through climate crisis theory and claiming their movement as the solution.

And, of course, some academics have been promoting de-population for decades. Dr. Paul Ehrlich, formerly a butterfly biologist at Stanford University, successfully scared the world with his 1968 book The Population Bomb. In it, he attempted to convince readers that the English economist, Thomas Malthus, was right in predicting the end of the world back in 1798. As a result of his highly inaccurate publication, Ehrlich was awarded a MacArthur Genius Award. This gave him prominent platforms from which to give annual predictions of doom and gloom, 100% of which proved false. Now 90, Ehrlich maintains he has been right all along, just off in the timing.

More recently, in The climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions, published in 2017 in Environmental Research Letters, Seth Wynes, and Kimberly A Nicholas lamented the fact that high school textbooks and government documents did not focus on high impact actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, they explained that having one fewer child would, on average, save 58.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalent (tCO2e) in emissions per year for developed countries (see graph below from their video presentation):

And then, of course, there is the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, who are trying to convince us to not have any children at all. They maintain:

Phasing out the human species by voluntarily ceasing to breed will allow Earths biosphere to return to good health.

Besides being a dangerous and depressing worldview that encourages suicide, abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization, all of this is wrong, of course. We are not overpopulated, and as Christians would remind us, the Bible says:

Children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from him (Psalm 127:3).

Even Dr. Carl Sagan, a humanist and a supporter of naturalistic religious beliefs that finds religious meaning in the natural world but did not believe in God, said:

The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.

And even people who have no religious faith whatsoever can and indeed should view humanity as wonderful. Every baby born is a marvelous gift to the universe with unlimited potential for undreamed-of inventions, philosophies, art, music, science, and philanthropy. Everything from Mozart to our expansion into space shows that we are not merely another part of nature, but, indeed, are the very pinnacle of life on our planet, perhaps in the universe.

Many of the arguments in support of abortion fall flat if it can be shown that the environment, specifically the climate, is not in crisis. In next weeks article, I will show pro-life advocates how to fight back against the unscientific climate scare threatening their movement. Stay tuned.

Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition, and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He has 40 years experience as a mechanical engineer/project manager, science and technology communications professional, technical trainer, and S&T advisor to a former Opposition Senior Environment Critic in Canadas Parliament. This essay was first published by America Out Loud at Using the Climate Change Scare to Promote Abortion - America Out Loud.
HA NOI  World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Viet Nam Dr Angela Pratt has said that Viet Nam is in the sustainable management phase of the COVID-19 pandemic as the situation continues to stabilise with a very low number of reported daily cases, and importantly no reported deaths in over two months.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, the official said that now in the fourth year of the pandemic, Viet Nam and the world are in a much better place than they were even 12 months ago.

The tools and vaccines we have are proven to protect lives and significantly reduce risk of severe illness and death and also, in most places, to enable health systems to function more normally again, she said.

She added it is hoped that 2023 will be the year in which COVID-19 can be said to be over as a public health emergency of international concern.

Assessing Viet Nams response to the COVID-19 pandemic for each stage of the pandemic, Angela said that from the start, Viet Nam had well-calibrated and strong public health and social measures in place.

These included a strong capacity for early detection and response, robust surveillance measures, strong border measures, and social restrictions, community adherence to personal protective behaviours; and healthcare capacity.

All of these measures kept cases and deaths low until vaccines were available, with Viet Nam having one of the lowest death rates in the region, especially early on in the pandemic, she said.

This was made possible through strong and effective government leadership, great community efforts, and a tireless contribution from the health sector, in particular, health workers.

Viet Nam did an incredible job rolling out the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 and 2022, she said, adding that the speed and scale of the rollout, including efforts to ensure vaccines reach every corner of the country, is one of the great success stories of the countrys COVID-19 response, and the region more broadly.

She said the Government of Viet Nam, particularly the Ministry of Health, health workers, businesses, communities, and partners are all to be commended for their efforts.

As a result of these efforts, in 2022, Viet Nam did an excellent job of transitioning to what we call the sustained management phase of COVID-19  balancing social and economic development with public health measures to protect the vulnerable and the health system, she emphasised.

However, she said with the pandemic unfortunately not over yet  the world must remain vigilant, keeping up strong surveillance, ensuring everyone eligible, especially those most vulnerable, are vaccinated and boosted, and also continuing to encourage people to be mindful of their risk.

With the government remaining vigilant and communities remaining mindful, we can continue to protect the health system and build on Vietnams impressive economic and social recovery, she said.

The WHO official said that if Viet Nam maintains preparedness for worsened pandemic development, with its experience of the past three years and the National Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan continuing to be reviewed, the country is well placed to respond to future outbreaks.

She noted that its really important to continue to strengthen the health system to ensure it can cope with a surge in cases; sustain and build up healthcare workforce capacity; keep up-to-date with vaccinations for eligible populations and prepare for mass vaccination if needed; and enhance multi-source surveillance, testing, and sequencing, to detect possible genomic changes and mutations.

According to the WHO, three years after WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared COVID-19 a global health emergency of international concern, there have been over 760 million confirmed cases and almost 7 million deaths reported globally.

From the beginning of the pandemic to date, Viet Nam reported over 11.527 million COVID-19 infections, of that more than 10.61 million cases have recovered from the disease. COVID-19 killed 43,186 people in Viet Nam, accounting for 0.4 per cent of total infections. Nearly 266 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country.  VNS
Japan has ended restrictions on exports to South Korea of three key compounds used in the manufacture of semiconductors and displays.

It is the latest step towards improving long fractious ties between the two United States allies.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced on Thursday the move to officially ease licensing requirements on fluorinated polyimide, hydrogen fluoride and photoresists.

It added that the move would take effect the same day.

The restrictions had threatened to hurt some of South Koreas biggest companies and had the potential to disrupt global supply chains.

The curbs were introduced in 2019 at the height of a dispute over whether Japan had sufficiently compensated the victims of its 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula.

The measures did little to affect shipments of the specialist materials used in gadgets, including Apple iPhones.

But they were perceived as a threat to hurt Seoul economically and helped drive the two US allies further apart.

Resolving the feud has become more urgent for the US and its two powerful partners in Asia.

This is because they are attempting to present a more united front against China and North Korea in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who has sought to rebuild ties since taking office in 2022, on Monday announced he was returning Japan to a list of trusted trading partners.

Japan has said it is looking to do the same for its neighbour.

For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday that he would invite Mr Yoon to take part in outreach discussions at the summit of the Group of Seven democracies, set to take place in Hiroshima in May.

Mr Yoon went to Tokyo earlier this month for the first summit on Japanese soil in more than a decade between the leaders of the two countries.

Source: Bloomberg
This investment deal brings the owners capital of VPBank to approximately VND 140 trillion, making it the second-highest in Vietnams banking system.

10

Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank , HoSE: VPB) held a signing ceremony on March 27th to issue a private placement of 15% of its charter capital to SMBC Bank of Japan (under the financial group SMFG). This agreement officially made SMBC Group a strategic investor in VPBank.

This investment will bring VPBank VND 35.9 trillion in Tier 1 capital, raising its total owners capital from VND 103.5 trillion to approximately VND 140 trillion.

This investment deal is part of VPBanks capital increase plan that has been implemented since 2022 to strengthen its long-term financial capacity and help the bank achieve its strategic growth goals in the next five years.

Vietnams VP bank sells 15% stake to Japans second-largest banking group: Bloomberg

Timo joins hands with Viet Capital Bank as its new banking partner

Vietnams banks stick with bullish 2020 target despite coronavirus

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Additionally, the investment agreement signed between the two parties demonstrated the close cooperation between VPBank and SMBC. Earlier in May 2022, the two parties signed a business cooperation agreement. In late 2021, SMBC Consumer Finance Company (a subsidiary of SMFG) also acquired 49% of the shares in Fe Credit, a subsidiary of VPBank.

After this investment, VPBank will become the second-largest bank in Vietnam in terms of owners capital, following Vietcombank. This allows VPBank to have enough financial strength to meet the needs of customers in all strategic segments.

Under the agreement, SMBC will contribute to VPBanks growth by sharing the secrets and experience that the group has accumulated over many years in the Asian market. The digital transformation process is also one of the factors expected to be accelerated after SMBC joins VPBanks operations, bringing banking products and services developed to meet customers needs and behaviors.

This agreement is also expected to create attraction and encourage FDI investors, including more than 200,000 customers who are multinational corporations and large enterprises in the world of SMBC Group and SMBC Bank, to explore and expand investment in Vietnam. These groups may become VPBanks potential customers in the future.

For SMBC, through a local bank like VPBank, it can also strengthen its presence and expand opportunities to provide capital for domestic investment projects, especially in areas such as infrastructure construction, business projects, etc.
MADRID, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 30th ASLAN Congress & EXPO 2023, organized by the Spanish National Association of Technology Industries was held in Madrid, Spain. Themed "Shared Technologies, Localized Solutions", H3C continued its presence for the 2nd time at the event with key scenario-based solutions and latest products, demonstrating its unique capabilities to local end-users and partners.

H3C showcases key scenario-based solutions and latest products at the 30th ASLAN Congress & EXPO 2023

The exhibition focuses on cutting-edge industrial information technology & services to attract international industry leaders, experts, scholars as well as notable digital companies. The focus of the exhibition is to welcome these stakeholders to participate and help Spain to build well-structured enterprises and have an efficient digital management system.

H3C presented its state-of-the-art products and intelligent solutions at the exhibition. Through the exchange and sharing of localized solutions and innovative technologies, it will help accelerate the process of digital transformation in Spain. Nowadays, the application of emerging technologies such as digitalization, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has become the key to promoting digital economic activities and realizing the Internet of Everything.

According to the 2022 annual report recently released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Spain, the country issued 107,000 grants to small and medium enterprises to purchase digital services such as digital marketing and e-commerce, network security, process digitization, and remote office.

Romeo Wang, General Manager of H3C Spain, said, "The digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Spain is slowly catching up but leaves room for improvement. Currently, many industries are stepping up with digital transformation, and the local government is also actively promoting digital skills training for the public. We hope that through localized technology innovation capabilities, talent empowerment, and ecosystem, we can empower local government and enterprise customers to improve digital management, operation, and service efficiency, and escort the acceleration of Spain's digitalization process."

Following the H3C NAVIGATE 2023 International Business Summit held in February 2023 based on the strategy of "Think Globally, Act Locally", H3C Spain continues to deepen its localization of technology innovation capabilities, talent empowerment, and ecosystem. With the theme of "shared technologies, localized solutions", it proposes to focus on Synergy Working, Innovative Education, Efficient Healthcare, Reliable Public Service and other scenario-based solutions. Through the all-round coverage of remote offices, digital education, and smart hospital construction scenarios, it will speed up Spain's digitalization progressively.

In addition, H3C also highlighted the AD-Net 6.0 solution at the exhibition site. H3C's new-generation AD-NET 6.0 architecture consists of development technology, platform cloud, and third-party applications for unified management of platforms and portals. This solution builds an application-driven network integrating control, analysis, and centralized management through Seer Engine and Seer Analyzer, which can avoid a series of human errors and potential safety hazards. Its core capabilities have fully matched the needs of the era of comprehensive cloudification and will become a strong support for the vast number of Spanish network users, customers, and partners to carry out digital transformation, and further promote the rapid implementation of the "Digital Spain 2025" plan.

Under the guidance of the Cloud & AI Native strategy, H3C will adhere to the localization strategy, deeply cultivate the Spanish market, and build an open, blooming and win-win ecosystem for customers and partners by virtue of its own digital intelligence and innovative technology strength. In the future, H3C will also shoulder the corporate responsibility of boosting the growth of the global digital economy and help Spain achieve a comprehensive digital transformation.

Source: H3C
Atyab Tahir brings over 2 decades of local and international experience in fintech and digital financial services to help build a digital bank in Pakistan

HugoBank expects to increase Pakistan's bank account penetration rate to over 80% and to open 34 million new accounts by 2027

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HugoBank, Pakistan's latest digital bank led by a Singapore Consortium, today announced the proposed appointment of Atyab Tahir as Chief Executive Officer, subject to the State Bank of Pakistan's fit and proper assessment. Following the company's incorporation, Atyab will set-up and lead HugoBank in Pakistan to offer digital banking services to people and small businesses across the country.





Atyab Tahir

Atyab brings over 20 years of business experience and deep industry knowledge to drive HugoBank's mission in Pakistan. Prior to HugoBank, Atyab led Jazzcash and served as a country head for Mastercard. He has also held senior positions with Tameer Bank and HBL where he focused on innovation and growth. With his vast experience in banking and fintech in Pakistan, the Middle East and New York, Atyab brings the best of both industries complete with a rich understanding of the local market and its needs.

"I am thrilled to lead HugoBank at the beginning of its journey in Pakistan and am confident that our digital bank will catalyse financial inclusion and wellness for the people of Pakistan. I am excited to assemble a team to build a customer-centric bank focused on offering accessible, convenient, and secure digital financial services to underserved individuals and SMEs alike," shared Atyab Tahir, Chief Executive Officer of HugoBank.

HugoBank will promote financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan, offering products and services at price points that are accessible to everyone. The consortium aims to help Pakistan to achieve an 85% bank account penetration within five years, up from the current 16.29%[1] and is expected to open 34 million new accounts by 2027.

Pakistan has one of the lowest credit adoption rates in the financial sector, with only 2.4% of its population having access to credit from formal financial sources and 53% of the country's 220 million population currently financially excluded. Recognising the challenges faced in Pakistan, HugoBank is committed to introduce its state-of-the-art financial platform that will provide customers with an easy and convenient way to safeguard their money. With HugoBank, financial inclusion and literacy will become more accessible, ultimately contributing to the economic growth and wellbeing of the country.

Led by Singapore's Atlas Consolidated, which owns and operates the fast-growing Wealthcare and savings app Hugosave, HugoBank is a joint venture formed in partnership with The Getz Group and Muller & Phipps. It received its No-Objection Certificate by the State Bank of Pakistan in January this year.

David Fergusson, CEO of Atlas Consolidated said, "We are pleased to welcome Atyab Tahir as the new CEO of HugoBank. With his extensive experience and deep understanding of the market, we are confident that he will lead HugoBank in promoting financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan and help improve the lives of millions across the country. We are excited to work with him to provide and share international best practices and platforms to drive a positive change in the financial landscape and client's Wealthcare."

About HugoBank Limited

HugoBank received its NOC (No Objections Certificate) from The State Bank of Pakistan in January 2023. HugoBank aims to bring financial inclusion and literacy to Pakistan by making digital banking services affordable, accessible and approachable. HugoBank is led by finance veteran and industry leader Atyab Tahir.

HugoBank is a consortium made up of Atlas Consolidated (Singapore), The Getz Group (Singapore) and Muller & Phipps (Pakistan). The consortium brings together a unique blend of international expertise in banking & technology, deep local knowledge and network to prime HugoBank in a position to achieve its mission and make a difference to the people of Pakistan.

About Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd

In July 2021, Atlas Consolidated launched Hugosave, Singapore's first Wealthcare and savings app, which helps elevate clients' lives by spending smarter, saving more, and investing diligently, starting with gold. Today, more than 60,000 clients in Singapore are using Hugosave to optimise their finances. Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd was established in December 2019 by financial and technological stalwarts David Fergusson, Ben Davies, Braham Djidjelli and Surya Tamada. Atlas Consolidated received its licensing approval to operate as a Major Payment Institution [PS20200550] from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 1 April 2022 and Regulated Precious Metals Dealers Certification [PS20200001983] from the Ministry of Law, Singapore on 1 August 2021.

About The Getz Group

The Getz Group of companies is a highly diversified group of companies with a mission to continue creating opportunities for the 'Mutual Growth and Success for all we serve and work with'. With over 160 years of commitment to excellence in international marketing and distribution, today we are a leading and trusted sales, marketing, distribution, sourcing, manufacturing and licensing business in the Asia-Pacific region and expanding into the Middle East and Africa.

Over the years, The Group has continued to grow through investment in existing businesses, development of new business ventures with our business partners and acquisitions of new businesses. Today, we are maintaining a profitable relationship with our business partners and credibility with our customers through a dedicated team of 18,000 employees worldwide.

[1] https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Pakistan/percent_people_bank_accounts/#:~:text=The latest value from 2021,to compare trends over time.

Source: Hugobank
SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 22, China's Machinery & Electronics Show in Singapore (CMESS 2023) officially kicked off at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore, with over 130 enterprises appearing at the exhibition. The event attracted nearly 6,000 visitors from the ASEAN and RCEP regions.





From High-Tech to Immersive! Haier Exhibits its Brand Leadership at the CMESS 2023 in Singapore.

Casarte, a luxury brand of Haier Smart Home, displayed the "Connoisseur" and "Light year" suites at CMESS 2023. Haier exhibited its 959 series washer/dryer, G3-601 washer/dryer, and JC-360 professional wine cellar. Both brands showcased smart living rooms, kitchens, and cloakrooms.

Haier Smart Home showcased its expertise in designing smart products and scenarios and its latest overseas brand creation strategy at this exhibition.

Haier Smart Home brings the ultimate user experience

Haier and Casarte displayed sophisticated products and immersive smart scenarios at the exhibition, attracting many visitors.

The 959 series washing machine drew visitors to Haier's exhibit. The 525mm drum washing machine is designed for Southeast Asian users who need to wash large items. The Casarte Light Year Series 500 refrigerator in the exhibition area uses MSA Controlled Oxygen Freshness Technology to maintain cellular-level freshness.

In addition to game-changing technology products, Haier and Casarte displayed fully designed smart home scenarios such as a smart living room, smart kitchen, and smart cloakroom, giving visitors an immersive interactive experience. Visitors to the smart kitchen could easily buy ingredients with a touch on the smart refrigerator. The system then intelligently matches those ingredients to healthy recipes. The range hood opens automatically when the cooker is turned on, making cooking easy for beginners and pros alike.

In addition to the smart kitchen, Haier Smart Home's one-stop active service solutions were in the living room, cloakroom, and other areas, giving visitors a new smart lifestyle.

Haier accelerates global brand creation and Southeast Asian market penetration

At CMESS 2023, Haier Smart Home showcased its successful Southeast Asian expansion and accelerated global strategy.

In 2022, Southeast Asian home appliance sales declined. Haier Smart Home sales however increased 12%, twice the industry average. Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines saw double-digit growth.

Haier Smart Home is expanding rapidly in Southeast Asia. Haier Smart Home's AQUA brand shop in Makassar City's high-end shopping area offers one-stop home appliance shopping. Haier Smart Home launched its commercial laundry business in March 2022 in the Philippines, becoming a top two local brand and opening over 200 shops by March 2023.

Casarte opened its first high-end smart scenario experience center in Thailand in August 2022, featuring a localized whole-house smart home scenario. The experience center has become an important milestone for Casarte and given momentum to Haier Smart Home's global growth efforts.

As a result of evolving consumer trends, the market is demanding higher quality, better intelligence, and more personalization from home appliances. Through its participation in CMESS 2023, Haier Smart Home continues to showcase its leadership in the production of sophisticated products, further accelerating the globalization of smart scenarios.

Source: Haier Smart Home Related Stocks: Frankfurt:690D HongKong:6690 OTC:HSHCY Shanghai:600690
GDS and TNB sign a supplemental agreement for powering data center campus in Johor, Malaysia

HONG KONG, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On 21 March 2023, GDS, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers, announced that it will extend and deepen its strategic partnership with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the largest electricity utility in Malaysia and a leading utility company in Asia.





(From right to left) William Huang, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of GDS; Jamie Khoo, COO of GDS; Kamal Arifin A. Rahman, CRO of TNB; and Dato' Indera Ir. Baharin Din, CEO of TNB

The Electricity Supply Agreement (ESA) for this collaboration was sealed in October 2022. Through the agreement, GDS Nusajaya Tech Park Phase 1 Data Centers will start operations with an interim supply of 16MW in July 2023 and a permanent supply of 85.5MW within 2023.

On 21 March 2023, GDS and TNB signed a Supplemental Agreement to the ESA, ensuring electricity to be swiftly and reliably supplied to GDS' data center campus in Johor Bahru. The Signing Ceremony of the Supplemental Agreement was held at TNB Platinum, Bangsar. The signatories were represented by Jamie Khoo, COO of GDS; and Kamal Arifin A. Rahman, CRO of TNB. The ceremony was witnessed by William Huang, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of GDS; and Dato' Indera Ir. Baharin Din, CEO of TNB.

William said, "We are very delighted to deepen our relationship with TNB. With TNB's unwavering commitment in providing reliable electricity supply to our data center campus in Johor Bahru, GDS is well-positioned to offer world-class data center services in the region, further strengthening Malaysia's digital infrastructure and accelerating its digital transformation and growth."

As a leading data center operator, GDS made its ESG commitment of achieving carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy usage by 2030. "We look forward to the collaboration with TNB in the adoption of renewable energy as part of our sustainable development efforts, such as a smart green solution, including rooftop solar with GSPARX, dark fibre connection with ALLO, and new green technology with TNB Renewables." William added.

Noting that TNB and GDS shared common goals and ambitions towards a greener future, Dato' Indera Ir. Baharin Din, CEO of TNB said, "We are confident that our collaboration with GDS has great potential to benefit both parties as well as Malaysians. TNB will extend its collaboration into the provision of smart energy solutions. This collaboration is one of many initiatives that is accelerating the growth of the nation's digital economy, which is further driven by the increased usage of cloud-based services, IoT, big data analytics and the rapid pace of digitalization in the region."

"Through this strategic partnership, we believe we can make significant contributions to support Malaysia's ambition in becoming a data center hub and driving the regional digital economy. We are grateful for TNB's support and strive to foster a fruitful partnership ahead," said William.

Source: GDS Holdings Limited
Greenfield project to include 300,000 bpd refinery and 1.65 million tons steam cracker

Aramco to supply up to 210,000 barrels per day of crude oil feedstock to the project

Integrated refining and petrochemical complex expected to be fully operational by 2026

Complex to be located in Panjin City, Liaoning Province, in northeast China

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aramco and joint venture partners NORINCO Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group plan to start construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China.

Amin H. Nasser, Aramco President & CEO, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, Shiquan Liu, NORINCO Group Chairman, and Lecheng Li, Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Liaoning Province witness the signing of an agreement to commence construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China. The agreement was signed by Anwar Al Hejazi, Aramco Asia President (sitting left), Yongqiang Ren, North Huajin Chairman (sitting centre), and Fei Jia, Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group Chairman (sitting right)

Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), a joint venture between Aramco (30%), NORINCO Group (51%) and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group (19%), is developing the complex that will combine a 300,000 barrels per day refinery and a petrochemical plant with annual production capacity of 1.65 million metric tons of ethylene and 2 million metric tons of paraxylene.

Construction is due to start in the second quarter of 2023 after the project secured the required administrative approvals. It is expected to be fully operational by 2026.

Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock to the complex, which is being built in the city of Panjin, in China's Liaoning province.

Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, said: "This important project will support China's growing demand across fuel and chemical products. It also represents a major milestone in our ongoing downstream expansion strategy in China and the wider region, which is an increasingly significant driver of global petrochemical demand. "

Zou Wenchao, NORINCO Group Deputy General Manager, said: "This large-scale refinery and petrochemical complex is a key project of NORINCO Group to implement and realize the joint development of the high-quality Belt and Road initiative, promote industrial restructuring, and enhance the oil and petrochemical sector to become stronger, better and larger. It will play an important role in deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, and achieving common development and prosperity."

Jia Fei, Panjin Xincheng Chairman of the Board, said: "The project is of great significance for Panjin to promote increasing chemicals and specialty products, strengthening integration of the refining and chemical industry. It is a symbolic project for Panjin as it seeks to accelerate the development of an important national petrochemical and fine chemical industry base."

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Twitter: Aramco

About Aramco

Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company. We are driven by our core belief that energy is opportunity. From producing approximately one in every eight barrels of the world's oil supply to developing new energy technologies, our global team is dedicated to creating impact in all that we do. We focus on making our resources more dependable, more sustainable and more useful. This helps promote stability and long-term growth around the world. www.aramco.com

Disclaimer

The press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements relating to historical or current facts included in the press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give the Company's current expectations and projections relating to its capital expenditures and investments, major projects, upstream performance, including relative to peers, and growth in downstream and chemicals. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could," "continue," "forward" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Such forwardlooking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expected results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements, including the following factors: international crude oil supply and demand and the prices at which Aramco sells crude oil; the impact of COVID-19 on business and economic conditions and on supply and demand for crude oil, gas and refined and petrochemical products; adverse economic or political developments that could impact the Company's results of operations; competitive pressures faced by the Company; any significant deviation or changes in existing economic and operating conditions that could affect the estimated quantity and value of proved reserves; operational risks and hazards in the oil and gas, refining and petrochemicals industries; the cyclical nature of the oil and gas, refining and petrochemical industries; weather conditions; political and social instability and unrest and actual or potential armed conflicts in the regions in which Aramco operates and other areas; losses from risks related to insufficient insurance; the Company's ability to deliver on current and future projects; litigation to which the Company is or may be subject; the Company's ability to realize benefits from recent and future acquisitions, including with respect to SABIC; risks related to international operations, including sanctions and trade restrictions, antibribery and anticorruption laws and other laws and regulations; risks related to oil, gas, environmental, health and safety and other regulations that impact the industries in which Aramco operates; the Company's dependence on its senior management and key personnel; the reliability and security of the Company's IT systems; climate change concerns and impacts; risks related to Government-directed projects and other Government requirements, including those related to Government-set maximum level of crude oil production and target MSC; fluctuations in interest rates and foreign exchange rates; and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements in this press release, as set forth in the Company's latest periodic reports filed with the Tadawul. For additional information on the potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted please see the Company's latest periodic reports filed with the Tadawul. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future business strategies and the environment in which it will operate in the future. The information contained in the press release, including but not limited to forward-looking statements, applies only as of the date of this press release and is not intended to give any assurances as to future results. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to the press release, including any financial data or forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law or regulation. No person should construe the press release as financial, tax or investment advice. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forwardlooking statements.

Source: Aramco
HCMC  The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) has for the sixth time delayed the issuance to May 2 of a final conclusion on the probe into anti-dumping duty evasion on plywood imports from Vietnam.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the DOC would announce the conclusion of the probe into the anti-dumping and countervailing duty evasion for plywood using hardwood materials imported from Vietnam on May 2, cited the Vietnam News Agency.

On July 25, 2022, the DOC released its preliminary conclusion, stating that anti-dumping and countervailing duties would be imposed on plywood imports from Vietnam if rotary veneer imported from China had been used.

However, during the investigation, Vietnamese exporters were allowed to prove they had not used Chinese materials to avoid the imposition of U.S. duties.

If Vietnamese plywood is subject to U.S. anti-dumping duties, the interim tax rates would amount to 378.26% for Vietnamese plywood batches shipped to the U.S. from June 17, 2020, said the DOC.
HCMC  The National Assembly Standing Committee has asked the Government to review a provision in the draft of the revised Housing Law that allows foreigners to own landed houses.

If the draft is passed, foreign individuals and organizations can own homes in Vietnam, including landed ones with ownership rights similar to those of Vietnamese citizens.

According to the chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Committee on Legal Affairs, Hoang Thanh Tung, the ownership of houses attached to land use rights for foreign individuals is not in compliance with Resolution 18.

This is a sensitive and important issue which needs further review by the Government, he added.

The NAs Committee on Economic Affairs, while offering feedback on the bill on housing, also requested making clear home ownership, including ownership of apartments and landed houses for foreigners.

Speaking at a recent session of the NA Standing Committee, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that under the current Housing Law, foreign individuals and organizations can buy and own homes in Vietnam, including apartments and landed houses.

Pursuant to the Real Estate Business Law, the selling and purchasing of properties, including housing, must go in tandem with their land use rights; however, the current Land Law excludes foreigners from the list of those entitled to be granted land use rights, said Nghi.

He also added that while drafting the revised Housing Law, the Ministry of Construction had gathered feedback from the Governments members toward recognition of house ownership attached to land use rights on leased land.

Now, there are around 3,035 foreign individuals and organizations owning homes in Vietnam, said Nghi.
Meet the young attorney who may have saved Kari Lakes election challenge By Rachel Alexander

web posted March 27, 2023 Ryan Heath is a 31-year-old new attorney in Arizona who started The Gavel Project , an anti-woke nonprofit that fights for civil liberties on behalf of victims suffering from the abuses of woke ideologues. Hes filed and threatened lawsuits over masks, CRT, and mutilating children in the name of affirmative care. In January, unlike most conservative attorneys who run from cases involving voter disenfranchisement of Republicans, due to the risk of being disbarred by left-wing dominated state bars, Heath jumped right in and sued the judge who dismissed Kari Lakes election contest with a writ of mandamus. He demanded that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson vacate his ruling and award the election to Lake. Heath relied on Reyes v. Cuming , a 1997 Arizona case involving similar circumstances, where voters signatures on the ballot envelopes were not compared to the voter registration list, which violated a non-technical statute so the court held it was material. Strangely, the Reyes case was mysteriously suppressed from legal research, so it was almost impossible to find until Heath stumbled on it. In Reyes, the Arizona Court of Appeals cited Miller v. Picacho Elementary School District No. 33 , Miller established that an election contestant need only show that absentee ballots counted in violation of a non-technical statute changed the outcome of the election [or rendered it uncertain]; actual fraud is not a necessary element. Although the incumbent Yuma County Supervisor had been in office a year after the contested election, the court booted him out of office and replaced him with the challenger. Predictably, a judge ducked Heaths lawsuit, ruling that he should have filed it instead as an amicus curiae brief in Lakes case, which Heath complied with and did along with Alexander Haberbush of the Lex Rex Institute. In response to the lower courts contention that procedural challenges must be brought before an election, otherwise, they are barred by the doctrine of laches, Heath said in his brief that Lake had no way of knowing before the election that these violations were occurring, and they werent procedural violations. [H]er objections regarding verification were never objections to Maricopas existing election procedures but, rather, objections to the fact that votes were illegally counted, he argued. He cited case law which distinguished the doctrine of laches from barring claims about alleged acts of misconduct that occurred prior to an election versus acts of alleged misconduct that occurred during the voting process. The Arizona Supreme Court threw out all of Lakes arguments except that one, stating that her signature verification challenge is to the application of the policies, not to the policies themselves, so the doctrine of laches does not apply. They remanded it to the trial court, where the judge will need to come up with a better excuse than laches in order to dismiss the massive evidence showing voters signatures were not properly verified. Lake said after the Arizona Supreme Courts ruling, Three whistleblowers came forward with revelations of massive failures in the signature verification process. These whistleblowers were intimately involved in the process and they allege that Maricopa County WILLFULLY ignored law and procedure. Dr. Walter Daugherity, a math professor at Texas A&M University, testified to the Arizona Senate Election Committee in January that he was 99.999 percent confident there were 290,644 bad signatures accepted in the election. Since 2020, most judges have immediately thrown out election contests involving voter disenfranchisement of Republicans. Thompson didnt even put much effort into it, merely issued a brief 10-page opinion , which was a mockery of the immense amount of evidence Lake brought in her lawsuit. He knew there was little chance hed be reversed, since judges are terrified to rule in favor of Republicans on this issue. Where it doesnt benefit Republicans, judges often order new elections based on merely a handful of voters being disenfranchised. But finally the Arizona Supreme Court has been forced to confront the mounds of evidence that continues to pile up. In Abe Hamadehs election contest challenging his alleged loss to Democrat Kris Mayes for Arizona Attorney General by 280 votes, the closest statewide race in Arizonas history, he discovered well into his lawsuit that tabulators misread valid votes as undervotes in Pinal County, which reduced Mayes lead from 511 to 280. Then-Arizona Secretary of State Hobbs knew about the additional votes for eight days but did not inform the public or Hamadeh. Hamadeh wants the undervotes counted in other counties. The longtime respected pollster Rasmussen Reports conducted an exit poll of likely Arizona voters this month, asking them how they voted in last years midterm election. An astounding 8% more said they voted for Lake over Hobbs, 6% more said they voted for Hamadeh over Mayes, and 1% more voted for Republican Mark Finchem for Secretary of State over Democrat Adrian Fontes, the cartel lawyer who allegedly won. Finchem is also challenging his alleged defeat in court. Unlike some attorneys who cower when it comes to election fraud and other areas where patriots are under attack, Heath is taking the exact opposite approach. In response, the left has filed six frivolous bar complaints filed against him in two separate states. Heath started The Gavel Project in 2021 after hearing California Governor Gavin Newsom announce that he was going to make vaccination a contingent precedent to attend school in California. Heath spent significant amounts of time traveling around California helping fight the mandate, speaking at school board meetings and training parents on sending their children to school without masks to peacefully protest. Last year, Heath successfully threatened litigation against Phoenix Childrens Hospital, forcing it to back down on requiring the COVID-19 jab for employees. Heath says on his Substack, My job is to stand up to bullies for those who cannot. He reiterated what cultural commentator Matt Walsh has said, When people publicly proclaim that your mere presence is harmful to their existence, they are (in effect) provoking violence against you. Heaths work is supported by crowd source funding and he provides updates on Twitter and his Substack . Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative . She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home
Martin Koerner - Head, Tourism Working Group Vietnam Business Forum

To recover from this crisis and boost its tourism potential, Vietnam needs to implement some policy changes and improve its service quality. There are three key recommendations. First is to improve the visa policy. One of the barriers for foreign tourists to visiting Vietnam is its complicated and restrictive visa policy. Currently, only 24 countries are eligible for visa exemption for up to 15 days, while others have to apply for an e-visa or a visa on arrival.

The visa exemption period is too short for many visitors who want to explore the countrys diverse attractions, while the e-visa and visa on arrival processes can be time-consuming and inconvenient. To make it easier and more attractive for visitors, Vietnam should extend the visa exemption period to 30 days, increase the list of visa exempt countries to all of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada, increase the number of countries for e-visa application (currently 80), and offer long-stay visas for 3-6 months for those who are keen to explore the country more deeply, including targeting the high spending elderly market.

These measures would encourage more tourists to choose Vietnam as their destination and increase their spending and satisfaction levels.

Second is to improve service at airports. Another challenge for tourists is the long waiting time at immigration checkpoints at international airports, in particular Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. This can cause frustration and inconvenience, especially for families with children or business travellers who have tight schedules.

To solve this problem, Vietnam should add special lanes for these groups of passengers, as well as increase the number of immigration officers and scanners. In addition, the design and look of immigration counters and areas, which are often the first touchpoints for foreign visitors, do not look welcoming and rather intimidating.

Countries such as Thailand or Singapore are good examples of how friendlier uniforms, better trained immigration officers, and more colourful immigration areas can boost tourism as it conveys a friendly and welcoming attitude to foreign visitors. These improvements would enhance the efficiency and convenience of airport services and create a positive first impression for tourists.

Finally, hospitality workers must be removed from Decree No.2447/QD-BYT. Issued by the Ministry of Health, it requires all hospitality workers who have direct contact with customers to wear masks at all times. This can affect the quality of service and communication between staff and guests, as well as create a sense of distance and distrust.

According to a study by Cornell Universitys School of Hotel Administration, facial expressions play an important role in customer satisfaction in hospitality settings. Therefore, Vietnam should remove hospitality workers from this decree and allow them to show their faces while serving customers. This will create a more friendly and welcoming atmosphere for tourists.

By implementing these measures, Vietnam can enhance its tourism development and attract more visitors from around the world. Tourism is not only a source of income, but also a way of promoting cultural exchange and mutual understanding between nations. Therefore, Vietnam should seize this opportunity and showcase its beauty and diversity to the world.
The latest report on the food delivery market in the top Southeast Asian markets by Momentum Works indicates that the total spending on food delivery services in the region will reach $16.3 billion in 2022, up 5 per cent after two years of explosive growth due to the pandemic.

This growth is mainly driven by the food delivery markets in the region, including the Philippines ($800 million), Malaysia (up $600 million), and Vietnam (up $300 million). In the face of increasing pressure to make profits from investors, current and new food delivery apps are cutting down on promotions, while competing heavily on service quality and other unique services.

At the 2023 Food and Beverage Conference organised by Vietcetera and MasterCard last week, Jinwoo Song, CEO BAEMIN Vietnam said, "The growth of the food delivery market in Vietnam is no surprise when it meets the modern consumption trends of customers, focusing on convenience and time savings. Still, businesses are facing significant challenges, among which is shifting from attracting customers by promotions to achieving profitability for sustainable development."

Aside from making unique initiatives to maintain a witty and distinctive brand image, he emphasised the crucial role of strengthening the solid relationship between applications and merchant partners.

"To achieve sustainability in a fiercely competitive market like Vietnam, in addition to understanding the users desires and improving the livelihoods of rider partners, the cooperation with merchant partners needs to be invested in and carefully nurtured through various activities. Therefore, BAEMIN aims to build a strong community among partners and help them enhance their long-term competitiveness and capabilities," he said.

From the very first registration process, merchant partners will undergo a transparent, simple, and accessible five-step registration process. After that, the company continues to support partners in optimising sales operations and increasing profits through initiatives such as the "BAEMIN Academy" - an online and offline training ecosystem.

The latest activity of the acadamey is the "Kitchen Know-It-All" livestream series, helping partners gather the necessary knowledge and experience to operate smoothly. Not only limited to business activities, the company also provides opportunities for partners to purchase eco-friendly packaging at discounted prices, keeping up with the green lifestyle of Vietnamese customers.

"The BAEMIN B2B Mall initiative, launched in February, was warmly received by merchant partners. This is an in-app store providing recycled packaging products at favourable prices. We will continue to invest in education and training programmes to improve partners and users awareness towards sustainability." said Jinwoo.

"At BAEMIN, we are constantly looking for opportunities and initiatives to connect stakeholders within our operating ecosystem, helping them understand each other better and thus forming closer relationships. In the future, we will continue to leverage our strengths to offer more unique products and services, helping everyone lead happier and more convenient lifestyles," he said

Baemin Vietnam and Shinhan Bank launch co-branded credit card BAEMIN Vietnam application has officially partnered with Shinhan Bank to launch a co-branded credit card named "Gourmet Member" with a credit limit of VND100 million (about $4,000).

Baemin Vietnam fast-forwards sustainable development Baemin Vietnam has stepped up its efforts to promote sustainable development in the online food delivery market in Vietnam.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong

This is the second year that VIR has organised the forum on digital transformation to create opportunities for representatives of state management agencies, policymakers, experts, and both local and international tech enterprises to meet and exchange information.

The National Digital Transformation Programme for 2025, with a vision to 2030, emphasised three main focus points, including digital government, digital economy, and digital society.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, in 2022, the total revenue of Vietnam's ICT industry reached about $148 billion, and the digital economy reached 14.26 per cent of GDP.

To achieve the goal that, by 2025, the digital economy will account for 20 per cent of GDP under its rapid development scenario, Vietnam needs to maintain average annual digital economic growth of about 20 per cent, more than three times the projected GDP growth.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that after some decades of rapid growth, Vietnam has been struggling with major challenges affecting its economic development, which have slowed growth. The economy based on cheap labour and natural resources is not a competitive advantage any more, there is a risk of falling into the middle-income trap, and the population is ageing.

"These challenges require Vietnam to find new growth models and engines for the economy. In this context, the nation has approached opportunities from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid development of digital technologies," said the deputy minister.

"In the process of formulating strategies and master plans for socioeconomic development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment always cooperates with ministries, branches, and localities to integrate tasks and solutions to apply the achievements of Industry 4.0 into perspectives, goals, and solutions to promote innovation in growth models," he reaffirmed.

In October 2021, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued Decision No.1658/QD-TTg approving the National Strategy on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, which highlighted increasing green growth with investment into advanced technology, digital transformation, smart and sustainable infrastructure, all as an impetus for private investment to play an increasingly important role in the green economy.

"The requirement for digital transformation and green growth is a big challenge for the nation and its businesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises," said Phuong.

"Around the world, experts consider digital transformation as a catalyst for many businesses to transform and adapt to green and sustainable models. Recently, dual transformation (green and digital) has been mentioned by the European Union and is an important future trend," added the deputy minister.

Denis Brunetti, chairman of Ericsson in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar

According to Denis Brunetti, chairman of Ericsson in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, each country and market has its own way and plan, and Vietnam is highly appreciated as one of the most dynamic and attractive destinations in the world thanks to a rapidly growing digital economy and a strategy focused on digital transformation across the country.

"Ericsson fully supports this and is committed to helping Vietnam achieve this important vision," confirmed Brunetti.

"We are proud to be Vietnam's long-term, trusted, and valuable strategic partner, and always share our global insights, expertise, and experience here. The future of the ICT industry is digital, and we are committed to working with Vietnam's government in accelerating digital transformation across all economic sectors through 4G and 5G, as well as 6G in the future," he continued.

He also acknowledged the importance of 5G-enabled digital transformation as a key factor in improving labour productivity and efficiency in all industries, especially in manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, and energy.

At the forum, the delegates focused on discussing the trend of digital transformation and the three pillars of a sustainable economy  manufacturing, banking, and e-commerce. They highlighted the importance of 5G for economic growth and innovation, policy mechanisms to promote rapid growth and sustainable development, and practical lessons from digital transformation pioneers.

VBF: Agribusiness working group recommends digital transformation The working group argues that Vietnamese agriculture needs to apply technology and digital transformation to create a turning point in agricultural production, moving from a traditional agrarian economy to one based on scientific technology, digital transformation, and circularity.

Strengthening ties to enable a greener digital transition Vietnam is ramping up its digital evolution with a raft of new policies, strategies, and legal tweaks.
With the new facility, FPT Software is the first Vietnamese IT company to open an office in the Korean market, pinning high hopes on strengthening the companys presence there and becoming a world-class, billion-dollar company.

FPT chairman Truong Gia Binh spoke at the opening ceremony

Addressing the opening ceremony, FPT Corporation chairman Truong Gia Binh said, "Our business philosophy is to stay closer to our customers, which could let us reach and serve our customers better. FPT will continuously open new offices around the world. FPT Software's second office in Korea helps us expand our global network further and strengthens our ability to connect and accompany customers despite time and geography."

According to FPT Software Korea CEO Ha Minh Tuan, the new office is expected to address the shortage of IT talent in the country.

We also see strong demand for technology solutions such as AUTOSAR, IVI, SAP, low-code, managed services, and digital transformation. With this new office, FPT Software Korea is committed to helping local clients address their demands for both digital talent and emerging technologies, Tuan said.

"By 2025, FPT Software Korea set its sights on increasing revenue approximately sixfold, growing our workforce, and soon scaling up to be a Global Delivery Centre, assisting customers in the region."

Setting its first footprint in Korea in 2016, FPT Software has provided IT solutions and services to more than 20 customers; some notable partners include LG Electronics, LG CNS, Shinhan Bank, and Shinsegae I&C.

Its clientele includes companies from various industries, such as cars, finance, and healthcare. In the near future, the company expects to develop and set up more offices in Koreas key IT areas, such as Gangnam and Pangyo.

ICT firms see bumper 2022 thanks to overseas ventures Local tech groups reaped strong financial rewards in overseas ventures last year, marking a high point for the ICT sector.

FPT and Stavian Group partner to digitise refinery and petrochemical industries This is a significant step in the digitalisation of one of Vietnam's largest refining and petrochemical groups.
Great minds from around the world have a wealth of knowledge and want Vietnam to be a digital pioneer, Photo: Cuong Minh

At VIRs forum on digital transformation on March 21, Do Tien Thinh, deputy director of the Vietnam National Innovation Centre (NIC), said that it is crucial to support innovation and help businesses achieve their emission reduction goals.

While technology groups seek to expand their customer base and provide tech solutions, local businesses require digital transformation and innovation, Thinh said. In response, the NIC acts as a mediator, connecting private sector businesses with technology solution providers to provide training for human resources in digital transformation and innovation.

The NIC has already collaborated with the likes of Siemens, Google, and Hitachi to implement innovation support programmes at factories.

A very visible area of green digital transformation has been in manufacturing, with factories constantly seeking new approaches to automate and reduce emissions. According to Nestle factory manager Urs Kloeti, Nestle has achieved a reduction of CO2 emissions of up to 38,000 tons per year.

Nestles approach in Vietnam, as well as globally, is to look within technology development trends which enable us to save and/or gain growth opportunities. Through digitalising data, we were able to leverage our performance potential as well as sustainability opportunities, Kloeti said.

E-commerce is another industry where digital transformation plays a vital role. Speaking of the urgent need to greenify the industry, Dang Anh Dung, deputy general director of Lazada Vietnam, said that its first decade in e-commerce had been spent investing in infrastructure, services, and technology. Entering the next era, e-commerce must add depth by promoting digital transformation towards sustainable growth.

Users shopping behaviours have changed drastically. Businesses can contribute to sustainable e-commerce growth by developing sustainable business practices and using technology to deeply understand consumer behaviour, Dung said. A sustainable e-commerce ecosystem can be enhanced through supply chain and digital payment, and sustainable financial management to optimise and protect business assets.

According to Dung, key sustainable business practices include advanced infrastructure development and high-quality digital talent development, focusing on employees with specific e-commerce skills.

Experts emphasise that in order for digitalisation to be effective, it must be integrated into every aspect of society. Progress being made at a steady pace gives confidence that the Vietnamese authorities are committed to promoting digital transformation and ensuring its successful implementation across various sectors.

Thinh of the NIC believes that public-private partnerships (PPPs) in innovation and digital transformation should go beyond specific projects, and that the state should play a crucial role in connecting business communities.

Aside from assisting enterprises, the NIC also advises government agencies on policies, including its contribution to the Law on Investment two years ago. We suggested the provision of incentive mechanisms to encourage the adoption of innovation in businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, Thinh said.

The concept of PPPs in innovation and digital transformation should not be confined to implementing specific projects. State parties should play a key role in connecting the business communities, he added.

Drawing from experiences in Europe, David Liden, trade commissioner of Sweden to Vietnam and country manager for Business Sweden, concluded that any kind of investment will come down to the payoff at the end of the day, so there needs to be a business case in place for a PPP to work.

Its wise to go into where demand is basically guaranteed. I think one of the things that we can bet on is that the demand for data and data transmission will keep increasing. Sometimes that might be slightly unprofitable, just like with energy in plenty of markets these days. But demand for energy and for data will not drop, Liden assessed.

He noted that in the process of digitalisation, countries should not get too caught up in having a grand master plan, as progress can be generated in many ways.

What we can do top-down is make sure that the things that are guaranteed to increase in demand, like energy and data, are supported by infrastructure and standardisation. Clarity on standardisation and investments into infrastructure can be some of the initial steps that cant go wrong, he said.

Tran Quoc Phuong-Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment After some decades of rapid growth, Vietnam has been struggling with major challenges affecting its development such as the global economic downturn, which has slowed growth. The economy, based on cheap labour and natural resources, is not at a competitive advantage any more. There is also the risk of falling into the middle-income trap, and the ageing population to contend with. These challenges require Vietnam to find new growth models and engines for the economy. In this context, Vietnam has actively approached opportunities from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid development of digital technologies. The prime minister has approved the National Digital Transformation Programme, the National Strategy on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the E-government Development Strategy covering this decade and beyond. These efforts reaffirm the governments determination to transform into a digital economy, which is an indispensable and objective requirement at a time when the whole world is witnessing rapid changes. In the process of formulating strategies and master plans for socioeconomic development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) cooperates with ministries, branches, and localities to integrate tasks and solutions for Industry 4.0 and digital transformation to promote innovation in growth models. In order to support enterprises, since early 2021, the MPI has also proactively implemented the initiative to support businesses in digital transformation to 2025, to promote Vietnamese businesses to transform and adapt to the new context. The programme aims at transforming the awareness, vision, and strategy of enterprises; digitalising business activities, management, tech, and production processes; and supporting comprehensive digital transformation to create new products, services, and models for businesses. This programme has provided a wealth of knowledge and experience, and foundational tools over the past two years to help businesses move in the right direction, save time and costs, and improve the competitiveness of enterprises. In addition to the policy of promoting digital transformation towards a digital economy, the restructuring of the economy is associated with the renewal of the growth model in order to achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social welfare. As Vietnam increasingly integrates into the global economy, businesses will have to be compliant with commitments on sustainable development and green growth that Vietnam has signed within various free trade agreements. This is a great pressure and challenge for Vietnamese businesses to be accepted by the market. In addition, the National Strategy on Green Growth for this decade with a vision to 2050 highlights the view of increasing green growth with oriented investment in advanced technology, digital transformation, and smart and sustainable infrastructure. This will be an impetus for private investment to play an increasingly important role in the green economy. The requirement for digital transformation and green growth is a major challenge for Vietnam and its businesses. Around the world, experts consider these as catalysts for many businesses to transform and adapt to green and sustainable models.

Nguyen Tien Huy - Director, Office for Sustainable Business Development Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry According to an EU study, the adoption of digital technology will help decrease carbon emissions by one-fifth by the 2030s. Examples include printing receipts  in 2019, it is anticipated that over 550 billion invoices were utilised in the US, of which only 10 per cent were electronic. This number will quadruple by 2030. This quantity of bills is mostly composed of planted wood. Using digital technology via the use of e-invoices reduces transportation costs and associated expenses, therefore lowering carbon emissions. Thus, organisations must begin implementing digital transformation, including green transformation  particularly when companies adopt environmental, social, and governance standards or when customers want greener, more responsible goods. In order to build a sustainable business model that will provide value to the economy, organisations must prepare for an environmentally friendly transition. Corporations have developed long-term strategic plans, a strong basis for applying digital transformation to their business models, and eco-friendly goods. Small- and medium-sized businesses are also not left behind. These firms are very dynamic. If they latch on to a trend, they will grow rapidly. They have successfully incorporated AI technology into manufacturing. The benefit of being a latecomer is that we have access to more advanced tech. In addition to the obstacles associated with the law, enterprises must also contend with the fact that their size is still modest. To create digital and green technology, they need an ecosystem, such as the leadership of the government or of significant corporations. Ngo Dien Hy-Deputy general director VNPT Group It is vital to develop a comprehensive, well-thought-out investment strategy. Our rollout of 2G-4G networks was swift and flawless according to our schedule. The initial investment expenses and station rental fees for a 2G rollout were substantial, which led to significant costs for customers. However, we managed to stabilise expenses, thus later costs were more affordable. On the flip side, the 5G concept is a little unconventional. We place a major emphasis on getting 5G up and running to deliver services to businesses. Thanks to its high speed and low latency, 5G will generate benefits for the expansion of manufacturing capabilities. Trials of 5G are also necessary to deliver tailored services in settings like an industrial park, factory, or seaport, all of which have various requirements in terms of data transfer rate, number of connected devices, and latency, among others. Bryan Carroll-CEO, TNEX History shows that when things become rough, thats when the best ideas come to light. Due to the pandemic, digitalisation efforts have been cranked up to speeds 10-20 times faster than in prior years. It pushed traditional business models to become more innovative and digitally led, as digital channels were the only option for communication and engagement during that period. The driving force of the digitisation process is to satisfy customers ever-evolving demands, provide innovative user experiences, and add more meaningful value for them, which make their lives easier. In 2019, I came to Vietnam with the intention of establishing the countrys first carbon-neutral bank, with the goal of serving young people who have not had access to traditional banking services. Compared to the conventional banking approach, our annual carbon footprint is under 0.3 tons, which is a negligible amount, and we plant trees every year to offset this impact.

Digital transformation: Faster - Smarter - Greener VIR's forum on Digital Transformation: Faster - Smarter - Greener on March 21 opened up new and practical information flows about dual transformation trends  digital and green  in the fields of manufacturing, finance and banking, and e-commerce and logistics.
This round was led by Japanese global bank Mizuho Bank, Ltd., a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. and drew significant interest from Kredivo Holdings existing stable of top tier investors, including Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, Naver Financial Corporation, GMO Venture Partners, and Openspace Ventures.

This funding round will cement Kredivos leading position in the digital financial services industry through its powerful expanding ecosystem which includes online and offline Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), personal loans, credit cards (physical and virtual) and support the upcoming launch of the neobank Krom. Kredivo is already a market leader in the third party BNPL segment in Indonesia, covering all major ecommerce and offline channels in the country via its open loop network.

Akshay Garg, CEO of Kredivo Holdings said, Despite challenging market conditions, investors continue to recognise the scale and strength of our business, and our innovation potential.

"The upcoming expansion into digital banking is deeply synergistic with the existing Kredivo product and also opens up a very promising channel for us to become the digital financial services platform of choice for tens of millions of consumers in Southeast Asia. Finally, we are delighted to have Mizuho join us as a valuable investor and strategic partner.

Daisuke Horiuchi, group executive officer of Mizuho said, We are very proud to be an investor and long-term strategic partner of Kredivo Holdings. Kredivo has a stellar track record in Southeast Asia, leveraging on its deep data partnerships to promote financial inclusion within Indonesia and Southeast Asia, while maintaining bank-like risk metrics and building a capital efficient business model.

"The digitisation of financial services is a multi-decade theme, and were excited to back Kredivos mission of building the highest quality digital financial services platform in Southeast Asia.

Evercore acted as the financial advisor to Kredivo Holdings for Mizuhos investment in the Series D equity transaction, and Cooley LLP acted as the legal advisor.

Kredivo enters Vietnam with ambition to be the BNPL market leader As one of Southeast Asias fastest-growing and most promising digital economies, Vietnam represents a significant growth potential for Kredivo.

Indonesian startups penetrate blossoming Vietnam Similar market conditions and lively startup communities in Vietnam and Indonesia have led to stronger cross-border partnerships.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Quy Kien said at Vietnam Business Forum 2023 late last week that the ministry will finalise regulations for offshore survey consenting, as well as reviewing and approving developers applications for offshore survey licences to meet the goal of 7GW of offshore wind by 2030.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) will ask the government to report to the National Assembly for approval of the National Marine Spatial Planning for the 2021 - 2030 period, with a vision to 2045, which contains content to encourage the development of marine resources, including offshore wind power.

Both foreign and domestic organisations will be allowed to participate in offshore wind power surveys. There will also be a specific time limit for the survey, as well as likely exclusive investors for a certain period of time.

The MoNRE finalises regulations for offshore survey consenting, as well as reviewing and approving developers applications for offshore survey licences

Currently, Vietnam does not have regulations on the sea area approved for use for wind measurement, geological and topographic survey, and environmental impact assessment at sea. For each marine area, there is no regulation on how much the maximum wind power capacity for a project is, such as 0.5GW, 1GW or 2GW to both ensure investors are encouraged to participate in the project while ensuring the balance of the power transmission system.

Vietnam Business Forum pointed out recently that many foreign investors are interested in developing large offshore wind farms in Vietnam. However, to develop a large offshore infrastructure project such as offshore wind farms, Vietnam must address the current legal uncertainties.

We also look forward to the guidance of the government so that survey and development activities for offshore wind projects can commence soon, and prepare projects for early construction and power production. If the framework for offshore wind is set properly, Vietnam can attract billions of dollars of investments into projects and supply chains, create thousands of jobs and establish a strong driver for economic growth in the years to come, it said.

Regarding Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), Deputy Minister of Industry of Trade Dang Hoang An said that the ministry was closely reviewing the adjusted Power Development Plan VII as a basis for PDP8 development towards green and clean renewable energy. Priority is given to solar and wind power projects, including offshore wind power, focusing on regional balance of transmission and load components.

To achieve the goals as committed by the prime minister at COP 26, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will make our best efforts in encouraging and attracting investment in clean energy as well as developing clean industries, he added.

The Party and state of Vietnam have recently paid great attention to and actively promoted the green economy, circular economy and sustainable development. Vietnam has issued policies on economic development towards sustainability, environmental protection, adaptation to climate change, improvement of investment quality and efficiency, especially foreign investment, focusing on attracting new "green" and higher-quality projects.

These, among others, include Conclusion 56 of the Politburo on proactive adaptation to climate change, strengthening natural resource management and environmental protection, and Resolution No.50/NQ-TW on institutional and policy development and improvement of foreign investment and international cooperation to 2030.

Institutional and policy development has recently been actively promoted in this direction as many important laws such as the Law on Enterprises, the Law on Investment, the Law on Environmental Protection and their by-law decrees aim to achieve green development and environmental protection.

In October 2021, the prime minister approved the "National Strategy on Green Growth for 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050," demonstrating the country's ambitious goal of restructuring the growth model towards to a green economy.

At the COP 26 Climate Conference, Vietnam made a strong commitment to net-zero by 2050, a higher share of renewable energy to over 30 per cent of the total primary energy supply, and a stable forest cover of 43 per cent.

In December 2022, the Vietnamese government and the International Partners Group officially launched the political declaration on establishing the Just Energy Transition Partnership to support Vietnam to deliver on ambitious emissions targets and transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.
International visitors come to Vietnam for tourism purposes, market surveys, and investment. They not only bring about revenue and profit for the aviation and tourism industries, but also are an important factor for economic recovery and development across the country.

Bui Doan Ne - Deputy chairman, Vietnam Aviation Business Association

With over 70 per cent of international visitors to Vietnam arriving by air, resuming international flight routes promptly will support aviation and tourism, enabling them to recover soon and increase their competitiveness. These are dynamic industries that contribute significantly to the countrys GDP growth and economic development.

International tourism to Vietnam has recovered slowly compared to other regional countries due to tight regulations in other countries, particularly China. The conflict in Ukraine has increased fuel costs and travel restrictions to European markets. Difficult economic conditions have also affected international tourism demand.

A limitation in infrastructure, tourism products, and promotion programmes have slowed the re-emergence of tourism. The policy for granting visas has also lacked dynamism, and compares poorly with that of Thailand and other countries in the region.

Vietnam needs to develop an overall national strategy to compete with other destinations in the region, and have adequate planning and resource allocation. It is necessary to attract and maintain visitors from traditional Northeast Asian markets such as Japan, South Korea, and China, as well as from Europe.

Venturing into new markets such as India and the US as well as countries with promising markets in the ASEAN region is also a strong option.

There are a number of measures Vietnam should focus on to increase its attraction. First is removing bottlenecks, learning about good experience and promotion practices from regional countries, and building tourism links to reduce tour costs.

Other ideas include having diversified tourism products and a professional workforce, market promotion, destination promotion, and complete tourism products, as well as ensuring good management of tourist attractions.

Moreover, the country should implement the e-visa policy for all international visitor markets. It should also quickly increase the visa exemption period to 30 days for countries that have applied the exemption policy. It need to enhance IT solutions, improve processes and procedures for electronic visa issuance, and simplify the procedures of entry, exit, and customs procedures at the border gates by all valid methods.

Furthermore, it must continue to implement policies to support businesses to recover and develop, such as credit packages, reduction of taxes and fees for air transport businesses, and implement capital support policies.

Attracting resources, as well as accelerating the expansion of transport and aviation infrastructure to meet the recovery of the market and reduce congestion, is also necessary. The country is also mulling stronger participation of the private sector in aviation infrastructure projects.

Finally, it should create a mechanism to open the economy and tourism more synchronously to avoid barriers to attracting investors, allowing the countrys tourism and aviation to have a high growth rate and maintain competitiveness.

Tourism in Vietnam can achieve more At the roundtable discussing how to boost tourism hosted by VIR today, experts agreed that Vietnam has yet to unlock its full potential as they shared various suggestions to remove the bottlenecks in the country's inbound tourism sector.
The minister made the call at the Vietnam Private Hospital Associations fifth executive committee meeting for the 2019-2024 term on March 24.

She said that in recent years, the National Assembly and the government had firmed up guidelines and policies, which were reflected in many different documents, creating a crucial legal basis for the development of non-public healthcare.

Health Minister Dao Hong Lan made a speech at the meeting

"Non-public healthcare and public healthcare have cooperated and gone hand in hand in taking care of people's health, contributing to reducing hospital overload, and giving people more choices of medical services," she noted.

According to the minister, the National Assembly recently passed the amended Law on Medical Examination and Treatment. This was an important milestone, and a turning point of the health sector, serving as a legal basis to firming up the guiding content of a Central Resolution continuing the development of medicine in other countries in the region and around the world.

"I suggest that the Vietnam Private Hospital Association contribute ideas to the Ministry of Health in developing guiding documents for the implementation of the Law to create a full and comprehensive legal corridor for medical treatment activities," the minister said.

Currently, there are 335 private hospitals across the country (including 216 general hospitals, and 118 specialised hospitals). Besides private hospitals, there are about 52,000 clinics and medical service facilities. Along with that, the amount of human resources in the private health system is also considerable.

According to the Ministry of Health, the increase in the number of private hospitals has contributed to a rise in the ratio of hospital beds per 10,000 people; and the number of doctors per 10,000 people in our country. Many private hospitals are equipped with modern medical equipment and perform specialised medical techniques.

The Vietnam Private Hospital Association was established in August 2014. It now has more than 2,500 members. Over the past years, the association has greatly contributed to the development of the healthcare sector, and improving peoples health.

Despite the contribution, private healthcare facilities are still facing a number of legal challenges. Hoang Manh The, vice chairman of the association, proposed authorised agencies consider removing regulations on bidding and land auction for private health investment projects, aiding each locality to understand and apply each type of legal policy on private health investment.

The other challenge is bidding for drugs and medical supplies as the current rules lead to private medical facilities being passive and inefficient.

Hospitals look for way out over cost traps in tender rules Hospitals and medical equipment suppliers are looking to get back on the right track with the Ministry of Health hoping to solve price issues when it comes to tender rules of medical supplies.

Hospitals bemoan autonomy trial flop After a trial period of two years, state-owned central hospitals are seeking to cease comprehensive autonomy because of financial challenges and legal complications, urging more legal changes ahead.
How has 5G been piloted in Vietnam so far, and is the nation ready for commercialisation in 2023?

Up to now, 5G in Vietnam is still in a trial process by Viettel, VNPT, and Mobifone in more than 40 cities and provinces. They are testing different frequency bands from low to mid-band and mmWave band.

From the user side, the first experience of mobile broadband speed, is not too impressive for users because the current 4G speed is meeting the current needs of users in watching movies and television and so on, so the speeds of a few hundred Mb/s or even Gb/s that 5G brings is not a mass market requirement.

Nguyen Phong Nha, deputy general director of the Ministry of Information and Communications Authority of Telecommunications

For high-density or low-latency user cases, there have been no tests with impressive results and no clear demand from users. This is a reality not only in Vietnam but also in other countries when deploying 5G.

The ability to provide diversified and personalised services according to users needs, and the outstanding features of 5G, have been widely disseminated in state agencies and at enterprises in all fields, from underground mining to seaports, and from transportation to healthcare.

Understanding 5G applications will be necessary for customers in making their own requirements in the future. These are the good chances for technology businesses, and startups have many plans and research to develop their businesses based on such possibilities.

The factories and businesses in all sectors know about 5G applications, so now, the trial stage is the right time for cooperating with the telecoms operators to trial 5G applications in their business. If is successful, it will be implemented immediately.

Previously, the deployment of mobile networks was about coverage and speed of download or upload. Looking back, 2G had almost no trials, and with 3G we also did not test much. Meanwhile, 4G has had testing on 2G and 3G-deployed bands to ensure resource allocation consistent with subscribers and service delivery capacity of the network, and the testing period took place under one year before official deployment.

But 5G trials for mobile network operators this time is not simple. They have to experiment with network organisation, following the NSA model  based on the existing 4G network or SA technology to deploy 5G completely independently. This is really a big issue that needs decisions that greatly affect the investment of network operators.

What are the supporting policies for businesses to encourage them to join 5G commercialisation?

Standards such as national technical regulations on 5G mobile communication base station equipment, on standalone terminal equipment, and on the quality of internet access services on such networks are ready for businesses and protect the interests of users.

The policy of discontinuing technology that is no longer relevant has been promoted and has produced results. This will allow businesses to use the frequencies used for 2G, 3G technologies to deploy 5G. This policy is to help operators reduce the OPEX for the 2G and 3G networks and the 2G and 3G frequencies should be used for 4G and 5G.

Promoting 5G application standards and information security for application services and others is also vital. The government should strengthen the guarantee of medium, low and mmwave frequency bands available for 5G.

At the same time, enterprises should be urged to cooperate in building laboratories, training institutions, professional research institutes, or research centres with universities to boost development of training and technical practice.

Finally, it must welcome the role of international organisations and encourage enterprises to participate in the research and development of 5G standards and next-generation networks.

What international lessons should Vietnam learn to ensure success?

Although 5G technology and the ecosystem have been discussed many times, even the most developed countries are still in the early stages of commercialisation. Following the progress of commercialisation worldwide, there are a few points to note.

The countries with the fastest 5G development in 2022 all spent a large amount of money to expand coverage. Some countries spent big in deployment, such as China, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Spain, and others. However, no country has achieved absolute coverage for the entire population.

For example, Japan aims to develop a 5G network by building a network that covers 97 per cent of Japan's population by 2025, and to build a network that covers 99 per cent of Japan's population by 2030.

According to an Ericsson report in 2022, some 30 per cent of the world's population has coverage and this is expected to reach 85 per cent by 2028. Many network operators are currently implementing NSA architecture in the early stages and plan to migrate it when there is a high demand in user experience.

The growth of 4G subscribers reached a peak at the end of 2022 and began to decline in the coming period to gradually switch to 5G subscribers. The number of 2G/3G subscribers continues to decline, and this suggests that now is the time for the transition to network development.

The majority of countries will choose to apply Open Radio Network technology. This technology helps reduce investment costs by 30 per cent, thus improving competitiveness. To popularise 5G sooner, it is necessary to build a mature application ecosystem from low to high frequency.

Ericssons commitment to supporting the digital transformation of Vietnam Ericsson has been contributing its technology leadership to digital transformation in Vietnam over the past 30 years. Denis Brunetti, president of Ericsson in Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about his own journey and the plans ahead for the company in Vietnam.

Singapore announces new 5G projects in EV manufacturing, river cleaning Singapores Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary on February 28 told the countrys parliament that new applications of 5G technology will be used this year in its three projects on electric vehicle manufacturing, river cleaning and security surveillance.

Sweden leading in green, digital goals Companies are betting on digital transformation and 5G to increase operational efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability. David Liden, trade commissioner of Sweden to Vietnam, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about the lessons from Sweden in the twin green and digital transition.
In celebration of twenty years at Enter Stage Right -- Bionote of Mark Wegierski (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski

web posted March 27, 2023 Having successfully completed his studies at UTS, Mark Wegierski was accepted into St. Michaels College at the University of Toronto, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with distinction, with a double Major in History and English Literature (1979-1983). The degree also included courses in International Relations, Political Science, Philosophy, and Modern Languages. He managed to take two courses with the world-renowned literary critic H. Northrop Frye. This was followed by a Master of Arts (M.A.) in History (1983-1984), at the University of Toronto, focusing on International Relations, Modern and East-Central Europe, and the History of Ideas. He fondly remembers Professor Peter de B. Brock, the longtime East European studies scholar at the University of Toronto, as well as Professor Modris Eksteins, the cultural historian (author of the highly acclaimed, Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age). In 1983-1984, Mark Wegierski was a Founding and Executive Member (Cultural Affairs), of the University of Toronto Polish Club, an attempt to establish the presence of a dynamic Polish students and faculty organization at the University of Toronto. In 1987 to the 1990s, he continued to serve as an Alumni Member or Adviser, University of Toronto Polish Students Club/Association. After his M.A. in History, Mark Wegierski completed a Master of Library Science (M.L.S.) (1985-1987) at the University of Toronto, focusing on Collection Development in academic, and public reference libraries; Archives; and Rare Books. The degree included core library subjects (reference, cataloguing, and collection development); computer applications; statistics; management studies; analytical/historical bibliography; archival theory; history of books and print; and social/informational environment analysis. On October 28, 1981, Mark Wegierski published a letter-to-the-editor (Visa policy.) on Polish Solidarity refugees, in The Globe and Mail. Mark Wegierski published two columns and two letters-to-the-editor in The Varsity (the main University of Toronto student newspaper); an article in The University of Toronto Magazine (a brief attempt at a conservative-leaning student newspaper at the University of Toronto); and a review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) in The Mike (the St. Michaels College at the University of Toronto student newspaper). A memorable occasion at the University of Toronto was his participation in a model United Nations Assembly, when he powerfully represented the Republic of El Salvador. In 1981-1985, Mark Wegierski was highly active in a University of Toronto political party association, and was a University of Toronto Model Parliament Member of Parliament for four consecutive years. In the annual Model Parliament election, campus political party associations received seats (out of a total of 100 seats) in a model Canadian House of Commons, or a model Ontario Provincial Parliament (in alternating years), according to the percentage of the student vote received (all University of Toronto students were eligible to vote). Generally, a partys caucus was selected from the campus association membership by the executive  with the President of the association being the party leader; the Speaker of the Parliament was an actual prominent politician; there were several officers-of-parliament (student volunteers); and the Model Parliament was scheduled to meet for three days at Hart House, typically Friday-Sunday. In January 1984, Mark Wegierski attended a major campus event, Debate 1984: Capitalism vs. Socialism, which is the moral system? held at the University of Toronto, Convocation Hall, with over 1,700 persons in attendance. Several days later, he published a column about it in The Varsity. In September 1984, Mark Wegierski attended the Meeting of Pope John Paul II with the Polish-Canadian community, at the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. It was a very moving ceremony, despite the chilly day by the lakeshore. In June 1986, Mark Wegierski travelled by air to Montreal, where he stayed for about three weeks. During that time, he visited the main tourist sites of the city, as well as the Polish Library in Montreal (which was then part of McGill University). He met with Wanda Stachiewicz, who had established the Library many decades earlier. Wanda Stachiewicz (nee Abraham) was the widow of General Waclaw Stachiewicz, who had been Chief of Staff, Polish Armed Forces, 1935-1939. They both eventually emigrated to Canada. In September 1986, Mark Wegierski attended a Libertarian Party event in Toronto, featuring Peter Worthington as the main speaker. Mark Wegierski asked a lot of pertinent questions, and successfully introduced himself to Peter Worthington. In the November 1986 issue of Peter Worthingtons Influence magazine, Mark Wegierski had a letter-to-the-editor published  Left in the Dark  a commentary on the Canadian political scene. In May 1987, Mark Wegierski attended a Libertarian Party conference in Toronto, where he met with Peter Brimelow (author of the ground-breaking book on Canadian politics, The Patriot Game: National Dreams and Political Realities (1986)). On November 24, 1987, Mark Wegierski attended the Canada and NATO: Defending Peace with Freedom Public Meeting and Dinner with Hon. Perrin Beatty, Minister of National Defence, Canada (Toronto, Royal York Hotel, 100 Front Street West, Concert Hall) sponsored by the Canadian Black Ribbon Day Committee (BRDC). On November 27-29, 1987 (the American Thanksgiving weekend), Mark Wegierski attended, by special invitation, the Piety Hill Colloquium (Criticisms of the Constitution) (chaired by the then-leading traditionalist conservative philosopher in America, Professor Russell Kirk) which took place in Mecosta, Michigan (organized by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)). Mark Wegierski gave a presentation about the political and cultural situation in Canada at that time, which was taped by the ISI for further use in its programs. In 1987, Mark Wegierski was the sole major editor of Journey Through History: Memoirs, by Wanda Stachiewicz, published by the Canadian-Polish Research Institute (Toronto, 1987). On August 29, 1988, Mark Wegierski gave a presentation at The Canadian Media and National Security Ginger group meeting at the Mackenzie Institute offices (Toronto, 100 Adelaide Street West, Suite 906) The Mackenzie Institute (Toronto). On November 5, 1988, Mark Wegierski attended the Subversion in the 1980s: Myth or Reality? Conference (speakers included Dr. Zdzislaw M. Rurarz (former Polish Ambassador to Japan; defected to the West in 1981) (Toronto: The Brownstone Hotel, 15 Charles Street East) The Mackenzie Institute (Toronto). On November 4, 1989, Mark Wegierski attended the Canadian Premiere of Alexander Nevsky (film directed by Sergei Eisenstein, music by Sergei Prokofiev) (1938) with the music played live by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Toronto: Roy Thomson Hall) The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), and the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies. On November 18, 1989, Mark Wegierski attended the Western Security in the Age of Glasnost Conference (speakers included Stan Levchenko (a leading Soviet defector), former major in the Soviet KGB) (Toronto: The Brownstone Hotel, 15 Charles Street East) The Mackenzie Institute (Toronto). Mark Wegierski was shortlisted in The World & I Magazine 1989 Article Contest. In 1989, Mark Wegierski took the course, Online Information Retrieval: An Introduction at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Library and Information Science (FLIS), Continuing Education. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
The event saw the participation of representatives from 31 women's associations from across the country. The seminar's aim was to promote sustainable growth and development within the female-led business community in Vietnam and share developments in sustainable practices and integrating environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG).

The conference was part of a larger sustainable business development initiative, officially launched by VAWE in 2022, that focuses on reducing emissions and negative impacts on the environment and society, as well as integrating ESG into corporate values.

In attendance was Ton Ngoc Hanh, vice chairwoman of the Vietnam Women's Union, who said, "This seminar encourages a spirit of responsibility in Vietnam's female business community, showing the commitment and determination of everyone here to join hands with the government in achieving the goal of green growth, and to contribute effectively to sustainable development in the country. "

Nguyen Quang Vinh, vice president of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and chairman of the Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) emphasised the importance of integrating ESG and gender equality into the VCCI's sustainable development goals and helping to promote more sustainable businesses.

He said, "The business community, including businesses owned by women, is an important force in the implementation process of the sustainable development goals in Vietnam. They can implement corporate social responsibility initiatives to protect the environment and produce green, clean, quality products and services. They have also created new trends of consumption, built a harmonious and equal working environment, and promoted gender equality at work."

Speaking for the private sector, Ha Thu Thanh, vice-president of VAWE and president of Deloitte Vietnam, said, "Entrepreneurs play a key role in fighting climate change, reducing carbon waste, and managing companies according to best practices. Besides these roles, Vietnamese businesswomen have also pioneered corporate social responsibility activities related to gender equality in their workplaces."

"Through solidarity the promotion of the talent and intelligence of Vietnamese businesswoman in economic development, VAWE aims to raise awareness and support sustainable business strategies. Steady growth is associated with green growth, and we aim to meet the goals of progress," she added.

The ambassadors of Singapore and New Zealand also shared their views on green growth and social values achieved through gender equality activities with Vietnamese businesswomen.

The seminar ended with a discussion and a performance showing the commitment that Vietnamese female entrepreneurs have to green growth and sustainable development.

Entrepreneurs remain inspirations for Vietnamese youth Vietnamese youth have a spirit of entrepreneurship with nearly half of the young people in the nation aspiring to become entrepreneurs, according to a research report titled Mind the Gap: Mapping Youth Skills for the Future in ASEAN by the ASEAN Foundation in collaboration with Plan International and with support from Google.org.

Women entrepreneurs become inspiration for business community Many female Vietnamese entrepreneurs are being proactive in community activity and considered an inspiration to the next generation, demonstrating that women can confidently build businesses and overcome difficulties to take their businesses to the next level.
Visas, service quality, and technology were all part of discussions on a better-performing tourism sector Photo: Cuong Minh

Mays National Assembly session is likely to help push ahead a revamp of the countrys rules on entry and exit for foreign visitors, after the Ministry of Public Security crafts amendments to the current law.

The development will be an important basis for the issuance of new regulations related to the visa policy, removing difficulties for the tourism industry, and creating conditions to attract more international visitors this year, according to most observers.

Dang Tuan Viet, deputy director of the Ministry of Public Secrutitys (MoPS) Vietnam Immigration Department, said that the proposal emphasised two major areas related to unilateral visa exemption and electronic visa policy. The MoPS also proposes to expand the number of countries that can issue e-visas from 80 countries to the maximum.

The MoPS will also ask to increase the temporary stay period for e-visa holders from 30 to 90 days, valid for single or multiple entry depending on request, to create favourable conditions for foreigners wishing to stay in Vietnam for up to three months.

Foreigners wishing to continue to stay for more than three months will be handled in accordance with the law, while the temporary residence duration of citizens from countries that are unilaterally exempted from visas in Vietnam will be doubled, from 15 days to 30 days.

The expansion of the applicable subjects, and value and duration of the e-visa policy will contribute to attracting more foreigners to Vietnam to travel, seek investment and business opportunities, and create a driving force to promote the development of the economy and the tourism industry, Viet stated at a tourism roundtable organised by Vietnam Investment Review last week at its headquarters in Hanoi.

Vital reforms

Updating visa policies and discussing solutions to promote Vietnams tourism to recover faster have been widely debated since the country reopened to international visitors just over a year ago.

At the tourism roundtable last week, VIR editor-in-chief Le Trong Minh said the recovery of international visitor numbers and general development of the tourism industry will bring many benefits in the current volatile economic conditions.

Identifying the bottlenecks that need to be removed, and useful solutions that can be quickly deployed, especially in the visa issue, is the best way for the tourism industry to rejuvenate itself.

According to information from the Vietnam Immigration Department, Vietnam is now applying a visa waiver policy for citizens from 25 countries, while Vietnams e-visa is currently available to nationals of 80 countries. Vietnams visa policy is much looser since extending the visa-free duration from 15 days to 30 days and doubling the number of countries exempted.

Non-nationals entering coastal economic zones such as Phu Quoc can enjoy a visa waiver and stay there for 30 days, and can enter without limitations on the numbers of entries.

E-visas were introduced four years ago through the portal of the MoPS. For a $25 fee and after three days of waiting, foreign visitors can stay up to 30 days. However, there are still barriers for countries that do not have an e-visa and are not exempt.

Deputy general director of Vietravel Nguyen Thi Le Huong said, As a rule, visitors from countries that are not eligible for visa exemption must be accompanied by a local during their stay in Vietnam. This is the barrier that makes many international tourists choose other destinations instead.

Tourism experts often compare Vietnam with Thailand, a neighbouring country that possesses many similarities in climate, culture, and natural resources, but is a symbol of tourism in Southeast Asia with aggressive, creative, and open tourism development policies.

Thailand currently waives visas for citizens of 64 countries and territories and allows visitors from certain countries to stay for up to 90 days without a visa

According to Bui Doan Ne, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Aviation Business Association, making the visa policy more convenient is a way to increase the competitiveness of Vietnams destinations.

The tourism industry needs to strengthen the application of technology, improve the process for electronic visa issuance, and simplify entry, exit, and customs procedures at the border gates, he said.

Boosting services

Meanwhile, Martin Koerner, head of the Tourism Working Group at the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF), advised Vietnam to make changes in policy to improve the quality of services.

In addition to the complicated and restrictive visa policy, the long waiting time at immigration checkpoints at international airports, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, are also challenges for tourists, Koerner said.

Vietnam should add special movement lanes for priority passenger groups, and increase the number of immigration officers and scanners. The design and layout of the counters and entry areas are not impressive and not hospitable, he added.

Koerner also recommended opening more international routes directly from key markets to Vietnam and vice versa. For visitors from major tourist markets with direct flights such as the US, China, and India, the tourism industry should soon have an agreement on a bilateral long-term visa policy with a duration of 5-10 years, similar to the long-term visas that some countries have been issuing to Vietnamese citizens.

Vietnams tourism industry targets welcoming eight million international visitors by the end of 2023, but to achieve this goal, besides appropriate solutions, adequate and speedy implementation is the decisive factor.

According to Phan Duc Hieu, permanent member of the National Assembly Economic Committee, although solutions to solve difficulties for the tourism industry are incomplete, the tourism industry is capable of making significant changes.

If we can do that, I believe that the goal of attracting eight million international visitors this year can be achieved, and even up to 10 or 12 million visitors is possible, Hieu said.

Phan Duc Hieu - Permanent member National Assembly Economic Committee Tourism, along with agriculture, is forecast to be a major contributor to Vietnams growth in 2023. As for the tourism development policy, it is not only limited to the convenience of tourists travel, but to do with policies to encourage tourists to stay longer and spend more. Policies related to tourism are not only the law on tourism, but also related to the immigration law and many others. For example, in terms of resort tourism, I immediately think of land, housing, and planning policies to create opportunities for businesses to develop resort facilities and transport infrastructure to increase connectivity. In policy formulation, it is necessary to think about tourism development and factors affecting policies to remove bottlenecks. I think that the target of welcoming 8-10 million tourists set by Vietnams tourism industry is not as important as the way of realising this target. Thailand has acted strongly and fiercely when setting the goal of opening the economy within 125 days with the Phuket sandbox project, and they have done everything to make it happen. Last year, Vietnam also set a goal of reopening tourism to overseas visitors, provided that the pandemic was controlled, but the difference in thinking is a barrier that prevents the tourism industry from making a breakthrough. We will always be behind if we keep looking at the success of surrounding countries. To really make a breakthrough, the tourism industry needs to dare to do new things for other countries to follow. To make a change, the industry needs to change its mindset to act more aggressively. Ha Van Sieu - Deputy director general Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Vietnam has ample potential for tourism, but the country still has some weaknesses. Vietnam is very eager to learn from other countries. However, we are also proud of what we have accomplished. Vietnam is on the path of improvement and transformation. There will be a government resolution about solutions to promote tourism, and there can be short-term solutions as well as long-term ones. In the near future, Vietnam will complete the planning of its tourism industry towards 2030. All of these directions are in terms of tourism development perspectives, objectives, and key solutions. Recent discussions have delved into specific solutions, including the removal of bottlenecks around visas, immigration procedures, and links between the parties. I believe if we maintain ongoing discussion, we will find common ground and make progress on improving policies. The tourism authority will take note of all ideas and solutions and guide Vietnams tourism businesses to continue investing and learning to adapt to new trends. Together, we work closely with ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses to invest, create, and build Vietnam into a high-class destination where the quality is worthy, and the price is affordable. Thus, more international visitors will return to Vietnam. Vo Huy Cuong - Former deputy head Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam An increase in the number of international tourists will drive the growth of the economy and related industries in particular, such as aviation and transportation. It is necessary to determine the position of Vietnam on the current geopolitical map and in the next few years. Visitors from China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, and ASEAN are important in the context of global fluctuations. Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Singapore are making huge investments to promote tourism. Vietnamese airlines should maintain stability and increase flight frequency in Northeast Asian markets, Australia, and India, and create good general conditions for international flights to/from Vietnam The quality of services is the most important aspect, especially the attitude of service providers in Vietnam to international and domestic tourists. The tourist environment should be friendly whether dealing in accommodation, meals, sightseeing, or shopping. Other common needs of visitors should be met, such as power sockets, Wi-Fi in hotels, and non-cash payment. To attract international tourists efficiently in the long-term term and sustainably, it is recommended that Vietnam urgently increase the quality of services that tourists need, such as accommodation, sightseeing options, dining, safe shopping, and good prices, among others. Erwin R. Popov - General manager Hanoi Daewoo Hotel The easier and more simplified the visa policy is, the better it will be. We dont look only for one nationality, but from all over the world. Every guest who comes here is a win. Thats why visas must be simple, with multi-entrance so that people really have time to get around. Vietnam has a big opportunity now. Of course, there are always restrictions but if we want to have customers, these procedures must be very easy and fast, not time consuming and also money consuming. Chinas market is a big and an important market. However, we cannot focus only on one market. We have to be flexible enough as we have seen what happens if you are dependent on only one market and something happens that is economically damaging. Thats why we have to ensure an open-door policy for all nationalities and destinations. Dang Tuan Viet - Deputy director Vietnam Immigration Department Ministry of Public Security The Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) has posted a draft law on the entry, exit, transit, and residence of foreigners in Vietnam for public consultation. The two most prominent contents are unilateral visa exemption and e-visa policy. Specifically, the MoPS has proposed to expand the number of countries that issue e-visas from 80 countries to the maximum level of countries if they respect and ensure the security, order, and sovereignty of Vietnam. It also proposes to increase the temporary residence period for e-visa holders from 30 to 90 days, valid once or multiple times at the request of foreigners, creating an opportunity for foreigners to enter Vietnam for up to three months. Foreigners who wish to continue to stay for more than three months will be considered and handled in accordance with the current law. At the same time, the MoPS also proposes to extend the temporary stay period for citizens of countries that are unilaterally exempted from visas by Vietnam from 15 to 30 days. Tourist visa validity remains the same for three months. Thus, tourists can enter and exit many times instead of only once as before. The government will issue a list of countries and territories with citizens who are granted e-visas, a list of international border gates that allow foreigners to enter and exit by e-visa. While the related legal documents have not yet been revised, the MoPS has proposed the government to include the above-mentioned contents in the resolution of the incoming National Assembly meeting this May and proposed for comments at the sixth meeting in October. Hoang Nhan Chinh - Secretariat director Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board With the growth rate of tourism in the first three months of the year, Vietnams tourism is confident to exceed the target of serving eight million foreign visitors in 2023, and expects to reach 10-12 million. This is a big opportunity for the tourism industry to restructure the tourist market. We believe the industry will bounce back quickly and contribute more to GDP growth, not just 9.25 per cent like in 2019. We have to think about attracting high-paying tourists. In 2019, Vietnam reached a record high number of more than 18 million international arrivals, with the average spending of international visitors in Vietnam about $1,200 per person and the average length of stay about nine days. In the same year, Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million international visitors, the average spending was $2,500 per person, the length of stay in Thailand was similar to that of Vietnam. It is necessary to research to understand the customer and the market before building the right product. Recently, when we consulted the surrounding countries about the tourism market, I found that Vietnam needs to change its products to maximise its advantages, and it needs to come up with short-term and long-term development plans. The number of international tourists could double at a growth rate of around 25 per cent annually with a better visa policy and direct flights. In the medium term, the tourism industry must build a master plan on product development, develop a marketing plan, perform human resources training, strengthen destination management and promote digital transformation in the tourism industry. Through market research results, international tourists now tend to go less in large groups but often in small groups, and tourists are also choosing to stay in one country longer than experiencing multiple countries like before with the rise of green travel. The rate of international visitors returning to Vietnam is only at 25-30 per cent, while Thailand reached an average of 70 per cent. To attract tourists to come back again, it is necessary to provide a good experience for visitors, which requires good destination management. In addition, businesses need to report to the management agency to remove technical barriers and difficulties in attracting international visitors. Currently, Vietnam does not allow the opening of tourism promotion offices abroad, but we have opened a promotion office in the UK based on the contribution of businesses. I think that while there is no long-term mechanism, public-private partnerships can help solve many problems, especially in understanding the market and building suitable products for the target audience.
Given its proximity to the old Goodyear Aircraft Corporation (GAC) plant in Akron, Ohio, it seems only natural that the MAPS Air Museum in nearby Canton would want to celebrate the aerospace manufacturers many contributions to aviation history by having relevant artifacts on display to the public. Other than their numerous lighter-than-air designs, GAC is perhaps best known for the companys licensed production of Vought-Sikorskys most important WWII product, the mighty F4U Corsair.

Goodyear produced roughly 4,000 Corsairs during WWII, in three main variants, the FG-1, FG-1A, and FG-1D, which corresponded more or less to Vought-Sikorskys F4U-1, F4U-1A and F4U-1D designs. GAC also built a smattering of more exotic Corsairs such as the FG-3, FG-4 and F2G, although none of these ever entered full-scale production.

Suffice to say, MAPS had long sought a Goodyear-built Corsair for their museum for many years before they finally secured a partial airframe for display, this being what remained of FG-1D BuNo.76671, which had been a part of the Goodyears World of Rubber museum in Akron for more than half a century until its closure in August 2009. Goodyear manufactured this aircraft in late 1944, with the U.S. Navy accepting it formally on January 7th, 1945. The aircraft made its delivery flight twenty days later, with a short hop to Naval Air Station Columbus (now John Glenn Columbus International Airport) in Columbus, Ohio. The remainder of the aircrafts brief operational history reads as follows

January 1945  Assigned to Navy Fighter-Bomber Squadron (VBF-92), NAS Groton, Connecticut.

February 1945  Performed (CQL) Carrier Qualifications with other pilots/planes on USS Croatan (CVE 25), an escort carrier.

February 28, 1945  While performing CQL on USS Croata, piloted by A. H. Untelman, this Corsair experienced a hard landing resulting in substantial structural damage.

May 31st, 1945  Struck off Charge (SOC)

February 1948  Cockpit section transferred to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Museum, Akron, Ohio.

When MAPS received the Corsair, they initially placed it on display in the condition it had arrived, which was essentially a truncated fuselage extending from the firewall back to midway along the radio compartment; the wings were severed just outboard of the fuselage. Despite these issues, what did remain came in near-time-capsule condition.

About six years ago, MAPS decided to build a full-sized, static replica of the FG-1D, with the original cockpit section at its core. Volunteers, led by Crew Chief Don Neidert, have worked hard to incorporate the original structure sympathetically into this project, which will adhere to the designs external profile and production breaks. This will provide the museum freedom to choose their own, more economically viable and practical manufacturing methods, while also allowing them to swap out newly-made components if/when original material becomes available at some point in the future. The team has made remarkable progress since the project began, building out the entire rear fuselage, including the empennage, and making good progress on the structure for the wing center section. They are still looking for original Corsair parts to add to the aircraft, of course, especially a set of landing gear to support the airframe, if anyone has a set they can use  regardless of condition.

Earlier this year, Dennis Bachtel, chairman of the MAPS Air Museums board, was kind enough to give us a tour of the Corsair project. Our very own Mo Aguiari conducted the interview in the video below, which we feel sure readers will enjoy. Anyone wishing to help contribute to this worthy project, or another effort at the museum, should click HERE to find out how.
by Luigino Caliaro

Founded in Italy during 2010, the Museo Storico del Servizio Aereo (Historical Museum of the Air Service) is a separate component of the Guardia di Finanza Historical Museum, located in Rome since 1937, to remember and honor the glorious tradition of the Italian Customs Police.

The Guardia di Finanza (GdF) is a Military Police Force reporting directly to Italys Minister of Economy and Finance, with general economic and financial crime-fighting competencies.

Following the services development and increasing use of air components, the organization decided to create ad hoc museums entirely dedicated to the specialty, but which are closely dependent upon the Museum of Rome.

Officially inaugurated on April 18th, 2012, the Museo Storico del Servizio Aereo is located on Mario De Bernardi air base in Pratica di Mare, between Pomezia and Torvaianica. More specifically, the museum is situated in a northern part of the airport which the Guardia di Finanza occupies. The opening of the museum represents a cornerstone in the process of historical conservation for the air component of the Guardia di Finanza. In July 2022, the museum closed temporarily to allow significant changes to occur; these involved knocking down some walls to enlarge the exhibition area and accommodate new aircraft.

The origins of the Servizio Aereo date back to 1913, when a small group of officers and NCOs joined the First Course for Military pilots; they fought during the First World War, distinguishing themselves in aerial combat. Following WWI, they continued to perform flight operations, continuing their service into World War II. February 1954 marks the official birth of the Air Service, which operated a range of Bell AB-47G, AB-47G2, and AB-47J helicopters. In those years of intense illegal activities and smuggling, the Air Service played a key role in the fight against trafficking. With the introduction of Agusta A-109(All) helicopters during the first half of the 1980s, the Air Service began to perform night and IFR flying sorties. Today the fleet is based on the ubiquitous, single turbine Hughes OH-500, the CH-109B, HH-412C, and the new MCH-109A Nexus, while the entry into service of the modern PH-139A has further widened the horizons for this important branch. The 1990s saw the establishment of a fixed-wing unit too, which fields the ATR-42MP, alongside the Piaggio P-166DP1 and P-180.

With the establishment of the Museum in Pratica di Mare, a long process of identification, recovery, and restoration of helicopters began, with the aim to compose a museum collection. Some of the airframes have undergone a long and careful restoration, bringing them back to the splendor of the 60s, with extreme fidelity paid to their livery and other details; some examples are even in flying conditions. The museum has also dedicated serious effort into tracking down and acquiring original flying suits and equipment. Eventually, after more than three years of work, the Museum was unveiled on April 18th, 2012, immediately gaining a unanimous positive response from aviation enthusiasts while also creating a strong sense of interest in the younger generations.

The museum collection is a real historical journey from the dawn of the Air Service to the most recent machines, which are also partly abandoned. In all, there are eight helicopters including an A-109(All), four NH-500 variants (two NH-500M, an NH-500MC, and an NH-500MD), an AB.47G2, AB.47J3, and AB412HP, and two fixed-wing aircraft  a Piaggio P.166 DL3 and an ex-Italian Air Force Beech C-45F. The latter airframe is beautifully restored to represent an example which GdF personnel crewed during their fight against smuggling operations and other illegal activities during the mid-fifties. In addition to the airframes on display, the museum features many other artifacts, from documents to equipment, which help enrich ones understanding for the Air Services rich history.

Another note of interest is the creation of an archive of over 2,500 digitized historical photographs and vintage videos along with many flight and maintenance manuals, all of them easily accessible electronically. The Museum of Pratica di Mare Air Service is now a beautiful reality and a valuable opportunity for bringing both older and future generations together to understand the services historical roots and to continue preserving our significant aviation heritage.

OPENING TIMES and HOW TO BOOK

The Museum is open to the public (via pre-booking) every Wednesday and Friday from 9:00am to 12:30pm except on holidays and during the month of August. Guided English-language tours are available.

To book your visit, please do so via the website www.gdf.gov.it, (choose the British flag if you need English instructions). Download the booking form, fill it in, and then e-mail it to museoaereopratica@gdf.it. Confirmation of your visit should arrive within 24 hours. That being said, since the museum is located within a military airbase, interested parties should book their visit at least 4 to 6 weeks in advance of your planned arrival.

AIRCRAFTS displayed inside the Museum

Agusta Bell AB-47G2, Volpe 16 with MM 80166 and construction number 248 entered service with the Guardia di Finanza on 23 February 1959, operating for school and training duties, in this case in Frosinone, where the helicopter suffered an accident. Repaired, it flew again until its retirement for display at the Corps Academy. In 1986, it was exhibited in Pratica di Mare as Volpe 1. In 2003 it was restored to its original condition and used in many air shows in central Italy until 2007. In 2010 it was definitively restored and placed inside the museum.

Agusta Bell AB- 47J3, Volpe 37 with construction number 2115. The Guardia di Finanza acquired 24 Agusta Bell AB-47J3s but unfortunately, none of these helicopters now remains extant. In order to display such an important specimen in the museum, the organization chose to convert a former Carabinieri example to represent its GdF-operated sibling. The helicopter chosen for restoration was MM 80497 CC-21, which now reproduces Volpe 37s MM 80305. The aircraft underwent restoration in 2010, and is now presented in a precise Volpe 37 color scheme, as delivered in 1964.

Nardi Hughes NH-500M, Volpe 51 MM80850, and construction number 1220-223M. Volpe 51 is one of the very first NH 500M to serve in the Guardia di Finanza; it was decommissioned in the late 1990s. From April 2002, it went on display at the Inspectors School of LAquila. Recovered from that organization in 2011, it underwent a painstaking, eight-month restoration which returned the airframe to its original, 1974 condition. This model has several peculiarities which include the provision of a winch, external auxiliary tanks, and the American, initial model main rotor.

Nardi Hughes NH-500MC, Volpe 74 with MM80998 and construction number 09-0257 entered service in March 1977 and decommissioned with 5,633 flight hours. No restoration work of any kind was needed for this aircraft, which is in nearly pristine, original condition.

Nardi Hughes NH-500MD, Volpe 117 MM81137. From 1979, the Air Service of the Guardia di Finanza began to receive the MD version equipped with a five-blade rotor, T-tail empennage, and Allison 250C-20B turbine. Following the initial 17 examples of this new helicopter came the supply numerous others, in a variety of different variants, for a total of 74 units.

Agusta A 109AII, Volpe 133 with s/n MM81334. Built-in 1988 with construction number 7417, this helicopter arrived with the Guardia di Finanza in January 1989. Following its decommissioning in 2009, the helicopter had accumulated 3040.10 flight hours. It has not received any restorative treatment since those days, but is preserved in virtual flying condition.

Nardi NH-500M/V49. This helicopter was the first of its kind delivered to the GdF, but was transferred to the Maltese Air Force in June, 1992. Identified with the initials V49, it flew in Malta until March 9th, 2006. Following five years of negotiation between museum staff and the Maltese government, the helicopter returned to Italy on February 13th, 2018.

AB-412 HP, Volpe 209 MM81454. This is one of the 22 AB-412HP delivered to Guardia di Finanza.

Piaggio P 166DL3, Grifo 12 with MM25182 and construction number 603. Handed over to the Guardia di Finanza in June 1996, it made its last flight in 2008. During its operational life, it participated in four major operations which led to the seizure of over 9,000kg of illicit drugs. It operated with Gruppo Exploration Aeromarittima (GEA) from 1996 to 2008.

Beech C45 RR-18 may wear the colors of the Italian Air Force, but this example made its last flight on April 19th, 1978 with a total of 4,854 fight hours. GAVS of Turin recovered this aircraft on June 30th, 2017 an restored it to the exact conditions of the mid-to-late 1950s, when some of these aircraft were manned by Guardia di Finanza personnel to carry out long-range missions from bases scattered across Italy to control smuggling and other illegal activities.
DES MOINES  Iowa Republican lawmakers are turning their focus to property tax reductions in the coming weeks, and leaders listed as a top priority when the legislative session began.

Competing legislation is floating between the Senate and the House intended to cut taxes for Iowa property owners, and lawmakers will need to come up with a unified proposal to pass in both chambers before sending it to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds desk for a signature. That work is in its early stages, said Republican Rep. Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton, the chair of the House tax policy committee.

Kaufmann said he is meeting with Senate leaders to put together a bill combining the two chambers proposals while incorporating input from local governments.

Were in the process, he said, and it will probably take a couple weeks to merge the two of them, and then well have something to present to people for consideration as sort of a grand compromise.

The House bill, House File 1, has three main divisions: It would lower the property tax levy for state school funding, limit annual property assessment increases to 3%, and require schools to put down 10% of a projects total cost and notify property taxpayers before holding an election to borrow money for a building project.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, who chairs the Senate tax policy committee, has proposed two bills targeting property taxes.

Under Senate File 356, property assessments would be capped in cities and counties, and if total taxable value increases over a set percentage, local governments levy rates would be decreased. It would also combine several revenue streams into a general levy for both cities and counties.

Democrats voted against that bill in committee, arguing it would cut local governments revenue and the services they can offer.

Senate File 550, another bill from Dawson, would expand a number of property tax credits like the homestead, elderly, and military service credits and limit assessment values for some commercial properties.

The bill would also overhaul the states sales tax, bumping it up from 6% to 7% statewide, but eliminating the local option, 1 cent sales tax that most local governments have in place.

As lawmakers negotiate a combined proposal, Dawson said the end goal of lowering tax bills for Iowa property owners is more important than the specific mechanisms to make that happen.

When we walk out of session, we have to make sure that we have mechanisms built into code to protect the taxpayer from these incessant spikes, he said. That just has to happen.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said Thursday the House property tax bill was one of the remaining priorities House Republicans will turn their attention to in the coming weeks.

Youre going to see more efforts put into that within the caucus, Grassley said. We feel pretty strongly, we continue to hear from Iowans that they want to see us provide a level of relief and certainty, which our bill really does both of those things.

Kaufmann said he has been taking suggestions from counties and cities on changes to financing laws that could cut regulations around how they spend money. He said the bill would be a property tax slash city and county financing structure bill.

Democrats have said they are open to supporting legislation lowering property taxes, but they want to make sure it does not result in weaker local services to Iowans and target the relief to middle-class residents.

Iowa House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said on Thursday Democrats are wary of what the final agreement will be.

If we can lower property taxes and do it in a way that middle class families benefit, sign us up, Konfrst said. My concern continues to be the lower property taxes one place, and then the services still need to be paid for. So how are they being paid for? Is it through a different mechanism of taxation thats really not a net reduction for Iowa families?
CEDAR FALLS  At 19, Anna Horstman earned her keep as a domestic servant.

She cooked and cleaned for a well-to-do and prominent family, Walter and Cornelia Bryant, in their elegant Italianate-style home at 303 Clay St. She was paid a few dollars a week.

In 1900, it was too far to travel back and forth from Grundy County, where Anna was born and grew up, so she received room and board with the Bryants. At the end of each day, she tucked herself into a small room on the homes second floor, adjacent to the back stairs.

The historic Bryant home is now the Victorian House Museum, and Annas upstairs room is still considered a servants quarters.

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid: Servants in Cedar Falls is now open at the Cedar Falls Historical Society. The year-long exhibition runs through Dec. 15, and numerous related events are planned in the coming months.

Visitors to the Victorian House often ask if the family had servants employed when it was a family home, and the answer is yes, said Julie Huffman-klinkowitz, CFHS collections manager and curator. People are curious about what it was like because of how servants are shown in popular TV series such as Downton Abbey.

In Great Britain, reaching the upper echelons of service often made servants as snobbish as the landed gentry they served. Some roles were prestigious enough to be passed down through the generations, such as being a butler.

Below American stairs, domestic service, especially in the Midwest, was different than the class-conscious system in England. Here, there was no hierarchy, said Huffman-klinkowitz.

In 1850, there were 135 settlers living in Cedar Falls. People didnt bring servants with them when they came to this area because it was another person to feed. Ten years later, there were 1,503 residents here and 11 women who were listed as domestics in the census, she explained.

Huffman-klinkowitz relied on census records, newspaper accounts and stories passed down from generation to generation to detail the evolution of domestic service in the Cedar Falls. I was interested in their backgrounds, how their lives unfolded. Unfortunately, we have no journals or diaries or oral histories from women who served, she noted.

Predominately female, servants were generally young, single women or widowed. There werent many job opportunities for young women in the mid- to late-1800s. If they had some education or had an apprenticeship, they could work as teachers, dressmakers, milliners, weavers or hairdressers, Huffman-klinkowitz said.

Some women took jobs as domestic help to support themselves, and others came into town from farms to find employment. They wanted to get paid for their labor, paid for the things they did for free on the farm. Many were emigrants from Holland, Demark, Ireland, Germany and England.

The exhibit offers glimpses into the lives of these working women, including Minerva Dutton. In 1860, the Ohio-born Minerva and her husband, William, were the first Black family in Cedar Falls. William worked as a barber while Minerva is believed to have worked for the Frank and Lizzie Chase family.

Minerva had children, so she may have helped with child care, cooked and done laundry, Huffman-klinkowitz said.

Eventually the Duttons moved to Detroit. Minerva was widowed by 1883 and by 1900, had moved to Cleveland and worked as a laundress. She died in 1925.

Hired help lightened the load of cooking, baking and cleaning, usually working alone or alongside the lady of the house. Tasks such as laundry were done on specific days, week-in and week-out. They might also be expected to care for children or elderly residents.

The work was physically hard, requiring strength and stamina, particularly in the days before such modern conveniences as vacuum cleaners and washers and dryers. Rugs were swept with a broom and hauled outside and beaten to remove dirt. Cook stoves were fueled by wood or coal hauled from outdoors or a coal cellar. Cookware was heavy cast-iron, stoneware, ceramic or glass. Scrubbing floors and myriad other tasks keep a servant working from sunup to sundown.

The average Victorian woman burned 2,400 to 3,500 calories daily. She also was exposed to cleaning products and chemicals like lye and naphtha.

But it was no harder than other jobs in the late 1800s and early 1900s. If these women were on a farm, they did all the same work as a domestic, along with other chores like caring for livestock and farming. And they didnt get paid for it, so domestic service was a sought-after job, the curator explained.

Sexual harassment of female servants was a real problem. One display case shows a series of International View stereoscopic cards from 1903 documenting the problem.

It didnt surprise me that women had these troubles. Inappropriate advances made by male members of the household were often blamed on the woman. If she was found to be pregnant, she was dismissed. She had no recourse, and her employer wasnt punished, Huffman-klinkowitz said.

Often young women worked as servants for just a few years, until they were married and established their own households. Anna Horstman left service and the Victorian House when she married William Kessler in 1908. The couple opened OK Cafe in Dysart, and their business thrived. They were childless, and Anna died Dec. 14, 1973.

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WATERLOO -- Friendship Village Auxiliary will host their Spring Brunch & Bazaar from 9 a.m.to 1 p.m. April 15 at 600 Park Lane.

Brunch tickets are $10 each. Admission to the bazaar is free.

The menu features Eggs Benedict casserole, a fruit cup, sausage, homemade muffins, coffee, milk and orange juice.

Original crafts, jewelry, fresh baked goods, books, games, puzzles, videos, cds, furniture, yesteryear's treasures and many specialty items will be available at the bazaar.

Proceeds benefit residents of the health centers and assisted living facilities.

To purchase a brunch ticket, call (319) 291-8100, or purchase at the door.
WATERLOO  Three Cedar Valley legislators expressed concern and anger over multiple issues at a community forum on Friday night.

Thirteen lawmakers were invited by the League of Women Voters of Black Hawk and Bremer Counties, but only three Democrats attended. The forum was attended by a few dozen constituents.

If we made it mandatory for a percentage of people from the Republican Party to attend these meetings, wed get a lot farther on cooperation and getting things done, resident Bill Shane said.

Those who did attend discussed the topic at hand  mental health.

Tom Eachus, the executive director at UnityPoint Health Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center and a social worker of 35 years, said hes worried about the state of mental health care in Iowa.

Were currently facing the worst workforce shortage in my 35 years, and at the same time the demand for mental health services increased, Eachus said.

Rep. Timi Brown-Powers said there is a perfect storm of demand for more mental health beds in the state as well as more staff.

She said there are currently 92 mental health beds for the entire state of Iowa, which includes 36 beds for children.

That is pathetic, she said.

A social worker who didnt provide her name spoke up about the worker shortage.

What is the plan when we cant keep social workers  the profession that provides the most mental health services  when we cant get social workers to come here and stay here? She asked.

She also said more social workers will be needed after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed multiple bills into law regarding transgender children.

On Wednesday, Reynolds signed laws restricting the bathrooms transgender students can use at school, as well as banning gender-affirming medical care for minors.

Also brought up at the forum was a conversion therapy ban being discussed in the city of Waterloo.

This month, a discussion was tabled about banning conversion therapy  a practice that attempts to make a non-heterosexual person become heterosexual.

Waterloo resident Forest Dillavou spoke up about the issue.

(Children) came in as boys and girls. I can tell the difference, he said. You folks need to stand up for those little children.

Brown-Powers, who is also a therapist, explained the controversy of conversion therapy.

The research shows that that therapy is very dangerous, increases suicides and it hurts children, she said. I think thats why they are pushing to ban it in the city. I dont know if theres anyone here practicing that to be honest, and I dont have that answer. This is just banning one type of treatment to those children that we know can be very deathly for a child.

Rep. Jerome Amos Jr., a former Waterloo city councilmember, agreed.

Im a left-handed individual, and people tried to force me to use my right hand, he said. It was not going to work, and I firmly believe that it wouldve been detrimental if Id been forced to. Forcing anything should not be anything that should be happening.

Rep. Bob Kressig detailed what could happen to children who identify differently than their assigned gender at birth.

These children, when they begin to grow and their identity doesnt match their sexuality, they begin to pull back from the school, Kressig said. They dont associate with others. So suicide is one of those areas that can occur.

Other topics that were discussed at the forum included Reynolds government reorganization bill and a bill that would eliminate funding for diversity, equity and inclusion at higher education institutions.
WATERLOO  Friends and family of Nikole Hannah-Jones filled the theater seats at Crossroads Cinema to see a special showing of her latest project.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from Waterloo held a private screening Friday evening of one of the episodes of her docuseries The 1619 Project, currently streaming on Hulu.

Every episode has some focus on Waterloo, including the episode shown Friday titled Capitalism.

Waterloo is the city that capitalism built, Hannah-Jones said in a question-and-answer session after the showing. The reason that almost all of us are in the room is because someone in our family left a plantation in the south and came up to either work on the railroad or work in meatpacking plants or work at Deere to try to change the trajectory of their families lives.

Part of the episode focused on a cousin of Hannah-Jones who works in Waterloo, as well as her late uncle. Hannah-Jones tells the story of her uncle and father  who worked at Rath Packing Company  and how drastically the hard labor affected them and ultimately her family.

This episode is very personal to me. It really featured both the story of Waterloo  the story of hardworking people in Waterloo who are not able to get ahead even though theyve worked really hard, she said.

The second part of the episode focused on Amazon workers in New York and Alabama and their struggles to unionize. It juxtaposed the idea of slaves picking cotton and Amazon workers picking up items to ship.

It noted a majority of the people doing Amazons grunt work are Black or Latino, and they are met with harsh conditions such as standing long hours and working at maximum speed while receiving few benefits.

Hannah-Jones said this is the brutal side of capitalism.

Our system of capitalism was built on the maximum exploitation of labor, which of course is the institution of chattel slavery, she said. So many of us work hard every day trying to get ahead, no matter what our race, and are unable to get ahead in this country because we were founded on a form of capitalism that would ensure that most of us will struggle in the United States.

She said in Waterloo, most people are struggling no matter their race. She said in the U.S. there are more white people than Black people uninsured or on welfare, but because we cannot get over racism those issues will continue.

If you make people believe that their enemies are not the elite who have all the power and the money, but other poor people who also happen to be of color, then youre able to divide workers who should have a similar material interest from each other, she said. What were really arguing in (The 1619 Project) is yes, the legacy of slavery hurts Black people the most, but it actually hurts all of us.

She encouraged people who may not agree with her to watch the series, or read the book of the same title, to form their own opinions.

I think theres something for everyone to learn from this, she said. You dont have to agree with every single idea or argument we made, but I think anyone who watches this will come away with a deeper understanding of our country. I just think this really is the story of America, that this path is shaping all of our lives, not just Black folks.

The six-part documentary is available on Hulu with a subscription.
The mayor of Florence has invited Hope Carrasquilla, the former principal of a Florida school embroiled in controversy over a sixth-grade lesson on Michelangelo's "David," to visit Italy after she was forced out of her job last week.

Writing to Twitter on Sunday, politician Dario Nardella said he would "personally invite" the American educator to Florence, where the statue is located, to "give her recognition on behalf of the city," adding that "art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect."

The move comes after Carrasquilla resigned from her position at Tallahassee Classical School following complaints over a lesson that featured Michelangelo's famous nude sculpture of the biblical figure David.

Although the former principal told a local media outlet that one parent had complained the lesson was "pornographic," the school insists she was reprimanded for failing to follow procedure  alongside other unspecified disagreements  and not because the 500-year-old statue itself was considered indecent.

In a recent interview, chair of the school's board Barney Bishop III told CNN that Carrasquilla was given a choice between resigning or being terminated from her position because she had neglected to inform parents about the lesson's content beforehand. "She was not let go because of Michelangelo's 'David' lesson," Bishop said, adding that the picture has been shown in previous years' art classes.

"We aren't trying to ban the picture," he said. "We think it's beautiful, but we are going to make sure the concept of parental rights is supreme in Florida and at our charter school."

Despite the school's protestations, its decision has prompted outcry from observers who believe Carrasquilla's removal was an act of censorship. In a tweet preceding his invitation to Florence, which is also Michelangelo's birthplace, Mayor Nardella stated that "mistaking art for pornography is just ridiculous."

The controversy comes in the wake of last year's Parental Rights in Education Act, backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which introduced stricter controls on what can be taught in public schools. Described by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" act, due to its restrictions on how teachers address sexuality and gender, the legislation also gives parents at Florida's public schools the right "to receive effective communication from the school principal as to the manner in which instructional materials are used to implement the school's curricular objectives."

Bishop said that Tallahassee Classical School's board agreed with DeSantis' approach, claiming that it "does not mean that parents are telling us what we are going to teach their children."

"We are going to make sure that parents specifically know what we are going to show their kids, what we are going to talk to their kids about and any keywords that might be a triggering event," he added. "This gives parents the opportunity to say, 'Wait a minute. My child isn't old enough to hear that,'" he added.

Both Bishop and the school's former principal said that parents had not been given prior notice about its Renaissance art lesson. Carrasquilla informed the same local media outlet that two parents complained about not being notified in advance, though she later told CNN that disputes between her and the school went beyond  and predated  last week's controversy.

12 hidden gem art galleries across the US 12 hidden gem art galleries across the US Dia Beacon Nasher Museum of Art Half Gallery Kiechel Fine Art Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art The Hammer Museum South Dakota Art Museum The Mistake Room LVL3 Stella Jones Gallery 21c Museum Hotels Ascaso Gallery
PANAMA CITY  Roughly 50,000 migrants crossed the treacherous Darien Gap linking Colombia and Panama in the first two months of 2023, five times more than in the same period last year, according to the Panama government.

For 2022 as a whole, a total of 250,000 migrants made the crossing, with big spikes in September and October, a trend that suggests the number is likely to increase even more later this year.

The increase was particularly noticeable among children and underage migrants. The Peoples Defense Office said 9,683 migrants younger than 18 crossed the jungle-clad Darien route in January and February. That was seven times as many minors as crossed in the same period last year. The office said 1,119 of the latest young migrants were not accompanied by adults.

The office and U.N. rights organizations said the Darien Gap crossing has now become an established route for migrants heading from South America to the U.S. border.

Year by year the number of migrants crossing through Panama grows, and the trend in the first months of 2023 suggest an unprecedented growth, said Alberto Brunori, the Central America regional representative of the U.N. human rights office.

The 250,000 migrants who crossed in 2022 was nearly double the 133,000 who crossed in 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The trip through the inhospitable jungle is fraught with dangers, including thieves, human traffickers and the possibility of sexual assault. Armed groups operate in the region.

The unprecedented numbers come as the United States government tries to make the journey less appealing.

The administration said Jan. 5 that it would admit up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela on a process called humanitarian parole if they applied online, entered at an airport and found a financial sponsor.

At the same time, Mexico agreed to take back the same amount from those countries who enter the U.S. illegally and are expelled under Title 42, which denies them rights to seek asylum, with the stated goal of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Cities with the largest immigrant populations Cities With the Largest Immigrant Populations The US foreign born population share was at a near historic high before the pandemic Mexican immigrants account for nearly 25 percent of the foreign born population More than a quarter of the California population is foreign born Small and midsize metros with the most immigrants 15. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA 14. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 13. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 12. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 11. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 10. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 9. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 7. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 6. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 4. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA 3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Waterloo residents should expect temperatures in the 40s. The forecast calls for it to be a brisk 49 degrees. A 26-degree low is forecasted. Expect periods of sun and clouds. The Waterloo area should see a light breeze, with forecast models showing only 7 mph wind conditions coming up from the North. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Visit wcfcourier.com for more weather updates.
Taiwan trade delegation says trip to mainland fruitful

Xinhua) 10:39, March 27, 2023

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- An economic and trade delegation of the General Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan wrapped up its visit to the Chinese mainland and left Beijing for Taiwan on Saturday, said the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

The delegation arrived in Beijing on Tuesday and visited relevant departments.

The departments had actively responded to the proposals of the delegation members, and the trip was fruitful, Hsu Shu Po, head of the General Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan, said before departure.

Hsu expressed his hope that more positive interactions would promote the early restoration of regular exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.

The delegation had in-depth communication with the relevant departments, including the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Customs, the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the Beijing municipal government.

They discussed issues concerning the resumption of the entry of certain agricultural and aquatic products from Taiwan, registration of Taiwan food enterprises on the mainland, and measures to facilitate financing for Taiwan-funded enterprises on the mainland.

Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said Taiwan compatriots are welcome to visit the mainland for exchanges and cooperation.

Song said the mainland would continue to improve institutions and policies to enhance the well-being of Taiwan compatriots.

He called on the business community on the island to adhere to the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus and resolutely oppose external interference and separatist activities seeking "Taiwan independence."

He expressed the hope that the business community will inspire more Taiwan compatriots to participate in the country's modernization drive and make new contributions to advancing the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and the peaceful reunification of the motherland.

Hsu said the General Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan would continue to endorse the 1992 Consensus and encourage its members to actively engage in cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation in various fields to contribute to the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Britain's Prince Harry, center right, arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. Prince Harry was in a London court on Monday as the lawyer for a group of British tabloids prepared to ask a judge to toss out lawsuits by the prince, Elton John and several other celebrities who allege phone tapping and other invasions of privacy. (Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/PA via AP)
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Despite a glut of fantastic restaurants opening in the Bay Area and Wine Country last year, the list of semi-finalists for the prestigious James Beard Award for best new restaurant included just one from Northern California: Birch & Rye.

No one who follows the Bay Area food scene was surprised that the modern Russian restaurant in Noe Valley got the nod. Birch & Ryes star has been rising quickly since its doors opened last February. It is so far the only Russian restaurant to have earned Michelin recognition in the United States, and chef-owner Anya El-Wattar was named Eater SFs 2022 chef of the year.

El-Wattars elegant, contemporary menu thoughtfully teases apart and reshapes the elements of Russian cooking, but she does not consider it a love letter to her homeland. Birch & Rye is a love letter to America.

We are imagining what Russian food might look like through a California lens, the chef explains, if historical factors like scarcity, shortages, and strict governmental regulation hadnt prevented chefs from accessing the wild-caught seafood, craft cheeses, and seasonal and local produce that might have allowed the region to develop a farm-to-table movement similar to our own.

Indeed, Birch & Ryes menu is braided with local delights, from chanterelles to sea urchin. El-Wattar herself went out that morning to forage the pops of leafy green and blooming nasturtium that appeared on some of the dishes when I visited (just dont ask her to reveal exactly where she goes).

Rye donuts with caramel and caviar. (Sarah Felker)

Some things, though, are better straight from the source. To make the most authentic smetana, a kind of cultured creme fraiche, for example, they import kefir from Russia and combine it with locally produced cream. El-Wattar has just gotten her hands on some historical Russian cookbooksincluding the 1930s-era government-standardized recipe for rye breadthat shes excited to interpret through her modern lens.

And then theres the caviar, those briney pearls of salty goodness harvested from Siberian sturgeon and osetra from the Caspian and Black seas. Its there that my long-awaited meal at Birch & Rye begins, with delicate clusters of roe topping pillowy einkorn blinis dotted with smetana. Its also, ultimately, where my meal ends, with a fantastically subversive rye donut with caramel and a dollop of caviarpossibly the most unexpectedly delicious dessert Ive ever had.

Equally subversive is El-Wattars five-course vegan tasting menu, which shatters the expectation that Russian cuisine must revolve around fish, caviar, and dairy. With a background in vegan cooking (she formally trained at the Natural Gourmet Institute), the chef creates a dignified plant-based menu with caviar in beet and black walnut form, and smetana made from pine nuts.

Black cod with beet root, asparagus, and pine milk foam. (Sarah Felker)

El-Wattar loves to create architectural shapes with her dishes and its evident in each of the courses delivered to the table. The squid-ink pelmeni, dumplings filled with crab and ricotta and drizzled with tangy sea buckthorn foam, has a lacy, sculptural, squid ink-infused crown; the black cod with beet, asparagus, and pine milk is punctuated by the delicate butterfly wing of a nearly translucent beet chip.

Where there is Russian foodeven delicately deconstructed and redesigned Russian foodthere is vodka. At Birch & Rye, they infuse the spirit 10 different ways, with mostly traditional flavors like linden flowers, pickled beets, and orange-pine-apricot, then serve them solo, as flights, or in cocktails like the black current martini. The sharp horseradish-infused vodka is so uniquely tasty that I vow to attempt my own at home.

While some chefs might feel more pressure to perform following a James Beard nomination, to El-Wattar the acknowledgement is an inspiration not a burden, not just for Birch & Rye but for Russian food culture as a whole.

Seeing Birch & Rye on the semifinalist list inspires us to work even harder to achieve our goal to showcase excellence on every levelfood, experience, and warm, loving hospitality, she says. Were not just reimagining the flavors of my native land, were hoping to break stereotypes of how Russian food and people are perceived.

// Birch & Rye is open for dining Tuesday through Saturday from 5pm to 9pm; 1320 Castro St. (Noe Valley), birchandryesf.co.
FitReserve, the multi-studio fitness membership, has finally landed in San Francisco.

The studio network makes it easy to mix and match in-person, live-stream, and on-demand workouts with classes ranging from yoga and pilates to HIIT and boot camp.

Tons of independent studios in SF have joined the club, including Barrys, Mighty Pilates, Love Story Yoga, Ritual Hot Yoga, WheelHouse, Transform, and Rae Studios. Since FitReserve is now available in Seattle, San Diego, Denver, and a dozen other cities, you can even attend classes when youre traveling for work or play.

If you dont have time to travel to an in-person class, you can squeeze in a quick workout using the app. The FitReserve membership comes with access to an unlimited selection of pre-recorded workouts from top brands such as Aaptiv, Sweat Factor, Forte, and more, that can be taken at anytime, anywhere, for you to spring-clean your fitness routine.

(Courtesy of FitReserve)

Undeniably, the pandemic has forever changed the where, when, and how of working out, revealing an unprecedented demand for making your workout routine more flexible, convenient, and affordable, says FitReserve founder Megan Smyth.

But with FitReserve, you can do more than just mix and match the style and location of your workout. Youll also get access to peak class times, discounts on your favorite fitness brands, and unlimited access to a library of hundreds of on-demand workouts. Since there are multiple membership plans at different prices, theres something for just about everyone, from the fitness curious to hardcore gym rats.

Kick up your workouts and get ready for warmer weather (and finally an end to the rain!) with a one-week free trial. Well see you at the studio!

// Get a one-week free trial at fitreserve.com/trial. The offer expires at midnight on March 31.
From our riverside campsite in Patagonia, I peered at the grand Paine Massif, a snow-topped mountain range that looked as if powdered sugar had been dusted across it from the heavens.

The jagged peaks were both rugged and majestic. Bundled in multiple layerswool, fleece, down, windbreakerthe bitter wind stung my cheeks as I pondered how the next days would unfold. I was gearing up to trek across pampas and up mountains in the challenging but inspiring terrain of Chiles Torres del Paine National Park.

Chile Nativo's Serrano River campsite. (Sharael Kolberg)

Our trusty Chile Nativo guides, Tim and Mayi, knew the terrain well and would set the pace for our daily outings and educate us about flora, fauna, history, and Chilean culture along the way. They would make sure we had the proper attire and equipment based on each days itinerary and weather, and ensure we had enough food and water to keep us nourished for the physical feats.

Our home base was an eerily silent, secluded camp along the Serrano River. Id never witnessed swift water not making a sound. We each had our own lotus tentcanvas on the outside with a quilted lining on the inside, perched on a wooden platformand shared public restrooms with showers that were lukewarm if you were lucky. There was no electricity and no heat in the tents, just a blowup mattress, down comforter, some heated water bottles, and lots of layers to keep the literally freezing temperatures from creeping in. But the camp also featured a modern lodge where we warmed ourselves around a wood-burning stove, peered out the large windows at views of the stunning landscape, ate delish gourmet meals featuring Chilean comfort foods, met for apres hike Chilean wine and pisco sours, and attended daily briefings to prepare us for each day's journey.

Known for its harsh weather, Patagonia is hard to get to and widely unexplored. Those conditions make it daunting yet alluring, provide an environment for unique and interesting wildlife, and make it that much more special for the more than 300,000 tourists a year who come in search of untouched beauty at Torres del Paine National Park. The Chilean National Forest Service expects the number of visitors to the park to increase by more than 10% each year. Luckily, organizations such as Sustainable Travel International are heading up efforts to address the long-term health of the park and its surrounding community to combat the increase in tourism.

A condor soars by hikers in Torres del Paine National Park. (Jorge Vidal Melian)

You dont have to climb a peak or camp in the snow to do Patagonia. A day-long stroll along a river or through a burnt forest will expose you to a variety of colorful birds with melodic songs, massive condors soaring right over your head, various species of lichen and moss in 50 shades of green, adorable off-white and camel-colored guanacos grazing in the pampas, and bright blue icebergs slowly melting into the deep blue lake. It is a wonderland not to be missed.

My trip was more intense. Our daily activities consisted of hiking approximately six to seven hours a day with mileage ranging from two to 14 miles and elevation gains from 500 to 2,000 feet. We took it slow, stopped for brown bag lunches, and made sure we were present in the moment rather than worrying about getting to the end.

There are many pluses to hiking in Torres del Paine. First, it's at sea level which, being from coastal California, I was grateful for. It was a welcome relief to not have to worry about trying to catch my breath. Second, you can drink the water straight from the source. Many of the rivers and streams are fresh glacier water and do not contain the harmful bacteria that will make you sick. Lastly, I did not come across anything that was deadlyno bears, deadly spiders, snakesand the pumas could care less about humans since they are not threatened by us.

The two most traveled (and very challenging) trekking circuits, the W and the O, take multiple days to finish. For day hikers, one of the most popular routes is to the base of the iconic Towers, three enormous granite spires on the Base Torres Trail. It is a long, arduous hike that is posted all over social media as the thing to do in the park. Our group had planned on tackling it but the trail got washed out by a rainstorm. Disappointed, we opted for an area of the park less traveled, one that could only be accessed with a guide. Tim led us to the top of Mirador Ferrier, a strenuous two mile hike straight up the mountain.

For the trek to the peak, we waded through ankle-deep mud, hiked up a path that had basically turned into a waterfall, crossed an area of snow that was knee deep if you werent careful where you walked, and heaved ourselves up steep manmade wooden plank steps. We arrived at a lookout that gave us a bird's eye view of several lakes and the impressive Paine Grande mountain. It was glorious and well earned. We all high-fived at the top and took a group photo of our accomplishment. At that moment, I dont think any of us regretted not doing the Towers trek. We learned that going off the beaten path can be just as goodoften betterthan visiting the sites that everyone else visits.

A puma roaming through the pampas at Torres del Paine National Park. (Jorge Vidal Melian)

"Can you hear it?" Tim said to the group while he stood still, his eyes scanning the Patagonia pampas that stretched out before us as far as we could see. We all paused to listen for a sound we'd never heard before. "You'll know it when you hear it," he said. "It's a high-pitched call that the guanacos make to warn each other that a puma is nearby."

"Can you demonstrate it for us?" someone joked, hoping to cajole Tim into making a mockery of himself.

Tim shook his head. "Nice try," he said. We all laughed.

We hiked in silence along a dirt path that traversed through the grasslands near Laguna Amarga hoping to spot the elusive creatures that call this area home. Tim worked with Jorge, a skilled puma tracker (a leonero), to find where the pumas might be lurking. With an exceptionally high density of the big cats in Torres del Paine (an estimated 100), it is the most sought-after destination on Earth for watching and photographing their grace.

The landscape was breathtakingtall yellow grass danced in the wind, pristine lakes were a dark turquoise blue, snow-covered mountain peaks touched the clouds. I watched in wonder as five different pumas stalked their prey, wandered the pampas, napped in the tall grass, and even snuggled with their cubs. It's something I will never forget.

Patagonia's rugged terrain, unpredictable weather, and intimidating wildlife can be about pushing yourself, about balancing risk versus reward, about finding out what youre truly capable of and how much you can endure. But the true essence of Patagonia is not what you accomplish and the photos that you take but how it makes you feel. You take home the memories of the people you met that become lifelong friends, a sense of wonder and awe, and a willingness to forgo the paths most trekked, wherever you travel.
It was 8:30 a.m. and I was delivering a load of clothing and school supplies to Respettrans, a migrant shelter in Juarez, Mexico, when I tripped and crashed onto the rough pavement. The four young migrants helping me were stunned and helped me into the building, where two nurses from the states of Guerrero and Michoacan insisted on washing and bandaging these scrapes. I was more embarrassed than hurt, but this incident crystallized what I have experienced in four years of meeting with hundreds of migrants in Juarez and Palomas, Mexico, El Paso and Deming.

These are overwhelmingly good people who have made grueling and dangerous trips to our border to escape unbearable situations of violence, corruption, poverty and now climate change in their countries. They deserve humane treatment and a fair resolution to their issues.

What are the issues and what could be done?

I see five categories of migrants:

1. Guest workers. Our farmers and construction companies need workers, but the numbers allowed to come on seasonal permits are way too low. As a result, many come illegally and then stay here because it is too difficult to go back and forth. Increasing the number of permits would allow them to return home after a season of work, would reduce the number who are here illegally and would help U.S. employers who need workers.

2. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). These are kids who were brought here by their parents when very young. For the most part, they have absolutely no ties to the countries they came from, and to send them back would be shameful.

3. Migrants here illegally. Most came legally, overstayed their visas, have been here for years, pay taxes, own homes and are an asset to our country. Why not treat them as we treat other Americans who disobey the law? Assess a penalty, and then let them get on with their lives.

4. Those arriving illegally. Ive had the opportunity to be with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents as they patrolled the mountainous area west of El Paso and Juarez and have seen how efficiently yet humanely they detain those attempting to cross illegally. This human wall is much more effective than the steel one where coyotes can cross in seconds using lightweight but sturdy ladders. The question is one of having enough personnel.

5. Asylum seekers. This is a two-fold issue. The lack of focus on the growing number of migrants awaiting final judicial asylum hearings has created a backlog of well over a million cases. This is a question of adequate judicial personnel.

More immediate is the plight of the thousands who are stuck at the border. I am impressed with the efficiency of the CBPs screening process, but the process has become increasingly complicated with obtuse and politically motivated rules.

The immediate need is to support shelters like Respettrans as well as Colores United in Deming, a goal for what could be a joint Mexico-USA Border Task Force. New Mexicos governor and congressional delegation need to get involved.
An Albuquerque man was arrested for allegedly carrying a loaded AR-15 style rifle into a movie theater late Friday night while he was intoxicated.

Darnell Hill, 24, was charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm into a licensed liquor establishment and negligent use of a deadly weapon in connection with the incident, which led theater employees to frantically run for the exits or hide, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office deputies were called to the Flix Brewhouse, a movie theater west of Coors in northwest Albuquerque, around 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Employees had wrestled a rifle from Hill, who carried the weapon into the theater and ran into the kitchen. Employees ran out the doors or tried to hide during the encounter, according to the complaint.

Investigators obtained surveillance footage that showed employees confronting Hill and ultimately wrestling the rifle from him. The employees removed Hill from the theater and held him until deputies arrived, according to the complaint.

Police said Hill never pointed a weapon at any of the employees, according to the complaint.

The movie theater has several posted signs that state no weapons are allowed, according to the complaint. And the business also sells alcohol, according to the sheriffs office. Its against the law in New Mexico to carry a firearm into liquor establishments where drinks are consumed on site.

Deputies wrote in the complaint that Hill was apparently intoxicated.

I observed Darnells eyes to be glossed over, he was sweaty and rambling, the deputy wrote in the complaint. The employees advised me Darnell had been rapping and making nonsensical statements to them prior to taking the gun away from him.

The gun was loaded with 24 .223 caliber rounds, according to the complaint.

Hills girlfriend, who was at the theater as well, said the couple had brought the girlfriends child to the movies and at one point Hill left to use yay and drank, which the deputy wrote meant cocaine and alcohol, according to the complaint.

Flix CEO Chance Robertson said the theater hires security, who also responded to the incident. Robertson said the company will arrange for professional counseling for its employees.

No members of the public were involved in the encounter. Robertson said theater staff dont believe Hill had entered the theater prior to coming in with a gun.

We are incredibly proud of the team members who came face to face with a very dangerous situation on Friday night. We train our team on the potential of violence in the workplace but as we all know, nothing can adequately prepare you for what they faced and were hopeful no one on our team ever has to do that again, Robertson said in a statement. Their ability to stay calm under incredible pressure is beyond admirable and we cannot say enough about how brave they were.
An FBI raid of two Albuquerque area homes on Thursday led to the discovery of around 100,000 fentanyl pills, 16 pounds of methamphetamine, $12,000 in cash, three semi-automatic rifles, eight handguns and a gold-plated money counter.

Jerry J. Bezie, 34, is charged with possession of a firearm and three counts of drug trafficking and Julian A. Leyba, 37, is charged with receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm.

Both men were arrested Thursday and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. Prosecutors filed a pretrial detention motion for Bezie, who has a history of drug trafficking charges.

(Bezie) was found to be in possession of an incredible amount of drugs, according to the motion. It is clear that the law against trafficking means nothing to (Bezie).

Agents said Bezie and Leyba were fentanyl dealers and TCK gang members who have been found guilty of charges including drug trafficking, drug possession and other charges, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.

Agents said an informant reportedly told the FBI in November that Leyba was selling large quantities of fentanyl pills, meth and guns to motel tenants near Coors and Iliff.

Then, in December, another informant told agents Bezie and Leyba sold a significant amount of fentanyl each week in Albuquerque, according to the federal affidavit. Agents found photos on Bezies social media of him wearing expensive jewelry  like a diamond-encrusted state of New Mexico pendant  and going on trips out of state, smiling and bejeweled in the stands at a San Francisco 49ers game.

Agents said a third informant, who has been paid $17,000 by authorities for assistance, told them Bezie was selling fentanyl to other Albuquerque dealers for them to sell along Central this month.

The informant reportedly told agents that dealers would go to Bezies house to pick up the pills.

On Thursday authorities made their move around 6 a.m.

With the help of State Police, federal agents conducted a raid at Bezies home at 1812 Del Norte SE on Thursday, according to a criminal complaint filed in District Court.

Agents found a large amount of meth, fentanyl pills, $12,000 in cash, several guns and ammunition, according to a search warrant return filed in U.S. District Court. Agents also found a gold-plated money counter, two bulletproof vests and a Hummer H2 among other off-road vehicles.

Next, agents said they raided Leybas home at 324 General Chennault NE around 7 a.m. and found several more guns, ammunition, two bulletproof vests and one grenade fragment vest.
U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., and two other Democratic representatives wrote to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, calling for stricter regulations after a hazardous train derailment spilled toxic chemicals near the Ohio-Pennyslvania border.

The members of Congress said accidents and incidents by three major railroad companies have significantly increased in recent years.

To prevent the increase in train accidents and incidents per mile that has happened over the last several years, the Department must take bold steps, including regulating the rail industrys use of wayside defect detectors to ensure they function as intended, the representatives wrote.

Democratic congressmen Jesus Chuy Garcia of Illinois and Hank Johnson of Georgia and Stansbury led the effort and 13 other Democrats also signed it. No Republicans were part of the letter.

With increasingly dangerous derailments across the United States, the safety of our rail workers and communities should be the number one priority, Stansbury said in statement. Rail workers in New Mexico and across the country have been sounding the alarm on the unsafe practices of rail corporations for years. It is time we listen and act.

Some of the requests were for the Department of Transportation to increase different types of detectors and require timely inspections, among other regulations.

Rail companies are far too powerful and their regulation is far too weak, Garcia said. Our largest railroads are becoming less and less safe, and the derailment in East Palestine is a tragic reminder of this fact.

A TOP POST: Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., was elected as a vice chair of the Democratic Womens Caucus.

The current Congress has a record 94 Democratic women, all of whom are part of the caucus.

In just the first days of the 118th Congress, weve seen continued attacks on women and their reproductive rights, but the Democratic Womens Caucus is here to make clear: not on our watch, Fernandez said in a statement. In every room, at every hearing, in every debate  both in the halls of Congress and across the country  we will fight for access to abortion, equal pay for equal work, and critical investments in caregiving and health care.

The caucus is broken down into subgroups that advocate for diversity and inclusion, pro-choice and progressive policies.

With our diverse new leadership team and historic new membership, the Democratic Womens Caucus is a powerful coalition that will make sure womens voices are heard in the halls of power, said Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Florida.

CANCER SCREENINGS: Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., teamed up with a bipartisan group of senators to introduce a bill they say will increase screenings for colon cancer  a type of cancer that is increasing among younger adults.

The Colorectal Cancer Detection Act would authorize reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for any type of Food and Drug Administration-approved blood-based screening tests, which can be done before a more invasive colonoscopy.

Colon cancer cases have been increasing among younger people The proportion of cases among those younger than 55 years increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019, according to the American Cancer Society.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common diseases in New Mexico, but is actually preventable and treatable when found early, Heinrich said in a statement. Increasing colorectal cancer screening rates helps with early detection tools and can save lives.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, said colon cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths.

This legislation would increase screening options for Medicare beneficiaries, helping to improve detection among an otherwise unscreened population, he said.

Ryan Boetel: rboetel@abqjournal.com
If youre nostalgic for New Mexico winters with lower temperatures and lots of mountain snow leading to abundant spring runoff, then heres some good news.

The La Nina weather pattern that has dominated during the last three winters has departed and it looks like were heading into an El Nino weather pattern, which typically brings colder and wetter weather during New Mexico winters, said Joe Diaz, KOAT-TVs chief meteorologist.

It depends on where the heating is in the Pacific and where the tropical thunderstorms bubble up that impact the direct storm track as it pushes on into the southern U.S., Diaz said. But every El Nino is different and generally speaking they favor southern New Mexico and then work up to the north. El Nino is not as big a player as you get to northern New Mexico on into southern Colorado.

During a La Nina weather pattern, winter is usually good in the mountains of Southern Colorado with the snowpack, and its decent in the northern part of New Mexico, Diaz said. But when you get to southern New Mexico, La Ninas really wreak havoc on the mountain snowpack.

For Albuquerque, the switch to El Nino also means more opportunities for winter moisture, be it rain or snow, Diaz said.

The oceanic and atmospheric mechanics of La Nina and El Nino weather patterns can be a bit confusing.

Michael Anand, a meteorologist with the Albuquerque office of the National Weather Service, explained that a La Nina occurs when the equatorial surface water off the coast of South America, which is generally pretty cold, is even colder than normal. That increases the trade winds circulation, which causes most of the equatorial convection, or thunderstorm activity, to occur in the tropics around Indonesia, Southeast Asia and East Asia.

In the United States, La Nina causes the jet stream, the ribbon of fast-moving air in the upper atmosphere, to move farther north in latitude, resulting in storms tracking farther north and leaving the southern portion of the U.S., including much of New Mexico, to experience drier and warmer winters, Anand said.

An El Nino weather pattern is basically the opposite of the La Nina pattern, he said. Equatorial surface water along the coast of South America warms up rapidly, generally increasing 1-3 degrees above average, which doesnt sound like much, but makes a big difference. That warming occurs when the trade winds weaken, allowing warmer waters from the Western Pacific to move toward the Eastern Pacific. That in turn causes the high altitude jet stream above the United States to shift farther south in latitude, bringing with it more winter storm activity to the southern portions of the country.

It wasnt until earlier this month that the National Weather Services Climate Prediction Center formally announced that the La Nina pattern had ended, but there were signs as early as January that it was releasing its grip, Anand said.

So it was basically over earlier this year, and thats the reason why weve had this more recent active storm track over the western U.S., he said.

Generally speaking, the two weather patterns express themselves as winter phenomena, and have little effect on weather at other times of the year, he said.

Even though La Nina has departed, the reappearance of El Nino is not a given. Weve transitioned from a La Nina pattern to a neutral pattern, but were projecting to transition to an El Nino later this year, sometime in the fall or winter months, Anand said.
A Hobbs police officer shot and injured a 17-year-old who had accelerated toward an officer in a stolen vehicle prior to the shooting, according to New Mexico State Police.

Wilson Silver, a spokesman for the agency, said in a news release that Hobbs police at around 1:45 p.m. on Saturday were called to a fight involving several people. Police said that a person, later identified as Christopher Rojas, fled the scene in a stolen Dodge Charger.

When a Hobbs officer tried to stop Rojas, the teenager drove toward the officer and crashed into a park vehicle, Wilson said.

He said that when the officer moved out of his car, Rojas again accelerated toward the officer, who shot at least one round into the vehicle, striking Rojas.

While he was being taken into custody, Rojas ran from police in handcuffs and a Hobbs police officer was injured and suffered minor injuries.

Rojas was taken to a hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries before being booked into the Lea County Detention Center on charges from a previous incident, according to NMSP. Those charges include shooting at or from a motor vehicle, unlawful carrying of a handgun by a person under 19 years old and resisting or evading police.

Wilson said Rojas will face additional charges stemming from Saturdays incident.

NMSP didnt identify the Hobbs officer who shot Rojas.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted to avoid civil war by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.

In his prime-time address, Netanyahu, who had previously rejected calls to delay the legislation, took a more conciliatory tone than in recent speeches. He acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said he was hitting the pause button to prevent a rift in the nation.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, he said. He vowed to reach a broad consensus during the summer session of parliament, which begins on April 30.

He spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the countrys largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan.

Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies presented the overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israels history.

The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy. Fighter pilots and military reservists have threatened not to report for duty, and the countrys currency, the shekel, has tumbled in value.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nations judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the courts ability to review laws.

Netanyahu has argued that the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges. But his opponents say the package would damage the countrys system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahus allies. They also say that he has a conflict of interest as a criminal defendant.

Tens of thousands of people, largely secular, middle-class Israelis, have regularly joined mass protests against the plan.

Those demonstrations ramped up Sunday night after Netanyahu abruptly fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had urged the prime minister to put his plan on hold, citing concerns about damage to the Israeli military.

The firing sparked a spontaneous outburst of anger, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in just one hour.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Demonstrators continued Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. Im here for the fight to the end.

Israels main trade union, the histadrut, declared a general strike in what it said was the first time it has carried out such an action over a political issue.

The chaos shut down much of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. Departing flights from the main international airport were grounded, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.

Large mall chains and universities closed their doors, and the union called for its 800,000 members to stop work in health care, transit, banking and other fields.

Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions, and local governments were expected to close preschools and cut other services. The main doctors union announced that its members would also strike.

In a sign of easing tensions, the union said late Monday that it was halting the strike in response to Netanyahus delay.

The announcement appeared to buy the embattled Netanyahu several weeks of quiet. But it was far from clear whether the disputes could be resolved.

The countrys figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, said pausing the legislative blitz was the right thing.

This is the time for frank, serious and responsible discussion that will lead urgently to calming spirits and lowering the flames, he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he was willing to hold a genuine dialogue under Herzogs sponsorship.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist who has pushed for quick passage of the package, said he would respect the delay but showed few signs of compromise.

The reform will pass, he tweeted. No one will scare us.

The first of a series of laws  giving the coalition control over judicial appointments  had been scheduled to pass this week.

Before Netanyahus speech, some 20,000 right-wing Israelis attended a counter demonstration in support of the prime minister. That demonstration also took place near parliament and passed without violence.

They wont steal the election from us, read a flyer for event, organized by Religious Zionist party. Netanyahu said he was moved by the show of support.

Shikma Bressler, one of the leaders of the anti-government protest movement, said the campaign would continue until the legislation is canceled.

This is just an attempt to weaken the protests in order to enact Netanyahus dictatorship, she said. Now is not the time to reduce the pressure, but to increase it.

Dozens of protesters from rival sides faced off late Monday in central Tel Aviv. The sides, kept apart by police, exchanged insults, but there was no violence. Police used a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters.

Israels Palestinian citizens have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The Biden administration, which has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government, welcomed the announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

___

Associated Press reporters Tia Goldenberg and Paz Bar in Tel Aviv and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Fighter jets roared off the USS Nimitz as the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies expanding drills.

The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the Norths weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats.

The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive at the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

The United States has deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day, said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group Eleven. We can continue to deploy those assets and we will.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the Norths capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japans military said the missiles, which landed outside Japans exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Koreas illicit nuclear weapons and missiles programs.

North Korea, which has weathered tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2016 over its nuclear developments, didnt immediately comment on the launches.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and live-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against the Norths rising threats.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

The weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The countrys leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical whether such a device was a major new threat and Seouls Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Monday that it considers the North Korean claims likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets, communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signaling that its practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the Norths announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Koreas air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seouls three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the Norths leadership and key military facilities.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
This years 60-day legislative session saw several bills related to health care, taxes, education, crime and gun safety pass.

Some didnt, such as the bill that would have created a state-run paid family leave program.

The Journal reached out to three chamber leaders  New Mexico Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Black, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ernie CdeBaca and Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Terri Cole  to get their thoughts on this years legislative session.

The following responses have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Journal: What were some wins and losses for businesses in New Mexico during this years legislative session?

CdeBaca: The Hispano Chamber was mainly focused on anti-crime initiatives and bills that pertain to small businesses. We believe that our crimestatsnm.org platform helped in our advocacy for the passage of House Bill 234, Robbery and Organized Retail Crime, led by Rep. Marian Matthews and other anti-crime related bills. We lobbied for the defeat of paid family medical leave and advocated that such an initiative in the future be considered together with initiatives that incentivize our small business owners, not burden them with costly mandates.

Though there were only a handful of bills passed that will have a positive impact on the business sector in New Mexico, the Legislature passed a historic $9.57 billion spending package that includes: 1) increases in (Local Economic Development Act) and (Job Training Incentive Program) funding; 2) an increase of $15 million in tourism advertising funding; 3) a $230 million allocation for road/highway construction; 3) a $55 million appropriation for regional airport upgrades; 4) $124 million for broadband expansion; 5) $1.2 million for a data integration assessment and a data management plan to promote broad but responsible sharing of data; and, 6) many other funding increases for critical departments as well as individual appropriations for small local projects.

In total, there were no significant bills passed that would have negatively impacted health care, technology, energy (oil and gas, renewables, utilities), retail or hospitality interests in New Mexico.

In fact, most of the significant bills that would have had wide-ranging impacts, like paid family medical leave, a rewrite of the Unfair Trade Practices Act, an age-appropriate internet design bill, minimum wage increases, nurse staffing, local/community choice energy, a climate/carbon reduction initiative, an environmental protection focused rewrite of the Oil and Gas Act, private right of action and the green amendment did not pass.

Cole: It was a very difficult session, but overall and despite an increasing lack of appreciation for the contributions of small businesses to our communities, we accomplished a considerable share of the Chambers agenda.

Lawmakers exceeded spending targets, which is concerning. However, they made some smart fiscal moves, transferring $450 million to the permanent fund and financing the $1.2 billion capital projects bill without any debt, both centerpieces of the Chambers fiscal recommendations.

The tax package provides $140 million in personal income tax relief and cuts the (gross receipts tax) rate each of the next four years. We proposed broader reform and more relief, but these were positive steps nonetheless. Choosing not to address tax pyramiding on small businesses was a missed opportunity. The capital gains deduction shouldnt have been changed. Were stunned how much time was spent pushing higher (personal income tax) rates; fortunately, they were stopped.

No new general mandates on businesses were passed and defeating the paid family/medical leave tax and mandate  pushed without any meaningful engagement with the business community  was an against-all-odds victory on something that would have devastated our states small employers.

Sadly, crime was the forgotten topic  no action on closing the revolving door, fentanyl trafficking, DWI, or violent crime. A signature victory was the bill cracking down on organized retail theft  long overdue and important.

On education, several of the Chambers recommendations to improve school leadership (higher principal pay, training residencies, professional development) were passed. Thankfully, the Legislature soundly rejected a charter school moratorium and didnt choose to replace the (Public Education Department) secretary with a mostly elected state school board.

Black: Overall the legislative session was a good session for business and our economy. The New Mexico Chamber of Commerce believes the following were key wins for the state:

 House Bill 234  championed by Rep. Marianne Matthews, Speaker Javier Martinez and Sen. Moe Maestas  closed legal loopholes in current law and created the crime of organized retail crime to combat the growing and costly issue. This is a win for our business climate and for public safety.

 House Bill 160 allows the Department of Transportation to provide access to and waive fees on right of ways, including our public roads, to help with broadband infrastructure build out in rural and frontier New Mexico that is usually cost-prohibitive.

 House Bill 481 allows school districts to gain access to funding specifically for instructional materials that are aligned with the Science of Reading, building off the current teacher reading training in the early grades.

 We supported House Bill 118, which would create an office in the Economic Development Department to support entrepreneurs.

 Senate Bill 382 will provide a $25 million investment into the bioscience development fund and allows for partnerships with private investment organizations.

 Senate Bill 11, Paid Family Medical Leave, House Bill 25 and House Bill 28, minimum wage increases, HJR4 and SJR6, green amendment, and Senate Bill 520, were all bills we opposed as bad for New Mexicos ability to grow and diversify our economy  and were glad to see them defeated.

 We are concerned that House Bill 547, (which is a) tax package, creates an ongoing $1 billion liability for state government without really making the structural reforms needed to grow our economy in a way that makes New Mexico less dependent on oil and gas revenues.
A university on the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. launched its accredited doctoral program, becoming the first among more than 30 accredited tribal colleges and universities across the country to offer such a high level degree.

The program at Navajo Technical University will be dedicated to sustaining Dine culture and language. Dine is the Navajo word meaning the people and is commonly what tribal members call themselves.

A celebration is planned on the Crownpoint campus in western New Mexico in April, and the school already started accepting applications for the fall semester.

The offering marks a milestone for the university, which already has more than 30 degree and certificate programs spanning science, technology, engineering, business and liberal arts, Navajo Tech President Elmer Guy said.

Guy told The Associated Press on Friday that he believes the program in which students will receive a Ph.D. in Dine Culture and Language Sustainability will have a profound impact on the future of the tribes language and culture. He said hes excited to see how students shape their dissertations.

The idea was to create a program that would lead to employment opportunities and effect change for Navajo communities on the reservation that stretches into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

I thought it would be important to make that connection, Guy said, explaining that its a step beyond the call by tribal leaders for their people to learn the language and stay engaged with their culture. Individuals will get a degree and theyll be professionals. You have to make it applicable. By making it more meaningful, people will have an interest in it.

The effort is paying off. About 20 students have applied so far and will be vying for five coveted spots in the inaugural class, said Wafa Hozien, an administrator who helped with the programs creation.

A collaboration with other academic institutions and community partners, the doctoral program was developed with the help of tribal elders, university professors and linguistic experts. Community-based research and internships will be part of the curriculum so students gain practical experience they can apply in the real world.

Guy said hes hopeful this inspires other tribal colleges and universities to create their own programs.

Hozien said Navajo Techs program represents a paradigm shift in that learning through a Dine lens  with culture and language  creates leaders who can advocate for their people in the judicial system, education, land management, business, technology and health care, for example.

Guy said the work done by the university to train court reporters to document Navajo testimony and translators to help with reading ballots during election season already has addressed some of the pressing needs within communities.

The possibilities will be even greater as students earn doctoral degrees, he said.

They will be part of solving problems, Guy said. These students have energy and creativity, and our job is to give them the tools.

___

Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
SANTA FE  David Abbey  one of the most influential people in state government  announced plans to retire Monday as director of the Legislative Finance Committee, where he has led a staff of analysts who help shape the state budget and hold public agencies accountable.

He is the longest-serving director of the LFC, serving under Republican and Democratic lawmakers since 1997. His last day will be this summer.

Without question, David Abbey was the most valuable state employee to the New Mexico Legislature that weve ever had, said Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, a Gallup Democrat who served as LFC chairwoman periodically in recent years.

Abbey, 70, is known as a prolific reader whose knowledge of state government often made him an annoyance to Democratic and Republican governors alike. But they also turned to his staff as a source of talent when they needed to fill high-level positions in the executive branch.

Abbey, for his part, said its a time to retire  after 40 years at the Capitol and the conclusion of a legislative session. Work on the next budget proposal is about to pick up over the summer months.

I was lucky to have this career, Abbey said in an interview. I couldnt have designed a job I felt fit my interests and skills better.

Abbey has an economics degree from Brown University. But he also dropped out of college once and caught a freighter to South Africa, where he worked in Kruger National Park and later drove a forklift on the docks of Durban, a coastal city.

At the Roundhouse, Abbey has impressed lawmakers with his work ethic and understanding of New Mexicos complex network of special funds and taxes.

Hes kind of an amazing guy with that mind of his, Republican Sen. Steven Neville of Aztec said.

As director of LFC, Abbey oversees a team of economists, analysts and policy experts who help put the state budget proposal together line by line. They also are a critical source of technical support for tax and finance legislation.

The staff members  some of whom hold doctorates  help the LFC serve as a watchdog agency of sorts. Their reports have spotlighted waste in government operations, tracked the long-term outcomes of state programs and shared academic research with lawmakers.

Former state Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat who often served as chairman of the LFC, said Abbey deserves credit for continually building a talented group of analysts.

I just cant say enough good things about David, Smith said. Every governor I knew would get mad at LFC and David Abbey, and every governor, when elected, would try to hire away his staff.

Smith said Abbey also played an essential role in helping legislators see beyond their parochial interests.

When David looked at policy, Smith said, it had to be good for the entire state, in his mind. In the Legislature, you often have people thinking, Whats good for my district? David was uniformly for what was best for the state of New Mexico.

House Speaker Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, said Abbey helped steer legislators through enormous challenges and unprecedented opportunities  from the national financial crisis of 2008 to todays record revenues.

Lawmakers who serve on the Legislative Finance Committee will choose the next director. The next meeting is in May.

Abbey makes about $190,000 a year.

In a 2008 profile, he told the Journal that hed always been interested in public affairs. His father worked as a contractor for the U.S. State Department.

Abbey traveled throughout the West during summers in college and eventually took a job with Los Alamos National Laboratory, before moving into state government.

Abbey said Monday that he is particularly proud of his work on New Mexicos expansion to full-day kindergarten, extended learning time in public schools and home visiting programs for new families.

I was lucky to have the opportunity to serve the Legislature and our state, Abbey said.

His next assignment  a trip to Basque country in France.

Dan Boyd of the Journal Capitol Bureau contributed to this article.
NATO criticizes Russia for storing nuclear arms in Belarus

Ukraine has repeatedly called for an emergency meeting of the UN National Security Council over Moscow's "nuclear blackmail"

Russian President Vladimir Putin denies wrongdoing, comparing the decision to what the United States is already doing

NATO has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent nuclear warning after the latter announced that Moscow would house tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.

In a statement on Saturday, the Russian strongman said that the deployment of nuclear arms in the region would be similar to action taken by the United States. The American military has been known to store such weapons in bases across Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, an analogy Western nations have called "misleading."

Russia To Station Nuclear Arms in Belarus

Many experts believe potential Russian strikes could involve small-scale battlefield weapons described as "tactical" instead of "strategic" high-powered, long-range nuclear weapons. The fears come amid concern for nuclear war that has been rising since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

Ukraine has repeatedly said it was looking to have an emergency meeting with the United Nations Security Council to counter Moscow's "nuclear blackmail." On Sunday, the country's foreign ministry said that authorities expect effective actions to counteract Russia's nuclear blackmail from the United Kingdom, China, the United States, and France, as per Aljazeera.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry added that it demanded an extraordinary UN Security Council meeting to address the issue. The global military alliance NATO later criticized Russia's recent actions.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungesu said that Russia's statements regarding the alliance's nuclear sharing were completely misleading from the truth. She said that allies are considered to be acting with full respect for their international commitments during that process.

Furthermore, the spokeswoman condemned Russia's announcement as "dangerous and irresponsible." On the other hand, Lungescu noted that Western allies had not yet seen "any changes in Moscow's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own."

Read Also: Russia-Ukraine War Update

Violating Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreements

Moscow's stationing of nuclear arms in Belarus comes as the latter shares a long border with Ukraine and other NATO members Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Putin also noted that despite the announcement, Russia would not be transferring control of its arms to Minsk, according to BBC.

Furthermore, Putin said that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who is seen as a firm ally of the Kremlin and supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, had previously raised the issue with him.

On the other hand, Ukrainian authorities argued that the move directly violates nuclear non-proliferation agreements. It is an accusation that Putin has denied by comparing it to the actions of the U.S. military.

Russian officials have already stationed 10 aircraft capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons in the country, Putin said. He added that there have been several Iskander tactical missile systems that are capable of launching nuclear weapons stationed in the region.

The Iskander-M is known to have two guided missiles with a range of up to 300 miles and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads to other destinations, said NBC News.

Related Article: Global Events Rock Worldwide Power Balance

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'XO, Kitty' will focus on teenage matchmaker Kitty Song Covey, played once again by Anna Cathcart, as she's trying to follow her destiny to find her own love in South Korea.

Mar 23, 2023

AceShowbiz - Netflix has unveiled the first look at "XO, Kitty", the spin-off series of its popular movie "To All the Boys I've Loved Before". The new series will focus on teenage matchmaker Kitty Song Covey, played once again by Anna Cathcart, as she's trying to follow her destiny to find her own love.

Shared on Wednesday, March 22, the first look footage sees Kitty giving a presentation to his dad (John Corbett) and his new partner Trina (Sarayu Rao). "I know when two people are meant for each other. It's a feeling I get. I felt it for Lara Jean and Peter, " she shares, while showing a picture of Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centino). "I felt it for you two."

Kitty also believes that she and Dae (Minyeong Choi) are meant to each other. The young girl goes on to say that she's just found out that her late mom went to Korea for boarding school in her junior year of high school. "And grandma told me that she got this super cool scholarship for Koreans living abroad to learn about their culture," Kitty adds.

"So, there I was, trying to make sense of these little piece of mom's life. And then, suddenly, something clicked," she continues. "The school mom went to, the Korean Independent School of Seoul, one of the top international schools in the world, is the same one Dae goes to!"

When her dad claims that it's a "coincidence," Kitty quickly corrects him. "It's more than that, dad. This is fate. I applied to KISS, and I got in! I got the same scholarship as mom!" she says.

"XO, Kitty" will follow Kitty as she embarks on an adventure as a student at Korean Independent School of Seoul to reconnect with Dae, whom she met in Korea in the third and final "To All the Boys" film, "Always and Forever". According to the synopsis, the young Covey soon learns that "relationships are a lot more complicated when it's your own heart on the line."

Starring on the series are Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, Anthony Keyvan, Peter Thurnwald, Yunjin Kim, Michael K. Lee, Jocelyn Shelfo and Regan Aliyah. Jenny Han, the author of the book "To All the Boys", will serve as co-showrunner and executive-producer alongside Sascha Rothchild.

Of her character, Anna previously told Tudum, "When I was first cast as Kitty I truly had no idea how much she was going to change my life. I had just turned 14 and at the time I was auditioning for a one-off little romance movie (that I absolutely loved). I was ecstatic, but so unaware of the incredible universe that I was about to enter."

The 10-episode first season is set to premiere on May 18 on Netflix.

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When setting the record straight on Vlad TV, the Roc-A-Fella rapper admits that the photo does exist but the woman in the image is not the 'Umbrella' hitmaker.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Young Chris has finally addressed rumors about the alleged nude photo of him in Rihanna. When setting the record straight, the Roc-A-Fella artist admitted that the photo does exist but the woman in the image is not the "Umbrella" hitmaker.

The 40-year-old offered his clarification when speaking to Vlad TV. "That's some bulls**t right there. That's some weird s**t," he argued. "I hear a lot of stories about that, [and] muthaf**kas feel some type of way about it, [but I've] never heard it directly to me, or from the horse's mouth, like n***as be weird."

"If you feel some kinda way about what the people saying on my comments, [or], what they assuming, that s**t is crazy," the emcee added. "They took that s**t way out of proportion bro."

Rihanna herself is currently enjoying her time as a mother after welcoming her first child with A$AP Rocky in May 2022. In addition, the Fenty Beauty founder is now pregnant with her and her rapper boyfriend's second child.

In February, a report suggested that Rihanna is planning a wedding with Rocky. "Throwing a wedding and having another baby are Rihanna's main focus at the moment," a source tells Radar Online. "Agreeing to do the Super Bowl definitely reinvigorated her love of performing, but it still doesn't compare to what she has at home. Luckily, A$AP's on board, too."

According to the so-called insider, while the Grammy Award-winning artist has not set an exact date for her wedding, she knows what she wants for her nuptials. "RiRi's wedding will be over-the-top," the insider gushes, adding they are planning to say "I do" surrounded by family and friends in the "Work" songstress' Caribbean homeland.

"She wants it to be in Barbados, a super glam event, but she also wants to be able to run around barefoot," the source dished. "It will be a whole weekend affair."

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Nicholas Webber passed away over the weekend at the age of 43 following a struggle with gastric cancer and he maintained his 'signature good humor' to the very end.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Andrew Lloyd Webber adored his late son. Nicholas Webber died on Saturday, March 25, aged 43, following a battle with gastric cancer, and a rep for the 75-year-old composer has revealed details about his relationship with his eldest son.

"Andrew loved and admired Nick's talent as a composer and producer. And, most recently, Nick was instrumental in pulling off the production of the London cast recording of 'Bad Cinderella' - during the pandemic," the rep told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column.

Andrew and his son were always close, and Nicholas retained his sense of humour until the end of his life. Rick Miramontez, Andrew's spokesperson, continued, "They were close throughout Nick's life and according to Andrew, Nick kept his signature good humour up to the end and was eager to hear progress reports of 'Bad Cinderella' every time Andrew returned from New York during rehearsals."

Andrew announced the passing of his son via a statement posted on social media. The award-winning composer wrote on Twitter, "I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital. His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft. -ALW (sic)."

Andrew previously revealed that Nicholas had been moved to a hospice. The composer confirmed the news on Instagram, explaining that his son was dealing with a "ghastly" bout of pneumonia. He said, "I want to thank you for the outpouring of messages of support for my son, Nick."

"He's now been moved into a hospice and he's battling away. I think he's over the worst of this first bout of pneumonia that he's got as a result of his cancer, which is just ghastly. We're all here and the family here has gathered around, it was the right place for us all to be I think."

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The 'Uncut Gems' star shows support to the supermodel after the latter is caught on camera having a steamy makeout session with the 'Watermelon Sugar' hitmaker.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Julia Fox has nothing but love to Emily Ratajkowski. The "Uncut Gems" star showed support for the supermodel after the latter was caught on camera having a steamy makeout session with Harry Styles.

On Sunday, March 26, Julia was seen commenting on an Instagram post regarding the rumored new couple. "That's my girl!" the 33-year-old star wrote in the comments section, adding the heart eyes emoji.

Julia Fox showed support to Emily Ratajkowski amid Harry Styles romance rumors.

Harry and Emily sent fans into a frenzy after a video and pictures of them passionately kissing each other in Tokyo, Japan surfaced online on Saturday. In a series of photos and video footage obtained by MailOnline, the pair could be seen holding hands as they smooched against the side of a parked car. The "Gone Girl" actress even raised her free hand to caress the back of the "As It Was" hitmaker's head.

A source revealed to PEOPLE that the 29-year-old pop star and the 31-year-old model have been "friendly for a while" before the headline-making makeout video. "Harry and Emily know each other," the source divulged, adding that the model is also "friendly" with the former One Direction member's ex, Olivia Wilde.

A spokesperson for Harry, who is currently performing in Japan as part of his ongoing "Love on Tour" concert series, had no comment about his relationship with Emily. Meanwhile, a representative for Emily did not respond to a request for comment when asked about the pictures.

Prior to sparking romance rumors with the model, Harry dated Olivia for about two years. The British musician, however, called it quits with the "Don't Worry Darling" director four months ago.

As for Emily, she was famously romantically linked with Pete Davidson, Orazio Rispo, Jack Greer and Eric Andre in the past few months. The "Blurred Lines" beauty becomes single after she filed for divorce from Bear-McClard, with whom she shares a son together, last September.

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The hip-hop mogul agrees to a settlement to end a lawsuit in which he accused plastic surgeon Angela Kogan and her company, Perfection Plastic Surgery and MedSpa, of falsely suggesting that hed had penis surgery.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - 50 Cent is no longer suing a Miami medical spa. The "In Da Club" hitmaker has agreed to a settlement to end his lawsuit against plastic surgeon Angela Kogan and her company, Perfection Plastic Surgery & MedSpa, over an alleged penis enhancement procedure.

According to court documents filed on Friday,March 24, both Fif, born Curtis Jackson, and Kogan said they had "reached an agreement in principle to settle Mr. Jackson's claims" and were "in the process of preparing an agreement to finalize and memorialize" the deal.

The hip-hop mogul sued Kogan in September last year, claiming the surgeon took a photo of his penis and used the picture to promote Perfection Plastic Surgery, thereby implying that Fif had undergone penis enlargement surgery.

"Defendants' actions have exposed Jackson to ridicule, caused substantial damage to his professional and personal reputation, and violated his right to control his name and image," Fiddy's attorneys said at the time.

Kogan subsequently denied the allegations, though her attempt at getting the case dismissed was overruled in December. "As the proverbial saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words," Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. wrote in his ruling. "This one in particular depicts a worldwide celebrity next to Kogan with MedSpa's name repeated all throughout the background. The promotional value is evident."

This isn't the first time 50 has agreed to a settlement in connection with the case. In February, the "Power" co-creator reached an agreement with the Shade Room after he sued the outlet for spreading rumors about the alleged procedure.

"[50 Cent] by and through his undersigned counsel, hereby gives notice that he has reached an agreement to settle with Defendant The Shade Room in the above captioned action," the lawsuit read. "Jackson and TSR are in the process of executing their respective obligations pursuant to the agreement and will file a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal."

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The 'Avengers: Endgame' actor shares a video of him walking on an anti-gravity treadmill that allows him to walk with a lower percentage of his body weight as he continues to recover.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Jeremy Renner's recovery from his snowplow accident continues to show progress. Giving an update on his condition, the actor is already seen walking again for the first time since the incident, albeit with a little help from a machine.

On Sunday, March 26, the 52-year-old took to his social media pages to share a video of him walking on an anti-gravity treadmill. The machine allows users to walk with less stress on the lower body joints and muscles.

In the clip, Renner explained to a man to his side how the machine functions. He said that the device is like "having a cane," so he was able to do the "walking motion," but with a lower percentage of his body weight.

"Now is the time for my body to rest and recover from my will," the "Hawkeye" star captioned the footage posted on his Instagram Story. He also uploaded the clip to his Twitter account and wrote along with it, "I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will. #minduful #intended #recovery."

Jeremy was involved in a crazy accident on January 1 while trying to tow his Ford Raptor, which had gotten stuck on his driveway outside his home in Nevada, and move it onto a street with less snow. He was run over by the 14,330-pound snowcat, leaving him with blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries that required surgery.

Around two weeks later, he was discharged from the hospital. On January 21, he shared his positive outlook as writing on Instagram, "These 30 plus broken bones will mend, grow stronger, just like the love and bond with family and friends deepens." He added, "Love and blessings to you all."

Jeremy has since continued his physical therapy. On February 18, he showed himself undergoing electric stimulation therapy on his leg as part of his recovery. Vibrating attachments were seen stimulating on his right leg, which he said in writing across the clip was part of an "electric stimulation workout" to build "muscle strength." Later in the same month, he also took to his Instagram Story to show him exercising one of his legs on a stationary bike.

Earlier this month, Jeremy was spotted in his first public outing since the accident. He appeared to be in good spirits as he was sitting in the passenger seat of a black sedan in Los Angeles while heading to an office building in Beverly Hills, California.

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The 'In Da Club' rapper receives a light jab from the 'MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)' hitmaker after a fan posts a picture of 'rappers then' and 'rappers now.'

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - 50 Cent has been dissed by fellow rapper Lil Nas X. The "In Da Club" spitter was clowned by the "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" hitmaker with a cheeky and jesting social media post.

On Sunday, March 26, Nas X turned to his Twitter account to respond to a fan who posted a picture of both rappers, basically comparing "rappers then" to "rappers now." Not only that, but the user who posted the meme-like comparison said they saw it as a downfall for the genre.

Then, Nas X responded with a light jab at the "Power" co-creator, but one that clearly aimed more at people who take offense to his claims that he's better. "This is not fair youre comparing a legend who has changed music forever to 50 cent," so the "INDUSTRY BABY" emcee wrote.

Lil Nas X threw some funny shade at 50 Cent.

At the time of this writing, the Queens legend hasn't addressed or responded to either of these messages. Shortly after publishing them, though, the "Old Town Road" rapper posted a screenshot of him muting the conversation for that tweet.

Nas X's shady tweet against Fiddy came shortly after he landed in hot water over his insensitive "gay Africa" post. On Wednesday, March 22, the Grammy Award-winning artist, who is openly gay, posted on his page, "where do the gays be in africa i wanna come there." It's unclear why he posted the tweet, but it came on the heels of Uganda parliament passing a sweeping anti-LGBTQ law.

The law punishes people with up to 10 years behind bars for simply identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or anything other than male or female. Performing sexual acts with a person of the same sex was already illegal in the country, but the new law would punish the act of "aggravated homosexuality," a broad definition that includes "repeat offenders," having sex with an HIV-positive person and more, with the death penalty.

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The 'Red Ruby Da Sleeze' raptress makes use of her social media platform to hit back at a fan who criticizes the way she drives her white Range Rover 'in the bushes.'

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Nicki Minaj has something important to tell the world. The "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" hitmaker has turned to her social media platform to respond to a fan who criticized her driving skills.

On Sunday, March 26, one fan of the Trinidadian hip-hop artist posted a video of the star driving her white Range Rover recklessly on Twitter. In the clip, the pink-haired raptress' stylist Tae could be seen holding tight on the seat while his body moved back and forth as she hit the brakes aggressively.

The post was captioned, "No cause she was about to drive the car in the bushes [crying emojis]." Nicki then quote-retweeted the post. "that's a lie from the PITS of hell!!!" so the "Super Freaky Girl" raptress set the record straight.

Nicki Minaj responded to a fan criticizing her driving skills.

Despite her response, fans were quick to make fun of Nicki's driving skills. "the way tae almost went flying when nicki braked, im crying," wrote one Twitter user along with a series of crying emojis. Another chimed in, "Girl how the hell do you drive with yo right hand I can't do ittttt." Someone else added, "Mother, now you know Tae was holding on tight to that seat with all that extra revving you was doing [laughing with tears emoji]."

"YO why is that video of Nicki Minaj driving so f**king funny!!!! LMAOOO IM OVER HERE DYING LAUGHING!!! my baby was pressing on them brakes so mf hard," a different person commented. Another added, "Tae can't even breathe & s**t lmao."

The funny video arrived weeks after Nicki returned to social media following her brief hiatus. According to sources, the 40-year-old hip-hop star took a "mental health break" from the "toxic nature" of social media. Indeed, she was noticeably absent from her social media platforms before making a return and releasing her new single "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" earlier this month.

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The 'Eternals' actor appears to have a great time chatting away with the 44-year-old British environmentalist during lunch at celebrity hotspot Nobu in Malibu, California.

Mar 28, 2023

AceShowbiz - Angelina Jolie has sparked romance rumors anew with billionaire David Mayer de Rothschild. The Oscar-winning actress appears to have found a great chatting buddy as she enjoyed a lunch date with the 44-year-old hunk.

Angie was reported spending three whole hours chatting away with the British environmentalist while on a lunch outing at Nobu in Malibu, California on Thursday, March 23. The pair were seen smiling as they left the establishment.

As seen in photos obtained by Page Six, the two appeared to be in good spirits. They continued to have light conversation as they walked to their cars, before parting ways. They were seen smiling to each other, with David waving his hand before they left separately.

During the outing, Angie rocked a chic black dress with cutouts that showed off her midsection. She wore matching black heels and sunglasses, while holding what appeared to be a black coat and carrying a white bag over her shoulder.

As for David, he was dressed in smart casual attire that included a pair of navy blue sacks, a gray shirt, dark jacket, black loafers and funky, striped socks. He also sported his reading glasses and put his hands in his pockets.

It is unclear if they were out to discuss business or pleasure, but Angie and David seemingly bond over their interests in activism. The 47-year-old actress worked with refugees for 20 years as a special envoy to the United Nations. Though she left her post in December 2022, she vowed at the time, "I will continue to do everything in my power in the years to come to support refugees and other displaced people."

Meanwhile, David is an advocate for environmentalism and has worked as an ambassador for the Hyundai IONIQ, the first automobile built from the ground up and specifically available as a hybrid or electric-powered car. Per his Instagram bio, he also wants to "warn and inform people about global warming."

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Kimberley Walsh reveals that although she and her former bandmates are not back into the recording studio, they have 'some fun alternative versions' of classic tracks to mark their debut album's 20th anniversary.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Girls Aloud are to release new music. The pop band made up of Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and the late Sarah Harding, who died of breast cancer at the age of 39 in 2021, split in 2013 after the final night of their "Ten: The Hits Tour" but Kimberley has now revealed that even though they are not heading back into the recording studio, they have "some fun alternative versions" of classic tracks ready for release in honor of their debut album's 20th anniversary.

She told the MailOnline, "We've got some fun alternative versions of songs lying around and little re-releases just to kind of mark that because, you know, it's a big deal. 20 years is a long time and the love that we still feel for 'Sound Of The Underground' and some of the songs from the first album are still huge. So it still feels like something to celebrate, but in a kind of sort of discreet way, I guess."

However, West End star Kimberley went on to admit that "The Promise" hitmakers, who initially found fame as the winners of "Popstars: The Rivals" in 2002 and went on to release five studio albums together, are not actively doing anything together at the moment but explained that some of the re-releases have been "quite fun" to see.

She added, "We're not really doing anything together as a group for obvious reasons. I think there's already been one re-release of 'Sound Of The Underground' with different girls singing different lyrics, which is quite fun. I mean, if you're a fan, it's fun. I'm not sure how much fun it is if you're not really into Girls Aloud. But yeah, just things like that."

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At least 26 people have been killed and dozens injured as a result of the Mississippi tornado

A tornado destroyed Mississippi's Amory High School

President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency, vowed federal assistance

After the tornadoes that killed 26 people in Mississippi, the governor has warned that more extreme weather might be on the way.

Governor Tate Reeves stated that sections of the state still posed substantial threats. Friday night's storms in Mississippi and Alabama have resulted in the displacement of hundreds of people.

Mississippi Tornado Death Toll

The mayor of one of the most severely damaged cities stated that he had lost friends in the disaster. The tornado on Friday was the worst in Mississippi in over a decade. At least twenty-five individuals have perished in the state, with one more death verified in neighboring Alabama.

The tornado, classed as "violent" and given the second-highest rating imaginable, has uprooted trees, tipped trucks into homes, and brought down power lines.

On Saturday, survivors of the accident were observed staggering around in a fog and state of shock. Sunday, though, has been bustling with activity. Per BBC, volunteers, including those from neighboring Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee, have assisted with the cleanup effort.

President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency and mobilized government resources to assist with rescue and relief efforts in some of the hardest-hit communities. With the magnitude of the destruction, it must not be easy to know where to begin. Thousands of people have lost power due to Friday's storm, and crews are trying to remove trees that have fallen on power lines.

Outside of the few partially standing structures, water and sandwiches are available at stations where water and sandwiches have been set up. Although local towns cope with the aftermath, further strong storms are predicted.

Read Also: Donald Trump's 'Death and Destruction' Warning Sparks Twitter Buzz

Video Depicts Mississippi Tornado Devastation

Meanwhile, as seen by CCTV footage, several kids were killed when a tornado struck Amory High School in Mississippi. The video depicts a piece of the ceiling falling, debris flying through the corridor, and electrical cables coming free.

Security camera video inside Amory High School (MS) last night Video from Sam Strickland pic.twitter.com/WgoePQIOXB  James Spann (@spann) March 25, 2023

The administrators at Amory High School reported on their Facebook page that the tornado may have caused gas leaks at the school. According to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, this is only one incident in the path of destruction caused by the massive tornado that has killed at least 25 individuals and injured "dozens" more.

CNN reported that Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi residents had lost power due to the storm, as a powerful tornado ripped over all three states. Rolling Fork, Mississippi, bore the brunt of the storm, as seen by social media photographs showing the area in ruins.

On Sunday, search, and recovery crews resumed digging through the debris of flattened and damaged homes, commercial buildings, and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced.

According to the Georgia Mutual Aid Organization, a tornado touched down early Sunday in Troup County, Georgia, near the Alabama border. The county seat of LaGrange, located approximately 67 miles (nearly 108 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta, was among the affected locations.

The Troup County Sheriff's Office responded to complaints of fallen trees, downed power lines, and damaged residences. A lost tiger was reported at the Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari. The Troup County Sheriff's Office reported some cell service interruptions after a probable tornado impacted the region before daybreak on Sunday.

Following President Biden's declaration, federal funding may be used for recovery efforts in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, and Sharkey counties in Mississippi, including temporary housing, home repairs, loans covering uninsured property losses, and other individual and business programs, according to a White House statement.

The tornado leveled entire streets, destroyed homes, overturned a church steeple, and brought down a municipal water tower. The National Weather Service's Jackson office tweeted late Saturday night that the tornado obtained a preliminary EF-4 classification based on early evidence.

According to the agency, an EF-4 tornado produces maximum wind gusts between 166 and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph). The Jackson office noted that it was still collecting data on the storm, as per NBC New York.

The tornado leveled a portion of the 2,000-person community of Rolling Fork, reducing homes to rubble and overturning automobiles. Several regions of the Deep South were repairing damage from additional probable tornadoes. According to a tweet from the local sheriff's office, a guy passed away in Morgan County, Alabama.

At a briefing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported 25 confirmed deaths, 55 confirmed injuries, and 2,000 damaged or destroyed dwellings. Sunday was predicted to bring severe winds, hail, and storms to regions of Alabama and Georgia, according to the National Weather Service.

Related Article: At Least 26 Killed as Tornado Ravages Southern US State

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The 'Wedding Crashers' actor denies speculation that he tried to emulate the iconic host of 'The Joy of Painting' in his new movie despite sporting similar hairstyle.

Mar 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Owen Wilson insists he never meant to imitate Bob Ross in "Paint". The 54-year-old actor leads the cast of the comedy film as an artist called Carl Nargle but did not plan to match the late painter's serene style, even though he does sport "The Joy of Painting" host's afro hairstyle in the movie.

"I'm not good at doing imitations, and so that was never really a possibility. But certainly that quality that he had when you watched the show - and why people still do - is like a little spa treatment or something. You come out like, 'Oh, I feel relaxed and I feel better,' " Owen told Variety.

Wilson's character is the presenter of Vermont's most popular painting show until he is usurped by a younger, better artist and the star got to enjoy flipping the script on the tranquil image of art.

The "Marry Me" star said, "Hopefully what people will appreciate and enjoy is the same thing that I did when I first read the script, and that was just how funny it is, and the idea of somebody who has not felt the need to change with the times, because everything's going so perfect in his life."

"We can all sort of get comfortable and complacent if things are going your way, and then all of a sudden, when things aren't, that can be an upsetting thing. And so the way that (Carl) deals with that and processes that is funny, but it's also kind of moving."

Wilson revealed that he is enjoying the way his career has evolved and is looking forward to returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV series "Loki" as Mobius M. Mobius.

He explained, "I really loved working with Tom Hiddleston. I always felt really comfortable coming up with stuff with him and how hard he worked, so I just enjoyed getting back doing stuff with Loki and my character Mobius. I really liked playing that character."

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Another edition of the celebrated and hugely-successful JK Tyre WIAA Women's Rally to the Valley, organized by the Western India Automobile Association (WIAA) and presented by JK Tyre, was flagged off, amidst thunderous support from the participants. The flag-off ceremony was graced by Shri Vivek Phansalkar  IPS, Commissioner of Mumbai Police; Shri Pravin Padwal - IPS Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Greater Mumbai; and Shri Anuj Kathuria  President (India), JK Tyre & Industries, as Chief Guests.

The rally had around 300 participants from various walks of life, coming together to voice for various causes including women empowerment and womens safety. JK Tyre racer & one of Indias leading professional women racer Mira Erda cheered for the participants and kickstarted the rally driving the Zero Car. The event commenced from NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai and after traversing through the citys major landmarks will conclude in Nasik where the winners will be awarded in the prize distribution ceremony.

Sharing his delight on the conduction of this years edition, Mr. Anuj Kathuria, President (India), JK Tyre & Industries, said Were delighted to host another exciting edition of this prestigious rally and I congratulate all for their participation and support. Being a promoter of motorsport for decades now, JK Tyre has always been focused on making motorsport more inclusive and welcoming to all. This rally is a testament to our commitment to empower women and to create a more robust and diverse motorsports community.

The event is held in TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) format which is a unique form of rallying where crossing the chequered flag fastest is not the objective. Each team comprises of a driver and navigator, where the navigator who has to bear in mind the route instructions, calculate the average speed and ensure the team is on track and not behind or ahead of the schedule as both scenarios attract penalty points. Participants have to maintain specified times and average speeds (which are at par or lower than the legal limits) on various segments of a predefined route.

The participants put forward various themes ranging from child abuse, nari shakti, women empowerment, child marriage, women leadership, womens safety, and many more. The decorated cars and costumes evoked the messages of the participants.

In their effort to give more exposure to women participants, JK Tyre will be rewarding the overall winner of the rally with a sponsored drive to take part in one of the most awaited TSD Drives in the Eastern Part of the country-the JK Tyre Himalayan Drive to be held from April 1st to 5th. The event will be flagged off from Siliguri and after covering Sikkim will conclude in Darjeeling.

The JK Tyre WIAA Women's Rally to the Valley aligns with JK Tyres vision of bringing more women into motorsport and giving them a platform to celebrate their true potential. Thrill and excitement filled the air as the rally moved through the cities echoing the spirit of womanhood. The participants of the JK Tyre WIAA Womens Rally to the Valley came from different backgrounds including Indian Navy, Army, Airforce, Highway Traffic Police Maharashtra, Regional Transport Department and others. The event is presented by JK Tyre and powered by BPCL, Westside and Go Digit Insurance.
ET Medialabs, Indias leading Growth Advertising and Analytics company, has won the prestigious Google Premier Award-2022 for Brand Awareness - a highly sought after category with some of the best submissions in the industry.

The annual Google Premier Awards not only celebrate the strong partnerships between agencies and clients, but also spotlight outstanding work in various categories. The Premier Partner Awards highlight excellence in digital marketing and showcase Premier Partners that help drive results for clients with Google Ads. This year, Google had partnered with Accenture, an independent third party, to deliver a balanced judging assessment.

The companys win in this category is a testament to the brand expertise and experience in delivering effective brand awareness campaigns for its clients, and in this case - their work with Kapiva, a modern-day Ayurveda Direct-to-Consumer brand, which had the vision to tap into the skincare market with the launch of their ayurvedic ingestible - Skin Foods Glow Mix.

In order to achieve this, a detailed strategy was charted out keeping in mind the uniqueness of the product in question. A strong product backed by effective communication needs an effective, efficient, and meticulously planned strategy to deliver the intended business objective. Hence, reaching the right audience and hitting them with an optimum frequency helped ET Medialabs in achieving their objective of creating significant brand awareness in the minds of consumers. All this was done and achieved by leveraging Youtube campaigns to their full potential.

Commenting on the win, Shantanu, COO, Kapiva, said, The team at ET Medialabs was a delight to work with. Their data-led approach, top-notch standardized reporting, and sharp analysis made the launch of Kapivas Skin Foods a success.

With them, we were also able to build strong awareness for the brand."

Echoing this sentiment, Raghav Kansal, Co-Founder & CEO, ET Medialabs, said, "At ET Medialabs, we have always believed Branding & Performance need not be a dichotomy. In times to come, the boundaries will blur more than ever. Glad to see this getting recognized publicly & nationally by Google".
Vaibhav Ajmera has joined Liqvd Asia as Director - Business & Services, and will be heading the agencys south India operations. Vaibhav is a Digital Marketing enthusiast and brings with him a decade of experience in building brand persona on digital platforms.

At Liqvd Asia, Vaibhav will be responsible for upscaling digital offerings in Bangalore. He will also be implementing new-age strategies, and tools in order to create solutions for brands.

Mr. Monish Shanghavi, Head of Business & Services, Liqvd Asia, said on the development, We welcome Vaibhav Ajmera to the Liqvd Asia fold. His formidable experience across brands and sectors should stand us in good stead. We look forward to Vaibhav playing a key role in the company charting a smart growth, going forward.

Prior to Liqvd Asia, he worked with some of the most prestigious brands in the country, as well as sectors like BFSI, Fintech, Automobile, IT Sports, Healthcare, Apparel, FMCG, Fashion, and Beauty.

Commenting on the appointment, Vaibhav Ajmera, Director  Business and Services, Liqvd Asia, said, I am excited to be joining this company at this juncture of its growth. Bangalore is key to the growth of the company. I see a bright future for Liqvd Asia in the background of an expanding economy of the country Considering the fact that this is my second stint here I look forward to take the business forward to a newer height.

An inquisitive digital marketing professional, Vaibhav has worked with well-known brands like Mumbai Indians, Tata Sky, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet Channel, Eurosport Channel, London Dairy, Tata Power, Tata Nexarc, Parle, PUMA, Allen Solly, Peter England, F21, American Eagle, Living Foodz Channel, TVS Raider, Starcity+, Jupiter, Sport, IQube and many more.
Orient Electric Limited, part of the diversified USD 2.4 billion CK Birla Group, has launched a new TVC featuring brand ambassador MS Dhoni to promote its wide range of energy-efficient BLDC fans. Orients 5-star rated BLDC fans consume up to 50% less energy than ordinary fans thus providing significant savings on electricity bills for consumers without compromising on air delivery.

The TVC opens with Captain Cool MS Dhoni entering the locker room of a tired India U19 team and switching on the Orient BLDC fan with the remote. As soon as the fan is turned on, couple of locker windows bang close hinting at the fans superior air throw. And then the music kicks in and we see Dhoni breaking into a dance and showing the players the signature step on Orient BLDC Ghoomega, Toh India Jhoomega. Watching Dhoni dance, the players also start dancing with full energy and gusto. The ad then goes on to show the entire India grooving to the upbeat jingle.

With this TV ad, Orient Electric aims to lead a new movement advocating the mass adoption of BLDC fans and getting the entire country to celebrate the benefits of making a switch to technologically advanced, energy efficient, and stylish Orient BLDC fans. The jingle Orient BLDC Ghoomega, Toh India Jhoomega has been recreated in six different languages making it relevant to regional audiences.

Anika Agarwal, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Orient Electric said, At Orient, we have been at the forefront of developing and promoting products and solutions that are good for our consumers and for the environment. Our wide range of BEE 5-star rated BLDC fans that provide up to 50% saving on electricity bills without compromising on air delivery and aesthetics is a step in that direction. We have great confidence in the potential of BLDC fans as the future of the industry which has been beautifully captured in our new campaign 'Orient BLDC Ghoomega, Toh India Jhoomega'. It is an earnest effort from our side at encouraging the entire country to switch to and groove to the benefits of BLDC fans. And with MS Dhoni adding his unparalleled charisma and charm to the campaign with his helicopter shot styled hook step, this film is certainly a treat for the eyes. I am sure this will grab viewers attention and create a lot of excitement about Orient BLDC fans.

Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, Chief Creative Officer, Contract India said, Theres no better feeling than when you switch on a fan and that cool, calming breeze hits you in the face. And for Orients new campaign, we made good on this insight. The brief was clear from the beginning. In a market where every competitor is talking about the functionality of BLDC fans, how can Orient stand out? For a brand that has a rich legacy and has always been known for innovation, something simple just wouldnt cut it. We had to establish Orient as a leader in the category. So, we decided to capture that joyous moment when you switch on a fan and marry it with a catchy, energetic jingle. Taking a page from MSDs book, we devised an elegant dance hook and created a TVC which had MSD breaking into a dance for the first-time-ever in a commercial. In the process, we managed to capture the pulse of the country while ensuring that Orient becomes synonymous with the BLDC category.

The TVC goes on air on 26th March and will be strongly flanked by print, OOH, and active engagement through digital touchpoints.

Orients 5-star rated BLDC fans provide up to 50% savings on electricity bills for consumers. Some of the companys bestselling BLDC fans include IoT-enabled & voice-controlled i-Float and Aeroslim, i-Falcon, Hector 500, i-Tome, Aeroquiet BLDC, and Ecotech Supreme, among others. Flaunting distinctive designs, Orient BLDC fans are long-lasting compared to induction motor fans on account of lesser wear and tear, provide superior air delivery, and operate silently and efficiently even at low voltages which is a common problem across India.
Authored by Muhammed Noushad

Do you ever get the feeling that people are incapable of not caring? asks a dying Charlie, an excessively obese man, in The Whale, to his only friend and caring nurse Liz. As she is clueless on how to console him, Charlie answers himself, people are amazing. This striking optimism at the face of extreme suffering and imminent death has a dark contrast as we see his dangerously rebellious teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink), in another scene, yelling at his face that people are as*holes. She even dares to thank him for teaching this very important lesson at a young age by leaving her and mom to live with his boyfriend  when she was eight. She is aware that most people learn it way late.

The movie, primarily a tale of a middle-aged fathers desperate efforts to reconcile with his estranged teenage daughter, is all about suffering  physical and emotional. And it makes one think: which is worse? Comparing, on the one hand, the physical ailment of severe obesity that pushes Charlie to morbidity through various health conditions and, on the other hand, the enormous amount of emotional weight he carries  guilt and regret of abandoning his daughter and the grief of losing his boyfriend forever  the latter sounds heavier. The overweight of the body is dwarfed by the unbearable pain of guilt. Charlie tries his best to make sure that he has done at least one right thing with his life  thats his daughter, an amazing person for him and evil for his ex-wife.

The most remarkable thing about The Whale, a passable work of art that has even been accused of fatphobia, is Brendan Frasers soulful, profound performance. He captures your full attention and keeps you nailed to the plot throughout. And the best actor Oscar he has bagged is well-deserving, especially against the fact that this is his massive return, after a decade long decline, depression, personal losses and more importantly, an alleged sexual assault on him.

However, one of the pitfalls with the movie is that you often feel like you are watching a play  and it indeed is an adaptation of a play by Samuel D Hunter in the same name and he himself rewrote it for the screen  as the plot revolves around Charlie who never leaves his apartment and, there are less than a dozen characters. Plus, the physically static nature of the protagonist, along with the frequent visits of the same characters, also gives the impression of a play, quite often, with very little scope for movement.

As the story is inevitably about suffering, one would notice how it places spirituality and religion in the context. As thats where humans eventually resort to when there is no hope realistically. Interestingly, the movie seemingly argues that religion, at least the New Life Church version of it, is incapable of containing suffering. Or worse, it even causes suffering, as the religious guilt is what leads Charlies boyfriend Alan to commit suicide. And Charlie himself explains that Bible was a devastating reading experience. In contrast to this, the young missionary boy Thomas (Ty Simpkins), insists that he wants to help Charlie, no matter what.

Charlies insecurity and inferiority complex about his extraordinarily bulky body, or the physical ailments he suffers, is emphasised in different scenes. Despite being an inspired, well-meaning instructor of online writing courses, he keeps his laptop camera off during sessions; at the final class, he switches it on to the shock of students and then throws the laptop away. More painful is when the pizza delivery boy quietly leaves off when he finally gets to see Charlie, despite the pleasantries they had regularly exchanged across the walls, without seeing each other. The exclusivist practices against fat bodies are to be checked, no doubt. But, the question is: where does The Whale stand? The joy and celebration of having fat bodies are nowhere incorporated, their complex relationship with food is not taken into account. It's here the fatphobia criticism on the movie comes to the fore. That the movie conforms to the mainstream societys popular imagination  read stereotypical understanding  about fat peoples lives as joyless, inferior, full of binge eating etc. Particularly, against the statements of its director Darren Aronofsky, that the movie attempts to establish the humanity of fat people.

The use of the whale as a metaphor, from Moby Dick, as a massive sea animal full of compassion and awareness, sounded a bit repetitive and overstated. The Whales cathartic intentions could have been intact even if the protagonist werent an oversized, overweight man, as the story primarily is about the father-daughter conflict and reconciliation.
Sumit is an award-winning Digital Marketing professional and an author with over 14 years of experience in SEO, SEM, Digital Media Operations, Media Planning & Buying. His expertise and passion for digital marketing have earned him numerous accolades and a reputation as a respected thought leader in this field. Prior to joining BigTrunk, Sumit worked with top organizations such as Ernst & Young & Motivator. He has received recognition for his skills and performance and has also been a Master Trainer of Digital Marketing for a World Bank-funded LICT (Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment, and Governance) Project of Bangladesh ICT Ministry organized by Ernst & Young in Bangladesh.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Dinakar Menon, Business Head, BigTrunk Communications Pvt Ltd. said, Sumits expertise and experience in digital marketing will help us continue to deliver exceptional results for our clients. As a result-oriented digital marketer, he has consistently delivered successful results for diverse organizations by aligning their marketing goals with cutting-edge digital strategies. We are looking forward to more success and are thrilled to have Sumit join our team at BigTrunk.

Speaking about his new role, Sumit Dewanjee, Executive Vice President, BigTrunk Communications Pvt Ltd. said, I am equally excited to join the BigTrunk team and look forward to contributing my vision and innovative strategies to help the agency achieve new heights. BigTrunk Communications is a leading digital marketing agency and with consistent delivery of results of constantly changing digital market goals, we will reach worldwide sooner. I look forward to this new chapter working along with all the leaders.
South Indian Bank, a legacy bank, has restructured itself as a technology-first phygital bank that offers speed and convenience to all of its customers. To reaffirm this, they have launched a campaign, titled Trust meets Tech since 1929, which seamlessly blends Trust and Technology. A story-based TV commercial involving a high-speed race car with an aspiration theme is part of the campaign strategy.

Race cars and drivers represent speed, accuracy, teamwork, trust, and a desire to excel using cutting-edge racing technology. Already a strong brand in Kerala with a 94-year history, the bank emphasises its strong relationship with its customers, who are loyal customers. The TVC commercial, however, is part of a larger campaign to portray the bank as an agile private bank offering cutting-edge banking services, as well as to raise awareness in non-Kerala markets, where the banks digital banking prowess is less well-known.

In conversation with Adgully, Azmat Habibulla, Chief Marketing Officer, South Indian Bank, elaborates on the campaign strategy, enhancing its phygital offering for consumers, helping the youth of India to experience the Next-gen banking, and much more.

On how South Indian Bank is helping the consumers with the next generation of marketing with the Trust Meets Tech campaign, Azmat Habibulla said, Our tagline is  Experience Next-gen banking, and our campaign line is Trust Meets Tech Since 1929. We are helping the youth of India to specially experience the Next-gen banking through our evolved products and services. One of our flagship products is the SIB Mirror Plus app, which is bank at your fingertips and is available in nine languages, which only a few banks offer. It also has award winning safety features like e-lock and e-limit, you can get a pre-approved PL for instant credit in your account, you can renew a gold loan in five minutes, open new account and many more products.

Adding further, she said, "We have a host of digital solutions which give you enhanced consumer experience, speed and safety to make the banking experience truly next-gen.

Speaking about the media mix, she noted, For the campaign, currently we are focusing on Digital as our primary medium; and across digital it will be programmatic, connected TV, social, OTT. We are supporting this largely via television to get impact on our campaign and will be amplifying this via an OOH campaign in Kerala, which is our strong market. Going ahead in the year, we will be looking at theatre as well.

Habibulla further added, We havent looked at radio as a key medium for the brand campaign, however, radio is something that we look at as a medium for product specific communication and it works very well for products like gold loan. We have used it in the past to reach out to consumers across multiple cities and that is something that we would be continuing.

These are edited excerpts of the interview. For the entire conversation, watch below:
Shih: This increase is really fueled by us doing a much better job in identifying minority children with autism.

USA Today: quoted Dr. Andy Shih , chief science officer of Autism Speaks, who conveniently took credit for the new numbers.

Here once again are references to greater awareness, along with diagnosing delays due to COVID, more girls being detected, more minority children now being diagnosed, and demographic differencesalthough none of this could explain the latest leap from one in 44 to one in 36.

No one ever talks about more kids actually having autism. Thats long been THE REALLY BIG LIE ABOUT AUTISM, something Ive expressly written about over the years.

By now anyone whos interested has seen the latest upswing in the autism rate. As usual, the underlying message is, its nothing to worry about.

Decorum prevents me from writing what we are all thinking. Until April, then all bets are off. Gloves too. By Anne Dachel

"No one really knows what's driving autism rates higher," said Zahorodny, also director of the New Jersey Autism Study and an associate professor at Rutgers University.

For years, people have pinned rising rates on a variety of causes, including improved awareness, reduced stigma, re-labeling of kids, aging parents, low-birth-weight babies or C-section deliveries. Though they all may contribute, Zahorodny thinks something else from our contemporary environment is driving the rates.

"This is a true increase," he said. "It constitutes a major public health crisis."

Weintraub even quoted Zahorodny in the headline of her story: 'Public health crisis': Autism rates rise again, with 1 in 36 children diagnosed, but in the final analysis, she lets Dr. Shih dismiss it all.

Improved services definitely help drive rates up, Shih said, which is a good thing.

"We're definitely seeing there's a greater capacity among caregivers and families not only to recognize and to understand what autism is but also to navigate the system," he said. "I think that's a huge improvement and progress in our community."

Weintraub, like everyone else in the media, will never ask hard questions:

Questions for Dr. Shih: Will you keep getting better and better at diagnosing until the rate is one in 22 (like the current rate in California)? How long before you finally get it right?

Why cant you find the same rate of autism among middle aged and elderly Americans?

Questions for Dr. Zahorodny: If this is a true increase, what are you doing about it? What in the contemporary environment is destroying the developmental health of so many children?

How long are experts going to scratch their collective heads and merely calculate the damage?

Other faithful minions in the media were quick to dismiss any real increase.

UPI: Public health experts noted that the shifts may reflect improved screening, awareness and access to services among historically underserved groups.

AAP: We cant say for sure, but we suspect this is due to increased awareness leading to more children being identified with autism, Karen Remley, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., FAAP, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDCs) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said in a press conference.

CBS Philadelphia: "A lot of the increase is likely due to changes in practice, improvements in early detection, availability of services," CDC's child development and disability branch chief Matt Maenner said.

CNN: But according to the CDC, this long-term trend has largely been interpreted as improvements in more equitable identification of (autism spectrum disorder), particularly for children in groups that have less access or face greater barriers in obtaining services.

In recent years, good progress had been made in early detection of autism  an earlier CDC report found that children born in 2014 were 50% more likely to receive an autism diagnosis or special education by age 4 than those born in 2010.

NBC News: Experts attributed the change to improved screening and autism services for all kids, and to increased awareness and advocacy for Black and Hispanic families.

This is a story that will quickly die

The news came out on Thursday, March 23rd, and Im sure it will no longer be mentioned by Monday. The new rate will lost in the gala celebrations coming up with AUTISM ACCEPTION MONTH in April. (Note that its no longer autism awareness as its traditionally been titled.)

Sadly, accepting autism, whatever the rate increase, is the only thing left for us to do.



Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.

###



Cause Unknown

By Edward Dowd

Follow Ed Dowd on Twitter for in depth coverage of the problems facing the banking & capital markets today. @DowdEdward

The book begins with a close look at the actual human reality behind the statistics, and when you see the people who are represented by the dry term Excess Mortality, its difficult to accept so many unexpected sudden deaths of young athletes, known to be the healthiest among us. Similarly, when lots of healthy teenagers and young adults die in their sleep without obvious reason, collapse and die on a family outing, or fall down dead while playing sports, that all by itself raises an immediate public health concern. Or at least it used to.



Ask yourself if you recall seeing these kinds of things occurring during your own lifein junior high? In high school? In college? How many times in your life did you hear of a performer dropping dead on stage in mid-performance? Your own life experience and intuition will tell you that what youre about to see is not normal.



Or at least it wasnt normal before 2021.



The War on Ivermectin



By Dr. Pierre Kory

Follow Dr. Kory on Twitter here. Support is so important.



Big Pharma and health agencies cry "Don't take ivermectin!" A media storm follows. Why then, does the science say the opposite?



Ivermectin is a dirty word in the media. The drug has been derided and declared useless. Doctors have earnestly recorded pleas asking those afflicted with COVID-19 not to take the drug. But why?



The War on Ivermectin is the personal and professional narrative of Dr. Pierre Kory, the co-founder of an expert group of physicians, and his plight to alert the world of his group's identification of ivermectin as a highly-effective, life-saving, widely available generic medicine with an obvious ability to end the global pandemic. In this book, Dr. Kory details all the personal attacks, professional setbacks, and concerted, corrupt, and highly effective actions which influenced the worlds major health agencies and medical journals to dismiss and deny its efficacy.














Former DNC acting chair Donna Brazile criticized Donald Trump for playing the "victim card" during a Texas rally

Trump's Texas event marks his first campaign rally for the 2024 presidential elections

The former president also dismissed several investigations focusing on him

Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) acting chair Donna Brazile criticized former United States President Donald Trump for playing the "victim card" during a Texas rally.

The event in Texas marked Trump's first 2024 campaign rally in his official run for another term as president of the US Brazile went on to say that the Republican businessman played all of his grievances during his remarks and highlighted the latest issues that he is facing, including prosecution, and asked for his supporters' help.

Former DNC Chair Criticizes Trump's Texas Rally

The former president kicked off his Texas rally by having a reworked version of the national anthem sung by incarcerated inmates over their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot.

Trump also pitched himself as fighting what he called the "final battle" as his alleged enemies were desperately trying to stop him and his allies. Furthermore, he dismissed the several ongoing investigations that target him, some for criminal charges, as per The Hill.

On Sunday, Brazile made remarks that made her the latest in a group of voices that have condemned the former president for his alleged attempts to urge his supporters to "protest." The former DNC acting chair said the situation was "despicable" and argued that Trump is a leading front-runner in the GOP primary.

Brazile said there was no place for what Trump was doing in America, which she called political violence. Her remarks come as Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, condemned the former president on Friday for saying that criminal charges against him would result in "potential death and destruction."

In a statement during a press briefing held in the Capitol, Jeffries said that Trump, who has been impeached twice, continues his reckless, reprehensible, and irresponsible rhetoric. He argued that it was dangerous and would, later down the line, get somebody killed.

Read Also: Chinese Embassy Refutes Biden's Claims During His Visit To Canada

Repeating Debunked Claims

During his Texas rally, the former president railed against his political opponents and law enforcement, who he said were even more dangerous than China and Russia. According to Yahoo News, he also targeted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is leading an investigation against the former president.

This probe is regarding a hush money payment worth $130,000 allegedly paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The funds were considered a sort of bribe to keep Daniels quiet about her alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Trump also repeated his claims that he won the 2020 presidential election against Joe Biden, calling the race "rigged." However, despite his remarks, investigations into the election showed no evidence of fraud and only reiterated his Democratic rival's victory.

The Republican businessman also made claims regarding his contributions to addressing a trade deficit with China worth roughly $500 billion. However, CNN said there was never a US trade deficit with China that would be hundreds of billions of dollars.

Related Article: Phillip Washington Withdraws Name from Nomination To Lead FAA

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Alabama Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt this afternoon said members of the Mexican military have withdrawn from a Vulcan Materials Co. port facility in the Yucatan peninsula.

Members of Alabamas congressional delegation met with Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, Mexicos ambassador to the U.S., today at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., according to Tubervilles office.

See also: Why did Mexico seize a Vulcan Materials terminal?

Sen. Tuberville can report that the Mexican military has left the Vulcan Materials Companys port facility in Mexico. Law enforcement is no longer present at the facility, Tubervilles office said in a statement.

A spokesman for Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials had no immediate comment.

Vulcan Materials said Mexican armed forces took over its Punta Venado port facility in the countrys southeastern most state, Quintana Roo, on Feb. 14, despite a court-ordered stay on any government action to confiscate the property.

According to Global Cement, the dispute is just the latest chapter in a tussle between Vulcan and the Mexican government over the installation, which has been shuttered since last May. Vulcan Materials subsidiary Sac-Tun operates the terminal, serving the nearby Playa del Carmen quarry.

Sac-Tun previously provided handling and unloading services at the terminal for Mexican construction materials company Cemex, but its contract expired Dec. 31, 2022.

According to the Associated Press, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador needs the dock to get cement, crushed stone and other materials into the area to finish a tourist train known as the Train Maya. The president shut down Vulcans stone quarries last May, arguing the company had extracted or exported stone without approval.

Earlier this month, a local court ruled in favor of Cemex in the dispute over its continued use of the facilities, before a higher court issued an injunction in Vulcan Materials favor this month. Then came the seizure.

In a statement, Britt said she was happy to hear that Mexican governmental forces have now heeded our request to withdraw from Vulcans port facility, following a nearly two-week unlawful takeover.

There was never a legitimate reason for Mexican military and law enforcement personnel to forcibly occupy this Alabama companys private property, Britt stated. I personally reiterated my objections to this unacceptable behavior to Ambassador Moctezuma today at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and asked him to convey to President Lopez Obrador that aggression towards American interests will not be tolerated.
A suspect is jailed on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man in Mobile.

According to Cpl. Ryan Blakely of the Mobile Police Department, officers responded to the 1000 block of Flicker Drive on Friday night after a report a shooting.

Officers found Al Dimitri Craig suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Craig was transported to an area hospital, where he was later died of his wounds.

Police said the suspect, identified as 26-year-old William Malik Glover, ran from the scene. Police later took him into custody near the intersection of Sligo and Amsterdam streets.

He is held without bond at the Mobile Metro Jail. He also has a hold placed on him for a Tennessee law enforcement agency. Blakely declined to say which Tennessee agency had the hold on Glover or why he is wanted there.

Glover does appear in a Tennessee Department of Corrections search, but he is listed only as inactive, with no additional information.

Glover was arrested last year in the Mobile area for charges including domestic violence/assault, domestic violence/strangulation, failure to obey a lawful order and possession of marijuana.

The disposition of those cases was not immediately available.
An Alabama man remains in jail, accused of killing a Florida father in the presence of a small child at the center of a custody dispute.

At a press conference today announcing an additional arrest in the case, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson referred to the suspect from Alabama as a human piece of trash.

Jason Layne Curtis, 53, of Cullman, Ala., was arrested last week and charged with the murder of 24-year-old Colby Vinson. Santa Rosa deputies found Vinson dead from a gunshot wound about 9:30 p.m. on March 19 at an apartment complex in Navarre, Fla. The sheriff says that Vinsons 4-year-old son was standing near Vinson when Curtis allegedly fired the gun.

The motive, investigators believe, is a custody battle between Vinson and Curtis former stepdaughter, Rachiel Moore. An arrest report shows Moore made contact with Curtis on March 13, the day the court issued a ruling of a 50/50 custody arrangement  a ruling which left Moore distraught, according to a report by WEAR.

The sheriff announced today that Moore has also been arrested and charged with accessory to murder and tampering with evidence in Vinsons death.

Johnson said the Cullman County Sheriffs Office arrested Curtis on the murder warrant. They also searched Curtis vehicle and found what they believe is the murder weapon and a note which contained information including the victims description, vehicle description, work address and home address.

Johnson said deputies arrived at the scene on March 19 to find the 4-year-old next to his dead father.

What a human piece of trash, Johnson said of Curtis. To shoot somebody with their four-year-old child there. I could get up here and go on ad nauseum about how people treat other people.

This goes beyond that. Its horrible. Just horrible.

Johnson said Monday the two suspects are in the Milton Hilton, a nickname for the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Fla. Curtis is held without bond, while Moore is being held under $200,000 bond.

Johnson also said both suspects phone records are being examined and that more arrests are possible.
Parents who are fighting to overturn Alabamas ban on some types of gender-affirming care have been ordered by a federal judge to turn over their childrens medical records.

Boe v. Marshall was brought by five parents who argue a 2022 state law strips them of the right to make important decisions about their childrens healthcare. All of the children involved in the case are transgender, according to court documents, though not all have been formally diagnosed with gender dysphoria or chosen to take medication.

The Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (SB184) bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. The law punishes not only doctors, but also any other individual who prescribes or administers the treatments with a felony conviction and up to 10 years in jail.

Read more: Alabama teens worry about future as anti-trans bathroom, medical bills pass.

Read more: What do Alabamas new laws mean for transgender children, doctors?

Puberty blockers and hormone therapy are considered safe and effective evidence-based care for children and adults, in appropriate situations, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Gender-affirming surgeries for minors were not performed in Alabama prior to the passage of the law.

Last year, a district judge temporarily blocked parts of the law from going into effect, namely the ban on puberty blockers and the felony conviction.

State officials appealed that decision up to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

During the appeal process, defendants, including Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, have asked for medical and mental health records that relate to treatment for gender dysphoria, including documents, notes and forms.

U.S. District Judge Liles Burke ruled Monday that the records are relevant to the case since the plaintiffs have argued that the treatments their children receive are medically necessary.

The Parent Plaintiffs claim that any disruption in their childrens care, whether it is the care they are currently receiving or the care they intend to seek in the future, would have devastating effects on their mental health, possibly including self-harm and suicide, wrote Burke in the ruling. Ultimately, the Plaintiffs have the burden to prove the allegations in their complaint.

His ruling concluded that because the plaintiffs have centered their case on the argument that injury and emotional distress would be caused by a lack of treatment, psychotherapist-patient privilege has been effectively waived.

The judge noted one parents testimony that if April had to go through male puberty that she would attempt to harm herself and that her mental health would decline.

In their response to the defendants initial request for medical records, plaintiffs stated that such records are protected and confidential medical information. They also argued that, under the new law, evidence that such treatments have been offered in the state could possibly lead to criminal charges.

Over 20 medical organizations have filed briefs in support of the plaintiffs claims that the treatments are essential medical care, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Burke noted that all records that are turned over must be confidential. Both parties entered into a protective order in July that restricts use and access to any childrens personal health information.
An ancient beaver fossil discovered by University of Texas researchers has been named after Buc-ees, the Texas- based convenience store chain that also has several travel centers in Alabama.

Buc-ees is known for its beaver mascot.

The lead author of a scientific journal article about the discovery said a Buc-ees billboard inspired the name for the newly discovered species, called Anchitheriomys buceei, or A. buceei for short.

Steve May, a research associate at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences, said he was inspired by a Buc-ees billboard.

This is Beaver Country, the billboard said.

I thought, Yeah, it is beaver country, and it has been for millions of years, May said.

May was the lead author of a paper that describes A. buccei in the journal Palaeontologia Electrictronica, with an overview of beavers on the Texas Gulf Coast from 15 to 22 million ago based on fossils in the University of Texas collections.

The University of Texas has A. buceei fossils from six Texas sites, most importantly a new beaver fossil that includes a partial skull from Burkeville, Texas. The fossil is a fusion of bone and brain cast that was created when sediment naturally seeped into the beavers brain cavity eons ago, creating a rock replica of the brain as the specimen fossilized.

High-resolution X-ray images of the skull done at the University of Texas helped May and Brown confirm that the skull belonged to a new species.

The skull was originally collected by a team of Texas paleontologists in 1941. One of them, Curtis Hesse, a museum curator at Texas A&M University, said in notes that he intended to name it a new species. However, Hesse died in 1945 before he could complete his study and publish his findings. Eighty years later, May and Brown, with the help of new technology and a better understanding of the fossil record of beavers, picked up where Hesse left off.

New discoveries in the field capture lots of attention, but equally as valuable are the discoveries made in existing museum collections, Brown said.

After hearing about the ancient beaver named after his business, the founder and CEO of Buc-ees, Arch Beaver Aplin III, said that Buc-ees has a longer history in Texas than he initially thought.

Buc-ees was founded in 1982, but we may need to rethink our beginnings, he said.

Buc-ees has three Alabama locations, in Robertsdale, Leeds and Athens, with a fourth expected to open in Auburn next month.
Daniel Radcliffe and his partner of ten years, Erin Darke, are expecting their first child

The extremely private pair did not publicly announce the joyful news

Social media was overwhelmed with words of congratulations for the couple

Daniel Radcliffe and his partner Erin Darke are expecting their first child. Radcliffe's spokesman, Scott Boute, revealed that the longtime couple is "expecting their first child."

After initially meeting while filming the 2013 drama 'Kill Your Darlings,' the 'Harry Potter' actor and Darke have been dating for a decade. Later, in 2016, Radcliffe and Darke reconnected on the set of the film 'Don't Think Twice,' and Darke has since starred in many episodes of Radcliffe's TBS comedy series 'Miracle Workers.'

Daniel Radcliffe Expecting First Baby

Radcliffe told Newsweek in 2022 while promoting 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,' that he is open to exposing his children to the enchantment of movie sets. In 2001, the actor rose to international fame as a kid after starring as the eponymous wizard in the 'Harry Potter' film franchise based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling books.

The actor told People in 2022 that he and Darke enjoy a "really nice life" and that he is grateful for many things.

Per Daily Mail, the revelation comes only a day after the two had a loved-up stroll in New York, with Erin Darke, 38, photographed sporting a significantly rounded belly. As they bundled up against the cold, the parents-to-be exhibited a relaxed demeanor.

Daniel Radcliffe donned a blue padded jacket over dark trousers and navy blue sneakers, along with a bright yellow and blue striped bobble cap for a pop of color. Darke sported a checkered coat over a black zip-up hoodie, black leggings, and orange boots.

Radcliffe told People about the first time he met Erin Darke in 2020, stating, "It'll be a hell of a tale to tell our kids one day because of what our characters do with one other," referring to a sex scene in the film.

Read Also: Is TikTok Banned in China?

Fans Congratulate the 'Harry Potter' Actor

Daniel Radcliffe is most known for his role as Harry Potter in the Harry Potter film series, while Erin Darke has been in Still Alice, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Good Girls Revolt. The duo shared the screen again in 2021 in a short episode of The Miracle Workers, and they haven't ruled out acting together again.

Daniel stated, "We met on film, so working on Miracle Workers with her last year was meaningful and felt wonderful."

Being extremely reserved, the pair lives together in New York City but seldom appears in professional settings. His co-star Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, became a father in May 2020 when Georgia Groom gave birth to a daughter.

Daniel Radcliffe discussed becoming a parent while revealing on See What Happens Live that he contacted his friend Rupert, 34, his congrats.

The news delighted Harry Potter fans, who went to Twitter to congratulate the couple. These are a few of their reactions:

Harry Potter is going to be a real dad!! Yes, Daniel Radcliffe and his long time girlfriend Erin Darke are going to have a baby.  Will they name him Harry? Or maybe Hermione? Who knows, but congratulations!! https://t.co/pBmVZHQNUx  George Brodermann  #Ukraine (@gbrodermann) March 26, 2023

According to the

BBC News website,

Daniel Radcliffe

is going to have a baby!



Is there no end to his wizardry? https://t.co/Or1q0V07KB  Cosmic Landmine (@cosmiclandmine) March 26, 2023

Daniel Radcliffe in the delivery room if he has a male baby pic.twitter.com/MKCCQwMvnP  abi  (@hxrrop) March 26, 2023

Me learning Daniel Radcliffes girlfriend is pregnant pic.twitter.com/N4sgEu9jJb  stephepime (@stephepime) March 27, 2023

Related Article: Olivia Wilde Monthly Income Revealed

@YouTube

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By JONATHAN MATTISE and TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  A female shooter wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday in what marks the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

The suspect also died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. Police said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, after initially saying she appeared to be in her teens.

Authorities were working to identify her and whether she had a connection to the school.

The killings come as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

President Joe Biden was scheduled to address the Nashville shooting on Monday afternoon.

The tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received the initial call about an active shooter at 10:13 a.m.

Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news briefing.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10:27 a.m., Aaron said. He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

The Covenant Schools victims were pronounced dead at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. One officer had a hand wound from cut glass.

Other students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Mayor John Cooper wrote on Twitter. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.

Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens and fire trucks blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. And right now, its real.

On WTVF TV, reporter Hannah McDonald said that her mother-in-law works at the front desk at The Covenant School. The woman had stepped outside for a break Monday morning and was coming back when she heard gunshots, McDonald said during a live broadcast. The reporter said she has not been able to speak with her mother-in-law but said her husband had.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website. The school is located in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, situated close to the citys top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers.

The grade school has 33 teachers, the website said. The schools website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

Top legislative leaders announced Monday that the GOP-dominant Statehouse would meet briefly later in the evening and delay taking up any legislation.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee said he was closely monitoring the situation, while Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy.

I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there, Freeman said in a statement. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.

Nashville has seen its share of mass violence in recent years.

On Christmas Day 2020, a recreational vehicle was intentionally detonated in the heart of Music Citys historic downtown, killing the bomber, injuring three others and forcing more than 60 businesses to close.

A man shot and killed four people at a Nashville Waffle House in April 2018. He was sentenced in February 2022 to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

In September 2017, a masked gunman opened fire at the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, walking silently down the aisle as he shot unsuspecting congregants. One person was killed and seven others were wounded. The gunman was sentenced in 2019 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Alabama Department of Corrections plans to enter a contract with a mental hospital to provide in-patient care for inmates.

The treatment will be in addition to the medical and mental health care the ADOC provides inside state prisons under another contract. It will be for patients whose mental illness requires more intensive treatment than is offered in prisons. The ADOC has requested proposals from companies that want to compete for the work. The ADOC wants a hospital with bed space for 10 inmates and the capability of adding five more.

The request for proposals (RFP) says: The ADOC possesses a constitutional duty to provide healthcare services to inmates in its custody. The ADOC has contracted with a third party to provide comprehensive healthcare services, including mental health services to inmates housed within its facilities. From time to time, an inmate is identified by the mental health care staff as needing advanced inpatient mental health care in a hospitalized setting, which is beyond the scope of the services provided by the third-party healthcare provider.

The contract is related to a federal lawsuit over mental health care in Alabama prisons. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled in 2017 after a non-jury trial that care fell short of standards required by the Constitution. One of the judges findings was that the prison system did not provide hospital-level care for prisoners who needed it. Since then, attorneys representing the ADOC and attorneys who represent inmates have negotiated on improvements in care, such as increasing the mental health staff, under the supervision of the court.

The RFP says inmate-patients must have mental health care teams of qualified professionals that include a psychiatrist. Inmate-patients must have individualized treatment plans.

Companies must send in their proposals by April 20. The proposals will be opened on April 21. The ADOC plans to begin using the services on October 1. The contract will be for two years, with options for renewal up to a total of five years.
A landfill fire is still burning underground after more than three months, about 15 miles from Birmingham.

Theres a lot less smoke now, but for months the grey plumes blanketed nearby residents with hazardous amounts of smoke, driving some from their homes, giving rise to claims of health problems and property damage in the cities of Moody and Trussville.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took over on Jan. 18 and brought in 2,599 truckloads of dirt to smother the blaze. The agency says it is still finding isolated plumes of smoke that escape from the pile, but their work is nearing completion. The EPA is now spreading grass seed to create a permanent cover over the fire site.

But before the EPA arrived, the landfill burned for nearly two months as state, local and federal officials debated who had the authority and responsibility to do something about the fire.

State officials spent all of December and most of January trying to figure out how to put out the fire and how to tamp down the growing anger from nearby residents over the mess.

It was, as one official put it: a failure.

Government failed those people that live in that area of keeping them safe, said Sen. Lance Bell, R  Pell City, who represents the area around the fire.

Bell was elected to his seat in November, just weeks before the fire started and spent most of his first weeks in office trying to get someone  the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the Alabama Legislature, Gov. Kay Ivey, the EPA  to do something.

A fire at an environmental landfill near Birmingham, Ala. began on Nov. 25, local fire fighters say. (Photos courtesy Moody Fire Department)Moody Fire Department

For weeks, state agencies and local governments debated who should be in charge.

The state last month gathered some of those government and emergency response agencies to examine the states response to the fire. The group is asked to look into whether more regulations or law changes are needed to allow the state to better respond to any future incident like this.

Weve got to look from a regulatory standpoint, the legislature, on how we look at our laws, do we need to do something different? Bell said. Do we need to tweak some laws? Because this is an unregulated landfill thats operated for many years.

Here are a few places they could start:

Alabama failed to regulate the landfill before the fire

The Environmental Landfill, Inc. was facing problems long before it caught on fire.

ELI was a green waste landfill, supposed to take in natural materials like trees, limbs, brush and the like.

However, since 2013, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management received seven complaints of illegal dumping at the site, and ADEM inspectors found violations on at least six different occasions.

RELATED CONTENT: See the full timeline of all inspections of Environmental Landfill, Inc.

Those violations included numerous instances of finding scrap tires at the site, as well as construction/demolition waste, household waste, electronics, appliances, auto parts, junked vehicles, and petroleum-stained soil.

Alabama regulators reported finding electronics, auto parts, scrap tires and more during a July 31, 2017 inspection of the Environmental Landfill, Inc. near Moody Ala.Alabama Department of Environmental Management

ADEM inspectors noted on eight separate occasions that the site represented a fire hazard.

Yet, nothing was done to address the fire hazard.

ADEM records show no fines or penalties assessed to the owners or operators of the landfill. After receiving the violation notices, they sent receipts to ADEM to show that unauthorized waste had been hauled off to a landfill that was authorized to handle the material. Once the owners hauled away more than 12 tons of unauthorized waste.

The cycle repeated itself at least three times. ADEM would receive a complaint and inspect the site. ADEM would find illegally dumped materials. The operators would say theyd removed the materials, and ADEM would close the complaint.

In 2013, the landfill operators told ADEM that they put in a security camera to deter illegal dumping.

But during a 2018 inspection, ADEM found that the operators had attempted to hide unauthorized waste under tree cuttings.

From 2019 to 2021 the landfill removed at least 50 tons of material from the site in response to ADEMs notice of violations.

On Aug. 10, 2022  the last time the site was inspected before the fire  ADEM found very little unauthorized waste, but the operator told the inspector that there was still improper material buried in the landfill. He said he planned to remove it over the next 18 months.

No available public records show whether that process started before the fire. The owners and operators of the landfill declined requests to comment.

Yet ADEM Director Lance LeFleur LeFleur told AL.com after the blaze started that ADEM had no reason to believe there was unauthorized waste at the site.

A truck unloads improper construction waste during an inspection by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management on July 31, 2017.Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Progress reports from ADEM employees and EPA personnel on efforts to smother the fire both note finding solid waste and scrap tires at the site. The EPA has identified roughly two truckloads of improper waste that has been pulled aside and will be hauled to a different landfill.

ADEM says it cant regulate green landfills

Could ADEM have done more to address the situation before the blaze?

LeFleur, the agency director, says no.

In the press conference announcing the working group, LeFleur said ADEM was specifically prevented from regulating vegetative waste, by state law.

Not everyone agrees with that interpretation.

Environmental attorney David Ludder, who previously worked at ADEM as its general counsel, said he believes that ADEM has both the ability and duty to regulate landfills like the one in question.

In my opinion, the department has sufficient statutory authority today to have regulated the Environmental Landfill site as well as other green waste disposal sites, Ludder told the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, which oversees ADEM, at its February meeting.

Ludder said that the statute does not exclude vegetative waste, as the department contends.

The question comes down to the exact language of Alabamas solid waste law.

Under Alabama law, wood yard trimmings, leaves and similar materials are considered combustible rubbish. Rubbish is included in the definition of solid waste, just like household trash. Solid waste, and the landfills that accept them, are regulated by ADEM.

However, waste from silviculture, or tree farming, is specifically excluded from the definition of solid waste, ADEM said.

ADEM associate general counsel Chris Sasser said in response to Ludders presentation that the waste from silviculture operations would include limbs, logs, stumps and associated vegetation like what was in the landfill.

Theres no practical way to tell where this waste comes from once its disposed, Sasser said. A limb is a limb is a limb. And so also theres no rational basis to treat this kind of waste, from different places, differently.

LeFleur also told AL.com that regulating green waste could create a very slippery slope of unintended consequences if the department is required to regulate natural products.

Michael Hansen, executive director of Birmingham-based environmental group GASP, said he also believes that ADEM already has the authority to regulate these green waste landfills, but that the agency may not have the resources it would need to do so.

Corporate-friendly politicians have essentially defunded ADEM for years, Hansen said. According to their own statements, the agency lacks the people power, money, expertise, and equipment to respond in a timely way to situations like what happened in Moody.

The state needs to provide significantly more resources to ADEM to prevent future public health crises and respond better if and when they do occur.

LeFleur said ADEM does not know how many green waste landfills there are in the state, as they are not currently required to register with ADEM.

Why air pockets fueled the flames

Because these green landfills are unregulated, the operators werent required to compact and cover the waste like a regulated landfill would. This left the massive waste pile full of air gaps that allowed the fire to take hold and burn for so long.

View of the landfill from an adjoining property from an inspection on March 13, 2018. The waste pile was very high when a fire started on Nov. 25, 2022.Alabama Department of Environmental Management

When EPA contractors arrived to put out the fire, one of the primary tasks was grading the landfill and trying to eliminate these air pockets, and the places where the waste pile had collapsed down during the fire.

We dont want any void spaces within the landfill itself, said EPA on-scene coordinator Terry Stilman. We had to fill in those collapsed areas, which means not just filling it, but also digging out the collapsed area and properly compacting it.

Ludder said he is concerned about the number of other green waste landfills in Alabama that may be fire hazards.

If the surface [of a landfill] catches fire, the layers of cover below that are supposed to prevent fires from progressing downward, Ludder said. Construction and demolition debris landfills also have to be covered periodically, and again, one of its purposes is to prevent fire.

So we have an issue with how many landfills are there, green waste landfills, are there out there that have no protection against fire? And we think that the department has ample authority to regulate and the commission has ample authority to adopt rules governing the regulation of these type landfills.

TOMORROW: See part two of this story, how the state foundered in its response to the fire once it started and why it took so long to get the EPA to take over.
For more than three months, a fire burned mostly underground at a landfill wedged into a ravine about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham.

The landfill was supposed to accept only green waste, such as trees or vegetation, yet numerous inspections by Alabama regulators showed unauthorized material such as scrap tires, construction waste, electronics and appliances.

Here is a complete timeline of events at the Environmental Landfill, from the first complaint filed with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in 2013 up through when the federal government stepped in to smother the blaze in 2023.

Jan. 9, 2013  ADEM receives complaint alleging that the site run by Environmental Landfill, Inc., is being operated as an unauthorized dump.

Feb. 26, 2013  ADEM inspects the site and finds only multiple piles of tree cuttings and vegetative debris. Inspector notes that no action will be taken.

Nov. 1, 2013  ADEM receives second complaint.

Nov. 21, 2013  ADEM inspects again, this time finding construction and demolition waste, as well as scrap tires and scrap tire materials dumped and partially covered on the rear of the property.

ADEM inspector notes that unauthorized material may have been hidden from view during [the] prior inspection and that [t]he site appears to be a potential fire hazard due to the presence of a smoldering area not far from regulated waste.

ADEM issues a Notice of Violation to Scott Russell, then the owner of the property and a principal shareholder of ELI. The department cites him for operating an unauthorized dump, writing [t]he disposal site does not meet the minimum requirements for a landfill unit, has not obtained a landfill permit from the department, and therefore is an unauthorized dump.

SEE ALSO: How Alabama ignored warning signs at the Moody landfill before it caught fire

Dec. 5, 2013  Amy Rich, sister of Scott Russell, responds to ADEM via email with receipts showing that approximately 2.24 tons of improper material had been removed from the property.

Dec. 26, 2013  Rich tells ADEM that the landfill has taken steps to prevent unauthorized dumping, including installing a security camera and a locked ticket box.

Jan. 2014  ADEM responds that it considers the unauthorized dump to be closed.

June 27, 2014  ADEM receives complaint alleging the landfill is accepting scrap tires, scrap metal and oil in the dirt.

Sept. 8, 2014  ADEM inspects the site, finding unauthorized materials, including treated power poles, household trash, scrap tires, etc. No further action is documented by ADEM after this inspection.

May 25, 2017  ADEM receives fourth complaint.

July 31, 2017 ADEM again inspects, finding construction and demolition waste, household waste, appliances, scrap tires and scrap tire materials, electronics, scrap metal, and auto parts. The inspector notes that petroleum has contaminated the soil.

ADEM states that the site represents a fire hazard, due to the lack of availability of adequate water, location/composition of tire piles. The department issues another notice of violation, ordering Russell to submit a clean-up plan for the site within 30 days.

Alabama finds improper construction/demolition waste, as well as asphalt shingles, electronics, scrap tires, auto parts and petroleum contaminated soil at the Environmental Landfill, Inc. near Moody, Ala. on July 31, 2017.Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Dec. 14, 2017  ADEM sends certified letter to Russell stating that he has not responded to the previous notice of violations and to immediately submit a plan.

Jan. 9, 2018  Carol Russell responds to ADEM, stating that the landfill installed new signs to show what is acceptable and unacceptable waste, updated its security cameras and reminded all of our customers that under no circumstances are they be allowed to bring in any type of unacceptable materials.

Russell provides photos and receipts showing that in September the Environmental Landfill, Inc. sent 6.18 tons of unauthorized material to an appropriate landfill.

March 13, 2018  ADEM conducts a follow-up inspection, finding construction and demolition waste, household waste, appliances, and scrap tires and scrap tire materials.

ADEM investigator notes [t]he operators of the site have attempted to hide waste previously dumped by placing tree cutting waste along the access road and on top of the dump areas.

Also on March 13, ADEM receives a complaint alleging that the landfill burned waste the night before. The inspection finds no evidence of a burn site.

Inspection photo from the Environmental Landfill, Inc. taken March 13, 2018.Alabama Department of Environmental Management

April 6, 2018  ADEM conducts another follow-up inspection, noting that the waste found in the previous inspection remained on the site.

No further ADEM action is documented for more than a year.

April 11, 2019  ADEM again inspects the site, finding construction/demolition waste and abandoned vehicles.

Aug. 21, 2019  Another ADEM inspection at the site finds construction/demolition waste, appliances, household waste and scrap tires.

The inspector notes that he met with representatives of the landfill to view the property and identify areas of concern that had been observed during previous inspections.

After this meeting, ELI begins removing large amounts of waste from its disposal area and sending it to other landfills. The receipts for these transfers are sent to ADEM in December 2021.

Sept. 17, 2019 - ELI sends 10.47 tons of waste to another landfill.

Dec. 27, 2019 - ELI sends 11.51 tons of waste to the Star Ridge Landfill, nearby in Moody.

Feb. 6, 2020 - ELI sends 3.94 tons of waste to the Star Ridge Landfill.

Dec. 2, 2020  ADEM inspects the site, finding construction and demolition waste, household waste, appliances and scrap tires. The inspector again notes that the site is a fire hazard.

Jan. 4, 2021  ELI sends 12.93 tons of waste to the Star Ridge Landfill.

March 29, 2021  ELI sends 8.13 tons of waste to the Star Ridge Landfill.

Oct. 6, 2021  A landfill representative emails before-and-after photos to ADEM, showing an area where improper waste, including creosote-coated utility poles and broken pallets, has been cleared and sent to appropriate landfills. The email includes a receipt from the Star Ridge Landfill.

August 10, 2022  ADEM inspects the site, finding very little unauthorized construction waste. However, the landfill operator tells the ADEM inspector that there is still improper material buried throughout the property and that he plans to remove it within the next 18 months.

Nov. 25, 2022 The fire starts. The Moody Fire Department responds to the first call reporting the fire on Black Friday around 7:45 a.m. Though the fire is in unincorporated St. Clair County, the Moody department is the nearest fire agency.

Moody Fire Department describes the burning waste pile as up to 25 acres in size, comprised of many layers of dead and decaying trees and other matter loosely covered with dirt. The waste pile is estimated to be 100-150 feet deep in some places.

A fire at an environmental landfill near Birmingham, Ala. has been burning at least since Nov. 25, local fire fighters say. (Photos courtesy Moody Fire Department)Moody Fire Department

Nov. to Dec. 2022  The Moody Fire Department and Alabama Forestry Commission work to contain the fire by clearing the land around the burning pile of refuse. Nearby residents begin complaining of breathing ailments due to the smoke, complaints which will continue for several weeks.

Agencies responding to the fire are in a state of confusion about who is responsible for making decisions about how to put out the fire and who should pay the costs.

Dec. 21, 2022  Nearby residents who say they are experiencing health problems from the smoke file a class-action lawsuit against the owners and operators of the landfill.

Dec. 22, 2022  ADEM issues a statement saying the Moody Fire Department is acting as the lead responder. ADEM also says nearby residents may wish to limit their time outdoors, consider purchasing high-efficiency air filters and seal off air gaps in their homes.

Dec. 29, 2022  ADEM says they are acting only in an advisory capacity and that it will be up to the St. Clair County Commission to hire a contractor to put out the fire.

Jan. 3, 2023  The St. Clair County Commission holds an emergency meeting and passes a resolution declaring the existence of emergency conditions. The county urges Gov. Kay Ivey to declare a state of emergency and asks the state or federal government for help.

Also on Jan. 3, the Trussville City School System announces it will limit students outdoor activities.

Fire continues to burn at the Environmental Landfill, Inc. dumping ground in St. Clair County, Alabama on January 5, 2023. The fire was first reported on Nov. 25, 2022.Patrick Greenfield, AL.com

Jan. 6, 2023  ADEM Director Lance LeFleur tells AL.com his agency has gone above and beyond what they are legally required to do in responding to the blaze. LeFleur states that ADEM has no reason to believe that anything other than wood or natural products are burning in the fire.

Jan. 10, 2023  Confusion continues about who is in charge of putting out the landfill fire. During a regular St. Clair County Commission meeting, officials say they are reviewing proposals from six different contractors to put out the fire, but that they believe the state and Gov. Kay Ivey will make the ultimate decision.

Jan. 18, 2023  Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey declares a state of emergency and requests EPA assistance in putting out the fire.

Jan. 19, 2023  An EPA emergency response team arrives to take over operations at the fire site. The EPA says that it assumed responsibility for the fire after air samples taken in the first week of January showed high levels of four potentially hazardous chemicals.

Jan. 20, 2023 The EPA begins its plan to put out the fire by smothering it with dirt and approves a budget ceiling of $2.8 million for the project. The agency also sets up additional air monitors at the fire site and nearby homes.

Jan. 27, 2023  The EPA reports that air quality has improved since the agency began smothering the blaze with truckloads of dirt. An ADEM observer reports that EPA is bringing in about 8 dump trucks of dirt per hour.

Jan. 30, 2023  EPA contractor reports it has brought in more than 500 dump truck loads of dirt to the site. ADEM inspector notes that the EPA contractor found scrap tires.

Jan. 31, 2023  EPA contractor continues to grade the site and add fill dirt to smother the blaze. ADEM notes that unauthorized waste, including dimensional lumber and scrap tires are being set aside for proper disposal.

Contractors working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency work to put out a fire at an Alabama landfill on Wed., Feb. 1, 2023.Dennis Pillion

Feb. 4, 2023  ADEM officials say water samples taken upstream and downstream of the fire show no discernible impact.

Feb. 10, 2023  EPA estimates half of the site has been graded and covered and that the rest of the operation will take about three weeks.

Feb. 15, 2023  Environmental group Cahaba Riverkeeper publishes water sample results taken just outside the landfill that show massively elevated levels of manmade PFAS chemicals. ADEM Director Lance LeFleur responds that PFAS is widely found in water bodies throughout the state and [m]easuring the level of PFAS at the Moody fire site serves no purpose.

Feb. 17, 2023  The EPA takes down one of its four air monitoring stations due to better containment of the fire and a reduction in smoke leaving the landfill site.

Feb. 22, 2023  The EPA estimates that 55% of the landfill has been graded and covered using 1,454 dump truck loads full of dirt. Contractors begin working on the northern face of the landfill, which includes a deep ravine and smoldering waste material.

March 24, 2023  The EPA has deposited 2,599 truckloads of dirt on the old landfill site. Much of the work is completed, with only isolated, small plumes of smoke escaping from a few hotspots. Most of the site has been graded, covered, and planted with grass seed. The EPA expects to hand over the site to state and local authorities in April.
Four days after an opinion column in The Washington Post indicated President Joe Biden was leaning toward keeping U.S. Space Command in Colorado, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville fired back with his own opinion.

The Post published an op/ed from Tuberville on Monday and the senator repeated his arguments that Redstone Arsenal has been determined to be the best site. In the columns penultimate sentence, Tuberville  a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump  referred to Biden as Mr. Biden and not as President Biden.

The militarys decision to place the Space Command at Redstone Arsenal is what is best for national security and for taxpayers, Tuberville wrote. If Mr. Biden overrules the Air Force, it will be Washington at its worst  a president putting politics above plain facts. The Space Command belongs in the Rocket City.

A opinion piece from Post columnist David Ignatius, published last Thursday, said that the White House appears ready to reverse a Trump administration plan to relocate the U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Ala., because it fears the transfer would disrupt operations at a time when space is increasingly important to the military.

Numerous reviews and evaluations have identified Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville as the best permanent location for Space Command but its start-up home at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs may have its greatest momentum for keeping the command since the evaluation process started.

Despite assessments of potential sites for Space Command that put Redstone Arsenal at the top of the list, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced earlier this month that additional reviews were underway.

We dont know the direction that theyre going to go in, Tuberville said earlier this month when asked about the additional reviews and if it portended bad news for Redstone.

The senator said that Redstone passed all the reviews with flying colors and added, Then it seems to be almost, We want another review, Tuberville said. I mean, I dont know what else they can review. (Redstone is) by far the best place.

In his op/ed, Tuberville also disagreed with the perspective by Ignatius that Redstone was chosen based on politics.

The op-ed claimed that President Donald Trump chose Huntsville for political reasons, Tuberville wrote. In fact, the Air Force secretary made the decision, which was confirmed by the acting defense secretary and finalized by the president.

The pick  Huntsville  was based on the facts.

Tuberville cited assessments by the Air Force and reviews by the Department of Defense Inspector General and Government Accountability Office as affirming Redstone as the best location.

Also Monday, Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, voiced bipartisan support for Space Command at Redstone.

As Minority Leader of the Alabama House of Representatives, I join with Alabama leaders from both sides of the aisle as they stand with those independent experts who came to the merit-based decision that Huntsville offers a world-class workforce, culture of innovation, and track record of success to meet the ever-changing needs of our military, Daniels said in a statement.

Elected leaders in Alabama responded in a chorus of support last Friday for Space Command at Redstone Arsenal, including an op/ed from Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.

Gov. Kay Ivey also said she had no concerns over the prospect of Space Command not coming to Huntsville.

I dont have any, she said. Weve passed every review. Weve been at the top of every review thats been done. And so its clearly been decided its coming to Alabama. Were proud to have it.
A 5-year-old boy was fatally shot while sitting in a parked vehicle in Selma over the weekend.

The shooting happened at 12:24 p.m. Saturday on Dallas Avenue at Valley Creek Apartments. Selma police were dispatched to the complex on a report of gunfire.

When they arrived, they found the boy had been in a parked vehicle when the gunfire erupted. He was taken to Vaughan Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities are not releasing his name because of his age.

One other person was injured in the shooting, but additional details have not been released.

No arrests have been announced. Central Alabama Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the identification and arrest of a suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call Selma police at 334- 874-2125, the Dallas County District Attorneys Office at 334-874-2540 or Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP (7867) or 1-833-AL1-STOP (251-7867). Tips can also be submitted through Crime Stoppers P3-tips app.
A 79-year-old Alabama man has been named the recipient of a national heroism award after he stopped an active shooter who killed three people at a potluck dinner at a Vestavia Hills church last year.

James W. Jim Musgrove will receive the Carnegie Medal for his actions at St. Stephens Episcopal Church on June 16, 2022.

Musgrove, a retired investigator, is one of 15 people receiving the highest civilian honor for heroism. The award is given to people who risk themselves to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

Three people were killed in the shooting: Walter Bart Rainey, 84, of Irondale; Sarah Yeager, 75, of Pelham; and Jane Pounds, 84.

Jane Pounds, left, Bart Rainey, center and Sarah Sharon Yeager, right. (Contributed)

Robert Findlay Smith, 71, is charged with capital murder. A trial date has not yet been set.

Police responded that Thursday to the church on a report of an active shooter. It happened during a Boomers Potluck dinner that started at 5 p.m. at the church.

There were about 25 people at the dinner in the parish hall including Smith, who had previously attended the church and at least one of the potluck dinners.

Smith was sitting alone, and a longtime church member approached him and invited him to sit at a table. He identified himself to victim Rainey only as Mr. Smith and refused to join them.

Here is our full coverage of the case.

Smith then pulled out a handgun and shot three people.

Musgrove, a church member, did not hesitate to subdue the shooter. The retired investigator lifted a banquet chair and held it in front of him like a shield and ran toward the assailant.

Musgrove released the chair and grabbed the assailants hand holding the gun and forced him to drop it. Holding the back of Smiths neck, Musgrove retrieved the gun and struck the assailant until he was subdued.

He, along with another church member, restrained the assailant until police arrived.

Robert Findlay Smith (Jefferson County Jail)

Among the 15 receiving the national award are four passersby who entered unfamiliar burning homes to save their occupants, a man who was shot and paralyzed from the waist-down while attempting to save a store clerk from an armed assailant, and a father who drowned saving his toddler.

Among those saved by the recipients were four children, a 61-year-old man who was trapped in his wheelchair in the basement apartment of a burning building, a 97-year-old woman who could not unlock her front door to escape flames in her burning home and the room full of senior citizen churchgoers attending at the St. Stephens potluck dinner.

Each of the recipients or their survivors will receive a financial grant. Throughout the 119 years since the fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, more than $44 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.
Firefighters responding to a blaze at an Ensley home early Monday found a woman partially hanging out of a window from where she had tried to escape.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service responded to the fire just before 1 a.m. at the residence in the 1000 block of 45th Street, said Battalion Chief Tobias Jones.

They arrived to find a fire in the kitchen that was quickly extinguished.

The crews also found a woman at the rear window. Jones said she was unresponsive and had cuts to her arms and hands from where she had broken the glass in an attempt to get out of the home.

Firefighters rushed her to UAB Hospital. She is in critical condition.

Jones said no other injuries were reported. The investigation into the fire is ongoing.
A Morgan County man killed Friday night after a storm trapped him under a trailer is being remembered by family and friends as a simple man who loved working on cars and took pride in his family.

First responders pulled Kenneth Dale Cooper from the wreckage, according to WAAY.

He was transported to the hospital where he later died, according to the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency. Cooper was 67 and lived in Hartselle.

Cooper is remembered as a great man that lived a simple life on a GoFundMe page set up by his family to raise money for funeral expenses.

He was just Daddy or Papa. He was a hard worker and put down many of the roads that we drive on today and he was so proud of his work, a tribute read. He wouldve been working to this day if he hadnt gotten hurt on the job. Unfortunately, Daddy was living off a fixed income at the time of his passing but would still give the shirt off his back to anyone in need or hurting.

He loved tinkering on cars or anything with an engine. Most of all Daddy prided himself in his legacies that he leaves behind. Daddys children and grandchildren were his whole world whether at the ball field or at home, the page states.

The storm hit Morgan County hard as it cut through the northern part of Alabama. Officials confirmed tornado sightings in Marion, Moulton, Hebron and Lauderdale County. Huntsville Hospital reportedly sustained damage.

Graveside services for Cooper are scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Aldridge Grove Cemetery.
Rescue crews are searching for one person who was in a vehicle that crashed into a creek while fleeing police this afternoon in Morgan County.

Decatur police said it all began when 911 dispatchers received a report of a robbery at Casa Santiago, a Mexican restaurant on Spring Avenue, just before 1 p.m.

Officers spotted a vehicle matching the description of the one that fled the robbery and tried to stop it along U.S. 31.

Acting on a description of the vehicle, Decatur polices patrol division attempted a stop, but a pursuit developed along U.S. 31 South.

During the chase, according to police, the driver of the vehicle lost control, crossed over the median and eventually ran into Flint Creek near Bowels Bridge Road, submerging the vehicle.

One of the vehicles occupants swam across the creek to shore and was detained there.

A second person was last seen struggling to stay afloat downstream and went under before those on the scene could render aid.

The Morgan County Rescue Squad and Decatur police are continuing to search for the person.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is conducting an investigation into the crash.
Taiwan and Honduras both announced that they were cutting ties

Honduras restores diplomatic relations with China on Sunday

Honduras has requested billions from Taiwan and compared its proposals to China

Honduras established diplomatic relations with China on Sunday after cutting ties with Taiwan, now only recognized by 13 sovereign governments.

China and Honduras' foreign ministers issued a joint declaration in Beijing, a move the Chinese Foreign Ministry lauded as "the right choice."

Honduras Establishes Ties with China

The diplomatic success for China comes at a time when tensions are rising between Beijing and the United States, especially over China's growing aggressiveness toward self-ruled Taiwan. It reflects China's expanding influence in South America. The Honduran and Taiwanese governments separately stated that they were terminating ties, and the new China-Honduras connection was proclaimed.

Since they separated during the civil conflict in 1949, China and Taiwan have been struggling for diplomatic recognition, with Beijing spending billions on promoting its "one China" policy.

China asserts that Taiwan is part of its territory, to be seized by force if necessary, and rejects most ties with nations that retain official connections with the island democracy. Per ABC News, it threatens countries with reprisal for just extending their relations.

According to China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang, establishing ties demonstrates that the "one China" policy is gaining hearts and is "the general trend." The Honduran Foreign Ministry tweeted that its government acknowledges "only one China in the world" and that Beijing "is the sole legal government that represents the entire Chinese people."

During a news conference on Sunday, Joseph Wu, Taiwan's foreign minister, stated that Taiwan cut ties with Honduras to "protect its sovereignty and dignity."

Wu stated that Honduran President Xiomara Castro and her staff had a "fantasy" about China and had brought up the possibility of altering relations before the 2021 Honduran presidential election.

Wu stated that Honduras had requested billions of dollars in help from Taiwan and contrasted its offers to those of China. Almost two weeks ago, he noted that the Honduran government asked Taiwan for $2.45 billion to build a hospital and a dam and eliminate debts.

Read Also: Is TikTok Banned in China?

Taiwan Slams China's Aim to Isolate Taipei

Wu also criticized China for what he described as its global drive to isolate Taiwan and urged Taiwan to increase its diplomatic space. Honduras's flip to Beijing was anticipated after President Xiomara Castro announced earlier this month that her administration would establish ties with China. Wednesday, the Honduran foreign minister flew to China for discussions, as per Telegraph via MSN.

Since Taiwanese President Tsai Tsai Ing-wen assumed office in 2016, Honduras has been the eighth ally to swap recognition. Although Taiwan's diplomatic allies are few, they can advocate for the island in international institutions, such as the United Nations, from which Taiwan is excluded due to Beijing's pressure.

Olivia Lin, a spokesperson for Taiwan's presidential office, stated that bilateral relations have endured for more than eight decades. Analysts have raised the ramifications of the newly created connections between China and Honduras. Graco Perez, a political analyst in Honduras, stated that Beijing's narrative will emphasize the advantages, including investment and job creation, "but it would all be an illusion."

China has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure projects in Latin America for decades. This investment has resulted in an increase in China's might and the number of its allies. In Honduras, it has taken the shape of the building of a hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras by the Chinese firm SINOHYDRO with over $300 million in Chinese government funding.

Per NBC News, Taiwan has ties with Latin American nations Belize, Paraguay, and Guatemala, as well as Vatican City. Most of its remaining partners are island states in the Caribbean and South Pacific, except for Eswatini, which is located in southern Africa.

On Wednesday, Tsai will embark on a 10-day trip that will include visits to Guatemala and Belize. Last week, Lin stated that her group would also stop in New York and Los Angeles. According to Taiwan's deputy foreign minister Alexander Yui, the goal of Tsai's travel is to demonstrate the island's relationship with the two Latin American nations.

Notwithstanding China's isolation strategy, Taiwan maintains strong informal relations with more than 100 other nations, the United States being the most significant. Taiwan and the United States do not have diplomatic ties, but the US has maintained that Taiwan is a vital partner in the Indo-Pacific.

Related Article: North Korea Tests Underwater Nuclear Drone

@YouTube

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An Alabama man is behind bars after an elderly woman was found crawling inside a Dothan home wearing nothing but an adult diaper.

On Friday, Dothan police responded to a report of possible elder abuse and neglect at a home in the 500 block of South Saint Andrews Street. The report was called in by the Houston County Department of Human Resources.

When officers arrived, the woman crawling around inside the residence wearing nothing but an adult diaper and asking for help.

Police said she had open wounds and multiple other medical conditions that had gone untreated. She was taken to the hospital where she was admitted and may have to undergo surgery for those open wounds.

It was awful, said Lt. Ronald Hall.

A 37-year-old adult relative, Jason Proctor, is charged with first-degree elder abuse and neglect. He is being held without bond in the Houston County Jail.
What? Youve never heard of the 3 Rs? Readin, Ritin and Raftin? - John Archibald tweet

Kyle Whitmire is on this issue like a leech. Here are a few excerpts from his column:

From afar, the Montgomery Whitewater rafting park under construction near Maxwell Air Force Base might look like a tourist attraction, but the county commission president there assures me its more than that.

Its an educational opportunity, too.

Related: Alabama governor sends education dollars to water park - al.com

Related: Alabamas massive education budget now includes money for World Games, airport, port - al.com

Related: Kay Ivey makin it rain on Alabama billion dollar prison plan - al.com

Theres going to be engineering opportunities out there for students, Montgomery County Commission Chairman Doug Singleton said when I spoke with him Friday. Opportunities for students, not only to have jobs but to learn about careers and have opportunities that they would never ever get to see.

In the last couple of days, Ive read almost every word written in the local press about the development, but this was the first Id heard of its educational offerings.

Mostly, previous accounts have focused on its unique whitewater rafting course  and its construction delays and cost overruns.

Read more: Ivey proposes 2% teacher pay raise in record $8.8 billion education budget

Read more: Ivey requests record state spending in General Fund budget

So far, though, the project  centered around one long rafting ride and financed with more than $50 million of public money from the city and county  has run behind schedule and run over budget.

But Singleton still supports it.

And now, if Gov. Kay Ivey has her way, you will too  with tax dollars from the Education Trust Fund.

This week, Ivey gave lawmakers her proposed budget for the $2 billion surplus in state education funds. At least $331 million of that money would go to projects and expenses unrelated to schools and teachers and classrooms.

Among those is $25 million for the Montgomery County Commission for economic development.

Gov. Kay Iveys office wont come out and say it, but they want Alabama lawmakers to approve using education dollars to build a waterpark or perhaps a hotel or restaurant next to it.

Ivey could have come clean from the start. If she thinks funding a struggling whitewater park is more important than education, she should make that clear instead of sneaking it into her budget.

Rather than shoot straight, Kay Ivey tried to take us for a ride.

Read all of Whitmires column here

True stories and stuff by JD Crowe

The mysterious Bubble Guy of Fairhope and the art of bubble Zen - al.com

How I met Dr. Seuss

Robert Plant head-butted me. Thanks, David Coverdale

I was ZZ Tops drummer for a night and got kidnapped by groupies

Check out more cartoons and stuff by JD Crowe

The crucifixion of Donald Trump - al.com

Kay Ivey makin it rain on Alabama billion dollar prison plan - al.com

When Nick Saban speaks, people hear the elephant in the room - al.com

When spring break meets snowbird season all bets and wet T-shirts are off - al.com

Great white shark crashes Alabama spring break party. What could go wrong? - al.com

If Tucker Carlson was your doctor ... - al.com

Red state Alabama taxes our breakfast, lunch and supper. Yall okay with that? - al.com

Eyes of the monster: Alex Murdaugh couldnt hide his lyin eyes - al.com

JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix.
Turkey says the door is open for Sweden to convince it through its actions

Their bid relies on the contract conditions they struck the previous year

Once security issues occur in Ankara, Stockholm's strategy will be determined

Turkey reminds Sweden that the door is open if they can convince Ankara to approve their NATO membership. The approval has been granted to Finland, but Stockholm's NATO bid has found a hitch.

Turkey's presidential spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin, suggested that Stockholm can proceed with or choose when the NATO membership path is completed. According to Anadolu Agency, he talked with the Turkish network NTV.

Turkey Says Sweden Has Lots to Do

He stated that with one exception, the new Swedish administration is attempting to carry out its agenda. Due to security concerns, TRT claimed that more legal means of accomplishing their objectives should be needed. There is anticipation that it will be completed within two months, along with further measures to settle worries over the PKK and FETO.

Since the signing of the pact, security has dominated Istanbul. In November last year, Sweden enacted its anti-terror statute to validate its desire to join the military bloc. This bill would permit Sweden to pursue terrorists and terrorist groups.

It was noted that both groups had submitted bids with a significant distinction. Finland is progressing in dealing with the PKK and Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), lifting restrictions on the defense sector, and incorporating Ankara in the PESCO of the European Union.

Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PESCO, is a component of the bloc's security and military strategy. Kalin deemed Helsinki's actions with the pact inked with Ankara as beneficial and preferable. The Turkish parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission approved on Thursday to accept of Finland's NATO request before Stockholm's.

When queried about the F-16 defense agreement at one point, the Turkish official said it benefits Ankara and NATO. Another question concerns Ankara's position on the Ukrainian crisis. Kalin stated that the United States is pushing for war in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is said that the objective is to lengthen it, not kill it, as per Head Topics.

Read Also: Swedish Parliament Discusses Anti-Terror Bill for NATO Bid Talks

Egypt and Turkey

Moreover, the rising battle will engulf the world, not just the area itself, citing the significance of Ankara's efforts to mediate peace in the conflict. The recent resumption of relations between Ankara and Cairo resulted from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's state visit.

The restoration of relations is vital for both nations. It will have a ripple effect throughout the Middle East, benefiting Palestine and Libya-a solid beginning for anti-terrorism efforts in the region.

In June, they signed a tripartite agreement emphasizing security, which triggered subsequent meetings to discuss how to satisfy the specified requirements. Ankara and Budapest have yet to approve the Nordic nations' applications. According to Turkey, Sweden has a long way to go before it can join NATO. Yet, Finland has a head start that has been noted.

Related Article: Finland Concludes NATO Bid Without Sweden
Hungary issued a pushback as Brussels and NATO have dissatisfaction with its behavior

Budapest says West's attempts of influencing its decisions are not welcome

The national affairs of Hungary were criticized because of supporting Russia

The Hungarian foreign minister has stated that the country is sick of western criticism. In an interview, Peter Szijjarto, the Hungarian foreign minister, noted that the West's criticism of democratic and cultural concerns in Hungary impedes collaboration, particularly regarding NATO and Russia.

In recent years, Budapest and Brussels have clashed on several topics. The ruling far-right Fidesz party was accused of adopting an authoritarian turn, squandering EU money, and compromising the bloc's strategy toward the Ukrainian conflict.

Hungarian FM Mocks West's Steady Criticism for Hungary

Szijjarto stated that Hungary has not voted to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO because Hungarian legislators are fed up with their interference in the country's internal affairs. The foreign minister stated that it took a lot of work to anticipate when Sweden's application for membership would be accepted.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Nordic duo submitted NATO membership applications. As per Euro News, they have struggled to be admitted thus far, as all 30 members must first consent. The European Union, comprised of 21 NATO members, has suspended billions of dollars in aid to Budapest, accusing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban of undermining media freedom and LGBT+ rights.

Meanwhile, his government has been criticized for permitting widespread corruption and co-opting public institutions. In a resolution, MEPs stated that under Orban, Hungary has become "a hybrid system of electoral autocracy," undermining the core ideals of the EU.

Such criticism made it difficult for Hungary to support the NATO membership applications of Finland and Sweden, according to Szijjarto. Skeptics assert that Hungary has only sought financial concessions. In response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Szijjato stated that his nation's commitment to peace did not entail enabling Russia to retain the land it now holds.

According to AP News, Szijjarto stated that ties with the United States peaked under former President Donald Trump. His administration had a more challenging time under President Joe Biden.

Szijjarto said in flawless, practically accent-free English that Hungary had an "obviously rightist, right-wing, Christian Democratic, conservative, patriotic administration." He then continued using terminology that was known to millions of Americans.

Read Also: Hungary Slams Sweden for Spreading Fake News Amidst NATO Bid

FM Compares Trump and Biden's Administration

Trump's approval of Hungary's actions toward its population was essential to developing this friendship. The government has prohibited distributing materials to children that promote or show homosexuality or gender transition.

Human rights groups and European lawmakers have criticized the bill as an attack on the LGBT community in Hungary. Szijjarto stated that Trump was more receptive to such measures than the administration of Biden.

He never sought to force his will on others. He never intended to force us to alter our perspective on the family. He never asked us to change our perspective on migration. He never asked us to vary our stance on social concerns, according to Szijjarto.

He said that Trump's stance toward Russia would be seen more favorably by some parties now. During Trump's presidency, Russia did not launch "any assault against anyone," according to Szijjarto.

Skeptics assert that Hungary was only attempting to make profitable concessions. In response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Szijjato stated that his nation's commitment to peace does not include enabling Russia to retain the land it presently holds.

In March, Orban stated that Hungary would remain neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and continue opposing sanctions detrimental to Budapest's interests. According to Local News, Hungary, which shares a border with Ukraine, approaches the conflict differently than the EU.

Hungary has barred supplies of armaments from its territory to Ukraine, made energy deals with Russia as far as Budapest, offered humanitarian help to Kyiv, and accepted many refugees.

Related Article: Hungarian PM Says Drain the Swamp Because of Current EU Upheaval

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Dear Generation Z gender warrior,

So you've realized that American culture has lost its mind when it comes to gender and sex. Welcome to the club.

The left's crusade to redefine sex and gender has spawned a new generation of dissenters. This new crop differs vastly from the libertarian Millennials who dominated the conservative movement before. Think of Chaya Raichik, the person behind "Libs of TikTok." The new social warriors are savvy about social media and committed to social issues that Republicans shied away from.

Since the USA is exporting its gender ideology as aggressively as the Soviets sought to graft their class ideology, those who resist American exceptionalism see matters more clearly. When criticizing Charlie Kirk, young critics blasted him for highlighting Trump's promotion of pro-sodomy laws in Africa. These strains depart from lazy generations like my own (I am in my fifties), which mindlessly invoked patriotism, supported "the troops," and recited anticommunist pieties steeped in American double-standards.

Whether they want advice from an aging "get off my lawn" crank or not, I'll offer a few words of encouragement and experience.

The Lost Generation of conservatives

First, let me explain where I am coming from. I entered the political fray with a wonderful career as a professor. I got tenure ten years ago in California. Because I spoke out on conservative issues, I lost it all. Without belaboring details, left-wing activists mercilessly shredded my career, and conservative Christians abandoned me en masse.

A lot of this reflected generational experience.

Many people my age wanted to protect the family unit because of how we grew up. As kids in the 1970s, we were raised in a largely divorced America. We did not have helicopter parents. Nor did many of us have dads who took us out fishing or moms who made lunch for us every day. The people who raised us maintained the tough love of earlier up-by-your-bootstraps generations, except that they neglected us, so we didn't have bootstraps. I heard someone describe us as "feral," and that's fair. Whenever I join '80s fan groups, I am struck with how rugged, tattooed, pierced, and crazy all the middle-aged profile pics look.

Generation X got squeezed: on our right, between the country-club Boomers and the frat-boy chic of the Millennials; on our left, between the pot-smoking hippies of our parents' world and the whining snowflakes of those fifteen years younger. If we aren't wild about legacy conservatism, that is partly due to the raw deal we got in our careers. Boomers refused to retire, so we got stuck in middle management at best, while the Millennials' cancel culture exploded underneath us.

We didn't have great conservative allegiances to choose from. The well heeled Reaganite orgs romanticized William F. Buckley and Phyllis Schlafly. We had no hope of resurrecting the wholesome domesticity on which such conservative visions depended. Economically, the men in my generation reeled from the collapse of wages beginning in the 1970s and the outpacing of income by the costs of health care, housing, and education. The breakdown of unions and shift to a service and information economy meant that we did not have the job security or basic means to support a stay-at-home wife and children. Saddled with debts and embattled by a family court system that threatened to destroy us if we got out of line, men in my generation could not fuse the capitalist and family ideals that Buckley and Schlafly took for granted.

Folks my age had some tension with Millennial conservatives like James O'Keefe, Ben Shapiro, and Charlie Kirk. These entrepreneurs adapted well to an internet economy. Their survival instincts allowed them to pivot, tweak, and rebrand as one cause became taboo and another took its place. One day, Trump is the worst person ever, and the next day, Trump is their best friend. One day, their whole movement is about exposing big-government socialism and forging alliances with LGBT celebrities to flex their coolness; the next day, they are economic populists and organizing flash mobs against Drag Queen Story Hour.

You will be happier if you don't trust the "movement"

The left's absurdity created a fertile market for common sense. Real money and fame await whoever reaches out to the disaffected masses. You can sell books and conference tickets. You can start a group and register for student activities funding. Maybe a wealthy person will donate to your cause.

Where there is a profit to be made, you will find profiteers and grifters. The bigger their grift, the less you should trust them.

In my fight against redefining marriage and parenthood, I worked with all the big conservative organizations, or at least interacted with them. True believers reveal their sincerity in how they treat comrades. Profiteers turn advocacy into an industry. This is what Steven Crowder has been exposing finally as "Conservative, Inc." Once it's all about profits, individual advocates (in other words, you) are products that can go in and out of style. You may be fashionable one day because of an article that went viral or a specific point in your personal story. When you're fashionable, you will attract the grifters, who will want to use you and then eventually transfer your funding and following to themselves.

By the time Trump became president, the grift grew so deep that grifters posed as anti-grifting, convincing donors and consumers that they fought a good fight against RINOs or Conservative, Inc. when they were in fact highly compromised, especially when it came to social issues. By now, when someone decries RINOs, a safe guess is that the person speaking is a RINO from top to bottom.

It is best not to judge Conservative, Inc., or complain about them, because their flaws and dominance will not change. The best tack is simply never to say or do anything that they pressure you to say, if it will compromise your reputation and relationships, or if it is not what you believe. Even if they come on strong and imply that they will support you in a coming backlash, navigate every discussion with the assumption that they won't be there to help you and may stop returning your calls altogether. Whatever risks you take are yours and yours alone.

Show special caution if conservative activists expect you to take positions that will strain relations with your kin. As someone who was repeatedly encouraged to deliver testimonials about my late mother, I mean that point with all my heart. Ultimately, in the eyes of Maggie Gallagher, Mark Regnerus, or Ryan Anderson, I am expendable, but in my eyes, the siblings and cousins who hated what I wrote are not expendable. I regret that at one point I became so focused on being a Stepford conservative that I overlooked important personal relationships. Denise McAllister once wisely told me, "Remember, you don't actually know any of these people, and they don't really care about you."

Be wary of wild goose chases: free-market capitalism, Critical Race Theory, Christian victimhood

Let's say for argument's sake that you think biological sex matters, families need the heterosexual model of mother and father, and children should not be groomed. Focus on that if that's your thing. Don't jump on other bandwagons, of which the conservative movement has an oversupply.

When I went to Politicon in 2018, "Socialism Sucks" was the trademark slogan for Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA. Some young people recruited into his organization told me I was a bigot for caring about natural law and traditional family roles. I sat on a stage next to a popular "conservative" radio host who stopped me when I spoke about gender roles and said, "I don't care. I'm just here to talk about low taxes and freedom from regulation."

Nearly every issue that conservative organizations bring up turns eventually into a call for small government, local control, free enterprise, low taxes, low liability, and the rest. This trend has a clear history going back to the Cold War. Wealthy corporate dynasties provided a lot of the seed money for conservative organizations. They built an intelligentsia based on Hayek, Friedman, and other staunch capitalists. During the Cold War, a massive Marxist empire worked internationally to undermine the United States. Ronald Reagan perfected the rhetoric to counter communism and had a successful presidency, so his rhetoric stuck.

Times changed. That original context no longer exists. It's wise to keep a safe distance from the right's capitalist messaging because capitalism does not care about social issues in the slightest, and neither do people whose primary political project is free markets.

Also, the right's economic philosophy remains deeply unpopular. We have to separate the Cold War context from realities facing American families. Obamacare was a disaster, but remember that the Democrats based it loosely on a model from Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation. The destructive parts of Obamacare came from its having been structured to simulate market competition in insurance rates while also forcing citizens to buy policies on the market. And let's not forget that when the vaccines first came out, sites like the Spectator called them "a victory for the free market."

The conservative message on health care, school lunches, student loan debts, public education, and evictions all amounts to "life's not fair, you suck, all the cool people don't have these problems." Regardless of social media censorship and ballot fraud, the running loop of "screw you, worthless loser!" explains why everything endorsed by mainstream conservative groups loses to liberal utopianism, no matter how wacky the latter gets.

Even worse is the enduring reality that capitalism does not square with sexual morality. Corporations know that sex sells. If we are going to "let the market decide," "let the people decide," "leave it to local communities," or "privatize the issue," we will get more porn, drag, sexual adventurism, and abortion. Avoiding the conservatives' fascination with capitalism does not only serve to protect your traditionalist message from toxically unpopular cliches  it keeps your message coherent.

The same cautionary note applies to some groups' obsessions with Critical Race Theory and Christian victimhood. I got involved in the debate on sex and sexuality because I had come out of childhood abuse and I felt that the LGBT community needed to deal with the abuse going on in its own backyard. My position on sex and sexuality had nothing to do with denying that racism exists in America. I did not set out to oppose students learning about oppression in history classes, or Christian business owners not wanting to bake cakes.

It is hard to steer clear of the racial and Christian angles because many people who agree with you on traditional gender roles happen to be Christian. Many of these groups tend to think of sexual mores in biblical terms, which they also equate to the white pilgrims who founded the United States. Their blending of the sexuality and race issues happened naturally as a reaction to the left's intersectionality, which falsely equated the Stonewall rebellion of 1969 and the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, Jr.

But if your main focus is traditional gender roles, resist the impulse to map your cause onto the racial and religious landscape. Debates about race will derail your discussion and will force many minorities who agree with you to distance themselves. Likewise, Christian organizations can turn any issue into selfish demands for tax breaks and protections for themselves while ignoring the larger costs to society.

Good luck!

I'll be watching you from a distance, since I'm an old retired soldier by now. My generation flopped. I hope yours doesn't. The Lord is faithful, so you'll always be in my prayers.

With love

The Gadfly

Image via Pxhere.
Over the past twenty years, the FBI has been tasked with finding out more about how to prevent mass shootings. The definition of "mass shooting" includes incidents where three or more people are killed, per federal statute definition.

Former FBI director James Comey was in charge of finding what  and who  led up to some renowned, rather horrific mass shootings, which included Sandy Hook (2012), San Bernardino (2015), and Las Vegas (2017). Comey was dismissed after four years by President Trump.

The shooting at Sandy Hook has been widely used as a prime example of the damage that most outlets and politicians tout as "gun violence." A November 2013 report issued by the Connecticut State Attorney's Office concluded that Adam Lanza acted alone and planned his actions but provided no indication why he did so, or why he targeted the school. A report issued by the Office of the Child Advocate in November 2014 said that Lanza had Asperger's syndrome and as a teenager had depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder but concluded that these conditions had "neither caused nor led to his murderous acts."

The FBI curiously made no headway into that, either. The FBI's gaping investigation holes include 1) a failure to investigate the ties to the treating psychiatrist of Adam Lanza and 2) the internal corruption of the Newtown Police Department with Operation Juice Box. In a nutshell, Operation Juice Box involved selling long guns and drugs, from China, directly from the Newtown police station in Connecticut.

It is important to note that although Comey was not director at that time, he certainly had the ability to, at the very least, disclose to the public his investigative findings into the corruption plaguing the Newtown Police Department prior to and in the aftermath of the mass shooting.

The FBI's and Comey's failure to disclose to the public the two above factors led to the passage of arguably the most unconstitutional legislation in American history, such as massive spending on what may be called a "mental health industrial complex" and a gun grab from the American people.

A theme throughout all mass shootings is prior FBI involvement with the mass shooter, chain of custody issues, and misinformation of facts given to the public. These appear to add up to an FBI culture of protecting the public/private billion-dollar behavioral health business our government engages in.

Comey also failed to speak publicly about critical data that he uncovered about Sandy Hook, allowing lawmakers to target gun manufacturers rather than the police corruption and psychiatric drug link to the treating psychiatrist of the shooter. AbleChild's work led to the arrest of Adam Lanza's treating psychiatrist by Homeland Security.

Adding insult to injury, the FBI didn't even protect the chain of custody of Adam Lanza's body. An employee of the chief medical examiner's office allowed a family member to view the body during the investigative process.

Let's now take the San Bernardino shooting as an example. The FBI under the direction of Comey failed with investigative work into the details in the San Bernardino mass shooters; who exactly hired Syed Farook for a critical public health safety position? Instead of focusing on an internal corruption cell within the government, Comey came to the microphones and warned the public not to "over-index" the fact that the FBI had prior contact with Farook prior to the mass murders. He didn't dispute the media's claim that as an employee, the shooter's motive came down to being forced to attend a Christmas party with coworkers. Comey's FBI crime scene also oddly wasn't protected after the initial search into the San Bernardino tragedy; the media were invited in, destroying the agency's ability to gather additional evidence.

In the Las Vegas shooting, Sheriff Joe Lombardo held a press conference on the release of the LVMPD Criminal Investigative Report of the October 1 Mass Casualty Shooting. He said the ten-month investigation had revealed no evidence of conspiracy or a second gunman, and that the gunman's motive had not been determined. Lombardo said, "[W]hat we have not been able to definitively answer is why Stephen Paddock committed this act." A report published by the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit in January 2019 said that "there was no single or clear motivating factor" for the shooting.

Cofounder of AbleChild Sheila Matthews asserts, "Jim Comey, the former FBI director, appears to have misled the public on these mass shootings  and failed to share basic facts that not only could have saved lives, but changed the course of legislation that impacts our rights and freedoms." She continued, "It is AbleChild's hope that federal hearings are held on the FBI role in mass shootings and evidence collection laws are protected and passed to stop inside agencies such as the FBI from protecting Big Pharma and their distribution partner the behavioral health industry that operates as our mental health system."

The FBI's continued failure to decipher key signals in mass shootings seems to point to a deliberate effort to cover for the billion-dollar behavioral health industry, which manages to obtain millions of dollars in state and federal funding after every single one of these mass murders. Critical evidence that most shooters have been found to be on a cocktail of psychiatric drugs magically disappears from the FBI investigations and findings.

After the Virginia Tech shooting, FBI behavioral health analyst supervisor Special Agent Mary Ellen O'Toole said, "There is no typical shooter. They don't fall within a set of traits and characteristics." She goes on to say that "there may not be a single thing that can be done to prevent a mission-oriented person from committing an act of violence." Really?

The bottom line is that the FBI enjoys a level of secrecy on so many levels. With this level of power, the Bureau has the ability to conceal toxicology reports and mental health treatment records that are pertinent to finding the actual common denominator that drive these "mission-oriented killings."

Why does the FBI not disclose each shooter's history of long-term mental health treatment? Is it because the public would question these treatments and possibly choose alternatives? Why would the FBI not focus on side-effects from drug treatment, which has evidence linking it to psychological damage and a risk of suicide and violence? This secrecy clearly demonstrates a lack of responsibility and accountability, which makes FBI agents appear to have aligned themselves with the political ideology that is being foisted on the public, without full disclosure of evidence. Compromised and without objectivity, the FBI is failing the American people and overall public safety.

Image via Flickr, Public Domain.
Sometimes fraud is so far beyond the pale, so egregious, that it is difficult to accept that it happened. But evidence can be too blatant to explain away, especially when two totally different sources of information confirm the existence of the very same fraudulent activity. Such a convergence of evidence occurred in the 2020 election.

An Anonymous Tip

An explosive allegation was made: In Pima County, thirty-five thousand (35,000) votes had been added to each Democrat candidate in the election, including Joe Biden. The allegation was made anonymously by someone claiming that he or she met with Democrat Pima County election officials on September 10, 2020, where a plan to rig the vote was hatched.

The tipsters written words were described and posted at a meeting of the Arizona Senate on November 30, 2020. Retired Army Col. Phil Waldron told the Senate members,

[The tipster] wanted to remain anonymous, but had enough concern that he wanted to send this to the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which he did. (Journalist Sarah Carter saw the email communication.) Here are some words from the email of the tipster, as posted by Waldron at the meeting: When I [the tipster] asked how in the world will 35,000 votes be kept hidden from being discovered, it was stated that spread distribution will be embedded across the entire registered-voter range and will not exceed the registered-vote count, and the 35,000 was determined allowable in Pima County, based on our county registered-vote count [sic]. It was also stated that total voter turnout versus total registered voters determine how many votes we can embed. Maricopa [county] embed total would be substantially higher than Pimas due to embeds being based upon the total number of registered voters. When I asked if this has been tested and how do we know it works, the answer was yes, and has shown success in Arizona judicial-retention elections since 2014, even undetectable in post-audits because no candidate will spend the kind of funds needed to audit and contact voters to verify votes in the full potential of total registered voters, which is more than 500,000 registered voters.

Confirmation With a Fishtail

Thanks to the efforts of former Arizona Representative Mark Finchem and a brilliant analysis by pattern expert Shiva Ayyadurai, we can guess which precincts allegedly received the phony ballots. Finchem obtained precinct-level voting data for Pima County, the county he represented. These data included, by precinct, the number of people requesting mail-in ballots, the number of people returning the ballots, and the votes for each candidate.

Dr. Ayyadurai, a pattern recognition expert, noticed that Pima Countys 2020 election had an extraordinarily high mail-in ballot return rate (about 87 percent) when compared to the national average (71 percent) or the average of other Arizona counties (67.6 percent). Even more interesting was the pattern and distribution of precincts in Pima, when arranged by their mail-in ballot return rates.

The figure below is a little complicated but worth studying. It is not an Ayyadurai graph, but is similar to the graphs in Dr. Ayyadurai's Pima County analysis. Ayyadurai calls it his fishtail graph, for obvious reasons. It is a fascinating diagram that seems to confirm massive fraud in the 2020 election.

Here is a challenge: Try to explain why there is a tail on this fish!

A rough approximation of a Shiva "fishtail" graph

The image in the figure is an approximation of one of Dr. Ayyadurais fishtail graphs. The head is on the left and the tail is on the right. Plusses represent Bidens vote as a percentage of other Democrats, and circles represent Trumps vote as a percentage of other Republicans. I added the eye and mouth for artistic reasons!

Be careful when reading the graph. The x axis is not a timeline: Rather, this graph displays precinct clusters organized by the percentage of their mail-in ballots returned, with lower return rates on the left and higher return rates on the right. What about the y axis? You may think it compares the votes received by Trump in comparison to Biden, but that is not the case. Instead, Trump is compared to Republicans in general, and Biden is compared to Democrats in general.

The unnatural pattern in this graph is almost impossible to explain unless there was fraud. There may be a temptation to explain Trumps apparent loss by saying he was not as popular as other Republicans. However, that was probably not the case. As you can see in the image, Trump had a commanding lead over other Republicans in precincts with average or lower return rates. (And remember: The average for Pima -- shown with the vertical line -- was about 19 percent higher than other Arizona counties.) However, when we move to the right side of the graph, into the super-high (and very unrealistic) return rates of 92 percent to almost 100 percent, Trump starts losing relative to other Republicans, and Biden gains relative to other Democrats.

What does it mean? It appears extremely likely that those extra 35,000 votes were dumped into certain Pima county precincts, and/or votes were switched between the two presidential candidates.

Adding in the 35,000 phony ballots is what made the turnout rates so high and caused Biden to win the state. And, as the tipster said, the ballots were spread widely. Those 8 dots on the right side of the graph, from 92 percent to 100 percent, represent over 140 precincts. Forty of those precincts have virtually impossible turnout rates of 97 percent or more, according to Dr. Ayyadurais analysis. Imagine: Forty precincts with 97 percent or higher turnout!

More than a year ago, in 2021, I sent a FOIA request to the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. I requested all documents related to the Divisions investigation of the Pima County election fraud allegation. The Division acknowledged my communication and promised a quick response, as required by regulation. However, a response was never issued, despite multiple follow-up requests.

Did the FBI check into this? I doubt it has the time. Right now, the agency is busy trying to distinguish Proud Boys from FBI agents pretending to be Proud Boys.

Joe Fried is an Ohio-based CPA who has performed and reviewed hundreds of certified financial audits. He is the author of the new book, Debunked? An auditor reviews the 2020 election -- and the lessons learned (Republic Book Publishers, 2022). It provides a comprehensive overview of fraud and irregularities that affected the 2020 election.
Just yesterday, The Telegraph reported that Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries are being "rewritten for modern sensitivities."

Dame Agatha Christie became, and remains, the bestselling novelist of all time. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world's longest-running play: "The Mousetrap."

Agatha Christie's most famous novels include And Then There Were None (1939), Murder on the Orient Express (1933), The ABC Murders (1936), etc.

But many of her beloved works are going to be altered now. Passages containing descriptions, insults, references to ethnicity, and physical descriptions (of non-Caucasian characters) will all be removed.

The following are some examples.

The 1937 novel Death on the Nile is mostly set in the African continent.

At one point in the novel, a character complains about a group of children pestering her as follows:

"[T]hey come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I don't believe I really like children."

The above text was altered as follows:

"They come back and stare, and stare. And I don't believe I really like children."

Descriptions of a black servant, who is originally described as grinning as he understands to stay silent, is now described as neither black nor smiling, but simply "nodding."

References to the word "Oriental" have been removed, and so have references to the Nubian people.

In a new edition of A Caribbean Mystery from 1964, Miss Marple's musing that a West Indian hotel worker smiling at her has "such lovely white teeth" has been removed, and other references to teeth have been removed.

Even flattering descriptions were not spared because they apply to non-white people.

A female character described of as having "a torso of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed" has been removed.

In Christie's 1920 debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Poirot notes the following about a character called Dr. Bauerstein:

"He is, of course, a German by birth, though he has practiced so long in this country that nobody thinks of him as anything but an Englishman. He was naturalized about fifteen years ago. A very clever man  a Jew, of course."

The reference to the character's Jewishness has been removed.

In the same book, all references to gypsies have been removed.

In the 1979 collection, Miss Marple's Final Cases, there is a reference to an Indian judge losing his temper. Christie refers to it as "his Indian temper." The nationality of the individual has been removed, and it now says "his temper." The word "natives" has been replaced with the word "local."

The "n-----" word is taken out of the revised edition, in both Christie's prose and the dialogue spoken by her characters.

This isn't the only time Christie's novels have undergone revision.

The famous mystery novel And Then There Were None was first called Ten Little N-----s when it was released in 1939 in the U.K. The U.S. edition had the title And Then There Were None. The same novel was also called Ten Little Indians in the U.S. between 1964 and 1986.

In recent times, the works of Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl were subjected to "sensitivity" reviews in order to remove the "offensive" content pertaining to mental health, violence, sex, and race. Now it is Agatha Christie.

In Dahl's case, even words such as "fat" and "small men" were deemed offensive and were replaced by "enormous" and "small people." Following the intense backlash over the changes, the publishers announced that they would release Dahl's original works along with the revised collection.

So what do we make of all this?

Having multiple versions of the same book is not unusual.

It is very much like a movie being shown on mainstream TV or in flight, where the sex scenes, violence, and strong language are removed or toned down.

I myself was introduced to Sherlock Holmes at the age of six, reading children's versions of Doyle's short stories. It caused me to read and enjoy Doyle's original works later.

The diluted versions could lead readers to the originals.

Also, there is a matter of personal choice.

If individuals choose to insulate themselves or their children from "offensive" content, publication houses can choose to cater to a segment of the market to reap profits.

But it is essential that all these altered works be explicitly labeled so the readers know what they are reading.

It is equally vital that the original versions of the works be preserved and remain available. This is because art and works of fiction often serve as the prism for the time in which they were created.

If these original works are replaced by reworked editions, it could result in an Orwellian rewriting of the past with subjective criteria applied.

Consequently, a small group of adults could end up deciding what others should consume.

Let's focus on the change.

Could the removal of descriptions of race or ethnicity or nationality be regarded as bigoted?

When Caucasian actors play non-Caucasian characters in film and similar performances, they are accused of whitewashing and creating worlds where non-white people don't exist. Johnny Depp was slammed for playing a Native American.

But the current changes to Christie's novels are doing exactly that.

In an attempt to be sensitive, they are erasing non-white people from the books.

Isn't that the definition of racism?

Let's focus on the subjectivity of these exercises.

Who decides that a woman described as having a "torso of black marble such as a sculptor would have enjoyed" is offensive?

How is such a description that refers to the physical beauty of the woman become rude because of the mention of color?

Isn't it racist to be offended by the mention of blackness?

Perhaps they will claim that it is sexist because it refers to a woman? Christie was a woman herself.

How else is an author supposed to describe a woman without being explicit about the anatomy?

Should an author refrain from describing a woman to avoid troubles?

That is strictly up to the writer. There can be no mandates here. This isn't a user manual, where a style guide is followed; it is a work of art, where no rules should apply.

Questions also must be asked about the future of contemporary works.

Will publishing houses order current authors to tone down their works prior to publishing their first editions?

Will first-time authors have the power to reject attempts to censor?

What a loss to the culture that will be if publishing houses subject new works to sensitivity reviews and alter them even before they are published.

The other risk is that if fiction can be revised, perhaps history will be amended to fit a particular narrative, too.

In the end, who controls the past controls the future.

It is essential that close attention be paid by all to these occurrences.

Image: Peter via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Kamala Harris's portfolio as Border Czar notably includes Honduras, part of the northern triangle of Central American countries sending us waves of illegal aliens:

FACT SHEET: Strategy to Address the Root Causes of Migration in Central America | The White House Since March, Vice President Kamala Harris has been leading the Administration's diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras . She has worked with bilateral, multilateral, and private sector partners, as well as civil society leaders, to help people from the region find hope at home. This complements work done throughout the U.S. government over the last six months to learn lessons from prior efforts and to consult with a wide range of stakeholders to inform the development of this strategy. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing the Root Causes Strategya core component of our Administration's efforts to establish a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system. This Strategy identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates actions to improve security, governance, human rights, and economic conditions in the region. It integrates various U.S. government tools, including diplomacy, foreign assistance, public diplomacy, and sanctions.

With her power as vice president to integrate all the government tools listed in the fact sheet above, she visited Honduras in early 2022: "Kamala Harris returns to Central America to handle migration crisis."

As part of the trip, the veep will lead the US delegation attending the inauguration of Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro. The administration said the two women spoke on the phone last month and vowed to "deepen the partnership between the United States and Honduras and work together to advance economic growth, combat corruption, and address the root causes of migration.

But even after that visit, the Los Angeles Times wrote in June, 2022, "Kamala Harris' biggest assignment is in Latin America. But she hasn't gone there much - Los Angeles Times." In addition to the following, the whole article is worth reading:

The lack of travel is a reminder of what some observers see as ambivalence from Harris toward a high-profile issue that is politically fraught at home and challenging abroad as she embarks Monday on a week of diplomacy at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The issue of migration is certain to take center stage at the conference, a meeting of nations across the Western Hemisphere intended to showcase U.S. leadership in the region as the Biden administration seeks to tackle such complex challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. ... Harris has since pivoted to Honduras, making a brief trip to attend the inauguration in January of President Xiomara Castro in hopes that she will offer a more stable partnership. But that country's problems also run deep. Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez was extradited to the U.S. in April to face a slew of federal weapons and drug charges, a sign of how deeply embedded the drug trade is in the government. Even if Castro proves to be on the same page with Harris in fighting that corruption, Harris' engagement appears to have limits. A day after the vice president spoke with Castro by phone last month to discuss cooperation on economic and migration issues, Castro tweeted that she would not attend the summit unless everyone was invited.

While our vice president, indeed the whole Biden administration, has achieved zero success in addressing the root causes of migration and securing our border, now we have this:

Honduras Establishes Diplomatic Ties With Beijing, Abandoning Taiwan Central American nation's move leaves Taipei with just 13 diplomatic partners By Joyu Wang and Selina Cheng TAIPEI  Honduras has established diplomatic relations with China and formally cut ties with Taiwan, following through on a pledge this month to shift its official recognition to Beijing. The Honduran Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it recognized that there is only one China, with Beijing the sole legitimate government representing it. "Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and as of this date, the Honduran Government has informed Taiwan about the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan again," the statement read. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang announced that the country had established formal ties with Honduras. Mr. Qin met with his Honduran counterpart and signed a joint declaration on Sunday, according to Beijing state broadcaster China Central Television. Taiwan will close its embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa as well as its consulate in San Pedro Sula, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said at a news conference in Taipei on Sunday. He said Taiwan had withdrawn its ambassador from the country and would bring back all technical staff who aided development there. Mr. Wu said Taiwan is requesting that Honduras do the same. Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it is working to bring back Taiwanese military personnel based in Honduras and send back some 30 Honduran military students studying in Taiwan. Mr. Wu said that Beijing had never stopped trying to induce Tegucigalpa to change its diplomatic recognition. As a result, he said, Honduras had asked Taipei for several billion dollars in economic aid and weighed competing aid packages from Beijing and Taipei.

Evidently, Honduras was not persuaded by anything Kamala had to say on the subject of China. That is assuming she ever said anything at all. I wouldn't count on her coming up with a word salad on the topic, either. Most likely, the media will ignore yet another diplomatic disaster from the Biden-Harris regime, and the public won't even notice or know.
Lil Wayne is considered a legend and icon in hip-hop.

Here he is talking warmly about his "Uncle Bobby," a seasoned New Orleans homicide detective who saved his life.

This clip is when he received hip-hop's highest award, televised around the world.

What the clip doesn't show is that people in the audience stood up and clapped for this great police officer.

More and more people from the other side are coming forward and showing that they don't see police officers as their enemy.

Another iconic hip-hop artist, Fat Joe, went on FOX News and talked about how a police officer saved his young daughter's life.

When I first came out publicly in support of law enforcement, no one else was doing it. It makes me feel good to see things starting to change.

There are active gang members out here in California who don't want members shooting at police officers and want the next generation of youngsters to become one. They don't want the next generation banging.

Mainstream media don't want those of us who see the bigger picture to be known. They will only highlight the ones who continue to perpetuate the same old rhetoric about the need for "police reform" and other unsound, foolish talk such the defunding of law enforcement.

On the other side of things, it's also good to see law enforcement giving up those miscreants who abuse their authority and make things difficult for the majority of police officers, who are honest, hardworking people.

I was a victim of such abuse, but I didn't allow it to fill me with hatred toward all police officers.

RIP, Uncle Bobby...

Photo credit: Rumble video screen grab.
Prior to events forcing The New York Times to report that the Trump indictment will not occur on Wednesday, March 22, after all, Times propagandists William K. Rashbaum and Jonah E. Bromwich reported, almost with glee, "How an Indictment and Arrest of Donald Trump Could Unfold." (Print title of this hopeful slice of anti-Trump agitprop: "What Could Come Next After Grand Jury Votes.")

The article set forth seven questions concerning timing of the indictment, charges, arrest, and so forth. For present purposes, herewith are two of the questions set forth for discussion by Rashbaum and Bromwich, which should have caused them to analyze the immensities of the subject matter, but, as they are mere anti-Trump propagandists, they did not.

Their fifth question was "How do you arrest a former president?" They began their answer with reference to arrest routine: photographed, fingerprinted, Miranda-ized. They then explained, "But because of Mr. Trump's status as a former president  and his round-the-clock Secret Service detail  prosecutors are likely to make some accommodations. He could be held in an interview room instead of a cell; the investigators who process his arrest may forgo handcuffs[.]" (Emphasis added.)

One cannot refrain here from giving a shout-out to Nancy Pelosi's knee-jerk refrain: "No one is above the law." Even Mr. Trump's arch-foe, The New York Times, acknowledges that former president Trump is...well, a former president. As Pelosi mindlessly spews, "No one is above the law," she would deny operation of the federal law that provides Secret Service protection to Mr. Trump, as this submission points out below.

Next question: "Will Mr. Trump be held in jail?" This observer's perception of the writers' answer: "No, damn it."

Here is a link to the Wikipedia reference to the Former Presidents Act, followed by the paragraph on the former president's Secret Service protection.

Secret Service protection

From 1965 to 1996, former presidents were entitled to lifetime Secret Service protection, for themselves, spouses, and children under 16. A 1994 statute, Pub. L. 103329, limited post-presidential protection to ten years for presidents inaugurated after January 1, 1997. Under this statute, Bill Clinton would still be entitled to lifetime protection, and all subsequent presidents would have been entitled to ten years of protection. On January 10, 2013, President Barack Obama signed the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012, reinstating lifetime Secret Service protection for his predecessor George W. Bush, himself, and all subsequent presidents.

Richard Nixon relinquished his Secret Service protection in 1985, the only president to do so.

Before we allow a rabid carrier of Trump Derangement Syndrome to rant that a convicted former president must go to prison, persons of reason must ask: "And what of his lifetime Secret Service protection?"

Now, the rabid anti-Trumper may secretly wish for an Epstein-like ending in this context, but imagine the consequences thereafter. Only an insane NeverTrump would be unconcerned that a prison sentence become a death sentence for Mr. Trump.

Congress, by the Former Presidents Act, has declared public policy to be that the country shall do its utmost to safeguard the lives of former presidents because the injury to national well-being is incalculable should he become the unprotected target of assassination. Consequently, common sense declares: should a former president be convicted of a felony, his status as former president requires that punishment not be an effective death sentence, but limited to house arrest, with the necessary liberties thereto appertaining.

Some additional remarks addressed to the former speaker: District Attorney Bragg must be thwarted in his goal to transform Donald J. Trump from polemical political target to actual physical target. Congress has already provided the means: the Former Presidents Act, which declares, really, not that presidents are above the law, but that presidents will not be permitted to be actual targets of officials who twist and distort judicial process for bad causes. You, Mrs. Pelosi, displayed your penchant for the bad cause of contempt for democracy in America when you ripped up the sheets of government paper on which were written a president's heartfelt State of the Union remarks to the country. Shame on you, and thanks be to the Almighty that you are a "former" yourself.
A Minnesota woman was racing her brother, which turned into a drag race mishap.

Her 17-year-old brother crashed in an SUV, leading to a couple's deaths.

The 21-year-old woman was sentenced to 15 years for the drag race accident.

A Minnesota woman was held responsible for a drag race mishap that killed a couple inside an SUV. The accused was given 15 years in prison for the reckless race that occurred in a 50-mph limit county.

Drag Race Mishap Kills Couple

One of those involved is identified as Camille Dennis-Bond, 21, and her brother Leon Bond, 17, raced in the street with passengers with them, and sped their cars on the eastbound county road at 10:30 am on April 2021, reported Meaww.

One witness saw Leon racing against his sister and slamming into an SUV that turned left from a westbound lane. Dalton Lee and Taylor Nicole Garza died fatally when they were struck by Leon's car. The impact cut the SUV in half, and the couple died on the spot, noted Pierce County Journal.

Aftermath of the Accident

The twin sister of Leon was in the car with him. She got five surgical procedures and spent six weeks in the hospital, cited The StarTribune.

The estimated speed upon impact was 100 mph when the car driven by Leon hit the couple's vehicle. State police said the car hit 114 mph or, if not racing, could be an incident of road rage.

Leon told the police that the siblings had decided to see whoever hit 50 mph first and stop at the stoplight. He miscalculated, thinking it was possible to zip through the intersection but struck the SUV in half instead.

Read Also: Most Wanted Florida Suspect on the Run for 2 Years for Killing Young Child, Arrested in North Carolina

Minnesota Woman Gets 15 Years in Jail

Even if Camille Dennis-Bond was not involved in the collision, she still got caught on two counts of first-degree murder with criminal vehicular homicide. Other charges brought against her are illegal vehicle operation and reckless driving. Instead of the 15 years prescribed, she might only serve nine to ten years with supervised release.

Leon got off easy as he was charged, not as an adult, after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree murder last January. But the county attorney disagreed with the court in its decision not to prosecute the brother, who was 17 at the time. The county attorney did insist that sentencing must be done as an adult, but a compromise was reached. Leon will stay in juvenile detention until he is 21 years old, but a 25-year sentence waits if he ever commits any probation violations as an adult, as per the court's decision.

Dalton Lee Ford and Tayler Nicole Garza are identified victims of the vehicular accident. It said that Ford and Garza loved each other and shared interests in camping, hiking, car clubs, and traveling.

They loved food and cooked a lot, ate in new restaurants trying new cuisines as part of their preferences, and they both graduated from high school at the same school in 2017.

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The Nothing Phone (2) has already grabbed its first certification, at least if my memory serves well. The phone got certified by the BIS authority in India, confirming that the phone is on the way.

The Nothing Phone (2) grabbed its first certification

This does confirm that the device is on the way to India, but also in general. The phone surfaced with the model number Nothing AIN065. We, of course, cannot be 100% sure this is the Nothing Phone (2), but considering thats the only phone expected out of the company well, its pretty obvious.

The Nothing Phone (2) is not expected to launch until Q3, though, unless Nothing plans to change things around. The Nothing Phone (1) arrived in mid-July last year, so its successor is expected around the same time.

Nothing may opt to push things up a bit, and show off the device earlier than expected. Well have to wait and see. Some information about the phone already surfaced, but not a lot.

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The company did confirm that the device will be fueled by a Snapdragon 8 series SoC. That leaves us with two options, basically, either the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC will fuel the device

Thanks to a slip by Qualcomms SVP and GM of Mobile, we do believe its going to be the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. He basically accidentally congratulated Nothing on launching the Phone (2) with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, during MWC 2023.

That does make sense, however. Nothing wants to keep the phone as affordable as possible, and using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 would make that very difficult. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is still an outstanding chip with great power consumption, so it makes all the sense in the world to use it.

The phone could arrive with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. A fullHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate is also expected, as is Android 13 with Nothings UI on top of it.

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A 5,000mAh battery will likely be included in the package, while 67W charging could be included too. The phone will offer wireless charging, and also reverse wireless charging.
UPDATE 2: Both OPPO and OnePlus denied Europe exit in a joint statement. You can get more info regarding the whole situation by clicking here (our new article regarding the situation).

UPDATE: The tipster shared another tweet, claiming that this may not affect Europe in its entirety. Max Jambor says that OPPO and OnePlus may only leave parts of Europe, only the countries he initially mentioned. Those countries are Germany, the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Needless to say, these are rather important, and large markets. The tipster did promise to share more info soon.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: A rather wild rumor appeared online, claiming that both OPPO and OnePlus are pulling out of Europe. This information comes from Max Jambor, a well-known tipster, who usually shares OnePlus-related info. Hes rarely wrong.

Both OPPO & OnePlus are pulling out of Europe, it seems

He apparently got some information from the company. He also added that the companies will first leave Germany, the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Were not sure about the details just yet.

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If you wonder whats the reason behind this, well, the reason is patents, apparently. Some of you will remember that OPPO and OnePlus have issues with Nokia regarding patents. Nokia even pulled the lawsuit card, which halted OnePlus and OPPO sales in Germany.

Nokia sued both companies over 5G patents. The company did add that both OPPO and OnePlus can avoid the sales ban if they opt to renew their license on specific terms. Back then, it seemed like this issue will be resolved rather fast, but that didnt happen.

Its odd OPPO & OnePlus couldnt get things sorted out with Nokia

We were waiting for things to get resolved, but instead, this bombshell rumor appeared. Is it really worth ditching an entire continent over 5G patents and the royalties for them? We really dont know what happened while Nokia, OPPO, and OnePlus were talking, but things obviously didnt go well.

This rumor is hopefully false, though Max Jambors information rarely is. So it seems like its happening, unless something truly unexpected happens in the meantime. Both OPPO and OnePlus are expected to make some sort of announcement moving forward.

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Needless to say, Europe is a huge market, and this is a very odd move by OPPO and OnePlus. There has to be a really tough obstacle in front of them to pull something like this. As a side note, both of those companies are under BBK Electronics, for those of you who are unaware.
Banning laughing gas will put an end to hordes of youths loitering in and littering parks with empty canisters, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said.

The Government unveiled new measures to crack down on anti-social behaviour on Monday, including making nitrous oxide a class C drug, which could see dealers and users facing jail time and unlimited fines.

Other pledges include trials of swifter justice measures and increased policing in areas of England and Wales deemed to have high amounts of low-level crime.

Making a statement in the Commons on the Governments anti-social behaviour action plan, Ms Braverman said she was cracking down on drugs while Sir Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan argue about cannabis decriminalisation.

Drugs devastate lives, she said, arguing that the Government will take the fight to the anti-social minority.

Ms Braverman told MPs: This Government will put an end to hordes of youths loitering in and littering parks with empty canisters.

Under the plan, police will be able to drug-test suspected criminals in police custody for a wider range of drugs, as well as offenders linked to crimes including violence against women and girls, serious violence and anti-social behaviour, Ms Braverman added.

Discarded laughing gas canisters in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

She said offenders will undertake manual reparative work that makes good the damage suffered by victims and the Government will be funding an increased police presence focused on anti-social behaviour in targeted hotspots where it is most prevalent.

While the Leader of the Opposition and the mayor of London argue about cannabis decriminalisation, we are getting on with delivering for the public, the Home Secretary said.

This Government is on the side of the law-abiding majority. We will take the fight to the anti-social minority.

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed the Governments crackdown was too weak, too little and too late.

The Tory Government that has decimated neighbourhood policing. There are 10,000 fewer neighbourhood police and PCSOs on our streets today than there were seven years ago, the Labour frontbencher said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes part in a Q&A in Chelmsford (Kin Cheung/PA)

Ministers hope to ban nitrous oxide, which is typically released into balloons from small silver canisters, before the end of the year.

It goes against recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which recently concluded it would be disproportionate to bring in an outright ban.

Ms Braverman said she was grateful for the panels advice, but argued the Government was entitled to take into account other relevant factors, particularly the emerging evidence that it does cause serious harm to health and wellbeing.

However, Conservative former Home Office minister Kit Malthouse warned: One of the issues that we need to avoid is that this substance moves from the legitimate market into the illegitimate market and becomes another hook for drug dealers to draw young people into their awful trade.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to tackle the scourge of drugs as he announced the plan during a visit to Essex on Monday morning.

The police recorded 1.1 million incidents of anti-social behaviour in the year ending September 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Black children were up to six times more likely to be strip-searched by police and more than half of the almost-3,000 strip-searches in recent years have taken place without an appropriate adult present, a report has shown.

Locations for searches across England and Wales included police vehicles and schools with a small number even taking place in takeaways and amusement parks, the research by the Childrens Commissioner revealed.

Dame Rachel de Souza said the findings demonstrated evidence of deeply concerning practice with widespread non-compliance with statutory safeguards, and added that children are being failed by those whose job it is to protect them.

The commissioner ordered the report after the Child Q scandal which came to light last March.

The 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school.

Scotland Yard apologised and said the strip-search at the girls school in 2020 without another adult present should never have happened.

After that scandal Dame Rachel requested figures for strip-searches by the Metropolitan Police force which, when reported last August, showed more than 600 children underwent intrusive and traumatising searches over a two-year period, with black boys disproportionately targeted.

The latest report, published on Monday and showing data for forces across England and Wales, revealed a total of 2,847 strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022 of children aged between eight and 17.

The vast majority of children strip-searched were boys (95%) while 5% of such searches were carried out on girls.

About 38% of children strip-searched were black and the report found black children were up to six times more likely to be strip-searched when compared with national population figures, while white children were around half as likely to be searched.

The report described this as a pronounced and deeply concerning ethnic disproportionality and Dame Rachel branded it utterly unacceptable.

The commissioner said she has serious concerns about the poor quality of record-keeping, which makes transparency and scrutiny very difficult, and means that the numbers in this report may only be a minimum.

One per cent of strip-searches were conducted within public view, the report said, although the location was not recorded in 45% of cases.

More than half (52%) of strip-searches were conducted without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present.

The presence of an appropriate adult is required by law, except in cases of urgency, and is usually a parent or guardian but can also be a social worker, carer or volunteer.

Among her recommendations Dame Rachel is calling for urgency to be removed as an exception and said constant supervision should be recommended.

Six per cent of strip-searches were conducted with at least one officer of a different gender than the child being searched present, the report added.

Dame Rachel said while she accepted that strip-searching children can be necessary in limited situations, it is an intrusive and potentially traumatic power which must be subject to robust safeguards.

She said: The additional complexity of conducting these searches during a stop and search should mean that there is a higher degree of scrutiny than if conducted in custody, not less.

Dame Rachel said attention on the issue had not come about due to a police whistleblower or a damning inspection report, but the bravery of a girl to speak up about a traumatic thing that happened to her, referring to the case of Child Q.

The commissioner warned that officers are too often forgetting that children are children as she called for a strengthening of the guidelines around strip-searches, more oversight and inspection to ensure compliance, and reform of a culture that has allowed this to go unchallenged.

Among her 17 recommendations, Dame Rachel called on the the Home Office to carry out a comprehensive review of the legislative and policy framework for child strip-searches and make specific changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence (Pace) Codes.

Protests took place last year after a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Among these, and regarding the requirement for an appropriate adult to be present for strip-searches of children in custody and under stop and search powers, she said it must only be the most exceptional situations where there is serious risk to the childs life or welfare where this is not the case.

She said schools should be excluded as an appropriate location for a strip-search and that they should only be conducted at a nearby police station, medical premises or home address.

Dame Rachel said the Home Office should require forces to report annually on the strip-searching of children, including recording ethnicity, whether an appropriate adult was present, the specific location and whether a safeguarding referral was made.

She said the National Police Chiefs Council should also publish an action plan on reforming stop and search practices, including strip-searches of children.

Dame Rachel said: I find it completely unacceptable that police forces in England and Wales are largely unable to account for the necessity, circumstance and safeguarding outcome of every strip-search of a child that they conduct.

I will not accept that the power to strip-search is being used responsibly until that is the case.

The Childrens Commissioners office said it eagerly anticipates recommendations to be made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct which is investigating the Child Q case.
China's economic recovery adds certainty to global growth

Xinhua) 10:47, March 27, 2023

This aerial photo taken on March 13, 2023 shows a container terminal of Taicang Port, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- After a good start this year, the Chinese economy will buoy steady and sustained development, adding certainty to global growth clouded by upheavals, an official said on Saturday.

The country has hit the "fast-forward" button on its economic growth after it optimized the epidemic prevention and control measures, said Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, at the economic summit of the ongoing China Development Forum 2023.

Passenger flows, logistics, and business trips in China are normalizing fast, while the domestic demand has recovered, said Han, citing major economic indicators in the first two months.

The country's retail sales, a gauge of consumption growth, increased 3.5 percent year on year in the January-February period, reversing declines seen in the previous three months.

In the period, China's value-added industrial output went up 2.4 percent year on year, while the index gauging the country's service industry output rose 5.5 percent.

With the accelerated implementation of supporting policies, the confidence of enterprises and investors is also on the mend, Han said.

He also noted that China's economic operation still faces challenges such as stagflation risks and spillover effects brought by the tightened monetary policies of developed economies, saying that the country's 2023 growth target is set after taking the above factors into consideration.

China aims to expand its economy by around 5 percent in 2023, according to its government work report.

"The current development momentum bodes a promising prospect for the full-year growth target," said Han, adding that China will remain a significant engine fueling global economic growth.

The contribution of China's economy to the world economic growth has exceeded 30 percent on average in the past decade, and the figure this year will surpass that in 2022, providing market demand and a strong impetus to the global recovery, he said.

Han also pointed out that China is proactive in stabilizing global industrial and supply chains, defusing financial risks, attracting foreign investments, and upholding multilateralism.

To further revive the economy, China will make more efforts in Chinese modernization to cultivate development in the medium and long term, said Han.

China will expand international innovation cooperation and achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, he said.

Han noted that the country would improve birth policies and the elderly care service system and stick to high-level opening up.

"The pursuit of Chinese modernization will surely inject vitality into the world's prosperity," he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The South Korean military reported that North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday, coinciding with joint US and South Korean military drills.

The North Korea missiles were fired from North Hwanghae province at 7:47 a.m. (22:47 GMT on Sunday), according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea. They traveled about 370 km (230 miles), according to Reuters.

The Japanese government claims both North Korea missiles landed outside the country's exclusive economic zone.

[Emergency alert]

North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow.  PM's Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) March 26, 2023

The South Korean military "strongly condemned" the launches, calling for an immediate end to them since they are a grave threat and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Related Article: Israeli President Isaac Herzog Sends Warning To PM Netanyahu

USS Nimitz To Arrive in South Korea After Joint Maritime Drills

Monday's launches preceded Tuesday's docking of the USS Nimitz and its battle group at a South Korean navy facility in Busan.

The carrier planned to conduct combined maritime drills with South Korean troops off the Korean peninsula's south coast on Monday before its arrival, according to South Korea's defense ministry.

The ministry stated the visit was scheduled to have additional US "strategic assets" in the region to discourage North Korea since the USS Ronald Reagan visited in September and this would be the first such visit since then, according to NBC News.

During the last several weeks, North Korea has ramped up its military tests, most recently launching multiple cruise missiles on Wednesday in what Pyongyang said was an exercise in preparation for a tactical nuclear assault.

Leader Kim Jong Un stressed that South Korea and the US must suspend military exercises after North Korea tested a nuclear-capable subsurface attack drone on Friday.

Throughout 11 separate launches this year, North Korea has fired off over 20 ballistic and cruise North Korea missiles to convince the United States to ratify its nuclear status and open negotiations for lifting sanctions, per DW.

With the United States and South Korea conducting military maneuvers from March 13 to 23, North Korea has stepped up the volume of its military tests in recent weeks.

Related Article: Joe Biden Okays US Airstrike in Syria

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Duke of Sussex has arrived at the High Court in London for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.

The publisher is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

In a statement announcing the launch of the legal action, released by Hamlins law firm, it was alleged the unlawful acts included hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The publisher hit back at the allegations, describing them at the time as preposterous smears and a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.

A spokesperson for ANL also said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

A four-day preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London began on Monday and is set to include ANLs bid for the claims to be dismissed without a trial.

The duke sat towards the back of the courtroom, occasionally taking notes in a small black notebook.

Mondays appearance is believed to be the first time Harry has been back in the UK since the late Queens funeral in September.

His surprise return comes nearly three months after he laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

David Sherborne, for the group of high-profile individuals, said the unlawful acts in the claim include commissioning the breaking and entry into private property, illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening to live landline calls and obtaining medical records.

He said in written submissions: The claimants each claim that in different ways they were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday.

They range through a period from 1993 to 2011, even continuing beyond until 2018, the barrister added.

ANLs lawyers have said privacy claims brought by seven high-profile individuals including the Duke of Sussex and Baroness Lawrence should be dismissed without a trial.

Adrian Beltrami KC, in written submissions, argued the legal actions have been brought too late and are stale.

The barrister said the individuals have to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, they might have had a claim against ANL for alleged misuse of their private information.

Mr Beltrami said that more than a decade after the Leveson Inquiry and several criminal and civil proceedings over phone hacking, it would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters.

He continued: The claimants have failed to show that they have a real prospect of discharging their burden at trial and the court should not hesitate to dismiss these stale claims at an early stage, thereby avoiding what would otherwise be a considerable waste of time, costs and the courts resources.

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex has made a surprise appearance at a High Court hearing in London as the Daily Mails publisher makes a bid to throw out a set of claims over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over the allegations  which include the hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against ANL.

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

Harry arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the start of the four-day hearing on Monday, sitting towards the back of the courtroom and occasionally taking notes in a small black notebook.

Mondays appearance is believed to be the first time Harry has been back in the UK since the late Queens funeral in September.

His surprise return comes nearly three months after he laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

Ahead of the start of the afternoon session of the hearing, Sir Elton was also seen arriving at the central London court.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

ANLs lawyers have said the claims brought by seven high-profile individuals including the Duke of Sussex and Baroness Lawrence should be dismissed without a trial.

Adrian Beltrami KC, for ANL, said in written submissions that the legal actions have been brought too late and are stale.

The barrister said the individuals have to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, they may have been able to bring a claim against ANL for alleged misuse of their private information.

Mr Beltrami said that more than a decade after the Leveson Inquiry and several criminal and civil proceedings over phone hacking, it would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters.

He continued: The claimants have failed to show that they have a real prospect of discharging their burden at trial and the court should not hesitate to dismiss these stale claims at an early stage, thereby avoiding what would otherwise be a considerable waste of time, costs and the courts resources.

David Sherborne, for the group, said the unlawful acts in the claim include commissioning the breaking and entry into private property, illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening to live landline calls and obtaining medical records.

He said in written submissions: The claimants each claim that in different ways they were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday.

Elton John arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London (Aaron Chown/PA)

They range through a period from 1993 to 2011, even continuing beyond until 2018, the barrister added.

A spokesperson for ANL previously said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

Mr Beltrami said that Harry does not offer any reason why he could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the basis for his inferential claim against Associated before October 2016.

Quoting from documents filed on Harrys behalf, Mr Beltrami said in written arguments that the dukes case was that suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associateds publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a suspect, since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associateds newspapers.

He added: He stated that the repeated, wrongful disclosures  had a serious and profound effect upon (him) at the time of their publication and that he had painful memories  regarding the extent to which ANL publicised private and sensitive information relating to his private and family life.

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex has made a surprise return to the UK for the first time since the late Queens funeral  but is not expected to meet with the King or the Prince of Wales.

His trip  for a High Court hearing in London in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering  will be seen as demonstrating the strength of his determination over the legal action.

Just weeks ago, Harry laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

The King was due to be away on Monday on the first official state visit of his reign, but the trip to France was cancelled due to rioting over pension reforms, meaning Charles is now in the UK at the same time as Harry for the first time in six months.

But Buckingham Palace said the King was not in Windsor or London and would be leaving for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday morning.

The Prince of Wales, the King, the Duke of Sussex and the Princess Royal leaving the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Peter Byrne/PA)

Harry is also unlikely to be meeting up with William.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not currently in Windsor because of the youngsters school Easter holidays.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate their UK home Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, in a move sanctioned by the King, meaning Harry could spend some of his time packing up any remaining possessions.

Frogmore Cottage in Windsor (Steve Parsons/PA)

The duke is also taking legal action against the Home Office over security arrangements when he is in the UK, raising questions about his own security provisions during this visit.

It has not been confirmed yet whether Harry and Meghan will be at the Kings coronation in less than six weeks time.

Palace staff have reportedly been told to factor the Sussexes into the arrangements.

Harry and Meghan have not yet said whether they will be in the Abbey for Charless coronation (Joe Giddens/PA)

The couple, who have begun using titles for their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have not said if they will attend the May 6 ceremony, which falls on Archies fourth birthday.
Ukraine is ready to send its pilots to be trained in using Western fighter jets, the chairman of the war-torn nations parliament said, after Ukrainian soldiers completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK.

Ruslan Stefanchuk said that once his country gets the wings, it can attain joint victory for Ukraine and the world, in language echoing that of Volodymyr Zelenskys rousing speech to Parliament last month.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly asked Western countries for warplanes in the struggle against Russias invasion.

Britain will be training Ukrainian pilots on Nato-standard jets but allies have been reluctant to release the modern warplanes.

Addressing a group of MPs and peers in Speakers House on Monday, Mr Stefanchuk said through a translator: We are ready for more intense training of Ukrainian servicemen.

Were ready to send our pilots to be trained in fighter jets.

Mr Stefanchuk thanked Britain for sharing its knowledge, experience in skills, after UK military officials spent several weeks instructing Ukrainian soldiers how to operate and fight with the Challenger 2 tanks.

He also thanked the UK for its decision to send 14 of the tanks and paving the way for other nations to follow suit.

 London, the UK. At this crucial time for Ukraine, I am honoured to visit the United Kingdom and meet with friends and allies . Im pleased to speak with @CommonsSpeaker and discuss issues that will help bring our common Victory over the russian aggressor closer. pic.twitter.com/PdYb6cVN59  Ruslan Stefanchuk (@r_stefanchuk) March 27, 2023

Today is the time for Britain to become a leader to also open the door to use aircraft and long-range rockets, he said.

The head of Ukraines parliament urged the UK to back Ukraines Nato application because it is already a de-facto part of the alliance and protecting Europe from Russian aggression.

He called for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate Moscows war crimes so that Russia is recognised as a terrorist country.

We want to use all the legal mechanisms to make sure Russia is defeated legally, held accountable for all the crimes they commit in Ukraine, he said, adding that the crimes are not real if they are not prosecuted.

He asked the UK to recognise the 1933 Holodomor man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine as genocide, saying it is connected to todays crimes.

It is an honour to welcome Ruslan Stefanchuk the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Parliament of Ukraine, to Speaker's House. This is another historic moment for Parliament and the House as we demonstrate our support for the people of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/fGJ6hQOVf7  Sir Lindsay Hoyle (@CommonsSpeaker) March 27, 2023

Mr Stefanchuk said his visit is important so parliamentarians can hear from the horses mouth what is happening on the ground, countering Russian propaganda which is a weapon similar to that used on the battlefield.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart to Westminster, telling him: Our Parliament is your Parliament.

Ukrainian politicians play a vital role in serving their people and telling the world the reality of war, Sir Lindsay said.

We are a friend that will listen, we are a friend that will support and continue to support.

A Challenger 2 main battle tank during a demonstration at on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire (Ben Birchall/PA)

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said members of Kyivs armed forces, who had travelled to Britain shortly after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in January the delivery of tanks, have now completed their training.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Ukrainian soldiers return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger.

The MoD described the Challenger 2 vehicles as a step change in capability for Ukraines armed forces, saying the machines would offer them some of the most modern and sophisticated gunnery systems in the world.

The Ukrainian troops will return with the Western tanks in time for a reported spring counter-offensive by Kyiv that is said to be in the works.

With the US supplying Abrams tanks, and Germany and other European allies providing Leopard 2 tanks, any strike on Russian lines is expected to involve the Western tanks manned by Kyivs forces.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the House of Commons on Monday evening to protest against the Governments Illegal Migration Bill.

The demonstration, organised by the campaign group Stand Up To Racism, took place in Parliament Square as MPs debated the legislation inside the chamber.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn MP spoke to protesters alongside four members of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.

Representatives of trade unions including the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS)  which represents civil servants including Border Force workers  Unite, Unison and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association addressed demonstrators alongside representatives of charity Care4Calais, the Jewish Socialist Group and the Stop the War Coalition.

In between speeches protesters chanted Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here! and Brick by brick, wall by wall, racist borders have to fall.

Banners handed out by the Socialist Workers Party read open the borders, no deportations while Stand Up To Racism banners said Braverman out now.

Speakers spoke in favour of an amendment to the proposed legislation which would create safe routes for people to seek asylum in the UK.

Some speakers appeared to express support for fully open borders while others claimed racism was a factor in the Governments decision to welcome Ukrainian refugees and send others from the Middle East, Asia and Africa to Rwanda.

Mr Corbyn told demonstrators the Bill is illegal, will imprison children, will deport people to Rwanda, will imprison people who have sought a place of safety.

The real politics in this country is on our streets and in our communities. Thats why I joined anti-racist campaigners tonight to oppose the Tories attack on refugees. The labour movement exists to stand up for the marginalised  I will keep fighting for a more caring world. pic.twitter.com/R87g08Ylw2  Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) March 27, 2023

He added that it will be hugely expensive and do little more than create salacious headlines claiming migrants and refugees are an invading army.

Beth Winter MP, who represents Cynon Valley in South Wales, said the UK should welcome every single human being who comes to our shores.

Bell Riberio-Addy, who represents Streatham, said France is not always a safe country for people arriving in small boats to return to.

She told demonstrators: I went to Calais a few months ago and I can tell you Calais is anything but safe. Barbed wire fences, guards who destroy peoples tents every single night, people who move people along as though they were animals.

She also said the UK accepts fewer refugees than other European countries and that Home Secretary Suella Braverman cannot name a single legal route for asylum seekers to enter the UK when she claims they exist.

Dawn Butler, who represents Brent Central, said the Government wants to lock up pregnant women and children with the new law.

Labour MP Dawn Butler (centre) joins the demonstrators (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Richard Burgon, who sits for Leeds East, said he had never seen a Bill so vile, so sick, so disgusting, so immoral, so depraved before Parliament in his lifetime.

PCS deputy president Martin Cavanagh said the Government was sending people to their deaths with its earlier pushback policy on Channel boats, adding: It was racist, it was abhorrent and it was murder.

He said he is very proud of the way union members working for Border Force responded to that policy.

He added they didnt just sit there and accept it, they didnt just say, weve got to implement this, its nothing to do with us  they were clear they were not going to implement that, they were not going to take it.

Stand Up To Racism co-convenor Wayman Bennett told the PA news agency before the protest: We are shocked and concerned the Government is talking about breaking international law.

This is normally reserved for international pariahs, not the original signers of the Convention (on Human Rights).

There are no safe and legal ways of claiming asylum for the vast majority of refugees and we know this because the majority of people who ask for refugee status have received it even if they have come on boats.

It is not illegal to claim asylum, it is a right to claim asylum.

Pete Firmin, 73, travelled from Kilburn in north-west London to Westminster to attend the demonstration.

He said: The proposal to send everybody to Rwanda without processing any claims at all is just inhuman.

The protest will achieve very little, unfortunately, because the Government has a large majority, but it is important to show our opposition.

For the Labour Party to oppose it solely on the basis of not thinking it will work is not good enough.
The Government has defused a Tory rebellion over the Illegal Migration Bill by agreeing to talks with those wanting to toughen up the controversial proposals.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he would engage closely with Tory colleagues to ensure the final Bill meets the requirements of all on our side of the House.

A group of right-wing Tory MPs had signalled that it does not go far enough, with some calling for ministers to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to drive through tighter border controls and prevent them being stifled by the courts.

The legislation aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, including by crossing the English Channel in small boats.

It could result in asylum seekers being detained without bail or judicial review for 28 days before being removed to their home country or a safe third country such as Rwanda.

The Bill has been denounced by the UNs refugee agency as an effective asylum ban and has also faced objections from groups within the Conservative Party.

Others on the liberal wing want to see Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commit to establishing safe routes by which asylum seekers can come to Britain.

Mr Jenrick assured MPs he would speak to them about their worries that human rights law could interfere with the legislation.

Rishi Sunak (Kin Cheung/PA)

Speaking during the Bills committee stage, he told the Commons: I am certainly keen to give them an undertaking to engage with them and other colleagues who are interested in these points ahead of report stage of the Bill.

We are united in our determination that this Bill will be a robust Bill, that it will be able to survive the kind of egregious and vexatious legal challenges that we have seen in the past, and that it will enable us to do the job and to remove illegal immigrants to safe third countries like Rwanda.

I would add that the Bill has been carefully drafted in collaboration with some of the finest legal minds and we do believe that it enables us to do the job while complying with our international law obligations

But we are going to engage closely with colleagues and ensure that the final Bill meets the requirements of all on our side of the House.

Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash, chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, withdrew his amendment in response to the guarantees from the minister.

Sir Bill Cash (House of Commons/PA)

His proposal had sought to ensure the only way to prevent a persons removal is through a successful suspensive claim.

Mr Jenrick also made commitments designed to see off the second Tory rebellion on setting up new safe and legal immigration routes.

Responding to Conservative former minister Tim Loughtons calls, he said: We have listened very carefully to his arguments. As the Prime Minister has said, it is precisely because we want to help genuine refugees that we need to take full control of our borders.

I can commit to engage with him and other colleagues ahead of report stage in setting up safe and legal routes, if necessary bringing forward further amendments to ensure there are new routes in addition to the existing schemes, and accelerating the point at which they become operational, with our intention to open them next year.

In addition I can confirm that we will accelerate the process of launching the local authority consultation on safe and legal routes at the same time as commencement of the Bill. I hope that satisfies him.

Mr Loughton appeared to nod to the minister after the assurances.
A Home Office minister said he would assume police have very good reasons to conduct child strip-searches after a report warned of safeguarding failures.

Conservative frontbencher Lord Sharpe of Epsom faced groans from peers for his comments made in the House of Lords as he responded to concerns about the use of such powers.

Of the almost 3,000 strip-searches of children by police in recent years, more than half have taken place without an appropriate adult present, research by the Childrens Commissioners office showed.

Dame Rachel de Souza said the findings demonstrate evidence of deeply concerning practice with widespread non-compliance with statutory safeguards, and added that children are being failed by those whose job it is to protect them.

I have today published new analysis of strip searches of children conducted by police under their stop & search powers across England and Wales, which shows widespread non-compliance with the statutory safeguards in place to protect children. https://t.co/SYLEfXkEcw  Children's Commissioner for England (@ChildrensComm) March 27, 2023

Lord Sharpe said the report raises a number of concerns which we take extremely seriously and noted the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating several incidents of children being strip-searched.

He told peers: They will review whether existing legislation, guidance and policies remain appropriate. It is right we await their findings.

Liberal Democrat Lord Paddick, a former deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: Would the minister not agree for the police to strip-search a child will rarely be proportionate, let alone 2,847 times since 2018.

He pointed to Baroness Caseys recent scathing report into the Met when he asked: Is Baroness Casey not right when she says that the whole regime of police stop and search needs a hard reset?

Minister Lord Sharpe replied: Id say hes inviting me to comment on operational policing matters, I dont know whether its appropriate or not.

I would assume that they have very good reasons in order to be able to do this otherwise they wouldnt conduct these searches.

Non-affiliated peer Baroness Uddin later told the chamber: Im absolutely gutted to hear (Lord Sharpes) response to say there must have been some reason.

Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom addresses peers (PA)

Im a child protection officer and have been a long-standing social worker and Im all too aware about the issues around safeguarding, so should he as a minister from the Home Office.

Lady Uddin also referenced the Casey review and suggested racial discrimination is endemic in the Metropolitan Police.

Lord Sharpe countered: I think I have to correct the record. I didnt say there must be a reason, I said I assumed that there was a good reason and that is very different, to be absolutely clear.

He added he agreed with many of the conclusions of the Childrens Commissioner, adding: Id prefer to wait for the context of the various reviews that are being undertaken at the moment before giving a further opinion on this.

The research, showing data for forces across England and Wales, revealed that a total of 2,847 strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022 of children aged between eight and 17.

The vast majority of youngsters strip-searched were boys (95%).

About 38% of children strip-searched were black, and the report found that black youngsters were up to six times more likely to be strip-searched when compared with national population figures, while white children were around half as likely to be searched.

The report described this as a pronounced and deeply concerning ethnic disproportionality and Dame Rachel branded it utterly unacceptable.

The commissioner ordered the report after the Child Q scandal, which came to light last March.

The 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school.

Scotland Yard apologised and said the strip-search at the girls school in 2020 without another adult present should never have happened.

Baroness Benjamin, the former childrens TV presenter and vice-president of Barnardos, said it was sickening, shocking and truly disturbing to read the details contained in the Childrens Commissioners report.

The Lib Dem peer said: Most of us thought being strip-searched was a rare occurrence during the Child Q scandal. This has proven not to be so.

And worryingly those from black and ethnic minority backgrounds appear to be disproportionately targeted. Childhood lasts a lifetime and the mental trauma, mistrust, abuse and humiliation suffered by these children will stay with them at a huge cost to society.

Labours Baroness Chakrabarti raised concerns that the Public Order Bill contains measures to allow police to conduct stop and search without suspicion.

She said: At the very least shouldnt those provisions in the Public Order Bill be paused by the Government until the Government can assess what police regulation we need as opposed to endless extra police power?

Lord Sharpe said stop and search makes a very serious difference to crime prevention.

Former senior judge and independent crossbencher Baroness Butler-Sloss said waiting for the IOPC is a long process, adding: It seems to me the Government should be intervening to see that the rules are complied with.

Policing minister Chris Philp, speaking on LBC radio, said following safeguarding practices around child strip-searches is vital and noted they are necessary on occasion because drug dealers get young people to hide drugs in intimate body cavities.

Dame Rachel said that, while she accepts that strip-searching children can be necessary in limited situations, it is an intrusive and potentially traumatic power which must be subject to robust safeguards.
The next leader of the SNP is set to be chosen following a fiery five-week contest.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former community safety minister Ash Regan have taken part in around 16 hustings as they competed to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

The First Minister announced in February that she would resign after more than eight years in the job once her successor has been chosen.

SNP members have until midday to vote for their new leader  and Scotlands next first minister, subject to Holyrood approval.

The fate of the three candidates is set to be revealed at around 2pm on Monday at the BT Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh.

Nicola Sturgeon during her last First Minsters Questions in the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)

A vote in Holyrood will follow on Tuesday to select the next first minister.

It has not been a smooth leadership contest for the party, with acrimonious clashes between candidates and the dramatic resignation of chief executive Peter Murrell following controversy over the transparency of SNP membership numbers.

Frontrunners Mr Yousaf, 37, and Ms Forbes, 32, have particularly clashed over their record in government and their social views.

Polls put the candidates almost neck and neck, with Mr Yousaf favourite among SNP voters, according to an Ipsos Scotland survey of 1,023 Scots, with a net favourability of 11%, compared with 6% for his rival, Ms Forbes.

But the Finance Secretary is viewed more favourably by the general public, with a net popularity rating of minus 8%, compared with the Health Secretarys minus 20%.

Ms Regan  widely considered an outsider for the job  had a net favourability of minus 24% among the general public, and minus 7% with SNP voters.
The Government has only been able to get 8% of levelling-up funds out of the door, Labour has claimed.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove would not be drawn on accusations that more than 90% of the promised 4.8 billion regeneration cash had not yet been spent.

A Labour freedom of information request seen by the PA news agency suggested the total spend of the levelling-up fund was 392 million by the end of February, approximately 8% of the full amount.

Two rounds of the 4.8 billion fund have so far been released, worth 1.7 billion and 2.1 billion respectively, with cash allocated towards regeneration projects across the UK.

A third round of funding is expected to be announced later this year.

In the House of Commons, shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said: I have here a document that reveals that even on his flagship levelling-up policy, he has only been able to get 8% of his funds out of the door.

Referring to Mr Goves appearances on weekend politics programmes during which he announced the Governments plans to ban laughing gas, she added: He is good at getting press releases out the door, why not our money?

Mr Gove did not respond directly to the claims, but said: In the Budget just the other week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible for making sure that tens of millions of pounds were spent.

We heard during the course of questions from members across this House who have received support, who have had projects delivered, who have seen change delivered.

This is a Government impactful, effective and focused, and on the other side, I am afraid, all we here is the cackle of impotence.

Ms Nandy hit back by claiming plans in the Budget to scrap the lifetime pensions allowance limit disproportionately favoured the wealthy.

Lisa Nandy (James Speakman/PA)

She told MPs: Im glad he mentioned the Budget because in just one day, his Government spent three times more on a tax cut for the richest 1% than they have managed to spend on the whole of the North of England in well over a year.

Doesnt this just sum this Government up? They can get their act together when it comes to the 1%, but when it comes to investment in our town centres, local transport, decent housing, even on delivering on a single one of the levelling-up missions, why is it that the rest of us always just have to wait?

Mr Gove responded that the Government had adopted a Labour proposal suggested by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, adding: Inconsistency, thy name is Labour.

Labours freedom of information request had asked the Government how much money allocated through the fund had been spent.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities responded that 224 million had been spent by January 18, rising to 392 million by February 22.

Elsewhere in the debate, Mr Gove said the Government would make a statement this week on how it plans to continue funding organisations in Northern Ireland which used to receive EU cash.

Simon Hoare, Conservative chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee, told MPs some groups had huge problems to their budget as a result of the cliff edge end to funding.

The Communities Secretary replied: He has been vigilant on behalf of communities in Northern Ireland and we will be making a statement later this week, and the minister for levelling up and I will be doing everything we can in order to ensure continuity of funding for these services.
Stripping alleged militants of their British citizenship and leaving them in refugee camps rather than bringing them back to face trial threatens to create a breeding ground of terrorists tomorrow, Tory former chancellor Norman Lamont has warned.

The Tory peer sounded his concerns at Westminster over passing the buck, as the Government was told revoking the nationality of Shamima Begum, who ran off as a schoolgirl to join so-called Islamic State (IS), was a form of capital punishment that has left her the breathing dead.

Ms Begum was 15 when she travelled from Bethnal Green, east London, through Turkey and into territory controlled by the terror group in 2015.

Her British citizenship was revoked shortly after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.

She has been locked in a legal battle ever since and last month the 23-year-old lost her latest challenge against the decision to strip her of her British citizenship on national security grounds.

Speaking as her case was raised in Parliament, Lord Lamont of Lerwick said: If we continue to refuse citizenship and refuse to put on trial alleged UK terrorists here in this country, are we not just passing the buck to other countries?

If every country pursues the same policy, are we not just going to build up vast insecure camps full of potential terrorists  the breeding ground of terrorists tomorrow?

Responding, Home Office minister Lord Murray of Blidworth said Ms Begums citizenship had been deprived from her by the then secretary of state Sajid Javid and this decision had been upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February.

He added: I dont agree with him that there is a risk of very large camps of people being accrued, who had been deprived of their nationality.

Lord Lamont (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

In 2019, some 27 people were deprived of their nationality, in 2020 it was 10 and in 2021 it was eight.

But pressing the minister, Labour peer Lord Griffiths of Burry Port said: Statelessness is a form of capital punishment in the sense that it deprives somebody of status forever, for the rest of their lives.

Is that not just the breathing dead and shouldnt we be opposed to it on moral grounds, and let circumstances dictate what happen to her if she were brought back?

Leaving her where she is is surely inhumane.

In reply, Lord Murray said: Surely the principal interest and the principal duty of Government is to keep the people safe.

Earlier, the minister told peers the Government was pleased SIAC had found in favour of the Government in Ms Begums appeal.

It would be inappropriate to comment further given the potential for further legal proceedings. The Governments priority remains maintaining the safety and security of the United Kingdom.

He had been responding to a question by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton, who said Ms Begum had been a child when she was seduced by a perverted ideology and was now stateless.

The independent crossbencher added: What consideration has been given to her present situation as of today and did the ministers response suggest that security fears trump our moral responsibilities?

While declining to be drawn on Ms Begums case, Lord Murray said: The power to deprive and individual of their British citizenship as happened in this case has existed in law for over 100 years.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Burt of Solihull said: Shamima Begum has ben variously described as a vulnerable, trafficked 15-year-old from Bethnal Green and an ex-IS recruiter. Isnt the point though that shes our vulnerable, trafficked girl or our ex-IS recruiter. Shouldnt she be brought home to face the music in a British court of law?

Lord Murray said: The purpose of deprivation proceedings is to protect the country in relation to issues of national security.
First Citizens Bank has acquired the majority of the tech lender Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed earlier this month and generated banking troubles across the US and Europe.

Late on Sunday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that it had reached an agreement with First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company to purchase all of Silicon Valley Bank deposits and loans, which had been moved to a bridge bank by regulators after SVB collapse, per CNN.

On Monday, First Citizens announced that 17 former SVB locations will resume operating as "Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank."

The FDIC advised that SVB clients should utilize their present branch until First Citizens notifies them that procedures have been changed to offer full service at its larger network of branches, according to CNBC.

Read Also: Oxford School Shooter Parents To Face Manslaughter Trial

First Citizens Bank Shares Jump

In early Wall Street trading, First Citizens Bank stock increased by more than 40% following its purchase of Silicon Valley Bank.

SVB assets worth $72 billion were purchased at a discount of $16.5 billion, while $90 billion in securities and other assets would stay under receivership for disposal by the FDIC.

Furthermore, the FDIC noted that it obtained "equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina, a common stock with a potential value of up to $500 million."

The SVB acquisition follows a similar one for Signature Bank, whose operations were sold to Flagstar, which is controlled by New York Community Bank, a week earlier.

As part of that settlement, the FDIC was compelled to maintain $60 billion worth of Signature's loans. The federal agency has calculated that the collapse and settlement of Signature bank might amount to the FDIC's insurance fund of $2.5 billion, according to the Financial Times.

When customers withdrew $42 billion in a single day from SVB on March 10, authorities took over the bank. The SVB collapse was the second-largest bank failure in American history, following Washington Mutual in 2008.

Deposits exceeding $250,000 per account were guaranteed by the FDIC.

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank provides standard banking services via its network of over 550 branches and offices located throughout 23 different states.

Related Article: Should US Ban TikTok Nationwide?

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Members of the public have been urged to avoid using the water and beaches within Poole Harbour in Dorset after an oil leak led to a major incident being declared.

Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC), which regulates activities in the harbour, said a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco, under Owers Bay, on Sunday.

Perenco, the UKs largest onshore oil field, said a small amount of reservoir fluid (consisting of 85% water and 15% oil) escaped from its pipeline and that, as of late on Sunday night, some of it had already been recovered.

PHC said: Early indicators are that the surface slick is already dispersing.

The pipeline leak occurred at Poole Harbour in Dorset (Alamy/PA)

The commissioners added that Perenco had reported no risk of further leakage after the pipeline was shut down and booms were placed on either side of the leak to minimise pollution.

A further assessment will be made early on Monday morning regarding the clean-up operation, PHC said.

Jim Stewart, PHC chief executive, said that it was carrying out an examination of the harbour involving 60 people, helicopters and drones with the aim of understanding the extent of the spill with a situation update expected later in the morning.

He told the PA news agency: All of the teams will be feeding information into the harbour commissioners and then we will know how serious the spill is and where we should allocate our resources.

We are collecting reports and we havent had many reports in so far of any serious pollution in any parts of the harbour but it is early days and it is a huge harbour.

It appears some of the spill has dispersed and Perenco feel they stopped a lot of it with the booms at the point of the leak.

Mr Stewart said the PHC would be liaising with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency about the use of its pollution containment equipment if required.

He added: We have an oil spill resource centre with lots of equipment in Poole which we are able to utilise.

Once we have the situation report later this morning we will make a decision on what assets we want to deploy.

Anyone who came into contact with the spill was being urged to wash immediately with soap and water.

A group of wigeon, Mareca penelope, feeding on saltmarsh in Poole Harbour (Alamy/PA)

Approximately 200 barrels of reservoir fluid were released into Poole Harbour after the leak occurred at the Wytch Farm oil field in Dorset on Sunday.

Conservative MP for Poole Sir Robert Syms said he and neighbouring South Dorset Tory MP Richard Drax have asked the Government to take an urgent question in the Commons on Monday about the incident.

According to Poole Tourism, Poole is Europes largest natural harbour and a site of nature conservation, with many international protections in place.

The harbour is also a Ramsar site which recognises wetlands of international importance, particularly for wildfowl, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).

Franck Dy, Perenco UKs Wytch Farm general manager, said: Any spill is an extremely serious matter and a full investigation will be launched to ascertain what happened in Poole Harbour.

It is important to stress that the situation is under control, with the discharge of fluids having been stopped and the spill is being contained.

Poole Harbour Commissioners Press Release No.2  26 March 2023  20.00 pic.twitter.com/etIWdHBuUW  PHC (@PooleHarbourC) March 26, 2023

The firm confirmed a clean-up operation is under way.

Philip Broadhead, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said in a statement: The Wytch Farm oil field in the Purbecks has been operating since 1979 and is one of the largest onshore oil fields in Europe.

We have today been advised by the operators that there has been a leak from the facility. Whilst this has been contained, we are told that oil has escaped into the water and surrounding area.

We are liaising closely as part of long-established mechanisms with a variety of parties as this situation unfolds.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he added: I am clearly angry and disappointed, this the second-largest natural harbour, award-winning beaches, very delicate ecosystem The natural reaction is to be very worried.

What we are hearing is that its a small leak of reservoir fluid which is about 85% water and 15% oil which was caught, fortunately, quickly.

They stopped any further leaks and they are already trying to get some of it back.

One hopes that at the moment we have avoided any real disaster but the early indications are that the surface slick is already dispersing.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: We have received reports of a large amount of oil in Poole Harbour and we are supporting the port authority and other partners in responding to this incident.

BREAKING  Responsibility for  Dorset, Poole Harbour, oil spill lies with those blocking transition off #fossilfuels. "Sooner or later, this is the unavoidable reality of the oil industry" says our @AliceBHarrison https://t.co/uRGqNoNzLe  Global Witness (@Global_Witness) March 26, 2023

Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness, said: Whilst the extent of the damage is still unknown, there is no doubt that a huge spill like this will have a devastating impact on the local population and environment in Dorset.

Despite all the safety promises fossil fuel companies make, they simply cannot guarantee against these kinds of incidents. Sooner or later, this is the unavoidable reality of the oil industry.

Its baffling that there are still MPs in the UK Parliament who complain about wind and solar farms spoiling the British landscape, when the alternative is toxic oil polluting our waters and killing our wildlife.

The sight of our waters turning black shouldnt be possible in 2023 and the responsibility lies squarely at the door of those who are blocking a green energy transition that both people and planet desperately need.
A rebellion from Tory MPs seeking amendments to the controversial Illegal Migration Bill appears to have been partially defused, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman believed to be in discussions ahead of a debate later.

The controversial legislation designed to put a stop to migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats returns to the House of Commons for its committee stage on Monday, with Downing Street facing objections to the Bill from both the liberal and the right wings of the Conservative Party.

The Bill has been at the centre of controversy, with critics warning that the proposed legislation leaves the UK foul of its international obligations.

But right-wing Tory MPs have signalled that it does not go far enough, with some calling for ministers to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to drive through tighter border controls.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes part in a Q&A session during a Connect event in Chelmsford, Essex (Kin Cheung/PA)

Others on the liberal wing want to see Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commit to establishing safe routes via which asylum seekers can come to Britain.

The Prime Minister sought to play down suggestions he and Ms Braverman were at odds over the Bill following reports she has been privately encouraging rebels on the right in order to pressurise him to toughen up the legislation.

Speaking during a visit to Essex, Mr Sunak said he was confident they had designed a Bill that was robust and effective while remaining compliant with the UKs obligations under international law.

The Home Secretary and I have worked incredibly closely for the last two months to get the legislation exactly right, he said.

This is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we havent seen. Its important that it is effective, which it will be. It is also important that we abide by our international obligations. This is a country and a Government that does follow the law.

Downing Street dismissed suggestions that Ms Braverman was being used a right-wing sock puppet by Tory rebels seeking to dilute the role of the European Court of Human Rights.

Both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have been clear that this Bill will comply with international law and stop the boats, the spokesman said.

Policing minister Chris Philp said Ms Braverman is in listening mode as always, as he played down suggestions that the Government could accept amendments to establish more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to enter the UK.

He said on Monday morning that there would now not be a vote on some of the amendments being pushed by the right of the party.

Mr Philp said: My understanding is that the various amendments to strengthen the Bill arent going to be pushed to a vote today or tomorrow.

They are being discussed between those people who proposed the amendments and the Government, and the Home Secretary in particular. I know the Home Secretary is keen to make sure this Bill is effective.

The legislation would see asylum seekers arriving through unauthorised means being detained without bail or judicial review for 28 days before being swiftly removed to their home country or a safe third country such as Rwanda.

In preparation for two days of debates on the small boats law, tens of would-be Tory rebels had put their names to amendments designed to tighten rules around blocking deportations and migrant accommodation in Britain.

Tory MP Danny Kruger had said he wanted provisions in the Bill to operate notwithstanding any orders of the Strasbourg court or any other international body.

It comes after the European Court last year granted an injunction, via its Rule 39, that effectively grounded a flight sending asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda.

We are looking for commitments from the Government to take seriously the amendments we are putting down that would strengthen the Bill, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Monday.

We are very supportive of what they are doing  there is no rebellion here  but we do want to make sure we get those commitments.

So we are waiting to hear what they say at the despatch box and I am hopeful that we can get the engagement that we want so that we can tighten the Bill.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes part in a Q&A session during a Connect event in Chelmsford, Essex (Kin Cheung/PA)

Mr Philp stressed that the Home Secretary is discussing these various amendments with Members of Parliament.

I am sure she is in listening mode as always.

But this Bill is a well-designed, well-constructed Bill designed to stop the boats which the public expect the Government to do, he told Sky News.

Later Mr Philp also played down suggestions that the Government could accept amendments to establish more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to enter the UK.

He told LBC: This country has a lot of safe and legal routes established already.

In terms of creating more, my own view is that we should fix the illegal immigration problem first, stop the boats, as the Prime Minister has committed, and then we can add in these additional and safe and legal routes.

Leading that rebellion was Tim Loughton, a member of the Home Affairs Committee who said he wants clearly defined safe and legal routes for genuine refugees coming from around the world, so we can clamp down on those bogus asylum seekers who are frankly gaming the system and largely coming across in little boats at the moment.

Mr Sunak, accompanied by Ms Braverman, was heckled as the pair visited a town in Essex on Monday.

One woman shouted out: Allow migrants into our country.

Shouting at the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary, the woman added: Go away. We dont want you here.

Labours shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Bill is a con that is going to make the chaos worse at the border.
Rishi Sunak promised to tackle the scourge of drugs, as he unveiled new measures to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

The Government has pledged new moves that will see trials of swifter justice measures and increased policing in areas of England and Wales deemed to have high amounts of low-level crime.

The plan, announced by the Prime Minister during a visit to Essex on Monday, also includes a ban on the sale of laughing gas against the advice of official government advisers.

Mr Sunak, who stressed the importance of strong communities built on values, said anti-social behaviour is not the type of country that we are and that is why it is important we do something about it.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes part in a Q&A session during a Connect event in Chelmsford, Essex (Kin Cheung/PA)

Speaking to members of the public, he said: Were going to ban nitrous oxide. And were also going to expand the power of the police to do drug testing on arrest for far more crimes and far more drugs and tackle the scourge of drugs.

Current legislation already prohibits the knowing or reckless supply of nitrous oxide for inhalation.

But the Government plans to make it a Class C drug, according to its anti-social behaviour action plan, which could see users facing up to two years in jail and unlimited fines.

Ministers hope to ban nitrous oxide before the end of the year.

It goes against recommendations from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which recently concluded it would be disproportionate to bring in an outright ban.

David Badcock, chief executive of the Drug Science scientific committee, told the PA news agency: It wont stop young people using it  banning any substance just drives it into criminal hands and the inherent risks associated with the black market come into play. I dont think it will stop people doing it.

Nitrous oxide is typically released into balloons from small silver canisters, which ministers complain are littering public spaces and helping fuel anti-social behaviour.

Asked about the decision to go against the advice of the drug advisory panel, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We think that not only are drugs a scourge on society, they have a wider societal impact.

The use of nitrous oxide in these circumstances can ruin a neighbourhood, can make people feel unsafe and that is why the Prime Minister thinks it is right to take these steps.

Nitrous oxide, on an individual level, is now the third most used drug amongst young people. It has psychoactive effects, the ACMD themselves reported links between it and drug driving, littering and neurological harms.

Discarded laughing gas canisters in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Under the plan, drug testing of criminals will become more prevalent, on-the-spot fines for graffiti and fly-tipping will be increased, and more money will be ploughed into youth centres as part of a bid to eradicate behaviours spoiling Britains neighbourhoods.

So-called Immediate Justice proposals will aim to see perpetrators behind anti-social activity carry out repair and clean-up works within 48 hours of being handed community orders.

Offenders will be made to wear hi-vis vests or jumpsuits and work under supervision while picking up litter, removing graffiti and washing police cars as punishment for their actions.

Victims of anti-social behaviour will be given a say in how criminals are disciplined to ensure justice is visible and fits the crime, according to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

In what is being called Hotspot Policing, some areas will trial having enforced police patrols.

Other measures include:

 A reporting tool for the public to log anti-social behaviour and receive updates on any action to tackle it.

 Increased fines for graffiti and littering, rising to up to 500, and up to 1,000 for fly-tipping.

 Landlords and housing associations being given more powers to evict unruly tenants who create persistent noise.

Were cracking down on anti-social behaviour. That means: BANS on NOSBIGGER FINES for graffitiMORE POWERS to stop drug use Read my full action planhttps://t.co/DPrfkrlySQ pic.twitter.com/4onXzOEO3Y  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 27, 2023

 Reopening empty shops by giving councils new powers to quickly take control and sell off empty buildings.

 Setting up an anti-social behaviour taskforce jointly led by the Home Secretary and Levelling Up Secretary.

Mr Sunak dedicated a portion of his New Year speech, setting out his five pledges ahead of the next election, to his ambitions to tackle anti-social behaviour.

According to Government figures, last year saw 1,500 offenders spend almost 10,000 hours on 300 community clean-up projects, with plans to double that this year.

It should be easy for you to say this is what Ive seen, this is whats going on and then have the local authorities and the police report back on what theyve done about it so that you feel that your concerns are being listened to, Mr Sunak said on Monday.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Governments anti-behaviour action plan is too weak, too little and too late (Victoria Jones/PA)

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the plan is too weak, too little and too late.

Over the last 13 years the Conservatives have decimated neighbourhood policing and youth services and weakened anti-social behaviour powers so they are barely used, she said.

There are still 10,000 fewer neighbourhood police and PCSOs on our streets than there were seven years ago.

A few hotspot pilots is nowhere near enough to turn that around. We need guaranteed neighbourhood patrols and action in all areas or this is just yet more empty rhetoric.

We're stamping out anti-social behaviour with new powers for police, and immediate justice for victims.  Policing Minister Chris Philp  pic.twitter.com/gB5f4kymqO  Conservatives (@Conservatives) March 27, 2023

Policing minister Chris Philp defended the laughing gas ban by arguing that its use is becoming extremely widespread.

There is some emerging evidence of physical medical harm. There have been some reports recently of paralysis being caused by large-scale use, he told Times Radio.

The Governments 41-page action plan said: We recognise there are many legitimate uses of nitrous oxide, and we do not want to hinder responsible medical, industrial and consumer use.

We will consult on the ban of nitrous oxide and how best to protect people and communities from the harmful effects, while exempting legitimate uses so as to minimise the burdens on businesses.
Rape and sexual abuse victims are suffering from the disastrous impact of an increasing backlog in the crown courts, according to a new report.

The charity Rape Crisis England & Wales said its Breaking Point report, published on Monday, outlines how a crisis in the crown courts has led to a record high logjam of 7,859 sexual offence cases and 1,851 adult rape cases.

It said a Freedom of Information request to HM Courts and Tribunal Service revealed the number of vacated and ineffective, therefore delayed, rape trials more than doubled from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.

The same data shows the number of trials that were postponed at least once surged by 133%, it said.

The number of cases with three or more previous trial dates has almost doubled and there were five times as many hearings that had been rescheduled six or more times, it added.

In the last quarter of available data, the charity said adult rape and sexual offence cases in the Crown Court backlog have increased by more than 1,000 cases.

There has also been a huge increase in the number of ineffective trials due to lack of prosecution counsel, it added.

It said a breakdown of reasons for ineffective trial listings given to the Justice Select Committee showed 1,925 instances were due to the prosecution advocate failing to attend in the year to June 20 2022  an increase of 1,722 in two years.

The charity said victims and survivors of rape and other sexual offences are waiting the longest out of everyone to have their experiences heard in court, with an average wait of 839 days from report to completion in court.

It said such delays are having a devastating impact on victims and survivors, with some attempting suicide while long waits cause others to give up on pursuing justice.

Rape Crisis England & Wales chief executive Jayne Butler said: In Breaking Point, we shine a light on the disastrous impact that the increasing backlog in the crown courts is having on rape and sexual abuse victims and survivors.

The postponing and rescheduling of cases multiple times is devastating the mental wellbeing of victims and survivors: they are being harmed by the criminal justice system.

On top of lengthy police investigations lasting years, and long periods of hearing nothing, victims and survivors are facing their cases being rescheduled in the courts  often multiple times  or find that they have not been informed about key developments, such as changes to trial dates.

Whether intentional or not, this further marginalises victims and survivors, who already feel de-prioritised in an imbalanced system.

All of this is why weve long been calling for the establishment of specialist sexual violence and abuse courts, where court staff and judiciary would have trauma-informed training.

We are also calling for rape and sexual abuse cases to be given priority listing, which would see them moved much more quickly through the system and give them a guaranteed court date, reducing the uncertainty that many victims and survivors have told us is causing them extreme stress and anxiety.

We call for clear and formalised communication agreements between all criminal justice agencies so that survivors are told about key changes to the trial.

It is vital that adequate and longer-term funding for life-saving rape crisis services is provided, so that survivors have the very specialist support they need if they choose to report into the criminal justice system.

Reacting to the report, Ellie Reeves MP, Labours shadow justice minister, said: After 13 years of failure, the Conservatives are missing in action in the fight to tackle violence against women and girls.

The number of CPS staff and courts has fallen since 2010, and the Government has left the system powerless to deal with the largest courts backlog on record.

Rape survivors are now denied justice for years, with a fraction of the number of rapists being punished.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: The Government is delivering real improvements in the response to rape  in the last year alone the number of rape cases referred by the police to the CPS is up more than 50%, the number of suspects charged has increased by 54% and convictions are up by 65% compared to last year.

We know more needs to be done, particularly so that victims have confidence and feel supported, which is why weve quadrupled funding for victims services, enabled them to pre-record court evidence earlier and away from defendants, and launched a 24/7 helpline with Rape Crisis.
A six-year-old taking on 12 of the UKs highest mountains for a childrens hospice said a 10,000 donation from a member of the public was a brilliant surprise.

Oscar Burrow, from Lancaster, set himself a target of raising 29,000 to allow 29 poorly children to go on holiday at Derian House Childrens Hospice in Chorley, Lancashire.

And, thanks to the kindness of stranger Mark Dunn, that goal is one step closer.

Oscar Burrow is trying to raise 29,000 (Matt Burrow/PA)

Mr Dunn, from the Houghton Dunn Charitable Trust, heard about Oscars challenge on BBC North West Tonight earlier this month and decided to make a 10,000 donation, which he surprised the youngster with at the hospice on March 24.

Mr Dunn said Oscars age is one of the reasons he felt compelled to help.

I was watching the local news and there was a six-year-old boy looking to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest to raise 29,000 for Derian House, he said.

Oscar has been making a fantastic effort for someone so young  hes very brave.

Mark Dunn shakes Oscars hand (Derian House Childrens Hospice/PA)

Oscar said: Wow, that was a brilliant surprise.

Mark has helped us and Im almost there  I only need 2,000 and we have done it.

The money Mark donated is another 10 holidays for Derian House families. Yay.

Oscar scaled his eighth mountain  Glyder Fawr in Snowdonia, Wales  on March 25, and one day wants to become the youngest person to summit Mount Everest.

From left: Matt Burrow, Oscar Burrow and Oscars grandfather Mark Burrow (Matt Burrow/PA)

The 12 mountains feat was dreamt up by Oscars father, Matt Burrow, 38, a project manager in the NHS, and is based on the idea that, if you add up their heights, they match Everests.

While climbing Glyder Fawr, Oscar told his dad the hike was really good.

Weve had good weather all the way up and weve had no fog, he said.

Mr Burrow said it was a major achievement for his son, especially because the weather was awful closer to the summit.

Oscars mother Kim, 37, who works in pathology laboratories as part of the NHS, said Mr Dunns generosity just blew me away.

I was smiling from ear to ear, jumping about and just looking at Oscar. Its so surreal, she said.

Oscar and his family were shocked about the surprise donation (Derian House Childrens Hospice/PA)

May 29 marks the last day of Oscars challenge, when he hopes to summit Scotlands Ben Nevis.

It also marks the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Karen Edwards, chief executive at Derian House, said: We are so grateful to Mark of the Houghton Dunn Charitable Trust for such a generous donation that will mean the world to the families of Derian House.

And of course to Oscar, who has reached mountainous heights in his mission to send Derian Houses families on holiday.

Derian House is able to offer 200 families a free weeks stay in its holiday lodges every year.

Oscars journey can be followed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088803157394

More information about Oscars fundraiser can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/oscar-burrow1?
Jeremy Corbyn has said Sir Keir Starmer has denigrated the democratic foundations of Labour by taking forward plans to block the former leader from standing for the party at the next general election.

Sir Keir will on Tuesday propose a motion at a meeting of Labours ruling body that will make clear that the National Executive Committee (NEC) will not endorse Mr Corbyn at the next election, expected in around 18 months time.

The Labour leader had ruled out the left-wing veteran standing again for Labour last month, as he insisted the party has undergone a transformation under his leadership.

Sir Keir Starmer said the Labour Party has undergone a transformation under his leadership (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The motion, which the NEC is expected to back at a meeting on Tuesday, says the Islington North MP will not be endorsed by the NEC as a candidate on behalf of the Labour Party at the next general election.

A senior Labour source said: Keir Starmer has made clear that Jeremy Corbyn wont be a Labour candidate at the next general election. The Labour Party now is unrecognisable from the one that lost in 2019.

Tuesdays vote will confirm this and ensure we can focus on our five missions to build a better Britain.

But in a statement, Mr Corbyn hit back at the decision and accused the party leadership of undermining the partys internal democracy.

He said: Today, Keir Starmer has broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundations of our party.

I have been elected as the Labour MP for Islington North on 10 consecutive occasions since 1983.

I am proud to represent a community that supports vulnerable people, joins workers on the picket line and fights for transformative change.

This latest move represents a leadership increasingly unwilling to offer solutions that meet the scale of the crises facing us all.

As the Government plunges millions into poverty and demonises refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.

Mr Corbyn also issued a warning to the current leader and his allies, saying: Our message is clear: we are not going anywhere.

Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.

Sir Keirs announcement of his intention to rule out Mr Corbyn standing again for Labour came following the announcement that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) had decided to lift the party out of two years of special measures over its failings on antisemitism under Mr Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn is currently sitting in the Commons as an independent after he was suspended from the parliamentary party over his response to the damning EHRC report in 2020 which found that Labour had broken equalities law.

The MP, who still retains support within the party and in his constituency, could now be left with the option of running as an independent candidate in the seat.
The mother of Stephen Lawrence says his racist murder was exploited by the publisher of the Daily Mail to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers and to profit, the High Court has been told.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence feels a deep sense of betrayal over Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) allegedly hiring private investigators to unlawfully or illegally obtain her private information, her lawyers said.

She now wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail over its entirely false support for her fight for justice caused her to have failed her murdered son, the court was told.

Stephen Lawrence (Family Handout/PA)

In her High Court breach of privacy claim against ANL, brought alongside other high-profile individuals, she claims there was illegal interception of her voicemail messages and that her phone was tapped between 1993 and 2007.

She also alleges her bank accounts and phone bills were monitored, that she was subject to covert electronic surveillance and that corrupt payments were made to serving police officers for confidential information, including to those investigating her sons killing.

ANL says it firmly denies that unlawful information gathering took place at its newspapers, and the legal claims against it are being brought too late.

Baroness Lawrence joined Sir Elton John and the Duke of Sussex for the first of a four-day preliminary hearing in their cases at the High Court in London on Monday.

Known as a campaigner and reformer, Baroness Lawrence has devoted herself to seeking justice for her 18-year-old son who was murdered in 1993.

The aspiring architect was stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London.

The Daily Mail, under then editor Paul Dacre, campaigned to bring Mr Lawrences killers to justice, running a front page in 1997 that saw the newspaper brand five suspects as murderers and challenge them to sue the publication if it was wrong.

Paul Dacre (Iain Crockart/DMGT/PA)

Barrister David Sherborne, representing Baroness Lawrence, said in written submissions that she and her family were targeted both before and during the Daily Mails Justice for Stephen Lawrence Campaign.

Alleged unlawful activity included a private investigator monitoring her bank accounts specifically to check whether (she) was receiving buy up money from and/or working with other newspapers during the campaign.

Mr Sherborne said Baroness Lawrence never once suspected ANL of the allegations because it had professed to help her, but she believed information in some of the newspapers articles came from those nearest and dearest to her or police sources.

The impact of this belief was profound, damaging professional and personal relationships that could have been genuine and could have helped to bring her sons killers to account, Mr Sherborne said.

He added that Baroness Lawrence feels haunted by the fact that she will never know the true impact of the Daily Mails unlawful acts and unlawful articles on her fight for justice for Stephen.

She wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail as she did caused her to have delayed or have failed her murdered son.

Baroness Lawrence feels anger, shock and upset at the newspapers alleged actions which were deliberately concealed from her, Mr Sherborne added.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice (Aaron Chown/PA)

Most of all, however, she feels a deep sense of betrayal.

She finds it hard to believe the level of duplicity and manipulation that was clearly at play, knowing now as she does that the Daily Mails outward support for her fight to bring Stephens killers to justice was hollow and, worse, entirely false.

(She) now sees that the Daily Mails true interests were about self-promotion and using her and her sons murder as a means to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers and to profit.

(She) cannot think of any act or conduct lower than stealing and exploiting information from a mother who buried her son for this reason.

She feels used and violated, and like she has been taken for a fool.

ANLs lawyers argue that the privacy claims against it could have been brought before October 2016, and that it is too late to have them heard now.

They say the cases are stale and should be dismissed without a trial, with it being up to the individuals bringing the claims to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, that they might have had a claim against ANL.

An ANL spokesperson said after Mondays hearing: While the Mails admiration for Baroness Lawrence remains undimmed, we are profoundly saddened that she has been persuaded to bring this case.

The Mail remains hugely proud of its pivotal role in campaigning for justice for Stephen Lawrence. Its famous Murderers front page triggered the Macpherson report.

Associated Newspapers, which owns the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, vigorously denies all the claims against it.
A piece of art about the Grenfell Tower fire is due to go on display as its creator Steve McQueen said he is determined that the disaster is never forgotten.

The 24-minute film of close-up imagery in the months after the June 2017 fire  which claimed the lives of 72 people  will be on view at the Serpentine South gallery in London from next month.

The art will go on public view following what the gallery said was a period of community outreach and private community viewings.

Steve McQueen has created a film artwork to ensure the Grenfell Tower disaster is never forgotten (SteveMcQueen/PA)

McQueen, who was born in west London, sought to create a record by filming the tower before it was covered with hoarding.

The 12 Years A Slave and Small Axe director said: I knew once the tower was covered up, it would start to leave peoples minds. I was determined that it never be forgotten.

In an interview with the Guardian, he acknowledged there will be people who are a little bit disturbed by the art.

He told the newspaper: You must understand that the violence that was inflicted on that community was no joke.

I didnt want to let people off the hook. There are going to be people who are going to be a little bit disturbed. When you make art, anything half decent there are certain people you will possibly offend. But that is how it is.

Steve McQueen (PA)

McQueen has previously said he feels the Grenfell disaster happened because no-one was listening to poor people.

He told on Annie Macmanus podcast Changes, in 2021: I think with what happened in Grenfell, I remember I was shooting Widows in Chicago when it happened. I just couldnt believe it. And it happened because people were poor.

It happened because no-one was listening to poor people. The only reason these people died was because they were poor. 

The artwork will be on display from April 7 until May 10, after which it will become part of the Tate and Museum of Londons collections.

The inquiry into the blaze is due to present its final report later this year.
Elon Musks social media platform Twitter has revealed that some parts of its source code have been leaked online.

The group said in a legal filing that the code  the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs  has been leaked on GitHub, which is an internet hosting service where software developers share code.

Microsoft-owned GitHub took down the code after Twitter requested its removal.

Twitter also asked the District Court of the Northern District of California, where it filed its legal document, to provide information on who was behind the account which leaked the code.

Elon Musk has faced a number of headaches since his deal to take Twitter private (Brian Lawless/PA)

Twitters legal filing reportedly said the leaker went under the name of FreeBeach Enthusiast on GitHub  a reference to the fact that Mr Musk calls himself a free-speech enthusiast.

It claimed the source code postings infringe copyrights held by Twitter.

The move comes after Mr Musk is also understood to have suggested to workers at Twitter that the company is now worth less than half the 44 billion US dollars (35.9 billion) he paid for it last October.

The valuation estimate was reportedly signalled in Mr Musks offer of stock grants to employees at the firm.

It presents yet another headache for the billionaire since his deal to take Twitter private, with the firm having since been engulfed in chaos, with widespread redundancies and advertisers fleeing the group.

Twitter was not immediately available for comment.

The group now has a policy of responding to all inquiries to its email press office account with a poo emoji, as announced by Mr Musk in a tweet earlier this month.
A Twitter user has been convicted of two charges of encouraging terrorist acts after posting an image of a terrorism victims severed head, while urging others to decapitate those who insult Islam.

Ajmal Shahpal was found guilty on Monday at Birmingham Crown Court of sending tweets which would encourage others to commit, prepare, or instigate acts of terrorism.

The 41-year-old, of Birkin Avenue, Radford, Nottingham, had denied the offences despite praising the killer of French school teacher Samuel Paty for being as brave as a lion.

Jurors deliberated for around five hours before convicting Shahpal by majority verdicts of one count of intentionally encouraging terrorist acts and one of doing so recklessly.

He was cleared of a third charge of encouraging acts of terrorism.

After the verdicts, Judge Melbourne Inman KC rejected a bail application and remanded Shahpal in custody for sentence on April 13.

The judge told him: You have been convicted of two offences. Obviously I will have to decide what the sentence is in due course, but a custodial sentence is inevitable for this type of offence.

In the circumstances therefore, you will be remanded in custody pending your sentence.

A two-week trial was told Shahpal was arrested at his home in March 2021 after tweeting messages backing a Pakistan-based political party which supported the out-of-hand murder of those who it thinks have committed blasphemy.

Opening the Crowns case against Shahpal at the start of the trial, prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds said: This is a case about terrorism, that is the encouragement by this defendant of others to commit acts of terrorism.

He did that by publishing tweets on his Twitter account which specifically encouraged others to behead those who he believed had insulted his religion, his religion being Islam.

Jurors were told Shahpal, originally from Kashmir, sent some of the tweets on his open account on September 26 2020, a day after Charlie Hebdos former office in Paris was targeted for a second time by Islamic extremist Zaheer Hassan Mehmood.

Mehmoods stabbing attack was both vicious and incompetent and came five years after 12 people were killed in an attack on Charlie Hebdos offices, the court heard.

The court was also told he expressed support for extremists who had attacked those he viewed as blasphemers, including Mr Paty, who was killed on October 16 2020.

He also saw fit to tweet an image of the severed head of Mr Paty lying on the street, saying that the insolent had been sent to hell.

Further tweets said that whoever insulted Islam should be killed, and threatened the French government.

During his evidence, Shahpal claimed he was retweeting other peoples views just to have some more followers.

He told jurors he did not know he had retweeted a picture of Mr Patys severed head, claiming: At the time I did not know what picture it was that I was retweeting.

A friend of mine who set up this account for me, he told me that if you do this, you are going to get more followers.

Questioned about a further tweet which called for rapists to be stoned to death, Shahpal said it did not accord with his beliefs and he had just copied and pasted a message written in English because the issue was ongoing in Pakistan.
The US House of Representatives will most likely take steps on legislating a TikTok ban after the controversial platform's CEO Shou Zi Chew's testimony on Capitol Hill failed to satisfy bipartisan concerns about online data security, Rep. Mike Gallagher said on Sunday.

The Wisconsin Republican legislator explained that TikTok has brought together Republicans and Democrats out of a fear of letting the Chinese Communist Party control the country's most powerful media platform, per ABC News.

Rep. Gallagher, the chairman of the House select committee on US competition with China, underscored that either a TikTok ban will be imposed or the company will be forced to be sold by its Chinese parent business, ByteDance, to an American corporation.

While China strictly limits internet usage inside its borders, Chinese authorities have stated they would oppose such propositions, calling them excessive and unjust. Opponents argue the investigation has not extended to comparable social media services.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state, on Sunday called for a TikTok ban in the United States, as she sees the popular app as "an immediate threat."

Read Also: Israeli President Isaac Herzog's Warning To PM Netanyahu Amid Judicial Reform Controversy

After hearing testimony from TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Thursday, the chairperson of the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged the US Congress to establish data privacy legislation and a nationwide TikTok ban.

McMorris said that Chew's testimony made obvious that TikTok is a danger and that action should be taken "to address the immediate threat and we also need a national data privacy law," according to CNN.

TikTok has 150 million active US users each month and it is highly popular among Gen Z users.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Supports US TikTok Ban

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has made it clear that he would support a countrywide TikTok ban.

On Sunday, Kevin McCarthy posted on social media that the US House of Representatives would be moving ahead with legislation involving TikTok.

It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be trueChina has access to TikTok user data.



The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party.  Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) March 26, 2023

"It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true-China has access to TikTok user data," he tweeted, as reported by The Hill.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy told journalists last week that he would back US Congress measures to legislate a TikTok ban as long as it would be done lawfully.

Related Article: Here's Why TikTok Is Not Available in China

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The people of Wales lost out on 155.5 million of public funding due to poor account management by First Minister Mark Drakefords Government, a Senedd committee has claimed.

A report published on Monday by the Senedds Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee (Papac) claims significant funding was lost to Wales as a result of the Welsh Governments 155.5 million underspend in 2020-21.

This figure is the result of the difference between the balance of the Wales Reserve on April 1 2021, 505.5 million, and the Wales Reserves limit of 350 million.

The Welsh Government said the Chief Secretary to the Treasury had rejected its request to carry forward funds in excess of the Wales Reserve limit, according to Papac.

As a fiscal devolution measure, the Wales Reserve was established for Welsh Government to deposit any resource or capital funds which can be drawn down to fund future spending.

The reserve is held within the UK Government and is capped at 350 million.

Papac has now questioned why the Welsh Government waited so long to be told it could not do as it wished with the underspend, and why such a request was made retrospectively.

It said the Welsh Government appears to have assumed, based on previous HM Treasury decisions, that it would be granted flexibility to use the funding.

First minister of Wales Mark Drakeford (Peter Byrne/PA)

The committee said this raises questions as to whether making a request sooner may have enabled the funds to be used, as it warned lessons must be learnt to ensure such vital funding is not lost from Wales again.

Chairman of the Papac, Mark Isherwood, a Conservative Member of the Senedd for North Wales, said: Our report highlights a number of serious issues within the Welsh Governments Consolidated Accounts 2020-21, which was not only significantly delayed and signed nine months later than the timetable originally agreed, but qualified by the Auditor General on three separate issues.

We are very concerned that significant funding was lost to Wales as a result of the underspend in 2020-21.

This money could have been used to fund essential services and it is especially frustrating now when there are such pressures on public funding.

It is one of many examples where poor record keeping and mismanagement of public accounts has cost the people of Wales.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: The Finance Minister has made clear that the actions of the UK Treasury on this issue were wholly unacceptable.

We stayed within our overall control total but the UK Government refused a switch between revenue and capital budgets, a process which has been agreed many times before.

Our underspends during the exceptional 2020-21 financial year were very significantly below those of UK Government departments and our focus on achieving value for money meant we didnt have the scandals of PPE contracts as we saw in England.

The Treasurys arbitrary application of its guidance in this instance was deeply regrettable and left Wales deprived of 155 million.

The spokesperson added: We welcome the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committees ongoing scrutiny of the Welsh Governments 2020-21 annual accounts.

We continue to work constructively with both the committee and Audit Wales, and will respond to their recommendations in due course.

The Treasury has been approached for comment.
The Tri-Cities scored a massive economic development win this month when a European fertilizer firm selected Richland for its first-ever plant to make carbon-free fertilizer out of air and water.

Atlas Agros vision for north Richland comes with an equally massive power requirement. It told Richland officials it needs up to 350 megawatts, or enough electricity to power the city three times over.

Atlas agreed to buy 150 acres at the Horn Rapids Industrial Park from the Port of Benton for its proposed $1.1 billion plant. The site is on land formerly owned by the Department of Energy, near the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

As billed, Atlas could turbocharge local efforts to build a green economy in the Tri-Cities thats independent of federal spending on cleaning up the Hanford nuclear site.

Signing the purchase and sale agreement signals both parties believe the plant stands a good chance of succeeding. But it does not guarantee it will be built.

Atlas needs electricity to power electrolyzers to produce hydrogen and then ammonia to make nitrogen fertilizers. The process is based on existing synthesis technology, which Atlas said it has refined.

Atlas Agro will need up to 350 megawatts to produce fertilizer at its proposed $1.1 billion plant in north Richland. Above, Gina Zejdlik, Atlas Agro director of policy and government relations, left and Dan Holmes, Atlas Agro North America executive director, stand at the 150 acres on the northern edge of Richland

Need for power

Its electrical requirements translate to 1 1/2 to 3 times the power consumed by the entire city, said Clint Whitney, Richlands energy services director. As the local energy utility, the city would be responsible for providing power to the fertilizer plant.

The company mentioned new nuclear as its power source, but has offered no details of what that means or how or where it will be generated.

The Bonneville Power Administration caps new large users at 10 megawatts. The federal marketing agency did not respond to a request for comment on the project.

Whitney stressed that BPA is not obligated to serve Atlas.

Energy Northwest, which generates electricity for BPA at the 1,200-megawatt nuclear plant north of Richland as well as other facilities, said it could not elaborate on its discussions with Atlas, but hinted at advanced nuclear reactors.

We are energetically pursuing the deployment of a X-energy advanced reactor at the end of the decade, Greg Cullen, vice president for energy services and development, told the Herald.

Energy Northwest is actively engaged with potential utility and industrial customers on the feasibility of new nuclear technologies serving their energy needs, he said.

Atlas Agro plans to build the first-ever carbon-free fertilizer production plant for a cost of $1.1 billion on 150-acres on the northwest corner at the intersection of Stevens Drive and Horn Rapids Road near the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.

Buying power

Whitney said there are three ways to meet Atlas requirements.

Atlas could contract to purchase power on the open market, where costs have soared.

Richland could contract to buy the power on the open market.

Atlas could apply for BPAs expensive New Resource rate, currently more than twice its lowest Tier 1 rate.

Whitney said it is too early to identify a preferred option, but he said the city is committed to protecting existing customers.

For example, if the city entered a power contract to serve Atlas and the project didnt move forward, it doesnt want to be left responsible for the cost.

Thats where the attorneys are going to come in and help us, he said.

Sales agreement

Atlas and the port signed a 25-page purchase and sale agreement that spells out terms under which Atlas will buy property at the corner of Stevens Drive and Horn Rapids Road.

The agreement, released after the March 7 meeting, offers details that were not included in port commissions original public discussion.

The contract indicates Atlas will need 280-330 megawatts of continuous power to produce fertilizers without emitting carbon.

The lower figure reflects adding an energy storage facility to the power package.

A single megawatt can power 400-900 homes, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At the low end, Atlas is seeking enough power to run 132,000 homes, more than the Tri-Cities combined.

The details

Atlas, operating as Pacific Green Fertilizer Corp., has until Jan 31, 2026 to complete the pre-development steps needed to construct the facility, which would have a combined footprint of 1 million square feet.

The land: Atlas will pay nearly $9.1 million for 150 acres within a 260-acre port-owned property. The price is $1.39 per square foot for 6.5 million square feet.

Atlas can buy additional land for $2.09 per square foot. It was required to place $400,000 in an earnest money account with Chicago Title Insurance Co. in Kennewick.

Atlas has one year to confirm the property suits its needs and the project is feasible. After that, the deposit is nonrefundable.

The purchase agreement automatically terminates if Atlas fails to notify the port the property has been approved for development.

Rail access: The port agreed to work with Atlas to extend a rail spur from the nearby Southern Connection, aka the port-owned railway that connects Richlands industrial areas to the BNSF Railway and UP networks in Kennewick.

Atlas will pay for rail construction. The project will generate 10 rail car trips per day, 25 truck trips and required reliable access to barge ports. The Port of Benton operates a barge facility near the Triton Sail Park.

It is chiefly used to move decommissioned nuclear reactors to the Hanford site.

Jobs: Officials said Atlas will support 1,000 jobs in the community, but the plant itself will employ 160 people, including 20 professionals, 100 technical/skilled workers, 20 semi-skilled workers and 20 unskilled workers. The construction project will require hundreds of workers.

Why Richland?

Dan Holmes, executive director for North America, said it is eager to meet demand for no-carbon fertilizers from agriculture, which is a significant contributor of carbon emissions.

Taking carbon out of fertilizers helps the industry, he told the port commission.

Richland is envisioned as the first plant in a network of such plants built to serve local agriculture around the country.

Atlas scouted sites in Washington and Oregon. But Richland was the clear winner thanks to support from the city of Richland, Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) and Washington Department of Commerce.

This is the place where the project most likely will be built, he said.

The state of Washington is eager to see it succeed, said Brian Young, the Department of Commerces clean technology sector lead.

The state agency aided Atlas with the site selection process and visited the companys leaders in Oslo when Gov. Jay Inslee visited the region in 2022.

He said fertilizers are generally produced in the region where its is consumed. A billion-dollar effort to drive down carbon intensity got us very excited, he said.

Young said the state has not offered direct incentives to land the project. The state has incentives around manufacturing and sales tax deferrals on equipment and it can help with some of the federal funds available for clean tech innovators.

He praised local officials at the city, port and TRIDEC for rallying to support Atlas.

Its never a done deal until it is built, he added.
Jeremy Renner walked using an anti-gravity treadmill as part of his recovery from his snowplow accident. (Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Jeremy Renner is making strides  literally  in his recovery from his New Year's Day snowplow accident.

On Sunday, nearly three months after the Marvel star, 52, was crushed by his snowplow as he tried to stop it from hitting his nephew, Renner posted footage of himself taking steps on an anti-gravity treadmill as part of his physical therapy. As he can be seen explaining to another man in the video, the equipment enables him to feel "less weight" so that he can feel supported as he walks.

"It's like having a cane," he says in the video, estimating that he's only feeling "40% of my weight" thanks to the treadmill. Such equipment uses anti-gravity technology for weight-supported walking, running and other movements in order to help rehab clients recover from an injury or surgery, or build strength and endurance while managing a chronic health condition.

The Hawkeye actor has said he has "30-plus broken bones" as a result of the accident, after which he was airlifted to a local medical center near his Nevada home. The actor underwent emergency surgery for his injuries, which included "blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries," his rep said at the time.

Renner demonstrated how the anti-gravity treadmill enabled him to walk with "less weight." (Photo: Instagram/Jeremey Renner)

Renner is now at home and making steady improvement. In February the Mayor of Kingstown star  who has posted photos of himself using a stationary bike  noted that he's working on his "mental recovery too" in the aftermath of the accident.

On Sunday, he tweeted, "I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will," adding the hashtags #Mindful, #Intended and #Recovery.
Following an arrest for domestic violence allegations on Saturday, March 25, representatives for Jonathan Majors say the Creed III actor is completely innocent.

In a statement to TODAY.com from Majors legal team released Sunday, March 26, attorney Priya Chaudhry said the 33-year-old is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.

We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently, the statement continued. This evidence includes video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.

His legal team states that the aforementioned evidence will prove Majors innocence and show that he did not assault the women, who has only been identified thus far as a 30-year-old.

Majors was arrested Saturday morning at around 11:14 a.m. when police responded to a 911 call at a location in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Officials say a woman alleged that she had been assaulted by Majors in what police are calling a domestic dispute. The New York Police Department said Majors was taken into custody based on allegations of strangulation, assault and harassment.

After a preliminary investigation, police determined that the woman was involved in a domestic dispute and had sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.

Chaudhry addressed the allegations, stating that the incident came about because this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital yesterday. They called Majors arrest standard procedure and added that they expect these charges to be dropped soon.

In addition to starring in "Creed III" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Majors was also featured in two recruiting advertisements for the U.S. Army. Those ads have been pulled in the wake of the allegations, Laura DeFrancisco, public affairs chief for the Army Enterprise Marketing Office, said in a statement.

The U.S. Army is aware of the arrest of Jonathan Majors and we are deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest," the statement reads. "We recently released two ads in which Mr. Majors appears. While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
There's a lot of pressure on moms to keep a spotless home. Some are pushing back. (Photo illustration: Jay Sprogell. Photos via Getty Images)

Recently, I conducted an experiment. I noticed a scrap of paper on our stairs and started to pick it up. As the mom I tend to notice messes in our family of six before anyone else does, it seems. Instead of picking up this tiny scrap of paper, though, I left it there. I noticed it day after day. I swept around it as I waited for anyone else to pick it up. No one did for three weeks  except my own mother. I told her about my experiment and she carefully placed the scrap back where she had found it. A few days later I called it quits and sucked the paper up in the Dyson wand on a quick cleanup before friends came over. Initially, I left the paper there to prove the point that no one else in our family cares about messes. But I learned something else as well.

That tiny white square, languishing for weeks on end, didnt actually affect anything. We still got up, went to school, played at the park and had movie nights. I began to think about the various homes I have visited over the years, both as a government caseworker and in my personal life. Very few look Instagrammable all of the time, and most look just like mine. Theyre in a state of flux as families rush from activity to activity. Messy homes are normal, so why was I wasting so much time stressing over this? I posed a question about the state of our homes on social media. Within an hour, over 100 people had shared their stress, woes or laissez-faire attitude about their home. Turns out I am not the only mom who is seeking permission to stop caring so much.

I asked Bonnie Scott, a licensed psychotherapist in Texas and the host of the upcoming Work and Wellness podcast, what she thought about the constant pressure on moms to keep our homes tidy. She says the topic comes up often with her clients. The state of our living spaces is a source of a lot of conflict  internal and external. Even in homes where the labor is divided pretty equally between partners, there's often one person who takes more of the stress over appearance, she says. The root of this issue, in her opinion, is largely rooted in social media and comparing ourselves to others. It's my very firm mantra that a home should work for you, not be a bunch of work for you, Scott says.

We've spent time at home more than ever over the past few years, figuring out how to make our homes work for us. For some parents I talked to, thats been a relief. Rachel Hoyt is a single mom of three and a social worker in Chicago. I have been in many peoples home over the last 15 years across many racial and socioeconomic spectrums. Across the board, most homes with children looked  well, like kids live there, she says. There is almost always a pile of shoes and backpacks somewhere near a door. Kids bedrooms have messily made beds at best. It never really struck me as odd. After all, I was there to see a family with kids.

And yet, despite her knowledge that most homes get messy, Hoyt found herself struggling with the condition of her own house. I began feeling like I was a failure for not keeping the house to influencer-level cleanliness. It probably didnt help that it was in the middle of COVID and I wasnt seeing inside other people's houses. Once she started venturing out again, Hoyt says she was relieved. There were kids art projects all over the fridges, toothpaste on the bathroom mirror or baby equipment taking over a living room, she recalls. Shes been able to relax more and focus on enjoying her home rather than comparing herself to others.

That influencer level of clean, where homes look more like a staged HGTV space than a lived-in house, isnt really attainable for most parents without a great deal of added stress, says Scott. Comparing your space to others is in no way helpful, because you don't live in those spaces. We can treat those magazine shots, HGTV reveals and social media posts as what they really are: art-directed spaces presented as perfection, she says. They are staged to sell, inspire or get you to click. They are not necessarily instructions for your real-life spaces. They are art and can be appreciated as such. You dont have a design team and personal assistant, so why would your home be able to look as if you do?

In Pittsburgh, Jessica Palitti thinks about the state of mess incessantly. I am constantly anxious about my house. It has taken a long time for me to learn to let go ... to be OK with the dishes being in the sink today because I'm tired or doing something with my kids is more important," she says. As a single mom of two girls who owns a bustling performing arts studio, those precious moments with her kids matter. But those dishes, man  they are constantly in the back of my mind, Palitti admits.

Some parents say their homes are messy, and they hate it. I have a messy house, and I feel both ways about it  stressed and accepting," says one. Another mom jokes, I have ketchup curtains, holes in my drywall and we never recarpeted the stairs. While I am not actually sure what ketchup curtains means, given the way my kids use walls as napkins, I can take a guess.

Other moms say their anxiety over mess is debilitating. I cant even let my kids enjoy things like kinetic sand or slime. My anxiety is too high that they will stain or ruin something, one mom shares. It doesnt feel fair to them. Another parent says, This stress is too much. The constant construction and undone projects are one thing. But it's impossible to organize. The stress is so debilitating.

I asked Scott about the anxiety that can develop for parents about their homes. While there are clinical disorders related to cleaning and organization, like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), there are also a lot of parents who just are holding their families to an unachievable standard, she says. If you're snapping at your loved ones because they spilled crumbs, it's time to ask yourself what that stress is about and how to mitigate it," she says. "That's a space that's working against you. This doesnt mean homes need to be a free-for-all, but it does mean you dont have to only buy white cheddar Cheetos.

It's totally fine to set boundaries around what you need to feel comfy at home, Scott says. I don't typically allow slime myself, because it's a gross texture and I don't like looking at it. It gets full of cat hair and that's real nasty. But my kid brings it home sometimes, and she can play with it as long as she cleans up. She adds that her kids room is a complete disaster zone, and shes had to let it go for the benefit of their relationship. I've tried to help her organize it and that's not what works for her. Scott says shes had more success teaching her daughter about respect and stewardship than she has with haranguing her over messes. Their house is a cozy, maximalist space that will always be a bit cluttered, but they do want to avoid growing ant colonies under a bed. It's just a reasonable task to be tidy, and we are all less stressed when no one is being nagged," she notes.

Ultimately, Scott says parents should prioritize presence over perfection. If you're super-stressed because your home isnt up to par, then youre severely limiting your time to connect with others  because perfection isn't attainable," she says. "Someday you'll be on your deathbed and you'll be annoyed with how much of your life you spent folding socks instead of drinking coffee with friends.

If you are concerned that your anxiety over your home may need professional treatment, please contact The International OCD Foundation or a local mental health practitioner.
It hasnt always had a positive connotation; some alternative schools are where students who struggled in traditional public schools would go to finish up their class credits.

But today, there are many new kinds of alternative schoolscommunity-based programs and charter schoolsand theyre looking at education in new and completely different ways, hoping to flip the stereotypes and our education system on its head.

Its not every day you see a student leading the class.

But at The LIFE School in Atlanta, students are on their feet. They are learning, laughing, and enjoying their time in school.

"We've passed the age of just sort of factory cookie cutter preparation of our children," said Mikayla Streeter, the founding principal of The LIFE School.

Streeter and Khabral Muhammad started The LIFE school to keep students from experiencing education the way they did.

"My classmates were much more confident and comfortable launching into these really complicated problems. And for me, I was like, 'Well, where is the worksheet? What are the step-by-step instructions?'" said Streeter.

SEE MORE: School offers 'pay what you can' tuition for specialized education

But at this school, instructions, textbooks, and test scores do not dictate success. Class is about learning with joy and empathy and learning how to work on a team.

Kids arent separated by age but by abilities, and students can suggest what they want to study.

"We've had students who've produced original music albums, who started businesses, and earned thousands of dollars. I mean, there's students who've published novels. I mean, really runs the gamut," said Streeter.

And as a father himself, Muhammad wanted to create a space where he could be involved.

"My driving force here is my son; he's six. And actually, I guess what this space has meant for me and for a lot of like-minded parents was just having access to our children in a way that a normal school setting wouldnt," said Muhammad.

Muhammad says this space gives his son the freedom to learn social and emotional skills hell need his entire life.

Studies show this setting works.

Middle schoolers studying science in a project-based setting in California tested 11 percentage points better than peers in traditional lecture-style classes, and second graders in Michigan who learned in project-based settings demonstrated 56 more months of social studies learning and 2-3 more months of reading comprehension than peers in traditional classes.

SEE MORE: Nonprofit helps refugees, immigrant women become teachers in US

Students are also less likely to drop out and more likely to attend college; its a model Streeter says can help all students.

"You think, Oh, well, smart kids or good kids can learn by listening. It's really those other kids that need to run around or something.' But that's not the case. If you take a kid that is being successful in a traditional environment and put them in an environment that's more project-based, more hands-on, and flexible, they will flourish even more," said Streeter.

Of course, these small schools cost money to open and run, but thats why Streeter and Muhammad hope the example they are setting will get the attention of community leaders and lawmakers to extend more grants and state and federal money to schools like theirs. Because those actions today could be the foundation for the generation of tomorrow to flourish.

"When you think about the people who are most successful in life, they are people who can think flexibly, who can think in an agile way," said Streeter. "We want our students to embrace the nuance, embrace spaces for creativity, and take that into the real world, have that capacity, because that's really what leads to success."
(Matt Burke)

Angolan authorities arrest two suspected suspected elephant poachers

SELL: The accused were eating the elephant meat when neighbours reported them to the police

By Gaspar Jindanji for Epito Reporter

Angolas Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) in Bengo Province bordering the capital city Luanda, detained two poachers for killing an elephant in the municipality of Pango Aluquem.

The detention took place this Monday due to complaints from people who saw the accused consuming and selling meat from the great mammal. The two, Jose Sebastiao and Malambo Castro, aged 28 and 30, respectively, countered the accusations by saying that they found the animal already dead and that they only enjoyed the meat and ivory in the company of other people from their community.

Jose Sebastiao and Malambo Castro also stated that the elephant in question was a calf, allegations refuted by environmentalist Julio Bravo who stated that the average lifespan of an elephant is 58 years and an individual of this species only has tusks when it reaches adulthood so it is impossible for a calf to have tusks the size found in the possession of the accused.

The provinces of Bengo and bordering Kwanza Norte have recorded the presence of some herds of elephants, and in some cases, individuals from these herds get lost and appear alone in residential areas, a fact that sometimes generates panic and uproar that require the intervention of environmentalists and specialists from the Civil Protection Services, as well as firefighters.

The SIC spokesperson in Bengo, Peterson Casul, stressed that all Ministry of the Interior services at the level of the two provinces are oriented to help environmental inspectors in combating poaching and other practices that harm the environment..

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.

Read the original story here:
U.S. President Biden delivers remarks on the 13th anniversary of passage of the Affordable Care Act at the White House in Washington

By Kanishka Singh, Katharine Jackson and Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden would veto a Republican energy legislation package if it were to pass Congress, citing cost increases that the legislation could lead to, the White House said on Monday.

"H.R. 1 (Lower Energy Costs Act) would double the cost of energy efficiency upgrades that families need to reduce household bills and would repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will cut energy costs and boost economic development in rural and urban communities across the country," the White House said.

"Therefore, if presented to the president in its current form, he would veto it."

Republicans plan to bring the legislation to the floor of the House of Representatives, where they hold a slim majority, for a vote this week, Representative Elise Stefanik, who chairs the House Republican Conference, said on Monday.

The bill would codify into a law a Trump administration rule that sought limits on reviews and public input on fossil fuel projects and road building, weakening the fundamental conservation law the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

Even if the bill were to pass in the House, it would face a test in its path to clear the Senate where Biden's fellow Democrats hold a narrow majority.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the House bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate. But many senators want more moderate permitting legislation to expand the electricity transmission system and rapid build out of renewable power.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, last week outlined progressive priorities for a permitting bill that include historic levels of funding for environmental justice programs and NEPA implementation.

ClearView Energy Partners, a nonpartisan research group, said the House bill could set up a conversation between the House and Senate on compromise legislation that could be included in a wider bill later this year such as one lifting the debt ceiling or a measure on defense policy.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Katharine Jackson and Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Andrea Ricci and David Gregorio)
Marianne Williamson, a self-help author and 2024 Democratic presidential contender, on Sunday in South Carolina touted her ability to improve the lives of working class Americans above and beyond that of President Joe Biden.

Williamson was the special guest of the South Carolina Democratic Partys Black Caucus, invited to speak at the caucus second annual Sunday Dinner at Brookland Baptist Church.

It was Williamsons first visit to the Palmetto State since announcing her candidacy for president earlier this month, part of a four-day swing with more visits planned in Columbia, Charleston and Florence.

Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson speaks with voters during an annual dinner hosted by the Black Caucus of the S.C. Democratic Party on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, S.C.

Williamson, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in 2020 but dropped out before the states primary, is Bidens first formal Democratic challenger, although her bid is a long shot in a state where Biden won the 2020 primary with nearly 49% of the vote. Biden has yet to announce whether hes running, though it is anticipated.

Still, during Sundays dinner, Williamson delivered an impassioned and colorful speech before a crowd of Black voters, positing that shes the right candidate for the nations highest office.

It is time for us to return the Democratic Party to the unequivocal principle of advocacy for the working people of the United States, Williamson said. My belief is that we should end the unjust economic system that says to Americans, Even though you live in the richest country in the world, somehow its complicated  to not have universal health care, tuition free college, free child care, paid family sick leave and livable wage.

Williamson, 70, is known for authoring several best-selling self-help books while serving as a spiritual guru to Oprah Winfrey. She also founded Project Angel Food, a nonprofit organization that began as a food delivery program to homebound people with AIDS and later expanded to people battling any critical illness.

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, who delivered the keynote address during Sundays event, said that Black voters need to stand up and become the voice lacking in what she calls a timid Democratic Party.

We need each and every one of you to become missionaries for true superman justice and the American way, Cobb-Hunter said. We as Democrats are so nice; we dont want to step on anybodys toes and we have to be super inclusive. But Im here to tell you unless we get a Democratic Party that (has a backbone), we wont have a chance (against Republicans).

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, delivers the keynote address during the South Carolina Sunday Dinner, hosted by the Black Caucus of the S.C. Democratic Party on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in West Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina recently shifted to the front of presidential politics after the Democratic National Committee voted this year to overhaul its 2024 contest calendar, selecting South Carolina to replace Iowa as the first primary state.

Under the changes, South Carolina Democrats will vote Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire three days later. Georgia will vote a week later, followed by Michigan on Feb. 27.

Democrats say putting South Carolina first adds more diversity to the nominating contest, since Black voters make up two-thirds of the S.C. Democratic Party.

The S.C. Democratic Party will undergo a leadership change this year, after current Chairman Trav Robertson announced he will not seek reelection and instead will back Christale Spain. Catherine Fleming Bruce and Brandon Upson, chairman of the partys Black Caucus, also are seeking to be the next chair.

The South Carolina Democratic Black Caucus claims to represent more than 800,000 Black Democrats within the states Democratic Party, aiming they say to offer solutions to problems that have historically plagued the Black community.

Not all S.C. Democrats appeared thrilled with the caucus invitation to Williamson.

This is a great time to say I fully support and endorse President Joe Biden in his inevitable reelection campaign, Jalen Elrod, the third vice chair of the party, tweeted Sunday. Hes the most consequential and successful first term President since FDR and LBJ. We need real leaders for real challenges. Not New Age, best selling authors.

Other guests at Sundays dinner included Michael Moore, a descendant of Civil War hero Robert Smalls, who has announced plans to run for the 1st Congressional District.

Despite her challenge to Biden, Williamson emphasized Sunday the importance of civility and respect.

I have no interest in any kind of personal put down of (Biden), who deserves the respect of the presidency  but we need a change, Williamson said.
Central Texas residents who spoke with Fox News criticized Elon Musk's reported plans to build a utopia-like town that would provide housing for his Austin-area employees, with two saying it reminded them of ill-fated mining communities.

"That sounds scary, like old mining towns," Roxanne, who moved to Bastrop County four years ago, told Fox News.

WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE

Tasha, also of Bastrop County, agreed.

"We're turning the clocks back and doing like coal miner town situation," the mother told Fox News.

Musk reportedly plans to construct his own town in Bastrop County near two of his companies facilities, SpaceX and the Boring Company, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, citing land records and people familiar with the plan. Musk has reportedly described his vision for the future town, called Snailbrook, as a type of Texas utopia in which his staff could live and work, according to the Journal.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Elon Musk has reportedly purchased thousands of acres of land in Bastrop County, Texas, as part of a plan to incorporate his own town.

Michelle, who moved to the Bastrop area last year, was skeptical.

"Utopia sounds very scary," she told Fox News. "If you  read the books, the utopia is not usually at all what it's presented to be."

ELON MUSK BRINGING TWITTER TO TEXAS? WHAT'S NEXT AS BILLIONAIRE DISSOLVES BOARD

The town will reportedly include a residential site that's already been established next to an under-construction Boring Company facility. A flag spotted Tuesday at the site, which will include modular homes and recreational spaces, read "welcome, snailbrook, tx, est. 2021."

The community will reportedly also welcome Tesla workers, headquartered in nearby Austin, in the hopes of offering them newly constructed homes at below-market rents.

"I hope that the people who live in those houses and in that community do not get stuck in the trap of the things that you saw in those types of planned communities for business," Tasha told Fox News. "Basically, they become your indentured servants because they have no way to have the mobility out of it."

Elon Musk's Snailbrook residential site, which neighbors a Boring Company facility, is pictured on March 13, 2023, in Bastrop County, Texas.

Erin, who runs a farm overlooking the SpaceX facility that's under construction, said she felt Musk was "destroying" the surrounding pristine countryside to build his ambitious new town.

"Here he is saying that there's gonna be a utopia down the street," she told Fox News. "Well, there already is one."

None of Musk's companies returned a request for comment.

To hear more locals sound off on Musk's reported plan to build a Texas utopia, click here.
Former President Trump has taken aim at challenger Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor. (Associated Press)

Covering the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 is going to be no picnic for journalists, pundits and prognosticators, what with the leading candidate being constitutionally incapable of telling the truth and his runner-up focused entirely on culture wars and not at all on issues of, you know, policy.

That makes the broadside launched last week by the first (Donald Trump) at the second (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis) uncannily interesting. No one is surprised that Trump did launch such an attack  it's how he has always handled his political adversaries. What's interesting is that Trump got DeSantis right.

In a series of March 22 posts on his Truth Social platform, compiled into a single statement by his campaign, Trump took aim at DeSantis' records on COVID, education and crime. DeSantis has come under fire from critics on all those issues. We've focused on his signal failure to protect residents from the pandemic on numerous occasions, for example.

"The fact is, Ron is an average Governor, but the best by far in the Country in one category, Public Relations, where he easily ranks Number One," Trump snarked. "But it is all a Mirage, just look at the facts and figures, they dont lieAnd we dont want Ron as our President!"

In attacking DeSantis, as it happens, Trump has placed himself in the position of painting his own home state  his official residence is Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach mansion  in the darkest tones.

Let's examine Trump's bill of particulars.

The fact is, Ron is an average Governor, but the best by far in the Country in one category, Public Relations, where he easily ranks Number One. But it is all a Mirage.

Donald Trump, on Ron DeSantis

First, COVID. Florida under DeSantis ranked "Third Worst in the Nation for COVID-19 Deaths (losing 86,294 People), Third Worst for Total Number of Cases, at 7,516,906. Other Republican Governors did MUCH BETTER than Ron," Trump stated. (We're preserving his peculiar capitalization habit.)

This is correct, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only discrepancies derive from the fact that Florida's raw numbers got a hair worse since Trump's campaign compiled the figures, as did those for the country as a whole.

As of March 24, Florida has recorded 87,141 COVID deaths and 7,542,869 total cases. As Trump asserted, Florida ranks third in the nation in raw numbers. California tops the list in both categories, but that's an artifact of its rank as the most populous state, with more than 39 million residents. Florida has a bit more than half California's population.

Translated into death and case rates per population, Florida's record still stinks  it ranks eighth in cases and 12th in deaths. (California ranks 31st in cases and 41st in deaths.)

Trump also asserted that the COVID death rate in DeSantis' Florida is "worse than New York."

Trump was careful to specify that he was talking about state rates. That's because the CDC separates the rate in New York City from the rate in New York other than the city.

Florida's rate is indeed worse than the latter, but better than the New York City rate, which is the worst in the country  probably because New York was struck by COVID in the earliest phase of the pandemic, before doctors had any idea how to treat it and before vaccines became available.

Trump wrote, "Florida ranks #39 in Health & Safety in the Country, #50 in Affordability, and #30 in Education & Childcare." Trump doesn't cite his source for these figures, but we found it on the financial counseling website WalletHub, which posts its sources and methodology. Trump quoted the WalletHub figures accurately, appending the comment, "HARDLY GREATNESS THERE."

Educational statistics are notoriously rubbery, so it's fair to say that Florida's record is seldom cast in such a dark light. By other measures, Florida's record, before DeSantis ascended to the governor's seat in 2019 and since, is basically mediocre.

The state ranked 44th in public spending per K-12 student and 49th in average teacher salaries in 2020-21, according to the National Education Assn., a national teachers union.

DeSantis' school policies during the pandemic were notably distinct from those of many other states. In Florida, schools could reopen starting in fall 2020; in California, by contrast, the vast majority of schools were closed until spring 2021.

When the national test scores in reading and math for fourth- and eighth-graders were released last October, they showed sizable declines in the vast majority of states as a result of the pandemic and suggested that pupils did better with more in-person than remote learning. DeSantis took the opportunity to declare victory, stating that his states results prove that we made the right decision to keep schools open.

Things aren't that simple, however. As I reported, California and Florida both showed declines in scores from 2019, pre-pandemic, to 2022 in three of the four categories (fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math).

But on the whole, California did better than Florida. In eighth-grade reading, California showed no change since 2019, but Florida students proficiency declined by four percentage points. Floridas results were one percentage point worse than Californias in fourth- and eighth-grade math. California fourth-graders reading scores declined by two points, and Florida stayed level.

The overall averages showed California students losing five percentage points since 2019 in math, while Florida students lost six points. In reading, California students lost one point and Floridas lost two.

That leaves crime, another field subject to great statistical volatility. "Florida ranked Third Worst in Murder, Third Worst in Rape, and Third Worst in Aggravated Assault," Trump wrote.

DeSantis' record was defended by the conservative Washington Examiner, which seems to be carrying water for the Florida governor and questioned Trump's assertion that in 2022, "Jacksonville was ranked as one of the Top 25 Major Crime Cities in the Country, with Tampa and Orlando not doing much better.

The Examiner noted that "by the end of last year, Jacksonville came in as the 27th worst city for murders per 100,000 residents, not in the top 25" and "no city or town in Florida cracked the most recent list of the top 25 most dangerous places compiled by U.S. News & World Report.

Put it all together, and Trump provided DeSantis' critics with a road map to analyze the latter's record on some of the topics likely to be top of mind for voters during the upcoming primary season  and during the general election campaign if DeSantis tries to expand his notable popularity within Florida to a campaign across the other 49 states.

Trump hasn't provided the electorate with much to appreciate during the incipient political race, but in attacking DeSantis where he lives, he may have done us a favor.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is leading former President Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head primary race in Iowa and tied in New Hampshire, according to new polls.

The polls, which were provided to Axios, found that 45 percent of Iowa respondents said they would vote for DeSantis, while 37 percent said theyd cast their vote for Trump.

Both DeSantis and Trump received 39 percent of support from respondents in a head-to-head primary election in New Hampshire.

When asked which GOP candidate is better suited to defeat President Biden, 48 percent of New Hampshire voters said DeSantis, while 46 percent said Trump.

Fifty-four percent of respondents in Iowa view DeSantis as the better candidate to take on Biden, compared to 44 percent who chose Trump.

Both candidates had high favorables among Republican voters.

Eighty-one percent of Iowa respondents have a favorable opinion of DeSantis, compared to 74 percent for Trump. However, the former president had more than double the unfavorables, with 24 percent compared to 11 percent for DeSantis.

Seventy-seven percent of New Hampshire respondents expressed a favorable opinion of DeSantis, compared to 69 percent for Trump. Trump again had a significantly higher unfavorable rate, with 29 percent compared to 15 percent for Floridas governor.

DeSantis has indicated an official announcement on a presidential run will not come until after his states legislative session is over, but is widely seen as a leading contender for the GOPs 2024 presidential nomination.

The Florida governor has come under pressure to speak out against the potential arrest of Trump in the Manhattan district attorneys prove into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

DeSantis accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) of weaponizing his office in remarks to reporters last week, while also taking a swipe at Trump for the alleged affair and hush money payment.

Trump incorrectly predicted his arrest would occur last week, and has warned of death and destruction should he be charged in the case.

The Public Opinion Strategies surveys were conducted from March 21-23.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A view of the Supreme Court building in Washington. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Is it a crime or free speech for someone to "encourage" immigrants to come to this country illegally, or remain here after their visas have expired?

The Supreme Court grappled with that question Monday in a clash between immigration law and the 1st Amendment.

It arose in the case of Sacramento man who charged immigrants $500 to $10,000 and falsely promised he could help them obtain U.S. citizenship. More than 470 immigrants paid for the bad advice from Helaman Hansen, and he was convicted of 15 counts of fraud as well as two counts of encouraging two immigrants to overstay their visas.

That latter charge won him a partial acquittal before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and sent his case to the high court.

Since 1952, federal law has made it a crime to "encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact" that doing so would be illegal.

Pointing to those broad words, the 9th Circuit ruled that the provision violated the 1st Amendment because it could be read to make it a crime for family members or friends to encourage a person to come to this country or to remain here illegally.

"We apply the overbreadth doctrine so that legitimate speech relating to immigration law shall not be chilled and foreclosed," the San Francisco-based appeals court said. The 15 fraud counts against the defendant were upheld along with a 20-year prison term.

The justices agreed to hear the government's defense of the "encourage" provision of the law, and most of them sounded skeptical of the free-speech claim, at least in this case.

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch said it was odd to argue that Hansen's right to free speech was violated.

"I don't think anybody could say he's been chilled from speaking. He's had no problem soliciting people here in this country and defrauding them to the tune of lots and lots of money," Gorsuch said, adding "this law has been on the books for 50 years."

Justice Amy Coney Barrett agreed, noting there is no record of the law being used to prosecute otherwise innocent people for encouraging immigrants to stay in this country.

"The statute's been on the books for a long time. There's an absence of prosecutions. There is also an absence of demonstrated chilling effect," she said.

But the court's liberals said they saw a potential free-speech problem.

"We're criminalizing words related to immigration," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. "So why should we uphold a statute that criminalizes words and makes the punishment five years, which is rather significant?"

Justice Elena Kagan said the law's wording is so broad that it could threaten everyday conversations. What if a lawyer, doctor or neighbor advises someone they should stay in this country even if they are undocumented, she asked.

"A huge number of such communications are taking place every day, because for every person who's in this country unlawfully, there are probably some number of people who want that person to stay, family members, you know, whatever," she told Deputy Solicitor Gen. Brian Fletcher. "They say, 'I really think you should stay.' What happens?"

He replied the government has not and will not prosecute people for such family or friendly conversations. He argued the government takes a narrow view of the words "encourage or induce."

"Everyone agrees that in criminal law, the terms 'encourage' and 'induce' are terms of art that can refer narrowly to soliciting or aiding and abetting unlawful activity," he said. They do not extend to "abstract" or general comments about immigration, he said. In prosecutions, the government must show the defendant intended to violate the law.

If someone is prosecuted for giving friendly advice about immigration, the defendant should invoke the 1st Amendment as a defense, he said.

He urged the court not to strike down the "encourage or induce" provision based on "absurd hypotheticals" or because of the fear it could be potentially misused in future cases.

Several of the justices also noted that Hansen may be entitled to win a retrial for part of his case because the jury instructions were flawed.

The case was United States vs. Hansen, and a written opinion is expected by late June.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, March 27, 2023. Tens of thousands of Israelis have poured into the streets across the country in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan. (AP Photo/Oren Ziv)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary was facing mounting opposition on Monday, with the country's ceremonial president urging for an immediate halt to the legal changes. Universities countrywide shut their doors in protest and trade unions were expected to call for a general strike.

The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahus decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. They lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the throughway and many others throughout the country for hours.

The overhaul, driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever, has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked a sustained and intensifying protest movement that has spread to nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.

The crisis has further divided Israel, magnifying longstanding and intractable differences that have riven the country since its establishment. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, seeing the overhaul as a direct challenge to Israel's democratic ideals. The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple the government.

The crisis has also shined a light on Netanyahu himself, Israel's longest serving leader, and the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles the corruption charges. The firing of his defense minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, prompting a new surge of opposition.

On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were being cleared, Israels ceremonial President Isaac Herzog urged Netanyahu to immediately halt the overhaul, calling on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat," he said. Wake up now!

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Netanyahu's, said Monday that Israel was in a landslide of losing control.

"We haven't been in such a dangerous situation in 50 years, he told Israeli Army Radio.

Universities across the country said they were shutting their doors until further notice. A trade union umbrella group was expected to announce that it was joining the protesters and was reportedly set to announced a general strike. Israeli media reported that the lawyer representing Netanyahu in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.

Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak later Monday. Israeli media said he would halt the legislation, which could not be independently confirmed.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan and the committee moving the legislation forward was meeting as planned Monday. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military. On Monday,

Netanyahus government pledged to forge ahead with a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would would grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.
A former student teacher, who identifies as nonbinary, is suing the Fort Osage school district, claiming they were removed from assignments and denied employment for using gender-neutral pronouns.

Olivia Jackson, a University of MissouriColumbia student who was assigned to teach vocal music in 2021, introduced themself at Fort Osage High School using she/her/they/them pronouns. Jackson also honored nonbinary students requests to be referred to by gender-neutral pronouns, following guidelines included in college curriculum, according to the federal lawsuit.

In response, Jackson claims an administrator told them that they were making students and parents uncomfortable, and that using gender-neutral pronouns was too personal and too political. The lawsuit says Jackson was removed from all student teaching assignments, denied employment with the district and stripped of a previously scheduled substitute teaching assignment.

We believe the School Districts actions silenced Olivias right to freely express their gender identity, those of their students, and perhaps most importantly, are not conducive to a safe and positive learning environment, Jacksons attorney Douglas Schreiner said in an email to The Star.

Olivia was, not surprisingly, devastated by what happened. Our goal in this lawsuit is to prevent this situation from happening again. Every teacher, regardless of their gender identify, should feel safe and supported by their school administrators.

Officials in the eastern Jackson County district countered in a statement that the lawsuit contains numerous inaccuracies and mistruths  both as to individuals mentioned and as to the Fort Osage R-1 School District. We will vigorously defend against this lawsuit and address the substance of those inaccuracies and mistruths in our pleadings.

The District is an equal opportunity employer and makes decisions about the hiring of teachers based on their ability to serve our students, regardless of their gender or gender identity.

Schreiner said the allegations in the complaint are based on documents, text messages, and/or firsthand accounts. We look forward to proving these facts at trial.

Jackson started student teaching at Blue Hills Elementary School for the fall semester. The lawsuit claims that Jackson received positive feedback and was selected to fill a full-time music teacher position  an opportunity that was later revoked.

That spring, Jackson joined the high school, where they told staff, as well as their first class, that they were nonbinary and wanted to go by their preferred pronouns. Jacksons mentoring teacher allegedly told them that such an introduction was unnecessary because you can tell someone is a boy or girl by looking at them.

The teacher then stopped Jackson from introducing themself to other classes, the lawsuit says. And the teacher continually refused to acknowledge Jacksons nonbinary identity.

Jackson also respected high school students requests to use gender-neutral pronouns. The lawsuit says the university instructs student teachers to introduce themselves to their class by stating their preferred pronouns and honoring the pronouns requested by each student.

Jackson claimed to receive positive feedback for their work, including conducting during a spring concert. The school board approved Jacksons employment as a substitute teacher.

Jackson interviewed for a full-time music teacher position at Blue Hills and received assurances that they would be hired.

In May, the high school mentoring teacher removed Jackson from all teaching duties and instead required them to organize the music library. Jackson was called into a meeting, where the activities director said that they were making students and parents uncomfortable by using gender-neutral pronouns and that Jackson was hired to only teach students.

Jackson allegedly was no longer allowed to instruct the spring concert. And on May 11, the school board rejected Jacksons employment. Another person was hired for the job, so Jackson did not substitute teach as previously planned either.

The lawsuit argues Jackson suffered emotional distress and loss of income. Jackson is accusing the school district of violating their First Amendment rights and Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination.

Schreiner said previous cases of this kind have largely involved teachers who refused requests from students to use gender-neutral pronouns. Last year, the Geary County school district in central Kansas agreed to settle a lawsuit, paying a math teacher $95,000 in damages, after she refused to use a students preferred name and pronouns, citing religious reasons.

Over the past few years, several Kansas City area districts have seen controversy over policies regarding preferred pronouns for students and staff. And last year, the Grain Valley district, not far from Fort Osage, told high school teachers to remove cards and stickers indicating to students they are LGBTQ allies, sparking protests.

Missouri Republicans have proposed at least 27 anti-LGBTQ bills this session. They included a bill that would ban teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation at any grade level, no matter the class subject, going further than Floridas Dont Say Gay law that passed last year.
Twists and turns continue in an Edwardsville murder case involving prominent attorney Randy Gori, who was robbed and stabbed to death three years ago while at home with his two children.

First, accused killer Timothy Banowetz changed his plea from not guilty to guilty minutes before his 2021 trial was set to begin in Madison County Circuit Court. Then, he dismissed his court-appointed attorney at a sentencing hearing and started representing himself.

Now Banowetz, 31, a former St. Louis college student serving a 70-year prison sentence, is asking Judge Kyle Napp to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his sentence. The office of States Attorney Tom Haine argues that his motion comes too late.

A hearing is scheduled for April 13.

The plea was not made voluntarily and was made because of both coercion and inadequate representation, Banowetz stated in his hand-printed request filed on Dec. 5, 2022.

I was told by my lawyer that I should take the deal because it was what the Gori family wanted. Then Sheriff Lakin, who had accepted a bribe (aka, political contribution) from the family, had me moved out of protective custody into general population.

Banowetz went on to maintain that his former attorney, Madison County Public Defender Mary Copeland, never showed him discovery (disclosure of evidence) or discussed a defense strategy.

Copeland said that her only job was to make sure that my conviction would hold up on appeal, Banowetz wrote. When I found out that the judge that would be sentencing me had accepted a $40,000 bribe (political contribution) from Gori, I asked her to file for a change of venue and Copeland refused to even file it for me.

I then told Lauren Trager from News 4 about the bribe, and instead of Judge Napp removing herself from the case, she issued a gag order and Sheriff Lakin blocked me from using the phone.

Banowetz was referring to his KMOV-TV interview from the Madison County Jail on the day before his trial was scheduled. He told Trager, an investigative reporter, that he felt unsafe and had been threatened not to reveal information he knew about Gori.

Banowetz said he couldnt get a fair trial in Madison County due to Goris political connections and contributions to Napps election campaigns.

I feel like I should have a judge thats impartial, Banowetz said at the time.

Timothy Banowetz, the man who pleaded guilty in the 2020 stabbing death of Edwardsville attorney Randy Gori, filed this motion on Dec. 5, 2022, asking Judge Kyle Napp to withdraw his guilty plea. Hes serving a 70-year sentence at Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro.

$28,000 in contributions

Randy Gori, his wife, Beth Gori, and his law firm, Gori Julian & Associates, have contributed $3.2 million to the campaigns of judges, legislators and other state and local politicians, mostly Democrats, since 2009, according to an Illinois State Board of Elections database.

That includes about $28,000 to campaign committees for Napp, who ran for election in 2012 and reelection in 2018; and $700 to committees for former Sheriff John Lakin, who retired last fall.

Napp didnt respond to a BND request for comment last week. KMOV-TV reported in 2021 that the judge promised to be fair and impartial in the Banowetz case, as required by her oath of office.

Madison County Chief Judge David Hylla, who shared a campaign committee called Citizens for Judicial Excellence with Napp in 2018, declined to answer questions last week about the process involved when defendants want to withdraw guilty pleas and vacate sentences.

Copeland didnt respond to a request for comment last week. Chief Deputy Marcos Pulido spoke on behalf of Lakin and the Madison County Sheriffs Office.

Because this is an ongoing court case, and because there is a motion to withdraw (Banowetzs) plea, we would not make any comment, Pulido said. The case is still pending.

Under Illinois law, attorneys cant give money directly to judges, but they can contribute to their campaign committees.

Legality aside, its long been debated whether such contributions affect judicial decisions or create a public perception of impropriety, according to a study by Thomas McClure, professor of legal studies and acting chair of politics and government at Illinois State University in Normal.

A defendant in Illinois has 10 days after a judge is assigned to a case to get him or her replaced without specifying a reason. After that, another judge would have to find just cause for replacement.

There certainly would be evidence (in the Banowetz case), based on the contributions, that there was a connection between the judge and the victim, McClure said.

But probably what would happen is the judge would testify that, I dont think thats going to influence my decision because Im just going to look at the facts. And that is very difficult to dispute.

On March 6, Madison County Assistant States Attorney Chad Loughrey filed a motion to dismiss Banowetzs request to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his sentence.

Loughrey argued that, under an Illinois Supreme Court rule, a defendant has 30 days from his sentencing date to file such a request, and Napp notified Banowetz of this deadline in open court.

According to court documents, Banowetz claims that he mailed the request to withdraw his guilty plea on Dec. 20, 2021, from Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, where hes incarcerated. Loughreys motion states that Illinois Department of Corrections records dont support this.

There is no practical explanation how the defendants pleading could have been mailed on December 20, 2021, yet not be received by the Clerk of the Court until December 5, 2022, Loughrey wrote.

There is no evidence that the defendant made any inquiry or attempt to determine the status of his pleading at any time after the date he purported to deposit said pleas in the U.S. Mail.

Madison County Circuit Court Judge Kyle Napp presides over the the sentencing hearing of Timothy Banowetz on Dec. 10, 2021. Banowetz had two months earlier pleaded guilty to the 2020 murder of Edwardsville attorney and philanthropist Randy Gori at his home.

Murder and robbery

Police found Randy Gori, 47, dead in his sprawling, isolated home at 4586 Mooney Creek Lane, northeast of Edwardsville, about 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, after getting a 911 call from a woman who reported being attacked by a man in the driveway.

The following Monday, former Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons announced that Banowetz was being charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint and an offense related to vehicle theft.

The charges alleged that Banowetz bound the hands of Gori and two children before using a knife to stab Gori, then stole cash and two cellphones and fled in Goris black 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV.

Former Assistant States Attorney Jacob Harlow, the lead prosecutor, later stated that he had evidence proving that:

Banowetz was facing a Jan. 13, 2020, deadline for paying a $10,000 tuition bill at St. Louis College of Pharmacy and didnt have the money.

Banowetz searched online for binoculars, zip ties and fake guns, as well as information about Gori and his family and directions to their home, in advance of the murder.

Banowetz ran up to Gori and his children, ages 13 and 15, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, holding what he represented as a gun when they returned home from dinner, forced them to the ground and zip-tied their hands.

Banowetz instructed the three to go inside through the garage, demanded money, searched the home and took their cellphones, as well as Goris wallet.

Banowetz slit Goris throat and stabbed him multiple times in the basement while the children were upstairs.

Banowetz was apprehended Sunday morning, Jan. 5, 2020, in a wooded area about 1,200 feet from the home, where he was looking for his Ford truck, which had been towed.

Banowetz was wearing clothes stained with Goris blood and shoes that appeared to match those worn by the suspect in surveillance video; and carrying more than $4,000 in cash stolen from Goris kitchen.

Haine also told reporters that Banowetz was talking to police when he inadvertently pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket that appeared to be a checklist of steps to committing the alleged crime.

It read: Watch with binoculars from woods, use gun and knife to subdue, zip-tie hands and Duct-tape mouth, have withdraw $4 to $6 million from bank, kill all of them and take zip ties and Duct tape off, burn bodies and house.

Attorney Randy Gori, known for representing clients in asbestos cases and donating large amounts of money to charity, was found stabbed to death in his rural Edwardsville home on Jan. 4, 2020. Former college student Timothy Banowetz pleaded guilty to the murder.

Estranged from family

Banowetz lived in Wenzville, Missouri, and later St. Louis, but authorities believe he was homeless at the time of his arrest. His familys former attorney said he had been estranged from them for months.

Investigators and prosecutors found no evidence that anyone else was involved in the Edwardsville murder or that Banowetz had a personal relationship with Gori, according to Haine.

The jury hadnt yet been seated for Banowetzs trial on Oct. 5, 2021, when he announced that he had decided to accept a prosecution deal and plead guilty to one count of first-degree murder and two counts of armed robbery. The other charges were dropped.

Banowetz notified Napp at his sentencing hearing on Dec. 10, 2021, that he was dismissing his court-appointed attorney and wanted to represent himself.

The judge questioned Banowetz about his educational background and whether he had any legal experience; he didnt. She asked if he was under the influence of any substances or had been threatened or intimidated. He said he was making a conscious choice.

Napp advised Banowetz that proceeding pro se was risky, given the gravity of the case, but granted his request. She appointed Copeland as stand-by counsel.

Banowetz tried to withdraw his guilty plea at the sentencing hearing, claiming he hadnt been provided with documents from the pre-sentencing investigation. Napp and Copeland disputed this.

Im not going to let you play games, Napp told Banowetz, citing previous refusals to cooperate during the investigation.

Banowetz didnt object to any evidence presented by prosecutors and offered no mitigating evidence of his own at the sentencing hearing. Napp noted several times that Banowetz was shaking his head so it would be reflected in the record.

When the judge asked if Banowetz had anything else to say at the end of the hearing, he replied, It really doesnt matter. Youre going to give me the maximum. She sentenced him to 60 years in prison for murder and 10 years for armed robbery.

At a press conference afterward, Haine characterized Banowetz as a delusional, violent narcissist who showed absolutely no remorse for murdering Gori and terrorizing his children.

Haine noted that Banowetz limited his options for appeal by pleading guilty, representing himself at the sentencing hearing and offering no mitigating evidence in his defense.

He is a man who should go into obscurity now, Haine said.
Manchester skyline at sunset (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Tourists to Manchester staying overnight can expect to pay a new tourist tax from 1 April.

Visitors to the northwestern city who stay in a city centre hotel or holiday apartment will be charged 1 per night, per room, as part of a new scheme officials hope will raise 3m per year.

Called the City Visitor Charge, the fee is the first to be introduced in the UK and mirrors similar charges introduced in tourist destinations such as Venice, Barcelona and Rome.

A vote was held among hoteliers in 2022 on whether or not to implement the fee, with four in five voting in favour.

The move comes amid a major expansion in tourist accommodation, with nearly 6,000 hotel rooms to be added to Manchester over the coming years.

Cash raised from the tax will help fund the new Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID), which is designed to improve the visitor experience and support future growth of the visitor economy over the next five years.

Annie Brown, chair of the ABID, said the tax was a smart move, even during a cost of living crisis.

I think [the message it sends] has been a consideration, however when you compare it to European cities that have had taxes and visitor levies in place for a number of years, we feel its a small amount comparatively, she told the Manchester Evening News.

There are other cities in the UK looking to put in place what Manchester has done, I dont think its a charge thats off-putting.

Its projected to make about 3m annually and that will fund the ABID and we will get the attractions, and cleaning, and deliver against our business plan. Its going to be the largest accommodation BID outside of central London in terms of the revenue it generates.

Edinburgh is expected to be the second British city to implement a tourist tax of 2 per night after local officials voted in favour of the move in November 2022.

The city has long campaigned on the issue and council leader Cammy Day said the news was welcome after years of work.

He said: We believe its right to ask visitors to make a small contribution to help us sustain and improve our tourism offer while managing its impact.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called for more good guys with guns in a tweet posted just minutes after news broke of a horrific school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday.

Her lengthy statement on the shooting was posted to her personal Twitter account moments after Nashville law enforcment revealed that three adults and three children had been murdered in the attack, with the suspect thought to be a now-deceased 28-year-old from the city.

It was remarkable not only for the congresswomans refusal to distinguish between the response of trained law enforcement  who are thought to have taken down the Nashville attacker  to the response of armed civilians who in many cases have nothing more than amateur training, but also for the speed at which her statement was released. Conservatives, including many of Ms Greenes allies in Congress, have often attacked Democrats for issuing politically-charged statements in the immediate aftermath of such attacks.

My prayers are with the victims and families at the Covenant School in Nashville. Another absolutely horrific needless tragedy.



Children and school staff should always be protected the same way politicians, money, precious stones, and gold are protected, but even more so, by  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) March 27, 2023

Thank God for good guys with guns and thank God a good guy with a gun killed the evil mentally deranged shooter today, said Ms Greene.

She further claimed: School shootings should NEVER happen and will end immediately when our nations children are defended the same way Joe Biden is by good guys with guns!!!

Her statement is provably false: there are numerous recent examples of instances where violent attacks occurred in schools where armed school resource officers were present at the time of the shootings.

Still, Republicans have pushed for more armed cops in schools as well as for the arming of teachers and staff as school shootings continue and the left continues to insist that reducing the comparatively high number and availability of firearms in American society is the only way to truly reduce the number of school shootings that occur.
Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, leaves 10 Downing St. following brief talks with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on March 24, 2023, in London. (Mark Kerrison / In Pictures via Getty Images)

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is a legendary master of political survival. For once, he may have overplayed his hand.

As he frantically plots a strategy to emerge from the worst domestic crisis in Israel's 75-year history, Netanyahu must find a way to keep his radical, ultra-Orthodox coalition partners on board while attempting to pacify the hundreds of thousands of angry Israelis filling the streets in the name of defending democracy.

If he fails, his government could easily dissolve. If that were to happen, it is unclear who would fill the void or what new unrest could be ignited.

Israel has long been synonymous with conflict, but for the moment, the most serious existential threat it faces comes not from its Arab neighbors but from its own internal divisions.

Netanyahu late Monday announced he would postpone  but not cancel  his plans to overhaul Israel's Supreme Court and judiciary in a way that would make judges more beholden to politicians. He said he was acting "to avoid civil war." Critics say the plan would destroy the checks and balances that have made the courts an important pillar of Israeli democracy.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address.

The vote in the Knesset, or parliament, will be delayed until after the Passover break, which starts next week.

It was not clear, however, whether postponement would placate the opposition, which has swelled from the left to include Israelis of all political persuasions as well as the military, the Mossad spy agency and high-tech entrepreneurs.

Anti-government protesters burn tires near Beit Yanai, Israel, on March 27, 2023. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

After 12 weeks of regular demonstrations, a far larger segment of Israeli society was galvanized over the weekend when Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who became the first government member to openly criticize the judicial overhaul. The retired major general warned that the plan had already weakened Israel's national security by alienating legions of military personnel, from elite combat pilots to army reservists who refused to report to duty in protest.

Israel burst into rolling chaos Monday. The countrys largest trade union  the umbrella organization Histadrut, with some 800,000 members  called on members to observe a general strike. That forced a partial shutdown of the international airport  which Israel has prided itself on keeping open through numerous crises  with outgoing flights canceled and thousands of passengers stranded.

The protest strike also triggered walkouts at universities, hospitals, ports and even all of Israel's embassies and consulates the world over. Public transportation was curtailed, and the fast-food behemoth McDonald's closed its doors.

After Netanyahu's remarks Monday night, Histadrut called off the strike.

Israel's figurehead President Isaac Herzog, who has warned of the danger of Israel plunging into civil war, urged Netanyahu to halt the judicial overhaul. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat, Herzog said Monday. Wake up now!

Herzog later welcomed Netanyahu's decision to pause.

In what might sound to many Americans like a familiar tactic, Netanyahu cast his critics and not himself as a threat to the countrys security, and sought to position himself as a victim of perfidious judges and prosecutors. He is on trial on corruption charges for allegedly doing favors for wealthy businessmen in exchange for gifts and favorable media coverage.

The most radical members of his government are not likely to give Netanyahu much space to maneuver.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir talks to reporters ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 19, 2023. (Abir Sultan / Associated Press)

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist security minister whose history of anti-Arab hate has made him a lightning rod for much of the criticism of the government, said that when the debate over the judicial changes resumes, lawmakers would consult with the opposition to find a compromise. But if that proves impossible, he said, the overhaul would proceed.

Earlier, he had warned Netanyahu not to "surrender to anarchy." In fact, some of the same right-wing political allies who threw Netanyahu a lifeline in forming this government now appeared poised to turn on him if he tried to compromise with his foes.

Nor has Netanyahu found much support abroad. His polish as a statesman has long been a major component of his carefully crafted self-image and a tool for creating distractions from domestic political crises.

But those vaunted powers appeared to be deserting him as he made the recent rounds of the main European capitals, dogged by demonstrators and chastised by the leaders of France, Britain and even Germany, loath to criticize Israel ever since its establishment after the end of World War II. Expatriate Israelis, including many American Jews, have emerged as among his most vehement critics.

The Biden administration has taken a more measured approach, refusing to defend Netanyahu but also refraining from harsh condemnation as he has repeatedly violated his pledges to American officials not to expand Jewish settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank and his promises to seek consensus on his judicial overhaul.

Senior administration officials said they are pursuing quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy. But they also acknowledge they don't want to criticize Israel too forcefully.

"We have been very consistent and very clear both privately ... [and] publicly that the concern about this pending legislation is that it would fly in the face of the whole idea of checks and balances," John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S National Security Council, said Monday.

Kirby said President Biden, in a telephone conversation last week with Netanyahu, was "very, very forthright" in stressing the need to "find a way forward based on compromise ... with the broadest possible base of popular support."

Israel was one of 122 countries the U.S. invited to Washington for its Summit of Democracy this week, and Netanyahu is scheduled to speak. U.S. officials, repeatedly pressed, refused to comment on whether he was still part of the program.

Even before he began presiding over the most right-wing government in the states history, Netanyahu had long exploited the fault lines that have riven the country into warring camps. It was part of his formula for success.

Mounted police disperse anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on March 27, 2023. (Oren Ziv / Associated Press)

But weeks of protests have also created odd political alliances, with some traditional rivals finding common ground in the notion that the prime minister has embarked on an enormously destructive path.

And in the Jewish diaspora, some of Israel's most loyal supporters have begun to come out against the plans and actions of Netanyahu's government.

At a rally outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington over the weekend, several hundred protesters  mostly American Jews  waved blue-and-white Israeli flags and chanted "democracy!" in Hebrew and English as they called for Netanyahu to shelve permanently his plans for the judiciary.

Martin Indyk, one of the most well-known U.S. diplomats involved in the Middle East, spoke to the crowd. He admitted it was the first time he had ever addressed a protest rally, since he was usually on the inside, making policy.

"Israel is in trouble," said Indyk, a two-time U.S. ambassador to Israel and special envoy and Middle East negotiator in the Obama and Clinton administrations. Subordinating judges to politicians in a country that doesn't have a constitution, Indyk warned, "will undermine not only Israel's democracy but it will undermine the relationship between the United States and Israel."

The strategic interests and values that the U.S. and Israel share, including the hundreds of billions of dollars Washington has dedicated to Israel's military capabilities, "have also been undermined as a result of this assault on Israel's democracy," Indyk said.

Most of the participants identified themselves as lifelong Zionists dedicated to Israel. And that, they said, is why they were protesting.

"This demonstration in no way, shape or form can be perceived as anti-Israel," said Susie Gelman, longtime activist in Jewish organizations and now chair of the Israel Policy forum, an advocacy group. "This is for Israel ... for Israel's future, which is so closely linked to our future as American Jews."

Similar rallies are being held in capitals all over the world.

At an anti-Netanyahu protest in Berlin on Monday evening, demonstrators shouted Shame! Shame! when word emerged of the deal under which the prime minister would temporarily pause his effort to ram through the changes to the judiciary  but would also mollify a key far-right partner.

Hes acting only out of his own private interests, 29-year-old Israeli pianist Matan Fishov, who is living and working in the German capital, said of the Israeli leader. Im so worried about our democracy.

Wilkinson reported from Washington and King from Berlin.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
President Biden is channeling Reagan, not Clinton, Carter or Obama, when he says the U.S. will stick with Ukraine against Russia for "as long as it takes." (Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Once upon a time, the roles were reversed.

Democrats were, if anything, skeptical of foreign intervention. Many, especially in the liberal and progressive wings of the party, saw war as inhumane, policing the world as folly and the Pentagon as bloated. Humbled by failure in Vietnam, the party that gave us Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern and Jimmy Carter pursued cooperation rather than conflict as the order of the day.

Republicans, on the other hand, were more unabashedly hawkish  willing to flex U.S. military muscle and project power in support of an American-led world order. For the most part, they believed that if you gave the Soviets, the Chinese or Islamic State so much as an inch in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East or elsewhere, dominoes would begin to tumble. Peace through strength was the mantra.

But today, that paradigm is being flipped on its head.

Earlier this month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his candidacy for president, said that further support for Ukraine is not a vital interest of the United States. He brushed off the war between Russia and Ukraine as a mere territorial dispute. Last week he "clarified" that Russia was in the wrong, but reiterated that he would oppose an escalation of American involvement.

His comments align DeSantis, to one degree or another, with former President Trump, whose isolationist, America first impulses are well known. About Ukraine, Trump has said, That war has to stop, and it has to stop now.

DeSantis also lines up with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the new House speaker, who has vowed that Republicans wont agree to a blank check for aid to Ukraine.

And he lines up with plenty of other conservative Republicans, such as Kari Lake (the loser in last year's race for Arizona governor), who sounded in a recent speech more like Tom Hayden than Ronald Reagan: We are living on Planet Crazy, where we have hundreds of billions of dollars of our hard-earned American money being sent overseas to start World War III.

Yes, theres been pushback from the Republican establishment. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former United Nations Ambassador and 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, for example, are among those who support robust aid for Ukraine.

But the reality is that the America-first approach is gaining traction because it has significant backing from Republican voters, 40% of whom believe the U.S. is giving too much aid to Ukraine, compared with only 15% of Democrats who agree, according to the Pew Research Center.

While those changes are rippling through the GOP, President Biden and the Democrats are swinging the other way: Well stick with our Ukrainian allies as long as it takes, Biden says, as he gives them more howitzers, rocket systems and armored vehicles, because nothing less than the American-led international order is at stake.

Biden  channeling Ronald Reagan, not Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama  describes Ukraine as just one front in a global battle between autocracy versus democracy. Do you want to live in a repressive world led by Russias Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping and their allies or in an enlightened liberal democracy of the sort we have in the U.S. and Europe?

As Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, put it: Today it is Russia and Ukraine. Tomorrow it will be other nations.

It's true that the U.S. is not actually fighting a war, just arming its allies in Ukraine. But according to a survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, liberal Democratic voters now support putting boots on the ground around the world more than independents, moderate Democrats or Republicans. More than half of liberal Democrats would support sending U.S. troops to intervene if Russia invaded a NATO ally, or if North Korea invaded South Korea or if China invaded Taiwan.

So whats going on here? Are we witnessing a true ideological realignment that will endure? Or is this merely situational, the result of some combination of Putins invasion, the upcoming presidential election and the Trump phenomenon?

Several experts told me I shouldnt assume a long-term shift is underway. They suggested there was a lot of political posturing and jockeying going on, especially because of Trumps disruptive presence in the 2024 race.

The pendulum is swinging, but Im not sure we have clarity on how far its swinging or exactly in what direction, said Andrew Bacevich, chairman of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Bacevichs position is that theres not that much difference between the parties in any case. He argues that the party in power  whichever it is  tends to emphasize the importance of strong American leadership and the minority party generally shows more sensitivity to risks, costs and tradeoffs.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, doubts we're seeing a true realignment. He argues that plenty of progressive Democrats are unenthusiastic about our involvement in Ukraine. And while its true that GOP voters are growing more skeptical of a muscular foreign policy, hes not sure itll last.

Their leaders are saying what they think they have to say to get the nomination, he said. The interesting question is whether Trumpism, with its isolationist impulse, will dominate in Republican circles after Trump is off the scene. Or will there be a return to 41ism and 43ism?

Haass was referring to the more internationalist policies of President George H.W. Bush and his son. (Remember Iraq?)

For my part, Id like to see less ideology, less rhetoric, less jockeying over 2024  and more pragmatism. In a sane world, Republicans and Democrats would come together in search of a coherent policy that would help the people of Ukraine in their fight against Putin's unjustifiable aggression, without letting us drift into a new Cold War or get dragged into an escalating quagmire.

That's too much to hope for, though, given the sorry state of American politics.

@Nick_Goldberg

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
March 26, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Earlier today Susan Schmidt and I published an article about a series of changes at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a creepy sub-division of the Department of Homleand Security. It turns out that CISA, which just a week or so ago was busted for scrubbing embarrasing text from its website by the Foundation for Freedom Online, quietly eliminated its so-called MDM or Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation subcommittee.

Just a year ago, the Department of Homeland Security was going all-in on the fight against MDM. The notion that America is fatally infected with Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation was in fact the animating idea begind the asinine plan the Biden administration announced last April to institute a Disinformation Governance Board, which was to be headed by Nina Jankowicz,

a self-styled Mary Poppins of digital rectitude:

America took one look at Jankowicz and at most a few fleeting moments considering the Disinformation Governance Board plan before concluding, correctly, that it was a beyond-loathsome expression of aristocratic arrogance that needed shutting down before the first Jankowicz presser. Characteristically, the press lied about the public reaction, claiming that the only displeasure was heard from the GOP. In fact, all sane people across the spectrum were instantly nauseated, their distress loud enough that the DHS hit pause on Jankowicz and the batty MinTruth plan after just three weeks.

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Even that might not have been fast enough, as was discovered by my co-author Sue Schmidt, whos formerly of the Washington Post but joined Racket this month for a special report a team of us are preparing on what fellow #TwitterFiles reporter Michael Shellenberger calls the Censorship-Industrial Complex. (More on that later). Looking through the minutes of CISAs subcommittee meetings last year, Sue found that the DHSs little team of self-appointed information guardians was deeply worried about the rollout of their war against MDM, worrying repeatedly about how to socialize or pre-socialize various parties to the idea of a federal truth squad, realizing that just presenting the actual plan to a sentient person without lots of sweeteners wouldnt go well.

One subcommittee member, whose name in the spirit of our times is of course redacted, seemed to realize the concept was too hot to discuss in public. She suggested removing mention of MDM  this, from a member of the MDM subcommittee!  and framing the subcommitees efforts more in terms of directing people to clear information about elections procedures. Another member recommended CISA point more to state officials and state laws to make the authoritative source of information less controversial. In other words: Lets make it sound like someone other than the hated us is running this thing!

Even two years ago, nobody was paying attention to this world and the public, if it cared at all, was probably inclined to welcome more election procedures (as CISA would later call them), not fewer. So the DHS, sensibly one must conclude, dissolved its incorrectly named Countering Foreign Influence Task Force  the group spent most of 2020 zapping domestic election posts  renamed it the MDM subcommittee, and began meeting and posting about the need to build national resistance to domestic threat actors. As Sue just reported, these folks saw MDM everywhere here at home, insisting CISA should consider MD across the information ecosystem, which included talk radio, cable news, mainstream media, and hyper-partisan media.

The architects of this plan not only genuinely believed themselves above such temptations, but saw nothing wrong with asking for massive sums of money  Joe Bidens first economic proposal sought $690 million for CISA  to captain an open-ended war on American badthink, as defined by [names redacted]. Here again, take note of Jankowiczs lyrics:

Its like when Rudy Giuliani shared bad intel from Ukraine Or when TikTok influencers said COVID cant cause pain Theyre laundering disinfo and we really should take note And not support their lies, with our wallet, voice or vote!

This was a group of self-described experts in an utterly fictitious anti-disinformation discipline who were so sure it was okay for them to tell you whom not to vote for, one of them sang about it. This, despite the fact that of the ones whose names we know, like Jankowicz, many were open swallowers of the dumbest Russiagate hokum, like the Alfa-Server story.

I spent a long time covering the 2008 Wall Street crash, which meant devoting large amounts of energy to some of the worlds most unredeeming people. These were swindlers who sold snake-oil mortgage products that put millions out of their homes and wiped out retirement funds of people who spent decades working as toll operators, firefighters, teachers. Such predators were awful, amoral people, but all the same, I occasionally found myself writing with something like admiration. These crooks were creators of truly ingenious schemes who did what they did out of lust, greed, jealousy, and other (at least identifiably human) forms of depravity.

These [name redacted] would-be censors are different. They have no sense of humor, no imagination, and exactly one distinguishing characteristic: they know whats best for you. Anti-disinfo work suits them because they all have a Poppins streak that quietly gets off on binning your digital dirty bits (after the voyeuristic thrill of logging on to watch them in secret, with special credentials, which they rub with pleasure in evenings). Theyre the vilest kind of snobs, and when they finally were forced to show their real selves to the public  and here I feel safe in thanking Elon Musk for making that possible, via the #TwitterFiles  the public rightfully recoiled from these arrogant power-worshipping mediocrities.

The Governance Board was already dead, and now the whole MDM mission is being wound down, which feels like a win. Perhaps theyre just publicly retreating from the concept for now, but at this point, Ill take that. Moreover there are signs everywhere that people are losing their fear of departing from the orthodoxy such types would like to impose, and pushing for a return to normalcy, which for the first time in ages feels within reach.

There was a ridiculous scene at Stanford law school recently, in which a conservative judge was muffled by a gaggle of future lawyers whod been led by an assistant Dean in a characteristically moronic shouting-down exercise. The current strain of Junior Anti-Sex League-type protesters who fill campuses from coast to coast now sure do love their hecklers veto

The Stanford Law School Dean Jenny Martinez was brilliant in response. Instead of doing what the heads of organizations have been doing for years in such situations, instead of doing, frankly, what I did during my own cancelation episode  frantically over-apologizing to people who have no use for or interest in apologies  Martinez sternly called the students out as clowns, reminding them in a long, serious, punishing letter that if they ever become officers of the court, they will be held to a higher standard than lay people, swearing to conduct themselves at all times with dignity, courtesy and integrity.

Martinez went further, saying that on her watch, the school would not be doing the usual and committing itself to starter slates of political positions out of fear of reproach. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is not going to take the form of having the school administration announce institutional positions on a wide range of current social and political issues, she wrote. The age of just giving in to mobs instead of insisting on our right to have different opinions and beliefs seems to be receding. It is beginning to dawn on sane, tolerant people everywhere that there are more of us than there are of them, and this still matters in a democracy.

Theres a reason why these people are so focused on technocratic solutions, from magic AI schemes to control information to deploying packs of Boston Dynamics robot-dogs, wholl patrol suburban neighborhoods and peer in windows for visual confirmation of Alexa-overheard transgressions. General Mark Milley just said on a podcast that armies may be fully robotic in 15 years, arousing general neoliberal giddiness (Milley quoted Dylan). These people need tech, because you know what they dont have? Friends. Organic support. Or, ways to win them, like art, music, literature, or comedy.

I have a theory about what happened to America in this regard. After 9/11, people were scared, and they fell for a succession of propaganda campaigns convincing them that the hole in Fortress America, the chink in our national armor, was our system of democratic rights.

The MDM subcommittee members think the same way: theres a section in one of last years meetings in which a former Secretary of Washington State notes that the bad countries, such as Russia, use the First Amendment effectively. Moreover, in general, our adversaries use our Constitution effectively. Theyve been telling us this stuff ever since the Towers came down. We were told our enemies will use even our open system of justice against us, so forget the admirable streak of America never having had an in-camera criminal trial. Lets clear the court even for deportation hearings of suspected terrorists, they said. Lets not even tell the public the names of the deported!

The era that dawned on September 11th, and the war against terrorism that has pervaded the sinews of our national life since that day, are reflected in thousands of ways the Third Circuit Court wrote in 2002, adding: Since the primary national policy must be self-preservation,it seems elementary that, to the extent open deportation hearings might impair national security, that security is implicated.

It was the same with torture, rendition, watch lists, drones, whatever. To respond to terrorism, we were told, we needed to be more nimble than old-school democracy allowed. We couldnt wait for congress to declare wars, or build probable cause, or afford the right to face ones accusers. The stakes were too high for such luxuries. Even giving enemy combatants Geneva convention rights would confer legitimacy to the opposition it didnt deserve, and we couldnt afford to give that legitimacy. Our grip on safety was that tenunous.

No: the new era of a West infected with a borderless evil returned from the 8th century needed a bureaucracy of super-empowered minders, whod do torturing if it needed doing, and quietly make lists of who gets to fly or open a bank account. Most of all, these minders would make those terrible decisions about who gets to live and die in a drone-patrolled world. The Imitation Game from 2014, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and telling the awful tale of Alan Turings quest to crack the Enigma code, was a great movie, but perhaps also the ultimate portrait of the Obama-era political class, whose members all saw themselves as misunderstood geniuses quietly saving civilization through endless mathematical murder, committed from afar, by remote control, without fanfare or appreciation.

America balked some at George W. Bush as The Decider, but was more than happy to let the Community Organizer head up those secret decisions. With the genial and patient-sounding Obama in office, the deciders assumed a new brand of business-casual cruelty. I vividly remember going to a ballgame with a longtime Justice source in those years, someone I liked, who casually told me in between bites of a hot dog that of course we should just drone Julian Assange, because he was a terrorist, and the reality is, you just have to kill them.

Each year, more and more of government became classified, and we had less and less access to information about where tax dollars were being spent, or what was going on at places like the Federal Reserve. We let it happen, abandoning the democratic responsibility to govern ourselves, in the process willing the worlds smuggest aristocracy into existence. It wasnt the worst time  a lot of good TV was made in those years  but while we were napping, these people were turning America into a secret administrative state committed to endless war, mass surveillance, social credit scoring, censorship, and other horrors, a system thats only just now beginning to show itself.

The managerial state was held in place for over a decade by a kind of magic spell, which works thanks to the publics faith in the competence of our minders. That spell held by default for an extra four years while Trump was in office, but its been broken now, in part thanks to refuseniks like Musk (who caused all kinds of havoc by opting out of an airtight information-control cartel), but mainly because weve now had enough opportunities to examine up close the loathsome nanny-staters to whom we surrendered all those years ago. Whatever hold these people had on us, and it was real  I spent years worrying about regaining the favor of people who were denouncing me as a Russian asset even as they demanded my vote  its gone now, and we can start thinking about moving on to something better.

This is what I choose to think, this weekend evening. We dont have to concede to a future of always being at war somewhere abroad, and with each other at home. We dont have to put up with a government that doesnt tell us anything. Most of all, we can go back to enjoying life, on our own terms, without stressing over an endless succession of panics invented by politically insecure losers. We can do so much better, and we will, because this place is ours to run, a fact the singing censors should never have let us remember.

https://www.racket.news/p/people-can-win
Hundreds of thousands of North Korean women have been forced into marriages, sold into sex slavery, or sent to work in detention camps after escaping their despotic country and finding themselves trapped in Chinas so-called "Red Zone," a human rights group says.

A new study released Friday by international human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance details the horrific scenarios many women and girls  some as young as 12  have gone through after escaping North Korea.

FILE: North Korean soldiers patrol next to the border fence near the town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese border town of Dandong.

The organizations North Korea Lead Legal Advisor, Sofia Evangelou, told The Telegraph the situation spiraled out of control during the COVID-19 pandemic as many vulnerable women found themselves stuck inside Chinas locked down borders, making them an easy target for sex traffickers.

"The current situation leaves North Korean women and girls exposed to the start reality of either being sold into a lifetime of sexual and mental abuse, slavery, forced, labor, or reaching freedom," she said.

KIM JONG UN'S DIPLOMATS GET AN UNWANTED SURPRISE

One North Korean woman whod been trafficked told the Database Centre for North Korean Human Rights she was sold off to a Chinese man who regularly beat her because she couldnt get pregnant.

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Another woman was sent back to a forced labor camp and tried to hide her pregnancy from authorities so they wouldnt force her to have an abortion. Weeks later, she drowned in a river, overworked and malnourished.

FILE: The portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-Sung (L) and Kim Jong-Il (R) are seen in North Korea's Sakchu county in North Pyongan province, as seen from the Chinese border city of Dandong on January 10, 2018.

The U.S. State Department says many North Korea refugees and asylum seekers living irregularly in China are particularly vulnerable to traffickers who lure, drug, detain, or kidnap North Korean women upon arrival.

As many as 30,000 children born in China to North Korean women and Chinese men have not been registered upon birth, rendering them stateless and vulnerable to possible exploitation, the State Department says.

"A full investigation into the human rights abuses suffered by women in and around North Korea is urgently needed," Evangelou said. "If nothing is done to address the urgent human rights situation for North Korean women, the situation will only get worse."
Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

Benjamin Netanyahu may not realize it yet, but his dare against the political odds is over. Israels longest-serving prime minister, who was reelected in November despite an ongoing corruption trial and whom even rivals acknowledged was a political magician, is out of tricks. This fall wont happen imminently, but his coalition of ultra-nationalists, religious fundamentalists and the merely corrupt is losing its moral legitimacy, even among growing numbers of its voters.

Netanyahus fatal mistake was his firing Sunday of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for calling on the government to halt its judicial revolution  legislation that would erode the independence of Israels Supreme Court and destroy the nations fragile system of checks and balances, effectively concentrating governance in the hands of the prime minister. Gallant noted the deepening rift within the army over the plan, and the growing protest movement among army reservists refusing to serve, and warned that the nations security was at risk.

In firing Gallant and ignoring his warning, Netanyahu placed loyalty to himself above loyalty to country. With Iran approaching the nuclear threshold, possibly in a matter of weeks, even as Palestinian terror attacks increase and Hezbollah probes weaknesses in Israels northern border defenses, perhaps in preparation for the next war, Netanyahu is presiding over the erosion of the militarys cohesion. The man whod convinced Israelis that only he was tough and shrewd enough to keep Israel safe in the Middle East has betrayed Israeli security.

Immediately after Netanyahu announced Gallants firing, tens of thousands of young people gathered in the streets, blocking traffic and lighting bonfires through the night. Their ranks, and a general strike, continue to grow as I write today. Meanwhile, several members of Netanyahus Likud Party in the Knesset declared their support for suspending his judicial legislation and negotiating with the opposition on reform instead. For the first time, Netanyahus grip on his party had faltered.

In a national speech Monday night in Israel, the prime minister announced a temporary halt to the legislation.

Netanyahus miscalculation was to assume that the Israeli public would acquiesce in his transparent attempt to extricate himself from his legal troubles  he faces multiple charges  by initiating the most far-reaching judicial transformation in the nations history. Instead, since January, an astonishing protest movement spontaneously emerged, initially drawing tens of thousands and now hundreds of thousands to weekly demonstrations around the country.

By simultaneously assaulting liberal Israelis on multiple fronts  from diminishing democracy to augmenting ultra-Orthodox power to indulging political corruption to tolerating growing settler violence  this government left large numbers of Israelis feeling disenfranchised and desperate.

Resorting to the divisive political strategy that has served him in the past, Netanyahu tried to delegitimize the protesters, denouncing them as anarchists and leftists, by which he meant, not patriots. His son Yair went one step further, calling the protesters Nazis. Meanwhile, some Netanyahu supporters began physically attacking demonstrators, with no rebuke from the prime minister.

But this time the usual tactics didnt work. There is no more patriotic protest movement anywhere than this movement for Israeli democracy, which is led by veterans of the countrys toughest combat units and whose symbol is the Israeli flag. Even more than rage at Netanyahu, the strongest emotion one senses among the protesters is an overwhelming love for Israel and fear for its future.

The man who rose to power as the guardian of Israeli patriotism has been defeated by a movement of patriots.

Netanyahus tragedy is that, at the end of his long political career, he now endangers his own most precious legacies. The leader who presided over Israels high-tech revolution jeopardizes the Israeli economy with his judicial recklessness, as the tech companies contemplate relocating abroad and leading economists warn of impending disaster.

Thanks to the Abraham Accords, which the Trump administration initiated and Netanyahu endorsed, Israel established relations with four Arab countries, in effect ending the Arab worlds siege against the Jewish state. Yet by including extreme anti-Arab parties in his coalition, he is endangering the durability of those agreements.

No world leader did more to focus international attention on the danger of a nuclearizing Iran. Netanyahus solemn vow was that the Jewish state would never allow a regime promoting Holocaust denial and that was committed to Israels destruction to acquire nuclear weapons. Yet Netanyahus judicial plan has left Israel and its army distracted and divided. If Iran acquires the bomb, that too will be Netanyahus legacy.

There is something biblical in the tragedy of Benjamin Netanyahu. Followers often greet him with an old Hebrew song celebrating King David but substituting Netanyahus nickname: Bibi, King of Israel!

No doubt Bibi has been tempted to compare himself to David, ancient Israels greatest king. But in an interview with journalist Bari Weiss shortly after he was elected last fall to his fifth term, Netanyahu inadvertently revealed a darker foreboding about his place in history. Asked to name his favorite biblical character, Netanyahu replied, King Saul. He was tragic.

Saul, the first king of Israel, ended his reign in defeat, half-mad and disgraced, replaced by the upstart David. Netanyahu, the most talented and ambitious leader of his generation of Israeli politicians, might have been another David. Instead, as more and more sectors of Israeli society turn against him, and his hero story is transformed from savior to destroyer, it is the specter of Saul that torments his end.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
An E/A-18G Growler aircraft launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the South China Sea. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joseph Calabrese/U.S. Navy via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies expanding drills.

The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the Norths weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats. The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive in the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North's capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japans military said the missiles, which landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

U.S. Army soldiers wait to board their CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Korea's illicit nuclear weapons and missiles programs.

North Korea, which has weathered tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2016 over its nuclear developments, didn't immediately comment on the launches.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and live-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against the North's rising threats.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

A South Korean army soldier watches the North Korea side from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Friday, March 24, 2023. North Korea said Friday its cruise missile launches this week were part of nuclear attack simulations that also involved a detonation by a purported underwater drone as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to make his rivals "plunge into despair." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

The weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The country's leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical whether such a device was a major new threat and Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Monday that it considers the North Korean claims likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets, communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

'Continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology'

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signaling that its practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the Norths announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Koreas air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seouls three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the Norths leadership and key military facilities.
What changes will Scotland manager Steve Clarke make for Spain? (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Scotland take on Spain in the second of their 2024 Euro qualifying double-header at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.

The Scots began their campaign with an encouraging 3-0 win over bottom seeds Cyprus on Saturday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the main talking points ahead of the visit of La Roja.

An unusually good start to a qualifying campaign

The victory over Cyprus was the first opening day win in a Euro qualifying campaign since a 6-0 victory over the Faroe Islands at Celtic Park in 2006.

In previous Euro campaigns it has felt like Scotland almost immediately had to play catch-up but three points is a solid if expected start to Group A fixtures.

Top seeds Spain, who beat Norway 3-0 at home on Saturday night, will of course be tougher opponents but manager Steve Clarke knows a positive result will offer even more encouragement going into Junes double-header against Norway and Georgia.

Scott McTominay to start?

The Manchester United midfielder came off the bench on Saturday to secure the points for Clarkes side.

John McGinns first-half strike separated the two sides but it was getting a little nervy until McTominay showed his finishing prowess with two strikes from inside the box in the final minutes.

Clarke started with a 3-4-3 formation with attacking midfielders Stuart Armstrong and McGinn supporting Che Adams.

Callum McGregor is a fixture in the holding midfield area so if there is any change to the more defensive-minded playmakers then it likely that Ryan Jack will make way for McTominay.

Che Adams to be replaced by Lyndon Dykes?

The Southampton attacker dropped out of the squad with a calf knock picked up against Cyprus and Clarke admitted the loss was a blow.

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland was drafted in as a replacement on Sunday but will almost certainly start on the bench.

Clarke also has Ryan Christie and Jacob Brown in his squad but Dykes, recently recovered from a debilitating bout of pneumonia, took over from Adams on Saturday and is likely to start against Spain.

The QPR striker has scored eight times in 27 international games  including winners against the likes of Slovakia, Moldova and Austria  but a goal against the Spanish would endear him further to the Tartan Army.

Does Clarke play three at the back again?

Defence will be key to a positive result against Spain. Clarke played three centre-backs against Cyprus  Ryan Porteous, Grant Hanley and Kieran Tierney  which allowed him to use the Arsenal defender along with captain Andrew Robertson.

The former Kilmarnock, Reading and West Brom manager may well be pondering a return to a back four against Spain but would that include Tierney as one of the two centre-backs?

Moreover, will Clarke be tempted to replace the youngest member of the squad, 20-year-old Aaron Hickey, who had a fine game at right-back against Cyprus, with Nathan Patterson who was his replacement after 79 minutes on Saturday?
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Israel after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister and his counsel general in New York resigned.

The country has faced weeks of mass protest over controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Mr Netanyahu fired his defence minister on Sunday after the former army general called for a halt to the divisive reforms, drawing concerns internationally, including from the United States.

Yoav Gallant, a senior member of Mr Netanyahus ruling party, called for the changes to be paused until after next months Independence Day holidays.

He said he was concerned about Israels national security, saying: The victory of a single side, whether it be in the halls of the Knesset [Israels parliament], or on the streets of our cities, will lead to a loss for the state of Israel.

On Saturday, he said: I declare loudly and publicly, for the sake of Israels security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process should be stopped.

Demonstrators wave national flags during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reforms outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Netanyahus office did not provide any further details, but his public diplomacy minister said Mr Gallant was told of his sacking after being summoned to the PMs office, with Mr Netanyahu expressing he no longer had faith in Mr Gallant as defence minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant a day after he broke ranks (AFP via Getty Images)

In a statement after he was sacked, Mr Gallant said: The security of the state of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life.

Leader of the opposition Yair Lapid described the sacking of Mr Gallant as a new low for the government.

Mr Lapid added: Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he cant fire reality or fire the people of Israel who are fronting up to resist the coalitions madness.

Israels counsel general in New York Asaf Zamirfol resigned following the dismissal of Yoav Gallant, saying it was time for him to join the fight for Israels future.

Thousands of people turned out to protest in central Tel Aviv on Sunday night, and pro-democracy protesters also gathered near Mr Netanyahus home in Jerusalem.

They waved flags and reportedly chanted: Democracy! We wont be Hungary.

Leaders of the protest accused Mr Netanyahu of acting like a dictator and threatening the security of Israel.

Protesters chanted for democracy (AFP via Getty Images)

Tensions were already high over the right-wing coalition governments contentious plan to limit the powers of the judiciary.

It includes enabling parliament to overrule decisions made by the Supreme Court - a move which has been criticised by opponents who say it will undermine the independence of the judiciary, and could be used for political ends.

Mr Netanyahu insists that the measures are being brought in to stop the courts overreaching their powers, and that the legislation was voted for by the public in the last election.

The US issued a statement saying it continue[s] to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible.

We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship, Ms Watson said.

Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.

As protesters poured into the streets, police used water cannon to push them back from Mr Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since the beginning of the year, protesters lit several bonfires on a main highway.

The protests dwindled as the night went on, and eventually police forcefully removed a smaller crowd that had refused to leave.

Inon Aizik, 27, said he came to demonstrate outside Mr Netanyahus private residence in central Jerusalem because bad things are happening in this country. He called the judicial overhaul a quick legislative blitz.

It was not immediately clear whether the protests would affect the governments tactics. At least three Likud ministers said publicly that it was time to reevaluate their strategy and they would support halting the legislation if Mr Netanyahu decided to do so. The head of the parliamentary committee deciding on the legislation said discussions would continue on Monday.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned that Israel was in danger of falling apart as protests swept the country.

Speaking to Israeli media he said: It doesnt matter who is right...the reform is simply not relevant. What is relevant is preserving our country as a unified, functional country. He urged protesters to demonstrate without bloodshed.

A group of universities also announced a general strike starting from Monday morning, in response to the governments judicial overhaul.

The crisis comes as Israels security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter celebrations.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 250 Palestinian fighters and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and foreigners have been killed by Palestinian attackers.

Additional reporting by agencies
 By Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist

Iraq and Libya were both targeted by the U.S. in the month of March. The anniversaries of these war crimes must be commemorated, and the nature of the US/EU/NATO war machine must be understood.

"The International Criminal Court should uphold an objective and impartial stance, respect the jurisdictional immunity enjoyed by the head of state in accordance with international law, exercise its functions and powers prudently by the law, interpret and apply international law in good faith, and avoid politicization and double standards." (Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin)

March 26, 2023: Information Clearing House -- This commentary really should be part two from the piece I wrote last week in the run-up to the anti-war mobilization that took place March 18th which commemorated the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. In that article I made a similar argument about why the U.S. should be seen as the greatest threat to the survival of collective humanity on our planet.

That point, however, needs to be reinforced because in typical arrogance, on the eve of that mobilization and the official March 20th date of the U.S. invasion, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Russia President Vladimir Putin while Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Barack Obama, responsible for horrific crimes against humanity and literally millions of deaths combined in Serbia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria, walk around as free individuals.

It would be comical if it was not so deadly serious and absurd. Just a couple of years ago when the ICC signaled under the leadership of the Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wanted to conduct an investigation into possible crimes in Afghanistan by the U.S. state, the Trump Administration told the court in no uncertain terms that the Court would be subjected to the full wrath of the U.S. government and the Court quietly demurred in favor of a national probe that everyone knew was a sham.

This is just part of the infuriating double standards that Chinese spokesperson Wang Wenbin refers to. For many in the global South, the neutral international mechanisms and structures created to uphold international law have lost significant credibility outside of the West.

The politicization of the ICC on the Ukrainian war and the unprincipled participation of the United Nations that provided political cover for the invasion and occupation of Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010 are just two examples of how international structures ostensibly committed to upholding international law and the UN Charter are now seen as corrupt instruments of a dying U.S. and Western colonial empire.

How did we get here?

It is not a mere historical coincidence that the world became a much more dangerous place with the escalation of conflicts that threatened international peace in the 1990s. Without the countervailing force of the Soviet Union, the delusional white supremacists making U.S. policy believed that the next century was going to be a century of unrestrained U.S. domination.

And who would be dominated? Largely the nations of the global South but also Europe with an accelerated integration plan in 1993 that the U.S. supported because it was seen as a more efficient mechanism for deploying U.S. capital and further solidifying trade relations with the huge and lucrative European Market.

Central to the assertion of U.S. global power, however, was the judicious use of military force. Full Spectrum Dominance was the strategic objective that would ensure the realization of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC ). There was just one challenge that had to be overcome. The U.S. population still suffered from the affliction labeled the Vietnam syndrome . Traumatized by the defeat in Vietnam the population was still reticent about giving its full support to foreign engagements that could develop into a possible military confrontation.

How was this challenge overcome? Human rights.

Humanitarian interventionism , with its corollary the responsibility to protect" would emerge in the late 90s as one of the most innovative propaganda tools ever created. Produced by Western human rights community and championed by psychopaths like Samantha Power, the humanitarianism of the benevolent empire became the ideological instrument that allowed the U.S. to fully commit itself to military options to advance the interests of U.S. corporate and financial interests globally while being fully supported by the U.S. population.

With this new ideological tool, the Clinton Administration bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999 without any legal basis but with the moral imperative of the responsibility to protect. By the early 2000s it was obvious that the U.S. was not going to be bound by international law. Operating through NATO and with the formulation of a rules based order in which the U.S. and its Western European allies would make the rules and enforce the order, the world has been plunged into unending wars, illegal sanctions, political subversion and the corruption of international structures that were supposed to instrumentalize the legal, liberal international order.

But white supremacist colonial hubris resulted in the empire overextending itself.

Twenty years after the illegal and immoral attack on Iraq where it is estimated that over a million people perished and twelve years after the racist attack on Libya where NATO dropped over 26,000 bombs and murdered up to 50,000 people, the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination is in irreversible decline but the U.S. hegemon, like a wounded wild beast is still dangerous and is proving to be even more reckless then just a few years ago.

The disastrous decision to provoke what the U.S. thought would be a limited proxy war with Russia that would allow it to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation will be recorded in history, along with the invasion of Iraq, as the two pivotal decisions that greatly precipitated the decline of the U.S. empire.

However, with over eight hundred U.S. bases globally, a military budget close to a trillion dollars and a doctrine that prioritizes a military-first strategy, the coming defeat in Ukraine might translate into even more irresponsible and counterproductive moves against the Chinese over Taiwan in the Pacific and more aggressive actions to maintain U.S. hegemony in the Americas through SOUTHCOM and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Global polls of international opinion continue to reflect that the peoples of our planet see the U.S. as the greatest threat to international peace . They are correct.

The commemoration of the attacks on the peoples of Iraq and Libya is an act of solidarity not only with the peoples of those nations, but with the peoples and nations suffering from the malign policies of this dying empire today. It is a time of rededication to peace and to justice, two elements that are inextricable. In the Black Alliance for Peace , we say that peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the achievement by popular struggle and self-defense of a world liberated from global systems of oppression that include colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy.

This understanding is the foundation for why we are launching with our partners, an effort to revive the call to make the Americas a Zone of Peace on April the 4th, the day the state murdered Dr. King and the date that the Black Alliance for Peace was launched in 2017.

For Africans and other colonized peoples, the task is clear. The U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination embodies the anti-life structures of colonial/capitalist oppression and must be seen as the primary contradiction facing global humanity. We recognize that other contradictions exist. We are not naive. But for the exploited and colonized peoples of this planet, until there is a shift in the international balance of forces away from the maniacs in the collective West, the future of our planet and collective humanity remains imperiled.

Ajamu Baraka is Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace and an editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report. Baraka serves on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Peace Council and leadership body of the U.S. based United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) and the Steering Committee of the Black is Back Coalition.
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. Massive protests broke out across Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on Sunday after Gallant called on the government to suspend the PMs controversial effort to overhaul the nations judiciary system.

The Israeli Prime Minister has been pushing his proposal to seize greater control over the selection of Supreme Court justices and restrict the courts power over the parliament  the Knesset, a move which he claims seeks to balance the judiciary.

The plan has been condemned both internationally and domestically.

The defense minister warned that the ongoing unrest over the PMs plan was putting Israels national security at risk, and that therefore he could not support it.

In Tel Aviv, three police officers were injured when law enforcement agencies began dispersing protesters early morning on Monday, according to Jerusalem Post.
We, in the thick of it, may not have noticed the water boiling and the temperature rising

The world has been warning us for some years now to correct course and move back to the path of democracy and pluralism. (DC Image)

In 2014 Dr Manmohan Singh had said: I sincerely believe it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as Indias Prime Minister. Four years later, he said he recognised his words had been harsh but he added that the time is not far off when the public at large would have the chance to pronounce on the efficacy or otherwise of public policy which has been put in place by Modiji.

In a matter of a few weeks from now we will enter Year 10 of the government and it is a long enough time to judge whether Dr Singhs words were true, partially true or wholly incorrect. A few years ago, when it became apparent to me that enough evidence was in to send down judgment on Narendra Modis performance as Prime Minister, I began to write a book called The Price of the Modi Years. It was published in paperback, then republished in hardcover and now is again being published in paperback. One of the things that is required for a new edition is for me to update the chapters, particularly one in which I have compiled some global indices.

These measure Indias standing on various things before 2014 and after. It will not surprise Mr Modis critics that India has fallen on most of them (49 out of 53). It will also not surprise his supporters because they believe the world is biased and has an anti-India agenda.

However, having written the book and then having to update it constantly over the years has meant that I have kept in touch with the data and information across a range of subjects. Whether one accepts or rejects the data, one has to engage with it. Saying that it is biased is to run away from it, which is what the government has done. Given the events of the past week, I wanted to put in one place all of the material that is linked to democratic freedoms and rights in India as perceived by the external world. This is material compiled by think tanks, some of which are conservative (what is called right wing) while others are liberal. They have studied and ranked all nations, not just India, so it is especially puzzling that one should think they have an India-specific agenda.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, based in London, downgraded India in its Democracy Index in 2020, classifying it as a flawed democracy. This continues to be the case in the 2022 index. India scores highly on electoral process and even, surprisingly, on pluralism. But it is low on civil liberties and political culture. The index has been around since 2006 and Indias score began to slide after 2017.

The Cato Institute, based in Washington, has a Human Freedom Index that measures the rule of law, religious freedom, civil liberties and freedom to trade internationally. Indias ranking in 2015 was 75, in the 2022 index (which looks at data from 2020) it is ranked 112. The reason is low scores on human freedom and personal freedom. Among the institutes founders is Charles Koch, a Republican Party donor.

Freedom House is a think tank funded by the US government. In its 2014 Freedom in the World report, India was classified as free, with a rating of 77. The rating is a mix of two things: one is on political rights. India has always scored highly here, including on free and fair elections. The second part is on civil liberties. India scores poorly here, with a decline after 2014. In 2020, India was classified as partly free and Kashmir, which is marked separately, as not free. In 2022, both of these are unchanged and in fact Indias score has fallen further.

Civicus is a global alliance of civil society organisations headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its annual monitor of national civic spaces downgraded India from obstructed, that it was in 2017, to repressed in 2021 and also in 2022. India scored 31/100.

The Bertelsmann Stiftung Political Transformation index is compiled in Gutersloh, Germany. Their concept of democracy goes beyond free elections and political participation. It includes the functioning of the rule of law as well as the acceptance, representation and political culture of the democratic system. India was ranked 26th in 2015, fell to 34th in 2020 and to 50th in 2022, classified as a defective democracy. In Economic Transformation, India was 65th, the same as Rwanda.

The University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has produced the Varieties of Democracy index since 1972. It classified India as electoral autocracy in 1975 and 1976, during the Emergency. From 1977 to 2016 India was an electoral democracy. For the last six years it has again been classified as an electoral autocracy. India is in the bottom 40-50 per cent of the worlds nations, clubbed with nations like Nigeria, Serbia, Pakistan and Singapore.

I have not found a single index, whether by a conservative think tank or a liberal one, that says India is more democratic and more free today than it was in 2014.

The point is that what is happening around us has been going on for a long time. We, in the thick of it, may not have noticed the water boiling and the temperature rising. But the world has, and it has been warning us for some years now to correct course and move back to the path of democracy and pluralism.
So far, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have called a spade a spade, and this trait must be retained

The breath-taking alacrity with which Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla moved to disqualify Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the House makes it obvious that the BJP has concluded that his continuance as a Member of Parliament is hazardous to its political fortunes. Before going any further, it is necessary to examine the reasons for the ruling party and government wanting to rid the Lok Sabha of him. In the two decades in public life that Rahul Gandhi will complete next year, the longest stretch has been spent carrying the moniker of Pappu, or dim-witted youngster, affixed on him by the BJP, its leaders and social media amplifiers. The question that necessarily flows from this is simple: If the former MP from Wayanad is little but a daft apprentice, why this Kolavari Di, or murderous rage?

There are four points to take note of. First, Rahul Gandhi became a perturbing problem for the BJP because he began doing the right things since September last year. On the cusp of the first and second weeks of that month the one-time Congress president started walking from Kanyakumari on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but was immediately met with scepticism: will he complete the yatra? Walking turned out to be the least of challenges despite an old excruciating pain in the knee resurfacing almost immediately and it required immense will-power and healing powers of a doctor to continue. In days, it was clear that Rahul Gandhi not only passed the endurance test to emerge as a challenger for the 56-inch crown for physical prowess, but was also getting messages of love, compassion and inclusiveness across to people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once referred to torrential criticism directed at him and said he must doing something correctly to get the goat of his adversaries. Likewise, the Bharat Jodo Yatra and its lead yatri must have been spot on for it to be met by the BJP with ceaseless derision.

Yet, doubts remained  could that enthusiasm be sustained after the yatra? Furthermore, there were no immediate electoral gains for the Congress Party.

Despite rising mounds of doubts, the part-time politician of yore did not take a break and pointedly unscrambled in Parliament the nexus between Narendra Modi and the House of Adani. This criticism stung the BJP sharply  so much so that critical references in Rahul Gandhis speech were expunged from the Lok Sabha records. The third round of salvos was fired from London and it resulted in the unprecedented spectacle of the Treasury benches disrupting Parliament.

When Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, with the guarded support of several other Opposition parties, turned down the demand for an apology, the BJP realised that it was trapped in a one-way street. The only way to get Parliament back on track, or at least stop disrupting proceedings, and leave the Opposition to do this, was to physically remove Rahul Gandhi from the House. This could be done on a permanent basis only by disqualifying him. The champions of intimidation have from the beginning targeted individuals and set them as examples for others to see and realise the possible repercussions for falling foul of this government. The strategy has been deployed against a wide spectrum of professionals  from politicians to journalists. But in the process of evicting Rahul Gandhi from Parliament, permanently if he gets no judicial reprieve, the custodians of the largest democracy have ended up presenting evidence for the claims made by Rahul Gandhi in his London speeches: that Indian democracy has been systematically hollowed out already and autonomous institutions are now impartial only in name.

Second, Rahul Gandhis discourteous and extra-legal ouster has handed him and his party a tool that was consistently employed by the Prime Minister: victimhood, or playing the victim card. Among the factors behind Mr Modis emergence was his success in portraying himself as a wronged person or unlawfully attacked by multiple sections of society: adversaries in politics, civil society, academia, human rights activists, media/journalists and their collaborators outside India. The unprecedentedness of the action against Rahul Gandhi, from the filing of the criminal case on a matter that is traditionally treated as a civil issue, to the judicial process  including the stay sought, granted and vacated by the Gujarat high court, on the prayers of the primary petitioners, the BJPs Gujarat MLA who is undoubtedly just a front man  provides the Congress and its leader an opportunity to convert this disqualification into a qualification for something much bigger than a Lok Sabha seat. The BJPs worry is evident from false efforts to represent Rahul Gandhis speech as an instance of bias against OBCs. This preposterous charge is a symptom of grave apprehension within the BJP.

A third set of developments emerging from this have to be monitored in the coming months. The posture of non-Congress Opposition parties, especially those regional parties or satraps who havent firmed up alliances with the Congress, will have a bearing on the political landscape of next years parliamentary elections. The BJPs strategy to single out Rahul Gandhi for attack will undermine the efforts of these parties to emerge as pivotal forces among Opposition parties. The immediate response of these parties and their leaders has been to close ranks and issue statements lending support to Rahul Gandhi and his party. At present, the proverbial momentum is undeniably with Rahul Gandhi for having rattled the BJP more squarely than he has done since 2014.

Fourth and last, the biggest challenge Rahul Gandhi faces is to ensure that the spotlight is shifted at the earliest from him and his disqualification. He has to impress upon people that this is not a battle for his political survival alone and instead there are bigger stakes for the people and the country. The legal process will be a long-drawn process but he will have redirect peoples concerns on misgovernance, livelihood issues, which include skyrocketing prices and the ceaselessly increasing unemployment rate. He will additionally need to forge consensus among non-BJP parties on issues flagged by him during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and are essential for an inclusive India. He will have to strike at the roots of the BJPs politics of hate it has harnessed. The Congress and other Opposition parties long soft-pedalled the inherent dangers of Hindutva and failed to comprehend that playing along with Hindu majoritarianism will not enable them to emerge as alternative to the BJP. So far, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have called a spade a spade, but this trait must be retained. It is also time other parties realise the need for similar ideological clarity. The parliamentary elections next year can well be the most polarised campaign in independent India.
by Fady Noun

Prime Minister Mikati decided on his own that clocks would be advanced a month later than required. How he made the decision came to light after a video was posted online of him talking to the parliamentary speaker. The decision sowed confusion in government offices, grounded planes, and angered the Christian community, starting with the Maronite patriarch.

Beirut (AsiaNews)  Lebanese Prime Minister, Nagib Mikati, decided to delay by a month the transition of Lebanon to summer time, which was supposed to occur on Sunday last.

For economist Sami Nader, a well-known face on Lebanese TV, All this decision has done is further discredit an indecisive state," as the government is stuck in the political mud, and parliament is split into two major camps, unable to pick a new head of state.

Naders words clearly sum up the hullabaloo sparked by Mikatis decision. Faced with the sectarian and political outcry it provoked, the Cabinet held an emergency meeting and decided to stay the postponement, and move immediately to summer time, as provided in an international regulatory regime that Lebanon cannot change without one year's notice.

Mr Mikati made his contentious decision last Thursday, without giving any reason, two days before the scheduled switch to daylight saving time, on Sunday. But then a video was posted online, ostensibly shot at the office of Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, showing the latter asking Mikati not to switch to daylight saving time to allow people fasting for Ramadan, which lasts from sunrise to sunset, to break it an hour earlier.

The video could not have been leaked without Mr Berrys express permission, said a political observer who requested anonymity. Above all, it shows Berris desire to expose Mr Mikati's weaknesses and prove that he still controls government institutions, at a time when some believe Hezbollah dumped him.

Meanwhile, Mikati's sudden decision angered Christian political and religious leaders. The Maronite patriarch, Bechara al-Rahi, slammed the decision taken without consultation adding that the patriarchate would not comply. A phone call from Prime Minister Nagib Mikati failed to change his mind.

The two main Christian parties, the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), also spoke out against the prime minister's decision. The FPM president railed against it, accusing Mikati of usurping the authority of the president.

The patriarchate, for its part, "took its position so as not to further Lebanon's isolation," spokesman Walid Ghayad was quoted as saying by AFP. This explanation is intended to tone down a controversy that has caused sectarian tensions.

However, Mr Ghayad's argument is shared by many Lebanese. Out of simple common sense, in an ultra-connected world, many media and businesses have decided not to follow Mr Mikati's decree.

In fact, the delay disrupted international flights and the operations of foreign-linked institutions, since many countries switched to daylight saving time on Sunday.

Stuck by the government decision, the national airline, Middle East Airlines, announced that it was "advancing by one hour the timetable of scheduled flights" out of Beirut.

Following the directives of the Maronite Patriarchate, the Secretariat of Catholic Schools announced that its schools would follow summer time as of Monday.

"What will my wife do since she is the one who drives our children to school before going to work?" wondered one official, who criticised "the two-speed Lebanon" created by Mikati's decision.

On social media, the affair sparked a wave of satirical comments, with one netizen even wondering if "a new civil war" was going to break out.

The whole country was taken by surprise, but as one cafe patron put it: So are we going to live an hour away from the rest of the world?" Words that best epitomise the confusion all Lebanese feel.
Limits on the number of participants, pre-determined spaces, identification tags and control of banners. Public demonstrations blocked by the passing of the security law. Even with withdrawal of health protocols for the pandemic there is little room for public dissent. March by a group in defence of women's rights cancelled earlier this month.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - A maximum of 100 people; identification tags; uncovered faces; a cordon to mark the route; control of banners and placards. These were the conditions imposed by the city police yesterday to allow the first public protest in over two years, since the national security law imposed by Beijing to silence the democratic opposition came into force.

As noted by several media, the restrictions discouraged participation: according to the organisers, there were about 80 protesters. They marched in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O to protest against a government land reclamation project, which includes the construction of a waste treatment facility.

According to several observers, the security measure is so wide-ranging that it can target all kinds of behaviour. As of December 2022, there are 227 people arrested under the draconian law; 135 with at least one indictment.

The city's mini-Constitution (Basic Law) actually ensures freedom of expression. In order to block demonstrations of dissent, the authorities have also often resorted to Covid-19 sanitary restrictions. After the central government decided in December to abandon the zero-Covid policy desired by Xi Jinping, Hong Kong also dropped the last anti-pandemic restrictions.

With the reopening, it now remains to be seen whether the executive of the former British colony will agree to the holding of the usual demonstrations organised by the democratic camp. In 2022, for the third consecutive year, the city authorities banned the annual vigil in Victoria Park for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre. On 4 June 1989, the Chinese leadership had ordered the massacre in Beijing of thousands of students and citizens demanding freedom and democracy in the country.

The traditional First of July march has not been held since 2020. The first one, in 2003, had gathered 500,000 people: it was against an anti-subversion law proposed by Tung Chee-hwa's city government.

The signs are not encouraging for the pro-democracy front, already decimated by arrests and convictions. At the beginning of the month, a women's rights group cancelled a public rally after the police had summoned the organisers several times.
The retired Philippine supreme court justice spoke at a conference at the Gregorian University in Rome, noting that Chinas claims in the Southeast Asia are incompatible with the High Seas Treaty and will have a negative impact on international law. If might is right rules, an arms race will follow.

Rome (AsiaNews)  Chinas claims in the South China Sea are not only a local problem, but a threat to the very idea of global commons, protected under international law, this according to Justice Antonio T. Carpio, a retired member of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Mr Carpio spoke today at the conference Democracy for the Common Good (Democrazia per il bene commune) held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome dedicated to the topic of ethics in international relations.

Just three weeks ago, he said in his address, the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction approved the final text of the High Seas Treaty, a monumental work that spanned almost two decades of contentious negotiations among 120 nations to protect and preserve for posterity, and to share for all mankind, the living resources of the oceans of our planet beyond national jurisdiction.

The treaty was met with satisfaction across the world, but it goes against the policy China is pursuing with ever-greater determination in Southeast Asia.

In the South China Sea, where about 25 per cent of the sea constitutes the high seas, the resources of the high seas, including the resources of the global commons, are claimed exclusively by one state  China, Justice Carpio explained.

Under its infamous nine-dash line, China claims historic rights, allegedly dating back 2,000 years ago, to all the resources within the nine-dash line. However, the Chinese authorities first circulated within China its nine-dash line map only in 1947, and it was only in 2009 that China submitted its nine-dash line map to the United Nations.

This encroaches not only on the entire high seas of the South China Sea, but also on vast areas of the EEZs of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia in the South China Sea.

In the case of the Philippines, the nine-dash line encroaches on 80 per cent of the EEZ of the Philippines in the South China Sea. This is a clear violation of UNCLOS, i.e. the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In 2016, an arbitral tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration upheld the principles enshrined in the convention, and decided against China, which, however, refused to accept the tribunals ruling. What is more, China amended its coast guard law to allow its vessels to use all "necessary security and control measures".

The reversion to the might is right principle will certainly mean the collapse of the UN Charter as well as the end of UNCLOS. This will lead to never-ending wars. To defend themselves, states will have to devote much of their resources to acquiring warships, warplanes, missiles and other weapons, leading to a worldwide arms race and diverting scarce resources needed for social services, education and economic development.

As a result, Non-nuclear armed states will be at the mercy of nuclear-armed states. States with the technology will develop nuclear arms to defend themselves from bullying or invasion by nuclear-armed states. It will be a dangerous world to live in.

How to respond to this situation? From the conference in Rome, Justice Carpio calls for greater education to boost the principles of international law.:

The foundational principles of the UN Charter mandating the peaceful settlement of disputes and prohibiting the threat or use of force must be taught to all students of the world from grade school to college.

With this in mind, the curriculum of all schools should include the teaching of these foundational principles, which must be made part of the DNA of citizens of all states so that everyone will oppose national leaders who resort to threat or use of force to settle any dispute between or among states.

Our generation has mercifully been spared from the scourge of a Third World War. It is therefore the duty of our generation, in the words of the UN Charter, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind. And we know that a Third World War may very well spell the end of human civilization as we know it today.
"What would NASA do if a dinosaur-killing asteroid barrels its way to Earth?"

That is one of the questions actor Adam Driver asked NASA in one of the agency's latest videos to determine what NASA's response would be like.

Driver was also the lead in the film "65," which had his character crash land in prehistoric Earth 65 million years ago - to the time before the Chicxulub asteroid wiped out 75% of life on Earth, including the dinosaurs.

Adam Driver's Asteroid Inquiries

People have been curious about what could happen if an asteroid hits Earth. While some would point to the Tunguska event in 1908, people are more curious about the ones that could pose more than just fascination for humanity worldwide.

For those unaware, the Tunguska event involved an asteroid exploring above central Siberia on June 30, 1908, per the Encyclopedia Britannica. The asteroid's explosion flattened around 500,000 acres and charred 100 square kilometers of pine forest.

Driver, during the video, asked three questions regarding asteroids and NASA:

What if we found out that an asteroid like [Chicxulub] was going to hit our planet today? Would NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft and technology work against such an asteroid? Why are scientists bringing a sample of an asteroid back to Earth? What do they hope to learn?

Astronomer Kelly Fast, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program, answered Driver's questions in the video.

Read More: DEA Officials Tracked Suspects With an Apple AirTag

Fast's Response To Driver's Questions

Fast explained that NASA would inform planning and give information about the asteroid and where it would impact should the agency find an asteroid on its way to hit Earth. She added that NASA would explain the effect of the asteroid's impact so everyone would have the latest, accurate, and expert information available.

While Fast admits that there are still some undiscovered near-Earth asteroids big enough to do considerable damage should they collide against Earth, NASA is not that concerned about asteroids of sizes similar to or bigger than Chixculub, as it found most of them due to their small numbers, making them easier to spot.

Fast also mentioned that while NASA's DART spacecraft and technology could work, NASA's options for deflecting an asteroid or doing anything about one really depend on its size and composition. She stated that the effectiveness of deflecting an asteroid would also depend on the amount of time before it impacts Earth; the longer the lead time, the more effective deflection would be.

Last but not least, Fast said that Scientists are bringing a sample of the asteroid Bennu back to Earth to learn more about the early solar system and study the origins of organics and water, which are "important for studying life on Earth."

She added that NASA wants to study Bennu because it is largely unchanged since the solar system's formation, with her citing the belief that such asteroids formed when the solar system's planet did 4.5 billion years ago from the same material that made up the planets.

Space.com mentioned that Driver ended the Q7A session with words of gratitude to Fast and for her and her colleagues' efforts in keeping Earth safe from asteroids, with him possibly channeling his character in "65," who may be wishing that experts like Fast existed back then.

Related Article: Does NASA Have Other Ways To Protect Earth From Asteroids?
Shots fired at the school and the Franciscan nuns' convent, raid by masked men at the Salesian nuns' institute with a demand to convert. Yesterday mass interrupted with a demand to recite the Koran. For the former vicar the clear condemnation of imams and Islamic leaders in the city 'positive' . The climate of heightened tension around the reform of justice 'wide ranging and worrying'.

Nazareth (AsiaNews) - A climate of tension "that has surprised everyone, even the Muslims themselves" and that represents a "novelty". This is how the former Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem of the Latins Msgr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, still resident in the holy city and active in pastoral work, comments on the latest episodes of violence and anti-Christian intolerance that have taken place in Nazareth.

"First," he tells AsiaNews, "shots were fired at the school of the Franciscan nuns, then the raid on the Salesian nuns with the greeting 'Ramadan Kareem' and the exhortation to become Muslims. The latest yesterday morning, when they showed up at a church during mass and asked the deputy parish priest, a Maronite priest, to recite the Koran'.

When the priest refused, the young man 'started to pray' until a group of people arrived and 'convinced him to desist and leave' to avoid generating further tension.

Three incidents in a few days against Christians in the city of Jesus, which is also - as Msgr. Marcuzzo explains - the most important centre "of the Muslim and Arab world in Israel". Of these, two involved educational institutes, which is why the general secretariat of Christian schools in Israel has called for a general strike in all the institutes in Nazareth for today.

For tomorrow, 'special educational activities' are planned with in-depth discussions on the topic of confessional violence and ways to counter fundamentalism in society. On 29 March, the Salzian Sisters School will hold a press conference entitled "No to violence", while the bishops on the same day "will publish an official note - the prelate anticipates - on the recent violence".

The first attack dates back to 16 March, when around 6.30 p.m. some individuals fired gunshots in the direction of the school and the Franciscan nuns' convent. A gesture considered a "dangerous precedent", because for the first time it targeted a Christian educational institution in Israel, which until now had been spared.

The second took place on 24th March and involved the Salesian nuns' institute and house, attacked by masked people in a raid with a clear confessional matrix. The nuns recount that, after opening the gate, they found themselves in front of people with their faces covered by black masks who were calling on them to convert to Islam in this "holy month of Ramadan". At least five young men are said to have carried out the assault, who then fled when the guard arrived.

The assaults come in a climate of deep tension, starting with the wave of protests in Israel around the controversial justice reform. Added to this is the clash between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, fuelled by provocative gestures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir's walk to the Esplanade of Mosques, which risks turning into a new intifada and has already caused a record number of casualties.

Then there are the attacks against places of worship and Christian centres at the hands of Jewish extremists: the latest episode on 19 March at the Tomb of Mary, preceded by the raid in early February against the Church of the Flagellation, while at the beginning of the year extremist groups desecrated a cemetery on Mount Zion and before that hit other targets including a church near the Cenacle, the Basilica of Nazareth itself and Catholic and Greek Orthodox buildings.

"With reference to the episodes of intolerance in Nazareth in recent days," emphasises Msgr. Marcuzzo, "it is important to note the stance taken by two authoritative imams of the city, heads of mosques, who have strongly condemned these gestures.

They are mostly young people, perhaps driven by too much enthusiasm, who on the occasion of Ramadan [the Islamic month of fasting and prayer] want to make gestures of ... 'apostolic zeal', people who want to be noticed in a particular climate linked to the holy month'.

"Today the schools are on strike and tomorrow there will be seminars and moments of reflection in the institutes,' explains the former vicar, 'but as Church and Christian leaders we want to try to calm the situation, without making polemics. The real crux of the matter,' he concludes, 'is that these episodes are part of a broader and more worrying picture that is being experienced in Israel, an escalation of tension that has surprised for the speed with which it is taking place and that, at least for now, has not caused any victims. The concern, however, remains."
But here's another reason why I think the 1960s were cool. While GM, Ford, and Chrysler were busy battling for horsepower glory, some dealers were allowed to customize their orders. That's how we got and 1969 COPO Camaro twins, the 1968 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet (created by Tasca Ford), and the Royal Bobcat Pontiacs. There was also Grand Spaulding Dodge, the Chicago-based dealership that built some of the greatest Mopars out there. They're known as "Mr. Norm" cars and they're as rare as they get.Established in 1962 and co-owned by Norm Kraus, Grand Spaulding became the biggest Dodge dealership in the U.S., thanks to Norm's focus on high performance. Much like Yenko, Royal Pontiac , and Dick Harrell, the Chicago-based dealership rolled out beefed-up muscle cars alongside regular factory cars. And the lineup included all the cool Dodges of the era, like the Charger, Challenger, and the Super Bee.Mopar enthusiasts might also remember the Dodge Dart GSS that Mr. Norm created in 1968 by dropping the massive 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) V8 in the A-body compact. But this blurb is about a Dodge that we rarely see with a "Mr. Norm's" decal: a 1966 Coronet. One that left the factory with a very special engine: the 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Wedge V8.Originally a Coronet 500, this Mopar was taken off the assembly line and fitted with the iconic Street Wedge following a special order placed by Grand Spaulding Dodge . And that's a rather puzzling thing to do in a year when the mighty 426 HEMI was already available and the Wedge was pretty much discontinued. Shipped to Chicago in December 1965, the car was sold to its original owner in early 1966.Fast forward to 2023 and the Coronet is still around but it looks like a classic that's struggling with an identity crisis. That's because it's sporting "Coronet 500" and "383" badges on its front fenders, it rides on wider-that-usual rear wheels, and it no longer packs its original Wedge V8. Fortunately enough though, the folks over at "BackWoods Performance," who recently purchased the car, got in touch with the first owner, who was able to confirm that this Plum Crazy Mopar is indeed a "Mr. Norm's" car.And get this, they did a bit of extra digging, including getting in touch with Chrysler expert Galen V. Govier, to find out that it's one of only two Wedge-powered 1966 Coronets known to exist. All options and exterior color considered, it's a one-of-one gem that got lucky enough to survive for more than five decades. And I say "lucky enough" because the original owner used to take this Mopar to the drag strip. Yup, that's why it has wider rear tires and cut-out rear fenders.But what's with the "Coronet 500" and "383" badges, you ask? Well, one of the fenders was damaged during an accident and the original owner replaced both of them with parts from a different Coronet and didn't bother to change the emblems. And according to him, the car has been like that since the 1970s, even though it changed ownership around 1995 when it also went off the radar.Granted, it's far from being 100% original and it won't be reunited with the engine and other parts it lost on the way but it's the perfect definition of a survivor race car. The new owner isn't planning on restoring it to its original specifications, which is a bit disappointing, but this unique "Mr. Norm's" car is better off as a project than a junkyard gem. Check it out in the video below.
AMG

Aston Martin Lagonda has been around  in various forms and under many different rulers  since founders Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford established its predecessor no less than 110 years ago. However, it was not until David Brown took over the reins that the exotic British brand was turned into a veritable legend of the 1950s and 1960s grand tourers that keeps impressing even today.And does so through marvelous GTs like the Aston Martin DBS (Superleggera), which pays homage to the ritzy company lineage as well as to Italys Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, which assisted them in creating their lightest models back in the 1960s and 1970s. Partnerships are a major defining course of action for Astin Martin, frankly, hence its long-running association with the James Bond franchise, as well as more lucrative trials and tribulations like the technical association with Mercedes-So, what does the Gaydon, Warwickshire-based company have to do with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, currently headquartered in Goodwood, West Sussex, aside from the fact that both reside in England, as part of the United Kingdom? Well, normally, the ultra-luxury British automobile manufacturer  now under the control of BMW AG  would have little to do with the folks over at Aston Martin, aside from the fact that Germany-based groups meddle with their interests from time to time.But to answer the question, we just need to hop over the Atlantic Ocean to the East Coast of the United States for a quick stint across the imaginative realm of the aftermarket world. Over there, the self-described largest dealer for the worlds top brands, aka Miami, Florida-based Wheels Boutique , is showing us a complementary ensemble cast of British wonders. Those would be a 2023 Aston Martin DBS and a Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge, of course.Well, a quick look at the videos embedded below, and all mysteries will be cleared up, at least as per the association between the two vehicles. This is because while the Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge is dressed up in Anthracite and the Aston Martin DBS flaunts a Xenon Grey hue, they still look like tastefully modified gray siblings, at least from certain angles.When taken separately, the Xenon Grey Aston Martin DBS rides on new 22-inch aftermarket wheels. It was previously on a set of 522Ms from HRE Wheels that were polished to the brink of perfection, but it now resides on more aggressive ANRKY AN33s with a dual-tone gray and black finish and twisted 10-spokes. By the way, the sublime fitment was achieved with massive rubber both up front (285) and especially in the back (335), plus a set of custom H&R lowering springs.As for the Cullinan Black Badge, the ride just came from the Rolls-Royce dealership with a sticker price north of $500k, even though it is just a regular Anthracite and Tan leather plus carbon fiber trim combination. Anyway, now it is also an overdose of Novitec widebody fitted with lowering links on some brand-new ANRKY Wheels sets of 24 inchers. They are called RF282s, and these initial wheels are custom-built to order because the owner wanted humongous Rolls-Royce floating caps to go along with the factory-like chrome rings and a brushed gloss clear finish. Cool, right?
AWD

The myth about bulls and the red color has been long debunked by science, but the news has yet to reach the automotive realm (apparently). Since Ferrari is forever associated with the corrida color and Lamborghini is rooted in bullfighting tradition, the duel is as good as endless. The raging bovid's fury is so fierce that it charges any four-wheeled allusion to the prancing horse head-on.For example, see the latest video from Brooks Weisblat  the host of the DragTimes YouTube Channel. The vlogger's own Lamborghini Huracan EVO roars in blind paroxysm on the quarter mile against a C8 Corvette Z06. The fight took place at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida."And what's that got to do with Ferrari?" I can see the question written in Bold Italics over the hexadecimal sky of the internet. Well, the flat plane crankshaft V8 in the American is the apple of discord - the Ferrari-mutated DNA that makes the Lambo blood boil.The Z06 in this event is the convertible version of the high(er)-performance 'Vette, and it weighs 99 lbs. over its coupe twin  3,599 lbs. (1,630 kilograms). That's the official claim, anyway, but the YouTuber provides a different number  3,900 lbs. (1,766 kilos). We should consider the 18.5-gallon / 70-liter full tank of gasoline this particular car has and add the driver's weight, too.670 hp (679 PS) and 460 lb-ft (624 Nm), a redline that reads 8,600 RPM, dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transmission, and the balance-optimizing mid-engine architecture make the C8 Z06 America's True-Blue sportscar.Lamborghini was ahead of Corvette on this powerplant layout (only by 55 years). The Italian bull's 1966 Miura rewrote the automotive books and set the supercar standards that we know today. And the Huracan EVO is no exception.Its 5.2-liter V10  just as naturally aspirated as the V8 in the Z06  puts out "only" 640 PS and 600 Nm of piston-pushing force (631 hp, 443 lb-ft). The all-wheel-drive system adds a little weight, but the overall rating of 3,135 lbs. (1,422 kg) is well under the Chevy. Again, race numbers differ from manufacturer specifications  the Huracan EVO in this contest weighs in at 3,550 lbs. (1,610 kg).Two extra points in favor of the Italian supercar  four wheels pulling together and less mass to carry around  more than compensate for the power and torque handicap. Simply put (in power-to-weight ratios): Z06  379 hp/ton (384 PS/ton); Huracan EVO  392 hp/ton (398 PS/ton). The calculations are made according to the masses specified by the YouTuber.The Corvette may have one extra gear (eight versus seven in the Lamborghini), but this isn't a top-end speed contest; it's a quarter-mile quick-draw shootout. If cars were judged by exhaust performance alone, this acoustics battle would have no runner-up  both engines sound deliriously ecstatic.The V8 sounds nothing like the regular All-American god-tier muscle but is nothing short of the mechanically divine realm. And the Huracan needs no introduction  when's the last time you heard an out-of-tune 10-cylinder chorus?To each their own, but let's stick to the facts  this is a motoring event, not a musical audition. Best two out of three is the only rule to set the winner if both players adhere to fair play manners. But the Italian bull doesn't and red-lights the first joust  and is automatically disqualified.Round two is a better-describing picture, with the Z06 taking the win by five-hundredths of a second  10.850 versus 10.907 on the EVO's sheet. The reaction times of both drivers are almost unhuman-like. The DragTimes host  driving the Corvette  managed a .029 score, and his opponent hit a .083.An important note is needed here: right after launch, the Lambo driver appears to miss the shift into second gear and loses a critical fraction of a second. Enough to come second at the other end of the line. The only section where the Lamborghini won this race was the top speed rating at the end of the 440-yard bout: 129.47 mph (208.34 kph), while the Corvette Z06 only achieved 124.55 mph (200.42 kph).The final round is for ego only, and the Italian performs flawlessly. Although the Z06 launches better, theworks double shifts (no PUN) to pull the Huracan in front. Less than one-tenth of a second separates the two supercars at the end of the 1,320-foot-long strip (about a car length), and the feud remains as fierce as it will ever be.
Photo: Lord Drake

The Red Baron is first and foremost the fighting designation of a German pilot named Manfred von Richthofen. At a time when military aviation was just taking off, in the 1910s, he managed to rise to star status thanks to no less than 80 air-to-air combat victories, and his leadership of a fighter squadron the world of the time came to know as the Flying Circus, thanks to the bright colors that draped their combat aircraft.Secondly, the same moniker, only translated into Spanish as Baron Rojo, designates a heavy metal band from the Iberian Peninsula, famous back in the 1980s mostly over in Europe.Both these meanings of the phrase are celebrated on this custom Low Rider, put together from a stock machine by Spanish garage Lord Drake . And the end product makes no secret of what its supposed to be, because the color red is heavily spread over the bikes body, down to the rims of the multi-spoke wheels, sized 19 inches at the front and 18 inches at the rear.The custom has been put together by Lord Drake as a cafe racer, which is not something we usually get from this type of American two-wheeler, equipped with the mighty Twin Cam 88 engine. And since we mentioned the powerplant, well start by telling you that, although it was left mostly stock and works from under some fancy transparent covers, it was enhanced a bit with the fitting of an S&S carburetor and air filter, but also a Vance & Hines exhaust system.Other rather small but effective mechanical changes are the shortening of the front suspension by 3 inches, and the fitting of a new front fork and aftermarket braking hardware. Lord Drake also remade by hand the rear end of the Low Rider, including the seat, and up on the frame it fitted a modified fuel tank taken off a Sportster model.The paint job is an obvious reference to both the flying ace and the rock band weve already mentioned, but its the German pilot who is referenced a lot on this machine. Thats because the number 80 you see featured on it is meant to represent the number of aerial wins the man scored more than a century ago.The Harley-Davidson Red Baron was first shown back in 2013 in the U.S. (although Lord Drake is a Spanish brand, it does have a shop in Miami, and thats where the bike was born). It quickly went to be displayed at several prestigious shows of that year (Daytona Bike Week, Rats Hole, Festival of Speed), but after that weve kind of lost track of it, and its current whereabouts are not known.
Actually, make that fully camouflaged, because there were wraps and stickers pretty much everywhere. The door cards had them, and so did the center console, and the center of the steering wheel, with the Korean automaker hiding the corporate logo there.A pair of tablet-like screens with dominate the new dashboard panel. The new digital instrument cluster and infotainment system are expected to be quicker to respond, and to pack new features. The central air vents are much thinner than before, and further down, the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe has physical knobs and buttons for the audio system and the multi-zone climate control. We can see a wireless charging pad on the new center console, as well as a large-sized cupholder. The gear selector was moved to the steering column.On the outside, the next-gen Hyundai Santa Fe will look nothing like its predecessor . It will sport a boxy overall design, with fresh lines everywhere, some of which appear to have been inspired by the larger Palisade. It has square main clusters, a new interpretation of the grille, and a reshaped back end that is still not visible due to the fake hump that will come off in due course. Sporting chunkier roof racks, the floating-style roof line is accentuated by the blacked-out pillars, and it has new wheels whose pattern could slightly improve the fuel consumption.Beneath the skin, the new Santa Fe is understood to use the N3 platform shared with the Kia Sorento. This move would automatically make the cabin more spacious, and it would be an even bigger step up over the compact Tucson. In the United States, it will likely be offered with seating for five, as Hyundais seven-seater role goes to the bigger Palisade here. Overseas, on the other hand, it will probably add an extra row of seats behind the second one.It is still too early to speak about the powertrain family, even though it shouldnt be long until the wraps will come off entirely. An array of gasoline units should make up the lineup, alongside a few electrified assemblies, with hybrid and/or plug-in hybrid mills perhaps rounding off the offering. The magic numbers will be disclosed in due course, during the grand unveiling, expected to take place in the second half of the year, with production kicking off shortly after. By the time it launches in the U.S., supposedly early next year, maybe with a small price bump over its predecessor, it will likely be a 2024 model.
The latest iOS 17 release was initially only meant for bug fixes and upgrades with the OS's performance. However, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that it may come with "nice to have" features as well.

The iOS 17

Apple wasn't originally going to put much effort into iOS 17 since reports say that it's working on the Apple Reality headset's operating system, but that has recently changed since the latest iOS now comes with more features.

According to Gurman, the new features were among the most-requested additions from Apple users. Right now, there are still no specifics as to what those features might be, only that iOS 17 is codenamed "Dawn," according to 9To5Mac.

Of course, there are already rumors circulating as to what those features might be. For one, it might come with support for sideloading apps. EU regulations have forced Apple to make some changes, and they could arrive as early as 2023 in the announcement of iOS 17.

It might also come with support for Apple's upcoming mixed-reality (MR) headset. As mentioned in Indian Express, Apple's products usually interact with one another, so it's not impossible for the AR/VR headset to be able to interact with iPhones.

The company might also release updates for CarPlay. In last year's WWDC, Apple already provided previews of what they plan to add, so those features might finally be released for 2023's WWDC with the latest iOS.

June will be an eventful month for Apple. The tech giant will announce iOS 17 at the WWDC, along with the watchOS 10, tvOS 17, and macOS 14. However, the biggest one might be the first "xrOS" for the Apple Reality headset.

Read Also: 5 iOS Features That Apple Will Launch Or Expand This 2023

Apple AR/VR Headset

Apple products are often praised by their users due to many preferred features that they cannot find elsewhere, which is why Apple's AR/VR headset gained attention even when they were nothing more than just rumors.

However, Apple is also known for its flashy price tags. Former Apple employees revealed that some have become skeptical about the release of the MR headset, according to The New York Times, which might happen in a few months.

The device is said to be priced at $3,000. Since it's brand new and it will be the first version to be released, they believe that an "unproven market" might not justify the heavy price, which compared to a Meta headset, is priced at $500.

Some of the employees working on the headset have also left the project due to doubts about its potential, while others are said to have been fired because they weren't achieving progress in some aspects like Apple Siri integration with it.

As history shows, AR/VR goggles or headsets have not been a hit in the market. The products lose their popularity very quickly. Attempts have already been made such as Meta's Quest Pro, Google Glass, and Microsoft's HoloLens.

Of course, it's still possible that Apple might change the way the devices have fared with consumers. As stated by consumer tech analyst Carolina Milanesi, Apple is good at coming into an already established market and changing that market.

Related: Apple's Reality Pro Headset Will Not Require An iPhone Setup, Reports Say
kW

The pint-sized hatchback would be joined by a few more body styles, namely a cabriolet, a four-door hatchback, a roadster, and even a doorless roadster. Still known as Daimler AG back then, smart would be shared with Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2019 due to dwindling sales. The reason for said poor sales? Microcars arent exactly in fashion anymore, not even in the EU, where crossovers are steadily gaining traction.Headquartered in China, the resulting joint venture is more Zhejiang Geely Holding Group than Mercedes because Merc has different priorities right now. #1 is the name of Chinese smarts first-ever model, a five-door crossover thats best described as a hatchback on stilts.Launched in 2022 with much pomp and circumstance in China despite its lukewarm reception in the western world, the #1 will be soon joined by another five-door crossover. Instead of #2, the #3 will soon arrive at dealers in the form of a coupe-styled crossover underpinned by the Geely Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA).Previewed by a set of three design sketches, the #3 has already been photographed in all its glory. The leaks come courtesy of MIIT , which stands for (Chinas) Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The MIIT further published a few technical specifications, beginning with the 2.79-meter (109.8-inch) wheelbase.Width and height are listed as 1.84 and 1.56 meters (72.4 and 61.4 inches). Top speed is limited to 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour), and two variants of the #3 are in the offing. The single-motor variant reportedly makes 200(268 horsepower), channeled to the rear wheels. The Brabus derivative flaunts a two-motor setup good for up to 315 kW ( 422 horsepower ) on full song.The specs arent bad in the least for a subcompact-going-on-compact vehicle, and the swoopy roofline makes the #3 that little bit cooler in the eyes of prospective customers. Mercedes-Benz Group AG chief design officer Gorden Wagener goes on even further with the lyrical waxing in the press release below, using pompous utterances like wait for it emotionally confident.Gifted with pop-out door handles, the smart #3 will make its premiere at the Auto Shanghai 2023 motor show on April 2023 in Chinese specification. Expected to cost more than equivalent variants of the smart #1, the coupe-styled brother will also be sold in the United Kingdom and European Union. Details on the UK- and EU-spec #3s will be revealed sometime this coming summer.
The sole exception

Photo: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

Chassis and powertrain upgrades

Photo: Camoradi USA via Wikimedia Commons

Exterior modifications

Photo: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.

A tragic fate

Photo: Tony Harrison via Wikimedia Commons

Ferruccio Lamborghini made a fortune from selling tractors. This enabled him to afford the finer things in life, including the worlds most exotic cars . In 1958, he purchased a Ferrari 250 GT, but he was dissatisfied with how it drove and felt. Instead of selling it and buying something better, the magnate decided to build his own grand tourers, so he founded Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. in 1964.The companys first model was the 350 GT and two years later, it added the revolutionary Miura to its lineup. Dubbed the worlds first mid-engine , road-legal supercar by many enthusiasts, it remains one of Lamborghinis most iconic models.Although not many examples were built (764, to be exact), the Miura was continually improved during its seven-year production run. That said, Ferruccio Lamborghini never wanted to get involved in motorsport , so every iteration was fine-tuned for the road.During the early months of 1970, a group of Lamborghini employees headed by engineer and chief test driver Bob Wallace were determined to create a racing version of the Miura. Ignoring Ferruccios reluctance to involve his company in motorsport, Wallace and his colleagues took matters into their own hands and developed the car in their spare time.The idea was to target the FIA Group 4 competitions and the 24 Hours of Le Mans which required carmakers to build a minimum of 500 road-going examples during twelve consecutive months to gain homologation.This figure was never attained, and the boss never gave his blessing, yet the extensively-modified car dubbed P400 Jotta was finished and remained the most powerful Miura ever built, even after the introduction of the SV in 1971.The Jota started as a P400 production version . However, Wallace and his team disassembled and improved it in every way conceivable. For starters, they drilled several additional holes in the semi-monocoque structure to shed weight. In addition, the bulk of the chassis steel components were re-machined out of a lightweight aluminumcopper alloy called duralumin.They also modified the monocoque to accommodate a 60-liter (132 lbs.) fuel tank on each side. This enabled the Jota to carry 30 extra liters (66 lbs.) of fuel compared to the standard P400 which featured a single 90-liter (198 lbs.) tank.The independent, double-wishbone suspension architecture of the production car was retained, but adjustable, race-spec Koni dampers and anti-roll bars were added to improve stability at high speeds.The stock Bizzarini-designed, 3.9-liter V12 was also considered good enough for racing, so it wasnt enlarged. But Wallace increased the compression ratio, added new camshafts with more aggressive profiles, a dry-sump lubrication system, and swapped the stock three-barrel carbs with larger units.These modifications were enough to boost output from 345 hp (350 ps) all the way up to 440 hp (446 ps), which made the Jota king among all Miura versions in terms of power. In contrast, the most potent production version, the 1971-1973 SV, was rated at 380 hp (385 ps).Like the chassis, the Jotas body featured a multitude of redesigned panels that were fabricated out of lightweight duralumin. These include the rear engine cover, the front lid, and both doors.To improve aerodynamics, the engine cover had a slightly larger spoiler and flatter wheel arches while the front lid featured a large chin spoiler and wider vents behind each wheel arch. Moreover, the pop-up headlights of the P400 were replaced by fixed units. Their covers and the windows (except the windshield) were made from Plexiglas to shave off even more weight.Sitting on 15-inch magnesium Campagnolo wheels wrapped in Dunlop slicks, the race-spec Jota weighed only 1940 lbs. (880 kg) which made it 908 lbs. (412 kg) lighter than the stock P400.Finished in the fall of 1970, it was painted red and featured two Lamborghini logos with yellow backgrounds on each side, presumably to spite rivals, Ferrari.Although it never competed in an FIA Group 4 competition, the Miura Jota was extensively tested by Bob Wallace for the next six months, racking up about 12,427 miles (20,000 km) on the odometer.In the meantime, Scuderia Brescia Corse owner and avid collector, Dr. Alfredo Belponer, got wind of the Jotas existence and struck a deal to buy it through InterAuto, a local Lamborghini dealership.The car was delivered to InterAuto in April 1971, but before Dr. Belponer got his hands on it, one of the dealerships mechanics took it out for a spin on the brand-new Brescia ring road. Unfortunately, he ended up crashing the one-off which caught fire. The mechanic managed to escape but the car burned to the ground.Although its engine was salvaged, the original P400 Jota was never rebuilt. Several recreations have sprung up in the decades that followed thanks to passionate enthusiasts but none of them are as significant as the real thing.The Miura Jota is a Lamborghini legend that deserves to be remembered and celebrated. It inspired the ultra-rare, limited-edition P400 SV/J and will forever hold the title of the fastest, most powerful Miura ever built by the Italian manufacturer.Giancarlo Barbieri, one of the engineers involved in its development, talks about this four-wheeled icon in the YouTube video below by Davide Cironi Drive Experience which we highly recommend.
EV

Big congratulations to the Tesla Germany team!! https://t.co/ijwFUmmgA2  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2023

Tesla built its two gigafactories in Texas and Germany roughly at the same time, although protests and Germany's famous bureaucracy delayed Giga Berlin's opening. For a while, it appeared that Giga Texas would ramp production faster than Giga Berlin, but it didn't happen.There's an explanation for that, as Tesla only builds the Model Y in Berlin, and all it has to do is accelerate what it was already doing. In Austin, on the other hand, Tesla ramps up production and simultaneously sets up a new production line for the Cybertruck. Made-in-Austin Model Y must compete with the electric pickup for resources and production capacity.We're not surprised to see production accelerating at Tesla's Gruenheide gigafactory. It ended 2022 with a 3,000-car-per-week production milestone and reported another record in February at 4,000 per week . On March 25, Tesla announced it assembled 5,000 vehicles in a week in Gruenheide, a new milestone achieved much faster than before. This shows that the production ramp is accelerating.At this pace, Tesla is on track to build 250,000 cars at Giga Berlin this year, even without changing anything. This amounts to achieving "volume production" for the Model Y in Germany, a milestone that Tesla wanted to check by the end of 2022. The goal proved too ambitious amid a global supply-chain bottleneck that affected all automakers. Certainly, Tesla wants to go faster than that. The factory's approved production capacity is 500,000 vehicles per year, but it should not be all Model Ys. Instead, the Americanmaker could add a second model in Berlin, possibly the refreshed Model 3 of Project Highland.Tesla recently applied to double the production capacity in Gruenheide and promised to do it using the resources approved for the initial development phase. This means no additional water supplies or production buildings will be needed. This bold statement would surely appease the fierce environmentalist groups that threatened to derail the initial project in 2022. Tesla claims it could reach 1 million vehicles per year solely by optimizing planning and production processes.While vehicle production seems to be going great, Tesla has dialed back ambitions to build battery packs in Germany. Lured by IRA incentives, it will produce the battery cells in the U.S. and then export them to Berlin to be integrated into the Model Y battery packs. Even so, the EV maker has started producing some non-critical battery components at Giga Berlin.
Photo: Polestar

Google Automotive Services and their role in Android Automotive

Photo: Screenshot from GMC Hummer EV channel

The collected data

Photo: Screenshot from GMC Hummer EV channel

Some carmakers just said no

Android Automotive is Googles big bet in the long term. It ships as an evolved version of Android Aut o and comes with significant improvements, including deeper access of Google services to the vehicle. Unlike Android Auto , which uses a mobile phone connected to the car to mirror the interface on the dashboard screen, Android Automotive is a fully-featured operating system. It is installed at the hardware level by carmakers, so it replaces the software that Android Auto typically runs on top of the vehicle. This means you can also run Android Auto in an Android Automotive-powered car.By developing a fully featured car operating system, Google has achieved something that could eventually prove to be more valuable in the long term. The company has access to data, both of the driver and the car, and it can integrate its services better into the driving experience.As such, Android would be in charge of a bigger part of our lives. It has already conquered the mobile world and our homes with smart devices, and now its expanding to cars with Android Automotive. The time people spent behind the wheel was the only place where Android was yet to become a dominant name.Google is working directly with car manufacturers to bring Android Automotive to their cars, and the strategy is slowly gaining traction. Several big names in the auto industry, including Volvo, Hummer, and General Motors, have already adopted the operating system.Android Automotive allows carmakers to customize the look and feel of the OS to retain their brand identity. As a result, the interface could look different, but the underlying software is still Android Automotive.Googles automotive push doesnt come down to just Android Automotive. A second component called Google Automotive Services is in charge of providing users with the necessary apps and services in their cars. At the same time, Google Automotive Services are also responsible for providing Google with part of the data its so interested in.Google Automotive Services (GAS) are the auto sibling of Google Mobile Services (GMS). Offered to mobile users as part of the default Android experience, Google Mobile Services bring together a collection of apps and APIs to offer essential functionality on smartphones.Google has adopted a similar approach on Android Automotive. GAS provides access to proprietary applications, such as Google Assistant and Google Maps , as well as the additional resources to build software aimed at Googles vehicle operating system.As the backbone of Android Automotive, GAS is also responsible for collecting essential data from vehicles.The easiest way to understand how GAS works is to look at Google Maps. Offered as the native navigation solution on Android Automotive, Google Maps has deep access to vehicle information.This way, it can provide more advanced functionality than on Android Auto, for instance. Google Maps can read battery information, and as such, it can suggest charging stops when the existing range does not allow the driver to reach a configured destination.The first data Google Maps collects is related to the vehicles GPS location . Because it needs to determine where you are and then follow you on the map, Google Maps finds the GPS location and sends it to Google.Then, the navigation solution collects navigation details, such as the active route.Thanks to its deeper integration into the car, it can also read and collect information related to vehicle sensors. For example, it retrieves road details, such as road sign availability and lane markings. This data is typically provided by the onboard cameras that are used for safety features or autonomous driving.Information from other vehicle sensors is also collected, including when the windshield wipers or the headlights are turned on. Of course, Google Maps also collects data from the mobile device, including barometer readings, and the wheel speed when the connection to the vehicle is detected.Google probably knew from the very beginning that some carmakers might not agree to provide the company with access to so much information. This is likely the reason Android Automotive and GAS are offered as separate components.As such, carmakers can install Android Automotive in their vehicles without the need for installing GAS. This way, they can still use the operating system but without Google services, eventually avoiding the process of sharing vehicle data with the search giant. There are many reasons for this, and one of them is that tech companies could eventually build their cars and become their rivals in the automotive market.Stellantis is the best example of how Android Automotive works without GAS. The company adopted the operating system but replaced Google Maps with TomTom navigation and installed Amazons Alexa instead of Google Assistant.This way, the carmaker isnt sharing any data with Google, eventually maintaining full control over what information leaves its cars.BMW is aiming for a similar approach, as the company doesnt want to provide other companies with access to vehicle data. The German carmaker will also replace the Google Play Store with a third-party app store, though itll be interesting to see if any Google app, such as Google Maps or Waze, would end up available for download. The first BMW model powered by Android Automotive is projected to see daylight next year, with an announcement to be made later in 2023.
Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kids toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.

Full profile
27 March 2023 11:33 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

March 27 is annually marked as World Theater Day globally. Initiated by the International Theater Institute in 1961, this significant day is to draw attention to the significance of the theater art.

The Azerbaijani theater art is ancient with a rich history. Well-known as the founder of the Azerbaijani dramaturgy, Mirza Fatali Axundov played a key role in the transformation of folk theater into a professional one.

The theater art in Azerbaijan was established in the 1870s at the initiative of prominent playwright Mirza Fatali Axundov.

On March 10, 1873, the Baku Real School performed the comedy "Adventures of the Lankaran Khanate Vizier" by Mirza Fatali Axundov, which became the first dramatic work played on the stage of the national theater.

Eminent cultural and public figures, like Hasan bay Zardabi, Najaf bay Vazirov, Jalil Mammadguluzada, Jafar Jabbarli, Ilyas Afandiyev, Huseyn Arablinski, and many others played an invaluable role in the formation and development of the Azerbaijani theater.

Today, Azerbaijani theater art is taking a new turn in the art world. The State Program "Azerbaijani Theater in 2009-2019", approved by the presidential decree in 2009, is being successfully implemented across the country.

Over the past years, the national theaters have successfully toured countries, like the USA, Turkiye, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Estonia, Bulgaria, etc.

March 10 is traditionally celebrated as National Theater Day in Azerbaijan.

Many theater festivals and cultural events are being held across the country to demonstrate the importance of theater art in the country's cultural life.

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27 March 2023 15:59 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Tapestry weaving has been known for hundreds of years in many cultures. This traces a history of tapestries from the ancient Egyptians.



In Azerbaijan, this unique art form became popular in the 1960s of the last century.



The artist couple Hijran and Xalid Seyidovs stand behind the largest tapestry in Azerbaijan.



The iconic tapestry features images of prominent public and cultural figures, like Nizami Ganjavi, Fuzuli, Samad Vurgun, Mikayil Mushfig, Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev, and many other significant personalities in Azerbaijan's history.



The artists worked on the tapestry sketch for ten years. The artwork with impressive dimensions of 15x10 meters was completed in May 1991.



Along the edges of the canvas are depicted historical and architectural monuments like Atashgah, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs as well as Azerbaijani carpet ornaments. The image of Dede Gorgud occupies a central part of the composition.



The colorful tapestry "My Azerbaijan" today adorns the House of Culture at the Chemical Plant in Sumgayit.



Today, tapestry art is enjoying a rebirth. Museums across the country demonstrate countless examples of tapestry art by contemporary artists.



Tamilla Abdullayeva is among such artists, who contributed to Azerbaijan's tapestry art.



The artist draws inspiration from the beauty and richness of nature. In 2022, Tamilla Abdullayeva showcased her eye-catching tapestries at the National Carpet Museum.



The exhibition included tapestries, sketches, and carpets, like "Butterflies", "Trees", "Ancient Azerbaijani symbols", "Natural elements", "Seasons", "Islimibyandlik", "Afshan", "Flowers in a Vase", etc, and they aroused great public interest to tapestry art.

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27 March 2023 09:59 (UTC+04:00)

Fuad Muxtar-Aqbabali Read more

The Biden administration has again failed to invite Azerbaijan and Turkiye to the second Summit for Democracy, scheduled for March 30, whereas Armenia, which had retained Azerbaijani land under occupation for nearly 30 years contrary to universally-cherished principles and is still exacerbating tension in the region, is among the invitees.

The criteria, applied by the Biden administration to the selectees, are absolutely ill-defined and amorphous. The reasons for the failure to invite Azerbaijan and Turkiye to the summit should be sought in the context of these states independent foreign policies serving primarily their national interests and benefiting others.

Azerbaijan has been playing a pivotal role in supplying Europe with energy resources and its importance has grown in the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine, and Turkiye as a venue for many crucial oil and gas pipelines augmented endeavors both economically, politically and has remained conducive in secure transit to eastern and western European nations.

Bakus role in this end has been repeatedly credited by various US administrations and several of them have even played a huge role in implementing mega gas and oil projects. However, aggressor Armenias negative role in the South Caucasus and close relations with the theocratic Iran regime are turned a blind eye and its misdeeds are encouraged and promoted as a nation fighting for democratic values.

Alas, this is yet another miscalculation of the Biden administration as this initiative was born during his term of office.

Notwithstanding the reasons why Azerbaijan and Turkiye were not invited to the Democracy Summit, it is crucial for the international community to engage with all countries in the region. Without applying internationally-binding principles and guarantees as well as respect for basic principles, one cannot ensure peace, order, economic development, prosperity, and good-neighborly relations in the South Caucasus. The need for promoting greater regional stability and democratic values in the region is the most important now than it was two years ago since justice has now been served by Azerbaijan despite the collective indifference of the world.

It is deeply disturbing to observe the implementation of the US foreign policy in a very distorted and biased fashion by the Biden-Harris Administration. The Republic of Azerbaijan embodies the essential components of a thriving democratic society, US pundit Peter Tase told Azernews in a comment.

The decision of the US State Department to invite autocratic regimes that encourage disruption in the Trans-Atlantic alliance that embodies a plethora of economic and industrial sectors for the development of the United States and Europe, above all autocratic regimes such as the one in Yerevan, are regularly engaged and conspire with Americas enemies abroad.

It is blatantly implausible to observe that Washington has failed to invite the governments of Turkiye and Azerbaijan to attend the Summit for Democracy, even though tremendous progress has been made in bolstering democratic institutions and fostering greater transparency in the administration of elections in Baku and Ankara, the pundit said.

The geopolitical proclivity of the Biden-Harris Administration is deeply puzzling and exposes a vulnerable US foreign policy that does not reflect the political and military interests of Washington.

It is shocking to observe that Bidens second Summit for Democracy, scheduled for March 28-30, 2023, will be co-hosted with the Government of Zambia - an African country that is widely known to have rampant levels of corruption and political killings. In 2021, Zambia experienced violent tensions, protests, and police forces used live bullets against unarmed citizens. Zambian authorities continue to crack down on the right to freedom of expression and suppress human rights. Zambia is also the most important economic ally of Americas largest strategic competitor in Eastern Asia, Peter Tase said.

Another country that is invited by the Biden-Harris Administration is Honduras; a nation that is engulfed in a great crisis of human trafficking and drug trafficking operations with various Cartels in the US-Mexico border area. Honduras has the first female president, Xiomara Castro, who is allegedly as corrupt as her predecessor Juan Orlando Hernandez. In 2019, it was revealed that he was a co-conspirator in a drug trafficking and money laundering case, and $1.5m in drug proceeds was used to help elect him in 2013. Incumbent President Castro was propelled politically by Americas largest geopolitical rival in Latin America.

It is wrong to associate Azerbaijan's non-invitation with democracy as there are more serious issues here. One of them is that Azerbaijan regained occupied lands by force and without the approval of the west, which angered pro-Armenian lobby groups with deep ties with all US administrations. Another reason should be sought in years-long black PR campaigns against Azerbaijan and Turkiye in the West by the Armenian Diaspora groups and their patrons driven by their own interests in attacking Baku and Ankara.

Third, Azerbaijan does not want to undermine relations with the mighty northern neighbor despite ongoing pressure to this end as it realizes that being a neighbor with Russia stands for existing in the same geography forever and no government in Azerbaijan has the right to act under alien diktat to satisfy their demands.

Democracy is never exported but arises from the internal demand of a country. Democracy is an important step taken by individual countries to join the overall development of the world. Azerbaijan has been also taking corresponding steps in this direction and the negative impact of Armenia's 30-year-long occupation of its lands cannot and should be disregarded since democracy is born and thrives in the atmosphere far away from destruction, occupation, and killing of innocent people. No government has ever managed to install democracy side by side with millions of refugees and IDPs and Azerbaijan had been through them and is still coping with hardships.

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27 March 2023 10:34 (UTC+04:00)

As a follow-up to the meeting held in Khojaly on March 1 and the invitation presented on March 13, the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan proposes once again to hold a meeting in Baku in the first week of April for the purpose of reintegration of the representatives of the Armenian public of Karabakh as well as to discuss the implementation of infrastructure projects in Karabakh, Azernews reports per Azertac news agency.

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27 March 2023 14:49 (UTC+04:00)

Sabina Mammadli Read more

As France's streets are engulfed in flames, police brutality and mistreatment of the protesters are getting out of control with hundreds of arrests and beatings.

Commenting on the issue, Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Ayxan Hajizada called on the French government to respect constitutional rights in the country, such as freedom of opinion and the right to assembly as well as the right to peaceful protest.

"We condemn the excessive and disproportionate use of force by the law-enforcement agencies against the protesters in France following President Macron's decision, and in some cases, the inhumane treatment of protesters, the official stated.

Furthermore, the spokesperson expressed the belief that the Council of Europe and international human rights organizations would investigate cases of excessive violence in France and demand the adoption of appropriate measures within the framework of the country's obligations.

Similarly, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Germany Nasimi Agayev stated that Baku condemns the excessive use of force by police against protestors in France. Azerbaijan has condemned the excessive use of force by police against protestors in France & urged the French government to respect the constitutional rights, he tweeted.

Following French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement to use special constitutional powers to force a pension bill, which will see the retirement age for most workers rise from 62 to 64 and the number of years a worker must pay into the system to receive a full pension rise from 42 to 43 in 2027, the streets of France are filled with mass protests.

Bordeaux town hall was set on fire, although the flames were quickly extinguished. In Paris and other cities, tear gas and water cannons have been fired at protesters, and police officers have been injured.

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From right, TossBank CEO Hong Min-taek, KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young and K bank CEO Suh Ho-sung participate in a seminar titled "Five Years after the Internet-Only Banks: New Banking, Make Money," held at the National Assembly, Monday. Courtesy of Rep. Yun Chang-hyun from People Power Party



TossBank, KakaoBank, K bank CEOs pledge further innovation



By Lee Yeon-woo



In 2017, the Korean government approved the launch of internet-only banks, aiming to boost competition in the industry and increase customer convenience. As five years have passed since then, it is time to ask, "Have internet-only banks successfully played their expected roles?"



At a seminar titled "Five Years after the Internet-Only Banks: New Banking, Make Money," held at the National Assembly, Monday, experts acknowledged that these banks have successfully settled in the market with distinctive services. But still, they raised concerns that internet-only banks need to innovate further to disrupt the current oligopolistic banking industry and become true game-changers.



"If internet-only banks offer services similar to traditional banks, the first intended aim when adopting such banks will be overshadowed," Shin Sung-hwan, a member of the Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee, said during the seminar.



"Internet-only banks can pressure traditional banks to innovate and cut costs. With loans for low- and medium-credit customers, they can include those who have been underserviced by traditional banking industries. They also can actively participate in constructing finance for the future, such as a token economy."



Experts also discussed the future priorities of banks, including the critical issue of risk management, which has become more pressing following the abrupt closure of Silicon Valley Bank. Increasing attention to data security was noted too.



"Internet-only banks recently expanded loan products for low- and medium-credit customers to reach their goals," said Lee Byung-yoon, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Finance. "However, under these market circumstances, the number of non-performing loans can be increased."



"With wider use of data, the public is becoming more sensitive to data security," said Min Se-jin, an economics professor at Dongguk University. "If banks can set strict standards and effectively communicate the importance of data security to the public, they can lead the market."



The CEOs of the three internet-only banks  KakaoBank, K bank and TossBank  also attended the seminar and made commitments to drive innovation in the industry.



Yun Ho-young, CEO of KakaoBank, stated that his bank will continue to innovate and develop internet banking services that contribute to the financial market and the economy. He emphasized that the bank is committed to maintaining soundness while providing more efficient services to customers.



Suh Ho-sung, CEO of K bank, emphasized that the bank's main tasks are to lead innovation in the banking industry and maintain customer convenience.



Hong Min-taek, CEO of TossBank, pledged to enhance the soundness of the bank, improve alternative credit evaluation, strengthen non-performing loan prevention and ensure consumer protection without any gaps. He also stated the bank's commitment to promoting loans for customers with low- to medium-credit ratings.


27 March 2023 15:19 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan has congratulated the people of Iran on the Nowruz holiday and made a fuss about nothing. I am more than confident, he would have wished not done it or would have blamed his aides for the blunder.

Although one cannot for sure share the sincerity behind his wish, he did definitely miss the point and got himself into a mess with the picture embedded into his congratulatory message.

Sincere congratulations & best wishes on Iranian NY-Nowruz and the start of the year 1402. Persian giant Nizamis Haft Peykar picturesquely shows Nowruz tradition& celebration. Wishing Ppl&Leadership of Iran peace, new achievements & prosperity. Greetings to all celebrating Novruz! the tweet reads.

Frankly speaking, congratulating a neighboring nation on important dates or holidays is a generous and expected step. However, when it is done with no respect for the receiving side, at this point Iran - one cannot but doubt the straightforwardness and integrity of the congratulator, that is Armenia.

The more the Armenian president wanted to curry favor with Iran's theocratic leadership and split the baby, he found himself in a funnier state. The text of the congratulatory message mentioned the name of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, and thus he wanted to lick the boots of the Persian chauvinistic circles in an effort to sound right and good to their ears for a tanker oil but failed to please them as the two young ladies in Azerbaijani national attires without headscarves should have told them a lot.

Moreover, the venue where the pictures were taken and the people behind them vividly show that they cannot be Iranians since the mullahcracy has made life for Iranians miserable for over 40 years and people cannot simply enjoy Nowruz under hardships and ongoing mistreatment of citizens over their call for a better life and more rights.

Nizami Ganjavi, who was born and lived all his life in Ganja, the second biggest city and former capital city of Azerbaijan, is such a peak in oriental poetry that many nations wanted to benefit from his masterpieces.

Taking into account the recent tense relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, there cannot be an option other than to think that the Armenian president deliberately posted a tweet to add oil to the fire. He aimed to take the arguments between Azerbaijan and Iran to another level.

However, we would like to respond to this heinous act of the Armenian president with a book named "Siyavush of Our Century" written by Mammadamin Resulzade, the creator of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. In his book, he gave detailed information and praised the historical and cultural relationship between the two nations, Azerbaijanis and Persian, tracing back millennia.

Besides that, let the Armenian President not forget that over 40m Azerbaijanis live in Iran and during the second Karabakh war those Azerbaijanis blocked the road and hindered transporting Russian weapons to Armenia through Iran. Iranian Azerbaijanis are represented at all levels of the Iranian state and society.

In addition, Azerbaijan is second after Iran Shia country. In other words, no cunning Armenian policy and politics can sow discord between these two nations. It is no secret that today the relations between these two countries are tense due to the hypocritical foreign policy of the mullah regime.

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27 March 2023 15:40 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has visited Germany at the invitation of German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbok and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry.

According to the received information, the Minister will take part in the international conference entitled 9th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue to be held on 28-29 March in Berlin.

A speech by the Minister of Energy and bilateral meetings are planned to be held at the meeting, in which ministers from different countries, and high-level representatives from international organizations and financial institutions will attend.

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27 March 2023 17:00 (UTC+04:00)

Elnur Enveroglu Read more

Baku has taken a historic step to establish closer ties with Israel and take them to new highs following the Iran-Armenian duo in the South Caucasus.

Back in November 2022 when the Azerbaijani parliament endorsed a law giving the go-ahead for the opening of the nation's first-ever embassy in Tel Aviv, it sent shockwaves through Iran's theocratic regime in Tehran and mobilized overtly and covertly the regime-backed militants and militia groups against Azerbaijan.

Frustrated by the move, the Tehran regime and its mouthpieces doubled their anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric and accusations of cooperation with Israel, providing Tel Aviv with opportunities to establish a military presence in Iran's backyard.

As regards the diplomatic relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, it goes back to the early 1990s with Tel Avivs significant support to Azerbaijan, during the rise of the ongoing conflict with Armenia over Karabakh.

The appointment of Bakus first envoy to Israel after 30 years of mutual relations made this connection more promising.

Speaking to Azernews, Israeli political analyst Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak from Tel Aviv University said that the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel is of great importance.

The inauguration of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel should not be considered as an ordinary act. It is a strategic decision. It is a clear message to Tehran. During the Second Karabakh War, Iran openly supported Armenia. Today, in the aftermath of the war, we all see the Tehran regime is against the Zangazur corridor. Iran conducts military drills at the border with Azerbaijan. Bearing in mind all these facts, Iran's aggressive attitude against Azerbaijan should encourage Israel to deepen her relations with Baku even more, the political analyst opined.

The pundit added that Israel also considers Turkiyes exceptional role in the security of the region. According to him, peace and security are maintained through joint efforts in the political and military sectors.

The Israeli-Azerbaijani joint military drills - similar to those that were conducted by Israel and Turkiye during the 1990s - can further strengthen the relations. Certainly, this rapprochement can even be strengthened with Turkiyes inclusion in the equitation, he said.

The professor also emphasized the future prospect of Israel-Azerbaijan relations in the diplomatic sphere.

The inauguration of the Azerbaijani embassy will eventually pave the way for further improvement of the people-to-people relations and will boost trade, tourism, and further cooperation. As an Israeli academic working at both Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion University, I am looking forward to launching new projects with my Azerbaijani colleagues.

Another Israeli media expert Shmuel Dean Elmas said having the Israeli embassy alone in Azerbaijan would never maintain strong relations between the two countries.

I believe that George Deek is an amazing ambassador, but you can't expand your bilateral relations one-sidedly. Muxtar bay is an experienced diplomat that will contribute to the development of the economic, defense, and tourism ties. I am convinced that the trade volume will break records in the upcoming years.

According to Elmas, Tehran is more anxious as it better realizes that the relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are not like the one between Iran and Armenia.

When you want to check your friends, you should do it in tough times. I think that if you take the 1990s or the Second Karabakh War as an example, we can see how Israel is among the two best friends of Baku. Therefore, the Ayatollah regime is afraid so much. As for Israel's existence in the South Caucasus, so if Armenia thinks about another war, they should understand that their odds are so bad when Israel is with Azerbaijan.

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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
27 March 2023 17:35 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov signed a decision on the elimination of a number of restrictions related to COVID-19, Azernews reports, citing the press release of the Cabinet of Ministers.

According to the newly adopted decision, from 06:00 (GMT+4) on March 28, 2023, all foreign citizens, citizens of other states permanently residing in these countries, as well as stateless persons will be allowed to enter and exit Azerbaijan by air.

The requirement of a COVID passport (document confirming full vaccination against COVID-19 or an immune certificate) is not required in the following cases:

- foreign states and citizens of other countries permanently residing in these states, as well as stateless persons entering Azerbaijan;

- visiting a number of places (venues for events, sports, and recreation facilities, large shopping centers, catering facilities, hotels, intercity (inter-district) transport routes, and other places for which such a requirement has been established).

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27 March 2023 18:13 (UTC+04:00)

Sabina Mammadli Read more

Western Azerbaijani Community urged UNESCO to send a fact-finding mission to Armenia to assess the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage there, Azernews reports.

In the letter addressed to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, the community also called on the organization to assess Armenias level of compliance with its international obligations relating to the protection of cultural heritage and cultural rights.

Expressing concern with the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, the community stated its readiness to collaborate with UNESCO in carrying out activities aimed at assessing, restoring, preserving, and protecting Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, and ensuring the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to access and enjoy their cultural heritage.

The appeal informed that all Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia, where they once constituted the absolute majority, stressing that Azerbaijani historical and cultural heritage, including mosques and graveyards, were destroyed in Armenia. It was noted that the Armenian government destroyed and damaged Azerbaijani tangible and intangible culture before, during and in the aftermath of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

The driving force for the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage has been the systematic policy of racial discrimination by the Government of Armenia aimed at creating a mono-ethnic and mono-cultural space, a notorious objective that has unfortunately become the reality in this country, the appeal read.

The letter pointed out that the only surviving mosque in Armenia, the Blue Mosque in Yerevan, is misrepresented as a Persian mosque despite the fact that it was built and for centuries had been attended by Azerbaijanis.

Besides, it was underlined that the Tapabashi quarter of Yerevan, the last remaining trace of Azerbaijani culture, is now under threat of total annihilation.

The Goycha Ashiq school, the backbone of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, itself inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, took an irreplaceable loss due to Armenias ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis of the Goycha district, in nowadays Armenia. The Government of Armenia even demonstratively destroyed the monument and the grave of Ashiq Alasgar, a prominent representative of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, in his native Goycha, the appeal highlighted.

The community called for the peaceful return of the expelled Azerbaijanis from Armenia in safety and dignity, and the ensuring of their rights upon return.

Protection of cultural heritage is not only a requirement of international humanitarian law but also a fundamental human right as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Enjoying cultural heritage is central to the concept of the dignified return of expelled people. Ensuring cultural rights, i.e. human creativity in all its diversity and the conditions for it to be exercised, developed, made accessible, preserved, and protected, is part of our fundamental rights, which Armenia has the obligation to ensure prior to, during, and after our return to our homes, the letter continued.

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27 March 2023 19:02 (UTC+04:00)

President of the United States of America Joe Biden has sent a letter of congratulation to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the Novruz holiday, Azernews reports, citing Azertac news agency.

On behalf of the American people, I send our best wishes to you and the people of Azerbaijan for a joyous and peaceful Novruz Bayram.

"Over the last year, Azerbaijan and the United States have come together to advance energy security and tackle transnational challenges that affect both of our peoples. This year, as we celebrate spring and new beginnings, I look forward to deepening the friendship between our people. And in this season of renewal and reflection  the United States reaffirms our support for a sustainable peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia  which will promote security and prosperity across the South Caucasus for generations to come, the congratulatory message said.

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27 March 2023 11:13 (UTC+04:00)

Elnur Enveroglu Read more

The human rights situation under the Armenian government is on the brink of total demise. The persecution and murders of public and political figures in the country have taken a large scope following the hike of resentment against the incumbent government of Nikol Pashinyan.

All these issues go back to the Karabakh trilateral statement of November 10, 2020,  as a result of which thousands of protesters took to the streets in Armenia and stormed the National Assembly building in Yerevan. Armenians also held numerous protests and marches worldwide to protest the outcome of the second Karabakh war. Protests continued until May 2021, with demonstrations in Yerevan and other cities demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Police violence and arrests

From May 1, 2022, thousands of demonstrators, demanding the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to the streets of Yerevan, staging acts of civil disobedience, marching, holding sit-ins, and attempting to block major thoroughfares in the capitals downtown. On May 2, police in Yerevan detained at least 244 demonstrators, many on charges of refusing to obey official orders. By May 3, at least 70 demonstrators were arrested, according to a police spokesman.

Further, sources reported over 580 detentions of demonstrators by the Armenian police in the country, and these have been recorded from November 2020 to May 2021.

Police used force in an effort to suppress the protestors. Demonstrators and media representatives were subjected to physical attacks and insults.

As regards some facts about the murders of the active participants in the rallies, Garnik Petrosyans (born in 1993) case remains murky. Petrosyan, one of the protesters, who entered the parliament building, was found dead under a bridge on November 13, 2020, an hour following his interrogation.

A strong backlash against the decisions of Pashinyan and the governments lack of ability to fulfill its obligations drew it into another cataclysm.

In early April 2022, protests in Armenia began over the implementation of the November 10, 2020, tripartite statement and the prospect of a potential peace treaty with Azerbaijan after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels, Belgium on April 6, 2022, for a joint summit hosted by the European Council. The protest movement was attended by activists from various opposition forces and the relatives of fallen and wounded servicemen of the Second Karabakh War.

Protests continued until June, with demonstrations in Yerevan and other cities demanding the resignation of the government. Police detained dozens of protesters who marched and blocked roads to Armenias capital Yerevan, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

According to official data, as of June 6, 2022, over 2,100 participants were detained. Police mistreated both protesters and the media covering the events with such force that activists described it as brutal. During rallies on Proshyan Street, the police fired expired stun grenades against the protesters, injuring dozens of people.

In a nutshell, the brutality applied during the rally was exceptional in terms of quelling the raging mass across the country.

Persecutions within the political pandemonium

Armenia was engulfed in deep political chaos at a time when Pashinyan's My Step Alliance swept to victory in 2018. While Pashinyan's pro-Western ruling party tried to eliminate Russian leverage, the opposition went closer to Moscow asking for a salvage.

Deep contradictions started between the government and the opposition which made the government resort to severe measures. Thus, persecutions and arrests took an enormous scope in the country which resulted in big damage to the image of the government. This also sidelined Armenia to progress in both its domestic and external policies.

When Pahsinyan started to oust the pro-Russian opposition, he was more than sure that alone he would annex the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by virtue of his patrons in the west. However, he forgot that Armenia is not a neighbor of France or the US, but is located in the South Caucasus, where its biggest reneged patron is Russia.

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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
27 March 2023 18:47 (UTC+04:00)

Turkmenistan and Japan discussed issues related to the development of comprehensive cooperation.

These issues were discussed during the meeting of the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Kenji Yamada with the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Tokyo Atadurdy Bayramov.

During the meeting at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the sides discussed topical issues related to the organization of joint events and meetings that were scheduled for 2023, and also discussed the development of bilateral cooperation between the two states in political, diplomatic, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas.

At the same time, they stressed the progressive nature of the development of cooperation between Japan and Turkmenistan in various fields, and also noted high potential for increasing partnership cooperation both in the bilateral format and as part of international organizations.

Meanwhile, the Turkmen delegation took part in Central Asia - Japan Business Dialogue on February 21, 2023, which took place in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

The event was organized by the Japanese ROTOBO Trade Association with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

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27 March 2023 21:10 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has held a telephone conversation with US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried.

During the phone conversation, the sides discussed topical issues on the agenda of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the current situation in the region, as well as Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed Donfried about the current situation in the region, including the latest provocations by Armenia, which continues to transfer personnel and ammunition to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, and steps undertaken by Azerbaijan without using force against these provocations.

During the conversation, the FM once again stressed the importance of establishing a border control checkpoint at the beginning of the Lachin road in order to prevent illegal activities on the territory of Azerbaijan. The minister also touched upon the unconstructive approaches of Armenia, which impedes the negotiations on a peace agreement, and emphasized that Azerbaijan is ready to start negotiations on a peace agreement at any time.

Karen Donfried, in turn, underlined the importance of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia for regional peace and development. The US Assistant Secretary of State expressed concern over the recent tense situation in the region, calling on the sides to resolve all misunderstandings through negotiations. She noted that the American side is ready to support this process.

FM Bayramov wished Karen Donfrid, who will soon leave her current post, success in her future endeavors.

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Police officers escort Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon in Podgorica, capital of Montenegro, March 24. AP-Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



Korean crypto investors' sentiment is growing that Do Kwon  the founder of the now-defunct Terra-Luna ecosystem  should be detained and punished in the United States.



Kwon was arrested in Montenegro last week, but his possible repatriation to Korea has not been confirmed, as U.S. and Singaporean authorities also filed suits against the scandal-tainted Luna coin developer.



The abrupt collapse last year of the once-red-hot cryptocurrency has incurred huge losses to a group of more than 200,000 investors in Korea alone. But the sense of public anger is escalating that Kwon should not be sent to his home country due to the country's reputation for relatively weak punishment for financial crimes.



A recent online vote also showed that Kwon should face punishment in the U.S. According to the vote posted on the nation's largest Luna victim community site with over 2,700 members, more than 70 percent wanted Kwon to face investigation and punishment in the U.S. Only 15 percent of respondents voted in favor of repatriating him to Korea.



"Kwon should be punished in the U.S. first and then sent to Korea, as I do not trust the Korean court's decision," a Luna investor said in a post.



In Korea, economic offenses face a maximum prison sentence of around 40 years, but in the U.S. economic and financial criminals can be sentenced to hundreds of years in prison.



Following Kwon's arrest, the recent rally of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies came to a halt. The price of Bitcoin hit a low of around $16,600 earlier this year but recently extended a winning streak with a robust rally by topping the $28,000 mark last week.



The crypto rally was driven by growing hopes that Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies can serve as an alternative investment source amid the ongoing global banking crisis.



But after Kwon's arrest was reported on March 24, the momentum lost steam, with its value hovering around $27,000, according to data from market tracker CoinMarketCap.



The price of Ethereum also showed a similar pattern. Ethereum was traded at around $1,754 as of 4 p.m. Monday after hitting this year's high of more than $1,800 last week.


Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Yes, Democrats will finally create a Socialist Progressive utopia if they remain banded together.

No, the nation is in dire straits, on so many levels, and needs immediate repair.

I'm busy with my important life, such as it is, and don't care.

69 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?
By: The Observer Editorial Team

The Beaufort County Republican Party Convention met on Saturday March 25 at Southern Acres near White Post. There were approximately 105 delegates representing the 21 Beaufort County precincts. They will meet again for this same purpose in two years.

Joseph Stalin is the historic master of the political purge. He killed more than 20 million people that he simply did not like. While there are no Republicans dead from this purge, I get the distinct feeling that many of the liberal Republicans who now control the Beaufort County Republican Party have not ruled out some kind of severe punishment as a possibility.

For weeks the faction of the Beaufort County Republican Party ruled by Carolyn Garris, Paul Varcoe, Keith Kidwell, John Rebholz and Frankie Waters, to name a few, have been considering severe measures to control the conservative wing of the Republican Party. They have, for weeks, been spreading rumors that security in the form of law enforcement would be required at the convention to control the leadership of the conservatives, namely Hood Richardson. They claimed that Richardson, in addition to being ill tempered, was abusive, domineering and disrespectful of everyone.

To that end they had at least one sheriffs deputy in attendance and made gun toting Keith Kidwell, Sergeant of Arms. Kidwell made a point of subtly showing his fire arm in addition to accusing Richardson of making threats.

Paul Varcoe a member of a south of the river precinct which was seated on the other side of the meeting room showed up at Richardsons Fourth Ward table, took a seat and announced the he was there to control Hood Richardson and to see to it that he was not abusive. At one point, while standing near the table Varcoe inserted himself into Richardsons conversation and pushed against Richardson while yelling at the top his lungs. Richardson advised Varcoe that if the touched him again he would file charges of assault. Eventually someone convinced Varcoe that he needed to return to his precinct and sit at their table. He had no right to be present at the Fourth Ward meeting. While at the Fourth Ward table, Varcoe proceeded to give instructions to his supporters on what to say and how to vote. If you do not know Varcoe you should avail yourself of that pleasure.

Keith Kidwell made a point of strutting around the room, pulling his coat back so one could see the pistol he was carrying. Finally he removed his coat, making sure all could see that he was armed.

We support the right to bear arms. However, a political convention is not the place for this kind of force.

One of the issues was a changed in how we elect members to the County Republican Executive Committee. Since the beginning of Republican time in Beaufort County there has been a minimum of five people on the Committee. There has not been a maximum number. All party factions were represented by volunteers to be on the committee. The liberal Republican insiders voted to limit the number of people to 21. They made a list of the people they wanted to be on the Committee. They nominated these people individually. Two additional people were nominated. The total came to 23 nominations. Almost half of those who had already put their names forward under the old rule did not even attempt to seek seats under the new rule. Conservatives realized they were not welcome.

Keith Kidwell, who had dominated the convention, made a motion that rather than vote for members to be on the committee, that we vote for two members not to be on the Executive Committee. That vote resulted in two prominent conservative leaders, former longtime Tea Party chairman Buzz Cayton and former General Counsel to the State Republican Party, Steve Rader, who is also a former Beaufort County Republican Party chairman and one of the few local people who has been inducted into the NC Republican Party Hall of Fame, being thrown off the Committee, and the remainder of the nominees being elected. Make up the rules as you go.

The result of that is there is little to no representation of conservative Republicans on the Executive Committee. Only the liberals are represented. This includes those people who have been accused of Party disloyalty, for supporting the Democrat candidate for sheriff. The accused are Frankie Waters, Kelly Cox, Jimmy Whichard, John Rebholz; and Paul Varcoe. Waters and Cox had been forced to resign just a few months ago for party disloyalty.

There was considerable debate over the changing of disloyalty provisions in the rules. Those who have been most disloyal now want any Republican who supports any opposition candidate or criticizes a Republican to be declared disloyal. The use the term Any Republican is significant because we are a free speech nation. Party disloyalty has always referred to those in the party who have a special duty to preserve the Party. Now the wording refers to any Republican person. This becomes a free speech issue. It also means the Party Leadership can punish any person who is registered as a Republican they do not like. The whole thing here is to suppress dissent within the Party. To these people, it is all about power. Their power. The next primary will be very interesting.

Keith Kidwell misinformed the Convention when he described the loyalty part of the new rules. He then insisted that Hood Richardson was lying when Hood accurately read the first sentence of the proposed changes.

Steve Rader made the argument that the effect of the proposed change was to confer on the County Party the same (if not more) discipline rights than the State Party has. Rader pointed out that he knew the meaning of the wording used in the State regulations because he wrote them. His experience is significant, his having been General Counsel for the State Party. Rader was overruled by Kidwell and his faction.

There is a very good chance the State Republican Party will force Beaufort County to adopt a reasonable definition of disloyalty.

Disloyalty is a significant issue because Carolyn Garris has allowed disloyalty on a grand scale and now the same people who have been disloyal want to punish their political enemies for saying they are disloyal with new disloyalty rules. Take particular note that Frankie Waters is sitting on the Executive Committee having made a cash donation to the Democrat candidate for Sheriff. Disloyal Frankie Waters now sits on the Beaufort County Executive Committee while loyal Republicans are barred from it.

Tim Melton, a conservative Republican, ran against Carolyn Garris for Chairman. Because of the drawn out time, almost five hours, of the convention and the actions of Varcoe and Kidwell, many people left the convention in disgust. Almost every time they created an incident, people left the meeting, disgusted. Almost all of them were Tim Melton supporters. We estimate the number at between 20 and 30 people. Had they stayed the entire time, Melton may have won.

All of the above are bad times. However, the conservative Republican effort in Beaufort County is alive and well. The Conservative Republican Club will carry the banner. Republicans need to be aware of the disloyalty issues and the hatred these people have of conservative Republicans. I know, they all claim to be conservative, but their actions betray them.
Courtesy of Amanda White, 5Points Credit Union

Darian Watts, of Groves, recently was promoted by 5Point Credit Union, just months after joining the credit union as a loan consultant.

The Nederland High graduate was promoted to member solutions manager, 5Point Credit Union announced in a news release earlier this month.
Five dead, six missing in U.S. chocolate factory explosion

Xinhua) 11:10, March 27, 2023

WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from an explosion and fire in a chocolate factory in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania on Friday has risen to five, authorities said on Saturday.

The explosion happened at the R.M. Palmer Company in West Reading, Berks County, on Friday afternoon, which destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring one.

Six people are still missing, according to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Eight other people were taken to the hospital on Friday evening.

West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag issued a statement early Saturday morning, saying that "the tragic explosion and loss of life has shaken the community."

"I hope that the remaining victims are found safe and that the community can continue to provide support to those affected by the tragedy in the coming days," Kaag added.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, delivers an opening speech at Blockchain Seoul 2018 held at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in southern Seoul on Sept. 17, 2018. Newsis



Prosecutors on Monday requested an arrest warrant for Daniel Shin, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, for allegedly obtaining illegal profits before its cryptocurrencies collapsed massively last year.



The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office previously sought an arrest warrant in November, but the court rejected the request, saying he would not be a flight risk or destroy evidence.



The prosecution filed the warrant again following the arrest of Do Kwon, another co-founder of the blockchain firm, in Montenegro last week. The prosecution is seeking his extradition.



They have been under investigation for alleged fraud since the wipeout of the company's cryptocurrencies, TerraUSD and Luna, in May.



Shin faces multiple charges of fraud, breach of duty, and violations of acts on capital markets, electronic financial transactions and financial information.



Prosecutors suspect Shin stored Luna, which had been pre-issued without notifying regular investors, and obtained illegal profits worth 140 billion won (US$107.7 million) by selling the tokens at a high point.



Shin is accused of failing to inform investors properly about the risk that the cryptocurrencies would crash.



Prosecutors also suspect customer information and funds of fintech firm Chai Corp., which Shin formerly headed, were used to promote Luna.



Shin has denied all charges, saying he has no connection with Terraform Labs following his departure from the company in March 2020, when he founded Chai. (Yonhap)




SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP)  A man who spent 16 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping writer Alice Sebold when she was a Syracuse University student has settled a lawsuit against New York state for $5.5 million, his lawyers said Monday.

The settlement comes after Anthony Broadwater's conviction for raping Sebold in 1981 was overturned in 2021. It was signed last week by lawyers for Broadwater and New York Attorney General Letitia James, David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys, said.

Broadwater, 62, said in a statement relayed by Hammond, "I appreciate what Attorney General James has done, and I hope and pray that others in my situation can achieve the same measure of justice. We all suffer from destroyed lives.

Obviously no amount of money can erase the injustices Mr. Broadwater suffered, but the settlement now officially acknowledges them, Sebold said in a statement released through a spokesperson.

Sebold was an 18-year-old first-year student at Syracuse when she was raped in a park near campus in May 1981. She described the attack and the ensuing prosecution in a memoir, Lucky, published in 1999.

Sebold went on to win acclaim for her 2002 novel The Lovely Bones, which recounts the aftermath of a teenage girl's rape and murder and was made into a movie starring Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci.

Sebold, who is white, wrote in "Lucky that she spotted a Black man in the street months after being raped and was sure that he was her attacker.

He was smiling as he approached. He recognized me. It was a stroll in the park to him; he had met an acquaintance on the street, Sebold wrote.  Hey, girl, he said. Dont I know you from somewhere? 

Police arrested Broadwater, who was given the pseudonym Gregory Madison in Lucky. But Sebold failed to identify him in a police lineup, picking a different man as her attacker.

Broadwater was nonetheless tried and convicted in 1982 after Sebold identified him as her rapist on the witness stand and an expert said microscopic hair analysis had tied Broadwater to the crime. That type of analysis has since been deemed junk science by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Broadwater was released from prison in 1999. But he still had to register as a sex offender until his conviction was vacated in November 2021.

William J. Fitzpatrick, the current district attorney for Onondaga County, the central New York county that includes Syracuse, joined the motion to vacate the conviction, noting that witness identifications, particularly across racial lines, are often unreliable.

Broadwater's settlement with the state must be approved by a judge before it becomes final.

Anthony Broadwater was convicted for a crime he never committed, and was incarcerated despite his innocence. While we cannot undo the wrongs from more than four decades ago, this settlement agreement is a critical step to deliver some semblance of justice to Mr. Broadwater, James said in an emailed statement.

Broadwater has also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Onondaga County, the city of Syracuse and an assistant district attorney and a police officer who were involved in prosecuting him. That case is pending.

Sebold apologized to Broadwater in a 2021 statement released to The Associated Press and later posted on Medium.

She wrote that as a traumatized 18-year-old rape victim, I chose to put my faith in the American legal system. My goal in 1982 was justice  not to perpetuate injustice. And certainly not to forever, and irreparably, alter a young mans life by the very crime that had altered mine.
After a successful pilot year, ExxonMobil is bringing back a summer program for Beaumont students who want to pursue careers in the petrochemical industry.

Applications for the 409 Energy Scholars program close Thursday. ExxonMobil expects to accept 15 to 20 students for the program, which is a two-week learning experience.

The program, which runs June 12-16 and June 19-22, started last year with six Beaumont ISD high school students. It's geared toward Beaumont ISD juniors entering their senior year of high school, who plan to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, energy or the petrochemical industry, according to ExxonMobil Beaumont area Public and Government Affairs Advisor Andrew Ortiz at the district's regular March board meeting.

RELATED: Beaumont students get feet wet with ExxonMobil

"This program will help introduce students to the petrochemical and energy industry," he said. "...We are at a shortfall for getting students interested in science, technology, engineering and math and especially students that are going to go into those careers that are very vibrant here in Southeast Texas like engineering, process operating and instrumentation."

Ortiz said that students participating in the 409 Energy Scholars program will be introduced to various careers in those fields and the educational paths that are necessary to pursue them.

"(If) I'm a student and I want to be an engineer, I'll get paired up with an ExxonMobil engineer, learn all about that program and then go to Lamar (University) and study for that," Ortiz said. "Or if I want to be a process operator or (in) instrumentation, I'll be paired up with one of those professionals, I can study at (Lamar Institute of Technology), all here locally in Southeast Texas and (have) a really rewarding career."

RELATED: ExxonMobil introduces local female students to engineering careers

Based on sentiments shared from students who participated in the program last year, aside from being exposed to the range of careers ExxonMobil offers, the program allowed students from different campuses to meet and work together.

"Being able to network in some type of way -- you never know, five, 10 years from now, we might be working together," Beaumont United then-junior Jonathan Martin told The Enterprise at the conclusion of the program last June. "The more kids we have, I feel like it will benefit us and it can help us learn how to network better as well."

To apply for the program, scan the QR code above or visit here.
Jefferson County has the green light to replace the Taylor Bayou bridge as part of a widening project after a Texas-based construction company received nearly $6.3 million to get the job done.

The Texas Transportation Commission earlier this month awarded Texas Materials Group, Inc. $6.3 million for the project. The plan calls for Drainage District 6 to widen Taylor Bayou at Texas 124, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Transportations Beaumont District.
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With more than 30 school districts in the region and at least twice as many individual schools, there's a lot of news that goes on every day.

And as much as I would love to, I can't get to all of it. But I want to share more of the exciting, positive things that are happening in our schools each week. People always tell me they want to read more "good" news. So, here's your chance.

This week I am starting my "Reporter's notebook" -- a weekly roundup of bits and pieces of education news going on around the region. Throughout the week, I will collect education-related news from local schools and highlight some of them here.

Without further ado, let's take a quick trip to Lumberton where an exciting unveiling happened Thursday night.

Lumberton opens new Career and Technical Education building

OK, I'm jealous. Thursday night, Lumberton ISD unveiled its high school's new Career and Technical Education building -- a two-story structure set to serve about 1,150 students.

Funded through a bond in 2019, the entire process took almost four years after being interrupted by COVID-19-related issues.

RELATED: ExxonMobil introduces local female students to engineering careers

Featuring a commercial grade kitchen (with higher-quality equipment than I've seen in some restaurants), a cafe, a law enforcement simulation lab and an audio/visual production lab, among other offerings, this latest addition will give Lumberton students an opportunity to get a taste of various industries before they even graduate.

No doubt one of the best parts of my job is watching students see new their new facilities. And dozens of students showed up Thursday night to give tours of this new building.

A time capsule was put into the wall of the building to commemorate all the hard work and effort that went into building it. It holds more than 20 items including masks reflecting COVID-19-era living, a 2022 Lumberton High School yearbook and an iPhone (with its battery removed, of course).

It's set to be opened on the first day of school in 2072. If I'm still around then, I'll try to get some coverage of the opening of the capsule.

Here's a video of Superintendent Tony Tipton and Lumberton ISD maintenance staff putting the capsule in place with a commemorative plaque.

To see more inside the new state-of-the-art facility, don't forget to scroll through the photos above.

Jasper student earns big honor

I get a lot of emails -- most of them from firms trying to pitch me ideas about places and people that have nothing to do with Southeast Texas. But whenever Texas is mentioned in the email, I do my best to see if there's some relation to our area.

RELATED: Photos: Junior League of Beaumont gives back to local middle schoolers

And that was how I found out Jasper High School student Kailey Washburn was a semi-finalist for the 2023 National Honor Society Scholarships. Chosen from thousands of applicants from across the country, Kailey will receive $3,200. She is the only Southeast Texas student amongst the hundred or so semi-finalists and finalists.

Reading her application for the scholarship, it's easy to see how she was chosen. She listed four advocacy and awareness activities she participates in, including CAST for Kids on Sam Rayburn, which provides disabled and special needs children the opportunity to enjoy fishing. She's also a longtime volunteer with wetlands and waterfowl conservation program Ducks Unlimited.

That is such a small portion of her 10-page application, but I think this last sentence of her essay sums up why she was chosen:

"Caring for those around me, motivating others, applying myself to continual growth and knowledge are irreplaceable attributes for developing into the future version of myself that I aspire to be."

Congrats to Kailey!

Have something education-related you'd like to share with me? Reach me at the email below.
Courtesy photo

A pair of high school bass anglers made national headlines recently when they reeled in an enormous five-fish limit weighing 37.13 pounds in a Louisiana Bass Nation event on Caney Lake in Louisiana.

Mason McCormick and Alexis Virgillito teamed up to lead the Bossier Parish High School bass team to a convincing win in the March 19 derby. The boy/girl team may have set a new national single day weight record for high school bass tournaments along the way, according to officials.
The following states have proposed legislation that places fewer restrictions on physician assistants, as reported by Becker's:

Arizona  House of Representatives member Selena Bliss drafted a bill that would limit current regulations for physician assistants to help with healthcare in rural areas of the state.





Colorado  Legislators are proposing a bill that would allow physician assistants to provide more services without physician supervision.





Massachusetts  New legislation in Massachusetts would allow physician assistants to practice with fewer restrictions.





Montana  Lawmakers proposed legislation that would allow for more physician assistants to practice without physician supervision.





New York  Legislators in New York are pushing for a bill that would make permanent a state executive order that has allowed physician assistants to practice without a supervising physician since March 2020.





South Carolina  State lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 553, which would allow physician assistants with 6,000 hours of training to practice without a supervising physician.





Tennessee  Legislators are pushing for a bill that would lessen restrictions on physician assistants.





West Virginia  Legislators are looking to pass Senate Bill 650, which would allow physician assistants to own their own practice.
Samer Ilayan, MD, is suing Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Corewell Health for alleged religious discrimination, ABC affiliate WXYZ reported March 27.

Dr. Ilayan was an attending at Corewell Health's Beaumont Athens Clinic in Taylor, Mich., and is a practicing Muslim. He requested five-minute breaks for daily prayer as well as time for weekly Friday prayers and was denied by his employer, according to the news outlet.

He was terminated a year after starting as an attending, and he claimed there was no reason for firing written in his termination letter.

"They started acting differently to me," Dr. Ilayan told WXYZ. "Your culture is different here. The way you are acting is different than what we are used to. They began making allegations against my professionalism and patient care."

Corewell Health denied the allegations.

"The allegations in Dr. Ilayan's lawsuit are false," a spokesperson for Corewell Health told the news outlet. "During Dr. Ilayan's employment, he requested and received religious accommodation for time in his schedule dedicated to prayer. We are committed to providing reasonable workplace accommodations whenever possible for religious beliefs and practices."
Justin LaMonda, MD, a physician based in Moberly, Mo., pleaded guilty to a $537,322 fraud scheme, admitting he used his father's name to falsely bill Medicare and Medicaid, the Justice Department said March 14.

Dr. LaMonda admitted he and his father agreed to bill Medicare and Missouri Medicaid for services performed by Dr. LaMonda as if they had actually been performed by Dr. LaMondas father, who was also a physician.

In 2017, the Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts suspended Dr. LaMonda's medical license after he was accused of engaging in sexual activity with his office manager and prescribing her controlled substances outside the course of professional practice.

In 2018, his Medicare privileges were revoked after it was determined he submitted reimbursement claims for services performed when he was suspended, and his Medicare provider number was suspended in 2019.

Dr. LaMonda admitted that he and his father agreed to bill Medicare for services provided by Dr. LaMonda under his father's Medicare. Dr. LaMonda's father would then transfer the funds to him.

Dr. LaMonda pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements, and he could face up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey healthcare facilities were already battling staffing shortages, which were exacerbated in 2020, according to a March 2023 report from New Jersey's largest healthcare worker union, Health Professionals and Allied Employees.

Since 2019, nearly one-third of nurses in the state have departed from bedside jobs. Of those who remain, 72 percent report considering a departure.

Ninety-five percent of nurses who have been working for five years or less have considered a departure, while nurses point to poor staffing, burnout and stress as the top causes of nurse departures.

While the nursing industry recommends a 1-2 nurse-patient ratio, New Jersey regulations only require one nurse for every three patients, according to the report.

"This should be a wake-up call, not just to these healthcare corporations, but to our legislators and regulators. Deep into the third year of a global pandemic that has shaken and changed every corner of our society, we must do things differently," Debbie White, RN, president of HPAE, said in the report.
The ASC at Hudson, Fla.-based Bonati Spine Institute has been shut down after the state suspended its license, the Tampa Bay Times reported March 17.

Here is what ASC leaders need to know:

1. According to Florida healthcare regulators, a certified surgical technologist, rather than a licensed physician, was performing procedures. The ASC allegedly knowingly allowed the unlicensed person to perform procedures.

2. The regulators alleged "immediate danger to patients," according to the report. The ASC allegedly "knew or should have known of alleged unlicensed surgical practice  but has demonstrated no action to even investigate the repeated allegations."

3. According to a 13-page emergency order, problems at the ASC "span perhaps years." For example, the agency fined the ASC $1,000 in 2021 after the facility took no steps to alert the state health department to a COVID-19 outbreak.

4. "We vehemently disagree with AHCAs contentions," Scott Flint, the practice's attorney, told the Times. "We look forward to vindicating Medical Development Corp. and its employees in court. Other than that, we won't be commenting on any ongoing litigation."

5. Alfred Bonati, MD, surgeon and founder of the Bonati Spine Institute, has faced multiple disciplinary cases over the last two decades, the report said.
Travelers departing from Gimpo wait in line to board their flights to Beijing and Shanghai at Gimpo International Airport, Monday, after flights between the two countries departing from the airport resumed to pre-pandemic levels. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Lee Hae-rin



The number of flights between Gimpo International Airport and Chinese destinations has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Korea Airports Corp. (KAC), Monday.



The airport operator said the total weekly flights between Gimpo and the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai returned to 56 as of Sunday, after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



Four airlines  Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines  will each operate seven flights per week between Gimpo and Beijing.



Among them, China Southern Airlines' newly-launched air route will fly to Beijing's Daxing International Airport  the Chinese capital's second airport that opened before the pandemic in September 2019. Daxing is also the world's biggest airport that is expected to handle up to 100 million passengers in the future.



Between Gimpo and Shanghai, a total of 28 weekly flights will be restored to pre-pandemic levels with four air carriers  Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai  each operating seven flights per week.



On Monday, the KAC held a commemorative event at Gimpo airport's international terminal. High-ranking officials of the KAC and the airlines, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming were invited to the event.





Korea Airports Corp. (KAC) President and CEO Yoon Hyeong-jung, sixth from left, and Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, attend a tape cutting ceremony with high-ranking officials from airlines to mark the resumption of flights between Gimpo and China at Gimpo International Airport, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Dalal Akoury, MD, a former Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based physician, of making a range of false claims surrounding addiction and cancer treatment, NBC affiliate WMBF reported March 17.

The FTC alleged that an ad for AWAREmed, a clinic owned by Dr. Akoury, boasts a 98 percent improvement rate and can treat addictions to methadone, alcohol, food and gambling. It also promotes cancer treatments on its website.

The proposed Justice Department bars Dr. Akoury from making the unsupported claims and requires the clinic to have "competent and reliable scientific evidence for any health-related claims they make in advertising and marketing," according to the report.
Utah has signed a Senate bill into law that will allow nurse practitioners to practice without a supervising physician, KSL reported March 25.

With the new law, nurse practitioners in the state can now open and run their own practices.

Melissa Hinton, APRN, legislative committee co-chair of the Utah Nurse Practitioners, told the news outlet the full authority clause is expected to drive more nurse practitioners to the state, which will help to staff providers in rural areas.

There are still some services NPs will not be able to provide, in which case a specialist referral will be needed.

"We collaborate with all providers across disciplines to make sure that the patient has well-rounded care," Ms. Hinton said. "That means as colleagues, we are working with our physician colleagues and our physician assistant colleagues, and we respect them on the same playing field that we are on."
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear signed a bill that creates a scholarship fund for healthcare workers, including dental hygienists, Commonwealth Journal reported March 23.

House Bill 200 establishes a healthcare workforce fund for dental hygienists, nurses, mental health counselors, paramedics and other health care professions, the report said.

The majority of the fund will be given as scholarships for individuals seeking careers in healthcare.

Rep. Ken Fleming, the primary sponsor of the bill, said that the funds will also be used to promote racial and ethnic diversity in healthcare.

Funds and scholarships will be administered by the Council on Postsecondary education.
St Johnsbury-based Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital and Morristown-based Copley Hospital recieved millions in funding from the United States Department of Agriculture, NBC5 reported March 24.

NVRH recieved $16.5 million in a community facilities loan and $1 million in an emergency rural healthcare grant. Copley Hospital also earned $1 million in an emergency rural healthcare grant, along with a $9.9 million community facilities loan.

The sum of that money is expected to benefit nearly 10,000 people, the report said.

NVRH plans to use the money to add more beds and increase efficiency at its pharmacy, behavioral health, and emergency departments. Copley plans to open an orthopedic office and buy medical imaging equipment.
The Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed that the Oracle Cerner EHR system caused six incidents of "catastrophic harm" to veterans, and four of those incidents led to the death of patients, The Spokesman-Review reported March 15.

In a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on March 15, VA officials told senators that one of the patient deaths occurred at the Spokane, Wash.-based Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and that the other three deaths occurred in central Ohio, where the new EHR system was launched in April.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the harm caused to patients by the new system was "totally unacceptable."

"At the end of the day, what I care about is getting this right for our veterans, and I do not believe that more money is what is going to solve this problem," Ms. Murray said.

Ms. Murray said the news could cause senators to withhold funding for the project unless the issues are fixed.

This comes after the VA EHR Modernization Sprint Project Team identified four patient safety issues with the Oracle Cerner EHR system.

The Oracle Cerner EHR implementation has been ongoing since 2020, and has been plagued with outages and delays.

There are currently two proposed bills aimed at scrapping the entire modernization program.

Editor's note: Becker's reached out to Oracle Cerner for comment and will update the story if one is provided.
As New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health seeks to transform patient, clinician and team member experience using technology, the health system chose to move to Epic as the vendor could streamline medical records as well as financials and operational information into a single product, Sophy Lu, CIO of the health system told Becker's.

On March 21, Northwell, one of New York state's largest healthcare providers, said it would be switching from Allscripts to Epic Systems. Becker's spoke to Ms. Lu about the why behind the move and the benefits it would provide to Northwell.

Question: Why did Northwell choose Epic? Was it considering any other vendors?

Sophy Lu: Northwell selected Epic because it's a market leader in the EHR space. The user-friendly platform is designed for large integrated health systems. It was important to us to be able to streamline clinical records as well as financials and operational insight into a whole single product. Ultimately, this means one patient record across the care delivery continuum.

Northwell did consider other vendors but Epic's reinvestment into the products research and development and its dominance in the New York Metro market were significant factors in the decision-making process.

Q: Why did Northwell decide to switch from Allscripts? What was one of the biggest factors for the switch?

SL: As Northwell continues to evolve with the ever-changing healthcare landscape, we want to ensure that our digital capabilities differentiate us from our competitors.

To accomplish this easily, and with a focus on the needs of our patient, clinician and operational experience, it was clear that we must simplify and modernize the technologies our constituents use day to day. The EHR was at the core of that, and a foundational step forward in our digital strategy.

Q: Northwell said the Epic switch aims to "make patient and staff experience more seamless," how will the new EHR system do this?

SL: Epic is a single seamless electronic health record system. At every touchpoint in the continuum of care, clinicians and front-line staff can easily access a 360 view of the patient; and the patient has an easy experience to engage care, access and share information; and pay for care. The system will enable Northwell to streamline integrated clinical workflows, revenue cycle operations, and data driven insights to better care for our communities.

Q: Northwell is implementing the Epic System in phases, can you walk me through what that will look like?

SL: Northwell is approaching the new implementation by minimizing financial risks, while also optimizing the benefits of a holistic end-to-end transformation of patient engagement, operational workflow, and staff movement.

For Northwell, we will be implementing across the continuum of care by regions: this includes hospitals, ambulatory, homecare, hospice, and long-term care.

Q: Implementation doesn't come without challenges, how will Northwell prepare staff for the system switch?

SL: Northwell establishes structures for governance with executive leadership and operational teams in order to strengthen an one system decision and workforce readiness. We also start planning for continual change management, communications, and learning strategies day one. It is critical to engage the workforce, and voices of the customers throughout the implementation for successful adoption and best use of all the capabilities the new EHR can offer.

Q: What excites you most about the new system?

SL: I am excited to enhance the connectedness of our integrated system delivery and bring joyful experiences at every touchpoint, while also being able to simplify and consolidate the technology foundations. This is a part of our digital transformation strategy along with leveraging the power of data insights and personalizing experiences to raise health for all.
Plymouth, Ind.,-based St. Joseph Health System is the latest system to announce closures of women's health services, CBS affiliate WSBT reported March 25.

The system is closing its New Beginnings Birthplace center because it has been unable to attract an obstetrician, according to the report. It will also close its OB-GYN office March 31.

"This Wednesday afternoon is when we first heard about it, and just another loss to an institution that's been in our city for 30 years and I'm not sure what their intent is but it's not helping the people of Plymouth at all," Mayor Mark Senter told the news outlet.
The CIO title is declining as tech leaders take on new functions and people see the moniker as limiting for their careers, Forbes reported.

"CIO feels a little dated, even though it's still very important," Karena Man, co-leader of North American tech officers for recruitment company Egon Zehnder, told the news outlet. "We largely see chief digital information officer, or chief digital and technology officer." Throw in transformation, AI, data and innovation to the list of terms the positions might include nowadays.

The lines have also gotten murkier between the CIO and the chief technology officer, while some candidates decline to be interviewed for CIO-only roles, Ms. Man said in the March 23 story. Increasingly, she said, the role's responsibilities have expanded to include the cloud, overall tech policies, and working with the marketing team on customer engagement.

Ed Stadolnik, leader of functional practices in the Americas for executive search firm Spencer Stuart, told Forbes the position still plays an important role in the C-suite: strategic oversight of IT internally, data and analytics, cybersecurity and external-facing digital platforms. But he said CIOs need "an entrepreneurial product mindset, in which you're anticipating the needs in the market  you're iterating and innovating and creating products that can be monetized."
Amazon Web Services has selected 23 startups for an accelerator program aimed at easing healthcare burnout that some health systems will assist with.

The ideas use technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual care and remote monitoring to improve retention, deployment and training of caregivers, according to a March 27 news release. Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Ventures and the American Hospital Association will provide assistance.

The startups are:

 Babblevoice

 Compassly

 DocAbode

 Dropstat

 eConsult

 Florence

 Grapefruit Health

 Hypercare

 InformMe

 IoT Solutions Group

 Kare Mobile

 Momo Medical

 Moonhub

 Mytonomy

 Navenio

 Pathology Watch

 Proximie

 Rose Health

 RxPlace

 Squid iQ

 Supportiv

 The TeleDentists

 Visionable
Two new mothers filed complaints with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights after they were drug tested without their knowledge or consent and then reported for neglect or abuse based on the positive test results.

The filing alleged that Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center and Virtua Voorhees (N.J.) Hospital gave the drug tests without medical necessity and violated the state's discrimination laws based on sex and pregnancy, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which is representing the two women, said in a March 8 news release. They ask the state to investigate and require both hospitals to end the practice.

Both women consumed bagels with poppy seeds before going to the hospital to give birth. Their tests came back positive for opiates, and hospital staff called child protective services to report the women for possible abuse or neglect of their newborn. An investigation was launched that "interfered with their first months with their newborns, shattered their trust in medical personnel, and caused fear of further unnecessary scrutiny from the state," according to the release.

The threshold used in the drug test was lower than federal guidelines, the release said; in one woman's case, the test used a threshold 200 times lower.

"No one should be subjected to unnecessary and nonconsensual drug tests. Our clients are sending a clear message to hospitals that these testing and reporting policies are unacceptable," ACLU-NJ staff attorney Molly Linhorst said in the release. "Discriminatory testing policies like these upend what should be a time of joy for families and so often subject them to further trauma and unwarranted investigation by the state."

Representatives from both Hackensack University Medical Center and Virtua Voorhees Hospital told CBS News in a March 24 report that they declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"As a health system dedicated to providing safe, comprehensive, and equitable care to the community, we are fully committed to reviewing this matter," the hospital said in a statement shared with the news outlet.
This March 24 photo issued by North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, observing a cruise missile exercise conducted in South Hamgyong Province, March 23. Yonhap



North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, hours before a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier staged joint drills in waters south of Jeju Island, according to South Korea's military.



The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said it detected the launches from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m. The missiles flew some 370 kilometers before splashing into the sea, it added.



Pyongyang's latest provocation came as South Korea and the United States kicked off the Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week. It is scheduled to end next Monday.



The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group also trained together with the South's major warships in waters south of the peninsula Monday, according to the Navy here.



The Sejong the Great destroyer, equipped with the Aegis combat system, the Choe Yeong destroyer and the Hwacheon logistics support ship were mobilized for the practice staged in international waters south of the southern island of Jeju.



"On the basis of the South Korea-U.S. alliance over the past 70 years, the South Korean and U.S. navies have established a robust combined maritime defense posture," South Korean Navy Capt. Jang Hoon was quoted as saying. "This exercise not only demonstrated the alliance's overwhelming capability and (combat) posture but also served as an opportunity to further strengthen the combined defense posture to defend the Republic of Korea."



On Tuesday, the U.S. aircraft carrier will make a port call in Busan, 325 kilometers southeast of the capital, according to Seoul's defense ministry.



In September last year, the U.S. deployed the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to South Korea, with the allies seeking to bolster the "extended deterrence" against the North's growing military threats.



The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, meanwhile, said it is aware of the North's latest ballistic missile launches.





A strategic cruise missile of North Korea is launched in South Hamgyong Province, March 22, in this photo released on March 24 by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Yonhap
Florida police arrested a former Tallahassee hospital pharmacist amid concerns over his mental health and a cache of weapons. Homemade explosives, 25 guns, body armor and hundreds of ammunition rounds were found in his car, according to the Tallahassee Democrat and CBS affiliate WCTV.

The sheriff's office in Leon County arrested William Head III on three counts of possession of controlled substance, according to a March 21 booking report. Citizens contacted Jefferson County Sheriff's Office about the number of weapons Mr. Head owns, "disturbing behavior" and some comments he made, including the world ending on April 1, according to the local news outlets.

He used to work as a pharmacist at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. A spokesperson told Becker's that Mr. Head has not worked there since Dec. 1 and said, "Beyond that, it is our practice not to comment on employment matters."

Police conducted a welfare check, and during the visit, a deputy saw two long guns and "apparent contraband," which violated an active domestic violence injunction. Officers later found 10 handguns, 15 rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, multiple weapon magazines, two bulletproof vests, explosive materials and a plastic straw with a white powdery residue, according to the Democrat.

Mr. Head now faces 12 felony charges, the Leon County Clerk's website shows. Becker's has reached out to local sheriff's offices and will update the story if more information becomes available.
A grand jury has indicted Deborah Sue Damron, 56, of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient at an adult detention center in Virginia, according to the Henry County (Va.) Sheriff's Office.

On Aug. 6, the patient informed deputies he was having trouble breathing and soon became unconscious. Medical staff performed CPR and used an AED on the patient before he was transported to Sovah Health Martinsville (Va.), where he was pronounced dead. A medical examiner determined his cause of death was "acute fentanyl toxicity with adrenal crisis due to congenital adrenal hyperplasia contributing," a March 23 news release from the sheriff's office said.

Investigators allege that a lack of proper care also contributed to his death. Police cited video evidence showing that Ms. Damron, the on-duty nurse, did not perform required medical checks on the patient. She also allegedly falsified the patient's medical records to reflect rounds and vital checks she never performed.

Ms. Damron was working for Wellpath, the nation's largest for-profit healthcare provider for correctional facilities, at the time of the patient's death. She was charged with involuntary manslaughter March 20 and arrested in Kentucky on March 22. She is awaiting extradition to Virginia, the release said.
The temperature of conversations surrounding clinical titles has been rising for years. Now, heated discussions about how advanced practice providers refer to and market themselves are commonplace and coincide with conflicting views about their roles in the healthcare industry.

In 2021, the American Academy of Physician Associates voted to adopt "physician associate" as the official title for the physician assistant profession. The rebranding, which AAPA is gradually rolling out, was met with immediate opposition with groups such as the American Medical Association and American Osteopathic Association. The associations argued that the title change will create confusion for patients about who is providing their care.

"Given the existing difficulty many patients experience in identifying who is or is not a physician, it is important to provide patients with more transparency and clarity in who is providing their care, not more confusion," AMA's former president, Susan Bailey, MD, told Becker's in 2021.

AAPA said the new title will better highlight PAs' contributions to healthcare and offer patients assurance about their abilities to provide high-quality care.

"PAs do more than assist," Jennifer Orozco, DMSc, PA-C, AAPA president and chair of the board, told Becker's last month. She pointed to a recent survey done by the analytics firm Kantar, which found 71 percent of patients agreed that the title "physician associate" matches the job description of a PA.

More recently, Florida lawmakers have introduced legislation that seeks to clarify what titles and abbreviations healthcare practitioners can use in ads, communications and personal identification. The House and Senate have both introduced bills on the topic. If signed into law, they would prohibit nonphysician healthcare providers  such as nurse practitioners with doctorate degrees  from using the term "doctor."

The bills have faced pushback from many nurse practitioners, who argue that the title "doctor" shouldn't be owned by any one profession.

"To take that away and for people to say you're no longer allowed to use the title you've earned and then have other professions like a pharmacist, they can use the title doctor.  It's kind of a smudge on our profession that doesn't need to be there," Sue Hook, a nurse practitioner at the Samaritan Health and Wellness Center in Cape Coral, Fla., told NBC2 News.

The conflicts over clinical titles come alongside equally heated discussions over advanced practitioners' scope of practice. At least eight states currently have bills proposing changes to considering changes to advanced practitioners' scope of practice or practice requirements for pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Advocates of the changes argue that advanced practitioners can play a crucial role in addressing the nation's healthcare staffing crisis and worsening physician shortages. However, many medical associations have spoken out against scope of practice expansions, citing patient safety concerns.
No one in healthcare aspires to win an award named after a "pharma bro."

But that's exactly where 10 individuals and organizations find themselves with the release of Lown Institute's 6th Annual Shkreli Awards. The list contains the "worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare" ultimately decided by a panel of 18 judges who are patient activists, clinicians, health policy experts and journalists. The awards and vetting system are organized by Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that measures hospitals' and health systems' social responsibility.

Martin Shkreli earned the nickname of pharma bro when, in 2015, his company Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired a 62-year-old drug called Daraprim and, overnight, increased the price from about $13.50 per pill to $750. In 2017, Mr. Shkreli was convicted in federal court on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud, resulting in a 2018 sentence of seven years in prison. In 2022, a federal judge ordered Mr. Shkreli to pay $64 million for hiking the price of Daraprim and permanently banned him from serving as an executive or director at a public company in addition to a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry.

"If we're ever going to get to the great health system that Americans deserve, we have to call out bad behavior," Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said. "The Shkreli Awards are a mirror that's hard to look into, but we've got to do it."

Below are the recipients of the 2022 Shkreli Award, as decided by the Lown Institute.

1. Insurers that systematically manipulate Medicare Advantage. The majority of large Medicare Advantage insurers face accusations of fraud or overbilling by the U.S. government, resulting in alleged overpayments estimated to cost taxpayers up to $25 billion in 2020, The New York Times reported in October 2022. Of the top 10 Medicare Advantage providers by market share, the following have been accused of fraud or overbilling by the U.S. government or Inspector General and have ongoing lawsuits as of 2022, according to the Times: UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, Elevance Health, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Cigna, and Highmark. These insurers have disputed the claims.

2. Noble Health (Kansas City, Mo.). The private equity firm acquired two rural Missouri hospitals and closed them two years later. Between the purchase and closure of the hospitals were supply and drug shortages that threatened patient safety and the suspension of employees' health insurance despite continued deductions from paychecks for their premiums. "Some staff members now face hundreds of thousands in medical bills because they did not know they were uninsured," Lown Institute wrote. The company is under federal investigation.

3. Bon Secours Health System (Richmond, Va.). Bon Secours Health System's Richmond (Va.) Community Hospital profited from the 340(b) drug program but lacked an intensive care unit, maternity ward or functioning MRI machine. Instead, the system "has been diverting the profits from Richmond Community to its other hospitals in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods," the Lown Institute wrote, referring to a New York Times investigation published in September 2022. A spokesperson for Bon Secours Mercy Health said the system had spent nearly $10 million on improvements to Richmond Community Hospital since 2013.

4. CEO and staff of Novus Hospice (Frisco, Texas). CEO Bradley Harris and a dozen other Novus employees were allegedly involved in a scheme to heavily medicate patients to speed up their death, thereby curbing average patient stay and avoiding caps on government reimbursement. Novus staff were given pre-signed prescription pads and told to dispense powerful medications like morphine and hydrocodone to patients, without guidance or oversight from physicians, according to the Justice Department. One Novus employee allegedly received a text message from Mr. Harris with the directive, "You need to make this patient go bye-bye." Mr. Harris was sentenced to 13 years and three months in federal prison for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid in January. Other personnel and physicians involved in the scheme face upwards of 28 years in federal prison combined.

5. Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson continued selling its talc baby powder despite knowledge that asbestos could be a contaminant, resulting in lawsuits from 40,000 cancer patients. Many of the plaintiffs are Black women, "as J&J allegedly marketed its talc-based products specifically to this population," the institute argues. J&J created a subsidiary with the baby powder-related liabilities and then declared the "shell company" bankrupt, NPR reported in September 2022.

6. Philip Morris. Tobacco giant Philip Morris spent 175 years selling products linked to heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other health problems. It is now backing a healthcare company  Vectura Fertin Pharma  "to make more money treating the very conditions it helped create by acquiring companies that develop inhaled therapeutics," the Lown Institute wrote, referring to a special report published by STAT in September 2022.

7. Providence (Renton, Wash.). More than 55,000 patients were pursued by debt collectors when they should have been given a discount as a result of Rev Up, a Providence-led campaign to boost revenue that was developed with direction from corporate consultant McKinsey, Lown Institute wrote, referring to a lawsuit filed by Washington's attorney general and a Sept. 24 New York Times report detailing the system's alleged debt collection practices. Providence has challenged the allegations. "The New York Times coverage is not an accurate reflection of who Providence is as an organization," the system said in a statement, noting that an error when transitioning from a manual process to an automated one caused some Medicaid patients to be sent to collections after 120 days. "'Rev Up' was a short-lived program," the system said. "The intent was not to target or pressure those in financial distress. It aimed to provide patients with greater pricing transparency especially as more employers and insurers require patients to pay higher deductibles for care."

8. Three North Texas laboratories. Unified Laboratory Services, Spectrum Diagnostic Laboratory and Reliable Labs, all based in the Dallas area, paid kickbacks to induce medical professionals to order unnecessary lab tests, which they then billed federal healthcare programs, submitting more than $300 million in claims. All 11 defendants involved in the scheme pleaded guilty.

9. Catholic Medical Center (Manchester, N.H.). Although hospital leadership was aware of the poor malpractice record held by prominent cardiac surgeon Yvon Baribeau, MD, executives continued to support him, featuring him in hospital advertisements and allowing him to keep operating over the objections of other physicians, The Boston Globe reported in September 2022. Dr. Baribeau retired in 2019. Throughout his career, he tallied 21 medical malpractice settlements, including 14 related to patient deaths.

10. Scott Charmoli, DDS. Practicing out of Wisconsin, Dr. Scott Charmoli, formerly a licensed dentist, was sentenced to 54 months' incarceration for committing healthcare fraud and making false statements in July. Dr. Charmoli began a scheme in 2015 in which he aggressively sold crowns to patients and then intentionally broke their teeth with his drill to defraud dental insurance companies into paying for the unnecessary crown procedures.
Teladoc announced it will provide free virtual care to Mississippi residents affected by recent tornadoes.

Mississippi residents who have been affected by the tornado can access free virtual care by calling Teladoc. Those who are seeking physician-authorization for prescription refills for non-narcotic drugs can also receive free care from Teladoc's virtual services, according to a March 25 press release from Teladoc.

"We want to make sure that those faced with devastation and displacement from the tornadoes are keeping their health front and center and know how to get care, said Vidya Raman-Tangella, MD, chief medical officer of Teladoc.
New York City pain management surgeon Sady Ribeiro, MD, 72, has been sentenced to three years in prison in connection to a $31 million "trip-and-fall" scheme, according to a March 23 report from New York radio station WINS.

Dr. Ribeiro pleaded guilty in September, alongside orthopedic surgeon Andrew Dowd, MD, attorneys George Constantine and Marc Elefant, litigation funder Adrian Alexander, two fraud ringleaders and three "runners" who recruited patients.

Dr. Ribeiro and Mr. Alexander, 75, would allegedly recruit people from homeless shelters and drug facilities, staging "trip" accidents.

Mr. Alexander would then pursue lawsuits against businesses where the fall occurred, while Dr. Ribeiro performed 200 unneeded surgeries and medical procedures on the patients.

Patients would undergo one or two surgeries and were paid between $1,000 and $1,500 per procedure. More than 400 patients participated in the scheme, in which the orchestrators earned over $31 million.

Mr. Alexander pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in August. Dr. Ribeiro pleaded guilty to the same charges in September.

Dr. Ribeiro will face three years of post-supervision release following his three-year sentence.
Tributes have been paid to economist John Simpson, the longest-serving contributor to the Belfast Telegraph and a much-respected figure in public life, following his death.

Mr Simpson died on Monday, aged 90, in Antrim Area Hospital after a short illness.

He leaves two daughters, Joanne and Susan, and grandsons Ryan and Connor. Joanne said they had simply loved granddad and that her father had been an unassuming man.

Mr Simpson wrote regular columns for the Business Telegraph and sister magazine Ulster Business. He was the author of the Belfast Telegraphs Top 100 Companies, a flagship publication which he led for more than 20 years.

A former economics lecturer at Queens University, he was also a frequent commentator on the economy and business on other media.

Mr Simpson was also a long-serving chairman of the panel of judges at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards, stepping down in 2018.

Eoin Brannigan, Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life editor-in-chief, said: I was very sorry to hear about Johns death. I had the pleasure of sitting with him at one of our Top 100 events and found him fascinating company with plenty of stories to keep all within earshot entertained.

"His knowledge of business, local and international, was second to none, and the respect in which he was held was clear. My condolences to his daughters and grandsons.

Belfast Telegraph Business Editor Margaret Canning said: John made a huge contribution to our coverage and we will truly miss him.

"He kept a watchful eye on companies performance, public spending and economic trends. The breadth of his knowledge was and still is unmatched.

"He was always utterly impartial and independent-minded, and that ensured he had the ear of many influential people.

"John was always ready to provide a comment on the economy and company results to us. It didnt matter how much or how little you knew about the subject you were calling him about he was always so obliging and treated everyone equally.

"He was consistently good-humoured, and when you called him up with a query and asked how he was, he would always quip Im awake!

"True to his unflagging work ethic, John was concerned about his deadlines right up until the end. Well miss him hugely.

John Mulgrew, Editor of Ulster Business, described him as an important voice in the economic and business community who had contributed to the magazine for many years.

It was clear he had a bank and wealth of knowledge which made him a great inquisitor.

He was also never afraid of speaking his mind, or asking the tough questions as and when they were required  bringing a wide and expansive level of knowledge to the table. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

Deric Henderson, former editor of PA Ireland, recalled Johns work at the Belfast Telegraph during his time, from 1973 to 1980.

"He was a fantastic soldier and just didnt stop. It felt like he was a permanent fixture, and I thought he would go on for ever and ever.

"He was a prodigious writer and just put out so much material.

Also paying tribute was former First Minister Dame Arlene Foster.

She said: "So very sorry to hear about John Simpsons passing. I really enjoyed talking to him especially when I was Enterprise minister. A mine of information especially on energy policy. Deepest sympathy to Johns family.

Current DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: I met John many times on the margins of debating panels and admired his love for Northern Ireland, his ideas about our public services and tremendous grasp of economics. We will be remembering his family and colleagues in prayer as they grieve his sad loss.

UUP MLA Steve Aiken said: "John Simpson was both a friend and a mentor to me. An economist who instinctively understood our circumstances in Northern Ireland.

Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson said he was deeply saddened, adding: His skill and insight will be missed.
Claim made during a lawsuit taken by associate of Paddy McKillen

Paddy McKillen is in a dispute with the owners of Maybourne Hotels

Qatari royals adopted a strategy of banning people close to Paddy McKillen from luxury hotels they own to shore up their negotiating position in a dispute with the Northern Irish businessman potentially worth billions of pounds, the High Court in London has been told.
Photo of the historic Irish News building, which has been sold to Ulster University.

Ulster University has bought the historic Irish News building on Donegall Street in Belfast and also announced changes to its campus premises in Londonderry and Coleraine.

It has acquired the 0.65 acre site as the Irish News team prepares to relocate to its new company headquarters at the Fountain Centre in April.

Irish News Managing Director, Dominic Fitzpatrick said: The sale of the historic Irish News building to Ulster University creates a fantastic legacy for what was the home of our newspaper for over a century.

We will be sorry to leave Donegall Street, which has served us so well down the generations, but we are looking forward to all the opportunities associated with our new home.

The former newspaper premises runs through to the universitys York Lane entrance to its Students Union with part of the site of 113 Donegall Street a 3-storey Grade B2 listed building. Plans for the space are yet to be announced by Ulster University.

In Derry, Ulster University has acquired the Mount Royal building on the Northland Road.

The building was previously owned by Ulster in the 1990s, and will offer 25 one-bedroom apartments for students.

The self-contained one-bedroom apartments will be equipped with a double bed, fully-equipped kitchen, furnished living, dining area and bathroom.

Amanda Castray, Director of Campus Life said: Mount Royal provides a great addition to the universitys student accommodation in Derry, offering apartment-style accommodation for individuals, couples and families.

We are delighted to bring this building back into our accommodation provision and expand the options for students studying and living in this vibrant university city.

The Mount Royal accommodation will be available for student residents for the start of the new academic year in September.

Meanwhile, at Ulster Universitys Coleraine campus, design work is underway to enhance the students union space and facilities.

Ulster University Students Union Coleraine Vice President, Ethan Davies commented: A safe and lively place to relax with friends at the heart of campus is central to building the student community and we valued the opportunity to help design the space so that it really meets the needs of students.
Foreign Minister Park Jin, center first row, along with ambassadors and consuls general stationed abroad, salutes the national flag as they attend their annual meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, March 27. Yonhap



South Korea opened an annual meeting of its top envoys abroad Monday with a focus on ways for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's "global pivotal state" vision and drive to expand the country's exports.



It marks the first time for them to hold an in-person group meeting in Seoul since late 2018.



A total of 166 ambassadors, consul generals and other heads of diplomatic missions in foreign countries are joining the five-day gathering.



The event took place online in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week's gathering is the first of its kind under the Yoon administration launched in May last year.



The heads of missions will be briefed on ways to realize the administration's diplomacy vision, its new Indo-Pacific strategy and the nation's economic security, according to the foreign ministry.



Kim Sung-han, Yoon's national security adviser, will also explain the government's policies and efforts for regional peace.



In his opening speech at the meeting, Foreign Minister Park Jin asked the envoys to work more "innovatively and creatively" in order to stay one step ahead of the changing times.



He added Yoon's upcoming state visit to the United States will serve as a "historic milestone" in developing the Seoul-Washington alliance and expected it to become an opportunity to strengthen extended deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. (Yonhap)




The Government wants to begin a trial where 2,000 homes would switch from gas to hydrogen boilers (Andrew Matthews/PA)   Andrew Matthews

Peers are set to vote on a law that would give gas distribution networks (GDNs) the power to force people on to hydrogen boilers without their consent.

The Energy Bill, which is due to appear in the House of Lords on Tuesday, grants GDNs the same powers of entry used to force-fit prepayment meters and the Government has been accused of being unable to learn its own lessons.

Also proposed is a hydrogen levy which could see consumers paying more on their energy bills from 2025 to fund hydrogen production, although the Government said policy developments on the levy are still ongoing.

Some homeowners in Whitby, Ellesmere Port, and Redcar, Teesside, where hydrogen trials have been proposed, said they do not want hydrogen and are concerned it is less safe, less energy efficient and more expensive than gas or electric heat pumps.

Up to 2,000 homes in each area are subject to the proposed trial, which Baroness Worthington has called villages of the damned.

Cadent, the GDN for Whitby, and Northern Gas Networks, the GDN for Redcar, are submitting rival bids this month to test the feasibility of a home-heating grid run without natural gas.

If successful, a trial will begin in 2025 and last two years with funding supplied by energy regulator Ofgem.

Under the proposed new legislation, GDNs will have the right to enter anyones home for any reason connected to the trial if they live within the marked zone.

The Government said no-one will be forced to use hydrogen and anticipates that GDNs would only use powers of entry as a last resort and only once all other attempts to contact property owners and reach an agreement are exhausted.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: The hydrogen heating village trial will deliver essential evidence to inform the Governments strategic decisions in 2026 on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heat.

No trials will take place without strong local support. This will be a critical factor in the final selection of the trial location, and the rights of consumers will be protected before, during and after the trial.

Northern Gas Networks said it would have to enter someones home if they refused to be taken off gas because it would stop the trial from going ahead safely.

Cadent said it would only enter someones home to ensure their safety using powers already possessed by gas companies to protect people from leaks.

Both GDNs said electrical alternatives are available to those who do not want hydrogen boilers.

Sarah Biermann Becker, senior investigator at Global Witness, said: Forcing households on to hydrogen heating is scarily reminiscent of some of the dynamics in the recent prepayment meter scandal, which was rightly deemed an outrage.

And by adding further costs on to already unaffordable bills, from which energy companies stand to benefit, it is clear that this is a Government totally unable to learn its own lessons.

Hydrogen heating will be expensive, dangerous, and bad for the climate.

A spokesperson from Northern Gas Networks said: The residents of Redcar are our priority. This is a Government-led project to demonstrate the role gas networks can play in decarbonising home heating.

We will work with each trial participant to identify what works for them and their home or business, with a choice between hydrogen and electricity.

A Cadent spokesperson added: We continue to proactively engage with the residents of Whitby, listening to the broad church of opinions that come from right across the community and this feedback will be reflected in the submission we make to Government.

As we collectively work towards the decarbonisation of heating we believe that a range of technologies and a diverse choice of energy sources will be required, and these must be delivered through a collective effort, in a way that works for customers and their needs.

Professor David Cebon, from the University of Cambridge and the Hydrogen Science Coalition, said: The Governments own safety assessment stated that it isnt safe to pipe hydrogen into homes without prior safety checks and changes to the pipework.

So, for the hydrogen trials to be safe, all the appliances and pipes in every home in the trial area would either have to be changed to run on hydrogen or be disconnected from the gas grid.

If any household refused to collaborate, then in theory the current draft of the Energy Bill gives gas companies the right to forcibly enter their homes.
*Warning  spoilers alert*  New series gets off to strong start in its gripping debut episode

From the moment Constable Grace Ellis looks under her car before driving off, you know Blue Lights is different.

Focusing on three probationary officers  Grace (Sian Brooke), Tommy (Nathan Braniff) and Annie (Katherine Devlin)  the series, co-created by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn, puts Belfast firmly at its heart.

In the first episode, the trio is finding police life tough.

Tommy needs to resit his firearms test  saying he is not very good is an understatement. He is also paired with long-time officer Gerry (Richard Dormer), who calls the youngun Columbo and accidentally gets him to question two sneaky beakies, the words used to describe undercover officers.

Annie arrives to work wildly hungover and surreptitiously gulping energy drinks  and her day does not improve.

First, shes punched by Mo McIntyre, son of the infamous James McIntyre (John Lynch), the latter of whom is of interest to terrorism and organised crime police. Mo later spits in Annies face during an altercation.

Grace is partnered with Stevie (Martin McCann) who, along with a taste for the finer things in life  homemade flapjacks and pate  instructs her on the realities of policing in Northern Ireland. For example, not wearing a name badge in certain areas, and why its important never to leave your computer logged in.

When Gordy Mackle (Dane Whyte OHara) crashes one of Jamess cars, Grace and Stevie arrive to tell mum Angela (Valene Kane).

John Lynch as James McIntyre

Graces former role as a social worker is evident as she endeavours to do her best for mother and son. But in a city where peace is never taken for granted, within hours Grace and Stevie are back in west Belfasts Carrick View, where Angela is threatening neighbours with knives.

The location is OOB  out of bounds  and Inspector Johnson is ordered to remove his officers, only its a bit late, because Grace is determined to talk Angela down. Its an article two of the European Convention on Human Rights issue  everyones right to life be protected by the law  so the police must attend. Johnson shouts for his colleagues to head to Carrick View, including Constable Jen Robinson, who seems to be doing anything to avoid leaving the office, even paperwork.

Grace Ellis (Sian Brooke); Angela Mackle (Valene Kane); Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) in Blue Lights

In the meantime, the McIntyre gang has arrived on the scene, John Lynch doing an excellent job of looking intimidating without having to open his mouth. He does, however, punch son Mo after the spitting incident.

Grace persuades Angela to drop the knives, and shes arrested, though later released. During a downpour, Grace spots Angela and drives her home. The probationer returns to her abode for dinner cooked by her A-level student son, Cal, and a wry comment that her day was the usual. She isnt aware of the sneaky beakies snapping Graces house in a drive-by photoshoot.

Blue Lights set the bar high in its first episode, with considered characterisation in a city so many of us call home. I am excited to see where it goes next.

Blue Lights is on BBC One NI on Mondays at 9pm. All episodes of the series are available on BBC iPlayer now
An American businessman arrested after he flew into Northern Ireland by private jet after failing to hand over a 50,000 surety is back in jail after breaching bail conditions and having sacked his fifth lawyer in as many weeks.

Matthew Wolf (45), who is from New York but now resides in Switzerland, is accused of misusing a communications network to cause a Northern Irish female needless anxiety between January 31 and February 1, which he contends is a misunderstanding.

He told a previous hearing he is a partner in a $2 trillion investment group and is married to Olympic rower Sarah Garner and we have two children.

Ms Garner won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in woman's lightweight double sculls.

The complainant, who is from the Co Tyrone village of Moy, met Wolf during a night out in Belfasts Merchant Hotel and agreed to a date the following day.

However, she changed her mind and messaged him saying they should part ways.

Despite this, Wolf booked into a guesthouse and asked local residents about the complainant.

He was arrested but refused to accept bail terms on offer at Dungannon Magistrates Court, insisting there was no requirement to ban contact with the complainant.

Wolf later relented and, while deeming the conditions offensive, agreed to accept them.

However, he contacted the complainant from prison before his release, almost leading to bail being revoked.

By now on his fourth lawyer, Wolf applied to be allowed a short visit to Switzerland, which was agreed on the condition that 50,000 was lodged with police for temporary return of his passport.

No cash was provided, but Wolf nonetheless travelled via Dublin on a European residency card.

Due to report to police on his return but unable to get a flight back to Dublin, Wolf flew by private jet to Belfast, where he was arrested.

He was brought to court where District Judge Bernie Kelly found the breach proven and remanded him in custody.

Wolf promptly sacked his lawyer and demanded to appear in court the next day.

Wolf engaged a fifth lawyer but, ahead of the case being called, Wolf sacked her too, for gross incompetence.

Furious at appearing by video-link, he said: I do not agree with these virtual hearings. As a partner in a large investment firm, I cannot interview a management team online.

He insisted the breach was not proved, instead deeming Judge Kellys ruling an opinion.

Deputy District Judge Sean OHare advised: The court determined you were in breach. That cannot be revisited.

Wolf replied: I object, sir. Thats untrue.

The judge said: You may dispute it, but its fact. That ship has sailed.

Wolf responded: That is not a fact, sir. That is an opinion. The detective lied under oath and Im adding that to my Ombudsman complaint. I have a complaint against Judge Kelly and I will add you to that, Judge OHare, if you will not to listen to me. I did not sign the bail terms. Judge Kelly cannot find me in violation if I did not agree to them, so the ruling of fact is not true.

He continued: Because I have means, I spent 30,000 Swiss Francs flying to Belfast, where I was detained.

A detective constable pointed out that travel was only permitted pending the 50,000 surety, which never materialised, adding: The defendant has no regard for bail conditions. We werent aware hed left the country.

Repeatedly shouting objection, Wolf demanded to attend court in person the following day.

When told that wasnt possible, he persisted: I will not accept that. Theres no reason I cannot be in court tomorrow. I dont want to be in Dungannon court. You are not reasonable, sir. I want to be in Crown Court not Magistrates Court.

Wolf accused the detective of throwing some misdemeanour at me for persistent communication, which is total BS. He arrested me for rape and harassment. I suggest he and his colleagues be ready. No bail, just jail.

Judge OHare remarked: We can arrange that.

Before storming off, Wolf shouted: Therell be a complaint against you, sir, just like Judge Kelly. Thanks for the injustice. Im done with Dungannon Magistrates Court.

The case will be reviewed next month.
Religious influence on education dates back long before the formation of Northern Ireland over a century ago.

But the division of the island in 1921 saw a battle for the educational rights to children in the new Northern Ireland.

A common management system for schools attended by both Protestant and Catholic pupils was proposed, but was resisted by the churches on both sides.

What emerged cemented the path of the education system for a century to come, three classes of school: (State) Controlled, (Catholic) Maintained, and Voluntary (grammar schools: both Catholic and non-denominational).

The Protestant churches handed over control of education to the state, but at a price.

The right of a school to select teachers according to their faith was a key demand of the Protestant churches in return for their agreement to transfer their schools to the state in the 1920s, explained Dr Matt Milliken from Ulster University, who worked on the universitys Unesco Education Centres Transforming Education project over a number of years.

It protected Protestant teaching jobs in the controlled sector.

They argued that without the exception, Catholic teachers would be able to access 100% of the available teaching posts while Protestant teachers would only apply for 50%, those in controlled schools.

For 60 years the status quo remained, keeping teachers and children of faith apart.

It was only in 1981, when Northern Irelands first integrated school opened, that Lagan College began to build bridges between communities at educational level.

The Controlled (mainly Protestant) and Maintained (mainly Catholic) sectors still dominate the educational landscape, and they continue to attract pupils of their own specific religion.

Only recently has the integrated sector begun to make inroads and start to transform the school system to be more reflective of society at large.

More recently, Irish Medium education has developed, though the statistics show it struggles to attract any pupils of a Protestant faith.
Dame Arlene Foster has said she is delighted to have supported the second reading of a bill that will make it the law for parents with babies in neonatal care to have up to 12 weeks of paid leave.

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay Bill) passed a key stage in the House of Lords last week and is on its way to becoming set in legislation.

Giving her own testimony on the importance of the bill in the House on Friday, Mrs Foster described how her own son was born with a heart condition and had to undergo surgery at just three weeks old.

Read more Most popular baby names in Northern Ireland in 2022 revealed

"It transpired that my son had been born with a pulmonary stenosis, a congenital heart problem, and he was taken immediately to neonatal care, she said.

"After just three weeks, [he] had surgery to deal with the issue at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

"They opened his valve and I remember as a mother watching him fall asleep on a huge theatre operating table, and he was just this tiny little baby boy... and now I can report to the House that he's a strapping 16-year-old rugby player, doing absolutely very well."

She continued: I tell my Lords this story, because having to rely on neonatal care can happen to any couple and this bill will allow the mother and the partner to be there to support each other and the little bundle of joy without the additional worry about where the next pay check is coming from.

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The former first minister and ex-DUP leader, who is a mother-of-three, also previously revealed that her youngest child was treated at the cardiac unit of Crumlin Children's Hospital in Dublin.

In 2018, she told the Sunday Independent: "I have a child with cardiac issues when he was born so I take a special interest in that and was very pleased to see the working relationship between Belfast and Dublin in relation to paediatric care.

"Obviously, if you have someone who has a cardiac issue, you watch it more carefully and I've been watching this with interest."

The Neonatal Care Bill, when fully passed through all stages of parliament, will apply to parents of babies who spend at least one week in a neonatal unit for infants born prematurely or with medical conditions.

It would introduce two new rights: neonatal care leave and statutory neonatal care pay.

This means parents would be eligible to take 12 weeks of leave and pay at a statutory rate of 156.66 a week or 90% of their average earnings  whichever is lower  for every week the child is in neonatal care.

This would be on top of any other parental entitlements such as two weeks of paid paternity leave and 39 weeks of paid maternity leave.

The bill will now go to the final stages in the Lords before it is expected to get Royal Assent and be made into law.
It aims to provide TV opportunities for those in diverse areas

Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio is to launch a new mentorship programme for those who fancy their chances as the next hit scriptwriter.

Best known for his work as creator of the BBC crime drama, which was filmed in Northern Ireland, the writer aims to provide an opportunity for those brought up in diverse areas to have the chance to work in the TV industry through the guidance of experienced mentors.

Launching the initiative, the West Midlands born screenwriter aims to help champion diversity and inclusion within the UK television industry.

He said the intent of the project is to give greater opportunity to those who live outside London and are seen as underrepresented within the UKs TV industry.

Born in Nelson, Lancashire, the TV writer and producer grew up in Cannock, Staffordshire.

He kicked off his own career in a field a world away from his current occupation, originally stepping in to working life as a medical doctor. It was during this time that he responded to an advertisement by the British Medical Journal seeking advisors for a medical drama. This opening provided his break-through into the UK television industry.

The 57-year-olds work includes 2018 political thriller Bodyguard, as well as the police procedural show Bloodlands, starring Jimmy Nesbitt and set across the picturesque Strangford Lough area of Co Down.

Adrian Dunbar and Anna Maxwell Martin in Line of Duty

Speaking about his motivation to establish the new programme, Jed discussed how he became involved with TV by random chance, and that he desired to help others to provide the TV industry access to emerging writers who are financially and geographically disadvantaged.

He said: The idea that a working class kid from a small mining town in the West Midlands could ever work in TV didnt even occur to me, or to anyone I grew up with.

It was only when a TV production company placed an advert in the British Medical Journal that I was able to contribute to a medical drama. But for that one random chance, I would never have had access to the TV industry.

Im honoured and grateful to be part of a programme that will pass on the same life-changing opportunity that was given to me at the start of my own career.

Mentors involved with the programme have been handpicked by Jed and include skilled BBC writers/creators such as Marnie Dickens, Emma Frost, Steven Moffatt, Vinay Patel and Jack Thorne.

These mentors have worked on popular shows such as His Dark Materials, Sherlock, Thirteen and Murdered by My Father.

Those accepted onto the programme will work over a 12-month period with their mentor to pitch an original idea in the hope to secure a commission.

Applications to acquire brand-new membership on the program can be submitted from today with applications required to explain why they wish to be a TV writer and the submission of a sample script.
Police at the scene of a suspected pipe bomb attack on the Bowtown Road of Newtownards on March 26th, 2023 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)   Kevin Scott

North Down UDA have warned members of a deposed loyalist gang that if they dont leave the area, they, along with their families, will be considered targets.
The sign had been installed at Mill Park, Tobermore

Union flags mark the spot where the Irish language sign was removed from in Mill Park, Tobermore.

A SINN Fein councillor has condemned the removal of a council-owned bilingual sign from a village in Co Londonderry and branded it a hate crime.

The signage was installed in Mill Park in Tobermore by Mid Ulster District Council on Thursday.

However, it was removed within two days by angry residents who left two Union flags in its place. The identity of those responsible is not known.

Local representative Ian Milne described the removal of the signpost as an act of wanton destruction which I unreservedly condemn.

It is clearly a hate crime and an attack on the ratepayers of the district and I would call on all political parties to call it out and condemn this act of hate vandalism, he told the Belfast Telegraph.

Following international best practice for the protection of minority and indigenous languages internationally and within these islands, Mid Ulster District Council has developed its own Irish language policy which is aimed at protecting and promoting our language.

The erection of bi-lingual place name signage is an important element within that policy.

Irish language is not the preserve of any one section of our community, religion or race.

The sign had been installed at Mill Park, Tobermore

His comments come after a DUP councillor said the installation of the sign came as a surprise to everyone who lives in the area  including elected representatives.

Anne Forde warned the local authority against replacing the stolen post which has infuriated many residents.

A lot of people were very angry about this and many residents have been voicing their opposition to an Irish sign being put up in a Protestant village, she said.

I didnt want to get into any disputes about this, but people are very unhappy. Everyone was shocked, I was shocked myself.

Its caused a whole hullabaloo.

The unionist representative accused the local authority of failing to carry out proper consultation before erecting the Irish sign at Mill Park and said replacing it will prove futile.

This is not a village that speaks Irish, she added.

Most residents dont accept the Irish language needs to be taught in Northern Ireland.

I dont know what way the council will deal with this going forward, but replacing the sign is a waste of ratepayers money because its obviously not going to get staying there. The council needs to accept that putting the sign there was not acceptable  its a Protestant village and no one was informed.

TUV council candidate for Moyola, Glenn Moore, has also claimed the Irish language sign is neither needed nor wanted.

In fact, it has a negative impact on community relations as many local people will see it as an attempt to brand the park, he said.

The PSNI confirmed it is investigating the missing sign and is treating the incident as a hate crime. Neighbourhood officers will be engaging with local representatives and agencies in the coming days, they said.

Mid Ulster District Council has been contacted for comment.
Terry Sanderson said he was living another life following the incident which left him with broken ribs and brain injuries.

Retired optometrist Mr Sanderson is suing the Oscar-winning actress over the collision at the Deer Valley resort in Utah in 2016, alleging she fell on top of him, leaving him with several broken ribs and a severe concussion.

Ms Paltrow has denied the allegations, claiming Mr Sanderson collided with her, and is counter-suing him.

Mr Sanderson said he had been told he should not ski again following the crash, which had caused the breakdown of his mental health and relationships

Giving evidence on Monday, he took a moment to collect himself before describing the incident, saying remembering what happened takes my breath away.

He said: Everything was great and then I heard nothing Ive heard before at a ski resort  it was a blood-curdling scream.

It was like someone was out of control and was going to hit a tree and die. Someone is out of control and theyre really seriously out of control.

He added: I got hit in my back so hard it felt like a serious, serious smack. Ive never been hit that hard and Im flying.

Terry Sanderson said he had been told he should not ski again following the crash (Rick Bowmer/Pool/AP/PA)   Rick Bowmer

Mr Sanderson said the next thing he remembered after the collision was a very angry male voice, which was later claimed to be Deer Valley ski instructor Eric Christiansen.

Everything is still black, like Im unconscious, but its like my subconscious is going into protection mode all I could recognise is that someone was very angry with me  it was a man, he said.

I couldnt hear what he was saying but he was mad. Im feeling a little afraid, I tried to move and I couldnt move a limb.

Mr Sanderson said the male voice was insistent he was the bad guy in the situation and been trying to bully him.

He added he had tried to mouth Im sorry to placate this man in the only defensive manner I could and that he had not heard any other voices.

There was one voice that my brain was focused on I only heard a male voice, a mad, angry, male voice, he said.

Mr Sanderson became emotional as he described the end of his relationship with former partner Karlene Davidson in the aftermath of the crash (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)   Rick Bowmer

Mr Christiansen later told the court it was a ridiculous claim he had been hostile towards Mr Sanderson.

Deer Valley takes their guests very seriously, and if an instructor has a confrontation with a guest, we dont last, he said.

He said Mr Sanderson had refused help from a ski patrol following the collision.

If either skier had said Im hurt, I need assistance, that would have changed everything, that would have made it so we all stayed on the scene, he said.

If anyone is hurt, (ski) patrol will have to be called, statements will be made, patrol will assess injuries.

Mr Christiansen firmly denied there had been a cover up to protect Ms Paltrow.

Mr Sanderson told the court he had become a self-imposed recluse after the incident and was not feeling as fun, not feeling engaged  not having that spark I once had.

Describing the physical and mental effects of the crash, he said: I cant ski any more, I was told if I did and had another crash I could wind up full time in a nursing home.

Gwyneth Paltrow enters the courtroom for her trial, Monday, March 27 (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)   Rick Bowmer

Im like living another life now.

Mr Sanderson became emotional as he described the end of his relationship with former partner Karlene Davidson in the aftermath of the crash.

It was a sad time for both of us, I know, and shes in a great relationship now and that was the purpose, and I think better than what I would have brought her, honestly, he said.

Its hard to admit that.

The court has previously heard testimony from Ms Paltrow, who reiterated multiple times she had been the victim of the crash.

She said she felt very sorry for Mr Sandersons declining health following the incident but said she was not at fault.

Mr Sanderson is seeking damages of a minimum of 300,000 dollars (244,000), while Ms Paltrows counter-claim is for one dollar.

The trial, in Park City, Utah, continues.
Nicola Sturgeon was always going to leave some big shoes to fill, but the SNP has already been finding the First Minister a hard act to follow.

The race for the SNP leadership has been a rocky affair, with dramatic resignations and acrimonious clashes between the candidates during live TV debates.

Even interim chief executive Mike Russell said, only a few days ago, that the party is in a tremendous mess.

Outgoing leader Ms Sturgeon has defended the situation, saying the SNP is going through some growing pains since she announced her decision to step down after more than eight years as party leader.

Peter Murrell stood down as the partys chief executive amid a row over membership numbers (Andy Buchanan/PA)   Andy Buchanan

Three members of the Scottish Parliament are running to replace her  Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, 32, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, 37, and 49-year-old former Scottish Government minister Ash Regan.

Perhaps the most dramatic moment in the leadership campaign has been the resignation of Peter Murrell, who had served as SNP chief executive for almost 25 years  and is married to Ms Sturgeon.

He quit with immediate effect after the party initially rubbished reports that its membership had dropped by 30,000  with the then-SNP head of communications Murray Foote dismissing the claims as drivel.

In an embarrassing U-turn, however, the party then admitted that as of February 15 this year, its membership was at 72,186  down from 103,884 in 2021.

Mr Foote quit his SNP role, with Mr Murrell then resigning the following day.

Clashes between the leadership candidates have also made the headlines in recent weeks.

In a bad-tempered STV debate, Ms Forbes attacked Mr Yousaf, saying he would be a continuity candidate when the party desperately needs change.

The candidates ahead of the STV debate with host, STV political editor Colin Mackay (Kirsty Anderson/STV/PA)   Kirsty Anderson/STV

In the harshest exchange of the race thus far, Ms Forbes hit out at the record in Government of Mr Yousaf  who is the current Health Secretary  saying: You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister weve got record-high waiting times.

What makes you think you can do a better job as first minister?

Her comments echoed Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillies scathing remark that Mr Yousaf is the worst Health Secretary on record and is without a doubt the worst minister I have ever had the misfortune of shadowing.

Mr Yousaf and other senior party figures accused Ms Forbes of trashing the SNPs record  but her polling improved.

Also taking the spotlight for perhaps not the best reason was Ms Regan, who has previously tweeted this is the time for #Bravehearts, not Fainthearts during her attempts to get ahead in the polls, when she said she would give Gary Lineker a red card following the BBC row over his refugee tweet.

He was temporarily removed as presenter of the BBCs Match Of The Day show after criticising the UK Governments asylum seeker policy.

Ms Regan, who admitted she had not even seen his tweet, backed him during a Channel 4 debate, saying he should be allowed to express his views.

Confused?

Eating humble pie? SNP leadership candidate Humza Yousaf made a blunder while on a visit to a Ukrainian association in Edinburgh (Lesley Martin/PA)   Lesley Martin

Not as confused as Mr Yousaf, who asked where are all the men? when meeting Ukrainian women refugees, appearing to forget many are likely to be engaged in conflict at home as they defend their country in the face of the Russian invasion.

Mr Yousaf, the favourite to replace Ms Sturgeon, made the blunder while visiting Ukrainian women in Edinburgh to discuss support for refugees in Scotland.

Elsewhere, Ms Forbes looked to be heading for a very early exit from the leadership contest when she opened up about her views on same-sex marriage in the first week of campaigning.

Ms Forbes, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, immediately lost some of her high-profile supporters after she said she would not have voted for gay marriage.

She also said having children outside of marriage would be wrong according to my faith and is something she would personally seek to avoid.

SNP deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black said she had been incredibly hurt by the comments, with Deputy First Minister John Swinney saying he profoundly disagreed with them.

Supporters of Ms Forbes, however, said they admired her honesty  a virtue the party seems to have lost sight of, certainly in the last few days.

The leadership contest has sent the SNPs poll ratings plunging.

The tremendous mess, however, has been to the delight of Labour and the Conservatives, who hope to gain seats in Scotland during the general election likely to happen next year.
Korean Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min speaks during a press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



By Lee Hyo-jin



Korea and Japan have entered a new chapter in their bilateral relations after the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held earlier this month, according to Korean Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min, Monday.



The ambassador said he is already feeling a positive shift in Japanese public sentiment on Korea, stressing that even right-wing Japanese are supporting bilateral cooperation.



"It seems that an environment has been created based on which the Kishida administration can more actively address issues on relations with Korea," he said during a press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He arrived in Seoul to attend an annual meeting of top Korean envoys abroad which kicked off earlier in the day.



Saying that there are broadly two types of Japanese right wing groups  one which focuses on security issues and the other which emphasizes the nation's historical identity  he explained, "The group which focuses on national security is calling for partnerships with Korea. This change can be felt throughout the Japanese authorities."



The ambassador, who took office in July 2022, recalled that relations between Seoul and Tokyo were deeply frozen to an unprecedented level back then. Japan's open hostility toward Korea seemed to have stemmed from an array of disputes such as wartime sex slavery and forced labor issues along with the military radar incident, he said.



"The two sides had lost trust in each other," Yun told reporters. "I was tasked with bringing back relations to those of the best of times."



In that sense, the ambassador commented that the Korean government's recent proposal on compensating forced labor victims was a "difficult decision" respecting both the 1965 treaty and 2018 Supreme Court ruling, which contradict each other.



On March 6, the Korean government announced a plan to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a public fund, without direct involvement of responsible Japanese firms. The government called for "voluntary participation" of the Japanese companies to the fund, but the businesses have yet to give any response.



Less than two weeks after the announcement, on March 16, Yoon traveled to Tokyo for a summit with Kishida, which served as a breakthrough moment in mending the years-long strained ties.



However, forced labor victims and their advocates, as well as liberal lawmakers, have denounced the Yoon administration for overlooking past historical disputes in his push to smooth out relations with Japan.



Critics also pointed out the Japanese government's lack of "sincere response" to the Korean government's diplomatic concession. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi claimed that "Japan did not engage in forced labor," two days after the Korean government's announcement on the resolution.



Regarding this, a senior foreign ministry official said on Monday, "It was regretful that he has made such remarks amid the Korean government's deep efforts (to resolve the issue.)"



The official also vowed "appropriate response" against any historical distortions by the Japanese government.



According to local reports, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is expected to announce on Tuesday the approval of history textbooks that justify wartime forced labor. The newly revised version of the textbook used at elementary schools is likely to omit the term "forced," while describing the Dokdo islets as Japanese territory.




The Government has only been able to get 8% of levelling-up funds out of the door, Labour has claimed.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove would not be drawn on accusations that more than 90% of the promised 4.8 billion regeneration cash had not yet been spent.

A Labour freedom of information request seen by the PA news agency suggested the total spend of the levelling-up fund was 392 million by the end of February, approximately 8% of the full amount.

Two rounds of the 4.8 billion fund have so far been released, worth 1.7 billion and 2.1 billion respectively, with cash allocated towards regeneration projects across the UK.

A third round of funding is expected to be announced later this year.

In the House of Commons, shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said: I have here a document that reveals that even on his flagship levelling-up policy, he has only been able to get 8% of his funds out of the door.

Referring to Mr Goves appearances on weekend politics programmes during which he announced the Governments plans to ban laughing gas, she added: He is good at getting press releases out the door, why not our money?

Mr Gove did not respond directly to the claims, but said: In the Budget just the other week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible for making sure that tens of millions of pounds were spent.

We heard during the course of questions from members across this House who have received support, who have had projects delivered, who have seen change delivered.

This is a Government impactful, effective and focused, and on the other side, I am afraid, all we here is the cackle of impotence.

Ms Nandy hit back by claiming plans in the Budget to scrap the lifetime pensions allowance limit disproportionately favoured the wealthy.

Lisa Nandy (James Speakman/PA)   James Speakman

She told MPs: Im glad he mentioned the Budget because in just one day, his Government spent three times more on a tax cut for the richest 1% than they have managed to spend on the whole of the North of England in well over a year.

Doesnt this just sum this Government up? They can get their act together when it comes to the 1%, but when it comes to investment in our town centres, local transport, decent housing, even on delivering on a single one of the levelling-up missions, why is it that the rest of us always just have to wait?

Mr Gove responded that the Government had adopted a Labour proposal suggested by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, adding: Inconsistency, thy name is Labour.

Labours freedom of information request had asked the Government how much money allocated through the fund had been spent.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities responded that 224 million had been spent by January 18, rising to 392 million by February 22.

Elsewhere in the debate, Mr Gove said the Government would make a statement this week on how it plans to continue funding organisations in Northern Ireland which used to receive EU cash.

Simon Hoare, Conservative chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee, told MPs some groups had huge problems to their budget as a result of the cliff edge end to funding.

The Communities Secretary replied: He has been vigilant on behalf of communities in Northern Ireland and we will be making a statement later this week, and the minister for levelling up and I will be doing everything we can in order to ensure continuity of funding for these services.
Local Chris Marples looks at a sign where the egg is missing in Egginton, Derbyshire (Fabio de Paola/PA)

Residents of a village named Egginton embarked on a giant Easter egg hunt when they woke up to find the eggs featured on their notice boards and street signs had mysteriously disappeared overnight.

Cadbury surprised the self-proclaimed Easter-obsessed village in Derbyshire, where the entire parish  of just 600 people  soon took to the streets in search of their missing eggs.

They were led to a large purple Cadbury Easter egg in a nearby open space, made up of hundreds of smaller eggs  one for each resident to tuck into or hide for someone else this Easter.

The antics celebrated the return of the Cadbury WorldWide Hide, a virtual challenge where people can hide an Easter egg anywhere in the world on a map for someone they love using Google Maps Street View.

Local resident Emma Malvenan said: I spotted the egg had gone missing from the sign at the end of my lane and wondered what in the world could have happened.

Before I knew it, I was part of a giant Easter Egg hide.

The activity marks the return of the Cadbury Worldwide Hide where you can hide a virtual Easter egg anywhere in the world (Fabio De Paola/PA Wire)

I couldnt believe Cadbury had come to our little village to have some Easter fun with us.

It really brought everyone together and Im so pleased we got to be part of it  well remember this day for a very long time.

Egginton is especially passionate about Easter and celebrates each year by decorating houses, streets and historic buildings in preparation for various festivities.

The entire parish was surprised with hundreds of individual Easter eggs (Fabio De Paola/PA Wire)

Cadbury brand manager Laura Gray added: We are thrilled to have created such a memorable Easter surprise for the people of Egginton to mark the return of the Cadbury Worldwide Hide.

We wanted to do something a little different this year and really get people talking  we believe hiding the whole village has done egg-actly that.

Cadbury has also partnered with the Trussell Trust and donated 75,000 Easter chocolates to local food banks across the UK this Easter.
A child weeps on the bus leaving The Covenant School after the mass shooting (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean/AP)   Nicole Hester

A gunwoman wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three pupils and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

The gunwoman died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 pupils.

She had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and carried out surveillance before the attack, police said.

The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all aged nine, and Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

The school website lists Ms Koonce as the headteacher.

Police said the gunwoman was 28 and from Nashville, after initially saying she appeared to be in her teens.

She is believed to have been a former pupil at the school.

The killings come as communities around the country reel from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year, a pupil who shot his teacher in Virginia, and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

President Joe Biden called on Congress again to pass his assault weapons ban in the wake of the Nashville shooting.

Police and FBI investigate a house in Nashville after the mass shooting (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/AP)   Andrew Nelles

Its heartbreaking, a familys worst nightmare, he said. Its ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation.

First lady Jill Biden said: I am truly without words, and our children deserve better. We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer.

The suspects identity as a woman surprised experts on mass shootings.

Women make up only about 5% to 8% of all mass shooters, said Adam Lankford, a criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama who has closely studied the psychology and behaviour of such individuals.

There have been seven mass killings at US schools since 2006, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

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In all of them, the gunmen were males who killed four or more people within a 24-hour time frame at schools with pupils from nursery age to 18.

The tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received an initial call about an active gunman at 10.13am.

Officers began clearing the ground floor of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the next floor, police spokesman Don Aaron said.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10.27am, Mr Aaron said.

He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

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The victims were pronounced dead on arrival at the Monroe Carell Junior Childrens Hospital, said Craig Boerner, a spokesman for Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, which is affiliated with the childrens hospital.

Other students walked to safety on Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

Police with rifles, heavy vests and helmets could be seen walking through the school car park and around the grassy perimeter of the building.

Helicopter footage from WTVF also showed the officers looking around a wooded area between the campus and a nearby road.

Children from The Covenant School are taken to the Woodmont Baptist Church after the shooting at their school (Jonathan Mattise/AP)   Jonathan Mattise

Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens and fire engines blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. And right now, its real.

On WTVF TV, reporter Hannah McDonald said that her mother-in-law works at the front desk at The Covenant School. The woman had stepped outside for a break and was coming back when she heard gunshots, Ms McDonald said during a live broadcast.

The reporter said she has not been able to speak to her mother-in-law but said her husband had.

A child is reunited with his parents (John Bazemore/AP)   John Bazemore

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Nashville mayor John Cooper tweeted, thanking emergency services and medical professionals.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website.

The school is in the affluent Green Hill neighbourhood just south of Nashville, close to the citys top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers.

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The school has 33 teachers, the website said. The schools website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

Democratic state representative Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy.

I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there, Mr Freeman said in a statement.

I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.
Huge PSNI security operation focused on April 11 and 12

US President Joe Biden is expected to arrive in Northern Ireland on Easter Tuesday.

Police sources indicated that planning for a presidential visit here is now focused on April 11 and 12.

A huge security operation is being finalised ahead of his trip  the first to Northern Ireland by a serving US President since Barack Obama in 2013.

Mr Bidens visit is timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

The White House is still arranging the final details, however, it is understood the President will arrive in Northern Ireland on April 11 - the day after the anniversary.

It is expected he will then head to the Irish Republic the following day, and will spend up to three days visiting Dublin, Louth and Mayo.

Reports suggest Mr Biden will meet with Irish president Michael D Higgins, and give a public speech.

A significant security operation will be in place on both sides of the border, bolstering the Secret Service, which is responsible for the Presidents personal safety.

Gardai have been stopped from taking time off during those days, apart from in exceptional circumstances.

The PSNI has also asked for 330 officers from the rest of the UK to assist with the security operation.

Earlier this month, Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said that while there was no confirmed date for the presidential visit, the PSNI would have contingencies in place. He said: We have asked for approximately 330 officers from across the United Kingdom to support the policing operation.

The mutual aid officers will be used to provide additional search capabilities and a range of other specialist policing functions during this period.

Mutual aid officers are a vital part of the vast policing and security operation for these events.

They will be provided with the necessary equipment and familiarisation training.

They are coming to Northern Ireland to assist with the security operation and not every day policing of Northern Ireland. 

PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne previously said it would be a unique policing operation for which the PSNI would require support.

The White House confirmed Mr Bidens visit on both sides of the border earlier this month.

The President also spoke about his support for the Good Friday Agreement during his meeting with the Taoiseach in the White House on St Patricks Day.
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Pastor Jimmy Evans claimed during a sermon that Jesus felt more fear than any human has ever felt. Evans was giving a guest sermon and was preaching about how Christians could deal with their fears and anxiety. As many obstacles life throws our way, it can be pretty common to experience moments of fear and anxiety.



"Jesus had more fear on his way to the cross than any human being has ever experienced... Suppose you've ever been fearful of anything. In that case, Jesus understands it, and He was more fearful than any person has ever been fearful," Pastor Jimmy Evans said during his guest sermon at the Fellowship Church in Texas.



Evans suggested that before Jesus was arrested, He felt endless amounts of fear that made Him sweat blood. The pastor declared the reason for Jesus never speaking of experiencing fear other than this experience was simple, He identified as a fellow human. When you go to Jesus and discuss your feelings, He will tell you He understands because He became a man during his in the world. Jesus experienced fear in order to redeem us from our fear. He also experienced every form of temptation that the ordinary person is tempted with. He held onto His will and did not sin.



Evans reminded congregants that have sinned that they have a "good God" who loves them unconditionally despite any flaws they may have.



"So if you're ever fearful, know that Jesus not only understands it, but He's been there and done that and can help you get through it," Evans said. Evans encouraged congregants to visit their "throne of grace" every time they needed God's help.



He loves us so much that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, which means that God understands what we're going through, and he's there for us. When you're feeling down, don't forget that God is with you. Evans reminded congregants that Jesus encourages them to come to His throne when they are experiencing "something," as Hebrews 4:16 says.



Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

God was so fearful in his experience because He had "the full knowledge of every single detail of everything He was about to endure. No one has ever been tortured, and no one has ever died the death that Jesus was about to die, and He knew exactly every blow he was gonna receive." Evans said. Christians don't get complete knowledge when it comes to a situation. The fear and anxiety you experience are the Devil's way of stopping you from doing something great.



Even though Christ begged his father not to let him go through it, God refused his request. Jesus ultimately chose to surrender to God's will because it was the only way for man to be saved. John 14:6 says, "If there was any way to heaven, God the Father would not have sent Jesus down the cross." Evans preached that only through Christ is going to heaven possible and that Christians never truly die.



"When you take your last breath here, you take your first breath in heaven immediately after that," Evans said when explaining the beauty of resurrection that Jesus Christ gives to the world.



In the Bible, God tells us not to be afraid. (Luke 12:32, Philippians 4:6-7) We often make decisions out of fear instead of out of faith when we are afraid. We may also miss out on opportunities because we're too afraid to take risks. The Devil uses fear to try to control us and keep us from doing what God wants us to do. However, when we trust God, we can overcome our fears and accomplish great things.



In the end, Pastor Evans encourages people to put their full faith in God, allowing them never to regret a faith-based decision. God always honors faith, but he does not honor fear. Start every day with faith over fear, and you will be in good stead.
Fauxels/Pexels.com

When you sit next to a co-worker at work, you get a first look into their habits and quirks. Unfortunately, not all of us like what we see, hear or smell. Usually, you can subtly distance yourself from an irritating colleague in general, but its more challenging to ignore or tune out your co-workers sometimes. For example, some co-workers might leave potato chip crumbs in a shared area.

Rude office behavior centers around insensitivity toward other people. It varies from the oblivious to the malicious. Unrefined co-worker habits can be incredibly infuriating in open office spaces where you cant shield yourself from the sounds and smells of people nearby. However, whats rude to you might be normal to your co-worker. Here are some of the most disrespectful things you can do to your co-workers.

Coming to work when youre sick.

One of the most disrespectful things you can do is show up to work coughing, physically ill, sneezing all day and calling it allergies. Whether your cough indicates a deeper health issue or is innocent, most people are sensitive about getting sick and taking time off work, especially during the holiday season. When someone comes to work physically ill, its a sign that they dont respect other peoples feelings and health. When someone is visibly sneezing and coughing, and you see particles in the air, you cant help but feel a little put-off and irritated.

Leaving your things on other peoples desks.

Storing work items and moving materials in others devoted workspace is rude because theres an assumption or attitude that all office areas are 100 percent available and accessible for everyones use, even though those areas are dedicated explicitly for anothers use. Even if a workspace isnt enclosed by a physical door or wall or is in close quarters, storing and moving items on a shared cubby, cubicle, or desk is the same as opening someones closed office door.

Playing music without headphones.

Your co-workers dont want to hear your music because its distracting. Also, everyones music taste isnt the same, so forcing your co-workers to listen to a music genre they dont like is rude and torturous.

Making bodily sounds or sharing gossip.

Unwanted sounds from colleagues are one of the most common complaints of office workers. Whether its radio talk shows, music, conversations with other co-workers, telephone calls, or bodily sounds like heavy breathing and chewing, unwanted sounds in your work area make it challenging or impossible to concentrate.

Most times, the content of what youre hearing can be irritating, like a colleague who gives colorful descriptions of their gastric issues or a co-worker who fights with their spouse on the phone using foul language. Noise-canceling headphones can be an excellent investment for blocking out unwanted noises.

Then there are the more egregious forms of rude co-worker office habits, like bullying people and gossiping. For example, male colleagues might discuss women in the office within earshot. In offices where incivility rules, its not uncommon for people to try to undermine others by talking about them.

Tuning out people trying to talk to you.

Wearing earbuds with the volume too loud is also rude. Work is supposed to be interactive, and sometimes your co-workers need to talk to you. If the volume of your headphones is too loud, you cant hear your co-workers. Nothing is more annoying than talking to a co-worker and constantly repeating yourself because they cant hear you due to the volume of their headphones. It isnt polite and makes everyones job more challenging.

Treating the office space like your kitchen.

The most disrespectful thing a co-worker can do is treat a shared workspace as their personal kitchen or office. Some co-workers might host Zoom presentations at the highest volume, take personal calls on speaker phones, eat microwaved fish in the office, or leave their used papers and dishes spilling into their neighbors workspace. Its a rude distraction and ultimately impedes a co-workers ability to function. The personal space mindset overlooks neurodiversity and signals that their needs are the only ones that matter.

Barging into private conversations.

Because someone sits next to you and hears you, that doesnt invite them to add to your conversation when you didnt ask them into the conversation. Giving unsolicited advice or opinions or correcting you after they misheard a discussion can be frustrating, condescending, and embarrassing.

Using too much perfume or cologne.

Some people are very sensitive to scents, so your perfume or cologne may be offensive and distracting. When going into the office, it would be best to wear only one spritz of perfume or cologne if you have to wear any.

Not acknowledging the energy you bring into the workplace.

Going through life is hard enough without having to deal with the potential day-to-day negativity, humiliating remarks, and killjoy complaints from your co-workers. We shouldnt expect everyone to have rose-colored glasses every day. However, having a co-worker who brings negativity everyday to the workplace through their actions and comments can be draining, creating an unpleasant work environment.

Forming cliques with other co-workers.

Cliquey behavior was terrible in high school, but its even worse when it occurs at work because you feel like your colleagues should be past this behavior. If work feels like high school, it might be time to consider finding a new job. If the office reminds you of high school with gossip about you or cliques you arent a part of, youre being disrespected, which isnt nice.

Having to deal with rude co-workers is something that no one wants to deal with. Their behavior makes work impossible, leaving you to feel like you cant get any work done. If youre dealing with rude co-workers, it might be worth conversing with them about their behavior. Some people may not see their behavior as rude. If the conversation isnt successful, it might be time to talk to HR about whats happening. Ultimately, what you want to avoid is discussing their behavior with other co-workers, which will only make things worse.
Office Holidays/Wikimedia Commons

Many people may not be aware, but there are two Independence Days in America. Of course, the first is July 4th, when America freed itself from British rule. However, the second is a day many people dont know about called Juneteenth. Juneteenth is the day when enslaved people in Texas found out they were free. Typically celebrated on June 19th, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

President Abraham Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 during the Civil War, which said that the three million enslaved people living in Confederate states were free. However, it wasnt until 1865 that General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people were now free, much to the surprise of the enslaved people in Texas. Here are some interesting facts about Juneteenth that you may not know.

The news of freedom arrived two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Technically, the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in 1863. However, enslaved people in Texas didnt find out about it until 1865, two years later. From the Unions perspective, the 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were already free, but none of them knew it, and no one rushed to tell them.

There are numerous theories on why Texas didnt enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.

Back in those days, news traveled slowly. For example, it took Confederates soldiers in western Texas over two months to learn that Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Still, theres been a struggle to explain the 30-month gap between the Emancipation Proclamation and enslaved peoples freedom. This gap led to speculation that some Texans may have suppressed the announcement.

Other theories say that the original messenger was killed to stop the information from being relayed or that the federal government delayed the announcement on purpose to get one more cotton harvest out of the enslaved people. However, the real reason may be that Lincolns proclamation wasnt enforceable in the Confederate states before the war ended.

The freedom announcement urged freed people to stay with their owners.

When he arrived in Texas, General Granger read General Order No. 3, which read,

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

What came after the freedom announcement is known as the scatter.

Most freedmen and women didnt want to stay with their enslavers, even if they would get paid. Some were leaving while General Granger made the announcement. What came after is known as the scatter, where big groups of formerly enslaved people left Texas to find their family or other places where theyd be welcomed in northern states or Canada.

Everyone wasnt freed instantly.

Texas is a relatively large state, and General Grangers order was slow to spread. Historian James Smallwood says that many enslavers purposefully hid the information until after the cotton harvest, and some hid it beyond after the cotton harvest. In July 1867, there were two different accounts of enslaved people being freed. There was also a report of a Texas horse thief, Alex Simpson, who enslaved people were only released after he was hanged in 1868.

With freedom came other issues.

Texas enslavers werent too enthusiastic to part with what they felt was their property despite the announcement. Many freed people were beaten, lynched, or murdered when they tried to leave. Susan Merritt, a former enslaved person, recanted, They would catch [freed slaves] swimming across [the] Sabine River and shoot them."

There were limited opportunities for celebrating.

When freed people tried to commemorate the first anniversary of the freedom announcement the following year, they were met with a big problem. Segregation laws were multiplying, so there werent any public places they were allowed to use. In the 1870s, formerly enslaved people raised $800 to buy 10 acres of land, which they named Emancipation Park. This park was the only public park and swimming pool in the Houston area in the Houston area open to Black people until the 1950s.

Juneteenth celebrations faded for decades.

Juneteenth celebrations declined during the Jim Crow era. Then came the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the Poor Peoples March, planned by Martin Luther King Jr. This march was purposefully scheduled to overlap with the date of Juneteenth. This march brought Juneteenth back to the foreground. When participants took the celebrations back to their home states, the holiday was reborn.

Texas was the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday.

In 1980, Texas regarded the holiday as worthy of statewide recognition, becoming the first state to do so.

The Juneteenth flag has lots of symbolism.

The Juneteenth flag is packed with meaning, just as the flags designer L.J. Graf intended. The colors red, white, and blue match the American flag to signify that the enslaved people and their descendants were American. The star in the middle symbolizes Texas, while the bursting star represents freedom and a new people.

As Juneteenth traditions spread around the United States, different places put their own spin on celebrations. For example, the holiday is usually celebrated in southern states with readings, oral histories, and barbecues. Other states serve Marcus Garvey salad in honor of the Black nationalist. Rodeos have also become a part of Juneteenth celebrations in southwest states. Concerts and parades are typical celebrations across the country.

Juneteenth is a day where Black people celebrate the freedom of their ancestors and remember the struggles they endured. Sadly, enslaved people in Texas didnt learn of their release until two years later, but they would be glad to know that their descendants are still celebrating the holiday decades later.
President Yoon Seok Yeol, fifth from left, and first lady Kim Keon Hee, sixth from left, toast with Cho Tae-yong, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the U.S., fourth from left, at Yeongbingwan (guesthouse) in Cheong Wa Dae after an annual meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, Monday. The gathering of Korea's top envoys marks the first such in-person group meeting in Seoul since late 2018. The meeting runs for five days. Yonhap
A Chinese coast guard ship and a Vietnamese fisheries patrol boat apparently had a tense encounter during the weekend in the South China Sea, coming as close as 10 meters to each other, according to data from Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking website.

The data, based on the ships automatic identification system (AIS) signals, shows that the China Coast Guard ship, CCG5205, and Vietnams Kiem Ngu 278 came crazy close to one another at around 7 a.m. on Sunday local time (midnight UTC), said a researcher based in California.

As of Monday afternoon (local time), the CCG5205 was operating in Malaysias exclusive economic zone after it left Vietnam waters where the Kiem Ngu 278 had been pursuing the considerably larger Chinese ship since March 24, tracking data showed.

At one point the two ships were less than 10 meters (32.8 feet) apart, according to Ray Powell, the Project Myoushu (South China Sea) lead at Stanford University, who first spotted the incident at sea.

The Vietnamese ship was pretty bold given the difference in size  the Chinese ship is twice the size of the Vietnamese ship, Powell said.

It must have been a very tense engagement.

The incident occurred some 50 nautical miles (92.6 kilometers) south of Vanguard Bank, a known South China Sea flashpoint between Vietnam and China.

About 90 minutes later, the Chinese ship left Vietnams exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where it had been since Friday evening.

An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and in the seabed.

Ship-tracking data shows Vietnams Kiem Ngu 278 was closely following the Chinese coast guard vessel CCG5205. [Marine Traffic]

Last month, the same China Coast Guard ship was accused of approaching about 150 yards (137 meters) from a Philippine Coast Guard ship and pointing a laser at the crew, causing temporary blindness to them.

On Feb. 6, the Philippine Coast Guard said that the Chinese ship had directed a military-grade laser light twice at the BRP Malapascua, which was on its way to deliver food and supplies to the troops stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

Manila lodged a diplomatic protest and the U.S. State Department issued a statement supporting our Philippine allies.

Beijing rejected the allegation, saying the Philippine ship had intruded into the waters off the Spratly Islands without Chinese permission and the Chinese coast guard ship had acted in a professional and restrained way.

Too close for comfort

In the Sunday encounter, Marine Traffics past track showed the Chinese CCG5205 and the Vietnamese Kiem Ngu 278 were so close that they could have collided.

Ten meters between ships is really too close for comfort, said Collin Koh, a Singapore-based regional maritime analyst.

Depending on the sea state, the risk of collision is fairly high, Koh told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

A retired Vietnamese Navy senior officer, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the two ships must have narrowly escaped a collision because they were sailing in opposite directions and at a very slow speed.

If they were heading to the same direction a collision would have not been avoidable as the distance is too close and too dangerous, he said.

Chinese ships had deliberately rammed Vietnamese patrol ships in the past, he added, but not in recent years.

The CCG5205 left Sanya, in Hainan island, for the current mission on March 11 and entered Vietnams EEZ the first time on March 12.

It then moved to the overlapping area between claimant states in the South China Sea and Malaysias EEZ before entering Vietnams EEZ again on March 21 for a couple hours and for the third time on March 24 when the Kiem Ngu 278 chased it.

At around midnight UTC on March 26, Vietnams Kiem Ngu 278 and Chinas CCG5205 were dangerously close. [Marine Traffic]

The Kiem Ngu 278, officially named Vietnamese Fisheries Resources Surveillance ship KN-278, is homeported in Vung Tau, south of Ho Chi Minh City.

It left base on March 13 and had been following the Chinese vessel closely since.

In July 2021, the Kiem Ngu 278 was following another Chinese coast guard ship, the CCG5202, which Vietnam accused of harassing its gas-exploration activities.

Six parties hold claims to parts of the South China Sea and its natural resources but Chinas claim is the biggest and Beijing has been trying to hinder other countries oil and gas activities in the waters inside its self-claimed nine-dash line.

A 2,600-ton Chinese survey vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi Si Hao, had lingered inside Vietnams EEZ from March 9 until March 25, when it switched off its AIS, according to data from Marine Traffic.

Its whereabouts are currently unknown.

Radio Free Asia (RFA), a news service affiliated with BenarNews, published this report.
This 2013 file photo shows members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters gathered in a jungle clearing in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao.

Five suspected Filipino militants with the local the Islamic State affiliate who were killed last week in an air strike and offensive by government forces in the southern Philippines were plotting attacks during Ramadan, the military said Monday.

The Armys 6th Infantry Division (ID) said eight improvised bombs were seized during the military operation in Pagalungan, a town in Maguindanao province. The operation, which took place on March 21, foiled the bombings that the group allegedly was planning in Mindanao, the countrys southern third, whose population is largely Muslim.

We have prevented their planned bombings targeting innocent civilians, (attempt to) create fear and sabotage peace during Ramadan, Col. Donald Gumiran, commander of the 602nd Brigade, said in a statement.

After making sure the planned bombings were stopped, Gumiran said the military ceased its operations against the militants in the area to allow the people to celebrate Ramadan, Islams holy month of fasting. The offensive targeted a suspected lair of the Daulah Islamiyah (DI), the Filipino name for the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

It was not clear why the attack was kept under wraps until Monday. The military did not immediately respond to calls by BenarNews.

Lt. Col. Dennis Almorato, 6th ID spokesman, said an A-29B Super Tucano light attack aircraft fired rockets at the enemy encampment. Ground troops, meanwhile, fought a one-hour gun battle with the group, leading to the enemy casualties.

Almorato said troops at the camp recovered eight improvised bombs which were ready to be planted and detonated by the group.

Almorato said the operation was conducted based on information provided by two informants.

Citing information from the informants, Almorato said DI members apparently were planning to detonate the IEDs at populated areas in Maguindanao and Cotabato provinces at the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan last Wednesday.

Materials used in the manufacture of IEDs, a .45-caliber pistol and Garand rifle ammunition were found at the lair, Almorato said.

The DI group is composed mostly of militants belonging to a faction from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group from the ex-separatist force Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which controls an autonomous region in the south.
Philippine and U.S. troops participate in amphibious landing drills during a joint military exercise at a naval station in Zambales province, Philippines, Oct. 7, 2022.

The Philippines and the United States will participate in their largest-ever joint military drills next month amid rising regional tensions with China, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

More than 17,000 troops will participate in the drills from April 11 to 28, during which the allies will for the first time conduct live-fire exercises at sea, said Col. Michael Logico, the Filipino spokesman for the drills.

There will be 17,600 participants on our side and on the side of the U.S. ... This is officially the largest Balikatan exercise, Logico told reporters. Balikatan means shoulder-to-shoulder in Tagalog.

About 12,000 U.S. military personnel will participate in the 38th version of Balikatan while most of the others will be Philippine troops.

This will be the first annual exercise under the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which in February granted U.S. troops expanded access to military sites as regional tensions rise over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The exercises also come on the heels of Chinas growing assertiveness in the disputed South China region.

Last month, Manila filed a diplomatic protest with Beijing after the China Coast Guard trained a military-grade laser on a Philippine Coast Guard ship near the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal).

Logico said the beefed-up exercises were not a direct response to the incident but were only to show that we are combat ready.

All I can say is that every country has the absolute and inalienable right to exercise within our territory, Logico said. We have an absolute, inalienable right to defend our territory. That's all I can say.

China and the Philippines have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam have their own claims that counter Chinas.

Last month, a U.S. Army official told the Associated Press news agency that Beijings increasing assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea was absolutely on participants minds when they train.

On Sunday, Beijing accused Washington of stirring up trouble in the region and driving a wedge between China and the Philippines.

The Chinese embassy in Manila said that contrary to accusations by the Philippines, U.S. and other countries, freedom of navigation in the South China Sea has not been impeded.

It also said that granting the U.S. greater access to Philippine military bases would drag the Southeast Asian nation into geopolitical strife, claiming the move is part of a plot to contain its growing regional influence.

US weapons

This year, 111 troops from the Australian Defense Force will be participating in the exercise, particularly in small land-based special operations training, Balikatan spokesman Logico said.

Japan, another country that has a territorial quarrel with China, will be sending observers to the event, he said.

Exercises will be held at Fort Magsaysay in northern Nueva Ecija province; in Casiguran town in Aurora province; and in the provinces of Palawan and Antique.

The U.S. is scheduled to bring a Patriot missile system and high mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARs, Logico said, adding it is to bring ships and aircraft without giving specific details.

The Philippine military, meanwhile, will feature two frigates from the navy, FA-50 jets from the air force, and newly acquired artillery from the army.

The previous largest Balikatan in 2015 included 6,500 U.S. and 5,000 Philippine troops. The 2022 exercises involved 8,900 personnel, including 5,100 Americans.
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Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989.
A Jamaican meat patty from Mike's Korean Kitchen / Courtesy of Mike's Korean Kitchen



By Jon Dunbar



Corner Pizzeria in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, is hosting a pop-up event this Saturday, selling Jamaican meat patties made by Mike's Korean Kitchen , a social media culinary project.



"I just love cooking and know what it's like to not be able to get the things you crave," said Mike, the guy behind the pop-up. "This popup is just trying to push my hobby to the limits."



On his YouTube channel, founded in 2016, he shows how it's possible to make any food in Korea. His videos cover things as simple as cookies and brownies, as well as frozen foods and TV dinners, basic stuff that foreign residents living in Korea might miss from back home. Missing food from one's home country can be a major cause of homesickness, and finding ways to overcome that feeling can help to improve quality of life while living abroad.



"I don't miss any food from America really because I can make it or find a place nowadays," Mike admitted.



A Jamaican patty is a bright golden semicircular pocket, which is stuffed usually with meat. It's somewhat comparable to meat pies or empanadas  maybe even Korean mandu, if one wants to stretch the definition. But the Jamaican delicacy has its own preparation techniques and seasonings, and if you want one, the comparisons are no alternative.





Jamaican meat patties from Mike's Korean Kitchen / Courtesy of Mike's Korean Kitchen



Preparation for meat patties is pretty intensive.



"It is about a five-hour process or maybe six depending," he said. "To make a small or large batch, as well as both a small or large patty, it takes the same amount of time just about, because of letting the meat season for hours, and having to cool the dough so it's easier to work with, plus you need to use half the butter in the beginning and then shred the other half of butter into the dough, folding it and incorporating it to get that dough perfectly flaky."



Many of Mike's key ingredients come from overseas, although these days he can order them through Coupang and Gmarket. This includes hot curry powder, scotch bonnet pepper powder and jerk seasoning.



"All of these things are coming from overseas and take a minimum of two weeks to get," he said. "I make no compromises and made sure I planned for the April 1 event to ensure all my special authentic ingredients arrived."





Some of the imported ingredients used to make Jamaican meat patties / Courtesy of Mike's Korean Kitchen
The wreckage of the Pan American World Airways 747 aircraft and KLM Boeing 747 jumbo are scattered over the runway at the airport in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, Monday, March 28, 1977. The collision between the two planes killed 583 people on board.
PITTSFIELD  When April 20 rolls around, a group of Berkshire County employees will have reason to celebrate.

Temescal Wellness is taking a puff and a pass on business as usual on 4/20, closing down its Framingham offices, Pittsfield, Framingham and Hudson dispensaries and its processing operation in Worcester. The company is giving its nearly 100 employees the day off with pay to allow for the celebration of cannabis high holiday.

Sian Leiniger, the director of retail at Temescal Wellness, said the idea to make 4/20 a company holiday came from the top: Alex Hardy, the companys chief executive officer.

Last year, Hardy proposed giving employees a break on what traditionally is one of the companys busiest retail days. This year Temescal Wellness is making that idea a reality.

We saw it as a great opportunity to do something for our staff, Leiniger said, and also just really make this an actual holiday and try and normalize and destigmatize it being a cannabis holiday.

The origins of the holiday are still a little hazy but most sources point to the code used by a group of northern California high schoolers in the 1970s to signal their after-school smoke break. The group would regularly meet at 4:20 p.m. at a nearby statute and light up.

The term 420 is promoted on a Grateful Dead concert poster in 1990, along with a story that its the police code for marijuana smoking in progress. The story is passed around until it makes its way to the cannabis-focused publication High Times in New York which proclaims April 20, the translation of the code into a date, as a holiday.

In states with recreational cannabis sales, 4/20 has taken on the fervor of other retail holidays; think Black Friday. Employees working in the cannabis industry have customers wishing them a Happy 4/20 as they work through what Lieiniger called a wild day, tied to the sales floor or register, unable to join in on the cannabis fest.

Leiniger said the companys employees work really hard all year to do exactly that, to give people access to education, knowledge, compassion [around cannabis] and so this is just kind of trying to turn this day into a celebration of all of that.

She doesnt expect to see many other dispensaries in Massachusetts taking a similar approach this year, but shes hopeful April 20 will become a more mainstream holiday in years to come.

With Temescal Wellness dispensaries in Pittsfield, Framingham and Hudson closing up shop, Leininger said the company will be trying to spread out the typical holiday business over the course of the month.

We never really want anyone to show up and be disappointed, but for us, we think our customers and our patients appreciate our team just like we do, Leiniger said. Were just trying to message that were here every other day of April.

Temescal Wellness is planning to sweeten the deal for customers as well. The company will have specials and bundles on sale leading up to the holiday and is planning on offering special sales for its medical cannabis patients.
GREAT BARRINGTON  The state on Monday began installing new safety equipment an intersection at a high school entrance that is prone to crashes.

A contractor for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is installing an Intersection Conflict Warning System at the Monument Mountain Regional High School entrance off Route 7. The system uses flashing lights and signs to warn drivers, according to a Facebook post by the Berkshire Hills Regional School District.

The warning systems "are used to warn drivers on the through road of the presence of traffic at stop-controlled cross streets and to warn drivers at stop-controlled approaches of the presence of traffic on the through lanes."

The work will happen in the school driveway and on the shoulders of Route 7 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It is expected to take three days but may not be completed until Thursday.

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"MassDOT and their contractor will be considerate of arrival and dismissal times," said the post.

The intersection at fast-moving Route 7 has young drivers turning into and out of the school amid through traffic and congestion during arrival and dismissal times.

The DOT refused to put full traffic light there, but later agreed to add flashing lights to the intersection after a 2016 crash rekindled long-standing worry about the intersection. A crash there last month appears to be the seventh there since 2014.

Reworking the entrance to improve safety is part of a plan to remodel or rebuild the high school in the next few years.
One of the core principals of the Protestant Reformation was justification by grace alone  that works play no part in our justification. There is nothing I can do that will help me to earn my salvation. But why is that significant? What is wrong with works playing at least some part in our justification?

Our Fallen Human Condition

Any discussion of justification needs to start with the human condition and why we have any need of being justified. Most of us think that we are pretty good, maybe a few rough edges. But I havent killed anyone. I dont drink, smoke, or do drugs. I obey the law and pay all my bills. And I get along with most people. But that attitude misses out on the real human condition.

According to the Bible, we are all sinful. Romans 3:10-18 paints a pretty bleak picture of the human condition. You might read that description and think that it does not fairly represent you, that you are not nearly as bad as that. And indeed, few of us are as bad as we could possibly be. But how bad do we need to be to fall short of Gods holiness? Anything less than perfection, which we are not capable of, falls short. All of us have sinned and fall short of Gods glory (Rom. 3:23) and are deserving of death (Rom. 6:23).

What Is Justification?

The Greek word dikaiosis is translated as justification in Romans 4:25 and Romans 5:18. According to Vines Complete Expository Dictionary, this word means the act of pronouncing righteous. The related verb, dikaioo, is variously translated as justified, justify, considered righteous, justifies, proved right, declared righteous and several other related expressions.

Justification is essentially a legal term used to pronounce a person as having right standing. It does not itself mean that the person who has experienced legal justification has become guiltless. But, as far as the legal authority is concerned, they are considered to be guiltless.

In Christianity, justification means that God has declared an individual to be guiltless in his sight. And being guiltless, they now have right standing with God. We understand justification to be possible because of the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. And it is applied to any individual who responds to God in faith.

Justification does not mean that I am now without sin. That is clearly not the case. Those of us who have been justified by God are still instructed to pursue personal holiness. We are to work to bring our lives into conformity with the judicial declaration of guiltlessness represented by justification.

Justification by Works

Works relate to salvation-oriented deeds that we perform. And there are two ways of looking at them. On the one hand, some see works as being something that helps a person, either in whole or in part, to earn or deserve their salvation. In this scenario, salvation is essentially a reward given to a person because of their own accomplishments. This is what is often called justification by works.

The other perspective of works is that they are done as a result of salvation. I dont work to earn salvation, rather, I work because I have salvation. My salvation was a gift, freely given to me by God. And my work is a natural outgrowth of that salvation. This is called salvation by grace and is discussed below.

Justification by works seems quite reasonable, at least from a human perspective. We reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. That seems to be built into our social consciousness. And we naturally expect it to apply in our dealings with God. If I am good enough, I will be rewarded. If not, then I expect to be punished. And that is at the heart of most of the worlds religions.

And Christianity is no exception to that, at least in many peoples view. There are many commandments found in the Bible. Both the Old and New Testaments give us many instructions for how we should live. So, it is only natural that we would tend to view obedience to these commands as a prerequisite for our salvation.

And unfortunately, that sometimes becomes institutionalized within the church itself. A number of the controversies in the history of the church have been over this issue of justification that depended, at least to some extent, on works. The conflict between Augustine and Pelagius in the late 4th and early 5th centuries as well as the Protestant Reformation were, at least in part, concerned with the nature of justification. What do I need to do to be saved?

And still today there are many churches that require a certain level of conduct or appearance in order to be a part of that body. They do not generally claim that ones salvation is based on these requirements, but they do seem to imply that they are necessary for right standing with God.

What Is Wrong with This Approach?

Even though justification by works has a real appeal for us as humans, it will never get us into a right standing before God. There is just no way that any of us could ever measure up to Gods holiness. How good do we have to be in order to be accepted by a perfect God?

Pauls letter to the Galatians was written in large part to address this issue. Some men had been teaching in the churches of Galatia that it was necessary to be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses to be saved. But Paul was adamant that salvation was in no way dependent on either circumcision or obedience to the Law. In Galatians 2:21 he makes clear that if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! No matter how good a person might be, they will never be considered righteous before God.

There is another significant issue with justification by works. If I was somehow able to follow the Law sufficiently enough to be justified, then I could easily be proud of my standing. After all, I worked hard to earn that righteous standing. And I might well come to believe that I deserved an eternal reward in heaven.

Justification by Grace: Gods Plan

But God leaves no place for us to have pride in our salvation. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9, Salvation is a freely given gift from God. He offers it to us as a gracious gift that we receive through faith. There is nothing that we can do to earn this gift.

It does not matter how good you were; you cannot earn it. And regardless of how bad you might have been, you are not disqualified from receiving Gods gift of salvation. Your ethnic background, the color of your skin, your gender, or your social standing  none of that matters. Gods grace is freely offered to all.

The Philippian jailer asked Paul what he must do to be saved. I am sure that he was expecting a list of things that he would have to do. After all, the gods he would have been familiar with would have required something from him. But Pauls response was simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (Acts 16:30-31).

But Grace Alone?

Why has God chosen for salvation to be by grace alone, rather than also requiring us to do something to earn our standing? Surely, he could have done that had he wanted to. But it is clear that he has left no room for us to earn, even a little bit, of our salvation.

I do believe that 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, especially verse 29 answers this question, at least in part. God has chosen the way he did so that no one could boast before him, taking pride in earning their salvation. God has given us a tremendous gift. And nothing should detract from the joy and gratefulness we have in that gift, including any thought of deserving it. He has done it all. And nothing I can do, or not do, will detract from his all-sufficient grace.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Aaron Burden
To develop skills and knowledge that are essential for leading and managing complex health organisations

Coimbatore-based Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has recently signed a letter of agreement with Harvard Medical Schools Postgraduate Medical Education (HMS PGME). Under the agreement, HMS PGME will design and deliver an educational programme in the field of healthcare leadership at Amrita.

Harvard Medical Schools Leadership in Healthcare  India programme will kick off in October 2023. The twelve-month programme covers financial management, patient safety, innovation, transformational leadership, and empowering women. This cutting-edge curriculum will help participants to develop skills and knowledge that are essential for leading and managing complex health organisations in India and the world-over.

Effective healthcare leadership is essential to creating a collaborative environment that helps to ensure the delivery of quality health care, said Dr Ajay K. Singh, Senior Associate Dean for Postgraduate Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. By making high-impact educational opportunities available to health care professionals around the world, we advance the HMS mission to nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well-being.

Participants who have satisfactorily completed the programme requirements shall receive a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Medical School. Graduates of Harvard Medical School Postgraduate Medical Education certificate programsme have an excellent track record of career advancement in local and international leadership positions.
US-based molecular diagnostics company Cepheid has recently set up a production plant in Bengaluru where Xpert tuberculosis (TB) testing cartridges will be manufactured for the Indian market. Laurent Bellon, Senior VP, Global Operations reveals more in an interaction with BioSpectrum India about the future of the Indian market and how Cepheid can contribute more towards eradicating TB in the country

How big is the molecular diagnostic testing market for TB in India? How much is Cepheid contributing to this market in India and globally?

While there were 21.4 Lakh TB cases notified in India in 2021 (as per the WHO Annual TB Report 2022), the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) is estimated to have conducted 3.5 million molecular TB tests in 2022. With India focussed on eradicating TB by 2025, there is a strong commitment from all quarters especially the governments, at both the Central and State level, to put in place strong structures to achieve the goal.

Cepheid has over 50,000+ instruments globally with over 100 Million TB tests conducted globally since launch. We provide molecular diagnostic testing for TB in each of the 30 high-burden TB countries (as defined by WHO). In India our GeneXpert systems are present in 35 States and Union Territories (UTs) and the system has helped diagnose 43 per cent of total notified TB patients in India in 2020.

How can Cepheid contribute towards eliminating TB in India by 2025?

TB testing is crucial to enable the control of TB incidence as early diagnosis helps in controlling the spread of the disease. Our GeneXpert system is a flexible testing platform that delivers accurate and fast results, thereby reducing the time taken between diagnosis and commencement of treatment. In addition, the system is easily deployed and simple to operate  creating improved accessibility in a country as large and diverse as India.

Cepheid is strongly aligned with the Government of Indias goal of TB eradication by 2025 and the commencement of manufacturing in India was planned to help enable self-reliance in TB testing while strengthening the broader molecular diagnostics production capabilities in the country

Cepheid recently inaugurated its first company-owned production facility in India. Tell us more about the facility. How much has been invested to set up the facility?

We are delighted to formally inaugurate our first manufacturing facility in Asia and the first outside of the US and EU. The 77,000-square-foot facility in Bengaluru will manufacture the companys industry-leading Xpert tuberculosis testing cartridges for India and other countries. The facility was developed as part of our Make in India for the region initiative which ties in well with the Government of Indias drive to enable an Atmanirbhar Bharat. We have invested significantly in the facility, as it is a key component of our global manufacturing network that we believe will serve some of the critical regions with the 30 high-burden TB countries.

What kind of equipment/ products will be manufactured at the new facility?

At the outset, we will be manufacturing Xpert tuberculosis testing cartridges and we will explore opportunities to ramp up production and diversify capabilities.

What kind of employment opportunities have been generated post the launch of the facility?

Currently, we have over 400 Cepheid associates in India with around 170 team members at the new facility. We are committed to building a diverse workforce and we currently have 48 per cent women team members within our operations in India.

How do you foresee the Indian market as a bio-manufacturing hub? What are the opportunities & challenges in store?

We believe that India is emerging as a strong market for the manufacture of medical devices. Our investments in the new facility highlight our belief and commitment to the market and this being our first manufacturing facility in Asia is a strong statement of our confidence in India. The growing market for diagnostics with a large population base and clear direction by governments at all levels in improving healthcare outcomes underlines a clear opportunity.

Sanjiv Das

(sanjiv.das@mmactiv.com)
Haedong Yonggung Temple overlooks the sea. / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington



By Dale Quarrington



So much about Korea has changed, and so much continues to change. In Korea, there are three different types of temples that can be organized into groups based upon their age. In the first group, you'll find hundreds of historic temples that were built several centuries ago, if not a millennium or more. Then there is the modern type of temple built within the past 100 years. And found between these two groups of temples is the modern temple built upon the foundational grounds of a historic temple site. It's to this group that Haedong Yonggung Temple belongs.



Haedong Yonggung Temple, which is also known as the temple by the sea, is located in Gijang County of eastern Busan. The coastal temple is arguably one of the most beautifully situated in all of Korea, and it's undergone numerous changes throughout recent years. It is reflective of the changes that have swept across Korean society both economically and culturally.



Haedong Yonggung Temple, which translates to "Korean Dragon Palace Temple," is a reference to Yongwang (Dragon King) and the Yonggung (Dragon Palace) that the Dragon King inhabits under the sea. Haedong Yonggung Temple was first constructed in 1376 by the monk Naong Hyegeun (1320-76).



According to the temple's foundational legend, Naong Hyegeun dreamed that the Divine Sea god of the East Sea visited him and instructed him to build a temple atop Mount Bongnae. If Naong Hyegeun did this, the nation would become larger and more stable. So after looking around the peninsula for a perfect place to build a temple, he settled on the location where the temple is currently situated. Initially, it was called Bomun Temple.





A mural at Haedong Yonggung Temple depicts Naong Hyegeun's dream, in which a dragon tells him to build a temple. / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington



This temple was completely destroyed in 1592 by the invading Japanese during the 1592-98 Imjin War. It wasn't until the 1930s, over 300 years after its destruction, that the temple was rebuilt, this time by Ungang, a monk from Tongdo Temple. It was also at this time that the temple was named Haedong Yonggung Temple. More recently, large parts of the present temple were constructed over the past 20 years including the main hall, which was built in 2005.



Currently, when you first approach the temple from its large parking lot, you'll pass by a beautiful collection of statues dedicated to the Sibijin-shin (Twelve Spirit Generals). Descending down the 108 stairs, which are symbolic of the 108 temptations found in Buddhism, you'll make your way through the recently added artificial cave on your way towards the main temple courtyard. The views beyond the trees and the seokdeung (stone lanterns) are spell-bindingly beautiful, with the East Sea off in the distance.





The beautiful sea view at Haedong Yonggung Temple / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington



Along the way, you can continue your journey towards the main temple courtyard, or take a bit of a detour midway there. If you do in fact decide to take a bit of a detour, you'll find shrines dedicated to Yaksayeorae-bul (Medicine Buddha) and a coastal shrine dedicated to a richly painted golden statue of Jijang-bosal (Bodhisattva of the Afterlife). There's now a protective fence that guards overzealous explorers from accidentally plunging into the shallow swells of seawater that break against the slippery shoreline rocks.





Haedong Yonggung Temple overlooks the sea. / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington



Back on track, and now standing in the center of the main temple courtyard, you'll immediately notice the newly built main hall, the Daeungjeon. This recently completed structure is beautifully adorned both inside and out including a mural dedicated to Naong Hyegeun's foundational dream. And perched atop the highest point on the temple grounds is a serenely smiling Gwanseeum-bosal (Bodhisattva of Compassion) statue. More specifically, this statue is dedicated to Haesu Gwaneeum Daebo, who is the Sea Water Bodhisattva of Compassion. And rounding out the structures and statues in the main temple courtyard is a newly built Nahanjeon, the subterranean cave shrine, and a Yongwangdang dedicated to the Dragon King to the left of the main hall.





A statue of Gwanseeum-bosal at HaedongYonggung Temple / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington



There's a lot to see, but what's most interesting about this temple is the amount of changes that have occurred over the past 20 years. It used to be that Haedong Yonggung Temple was located in the middle of nowhere on the eastern outskirts of Busan. You'd need to take a 10,000 won taxi ride from Jangsan Station, the last stop on Busan Metro Line 2. Later, you'd need to pay the taxi driver to stick around, otherwise you'd be stranded out in the middle of nowhere without a ride back.



Now, Haedong Yonggung Temple is surrounded by urban sprawl on all sides including an IKEA, a Lotte Department Store and a massive Lotte World amusement park. Also adding to the rapid changes found in the urban fabric is the mass transit system. Now there are numerous buses that pass by the entranceway to the temple grounds, transforming the former headache into a tangible solution for travelers.





The Daeungjeon of HaedongYonggung Temple has not been built yet in this September 2004 photo. / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently reiterated plans to accelerate the commercialisation of hemp as well as cannabis plants. His speech setting out government's priorities for 2023 was a reminder of a pledge in 2022 - also in his state of the nation address - that the government would mobilise investment in the hemp and cannabis sectors.

In his speech, the president indicated that government is in the process of addressing the conditions for the growth of the cannabis sector, particularly for rural farmers. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Department of Health are working closely to address the existing conditions for growing hemp and cannabis to enable outdoor cultivation and harvesting by rural farmers.

Currently farmers who have licences, grow their hemp and cannabis indoors under controlled conditions. The commercialisation will allow them to farm outdoors on a larger scale.

This is very exciting. The industry has the potential to create jobs, alleviate poverty and help reduce the extreme inequality in South Africa. One estimate is that the sector has the potential to create more than 130,000 new jobs.

The opportunity to commercialise the hemp and cannabis industry is that it is a new, fast-growing, multi-billion dollar sector with local and international markets. The potential legal pharmaceutical market for hemp and cannabis in South Africa alone has been estimated at over R100bn a year.

But there are challenges.

First, that the government fails to implement changes needed to ensure the sector grows in a way that benefits township and rural entrepreneurs farmers. Adding a paragraph dedicated to the cannabis and hemp sector to the annual state of the nation address each year is one thing. But seeing action being taken and plans implemented is another.

The second is that, from mid-2022, small-scale farmers farming cannabis were promised that they would be issued with licences to farm legally. However, some farmers in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape are still waiting.

But there is a way forward. Based on my experience as a member of the Cannabis Organisation University of Pretoria and a member of one of the working groups set up to give inputs for a government masterplan first drawn up in 2021, I make four recommendations to fast-track the process.

These include reviewing and revising the existing master plan, getting defunct working groups up and running again, ensuring the plan is in place before investments begin and setting up a monitoring and evaluation capability.

A stalled process

The president mentioned that, in accelerating commercialisation of the sector, urgent work is being finalised by government to create an enabling regulatory framework for hemp and cannabis plants. This includes their use for complementary medicines, food, cosmetics as well as some industrial products.

The president said that the government was urgently finalising the work to create this enabling environment.

But some crucial questions need answering: what happened to the cannabis master plan working groups and workstreams set up in 2021/2022? These working groups and workstreams consisted of representatives from government, the private sector, academic institutions and the cannabis research community. The groups got off to a good start and were in a process of reviewing and revising a plan to commercialise hemp and cannabis. One of the key objectives was to ensure that township entrepreneurs and rural farmers would benefit from any changes.

But working groups collapsed and disappeared without trace.

The presidents comments therefore invite the question: what happened to the master-plan working groups, and the workstreams? When the president speaks about acceleration to commercialise the cannabis sector, which includes the participation of rural farmers, how far along is the planning?

The way forward

Firstly, the presidency must reinstate the cannabis master-plan working groups and workstreams. They must be allowed to finalise the review and revision of the current master plan.

The revised master plan should enable the inclusion of township entrepreneurs and rural farmers. They are currently excluded from the mainstream commercialisation of hemp and cannabis due to a cumbersome licensing process.

Secondly, investments in the hemp and cannabis sector should only be implemented once the master plan has been reviewed and revised. This will provide guidance on how the proposed funds can be properly channelled.

The wheel should not be reinvented. Neither should time and effort be wasted.

Thirdly, a monitoring and evaluation committee needs to be set up to look after the hemp and cannabis project implementation. It should be set up in the same way as the working groups were formed with representatives from all interested players. This will ensure that all players in the sector are included. And that funds are appropriately spent.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Cloud computing is a well-known technology that has revolutionised the world. As the world has evolved, the adoption and advancement of cloud computing have accelerated. Nowadays, almost every business employs the cloud in one way or another, from important customer-facing applications to internal collaboration tools like video conferencing.

The role of hyper scalers in African cloud computing

Hyperscalers, such as Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, and their Asia-based counterparts including Alibaba and Tencent, demand data centre space and performance an order of magnitude larger than almost any enterprises requirements. Meeting their needs requires a pan-African network of core data centres interconnected over hyper scale terrestrial and subsea cable systems that the cloud giants can leverage for their products and services.

The evolution of the internet ecosystem

Another significant shift in the internet ecosystem is that large cloud providers are becoming full or partial investors in hyperscale subsea cables. The subtext is clear: the cloud is evolving, and cloud operators are increasingly coming to these shores to deliver higher-performance services. The cables and data centres interconnecting their facilities globally and connecting them to their customers are critical to the next evolution of the internet.

What do the cloud hyper scalers require? Both dedicated, high-performance connectivity and space and power for their high-specification equipment; so connectivity and data centres go hand in hand.

Open-access network connectivity and data centres across Africa

This means that open access network connectivity across a range of terrestrial and subsea routes, and open access data centres across the African continent, are essential to pour petrol into the ecosystem and benefit Africa. Large hyper scalers and content players in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent provide internet service providers (ISPs} and large enterprises - who need to be in world-class data centres - with an opportunity to come to the same locations and benefit from the resulting proximity and scale.

The importance of open access

The cloud players have the financial might to invest in subsea cables like the 2Africa and Equiano cable systems that Wiocc has landed on the east coast of South Africa and in Nigeria. At its core is the premise that those who want to play on the cable must play by the rules and ensure the cables are truly open access.

This latest iteration of the infrastructure supporting the internet removes the gatekeeper role and the charges normally associated with it. Discarding the gatekeeper model and driving true competition will fast-track transformation across the region.

Whilst tasking each landing party with ensuring open access required a deliberate break from the status quo, being open access is not new to Wiocc. The company has always operated in an open-access wholesale space offering its connectivity services to any carrier, internet service provider, cloud operator or content provider requiring them. Working with all parties results in the creation of an open-access ecosystem based on trust and long-term relationships. The reason this is critical now is because the next evolution of the internet requires collaboration and open access for all players.
Water and sanitation minister Senzo Mchunu and the department's director-general Dr Sean Phillips signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Finland and renewed another with the Netherlands on the sidelines of the recent United Nations 2023 Water Conference.

The agreement between South Africa and Finland aims to promote water security and is focused on integrated water resources and river basin management, including the management of groundwater/aquifers and surface water, river basins. The agreement also covers adaptation to and mitigation of the impacts of climate change in water resources management, as well as hydrological extremes including flood, drought, water quality, water-borne diseases and other water-related risk management.

Mchunu noted that the integrated water resources management (IWRM) is the dominant paradigm in contemporary water resources management.

Finland has implemented such an approach for decades, aiming at win-win partnerships. It has also been the guiding principle in Finnish water legislation, Mchunu said.

He added that the signing of the agreement is a much-needed boost for the sector in South Africa.

Empowering young talent

Meanwhile, the agreement signed with the Netherlands has been renewed for an additional four years. It aims at collaborating on inspiring and capacitating young talent in water, climate and sustainability in South Africa and abroad.

Obligations of the agreement include addressing the skills gap in the water supply value chain and in technical areas within the water sector, as well as to develop professional water ambassadors that can protect and manage future water resources.

In addition, the two governments are required to organise various activities for students and young professional in the water sector, creating innovation and empowering young people, and integrating young and established professionals in the water sector.
South Africa has the potential to be a global leader in green hydrogen production due to our natural and technological endowments. The hydrogen economy can help to address climate change challenges through reducing greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously creating jobs along the hydrogen economy value chains. According to a recent report by Masdar-ADSW, the African hydrogen industry could create approximately 1.9-3.7 million jobs and boost GDP by $60bn by 2050.

Yershen Pillay, CEO of Chieta

However, not much attention is being paid to the skills needs of the hydrogen economy and the widening green hydrogen skills gap. It is, therefore, imperative that we prioritise the training and development of a green hydrogen workforce so that we are ready when the promise of this renewable energy technology reaches our doorstep. The first immediate task of growing South Africas hydrogen economy is to invest in skills development and training of a hydrogen-ready workforce. This will ensure that essential skills are not imported from abroad.

The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (Chieta) has identified 17 future skills for success in the hydrogen economy and developed a 'Top 10 Skills in Hydrogen roadmap. It has also embarked on a plan to upskill 1,000 chemical engineers to become hydrogen systems engineers by 2025.

Infrastructure development

The second key driver of growth is hydrogen infrastructure development. This entails shifting the current state of hydrogen projects from pre-feasibility and feasibility to actual investment. Hydrogen initiatives in South Africa need swift execution. The slow pace of execution of hydrogen infrastructure projects could significantly stifle the growth of South Africas hydrogen economy.

Growing the hydrogen economy requires a comprehensive set of legislation, policy, and regulations to facilitate a more enabling environment. Perhaps a minister of hydrogen could have assumed the role of leading the development of an enabling environment and its accompanying legislation.

Transformative regulations

What we need is not debilitating regulations, but transformative regulations that mitigate the risks associated with all aspects of the hydrogen economy. South Africa needs a coherent national hydrogen policy and a standardised hydrogen certifications framework. The development of enabling legislation, policies, and regulations for effective risk mitigation constitutes the third key driver of growth.

The fourth driver for swift and substantial job-creating growth in the hydrogen economy would be the establishment of government support schemes. The government of South Africa should consider establishing a Hydrogen Innovation Fund and Hydrogen Bank, including a dedicated support fund for hydrogen-related SMMEs. Countries such as Morocco have witnessed a significant share of hydrogen production (almost 30%) being attributed to local SMMEs.

Government support schemes for hydrogen are not new and examples can be found in other parts of the world. In the context of South Africa, deliberate and intentional government support would ensure the localisation of hydrogen opportunities.

Cross-sector collaboration

The fifth significant driver of hydrogens growth is the need for better coordination and more cross-sector collaboration. The private sector cannot play the role of coordinator as its primary focus would be profit maximisation. The role of coordinating all stakeholders in the hydrogen economy should be left to government.

As an enabler of growth and development, government should facilitate structured collaborative agreements between the leading sectors of the economy involved in the hydrogen value chain, that being the energy, chemicals, transport, agriculture, and mining sectors.

From a skills development and training perspective, the sector and education and training authorities (Setas), have been leading the way with collaborative agreements between Chieta and EWSeta, as well as Chieta and the transport Seta or Teta, already in the pipeline.

Planning for zero-carbon hydrogen production

In addition to these five growth drivers, there is a further need to reduce the carbon footprint of hydrogen. Hydrogen energy is not entirely zero carbon. The production of hydrogen may lead to substantial carbon emissions, and this may vary from different stages (installation, distribution, etc.) to the different types of hydrogen energy (green, grey, blue, etc.) It is, therefore, incumbent on all stakeholders to formulate a clear plan for zero-carbon hydrogen production.

These five drivers of growth would lead to a job-creating hydrogen economy in South Africa within the next few years. South Africa needs a mixed energy policy and hydrogen constitutes a vital addition to the basket of success. What is needed is the swift implementation of hydrogen initiatives and a clear coordination plan with collaboration being an apex priority. Let us hope that South Africa seizes the hydrogen opportunity before it is too late.
FundiConnect, in partnership with Ster-Kinekor, are giving away two free movie tickets to students to see John Wick: Chapter Four in any participating IMAX cinema in South Africa.

Students who enter the competition on FundiConnects social media channels will stand a chance to win a free IMAX movie ticket to watch John Wick: Chapter Four at any Ster-Kinekor cinema across the country.

"We are excited to partner with Ster-Kinekor to offer this incredible opportunity to students across South Africa," Kezia Rossouw, Business Development Manager at FundiConnect. "We understand the financial constraints that students face, and we are committed to making their experience of student life as enjoyable as possible. We hope that this partnership will provide students with a fun and memorable experience."

The partnership between FundiConnect and Ster-Kinekor underscores the companies' shared commitment to enhancing the lives of South African students. Through this partnership, students will have access to world-class cinema technology and an immersive movie experience that they will remember for a long time.

"We are delighted to partner with FundiConnect to give students access to an exceptional cinematic experience in IMAX," says the team at Ster-Kinekor. "We are confident that John Wick: Chapter Four in IMAX will be unforgettable for all students who take up this opportunity."

The competition is open to all students in South Africa and is being held on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To enter, students simply need to follow FundiConnect's social media accounts and follow the prompts.

The competition will close on 5 April 2023. Winners will be announced on 6 April 2023 on FundiConnect's social media pages. Terms and conditions apply.

For more information, visit www.fundiconnect.co.za. You can also follow FundiConnect on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.




New emails uncovered in the ongoing Missouri v. Biden litigation reportedly show that the Biden Administrations censorship efforts extended to Facebook to censor private communications on its WhatsApp messaging service.

In recent months, the Twitter Files revealed an extensive and secret effort by the FBI and other agencies to censor citizens on social media. I testified on that effort. Democratic members oppose efforts to investigate the full scope of this effort and even denounced those calling for greater transparency as Putin lovers and apologists for insurrectionists and racists. Yet, the evidence of an extensive censorship and blacklisting effort by the Administration continues to mount.

Facebook (now known as Meta) is accused of working with the government to target citizens with dissenting views on Covid and the pandemic.

According to emails obtained through discovery, Bidens Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty pressed Facebook executives to be more aggressive with censorship. Flaherty reportedly objected that I care mostly about what actions and changes youre making to ensure youre not making our countrys vaccine hesitancy problem worseI still dont have a good, empirical answer on how effective youve been at reducing the spread of vaccine-skeptical content and misinformation to vaccine fence sitters.

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote that the congressionally created, federally funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) had supported blacklisting efforts at the British-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI). The index was widely ridiculed for targeting ten conservative and libertarian sites as the most dangerous sources of disinformation; it sought to persuade advertisers to withdraw support for those sites, while listing their most liberal counterparts as among the most trustworthy.

At the time, I noted that the Biden administration had played us for chumps. As we celebrated the demise of the infamous Disinformation Governing Board with its Disinformation Nanny, the Biden administration never disclosed a larger censorship program.

Shortly after my column posted in The Hill, the NED wrote to me to say that it was discontinuing support for the GDI.

Microsoft also was forced into retreat after it was shown to be pushing the GDIs biased blacklist.

Then we learned of additional funding going through the State Departments Global Engagement Center (GEC).

We also know of backchannel communications with the CDC and other agencies.

It is assumed that the comprehensive effort to censor was not limited to Twitter. This is another indication of such efforts with Facebook. However, the Democratic leadership has opposed such an investigation for years. They have even refused to accept the email evidence. When I testified on the Twitter Files, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) criticized me for offering legal opinions without actually working at Twitter. As I have noted, it is like saying that a witness should not discuss the contents of the Pentagon Papers unless he worked at the Pentagon. It was particularly bizarre because I was asked about the content of the Twitter Files. The content  like the content of the Pentagon Papers  are facts. The implication of those facts are opinions.

Members like Wasserman Schultz will likely continue to refuse to acknowledge these new emails. However, the public has repeatedly shown in polls that they want transparency on the censorship efforts. The House may be able to guarantee that transparency as its need continues to rise with new evidence of the governments efforts to silence dissenting views on social media.
A trillion dollars is a lot of money. If you stacked a billion dollar bills on top of one another, the pile would be 67.9 miles high, but if you stacked a trillion dollar bills on top of one another the pile would be 67,866 miles high. And if you lined up a trillion dollar bills end to end, the line of dollar bills would be a staggering 96,906,656 miles long. That is longer than the distance from the Earth to the Sun. A trillion dollars is such a vast amount of money that it is truly difficult to comprehend, but as you will see below, that much money has already been pulled out of vulnerable U.S. banks over the past year. Hordes of small and mid-size banks are now in trouble, and that is really bad news because those institutions issue most of the mortgages, auto loans and credit cards that our economy runs on. The other day, I asked my readers to imagine what our country will look like if the banking system implodes and the economy plunges into a depression, because if our banks continue to collapse that is precisely where we are headed.

Unfortunately, the recent banking panic has greatly accelerated matters. In fact, a whopping 98.4 billion dollars was pulled out of U.S. banks during the week ending March 15th

The readout, released shortly after the market closed Friday, came around the same time as new Fed data showed that bank customers collectively pulled $98.4 billion from accounts for the week ended March 15. That would have covered the period when the sudden failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank rocked the industry.

Just think about that.

Nearly 100 billion dollars in deposits evaporated in just one week.

And it turns out that small banks were being hit the hardest. Unsurprisingly, big banks actually saw enormous inflows

Data show that the bulk of the money came from small banks. Large institutions saw deposits increase by $67 billion, while smaller banks saw outflows of $120 billion.

That article didnt give numbers for mid-size banks, but it appears likely that they experienced large outflows as well.

Overall, JPMorgan Chase is telling us that the most vulnerable banks in this country have lost a total of about $1 trillion in deposits since last year

JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts estimate that the most vulnerable U.S. banks are likely to have lost a total of about $1 trillion in deposits since last year, with half of the outflows occurring in March following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

This really is a banking meltdown, and it has been going on for quite some time.

And as Bill Ackman has aptly noted, if something is not done our small and mid-size banks are headed for disaster.

There are more than 4,000 banks in the United States right now, and the vast majority of them are rapidly losing deposits.

As a result, U.S. banks are being forced to turn to the Fed for help at a very frightening rate

Banks have been flocking to emergency lending facilities set up after the failures of SVB and Signature. Data released Thursday showed that institutions took a daily average of $116.1 billion of loans from the central banks discount window, the highest since the financial crisis, and have taken out $53.7 billion from the Bank Term Funding Program.

Meanwhile, the banking crisis in Europe has taken another very alarming turn.

On Friday, shares of Deutsche Bank plunged due to renewed concern about the stability of Germanys biggest bank

Deutsche Bank shares fell on Friday following a spike in credit default swaps Thursday night, as concerns about the stability of European banks persisted. The Frankfurt-listed stock was down 14% at one point during the session but trimmed losses to close 8.6% lower on Friday afternoon. The German lenders Frankfurt-listed shares retreated for a third consecutive day and have now lost more than a fifth of their value so far this month.

It will be interesting to see if Credit Suisse or Deutsche Bank ends up going under first.

Of course the politicians continue to tell us that everything is just fine.

In fact, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is insisting that there is no reason to be concerned

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that there was no reason to be concerned about Deutsche Bank. Its a very profitable bank, he told reporters in Brussels, where EU leaders issued a joint statement describing the European banking system as resilient, with strong capital and liquidity positions. Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Once upon a time we were told that Lehman Brothers would be just fine.

And earlier this month we were told that Silicon Valley Bank would be just fine.

As Robin Williams once observed, these banks love to make excuses.

But it isnt just a few isolated banks that are in trouble these days.

Right now the entire system is coming apart at the seams, and Steve Quayle is warning that things will really kick into high gear in April

The word collapse is a great word, and the other word that comes with collapse is calamity. With the collapse and calamity under way, people think, well, as long as it doesnt touch me, Ill be okay or Ill be dead, and my kids will have to deal with it. What a selfish way to deal with the Biblical times we live in. I think we are in big trouble with this banking situation that will really kick into high gear in April.

You may not have much sympathy for the banks, and I understand that.

But what is going to happen to our economy when the flow of mortgages, auto loans and credit cards is greatly restricted?

Our country is already being torn to shreds like a 20 dollar suit, and economic conditions are still relatively stable.

So what is going to happen when we do fall into a very deep economic depression?

These are such perilous times, and they are only going to get more difficult in the months ahead.

Michaels new book entitled End Times is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
This photo, released by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), shows U.S. fighters taking off from the USS Nimitz during a visit by JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to inspect South Korean and U.S. Navies' joint drill on seas off South Korea's Jeju Island, 465 kilometers south of Seoul, March 27. Yonhap









By Kang Seung-woo







A U.S. Navy carrier strike group will arrive in Busan, Tuesday, as part of efforts to bolster the two countries' combined military posture as well as promoting South Korea-U.S. friendship on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of their alliance, Seoul's defense ministry said, Monday.







"The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG 11) will pull into a naval base in Busan tomorrow," Ministry of Defense spokesman Jeon Ha-kyou said at a briefing.







The CSG 11 is comprised of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Decatur.







It will be the first visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to South Korea since September last year when the USS Ronald Reagan arrived in the port city for combined drills with the South Korean Navy. The visit was the first in five years.






Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to protest after Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defence minister over his opposition to a planned judicial overhaul.

Yoav Gallant had called on the prime minister to scrap the proposals which have divided the country, led to mass protests and sparked growing discontent within the military.

Netanyahus move on Sunday underscored his determination to press on with the overhaul which has also angered business leaders and raised concerns among Israels allies. Gallant was the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against the plan.

But as droves of protesters flooded the streets late into the night, other Likud ministers began indicating willingness to hit the brakes. Culture minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

A parliamentary vote this week will take place on a centrepiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would grant parliament the authority to override supreme court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.
Apple CEO Tim Cook wants the tech industry to take action against "fake news" stories that are polluting the web.

"There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic," Cook said in a rare interview.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Cook also said "all of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news."

Other leading tech company CEOs, like Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, have spoken about the problem in recent months. But Cook's comments were much more frank.

According to the Telegraph, he said made-up stories and hoaxes are "killing people's minds."

And he called the "fake news" plague "a big problem in a lot of the world."

The term "fake news" was originally coined to describe online stories that are designed to deceive readers. Often times these stories are shared on Facebook and other social networking sites to generate profits for the creators. Other times the stories are essentially propaganda made up for political purposes.

These kinds of stories received widespread attention before and after the American election. Fictional stories with titles like "Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president" won millions of clicks.

It can be very difficult for web surfers to tell the difference between legitimate news sources and fakes.

That's where companies like Apple come in.

In the Telegraph interview -- part of a multi-day European trip -- Cook said "too many of us are just in the complain category right now and haven't figured out what to do."

He urged both technological and intellectual solutions.

"We need the modern version of a public-service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will," Cook told the newspaper.
A federal prosecutor admitted in court papers that three D.C. Metropolitan Police Department undercover officers acted as provocateurs at the northwest steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Two members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Electronic Surveillance Unit approach the northwest side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

The admission came in a March 24 filing before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras that seeks to keep video footage shot by the officers under court seal.

Prosecutors accused the case defendantWilliam Pope of Topeka, Kansasof an illegitimate attempt to unmask the video as part of his alleged strategy to try the case in the news media. Pope filed a motion to remove the court seal on Feb. 21.

The defendant is not entitled to undesignate these videos to share them with unlimited third parties, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Moran. His desire to try his case in the media rather than in a court of law is illegitimate, and the government has met its burden to show the necessity of the protective order.

Videos long hidden under court seal have become a major topic, especially with prosecutors disclosing in a number of high-profile Jan. 6 cases the involvement of multiple FBI informants.

Pope is seeking to lift the court seal on the undercover video as part of his drive to obtain full access to video evidence held by the government. Pope is representing himself in the criminal case being prosecuted against him. At a hearing on March 3, Judge Contreras seemed sympathetic to Popes motion to unmask the videos.

Officer 1, a member of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Departments Electronic Surveillance Unit, shot video while he shouted at protesters to climb the northwest steps to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

The officer clearly incited that area, and we still dont have video from all other undercover MPD, Pope told The Epoch Times. And as the numerous informants in the Proud Boys trial demonstrates, we are only just beginning to scratch the surface on FBI involvement.

The undercover videoa portion of which posted on Rumble on March 24shows three members of the MPDs Electronic Surveillance Unit approach the Capitols northwest steps. One of the men, while surveying the crowd, stated, Someones going to get shot.

Officer 2 replied, Theyre not going to shoot anybody.

Along the edge of the Capitol property, Officer 2 encouraged one protester to go up to the building. Go join em then, he said. The man replied, No, Ive got my bike to guard.

The men engaged in banter on the walk across the west Capitol lawn.

Never Seen Anything Like This

This is amazing, Officer 2 said. Officer 1, who was shooting the GoPro video, replied, Yeah, Ive never seen anything like this.

Nearly 30 members of the Electronic Surveillance Unit were assigned to duty on Jan. 6, some of whom were gathering evidence on crowd activity. Members wore special bands on their left wrists to identify themselves as part of the Electronic Surveillance Unit, according to the MPDs 96-page Jan. 6 action plan.

Officer 1 repeatedly joined in chants of Drain the swamp! and Our house! Our house! Our house!

A little closer to the Capitol, the video captures a protester shouting, Joe Biden! We wanna hear you speak, you [expletive] pedophile satanist [expletive]!

A short time later, Officer 1 joined the crowd in a USA! chant, repeating the phrase five times.

At the foot of the northwest stairs, someone leaned part of a bicycle rack against the balustrade. As a protester climbed up the makeshift ladder, Officer 1 shouted, Cmon, man, lets go! Leave that sh*t.
On October 28, 2019, two months after his brother's death, Mark Epstein was summoned to the US Attorney's office in downtown Manhattan.

Jeffrey Epstein died in the custody of a federal jail just one building over, and officials at the Justice Department said they had an update for Mark on their investigation into his death.

Mark showed up with a lawyer and Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist he hired to examine Jeffrey's body. Baden believed Jeffrey Epstein died by homicide.

The group was met with a "nice little panel" of Justice Department officials, Mark Epstein recalled.

The officials said Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide. Pressed for more detail, they just repeated themselves.

"They didn't give me any information other than 'After a thorough investigation, we determined it was a suicide,'" Mark Epstein said. "It was like I was talking to a fucking robot."

The meeting was the only time Mark got any answers from the DOJ about his brother's death. Three years later, he still doesn't know exactly how Epstein died and why it's taken the government that long to share its answer to that question.

Mark Epstein told Insider that even though he's Jeffrey's next of kin, he hasn't been able to obtain certain medical records, including the care reports filled out by EMTs who evaluated his brother's corpse.

The public hasn't gotten answers either. Epstein flew at the heights of power, consorting with presidents and princes while at the same time abusing scores of girls. His death in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons represents one of the most shocking failures of federal law enforcement in history. How could the Justice Department let him just slip away?

The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General launched an investigation after he was found dead. But more than three years later, the office still hasn't released its report into the circumstances of Epstein's death.

In the information vacuum, conspiracy theories have proliferated about whether Epstein was killed to cover up for his powerful friends  Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and Prince Andrew among them.

Epstein's victims and at least one US senator are still demanding answers from the DOJ.

"For many people, the death was suspicious, to say the least," said Gloria Allred, an attorney who represents 20 of Epstein's victims. "Others have their own conclusions about what happened to Mr. Epstein. But the speculation needs to be replaced by facts and evidence."

Mark Epstein remains puzzled by the holdup. He's convinced his brother didn't kill himself and stands by the conclusions of Baden, who personally observed the four-hour autopsy of Jeffrey Epstein's body.

"We all took it by surprise," Mark Epstein told Insider. "Nobody thought he was gonna kill himself. Nobody."

After 3 years, it's not clear what's holding up DOJ's report

When Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell, on August 10, 2019, then-Attorney General Bill Barr's first reaction was disbelief, he later wrote in his memoir.

"No one's gonna believe it was a suicide," Barr recalled saying. "There'll be conspiracy theories all over the place."

Epstein had been arrested two months earlier on charges that he trafficked girls for sex. He was investigated by Manhattan federal prosecutors following a series of articles by the Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown, who detailed how he secured a secret, lenient plea deal with Florida prosecutors in 2007, even after law enforcement concluded he sexually abused more than 30 girls. A compensation program his estate formed after his death concluded he sexually abused at least 136 people overall.

Until his arrest in 2019, Epstein continued living a lavish lifestyle, splitting time between his Palm Beach home, his Manhattan mansion, an island in the US Virgin Islands, and an apartment in Paris.

After losing all that, it was possible he found the prospect of life behind bars unappealing, Mark Epstein said.

"When I first heard that my brother was dead, and found dead from suicide, I just figured, 'OK, he decided to take himself out,'" he told Insider.

Barr tasked the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and the FBI with investigating "the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death."

There were two major unanswered questions: How, exactly, did he die? And  whether it was a suicide or homicide  how did the Bureau of Prisons allow it to happen?

Within those questions are a number of smaller mysteries, still unresolved. Why was Epstein's body moved after his death, in violation of jail protocol? If his body was found hours after he already died, why did paramedics try to push air into his lungs? If he hanged himself, why does Baden believe the bone fractures in his neck were more consistent with strangling? Why would he tear strips of bedsheets to make a noose instead of using the cord of his sleep-apnea machine? Why weren't the cameras watching his cellblock working the day he died? Who else was incarcerated in the same block, and did they see anything?

Epstein claimed he had dirt on powerful people and, after his 2007 guilty plea, still appeared to consort with the likes of Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Elon Musk, and Steve Bannon. Were any of Epstein's acquaintances capable of planning an assassination?

An Insider poll taken later that fall found nearly half of Americans believed Epstein was murdered.

The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General is uniquely suited to answer these questions. Equipped with subpoena power and statutory independence, the office is one of the rare institutions in Washington, DC, carefully designed to stand apart from partisan forces and political winds.

It also had a significant measure of independence from Barr, whose own father may have given Epstein a job that he leveraged into a career in finance.

More than three years later, it's not clear why the inspector general's investigation is taking so long.

Horowitz's other high-profile investigations concluded far more quickly. An investigation into the flow of US arms to Mexican drug cartels took a year. A 568-page report about how the Justice Department dealt with Hillary Clinton's email server and a 478-page report about the "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation into Trump's links with Russia were each released about a year and a half after they were initiated.

Glenn Fine, who served as the Justice Department's inspector general between 2000 and 2011, told Insider the office is likely taking extraordinary care to make sure it gets all the details right.

"The OIG is probably taking the position: We want to make sure we get it right, and we want to make sure we are thorough and that the report is so convincing that the people who think that Epstein was murdered will be persuaded by all the evidence once it's out there," Fine said.

There are four possible reasons the report hasn't yet been released, Fine said. The inspector general's office could still be investigating; it's holding a report so as not to interfere with any pending criminal cases; it's writing the report; or it's waiting for feedback from the Bureau of Prisons.

A representative for the Bureau of Prisons said it was cooperating with the Justice Department and referred Insider to the Office of Inspector General for further questions. A spokesperson for the inspector general's office declined to comment on this story.
The Kohelet Policy Forum, a secretive American-style political think tank in Israel, is behind Netanyahus judicial overhaul.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power last year, he never mentioned plans to overhaul the countrys judiciary. But a little-known Jerusalem think tank had been preparing for the moment for years.

The Kohelet Policy Forum, founded by an American Israeli and funded by a U.S. libertarian billionaire, quietly authored and helped introduce the far-reaching package of judicial changes that has sparked a national crisis and driven hundreds of thousands of Israelis into the streets.

Likud member Keti Shitrit, in a recent interview with Israels Channel 13, said Netanyahus party never internally discussed the judicial overhaul bills supplied by Kohelet before fast-tracking them through the parliament.

It wasnt us that prepared it; it was Kohelet Forum, she said on a special TV broadcast covering the mass anti-government protests, adding that the group has been providing materials to right-wing politicians for years.

Kohelet is Israels first American-style political think tank, employing 160 researchers who proactively court like-minded politicians with free research, bills and conference invitations. The libertarian, religiously conservative group has crafted some of the most controversial legal changes in recent years, all while remaining out of the public eye. But its behind-the-scenes role in the judicial overhaul has brought the think tank newfound scrutiny and highlighted what critics say is its outsize influence on Israeli politics.

The organization has always focused on substance and value  over generating needless headlines, a Kohelet spokesperson told The Washington Post in a text message, declining to give a name or answer more-detailed questions about the groups work.

The think tank has succeeded, Israeli legislative observers say, partly because of chronic understaffing in the Knesset, where ministers eagerly accept prepared research and draft bills from outside organizations.

Its tactics were imported from [Capitol] Hill, said an academic familiar with the group, whose Israeli students have participated in Kohelet partner fellowships and programs, which include meetings with conservative lawmakers in the United States. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because of his indirect affiliation with the group.

Kohelet might have continued toiling behind the scenes of legislative committees indefinitely, he said, but they hit the jackpot with recent elections. All of the sudden, they were in.

In a televised address to the nation, Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned of civil war as Netanyahu rejected judicial compromise.

You can read more about this topic here.

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This is a big story that will probably fly under the radar. Thats too bad because it gets at the underlying scammy nature of the climate change movement.

Every time a state government or a corporation announces a particular environmental target, most of the time what they mean is that theyre going to make some small changes and then theyll buy some offsets or credits to compensate for the rest.

For example, makers of actual cars were forced to buy credits from Tesla by California so that working-class drivers were financing luxury car owners. Airlines now routinely announce that theyre buying offsets which means a portion of your ticket is going to pay off some company that is supposedly doing some environmentally sound. Your power company buys credits resold by some company thats supposedly running wind farms in Wyoming (that nobody needs) which doesnt mean that youre using wind power, but that youre paying for someone else to use wind power to atone for your use of fossil fuels.

Obviously, this is already a scam. And the few sincere environmentalists who believe the sky is actually falling denounce it as such. But its an incredibly lucrative scam that moves billions if not trillions of dollars around.

Heres a nuts and bolts look at what happens when it turns out that the commodity, environmental virtue, being sold may not even exist.

Renat Heuberger gathered his co-founders on a glacier in the Swiss Alps for a celebration. The half-dozen men behind South Pole, the worlds leading seller of carbon offsets, raised their beers around a crackling fire: Business was booming and the Zurich firms valuation was hurtling toward $1 billion, making it one of the first carbon unicorns. The companys biggest moneymaker is a mega-project in Zimbabwe called Kariba, which South Pole claimed has prevented the annihilation of a forest nearly the size of Puerto Rico. Thats South Poles business model: help finance projects that can credibly counteract rising levels of greenhouse gas, such as by stopping deforestation, and then sell the resulting credit to corporate clients who want to compensate for their own planet-warming pollution Yet according to several outside experts and South Poles own analysis, the firm and its partner ended up vastly overestimating the extent of the preservation by Kariba. As a result, Gucci, Nestle, McKinsey and other South Pole clients have  unwittingly  overstated their own progress in combating climate change, because the Kariba credits they bought havent generated enough real atmospheric benefit Most of Karibas 100 million in proceeds have gone to South Pole and its project partner, a company called Carbon Green Investments, not  as both companies previously indicated in interviews and public blog posts  to people in the rural communities who do the work of fighting deforestation.

My response to this is much like my response to FTX. Can it be a scam when the entire industry is a scam? Crypto, carbon offsets, are all basically peddling an imaginary commodity as a currency. Does it matter how imaginary it is when its value is wholly artificial and not backed by anything? Except, in the case of carbon offsets, government and bank mandates.

No one who buys a five-kilo pack of potatoes at the supermarket wants to end up only having one kilo, said Jurg Fussler, a carbon market veteran who heads up environmental work at INFRAS, a research and consulting firm in Zurich, speaking broadly about the industry. Thats whats happening now. The basic market confidence is shattered.

But the market is inherently worthless. If you believe that the planet is about to die because people are flying jet planes, then paying someone else to protect trees isnt a serious answer.

Thats why people laugh when John Kerry or Bill Gates protest that they have to fly private jets but its okay because theyre buying carbon offsets.

The Microsoft co-founder grew visibly irritated when confronted on the topic during a lengthy interview last week with BBC journalist Amol Rajan. What do you say to the charge that if you are a climate change campaigner, but you also travel around the world in a private jet, youre a hypocrite? Rajan asked. By the gold standard of funding Climeworks to do direct air capture that far exceeds my familys carbon footprint, and I spend billions of dollars on climate innovation. So, you know, should I stay at home and not come to Kenya and learn about farming and malaria? an annoyed Gates responded. Anyway, Im comfortable with the idea that not only am I not part of the problem by paying for the offsets, but also through the billions that my breakthrough energy group is spending, that Im part of the solution, Gates added.

Our naked green emperors just lost one of their fig leaves.
Earlier this month, a judge ruled that two different lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase over the banks ties to deceased financier and pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, would be allowed to advance in U.S. Courts. One of these cases, brought against the bank by the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), has been a particular focus of independent media since the new year began, in part because the Attorney General of the USVI, Denise George, was fired from her post just days after she filed that case.

In a hearing in the USVI case against JPMorgan earlier this month, a USVI lawyer argued that the CEO of JPMorgan  Jamie Dimon  knew in 2008 that his billionaire client [Jeffrey Epstein] was a sex trafficker. The lawyer, Mimi Liu, also stated that former JPMorgan Jes Staley also knew this about Epstein at the time, but noted: This case was not just Jes Staley  there will be numerous documents that go far beyond his office to the executive suite. Liu also asserted that Staley knew, Dimon knew, JPMorgan Chase knew about Epsteins criminal activities against minors.

While the bank has disputed that Dimon knew anything about Epsteins accounts at the bank or what he was really up to at the time, this Unlimited Hangout investigation  a multi-part series  will reveal that Dimons rise to the top post at JPMorgan was intimately linked to the very same group of people who enabled Jeffrey Epsteins sex trafficking activities as well as his extensive financial crimes.

In this article, we will examine how Dimons rise to become one of the most powerful men on Wall Street was largely reliant on top executives and directors of Bank One, which boasts incredibly close ties to The Limiteds Leslie Wexner and his right-hand man for many decades, Columbus-area real estate developer John W. Kessler. Kessler and other individuals tied to Wexner were the dominant forces that saw Dimon installed as Bank Ones CEO in 2000. Bank One was acquired by JPMorgan in 2003 and, shortly thereafter, Dimon became CEO of the combined entity. That acquisition, as well as the role of the Crown family in Chicago in Dimons selection as Bank Ones CEO, will be discussed in the second part of this series.

Yet, Dimons ties to the same networks as Wexner, particularly those characterized by their connections to organized crime and intelligence, preceded his time as Bank Ones CEO by many years. As this article will show, Dimons construction of what is now Citigroup, alongside his mentor Sandy Weill, began with their takeover of a company called Commercial Credit Corporation. That company, as well as its parent company, Control Data Corporation, had a troubling history of ties to intelligence networks that were extensively involved in criminal activity  including the so-called private CIA formed by CIA veteran Ted Shackley in the 1970s as well as individuals crucial to the Epstein story like Robert Maxwell.

Given these connections, JPMorgans claims that Dimon never knew what Jeffrey Epstein was up to during his time with the bank becomes much harder to believe. Furthermore, as future installments of this series will show, the players discussed here  Dimon and Epstein among them  were instrumental in the creation of what would manifest as the 2008 economic crisis. Not unlike some of the events that sparked todays banking crisis, figures like Jeffrey Epstein, Dimons mentor Sandy Weill and the former Treasury Secretaries with close associations with both men, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, appeared to have engaged in actions that would intentionally provoke the collapse of certain banks to further consolidate the banking sector for their benefit. The goal, both then and now, seems to have been a move towards the logical conclusion of the too big to fail banking model  the eventual creation of a centralized cartel of mega-banks that dominate, not only commercial banking, but also central banking.

A Brief History of Control Data Corporation

Created by a group of Naval engineers in 1956, at the dawn of the American military-industrial complex, Engineering Research Associates (ERA) was a military contractor with a focus on cryptography and code-breaking. Shortly after its creation, part of the core ERA team split off and formed Control Data Corporation (CDC) a year later in 1957.

CDC quickly became a defense contractor in its own right and became a major purveyor of super-computers to sensitive U.S. research facilities. These included Sandia National Laboratories and Oak Ridge Laboratories, both of which worked on the U.S. nuclear program. At the same time, CDC also had an odd relationship with the Soviet Unions own sensitive nuclear facilities, which eventually led to congressional scrutiny. Congressional hearings from the mid-1970s revealed that:

In 1968, a second-generation Control Data Corporation 1604 system was installed at the Dubna Soviet Nuclear Facility near Moscow. In 1972 [CDC] sold the Soviet Union a third-generation CDC 6200 system computer. For these systems, [CDCs] operating statement had improved by about $3 million dollars in the past three years. And the Soviet Union has gained 15 years in computer technology

The Control Data 6600 Console; Source

The hearings also noted that CDC planned to sell Soviet-controlled Poland computer systems so sensitive that they were only used domestically at the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Atomic Energy Commission. CDC claimed that Poland planned to use the equipment at a Polish high school. At the time, no American high school or educational institution of any type possessed this particular system, and there were only 10 in the entire country. As reflected by these and other examples in the hearings transcripts, Congress concerns were based around the perception that CDCs business in the USSR involved technology transfers that undermined U.S. national security during the height of the Cold War. Those concerns would only grow with time.

After these hearings in 1974, CDC made an apparent move at increasing its role in technology transfers, despite political concerns. By the late 1970s, they had established a new subsidiary called Worldtech, described in the press as a division of Control Data Corp that does research and consulting on, and brokering of, technology transfers.

Once Worldtech was established by CDC, it entered into a joint venture in 1979 with Greek publisher George Bobolas that was called Worldtech Hellas Ltd. 70% was owned by Bobolas and 20% was owned by CDC. The owner of the remaining 10% was not disclosed in reports at the time.

A 1979 letter from one of Bobolas companies to A. Afonin, identified as a representative of the State Committee for Foreign Economic Relations of the USSR Council of Ministers, proposed the creation of a joint development company using Worldtech for world-wide technology transfer and stressed that Worldtech Hellas Ltd. will give a lot of help to technology transfer on an international base. After journalist Paul Anastasi published information about Bobolas and called him a KGB agent of influence, one of his companies, Bobtrade, asserted that no improper transfer of high technology was involved. CDC moved to dissolve their partnership, likely due to bad publicity.

Around the time that Worldtech was created, CDCs then-executive vice president, Robert D. Schmidt, was part of the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations (ACUSR, previously the American Committee on East-West Accord). Other members at the time, specifically in 1977, included Robert Maxwells lawyer and confidant, Samuel Pisar (stepfather to current U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken), as well as Thomas Watson Jr. of IBM, who would become the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1979. Another member was Paul Ziffren, a major figure in the organized crime networks that ran through Chicago and Hollywood described in Gus Russos acclaimed work Supermob. Another key figure in the Supermob network was Henry Crown. Crown, along with his son and grandson  Lester and James, will be discussed in greater detail later in this series due to their pivotal role in the rise of Jamie Dimon.

Notably, in the early 1970s, Samuel Pisar told Congress that the world was moving toward a single, unified world economy, in disregard of national frontiers, and even ideological boundaries. He stated that all conventional tools of national policy, it seems to me, are rapidly becoming anachronistic [as] the State itself, even a strong one, [..] is no longer a defendable economic entity. Pisar also claimed that the main drivers of this shift included the multinational corporation and the dissemination of technology. He later frames technology transfers by major multinational corporations as giving rise to the trans-ideological corporation where capital private enterprises and Communist state enterprises freely intermingled and formed joint ventures. When asked if these trans-ideological corporations were forces for good or for evil, Pisar responded that I believe that on balance, they are a force for good, but qualified that as depending on how governments and corporate management act to make certain that they become forces for good.

Samuel Pisar in 1991 with his wife, Judith, the mother of current U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken via her previous marriage; Source

By the mid-1980s, Occidental Petroleum executives Armand Hammer and William McSweeney had also joined the ACUSR. Samuel Pisar also represented Hammers business interests. Hammer notably served as a back channel between the Americans and the Soviets and had once sought to acquire the American bank First General Bancshares (FGB) for the purpose of financially blackmailing US politicians, specifically members of Congress who had open accounts at the bank. It is also worth mentioning that Hammers father, Julius Hammer, had once served as a Soviet spy.

Another member of the ACUSR was Joseph Filner, president of Noblemet International (later renamed the Newmet Corporation). Filner was extensively involved in USSR-U.S. tech transfers. Filners Noblemet created a joint venture for the purpose of tech transfers, which was called Multi-Arc. By 1984, CDCs Worldtech had become a worldwide marketing representative for Multi-Arc.

CDC would later recruit Minnesota governor Rudy Perpich after Perpich lost his re-election campaign in 1979. Perpich, a dentist by training, would specifically work for CDC overseas as vice president and executive consultant to Control Data Worldtech Inc.The New York Times, reporting on his hire by CDC in January 1979, stated that Perpich was expected to be based in Yugoslavia, but he said he could find himself in Hungary, Bulgaria or Rumania [sic]. Robert Maxwell was also intimately involved with tech transfers in Eastern Europe, specifically in Bulgaria, through the Bulgarian intelligence-linked Neva program that specifically targeted and pirated Western-developed technologies. Perpich, after working for Worldtech, went on to win another term as Minnesotas governor in 1983.

CDC, by that time, had also recruited another influential politician, Walter Mondale. Mondale was hired by CDC right after he left office as Jimmy Carters vice president. CDC hired Mondale as a legal consultant and retained his services for $2,000 per month (about $6,537 in 2023 dollars).

Simultaneously, Mondale was also a consultant to Allen & Co, the company of the organized crime-linked brothers Charles and Herbert Allen. Mondale was not only a consultant to, but also a close friend of the Allen brothers. The Allen brothers also worked closely with organized crime interests as well as Leslie Wexners mentors Max Fisher and Alfred Taubman and he also had a close business association with Earl Brian and had financed one of his attempts to buy out Bill Hamiltons Inslaw. Brian, along with Israeli spymaster Rafi Eitan, was the architect of the theft of the PROMIS software originally created by Hamiltons company, Inslaw Inc. Brians lawyer, Allan Tessler, also served on the board of Les Wexners company The Limited and had a close business relationship with another organized crime-linked family, the Gouletas. The Gouletas family notably shared office space with Jeffrey Epstein while Epstein was working as Wexners financial advisor in the late 1980s.

CDC was itself tied up with the PROMIS theft and the resulting scandal. The PROMIS software, after its theft, was bugged by both Israel intelligence and a separate group that involved the CIA, the Supermob-linked company MCA, and Latin American drug cartels. This latter groups version was used to spy mostly on financial institutions. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, investigative journalist Danny Casolaro was writing a book that covered, among other things, this groups repurposing of PROMIS for financial espionage and money laundering. Shortly before his untimely death in 1991, those close to the journalist had seen documents obtained by Casolaro that detailed money transfers from the World Bank to Earl Brian as well as Saudi arms dealer and Iran-Contra figure Adnan Khashoggi. Notably, throughout the 1980s, Khashoggi had retained the financial services of Jeffrey Epstein.

It appears that this version of PROMIS and its use at the World Bank involved CDC in some capacity. By 1983, CDC was providing its services to the World Banks computer center and, that same year, the PROMIS software was found to be in use at that specific facility to keep track of wire transfers of money. This comes from a sworn statement that Inslaw Inc. obtained from David McCallum in 1995. In 1983, McCallum was working for CDC at the World Bank.

In my correspondence with Inslaws Bill Hamilton, he stated the following:

According to an article in the International Banking Regulator dated January 17, 1994, U.S. Justice Department officials delivered the VAX version of PROMIS to the World Bank in 1983. The World Bank, as an international institution, is outside the reach of discovery of the U.S. courts. For its part, the World Bank declares that it has been unable to find any evidence that it ever possessed the VAX version of PROMIS.

Hamilton also relayed that he had once been informed of a connection between CDC and PROMIS that involved the Deputy Attorney General under Ed Meese, D. Lowell Jensen. However, he could no longer remember the specifics of that connection.

Also significant is the role CDC played during the 1990 visit of Mikhail Gorbachev, the then-leader of the Soviet Union, to the United States. During that trip, Gorbachev visited CDC headquarters alongside Rudy Perpich, as well as Robert Maxwell. The Gorbachevs arrived in Minnesota immediately after a summit meeting in Washington with then-President George H.W. Bush.

According to a report from the Minnesota Historical Society:

Gorbachev most likely agreed to the visit [Minnesota] because several Minnesota-based corporations  especially the computer firm, Control Data Corporation  had long done business in the Soviet Union. When the corporations officials learned that Gorbachev was interested in a post-summit tour, they passed the word to Perpich, who had worked for Control Data between his two terms as governor. Albert Eisele, who had been a consultant for Control Data and, earlier, was Vice President Walter Mondales press secretary, drafted the governors letter inviting the Gorbachevs. Former Control Data CEO Robert Price personally delivered the letter to the Soviet embassy on February 26, 1990.

During the visit, Gorbachev attended a lunch at the governors mansion, where Robert Maxwell and Rudy Perpich joined groups of Soviet and American officials. One of the American officials present was Condoleezza Rice, the future Secretary of State who was then a National Security Council staff member. Afterwards, there was a press conference where Robert Maxwell, in characteristic bombastic fashion, announced that he would donate $50 million to help create a private research institution to be called the Gorbachev-Maxwell Institute of Technology. Maxwell said that the donation was contingent on Perpich raising matching funds. However, the institute was never launched.

The-Governor Rudy Perpich greets Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on the lawn of the governors residence in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1990; Source: Minnesota Historical Society

After visiting Minnesota, Gorbachev next visited Silicon Valley, where he spent the week trying to perfect the art of winning acceptance and investment from the captains of capitalism. A Washington Post article on his visit quoted John Sculley, then-head of Apple Computers as saying, I think Gorbachev got to us Well all be thinking about business with the Soviet Union in a way we wouldnt have if he hadnt come.

Notably, Apples Steve Jobs was advised by Samuel Pisar. Jobs later stated that his 1985 trip the USSR has been facilitated by an international lawyer based in Paris and that Jobs had a feeling that this attorney worked for the CIA or the KGB. That lawyer was almost certainly Pisar.

Commercial Credit Corporation and the private CIA

In 1968, CDC acquired the Commercial Credit Corporation (CCC) to help its computer customers finance leases of company hardware and stabilize erratic earnings that then characterized much of the early computer industry. A few years after the acquisition, both CDC and CCC would find themselves intertwined with the private CIA network developed mainly by Ted Shackley, the Agencys infamous Blond Ghost, in the late 1970s and which later allied itself with George H.W. Bush. This is highly significant as this particular network was intimately involved with the illicit transfers of both weapons and technology, including during the Iran-Contra scandal, the related PROMIS scandal, and the subsequent Chinagate scandal of the mid-1990s.

Edwin Wilson; Source

For example, around 1976, CDC hired the rogue CIA agent Edwin Wilson as a consultant. Wilson, who later was sent to prison when he was caught illegally selling weapons to Libya, has been described as part spy, part tycoon and used a web of corporations he controlled to benefit his benefactors in the CIA and the Office of Naval Intelligence. Wilson had long worked closely with Ted Shackley. He was also allegedly involved in sexual blackmail operations involving both the American CIA and the South Korean CIA at Washington DCs Georgetown Club. CDC purportedly hired Wilson so he could help the company unload some outdated computers on Third World countries.

Yet, CDC leveraged Wilsons extensive contacts and abilities for much more, going so far as to have Wilson bug the U.S. Armys Materiel Command on behalf of the company. The company was apparently seeking inside information  on bidding and procurement plans of the military. Given CDCs role in illicit technology transfer, its ties to organized crime and intelligence-linked networks and its explicit espionage activity targeting the U.S. military, it seems fair to say that CDC was much more than just a technology company.

CCC, for its part, also had odd connections to the networks around Shackley. For instance, one of the key components of this private CIA was a company created by Shackley and another CIA operative and long-time associate of Shackleys named Thomas Clines. That company was known as the Egyptian-American Air Transport and Services Corporation, or EATSCO. It seems that EATSCO functioned as a middleman in arms sales made by the Pentagon to Egypt and, later, other countries.
The Department of Energy's reported conclusion that SARS-CoV-2 most likely leaked from a Chinese lab, affirming the FBI's assessment, is not the only recent evidence for the hypothesis still dismissed as a conspiracy theory by some establishment scientists.

Anthony Fauci discussed "the outbreak and chimeras"  fragments from different viruses stitched together into a new creation  with an American scientist collaborating with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in February 2020, Freedom of Information Act documents suggest.

Previous FOIA disclosures imply that Fauci, then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, played an unacknowledged role in a paper concluding that COVID-19 emerged naturally.

A new preprint study, not yet peer-reviewed, found a "novel coronavirus contaminating agricultural rice RNA sequencing datasets from Wuhan, China," whose composition suggests gain-of-function research related to Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, caused by a coronavirus from the same family as COVID-19.

The genetic sequence shows "use of a previously unpublished HKU4 [MERS-related] reverse genetics system," the researchers wrote, which "clearly undermine[s]" the popular argument that "SARS-CoV-2 or any potential precursors could not have been manipulated in a laboratory" because there was no "published backbone closely related" to it.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chair Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) on Monday called on the DOE, FBI and State Department to share what they know about COVID origins.

DOE's blockbuster conclusion, reported over the weekend by The Wall Street Journal, was actually a reaffirmation. The department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called the lab-leak theory plausible and deserving of further study in a May 2020 report, also classified, previously reported by WSJ.

Paul Thacker, who formerly investigated financial ties between physicians and pharmaceutical companies for the Senate Finance Committee, said he was told the DOE reaffirmation was based on a classified report by its Los Alamos lab, whose duties include pandemic preparedness. He declined to share more information with Just the News.

While the new report gives "low" confidence for DOE's conclusion about COVID's origin, that refers to the number of sources on which it relied, not the agency's confidence in them, according to Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), a fellow doctor derided as a "moron" by Fauci. (The FBI's confidence was reportedly "moderate.")

Marshall's view was backed by public health watchdog U.S. Right to Know, whose FOIA requests revealed a National Institutes of Health staffer deleted genetic sequences from NIH's Sequence Read Archive at a Chinese researcher's request in March 2020. NIH tried to hide both their identities after the fact.

In a report last week, USRTK said it found the "chimeras" conversation with Fauci buried in a 1,611-page FOIA production. It's mentioned in a Feb. 18, 2020 Slack conversation between two coronavirus researchers, the University of Maryland's Matthew Frieman and University of Texas Medical Branch's Vineet Menachery.

Frieman told Menachery about his "long" conversation with the University of North Carolina's Ralph Baric, in whose lab Frieman once worked. Baric collaborated with WIV on alleged gain-of-function research funded by NIAID.

"He said he sat in Fauci's office talking about the outbreak and chimeras," Frieman wrote. "I joked about his link to WIV, he wasn't amused." That meeting took place Feb. 11, 2020, according to Fauci's official calendar obtained by Open the Books.

Baric and NIAID did not respond to Just the News requests to elaborate on the contents of the reported conversation with Fauci. Deborah Kotz, senior director of media relations for the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said Frieman declined to comment.

The new preprint concerns the surprise discovery of a novel coronavirus in a "rice sequencing study" by Huazhong Agricultural University, published in NIH's Sequence Read Archive.

Analyzing the "complete viral genome sequence," the researchers found it was "98.38% identical" to a known bat coronavirus but this one has a novel spike protein that likely binds to the same receptor as the MERS coronavirus.

"We further identified that the novel HKU4-related coronavirus genome has been inserted into a bacterial artificial chromosome [BAC] in a format consistent with previously published coronavirus infectious clones," they wrote. The MERS-CoV spike was "very likely substituted into the novel HKU4-related CoV backbone ... indicative of enhanced potential pandemic pathogen (gain-of-function) research."
Judges attend a hearing to pronounce a verdict at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap



By Lee Hae-rin



Korea's Constitutional Court ruled Sunday that it is illegal to exempt foreigners from the legally entitled retirement funds of family members who died while working at Korean construction sites. The court said the exemption is unconstitutional and violates the country's conditional principles of equality.



The court decided unanimously that clause 2 of article 14 of the Act on the Employment Improvement of Construction Workers, which excluded bereaved foreign families who were not in Korea at the moment of their kin's death, from receiving retirement payments after the death, is unconstitutional.



The ruling came after a petition was filed by a Vietnamese national who applied for the retirement payments  to the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association  after her husband died at a tunnel construction site in Korea in September 2019. She filed a constitutional petition as the association rejected her demand, citing the law.



The court ruled that denying the retirement fund entitlements for bereaved foreign families residing in foreign countries, while providing it to those of Korean nationality or those residing in Korea, is discriminatory and "against the constitutional principles of equality."



According to the court, the payment of mutual aid to bereaved foreign families overseas does not have any impact on the state's finances, as the funds come from the mutual aid that companies have paid to the association for distribution.



The court also found the former law cited by the association to deny payment to be irrational as the law was based on the payment mode used in the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, which differs in nature from mutual aid payments for retirement. While industrial accident compensation is paid annually, mutual aid payments are made as a lump sum.



Since the November 2019 amendment to the Employment Improvement of Construction Workers Act, the current law states that bereaved family members of foreign nationalities abroad have become equally entitled to receive mutual aid money for retirement after a family member's death due to work.


Inter-civilization dialogue a necessity for progress of mankind, say Greek scholars

Xinhua) 11:22, March 27, 2023

ATHENS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Dialogue between civilizations and cooperation is a necessity, rather than a choice, for the joint progress of mankind, Greek scholars have said.

They made the remarks after Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Civilization Initiative at the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting in Beijing on March 15.

"Countries need to explore the building of a global network for inter-civilization dialogue and cooperation, enrich the contents of exchanges and expand avenues of cooperation to promote mutual understanding and friendship among people of all countries, and jointly advance the progress of human civilizations," Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said in a keynote address at the meeting.

For Pavlos Kontos, professor of Philosophy at the University of Patras, it was a very profound and clear statement.

"Nobody should nurse the illusion that there are some isolated places on Earth where a state or a nation could promote its own prosperity solely through its own efforts and in separation from the rest of the world," he said during an online interview with Xinhua on Thursday.

Proposing the initiative, Xi called for respecting the diversity of civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity, valuing the inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and strengthening international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

"Respect for the diversity of civilizations is a necessity, not a choice," Kontos said.

The Greek scholar, who has actively promoted the exchanges between Greek and Chinese civilizations, believes that the initiative offers a great opportunity to enhance mutual understanding and sends a message to the world that there is room for the study of all civilizations.

The University of Patras is among the co-founders of the newly established Center of Ancient Greek and Chinese Civilizations inaugurated in Athens in February. Moreover, the first worldwide joint master program that introduces a comparative approach to the two civilizations, in collaboration with Southwest University in China, will be launched this fall.

Eleni Karamalengou, professor emerita of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, academic director of the BA Program in the Archaeology, History and Literature of Ancient Greece at the Faculty of Philology, also praised China for its efforts to enhance exchanges among world civilizations.

"Contact between different cultures can be a source of intellectual wealth for all the countries that are participating in it," she said.

Karamalengou stressed the importance of dialogue which she believes would help mankind move in the direction of progress.

The School of Philosophy of Athens University, a pioneer in the academic field in Greece, has collaborated with Chinese universities and promoted dialogue between the two civilizations over the past six years.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The building of Supreme Court in Seoul / Korea Times File



The Supreme Court has finalized a decision not to punish an Iranian national charged with obtaining a visa based on a fake document, citing an international refugee convention prohibiting the punishment of refugees for illegal entry.



The Iranian applied for refugee status in South Korea in March 2016 after entering the country on a short-term visa he got from the Korean Embassy in Iran using a falsified invitation letter from a Korean company.



The Ministry of Justice had initially denied him refugee status. He lodged an administrative lawsuit challenging the decision and eventually won refugee status from the top court in November 2020 on grounds that his conversion to Christianity could subject him to religious persecution in Iran.



Separately, he had been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years on charges of using a fake document to get his visa. But the 2018 sentence was overturned by an appellate court after the Supreme Court's decision to give him refugee status.



And recently, the Supreme Court upheld the appellate court's decision not to punish him.



The top court ruled Korea's ratification of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention, entitles the Iranian to exemption from criminal penalties.



Article 31 of the convention stipulates that no penalties should be imposed on refugees on account of their illegal entry or presence.



Korea joined the convention in 1992, and the convention entered into force the next year. (Yonhap)






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Korean Air planes are parked at Incheon International Airport, Nov. 1, 2022. Yonhap



One of two Kazakhstanis who fled from Incheon International Airport after being denied entry into the country has been arrested, officials said Monday.



The two, aged 21 and 18, climbed over a fence near a runway of the airport at around 4:20 a.m. Sunday while waiting for a repatriation flight, according to the airport police.



The 21-year-old was arrested in the central city of Daejeon, 140 km south of Seoul, Sunday night, they said.



Police said they are chasing the other man.



They had been waiting for the flight to be sent back home after being denied entry into the country for unspecified reasons. (Yonhap)


A US bank, First Citizens, has confirmed it will acquire the deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), closing one chapter in the crisis of confidence that has ripped through global financial markets.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which took control of SVB earlier this month, said in a separate statement it has received equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares stock with a potential value of up to $500 million as part of the deal.

First Citizens, which described itself as having completed more FDIC-assisted transactions since 2009 than any other bank, said the combined company would be resilient with a diverse loan portfolio and deposit base.

Under the deal, unit FirstCitizens Bank & Trust Company will assume SVB assets of $110 billion, deposits of $56 billion and loans of $72 billion.

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"Prudent risk management approach will continue to protect customers and stockholders through all economic cycles and market conditions," the statement said.

First Citizens will also receive a line of credit from the FDIC for contingent liquidity purposes and will have an agreement with the regulator to share some losses on commercial loans to provide further downside protection against potential credit losses.

Analysts said the move was positive for financial stability and the venture capital industry, but only up to a point.

"I think First Citizens Banks acquisition of the SVB loan book and deposits does not add much to solve the number one issue that the US banking system is now facing: deposits leaving smaller banks for larger banks or money market funds," Redmond Wong, Greater China market strategist at Saxo Markets, said.

SVB was the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis when California regulators closed the bank on March 10th, sparking massive market disruption and heightening stresses across the banking sector globally.

Based in Santa Clara, California, it was the 16th biggest lender in the US at the end of last year, with about $209 billion in assets.

The crisis in confidence its collapse triggered also led to the failure of Signature Bank, whose deposits and loans will be taken over by a unit of New York Community Bancorp and forced Switzerland's second-biggest bank, Credit Suisse, to agree to a rescue by rival UBS.

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Worries about the banking sector globally continue to grip investors with shares in European lenders having fallen sharply on Friday, led by Germany's Deutsche Bank, while authorities are also worried about the potential for a credit crunch.

Venture capital

From Monday, SVB's 17 former branches will begin operating as Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank and SVB customers will continue to be able to access their accounts through websites, mobile apps and branches, First Citizens said.

It added that the deal would accelerate its expansion in California and give it wealth management capabilities in the northeast of the United States.

"We are committed to building on and preserving the strong relationships that legacy SVB's global fund banking business has with private equity and venture capital firms," said First Citizens Chief Executive Frank Holding Junior said in the statement.

First Citizens has around $109 billion in assets and total deposits of $89.4 billion.

The FDIC said First Citizen's purchase of about $72 billion of SVB's assets came at a discount of $16.5 billion.

"The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank to its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) to be approximately $20 billion. The exact cost will be determined when the FDIC terminates the receivership," it said.

Approximately $90 billion in securities and other assets from SVB will remain in receivership for disposal, the regulator added.

Another US regional lender, Valley National Bancorp , had also been vying to buy SVB, media reports over the weekend said. -Reuters
Aer Lingus this weekend began a new service connecting the west coast of Ireland to London Heathrow and recommenced direct flights to Hartford, Connecticut from Dublin.

New Knock-Heathrow service

The inaugural Aer Lingus flight EI916, operated by an Airbus A320, departed from Ireland West Airport at Knock for Heathrow at 1.05pm on Sunday afternoon.

"Given the proximity of Knock to the Wild Atlantic Way and the huge spotlight on the west of Ireland following the box-office hit The Banshees of Inisherin, the new route will connect GB visitors and those travelling via Heathrow to one of Irelands most popular destinations," the airline said.

Tourism Ireland figures indicate that the majority of visitors to Ireland are from Great Britain (42 per cent), followed by the US (15 per cent).

Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton said: The west of Ireland has much to offer as a tourist destination with the world renowned Wild Atlantic Way on its doorstep. Our new Knock-Heathrow service is an exciting new route for Aer Lingus and the region, bringing travellers from Great Britain right to the heart of the action. Equally, customers from the west of Ireland will now fly into London Heathrow, the UKs largest airport, and have the opportunity to travel onwards to cities all over the world.

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Pictured at the commencement of the new daily service to London Heathrow from Ireland West Airport with Aer Lingus was Aer lingus Crew from L/R Ashley Farrell, Maria Moran, Jose Ribeiro and Ellen Farrissey landing on the inaugural Aer Lingus flight EI916, Airbus to land at the airport. Photo: Michael McLaughlin

Return to Hartford  'driving connectivity to North America'

The weekend also marked the recommencement of Aer Lingus Dublin-Hartford service for the first time in over two years. Aer Lingus flight EI131, which departed from Dublin for Hartford yesterday afternoon, is operated by an Airbus A321neoLR (Long Range)

The return of daily service between Dublin and Hartford is a critical milestone for Bradley International Airport as Aer Lingus operates the only direct service from there to Europe.

Connecticut Airport Authority executive director Kevin A. Dillon said: We are thrilled to have Aer Lingus back at Bradley International Airport. Their return strengthens our pandemic recovery and is key to our continued growth. Leading up to the return, we have already seen a lot of excitement from travellers, and we are extremely proud to once again offer easy and quick transatlantic access to Ireland and beyond.

Hartford is one of 16 North American destinations that Aer Lingus will operate this summer. "With over 2.25 million transatlantic seats on sale, 2023 marks the airlines largest ever North American summer schedule to date. As part of that Aer Lings will have a direct route to Cleveland, Ohio, starting in May."
A Personal Insolvency Arrangement has been approved by the High Court which allows a former Fianna Fail councillor and General Election candidate to write off over 4.4 million in debt.

The PIA was approved in respect of Thomas 'Eddie' Mulligan, who will contribute a sum of just over 9,000 to his creditors, which are mostly financial funds, and in fees to fund the arrangement.

Mr Mulligan was an elected member of Waterford City and County Council between 2014 until his resignation as a councillor in August 2022.

Mr Mulligan (55) also ran for Fianna Fail in the 2020 General Election but failed to secure a seat.

At the High Court on Monday Mr Justice Alexander Owens was told that Mr Mulligan's financial difficulties had arisen out of the economic recession in 2008.

As well as being a local politician the court heard that Mr Mulligan had served with the Irish Naval Service for many years and had worked in his family's painting and decorating business.

Property investments

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He had borrowed money, and had given personal guarantees in respect of loans, that were used to invest in various property assets.

Following the crash those assets lost value and their rental income decreased.

Those properties, which included retail and commercial units, are to be sold to help pay off what is owed on them the court heard.

Mr Mulligan's main creditors include Pepper Finance, Everyday Finance DAC, Bank of Ireland, and a local Credit Union.

Arising out of his difficulties and inability to pay his debts as they fell due Mr Mulligan entered the insolvency process and engaged the services of Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) Mitchell O'Brien.

Keith Farry Bl for the PIP said that under the 13-month arrangement Mr Mulligan will retain the family home, a four-bedroomed house at Knockboy, Dunmore Road, Waterford worth 425,000, which he shares with his wife and their dependent child.

Counsel said Mr Mulligan will continue to make payments on his mortgage, which is to be restructured so that the total debt due on his family home has been reduced from over 600,000 to approximately 425,000.

Ireland Planning refused for 'car dependent' north Dublin... Read More

Counsel said it is the case that Mr Mulligan's creditors would do better under the PIA compared to if the former councillor was adjudicated as being a bankrupt.

Following the completion of the 13-month-long PIA, counsel said that Mr Mulligan will return to solvency.

There was no opposition to the Mr Farry's application to have the PIA formally approved by the court.

After considering the matter Mr Justice Owens said that he was satisfied from the evidence put before the court to approve Mr Mulligan's PIA.
US president Joe Biden is set to visit Ireland between April 12th and 15th.

Final details of the trip are being organised by the White House and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

While the details are still being kept under wraps, it is believed Mr Biden will visit Northern Ireland on April 11th to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

He will then visit the Republic between April 12th and 15th, Newstalk reported. He is expected to visit counties Louth, Mayo and Dublin.

Mr Biden's family ancestry can be traced to Ballina, Co Mayo, and the Cooley Peninsula, Co Louth.

Local Fianna Fail Councillor Andrea McKevitt is a fifth cousin of the US president. In a recent interview with BreakingNews.ie, she said: "I know he'll be under time pressure, but I think he'll want to spend as much time as possible engaging with people, taking photos, a personal touch. Because when we look back at his last visit he was so interested in talking and engaging with normal people."

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Mr Biden discussed the upcoming visit with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during their White House meeting on St Patrick's Day.
A former teacher who told a young schoolgirl that he wanted to take her virginity and asked her for naked pictures of herself in sexual exchanges on Instagram has appeared in court.

John Murphy (42) a married father of one from Ferncourt Crescent, Ballycullen, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to a charge of the sexual exploitation of a child between June 2017 and June 2018 before a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court.

Murphy, who comes originally from Galway and was teaching mathematics and science at a school in Tallaght at the time of the offending, also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of the possession of child pornography between December 2007 and December 2010.

Detective Garda Sandra Forde told the court that the case arose after the girls mother became aware of hundreds of texts between Murphy and the girl when she discovered her daughters Instagram account open on her mobile phone.

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Det Garda Forde said the exchanges had been going on for around 12 months between June 2017 and June 2018 and had just ended before they had been discovered by the girls mother.

She said many of the texts were of a general conversation, but there were also a lot of texts of a sexual nature.

Det Garda Forde said the girl had initially told Murphy she was 17 but shortly after they began texting told him he was 16 when she was actually 15.

The court heard Murphy had a number of graphical sexual exchanges with the girl in which he looked for naked pictures of her and expressed a desire to have sex with her and take her virginity.

Det Garda Forde said child sexual abuse images, which included 10 images and nine chat logs describing sexual acts, were discovered after a Toshiba laptop seized from his home in January 2019.

She said the material dated from around 2009.

Cross-examination

The witness said two videos depicting children having sex with each other were of the most extreme form of child sexual abuse images.

Det Garda Forde said no images of the girl were found on Murphys computer but noted that the girl had informed gardai that she had sent images of her in her underwear to him.

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Cross-examined by Paul Murray SC, the garda agreed that Murphy had been naive in that he had told the girl his age and about being a teacher in Tallaght.

He did not make any great attempt to hide his identity, she acknowledged.

However, Det Garda Forde confirmed that Murphy had not made any concrete attempt to try and meet the girl in person.

Mr Murray also pointed out that Murphy had never asked the girl to do something uncomfortable.

Counsel for the DPP, James Kelly, described how Murphy had texted the girl in which he stated he wanted to have sex with the girl and wanted to be on top as I like to see a girls face when I am inside her.

He said he liked to kiss a girl on the lips while he was having sex which was uncommon.

In another text, Murphy wrote: Im not going to lie, I would like if you lost your virginity to me.

When the girl asked him if he had any kinks, Murphy replied: Apart from liking teenagers?

On another occasion, Murphy remarked that it was a pity that proposed changes to the age of consent had not been made.

Victim impact statement

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Its 15 in most of Europe and whos to say thats wrong, Murphy observed.

In a victim impact statement, the girl, who is now aged 21, said she suffered nightmares that Murphy would find her, kidnap her and ask to do unspeakable things.

He knew so much about me that I felt I could not stop talking, she remarked.

The teenager said she would have panic attacks that someone was watching her.

I felt dirty and used and felt more like a property than a person, she said.

The girl said she also suffered with her mental health as well as from anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder.

She also described having thoughts day and night about harming or killing herself.

The court heard she now had tattoos on her arms where she had burnt herself.

The girl said she had also turned to starving herself and going for food for up to four days in order to make herself more desirable which became a deadly addiction.

She had also been hospitalised for having suicide ideation.

The girl said she felt there had been irreparable damage to her body and she feared she might never be able to have children.

Mr Murray told the court that Murphy had suffered an exceptional and spectacular fall from grace.

Ireland Swimming coach charged with sexual exploitation of... Read More

The barrister said his client wished to apologise to the girl and her family and expressed his remorse for his actions.

Mr Murray said Murphy had no previous convictions and already had received a long-time sentence by the fact that his 20-year career as a teacher was over.

The barrister expressed surprise that a probation report indicated his client had some in-built hostility to women.

Judge Patrick Quinn remanded Murphy on bail for a sentence date to be fixed in May.
A Garda suffered a broken leg when she was hit by an unoccupied car in Adamstown, Co Wexford.

The incident occurred at around 4pm on Thursday in the village.

The garda was taken to University Hospital Waterford for treatment.

In a statement gardai said: "A female Garda Member was injured during an accidental occurrence during the course of her duties in Adamstown Co Wexford on Thursday.

"The Garda member was taken from the scene to (the) Hospital where she continues to receive treatment for a suspected broken leg."

"She is receiving support from their colleagues and local Garda Management and the wider Organisational supports of the Peer Support Service, Chief Medical Officer and (a) 24 hour counselling service has been provided if required," the statement added.

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A Dublin man who was accused of trying to murder a brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch has pleaded guilty to having a firearm with intent to endanger life on the night, as well as making a separate murder attempt on another man in the north inner city.

In July of last year, the non-jury Special Criminal Court said it would hear the trial of Michael Carroll who was accused of three attempted murders, including one relating to John Hutch seven years ago.

Carroll (43), of Bride St, Dublin 8 had been charged with twice attempting to murder Edward Staunton on the night of March 26th, 2017 at James Joyce Street, Dublin 1 and again at Peadar Kearney House, Railway St, Dublin 1. Mr Staunton was injured in a hit-and-run and was shot at a short time later.

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Carroll was also charged with an attempt on the life of John Hutch, who was then 63 years old and has since passed away, in a shooting at his Drumalee Avenue home, on the North Circular Road, Dublin 7, on September 2nd, 2016.

Ireland Youth allegedly 'endangered hundreds' in Patrick's... Read More

At the three-judge court on Monday, Carroll pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Staunton at Railway Street on March 26, 2017. He also pleaded guilty to the new charge of having in his possession or control a firearm with intent to endanger life, contrary to Section 15 of the Firearms Act, at Drumalee Avenue on September 2nd, 2016.

Carroll, who was extradited from the UK in April of last year, spoke only to answer "guilty" to each charge when read to him by the registrar.

Defending barrister Giollaiosa O Lideadha SC asked the court for six weeks to prepare mitigating factors for Carroll's sentence hearing and asked that a governor's report from Mountjoy Prison be furnished to the court.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt adjourned the matter to May 22nd for Carroll's sentence hearing.
Actor Yoo Ah-in, right, enters the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul, Monday, for questioning for his alleged use of illegal drugs. Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



A-list actor Yoo Ah-in appeared before police for questioning, Monday, over his alleged use of illegal drugs. He had tested positive for four drugs: propofol, marijuana, cocaine and ketamine.



Yoo, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul's Mapo District at about 9:20 a.m., as police summoned him as a suspect.



The police launched an investigation into the 37-year-old actor's drug use after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported earlier this year that he had been prescribed propofol 73 times in 2021 alone.



Propofol is a prescription drug used to induce anesthesia during medical procedures. Highly frequent prescriptions often lead to suspicion about its use for nonmedical purposes.



Police collected Yoo's hair and urine samples immediately upon his return from the United States on Feb. 5 and sent them to the National Forensic Service for testing.



The hair test yielded positive results for cocaine and ketamine as well as propofol. The urine test returned a positive result for marijuana.



The actor was originally scheduled to appear before police last Friday, but his lawyers requested a postponement, citing that the schedule had already been made public through the media.



"For summons of a suspect, non-disclosure is the norm. But the schedule of Yoo's summons has already been reported in the media," Yoo's lawyers said in a statement, Thursday, a day before the original summons date. "Yoo was not intentionally postponing the schedule. He will cooperate with the investigation as soon as the date of the summons is agreed upon."



In an apparent attempt to get a lighter punishment, such as a fine or a suspended jail term, Yoo hired a dream team of lawyers in the field of illegal drugs, most of whom used to be veteran prosecutors specializing in narcotics investigations.



Sources in legal circles said there could be a good chance of a light punishment if Yoo cooperates with the investigation, considering that he is a first-time offender.



Being well aware of this, police have focused their efforts on securing sufficient evidence in addition to the results of Yoo's hair and urine tests.



"The results of the hair tests are limited to clarifying when a suspect used the drug, as the speed of hair growth varies from person to person," a police officer said asking not to be named.



To secure additional evidence, police raided Yoo's home as well as several hospitals in Seoul's Gangnam and Yongsan districts that allegedly prescribed propofol to him.



Police also conducted a forensic analysis of Yoo's mobile phone and questioned his acquaintances.


A man who was caught with images of child abuse as gardai were investigating him for sexually assaulting a child in a clothing store has been handed a fully suspended prison sentence.

Gardai searched the home of Stephen Gregan (42) in June 2017 after receiving a complaint he had sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl while she was out shopping with friends.

Sixty-four images and 57 movie files of child sex abuse material were discovered after two hard drives and computer were seized and analysed.

The court heard the images and movies depicted children aged between three and 10-years-old engaged in sexual activity.

Gregan, of Main Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly, previously of Grove Park, Rathmines, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of child pornography at his Dublin home on June 13th, 2017.

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The court heard that in October 2019 Gregan received a nine-month suspended sentence from Judge Martin Nolan after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault at Penneys, Dundrum Town Centre, on June 10th, 2017.

'Undue harshness'

Imposing sentence on Monday, Judge Melanie Greally said if this charge had been dealt with at the same time as the sexual assault count, it would have resulted in a custodial sentence.

However, Judge Greally said the court had to consider the length of time since the material was seized and if there would be undue harshness in imposing a custodial sentence at this point.

She said the steps taken by Gregan to rehabilitate himself, the lack of subsequent negative garda attention and the time lapsed since this offence was detected swing the balance against the immediate imposition of a custodial sentence.

Judge Greally handed Gregan an 18-month prison sentence, which she suspended for two years on strict conditions, including that he place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Gardai were investigating the allegation of sexual assault when they searched Gregan's Rathmines home and found the child abuse material.

At an earlier sentence hearing, Gerardine Small SC, defending, said her client was in a dysfunctional relationship at the time and was suffering from depression.

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Ms Small said her client had been attending counselling since the incident and had been placed on the sex offenders register. He continues to attend treatment and is fully engaged in the therapeutic process.

Counsel said Gregans brother had written a letter for the court outlined what kind of state his brother was in at the time.

He is fully aware that this is not a victimless crime. He has done what he can in terms of rehabilitation, has not come to garda attention since and is a very changed man from the man he was in June 2017, Ms Small said.

She asked Judge Greally to accept the evidence that there was no question of distributing or sharing the images and that the images had been deleted.

A letter from Gregan was handed into the court on Monday. Ms Small told the court that her client has family support and his wife was present in court.

Ireland Date set for retrial of man accused of murdering w... Read More

Judge Greally noted that the Director of Public Prosecutions directed a summary indictment for this charge, but the District Court had quite rightly refused jurisdiction based on the severity of the material.

Noting the quantity of the material seized, the judge said the aggravating factors include the nature of the material and that it includes children as young as three in some instances.

Judge Greally also noted the stigma and social isolation that follows a conviction of this type and that publicity is almost inevitable for this type of offence. She noted that this offence occurred six years ago and Grehan had a number of adverse circumstances to confront.

Judge Greally said she took into consideration the mitigating factors including the remorse expressed by Grehan, his early guilty plea and the steps taken towards rehabilitation.
An Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for a new car dependent 127 residential unit Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme for a site near Balbriggan after a developer failed to put in adequate pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to serve the scheme.

In refusing planning permission for the Kinvara Properties Ltds Strategic Housing Development (SHD) proposal for a site 4km north-west of Balbriggan, the appeals board ruled that without the adequate pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, the development would be largely car dependent.

As a result, the board ruled the scheme would therefore promote unsustainable transport modes and be contrary to the provisions of the Fingal County Development Plan.

The planned development site was also located 1km east of the M1 Motorway with the surrounding area rural in character.

Grounds for refusal

The appeals board refused planning permission for the scheme - made up of 65 houses and 62 duplex units - after Fingal County Council recommended that planning permission be refused on five separate grounds

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The appeals board inspector, Elaine Power in the case recommended refusal and agreed with the Council and the concerns raised by third parties that the proposal does not provide for safe and convenient road use and that future residents of the scheme would be car dependent, setting an undesirable precedent for similar sites where connectivity is limited or non-existent.

Ms Power stated that in the absence of adequate pedestrian and cycle infrastructure connecting the subject site to Balbriggan town centre and given the poor availability of public transport at the location, it was her recommendation that permission be refused as the proposed development would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.

Skerries scheme

In a separate SHD ruling, the board has granted planning permission to the Land Development Agency (LDA) for a 345 unit scheme for Hacketsown, Skerries in north Dublin.

The LDA can now proceed with the construction of eight blocks comprising 84 one-bed units, 104 two-bed units and 157 three-bed units ranging in eight blocks ranging from two to four storeys in height.

Ireland Youth allegedly 'endangered hundreds' in Patrick's... Read More

The appeals board granted planning permission after pointing out that the scheme is of strategic and national importance given its potential to substantively contribute to the achievement of the Governments national policy to increase housing supply.

The board also concluded that the proposed would constitute an acceptable quantum and density of the development in this intermediate urban location and would be acceptable in terms of urban design, height and scale of development.

The LDA is to provide 70 of the units for social and affordable housing.

Inspector in the case, Colm McLoughlin recommended that planning be granted after stating that he was satisfied that the proposed development would not result in excessive overshadowing, overbearing or overlooking impacts for residents of neighbouring properties.
Almost 17.9 billion in contactless payments were made in 2022, the highest level recorded since 2016 and a jump of 31.4 per cent on 2021.

Meanwhile, online and mobile banking payments continued to surge with volumes doubling between 2006 and 2022, according to the latest Payments Monitor Q4 2022 from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).

The last quarter of 2022 saw three million contactless payments per day, valued at 53 million, making this the highest daily contactless spend in any quarter since the data series began in 2016. On an annual basis, the number of contactless payments had more than doubled since 2019 to 1.1 billion, while the value was almost three times (2.92) the 2019 level.

The monitor also shows that the volume of online and mobile banking payments (digital banking) continued to grow by 5 per cent year-on-year in Q4 2022 to 36.7 million. The represents the highest quarterly volume since that data series began in 2016.

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Commenting on the figures, Gillian Byrne, head of payments BPFI, said: Todays report demonstrates the continued growth in consumer reliance on contactless payments with an increase in volume of 27.2 per cent on an annual basis to almost 1.1 billion transactions. Contactless payments more than doubled since 2019 to 1.1 billion with the value of transactions almost treble (2.92) the 2019 level.

We also continue to see a surge in mobile and online banking payments, with todays report showing that on an annual basis, volumes have risen by 9.4 per cent. This is a continuation of the trend seen in recent years and figures reveal that volumes have more than doubled to 183 million since 2016 when there were only 71 million transactions.

The publication of todays monitor coincides with the hosting of BPFIs National Payments Conference which is being opened by EU Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness.

Bringing together industry experts and policy makers, the event will "reflect on the significance of the figures published today in the context of the major forces bringing change to the Irish payments landscape".

In addition to examining the latest payments developments at EU level including the digital euro and Instant Payments, the conference will also explore the development of tailored services for customers using payment data as well as financial crime and the latest fraud trends.
A Norwegian telecom engineer who drove an Irish rental car across Europe to his home country in breach of his agreement has been given a three-month jail term.

Bjorn Erlend Tveter (41) declined to return the car after the company contacted him when they were alerted that the car had been caught speeding in Holland. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that 9,000 miles were clocked up on the car.

Kildare address

Tveter from Norway and with a former address in Celbridge, Co Kildare pleaded guilty to use of a false instrument being a fraudulent rental agreement on dates between November 10th and 25th, 2020. He has previous convictions for drugs offences in Norway and Sweden.

The court heard he was extradited to Ireland in January after he was stopped travelling from Spain to Gibraltar. He has been in custody since that date.

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Garda Dominic McGrath told Joe Barnes BL, prosecuting, that Tveter had used a false rental agreement using a former address to lease a car and left the state in the car. The rental company were alerted the following day when a speeding ticket was flagged for the car in Holland.

Car return

Gda McGrath said the company contacted Tveter and asked him to return the car but he told them he needed it and was going to hold on to it for a couple of months. He was asked to surrender it to the police in Norway but declined.

Phone and email contact continued with Tveter but the car was flagged as stolen and recovered by police in Norway. A contractor was sent to repatriate the car by the company costing 3,200.

Aoife OLeary BL, defending, said her client, who works as a telecoms engineer, used his real name, driving licence and bank card but used an address he no longer lived at on the rental agreement. She said he was easily traceable.

Ms OLeary said he had paid 1,500 initially to the company on the 12 month lease and a further 3,500 was taken from his credit card at a later stage. The company is at a remaining loss of 1,200.

Ireland Young man who posted intimate images of girlfriend... Read More

She said he had engaged with the person he rented the car from and had believed he was allowed to take the car out of the state. She said he was in a position to pay the outstanding money to the company.

The court heard when stopped by Norwegian police , he told them he had borrowed the car and did not see the problem. The police seized the car and let Tveter go.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan said Tveter appeared to make a habit of sailing close to the wind.

He imposed a sentence of 12 months and suspended the final nine months, backdating it to January 13th, 2023. He ordered the outstanding 1,200 be paid over.
Two people have been killed and 29 others were wounded when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as terrorism.

Russian officials have denied targeting residential areas, even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.



Lilia cries next to the coffin of her son Anton Zayets, a senior lieutenant of Ukrainian armed forces, during funeral ceremony at St Michaels Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv (AP)

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlins forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

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In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, officials added.

Avdiivka mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and actor and Unicef Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was shelled 20 times by the Russian artillery and aviation, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

The mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said several explosions shook the city on Monday, damaging a building where Russian security forces have been quartered.

Mayor Ivan Fyodorov posted photos of smoke billowing over the area where the Russian barracks are located.

The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.





Today, @UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom visited a foster family in Demydiv. This family took in 4 children. UNICEF is working to ensure better care for #UkraineChildren by strengthening support for families, so every child grows up in a safe, loving and nurturing family. pic.twitter.com/jC265aV6Q1 Advertisement  UNICEF Ukraine (@UNICEF_UA) March 26, 2023

Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Mr Zelensky met British actor Orlando Bloom, the head of Ukraines presidential office Andriy Yermak said.

Lord Of The Rings and Pirates Of The Caribbean star Bloom, who is also a Unicef goodwill ambassador, arrived in the Ukrainian capital over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

During his meeting with Mr Zelensky, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Mr Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.
A gunwoman wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three pupils and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

The gunwoman died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 pupils.

She had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and carried out surveillance before the attack, police said.

The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all aged nine, and Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.



A group prays after the shooting (John Bazemore/AP)

The school website lists Ms Koonce as the headteacher.

Police said the gunwoman was 28 and from Nashville, after initially saying she appeared to be in her teens.

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She is believed to have been a former pupil at the school.

The killings come as communities around the country reel from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year, a pupil who shot his teacher in Virginia, and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

President Joe Biden called on Congress again to pass his assault weapons ban in the wake of the Nashville shooting.



Police and FBI investigate a house in Nashville after the mass shooting (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/AP)

Its heartbreaking, a familys worst nightmare, he said. Its ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation.

First lady Jill Biden said: I am truly without words, and our children deserve better. We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer.

The suspects identity as a woman surprised experts on mass shootings.

Women make up only about 5% to 8% of all mass shooters, said Adam Lankford, a criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama who has closely studied the psychology and behaviour of such individuals.

There have been seven mass killings at US schools since 2006, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

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Another school shooting. I am truly without words  our children deserve better.



We stand  all of us  with Nashville.  Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) March 27, 2023

In all of them, the gunmen were males who killed four or more people within a 24-hour time frame at schools with pupils from nursery age to 18.

The tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received an initial call about an active gunman at 10.13am.

Officers began clearing the ground floor of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the next floor, police spokesman Don Aaron said.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10.27am, Mr Aaron said.

He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.





UPDATE: 3 students & 3 adult staff members from Covenant School were fatally shot by the active shooter, who has now been identified as a 28-year-old Nashville woman.  Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 27, 2023

The victims were pronounced dead on arrival at the Monroe Carell Junior Childrens Hospital, said Craig Boerner, a spokesman for Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, which is affiliated with the childrens hospital.

Other students walked to safety on Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

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Police with rifles, heavy vests and helmets could be seen walking through the school car park and around the grassy perimeter of the building.

Helicopter footage from WTVF also showed the officers looking around a wooded area between the campus and a nearby road.



Children are led away from the school (Jonathan Mattise/AP)

Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens and fire engines blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. And right now, its real.

On WTVF TV, reporter Hannah McDonald said that her mother-in-law works at the front desk at The Covenant School. The woman had stepped outside for a break and was coming back when she heard gunshots, Ms McDonald said during a live broadcast.

The reporter said she has not been able to speak to her mother-in-law but said her husband had.



A child is reunited with his parents (John Bazemore/AP)

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Nashville mayor John Cooper tweeted, thanking emergency services and medical professionals.

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My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website.

The school is in the affluent Green Hill neighbourhood just south of Nashville, close to the citys top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers.





In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.



My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.



As facts continue to emerge, I thank our first responders and medical professionals.  Mayor John Cooper (@JohnCooper4Nash) March 27, 2023

The school has 33 teachers, the website said. The schools website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

Democratic state representative Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy.

I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there, Mr Freeman said in a statement.

I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.
North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles towards waters off its eastern coast, according to neighbouring South Korea.

The latest upsurge in weapons tests come as the United States prepared to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to step up military exercises with South Korea.

South Koreas joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were fired from south of the North Korean capital Pyongyang but did not release flight details.

US Army soldiers wait to board their CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a joint military drill with South Korea and the United States in Pocheon, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon, File/AP)

Japans coastguard said it believed both weapons landed outside the countrys exclusive economic zone.

The launches were North Koreas seventh missile event this month amid heightened military tensions with the US moving an aircraft carrier group to the Korean peninsula this week for another round of joint drills.

North Korea has fired more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles across 11 launch events this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions.

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Launches have included a flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range weapons as it tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the US mainland.

A three-day exercise last week simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets as leader Kim Jong Un condemned the US-South Korean joint military drills  described by the allies as defensive in nature  as invasion rehearsals.

South Koreas air force said the latest five-day joint aerial drill included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

North Korea launched more than 70 missiles in 2022.
Over 40,000 passengers were left stranded yesterday after Ryanair was forced to cancel 230 flights.

The airline said the cancellation of flights across the EU was due to "yet another French air traffic control strike".

Over the weekend, over 25 per cent of Ryanair's 9,000 scheduled flights were delayed due to the disruptions, disrupting travel plans for 41,000 people.

Ryanair is now calling on the EU Commission to take action to protect EU citizens and overflights.

The airline condemned "repeated French ATC strikes". Ryanair added that French domestic flights are protected by minimum service legislation, however, "overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland are cancelled solely because a tiny French ATC union repeatedly closes the skies over Europe".

Ryanair has called for minimum advance strike notice "to allow airlines to reschedule flights or advise passengers".

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A Ryanair spokesperson said: Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission repeatedly claim that the Single Market is a priority for Europe. In negotiations around Brexit, the Single Market was the EU Commissions priority. However, every time French ATC goes on strike, the Single Market for air travel over Europe is disrupted, yet the EU Commission sits on its hands taking no action.

"When the French government uses minimum service legislation to protect French flights, why does Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission stand idly by and allow EU overflights to be disproportionately cancelled on a daily basis? We call on the Commission to take legal action against France and its ATC unions, to protect EU overflights.

"Innocent EU passengers travelling from Germany to Spain, or from Ireland to Italy, are entitled to rely on the EUs Single Market for air travel, and their overflights should not be repeatedly cancelled because the EU Commission fails to take action to defend the Single Market."
Trade union protesters angered by French president Emmanuel Macron's move to raise the French retirement age without a final vote in parliament blocked the Louvre Museum in Paris on Monday, frustrating crowds of visitors.

Demonstrating peacefully against plans to make most French work an extra two years to 64 to balance the pension budget, a small number of protesters gathered at the foot of the Louvre's glass pyramid. One banner read "Retire at 60 - work less to live longer."

A queue of disappointed tourists snaked through the courtyard.

"This is ridiculous, we come from everywhere in the world with our children to visit a museum and its ridiculous that 20 people are blocking the entrance," said Samuel, a Mexican tourist who did not give his surname.

"I really understand where they're coming from, and it's fair enough. But we all would like to go and see Mona Lisa, but never mind," Jane, a visitor from London, said.

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Louvre employees were among the protesters outside the famed museum.

A Louvre tour guide came out to address the visitors. "We hope you understand our reasons," she said.

The protest came one day ahead of a 10th round of nationwide strikes and street marches and followed violence in cities across France over the pension system changes.

Separately, Paris police said they were carrying out an operation to prevent unauthorised gatherings in front of the Centre Pomopidou, another landmark museum in Paris. -Reuters
Supreme Court building / Korea Times file



By Jun Ji-hye



The Supreme Court upheld an appellate court's decision not to punish an Iranian national charged with obtaining a visa based on a falsified document, citing an international convention stipulating that penalties should not be imposed on refugees for illegal entry.



In 2016, the Iranian national applied for a short-term visa to the Korean Embassy in his home country, presenting an invitation letter that he claimed was issued by a Korean company.



But the Iranian was found to have received the letter from a broker after paying $4,700.



The Iranian managed to obtain the short-term visa anyway and entered Korea. He then filed a refugee application the same year.



As the refugee application was rejected by the Ministry of Justice, he filed an administrative suit and finally won refugee status following a Supreme Court ruling in November 2020. At the time, the top court acknowledged concerns that he could be persecuted in Iran for converting to Christianity.



Prosecutors, who became aware of the fake document the Iranian presented to the embassy, handed him over to the separate trials in 2018.



In September in that year, a district court sentenced him one year in prison, suspended for two years.



While he appealed that sentence, he won the administrative suit regarding his status as a refugee. Thus, the appellate court overturned the ruling issued by the district court and decided in February 2021 not to punish him.



Prosecutors lodged an appeal, but the Supreme Court upheld the appellate court's decision.



The top court cited Article 31 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees that stipulates, "Contracting states shall not impose penalties on account of their illegal entry or presence on refugees."



"Korea's ratification of the convention offers legal basis that the Iranian should be exempt from criminal penalties," the court said in its ruling.



Korea joined the convention in 1992 and its rules came into effect in March of the following year.




Eastern suburbs media personality Mia Freedman has done pretty well for someone whose family became very rich only while she was in high school at Ascham.

The entrepreneurial brains behind a vast, widely adored womens media network, is set to get the small screen treatment, with Foxtel-owned streaming service Binge turning her 2017 memoir into an Asher Keddie-led dramedy called Strife  something were sure the resident of a $12.75 million Point Piper home knows a thing or two about!

This is your life: Mia Freedman and Steve Hutensky.

Freedman is a co-executive producer on the project, which started filming this week, along with Keddie, and Steve Hutensky, a former entertainment lawyer who helped Harvey Weinstein secure secret settlements with women hed allegedly sexually harassed.

Hutensky is co-founder and chief operating officer of production company Made Up Stories, along with his wife Bruna Papandrea (also producing Strife), which prides itself on producing stories with intelligent, multifaceted female characters and is the recipient of millions in Screen Australia grants.
We all have bad days at work, but spare a thought for The Voice producer who decided to reject Luke Combs.

The North Carolina native is one of the biggest names in contemporary country music, a two-time Grammy Award winner who sells out arenas within hours. But a few years ago, Combs was just another doe-eyed hopeful looking to make his mark when The Voice came knocking.

Despite making it through the first few rounds of auditions, producers ultimately decided he didnt have what they were looking for.

Combs has just released his fourth studio album Gettin Old, a companion record to his 2022 album, Growin Up. Growin Up peaked at number two on the ARIA charts in Australia. Credit: SONY

The letter that I got in the mail was essentially like, Hey man, you have a really great voice, and you made it this far; better luck next time, recalls Combs. That experience was probably good for me though, because if I had been on the show, I would have had a completely different trajectory, dont you think?
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Sponsored Eating outNaked Wines Splashes of success: Food and wine talent leaving their mark Advertorial for Naked Wines Freya Herring March 27, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

In a world where the best known wineries churn out enormous volumes of wine each year, there is a place too, for the smaller producers. These are the folk who labour tirelessly to produce smaller volumes of interesting wines  often from planting vines through to bottling. Smaller winemakers produce a large variety of high quality wines to be enjoyed. iStock Many smaller winemakers sell their wares through companies like Naked Wines, who champion the joys and surprises that only a smaller winemaker can produce, supporting them to be creative forces rather than mass-producers. Its a unique model that links wine lovers directly with local, independent winemakers and eliminates the need for a middleman. As a result, Naked Wines shoppers enjoy a better way to wine, accessing quality wines at lower prices. Meet four of these winemaking teams, and their fearless leaders, crafting wines you need to know about now. Two Pairs Kate Day and Nina Stocker Our story: both Kathryns; both winemakers; married to identical twins, says Kate Day (Kathryn) of Two Pairs Wines. Day met Katherine Stocker (known as Nina) while they were studying winemaking at Adelaide University, but wine had long been an interest. My family always entertained with food and wine, and travel to wine regions was a huge part of our upbringing, says Day, who grew up beachside in Sydneys Cronulla. Stocker, however, was raised in the Alps. I grew up in Switzerland where my parents helped out on weekends on a local vineyard, she says.

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In an interesting twist, Stocker met her now-husband John, at Days wedding. He was the brother of the groom  and his identical twin. The union cemented the named of their label  Two Pairs. Alongside their own individual wine consulting businesses, Stocker and Day run Two Pairs together, producing wine from grapes sourced from across Australia, like Shiraz from Central Victoria and Grenache from McLaren Vale. Nina & Kate of wine label Two Pairs. Naked Wines Ben Riggs of Abundance Like Day and Stocker, Ben Riggs grew up with an appreciation for wine. My family always drank wine with meals, he says. I loved trying wine, particularly the off-dry German wines we frequently had at home.

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He went on to be mentored by the likes of Murray Tyrrel and Brian Croser, becoming the Chief Winemaker at Wirra Wirra winery in McLaren Vale, before setting up shop on his own  because with this level of experience, why wouldnt he? Now known affectionately in the industry as Mr McLaren Vale, what this man doesnt know about the regions wine isnt worth knowing. Ben Riggs of Abundance. Naked Wines Tim Smith of Tim Smith Wines Tim Smith didnt think hed become a winemaker. For a working-class boy like me from the Western suburbs of Adelaide, Im not sure anybody saw this career coming myself included! he says. In fact, for most of his career he lived the rock and roll lifestyle of a lighting technician roadie for a host of major Aussie bands. A change saw him working at a local winery, eventually going solo through the support of Naked Wines. He now produces a Shiraz, Mataro and GSM through his own winery for Naked, and has pocketed himself a barrage of awards. Tim Smith of Tim Smith Wines. Naked Wines

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Altschwager and Kenneally Wines Swanand Gus Altschwager, and Mark and Emma Kenneally A couple of couples making extraordinary wine, from more than a couple of locations. Whats very cool about us is that we are four friends from Australia and New Zealand making wines in three different regions, says Swan Altschwager, who runs the label with husband Gus, and friends Mark and Emma Kenneally. Before we started with Naked Wines in 2014 we were all working for someone else  large companies, making wines that were big blends with no soul, explains Gus. Going Naked gave us the opportunity to make our own wine for the first time  it was our liberation! Swan and Gus Altschwager, and Mark and Emma Kenneally of Altschwager and Kenneally Wines. Naked Wines Over 65 of the top Australian and New Zealand winemakers are on board with Naked Wines and more than 100,000 customers have voted with their feet  farewelling big business and instead, supporting local, independent winemakers. For Aussies that love their wine, Naked Wines is a meaningful way to make a difference to hardworking, rural winemakers. Theyve been swamped by an industry thats overtaken their passion with a dogged focus on bottom line and mass production. Along the way, hand-crafted quality became an unneeded by-product, which is not what wine creation is about. Celebrate the change - over a very good glass of the wine you can help make happen  at nakedwines.com.au
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FoodMelbourne YouTube food star Mark Wiens is finally coming to Australia Almost 10 million YouTube subscribers await Wiens verdict on every mouthful. Now hes heading to Melbourne to share his signature Thai stir-fry and to tick a few places off his own food hit list. Sofia Levin March 27, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

When you have millions of YouTube followers, strangers gossip about you on the internet. This is certainly the case for Mark Wiens, who has been blogging under the title Migrationology since 2009. These days he earns most of his living by travelling the world filming food videos, which he shares with 9.7 million YouTube subscribers. Reddit is a rabbit hole of rumours. Is Mark Wiens bulimic? asks someone who cant understand how he remains so slim. Mark really daddied up during quarantine, comments another person admiring his uncharacteristic facial hair during lockdown. But the most frequent debate is whether the self-described full-time eater fakes his reactions to food. YouTube travel and food vlogger Mark Wiens (right) with chef Sungen Mo, from Melbournes BKK. Parker Blain Click on any of Wiens videos  almost all of which top a million views  and youll see the signature move. It goes something like this: a large mouthful of food, followed by eyes that widen and then close as he leans to the right in ecstasy, and finally exclaims with a breathy oh or an elongated wowww. There are even YouTube compilations of his reactions. Sitting across the table from Wiens at Time Kaan, a new fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok that recreates ancient dishes, I watch for his trademark reaction. Its a cinch to spot which of the 15 dishes Wiens enjoys most. He isnt as exaggerated as on camera, but his eyes bulge when smoky grilled chicken with green peppercorn paste hits his tongue. He pauses, nods slowly and then his mouth spreads into a smile as he chews. Then I hear it: Wowww!

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Wiens, 37, has always been exposed to different cuisines, a side effect of having parents who travelled while working for a mission organisation. Born in Arizona to an American father and a Chinese-Hawaiian mother, Wiens spent his fifth year in a tiny town called Albertville in the French Alps, before being homeschooled in the jungle in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a few years, and later attending an international school in Kenya. As a kid, I always had opportunities to try a variety of different cultures foods, which always stuck with me. Wed go to visit families, whether that be in Africa or the US or in Europe, and food was always something wed gather around, he says. Wiens recalls tasting his first doro wot, an Ethiopian chicken and egg stew, as an eight-year-old. His head sways as he speaks and he unconsciously pinches his fingers together, mimicking the action of eating injera with his hands. The description flows, filled with conjunctions that link streams of animated phrases. Im swept up by his childlike enthusiasm, the same way his subscribers are when they watch his videos. RecipeTin Eats x Good Food: Thai red curry fried rice

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Wiens returned to the United States after high school for a degree in global studies, before travelling around South America for a few months. When he returned home for his sisters wedding, he started his blog, Migrationology, to document his travels. Asia was next. When Wiens ran out of money, he met a friend in Bangkok and taught English to get by. Although he didnt love the gig, travelling for it introduced him to regional Thai cuisine, and, later that year, his now-wife, Ying. After that, he never left. The couple lives in Bangkok with their six-year-old son, Micah, who sometimes features in videos. They make up the entire production team, with Wiens either setting up his camera on a tripod, filming in selfie mode, or handing over to Ying. Until a few months ago, Wiens edited every video himself, which could take several days. For the past decade hes shared two videos a week, only recently cutting back to six videos a month. He attributes much of his success to consistently providing content to his viewers, though he no longer has time to also publish written articles on his blog. Mark Wiens and his signature Not Spicy Not Eating T-shirt. Parker Blain Before COVID, before a kid, we were just travelling continuously, maybe 75 per cent of the year, he says. It was just go, go, go, with no end in sight. After COVID, I made a decision to calm down and prioritise. Now I think its about 40 per cent travelling and 60 per cent at home. Were at a point where were trying new things also, so we have a few other projects going on.

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That includes an HBO series, Food Affair, which was released in late 2022 and follows Wiens around to fine-dining restaurants and street-food vendors in Singapore. Hes also a partner in Phed Mark, a Bangkok restaurant that serves only pad krapao (holy basil stir fry), which he co-owns with fellow Thai food blogger and YouTuber Khun Tan (aka iTan), actor and designer Khun Pongthep, and Iron Chef Thailand champion Gigg Kamol. The idea for Phed Mark was sparked when Tan asked Wiens to name his favourite pad krapao in Bangkok. Its something his fans often asked, too. Wiens half-jokes that his mother-in-laws pad krapao is his pick, because she dials up the chilli (Wiens is known for his love of chilli, evidenced by the T-shirts he always wears that read, Not Spicy Not Eating). But that doesnt mean its the best. Street stall Phed Mark in Bangkok specialises in pad krapao (holy basil stir-fry), a Thai staple. Parker Blain I never claimed to be a food critic, Im a food describer and thats always been my philosophy, he says. Im a terrible food critic because I just like to eat everything  food is so subjective. Youre always comparing it to something youve had. If comparing dishes to past experiences is a measurement of expertise, then Wiens is a seasoned professional. In the past three months, his videos have spanned the Caribbean, Philippines, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

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His next trip will be his first visit to Australia, where Phed Mark is collaborating with BKK restaurant as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Unsurprisingly, given his internet fame, the Phed Mark x BKK dinners are sold out, but walk-ins are welcome during the Bangkok Street Food Festival (March 31 and April 1), when Phed Mark and BKK team up with local restaurants Soi 38 and DoDee Paidang to turn Drewery Lane into a Thai street food market. Thai eateries Dodee Paidang, BKK and Soi 38 are teaming up with Bangkok street stall Phed Mark during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Carmen Zammit I ask Wiens the question on 9.7 million peoples lips: where does he plan to eat while in town? Hes mostly interested in native Australian ingredients and what he calls legendary places. Wiens has done his research and cites Pellegrinis, Flower Drum, Nicos Sandwich Deli and A1 Bakery. Hes also keen to try a classic Aussie burger, but has never heard of a dim sim (until now). I love the food that local people are eating. My goal has actually always been to make videos that might even inspire local people to explore their own backyard or their own city, rather than create videos for travellers, he says. I really do think that every country has something unique to offer.

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In another of the many internet threads about Wiens, someone comments, I would really like to see him when hes pissed off sometimes because it seems hard to imagine. Its not just on-brand for Wiens to be unwaveringly positive, its his personality. And regardless of whether he exaggerates his reactions on camera, in person the man is genuine down to his marrow. Mark Wiens will be in Melbourne from March 30 to April 1 for the Phed Mark x BKK dinners and Bangkok Street Food Festival, melbournefoodandwine.com.au. Sofia Levin travelled to Bangkok as a guest of HQ Group.
The thing that saddens me most is that someone thinks its OK to ring up a scientist and say that on the basis of one media clip, not knowing the facts, or the research we are doing, Bennett said. It will surprise few that Bennett has had a busy few years. What the public may not fully appreciate was, in her words, how totally insane her work schedule was and how all consuming it became. As the early pandemic conspiracy theories began doing the rounds (remember the claims drinking hot drinks cures COVID?), Bennett made herself available to a spectrum of media outlets: from the BBC to Australias conservative news channel, Sky News. It wasnt unusual for her day to start well before dawn, when she would begin prepping at 5am for breakfast television appearances. Often the networks would send a camera to her house, so she could stand on her front lawn in Melbournes north, both in freezing conditions or while being bitten by mosquitoes.

During lockdowns, Bennett said, she worked every day, 100 hours a week, and did up to 25 media interviews daily. She was also in high demand for writing opinion pieces, which she learnt to write in 45 minutes. Typically, her days finished around 1am, when she posted on professional networking site LinkedIn, following an evening of international media, participating in vaccine forums and meeting with overseas research colleagues. Professor Mary-Louise McLaws says she wanted to reassure Australians in her hundreds of media interviews. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer As COVID-19 became Bennetts life, it also invaded her home. Those who watched the epidemiologist during her hundreds of television interviews might remember she often sat in front of a cabinet decorated with an old radio from her childhood and a glass cabinet holding her mothers childhood tea cup and other sentimental pieces. This was her dining room in the middle of her house, where she had set up office.

There was little time for her partner, who made his presence known by quietly placing a book in the backdrop of Bennetts television appearances. First, it was The Plague by Albert Camus. Loading After that it became a thing where he would find a book each Sunday to put up that was amusing to him, but the novelty wears off, she said. Working around the clock was also hampering Bennetts recovery from illness, and some television viewers felt the need to send her messages commenting on her appearance. You cant go to the hairdressers because of the lockdown. You have wild hair anyway. Youre now putting on weight because youre not able to exercise in the way you would normally, she recalled.

Then people are writing to you, the one in a hundred, and saying, Oh, well clearly you like to eat lollies or sweet cakes and Im thinking, No, Im actually working 16-hour days and Im not well. Almost immediately after Bennett began doing media appearances in early 2020, she was recognised when out and about in her neighbourhood. For a little while, people didnt say anything, though she clocked the recognition in their faces. One day, while at the post office, the manager loudly declared, Youre looking good on television. All the other customers looked up and stared at her. There are perhaps just a handful of people who can relate to this unique type of celebrity status. University of NSW epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2022, said she had wanted to reassure Australians with her regular COVID commentary. I was at home, always wearing the same thing and always sounding the same way, she said.

Professor Sharon Lewin says she tried to avoid getting tangled in the politics of the pandemic. Credit: Simon Schluter When she fell ill last year, she was overwhelmed by well-wishes from everyday Australians and celebrities. The head of the Doherty Institute, Professor Sharon Lewin, said she was careful not to comment directly on the merits of public policy, but to stick to interpreting the science in her media appearances. The leading HIV researcher was often stopped on the street by people who said they appreciated her sensible counsel. Her core demographic of admirers are people over 40 who watch television, though she said she was also recognised several times by the sound of her voice. I was in a shoe shop once in Kyneton and asked for a pair of shoes and [the attendant] said, I know that voice.

In the three years since January 2020, Bennett was quoted 1380 times in print newspaper stories. McLaws was mentioned on 743 occasions, Lewin 343 times, infectious diseases physician Professor Peter Collignon 1357 times and University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely 717 times. Loading In comparison, Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton was mentioned 6873 times. Bennetts work schedule has eased in 2023, as she made a deliberate decision at the end of last year to take a break and reduce her commitments. She would now average about five to 10 interviews a week and is now feeling healthier and can walk further. One thing that hasnt changed though is her unlikely celebrity; not 15 minutes of fame as some people quip, but now three years and counting. It is still impossible for her to go anywhere in Australia without being recognised.

Thank you, people tell her. You were the one we liked to listen to. You reassured us. You gave us the information we needed. The scientist has a distinctive look. Her dark curly hair is topped with a streak of grey, created by a natural discolouration, and she has what youd call a radio voice. Rich and resonant. Bennett said she recently travelled to Echuca in the very north of Victoria, past what used to be the ring of steel that separated Melbourne from the rest of the state. She enjoyed a blissful few days walking in the bush and not being recognised. Catherine Bennett has found she is easily recognised by the public. Credit: Justin McManus On the way back, she and her partner stopped in Nagambie. As they walked along the lake the town is famous for, looking for somewhere to stop for lunch, another couple passed by.
Australia will send an official delegation to Chinas Boao business forum this week, paving the way for a Beijing visit by the federal trade minister in the coming weeks as restrictions on Australian exports continue to be lifted despite the recent AUKUS announcement.

Assistant Trade Minister Tim Ayres is travelling to China for the forum, which he dubbed the Davos of Asia, the first Australian minister to attend the summit in more than half a decade, saying it was another positive step in the thawing relationship. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also plans a visit to the country.

Assistant Trade Minister Tim Ayres says he would like to see impediments to trade with China removed. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Ayres pointed to a defence meeting between the countries last week as a sign the relationship remained on a steady path and said the Boao forum was a chance to keep working towards easing more trade restrictions.

China has restricted trade of Australian goods, from official embargoes on beef and wine to technical restrictions on products including lobster and unofficial blocks on goods such as coal and timber.
The NSW Liberal Party has been accused of failing to protect one of its most ardent right-wing warriors from an independent threat on Sydneys south-western fringe, focusing instead on heartland coastal seats.

Former government whip Nathaniel Smith was dislodged as the Wollondilly member in an upset loss that further stokes anger within the partys conservative ranks following the disastrous election result.

Judy Hannan and Nathaniel Smith Credit: James Alcock, Kate Geraghty

Judy Hannan, who was courted by then-premier Gladys Berejiklian to run for the Liberal Party in the 2019 election, secured the Southern Highlands electorate on Tuesday, becoming the sole Climate 200-backed independent to emerge victorious in the state election.

Liberal sources not authorised to speak publicly said Smith had been left exposed by the party machine because it failed to warn him of internal polling showing he was at risk, and further claimed he was not provided sufficient resources or mail-outs.

They didnt take the independent threat in Wollondilly seriously. Instead, they spent too much time on northern Sydney, said one party insider.

Full story here.
The partner of an Australian journalist detained in China says he is disappointed that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said he wont raise her plight while on a trade mission to the country this week.

Chinese-born television anchor Cheng Lei, who moved to Melbourne with her family when she was a child, has been imprisoned in China for more than two years after being charged with illegally supplying state secrets overseas. Australian authorities have repeatedly questioned the lack of transparency with the legal process in Chengs case.

Australian journalist Cheng Lei and her partner Nick Coyle. Credit: The Age/ Getty

The premier flew to China on Monday night for a series of meetings designed to boost Melbournes standing among prospective Chinese students. The trip will be the first time the head of an Australian government has visited China since the beginning of the pandemic.

On Sunday, Andrews alluded to Cheng  who worked as a news anchor in China for a decade before being detained in 2020 at the height of diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing  when he told reporters there are a number of people that are in custody in China.
Security experts say that Chinas campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to politicians affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China. Republican Utah state Senator Curtis Bramble: the roles of legislator and businessman sometimes overlap in China. Credit: AP Beijings campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal politicians and drawn the attention of the Justice Department. A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic. A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP hes been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

Beijings interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the US in 2015 that without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level. Loading Deceptive and coercive A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatise and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes. It is not unusual for countries, including the US, to engage in local diplomacy. US officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the US intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts. Loading The National Counterintelligence and Security Centre in July warned state and local officials about deceptive and coercive Chinese influence operations. And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to cultivate talent earlyoften state and local officialsto ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijings agenda. Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the US and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and Chinas tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered and shot down in US airspace. US officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted. The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well-known to legislators. A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. Hes so cool! Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public record requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly politicians, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislations sponsor. The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by US national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year. Legislative and PR victories In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards theyd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to become young ambassadors for Sino-American friendship. Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state-controlled media in China. A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. Hes so cool! Portraying Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Xis letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldnt help but think how amazing it was that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xis letter was so kind and so personal. Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit: AP Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said in making such comments Utah lawmakers are essentially acting as mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party and legitimising their ideas and narratives. Statements like these are exactly what Chinas goal is for influence campaigns, he said. Chinas interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education.

US officials have noted that Chinas civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show. Spy agency interest In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China. The Chicago student told an undercover agent hed been tasked by his spy handlers to meet people, some American friends. He was baptised at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent hed been going to Utah more often lately before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former US intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China. Hansen said Chinas spy service had tasked him with assessing various US politicians views towards China. The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison. Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organise the first-ever annual US-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews. Trips abroad The US State Department cancelled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts. The AP found groups of up to 25 Utah politicians routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007. Politicians have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges, while relying on China and host organisations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, theyve forged relationships with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijings agenda. Loading Utah is not like Washington DC, then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history. In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him bullish about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other politicians.

Its a trip not worth taking, Hughes said. Utah doesnt require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so its difficult to determine lawmakers financial ties to China. Chinas going to be a world force. Senator Curt Bramble Some of Utahs most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections. Senator Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he had clients in China  a dozen at times  some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients are based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them. Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah. Chinas not going anywhere. Chinas going to be a world force. Theyre going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavour, he said. Ties forged by two Utah residents

Many of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organisations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found. The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah politicians and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favor with Beijing, according to emails and interviews. In reviewing the APs findings, legal experts said the mens connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven. If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters. One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted in 1990 to the Mormon faith.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job -- as a paid representative of Chinas Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding sister relationship with Utah. Ive heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritising their relationship with Utah. Dan Stephenson, employee of China-based consulting firm Les advocacy continued after he said he left Liaonings payroll, emails and interviews show. He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese Embassy set up meetings with state officials. After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Governor Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with Chinas ambassador to the US, Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting. I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together.

You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China. State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams thought could be used as potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, emails and interviews show. Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in an email to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese Embassy to assign two staffers to work tirelessly on the request until it was fulfilled. Politicians son turned China advocate Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm was another Utah resident who had advocated better relations with China, legislators said.

Emails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah Senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah. Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well-connected with government officials there. Republican Utah senator Jacob Anderegg at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP Ive heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritising their relationship with Utah, Stephenson told politicians at a committee hearing. That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Senator Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

Loading The resolution passed with near unanimous approval. A Chinese diplomats efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the states Senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda. Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolutions origins. It seemed rather innocuous to me, Anderegg said of his resolution. But maybe it wasnt.

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution. Ties to alleged front groups Stephenson has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show. He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International. The companys chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online biography. The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Partys United Front. Stephenson said hes never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it.

Loading I work to promote Utahs economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties, Stephenson said. His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Partys messaging. Stephenson urged Utahs elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that citys residents early in 2020 as they battled COVID-19, according to emails obtained by AP. You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China, Stephenson said in an email pitching the videos.
Nashville: A heavily armed 28-year-old has fatally shot three children and three adult staffers at a private Christian school the suspect once attended in Tennessees capital city before police killed the assailant, authorities said.

The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building, and left behind a manifesto and other writings that investigators were examining, Police Chief John Drake told reporters.

The latest in an epidemic of deadly mass gun violence that has come to routinely terrorise even the most cherished of US institutions unfolded on a warm spring morning at The Covenant School, whose students consist mostly of elementary school-age children.

Drake identified the suspect as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, a resident of the Nashville area, and referred to the assailant by female pronouns. The chief said the suspect identified as a transgender woman.
This photo shows Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, a museum specializing in media art, March 3. Yonhap



Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, who has been in divorce proceedings with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, launched a lawsuit against Chey's cohabitant Monday for a large amount of compensation money, judicial officials said.



Roh's side filed the lawsuit with the Seoul Family Court, demanding a solatium of 3 billion won ($2.3 million) from Kim Hee-young, the SK chief's new partner who is now serving as the chair of TC Foundation, according to the officials.



Roh's lawyers argued Kim ruined the marriage between Chey and Roh, causing their client intense mental suffering. They also accused Kim of actively approaching Chey under the pretext of counseling, pretending to be his spouse at official events and giving birth to a child out of wedlock.



Chey, who runs Korea's second-largest conglomerate, and Roh, the daughter of late former President Roh Tae-woo, married in 1988 and have three children.



But Chey confessed to his relationship with Kim in 2015 and filed for a divorce settlement against Roh in 2017.



Roh initially opposed a divorce but filed a counter claim, demanding alimony of 300 million won and 50 percent of Chey's stake in SK, a holding company of SK Group. Chey owns 12.97 million shares in SK, or 17.5 percent.



Last December, the Seoul Family Court approved their divorce and ordered the SK chair to pay 66.5 billion won in property division and an alimony of 100 million won.



But both sides appealed the ruling, and the appeal hearing is scheduled to begin at the Seoul High Court. (Yonhap)




Billionaire Gautam Adani's AMG Media Networks has acquired about a 49 per cent stake in Raghav Bahl-curated digital business news platform Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd for about Rs 48 crore.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Enterprises Ltd said its subsidiary AMG Media Networks Ltd has completed the acquisition which was originally announced in May last year.

The transaction was completed on March 27 for "Rs 47.84 crore", it said.

Quintillion Business Media runs the news platform Bloomberg Qunit, now called BQ Prime.

Adani group had set up AMG Media Networks for its foray into businesses of "publishing, advertising, broadcasting, distribution of content over different types of media networks".

In May last year, it had signed a shareholders' agreement with Quintillion Media Ltd (QML) and QBML.

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In September 2021, it hired veteran journalist Sanjay Pugalia to lead its media company Adani Media Ventures.


The project, which will be funded by Exim Bank of India, involves constructing an air traffic control tower, fire station and upgrading and renewing the terminal, parking, roads, duty-free shops and restaurants. The project is expected to begin this month and will be completed by 2025. Renaatus Projects, a construction and construction material manufacturing company in Chennai, has won a $29 million contract from the Maldives government to improve infrastructure at the international airport on Gan Island.



We have been in the industry for over two decades, and have meticulously developed the capability to provide end-to-end solutions for all construction needs. A value-driven organisation, we are strong in using technology and are committed to the concept of integrated project delivery," said Renaatus group chairman Selvasundaram Poosappan. Renaatus, a construction-to-fabrication multinational, said its target is to increase top line growth from about Rs 800 crore in FY23 to Rs 3,500 crore by 2030. The group is involved in four infrastructure projects in Maldivestwo housing projects of its own and two social housing projects funded by the archipelagos governmentto construct more than 600 housing units. In India, the company has completed several prestigious construction projects in Tamil Nadu. It runs three plants to manufacture autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks (sold under the brand name of Renacon), panels, and adhesives in the state. The company plans to set up seven more manufacturing units across the country.



Renaatus group's landmark projects include: Renaatus Ithaa Muiy, development of 73 luxury apartments ($13.55 million), makeover of IGMH, Male Republic of Maldives, IMFF Maldives University, and New Supreme Court Building at Port Louis, Mauritius ($24.94 million), Newscast housing project of 600 two-bedroom houses, social housing units in Hulhumale ($28.90 million), development and sale of Hiyaa Residential Apartments in Hulhumale ($30 million), among others. "We have a strong foothold in Maldives and Mauritius and aspire to emerge as a key player in the construction industry in India as well. With our pan-India expansion plans and infrastructure and housing projects in the country and abroad, our group is poised to achieve a turnover of Rs. 3,500 crore by 2030. Being in the labour-intensive industry, we hope to create employment opportunities for 30,000-40,000 people by that time, he said.

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In Tamil Nadu, Renaatus has created many avantgarde projects such as Medavakkam Grade Separator (Rs 98.08 crore), Perungalathur Road Over Bridge (Rs 155.00 crore), Residential & Hospital for New Tirupur Medical College, Tirupur (Rs 175 crore), Residential & Academic Campus Development in JIPMER, Karaikal (Rs 171 crore), upgradation of SH 09 CuddaloreMadapattu Section (Rs 231 crore), Irrigation Infrastructure in Grand Anicut Canal, Thanjavur (Rs 222 crore).
Clean energy solutions provider Gentari on Monday said it has signed an agreement with Tata Motors for the delivery of 5,000 units of e-commercial vehicles.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) through its affiliate entity is for three years, Gentari said in a statement.

"Gentari, through its affiliated entity Amplus Power Supply Private Limited, signed an MoU with Tata Motors, India's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, in 2022, whereby the latter will deliver 5,000 units of Tata Ace EV, over three years. The MoU includes delivery of 1,000 units in the first year for deployment in cities, such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata," it said.

High-quality electric four-wheelers coming into the market opens a whole new segment to electrify in the urban delivery ecosystem, MoEVing CEO Vikash Mishra said.

"We are excited to work with Gentari to deploy three- and four-wheeler commercial electric vehicles across India to reduce the carbon footprint of deliveries. With our operations, charging and maintenance footprint spanning across India, we hope to bring change on-ground and electrify deliveries for e-commerce, e-grocery, the logistics segment and now also large FMCG and traditional companies," Mishra added.

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INOX Air Products (INOXAP) on Monday said it will set an air separation unit -- a plant that separates oxygen and nitrogen from atmospheric gases -- at steel maker AMNS's plant located at Hazira in Gujarat.

Producing oxygen is part of the overall steel making process through the blast furnace route.

In a statement, INOXAP said it "has been awarded a prestigious contract for setting up its sixth air separation unit (ASU) at the Hazira unit of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AMNS India)."



The new ASU has the ability to produce 1,000 TPD (tonne per day) of gaseous oxygen and 1,000 TPD of gaseous nitrogen along with other liquid medical and industrial gases, it said, adding the unit will be commissioned within 23 months.

INOXAP's had already installed five ASUs at AMNS Hazira plant and the commissioning of the sixth one would scale up the combined capacity of the industrial gas complex to 11,100 TPD.

The company did not disclose the order value.

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This is to clarify we are still engaging with Sebi on our DRHP (draft red herring prospectus) and awaiting formal approval for the same, said Alagh. Post the approval, as is in line with the regulations, we will have 12 months to file RHP and take the company public, which we will do in consultation with our bankers. Mamaearth Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Varun Alagh on Monday dismissed reports that the personal care start-up had scrapped its initial public offering (IPO).



Alagh said that the pricing and valuations would be discovered as part of the firms marketing roadshows when it starts them. Media firm Reuters had reported that Mamaearths parent company Honasa Consumer had put the IPO on hold because of weak market conditions. The report, quoting sources, said that Mamaearths IPO was on a wait and watch mode.



The Gurgaon-based firm has raised a total funding of $126 million from investors such as Sequoia and Belgiums Sofina. Founded by husband-wife duo Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh, the firms last valuation in January 2022 was at $1.2 billion, when it raised $52 million in a round led by Sequoia. As discussed during our meeting, neither is our largest investor selling a single share, and also the promoters will continue to own over 97 per cent of their ownership in the company after the IPO, hence we have no interest in optimising for short-term valuations, we are in this for the long term, said Alagh.

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The firms annual profit was Rs 14 crore the last year. Honasa Consumer filed its documents in December, with plans to raise about $200-300 million through new equity issue and offer for sale (OFS) of some existing shares. While reports said that Mamaearth was planning to seek a valuation of up to $3 billion, the firm had earlier issued a denial about the valuation numbers.

Mamaearth sells its products through its website, as well as, major e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart and over 100,000 point of sales across the country.
Lenders of debt-ridden Reliance Capital (RCAP) on Monday decided to go for a second auction on April 4 in their bid to maximise recovery as part of the resolution process, sources said.

According to sources, IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) of Hinduja Group on Monday told the Committee of Creditors (CoC) it will retain the earlier bid of Rs 9,000 crore upfront cash.

The 38th meeting of the CoC on March 23, 2023 was adjourned and the adjourned meeting was subsequently held today i.e. Monday, RCAP said in a regulatory filing.

For a fresh round of bidding, CoC decided to set the base bid at Rs 9,500 crore on a Net Present Value basis, with a minimum cash component of Rs 8,000 crore.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on March 20, 2023, admitted the appeal of Torrent Investments -- the highest bidder with Rs 8,640 crore resolution plan -- against the lenders' decision to hold another round of auction.

The SC has permitted the lenders to go-ahead with further action as per the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order, sources said.

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The NCLAT order dated March 2, 2023, provides an option of auction or negotiation to lenders, which will be subject to its final order of the SC.

The insolvency process of Reliance Capital (RCAP) has been going on for more than 450 days, which is much longer than the statutory time limit of 330 days.

In a related development, the sources said, a consortium of Cosmea Financial and Piramal, who had submitted binding bids for Reliance Capital in November, has written to the administrator, seeking a refund of their earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 75 crore each, as both the companies do not wish to further participate in the ongoing resolution process.

As per the estimates, lenders would fetch Rs 13,000 crore if they go for liquidation.

The dispute around RCAP's bidding arose when Hindujas offered to pay Rs 9,000 crore in upfront cash to the lenders, a day after the first round of auction concluded on December 21.

After this, lenders decided to go for one more round of auction to maximise their recovery from the RCAP assets.

Torrent, which made a bid of Rs 8,640 crore in the first auction, termed IIHL's post-auction revised bid of Rs 9,000 crore as invalid and challenged Hindujas' revised bid and the second round of auction in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Torrent approached the Supreme Court against the NCLAT's order. The apex court admitted Torrent's appeal and issued notice but did not grant the requested interim relief to stay the tribunal's order.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on November 29, 2021, superseded the board of Reliance Capital in view of payment defaults and serious governance issues.

The RBI appointed Nageswara Rao Y as the administrator in relation to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the firm.

Reliance Capital is the third large non-banking financial company (NBFC) against which the central bank has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

The other two were Srei Group NBFC and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL).

The central bank subsequently filed an application for initiation of CIRP against the company at the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal.

In February last year, the RBI-appointed administrator invited expressions of interest for the sale of Reliance Capital.


The main reason behind the increasing focus on India is the tightening of environmental regulations in Europe. The world's largest air-conditioner manufacturer, Daikin Industries, aims to triple the exports of its "Made in India" products by 2025. In an interview with the Financial Times (FT), the company's chief executive Masanori Togawa said they would soon start manufacturing products like heat pumps in India.



In India, Daikin will begin a new plant in August, manufacturing air conditioners and compressors. Currently, it exports "Made in India" products to 30 countries. It is expected to reach 100 by 2025. "India would turn into a market as giant as China in the future, as the middle class and the wealthy are growing tremendously. In addition to concentrating production of (mass-market air-conditioning) products in India, we will also consider making heat pumps in the country that are exported abroad," Togawa told FT.



What is Daikin? Daikin currently manufactures the products at its Neemrana facility. In 2022, it announced a new plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, but it has yet to become operational.

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It was also the first company to develop variable refrigerant volume (VRV) technology. This technology adjusts the refrigerant volume according to the building's requirements. This ensures energy efficiency and shuts off when no occupants are in the room. A leading producer of air conditioners, Daikin is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It was founded on October 24, 1924. Daikin was the first company globally to produce the first split and multi-split air conditioners.



What is the link between Daikin and India? It currently employs over 84,000 people worldwide.



In 2008, the company set up its manufacturing base in Neemrana. The production at the plant started in 2009. Three years later, in 2012, the company started producing its high-wall split air conditioners at the Neemrana facility. Daikin entered the Indian market in a joint venture with Usha Shriram Group at 80:20 stakes as Daikin Shriram Air-conditioning Pvt ltd. In 2004, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan's Daikin Industries.



What are heat pumps? Later, in 2016, it started a dedicated research and development centre in Neemrana.



These devices are highly energy efficient as they do not generate any heat but only transfer it. The production of heat is also cheaper with heat pumps. A heat pump is a device that transfers heat from one place to the other. In the process, it ends up cooling a warm place or heating a cool place. It does not generate any heat of its own. They absorb thermal energy from their surroundings and then transfer it to where it is needed. They can take heat from surrounding air, geothermal energy stored in the ground, and waste heat from factories and from nearby water sources.



How do heat pumps work? They are used to heat or cool buildings, heat water, or dry clothes.



Then, the heat is passed on to a heat sink which is then delivered to the target, such as AC, floor heating, clothes dryer or water heater. The heat exchanger in a pump extracts heat from the source. The extracted heat is then circulated through the system, where a compressor moves the refrigerant through a refrigeration cycle.

Many heat pumps can also operate in the opposite direction. They cool the building by removing heat from the enclosed space and rejecting it outside.


Gynoveda was founded in 2019 by husband-wife duo Rachana and Vishal Gupta, along with gynaecologist Dr Aarati Patil. Its aim is to help women aged 14-45-years cure disorders such as infertility, PCOS, and irregular menstrual cycles, among other ailments. Wipro Consumer Care - Ventures, the venture capital arm of Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, has invested an undisclosed sum in Gynoveda, a startup focused on addressing womens healthcare issues. These include gynaecological and lifestyle-related disorders faced by women from puberty to menopause.



Our philosophy is to solve gynecological disorders for women, without putting them on life-long medication. We can help them get rid of gynecological problems within 6-8 months or a year, based on their chronicity, co-founder and CEO Vishal Gupta said. Gynoveda has so far improved the health of 300,000 women residing in 20,000 pin codes of India, he added. We believe there are large unaddressed needs of women who suffer and live with these problems where Gynoveda is already making a visible impact with their offerings as well as educational initiatives. The strong team of Vishal, Rachna and Aarti has all the elements to make Gynoveda formidable with the aim of reaching a larger population. said Sumit Keshan, Managing Partner, Wipro Consumer Care - Ventures. This is aligned with our interests in health and wellness space, in addition to our existing focus on personal care, fragrances, food and nutrition. This is the 10th investment from our fund.

The firm aims to tap the $9.6 billion global womens healthcare industry. Gynoveda said it sells proprietary formulations certified by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Indias National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It sells these products via its website as well as e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa. The firm said it also has strong initiatives on providing expert consultations thru tele-consultation mode, educational materials thru blogs and videos, and webinars.




InCruiter equipped Taggd with its flagship product, an interview-as-a-service (IaaS) solution, to conduct interviews and select talent for various IT and non-IT roles. The start-up plans to launch the product in Dubai and the US. InCruiter, the business-to-business HR technology start-up, has partnered with Taggd, a subsidiary of staffing firm PeopleStrong, to speed up hiring.



Agarwal said that Taggds conversion rate increased from 10 out of 25 candidates being shortlisted to around 6 or 7 from 10. We have been working with Taggd for the past one and a half years. Using our platform, Taggd has conducted around 400 interviews a month on an average, which has bumped up to 900 interviews in the last one and a half months. This brings the total tally to around 8,000-10,000 interviews conducted using our product, Anil Agarwal, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of InCruiter, told Business Standard.



InCruiter works with more than 2,200 interviewers and 200 clients, which included Mahindra and Practo. Around 120 of these clients were brought in last year. We are delighted to join hands with a leading Interview as a Service partner like InCruiter that has been doing a phenomenal job in this domain. Through IaaS, we have brought great talents to strengthen our existing teams and scale our operations to new heights, said Devashish Sharma, Taggds president.

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InCruiter provides pre-vetted candidates for companies to choose from. Based on the eligibility criteria for candidates. Our system can also track if a candidate is appearing for an interview by proxy. It can even track whether the interviewees lips are matching what they say, Agarwal said. The firm recently raised Rs 1 crore as revenue-based financing from Recur Club, an alternative funding platform. InCruiter has put raising funds on the backburner until it completes its international forays. The bootstrapped company, Agarwal says, is profitable at the moment and in no rush to raise funds.

Last year, the companys revenue and client base grew five fold.


This photo provided by Incheon International Airport shows a corporation official, left, posing with two Japanese visitors who arrived at the Incheon airport via the resumed late-night regular flight from Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, March 27. Yonhap



Korean Air resumed regular late-night flights between Incheon International Airport, the gateway to Seoul, and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport on Monday, three years after they were suspended due to COVID-19.



The flight departs from Haneda at 2 a.m. and arrives at Incheon at 4:35 a.m. seven times a week, according to Incheon International Airport.



It is expected to meet the travel demand from Japanese office workers who want to visit Korea for a one-day trip or a short weekend trip, the corporation said, forecasting an additional increase of 153,000 visitors, including 67,000 transfer passengers, a year.



Meanwhile, Korea Airports said flights between Seoul's Gimpo International Airport and two Chinese destinations  Beijing and Shanghai  fully resumed Sunday after a three-year suspension due to the pandemic.



Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and four other Chinese airlines operate a total of 112 flights per week in the Gimpo-Beijing and Gimpo-Shanghai routes, restoring their pre-COVID-19 levels, the corporation said.



With the resumption of flights to and from Beijing and Shanghai, all five international routes from Gimpo have been restored, the corporation noted. Flights between Gimpo and Haneda resumed in June last year. (Yonhap)


By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's cabinet is set to adopt a gas panel report this week, which has recommended capping the price for most local gas at $6.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in April, two sources said on Monday.

India last year set up the panel, led by energy expert Kirit Parikh, to review India's gas pricing formula to ensure fair prices to consumers after state-set prices of gas from old fields and a ceiling price for output from hard-to-access, difficult blocks rose to record highs.

The panel suggested that the monthly price of gas produced from old blocks be fixed at 10% of the monthly average of the Indian crude basket, with a cap of $6.5/mmBtu and a floor price of $4/mmBtu.

The price will apply to industrial buyers and companies in the fertiliser and city gas distribution sectors and will be fixed on a monthly basis. The current price of gas from old blocks is set at $8.57 and is valid from October to end-March.

The average price of the Indian crude basket from 26th of the previous month to 25th of the current month would be used to determine the price of gas for the next month, one source familiar with the matter said.

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Given that the average price of 10% of India's crude basket from Feb. 26 to March 25 is over $7/mmBtu, the price in April would be at the cap of $6.5/mmBtu, the source said.

Over 80% of India's yearly gas output of 91 billion cubic metres comes from old fields owned by the government-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Oil India Ltd.

Oman and Dubai crudes make up on average 75.6% of India's crude basket, with 24.5% coming from dated Brent.

The federal cabinet is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.

India's current local gas prices are linked to global benchmarks and are revised twice a year in April and October.

The panel also recommended removing the price cap for gas produced from difficult fields.

India's oil ministry did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

The move to overhaul gas pricing is also part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aim to raise the share of gas in India's energy mix to 15% by 2030 from 6.2%, to help India meet a 2070 net zero carbon-emission goal.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sharon Singleton)


The apex court upheld a judgement passed by the Telangana High Court in December 2020 stating that the principles of "audi alteram partem" must be applied before declaring a party as "a fraudulent borrower" or "a holder of fraudulent account". The Supreme Court on Monday held that the banks must hear the borrowers before classifying their accounts as fraud. The bench comprising chief justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and justice Hima Kohli said that classifying accounts as fraud results in serious civil consequences for the borrowers, including "blacklisting" of the accounts.



"Declaration of fraud entails penal and civil consequences, amounts to blacklisting from accessing institutional finance...Bank order must show reasons behind the declaration of fraud, reasons will keep banks from exercising powers arbitrarily," the court said. "Audi alteram partem" means "hear the other side" or "no man should be unheard, both the parties have an opportunity of being heard".



The SC on Monday said that the declaration was "tantamount to blacklisting of borrowers from accessing institutional finance". A 2016 circular by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed the banks to declare the willful defaulters as "fraud". The Master Circular on "Frauds  Classification and Reporting" was issued under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. It was updated on July 3, 2017.

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The bank chiefs told Sitharaman that they are vigilant of the global banking sector developments and taking all possible steps to safeguard themselves. In the wake of the collapse of several banks like Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a meeting, told the chiefs of public sector banks that they must stay alert, take stress tests and frame detailed crisis management strategies.

What is a bank stress test?

The bank stress test is an analysis conducted by banks under hypothetical situations to check if they have enough capital to withstand an adverse economic situation like a market crash. The balance sheet of the banks is analysed by assuming the values of economic variables as they might be in case of a recession, high unemployment or some other stressful situation.



History of bank stress tests Due to the presence of several variables, conducting a stress test is a tedious job for banks. But the central banks provide a basic framework for running such tests. The key stress areas focused on are liquidity, market, and credit risks.

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So, the regulators developed the stress test to prevent any such collapse in future. These tests were introduced after the 2008 financial crisis. It revealed the vulnerability of banks to market crashes and economic downturns. It was also identified that some institutions that are too big to fail might cause a contagion if they go down.

What benefit does a bank stress test offer?

This test helps the banks in risk management. Banks that fail the stress test must build up their capital reserves. The banks may also be asked to cut their dividend payouts and share buybacks to preserve their capital.



Are there any criticisms of the bank stress test? Moreover, the result of these tests is also revealed to the public to maintain transparency.

Yes, some critics have said that stress tests are overly demanding. According to many, these tests force the banks to retain too much capital. Some have even blamed these requirements for the slow pace of economic recovery after the 2008 crisis.


If the apex court rules in favour of AT1 bondholders, Yes Bank shares could see a selloff as the verdict could erode its capital base and impede its growth prospects, say analysts. It could also impact the capital raising prospects of other banks, particularly public sector lenders, who are large issuers of such bonds. Shares of Yes Bank are likely to come under focus as the Supreme Court (SC) is expected to take up the appeal in the Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bond matter soon.



On January 20, the Bombay High Court (HC) turned down the decision to write off AT1 bonds worth over Rs 8,400 crore. Following which its shares had tanked close to 10 per cent. Later the HC stayed the judgement for six weeks. Aggrieved by the Bombay HCs judgement, Yes Bank and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had filed special leave petitions before the SC. On March 03, 2023, the apex court had extended the stay granted by the Bombay HC. Shares of Yes Bank closed at about Rs 15 on Monday on the BSE. The stock has come off by as much as 18 per cent this month, following the end of a three-year lock-in period on its shares and a likely judgement by the SC in the AT1 matter. On a year-to-date basis, shares of Yes Bankwhich has a retail investor base of 4.7 millionare down 27 per cent.



AT1 bonds are part of Tier 1 capital for a bank, along with equity shares and reserve & surplus. Such bonds also called perpetual bonds-offer a higher coupon rate to compensate for the extra risk that the bond holder takes. The SC is taking up the Yes Bank AT1 matter at a time when the Swiss banking regulator ordered writing down of $17 billion worth of AT1 bonds as a reconstruction exercise of Credit Suisse ahead of its merger with UBS.

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Registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) estimate the count of such MF accounts (known as folios in MFs) to be about 10 per cent of total folios. Even as the deadline for filing mutual fund (MF) nomination or opting out is drawing closer, a fairly large number of investors are yet to comply.



As of end-February, the total number of folios was 144 million.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has made it compulsory for MF investors to register a nominee for their investments or declare their unwillingness. Investors failing to register their choice by March 31 will not be able to redeem. As of end-February, the total number of folios was 144 million.



The RTAs  Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) and KFin Technologies (the two biggest RTAs in the Rs 40-trillion MF industry)  have been spearheading major efforts. They say the number of investors filing nominations or opting out has surged these past few days. The MF industry, including fund houses, RTAs, and distributors, has doubled down on efforts of late to nudge the rest of the investors to comply.

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A senior MF executive says asset management companies on their part have been sending regular reminders to non-compliant investors on their email addresses and mobile phone numbers. Extensive communication with investors and intermediaries is being done. We have provided distributors reports that allow them to identify their clients who are yet to comply and encourage them to do so, says CAMS, adding that 60,000-70,000 folios saw nominee updates every day last week, compared with the earlier 30,000.



We are sending non-compliant investors reminders with links for them to complete the process with ease, he says.

MF distributors say they have been calling up such investors to convince them to conform. We are sending non-compliant investors reminders with links for them to complete the process with ease, he says.



Investors have the option of adding a nominee or opting out  either through an online or offline process. The online process requires the investor to visit the RTA website and update the nominee through a one-time password. However, this process may not work in the case of joint folios. Nearly all our clients have acquiesced. Our entire service management team worked towards that goal for over two months, says Amit Bivalkar, founder, Sapient Wealth.



In cases where there are such issues, investors can take the offline route by visiting any of the branches of the two RTAs. According to MF distributors, the online process is only feasible where joint folios have the mobile numbers of both holders registered.



Transactions like redemptions, systematic switch plans, and switch and systematic transfer plans will be restricted. However, they can continue to put money into their MF accounts. Investors failing to comply before the March 31 nomination deadline will see their folios frozen.
As many as 16 of 17 MLAs of Congress were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly on Monday for the remainder of the Budget session till March 29 for creating ruckus and staging protests in the House over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP.

Some MLAs of the main Opposition party, including Imran Khedawala, Geniben Thakor and Amrtutji Thakor, were evicted by marshals as they sat in the well of the House and refused to go back to their seats despite repeated appeals made by Speaker Shankar Chaudhary.

Except for Anant Patel, the rest 16 MLAs of Congress were present in the House on Monday.

As soon as the question hour began, Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda demanded a discussion on the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha claiming he had been "silenced by the BJP government" for raising the issues concerning people.

Gandhi was disqualified as an MP after a court in Surat convicted him on March 23 in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark and sentenced him to jail for two years.

On Monday, all MLAs of Congress entered the Gujarat Assembly wearing black clothes as a mark of protest against Gandhi's disqualification.

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Speaker Shankar Chaudhary asked Chavda to sit down, saying no discussion is allowed during question hour and asked him to raise the issue later.

At this point, other MLAs of Congress rushed near the well and started raising slogans saying "Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai". They also showed placards and photos linking PM Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani.

When all the 16 MLAs refused to stop sloganeering and trooped into the well, Chaudhary warned the Opposition against wasting "people's time".

As the MLAs stayed put, the Speaker suspended them for a day and asked marshals to evict those lawmakers who refused to go out and continued to sit in the well area.

After the end of the question hour, state Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs minister Rushikesh Patel slammed Congress for the chaos and moved a motion to suspend all of them till the end of the ongoing Budget session on March 29.

"Despite knowing that the subject they were raising was not of Gujarat, these Congress members created chaos and raised slogans as a pre-planned strategy. They misled the people of Gujarat through this. Thus, we request you to suspend them till the end of the session," said Patel.

Ministers Balwantsinh Rajput and Raghavji Patel also supported Patel's proposal for a harsher punishment. The motion moved by Patel was unanimously passed after Aam Aadmi Party MLAs did not raise any objection.

"These Congress MLAs came wearing black clothes and raised slogans. I requested them not to engage in such activity. Thus, as per rule 52 of the Assembly, I hereby suspend all those MLAs who staged protests and raised slogans in the House," said Chaudhary.

Subsequently, Congress MLAs were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session by voice vote.
Amid the opposition's demand of a JPC probe in the Adani issue, the Rajya Sabha passed the Finance Bill and The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2023 on Monday.

The Bill was "considered and returned" from the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill was earlier passed by the Lok Sabha last week amid the opposition sloganeering.

The Bill aims to authorise the payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

Both the Bills were returned to the Lok Sabha without discussion and the House was adjourned for the day.

The Finance Bill 2023-24, which was passed in the Lok Sabha through voice vote on Friday, has as many as 75 amendments, some key ones include a hike in securities transaction tax (STT) on options by 23.5 per cent and futures by 25 per cent.

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This will lead to those trading in futures and options (F&O) paying higher STT.

In a way, the move is likely to discourage F&O traders, as the government aims to tax them more since turnover is high in such transactions.

Also the Finance Bill has effected an amendment, stripping debt mutual funds of long-term benefits.

According to the amendment, debt mutual funds have been stripped of the long-term tax benefit, if they invest less than 35 per cent of their assets in equities.

Such mutual funds will attract short-term capital gains tax.

--IANS

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Nepal on Monday put fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in the country, on its surveillance list after India requested it not to allow him to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

The Department of Immigration has put Singh on its surveillance list following a request from the Indian Embassy here, officials said.

"We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal," said Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department.

"The Indian Embassy has sent the note asking the Department to put Singh, a member of a separatist group, on the surveillance list," Pandey said.

It was suspected that he had entered Nepal and was hiding somewhere around.

There was no immediate confirmation about the letter from the Indian mission here.

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Earlier, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that in a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal.

"Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it.

"The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission, it said.

The letter and Singh's personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources.

Singh, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him.

The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area.

Citing ministry sources, My Republica newspaper said that the instruction was given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on 'high alert' for two days.

Quoting sources, the report said that police in plain clothes have stepped up vigilance in the border area as Singh could enter the country from Kapilvastu in Western Nepal.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday attended the All India Steel Conclave at Nava Raipur and appreciated the performance of the state industries during the covid pandemic.

While addressing the event, he said, "Because of Chhattisgarh's industrial policy, industries didn't shut down even during the corona pandemic. Even at the cost of the government's loss, we gave an exemption in electricity so that industries keep running. The steel industry is the backbone of Chhattisgarh's economy."

"However, for the last few years, this industry has been facing many challenges such as fuel crisis or the need for cheap raw material," Baghel added.

The CM said," Our state exports coal to the entire country, we didn't let the supply of coal stop even during the Corona pandemic. I also urge the Central Government to grant coal linkage to steel traders from South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL)."

"The condition of roads has deteriorated because of coal mines. Bad roads have also adversely affected transportation, making it costlier. That is why, during the establishment of any industry, roads should be included in the project," he added.

Highlighting the pandemic phase, CM Baghel said, "When the second wave of Coronavirus arrived, then the national capital and other states faced the shortage of oxygen, but there was no scarcity of oxygen in Chhattisgarh. We readily issued licenses to industrialists to set up oxygen plants."

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"I requested the Prime Minister to provide some oxygen to steel plants as well so that the plants can operate. During the Corona pandemic, labourers from all over the nation were deserting, but such was not the case in Chhattisgarh. Because of a good industrial policy, industries continued to operate even during the pandemic," he added.

"During the Corona crisis, when lockdown circumstances were formed, it seemed as if the steel sector of the state will perish, but we worked in unison. The government strengthened the steel sector and our steel industry became a source of strength for our government," CM Baghel further added.

Baghel also said that during the pandemic, Chhatisgarh manufactured the highest quantity of steel and the industrial landscape of the state has changed completely in the last four years.

"Even during the pandemic, our state manufactured the highest quantity of steel in the country. The industrial landscape of Chhattisgarh has completely changed in the last four years," said CM Baghel.

In the program, the Forest and Environment Minister Mohammad Akbar, Raipur MP Mr Sunil Soni, and officials of Steel Conclave Ramesh Agrawal and Surendra Tripathi were present.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Monday claimed in the budget session that attempts were being made to further "restrict" the legislative body's limited financial autonomy through appointment of city government's Law secretary as its administrative head.

Goel made the remark after the House passed Delhi government's budget 2023-24 following a discussion, and asked the Finance minister to look into the matter.

Reading out a statement, Goel said the Finance Department of Delhi government has in a recent letter said the law department will be the administrative head of the legislative assembly.

"It is a direct attack on the legislature and a clear effort to curb its independent functioning," Goel said in the statement in Hindi.

He charged the development was a "conspiracy" by the officers to "obstruct" the functioning of the Assembly due to politics.

He said according to the Constitution, the Parliament and state legislatures should have an independent Secretariat with financial autonomy under the Speaker but Delhi legislative assembly was still dependent on the finance department for its expenditure.

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He said, the House in 2019 had approved recommendations of the general purposes committee of the Assembly for its independent secretariat. Earlier, such instructions were given to the Finance Department by former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in 2017.

Goel pointed that the secretary general of the Lok Sabha, through his letter in 2021, had asked chief secretary of the Delhi government for providing financial autonomy to the Assembly, in accordance with recommendation of the Conference of All India Presiding Officers.
This photo provided by fire authorities shows after a fire burning the interior of a residential building in Ansan, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, March 27. Yonhap



Four young Nigerian siblings were killed in a fire that engulfed a three-story residential building in Ansan, south of Seoul, on Monday.



The fire started on the building's first floor at 3:28 a.m. and was put out by firefighters about 40 minutes later, according to fire authorities in the city 30 kilometers south of Seoul.



Firefighters found the four siblings  two girls aged 4 and 11, and two boys aged 6 and 7  dead inside the scorched second-floor home.



All seven family members, including the parents and a 2-year-old baby, were inside the home when the parents found the living room ablaze. They rescued the baby first but were presumed to have failed to come to the rescue of the rest, according to the authorities.



Some 37 residents of the building, mostly foreigners, also evacuated, including three other Nigerian nationals, two Uzbeks and a Russian national who sustained minor injuries.



Initial findings by police and fire authorities showed the blaze started from the living room floor, where a television and a refrigerator were plugged into a power strip.



Police suspect an electrical problem, such as an electrical short circuit, may have caused the fire.



According to fire authorities, the family suffered another fire in their previous home in Ansan in January 2021, from which two of the dead children inhaled smoke and another sustained second-degree burns.



The family was reportedly having severe economic difficulties, as the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the father's business plan to collect used goods in Korea and export them to Nigeria. (Yonhap)




The Supreme Court will hear a batch of pleas on Monday challenging the release of 11 convicts who had gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.

The Gujarat government had granted remission to 11 convicts on August 10 last year following which they walked free on August 15, 2022.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna will hear the case on March 27.

On March 22, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that he will constitute a bench to hear pleas. "I will have a bench constituted. Need to break two benches for it. Will look at it this evening," he said after advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, mentioned the plea for an early listing of the case.

Earlier also advocate Gupta mentioned the matter for urgent hearing and said that a new bench needs to be constituted by the CJI as Justice Bela M Trivedi recused from hearing the plea.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi earlier had ordered that matter be listed before the bench, in which Justice Trivedi is not a part of as she had recused herself from hearing the case.

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Besides filing a petition against the pre-mature release of convicts, Bano had also filed a review petition seeking a review of its earlier order by which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider the plea for the remission of one of the convicts.

The review petition was dismissed.

Some PILs were filed seeking directions to revoke the remission granted to 11 convicts.

The pleas were filed by the National Federation of Indian Women, whose General Secretary is Annie Raja, Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, social activist and professor Roop Rekha Verma and TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

Gujarat government in its affidavit had defended remission granted to convicts saying they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their "behaviour was found to be good".

The State government said it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022, and the Central government also approved the pre-mature release of convicts.

It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav", it had said.

The affidavit stated, "State government considered all the opinions and decided to release 11 prisoners since they have completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behaviour was found to be good."

The government had also questioned the locus standi of petitioners who filed the PIL challenging the decision saying they are outsiders to the case.

The pleas said they have challenged the order of competent authority of the government of Gujarat by way of which 11 persons who were accused in a set of heinous offences committed in Gujarat were allowed to walk free on August 15, 2022, pursuant to remission being extended to them.

The remission in this heinous case would be entirely against public interest and would shock the collective public conscience, as also be entirely against the interests of the victim (whose family has publicly made statements worrying for her safety), pleas stated.

The Gujarat government released the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008.

In March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara.
Congress-led opposition members on Monday protested outside Parliament by taking out a march wearing black clothes and shouting slogans, seeking probe in the Adani matter.

Former UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also participated in the protests outside Mahatma Gandhi's statue.

Congress MPs were wearing black clothes to protest party leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha.

Trinamool Congress, which had earlier indicated that it would not participate in the protests, also took part.

The opposition members took out a march from Mahatma Gandhi's statue outside Parliament till Vijay Chowk, carrying placards and shouting slogans, seeking probe in the Adani matter.

The protests took place soon after both the houses were adjourned amid noisy scenes by opposition members.

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"Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that Prime Minister Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own governments everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didn't bow," Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said after the protest.

Reacting to the opposition's protests, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said: "Rahul Gandhi continuously insulted the OBC community and did not apologise to them. They don't obey court's order. Why are they creating this drama now? He can never be Savarkar as Savarkar never went on a foreign tour for six months."

Rahul Gandhi had on Saturday said in a press conference that he was not afraid of any punitive action and he will never apologise, as he could never be Savarkar.

BJP had sought his apology for his remarks on democracy, which he had made in London.

Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership was terminated on March 24 after he was convicted in a defamation case.

--IANS

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Various Congress MPs on Monday gave suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in respective Houses of the Parliament to discuss the "Government's failure in constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)" to investigate the Adani Group issue.

The MPs who gave the Notice in Rajya Sabha include Pramod Tiwari, Ranjeet Ranjan, while Manickam Tagore gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha.

"That this House do suspend Zero Hour and relevant rules relating to Question Hour and other businesses of the day to discuss the Government's failure in constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (J PC) to investigate the serious charges of corporate fraud, political corruption, stock-market manipulation and financial mismanagement against the Adani Group," Pramod Tiwari said in his Notice.

Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan gave suspension of Business Notice under rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the "Government's failure in constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)" to investigate the Adani Group issue.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore also gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the Adani Group issue and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha filed a suspension of business notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss "the attempts being made by the ruling dispensation to eliminate political opponents through frivolous criminal cases across the country, disqualifying them as elected representatives and putting prominent members from the opposition behind bars in order to suppress the voice of the opposition".

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Meanwhile, the like-minded opposition parties are likely to hold a meeting in the Rajya Sabha LoP chamber in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor of the house, according to sources.

On the other hand, the BJP has issued a three-line whip for its MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha on Monday for the passage of important Bills in the Upper House, sources said.

The government has listed two Bills for passage in Rajya Sabha including The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 and The Appropriation Bill 2023.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2023-24. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week without discussion amid din in the Lower House.

Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2022-23.

The Finance Minister will also move The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23. The Bill has also been passed by Lok Sabha without discussion.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha on March 24 passed the Finance Bill 2023 with several official amendments amid din created by sloganeering by the Opposition parliamentarians who continued with their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman tabled 64 official amendments to the Finance Bill which was tabled in Parliament on February 1 along with the Budget proposals.
Congress MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet at the Congress Parliamentary Party office at the Parliament at 10.30 am on Monday.

Sources earlier told ANI that the Congress leaders will intensify their protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha wearing black clothes.

Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will attend the Parliament by putting on black clothes, sources had said.

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

Notably, Congress has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and staged protests in the Parliament's ongoing Budget Session.

Like-minded Opposition leaders will meet today in the Rajya Sabha LoP chamber in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor of the house, according to sources.

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This is the third week of the second part of the Parliament session and till now parliament is witnessing a logjam as the Opposition is demanding JPC on the Adani issue and Treasury Benches were demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London alleging that he defamed the country on foreign soil.

The ongoing second part of the Budget Session began on March 13 and will continue till April 6.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal, at a press conference on Monday, alleged that the Congress party is not letting Parliament run and is also misleading the people through its statements.

Goyal said that the "Grand Old Party" is not letting Parliament run and is trying to mislead the people. The Congress MPs are holding "Black Shirt" protests against Rahul Gandhi's controversial disqualification from the Lok Sabha. He also questioned whether the Congress wanted to disrespect the law.

He stated, "Congress' intentions are of insulting the OBC community, their mentality is against the OBC community. Rahul Gandhi has no right to consider himself above the law of the land."

Goyal added that Rahul Gandhi didn't apologise due to his arrogance. He said, "There have been 12 other cases of members who were disqualified after the court's decision. His own party leader was asking Rahul Gandhi to apologise but he didn't do that due to his arrogance."

He asked where do we see black clothes? The Congress is so demoralised that now it has to take the support of black magic.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Mohammed Faizal's plea on Tuesday complaining that he has not been reinstated back to the Parliament despite the fact that his conviction has been suspended by the Kerala High Court order.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that list the matter tomorrow and tagged the petition related to the matter

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal has moved the Supreme Court stating that even though his conviction has been stayed by the Kerala High Court, he has not been reinstated back to the parliament.

Earlier Kerala High Court suspended the conviction and sentence of Lakshadweep MP and Nationalist Congress leader (NCP) leader PP Mohammed Faizal and three others in a case of an attempt to murder.

Kerala HC passed the order on a plea of Faizal and others challenging a trial court's order at Lakshadweep in an attempt to murder case. Faizal filed the application seeking to suspend the 10-year imprisonment. Earlier, the Kavaratti Sessions Court had convicted four persons, including Faizal.

Thereafter, The UT Administration of Lakshadweep has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court order, which suspended the conviction of Lakshadweep MP and Nationalist Congress leader (NCP) leader PP Mohammed Faizal in a case of attempt to murder.

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In the plea, the Union Territory of Lakshadweep has challenged the impugned interim order dated January 25, 2023, passed by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam. Through the impugned interim order, the High Court has suspended the conviction and sentence imposed on Mohammed Faizal by the Sessions Court, Kavarthi, Union Territory of Lakshadweep, till the disposal of the criminal appeal.

The High Court has also suspended the sentence of imprisonment of other accused till disposal of the appeal.

Earlier, the Kavaratti Sessions Court had convicted four persons, including Faizal for committing offences punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections143, 147, 148, 307, 324, 342, 448, 427, 506 read with 149 relating to offences relating to rioting, attempt to murder, violence, kidnapping.

They were all sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and were also directed to pay a fine of Rs one lakh each for attempting to murder Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former Union Minister PM Sayeed in relation to a political controversy during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The UT Administration of Lakshadweep, in the plea, said that the consequence of Faizal's conviction by the Ld. Sessions Court, Kavarthi on 11.01.2023 was that by operation of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution read with Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Respondent, who was an elected Member of Parliament from Lakshadweep Constituency, stood disqualified by operation of law from the date of conviction and the Lok Sabha Constituency of Lakshadweep stood vacated.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat had issued a Notification dated 13.01.2023 to the same effect in terms of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, i.e. by virtue of the conviction of the Faizal, he stood disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha representing Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

Pursuant to this disqualification, the Election Commission of India issued a Press Note dated 18.01.2023 deciding to hold bye-elections to fill the vacancy in the Parliamentary Constituency of Lakshadweep on 27.02.2023.

However, by the impugned interim order dated 25.01.2023, the High Court has suspended the conviction and sentence of the Respondent for offences including Section 307 IPC where the punishment of 10 years rigorous imprisonment was imposed and suspended the sentence of the accused.

The administration said that the interim impugned order has suspended the conviction of the Respondent, only on the basis of consequences of an election, which are totally irrelevant to the entire issue. Section 389 CrPC for the purposes of suspension of conviction does not envisage the ground that was referred by the High Court while passing the impugned interim order, the UT said.

"That the principles of democracy, purity of elections and decriminalisation of politics have all been accepted and acknowledged by the High Court but ignored by the Hon'ble High Court while passing the interim impugned order," UT said.

"That the High Court has ignored the object and spirit of Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution. In the entire impugned interim order, there is no iota of discussion on the suspension of sentence, especially when the Respondent No.1 to 4 (accused persons) have been convicted under Section 307 IPC," the UT said in its plea.
The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition that sought action against former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi for their statements on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and other icons, saying the remarks do not prima facie constitute an offence under any criminal act.

The court also said that the statements reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an aim to persuade the audience, and the intention appears to be of enlightenment of the society for its betterment.

Koshyari, whose tenure was dogged by controversies caused by his utterances about Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Phule and his wife Savitribai and Marathi people, stepped down as the state governor last month.

Koshyari had faced flak for calling Shivaji Maharaj an "icon of olden times", while Trivedi had allegedly said that the founder of the Maratha empire had apologised to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Justices Sunil Shukre and Abhay Waghwase, on March 20 dismissed a petition filed by Panvel resident Rama Katarnaware, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

The petitioner claimed that the statements made by Koshyari and Trivedi who are non-SC or Scheduled Tribes (ST) members, at public speeches are disrespectful to these late political figures who were held in high esteem by members of society in general and members of the SC/ST communities in particular.

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The petitioner referred to several objectionable statements made by Koshyari and Trivedi on Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule and 'Marathi manoos'.

However, the bench in its order, said, "An in-depth consideration of the referred statements would tell us that they are in the nature of the analysis of history and the lessons to be learnt from history. They also show the intention of the speaker, which is that at least in the present times, we should learn from history and also realise the consequences of following certain traditions and what may happen perhaps for the worst, if those traditions are followed."



It further said that these statements primarily reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an intention to persuade the audience, to whom they have been expressed, to think over and act in a way which is good for the society. The intention behind the statements appears to be of enlightenment of the society for its betterment, as perceived by the speaker, it said.

"These statements, therefore, cannot be seen, by any stretch of imagination, to be disrespectful to any great person, held in high esteem by the members of the society in general and by the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in particular," said.

In view of above, the statements, which were made, do not prima-facie constitute any offence punishable under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act or any other criminal law, it added.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the respondents are "highly powerful and influential authorities" and it is only a constitutional court like this that can issue appropriate directions for registration of the offences and monitor the progress of investigation.

"In so far as the powers of this court are concerned, there can be no second opinion. This court in exercise of its extraordinary power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, can certainly issue the directions for upholding the cause of justice. But, the question is as to whether or not such a power be invoked by the petitioner here? and this question we answer as in the negative," the bench said.

The reason being that, we do not see prima-facie constitution of any of the alleged offences on the basis of the alleged objectionable statements, it added.
Immediate action by the government to help Indian startups in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse ensured they were not adversely impacted by the "minor crisis", Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.

He also exhorted the entire startup community to think of the Indian banking sector as their trusted partner.

Vaishnaw, Minister for IT and Communications, also noted the rapid strides taken by India in areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

Speaking at India Global Forum event, the Minister said while there was a time when India was only seen as a consumer of technology, today "many global developers like to have Indian start ups, entrepreneurs and academicians as their partners, as technology gets developed".

"... In these two technologies, we would like use of Indian talent for developing solutions for India and for the world," he said.

To a question on whether India can produce something equivant to ChatGPT, the Minister said "wait for a few weeks there will be a big announcement."



The Minister said it is important for global economy to have trusted partner like India.

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All over the world there is a sense that India should emerge as a key semiconductor manufacturing destination, Vaishnaw said adding that Government is working "sincerely and diligently" to ensure a vibrant semiconductor ecosystem comes up in the country.

The Minister further said that after the SVB collapse, the government swung into action to handhold Indian start ups that had funds or deposits in the bank.

"How we responded to that minor crisis is that we immediately engaged with entire start up community and made sure that whatever deposits they wanted to shift to Indian banks... the entire process was flawlessly executed by collaboration between different arms of Government," he said.

Not a single start up was adversely effected by the "minor crisis", the Minister said describing Indian banking sector as resilient and with healthy balancesheet.

"We have requested all the start ups, don't think about putting your funds in any bank anywhere...put your funds in India. And I will request all the Global start up community also, think of India as your trusted banking sector," he said.

Vaishnaw exhorted global entrepreneurs and innovators across sectors to leverage the India edge to develop trusted technology for the country, and for the world.

Vaishnaw said the India's 4G/5G stack had shown outstanding results, during testing.

"The roll out has started. From coming September we will be rolling 300 sites a day of this India's own telecom technology stack," he said.
With India witnessing unprecedented heatwaves in 2022 and this February declared the hottest month since 1901 by the India Meteorological Department, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) on Monday, in the first critical assessment, said most of the heat action plans (HAPs) in 18 states may not be suited to the risks faced by local populations.

Also, nearly all HAPs fail to identify and target vulnerable groups.

Closely following the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the climate crisis that emphasised the need for the world to reduce emissions in the next two decades to prevent warming temperatures to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius, the CPR has analysed all 37 HAPs across 18 states, to evaluate how policy action is keeping up with the warming weather in India.

A study by World Weather Attribution last year analysed the climate imprint on the Indian heatwave and claimed that human-induced actions made the chances of extreme heat events 30 times higher in the region.

The CPR's report says most HAPs are not built for local contexts. They across the country generally focus on dry extreme heat and ignore the threats posed by humid heat and warm nights.

Most HAPs adopt national heatwave thresholds that may not be suited to the risks faced by local populations. "Only 10 out of 37 HAPs seem to have locally-specified temperature thresholds. Climate projections, which could help identify future planning needs, are not integrated into current HAPs," says the CPR.

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Nearly all HAPs fail to identify and target vulnerable groups. Only two HAPs carry out and present vulnerability assessments (systematic studies to locate where the people most likely to be affected are in a city, district, or state).

While most HAPs list broad categories of vulnerable groups (elderly, outdoor workers, pregnant women), the list of solutions they propose do not necessarily focus on these groups, says the CPR.

Also HAPs are underfunded. Only three of 37 HAPs identify funding sources. Eight HAPs ask implementing departments to self-allocate resources, indicating a serious funding constraint.

HAPs have weak legal foundations, it says. None of the HAPs reviewed indicate the legal sources of their authority. This reduces bureaucratic incentives to prioritise and comply with HAPs instructions.

Also the HAPs are insufficiently transparent.

There is no national repository of HAPs and very few HAPs are listed online. It is also unclear whether these HAPs are being updated periodically and whether this is based on evaluation data.

"India has made considerable progress by creating several dozen heat action plans in the last decade. But our assessment reveals several gaps that must be filled in future plans. If we don't, India will suffer damaging economic losses due to decreasing labour productivity, sudden and frequent disruptions to agriculture (like we saw last year), and unbearably hot cities as heatwaves become more frequent and intense," said Aditya Valiathan Pillai, Associate Fellow at CPR and co-author of the report.

CPR's report, 'How Is India Adapting to Heatwaves? An Assessment of Heat Action Plans With Insights for Transformative Climate Action', recommends that HAPs identify sources of financing -- either from new funds or by combining actions with existing national and state policies -- and set up rigorous independent evaluations as a basis for constant improvement.

"Without implementation-oriented HAPs, India's poorest will continue to suffer from extreme heat, paying with both their health and incomes," added Pillai.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Monday did not grant stay on summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to K. Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Kavitha had moved the apex court against her questioning and also sought protection from arrest by the ED regarding a money laundering case connected with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Kavitha, submitted before a bench headed by Justice Ajay Rastogi that it is on the question whether she would have to be interrogated here or at her residence. Sibal added that summons were issued to his client for investigation.

The bench did not give any interim relief to her on protection from arrest or stayed the ED summons. However, the top court agreed to examine the legal point if a woman can be summoned to the ED office under CrPC/PMLA. The top court tagged it along with a similar plea filed by Nalini Chidambaram and Ruchira Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed it saying that Abhishek Banerjee's matter is different. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, said summons have been issued and this petition is infructuous. However, the top court listed the matter after three weeks.

Kavitha's plea said her name has not been mentioned in the FIR registered by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi's deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also arrested by the CBI for alleged corruption in framing a new liquor policy, which was later withdrawn.

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Kavitha's counsel had previously told the court that she had appeared before the ED earlier this month but the repeated summons were contrary to law because the petitioner was a woman. "That despite the petitioner not being named in the FIR, certain members of the incumbent ruling political party at the Centre made scandalous statements linking the petitioner to the Delhi excise policy...," said the plea.

Kavitha accused the ED of acting in "extremely shameful" manner and as per a "larger conspiracy orchestrated at the behest of the members of the incumbent ruling party at the Centre".

The petitioner claimed the ED is eliciting false statements from other witnesses by threatening to place them and their family members under arrest.

"The petitioner believes that the investigation against her is nothing more than a fishing expedition being undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate solely at the behest of the incumbent ruling political party," added the plea.

It further contended that the ED, in teeth of settled law, summoned her to appear before their offices in New Delhi and has confiscated her cellular phone without any written order for production of the phone.

The plea claimed that the petitioner apprehends that she would be physically and mentally coerced by the ED and stressed that there is no case against her.

The plea added that the only basis on which she has been implicated is on the basis of certain statements of a few persons who have given incriminating statements themselves as well as allegedly against her. Kavitha had earlier been questioned by the CBI in the case.

It has been alleged that Kavitha held benami investment in Indospiritis, a liquor firm involved in the scam. ED alleged Arun Ramchandran Pillai represented Kavitha in Indospirits.

The investigating agency has also alleged the South lobby, which included Kavitha, bribed the AAP government to formulate an excise policy to facilitate the companies to win the bids and to form a cartel and control the retail outlets in Delhi.

--IANS

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President Yoon Suk Yeol speaking at a cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, March 21. Yonhap



President Yoon Suk Yeol called Monday for close policy coordination between the government and the ruling People Power Party, his spokesperson said, following a public backlash over a proposed revision to the legal workweek.



"There should be close consultations between the party and the government on all policies, including those that do not involve legislative or budget bills," Yoon told the Cabinet, according to Lee Do-woon.



Yoon also said the public's opinions should be "thoroughly reflected" in the process.



The instructions come as opposition parties, labor unions and especially young generations known as "Generation MZ" have criticized the government's proposal to raise the cap on weekly working hours.



Currently, the legal cap is 52 hours, but the labor ministry's initial proposal allowed the cap to be raised to 69 hours during periods of heavy workloads on condition that the total work hours in a month did not exceed the limit in the current 52-hour workweek system.



A new "hot line" will be established between the presidential office and the ruling party to facilitate policy coordination, a senior presidential official told Yonhap News Agency.



The hot line will be established between Lee Kwan-sup, senior presidential secretary for policy planning, and Rep. Park Dae-chul, new chief policymaker of the PPP. (Yonhap)




Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 4 p.m and 2 p.m respectively amid protests by Congress-led Opposition over disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament.

Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings in less than a minute after the lower house convened for the day.

The moment Birla assumed his seat, Congress MPs, who came to the House wearing black clothes, started throwing papers at his chair.

"I want to run the House with dignity," the Speaker said and adjourned the proceedings till 4 p.m.

Congress MPs and some opposition members came wearing black clothes in Lok Sabha, to protest against disqualification of Rahul Gandhi's membership.

Similar scenes were witnessed in Rajya Sabha when Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the House till 2 p.m.

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Earlier in the day, a meeting was held in the chamber of leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, to deliberate on a joint strategy in the house.

Apart from the Congress, leaders from DMK, SP, JDU, BRS, CPM, RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K National Conference and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray group) attended the meeting.

The Congress MPs have also moved an adjournment notice in Lok Sabha against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.

In Rajya Sabha, opposition MPs have moved a notice for suspension of business over Adani issue and misuse of agencies against political leaders.

--IANS

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The power ministry on Monday issued a draft 'Carbon Credit Trading Scheme' with an aim to set up a framework for Indian carbon market and sought feedback from stakeholders.

The comments on the draft scheme would have to be submitted with the ministry by April 14, 2023, an office memorandum stated.

The parliament has passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and a notification for the same was issued in December 2022.

One of the provisions of this amendment included empowering the central government to "specify carbon trading scheme", in consultation with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

Now the ministry of power is in the process to finalise the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS).

The CCTS provides that an 'Accredited Carbon Verifier' means an agency accredited by the BEE to carry out validation or verification activities in respect of the CCTS.

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The 'Carbon Credit Certificate' (CCC) means the certificate issued to the registered entity by the central government, or any agency authorised by it, in the CCTS where each certificate issued shall represent reduction or removal of one tonne of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), it stated.

The 'CCTS' means the scheme for reduction or removal of greeen house gas (GHG) emissions notified by the central government, it stated.

The scheme provides for setting up of the Indian Carbon Market Governing Board (ICMGB).

The governance of the Indian Carbon Market (ICM) and direct oversight of its administrative and regulatory functioning shall vest in the governing board, to be called as ICMGB.

The ICMGB will be power and environment secretaries would be the ex-officio co-chairmen of ICMGB.

The ICMGB shall meet at least once in a quarter of every year, or as may be required.

It will recommend procedures for institutionalising the Indian carbon market for the approval of the central government.

The board will also recommend the central government the rules and regulations for the functions of ICM.

It will recommend methodologies to be used under voluntary mechanism for the approval of the central government.

It will also recommend guidelines regarding sale of carbon credit certificates to outside India to the central government.

It will also approve projects under the voluntary mechanism and recommend the central government or its designated agency for issuance of carbon credit certificate (CCC).

It will approve the process/conditions for crediting period/renewal/ retirement of CCC and have oversight of the administrative and regulatory functions of Indian carbon market.

It will constitute any committee or working group as required in connection with ICM.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency shall be the administrator for the Indian carbon market and shall also work as the secretariat for the ICMGB.

The Grid Controller of India Ltd shall be the registry for the Indian Carbon Market.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) shall be the regulator for the trading activities under the Indian carbon market.


In Punjab, the government increased the amount of compensation that farmers will get for the crop loss, which some say could lead to a 10-15 per cent drop in wheat yields. Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have extended relief to farmers whose crops have been destroyed in unseasonal rains which lashed the region in the last few weeks.



Meanwhile, in Punjab, reports said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has raised the compensation for crop loss between 75-100 per cent by 25 per cent to Rs 15000 per acre. In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has decided to postpone the official procurement in the districts of Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal and Narmadapuram by two days from March 28 to March 31 to enable farmers to dry their wheat and claim the full MSP.



Chief minister Mann also announced a special giradwari (field inspection and survey) to accurately assess the damage which has impacted as many as 12 districts in the state. For losses in between 33-75 per cent, compensation of Rs 6,750 will be given as against the previous amount of Rs 5,400 per acre.

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Under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), the FCI has sold 3.3 million tonnes of wheat till March 15 through e-auction, out of which, buyers have lifted 3.1 million tonnes of the grain so far. They have to lift the balance quantity by March 31. In Delhi, state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) discontinued the wheat sale at subsidized rates via e-auction to bulk consumers, institutions and state governments for now as procurement of the fresh crop begins next month.



Sale of wheat to institutions like Nafed and state governments under the OMSS has also been stopped. The wheat auction will resume only if there is a need to intervene in the market, he added. The last e-auction of wheat to bulk consumers was undertaken on March 15. The auction has been stopped for now as the procurement of the fresh crop will pick up in the coming days," FCI Managing Director Ashok K Meena told PTI.

In Punjab, Chief Minister Mann had toured rain-affected fields in Moga, Muktsar, Bathinda and Patiala districts of the state, while a team from the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research also visited the affected areas.




But Rahul is not the first; several high-profile political leaders have been disqualified as an MP or an MLA earlier after facing court convictions. Heres a list of five such prominent politicians: Congress leader Rahul Gandhis disqualification as Wayanad MP -- after a Surat trial court convicted him in a criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years in prison -- has jolted opposition parties. Unless a higher court overturns the judgment, Rahul would be barred from contesting elections for eight years.

1) Indira Gandhi

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was disqualified in 1975 due to a court decision. Following this decision, she was unseated as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha.



2) Lalu Prasad A single-judge Bench of the Allahabad High Court found her guilty of committing corrupt electoral practices, such as seeking the assistance of gazetted officers, to further her election prospects. The courts decision triggered Indira to declare a nationwide emergency in the same year.

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In total, Yadav was disqualified for 11 years  a five-year jail term combined with six years from his release date. Rashtriya Janata Dal president and former Bihar chief minister (CM) Lalu Prasad was disqualified from the Lower House in 2013. Prasads disqualification happened due to his conviction by a Central Bureau of Investigation court. He was booked in a multi-crore fodder scam case under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

3) Kuldeep Singh Sengar

Kuldeep Singh Sengar was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in February 2020. Sengar was disqualified after his conviction in the Unnao rape case. In December 2019, a Delhi court pronounced its verdict and sentenced Sengar to life imprisonment. The Unnao rape case hit the headlines after the victim tried to immolate herself outside the chief ministers residence.



4) J Jayalalithaa Sengar was an MLA from the Bangarmau constituency who contested on the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) ticket. He was later ousted from the party.



A trial court in Bengaluru had convicted Jayalalithaa, wherein the former DMK government filed the case against her in 1996. In connection with the case, she was sentenced to a four-year jail term and was asked to pay a fine of ~100 crore. In 2014, J Jayalalithaa, the then Tamil Nadu CM, faced disqualification after being convicted in a case regarding disproportionate assets worth ~66 crore. As a result, she became the first sitting CM to face such disqualification. She also had to resign from her office.

5) Azam Khan

Azam Khan, a member of the Samajwadi Party, was disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in October 2022. He was sentenced to three years in prison in a case of hate speech in 2019.

A UP court convicted him while he was a sitting MLA from the states Rampur Sadar constituency.
While the counter is trading over the critical support of Rs 2,353-mark, its 200-day moving average (DMA), losing strength below 100-DMA and 50-DMA has impacted the short-term sentiment.

The stock conquered earlier peak of Rs 2,792 recently, but failed to attract follow-on buying interest. This led the stock price action to slip under Rs 2,800, with sentiment following the OFS announcement; which offered floor price well below the historic peak, dampened the positive trend further.
The Ministry of Rural Development is signing an agreement with 19 "Captive Employers" for providing jobs to 31,067 rural youths under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), according to an official statement issued on Monday.

The ministry will provide these employers the target to train and provide gainful employment to rural youth, with a minimum salary of Rs 10,000 per month for the minimum period of six months.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed on Tuesday in the presence of Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh. The minister will also distribute appointment letters to some candidates who received similar training under the DDU-GKY and are placed with captive employers, according to the statement issued by the Ministry of Rural Development.

The Rural Development Ministry launched the Captive employment Guidelines under DDUGKY to ensure that the candidates are trained in line with the industry requirement and employed.

"The Captive Employment model allows the employer to select the rural youths, skill and deploy them in one of its own establishment/sister-concern/subsidiaries," the Rural Development Ministry said in a statement.

The RTD (Recruit, Train & Deploy) model has been developed to address the needs of the Industry on one hand and ensuring sustainable placement for rural youth.

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"The Captive Employment Guidelines will increase the direct involvement of the industry due to the benefits provided to the industries for encouraging them to participate in the DDU-GKY program thereby ensuring the large quantity employment for rural youths," the ministry said.

The basic objective of DDU-GKY is to provide the gainful placement in sustainable manner to rural youth after skilling hence the concept of captive employment was envisaged and launched on the occasion of Antyodaya Divas in the year 2020.
Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has increased the frequency of its flight services on the Delhi-Moscow route to seven times a week against four weekly services earlier, from March 26, a statement said on Monday.

In addition, the airline has also started operating a Boeing 777 jet along with Airbus A330 to cater to passenger traffic between the two capital cities, Delmos Aviation, which handles cargo operations for Aeroflot in India, said in the statement.

India and Russia "in principle" agreed to revise their bilateral air services agreement earlier this month, allowing Russian carriers to operate up to 64 flights per week from 52 to India.

Russian carriers are allowed to operate these flights to six Indian cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Kolkata, Amritsar and Ahmedabad.

Aeroflot has commenced daily flight services on the Delhi-Moscow route from March 26. The airline will operate both Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 with a total seating capacity of 410 and 293, respectively, in three class configurations business, premium economy and economy, as per the statement.

In the just-concluded winter season, the airline operated only four weekly flights on the route, it noted.

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According to the statement, regular flight services are crucial not only in terms of passenger movement but also from the cargo service point of view.

"This increase in frequency was long overdue as the number of passengers has increased in good measure," said Naveen Rao, Director of Delmos Aviation.

"These daily flights will give a boost to tourism as well as the cargo supply chain. Due to increasing trade between the two countries, the Moscow-Delhi route is one of the long-established and high-demand routes...In addition, the cargo supply chain will be more effective," said Oleg Korolev, head of cargo at Aeroflot.

There is a high demand for the shipments of pharmaceuticals, DG (dangerous goods) and machine tools, among others.

"With a cargo capacity of approximately 25 tonnes per flight, we are open to accepting all special commodities, including DG shipments," according to Anish Khatri, GM for Delmos Aviation - GSSA Cargo Aeroflot Airlines.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Uttar Pradesh government's plea against high court direction to consider giving a job to a family member of the victim in Hathras case and also the relocation of the family, saying "the state should not come up in such matters".

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala told Garima Prasad, additional advocate general (AAG) of Uttar Pradesh, "State should not come up in such matters... Prasad submitted that the state government is ready to relocate the family but they wanted a job either in Noida or Delhi."

She further added that whether the elder married brother of the victim could be regarded as a 'dependent', was a question of law to be considered.

Declining to entertain the state government's plea, the Chief Justice said, "these are facilities provided to the family. We should not interfere. State should not come up in these matters..."

After the order was pronounced, the AAG urged the apex court to keep the question of law open, the bench said that the order has specified that it is passed in the special facts and circumstances of the case.

In July last year, the high court passed directions in a matter connected with Hathras case, where a 19-year-old Dalit woman was alleged to have been raped and murdered in September 2020 in Hathras.

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The high court said the state authorities must abide by the promise, which was made to the family in September 2020, to give employment to one member and also directed the authorities to consider relocation of the family outside Hathras but within Uttar Pradesh.

The high court's order came on a PIL registered suo motu as Right to Decent and Dignified Last Rites/Cremation in 2020 after victim's last rites were performed in haste after midnight allegedly in the absence of the consent of the family.

--IANS

ss/dpb
In a rare display of unity, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday attended a Congress-led opposition strategy meeting and was also part of the protest against the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP.

But instead of TMC's floor leaders, its two MPs were in attendance at both the events.

In a meeting called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday evening of floor leaders of like minded parties, TMC will send the same two MPs -- Prasoon Banerjee and Jawahar Sirkar, party leaders said.

The TMC leaders said while the party is on one page with the Opposition in protesting to save Parliament and democracy, the faultlines in respect to the Congress party remain.

Party sources said that the leadership is upset over the comments of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, on TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

They, however, indicated that there has been some breakthrough in the relationship with senior Congress leaders reaching out to the TMC.

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The TMC, too, has been quick to lend support to Gandhi over his suspension from Lok Sabha.

In fact, party leaders claimed that TMC chief Banerjee was the first CM and opposition party leader to come out with a statement in support of Gandhi, followed by party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

"The BJP has crossed the line. Democracy, Parliament, federalism and the Constitution have to be saved. The Opposition is united in this cause. It's also about graciousness on all sides," said Derek O' Brien, TMC Parliamentary Party leader in the Rajya Sabha.

The party will also stage a protest against the Centre in Delhi on March 29, the same day when the TMC chief will hold dharna in Kolkata, the sources said.
AAP leader Durgesh Pathak on Monday announced that their councillors will introduce four resolutions for the welfare of businesspersons during a special meeting of the civic body to discuss it budget.

The special meeting has been convened at the MCD headquarters on Tuesday.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi passed the "schedule of taxes" in the civic budget for 2023-24 on February 15, and as required by the norms, the civic budget has to be cleared by March 31.

Addressing a press conference, Pathak said that four resolutions will be brought by AAP councillors, and he urged BJP members to support them.

One of the resolutions would be brought by AAP councillors Parveen Kumar and Sunil Chaddha pertaining to presenting the MCD's side before the judicial committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the matter of sealing of local shopping centres.

"The Supreme Court had formed a judicial committee to look into the matter of sealing of local shopping centres and commercial shopping centres. BJP's MCD appointed lawyers would put forth arguments against the interests of businessmen. The first resolution will pertain to MCD putting its arguments in favour of businessmen and trying to ensue that these centres open soon," he said.

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The second resolution will be brought by Ravinder Bhardwaj and Rekha Rani.

"Traders have been receiving several notices pertaining to conversion charges. The second resolution will propose that no further notices on conversion charges be sent to traders. The Commissioner will be instructed from the House to not issue further notices," he said.

Prem Chauhan and Devender Kumar will bring another resolution, which will propose that the traders who have received notices will not be penalised, he said.

"The fourth resolution will be brought by Leader of House in MCD Mukesh Kumar Goel and Mohini Jeenwal will bring a resolution to propose that no notices, whatsoever, be sent to local shopping centres and commercial shopping centres," Pathak said.

The AAP MLA said that till the time MCD brings a holistic policy on the matter, traders should not be inconvenienced.

"Delhi's businessmen will be extremely happy once these resolutions are passed. During its tenure, the BJP blackmailed traders and sealed their businesses urge. I urge BJP councillors to support us and allow these resolutions to be passed," he said.
The presidential foreign affairs secretary has recently been replaced, an official said Monday, just one month before President Yoon Suk Yeol goes on a state visit to the United States.







Lee Moon-hee, a career diplomat, has been replaced after suffering from a heavy workload over the past year, the official said, rejecting speculation about why one of the main officials handling the upcoming presidential trip to the U.S. had to go.







"The time for replacement has come, and his successor is in the process of taking over," the official told Yonhap News Agency.







Lee Choong-myon, head of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, has reportedly been tapped as the new foreign affairs secretary. (Yonhap)


Work has begun on installation of six steel spans on a 350-metre stretch of the Delhi-Meerut-Ghaziabad RRTS corridor in the national capital, officials said on Monday.

This is the only location on the entire Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor where such a long viaduct is being constructed with steel spans, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) said in a statement.

Of these, the about 70-metre-long first special steel span has been successfully installed. This special steel span, weighing 560 tonnes, has been installed in the Kondli area near the New Ashok Nagar RRTS station, it said.

The six steel spans are to be installed near Ghazipur drain for construction of the viaduct.

The RRTS corridor is progressing parallel to the drain. These special steel spans are being installed where the corridor will cross the drain. These spans will also cross the road near Kondli Chowk.

The length of three spans will be approximately 70 metres each and that of the remaining three will be 50 metres each, the NCRTC statement said.

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The combined length of these six special steel spans is 350 metres.

The span installed parallel to the Ghazipur drain is about 70 metres long and 14 metres wide. It was placed on pillars at a height of about 6 metres with the help of cranes.

Special spans are massive structures, consisting of structural steel beams. Segments of structural steel are first manufactured in the factory and then brought to the site on trailers during the night to avoid traffic problems.

These parts are then assembled at the site by systematically joining them with the help of a special process. The shape and structure of these steel spans are specially designed to suit all the requirements of construction, installation and usage, the statement said.

So far, six special steel spans have been installed on the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor. These include a 50-metre one in Meerut on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, a 73-metre one at Vasundhara on the main line of the railway, a 150-metre span near Ghaziabad station, two 45-metre spans for the RRTS viaduct going towards the Duhai depot and a 73-metre one for crossing the EPE.

The NCRTC is implementing India's first Regional Rapid Transit System between Delhi and Meerut.

Trial runs on the main line for operationalisation of the 17-kilometre Duhai-Sahibabad priority section will began in early December. It is expected to become operational by April, sources had said in February.

The NCRTC aims to operationalise the entire 82-kilometre Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor by 2025, the statement said.
Scores of Indian Youth Congress activists staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here on Monday against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and were detained when they tried to march towards Parliament.

Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists from across the country gathered at the Jantar Mantar to show solidarity with Gandhi and criticised the central government for "silencing" voices of the democratic opposition.

Carrying IYC flags and "Satyameva Jayate" placards, the protesters demanded justice for Gandhi.

"The Centre has shown that no one can speak or question the Modi government. Rahul ji raised questions about Adani...so they attempted to silence him by disqualifying him," said Vikram, one of the protesters.

"Rahul Gandhi is fearless and will continue to question the government over their wrong deeds," he added.

The protesters said they would "gherao" Parliament to as part of their protest. They were detained when they tried to march towards Parliament. IYC national president B V Srinivas was among those detained.

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"Several protesters have been detained and taken to Mandir Marg police station in buses. They were allowed only to protest at Jantar Mantar but when the protesters climbed over the multi-layered barricades to head towards Parliament, they were detained at the spot," a senior police officer said.

Gandhi, 52, was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification will prevent Gandhi, a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years unless a higher court stays the conviction.
He said that out of the current order book of 5,500 cars, 600 are EVs.

I can clearly see that the electric car segment would have more than a 30 percent share (in the order book) by 2025 because of the product range that we have. It may be even higher than 30 percent, Pawah said.


Several buzzwords, such as desk bombing, career gazing, loud leaving and monk mode, too, have entered the workplace lexicon. These trends and data insights were obtained from the latest LinkedIn report, which relied on a survey conducted by Censuswide. The survey accounted for over 1,001 workers in India above 18 years of age and was conducted between February 28 and March 6 this year. A sizeable number of employees  78 per cent  is choosing to return to office by their own will, a recent survey by professional networking platform LinkedIn has found. The trend reflects a shift since employees earlier considered it an obligation to report to the office.

Desk bombing facilitates impromptu conversations

Desk bombing is when a colleague shows up unannounced at someone's work desk. The survey revealed that 62 per cent of professionals believe desk bombing can be a great conversation starter. The insights show that Gen Z professionals embrace desk bombing and believe it can act as an ice-breaker.

Loud leaving sends the message loud and clear

When an individual, especially someone in a managerial position, intentionally and visibly leaves the workplace, it is called loud leaving. Here, the loud leaver sends a clear message that it is all right to take a break and stop working at a reasonable time. According to the LinkedIn survey, 60 per cent of the respondents reported having experienced loud leaving.

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Thursday is the new Friday

An interesting insight from the new report is how professionals feel about working on Fridays. To that, 79 per cent of the respondents said Thursday is the new Friday for them, meaning that Friday is the least popular day among workers to visit the office.



Returning to physical workplaces can activate monk mode Of the professionals who said that Thursdays feel like Fridays, 50 per cent said they would prefer to spend time with friends and family, and 46 per cent shared that they would like to kickstart an early weekend after finishing their work quickly on Fridays.



Career gazing can facilitate ones growth Compared to last year, 86 per cent of the employees said they feel positive working in outdoor (outside home) environments. Returning to their office space allows several such employees to sideline distractions and focus solely on one task. The report said one out of two workers successfully activated monk mode when working in the office.



Chai breaks bring back nostalgia The report also highlighted the act of career gazing that allows individuals to share ideas and listen to the perspectives of others. This way, if people allot some time for career gazing, they can learn about better career opportunities.



For employees, visiting the office spaces facilitates social interactions (43 per cent), leads to efficient in-person meetings (42 per cent), and helps in building strong workplace relationships (41 per cent). Based on the report, 72 per cent of the professionals miss having chai (tea) breaks with their co-workers. For them, the tea breaks were an efficient way of workplace bonding and allowed individuals to exchange banter relating to their personal and work lives, and have a laugh. Informal conversations or chai breaks can also help boost long-term career growth when done with intention, Nirajita Banerjee, managing editor, LinkedIn India, said in the report.

In 2022, quiet quitting and career cushioning were two of the most talked-about workplace trends. While quiet quitting refers to doing the bare minimum in a job, career cushioning means formulating a Plan B and looking out for oneself in case of layoffs.


Indias largest depository, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), warned such market participants through a circular issued on Monday. With the deadline for submitting nomination details for demat accounts approaching, many stock brokers have been found to be updating the nomination field as opting out without the consent of the investor.



It can be updated by the brokers only after obtaining investors explicit consent, said the depository. NSDL, which handles demat securities worth over Rs 300 trillion, has explicitly asked participants to not update the choice of nomination on their own.



With just a few days to go, some stock brokers were found to be opting out from nomination on behalf of investors who hadn't updated or submitted the choice of nomination. It may be noted that updating the choice of nomination without the explicit consent of the investor is against the intention of the circulars and the same has been viewed seriously, said NSDL.

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As the update has been mandated by the market regulator, stock brokers cannot charge for updating nomination or opting out. According to the directions by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the trading accounts of the investors not meeting the nomination deadline will become inactive after March 31.




Twitter is trying to hunt down the person who leaked proprietary source code that was published online until last week.

The code, which forms the basis for the web services platform and internal tools, was posted on GitHub  the widely used code repository thats now owned by Microsoft Corp., a California court filing submitted by Twitter on Friday shows. GitHub Inc. complied with Twitters request to remove the data under a copyright infringement claim and posted Twitters request online. The account responsible for the posting, named FreeSpeechEnthusiast, signed up on GitHub at the start of the year and appears to have only uploaded the Twitter cache. By Dana HullTwitter is trying to hunt down the person who leaked proprietary source code that was published online until last week.



GitHub declined to comment on its decision to remove the content and pointed to its publication of Twitters takedown request. Twitter didnt specifically respond to an emailed request for comment about the data breach. Twitter is now asking the court to issue a subpoena in an effort to uncover the identity of the user behind that account as well as the names and other information of users who posted, downloaded or uploaded the data. The Elon Musk-owned social network has already asked GitHub for related names, addresses, telephone numbers, emails, social media profiles and IP addresses.



The incident isnt the first time a tech company has had its source code exposed. Last year, password management service LastPass disclosed that hackers had stolen source code and technical information. In December, source code associated with Uber Technologies Inc.s mobile management platforms was reported to have been leaked as part of a hack. Exposing Twitters internal workings may make the service more vulnerable to hacking attempts.

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Two people were shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California on Sunday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said.

The sheriff's office stated the shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m. (local time) at the Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society temple.

Both of the victims are in critical condition, the sheriff's office said.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said the shooting is not related to a hate crime and described the incident as a shootout between two men who knew each other.

Sgt. Gandhi said three people were involved in a fight that escalated into a shooting. He said "suspect 2" was down when "suspect 1" shot suspect 2's friend. Suspect 2 then shot suspect 1 before taking off.

"All participants in that altercation seemed to have known each other. This seems to have stemmed from something far before this," Sgt. Gandhi added.

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The investigation of the incident is underway.

Notably, the United States has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with numerous fatal shootings over the last few years.

Gun violence has become common in the US. And this is the reason that President Joe Biden signed the executive order that seeks to increase the number of background checks conducted during gun sales, saying this is "common sense".

Last week, at least two people were hospitalised in a shooting at East High School in Denver, the capital of Colorado, informed Denver police.

Taking to Twitter, Denver police posted, "ALERT: #DPD is responding to a shooting at East High School. An unknown number of victims at this time. Investigators are working to gather information, and expect a large police presence in the area. Updates will be posted to this thread as they are made available. #Denver.


Mas re-emergence in public offers support for the governments softening tone toward the private sector as leaders try to shore up an economy battered by three years of Covid-19 curbs. Alibaba founder Jack Ma has returned to China, ending a stay overseas of more than a year.



The school was founded by Ma and other Alibaba founders in the e-commerce giants eastern home city of Hangzhou in 2017. During his visit, Ma discussed topics such as artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT and also said he hoped to return to teaching one day, the Yungu School said on its official WeChat account.



Meanwhile, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao met Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday and exchanged views on the companys development in China, the commerce ministry said. Chinas new premier, Li Qiang, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, had recognised his return to the mainland could help boost business confidence among entrepreneurs and since late last year had begun asking Ma to return.

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The minister also had meetings with the several other international firms over the past few days, including Pfizer, BMW, and Qualcomm. The two talked about stabilising industrial and supply chains, the ministry said, adding that Wang told Cook China is willing to provide a good environment and services for foreign companies including Apple.



The Rongsheng deal comes on the heels of Aramcos agreement worth $10 billion with Chinese partners for an oil refinery and petrochemical project in the Chinese province of Liaoning that is expected to start in 2026. Additionally, Saudi Aramco raised its multi-billion dollar investment in China by finalising and upgrading a planned joint venture in northeast China and acquiring an expanded stake in a privately controlled petrochemical group. Aramco said on Monday it had agreed to acquire a 10 per cent stake in privately controlled Rongsheng Petrochemical for about $3.6 billion.
China's global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the world's most powerful communist country.

An investigation by the Associated Press has found that China and its US-based advocates spent years building relationships with the state's officials and lawmakers.

Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didn't like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese government's image.

Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the US and its western allies have turned acrimonious.

US officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.

Beijing's success in Utah shows how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

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Utah is an important foothold, he said.

If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.

Security experts say that China's campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers' affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the state's dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Beijing's campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the Justice Department.

A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic.

A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP he's been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

Beijing's interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the US in 2015 that without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.

It is not unusual for countries, including the US, to engage in local diplomacy.

US officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas.

However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the US intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level.

Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center in July warned state and local officials about deceptive and coercive Chinese influence operations.

And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to cultivate talent earlyoften state and local officialsto ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijing's agenda.

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the US and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and China's tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.

Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered and shot down in US airspace.

US officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted.

The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well-known to lawmakers.

Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records' requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislation's sponsor.

The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by US national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards they'd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year.

He encouraged them to become young ambassadors' for Sino-American friendship.

Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students' Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state-controlled media in China.

A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me.

He's so cool! Portraying China's most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Xi's letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldn't help but think how amazing it was that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xi's letter was so kind and so personal.

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said in making such comments Utah lawmakers are essentially acting as mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party and legitimising their ideas and narratives.

Statements like these are exactly what China's goal is for influence campaigns, he said.

China's interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education.

US officials have noted that China's civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show.

In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China.

The Chicago student told an undercover agent he'd been tasked by his spy handlers to meet people, some American friends."



He was baptised at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent he'd been going to Utah more often lately before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former US intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China.

Hansen said China's spy service had tasked him with assessing various US politicians' views towards China. The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organise the first ever annual US-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews.

The US State Department cancelled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts.

The AP found groups of up to 25 Utah lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007.

Lawmakers have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges, while relying on China and host organizations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, they've forged relationships with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijing's agenda.

Utah is not like Washington DC, then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.

In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him bullish about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other lawmakers.

It's a trip not worth taking, Hughes said.

Utah doesn't require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so it's difficult to determine lawmaker's financial ties to China.

Some of Utah's most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections.

Sen. Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he had clients in China a dozen at times some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients are based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them.

Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah.

China's not going anywhere. China's going to be a world force. They're going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavor, he said.

Many of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organisations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found.

The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favour with Beijing, according to emails and interviews.

In reviewing the AP's findings, legal experts said the men's connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven.

If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters.

One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted in 1990 to the Mormon faith.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job -- as a paid representative of China's Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding sister relationship with Utah.

Le's advocacy continued after he said he left Liaoning's payroll, emails and interviews show.

He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese Embassy set up meetings with state officials.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with China's ambassador to the US, Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting.

I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together.

You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.

State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams thought could be used as potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, emails and interviews show.

Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in an email to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese Embassy to assign two staffers to work tirelessly on the request until it was fulfilled.

A hallmark of Le's approach is to utilize his religion in his pitches to lawmakers. He quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his emails, text messages and letters, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the church's president-prophet, has made about China.

Chinese officials have tried to cultivate friendly ties with the church. When visiting Utah, China's diplomats and officials often meet top church members as well as lawmakers, emails and other records show.

Expanding to China has been a top goal for the church, which plays a heavy role in Utah politics and the state's overall identity. Many of the state's residents lived abroad as missionaries, and several of Utah's public schools have robust K-12 Chinese immersion programs.

While the church has historically been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Le sought to stop Utah lawmakers from supporting religious figures or groups discriminated against by the Chinese government.

When a Utah lawmaker sponsored a resolution in 2021 condemning China's well-documented and brutal crackdown of its minority Muslim Uighurs, Le chastised the legislator in text messages and compared unflattering media coverage of the Chinese government to that of the church's founder, Joseph Smith Jr.

Pray to God and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as you ponder about these issues instead of solely relying on those biased media reports, Le said.

The resolution failed that year and a similar one introduced in January did not receive a hearing.

Le has served as a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, which has ties to the United Front Work Department -- a Chinese Communist Party organization the US government says engages in covert and malign foreign influence operations.

A United Front publication profiled Le in 2020 after he attended a meeting in Beijing of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious advisory body controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

I deeply feel the advantages of China's system, Le told the publication.

Le told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI in 2007 and 2018 about his Chinese government ties. He said his advocacy has always been self-directed.

I don't consider myself a lobbyist because I'm not a lobbyist. I'm just someone who cherishes the relationship between the US and China, Le said in an interview in his Weber State office.

Adams, the Senate president, said he feels otherwise.

I do believe he's lobbying, Adams said. He advocates very hard on China.

Another Utah resident whom lawmakers said regularly has advocated better relations with China was Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

Emails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah.

Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well connected with government officials there.

I've heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritizing their relationship with Utah, Stephenson told lawmakers at a committee hearing. That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Sen. Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

The resolution passed with near unanimous approval.

A Chinese diplomat's efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the state's senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda.

Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolution's origins.

It seemed rather innocuous to me, Anderegg said of his resolution. But maybe it wasn't.

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution.

Stephenson has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show.

He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International. The company's chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online biography. The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party's United Front.

Stephenson, also once worked for the China Academy of Painting, which has been used by China's Ministry of State Security as a front for meeting and covertly influencing elites and officials abroad, according to Alex Joske, the author of the recently published book Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World.

Stephenson said he worked only briefly without pay for the China Academy of Painting. He added he did not witness any spy agency involvement.

Stephenson said he's never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it.

I work to promote Utah's economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties, Stephenson said.

His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Party's messaging.

Stephenson urged Utah's elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that city's residents early in 2020 as they battled COVID-19, according to emails obtained by AP.

You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China, Stephenson said in an email pitching the videos.

The request originated with the Shanghai government, according to Stephenson's email, and came as officials in China were scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his repeated warnings about the disease's dangers.

Many lawmakers recorded videos reading sample scripts Stephenson provided, and a compilation of those videos was uploaded to a Chinese social media website.

The compilation ends with dozens of lawmakers in unison shouting jiayou!- a Chinese expression of encouragement -- on the Utah House and Senate floors.
By-Anjani Trivedi



Chinese automakers are repeating past follies. That may be a good thing.

As electric vehicles eat into their traditional peers market share, manufacturers are aggressively cutting car prices to lure buyers. That looks like the beginning of yet another bust-boost-boom cycle: a period of flailing demand, followed by incentives to stimulate buying, and then, hopefully, sales surge. Chinese automakers are repeating past follies. That may be a good thing.



An imminent emissions regulation that kicks in this July is fueling the growing anxiety. Earlier this month, SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co. offered over $500 million in cash inducements to buy vehicles. It followed over 40 brands that have done the same. The frenzy forced the industry association last week to urge companies to tamp down on the price-cut hype. A few days earlier, state media called the provincial level moves improper. The boost part, though, is looking a bit tenuous for both established and EV firms. While the central government hasnt stepped in with overarching policy-backed incentives for the wider auto market as it did in the past, local authorities are rolling out subsidies for buyers and manufacturers. Car companies are throwing in sweeteners while incumbents are trying to clear stocks of internal-combustion-engine vehicles that consumers will soon shun. EV makers are attempting to keep up with falling prices and rising competition.



Tesla and BYD Co. arent making it any easier, as they churn out in-demand electrics en masse at ever-lower prices. Brands like General Motors Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. once significant players in the overall market, accounting for 18% and 10%, are now waning. The worlds largest manufacturers, Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp., have fallen behind, too. Since Tesla Inc. lowered its prices in China late last year, deepening the electric transition in the worlds largest market, traditional carmakers and their EV peers have been scrambling for solutions to keep up. So far, theyve only emerged with haphazard measures, but a more surgical approach may be the only option as the fittest emerge on top.

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The breakdown of the years-long boom-bust cycle has a silver lining: A thorough, clean up of Chinas vast car market. Auto manufacturers  traditional and electric  that cant keep up, including small firms and random brands, will likely be wiped out or consolidated, clearing the way for better vehicles. The ones big enough to hold on will have to raise their game. Domestic champion Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., for instance, has been waffling under the transition. It is now investing in hybrids and greener, more efficient internal combustion engines. But old tricks arent working the way they did. Overall sales fell 15% in the first two months of the year. These band-aid measures to fix structural issues in the market clearly arent sustainable and cant last for too long. Cutting prices and doling out incentives will raise costs and eat into already-thinning margins. But perhaps the painful fallout is whats needed.



For now, some Chinese automakers have been able to take advantage of strong production at home. As the rest of the world attempts to transition to EVs and struggles to manufacture at scale, China has been able to fill the vacuum. So many EVs are being churned out that the country has claimed the title of the worlds second-largest new vehicle exporter. Firms are gaining share in Chile, Saudi Arabia and Southeast Asia. That may serve companies well in the short term, but getting used to the thrill of new and growing markets risks losing sight of a problem China knows all too well: the pitfalls of mass production. Making lots of cars is one thing, but without constant and consistent technological upgrades and investment, the ride wont last. The price wars and current chaos should force a deeper reckoning in Chinas burgeoning EV market, which is now veering toward overcapacity. Factory utilization rates are around 60% and could go lower as more manufacturing plants come online. Beijing has already warned about risks of a glut. Regulators could help streamline the industrys growth by setting stringent standards for vehicles as they did for batteries. Manufacturers will have to do their part, too, finding a balance between regulation, scale and technology.
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung speaks at a party meeting at the National Assembly, March 27. Yonhap



Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung called on President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday to publicly declare Korea will not import agricultural and fisheries products from Japan's Fukushima region over radiation concerns.



Korea has banned imports of all seafood and some agricultural products from the region since 2013 due to concerns over their possible radiation contamination following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown after an earthquake and a tsunami.



But some have raised speculation that the government of President Yoon could resume imports from Fukushima, following Japanese news reports that it was one of the unannounced topics during Yoon's summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier this month.



"In order to relieve people's concerns, I hope the president will publicly declare that it is impossible to import agro-fisheries products from Fukushima," Lee said in a party meeting. "The Democratic Party of Korea will make sure that radiation-contaminated products will not be put on our dining tables." (Yonhap)


Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets of cities across the country on Sunday night in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defence minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest deepened a monthslong crisis over Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass protests, alarmed business leaders and former security chiefs and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.

Netanyahu's dismissal of defence Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

But as droves of protesters flooded the streets late into the night, Likud ministers began indicating willingness to hit the brakes. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

In a brief statement, Netanyahu's office said late Sunday the prime minister had dismissed Gallant. Netanyahu later tweeted we must all stand strong against refusal.

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Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets in protest after Netanyahu's announcement, blocking Tel Aviv's main artery, transforming the Ayalon highway into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags and lighting a large bonfire in the middle of the road.

Demonstrations took place in Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem, where thousands of people gathered outside Netanyahu's private residence. Police scuffled with protesters and sprayed the crowd with a water cannon.

Inon Aizik, 27, said he came to demonstrate outside Netanyahu's private residence in central Jerusalem because bad things are happening in this country, referring to the judicial overhaul as a quick legislative blitz.

Netanyahu's decision came less than a day after Gallant, a former senior general, called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next month's Independence Day holidays, citing the turmoil in the ranks of the military.

Gallant had voiced concerns that the divisions in society were hurting morale in the military and emboldening Israel's enemies. I see how the source of our strength is being eroded, Gallant said.

While several other Likud members had indicated they might follow Gallant, the party quickly closed ranks on Sunday, clearing the way for his dismissal.

Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahu's public diplomacy minister, said that Netanyahu summoned Gallant to his office and told him that he doesn't have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.

Gallant tweeted shortly after the announcement that the security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life mission.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Gallant's dismissal "harms national security and ignores warnings of all defence officials.

Israel's consul general in New York City, Assaf Zamir, resigned in protest.

Avi Dichter, a former chief of the Shin Bet security agency, is expected to replace him. Dichter had reportedly flirted with joining Gallant but instead announced Sunday he was backing the prime minister.

Netanyahu's government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would grant parliament the authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority and limit judicial review of laws.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the constellation of laws will remove the checks and balances in Israel's democratic system and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past three months to demonstrate against the plan in the largest demonstrations in the country's 75-year history.

Leaders of Israel's vibrant high-tech industry have said the changes will scare away investors, former top security officials have spoken out against the plan and key allies, including the United States and Germany, have voiced concerns.

In recent weeks discontent has even surged from within Israel's army the most popular and respected institution among Israel's Jewish majority. A growing number of Israeli reservists, including fighter pilots, have threatened to withdraw from voluntary duty in the past weeks.

Israel's military is facing a surge in fighting in the occupied West Bank, threats from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and concerns that archenemy Iran is close to developing a nuclear-weapons capability.

Violence both in Israel and the occupied West Bank has escalated over the past few weeks to heights unseen in years.

Manuel Trajtenberg, head of an influential Israeli think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies, said that Netanyahu can dismiss his defence minister, he cannot dismiss the warnings he heard from Gallant.

Meanwhile, an Israeli good governance group on Sunday asked the country's Supreme Court to punish Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the country's judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a fierce opponent of the overhaul, asked the court to force Netanyahu to obey the law and sanction him either with a fine or prison time for not doing so. It said he was not above the law.

A prime minister who doesn't obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist, said Eliad Shraga, the head of the group, echoing language used by Netanyahu and his allies against protesters opposed to the overhaul. The prime minister will be forced to bow his head before the law and comply with the provisions of the law.

The prime minister responded saying the appeal should be dismissed and said that the Supreme Court didn't have grounds to intervene.

Netanyahu is barred by the country's attorney general from directly dealing with his government's plan to overhaul the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement he is bound to, and which the Supreme Court acknowledged in a ruling over Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption. Instead, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is spearheading the overhaul.

But on Thursday, after parliament passed a law making it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, Netanyahu said he was unshackled from the attorney general's decision and vowed to wade into the crisis and mend the rift in the nation. That declaration prompted the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to warn that Netanyahu was breaking his conflict of interest agreement.

The fast-paced legal and political developments have catapulted Israel into uncharted territory and toward a burgeoning constitutional crisis, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

We are at the start of a constitutional crisis in the sense that there is a disagreement over the source of authority and legitimacy of different governing bodies, he said.

Netanyahu is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he will try to seek an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul. Associated Press journalist Tia Goldenberg contributed from Tel Aviv.


However, representatives from both countries are expected to participate virtually. The meeting will be attended by the NSA from Russia along with NSAs representing Central Asian countries. China and Pakistan may not be physically present at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) National Security Advisors' meeting, The Economic Times (ET) has reported. NSA Ajit Doval will host the meeting scheduled for March 29.



India will emphasise optimising using Iran's Chabahar Port and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as inclusive connectivity initiatives for Eurasia. The NSAs from the Eurasian countries will focus on regional connectivity, counter-terror measures, and cross-border terrorism, apart from the drug menace and the Afghan situation, ET reported, quoting people familiar with the development.



The SCO's NSA mechanism is a key element of the grouping and would help prepare for the SCO summit under India's presidency in early July. India is scheduled to host the SCO foreign ministers meeting in Goa. Cyberspace is another important domain that will capture the leaders' attention at the SCO summit. The report added that India has communicated its commitment to tackle the smuggling of illegal arms and ammunition in the region.

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India became a member of the SCO in June 2017. Iran is expected to join the grouping as its newest member at the July summit. Afghanistan is likely to be one of the priorities at the meeting, as the Afghan people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Earlier, India had invited Pakistan's defence minister, Khawaja Asif, interior minister, Rana Sanaullah, and Pakistan's National Security Advisor, Moeed Yusuf, to attend the SCO meeting, which will be held in New Delhi.
Ukraine's government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.

One Ukrainian official said Russia "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people on Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow.

Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West's increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews, he said.

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Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned the move in a statement Sunday and demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

Ukraine expects effective action to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail by the UK, China, the US and France, the statement read, saying these countries have a special responsibility regarding nuclear aggression.

The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization, the statement said.

Ukraine has not commented on Sunday's explosion inside Russia. It left a crater about 15 metres (50 feet) in diameter and five metres deep (16 feet), according to media reports.

Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Soviet-era drone was reintroduced in Ukraine in 2014, and has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The explosion took place in the town of Kireyevsk in the Tula region, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Russia's Defense Ministry said the drone crashed after an electronic jamming system disabled its navigation.

Similar drone attacks have been common during the war, although Ukraine hardly ever acknowledges responsibility. On Monday, Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked civilian facilities in the town of Dzhankoi in Russia-annexed Crimea. Ukraine's military said several Russian cruise missiles were destroyed, but did not specifically claim responsibility.

In December, the Russian military reported several Ukrainian drone attacks on long-range bomber bases deep inside Russia. The Russian Defence Ministry said the drones were shot down, but acknowledged that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen.

Also, Russian authorities have reported attacks by small drones in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions on the border with Ukraine.

On Saturday, Putin argued that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country again to counter NATO. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland and Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground to send troops into neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Both Lukashenko's support of the war and Putin's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has been denounced by the Belarusian opposition.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, tweeted Sunday that Putin's announcement was a step towards internal destabilisation of Belarus that maximized the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The Kremlin, Danilov added, took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over the ones it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said.

Russia has stored its tactical nuclear weapons at dedicated depots on its territory, and moving part of the arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict by placing them closer to Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there.

The US said it would monitor the implications of Putin's announcement. So far, Washington hasn't seen "any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

In Germany, the foreign ministry called it a further attempt at nuclear intimidation, German news agency dpa reported late Saturday. The ministry went on to say that the comparison drawn by President Putin to NATO's nuclear participation is misleading and cannot be used to justify the step announced by Russia.
The US government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued on Monday by President Joe Biden.

The order responds to growing US and global concerns about programs that can capture text messages and other cellphone data. Some programs so-called zero-click exploits can infect a phone without the user clicking on a malicious link.

Governments around the world including the US are known to collect large amounts of data for intelligence and law enforcement purposes, including communications from their own citizens. The proliferation of commercial spyware has made powerful tools newly available to smaller countries, but also created what researchers and human-rights activists warn are opportunities for abuse and repression.

The White House released the executive order in advance of its second summit for democracy this week. The order demonstrates the United States' leadership in, and commitment to, advancing technology for democracy, including by countering the misuse of commercial spyware and other surveillance technology, the White House said in a statement.

Biden's order, billed as a prohibition on using commercial spyware that poses risks to national security, allows for some exceptions.

The order will require the head of any US agency using commercial programmes to certify that the programme doesn't pose a significant counterintelligence or other security risk, a senior administration official said.

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Among the factors that will be used to determine the level of security risk is if a foreign actor has used the programme to monitor US citizens without legal authorization or surveil human rights activists and other dissidents.

It is intended to be a high bar but also includes remedial steps that can be taken ... in which a company may argue that their tool has not been misused, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under White House ground rules.

The White House will not publish a list of banned programs as part of the executive order, the official said.

John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab who has long studied spyware, credited the Biden administration for trying to set new global standards for the industry.

Most spyware companies see selling to the US as their eventual exit path," Scott-Railton said. The issue is the US until now hasn't really wielded its purchasing power to push the industry to do better.

Congress last year required US intelligence agencies to investigate foreign use of spyware and gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the power to ban any agency from using commercial programmes.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a committee hearing last year that commercial spyware posed a very serious threat to our democracy and to democracies around the world. He said Monday the new order would be a critical tool" that should be followed by other democracies taking steps against spyware.

It's a very powerful statement and a good tool, but alone it won't do the trick," he said.

Perhaps the best known example of spyware, the Pegasus software from Israel's NSO Group, was used to target more than 1,000 people across 50 countries, according to security researchers and a July 2021 global media investigation, citing a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers.

The US has already placed export limits on NSO Group, restricting the company's access to US components and technology.

Officials would not say if US law enforcement and intelligence agencies currently use any commercial spyware. The FBI last year confirmed it had purchased NSO Group's Pegasus tool for product testing and evaluation only, and not for operational purposes or to support any investigation.

White House officials said Monday they believe 50 devices used by US government employees, across 10 countries, had been compromised or targeted by commercial spyware.

Despite NSO's assertions that the program is supposed to be used to counter terrorism and crime, researchers found the numbers of more than 180 journalists, 600 politicians and government officials, and 85 human rights activists.

Pegasus use was most commonly linked to Mexico and countries in the Middle East. Amnesty International has alleged Pegasus was installed on the phone of Jamal Khashoggi's fiance just four days before the journalist was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. NSO has denied the allegation that its software was used in connection with Khashoggi's murder.

The family of Paul Rusesabagina, credited with saving more than 1,200 lives during the Rwandan genocide, a story depicted in the movie Hotel Rwanda, has also alleged it was targeted by spyware. Rusesabagina was lured back to Rwanda under false pretenses and jailed on terrorism charges before his release last week. Rwanda has denied using commercial spyware.
The UN's atomic energy chief warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a meeting Monday that the perilous situation at Europe's largest nuclear plant isn't getting any better as relentless fighting in the area puts the facility at risk of a nuclear disaster.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, which continues to power war-torn Ukraine, has lost several of its power transmission cables during Russia's war, and on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems preventing a meltdown.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi plans to visit the Russian-held plant this week. The Vienna-based agency has staff permanently deployed at the plant following Russia's invasion 13 months ago.

In the meeting, covered exclusively by The Associated Press, Grossi said the situation at the plant remains tense because of the heavy military presence around it and a blackout that recently struck the facility, something that has occurred repeatedly since Russian forces took it over last year.

Earlier this month, fighting interrupted power supply to the plant for half a day, forcing staff to activate backup generators.

Grossi expressed alarm at that development. Each time we are rolling a dice, he told his agency at the time. And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out.

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Grossi and Zelenskyy met in the the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is in Ukrainian-held territory, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of the nuclear plant with the same name.

The IAEA announced in January it was placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraine's nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of accidents.

The agency's permanent presence at all of Ukraine's nuclear facilities marked an unprecedented expansion for the agency. That presence includes the now-closed Chernobyl plant whose deadly nuclear accident in 1986 spread fallout over much of Europe.

Grossi emphasised that his seventh trip to Ukraine underlined his commitment and support for as long as it takes.

Also attending the meeting were other IAEA officials, the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak and the head of nuclear state operator Energoatom, Petro Kotin.

While in Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskyy also inspected military positions in the partially-occupied province and awarded soldiers with military honours. He also visited with wounded soldiers at city hospitals as well as an apartment building that Kyiv claims was hit by Russian forces last Wednesday, killing at least one person.

Elsewhere, two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin's forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine's presidential office reported Monday.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said.

Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was shelled 20 times by the Russian artillery and aviation, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

The mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said several explosions shook the city Monday, damaging a building where Russian security forces have been quartered.

Mayor Ivan Fyodorov posted photos of smoke billowing over the area where the Russian barracks are located.

The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, the head of Ukraine's presidential office Andriy Yermak said Monday.

Bloom, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived in the Ukrainian capital over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

During his meeting with Zelenskyy, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.
A friends brother was brutally murdered and his killer sentenced to death. Here is a piece from my friend Eric in Newsweek and a few comments about the familys ongoing fight for justice: 'My Brother's Horrific Murder Shocked Police. His Killer Is Up for Parole'



Like Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan, the murderers sentence was changed to life imprisonment WITH the possibility of parole after the death penalty was abolished in California. This was the 2nd harshest penalty in the 70s. Now the harshest penalty is life in prison without parole.



This has made the victims family relive this horrific event over and over. On April 25, 2023, the killer will be up for parole again. This will be the 18th time my friends family will provide a victims statement at a parole hearing.



Here is a Facebook page: Justice for Frank. If you can help, please write a letter to the parole board.



Legendary San Francisco police officer Frank Falzon caught the case and describes it in his book:





Barbaric. Atrocious. Savage. Horrendous.



These are the words used when people talk about what happened at Frank and Annette Carlson's Potrero Hills home on the night of April 18, 1974.



None is adequate. Not even using them all together. Truly, there are no words to describe it. I know I've said it before, as a homicide inspector you never know what you're walking into at a crime scene. But this was beyond the worst ... still rank it among the worst crimes in San Francisco history.

If parole is granted, there will be a full court press on the Governor to deny parole (like for Sirhan).Its horrible that my friend has to relive this every few years. Letters to the parole board will help.
Tanzanian official says China's principles on relations with Africa common values for both sides

Xinhua) 11:29, March 27, 2023

Vita Kawawa, chairperson of Tanzania's Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, speaks at a symposium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on March 24, 2023. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China's principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith, as well as its commitment to the greater good and shared interests are not only the country's principles of and visions for developing relations with Africa, but also the common values of Africa and China, a Tanzanian official said Friday.

Vita Kawawa, chairperson of Tanzania's Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, made the remarks when attending a symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the African nation and the inception of the above-mentioned principles and commitment. The symposium was held here by the Chinese embassy.

Under the guidance of the principles and commitment, the two countries have carried out fruitful cooperation, bringing tangible benefits to Tanzania, Kawawa said, expressing the expectation that bilateral relations will achieve greater development, and create more benefits for the peoples of both countries.

Other Tanzanian representatives attending the event also noted the principles and commitment prove that China is a sincere friend African countries can trust and rely on.

Chen Mingjian, Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, expounded on the core meaning, value, historical significance, practices and achievements of the Chinese concepts.

China is ready to work with Tanzania to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, and promote the China-Tanzania comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership toward a better future, Chen said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon speaks during National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is taking advantage of Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon's failed attempt to overthrow DPK-endorsed laws aimed at weakening the investigative powers of prosecutors in its fight against the ruling bloc.



Han and DPK lawmakers traded barbed remarks, Monday, when the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting took place, demanding apologies from each other by citing parts of the ruling in their respective favors.



"It is unfortunate that the word 'impeachment' can be used recklessly depending on the mood of DPK politicians," Han told reporters before entering the committee meeting. "I will respond to it with confidence because I have done what the justice minister is supposed to do."



Han was referring to the DPK's calls for his resignation, citing the Constitutional Court's dismissal of a petition filed by Han against the prosecutorial reform laws. Some DPK members have called for Han's impeachment, though the DPK leadership has yet to reach that point.



The court decided, Thursday, that the reform laws  revisions on the Prosecutors' Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act  are legally effective despite procedural flaws. The revisions, which passed the Assembly last year upon the DPK's unilateral push, have been fiercely opposed by the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the justice minister.



Last June, Han and six prosecutors filed the petition, claiming the revisions infringed on prosecutors' investigative rights guaranteed under the Constitution. But the court dismissed this, saying investigative power should not be limited to a single government agency.





Constitutional Court Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok, center, and other justices enter a courtroom before making a ruling on prosecutorial reform bills at the Constitutional Court in downtown Seoul, March 23. Joint Press Corps
Presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon gives a press briefing at the presidential office in Seoul, March 27. Yonhap



President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday to gather various opinions on a contentious bill requiring government purchase of surplus rice, his spokesperson said.



Yoon has been widely expected to veto the revision to the Grain Management Act, which requires the government to buy excess rice if production exceeds the estimate of demand by 3-5 percent, or if prices fall by 5-8 percent or more compared with the previous year.



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea used its majority to pass the bill through the National Assembly last week despite opposition from the ruling People Power Party. Yoon has repeatedly voiced his objections to the bill, saying it would lead to a waste of government resources and the money should instead be invested in developing farming villages.



"The president asked Prime Minister Han to collect opinions through close consultations between the government and the ruling party," presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon told a press briefing.



During their weekly meeting, the two also discussed Korea's campaign to host the 2030 World Expo in the port city of Busan, 325 kilometers southeast of Seoul.



Han told the president the government will draw on the capabilities of both the private and public sectors to demonstrate the country's ability and commitment to hosting the event to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), an intergovernmental body in charge of overseeing the Expo.



"The president again urged Prime Minister Han to go all out to prepare for the BIE Expo inspection team's visit to Korea in early April," Lee said. (Yonhap)


Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 9:37AM

Image: Microsoft

The "aCropalypse" security flaw wasn't just limited to Google. Microsoft started testing a fix for the vulnerability when it was discovered earlier this week. Now, the company rolls out a pair of emergency updates to address the issue affecting the native Windows 10 and 11 screenshot editing apps (Windows 11's Snipping Tool and Windows 10's Snip & Sketch, respectively).

You can manually prompt Windows to patch the app you use by opening the Microsoft Store and clicking on "Library." Then you need to click on "Get Updates." Microsoft recommends all users install the updates. The flaw affected programs like Windows 11's Snipping Tool which wouldn't properly overwrite cropped PNG data. It didn't affect all PNG files, but there was still concern that bad actors could exploit the vulnerability to partially recover edited images. Unfortunately, this won't protect images previously created with Microsoft's screenshot tools.

Source
Police officers examine the ground to retrieve animal bones from a dog farm in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Screen captured from Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon's Facebook page



By Kim Se-jeong



Gyeonggi police launched an investigation into a dog farm in Gwangju last weekend after finding eight dead dogs and the bones of 21 unidentified animals. Police suspected the farm owner had abandoned the animals in violation of the animal protection law.



The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency is currently examining the remains to identify the cause of their deaths. The unidentified bones are believed to be of dogs, goats and cats, according to the police. The police also found 51 dogs alive, all caged, at the farm.



"We will conduct health checkups on the live animals," a police officer was quoted as saying by a local Korean newspaper. "Most dead dogs were found in cages, leading us to suspect that the owner left them to die."



Under animal protection law, those failing to provide care and necessary medical treatment to animals can face imprisonment of up to three years or fines of up to 30 million won.



The investigation is part of a widening probe into animal protection violation cases in the province, following a shocking discovery of 1,200 dead dogs at a farm in Yangpyeong in early March. The police discovered the farm following a report by a neighbor who was searching for his dog and the farm owner was arrested.



That case led Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon to order police investigations into animal protection violations.



"I appreciate the police's swift investigation. I also thank Gyeonggi residents for their cooperation. If you see animal abuse, don't hesitate to call the police," Kim wrote on his Facebook page.



"Dogs are often bred for money," said Kim. "If not sold, however, they are either slaughtered or left to die without proper care or treatment." He went on to say that while police crackdowns are important, creating a culture that stops the trade of companion animals is more important.


Monday, March 27, 2023 at 9:15AM

Photo: Jorge Urosa/Pexels

Things continue to work against Twitter as a court filing published on Friday revealed portions of the social media site's source code (the programming that makes it possible) have been leaked online. According to the filings, Twitter claimed copyright infringement to have the offending code taken down from Github's collaborative programming network. The code was removed the same day. But it's unclear how long it was left up and the scope and depth of the leak.

Twitter is also asking the US District Court for the Northern District of California to order Github to reveal the identity of the user who posted the code and those who accessed and downloaded it. Based on the New York Times reports, Twitter executives strongly suspect it's the work of a disgruntled former employee who left "withing the last year." The executives who spoke to NYT primarily worry the stolen code could empower future hacking efforts.

Source
Nagaland, with its capital city Kohima, is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. On December 1, 1963, Nagaland became the 16th state of India. The state has abundance of varieties of natural, cultural, and environmental resources, with agriculture being its most important economic activity, forming over 70% of its economy.

Coalition of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and Bharatiya Janata Party

When the results were declared on March 2, 2023, for 13th assembly elections for the Nagaland Legislative Assembly, the coalition of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and Bharatiya Janata Party formed the state government, with Neiphiu Rio becoming the Chief Minister of Nagaland.

The pre-poll alliance partners NDPP and BJP won 25 and 12 seats, respectively, totalling 37 in the 60-member Legislative Assembly. Other political parties such as NCP won seven seats; NPP won five seats; LJP (Ram Vilas), Naga People's Front (NPF) and RPI (Athawale) won two seats each; JD(U) got one seat and Independents won four seats.

BJP and Its Coalition Partners in Power in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura

The state of Nagaland for the second time in row is likely to have an opposition-less government, with almost all parties that won seats in the 13th assembly elections extending their unconditional support to the NDPP-BJP alliance. Neiphiu Rio was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state for the fifth term.

In the recently concluded elections, the NDA rule was established in all three northeastern states that went to polls. BJP and its coalition partners retained power in the three states. On his two-day visit to the northeastern states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the oath taking ceremonies of new governments of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura.

Results of 13th Assembly Elections an Opportunity for Opposition-Less Government

Previously, Nagaland had opposition-less governments in 2015 and 2021. But this time, it is the first instance of an opposition-less legislative assembly before even the swearing-in ceremony of the members of house has begun. The main aim of having an opposition-less legislative assembly is to present to the electorate a commitment of all parties in the peaceful and early settlement of the Naga political problem.

All the parties extended their unconditional support to the new government by submitting a letter of support. Thus, Nagaland will have another all-part government with all the political parties in the state supporting the winning NDPP-BJP alliance.

An Opposition-Less Government Boosts No Checks and Balances

An opposition-less government will pave the way for development work to be carried with the support of all the parties. But if there are no checks and balances, there will not be any authority to control and investigate the work being done for the people or the activities are in accordance of democratic will of the people or its another way of corruption being played out with few people of authority getting more powerful with undemocratic practices.

It should not be seen that all the parties are coming together for wealth and position but they are here to provide solution or resolve the long pending Naga political issue. And, the people also want their electoral representative to put a check on the activities of the government to oversee whether correct policies are implemented for development of the state and providing enough opportunities for people.


By Jennifer Jones



March is Women's History Month. This month we celebrate women's achievements and reflect on the ongoing challenges we face in achieving gender equity. As the first female president in 117 years of Rotary International, a service organization with 1.4 million members worldwide, I am proud to highlight Rotary's dedication to championing and unleashing the potential of women through education, health services and economic opportunities.



Women have played a crucial role in the global effort to eradicate polio, which Rotary has focused on for more than 30 years. In Pakistan, one of the two remaining polio-endemic countries, two-thirds of the polio workforce are women. Female vaccinators  who help build trust with mothers and families  have been and continue to be critical to our success in this effort. Employing women is one key strategy of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. That's not only to deliver vaccines at the front line but also to hire women as supervisors, doctors and decision-makers.



In Nigeria, a vast majority of the polio community workers are women, and they played a critical role in the country being certified wild polio-free. These women continue to work tirelessly in reaching out to mothers and caregivers in areas where social norms prevented male polio team members from interacting with women in the community. Working with the polio program often opens other opportunities for women to enter the workforce and utilize their skills to contribute to their communities, leading to positive investments beyond polio eradication.



In addition, many of Rotary's female members are doing amazing things through their service. Taiwan's Chin Mei Lu led a project in Nepal and India to help girls who were at risk of engaging in sex work or child labor attend school. Martha Lungu, who lost her son to malaria, overcame the personal tragedy and now works to reduce the burden of malaria in Zambia. In South Korea, we have Ju Eun-seok, a North Korean defector who founded a Rotary Club to help other North Korean defectors resettle in the Ulsan area.



To raise such inspiring women, we must remember that girls are an essential part of the women's empowerment equation. Recently, during my visit to the Nakivale settlement in Uganda, one of the biggest refugee settlements in the world, a teacher shared with me the staggering statistics on girls' education. Many are unable to finish grade school, and some are forced into child marriages to feed their families. Witnessing these young girls' struggles was heart-wrenching. Our efforts to unleash the potential of girls and women should go beyond mere equity; they need to encompass critical areas such as health, education and safety, all of which are fundamental human rights.



Rotary's work continues with thousands of projects, ranging from supplying menstrual hygiene products for girls in Kenya to providing language education and professional job training for marriage migrant women in South Korea. As we celebrate Women's History Month, let us recognize the power and potential of women and continue to work towards a more equitable and inclusive world. Rotary is proud to champion women around the world and will continue to do so in the years to come.





Jennifer Jones is the founder and president of Media Street Productions, an award-winning 27-year-old media company in Windsor, Ontario. She is president of Rotary International.






ATLANTA (March 27, 2023)  The Carter Center, with the support of the Embassy of Ireland in Zambia, is releasing a new edition of the Election Obligations and Standards (EOS) manual, with a launch event that will be held in Lusaka, Zambia, on March 28.

The launch will be a hybrid event, scheduled ahead of the second global Summit for Democracy, co-hosted by the United States and the governments of Zambia, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Republic of Korea. Discussion during the event will focus on the critical importance of broadly shared standards for democratic elections, especially given the current context of global challenges to democracy and elections.

The Summit for Democracy meetings taking place this week are a critical opportunity to think collectively about how we can make election standards, rooted in international human rights laws, a reality for more people around the world, said Carter Center Vice President of Peace Programs Barbara Smith.

The Election Obligations and Standards manual provides a detailed framework for assessing the democratic nature of elections, based on international standards rooted in human rights. It helps election observers, citizens, and researchers understand how fundamental rights and freedoms, such as the right to vote, freedom from discrimination, and freedom of assembly, apply to each part of the electoral process.

Many countries around the world experienced setbacks in democracy since the first manual was introduced in 2014. In addition, to address new developments and challenges that influence how we think about elections, the guide has been modernized to include updates on issues such as violence against women in politics, mis- and disinformation, accessibility for persons with disabilities, data privacy, and more.

The Centers work on Election Obligations and Standards is timelier than ever given the serious threats facing democracy globally, said David Carroll, director of the Democracy Program. We hope this handbook will be a helpful resource for those working to protect democracy and elections around the world.

The manual complements the Election Obligation and Standards database, an online tool also accessible to the public through the Centers website.

The Carter Center is a leader in election observation efforts, having observed more than 110 elections in dozens of countries. Since 2006, the Center has worked to build international consensus on election obligations and standards, developing tools and resources used by observers, analysts, and researchers around the world.

###

Contact: In Atlanta, Maria Cartaya, maria.cartaya@cartercenter.org



The Carter Center

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
Photo: The Canadian Press Oleksandra Verovkina is shown outside her home in Ottawa, on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023.

Oleksandra Verovkina and her son, Danylo, would stroll half a block through the back alley behind their apartment to a large forest. They would walk hand in hand beneath the tall trees, the air filled with the scent of pine resin, until the three-year old lost steam, and then return home.

The bright orange dining room in their fourth-storey apartment soaked up the sun streaming in from the skylight in the roof. Oleksandra would place a cup of hot chocolate on the child-sized table where Danylo worked away on his favourite puzzle, a map of the world.

When they did not feel up to a walk they would venture outside to the parking lot beside the white stucco building, where her son played on a bright yellow, metal play structure with a slide and swing. They were often joined by his best friend, who lived two floors below.

Oleksandra, 36, had dreamt of leaving Ukraine for Canada since 2014 when separatist forces first seized the Donbas region where she lived at the time. But she put that idea aside in 2020 when she and her husband bought the relatively newly built apartment in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv. It was the first home they owned together.

"When we landed in Irpin I fell in love with the city. It's amazing," she said, wearing a traditional embroidered Ukrainian blouse called a Vyshyvanka, with her blond hair in a bun.

"You can feel this spirit of community."

The family does not live there anymore.

On the morning of Feb. 24, 2022, Oleksandra woke up to the sound of her buzzing phone. It wasn't until she shook off the sleep that she heard the explosions in the distance.

"When we woke up, we started hearing the bombs and military flights, helicopters," Oleksandra said.

Russian forces invaded from Belarus. Tanks rolled south toward the capital city of Kyiv. Airstrikes hit across the country in the early morning hours.

On the phone, her brother was asking her what they were planning to do. She did not have an answer.

Her husband, Oleksii, did. He had been paying attention to reports about enemy forces amassing on the border between Ukraine and Belarus to the north. Though most people in their lives did not believe news stories about an impending attack, Oleksii had started to get ready.

Together they packed a few essentials: toiletries, some clothing, and toys and books for their son. Oleksandra'sfavourite sweater was still in the laundry machine. She left it behind.

Given the massive amount of people trying to get out of the city, they knew they had a long journey ahead of them.

But when they heard bombs drop down on the nearby Hostomel Airport, they knew it was time to go.

"We got scared," she said. Oleksii urged them to leave at 7 p.m. They buckled Danylo in the back of the carto begin the 12-hour crawl through stop-and-go traffic to the home of her brother's girlfriend in Khmelnytskyi, in southwestern Ukraine.

Before they pulled out of the parking lot, Oleksandra ran back inside to take out the trash; she didn't want the house to smell by the time they returned.

She did not pause to take a last look at the home she loved.

Now, on a day just a year after the Russian invasion began, the scent of pine from the nearby forest mingles with that of burnt metal and dust.

The roof above Oleksandra's unit, where the skylight lit the dining room, is gone.

The sand in the playground where Oleksandra pushed Danylo on the swings is still scattered with broken glass. Coffee mugs and ceramic flowerpots on the burnt-out windowsills and balconies hint at how quickly neighbours picked up their lives and fled.

This time last year, the family spent a month together in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment with Oleksandra's brother, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's daughter. All six of them would eat around a small table, shoulder to shoulder. At night, when air-raid sirens went off, Oleksandra slept in the hallway with her son, away from the windows, in case a rocket landed nearby.

She felt lost and indecisive.

The suburb they left behind became a battleground. Russian soldiers occupied Irpin and nearby Bucha outside of Kyiv in an attempt to take the capital city. Returning home was not an option.

She still was not keen on leaving Ukraine, but now for a different reason. Men ages 18 to 60 were banned from leaving the country as part of the conditions imposed under martial law shortly after the invasion.

Leaving Ukraine meant leaving her husband, too.

"I was thinking that it's better to stay together, like family," she said.

But when Oleksii learned of a special three-year Canadian visa for Ukrainians fleeing the war, he dug out the application forms.

She hated the thought of splitting up her family to travel across the world, but the longer the conflict dragged on, the clearer it became that they would not be able to go home any time soon.

She applied on the first day the program opened and received a response right away. Within a week, she and Danylo were on their way to Romania to be fingerprinted and photographed as part of Canada's immigration process.

On March 26, 2022, days after making the wrenching decision to leave both her country and her husband, she found out the home she loved in Irpin was gone.

Oleksii had found a post on the social media app Telegram about a fire in their apartment building.

"The roof was on fire," she said, almost a year later. "It was very obvious."

Ukraine recaptured the suburb a few days later, but Oleksandra had already decided that her life in that country was over.

"We have nothing to come back to. We have nothing in Ukraine," she said, sitting in the sunny living room of the rental house in Ottawa.

She lives there now with her son, her parents and a friend, while Oleksii lives in Kyiv, where he plans to work until he can join his family in Canada.

The two talk on the phone twice a day.

Though Oleksandra says she has accepted what's happened to her home, her breath still catches in her throat when she sees it now.

"It looks horrible," she says softly as she scans photographs and videos taken by The Canadian Press during a recent visit to Irpin.

The white stucco siding is blackened and burned, the windows are blown out and twisted sheets of metal hang off the roof and balconies. The parking lot is full of debris, and small pieces of the building fall from the four-storey building with every strong breeze.

It is unclear what happened to it, because most neighbours were not in the suburb at the time. Those who have since returned to the area believe it was hit by a missile. Pockmarks in the side of the building suggest it was also hit by shrapnel from nearby explosions.

Damage to the building next door was mostly limited to blasted-out windows, which have since been repaired. Neighbours come and go, stepping over the sharp rubble scattered around Oleksandra's apartment building on their way in and out.

For those who have returned, the empty building is a reminder of what has been lost.

Oksana Kucheryna, an older woman who lives in a nearby building, walked by on her way to the shop on a day in late February, plastic bag in band. She says she often stops to take a long look at the crumbling building as she passes by. She wraps herself in her winter coat, kerchief tied neatly around her head, as she makes her way through the same alley Oleksandra and Danylo would take on their forest walks.

"Now we are used to looking at it, but at first, it was horrible to see it," she said, her eyes watering as she stared up at the charred building.

"I want to cry watching all this. People worked hard to buy these apartments. And at one point, all of it was gone."

Rebuilding efforts have been underway in Irpin since Ukraine retook the community last March, but the buildings that appear to be beyond repair, such as Oleksandra's, have been mostly left as they are: black and hollowed by the violence of the past year.

Craters in the pavement show where projectiles landed outside homes, shops and schools.

Outside the grocery store, a crowd of people  mainly seniors, teens and mothers with strollers  wait in line as volunteers hand out meals and small bags of food to take home for the week.

The toll of the war is on the faces of the people who have returned to the community, many of whom keep their eyes cast down to the sidewalk as they make their way past the wreckage.

In Ottawa, Oleksandra sometimes still feels a pull for the things and places she left behind. Often it's small things she yearns for, like the cosy, second-hand sweatshirt with the NASA logo, her favourite on cold days, that was in the laundry machine while she hastily packed her suitcase last year.

Not everything in Irpin is lost.

Near Oleksandra's former home, a mother and her son could be seen walking hand in hand through the towering trees.

Oleksandra cannot imagine returning now. She feels that even in the aftermath of the war, the community would be dangerous for her son.

Oleksandra is rebuilding, too, her life now in Ottawa.

"I feel like I'm Canadian," she says. Now that she is safe, she feels like she and Danylo can adjust to the new environment.

Volunteers have helped her furnish her new home. The table and chairs are almost the same as the ones she left in her bright orange dining room in Irpin.

A three-minute walk from her rental home in Ottawa, there is a forested lot full of maple trees where mother and son can go for a stroll.
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April 2nd - 8th, 2023

Holy Week is the week before Easter Sunday, beginning seven days before with Palm Sunday. It ends with Holy Saturday. Easter is not part of Holy Week, but rather the beginning of the Easter season of the Liturgical year.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. On this day, we celebrate the triumphant entry of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, into Jerusalem, riding a donkey. On that day, the people laid palms before Him, a gesture reserved for triumphant leaders. We celebrate this at Mass by distributing palms to the faithful who may keep them for a time for use as devotional objects. The palms are blessed at Mass. The faithful sometimes craft portions of palm fronds into crosses. Eventually, these palms are returned to the Church where they are burned. Traditionally, their ashes are saved and distributed at next year's Ash Wednesday services.

Later, when Jesus entered the Temple, he angrily drove out the money changers who had turned the Temple court into a place of business instead of devotion. Once the court was cleared, Jesus began teaching the masses. Meanwhile, His enemies drew plans to kill Him.

The next major event in Holy Week is Holy Thursday. On this day, Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with the disciples. We know this feast as the Last Supper. This is the night He was betrayed by Judas and arrested.

The Last Supper is celebrated at every Mass, and especially on Holy Thursday.

After supper, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and prayed. From this event comes inspiration for our practice of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, where we are invited to spend one hour in prayer with Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist; Body, Blood, and Divinity.

Jesus was arrested on the night of Holy Thursday.

The next day is Good Friday, and on this day, we commemorate the trial, punishment, and crucifixion of Our Lord.

On that morning, Jesus was brought before Annas, a powerful Jewish cleric who condemned Jesus for blasphemy. From there, Jesus was presented to Pilate for trial. Although Pilate found no guilt in Jesus, he agreed to have him crucified to appease the crowd of people and prevent a riot.

Christ was stripped, flogged, and crowned with thorns. He was then forced to carry His Cross to the place of His execution. There, He was nailed to the Cross between two thieves who were likewise crucified. Late that afternoon, seeking to ensure Christ's death, a Roman guard stabbed him in his side with a spear. When Jesus died, an earthquake is said to have occurred as well as a great darkness which covered the land. Suddenly, many people knew Jesus was the Son of God.

Jesus was taken and laid quickly in a borrowed tomb, in accord with Jewish law, which required the dead be buried by sundown before the Sabbath.

In our churches, the Tabernacle is left empty, to show that Christ is departed.

On Holy Saturday, there is no Mass. Parishes may hold services, but there is no distribution of Communion.

On Holy Saturday, we remember that Jesus was descended into hell where He preached the Gospel to those who died before and opened the way to heaven for all those who were worthy.

This concludes Holy Week. The following day is Easter Sunday, the day on which it was discovered the Tomb was empty, and our Lord was resurrected, triumphing over death once and for all time.

Printable PDF of Holy Week


Parties need to refrain from life-or-death skirmish



The National Assembly is largely tasked with coordinating differing opinions to resolve social conflicts. Contrary to this expectation, however, the nation's leading legislative body has long been the object of public cynicism for locking horns over major pending issues.



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which dominates the 299-seat Assembly with 169 members, cannot deflect criticism for having unilaterally handled significant social agendas at its discretion. The ruling People Power Party (PPP), for its part, has also been disparaged for its inability to lead the opposition party toward negotiation and compromise.



What is more worrying is that such extreme confrontation shows no signs of abating and will likely deepen ahead of the general election slated for April next year.



For starters, the DPK took the lead in passing a bill requiring the government to purchase rice from farmers to help stabilize market prices on Thursday. The DPK dealt with the bill unilaterally despite growing demand for debate over possible side effects in case of introducing the bill.



The bill, however, will likely face diverse barricades toward effectuation, as the presidential office is poised to take time and collect opinions from various sectors for the amendment. President Yoon Suk Yeol has often vowed to reject it. The DPK, however, is ready to press for its stance and adopt a new bill should the amendment be vetoed. This shows the parties have no intention of budging from their stances, putting the National Assembly on a fierce confrontational track again.



The Grain Management Act asks the government to buy rice directly from farmers should the harvest of the staple grain exceed 3 percent to 5 percent of the estimated demand or the rice prices fall 5 percent to 8 percent from a year earlier. Controversy has been brewing over the amendment with regard to its efficiency amid concerns over the chronic oversupply of rice, edged by declining consumption and prospects of a deteriorating governmental budget.



The DPK has been adding fuel to the already burning fire over the possibly deepening political scuffle. On the same day, the party passed another bill designed to boost the welfare and rights of nurses  despite ferocious resistance from medical doctors. The bill should have been handled very cautiously in light of the sharply differing positions maintained by the relevant organizations. Without this, the conflict is expected to flare up further as the Korea Medical Association (KMA), a mouthpiece of medical doctors across the nation, has threatened to mobilize all possible measures to protest the possible passage of the bill.



The DPK also decided to table the controversial Broadcasting Act directly to the plenary session despite the PPP's protest over what it calls an attempt to put major broadcasters under its control. The DPK also bypassed the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee headed by PPP Rep. Kim Do-eup for voting at a plenary session. A bill needs to be passed by the committee first to be voted at the plenary session. But should the bill remain pending at the committee for 60 days, it can be bypassed and be tabled directly at a plenary session.



What matters is that the unilateral passage of the disputed bills will burden the people. It is natural to collect opinions from various circles of society to reach a compromise on sensitive social issues covering relevant organizations and the government. For this, the National Assembly is supposed to mediate the parties and extract compromises.



Despite such dire need, however, it is deplorable that the National Assembly has largely failed to carry out its given responsibilities and roles. Rather, the Assembly has triggered fresh concerns, shouldering the people with extra brunt. It is worrying that the political parties will become more desperate to garner support with "populist" pledges as the election approaches. It is now time for voters to be more vigilant than ever before.




By Scott Shepherd





This week has been a busy one in Korean politics. While everyone was still debating the rights and wrongs of President Yoon's diplomatic trip last week to Japan, main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was indicted Tuesday on charges of corruption and bribery. My attention has yo-yoed between the two stories all week, though there are some clear links between them.







Yoon's trip was an attempt to reset relations between Korea and Japan  relations which reached their nadir in 2019 with the boycott movement that followed a series of Korean court cases against Japanese companies over WW2 forced labor. Last week Yoon sought to mend relations through a bit of what seemed to be surprisingly deft diplomacy. He devised a compromise whereby Korean companies would voluntarily donate money to a compensation fund for victims.







If the compromise works, it's a win-win: Korean companies will be able to engage in some great PR by showing themselves to be on the side of the people, and at the same time a huge obstacle to Korea-Japan relations will be cleared away.







However, Yoon's plan was immediately met with a hail of criticism at home, the most vociferous of which came from Lee and his DPK party. Last Saturday Lee participated in a protest in central Seoul condemning the compromise.

, Lee went as far as accusing Yoon of "choosing to be 'a servant of Japan' while ignoring the tears of the victims." Yoon's government, according to Lee, was pushing for a deal, no matter "how illegal, how unconstitutional, how nonsensical," as long as it can "appease Japan." He even hinted that Yoon may have secretly made other concessions to Japan during the summit.







Throughout this political fight, Lee has been stoking nationalism. He has appealed to Koreans' strong anti-Japan sentiment by suggesting that the summit was "humiliating" to the country and even that Yoon "denied the independence of the Republic of Korea." But on Wednesday Lee pulled out his most powerful nationalist trump card by proposing a bill to legally recognize 25 October as Dokdo Day. The message that Lee is seeking to send is obvious: while Yoon has been off betraying our country, I have been defending Korean territory. I stand for the comfort women while he disgraces their memory.







Lee's response to Yoon's actions is clearly influenced by the pressure from the charges he faces, and it would be easy to dismiss this opposition as simply party-political maneuvering. After all, even before this week's indictment, Lee only avoided arrest after a surprisingly close vote in the DPK-held National Assembly last month. His robust criticism of Yoon's diplomacy could be read as an attempt to shift the focus of public ire away from himself and back to Yoon.







But setting aside the party politics and nationalism, it's easy to understand why so many would oppose Yoon's compromise. The issue of forced labor, and especially of comfort women, is a sensitive and painful one that takes a central place in Korea's image of its own past. There is sincere, heartfelt opposition to Yoon's plan which derives from a burning sense of injustice. Japan's colonization of Korea and the accompanying atrocities have left deep wounds, and real resentment based on fundamental principles of humanity.







Naturally, money cannot in itself heal those wounds. The reason Koreans seek compensation is not the sake of the money per se but rather what it is symbolic of. When a Japanese company pays compensation, it represents a punishment for and an acknowledgement of the crimes committed during the colonial period, however small it is and no matter how late it may come. If the entity coughing up the money is not Japanese, there's no point. And worse, Yoon's solution calls for Korean companies to pay.







On top of this, critics also demand an apology from Japan. Or rather, because Japan has actually issued several apologies in the past, critics demand an apology that is earnest. In 2018, for example, then-president Moon stated that Japan should apologize "with a sincere heart" even as he accepted that it was "undeniable" that a 2015 deal (which included a Japanese apology) over the comfort women issue was valid.







Going all the way back to the opening of relations between Korea and Japan in 1965, several Japanese leaders have indeed apologized (or expressed "remorse") for the country's past actions in Korea, but it does seem hard to believe that all of these were particularly heartfelt. Up to and including the present prime minister, Japanese leaders have acted in ways that seem to contradict the emollient language they use in diplomatic relations with Korea. The most obvious example of this is the tradition of Japanese prime ministers visiting or sending offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates more than 2 million Japanese people who died in service of their country, including 14 Class A war criminals from World War II.







As many have noted, Japan's post-war actions compare unfavorably to those of Germany, a country that made lasting changes not just to its constitution but also to its society and its teaching of history.







With this all in mind, it's easy to see that Yoon's compromise is imperfect. There's no getting around the fact. There are only a handful of victims of Japanese forced labor left alive. They suffered terribly, and the compensation plan does not do them justice. Even if it was paid entirely by the Japanese government, it would not recompense the victims for what they suffered. Nothing could.







Moreover, reports this week have indicated that Korean companies are wary about donating to the voluntary fund. With the political climate as it is right now, this has the potential to become a serious PR problem for donating companies, rather than the great marketing boon that Yoon had hoped for.







And who knows what the next administration will do, especially if Lee survives the current political storm and wins the next election? Many companies are unsurprisingly cautious about being seen to side too obviously with Yoon.







So yes, it's an imperfect deal. But what else can be done? Japan has already issued several apologies, however insincere they may appear, and it paid hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation in 1965.







It is natural for Koreans to want more, and it is especially natural to want to see Japanese politicians seem more obviously sorry for the past. But it is impossible to force someone to be truly sorry for something. You can receive an apology, sure  and Korea has already received several  but you cannot force sincerity. A genuine apology can only come when one party recognizes the pain it has caused.







Ironically, if Yoon's plan succeeds and thus leads to closer ties, it is possible that Japan will in the long run provide a more sincere apology, as Japan's people and politicians gain a better understanding of the pain of their neighbors.







But looking at this from another, more practical point of view, it's not really clear that either Korea or Japan can afford to continue this fight. Korea is the tenth-largest economy in the world, while Japan is third, behind only China and the United States. Each country is the other's best and most powerful potential ally in the immediate vicinity. Together the two nations could present a formidable front to counter regional threats; cooperation would also lead to economic growth and cultural exchange for the good of both countries.







It is right for Korea to commemorate its past, including the atrocities committed during the colonial period. At the same time, in this world of global competition and strife, the country should look forward to expanded cooperation with its only democratic neighbor.







Appealing to nationalism is a tactic that works wonders for a politician in a tight spot. It's an easy and effective tool used the world over. What takes more courage is to defy that appeal and to seek cooperation with a former enemy, especially when so many issues remain unresolved. That is what Yoon has done. And while this compromise is imperfect, it's certainly better than the alternatives.











Dr. Scott Shepherd (scottshepherd@chongshin.ac.kr) is a British-American academic. He has taught in universities in the U.K. and Korea, and is currently an assistant professor of English at Chongshin University in Seoul. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.
Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union is asking for the public to choose one Peoples Choice Finalist in each regional Idea Leap Grant  the credit unions annual program that awards funds to local entrepreneurs. The Peoples Choice Finalist in each area will participate in one of the upcoming pitch competitions in which TVFCU is giving away $75,000 in the Chattanooga area and $50,000 each in the Northwest Georgia and Cleveland areas. The remaining finalists who will compete in each pitch night will be selected by volunteer panels of community judges in each area based on recent site visits.

Weve made the 6th Annual Idea Leap Grant bigger than ever with a total of $175,000 to be awarded to local small business owners across our 17-county service area, said Tommy Nix, vice president of business and commercial services. We want community members to have a chance to participate and help us choose which entrepreneurs receive funding from this program, so we have opened up Peoples Choice Voting as an avenue for that feedback.

Chattanooga-Area Semifinalists are competing for five grants  first place receives $30,000, second place wins $15,000 and three runners-up will receive $10,000 each. The Chattanooga-area semifinalists are:

Alchemy Spice Company

Cocoa Asante

RMJ USA

Simply Props

TEREN

The Local Juicery

The Professional Cleaning Solution

The Speech Language Reading Center

W Salon

We Clean Chattanooga

Cleveland-Area Semifinalists are competing for three grants  first place receives $25,000, second place wins $15,000 and third place receives $10,000. The Cleveland-area semifinalists are:

Anistasis Wellness

Biskit NV

Carroll Printing Company

Direct Primary Care Associates, PLLC

Happy Tails Grooming Salon

Mayfield Farm Park

Rods Rocking Rolls

Northwest Georgia-Area Semifinalists are competing for three grants  first place receives $25,000, second place wins $15,000 and third place receives $10,000. The Northwest Georgia-area semifinalists are:

Alarm City

Battlefield Outdoors

Baxter Dean Studio

Birria Broz

Dalton Brewing Company

DIRT Design & Decor

Foundation Direct Family Care

Hillside Farm

Inflated LLC

To vote, visit tvfcu.com/vote, select a regional competition to see all Idea Leap Grant semifinalists in that area and watch the semifinalists videos showcasing their business and their intended use of the grant money. Simply click vote and enter a valid email address to cast a vote. Each person may only vote once in each competition, and voting is open from now until Friday at 5 p.m.

During the second week in May, TVFCU will host pitch competitions in Chattanooga, Cleveland and Dalton where each Idea Leap Finalist will present their business to a panel of local judges and members of the public and will win grants between $10,000 and $30,000. The credit union will open up RSVPs for these events, and a luncheon, in the coming weeks. Follow TVFCU on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for continual Idea Leap updates.

The Idea Leap Grant, which started in 2018, is an extension of the credit unions Idea Leap Loan Initiative that was created specifically for small businesses in 2016. To date, TVFCU has funded more than $5 million in loans to emerging and early-stage businesses through the loan initiative and has awarded over $300,000 in Idea Leap Grants and related scholarships.

For more information about the Idea Leap Grant, please visit tvfcu.com/idealeap.
Baylor School has announced that Garrison Conner '05 will take over as Upper School head after serving as assistant Upper School head since 2020, and science department chair Elizabeth Burnette '99 has been named the Upper School dean of students.

Mr. Conner previously served as Baylor's director of residential life from 2017-2020. In addition to his administrative work, he teaches economics and serves as a dorm parent.

Before returning to Baylor in 2017, Mr. Conner earned an excellent reputation during his eight-year tenure at Christ School in Arden, N.C. where he rose through the ranks in both residential life and admission departments. He also served as their director of admissions and as a member of their senior administrative team.

Mr. Conner graduated from Wofford College where he received his B.A. with a double major in English and finance; he also worked with summer programs and served as a teaching intern at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut.

Mr. Conner lives on campus with his wife, Meg, and their three children, Beach, Molly, and Jack.

Ms. Burnette is in her 14th year at Baylor, having taught biology, chemistry, AP environmental science, and forensic science in the Upper School, as well as four years teaching Middle School science and robotics.

She has served as the science department chair and director of studies since 2020. As department chair, she oversees 23 faculty members teaching Middle and Upper School science, including the Baylor Research program. As director of studies, she works with the academic dean to assist the registrar and the Middle School and Upper School offices with master scheduling, sectioning, and classroom assignments.

Prior to coming to Baylor in 2009, Ms. Burnette was a science teacher at Normal Park. She earned a B.S. degree in chemistry and molecular biology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and an M.S. in biomedical research from Vanderbilt University.

Ms. Burnette lives on Signal Mountain with her husband, Chad 97, and their three children, Finley 25, Forbes 29, and Wilder.




photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland Previous Next

For months, students participating in the environmental track of Baylor Schools Baylor Research Program have been painstakingly developing a plan to help the Laurel Dace, one of Americas most-imperiled fish species.

Figuring out how best to locate known populations of this rapidly disappearing species  or, even better, to find new ones  has required a dizzying amount of preparation, from reading scientific literature and species recovery plans to honing in on the Laurel Daces unique genetic signature.

But all that effort faded into background noise for sophomore Finn Ryan while getting a close-up view of a Laurel Dace during a recent population survey atop Walden Ridge west of Chattanooga alongside biologists from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute.

This has been so fun. I would do this every day if I could, Mr. Ryan said, grinning. To be working with these fish and engineering solutions to save these species is amazing.

Its not a typical school day at all. Its so different than just seeing a picture in a textbook or looking up something online.

The moment wasnt lost on his classmates, either.

It almost brought me to tears, sophomore Molly Kate Dickson said. Im not even kidding.

With a brilliant gold racing stripe on its flank, a fire engine tummy, highlighter-yellow fins, and a perfect application of red lipstick, the Laurel Dace should be a shining example of how stunningly beautiful freshwater fish can be.

Instead, its an unfortunate reminder of how perilous the prospects are for many Southeastern fishes, among whom the Laurel Dace is considered one of the most imperiled. Some scientists have inauspiciously ranked it as one of North Americas 10 most-endangered fish and the No. 2 most-at-risk species east of the Mississippi River.

Under the mentorship of Baylor Research Programs lead environmental researcher Ben Holt, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Dickson, and two other students  Mary Alice Lane and Ava McCoy  have crafted a plan to employ advanced technology to find and monitor populations of Laurel Dace.

Like a cutting-edge take on trackers following animal trails through the woods, environmental DNA filtration can detect the presence of species in a stream by identifying lingering traces of genetic material they leave behind.

Essentially, humans, fish  any type of vertebrate  are constantly shedding cells. Within those cells, we have DNA, Mr. Holt said. What scientists have found is that, especially in an aquatic environment, that DNA can be really effective for monitoring where species are occurring.

And by using specific primers  genetic signatures unique to a particular species  the students will be able to refine their analysis of samples they collect to pinpoint evidence indicating the presence of Laurel Dace.

Its really cool, high-level science by these high school students from Baylor, said Dr. Bernie Kuhajda, an aquatic conservation biologist at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. This is stuff they teach in college and graduate school, so these students are just rocking the science.

As they waded through the shallow pools of Bumbee Creek, the Baylor students werent just passive observers. Biologists called upon them to assist with specimen collection and identification.

Side by side and laughing the entire time, the students lined up to shuffle their feet along the bottom of the frigid water, encouraging any nearby Laurel Dace into carefully positioned seine nets. As the net was lifted from the water, the students let out a gleeful cheer every time it emerged with a Laurel Dace.

Laurel Dace can certainly use all the support they can get, whether from newly-minted teenage fans or career biologists who have watched the species range dwindle over the past decade to just two streams atop Walden Ridge.

Many Laurel Dace have been adversely affected by the degradation of their streams due to the influx of soil and chemicals from nearby farms. The population in Bumbee Creek has remained robust due in part to its remote location and the careful stewardship of nearby forests by Timber Investment Resources, which manages the property through which Bumbee flows.

The effort to protect the Laurel Daces last remaining streams was given a huge boost last year thanks to a $10 million allotment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund land improvements in six counties in Southeast Tennessee. For five years, the funds will be dispersed through Ridges to Rivers, a Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) that will fuel a wave of conservation-minded updates to farms on Walden Ridge and nearby Sequatchie River Valley.

The Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, in partnership with USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service, will evaluate and determine which landowners proposals would best align with the goals of the RCPP. The approved projects will ideally increase farmers yields and lower their costs while also improving water quality in nearby streams, such as those containing Laurel Dace.

While the USDA funding will support efforts to protect Laurel Dace at a broad scale, restoring a species is a long-term effort often measured in years. Because of the time involved, scientists must find ways to connect with future generations who may someday find themselves carrying the torch and conducting on-the-ground research.

And one of the best ways to inspire someone to care about an endangered species and the health of its home is by arranging a face-to-face meeting, Dr. Kuhajda said.

Its just completely different and wonderful to see something live in its native environment, rather than in a textbook or online, he said. You dont understand how great streams are here on the Cumberland Plateau until you splash around in one.

Then, you realize This is wonderful. This is worth protecting.
1. Pass a law making it a criminal offense to solicit a job ("Will work for food") or funds ("Hey buddy, could you please give me a some money so I can feed my kids / eat / pay my child support and court costs?")

2. Exempt governmental employees and charitable solicitors from this law prohibiting unsolicited solicitation ("United Way and IRS unleashed!")

3. Jail homeless violators who are trying to survive at a cost to taxpayers of over $75 per day (instead of giving them food stamps at a cost to taxpayers of only $10 per day.)

4. Those who claim the homeless ought to get a job fail to understand that most are unemployable (due to health issues, age, inability to find a place to shower and shave, lack of transportation, etc.) Which employers will hire an 80 year old college graduate who is in a wheelchair, whose social security check is insufficient to pay for housing and foods and medical copays?

5. Root cause of Homelessness in Hamilton County? A. Removal of over 12,000 units of public housing so the land could be converted to more valuable commercial or industrial uses, without an adequate plan to house the tens of thousands of displacees.

6. Failure of the government and churches to establish an adequate number of warming sites and temporary or semipermanent shelters sufficient to house the thousands of citizens (many who are employed) who are sleeping in sheds, tents, vehicles, porches, dumpsters, couches of friends or family, etc.)

7. Failure to use federal funds wisely (ie. Buying an EPA brownfield with targeted homeless grants which are unsuitable for homeless housing, buying motels near "Christian" churches and extending to them "veto power" over exactly which human beings Jesus wants to extend open arms to.)

8. Use of trespass laws to prevent homeless from using their meager social security money to buy food because certain "privileged" restaurant customers don't want to eat next to other human beings who stink (due to no place to shower or launder clothes.)

9. Making it a felony to camp on government property, thereby moving thousands of Tennessee's homeless onto the private property of landowners where it is only a misdemeanor crime to camp.

10. Eviction of hundreds of innocent senior citizens, disabled citizens, employed taxpayers, just because the police were concerned about a dozen motel customers who were known to them to be felons. Are the police willing to allow instant background checks on each of the thousands of citizens who rent a motel room each and every day here? If they hold the motel responsible for screening the past histories of their guests, shouldn't the police offer this service to the hotel owners before their multimillion dollar properties are seized? And then the government only assisted around a hundred or so of the displacees with alternate housing. What about the others? Did they lose their constitutional rights the instant the DAs seizure petition was approved by the court?

11. The judge and DA and others involved in this seizure are highly educated, extremely intelligent attorneys. Why have the needs and rights of the displacees been inadequately addressed in court orders? Could it be that there are systemic failures in our judicial system? Court orders are "drawn" by the "parties" (the plaintiff DA, and the attorney for the defendant motel owners) and approved by the judge with no provision for appointment of a "guardian ad litem" or "trustee" to advocate for the rights and interests of the majority of the victims of this displacement? The property owners have suffered losses of over a half million dollars in income, plus damage to their credit and reputation. Their tenants have lost not only their housing, but in many cases, also their property and their jobs. How do you commute from Lookout Valley to East Ridge without bus service. It's impossible to buy a car when your whole paycheck goes to housing and food.

12. Bottom line: Our government created most of our community's current problems with hoards of homeless citizens living in tents and vehicles, by legislative and judicial and administrative decision making policies and procedures that failed to account for the obvious consequences of their decisions. Why? Because they fail or refuse in include advocates for our community's most vulnerable citizens in their decision making processes. (Example: The monopoly Electric Power Board makes more money by cutting off electric service to destitute senior citizens by way of disconnect fees and reconnect fees, than their profit on the sale of the small amount of profit on the electricity use of those citizens. Why? Because there is no inclusion of customers on committees where policies are formed. There is no internal advocate or ombudsman to advocate or cut through the bureaucratic on behalf of those unable to afford phones or internet or bank accounts, each of which requires their own gauntlets to be traversed.

Alas. Our most intelligent elected and appointed leaders have failed in their duties to the most disadvantaged of their fellow citizens by their top down management styles as opposed to listening to those affected by their policies and decisions.

It is, as Helen Keller insinuated, worse to have no "vision" than to be blind. Our leaders lack vision in my opinion.

Mark Regan
On 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 4, Mahmoud El Sherbiny and his wife, Nicole Sherbiny, are trying their best to salvage their crumbling marriage. But instead of their relationship getting better, its only gotten worse. A massive fight between the two leads to Mahmoud threatening to divorce Nicole.

Nicole and Mahmoud, 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 4 | TLC

Nicole and Mahmouds crumbling marriage

38-year-old Nicole, who hails from Los Angeles, California, is struggling with her decision to move to Egypt to be with her husband, Mahmoud. Before marrying Mahmoud, she decided to convert to Islam. Because of this, she is expected to adhere to the rules as a Muslim wife.

After marrying Mahmoud, she lived per his expectations but felt like she lost all sense of identity because of the restrictive lifestyle. After going from wearing what she wanted in sunny California to wearing a hijab daily, she went home after just two months.

Nicole returned to Egypt and has to live in the same home as Mahmoud and his family. Everyone around her is pressuring her to cover her hair and adhere to the standards of a Muslim wife, but shes having a crisis of faith and isnt sure if she wants to remain a Muslim. Despite this, shes willing to learn the prayers and does what it takes to compromise and make her marriage work.

Nicole and Mahmoud are on the brink of divorce

In the March 26 episode of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Nicole and Mahmoud get into a huge fight that leaves them on the brink of divorce. While the cameras werent rolling, I walked up to Mahmoud, and he was acting funny, and I asked him whats wrong, and he said something passive-aggressive to me like, Like you care anyway,' Nicole explained to the cameras.

While Nicole said this comment was the final straw for her, as the tension between them had been building the entire trip. Id had enough, and I just snapped, she said in the confessional.

Mahmoud tried to get Nicole to calm down, but she pushed him away and yelled at him to leave her alone. Mahmoud said that thered be no way an Egyptian woman would have acted like that to him.

Nicole said Mahmoud is constantly picking at her behind the scenes. Nothings ever good enough for him. Ive had it, she said.

He finds her in a cafe and tells her that either she should come back home with him, or they get a divorce. Nicole tells Mahmoud that he cant control her anymore and that shes tired of his manipulation tactics. She doesnt know what moving forward means for them and isnt even sure if its possible.

90 Day Fiance fans are worried for Nicoles safety

Nicole and Mahmouds marriage has been a rollercoaster ride from the beginning. In a previous episode, Mahmoud told Nicole to leave, and so she began packing her bags. However, he was able to talk her into staying.

Nicole and Mahmoud, 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 4 | TLC

Many 90 Day Fiance viewers are concerned about Nicoles safety and urge her to return home to America. Many fans see Mahmoud trying to control and manipulate Nicole into being the perfect wife. They believe there are too many red flags and that they are possibly one of the worst-matched couples in 90 Day Fiance history.

With the tension in Nicole and Mahmouds marriage getting worse every episode, it will be a miracle if they can work it out. Audiences will have to keep watching to determine whether they will make it or not in the end.

New episodes of 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 4 air Sundays at 8 pm EST on TLC.
Despite being based on a novel from the 1860s, Les Miserables is one of the most well-known musical films of todays times. The award-winning movie premiered in December 2012 and featured talented actors like Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Russell Crowe. Amanda Seyfried also appeared as Cosette. But a decade after making the film, Seyfried revealed she has one regret involving her performance.

The cast in Les Miserables sang live while filming

When Les Miserables was celebrating its 10th anniversary, many of the award-winning movies cast sat down with Working Title to reflect on the film and the process behind creating it. As Hathaway put it, Its going to be different, for sure. This is the first time anyones tried it like this.

What Hathaway was referring to was the live singing during production. Opting away from the traditional method of going to a studio to record their songs that would be later mimed during filming, the cast truly took on the challenge of being in the moment.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh credited the actors ability to be completely at home acting through music. It undoubtedly brought a unique aspect to the 2012 production.

Despite the praise and success behind Les Miserables, Seyfried recently revealed that she does have some remorse when it comes to her scenes.

Amanda Seyfried shares her Les Miserables regret

Amanda Seyfried: "I wish I could redo Les Miz completely, because the whole live singing aspect just  I still have nightmares about it" | #ActorsOnActors presented by @AmazonStudios https://t.co/Nl48EK7MQ3 pic.twitter.com/YJ2ZxQybAI  Variety (@Variety) January 29, 2021

In 2023, during an interview with Vanity Fair, Seyfried got candid about her past roles and journey to fame and success. From her unforgettable and iconic role as Karen in Mean Girls to another musical, Mamma Mia!, Seyfried gave audiences an inside perspective on her path and craft.

The actor bluntly told the camera, I thought singing live was the best idea ever. The Jennifers Body star explained, I knew how tricky it was gonna be. I was very scared by it. But I also knew that so much comes out of singing your emotions, and its such a beautiful expression.

After many auditions, once Seyfried finally landed the coveted role, she realized her vocals werent where she wanted them to be. In her interview, the star explained, I had quit singing for many years and had only done Mamma Mia! And so that was like a session or two. And this was gonna be like, I needed stamina, I needed strength, I needed to be able to sing in real-time.

Seyfried honestly admitted that in Les Miserables, I was pretty weak. The 37-year-old actor called it her one regret, not getting vocal lessons to prepare.

Amanda Seyfried shares more about making Les Miserables

Amanda Seyfried attends the World Premiere of Les Miserables at Odeon Leicester Square on December 5, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Regardless of the vocals not panning out the way Seyfried would have liked, The Dropout star shared it was just so nice to relate to my fellow character, fellow actors through song. Not to mention, it didnt hurt matters that Les Miserables is her favorite musical.

In Seyfrieds words, I died for this musical when I was like twelve. An Allentown, Pennsylvania native, she vividly recalled the first time she saw the show in Philadelphia.

What must have been a very full-circle moment for the star may have not been 100 percent perfect in Seyfrieds eyes, but the star definitely seemed to learn a lot through her Les Miserables experience.
Jeopardy! fans are once again proving that they are quite the passionate bunch. Some viewers of Americas favorite quiz show are making their feelings known about a recent contestant, and they arent pulling any punches. Some passionate fans have even taken to calling the recent contestant names. Fortunately, Karen Morris seems to be taking it all in stride. In fact, Morris has even gone out of her way to explain her strategy to those who have been hurling vitriol her way.

Jeopardy! set in 2010 | Amanda Edwards / Stringer

Karen Morris shocked Jeopardy! fans when she made a risky Daily Double wage

Morris, of course, competed on Jeopardy! on Wednesday, March 22. For a while, it seemed as if the Christiansburg, Virginia, native has a fantastic shot at becoming a big winner. At the end of the second round, Morris had a pretty substantial lead over the other two contestants. Shed racked up a total of $21,800 in comparison to the other contestants, whod earned $7,100 and $6,400, respectively. However, that all changed when the veterinary student made a risky Daily Double wage.

REMINDER: Virginia Tech student Karen Morris can be seen competing on Jeopardy! tonight at 7:30 on WDBJ7! More info here: https://t.co/4hAL3uzv26 pic.twitter.com/iDjwlc66dp  WDBJ7 (@WDBJ7) March 22, 2023

It seemed that Morris followed the go big or go home strategy when making her wager. Unfortunately, for her, risking $10,000 and getting the question wrong plummeted her total to 11,800, which inevitably cost her the win. It seems that Morris tactic shocked many Jeopardy! fans. Some even took to Twitter to call out the contestant for her blunder. Karen may be smart, but she has zero common sense. #Jeopardy one person named Jack tweeted. Karen is such a buffoon, another person called Jon Taylor penned on Twitter. Rare to see someone lose like that. #Jeopardy

The Jeopardy! contestant defends her strategy

But despite the harsh words of some Jeopardy! fans, Morris doesnt seem to regret her decision. In fact, she explained her tactic of wagering so much, saying that she knew that her polarizing decision would be entertaining. She also shared that her mind went a little blank when asked to place a bet. I was kind of thinking, I can lose ten grand and still be in the lead, and Im here to have fun and entertain the audience, and I always said I would wager big, and also, I cant think of any other numbers, so ten grand it is, she wrote on Twitter.

Morris still thoroughly enjoyed her time on Jeopardy! despite not walking away as a winner

Morris tactic may have been polarizing, but she seems to be sticking by it. And despite getting completely roasted by some Jeopardy! fans, the Virginian seems to be handling the criticism well. Thus far, shes reacted with humor and gratitude to those who defend her. Furthermore, she maintains that she had a ton of fun on the long-running game show, which is what matters to her most. Taking to her Twitter once more, she summed her feelings up perfectly. Ultimately, I did what I did, and I had THE MOST FUN, and at the end of the day (Im sorry Mom, I know you hate that phrase), its a game, and its a show, and its a game show.
This photo shows Samsung Electronics's corporate logo at its office building in Seoul, Jan. 31. Yonhap



Samsung Electronics is likely to report poor results in its chip business next month, analysts said Monday, as the ongoing global economic challenges that have resulted in reduced consumer demand negatively affect the company's performance.



Samsung's Device Solution (DS) division, which oversees its chip business, is forecast to make its first financial loss in 14 years, according to analysts' estimates, as surplus chip inventory has been growing significantly amid tapering global demand.



The last time Samsung saw its backbone unit trade at a deficit was the first quarter of 2009, when the world was emerging from the 2008 financial crisis.



Samsung's operating profit for the January-March period was estimated at 1.23 trillion won ($944 million), a sharp drop from 14.1 trillion won from a year ago, according to data compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency.



If that figure stands, it would be the lowest quarterly profit since January 2009, when the tally was 593 billion won.



Most analysts blamed Samsung's weak semiconductor business for the significant fall in profit.



"The DS division's falling profits are primarily responsible" for the company's disappointing first-quarter performance, said Kim Kwang-jin, an analyst at Hanwha Investment Securities.



He estimated the chip division's Q1 loss at 3.3 trillion won.



"As Samsung's major memory customers depleted their inventories more aggressively than expected, Samsung's DRAM and NAND flash shipments are forecast to decline 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively, compared with the previous quarter," he said.



Samsung's foundry business is also expected to log an on-quarter drop in profit amid slow demand, he added.



Analyst Seo Seung-yeon from Shinyoung Securities estimated Samsung DS division's Q1 operating loss was even bigger, at 4.1 trillion won, due to a historically low season, along with sluggish demand and falling profitability amid an inventory correction.



Based on the research of Samsung's part suppliers, analyst Doh Hyun-woo from NH Investment and Securities claimed Samsung has already begun to "significantly" reduce semiconductor output.



The suppliers had received 30 percent fewer orders from the tech firm than usual, Doh said.



Citing a bloated inventory, which he said was bigger than that of most of its rivals, Doh expected Samsung to further cut production to resolve the supply glut.



Samsung repeatedly said there will be no "artificial" production reduction, while other global memory chip makers, including its smaller hometown rival SK hynix, have moved to scale back output and spending to cope with falling prices and oversupply.



The Korean tech giant, however, has hinted that there could be a natural cut in production through a migration to more advanced process nodes, among other things.



"We will be flexible in executing infrastructure investment given volatile market conditions," Lee Jung-bae, president of Samsung's DS division, said at an annual shareholders meeting in Suwon, 34 kilometers south of Seoul, earlier this month.





Samsung's campus in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul, is seen in this file photo provided by Samsung Electronics in this Sept. 7, 2022 file photo. Yonhap
TL;DR:

Kenny Rogers loved a song by The Beatles producer, George Martin.

He compared the song to one of his own hits.

Rogers loved working with Martin for one of his albums.

Kenny Rogers | Gary Gershoff / Contributor

Country music star Kenny Rogers made an album with The Beatles producer, George Martin. The album became a massive hit in the United States. On the other hand, audiences in Martins native United Kingdom reacted differently to the collaboration.

Kenny Rogers said 1 of The Beatles songs was 1 of the most memorable songs in pop history

In his 2012 book Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir, Rogers discussed his feelings about one of The Beatles songs. Ballads have been a mainstay of traditional folk music since medieval minstrels went from village to village singing the adventures of Robin Hood, he said. Many of the most memorable songs in both pop and country are ballads like this, from The Beatles Eleanor Rigby to Johnny Cashs classic A Boy Named Sue.

He compared Eleanor Rigby to his song Ruby, Dont Take Your Love to Town. A story song, to have any impact, demands that you listen to the lyrics and imagine the scenario in your head, he added. Rogers said he appreciated ballads because of his time with the folk group The New Christy Minstrels.

Kenny Rogers said working with The Beatles producer was possibly his career highlight

Eleanor Rigby, like many Fab Four songs, was produced by Martin. Martin later worked with Rogers on the 1985 album The Heart of the Matter. The album was a huge hit.

Rolling Stone reports Rogers paid tribute to Martin following the producers death in 2016. Sir George Martin was a wonderful, incredibly gifted person, he said in a statement. I dont know why he ever bothered to do an album with me, but I was thrilled and touched that he did, and I loved working with him.

Rogers was ecstatic about working with Martin. It may be the highlight of my personal career, he said. He brought a whole different touch to my life and my perspective on music. Im only one of millions who will miss him greatly.

How Kenny Rogers The Heart of the Matter performed on the charts

The Heart of the Matter became massive on the country charts in the United States. It topped the country album chart for six weeks, lasting on the chart for 33 weeks in total.

The album produced two singles: Morning Desire and Tomb of the Unknown Love. The former topped the Billboard country singles chart for one of its 22 weeks on the chart. The latter was No. 1 for one of its 20 weeks on the chart.

The Heart of the Matter was not nearly as popular in martins native United Kingdom. According to The Official Charts Company, the album never charted in the U.K. Neither Morning Desire nor Tomb of the Unknown Love charted in the U.K.

Martin and Rogers mightve been an unexpected combination of producer and artist but their album was a hit.
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Brenntag announced the acquisition of Aik Moh Group. The group offers a wide range of industrial chemicals with excellence in last-mile delivery, mixing and blending and offers value-added services such as repacking, warehousing, and logistics support with a focus on South-East Asia.

With the addition of Aik Moh Group to Brenntag Essentials, we execute our Strategy to Win in the APAC region, strengthening our local and regional distribution network in Asia Pacific, enhancing our last mile delivery capabilities while at the same time expanding our mixing and blending services. We will foster our leading position as a value-added service provider and reliable distribution partner to our existing and new customers, said Steven Terwindt, Member of the Management Board of Brenntag Group and COO Brenntag Essentials.

With this acquisition, Brenntag Essentials expands its business into key focus markets in Asia Pacific, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. This is an additional step in Brenntags ongoing transformation process, driving its stringent execution of the Brenntag Essentials strategy to strengthen local capabilities and market coverage in high growth markets like Asia-Pacific.

Huan Yong Chan, Regional President Brenntag Essentials Asia Pacific, added I want to welcome our new colleagues from the Aik Moh Group to the Brenntag family. The companys track record, supply chain, infrastructure and customer base speak for themselves, and I am very much looking forward to what we can achieve as a joint Brenntag Essentials team and network in the region.

Kah Moh Tan, Chairman of Aik Moh Group, adds: We have grown from a company of five employees to a chemical distribution specialist with facilities and a sales organisation in several countries. It is a natural next step for us to join the global market leader in chemical distribution, to which we can add our capabilities and strengths, unlock synergies, and serve our joint customer base even better.

Founded in 1980, Aik Moh Group is headquartered in Singapore and operates nine blending and warehousing facilities in four countries. The company distributes mainly solvents, glycols, and blends to customers throughout South-East Asia. These products are used in various industries such as Coatings, Water Treatment, Industrial Cleaning, Construction, Oil & Gas, Inks and Polymers. Aik Moh already generates a significant part of its sales with products from sustainable sources. The installation of solar panels at several sites is also planned, showcasing that sustainability plays a key role in the business strategy which aligns with Brenntags sustainability goals.

Brenntag helps us utilize our strong infrastructure and market reach by adding the global footprint and scale to our operations to unlock additional efficiencies, adds Jimmy Soh, Managing Director of Aik Moh Group.

The acquired business generated sales of approx. 76.6 million EUR in the financial year 2022 (ending March 31). Closing of the transaction is subject to certain contractual conditions and regulatory approvals
The Cherokee Nation is partnering with Dolly Partons Imagination Library and the Lake Area United Way to provide monthly book subscriptions to Cherokee children. On Friday, Cherokee Nation leaders and leaders from the Lake Area United Way met at the tribe's Child Development Center in Tahlequah to celebrate the enrollment process for the programs first participants, the CDC's Brown Bears class of 3- and 4-year-olds.
This 37-year-old man has a 36-year-old wife, and together, they have 2 kids who are pretty little still.

Now, before he was married, he lived in France for a bit while attending college, and he even had a girlfriend over there, but they broke up before he moved home to America.

Well, his old girlfriend learned that she was pregnant not long after they broke up, and although she attempted to contact him, she never was able to reach him.

His old girlfriend gave birth to a little boy, and as the years wore on, his old girlfriend attempted to find him again, this time with success.

So, in 2021 he found out about his son, which certainly came as a surprise to him. He then decided to travel to France a couple of times to meet his son, and then he thought it would be best for his son to move to America for better education opportunities.

His son is currently 15-years-old and just moved to America a month ago to live with him, his wife, and his other children.

His son is enrolled in one of the best private schools, and hes hopeful that this will give his son the benefit of getting into a top college here in America as well after he graduates.

It certainly has been an adjustment for him and the rest of his family to have his son living here, but everythings running more smoothly as the days go by.

If I had to explain the community I live in, I would say status really matters to a lot of the people here, including my wife, he said.

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A delivery driver carries a crate of Terra beer into a restaurant in Seoul, Feb. 20. Newsis



By Kim Jae-heun



Oriental Brewery (OB), Korea's leading brewer, faces increasing competition in the local beer market from long-time rival Hitejinro, which has been catching up quickly due to soaring sales of its popular lager beer, Terra, at restaurants, bars and nightclubs, according to industry officials Monday.



Hitejinro lost its No. 1 status in 2012 to OB, owned by the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), and has been unable to reclaim the top spot.



According to Hitejinro, Terra sales increased 11 percent year-on-year in 2022 to more than 1 billion 330-milliliter bottles for the first time. This is an 86 percent jump in sales volume compared to the first year Terra was introduced.



HiteJinro said sales of the popular lager beer soared last year thanks to the lifting of coronavirus social distancing measures in the country.



Sales of Terra at restaurants and bars increased 33 percent year-on-year and jumped 85 percent at pubs and clubs in 2022.



"It's hard to assess the overall market share of local beer sales, which is divided mainly into household (alcohol sold to individual consumers) and non-domestic (alcohol sold to bars, etc.) segments. But we assume that the ratio of household to non-domestic segments is 6 to 4 and our total market share came to 35 percent to 40 percent recently," a Hitejinro official said. "Of course, we are still behind OB, but we are catching up fast."



OB sees it differently. The brewer agrees it is hard to aggregate the overall share of the domestic beer market and claims that sales in the household segment should be the main indicator.



"Breweries in Korea don't sell beer directly to restaurants, bars and nightclubs but through wholesale vendors. Vendors don't supply beer products at a fixed rate. Sometimes they sell everything and sometimes they keep some in stock. So we have to look at the sales to households to calculate the brewers' market shares more accurately," an OB official said. "In this context, our main beer product Cass accounts for 42 percent of the local beer market. Terra accounts for only 19 percent at most."



According to market research firm Nielsen Korea, OB's Cass beer topped the domestic beer market with a 43 percent share as of January this year, while Terra took up 18.6 percent.



"Even if Terra's sales increase at some restaurants and bars, the sales gap between Cass and Terra remains wide," an OB official said.


Unsplash/Memento Media

Pastor John Lindell claims that a 'creative miracle' happened before at James River Church. The amputated toes of one of the church service attendees, Kristina Dines, reportedly regrew after a prayer over. However, no proof has been provided, which led people to express skepticism.

'Creative Miracle' on James River Church Making A 'Prayer Re-Grew A Woman's Amputated Toes'

The USA Today reported that the worship gatherings were a part of the church's "Week of Power," featuring guest sermons including Bill Johnson and Randy Clark. Bethel Church in Redding, California, was led by Johnson, which was in the news in 2019 for attempting to resurrect the two-year-old daughter of worshippers.

As mentioned, Lindell stated on Wednesday, Mar. 15, during a live stream that members of the "prayer team" prayed over Kristina Dines during a service led by Johnson. After being shot by her then-husband in 2015, according to Lindell, Dines had to have three of her toes removed. Stephen Thompson was found guilty in 2021 of shooting and killing Carissa Gerard and badly wounded Dines.

Since then, the video in which Dines allegedly presented her testimony about her toes growing back has been removed from Facebook, yet, it can still be found on Twitter. Dines claimed in the book that she was involved in an accident that resulted in the amputation of three of her toes, but that after attending a service at James River Church in which women prayed over her feet, she saw the regrown toes on her feet.

"Tonight, I can stand on my tippy-toes. Listen, do you understand? I can stand on tippy-toes. No, I couldn't do that because I didn't have toes to tippy on," Dines said.

According to Spring News-Leader, the alleged regeneration of a toe has received significant attention on social media, with many users expressing doubt about the validity of the claims. A website that can be found at ShowMeTheToes.com is making the call for anyone who has evidence to come forward and share it.

Also Read:Miracle Survivor: Tennessee Pastor Progressing Well After Surviving Deadly Plane Crash

People's Reaction To The Regrown Amputated Toes of A Woman

The requests for comment addressed to Lindell via James River Church were not responded to by the pastor. Daily Beast reported that it is easy to understand why so many people feel uncertain about the regrown toes of the woman.

Moreover, a lot of negative comments on social media were seen. Most of them were doubtful since it is now 2023, yet no one got the chance to take a video of their 'creative miracle' claim.

Despite this, the area's real Christians expressed their joy. A congregation member in the service said on Facebook that he watched as the prayer team attempted to find "a pulse where her toes had been removed."

He added that the discolored skin that had resulted from the injury started to turn pink again, and then, much to the astonishment of everyone involved, her toes started to grow back.

Furthermore, Kelli Artheron, a James River Church member, stated that she did not witness Dines' toes grow back on that particular day because she was helping out with the kids' group at the congregation. Artheron, on the other hand, revealed that she had heard that the toes had grown back and that "God can do anything, especially when people are praying for you." She mentioned that during the Week of Power at the James River Church, a friend who had suffered from a thyroid ailment her entire life was finally cured.

Related Article:'A Miracle From God': Nevada Woman Who Suffered From Serious Blood Clot Following COVID Jab Now Recovering
Pexels/Ylanite Koppens

The Nordic bishops from five countries have written a letter regarding the traditional Christian teachings on sexuality. The bishops have stood up against the modern transgender ideology and upheld the concept of "embodied integrity of personhood."

Nordic Bishops Stand Up Against Transgender Ideology in Letter on Christian Teachings on Sexuality

According to National Catholic Register, they express their concerns regarding the changing and fluctuating notions of what it means to be a human and a sexual being. They state that what is taken for granted today may be rejected tomorrow and anyone who relies too heavily on current theories risks being hurt.

The bishops emphasize the need for deep roots in traditional Christian teachings to maintain stability and avoid being adversely affected by passing theories. The letter was released on Saturday by the Nordic bishops' conference and was signed by eight members.

They push their followers to adopt the basic principles of Christian anthropology while continuosly offering a hand of friendship to those who may feel disconnected from these principles.

They also stress the importance of explaining their beliefs, not only for the sake of the Lord but also for their understanding and that of the world. The bishops believe it is their responsibility to present why they consider their beliefs to be true and to remain steadfast in their faith.

The pastoral letter released by the Nordic bishops is being read out loud at Catholic churches in Scandinavia or the Nordic Countries. According to the Catholic News Agency, eight bishops, including Cardinal Anders Arborelius, the bishop of Stockholm, Sweden, signed the letter.

The other signatories are Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Bishop Berislav Grgic of Troms, and Bishop Bernt Eidsvig of Oslo from Norway; Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen from Denmark; Bishop David Tencer of Reykjavik and Bishop Emeritus Pierre Burcher of Reykjavik from Iceland; and Father Marco Pasinato, apostolic administrator of Helsinki, from Finland.

The letter added that the bishops state that they must guide their followers towards the path of Christ's commandments, which they describe as "peaceful" and "life-giving." They assert that their mission would be incomplete if they offered anything less than the highest ideals of the Church. They also explain that the Church provides a place for everyone, as it is "the mercy of God descending on mankind," and that this mercy excludes no one but demands a high ideal.

Also Read: JK Rowling Defends Her Stance on Transgender Ideology, Says Critics Lack Understanding

Some Contents of the Letter

The Nordic bishops acknowledge the significance of the rainbow as a covenantal sign, but they also note that it has become a symbol of a cultural and political movement. In the article Catholic Masses, the bishops appreciate the noble aspirations of this movement, particularly in promoting the dignity of all human beings and their desire to be recognized.

However, they dissent from the movement's view of human nature that disregards the embodied integrity of personhood and treats physical gender as insignificant.

The bishops express concern about the imposition of transgenderism on minors, which they regard as a heavy burden of self-determination that children are not yet ready to bear. They find it curious that the body is taken too lightly in an intensely body-conscious society.

The bishops stress that the Church condemns all forms of unjust discrimination, including discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation. Still, it also upholds the traditional Christian understanding of human nature and sexuality, which they believe is essential for the well-being of individuals and society.

Related Article: Lutheran World Federation Hosts First Regional Pre-Assembly 'One Body, One Spirit, One Hope' at Mansfield College, Oxford
Pexels/Mario Wallner

Three teenagers were caught on surveillance camera vandalizing a religious statue at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Queens, New York. According to the officials, the video shows the teenagers filming the act on their phones, taking the concrete angel from a fenced-in area at the rear of the church and throwing it to the pavement, causing it to break into several pieces.

The incident occurred at around 10 p.m. on Thursday. Police are investigating the vandalism and attempting to identify the suspects. The church has not commented on the incident.

Teenagers Caught Slamming Angel Statue

In the article in New York Post, according to police, three teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 were caught on surveillance video vandalizing a religious statue at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Queens, New York. The video shows two teenagers reaching into a fenced-in area and pulling up a concrete angel statue, which they then threw to the pavement, causing it to shatter into several pieces.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Thursday, and the teenagers fled on foot after committing the vandalism. Police are investigating and attempting to identify the suspects.

Another source, New York Daily News, reports that the pastor of Holy Family Church in Hillcrest, Queens, suspects that a TikTok challenge may have motivated a band of teen vandals to snatch a concrete angel from outside the church and smash it to pieces.

During Sunday's mass, Pastor Sean Suckiel told congregants that security cameras had captured the entire incident on video. He also expressed his heartbreak and questioned why the teenagers would commit such a senseless act. The pastor believes the vandalism may be tied to a TikTok challenge encouraging users to vandalize schools and school bathrooms.

Also Read: Atlanta Church Defaced with Vulgar Graffiti, 60-Year-Old Suspect in Custody

What is Vandalism, and What are the Consequences?

According to Criminal Defense Lawyer, vandalism is the deliberate act of destroying or damaging property in a way that causes a physical deformation and destrcution that diminishes the property's value. Examples of vandalism include putting bumper stickers on someone's car, spray-painting your name on someone's fence, carving your initials on public park trees or benches, or breaking a building's windows.

Other forms of vandalism include writing your name on a store window with a marker, "keying" a car or puncturing its tires, and knocking over grave markers.

While vandalism involves damaging property, it's not always considered "damage to property." In some states, these terms may include acts of vandalism, but in others, they may refer to more serious forms of physical damage.

The maximum penalties for this offense usually include fines and up to one year in jail, while felonies can result in more than one year in state prison and significant fines. Each state has its own set of penalties that cover vandalism, including jail time, fines, restitution, probation, and community service.

The number of damages categorizing a crime as a misdemeanor or a felony can differ among states or depending on the property type. The most commonly encountered punishments for vandalism are fines, jail time, and restitution. Probation and community service may also be required as part of the punishment.

Related Article: Louisville Church, Other Areas Vandalized With 'TRANS PWR' Graffiti Following Gender-Affirming Ban Bill Approval
Pexels/Pixabay

A tornado devastates the lower Mississippi Delta, causing significant damage to the area. Despite the destruction, the Rolling Fork Methodist Church remained intact, allowing congregants to gather and reaffirm their faith on Sunday following the storm.

The community, described as very religious, found solace in coming together and giving thanks for what they still had. However, the tornado did result in at least 25 fatalities and numerous injuries, particularly in the poverty-stricken region of Mississippi. Additionally, a man in neighboring Alabama died after the storm overturned his trailer home.

Tornado Devastates, Churches Offer Comfort and Aid

After the tornado in Rolling Fork, many residents were left with uninhabitable homes. As a result, they turned to the churches in the area for support. According to Hartford Courant, Rolling Fork is a tight-knit farming community that relies on family and faith to maintain social ties. Wayne Williams, a construction skills teacher, was helping to clean up damage at a vocational centre, while across the street, a community centre had been destroyed by the storm.

Williams acknowledged that the recovery process would be long and difficult but expressed hope that with the help of God, they would overcome the devastation. Rolling Fork has faced natural disasters, including severe flooding in 2019, which displaced some residents. The community now faces the task of rebuilding and recovering from the destruction caused by the tornado.

Religion plays a significant role in helping the people of the Mississippi Delta cope with the challenges of an unpredictable climate and poverty. Associated Press News reported that according to Reverend Mary Stewart, the community's reliance on rain for their crops, livelihood, and dependence on God have taught them patience and resilience in difficult times.

The Rolling Fork Methodist Church, a community support source for 135 years, provided comfort and a sense of togetherness in the aftermath of the tornado. Despite being without power, worshippers gathered on the church's historic steps to listen to a sermon by Rev. Stewart, praying for the town's lost loved ones and those affected by the disaster.

President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi in response to the tornado, allowing federal funding available to the hardest hit areas.

Also Read: Cross Left Standing After Tornado Decimates Church Reminds People That 'God Is With Us'

Emphasizing the Importance of Faith in Times of Natural Calamities

The National Weather Service office in Jackson has given a preliminary EF-4 rating to the tornado that hit the Mississippi Delta, with wind gusts of 166 to 200 mph (265 to 320 kph) lasting over an hour. According to ABC News, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency and promised to assist in the region's rebuilding efforts.

More than half a dozen shelters have been opened in Mississippi to accommodate those who have been displaced. The Rolling Fork Methodist Church and First Baptist Church provided a source of comfort to congregants during Sunday services, as Reverend Mary Stewart and Pastor Britt Williamson led their congregations in prayer.

Williamson emphasized the importance of faith in times of difficulty and expressed his desire to help those in need find an eternal home. Marlon Nicholas, a member of the First Baptist Church, recounted his family's safe attendance at a high school prom on Friday night, despite the destruction of their home and those of other family members.

Related Article: Historic Church Overcomes Devastation and Rebuilds Stronger than Before after March 2020 Tornado: Churches As Shelter For Natural Calamity
Pexels/Rosivan Morais

Pope Francis has revised a 2019 church law that dealt with cases of sexual abuse committed by clergy members and extended it to hold accountable lay leaders who work in Vatican-approved religious organizations. Lay leaders are non-clergy individuals who the church officially employs.

The original norms were established by Pope Francis in a letter called Vos estis lux mundi in 2019 and were initially enforced for a four-year term. This update has extended and strengthened the rules to ensure accountability for a wider range of individuals within the Catholic Church.

Bold Step of the Pope in Fighting Against Sexual Abuse in Churches

Pope Francis has recently made the 2019 church law governing clerical sexual abuse a permanent policy, effective from April 30, with minor modifications. According to CNN, The Catholic Church has been grappling with sex abuse scandals in different countries for decades. The updated law reflects the Pope's commitment to taking "concrete measures" to address the issue.

The changes to the law include extending accountability to lay leaders of Vatican-approved associations who were previously not covered by the law. Another amendment relates to the definition of abuse victims, which has been broadened to include "vulnerable adults," and minors, and individuals with an imperfect use of reason. The purpose, as mentioned above, only said "minors and vulnerable persons."

The Vatican has announced that members of the Catholic Church are now obligated to report instances of violence against religious women by clergy members and cases of harassment involving adult seminarians or novices. This is part of the revised law governing clerical sexual abuse that Pope Francis made permanent.

However, BishopAccountability.org, which documents abuses within the Catholic Church, has expressed disappointment with the revised law. According to Interaksyon, it needs to include more extensive revamping required to address the issue and is instead self-policing packaged as accountability. Additionally, BishopAccountability.org has raised concerns that bishops will remain in charge of investigating allegations against their fellow bishops.

This update comes just a month after the Roman Catholic religious order's Jesuits acknowledged credible accusations of sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against one of its most prominent members.

Also Read: Portuguese Bishops Unveil Measures to End Church Sexual Abuse as Pope Urges Prayers for Victims

The Recent Case of a Jesuit who Sexually Abused About 25 People

In the article in MSN, recently updated provisions have been announced after allegations of sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse were made against one of the Jesuits' most prominent members of the Roman Catholic religious order, Father Marko Ivan Rupnik. About 25 people had made the highly credible accusations, mostly former nuns, who claim to have been subjected to various forms of abuse by Rupnik, either when he was a spiritual director of a community of nuns in Slovenia about 30 years ago, or after he moved to Rome to pursue his career as an artist. These allegations have shaken the worldwide order, of which the Pope is a member. Rupnik has not yet made any public statement about the accusations.

Related Article: Priest Indicted of Inviting Two Nuns to Take Part in a 'Holy Trinity' Threesome
Pexels/Gylfi Gylfason

Asbury's largest Methodist congregation in Dane County, Wisconsin, has decided to sever ties with the United Methodist Church due to the latter's changing stance on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ clergy. Although the UMC has become more progressive on LGBTQ+ rights, it still maintains a ban on same-sex marriage.

The dissatisfaction with the UMC is widespread, as one-tenth of Wisconsin's Methodist congregations are currently disaffiliating from the organization. Asbury's move to remove their affiliation with the UMC reflects the congregation's belief that the denomination's views on LGBTQ+ rights no longer align with their own.

Progressive Adaptation is a Must for Unity

Asbury United Methodist Church, the largest Methodist church in Dane County, Wisconsin, has voted to leave the United Methodist Church due to disputes over LGBTQ+ rights. According to the Cap Times, the UMC prohibits same-sex marriage and "practicing homosexuals" from serving as clergy members.

Asbury's leaders anticipate that the UMC will soon loosen these restrictions. Disaffiliation became an option after disagreements over LGBTQ+ rights occurred at the UMC's last national meeting in 2019. Nearly 75% of voting Asbury church members elected to disaffiliate, well beyond the two-thirds margin required.

However, those who voted to stay said that Asbury's disaffiliation resulted from a years-long shift away from LGBTQ+ inclusion within the church and that they were not anti-gay. Asbury is one of about 50 churches in Wisconsin pursuing disaffiliation from the denomination.

Religious organizations often perpetuate discrimination due to their slow adaptation to change and emphasis on tradition. The article in Badge Herald shows this in the UMC's late response to same-sex marriage, as they maintain a ban on it despite growing support among members.

The organization's doctrinal stability results from its structure, but this hinders social progress. However, there are signs of change as evolving beliefs among UMC members are starting to be reflected in church doctrine. The Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study shows a growing majority supporting same-sex marriage.

Asbury's decision to leave the UMC aligns with the thousands of other congregations that have left the denomination in protest.

Also Read: Arkansas Church Wins Legal Battle Against UMC, Secures Ownership of Cherished Property

The Decision of the Asbury United Methodist Church

Asbury United Methodist Church has decided to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church due to what they perceive as a slow drift from their historic Christian mission. According to their website, Asbury Church, while they do not know when or where they will affiliate with a new denomination, they are focused on protecting the ministry of Asbury and fully disaffiliating from the UMC.

One possible future is joining the Global Methodist Church, a future denomination of former United Methodists from various regions who uphold the authority of Scripture. Asbury has a transition committee of staff and lay leaders who have been planning for three years to lead the church through the denominational and pastoral transition. They plan to retain their identity as a Scripturally focused and doctrinally faithful congregation. Updates on their disaffiliation process can be found on their website.

Related Article: Asbury Church to Disaffiliate with United Methodist Church Due to Disagreement on LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Ask most Christians the date of the next Easter and theyre likely to Google it. Though highly associated with springtimeat least for those in the Northern Hemispherethe date for Christianitys most important holiday changes from year to year.

Chinese people can empathize with an unpredictable spring holiday date. Often landing within a few days or even on the same day as Easter, qing ming jie(), or the Qingming Festival, invites families to remember their deceased parents and ancestors through a series of rituals and activities. The celebration became an official national holiday in mainland China in 2008, partially resulting from the governments desire to promote traditional Chinese culture.

This year, Qingming falls on April 5 and Easter on April 9. The regular proximity of the two holidays has led even secular commentators, like an op-ed writer for the Chinese-government-owned website CGTN, to look for parallels between them.

Both a spring festival contemplating the reverent themes of life and death, Qingming Festival focuses on remembrance, while Easter celebrates rebirth, said the writer.

While one holiday has strong theological significance and the other mostly secular, the calendars for both traditions share a common origin. An order known for astronomy and mathematics, the Jesuits drove the reforms in both the Western world and China that dictate how we plan our days, months, and holidays.

Easters celestial date formula

Determining the date of Easter necessitates a combination of solar, lunar, and religious calendars.

For years after Jesus resurrection, the early church debated which day Christians should celebrate the resurrection of Christ, or the Christian Passover (Pascha).

In 325, the Council of Nicaea decreed that Easter should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. This arrangement has since become the standard definition of the Easter date for most Western Christians (including todays Catholic and Protestant churches).

The Eastern Churches have always insisted that the day of Passover in the Jewish calendar be celebrated each year as Easter. When the church split in 1054, the East and West factions both used the Julian calendar. But when the Western church transitioned to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the Eastern church did not. As a result, for Western Christians, the date of Easter fluctuates every year between March 22 and April 25. The Eastern churchs dates for the holiday are different.

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Qingming and Chinese solar terms

Like Christians, the ancient Chinese also used the sky to dictate when holidays fell, and indeed for many years used this to set their calendars. While the lunar calendar establishes the dates for many Chinese holidays and festivals like the Dragon Boat Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival, the solar calendar determines the Qingming Festival.

The Qingming Festival occurs on the Day of Clear (qing) and Bright (ming) in the Chinese jie qi () or solar termsan ancient system based on the suns position in the zodiac that has been used for marking the change of seasons and for agricultural purposes.

Qingming is the fifth among the 24 solar terms. It is 15 days after chun fen (), or the Day of Vernal Equinox. Because there are 365 or 366 days in a year on the Gregorian calendar but the Chinese solar zodiac has 360 degrees, the date of Qingming may vary one or two days, between April 4 and April 6.

The Jesuits

Easters wandering date traces back to Christopher Clavius, a 16th-century Jesuit mathematician and astronomer, who overhauled the Western worlds calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian.

After the Jesuit missionaries arrived in China, they and the Chinese Catholic scholars they converted began creating the Shixian calendar (, Calendar of Constant Conformity) in the 17th century. The new calendar was needed because the previous Chinese calendar had failed to predict certain astronomical events and the Chinese were resistant to straightforwardly adopting a Western calendar.

Image: WikiMedia Commons / Edits by CT

To lead this project, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming dynasty tapped Xu Guangqi (Paul Hsu, ), a famous Chinese Catholic convert and minister in the emperors court, who had received an education in both Chinese humanities and Western sciences.

Xu hired the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell () to carry out the empires efforts in astronomy, and his tenure continued into the Qing dynasty. In 1644, the Qing court of Emperor Shunzhi appointed the Jesuit as the director of the Imperial Observatory to lead the calendar reform. He took advantage of current Western astronomy and mathematics to complete the reform, and in 1645, the group published their new calendar.

Rather than bringing him fortune and favor in China, however, Schalls calendar reform work led to tragedy.

In 1661, Emperor Shunzhi died at the young age of 22. Three years later, Yang Guangxian (), a disgruntled Chinese astronomist colleague, accused the Jesuit of spreading lies of an evil religion and plotting against the state.

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Unable to speak after a stroke left him mute, Schall was tried and imprisoned. In 1665, he was sentenced to death by dismembering. His life was spared only when a strong earthquake shook China shortly after his sentence. Suspecting that the disaster was an auspicious sign indicating that the verdict might be wrong (and unable to deny the Jesuits great contribution to the dynasty), the imperial officers commuted the sentence.

Schall was pardoned before dying in house arrest in 1666. But not everyone was spared. Five of his fellow Chinese Catholic astronomist colleagues who had also been accused of scheming against the emperor were beheaded.

But the Jesuits were not ousted for good. In 1668, after Yang and his team committed several astronomical miscalculations, the now Emperor Kangxi appointed Schalls former Flemish assistant, Ferdinand Verbiest (), also a Jesuit missionary, to lead the countrys national calendar initiative.

Image: WikiMedia Commons / Edits by CT

Schalls contribution to the reform of the Chinese calendar has not been lost to history. In 2013, Chinas official CCTV released a documentary about the Jesuit, acknowledging at the end of the program that the calendar he revised 350 years before was still in use and that it determined the date of the solar terms. (The video of the TV documentary has since been removed from the CCTV website, likely for political reasons.)

Tomb sweeping and contextualization

Historically, Jesuit missionaries and the Chinese authorities were involved in the Chinese Rites Controversy, which was mainly about whether Chinese Catholics should participate in traditional ancestor-honoring ceremonies such as tomb sweeping in relation to the Qingming Festival.

This controversy never really died. Even today, Chinese Christians debate whether or which of the holidays practices violate Christian conscience.

For some, navigating the holidays various rituals is a Christian freedom (1 Cor. 10:23) issue. Many do not find it sinful, for example, to put flowers on tombs or even bow to photos to show remembrance of and appreciation for deceased parents, grandparents, or other relatives. But they might draw the line at burning incense or kowtowing to show worship.

Beyond the specific practices, taking a Qingming tomb-sweeping trip with parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins offers an opportunity to witness to Christian beliefs. As a Taiwanese Christian undertaker explained:

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There are many Chinese festivals for family reunion, such as the Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival, but the Qingming Festival is the only one where the whole family is reunited and where topics about eternity and the meaning of life can be discussed at the same time. So whether its tomb sweeping or a visit to a columbarium, Christians should do a good job of bonding with the family, uniting the love between family members, and helping the family think about eternity.

The proximity of the dates of Qingming Festival and Easter provides an excellent entry point for such spiritual discussion, as we can point our families to the empty tomb that leads to eternal life.

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As someone who came from outside the liturgical expressions of Christianity, I had a certain suspicion of the whole enterprise. I thought the liturgical tradition, with its vestments, rituals, rules, and customs, was the very thing Jesus had come to destroy. I intuited that what God wanted was a broken and contrite heart. He owned the cattle on a thousand hills; he didnt need our formalized prayers and spiritual sacrifices.

The heroes in my mind were characters like David, who danced informally before God (2 Sam. 6:14), and the prophets, whose ministry was led from start to finish by the Spirit (1 Kings 18:12). The liturgical life seemed, from the outside, to stifle the Spirit.

In my developing religious sensibilities, inherited from the Free Church Protestantism of my youth, the legalists Paul battled in Galatia had morphed into modern ritualistic Christians. Jesus wanted prayers from my heart that revealed my own wrestling with God, not the repeated words of those long dead. God was, of course, on the side of the informalists and against the formalists. In the language that became omnipresent during my college years, it wasnt about religion but relationship. Religion was shorthand for any ritual activity I was uncomfortable with.

Here, I want to approach the liturgy from a different perspective. I do not wish to engage in debates about particular texts of the Bible. I want instead to zoom out and look at the nature of the Old and New Testaments themselves. I want to press in on the method by which God forms a people. When God revealed himself to a spiritually malnourished group who needed to be taught the things required for holiness, what did he do? How did God do it?

He gave his people rituals. He gave them feasts tied to certain parts of the year and a system of sacrifice to teach his ways to coming generations:

When in the future your child asks you, What does this mean? you shall answer, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborn to the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every male that first opens the womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem. (Ex. 13:1415, NRSV)

Established prayers and actions pass on the faithnot as magic activities that contain meaning in themselves but as occasions for remembering. And these rituals are not in conflict with deeply emotive experiences of God. Every psalm and song, every word of prayer and lament in the Old Testament, was written by Jewish people steeped in the rituals of Israel. The deeply personal relationship with God demonstrated in the Psalms, Jeremiah, and Isaiah gives lie to the idea that God only values informality.

Some might be tempted to ask, Didnt Jesus come to do away with all those rituals to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24)? Wasnt the law a shadow of things to come (Col. 2:17)? Well, sort of. The Old Testament sacrificial and liturgical system pointed toward Christ as the fulfillment of the law. Referring to the law as a shadow speaks to its fulfillment in Christ. The reference to shadows, however, does not speak to ritual as a means of spiritual formation. It does not eliminate the possibility that ritual can be a means of encountering the living God.

Stories and rituals pass on understanding. Jesus knew this. During his last night with his disciples, he did not have them memorize a position paper on the meaning of the Atonement; he gave them a meala ritual with set words and actions that immediately entered the life of the early church.

That is why Paul can say, I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread (1 Cor. 11:23). He refers to central aspects of Christian doctrine, like the Resurrection and ritual activities, as things he received (1 Cor. 11:23; 15:13).

As Christians, then, both the ritual piety and the apostolic doctrines are part of our inheritance. This doesnt mean that ritual or even the Lords Supper is limited to a pedagogical technique. Christians throughout the centuries have maintained that God comes to meet us in and through things like the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Christ doesnt just teach us about himself in communion; he comes to us and nourishes the weary believer. We can have both. Ritual is a means of spiritual formation (we learn through repetition) and an encounter (God meets us in the act of worship and praise in the liturgy).

What does any of this have to do with Lent and its prayers? The set prayers of Lent are not a limitation on Christian devotion. They do not stand in the way of offering our own heartfelt cries to God. They are a way of accepting that we are not the first ones to encounter the God who has tossed our lives into a glorious confusion. Others have left a testimony. Their witness deserves to be heard.

This essay was adapted from Lent, 2022 by Esau Daniel McCaulley. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.
'Evil atrocity': Christian leaders, politicians react to Nashville Christian school shooting Shooter self-identified as transgender; pastor's daughter killed

Updated 5:30 p.m. ET

Christian leaders and politicians voiced their devastation after a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, left three children and three adults dead.

The shooting occurred at The Covenant School, which serves preschool students through sixth graders, on Burton Hills Boulevard on Monday morning, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

The police department identified the victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, two of whom were age 9 and one age 8 about to be 9, and Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

Koonce was the head of the Covenant School. Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

The shooter was identified as Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville, according to Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake. Hale was a former student at the school and self-identified as trans. The suspect was also killed and found with a detailed drawn map of the school with entry points noted. Drake said the suspect had also carried out surveillance of the building before committing the murders.

Drake said investigations are ongoing at the shooter's home where the suspect's father also resided. Hale gained entry into the school by shooting through one of the school doors, the police chief added: "We have a manifesto. We have some writings that we're going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident. We have a map drawn out about how this was all going to take place."

Hale, who was heavily armed, had two "assault-type rifles and a handgun" and was killed by police on the schools second floor, authorities said.

Drake said he was moved to tears watching the young students run from the school in a single-file line and toward the trees near the property for protection from the shooter.

"I was literally moved to tears to see children being ushered out of the building," Drake said during one of three daytime news conferences on Monday.

Police said they first got calls about the shooter at 10:13 a.m. and the shooter was deceased by 10:27 a.m.

"The police department response was swift," police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.

"They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers."

UPDATE: 3 students & 3 adult staff members from Covenant School were fatally shot by the active shooter, who has now been identified as a 28-year-old Nashville woman.  Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 27, 2023

On its website, the Covenant School is described as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, with both located in southern Nashville. The school was created to assist Christian parents and the Church by providing an exceptional academic experience founded upon and informed by the Word of God.

Following news of the shooting, numerous Christian leaders, pastors and political figureheads took to social media to express their shock and devastation. Here are seven reactions to the shooting at The Covenant School.
6 killed in Tennessee Christian school shooting by trans-identified shooter with 'assault-type rifles'

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m. ET March 27: The shooter has been identified as Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville, according to Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake. Hale was a former student at the school and self-identified as trans.

UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. ET March 27: In a tweet Monday afternoon, the Metro Nashville Police Department stated that the shooter who opened fire at the Covenant Presbyterian School of Nashville was a 28-year-old Nashville woman. Authorities have yet to release her name.

Original:

A female shooter opened fire on the campus of a Christian school in Tennessee on Monday morning, killing at least three children and three adults before being shot dead by police.

The Covenant Presbyterian School of Nashville, a private school founded in 2001 by the Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, was the target of the shooting.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department held a press conference Monday afternoon, with spokesperson Don Aaron providing a "police overview" of the events. He said the "police response was swift."

According to Aaron, authorities received the first call about the shooting at 10:13 a.m. local time. A team of five officers killed the shooter by 10:27 a.m., with two police officers opening fire on the shooter.

Aaron did not provide the shooter's name, saying that she lacked identification, but noted that it appeared to be a teenage female armed with "two assault-type rifles and a handgun."

"Officers entered the first story of the school, began clearing it, they heard shots coming from the second level, they immediately went to the gunfire," Aaron reported.

"When officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter  a female  who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers."

Aaron said authorities are investigating the shooter's identity and will examine the school's video footage to determine the sequence of events.

"She entered the school through a side entrance and [made] her way from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots," Aaron said. "We now know there are three students who are fatally wounded, as well as three adults inside the school. We are working to identify those victims. Including the shooter, a total of seven persons were killed."

Shortly before the press conference, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee took to social media, saying he is "closely monitoring the tragic situation at Covenant."

"As we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community," Lee wrote, adding that "the Tennessee Department of Safety & Tennessee Highway Patrol are assisting local law enforcement & first responders at the scene."

Earlier in the morning, the Nashville Fire Department stated on Twitter that it was "responding to an active aggressor at 33 Burton Hills Blvd Covenant School."

According to NFD spokesperson Kendra Loney, the Fire Department is always dispatched to possible mass shootings to provide medical support and other aid to those impacted by the mass shooting.

"We can confirm we have multiple patients. Parents coming to the school should go to 20 Burton Hills at this time. this is an active scene," tweeted the NFD.

The department also set up a reunification site to unite parents and their children when possible and also provided mental health professionals to assist those traumatized by the shooting.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also reportedly investigating.
LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun, center, poses with company executives during the Toricom Nickel Sulfate Plant completion ceremony held in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Monday. Courtesy of LS Group



By Kim Hyun-bin



LS Group completed construction of a nickel sulfate plant, strengthening its next-generation battery core material business. LS said, Monday, that the plant, located in Asan, South Chungcheong Province and operated with affiliate Toricom, is capable of producing 5,000 tons of the key material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.



Toricom is an investment unit of LS MnM, a non-ferrous metal material company, and is the largest urban mining company in Korea that recycles valuable metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. When LS MnM supplies crude nickel sulfate produced in the copper smelting process, Toricom produces nickel sulfate for secondary batteries after purification and crystallization processes.



LS MnM plans to expand its nickel sulfate production capacity from the current 5,000 tons to 270,000 tons in three stages by 2030 by securing other raw materials, such as mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and black powder by utilizing its global network.



In addition, LS MnM will begin producing precursors, a cathode material, and pursue a strategy to establish a value chain that uses all of the nickel sulfate it produces for its own precursor manufacturing.



"The completion of this nickel sulfate plant is the first step in a small but meaningful journey for the future of LS Group," said Koo Ja-eun, chairman of LS Group said at the completion ceremony.



LS Group announced at the start of this year its goal of growing in size to 50 trillion won ($38.4 billion) in assets through Vision 2030 and revealed plans to invest more than 20 trillion won in the battery, electric vehicle, and semiconductor industries over the next eight years.




Please God, help me: Family of slain NJ politician, pastor's wife still searching for answers

The family of Eunice Dwumfour, a Republican New Jersey councilwoman and pastor's wife who was murdered last month, is pleading for her killer to come forward as they are still searching for answers.

In an emotional gathering at Sayreville Borough Hall, where Dwumfour served as a council member, her family called for justice and shared their grief.

Dwumfour, a 30-year-old mother who had recently married a pastor who lives in Nigeria, was fatally shot in her car just outside her townhome in the Camelot at La Mer apartment complex on Feb. 1.

She was found in her Nissan SUV with multiple gunshot wounds. The vehicle had traveled about 100 feet before crashing into two parked cars.

Her family, including her parents, Mary and Prince Dwumfour, husband Peter Ezechukwu, their pastor and lawyer, came together last week to appeal for justice, ABC7 reported.

"I need justice for my daughter," Mary Dwumfour said. "Please, God, help me."

Eunice's father, Prince Dwumfour, added: "I'm here today to let everyone hear our voice. Eunice is our daughter, who is a very, very good lady ... who didn't have any problems with anybody."

Eunice Dwumfour was a Newark native and was a single mother to her 12-year-old daughter. Her daughter was reportedly upstairs in their townhome when the shooting occurred.

Dwumfour had recently married Ezechukwu, a Pentecostal megachurch pastor residing in Nigeria.

"There's a lot of memories, and I don't think I could ever forget about my lovely wife," he was quoted as saying.

The investigation is ongoing, with investigators exploring various angles, including her ties to the church her husband is affiliated with and other personal and professional relationships.

The FBI, Sayreville Police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office are collaborating in the case. But so far, few details have been released about potential leads or suspects, and no arrests have yet been made.

About a week after the murder, investigators disclosed that they were looking into Champions Royal Assembly in Newark, a local chapter of the Nigerian church where Dwumfour served as a pastor and was involved in finances, according to News 12 New Jersey. The outlet reported that Dwumfour went to the church along with Sayreville Council President Christian Onuoha. Both were listed as "officers or agents" of the church in corporate paperwork.

Onuoha told News12 that church members had their phones and modems looked at by investigators, adding that the car she was driving the night she was murdered was a gift from a congregant.

Champions Royal Assembly was founded over a decade ago in affiliation with televangelist Joshua Iginla, who heads the Abuja, Nigeria, megachurch of over 80,000 people, according to The Asbury Park Press. While the congregation met on the second level of a store, the address listed for Champions Royal Assembly and Fire Congress Fellowship was the same address as an apartment complex Dwumfour listed as her residence.

"She was a treasurer with her church. Anytime you're dealing with money, sometimes there are people who are not happy," Democrat John Wisniewski, a former state assemblyman and lifelong Sayreville resident, told News 12.

"And the one thing I've learned in my 22 years in public life is that as much as we think we know people, people also have private sides. And they also have things that they're dealing with and people that they're dealing with that none of us know about."
'Unmasking Gender Ideology' panel warns 'women are going to lose' rights if trans ideologues win CP event tackles dangers of transgenderism, how the Church should respond

DALLAS, Texas  What is a human being? And what does it mean to be a human being?

Those were the central questions considered at The Christian Posts conference, "Unmasking Gender Ideology: Protecting Children, Confronting Transgenderism," where several professionals from various fields with experience fighting gender ideology came together to share their insights.

A crowd of more than 170 people attended the event co-sponsored by First Baptist Dallas on March 23 for the conference, which tackled a number of topics, including the dangers of gender ideology and its impact on the Church, the indoctrination and medical abuse of children in the name of gender-affirming care, and the plight of incarcerated women who are required to share prison cells with men due to gender self-ID laws.

View Photos

The event was hosted by CP's award-winning social commentator and podcaster Brandon Showalter, who underscored the urgency of facing gender ideology in the Church.

Showalter pointed to the very origins of mankind in Genesis 1:27  where God made both man and woman in His image  as an illustration of transgender ideologys grave assault on the Gospel itself.

These are not secondary or tertiary doctrinal matters, said Showalter. They are primary.

Get your free book 'Exposing the Gender Lie' here

Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, was among the speakers in the events first panel and warned this ideology is a global event that is shaping our world from language to the fields of law and healthcare.

Calling the movement a danger to women, Hasson pointed to the decline of religion as playing a key factor in the spread of the trans movement.

All of sudden, you had a culture that was still looking for meaning but didnt have an answer and was much more willing to believe," said Hasson. So now were facing a situation where a basic concept like sex  we know what it is, its the difference between male and female, its a biological term  sex in the law is being redefined to mean gender identity.

Since the coming out of former Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner as Caitlyn Jenner in 2015, transgenderism has grown exponentially, particularly in the West.

According to UCLAs Williams Institute, the number of young people who identify as trans has doubled just in the last few years, while one in five people who identify as trans are between 13 to 17 years old.

And because of the subjectivity of gender identity, Hasson said the transgender movement poses a dire threat to women in particular.

Gender identity is a feeling, she explained. Its completely subjective  cant test for it, cant prove it, its got to be declared.

When you make that a legal category, what youre doing is youre ensuring that women, in particular, are going to lose all those rights that go with sex discrimination laws.

That threat toward women might be most acute, perhaps surprisingly, in the American prison system. In trans-affirming states like California, biological men  including serial sex offenders  are allowed to transfer to womens facilities.

Amie Ichikawa, who served five years in a California state prison and now heads the Woman II Woman prison advocacy group, told the panel that while prison was not wonderful prior to the 2021 passage of Californias Senate Bill 132, which allowed incarcerated men to be housed with women if they self-identified as women, things have rapidly gone downhill.

Ichikawa told the story of one serial rapist who, before the passage of SB132, mutilated himself and declared himself to be a woman for the sole purpose of being housed with female inmates.

Along with bringing distinctly male politicking  including distinctions of race, gang affiliation and crime level  into the womens facility, this inmate was serving time for the violent rape of a mother and daughter.

At one point, he asked the president of the women's advisory council if he could get a job in the electrical shop, she recounted. Years later, we found out he electrocuted his victims.

Now, said Ichikawa, the implementation of SB132 has changed culture radically: she has personally heard from some 200 women who need to talk to someone, so she provided her personal cell phone number for them to contact.

Ichikawa said she and her formerly incarcerated partners are dedicated to holding the line and making sure we dont abandon our sisters inside.

So how did we get here?

Jennifer Lahl, who spent 20 years in clinical nursing and is the founder and president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, said the shift has taken place even as the medical profession has been completely transformed.

Whereas traditionally the profession involved a relationship between doctors and patients, now in the Google era, doctors have become healthcare providers and patients are now clients or customers.

Now weve become consumers of medicine, said Lahl. I walk in, I show up, I say, Doctor, Ive done the Google search, heres what I want, heres what I have. ...

Another factor, according to Lahl, is that medical ethics is no longer a required course in med school.

Medicine  like academics, like the media, like the cultural elites  has been captured, she said.

Much of that has occurred in the name of gender-affirming interventions, or a pattern of what panelist Dr. Andre Van Mol described as junk science pushing out decades-old research.

There's decades of literature showing overwhelming probability in a gender dysphoric minor of underlying mental health problems, of adverse childhood experiences, bad family dynamics and a way over-representation of autism spectrum dysphoria, and that these all predate the gender dysphoria, Van Mol explained.

"There's always a more honest answer to gender dysphoria, gender confusion in a minor than chemical sterilization and surgical mutilation," he added. "What they need is to address those underlying issues, and it comes with mental health evaluation and treatment.

According to recent data, the number of minors in America receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria tripled from 2017 to 2021, with more than 42,000 receiving the diagnosis in 2021. On the social media platform TikTok, which is especially popular among younger people, the hashtag trans has logged 50.2 billion views, nearly doubling within the space of a year.

More European nations, he added, are turning away from this junk science and instead telling minors who are experiencing gender dysphoria to undergo comprehensive psychological evaluation and therapy.

This approach, said Van Mol, is a more holistic method of addressing what tends to be a deeply complex condition.

There's always a more honest answer to gender dysphoria or confusion in a minor than chemical sterilization and mutilation, he said. What they need is to address those underlying issues.

Given the multifaceted dynamic of transgenderism, how can the Church respond in a way thats both truthful and helpful?

Jeff Myers, Ph.D., the president of Summit Ministries and co-author of a recent e-book with Showalter, titled Exposing The Gender Lie, said Christians must first acknowledge the urgency of the issue and the threat it poses.

We realized we can't be silent on the issue of gender ideology because it is an attack on the very idea of truth itself, said Myers.

He said hes very concerned about transgenderism and pointed to some 6,500 catalogued biological differences between males and females.

The idea that you can be a boy and become a girl is a lie; it is a lie about biology and it is a lie about personhood, he said.

Myers pointed to the teaching of the postmodern view that words are reality  a teaching that stretches back nearly three decades, when university students were being taught that no objective reality exists, only knowable perceptions.

So instead of saying people should seek the truth, now people say you should speak your truth, he explained. So if words have no relation to reality, then words like male and female dont matter anymore.

That application, said Myers, underpins the entire ideology of transgenderism, which twists language to threaten the livelihoods of those whose very job is to communicate facts and data.

Youre a journalist, youll get fired if you dont do this, he said. If you refer to biological men who identify as women as transgender women, you must use that terminology.

If youre in the corporate world and dont do it, youll be fired.

Panelist Julia Jeffress Sadler, a licensed professional counselor and bestselling author of Pray Big Things, said that mindset is why Christians must be equipped with Gods Word in order to respond effectively.

I personally do not see a ton of kids who have really strong faith and upbringing and are assured of their salvation personally struggling with transgender, thats not what I see, she said. But they dont know how to defend the truth; they don't know how to use the Bible to explain the reality that were male and female.

Lahl echoed that sentiment, stating her conviction  and perhaps summing up the battle itself  that transgenderism isnt simply a political or cultural attack but one that is satanic in its origins.

I don't believe in transgenderism, she said. I think thats a lie from the devil.
Mom sues after military flags her as 'security threat' for opposing elementary school's LGBT posters

A New Jersey mother who was reported to local police by a military official after criticizing her child's elementary school for displaying posters in the hallway about sexual preferences has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her civil rights were violated.

Angela Reading, a third-year law student and mother of two, filed a federal lawsuit against the high-ranking military, police and local government leaders, claiming she was treated like a terrorist for questioning offensive signs at the North Hanover Township Elementary School last November.

The law firm Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit on the mother's behalf in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Reading also served as vice president of the Northern Burlington County Regional School District Board of Education until she felt forced to resign in December to "protect her family."

The filing alleges that North Hanover Township Police Chief Robert Duff and military personnel from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst compelled the removal of Reading's Nov. 22 Facebook post about posters featuring terms like polysexual, pansexual and genderqueer displayed in the school hallway.

On Nov. 23, 2023, the suit claims, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Schilling used his personal email account to criticize Reading's Facebook post "in an email to parents and local school staff members, complaining (among other things) that, according to him, Mrs. Reading did not understand that the term 'polysexual' means 'simply an attraction to many genders and identities'  as if to say that impressionable young children should be acquainted with this bizarre and sexually freighted concept."

The email was among several obtained in a public records request that was a "prelude to his use of his military email account and position to involve Joint Base personnel, including the Security Commander, Defendant Grimmett, in the censorship of, and retaliation against, Mrs. Reading's protected speech."

On Nov. 25, Schilling allegedly sent another email to parents and staffers calling for an "ethics complaint against Mrs. Reading because her Facebook post was supposedly 'stirring up right wing extremists.'" Two days later, Schilling sent another email saying he was "reaching out to other resources in the area to gather support for this issue," which the lawsuit surmises is "likely when he began involving military personnel in his vendetta."

On Nov. 29, Schilling sent an email asking "Northern Burlington Regional School District superintendent Andrew Zuckerman to remove Mrs. Reading's Facebook post and stated that 'more positive things are going to happen tomorrow.'" That same day, Schilling used his military title to engage in an email thread with U.S. Air Force Major Nathanial Lesher, who assured Schilling that he would forward his concern to Chief Duff "for awareness."

"For no reason other than he disagreed with it, Defendant Schilling's military email of November 29 labeled Mrs. Reading's post a security threat, even though he knew that his doing so was without legal basis and that his action would trigger severe adverse consequences for Mrs. Reading," the lawsuit contends.

"This blatant mischaracterization was made to suppress Mrs. Reading's speech and cause her emotional harm and other injuries  in keeping with Schilling's earlier declaration that 'we need to keep the pressure on' until Mrs. Reading ceases to express her point of view."

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Christopher Ferrara said in a statement that Reading's Facebook post was made as a private citizen, sharing her experience attending a "math night" at the school where her daughter encountered LGBT-affirming posters. She questioned why elementary children were being exposed to such topics, which are not part of the state educational standards or approved curriculum.

"This intention to trigger a preposterous widespread law enforcement investigation and state of alarm over Mrs. Reading's protected speech as if it were an 'incident' of potential, or even actual criminality, is a violation of Mrs. Reading's civil rights," Ferrara said.

"[The Readings have been] demonized, harassed, traumatized, and excoriated throughout the community, forced to resign their school board positions, and having been made unwelcome," he added.

"[They] now feel they must seek costly alternative education for their children. All of this is a direct result of a conspiracy to punish a mother who did not welcome a public school's attempt to force a woke ideology upon her own, and other, young children  and to have the audacity to exercise her right of free speech to do so in a peaceful manner in an appropriate forum."

At the time, the joint base confirmed in a statement to Fox News that it notified law enforcement about the exchange between Reading and Schilling on social media as part of "common information-sharing practice among law enforcement entities."

"The current situation involving Ms. Reading's actions has caused safety concerns for many families," Schilling wrote on Facebook at the time, according to Fox News. "The Joint Base leadership takes this situation very seriously and from the beginning have had the Security Forces working with multiple state and local law enforcement agencies to monitor the situation to ensure the continued safety of the entire community."

Speaking to CBN News, Reading said her life has been "uprooted" and she had to stop attending law school and withdraw her children from school for their safety.

Reading's lawsuit comes as the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is investigating the alleged "weaponization" of federal law enforcement against conservatives.

In 2021, the Department of Justice issued a memo directing the FBI to work with state and local law enforcement to "facilitate the discussion of strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff."

The memo followed a letter from the National School Boards Association urging the federal government to use anti-terrorism laws to act against those threatening school officials. Critics contend that the letter and ensuing memo sought to silence parents outraged over the inclusion of sexually explicit material in public schools as well as the promotion of LGBT ideologies and divisive theories on race.
Evangelical principal resigns after parent backlash to lesson featuring Michelangelos David

The principal of a Florida charter school says she was forced to resign after some parents complained about a sixth-grade lesson on Renaissance art that featured Michelangelo's "David" sculpture, which at least one parent says exposed students to pornographic material.

However, the school's board chair contends that the board had issues with the principal that have boiled up in the past year and that she was forced to step down because of failure to parental notification policies, not the lesson itself.

Hope Carrasquilla of Tallahassee Classical School in Florida's Leon County resigned last week after complaints from parents, The Tallahassee Democrat reported.

One of the parents claimed that the art lesson, which also included Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" and Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" paintings, exposed students to pornographic material. The marble "David" statue sculpted in the early 1500s by the revered Italian artist shows the Old Testament figure David fully exposed without any clothes.

Other parents complained that they were not notified before such a lesson was given to their children.

"It saddens me that my time here had to end this way," Carrasquilla was quoted as saying.

The Democrat reports that a new rule enacted at the school required parents to be notified two weeks ahead of teaching curriculum considered "potentially controversial."

However, Carrasquilla said the school failed to do because of a communication breakdown.

The Tallahassee Classical School has an association with Hillsdale College in Michigan, a conservative Christian liberal arts institution that has "member" and "curriculum" charter schools across the country. Tallahassee Classical School is identified as a Hillsdale "curriculum school," which means it uses a K-12 program guide developed by Hillsdale College under a licensing agreement.

"The K-12 Education Office considers Curriculum School requests on a regular basis, and is pleased to license the College's K-12 curriculum to schools who share the objective of leading students towards intellectual, moral, and civic virtue in a traditional education setting," the Hillsdale website explains.

Tallahassee Classical School was previously listed as a Hillsdale "member school," but lost its affiliation status for not meeting improvement standards, The Democrat reported. However, the school regained its "curriculum school" status. Member schools "receive curriculum, consultation, and training from the Hillsdale K-12 Education Office."

Carrasquilla resigned after the school's Board Chair Barney Bishop gave her an ultimatum to resign or be fired. Bishop told CNN that other issues played a role in Carrasquilla's departure and that he had expressed to her several times that the school sought to go in a different direction with different leadership.

"She was not let go because of Michelangelo's David lesson," he said.

"Our school is two and a half years old. Every year we show that picture in the Renaissance Art class taught to our sixth graders," he added, saying the issue was not following procedure to notify parents of the lesson.

"We aren't trying to ban the picture," he added. "We think it's beautiful, but we are going to make sure the concept of parental rights is supreme in Florida and at our charter school."

Carrasquilla also acknowledged in an interview with CNN that things have escalated over the past year.

"My board chair has not been happy with me," she said, admitting that she didn't follow every policy or procedure.

Bishop told The Huffington Post that online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic gave parents more insight into their children's education, including "woke indoctrination," prompting some to seek alternatives like Tallahassee Classical School.

The board chair accused the former principal of trying to "gin up a lot of publicity."

Carrasquilla's husband, Victor, told The Washington Post that his wife is "a strong Evangelical Christian" who shouldn't have been forced to resign.

The issue comes amid nationwide debates regarding the teaching of race, racism, gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, strongly opposes what critics call "woke" left-leaning ideologies in schools. He has enacted bills limiting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools, as well as restricting certain teachings about race.
Progressive activists continue push for justice 1 year after recovery of 5 full-term aborted babies

WASHINGTON  The progressive pro-life group that recovered the bodies of five, full-term aborted babies from an abortion clinic in the nation's capital last year demonstrated outside the D.C. Board of Medicine Tuesday, demanding regulators revoke abortionist Cesare Santangelo's license to dispense medication.

The pro-life group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising held the press conference and demonstration as part of a weeklong series of events to raise awareness and call for "justice" in response to five aborted, full-term babies discovered by activists Terrisa Bukovinac and Lauren Handy last March. The activists believe the babies may have been aborted in manners that violate federal law.

On March 25, 2022, Bukovinac and Handy recovered the remains of the five babies alongside the boxes of 110 additional human remains while protesting outside of the Washington Surgi-Clinic. The pair claims that they approached the driver of a truck labeled Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services as he was loading the boxes of remains onto the vehicle, who then handed the case over to them.

During the Tuesday press conference, PAAU founder Bukovinac was among several pro-life activists who spoke about Santangelo and raised concerns about the Washington Surgi-Clinic's practices.

Other speakers included Kristin Turner, executive director of Pro-Life San Francisco and PAAU's communications director, and Pro-Life San Francisco Executive Coordinator Robert Byrd. Multiple pro-life volunteers and other members of PAAU also spoke at the conference.

Bukovinac said Santangelo has been "embroiled" in lawsuits, accusing the abortionist of being responsible for the death of at least one female patient. She also stated that three of the five full-term babies she and Handy recovered "appear to be victims of violent federal crimes."

Bukovinac likened Santangelo to Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortionist found responsible for the deaths of one woman and multiple infants born-alive at an unsanitary facility he operated for years. The abortionists' crimes were uncovered by accident in 2010 during an unrelated drug raid.

"How long are we going to go without justice?" Bukovinac asked.

The Christian Post contacted Santangelo's clinic seeking comment on PAAU's push to delicense Santangelo. A representative who answered the phone hung up when presented with the media inquiry.

Turner, who also compared Santangelo to Gosnell, called him "the butcher of D.C." She highlighted the case of Rebecca Charland, who died in 2010 after Santangelo performed a dilation and evacuation procedure on her.

The pro-life activist argued that institutions such as the D.C. Board of Medicine's failure to act are a reason why the actions of abortionists like Gosnell and Santangelo often go unchecked.

"If the D.C. Board of Medicine does not revoke [Santangelo's] license to dispense medication, the blood will be on their hands," she stated.

The D.C. Board of Medicine did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

According to court documents shared by the pro-life group Operation Rescue, Charland died after her obstetrician directed her to Santangelo and the Washington Surgi-Clinic.

She suffered from a condition known as antiphospholipid syndrome, which can lead to blood clots, something that caused Charland to miscarry during her pregnancy's second trimester. She visited the clinic to have her deceased child removed.

An autopsy revealed that skin cells, hair that usually covers a baby's head in the womb, which the coroner called "fetal debris," had reached Charland's bloodstream and entered her lungs.

In the lawsuit, filed in May 2011 by the woman's family, Santangelo was accused of ignoring the woman's medical condition and failing to provide informed consent, in addition to multiple allegations of malpractice that led to Charland's death.

According to another set of court documents published by Operation Rescue, the lawsuit was eventually dismissed in January 2012. The pro-life group has published copies of other lawsuits filed against Santangelo on its abortiondocs.org website.

"If you claim to care about women, if you claim to care about their health, even if you're pro-choice, you should know that what's happening here is wrong," Turner told CP Tuesday. "It's not OK. It's violence, and the D.C. Board of Medicine needs to revoke his ability to dispense medication."

After the conference, the activists entered the front entryway of the D.C. Board of Medicine building but were pushed out by security before they could fully enter the building.

With security and multiple members of the D.C. Police Department watching, the group proceeded to do a "die-in" outside of the D.C. Board of Medicine, with the activists lying down outside of the building and simulating being dead as a form of protest.

Bukovinac stated that the event's purpose was to "loudly and boldly" demonstrate to inform the public, Congress and the people who work at institutions such as the D.C. Board of Medicine about Santangelo's actions and the victims of abortion.

"Our nation is embroiled in this battle over abortion right now, and the next step for the pro-life movement is clearly to pass a national ban on abortion or some kind of late-term ban," Bukovinac said, arguing that Santangelo's actions prove why such a ban is necessary.

The pro-life atheist stressed that it's "important" to inform those in power and give "visibility to Santangelo's victims," particularly the five babies discovered last year. She stated that doing so would help provide cover for their decision to pass a ban.

Bukovinac revealed that PAAU is meeting with the office of Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida this week. The group also hopes to meet with the office of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas next week. Last June, Cruz joined PAAU activists for a press conference outside the Department of Justice to demand that the DOJ investigate the five fetuses.

Other Republican senators who have called for an investigation into the deaths of the five babies include Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and James Lankford, R- Okla. The pair were joined by several Republicans in sending a bicameral letter in April 2022 to Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Chief of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Robert Contee and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for an autopsy to determine whether the abortion procedures committed on the babies violated the law.

"We are demanding hearings for these babies," Bukovinac said. "We need Santangelo to testify under oath, and we need to give these babies their day in court before the pro-life movement is really going to be able to have any other significant victories."

The D.C. Medical Examiner, which still has the remains of the five babies, has agreed to allow a private pathologist to examine their remains. Bukovinac stated that PAAU is "confident" the examination will happen, but she argued that it would not be enough.

"We need justice, and that would just be the beginning," the pro-life atheist said, saying that she expects the D.C. government and abortion proponents in Congress to attempt to "silence" them and "obfuscate the truth."

"But we're not giving up," Bukovinac said. "We know the battle that is in front of us, and we're going anyways."

Despite being a political independent, Byrd believes that people's political preferences shouldn't prevent them from working alongside individuals who have different values when it comes to an issue like abortion.

"It is imperative for people to come together from across the aisle when we have a shared goal," he told CP. "No matter what the shared goal is, we ought to be willing to team up with people that have other disagreements with us."

As WUSA9 reported last March, D.C. police officers found the remains at Handy's residence that same month after receiving a tip about potential biohazard material at the pro-life activist's home. The investigation into Handy's home was unrelated to a federal indictment she's currently facing for blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic in the nation's capitol on Oct.22, 2020.
Prince Harrys Taliban kill count spurs artist to drench St. Pauls in the blood of Afghans

In response to Prince Harrys revelation that he shot and killed 25 Taliban fighters during his military service, Russian artist Andrei Molodkin is creating a sculpture that will drench St. Pauls Cathedral in the blood of Afghani people. The blood used in the sculpture has been donated by Afghan refugees.

The Duke of Sussexs revelation in his memoir, Spare, inspired Molodkins protest art, according to Sky News, which spoke to the artist.

In his book, Prince Harry discusses the number of people he killed in Afghanistan, admitting to not thinking of those he killed as people, but as chess pieces that had to be removed from the board.

Molodkin, who previously created a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin filled with Ukrainian blood as a protest against the invasion of Ukraine, was quoted as saying that Prince Harrys remarks made him very, very angry.

The artist said he collaborated with Afghan donors in Calais and the U.K. for his latest sculpture, which will use about 42 ounces of blood.

The human blood will be pumped into a sculpture of the royal coat of arms and then projected onto St. Pauls Cathedral. Footage of Prince Harry will also be featured alongside the sculpture.

Molodkin has not sought permission from St. Pauls Cathedral for the display but chose the location as a place for everyone.

Prince Harrys book has drawn criticism from senior military figures, such as former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West, who called the Duke of Sussex very stupid, ITV reported, adding that Admiral Lord West warned that Harrys remarks increased the risk of threats against the Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans.

Taliban officials have also called for Prince Harry to be put on trial, saying that the militants he killed were not chess pieces, they were humans.

The U.K.s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also criticized the Duke of Sussex for boasting about the number of people he killed, according to The Telegraph.

I frankly think boasting about tallies ... distorts the fact that the Army is a team game. Its a team enterprise ... and so its not about who can shoot the most or who doesnt shoot the most, he was quoted as saying. If you start talking about who did what  letting down all those other people, because youre not a better person because you did and they didnt. I think every veteran makes their own choices about what they want to talk about in their lives.  The Armed Forces is not about a tally.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry commented last month that the Dukes disclosure of his kill count implies that Britain is in no position to preach about human rights issues, the British newspaper added.

However, Prince Harry has defended his decision to disclose his kill count in the past, explaining on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that his intention was to provide veterans a space to discuss their military experiences without shame.

My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides, he said, refuting the accusation that he was boasting about the figure. He also asserted that openly addressing the matter has helped him in his personal healing journey.
Blac Chyna says finding Christ made her quit OnlyFans: Not what God wants me to do

Former reality star and model Blac Chyna, who now goes by her birth name Angela White, opened up about her decision to quit her career with the sexualized social media website OnlyFans and embrace the Christian faith.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, White, 34, revealed that her baptism in May of last year was a turning point that led her to stop sharing X-rated content on the London, England-based website OnlyFans, which she called degrading.

Earning an estimated $2 million over two years, she ultimately decided that sharing provocative content was not in line with her newfound faith.  With me being baptized, thats just not what God will want me to do. Its kind of degrading, she was quoted as saying.

White was baptized on her birthday, May 11.

The former fiancee of Rob Kardashian had been a top celebrity earner on OnlyFans, initially charging subscribers $10 a month for access to her content. She later increased the subscription fee to $50 per month, with additional package deals available.

After her baptism, White felt God was guiding her in her decision making. She said she now leans on a support group of Christians for prayers and spiritual guidance as she continues to transform her life.

White explained that she turned to the Christian faith out of her desire to become whole and move beyond the repetitive patterns in her life. Despite skeptics questioning her intentions, she hopes that sharing her journey will inspire others.

If you don't like it, then you just don't like it. But I will tell you this, there is a God. Nobody can tell you what to do with your religion or your faith or this or that, she said. I hope that me coming out will enlighten a lot of people and inspire a lot of people.

In addition to leaving OnlyFans, White said she has also been working to reverse her previous cosmetic procedures, including breast reduction, removal of silicone fillers in her bottom and dissolving facial fillers.

White has documented her journey on social media, where she has received overwhelming support. She revealed that her insecurity drove her to undergo numerous procedures and she is now ready to embrace a new, more authentic lifestyle.

I think my baptism on my birthday played a big part. Everything has been kind of trickling down for me and lining up perfectly, she was quoted as saying. Now Im just going by faith. Im not even really going by like the Blac Chyna way or the Angela way. Let me just let God lead me.

The Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation found in 2021 that OnlyFans was frequently used for pornographic purposes and it fostered abuse and sex trafficking.

... The beauty of OnlyFans is that many of them are hiding behind that paywall.  [They] are shooting video with their victims [on OnlyFans], and they are using that video to elevate themselves because that's what [pimps] do  which is what drives me crazy about them, said detective Joseph Scaramucci from McLennan County Sheriffs Office in Texas during a summit organized by the group at the time.

This platform is unquestionably facilitating child sex abuse material and human trafficking of adults and minors alike,  enabling sexual abuse and exploitation, said Linda Nealon, the director of corporate and strategic initiatives for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, at the summit.

Its critical that law enforcement, policymakers, service providers, parents and caregivers understand how this platform works and the many associated risks.
'Intolerance': College fights back after school district bans student teachers over Christian views

Arizona Christian University has filed a lawsuit against Washington Elementary School District, a public school district in Arizona, over alleged religious discrimination.

The district, which had long partnered with ACU, recently made the decision to ban student teachers from its classrooms over the college's biblical views on marriage, despite a positive experience with the school.

Now, ACU is fighting back, filing a complaint through the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Christian Post reporter Leonardo Blair joins this week's show to explain the legal battle and the religious freedom concerns at the center of it. Blair discussed the "level of intolerance" observed during the school board meeting when the decision was made.

"The most alarming or shocking part of this meeting was that, despite the recommendation of the staff of the district who are the on-the-ground players in this, the LGBT ... agenda-driven board, they decided that it was just not safe," he said. "These student teachers have been in the classroom for 11 years without incident. And they decided that they just could not trust the student teachers not the be biased when they haven't had any sort of incident in the classroom before."

Here's more from the complaint: "This civil rights action seeks to protect a Christian university and its students' fundamental rights to religious exercise and speech and to be free from unlawful governmental discrimination simply because of their religious status and beliefs."

Listen for the full story and read more:

The Inside Story takes you behind the headlines of the biggest faith, culture, and political headlines of the week. In 15 minutes or less, Christian Post staff writers and editors will help you navigate and understand whats driving each story, the issues at play  and why it all matters.

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Police make arrest in second attack on pregnancy center firebombed by abortion activists

Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the second vandalism of the same pro-life pregnancy center in less than a year.

The Amherst Police Department in Amherst, New York, announced in a statement Saturday that it had arrested Hannah Kamke, 39, in connection with the March 16 vandalism of CompassCare, a pro-life pregnancy center in the Buffalo area. The statement noted that Kamkes arrest on charges of criminal mischief in the third degree is the result of an investigation by the Amherst Police Department with the assistance of the FBI.

The March 16 vandalism of CompassCare, which involved the spray-painting of the word liars on the facilitys sign, is the second time the pro-life pregnancy center has become the target of pro-abortion activists within nine months.

The facility was firebombed last June, just weeks after Politico published a draft of a United States Supreme Court decision indicating that a majority of justices were inclined to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The perpetrators of that attack remain at large.

CompassCare, which rebuilt its severely damaged facility in less than two months, was one of several pro-life pregnancy centers and churches that were damaged by vandals following the publication of the leaked draft opinion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health. The official ruling determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion, which had been the argument of pro-abortion activists for several decades.

The Rev. Jim Harden, CEO of CompassCare, has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of federal law enforcements response to the wave of attacks.

In a statement reacting to Kamkes arrest, Harden said the persistent attacks on pregnancy centers are an indictment on the FBI and the hundreds of other local law enforcement agencies that have allowed the FBI to usurp their investigative duty. The FBI has less evidence for the March 16 vandalism than they do for the June 7 firebombing, yet they somehow were able to identify a suspect and make an arrest within days.

Weve been saying all along that the FBI possesses this kind of forensic power but has chosen not to employ it on behalf of pro-life people when victimized by pro-abortion Maoist Antifa, he added.

CompassCare identified this months defacement of the CompassCare sign as well as last years firebombing of the facility as violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which subjects those who damage or destroy the property of a facility that provides reproductive health services to federal charges.

Harden is considering whether to press charges against Kamke for violating the FACE Act. In the past, those who carry out pro-abortion violence have faced charges under federal law even though it is more frequently used to prosecute pro-life activists who attempt to block women from entering abortion clinics. In January, a Florida grand jury indicted two pro-abortion activists for vandalizing pro-life pregnancy centers in the Florida cities of Winter Haven and Hollywood.

Besides the pro-abortion activists in Florida and Kamke, relatively few arrests have been made in connection to the wave of violence directed at pro-life pregnancy centers and churches.

While the FBI insisted to The Christian Post last year that it was looking into FACE Act charges in certain instances of pro-abortion vandalism and is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for firebombing CompassCare, Harden remains unsatisfied with federal agency's actions thus far.

Harden previously suggested that the FBI offering reward money to find the vandals who firebombed his facility may be nothing more than an attempt to appear evenhanded.

The establishment of the reward money came less than a week after the 2022 midterm elections, where Republicans took control of the House from Democrats. Additionally, Harden contended that if they are serious about finding the perpetrators, they will offer a $25K reward for each of the 150 pro-life organizations that have been attacked  $3.75 million dollars.

The CompassCare CEO has partnered with private investigators to bring the perpetrators of the firebombing and other instances of pro-abortion violence to justice. While the specific identities of the vandals behind the CompassCare firebombing are still unknown, the pro-abortion group Janes Revenge claimed credit for the attack in a communique published a week after the attack.

Janes Revenge listed Buffalo as one of many cities where it targeted pro-life organizations. The group declared open season on anti-choice centers after they failed to comply with their demand laid out in a previous communique to disband within 30 days.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Feb. 17. Reuters-Yonhap



Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans on Saturday to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a warning to the West as it steps up military support for Ukraine.



Putin said the move was triggered by Britain's decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.



Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over those it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said.



He didn't say how many nuclear weapons Russia would keep in Belarus. The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by tactical aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.



Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States, noting that the U.S. has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.



"We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews," Putin said, speaking in an interview on state television that aired Saturday night. "We are going to do the same thing."



Russia has stored its tactical nuclear weapons at dedicated depots on its territory, and moving part of the arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict by placing them closer to the Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there.



Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine had Soviet nuclear weapons stationed on their territory but handed them over to Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.



Some hawkish commentators in Russia long have urged the Kremlin to put the tactical nuclear weapons close to the weapons to send a signal to the West about the readiness to use them.



Putin said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked for the nuclear weapons as a counter to NATO. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members  Latvia, Lithuania and Poland  and Russia used its territory as a staging ground to send troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.



Putin noted that Russia helped modernize Belarusian military aircraft last year to make them capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He said 10 such planes were ready to go. He said nuclear weapons also could be launched by the Iskander short-range missiles that Russia provided to Belarus last year.



Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is living in exile, said the agreement to transfer the tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "underlines the threat to regional security" from Lukashenko's regime.



"Europe won't be safe until Belarus dictator is removed brought before tribunal to face justice for crimes against our country Ukraine," Tsikhanouskaya wrote in English on Twitter.



Putin had initially objected to the depleted uranium rounds that Britain promised to ship to Ukraine by making the false claim that they have nuclear components.



He subsequently toned down his language, but insisted Saturday that the ammunition posed an additional danger to both troops and civilians in Ukraine by leaving a radioactive trace and contaminating agricultural land.



"Those weapons are harmful not just for combatants, but also for the people living in those territories and for the environment," he said.



Putin added that Russia has vast stockpiles of similar ammunition but so far has refrained from using it.



Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons. The rounds can't generate a nuclear reaction but they do emit low levels of radiation. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has warned of the possible dangers of exposure.



Such rounds were developed by the U.S. during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the same T-72 tanks that Ukraine now faces in its push to break through a stalemate in the east. (AP)


Supreme Court refuses case of Catholic school teacher punished amid fallout from racism lecture

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a lawsuit filed by a teacher suing a Catholic teachers union for allegedly failing to represent him properly during an arbitration after he was suspended, allowing an appeals court decision in favor of the union to stand.

In an orders list released Monday morning, the high court declined to hear arguments in the case of Jusino Ramon v. Federation of Catholic Teachers, Inc., providing no comment for why the appeal was not granted.

Ramon, a longtime teacher at Notre Dame Academy of Staten Island, New York, sued the school in 2018 after being suspended without pay over how he handled a reported incident of racism in his classroom.

In May 2018, Ramon taught a theology class on the "sinfulness of racism." The centerpiece was a lecture called "Racism as Sin."

"While the record below is somewhat muddy, it appears that the 'fallout' of the lecture entailed heated arguments between Ramon and Notre Dame students, parents, and administrators ... and ultimately resulted in Notre Dame's 'suspend[ing]' Jusino 'without pay' and 'with intent to discharge' as of August 2018," according to court documents from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to earlier press coverage of his civil complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court against the school, Ramon was terminated after reporting that a white student made several derogatory comments about African Americans during a class discussion on May 31, 2018.

The teacher alleged that the white student said "white privilege" doesn't exist and also criticized welfare tax dollars going to support people who sit at home and do nothing. According to Slive.com, Ramon thought the student's comments were offensive and reprimanded her. The student asked Ramon if he was calling her a "racist," which he denied.

After reporting the situation to school officials, Ramon claimed that administrators did not investigate. A few weeks later, the teacher emailed the parents of the white girl and a black student. He reportedly told the black parents that the school refused to discipline the white student.

The school reportedly didn't take too kindly to Ramon's communication with the black student's family and scolded him for portraying the white student as racist in the communications. He was suspended without pay for his actions and for publicly criticizing the school's handling of the matter.

Ramon, who taught theology at the academy for 23 years, claimed in the 2018 complaint that the school had "an environment of racial insensitivity" and sought $300,000 in compensatory damages.

When his union, the Federation of Catholic Teachers, refused to raise allegations of retaliation and discrimination during arbitration proceedings against Notre Dame, Ramon sued, claiming the union failed to adequately represent him.

Ramon claimed that the Federation failed to give him proper representation and violated the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and New York State Human Rights Law.

Ramon and Notre Dame settled their lawsuit through a federal court mediation program, and as part of that settlement, Ramon dismissed his discrimination and retaliation claims.

Last November, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled against Ramon, upholding an earlier district court opinion in favor of the Catholic union.

Circuit Judge Richard J. Sullivan, a Trump appointee, authored the panel opinion, concluding that "Ramon, as a parochial-school teacher, lacks a cause of action under the NLRA and [Labor Management Relations Act] for FCT's alleged breach of its duty of fair representation."

Additionally, Sullivan ruled that Ramon's "lack of a valid cause of action under the NLRA and LMRA resulted in his failing to state a claim" and "that Ramon has forfeited any challenge to the district court's decision to decline jurisdiction over his state- and municipal-law claims in light of its dismissal of his federal claim."

Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi, a Clinton appointee, wrote a concurring opinion to the panel decision, speaking to the issue of creating a "new law" when handling "pro se" cases, which involve a person representing themselves in court.

"I believe that, at this time, any new law touching on the intersection between religious rights and freedom from discrimination  both are fundamental  is best made extremely cautiously. And for that reason, I respectfully concur separately," wrote Calabresi.
DOJ Sued Over Pro-Abortion Vandalism, American Missionary Released After 6 Years, Israel Stops Ban On Sharing The Gospel

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 09:53 09:53

Top headlines for Saturday, March 25, 2023



The U.S. Department of Justice is being sued over what plaintiffs describe as an inadequate response to violence against churches and pro-life pregnancy centers as pro-abortion vandalism continues across the U.S.



A California missionary and a French journalist abducted in Niger by an Islamic terrorist group have been released.



The largest United Methodist Church congregation in Michigan has voted to leave the mainline Protestant denomination over the ongoing debate over homosexuality and same-sex marriage.



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that his government will not pass a bill that would criminalize Christian evangelism, a proposal that drew concern from American Evangelicals.
Why so much anti-Jewish hatred?

In the words of New York City Jewish leader Eric Dinowitz, hate is on the riseand the high-profile cases on the news are often the endpoint of hate. He continued, We see the assaults in Hells Kitchen and Times Square. We see mass murders at synagogues and supermarkets. And what this report card shows us are those seeds of hate are the precursors to physical violence.

Dinowitz was responding to a new report from the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Digital Terrorism and Hate. And he was speaking in particular about hatred and violence against Jewish people.

According to JNS, The report warns of increased antisemitic, racist, anti-LGBTQ messaging and calls for violence against black, immigrant and Jewish residents.

What motivates such attitudes and actions? Why is it that, Among all racial and religious groups, Jews remain the greatest hate crime target? And why is it that Jews are targeted by both White Supremacists and Black Supremacists? (I began documenting this more than 30 years ago. It is even worse today.)

One group that received attention in the report was the Black Hebrew Israelites (or, just Hebrew Israelites as they call themselves today), whose views have been popularized by high-profile figures like Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.

Not only do they claim to be the true Israelites, even supplying a chart that purports to connect the 12 Tribes of Israel to various people groups in North and South America (seriously!). But they also deny that the Jewish people (which would include me) are true Jews.

In their eyes, we are the synagogue of Satan (based on a misinterpretation of Revelation 2:9 and 3:9) and white Edomite devils. (Yes, according to this cult, Jacobs son Esau, also called Edom, was white, and White Jews today are actually his devilish descendants.)

On a regular basis, we receive comments like this on our YouTube channel: Hitler is an Idumean [= Edomite] devil like yourself Dr. Brown. The holocaust never happened. So stop lying to the world. And it was posted by  get this  The Tribe of Levi!

If thats not enough, consider that, according to the Hebrew Israelite chart used by the Sicarii, which is the most militant sect among them, the people of Haiti today are the tribe of Levi. I bet you didnt know that before!

I recently debated the leader of the Sicarii on the subject of Who Are the Legitimate Children of Israel? Ashkenazi Jews or the 12 Tribe Chart? (You can watch the debate here.)

And while we have interacted cordially since the debate, I did challenge him on his rhetoric, including lines like this from February 2022: That's how this movie ends man all right. That's the future of this world. Black and Latino people ruling the world.

[Jesus Christ] is a big angry black man, a black man who the whites of his eyes are red and he's ready to come and kill. He wants to stomp peoples brains out of their cranium. He wants to step on you peoples heads until your brains come out.

Remember when 50 Cent [said], and his brain come out the top like jack-in-the-box? Remember? Thats one of my favorite lines, right? That's what Christ is coming back to do.

You can be assured that you people includes those of us who are not people of color, especially White Jews.

Yet my quotation of these words at the end of the debate only brought a smile to his face, along with lots of affirmation from his followers in the large chat. (There were as many as 4,500 people watching at once on the hosts channel. And moments ago, when I went to the channel while writing this article, they were playing a clip from my recent YouTube video discussing the debate. A comment posted on the screen read: Who is this pink devil? So, I graduated from white to pink!)

In reality, though, this is nothing to joke about. It was reported one year ago that, Antisemitic hate crimes were up 400% last month, according to new data released by the New York Police Department.

Specifically, Many of these incidents targeted Orthodox people dressed in distinctive clothing, like the Jewish man who was punched in Bed-Stuy on Feb. 7 while walking on Shabbat.

And what is a typical, Hebrew Israelite response to such things, This edomite [meaning me, when I referenced such crimes during the debate] showed himself to be a devil. He said *fake*Jews are being attacked by African Americans.

The reality is that words have consequences, and attitudes of hatred will lead to acts of hatred. But the question still remains: Why? Why the Jews?

When I debunk the nonsense of the 12 Tribes Chart, I feel no animosity towards any of the peoples on the chart, including Mexicans (who are supposed to be the lost tribe of Issachar!) or the Seminole Indians (who are supposed to be the lost tribe of Reuben!) or African Americans (who are supposed to be the tribe of Judah!). And, based on the comments I see when I address these things, no one who agrees with me feels animosity as a result of these people being fake Israelites. (To be clear, there are Black and Hispanic Jews. No one is questioning that. What is being utterly rejected is the information on the chart.)

Yet when the Hebrew Israelites call Ashkenazi Jews (and other Jews) fake Jews, it triggers visceral hatred and anger towards us. Why?

I can only offer two suggestions. First, these Black Americans, who have historically suffered so greatly at the hands of White Americans in the past, have fastened their resentment and anger on White Americans today, in particular White Jews.

Second, antisemitism is demonic and needs no rational explanation. As Sigmund Freud commented in 1927, With regard to anti-Semitism, I dont really want to search for explanations; I feel a strong inclination to surrender my affects in this matter and find myself confirmed in my wholly nonscientific belief that mankind on the average and taken by and large are a wretched lot.

What we can say with assurance is that we must confront these hateful attitudes and ideologies wherever we find them, since they will not go away on their own. And we must determine to overcome hatred with love and lies with truth. Its a long battle, but its a winning strategy.
Bishop protests about election law changes

A senior Church of England bishop has raised serious concerns about new election laws that he believes could adversely impact "the poorest and the most marginalised."

The Bishop of St Albans, Alan Smith, has spoken out against new regulations that mean voters will have to bring photo ID with them when they come to the polling stations. The new rules come into force at local elections in May.

Bishop Smith, who convenes the CofE bishops sitting in the UK's House of Lords, said: "All the evidence suggests that this is likely adversely to affect the poorest and the most marginalised.

"If you're struggling to make ends meet, and you're working long hours, to have to go and get another form of identity if you haven't got one readily at hand...it's much more likely to mean that people may say, 'It's just too difficult.'

"We already have a problem getting people out to the ballot boxes, so why make it more difficult?"

The controversial new rules were introduced in response to allegations of voter fraud, but figures released by the Electoral Commission show low levels of proven fraud across all types of elections.

Bishop Smith said: "We're asking 47 million people to have to go through extra hoops for what is a pretty minor problem."

In response to the change in election law, the bishop is encouraging all churches to publicise the change so that people are not caught out at the polling stations.

He said: "I would encourage people, if it's possible, to put up a poster, raise it with people  we want to encourage people to engage in the democratic process.

"That's what healthy democracies do  we want to actively try and get as many citizens as possible thinking about how society can best serve and care for people, but particularly look out for the people who are struggling for various reasons."

Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK, and the author of 'Responding to Post-truth.'
Britain's 1984 moment

Apparently, the U.K. has decided to shift its loyalties from courageously defying tyranny in the 20th century to embracing it in the 21st. Last week, a "conservative"-led British Parliament made George Orwell's fictional accounts of "thought crime" a reality. After establishing censorship zones around abortion clinics in England and Wales, the MPs voted 299-116 to continue criminalizing even silent prayer in the vicinity of such clinics.

As a lawyer for the U.K.'s Alliance Defending Freedom put it,

Today's vote marks a watershed moment for fundamental rights and freedoms in our country. Parliament had an opportunity to reject the criminalisation of free thought, which is an absolute right, and embrace individual liberty for all. Instead, Parliament chose to endorse censorship and criminalise peaceful activities such as silent prayer and consensual conversation.

The law is no idle threat. Last month, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce and Sean Gough were thankfully found not guilty in a Birmingham, England, court for the supposed crime of praying in public. Neither were arrested for some kind of loud, amplified prayer that disrupted public activities or woke people in the dark of the night. They were arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic. While Gough held a sign saying that he was praying for free speech, Vaughan-Spruce was arrested because the police thought she "might" be praying. Gough was even rebuked by the police for wearing his priestly cassock since it "could" be seen as intimidating.

On March 6, the day before the recent vote, Vaughan-Spruce was arrested again for praying silently near an abortion facility. When she protested to the policeman that she wasn't engaging in any prohibited activity, the officer replied that she was "engaging in prayer, and that is the offense." Let that sink in: the internal operations of one's own mind can be a criminal offense?

These stories are part of a wider trend. Recently, a British man was contacted by the police for tweeting something negative about "pride" flags. He was told that because his comments "would be considered 'grossly offensive,'" they were in violation of the law. He was then required to meet with police for a "voluntary" interview and, if he did not respond within 10 days, would be liable for prosecution. And in an almost-laughable situation, a taxpayer-funded anti-terrorism task force recently included not only 1984 and Brave New World but Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, G.K. Chesterton poems, and all of Shakespeare as possible signs of "far-Right" leanings.

How did Britain, with its rich history of defending liberty, devolve into a place of banning prayer and peaceful protest while categorizing as dangerous some of the greatest classics their culture has offered the world? How could a nation with a delightfully well-developed appreciation for irony worry that too many people are reading 1984?

The late, great social critic Neil Postman once observed how Americans prided themselves that the year 1984 came and went without the West devolving into George Orwell's dystopia, but had failed to see that we were far more in danger of living out Aldous Huxley's version of a totalitarian nightmare, Brave New World. As Postman put it,

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.

At the time, Postman was right. We were able to avoid inhumane detention centers, torture chambers, and Big Brother's screens. But we had fallen captive to the glowing rectangles in our own homes and pockets. Our culture has long resembled Huxley's imagined world of trivial pleasures more than the overt totalitarianism of Orwell's imagination. But what Postman may have missed is how much easier it is to make 1984 a reality in an already Brave New World that is caught up in chasing our "personal peace and affluence" and silencing anyone who rocks the boat.

The right to dissent once stood as one of the most prized cultural possessions of the West. Now our most cherished freedoms are being watered down to the mere right of agreeing with whatever the combined interests of state and society demand. True liberties of conscience aren't just Western or even American values: they are universal rights, bound up in our very nature as human beings.

The Church has an opportunity to champion liberty in a world that has forgotten what it means to be human. By doing so, we remind our neighbors that something or, dare we say, Someone, exists to which we owe our allegiance first and foremost. The liberty of conscience is a common good worth defending because it points to the image of God in all people and to an authority higher than all earthly powers. And, it is a real protection against the tyrannies that seek to censor the unpopular.

Copyright2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.
Evangelical Alliance expects more Anglican churches to join over CofE gay blessings

The head of the Evangelical Alliance, Gavin Calver, believes the organisation may see a growth in membership as the Church of England moves ahead with divisive plans to bless same-sex couples.

In an interview for the Religion and Media Centre's Big Interview podcast, Calver said it was "too early" for the EA to tell Anglican evangelical congregations what to do because the Church of England is still in the process of formulating new pastoral guidance on the blessings.

However, he said that the EA was ready to be a place of support and a "port in a storm" for evangelical congregations dismayed over the Church of England's direction of travel.

"We'll probably find that a number of Anglican churches join the Evangelical Alliance, because it's actually a time where they want to be in unity with wider evangelicals, as well as continuing in their space, which is challenging," he said.

During the interview, Mr Calver reiterated the EA's position on marriage as a union between one man and one woman for life, but added that the Church needed to be compassionate towards same-sex attracted people and welcome everyone in through its doors.

"The theology is quite simple  I think the pastoral implications are incredibly complicated," he said.

Asked about his views on conversion therapy, Calver said that the EA was concerned about the "unintended consequences" of government plans to introduce a ban.

He said that it would be "discrimination" to allow churches to pray for people with unwanted feelings towards a person of the opposite sex while prohibiting prayer if those feelings were towards someone of the same sex.

"We did a lot of work on this over the last couple of years to say: let's not stop the Church being the Church, but if someone wants me to pray with them so they don't act on feelings they don't want to act on, I think we should be free to do that," he said.

He continued, "Conversion therapy is one of the most loaded terms. The bill that the government is seeking to bring in is seeking to go further than most of us would feel was OK, in terms of restrictions of prayer in a church setting."
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  The buzz surrounding artificial intelligence and the mass layoffs roiling the technology industry resonates with Ginni Rometty, whose nearly 40-year career at IBM culminated in her becoming CEO in 2012.

Just before Rometty became IBM's first woman CEO, the company's AI-powered computer Watson outwitted two of the most successful contestants in the history of the game show Jeopardy!"

Rometty, 65, also had to occasionally jettison employees in an extension of cost-cutting layoffs that began in the 1990s as IBM adjusted to waves of technological upheaval that undercut its revenue.

After retiring from IBM in 2020, Rometty spent two years writing Good Power, " a book she describes as a memoir with purpose." She recently spoke with The Associated Press about her career and the state of the tech industry now.

Q: In your book, you mentioned you graduated from Northwestern in 1979 with just $4,000 in student debt. What do you think of the current debate about student debt relief?

A: Whether or not we have debt forgiveness, the bigger issue is around the educational institutions. I feel strongly universities should not be the only pathway in this country. Fifty percent of good jobs in this country are over credentialed. They require a degree when you dont really need one. Somewhere at the end of World War II, the American dream got attached to this idea that its college or bust.

We have to have more accountability for community colleges and colleges so they teach what the market needs. And I dont mean hard skills, I mean the soft skills the market needs. And they dont do that today because even if you get a degree you often cant get a job.

Q: What are your thoughts about the current state of AI, especially with so much attention centered on Microsoft's use of the ChatGPT language tool?

A: I am a bit worried about that, I want to be sure we bring AI safely into the world. One thing I learned in the early days of AI is that this is a people and trust issue. It is not a technology issue. Because of how fast ChatGPT has spread, people almost immediately noticed it wasnt always right yet it acted authoritatively and it did some things that our values didnt appreciate.

You have to manage the upside and downside of the technology in parallel. And that is not what has always happened with technology. We have celebrated all the positives and then all of a sudden said, Oh, oh, there are some bad things here. I think this is our chance to at least be signaling to the public, Hey understand, this has got downsides and upsides.

Q: Is it important for governments to impose regulations on AI?

A: In fairness to lawmakers, do you think they really understand this? What we need is something I call precision regulation because I am afraid that in an effort to control AI we will completely inhibit the positive side of it. We will lose the upside as we try to manage the downside.

If you go to the doctor and say, My finger hurts, you dont want to cut your arm off, right? My example of precision regulation is to regulate its use, not the technology. Talk about the areas you think its OK to use it in and the area where you think it should not be used in. I think it is impossible to regulate the technology itself.

Q: Have you been surprised by the magnitude of layoffs sweeping the tech industry?

A: I think you are seeing everyone reacting to the environment. Those that over hired (during the pandemic) are adjusting. I also think you see a reaction in this economy to what is being valued as not growth at any price. Its profitable growth. You have to be efficient.

And so now I think for the very first time efficiency is entering the picture for some companies. It may be because the environment changed. It may be because someone attacks your business model. So what you are seeing is a recalibration reacting to the external environment.

Q: How do you think Elizabeth Holmes' recent conviction for fraud while she was running Theranos has affected the perception of women leaders in tech?

A: To me, she doesnt define the future of women in tech. I consider that situational. I think there are things to learn from it, but I think it speaks more to the great hope that people have for technology. You dont want to set the expectation so high that you cant make it.
James Harithas, who served as director of Houston's Contemporary Arts Museum for a spell in the 1970s before going on to found both Houston's Art Car Museum and Station Museum, has died at the age of 90. His death was first reported by Orange Show curator of programs Pete Gershon on Facebook this weekend. Gershon, who authored a book about Houston's art scene from 1972 to 1985, called Harithas "without a doubt the most influential force on the Houston art scene over the past 50 years."

Harithas's reign at the Contemporary Arts Museum, from 1974 to 1978, marked a period in which the museum began to focus intensely on supporting and showcasing Texas artists, according to art writer (and occasional Chron contributor) Robert Boyd.

Harithas moved to Houston after serving as the curator and director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in the 1960s. As a child and teenager living in Germany (where his father was stationed after WWII), Harithas developed an appreciation for expressionism and other mid-century, contemporary, and underground art movements. In 1971, while working at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY, Harithas was responsible for Yoko Ono's "This Is Not Here" exhibition, which featured work from Ono, her partner John Lennon, and many of their friends.

Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle

Harithas' tenure at the CAMH ended in 1978 due to conflicts with the museum's board. That same year, he married Ann O'Conner Williams, a Texas-born artist with roots in both Houston and Victoria. In 1984, she curated a show called Collision at Lawndale Art Center which featured, among other works, Larry Fuentes Mad Cad art car. That exhibit eventually became the precursor for Houston's Art Car Museum, which the couple opened in 1998.

In 2001, the duo opened a second private art institution in Houston, The Station Museum, which focused on contemporary art that "questions our societys morality and ethics," including works that dealt with political, aesthetic, economic, and spiritual issues. The museum often hosted challenging and controversial works, including, in 2017, Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ".

In 2016, the couple opened a third private museum in Victoria called the Five Points Museum, which also focused on contemporary art and hosted its own Art Car Parade. Ann Harithas died in December 2021, and less than a year later, in November 2022, The Station Museum went on an "indefinite hiatus," effectively closing for good.

The Five Points Museum in Victoria is currently hosting a retrospective on the creative career of Ann Harithas set to run through May 21. The Art Car Museum is gearing up for its annual Art Car Parade weekend celebration, which begins April 13. It's unclear what the future holds for both museums following the death of James Harithas. Chron has reached out to both institutions for comment and has not heard back as of press time.
The plan was to interview Delroy Lindo about his career, to let the journeyman actor point out the road signs that had led him from a Tony nomination for "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" in 1988 to Oscar buzz for "Da 5 Bloods" in 2020 - and all the traffic between. Lindo caught the acting bug when he was 5, and for nearly the same number of decades, he has made a go of it professionally. But like so many well-laid plans, his career didn't work out quite as expected.

As is the case with so many of the characters Lindo inhabits - whether it be the Trump-loving Vietnam veteran Paul in "Da 5 Bloods" or the attorney Adrian Boseman in "The Good Fight" - the actor stakes his claim so deep there's a lot to dig into.

Lindo's latest role could seem like a detour. Best known as a dramatic actor, the 70-year-old plays Edwin, an impossibly cool formerly incarcerated father trying to reconnect with his daughter, Paige (Kerry Washington), in the new Hulu series "UnPrisoned." The show, released this month, is a love letter to men whose struggles society rarely takes seriously. It's also somehow funny, joyful and a little sitcom-y. Lindo says that from the outset, he knew the show's tone would straddle the line between drama and comedy.

"I am not known as a comedic actor, per se," he said. But, at the first Zoom read-through, Lindo heard the telltale signs that something was working - laughter. "It was interesting, because one doesn't aim to be comedic; one aims just to be truthful. I found that as long as I did that, the comedic aspect would take care of itself."

One particular scene let him know things were clicking. In it Edwin, who moves in with Paige and her teenage son after 17 years in a federal prison, tells his daughter that her new boyfriend is not, in fact, her boyfriend. "You are the side piece," Edwin says bluntly. On-screen Lindo's delivery is pitch perfect - fatherly advice with a shot of street philosophy.

That very moment (and others) is what endeared "UnPrisoned" to me. Edwin strutted like my uncles. He sounded like my cousins. He smiled like the men talking smack over chess tables in city parks. It's his judgment-free portrayal of Edwin, a man who's earnestly trying to live past his mistakes, that provides the show's glue.

"So there are various components of this work that seem to be reaching out and touching people where they are, and that's extraordinarily rewarding," Lindo said. Without the actor's ease and accessibility, Edwin could slip into stereotype.

The actor Jonathan Majors, who played Lindo's son in "Da 5 Bloods," once told GQ magazine that the veteran actor knows how to take up space. "And he does something that I think is very difficult for us to do, as Black men. It's to live in your size, completely live in it, not to shy away from it."

"UnPrisoned" creator Tracy McMillan, who based the show on her "truly crazy" life story, said she envisioned only Lindo playing the role, which is based on her father.

"There was never another actor in my mind for this part," McMillan said. "He has sensitivity, the grace, the sex appeal, the talent. I mean, his talent is staggering." What makes Lindo the kind of actor who can embody the duality of a character? For McMillan, two words keep bubbling up - gravitas and integrity.

Both were apparent when I divulged that I have family members who've been in and out of "the system," the many-headed monster that gobbles up mothers and fathers, leaving children like Paige to fend for themselves and parents like Edwin to come home in search of redemption.

"I assume that it's resonating with you in some personal ways," Lindo said of the show. "My question for you as somebody who has personal experience with it: Does it make it easier? Does watching this work illuminate anything for you in terms of your experience? How does it land on you?"

Another scene in the show, like many in the eight-episode first season, sneaks up on you. Trying to connect with his teenage grandson, Finn (Faly Rakotohavana), Edwin asks about his absent father. Finn replies offhandedly, "You can't miss what you never had, right?" Edwin doesn't let his grandson get away with the emotional brushoff. Instead, he pours himself into that gap. "People miss what they lost, Finn. Period," he says. The replay button was built for scenes like that.

It catches you off guard because the show can feel light. There is a reason therapy sessions are 60 minutes long and not 30. But "UnPrisoned" delivers resonating breakthroughs when it wants to.

The man has so many different types of fathers and father figures in his credits - "Crooklyn," "The Cider House Rules," "This Christmas," "The Harder They Fall." He seems almost built for it, tall and warm-skinned with a commanding voice and piercing eyes that deliver "the look" children know so well. From what does he pull, and what does he want to convey?

"So couple of things before I get to that," he said.

"My father did not raise me. And not only did my father not raise me, he subjected my mom to unfortunate behaviors. There is a space inside of me that his absence occupies. I would posit that that's true for all of us, whether we recognize it or not," he said, delivering a therapeutic line reflecting the gravitas McMillan underscored.

But to answer my question. "I don't approach the roles from the standpoint of how this father is, but who is the human being and what is the human being struggling with it? How does this human being communicate with the human beings around him, whether they be his children or whomever?

"Humanity: That's the gold standard. That's the North Star. That is the component that consistently gets ignored, frankly, by the culture at large, by the world. The lack of willingness or even [the] inability to recognize our humanity? There's a direct line from that to the violence that we are subjected to," he said.

So, to go back to the beginning - of both our conversation and Lindo's career, on which he embarked at the tail end of the Black Arts Movement, which sought Black liberation through art - is his work changing the world? Are characters such as Edwin an antidote?

"I've modified that belief over the years," he said. "Maybe theater can't change the world, but what we do creatively can have a direct impact on how people think. It may not change the human condition, but certainly it can impact the human condition."
Welcome to How Houston Eats, a food-obsessed series that asks Houston personalities what, where and how they like to eat. Today, Chron speaks with comedian Abby Govindan.

Houston native Abby Govindan says she's the least funny person in her family. Her little sister has that sharp Gen-Z humor, and her quick-witted mother will say the most hilarious things unintentionally. So how did Govindan end up as the professional comedian? "They all have stage fright," she laughs.

Govindan, 25, will sit down for hours to workshop a joke until she feels happy with it. She went to college in New York City, but no career path really called to her until she began doing stand-up comedy in her senior year. That's when it clicked. She went viral on social media within her first year and was able to make a career out of it.

While Govindan still lives in New York today, she hasn't forgotten where she's from. "I carry a lot of Houston pride with me," she says. "I think it really shows itself in the way that I carry myself on stage and my social media presence."

And her eating preferences are no different. Govindan shares her favorite restaurants in Houston, her go-to spot for food before a stand-up set, and much more.

Ninfa's on Navigation

Chron: What did you eat growing up?

Abby Govindan: Every single time I go home I make a point to get queso. I love Mexican cuisine, and I think being brought up in Texas, it's also a little bit of a curse because now there's no Mexican food that tastes as good as when I go home. There are all these upscale restaurants here in New York City where they'll charge you like $20 for a taco. And I'm like, it doesn't even compare to the $3 taco I can get at any taco truck here.

I've been living in New York City for a year now, and I have not been able to find any Vietnamese food that is as good as the Vietnamese food in Houston. I think the reason that I carry Houston pride is because I feel like Houston kind of deserves it, it earns the right to be a city that people are proud to be from and I think the cuisine is a big part of it.

Do you have any favorite Vietnamese restaurants in Houston?

My dream is to one day become famous enough for one of those New York Times articles where they ask to meet at your favorite restaurant, and I already have the restaurant picked out. It's called Pho Vn 21, it's a five-minute drive from me on Bellaire Boulevard, it's family-owned, and I'm obsessed with it. I'm vegetarian, so I always order the vegetarian pho and I get an order of spring rolls. Same order every single time.

How about at home, were your parents big cooks?

My mom is an amazing cook. She can watch a YouTube video of a recipe and put her own spin on it effortlessly. My mother works really hard, when we were kids she always made time to have family dinners with us, which I really valued. She can cook anything and everything. We ate a lot of idli, a lot of dosa, a lot of curd rice. We grew up in a very vibrant South Indian community in Houston. She made a lot of home-cooked South Indian food. I think that very much impacted how important culture was to us.

Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle

Since you had it so good at home, did you still go out to eat at Indian restaurants in Houston?

Yeah of course, a family favorite is Shri Balaji Bhavan in the Mahatma Gandhi District. It was like a treat, when my parents wouldn't feel like cooking. We would just order what we would have made for ourselves at home. I guess there's a very unique experience about eating something in a restaurant. I also really like a mango lassiI'm actually drinking one right nowevery time we went to Balaji Bhavan I'd order mango lassi as well.

Do you have a go-to special occasion restaurant in Houston?

It used to be Ambassador. I was a debate kid, so every night before a debate tournament my parents would take us to Ambassador. My family is a very big fan of East Asian cuisine. Ambassador had really good gobi manchurian that we would always order, vegetable fried rice. These days it's less Ambassador and more Thai Cottage. Thai Cottage has this amazing red curry that I'm obsessed with, I could eat it 10 times a day for the rest of my life.

What about a go-to takeout place?

Jinya Ramen has this amazing spicy, creamy vegan ramen that I have been non-stop eating since 2018. It's my go-to takeout place, it's my go-to first date restaurant, it's my go-to restaurant if anyone is like, I want to go to dinner but I'm not sure where to go. I love everything about Jinya.

Karen Warren, Staff photographer / Houston Chronicle

Do you go to any bars in Houston, what's your vibe when you go out?

I have a very eccentric group of friends and like four different friend groups. I kind of make them all interact whenever I'm in town because I have so little time in town that I'm not gonna like, curate experiences. I prefer very chill bars that we can all just sit around and talk and catch up. My favorite one to do these gatherings is Present Company. They have an amazing cocktail list, it's always updated with new unique ones. There's this interesting one that's banana-flavored. They have really good appetizers, and the bar staff is amazing.

Do you have a go-to food that you eat before or after your stand-up sets?

Yeah, Vinny's Pizza right next to The Secret Group, which is a comedy club in Houston. I consider myself part of the alt comedy scene, we're younger, we're not as mainstream, we have niche internet followings or niche local followings. Every single time before a show I'll go to Vinny's Pizza and grab a slice. I really like the cheese fries at Rodeo Goat, which is also nearby. And then after a show I always go to Truck Yard to grab a drink. It's everything you'd want in a bar, there's indoor seating, outdoor seating, delicious food, an amazing cocktail menu, a very impressive beer selection.

Julie Soefer

Have you been on Truck Yard's scary Ferris wheel?

I don't quite have a death wish yet. Things are going well in my life right now.

Have you ever written any jokes about food?

No, I haven't. But the hour that I'm touring with is about my relationship with my parents, and I do have a joke about throwing away spinach and my mom being very upset about it. When I was a kid sometimes I felt like my mom prioritized punchlines over parenting. I have a very specific story that I tell in my hour about how one time I threw away spinach, and my mom was like, "Why are you throwing away spinach?" And I was like, "Well, I don't like spinach." And she's like, "Oh, is that how the trash can works? Well, I don't like you, can I just throw you away, too?" Like, why are you telling a nine-year-old this?

If you were to write a joke about a food, which would it be?

I always joke that the pickleback shot tastes like it was a shot designed by a pregnant woman. What are the two craziest combinations of flavors that you can pair together? And then I joke that the first COVID patient was probably whoever came up with British cuisine. Truly, how do you colonize half the world and not even have, like, spices?

This interview was edited and condensed.
Chinese FM delivers video speech for program celebrating 41st anniversary of China-Vanuatu diplomatic ties

Xinhua) 11:32, March 27, 2023

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang delivered a video speech Sunday for a program produced by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation to celebrate the 41st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his speech, Qin said that over the past 41 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Vanuatu, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other on an equal footing, trusted and supported each other, engaged in sincere cooperation and achieved mutual benefit and win-win results, setting a paradigm for mutual respect, solidarity and cooperation among developing countries.

China attaches great importance to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vanuatu and considers Vanuatu as a companion on the path of development, said Qin, adding that China stands ready to work with Vanuatu to strengthen friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields so as to deliver more benefits to the two countries and their people.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Workers clean up bags of a destroyed factory in the aftermath of a tornado in Silver City, Mississippi, March 26. AFP-Yonhap



President Joe Biden early Sunday issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi, making federal funding available to Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, the areas hardest hit Friday night by a deadly tornado that ripped through the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions of the U.S.



At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through several towns on its hour-long path. One man was killed after his trailer home flipped several times in Alabama.



Search and recovery crews on Sunday resumed the daunting task of digging through the debris of flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced.



Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell was scheduled to visit the state on Sunday to evaluate the destruction.



FEMA Coordinating Officer John Boyle has been appointed to oversee federal recovery operations. Following Biden's declaration, federal funding can be used for recovery efforts including temporary housing, home repairs, loans covering uninsured property losses and other individual and business programs, the White House said in a statement.



The twister flattened entire blocks, obliterated houses, ripped a steeple off a church and toppled a municipal water tower. Even with recovery just starting, the National Weather Service warned of a risk of more severe weather Sunday  including high winds, large hail and possible tornadoes  in eastern Louisiana, south central Mississippi and south central Alabama.



Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, the National Weather Service office in Jackson said late Saturday in a tweet. An EF-4 tornado has top wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph), according to the service. The Jackson office cautioned it was still gathering information on the tornado.



The tornado devastated a swath of the 2,000-person town of Rolling Fork, reducing homes to piles of rubble, flipping cars on their sides and toppling the town's water tower. Other parts of the Deep South were digging out from damage caused by other suspected twisters. One man died in Morgan County, Alabama, the sheriff's department there said in a tweet.



Pope Francis offered a special prayer for the people of Mississippi "hit by a devastating tornado" during his weekly noon blessing overlooking St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Sunday.



"How anybody survived is unknown by me," said Rodney Porter, who lives 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Rolling Fork. When the storm hit Friday night, he immediately drove there to assist in any way he could. Porter arrived to find "total devastation" and said he smelled natural gas and heard people screaming for help in the dark.





Volunteers collects and distribute water after thunderstorms spawning high straight-line winds and tornadoes ripped across the state in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, U.S. March 26. Reuters-Yonhap
Courtesy/U.S. Customs and Border Protection

A 27-year-old woman agreed to smuggle her sister-in-law in exchange for $4,000 to pay for her husbands medical treatments, according to an arrest affidavit.

Maria Catalina Grimaldo, a U.S. citizen from Palestine, Texas, was arrested on the charges of transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport a migrant.
A floor collapsed at an off-campus apartment building near the Indiana University of Pennsylvania injured 12 people over the weekend.

Police responded to the Elm by Traverse Commons on Copper Beech Drive in White Township around 11:50 p.m. Saturday. The second floor of the building had collapsed while people were inside.

Police told sister station WTAE that it's unclear how many people were in the apartment, but all occupants were able to get out.

They say 12 people were treated by paramedics on the scene. Seven of those 12 people were transported to the hospital and at least one person was taken to the hospital by private means. Injuries ranged from minor to serious.

Trooper Cliff Greenfield said responding troopers found one person lying in the road and others grouped outside the three-story building and reported that a floor inside had collapsed.

"We saw peoples' legs all bleeding and cut," said Kara Banda, who lives a few doors down from the party.

Banda called 911 after the collapse.

"We heard a really loud crash," Banda said. "We looked outside and they were smashing out the bottom windows."

Greenfield said some people were hurt as they tried to escape through the first-floor window.

"We talked to the neighbor and he said that he was laying in his bed and the ceiling fell on top of him," Banda said.

Banda told WTAE that as of Sunday afternoon, she had not received any communication from her apartment's management about the floor collapse. WTAE reached out to the management company, but a request for comment was not returned.

The building was secured so no one can enter, and Pittsburgh's Action News 4 crews observed windows being boarded up Sunday.

It's unclear what led to the collapse.



Greenfield said it's unclear how many of those involved were university students or guests visiting during what has been dubbed "IUPatty's weekend," a delayed St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Corryn Miller, an IUP junior, said a few of her friends attended the party. Miller and her boyfriend were listening to a police scanner when they heard dispatchers communicating about the collapse.

"When you hear the location and know that you have people that are up there that you might know, it's definitely much more of a concern," Miller said.

IUP spokesperson Michelle Fryling said the university is pledging support to those affected, including short-term housing to those affected, if needed.

The off-campus festivities have taken place in Indiana for years and have sometimes caused problems. In 2014, police responded to dozens of calls amid crowded borough streets, including hundreds packing one street and getting into brawls that were filmed and later posted online. In 2017, two off-campus shootings were reported.
NEMBE, Nigeria - When Lambert Ogbari learned that the oil giant Shell was selling its local operations to a Nigerian firm, he said he felt hopeful his living conditions would finally improve. But he quickly noticed that maintenance on the oil wells surrounding his village had declined.

Then, one night, Ogbari woke up to a loud bang, followed by the smell of gas. Crude oil was shooting out of a well near his home with such force that people hundreds of yards away could hear the roar.

As the world wrestles with climate change, major oil companies are selling off polluting assets around the globe. Shell, which announced in 2021 that it is looking to exit Nigeria's onshore market completely, has repeatedly said in annual reports over the past eight years that divestments in Nigeria and elsewhere have played an important role in decreasing the company's own greenhouse gas emissions. Shell's withdrawal is part of an exodus by some of the world's top energy companies from the Niger Delta, which had long made Nigeria the largest oil producer in Africa.

But interviews with residents, local officials and environmental groups show the divestments made in Nigeria over the past decade have had negative consequences for communities that Shell and other international companies leave behind - and for the environment they say they are aiming to protect.

Local companies that have acquired the Niger Delta assets from international firms have failed to respond quickly to oil spills such as the one in Nembe, environmental activists say. Greenhouse gas emissions from gas flaring - the burning off of natural gas, a byproduct of oil extraction - have increased dramatically in multiple cases after Nigerian companies took over, according to data from flare tracker Capterio and reports by the Environmental Defense Fund and Stakeholder Democracy Network. At the same time, according to several analyses by these two groups and others, information about those effects has become scarce, because the local companies tend to make fewer environmental commitments and set fewer reporting standards.

In the Nembe area, where villages emerge from the thick mangrove swamps, oil sprayed for more than a month before the local company stopped the leak, villagers recalled. On a recent afternoon, 15 months after the spill was cleaned up, nearby water was still covered with an oil sheen, and mangrove roots were cloaked in black. Fishermen are still catching just a tiny fraction of what they once were, Ogbari said, his voice raised in anger, and locals say they have seen their already poor health deteriorate.

"We were excited to see our brothers in control," Ogbari said, referring to the purchase in 2015 of Shell's local oil license by the Aiteo Group, a Nigerian company. "We thought they would understand our needs. . . . But it has gone from bad to worse."

The Niger Delta's history with oil began in the 1930s, when Shell started exploration here. Shell exported its first barrel of oil in 1958, when Nigeria was still a British colony. Oil giants including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Eni and Total Energies arrived in Nigeria over the years that followed, entering into arrangements with the government that proved extremely lucrative for the state and oil companies but did little for average Nigerians. The Niger Delta, according to the United Nations, became one of the most polluted places on Earth.

The international companies began a first wave of divestments around 2010, according to Etienne Kolly, associate director at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Oil theft by gangs and militants was proving a massive headache, and Nigeria's government was pushing for more local ownership in the industry.

Shell and other major firms embarked on a more recent wave of sales, Kolly said, amid corporate pledges to reduce their emissions and eventually reach net zero by 2050. Since 2020, divestments in Nigeria have totaled $1.1 billion, according to an analysis by the Britain-based research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. A $1.2 billion sale by ExxonMobil to a local company is pending.

If that sale is finalized, domestic companies would for the first time in Nigeria's history own more oil leases than international ones, according to the Stakeholder Democracy Network, which focuses on the impact of the extractives industry in the Niger Delta. The group reported that 26 major divestments were completed between 2010 and 2021, all but one involving sales from major international companies to local firms. Domestic companies now account for 45 percent of oil licenses, compared with 47 percent for oil majors.

Nigeria's oil production has been declining since 2020, according to government figures, and hit a three-decade low last year, when the country was overtaken by Angola as the largest producer on the continent. Nigeria's oil reserves are projected by regulators to last for about another 50 years.

Executives at Shell and other major companies said their divestments have been prompted mainly by unrest and oil theft in Nigeria, where government regulators report that hundreds of thousands of barrels are stolen each day. In a 2021 speech to investors, Shell's CEO at the time, Ben van Beurden, said the company's remaining assets "continue to be subject to sabotage and theft despite our efforts to limit and respond to illegal activity." He said that Shell's onshore activities in Nigeria were no longer worth the risk and that the company would focus on its offshore oil assets in Nigeria.

Although a company spokesman said the withdrawal from the Niger Delta is not specifically related to the company's net-zero goals, Shell has repeatedly cited divestments, including in Nigeria, as part of an overall push to reduce the company's own emissions. In its 2020 Sustainability Report, for instance, Shell said, "Divestments are a key part of our efforts to refresh and upgrade our portfolio as we drive toward our target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society." (Shell also says it is seeking to reduce emissions from the fuel it sells to consumers by trying to develop low and zero-carbon alternatives.)

Gail Anderson, a Wood Mackenzie director focused on sub-Saharan Africa, said selling off assets in Nigeria makes sense because aging infrastructure, gas flaring and rampant oil theft mean the operations tend to emit higher levels of carbon dioxide per barrel than average emissions elsewhere.

But even if this helps large companies reduce their own emissions, she said, asset sales can be risky for the environment because the purchasers tend to be private firms, which are less transparent and often less accountable to investors.

Shell says it conducts due diligence on the companies it sells to, including the use of outside consultants to assess the purchasers' environmental and social standards.

Shell's divestment of its remaining onshore Nigeria assets is currently on hold; the Nigerian Supreme Court has said the company must wait for the outcome of a lawsuit alleging it was responsible for an oil spill in 2019. A lower court ordered Shell to pay $1.95 billion to local communities. The company, which says it did not cause the spill, is appealing.

The well explosion in Nembe did not surprise local villagers. While Shell had not been perfect, Ogbari and other villagers said the company had conducted annual inspections and maintenance on its infrastructure, including the well closest to their village.

When Aiteo took over, villagers said, the company seemed to focus exclusively on production - the firm's Nigerian billionaire owner reported that production grew threefold its first full year in operation - and maintenance had declined.

After the explosion, when oil started spewing into the Santa Barbara River, it took more than a month for Aiteo to stop the spill.

There's no official estimate of its size, but experts, including Rick Steiner, a former marine conservation professor at the University of Alaska, say that at least 500,000 barrels of oil and gas were spilled. Aiteo and Nigeria's national regulators have blamed sabotage, while residents, local officials and Nigerian environmental groups say it was caused by faulty infrastructure.

Villagers in Nembe said they went hungry in the weeks after the spill because it had killed or poisoned the fish they rely on. Attangari Omini, a 70-year-old widow, said she now paddles her boat for hours each day to catch sardines that were once plentiful nearby.

According to data from the Stakeholder Democracy Network, local Nigerian companies spill 35 percent more oil relative to their production than do international ones.

Aiteo did not respond to requests for comment for this article. The company, which does not disclose its emissions or publish specific environmental commitments on its website, described the operation to stop the spill as "a remarkable testament to the capabilities that exist within indigenous players when faced with incidents of such magnitude" and said that the "well-being of the communities remains the paramount consideration."

On a recent afternoon, an open flame roared above an empty green field near the delta community of Umuechem. The local oil company was flaring natural gas - and a cocktail of carbon dioxide, methane and black soot was billowing into the smoggy sky.

Many oil companies, both global majors and domestic firms, use gas flaring to burn off the excess natural gas that comes with oil production. International agencies have urged the elimination of gas flaring as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In annual shareholder reports, Shell has trumpeted its progress in reducing flaring, and in the five years before it sold its operation in Umuechem in January 2021, there had been little to no flaring here, according to the Environmental Defense Fund report, which used Capterio data. But the year after the Nigerian firm Heirs Holdings bought the oil license, flaring increased more than eightfold, according to Capterio's FlareIntel tracker, producing the equivalent emissions of at least 18,000 cars in 2021.

Heirs Holdings said it wanted to triple oil production. And increased production means more flaring, unless companies take mitigation steps such as transporting the gas through pipelines to be processed for power generation and injecting the gas back into existing oil and gas reservoirs.

A spokeswoman for Heirs Holdings said the company is committed to ending flaring at Umuechem by 2025 and does not routinely flare gas at the firm's four other locations.

Even when measured per barrel of oil, Nigerian companies tend to flare much more gas on average than do international ones, according to data collected by Stakeholder Democracy. The data showed that domestic companies flare more than 10 times as much gas per barrel of oil produced. If the two highest-flaring companies are excluded, local firms still flare nearly five times as much.

At the Nembe operation, which Aiteo purchased from Shell in 2015, Capterio's data shows that flaring increased nearly threefold between 2014 and 2016. And at Eruemukohwarien, which Nigerian companies purchased from Shell at the end of 2012, the amount of flaring has doubled over the past decade, and a massive flare at that site now emits the equivalent emissions of 48,000 cars daily, according to Capterio's data.

Looking ahead, Nigerian activist Ken Henshaw can imagine Shell and the rest of the world moving on with their green future while the Niger Delta remains stuck. The oil company's red and yellow logo might be replaced with something green and leafy, he said, and a few environmental activists might sit on its board. But in the delta, oil spills and gas flaring would continue unabated, just with even less international accountability.

The solution, Henshaw said, is simple, if financially unpalatable: "If you're really going green," he said, "decommission."

Short of decommissioning - which would involve shuttering oil operations rather then selling them - activists say there are other ways to limit the harm that follows divestments. The Nigerian government, for instance, could more rigorously evaluate prospective buyers to ensure they have high environmental and social standards.

But poor regulation and corruption at all levels of the Nigerian government make such an approach unlikely, Nigerian lawyers and environmental activists say.

Iniruo Wills, an environmental lawyer from Nembe, said local communities have been failed by everyone, from government officials to executives at Shell and domestic companies. "In the final calculus," he said, "the communities are orphans."

Ogbari, the fisherman in Nembe, said he now prays for something he never imagined. Pointing toward plantain trees that are dead or dying in the aftermath of the well explosion and oil spill, he said: "Aiteo has finished us. Let Shell come back and operate."

- - -

Tife Owolabi in the Niger Delta and Ope Adetayo in Lagos contributed to this report.
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NEW HAVEN  When the gunshots rang out during dinner on Thursday, Philip Boulanger soothed his 3-year-old daughter's cries by telling her it had been fireworks.

Boulanger said he worries that he cannot convince his daughter that fireworks ordinarily occur in March for much longer. A similar situation  gunshots on Lewis Street, a one-way street in Fair Haven bordering a park with playground equipment  disturbed Boulanger and other neighbors in 2020. Getting city officials to acknowledge the issue, he said, is "a hard whack-a-mole game."

"We love Fair Haven and want to keep living here," he said, but he felt "unsurprised" that gunshots were fired next to his home given the "ebb and flow" of activity.

"It's a lawless zone," he said.

Captain Rose Dell, a spokeswoman for the New Haven Police Department, said police were alerted to seven shots fired by police equipment that triangulates the location of gunfire at 8:28 p.m. on March 23.

"No one was injured during this incident. A parked, unoccupied vehicle was struck. The case has been assigned to the Shooting Task Force. They are currently reviewing video surveillance footage of the incident," Dell wrote in an email.

Boulanger captured footage on home surveillance, an investment he made after the 2020 shooting. In the footage shared with the Register, an SUV reverses down the street before coming to a stop. The vehicle then begins to drive, rolling slowly the wrong way up the hill as someone fires seven shots out of the driver's side window.

Neighbor Bryant Thomas was looking through his own surveillance footage Thursday night after the shooting before learning from Boulanger that the car's path would not have crossed his home.

"Besides the shots, there's lots of activity with guys hanging around cars and speeding," he said.

The city responded to a past incident of a pedestrian nearly being run over by a speeding, wrong-way driver by implementing bollards, but Thomas and others said those bollards were taken out by a snow plow this winter.

"I feel really bad for Phil, because he's got a baby. But the city said they'd do something that nothing got done," he said.

Neighbor Drew Goldsman said the shootings are a serious concern for him and his family, but speeding at the intersection of Lewis Street and Front Street  an intersection that forms a triangle that creates the location of the children's playground park  is a constant issue.

"There's many small children who use the park, and there's cars parking on the sidewalk in front of the park and dangerous behavior in general," he said.

The neighbors said they have an advocate in Alder Sarah Miller, 14-D.

Miller, who shared video footage of the pedestrian nearly being run over with Transportation, Traffic & Parking officials last spring that led to the brief implementation of bollards, said she has made numerous efforts to meet with city officials. At the top of the list, she said, is a series of zoning violations at the home that was fired upon Thursday.

Miller alleges tenants are operating an illegal car repair business, a "blatant zoning violation," that has not been addressed. Vehicles regularly rev their engines throughout daytime and nighttime, she said, and her constituents are worried about pedestrian safety. Last March, TTP officials addressed numerous Lewis Street concerns on SeeClickFix, reporting they found no violations of city ordinances and reported the issue closed.

"It's just a matter of time until there's violence," Miller said.

Beginning on Feb. 1, Miller contacted a zoning enforcement officer in an email chain shared with the Register. Miller said now-retired building official Jim Turcio visited the property six months prior and there were briefly some improvements, "but things have again gotten out of control."

"If it were East Rock or Westville, this would not be allowed to continue," Miller told the Register. According to data on Redfin.com, the median sale price of a home in Lewis Street's zip code was $230,000 in February; in zip codes for the East Rock and Westville neighborhoods, values were $280,000 and $286,000 respectively.

The home with the alleged illegal auto repair operation is owned by CMS Realty LLC, a holding company. CMS Realty principal Shneor Edelkopf did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

"We've talked to them and tried to say that this is not ok," Boulanger said. "We get either a nod, or they blame someone else."

In a statement, Mayor Justin Elicker said "multiple city departments" are working on addressing public safety and traffic safety concerns in the area. He said it's "understandably terrifying for a shooting to take place near your home, especially when you have a young child there."

Elicker said that when zoning inspectors visited the property in February, inspectors were "not able to determine if any activities at the home were commercial in nature," but city officials have now reached out to the Connecticut State Department of Motor Vehicles "for their assistance to assess potential enforcement actions."

Elicker said the bollards at the end of Lewis Street had been temporary.

"More reliable, long-term delineators are scheduled to be installed in the coming weeks, and other traffic calming measures are being explored as well," he said.
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The family of Dalaneo Martin, the 17-year-old fatally shot by a U.S. Park Police officer last weekend, led a march and vigil late Sunday afternoon, saying the teen had been choked before being struck by six bullets and calling for body-camera footage to be released.

"Six shots in the back! How do you explain that?" a crowd that included Martin's infant son, Jordan, and the boy's mother chanted as they marched and rode motorcycles through the Northeast Washington, D.C., neighborhood where the shooting took place. The event lasted several hours.

Several family members spoke at a news conference after the march. Then, they held a candlelight vigil.

A Park Police officer fatally shot Martin on March 18, after a sequence of events that has led to questions from community members and policing experts. At the vigil, Andrew O. Clarke, an attorney for Martin's family, shared what he said were new details about the shooting, saying his firm had talked to a witness.

Washington, D.C., police, who are investigating the killing, have said that officers responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle at 8:51 a.m. found Martin was sitting asleep in a running car in the 3400 block of Baker Street NE.

A D.C. police officer ran the car's tags, determined it was stolen, and called for backup. More D.C. police officers came to the scene, and two Park Police officers also arrived and approached the car.

About 40 minutes after the initial call, police tried to remove Martin from the car, according to an update D.C. police released Friday. Police said Martin resisted.

One of the Park Police officers, who has not been publicly identified, climbed into the back seat of the car. Police said Martin had waked up and began to drive away with the officer inside. Park Police have said the officer was "trapped" and told Martin to stop before shooting him.

Clarke said the witness, whom he did not identify, described seeing the officer choke Martin after getting into the car. The officer fired six shots into Martin's back, Clarke said, citing the witness and a medical examiner's autopsy report.

Clarke said his office issued a news release about the witness's account but didn't hear from police. A spokesman for the Park Police referred questions to D.C. police, who did not respond to a request for comment Sunday about Clarke's account.

After the shooting, the car crashed into a house around the corner from where police had first found it. No one in the home was hurt.

D.C. police said a gun was found in the car. They released a photo of it on Friday.

Although the Park Police officer who got into the car was wearing a body camera, it is unclear whether the body-camera footage will ever be publicly released.

D.C. law requires city police to release footage within five business days of a serious use of force. But there are no regulations that mandate that the Park Police do the same. The federal agency has referred a request for the footage to the Freedom of Information Act office of the National Park Service.

The chairman of the Park Police's union has said that "there was a lawful reason" for the officer to be in the back seat of the car and supports the footage being released.

The family called Sunday for a U.S. Justice Department investigation into the incident, saying they don't trust local police to handle an investigation after several recent incidents in which a Black man was killed at the hands of a police officer.

Participants in Sunday afternoon's march held signs with pictures of Martin while chanting "No justice, no peace!" as drivers honked their horns to show their support.

Martin's attorneys and his family did not dispute the possibility that the car was stolen. But, they said, it wasn't worth killing anyone over it.

"Why wasn't a Taser deployed?" Terra Martin, Dalaneo's mother, said at the news conference, held in front of the brick bungalow home where the car had crashed after the shooting.

Several other family members also expressed their anger, often in tears.

"How do you shoot someone in the back six times in the back and say it's justifiable?" Terra Martin said.

Before the group began their vigil, Martin described her son as "goofy" and fun-loving. She said he had grown more responsible after his son was born.

She had last talked to him via FaceTime the night before the shooting. He told her that he was on his way to retrieve his son.

"He tried to change his life," she said.
Relief efforts in parts of Mississippi and Alabama are underway after powerful tornadoes cut a destructive 100-mile path late Friday, killing at least 26 people and leaving dozens more injured. The storm left mobile homes in the west-central Mississippi town of Rolling Fork mangled or entirely flattened. Buildings in the hardest-hit towns were reduced to rubble, and the tornadoes ruptured electrical, gas and water lines throughout the region.

Local and national responses are already assembling to help survivors in what is expected to be a long recovery effort. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) issued a state of emergency Saturday for all counties affected by the tornadoes.

"The resulting conditions continue to threaten the life and safety of the residents of the impacted areas of the state, as well as their property," the proclamation reads.

Local first responders and aid groups have cautioned that the areas hit by the tornadoes remain hazardous and urged people not to drive to the affected towns, including Rolling Fork, which have been blocked off by police.

The United Way of West Central Mississippi on Saturday said the various needs of affected residents will be met in stages, with water and financial support being the most urgent as residents face a long road to recovery.

Shelters were opened in Mississippi for people forced from their homes by the tornadoes in Sharkey, Monroe and Humphreys counties. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) said on Twitter that it has set up three locations for residents to receive food and shelter. The agency on Sunday tweeted instructions for individual FEMA assistance, saying people affected by the storms can visit disasterassistance.gov, call 800-621-3362 or download the FEMA app.

Here's how you can help:

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The United Way WCM is accepting water donations from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday in the coming week at its South Street location in Vicksburg.

Separate bottled water donations are also being accepted at the armory at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds in Jackson.

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Donors can give money via the United Way WCM online or in person at the organization's Vicksburg office.

"This will be a long-term recovery effort, and we need to be able to provide the necessary funds for these families to become whole again," Michele Connelly, executive director at United Way WCM, said in a Facebook Live interview with the Vicksburg Daily News.

Carlotta Ferguson, the financial director, said the organization can accept cash and checks at its Vicksburg office, and donations can also be made via an online portal. Donors should write "Rolling Fork relief" in the donation notes; 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the community, according to United Way.

GoFundMe has also verified several fundraisers, including one for Rolling Fork and Sharkey County businesses and people; students delivering water to affected communities; and the family of Ethan Herndon and his daughter Riley, who were killed in their home in Wren, Miss.

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The Mississippi Department of Public Safety has partnered with the state's Agriculture Department and MEMA to collect bottled water, canned goods and paper products at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds.

Water and food donations are also being accepted at the Rolling Fork Civic Center, according to MEMA.

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Volunteer Mississippi, a state volunteer commission, asked people to check on their neighbors but not to go out looking to help until emergency responders are done with their work. The organization will post volunteer opportunities online, and MEMA said volunteers would be matched with groups on the ground "when the time is right."

"Volunteer Mississippi is asking private citizens not to self-deploy. They will work to match unaffiliated volunteers with affiliated groups on the ground when the time is right," the agency said on Twitter.

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The Washington Post's Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff contributed to this report.
AP

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP)  The fiance of an art student who went missing nearly 12 years ago pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in her death during his initial court appearance Monday.

Bail was set at $1 million for John Carter, 34, of Hamilton, who was arrested Wednesday and remains in the Butler County Jail. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for April 4.
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TEL AVIV - The protests that have rocked Israel since January - the largest sustained mass demonstrations in the country's history - have been extraordinary not just in size but in composition.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have turned out to roar their objections to the right-wing government's plan to take greater control of the judiciary say they have never been regular protesters. They are teachers, tech workers, physicians and pensioners, now joining the multitudes in crowding bridges and closing highways. And almost all of them are waving Israeli flags, formally a hallmark of right-wing marches.

Many come from the military and intelligence services, where public demonstrating is almost unheard of.

"I'm very careful with the word 'unprecedented,' because most of the time in Israel there is a precedent," said Dahlia Scheindlin, a Tel Aviv-based pollster and campaign consultant. "Not this time."

The judicial overhaul would give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition of ultra-Orthodox and nationalist settler parties more power to pick judges and override Supreme Court decisions.

The Washington Post spoke with protesters in Tel Aviv on Thursday to find out why they were in the streets.

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Tahel Ilan Ber, 35

Tahel Ilan Ber manages a biogenetics company in the coastal city of Herzliya, part of the explosion of tech innovation that has turbocharged Israel's reputation as the "start-up nation." But she grew up in Jerusalem, a center of ultra-Orthodox life, and is attuned to the widening split between religious and secular Israelis.

As the country's right wing has gained influence, Ilan Ber has become more worried about the growing dominance of fundamentalism in public life.

"We have political parties that prohibit women from running as candidates," she said.

Already, many communities won't allow public transportation to operate on the Saturday sabbath, and some venues won't allow men and women to attend events together.

The push to limit the Supreme Court's ability to curb the government would embolden the religious parties in the coalition to go further, she said. She doesn't want her children to grow up in a "theocratic" state.

"People from the high-tech world did not used to do this," she said of the mass protest. "But I want my daughter to be able to go to the same beach as her brothers."

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Batya Amir, 62

Batya Amir is a teacher in Kfar Saba, a town in central Israel. She immigrated three decades ago from Germany, where she was among those who stood on the Berlin Wall when it came down in 1989. She has seen a society split in two.

"The East Germans told us there would be no barrier, and then days later they rolled out the barbed wire and there was a wall," Amir said. "I feel like that is happening here. It's like suddenly we are two countries."

Her normally placid town has been unnerved by the government's push to weaken the courts. Some of her neighbors are thinking of leaving the country.

Amir has protested every week since the movement began in the hopes of preventing a wider schism.

"We are not sleeping well," she said. "I want to be here. I'm Jewish, and I love this country."

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David Shalita, 79

David Shalita has the Israeli flag draped over his shoulders. He's one of thousands of protesters wearing or waving the national banner - so many they shimmer like a blue-and-white layer of clouds over the crowd.

"This is the symbol of everybody, not only the right wing," said Shalita, a retired animated-film maker who lives in the ancient port city of Jaffa.

Shalita normally feels no need to display his patriotism. He was an active-duty and reserve soldier for more than 25 years and a paratrooper in the Golan Heights in 1968. He and his wife, Brava, have come out to demonstrate weekly, sometimes more, because he fears for the democracy that he defended with his life.

All three of their sons have long careers in the military, and all have publicly opposed the judicial overhaul. His only daughter married into an Orthodox family and moved to Jerusalem.

They remain close, he said, but "now we don't discuss politics."

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Asaf Guttman, 24

Before the announcement of the judicial overhaul three months ago, Asaf Guttman's closest experience with demonstrating had been participating in a gay pride parade. But now he's out on the streets several times a week, calling to stop the judicial overhaul that he fears will remove protections for minorities, including his LGBTQ community.

"I'm terrified of an Israel in which a small majority will be able to cancel all of our rights," he said. "It would be a kind of Roe v. Wade overturn that happened in the U.S., but on steroids here in Israel."

Guttman, 24, comes from a right-wing, religious family in Maalot, a northern Israeli town, where he says intolerance has been growing. In the schools, he said, they are teaching "that coming out of the closet is not legitimate. . . . If this reform passes, that is the direction this country is going in."

A graduate of the elite 8200 military intelligence unit who now works as a data security expert for one of Tel Aviv's lucrative tech companies, he says he might leave Israel if the overhaul passes. Many of his friends already have.

"It's either this," he said of his decision to fight the judicial overhaul, "or Canada."

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Eyal Ratzkovsky, 15

Eyal Ratzkovsky has bigger things on his mind than homework and high school. He identifies as a Zionist who loves Israel, but thinks far-right settlers wield outsize power in the government, threatening to aggravate Israel's military occupation of the West Bank.

He said that the recent Knesset decision to legitimize several key settlement outposts in the northern West Bank will embolden other settlers to build there and increase violent tensions with the Palestinians.

"It will become hell," said Ratzkovsky.

He is still deliberating whether he will serve in the army when he reaches age 18, a requirement for all Jewish Israelis. He has fought for years against the occupation, he said, and fears the new legislation could make it worse.

"It will be bad for everyone," he said. "They will bring the tactics of the West Bank here, so that we won't even be able to fight it."

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Yedid Ben Zakai, 19

Yedid Ben Zakai received a deferral on his mandatory military service to study Torah in a yeshiva in the southern Israeli city of Dimona, where many of his family and friends support the judicial overhaul. But he is disturbed by the deep social divisions it has caused.

"It hurts me to know that it hurts so many people in the country," he said. "But the Supreme Court has not acted right, for example, on issues of terrorism, they let them off too easily. The courts are left-wing, it seems."

He said that he viewed the Supreme Court as an elite minority group. But he also admits that he doesn't understand what the overhaul is about, or what its impact will be on Israel.

"I'm here to start a conversation, to prevent the schism from getting even bigger," he said. "I don't want to think about civil war. That's a thought that's too scary for me."
David Zalubowski/AP

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP)  More relatives of people shot to death at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 are suing gun-maker Sturm, Ruger & Co. over how it marketed the firearm used in the massacre, adding to litigation first filed earlier this month against the company.

The lawsuit by relatives of five of the 10 people killed in Boulder was served on the company Thursday and is expected to be filed this week in Superior Court in Stamford, Connecticut, according to Andrew Garza, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. The son of a sixth victim sued the company on March 14.
The co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise spoke out Monday when the "epidemic of violence" continued with a school shooting in Tennessee.

A woman wielding two assault-style rifles, a pistol and "significant ammunition" killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, according to authorities. The suspect also died after being shot by police.

The violence occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade.

The killings come as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first-grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

Sandy Hook Promise co-founder and CEO Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son Dylan was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012, called for action as another community is "traumatized by gun violence."

Our hearts are heavy for the families and friends of the victims of this latest school shooting at Covenant School. Once again, parents are living the nightmare of sending their children to school never to have them come home," Hockley said in a statement. "I know that horror and that grief  it never ends. Another community, and our country along with them, has been traumatized by gun violence."

Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance, another organization formed in the wake of Sandy Hook, also spoke up in support of change.

Our hearts are with the Nashville families and their community, and we make a commitment to continue to fight for the assault weapons ban legislation to end the cycle of deadly school shootings in the U.S.," she said in a statement.

Police initially said the shooter appeared to be in her teens, but later identified her as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, of Nashville.

The Nashville victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Other students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

Police officers with rifles, heavy vests and helmets could be seen walking through the school parking lot and around the grassy perimeter of the building Monday morning.

In addition to advocates like Hockley and Murray, Connecticut lawmakers also condemned the shooting.

"Children dead & gravely injured. Casualties of gunfire. My heart is with the Covenant School community," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote on Twitter.

"Congress can help stop this senseless violence  now," he wrote. "Our thoughts & prayers are not enough."

His remarks were echoed by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd District), who called the shooting "heartbreaking."

"This is all too common  parents, families, and communities are left devastated on a daily basis in this country as a result of rapid gun violence," DeLauro wrote on Twitter. "We can and must enact legislation that saves lives no matter how long it takes."

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy reflected on the scars survivors of the shooting will bear.

"Today's shooting is uniquely cataclysmic for the families of the kids and teachers who died," he wrote on Twitter.

"But let's not delude ourselves. Every kid and adult in that school is a victim. Most of them will experience life-altering trauma that we can never understand and will never go away."

Rep. John Larson (D-1st District) invoked Sandy Hook in his remarks on the shooting.

"It's devastating to once again hear of the lives of innocent children & staff lost at a school to senseless gun violence," Larson wrote on Twitter. "In CT, we know all too well the pain these shootings inflict on families & communities, more than a decade after 26 lives were stolen from us at Sandy Hook.

Larson also noted that more than 100 mass shooting have already occurred in 2023 so far.

"It is regretful that our society has grown numb to the pain of these tragedies, as they have quickly become the norm when we turn on the news  and to think  our children pay the price," he wrote.

In accordance with a proclamation by President Joe Biden, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday night that U.S. and state flags throughout Connecticut would be lowered to half-staff "as a mark of solemn respect" for the victims of the shooting.

The flags will be raised after sunset Friday, according to Lamont.

I am sickened and heartbroken by another mass shooting at a school by a person with assault weapons, Lamont said in a statement. Our elected leaders in Congress have become too complacent and comfortable with doing nothing to protect Americans from this epidemic of gun violence. The overwhelming majority of Americans support meaningful reforms on gun violence prevention and it is far past time that Congress acts.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website. The school is located in the affluent Green Hill neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, situated close to the cities top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and songwriters.

The grade school has 33 teachers, the website said. The schools website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

Nashville police said Hale drove a Honda Fit to the Covenant campus Monday morning before embarking on the shooting spree. Photos shared by police on Facebook show the dark gray Honda bore a number of bumper stickers, including one reading "THRASHER" in letters stylized to resemble flames. Detectives conducting a search of the car "found additional material written by Hale," police said without elaborating on the nature of the material.

When authorities began to arrive on scene, Hale fired at police vehicles from a second-story window, according to police. Based on the photos, at least one cruiser was hit by a bullet, shattering a section of the front windshield.

The students killed in Monday's shooting were identified by police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. Three adults, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61, also died, police said. Koonce's profile on the Covenant School website lists her as the head of school.

My heart has broken so many times in the last 10 years  there is nothing but tattered remains," Hockley said in the Sandy Hook Promise statement. "And every day, there are more people like me. As my heart dies, my anger grows at cowards and profiteers who stand in the way of protecting children from gun violence. We all can, and must, do more.

Democratic Tennessee state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy.

I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there, Freeman said in a statement. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.

This story includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina attend a signing ceremony of a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations after their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 26. Xinhua-Yonhap



Honduras established diplomatic ties with China on Sunday after breaking off relations with Taiwan, which is increasingly isolated and now recognized by only 13 sovereign states.



Foreign ministers from China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing  a decision the Chinese Foreign Ministry hailed as "the right choice."



The diplomatic victory for China comes as tensions rise between Beijing and the United States, including over China's increasing assertiveness toward self-ruled Taiwan, and signals growing Chinese influence in Latin America. The new China-Honduras relationship was announced after the Honduran and Taiwanese governments made separate announcements that they were severing ties.



China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions to win recognition for its "one China" policy.



China claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and refuses most contacts with countries that maintain formal ties with the island democracy. It threatens retaliation against countries merely for increasing contacts.



China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the establishment of ties proved that adhering to "one China" policy is winning people's hearts and is "the general trend."



"We inform sternly the Taiwan authorities that engaging in separatist activities for Taiwan independence is against the will and interests of the Chinese nation and against the trend of history, and is doomed to a dead end," he said.



The Honduran Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Twitter that its government recognizes "only one China in the world" and that Beijing "is the only legitimate government that represents all of China."



It added that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan."



Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told a news conference Sunday that Taiwan had ended its relations with Honduras to "safeguard its sovereignty and dignity."



Wu said that Honduran President Xiomara Castro and her team always had a "fantasy" about China and had raised the issue of switching ties before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021. Relations between Taiwan and Honduras were once stable, he said, but China had not stopped luring Honduras.



Honduras had asked Taiwan for billions of dollars of aid and compared its proposals with China's, Wu said. About two weeks ago, the Honduran government sought $2.45 billion from Taiwan to build a hospital and a dam, and to write off debts, he added.



"The Castro government dismissed our nation's longstanding assistance and relations and carried out talks to form diplomatic ties with China. Our government feels pained and regretful," he said.



Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said her government would not "engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China."





Taiwan's marine corps personnel lower Taiwan's national flag from the roof of Taiwan's Embassy in Tegucigalpa, March 26. AFP-Yonhap
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BOSTON (AP)  The stalled effort to come up with alternatives to the Massachusetts state motto and seal, condemned as racist by many for its depiction of the state's Indigenous peoples, is regaining momentum.

The panel that was established in 2021 by the state Legislature to review and suggest changes missed its deadline at the end of last year and sought an extension. Lawmakers on Thursday gave it until Nov. 15 to finish its work and forward its recommendations to the Legislature, which would have to approve any changes.

Were grateful for the Legislatures support and ready to get back to work, said Brian Boyles, co-chair of the 19-member Special Commission on the Official Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth.

The extension was included in a $1.1 billion supplemental budget approved by the Legislature, which still awaits Democratic Gov. Maura Healeys signature. A spokesperson for the governor's office says it is under review.

The current seal, which dates to the late 19th century, features a depiction of a Native American man beneath a disembodied arm holding a sword that critics say is a reference to English colonists cruelty to local tribes centuries ago.

It's everywhere. It's on the state flag, on multiple prominent places around the Statehouse, on the shoulder patches of state police troopers, and countless other places.

The states Latin motto that translates to, By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty, dates to about 1659 and is attributed to English politician Algernon Sydney, according to the secretary of states office. It too has been condemned because it does not represent the experiences of Indigenous peoples, who were often denied peace and liberty in Colonial times.

There have been efforts to change the state seal for decades. But the latest effort started in early 2021 with the creation of the commission, which is made up of lawmakers, representatives of local tribes, historians and others.

Jean-Luc Pierite, president of the Board of Directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston, a group pushing for changes to the seal and motto, said Friday that the pace of the panel's progress has been frustrating at times. But he said he is heartened by the deadline extension.

This is a move in a positive direction in terms of getting the job done," said Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana. There has been so much work, just not by the commission itself, but from the many people who have pushed for this for 35 years. All that work should be dignified by the conclusion of the process."

He pointed to Mississippi, which changed its state flag within a matter of months. Lawmakers there voted to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the flag in June 2020, and voters approved a new design in November 2020.

The comparison to Mississippi is not entirely fair, said Boyles, the executive director of the nonprofit Mass Humanities.

That seal is everywhere you look in Massachusetts," he said. Whats absent is an acknowledgement of a long history of violence and marginalization of Indigenous people. And in that way, I think Massachusetts is probably behind where Mississippi was when it came to the acknowledgement of enslavement."

Brittney Peauwe Wunnepog Walley, co-vice chair of the commission and a member of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc tribe, justified the amount of time the commission has taken so far.

This is really deep work, and anything worth doing is worth doing right, and doing this right is going to take a lot of time, she said recently. Theres a lot of complex things going into this, as far as thinking through the layers: Why are we changing it? What are we changing it too?' There are so many questions."

The commission, which approved a motion to create a new design for the seal and motto at a May meeting, has made some progress.

In an interim report to the Legislature late last year, it suggested that a new design for the seal should include symbols or elements from nature that might better reflect the state, which could include native plants or animals, such as cranberries or a chickadee, geographic or nautical references, or another significant symbol such as a mayflower blossom.

The motto meanwhile should include aspirational terms, such as equality, liberty, peace and hope, and be easier to understand, the interim report said.

Now that the deadline has been extended, one of the commission's top priorities will be gathering public input, Boyles said.
CHRISNEY, Ind. (AP)  Human remains found by hunters in far southern Indiana have been identified as those of a local man who was 40 when he vanished in 2018, state police said.

Two hunters who were searching for deer antlers alerted authorities Saturday that they had discovered skeletal remains they believed were human in Spencer County near the small town of Chrisney.
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Correction: A previous version of this article said that Middletown Public Schools in Connecticut bought software to aid in its document searches. In fact, the school system's lawyers acquired the software. The article also incorrectly stated that the Rochester district received FOIA requests. It received Michigan Freedom of Information Act requests. The article has been corrected.

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One Virginia school district added half a million dollars to its budget just to process public records requests. In the span of 90 days this school year, an Arkansas district received 100 such requests that cost nearly $20,000 and 400 hours of staff labor to fill.

And in Minnesota's Owatonna Public Schools, the 61-year-old director of human resources is still plowing her way through a request from the citizens' group United Patriots for Accountability, which in summer 2021 sought all school communications and records that mentioned 19 phrases including "Black Lives Matter," "institutional racism" and "Whiteness." That request has already consumed $165,000 of the district's money and, director of human resources Chris Picha estimates, 2,200 hours of staff time, much of it drawn from her own weekends and holidays. She has generated approximately 170,000 pages of records and guesses it will take another year to complete the request.

"I am very tired," she said. "I almost want to vomit when I hear the word 'redaction.'"

School districts across the nation are facing a mounting pile of increasingly complex records requests from parents, community members or attorneys representing education advocacy groups - all of whom say they want greater transparency about how local children are educated. The requests are expansive, with filers seeking hundreds of thousands of pages of school emails, lesson plans and other internal documents, all of which must be carefully reviewed for student and employee personal information in compliance with federal privacy laws. School leaders warn that resources are being diverted away from students' academic needs at the exact instant America is facing dropping test scores, a teen mental health crisis and a teacher shortage.

The spike in interest in school records began during the coronavirus pandemic, when citizens sought information on topics such as masking policies or district spending on safety measures. Since then, the focus has shifted to curriculum documentation or the contents of emails between school board members, as concerns have spread nationwide over what public schools are teaching about race, gender and sexual orientation.

"This has now become a sort of tool of choice for interrogating controversial school district policies," said Margaret Kwoka, a professor at Ohio State University who studies Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and transparency laws.

There is no national database tracking the number of public records requests sent to schools. Still, one company that offers request processing software, Granicus, said it has seen a 62 percent increase in the number of K-12 school districts signing up for its product since 2020. Granicus serves more than 700 state, county and municipal governments and schools nationwide. School board associations or heads of state public records associations in at least eight states - Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, Arizona, Colorado and Minnesota - also reported an uptick.

Some parents and freedom of information advocates said school districts have long needed to devote more resources to handling records requests so mothers, fathers and taxpayers can better understand their public schools.

"I like to see more citizen engagement," said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. "To the extent that these people are demanding answers and wanting to know how things work in their local school district, I think that is a good thing."

Carol Beth Litkouhi, a parent in Michigan's Rochester Community Schools, wound up taking her district to court over what she called its refusal to provide public records she requested related to a class on ethnic and gender studies. Litkouhi grew concerned about the course when she saw a teacher's post on social media that suggested to Litkouhi the class materials "were all coming from one side of the political spectrum," she said, refusing to specify which side.

But over the course of six months and a half-dozen Michigan Freedom of Information Act requests, the district declined to share the list of class readings and assignments Litkouhi had asked for, she said, leading her to sue. In the interim, she also ran for school board, in part campaigning to make the district more "transparent and forthcoming about what is being taught to students," as she wrote in a Facebook post from her candidate page.

In an emailed statement, a district spokeswoman said "Rochester Community Schools has been completely transparent and has provided the plaintiff with hundreds of pages of documents in response to the plaintiff's several FOIA requests."

Litkouhi won the school board seat but lost her lawsuit.

"I believe nothing in our schools should be kept a secret," Litkouhi said. "We live in a free society, we should be allowed to see what is going on."

The influx of records requests is changing how schools operate.

In Fairfax County, the largest school division in Virginia, a surge of 258 records requests since the pandemic led to the hiring of a full-time FOIA analyst and the purchase of a document review platform, costing the school division $72,000 annually. In total, the district earmarked $500,000 of its 2023 budget for FOIA matters.

Neighboring Loudoun County recently asked five lawyers and communications staffers to take free online FOIA trainings - hoping to better manage the hundreds of record requests the district is facing, per spokesman Dan Adams. Queries in the district jumped from 31 in 2019, to 224 in 2020, to 554 in 2021 and 403 in 2022, Adams said. Most of the freshly trained staff, including Adams, must help manage records requests in addition to their primary roles.

"I have one right now where it's gonna take me about six hours to go through the 411 responsive records," Adams said. "That's almost a full day's work."

Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin school district, meanwhile, hired someone to review and redact documents, purchased a management system for data requests and asked two members of its legal team to spend up to 20 hours weekly providing guidance on how to handle inquiries. David Law, who served as superintendent of the district until this summer - when he took the top job in Minnetonka - estimates Anoka-Hennepin spent a quarter of a million dollars responding to data requests in the last three years: "We didn't have enough people to keep teachers in front of kids, so allocating resources someplace else was really frustrating."

Law said the district saw 145 requests between spring of 2020 and his departure, compared to a dozen the year before the pandemic hit. The stream never lessened, he said, though the focus shifted: from pandemic masking requirements to any email using the word "race" (which pulled in thousands of messages about swim and track competitions) to, most recently, queries about specific school employees.

"It was, 'I want every email from Jane Smith that mentions the word equity,'" Law said. "We'd share those emails, then someone would come to the board and say, 'Fire Jane Smith' ... It was a distraction and not productive."

But others pointed to positives.

Kirk Schneidawind, executive director of the Minnesota School Boards Association, said school districts across his state have become well-versed in data privacy laws and best practices after sifting through records requests. Additionally, he said, many school boards are thinking about ways they can get ahead of records requests by making more information public at board meetings.

In Michigan's Rochester district, Litkouhi spearheaded an updated arrangement where all school board work sessions - not just the regular monthly meetings - are recorded and made available to the public.

"I'm trying to convince them to put our email addresses on the website," she said, "but there's been some resistance to that. So, it's baby steps."

State- and district-level anecdotes suggest that requests are not only increasing in number but getting more complex.

In Connecticut, school districts are seeing queries that "are generally very broad - not related to specific communications," said Patrice McCarthy, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. In Kentucky, requests are similarly "vaguely worded, seeking substantial information," said Josh Shoulta of that state's school board association.

And in Connecticut's Middletown Public Schools two years ago, parent David Booth filed a far-reaching records request after he grew concerned he wasn't getting the full picture regarding a district survey of parents' attitudes toward in-person learning. The district said parents preferred remote lessons, but this did not jibe with what Booth said he saw in Facebook groups, where parents seemed to favor face-to-face classes.

So Booth filed a request for "all emails to and from all Board of Education members from August 1, 2020 to February 17, 2021" - hoping, he said, to receive information on how the survey was conducted. The district told him his request would generate 30,000 pages of records at a cost of 50 cents per page - inspiring a months-long legal battle that ultimately led to the Middletown school system providing Booth with 11,500 emails free of charge 394 days after he made the initial request. (The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission found that the Middletown district had violated the "promptness provisions" of state FOIA laws, though it declined to impose penalties.)

School district spokeswoman Jessie Lavorgna called Booth's requested documents "an enormous number of emails" and noted that, for a long time, the district could dedicate only one employee to go through the pile of documents by hand, checking for any necessary redactions. Later, she said, the district engaged legal counsel to help, and the lawyers bought software to speed the process.

"Ultimately," Booth said, "I never received the exact information I was looking for. Which is sad."

Booth's style of information-seeking goes against best practices, said Jeffrey Roberts, president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. He said that narrower FOIA requests have a higher chance of success - especially since school officials face the added difficulty of removing students' personal information. (In many states, districts can charge a fee for documents that is equivalent to the pay staff received for the hours of time they spent filling the request.)

In Owatonna, the group of parents and residents who are seeking all school records related to 19 search terms took a thoughtful approach, said James Dickey, an attorney with Upper Midwest Law Center. Dickey's firm is representing United Patriots for Accountability pro bono in their efforts to seek files from the district.

He and his clients decided it would not be fruitful to ask for something specific like "all the documents that show you're teaching critical race theory" - a college-level academic framework that inspects systemic racism in the United States and which has become a right-wing catchall for education on race that they view as politically motivated.

"The answer was going to be 'We don't have it,' as they interpret what 'critical race theory' means different from a lot of parents," Dickey said. So his firm broadened the request: "We used key words that are commonly used buzzwords in educational circles that would ... lead to the discovery of what is being taught on these divisive concepts."

Dickey said his clients have seen mixed results. Some of the documents turned over revealed the district offered an elective for high school students devoted to critical race theory, he said. District spokeswoman Lori Buegler confirmed that Minnesota State University at Mankato "offered a College in the Schools course entitled 'Critical Race Theory' at Owatonna High School one time, during spring semester of 2021," and that 18 juniors and seniors took the class.

But other documents have been so heavily redacted as to become unintelligible, Dickey said. He said his firm is considering suing if the excessive redaction continues.

"Our clients have no intent to add a burden to the school district," Dickey said. "But they think it's important to know what is going on."
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COLORADO SPRINGS - Chris Burns tore the AR-15 out of his patrol cruiser, wrapping the rifle sling around his body, feeling he might be forced to shoot a man for the first time in more than two decades as a police officer.

He was training his weapon on a suspect who had leaped from a wrecked stolen car and appeared to be carrying a tactical rifle of his own. The man had stopped outside a car parked at a gas station fuel pump. Burns didn't know if anyone was inside the vehicle.

For Burns, it was the nightmare scenario: Hefting the weapon of war he'd started carrying after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, hoping for a fighting chance as he confronted a suspect, knowing the bullet-resistant vests he and his fellow officers were wearing would fail if the man sent a fusillade of high-speed bullets their way.

"We might as well have been naked," he said, recalling that crisp day in April 2021.

Police departments that once deferred to SWAT teams wielding military-style rifles for active-shooter situations have in recent years started equipping the rank and file with AR-15s and other long guns, as those weapons have flooded neighborhoods and communities.

Many officers welcomed the change, some even buying their own AR-15s and using them for sport or hunting when not on duty. But police often say they still feel outgunned and ill-prepared - struggling to balance demands that they avoid using force against the knowledge that at any moment they could be called to stop a mass killing in progress.

Those potentially conflicting impulses reflect a policing paradox deepened by America's obsession with the AR-15: The weapon can, depending on the circumstances, be an officer's greatest threat or a potentially lifesaving tool.

"Police academies often aren't well equipped to train with long guns," said Pete Kraska, a professor of justice studies at Eastern Kentucky University who studies police militarization. Years ago, he argued that law enforcement agencies were adding tactical weapons unnecessarily. But with both mass killings and open-carry laws on the rise, he said, "It's now a credible argument to say we have to engage in an arms race because we're outgunned."

The dilemma has emerged as a critical factor in last year's mass killing at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., according to a recent Texas Tribune investigation, which found police waited more than an hour before confronting the gunman because they feared they lacked the firepower to compete with him. And it looms large every day in Colorado, where open carry is generally legal, many law enforcement agencies have resisted taking guns from risky people, and the map is peppered with the names of towns and cities where mass killings have occurred.

An independent 2022 assessment of the Colorado Springs Police Department's use of force, commissioned by the city, revealed that more than 8 in 10 officers surveyed said their training on the use of force and how to de-escalate was inadequate, and more than 9 in 10 officers said they needed more training on when to use their firearms.

The police department declined to comment on the survey results, and Police Chief Adrian Vasquez declined an interview request.

"Almost everyone going through the academy has never been punched in the mouth," Burns said in an interview. "They're resorting to their Taser and their gun. . . . You end up with a lot of young, inexperienced police officers cutting their teeth in these really dangerous situations."

Burns, a training officer, hostage negotiator and former Iraq War helicopter pilot, was no stranger to the risks of confronting heavily armed suspects by the time he arrived on the scene of that 2021 incident at the Colorado Springs gas station.

Six years earlier, he had responded to a shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood, engaging in a five-hour standoff with the suspect before the SWAT team intervened and arrested him.

At the gas station incident, the suspect facing Burns was a 37-year-old man named Richard Quintana, who had been ordered more than 70 times to drop the weapon, a prosecutor would later say.

The muzzle of Quintana's weapon was under his chin, and it was unclear whether people were inside the car he stood next to. As Burns pondered his options, it was also unclear how skilled Quintana was with a military-style weapon - and whether Burns's own training had prepared him for this moment. The department requires 40 hours of training to carry the rifle and an annual qualifying exam.

"The average gun owner has trained more hours with their AR-15 than a cop has," Burns said.

- - -

An arms race for police

Police departments' shift toward tactical weapons began in the wake of two American tragedies, a 1997 bank robbery in North Hollywood, Calif., where police officers equipped only with pistols and shotguns commandeered AR-15s and other weapons from a nearby gun store to match the robbers' firepower, and the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which police waited more than 40 minutes to enter the school.

"That was the sounding alarm for the police community," Kraska said of the North Hollywood shooting. "Police culture is extremely steeped in a fear of victimization, and this incident accelerates that. It ends up creating a militarized set of assumptions in thinking and gear in everyday policing. It's a very slippery slope to go from policing a civilian population to policing the enemy."

In department after department, pistols and rifles with more ammunition and velocity replaced six-shooters and shotguns. Patrol officers and detectives were trained to pursue and confront active shooters immediately, without waiting for backup. Agencies across the country began requiring officers to wear body armor and buying up military-grade weapons and equipment, especially after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I don't hear officers saying we don't need these weapons. The street officer is saying, 'I need a more efficient sling. I need a better optic,'" said Rob Pincus, a firearms trainer and former sheriff's deputy based in Colorado. "If the bad guys have these guns, we need them too."

Gary Darress, another longtime Colorado Springs police officer and friend of Burns, was issued a six-round Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 revolver when he began his law enforcement career in 1985. The department later transitioned from revolvers to semiautomatic pistols, "because criminals got their hands on semi-autos," Darress said.

That transition was manageable. The tactical rifle era, he says, was something else.

"It's urban warfare," Darress said. "Psychologically, when people have all this armament, that changes who you are and that changes your response to calls."

Darress was issued his own AR-15 to carry in the car in 2008, but he didn't tinker with it the way other officers do, customizing every aspect of the gun from the sling to the sight. Asked why, he said the gun was fine as it was. He leaned on what had already carried him through more than 20 years in policing - ever-evolving de-escalation techniques.

But the environment evolved too, with more and more residents openly and legally carrying pistols and rifles. In 2011, the Colorado Springs Police Department responded by telling dispatchers and patrol officers that simply seeing a person with a gun should not automatically prompt a police response. Instead, emergency operators were instructed to ask callers whether the armed person was acting erratically or unlawfully. If the answer was no, officers would probably stand down.

"Obviously, the problem is that when the open-carrying citizen is on their way to commit a crime," Burns said dryly, "we have limited our ability to respond quickly."

Colorado Springs saw the worst-case scenario unfold four years later, on Halloween 2015. A 911 caller told an emergency response technician that a man was walking downtown with a long gun and a gas can. Police assigned the call a low priority.

Soon, Noah Harpham began executing people with an AR-15-style rifle called the DPMS Classic 16.

Darress was a mile away, using the restroom. He sped to the scene, pulling up across the street from Harpham and a fast-food restaurant.

By that time, the gunman had killed three people.

Darress unholstered his pistol - he didn't have time to grab his rifle, he said - and took cover behind his open driver's side door, even though he knew it offered no practical defense against Harpham's weapon.

But as Harpham began firing at him, Darress found he couldn't pull the trigger.

"A voice tells me don't shoot, because I'm facing a Wendy's," Darress said. "I pray to God that I'm a good shot. But one shot flies off to the left or right, and I'm going to shoot somebody in Wendy's."

Harpham fired eight times in the direction of Darress, who hit the ground and crawled behind his vehicle. Eventually, another Colorado Springs police officer, Randall Scott Hallas, flanked Harpham and shot him to death.

The mass shooting, followed by the Planned Parenthood attack a month later that killed one police officer and injured five other officers, contributed to an exodus from the city police department that year. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that 52 officers left in 2015, with most departing after less than two years on the job and some citing the rising tide of violence in their resignation letters.

Many officers who stayed prepared for war, Darress and Burns said, with many buying their own rifles and customizing them to the scenarios they imagined they might encounter.

"When I started, I think human beings were much more able to do the job of law enforcement," Darress said. "I don't think people are designed for the intensity of law enforcement today."

- - -

Policing's political divide

The Colorado Springs department issued Burns his first AR-15 in the mid-2000s, without any modifications, he said. Then he responded to a call of shots fired in the dead of night and realized he needed a flashlight mounted to the gun rail.

He bought his own AR-15 in 2008, equipping it with the rail light, a non-magnified red dot sight, and a handle with a tripod for mounting the gun on surfaces, such as the hood of a car. The whole package cost about $1,200, he said.

Burns kept the weapon in his car, between the driver's seat and the passenger seat. Until two years ago, he had responded to several calls with it but never fired it while on patrol.

By 2021, on-the-job frustrations were mounting, he said. Among them: Too many men carrying guns illegally had entered the back of Burns's patrol car in handcuffs and walked out of El Paso County courts with a slap on the wrist, he said.

"Weapons violations are not severely prosecuted here," Burns said. "Very often, if there's no serious injury, it's 'no harm, no foul.' Now a felon doesn't care if they get caught because the most they'll get is probation."

The district attorney's office for Colorado's 4th Judicial District, which covers El Paso and Teller counties, said it filed 236 charges of possession of a weapon by a previous offender against adults in 2022, down from 412 in 2021 and 449 the previous year.

"If the legislature wants to make serious changes with gun crimes - they can raise the level for previous offenders and make mandatory prison for offenders committing a crime with a weapon," District Attorney Michael J. Allen said in an emailed statement.

An October report by the Common Sense Institute, a conservative think tank, blamed Colorado's rising crime rates on changes in state law that it said had reduced the prison and parole populations.

While the police community says it's hamstrung by the legislature, gun-control advocates across the state disagree. They say law enforcement agencies aren't using measures available to them to reduce violent crime.

One such measure is a red-flag law passed in 2019, a year and a half after a Douglas County sheriff's deputy was killed by a former Iraq War combat medic wielding an AR-15. Named after the slain law enforcement officer, the Deputy Zackari Parrish III Violence Prevention Act allows citizens and police departments to petition a judge to have a Colorado resident's weapons confiscated if the petitioner demonstrates that person is a danger to themselves or others.

Similar laws have been passed in 19 states and the District of Columbia, leading to more than 15,000 interventions since 2020, according to an Associated Press report from September. Opponents of gun restrictions say the laws open the door to unfair seizures.

Parrish's widow, Gracie Parrish Miller, said she considered the social backlash she would face for publicly backing a gun-control bill in suburban Colorado and chose to steer clear, despite the legislation bearing her late husband's name. Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock was the only Republican elected official in Colorado to vocally endorse the bill. For his support of the measure, he faced a bitter recall effort, which ultimately failed. Spurlock, who was term-limited, retired this year.

In neighboring El Paso County, Sheriff Bill Elder vowed that his department would not file any petitions under the new gun-seizure measure. And Elder kept his word until he left office in January, according to the sheriff's office.

Elder declined to be interviewed for this article. But he said in 2019 that the law failed to address what he believes is the real problem behind American gun violence - mental health. The statute named for the slain deputy, Elder told the Colorado Springs Gazette at the time, focused "on the tool instead of the crisis that brings the thing before the judge."

Burns said progressive initiatives in the legislature, including measures taken to increase use of personal recognizance bonds, and local law enforcement's hesitance to make use of some gun-control measures are being felt on the street.

"We've always been at full saturation with guns," Burns said. "Quite tragically, now we're seeing a lot of lawlessness around that."

More than 7,000 firearms have been stolen since 2017 in Colorado Springs alone, according to police department data, more than four times the rate of firearm thefts nationally, according to Justice Department statistics. One of those stolen guns, a pistol, was used to shoot a Colorado Springs officer in the head in 2018 - he survived.

The specter of his own death, or that of another officer, loomed for Burns as he confronted Quintana at the gas station nearly two years ago. Quintana reached for the door of the parked car, making Burns's decision easier.

Burns squeezed the trigger of his AR-15 twice.

The first 5.56 round wedged into a street curb 40 yards past Quintana. The second entered his belly, center mass.

As paramedics arrived, a fellow officer kicked aside Quintana's gun. Quintana died at a nearby hospital.

None of the officers had a second thought about the weapon until five days later, when investigators revealed it was not a rifle, as it appeared, but a realistic-looking toy gun designed to fire nonlethal plastic pellets.

The discovery stunned Burns. "It's a conundrum," he said. "The idea that you would make a kids' toy to look indistinguishable from a real gun is crazy."

- - -

'Too much responsibility'

Darress retired in 2020, five years after the mass shooting that ended outside the Wendy's in downtown Colorado Springs, and 34 years after becoming a police officer.

He began a new career as an Episcopal deacon ministering to the homeless and marginalized, following the example of his inspiration, St. Francis of Assisi, who is said to have kissed a leper and realized he had kissed the flesh of Jesus Christ.

Even now, he owns three guns, all pistols. He only keeps them for home protection and doesn't shoot them, or even carry them outside his house.

"It's too much responsibility," he said.

Burns retired in August, after 24 years.

He'd always prided himself on not becoming the officer who withdrew emotionally and policed aggressively. Then a man with a facsimile rifle at a gas station interrupted that peace.

Burns spent two weeks after killing Quintana twisting with his decision to shoot, waiting to find out if he'd be indicted. Lying awake in the early-morning hours, he replayed the standoff in his head, reminding himself that Quintana never pointed his gun at anyone.

The day Burns returned to duty he was rolling alone, left without a beat partner because of staff vacancies. He pulled up to the same cluster of businesses where he had encountered Quintana - an area where officers on patrol often discover stolen vehicles - picked up his binoculars and began running license plate numbers. Sure enough, the first plate he plugged into the computer belonged to a car that had been reported stolen.

He drove over and asked a woman to get out of the vehicle. Instead, she reached behind her seat.

"I was already at a 9 out of 10 stress level, being back there, and then when she did that I jumped to a 15," Burns said.

Palms sweating, heart racing, Burns watched in slow motion as the woman's hand returned empty. She eventually exited the vehicle and complied with commands.

"She was just being stupid," Burns said.

The district attorney cleared him of any wrongdoing in the Quintana shooting, saying Burns had a "reasonable belief" Quintana posed an "imminent danger" to the public. Fourteen months later he turned in his department-issued pistol and brought his AR-15 home for the last time. He still trains with it, but it stays locked up in his house when not at the range.

Some Fridays, he has lunch at a local restaurant with Darress and a rotating cast of long-toothed cops.

In September, Burns was honored at a Medal of Valor ceremony for the Colorado Springs Police Department. Wearing a black suit, he stood alongside a parade of honorees in dress blue uniforms who accepted awards for their handling of critical incidents in 2021.

The banquet featured body-camera footage for each of the award-winning interactions and interviews with officers. Burns's reel never mentioned that Quintana's gun was a fake.

Burns says he attends a left-leaning church, by Colorado Springs standards, where only a few members carry weapons in church. There's positive sentiment among the flock for a national assault weapons ban, he said. With a hitch:

"They don't want to give up their own. They say, 'Oh, no. I'm okay. I know what I'm doing.'"

- - -

About this report

Colt acquired the AR-15 patent and trademark from Armalite in 1959. The patent expired, leaving many companies to produce their own weapons, commonly called AR-style rifles. While Colt still holds the trademark, "AR-15" has become a ubiquitous term for a popular style of gas-operated, magazine-fed semiautomatic rifles. For this reason, we refer to the rifle broadly as the AR-15 in this series.
NEWPORT, Ore. - In an old industrial warehouse, Tiffany Rudek leaned into a chest-high tank. Using a laminated card, she gently pried a red-speckled sea star from the enclosure's bright blue walls.

The starfish was reluctant, clinging with its tiny, tubular feet. "It's delicate to move them," said Rudek, an aquarist at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Reaching underwater, she unstuck it for its own good.

It was bath time for the sick sea star.

This leather star, like many starfish species, is supposed to have five arms. This one has four. A tuft of pale, spongy tissue is all that is left where its limb came off.

"Sometimes animals need a little help," she said.

For the past decade, a mysterious illness has spread along the Pacific Coast, causing sea stars - more commonly known as starfish - to literally melt into goo. The outbreak has hit starfish from southern Alaska to Baja California in Mexico, decimating more than a dozen species. The ailment is so pervasive among the invertebrates in the region that even specimens in aquariums contract it. Some die within hours of showing symptoms.

No one is sure where the outbreak came from. And no one can agree on what exactly is causing it - whether the source is a virus, bacteria, a change in the environment or something else entirely.

But many biologists are sure of one thing: The disease, dubbed sea star wasting syndrome, threatens to drive some starfish to extinction and hints at deeper problems in Earth's seas. The U.S. government moved in mid-March to protect one of the hardest-hit species, the sunflower sea star, under the Endangered Species Act.

The disease isn't just a disaster for sea stars. The crash of starfish populations is poised to make climate change even worse for other creatures on Earth by upending ecosystems that are home to hundreds of other species and crucial for keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere. Without starfish to prey on them, hungry sea urchins are devouring huge underwater kelp jungles that store carbon.

Scientists call it the largest known outbreak of any disease among marine animals to date, killing billions of individual sea stars. Now animal handlers at the Oregon Coast Aquarium have developed what they say is a novel treatment for the syndrome, in the hopes of someday rescuing and restoring starfish numbers.

Bending over, Rudek scooped the red-speckled leather star into a clear bucket and swirled an inky concoction meant to kill parasites that prey on its weakened flesh.

Resting on the bottom of the bucket, the star splayed its four remaining limbs against the container's walls. The disinfected animal, Rudek said, was resting.

"It makes them feel better," she said. "They're like, 'Oh, thank goodness, all of this ick on my body is now gone.'"

It sounds like a horror movie.

The first symptoms seem mild. A sea star may look a little flattened. Not as puffy as it once was.

Then it will curl up, twisting one arm over another in a vain effort to protect itself from some phantom it cannot see.

As the wasting disease progresses, a sea star develops white, oozing lesions. Its arms detach from its body - and the zombie limbs walk away on their own to die. In the end, all that is left is a slimy pile of tiny bones and deteriorated flesh.

The outbreak was first identified in 2013 in Washington before scientists spotted melting stars up and down the coast. For a while, the epidemic appeared to spare Oregon. Then in early 2014, a visitor came into the Oregon Coast Aquarium in a panic.

"She said, 'I need a marine biologist,'" recalled Evonne Mochon Collura, a sea jelly specialist and assistant curator of fish and invertebrates. The resident saw a tide pool with a galaxy of gooey stars.

Doug Batson, a diver with the aquarium in Newport, confirmed their worst fears after seeing something akin to a crime scene while diving in the nearby Yaquina Bay that spring. "One arm totally in the middle of nowhere off by itself," he said. "And another arm a few feet away from that. And then another arm, like a breadcrumb trail."

Situated along the Yaquina River, Newport is a coastal fishing town of 10,000 that attracts seafood-loving tourists. Because the aquarium pumps in saltwater for its tanks, whatever agent is infecting sea stars outside could infiltrate the exhibits.

Staff soon spotted a small lesion on a starfish in the aquarium's touch pool where visitors can get a hands-on experience with sea life. "And we just went, 'Oh, it's here,'" Mochon Collura said.

At first, the aquarium tried treating its melting starfish with antibiotics. In some cases, the stars bounced back. In others, they got worse. "We were really having mixed success," Mochon Collura said. "You start looking for something else."

A self-described obsessive, Rudek began poring over papers on starfish biology. "I can't let it rest. If something is sick, I have to know what is wrong with it and I have to know what we can do for it."

The aquarium closed its doors to the public for five months near the start of the covid-19 pandemic. With the crowds at home dealing with their own disease outbreak, Rudek had more time to observe the sick sea stars.

She began asking herself and others at the aquarium: What if they treated starfish with wasting disease like someone with a cold, and gave them vitamins?

The aquarium's sea star quarantine center is a retrofitted warehouse tucked away from the public behind the 1.3-million-gallon deep-sea exhibit building that once housed Keiko, the orca from "Free Willy."

In the starfish tank were a group of four ochre sea stars pulled from exhibits after showing signs of wasting. A sick specimen from a tiny, ruby-red species called blood stars floated in a plastic pasta strainer. "He's little, and we didn't want the other stars to crawl over him," Rudek said.

A maze of pipes, pumps, filters and chillers loaded the water with calcium, magnesium and other minerals, a mixture that acts like a multivitamin supplement for the starfish. They also lower the water's temperature and acidity to make the starfish as comfortable as possible.

The disease's root cause is still not fully understood, Rudek said. "But we know that stress is a factor."

Another is opportunistic parasites that feast on flesh weakened by the wasting disease. Rudek regularly dipped the stars in an iodine solution to kill a group of parasites called ciliates that scar the skin and slow the healing process.

After giving the speckled, four-legged star its disinfecting iodine bath, Rudek placed it back into the tank with the rest of the starfish, holding it against the wall. It took only about 25 seconds for the invertebrate to get its grip, a relatively short reaction time that indicates it is on the mend. As a species, leather stars tend to weather the wasting disease well.

"That's a really good sign," Rudek said.

Then she poured a vial of a white probiotic solution around the starfish to restore beneficial bacteria that help keep infection away. The entire protocol is meant to boost their immune system response to the disease.

It is early days, but it appears to be working. So far, the aquarium has treated 17 starfish across seven species, with 15 fully recovering.

"It's very well thought out," said Jason Hodin, a marine biologist at the University of Washington who tested part of the new protocol. Two stars he tested improved, but ultimately died. To survive, they likely would have needed the full treatment, he said. "It totally makes sense to me that this would be effective."

Still, Rudek is careful to not characterize the procedure as a "cure" for the wasting disease. "It's hard to say that you have a cure for something when you don't know what it is that's causing it in the first place," she said.

To a snorkeler, a starfish seems almost lifeless, moving along the seafloor at an imperceptibly slow pace. Don't let that fool you. They are the kings of their submarine jungles.

Many starfish are voracious predators, eating anything they can get their arms on. The mussels and other animals on which they dine would dominate ecosystems without starfish to trim their numbers. Sea stars are so important to ocean ecology that a biologist in the 1960s coined the term "keystone species" to describe them.

Most people call them "starfish," though many scientists chafe at that term and instead call them "sea stars" since they are not, technically, fish. Other researchers don't care. "I have bigger fish to fry," Hodin said.

The sunflower sea star is as vicious as they come. Spouting more than two dozen limbs and growing as long as three feet, this alien-looking creature uses its many arms to corral and consume up to 20 clams a day. In captivity, sunflower sea stars can even catch a tossed clam like a dog.

In the wild, the sunflower star is vanishing from the wasting syndrome. Over 5 billion have died since 2013. Once prevalent along the Pacific Coast, it has virtually disappeared in the southern part of its range. With the population down over 90 percent, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency that protects marine life, proposed this month to list the species as threatened, a move that may direct more money toward studying the starfish.

Sunflower stars were once so common that Aaron Galloway, an associate professor at the University of Oregon, barely took note of them during dives. Now he rarely sees them. "You take these things for granted," he said. "What if all of a sudden you just stopped seeing crows?"

While some starfish species have recovered from the initial outbreak, the sunflower star has not. Its big, pillowy body is highly susceptible to whatever is causing the wasting syndrome. In their quest to figure out what that is, scientists first turned to the sunflower star.

In 2014, just a year after the discovery of the epidemic, more than two dozen researchers thought they found the potential culprit. Analyzing flash-frozen tissue from sick sea stars sent from the West Coast to Cornell University in Upstate New York, they spotted a pathogen, part of a family called densovirus.

The densovirus, described in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is genetically similar to a virus that causes a wasting disease in dogs. It was the first starfish virus ever discovered.

Yet in later experiments, some of those same researchers were unable to infect healthy starfish with tissue taken from sick animals. Maybe this disease, they began to think, isn't caused by an infectious agent?

The first hint that climate change might be playing a role came by accident. Maintenance staff at a University of Washington lab mistakenly turned off a valve to an outdoor tank with sunflower stars.

"It was a sunny afternoon," said Drew Harvell, a marine ecologist at Cornell. With no cool water, the temperature in the tank spiked - and the starfish began wasting away. "That, to us, was a clue."

In a 2019 paper, Harvell and her colleagues showed that declines of sunflower sea stars in the Pacific peaked after marine heat waves, suggesting rising ocean temperatures made the epidemic worse.

She still believes a strain of bacteria, virus or other pathogen is the root cause of the disease. "There are many cases where infectious diseases are worse under warming conditions," she said.

But Ian Hewson, another marine ecologist at Cornell, thinks wasting isn't caused by an infection at all. His own recent experiments suggest a change in the environment - specifically, a spike in nutrients that fueled bacteria growth and lowered oxygen levels around seas stars - may be responsible for the outbreak.

"It's not a definitive, smoking-gun cause," he said. "It's our best guess as to what was going on."

Regardless of the causes of starfish wasting, we are already seeing the effects of losing the sunflower star. As it disappears, the sea urchins it once preyed on have run riot, decimating the kelp that make up massive submarine jungles that provide food and shelter to hundreds of species.

The towering organisms also sequester carbon, mitigating climate change. Their blades slow ocean currents, helping prevent coastal erosion, and are home to abalone and other commercially valuable species.

In Northern California, kelp cover fell by 95 percent in a decade. Some of the lost kelp forests off Oregon were so beautiful they were "like an underwater Yellowstone Park," according to Batson, the aquarium's diver.

"Seeing those places no longer really exist the way they did before," he added, "it's fairly depressing."

At the Oregon Coast Aquarium, a purple sunflower star scrunched itself into a rocky crevasse in its exhibit. It wiggled out an array of tiny arms. The nubs were regrowing after detaching due to wasting disease.

"It was very touch and go," Rudek said. This sea star was the first to receive Rudek's treatment after losing about 13 of its 20 limbs, "which normally would be a death sentence." Rudek and her colleagues have begun distributing the treatment protocol to universities and other aquariums with sick sea stars.

"They're precious," she said.

In the ocean, treating millions of dying starfish is nearly impossible. Hodin's lab at the University of Washington is working with the Nature Conservancy on the next best thing: breeding sunflower stars in captivity, a first step toward possible reintroduction. Recent lab experiments show the stars have no qualms about eating urchins ruining kelp forests.

"We're several steps away" from reintroduction, Hodin said. Yet the need to restore the Yellowstones of the deep is pressing. "That's some of the urgency about the work that we're doing."
A bill that would remove the legislature from the process of approving charter schools in Connecticut, which advocates say will allow these institutions to open more quickly, was approved by the Education Committee on Friday despite a Thursday evening email from two teachers unions that several lawmakers viewed as a threat.

The bill would reverse a 2015 law that requires approval from the state Board of Education and the legislature before a charter school can open.

Before voting, several lawmakers made reference to the email to committee members, in which the Connecticut Education Association and AFT CT expressed their opposition to the legislation.

This is one of the bills CEA will be scoring as part of our 2023-24 legislative report card, the email read in its opening sentences.

According to AFT CTs website, the union represents approximately 30,000 teachers and school staff. CEA represents over 43,000 teachers, school support staff and higher education faculty throughout Connecticut.

Ill just simply say, whether or not you agree or disagree, that this is your decision to remain today, and hopefully that is not swayed or influenced by any sort of attempt at veiled threats of whether or not this vote is going to be counted as any sort of way, with any sort of organizations, that may or may not have been appropriately addressed to the committee in such a manner, said Committee Co-chair Rep. Jeff Currey, D-East Hartford, before the vote.

The email highlighted several reasons for the unions opposition to Senate Bill 1096, including that the current process provides necessary checks and balances between administrative and legislative branches.

This bill would be an abdication of legislative control over tens of millions of dollars for public education, setting a bad precedent for public school funding in Connecticut, the email said.

Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, who is also a co-chair on the committee, said in 19 years of serving as a state legislator, he had never received an email like that.

You all read the letter, and theyre going to take score of how you all vote on this one piece of legislation, McCrory said. That letter that came from CEA and AFT was very, very  I dont even want to use the word  and unfortunately, that has placed a bulls-eye on each and every single one of our backs.

For nearly 20 years, Connecticut charter schools only needed approval from the state Board of Education before being built and funded. Charter school proposals have to undergo an extensive process before approval, including an analysis of the schools curriculum, model and community need. There also must be public hearings to determine if theres a demand and local support from constituents. Applications often take over a year to be considered.

Legislation in 2015 instituted a two-tier approval system, where the state Board of Education grants initial approval, but lawmakers grant the schools funding.

Since the change, no charter school has been built in the state, although two  based in Danbury and Norwalk  received state Board of Education approval in 2018 but have been waiting in limbo for funding ever since.

Earlier this month, the state Board of Education also approved two more charter schools  one in Middletown and another in New Haven.

Im supporting this bill today, not that it solves for the travesty that has been Danbury struggle, but because no community should ever have to go through what weve been through, Rep. Rachel Chaleski, R-Danbury, said. This is about choice  and in Danbury, we have the largest high school in the state, and while its a phenomenal school  not everyone can thrive at such an environment and  if we could help a small percentage of students get what they need, why wouldnt we help them?

Similar to Chaleski, many lawmakers voiced their experiences with charter schools, including emotional testimony from McCrory, who recalled his time as a teacher in Hartford and how parents in the late 1990s were begging for other educational options beyond traditional public schools.

Residents of color across the state continue to demand more school choices, McCrory said.

These communities  who are underserved, marginalized, underrepresented and under-resourced  these [communities are] largely Black and brown children and families, and theyre poor, and they want another option, McCrory said. Its time for us in this state to give our parents a choice and give these children a chance.

The vote on SB 1096 split party lines but ultimately passed.

At the committee meeting, legislators also voted on another 18 bills, including House Bill 5003, which would accelerate ECS funding to schools across the state. HB 5003 passed unanimously.
"Please bring your patience because it's going to be congested," Houston Fire Department Chief Samuel Pena said at a press conference held by Houston officials Monday morning. City officials came together for a presser discussing safety plans as the city prepares for the NCAA Final Four Men's basketball tournament running from Friday, March 31 to Sunday, April 2.

This weekend also marks Opening Day for the Houston Astros, who will kick off the season with a matchup against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, March 30, at Minute Maid Park and play games every day through the weekend. The Houston Rockets also play on Friday, March 31, against the Detroit Pistons at the Toyota Center. Beloved R&B group New Edition will perform at the Toyota Center the next day, Saturday, April 1.

The event-filled weekend in the city includes NCAA events, music festivals, and activities at Discovery Green Park, the George R. Brown Convention Center and Houston City Hall Downtown. Houston native Megan Thee Stallion is one of many performers set to perform throughout the weekend. The Final Four comes a few months after the city finalized its multi-party interlocal agreement plan to address crowd safety at large eventsan accord spurred by the November 2021 deaths at Astroworld.

"Based on all the wonderful activities taking place this week, I urge Houstonians to plan their days ahead of time, check out street closure information, identify parking, and look at your transportation options, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said. "Plan to come to Downtown Houston early and stay late."

Like Pena, Turner also encouraged people to be patient while driving in the city.

"As you're driving through downtown Houston and see a fellow driver trying to merge lanes because a road is closed for the dribble, give them the right of way," Turner added. "And if you miss out on a March Madness music festival because it reaches capacity, know it's for your safety, and you can stream the show on the Men's Final Four app."

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner also said driving while intoxicated is "100 percent preventable" and encouraged anyone attending events to use public transportation options like METRO and ride-share apps like Lyft and Uber instead. METRO Houston announced last week they would offer free rides on their red, green, and purple rail line to event locations throughout the weekend.

"It's as simple as making a plan and being reasonable and considering other people," Finner said. "The last thing we want is somebody hurt seriously or killed because you didn't celebrate responsibly. If you see something, say something."

According to Finner, firearms aren't allowed inside the NRG Stadium or at any Downtown events. All NCAA events are also requiring a clear bag for entry. Depending on the events you are attending, the city has created a road closure and suggestion path here.
In 2016, former Harris County GOP chair Jared Woodfill received an urgent warning about Paul Pressler, his longtime law partner and a Southern Baptist leader. In an email, a 25-year-old attorney from Woodfills Houston firm said hed recently gone to lunch with Pressler, who told him lewd stories about being naked on beaches with young men and then invited him to skinny-dip at his ranch.

Woodfill  an outspoken anti-gay politician and prominent conservative activist whod just played a key role defeating an equal rights ordinance for LGBTQ Houstonians  responded to the young mans request for help with shock and indignation. This 85-year-old man has never made any inappropriate comments or actions toward me or any one I know of, he wrote of Pressler at the time.

But new court records show that wasnt true.

In recent sworn testimony, Woodfill said hed known since 2004 of an allegation that Pressler had sexually abused a child. Woodfill learned of those claims, he said, during mediation of an assault lawsuit filed against Pressler that he helped quietly settle for nearly a half-million dollars at the time. Despite his knowledge of the accusation, Woodfill continued to work with Pressler for nearly a decade  leaning on Presslers name and reputation to bolster their firm, Woodfill & Pressler LLP.

Rather than pay him a salary, Woodfill testified, the firm provided Pressler a string of employees to serve as personal assistants, most of them young men who typically worked out of his River Oaks mansion. Two have accused Pressler of sexual assault or misconduct.

Woodfill led the Harris County Republican Party from 2002 to 2014 and has for years been at the helm of anti-LGBTQ and other hardline conservative movements in Houston and Texas. In 2015, amid tense debate over a Houston equal rights ordinance that would have made LGBTQ workplace discrimination illegal, he and well-known GOP power broker Steven Hotze co-led a campaign that, among other things, said the measure would allow children to be sexually groomed and abused in bathrooms, paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars in opposition advertisements and compared the gay rights movement to Nazis.

Since then, Woodfill has remained a fixture in Texas GOP politics: During the height of the pandemic, he and Hotze filed numerous lawsuits challenging COVID-19 mandates, and hes currently representing conservative political candidates challenging the 2022 election results in Harris County. Woodfill is also representing Hotze in a criminal investigation stemming from a 2020 incident in which a private investigator, allegedly acting at Hotzes behest, held at gunpoint an A/C repairman who he believed was transporting fake ballots.

Woodfills deposition came as part of an ongoing, six-year-old lawsuit in which a former member of Presslers church youth group accuses him of decades of rape beginning when he was 14. The suit also accuses Woodfill and others, including leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, of concealing and enabling Presslers behavior  claims that prompted a 2019 Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News investigation into widespread sexual abuse in the SBC, the nations second-largest faith group.

Released over the last few weeks, the thousands of pages of new court records show how Woodfill leaned on his Pressler connections to bolster his political and legal career  despite warnings about his law partners behavior. And they shed new light on how Pressler, a former Texas Court of Appeals judge and one-time White House nominee under George H.W. Bush, allegedly used his prestige and influence to evade responsibility amid repeated accusations of sexual misconduct and assault dating back to at least 1978, when he was forced out of a Houston church for allegedly molesting a teenager in a sauna.

Pressler is best known for his work in the Southern Baptist Convention, where he was instrumental in pushing its 16 million members and 47,000 churches to adopt literal interpretations of the Bible, strongly denounce homosexuality and align more closely with the Republican Party. And for decades, he was a high-ranking member of the Council for National Policy, an uber-secretive network of conservative judges, mega donors, media figures and religious elites led by Tony Perkins, head of the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council.

The new records show that in 2004, leaders of First Baptist Church of Houston, a massive Southern Baptist congregation, investigated claims that Pressler, then a deacon, had groped and undressed a college student at his Houston mansion. The church leaders deemed the behavior "morally and spiritually" inappropriate and warned Pressler but took no further action, citing differing accounts of the incident and Presslers stature in their church and the Southern Baptist Convention. In recent depositions, plaintiffs attorneys also briefly mention new complaints from two others about Pressler, though those documents remain sealed ahead of the looming civil trial in the case.

At least six men have now accused Pressler of sexual assault or misconduct, including two who say they were molested while minors and two who say they were solicited for sex in incidents after 2004, when Woodfill and First Baptist leaders were separately made aware of complaints about Pressler.

Pressler has not been criminally charged in any of the incidents. Neither Woodfill nor his attorney responded to a list of questions about Woodfills handling of the allegations against Pressler. In a Wednesday email, Woodfills lawyer David Oubre said they are confident Mr. Woodfill will be successful in defeating these claims.

A big name

The new allegations came as part of an ongoing lawsuit in which Duane Rollins accuses Pressler of decades of rape and molestation beginning when Rollins was 14 and a member of the church youth group led by Pressler, who was then in his late 40s. Those alleged attacks, Rollins says in court documents, pushed him into years of drug and alcohol addictions that kept him in prison for much of his adult life. While in prison therapy sessions in 2015, Rollins says he uncovered repressed memories of sexual abuse by Pressler. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress as a direct result of the childhood sexual trauma he suffered, according to medical records filed in court.

In 2017, Rollins sued Pressler, Woodfill and Southern Baptist figures and institutions that he says enabled and concealed Presslers behavior, arguing that, because of trauma and manipulation by Pressler, it took him decades to reconcile that he was sexually abused. Last year, after the defendants fought to have the suit tossed by arguing the assault claims were outside the statute of limitations, the Texas Supreme Court agreed with Rollins' arguments and allowed the lawsuit to go forward.

The new filings give insight into Woodfills long relationship with Pressler beginning in the mid-1990s. At the time, Pressler, then 65, was phasing out of years of work in the Southern Baptist Convention and focusing more on politics. Woodfill was still in his 20s and said Presslers conservative bona fides were a valuable asset.

Presslers support has long been sought and touted by Republican political hopefuls, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who has known Pressler since he was a teenager. In 2012, Pressler hosted a retreat at his Texas ranch, where a group of prominent conservative leaders agreed to support Rick Santorum over Mitt Romney in the upcoming presidential election.

Obviously everybody knew who he was. He was a big name, Woodfill said during his deposition. A lot of people would come and ask for his endorsement.

Over the course of their law partnership, Woodfill testified, Pressler did almost no work for the firm, but was provided numerous young, male assistants who tended to his and his familys needs  including his son who has a physical disability.

I can think of one or two cases that he brought in, Woodfill testified. He may have gone to one hearing in his entire time with us, two at the most. Really, it was his name.  He got an employee that worked for him. So he didnt get a salary. He didnt get a draw. He didnt get a bonus. We paid for someone to come and assist him. Thats how he got compensated.

The latest lawsuit marks the second time Rollins has sued Pressler over allegations of assault.

In 2004, Woodfill represented Pressler in a lawsuit in which Rollins accused him of assault stemming from a 2003 incident in a Dallas hotel room, during which Rollins says Pressler injured him during a physical altercation and, citing his stature as a former Texas judge, threatened him if he came forward. In order to avoid publicity, Woodfill helped settle the suit for $450,000 in a one-day mediation that also included a confidentiality agreement, he said in testimony last month.

Copies of the lawsuit did not refer to the incident as sexual assault. But as the case was being mediated, Woodfill said under oath last month, he was told by Rollins then-attorney that Pressler had been sexually inappropriate with Rollins, had done some things to him when he was a child and sexually abused (Rollins) ... when he was a child or in a youth group or something.

During his deposition, Woodfill declined to discuss most other details of the 2004 lawsuit, citing the confidentiality agreement. Even so, Woodfills testimony directly contradicts his previous assertions that he had no knowledge of Presslers alleged grooming and sexual misconduct toward young men  claims that he has repeated since at least 2016, when he denied any knowledge of such behavior after the young attorney detailed Presslers alleged invitation to hot tub naked, as well as in subsequent media interviews and court filings.

Rollins attorneys say Woodfill had an incentive to turn a blind eye to Mr. Presslers abuse.

As a former state judge and prominent religious figure, the Pressler name was too important to lose or see tarnished, lawyers for the law firm Baker Botts wrote in a recent filing. Thus, when allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct surfaced, they were quietly swept under the rug to avoid the risk of losing a business partner.

Records show that Pressler remained a limited partner at the firm until around 2012, when Woodfill said Pressler retired. The firm was renamed Woodfill Law Firm and has been involved in numerous lawsuits involving conservative causes over the years. The firm has also faced accusations of impropriety, including money laundering allegations that sparked a 2018 raid and investigation by the Harris County District Attorneys office, though no charges were ever filed in the matter.

If brought to light

Rollins latest lawsuit also brought to light other sexual misconduct allegations against Pressler, including an affidavit that was submitted as part of the 2004 lawsuit. Woodfill declined to comment on the affidavit while under oath, citing confidentiality rules.

In the affidavit, which was made public this year, another college student says Pressler pressured him to get naked and then groped him at his Houston mansion. According to court records, the young man met Pressler through First Baptist Church of Houston and then was hired by Woodfills law firm as Presslers assistant. The Texas Tribune does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault without their consent.

In the newly-surfaced affidavit, the young man said he was invited to live with the Presslers. Moving into the Pressler home was in the fashion of being invited to be a member of the family which, by that time and owing to the church relationship, I had become, he wrote in his affidavit.

One night in May 2004, he was asked by Pressler to give him a neck massage on his bed, he said in the affidavit. Pressler then removed his pants and began to give the young man a massage, the man said. Pressler later invited him on a trip to Europe, and the college student said he was non-committal." When he went outside after, Pressler followed him and suggested they undress to get him adjusted to traveling in Europe, where he said nudity among men was common, according to the affidavit.

The young man said he declined multiple times but eventually gave in to Presslers requests and briefly undressed. Pressler later suggested they pray together naked, he said in the affidavit, after which the college student got dressed and hurried into the home. Pressler followed him inside, he said, and reached to hug me goodnight.

He said Pressler then quickly and without warning or invitation, grabbed my swim trunks and pulled them down far enough to expose my genitals and buttocks.

I was horrified and froze, he said. Apparently, in response to my reaction, he backed away and went upstairs.

Court records show that, after the college student mentioned the incident to a church leader, a small group of top First Baptist leaders briefly looked into the matter but determined it was a he said, she said type of ordeal that would be damaging to Pressler if made public. Pressler was beloved by many at the church and had just served on a search committee that brought the churchs new pastor on around the same time.

Given your stature and various leadership roles in our church, the Southern Baptist Convention and other Christian organizations, it is our considered opinion that this kind of behavior, if brought to light, might distort your testimony or cause others to stumble, First Baptist leaders wrote in a 2004 letter to Pressler that was recently made public as part of Rollins lawsuit. We desire neither, but, rather, pray that God continues to use your gifts and talents to accomplish His will and purpose.

In an interview, a lawyer for First Baptist defended the churchs actions, saying leaders immediately looked into the allegations and, after interviewing both Pressler and the college student, found nothing that was conclusive or criminal.

The church acted promptly when we heard this alleged behavior, Houston attorney Barry Flynn said. Remember: We didnt know if this was true or untrue.

Flynn said the church has strict rules on background checks for anyone who works with children  but noted that Pressler primarily taught adult Bible study classes. And, he added, even if the church had checked his background, they would not have found anything criminal.

In a deposition, a top church leader reiterated that stance and compared Presslers behavior to boys who playfully depants one another. He said Presslers defense  that he was readying the young man for a trip to Europe  was believable.

Pressler remained a deacon at the church, First Baptist leaders testified, but significantly curtailed his involvement there until around 2007, when he transferred to Second Baptist Church of Houston, a massive network of Houston-area churches thats led by former SBC President Ed Young, and has been previously accused of concealing other sexual abuses. Flynn, the First Baptist attorney, said there was no communication between the two churches about the allegations against Pressler.

A pattern of behavior

In the years after leaving First Baptist, Pressler was accused of sexual misconduct by at least two other young men  including a young Houston Baptist University student who testified that, as a result of Presslers sexual advances, he stopped pursuing a career in ministry, frequently had panic attacks and attempted suicide.

That mans allegations are similar in detail to those described by the 25-year-old attorney who wrote to Woodfill in 2016. The attorney, whom the Tribune is not naming, was a recent law school graduate who said in an affidavit that he moved to Texas in 2016 for a job at Woodfills law firm. During that time, he said, Woodfill introduced him to Pressler, calling him his mentor for over 25 years, a hero of the faith and a great man.

Two months later, the young attorney said he ran into Pressler at a political fundraiser at the home of Hotze, and was encouraged by Woodfill to go to lunch with Pressler. The following week, he said, he arrived at Presslers home to pick him up. Pressler answered the door without pants on and invited him inside, after which he showed him pictures of important people he knew and talked about swimming naked in Europe numerous times, the attorney wrote in his 2018 sworn affidavit.

At lunch, Pressler told the attorney about a 10-person hot tub at his Dripping Springs ranch and invited him there, saying when the ladies are not around, us boys all go in the hot tub completely naked, he said.

Horrified, the attorney addressed the incident with a longtime employee of Woodfills law firm, who made it clear that this was not the first time hed heard such allegations, the attorney said in the affidavit.

I discovered that this was not unusual behavior for Pressler, and that he had a long history of lecherous behavior towards young men. Even going as far as bringing scantily clad men and parading them through the office, he wrote in his affidavit.

Emails show that the attorney reached out to Woodfill, who claimed it was the first time hed heard of such alleged behavior by Pressler. Woodfill later offered the attorney a $10,000 raise, court records show, and said hed talk to Pressler and keep him away.

However, the attorney wrote, within two weeks Pressler was at a political luncheon that Woodfill required me to attend.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/27/houston-jared-woodfill-gop-paul-pressler-southern-baptist/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
UPDATE: 4:30 p.m. CT

Staff at the Texas Observer are making one last bid to keep the publication alive. Per a letter shared by Steven Monacelli, the Texas Observer's special investigative correspondent, editorial leaders have made a formal proposal to the Texas Democracy Foundationwhich oversees the magazineoutlining steps to delay layoffs and ultimate closure.

Among the requests listed were that members of the board who voted for the closure resign. "It will be easier for us to raise money fast if we believe that our organization can be saved and are willing to work together, staff and board," read the joint letter from Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Arana, Digital Editor Kit O'Connell, Senior Editor and Writer Lise Olsen, and Editor-at-Large Gayle Reaves.

They also proposed adding one staff member to the board as a voting member and recruiting one or more nationally known journalists with experience in assisting journalism nonprofits in times of crisis. In addition, they have created a GoFundMe and emergency membership drive to raise $200,000 to support staff, "make better contingency plans, and approach key long-term funders on an emergency basis."

Should the goals be reached, the staff requested that there be no layoffs for at least another month. "As a staff, we'd also like to continue to seek out emeritus board members and supporters of the Observer to make personal appeals to help save the organization and avoid layoffs," the letter read. "We don't believe that a freeze in fundraising activities makes sense and indeed, publicity over possible layoffs will generate support."

At the time of this writing, staff members have raised nearly $7,000.

--- End of Update ---

After 68 years of publication, The Texas Observer is officially closing and laying off all its staff, according to a Sunday report from The Texas Tribune. Financial troubles and struggles expanding its audience outside of a small base of subscribers and members reportedly led to the nonprofit, liberal magazine's ultimate demise. The cuts will include 17 staff members: 13 journalists and several board members.

Currently, the Observerwhich publishes its content for free online and does not accept advertisinghas around 4,000 print subscribers, and 64,000 subscribers to its free email news letter. On Wednesday, the nonprofit Texas Democracy Foundation, which owns the Observer, voted to approve the layoffs, followed by the Observer's board confirming the move on Sunday, according to the Tribune.

On Monday, staff would be told that their last day would be on Friday, March 31. However, on social media Sunday night, several staff members revealed that they had learned about the layoffs via the Tribune's exclusive report.

"Well, I just learned, via another publication, that the publication I work for is shutting down," tweeted Kit O'Connell, a digital editor at the Texas Observer. "This was my dream job. Here's to whatever is next, I guess."

Gus Bova, a senior staff writer and assistant editor at the Texas Observer, tweeted that he heard about the story just minutes before publication when he was asked by the Tribune for comment. Bova was reportedly about to go on family leave, according to the Observer. When asked for comment about the closure, Gabriel Arana, who has been editor in chief of the Observer since April 2022, told the Tribune: "This is the first I'm hearing of it, the board hasn't communicated with me or the staff about this."

Arana added that he's been "really proud" of his staff's work and criticized the board's lack of communication with staff on the decision. "The level of talent and the quality of journalism are really impressive," Arana told the Tribune. "I feel the board has abdicated its responsibility for fundraising and ensuring the financial health of the publication. I think it's shameful that they haven't involved the staff in this decision-making in any way."

Headquartered in Austin, the Texas Observer was founded in 1954 by Ronnie Dugger, who served as its editor until 1961, when he became publisher. Between 1970 and 1976, the magazine was led by the legendary Texas journalist Molly Ivins.
Houston community members erupted at a Texas Education Agency (TEA) community meeting held at Westbury High School Tuesday night when state officials refused to answer questions as to why they were seizing control of the Houston Independent School District.

From the moment community members walked into the building, security guards warned the public no opposing picket signs would be allowed inside. All questions for TEA officials were to be submitted using a QR code or written down on index cards for officials to answer at the end of their presentation, which concerned the state's replacement of current democratically elected HISD school board trustees with a TEA-appointed "board of managers."

Community members became irritable minutes into TEA Deputy Commissioner Alejandro Delgado's presentation, demanding answers about the district's future and asking why Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath was absent.

Kennedy Sessions

"We got questions," a community member cried out. "Y'all took over a district. Where is Mike Morath? Makeover, not take over."

Tuesday night's meeting occurred one week after Morath announced the state's education agency would be taking control of HISD, the largest school district in the state. The commissioner cited consecutive years of poor accountability ratings at Wheatley High School and past failures by HISD school board members as the inciting factors for the intervention. In 2019 TEA entered into a long-running legal battle with HISD over the legality of such a takeover, and a decision made by the Texas Supreme Court in January opened up a path for state officials to move forward with their replacement of district leadership.

On Tuesday night, Houston community members' feelings of anxiety, anger, sadness, and uncertainty spilled out in the Westbury HS auditorium, with many leaving the meeting more frustrated than they came in.

As questions rained down from the assembled parents, Delgado attempted to move through a prepared presentation on the application process for newly appointed board managers, detailing their duties and responsibilities. According to Delgado, TEA has received 138 applications for positions on the board of managers. He also said if the state's exit criteria are met, HISD can regain leadership after two years.

The questions and answers portion of the presentation saw more angry responses from HISD parents. Officials stressed that they would only be answering questions about the board of managers application process, leaving the crowd to bristle at what many believed was a cherry-picked approach to community engagement.

"Answer the real questions," one person shouted. "We didn't come to talk about y'all's board. I'm holding y'all accountable."

Delgado told the crowd the TEA intervention is about the mishaps of the HISD school board, not directed toward the students, teachers, or community. Community members still weren't buying it. "We voted for a board of directors, and y'all are stepping on our votes," one person shouted. "My vote counts. Everybody's votes count."

Kennedy Sessions

"If this was about the school board, you should've done it three years ago," one man added. Many people cited how HISD has improved accountability ratings in the past two years. In 2022, TEA gave HISD a B-rating as a district and Wheatley High Schoolpreviously cited as the reason for the state's interventiona C-rating for accountability.

Another common refrain from the crowd was accusations that the state was taking over HISD to push the proliferation of charter schools through school vouchers. Delgado responded that it isn't TEA's "intention" to create charter schools in the district.

Toward the end of the meeting, U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee entered the auditorium and was met with applause from attendees. She took the stage and calmed the crowd before voicing her opposition to the state's intervention.

"We're opposed to the approach of the takeover," Lee said. "You are owed answers about the takeover. The commissioner needs to know he can not have meetings like this and not answer your questions."

Kennedy Sessions

The meeting dissolved with HISD community members airing their grievances and wondering what would come next for their district. Many said they left the meeting even more concerned than when they entered.

"They're hiding stuff, and I think it's about money," HISD parent Amelia Robinson said. "[Morath] is scared. He don't want these people to attack him, and if they think today is bad, wait till they go to the schools in the Black community like Kashmere. It's not going to go well."

Moreover, HISD parent Alyndria Johnson also questioned how TEA would keep its appointed board of managers accountable.

"So you're not going to hold the board of managers responsible, but you can hold HISD responsible," Johnson said. "It doesn't make sense. So how are you going to hold the district hostage? I don't see nothing here about a bachelor's, a master's, so basically, you just picking and choosing anybody."

HISD employee Karla Mattox, who has worked for the school district for 20 years, said she feels like TEA doesn't care about the community and should invest resources into the district instead of intervention.

"They don't care. They're attacking our schools. If you're here to better our children, the schools answer the questions we are asking," she added. "How can we look at the child in the face and say everything will be all right?"
Russian president Vladimir Putin reveals plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus in a television interview, March 26, AP-Yonhap



Ukraine's government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to "counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail" after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.



One Ukrainian official said Russia "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage."



Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow.



Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West's increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a U.K. decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.



Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.



"We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews," he said.



Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned the move in a statement Sunday and demanded an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.



"Ukraine expects effective action to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail by the U.K., China, the U.S. and France," the statement read, saying these countries "have a special responsibility" regarding nuclear aggression.



"The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization," the statement said.



Ukraine has not commented on Sunday's explosion inside Russia. It left a crater about 15 meters (50 feet) in diameter and five meters deep (16 feet), according to media reports.



Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the 2nd Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference in Moscow, Russia, March 20. AP-Yonhap







Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Soviet-era drone was reintroduced in Ukraine in 2014, and has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).



The explosion took place in the town of Kireyevsk in the Tula region, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Russia's Defense Ministry said the drone crashed after an electronic jamming system disabled its navigation.



Similar drone attacks have been common during the war, although Ukraine hardly ever acknowledges responsibility. On Monday, Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked civilian facilities in the town of Dzhankoi in Russia-annexed Crimea. Ukraine's military said several Russian cruise missiles were destroyed, but did not specifically claim responsibility.



In December, the Russian military reported several Ukrainian drone attacks on long-range bomber bases deep inside Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said the drones were shot down, but acknowledged that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen.



Also, Russian authorities have reported attacks by small drones in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions on the border with Ukraine.





A woman cries during a memorial service to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of the Russia Ukraine war, in a cemetery in Bucha, Ukraine, Feb. 24. AP-Yonhap
Courtesy of Tarrant Courtesy Sheriff's Office

Police said on Sunday, March 26, that the family of a 6-year-old boy from North Texas who has been missing since November 2022 hopped on a flight out of the U.S. just days before an Amber Alert was issued last week. Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said at a press conference on Sunday that the family of missing child Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez left on a flight to Instanbul, Turkey on Thursday, March 23, one day before an Amber Alert was issued.

Spencer said that Noel's mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, left on the Turkish Airways flight with her husband and other children except Noel. When the Amber Alert was issued for the 6-year-old last Friday, March 24, at midnight, it initially said Noel was last seen around midnight Friday in Everman, a town just south of Fort Worth.
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ACCRA, Ghana (AP)  With fears of terrorism and Russian mercenaries rippling through West Africa, Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday opened her weeklong trip to the continent by vowing support for Ghana, a democratic pillar in the region thats being squeezed by an economic crisis and security concerns.

The visit was a high-profile show of support for Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, who faces rising discontent over inflation after previously overseeing one of the worlds fast-growing economies.

Under your leadership, Ghana has been a beacon of democracy and a contributor to global peace and security, Harris said during a joint press conference at the Jubilee House, the presidential palace in Accra.

Harris announced $100 million in assistance for the region and pledged that the United States would be strengthening our partnerships across the continent of Africa. The administration also is requesting another $139 million from Congress to help Ghana reduce child labor, improve weather forecasting, support local musicians and defend against disease outbreaks.

The vice president is the most notable member of President Joe Bidens administration to visit Africa this year, and shell be continuing on to Tanzania and Zambia later this week. The trip is part of a concerted effort to broaden U.S. outreach at a time when China and Russia have entrenched interests of their own in Africa.

Ghana and some other African countries are suffering ripple effects from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such as higher costs for food and fuel.

The war has also become a dividing line at the United Nations, where some African leaders have condemned the invasion and others have refused. The situation has sparked alarm about the potential for a new Cold War dynamic, where global competition leaves Africa caught in the middle.

Harris was careful to emphasize that the U.S. outreach was independent of geopolitical rivalries.

Yes, we are concerned with security. We are concerned with what is happening on the globe as a whole. We are clear-eyed about that, she said. But this trip is motivated by the importance of the direct relationship between the United States and Ghana, and as I travel the continent, with those countries as well.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who has worked extensively on African issues and joined Harris for the trip to Ghana, said that it would be a tragic error to disrespect the legitimate hopes and interests of African people.

The United States has sent troops to train militaries from Ghana and other countries in the hopes of bolstering their defenses against local offshoots of al-Qaida and the Islamic State. However, other countries have turned to the Russian mercenary force known as Wagner, which has been on the front lines of Russias war in Ukraine but also has a presence in Africa.

Wagner began operating in Mali, which ousted French troops based there, and there are concerns that it will also deploy to Burkina Faso, where France also ended its military presence. Ghana recently accused Burkina Fasos leaders, which took power in a coup last year, of already seeking help from Wagner.

Akufo-Addo called terrorism a poison and said were spending a lot of sleepless nights trying to make sure were protected here. Sporadic fighting has already increased in Ghanas north, which borders Burkina Faso.

Akufo-Addo also expressed concern that Wagner could expand its footprint in the region.

It raises the very real possibility that once again our continent is going to become the playground for a great power conflict, he said.

Akufo-Addos desire for autonomy on the global stage was evident when he rebuffed a question about Chinese influence in Africa. His country reached a $2 billion deal a few years ago with a Chinese company to develop roads and other projects in return for access to a key mineral for producing aluminum.

There may be an obsession in America about Chinese influence on the continent. But theres no such obsession here, Akufo-Addo said.

Although China has been a leading concern in U.S. foreign policy, Russias own attempts to make inroads in Africa have alarmed Washington as well. Some countries have longstanding ties dating back to the Soviet era.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has made multiple trips to the continent in an effort to show that the West has failed to isolate Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The Russians are continuing to make the first move in Africa, and the U.S. is continuing to play catch-up, said Samuel Ramani, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank.

Its really unclear how Russia will really be able to expand its influence in the long term, he added. But in the short term, theyre creating good will for themselves.

Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence company, said that Moscows overall investments in Africa are very modest compared with Washingtons but he added that it has been able to leverage anti-Western sentiment in some areas of the continent.

The Ukraine war has boosted Africas importance in international politics and increased geopolitical jostling among global powers for the support of its governments and nations, he said.

U.S. officials have steered clear of framing their approach in terms of global rivalries, something that could swiftly sour Africans who are wary of being caught in the middle.

They remain cautious about becoming collateral damage to geopolitical competition by repeating the same mistakes of the Cold War era, Durmaz said.

___ Mednick reported from Dakar, Senegal.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow was sitting in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfelds conference room at the Pentagon, listening to him make the case that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

At some point in the presentation  one of many lawmaker briefings by President George W. Bushs administration ahead of the October 2002 votes to authorize force in Iraq  military leaders showed an image of trucks in the country that they believed could be carrying weapons materials. But the case sounded thin, and Stabenow, then just a freshman senator, noticed the date on the photo was months old.

There was not enough information to persuade me that they in fact had any connection with what happened on Sept. 11, or that there was justification to attack, Stabenow said in a recent interview, referring to the 2001 attacks that were one part of the Bush administrations underlying argument for the Iraq invasion.

I really thought about the young men and women that we would be sending into battle," she said. "I have a son and a daughter  would I vote to send them to war based on this evidence? In the end the answer for me was no.

As with many of her colleagues, Stabenows nay vote in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, 2002, didnt come without political risk. The Bush administration and many of the Democrats swing-state constituents strongly believed that the United States should go to war in Iraq, and lawmakers knew that the House and Senate votes on whether to authorize force would be hugely consequential.

Indeed, the bipartisan votes in the House and Senate that month were a grave moment in American history that would reverberate for decades  the Bush administrations central allegations of weapons programs eventually proved baseless, the Middle East was permanently altered and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war. Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Only now, 20 years after the Iraq invasion in March 2003, is Congress seriously considering walking it back, with a Senate vote expected this week to repeal the 2002 and 1991 authorizations of force against Iraq. Bipartisan supporters say the repeal is years overdue, with Saddam's regime long gone and Iraq now a strategic partner of the United States.

For senators who cast votes two decades ago, it is a full-circle moment that prompts a mixture of sadness, regret and reflection. Many consider it the hardest vote they ever took.

The vote was premised on the biggest lie ever told in American history, said Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, then a House member who voted in favor of the war authorization. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said that all of us that voted for it probably are slow to admit that the weapons of mass destruction did not exist. But he defends the vote based on what they knew then. There was reason to be fearful of Saddam and what he could have done if he did have the weapons, Grassley said.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, then a House member who was running for the Senate, says the war will have been worth it if Iraq succeeds in becoming a democracy.

What can you say 20 years later? Graham said this past week, reflecting on his own vote in favor. Intelligence was faulty.

Another yes vote on the Senate floor that night was New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, now Senate majority leader. With the vote coming a year after Sept. 11 devastated his hometown, he says he believed then that the president deserved the benefit of the doubt when a nation is under attack.

Of course, with the luxury of hindsight, its clear that the president bungled the war from start to finish and should not have ever been given that benefit, Schumer said in a statement. Now, with the war firmly behind us, were one step closer to putting the war powers back where they belong  in the hands of Congress.

Twenty years later, support has flipped. Then, only 28 senators voted against the authorization. All but one were Democrats. Today, roughly the same number of senators are voting against nullifying the 2002 and 1991 measures, arguing that repeal could project weakness to U.S. enemies and hamper future operations. But all of the opponents are Republicans.

Among those Republicans voting in favor of repeal is Grassley. He said withdrawing the war authorization would prevent those powers from being misinterpreted and abused in the future.

In 2002, the Bush administration worked aggressively to drum up support for invading Iraq by promoting what turned out to be false intelligence claims about Saddams weapons of mass destruction. Lawmakers attended briefing after briefing with military leaders and White House officials, in groups and in one-on-one conversations, as the administration applied political pressure on Democrats, in particular.

In the end, the vote was strongly bipartisan, with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., and others backing Bushs request.

Joe Biden also voted in favor as a senator from Delaware, and now supports repealing it as president.

Other senior Democrats urged opposition. In one of many speeches on the Senate floor that invoked the country's history, the late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., urged his colleagues to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, where nearly every day you will find someone at that wall weeping for a loved one, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, whose name is on that wall.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., issued a similar warning during the floor debate, saying he believed that anxiety and fear may be driving sentiment for an Iraq invasion. I caution and beg my colleagues to think twice about that," Durbin said, adding that America has faced periods of fear in its past.

Now the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Durbin recalled on the Senate floor earlier this month his vote against the resolution amid a fearsome national debate over whether the U.S. should invade Iraq. The threat of weapons of mass destruction was beaten into our heads day after day, Durbin said. But many of us were skeptical.

I look back on it, as I am sure others do, as one of the most important votes that I ever cast, Durbin said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., agrees that at the time, I remember thinking this is the most serious thing I can ever do.

She says the environment was charged with an emotional pressure in the public and in the media that the U.S. needed to show Iraq and the world that it was tough. She voted against the resolution after deciding there was not enough evidence to support the Bush administrations argument, and after talking to many of her constituents at home who opposed the idea of an Iraq invasion.

For many lawmakers, the political pressure was intense. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, then a House member and now the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he was excoriated at home for his no vote, after the Sept. 11 attacks had killed so many from his state. He made the right decision, he says, but it was fraught with political challenges.

Similarly, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., recalls that the idea of invading Iraq was popular at home, and the states other senator, Republican Gordon Smith, was supporting it, as were Daschle and other influential Democrats. But he was a new member of the intelligence committee, with regular access to closed-door briefings by administration officials. He wasnt convinced by their arguments, and voted no.

It was really a dramatic moment in American history, Wyden says. You wish you could just unravel it and have another chance.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., then a freshman senator who also voted against the resolution, says the war made no sense strategically and took the countrys focus off the troops waging war in Afghanistan. Just absolutely bad strategy, he says, that also contributed to the buildup of other powerful countries like China and Russia.

For those who voted for the invasion, the reflection can be more difficult.

Hillary Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York at the time, was forced to defend her vote as she ran for president twice, and eventually called it a mistake and her greatest regret. Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin solemnly told an Iowa PBS station several years ago that his vote in the Senate to authorize force in Iraq was the worst vote I ever cast in my life.

Markey says I regret relying upon Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, along with other administration officials. It was a mistake to rely upon the Bush administration for telling the truth, Markey said in a brief interview last week.

Graham says he spoke to Bush last week on an unrelated matter, but that they also discussed the wars anniversary.

I told him, Mr. President, Iraq has not retreated from democracy, Graham said. 'It has been imperfect. But if at the end of the day, Saddam Hussein is eliminated and a democracy takes his place that can work with the United States, that is worth it. It turned out to be in Americas interest.'

Bushs reply was uncertain.

He said he believes that history will judge whether or not Iraq can maintain its path to democracy, Graham said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow was sitting in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfelds conference room at the Pentagon, listening to him make the case that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

At some point in the presentation  one of many lawmaker briefings by President George W. Bushs administration ahead of the October 2002 votes to authorize force in Iraq  military leaders showed an image of trucks in the country that they believed could be carrying weapons materials. But the case sounded thin, and Stabenow, then just a freshman senator, noticed the date on the photo was months old.

There was not enough information to persuade me that they in fact had any connection with what happened on Sept. 11, or that there was justification to attack, Stabenow said in a recent interview, referring to the 2001 attacks that were one part of the Bush administrations underlying argument for the Iraq invasion. I have a son and a daughter  would I vote to send them to war based on this evidence? In the end the answer for me was no.

As with many of her colleagues, Stabenows nay vote in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, 2002, didnt come without political risk. The Bush administration and many of the Democrats swing-state constituents strongly believed that the United States should go to war in Iraq, and lawmakers knew that the House and Senate votes on whether to authorize force would be hugely consequential.

Indeed, the bipartisan votes in the House and Senate that month were a grave moment in American history that would reverberate for decades  the Bush administrations central allegations of weapons programs eventually proved baseless, the Middle East was permanently altered and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war. Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Only now, 20 years after the Iraq invasion in March 2003, is Congress seriously considering walking it back, with a Senate vote expected this week to repeal the 2002 and 1991 authorizations of force against Iraq. Bipartisan supporters say the repeal is years overdue, with Saddam's regime long gone and Iraq now a strategic partner of the United States.

For senators who cast votes two decades ago, it is a full-circle moment that prompts a mixture of sadness, regret and reflection. Many consider it the hardest vote they ever took.

The vote was premised on the biggest lie ever told in American history, said Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, then a House member who voted in favor of the war authorization. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said that all of us that voted for it probably are slow to admit that the weapons of mass destruction did not exist. But he defends the vote based on what they knew then. There was reason to be fearful of Saddam's and what he could have done if he did have the weapons, Grassley said.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, then a House member who was running for the Senate, says the war will have been worth it if Iraq succeeds in becoming a democracy.

What can you say 20 years later? Graham said this past week, reflecting on his own vote in favor. Intelligence was faulty.

Another yes vote on the Senate floor that night was New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, now Senate majority leader. With the vote coming a year after Sept. 11 devastated his hometown, he says he believed then that the president deserved the benefit of the doubt.

Of course, with the luxury of hindsight, its clear that the president bungled the war from start to finish and should not have ever been given that benefit, Schumer said in a statement. Now, with the war firmly behind us, were one step closer to putting the war powers back where they belong  in the hands of Congress.

In 2002, the Bush administration worked aggressively, in briefing after briefing, to drum up support for invading Iraq by promoting what turned out to be false intelligence claims about Saddams weapons of mass destruction.

In the end, the vote was strongly bipartisan, with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., and others backing Bushs request.

Joe Biden also voted in favor as a senator from Delaware, and is now supports repealing it as president.

Other senior Democrats urged opposition. The late Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V., urged his colleagues to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall, where nearly every day you will find someone at that wall weeping for a loved one, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, whose name is on that wall.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, now the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, recalled on the Senate floor earlier this month his vote against the resolution after the threat of weapons of mass destruction was beaten into our heads day after day."

I look back on it, as I am sure others do, as one of the most important votes that I ever cast, Durbin said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who also voted against the resolution, said that at the time, I remember thinking this is the most serious thing I can ever do.

For many lawmakers, the political pressure was intense. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, then a House member and now the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says he was excoriated at home for his no vote, after the Sept. 11 attacks had killed so many from his state. He made the right decision, he says, but it was fraught with political challenges.

For those who voted for the invasion, the reflection can be more difficult.

Hillary Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York at the time, was forced to defend her vote as she ran for president twice, and eventually called it a mistake and her greatest regret.

Markey says that I regret relying upon Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney, along with other administration officials.

It was a mistake to rely upon the Bush administration for telling the truth, Markey said in a brief interview last week.
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ALAUSI, Ecuador (AP)  A huge landslide swept over an Andean community in central Ecuador, burying dozens of homes, killing at least seven people and sending rescuers on a frantic search for survivors, authorities said Monday.

Earlier in the day, officials had reported 16 deaths, but President Guillermo Lasso put the confirmed toll at seven as he arrived Monday night at the scene of the disaster in Alausi, about 137 miles south of the capital, Quito. Officials also raised the number of people reported missing to 62.

Lasso lamented the tragedy and promised people in the town that we will continue working" on the search effort.

Ecuadors Risk Management Secretariat said more than 30 people were rescued after the mountainside collapsed around 10 p.m. Sunday. It said 23 people were injured.

My mother is buried" under the mud, said Luis Angel Gonzalez, 58, who also lost other family members Sunday. "I am so sad, devastated. There is nothing here, no houses, no anything. We are homeless (and) without family.

The risk management agency estimated 500 people and 163 homes were affected by the disaster, which also destroyed a portion of the Pan-American Highway.

The governor of Chimborazo, Ivan Vinueza, told The Associated Press that some of the injured were taken to area hospitals. He said officials had urged people to evacuate the area after landslides and cracks began to develop about two months ago. Some followed the advice, and by Saturday, as tremors intensified, others fled.

Area residents told local media they heard tremors on the mountain before the landslide, which was estimated to be about 150 meters (490 feet) wide and nearly a half mile (700 meters) long. It swept away trees, homes and other buildings. More than fifty houses were buried under tons of mud of debris.

The emergency response agency said 60% of potable water service in the area was affected by the landslide. The communications office of the presidential office said some schools would be switching to online classes.

Firefighters from a half dozen cities were dispatched to the area to help. Rescuers focused on the flanks of the landslide where they found traces and debris of houses.

Rescuer and paramedic Alberto Escobar said it was unlikely more survivors would be found because of the time that had elapsed.

He said the search would continue as long as it did not rain.

Video from cameras connected to the countrys emergency service network showed people fleeing their homes with help from neighbors. It also showed people transporting appliances and other belongings in vehicles.

Survivors, many housed in temporary shelters, cried over their misfortune.

Among them was the Zuna family, who were staying at the Iglesia Matriz de Alausi, where rooms for catechism or parish meetings were adapted with bunk beds days ago after authorities declared an emergency in the area due to the risk of landslides.

Sonia Guadalupe Zuna said her mother was reluctant to leave what they had built over the years.

We went to the shelter, but my mother didnt want to, Zuna said. Later, my daughter went to convince her. When they walked along the rails, everything collapsed. They arrived covered in dirt and crying.

Save for the clothes they had on, Zuna's family lost everything.

I dont know where, but were all leaving," she said crying. "My parents taught us that by working hard, you get material things, but being together is priceless.

___

Associated Press writers Gonzalo Solano in Quito and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
TOKYO (AP)  A Japanese student showed up to graduation as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys lookalike, wearing his signature olive-colored, snug-fit T-shirt and khaki trousers to show his support for Ukraines fight against Russia.

Most graduation ceremonies in Japan feature graduates in suits or formal dress. But Kyoto University has its own tradition of students who opt for different attire on their special day.

This year, Zelenskyy was the star at the event.

I am President Zelenskyy, the student told local TV network Yomiuri. He said it took him three months to grow his beard. He decided to be his lookalike for the graduation ceremony Friday, because since December, when I was growing out my beard, I was told I look like President Zelenskyy.

His performance was not just a comical cosplay. The student, who goes by Amiki on Twitter, was holding a sign carrying messages expressing his support for Ukraine, along with a passage from Zelenskyys speech in December at the U.S. Congress.

In the video from TV Osaka, he said he respects Zelenskyy as the real man among men.

We stand for Ukraine! Justice will prevail in the end, I hope so. Glory to Ukraine, he tweeted.

The student also held a wooden shamoji  a rice serving spoon  like the one that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented to Zelenskyy as a gift during his secret trip to Kyiv last week. The rice paddle is a specialty of Hiroshima, where Kishida is from, and bears a prayer for victory, but was bitterly criticized by opposition lawmakers as nonsense.

Giving a rice serving spoon to the leader of a country at war didn't seem appropriate, the student said. Nonetheless, Im happy if the Ukrainian people were pleased and the traditional prayer behind it was conveyed.

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky retweeted a scene from the video of the Zelenskyy lookalike, as well as the student's tweets showing solidarity for Ukraine.
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LONDON (AP)  Prince Harry and Elton John were in a London court Monday as the lawyer for a group of British tabloids asked a judge to toss the lawsuit they brought with several other high-profile people who allege phone hacking and other invasions of privacy.

Harrys presence at the High Court in London signals the importance of the case, one of several lawsuits the Duke of Sussex has brought in his battle against the press. The hearing is expected to conclude Thursday.

The case alleges Associated Newspapers Ltd., which publishes The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday, commissioned the breaking and entry into private property, and engaging in unlawful acts that included hiring private investigators to bug homes, cars and record private phone conversations.

They were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, attorney David Sherborne said in a court document.

Sherborne who also represents Johns husband, David Furnish, and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, said the intrusions were habitual and widespread and later concealed or covered up.

Articles were falsely attributed to friends, a family source, palace sources, royal insider, or similar phrases to throw subjects off the scent of the true origin, Sherborne said.

Among the allegations in court papers were that Associated Newspapers unlawfully obtained the birth certificate of John and Furnishs child before they had seen the document and illegally gleaned information on Harrys previous relationship with Chelsy Davy, a jewelry designer from Zimbabwe.

The publisher is also alleged to have hired a private investigator to hack Hurleys phone, stuck a mini-microphone on a window outside her home and bugged ex-boyfriend Hugh Grants car to gather financial information, travel plans and medical information during her pregnancy.

John and Furnish arrived in court after a lunch break and sat in the gallery for part of the afternoon before bowing out. Harry sat near Frost toward the rear of the court during the whole session and occasionally took notes.

The case is a replay to some extent of the British phone hacking scandal that was front page news a decade ago and eventually brought down another tabloid and ended with the conviction of the former spokesperson for then-Prime Minister David Cameron.

The allegations date primarily from 1993 to 2011 but also stretch beyond 2018, Sherborne said.

The publisher denies the allegations and said the claims are too old to be brought and information about the phone hacking scandal was so widely known the subjects could have sued years ago.

It would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters, attorney Adrian Beltrami said in writing.

He also argued that the suit should be thrown out because it relies on information the newspapers turned over in confidentiality for a 2012 probe into media law breaking.

Beltrami said it was ironic Harry and others claimed the publisher illegally obtained information about them from evidence that was supposed to have been kept private and, thus, was itself gathered in violation of the law.

Sherborne argued that documents used in the 2012 inquiry were presumed to be public unless marked confidential.

Britain held a year-long inquiry into press ethics after revelations in 2011 that News of the World tabloid employees eavesdropped on the mobile phone voicemails of celebrities, politicians and a teenage murder victim.

Owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the newspaper amid a criminal investigation and public uproar. Several journalists were convicted, and Murdochs company paid $388 million in settlements to dozens of hacking victims, legal fees and other costs associated with investigations.

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who had resigned and became communications chief to Conservative Party leader Cameron, was convicted of phone hacking and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In the inquirys 2012 report, Lord Justice Brian Leveson said outrageous behavior by some in the press had wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people whose rights and liberties have been disdained.

Justice Matthew Nicklin, who is hearing the current eavesdropping case, is also overseeing a separate libel lawsuit Harry brought against Associated Newspapers over an article about his quest for police protection when he and his family visit the U.K.

Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, and his wife, the former actress Meghan Markle, stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the U.S., citing what they described as the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media.

Harry has said he wants to make reforming the British media his lifes work. He fumes at British media throughout his memoir Spare, published in January. He accused them of hounding Meghan and blamed an overly aggressive press for the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, which is mentioned in court papers.

The prince's lawyer said the unlawful conduct by Associated Newspapers was "a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother.

The couple has turned to British courts to combat what they see as media mistreatment. In December 2021, Meghan won an invasion-of-privacy case against Associated Newspapers over the Mail on Sundays publication of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.

Harry is also suing the publisher of another tabloid, the Mirror, in a separate hacking suit.
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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  The U.N.'s atomic energy chief warned during a meeting Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the perilous situation at Europes largest nuclear plant isnt getting any better as relentless fighting in the area keeps the facility at risk of a disaster.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's six reactors are in shutdown and it is receiving the electricity it needs to prevent a reactor meltdown through just one remaining power line. It has on occasion had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems.

In a meeting with Zelenskyy in southern Ukraine covered exclusively by The Associated Press, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation at the plant remains tense because of the heavy military presence around it and a blackout that recently struck the facility, something that has occurred repeatedly since Russian forces took it over last year.

Grossi plans to visit the plant this week for the second time following Russias invasion 13 months ago. The Vienna-based agency has staff permanently deployed at the plant since Grossi's last visit in September.

Earlier this month, fighting interrupted power supply to the plant for half a day, forcing staff to activate backup generators.

Grossi had expressed alarm at that development.

Each time we are rolling a dice, he told his agency at the time. And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out.

Grossi and Zelenskyy met in the the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is in Ukrainian-held territory, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the nuclear plant with the same name.

The IAEA said in January it was placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraines nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of accidents, including the now-closed Chernobyl plant whose deadly nuclear accident in 1986 spread fallout over much of Europe.

Grossi emphasized that his seventh trip to Ukraine underlined his commitment and support for as long as it takes.

Also attending the meeting were other IAEA officials, the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, and the head of nuclear operator Energoatom, Petro Kotin.

While in Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskyy also inspected military positions in the partially-occupied province and awarded soldiers military honors. He visited wounded soldiers at a hospital and an apartment building that Kyiv claims was hit by a missile on Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 30.

Residents were still shocked by the experience.

Its terrifying. I cannot find the words to tell you, said Hanna Budkova, 39, who was in a busy playground in front of the apartment block with her nearly 2-year-old daughter. Im afraid to go anywhere near the windows.

Zelenskyy later visited Nikopol, a frequently shelled city across the Dnieper River from the nuclear power plant, according to the presidential office.

Elsewhere, two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire. Zelenskyy described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin's forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the winter.

In the eastern Donetsk region, about 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported.

Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said.

Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the front-line city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was bombarded 20 times, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

Several explosions shook the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, damaging a building where Russian security forces are quartered, said the exiled elected mayor Ivan Fyodorov. The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Earlier, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, according Yermak, the head of the presidential office. Bloom, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

At his meeting with Zelenskyy, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday at a meeting in the Netherlands that Germany has fulfilled its promised delivery of 18 advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. Canada, Norway and Poland also have sent such tanks to Ukraine.

___

This has corrected that the Zaporizhzhia plant is not currently providing power.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after their talks at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 18. Reuters-Yonhap



NATO on Sunday criticised Vladimir Putin for what it called his "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, a day after the Russian president said he planned to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.



Putin likened the move on Saturday to the U.S. stationing its weapons in Europe, while insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.



Although not unexpected, the plan is one of Russia's clearest nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, and Ukraine called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in response.



While Washington, the world's other nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Putin's announcement, NATO said the Russian president's non-proliferation pledge and his description of U.S. weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark.



"Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments," NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in emailed comments to Reuters on Sunday.



"Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments," Lungescu said.



A top security adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russia's plan would also destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow.



Experts said Russia's move was significant since it had until now been proud that unlike the United States, it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders. It may be the first time since the mid-1990s that it has done so.



Mykhailo Podolyak, another senior Zelenskiy adviser, on Sunday scoffed at Putin's plan on Twitter.



"He admits that he is afraid of losing & all he can do is scare with tactics," Podolyak write.



Washington appeared to see no change in the potential for Moscow to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine, and it and NATO said the news would not affect their own nuclear position.



"We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own," NATO spokesperson Lungescu wrote.



Tactical nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains on a battlefield rather than those with the capacity to wipe out cities. It is unclear how many such weapons Russia has, given it is an area still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.





Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends the NATO summit via video link, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 29, 2022. Reuters-Yonhap



UKRAINE URGES U.N. MEETING









Ukraine's foreign ministry called for an extraordinary meeting of the U.N. Security Council after Putin's announcement, and it asked the international community to "take decisive measures" to prevent Russia's use of nuclear weapons.



"Russia once again confirms its chronic inability to be a responsible steward of nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and prevention of war, not as a tool of threats and intimidation."



The European Union joined the chorus of condemnation on Sunday, with its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urging Belarus not to host the weapons and threatening further sanctions.



Analysts at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said the risk of escalation to nuclear war "remains extremely low".



In Washington, Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said he regarded Russia's plan as disturbing and designed to intimidate the West.



"I think this is saber-rattling on the part of Putin basically to try to frighten," McCaul told the Fox News Sunday program. "These tactical nukes are disturbing."





Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during an annual meeting of the Defence Ministry Board in Moscow, Russia, Dec. 21, 2022. Reuters-Yonhap
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Complaints at large fundraising charities increased by 14% last year, according to new research, with those at RNLI almost doubling.

Civil Society News analysis found complaints at 47 of the largest fundraising charities increased from 12,116 in 2020-21 to 13,843 in 2021-22.

Nonetheless, this was still below pre-pandemic levels. In 2018-19, the same 47 charities altogether had 16,949 fundraising complaints. This fell to 15,091 in 2019-20.

Charities said the rise in complaints last year was due to the return of face-to-face fundraising and in-person events as well as their relationships with third-party organisations.

Most complained about charities

Civil Society News has analysed data available from 50 of the largest fundraising charities for the past four years.

Some 48 of the original 50 charities responded to the latest research, with 47 providing data for all four years since 2018-19.

Out of the 48 charities that gave data for 2021-22, there was an even split between those that had seen an increase or decrease in complaints.

While 24 charities saw negative feedback fall last year, 24 saw it rise. Two could not provide up-to-date complaints data  Plan International UK and the Woodland Trust.

Woodland Trust had previously reported a relatively high number of complaints  1,963 in 2018-19 and 1,780 in 2019-20. The charity told Civil Society News it does not hold any complaints data for the last two years due to the effects of the pandemic and a large data incident that occurred in December 2020.

For the fourth year running, Macmillan Cancer Support was the most complained about charity.

In 2021-22, Macmillan received 3,771 fundraising complaints, an increase of 18% on the year prior.

A spokesperson for Macmillan told Civil Society News it received 2,841 fundraising-only complaints in 2020-21, 4,009 in 2019-20 and 3,170 the year before that.

Macmillans fundraised income was 210.0m according to its accounts for the financial year ending December 2021. Donations and legacies accounted for 91% of its total income of 230.7m.

In its annual accounts, Macmillan states it also monitors negative reactions to its fundraising communications on social media. In 2021, the charity received 9,000 expressions of dissatisfaction to its social media posts.

According to its accounts, it said most of the negative feedback it received was from people who felt the charity could have done more to support their fundraising efforts.

The other main areas of complaint focused on communication errors and concerns that products or campaigns were insensitive, the accounts read.

The majority of complaints the charity received were via social media. Like last year, its Sober October campaign received the most complaints, but this figure decreased in comparison to other years.

Claire Rowney, executive director of fundraising, marketing and innovation at Macmillan, said the cancer charity is extremely diligent in its reporting and says feedback helps them to understand more about its supporters.

We receive complaints through our supporter care team and also log any expression of dissatisfaction on owned social media channels and paid advertising as a complaint. This is why the number of complaints seems higher, but it allows us to hear more from our supporters. The move was supported by the Fundraising Regulator, however, not all charities follow this in their reporting.

When comparing complaints from 2020-21 to the most recent figures, the increase in numbers reflect an uplift in activity taking place across our fundraising portfolio, resulting in subsequent growth in complaints. The ratio of complaints to customer contacts, however, remains static.

Other most complained about charities

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) was the third most complained about charity, the same as the year before.

CRUK saw its complaints increase by 58% for the year ending March 2022 (from 524 to 830).

Its accounts read that this rise is in line with the reintroduction of fundraising activities.

The leading cancer charity had the highest total income of our sample. For the financial year ending March 2022, CRUK had a total income of 668.3m. Some 67% of this was fundraising income.

However, the charitys complaints have not returned to post-pandemic levels, as CRUK saw 1,030 complaints in 2018-19 and 1,238 in 2019-20.

Increase in complaints due to return of face-to-face fundraising

Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH), the third most complained about charity in the sample, saw its complaints rise by 45% on the year prior, according to its accounts ending March 2022 (from 465 to 676).

The charity said this was directly attributable to the increase in face-to-face fundraising activity that has occurred during that financial year.

GOSH explains it ran seven new campaigns between April 2021 to March 2022, and clarified that while complaints overall increased the ratio of complaints to fundraising activity has slightly decreased from the previous year.

RNLI complaints almost double

Fundraising complaints to the RNLI increased by 72% on the year prior, from 639 in 2020-21 to 1,105 in 2021-22.

A spokesperson for the charity said: The RNLI saw a rise in fundraising-related complaints in 2022. There were a number of reasons for this increase, and we are taking action based on the feedback that we have received.



We are committed to ensuring our supporters receive the best possible experience through all of their interactions with us.



The RNLI's vital lifesaving work is only possible due to the generosity of our incredible supporters and we are so grateful for their support.

The charity received backlash in 2021 for rescuing asylum seekers at risk of drowning as they crossed the Channel. The former UKIP leader Nigel Farage called the charity a taxi service for illegal immigration.

Princes Trust cites Omaze partnership as reason for rise in complaints

The Princes Trust saw its complaints rise from 18 to 29 year-on-year.

Its accounts ending March 2022 cite its involvement in a house prize draw as the reason for the increase.

Its accounts read: The increased volume is a result of our continued participation in the Omaze free prize draw in the first part of 2021-22.

Civil Society News contacted Princes Trust for comment but did not receive a response.

Omaze is a private company that conducts prize draws for million-pound houses in luxurious locations as well as cars, cash and more. Its business model states 80% of net proceeds of every house prize draw go to charity.

Teenage Cancer Trust has also worked with Omaze but told Civil Society News it only received one complaint related to its partnership with the company.

BHF has also worked with the company. It said: We have been Omazes valued charity partner for the London II House Draw since December 29, 2022. So far, we have had a very small number of complaints about the campaign. In the context of the millions of people we interact with every year, we receive very few complaints, and the vast majority of people have extremely rewarding experiences.

Last May, Gerald Oppenheim from the Fundraising Regulator said the organisation had received a rise in complaints. He suspected this was due to an increase in online fundraising and prevalence in prize draw and lottery adverts.

Least complained about charity only had one complaint

The least complained about charities in our study were, in ascending order, Westminster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust, Jewish Care and World Vision UK.

Westminster Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust received the least fundraising complaints last financial year, too, receiving only six complaints for 2020-21. For 2021-22, the charity only received one complaint.

A spokesperson from the church charity told Civil Society News its one complaint was a result of a mailing mix-up it said.

Our team was able to investigate and clarify what had happened, and the supporter was appreciative of the diligence involved in their response.

Animal charities receive fewer complaints

Animal charities fared better than most in the sample, being among the least complained about. Dogs Trust, Cats Protection and Donkey Sanctuary featured in the 10 charities with the least fundraising complaints.

Regardless, some did see a rise in complaints. Dogs Trust saw its complaints rise from 27 to 46 on the year.

Its accounts state that a complaints log is maintained and monitored, and we keep a close eye on the pattern of complaints so improvements to our services can be made.

sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,
A few weeks before the 2020 presidential election, I teamed up with Pete Vernon, the former author of this newsletter, to examine how the mainstream press had covered the presidency of Donald Trump. We observed a clear picture of an industry whose basic practices and rhythms have conspired, time and again, to downplay demagoguery, let Trump and his defenders off the hook, and drain resources and attention from crucial longer-term storylines. Crucially, we wrote, Trumps ability to act as the presss assignment editorbe it by design or accident of his erratic personality (and there are strong opinions on both sides of that debate)remains undimmed. Pete and I hoped that, whether Trump returned to the White House or not, the press would learn from its failures and stop indulging him, obsessing over his mood and tone, and publishing euphemistic coverage of his racism. But even after Joe Biden won the election, the press remained attached to Trump, and I have found myself having to monitor the same tired tropes. The past week was, in my view, the most infuriating week since Trumps presidency.

The circus began last weekend, when Trump posted on Truth Social, his flailing social network, that he would be arrested on Tuesday in the New York criminal case involving his payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels. As I wrote a week ago, the press quickly blasted out Trumps claim, even though it turned out to be based on nothing more than media speculation. Even as Tuesday came and went without an arrest, the breathless coverage did not let up, especially on cable news, where journalists and pundits second-guessed every twitch, and every idle moment, of the prosecutors and grand jury. By Friday, Trump was still free, and even many of those involved in producing the coverage seemed to realize theyd been had. Youd think that we would know better by now, but here we are, being trolled again by Donald Trump, Susan B. Glasser wrote for The New Yorker. All week long, prompted by Trumps all-caps warning, the entire political world talked endlessly and obsessively about the former President, for whom such P.R. is exactly the point.

Still, over the weekend, the press continued to invoke the possibility of an arrest. In its coverage of an event in Waco, Texas, on Saturday, the New York Times ran a headline: Trump Puts His Legal Peril at Center of First Big Rally for 2024. The subheading gave him credit for reining in his worst impulses before the crowdhis attacks were less personal and caustic than in recent daysbut if that was true at all, it was only by absurd comparison. In recent days, Trump threatened potential death & destruction upon his arrest and referred to Alvin Bragga prosecutor in the case, who is Blackas an animal under the sway of George Soros, invoking racist and anti-Semitic tropes (which were unevenly characterized as such in subsequent coverage). The Times story mentioned those comments. It also described the rally as a showcase for his enduring showmanship.

To be fair, some coverage of Trumps rally accurately communicated the gravity of Trumps rhetoric: The Guardian described his language as unusually dehumanising, menacing and dangerous, even by his standards; a Reuters headline used the word apocalyptic. And although the feeding frenzy around Trumps post was desperately gullible, it wasnt the only indication of a possible indictmentan arrest could still come soon. But all the breathless coverage channeled many Trump cliches past: There were ampleand sometimes conflictingreports on his mood (Trump is defiant, significantly disconnected from the severity of his potential legal woes, what you see is a lot of false bravado) and on the optics of a potential perp walk. Both Trump and Bragg were accused of trying to create a made for TV moment. And many reporters missed a key point: pronouncements Trump made at his event that indicated what policies he would pursue if he returned to the White Houseamong them, the largest mass deportation in United States history.

Recently, Jay Rosen, a media professor at New York University, urged news organizations to center not the odds, but the stakes heading into the 2024 campaigna step that would represent a welcome inversion of the horserace-heavy norms of political journalism. I wrote earlier this month that early signs do not suggest that journalists are taking Rosens advice. Worse, the latest Trump coverage has swung in the opposite direction, as various political reporters and pundits have weighed whether an arrest might actually be good for Trump politically.

The past week brought highly consequential news stories that were not immediately related to Trumps arrest or the 2024 campaign, but which the next president will have immense power to shape: a deadly attack on a US base in Syria, US airstrikes in response to that attack, a United Nations report warning that were wasting our last chance to avert climate catastrophe. All attracted some smart coveragebut all were also drowned out by Trumps arrest, which, a full week after I last wrote about it, still has not happened. His ability to act as the presss assignment editor remains undimmed.

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Some news from the home front: We have rescheduled a forum to answer questions about the series by reporter Jeff Gerth on Russia and Trump, after an earlier planned discussion had to be rescheduled due to the moderators illness. It will now take place on April 4. Here are the full details:

A CJR Forum: The president and the press

Earlier this year, CJR published a series by reporter Jeff Gerth critiquing the coverage of Russian attempts to intervene in the 2016 election and the subsequent Trump presidency. We knew at the time that the articles would elicit strong responses. But we also believe that CJRs role is to air a range of views about the strengths, challenges, and failings of contemporary media. It is in that spirit that we are organizing this town hall. We will answer questions, respond to criticism, and explain our approach to these stories, applying to ourselves the same transparency and accountability that we seek from the institutions CJR covers. The content of the discussion will be guided entirely by the events outside, independent moderator. For more than 60 years, the Columbia Journalism Review has stood for clarity and integrity in news. We continue that tradition and invite you to participate in this discussion. Jelani Cobb, dean, Columbia Journalism School

Who:

* Reporter Jeff Gerth

* CJR Editor and Publisher Kyle Pope

* Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb

Moderated by Geeta Anand, dean, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

When:

Tuesday, April 4, 1 pm to 2:15 pm ET via livestream at this link.

RSVPs required. (If you registered for the February 27 event, you need to re-register.) Questions for the moderator can be submitted in advance via this link. (Questions submitted earlier dont need to be resubmitted.)



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Live from the Rubble



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.
MADRID (AP)  More than 1,500 people were evacuated as a major forest fire raged in Spains eastern Castellon province on Friday, marking an early start to the nations fire season amid bone dry conditions.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised full support to those who had fled their homes.

Were looking at the first major fire, unfortunately, this year, he said. And it is also taking place out of season.

Local officials said the fire had engulfed around 3,000 hectares of land since it broke out on Thursday, forcing residents into shelters operated by the Red Cross and other charities. Its cause was not immediately clear.

Ximo Puig, the president of the Valencia region that incorporates Castellon, told reporters the fire was very early in the spring, very voracious from the beginning.

Puig added that the effects of climate change are undeniable, so the perspective of firefighting must be considered on an annual basis.

Emergency services in the region said eight villages had been evacuated, as well as a home for older people in Montan.

As of Friday afternoon, 18 water-dropping planes and helicopters and more than 500 firefighters and soldiers were tackling the fire. The Spanish military and the nations ecological transition ministry deployed additional support to try to bring the blaze under control.

The state weather agency, AEMET, tweeted that unfavorable weather conditions, especially considering the early date of the year, have favored the (fires) rapid spread. Temperatures were above 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) when the fire broke out, and relative humidity sank below 30% following an unusually dry winter in the area.

The risk of more fires in Castellon was classified as extreme on Friday.

Miguel Sandalinas, the mayor of one of the villages affected, said that fallen trees left over from winter and the general lack of care for dried vegetation had given the fire a lot of ammunition.

In 2022, wildfires burned through 306,555 hectares of land in Spain, an area almost four times the size of New York City, according to European Union data. Last year was also Spains hottest since records began.

Despite extensive planning, early warning surveillance and prediction models, preparing for wildfires remains a huge challenge.

Spain officially entered a period of long-term drought at the end of last year, owing to high temperatures and low rainfall over the past three years.

Spain has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the 1960s, a warming that is noticeable all year round but especially in summer, when average temperatures have risen by 1.6 degrees.

Top photo: A helicopter with a bucket of water drops water to extinguish the forest fire in Montanejos, Castellon de la Plana, Spain, Sunday March 26, 2023. More than 1,500 people have been evacuated as a major forest fire rages in Spains eastern Castellon province, marking an early start to the nations fire season amid bone dry conditions. Local officials say the fire has engulfed around 3,000 hectares of land. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
What makes a work of art valuable? Many factors can contribute to the value of art, first and foremost being the popularity of the artist, their sales records, and their place in the cannon of art history. Other attributes such as condition, provenance, historical significance, medium, period, and subject matter can also affect the value of art.

But what initially ignites an artist into stardom? What makes a lesser-known artist suddenly achieve status in the art world, consequently causing the value of their work to rise?

Most always in the art market, collectors are interested in whats new and trending, artists who are up-and-coming, or who are established, sanctioned, recognized artists. Some styles of art and artists themselves go in and out of fashion, causing the value of their artwork to rise or fall according to trends.

Art as an investment is a gamble in this way. The upwards trend in an artists popularity typically is the result of press coverage, major museum retrospectives, exhibitions at New York City and Los Angeles galleries, a celebrity collecting their work, a promising showing at Art Basel or other international art fairs and, in some instances a scandal.

The Situation

Our fine art experts recently accepted a claim for a set of two mixed media collage works on paper by Pei Shen Qian (Chinese/American, b. 1940) which the insured purchased for $275 and $200 in 2018. In 2020, the artist was the subject of a popular Netflix documentary, Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art. This is a documentary on the Knoedler art gallery scandal which amounted to $80 million of forged artworks sold over 14 years (19942008). The documentary traces the key figures in the scandal, one of which is Pei-Shen Qian, the artist of the forgeries.

Cracking the Case

Pei Shen Qian is now known internationally as an art forger whose imitations of paintings by Pollock, de Kooning and other abstract expressionists were sold as real for millions of dollars by the New York gallery Knoedler & Co., now defunct. In China, where he regularly returned for extended visits after moving to New York in 1981, Qian is known for his own paintings. He first emerged as an artist in the late 1970s, one of a group producing and exhibiting abstract work. In 2006, he had a 25-year retrospective at the BB Gallery in Shanghai. Yet he gained steady employment as a forger in the United States. Because there were limited original works by Pei Shen Qian in the market, since his notoriety from the documentary, the price of his works went up. Now, the same works on paper the insured purchased for $200-$275 were selling for $3,000.

The Result

The documentary aired in 2020 after the auction date/purchase date in 2018. The documentary caused a scandal in the market and created a notoriety for the artist, which did not exist before the documentary. This is likely the cause of the prices being driven up on the market plus the fact that there is currently a lack of supply for original works by Pei Shen Qian. The works on paper were each valued at $3,000, which is a 1,400% increase in value over a two-year period.

Qian has returned to China, escaping the prosecution after he was indicted for forgery charges. He maintains that he was unaware his works were being sold under the names of famous artists. Now in his early 80s, he continues to paint in a small studio outside Shanghai, but no longer sells his art, his wife told documentary filmmakers. While short-lived, the owner of the original Quian artworks in this claim benefited from the brief market high the artist experienced.
GROVESPRING, Mo (AP)  A car was swept away and two passengers drowned early Friday in Missouri during torrential rains that were part of a severe weather system roaring across parts of the Midwest and South.

The accident happened just after midnight in a sparsely populated area of southwestern Missouri. Authorities said six young adults were in the vehicle that was swept away as the car tried to cross a bridge over a flooded creek in the town of Grovespring.

Four of the six made it out of the water. The body of Devon Holt, 20, of Grovespring, was found at 3:30 a.m., and the body of Alexander Roman-Ranelli, 19, of Springfield, was recovered about six hours later, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Thomas Young said.

The driver told authorities that the rain made it difficult to see that water from a creek had covered the bridge, Young said.

Meanwhile, the search continued in another southwestern Missouri county for a woman who was missing after flash flooding from a small river washed a car off the road. The Logan Rogersville Fire Protection District said the victims dog was found safe, but there was no sign of the woman. Two others who were in the car were rescued. Crews planned to use boats and have searchers walking along the riverbank.

Some parts of southern Missouri saw nearly 3 inches (8 centimeters) of rain Thursday night and into Friday morning as severe weather hit other areas. A suspected tornado touched down early Friday in north Texas as a volatile storm system threatened to spawn tornadoes in several Southern states.

Matt Elliott, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said severe weather is expected across several states.

Were talking several tornadoes, including some that might be strong and intense, Elliott said.

The Storm Prediction Center warned the greatest threat of tornadoes would come Friday afternoon and evening in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Storms with damaging winds and hail were forecast from eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma into parts of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

Now is the time to start checking batteries on your weather radios and making sure you have multiple ways to receive weather warnings, but also having a plan so that if storms start approaching your area and warnings are issued youre able to get yourself and your family to a place thats safe, Elliott said.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards warned of potential tornados reaching the state overnight and urged residents to prepare for severe weather, including damaging winds and hail. The risk of personal vulnerability increases with overnight severe weather as residents are less likely to receive warnings because they are asleep and tornadoes are more difficult to spot, according to the National Weather Service.

In Texas, a suspected tornado struck about 5 a.m. in the southwest corner of Wise County, damaging homes and downing trees and power lines, said Cody Powell, the countys emergency management coordinator. Powell said he had no reports of injuries.

The weather service had not confirmed a tornado, but damage to homes was also reported in neighboring Parker County, said meteorologist Matt Stalley. Investigators likely will go to the area later Friday to make that determination.

The two areas are about 10 miles (16 kilometers) apart on the western edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and Stalley said the storm system was expected to move east of the region by early Friday afternoon.

Associated Press writer Jim Salter in OFallon, Missouri and Jackie Quinn in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A jurys decision that a Louisiana State University fraternity pledges family is entitled to $6.1 million for his hazing-related alcohol death in 2017 sends a powerful message, the familys attorney said Monday.

Max Gruver, from the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Georgia, had been at LSU for only a month when he died of alcohol poisoning and aspiration after a hazing ritual at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house in 2017.

One of the familys attorneys, Don Cazayoux, said last weeks verdict in Baton Rouge bolsters the familys campaign against hazing.

The first message is, dont do it because you could hurt someone, you could kill someone, Cazayoux said in a phone interview. The legal exposure, he said, adds to the points parents should make in warning their college-bound students about the dangers of hazing.

The verdict was to some extent symbolic  Gruvers parents had already reached confidential settlements with the other defendants in the case, including LSU, Phi Delta Theta fraternity and at least 10 other fraternity members.

The lone defendant in last weeks trial, Ryan Isto, was deemed 2% at fault in Gruvers death  making him responsible for $122,000 in damages.

In 2019, Matthew Naquin, of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, was convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the Gruver case, but a judge suspended all but 2 1/2 years. Isto and another fraternity member, Sean Paul Gott, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the criminal case and were sentenced to 30 days in jail. Gott, who had agreed to a settlement in the civil case, also was deemed 2% at fault in Gruvers death by the jury.

Naquin, one of the defendants who reached a settlement in the civil case filed by Gruvers parents, was found by last weeks jury to be 80% at fault in the death.

The university and Phi Delta Theta fraternity also reached settlements. Phi Delta Theta was banned from the LSU campus until at least 2033 as a result of the events leading to Gruvers death.

Witnesses have said Naquin ordered Gruver to chug a bottle of 190-proof liquor in September 2017. Gruver died the following morning. His blood-alcohol level was 0.495%, more than six times the level considered proof of intoxication in Louisiana drunk driving cases.

Gruvers parents, Rae Ann and Stephen Gruver, said at the courthouse in Baton Rouge last week that this sends a message to would-be hazers to consider their actions, The Advocate reported.

Think about the dangers of hazing, think about how it can harm people and how youll be held accountable, Stephen Gruver said.

Photo: FILE  Stephen and Rae Ann Gruver sit in a House committee room behind a photo of their son, 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver, a Louisiana State University freshman who died with a blood-alcohol content six times higher than the legal limit for driving in what authorities say was a hazing incident, in Baton Rouge, La., on March 21, 2018. A jurys decision that Gruvers family is entitled to $6.1 million for Maxwells hazing-related alcohol death in 2017 sends a powerful message, the familys attorney said Monday, March 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Melinda Deslatte, File)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LAKEWOOD, Ohio  Sweet Designs Chocolatier Ines Rehner is living her American dream.

Thirty years after immigrating to the United States from her native farming community in Yugoslavia (now part of Croatia), her boutique chocolatier shop in Lakewood is one of the few local businesses that actually grew during the coronavirus pandemic. She believes it was because people were seeking some form of comfort and joy.

Rehner landed in New York City, at the age of 24, with little more than a dream of being an entrepreneur and a deep love of the rich, creamy European chocolate she grew up on.

Assorted chocolates from Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

I was so young, and I didnt speak English at all, and I didnt even know how to make chocolate, but hearing about this country and the opportunities here  you have to understand that dreams are suppressed in other countries  I just knew this is where I could make everything happen if I was willing to work hard, she said.

Now I tell everyone, especially young people, dont waste the opportunities and chances you get here because you dont get them anywhere else.

Ines Rehner, Founder of Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood filling chocolate cups with peanut butter. - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

Rehner got a job at a chocolatier shop in New York, where she learned the art of making American-style confections. After work, she experimented with ingredients until she found the perfect blend of chocolate she could be proud to put her name on.

Once I started working with chocolate, I realized that I may have a little bit of talent for this, she said with a laugh. I made my own blend -- always with the determination that it had to be the best. I knew it had to be memorable, she said. Now, once you eat my chocolate, you will remember that you had something so tasty, it will stick with you years down the road.

Inside of Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

That taste may be why Sweet Designs Chocolatier, located at 16100 Detroit Ave., ranks No. 1 among Yelp Cleveland users as the regions Best Chocolatier.

Chocolate, Rehner said, is very temperamental.

It can be very challenging to work with it, but I have always loved the challenge. When you make something that seems impossible, at first, when you come to an end and gain that recognition, I am very humbled by it.

Ines Rehner, Founder of Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood looking at the dark chocolate ready to create amazing candy. - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

I like making people happy and spreading joy. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I like chocolate. So, when you combine all of these, Sweet Designs happened, Rehner explained.

A visit to Sweet Designs is like being transported to a confectionary shop in Europe, where you can experience a truly rich, decadent chocolate that is not overly sweet. Rehner specializes in those unique European sweets such as Marzipan and torrone. She imports citrus from Spain, which she covers in a heavy layer of her chocolate.

In fact, she sources all of her ingredients from all across the globe.

Assorted chocolates by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood Pictured- citrus marzipan candied orange peel and apricot covered in dark chocolate. - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

In America, very sweet and salty is a big deal, like salted caramels. But American chocolate doesnt satisfy. You need to know the difference if you are craving sugar or craving chocolate. If you are craving chocolate, you are not going to get that satisfaction with American chocolate, which is why we eat more of it, she explained. Cocoa butter gives chocolate that richness that just isnt there in American candies. With European chocolates, one-to-two pieces will completely satisfy.

Salted caramel chocolates by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

In addition to her gourmet chocolate, Rehner does offer a limited line of sugar-free candies, as well as organic and vegan options.

Smart Bark! organic line by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

Her Smart Bark line -- developed in 2014 for customers who suffer from allergies  is now sold at Heinens, Acme, Kroger and Whole Foods groceries, as well as at small natural gourmet food shops across Northeast Ohio. The line features four varieties, including one using quinoa  which Rehner says mimics the texture of a Nestle Crunch bar.

When COVID hit, many small businesses suffered, but Rehner found her business flourishing.

White chocolate pierogi by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

We would come into the shop each morning and there would be so many orders that came overnight. My employees  many of them who have been with me for 10 years or more -- were very dedicated and worked many long hours to fill all those orders. And when someone was sick, someone else was more than willing to fill in. It was a lot of hard work, but we did what we had to do because we knew people were just looking for any kind of happiness they could find, she recalled.

We were facing challenges like everyone else  the biggest one was the shortage of supplies  but I have to say, I did okay with all of that because I grew up in a country where shortages were a part of life  so you learn to anticipate and plan ahead.

Chokolatine  Art meets chocolate an exclusive creation by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

Her latest line is Chokolatine, and is being met with great reviews.

Out only two months, the luxury line of chocolates is for customers who appreciate art, or just the finer things in life.

The brainchild of Rehner  and artist Renee Fisher, who came to the shop working retail  takes its inspiration from Impressionist art.

Chokolatine  Art meets chocolate an exclusive creation by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

Rehner said the two began the creation process by first thinking of the chocolate centers they would spray paint with a coco butter spray, but once I saw the level of detail Renee put into the design of each piece, I knew we had something truly special. Now she creates the design and then we create a center that will enhance the art.

Each piece is a decadent chocolate masterpiece encased in a microscopic layer of coco butter paint.

Chokolatine  Art meets chocolate an exclusive creation by Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

These chocolates have truly become a canvas for her, Rehner said. She is inspired by the greatest artists, and hand paints each chocolate. And what comes out of that is something fun, tasty and truly beautiful to look at.

Chocolate shoe filled with truffles from Sweet Designs Chocolatier located at 16100 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood - Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com

When asked if she has any plans to expand, Rehner just shook her head.

Everything we create is made in small batches, she said. I am not interested in making large batches and then not being able to sell it fast enough, which compromises the taste. I am not interested in being the biggest business  just the best business.

Besides, if you grow too big, you lose track of the secret ingredient  which I put into every piece. That secret ingredient is love.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Cleveland man is accused of kidnapping an acquaintance hed hired for a plumbing job, holding him for ransom and firing shots at him as he escaped.

Ahmed Johnson, 51, was arrested Sunday and charged in Cleveland Municipal Court with aggravated kidnapping. A judge set Johnsons bond at $75,000 during his initial court appearance on Monday.

Johnson, also known as Cuba, hired a 52-year-old man to work on renovations to his home in the citys Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood, according to a police report. The two men knew each other during a stint in federal prison, the report said.

When the 52-year-old man arrived on the morning of March 9, Johnson escorted him to the basement to show him a leaky pipe. He led him to another room, where another man emerged from a dark corner and pointed a gun with a blue beam at him, the report states. The men ordered the 52-year-old man to the floor and took his iPhone and Apple Watch, the police report said.

The robbers blindfolded the man, bound him with zip ties and covered his mouth with duct tape, according to police and court records. They forced him into the back of his own van and sped away, the police report said.

During the drive, the abductors forced the 52-year-old man to call one of his associates and instruct him to bring $15,000 to a gas station in the citys Central neighborhood, or hed be hurt, the police report says.

Before that could happen, the 52-year-old man broke the zip ties, jumped out of the van as it slowed down and ran down East 49th Street in the citys Central neighborhood. Johnson jumped out of the van and began shooting at him, according to police, who reported locating four spent bullet casings at the crime scene later that day.

The 52-year-old man ran into a convenience store as the suspects drove off. Responding officers noticed a scarf-like garment around his neck with duct tape hanging from it.

The identity of the second suspect is unknown.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  No arrests have been made after someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a church set to host a Drag Queen Story Hour.

Little else is known about the incident at the Community Church of Chesterland or the police response because Chester Township officials, in an apparent violation of Ohio law and a recent Ohio Supreme Court case, refused to release the full police report.

The incident happened about a week before a planned brunch and story hour sponsored by the church. The Proud Boys, an all-male, neo-fascist organization, last week circulated notices encouraging protests at the sold-out drag brunch thats set for Saturday at Element 41 in Chardon.

FBI spokeswoman Susan Licate would not say if the FBI is investigating the incident, saying in a statement that the agency is aware of the incident and takes allegations of federal law violations seriously.

In a police report that contains a three-sentence narrative, Chester Township police reported that the incident happened late Friday and that the incident involved someone damaging a church sign with a Molotov cocktail.

Officers responded for a report of damage to a sign, already reported, and a Molotov cocktail that was thrown at a door with minor fire damage, the narrative said. A report and evidence were taken while on scene. The detective bureau was called in and an investigation is ongoing.

Church Pastor Jess Peacock said they received a call from a member of the church Saturday morning saying the sign at the churchs entrance had been damaged. Peacock said they found broken shards of a vodka bottle at the base of the church.

At first, I thought it was from the wind but then I saw the scorching marks on the church and it became obvious that this was not mother nature, Peacock said. ...This is absolutely a hate crime.

Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young would not confirm whether a suspect or suspects involved would be charged for a hate crime as the incident is under investigation.

He also refused to release the full police report, citing an on-going investigation. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in June that police agencies must provide the public with a police report that includes summaries of any initial interviews of witnesses and immediate steps taken by officers.

Chester Township officials did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment.

The Community Church of Chesterland, which plans to host a Drag Story Hour next Saturday, said its sign and building were vandalized Friday night.

Peacock, who is pansexual, said they were angry and sad about what happened to the church but still feels hopeful.

Its not hard to connect the dots, where this came from, Peacock said. Theres been public pressure to not do the drag shows, but weve continued with it and a week out our church gets firebombed.

Drag performances have become controversial nationwide. Legislation recently passed in Tennessee restricts drag performances in public or in the presence of children and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks or places of worship.

Earlier in March, two people were arrested after white supremacists and Neo-Nazis protested the Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour in Wadsworth. Nearly 300 people filled the park, with many chanting homophobic and racial slurs.

Peacock said despite the concerns for safety, the event Saturday evening is still going on as planned and expects more than 100 people to attend in support. The church is accepting donations to continue hosting similar events.

For me, this is not just about a drag show, Peacock said. This is about an attack on the LGBTQ community, and not just not just what happened here, but what has been happening around the country.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The Last Page in the Pinecrest development has scheduled Creme de la Femme, a dinner celebrating women in the restaurant industry in Cleveland.

The dinner is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, May 11.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  When I walk into Mr. John Whelans fifth-grade classroom at Almira Elementary School on a late October day, I quickly recognize that more students are there than usual.

In addition to students from Mr. Whelans homeroom, a third of Ms. Mary Hejnals fifth-grade class is also in the room. Ms. Hejnal is out sick the day before, and with no substitute teachers available, Mr. Whelan is covering some of Ms. Hejnals class for a second straight day. Fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Sharon Lenahan assists and agrees to take some of Ms. Hejnals students into her room. Ms. Geneva Burgess, a second-grade teacher, also helps out, taking a cohort of Mr. Whelans students.

Today is holding down the fort day, Mr. Whelan says to me shortly after I walk in the room.

Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer have embedded two reporters at Almira on Clevelands West side to document the many challenges of teaching students whose lives are complicated by poverty and how Cleveland Metropolitan School District teachers overcome them.

Ms. Hejnal is regularly at school, usually not missing many days. But with no substitutes available that week, Mr. Whelan, Mrs. Lenahan and Ms. Burgess would manage more students than usual.

But Almiras teachers, especially the ones on the third floor, which consists of second grade through fifth, have fostered a strong community. The teachers know they must look out for one another and pick each other up.

Hejnals out for six days in a row, I dont choose to just say, This sucks, Whelan later says. I decide -- alright, how can I keep the train moving in the right direction and were still learning and not wasting a week?

The current teacher shortage could play a role in the lack of substitute teachers, says Ms. Hejnal. She feels Almira is a good building for any sub to come to, adding that she and Mr. Whelan make sure they help support substitute teachers when either of them is out.

Ms. Hejnal also knows, though, that teachers dont receive respect from some students and parents, which could be a reason for the low number of full-time teachers and subs available.

I dont know what a sub makes, so maybe theyre not paid enough, Ms. Hejnal said. I dont think I would ever want to be a sub. Because you know the students dont treat the substitutes the same (as a full-time teacher).

Throughout the week while Ms. Hejnal is out, Mr. Whelan stays even-keeled while he teaches more students than his share. He says he focuses on what he can control. Still, the week brings its challenges. Since Mr. Whelan only has some of Ms. Hejnals students, he has to consider that the group of fifth-graders in Mrs. Lenahans fourth-grade classroom isnt receiving instruction at the same time as their classmates.

To help solve this problem, Mr. Whelan and Mrs. Lenahan decide to alternate the two groups daily. One day, Mr. Whelan instructs his portion of Ms. Hejnals students, and the next day he takes the group that was with Mrs. Lenahan.

Throughout that week, Ms. Burgess and Mrs. Lenahan both maintain positive attitudes. Both teachers have some of their former students in their classes, creating a sense of familiarity that makes the week easier.

Teachers can refuse to cover a colleagues class in this way, but thats not in the DNA of Almiras staff, particularly on the third floor. The group is close-knit, always connecting with each other and bouncing ideas off each other, says Ms. Burgess.

Because we have that type of relationship, were able to help each other out, Ms. Burgess says. Its not a burden. I cant say that anybody feels like its ever a burden for them to take on additional kids.

When a fellow teacher is out, the group knows it must be a team.

We are a family here, and I think that everybody is cohesive and understands that if a teacher is out, we have to do what we have to do, Mrs. Lenahan says.

Thank you for reading Clevelands Promise. Please consider supporting journalism like this by joining our community of subscribers. With a paid subscription, you gain access to everything published by a team of journalists committed to providing accurate information on news, entertainment and sports in Northeast Ohio. Please subscribe here. -- Chris Quinn, Editor

For this innovative series, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District gave two reporters unprecedented access to a classroom at Almira Elementary School to show readers the challenges of educating children in poverty and what the school district is doing to overcome them. Students names have been changed to protect their identity. Read more about this project here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Cleveland man was slain Sunday on the citys East Side, according to police.

Derrion Miller, 20, was shot at 3 a.m. at a home on Kinsman Road, near Anita Kennedy Avenue, according to police and the office of the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner. Miller was shot in the hip but was still conscious when police arrived.

Paramedics took Miller to University Hospitals, where he was later pronounced dead.

Witnesses informed police that someone fired several shots into the home. Police recovered multiple shell casings at the scene.

No arrests have been made and police have not identified any suspects in connection with the shooting.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry said it expects to forge ahead with plans to turn an old office building into a youth drop-in center in Clevelands Ohio City neighborhood, despite considerable pushback from neighbors who say they dont want it on their street.

The nonprofit is aware that some of the neighbors around 4100 Franklin Boulevard have made good on their repeated threats to go to court to stop the project, LMMs President and CEO Maria Foschia said in an emailed statement to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

The project is currently on hold -- an emergency stay is in place while the case is pending in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas -- but Foschia indicated that LMM is confident it will win the legal battle and will eventually be able to open.

Having devoted substantial energy and time to planning and designing the drop-in center, engaging in community outreach, working with city officials, boards and commissions, and responding to numerous questions from nearby property owners, we are moving forward with our plans and hope to begin construction as soon as possible, Foschias statement reads. We acknowledge that the legal process may delay those efforts but believe that any such delay will only be temporary.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Control on Monday was scheduled to contribute up to $247,000 toward the total $1.5 million project cost to help LMM start rehabilitating the property, but county council asked to wait until the litigation concludes. The countys portion would come out of its federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

The purpose of the project is to provide youth ages 16-24, who are facing homelessness or housing instability, a welcoming physical environment, where they can access services and basic needs, such as a kitchen, bathroom and laundry facilities, according to documents provided to BOC. LMM will operate the center, but it is being planned in coordination with A Place 4 Me, the Sisters of Charity Foundation and the Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services.

On average, there are 550 youth who seek emergency housing in the county each year, LMM says.

LMM said it received support for the youth drop-in center from Ohio City residents who voted in favor of the centers mission and location at a community meeting on Jan. 26, but it hasnt had unanimous support.

As first reported by Ideastream Public Media, immediate neighbors have voiced that the drop-in center could bring crime and unwanted traffic to their street, making the area less safe for those who live there.

Similar criticisms were raised in 2012 when then-Cleveland City Councilmen Joe Cimperman and Matt Zone championed a different proposal to build permanent housing on Lorain Avenue to support homeless men who are fighting addiction. The project eventually died.

Ten neighbors of the LMM site, led by former Cleveland Housing Court judge Ron OLeary, filed an appeal this month against the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals to reverse the variances that allowed the center to locate on their block by changing the approved use of the property from office building to daytime shelter.

The BZAs decision to grant the variance is unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or unsupported by the preponderance of substantial, reliable, and probative evidence on the whole record, their complaint reads.

Parties were meeting Monday to set a hearing date for that case, according to the docket.

LMM has filed their own appeal against the zoning board, arguing that it doesnt require a variance for the drop-in center to begin with, because the use of the property for charitable purposes hasnt changed, court records show. If a judge rules in their favor, it would render the appeal that OLeary and neighbors have filed, irrelevant.

A hearing date has not yet been set in that case.

Foschia said she is disappointed, but not discouraged by the opposition, and that LMM and partners will continue with planning.

We look ahead confidently to 4100 Franklin in Ohio City as the site for young people facing the trauma of housing instability to have a safe respite while working to achieve their goals, she said in her statement.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Gov. Mike DeWines proposal to spend $388.2 million over the next two years to put a school resource officer in every public and private school in Ohio has criminal justice and children advocates concerned that, without guardrails, it will exacerbate what they call the school-to-prison pipeline.

The school-to-prison pipeline is a term to describe policies and practices that follow kids out of schools and into the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Studies show that Black and Latino students tend to be disciplined, including suspended, more than white students for the same misbehavior.

At a Monday morning press conference, the ACLU of Ohio, the Childrens Defense Fund-Ohio and other advocacy groups said they were concerned that by adding a cop to each building, more minor student behavioral problems  such as using a cell phone, disrespecting a teacher and other issues normally resolved in the classroom  would result in a heavy-handed law enforcement response that could lead to more kids being suspended, expelled and arrested or referred for prosecution.

School is a place where childhood happens, said Tanisha Pruitt of Policy Matters Ohio. For many students in Ohio, school is a safe place to learn, develop and grow.

DeWine suggested the school resource officer funding as school shootings kill and injure more children and staff in Ohio and across the country. DeWine last year signed a law allowing teachers to carry weapons in classrooms with only 20 hours of training. Some schools objected to this, saying theyd prefer a police officer on the premises. A spokeswoman for DeWine said that the $388 million in funding is in response to that.

The Governors wrap around services funds, which total $600 million per year, are designated for schools to hire additional counselors or mental health professionals if they so choose, DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said.

Nearly $388 million over two years, which would come from federal funds, is a large amount of money, the advocates said, and should come with guardrails. The organizations suggested three of them:

Allow more flexibility for use of the money

The American Counseling Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students. In Ohio, the average is one counselor for every 403 students, said Alison Paxson of the Childrens Defense Fund-Ohio.

But some resource-strapped school districts that would prefer to hire a counselor would have to hire a police officer under DeWines plan, she said.

Many active shooters are found to have had mental health issues. Counseling could address those problems before a student considers violence, she said.

Increase the qualifications and training for school resource officers

School resource officers in Ohio must complete 40 hours of basic training and 40 hours of additional training in the first year. That training covers over two dozen topics, including safety planning for active shooter and other potential situations, behavior management, drug trends, social media safety, understanding students with disabilities and using language and actions to meet childrens age and developmental levels.

Some of these topics could each be 40 hours, said TaKasha Smith of the Juvenile Justice Coalition, which works to provide solutions to the juvenile justice system.

Science tells us the truth about our kids is they have undeveloped brains, they have different decision-making processes, they do not anticipate collateral consequences while making decisions., she said. Theyre incredibly prone to peer pressure.

Address data gaps, and require schools that accept the money for an SRO to send data to the state

Its unknown how many Ohio school districts use school resource officers, what schools have them, how many work at each school, and what their interactions with children look like  specifically how often they use force or restrain a child, Timothy Johnson of the Ohio Poverty Law Center said.

If the state is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on SROs, he said, it needs data to inform smart spending decisions.

These are simple questions that are basic transparency that Ohio should have the information for already, he said.

The legislature is currently putting together the states two-year operating budget. Rep. Jay Edwards, a Nelsonville Republican who chairs the Ohio House Finance Committee, said that Republicans are generally supportive of DeWines recommendation, and that Republicans and Democrats on his committee agree that more needs to be spent to make schools safer.

Everybody agrees with the concept, he said. The idea of how we get there is in question.

SRO money may be added to the Fair School Funding Plan, the legislatures overhaul of public school funding in an attempt to make it more equitable, Edwards said.

Last week Edwards said he toured a Jewish school in Northeast Ohio, which is concerned about potential antisemitic violence, that said it has contracts with police and security groups to keep the students safe. It also asked for some flexibility in the money to be able to use it on other security efforts.

That idea has a lot of merit, as long as its a proposal thats going to security, he said.

There also needs to be a discussion about funding of SROs over the long-term, and how or whether the state can continue receiving federal money for it. If Ohio must pay for it from state funds after the two-year budget cycle ends, the legislature will have to look at whether the state can afford it, Edwards said.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.
WASHINGTON, D. C. - U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan is deciding whether to draft legislation that would protect former and/or current Presidents from politically motivated prosecutions by state and local officials in response to potential charges against former President Donald Trump for his role in making an alleged $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Related: Why Jim Jordan cant pass legislation to stop local prosecutions of ex-presidents like Donald Trump

Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, joined the chairs of the House Administration and House Oversight and Accountability committees in a Saturday letter that reiterated an earlier demand for documents and testimony from the New York district attorney pursuing the case.

Congress has a specific and manifestly important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions of current and former Presidents by elected state and local prosecutors, particularly those tried before elected state and local trial-level judges, said the letter Jordan wrote with Administration chairman Bryan Steil of Wisconsin and Oversight chairman James Comer of Kentucky.

Therefore, the Committee on the Judiciary, as a part of its broad authority to develop criminal justice legislation, must now consider whether to draft legislation that would, if enacted, insulate current and former presidents from such improper state and local prosecutions, the letter said. These legislative reforms may include, for example, broadening the existing statutory right of removal of certain criminal cases from state court to federal court. Because your impending indictment of a former President is an issue of first impression, the Committees require information from your office to inform our oversight.

Jordan and the other two committee chairs last week wrote a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., that accused him of pursuing Trumps indictment for political reasons, calling it an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority. Their letter followed a claim by Trump last week that his arrest was imminent. If Trump is arrested, legal experts say he would be the first former U.S. president to ever face criminal charges.

A few days after Jordans first letter, an attorney for Bragg responded that the inquiry amounted to federal interference with a local prosecution. The letter noted Jordans first letter came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry.

The letter from General Counsel Leslie B. Dubeck called the congressional requests an unlawful incursion into New Yorks sovereignty and said Congresss investigative jurisdiction is derived from and limited by its power to legislate concerning federal matters.

If a grand jury brings charges against Donald Trump, the DAs Office will have an obligation, as in every case, to provide a significant amount of discovery from its files to the defendant so that he may prepare a defense, it continued. It said the allegation that the DAs Office is pursuing a prosecution for political purposes is unfounded, and regardless, the proper forum for such a challenge is the Courts of New York.

Since becoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in January, Jordan has started probes of allegedly improper political acts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Biden administrations handling of immigration and border security issues, whether the federal government improperly influenced Twitter, and whether the U.S. Air Force improperly released personnel files to Democratic political operatives, among other things.

At a weekend rally for his presidential campaign in Waco, Texas, Trump claimed political pressure from Washington, D.C. was behind the New York prosecution. He also singled out Jordan and Comer for praise.

These are great people, putting themselves at risk because they take a lot of abuse but they are doing something we have not seen in Washington in 25 years, Trump said of the pair.

Sabrina Eaton covers the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read more of her work here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  No arrests have been made after a Shaker Heights man was shot Friday in the citys Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood.

Demond Donerson, 44, was shot in the head about 6:30 p.m., according to police and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner. Police found Donerson in the 3000 block of East 123rd Street with a gunshot wound to his head.

Paramedics transported Donerson to University Hospitals, where he later died. An investigation by police revealed that a robbery took place.

Police said they identified a woman as a potential suspect. Police are also on the lookout for a man who they believe may have played a role in the shooting.

Detectives from the citys Homicide Unit will oversee the investigation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  The proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the Ohio Constitution advanced smoothly through the initial stages of the winding process to get on the ballot, but as advocates began to gather signatures to put the amendment on the November ballot, opponents began setting up roadblocks.

Any or all of the challenges could thwart the amendments success in Ohio  and at least make it more expensive for it to pass.

A four-week, $5 million television and digital ad campaign opposing the amendment is underway. Two abortion opponents are suing a state board that cleared the amendment for the signature-gathering process.

And Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman wants to put a proposal before voters on Aug. 8 that, if passed, would preempt the abortion-rights amendment in November and require a 60% supermajority for any changes to the state constitution to pass. Right now, a simple majority of 50% plus one vote is required.

The amendment proposal, called The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety, would guarantee that patients could make decisions about reproduction, including birth control, fertility treatment, continuing a pregnancy or abortion and miscarriage care until viability, which is around 22 to 24 weeks.

Under current law, supporters need to gather approximately 413,000 signatures from registered voters by July 5 to make the ballot in November.

Amendment backers expected a fight, having watched constitutional amendment campaigns in Michigan and other states, said Jeff Rusnak, a political strategist with the amendment campaign.

Theyre trying to change the rules because they know they cant win, he said.

But opponents believe the proposal is too broad and that abortion is the taking of a life.

The foundational goal of what weve done today with Protect Women Ohio is to educate the public on what the ballot language actually says, said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life, which is a member of the opposition coalition. And thats why weve made a significant investment into educating the public via our airwaves, both television and digital.

Protect Women Ohio said the amendment campaign will be well-funded by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, but the group plans to tell voters that the amendment is anti-parent and includes its direct assault on parental rights, its elimination of current health and safety standards for women, and the fact that it includes zero protections for the unborn.

The activists pushing this anti-parent amendment have gone too far and were confident that Ohioans will see this for what it is  an extreme agenda that completely eliminates parental rights and endangers women in our state, said Protect Women Ohios spokeswoman, Amy Natoce.

Smooth sailing

The amendment proposal began without any hiccups.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, on March 2 certified the petition as a fair and truthful summary of the amendment, the first step to get on the ballot. Yost, a Republican who opposes abortion, wrote in his letter to supporters that he was bound by law and duty to certify the amendment as long as it met legal requirements.

The rule of law necessarily means that there are limits to the decision-making of those who temporarily exercise public authority, he wrote in a letter to the coalition. This is true of prosecutors who will not enforce criminal statutes with which they disagree, or presidents who wish to take actions not authorized by the Constitution or Congress.

He continued: It is also true of attorneys general required by a narrow law to make a decision about the truthfulness of a summary.

Then members of the bipartisan Ballot Board, overseen by its Republican chairman Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, determined March 13 that the proposal contained only one amendment, which cleared supporters to begin gathering signatures.

The Republicans on the Ohio Ballot Board, including LaRose and state Sen. Theresa Gavarone of the Toledo area, said the vote wasnt about the merits of the abortion proposal but about the more narrow question of whether the proposal should be broken up into separate ballot questions.

Lawsuit

But on Monday, residents in Hamilton and Montgomery counties asked the Ohio Supreme Court to force the Ballot Board to look at the amendment again, saying that the proposal needs to be divided up into multiple ballot questions.

They argued that some activities described in the proposal would establish individual constitutional rights, but others concern the interests and rights of a third party, i.e., the unborn child.

Amendment backers have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to expedite the deadlines for briefings  with the final responses due April 7. But the Court hasnt yet even ruled on whether it will accept the case.

The stakes in the case are high. If the amendment were broken into multiple issues, backers would have to gather the required 413,000 signatures for each one, and convince voters to approve several questions rather than just one. That would require more time and resources from abortion-rights activists who so far have mostly relied on volunteers to collect signatures.

Ohio Physicians for Reproductive rights, one of the amendment backers, called the case meritless and unprecedented, saying no one has ever asked the Ohio Supreme Court to reverse a unanimous Ballot Board vote over whether a proposal contains one or more amendments.

The extremists who filed this action are attempting to circumvent the law and the Constitution in a desperate attempt to prevent the people of Ohio from voting on the Reproductive Freedom amendment, the group said in a statement. They are, in essence, asking the Court to ignore precedent and use partisan politics as the rationale for overturning the determination made by the three Republican and two Democratic members of the Ballot Board.

The opposition campaign Protect Women Ohio is not associated with the residents who filed the request at the Ohio Supreme Court, said Natoce, coalitions spokeswoman.

Coalition creation

The coalition that is backing the abortion-rights amendment is called Protect Choice Ohio. The coalition opposing it chose a similar name, Protect Women Ohio.

A quick search for the amendments backers returns high results for its opponents. But thats where the similarities end.

The coalition of supporters includes grassroots organizations, such as Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, and long-established abortion rights groups, such as PreTerm-Cleveland and Planned Parenthood, which has been in Ohio for over 100 years.

The opponent organization running the $5 million ads on Wednesday announced members of its coalition. It includes Ohio Right to Life and the Center for Christian Virtue, influential anti-abortion organizations on Ohio Capitol Square, as well as dozens of local right-to-life groups, the Ohio Christian Alliance and the Catholic Conference of Ohio.

Todays coalition rollout shows what we have known all along: Ohioans refuse to sit back and watch as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood bring their war on parental rights to our doorstep, said Molly Smith, a board member of the opposition campaign, in a statement. This extreme and dangerous anti-parent amendment removes existing health protections for women and children and erases parents from the conversation. We wont let that happen.

The opposition ads incorrectly claim that if passed, the abortion rights amendment would allow children to get sex change surgeries, with their parents would be powerless to stop it. While the amendment protects contraception, it does not guarantee a right to hormone replacement therapy or gender-confirmation surgeries.

Expect more from the opposition campaign after the current ad campaign is finished, said Gonidakis, of Ohio Right to Life.

Were going to run a robust campaign both from the get-out-the-vote effort to educating the public, he said. The other side is going to be doing the same thing, and we will run a very effective and efficient campaign to educate the public because we believe, regardless of whether youre pro-life or pro-choice, when you understand and appreciate what the language actually does, a vast majority of Ohioans will reject it.

The amendment supporters say they are planning a public information campaign to educate about their amendment.

I think this is a pattern of behavior from them (the opposition), just in general, said Rusnak, who is working for the amendment campaign. I think what we saw this week is more examples of this multimillion dollar disinformation campaign that theyre waging against our amendment because they cant win at the ballot box and theyre desperate.

60% supermajority

Last week, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican who is the states most powerful lawmaker, said he wants a proposal to make it harder to pass a constitutional amendment on ballots in August, so that the abortion amendment would have to win more than 60% of the vote in November.

Thats a high bar. In conservative and purple states, amendments to either enshrine abortion rights or to defeat proposals that allow the government to decide abortion rights have passed or failed in the 52% to 59% range.

An August special election is expected to cost $20 million  taxpayer money Huffman said is worth it to save fetuses from abortion.

In December, lawmakers passed a measure to generally end August elections, due to the high cost and low voter turnout, which usually hovers around 10%.

State Rep. Brian Stewart, a Pickaway County Republican who is sponsoring a resolution in the House to require the 60% supermajority, said he wasnt pushing an August timeline and that those decisions were above his pay grade. Although in December, he supported the legislation to end August elections. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the states chief elections official who was also a proponent of getting rid of August elections, is also letting Huffman take the public wrath, saying the timeline for 60% is up to the legislature.

LaRose and Stewart were the architects behind the 60% idea last year, a week after the Nov. 8 election, when abortion rights won in several states.

Its unclear whether an August special election will even occur though. Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, a Lawrence County Republican, said late last week that he opposes the expense and extra work that an August election requires of elections boards, especially since the legislature voted to largely end August elections.

Let me be abundantly clear, Stephens posted on Twitter on Friday. I am and have always been 100% Pro-Life. I will stand for life at every turn; however, I am not for changing the rules willy nilly at a whim when it comes to changing our constitution.

Over 100 voter rights and civic groups and unions oppose raising the threshold to 60%.

Rusnak said the abortion-rights campaign is prepared to run through the new roadblocks.

We will fight the frivolous lawsuit. We will present the facts and educate voters around the truth of whats on the ballot and what our language says, he said. And the 60% amendment, if for some reason they manage to put it on the ballot, theyre going to lose because voters are going to see what it is. They see it right now.

To read more abortion coverage from The Plain Dealer/ cleveland.com, visit this link about Ohio abortion rights.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.
COLUMBUS, Ohio A group of Ohio lawmakers once again is introducing legislation that would abolish the states death penalty. But it remains to be seen whether they will get farther this session than with previous attempts, which went nowhere.

On Tuesday, a group of Ohio senators are set to unveil their latest attempt to stop executions, which resumed in Ohio 24 years ago. While several bills have been introduced in past sessions to end capital punishment, starting last session an increasing number of cosponsors have been Republicans  whose backing is vital to passing a bill in the GOP-dominated Ohio General Assembly.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat whos been a leading anti-death-penalty advocate in the legislature, told cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer that the Republican lawmakers behind the new bill  including state Sens. Stephen Huffman of Tipp City and Michele Reynolds of suburban Columbus  make her hopeful that this will be the session a death-penalty repeal bill will pass.

You know, when one introduces legislation, always you have to believe that this time is going to be the time when you can get enough folks in agreement to pass it, Antonio said. But I will say that I feel good about the momentum.

Death-penalty opponents will need the support  or at least non-opposition  of two Republicans in particular: Senate President Matt Huffman of Lima and House Speaker Jason Stephens of Lawrence County.

Senate President Matt Huffman has said hes been a supporter of the death penalty his entire legislative career, though last session he allowed a couple of Senate committee hearings to be held on a death-penalty repeal bill (the bill died before making it out of committee). Its unclear what Stephens position is on such a bill  cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer has reached out to his spokesman for comment.

President Huffman has said multiple times that he will not stand in the way of any legislation having a full debate and a full discussion if thats what his members want, Antonio said. And so I believe that we will be able to have that, and then go from there.

Ohio is one of 27 death-penalty states, and it has more than 130 people on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. However, executions, which are carried out at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, have effectively been on hold in the state since 2018 because of ongoing problems getting pharmaceutical companies to sell lethal-injection drugs to the state.

Gov. Mike DeWine, who helped write Ohios death-penalty law in 1981, no longer describes himself as a death-penalty supporter and has said he will refuse to allow any more executions to take place in the state unless the Ohio General Assembly picks an alternative to lethal injection.

Thats a step that, so far, state lawmakers have not even started to take.

While legislative Republicans have been hesitant to end Ohios death penalty altogether, they have narrowed its use a bit. In 2021, DeWine signed legislation banning executions of the severely mentally ill.

American attitudes about the death penalty have changed over the last several decades. For example, public polling from Gallup shows that the gap between those who approve of the death penalty for those convicted of murder and those who dont peaked in the mid-1990s but has shrunk to its lowest level since the early 1970s. About 55% of respondents told Gallup last year that they believed the death penalty was morally acceptable, near a two-decade low.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  The letter to Terri Sabo seemed harmless enough.

A land broker sent a note Jan. 3 to her address in Cambridge, Ohio, a small town in the middle of eastern Ohios Utica shale fields that have been the epicenter of drilling for oil and natural gas in the state for more than a decade.

The letter, which she provided to Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, expresses interest in possibly entering into an oil and gas lease with you.

Sabo only owns about two acres. But its their proximity to Salt Fork State Park, a 7,000-acre expanse of forests, meadows, streams, valleys and lakes that set her aghast. Last year, state lawmakers passed legislation that opens new doors for drillers to extract oil and gas from beneath its parks. Advances in drilling that helped accelerate the natural gas boom in Ohio have made it possible for those companies to build a rig on adjacent private property and drill horizontally to free resources from under the parks.

But Sabo is worried about the other consequences. Gas drilling, she figures, means wastewater trucks going in and out, tearing up the roads as they haul industrial byproduct of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. She also mentioned flaring  the occassional burning of excess natural gas at the point of extraction.

My biggest concern is [the park] belongs to the people of the state of Ohio, said Sabo, who has lived at her home in Cambridge for 40 years. We used to have a beautiful night sky, but now you can just see drilling rigs, about 15 miles east of us.

The land brokers letter came at the behest of Encino Energy, a major oil and gas driller based in Houston. It offers a small glimpse into what could be on the horizon for Ohios state parks. Just three days after Sabo received it in the mail, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 507. Besides legally defining natural gas as green energy, despite it being a fossil fuel, the legislation expanded drilling rights on state lands including state parks.

Its unclear how quickly that might begin. Companies and government officials tend to keep prospective projects under wraps to protect negotiations.

The episode in Cambridge, however, suggests that drillers are already circling state parks.

State Rep. Adam Holmes, a Republican from Nashport, and Norm Blanchard, director of the Cambridge-Guernsey County Community Improvement Corp., said DeWine denied Encino a permit to drill.

Asked if the governor personally denied Encino a permit to drill in Salt Fork, Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine, said the administration is in the process of adopting administrative rules under HB507 to establish the process for approving or denying drilling projects. He said the administration has informed entities that wish to seek approval that they will need to wait until the process is in place pursuant to administrative rule before any project will be considered.

Encinos director of external affairs Jackie Stewart declined to comment on negotiations with private landowners around the park and said the company doesnt have any lease offers with the state for minerals underneath Salt Fork.

Encino has ongoing, constructive, and transparent conversations with [DeWine], the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Ohio EPA regarding our drilling program in Ohio, she said. As we continue to innovate and find new efficiencies and investment opportunities in the state, we bring those ideas to the table routinely with our stakeholders and will continue to do so.

Ohios state parks represent a huge and so-far untapped new frontier for oil and gas exploration.

Its state parks and forests spread across 170,000 acres, though not all of them cover the the Utica and Marcellus shale fields, which span southern West Virginia to the shores of Lake Ontario in New York. Those shale formations cover nearly half of Ohio, mostly concentrated on its eastern border.

Extracting oil and gas from its parks could be lucrative for state coffers. Nobody has offered estimates on the potential revenue the state stands to collect, but smaller entities have generated millions of dollars and some state lawmakers are eyeing it as new revenue in their quest for a billion-dollar income tax cut.

The new law DeWine signed said agencies shall lease lands to applicants who meet the minimum legal criteria to drill for oil and gas. Prior law left agencies with the discretion to do so, but no mandate. In 2011, Gov. John Kasich signed the original law allowing state agencies to lease rights to drill on land they own, but the state land management oversight board the law created went years without appointing members or passing rules to properly execute the law.

Mike Chadsey, a spokesman for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, said he didnt know of any specific plans but called Salt Fork and Barkcamp State Park in Belmont County top prospects for drilling.

The new legislation cut the public out of the process, according to Nathan Jounson, public lands director for the Ohio Environmental Council. Families shouldnt have to worry about toxic air pollution while hiking through state parks. Their beauty should be an escape, he said.

With HB 507 in its back pocket, the fossil fuel industry is poised to start leasing and drilling our favorite natural places as fast as it can, he said. Salt Fork and Barkcamp State Parks are public lands that all Ohioans, including future generations, deserve to enjoy access to. HB 507 is dragging Ohio backwards on climate change when we need to be moving forward.

Encino was interested in drilling under the park and had some dedicated plans to do so after finding a oil and gas reservoir that exceeded their expectations, according to Holmes, a Republican whose district covers the park.

But he said they hit a roadblock.

They needed to get Gov. DeWines approval to do it, and he said no, Holmes said.

Several others shared similar understandings. Norm Blanchard, director of the Guernsey County Community Improvement Corporation, said Encino wanted to drill under Salt Fork, but DeWine denied the company a permit. Jennifer Vincent, president and CEO of the Cambridge Area Chamber of Commerce, said she had heard Encino wanted to drill in the park but the plan was off and she didnt know why. Larry Petrick Jr., a board member of the National Association of Royalty Owners, said he heard Encino couldnt reach a deal.

Who is Encino Energy?

Encino, a Houston company, formed in 2011. With backing from the Canada Public Pension Investment Board, it made a huge investment in Ohio in 2018: a $2 billion cash purchase of all assets of in-state assets of Chesapeake Energy.

That amounts to 900,000 acres of leases, including 900 wells producing 600 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day, according to a news release.

Salt Fork wouldnt be the companys first excursion on state lands either.

In May 2022, Encino paid more than $40 million to lease 7,300 acres of land at Tappan Lake in Harrison County. The company entered the lease with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, a somewhat obscure government agency that oversees the 27-county watershed area. MWCD was formed in 1933 to prevent flooding in the area and protect water resources in the area.

Stewart emphasized that the company can conduct such drilling operations without any surface disruption.

This would entail placing a well pad at a property near the park, drilling downward from there, until turning 90 degrees and drilling laterally to capture gas underneath the park. The gas is released by spraying a mix of water, sand and chemicals at high pressures to free the gas from underground shale.

Encino has explored the concept of drilling under the surface of state lands as our largest landowner is the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) and we know it can be done safely and without surface disturbance, she said.

In December 2022, Encino also entered an oil and gas lease with the East Guernsey Local School District, according to minutes from a board of education meeting. District Superintendent Chase Rosser said in an email the district leased about 68 acres for $4,000 an acre plus 18% royalties.

As of today, there are no wells on the land, he said. The property in question is the land on which the school and our athletic facilities sit, as well as some of the surrounding area.

The chicken bill

The legislative maneuvering to pass HB507 ensured that someone like Sabo had virtually no ability to voice opposition to drilling in the state park she neighbors.

In some of the last moments of the two-year legislative session in December 2022, Senate Republicans attached the drilling legislation as an amendment to a food-safety bill that revolved around poultry sales. One Senator jokingly referred to it as the chicken bill in a floor speech.

Encino didnt report any lobbying on the bill directly. However, it disclosed lobbying DeWine on state lands leasing in the same time frame.

The legislation passed both chambers of the General Assembly in a whirlwind, with no committee testimony taken and hardly a moment for any opposition to organize. With the bill on his desk, DeWine repeatedly declined reporters questions about whether hed sign it. He announced his approval and signature just before 5 p.m. on a Friday by email, without the fanfare (or reporters questioning) of a public bill signing.

The law drew opposition from environmental advocates like the Sierra Club. Pete Bucher, then an interim president for the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund, called the proposal an egregious assault on state parks.

Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer previously reported how a dark money nonprofit linked to the natural gas industry pushed for legislation redefining methane-based fuel as green energy months before the amendment was publicly unveiled.

It was dirty, the way they snuck it in at the end of the year, Sabo said.

Guernsey County, Sabo said, is a depressed area. Drilling means (temporary) construction jobs, and royalty checks for landowners who end up signing leases.

But after 40 years of watching drilling operations draw closer and closer to the park (and her home), she said its just not worth irreversibly changing or damaging some of Ohios most pristine and untouched lands.

The fact is, they shouldnt be doing it in a state park, she said. Im sorry but they just shouldnt. Its not their land to take.

Jake Zuckerman covers state politics and policy. Read more of his work here.
 
Packages move along a conveyor at an Amazon fulfillment center on Cyber Monday in Robbinsville, New Jersey, Nov. 29, 2021.

An influential consultant for Amazon sellers admitted Monday to bribing employees of the e-commerce giant for information to help his clients boost sales and to get their suspended accounts reinstated.

Ephraim "Ed" Rosenberg wrote in a LinkedIn post that he will plead guilty in federal court to a criminal charge, stemming from a 2020 indictment that charged six people with conspiring to give sellers an unfair competitive advantage on Amazon's third-party marketplace. Four of the defendants have already pleaded guilty, including one former Amazon employee who was sentenced last year to 10 months in prison.

Rosenberg, who's based in Brooklyn, is a well-known figure in the world of Amazon third-party sellers. He runs a consultancy business that advises entrepreneurs on how to sell products on the online marketplace, and navigate unforeseen issues with their Amazon account. Rosenberg's Facebook group for sellers, ASGTG, has over 68,000 members, and he hosts a popular conference for sellers each year.

"For a time, some years ago, I began to obtain and use Amazon's internal annotations  Amazon's private property  to learn the reasons for sellers' suspensions, in order to assist them in getting reinstated, if possible," wrote Rosenberg, who is due to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on March 30, for a change of plea hearing, according to court records. "On some occasions, I paid bribes, directly and indirectly, to Amazon employees to obtain annotations and reinstate suspended accounts. These actions were against the law."

As recently as last month, in LinkedIn messages to CNBC, Rosenberg denied prosecutors' allegations, calling the case a "conspiracy" and claiming he was framed. On Monday, Rosenberg said he "regrets" his involvement in the bribery scheme.

"In the course of this case, I have made some public statements about this prosecution and the indictment," Rosenberg said. "Those statements are not accurate and I disavow those statements. This statement I am making now is accurate and truthful and I will continue to stand by it."

Since at least 2017, prosecutors allege Rosenberg and other consultants allegedly bribed Amazon employees to leak information about the company's search and ranking algorithms and to share confidential data on their competition in the marketplace. In all, the individuals allegedly paid $100,000 worth of bribes to employees and reaped more than $100 million in competitive benefits, the DOJ said.

In 2018, Amazon fired four employees in India who were allegedly connected to the bribery scheme.

Previously unsealed court documents said Rosenberg allegedly sent a "veiled threat" to an Amazon employee at the company's Seattle headquarters as part of the bribery scheme, Bloomberg reported. The documents also detailed defendants' elaborate efforts to dodge detection by authorities, including allegedly stuffing a llama-shaped ottoman with cash believed to be bribes, according to Bloomberg.

Rosenberg is part of what's become a sizable industry in helping sellers navigate the complexities and chaos of the Amazon marketplace, where some 2 million sellers are responsible for more than half of the goods sold on the site. Amazon launched its online marketplace in 2000, allowing everyone from established brands to mom-and-pop shops to sell products.

While the marketplace has helped Amazon haul in tens of billions of dollars in sales, it's also become a notorious host to counterfeit, unsafe and expired goods. Behind the scenes, scammers have for years resorted to illicit tactics to squash competitors, artificially boost their listings or bypass Amazon's marketplace rules.

Amazon has said it invests hundreds of millions of dollars per year to ensure products are safe and compliant. The providing of internal data to sellers by employees violates Amazon's seller policies and code of conduct.

Rosenberg said attempts to bribe Amazon employees are "wrong and criminal."

"No one should pay bribes to Amazon employees to provide private Amazon information," Rosenberg wrote on Monday. "If it is apparent that internal information has been illegally leaked, no one should use it. Nor should anyone pay any Amazon employees for any other special favors regarding a seller's account."

An attorney for Rosenberg declined to comment.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement that it has systems in place to detect suspicious behavior and teams that work to stop prohibited activity on the marketplace.

"Amazon is grateful to have worked with federal authorities in their thorough pursuit of this case," the spokesperson said. "There is no place for fraud at Amazon, and we will continue to hold bad actors accountable."

WATCH: Amazon Marketplace failed in China. Here's why
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JERUSALEM - MARCH 27: Israelis, carrying Israeli flags and anti-government placards, gather outside the Knesset to protests against the Israeli government's plan to introduce judicial changes. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu survived a no-confidence vote in the Knesset, the country's parliament, amid what is possibly the largest wave of demonstrations in Israel's history. Mass protests are rocking Israel, and the country's largest labor union announced a major strike Monday, in opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's months-long attempt to push through widely-derided judicial reforms that opponents say will pull the country toward autocracy. "Stop this judicial process before it is too late," Arnon Bar-David, Israel's Histadrut union leader, said in a televised speech, addressing Netanyahu directly. Histadrut  which at 800,000 members represents the majority of Israel's trade unionists  declared a "historic" general strike to "stop this judicial revolution, this craziness," Bar-David said. Israeli embassies worldwide have been instructed to join the industrial action, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

This aerial view shows people protesting in Tel Aviv against the government's controversial judicial overhaul bill, on March 25, 2023. Ahmad Gharabli | Afp | Getty Images

Despite protests, Minister of Security Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday said that the government must proceed with the reforms. "The reform of the justice system must not be stopped and we must not surrender to anarchy," he said on Twitter, according to a Google translation. Minister of Justice Yariv Levin pledged his support for any decision Netanyahu takes regarding the judicial overhaul, according to Reuters. "A situation in which everyone does as they wish is liable to bring about the instant fall of the government and collapse of the (ruling party) Likud," Levin said. "We must all strive to stabilize the government and coalition."

Strike paralysis

Dozens of flights out of Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv have been suspended, as airport workers go on strike, and laborers at Haifa and Ashdod ports  the two largest ports in Israel  have also stopped working. McDonald's Israel says it has closed branches as part of the strike action. Israel's largest bank Leumi is closing branches as part of the judicial reform protest, Reuters reports. Demonstrations have taken place across Israel for the last four months, sparked by anger at controversial judicial reforms pushed by Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israel's history. The planned overhaul would significantly weaken the country's judiciary and make it harder to remove Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, from power. The proposed changes would award executive control over appointing judges to the Supreme Court, as well as entitle the government to supersede court rulings through parliamentary majority.

watch now

Monday's demonstrations took on a new fervor and are reported to be the biggest yet, triggered by Netanyahu's firing of his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for speaking out against the planned measures. Local news outlets are reporting that a whopping 600,000 people have come out to protest across the country. "600,000 demonstrating is an extraordinary figure. It means approx 6.5% of Israel's population is out protesting tonight, many having literally woken up from their beds when they heard Bibi fired Gallant," Monica Marks, a Middle East politics professor at NYU Abu Dhabi, wrote on Twitter. "When was the last time 6+% of any country protested? Genuine question." "I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brotherly people," Netanyahu urged on Twitter on Monday. Netanyahu has previously labeled the protests an attempt "to create anarchy" and trigger another election. A deeply divided Israel has held five snap elections since April 2019. Many current and former politicians, military officials and business executives in the country are expressing genuine fear over the Israeli leader's actions. "We've never been closer to falling apart," Israel's former Prime Minister Yair Lapid told lawmakers on Monday. "What's happened here in the past 24 hours is madness, it is a loss of control and a loss of direction... It is proof that this government has lost its brakes," he said, calling on Netanyahu to walk back his firing of his defense minister. "It is a danger to the state of Israel, it is a danger to the security of Israel. Our home is in danger," Lapid added.

Demonstrators wave national flags and raise placards during a rally against the Israeli government's controversial judicial overhaul bill in Tel Aviv, on March 25, 2023. Ahmad Gharabli | Afp | Getty Images
Vials containing the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are displayed before being used at a mobile vaccine clinic, in Valparaiso, Chile, January 3, 2022.

Shares of BioNTech on Monday slid by more than 6% in morning trading after the German drugmaker shared a gloomy 2023 sales outlook for its Covid vaccine jointly developed with Pfizer .

BioNTech delivered solid quarterly earnings earlier in the morning that beat expectations but said revenue fell slightly from a year ago due to lower demand for the company's Covid vaccine, which is its only marketed product. The drugmaker expects that demand to fall further this year, forecasting Covid vaccine revenue to hit 5 billion euros, or $5.4 billion. That's a steep decline from the 17.3 billion euros, or more than $18 billion, in 2022.

The shares initially fell by 6.4% to an intraday low of $119.98 a share before rebounding in late morning trading. By noon, the stock was down by about one percentage point.

BioNTech noted in an earnings release that its efforts to adapt the Covid vaccine to new strains of the virus are expected to increase demand for the product this year. Last fall, the company launched the world's first omicron-adapted Covid booster with Pfizer and sold roughly 550 million doses as of mid-December.

But the company added that it expects fewer primary series vaccinations and lower booster uptake this year. BioNTech also said it's renegotiating its supply contract with the European Union's executive body, which could potentially spread vaccine deliveries across multiple years and reduce volume.

The company's dismal outlook didn't appear to weigh on Pfizer shares, which were relatively flat Monday morning.

BioNTech is the latest company to forecast a slump in demand for Covid products as the world emerges from the pandemic. Its partner Pfizer told investors in January that it expects Covid vaccine sales to plummet by 64% this year and sales of its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid to drop by 58%.

BioNTech and Pfizer became household names during the pandemic after creating one of the first vaccines to become available globally using messenger RNA technology. BioNTech is hoping to beef up its own drug pipeline, outlining efforts to use mRNA technology for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

"As we look to 2023 and beyond, we plan to continue investing in our transformation with a focus on building commercial capabilities in oncology and working towards registrational trials," the company said in the earnings release. BioNTech added that its "mid-term goal" for the year is to seek approval for several cancer products.
Global technology firm, Huawei Technologies, has outlined its 2019 growth strategy largely focused on guaranteeing its business resilience while forecasting a 21% growth this year.

In a New Years message Huawei Technologies Rotating Chairman, Mr Guo Ping, described the year 2018 as an eventful year for the firm while promising swift recovery from negative conjecture and market restrictions.

Undeterred by thinly veiled market restrictions, Guo said that Huawei has this year, managed to sign 26 commercial contracts for 5G with leading global carriers, and have already shipped more than 10,000 5G base stations to markets around the world. More than 160 cities and 211 Fortune Global 500 companies, he added, have selected Huawei as their partner for digital transformation, affording the firm 2018 sales revenues of up to US$ 108.5 billion.

The early waves of mobile communications technologies were largely driven by American and European companies. As 5G approaches, promising to unprecedentedly transform the way people live and reshape the society and industries, Huawei has emerged as a player. In the battle to determine who will lead the race, the United States has barred Huawei from supplying its government and contractors for alleged Chinese manufacturers are spying on the West.

However, no evidence has ever been provided to prove the accusation. It would not be in Huaweis interest to carry out the alleged surveillance activities, as it would cause the company to lose its image and the current position in the international market.

Huaweis growth in the past 10 years has worried its international competitors. Huawei is the leading networking equipment supplier in the world. Earlier this year, Huawei topped Apple in the number of smartphone units shipped, and ranks only behind Samsung.

The motivations behind these accusations are partly commercial and partly geopolitical, given that the United States and China are locked in a trade dispute that has disrupted the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of goods. Project Syndicate, an international media organization, reported on Dec 11, 2018 that Huawei is one of Chinas most important technology companies, and therefore a prime target in Trump administrations effort to slow or stop Chinas advance into several high-technology sectors. Forbes also published an article on Dec 10, 2018 with the heading The Feds Shamefully Persecute Chinas Huawei For Being Too Successful.

A number of carriers globally including British Telecommunications (BT) has expressed support for the worlds biggest telecom gear maker. While attending an event in London in November, BTs Chief Architect Neil McRae proclaimed there is only one true 5G supplier right now and that is Huawei  the others need to catch up.

Deutsche Telekom responded to an inquiry from Der Spiegel, a German weekly news magazine in November, explaining that they use equipment from various manufacturers, including Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco and Huawei, and stating that they cannot afford to exclude high-performance suppliers.

Despite the intense 5G race and the US-China trade dispute, Huaweis business performance remains strong.

We have never stopped pushing forward, and as a result our 2018 sales revenue is expected to reach 108.5 billion US dollars, up 21% year-on-year,Guo said, adding that, Our business performance remains strong, and this is by far the most direct form of validation that we can receive from our customers. 

Guo pointed out in the New Years message that as the dynamic between world powers becomes more intense, there will be greater uncertainty in the macro business environment, but Huawei will keep feet on the ground and improve the business ecosystem for the industry, making tangible contributions to local communities and working to secure opportunities for fair competition.

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Pictured here is a large residential community in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Jan. 16, 2023. Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images

BEIJING  Debt-heavy local governments in China need new ways to raise money under a central regime that's made clear its priority is to reduce financial risks. Local governments' direct debt exceeded 120% of revenue in 2022, S&P Global Ratings analysts said, noting that's more than what Beijing has unofficially said was an acceptable debt level. "The country's provinces and municipalities have relied heavily on expanded bond issuance to carry them through a COVID-triggered economic slowdown and collapsed land-sale revenues," the S&P analysts said in a report last month. International Monetary Fund data show China's explicit local government debt nearly doubled over five years to the equivalent of $5.14 trillion  or 35.34 trillion yuan  last year. That doesn't include several other categories of related, rapidly growing debt such as that of "local government financing vehicles" (LGFV)  which allowed regional authorities to tap bank loans for infrastructure projects. China's central government is paying attention.

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In China's annual government work report released this month, an entire section was dedicated to preventing and defusing major risks  primarily in real estate and local government debt. "We should ... prevent a build-up of new debts while working to reduce existing ones," the report said regarding local governments' situation. The topic didn't get such prominence in last year's report, pointed out Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura. "Coupled with the conservative growth target [of around 5%], this may signal a potential shift in focus to tackling financial risks and hidden debt from local governments at some point this year, particularly in H2, after the economic recovery has largely stabilised," Lu said. Recent key speeches from Chinese President Xi Jinping have used similar language in calling on officials to address systemic risks. New Premier Li Qiang this month also named policies for "preventing and defusing risks" as one of the government's near-term priorities. Xi has also emphasized tackling corruption, an issue that has been prevalent in China  including at a local level.

Covid, real estate impact

Over the last three years, Covid and the real estate slump have cut into local government revenue, although it's unclear exactly to what extent. Official data provide some insight. The Ministry of Finance said the country's spending on health climbed by nearly 18% last year to 2.25 trillion yuan, after barely growing in 2021. A budget category called local government funds saw revenue from land sales drop by 23.3% to 6.69 trillion yuan  a loss of about $288 billion. S&P and other analysts estimate land sales account for about a quarter of local governments' total revenue. In China, land is owned by the government and sold to companies for development  usage agreements last for 70 years if the project is residential. Property-related revenue will likely remain under stress as homebuyer sentiment has yet to fully recover, said Sherry Zhao, director of international public finance, Fitch Ratings. She said local governments will likely turn to three other channels to boost revenue: Taxes  reduce the level of tax cuts announced during the pandemic

Asset sales  generate mostly one-off income from the sale or rent of state-owned assets

Transfers  draw more on central government funds China's central government increased its transfers to local governments by a whopping 17.1% in 2022, and plans to boost support by another 3.6% this year with 10.06 trillion yuan in transfers, according to the Ministry of Finance. "Transfers to local governments accounted for about 60% of the increase in the central government deficit," S&P analysts said in a separate report last week.

The long-term trend is clear: Beijing wants to ease the country off a reliance on investment-driven growth. S&P Global Ratings

They don't expect local governments to fall back on off-balance sheet debt. "Even in fiscally weak regions, it is unlikely that governments will resume the use of hidden debt financing, e.g. through local government financing vehicles (LGFVs)," S&P said. "The long-term trend is clear: Beijing wants to ease the country off a reliance on investment-driven growth." But local governments still have bills and public services to pay for. Historically, local governments were responsible for more than 85% of expenditure but only received about 60% of tax revenue, Rhodium Group said in 2021.

Looking for new revenue sources
Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay $240,000 to the former employees of an Augusta, Maine, location as part of a settlement for closing the restaurant when workers tried to unionize.

Chipotle denied wrongdoing, despite settling the lawsuit with the federal labor board and the union.

"We settled this case not because we did anything wrong, but because the time, energy and cost to litigate would have far outweighed the settlement agreement," Laurie Schalow, Chipotle's chief corporate affairs officer, said in a statement to CNBC on Monday.

Employees at the Chipotle restaurant filed a petition to unionize under Chipotle United in late June, becoming the chain's first outlet to do so. Prior to the filing, workers had already walked out in protest of working conditions and understaffing.

Less than a month later, Chipotle closed the restaurant, citing staffing issues and saying it respected workers' right to organize. However, in November, the National Labor Relations Board found that the burrito chain violated federal labor law when it closed the restaurant and stopped organizers from being hired at its other locations in the state.
Residents continue to recover possessions and secure homes that were damaged by Friday's tornado on March 26, 2023 in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Help began pouring into one of the poorest regions of the U.S. after a deadly tornado tore a path of destruction for more than an hour across a long swath of Mississippi, even as furious new storms Sunday struck across the Deep South. At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through more than a half-dozen towns late Friday. A man was also killed in Alabama after his trailer home flipped over several times. "Everything I can see is in some state of destruction," said Jarrod Kunze, who drove to the hard-hit Mississippi town of Rolling Fork from his home in Alabama, ready to help "in whatever capacity I'm needed."

Law-enforcement officers climb through debris on a diner looking for survivors early Saturday, March 25, 2023 in Rolling Fork, Miss. No one was found. Emergency officials in Mississippi say several people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through the state on Friday night, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states. Rogelio Solis | AP

Kunze was among volunteers working Sunday at a staging area, where bottled water and other supplies were being readied for distribution. Search and recovery crews resumed the daunting task of digging through flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced. The storm hit so quickly that the sheriff's department in Rolling Fork barely had time to set off sirens to warn the community of 2,000 residents, said Mayor Eldridge Walker. "And by the time they initiated the siren, the storm had hit and it tore down the siren that's located right over here," Walker said, referring to an area just blocks from downtown. The mayor said his town was devastated. "Sharkey County, Mississippi, is one of the poorest counties in the state of Mississippi, but we're still resilient," he said. "We've got a long way to go, and we certainly thank everybody for their prayers and for anything they will do or can do for this community." President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to hardest hit areas. "Help is on the way," Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said at a news conference with local, state and federal leaders. Recovery efforts in Mississippi were underway even as the National Weather Service warned of a new risk of more severe weather Sunday  including high winds, large hail and possible tornadoes in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. A tornado touched down early Sunday in Troup County, Georgia, near the Alabama border, according to the Georgia Mutual Aid Group. Affected areas included the county seat of LaGrange, about 67 miles (108 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta About 100 buildings were damaged, with at least 30 uninhabitable, and five people suffered minor injuries, officials said. Many roads, including Interstate Highway 85, were blocked by debris.

A family embraces outside of their damaged home after a tornado touched down on March 26, 2023 in West Point, Georgia. Megan Varner | Getty Images

Two tigers briefly escaped from their enclosures at Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia, after the park sustained extensive tornado damage. "Both have now been found, tranquilized, and safely returned to a secure enclosure," the park said on Facebook. None of its employees or animals were hurt, it said. Outside of Rolling Fork, a tornado ripped apart the home where Kimberly Berry lived in the Delta flatlands. The twister left only a foundation and a few belongings  a toppled refrigerator, a dresser and nightstand, a bag of Christmas decorations, some clothing. Berry said she and her 12-year-old daughter huddled and prayed inside a nearby church as the storm roared outside. "I didn't hear nothing but my own self praying and God answering my prayer. I mean, I can get another house, another furniture. But literally saving my life  I'm thankful," she said. Following Biden's declaration, federal funding will be available for recovery efforts in Mississippi's Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, including temporary housing, home repairs, loans covering uninsured property losses and other individual and business programs, the White House said in a statement. The twister flattened entire blocks, obliterated houses, ripped a steeple off a church and toppled a municipal water tower. Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, the National Weather Service office in Jackson said in a tweet. An EF-4 tornado has top wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph). In Rolling Fork, the tornado reduced homes to piles of rubble and flipped cars on their sides. Other parts of the Deep South were digging out from damage caused by other suspected twisters.

A view of the destruction in Rolling Fork after deadly tornadoes and severe storms tore through the US state of Mississippi, United States on March 26, 2023. Fatih Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 1.1% higher, with all sectors in positive territory. Auto stocks were up 1.9%, while health care rose 1.9% and banks climbed 1.4%.

European markets closed higher at the start of the new trading week, with cautious optimism returning after a sharp loss in Friday's session.

Mining stocks clawed back earlier losses to trade 0.4% higher after China's industrial profit dropped sharply year-on-year.

In the U.S. early on Monday, First Citizens Bank agreed to buy large parts of Silicon Valley Bank, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said. However, investors remained on high alert for signs of stresses in the banking system, while fears of contagion remain.

The deal includes the purchase of approximately $72 billion of SVB assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, but around $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain "in receivership for disposition by the FDIC."

Last Friday, Deutsche Bank shares saw a sell-off after the German lender's credit default swaps jumped. The stock was 6.2% higher at market close on Monday.

"Bargain hunters were out in force for Europe's banks following the chaos of the past few weeks", said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, in a note.

But, he added, "many investors still don't want to touch the banking sector for fears there is more distress to come," flagging concerns over a rise in costs for banks due to the potential tightening of regulation, and more cautious bank lending having a negative impact on the economy.
"What's unclear for us is how much of these banking stresses are leading to a widespread credit crunch. And then that credit crunch, just as you said, would then slow down the economy," Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said in an interview with CBS' Face The Nation. John Lamparski | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

"It definitely brings us closer right now"  that was Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari's response to a question, during a CBS "Face The Nation" interview, on whether the latest turmoil in the banking sector could bring the U.S. closer to a recession. "What's unclear for us is how much of these banking stresses are leading to a widespread credit crunch. And then that credit crunch, just as you said, would then slow down the economy," he said. Kashkari added that Fed officials are monitoring the impact from the fallout of the banking sector "very, very closely," and the current system has the "full support" of the Federal Reserve. "The banking system has a strong capital position and a lot of liquidity and has the full support of the Federal Reserve and other regulators standing behind it," he said. "The U.S. banking system is resilient, and it's sound," said Kashkari, when asked about the stability of the banking system's ability to control further risks seen in California and New York.

Kashkari's words echoed that of officials at the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which held a closed meeting last week as Fed data showed U.S. customers withdrew nearly $100 billion from banks for the week ended March 15, though this is a tiny fraction of the total. Separately, sources told CNBC that the movement of deposits from smaller banks to big institutions, such JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo , has slowed to a trickle in recent days. Kashkari described the development as "positive" and a sign of restored faith. "There are some concerning signs, the positive sign is deposit outflows seem to have slowed down. Some confidence is being restored among smaller and regional banks," he said.

Too soon to know

Kashkari said it's too early to predict what any of this means for the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting in May. The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points last week. "It's too soon to make any forecasts about the next interest rate meeting that we have, the next FOMC meeting," he said, adding that the stress in the banking sector would be "the factors that are going to be most focused on." He added that banking problems may make it easier for the central bank to achieve its goal of controlling inflation. "On one hand, such strains could then bring down inflation, so we have to do less work with the federal funds rate to bring the economy into balance," he said. "But right now, it's unclear how much of an imprint these banking stresses are going to have on the economy. But it's something to watch very carefully," he added.

'Safe haven' Asia

The banking fears in the United States and Europe seem much less pronounced in the Asia-Pacific region, Mark Mobius, founding partner of of Mobius Capital Partners, told CNBC. "The banks here are much, much more cautious, much more careful, making sure that they have a strong balance sheet," Mobius said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Monday.

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Germany's parliament is poised to pass a new nationality law to ease the path to citizenship for migrants and attract more skilled foreign workers to the country. Picture Alliance | Getty Images

BERLIN  Germany is poised to pass a new nationality law that will make it easier for foreigners to gain German citizenship as part of a wider shake-up of immigration policy aimed at bolstering the country's shrinking workforce. The draft law, which will be put to lawmakers in the coming months, would allow people to apply for citizenship after five years of German residence, instead of the current eight. Those who have made particular efforts to integrate, for instance by becoming proficient in German, would be eligible to apply after three years. It would also lift a ban on dual citizenship for people from non-EU countries, meaning immigrants would no longer have to surrender their home country nationality  a red line for many. Currently, only people with EU passports, or those who have one parent from Germany, are eligible to hold German citizenship. Immigration reforms based on Canada's points system, meanwhile, will make it easier for skilled workers to enter the country without having professional qualifications recognized in Germany. Instead, having suitable work experience and a job offer will suffice.

[Germany] is facing immense demographic pressures. Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan associate director at the Migration Policy Institute

The plans represent the biggest overhaul of German's nationality rules since 2000, when children born to immigrant parents in Germany automatically qualified for citizenship for the first time. They are one of a series of socially progressive policies proposed by the country's three-party coalition government, which has said it wants to attract 400,000 skilled foreign workers each year to rebalance its aging population and labor shortages in key sectors. "Germany, like a lot of other countries today, is facing immense demographic pressures and is aiming to get in more highly skilled workers to make up for an aging population," Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, associate director at the Migration Policy Institute, told CNBC. "The patterns around the world show that all of these countries are trying really hard to attract those who can contribute to their economies," she said, adding the moves would aid Germany's goal of becoming "a modern country of immigration."

'A modern country of immigration'

Germany's population hit a high of 84.3 million in 2022, fueled by a record increase in net immigration, including of Ukrainian refugees. Yet it is battling a labor crunch as older workers tap out of the workforce. A January survey showed that more than half of German companies are struggling to fill vacancies due to a lack of skilled workers. Meantime, the country's naturalization rate lags behind that of its European peers, with citizenship granted to 1.3 in every 1,000 people in 2020 compared to an average of 1.6 across the EU. That can make it harder for foreign workers to become fully embedded in the economy and in society as a whole.

"There is a correlation between higher labor market outcomes and citizenship. So there's the economic integration angle. Then there's the political [and social] angles," Banulescu-Bogdan said. An estimated 10 million people  around 12% of the country's 80 million population  are currently living in Germany without a German passport, which rules out basic privileges like the right to vote or work in certain government jobs. In the country's capital Berlin, a city celebrated as an international melting pot, as many as one-third of residents were precluded from voting in elections over recent years due to existing citizenship laws.

It's a benefit for me, but it also has an intrinsic benefit for the country. Manuel Sanchez founder and chief executive of Tendbe

For Mexican-born tech entrepreneur Manuel Sanchez, the changes mark a welcome shift, which he said could help more migrants like him better integrate into the country. "It's a benefit for me, but it also has an intrinsic benefit for the country," said Sanchez, who worked as a software engineer in Germany for almost a decade before eventually becoming eligible to gain citizenship in 2022. "Before, you are like a guest and it's as though they're doing you a favor. Now, I can finally say: 'OK, I pay taxes as well, but I am now an equal.' It's important for your psychology," Sanchez said last month, noting that he was looking forward to participating in Berlin's local elections for the first time.

Attracting talent and new businesses

The plans come as Germany seeks to reinvent its reputation following 16 years of conservative rule, and become more attractive to foreign workers amid widespread international competition. With its eight-year residency requirement, Germany is currently on the more restrictive end of citizenship laws in Europe. Countries including France and Ireland request only five years, while Spain and Italy require 10 years. "The future of Germany doesn't look very promising for the labor force, especially in the areas of tech and health care," said Ana Alvarez Monge, founder and CEO of Migration Hub Network, a Berlin-based non-profit for migrant entrepreneurs.

An employee prepares a customer's order at Mustafas Gemuse Kebap in Berlin, Germany. Germany granted citizenship to more Turkish and Syrian migrants in 2020 than those from any other single nation. Adam Berry | Getty Images News | Getty Images

"It is not that attractive compared to other countries right now," she said. "The language, integrating and finding a place to live, getting through the visa process, it's too bureaucratic and too old fashioned. This is not appealing for a highly skilled couple from India, for example." Deniz Ates, a German-born entrepreneur of Turkish immigrant parents who co-founded his company two years ago to help relocate tech talent to Germany, is hopeful that the plans are a step in the right direction. "The change is the only way to get these huge numbers of people to Germany. Many companies are suffering right now really trying to get people. It will be easier than ever for international talent to come to Germany," Ates, chief executive of Who Moves, said, noting that some companies have already lowered their application requirements.

The number of people who can come and set up businesses will be huge and a huge benefit for the country. Deniz Ates co-founder and chief executive of Who Moves

That could also have big implications for new business starts in the country. Studies suggest that willingness to found a new business is particularly strong among people with immigrant backgrounds. "Many of these people wanted to found a company but they could not do because of citizenship," said Ates. "The number of people who can come and set up businesses will be huge and a huge benefit for the country." That is of particular importance for Germany's business replacement rate, as older workers  and their businesses  retire, according to Matthias Bianchi, head of public affairs at Deutscher Mittelstands-Bund, one of Germany's biggest organizations for small- and medium-sized enterprises. "In the next couple of years, there will be a lot of established businesses whose owners will have to retire. Usually they were passed down to children, but less so now. We need a lot more new businesses to level out the closures," Bianchi said.

Bureaucracy challenges ahead
Huawei reportedly said it has developed its own chip design tools, a move aimed at side-stepping U.S. sanctions and making the Chinese technology giant more self-sufficient in the semiconductor space.

Eric Xu, rotating chairman at Huawei, said the company along with other domestic firms, jointly created electronic chip design tools required to make semiconductors at 14 nanometers and above, according to a speech obtained by Chinese financial and business publication Yicai.

Xu said those tools will be verified this year, which would allow them to be put into use.

Huawei was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

If Xu's claims are true, Huawei would have taken a step to reducing its reliance on U.S. technology in semiconductors. U.S. firms dominate the chip design tool market with companies like Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems .

But in 2020, Washington, through sanctions, cut off Huawei from American chipmaking tools, which crippled the Chinese technology giant's smartphone business.

Xu's speech said that the design tools would be for 14 nanometer chips and above. The nanometer figure refers to the size of each individual transistor on a chip. The smaller the transistor, the more of them can be packed onto a single semiconductor. Typically, a reduction in nanometer size can yield more powerful and efficient chips.

However 14 nanometer chips are several generations behind what is currently being put into the latest smartphone technology. For example, Apple's iPhone 14 Pro Max uses a 5 nanometer chip. However, 14 nanometer chips may be used in some of the company's other products.

Pranay Kotasthane, chairperson of the high tech geopolitics program at the Takshashila Institution, told CNBC he would wait to see more details before knowing how effective Huawei's design tools are.

Kotasthane explained that contract chip manufacturing firms, also known as foundries, work with semiconductor design companies to come up with a set of files called a Process Design Kit. This PDK "models the physical and electrical characteristics" of the basic components of a chip. The design firm and manufacturer needs to go through a process to optimize the production to ensure the highest yield of semiconductors. If this process does not happen, then "chip designs will fail when converted into silicon," Kotasthane said.

"There's not enough proof yet to suggest that Chinese EDA [electronic design automation] companies have crossed this barrier," Kotasthane said.
Laboratory Corporation of America will pay the U.S. $2.1 million to settle allegations that it overbilled the Department of Defense for genetic tests that involved children and fetuses, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

A former LabCorp employee turned whistleblower, Donna Hecker-Gross, sued the diagnostic testing company in 2018 on behalf of the federal government under the False Claims Act. The civil lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Hecker-Gross will receive $357,000 as part of the settlement, according to the DOJ.

Hecker-Gross' allegations surrounded genetic tests performed under a contract LabCorp entered with the Defense Department in 2012. Under the contract, the company provided laboratory testing to DOD military treatment facilities around the world, including tests it paid genetic testing company GeneDx to perform.

Hecker-Gross alleged that LabCorp overcharged and double- or triple-billed DOD for genetic tests performed by GeneDx. There were $210,959 in overcharges on 38 tests, including $113,525.50 for 21 tests billed between March 2016 and January 2017 alone, the lawsuit alleged.

The lawsuit alleged that staff at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 2017 first questioned LabCorp about charges for a certain test that screens for genetic abnormalities in children and fetuses. The test costs between $5,000 and $10,000, the lawsuit alleged.

The test typically runs two or three analyses on DNA samples from a child or a fetus and one or both biological parents. Under the contract, LabCorp only pays GeneDx for one test and should only charge the DOD for a single test and a small fixed fee.

But staff at Walter Reed noticed that LabCorp was charging the military facility for analyses on parental DNA samples in addition to analyses on child or fetus samples, the lawsuit alleged. LabCorp insisted the company had appropriately billed for the tests until Hecker-Gross requested confirmation about GeneDx's billing practices, according to the lawsuit.

LabCorp then discovered that it had been charging the DOD "two or three times what it paid for the test, pocketing the difference in violation of its contract," the lawsuit alleged.

Even after that discovery, LabCorp only conducted a limited investigation that "failed to uncover the size and scope of the problem," the lawsuit alleged. The company only reviewed billing records for tests performed at Walter Reed between March 2016 and July 2017 even though it had performed tests at military treatment facilities worldwide for years, according to the lawsuit.

LabCorp also failed to repay the department for the overbillings it uncovered, the lawsuit alleged. It only offered Walter Reed a credit for double- or triple-billed tests dating back to January 2017, with a promise to correct the issue going forward.

Hecker-Gross repeatedly complained about LabCorp's inappropriate billing to her immediate supervisors until the company fired her on Aug. 8, 2017, the lawsuit said.

"She believed LabCorp was responsible for repaying all the overcharges, not just the short period of time that they offered to do," Peter Chatfield, the attorney representing Hecker-Gross, told CNBC. "She pressed them to pay for all of it and she got fired for that. That's what made her come forward as a whistleblower."

Chatfield noted that Hecker-Gross is "pleased" with the settlement.

Scott Moreland, special agent in charge over the Army Criminal Investigation Division Major Procurement Fraud Field Office, said in the Justice Department press release that he was "very pleased" with the settlement announcement.

"This is a true testament to our continued commitment to work closely and seamlessly with our outstanding fellow law enforcement agencies to protect the financial interests of the United States Army and the United States Government as a whole," he said.

LabCorp said in a statement to CNBC that the company doesn't comment on litigation.

"It is important to note that this settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, and Labcorp vigorously disputed the allegations in this case," the company said. "Labcorp entered into the settlement to avoid the costs and burdens of litigation."

The Burlington, North Carolina-based company's shares were relatively flat following the Justice Department's announcement.

LabCorp is one of the nation's largest providers for clinical laboratory services and became most known during the pandemic for manufacturing and distributing Covid testing kits.

It has faced a string of lawsuits relating to its billing practices for more than two decades. Just last month, the company agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to Medicare. In 1996, LabCorp agreed to pay $187 million for fraudulently billing the government for unnecessary tests on elderly patients.
Microsoft said Monday it is starting to roll out a faster new version of its Teams communication app for Windows to commercial clients enrolled in a preview program. The software will become available to all customers later this year, and Microsoft also promises new versions of Teams for Mac and the web.

Since its 2017 debut, Teams has become the jewel of Microsoft 365, the subscription-based productivity software bundle formerly known as Office 365. Companies rushed to adopt Teams to keep workers connected through video calls and text chats during the Covid pandemic. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in January that more than 280 million people use Teams every month, even though many workers are again commuting to offices.

Microsoft Teams had some performance issues in 2020, which the company resolved. In 2021, with Teams usage still rising, Microsoft began building a second generation of the software with an eye toward improving performance, Jeff Teper, president of collaborative apps and platforms at Microsoft, said in an interview with CNBC.

Reports of a new version of Teams circulated earlier this year. Teper said this prompted "a lot of agitation" but that he did not want Microsoft to announce the update until the program had achieved an internal goal of being twice as fast as before while using half the memory as before.

The new version also includes enhancements meant to simplify Teams, building on the more than 400 feature updates Microsoft delivered last year, some of them meant to help Microsoft catch up with rivals, Teper said. Competition comes from the likes of Cisco , Google , Salesforce -owned Slack and Zoom .
An under-the-radar software company could yield investors as much as 35% upside, according to Morgan Stanley. The Wall Street bank wrote in a Monday note that Model N, a 24-year-old software provider for pharmaceutical and semiconductor companies, could be seeing "the next wave of growth." Morgan Stanley began research coverage of Model N with an outperform investment rating and $43 price target. Model N is down more than 19% so far in 2023 after jumping 35% in 2022. "We're positive on Model N's leadership position and 85% exposure to secular growth of Life Sciences and emphasize their best-in-class profitability relative to [competitors]," Morgan Stanley equity analyst Craig Hettenbach wrote. Model N, which went public 10 years ago this month , has "an attractive combination of near-term defensive characteristics and long-term secular growth drivers" thanks to a robust roster of pharmaceutical clients, Morgan Stanley said. Model N's software will play an essential role in firms figuring out their best pricing strategy after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services starts negotiating prices for high-cost drugs starting in 2026, Hettenbach added. Morgan Stanley also noted potential downside risks to Model N, given its need to switch 30% of remaining customers to the "software as a service" model, exposure to a deeper-than-anticipated slump in the semiconductor industry at 15% of sales, stiff competition from companies with better access to more resources and a need to better control stock-based compensation.
Hong Kong: Food committee meets in HK

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan and National Health Commission Vice Minister Lei Haichao opened the 53rd Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) in Hong Kong today.

Representatives from 51 member countries, one member organisation and 25 international organisations joined the session to discuss food additive standards and regulations. Another 200 participants joined the meeting online.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr Tse said it is a great honour for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to have the opportunity to organise this important event.

Mr Tse reiterated that ensuring food safety has all along been a top priority for the Hong Kong SAR Government, and the CCFA meeting has enabled Hong Kong to contribute to food safety in the international arena.

The session lasts until March 31. Its report with conclusions and recommendations will be submitted to the 46th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) in November for deliberation and adoption.

As a CAC subsidiary body, the committee is responsible for the use and safety of food additives, as well as establishing regulatory standards for individual food additives that are coherent and practicable.

China has been responsible for organising and chairing the CCFAs annual session since it was elected as the committee's host country in 2006.

The Centre for Food Safety of the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department assists to organise the current event.

This story has been published on: 2023-03-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Commentary: Honduras made the right decision on ties with Beijing

Xinhua) 13:14, March 27, 2023

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Honduras signed on Sunday a joint communique on establishing diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Shortly before that, the country announced that it is severing so-called "diplomatic ties" with China's Taiwan region.

This brings the total number of countries that have forged diplomatic relations with the PRC to 182. The previous country to restore ties with Beijing was Nicaragua in December 2021.

By recognizing the one-China principle, Honduras has followed some other Central American countries in choosing to stand on the right side of history.

"The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes the existence of only one China in the world, and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory," Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said in a press release.

And on multiple occasions, Honduran President Xiomara Castro has voiced her willingness to establish diplomatic ties with the PRC.

Central America means a lot to politicians in Taiwan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has used its so-called "diplomatic ties" with certain regional countries as a bargaining chip to woo the United States for political gains. Such a deceptive gambit once again proved in vain.

In 2007, Costa Rica became the first country in the region to forge diplomatic ties with the PRC this century. In the following years, other regional countries either established or restored diplomatic relations with Beijing, including Panama, Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

In marking the fifth anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between China and Panama in 2022, then Panamanian Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes noted that facts have proven that establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries was the right decision.

Honduras' choice of establishing diplomatic relations with China serves its people's interests.

In the new era, China and Latin American and Caribbean countries have continuously deepened mutually beneficial cooperation and brought significant benefits to their people.

Data from China's General Administration of Customs show that the total trade volume between China and Latin America and the Caribbean reached a record high of 485.79 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.

Since the resumption of diplomatic relations, Nicaragua has joined the Belt and Road Initiative, and both countries initiated negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement.

Reports said that the United States has exerted pressure on Honduras to prevent the country from establishing diplomatic ties with China.

However, facts have proven that no force can stop the trend of history. So far, 182 countries have established diplomatic ties with the PRC based on the one-China principle, demonstrating its universal appeal.

With the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Honduras will undoubtedly usher in a brighter future for bilateral and regional cooperation.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Retour dans le parlement pour les deputes des 21 circonscriptions de la Republique et des clashes qui risquent de faire des haussements de voix, voire des echanges acerbes entre les deux parties de la Chambre.

Outre la Private Notice Question du Leader de lOpposition, la premiere question de 2023 et premier Prime Ministers Question Time sera autour des propos du Premier Ministre sera posee par Deven Nagalingum:

Whether, in regard to the alleged mafia infiltration of our institutions, he will state the actions he proposes to take in relation thereto?

Suivra celle de Rajesh Bhagwan sur une actualite liee a un ancien Constituency Clerk dun ex-minsitre:-

Whether, in regard to the inquiry initiated into the statement made by Mrs S. K. against Mr Y. S., for the alleged fictitious employment of the Marie Joanne Sabrina Touformer as Constituency Clerk of the latter, he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, information as to where matters stand?

Autre question de premier depute de Beau Bassin / Petite Riviere sera sur les avancees de lenqueete policiere dans un cas de meurtre qui fait toujours la une de lactulaite.

Whether, in regard to the inquiry into the death of late Mr S. K., he will, for the benefit of the House, obtain from the Commissioner of Police, information as to where matters stand?

La premiere question destinee aux ministres sera a lactif de Ranjiv Woochit, , elu travaillis te de la circonscription de Pamplemousses/Triolet au Dr Anwar Husnoo sur les autorisations et permits octroyes pour des construtions sur un terrain qui se trouve a 700 metres de Grand Bassin.

Whether, in regard to the constructions on the portion of

721 acres of State land leased to Mr S. K. C. at a distance of approximately 700 meters from Grand Bassin, he will state if any Building and Land Use Permit has been issued to the lessee and, if so, by which local authority and when and, if not, the actions initiated in respect of the said illegal construction/s?

La deuxieme question sera de la deputee Marie Joanne Sabrina Tour sur le nombre de cas de cancer du sein et autres, destinee au Dr. Kailesh Jagutpal.

Whether, in regard to breast and cervical cancers, he will state the reported numbers thereof in 2022?

Il y a 108 questions pour cette premi8re seance de 2023 dont 21 pour le chef du gouvernement.

Seance parlementaire du 28 mars 2023

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North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Monday morning, South Korea's military said, the latest in a series of launches as a U.S. aircraft carrier is set to arrive in South Korea.

The missiles were fired from North Hwanghae province at 7:47 a.m. (2247 GMT on Sunday) and flew about 370 kilometres (230 miles), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Both missiles appear to have landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to the Japanese government.

South Korea's military "strongly condemned" the launches as a grave provocation violating United Nations Security Council resolutions, and called for an immediate halt.

"We will keep a close eye on North Korea's various activities and maintain firm readiness posture based on the capability to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations," the JCS said in a statement, adding that it would continue military drills with the U.S. as planned.
OneWeb faces stiff competition from the likes of SpaceX and Amazon.

OneWeb, a rival to Elon Musk's Starlink internet satellite venture, is aiming to roll out coverage globally after successfully launching the final batch of satellites needed for its broadband service over the weekend.

The British startup launched an additional 36 satellites Sunday morning from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, taking its total constellation so far to 618 satellites. The satellites launched 9 a.m. local time Sunday on an LVM3 rocket developed by India's state-owned NewSpace India Limited.

While OneWeb has a few more satellites to deploy in May and June, it now has enough to deliver internet connectivity to any spot in the globe, according to company executives. The company hopes to offer its clients worldwide coverage by the end of the year.

"This means that we will be able to provide what has been missing for a long period of time: high-speed, low latency broadband connectivity onto every ocean-going vessel  yachts, maritime industry, oil rigs offshore  every aircraft will now be connected with a high speed, low latency connectivity," OneWeb Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on a call with reporters Monday morning.

"Desert, forest, mountain, Himalayas  hard-to-reach areas will all start to get covered."

Barring a few ground stations which are yet to be established, Mittal said most of the "critical" Earth-based infrastructure for its network is now in play.

Founded in 2012, OneWeb wants to beam high-speed internet to the Earth from a network of low-Earth orbit satellites at an altitude of about 750 miles.

OneWeb plans to launch 648 satellites in total, of which 588 satellites are required for global coverage. The rest will serve as spares that can step in, in case some other satellites on the network go rogue.

OneWeb competes with a range of companies including Elon Musk's SpaceX, Amazon and Inmarsat.

In July last year, it agreed a deal to combine with Eutelsat, the French satellite company. Management expects the merger to be finalized by the summer.

Following the deal's completion, OneWeb plans to pursue a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The firm is up against some fierce competition. Starlink, the space internet unit of Musk's SpaceX, has launched thousands of satellites to bring network connectivity to places with patchy internet.

Mittal said OneWeb had "some catching up to do" but added the firm is seeing "robust" demand from its target markets, which include North America, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, Australia, Latin America and Africa.

The company, which is lossmaking, is currently generating revenue in the millions of dollars every month, according to Mittal. It expects to one day attract hundreds of millions of dollars of income.

Unlike Starlink, which sells broadband packages to consumers, OneWeb says it is targeting enterprise clients.

It has done deals with major telecoms firms including Australia's Telstra and France's Orange. By the end of February, OneWeb had dozens of customers across 15 countries.

OneWeb was rescued from bankruptcy in a $1 billion financing package backed by the U.K. government and Indian telecommunications conglomerate Bharti Global.

In the face of numerous setbacks, including the inability to launch satellites from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, OneWeb has continued to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars of investment from previous backers SoftBank to fuel its costly ambition of delivering from space.

"The promise I made to to British government has been realized," Mittal said Monday.

The government holds a 20% stake in OneWeb and is its second-largest shareholder.

Following the transaction with Eutelsat, the government will retain some control through a "special share" that grants it a say on the location of future OneWeb launches and the national security safeguards the firm has in place.

WATCH: Three decades after inventing the web, Tim Berners-Lee has some ideas on how to fix it
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks during the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 25, 2023.

BEIJING  U.S. pharma giant Pfizer has signed an agreement with China to cooperate on improving the country's health coverage, according to the company.

"We are aligned very much with the China 'Healthy 2030' [initiative] and we are trying to contribute as much as we can," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC's Eunice Yoon on Saturday.

He declined to share further details, including dollar amounts.

China in 2016 announced a "Healthy China 2030" plan for improving the country's public health services, medical industry and food and drug safety. The Covid-19 pandemic also highlighted shortfalls in China's still-developing public health system.

Pfizer's memorandum of understanding with the Health China Research Center is set to support public health research and improve the health of rural populations, according to details released by Chinese state media.
A stop sign in the Delaware River at Penn Treaty Park in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 26, 2023. Water in Philadelphia has been deemed unsafe to drink following a chemical spill in the Delaware River, leading to water bottles being sold out across the city. (Photo by Thomas Hengge/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Philadelphia officials Sunday afternoon rescinded their recommendation that residents use bottled drinking water after a toxic spill in the Delaware River.

The spill from a chemical plant upstream Friday night in Bucks County had prompted precautionary bottled-water alerts Sunday morning and afternoon, city officials said.

Testing determined there's no contamination in the river near the intake for the city's water system nor in the system itself, Michael Carroll, a city deputy managing director, said an a video news conference Sunday evening.

The intake had been shut down but reopened temporarily early Sunday to ensure the system had a minimum level of water to maintain pressure for firefighting and other uses, officials said.

In a notice Sunday night, the Philadelphia Water Department said tap water would be safe to drink through at least the end of the day Monday. Officials will provide updates on social media, they said.

Acknowledging a run on bottled water in the city, officials said there's no need to hoard bottled water and suggested people use clean, empty containers to store tap water now in case the situation changes.
Most electric vehicle stocks are up this year, but Rivian is one exception. Its shares keep hitting all-time lows, dipping below $13 per share at some points during March. Its shares are down around 25% year-to-date. By contrast, the Global X Autonomous and Electric Vehicles ETF is up more than 20% year-to-date. Rival EV makers such as Tesla have soared 56% in the same period, while Lucid is up nearly 20%. Rivian's underperformance versus its peers comes after a series of developments this year. Most recently, it said it was in talks with Amazon to adjust an exclusivity clause for the production of 100,000 electric trucks for the e-commerce giant. That came as Amazon underwhelmed with its order numbers. Rivian shares also plunged after it said it planned to raise $1.3 billion in cash via a sale of convertible bonds. Where does the EV maker go next? Here's what Wall Street analysts are saying. 190% upside? Morgan Stanley in a March 21 research note said that it had seen investors' "frustration around strategy and lack of conviction in the strategic direction of the company," with the stock now trading just below its cash value. It listed a few factors that could drive the company's trajectory going forward. One was cost cutting  one strategy that many tech firms and EV makers are deploying to "add further runway to their operations that have yet to generate cash." However, based on the company's guidance, Morgan Stanley estimates Rivian could spend nearly $6 billion on both operational and capital expenditure this year  which is 1.5 times its full-year 2023 revenues, the bank forecast. Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Adam Jonas, also put the spotlight on its "aggressive growth," in a comparison with Tesla. "In our comparison of the operational performance of Tesla in 2015 (21.3% gross margin) vs. Rivian in 2023 (negative 66% gross margin), it is Rivian's more aggressive growth, vertical integration, and simultaneous launch strategy that appears to be putting the most strain on the organization," they wrote. The bank added in a separate note that Rivian's spending levels are higher as the company is targeting a "much steeper" growth rate compared to Tesla's trajectory in 2015. "Is now the time to add a 2nd plant and a 3rd model line (RT) with so much uncertainty ahead?" they added, referring to Rivian's $5 billion plant in the U.S. state of Georgia. However Morgan Stanley is still giving the stock an overweight rating, and a price target of $26  or nearly 90% upside. The bank's analysts, led by Adam Jonas, said Rivian was the only EV start-up name it recommends, apart from Tesla which is also rated overweight. "While the stock offers a rather wide risk/reward skew ($5 bear case to $55 bull case) we remain compelled by the company's differentiated product, scalable end markets, cost cutting potential, cash balance, and valuation," they wrote. Financial services firm Canaccord Genuity said that Rivian is "burning cash," in a March 16 note. However it said that the bond sale which raised $1.3 billion was mostly a positive. "We were encouraged by the company's raise, given the difficult capital markets environment, particularly for sustainability-related companies," it wrote. Canaccord analysts also pointed to the possibility of new partnerships, beyond Amazon, that could be a tailwind for Rivian  a point that Morgan Stanley also raised. While they said they do not think the potential ending of the Rivian-Amazon exclusivity agreement is the "beginning of a break-up," they say that having additional partners will certainly help Rivian. "To date, Rivian's commercial vehicles have been bound to Amazon. However, we see significant room for additional market share from new partners," they wrote. Of the reports of the exclusivity agreement as well as the fund raise, Canaccord said: "These developments are mechanisms through which the company can diversify (its commercial customer slate) and fortify (its balance sheet) to more soundly execute upon its long-term mission." Canaccord gave Rivian a price target of $40  or over 190% potential upside. BofA in a March 10 note also gave the stock a $40 price target. "We maintain our Buy on RIVN, which is predicated on our view that it is one of the most viable among the start-up EV automakers and a relative competitive threat to incumbent OEMs (and possibly to other automotive-related verticals)," said the BofA analysts. Overall, analysts covering the stock gave it an average potential upside of more than 100%  with a buy rating of 62%, according to FactSet.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
The Saudi National Bank (SNB) headquarters beyond the King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022.

Saudi National Bank Chairman Ammar al-Khudairy resigned his post on Monday, days after his comments exacerbated the share collapse of troubled bank Credit Suisse .

He will be replaced by SNB Managing Director and Group CEO Mohammed al-Ghamdi, with former deputy Talal Ahmed al-Khereiji now the new SNB acting CEO, according to a SNB statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

Al-Khudairy is stepping down "due to personal reasons," the bank said.

Al-Khudairy's resignation comes within days of his mid-March comments to Bloomberg that SNB was unlikely to increase its stake in Credit Suisse, at a time when the European lender battled a crisis of investor confidence that plunged its shares. The then-SNB chairman said the Saudi bank would not intercede "for many reasons outside the simplest reason, which is regulatory and statutory."

The comments fueled investor panic, sinking Credit Suisse shares 24% during that session, despite effectively reiterating SNB's previous position that it did not intend to expand its holdings beyond its then 9.9% interest as Credit Suisse's largest shareholder.
In the wake of recent market volatility and steep share price falls, Morgan Stanley cautioned that the European banking sector is "not as attractive as it was." On Friday, Deutsche Bank shares fell as concerns about the stability of European banks persisted after the forced acquisition of embattled Credit Suisse by its rival UBS . The German lender's shares retreated for a third consecutive day and have now lost more than a fifth of their value this month. Morgan Stanley strategists cautioned that although the banking sector is now cheaper, news flow surrounding earnings upgrades and cash return expectations may fade or reverse. They also suggest that the cyclical window for European banks had closed  and investors should reduce exposure to the sector. "While we don't know yet exactly how things will play out for financials from here, we are confident that the economic outlook has deteriorated and that the window for ongoing good/improving macro data is beginning to close," said Morgan Stanley's strategists led by Graham Secker. "We are reluctant to downgrade the sector just here as we see scope for volatility to emerge on the upside as well as the downside  however, we see further uncertainty ahead and would look to reduce exposure into any material rally," the team added, also telling clients that "banks will be volatile up and down  we would sell into rallies." The report highlights that every rate hiking cycle over the past 70 years has ended in a recession or a financial crisis, with the current turmoil proving no exception. Although financial crises do not always lead to recessions, the odds are unfavorable given recent events, such as tightening credit availability and a deeply inverted yield curve, according to the strategists. The gap between the 2-year and 10-year yields reached 110 basis points on the day before the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown but now stands at just 34 basis points. According to Morgan Stanley, this steepening after the failure of SVB Financial , Silvergate and Signature Bank in the U.S. and forced takeover of Credit Suisse signals an impending slowdown. On a top-down basis, Morgan Stanley recommended the following overweight-rated (a buy equivalent rating) stocks to navigate this environment with a defensive exposure. Stocks in traditionally defensive sectors, such as health care and utilities, are being recommended by Morgan Stanley. They are Swisscom , KPN , Novo Nordisk , Ahold , and SSE , among others. Citi bank has also downgraded the European banking sector . Strategists at the Wall Street bank said investors should focus on technology as the market faces increased tail risks due to concerns about the flow of credit at the major lenders. The banking concerns have also impacted the case for European equities outperforming their U.S. counterparts. Previously, European equities were expected to outperform due to a potential U.S. economic slowdown or a Fed-induced sell-off in the S & P 500. However, Morgan Stanley said the banking sector's problems have shifted this perspective, as the outperformance of European banks has been closely tied to the broader European market.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting
A heavily armed former student shot through a locked school door before killing three children and three staff members at a private Christian campus in Nashville on Monday, authorities said.

In addition to the three 9-year-old students, the 28-year-old attacker fatally wounded a custodian, a substitute teacher and the head of school before being killed by responding officers, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said.

Audrey Hale had planned extensively for the violence at The Covenant School on Burton Hills Boulevard, police said.

Follow along for live coverage here

"There were maps drawn of the school, in detail of surveillance, entry points," Drake said.

The shooter, who was killed on the school's second floor, had two "assault-type rifles and a handgun," an official said.

The three students killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, police tweeted.

Substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, school head Katherine Koonce, 60, and custodian Mike Hill, 61, were also killed, police said. Koonce is a Vanderbilt University graduate who had a doctorate in education, according to the school's website.

Students of the school, which serves preschool students through sixth graders, were bused to Woodmont Baptist Church, 2 miles away, where they were reunited with their parents.

Police said that they first got calls about the shooter at 10:13 a.m. (11:13 a.m. ET) and that Nashville firefighters first reported their personnel were responding to an "active aggressor" at 10:39 a.m.

"The police department response was swift," police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.

"They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers."

Five police officers came upon the shooter, and two opened fire, Aaron said.

"By 10:27 the shooter was deceased," Aaron said.

One officer was hurt by shattered glass, officials said.
Attorney Steven Donziger arrives for a court appearance at Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan on May 10, 2021 in New York City.

Gorsuch, in his blunt written dissent, suggested that the appointment of special prosecutors by the judge violated the Constitution's separation of powers of branches of government, which gives the executive branch the power to file criminal cases, and the judiciary the power to interpret the laws.

Two conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, dissented from the decision, saying they would have the Supreme Court accept the appeal by Donziger.

He had asked the Supreme Court to take the case, arguing that a federal district court judge overstepped his legal authority in appointing three lawyers as special prosecutors to handle Donziger's contempt trial after the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan declined to prosecute him.

The attorney, Steven Donziger , was sentenced to six months in jail for failing to comply with a judge's order to surrender all of his electronic devices.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider the appeal of a disbarred lawyer jailed for contempt of court after he won a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron in an environmental lawsuit in Ecuador .

"In this country, judges have no more power to initiate a prosecution of those who come before them than prosecutors have to sit in judgment of those they charge," Gorsuch wrote.

"Our Constitution does not tolerate what happened here," he added.

The other justices who voted to deny Donziger a hearing of his appeal did not explain their decision in writing, as is customary.

Ron Kuby, a lawyer for Donziger, told CNBC, "I was pleased to see that at least two justices of the United States Supreme Court found the Donziger prosecution was a constitutional abomination and should not be repeated."

Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for Chevron, in a statement, said that Donziger's petition to the Supreme Court "had no bearing on Chevron's federal racketeering judgment against him, in which a unanimous [federal appeals court] panel found that Donziger engaged in a 'parade of corrupt actions  including coercion, fraud, and bribery.' "

Donziger's contempt case stems from a lawsuit alleging decades of pollution of the South American Amazon region's rain forests and rivers by Texaco, a corporate predecessor to Chevron.

A group of Ecuadorians represented by Donziger filed a class-action suit against Chevron in Manhattan federal court in 1993.

"At the company's insistence, the court transferred the litigation to Ecuador," Gorsuch wrote in his five-page dissent.

"Later, Chevron came to regret that move," Gorsuch noted.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were awarded $9.5 billion from Chevron by a judge in Ecuador.

Chevron then filed a legal action in Manhattan federal court and won an injunction against the enforcement of the judgment in any U.S. court.

The company also obtained a so-called constructive trust on all assets Donziger had received as a result of the judgment in Ecuador.

Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan in a nearly 500-page ruling in 2014 wrote that Donziger and Ecuadorian lawyers "corrupted" the lawsuit in Ecuador.

Kaplan said the lawyers had, among other things, submitted fraudulent evidence, coerced a judge to use a supposedly impartial expert whose report was ghost-written by a Colorado consulting firm Donziger paid, and then promised $500,000 "to the Ecuadorian judge to rule in their favor and sign their judgment."

To enforce the hold that Kaplan had placed on assets Donziger received in connection with the Ecuador judgment, he ordered Donziger to surrender all of his electronic devices so they could be imaged.

After Donziger failed to fully comply with that order, Kaplan held him in criminal contempt of court and referred that case to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which normally prosecutes such matters.

However, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney declined to take the case.

Kaplan then appointed three lawyers as special prosecutors. Donziger then was tried, convicted and sentenced to jail.

Donziger had objected to Kaplan's actions, arguing that a judge had no right to override a federal prosecutor's discretion in deciding not to prosecute a case.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld his conviction.

In his dissent Monday, Gorsuch noted that the Supreme Court in the late 1980s "approved the use of court-appointed prosecutors as a 'last resort' in certain criminal contempt cases."

"But that decision has met with considerable criticism," Gorsuch added. "As Members of this Court have put it, the Constitution gives courts the power to 'serve as a neutral adjudicator in a criminal case,' not 'the power to prosecute crimes.'"

In the Chevron case, Gorsuch wrote, "However much the district court may have thought Mr. Donziger warranted punishment, the prosecution in this case broke a basic constitutional promise essential to our

liberty."
It is "unlikely" that European banks will undergo anything as serious as in 2008, according to economists. Peter Macdiarmid / Staff / Getty Images

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Regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 in what was the biggest U.S. bank collapse since the global financial crisis in 2008. While information can spread within seconds, money can now be withdrawn just as quickly. Mobile banking has changed the fundamental behavior of bank users, as well as the optics of a financial collapse. "There were no queues outside banks in the way there were with Northern Rock in the U.K. back in [the financial crisis]  that didn't happen this time  because you just go online and click a couple of buttons and off you go," Paul Donavan told CNBC. This combination of quick information dissemination and access to funds can make banks more vulnerable, according to Stefan Legge, head of tax and trade policy at the University of St. Gallen's IFF Institute for Financial Studies. "While back in the day, the view of people lining up in front of bank branches caused panic, today we have social media ... In a way, bank runs can happen much faster today," Legge told CNBC in an email. Stronger balance sheets The European Union made huge efforts to shore up the zone's economic situation in the aftermath of the financial crisis, including the founding of new financial oversight institutions and implementing stress testing to try to foresee any difficult scenarios and prevent market meltdown.

Risk in the banking system today is significantly less than it has been at any time over the last 20 or 30 years. Bob Parker Senior Advisor at International Capital Markets Association

This makes it "unlikely" that European banks will undergo anything as serious as in 2008, Danielsson told CNBC. "[Bank] funding is more stable, the regulators are much more attuned to the dangers and the capital levels are higher," Danielsson said.

watch now

Today banks are expected to have much more capital as a buffer, and a good metric for measuring the difference between today's financial situation and 2008 is bank leverage ratios, Bob Parker, senior advisor at International Capital Markets Association, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" last week. "If you actually look at the top 30 or 40 global banks  leverage is low, liquidity is high. Risk in the banking system today is significantly less than it has been at any time over the last 20 or 30 years," Parker said. The European Banking Authority, which was founded in 2011 in response to the financial crisis as part of the European System of Financial Supervision, highlighted this in a statement about the Swiss authorities stepping in to help Credit Suisse. "The European banking sector is resilient, with robust levels of capital and liquidity," the statement said.

Problematic pockets within the sector

Individual players can still run into difficulties however, no matter how resilient the sector is as a whole. Parker described this as "pockets of quite serious problems" rather than issues that are ingrained across the entire industry. "I actually don't buy the argument that we have major systemic risk building up in the banking system," he told CNBC. Fraser made similar observations when comparing the current banking system with what happened in 2008. "This isn't like it was last time, this is not a credit crisis," Fraser said. "This is a situation where it's a few banks that have some problems, and it's better to make sure we nip that in the bud."

Trust is key

One parallel between the 2008 crisis and the current financial scene is the importance of confidence, with "a lack of trust" having played a big part in the recent European banking turmoil, according to Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Swiss National Bank. "I do not believe that [mobile banking] was the source of the problem. I think it was a lack of trust, of confidence in different banks, and that then contributed to this situation," Jordan said at a press conference Thursday.

If trust is lost, then anything can happen. Stefano Ramelli Assistant professor in corporate finance at the University of St. Gallen
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Waco, Texas, US, on Saturday, March 25, 2023.

The New York City grand jury that for nearly two months has been hearing testimony and reviewing evidence related to a hush money payment benefiting former President Donald Trump is set to resume work Monday.

The grand jury, which could be asked to issue an indictment of Trump today, returns two days after he spoke to supporters at his 2024 presidential campaign's first rally in Waco, Texas.

Trump during that event accused the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of "prosecutorial misconduct" for investigating him for possible crimes related to how the hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was described in official business records.

The ex-president has attacked Bragg on his social media site Truth Social for more than a week as the threat of an indictment appeared to increase with the testimony of Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.

Law-enforcement officials say Bragg's office has received hundreds of threats in recent weeks, including an envelope received Friday that contained non-hazardous white powder and a letter vowing to kill the DA.

Cohen has admitted to paying $130,000 to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, right before Election Day 2016 to keep her quiet about her account of having had sex with Trump one night a decade earlier. Trump, who denies having sex with Daniels, later reimbursed Cohen for the payment, which the Trump Organization claimed was for legal expenses.

In addition to the Manhattan probe, Trump is under criminal investigation by a Georgia prosecutor for potentially illegal efforts to overturn his loss in that state's 2020 presidential election.

He also faces criminal probes by the U.S. Department of Justice for attempts to block President Joe Biden from being certified as the winner of the 2020 election nationally, and for retaining classified government records at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.
NATO criticized Russia's nuclear rhetoric after Moscow's announcement at the weekend that it will station a supply of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

NATO criticized Russia's nuclear rhetoric after Moscow's announcement at the weekend that it will station a supply of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible," a spokesperson told NBC News.

"NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own. We are committed to protect and defend all NATO allies," the spokesperson added.

Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the plan to station tactical nukes within Belarusian territory do not violate non-proliferation agreements as the weapons would be under Russian control.

"There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," Putin said.

"We agreed that we will do the same  without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons," he added.

NATO said "Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading," however, adding that "NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments."

"Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments, most recently suspending its participation in the New START Treaty."

"Russia must return to compliance and act in good faith," the spokesperson added.

 Holly Ellyatt
NEWQUAY, ENGLAND - JANUARY 09: A general view of Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747-400 aircraft carrying the LauncherOne rocket under its left wing, as final preparations are made at Cornwall Airport Newquay on January 9, 2023 in Newquay, United Kingdom. Virgin Orbit launches its LauncherOne rocket from the spaceport in Cornwall, marking the first ever orbital launch from the UK. The mission has been named Start Me Up after the Rolling Stones hit. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

Virgin Orbit is again extending its unpaid pause in operations to continue pursuing a lifeline investment, CEO Dan Hart told employees in a company-wide email.

Some of the company's late-stage deal talks, including with private investor Matthew Brown, collapsed over the weekend, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Hart previously planned to update employees on the company's operational status at an all-hands meeting at 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon, according to an email sent to employees Sunday night. At the last minute, that meeting was rescheduled "for no later than Thursday," Hart said in the employee memo Monday.

"Our investment discussions have been very dynamic over the past few days, they are ongoing, and not yet at a stage where we can provide a fulsome update," Hart wrote in the email to employees, which was viewed by CNBC.

Brown told CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" last week he was in final discussions to invest in the company. A person familiar with the terms told CNBC the investment would have amounted to $200 million and granted Brown a controlling stake. But discussions between Virgin Orbit and the Texas-based investor stalled and broke down late last week, a person familiar told CNBC. As of Saturday those discussions had ended, the person said.

Separately, another person said talks with a different potential buyer broke down on Sunday night.

The people asked to remain anonymous to discuss private negotiations. A representative for Virgin Orbit declined to comment.

Hart promised Virgin Orbit's over 750 employees "daily" updates this week. Most of the staff remain on an unpaid furlough that Hart announced on Mar. 15. Last week, a "small" team of Virgin Orbit employees returned to work in what Hart described as the "first step" in an "incremental resumption of operations," with the intention of preparing a rocket for the company's next launch.

Virgin Orbit's stock closed at 54 cents a share on Monday, having fallen below $1 a share after the company's pause in operations.

Virgin Orbit developed a system that uses a modified 747 jet to send satellites into space by dropping a rocket from under the aircraft's wing mid-flight. But the company's last mission suffered a mid-flight failure, with an issue during the launch causing the rocket to not reach orbit and crash into the ocean.

The company has been looking for new funds for several months, with majority owner Sir Richard Branson unwilling to fund the company further.

Virgin Orbit was spun out of Branson's Virgin Galactic in 2017 and counts the billionaire as its largest stakeholder, with 75% ownership. Mubadala, the Emirati sovereign wealth fund, holds the second-largest stake in Virgin Orbit, at 18%.

The company hired bankruptcy firms to draw up contingency plans in the event it is unable to find a buyer or investor. Branson has first priority over Virgin Orbit's assets, as the company raised $60 million in debt from the investment arm of Virgin Group.

On the same day that Hart told employees that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations, its board of directors approved a "golden parachute" severance plan for top executives, in case they are terminated "following a change in control" of the company.
"We call today's children 'Generation AI' because they are surrounded by AI almost everywhere they go, and AI models make decisions that determine the videos they watch online, their curriculum in school, the social assistance their families receive, and more," Seth Bergeson, fellow at the World Economic Forum who led their "AI for Children" project, told CNBC Make It. Monkeybusinessimages | Istock | Getty Images

Artificial Intelligence is all the rage in the tech world, especially after the launch of ChatGPT and GPT-4. It has shown potential not only to change life of workers  but also the daily life of another demographic: kids. In fact, children are already using AI-powered toys and platforms that write bedtime stories at the click of a button. "We call today's children 'Generation AI' because they are surrounded by AI almost everywhere they go, and AI models make decisions that determine the videos they watch online, their curriculum in school, the social assistance their families receive, and more," Seth Bergeson, fellow at the World Economic Forum who led their "AI for Children" project, told CNBC Make It. And AI's influence will only grow from here, said Saurabh Sanghvi and Jake Bryant, partners at McKinsey. "These technologies are not going away and will continue to advance and impact more of our professions and daily interactions," they said. That means AI could have an even bigger role in the working lives of future generations  skills in that area may even be a job requirement and technological changes could determine career paths.

What is there to be worried about?

But there are concerns that AI could be something of a double-edged sword, especially when it comes to kids. Risks range from privacy and safety issues to psychological and behavioral effects, according to a report by UNICEF and the World Economic Forum. Those can come from social media, for example. AI-based algorithms learn what content kids (or anyone, for that matter) search for and engage with, filling their feeds with it  even if it could be harmful to them or people around them. Though social media platforms have taken steps to mitigate the problem, they haven't been able to eradicate it. Kids may also be less careful about sharing their personal details online, making them more vulnerable to data breaches like the one that recently hit ChatGPT. AI can also worsen inequity and sustain bias, the UNICEF report said. "For instance, schools employing machine learning and AI technology to sort through student applications may inadvertently but systematically exclude certain types of candidates," it read. Bergeson cited a similar example. "In the UK, we saw a new AI algorithm incorrectly assess students' A-level exams, dashing hopes of many to attend top universities," he said. Another risk is linked to autonomy and decision-making  with AI being so intertwined with our lives, it can sometimes be hard not to rely on or trust it, experts say.

Start small
Venezuelas digital asset industry has been sailing through troubled waters recently. Allegations of corruption have led to a complete restructuring of the countrys crypto regulatory agency. First to go was Joselit Ramirez, Venezuelas Superintendent of Cryptoassets (Sunacrip), who was arrested on March 17.

Venezuelas digital asset industry has been sailing through troubled waters recently. Allegations of corruption have led to a complete restructuring of the countrys crypto regulatory agency. First to go was Joselit Ramirez, Venezuelas Superintendent of Cryptoassets (Sunacrip), who was arrested on March 17.

Ramirez was replaced by Anabel Pereira Fernandez, who served as the president of the Fondo de Proteccion Social de los Depositos Bancarios, (FOGADE), which is Venezuelas equivalent of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC).

As the new Sunacrip, Fernandez ordered the shutdown of several crypto exchanges and mining farms over the last few days. There was no official statement on the crackdown. However, the countrys national crypto body, Asociacion Nacional de Criptomonedas (Asonacrip), took to Twitter to protest the move.

It is confirmed that the shutdown of the digital mining farms in the Bolivar State was requested. We consider this an arbitrary measure, which goes against the interests of private industry, read a roughly translated tweet from Asonacrip on March 25.

According to reports, mining farms in the states of Lara and Carabobo have also been ordered to shut down, along with several crypto exchanges. Another mining firm, Doctorminer, posted a detailed statement announcing, power cuts in all Venezuelan hashrate infrastructure. According to the statement, the national energy supplier (CORPOELEC) ordered the shutdown due to investigations related to the possible mishandling of public funds.

This is in stark contrast to the pro-crypto environment that has been established in Venezuela over the last few years. Under President Nicolas Maduro, the country was often referred to as a crypto paradise, with digital assets being positioned as tools to revitalise Venezuela's economy. Over the last few years, Venezuela formed the national crypto department, created a framework for crypto mining and institutionalised the registration of crypto exchanges. In 2021, the country even launched its own cryptocurrency called The Petro, an Ethereum-based token backed by oil reserves.

However, the power over the Venezuelan crypto industry was placed heavily in the hands of Joselit Ramirez. As a result, avenues for corruption began to arise. There were reports that government official had their own crypto-mining farms, and that these high-ranking executive used their influence to detain the competition and confiscate their equipment.

Also Read: A look at the key highlights from the Paris Blockchain Week 2023

There were also allegations involving Venezuelas state-owned oil company PDVSA and the countrys crypto department. Over the last couple of years, there were whispers that the countrys energy minister Tareck El Aissami and Ramirez had been diverting funds from undeclared oil sales. At the same time, Petro saw a stark transition from a transparent token on a public blockchain, to a centralised, non-auditable token with no real backing in tangible oil.

This has led to the restructuring of Venezuelas national crypto regulatory agency and the arrest of Ramirez. Moreover, with the oil-sale probe looming over his head, El Aissami was also forced to resign. Both individuals are on the FBIs most wanted list, with bounties of $5 million and $10 million respectively. Subsequently, as the new head of Venezuelas crypto regulatory body, Anabel Pereira Fernandez has ordered crypto mining firms and exchanges to cease operations.

Of course, the crypto community in Venezuela is questioning the motive of the sudden crackdown. Some believe the closure of mining farms could be an effort to conserve energy amidst Venezuela's financial struggles. Others believe it could be related to the corruption investigation involving PDVSA and the national crypto department.
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The City of The Dalles Police Department assisted the Wasco County Sheriffs Department and the Oregon State Police in the capture of an armed subject the evening of Feb. 28, according to a department press release.
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FORMER Harare mayor, Herbert Gomba, and several Council officials stand accused of conniving with a space baron to milk tenants at Sunshine Bazaar.

Tempers have been flaring at the giant shopping mall where traders want the space baron to stop interfering with their operations amid indications that he is trying to wrestle for total control of the complex.

Situated along Simon Mazorodze Road, the complex is owned by the Harare City Council, built under a 10-year Build Operate and Transfer basis.

Its a sad situation, some Council officials are corruptly benefitting from Council facilities which should be bringing in the much-needed revenue for service delivery.

Money is being converted to personal use, said a source, who operates at the complex.

On an average, the smallest shop is attracting US$530 rentals per month which is being collected by the individuals who are running the scheme.

City of Harare spokesperson, Innocent Ruwende, confirmed that Council had a stake in Sunshine Bazaar but could not delve into the rentals issue.

I understand part of Sunshine Bazaar is owned by the City of Harare.

On who is collecting rentals, I need to verify when I get back to work on Monday (today), said Ruwende.

Harare City property valuations department also referred all questions to Ruwende and one Chikandamina, whose position in Council could not be established.

Sunshine Bazaar Tenants Association have written to the perceived space baron, identified only as Ali.

This letter therefore serves as a strong and unrestrained warning for you to completely back off and concentrate on managing your own adjacent complex as per your initial agreement with the Harare City Council and keep your dirty hands off our complex.

We are very much aware of the exorbitant charges you charge desperate small-scale business owners like us, at both Sunshine Bazaar Complex and at the Gulf in the CBD, reads part of the letter.

Association chairman, Dr Kuda Mutenda, could not comment on the issue citing confidentiality issues.

A source, however, said tenants were unhappy about how business was being handled.

We expect the City of Harare to create an enabling environment for our businesses to not only survive, but thrive and contribute to making Harare a Sunshine City.

This is totally unacceptable.

In these circumstances please be guided accordingly to stay away from our complex and our relationship with the Harare City Council, said another trader, who requested anonymity.

Additionally, traders who wish to operate on holidays are charged a separate fee of US$40 per day and are forced to buy US$40 worth of sanitisers from the landlords.

A further U$40 charge is collected from tenants towards tax obligations to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).

Council is reported to be only realising US$70 per tenant at Sunshine Bazaar.

The US$70 rentals paid to council are said to be collected in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate.

Under the BOT arrangement council was supposed to get a significant chunk of the rentals having provided the prime land for the project.

The project was aimed at empowering the youths, women and other disadvantaged groups. H Metro
Were excited to announce plans for Computerworld's Best Places to Work in IT 2024. The program will continue to be open to companies worldwide this year.

The program will be open to all companies with 5 or more IT employees, and 100 or more total employees worldwide.

A panel of judges consisting of industry leaders within and outside of Computerworld will evaluate entries and confirm the honorees.

As in the past, overall and category awards will be named within three company size categories.

Well be promoting the program online and via social media. The FAQ list below answers many questions about participating in the Best Places to Work in IT program. Additional questions can be emailed to bestplaces@computerworld.com.

We look forward to learning more about what your organization is doing to provide the best possible work experience for your IT employees. Nominate your organization today!

Matt Egan

Global Editorial Director, Foundry

About the Best Places to Work in IT program

Computerworld conducts an annual survey to identify the best places to work for IT professionals. We invite readers, PR professionals and other interested parties to nominate companies they consider great employers for IT workers. You may nominate your own company. We then ask those nominated companies that meet our basic criteria to participate in our survey.

Once again, we are excited to extend this program, which has a 30-year history in the United States, to companies worldwide.

The employers in the Best Places list are evaluated by company size: Large companies have 5,000 or more employees; midsize have between 1,001 and 4,999 employees; and small companies employ from 100 to 1,000.

To be eligible, companies must have a minimum of 5 IT employees and a minimum of 100 total employees. We consider IT employees to be those IT workers who provide technology support and services to their own company  or to multiple companies through their work at an IT service provider. Workers who would *not* be included are administrative support staff for the IT department, staff who work in communications or PR for the technology department, IT contractors, or those staff whose primary role is in product development for outside sales.

Best Places to Work in IT is a global program. We ask that companies submit no more than one survey within any one country. If your company operates in multiple countries and you would like to submit a survey for your location only, please note this in the company name field (e.g., Foundry North America or Foundry Germany). If no location is specified in the company name, we will assume that the entry represents all locations worldwide.

In most cases, we prefer to have the parent company, rather than subsidiaries or affiliates, apply for the Best Places to Work in IT list. However, a subsidiary or affiliate may be eligible, providing that it stands out as a separate entity from the parent company, with separate business functions, IT leadership and so on. A subsidiary may also be eligible to apply separately if its parent company is a holding company. In those cases, the parent company and subsidiary may be able to apply separately. We encourage companies to complete the nomination form or contact us at bestplaces@computerworld.com, and our Best Places research team will evaluate the submissions on a case-by-case basis.

Questions about the Best Places to Work in IT program can be emailed to bestplaces@computerworld.com.

Frequently asked questions

Survey requirements and eligibility

Does my company have to be nominated to complete the survey?

No. Companies may participate even if they were not nominated. In lieu of a nomination, please send an email to bestplaces@computerworld.com with the name and contact information (including email address) of the individual who should receive the company survey and other information; we'll take care of the rest.

Does the Best Places to Work in IT list include public companies only?

No. The survey includes private as well as public companies.

What criteria must my company meet to participate?

To be considered for our Best Places to Work in IT list:

Companies must have a minimum of 5 IT employees.

Companies must have a minimum of 100 total employees worldwide.

In most cases, we prefer to have the parent company, rather than subsidiaries or affiliates, apply for the Best Places to Work in IT list. However, a subsidiary or affiliate may be eligible, providing that it stands out as a separate entity from the parent company, with separate business functions, IT leadership and so on. A subsidiary may also be eligible to apply separately if its parent company is a holding company. In those cases, the parent company and subsidiary may be able to apply separately. We encourage companies to complete the nomination form or contact us at bestplaces@computerworld.com, and our Best Places research team will evaluate the submissions on a case-by-case basis.

Who should complete the survey?

An individual familiar with employment statistics, benefits, policies and programs of your IT department and your company should complete the survey. This could be a human resources representative, a CIO or corporate PR representative  or a team of all the above.

Survey contents and procedures

What does the company survey ask?

Our online survey includes questions about companies' benefits, training and development, IT salary changes, percent of IT employees promoted, IT turnover rates, and the percentage of women employees in management in IT departments. In addition, we will collect information about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, remote/hybrid working, and company growth.

Which employees are considered "IT workers" in this survey?

Answers to the survey should be based on those IT workers who provide technology support and services to their own company  or to multiple companies through their work at an IT service provider. Workers who wouldn't be included are administrative support staff for the IT department, staff who work in communications or PR for the technology department, IT contractors, or those staff whose primary role is in product development for outside sales.

What happens if I leave a question blank on the survey?

You can't leave a question blank if it is required. Many of the questions on the survey are required; the survey can't be processed if they aren't answered. Please answer to the best of your ability for questions with lists or options included. If any open-ended/text based questions aren't applicable to your company, please indicate "NA" for "not applicable." If there is a question you can't answer fully given the format of the survey, you may briefly explain your answers in an addendum field that follows each survey section.

Companies that withhold information used to rank the finalists will have points deducted from their ranking. Answers that are left blank or have unexplained N/As will be assumed to be 0 (zero).

Companies must provide answers to questions related to data we run in our feature story and graphics in order to be considered. Please see below for the types of required information that are typically shared publicly.

Can I save my survey and come back to it at a later date?

Yes. You will be able to save your partially completed survey and can save a partially completed survey as many times as necessary. Please save your unique URL to re-enter the survey. When you return to the survey, you will be able to review/modify questions that you have already answered. However, we will continue to provide a printer-friendly version of the survey, and we recommend that you complete this survey, then enter your answers online.

How should I send my company's information to Computerworld?

We accept company information from the online survey only. Please enter all data as accurately as possible. Provide company name, location, web address and other information, as you would like it to appear in print.

Can I get a copy of the survey to review before I go to the online survey and submit my company's information?

Yes. A printer-friendly version of the 2024 Best Places company survey can be viewed here, for reference. We encourage participants to complete the printer-friendly version offline before filling out the online survey.

download 2024 Best Places to Work in IT Company Survey Printer-friendly copy of the 2024 Best Places to Work in IT company survey. Best Places to Work in IT Team

Will Computerworld provide us with a copy of our submitted survey?

Upon request, Computerworld will email you a PDF of your company's survey responses.

Is there an employee portion to the survey?

This year there will NOT be an employee survey portion to the survey. Computerworld decided to make this change in the 2023 program to streamline the process for global participation and to enable companies with smaller IT departments to participate. In lieu of the employee survey portion of the program, Computerworld will be inviting a panel of judges consisting of industry experts from both within and outside of Computerworld to evaluate entries and confirm this years honorees. More information about the judging panels in each region will be posted here as it becomes available.

List publication and notification

When will the list of honorees be published?

The Best Places to Work in IT honorees will be announced in November on Computerworld.com.

When can I find out if my company is on the list?

Computerworld will notify companies that will be honored as a 2024 Best Place to Work in IT several weeks in advance of publication. Computerworld's marketing group contacts honorees to offer assistance with press releases.

Is there a timeline to which I can refer for survey action items?

Below is the 2024 Best Places to Work in IT timeline.

Monday, April 3, 2023 Nominations open for the 2024 Best Places to Work in IT. Nominated companies receive an email with a link to the Best Places company survey from Computerworld by the second week of April. Thereafter, company surveys will be sent on a rolling basis. Friday, June 30, 2023 DEADLINE: Completed Best Places company survey is due to Computerworld. November 2023 List of Best Places to Work in IT honorees is available online.

What information will be shared publicly?

Computerworld tries to avoid printing information that a company may consider competitive. The following information may appear publicly:

Company name

Location

Industry

Website

Total number of employees

Total number of IT employees

Percentage of IT employee turnover

Percentage of IT employee promotions

Number of training days offered per IT employee

Information from a 300-word essay outlining what's special about your company and IT department

Please note that revenue, overall IT budget and other sensitive information will not be reported. Such information will be used only in aggregate format or for ranking purposes.

What if I have a question that was not answered in this FAQ?

Please email your questions to the following address: bestplaces@computerworld.com.

In the subject line, please include your company name and be as descriptive as possible in the subject line as to the nature of your inquiry.
Well, this is something you don't see very often: secrets about a still-unannounced product  shared only with a small, hand-picked group of senior managers  that somehow leak.

Ruining the surprise

Thats whats happened regarding Apples most secret non-secret product, its first-generation mixed-reality headset destined (we think) to appear at WWDC in June and ship in quantity later this year. Both Bloomberg and the New York Times recently shared stories from anonymous people within Apple who appear to know a lot about the product and who may have been among a top 100 executive team who attended secret demonstrations across the last few years. (The New York Times story cites eight sources for its story.)

The reports shared a lot of information we already thought we knew, adding that some Apple staff are concerned the new product may not achieve the immediate success of previous Apple launches. The claims follow recent reporting CEO Tim Cook insisted the product, which has been in development for years, is at least announced in 2023.

We dont know where the latest tales came from. A number of people in Apple leadership positions have departed in recent months, and as the company's once all-powerful designers find themselves reporting to the operations team, its not impossible some senior people are unhappy.

In the context of Apples inflexible approach to flexible working, it could be that dissatisfaction is growing across the company. If true, thats bad as it means employees will be more prepared to shrug off their commitment to secrecy and speak with the press.

What do the revelations tell us?

It does seem strange this information has slipped out from within a top team meeting. How did this happen? How does a company traditionally so secretive end up becoming a firm from which every secret leaks and always through the same channels?

Is this Apple managing the message by feeding information through such channels, or is it a case of some form of industrial espionage?

Lets assume Apple is in control of the narrative. If so, the message seem to be that the first iteration of the product is not expected to see the same kind of early success as the iPhone or iPod.

Apple knows the device is expensive, the product category new, and the utility not yet established. With this in mind, it may want to control expectations by sneaking out criticism before the release.

Alternatively, what might it mean if a competitor were pushing the speculation?

First, it suggests competitors are scared. They can see Apple coming down the virtual reality track and they want to damage public perception of the new device before it even sees the light of day in order to protect their own business. Is it not worth noting that these stories leak just days since Epics Tim Sweeney warned Apple will in some way control the metaverse. (Whatever that is).

It's possible that both scenarios are true. Its perfectly conceivable Apple does want to manage market expectations even while competitors want to damage them. This is, after all, a product war for a future digital market still so completely new no one can quite see the extent or limitations of the space quite yet.

Its a frontier that with recent advances in creative applications of artificial intelligence may (or may not) become the next hot seat for wealth creation.

Known unknowns

What we think we know is that Apple is steaming ahead with plans to introduce first-generation mixed reality goggles this year. It already has blueprints for future product, software, and operating system innovation. Those plans extend to creating viable opportunities for developers on the platform.

We can surmise that the companys basic introduction plans look like this:

There'll be a demo at or around WWDC, including hardware and OS.

The first product may look like ski goggles, feature 4K video and a carbon fiber frame, external battery pack, and two-hour use.

Look for the introduction of developer tools, potentially along with a developer kit.

Expect public availability of product, paired with an App Store, in fall 2023. Cost: $3,000. (The launch may slip into next year if the economy fails to improve.)

OS improvements will arrive across the coming 12 months, toward an annual realityOS upgrade.

A new point upgrade to hardware in or around fall 2024.

A major upgrade likely in 2025, potentially including lower-cost models.

Aversion within a highly wearable chassis similar to normal spectacles when technically possible at reasonable cost.

Perhaps a presentation video like one reportedly shown by Jony Ive five years ago. This showed a man in a London taxi wearing the goggles to share the sights of London with his wife also wearing a headset at home in San Francisco.

That product road map means Apple has plenty of evolutionary space in the years to come. This will enable the product to morph as the market itself evolves.

In many respects this is the kind of cadence Apple has taken before when introducing new products. Even when Apple invented the PC with the GUI Mac, it was already thinking about how it would improve it. Thats business as usual.

But if I ran a business preparing to introduce a top secret product in development for years, Id want to know who was sharing its secrets, how to plug those leaks, and what I needed to do to make people more loyal.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
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(Photo : Ben White on Unsplash)

David Taylor, pastor and spiritual leader, heads Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI) with a unique approach to preaching and spreading the gospel. Blessed with near indefatigable energy and a limitless sense of devotion, fueled by his deep-seated Christian convictions, David E. Taylor's community efforts and worldwide ministry have become a shining lodestar to a legion of faithful followers around the globe.

David E. Taylor, Pastor: A Life of Service to the Community

Today, David E. Taylor is recognized and highly revered for his commitment to bettering the world through his ministry and ongoing humanitarian efforts, both in his local community and wherever those in distress call out for help. In addition to Pastor Taylor's regularly scheduled prayer services - which are broadcast daily to a huge multinational audience of true believers who depend on him for guidance and inspiration - as a devoted Good Samaritan, Taylor has spearheaded numerous relief efforts across the United States in times of natural disaster.

When tragedy strikes, Pastor Taylor routinely deploys the tireless and loyal JMMI volunteer troops, dispatching the congregation's Convoy of Miracles 18-wheeler and airplane fleet packed to the rafters with vital supplies to help those directly impacted by hurricanes, tornadoes, and other catastrophic events. For example, when Hurricane Ian wreaked destruction along the southeastern coast of the U.S., Taylor heeded the call by sending both corporeal aid and spiritual support to suffering storm victims. When deadly tornadoes flattened Kentucky towns and left scores of anguished survivors homeless, again, Taylor answered their prayers by organizing volunteer efforts to distribute donated goods, tender urgent medical assistance, and deliver hands-on support to dig out and rebuild devastated communities.

David Taylor, Pastor: From a Perilous Beginning to a Living Instrument of the Lord

Was Pastor David E. Taylor always destined to do great things? The simple answer is yes, but there's more to the story. As influential a faith leader as he's become, Taylor rose from humble origins.

Taylor believes his journey from the darkness into the light of God's glory and beneficence, holds many valuable life lessons. The pastor shares his experiences freely in hopes that others might learn from his hard-won personal victories so they too may find salvation.

As Taylor can attest, coming to Jesus isn't always easy. The road to redemption is often paved with pitfalls designed to test our faith and temptations that may seem too good to pass up at first glance. While it might be hard to believe, David Taylor, pastor, was once David E. Taylor, gang member - until he experienced a life-altering epiphany that opened his eyes to the path of righteousness and his heart to the Word of God.

In 1989, 17-year-old Taylor was a streetwise kid, prowling his Memphis, Tennessee, neighborhood with nothing more on his mind than ducking trouble and pursuing worldly pleasures. Humanitarian pursuits and religious beliefs weren't even on his radar back then. But Taylor says Jesus Christ intervened - appearing to him in a dream that set him straight. (Those who wish to learn more about David E. Taylor's astonishing transformation will find it detailed in his best-selling book, Face to Face Appearances from Jesus: The Ultimate Intimacy.)

Taylor is only too aware that, like so many other at-risk youths from marginalized and underserved communities, he could well have ended up enmeshed in a cycle of violence, drugs, and crime from which there was no escape save death - but by the grace of God, he was spared that hideous fate. This realization is central to one of the ministry's focuses: ensuring disadvantaged young people who might not otherwise have the chance are given an opportunity to lead productive, purpose-driven, successful lives.

After his powerful one-on-one conversion to Christ, David Taylor, pastor, found the oath he'd taken to a violent gang creed was no match for the sincere pledge he offered up to the all-powerful, loving God who forgives those mortals who truly repent their sins. Through his continued good works and community-focused leadership, Pastor Taylor, by word and deed, has been living his faith every day ever since.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
The Munsters, the premiere of Successions fourth and final season, brings fans plenty of meaty story developments to chew on. The three most disloyal Roy kids outbid their father for a media property hes been dying to acquire for years! Shiv and Toms marriage is over for real this time! Gregs dates purse is too big!

And theres this: Between phone calls about his big Pierce acquisition, a restless and enervated Logan (Brian Cox) complains that no one tells jokes anymore, and challenges the other people currently sharing his library to roast him. Since the other people include Greg (Nicholas Braun), Frank (Peter Friedman), Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), and Karl (David Rasche), no one is quite brave enough to do it and risk getting fired or, possibly, murdered in retaliation.

I have no such concerns, however, and neither do some of my friends. Lets roast Logan Roy!

Me, Myself and I  Tara Ariano , TV Critic and Cracked Contributor When it comes to politics, Logans a kingmaker thanks to his news network, ATN. In the case of this presidential election, Logan didnt only choose the king  he supplied a joker, too. Is Connor here? Connor Roy, congratulations on spending nine figures to poll at 1 percent. It must have been hard to find a venue for your election night party that would accommodate your supporters. Does Soho House give you a discount if your guests can all fit in the mens room? But back to Logan Roy, a great man. Behind every great man is a great woman, and thats certainly true of Logan. Just for starters, hes got two wives so far behind him that hed have a hard time locating them with a telescope. And Logans been a longtime supporter of women working for his companies, from ATN to his cruise ships, and working at all levels  below sea level, sometimes!

Omar L. Gallaga , Tech/Culture Writer Some people say Logan Roy is like a lion in winter, and its absolutely true. Hes the ruler of all he sees, roars to establish his dominance and marks his territory where his enemies might roam with piss all over the carpet. I worry that Logan might lean on the phrase Fuck Off a little too much. Its like right turns: four of them, and youre back in his face getting yelled at again.

Brandi Brown , Minnesota Comic and Writer Youre the dad from Family Circus but hateable, with kids who are somehow dumber than the kids from Family Circus. I would rather let Ida Know and Not Me raise children instead of you. Youre like a faded car decal of a senile Calvin pissing on something. And that something is your legacy but you think its the toilet where your failson does cocaine off the seats, because as I said youre a senile old man. Do you even know another person is roasting you right now, Logan, or do you think its the Ghost of Waystar Future that lives in your head? Drink some cranberry juice for fucks sake, you walking UTI.

Karen Geier , Writer and Brand Strategist Logan Roy is so intimidating, his piss doesnt even want to come out of his dick.
Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Operational Technology (OT) devices represent a rapidly expanding, often unchecked risk surface that is largely driven by the technologys pervasiveness, vulnerability, and cloud connectivity. This has left a wider array of industries and organizations vulnerable and opened the door for damaging infrastructure attacks.

OT systems include almost everything supporting physical operations, spanning dozens of vertical industries. They arent solely limited to industrial processes. OT systems can cover any special purpose or computerized equipment, such as HVAC controllers, elevators, and traffic lights. Various safety systems also fall into the category of OT systems.

Microsoft recently identified unpatched, high-severity vulnerabilities in 75% of the most common industrial controllers in customer OT networks. This highlights a significant gap that enterprise businesses must address. Keep reading to learn more about these cyber risks to critical infrastructure and what you can do to mitigate them.

The growth of IoT has outstripped device security

Over the past year, Microsoft has observed threats exploiting devices in almost every monitored and visible part of an organization. This includes traditional IT equipment, OT controllers, and IoT devices like routers and cameras. Many organizations have adopted a converged, interconnected model of OT and IoT in recent years. This trend has caused attackers presences in these environments and networks to grow exponentially.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices by 2025, a growth rate higher than traditional IT equipment. And although the security of IT equipment has strengthened in recent years, IoT and OT device security has not kept pace. Threat actors are exploiting these devices accordingly by compromising internet-connected devices to gain access to sensitive critical infrastructure networks.

Take the recent Boa Web server vulnerabilities, for example. Microsoft discovered these vulnerabilities during an investigation of continued attacks on Indian power grid assets by Chinese state-sponsored groups. Despite being discontinued in 2005, the Boa web server is still used by different vendors across a variety of IoT devices and popular software development kits (SDKs). Data from the Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence platform identified over 1 million internet-exposed Boa server components around the world over the span of a week. Without developers managing the Boa web server, its known vulnerabilities create an opening for attackers to silently gain access to networks by collecting information from files.

Nation-states are targeting critical infrastructure

It is important to remember attackers can have varied motives to compromise devices other than typical laptops and smartphones. Russias cyberattacks against Ukraine, as well as other nation-state-sponsored cybercriminal activity, demonstrate that some nation-states will target critical infrastructure in order to achieve military and economic objectives.

Seventy-two percent of the software exploits utilized by Incontroller are now available online. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) describes Incontroller as a novel set of state-sponsored, industrial control system (ICS)-oriented cyberattack tools. The widespread sharing of their software exploits has an exponential effectfostering wider attack activity by other actors as expertise and other barriers to entry diminish.

Threat actors have more varied ways of mounting large-scale attacks as the cybercriminal economy expands and malicious software targeting OT systems becomes more prevalent and easier to use. Ransomware attacks, previously perceived as an IT-focused attack vector, are today affecting OT environments. This can be seen in instances like the Colonial Pipeline attack, where OT systems and pipeline operations were temporarily shut down while incident responders worked to identify and contain the spread of ransomware on the companys IT network. Adversaries realize that the financial impact and extortion leverage of shutting down energy and other critical infrastructures is far greater than other industries.

Microsoft has observed Chinese-linked threat actors targeting vulnerable home and small office routers in order to compromise these devices as footholds. This provides new address space that is less associated with their previous campaignsgiving them a new foothold from which to launch future attacks.

Our recommendations

While the prevalence of IoT and OT vulnerabilities presents a challenge for all organizations, critical infrastructure is at increased risk. Disabling critical services, not even necessarily destroying them, is a powerful lever.

If organizations are to secure their IoT and OT systems, there are a number of recommendations that should be put in place:

Identify your vulnerabilities: Its important to map out business-critical assets in IT and OT environments so that you can fully understand your landscape and its innate weaknesses.

Its important to map out business-critical assets in IT and OT environments so that you can fully understand your landscape and its innate weaknesses. Evaluate device visibility: Next, you should identify what IoT and OT devices are critical assets by themselves and which are associated with other critical assets.

Next, you should identify what IoT and OT devices are critical assets by themselves and which are associated with other critical assets. Perform a risk analysis on critical assets: Focus on the business impact of different attack scenarios as suggested by MITRE. This publicly-available knowledge base outlines common tactics, techniques, and procedures deployed by cyber criminals, and offers specific guidance for a variety of control systems.

Focus on the business impact of different attack scenarios as suggested by MITRE. This publicly-available knowledge base outlines common tactics, techniques, and procedures deployed by cyber criminals, and offers specific guidance for a variety of control systems. Define a strategy: Finally, define your protection strategy by addressing the risks that you previously identified. Rank risk by business impact priority.

Looking for more tips on how to secure your IoT and OT systems? Explore the full breadth of our cybersecurity research and recommendations with Microsofts Security Insider.
The French government has banned TikTok and all other recreational apps from phones issued to its employees. The Minister of Transformation and the Public Service Stanislas Guerini, said in a statement that recreational applications do not have sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection to be deployed on government equipment. This prohibition applies immediately and uniformly, although exemptions may be granted on an exceptional basis for professional needs such as the institutional communication of an administration, the statement read.

The move follows the banning of TikTok on government/senior official devices in the US, UK, and other countries on the grounds that user data from the app (owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance) could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, posing national security risks. Frances banning of all social media apps goes further than other countries, whose bans currently forbid TikTok specifically.

France joins international partners by banning TikTok on data security grounds

For several weeks, several of our European and international partners have adopted measures restricting or prohibiting the downloading and installation of the TikTok application by their administrations, Guerini said. After an analysis of the issues, in particular security, the government has decided to ban the downloading and installation of recreational applications on professional telephones provided to public officials. These applications can therefore constitute a risk to the protection of the data of these administrations and their public officials, Guerini claimed.

The Interministerial Digital Department (DINUM) will ensure the implementation of this instruction, in close collaboration with the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI).

TikTok bans continue across the globe, CEO says app poses no national security risk

In the last two weeks, TikTok has been banned from both UK government and parliament devices/networks, with US federal and state government TikTok bans having been in place for several weeks. Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has disputed that the app is an agent of China and argued that TikTok poses no risk to national security in a US Congress hearing. Over multiple days, Chew was pressed by deputies on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on various topics such as TikToks content moderation practices and the companys spying on journalists.

Chew argued that TikTok parent company ByteDance prioritizes the safety of its young users, highlighting the firms intention to protect US user data by storing information on servers maintained and owned by server giant Oracle. Several committee members reportedly found some of Chews answers evasive.
In a significant signal to spyware vendors, the Biden administration issued an executive order (EO) prohibiting federal government agencies from using commercial spyware "that poses significant counterintelligence or security risks to the United States Government." The spyware covered by the EO is predominately malware designed to track and collect data from mobile phones that can be easily installed by one or several clicks on specially crafted links.

At least 50 US government officials are suspected or confirmed to have been targeted by invasive commercial spyware designed to hack mobile phones, administration sources told reporters without specifying who had been targeted or where. "The proliferation of commercial spyware poses distinct and growing counterintelligence and security risks to the United States, including to the safety and security of US Government personnel and their families," the White House said in a fact sheet. "US Government personnel overseas have been targeted by commercial spyware, and untrustworthy commercial vendors and tools can present significant risks to the security and integrity of US Government information and information systems."

Perhaps more importantly, spyware made by a host of companies, primarily Israeli companies or those owned by former Israeli operatives including the well-known NSO group, has been used by several foreign governments to target political adversaries, human rights activists, and journalists to quell political opposition. For example, the journalism non-profit Forbidden Stories coordinated a months-long investigation called the Pegasus Project, named after NSO's infamous mobile spyware called Pegasus. It revealed 50,000 potential victims of the spyware, encompassing journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, politicians, academics, businesspeople, and even members of royal families and heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

"A growing number of foreign governments around the world, moreover, have deployed this technology to facilitate repression and enable human rights abuses, including to intimidate political opponents and curb dissent, limit freedom of expression, and monitor and target activists and journalists," according to the White House fact sheet. "Misuse of these powerful surveillance tools has not been limited to authoritarian regimes. Democratic governments also have confronted revelations that actors within their systems have used commercial spyware to target their citizens without proper legal authorization, safeguards, and oversight."

Spyware executive order not a blanket prohibition

Although the EO bans federal departments and agencies from using commercial spyware tools, the spyware must meet a series of factors that indicate it poses "significant counterintelligence or security risks to the United States." Among the factors spelled out in the EO to qualify for the ban include whether it has been used "to gain or attempt to gain access to United States Government computers or the computers of United States Government personnel without authorization" or has been improperly used by a foreign government.

Another factor that feeds into the ban is whether an entity that provides commercial spyware to governments has a track record of "systematic acts of political repression" consistent with any findings by the Department of State.

In addition, the government may issue an agency a waiver not to exceed one year "if such waiver is necessary due to extraordinary circumstances and that no feasible alternative is available to address such circumstances." The waivers require very high-level government officials to conduct due diligence according to the factors spelled out in the EO and report their reasons for the waivers directly to the President via the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA).

The order will also allow agencies to acquire commercial spyware technology for the "purposes of testing, research, analysis, cybersecurity, or the development of countermeasures for counterintelligence or security risks or for purposes of a criminal investigation arising out of the criminal sale or use of the spyware."

Finally, the order applies to only commercial spyware from foreign entities, not spyware developed domestically. It is unclear to what extent US intelligence and law enforcement agencies such as the NSA, CIA, or FBI have created versions of comparable mobile spyware.

Spyware executive order impact unclear

It is also unclear how many US government agencies already use spyware banned by the EO. FBI Director Chris Wray testified that his agency bought a license for NSO's Pegasus spyware but only for research and development. However, a New York Times investigation revealed that FBI officials pushed to deploy the hacking tools in late 2020 and the first half of 2021.

In 2018, the CIA arranged and paid for the government of Djibouti to acquire Pegasus to assist the American ally in combating terrorism. Finally, the DEA deployed a spyware tool called Graphite made by the Israeli firm Paragon.

In addition, the EO does not extend to state and local law enforcement. In the past, a firm called Westbridge Technologies, billing itself as the "North American branch" of NSO, pitched NSO's Pegasus spyware to local police agencies, including the San Diego police department.

Decreasing the market for spyware

The spyware EO has received a welcomed response from human rights activists and lawmakers. John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, said the US is a desired market for spyware makers, and the Biden administration is setting a "global standard" with this latest action. Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the new order should be followed by other democracies taking a step against spyware.

Betsy Cooper, director of the Aspen Institute's Tech Policy Hub, tells CSO, "It is nice to see the US government putting its foot down. The US is leading by example. I think the bigger signaling is to the companies themselves that the US government may not be the easy end game that you might be hoping they were to sell your product at scale," she adds. "So, to me, the bigger message here is to the companies themselves, not necessarily to allies that might agree with us. And if the US can lead by example in saying we're not going to purchase the stuff in the vast majority of cases, then hopefully the market for that sort of thing will decrease over time."
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BERLIN (AP)  Two horses fit for a queen, please.

That's what Britain's Queen Elizabeth II had asked for as a gift during her state visit to Germany in 1978, weekly Der Spiegel reported Monday.

The expensive present raised eyebrows among German bureaucrats at the time, who noted that the Holsteiner and the gray Elizabeth requested cost more than any other offering made to a visiting head of state since the end of World War II.

Nevertheless, Germany's then-President Walter Scheel approved the gift in the interests of good bilateral relations, Der Spiegel reported citing previously confidential archive papers.

The magazine reported that the papers also noted the late monarch's aperitif preferences  gin and tonic  and dislike of helicopters.

Records showed that the British embassy had concerns about possible protests if Elizabeth visited Dresden during her trip in 1992. In the end she did attend a church service and was largely welcomed by locals in the city that was flattened by Allied bombing raids during the war, Der Spiegel reported.

Another sensitive issue during the trip was the question of whether Elizabeth would make a speech at the Bundestag. Der Spiegel reported that it was then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl who raised objections, possibly because of his lingering anger at Britain's efforts to block German reunification a few years earlier.

In total, Elizabeth made five state visits to Germany, most recently in 2015, though only files older than 30 years were released.

The report comes days before Elizabeth's son, King Charles III, makes his first state visit to Germany. The monarch was originally meant to visit France first, but plans for that trip were postponed due to anti-government protests in the country.

Charles' three-day visit to Germany from Wednesday to Friday will include stops in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg as part of a diplomatic outreach effort before his coronation on May 6. Unlike his mother, Charles will be permitted to speak before the Bundestag on Thursday.

Britain's royal family has ancestral ties to Germany. Before changing its name to Windsor due to concerns about anti-German sentiment during World War I the family bore the name Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, indicating its German heritage.
The Connecticut Medical Examining Board agreed Tuesday to fine three physicians, including a Hamden orthopedist who operated on the wrong hip of a patient and an Enfield doctor who failed to diagnose cancer in a patient who later died.

Derek Shia, working at The Orthopaedic Group in Hamden, was fined $25,000 by the board after a report from the facility to the state Department of Public Health indicated he had erroneously began operating on a patient's right hip in August 2019 when he was supposed to operate on the person's left hip, which had been fractured, according to agency documents.

Shia had made an incision on the patient's right hip and was proceeding with the operation when it was realized there was no sign of a fracture and he had cut open the wrong hip, DPH documents showed.

Shia admitted through his attorney that the allegations were a correct version of the events, but did not admit to any wrongdoing, the documents said. His Connecticut license to practice medicine was reprimanded and he was required to pay the fine, according to a consent order.

Noah Starkey was fined $5,000 and required to do coursework in medical documentation and how to treat certain conditions after the DPH received a complaint that he failed to treat a patient for blood cancer and other ailments who later died.

Starkey, with Starling Physicians in Enfield, had been the patient's doctor from 2010 to 2017, documents showed. During that period, Starkey failed to adequately document the patient's urine toxicology screens and failed to diagnose a form of blood cancer in the patient, DPH documents said. Starkey also failed to document his attempts to diagnose the patient, the documents said.

As part of a consent order, Starkey's license to practice medicine was put on probation for one year and he was required to complete courses in the treatment of blood cancer. He was also required to pay the $5,000 fine.

Two members of the board  Michele Jacklin and Robert A. Green  opposed the consent order, which included the fine and other requirements. Jacklin was concerned about the consistency of the board's fines and said the $5,000 fine for the patient's death was "hugely insufficient" compared to Shia's $25,000 fine for operating on the wrong hip. She acknowledged that though it's not a matter of money, and remedying the situation is more important, "penalties send a message."

Green agreed with Jacklin, saying the board didn't have enough information about the case and was worried they were "just rubber stamping these really significant cases."

"We're here to do the right thing for the public and we need to be able to send a message that doctors have to be diligent in what they do," Green said. "We can't just accept this."

A Virginia physician with medical licenses in several states, including Connecticut, was also issued a fine and probation by the board after he was convicted of one count of federal mail fraud and failed to adequately document discipline he received from other states related to the charge, documents showed.

The board suspended the Connecticut medical license of Farhaad Riyaz in August 2022 after he attempted to renew his license without adequately explaining that he had received discipline or suspensions from several other states related to the conviction and a mental health issue, documents said.

Rather than pursue a permanent suspension of his Connecticut license, the DPH recommended Tuesday that the board issue a $3,000 fine, place him on probation for two years during which he is to attend mental health treatment with his therapist providing regular reports on his progress, agency documents said.

Several states, including Massachusetts and New York, have prohibited Riyaz from practicing as part of their discipline related to the federal conviction, according to a consent order. It is unclear if Riyaz has ever practiced in Connecticut.
WEST HARTFORD  The lawyer for a local man who police say killed his infant daughter by "whipping" her around described his client as a loving father and said the incident was "nothing more than an accident."

Grant McAuslan, 35, was arrested in December 2021 and charged with first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges. Free on a $750,000 bond, McAuslan is to appear in state Superior Court in Hartford on April 24.

Attorney Peter Soulsby said he is in the middle of "a very slow rolling discovery process," including expert reviews of autopsy results, and is about six months away from being ready if the case goes to trial. A representative of the Hartford state's attorney's office could not be reached for comment.

West Hartford police said they were called to the McAuslan home on Westmoreland Drive on Dec. 3 at 11:21 p.m. for a report that an infant had been dropped on her head. Officers said they saw what appeared to be a large hematoma and significant swelling on the back right side of the baby's head, according to the arrest warrant.

McAuslan, who had been sleeping alongside his 2-year-old daughter in her bedroom, told police his wife woke him up to help feed the infant, the warrant stated. McAuslans wife said he appeared irritated about being awakened, but he started to warm up a bottle to feed the baby, police have said. While she was downstairs, his wife said she heard a loud bang followed by her husband yelling an expletive, according to the warrant.

When she went upstairs, she told police, McAuslan initially denied dropping the baby, but changed his story one second later, saying he accidentally dropped the infant, the warrant stated. Police said they asked McAuslans wife if she believed he intentionally hurt the baby, and she replied, definitely not, the warrant stated. His wife also told police there was no history of McAuslan being physical with her or their children, the warrant stated.

After initially saying the child accidentally slipped out of his arms, police said McAuslan admitted to investigators that there was more to the story and he wanted to come clean, the warrant stated. McAuslan told police he grabbed the baby with more force than he originally told them, essentially whipping her around, causing the baby to fall to the hardwood floor in a faster and more aggressive manner than he initially indicated, police said. He maintained that he did not intentionally harm the baby, the warrant stated.

At Connecticut Childrens Medical Center, Dr. Amanda Guzikowski found the infant suffered extensive head trauma and it was highly unlikely to have been caused by falling approximately 4 feet, the warrant stated. Dr. Nina Livingston, division head of the hospital's Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Program, told police and a social worker from the state Department of Children and Families that the injuries were not consistent with a drop of the height being reported and the most likely diagnosis was abusive head trauma, the warrant stated.

Livingston showed police a post mortem skeletal survey of the infant, which showed skull fractures, hemorrhaging and evidence of a brain injury and swelling, the warrant stated. An arrest warrant was issued for McAuslan and police took him into custody on Dec. 5.

He is charged under a section of the first-degree manslaughter statute that says a person is guilty of the crime if "under circumstances evincing an extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct, which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causes the death of another person."

Asked about police saying in the warrant that his client wanted to "come clean" about the baby's injuries, Soulsby said McAuslan, a native of Scotland, did not use that phrase. While he was in agony about the death of his child, Soulsby said a DCF official told McAuslan that since his story did not match what the medical professionals were saying, the agency could take custody of his older child, so his client made the comments about forcefully "whipping" the child around under duress.

DCF spokesperson Ken Mysogland said last week the agency had no contact with the family before the infant's death. Due to state and federal confidentiality laws, Mysogland said he could not comment on whether McAuslan now has custody or contact with his other child, but he added, "In any interaction we have with children and families, the first thing we look at is whether children can safely reside with families in that household."

Regarding Soulsby's comments about a DCF worker pressuring McAuslan to admit he harmed his infant daughter, Mysogland said the department "collaborates with medical professionals and law enforcement on matters pertaining to serious or fatal injuries in children to determine the cause and whether the injury is at variance or consistent with the history given. This includes use of contracted child abuse specialist pediatricians across the state used as consultants for these complex matters."
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PARIS (AP)  A big day has come for French high school student Elisa Fares. At age 17, she is taking part in her first protest.

In a country that taught the world about people power with its revolution of 1789  and a country again seething with anger against its leaders  graduating from bystander to demonstrator is a generations-old rite of passage. Fares looks both excited and nervous as she prepares to march down Paris streets where people for centuries have similarly defied authority and declared: Non!

Two friends, neither older than 18 but already protest veterans whose parents took them to demonstrations when they were little, are showing Fares the ropes. Theyve readied eyedrops and gas masks in case police fire tear gas  as they have done repeatedly in recent weeks.

The French are known for fighting and we'll fight," says one of the friends, Coline Marionneau, also 17. My mother goes to a lot of demonstrations ... She says if you have things to say, you should protest.

For French President Emmanuel Macron, the look of determination on their young faces only heralds deepening crisis. His government has ignited a firestorm of anger with unpopular pension reforms that he railroaded through parliament and which, most notably, push the legal retirement age from 62 to 64.

Furious not just with the prospect of working for longer but also with the way Macron imposed it, his opponents have switched to full-on disobedience mode. They're regularly striking and demonstrating and threatening to make his second and final term as president even more difficult than his first. It, too, was rocked by months of protests  often violent  by so-called yellow vest campaigners against social injustice.

Fares, the first-time protester, said her mother had been against her taking to the streets but has now given her blessing.

She said that if I wanted to fight, she wouldnt stop me, the teen says.

Critics accuse Macron of effectively ruling by decree, likening him to Frances kings of old. Their reign finished badly: In the French Revolution, King Louis XVI ended up on the guillotine. Theres no danger of that happening to Macron. But hobbled in parliament and contested on the streets piled high with reeking garbage uncollected by striking workers, hes being given a tough lesson, again, about French people power. Freshly scrawled slogans in Paris reference 1789.

So drastically has Macron lost the initiative that he was forced to indefinitely postpone a planned state visit this week by King Charles III. Germany, not France, will now get the honor of being the first overseas ally to host Charles as monarch.

The France leg of Charles' tour would have coincided with a new round of strikes and demonstrations planned for Tuesday that are again likely to mobilize many hundreds of thousands of protesters. Macron said the royal visit likely would have become their target, which risked creating a detestable situation.

Encouraged by that victory, the protest movement is plowing on and picking up new recruits, including some so young that it will be many decades before they'll be directly impacted by the pushed-back retirement age. Their involvement is a worrisome development for Macron, because it suggests that protests are evolving, broadening from workplace and retirement concerns to a more generalized malaise with the president and his governance.

Violence is picking up, too. Police and environmental activists fought pitched battles over the weekend in rural western France, resulting in dozens of injuries. Officers fired more than 4,000 nonlethal dispersion grenades in fending off hundreds of protesters who rained down rocks, powerful fireworks and gasoline bombs on police lines.

Anger and resentment, says former President Francois Hollande, Macron's predecessor, are at a level that I have rarely seen.

For Fares, whose first demonstration was a peaceful protest in Paris this weekend, the final straw was Macrons decision to not let legislators vote on his retirement reform, because he wasnt sure of winning a majority for it. Instead, he ordered his prime minister to skirt parliament by using a special constitutional power to ram the bill through.

It was the 11th time that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had to resort to the so-called Article 49.3 power in just 10 months  a telling sign of Macrons fragility since he lost his parliamentary majority in an election last June.

Its an attack on democracy, Fares said. It annoyed me too much.

Her friend Luna Dessommes, 18, added hopefully: We have to use the movement to politicize more and more young people.

At age 76, veteran protester Gilbert Leblanc has been through it all before. He was a yellow vest; by his count, he took part in more than 220 of their protests in Macron's first term, rallying to the cry that the former banker was too pro-business and "the president of the rich."

Long before that, Leblanc cut his teeth in seminal civil unrest that reshaped France in May 1968. He says that when he tells awe-struck young protesters that he was a soixante-huitard  a '68 veteran  they want to take selfies with me.

This winter, he has kept his heating off, instead saving the money for train fares to the capital, so he can protest every weekend, he said.

My grandfather who fought in World War I, got the war medal. He would rise from his grave if he saw me sitting at home, in my sofa, not doing anything, Leblanc said.

Everything we've obtained has been with our tears and blood.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  Malaysia and Cambodia signed two agreements on Monday on the employment of Cambodian migrant workers, as Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made his first visit to Phnom Penh since becoming his countrys leader in November.

Anwar was accompanied by his ministers of foreign affairs, religious affairs and human resources, Malaysias foreign ministry said ahead of his one-day trip.
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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  Erik Paul didn't mind answering government questions about where his software development business was located or how many employees it had. But when queries from the U.S. Census Bureau broached the company's finances, the chief operating officer hesitated.

"When you start asking financial questions, I get a little squirrelly," said Paul, of Orlando, Florida, who recently responded online to the 2022 Economic Census.

It's a problem the Census Bureau and other federal agencies are facing as privacy concerns rise and online scams proliferate, lowering survey response rates in the past decade. The pandemic exacerbated the problem by disrupting in-person follow-up visits.

Low response rates introduce bias because wealthier and more educated households are more likely to answer surveys, which impacts the accuracy of data that demographers, planners, businesses and government leaders rely on to allocate resources.

Survey skepticism has grown so much that the Federal Trade Commission this month put out a consumer alert reassuring the public that the American Community Survey, one of the Census Bureau's most vital tools, is legitimate.

The ACS is the bureau's largest survey and asks about more than 40 topics ranging from income, internet access, rent, disabilities and language spoken at home. Along with the census, it helps determine how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is distributed each year, where schools are built and the location of new housing developments, among other things.

Though it's considered the backbone of data about the U.S., the survey's response rate fell to 85.3% in 2021 from 97.6% in 2011, while other federal questionnaires have fared even worse.

Wariness is understandable, the FTC alert said, but the information being sought serves a vital public purpose.

The ACS is a legitimate survey to collect information used to make decisions about how federal funding is spent in your community, the FTC said in the alert posted on its website.

Skepticism can be hard to dispel. It persists even among those charged with protecting the public against identity theft and helping them with online security.

In the comments section of the Federal Trade Commission's website, Cherie Aschenbrenner responded to the consumer alert by writing: There is NO WAY in anyones right mind should they answer these invasive questions. 20 pages of them! NO WAY!!!!

Aschenbrenner is an elderly services officer with the police department in Elgin, Illinois. Part of her responsibilities include warning the elderly about potential scams.

In an email, she said her comment was a personal opinion and that she didn't want to elaborate.

"Probably not in my best interest, professionally, she said.

Declining response rates can be blamed on survey fatigue consumers suffer from things like answering questions when they purchase products, as well as privacy concerns and the amount of time it takes to answer queries. Surveys also reach fewer people because of spam filters, caller ID and doorbell cameras, said Douglas Williams, a senior research survey methodologist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What is most unique about the past decade, aside from COVID, is the magnitude of the decline, Williams said. It is difficult to pinpoint any one reason or cause, but technology is a likely candidate.

Federal statistical agencies have tried sending advanced and follow-up notices, making follow-up calls and visiting households that don't respond. They're also allowing respondents to answer via different modes, such as internet, mail or phone. Some have even offered money to get answers about how much people earn.

Officials are also looking for alternative data sources, such as administrative records collected by government agencies like the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. They also are looking to capture and aggregate real-time financial transactions, such as soda purchases at a grocery store. The details are still being worked out on that, but they will include privacy protections preventing any particular purchase from being attached to an individual consumer.

The Census Bureau, which conducts more than 130 surveys and related programs each year, already is taking steps toward using more administrative records. This month the bureau proposed using existing records on property acreage instead of asking about it on the American Community Survey. It's also examining how to leverage other sources for information about housing.

The bureau's surveys cover all kinds of topics, including retail expenses, housing costs, school system finances and how people use their time.

Relying more on administrative records can free up resources so more effort can be spent on trying to reach hard-to-count populations, such as immigrants, rural area residents and people of color, Census Bureau Director Robert Santos said.

Such populations can be difficult to count because of language barriers, lack of internet access, distrust in government or because individuals are just plain hard to locate. But people face losing out on resources if they're not tallied or interviewed.

The 2020 census was the first time in the nation's once-a-decade head count that administrative records were used to fill in gaps about households with missing information. A post-count evaluation that surveyed a portion of the population and compared those results with the census figures showed information from the Social Security Administration and the IRS was more accurate than interviewing neighbors or landlords, the traditional method employed when a household doesn't respond.

Why cant we more quickly rely on administrative records that have actually been shown to be able to count a large proportion of our population? Santos asked. That saves money.

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Associated Press writer Jim Anderson in Denver contributed to this report.

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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP
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LONDON (AP)  Scotlands governing party elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader on Monday, making him the first person of color and the first Muslim to lead the country of 5.5 million people.

Yousaf narrowly defeated rival Kate Forbes after a bruising five-week contest that exposed deep fractures within the pro-independence Scottish National Party as it faces an impasse in its quest to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom.

The 37-year-old Glasgow-born son of South Asian immigrants is set to be confirmed as first minister during a session of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Yousaf, who currently is Scotlands health minister, beat two other Scottish lawmakers in a contest to replace First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. She unexpectedly stepped down last month after eight years as leader of the party and of Scotlands semi-autonomous government.

SNP members chose Yousaf over Scottish finance minister Forbes by a margin of 52% to 48%, after third-placed candidate Ash Regan was eliminated in a first vote. Turnout among the 72,000 members was 70%.

Yousaf faces the challenge of uniting the SNP and reenergizing the stalled independence campaign.

Just as I will lead the SNP in the interests of all party members, not just those who voted for me, so I will lead Scotland in the interests of all our citizens whatever your political allegiance," he said in an acceptance speech at Edinburgh's Murrayfield rugby stadium.

Yousaf paid tribute to his late grandparents, who emigrated from the Punjab to Glasgow more than 60 years ago.

They couldnt have imagined, in their wildest dreams, that two generations later their grandson would one day be Scotlands first minister, he said. We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message: that your color of skin, your faith, is not a barrier to leading the country we all call home.

Yousaf is widely seen as a continuity Sturgeon candidate who shares the outgoing leaders liberal social views.

A formidable leader who led the SNP to a dominant position in Scottish politics, Sturgeon failed in her aim of taking Scotland out of the U.K. and divided the party with a contentious transgender rights law.

The three candidates to succeed her shared the goal of independence, but differed in their economic and social visions for Scotland.

Forbes, 32, is an evangelical Christian who has been criticized for saying that her faith would have prevented her from voting in favor of allowing same-sex couples to wed, had she been a lawmaker when Scotland legalized gay marriage in 2014.

Both Forbes and 49-year-old Regan opposed legislation championed by Sturgeon to make it easier for people in Scotland to legally change their gender.

The gender recognition bill has been hailed as a landmark piece of legislation by transgender rights activists, but faced opposition from some SNP members who said it ignored the need to protect single-sex spaces for women, such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers.

Yousaf has promised to push forward with the bill, which has been passed by the Scottish parliament but blocked by the U.K. government.

The SNP holds 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish parliament and governs in coalition with the much smaller Greens. The smaller party had warned it might quit the coalition if the SNP elected a leader that doesnt share its progressive views  meaning a victory by Forbes or Regan could have splintered the government.

That split has been avoided, but the pro-independence campaign remains adrift. Scottish voters backed remaining in the U.K. in a 2014 referendum that was billed as a once-in-a-generation decision. The SNP wants a new vote, but the central government in London has refused to authorize one, and the U.K. Supreme Court has ruled that Scotland cant hold one without Londons consent.

Yousaf said he would ask the Conservative government in London for authorization to hold a new referendum. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office said the answer remained no.

Yousaf has also said he wants to build a settled, sustained majority for independence. Polls currently suggest Scottish voters are split about evenly on the issue.

To those in Scotland who dont yet share the passion I do for independence, I will aim to earn your trust by continuing to govern well, Yousaf said.

The acrimonious SNP leadership contest has sent the SNPs poll ratings plunging  to the delight of the Labour Party and the Conservatives, which hope to gain seats in Scotland during the next U.K.-wide election, likely next year.

Critics say Yousaf, who served in several posts in Sturgeons government, bears some responsibility for Scotlands long health care waiting times, homelessness problem and high drug death toll.

Independent pollster Mark Diffley said that while the SNP members who elected Yousaf are passionately concerned about independence, the new leader will now have to pivot really quite sharply towards what public priorities are, which is not the same."

Its more about supporting people through the cost of living crisis, getting economic growth, improving public services, Diffley said. "Thats where reality will bite, I think, pretty soon.
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JERUSALEM (AP)  Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted "to avoid civil war by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.

In his prime-time address, Netanyahu, who had previously rejected calls to delay the legislation, took a more conciliatory tone than in recent speeches. He acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said he was hitting the pause button to prevent a rift in the nation.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, he said. He vowed to reach a broad consensus during the summer session of parliament, which begins on April 30.

He spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the countrys largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan.

Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies presented the overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israels history.

The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy. Fighter pilots and military reservists have threatened not to report for duty, and the countrys currency, the shekel, has tumbled in value.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nations judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the courts ability to review laws.

Netanyahu has argued that the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges. But his opponents say the package would damage the countrys system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahus allies. They also say that he has a conflict of interest as a criminal defendant.

Tens of thousands of people, largely secular, middle-class Israelis, have regularly joined mass protests against the plan.

Those demonstrations ramped up Sunday night after Netanyahu abruptly fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had urged the prime minister to put his plan on hold, citing concerns about damage to the Israeli military.

The firing sparked a spontaneous outburst of anger, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in just one hour.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Demonstrators continued Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. Im here for the fight to the end.

Israels main trade union, the histadrut, declared a general strike in what it said was the first time it has carried out such an action over a political issue.

The chaos shut down much of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. Departing flights from the main international airport were grounded, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.

Large mall chains and universities closed their doors, and the union called for its 800,000 members to stop work in health care, transit, banking and other fields.

Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions, and local governments were expected to close preschools and cut other services. The main doctors union announced that its members would also strike.

In a sign of easing tensions, the union said late Monday that it was halting the strike in response to Netanyahus delay.

The announcement appeared to buy the embattled Netanyahu several weeks of quiet. But it was far from clear whether the disputes could be resolved.

The countrys figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, said pausing the legislative blitz was the right thing.

This is the time for frank, serious and responsible discussion that will lead urgently to calming spirits and lowering the flames, he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he was willing to hold a genuine dialogue under Herzogs sponsorship.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist who has pushed for quick passage of the package, said he would respect the delay but showed few signs of compromise.

The reform will pass, he tweeted. No one will scare us.

The first of a series of laws  giving the coalition control over judicial appointments  had been scheduled to pass this week.

Before Netanyahus speech, some 20,000 right-wing Israelis attended a counter demonstration in support of the prime minister. That demonstration also took place near parliament and passed without violence.

They wont steal the election from us, read a flyer for event, organized by Religious Zionist party. Netanyahu said he was moved by the show of support.

Shikma Bressler, one of the leaders of the anti-government protest movement, said the campaign would continue until the legislation is canceled.

This is just an attempt to weaken the protests in order to enact Netanyahus dictatorship, she said. Now is not the time to reduce the pressure, but to increase it.

Dozens of protesters from rival sides faced off late Monday in central Tel Aviv. The sides, kept apart by police, exchanged insults, but there was no violence. Police used a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters.

Israels Palestinian citizens have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The Biden administration, which has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government, welcomed the announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

___

Associated Press reporters Tia Goldenberg and Paz Bar in Tel Aviv and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Suburban Republicans on last week continued their opposition to housing legislation, but were out-voted by majority Democrats in a key legislative committee.

The GOP members of the legislative Planning and Development Committee first rejected Gov. Ned Lamont's proposed incentives to support affordable housing units Friday, then voted against the panel's legislation aimed at rewarding towns and cities that support transit-oriented development. But with a 13-8 Democratic majority on the panel, the bills head next to the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.

Opposition to the bills, during a three-hour-long meeting that ended the committee's bill-writing for the session, was led by Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich and Rep. Joe Zullo of East Haven, the top Republicans on the panel, along with Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield.

"We all agree that improving the stock of affordable housing in the state is an important goal," Fazio said of Lamont's proposal, aimed at increasing units for a state workforce where there are about 100,000 job openings. "At the same time I do have significant concerns about this proposal as well." He said as written, the bill would be "too-onerous" on towns and create more work for over-burdened local zoning boards of appeals.

Republicans also criticized the proposed growing role of the state Municipal Redevelopment Authority (MRDA), a quasi-public agency created in 2019 with a million-dollar budget and bonding authority to support affordable housing within a half mile of downtown transit hubs.

"We want to be looking at high-opportunity areas where we can create the best housing, frankly, and make it accessible," said Zullo, the town attorney for East Haven.

"I applaud the governor's engagements and thoughts in regard to housing accessibility and growth in the state of Connecticut," Hwang said. "I think both Republicans and Democrats share the governor's prioritization in that and understand there is a critical need." He said the redevelopment authority has had delays in getting members for its board. "It has not truly demonstrated any initiative. For us to empower this quasi-public entity with what we are proposing in this bill is possibly putting the cart before the horse."

Hwang said another problem he has with the proposal includes requirements that could allow builders to possibly skirt local requirements. "What we will see as a common theme throughout many of these housing and zoning initiative bills, truly is the state exerting its will and saying to the local municipality leaders that 'We know better than you, and because you have not done certain things, we're going to do it for you,'" Hwang said.

"That to me is over-reaching and a one-size-fits-all policy that does not ever work," Hwang continued. "In order for us to have successful, sustainable and implementable programs that'll benefit all parties involved, it needs to be collaborative. It needs to be built on trust in which local, federal and state officials all work together."

There are several other pieces of legislation on the issue of affordable housing that are currently pending in the legislature.

Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, co-chairman of the committee, admitted that the bill will be subject to further revisions as the legislature heads to its midnight June 7 deadline. "I echo the sentiments that we are all happy to see the governor putting in a bill to try to move us along, to try to get us to a situation where we have more housing, more affordable housing," she said. "It's more than critical to our work force. It's critical to everyone. I hope we're thinking about everyone, because that's what we need to be doing."

"This was not a balanced scale," Rep. Tom Delnicki, R-South Windsor, said the proposal would bypass local officials. "It was a function of putting a thumb on a scale and actually taking away municipal rights. I see a concept of a stick with no carrot."

Later in the meeting, before Democrats approved their transit-oriented development bill, which would set up a state Office of Responsible Growth to assist communities, Kavros DeGraw said that housing availability and affordability become measures of public health in the cases of older housing complexes "whether it's affordable or not." She recalled similar arguments in 2021, when arguments flared in the General Assembly over race and local control.

"I don't see this issue as an issue that needs to be divisive," Kavros DeGraw said. "My hope is that as we acknowledge the work that many towns have done toward this issue, we are also trying to set the towns up who maybe have not been able to for many of the reasons that have been elucidated today, including small staffs. That Office of Responsible Growth could be that assist, frankly. We are closer than we think in many ways.We know we need affordable housing for literally everyone. We cannot do nothing."

State Rep. Tami Zawistowski, R-East Granby, was critical of the proposed expanded role of the redevelopment authority. "The way it was written originally is that it was voluntary and it would cover towns of 70,000 persons or more or two or more municipalities of 70,000 or more as a group," she said, suggesting that the pandemic hindered the start-up of the redevelopment authority. The governor's proposal would open up membership in the authority to any town or city, regardless of size.

"Expanding the authority of MRDA, I think at this point without a track record is somewhat reckless," said Zawistowski, who is in her fifth term. "Not every town is suited to the type of development that is suggested in here. For example, some of these adjacent towns may be on well and septic, can't make the density requirements."

Last month, Lamont proposed a two-year $50.5 billion budget including including $200 million in incentives for developers to construct housing for the new workers needed to fill jobs.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus appears to be another attempt to raise the stakes in the conflict in Ukraine.

It follows Putin's warnings that Moscow is ready to use all available means to fend off attacks on Russian territory, a reference to its nuclear arsenal.

A look at Putins statement and its implications:

HOW DID PUTIN EXPLAIN HIS MOVE?

Putin said that President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has long urged Moscow to station its nuclear weapons in his country, which has close military ties with Russia and was a staging ground for the invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia already has helped modernize Belarusian warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons  something that Belarus' authoritarian leader has repeatedly mentioned.

In remarks broadcast Saturday, Putin said the immediate trigger for the deployment of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was the U.K. government's decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium. Putin toned down his language after first falsely claiming that such rounds have nuclear components, but he insisted they pose an additional danger to the civilian population and could contaminate the environment.

Putin also said that by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia will be doing what the United States has done for decades by putting its nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. He alleged the Russian move doesnt violate an international treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons, even though Moscow has argued before that Washington has breached the pact by deploying them on the territory of its NATO allies.

Putins move contrasted with a statement that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued after their talks in the Kremlin last week, which spoke against nuclear powers deploying atomic weapons outside their territories, in an apparent jab at the U.S.

WHAT ARE TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and a much lower yield than nuclear warheads fitted to long-range strategic missiles that are capable of obliterating whole cities.

Unlike strategic weapons, which have been subject to arms control agreements between Moscow and Washington, tactical weapons never have been limited by any such pacts, and Russia hasnt released their numbers or any other specifics related to them.

The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.

While strategic nuclear weapons are fitted to land- or submarine-based intercontinental ballistic missiles that are constantly ready for launch, tactical nuclear weapons are stored at a few tightly guarded storage facilities in Russia, and it takes time to deliver them to combat units.

Some Russian hawks long have urged the Kremlin to send a warning to the West by moving some tactical nuclear weapons closer to the aircraft and missiles intended to deliver them.

WHAT EXACTLY WILL RUSSIA DO?

Putin said that Russia already has helped upgrade 10 Belarusian aircraft to allow them to carry nuclear weapons and their crews will start training to use them from April 3. He noted Russia also has given Belarus the Iskander short-range missile systems that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads.

He said the construction of storage facilities for nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1. He didnt say how many nuclear weapons will be stationed there or when they will be deployed.

Putin emphasized that Russia will retain control over any nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, just like the U.S. controls its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its NATO allies.

If Moscow sends nuclear weapons to Belarus, it will mark their first deployment outside Russian borders since the early 1990s. Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan inherited massive nuclear arsenals after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but agreed to ship them to Russia in the following years.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES BEHIND PUTINS MOVE?

With his latest statement, Putin again is dangling the nuclear threat to signal Moscows readiness to escalate the war in Ukraine.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It would also extend Russias capability to target several NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe.

The move comes as Kyiv is poised for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory occupied by Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russias Security Council, warned last week that attempts by Ukraine to reclaim control over the Crimean Peninsula was a threat to the very existence of the Russian state, something that warrants a nuclear response under the countrys security doctrine. Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Every day of supplying Western weapons to Ukraine makes the nuclear apocalypse closer, Medvedev said.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said that Putin's goal is to discourage Ukraines Western allies from providing Kyiv with more weapons before any counteroffensive.

Putin is "using nuclear blackmail in a bid to influence the situation on the battlefield and force Western partners to reduce supplies of weapons and equipment under the threat of nuclear escalation, Zhdanov said. The Belarusian nuclear balcony will be looming over not only Ukraine, but Europe as well, creating a constant threat, raising tensions and rattling the nerves of Ukrainians and their Western partners.

WHAT ARE UKRAINE AND THE WEST SAYING?

Ukraine has responded to Putins move by calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. A U.N. spokesman referred questions on the issue to the Security Council, which had announced no meeting on it by Monday afternoon.

The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that U.S. officials havent seen any movement of any tactical nuclear weapons or anything of that kind since Putin's announcement on Belarus. He has said Washington has seen nothing to prompt a change in its strategic deterrent posture.

NATO rejects Putins claim that Russia only is doing what the U.S. has done for decades, saying that Western allies act with full respect for their international commitments.

Russias nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said, adding that the alliance hasnt yet seen any change in Russias nuclear posture.

Lithuania, which borders Belarus, described Putins statement as yet another attempt by two unpredictable dictatorial regimes to threaten their neighbors and the entire European continent, calling them desperate moves by Putin and Lukashenko to create another wave of tension and destabilization in Europe.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, visiting Romania, said at a news conference Tuesday that Moscow's decision to deploy the weapons "will certainly lead to additional sanctions being put on Belarus and the level of new sanctions will be much more painful.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry rejected Western criticism, casting the deployment as a response to unprecedented Western pressure and arguing that the move wouldn't contradict the international agreements because Russia will retain control of them.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Washington and its allies had ignored Russia's calls for the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe. It reaffirmed Moscows right to take the necessary additional steps to ensure security of Russia and its allies."

___

Aamer Madhani in Washington, Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania, and Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The penalties for violating Connecticuts Freedom of Information laws are far too lenient. They hardly amount to a disincentive, and are in no way a cure for those who flout the statutes.

The General Assembly may be looking to change that.

Ultimately, every public agency and municipality needs to understand that complying with our Freedom of Information laws is an obligation, state Rep. Matt Blumenthal said. As such, a legislative committee is proposing to increase the penalties government agencies face for violations of public records regulations. At the same time, new laws would require municipal and state agencies to post information online about their track record of releasing public records.

The impetus for the proposed change is a series in Hearst Connecticut Media on the states largest city, which has lagged in responding to information requests. Bridgeport is not supposed to provide this information just because its the right thing to do, but because its the law. A law without teeth, however, can only be so effective.

Leaders of the Government Administration and Elections Committee of the General Assembly are looking to increase fines for noncompliance up to $10,000, from its current level at $1,000. That number has only been revised once since it was put into place in the post-Watergate era of government reforms, and advocates say its far too low to prod action from reluctant governments.

Another proposed reform could increase the fines even further. Under the proposal, the Freedom of Information Commissions could apply for court intervention, which could result in a judge ordering additional fines and attorney fees. Its a way to take on habitual offenders that has not been available to watchdog agencies in the past.

Other changes would include increased funding for the watchdog agencies, which would also aid enforcement.

Taken together, advocates say the sweeping changes could serve as a national model. Under any circumstances, they would help ensure that government agencies abide by the laws as written. Its a reform that is long overdue.

Many open government laws date to an era when trust in the public sector was at a low point, and reformers instituted changes to help rebuild peoples faith in what government was doing. That means everyone has a right to know what is happening with public funds and that actions of public employees are not hidden behind a veil of secrecy.

Those laws have led to an important shift. Even if trust in government is not the same as it was in the pre-Watergate era, theres an understanding that public records laws are in place to keep people honest. Agencies can stall and they can fight, but eventually the records will come out.

For that to happen, there need to be real consequences for noncompliance. Today, Connecticut doesnt have that.

These arent abstract issues. The information that people in Bridgeport had trouble obtaining includes details on the deaths of loved ones and other important questions. Hearst Connecticut Medias investigation revealed a backlog of almost 2,000 unanswered requests, some of them many years old.

That has to change. Tougher enforcement is the way to do it.
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ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP)  As a deadly tornado tore through the lower Mississippi Delta, the Rev. Mary Stewart clung to a door in the hallway of her Rolling Fork home, shielding herself from the branches and chunks of debris that came flying through her shattered windows.

Friday's storm flattened entire town blocks, but the Rolling Fork Methodist Church withstood the high winds. And so the first Sunday after the twister commenced just like any other Sunday  with congregants reaffirming their faith and finding solace together.

We are a very religious community, said Laura Allmon, a fourth-generation congregant. It just means a lot for us to be able to get together and pray and be thankful for what we have.

At least 25 people were killed and dozens were injured late Friday in Mississippi as the storm ripped through one of the poorest regions in the country, carving out a swath of destruction. Elsewhere, a man was killed in neighboring Alabama after his trailer home flipped over several times.

Their homes rendered unlivable, many Rolling Fork residents flocked Sunday to the network of churches dotting the landscape. It is a close-knit farming community bound by intergenerational ties of family and faith that form the social fabric of this rural Southern town of about 2,000.

Wayne Williams, 55, teaches construction skills at a vocational center. He was working with others Sunday to clean up some relatively minor damage at the building. Across the street, a large metal building that had been a community center was ripped apart by the tornado.

Its going to be a long road to recovery, to rebuild and get over all the devastation, Williams said of his community. With God in the mix, we will recover.

For Rolling Fork, a rebuilding process now awaits unlike any the town has faced before. But Friday's tornado wasn't the first time residents have had their lives upended by the elements. In 2019, the worst flooding since 1973 drove some from their homes.

Religion is a central way residents of the Delta cope with an unpredictable climate and entrenched poverty.

So many people here know patience from farm work, Stewart said. With their dependence on the rain for their crops  their livelihood  and having to leave it in Gods hands  its a wonderful reaffirmation that God is in control.

Founded nearly 135 years ago, the Rolling Fork Methodist Church has long been a source of support and resilience in hard times, its members said.

Since the church building was without power Sunday morning, roughly two dozen worshipers gathered on its historic steps and bowed their heads while Stewart delivered a short sermon.

Were grateful, Lord, that you brought us through this storm, she said, standing in sunshine beneath a clear blue sky. We have a lot to do and a lot of rebuilding, and there are people that weve lost in our town.  We pray for their families.

Elsewhere, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the hardest hit areas.

Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, with top wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph), according to the National Weather Service office in Jackson. Officials said the twister was on the ground for more than an hour.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency and vowed to help rebuild as he viewed the damage in the region, which boasts wide expanses of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish farming ponds. He spoke with Biden, who also held a call with the states congressional delegation.

More than a half-dozen shelters were opened in Mississippi to house displaced residents.

Just a few blocks down the road from the Rolling Fork Methodist Church, pastor Britt Williamson spoke from the pulpit at First Baptist Church, addressing rows of weary congregants. During the service, people hugged, shook hands and wiped away tears.

The Delta is a hard soul for the gospel, Williamson said. Through the calamity of what happened, God has brought a plow bigger than any of these farmers could have.

He said faith gives people something to hold onto during lifes challenges.

We dont want to help people just to give them a place to live. We dont want to feed them for a day, he said. We want to give them an eternal home.

Marlon Nicholas, a congregant of the church, said his familys attendance at a local high school prom Friday night meant they stayed safe even as their home was destroyed. He said other relatives also lost their homes but escaped without serious injuries.

Miracles, he said.
A Tampa-area plastic surgeon has been charged with murder, accused of killing a lawyer missing since last week from a firm that represents former co-workers the doctor has been suing in a business dispute.

Largo police arrested Dr. Tomasz Kosowski on a first-degree murder charge on Saturday in the disappearance of Steven Cozzi, who was last seen Tuesday at Blanchard Law, the firm where he worked.

Police said Sunday that while Cozzi's body has not been found, they have evidence that he was killed by Kosowski.

They said Cozzi's wallet, phone and keys were found in the law office along with a significant amount of blood in the bathroom. They say a suspicious person and car were seen at the office, leading them to Kosowski. A search of the doctor's Tarpon Springs home found evidence that led to his arrest, police said. They did not elaborate.

Kosowski, 44, who goes by Dr. K, was being held without bail on Sunday at the Pinellas County Jail. Court and jail records do not indicate if he has hired an attorney.

Blanchard Law has been representing Kosowski's former employer and co-workers in a lawsuit he filed against them four years ago and is ongoing. Jake Blanchard, the firm's principal partner, did not immediately respond Sunday to an email and phone message seeking comment.

In the lawsuit, Kosowski said he began working for Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery in 2016, mostly doing breast reconstruction surgery. He said the woman Laufer Institute assigned to do his insurance billing didn't file claims and lied to his patients, costing him tens of thousands of dollars and resulting in negative reviews of him to be posted online.

Dr. K's promising young career has essentially been obliterated by the woman's actions, Kosowski lawsuit says. Through no fault of his own, his career was put directly in jeopardy and his reputation has been deeply tarnished.

He left Laufer Institute in 2018 and had set up his own practice. Laufer Institute did not immediately return a call seeking comment Sunday.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

G. Samantha Rosenthal, Roanoke College

(THE CONVERSATION) In 1976, a woman from Roanoke, Virginia, named Rhoda received a prescription for two drugs: estrogen and progestin. Twelve months later, a local reporter noted Rhodas surprisingly soft skin and visible breasts. He wrote that the drugs had made her so completely female.

Indeed, that was the point. The University of Virginia Medical Center in nearby Charlottesville had a clinic specifically for women like Rhoda. In fact, doctors there had been prescribing hormones and performing surgeries  what today we would call gender-affirming care  for years.

The founder of that clinic, Dr. Milton Edgerton, had cut his teeth caring for transgender people at Johns Hopkins University in the 1960s. There, he was part of a team that established the nations first university-based Gender Identity Clinic in 1966.

When politicians today refer to gender-affirming care as new, untested or experimental, they ignore the long history of transgender medicine in the United States.

Its been nearly 60 years since the first transgender medical clinic opened in the U.S., and 47 years since Rhoda started her hormone therapy. Understanding the history of these treatments in the U.S. can be a helpful guide for citizens and legislators in a year when a record number of bills in statehouses target the rights of transgender people.

Treating gender in every population

As a trans woman and a scholar of transgender history, I have spent much of the past decade studying these issues. I also take several pills each morning to maintain the proper hormonal balance in my body: spironolactone to suppress testosterone and estradiol to increase estrogen.

When I began HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, like many Americans I wasnt aware that this treatment had been around for generations. What I was even more surprised to learn was that HRT is often prescribed to cisgender women  women who were assigned female at birth and raised their whole lives as women. In fact, many providers in my region already had a long record of prescribing hormones to cis women, primarily women experiencing menopause.

I also learned that gender-affirming hormone therapies have been prescribed to cisgender youths for generations  despite what contemporary politicians may think. Disability scholar Eli Clare has written of the history and continued practice of prescribing hormones to boys who are too short and girls who are too tall for what is considered a normal range for their gender. Because of binary gender norms that celebrate height in men and smallness in women, doctors, parents and ethicists have approved the use of hormonal therapies to make children conform to these gender stereotypes since at least the 1940s.

Clare describes a severely disabled young woman whose parents  with the approval of doctors and ethicists from their local childrens hospital  administered puberty blockers so that she would never grow into an adult. They deemed her mentally incapable of becoming a real woman.

The history of these treatments demonstrates that hormone therapies and puberty blockers have been used on cisgender children in this country  for better or for worse  with the goal of regulating the passage from girlhood to womanhood and from boyhood to manhood. Gender stereotypes concerning the presence or absence of secondary sex characteristics  too tall, too short, too much body hair  have all led parents and doctors to perform gender-affirming care on cisgender children.

For over half a century, legal and medical authorities in the U.S. have also approved and administered surgeries and hormone therapies to force the bodies of intersex children to conform to binary gender stereotypes. I myself had genital surgery in infancy to bring my anatomy into alignment with expectations for what a male body should look like. In most cases, intersex surgeries are unnecessary for thehealth or well-being of a child.

Historians such as Jules Gill-Peterson have shown that early advances in transgender medicine in this country are deeply interwoven with the nonconsensual treatment of intersex children. Doctors at Johns Hopkins and the University of Virginia practiced reconstructing the genitalia of intersex people before applying those same treatments on transgender patients.

Given these intertwined histories, I contend that the current political focus on prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender people is evidence that opposition to these treatments is not about the safety of any specific medications or procedures, but rather their use specifically by transgender people.

How transgender people access care

Many transgender people in the U.S. have deeply complicated feelings about gender-affirming care. This complexity is a result of over half a century of transgender medicine and patient experiences in the U.S.

In Rhodas time, medical gatekeeping meant that she had to live full time as a woman and prove her suitability for gender-affirming care to a team of primarily white, cis male doctors before they would give her treatment. She had to mimic language about being born in the wrong body  language invented by cis doctors studying trans people, not by trans people themselves. She had to affirm she would be heterosexual and seek marriage and monogamy with a man. She could not be a lesbian or bisexual or promiscuous.

Many trans people still need to jump through similar hoops today to receive gender-affirming care. For example, a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, a designated mental disorder, is sometimes required before treatment. Many trans people argue that these preconditions for access to care should be removed because being trans is an identity and a lived experience, not a disorder.

Feminist activists in the 1970s also critiqued the role of medical authority in gender-affirming care. Writer Janice Raymond decried the transsexual empire, her term for the physicians, psychologists and other professionals who practice transgender medicine. Raymond argued that cis male doctors were making an army of trans women to satisfy the male gaze: promoting iterations of womanhood that reinforced sexist gender stereotypes, ultimately ushering in the displacement and eradication of the worlds biological women. The origins of todays gender-critical, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist, movement are visible in Raymonds words. But as trans scholar Sandy Stone wrote in her famous reply to Raymond, its not that trans women are unwilling dupes of cis male medical authority, but rather that we have to strategically perform our womanhood in certain ways to access the care and treatments we need.

The future of gender-affirming care

In many states, especially in the South, where I live, governors and legislatures are introducing bills to ban gender-affirming care  even for adults  in ignorance of history. The consequences of hurried legislation extend beyond trans people, because access to hormones and surgeries is a basic medical service many people may need to feel better in their body.

Prohibitions on hormone therapy and gender-related surgeries for minors could mean ending the same treatment options for cisgender children. The legal implications for intersex children may directly clash with proposed legislation in several states that aims to codify male and female as discrete biological sexes with certain anatomical features.

Prohibitions on hormone replacement therapy for adults could affect access to the same treatments for menopausal women or limit access to hormonal birth control. Prohibitions of gender-affirming surgeries could affect anyones ability to access a hysterectomy or a mastectomy. So-called cosmetic surgeries such as breast implants or reductions, and even facial feminization procedures such as lip fillers or Botox, could also come under question.

These are all different types of gender-affirming procedures. Are most Americans willing to live with this level of government intrusion into their bodily autonomy?

Almost every major medical organization in the U.S. has come out against new government restrictions on gender-affirming care because, as doctors and professionals, they know that these treatments are time-tested and safe. These treatments have histories reaching back over 50 years.

Trans and intersex people are important voices in this debate, because our bodies are the ones politicians opposing gender-affirming care most frequently treat as objects of ridicule and disgust. Legislators are developing policies about us despite the fact that most Americans say they do not even know a trans person.

But trans and intersex people know what it is like to have to fight to access the care and treatment we need. And we know the joy of finally feeling comfortable in our own skin and being able to affirm our gender on our own terms.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/gender-affirming-care-has-a-long-history-in-the-us-and-not-just-for-transgender-people-201752.
SIMSBURY  Legend has it that street takeovers, where flash mobs of hundreds of spectators block intersections and sometimes highways to watch cars perform dangerous stunts such as drifting got its start in the 1990s in Oakland, Calif. Today, the activity also includes motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.

And now it has found its way to the greater Hartford suburbs, including the upscale, bedroom town of Simbsury, where police said about 200 cars made their way through Windsor and Bloomfield on Route 189, revving engines and doing donuts Friday night in two private parking lots at Simbsury High School and the Chubb Insurance Group.

Simsbury police said they tried twice to stop vehicles, but the drivers sped away.

Law enforcement officials say there isn't much that can be done to prevent the activity and pointed to police accountability reforms that prevent them from pursuing the drivers.

Windsor Police Chief Donald Melanson said Monday that street takeovers weren't born out of the legislation, but said elements of the police accountability bill have hampered law enforcement efforts to address the issue, including pursuit restrictions and those involved in the illegal activity are aware officers can no longer give chase.

"They're more brazen than before," Melanson said.

Melanson said there have been no street takeovers in his town, but acknowledged there have been issues with groups of people gathering at the Tire Rack property near the East Granby line to rev car engines with loud, customized mufflers, perform donuts and other tricks late at night. Melanson said the department is working with the owner to put an end to the activity.

Hartford Police spokesperson Lt. Aaron Boisvert said Monday the activity used to be an issue in the city, especially on larger streets and parking lots, but prolonged and dedicated enforcement has prompted those involved to go to surrounding towns where there is less police presence.

"It takes a lot of enforcement and you have to stick to it with lots of bodies and tow cars," Boisvert said. "They're taking it to smaller towns with fewer cops. It's going to continue and they'll just pop up."

Boisvert also pointed to restrictions in the police accountability bill as a factor to the increase in the activity.

"Like everything else, we're losing the ability to address these issues," he said.

State Rep. Gary Turco said he has introduced legislation that would create a task force to address large groups of vehicles that are working in unison to disrupt traffic and harass or endanger other motorists, pedestrians or residents.

Turco, who represents parts of New Britain and Newington, said in the last five years, large groups of organized drivers have been terrorizing communities, blocking traffic, running red lights and weaving in and out of traffic.

"People are afraid someone is going to get hurt," he said.

Turco acknowledged that smaller communities don't have the law enforcement numbers to deal with hundreds of vehicles engaged in that activity. But with a task force, he said multiple municipal departments would work with state and federal agencies to address what he described as "a form of organized crime."

Turco said the bill was passed out of the public safety committee and now goes to the offices of legislative research and fiscal analysis for evaluation.

"It comes down to funding," he said.

On social media, some have reported the activity occurring in other communities, including Avon and Windsor Locks. Police in Wethersfield also reported a street takeover last September.

Posts on social media have also lamented the lack of safe driving in general on local streets, from being passed on roads with double-yellow lines and at stop signs.

Simsbury police say anyone who witnesses or is affected by a street takeover to notify them and to avoid confrontations. Bloomfield police also posted a notice on its Facebook page, alerting residents that this type of activity may increase as the weather gets warmer.

"If you come across this activity and/or are stuck on a roadway because of this activity, please DO NOT engage with the perpetrators," the police post said. "Call the police department immediately and report the activity. Please be safe."

Bloomfield Police Chief Paul Hammick said Monday they posted the message to raise awareness about the activity potentially occurring in town.

"There's nothing imminent, but we wanted to educate residents ahead of time to just call police, don't engage and continue on in your travels," he said.
TRUMBULL  A group of students dedicated to fostering a sense of belonging are taking their activities to the national level.

Ten members of the Students Against Violence Everywhere groups in Madison and Hillcrest middle schools, are planning a trip to Cleveland next month to attend a summit hosted by Sandy Hook Promise. Run by parents of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, Sandy Hook Promise helps teach youths and adults to spot the warning signs of those planning a school shooting or other violent act.

Expenses for the trip will be covered by a grant from the national SAVE group.

There were a bunch of us that thought, Oh wow, this program sounds really great and its free, said Michaela Durand, a school technology specialist and staff adviser for the group. Since then, its kind of snowballed from there.

Durand said the groups seek to empower students to help improve safety at school.

Last fall, the groups held Start With Hello Week, which taught students to open up to each other.

If you see someone alone, reach out to them and start with Hello, Durand said. They go over ice breakers and its kind of a nice way to start the school year, because obviously a lot of people are kind of getting to know each other in the beginning of the year.

This week, the groups held Say Something Week to teach students warning signs of potential violence, which Sandy Hook Promise says include someone bragging about access to guns or weapons, cruelty to animals, and suddenly withdrawing from friends, family and activities.

Students are then told to inform a trusted adult if they spot any of these signs.

A lot of activities we did this past week in the schools were based on having students foster a relationship with a trusted adult, Durand said.

The national summit will be the first for Trumbull students, although the groups attended a session last year in West Hartford to exchange ideas with other chapters in Connecticut. Hillcrest group members have since played uplifting music (such as the Trolls film's Cant Stop The Feeling) during lunch, an idea Durand said came from the trip.

Other ideas include a day of tipping hats and thanking trusted adults at school. Students also participated in a trivia game involving fun facts about teachers. Both activities were ways to promote establishing a connection with an adult at school, Durand said

If a student has a trusted adult in their life, then theyre more willing to actually go to someone when something happens, she said.

Gabriella Cabral, a Madison Middle School seventh grader, said she joined her schools SAVE club last school year after her sister became a member. She said she looks forward to meeting people in Cleveland and bringing back ideas to help make Trumbull students feel more included at school.

Since shes been a member of the group, she said shes seen a change in behavior from some students participating in their activities.

I know many people who have become friends through the club, also people who have started becoming nicer, Cabral said. "People feeling like they belong."
Stratford CT Police Department/Facebook

STRATFORD  A man has been arrested for a second time in connection with a July shooting at a local gentlemen's club that injured one person, according to local police.

Derek Watley, 28, of Stratford, was charged by warrant with criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree assault, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and carrying a pistol without a permit, Stratford police said in a Facebook post on Monday. Watley was held on a $300,000 bond, police said.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Fighter jets roared off the USS Nimitz as the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies expanding drills.

The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the Norths weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats.

The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive at the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

The United States has deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day, said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group Eleven. We can continue to deploy those assets and we will.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North's capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japans military said the missiles, which landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Korea's illicit nuclear weapons and missiles programs.

North Korea, which has weathered tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2016 over its nuclear developments, didn't immediately comment on the launches.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and live-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against the North's rising threats.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

The weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The country's leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical whether such a device was a major new threat and Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Monday that it considers the North Korean claims likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets, communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signaling that its practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the Norths announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Koreas air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seouls three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the Norths leadership and key military facilities.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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TAOYUAN, Taiwan (AP)  Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou departed for a tour of China on Monday, in what he called an attempt to reduce tensions a day after Taiwan lost one of its few remaining diplomatic partners to China.

The ex-president is visiting in a private capacity, bringing a delegation of academics and college students for exchanges, as well as members of his family, but the trip is loaded with political meaning.

Mas policies brought Taiwan and Beijing to their closest relationship ever, but his exit from office was overshadowed by massive protests against a trade deal with the mainland and his successor has focused on bolstering ties with the U.S. and defending the autonomy of the democratically governed island that China claims as part of its own territory.

Current President Tsai Ing-wen is expected to launch a 10-day diplomatic tour of her own Wednesday, ostensibly to visit the island's remaining allies in Latin America. She will stop in the U.S., Taiwans biggest unofficial partner and supplier of arms.

Ma's visit comes amid rising tensions. Beijing has stepped up pressure against Taiwan in recent years, poaching its diplomatic allies while also sending military fighter jets flying towards the island on a near daily basis. On Sunday, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize it as a sovereign state.

Ma, a member of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang), will land in Shanghai before starting his visit in nearby Nanjing. He is expected to tour the mainland from March 27 to April 7, stopping in Wuhan and Changsha, as well as other cities. He is bringing college students from Taiwan to meet with fellow students from Shanghais Fudan University and Changshas Hunan University.

Ma has framed the visit as a bid to lower the tensions in cross-strait relations through people to people exchange. I hope through the enthusiasm of the youth and their interactions to improve the cross-strait mood, so bring peace faster, and earlier, he said to reporters ahead of his departure on Monday afternoon. He said it would be his first time to visit China.

His trip has not drawn much controversy in Taiwan, where the public is used to seeing Kuomingtang politicians visit China. However, it has been criticized by some political opponents and activists.

A former mainland student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen square protests called on Ma to cancel his trip. If you have even a strand of affection for Taiwan ... you should announce the cancellation of your trip, said Wang Dan, a Chinese dissident who previously lived in Taiwan, on his Facebook page.

A handful of protesters from a pro-independence group held a demonstration at the departures area at Taoyuan airport before Ma's departure. Ma Ying-jeou is humiliating our nation and forfeiting its sovereignty," they shouted before police carried them out. You are a stinky beggar.

On the other side, a small group of people from the pro-unification camp also came to the airport to show their support. Cross-strait relations are like flowers blossoming in spring and both sides are a family," they shouted.

The trip is also a chance for him to honor his ancestors, ahead of Tomb Sweeping Day on April 5. During the festival, which is celebrated in Taiwan and China among other countries, families visit ancestral graves to maintain the burial grounds and remember the dead.

Ma will not go to Beijing, but may meet with Chinese officials.

Ma met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015, while he was still in office. The meeting was the first between the leaders of the two sides since Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949 during the Chinese civil war, but was considered more symbolic than substantive.

In 2016, the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won national elections and Beijing cut off contact with Taiwans government, citing Tsai's refusal to endorse the idea that Taiwan and China are one country.

___

Wu reported from Taipei.
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HAVANA (AP)  Cubans voted Sunday in National Assembly elections with attention focused on voter turnout amid a deep economic and migratory crisis.

With 470 candidates running for the legislatures 470 seats, and no opposition challengers, the election's outcome is a foregone conclusion. Voters essentially will do no more than endorse a slate of candidates vetted by Communist Party officials, critics say.

What observers will be watching Sunday is whether a trend in declining voter participation continues as Cubas government struggles to turn around deteriorating economic conditions.

Participation in elections in Cuba is high but has been on the decline for a decade.

The National Electoral Commission said that for last Novembers municipal elections about 31% of eligible voters abstained from voting, That translates to 69% participation, which is still high by international standards, but a substantial decline for Cuba where voting is not compulsory but traditionally was considered a national duty. The rate of abstention for national elections was 14% in 2018, and only 6% in 2013.

Michael Shifter, a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank, said the trend toward non-participation in Cuban elections reflects growing discontent with the deteriorating economy and the migration crisis.

There may be different reasons that explain the increase in abstention, but an important factor is undoubtedly the growing distaste for the government's poor performance," he said.

Cuba's government says the system is inclusive and builds unity, while steering clear of the divisiveness of party politics or any ill effects of big-money donors.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel voted Sunday in the province of Villa Clara where he was born. He acknowledged the economic difficulties, power outages and fuel shortages amid which the elections were being held.

Some may put the economic situation ahead but most people know that despite the difficult economic situation we are working together, he said. "If we were once again a colony of the United States, the problems would only increase.

Julio Antonio Martinez Estrada, a lawyer, professor and a fellow at Harvard University, said he believes participation will continue to decline, in part due to the economy.

It is a response to the political and socio-economic problems of recent years, Estrada said.

The voting takes places as hundreds of thousands of people migrate, including 300,000 alone to the United States in recent months. The migrants are still on voters lists but can't vote because they are outside the country.

National Assembly elections are held every five years and are technically nonpartisan. But they fall under the indirect control of the ruling Communist Party.

Half of the 470 candidates come from municipal assemblies chosen in local elections last November. The other half are nominated by groups representing broad swaths of society  such as a womens group and workers unions. All are vetted by election committees with ties to the party.

The National Assembly is nominally the countrys highest governing power. It approves laws and votes for the president and executive officials from among its members.

In practice, the chamber typically endorses initiatives and the leadership favored by the Communist Party, which is the only political party allowed on the island nation.

The new National Assembly is expected to convene April 19, when it will vote on the executive leadership, with current President Miguel Diaz-Canel expected to be re-elected.

Candidates include major Cuban leaders such as Diaz-Canel, semi-retired former Communist Party leader Raul Castro and Economy Minister Alejandro Gil. Candidates also include musician Eduardo Sosa, LGBT community representative Mariela Castro and Elian Gonzalez, who as a child in 2000 famously became the center of a diplomatic custody battle between Cuba and the United States.
More than 40 years after Elvis Presley left Graceland for the final time, the disputes over his assets continue unabated, becoming a public spectacle once again following the death of his daughter, Lisa Marie. Witnessing the Presley family battles from afar is a reminder of five estate planning rules that can help avoid problems.

It is critical that everyone address these issues, regardless of the size of your estate. Inheritance problems can arise whether you are a multimillionaire or of limited means.

First, it is highly advisable to keep everything equal among your beneficiaries. That is, all gifts and estate assets should be distributed to children in the exact same amounts. The favoring of one child over another brings out the worst in beneficiaries and their spouses. Comments such as your mother was clearly put up to this are par for the course in such situations. The next thing you know, family relationships are broken forever.

Second, when selecting someone to manage your assets after death, carefully choose a skilled person to serve as the Executor of your Will or the Trustee of your Living Trust. Many people like picking the oldest child or multiple children to serve in these roles. Yet, if a child makes just one questionable call as the fiduciary, the other children may go ballistic. A third party, such as an experienced family member or accountant, may be more capable than a child, able to dispassionately consider everyones wishes before making important decisions, such as whether to accept a lower-than-expected offer on the now-vacant family home.

Third, at a bare minimum, everyone should have a properly executed will, power of attorney and health care proxy. If disaster strikes before these documents are signed, the result is a very expensive clean-up proceeding in the local probate court. Estate planning documents should be kept in a safe place and reviewed every three to five years to make sure no modifications are needed.

Fourth, make sure that beneficiary designations for contract assets, such as life insurance policies and retirement accounts, are properly completed. If the wrong beneficiary is named, there is not much that can be done after a persons death. As just one example, if an ex-spouse is the beneficiary of a life insurance policy in Connecticut, the ex-spouse will receive the policys proceeds no matter what the deceased person intended. Talk about rolling in your grave.

Finally, individuals with significant assets, in particular, should consider establishing trusts, which offer the opportunity to avoid probate and save estate taxes. In addition, such trusts typically provide protection against a beneficiarys profligate spending, as well as his or her creditors. The selection of a corporate Trustee also may be warranted. A bank or trust company will have skilled officers with the necessary experience to handle the various issues that typically arise in complicated situations.

Clearly, had Elvis selected a corporate trustee to manage a trust for the benefit of his family members, many of the problems that occurred after his death would have been avoided.

Joseph M. Pankowski Jr. is a partner with the Stamford-based law firm Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky, LLP. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, the New York University School of Law and Yale Divinity School. He limits his practice to estate and trust matters and can be reached at 203-327-2300.
USD/JPY Analysis, Price, and Chart

USD/JPY bounced as a new trading week got started

The banking sector looked a little more comfortable, stabilizing US yields

The weeks economic news is back-loaded

Recommended by David Cottle How to Trade USD/JPY Get My Guide

The United States Dollar enjoyed a little bounce against the Japanese Yen on Monday, but the move looks corrective and comes on the back of scant economic news.

There has been a little relaxation of banking-sector jitters, which may have supported the greenback via a bit more stability in Treasury yields. Last week investors worried that European titan Deutsche Bank might be unpleasantly exposed to tightening monetary conditions, but those concerns seem to have waned as a new trading week gets underway, with that lender joining the sector in broad-based gains.

Reports that First Citizen Bank will acquire whats left of troubled Silicon Valley Bank seem to have been taken well by stock markets.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said over the weekend that a credit crunch might slow the economy and that the Fed was watching this closely, but its unlikely that this was great news to markets.

USD/JPY has inched above the psychologically important 131.00 handle in European trading Monday but doesnt yet look very comfortable up there. The day doesnt promise many data-related trading opportunities. These will likely have to await Thursday, when well get the final official look at US Gross Domestic Product data for the old years last three months, along with plentiful Japanese numbers from retail sales to industrial production. Chinas manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index might also be relevant for the pair, given its bearing on Japans huge export sector.

Still, the lasting impact of all of these is likely to be short on USD/JPY. Interest-rate prospects and the health of the banking sector will continue to provide the background music for this pair.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis

Chart Compiled Using TradingView

Its hard to avoid the suspicion that USD/JPY has reached an interesting technical juncture on its daily chart. Having risen quite convincingly above its medium-term downtrend channel on February 14, it appears to have run out of steam and is now flirting with re-entry. The pair remains in a band of support and resistance bounded by February 6s open at 132.82 and the following sessions intraday low of 130.49.

While bears appear keen to break the lower boundary of this band, theyve yet to do so on a daily closing basis and it seems certain to herald further falls should they do so.

There seems to be some risk of a head and shoulders chart formation forming on the chart, which would also likely presage further falls. The modest uptrend line from January 16s low has been broken, and Dollar bulls will need to get back above it in short order to press their case. It now provides resistance at 131.94. That doesnt look like a huge ask at present, but it will if 131.00 gives way.

Retail Sentiment is Mixed

USD/JPY Bearish Data provided by of clients are net long. of clients are net short.

Change in Longs Shorts OI Daily 2% 2% 2% Weekly 1% -7% -4%

It is perhaps notable that Morgan Stanley have reportedly shifted their stance on the pair to neutral when they had previously recommended going long. This neutrality finds an echo in IGs own sentiment data which finds the trading community uncertain as to the direction from here. 51% of trades are long, and 49% short.

---By David Cottle for DailyFX
Yesterday, a little-known 37-year-old named Humza Yousaf was elected the new leader of the SNP, replacing Nicola Sturgeon  until recently the partys all-powerful superstar.

We will be the generation to win independence for Scotland! declared the precocious millennial.

Once, this kind of sunlit uplands talk worked for the pro-independence faithful. But not any more. Theyve heard it all before and, for all their fervour, the hated Union with England still stubbornly persists. The prospect of independence, moreover, seems far from assured in the hands of a man as underwhelming as Yousaf, dubbed continuity Sturgeon, who used his first speech yesterday to beg his fractious party to come together again after what, he admitted, had been a bruising five-week election process.

Certainly, he will have a hard job convincing his own colleagues that he is up to being First Minister  let alone the Scottish electorate.

In a particularly acid remark during the campaign, veteran SNP MSP Christine Grahame accused him of taking credit for others work and not taking the blame for what hes responsible for.

Yesterday, a little-known 37-year-old named Humza Yousaf was elected the new leader of the SNP , replacing Nicola Sturgeon  until recently the partys all-powerful superstar, writes Eddie Barnes

Runner-up Kate Forbes (right) looked pleased as Yousaf won the battle to be the new leader of the SNP

His predecessor as health secretary, Alex Neil, has added: He was totally out of his depth. He cant do the job he currently has, let alone the top job. Itll be an electoral disaster for the party if he becomes the leader.

What a difference a few years have made! For a long spell under Sturgeon  who ruled in autocratic fashion for eight long years as First Minister  Britains 300-year-old Union frequently seemed at mortal risk.

Propelled by a raft of election victories, St Nicola was able to convince herself, many Scots and much of the United Kingdom that independence was, in her preferred term, inevitable.

Though her judgment failed in the end, particularly over a disastrous plan to turn the next general election into a de facto referendum on independence and amid a bizarre battle over trans rights, Sturgeon has been, for the most part, a strikingly effective party politician, albeit one who was not particularly good at governing.

Her departure and her sub-par replacement, then, are excellent news for anyone who opposes independence. One poll for Sky News during the leadership campaign put support for independence at below 39 per cent, well below the 45 per cent figure from the 2014 referendum.

Polls also show most Scots simply arent interested in having the debate all over again: even SNP voters think the cost of living crisis and the NHS are now the priority.

Forbes hugged winner Yousaf yesterday after he narrowly won the battle

Sturgeon sensed this mood  and quit. Several of her more senior colleagues then decided to back out of the race. Bluntly, Yousaf has won the throne because many others in the SNP did not want it.

So who is the man critics call Humza Useless  and what can we expect from him?

Born in Glasgow to parents who came to Scotland in the 1960s  his father is from Pakistan and his mother from the South Asian community in Kenya  the young Yousaf studied at the citys fee-paying Hutchesons Grammar School.

He traces his politicisation to the Iraq war and then-leader Alex Salmonds pugnacious opposition to Britains involvement in that conflict. After joining the SNP as a student, he didnt look back  and was fast-tracked by Salmond and Sturgeon into jobs in transport, justice and health. But his record does not inspire confidence. Yousaf was at transport when a disastrous contract to build two new ferries was being negotiated: they are still not finished and the price tag has rocketed from 97million to over 300million.

He was the justice secretary who led on the SNPs controversial Hate Crime Bill, which critics say will curb free speech. Two years after being passed, it has still to be enforced because of police concerns.

While at transport, astonishingly, Yousaf was cautioned by police after being caught driving a friends car without insurance.

And at health, his job until yesterday, he has presided over NHS Scotland cracking under the strain  with A&E delays rocketing and the number of patients waiting more than a year for a procedure at a record high.

His allies point to his amiability and his smooth media skills. But senior officials who have worked with him are less forgiving. As shallow as a spring puddle was how one police chief described Yousaf to me this week.

To make matters even worse, he faces an in-tray that would daunt a veteran leader, let alone one still in his 30s. He has to start dealing with what actually matters to people: particularly health, for which he will be blamed if the NHS chaos continues. He must resolve the ferries scandal.

Surprisingly, he has committed to return to Sturgeons trans-rights reforms  which would allow anyone to change their legal sex on their own say so. The radical plans are deeply unpopular, but Yousaf has said he will take the fight over them to the UK government, in part to appease the fanatically pro-trans Scottish Green party, which is in coalition with the SNP in Edinburgh.

And behind all that is Scotlands unreformed public sector, fast running out of money. This week, police warned that thanks to 50million budget cuts, there soon wont be enough beat officers to carry out patrols.

Yousaf will try to dodge the blame for all these by complaining as usual about Whitehall and the Tories south of the border. But Scots are increasingly bored with the SNPs rhetoric and are asking themselves: after running Scotland for 16 years, how much longer can the SNP blame Westminster politicians for their countrys woes?

Which brings me to my next point: the UK general election next year or in January 2025 at the latest. Sir Keir Starmer believes that the chaos in Scotland presents him with a golden opportunity.

In 2015, the party that had dominated Scotland for generations during the 20th century lost all but one of its 41 Scottish Westminster seats to the SNP. Now the Labour leader thinks he can get many of them back.

Never mind the Red Wall: Sir Keirs attention in recent weeks has been the Tartan Wall in central Scotland: SNP territory that he believes is ripe for Labour reclamation. Starmer has travelled north of the border four times in the past few weeks.

Along with some longed-for gains in those northern English constituencies that voted for Boris Johnson in 2019, Starmer believes these seats could make all the difference  and secure his entry into No 10.

As for independence? Privately, for all their public boasts of a free Scotland within the next five years, many nationalists now concede its off for the foreseeable future. So while Rishi Sunak must remain watchful, the Union can take a breather.

And ironically, we have Sturgeon to thank for that. For the past 16 years, Unionists in Scotland have fought a rearguard action to protect its place in the UK.

In the space of six chaotic weeks, Sturgeons decision to walk away, leaving chaos in her wake, has finished the job for them.

Yousafs election yesterday shows that the SNPs iron grip on power in Scotland is finally beginning to weaken. In an age often short of it, that can only be good news.
Some years ago a French civil servant called Aurelie Boullet got so frustrated about her depressing experience of working at the regional council in Aquitaine that she decided to write a book about it.

The resulting work, ironically entitled Absolutely Snowed Under, documented the soul-destroying effects of idleness.

'It was a sheer waste of time,' she wrote. 'There were plenty of people and not enough work. I was getting destroyed by my job because I had nothing to do.'

On one occasion she was given an entire week just to change the typeface on a report, a task that took her 25 seconds.

Her experience was by no means untypical. The truth is that much of the French state is notorious for its waste and extravagance. Overstaffed and underworked, this bureaucratic leviathan  which exhibits many of the failings of our own NHS  drags down the French economy, heightens the tax burden, and swells the national debt.

French President Emmanuel Macron talks to media at the end of the second day of an EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium

The entrance door of the city hall of Bordeaux on fire during a wild demonstration

Yet, despite its destructive impact, reform of the sclerotic public realm appears to be almost impossible, as President Emmanuel Macron is discovering with his attempt to change France's absurdly generous state pension.

First elected in 2017 on a platform of making the economy more dynamic and the government machine more lean, Macron is seeking to implement a package of measures designed to reform the increasingly unaffordable system, including an increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64, and a merger of 42 different state-subsidised schemes into one.

Such a programme is hardly drastic. After all, even at 64, the French retirement age will still be lower than in any other major European country. It currently stands at 67 in Italy, 66 in Britain, 65 years and seven months in Germany and 65 in Spain.

Moreover, because of longer life expectancy and the strain on their public finances, many European nations are currently in the process of raising these thresholds, with the state pension age due to go up to 67 in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain, and 66 in Belgium.

But in France, Macron's modest plan has provoked such a wild reaction that the country has been plunged into chaos. There have been weeks of paralysing strikes and mass demonstrations, culminating in last Thursday's ugly protests when more than one million people took to the streets.

The sense of meltdown was reinforced by the sight of the historic town hall in Bordeaux engulfed in flames, and walkouts at several oil refineries which have sparked growing fuel shortages.

Indeed, the situation grew so serious that President Macron was last week forced to call off a state visit planned by King Charles and Queen Camilla for fear of it prompting even greater unrest.

It was a profoundly humiliating move that heaped embarrassment on the President and his beleaguered Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne, both of whom now look isolated and impotent.

Protesters holds a banner that reads 'no to the Darmanin law' during a protest against the Asylum and Immigration bill of French Prime Minister Gerald Darmanin in Paris

A spirit of epic self-indulgence prevails among the protesters, who, insulated by their cocoon of state support, have lost their sense of perspective and refuse to face up to economic or demographic realities. Rarely in modern European history can a major populist uprising have been predicated on such a weak cause. What we are really witnessing is an infantile spasm in defence of a failing status quo. As the writer Sylvain Tesson puts it: 'France is a paradise inhabited by people who think they're in hell.'

That strength of feeling stems partly from the country's revolutionary traditions that go back to 1789 when the Bastille was stormed. The impulse to take to the barricades goes deep into the soul of France, not least because the overthrow of governing regimes by street agitation has so often proved effective in the past.

The final downfall of the Bourbon monarchy in 1830 can be attributed to public unrest, as can the creation of the Paris commune, which wrested power from the national government for three months in 1870 and the departure of Charles de Gaulle in 1969, who resigned after waves of student and trade union unrest.

Almost every modern French President has been blown off course by rebellion, though Macron initially proved more resilient than his predecessors when he was confronted with the so-called Gilets Jaunes, protesters named after their trademark hi-viz yellow vests, during his first term in the Elysee Palace.

Forged by anger at rising fuel prices and the cost of living crisis, the Gilets captured the popular imagination for a time but, leaderless and disorganised, they were eventually crushed by Macron.

READ MORE: King Charles postpones trip to France amid violent protests Advertisement

The French President now has a far more formidable task, not least because he has sought to impose the pension change by decree without any vote in the National Assembly. It is a tactic that has exacerbated his reputation for being a quasi-monarchical autocrat, full of contempt for the will of the people.

His position is made even weaker by his having no broad base in France's party system, for his En Marche movement was only created in 2017 as a vehicle to support his Presidency. Brilliant, eloquent but aloof, he is now a badly isolated figure, with his approval rating down to just 23 per cent. At the same time, nearly three quarters of the French public support the demonstrators against pension reform. But that just illustrates how deeply the culture of state-backed dependency and entitlement is woven into French life.

For all the present outrage, Macron's changes are badly needed since the present arrangements are hopelessly unsustainable. The protestors like to hark back to a supposed golden age in the three decades after the war ('Trentes Glorieuses' or 30 Glorious Years), when the French state presided over healthy growth and was said to guarantee a comfortable retirement for all its citizens.

But this is just a nostalgic delusion. In truth, the effective retirement age in 1970 was 67 and male life expectancy was just 68.

The situation is very different today. Pensioners now account for a quarter of France's population, have an average life expectancy of 82  20 years beyond retirement - and have 340billion-a-year spent on their support, the equivalent of 14 per cent of French GDP and far above the average in the developed world. Comparisons with Britain cannot be made directly, for in France there is no universal official pension. Instead, each payment depends on the amount paid in social security contributions, but the French state-run system tends to be significantly more generous than ours.

On average, French pensioners receive 74 per cent of their pre-retirement earnings, whereas the figure is just 58 per cent for the United Kingdom. In monetary terms, the average French pension is roughly 1,330 per month, whereas in Britain the full state pension will go up to 203.85 a week in April  the equivalent of 816-a-month.

But this Gallic generosity will ultimately lead to disaster unless it is checked. Putting back the retirement age and extending the period that workers make contributions could raise an additional 18billion, whereas the pensions budget is likely to have an annual deficit of over 12billion before the end of the decade if there is no change.

In the longer-term the picture is even more dire. By the middle of this century, it is estimated that, on present trends, six employed people in France will have to pay for five pensioners. 'If we don't enact these reforms, the French system is in danger,' says President Macron. But those words could be applied across the entire French public sector, which is too large and uncompetitive.

Central government spending in France is worth 59 per cent of GDP, the highest level in Europe, and far more than in Britain (48.4 per cent) and Ireland (just 24.8 per cent).

In the same vein, the state payroll, at 22 per cent of the national workforce  compared to 17 per cent in Britain  is woefully uncompetitive. Reports of spectacular waste are common, like the mismanagement at a Justice Minister's office which had 22 chauffeurs for a staff of 17 or the group of 30 civil servants in Toulon who were paid their salaries for 25 years for literally doing nothing after the water industry in their city was privatised.

This is the world that Macron pledged to transform but has so far failed to do so. If he wants to leave a worthwhile legacy and avoid becoming a lame duck President now that he is in his second and final term, he must recapture his original, radical spirit.

His only hope now is to stand firm. Surrender would condemn his Presidency to failure  and his nation to penury.
Most people want nothing more than to live in peaceful, tidy communities where they and their families feel safe.

Far too many households, however, are forced to cower behind locked doors as sullen, aggressive youths hang around the streets committing wanton vandalism.

So Rishi Sunak is right to launch a blitz on the epidemic of anti-social behaviour.

Making louts wear hi-vis jackets while repairing the damage they caused is to be welcomed. So is giving citizens more say in punishing culprits, stiffer fines for littering and graffiti, and a total ban on the drug nitrous oxide (aka hippy crack).

That said, those with long memories will remember Tony Blairs preposterous failed plan to frogmarch drunken yobs to cashpoints to pay fines.

Making louts wear hi-vis jackets while repairing the damage they caused is to be welcomed (file image)

Giving citizens more say in punishing culprits, stiffer fines for littering and graffiti, and a total ban on the drug nitrous oxide (aka hippy crack) is to be welcomed

The truth is, dealing with this issue needs not just eye-catching headlines but a laser- focused will to see policies make a difference.

It needs the police to reclaim the streets, for courts to start imposing proper sentences  and for parents to teach their children right from wrong.

The Prime Minister writes: I want people to feel safe and proud in the places where they live.

No one would disagree with that sentiment  so we wish him all the luck in making it a reality.

Train more UK medics

Foreign doctors and nurses are nothing new in the NHS. It reflects well on them that, were they to disappear overnight, the health service would be sunk.

But it reflects very badly indeed on Britain, and is a devastating indictment of our medical establishment.

Even as health chiefs grumble about lack of funding, a staggering 584million has been spent globe-trotting to hire foreign medics to fill job vacancies.

Foreign doctors and nurses are nothing new in the NHS. It reflects well on them that, were they to disappear overnight, the health service would be sunk (file image)

Why dont we use the money to expand medical schools to accommodate the many bright youngsters clamouring to get in? (file image)

As we reveal, taxpayers cash was splashed on flights and hotels, as well as millions paid to recruitment firms in fees. Money was even spent on gym memberships and iPads to lure international staff.

Leave aside the ethics of Britain poaching medics from nations often significantly poorer than us that have trained them and desperately need their talents.

Isnt the correct answer to staff shortages in the NHS to train more British doctors and nurses?

Why dont we use the money to expand medical schools to accommodate the many bright youngsters clamouring to get in? Alternatively, the huge sums blown could be ring-fenced for pay rises  boosting NHS staff recruitment and retention.

No one wants to block foreign medics from working here. But surely it would be cheaper, fairer and more principled to reduce our need for them in the first place.

Rumpus over Rwanda

It is deeply frustrating that just as the Tories regained the sense of discipline needed to fight Labour, a damaging civil war has broken out over the Rwanda scheme.

Backbenchers want new laws toughened up so the European Court of Human Rights cannot block the deportation of Channel migrants under any circumstances.

But others believe the Strasbourg rulings must be observed at all costs  even if it means flights stay grounded.

The vast majority of voters want small boat crossings to end. The Tories must realise that if they stop the influx, they stand a chance at the next election. If they dont, theyre doomed.

OBR chairman Richard Hughes dolefully says Brexit is to blame for Britons collapsed spending power as much as the pandemic and the post-war energy price surge. Ignore the OBRs woeful record on forecasting.

And the fact that the consequences of Brexit wont be known for many years. Why would the BBC allow this ex-Treasury Remainer to spout such dubious nonsense unchallenged?
Until today, Humza Yousaf was most famous for cockily sprinting down the corridors of power at Holyrood on a knee scooter after a badminton injury only to tumble spectacularly just before he reached the BBC cameraman filming him diligently.

That viral moment  regularly shared as a GIF on social media to the fury of Yousaf  provides an ugly metaphor for the handover of power within the SNP from the iron grip of Nicola Sturgeon to a vain socialist who is widely regarded as the most useless politician of his generation.

Considered a clear and present danger to the future of the United Kingdom, Scheming Sturgeon was impossible to ever ignore or write off given her proven electoral potency.

By comparison, Scotland's next First Minister, due to be confirmed tomorrow, has long been dismissed as a joke.

The Transport Secretary caught by cops for driving without insurance.

Until today, Humza Yousaf was most famous for cockily sprinting down the corridors of power at Holyrood on a knee scooter after a badminton injury only to tumble spectacularly just before he reached the BBC cameraman filming him diligently

Considered a clear and present danger to the future of the United Kingdom, Scheming Sturgeon was impossible to ever ignore or write off given her proven electoral potency

The foot in mouth doofus who asked a group of Ukrainian women who fled the war to the UK: 'Where are all of the men?'

The identity politics-obsessed virtue signaller who sued a nursery for racism after rejecting a place for his daughter, even though the owner of Little Scholars was Usha Fowdar, also of south Asian origin.

Make no mistake, Yousaf only won today's ballot by the narrowest of margins (52 to 48, ironically) over the socially conservative and deeply religious Kate Forbes because of his support from the pro-Sturgeon camp.

But by throwing her weight behind such a mess of a politician, Sturgeon has consigned Scottish separatism to being nothing more than an SNP pipe dream.

Indeed, with the elevation of Yousaf, I would wager that the United Kingdom is more secure than at any time this century.

There were many moments during the torrid leadership campaign, as the SNP descended into open civil warfare, that will come back to haunt them in the months and years to come.

Perhaps none more so than the damning assessment of Yousaf during the first televised leadership debate.

Staring directly at her Cabinet colleague, Forbes dismissed his entire career in these 56 brutal words of friendly fire: 'Humza, you've had a number of jobs in government. When you were transport minister, the trains were never on time; when you were justice minister, the police were strained to breaking point; and now as health minister, we've got record high waiting times. What makes you think you can do a better job as First Minister?'

He can't. And everyone knows it.

With the elevation of Yousaf, I would wager that the United Kingdom is more secure than at any time this century

But Sturgeon's woke mob stuck by their man because they are so obsessed with driving through divisive and craven policies like the Gender Recognition Reform Bill that helped see a convicted rapist, who I call Adam Graham but the Scottish courts ludicrously refer to as Isla Bryson, sent to an all women prison before an international outcry saw the decision reversed.

In fact, Yousaf has already vowed to 'fight' the Westminster veto against the deeply unpopular law that allows anyone over 16  even convicted sex offenders  to self-ID without any form of medical diagnosis, putting biological girls and women at further risk from predators.

And during the campaign he expressed no regret for personally voting against an amendment to the bill that meant accused child sex abusers and rapists would be able to change their gender AFTER committing an alleged crime, prompting fears this could force their victims to use their new pronouns in court.

That is the sort of dystopian woke dogma destroying western societies the world over that Yousaf now wants to bring to Scotland, against the will of the people.

READ MORE HERE: Rivals warn Humza Yousaf after he limps home in race to succeed Sturgeon despite backing of 'entire SNP establishment' Advertisement

But there's something far more disturbing about Yousaf's divisive politics too.

While she was considered unacceptable by her politically correct party for her fundamentalist Christian views, I gave huge credit to Kate Forbes for being completely open and transparent about where she stood on social issues.

Despite that, the anti-Christian mainstream broadcast media, especially the British Bashing Corporation, monstered her, declaring her candidacy finished.

Well as it turns out, Forbes was within a hair's breadth of beating Yousaf and would have been far more popular with the Scottish population as a whole.

Yousaf was able to get away with his shape shifting on social issues because his Muslim faith is considered untouchable by the MSM.

So even though Forbes was slammed for voting against gay marriage, there was far less criticism of Yousaf when he skipped the vote after arranging a ministerial meeting with the Pakistani government at the same time after receiving pressure from Muslim religious leaders.

There's also disturbing evidence proving that Yousaf has signed up to the critical race theory ideology of the discredited BLM organisation, claiming that all Scots 'must be anti-racist' in the wake of the murder of the US citizen George Floyd in the American state of Minnesota.

In a speech in June 2020, Yousaf spoke out about a host of high-profile Scottish officials simply on the basis of their race.

He ranted to the Scottish Parliament: 'The Lord President is white, the Lord Justice Clerk is white, every High Court judge is white, the Lord Advocate is white, the Solicitor General is white, the chief constable is white, every deputy chief constable is white, every assistant chief constable is white, the head of the Law Society is white, the head of the Faculty of Advocates is white and every prison governor is white.

'That is not the case only in justice. The chief medical officer is white, the chief nursing officer is white, the chief veterinary officer is white, the chief social work adviser is white and almost every trade union in the country is headed by white people. In the Scottish Government, every director general is white. Every chair of every public body is white. That is not good enough.'

What Yousaf failed to mention is that, according to official government statistics, Scotland remains a 96 per cent white country, with just 0.56 per cent reporting they are African and 0.12 per cent saying they are Caribbean or black in the last reported census.

Scotland's Asian population is reported at 2.66 per cent, making it an impressive achievement that two of the three major parties  Yousaf at the SNP and Anas Sarwar of Scottish Labour  now have Asian leaders.

It's not just on social issues where Yousaf is set to lurch to the hard left.

While she was considered unacceptable by her politically correct party for her fundamentalist Christian views, I gave huge credit to Kate Forbes for being completely open and transparent about where she stood on social issues

The ardent republican has reversed a policy of Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, promising to ditch the monarchy under King Charles if separatism is ever achieved, raising the prospect of President Andy Murray or, to his horror, women's rights advocate JK Rowling.

He has also vowed to introduce wealth taxes and another high tax band for Scots earning over 50,000, arguing: 'I believe absolutely in the redistribution of wealth, I don't have any problem with saying that.'

Ironically, he inherits a Scotland from Sturgeon in a far worse place than when she took over, with drug deaths, A&E waiting times and low education standards top of a very long list of problems.

And while I mourn with the majority of Scots, who are hardworking unionists wanting an end to this rubbish, I also celebrate the election of Yousaf today.

Sturgeon had become brilliant at faking success in the face of mounting political failures, thanks to her towering profile, largely positive personal poll ratings and a compliant media sympathetic to her cause.

Yousaf has zero chance of getting such an easy ride and I believe his election today marks the SNP entering a death spiral that secures the Union for another generation as the failing governing party focuses on the woke social engineering of a society that simply doesn't want it.
Politicians rarely like their nicknames, but Benjamin Netanyahu has always revelled in his: the Magician.

For both his supporters and opponents, its a term that perfectly describes a man who has spent his career plucking victory from the jaws of defeat like a conjuror pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

But even the Magician has been unable to spirit the country out of the uproar sparked by his proposal to give the government a role in the selection of judges  by far the most toxic domestic crisis faced by Israel since its creation in 1948.

And Netanyahus decision yesterday to postpone the proposed legal changes that have caused the outcry for a few months simply drags things out. The seeds of his predicament were sown four months ago when he returned to power as head of a coalition with 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

It was a personal triumph for a man widely written off when he lost power in 2021. But it came at a cost.

Thousands of protesters block the Ayalon main highway during a mass protest against the government's justice system reform plans in Tel Aviv, Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a meeting at the Knesset, Israel's parliament

He has been facing fraud charges since May 2020  meaning some of the parties he had been able to do deals would not contemplate making him PM again. This forced him to rely on two far-Right parties, Jewish Strength and Religious Zionism.

The former is led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extreme Jewish nationalist with a record of inciting racism against the Arabs who make up 20 per cent of Israels population and who advocates the deportation of disloyal Palestinian citizens.

The latter is led by Bezalel Smotrich who, when he was accused of whipping up anti-Arab feeling, told Arab Israeli lawmakers in October 2021 that its a mistake that Ben-Gurion [Israels first prime minister] didnt finish the job and didnt throw you out in 1948.

Last month, he said the Palestinian town of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it, not, God forbid, private individuals. He also proudly describes himself as a fascist homophobe, saying the Gay Pride parades for which Israel is renowned are worse than bestiality.

All of Israels woes  and Netanyahus  stem from the inclusion of these two men in his coalition. Aware that the supreme court would block many elements of their radical agenda, they demanded judicial reform as the price of joining Netanyahus government.

Such a course also suited him, as it promised a means of scuppering his trial. Indeed, the Religious Zionists had said explicitly during the election campaign that they would abolish the crimes of fraud and breach of trust for lawmakers.

As the supreme court became willing to strike down government legislation, many on the Right  including the moderate Right  argued for politicians to be given a role in the selection of judges.

One of the most important elements of Netanyahus judicial overhaul was a bill that changed the make-up of the nine-member committee that selects judges, in order to give the government a majority.

Because this was seen in part as a bid by Netanyahu to save his own skin, what could otherwise have been a controversial but second-order issue become the most serious crisis Israel has faced, short of an invasion.

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest

Even many of Netanyahus supporters fear that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir could be able to reverse laws enshrining female equality and LGBT rights, and that the religious parties would change Israels character.

They also worry that Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, will provoke anarchy in the West Bank, where 500,0000 Jewish settlers live alongside three million Palestinians. Until Netanyahus climbdown yesterday, Israel was in a full-scale crisis.

Airports and the seaports of Haifa and Ashdod were closed and the stock market said it would shut today.

Perhaps most seriously of all, a general strike was called with hundreds of thousands on the streets. And these were not radical protesters, or an unruly mob of the sort we have seen in Paris.

Quite the opposite. They included  and represented  the core of Israels establishment.

Earlier this month, for example, 37 of the 40 reserve pilots in the Israeli air forces legendary 69th Squadron refused to attend a training exercise, joining the protests instead. In a country surrounded by enemies, the military holds a special place in peoples hearts and the members of the 69th are particularly venerated.

It is telling that what turned the protests into a full-blown crisis was the decision on Saturday of defence minister Yoav Galant to demand a halt to the reforms, saying that the divisions seen on the streets had started to impair the militarys capability, with ever more reservists threatening to refuse to report for duty. Netanyahus response was to sack Galant.

Now he has taken the path of least resistance and put off any reforms until the summer. But we will be here again when the plans are reintroduced. Far from dealing with the crisis, Netanyahu has merely prolonged it.
Good packaging can convince shoppers to buy something quickly and impulsively.

Brands spend thousands on eye-catching campaigns that have customers forlornly cutting into the painstakingly-presented items to get their hands on the actual purchase.

And website Bored Panda has collated a selection of items on the shelves which had people so impressed, that they took to social media to share them.

The kitschy packaging ranged from making bread buns in Taiwan look like a six-pack to showing off French perfume samples in orange-slice-shaped bottles.

One hungry social media poster shared a snap these cleverly packaged buns - designed to look like a model's six-pack - in Taiwan

In another instance, a Russian designer created food packaging which made ready-to-boil pasta look like hair.

And an American teacher was able to bring a touch of sinister to the classroom with a box of chalk that created the terrifying illusion of a clown with huge teeth.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at some of the most creative designs...

If you fancy a particularly haunting game of hopscotch, these may be perfect for you! A New York-based company placed their white chalk in a box which made them look like clown teeth

Russian designer Nikita Konkin has won awards for this packaging, which depicts Good Hair Day Pasta as styled tresses

This New-Zealand based company sells its 'lamby dryerballs' in an adorable washing-machine-shaped box

One vintage, 1920s fragrance from France is still revered on social media, for its kitsch citrus design

A Pringles fan was wowed when they saw that the crisps, in a store in Nepal, had different mascot expressions based on the flavour

Maksim Arbuzov, who is originally from Tomsk in Siberia, designed this gorgeous bee-hive-shaped honey glass

Have you ever wished you had a dollop of olive oil ready in your handbag? Thanks to this company based in Spain, you now can!

Russian dairy company Milgrad definitely made shoppers smile with this clever feline packaging display
An elementary school teacher has left the internet in hysterics after sharing the very candid responses she has received on 'tattle forms' from her class.

Jillian Magee, who lives in Greater Washington, took to TikTok to give a riveting insight into the everyday struggles of her third graders.

The 30-year-old, who has been teaching for seven years, set up the 'tattle box' where pupils could privately share their grievances.

And, although some exposed some wayward behavior, most of the responses concern lesser crimes including 'making fart noises' and 'falling on the floor.'

Jillian Magee, who lives in Greater Washington, took to TikTok to give a riveting insight into the everyday struggles of her third graders

The 30-year-old, who has been teaching for seven years, set up the 'tattle box' where pupils could privately share their grievances

Most of the responses concern lesser crimes including 'making fart noises,' 'falling on the floor,' and being told to 'stop chewing'

Revelations from Jillian's third graders 'She keeps on getting in people's business'

'Told me to stop chewing'

'Called my shoes ugly'

'Keeps falling on the floor'

'She cut in line on the playground'

'Called me ugly when we were in class'

'Said he needed erasers and then just kept them. I want them back'

'He keeps looking at me and growling, can you please do something about it?'

'Called me annoying and called me musty, I called him musty back'

'Keeps talking to me for no reason'

'She keeps tapping her foot and people said stop 10 times'

'Is too annoying'

'He's making fart noises'

'Ate my green marker'

'Said we should live on a lily pad' Advertisement

Jillian introduced the 'tattle box' - made from an old tissue box - after lessons were repeatedly interrupted by 'random' complaints from the youngsters.

And it quickly became a popular way for her class to confidentially vent about problems both big and small.

She told Fox News Digital: 'Kids are going to tell you every little thing that's going on.

'If they have something that they want to tell me, but they're too afraid to say it in person, they can write it down instead.'

'I think it has added to their confidence,' she added.

'They are learning that it's okay to speak up - that they can say something.'

She now sifts through the complaints daily.

Jillian addresses any major incidents - such as those that involve inappropriate words or actions - with the students directly.

But the teacher also shares some of the more light-hearted problems on her dedicated 'tattler' TikTok account, where she has so far gained more than 105,000 followers.

Some of the most recent student grievances to get aired included complaints about 'cutting in line,' 'purposefully falling on the floor,' and even 'making fart noises.'

Equally, there were other tales that featured pupils eating green markers and repeatedly tapping their feet.

And the bizarre, and sometimes nonsensical, revelations have left social media in hysterics with her followers flooding the comments.

One user wrote: 'This is a great way for them to vent in secrecy.

'Last thing kids need is to be stressed at school.'

Jillian is now hoping to inspire other educators to employ similar tactics in their own classrooms

The teacher shares some of the more light-hearted problems on her dedicated 'tattler' TikTok account where she has so far gained more than 105,000 followers

Jillian introduced the 'tattle box' - made from an old tissue box - after lessons were repeatedly interrupted by 'random' complaints from the youngsters

And the bizarre, and sometimes nonsensical, revelations have left social media in hysterics with her followers flooding the comments

Another added: 'Please, what grade are these kids? They are hilarious. Your days must be so entertaining.'

And a third joked: 'I feel like tattle boxes should be used in the workplace too lol.'

But, to counterbalance the negativity, Jillian has recently introduced a 'shout-out' box where pupils can share praise for their classmates.

She now hoping to inspire other educators to employ similar tactics in their own classrooms.
A man who claims to be engaged to a rag doll has announced the 'birth' of their third child together.

Cristian Montenegro, from Colombia, has previously described his fiance Natalia as the 'love of his life'.

The couple - who already share a son and a daughter together - revealed that they have called their newborn Sammy.

Photos from the 'birth' show Natalia dressed in a hospital gown while lying down on a bed.

As her fiance stands by her side, a rag doll doctor - dressed in a white lab coat, hair net and face mask - is seen attending to the expectant mother.

Cristian shared this selfie shortly after his son Sammy was 'born'. His fiance Natalia was pictured in a hospital gown while being tended to by a rag doll doctor

During the labour, Cristian is pictured covering his face with his hands as his fights back tears.

Moments after Sammy's arrival, the proud father posed for a selfie with his new son laying on his mother's stomach in the background.

Earlier this week, Cristian shared the happy news with his TikTok followers in a now-deleted video.

He captioned the clip: 'Welcome Sammy Montenegro.'

Viewers rushed to congratulate the proud parents in the comments.

One replied: 'Congratulations to you and your family.'

'He is so beautiful,' another added. 'He looks like a little baby doll.'

'Welcome Sammy,' a third gushed.

The couple already share two older children and are currently planning their wedding after Cristian proposed last August

The devoted mother pictured with her older son and daughter. She welcomed son Sammy earlier this week

Meanwhile, others were impressed with the scale of the photoshoot.

In awe of the set-up, a fourth said: 'This guy needs to be a production editor, no lie.'

'The best of all is the doctor,' another fan said.

'I can't,' a critic replied. 'I'm so scared and laughing at the same time.'

Before meeting Natalia , Cristian says he had been single for a number of years.

In August 2022, the couple announced they were in the process of planning their dream wedding after Cristian popped the question.

Cristian appeared visibly emotional during the labour and was pictured holding back tears as his son entered the world

Pictured: Natalia being tended to by a rag doll doctor during the labour. The mother was picturd in a hospital gown and hair net

Left: Cristian and Natalie pictured with her third child Sammy shortly after his arrival into the world. Right: The mother-and-son pictured following the labour

Cristian shared this photo of his wife and new son on social media shortly after Sammy's arrival into the world

The news divided viewers - with some rushing to congratulate the family-of-five while others said they didn't know whether to 'laugh or cry'

The father-of-three previously hit back at critics online - highlighting how his rag doll family brings him enormous happiness.

Responding to trolls, he said: 'If it weren't for the dolls, I would be more alone than anyone. At least I have something.

'With my Natalia, we watch TV and talk about everything. They don't know how much I love her.'

Earlier this year, Cristian threw his fiance a baby shower ahead of little Sammy's arrival - prompting his TikTok viewers to question if Natalia would be having a 'natural birth' or a C-section.

What's more, Cristian isn't the first person to fall head over heels with a rag doll and start a family.

Meirivone Rocha Moraes who married rag doll revealed he 'cheated' last year- just as the pair were set to celebrate first wedding anniversary.

In a recent video, which has racked up 120,000 views and 2,194 likes, the man filmed Natalia and himself wearing matching T-shirts with 'Papa de Sammy' and 'Mama de Sammy' written across them

Cristian previously said he met Natalia after years of being single. He hit back at trolls last year and said: 'They don't know how much I love her.'

Left: Cristian pictured with their two other children. Right: The proud father enjoying an outdoor date with his fiance

Left: Cristian says he had been single for a number of years before meeting Natalia. Right: The couple pictured out and about together

Left: The couple share a loving kiss. Right: Cristian and Natalia - who have now welcomed three children - pictured on a campsite

The proud parents aren't afraid of what critics make of their unusual relationship and often post pictures sharing kisses in public

Last year, Meirivone Rocha Moraes, 37, from Brazil, who married rag doll reveals he cheated - just as pair set to celebrate first wedding anniversary

Meirivone has since admitted their relationship is 'hanging on by a thread' after claiming he has 'cheated' on her

She has since admitted their relationship is 'hanging on by a thread' after claiming he has 'cheated' on her.

In the latest twist in the very bizarre tale, she's claimed he 'went to a motel with another woman', and even says she 'found texts on his phone'.

After a whirlwind romance, she claimed to have fallen 'pregnant' and as she didn't want to have the baby out of wedlock, the duo decided to get hitched in a ceremony attended by 250 people.

Soon, she 'gave birth' in only 35 minutes while at home, with a doctor and nurse on site, and live-streamed the ordeal to an audience of 200 people.

While overjoyed about their new arrival, Meirivone revealed she started to have doubts about their relationship because she is the only breadwinner and they were struggling to pay the bills.

The mother-of-three and her rag doll lover are sleeping in separate beds after she caught him 'cheating' with another woman.
A throuple who say they are all equal in their relationship are hoping to 'marry' each other and raise a family.

Adam Joshua, 27, from from Vancouver, British Columbia, started dating Zeke Taylor, 24, in 2016 while they were both studying for their engineering degree at university.

The relationship was going well and the pair decided they wanted to try an open relationship, which they say 'formed organically'.

And in September 2021, Adam and Zeke met Derrick Kennedy, 30, and said they 'aligned' - and became a throuple.

The group made their relationship official in November 2022, after Zeke and Adam said they started to fall in love with Derrick.

Throuple Zeke Taylor, Adam Joshua and Derrick Kennedy, from British Columbia, are hoping to marry and start a family together

Left to right: Derrick Kennedy, Zeke Taylor and Adam Joshua. Engineers Zeke and Adam were already in a relationship and say it was 'uniqute' to experience falling in love with another person at the same time

Now they all date as a three and plan to get married with the hope of one day starting a family.

Adam, an engineer, said: 'Our interests aligned straight away.

'We spent a lot of time together through the whole of summer, going on hikes and crazy adventures. When we got into fall, instead of things fizzling out we kept spending time together.

'As things went on we spoke about our life plans and things just aligned.

'One of the coolest things about this experience is to fall in love with someone and share that with my partner.

Adam and Zeke have been a couple since 2016. The pair decided they wanted to try an open relationship, which they say 'formed organically' in 2021

Adam Joshua and Zeke Taylor who met while they were both studying for their engineering degree at university

Adam Joshua, Derrick Kennedy and Zeke Taylor. The trio insist everyone's equal in the relationship and if anyone is feeling jealous they will speak out

Zeke Taylor, Derrick Kennedy and Adam Joshua. Adam said they always try to go on dates as a trio and not leave one person out

'Me and Zeke got to date and fall in love with someone at the same time, it is so incredible and so unique.'

Adam said he doesn't blame anyone for having a hard time understanding a throuple and admits he had insecurities at first.

He said: 'I can't say I didn't have my insecurities talking about it - no doubt it is unconventional.

'I am very fortunate that my family is very supportive of me as a gay person and they are very open-minded.

'I went to my mother and told her the situation and that we were falling in love with Derrick.

'I told her I know it's non-traditional. but it feels healthy and I did not see a reason not to be in a throuple - apart from the fact it is unconventional.'

Talking about what he loves about their relationship, Zeke, an engineer, said: 'The best part of being in a throuple is that it feels like you're spending time with your two best friends who you are also in love with.'

When it comes to dating, Adam said that nobody is ever 'intentionally excluded', and if possible they always try to go on date as a three.

He said: 'If all three of us are available all three of us will hang out, but if someone isn't available then the other two will go ahead and go for dinner.

'We don't limit ourselves there. But we have trust that two of us can go on a date and not intentionally exclude the other one.|'

Adam said that the way they function as a throuple is they all have an equal stake in the relationship.

The engineer said this isn't always the case with throuples and that there is usually a primary partnership and a third, but that is not them.

Adam said: 'There were a lot of conversations for this to work and establish that we are all equal.

'It was also interesting because when Derrick came into the relationship because I had a gay couple TikTok.

'At first this wasn't an issue, but when we got into this throuple that had to change.

'A big changing point was where I felt comfortable posting us as a throuple..'

Adam Joshua, Derrick Kennedy and Zeke Taylor. Derrick said that when they encounter problems, it's great having three different people to solve the issue

Adam said that he and his partners all experience jealousy. but when they do they speak up and talk about how they are feeling.

He added that it's the main reason people are scared of getting into a trouple, but said you 'have to embrace it'.

'We speak up for ourselves,' he said. 'If you are feeling two might be cuddling more than the other, instead of letting that feeling fester you just raise your hands and speak about it.

'Another thing is we look at jealousy in a different way. If one partner is out of town in a two-way relationship the other person would be left alone.

'In this relationship, if one of us is out of town then the other two will spend time together. We see it as a positive that we have someone there for our partner to be with.'

Adam Joshua and Derrick Kennedy, who says he feels lucky to have 'two incredible life partners'

Adam Joshua and Zeke Taylor. The couple had discussed starting a family together before they welcomed Derrick into their relationship

Adam Joshua, Derrick Kennedy and Zeke Taylor. The trio are hoping to have a 'symbolic' wedding ceremony to represent their commitment to each other

Derrick, a police officer from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, said: 'I love sharing everything that life has to offer with two incredible life partners.

'When things get complicated, we have the benefit of having three to solve the problem.'

Adam said that he and his partners would love to get married and have kids because it is something he and Zeke had seriously discussed before getting into a throuple.

He said: 'All of us want to get married, but we don't have a timeline for that yet.

'It couldn't be a legal marriage, but we want one that is more symbolic with the promise of spending out lives together.

'To make a partnership like this work people need to employ honesty and open communication more so than you would in a two-people relationship.

'For us, there are no playbooks, I don't know any throuples, I don't read about any - we had to figure this out ourselves.'
Queen Letizia looked effortlessly elegant in a form-fitting lilac dress as she attended a conference in Cadiz with King Felipe this afternoon.

The European monarch, 50, was all smiles as she arrived at the Falla Theatre ahead of the International Congress of the Spanish Language.

For the event, the mother-of-two - who has recently divided opinion by letting her natural greys show - opted for a statement purple dress with a plunging V-neck.

Along with ruching around the bust, the midi-dress also featured slightly puffed sleeves and a thigh-high split up the front.

In keeping with her spring-like attire, Letizia accessoried her frock with a small 110 leather handbag by Spanish brand Olivia Mareque in the exact same shade of lilac.

Queen Letizia of Spain, 50, donned a plunging lilac dress with ruched sleeves to attend the International Congress of the Spanish Language at the Falla Theate in Cadiz this afternoon

But rather than keeping for the thick leather lilac strap that comes with the bag, Letizia opted for a 26 alternative - featuring two dainty leather knots on either side.

Allowing her spring-like dress to take centre stage, Letizia finished off her ensemble with a pair of nude patent slingback heels by Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera.

To compliment her outfit's lilac theme, Letizia also opted for some brown-toned makeup.

The royal was pictured rocking a shimmery smokey eye which she offset with a swipe of copper-toned lipstick.

Cutting a sophisticated figure, Letizia styled her hair in a bouncy blow-dry with subtle lose waves.

Other than some feather-shaped dangly earrings, Letizia kept her jewellery to an absolute minimum for the outing.

The royal joined her husband this afternoon to open 10th International Congress of the Spanish Language.

Following a commencement speech, the King and Queen of Spain will visit two of the conference's exhibitions, which have been organised by the Cervantes Institute.

Queen Letizia paired her lilac dress with some blue-and-purple feather-shaped dangly earrings for her engagement today

The royal pictured speaking with members of the public as she arrived with her husband King Felipe at the Cadiz venue

The mother-of-two paired her lilac dress with some nude patent slingback heels by Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera

Pictured: King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain greet crowds outside of the conference in Cadiz this afternoon

The royal offset her lilac dress with some brown-toned shimmery eyeshadow and some copper lipstick

They will later take part in sessions attended by some of the 300 experts from the Spanish-speaking world who have gathered for the conference.

This will include an evening lecture at the Parador Nacional called 'Unity and diversity of Spanish: Tradition and the challenge of artificial intelligence'.

Writing for the Daily Mail today, Christa D Souza argued that Letizia's grey streak 'signifies a woman who has given up'.

She wrote: 'My goodness, Queen Letizia of Spain, 50, is beautiful. That skin. That figure. And that hair  luscious and brown and now with a single grey streak running down one side. Although on the hair front, if I may be so bold, Your Majesty, are you sure you're OK with the grey?'

In 2021, stylists told FEMAIL Letizia was 'embracing her authentic natural beauty' by letting her grey hair show.

Queen Letizia of Spain pictured earlier this month, sporting a streak of her grey hair at an engagement

Pictured: Queen Letizia of Spain shows off her natural grey streak while attending the 10th Promotion of Honorary Ambassadors for the "Spain" Brand at Palacio Real de El Pardo

Celebrity hair stylist Tom Smith said: 'Lockdown has helped Queen Letizia get used to her natural tones and she is feeling empowered and confident.

Queen Letizia looks more youthful and radiant with the shimmer of grey coming through.

'Queen Letizia is making a bold statement by showcasing her grey roots in public as the worlds media will critique her. The change in beauty standards means grey hair is no longer a taboo. Grey hairs have become part of a persons identity.'

Letizia, who previously worked as a journalist, has worked closely with the Royal Spanish Academy - which is the official institution overseeing the Spanish language since 1713 - for a number of years.

The royal, whose father Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez and stepmother Ana Togores are both journalists, met her husband King Felipe when she was asked to interview him in her job as a reporter.

Letizia's media career was a lengthy one and began with a stint at Asturian daily paper, La Nueva Espana.

Next came a role at ABC, a popular national newspaper that enjoys the third largest circulation in Spain, before spells at EFE and Mexican publication Siglo 21, which is based in Guadelajara.

Back in Spain a year later, she worked for the Spanish version of Bloomberg, a news channel and agency specialising in economics, before moving to CNN+.

By the time she met her husband-to-be, Letizia was working for popular TV channel 24 Horas, where she anchored the popular Telediario 2 evening news bulletin.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf narrowly wins SNP leadership battle despite campaign beset by gaffes and infighting

Humza Yousaf narrowly won the bitter five-week battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon on March 27, 2023.

Mr Yousaf, 37, said he was the 'luckiest man in the world' as he was elected to take over as First Minister and in a speech at the count in Edinburgh, he entreated his colleagues to remember they are 'one team'.

He pledged to govern for 'all of Scotland' - and also movingly reassured his daughters that there was still 'no more important job in my life than being your dad'.

At his side at the Murrayfield Stadium was his second wife Nadia El-Nakla, their daughter Amal and his step-daughter.

But who is Nadia El-Nakla? Here FEMAIL takes a look at the woman who has supported Mr Yousaf throughout his campaign to become SNP leader and Scotland's first minister...

Who is Nadia El-Nakla?

Humza Yousaf with his wife Nadia El-Nakla as he arrives to be sworn in as Scotland's First Minister at the Scottish High Court in Edinburgh

Humza (pictured with his wife and their daughter) narrowly won the bitter five-week battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon on March 27, 2023

Mr Yousef looked happy as he posed for photos alongside his wife, Nadia (R), step-daughter, Maya (L) and daughter, Amal (2nd R) at Bute House in Edinburgh

Ms El-Nakla, 39, who has a Palestinian father, was born in Scotland. She married Mr Yousaf in 2019 and the couple live in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee.

Who is new SNP leader Humza Yousaf? Humza Yousaf became Scotland's first Muslim Cabinet minister in 2018, when he was appointed justice secretary. The 37-year-old father has been MSP for Glasgow Pollok since 2016, having previously been elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow region in 2011 at the age of just 26. He has been serving as the Scottish Government's health secretary, and was widely regarded as the 'continuity' candidate - although Nicola Sturgeon has refused to back anyone. Despite long being tipped as a possible replacement for Ms Sturgeon as First Minister, there were concerns Mr Yousaf's chances could have been harmed by the current health crisis in Scotland. He has come under particular pressure over long waiting times for ambulances and emergency care. Leadership rival Kate Forbes was particularly scathing about his record in various government briefs during the TV debates. Mr Yousaf has a daughter and a stepchild with his second wife Nadia El-Nakla. Advertisement

They have one three-year-old daughter together, Amal. Ms El-Nakla also has a daughter from a previous marriage.

In May 2022, the trained psychotherapist became an SNP councillor for the West End of Dundee.

After winning the council seat, she said, via The National: 'I really want to take this time in the next five years to invest in women and get them into politics because in the Broughty Ferry ward I dont think weve ever seen a female councillor in I dont know how long.'

She has worked for Scottish Government minister Shona Robison and stood for the SNP in North East Scotland in the 2021 Holyrood election. However, she was unsuccessful.

The mother-of-two doesn't have a large social media presence, however she does appear often on her husband's Instagram account.

Showing their fun side, the couple have also joined their daughters on an amusing TikTok video to launch Mr Yousaf's profile.

Sharing it on Twitter in December 2020, he wrote: 'So after telling me not to ruin TikTok for her, my step-daughter decided to direct our first bit of content.

'Bit of light-hearted fun - and don't worry no dad dancing...!' he concluded about the clip, which showed the family decide between different options as they were presented throughout the video.

Why else has Ms El-Nakla been in the news?

Details of Ms El-Nakla's marriage breakdown to IT expert Fariad Umar were reportedly made public in a court case in 2018.

She confessed to having an affair with a fellow SNP member who was accused of sending her racist texts, according to the Scottish Daily Express.

Meanwhile, in 2021 Mr Yousaf and his second wife launched a legal complaint against a nursery, accusing it of racial discrimination after it denied admission to their daughter.

Humza and Nadia share a three-year-old daughter together, Amal. Ms El-Nakla also has a daughter Maya from a previous marriage

The couple regularly show off their fun side on TikTok along with their daughters to help launch Mr Yousaf's profile

Humza Yousaf with his wife Nadia El-Nakla, daughter Amal and step-daughter (left) at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on March 27, 2023

Ms El-Nakla (pictured with Mr Yousaf, left), 39, who has a Palestinian father, was born in Scotland. She married Mr Yousaf in 2019 and the couple live in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee

After being told there was no space for the couple's daughter at Little Scholars in Broughty Ferry near Dundee, Ms El-Nakla and a friend put in fake applications for children with 'white-sounding names'.

While a watchdog told the nursery to change its procedures, Ms El-Nakla dropped her legal action against it. The nursery denied the accusations.

In August 2021, in a statement released through their solicitor, the couple said: 'Despite being given ample opportunity, Little Scholars Day Nursery in Broughty Ferry have failed to admit, explain or apologise for their discriminatory behaviour.

'We have both stood against hatred our whole lives, often being the targets of vile abuse. We will not accept our children being discriminated against by anyone.

'Like any other parents we simply want our children to be treated equally, regardless of their colour of skin or religion.

In May 2022, the trained psychotherapist (pictured with her family) became an SNP councillor for the West End of Dundee

The mother-of-two doesn't have a large social media presence, however she does appear often on her husband's Instagram account (pictured)

Showing their fun side, the couple have also joined their daughters on an amusing TikTok video to launch Mr Yousaf's profile

Humza Yousaf hugs his wife Nadia El-Nakla and daughter Amal at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on March 27, 2023

'We strongly believe we have evidence of systemic discrimination being carried out by Little Scholars Day Nursery.

'As passionate believers in the fairness of Scotland's justice system, we have now instructed our solicitor Aamer Anwar to initiate court proceedings and are determined to fight for justice for our daughter.'

A spokesperson for the nursery told the Daily Record at the time: 'Our nursery is extremely proud of being open and inclusive to all and any claim to the contrary is demonstrably false and an accusation that we would refute in the strongest possible terms.'

The spokesperson added: 'In addition to our owners being of Asian heritage, across more than a decade we have regularly welcomed both children and staff from a range of different religious, cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds including two Muslim families currently.

'We have also regularly made arrangements to accommodate different lifestyles by, for example, providing a halal menu for those children who come from Muslim families.'
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria has been pictured in smiling snaps with his fiancee ahead of their upcoming Spring wedding at Theatiner Church in Munich.

The royal, 40, and Oxford criminology student Sophie-Alexandra Evekink, 32, announced their engagement last summer.

New images show the besotted couple, who will tie the knot in May, looking loved-up as they pose for photos in a sunny park.

The Prince's future wife donned a forest green turtleneck teamed with matching tailored culottes.

She was effortlessly elegant in a brown suede jacket, which belted at the waist for a cinched silhouette.

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria has been pictured in smiling snaps with his fiancee ahead of their upcoming Spring wedding at Theatiner Church in Munich

The Dutch and Canadian national kept her accessories minimal with a necklace and pearl earrings, wearing her chestnut tresses in waves, styled as a half-up-half-down look.

Tan heeled boots and a spot of dewy make-up finished the look off as she grinned while holding hands with her fiance.

Elsewhere Ludwig looked sophisticated in khaki corduroys and a matching tweed blazer.

He wore a chic brown jumper over a striped button-up, tying the ensemble together with black leather shoes.

Another photographed showed the couple against the backdrop of a canal. Sophie showed off her emerald engagement ring, wearing a chic white blouse and plaid-print skirt, as she held onto her future husband.

Meanwhile Ludwig changed out his blazer for a lighter, linen jacket and sported a burgundy tie.

Ludwig is the eldest son of Prince Luitpold and the great-great grandson of Bavaria's last King Ludwig III, while Sophie was born in Singapore to a Dutch-Canadian family.

The royal, 40, and Oxford criminology student Sophie-Alexandra Evekink, 32, announced their engagement last summer

New images show the besotted couple, who will tie the knot in May, looking loved-up as they pose for photos in a sunny park

Rumours started mounting that the pair were set to marry after she was spotted wearing a large emerald ring on her engagement finger at a wedding the couple attended last year.

Speaking to Germany's Bild newspaper, Prince Luitpold said he hoped the couple would 'start a family soon', adding: 'Ludwig made a good choice. My future daughter-in-law is a very intelligent and educated woman.'

News of their engagement was shared by Office of the Bavarian Royal House alongside two pictures of the couple in which they can be seen posing in traditional outfits.

Prince Ludwig, whose parents are Prince Luitpold and Princess Beatrix, is the eldest of five siblings.

He spent much of his childhood at Schloss Kaltenberg, and attended the Rhabanus-Maurus-Gymnasium St. Ottilien in Eresing.

Prince Ludwig of Bavaria announced his engagement to Oxford criminology student Sophie-Alexandra Evekink last year

As an 18-year-old, he founded his own IT company before he went on to study law in Gottingen, where he focused on human rights.

Since 2011, he has also shown a great interest in East Africa and specifically Kenya.

In 2015, he founded Startup Lions, which is described online as a 'digital empowerment program, providing opportunities to learn, earn and innovate for young adults in rural Kenya.'

He now serves as CEO of the company, and spends ten months of the year in East Africa and two months in Bavaria.

While in the country, the royal is also already very involved in his family and regularly accompanies his father to public events.

It is not known how or when Prince Ludwig met his future wife Sophie, who also has a high powered career of her own.

She is the daughter of Dorus Evekink, who works as a lecturer at Maastricht School of Business.

The student, who has dual Dutch/Canadian citizen, has a Bachelors degree in Politics and East European Studies from University College London (UCL) and a Masters in Science from the University of Oxford.

Speaking to Germany's Bild newspaper, Prince Luitpold said he hoped the couple would 'start a family soon'

She is currently working towards a PhD at University of Oxford which focuses on justice for victims of conflict-related sexual violence.

She previously worked for seven years in New York at the United Nations in various roles.

According to an online biography of the future royal, Sophie 'has a keen interest in violence prevention and womens human rights, themes on which she has conducted research in the Middle East and Caucasus, as well as a passion for efforts which help build global consensus and bridge voices of the Global North and South.

'She has previously also written on terrorism and radicalisation, and human trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe.'

It is understood Prince Ludwig proposed to Sophie in Berchtesgaden and it is currently unknown where the couple will go on to live.
Queen Letizia of Spain sported the chic midi-dress during events in Cadiz today

Queen Letizia of Spain donned a chic black dress as she attended events for the inauguration of the IX International Congress of the Spanish Language.

The royal, 50, was effortlessly elegant as she and her husband King Felipe VI, 50, arrived at the Gran Teatro Falla in Cadiz.

Her chic Hugo Boss gown featured fishnet detailing along the neckline, and fanned out into stylish tasselled sleeves which draped over the arms.

For the event, the mother-of-two - who has recently divided opinion by letting her natural greys show - opted to style her tresses into a bun.

She carried a black clutch and teamed the ensemble with slingback stilettos.

The royal, 50, was effortlessly elegant as she and her husband King Felipe VI, 50, arrived at the Gran Teatro Falla in Cadiz

Letizia wore long, ornate statement earrings and kept her make-up look glamorous with a smokey eye.

Elsewhere Felipe cut a dapper silhouette in a pinstripe suit and blue tie, smiling as he made an appearance with his wife.

The European monarchs looked to be in high spirits as they attended the congress, during which attendees reflected on 'the reality of Spanish, its past, its present and its future, under the motto "Spanish language, miscegenation and interculturality. History and future"'.

The Spanish king had made a speech celebrating 'the great Hispanic convocation'.

Earlier today, the queen looked effortlessly elegant in a form-fitting lilac dress as she and Felipe attended a conference for the event this afternoon.

The queen was all smiles as she opted for a statement purple dress with a plunging V-neck.

Along with ruching around the bust, the midi-dress also featured slightly puffed sleeves and a thigh-high split up the front.

In keeping with her spring-like attire, Letizia accessorised her frock with a small 110 leather handbag by Spanish brand Olivia Mareque in the exact same shade of lilac.

Her chic gown featured fishnet detailing along the neckline, and fanned out into stylish tasselled sleeves which draped over the arms

For the event, the mother-of-two - who has recently divided opinion by letting her natural greys show - opted to style her tresses into a bun

Letizia wore long, ornate statement earrings and kept her make-up look glamorous with a smokey eye

Elsewhere Felipe cut a dapper silhouette in a pinstripe suit and blue tie, smiling as he made an appearance with his wife

Letizia smiled as she shook hands with attendees, wearing a chic black dress to the event with her husband

The European monarchs looked to be in high spirits as they attended the congress, during which attendees reflected on 'the reality of Spanish, its past, its present and its future'

But rather than keeping for the thick leather lilac strap that comes with the bag, Letizia opted for a 26 alternative - featuring two dainty leather knots on either side.

Allowing her spring-like dress to take centre stage, Letizia finished off her ensemble with a pair of nude patent slingback heels by Venezuelan designer Carolina Herrera.

To compliment her outfit's lilac theme, Letizia also opted for some brown-toned makeup.

The royal was pictured rocking a shimmery smokey eye which she offset with a swipe of copper-toned lipstick.

Letizia showed off the dress's statement tassel sleeves as she waved at attendees at today's engagement

The Spanish queen wore long dangly earrings to accessorise, opting to put her tresses up into a bun

The European monarch held onto a black clutch as she and her husband mingled with other attendees

Cutting a sophisticated figure, Letizia styled her hair in a bouncy blow-dry with subtle lose waves.

Other than some feather-shaped dangly earrings, Letizia kept her jewellery to an absolute minimum for the outing.

Writing for the Daily Mail today, Christa D Souza argued that Letizia's grey streak 'signifies a woman who has given up'.

She wrote: 'My goodness, Queen Letizia of Spain, 50, is beautiful. That skin. That figure. And that hair  luscious and brown and now with a single grey streak running down one side. Although on the hair front, if I may be so bold, Your Majesty, are you sure you're OK with the grey?'

Letizia smiled and waved at others as she attended the event. She wore black stiletto heels to the engagement

During the event, Letizia and Felipe attended the 'Tiempo de Luz' concert at the Falla Theater today

The Spanish king had made a speech celebrating 'the great Hispanic convocation'. Pictured during the Cadiz event with Letizia

Letizia chatted to a delighted well-wisher as she enjoyed the 'Tiempo de Luz' concert during today's event

In 2021, stylists told FEMAIL Letizia was 'embracing her authentic natural beauty' by letting her grey hair show.

Celebrity hair stylist Tom Smith said: 'Lockdown has helped Queen Letizia get used to her natural tones and she is feeling empowered and confident.

Queen Letizia looks more youthful and radiant with the shimmer of grey coming through'.

'Queen Letizia is making a bold statement by showcasing her grey roots in public as the world's media will critique her. The change in beauty standards means grey hair is no longer a taboo. Grey hairs have become part of a person's identity.'

Pictured: Queen Letizia of Spain shows off her natural grey streak while attending the 10th Promotion of Honorary Ambassadors for the 'Spain' Brand at Palacio Real de El Pardo

Queen Letizia of Spain pictured earlier this month, sporting a streak of her grey hair at an engagement

Letizia, who previously worked as a journalist, has worked closely with the Royal Spanish Academy - which is the official institution overseeing the Spanish language since 1713 - for a number of years.

The royal, whose father Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez and stepmother Ana Togores are both journalists, met her husband King Felipe when she was asked to interview him in her job as a reporter.

Letizia's media career was a lengthy one and began with a stint at Asturian daily paper, La Nueva Espana.

Next came a role at ABC, a popular national newspaper that enjoys the third largest circulation in Spain, before spells at EFE and Mexican publication Siglo 21, which is based in Guadelajara.

Back in Spain a year later, she worked for the Spanish version of Bloomberg, a news channel and agency specialising in economics, before moving to CNN+.

By the time she met her husband-to-be, Letizia was working for popular TV channel 24 Horas, where she anchored the popular Telediario 2 evening news bulletin.
Smart education platform boosts teacher training in China

Xinhua) 14:29, March 27, 2023

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- An online education platform, named Smart Education of China, has provided abundant and diversified training programs for Chinese teachers and helped improve their teaching level, according to a report published in People's Daily on Monday.

The platform was launched amid efforts to digitalize teacher training, stated the report, citing statistics from the Ministry of Education (MOE) which showed that more than 13.7 million teachers had participated in a training program designed for the winter vacation of 2023, accounting for 74.4 percent of all the full-time teachers in the country.

Most participants were satisfied with the online training program, while 90.5 percent of them said they believe the training can be directly applied in practical teaching, according to the news report.

A headmaster named Jiang Wei from east China's Anhui Province who participated in the relevant training program was quoted as saying that the smart education platform has helped rural teachers break the shackles of time and space in getting access to education resources, expanded their horizons and raised their teaching level.

According to an official with the MOE's teacher education department, the nationwide online training program has effectively transformed the learning style of teachers and improved their teaching practices, and more efforts will be made in this field to further meet the diverse and dynamic demands of teachers for learning and training, the report stated.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Sarah Ferguson has revealed that she is reminded of Queen Elizabeth II's advice to her when she goes walking with the corgis the late monarch entrusted her with.

Speaking tonight on The One Show to promote her latest book, A Most Intriguing Lady, the Duchess of York, 63, said that the dogs make her think of the 'values' upheld by her former mother-in-law.

'One thing I really love when I'm with them actually, cause I really think about HM and I just really think about the value system that she supported in this country,' the royal told presenters Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas.

'And I remember she used to say, "Sarah there needs to be more kindness in the world, which would disarm malice".'

The Duchess feels we should all 'stop to remember those words with respect and affection for a great leader, who has now passed it to another great leader in her son'.

Speaking tonight on The One Show to promote her latest book, A Most Intriguing Lady, the Duchess of York, 63, said that the dogs make her think of the 'values' upheld by her mother-in-law

'It's so funny to say that...straight off the corgis,' she added. 'But when I look at them I think "yes come on ".

Sarah also believes that the late monarch's message can, and should be, applied more broadly across the country.

'And I think - so important - for the whole country to unite and uphold the values that for 72 years the monarch gave us all, really.'

She also admitted to feeling frightened that something will happen to the dogs while she's out walking them.

'Because they're national treasures I'm terrified when they go out running,' she told the presenters. 'They chase everything. Straight into tress, bang, like that! I go "no, no, no, the nation loves you, stop, stop, stop chasing the squirrels!"'

It comes as Prince Andrew's ex-wife last week shared a sweet picture with fans to mark her younger daughter Princess Eugenie's 33rd birthday.

The mother-of-two penned a gushing post celebrating the big day on Instagram.

Sarah revealed that she is reminded of the late Queen's 'kindness' when she goes walking with the corgis the monarch entrusted her with. Pictured in 1989

Sarah posted an adorable picture of Eugenie rocking 90s fashion as a toddler in a stonewashed denim jacket and cute sunglasses.

The Duchess, who is commonly known as Fergie, called the royal, who is expecting her second child later this year, her 'magical beloved daughter.'

It comes as she also praised Eugenie and her older sister Princess Beatrice, 34, in a post shared on Mother's Day.

'Happy Happiest of birthdays, my Eugenie... Spring flowers always tells me the excitement of your birthday is soon and here we are.

'You are my magical beloved daughter and I am so proud of you,' Fergie added.

The picture accompanying the sweet message showed Eugenie as a young girl, donning a denim jacket, sunglasses and a pink bow in her hair.

Sarah also admitted to feeling frightened that something will happen to the dogs while she's out walking them. Sarah and the Queen pictured in 1990

Many fans joined Sarah in wishing Eugenie well on her birthday. It comes as Fergie paid tribute to both her daughters in a gushing Mother's Day post.

The Duchess of York, 63, lovingly referred to Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 32, as her 'sunshine' on Instagram.

The proud mother shared a throwback photo of her daughters arriving at their late grandfather Prince Philip's 80th birthday celebrations in Windsor in 2001.

She wrote: 'Im so proud of my girls and the beautiful women and mothers they have grown up to be. I feel extremely blessed to call them mine.

'My darlings, you are my sunshine always & forever. #happymothersday.'

Sarah also believes that the late monarch's message can, and should be, applied more broadly across the country. Pictured with her ex-husband (pictured far right) and late former mother-in-law in 1987

Eugenie - who was 11 at the time of her grandfather's 80th - wore an all-lime green outfit with dress and jacket with a small green leather clutch, while her elder sister - who was 13 - wore a similar outfit in pink.

Eugenie, who lives between the UK and Portugal with her husband Jack Brooksbank, welcomed her son August on February 9 2021.

In late January, the royal announced she is expecting her second child, due to be born later this year.

Meanwhile, Beatrice and her husband Edo Mappeli Mozzi are the proud parents of one daughter, Sienna, born in September 2021.

The couple also co-parent Edo's son Wolfie, six, with his ex-partner Dara Huang.
A bride-to-be was all set for her engagement party after ordering the 'perfect dress' - only to receive a completely different outfit just days before.

Zuzanna, from the US, had little to fear in terms of wedding planning.

The woman decided to bite the bullet and order a white lace maxi dress off Amazon that had almost 3000 positive reviews.

She was shocked when the retailer mistakenly sent her a shorter version of the dress that fell right above her knee.

The mistake put Zuzanna in a pickle, as she no longer had an outfit for her engagement party.

A woman was all set for her engagement party after ordering the perfect dress - only to have a completely different outfit sent to her just days before

Zuzanna shared photos of the dress 'fail' on a popular Facebook group hoping to make light of the stressful situation.

'It's not a bad dress at all,' she said in her post. 'But it's really not what I was going for.'

She warned others about the dangers of online shopping without looking at clothing before purchasing.

'Be careful what you order,' she wrote in the caption. 'I bought this dress for my engagement party on Saturday ... I definitely will not be wearing it!'

The bride-to-be revealed that she was extremely surprised when she opened her package, as the reviews were 'great'.

She also admitted that the material felt 'cheap' and like it would 'fall apart'.

'The material is super cheap feeling, but I feel like I could have worn it once before it fell apart in the wash.'

Zuzanna's dress fail was thankfully a 'fluke' for her, as she revealed she had 'never' had a problem with anything else she bought off of Amazon.

'I don't hate the dress, it's just not right for the occasion and that's so sad.'

Instead, the American woman will now have to hunt for another dress on her lunch breaks before the weekend.

The bride-to-be ordered a white lace maxi dress off Amazon [left] - only for the retailer to send her a shorter version of the dress that fell right above her knee [right]

A few in the comments found a shorter version of the dress Zuzanna ordered on the website, and realised the brand accidentally sent her the wrong version.

'They have a short dress on the site, they probably scanned the wrong item when they sent it to you.'

'It's probably a mistake - I have several of these maxi dresses. You should contact them.'

'They sadly shipped you the wrong one ... ordering online is such a gamble. But you look lovely in it!'

Many others poked fun at the hilarious fail.

'Where's the other half of the dress?' a man jovially asked.

'Wow, you must be really tall!'

'They forgot the last two feet of the dress.'
Ferrero Rocher is releasing three brand new ice creams in Australia.

The popular Italian chocolate brand has moulded their famous Ferrero Rocher and Ferrero Raffaello chocolates into three different stick ice creams.

Featuring a distinctive round shape and crunchy coating, the ice creams are strongly inspired by the fan-favourite chocolates.

Ferrero Rocher's brand new treats are expected to hit the shelves of Coles, Woolworths, and other major grocery shops before the end of May.

The ice creams will be available in 'Classic', 'Dark', and 'Raffaello' (coconut and white almonds) flavours.

The popular Italian chocolate brand has moulded their famous Ferrero Rocher and Ferrero Raffaello chocolates into three different stick ice creams

After a successful release in the United Kingdom and various other parts of Europe earlier in 2023, Australia will finally get a taste of the delectable desserts.

Mirroring the popular confectionery items, Ferrero Rocher has an ice cream for classic milk chocolate lovers, as well as a dark chocolate alternative.

The brand's Raffaello treats are also awarded a counterpart, with shoppers being able to purchase an ice cream version of the coconut and almond pralines as well.

'We know our fans have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of our ice creams, so we're thrilled to be launching our first-of-a-kind ice cream sticks,' the brand's UK and Ireland Ice Cream Marketing Director, Davina Valetti, said before their European release.

'Our dedicated team of experts have spent years crafting the recipes, inspired by two of our iconic and much-loved brands - Ferrero Rocher and Raffaello.'

'We're looking forward to our fans trying the ice creams and experiencing the unique and iconic tastes of our brands in a new and exciting way!'

Ferrero Rocher's brand new treats are expected to hit the shelves of Coles, Woolworths, and other major grocery shops before the end of May

Aussie Ferrero lovers cannot wait to get their hands on the new ice creams.

'Oh my goodness!' one exclaimed at the news.

'I better get in and grab some as soon as they're released.'

'These are sure to sell out - they look delicious!'
Drinking coffee regularly may reduce body fat and lower your risk of getting type 2 diabetes, a study suggests.

Researchers used genes which determine how fast people process caffeine to estimate the likely caffeine levels of almost 800,000 people over a lifetime, then looked at their weight.

People with the highest estimated caffeine level had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI).

They had a lower body fat percentage on average, and were also less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Coffee has long been suggested to burn fat and keep people slimmer, while previous studies have suggested people who drink three to five cups of coffee a day are less likely to get type 2 diabetes.

A study found that highest estimated caffeine level were also less likely to develop type 2 diabetes

But the new study was needed because it was unclear if coffee-drinkers were benefiting from caffeine or avoiding type 2 diabetes for other reasons - for example, because they tend to be middle-class, so can afford a healthier lifestyle.

The latest research avoided this problem by looking specifically at people with genetic quirks affecting how the body processes caffeine.

The people who processed caffeine more slowly, just like regular coffee-drinkers, would typically have a high level of caffeine in their blood.

So when these people were found to have a lower BMI, body fat mass and type 2 diabetes risk, this provided more evidence that the caffeine was responsible.

Dr Dipender Gill, senior author of the study, from Imperial College London, said: These results suggest caffeine may be linked to a lower body mass index, lower body fat and a reduced likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.

It may improve peoples metabolism, although this doesnt mean people should go out and drink lots of high-calorie caffeinated drinks like chai lattes.

If there is more evidence from larger trials in the future, it may suggest that people should consider drinking espressos or black coffee to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Medicine, looked at people with variations in the CYP1A2 and AHR genes, which meant they broke down caffeine at different rates.

People who broke down caffeine more slowly, so were likely to have a higher level of it in their blood, had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Analysis suggested about half of these peoples reduced risk of type 2 diabetes was explained by them having a lower body mass index.

Being thinner reduces the risk of developing the condition, which affects one in 10 people over the age of 40.

There is some evidence that caffeine causes the body to burn more of its fat stores, or simply makes people feel more full so that they eat less.

An average cup of coffee contains around 70 to 150 mg of caffeine, with evidence suggesting a daily intake of 100 mg may increase energy expenditure by around 100 calories a day.

However coffee also contains other compounds, like diterpenes, which may be less good for the metabolism.

The study found people with higher estimated levels of caffeine, based on their genes, were no less likely to develop major cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart failure.
England will be short of 570,000 NHS workers by 2036 without a massive boost in recruitment, officials have warned.

Staff shortages have been blamed for the ailing service's struggles in dealing with the Covid backlog and deteriorating A&E performance.

Currently, the NHS has around 150,000 vacancies.

But a leaked version of the NHS's long-awaited workforce plan warns that toll could treble without urgently bolstering the workforce, particularly with Brit medics. The NHS currently employs around 1.6million people.

However, the Treasury and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) are in disagreement over proposed hiring plans.

Jeremy Hunt's department reportedly considers it too ambitious and wants to get it watered down.

A leaked version of a long-awaited NHS workforce plans says there needs to be a dramatic increase in the number of health professionals trained in England, a 55 per cent boost in total, with particularly high increases in doctors, nurses and GPs

The long-awaited NHS workforce plans is reportedly stuck in a Whitehall tug-of-war between Health Secretary Steve Barclay (left) who supports plans to boost staff by 570,000 by 2036 and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (right) who is said to be balking at the billions needed

The leaked 107-page document warns that without radical action, England's NHS will have 8,000 less GPs, 44,000 fewer community nurses, and an even greater lack of paramedics in the next 15 years, according to the Guardian.

It adds that unless action is taken, the health service will be unable to meet the needs of England's growing and ageing population.

Rural areas, which already struggle to attract health staff, will also suffer disproportionally, the plan warns.

The document also states the NHS is currently running with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, 30,000 more than the official figure.

It also calls for the UK to end its over-reliance of recruiting overseas staff and using agency workers, which costs the taxpayer billions.

Read more: REVEALED: The NHS has spent more than 500m on hiring foreign staff in just five years - including on overseas trips, long-haul flights and visas The extraordinary total spent by health trusts across the country, revealed under Freedom of Information laws, would almost be enough to fund a 1 per cent pay rise for nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists Advertisement

To combat these problems the document recommends a massive boost in funded training places for England to grow its own health workforce.

This includes doubling the number of medical school places to 15,000.

The number of trainee GPs will also need to increase from 4,000 to 6,000, and the annual number of nurses trained per year will need to jump from 29,865 to 52,722, a whopping 77 per cent increase.

Dentists will also need to see their numbers boost by 40 per cent, and physiotherapists and their allied health professionals will also need a 20 per cent boost.

Overall, the current version of the plan states the NHS needs to increase the overall number of health professionals it trains from 66,032 to 102,484, a 55 per cent rise.

A segment of the plan reads: 'Without any intervention or improvement in productivity, the workforce shortfall will grow to 571,000 full-time equivalents by 2036/37.'

An extra 571,000 staff would be equivalent to boosting NHS England's workforce by 37 per cent, which would come at a massive payroll roll cost, especially as unions campaign to boost pay in the health service.

But it argues the alternative is to continue to pay the huge temporary staff bills to fill rota gaps, with the NHS having recently spent 3 billion on agency services.

The document states that spending on bank and agency staff the NHS has risen by 51 and 26 per cent respectively since 2020, a spend it describes as 'poor value for money for the taxpayer'.

Data from the nursing regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, shows the UK is increasingly turning to international recruits to boost staff numbers. This year the number of international nurse recruits nearly equalled the number British nurses joining the profession for the first time ever. The data also shows the number of internationally trained nurses signing on in the UK has increased year-on-year, minus a blip of the Covid pandemic which hampered immigration

2022 NHS workforce data shows the proportion of non-British nationals working in the NHS in England has reached an all time high. Separate data, shown in the above graphs, shows this is not an anomaly with the proportion of doctors and nurses joining the NHS who originally trained outside the UK and the EU (the yellow lines) having been on the rise since 2015. In contrast the number of UK trained joiners has decreased over he same period (red lines) whereas the number of non-EU trained professionals has increased (yellow lines). The proportion of EU professionals has taken a sharp dive in the years after the 2016 Brexit vote

Data from the UK's doctor regulator, with which all based medical professionals must register with to work in both the NHS and privately shows a similar trend to today's analysis. India and Pakistan are clear frontrunners for doctors trained outside Britain, with almost 50,000 professionals between them. This is followed by Nigeria, Egypt , Ireland, South Africa, Greece, Sudan, Italy, and Romania

Nursing in the UK is also growing increasingly reliant on international recruits with India and the Philippines accounting for the lion's share of international nursing recruits, with over 15,000 between them. Worryingly, a fifth of the UK's international nursing recruits came from 'red list' countries where the NHS is banned from poaching nurses. These countries were Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal, and Pakistan. This data covers the period before Britain struck a special deal with Nepal to allow the NHS to recruit nurses from the country despite its red list status

It also takes aim at a recent surge in overseas recruitment in the NHS, with about a third of doctors and and a quarter of nurses now foreign nationals.

'International recruitment has supported necessary increases in some staff groups, such as doctors and nurses, but does not offer a universal solution to rising workforce demand,' it reads.

This criticism comes as it was revealed that NHS managers have spent over half a billion pounds on hiring foreign staff in just five years.

The 584million splurge of taxpayers cash was spent on recruitment costs including overseas trips, long-haul flights and visas.

It included millions were handed to agency middle-men who supply the health service with doctors and nurses from abroad with some of the cash even going in furniture for international workers along with iPads and gym memberships.

Read more: Junior doctors will strike for FOUR consecutive days in April: Militant BMA announces biggest walk-out yet after pay talks collapse Junior doctors on a picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in central London during their first strike earlier this month Advertisement

Experts have also warned the UK's increasing over-reliance on recruiting staff from other countries leaves it vulnerable to global market shifts as it competes with nations like the US and Australia for a limited pool of workers.

The leaked plan is currently in a tug-of-war between Treasury and DHSC who are reportedly arguing over the specific wording and ambitions mentioned within.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is said to be supportive of the plan's ambition, recognising that if the NHS is to meet the challenges of beating the backlog and bringing down cancer and A&E waits, it will need more staff.

But Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, an ex-health secretary himself, is said to be balking at the cost and wants to water down NHS England's proposals to boost staff training, which would cost billions.

Mr Hunt's reported opposition to the plan is ironic as, before becoming Chancellor, he was a vocal critic of Government's failure to produce NHS workforce plans as head of Commons health select committee.

The plan is due to officially published once they come to an agreement on the wording.

Opposition parties accused the Government of inaction over what they said was its long-running failure to staff the NHS properly.

Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow health secretary, said: 'The NHS is experiencing the worst workforce crisis in its history and it is crying out for the government to act.'

A DHSC spokesperson said that while they did not comment on leaks the Government was committed to boosting the workforce and the plan will be published soon.

'Were growing the health care workforce - recruiting 50,000 more nurses and we have almost hit our target of delivering 26,000 additional primary care staff,' they said.

'The NHS will soon publish a long-term workforce plan to support and grow the workforce.'
The scientists found those suffering with mental illness have accelerated ageing

Having a mental illness could be taking an even greater physical toll on your body than previously thought.

Scientists say people with conditions like bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety could be biologically up to two years older than their actual chronological age.

Experts from King's College London found the link after examining blood samples from over 110,000 Brits.

They were looking for specific markers related to ageing and linked these to history of mental illnesses.

Lead author Dr Julian Mutz, a neuroscientist, claimed the findings may partly explain why people with mental health problems tend to have shorter lifespans and more age-related diseases than the general population.

Mental illness makes you age quicker, according to scientists, as it's discovered that people with bipolar have bodies two years older than they actually are (stock image)

Experts analysed blood samples taken from 110,780 people and looked for 168 markers called metabolites, substances in the body related to the metabolism.

Studies have linked changes in the body's metabolites to the ageing process, with certain types found to decrease as people get older.

The researchers then linked this with health information linking to the participants' mental illness diagnosis.

Dr Mutz said: 'It is now possible to predict people's age from blood metabolites.

'We found that, on average, those who had a lifetime history of mental illness had a metabolite profile which implied they were older than their actual age.'

Detailed results showed people with bipolar disorder had blood markers indicating they were around two years older than their actual chronological age.

And Dr Mutz told The Telegraph people with depression had bodies around one year older, while for those with anxiety the increase was 0.7 years.

It follows on from a 2019 Danish study which found men and women with mental health conditions had shorter life expectancies than those that didn't, losing out 10 and seven years, respectively.

And the King's College London team responsible for the most recent findings, also discovered in 2022 that people with bipolar, depression and anxiety have an increased risk of frailty  a medical syndrome strongly associated with mortality risk.

Experts have suggested the link with these conditions and death is because mental illness negatively impacts lifestyle, biological and psycho-social factors, which accelerate ageing.

These factors can include being physically inactive, smoking, chronic inflammation and isolation.

And the new study backs up the theory that that mental health sufferers' bodies do age quicker.

Dr Mutz said: 'Our findings indicate that the bodies of people with mental health problems tend to be older than would be expected for an individual their age.

'This may not explain all the difference in health and life expectancy between those with mental health problems and the general population.

'But it does mean that accelerated biological ageing may be an important factor.'

The researcher claimed that the markers used in the study to to track ageing could be used to improve health monitoring for people with mental health conditions.

Dr Sara Poletti, an expert in clinical psychobiology from the San Raffaele University Hospital in Milan, said the study it could explain why metabolic and age-related diseases are more common in patients with mental illness.

'Understanding the mechanisms underlying accelerated biological ageing could be crucial for the development of prevention and tailored treatments to address the growing difficulty of an integrated management of these disorders,' she said.

The project was presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Paris.
Covid jabs, while overall safe, are linked to rare, and sometime fatal side affects

Covid jabs might raise the risk of sudden cardiac deaths in young women, official UK data revealed today.

Government analysts trawled through data from England's historic roll-out in order to re-check the safety profile of vaccines in under-30s.

No significant increase in deaths among the vaccinated was uncovered, debunking one of the biggest current conspiracy theories surrounding the lockdown-banishing scheme.

Although when the results were broken down further, experts found an elevated risk of cardiac-related deaths in women for one type of jab.

Data collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed women who got a non-mRNA jab were 3.5 times more likely to die of such ailments within 12 weeks of being vaccinated.

This chart shows the risk increased risk of cardiac death in young people in England following a Covid vaccination according to the ONS analysis. Coloured lines represent the risk recorded through the data. Each bracket shows the lower and higher estimates with the centre dot representing the overall average. A result grater than 1 indicates a greater risk of a cardiac death, while less than 1 is a reduced risk. Young women (pink lines) who got a non-mRNA Covid jab saw a 3.5 times higher risk of death in the 12 weeks post-vaccination. While increases in males deaths (blue) was also observed for non-RNA jabs and in some estimates for mRNA vaccines the ONS said the data range was too large for it to be considered as evidence of an increased risk

This was compared to after that time-frame, as opposed to the unvaccinated.

Looking at the figures this way allowed the ONS team to spot any noticeable link to vaccination.

Some deaths linked to vaccines might have been missed in official figures, hence the need to look at the data another way.

Non-mRNA jabs include ones made by AstraZeneca and Novavax, which were the only two available during the period the study covered.

Although, no data on specific vaccine brand was included in the analysis. In the US, the Johnson and Johnson was one of the non-mRNA jabs used.

Writing in the journal Nature, the ONS team concluded that 11 cardiac deaths in young women may be attributable to non-mRNA jabs.

However, the study doesn't directly prove that any deaths were caused by any vaccine.

Fatalities could, for example, have been from an unrelated health condition or even a Covid infection itself given the virus is known to cause similar cardiac effects.

Researchers said young women given non-mRNA jabs in the period studied tended to be classified as clinically vulnerable, hence why they were prioritized for jabs.

This factor may have explained their increased risk of death, the team suggested.

No similar heightened risk was found in men. Academics did not offer a reason as to why, however, as that was beyond the scope of the analysis.

Nor did they uncover any proof that mRNA jabs, such as ones made by Pfizer and Moderna, carried such risk.

That disproves a conspiracy theory beloved by anti-vaxxers that the mRNA shots are responsible for a wave of 'sudden' deaths.

Just 75 Brits have been killed by Covid vaccines, official statistics show. It equates to roughly one death for every 2.1million jabs dished out in the UK

In fact, the study, which also examined the general risk of death after testing positive for Covid , found unvaccinated young people had significantly higher chance of dying than the jabbed from 'all causes'.

Researchers opted to look at the 12 week period post vaccination as this was the original time period set between vaccination doses.

The analysis was based on data from between December 8 2020, when Covid jabs were first rolled out, until May 25 last year.

It included people in England between the ages of 12 and 29, with researchers looking at this group specifically in response to some studies pointing to a risk of cardiac diseases in young people post-Covid vaccination.

While credited with saving the nation from an endless lockdown and thousands of lives, Covid vaccines, like any medical treatment, aren't risk free.

For example, mRNA vaccines can, in extremely rare cases, cause myocarditis. This inflammation of the heart is particularly a risk for young men and boys.

And the AstraZeneca jab was withdrawn for the under-40s in the UK in April 2021 after it was linked to a rare, but life-threatening, risk of developing blood clots.

Vahe Nafilyan, a senior statistician at the ONS, said overall the study showed mRNA vaccines, which have now been used for the majority of vaccinated young Brits, are generally safe.

'We find no evidence the risk of cardiac or all cause death is increased in the weeks following vaccination with mRNA vaccines,' he said.

However, he added they did find that young women given a non-mRNA Covid jab had a 3.52 times higher chance of cardiac death in the 12 weeks after.

While a 3.52 times increase in risk seems large, it should be noted that the actual number of deaths is estimated to be relatively small.

Read more: Warning that Britain is now 'flying blind' in never-ending Covid battle as health chiefs axe only remaining surveillance scheme in final step back to post-pandemic life Office for National Statistics analysts estimate almost 1.7m Brits were carrying the virus on any given day in the week to March 13. This a jump of almost 14 per cent on the week before Advertisement

It equates to six cardiac deaths per 100,000 females vaccinated with at least a first dose of a non-mRNA vaccine.

But Mr Nafilyan said the context in which those jabs were given and to whom needed to be considered.

'Vaccination with the main non-mRNA vaccine used in the UK was stopped for young people following safety concerns in April 2021,' he said.

'And most of the young people who received it would have been prioritised due to clinical vulnerability or being healthcare workers.

'Therefore, these results cannot be generalised to the population as a whole.

'Whilst vaccination carries some risks, these need to be assessed in light of its benefits.'

The ONS analysis did not speculate why women seemed to be at greater risk of cardiac death following their first non-mRNA Covid jab compared to men.

While the data did record men had an estimated 1.18 increased risk of cardiac death following their first non-mRNA Covid jab, the ONS said the evidence wasn't strong enough to establish a link as these few deaths could just be down to chance.

It should also be noted that because young people's general chance of a cardiac death is so small in the first place, any increase can seem dramatic.

The ONS analysis also included data on risk of death following a positive Covid test for both jabbed and unjabbed young people.

Those without a Covid vaccine had a 2.5 times higher risk of death from any cause, whilst, in comparison, those who were jabbed had only a 1.9 times higher risk of dying.

The ONS did not analyse cardiac deaths specifically among people vaccinated who tested positive due to 'insufficient data'.

Other studies have shown that Covid vaccines greatly decrease the risk of hospitalisation and death among the general population, particularly for those most at risk, such as the elderly.

As a whole the study tears apart major claims peddled by anti-vaxxers who have wrongly said people who got the mRNA Covid vaccines are dying in droves.

However, a limitation of the study is that some deaths that have occurred in the period analysed might not be included due to ongoing investigations by a coroner.

Professor Adam Finn, an expert in paediatrics at University of Bristol, said the ONS study, 'raised as many questions as answers'.

'The findings are somewhat unexpected, as concerns about rare cardiac side-effects  specifically myocarditis and pericarditis  have hitherto been particularly associated with mRNA vaccine second doses in males especially when the dose interval was short, whereas the signal reported here is primarily in non-mRNA first doses in females,' he said.

A 2022 study led by academics at Imperial College London suggests almost 20million lives were saved by Covid vaccines in the first year since countries began rolling out the jabs, the majority in wealthy nations

However, he said the data also showing the risk disappeared for the second dose was 'reassuring'.

Professor Finn, a member of the UK's vaccine advisory the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said in the end more detail on the cardiac deaths reported was needed.

'The next and most pressing issue that needs to be addressed is to gather more detailed information on what the nature of the reported cardiac events actually was, as this would help us begin to understand what is really being seen in these figures and might help guide future policy and vaccine design,' he said.

While AstraZeneca's jab was pulled specifically for young people in April in 2021 it has been effectively withdrawn in the UK with the Government not ordering any more doses.

This was based on advice from the JCVI which has not listed AstraZeneca in their recommended jab list for booster campaigns.

There are currently two non-mRNA Covid jabs approved for use in the UK.

These are the Novavax and Sanofi/GSK jab.

UK drug watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) hasn't had any safety reports about the Sanofi/GSK jab with it only being approved for use in December last year.

Novavax was approved in February last year and was deployed 1,200 times during the autumn booster campaign, with 57 safety reports.

The ONS said they would continue to monitor data on Covid vaccines outcomes in the future.

Some 75 deaths have been known to occurred from jab-related side effects in the UK.
Checking your breasts for lumps could save your life.

But, despite years of pleas from cancer charities, more than a third of women in the UK still do not regularly assess theirs.

Thousands of women say they simply don't know how. Others forget.

So, with that in mind, here MailOnline shares a DIY guide to help you spot any changes to your breasts.

Checking your breasts should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes. Simply, rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities

Around 55,000 women and 370 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK, says Breast Cancer Now.

Meanwhile, roughly 300,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed in women every year in the US.

Ex-Dragons' Den star Kelly Hoppen, 63, today revealed her breast cancer diagnosis for the first time. In a first-person piece for the Daily Mail, she wrote that she 'can't believe my own stupidity' for skipping her mammogram every year for eight years.

Meanwhile, Linda Nolan, 64, who was first diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2005, today also revealed that her disease has spread to her brain.

How and what should you check?

Checking your breasts could help find signs of breast cancer early. This means you have a better chance of beating the disease, experts say.

It should be part of your monthly routine so you notice any unusual changes, charity CoppaFeel says.

But according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Breast Cancer Now, 39 per cent of women don't bother.

More than half who do not check their breasts simply forget to, while 16 per cent do not know how to check.

Dr Sarah Kayat, who, with the help of a topless cancer survivor, showed viewers on ITV's This Morning how to perform a breast exam, said at-home breast exams save 1,300 lives in the UK each year.

You can check in the shower, when you are lying down in bed or in the mirror before you get dressed.

Because breast tissue isn't just found in your boobs, it's also important that men and women check the tissue all the way up to their collarbone and underneath their armpit.

There is no right or wrong way to check your breasts, as long as you know how your breasts usually look and feel, says the NHS.

But one of the most popular methods online involves using the pads of your fingers.

Simply, rub and feel from top to bottom, feel in semi-circles and in a circular motion around your breast tissue to feel for any abnormalities, according to a guide shared in a blog post by the University of Nottingham.

If you spot any changes you should get it checked out by your GP.

Women aged between 50 and 70 should also be attending routine breast cancer screening.

Symptoms of breast cancer to look out for include lumps and swellings, dimpling of the skin, changes in colour, discharge and a rash or crusting around the nipple

Check for...

A lump or swelling

Using your fingers feel for lumps or swellings in the breast, upper armpit and chest.

A lump or an area of thickened breast tissue that doesn't move easily is one of the first noticeable symptoms of breast cancer, says the NHS.

And according to the American Cancer Society, it's the most common symptom. It says the lumps are often hard and painless.

But when feeling for unusual lumps and bumps it is important to know what is normal for you, experts say.

The NHS advises women get used to how their breasts feel at different times of the month. This is because some women have tender and lumpy breasts, near the armpit, around the time of their period.

The feel of your breasts can also change after the menopause as normal breasts can feel softer less firm and not as lumpy.

As well as checking for lumps, visible changes to the shape and size of the breast is also important.

Changes to the skin

Another common sign of breast cancer is a change the skin.

This can usually just be seen in the mirror and includes puckering or dimpling of the skin.

More than a third of women in the UK do not check their breasts regularly for potential signs of breast cancer, according to the charity Breast Cancer Now [File photo]

The dimpling skin is often compared to orange peel and can be associated with inflammatory breast cancer, which is a rare but aggressive form of cancer.

A change in colour is also a warning sign to get checked out, says Breast Cancer Now.

If you notice your breast looks red or inflamed, it could be a sign of cancer.

Pain is only a symptom of breast cancer in rare cases, the NHS says. But if you feel pain or discomfort in one breast that doesn't go away you should see your GP.

A nipple change

It's important to not just check your breast tissue for abnormalities, but also your nipples, experts say.

Look for rashes or crusting around the nipple.

The NHS says this could look like eczema, crusting of the skin, scaly, itchy or red skin.

You should also check the position of your nipple, the NHS advises.

If it is being pulled in or starting to point in a different way to usual, it could be a sign of breast cancer.

Another warning sign to get checked out by your GP is discharge from either nipple.

Discharge is more common in Ductal Carcinoma in situ, which is an early form of breast cancer that starts in the milk ducts.

Cancer Research says the discharge can also be blood stained.
Someone reading this could realistically live to the age of 150 thanks to leaps in technology, a leading longevity expert has claimed.

Dr Steven Cohen, who owns wellness clinics in California and London, claims he is coming tantalizingly close to harnessing stem cell therapy that can de-age people.

He claims the technology  which involves injecting people with exosomes, small vesicles that are naturally produced by stem cells  is just five years away and could revolutionize the anti-aging industry.

Other scientists have suggested people could one day live to the age of 200 and are exploring technology like pills to flush out 'zombie cells' and ways to tweak DNA to extend someone's lifespan.

Dr Cohen said: 'The ability to prolong or delay aging sounds like science fiction  but it is just around the corner and will soon be available.

The doctor, pictured above, said that the treatment will likely become available within the next five years

Pictured above is life expectancy in the US. It hit a high of 79 years just before the pandemic, but has since fallen to 75 years. It is the first reversal in decades of a sharp increase

'We've been hampered a little by the belief that one must die sometime, and that you can't live forever. But in reality, there are animals that do live for hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of years.'

Stem cells have helped to revolutionize the way we treat injuries, some cancers and brain diseases due to their unique ability to repair and regenerate damaged tissues.

They are found everywhere in the body, especially the bone marrow, standing ready to morph into the 200-odd types of cell that make up humans to repair damage.

But their numbers fall as we age, leaving older adults lacking the same regenerative capabilities as their younger peers.

This reduces the number of exosomes produced by stem cells, or the small bubbles that travel to injured, old or dying cells carrying vital proteins to help make repairs.

Dr Cohen described them as like 'jet planes' delivering aid packages to ill cells that take off from an 'aircraft carrier', the stem cell.

Scientists argue that having fewer of these in the body speeds up aging because cells are left less able to repair themselves.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that boosting the numbers of exosomes slams the brakes on the aging process.

A paper published last year found that more exosomes in the body boosted brain function, while another from the same year suggested they could reduce frailty and help someone live longer.

Doctors have also linked having more exosomes to younger-looking skin.

Dr Cohen's new treatment, which he says could be available by 2028, involves injecting someone with exosomes produced by younger stem cells.

The hope is that these bubbles  bursting with essential proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and others  will flow into organs and help to 'de-age' them, allowing someone to live longer.

There are also suggestions that they could revitalize the skin, making someone appear younger.

The procedure  when it's available  will likely be priced at hundreds of thousands of dollars per person.

It is unclear how long it may last, how many injections someone might need or how often they may need to return for top-ups.

Dr Cohen said: 'The reason is related to the youthful exosomes of the younger mouse, transferring their packages of proteins to the older mouses cells, thereby repairing them, and making them more youthful.

'The strategy is to do these kinds of treatments along the way, when were younger, and have more healthy stem cells which can release younger exosomes into our tissues to restrain the aging process.'

He added: 'The human body has exosomes that repair injured tissue and are released from our stem cells.

'As my partner, Dr. Tunc Tiryaki says, "Imagine a stem cell is the aircraft carrier".

'So, the exosome is the jet plane that takes off, delivering a packet of some type to the target.

'Basically, when theres a need from an injured cell, aging or dying cell, they send a signal out, and stem cells in response create an endosome from their cell wall, which collects the necessary material from the healthy cell to reduce inflammation, improve blood flow and repair.

'Then, the endosome is sent as an exosome back into the circulation with these supplies to aid the injured and dying cell.'

Dr Cohen slammed most aesthetic treatments for aging like plastic surgery, saying these simply 'masked' the inevitable signs of decline while doing nothing to actually slow it down in cells.

He said that, for example, when fillers are added to replace volume lost from the face there is very little impact on how our cells and tissue age as they only camouflage the process.

Scientists have been saying there is no reason humans can't live beyond their natural lifespan for years.

The oldest known person  the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who sold canvases to Vincent Van Gogh when she was a girl in the late 1800s  lived to the age of 122, dying in 1997.

One particularly promising area is in the development of drugs that remove 'zombie cells' in the body, which are thought to be the main culprits of tissue and organ decay.

These cells stop dividing like others but start to spew a cocktail of harmful chemicals, damaging and degrading those around them.

Pills that flush these out are already in human trials with scientists saying they could hit the market in as little as 10 years.

Another avenue for fighting aging is in the study of DNA in reptiles and cold-blooded mammals.

Michigan State University experts have begun studying dozens of different reptiles and amphibians  including crocodiles and salamanders  to uncover 'traits' in their genes that could also be targeted at humans.

Some experts also say that the eradication of big killers  like cancer, dementia and heart disease  could further boost longevity.
The World Health Organization has warned the risk of Marburg virus is 'very high'  amid a deadly wave in Africa.

The virus - which has a death rate ranging from around 25 to 90 percent - has spread from rural districts in Equatorial Guinea to more densely populated areas and main transport hubs, raising the risk of further transmission.

At least four cases have been detected in the country's commercial capital Bata, a major cargo port city of about 200,000 people where international flights to neighbouring countries take off and arrive. Neighbouring Gabon and Cameroon are on high alert.

The current outbreak in Equatorial Guinea is thought to be the fourth largest ever recorded. Seven people have died there since mid-February, and officials have counted 29 confirmed and probable cases, up from 16 last week. In Tanzania, there have been eight cases as of March 22, five of whom are confirmed dead.

This is the first rash of cases both countries have seen. The WHO said in an alert over the weekend that the nationwide risk in Tanzania of getting Marburg virus is 'very high,' while the subregional risk is 'high' and the regional risk is 'moderate'.

Marburg has infected 29 in Equatorial Guinea and eight in Tanzania, according to the World Health Organization

Marburg virus (MVD) is initially transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

The WHO added: 'The risk at the global level is assessed to be low.'

Marburg virus disease (MVD) causes a range of symptoms, including high fever, severe headache, muscle aches and pains, abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Marburg patients take on a sunken, almost ghost-like appearance with drawn features, lethargy, and deep. Like Ebola, its a hemorrhagic fever, meaning they cause bleeding from multiple organs within the body. In the later stages of the disease, the patient will often start bleeding from different orifices.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said: 'The confirmation of these new cases is a critical signal to scale up response efforts to quickly stop the chain of transmission and avert a potential large-scale outbreak and loss of life.

The global health body maintains that at the global level, the risk is believed to be low. The virus is endemic to areas of central Africa including Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has also previously cropped up in Kenya.

In Tanzania, health officials have contacted at least 161 people believed to have had contact with the infected. The cases there are in the northern city of Bukoba, Kagera province, which is home to 120,000 people.

In outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Marburg, unprotected exposure to dead bodies is a significant cause of transmission

The Marburg virus has an incubation period of up to 21 days. The virus attacks the kidney and spleen and causes clotting and inflammation around the body. Symptoms can be pretty severe, such as rashes, bleeding from the eyes and delirium. A large portion of cases result in death, and even survivors suffer permanent damage. Pictured: Sufferers of Ebola, which falls in the same family of viruses as Marburg

Marburg virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. While not always fatal, it kills its victims between a quarter and nearly 90 percent of the time.

Kenyan officials have taken steps to increase surveillance and bolster testing infrastructure along the borders with Uganda and Tanzania.

And Uganda, just north of Tanzania, has ordered screening and testing to take place at Kasensero and Mutukula border points.

Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the spokesperson of Ugandas Ministry of Health said last week: The Ministry of Health is ready on high alert. Risk assessments are being done in the area. We are also doing targeted communication in the area.

Symptoms come on abruptly, starting with fever, nausea, and other signs of illness that mirror others such as malaria, typhoid fever, or dengue. This makes the illness hard to diagnose at first.

In the later stages of the disease, Marburg triggers bleeding from multiple orifices including the nose, gums, eyes, and vagina.

The virus has a natural host in a specific type of fruit bats that can pass the disease on to humans through their feces. In fact, the majority of natural MVD outbreaks have been connected to human entry into bat-infested mines and caves, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The virus dates back to 1967, when cases sprung up in three different citiesBelgrade, Frankfurt, and, expectedly, Marburg.

The simultaneous outbreaks were rooted in scientific research involving green monkeys imported from Uganda to labs in Marburg.

Lab staff was infected through contact with carrier monkeys blood, tissue, and cells. Of the 31 cases linked to this lab-acquired infection, seven died.
He was resuscitated at birth and spent 22 days on a ventilator in intensive care

A baby boy suffered irreversible brain damage because of NHS blunders.

Shanto Khaliquzzaman developed cerebral palsy which has left him unable to walk, talk or sit up without assistance and will need life-long care after being starved of oxygen in the womb.

His mother Dilshad Sultana, 31, was 40 weeks pregnant and just 18 days away from a planned C-section when she began experiencing stomach pain and felt reduced movement in her tummy.

She rang the hospital around 5pm that same day, in June 2019. But medics told her to delay coming to hospital and instead take a warm bath, although it's unclear why.

When Ms Sultana, from Sutton Coldfield, eventually arrived at hospital at 10.30pm that evening, midwifery staff then failed to recognise her baby's deteriorating heartbeat.

Dilshad Sultana, 31, launched legal action against Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust after her son Shanto Khaliquzzaman was starved of oxygen and developed cerebral palsy that has left him unable to walk, talk or sit up without assistance

At 40 weeks pregnant and just 18 days away from a planned c-section, Ms Sultana rang the hospital around 5pm on June 20, 2019 after experiencing stomach pain and complained of reduced movement. But medics told her to delay coming to hospital and instead take a warm bath

Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust admitted liability and has now made made a voluntary interim payment, which has not been disclosed. A final settlement will be finalised once Mr Khaliquzzaman is older and the full extent of his future life-long care needs are established

Shanto was delivered by emergency caesarean at 1.15am the next day.

But the boy, now three, had to be resuscitated and spent 22 days on a ventilator in intensive care fighting for his life.

Ms Sultana, 31, launched legal action against Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust.

Tests revealed delays in Shanto's birth had left him with extreme brain injury, multiple brain haemorrhages and suffering a cardiac arrest.

What is cerebral palsy? Cerebral palsy is the name for a set of conditions affecting movement and co-ordination stemming from a problem with the brain that takes place before, during or soon after birth. Symptoms are not typically obvious immediately after a child is born  but instead normally become noticeable after two or three years. They include delays in reaching development milestones, such as: Not sitting by eight months

Not walking by 18 months

Appearing too stiff or too floppy

Walking on tip-toes

Weak arms or legs

Fidgety, jerky or clumsy movements

Random, uncontrolled movements Difficulty speaking, swallowing or seeing  along with learning difficulties  can also be symptoms. Cerebral palsy symptoms can be caused by a number of things and are not necessarily an indication of the condition, which can occur if a child's brain does not develop normally while in the womb, or is damaged during or soon after birth. Causes include bleeding in the baby's brain, reduced blood and oxygen supply, infection caught by the mother while pregnant, asphyxiation during a difficult birth, meningitis or a serious head injury - though the precise cause is often not clear. There is no cure currently, but physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and medication are often used as treatment. Each person living with the condition is affected in a different way, but generally speaking most children live into adult life and some can live for many decades. Source: NHS Advertisement

The Trust has now admitted liability and has now made made a voluntary interim payment, which has not been disclosed.

A final settlement will be finalised once Shanto is older and the full extent of his future life-long care needs are established.

Dr Fiona Reynolds, chief medical officer at Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, told MailOnline: 'We'd like to offer our heartfelt apologies again to the family.

'It's clear the standard of care we offered to them fell below those required and expected. For this, we are truly sorry.'

Advised on the phone to have a bath on June 20, 2019, Ms Sultana was told to call back when her contractions were coming every three minutes.

But she arrived at Birmingham Womens Hospital five hours later knowing 'something wasn't quite right'.

Ms Sultana said: 'When I arrived at hospital I told the midwives that I couldn't feel my baby move but they tried to reassure me that they were monitoring it.

'I knew something wasn't quite right but it felt that they weren't really listening to me.

'As the hours went by nothing was really done then I was suddenly told I was having a C-section.

'At that point it felt like everyone was in a rush.

'There were doctors and nurses but it was so quiet.'

She added: 'When Shanto was born I immediately feared the worse.

'He looked very poorly and then I was told he was being taken to neo-natal intensive care.'

Doctors unsuccessfully tried to bring him off a ventilator aged 10 days and palliative care options were discussed.

However, two weeks later he began to breathe for himself. He was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is a life-long condition that occurs when a babys brain is starved of oxygen during or shortly after birth.

In most cases, this is due to a difficult labour, but it can occur as a result of an infection of the brain or head injury.

Those with the condition may experience difficulties with movement and co-ordination, as well as loss of speech, hearing and vision and spinal deformities, and may need lifelong care.

Disability charity Scope says an estimated 1,800 children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy in the UK every year.

In 2020-2021, 281 cases of preventable cerebral palsy were reported  the highest number since 2010 and a fifth of the ten-year total.

Ms Sultana, who also has a four-year-old daughter Anjana, added: 'Seeing Shanto in intensive care fighting for his life was the hardest thing I think I'll ever to have go through.

'All the family were hoping and praying he would somehow pull through. Palliative care was discussed but we had to give him every chance possible.

'We're so grateful to have Shanto in our lives and so proud of the fight and determination he shows every day.'

Doctors unsuccessfully tried to bring Shanto off a ventilator aged 10 days and palliative care options were discussed. However, two weeks later he began to breathe for himself. He was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Following legal action brought by law firm Irwin Mitchell against Birmingham Womens and Childrens NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of the family, the Trust admitted there was a failure to advise Ms Sultana to attend hospital when she initially called on June 20, 2019

Ms Sultana, who also has a four-year-old daughter Anjana, said: 'Seeing Shanto in intensive care fighting for his life was the hardest thing I think I'll ever to have go through. Pictured above, Ms Sultana with Shanto and Anjana

Following legal action brought by law firm Irwin Mitchell against Birmingham Womens and Childrens NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of the family, the Trust admitted there was a failure to advise Ms Sultana to attend hospital when she initially called.

Had Ms Sultana been told to attend hospital, on the balance of probabilities, a deterioration in his heartrate would have been detected, leading to an earlier delivery, Irwin Mitchell said.

Shanto would, therefore, have been delivered before he suffered permanent brain damage, the trust are also said to have acknowledged.

The interim payment will allow the family to move to a new home specifically adapted to meet his extensive care, therapy and equipment needs.

Tests revealed delays in Shanto's birth had left him with extreme brain injury, multiple brain haemorrhages and suffering a cardiac arrest

'While we have answers as to what happened to him, trying to come to terms with how Shanto won't have the life we hoped for him is difficult,' Ms Sultana said.

'He's three and is supposed to walk and talk, develop as a person, and cause mischief with his big sister.

'However, he can't do any of that. I can't explain how terrible it feels when my friends' kids are running around, and he can't do that because of those mistakes,' she added.

'I just hope that by speaking out I can help prevent other families having to go through what we have.'

Meanwhile, Sara Burns, specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who represented the family, said: 'This is a tragic case which resulted in Shanto suffering devastating but avoidable injuries which will affect him and his family for the rest of his life.

'While we welcome the trust's co-operation in this case, the family would rather not be in this position.

'What happened to Shanto is a stark reminder of the life-changing consequences families can be left to face because of maternity care failings.

She added: 'Every second counts when delivering babies in distress and it's vital that lessons are learned so others don't have to suffer the pain that this family have been through.

'We continue to campaign for improvements in maternity safety nationally.'
Dr Jennifer Ashton, an obstetrician and gynecologist in New York City, said that taping up your face at night will not help wrinkles to disappear

The latest TikTok beauty hack to go viral involves taping your face to iron out wrinkles.

Watched millions of times on the platform, it involves taping over wrinkles to straighten them and hold muscles in place. The tape is left on for hours, typically while someone is asleep.

Advocates say it has smoothed their wrinkles and made their skin look younger.

But doctors warn that while it may give immediate results, the wrinkles will return in a few minutes  or at best a few hours.

Dr Jennifer Ashton, a medic in New Jersey and ABC News chief medical correspondent, said the method has a 'very superficial, very temporary' effect.

She said nightly taping was 'very unlikely to do anything significant' to deeper wrinkles.

The hack has re-emerged on TikTok this year, with users posting images of themselves putting tape on their cheeks, foreheads (left) and even around their mouth (right) to help avoid wrinkles. Dr Ashton said this likely has a 'superficial' effect on wrinkles

The medic, who works as an obstetrician and gynecologist at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, also warned over side effects.

She said people can suffer allergic reactions to the tape, which could leave their face swollen and red, while peeling it off can remove the top layer of skin, opening up cells beneath to damage and infection.

Scroll TikTok for a few minutes and you'll probably be hit by a video of someone  normally a woman  taping up their face before bed.

Users are shown deploying scotch tape, plasters and specialist medical bands to stretch skin around their forehead, cheeks and mouth.

The hack has made a recent comeback on TikTok, after first popping up on the social media site last year.

But the method is actually nothing new and dates back to 1889 when a famous brand of face tape called Frownies first hit the market.

It was invented by Margaret Krosesen from Dayton, Ohio, for her daughter Alice, a concert pianist, who had developed unsightly wrinkles and frown lines.

It is one of Hollywood's oldest 'secrets' claiming to de-age skin.

Celebrities including actress and supermodel Raquel Welch and Kardashian's mother Kris Jenner admit to applying the tape nightly to keep younger-looking skin.

But doctors say that despite the endorsement of the ShowBiz World, there is little evidence that the hack actually works.

Dr Ashton, who works as a gynecologist and obstetrician, told Good Morning America: 'Very superficially and very temporarily, it can smooth out those superficial wrinkles.

'It depends on the age of the person, how much skin damage there is, how much elasticity or collagen there is in their skin, how much volume they've lost with age.

'All of those things can contribute to the appearance of wrinkles.

'[But] it's possible that when you remove the tape, those wrinkles can re-form in minutes to hours. So, it's going to be a very transient effect.'

Asked about deeper wrinkles, she said: 'You have to ask yourself whether you're dealing with fine wrinkles and lines or deep wrinkles.

'Taping your face at night for several hours is very unlikely to do anything significant for deeper wrinkles.'

Dr Roberta del Campo, a dermatologist in Florida, has previously warned that the method could even give someone deeper lines.

She told HuffPost that if someone tried the hack long-term face muscles may actually overcompensate by strengthening themselves. This could ultimately lead to deeper lines down the line, she said, because of more forceful contractions.

She has also tried the hack herself, and said that it did lead to a 'smoothing effect' on her forehead in the morning.

Wrinkles tend to form in areas where there is constant repetitive movement, such as around the eyes or mouth.

They begin as fine lines that look like small creases on the skin.

But over time can transition into deep crevices and furrows over the skin's surface.

As a result, face taping is just one of many hacks for combatting wrinkles on your face. Others include micro-needling, getting fillers and even taking certain drugs.

Pictured above is a woman taping up her face to help avoid wrinkles. Dr Ashton also warned of the side effects including a possible allergic reaction or removing the top layer of the skin. There is no evidence that either of these happened to the woman pictured above

Dr Ashton warned that while the tape method does not work, if someone is doing it regularly they put themselves at risk of side effects.

Some users face allergic reactions to their tape, she said, which can leave their face puffy, swollen and red in color.

There is also a risk that the tape can remove the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, opening someone up to infection and damage to the skin layers below.

She said: 'We see all the time allergic reactions to tape on the skin in surgery.

'I would suggest if you're going to try this, try it on a part of your body that the whole world doesn't see in case you have an allergic reaction.

'In some cases, there can be tape burns. You can actually remove the superficial level of the epidermis, and obviously, that would be a big problem.

She said instead of tape women could use botox, which she described as the 'gold standard' for preventing wrinkles.
When Andrew Battye was diagnosed with an eye disease that can cause progressive vision loss within days, he was told hed be fast-tracked into treatment that would halt its progress.

But instead of seeing a specialist within days, as hed been promised, the 66-year-old artist had to wait three weeks  with devastating consequences.

During this time, he experienced an almost daily worsening of his sight.

Whats more, Andrew experienced additional delays between vital appointments for treatment  and, as a result, he now faces the threat of blindness in his left eye.

He is just one of 628,502 people in England alone revealed in Freedom of Information (FOI) requests last week to be languishing on NHS waiting lists for eye treatment  the second longest waiting list after hip and knee replacements.

Pam Maxwell, 74, is scared she could go blind while on the NHS waiting list. She started off with the slower-progressing dry AMD, which is commonly diagnosed in the over-50s. At first, only her right eye was affected, but in October 2021 the more dangerous wet AMD was diagnosed in her left eye

Ms Maxwell and her partner Paul Bird at her granddaughter Sabrina Hesk's graduation

The statistic means that one in 11 of all those on waiting lists is waiting for eye treatment.

The same FOI requests to NHS Englands National Reporting and Incident System revealed that 551 people have suffered avoidable sight loss since 2019 as a result of a lack of treatment.

Some of the individual disasters included a patient left blind as a result of a detached retina after a 16-month appointment delay, and another who lost the vision in one eye following a three-month delay in treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), the same condition from which Andrew suffers.

A patient was left blind after a delay in appointments

This is caused by the abnormal growth of blood vessels in the macula  the part of the retina that allows clear central vision. These blood vessels leak fluid into the retina, causing sudden changes in vision, and fast treatment is vital to avoid irreversible damage and vision loss. (Another form of the condition, dry AMD, is caused by a gradual deterioration of the macula as cells die off.)

Around 600,000 people in the UK have sight loss caused by AMD, and a further 700,000 have some other form of macular disease, often linked to complications of type 2 diabetes, says the Macular Society.

There are around 70,000 new wet AMD cases every year alone, or nearly 200 every day  by 2050 the number affected is on course to more than double to 1.3 million, as the population ages.

Although wet AMD is incurable, its progress can be slowed by regular injections of anti-VEGF drugs such as Lucentis, which blocks the growth of abnormal blood vessels.

628,502 people in England are languishing on NHS waiting lists for eye treatment  the second longest waiting list after hip and knee replacements

Andrew is supposed to receive Lucentis injections every four weeks, but hes had three delays of up to nine weeks  and, more than 13 months since his diagnosis in February 2022, has been left with very limited sight in his left eye.

Once you have the condition in one eye, you are more likely to develop it in the second.

If that happened, it could leave me totally blind, says Andrew, who lives in Selby, North Yorkshire, with his wife Elizabeth, 56, an NHS manager, and has two children  Emily, 33, and Rees, 32.

Fifty per cent of all sight loss is avoidable

I consider myself lucky not to have completely lost my vision already but its very scary that because I wasnt treated sooner, I lost so much sight so quickly  nothing will now bring it back, he says. Its terrifying to think I might not be able to see any more.

Andrew used to run two commercial art galleries in the Yorkshire towns of Halifax and Bridlington, showing other artists work as well as his own, but they are both now gone.

I still try to paint, but Ive really lost the will, he says. My vision is just not stable. Colours look dull and there is so much distortion between the two eyes, he says.

Andrew is by no means alone: other, older patients Good Health has spoken to describe their distressing loss of vision as they wait in vain for appointments.

One in 11 of all those on waiting lists is waiting for eye treatment, it has been found. [File image]

Symptoms of both forms of AMD include straight lines appearing bent, blurring of print and reduced central vision (leaving only peripheral vision).

Many people who develop wet AMD start off with the slower-progressing dry AMD, which is commonly diagnosed in the over-50s.

This is what happened to Pam Maxwell, 74, a former planning consultant, who lives in Pembrokeshire with her partner, Paul, 75.

At first, only her right eye was affected, but in October 2021 the more dangerous wet AMD was diagnosed in her left eye.

She recalls: I was told I needed the injections every six weeks to keep it at bay, but I found I was waiting eight weeks between them and last summer I went 12 weeks without one because my local hospital in Haverfordwest didnt have the capacity, they told me.

The sight in my left eye has definitely deteriorated in the past 15 months.

Now I struggle to put the toothpaste on my toothbrush; straight lines are no longer straight; and if Im looking at someones face I cant see their features any more.

Pam adds: I cant see to watch television, or read books and when I do my hair I have to rely on shape and feel or my partner to tell me when I have made a hash of it.

This just makes me so angry. Eye disease and blindness dont get the attention they merit because theyre not life-threatening.

Symptoms of both forms of AMD include straight lines appearing bent, blurring of print and reduced central vision (leaving only peripheral vision)

But they are very much life-changing.

Andrew Carruthers, director of operations at Hywel Dda University Health Board, which covers Withybush Hospital, in Haverfordwest, where Pam was treated, says: We are very sorry to anyone who has had a poor patient experience, and we would encourage them to contact our patient support service.

He said the hospital was experiencing high demand and working to clear the patient backlog with the possibility of patients being offered appointments elsewhere in Wales.

Pam retorted that she had asked to be referred elsewhere only last week, but without success. She also pointed out that for many elderly patients who have vision disabilities, a three-hour, cross-country trip will almost certainly be out of the question.

Unless we act, more people will be put at risk

AMD is not the only eye condition that is being left untreated, potentially putting thousands at risk of blindness.

Around 400,000 people a year need cataract surgery to replace a cloudy lens inside the eye with an artificial one; and a further 480,000 people have glaucoma, where the optic nerve becomes damaged.

Commenting on the findings from the FOI  made on behalf of the Association of Optometrists, which represents the UKs High Street eye specialists  the charity Macular Society said it was receiving dozens of phone calls each month from people who are worried they are going to lose vision because of delays.

People are terrified at the prospect of losing vision, adds CEO Cathy Yelf.

The ones who contact us are the ones who are actively trying to solve the problem. We have no idea how many people sit at home, quietly losing their vision and not making a fuss about it.

It is a tragedy that people lose sight when there is a treatment that will help keep their vision for longer, but it is not given in time.

So what is behind these backlogs that threaten the sight of so many, often older, people? Is it largely the consequence of the NHS failing to keep pace with the demands of an ageing and/or unhealthy population?

Earlier this month, the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee published an inquiry into the reasons behind our lengthy NHS waiting lists. It blamed the Government for a dearth of advance workforce planning in the health service  something the Government has said it will address.

According to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, there are 3,500 ophthalmologists working in NHS hospitals, yet only 1,426 are consultants who are sufficiently skilled and experienced to do highly complex delicate surgical procedures on eyes.

That number would have to increase by 40 per cent to meet patient demand  to rise from 2.5 to 3.5 specialists per 100,000 population, which was the number recommended by a 2021 public health report. Now leaders of Britains 14,000 optometrists  who work alongside High Street opticians but are specialists in screening for eye disease using high-tech technology and specialist cameras  are demanding the NHS makes better use of them to meet some of the shortfall in hospital care.

Eye disease is a highly complex and specialised area: full training to become an NHS ophthalmologist takes a minimum of 13 years. By contrast, optometrists qualify after a four-year degree.

But as Adam Sampson, chief executive of the Association of Optometrists, explains: We are not saying give the most delicate and difficult procedures to optometrists.

We are saying that there are lots of simpler or routine procedures, such as check-ups, that could be done by them, which would free up hospital waiting lists  but at the moment its not happening.

Zoe Richmond, the clinical director of the Local Optical Committee Support Unit, has been seconded into NHS England to develop a programme called Optometry First  a commissioning framework that was set up a year ago to make it possible for people on hospital eye treatment waiting lists to get routine checks and monitoring locally by optometrists.

This has parallels with the Pharmacy First scheme, where the NHS is planning to use pharmacists to lighten the burden on GPs by taking on prescribing for common ailments and certain health checks.

Some 17 Local Optical Committees  the official representatives for all optometry services and opticians within a specific area  expressed an interest in adopting Optometry First.

However, a year on, only three areas have begun operating the scheme: Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, Sefton on Merseyside and the Isle of Wight.

Bassetlaw, for example, has already reported that 23 per cent of patients on hospital waiting lists could be treated locally, freeing up hospital time for patients with serious eye diseases who are at imminent risk of losing sight.

We are an under-used workforce with the skills available to help reduce the waiting list burden, says Zoe Richmond.

People are losing their sight through delays in treatment. We are calling on the Government and eye-care leaders to act now.

Marsha De Cordova, Labour MP for Battersea, who is herself registered blind (she was born with nystagmus, where the eyes move involuntarily, causing severe short-sightedness), has been a long-term campaigner for a better deal for patients with sight problems.

She has presented a National Eye Health Strategy Bill in parliament, calling for the service to be put under the management of a specific government minister.

She believes this will ensure a uniform high level of access and standard of care across the country. Fifty per cent of all sight loss is avoidable and 250 people begin to lose their sight every day, with a shocking 21 people a week losing their sight due to a preventable cause, she says.

Patients with AMD can experience rapid and sometimes complete central vision loss within weeks if not treated.

Not only is there a massive social and emotional impact for the individuals themselves, but sight loss costs the economy an annual 36 billion in lost productivity and additional care needs, she adds.

Ophthalmology currently has one of the longest backlogs in the NHS, and fragmented services across the country are creating a postcode lottery of care.

The Government must back my Bill to ensure access to good, high-quality eye care as and when a patient needs it.

It will prioritise ensuring we have an adequate workforce to tackle the current capacity issues, and will focus on joining up primary and secondary care.

It is tragic that so many people are facing irreversible sight loss, and action cant wait.

Giles Edmonds, clinical services director at Specsavers, agrees that the situation is critical and the company is supporting Marsha De Cordovas bill.

We are facing a tidal wave of avoidable blindness, he says.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss, and it is of particular concern because it is often symptomless during the first few years.

The later it is detected, the more likely the patient will go blind.

The stark reality is that unless we take co-ordinated action now, we will see more people being put at risk and suffering irreversible vision loss.

The Association of Optometry, the Royal College of Ophthalmology and charities including the Royal National Institute for the Blind and Guide Dogs for the Blind are among the Bills supporters.

A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesman said the clamour for action is not being ignored, and explained that the problem had been worsened by the general post-Covid waiting list backlog.

Last August, NHS England appointed Louisa Wickham, a senior consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, as its first national clinical director for eye care.

No one should have to suffer avoidable sight loss, and we are taking action to improve access to services, a DHSC spokesman tells Good Health.

This includes the appointment of a national clinical director for eye care to oversee the recovery and transformation of services so that patients receive the care they need.

We have made strong progress in tackling the Covid backlogs  including those waiting for eye care  with a record 2.1 million diagnostic tests carried out in January.

We are also investing in the ophthalmology workforce, with more training places provided in 2022  and even more planned for this year  alongside improved training for existing staff.
Can you imagine the distress of going to hospital for an operation and having to return to theatre to have forceps removed because they were left inside your abdomen.

Or going in for a left hip operation because of years of agonising pain and waking up to find out they had operated on your good hip. Or having surgery to preserve your ovaries  but they are accidentally removed. Or, worst of all, realising you have had a procedure intended for a different patient.

Fanciful stories made up for a TV drama? Sadly not. These were just some of the awful mishaps that occurred in hospitals in England over the space of just ten months. They appeared in a list of never events published a few weeks ago by NHS England.

Never events are the most serious of the serious medical mistakes. They should literally not happen. Yet between April 2022 and January this year, there were 325 of these never events in England alone.

Some argue that for an organisation thats treated millions of people in that time, its a relatively small number. But many of the patients behind the statistics have been left facing the catastrophic consequences.

Can you imagine the distress of going to hospital for an operation and having to return to theatre to have forceps removed because they were left inside your abdomen, writes Professor Rob Galloway

These stories hardly inspire the public to put their trust in medical professionals.

So why am I telling you this? Well, because behind the tragedies there are important lessons for all healthcare professionals  and also for anyone having medical treatment.

Clearly these patients have been failed; but pointing the finger of blame at individual doctors or nurses isnt the answer. Aside from isolated cases of individuals who should be in prison, healthcare staff do not go to work and deliberately cause harm.

And simply blaming and scapegoating wont resolve the issue; it will lead instead to staff hiding errors for fear of retribution. It will also prevent future patients benefitting from the learning.

Nor is it right for medics themselves simply to blame the pressure that everyone is working under, or lack of resources, or say Its just one of those things.

These errors happen just as often in better funded hospitals abroad and in the private sector.

And its not just at huge personal cost to the patient: the NHS paid out 2.4 billion in negligence claims in the year 2021/22  and while the patient, or their loved ones instinct is understandably to seek compensation, what they most often want is to ensure that this doesnt happen to others.

Its not just the patient who is affected. A number of years ago, I was involved in a case where medical harm happened because I prescribed too much fluid.

The patient ended up in intensive care and I was guilt-ridden, became depressed and was close to leaving the profession.

Professor Rob Galloway, pictured, admits he has made mistakes while treating patients, writing: 'I have come to realise that most mistakes arent down to a lack of care or knowledge, but because humans are human'

Indeed, I have seen many colleagues come to major psychological harm and quit their jobs because of medical mistakes.

So how can this be happening in 2023? And, importantly, what can you do to protect yourself? In very simple terms, the reason why most errors occur is human factors: modern medical care is incredibly complex and we as humans are not designed for this level of complexity.

Trying to understand why medical errors happen has occupied my mind a lot over the past 22 years as a doctor: I run courses and speak at conferences on this. You might therefore have thought that, with my experience and obsession with the subject, I should not be making mistakes. Sadly, that is not the case.

The more years I work as a doctor, the more I have come to realise that most mistakes arent down to a lack of care or knowledge, but because humans are human and our brains are designed for hunting, running away from woolly mammoths and procreating; anything more complex is difficult for us.

We are not truly able to multitask, we are poor communicators, we assume we are right, we dont like people challenging us and we dont notice things which, viewed from another angle or with time, can seem obvious.

In essence, we are prone to error.

But we work within a culture that doesnt acknowledge human factors and therefore doesnt take steps to eliminate them.

Professor Galloway wrote: 'A number of years ago, I was involved in a case where medical harm happened because I prescribed too much fluid. The patient ended up in intensive care and I was guilt-ridden, became depressed and was close to leaving the profession'

Years ago, I was looking after a critically ill patient. She sticks in my mind because although we saved her life, my care could and should have been better.

Id asked for four units of cross-matched blood (blood of the same type as the patient).

Thirty minutes later, I asked what had happened to the blood and was told that someone had told me that her blood sample had been mislabelled. Because of this, no blood had been sent from the lab.

But I hadnt heard that message. I was too fixated and worried about other aspects of care she was getting. So? I ordered new blood and it arrived 30 minutes later.

However, the delays affected her blood pressure and her kidneys  and she then needed a significant stay in intensive care.

This wasnt because I dont care. I do care. Its not because Im lazy: Im not. Its not because of a lack of knowledge  I have a long list of letters after my name. I made this mistake because I am human.

READ MORE: Doctors tried FIVE times to remove my contraceptive coil - what happened next left me traumatised and could have killed me

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The solution is simple. My colleague could have spoken in a way to grab my attention and make sure I was listening: Rob, its important you listen: I have an update.

Then, I would have just needed to repeat the crucial information back. Thats normal practice in high-risk industries such as airlines. Its even common practice in non high-risk industries such as Chinese takeaways. Ive never got the wrong meal because, when I order it, its repeated back to me.

This is the social and accepted normal practice in takeaway settings. But thats not always the case in healthcare settings.

Just last week, I was asked by one of my junior doctors to review a patient with a nasty infection and low blood pressure. I made a plan, with a list of steps which included kidney function tests and an antibiotic drip. After I asked the junior doctor to repeat the list to me, she became defensive, saying she had been listening. But I do this because in the past, when I havent, treatment plans have not always been followed through and the patient suffered.

One of the things we medics need to do is use plain English and not medical jargon. Its so easy to confuse hyperkalaemia with hypokalaemia, with tragic consequences; less easy to confuse high and low potassium.

Another key way to improve patient safety is making sure that following standardised ways of working is the norm.

I introduced prompt cards for my team for treating time-critical conditions, such as sepsis, with step-by-step reminders. These were based on Wetherspoons recipe cards for cocktails, and theyve helped transform the care we give, helping to reduce errors.

But what can you, as a patient, do to protect yourself? If you tell someone youre allergic to something, get them to repeat this back to you.

If youre being injected with a drug, then ask to see what it is youre being given.

If you are about to have an operation, make sure you see the consent form and speak to the surgeons doing it. Ask: What am I having done today  and always check that the arrow marking where the operation will be is drawn on the correct side of your body and in the right area.

Crucially, if you think something is going amiss, speak up. Remember: you are the last line of defence. Do not be intimidated by the medical staff . Help us to help you.

As doctors, our Hippocratic Oath tells us we must do everything we can not to harm patients. But as humans, we are prone to making mistakes and need to do everything we can to reduce the chance of these happening. And that means really listening  to patients and staff.

And every day I remind myself of the mantra: Dont trust me  Im a doctor.
Her sleeping position cut blood flow to her legs requiring an intensive surgery

A Canadian woman nearly lost her legs due to cut-off circulation after passing out at home following a boozy girls night out.

Julia Anderson, 36, collapsed on her bed  kneeling on all fours  after sinking 20 drinks with friends at a bar in Ontario in 2020.

When she woke up her legs had ballooned to double their size and she could not move on her own, needing assistance from her 70-year-old mother Sandra.

Ms Anderson, who is a mother herself, feared she had broken them on the night out. She was diagnosed with compartment syndrome, a rare but deadly condition that occurs when blood does not reach some of the body's muscles and nerves.

The lack of blood circulation to her legs deprived the limbs of oxygen and other nourishment. Doctors said if they had not acted faster, she may have lost her limbs.

Ms Anderson said she usually weighs around 100lbs, but her swollen legs added another 40 to 50lbs to her small frame

Julia said she was carrying 40lb-50lb of excess fluid in her legs. She was hospitalised for a whopping five weeks where she underwent dialysis, had a blood transfusion and a skin graft op on her leg

They weren't sore, but they were double their usual size so I called out to my mom, who called an ambulance,' Ms Anderson said.

When I got to the hospital my whole body was very swollen. I'm tiny, I'm only 100lbs, to them I just looked like a 140lb girl. I told them guys I don't look like this, something is wrong.

Acute compartment syndrome occurs when the lining of the body's nerves and muscle tissue  called fascia  has pressure placed on it by bruising, bleeding or another injury.

Fascia is not elastic and can not expand to allow fluid to pass. As a result, fluid begins to build up.

Ms Anderson's case erupted in an early morning in 2020 after she went to bed in the prostrate position after a night out.

The woman had gone out with friends with whom she had been drinking vodka all night as well as a lot of straight liquor.

Ms Anderson said: 'I was in pain constantly. Imagine your leg is falling asleep but that tingling feeling is times a thousand, like a sharp shooting electric shock up my leg.' Pain from the nerve damage was so severe that she was 'screaming out in the middle of the night with the pain'

Doctors had to perform a demanding procedure in short order because muscle was deteriorating and releasing toxins into her bloodstream, causing her body to swell up and her kidneys to shut down

She said: We didn't eat. Pre-drinks and bar drinks combined, it was the equivalent of 20 drinks, so quite a bit.

I was drunker than normal. When I got home I just thought, "go to bed Julia" and I passed out curled up on top of my legs face down.

The pressure on her legs while sleeping halted circulation, and it took only hours for her body to develop compartment syndrome.

An ambulance rushed Ms Anderson to Torontos Michael Garron Hospital, where doctors performed a barrage of tests and diagnosed her.

Ms Anderson said: I was immediately rushed into surgery because my muscle was deteriorating and releasing toxins into my bloodstream causing my body to swell up and my kidneys to shut down.

Man, 21, is forced to have both legs amputated just days before his birthday He was struck down with flu and pneumonia which developed into sepsis. Advertisement

Surgeons performed a grueling procedure where Julia's left leg was sliced open and muscle was cut off to relieve the swelling and reduce the toxins being released into her bloodstream.

She was in intensive care for two weeks strapped to a device to drain excess fluid.

Ms Anderson also needed to be hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine, to take a skin graft from her thigh and administer several blood transfusions.

This is because her hemoglobin levels, proteins in red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body, had dropped dangerously low.

She said: The nerve damage was so bad I was screaming out in the middle of the night with the pain.

I was in pain constantly. Imagine your leg is falling asleep but that tingling feeling is times a thousand, like a sharp shooting electric shock up my leg.

Her stay in the hospital lasted five weeks. She was bedridden for three weeks at home and forced to rely on heavy-duty painkillers for a year.

After being embarrassed for three years by her harrowing experience, Ms Anderson has made her story public in the hope of sparing another person from a similar experience.

She said: At the time I was embarrassed about it, because who wants to be like I passed out drunk like an idiot. The shame's kind of dissipated because it's been years now, it could happen to anyone.
Lenders remain tough on loan to value deals

First-time buyers and homeowners with only a small amount of equity in their property who want to move or remortgage should have greater choice after the launch of new loan deals. But the cost of mortgages is still high for those without a large deposit.

Saffron Building Society last week launched a two-year fixed rate at 5.89 per cent that is available to borrowers with at least a ten per cent deposit.

Cheltenham & Gloucester, part of Lloyds TSB Group, also introduced a two-year tracker loan and a two-year fix for borrowers with a ten per cent deposit or more. But the rates are high at 6.99 per cent to fix and a starting pay rate of 5.99 per cent on the tracker. The deals are not available for those who want to remortgage their homes.



Only two lenders offered Craig Ashton a mortgage on a low deposit



There are other new deals that are aimed at borrowers with little equity in their homes who need to remortgage. Abbey, owned by Spanish bank Santander, has said it will offer lower rates to Abbey and Alliance & Leicester current account customers who have held an account for more than six months.

The deals go up to 90 per cent loan to value (LTV) for those taking fixed rates. Nationwide, which last week reported a sharp plunge in half-year profits, has also said it will lend up to 90 per cent LTV on fixed and tracker deals to those borrowers who have its FlexAccount current account.

Coventry Building Society has also said it will help existing mortgage customers who have to move house, for example because of a job change to another area.

They will be able to borrow up to a maximum of 125 per cent LTV. However-the deal has many restrictions and borrowers must have an excellent credit history.

David Black, mortgage expert at financial data analyst Defaqto, says that moves by lenders to improve deals at higher LTVs are a positive sign. But he warns that the market remains tough.

'Hopefully, there will now be a domino effect, with other lenders launching more competitive rates for those with only a small deposit at their disposal,' he says.

'Lending volumes remain low, so things are still tough out there for borrowers. And rates are much higher for those with little equity.'

Melanie Bien, director at mortgage broker Savills Private Finance, says tactics such as offering special mortgage deals to existing bank customers, such as those introduced by Abbey and Nationwide, make good business sense for the lender because they tie the borrower in.



They could also help many struggling homeowners. 'Borrowers who opt for one of these deals may face some hassle in moving their current account, but if it means you can get a mortgage when you would not otherwise be able to, it may be worth doing,' she says.

David Hollingworth, mortgage expert at broker London & Country Mortgages in Bath, Somerset, says the difference in mortgage rates at 60 per cent LTV and 90 per cent, for example, has never been wider (see report, above).

He says: 'There is still a price gulf between deals depending on a borrower's level of equity.

'It is not surprising that more borrowers have stuck with a lender's standard variable rate after finishing a fixed-rate deal because high LTV rates are simply not attractive.'

Craig Ashton, 34, a project managerfor a credit card company, bought his first home with his wife, Jane, 30, in May. The couple say they were frustrated by the lack of mortgage choice available to them because they had only a 15 per cent deposit, but they managed to secure a fixed rate at less than six per cent.

'There were just two lenders willing to offer us a mortgage,' says Craig, whose new home is in Grassendale, Liverpool. 'We wanted to fix for peace of mind, but we paid a premium because our deposit was small.'

Craig and Jane decided on a twoyear fixed rate at 5.89 per cent with Cheltenham & Gloucester, part of Lloyds TSB, and paid a 1,094 fee for the loan. C&G's rates at 85 per cent LTV are now higher.
The chairman of Comet owner Kesa yesterday spelled out the harsh realities of life as a retailer.

'Our prime job is survival,' David Newlands said after the release of annual results every bit as bad as the City had been expecting.

Kesa slashed the total dividend by 65 per cent after an 'extremely difficult year' in which the group crashed to a loss.

Struggling: Kesa owns Comet, which has seen its shares drop 74% recently

Europe's third largest electrical goods retailer has been hit hard by the consumer downturn. It said conditions were not set to improve any time soon and it had budgeted for a 6 per cent fall in underlying sales in 2009.

While it has no debts, it has burned through its cash reserves at an alarming rate - they fell from 46.5million to 7.5million in the space of 12 months.

Newlands said: 'In conditions that remained extremely difficult throughout the year, I am very satisfied that the group again demonstrated the strength of its cash generative business model.'

The firm has cut costs by laying off 300 staff during the year from Comet's 10,000 workforce. The cost of redundancies and restructuring meant Kesa posted an 81.8million loss compared with a 127.9million profit a year earlier.

The shares rose 6 p to 109p despite the dividend cut to 5p from 14.4p.

Conditions have been particularly hard for its Spanish business and it is in talks to sell its Swiss operation for 11million.

Nick Bubb, retail analyst at Pali International, said: 'Kesa has brought a triple whammy of disappointment, in the form of a disappointingly big dividend cut, a disappointing miss on underlying profits for the year ending April and a disappointing lack of anything new on company strategy.'
The competition regulator has opened a probe into the proposed takeover of General Electric's nuclear steam power division by state-owned power giant EDF.

The Competition and Markets Authority is giving interested parties until 14 April to comment on the prospective deal, following which it intends to formally launch an investigation into whether it would result in a 'substantial lessening of competition.'

EDF initially signed a memorandum of understanding with GE in February 2022 to acquire some of the American conglomerate's nuclear power operations before the pair made a binding agreement on the matter nine months later.

Nuclear technology: According to General Electric, its steam turbines are installed in half of the world's nuclear power plants, including every single one in France owned by EDF

GE's steam power business provides technology and services, such as automation software and electricity-generating Arabelle steam turbines.

According to the group's website, its steam turbines are installed in half of the world's nuclear power plants, including those in France owned by EDF.

It is currently building the world's two biggest nuclear steam turbines for the Hinkley Point C project, Britain's first nuclear power station to be constructed in more than two decades.

EDF Energy is providing the majority of financing for the Somerset site, with the remainder being put forward by the China General Nuclear Power Group.

The firm's takeover of GE Steam Power will also cover technology for future nuclear plants, including small modular reactors (SMRs) and European pressurised reactors.

Subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to be finalised sometime during the second half of this year.

In November, GE claimed the deal would 'enable EDF Group to strengthen the technologies and skills... essential for the maintenance of the existing nuclear fleet and future projects'.

THIS IS MONEY PODCAST How long should you fix your mortgage for - and what next for rates?

Nuclear power has grown in greater importance in recent years as countries have sought cheap, reliable and low-carbon forms of energy to cut emissions and reach net zero targets in line with the Paris Agreement.

Soaring oil and gas prices following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine have also increased the urgency to accelerate the move towards green energy.

Earlier this month, EDF Energy announced that it would keep the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear plants open for another two years, citing the need to boost the UK's energy security and lower demand for imported gas.

Matt Sykes, the managing director of EDF's Generation division, said: 'Supplying zero-carbon and affordable electricity, whatever the weather, has never been more important than right now.

'Our ongoing investment and careful stewardship of the UK nuclear fleet since 2009 has allowed us to make today's decision and helps support the UK's energy security at this challenging time.'
Angry shareholders have demanded that Nanoco bosses step down in a bitter row over the companys David and Goliath battle with Samsung.

A group of investors led by Tariq Hamoodi, who has a 4.23 per cent stake in the British quantum company, has called for chief executive Brian Tenner and chief finance boss Liam Gray to resign following a settlement with Samsung last month.

Nanoco filed a lawsuit in February 2020 for patent infringement, alleging the South Korean tech giant used its quantum dot technology in its TVs without permission.

Lawsuit: Nanoco claims South Korean tech giant Samsung used its 'quantum dot' technology in its TVs without permission

The pair were due to go to court in Texas but agreed to settle. Samsung last month agreed to pay 123million to Manchester-based Nanoco  far below industry estimates of around 215million.

Shareholders said: Nanoco had settled on terms substantially less favourable than its prior statements had led shareholders to believe.

Nanoco said it emphatically rejects the shareholder groups speculative concerns.
Banking stocks rallied yesterday after parts of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank were snapped up by a US regional lender.

The deal involving North Carolina-based First Citizens eased worries about the wider sector, which is experiencing the biggest shock since the 2008 financial crisis.

Reports that US authorities were considering more support for embattled lenders also lifted investor appetite after weeks of turmoil.

The collapse of SVB and two smaller American lenders had set off global tremors resulting in the demise of 167-year-old Credit Suisse.

Epicentre: The collapse of SVB and two smaller American lenders had set off global tremors resulting in the demise of 167-year-old Credit Suisse

SVBs UK arm has already been rescued in an emergency 1 takeover by HSBC.

Concerns have also spread to US regional banks and in particular First Republic. Its shares rose 10.5 per cent yesterday however, while other regional lenders such as Keycorp and Zions also posted gains, as did bigger names such as JP Morgan and Citigroup. First Citizens soared 22 per cent.

In Europe, Deutsche Bank  which fell 8.5 per cent on Friday as fears over the European banking sector spread  climbed 6 per cent yesterday.

UK banks were also on the front foot with Barclays up 2.3 per cent, NatWest ahead by 0.5 per cent, HSBC rising 1.3 per cent and Lloyds climbing 1.3 per cent.

The deal for SVB sees First Citizens take on assets of 90billion, deposits of 46billion and a loan book of 59billion as well as its 17 branches.

SVB was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) earlier this month after a bank run which saw billions of dollars pulled out by depositors.
Jeremy Hunt has quite a task ahead in unleashing his high tech ambition for the UK.

The Chancellor has sought to lift the spirits with high flown rhetoric about Britains world leading achievements in life sciences, deep technology, AI, Fintech and much else.

But he faces a tormented backdrop with the decision by 30bn tech champion Arm to list in New York, along with business lender OakNorth and data group WANdisco.

The grass looked greener on the other side of the Atlantic before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

This is just the tip of an iceberg. As we learnt in the pandemic (with no exaggeration) Britain is genuinely a world beater when it comes to biotech, developing vaccines and new medicines.

Many UK discoveries turn into start-ups and then race towards Stage One approval in the regulatory process.

That indicates a prospect of success. Then the fun begins with small biotechs looking for direct finance and big pharma seeking licencing deals to capture the new treatments or compounds.

Realistically this is a hit or miss process with only a one in ten chance of success.

Nevertheless, the competition is hot and at this point you can almost hear the whoosh of great science, developed in UK universities, heading to Stanford and the USs West Coast. American venture capital is so much more willing to take the risks than British funders.

Yet we have one of the worlds great pension fund endowments, holding some 10bn of assets, which could be used to support home grown enterprise

HM Treasury recognises the value of companies emerging from our brilliant research universities. The Chancellor has set up a task force headed by Professor Irene Tracey of Oxford and Dr Andrew Williamson of Cambridge Innovation to identify best practice in turning university research into commercial success.

This looks to be typical Whitehall with civil servants focused on process rather than outcomes. Of course there is huge room to turn university research into new enterprises. This stuff is already going on at Russell Group universities such as Southampton.

It has created enormous science hub where dozens of innovations have been turned into firms.

Investment manager M&G is seeking to be a pioneer in this space through Northern Gritstone which provides funds for promising spin-outs.

Its 5bn Catalyst Fund is now being opened to external investors for the first time and is hungry for investment targets.

Tory voices, such as Howard Leigh of Cavendish, argue that if the UK really is to become a beacon for start-up funding then mechanisms such as the tax advantaged Enterprise Investment Scheme need to be modernised and extended.

The government still lives in fear of fiscal turbulence after the Truss fiasco last autumn.

However, the UK cannot recover its mojo without generous tax breaks and a change in attitude among defensive domestic investors towards more venture capital.
As many as half a million women and girls today live in terror on the fragile border between China and North Korea.

Children as young as 12 find themselves the victims of systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy as organised crime groups take control of the lawless 'Red Zone' between the two countries.

This is an established fear, according to international human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance who have investigated rights violations in the region since 2020; victims have fled 'the Hermit kingdom' into neighbouring China since the 1994-98 famine claimed the lives of between 240,000 and 3.5mn people - and gangs have long exploited the difficulty crossing the border.

But pandemic-induced lockdowns, closed borders and information blackouts in China have created a new 'black hole' of human rights abuses, GRC warns, where criminal groups today quietly profit from a $105mn (86mn) human trafficking industry as the international community turns a blind eye.

'The practice is becoming increasingly normalised,' the organisation reports, 'with women routinely beaten at villages and towns across the country and sold for as little as a few hundred dollars.'

GRC research found children as young as 12 are susceptible to border human trafficking rings

'I was sold to a Han Chinese living in Yanbian,' one North Korean defector told investigators from North Korean CSOs.

'We lived together for one year and we couldn't have a child, so he beat me.

'He kicked me. He kicked my head a lot. I have depression now as the aftermath.'

For years, refugees have sought to flee the oppressive North Korean regime through the northern border into China. Traffickers facilitate this journey where officials may reportedly 'aid and abet' sex and bride trafficking, or pay locals to report defectors.

China - an ally of sorts - does not recognise North Korean refugee status and repatriates those who flee, where back home they are labelled 'traitors' and face forced labour, imprisonment without trial, and in some cases the death penalty.

Unable to turn to the authorities for help, victims fleeing the North Korean regime are increasingly susceptible to criminal organisations who would exploit their situation for profit.

Sofia Evangelou, North Korea Lead Legal Advisor for Global Rights Compliance, told MailOnline: 'For North Korean people to escape North Korea... the only way to do that is by receiving support from brokers.

'Many of them... deceive people, or take advantage of the fact that they [are] so desperate to escape North Korea, that they would [sell] them into trafficking rings, or to [criminal] organisations conducting forced labour, and so on.'

An estimated 70% of migrants from North Korea are expected to be women, and gangs profit most from selling them into the sex trade.

As many as 70 to 80% of these female North Korean refugees in China are trafficked into the sex trade.

'It's something that has been going on for a more than a decade, since people started to leave North Korea - from the beginning of the 2000s, following the famine that occurred in 1995,' Ms Evangelou explained.

'There was a great influx of people leaving because they were starving... however, the situation has deteriorated because of the Covid 19 pandemic. Women who were previously working in forced labour or being exploited in other ways, in other industries, have now been transferred into - for example - the cybersex industry.'

Many who travel north into China are caught and trafficked. Of those who reach China, many are deported back to North Korea or subsequently trafficked into the sex trade

The pandemic undoubtedly worsened the plight of migrants fleeing persecution and starvation.

According to Amnesty, border closures reportedly put an end to North Korea's Chinese food imports - both the 'legal' government-controlled deals and the unofficial 'grey' market.

As prices tripled in some areas, more felt the pressure to leave - but couldn't. Security forces were given the order to unconditionally shoot anyone attempting to cross the border without permission. The reported number defecting to South Korea fell to the lowest since records began in 2003.

State media meanwhile reported that orphans had 'volunteered' en masse to take jobs in dangerous industries, including mining, as 120,000 were believed to be subjected to forced labour, torture and other ill-treatment within North Korea's borders.

The who could escape braved exploitation at home, exploitation on the border, and exploitation even if they reached China.

The risk of deportation grew as movement between Chinese provinces required travellers to submit health certificates.

China's stance, says the GRC, is that the trafficking of people along its southeastern border is an internal issue, not the business of an international community that has already drawn ire for taking a stance on the forced sterilisation of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and the clamping down on free expression and peaceful assembly in Hong Kong.

China maintains that those fleeing north are 'illegal economic migrants' rather than refugees, and send them back to North Korea, which in turn enables the underground organisations that promise defectors safe passage north.

'This gives fertile ground to organised criminal groups to operate without any interference from the state, and facilitates their operations.'

The mountainous journey is dangerous, and refugees know that they stand to lose everything if they are caught. With some Chinese Department agents and guards reportedly aiding trafficking operations, information blackouts on both sides of the border have left the extent of the problem unknowable.

GRC has shared until-now untold stories of North Korea's repatriated defectors.

Deported from China in 2004, Lee Keum-Soon was mobilised for forced labour six months into a pregnancy she had concealed from authorities in fear of having her child forcibly aborted. When she became too weak to work, guards in a police holding camp made her carry rocks from a riverbed.

Lee was found dead by her peers, floating in the river having drowned, exhausted. When guards saw she had layered on clothes to hide her pregnancy, they stripped the remaining women in the camp to 'ferret out' any children not yet forcibly aborted.

Another survivor, whose identity has been withheld, told GRC how she was ordered to have sex with an officer, and forcibly raped when she refused.

'He ordered me to take off my pants and wash my genitals.

'He ordered me to lie down naked. When I refused to do so, he took me by force and proceeded with intercourse,'

'I was so ashamed,' she said. 'Where - and how - could I report this?'

Previous reports suggested some 150,000 to 200,000 North Korean defectors had made it to China and now risked this kind of treatment. Global Rights Compliance now put that figure closer to half a million.

Refugees risk everything when fleeing north, unable to turn to any authorities for help

The 52nd session of the United Nation Human's Rights Council is underway in Geneva until 4 April 2023, where Special Rapporteur have identified human rights abuses in DRPK as the first priority.

Global Rights Compliance are calling for a full international investigation into the crisis developing on the North Korean-Chinese border.

'It is imperative for the international community to engage with China either through international organisations at the UN level or at a bilateral level, and make calls to action or require them to comment on the situation,' Ms Evangelou told MailOnline.

'[They must] essentially revisit their policy and abide by their international law obligations which... dictate that they should recognise North Korean people as refugees rather than illegal economic migrants.'

She added: 'If nothing is done to address the urgent human rights situation for North Korean women, the situation will only get worse, with many hundreds of thousands more women falling victim to exploitation, forced labour, and sex and bride trafficking.'
A survey of transgender Americans has revealed that many trans people benefit from changing away from their natal sex, but that in many cases these alterations are only partial, cosmetic or infrequent.

A study of more than 500 trans adults by the Washington Post and KFF, a health charity, found that 77 percent said their satisfaction with life had improved due to transitioning.

More than four in 10 adults said they were 'a lot more' satisfied after making the change. They also complained of frequently facing discrimination.

Even so, there were many signs in the data that being trans was less absolute and more nuanced than is often presented.

Trans people much more frequently say they're 'non-binary' or 'gender non-conforming' than a 'trans man' or 'trans woman'.

A study of more than 500 transgender adults by the Washington Post and KFF, a health-focussed nonprofit, revealed that being trans was less absolute and more nuanced than is often presented

Few of them present as trans all the time, and only small numbers take hormones or undergo surgery.

For some analysts, the research informs a heated debate on whether trans-identifying children should be allowed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, or whether it's better to delay irreversible procedures until adulthood.

Byron York, a political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, said the 'growing trans industry needs to hit the brakes on performing life-altering, irreversible procedures  surgery and puberty-blocking hormone treatments  on minors'.

'People are capable of deciding to have such procedures once they are old enough to choose for themselves, and the evidence in the survey shows that a large majority ultimately do not choose hormones or surgery,' he wrote.

Some 1.6 million people above the age of 13 identify as transgender, according to a June 2022 study from the Williams Institute, a UCLA Law School think tank focused on gender identity and public policy.

According to the KFF survey, 62 percent of trans people see themselves as non-binary or gender-fluid. Half of them either never present in public as trans, or do so only some of the time.

Only 30 percent of them present as trans all the time.

While some people come out in public about being trans when they are under 10, the largest cohort, about a third, do so between the ages of 18 and 25. A small share of trans people  12 percent  never come out as trans.

Poll Should 'gender-affirming care' be banned for children in your state? Yes No Not sure Should 'gender-affirming care' be banned for children in your state? Yes 5718 votes

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In most cases, presenting as trans is only skin deep.

Three quarters of trans people present differently only by changing their clothes or hairstyle. A little more than half change their birth name, and only 31 percent take cross-sex hormones.

For natal females, the male hormone testosterone can cause the growth of facial hair, a deeper voice, bigger muscles and other male traits. Likewise, for natal males, hormones can develop breasts, softer skin, rounder hips and more.

Surgery is uncommon among trans Americans  only 16 percent opt for it. In most cases, this involves the removal or construction of breasts. 'Bottom surgery,' as it is known, on the genital areas, is rare and can be medically problematic, other studies show.

The survey comes as transgenderism becomes a frontline in the culture wars between Democrats and Republicans.

Caitlyn Jenner, a celebrity and former athlete, is among the most famous of America's estimated 1.6 million transgender individuals, although a survey has revealed they are far from a monolith and many are only

Tensions over transgender issues were on display when Loren Perkins, a trans woman, appeared in Texas and refused to let go of the microphone, so she could comment on laws that to prohibit drag performances

Joe Biden's trans male-to-female health official, the pediatrician Rachel Levine, says the trans community has the 'highest support' from the White House

A young woman shows the scars from the breast-removal operation she underwent as a teenager and now deeply regrets

Biden administration officials say the trans community has the 'highest support' from the White House, while Republican lawmakers seek to ban drag shows, trans athletes in sports, and gender ideology from being taught in schools.

The most divisive battle is over gender-affirming care for children, and whether activist doctors and therapists are rushing too many children only hormones and puberty blockers rather than postponing any big decision until the child reaches adulthood.

Since 2021, seven states  Arkansas, Arizona, Alabama, Utah, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Tennessee  have enacted laws that bar doctors from providing gender-affirming care to children.

More than 100 bills targeting trans health care are under consideration this year in state legislatures across the country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, a rights group.

Trans activists, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other major US medical groups, and the Biden administration say it can save lives among a suicide-prone group. Some say going through the 'wrong' puberty is harmful for trans adolescents.

Opponents of trans ideology say sex is determined at birth and cannot be changed, that medical groups have been hijacked by trans activists and that politicians must step in and stop parents, doctors, or therapists from permanently harming children.

Many are alarmed by the sharp uptick in teenage girls with autism and other mental health woes seeking gender-change drugs in recent years, and of new studies linking puberty blockers to weaker bones and osteoporosis.

The survey, carried out in November and December last year, was the largest nongovernmental survey of trans US adults using random sampling methods to date. It involved 515 trans and 823 cisgender adults.
The Florida parents who complained that Michelangelo's masterpiece David was 'pornographic' and should not be shown to a sixth-grade art history class were slammed on Saturday by Florence mayor Dario Nardella.

He tweeted that 'mistaking art for pornography is just ridiculous' after Tallahassee Classical School principal Hope Carrasquilla was made to resign following parental complaints.

Mr Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he could personally honour her. The Florence museum housing the famous sculpture has invited parents and students to visit in person.

Two parents had said they wished they'd been made aware that kids were being shown images of the sculpture first, and one claimed it was 'pornographic'.

Yesterday, the head of Florence's Galleria del'Accademia invited parents and students at the Florida school to visit and see Michelangelo's David after the school principal was forced to resign following parental complaints that an image of the nude Renaissance masterpiece was shown to a sixth-grade art class

Richard Gere receiving the keys of the town from Florence mayor Dario Nardella, right. Mr Nardella said it was 'ridiculous' that parents could have mistaken David for pornography

The board of the Tallahassee Classical School last week pressured principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign because it has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance if any 'controversial' topics are taught.

Hope Carasquilla was pressured to stand down as principal after an image of Michelangelo's David was shown to an art class

The Italian response highlighted how culture wars in the US are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in Right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy.

A MailOnline poll of nearly 2,000 readers found 93% (1,560) did not think Ms Carrasquilla should have been fired, responding, 'No, it's art'.

Some 7% (120) did think she deserved to lose her job, responding, 'Yes, it's inappropriate'.

The front page of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera yesterday featured a cartoon by its leading satirist depicting David with his genitals covered by an image of Uncle Sam and the word 'Shame'.

Ms Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a 17ft (5m) nude marble sculpture dating from 1504.

The work, reflecting the height of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.

Ms Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they weren't notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.

The head teacher said in a phone interview yesterday that she was 'very honored' by the invitations to Italy and may accept them.

'I am totally, like, wow,' she added. 'I've been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.'

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia, where David is on display, expressed astonishment at the controversy.

'To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art,' she said.

She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the 'purity' of the statue.

Tallahassee Classical is a charter school, taxpayer-funded and operating almost entirely independently of the local school district. It is popular with parents seeking an alternative to the public school curriculum.

About 400 students from kindergarten through to 12th grade attend the three-year-old institution, which is on its third principal.

It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan frequently consulted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on educational issues.

Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classical's school board, has told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Ms Carrasquilla's departure, it wasn't the only factor. He defended the decision, but declined to elaborate.

'Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture,' Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.

Several parents and teachers plan to protest against Ms Carrasquilla's exit at tonight's school board meeting, but Ms Carrasquilla said she wasn't sure she whether would take her job back even if it were offered.

'There's been such controversy and such upheaval,' she said. 'I would really have to consider, "Is this truly what is best?"'

The school board's chairman Barney Bishop (pictured) reportedly told Ms Carrasquilla that she could either quit or be fired, but gave no reason for the ultimatum

Marla Stone, head of humanities studies at the American Academy in Rome, said the Florida incident was another episode in escalating US culture wars and questioned how the statue could be considered so controversial as to warrant a prior warning.

'What we have here is a moral crusade against the body, sexuality, and gender expression and an ignorance of history,' Stone said in an email.

'The incident is about fear, fear of beauty, of difference, and of the possibilities embedded in art.'

Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted David between 1501 and 1504 after being commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence.

The statue is the showpiece of the Accademia, and helps draw 1.7million visitors each year to the museum.

'It is incredibly sought-after by Americans who want to do selfies and enjoy the beauty of this statue,' Ms Hollberg said.

The museum, like many in Europe, is free for student groups. There was no indication that any trip would be subsidised by the city or museum.
Terrifying footage has captured the moment a group of men fled in a car after allegedly attempting to abduct a young girl in broad daylight.

The girl had been walking her dog at Edwardes Park, in Perth's south, at 5.30 pm on Saturday.

A passing teenager said she witnessed when a man grabbed the girl and allegedly attempted to pull her into a black hatchback.

Terrifying footage has captured the moment a group of men fled in a car after allegedly attempting to abduct a young girl in broad daylight

CCTV footage from a nearby house showed the frantic moment the teenager returned home after witnessing the horrific event.

A black hatchback was seen in separate footage leaving the scene, prompting police to launch a manhunt.

Resident Kelly Douglas recalled hearing a horrifying scream at the time of the alleged abduction.

'I heard somebody scream for help and then I heard a car pull away really fast,' she told 9 News.

'I came out to the street to see what was going on the car was gone by the time I got here.'

The girl walking her dog had managed to escape her alleged abductor by running to people in the nearby park for help.

'I could see that the girl had gone to some people that were already on the oval, she seemed pretty distressed,' Ms Douglas said.

Police have since launched an investigation and door-knocking along Etherington Avenue and Lintott Way.

Detectives have asked for anyone with more information or dash cam footage to come forward.
A Florida plastic surgeon has been charged with murder and accused of killing a missing lawyer who worked for a firm representing people being sued by doctor.

Largo police arrested Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, 44, on a first-degree murder charge on Saturday over the disappearance of lawyer Steven Cozzi, 41, who was last seen at work on Tuesday.

Cozzi's wallet, phone and keys were found among pools of blood in a bathroom at the Blanchard Law office on South Belcher Road. Employees told police that there was an 'aroma of bleach' coming from the restrooms after Cozzi disappeared.

Police said Sunday that a search of Kosowski's house had revealed undisclosed evidence that the plastic surgeon was responsible for Cozzi's disappearance.

Cozzi's law firm has been representing Kowowski's former employer, the Laufer Institute for Plastic Surgery, and former colleagues in an unresolved suit he lodged four years ago.

Photo provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office shows Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, who was arrested on a first-degree murder charge Saturday, March 25, 2023, by Largo Police, in Florida

Lawyer Steven Cozzi disappeared, last seen at the Blanchard Law office in Florida on Tuesday

The main legal field Cozzi worked in was bankruptcy and commercial litigation.

Police say a suspicious person and car were seen at the Blanchard Law office, leading them to Kosowski - and a search of the doctor's Tarpon Springs home found evidence that led to his arrest.

Kosowski, 44, who goes by 'Dr. K,' was being held without bail on Sunday at the Pinellas County Jail.

Court and jail records do not indicate if he has hired an attorney.

Steven's mother, Lois Cozzi, told WFLA on Sunday: 'As a family, we are frantic with worry and numb with fear over Steven's disappearance.'

She thanked Largo police for their efforts to investigate her son's disappearance.

Police were collecting fingerprints from the bathroom at the attorney's law firm. Cozzi's wallet, phone and keys were found with pools of blood in a bathroom at the Blanchard Law office on S Belcher Road

Steven Cozzi (left) pictured with his husband Michael Montgomery

Pictured: The bathroom at the attorney's work that he allegedly never came out from. Police are now probing the surroundings

Steven's place of work, Blanchard Law (pictured) has been representing Kosowski's former employer and co-workers in an ongoing lawsuit he filed against them four years ago

Steven Cozzi was last seen at work on Tuesday - and Largo police have now arrested Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, 44, on a first-degree murder charge

Cozzi (left) pictured with his husband

Steven's place of work, Blanchard Law, has been representing Kosowski's former employer and co-workers in an ongoing lawsuit he filed against them four years ago.

The 2019 suit claims the woman Laufer Institute assigned to do Kosowski's insurance billing did not file claims and lied to his patients, costing him tens of thousands of dollars and resulting in negative reviews of him to be posted online.

'Dr. K's promising young career has essentially been obliterated' by the woman's actions, Kosowski lawsuit says.

'Through no fault of his own, his career was put directly in jeopardy and his reputation has been deeply tarnished.'

Kosowski left the Laufer Institute in 2018 and had set up his own practice. Laufer Institute did not immediately return a call seeking comment Sunday.

In the lawsuit, Kosowski said he began working for Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery in 2016, mostly doing breast reconstruction surgery.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Largo Police Department at 727-587-6730.
Mr Minns spoke to Daily Mail Australia about his pledges

Chris Minns resoundingly defeated Dominic Perrottet to become the 47th premier of NSW on Saturday night.

Voters in NSW abandoned the Coalition after 12 years in power, with the crushing election defeat showing a massive swing to Labor.

While votes are still being counted, Labor is on track to form majority government - which requires 47 seats. The party won 45 seats and has a slight lead in four seats still being tallied.

Mr Minns has wasted no time in his new role as the state's leader, with a meeting held at his Kogarah home with senior ministers on Sunday morning.

Chris Minns (pictured with wife Anna) defeated the Liberal's Dominic Perrottet and will be the 47th premier of NSW

Unions in NSW have already called on the new state Labor government to lift public sector wages and abolish the Coalitions wage cap of 3 per cent.

Minns said the wages cap would be an urgent priority for his new government, and he will meet with unions to work out the 'next stage forward'.

Daily Mail Australia quizzed Chris Minns on his election promises leading up to Saturday's election.

He pledged to fix the state's toll road system, provide more social and affordable housing, boost healthcare worker numbers, end the privatisation of state assets and return to a state-owned energy company.

Here are the details of his plan for New South Wales.

Mr Minns (pictured) held a leadership meeting with senior ministers the night after the state election

Health

Chris Minns promised to increase the number of healthcare workers across NSW and implement continuous upgrades to existing hospitals.

The new Labor government will recruit an additional 1,200 nurses and midwives and up to 500 new paramedics to work in rural and regional areas.

The public sector wage cap is set to be scrapped and classed as an 'urgent priority' of the incumbent government.

The Minns government also plans to upgrade a number of hospitals in the state, beginning with facilities in Canterbury and Fairfield.

The Minns government also plans to upgrade a number of hospitals in the state, beginning with facilities in Canterbury and Fairfield (pictured, Royal North Shore hospital)

Housing

Labor promised action on stamp duty, to allow first-home buyers to get on the housing ladder more easily. It promises to scrap or reduce stamp duty for first home buyers for purchases up to $800,000.

Stamp duty will be partly waived for first home buyers purchasing homes up to $1million under Labor's plan.

Mr Minns also committed to abolishing the land tax.

'NSW Labor will remove or reduce stamp duty for 95 per cent of first home buyers, abolish the Liberals forever land tax on the family home and deliver real reform for renters,' the Labor leader said.

The NSW Labor government zeroed in on providing social housing for struggling Aussies.

A mandatory requirement will be introduced under Minns' government where 30 per cent of all homes built on surplus government land must be allocated for social and affordable housing.

Chris Minns told Daily Mail Australia his government will scrap of heavily reduce stamp duty for first home buyers for purchases up to $800,000 (pictured, houses at Oran Park)

Tolls

Sydney has become one of the most expensive cities in the world when it comes to toll roads - and the subject has become a significant point of debate going into this weekend's poll.

Labor made tolls a key focus in the lead up to the election, with Mr Minns committing to a complete overhaul of the toll road system in the state.

He said: 'Labor will deliver Sydney more and better toll relief and fix the current mess Dominic Perrottet has created with his secret contracts and privatised toll roads.'

Mr Minns will appoint the former chairman of the ACCC, Professor Allan Fels AO, to take charge of the current Treasury and Transport review of tolls, negotiate with toll road operators to provide cheaper toll fees for drivers and consider long-term improvements to the toll system.

He also promised to introduce a $60 weekly toll cap if he is elected, which will be a boon for those with long commutes or drive constantly as part of their job.

The cap will be enforced from January 1, 2024, and would be in place for two years.

Drivers who are charged more than $60 in tolls in a single week will have that excess money refunded by Service NSW.

Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world when it comes to toll roads (pictured, WestConnex M4 tunnel entrance)

Demerit Points

Chris Minns promised motorists that a demerit point would be removed from their record every year for those drivers who have had a clean driving record for the past 12 months.

Currently it takes three years for a demerit point to be scrapped.

Public Transport

The NSW government under Chris Minns will build new public transport in Western Sydney to match the area's significant growth in population forecast over the next two decades.

Mr Minns also pledged to conduct a review into Sydney trains and reinstate express services, which will slice commuting times for those in Sydney's west and the outer suburbs the most.

Mr Minns wil have a review conducted into Sydney trains and reinstate express services, which will slice commuting times for those in Sydney's west and the outer suburbs the most (stock image)

NSW Labor also wanted to establish a fleet of rapid buses that would link Campbelltown, Liverpool and Penrith to Badgerys Creek from 2026.

Energy

Chris Minns promised to subsidise energy bills for families by $250 and for small businesses by $315 under his proposed $485 million Energy Relief Fund.

Deductions will be applied directly to power bills for one year and will be provided as quarterly instalments.

There are 1.6million families and 320,000 small businesses who will be eligible for the scheme.

NSW Labor said it would also spend $1 billion creating a state-owned energy company called the Energy Security Corporation if they were elected.

Eraring power station (pictured) is due to close in 2025, but Chris Minns has not ruled out buying it back to keep it open

The ESC will develop renewable energy projects such as community batteries and energy storage through pumped hydro. Labor said the money would come out of the proceeds of selling state assets.

Mr Minns has ruled out any further privatisation, telling Daily Mail Australia: 'NSW Labor will not privatise Sydney Water, Hunter Water or Essential Energy which would see water bills skyrocket, the Liberals cannot be trusted to offer the same commitment.'

The Labor leader is also considering buying back the coal-powered Eraring Power Station to guard against a power supply shortfall from less robust renewables - in what was a notable departure from Labor's anti-coal positions at federal and state levels.

Education

Labor pledged to convert 10,000 existing temporary teacher positions to permanent roles if elected.

The new government plans to reduce administrative work in schools by five hours a week, change school zoning rules so children have access to a Co-Ed school and build new schools in Sydney Olympics Park and South West Sydney.

They will also build 100 new preschools, 50 new and expanded schools and establish TAFE Domestic Manufacturing Centres.

Labor will make 10,000 existing temporary teacher positions permanent (stock image)
Two intense storm systems will bring heavy rain to Australia's west and southeast this week and seven consecutive days of rain to one city.

Thunderstorms struck southern Western Australia over the weekend with close to half a million lightning strikes were reported within 200km of Perth.

The wet weather system has since moved over South Australia and is now settling over NSW and Victoria, where showers and potential storms will kick off a wet week.

Sydneysiders are waking up to showers on Monday morning with a chance of a thunderstorm crashing in later in the day.

A top of 27C is expected to make for a humid start to the week.

A severe weather system hit large parts of NSW and Victoria on Monday (pictured, rain over NSW's Central Coast on Monday morning)

Sydney (above) is forecast to see rain for the next seven days alongside high temperatures and humidity

Drizzle and high temperatures are likely to persist over the capital city for the next seven days.

The weather is also set to be dreary in Canberra with showers forecast through to Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe storm warning for NSW's Central West on Monday morning with the regions surrounding Orange and Bathurst expected to cop heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Heading into Monday night, a rain band is expected to stretch as far south as Melbourne and up north to Brisbane with some regions likely to be smashed by more than 50mm of rain.

The rain is forecast to hang over Melbourne for the next six days before the sky partially clears on Sunday.

Sydney (above) residents woke up to showers on Monday morning with a chance of a thunderstorm crashing in later in the day

Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart are all forecast to see wet weather on Monday (pictured, pedestrians in the rain)

The remnants of the system are set to bring showers to Hobart through to the end of the week alongside temperatures below 20C.

Brisbane will have a slightly sunnier start to the week with partial cloudy weather expected on Tuesday and Wednesday before a possible storm hits on Thursday followed by showers through to the end of the week.

The poor weather is forecast to continuing moving north as the week progresses, bringing light to heavy showers to Central Queensland from Friday.

Things are expected to worsen from there for the sunny state with a second severe weather system in WA expected to move east and form a significant rain event on the east coast early next week.

Many areas of Western Australia are looking at their heaviest rain in six months this week.

Regions in the firing line include many parts of the Wheatbelt, the Goldfields and up north in Newman.

Rural town Newman is set to see storms on Monday before the weather settles into showers for the rest of the week with 20mm to 25mm expected to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, smashing its average March rainfall of 35mm.

A severe weather system in WA moved east overnight to bring heavy rain to Australia's southeast on Monday (pictured, rain radar images on Monday morning)

Rain is forecast to hang over Melbourne for the next six days before the sky partially clears on Sunday

Fortunately, the wet weather is set to steer clear of Perth with sunshine forecast through to Thursday before partial cloud coverage moves over the capital on Friday.

South Australia will cop part of the two systems on Monday and Tuesday with showers forecast in the state's centre.

Adelaide is expected to see some of the rain with showers forecast for Monday and a possible shower bringing 1mm of rain on Tuesday.

The weather is finally looking up this week in Darwin with mostly sunny weather forecast from Tuesday to Friday before more storms move in on Saturday.
He's still shocked when he's referred to as Premier

As Chris Minns romped to victory during the NSW state election on Saturday night, campaign insiders were stunned by the size of his landslide victory.

There had been an expectation he would need to lean on the Greens or independent MPs to form a minority government.

But few in the Labor camp would have let themselves believe the former firefighter and one-time stay-at-home dad would earn a decisive majority mandate to become NSW's 47th Premier - a two party preferred majority of up to 54.3 per cent to 43.7 per cent for the Coalition.

For all Minns's quiet confidence throughout the campaign, the most surprised of all of them was the man himself.

He even still giggles when he's referred to by his new title.

On air this morning with 2GB's Ben Fordham on Monday morning, Mr Minns couldn't help lean away from the microphone for a quiet chuckle, when the traffic presenter, Wilbur, referred to him as 'Premier'.

Minutes earlier, before the cameras were rolling, Mr Minns recalled being stopped in the street on Sunday while he was going for a walk by a voter, who said: 'Hello, Premier'.

'I had to turn my head around to see if someone was behind me,' he said. 'I still haven't gotten used to it.'

For all his preparation and quiet confidence throughout the campaign, it would appear the only person shocked by the outcome of the election is the man himself

On air this morning with 2GB's Ben Fordham, Mr Minns had no choice but to whip his head away from the microphone for a quiet chuckle after traffic man Wilbur referred to him as the premier

At one stage, he stepped away from politics to become a stay-at-home dad to his three boys, giving his wife Anna, a business owner and former lawyer with the director of public prosecutions, an opportunity to focus all her energy on her career

It's this quiet humility which endeared so many voters toward him and his party in the first place - helping Mr Minns secure an historic win and drag Labor from the wilderness of NSW Opposition for the first time since 2011.

At one stage, he stepped away from politics to become a stay-at-home dad to his three boys, giving his wife Anna, a business owner and former lawyer with the director of public prosecutions, an opportunity to focus all her energy on her career.

And while he hasn't made overt displays of excitement since claiming victory, Mr Minns wants to assure the public that it's there.

'It's not me, it's not in my nature. But I'm obviously thrilled,' he said.

Mr Minns is yet to officially move into his new office, but it's straight down to business regardless, as the new premier prepares to meet union bosses as early as this week to discuss his major promise of lifting wage caps on the public service sector.

'I imagine [those discussions] will start very soon,' he said. 'There's some agreements that expire in June, another in December... we'll have to get our feet under the desk.'

Both the NSW Teachers Federation and NSW Nurses and Midwives Association have issued public statements describing Labor's election as a win for their respective industries.

As part of his election campaign, Mr Minns vowed to abolish wage caps and introduce sweeping reforms to bolster both sectors.

He recalled being stopped in the street on Sunday while he was going for a walk by a voter, who said: 'Hello, premier'. 'I had to turn my head around to see if someone was behind me,' he said. 'I still haven't gotten used to it.'

The new NSW Premier said he's still getting used to his title

Chris Minns stood hand in hand with Anthony Albanese as they hailed in a new era

'We need to keep and retain essential workers, particularly nurses, paramedics and teachers... we need to invest in human capital and look after the people who have worked so hard during the pandemic,' he said.

'We think we can get a sensible resolution and we've got to start that process.'

For teachers, he's vowed to convert 10,000 existing temporary teacher positions to permanent roles as a matter of priority.

The new government plans to reduce administrative work in schools by five hours a week, change school zoning rules so children have access to a co-ed school and build new schools in Sydney Olympics Park and South West Sydney.

They will also build 100 new preschools, 50 new and expanded schools and establish TAFE Domestic Manufacturing Centres.

NSWTF president Angelo Gavrielatos issued a statement after his decisive win to say: 'The clear defeat of the Perrottet Government puts an end to deliberate neglect and denial which has left our schools and TAFE in a state of crisis.

He was handed a framed newspaper front cover as a gift on his first day on the job

The Premier was pictured enjoying a coffee with his family after his resounding win

'(The) Federation is ready to work with the incoming Minns Government to urgently address the unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries of teachers that are responsible for the teacher shortage crisis.'

And for the healthcare sector, Mr Minns will increase the number of healthcare workers across NSW and implement continuous upgrades to existing hospitals.

The new Labor government will recruit an additional 1,200 nurses and midwives and up to 500 new paramedics to work in rural and regional areas.

The Minns government also plans to upgrade a number of hospitals in the state, beginning with facilities in Canterbury and Fairfield.

The Nurses and Midwives Association said: 'Finally, we have an incoming government committed to repairing the systemic issues that have been hampering our health services, and to rebuilding confidence and trust within the state's health workforce.

'Many nurses and midwives who have reduced their clinical hours, changed roles, or left the profession altogether will be able to look to the future with a sense of hope.'

There's several marginal seats in particular which will be hotly contested and could help win the election for either party

Labor leader Chris Minns kisses his wife Anna as they vote at Carlton South Public school during the NSW state election in Sydney

Mr Minns's cool, calm and collected demeanour bodes well for his premiership as he faces an uphill battle against a cost of living crisis, rising energy bills and a housing shortage.

Mr Minns also revealed he'd seek advice from outgoing premier Dominic Perrottet on how best to navigate his new role.

'I think there's things to learn and obviously we've got different policy issues but he might have views about the way parliament works or the machinery of government,' he said.

'We'd be crazy not to take his expertise and his experience on board.'

Mr Minns reiterated that he has always respected and liked Mr Perrottet, commending him again on running such a 'clean' and respectful election campaign.

The duo have been praised for the way they've handed their respective campaigns, refusing to engage in bickering or attacking each other on a personal level.

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns is seen outside of Panania Public School with local candidate Kylie Wilkinson (left) on election day

All Australian mainland states and territories are commanded by Labor governments, with Tasmania being the outlier as the only Liberal-run state

Mr Minns' win at a glance - Marks the first time we've had a NSW Labor premier and Labor PM simultaneously since March 2011 when Kristina Keneally and Julia Gillard were in charge - Minns is the first state Labor leader since 1995 to have won from Opposition when Labor was in power federally - He is only the fourth state Labor leader to win from Opposition since World War II - First time Labor have been in government in NSW in 12 years - All of mainland Australia is now Labor Advertisement

'He's such a lovely person... I'm not going to change my view about him now the election is over. He's a fantastic person and a great dad. I'm looking forward to catching up with him in person.'

Mr Perrottet offered a classy concession speech on Saturday evening, noting Mr Minns would make a 'fine premier of NSW' as he stepped down as leader of his party.

He said Mr Minns would 'lead with the same decency of the same integrity that he has led with so far.

'Ultimately, I ask everybody across New South Wales, whatever your political persuasion, to get behind him.'

Mr Minns is only the fourth state Labor leader to win from Opposition since World War II - ending 12 years in the political wilderness for the ALP.

He's also be the first state Labor leader since 1995 to have won from Opposition when Labor was in power federally.

Speaking of the historic win, Mr Minns said he felt a 'sense of relief' wash over him when it became apparent he'd won.

'Obviously for labor volunteers and supporters its been a long time in the wilderness but it's also a deep sense of responsibility and there's lots of challenges.'

He said he'd welcome scrutiny from the public and vowed to remain transparent and accessible.

'We've got to be close to the people,' he said.

'One of the key reasons we won on Saturday is that there wasn't some big bureaucratic buffer between the Labor party and the people of the state.'

Mr Minns is only the fourth state Labor leader to win from Opposition since World War II - ending 12 years in the political wilderness for the ALP
Reclusive billionaire Gina Rinehart has given a rare insight into how she does business after celebrating 30 years at the helm of one of Australia's most successful companies as she's named the richest person in the country yet again.

As head of mining giant Hancock Prospecting, and with diversified investments that include real estate, agriculture and even medicinal cannabis, Ms Rinehart's wealth is estimated to be at least $34billion.

Ms Rinehart, who recently turned 69, is showing no sign of slowing down or curbing her strongly-held views on government spending and regulation, especially at the behest of 'greenies and fellow travellers'.

Ms Rinehart, who is a strong supporter of former US president Donald Trump and can sometimes be seen in his inner circle, continues to be an unabashed defender of mining as the basis of Australia's prosperity.

'Unfortunately, there are many anti-mining people and fellow travellers who fail to realise the vital nature of what our industry provides,' she told the Australian Financial Review.

Gina Rinehart, here seen addressing workers at the huge Roy Hill iron ore mine in WA, has been declared Australia's richest person once more

'There are some people who would be happy to see our industry shut down, but would they be happy to give up their phones, homes, iPads, cars, electricity, hospitals, bridges, trains, buses, planes and more?

'Mining touches every part of our lives every single day. Electricity touches every part of our lives every single day. And if we are to work towards the currently stated goals of our government, mining will only become more necessary.'

Ms Rinehart, who took over Hancock Prospecting when her father died in 1992, credits hard work for the company's success.

'Extremely hard work got us to where we are and if we want to continue this success, then we need to remain vigilant and not let our success diminish our efforts,' she said.

Ms Rinehart also took aim at the federal Labor government over price caps it introduced last December on gas to rein in soaring household energy costs.

She argued that such actions hurt investment, which will eventually reduce supply.

'Price limits may be seen as a temporary fix, but in reality, only make the situation worse, something we should learn from history,' she said.

Iron ore mining operations continue non-stop at Hancock Prospecting's giant Roy Hill site in WA

To mark the 41 years she has worked at Hancock Prospecting, which was founded by her late father Lang Hancock, Ms Rinehart said she was giving 41 workers individual prizes worth $100,000 as the winners of 'Rinehart raffles'.

As a surprise, 10 such prizes were handed out to her employees just before Christmas and came on top of the annual bonuses handed out, which in some years can be up to 30 per cent of a base wage.

Ms Rinehart used her most recent interview to deny she had ever said that Australians should work for $2 hour.

In 2012, she told a mining conference that Australians had to compete with mines in Africa that paid subsistence wages.

'Africans want to work, and its workers are willing to work for less than $2 per day,' she said.

'Such statistics make me worry for this country's future.'

Ms Rinehart said claiming Australians should work for such an amount was 'fake news' because her point was Australia had to compete on cost and that meant 'government burdens' needed to be low.

However, Ms Rinehart did suggest in a 2012 magazine column that year that lowering the minimum wage might help employers take on more staff as she slammed the general work ethic of Australians.

'If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain; do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socialising, and more time working,' she wrote in 2012.

Ms Rinehart credits her success to her work ethic after she took over a debt-laden company from her father

Although she inherited a few mining titles from her father, Hancock Prospecting was debt-laden and her father's estate was the subject of a legal battle with his wife Rose Porteous.

Ms Rinehart said that during her first years in charge of Hancock Prospecting, her accountants would prepare cheques, so she could say they were written, but they were kept in a drawer until the company got quarterly royalties to honour them.

'It was extremely difficult in those early years, and I felt that my nose was only just above water level given the many significant problems our company faced,' Ms Rinehart said.

Eventually however, Ms Rinehart turned Hancock Prospecting into a money-making machine and the company has expanded exponentially with a key asset being the huge iron ore exporting mine at Roy Hill in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

Ms Rinehart, a mother-of-four from two marriages, remains in a bitter legal battle over a family trust with two of her adult children.
The journal is selling for more than $643,000

The first ever European description of Australia's coastline has been found in a newly discovered 330-year-old diary written by a surgeon.

The journal recounts the 1687 second French voyage to Thailand onboard the L'Oiseau, captained by Abraham Duquesne-Guitton, as part of Louis XIV's royal fleet.

The ship was one of five to leave Brest, in north-western France and sail to Cape Town, South Africa, on March 1, before departing for Batavia (Jakarta) on June 28.

However, a week of violent storms separated it from the other vessels and pushed it east, causing it to unexpectedly visit Western Australia, with the ship sailing near the Swan River.

The royal fleet's senior surgeon, known as 'Bremond', was the first to spot Australian land on August 4 and wrote the entire crew was surprised by the sight.

A journal written by a French royal fleet surgeon describes the first ever sighting of Australian coastline in 1687. The author claims to be the first to see 'terre auxtralles' (highlighted above) after a week-long storm pushed the ship farther east

'I was one of the first [to see it] with the chaplain as we walked on the poop. At first sight, we thought that it was some ships but as we sailed onward at speed in a short time we saw that it was rocks,' Bremond wrote.

'At the same time as we were saying "there's land", Mr Duquesne came close to us, and we said to him that we had just seen land; he much surprised climbed the main shrouds [and] found that it was true. All of a sudden, everyone was much surprised, for everyone was packed one next to another.'

The surgeon added he and the captain speculated if the land was inhabited and by what people.

'Perhaps there is no one but for a few people; what makes one think this is that the earlier navigators having been in these lands found the mark of the foot of a man which was a foot and a half long,' Bremond wrote.

The journal recounts the second French voyage to Thailand as part of the Louis XIV (pictured) royal fleet in 1687

The LOiseau visit to Western Australia is the first verified French sighting of Australia, with the journal expected to sell for more than half a million dollars in London this month.

Head of books and manuscripts at Christie's in London Thomas Venning said through research he understood the ship happened upon Australia and frantically flipped the journal's pages for any mention of the country.

Mr Venning explained he was 'completely dumbstruck' when he read 'terre auxtralles' written in the journal.

'It was a really heart-in-mouth moment,' Mr Venning told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'I had no idea if he would describe it at all! When I saw the words Terra Australis (or "terre auxtralles" in this rather eccentrically spelled French) in a manuscript written in 1688, I was completely dumbstruck.'

'In 25 years as an autographs specialist at Christie's, I've never seen anything similar.'

Mr Venning labelled the diary an 'extremely rare' find, as it is thought to be the only 17th-century description and earliest mention of Australia to go on sale.

The journal will be available for purchase through Christie's Private Sales team and will go on sale in the region of 350,000 (AUD $643,105).

Historians have recorded the manuscript as the 33rd verified sighting of the Australian coast by a European vessel.

The voyage, described in Bermond's journal, included 14 Jesuit scientists under Pere Guy Tachard and five warships - including the L'Oiseau, which had 46 guns.

The manuscript was labelled an 'extremely rare' find as it details the journey from France to Batavia (Jakarta). The journal includes Twelve illustrations devoted to Siam (left and right)

A sketch of the King of Siams barge with oarsmen, and a princes barge (pictured)

The voyage formed part of more than a decade long diplomatic exchange between Siam and the French court of Louis XIV, which was headed by mathematician Simon de la Loubere and director of the French East India Company Claude Ceberet.

The manuscript also details presents sent by Louis XIV and drawings of the local inhabitants, flora, fauna and topography of the Cape, Siam, Batavia, the Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and Ascension Island.

Twelve illustrations devoted to Siam show ships, elephants and even King Narai's palace.

Bremond wrote Batavia was the 'most beautiful town of all the East Indies' and claimed the city had a significant Chinese population.

The journal's author continued his career as a surgeon for 20 more years and even served at France's major naval port in Toulon - however, little more is known about his life and travels, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The journal is believed to have changed hands once after it was sold at auction in Christie's Paris in 2012.

Before 2012, the manuscript was kept in the library of a family in western France - the area where the journal was written.
A woman was fooled into paying rent to a scammer for a house she thought was off the market - only for real estate agents to turn up to inspect the supposedly vacant property.

The tenant had moved into the home on Robinson Road West, in Aspley, Brisbane, after seeing it advertised on social media in a buy and sell group.

She'd paid the bond and rent for the house to the person who made the post, unaware she was being duped.

The property was supposed to be vacant and it wasn't until real estate agents let themselves into the home last Wednesday morning that they saw people living inside.

The agents called the police, who turned up that afternoon.

The woman then explained to the officers she'd been paying rent to someone who she thought was the owner.

A woman was conned into paying rent for a home she thought was off the market - only for real estate agents to arrive and inspect the property (pictured is stock image of apartment block up for lease)

She has since lodged her own complaint with police.

Queensland Police have since warned prospective tenants to be on high alert when seeing properties advertised on social media.

'It is always safest to deal with licensed agents when looking to rent properties; if you deal with an individual, ask for identification and proof that they own the property e.g. Rates notices,' police said.

'With the shortage of rental accommodation, there is a criminal element who will take advantage of people looking for somewhere to live.'

A Queensland Police spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia they are investigating a case of fraud linked to the address.

Those who notice anything suspicious can contact Policelink at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting or call 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The Australian media have not been invited on his trip

Dan Andrews is scheduled to fly to Beijing on Monday

Dan Andrews will not allow any Australian media to follow him on his four-day trip to China, despite being the first Australian leader to visit since the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan.

The Victorian premier is scheduled to fly to Beijing on Monday night and is set to attend a number of meetings with senior Chinese officials to discuss education, trade, and cultural matters.

Before returning to Melbourne on Saturday morning, he will visit Beijing and the Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces.

The list of officials the premier will meet with has not been revealed, prompting criticism from The Australian's media writer Nick Tabakoff and 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell.

'It seems to be a case of Chairman Dan adopting the Chinese government culture of explaining as little as possible to the public.'

Mr Tabakoff referred to the famous snap of Dan Andrews talking on his mobile phone while standing in Tiananmen Square on a trip to Beijing in 2015.

'Part of the problem from Andrews perspective might be the photographs that could be snapped by the travelling media on such a visit,' he added.

Notable Daniel Andrews critic, 3AW's Neil Mitchell, claimed the move not to allow media was 'certainly a bad look' for the premier.

He then joked: 'He's involved in so many inquiries in Victoria, that it wouldn't be surprising if he sought asylum there!'

Liberal MP Dan Tehan called on the premier to be more transparent about his itinerary in China.

'I think he's been to China more times than he's visited Warrnambool.

'I'm concerned that the only reports we'll get out of it will be by state-run media in China and I'd really like to know the purpose of this visit,' Mr Tehan told Sky News on Monday.

Daniel Andrews (pictured in Tiananmen Square in 2015) has not invited any Australian media on his trip to Beijing this week

However, Mr Andrews defended the decision not to take media after his plans were revealed on Sunday.

'We're having a series of meetings back to back, and I don't think I've taken media on every trip I've ever done,' he said.

'There'll be other trips this year to lots of different parts of the world, potentially. We still haven't firmed that up. But you'll be appropriately invited to those.'

'We've made our choice. You can have a view on that. That's entirely your job.'

The Victorian Premier will attend a number of meetings with senior Chinese officials to discuss trade, education and cultural matters

Chinese President Xi Jinping is not expected to be on the itinerary for Mr Andrews' visit

Mr Andrews has been accused of being to close to China's dictatorial government after joining Beijing's controversial Belt and Road Initiative.

The Morrison Government used newly created powers to tear up the agreement in April 2021 on national interest grounds.

The Belt and Road broadly aims to foster infrastructure projects around the region, and in Victoria's case 'increase the participation of Chinese infrastructure companies in Victoria's infrastructure construction program'.

However, it is criticised as a soft power grab by China to increase its influence on developing countries, and trap them in debts that force them to do Beijing's bidding.

Mr Andrews said China was Victoria's largest and most significant trading partner and it was important to strengthen that relationship even further.

'This is not the first trip that I've made to China and it won't be the last,' he told reporters on Sunday.

'We think that's really important for Victorian jobs and exports.'

Mr Andrews said he spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was very positive about the trip.

The Victorian premier denied the relationship between Canberra and Beijing was strained after the $368 billion AUKUS submarine deal.

'I'm not here to be a commentator on the China-Australia relationship... nor am I here to talk about defence or strategic issues or foreign policy issues,' he said.

'My job, the job I have always done, is to make sure that more Victorian companies can get access to the biggest market in the world.'

This will be the premier's seventh visit to China since the Labor government came to office, with previous trips in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and two in 2019.
The 'woke' energy policies of former NSW Liberal treasurer Matt Kean have been blamed for the government's humiliating election defeat on the weekend.

A Liberal Party insider has told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Kean's zealous focus on renewable energy had alienated voters who wanted more focus on cost of living pressures than the pre-occupations of wealthy Greens and teal voters.

'The reality of why Matt Kean's not put his hand up the leadership is because it's untenable because he's had such a negative impact already,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

There had been an expectation that Mr Kean would step up to replace outgoing premier Dominic Perrottet, who resigned the Liberal leadership on Saturday night, given he had been deputy Liberal leader.

But Mr Kean issued a statement on Sunday afternoon saying he needed to spend more time with his family.

'I have decided not to throw my hat in the ring for the NSW Liberal leadership,' he said.

Former NSW Liberal treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean's (second from the right) 'woke' climate policies have been linked with his party losing seats from western Sydney to wealthy areas by the beach

'I have a young family and I would love to spend a little more time with them.

'The election result will enable me to do that.

'Tommy recently turned three and now is the time for me to hang out and be a dad, while also continuing to serve my wonderful Hornsby constituents and the Liberal Party, though not as leader and not as part of the leadership team.'

Mr Kean, who is also the member for Hornsby on Sydney's upper north shore, had been a fierce advocate for a faster transition to renewable energy - in December pushing a 70 per cent renewable energy target.

A Liberal Party branch president from Sydney's north, who was not authorised to speak on the record, told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Kean's renewable energy focus, driven by the left-wing moderate faction, had alienated battlers in western Sydney and coastal retirees more concerned about the cost of living.

'We're no longer any different to Labor, and in fact we're more left than Labor compared with say the right faction within Labor,' he said.

'A party that's basically trying to put itself up as a left-leaning party, when you already have the Greens and you have Labor.

'Matt Kean is further left than the leader of the Labor Party.'

The Liberal Party insider said Premier-elect Chris Minns, from the ALP's more centrist right faction, cleverly campaigned on cost of living issues, arguing he was as down to earth as the late former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke.

'Chris Minns came across as an everyday man that could really relate to people,' he said.

Outgoing Premier Dominic Perrottet was described as an 'elitist' - like Mr Kean - from a Sydney north shore seat.

A Liberal Party insider has told Daily Mail Australia Mr Kean's zealous focus on renewable energy had alienated voters worried about the cost of living, from battlers in the suburbs to retirees by the beach (he is pictured centre right with outgoing Environment Minister James Griffin, outgoing metropolitan roads minister Natalie Ward and North Shore MP Felicity Wilson)

'The reality is he didn't come across as an everyday person or a mainstream Australian and looked elitist from my perspective,' the insider said.

Another Liberal Party member from the South Coast - where the Liberal Party lost the seats of Kiama and South Coast - said the party had mistakenly tried to win over Greens voters who would never support them.

'They're going about it the whole wrong way with a completely false strategy,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'The results speak for themselves. The party has lost all its principles, it's gone more woke than the Greens, it's just basically ruined itself.

'What opposition do they now pose to the Greens and Labor?'

The Liberal Party at a federal level last year lost another three previously safe seats on Sydney northern beaches, north shore and eastern suburbs seats to 'teal' independent candidates focused on tackling climate change.

Mr Kean, a leading Liberal Party moderate, led the effort to keep these disaffected Liberal voters in wealthy beachside electorates where the environment is a bigger concern than the cost of living.

Two days before Christmas, he announced a dramatic 70 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035, as most Australians battle higher electricity bills with more increases expected.

Matt Kean issued a statement on Sunday afternoon saying he needed to spend more time with his family (he is pictured with his son Tommy who has recently turned three)

'Days like today deliver real action to benefit the economy and the environment,' Mr Kean said.

The backdrop was the ultra-wealthy suburb of Manly on the northern beaches where the median house price is more than $3million - almost triple Sydney's $1.2million median.

To make the point, Mr Kean was flanked by Liberal candidates and MPs from the party's left-leaning moderate faction.

But the strategy backfired, as the appeal to the climate-conscious well-to-do alienated many more voters than it attracted, even in those wealthier areas.

Jordan Lane, running in the northern Sydney seat of Ryde in retiring minister Victor Dominello's old seat, suffered a 9.6 per cent swing against him and is in danger of losing to Labor with a count underway.

The electorate had been Liberal-held since a 2008 by-election.

In western Sydney, the swing was even worse with the Liberal Party losing Parramatta with a 15 per cent swing against them after preferences.

The big swings against the Liberal Party were widespread, with Labor getting a 13 per cent swing in the wealthy Central Coast seat of Terrigal, making an ALP gain there a real possibility.

The swing in the South Coast electorate was an even bigger 15 per cent to Labor.

The Liberal Party's ambitious climate change policies didn't protect it from independent challengers.

Two days before Christmas, he announced a dramatic 70 per cent emissions reduction target by 2035, as most Australians battle higher electricity bills with more increases expected

Former health minister Brad Hazzard's old seat of Wakehurst has fallen to Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan, while retiring planning minister Rob Stokes' old electorate of Pittwater has possibly gone to environmental campaign Jacqui Scruby.

Just weeks before Saturday's state election, the Australian Energy Regulator determined NSW electricity bills would rise by 22 per cent during the next financial year, equating to a $463 increase.

Making matters worse, the coal-fired Eraring power station on Lake Macquarie near Newcastle is slated for closure in August 2025, which would reduce the available wholesale supply of electricity.

During the election campaign, Mr Minns floated the idea of buying back the Eraring power station to keep a lid on power price rises, cleverly positioning Labor as more pragmatic on energy security than the now green-friendly Liberals.

Michael Photios, a powerbroker within the Liberal Party's moderate faction which has driven the party into political irrelevancy on the mainland, runs Premier National, a lobbying firm.

The Liberal Party insider from the north shore, who is factionally unaligned, said this nexus between Mr Photios and the party influenced who could run as a candidate.

Outgoing Premier Dominic Perrottet was described as an 'elitist' - like Mr Kean - from a Sydney north shore seat (the outgoing Premier is pictured with his wife Helen conceding defeat)

'What's really interesting is - and people are not realising this - the left faction which is driven by Matt Kean and others is in control of the federal and state party rooms and its preselections.'

Hornsby Mayor Philip Ruddock, whose local government area overlaps with Mr Kean's state seat, said Mr Kean had legitimate personal reasons for not running for the leadership.

'I do know him and I do know him well, I know he's only recently been in a relationship which has given him a young son and I think he is very conscious of his personal relationship,' the Liberal Party's former NSW president told Daily Mail Australia.

'I understand the difficulties that he has; my wife will frequently remind me that I was so long in politics that it was a very heavy burden that she had to shoulder bringing up two young daughters.'

Mr Ruddock, who was a Liberal member of federal Parliament from 1973 to 2016, said cost of living issues were a concern, making it 'extraordinarily difficult' for the state Liberal Party to retain seats where the local member was retiring.

In a sign of a possible way forward, the Liberal Party's right-wing member for Badgerys Creek in Sydney's west, Tanya Davies, bucked the election trend and had a 1.7 per cent swing to her, and was rewarded for speaking out against lockdowns and vaccination mandates.

James Griffin, from the moderate faction, was shaping up as a possible leadership candidate against Alister Henskens and Anthony Roberts from the right, but he has since ruled himself out of the race.

Labor has returned to power after 12 years in the political wilderness, with Mr Minns only the fourth NSW Labor leader to win from Opposition since the height of World War II in 1941.

Daily Mail Australia has sought comment from Mr Kean.
This is the shocking moment a car ploughed through a crowd of people during a fight outside a bowling alley.

Police are looking for a driver after the car collided with a group of pedestrians during the brawl outside Tenpin alley in Acton, West London, shortly after midnight on Saturday night.

In the video, a group of men can be seen aggressively chasing each other through a car park while punches and glass are thrown.

Suddenly screams are heard as a car accelerates and smashes into the pedestrians, causing a loud bang.

One man is flung over the car's roof before landing on the ground, as another lies injured on the tarmac while the car brakes and turns before speeding away.

Video footage shows a group of men aggressively chasing each other through a car park in Acton, West London, while punches and glass are thrown

Screams are heard as a car accelerates and smashes into the pedestrians, causing a loud bang

Police are searching for the driver and have appealed to the public for assistance.

One man in his 20s was taken to hospital, according to The Sun, and his condition has been considered as not life-threatening.

Meanwhile, three other men were treated at the scene of the collision.

Met Police said: 'Police were called shortly after 00:00hrs on Sunday, 26 March to reports that a car had collided with a number of pedestrians on the Royale Leisure Park in Acton.

'Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service. Four pedestrians were injured.'

Anyone with information about what happened has been urged to call 101 and quote CAD 15/26Mar. To stay anonymous contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

MailOnline has contacted Met Police for further comment.
Someone appears to have put it inside

An Australian tourist travelling through Bali has been urged to get rid of her bag after finding an Apple Airtag hidden inside it.

Emily Sinclair was just days into her first holiday to Bali when she warned her fellow tourists about a 'strange noise' coming from her bag.

Ms Sinclair and her partner had been hearing the sound off and on for a number of days while staying in a villa in Amed, in the east of the Indonesian island, when they decided to empty their bags to try and find its source.

After emptying her suitcase's entire contents, an Apple Airtag fell out.

'Neither of us have any Apple products and don't own an Airtag and we both completely emptied our bags before packing for the trip,' she revealed on Facebook.

'The battery also was made in Indonesia.'

Emily Sinclair (pictured) was holidaying in Bali when she found an Apple AirTag in her bag

The coin-sized tracker was 'pinging' from her bag, meaning whoever put it there was close to Ms Sinclair's villa

The couple immediately deactivated and dismantled the tracker, which, due to the battery information, they believe was made in Indonesia.

AirTags are tracking devices, roughly the size of a coin, that pair with iPhones and are designed to help owners keep track of keys, bags, or other important items.

Ms Sinclair said the discovery left them terrified and assuming somebody was following them.

'We dismantled and left the AirTag in Amed - just wanted to see if this has happened to anybody else and give a warning to others to check your bags,' she wrote.

Ms Sinclair posted the warning to the hugely popular Bali Bogans Facebook page, with fellow travellers warning her.

'Dump that bag,' one wrote.

'Weird. I think I'd be buying new bags before going to any airport just incase somethings been hidden in there,' another said.

However one Apple Airtag owner said the pinging sound might not be as sinister as Ms Sinclair thought.

'AirTags are specifically designed NOT to be able to be used to track people. AirTags are designed to keep going for more than a year on a standard battery. If someone elses AirTag finds its way into your stuff, your iPhone will notice its travelling with you and send you an alert,' the person explained.

'After a while, if you still havent found it, the AirTag will start playing a sound to let you know its there.'

Despite that, since launching in April 2021, AirTags have been known to be used by thieves, predators and stalkers to prey on helpless people or follow them home.

On March 8, former Love Island star Montana Brown, 27, revealed she found an AirTag in her bag after landing in Los Angeles.

Former Love Island star Montana Brown revealed that when she landed in Los Angeles she discovered an AirTag in her bag as well

The pregnant Ms Brown received a 'quite creepy' notification from her iPhone that one of the devices was 'on her person' which wasn't registered to her phone.

'I got this notification on my phone like, "There's an AirTag on your person that doesn't belong to you and it's from nobody in your contacts so someone can see your location,"' Ms Brown said.

'After I'd gone through security, I found an AirTag in my bag that was tracking my location.

'So just beware when you're travelling, if you're travelling on your own because apparently this is a thing.'

Ms Brown got the notification, unlike Ms Sinclair, because of her iPhone which can detect the presence of unregistered AirTags - unlike other phone brands.

AirTags connect to iPhones in the vicinity via Bluetooth, and so a notification from Apple's 'Find My' app will appear if an unknown AirTag is found 'travelling' with someone, even if they do not have the app installed.

The device is also a favourite of car thieves, with criminals expertly hiding the tiny trackers in crevices and behind plates.

The thieves typically return at night when owners are asleep and have left the cars on the street.

Travellers with luggage are an easy target for thieves looking to hide AirTags in tiny pockets
It's a sight usually confined to the countryside  flocks of sheep contentedly grazing on vast expanses of field.

But introducing them to city centres and university campuses could help reduce stress among urbanites, researchers say.

For the past two years, around 25 sheep were allowed to nibble on lawns at central campus locations at the University of California.

And scientists have discovered they are doing much more than simply mowing, fertilising and improving the ecosystem.

The four breeds of sheep  Suffolk, Hampshire, Southdown and Dorset  first took on the role in 2021, during the Covid pandemic.

Researchers say that sheep can help reduce stress among urbanites

They are fenced in, given access to clean water and taken back and forth to their home barns in the morning and at night by trailer.

Researchers surveyed around 200 students and staff and found that those who had walked past the sheep or studied near them had a significantly lower likelihood of being stressed compared with people who didnt come across the livestock at all.

Encountering the animals helped improve peoples mental health, they found, and even proved to be a pre-exam calming tonic.

Lead author Haven Kiers, an assistant professor of landscape architecture and director of the sheep mowers project, said: This started out as an experiment to test their mowing abilities, and we have now published research on how they make people feel peaceful. And Mina Bedogne, a research assistant, explained: Just taking a break from a chaotic workday and mindlessly observing the flock has brought joy to so many people.

The team said their findings, published in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, were important when students of all ages have said that they struggle with stress and mental health.

A spokesman for UK trade body the National Sheep Association said there was no doubt introducing sheep to urban areas would benefit individuals. But they warned of the risk from dog-worrying, stressing the move would only be possible if the health and welfare of the sheep could be guaranteed.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at lawyers refusing to prosecute climate activists.

The former director of public prosecutions said he was committed to the cab-rank rule, where lawyers take on cases as they are assigned them rather than hand-picking clients.

It comes as more than 100 leading barristers signed a declaration of conscience, saying they will refuse to prosecute protesters from eco-groups such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.

A spokesman for Sir Keir said: As a KC and a former director of public prosecutions, Keir believes strongly in the cab-rank principle and the importance of barristers accepting the cases that come to them as a fundamental foundation of our justice system.

He has gone on the record as saying that we need laws to deal with protesters who cause serious disruption  and longer sentences for those who glue themselves to roads.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to the Beatrice wind farm off the Caithness coast

The intervention is likely to infuriate hard-Left activists sympathetic to the protesters cause.

Prominent lawyers understood to be involved in the declaration include Jolyon Maugham KC, founder of the Good Law Project, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC, chairman of the British Institute of Human Rights, and Michael Mansfield KC.

Signatories have also said they will refuse to act on behalf of clients involved in oil and gas on the grounds that they are destroying the environment. Their stance has angered senior members of the legal profession, who accused the group of undermining the convention that everyone is entitled to fair legal representation.

Tory MP Sir Robert Buckland, a Kings Counsel and former justice secretary, called the declaration very odd, saying: There are plenty of people lawyers represent who are deeply unpleasant and deeply unpopular, such as rapists and paedophiles.

Scores of activists have appeared in courts across England and Wales, charged with offences such as criminal damage, trespass and obstructing a highway.

Defending his stance, Mr Maugham called eco-activists brave friends who the law wrongly criminalises.

He said: Sometimes the law is wrong. What it stands for is the opposite of justice. Todays history books speak with horror about what the law of yesterday did, of how it permitted racism, rape and murder. And tomorrows history books will say the same about the law as it stands today, of how it enabled the destruction of our planet and the displacement of billions of people.

We should not be forced to work for the laws wrongful ends by helping deliver new fossil fuel projects. We should not be forced to prosecute our brave friends whose conduct, protesting against the destruction of the planet, the law wrongly criminalises.

It came as Just Stop Oil protesters carried out a series of slow marches in Coventry and Leeds at the weekend and are planning further action from next month.
Twitter's source code has been posted online in an embarrassing and potentially damaging security breach, which forced the social media company to immediately take legal action.

The Elon Musk-owned firm on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking a subpoena to force GitHub to reveal who posted parts of the code online.

GitHub, a site for computer programmers to share ideas and collaborate on projects, has taken the code segments down. Source code is the 'DNA' of a website: the programming behind it, which shows how it operates. It is considered intellectual property.

It was posted by someone using the name 'FreeSpeechEnthusiast' - a seeming reference to Musk himself, who declared that he was a 'free speech absolutist'.

Analysts believe that the code could have been posted online by a disgruntled former employee.

Elon Musk, pictured on January 24, admitted on Friday the company was currently worth less than half of what he paid for it in October. On Sunday it emerged that the company is dealing with a leak of its entire source code

The code was posted online in January by 'FreeSpeechEnthusiast'. Musk has launched legal action to try and find the person behind the account

Musk bought the company in October for $44 billion: since then, 75 percent of the company's 7,500 employees have either been laid off or resigned.

News of the lawsuit and source code leak was reported on Sunday by The New York Times.

They said the code appears to have been live on GitHub since at least January.

It is unclear what parts were shared.

Source code tells the website or platform how to behave. Coders, who write the code, are directing every aspect of a site or program.

Source code is protected in the same way as a 'literary work', which means it is copyrightable from the moment that the first line of code is created.

It is seen as the coveted magic formula for a website.

It came as Musk tweeted on March 17 that he wanted to make part of the source code - the part relating to recommended tweets - public.

'Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st,' he said.

'Our 'algorithm' is overly complex & not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things , but we'll patch issues as soon as they're found!

'We're developing a simplified approach to serve more compelling tweets, but it's still a work in progress. That'll also be open source.

'Providing code transparency will be incredibly embarrassing at first, but it should lead to rapid improvement in recommendation quality. Most importantly, we hope to earn your trust.'

Musk has admitted that the company is now worth less than half the $44 billion he paid for it

The New York Times reported that Twitter's bosses were only made aware of the security breach recently.

Sources told the paper that the executives were worried the publicly-available code would enable hackers to take down the site, or obtain information about those using it.

And the news came as Musk admitted, in an email to staff, that the company was struggling.

He said it was worth roughly $20 billion - less than half of what he paid for it.

He said 'radical changes' at the company, including mass layoffs and cost cutting, were necessary to avoid bankruptcy and streamline operations.

'Twitter is being reshaped rapidly,' Musk wrote in the email seen by The New York Times.

He added that the company could be thought of as 'an inverse start-up' and that he believed Twitter could someday be worth $250 billion.

Musk is yet to tweet about the source leak.
A New York-based administrative law judge has been fired from his position after it came to light that he was also making money from a side hustle with an OnlyFans account.

There are now calls for Gregory A. Locke, 33, to be disbarred following the revelations of his x-rated account, some of which pornographic content has also been posted to Twitter.

Over the weekend, the disgraced judge seemed completely unfazed by his own fall from grace as he posted a video of himself to Instagram beaming a wide smile as he attended an Adele concert at the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas.

City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, 68, has called for his disbarment following unprofessional behavior and an inappropriate tweet that was directed at her.

Locke told her to 'choke on a d***' after she made a comment criticizing Drag Queen Story Hour in public schools and libraries.

Paladino has called the city-funded programs that bring fully-bedecked drag queens into public schools and libraries to read to and socialize with kids, often without the consent or knowledge of parents, 'cultural indoctrination' and 'child grooming.'

Gregory A. Locke, 33, has been fired from his position after it came to light that he was also making money from a side hustle with an OnlyFans account

City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino has called for his disbarment following unprofessional behavior and an inappropriate tweet that was directed at her in which Locke told her to 'choke on a d***' after she made a comment criticizing Drag Queen Story Hour in public schools and libraries

Following the abuse from Locke, Paladino told the New York Post that it was unacceptable for him to keep his position while working in the porn industry.

Locke was fired last Tuesday for 'unprofessional behavior.'

'Because of a disgusting tweet this judge posted about me, we placed a complaint, the floodgates opened and he was fired,' Paladino explained.

'This guy should lose his law license, we're in the process,' she continued.

Paladino added that Locke's behavior was corroding the people's trust in the professionalism and impartiality of legal institutions.

Locke charges $12 a month for access to his OnlyFans site which he has operated since November 2020. He also has an X-rated account on JustFor.Fans, where he charges $9.99 a month for access to his photos and videos.

On his OnlyFans account, Locke references his day job and unprofessional behavior, and even masturbated in front of the camera while at work.

Locke's account description reads: 'White collar professional by day very unprofessional by night. always amateur, always raw, always slutty.'

Locke posted Instagram video attending an Adele concert in Las Vegas this weekend

His account description reads: 'White collar professional by day very unprofessional by night. always amateur, always raw, always slutty.'

His account hosts dozens of images and videos featuring hardcore pornography.

There is even video of him apparently drinking the contents of what appear to be used condoms.

'I was never going to focus on work if I didn't let this out,' he wrote in November 2022 before masturbating on camera.

'Guess what kind of porn I was watching in the middle of my work day during this quick orgasm break,' he said in another posting.

Locke's account hosts dozens of images and videos featuring hardcore pornography

There is even video of him apparently drinking the contents of what appear to be used condoms on his x-rated pages

Locke's side gig was unknown to city officials who was completely unaware of his sordid public postings online

Locke's side gig was completely unknown to city officials, unaware of his sordid public postings online.

On his alternative Twitter account, Locke made no secret of the fact he was a judge and even boasted of the fact that he was carrying out legal duties while working in the porn industry.

In his role as a judge, Locke was being paid $58 an hour to adjudicate parking tickets but his unprofessional behavior and inappropriate tweet directed at Paladino led to a complaint being filed against him and subsequent firing.

His antics fall foul of city's rules of conduct.

'A city administrative law judge shall conduct all of his or her extra-judicial activities so that they do not cast reasonable doubt on the city administrative law judge's capacity to act impartially as a city administrative law judge,' and 'do not detract from the dignity of judicial office,' the rules state.

Paladino is now pushing for Locke to lose his law license.
He argued with police before driving away

A man was pulled over for a breath test in NSW

A driver has been given a no-nonsense serve after he refused to comply with a random breath test.

After demanding to see the officer's badge number, he was bluntly told: 'This isn't America, mate'.

The Victorian man was driving in NSW when he was stopped for an RBT by police. Footage of the incident, filmed by a passenger in the car, was uploaded to a 'cooker watch' social media page on Monday.

The vision shows a police officer approach the driver's side of the vehicle.

The driver appears calm at first and asks: 'What is the emergency today officer and how can I help?'

'Just stopping you for a random breath test,' the police officer responds.

Police stopped man in NSW for a breath test

A dog in the back seat of the car watched the police officer

The officer informs the driver he is wearing a camera on him and that 'everything is recorded'.

After asking again to see the man's driver's licence the officer requests the driver open his door so he doesn't have to reach in via the open rear window where a dog sits on the back seat.

'I don't want to put my hand in there and that dog bite me,' the officer says.

The driver then appears frustrated and raises his voice.

'Just give me the f****** machine mate,' he says.

'I'll blow in the f****** bag and then I'll go.'

At one point, either the driver or passenger can be heard asking an officer standing on the footpath next to the car for their 'badge number'.

The officer replies that he he doesn't have one.

'This is not America mate,' he tells the men in the car.

a police officer told the men in the car 'this is not America, mate'

The policeman repeats his request to see the man's licence but the driver continues to yell.

'I've done nothing wrong,' he says.

'There's no emergency here, you've just pulled me over because I'm a Victorian number plate in your town.'

The officer can be heard calling for back-up on his walkie-talkie.

The officer and the driver then get into an argument about the moments leading up to him being pulled over.

After being asked yet again to hand over his licence, the man finally agrees but he is not happy about it.

'Hurry the f*** up mate,' he says.

'Don't f****** snatch it you childish little f***'.

The police officer asks the driver if he had consumed any alcohol on the day to which the man replied 'no'.

''That's why I'm p*****,' he says.

Several more police cars and officers then arrive at the scene as back-up.

The pair continue to heckle police as they drive away.

The man involved is described as a sovereign citizen by well-known social media site, CookerWatch.
Black children are six times more likely to be strip-searched by police when compared with national population figures, an investigation has found.

Almost 3,000 children as young as eight were strip-searched between 2018 and mid-2022, according to research from the childrens commissioner.

Of the 2,487 searches, 38 per cent involved black children and more than half were carried out without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present. And in 45 per cent of cases officers failed to record the location of the strip search, with some taking place in police vehicles and schools.

Dame Rachel de Souza, the Childrens Commissioner for England, who began examining the issue following the search of the black schoolgirl named Child Q, said the findings made for disturbing, but sadly not surprising, reading.

Dame Rachel de Souza, the Childrens Commissioner for England, began examining the issue following the search of a 15-year-old black schoolgirl named Child Q

Child Q was 15 when she was strip-searched in 2020 at her east London school while menstruating by officers who believed she was concealing cannabis. Nothing was found and no further action was taken.

Dame Rachel said the new data, combined with further statistics from the Metropolitan Police last year, was the clearest indication that Child Qs experience was a far from an isolated incident.

I have severe concerns at the ethnic disproportionality shown in these figures. There is sustained attention on this issue not because of a police whistleblower or a government report, but thanks to the bravery of a 15-year-old girl in speaking up.

Without her, these failures would have gone uncovered and unnoticed.

We urgently need to strengthen guidelines around strip searches... and to robustly challenge a culture that has allowed widespread failures to go unchallenged.

The report comes a week after the Casey review found multiple failings in the Met, including shocking examples of mistakes made while strip searching children.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford, of the National Police Chiefs Council, said it took all the concerns raised seriously.
He touched down with wife Michelle for a speaking tour

Former US President Barack Obama has arrived in Sydney

Barack Obama has spent a whirlwind 24 hours in Sydney - his motorcade roaring over the Harbour Bridge for a meeting with Anthony Albanese as he sees some of the city's natural sights and dines at a top restaurant.

The 44th President of the United States and his wife Michelle Obama touched down in Australia's most populated city via a private jet on Sunday night before they were whisked away with a police escort.

Former President Obama filled his Monday full of activities amidst a rainy morning, first being greeted by John F. Kennedy's daughter and US ambassador Caroline Kennedy at the Four Seasons.

Mr Albanese then hosted Mr Obama at Kirribilli House. The pair were all smiles as they posed together for the camera by the harbour while holding black umbrellas amidst the drizzle.

Barack Obama has met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after the former US President arrived in Sydney

The president, along with his wife Michelle, flew into Sydney via a private jet on Sunday night

Former US President Barack Obama in Balmoral pic.twitter.com/NhZKbHHHKy  Julia Bradley (@_juliabradley) March 27, 2023

'Honoured to welcome President @barackobama to Sydney,' Mr Albanese wrote in a post to Twitter.

Mr Obama later went for a walk along the cliffs at Shelly Beach in Manly - as more than a dozen police cars and a dozen police motorbikes waited by the road nearby.

He then attended a lunch at the Bathers Pavillion restaurant at Balmoral with Ms Kennedy - a witness saying he was dining in a room where the curtains were closed to the outside world.

The president and his wife are in the country for his 'An Evening with President Obama' speaking tour, which will be kick off at the Aware Super Theatre on Tuesday night, with the cheapest tickets $395-per-head.

He will then jet down to Melbourne for another appearance at John Cain Arena on Wednesday.

The president will speak about leadership and global challenges with former Australian foreign minister, Julie Bishop, who will also moderate the event.

Mr Obama is pictured with the US Ambassador to Australia and John F Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, outside a Sydney hotel on Monday

More than a dozen police cars and a dozen police motorbikes were on standby as the president went for a walk by Shelly Beach

Tour organiser Growth Faculty said in the event description that attendees would hear Mr Obama 'discuss strength in leadership and explore techniques for navigating an unpredictable future'.

'In times of great challenge and change, President Obamas leadership ushered in a stronger economy, a more equal society, a nation more secure at home and more respected around the world,' the description read.

'There's no leader better equipped to share their experience, unique strategy and wisdom on the changing face of leadership.'

Ticket prices range from $195 for a standard seat to $895 for a 'platinum package'.

A platinum ticket includes priority seating, designated entrance, one hour pre-event cocktail party, a copy of Mr Obama's book 'A Promised Land' and a commemorative lanyard and program.

The president and his wife were whisked away by a motorcade after they touched down in Sydney on Sunday

President Obama is in the country for his 'An Evening with President Obama' speaking tour, where he will talk about leadership and global challenges with former foreign minister Julie Bishop

President Obama's last official visit to Australia was for the G20 Summit in Brisbane in November 2014.

He also visited in November 2011, where he addressed a joint sitting of federal parliament in Canberra after he was invited by then=prime minister Julia Gillard.

In his speech, president Obama spoke about the importance of the asia-pacific region.

Mr Obama served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
Ukrainian army crews trained by Britain have returned home to fight Vladimir Putins invasion with Challenger 2 tanks.

The troops arrived in Britain after an announcement in January that the UK would donate 14 of the armoured vehicles to Ukraine.

They will now return with the tanks  the first committed by any nation to Ukraine  in time for a reported spring counter-offensive by Kyiv.

The training included how to command, drive and work together as a Challenger 2 crew, and identify and engage targets.

Ukrainian and British troops on an AS90 self-propelled gun. The Ukrainians arrived in Britain after an announcement in January that the UK would donate 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine

The training included how to command, drive and work together as a Challenger 2 crew, and identify and engage targets

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: It is inspiring to witness the determination of Ukrainian soldiers having completed their training on British Challenger 2 tanks on British soil.

They return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger. We will continue to do all we can to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Ms Perry took her own life in January after an Ofsted inspection at her school

Ofsted ratings should be 'looked at' after a headteacher who took her own life following an inspection by the watchdog, Michael Gove says.

The Levelling-Up Secretary said while Ofsted plays a 'vital role' in assessing school performance, it needs to look at how schools can be rated inadequate overall if they only fail in one area in an inspection.

It comes after Ruth Perry, the principal at Caversham Primary School in Reading, killed herself in January while waiting for an Ofsted report which downgraded her school to the lowest possible rating, her family said.

An inspection report, published on Ofsted's website earlier this month, found Ms Perry's school to be 'good' in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be 'inadequate'.

Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mr Gove paid tribute to Ms Perry, saying she was a 'talented, passionately committed person'.

Michael Gove (pictured) said while Ofsted plays a 'vital role' in assessing schools, the way it grades them should be 'looked at'

Ruth Perry (pictured) took her own life in January after being told Ofsted were going to downgrade her school to inadequate

Mr Gove said the four grades used by Ofsted: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, are 'important'.

READ MORE HERE: 'Deeply sorry' Ofsted chief vows to carry on with school inspections despite backlash from teachers over death of head Ruth Perry who killed herself after visit Advertisement

The cabinet minister went on: 'But there is one issue which I do feel we need to reflect on and look at which is that if a school is found to have failed its safeguarding criteria, then that is what is called a limiting judgment and if a school is found inadequate in that area, that means it is inadequate overall, even if it has strong teaching and learning and its other areas are good as well.

'Safeguarding is the set of rules that govern the wellbeing of children within the school, the health and safety and protection and so on.

'I do think we need to look at the way in which a limiting judgment as it's called, a technical term, means that a failure in one area means failure everywhere else - but that is not a criticism of Ofsted.

'Ofsted do a great job, the Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman is someone absolutely committed to supporting teachers to do better.'

Ms Spielman has acknowledged the debate about reforming inspections to remove grades 'is a legitimate one' but insisted school checks aim to raise standards and should continue.

The death of mother-of-two Ms Perry has sparked calls for overhaul at Ofsted, with some teachers signing a petition calling for it to be replaced.

Mrs Perry was the principal of the Berkshire school for 12 years, and it had been ranked 'outstanding' since 2009, before three Ofsted inspectors arrived last November 15.

Inspectors from Ofsted rated Caversham Primary School (pictured) as inadequate, despite it being ranked as good in four out of five categories

National Education Union (NEU) members stand outside Parliament before delivering a petition calling for reform at Ofsted

It was Caversham's first inspection in 13 years as previously those which had been ranked so highly were exempt. Her sister Julia Walters has since called on parents of schoolchildren to 'destroy' the power of Ofsted by 'refusing its legitimacy'.

Protesters also descended on Westminster on Thursday to hand a petition calling for Ofsted to be axed - signed by 45,000 people - to the Department of Education.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) were pictured carrying photos of Ms Perry while holding up signs reading: 'Time's up for Ofsted', and 'Ofsted not fit for purpose.'

READ MORE HERE: Stress caused by Ofsted inspections was cited in coroners' reports on the deaths of 10 teachers over 25 years, research reveals Advertisement

The petition brands Ofsted an 'unfair and unreliable inspectorate' before quoting a 2017 report from the National Audit Office, which reads: 'Ofsted does not know whether its school inspections are having the intended impact: to raise the standards of education and improve the quality of children's and young people's lives.'

It claims the watchdog's rulings 'discriminate against schools in deprived areas' - by 'awarding ''outstanding'' grades to four times more secondary schools with better-off pupils than schools with students who are worse off.'

The document also accuses Ofsted of deterring teachers from working in disadvantaged areas as they fear lower rankings could negatively impact their career.

It then lists three demands, including replacing the body with a 'school accountability system which is supportive, effective and fair.'

It also calls on the government to 'work with teachers and leaders' to establish a 'commission to learn how school accountability is done in other high performing education nations.'

But the Department for Education maintains inspections are 'hugely important' and 'a legal requirement'.

It says they hold schools to account for their educational standards and 'parents greatly rely on the ratings to give them confidence in choosing the right school for their child'.
Digital payments and lending firm Latitude Group Holdings Ltd has admitted a hacker has stolen the personal information of up to 15 million customers - in one of the most significant hacks of an Australian company this year.

Latitude provides consumer finance services to Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Apple and recently signed up David Jones, and operates a buy now, pay later service called LatitudePay.

The data, which was stolen on 16 March, includes the driver licence numbers of 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand customers.

Up to 15 million Latitude customers have had their data stolen in a 'sophisticated and malicious cyber-attack'

The company said around 53,000 passport numbers were also stolen in the attack, while less than 100 customers had a monthly financial statement stolen.

A further 6.1 million records dating back to at least 2005 were also stolen.

Other information stolen includes some but not all of the following personal details: name, address, telephone number and date of birth.

Latitude shares fell 1.7% to A$1.19 in early trade.

'It is hugely disappointing that such a significant number of additional customers and applicants have been affected by this incident. We apologise unreservedly,' Latitude chief executive Ahmed Fahour said in a release to the ASX.

'We are committed to working closely with impacted customers and applicants to minimise the risk and disruption to them, including reimbursing the cost if they choose to replace their ID document. We are also committed to a full review of what has occurred,' said Fahour who retires from his position on Friday.

Earlier this month, the Melbourne-based company took its platform offline and said the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre were looking into the 'sophisticated and malicious cyber-attack'.

Latitude chief executive Ahmed Fahour has apologised 'unreservedly' for the data breach

Latitude said it will be writing to all customers and loan applicants whose information was stolen.

Customers who choose to replace their stolen ID document will be reimbursed, the company said.

Last year, some of Australia's largest companies reported data breaches, prompting authorities to step up efforts to bolster cybersecurity and implement stricter data-sharing rules to prevent breaches in the future.

Telecommunications firm Optus was the victim of a major cyber breach in September, with hackers obtaining the data of 10 million of its customers.

It will cost the company at least $140 million, including replacing hacked identity documents, complimentary subscriptions to credit monitor Equifax and an independent report commissioned by Deloitte.

Meanwhile, health insurance company Medibank lost $2 billion from its market valuation after hackers accessed account details of almost 10 million current and former customers.

It still faces an investigation by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner over its handling of the incident.
Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds in new funding in an effort to finally discover what happened to the three-year-old.

A significant sum has been requested by the Met Police and is likely to be approved by the Home Office, The Sun reports.

Madeleine went missing while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007, vanishing from their accommodation without trace.

Each year hundreds of thousands of pounds are spent on attempts to find her, with a total of 13million being spent since 2011.

A source close to the ongoing investigation last night said her parents would be 'delighted' with the news.

Madeleine McCann, three, from Leicester, disappeared in Portugal in May 2007

Madeleine went missing while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz at the Ocean Club apartments (pictured)

The source said: 'This is excellent news. Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry will be delighted. It gives fresh hope.'

There had been fears that the probe into the toddler's case could be scaled back amid budget cuts.

Maddie's siblings, Sean and Amelie McCann, were in the same room as their sister when she vanished.

Born on February 1, 2005, the twins - who were just two and a quarter at the time - recently turned 18 and reached adulthood.

Maddie disappeared from her bed in abholiday villa while her parents Gerry and Kate, from Rothley in Leicestershire, were having dinner with friends at a tapas restaurant just 55 metres away.

Kate checked the children at 10pm to find Maddie had disappeared, but the twins were still sleeping soundly in their cots.

Kate and Gerry McCann are expected to be 'delighted' at the news of the new funding

The sixteenth anniversary of Maddie's disappearance is approaching this year. She would be 19, turning 20 in May, if still alive

Former Metropolitan Police detective Peter Bleksley told the paper: 'As long as there are unanswered questions I can see why there is a case.

'But in the this time of squeezed budgets I can also see why eyebrows would be raised.

'I understand the frustrations of missing children who do not have the luxury of such ongoing funding.'

A Home Office spokesperson confirmed last night that it had received an application for further funding, but the exact amount being discussed is unknown.

The 16th anniversary of Maddie's disappearance is approaching this year. She would be 19, turning 20 in May, if still alive.
A former detective has urged officers to quiz convicted killer Sidney Cooke about a string of unsolved murders before he dies.

Ex-detective David Bright wants Sidney Cooke, 96, to be questioned over unsolved cases as he makes a fresh bid for freedom, having been denied release 10 times previously.

Cooke, from Hackney, east London, remains in maximum security jail Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, despite having completed his minimum term 19 years ago. He was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 over the death of 14-year-old Jason Swift.

Leslie Bailey, Robert Oliver and Steven Barrell were also jailed in 1989 for Jasons manslaughter.

Cooke was also named in court as the leader of a paedophile ring, which was linked to the death of Mark Tildesley, seven, who went missing in 1984. His remains have never been found.

Cooke (pictured) was convicted of manslaughter in 1989 over the death of 14-year-old Jason Swift

In July 1985, Jason Swift (pictured) disappeared from the same Hackney estate where Cooke, a former fairground worker, lived. He was found the following year on a farm in Ongar, Essex

Cook and his gang are suspected of the abduction and killing of 17 boys in the 70s and 80s. Many of these remain unsolved.

Mr Bright, who does not believe Cooke should be freed from prison, claims Cooke's age could prompt him to 'clear his conscience'.

'There are other children in graves hidden around the country that could have been the result of Cooke and his former cronies,' Mr Bright, a former Essex Police officer told The Mirror.

'At 96 and with all but two gang members dead, he might want to clear his conscience and tell all'.

He added that police have nothing to lose 'when there's the opportunity of bringing a degree of comfort to families who do not know where their children are'.

Mr Bright was the detective who got Cooke to confession to Jason's killing.

'His admissions eventually led to him going down on his knees where he clasped my hands and finally admitted everything,' he said.

Mark Tildesley went missing after going to a local funfair in Wokingham on June 1, 1984

Cooke, from Hackney, east London, remains in maximum security jail Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire (pictured) despite having completed his minimum term 19 years ago

Despite many cases remaining unsolved, some have been linked.

Mark Tildesley went missing after going to a local funfair in Wokingham on June 1, 1984. In July 1985, Jason Swift disappeared from the same Hackney estate where Cooke, a former fairground worker, lived.

He was found the following year on a farm in Ongar, Essex.

Just a week later, the remains of Barry Lewis, six, from Walworth, south London, was found a few miles away.

They had both been drugged, sexually abused, and asphyxiated. It is thought the deaths are linked.

Cooke was released from prison in 1998, but just a year later, he was jailed for life with a minimum of five years for historical abuse.
Nicola Sturgeon's closest aide tried to persuade Kate Forbes to drop out of the race to be the next SNP leader, it has been claimed.

Liz Lloyd, who is reported to have been helping rival candidate Humza Yousaf with his campaign, is alleged to have urged Ms Forbes not to enter the contest.

The bitter battle to succeed Ms Sturgeon has been blighted by claims of SNP secrecy and fears the party's hierarchy has attempted to influence the outcome.

The campaign team of candidate Ash Regan raised concerns with Scotland's top civil servant about Ms Lloyd's involvement in Mr Yousaf's campaign.

She questioned whether this was a breach of strict rules for taxpayer-funded special advisers.

Just hours after the meeting, Ms Lloyd announced she would quit government at the same time as long-term ally Ms Sturgeon quits.

Nicola Sturgeon's closest aide tried to persuade Kate Forbes (pictured) to drop out of the race to be the next SNP leader, it has been claimed

Liz Lloyd, who is reported to have been helping rival candidate Humza Yousaf (pictured) with his campaign, is alleged to have urged Ms Forbes not to enter the contest

Sources close to Ms Forbes now claim Ms Sturgeon's 100,000-a-year adviser spoke to Ms Forbes and told her that she should not stand for the party leadership position because she would have little support.

It has also been suggested that Ms Forbes was told that the Cabinet has 'used her for her brains', according to multiple sources close to the situation.

The conversation, which it is alleged took place in the wake of the First Minister's resignation, is understood to have made Ms Forbes more determined to launch a bid for the SNP leadership.

However, it is understood that Ms Lloyd  Ms Sturgeon's chief of staff for six years  denies that she tried to warn Finance Secretary Ms Forbes against standing.

The news comes as:

Ms Forbes made a last-ditch appeal to SNP members on the penultimate day of voting in the leadership battle;

Bookmaker Ladbrokes revealed that more people are placing bets on Ms Forbes than her two rivals;

Opposition politicians warned that none of the contenders are competent enough to 'pick up the pieces of Nicola Sturgeon's woeful record'.

Sources close to Ms Lloyd said: 'These so-called friends are doing a disservice to Kate and clearly aren't speaking for her.

'Before announcing her candidacy Kate asked Liz, as a friend, for her honest view on the issues she would face if she stood.

The bitter battle to succeed Ms Sturgeon has been blighted by claims of SNP secrecy and fears the party's hierarchy has attempted to influence the outcome

Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan taking part in the SNP leadership hustings at the Town Hall in Johnstone, Scotland

'Liz knows Kate well enough to know that she knows her own mind and would make her own decision and made no attempt to dissuade her from standing.

'Claims that she did so are categorically untrue.' However, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, has called for an investigation by Scotland's top civil servant, Permanent Secretary John-Paul Marks.

She said: 'Not for the first time this story raises questions about the role of Nicola Sturgeon's special advisers who are, after all, paid civil servants. There needs to be an investigation by the Permanent Secretary to see if the code for special advisers is being breached.'

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said: 'Whatever the outcome of the SNP's bitter leadership contest, questions will remain over the not-so-subtle perception that Humza Yousaf was the preferred candidate of the outgoing regime.'

Ms Lloyd was chief of staff from 2015 before a new role was created for her in 2021 as Ms Sturgeon's 'strategic policy and political adviser', for which she was paid between 90,565 to 108,062 a year.

The departing First Minister has refused to endorse a candidate as her preferred successor but the involvement of her right-hand woman in Mr Yousaf's campaign fuelled speculation that the party machine is working on his behalf.

A Scottish Government statement said: 'In line with the special adviser code of conduct, special advisers are permitted to assist with party leadership elections, in their own time, while still employed by the Government.' Ms Lloyd announced her resignation within 24 hours of senior SNP staffers chief executive Peter Murrell  Ms Sturgeon's husband  and top spin doctor Murray Foote quitting after it was revealed that the party had lied about the declining number of members.

Ms Lloyd tweeted: 'As Nicola Sturgeon's chief of staff and strategic adviser over the last eight years it has always been my intention to leave government when she does. It has been the biggest honour of my life to work with the First Minister and to have had a unique opportunity to serve the people of Scotland.'

In response, Ms Sturgeon said: 'Liz has been by my side throughout my time as FM.

'Her advice, support, perspective, humour and sheer hard work has been indispensable to me. She is brilliant and I know she'll go on to do great things. Thank you, Liz.'
Kremlin politicians are accused of establishing a cronies' military unit in Ukraine far away from the frontlines of battle, so that they and their sons can serve without a risk of being killed.

Russian MPs have been told to support the invasion in order to drum up respect from the public, as well as to receive financial support from Putin's United Russia party.

Since then, a number of politicians and their sons have volunteered to serve in the mysterious Cascade unit for a short stint of around a month, The Telegraph reports.

The unit guarantees them the opportunity to pose in military uniform and in some cases, even earn a medal for bravery.

Influential Russian blog channel VKCh-OGPU, which insists it has close contact with the country's defence department, published a list of United Russia MPs who have served with the Cascade unit in the Donetsk region.

A damaged building is seen in this aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region

A damaged building is seen in this aerial view of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region

The channel stated: 'This is a "cronies' department" that includes deputies and their children who want to mark themselves down as having been in the war but don't feel like going to the front line.

'The most comfortable place for "passing service" is in the drone detachment in Cascade since it allows you to stay a safe distance from the line of combat.'

Politician Dmitry Sablin founded the unit and has been pictured serving in it alongside his son and other United Russia members.

Cascade was established a month after Putin's soldiers began mobilising along the Ukraine border.

Pictures of the unit show soldiers preparing drones and staring at computers, seemingly far away from the carnage of the trenches.

Ukrainian servicemen fire an SPG-9 anti-tank grenade launcher during a military exercise

Cascade markets itself as a secretive reconnaissance unit, allowing it to keep its location safe from scrutiny. Nevertheless, in one Telegram post, Mr Sablin said his soldiers were working in Rubizhne, around 50 miles away from the fighting.

Despite its lack of action Cascade is thought to be the best-connected military unit, and it receives visits from high-profile figures including Sergey Kiriyenko, who has served three times as deputy head of the Russian presidential administration.

Sablin has written of how he keeps his 'personnel safe' and told how he made an introduction between Mr Kiriyenko and a soldier in the pro-Russia Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) unit.

He added: 'These heroic guys bear the brunt of the battles for the liberation of DNR.'
A young mother-of-two has died in a suspected suicide after allegedly being the victim of domestic violence.

Caitlin Thornton, 21, was found unconscious in the backyard of a home in Cessnock, in NSW's Hunter region, about 8.30pm on March 8.

The beautician was rushed to John Hunter Hospital, but never recovered from her injuries and sadly passed away three days later.

The NSW Police Force confirmed they are treating Ms Thornton's death as a suspected self-harm incident.

'A crime scene was established at the home and examined by specialist forensic police, and an investigation into the incident commenced,' a NSW Police spokesperson said.

'Initial inquiries suggest the incident is not suspicious, and a report is being prepared for the information of the Coroner.'

Caitlin Thornton, 21, (pictured) was found unconscious at a home in Cessnock, in the NSW Hunter region, on March 8

Ms Thornton is pictured with her mother Kylie Bailey

But Ms Thornton's mother Kylie Bailey said her daughter would never have taken her own life.

A NSW Coroner's Court spokesperson confirmed the nature of Ms Thornton's death was yet to be determined and the matter is still before the court.

Specialist social workers based at the Coroner's Court are assisting the family, the spokesperson said.

Ms Thornton had just begun a new chapter in her life - living as a single mum and setting up her own eyelash business in the weeks before her death.

A funeral is yet to be scheduled for Ms Thornton, who leaves behind two sons - one a two year-old toddler and the other just 12 months old.

Ms Bailey said her daughter was an 'adoring loving mother' who doted on her two little boys.

'She had a great routine for her kids - she really cared about them,' she said.

'She would take them to the park every day. She was a beautiful mum.'

Ms Thornton, a lash technician, had just started her own business a few weeks ago

Ms Bailey said her daughter was an adoring mother who adored her two young sons

A group of 70 friends, family and locals held a memorial service for Ms Thornton at Shoal Bay

Ms Bailey said she is unable to bury her daughter because her ex-partner, who now has care of their children, was Ms Thornton's next of kin.

'I desperately want to lay my daughter to rest, but without going to the Supreme Court to fight for next of kin I can't do anything,' she said.

While the family are still waiting to hold a funeral, family, friends and locals congregated at Shoal Bay on March 19 to pay their respects to the young mother by placing flowers into the ocean in her memory.

A GoFundMe launched to help her family raise funds for her funeral and sons' future education has so far raised $11,035.

Tributes have flowed in online for Ms Thornton as loved ones come to terms with her shocking death.

'May you rest in peace Caitlin - knowing your family will always hold you in their hearts and keep your memory alive,' Justene Ford wrote.

'Sending so much love.'

Jemahli Adele said: 'She is no longer in pain - she is at peace and knew she was loved, cherished and admired by so many.'

For confidential 24-hour support in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
An exasperated Anthony Albanese has dismissed concerns about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament with a bizarre NRL reference in a fiery exchange.

The prime minister was taking questions about his government's climate policy but found himself being asked about how the proposed advisory body would work.

Mr Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are at odds about the wording of the constitutional amendment to be put to a referendum this year.

Critics of the Voice argued it was too ambiguous and could lead to legal squabbling that would bog down the government, and didn't explain how it would work.

The PM was first asked if The Greens would be able to consult the Indigenous Voice on climate policy, like the bill being voted on in parliament today.

'Of all the very strange questions I have been asked about the Voice, that's up there,' he shot back.

Mr Albanese reiterated that the purpose of the Voice was to get advice on issues that directly affected indigenous Australians, and anything else was just 'distractions'.

'But they can if they want, they can ask all sorts of things, about whether it will give advice on who should play five-eighth for Souths (NRL team) this week, but that is not what it is about,' he said.

'The Voice is not about defence policy. It's not about foreign affairs policy, it's not about these issues.'

A couple of questions later, the PM kicked off over an interpretation of his comments at the National Press Club on February 22.

He was asked if he was open to tweaking the wording of the constitutional amendment, as he flagged at the Press Club - which Mr Albanese said he didn't do.

'I'm not going to be verballed on what I said. What I said at the National Press Club was very clear,' he said.

Mr Albanese said he first released the draft wording at the Garma Festival last July, and it was now March and he was ready to put the final wording to parliament.

He claimed neither Mr Dutton nor anyone else in parliament had come up with alternative language that entire time.

An exasperated Anthony Albanese dismissed concerns about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament with a bizarre NRL reference in a fiery exchange

Another cranky exchange soon followed when the PM was asked if releasing secret advice from Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue would help secure the support of the Liberal Party.

There are questions over whether the advice expresses concerns about the wording, but it has never been made public. Mr Albanese insists Dr Donaghue is supportive.

'Are you telling me it's your view? We'll do a two-way here. Are you telling me it's your view is if we release that advice, then they'll change their position?' Mr Albanese replied.

The reporter clarified that he was just asking a hypothetical and Mr Albanese used it as an excuse to rip into Mr Dutton for his lack of support for the Voice.

'I'm asking if you were me, would you think that there is any sign that in any of the times in which Peter Dutton has been asked a question about the Voice to Parliament there have been any sign, other than that he is undermining a support for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?' he said.

'I'm awaiting it. I have had seven meetings with him. He's met with the Referendum Working Group.

'There are no signs, and he was a member of a government that did not release any cabinet papers or advice to the cabinet in the nine years in which he was a member of the cabinet.'

Legislation for the referendum and the wording of the constitutional amendment will be introduced to parliament on Thursday.
Dr Charlie Teo has detailed how he slapped a female patient to try and wake her from a coma after brain surgery but admitted he should not have done so in front of the woman's daughter.

Despite that, the neurosurgeon repeatedly denied he struck the woman in the aggressive way actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at last year's Oscars.

Dr Teo had cut almost 9cm of tissue from the brain of 'Patient B' before attempting to rouse her from the coma, whose husband said in his original complaint in 2019 'we paid $35,000 for my wife to die'.

The celebrity physician was cross-examined on Monday at a disciplinary hearing against the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) into two surgeries he performed that left patients with catastrophic brain injuries.

Dr Charlie Teo has described slapping a female patient in an attempt to wake her from a coma after brain surgery, admitting he should not have done so in front of the woman's daughter. Dr Teo is pictured on Monday with fiancee Traci Griffiths

Both female patients, named Patient A and Patient B, had terminal brain tumours and were given only weeks or months to live. They were both left in vegetative states and died soon after surgery.

Dr Teo has a reputation for being a brain surgeon willing to perform difficult surgeries and has a legion of supporters, but has come under fire from members of the medical establishment for his alleged behaviour and surgical practices.

During the hearing on Monday, commission counsel Kate Richardson SC grilled Dr Teo about the moment he slapped Patient B in an attempt to wake her from a coma.

'I accept that I slapped her in a medical way rather than in a Will Smith way,' Dr Teo said, demonstrating three short slaps on his own face.

He accepted he slapped Patient B in view of her daughter, and told the hearing that was his only mistake.

'The only error was that you did it in front of the family?' Ms Richardson asked.

'Yes,' Dr Teo replied. 'I would still do it to this day. It's the best way.

'Pinching can leave bruising, you can damage nerves... but this is the best way to wake them up, if they're going to wake up.'

He continued: 'It is a light slap - it isn't meant to be obnoxious.'

Dr Teo demonstrated the slap to waiting media after his hearing wrapped up on Monday

Dr Teo repeatedly denied he struck a female patient in the aggressive way actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at last year's Oscars (above)

Ms Richardson was unsatisfied with Dr Teo's responses and continued pressing him about the physical contact.

'It wasn't one of those Will Smith slaps,' Dr Teo said.

'Are we really, are we going to go on about this? I've said it three times - it's a slap to wake her up.'

Ms Richardson then referred to the fact that experts previously told the hearing it was 'inappropriate' to slap a patient.

Dr Teo said: 'If you framed that question to me like that, of course I would have said it was inappropriate. Is it ever appropriate to slap a patient on the face - you didn't say it was a light slap.'

'I accept the view that if they believe the slap was an aggressive slap - the sort of slap that Will Smith gave to Chris Rock, then yes.'

Mr Richardson urged Dr Teo to look at the transcript of evidence he previously gave.

'Do they make any reference to Will Smith or Chris Rock?' she asked.

Dr Teo replied: 'No.'

Later that afternoon, Dr Teo doubled-down on his comments when questioned by reporters outside the hearing.

'Look, it wasn't a Will Smith-style slap,' he said.

The celebrity physician was cross-examined on Monday at a disciplinary hearing against the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) into two surgeries he performed that left patients with catastrophic brain injuries

'I can understand how others would think it was a real Will Smith-style slap - painful, nasty, but it wasn't like that - a lot of doctors do that as a way to wake patients up.'

A panel of legal and medical experts is examining Dr Teo's conduct, including whether he adequately informed his patients of the risks surgery involved.

Earlier on Monday, Ms Richardson continually suggested to Dr Teo that he left a large portion of tumour inside Patient B's brain but removed a sizeable amount of healthy brain tissue.

Dr Teo denied those suggestions, insisting he looked at the post-operative scans and couldn't see any tumour. He said the patient's tumour was creating so much pressure that it 'bulged' from her head when he started operating.

A member of the HCCC told the hearing that Dr Teo performed a 'frontal lobectomy', and asked why he removed so much 'healthy brain'.

'The largest piece measured 85mm by 50mm, and 30mm in maximum depth,' the committee member said. 'There were other pieces that were 45mm by 35mm by 20mm - which I can assume is a large amount of brain.

'Thirty-eight blocks were cut and pathology [tumour] was only found in two of them.'

Dr Teo explained some of the blocks were healthy brain tissue, but 'most of the tumour goes up into the sucker because it's soft and necrotic'.

He said a lot of the tissue was sent to pathology to determine whether the tumour had compromised that tissue.

'That doesn't dispute the fact that I took normal brain, I absolutely did,' he added.

Earlier, Dr Teo agreed that operating across the midline was not deliberate, but fired back when asked whether it was an 'accident'

The hearing was also told Patient B and her husband knew and accepted she would likely experience some memory loss after the operation, and would be paralysed on the left side.

Ms Richardson then read a portion of the husband's complaint about Dr Teo to the hearing, which said: 'When we were told he took too much out of the brain, we were shocked.'

'We were told my wife would never wake up. She died six days later and I never got to say goodbye,' he said.

'We paid $35,000 for my wife to die.'

Dr Teo also alleged Patient B's husband was 'coerced' by other doctors to file a complaint about him - claiming he had a good relationship with the husband and wife prior to the operation.

When asked why he believed the husband was 'coerced' into making a complaint, the surgeon replied: 'I guess it's 40 years of being in practise and dealing with patients who have bad outcomes.'

'My judgement was he was a good chap and if he had questions like that he would have asked me rather than turning it into a formal complaint.'

Ms Richardson continued to question Dr Teo about why he believed the widower was 'hoodwinked' - to the point where he threw his head back in frustration.

'I'm going to say this - you could be absolutely correct and it's a wrong assertion and he wasn't coerced, but knowing I am hated by so many doctors who say pretty malevolent things about me, I can't imagine that a doctor didn't go up to him,' he said.

'I've met the man and had a relationship with him and he is a lovely man and I can't imagine that he did this off his own back.'

He then referred to the meeting where hospital bosses discussed six recent post-operative deaths - including an operation on a benign tumour that resulted in death.

'They didn't report two cases of death but they reported mine,' he said.

The hearing will continue on Tuesday.
A multi-millionaire who tragically lost his battle with cancer started saving money by pounding the pavement selling lemonade and handing out newspapers long before he built his property empire.

Jonathan Hallinan, 47, the founder and managing director of Melbourne-based construction group BPM Corp passed away on Thursday after a two-year battle with cancer.

He was given a bone marrow transplant in 2021 but it was not enough to save him.

Mr Hallinan, who lived in Melbourne and had an estimated net worth of $735million in 2021, always dreamt big, with BPM overseeing dozens of projects worth more than $1billion.

As a child, he set up his own lemonade stand and by the age of 10 was delivering the paper around his neighbourhood.

During his teenage years, he completed an apprenticeship in carpentry and bought his first home at just 19.

Jonathan Hallinan, 47, (pictured with wife Mikka) the founder and managing director of construction group BPM Corp passed away on Thursday after a two-year battle with cancer

'From 12, I was saving for my first property, working on building sites and selling newspapers,' he said in an interview with GQ in 2015.

He then started flipping homes and was so determined to succeed that he missed out on things his peers were diving into.

'Once we got to 18 to 20, my mates couldn't appreciate it, and didn't respect it. So I guess I lost that stage of my life  I didn't go out and party, every dollar earned went into the business and property,' he said.

Mr Hallinan launched BPM in 1995, with the company now owning more than 30 buildings, including both commercial and residential.

His most famed work is Melbourne's $300million Shadow Play tower, where apartments sell for between $425,000 and $2,348,000, and what Mr Hallinan described as a dream come true.

'The captivating and majestic project, Shadow Play, sees the fruition of my greatest dream of impacting Melbourne's skyline,' he wrote on Instagram in 2016, along with a picture of the project.

BPM also owns the former Grandmaster Recorders studio, that has been transformed into a restaurant and bar in Los Angeles.

Some of the household names who have walked through the doors at the studio include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder and Kanye West.

During Mr Hallinan's teenage years, he completed an apprenticeship in carpentry and bought his first home at just 19

His most famed work is Melbourne's Shadow Play tower where apartments sell for between $425,000 and $2,348,000

One close friend of Mr Hallinan, Ashley Bramich, who worked in sales at BPM, said there was a side to the businessman that the public didn't see.

'Everyone saw the stylish suits and the brash statements, but a lot of that was about promoting the business,' Mr Bramich told the Australian Financial Review.

'Those who got to know him saw the soft side, the absolute gentleman who was actually quite shy.'

Mr Hallinan is survived by his wife Mikka Hallinan and their three children.

In a heartfelt post to Instagram after his death, Ms Hallinan said her husband had died peacefully at the Royal Melbourne Hospital after 'spending two days sharing ''beautiful goodbyes'' with his close family'.

'Jonnie passed in the storm [Thursday] morning,' she wrote.

'In his own words, Jonnie said he was going home.'

Mikka Hallinan shared the touching last words her husband Jonathan spoke before he tragically lost his battle with cancer on Thursday

Ms Hallinan said her husband had found 'a deep comfort in faith' while sick in hospital.

'Now he is home to his ''eternal bliss'' as he called it,' she said.

Ms Hallinan said a doctor had broken the bad news to her husband last week that a drug trial he was hoping to take part in wouldn't be possible.

The doctor said his body was too busy fighting off an infection and he had 'overall unwellness from the level of his disease in his body'.

She said her and Mr Hallinan's family had been by his side during his final days, before he 'left us for the sky, in true Jonnie style, arriving with a bang'.

'It was an absolute privilege to have been his wife and to have been able to love him and blend his family with my own,' she said.

Ms Hallinan admitted she was experiencing emotional pain but had found comfort in knowing she had helped her husband find 'true freedom'.

Mr Hallinan was the founder and managing director of construction group BPM Corp which owns Grandmaster Recorders

The couple eloped in November, with Ms Hallinan sharing they wanted to spend 'the latest part of Jonnie's recovery from cancer as husband and wife'.

They got married just a day before he started his last round of cancer treatment, and celebrated at their South Yarra penthouse.

In his last post to Instagram in December, Mr Hallinan shared that a setback in his health had been 'taking absolutely all the strength I've got left'.

'It is important for me to preserve all remaining energy for myself and my family,' he wrote.

'I appreciate your understanding when I haven't gotten back to you, or am not responding to your calls or cannot see you. It's not personal, I am just at my limit'.
EXCLUSIVE: The death of the King's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, left some fearing that faith in the Monarchy might waver. But an authoritative new poll comissioned by The Mail's new Royals site suggests that not only does Charles have the public's backing as King, but that a quarter of his subjects say their opinion of him has actually improved since he ascended the throne. The survey, which comes only two weeks before the Coronation, shows that Britons are even prepared support King Charles in his wish to continue speaking out on topics of personal interest. In stark contrast to Queen Elizabeth, Charles had been willing to court controversy while he was Prince of Wales, airing views on such issues as the environment, farming, health, education and architecture. And despite demands by some that he be silenced, he had vowed to continue engaging in public debate even after becoming monarch - while respecting the traditions and duties involved in the role. But today, 57 per cent of us believe Charles should continue to speak out on issues that matter to him. While by no means an overwhelming majority, it is more support than might have been expected.
Miami resident Ivanka Trump took time to celebrate her son's seventh birthday at a skate park in the city over the weekend together with her husband, Jared Kushner.

With spring weather in the mid-70s, conditions were perfect for a gathering of friends ready to enjoy the outdoors as the former first daughter ramped up the fun and put together a cookout.

The 41-year-old former White House senior adviser looked casual in a white vest top coupled with some grey slacks and a pair of shades.

Jared, 42, appeared to coordinate with his wife and also wore a white t-shirt and grey jeans with sunglasses.

At one point he could be seen holding his son's hand. Theo also appeared to be wearing a specially designed t-shirt for the occasion. He was also seen to be wearing a cast on his left arm.

Miami resident Ivanka Trump took time to celebrate her son Theodore's seventh birthday at a skate park in the city over the weekend together with her husband, Jared Kushner

With spring weather in the mid-70s, conditions were perfect for a gathering of friends ready to enjoy the outdoors as the former first daughter ramped up the fun and put together a cookout

The 41-year-old former White House senior adviser looked casual in a white vest top coupled with some grey slacks and a pair of shades. Ivanka channeled her inner skater girl as she held Theo's board while making her way across the skate park

Ivanka was all smiles at the fun event as her youngest child turned seven

At one point he could be seen holding his son's hand. Theo also appeared to be wearing a specially designed t-shirt for the occasion. He was also seen to be wearing a cast on his left arm

A skateboard lover, the youngster sported a black tee on which his name was emblazoned across with the number 7 and some silhouettes of skaters. He was also wearing a cast on his left arm

A skateboard lover, the youngster sported a black tee on which his name was emblazoned across with the number 7 and some silhouettes of skaters.

Guests at the party stood around and chatted while lining up to serve themselves some food from the buffet that had been erected.

Ivanka and Jared relocated to Florida with their three children, the other two being 11-year-old daughter, Arabella and nine-year-old son, Joseph.

The family put down roots in January 2021 after Ivanka's father, former President Donald Trump, left the White House.

She officially quit politics in November 2022 after she revealed that she would not be a part of her father's reelection campaign, but she's not free of Washington, D.C. just yet.

Dad, Jared, 42, appeared to coordinate with his wife and also wore a white t-shirt and grey jeans with sunglasses. They looked casual together as they watched their son enjoy his birthday party with his friends

Ivanka and Jared relocated to Florida with their three children, the other two being 11-year-old daughter, Arabella and nine-year-old son, Joseph

She officially quit politics in November 2022 after she revealed that she would not be a part of her father's reelection campaign, but she's not free of Washington, D.C. just yet

Ivanka and Jared, who also served as a White House senior adviser, were both i ssued subpoenas last month by the special counsel investigating Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the January 6 Capitol riots

Trump's oldest daughter made headlines with her comments backing former Attorney General Bill Barr's insistence there was no widespread fraud in the election. Ivanka, who had returned to documenting her life on social media with playful posts, has kept silent on Instagram since the news broke on February 22

Ivanka and Jared watched the children have fun at the skate park

Daddy cool: Jared at the wheel of a red Corvette at his son's skating party in Miami

Ivanka and Jared, who also served as a White House senior adviser, were both issued subpoenas last month by the special counsel investigating Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the January 6 Capitol riots.

Jack Smith summoned the former president's daughter and son-in-law just two weeks after subpoenaing Mike Pence, showing he is closing in on the Trump inner circle.

Ivanka was in the White House during the Capitol riot and urged her father to address his supporters. She was also in the Oval Office when the then-president asked Pence to block or delay the congressional vote to certify the election.

Jared flew home from the Middle East as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, and he also tried to get his father-in-law to tell them to go home.

Both were featured prominently in hearings by the House January 6 Committee after providing videotaped testimony.

Trump's oldest daughter made headlines with her comments backing former Attorney General Bill Barr's insistence there was no widespread fraud in the election.

Ivanka, who had returned to documenting her life on social media with playful posts, has kept silent on Instagram since the news broke on February 22.

Nice wheels! Dad Jared in a red Corvette at his son Theo's birthday party in Miami

Jared Kushner in a red Corvette at son Theo's seventh birthday party at a skate park in Miami

As usual, Ivanka's casual outfit was well put together while conveying a confident spring look. The skateboard had a particularly colorful underside

There was a safety first attitude at the party with youngsters wearing helmets while playing

Ivanka could be seen carrying a skateboard while hosting the Sunday celebration

Ivanka looked to be taking charge of how the event was running as she directed children

It's unclear what is in store for her career-wise  if anything  now that she is done with politics.

Before her father became president, she appeared on his reality show The Apprentice, served as executive vice president of the Trump Organization, and had her own eponymous fashion lines.

She gave up her former life in New York City to serve in the Trump administration and never returned back to it.

Ivanka and Jared have spent the past two years living at Arte Surfside, a luxury condominium building nestled between Miami Beach and Bal Harbour.

They are close to finishing the renovations on their $24 million waterfront mansion on Indian Creek, an exclusive island known as the 'Billionaire Bunker.'

The couple bought the fixer-upper a little over a year after they dropped $31.8 million on a two-acre plot of land on the island in 2020. They plan on moving into the spatial 8,500-square-foot abode with their children once it is finally completed.

Ivanka and Jared's current rental at Arte Surfside is set to hit the market for $18.8 million sometime this year.

Ivanka smiles as she appears to hold hands with one of the party guests

Ivanka could be seen chatting with some fellow moms whose kids were present at the party

Some of the other parents present could also be seen sporting Theo's special party t-shirt

There was a variety of sauces and other condiments available at the Miami cookout

There was a decent number of people who attended Theo's birthday party on Sunday

The former first daughter put together a cookout for guests to enjoy
The pair both dined at Bathers Pavillion, Balmoral, Monday, with Barack, 61, scheduled to speak in the Emerald City Tuesday, and Melbourne on Wednesday

The 44th US President and his wife arrived by private jet , accompanied by a large security detail, and received a police escort when exiting Sydney Airport

Former First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama were photographed during their visit to Sydney on Monday after arriving on Sunday for a speaking tour

Michelle Obama was spotted looking less than impressed following a ritzy beachside dinner with husband Barack in Sydney on Monday, as the pair continues their visit Down Under for a scheduled speaking tour.

The former First Lady and President were photographed outside fine-dining restaurant Bathers' Pavilion in Balmoral on Sydney's north shore, after arriving in the city Sunday night by private jet.

Likely famished from their long flight, the couple enjoyed a seafood lunch at the waterside venue, where sprawling floor-to-ceiling windows offer a stunning view of Sydney Harbor.

While being a historic, heritage listed site hailed for its hospitality, the restaurant is not exactly cheap - with a plate of smashed avocado costing $22, and mains like grilled prawns and fish pie setting you back around $45.

Upon leaving, Mrs Obama appeared somewhat unsatisfied - perhaps still tired from the long haul flight. Since forfeiting their rights to Air Force One, the pair have been known to frequently fly private, despite both stating that no challenge currently poses a greater threat to the world than climate change.

Scroll down for video:

The former first lady was spotted looking less-than impressed following a ritzy beachside dinner with husband Barack in Sydney Monday, after arriving in the city late Sunday night

The couple - who had just dined at fine-dining establishment Bathers' Pavilion on Sydney's north shore -were flanked by a large entourage of security guards as they left the eatery

The couple had just finished a lunch at the waterside fine-dining venue The Bathers' Pavilion, where sprawling floor-to-ceiling windows offer a stunning view of Sydney Harbor. The couple, however, elected to keep the curtains closed for a more intimate setting

Former US President Barack Obama in Balmoral pic.twitter.com/NhZKbHHHKy  Julia Bradley (@_juliabradley) March 27, 2023

Video snapped outside the eatery - where a six-course degustation menu including pink snapper sashimi and handmade fettucine costs $300 - show the couple greeting dozens who descended in hopes of catching a glimpse of the pair.

Despite not making a public appearance with his wife in more than five months, Barack, 61, looked ever the statesman, waving at a crowd clearly overcome with Obamamania.

Michelle also greeted revelers following a recent spate of interviewers promoting her new book and podcast in which she revealed previously difficulties of the pair's marriage during Obama's time in office.

Late last year, Michelle, 59, made waves with an interview in which she admitted she 'couldn't stand' her husband for nearly ten years.

A witness said the couple had dined in an intimate, beachside room at the Pavilion, electing to not enjoy its famed view with the curtains closed to the outside world.

As was the case upon their more-low-profile arrival Sunday at Sydney Airport, the couple were accompanied by multi-man security detail who escorted both back to their motorcade.

The display reportedly was so considerable that one onlooker compared it to a 'small army'.

While brief, the sighting comes after a whirlwind 24 hours in Australia's most populous city for the former president - who is set to speak at the Aware Super Theatre Sydney Tuesday night for 'An Evening with President Obama'.

The first stage of a two-city tour that will also see the former president speak in Melbourne on Wednesday, the event offers Australians willing to spend between $195 and $895 a firsthand account from the politician on his 'path to success'.

Video snapped outside the eatery - where a six-course degustation menu including pink snapper sashimi and handmade fettucine costs $300 - show the couple greeting dozens who descended in hopes of catching a glimpse of the pair

Despite not making a public appearance with his wife in more than five months, Barack, 61, looked ever the statesman, waving at a crowd clearly overcome with Obamamania

Michelle Obama was spotted looking unimpressed outside fine-dining restaurant Bathers' Pavilion, in Balmoral on Sydney's north shore, on Monday

The US President appeared in good spirits while dining at the restaurant, where a cheese plate costs $42 and mains like grilled prawns and fish pie setting you back around $45

As was the case upon their more-low-profile arrival Sunday at Sydney Airport, the couple were accompanied by multi-man security detail

A witness said the couple had dined in an intimate, beachside room at the Pavilion, electing to not enjoy its famed view with the curtains closed to the outside world

The sighting comes after a whirlwind 24 hours in Sydney for the former president - his motorcade roaring over the Harbour Bridge earlier in the morning for a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

The couple - whose last public appearance together was more than five months ago - were escorted both back to their motorcade after their private lunch

The procession Monday was reportedly so considerable that one onlooker likened it to a 'small army'

Former US President Barack Obama in Balmoral pic.twitter.com/NhZKbHHHKy  Julia Bradley (@_juliabradley) March 27, 2023

Since touching down after an at-least 13-hour flight Sunday, Obama has already met with Australia's head of state, with his motorcade seen roaring over the Harbour Bridge only hours later for a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Earlier in the day, the couple were reportedly greeted outside their temporary digs at the city's posh, five-star Four Seasons Hotel in the Central Business District by US ambassador Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of fellow President John F. Kennedy.

Albanese then hosted Barack at Kirribilli House, a meeting that was chronicled on the prime minister's social media and not attended by Michelle.

The presidential pair were all smiles as they posed together for the camera, taking in the view by the aforementioned harbor while holding black umbrellas amidst a subtle drizzle.

'Honoured to welcome President @barackobama to Sydney,' Albanese captioned the post to Twitter, which has since been viewed more than one million times.

Barack later went for a solitary walk along the cliffs at North Head - as more than a dozen police cars and a dozen police motorbikes waited by the road nearby.

Similar disruptions are expected Tuesday morning as the ex-president continues his visit - his first Down Under in nearly a decade - before speaking at the Aware Theatre later that night.

The president, along with his wife Michelle, flew into Sydney via a private jet on Sunday night

The duo was accompanied by a force of security upon their arrival, and received a a personal police escort while exiting the airfield at Sydney Airport and being carted away

Apart from some high-profile individual appearances in the media, the outing served as the first time the couple have been spotted together in public in almost half a year

The couple has since stayed relevant thanks to a recent a spate of interviews given by Michelle, 59, to the media - one of which saw the ex-first lady admit she 'couldn't stand' her husband for nearly ten years starting soon after Barack's first term

Known to frequently fly private after forfeiting their rights to Air Force One in 2017, the pair was last seen together in October

Almost immediately after he and Michelle will make the hour and 25-minute jet ride down to Melbourne for another, final appearance at the John Cain Arena on Wednesday.

The consecutive events will reportedly see the politician speak about leadership and global challenges, and will also feature former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop as a speaker and moderator.

It is unknown if the former president plans to use the two appearances to speak on strategies to combat climate change - which, according to him, should be one of the primary concerns of the US government, and the Earth as a whole.

Tour organizer Growth Faculty said in the event description that attendees would hear Obama 'discuss strength in leadership and explore techniques for navigating an unpredictable future'.

'In times of great challenge and change, President Obamas leadership ushered in a stronger economy, a more equal society, a nation more secure at home and more respected around the world,' the description read.

'There's no leader better equipped to share their experience, unique strategy and wisdom on the changing face of leadership.'

Ticket prices range from $195 for a standard seat to $895 for a 'platinum package'.

A platinum ticket includes priority seating, designated entrance, one hour pre-event cocktail party, a copy of Mr Obama's book 'A Promised Land' and a commemorative lanyard and program.

Barack Obama met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after arriving in Australia's most populous city

Mr Obama is pictured with the US Ambassador to Australia and John F Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, outside a Sydney hotel on Monday

More than a dozen police cars and a dozen police motorbikes were on standby as the president went for a walk by Shelly Beach

The president and his wife were whisked away by a motorcade after they touched down in Sydney on Sunday

President Obama is in the country for his 'An Evening with President Obama' speaking tour, where he will talk about leadership and global challenges with former foreign minister Julie Bishop

President Obama's last official visit to Australia was for the G20 Summit in Brisbane in November 2014 - and prior to disembarking a private jet with Michelle on Sunday, had not been seen in public with his wife since last year.

The pair looked casual as they disembarked, with Michelle wearing a cardigan and jeans, and Barack sporting a beige blazer.

Known to frequently fly private, the pair was last seen together casting ballots in October in Chicago, and during the formal unveiling of their official White House portraits in September.

He previously visited the country in November 2011, where he addressed a joint sitting of federal parliament in Canberra after he was invited by then-prime minister Julia Gillard.

In his speech, president Obama spoke about the importance of the Asia-Pacific Region.

Obama served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
British Hollywood star Orlando Bloom has travelled to Ukraine to meet Volodymyr Zelensky, where he hailed the strength of the president's people during Vladimir Putin's invasion as 'awe inspiring'.

In his role as a goodwill ambassador for the UN children's organisation Unicef, the actor spent three days in the country and visited Kyiv, Irpin and Demydiv.

The star of the Pirates Of The Caribbean and Lord Of The Rings films said it was his first trip to Ukraine since 2016.

While in Kyiv, he met President Volodymyr Zelensky. The pair were seen in footage shot yesterday in the capital's presidential palace, where they discussed humanitarian projects and reconstruction efforts to help the children of Ukraine.

Bloom told Zelensky that his messaging since the war began was 'reflected in [the Ukrainian people's] courage and determination', and that the 'world was watching' after Putin was charged with war crimes over the deportation of children.

British Hollywood star Orlando Bloom visited Ukraine to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and children and families impacted by Vladimir Putin's invasion

Bloom (left) is greeted by President Zelensky in Kyiv. The pair were seen in footage in the capital's presidential palace yesterday, discussing humanitarian projects and reconstruction efforts to help the children of Ukraine

Both men appeared somewhat star-struck, embracing and sharing an enthusiastic handshake upon meeting. Zelensky himself was an actor in Ukraine - playing a teacher who becomes president - before his stratospheric political rise.

Since becoming president in 2019, and since the invasion launched by Putin in February 2022, Zelensky has become one of the most famous people in the world, making regular appeals on the global stage for support while drawing praise for his wartime leadership.

'To see the children, to see in their eyes - its palpable - the anxiety... and yet the strength of the Ukrainian people is something that is really awe-inspiring,' Bloom told him. 'And of course your messaging is the reason for that. So its remarkable to see how you are holding this country.'

He assured the leader that Unicef was taking the issue of missing children very seriously 'as the rest of the world is watching' after Putin was charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) this month.

'Of course, he who shall not be mentioned was made a war criminal because of this. And it's so horrific what's going on,' he said.

Zelensky thanked Bloom for visiting the country, describing it as 'strong' in the face of Russia's aggression. He played down Bloom's praise of him personally, saying that everyone in the country was 'holding' each other.

He told Bloom that Ukraine was doing everything it could to bring back the missing children from Russia, and that it needed to ensure the infrastructure and facilities were in place to care for them when they are welcomed home.

As of yesterday, at least 465 children have been killed in the 13-month long war, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General.

Russia has been accused of the indiscriminate bombing of civilian sites, and the ICC issued an arrest warrant this month, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine to Russia.

It said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the crime.

Russian officials have cautioned that any attempt to arrest Putin, Russia's leader since the last day of 1999, would amount to a declaration of war against the world's largest nuclear power.

Video shows that Bloom went on to tell Zelensky that he is part of a Buddhist organisation, and read an excerpt from a letter written by his mentor - Japanese philosopher Daisaku Ikeda - that was sent to the youth of the UK in 1994.

'Your victory, will be the victory of humanism,' the letter read by Bloom says.

'Defeat would be the defeat of hope. Hence, you must win in everything. You must fight with an indomitable spirit. Once fortune was against a knight who was captured in battle by his enemies and had his castle confiscated.

'"Where is your castle now?" They asked,' Bloom is seen telling Zelensky. 'The knight answered resolutely, holding his head high: "My castle is in my heart".'

'Cool,' Zelensky replies nodding his head.

'You have a heart!' Bloom tells the president, tapping Zelensky's chest, to laughs from the Ukrainian leader and other staff in the room.

As Bloom is seen leaving the room, he is seen turning back to tell Zelensky about a video he has on his phone: 'My mother sang the Ukrainian national anthem. She says, "If you see Zelensky, you tell him to win!"' he says while pumping his fists in the air.

Pictured: Actor Orlando Bloom (right) embraces Ukraine's president Zelensky on Sunday

'During the meeting, we discussed humanitarian aid projects, issues of reconstruction focused specifically on the interests of children. @unicef and our teams will work in several directions, bring victory closer and return a happy childhood to Ukrainian children,' Zelensky said

'I would have never expected the war to have escalated throughout the country since I was there,' Bloom wrote in a post on Instagram about his visit.

'But today, I was fortunate to hear children's laughter at a Unicef-supported Spilno centre, a safe, warm, and nurturing space for children to play, learn and receive psycho-social support.'

The Spilno centres, spread throughout Ukraine, offer support for displaced children and their families, with more than half a million children and their caregivers having visited one in the past year, according to a Unicef statement on its website.

In his own post, Zelensky said: 'We all know what this aggression has brought and how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to rebuild Ukraine after the war.

'During the meeting, we discussed humanitarian aid projects, issues of reconstruction focused specifically on the interests of children. @unicef and our teams will work in several directions, bring victory closer and return a happy childhood to Ukrainian children,' he added.

'He knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war,' Zelensky said later in his nightly video address after meeting Bloom.

In addition to Kyiv, Bloom visited Irpin and Demydiv.

As Russian forces pulled back from Kyiv after they failed to seize the city in the first month of the war, soldiers and journalists uncovered horrific scenes in the surrounding towns, such as Irpin and its neighbour Bucha.

Earlier this month, investigators identified three Russian soldiers who were allegedly involved in the killing of Ukrainian civilians as they tried to escape Irpin in March 2022 as Russian forces edged close to the city.

Russian soldiers shot at ten vehicles leaving Irpin, killing nine people and injuring 12 more, according to investigators.

Demydiv, which is 15 miles north of Irpin and close to the bank of the Dnipro river, was flooded deliberately by Ukraine to slow the Russian advance on Kyiv.

Bloom, who visited Ukraine a couple of years after Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, said: 'When I first came to Ukraine in 2016, I saw the catastrophic consequences that war has on children and families, and how basic needs such as being at school and psychosocial support are critical for children's wellbeing. Now, with children across the entire country affected, that support is more vital than ever.'

The actor travelled to Moldova last year to meet refugee families fleeing Ukraine.

'Some of the children I have met - such as ten-year-old Hanna from Volnovakha, Donetsk region - have had limited access to face-to-face education for more than a year,' Bloom said of his visit to Ukraine.

'While Unicef is helping ensure that children are able to learn online, they are still missing out on the crucial experience of interacting with their classmates and teachers.

'Especially for younger children, these interactions are key for their emotional and cognitive development and cannot be replaced by a computer screen.'

During his time in Irpin, Bloom visited a school, and later stressed the importance of education for the children whose lives have been turned upside down by war.

He said: 'Amid the chaos and uncertainty of war, supporting children's education is an essential tool in protecting their long-term mental health and wellbeing.

'This is especially important during their early years, when children develop the learning and emotional skills they need to reach their full potential.

'Above all, children need an end to this war and sustained peace to regain their childhoods, return to normalcy and begin to heal and recover.

As Russian forces pulled back from Kyiv after they failed to seize the city in the first month of the war, soldiers and journalists uncovered horrific scenes in the surrounding towns, such as Irpin and its neighbour Bucha. Pictured: Civilians take cover under a destroyed bridge in Irpin as they flee Russia's advancing forces on March 5 last year

Abandoned homes in Demydiv on February 28 - a year after it was flooded. The town, which lies 15 miles north of Irpin and close to the bank of the Dnipro river, was flooded deliberately by Ukraine to slow the Russian advance on Kyiv

In its first warrant for Ukraine, the International Criminal Court called for Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation since February 24 last year.

The Kremlin said the issue of the ICC arrest warrant was an outrageously partisan decision, but meaningless with respect to Russia. Russian officials deny war crimes in Ukraine and say the West has ignored Ukrainian war crimes.

Big powers such as Russia, the United States and China are not members of the ICC, although 123 countries are parties to the Rome Statute - the treaty that established the court - including Britain, France, Germany and some former Soviet republics such as Tajikistan.

Ukraine is not a member of the ICC, but Kyiv has granted it jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on its territory.
A huge clean-up operation continued today after a large oil pipeline leak prompted a major incident at Poole Harbour, with swimmers warned to stay out of the water.

About 200 barrels of 'reservoir fluid'  which can contain crude oil  spilled into the internationally important body of water in Dorset from an underwater pipeline.

Local wildflife experts called on Anglo-French oil and gas company Perenco to 'take action to clean this up' and called for a 'a proper investigation' to avoid a repeat.

About 15 per cent of the 31,000 litres (7,000 gallons) of fluid is believed to be oil, meaning that almost 5,000 litres (1,000 gallons) of it may have polluted the harbour.

Workers have placed a boom across the water at Ower Bay in Poole Harbour, Dorset, today

Thick tar washed up on the beach this morning in Poole following the incident at the harbour

Aerial photographs revealed the scale-up of the clean-up this morning with a team of workers involved, while one picture showed tar washed up on the beach.

The area - close to the millionaires' row of Sandbanks - is the world's second largest natural harbour, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.

The UK Health Security Agency warned members of the public that they 'should not swim in Poole Harbour or the surrounding area until further notice'. The council defined the surrounding area as 'water and beaches within Poole Harbour'.

Officials said anyone who has come into contact with the spill should immediately wash with soap and water  and if eyes were in contact, rise them with water.

Conservative MP for Poole Sir Robert Syms said he and South Dorset Tory Richard Drax have asked the Government to take an urgent question in the Commons today.

A general view of the Wytch Farm oil production centre near Poole in Dorset, pictured today

The alarming scale of the Poole Harbour oil spill can be seen in the first aerial images of the leak.

Dog owners believe pet was left with swollen paws after coming into contact with pollution Oily puddles have appeared on the shoreline by Hamworthy Park along with blobs of a black tar-like substance. The owners of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog believe their pet was left with badly swollen paws after coming into contact with the pollution yesterday. Stephen Glover, the owner of Stella the dog, described smelling a 'stink of oil' similar to a petrol station forecourt before his pet emerged from the water with blackened feet. Stephen Glover and his partner Debbie Haughton with their dog Stella in Poole Mr Glover, a company director, and partner Debbie Haughton took Stella home and cleaned her up but he said the grease-like substance was very difficult to get off her paws. Mr Glover, 65, said: 'I took my dog down to Hamworthy Park as I do every day and there was this stink of oil. It was quite shocking. 'The smell was like standing on a garage forecourt when there's been a diesel spill, it was a very obvious smell. 'I started noticing lumps of congealed oil on the beach. My dog walked through it and it looked like she was wearing black socks it was so thick. 'We got her home and tried to clean it off her with washing up liquid and baby wipes, but it wasn't altogether successful. It was like grease, it was really difficult to remove. 'Her paws were all swollen up and red afterwards so I don't know if that was a reaction to the oil. 'I've been back down and some of it seems to have gone but I think a big clean up job is going to be needed.' Advertisement

Large sheens of oil have appeared on the surface of the water in a harbour inlet which is an important wildlife habit.

Although a team of oil spill responders have laid a 100ft long boom across the inlet, the oily film can clearly be seen on both sides of it, suggesting the leak has not been totally contained.

It is feared that almost 5,000 litres of oil from 31,000 litres of reservoir liquid leaked from a pipeline into Poole Harbour, one of the UK's most important and protected sites for wildlife.

The pipeline runs from the Wytch Farm oil field on the Arne peninsula to Furzey Island, where there are oil wells.

The site is the largest onshore oil field in western Europe, producing 20,000 barrels of oil a day. It is owned by Perenco.

Olivia Parton, 82, a retired chef, said she believes the spill must have taken place on Saturday as she saw a large amount of oil in the sea yesterday morning.

She said: 'I was walking 10.45am on Sunday and I could smell oil. I then looked out to the water and there were these dots, like 50p coins, of oil scattered everywhere.

'Then I noticed what must have been a 50ft long, thin strip of oil on the surface.'

The RSPB's nature reserve at Arne on the edge of the harbour is home to lots of native wildlife, particularly rare birds including Dartford warblers, woodlarks and nightjars.

The important habitat is 565 hectares and has a mix of heathland, woodland, grassland and mud flats.

The reserve has international significance for winter waders and wildfowl. Arne is home to the second largest population of avocets in the UK.

Wildlife conservationists have expressed their worries the oil spill could have on the local bird population.

And Brian Bleese, chief executive of Dorset Wildlife Trust, said the leak could not have happened in a more important place or at a more crucial time for wildlife.

He said: 'It is very early days but we are very concerned about it, 200 barrels is quite an amount and Poole Harbour is such a special place for wildlife, particularly breeding birds.

'Sandwich and common terns are arriving in the lagoon area of Brownsea Island and a whole host of wading birds use Poole Harbour.

'What we will be doing over the coming days and weeks is monitoring all of the areas sensitive to wildlife, patrolling the shore and looking for any signs there may be of contamination of birds.

'It can matte their feathers and affect their ability to fly and to feed and of course it can poison them.

'Other concerns that are less obvious is the effect on sealife like bivalve shellfish. It was a mix of oil and contaminated water so although the oil will hopefully disperse that will leave contaminants in the water. That's less easy to see.

The clean-up continues this morning after thousands of litres of oil leaked into Poole Harbour

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

'We do expect Perenco to take action to clean this up and there will need to be a proper investigation to make sure it never happens again.

Poole Harbour oil spill: What we know so far What has happened and where? About 200 barrels of reservoir fluid was released into Poole Harbour after a leak occurred from a pipeline at Wytch Farm oil field on Sunday. The incident was first reported after 2pm. The oil field in Dorset has been operating since 1979 and is one of the largest onshore oil fields in Europe. How much oil has leaked? About 15 per cent of the 31,000 litres (7,000 gallons) of fluid that has leaked is believed to be oil, meaning that almost 5,000 litres (1,000 gallons) of it may have polluted the harbour. What is being done in response? A team of oil spill responders have laid a 100ft long boom across the inlet, but the oily film can clearly be seen on both sides of it from an aerial view. Poole Harbour Commissioners are leading the clear-up of the spill and say the situation is now under control. An investigation has also been launched. What if you come into contact with it? Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash immediately with soap and water, health experts say. If eyes come into contact with it, they should be rinsed with water. What is the impact on wildlife? The RSPB's nature reserve at Arne on the edge of the harbour is home to lots of native wildlife, particularly rare birds including Dartford warblers, woodlarks and nightjars. Conservationists have expressed fears about how the spill could impact the local bird population. Advertisement

'It absolutely could not have happened in a worse place. Poole Harbour is a very protected environment - an SSSI, a special protection area and a conservation area.'

A local birdwatcher, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was worried about the oil spill on the harbour's bird population.

He said: 'They are saying it's a small amount of oil but it can spread over a huge area. It's a bit like saying the bird is only getting a little bit of cyanide.'

Wildlife charity Birds of Poole Harbour said the incident is 'incredibly worrying'.

The harbour is home to a pair of ospreys which are part of a ground-breaking conservation project trying to re-establish an osprey colony in the south of England.

The male osprey returned to the harbour from West Africa on Sunday morning and will use the harbour as a feeding ground over the next coming days.

A spokesman for Birds of Poole Harbour said: 'Although we don't know the full extent of the spill yet, the fact it's happened right in the middle of such an environmentally important area is incredibly worrying.

'Poole Harbour hosts nationally and internationally important numbers of wetland birds.

'Right now we're in that important transition period where our winter birds are leaving, and our summer birds are arriving, many of which use the southern shore of the harbour for feeding, nesting and hunting.

'The local community have an incredibly strong attachment to the harbour and it's environment which was highlighted yesterday morning when our male Osprey arrived back safely from West Africa, exciting thousands of people as he landed on the nest seen via a camera we installed this winter.

'The elation of the male's safe return home yesterday morning was soon dashed by late afternoon when news of the oil spill was announced.

'Right now huge numbers of birds are on the move, having over-wintered further south and will soon be using Poole Harbour as a service station to feed up before continuing north.

'There are several areas of concern. One is that any birds that come into physical contact with this substance can see their feathers damaged and become less water resistant.

Stephen Glover and partner Debbie Haughton with their dog Stella on the other side of Poole harbour where oily puddles and tar-like blobs have appeared along the shoreline

The Poole Harbour area, as seen from from Hamworthy Park beach, Dorset, where a major incident has been declared after oil leaked from a pipeline into the harbour

Oil workers seen today at Wellsite D at Owers Bay in Poole harbour following a major oil leak

'The substance will also encourage any affected birds to preen constantly, meaning they could ingest the hazardous liquid.

Poole Harbour oil spill may have 'devastating' impact on local nature Environmental charities and experts say the oil spill in Poole Harbour could have a 'devastating' impact on sensitive nature reserves in the area. Here is what they have said: Dr Malcolm Hudson, associate professor in environmental science at the University of Southampton 'While we don't know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole Harbour raises particular concerns. 'It's a very large enclosed bay - and so pollutants may not be flushed out quickly by the tides. 'Also, it's a very low energy environment, so unlike a spill on an open coast there won't be much wave action to help break down and disperse the oil. 'Poole Harbour is especially sensitive and internationally protected for the wildlife there. 'Thousands of birds nest there in the spring; they are just arriving and some of the overwintering birds haven't left yet either. They are all vulnerable to floating oil. 'There's also sensitive habitats like mudflats and salt marshes which could be damaged too. 'Meanwhile, there's the human angle - people live and work in the marine, there's a big shellfishery and tourism is a big part of the local economy. 'Not only is this potentially a serious environmental incident, it illustrates the risks we take if we place infrastructure like oil pipelines in such sensitive locations.' Martin Barnes, marine response expert at environmental management company Ambipar 'The leak from the pipeline on Sunday was well reservoir fluid which is a brine mixture that contains an element of physical oil. 'The mixture will provide a visually unattractive sheen on the surface that will dissipate through evaporation during daylight hours. 'Some oil deposits may be left behind on solid surfaces, mammals, aquatic life and humans that have been in contact with the discharge during the release period. 'The deployed booms should contain any oil on the surface so it can be recovered. 'The brine element (water) of the discharge is also a hazard to the environment that will be very difficult to deal with as it will become diluted by the sea water, making it impossible to be recovered at sea.' Richard Hill from the Marine Conservation Society 'I am shocked and saddened to see yet another oil spill in UK waters. We need better protection for sensitive sites such as Poole Harbour. 'The seabird breeding season is about to take place and there are tern and gull colonies close by at Brownsea Island that may be vulnerable. 'It would be awful for a future spill to impact on the wider area of the harbour, home to overwintering and breeding birds, or sensitive habitats such as the seagrass beds outside at Studland. 'This incident should be considered a warning to adequately protect sensitive sites and ensure that oil industry infrastructure is up to the task. 'We cannot allow these spills to continue to happen.' Greenpeace UK's climate campaigner Philip Evans 'This latest spill demonstrates the environmental devastation that comes with oil and gas drilling. 'Poole Harbour will still be drenched in oil when ministers decide whether or not to give the green light to the controversial Rosebank oilfield later this week. Surely this should give them pause for thought.' Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness 'Despite all the safety promises fossil fuel companies make, they simply cannot guarantee against these kinds of incidents. Sooner or later, this is the unavoidable reality of the oil industry. 'It's baffling that there are still MPs in the UK Parliament who complain about wind and solar farms spoiling the British landscape when the alternative is toxic oil polluting our waters and killing our wildlife.' Advertisement

'The other unknown is how much of the oil will settle on the mud and harbour shorelines and what impact will that have on marine invertebrates.

'Although thankfully, as of yet there have been no confirmed reports of any birds showing signs of distress as a result of the incident, although it is still early days.'

Dante Munns, the RSPB area manager for Dorset, said: 'As it is on Poole Harbour, the location is really important as the impact could be massive for conservation.

'We were quite lucky by the quick response, and it brought together authoritative bodies to deal with the incident. Hopefully the dispersion of the oil is quick.'

Jim Stewart, from the Poole Harbour Commissioners said: 'We have a huge team, over 60 individuals, who are looking at the harbour.

'We have helicopters and drones flying across to ascertain how much oil has been released and where it has come ashore.

'Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours, 10,000 acres, so it is a huge area. We have four separate teams combing the harbour to understand the extent of the spill.'

'Although thankfully, as of yet there have been no confirmed reports of any birds showing signs of distress as a result of the incident, although it is still early days.'

Dante Munns, the RSPB area manager for Dorset, said: 'As it is on Poole Harbour, the location is really important as the impact could be massive for conservation.

'We were quite lucky by the quick response, and it brought together authoritative bodies to deal with the incident. Hopefully the dispersion of the oil is quick.'

Jim Stewart, from the Poole Harbour Commissioners said: 'We have a huge team, over 60 individuals, who are looking at the harbour.

'We have helicopters and drones flying across to ascertain how much oil has been released and where it has come ashore.

'Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours, 10,000 acres, so it is a huge area. We have four separate teams combing the harbour to understand the extent of the spill.'

Sir Robert Syms, MP for Poole, said: 'We have a very delicate ecosystem, areas of special scientific interest, we've got leisure interest, we've got fishing interest and the oil industry co-existed with that for about 40 years and generally speaking operated pretty well.

'But we've always been aware there could be an incident which is why the harbour commissioners and the other authorities have always had a recovery plan in case this happens, fortunately the oil company put its hands up fairly quickly to say that the recovery plan ran into action.

'I think the preparation that the authority (BCP Council) made in the event of a spill actually proved to work and I think both the oil companies and environment agency fairly quickly. I think everything sort of went to plan.'

Phil Broadhead, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said today that the incident was 'just unacceptable, there's no other words for this'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'When I first heard about this yesterday, clearly I was angry and disappointed.

'We have the second largest natural harbour in the world here, award-winning beaches, a very delicate ecosystem. So the natural reaction is always to be very worried.

'From what we are hearing - we're not the lead agency on this, Poole Harbour Commissioners is, clearly it's an outside body that runs the facility - it's a small leak of reservoir fluid, so about 85 per cent water and 15 per cent oil, which was caught fortunately quite quickly. They've stopped any further leaks.

'One hopes at the moment that we have avoided any real disaster here. We won't know more until this morning but the early indications are already that the surface slick is already dispersing.'

Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) has put its oil spill plan into action and also warned the public not to swim in the surrounding area.

The wetlands are recognised as being internationally important for wildfowl and it is an important area for breeding and overwintering water birds.

Just outside Poole Harbour, Poole Bay is a Marine Conservation Area. The seabed features ten types of habitat and is home to more than 360 marine species.

Mr Broadhead added: 'As soon as the oil or any of the material gets ashore, that's when everything becomes much more difficult and has the bigger ecological effects as well.

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

'In these circumstances you ideally want it out to sea and dispersing as quickly as possible.

'We've got experts coming in this morning through the lead agency on this to assess further, so we'll know more shortly.

'But what we are urging people in the area at the moment is just to stay out of the water, no recreational activities, and if you do get in contact with water, just to wash with soap and water.

'But we're not talking huge amounts, terrible though this is, and we are hoping and keeping our fingers crossed that this will disperse quickly.'

The area is close to Sandbanks, the exclusive peninsula that is home to Britain's most expensive waterfront homes and has an award-winning Blue Flag beach that attracts thousands of visitors in summer.

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

The pipeline is operated by Perenco, which runs nearby Wytch Farm, the largest on-shore oil field in Western Europe. The leak happened under Ower Bay.

The pipeline was turned off and floating barriers known as booms were placed either side of the leak.

Dr Fay Couceiro, a pollution expert from Portsmouth University said: 'Any large oil spill is a concern to the environment but I was hopeful that I have heard it seems to be under control and there is no further leak and the oil spill response plan has gone into effect.

'The sheen on the surface of the water is the lighter fraction of the oil, that will disperse over a few days, disperse and turn into gas. That's good news because that part is quite toxic so that has quite quick negative impacts on wildlife.

'The longer term concern is the heavier parts of the oil which sink down to the bottom, it goes sticky and likes to get into the sediment.

'That can stay for many years and tend to be more carcinogenic. That could have a negative impact over time for many years.'

Poole Harbour in Dorset is pictured yesterday after a large pipeline leaked into the water

The RSPB Arne nature reserve in Poole, pictured yesterday, near where the leak occurred

Roads to the coast near Norden in Dorset were closed yesterday amid the major incident

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council told people to avoid swimming in the harbour

Steve Harding, who has a boat at Salterns Marina in the harbour, came into contact with some oil yesterday. He said: 'It was definitely noticeable, there was a significant amount of oil on the water.

'We've been very lucky here that we've not really suffered this type of event before. I've been in and on the water for a decade and have never seen anything like this before, it is unusual.'

And Garry Connell said: 'I was windsurfing in the harbour yesterday afternoon at the back of round island and it stank of oil.'

Members of the public have so far heeded the warnings to stay out of the water. There was no sign of anybody in the sea at popular Branksome Beach this morning.

Only a handful of dog walkers and the occasional jogger could be seen on the sand and promenade.

One walker, who wished to remain anonymous, said his friends who were swimmers had decided against entering the water amid safety warnings.

The area is the world's second largest natural harbour and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash with soap and water

Poole Harbour Commissioners warned the public not to swim in the area until further notice

The man in his 40s said: 'My swimming friends all know about it (the oil spill).

'I always walk along here on a Sunday and Monday morning and there are normally 20 to 30 people in the water swimming but not today. I've not seen anyone.'

Shore Beach in posh Sandbanks, another popular spot for sea swimmers, was empty today. Windsurfers have also heeded official warnings to stay out of the water.

A spokesman for the Watersports Academy in Poole said: 'We have been staying out of the water and following the advice of the Poole Harbour Commissioners.'

Perenco and PHC have commissioned two companies specialising in oil spill incidents to help with the clear-up.

In a statement PHC said: 'PHC have activated their oil-spill plan and are working with a number of organisations. A major incident has been declared and a gold command unit has been established.

The RSPB Arne nature reserve in Poole is just around the corner from where the leak occurred

The millionaires' playground of Sandbanks sits very close to where the pipe leaked in Poole

'We would advise members of the public that they should not swim in Poole Harbour or the surrounding area until further notice.

'Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash immediately with soap and water. If eyes have come into contact with the spill they should be rinsed with water.'

Franck Dy, Perenco UK's Wytch Farm general manager, said: 'Any spill is an extremely serious matter and a full investigation will be launched to ascertain what happened in Poole Harbour.

'It is important to stress that the situation is under control, with the discharge of fluids having been stopped and the spill is being contained.'

The firm confirmed a clean-up operation was under way.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: 'We have received reports of a large amount of oil in Poole Harbour and we are supporting the port authority and other partners in responding to this incident.'
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has put an entire city under lockdown after 653 bullets went missing during a military withdrawal, it has been claimed.

The dictator's officials have searched house-to-house in the city of Hyesan, which has a population of around 200,000 people, for the ammunition, two sources told Radio Free Asia.

'The city will remain on lockdown until all 653 bullets are found,' a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang, where Hyesan is located, anonymously told RFA's Korean Service.

The assault rifle ammunition was discovered missing on March 7, when soldiers with the Korean People's Army 7th Corps were pulling back from the area surrounding the city, which lies on the border with China.

They had been deployed there in 2020 to enforce the border closure at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pictured: Kim Jong Un (file photo). North Korean authorities have searched house-to-house in the city of Hyesan for the ammunition, sources told Radio Free Asia

Pictured: Hyesan (file photo). The assault rifle ammunition was discovered missing on March 7, when soldiers with the Korean People's Army 7th Corps were pulling back from the area surrounding the city

Hyesan has a population of around 200,000 people and lies on the border with China

'They withdrew completely between February 25 and March 10, but an extensive investigation is underway because of a loss of bullets during the evacuation process,' the Ryanggang resident said.

When it happened, the soldiers did not initially report it but tried to find the missing bullets themselves, according to the source.

'But when the missing bullets could not be found, they notified the residents and began a rigorous search,' he said.

The police and military launched an investigation, sealed off the whole city, and began searching house to house, the source said.

'Those who have seen or picked up any number of bullets are required to report them as soon as possible.'

Those who fail to report any bullets they found could be punished, the source said.

'There have been no clues even after ten days have passed since this investigation began,' the source said.

Residents had been looking forward to the army's withdrawal from the area, but during the investigation they will have even less freedom of movement, a Ryanggang province official, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told RFA.

'Last week, orders were issued to factories, farms, social groups and neighbourhood watch units in the province to actively cooperate with the ammunition-related investigation,' the official said, adding that when the bullets were not recovered after ten days, the investigating authorities resorted to lying to spread fear among the public.

'They tried to put pressure on the residents by bluffing that the withdrawal was a manoeuvre related to the safety of the Supreme Dignity from reactionary forces,' the official said, using an honorific to refer to the country's leader.

A woman walks past a television showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, on March 27, 2023

Moving such a large force from the border region to protect Kim Jong Un could be interpreted by the people to mean that the country is under attack, and invaders were pushing towards Pyongyang.

'The Ministry of State Security, the Military Security Command of the Korean People's Army, and the Ministry of Social Security issued a particularly stern warning against "Plunder, Illegal Possession or Disposal of Weapons, Ammunition and Combat Technology Equipment" as stipulated in the criminal law Article 78,' the official said.

'According to that law, a person who illegally possesses or transfers firearms, ammunition, or weapons shall be punished by reform through labour for more than three years,' he said.

The residents are afraid that if there is no resolution then the authorities will randomly punish someone who might be completely innocent, the official said.

'Some residents are saying that the authorities are raising the atmosphere of sharp military confrontation between the North and the South every day, even claiming that the South is provoking war,' said the official. 'Because this incident occurred at a time of tension, residents are closely watching how the investigation will end.'

On Monday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea's military said, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests that Pyongyang says are in response to major US-South Korea defence drills.

The two allies were conducting a joint amphibious landing exercise on Monday, days after concluding Freedom Shield, their largest combined military drills in five years.

North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion, and has repeatedly warned it would take 'overwhelming' action in response.

Hyesan, Ryanggang province, North Korea (file photo). Residents had been looking forward to the army's withdrawal from the area, but during the investigation they will have even less freedom of movement, a Ryanggang province official, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told RFA

'Our military detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from around Chunghwa area in North Hwanghae province from 07:47 am (2247 GMT) towards the East Sea,' South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The missiles each flew around 370 kilometres (230 miles), it added, calling their launch a 'serious act of provocation damaging peace and stability of the international community as well as the Korean peninsula'.

The Japanese defence ministry also confirmed the launch, with Japanese media citing officials as saying both missiles fell outside the country's exclusive economic zone.

North Korean state media last week said the US-South Korean military drills called for 'stronger war deterrents', including a 'multi-faceted and offensive nuclear attack capability'.

The North Korean military has carried out multiple drills of its own in recent weeks, including the test-fire of what state media described as an underwater nuclear-capable drone, and its second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile this year.

State media said the 'underwater nuclear attack drone' drill, personally overseen by North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, was staged 'to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis'.

Kim Jong Un also led a two-day drill last week simulating a 'nuclear counterattack', according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Pictured: Kim Jong Un (file photo). On Monday, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea's military said, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests that Pyongyang says are in response to major US-South Korea defence drills

North Korea's claims have been questioned by experts, who have said they are not the same as credible demonstrations of capability.

But they added that Pyongyang was moving on from simply stockpiling nuclear warheads and attempting to advance and diversify launch mediums.

Analysts had previously said Pyongyang would likely use the US-South Korea drills as an excuse for more missile launches and perhaps even a nuclear test.

In the face of growing threats from North Korea, the United States and South Korea have ramped up their security cooperation.

Last week, the US military said it conducted for the first time remote launcher 'deployment training' for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) - a missile defence system - during Freedom Shield.

'In the face of DPRK's advanced missile threats, the training of our THAAD forces... demonstrates the ironclad commitment to support and defend' South Korea, US Forces Korea said in a statement, using the acronym of North Korea's official name.

North Korea last year declared itself an 'irreversible' nuclear power and Kim Jong Un recently called for an 'exponential' increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

Kim Jong Un also ordered the North Korean military this month to intensify drills to prepare for a 'real war'.

The South Korean defence ministry said the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was due to arrive in the southern city of Busan on Tuesday.

Both militaries carried out joint naval drills on Monday, which are aimed at strengthening 'extended deterrence through the deployment of US strategic assets in the face of growing North Korean nuclear and missile threats', a defence ministry official told reporters.
The BBC has been accused of elitism over its 'rigged' University Challenge rules which treat non-Oxbridge universities as 'second class.'

The show's rules allow separate colleges from Oxford and Cambridge to enter while limiting all other universities to one team each.

The quiz show is in its 52nd series, with eight of its 28 teams from Oxford or Cambridge colleges.

The previous edition saw nine of the 28 entrants come from Oxbridge.

In a series of complaints to the BBC, Frank Coffield, emeritus professor of education at University College London, said the show's 'grotesque' Oxbridge bias breaks the corporation's impartiality rules and perpetuates elitism in the UK.

The rules of University Challenge allow separate colleges from Oxford and Cambridge to enter while limiting all other universities to one team each

Critics hit out at the 'grotesque, inequitable and indefensible' rules. Pictured: Former show host Jeremy Paxman

In one letter, Prof Coffield, who is also a visiting professor at Sunderland, wrote: 'Each of the 70-plus Oxbridge colleges (even those with only 300/400 students) is allowed to compete in University Challenge, but huge civic universities like Manchester and Birmingham (with upwards of 40,000 students) are allowed only one entry each.

'What justification has the BBC for rigging the programme in this way?' In another, he said the programme's format means non-Oxbridge institutions are treated as 'second class'.

The BBC's complaints service said in reply: 'All institutions that deliver higher education courses at the level of bachelor's degree or equivalent or higher are welcome to apply to take part on University Challenge.

'Institutions are eligible and welcome to apply to University Challenge independently of each other.'

A BBC spokesman said: 'All education institutions that design and deliver teaching towards university level qualifications are welcome to apply to University Challenge independently.

'This is not limited to Oxbridge colleges, but also includes around 300 colleges of further and higher education across the UK, several member institutions of the University of London, and a number of UK conservatoires and art schools.'

The show's three presenters, Bamber Gascoigne, Jeremy Paxman and Amol Rajan (pictured), who takes over in the autumn, all studied at Cambridge

But Prof Coffield told the Guardian: 'It still does not explain why more than 70 Oxbridge colleges are treated as separate universities. You don't get a Christchurch college university degree but an Oxford degree. My main criticism still stands and the BBC is avoiding answering it.

'The balance is grotesque, inequitable and indefensible.'

In 2008, journalist and editor Rachael Jolley wrote in the New Statesmen about what she called the 'deep inequality' of the show's format.

The show's three presenters, Bamber Gascoigne, Jeremy Paxman and Amol Rajan, who takes over in the autumn, all studied at Cambridge.
An elderly couple who were principals at a grammar school have been banned from the profession for life for failing to report a teacher who abused a pupil.

Stephen and Sheila Welsby, 78 and 77 respectively, breached safeguarding obligations at St Annes College Grammar School in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, in 2018, a disciplinary panel found.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) disciplinary panel heard that the veteran teachers delayed reporting claims that a pupil was being abused by another teacher.

It heard that a teacher told the couple that he was in love with the pupil, who is known as Pupil A.

He also told them that he hoped one day he and Pupil A could be together.

Stephen and Sheila Welsby, 78 and 77 respectively, were veteran teachers at St Annes College Grammar School in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire (pictured above)

The accused teacher was later convicted of sexual offences with the child.

The TRA panel found the married couple's behaviour in failing to report the abuse amounted to 'unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute'.

Mrs Welsby, who was the school's safeguarding lead, and her husband both failed to report promptly the allegations made in July 2018 to the police or to the local authority.

The panel said it was 'plain from the nature of the admissions that there was an ongoing risk to Pupil A's welfare'.

Meanwhile, Mrs Welsby did not show any empathy for the pupil.

The panel found that she had not 'demonstrated empathy with the perspective of Pupil A, nor did she have any genuine regret for the impact of her actions on others'.

Following this, it said that she failed to ensure that her approach was child centred and act in the 'best interests of the child involved'.

The hearing was told her husband did not believe the teacher and he questioned Pupil A's parents' motives in reporting the matter to the school.

Accordingly, the panel was satisfied that Mrs Welsby was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

Following this, Sarah Buxcey, the TRA decision maker, said the couple would be banned from teaching for life.

The decision means that the pair are prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or childrens home in England.

Ms Buxcey added that Mrs Welsby 'shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach.'

St Annes College Grammar School told MailOnline they have no comment.
The man suing Gwyneth Paltrow for allegedly crashing into him on a ski slope in 2016 is expected to take the stand today as the closely watched trial goes into its second week.

Attorneys in Utah said Friday that retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, 76, would likely testify first on Monday, before Paltrow's defense team make their case.

Paltrow's attorneys are then expected to call her two children - Moses and Apple, 16 and 18 respectively - and a ski instructor who was present the day of the collision.

Sanderson is suing for more than $300,000, claiming Paltrow skied recklessly into him from behind on a beginner slope at the Deer Valley Resort on 26 February 2016, breaking four of his ribs and leaving him with head trauma.

The actress, 50, has countersued for $1 and attorney fees, alleging Sanderson was at fault and veered into her from behind.

Gwyneth Paltrow testifies during her trial on March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The actress and Goop CEO has been the focus of a $300,000 lawsuit after she allegedly crashed into Sanderson in February 2016. Paltrow is countersuing for $1 plus legal fees

Gwyneth Paltrow (C)'s attorneys are expected to call daughter Apple Martin (L) and son Moses Martin (R) to give evidence on Monday

Terry Sanderson, center, the Utah man suing Gwyneth Paltrow, appears in court during her testimony, in Park City, Utah, U.S., March 24, 2023. He is suing Paltrow over a 2016 crash

After Paltrow testified Friday that the collision began when Sanderson's skis veered between her two legs, attorneys will likely question Sanderson on his recollections.

Craig Ramon, the sole eyewitness of the crash, testified that he heard a loud scream and saw Paltrow hit Sanderson, causing his skis to fly up into the air before he plummeted down on the beginner run in a "spread eagle" position.

Attorneys will also likely question Sanderson on the post-concussion symptoms that medical experts and his doctors testified about last week.

He claims that head trauma caused by the crash later developed into post-concussion syndrome.

During proceedings on Thursday, the plaintiff's daughter, Polly Sanderson-Grasham, said her father had been 'outgoing and engaged' before the crash, but now gets 'agitated' and is 'easily frustrated'.

Medical experts meanwhile told the Utah court that Sanderson was 'obsessed' with the 2016 accident, left with significant physical and emotional challenges from the collision.

Paltrow's attorneys are expected to ask about his references to Paltrow's fame and whether the lawsuit amounts to an attempt to exploit it.

Though the courtroom in Park City, Utah, was far from full throughout the first week of the trial, the case has emerged as the most closely watched celebrity trial since Johnny Depp took Amber Heard to court almost a year ago in Virginia.

Clips of attorney outbursts and Paltrow's Friday testimony have been cut and circulated widely on social media, while observers have debated the motivations on both sides to sustain the prolonged legal battle seven years after the collision.

On Thursday, the story again made headlines as the judge denied an offer from Paltrow's attorneys to bring in 'treats' for the bailiffs after Sanderson's attorneys objected.

The amount of money at stake for both sides pales in comparison to the typical legal costs of a multiyear lawsuit, private security detail and expert witness-heavy trial.

Paltrow (C) walks past Terry Sanderson (gray blazer), the man suing her, after testifying in court on Friday, March 24, 2023, in Park City, Utah. Sanderson accuses her of crashing into him on a beginner run at Deer Valley Resort, leaving him with brain damage and four broken ribs

Terry Sanderson, the Utah man suing Gwyneth Paltrow, leaves the courtroom following her testimony

Medical witnesses have said that Sanderson's injuries were consistent with impact from behind.

Dr Richard Boehme told the court that the account was 'the most probable' due to where his rib fracture fell.

Paltrow meanwhile claims that she 'was not engaging in any risk behavior' on the day of the crash and maintains that Sanderson skied into her from behind.

Paltrow contested the testimony of Craig Ramon, an acquaintance of Sanderson who said he saw the actress collide with the optometrist.

'I don't believe that he saw what he thinks he saw... I can tell you that he didn't because Mr Sanderson categorically hit me on the ski slope.'
Suella Braverman looks to have averted an immediate showdown with Tories pushing to toughen up the Channel migrants legislation.

Rebels have indicated they are unlikely to push amendments today that would completely block Strasbourg from interfering in deportations.

Ringleaders say talks with the Home Secretary have been 'very positive' - although they are waiting to hear from her in the Commons later before confirming they will not force a vote.

Rishi Sunak is walking a tightrope over his flagship plans to 'Stop the Boats', with both wings of the Conservatives and Cabinet ministers up in arms. Under the blueprint all Channel arrivals would be subject to immediate deportation without being able to claim asylum.

Government legal advisers are believed to be resisting moves to ignore injunctions by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The Council of Europe, the political body that underpins the convention, today urged MPs to block the legislation, saying it is 'incompatible' with the UK's obligations. In another sign of the strength of feeling, Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman were heckled by a woman urging them to 'let migrants in' as they visited Chelmsford this morning.

Meanwhile, there are even claims that Ms Braverman is in league with rebels and has been encouraging them to press for a harder stance on deportations.

Allies of Mr Sunak have feared for some time that she is setting herself up to resign over the UK's ties to the ECHR - which Downing Street insists is not up for grabs.

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman visited Chelmsford in Essex today as the Channel boats legislation comes back to the Commons

It is unclear why a key element of the flagship immigration reforms is being opposed from within Government at such a late stage, nearly three weeks after ministers trumpeted the Bill as their solution to the Channel crisis

Attorney General Victoria Prentis is said to have raised concerns about the measures on the grounds they would breach international law.

And top lawyer Sir James Eadie KC, who advises the Government on legal matters, has also apparently expressed reservations.

Speaking at a town hall-style event in Chelmsford today, Mr Sunak said: 'The Home Secretary and I have worked incredibly closely for the last two months to get the legislation exactly right. It is not easy. We need something that is going to be robust, that's going to be effective.

'This is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we haven't seen. It's important that it is effective, which it will be.

'It is also that we abide by our international obligations. This is a country and a Government that does follow the law. We are confident we have designed a piece of legislation that will tackle this problem and will do so while being in compliance with the laws that we are a party to.'

Up to 60 Tory backbenchers have been threatening to push changes to the Bill unless Mr Sunak agrees to toughen it up.

Backbencher Danny Kruger, who has put down a key amendment, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'Discussions are going on... we are looking for commitments from the Government to take seriously the amendments that we're putting down that would strengthen the Bill.

'We're very supportive of what they are doing, there's no rebellion here, but we do want to make sure that we get those commitments.'

PM and Braverman heckled over Channel migrant plan Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman were heckled over the Channel boats crackdown during a walkabout in Essex today. The PM and Home Secretary were berated by a lone protester as they took a brief stroll through the streets of Chelmsford this morning before formally launching an anti-social behaviour drive. Although the politicians were flanked by police did not stop to chat to any locals, the quiet was broken by a woman shouting 'go away, we don't want you here' and 'allow migrants into our country'. Advertisement

He added: 'The indications we have received are very positive from the Government.'

Four amendments to the Bill tabled by backbenchers include legislation allowing ministers to ignore Rule 39 orders  injunctions by Euro judges  and other interventions by the Strasbourg court which prevent migrants being deported to Rwanda or another safe country.

Most of the amendments are due to be considered by MPs tomorrow.

Home Office minister Chris Philp told Sky News: 'As I understand it, she (Ms Braverman) is discussing these various amendments with Members of Parliament. I am sure she is in listening mode as always.

'But this is a well-designed, well-constructed Bill designed to stop the boats which the public expect the Government to do.'

He also played down the prospect of the Government accepting amendments from the other wing of the Tories to establish more safe routes and be more generous to child migrants.

He told LBC radio: 'This country has a lot of safe and legal routes established already.

'In terms of creating more, my own view is that we should fix the illegal immigration problem first, stop the boats, as the Prime Minister has committed, and then we can add in these additional and safe and legal routes.'

Ms Braverman has said she hopes to begin deportation flights to Rwanda by the summer.

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement this morning: 'By effectively preventing people arriving irregularly from having their asylum claims assessed, the Bill would strip away one of the essential building blocks of the protection system.'

The Council of Europe membership consists of countries signed up to the ECHR. It is not connected to the EU.
Hundreds of sex crimes trials have collapsed and victims are being forced to wait more than two years before ever making it to court, it has emerged.

It has been revealed that rape and sexual abuse victims are suffering from the 'disastrous impact' of an increasing backlog in the crown court.

Data shows more than 1,600 cases have collapsed in England and Wales over the last five years after complaints were withdrawn.

In the first six months of 2022-23 alone, 61 rape trials and 114 trials for serious sexual offences were abandoned by victims.

This comes as Rape Crisis England & Wales released its Breaking Point report today revealing that the Crown Courts have reached a 'record-high' backlog of 7,859 sexual offence cases and 1,851 adult rape cases.

Hundreds of sex crimes trials collapse before ever making it to court as alleged victims withdraw their complaints amid court backlogs, it has emerged (stock photo)

It said a Freedom of Information request to HM Courts and Tribunal Service revealed the number of vacated and ineffective, "therefore delayed", rape trials more than doubled from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.

And the report also added that there has also been a 'huge increase' in the number of ineffective trials due to lack of prosecution counsel.

The number of cases with three or more previous trial dates has almost doubled and there were five times as many hearings that had been rescheduled six or more times, it added.

Data from the last available quarter also showed that the crown court backlog for sex crime cases had increased by more than 1,000.

The charity said victims and survivors of rape and other sexual offences are 'waiting the longest out of everyone to have their experiences heard in court, with an average wait of 839 days from report to completion in court'.

Legal experts have blamed the number of alleged victims quitting prosecutions on the justice system backlog for the last few years.

The experts alleged that many complainants, who may wait upwards of three years for their case to be tried, find the long process to be incredibly stressful.

Now data from the Ministry of Justice, obtained by BBC's Newsnight programme through a freedom of information request, echoes the claims and reveals that the number of victims quitting prosecution is increasing.

READ MORE: At least 1,000 sex offenders - including multiple rapists - have avoided criminal records by apologising to their victims Police gave out 'community resolutions' in 1,064 sex offence cases in 2021 and 2022, including several involving child rape Advertisement

Official figures revealed that the number of alleged victims withdrawing their cases was about 33 per cent higher nine years ago.

However, the number of rape prosecutions in England and Wale also plummeted by 70 per cent over the four years to 2022.

Analysts allege that, when taken in account for the fall in prosecutions, the overall percentage of trials collapsing due to alleged victims withdrawing has increased.

The experts also note that the data suggests a rape or sexual offence trial is more likely to collapse because of an alleged victim quitting than other key witnesses dropping out.

The analysis follows the release of Rape Crisis England & Wales' report on the 'devastating impact' of court backlog on victims.

The report, which was reviewed by MailOnline, revealed that alleged victims and survivors of rape and other serious sexual offences are waiting the longest out of everyone to have their experiences heard in court.

The number of trials with three or more previous trial dates almost doubled. There were also five times as many trials that had been rescheduled six or more times.

The same data showed that the number of trials postponed at least once increased by 133 per cent.

The data also showed there was a significant increase in the number of ineffective trials due to lack of Prosecution Counsel.

In the year to June 20, 2022, the court reported 1,925 instances were a trial was ineffective due to the prosecution advocate failing to attend  an increase of 1,722 in just two years.

The Ministry of Justice, responding to the report, said the Government is 'delivering real improvements in the response to rape'.

A spokesperson told MailOnline today: 'In the last year alone the number of rape cases referred by the police to the CPS is up more than 50 per cent, the number of suspects charged has increased by 54 per cent and convictions are up by 65 per cent compared to last year.

'But we know more needs to be done, particularly so that victims have confidence and feel supported, which is why we've quadrupled funding for victims' services, enabled them to pre-record court evidence earlier and away from defendants, and launched a 24/7 helpline with Rape Crisis.'

Meanwhile, experts are urging the Government to address the backlog, alleging it is harmful and 'marginalises victims and survivors'.

'The postponing and rescheduling of cases multiple times is devastating the mental wellbeing of victims and survivors: they are being harmed by the criminal justice system,' Jayne Butler, Chief Executive Officer at Rape Crisis England & Wales, said in a press release.

'On top of lengthy police investigations lasting years, and long periods of hearing nothing, victims and survivors are facing their cases being rescheduled in the Courts  often multiple times  or find that they have not been informed about key developments, such as changes to trial dates.

'Whether intentional or not, this further marginalises victims and survivors, who already feel de-prioritised in an imbalanced system.'

Ms Butler added that the charity wants rape and sexual abuse cases to be given 'priority listing' - which would see the cases moved through the justice system more quickly and provide them with a guaranteed court date.

She claims this would 'reduce uncertainty that many victims and survivors have told us is causing them extreme stress and anxiety.'
Two rival sex therapists are suing each other in a 2million court battle over claims one ruined the other's business by hijacking her online profile.

Siobhain Crosbie, who charges up to 200 a session, claims former pal and protege Caroline Ley stole her clients after the two women fell out in December 2011.

Psychosexual therapist Ms Ley, 51, studied under Ms Crosbie and worked for a time from her therapy practice, APS Psychotherapy and Counselling in South Woodford, east London, before leaving to set up her own firm nearby.

But Ms Crosbie, 55, claims her business mysteriously nosedived soon after and it was not until 2016 that she discovered online inquires for her counselling service via Google were being diverted to Ms Ley's business.

She claims Ms Ley deliberately interfered with the online search tools and profiles in order to poach her clients and is now suing for 1,422,418.80, plus interest of 456,109, alleging 'cyber fraud'. But Ms Ley denies the claims and is countersuing for libel and harassment.

Siobhain Crosbie, pictured outside the High Court, is suing her former protege Caroline Ley, alleging she poached her clients after deliberately interfering with the online search tools and profiles on Google

But rival sex therapist Caroline Ley is blaming 'a quirk of Google's algorithm' for the 'mash-up' of details from the two businesses, which had both run from the same address at one time. She claims Ms Crosbie launched a 'carpet bombing' smear campaign against her - and is now countersuing her former friend. Ms Ley is pictured at the High Court

The 'sex addiction' specialist, who charges 100 for a 50-minute session, blamed 'a quirk of Google's algorithm' for the 'mash-up' of details from the two businesses, which had both run from the same address at one time.

In her own legal case, she is now demanding 'substantial' damages for libel and harassment over what she claims has been a four-year 'carpet bombing' campaign by Ms Crosbie to blacken her name on social media.

Gervase de Wilde, for Ms Ley, told Mr Justice Julian Knowles at the High Court that the two women became friends and later colleagues after meeting on holiday in 2005.

Ms Crosbie was already an established therapist and Ms Ley subsequently undertook a degree in psychology and a placement with Ms Ley as part of her training before renting a counselling space from her in 2010 and 2011 as she built her own practice.

The pair however 'parted ways professionally and personally at the end of 2011,' he added, with Ms Ley going on to set up her own business nearby, in Buckhurst Hill.

Ms Crosbie, who offers help with 'sexual dysfunction' and 'transgender difficulties', told the judge from the witness box it was shortly after this that she noticed her business beginning to flatline.

She said that, from 2012, she experienced a 'drop in inquires' and was told by her clerical supervisor 'the phone hadn't been ringing for three months.' A message was read to the court she sent in 2012, stating: 'Things are absolutely s***e financially'.

She told the judge the side of her business involving renting spaces to other therapists was so badly affected she had to cut the number of rooms she was renting out from three to one.

Siobhain Crosbie (pictured left) alleges her former friend Caroline Ley (right) has stolen her clients and cost her almost 2million. But Ms Ley, a 'kink-aware' therapist who specialises in sex and porn addictions, has made her own claims that Ms Crosbie harassed her

Her barrister, Janaka Siriwardena, told the judge she discovered in March 2016 that when she clicked on her phone number on a web listing page it connected to a number controlled by Ms Ley - and that when web visitors clicked on a directions icon it gave them directions to Ms Ley's business address.

'In March 2016, Ms Crosbie complained to Ms Ley she had deliberately directed potential visitors to her own business and as a result, that Ms Crosbie had suffered a loss,' the barrister said.

'Ms Crosbie also discovered a listing for her business on psychotherapy.co.uk coincidentally again led to Ms Ley's business.

'Except Ms Crosbie did not consider this to be coincidental, but both acts were carried out deliberately as a means of passing off Ms Ley's business as being similar or associated with Ms Crosbie.

'Further, logos and photos associated with Ms Crosbie's listing were found on Ms Ley's listings.

'It does not appear to be denied that both the address icon and telephone number functioned to lead away any potential visitor away from Ms Crosbie's listing to something controlled by Ms Ley.

'Her explanation for this is Google's "merged listing" process applied to similar businesses that led to an inadvertent state of affairs which then became contentious.

'Ms Crosbie's case is that the diversion went beyond Google's merged listing process. The state of affairs persisted over a number of years.

'Ms Ley must have been made aware of any error during such a length of time.'

Ms Ley said Ms Crosbie (pictured) launched a four-year campaign online to trash her reputation as their business feud deepened

In reply, Ms Ley's barrister branded Ms Crosbie's complaints her website had been 'taken over' by her former protege as unreasonable.

He dismissed the problem with the online listings as 'a quirk of Google's algorithm... both businesses having operated briefly from the same premises'.

Ms Crosbie had gone on to complain of 'cyber fraud' to the police and embarked on a four-year social media campaign against her rival, the barrister said.

'By 2020, both the extent of Ms Crosbie's campaign of publications and the seriousness of the allegations she was making against Ms Ley had intensified, causing enormous distress anxiety and reputational damage to her,' Mr De Wilde told the judge.

'Ms Crosbie's campaign of publications is a paradigm case of harassment: it is persistent and deliberate; it is unacceptable and oppressive; it is targeted against Ms Ley and it is calculated to cause and has caused Ms Ley alarm and distress.

'Ms Crosbie carpet bombed the Facebook groups where both their colleagues, peers and students congregated online with repetitions of her allegations.

'It is hard to conceive of any complaint against a former colleague based on a business dispute, no matter how well-founded, could justify the terms in which Ms Crosbie made her allegations of wrongdoing. These encompassed criminality, fraud, dishonesty, tax evasion.

'The court is respectfully asked to dismiss Ms Crosbie's claim as being totally without merit and to grant judgment on Ms Ley's counterclaim, making an award of substantial damages for defamation and harassment and granting an injunction.'

He called Ms Crosbie's case of passing off 'illogical' and 'unsupported by the facts or evidence now before the court.'

The judge commented: 'If this was as you say it is just a collision...some sort of mash-up on Google....then that's the end of this case because Ms Ley wasn't responsible for it. That's the heart of her case: that it wasn't anything to do with her.'

The judge has now reserved his decision until a later date.
More than 600 of Britain's most dangerous criminals could be blocked from release every year in a move to toughen up parole rules.

The new Victims and Prisoners bill would give the Justice Secretary a veto to automatically block the release of the worst offenders including murderers, rapists, and terrorists.

Parole boards will also be required to prioritise public safety over the rights of the prisoners, which is currently described as a 'balancing act'.

An insider told The Sun: 'People want to know the most dangerous offenders will be locked up until they no longer pose a threat.

'Our changes will keep people safe by strengthening the release test so it is entirely about public protection, not prisoners' rights  and giving ministers the final say in the most serious cases.'

Andrew Barlow (left) and Baby P's mother Tracey Connelly could have both been kept in jail under the reforms

A serial sex attacker dubbed the 'Coronation Street rapist' had his release approved last month despite Dominic Raab challenging the decision through his existing powers as Justice Secretary.

Andrew Barlow, 66, formerly called Longmire, was locked up in October 1988 after being convicted of 11 rapes, three attempted rapes, indecent assault and using a firearm to resist arrest.

His tariff was fixed at 20 years and in the decades that followed he was linked to more offending as previously unsolved cases were cracked.

Between 1981 and 1988 he went on two separate campaigns of terror, raping women in five different counties.

Mr Raab would have been able to block Barlow's release under the new rules.

He could have also prevented the release of Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, in June last year.

Connelly was given an indefinite term with a minimum of five years in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of 17-month-old Peter in Tottenham, North London, in August 2007.

Gary Glitter (left) was released from jail before being returned after allegedly accessing the 'dark web'. Murderer Robert Brown is due for automatic release

Lorraine Thorpe was just 15 when she killed her father, Desmond, 43, and Rosalyn Hunt, 41. She is set for a parole hearing

The child suffered 50 injuries at the hands of his mother, stepfather, Steven Barker and Barker's brother Jason Owen, with mistakes by social workers meaning medics missed vital warning signs.

Connelly was given parole despite another attempt by Mr Raab to intervene.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'The Justice Secretary has said he will introduce reforms to protect the public and better support victims when parliamentary time allows.'

Some parole hearings are now held in public in a bid to increase transparency around the process.

Earlier this month Charles Bronson, Britain's 'most dangerous prisoner' told a panel he was now a 'man of peace' and thus ready for release.

A panel of three considered his case at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, while members of the press and public watched on a live stream from the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

Wife killer Russell Causley was the first inmate to have his parole bid heard in public

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab would have the power to block the release of dangerous prisoners under the reforms

The outcome in his case is yet to be announced.

Wife killer Russell Causley was the first inmate to have his parole bid heard in public.

He was handed a life sentence for killing Carole Packman, who disappeared in 1985, a year after he moved his lover into the family home in Bournemouth, Dorset.

After serving more than 23 years for the murder, Causley was freed from prison in 2020 but sent back to prison after he breached the terms of his release.

Samantha Gillingham, daughter of Ms Packman and Causley, said that she was disappointed at the Parole Board's decision and branded the process a 'tick box exercise'.

In January Mr Raab called Causley a 'calculated killer' and said he was considering appealing the decision.
It comes as a country-wide recruitment drive aimed to avoid repeat mobilisation

An advertisement in Russia's Yaroslavl region promised 530 for every kilometre

Russian recruits are being offered hundreds of pounds for every kilometre of ground gained in Ukraine, according to state advertisements.

One advertisement posted by a council in the Yaroslavl region promised a 3,100 sign-up bonus and an extra 530 for 'each kilometre of advancement within assault teams'.

The advertisements offering recruits cash incentives have appeared on Government websites and social media accounts of libraries and high schools across Russia.

It comes as Vladimir Putin desperately tries to avoid another round of unpopular mobilisation - the last of which saw tens of thousands of men fleeing the country.

The Yaroslavl advertisement also offered a monthly salary of 2,000 plus 80 a day for 'involvement in active offensive operations'.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is desperately trying to avoid another round of unpopular mobilisation - the last of which saw tens of thousands of men fleeing the country

Enlistment offices are working with universities and social services to entice students and the unemployed to sign up for the military, with makeshift recruitment centres popping up in cities and towns.

But Russia analyst Kateryna Stepanenko questioned whether the recruitment drive would be successful.

She told the Telegraph: 'They've already recruited a significant proportion of people that were financially incentivised. And they struggled to do that last year.'

Putin announced Russia's first mobilisation since the Second World War on September 21 last year.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the time that some 300,000 additional personnel would be drafted.

But the mobilisation proceeded chaotically with many highly publicised cases of call-up notices going to the wrong men.

Tens of thousands of men also fled Russia to avoid being drafted into Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

It comes as Ukraine's ground forces commander said today that his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on the eastern city of Bakhmut and that defending it was a 'military necessity'.

Ukraine's military said Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi had acted during a visit to the eastern front line to solve 'problematic issues that prevent effective execution of combat tasks' and taken 'operational decisions aimed at strengthening our capabilities to deter and inflict damage on the enemy'.

It gave no details and did not say when the visit took place, but Syrskyi's comments signalled Ukraine's intention to keep fighting in Bakhmut despite the heavy death toll there.

'The most intense phase of the battle for Bakhmut continues. The situation is constantly difficult. The enemy suffers significant losses in human resources, weapons and military equipment but continues to conduct offensive actions,' he said.

Praising Ukrainian forces' resilience in 'extremely difficult conditions', he said: 'The defence of Bakhmut is due to military necessity. We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation.'

A Ukrainian T-72 tank fires at Russian positions on the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut yesterday. Ukraine's ground forces commander said today that his troops were continuing to repel heavy Russian attacks on Bakhmut and that defending it was a 'military necessity'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also visited the Bakhmut area last week and handed out medals to troops in a morale-boosting trip as Ukraine prepares for a possible counter-offensive after 13 months of war.

Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhny said on Saturday that the situation was being 'stabilised' around Bakhmut.

Moscow sees capturing the city as vital to completing the capture of the Donbas industrial region in eastern Ukraine, one of its main war goals.

Reminiscent of the First World War, the battle has been fought from trenches with relentless artillery and rocket strikes across a heavily mined battlefield described as a 'meat grinder' by commanders on both sides.
Dolly Parton's duet 'Rainbowland' with Miley Cyrus has been banned from a first-grade spring concert after it was 'vetoed by the administration'.

On the setlist for the concert at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha, Wisconsin, were Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World,' 'Rainbow Connection' by Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Movie and Dolly Parton's song with Miley Cyrus.

The latter is a collaboration between the Parton and her goddaughter Cyrus, who said she even considers playing Parton in a biopic of the country icon after she previously dressed up as her godmother on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show.

Both 'Rainbow Connection' and 'Rainbowland' were banned after the school district deemed them too controversial, according to parent Leigh Radichel Tracy told the LA Times it was sad that the song, which is about a 'beautiful place of acceptance', was banned.

Melissa Tempel, a first-grade teacher at the school, is in charge of the class that was supposed to perform the song at the concert.

Dolly Parton's 2017 duet Rainbowland with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus was banned after the school district deemed them too controversial, according to a parent

Melissa Tempel is a first-grade teacher at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and in charge of the class that was supposed to perform the song at the spring concert

She said on Twitter: 'My first graders were so excited to sing Rainbowland for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?'

School district superintendent James Sebert said in a statement provided to Insider that the teacher who suggested the song Rainbowland checked with the school principal 'to determine if the song would be acceptable to use in a first grade concert.'

What are some of the lyrics for Rainbowland? Living in a Rainbowland Where everything goes as planned And I smile 'Cause I know if we try, we could really make a difference in this world ... Living in a Rainbowland The skies are blue and things are grand Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise Where we're free to be exactly who we are Let's all dig down deep inside Brush the judgment and fear aside Make wrong things right And end the fight 'Cause I promise ain't nobody gonna win (come on) Advertisement

When the principal reviewed the song alongside a district policy about 'Controversial Issues in the Classroom,' they 'determined that the song could be deemed controversial in accordance with the policy,' the statement said.

At that point, according to the statement, the song 'Rainbow Connection' was selected, which was reinstated in the concert's setlist after parents complained to the school, Tempel revealed.

Parents were equally confused why the songs were banned.

Sarah Schindler, whose daughter is a first-grader in Tempel's class, told the LA Times the school board had a 'conservative flip' following the Covid-19 pandemic and added: 'With that have come some policy changes that have been causing some controversy in our community.'

Among those changes are bans on teachers having 'any kind of political signage' or wearing rainbows as well as discussing pronouns with their students.

Tempel added to her Twitter post: '4 years ago we had an active diversity team and had @sharroky as our district equity consultant. Now we are Florida.'

The ban on Rainbowland 'has not in any way come as a surprise' to Leigh Radichel Tracy, who told the LA Times there was an ongoing controversy in the community following the school district which 'has really cracked down on anything LGBTQ.'

She said her 17-year-old daughter, who is in the marching band with many LGBTQ friends, was 'hurt deeply' by the ban: 'All that Miley and Dolly are saying is that they want to live in a world that is accepting, with no judgment and where people can be who they want to be.'

Tracy said it was sad that the song, which is about a 'beautiful place of acceptance', was banned for being too controversial.

Rainbowland was published as part of Miley Cyrus' Younger Now album.

The song, a duet with Cyrus' godmother Dolly Parton who also featured in her New Year's Eve show, features lyrics like: 'Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise / Where we're free to be exactly who we are' or 'Let's all dig down deep inside / Brush the judgment and fear aside'.

After listening to the song, Schindler still couldn't understand how the song could be considered controversial, especially since she always associated springtime with rainbows.

While she acknowledged Cyrus talked about drugs and sex in the past and her duet partner Parton supports drag queens, she said these policies banning songs like Rainbowland makes everyone second-guess their choices.
Rishi Sunak vowed to tackle the blight of neighbourhood louts today with a raft of tough measures against anti-social behaviour.

As he seeks to wrestle back the Tories shrinking reputation as the party of law and order the Prime Minister vowed stronger powers for the police and punitive action against local hooligans.

Fly-tipping and graffitiing will be punishable with fines of up to 1,000 under plans Mr Sunak unveiled in Essex today.

He also vowed action against begging networks run by organised crime, while landlords will get extra help to evict nuisance tenants.

The Government will also ban nitrous oxide - known colloquially as 'hippy crack' - with plans to make it a Class C dug before the end of 2023.

There will also be new rules widening the ability of police to routinely drug test suspects in custody to include domestic abusers and people accused of violence against women and girls among other offenders.

Social housing tenants are also expected to face a new 'three strikes and you are out' rule over anti-social behaviour like loud parties late at night.

Additionally, those responsible for anti-social behaviour will have to do community service in lurid, hi-viz jumpsuits - a plan announced by Labour last month.

As he seeks to wrestle back the Tories shrinking reputation as the party of law and order the Prime Minister (pictured on a walkabout in Chelmsford) vowed stronger powers for the police and punitive action against local hooligans.

Fly-tipping and grafittiing will be punishable with fines of up to 1,000 under plans Mr Sunak unveiled in Essex today

Mr Sunak this morning spoke about the importance of 'hotspot policing' and 'immediate justice', as he stressed the need for a 'zero-tolerance' approach to anti-social behaviour.

Confirming a laughing gas ban plan, he said the Government would tackle the 'scourge' of drugs as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Mr Sunak, who stressed the importance of 'strong communities built on values', said that anti-social behaviour was 'not the type of country that we are and that is why it is important we do something about it'.

Speaking to members of the public, he said: 'We're going to ban nitrous oxide. And we're also going to expand the power of the police to do drug testing on arrest for far more crimes and far more drugs and tackle the scourge of drugs.'

Under plans released this morning, nitrous oxide would become a Class C drug, alongside the so-called 'date rape' drug GHB, anabolic steroids and the stimulant khat.

However, Professor David Nutt, a former senior advise to the Government on drugs, branded it 'an outrageous abuse of the Misuse of Drugs Act'.

Anti-social behaviour clampdown at a glance: Drugs: Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, will be banned because of reported links between the drug and nuisance or anti-social behaviour. Police will also be given new powers to drug test suspected criminals on arrest for substances including cannabis, speed and ketamine. Flytipping: Fines for fly tipping, graffiti and littering will be increased up to 1,000, and council league tables will be published for fly tippers. Begging: It will be made an offence for criminal gangs to organise begging networks for extra cash. Reporting tool: A one-stop-shop for reporting anti-social behaviour will be developed, which will also provide updates on what action is being taken by local police and councils. Community payback: Offenders will be made to wear high-vis vests or jumpsuits as they pick up litter, remove graffiti and wash police cars as punishment for their actions. Victims of anti-social behaviour will get a say in the punishment. Unruly tenants: Landlords and housing associations will get more powers to evict unruly tenants who ruin neighbours' lives through disorderly behaviour. Empty shops: Councils will be granted new powers to quickly take control and sell off empty shop buildings. Youth services: Youngsters in areas with the highest rates of anti-social behaviour will get an extra one million hours of youth services to prevent offending. Green spaces: Up to 5million will be spent making parks and green spaces safer, with CCTV, playground repairs and planting more trees and flowers. Advertisement

Taking a question from a member of the public during Q&A in Chelmsford, Essex, the PM said: 'It should be easy for you to say this is what I've seen, this is what's going on and then have the local authorities and the police report back on what they've done about it so that you feel that your concerns are being listened to.'

Victims of anti-social behaviour will be given a say in how criminals are disciplined to ensure justice is visible and fits the crime, according to the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities.

In what is being called Hotspot Policing, some areas will trial having enforced police patrols.

Officials said those areas will see an increase in police presence, alongside other uniformed authority figures such as wardens, in problem areas including on public transport, high streets and in parks.

In total, 16 areas will conduct trials of either Immediate Justice or Hotspot Policing, with four police and crime commissioner jurisdictions - Northumbria, Cleveland, Derbyshire and Durham - trying out both.

The intention is to roll out the measures across England and Wales from 2024.

Law enforcement officers and council workers will be given the 'tools' to direct people judged to be causing a 'nuisance on the street', including by obstructing shop doorways or begging at cash machines, to health and social services.

This could include helping them to find accommodation or assistance with mental health or substance misuse issues, department officials said.

The debris and paraphernalia they leave behind will then be cleared by authorities, the department pledged, in an effort to tidy up Britain's high streets and make them safer.

Part of the plan also includes making it an offence for criminal gangs to organise begging networks to make them extra cash.

The department said the networks are 'often used to facilitate illegal activities'.

On addressing homelessness, ministers said they remained 'committed' to repealing the 'antiquated' Vagrancy Act which was passed in the early 19th century.

The legislation made it a crime to sleep rough or beg in England and Wales.

Ministers have said nobody should be criminalised for not having somewhere to live.

The UK Government consulted last year on how to replace the Act.

Ministers have said nobody should be criminalised for not having somewhere to live

He also vowed action against begging networks run by organised crime , while landlords will get extra help to evict nuisance tenants.

The plan to tackle homelessness and nuisance begging forms part of a package of measures aimed at stamping out anti-social behaviour which is due to be unveiled by the Prime Minister on Monday.

Mr Sunak, speaking ahead of the plan's official unveiling, said anti-social behaviour 'undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home' as he vowed to 'tackle this issue with the urgency it deserves'.

He and Home Secretary Suella Braverman were heckled and told to 'go away' during a short walkabout in the Essex town centre.

The pair started walking down Chelmsford high street just before 9am on Monday, joined by three local police officers.

The street was quiet and they did not stop to chat to any of the small number of people out and about or go into any shops.

One woman shouted 'allow migrants into our country' and 'refugees should be allowed in Britain'.

The officer walking alongside Ms Braverman turned his head towards the shouting woman but the Home Secretary did not react.

Shouting at Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman, the woman added: 'Go away. We don't want you here.'

As the woman continued to shout, Ms Braverman continued her conversation with the officer.

During the heckling, Mr Sunak was speaking to the two officers farthest away from the woman.

The walk lasted little more than five minutes before the Prime Minister was driven to Chelmsford Boxing Club, where he spoke about his anti-social behaviour action plan and took questions from an assembled crowd.
Heartbreaking photos have been released of a young woman who suffered life-changing injuries while trying to escape an abusive relationship.

Angel Lynn, 21, suffered catastrophic brain injuries when she fell out of a moving van at 60mph on the A6 after being kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend in September 2020.

Images show Ms Lynn, from Loughborough - who is recovering and undergoing rehabilitative treatment - after Chay Bowskill left her paralysed and unable to eat, walk or talk by herself.

Her mother, Nikki Lyn, said she is making steady progress in her recovery but she is still unable to communicate to the police or her family what actually happened to her.

Angel's story is being made into a Channel 4 documentary, with producers at Wonderhood Studios saying the programme will aim to give a voice to those who fall victim to coercive control.

Angel Lynn, 21, was left paralysed and unable to eat, walk or talk by herself following the 2020 ordeal on the A6 in Leicestershire at the hands of Chay Bowskill

The 21-year-old suffered life-changing brain damage when she fell into the road from a van after being kidnapped is making progress in her recovery, her mum said

The Channel 4 documentary will show text messages, social media posts, photos and calls between Angel and Bowskill to reveal the toxic relationship before the near-fatal accident.

Nearing the end of the relationship, Bowskill became increasingly threatening and Angel began to withdraw before attempting to leave him.

Angel's parents Nikki and Paddy, other family members and closest friends will also appear on the show to discuss the traumatic experience.

In September last year Angel's mother said she was warned her daughter's injuries were fatal but she was starting to regain movement on her left side and relearn how to swallow.

At the time Mrs Lynn told BBC Radio Leicester: 'She was really, really badly injured. They said she wouldn't survive the night and that she wasn't going to wake up at all. Now she's getting lots of physio. She's having speech and language therapy.

Her mother, Nikki Lynn (pictured last year with Angel), said in September that doctors warned her that Angel had sustained fatal injuries but she is slowly recovering and undergoing rehabilitative treatments

CCTV caught the moment she was forced into a van by Bowskill and his accomplice Rocco Sansome, in Rothley, Leicestershire, in September 2020 after an argument

Angel Lynn, 21, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, requires round-the-clock care after she suffered catastrophic injuries in the ordeal in September 2020

'She is learning how to swallow again, and then she won't need PEG [percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy] feeding because she doesn't eat.

'She is starting to move her left side very slightly and she's got a communication machine.

'She is communicating in little bits but she still gets really tired. It is nice that she understands everything you're saying to her.'

The documentary will follow Angel's rehabilitation and recovery, according to The Mirror.

Her family hope that soon she might be able to recount what happened in the run-up to Bowskill kidnapping her.

Angel Lynn (front left), 21, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, pictured on a day out with her family in August 2022

CCTV caught the moment Angel was forced into a van by Bowskill and his accomplice Rocco Sansome, in Rothley, Leicestershire, in September 2020 after an argument.

She then fell out of the vehicle, which was driven by Sansome, as it travelled at 60mph, before she was found by horrified members of the public.

In January 2022, Bowskill was handed a seven-and-a-half-year sentence after being found guilty of kidnap, coercive and controlling behaviour, and perverting the course of justice, following a trial at Leicester Crown Court.

His sentence was then nearly doubled after senior judges at the Court of Appeal concluded his original term for the kidnap was not long enough and handed him four-and-a-half more years.

Sansome received 21 months. Bowkill's sentence was later increased to 12 years, although Sansome's was not changed.

Shocking CCTV footage (left and right) shows Angel Lynn, 19, being forced into a van by 20-year-old Chay Bowskill, her boyfriend at the time

Bowskill, of Syston, Leicestershire, was also convicted of coercive and controlling behaviour and perverting the course of justice.

He was cleared of causing grievous bodily harm after it became unclear how Angel had left the van.

Channel 4's Will Rowson, who commissioned Kidnapped: The Angel Lynn Story, said Angel and her family had been 'so 'brave' in coming forward to share their traumtic experience and he hoped the programme will 'help others'.

Wonderhood Studios boss Samantha Anstiss said: 'One woman is killed every three days in the UK as a result of domestic abuse so, sadly, Angel's story will be familiar to many.'
Israeli embassies worldwide were instructed to join a strike on Monday against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan, a workers' union letter said.

The letter, seen by Reuters, citing a nationwide strike in Israel declared by the Histadrut labour federation, said Foreign Ministry activities in the country and abroad would be limited to emergency services.

Workers from a range of sectors in Israel launched a nationwide strike on Monday, threatening to paralyse the economy as they joined a surging protest movement against Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Departing flights from the country's main international hub, Ben Gurion Airport, were grounded, large mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israel's largest trade union group called for its 800,000 members - in health, transit, banking and other fields - to stop work.

Local governments were expected to close the preschools they run and cut other services, and the main doctors union announced its members would also walk off the job.

Passengers wait for their flights during a strike at departures hall in Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv, on March 27, 2023. The hard-right Israeli government faced more protests and a general strike today

Protesters gather with national flags outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations and calls for a general strike against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023

Protesters hold up Israeli flags and placards as they gather outside Israel's parliament, the Knesset, ahead of mass demonstrations in Jerusalem and a call for a general strike across Israel against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023

The growing resistance to Netanyahu's plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime minister's decision to fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after he called for a pause to the overhaul.

Chanting 'the country is on fire,' they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Thousands of protesters gathered Monday outside the Knesset parliament building to keep up the pressure.

The overhaul - driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever - has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.

It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanised nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.

Netanyahu tweeted on Monday: 'I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brotherly people.'

'Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,' Arnon Bar-David, chairman of the Histadrut, said in a rousing speech to applause. 'Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss.'

As the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared on Monday, Israel's president Isaac Herzog called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.

'The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society - all are under threat,' he said. 'Wake up now!'

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

'We've never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don't know what to say to our children about their future in this country,' Lapid said.

Earlier today, Herzog urged Netanyahu to 'come to your senses now' after the widespread protests and national strike caused by sacking his defence minister for objecting to judicial reforms.

Netanyahu was expected to announce this morning that he was stopping his plans, although his public statement was postponed after a coalition ally pleaded for him not to back down, Channel 12 TV reported.

It came as all flights were grounded at the nation's main international hub, after the head of the Israel Airports Authority workers' committee announced a strike.

Herzog said 'the eyes of the whole world are on you' following Netanyahu's dismissal of Gallant on Sunday.

Herzog added: 'I am addressing the prime minister, the members of the government and the companies and members of the coalition: the feelings are difficult and painful. Deep concern surrounds the entire nation.

Thousands of Israelis take the streets as they block Ayalon highway in response to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's surprise sacking of his defense minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023

'Security, the economy, society - all are threatened. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you. The eyes of the entire Jewish people are on you. The eyes of the whole world are on you.'

He continued: 'For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately.

'I appeal to the heads of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to put the citizens of the country above all else, and to act responsibly and courageously without further delay.

'Come to your senses now! This is not a political moment, this is a moment for leadership and responsibility.'

Israel's top trade union chief called a general strike Monday over the government's controversial judicial reforms.

'I am calling a general strike,' Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a televised address. 'From the moment this press conference ends, the State of Israel stops.'

'We have a mission to stop this legislative process and we will do it,' he said, vowing to 'continue to fight'.

The Israel Medical Association quickly followed suit, also announcing 'a full strike in the health system' that will impact all public hospitals.

Benjamin Netanyahu (file photo). Netanyahu was expected to announce this morning that he was stopping his plans, although his public statement was postponed after a coalition ally pleaded for him not to back down, Channel 12 TV reported

Israeli president Isaac Herzog (file photo). President Isaac Herzog said 'the eyes of the whole world are on you' following the Netanyahu's dismissal of Yoav Gallant on Sunday

The nationwide walkout was called hours after Herzog pressed for an immediate halt to the judicial programme, following major demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight in response to the defence minister's dismissal.

The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited months of protests and sparked concern from Israel's top allies, including the United States.

Netanyahu's hard-right government has argued the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

Gallant, a staunch ally of Netanyahu, earlier called for a halt to the reforms - with lawmakers scheduled to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.

'The growing social rift has made its way into the [army] and security agencies,' said Gallant, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party. 'It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel's security.'

Moments after Netanyahu sacked Gallant, demonstrators seized a central highway in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres. Some threw metal barricades while police deployed water cannon.

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Thousands of protesters block the Ayalon main highway during a mass protest against the government's justice system reform plans in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023

Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant (file photo).Israel's top trade union chief called a general strike Monday over the hard-right government's controversial judicial reforms, a day after Gallant's dismissal

'Israel is not a dictatorship,' protesters chanted as a large crowd waved national flags and blew airhorns.

'Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes,' Herzog said. 'The entire nation is rapt with deep worry... Our security, economy, society - all are under threat.'

After months of rallies, including a weekend demonstration that brought out an estimated 200,000 people in Tel Aviv, protesters in the city said it felt like 'a sort of climax'.

In Jerusalem, demonstrators gathered Sunday outside the prime minister's residence, while others rallied in the northern city of Haifa and Beer Sheva in the south.

The activist movement has announced a 'national paralysis week', including protests outside ministers' homes and parliament.

The United States said it was 'deeply concerned' and called on Israeli leaders to reach a compromise.

The White House noted that president Joe Biden recently told Netanyahu that 'democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship'.

Israelis opposed to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan block a highway during a protest moments after the Israeli leader fired his defense minister, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 26, 2023

Protesters block a road as they gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Israelis protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023

People attend a demonstration after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023

Thousands of Israelis take the streets as they block Ayalon highway in response to prime minister Benjamin NetanyahuAs surprise sacking of his defense minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Protesters block a road and gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Police officers detain protesters during a demonstration after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 26, 2023

A parliamentary committee has amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.

Netanyahu last week vowed to 'responsibly advance' the reforms and 'end the rift' they have caused.

In response, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday accused Netanyahu of 'illegal' public intervention on the process of adopting the judicial reforms.

Netanyahu is on trial over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies.

His broadcast gave rise to contempt of court accusations filed with the Supreme Court by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an anti-corruption campaign group.

The group's complaint alleges Netanyahu violated a court ruling that an accused prime minister does not have the right to act in a matter that could constitute a conflict of interest.
A Dutch musician is facing court in a bid to get him to stop his 'obsessive' sperm donating amid claims he has fathered hundreds of children around the world.

Jonathan Jacob Meijer, 41, has misled hundreds of women all over the world and may have fathered nearly 550 children, according to the Donorkind Foundation, which is suing him.

Mr Meijer, from The Hague, Netherlands, was blacklisted in 2017 after the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology warned he had fathered 102 children via ten different clinics in the Netherlands.

But he continued to donate abroad in Denmark and Ukraine and offered his services through websites and social media, according to the Dutch news website AD.

Eva, the Dutch woman at the centre of the court case, had a child by Mr Meijer in 2018 and said it made her feel 'sick to her stomach' that he had fathered so many children.

Jonathan Jacob Meijer, 41, has misled hundreds of women all over the world and may have fathered nearly 550 children, according to the Donorkind Foundation, which is suing him

He continued to donate abroad in Denmark and Ukraine and offered his services through websites, according to the Dutch news website AD. Stock image of liquid nitrogen cryogenic tank used for the sperm donation process

She said: 'If I had known he had already fathered more than 100 children I would never have chosen him.

'If I think about the consequences this could have for my child I am sick to my stomach.

'Many mothers have told him he needs to stop, but nothing helps. So going to court is the only option I have to protect my child.'

Eva and the Donorkind Foundation want to stop Mr Meijer donating and to find out exactly which clinics he has donated sperm to.

They have accused Mr Meijer of 'lying' to hundreds of women about the number of children he has fathered.

Eva also wants all his sperm still in storage to be destroyed, unless it has been reserved for a woman who already has one of his children.

They have accused Mr Meijer of 'lying' to hundreds of women about the number of children he has fathered

Ties van der Meer, the foundation's chairman, said: 'We are taking action against this man because national government is doing nothing.

'He has a global reach via internet and he does business with large, international sperm banks.'

Donorkind's lawyer Mark de Hek said: 'This behavior is dangerous for the mental well-being and health of donor children. By preferring his reproductive urge, the donor is acting unlawfully.

'In addition, he violates the agreements with the clinics and with the prospective parents, because they trusted his promise that he would father a maximum of 25 children.'
A cocaine dealer posted a 'last supper' selfie - just minutes before she was locked up over a multi-million pound drugs racket.

Jaymie Dawson, 28, shamelessly posed for a cheeky photo with two family friends during a lunch break at Manchester Crown Court before she and fellow members of her gang awaited sentencing.

The 28-year-old brazenly posted the image on social media, and wrote an accompanying message.

The Facebook post read: 'Last bevvy and a pizza before I get my comeuppance.

'Big love to everyone who's stood by me and supported me. It is what it is.'

She then returned to the court shortly after, where she was jailed for four and a half years, having been found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Pictured is the selfie Dawson took outside court. The cocaine trafficker posted a 'last supper' selfie taking in her last breaths of freedom - just minutes before she was locked up

Police discovered Dawson and her accomplices were diluting their drugs by mixing it with unknown materials to increase their profits

Greater Manchester Police found messages on her mobile phone, following a series of synchronized raids in June 2021

This comes after police said the gang's ringleader had masterminded the supply of cocaine in wholesale amounts through a drugs line that operated across the North West of England

In reply to Dawson's post, pals sent messages of support with one saying: 'They can lock the lock but they can't stop the clock.'

Another said: 'See u on the other side'.

While a third joked: 'Being in orange is the new black! Plenty of friends to be made, laughs to be had with people from all walks of life.'

Dawson, of Shaw, near Oldham, Greater Manchester, was held after a major police investigation - nicknamed Operation Glory - targeted a drugs gang based in Bury.

It was found that the 28-year-old stashed drugs at her home and sent out bulk texts daily to customers, including 'New gear in for xmas! Absolute stocked the f**k up so all hours.'

Another similar message read: 'Beltin deals still on aswell'.

Greater Manchester Police found the messages on her mobile phone, following a series of synchronized raids in June 2021 in which a suspected cannabis farm comprising of 18 plants was found in Radcliffe.

Meanwhile cannabis cultivation equipment was also recovered in Farnworth, near Bolton.

The 28-year-old brazenly posted the image on social media, and posted an accompanying message which read: 'Last bevvy and a pizza before I get my comeuppance. Big love to everyone who's stood by me and supported me. It is what it is'

Dawson, of Shaw, near Oldham, Greater Manchester, was held after a major police investigation, which was nicknamed Operation Glory

Drugs paraphernalia was seized from their houses - including weighing scales and mixing bowls.

Officers also sized 20,000 in cash from her.

Cops also discovered Dawson and her accomplices were diluting their drugs by mixing it with unknown materials to increase their profits.

The gang's ringleader Daniel Degisi, 27, of Bury was jailed for 11 years and eight months.

This comes after police said he had masterminded the supply of cocaine in wholesale amounts through a drugs line that operated across the North West of England through a network of street dealers.

Dawson and fellow member of her crime gang were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court. They were all were found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs

Pictured is Daniel Degisi who was the leader of the gang. The 27-year-old from Bury was jailed for 11 years and eight months

Pictured is accomplice Zach Hall (left), who was jailed for nine years and four months. Meanwhile, Richard Cranston (right) was jailed for six years

Michelle Richardson (left) was jailed for five years and four months. And Hamza Iftikar (right) was jailed for four years and nine months

Det Sgt Matthew Whittaker from Greater Manchester Police said: 'The severity of these offences should not be underestimated, and the quantities of drugs we are talking about here are beyond substantial. The removal of these individuals will have a discernible difference on the streets of Greater Manchester.

'Drugs have devastating impacts on communities and are often a catalyst for serious crime due to drug disputes, and today's sentencings are another step forward in disrupting serious, organised crime and removing dangerous individuals off our streets.

'A lot of work goes on behind the scenes on a daily basis to tackle organised crime, but information from the public plays a really important part in our investigations. We would always encourage the community to come to us with any suspicions or information they have concerning drug supply in their area. We will act on it.'

Zach Hall, 28 of Milnrow Rochdale, was jailed for nine years and four months.

Michelle Richardson, 38, of Oldham, was jailed for five years and four months, while Richard Cranston, 55, of Gerards Cross, Bucks was jailed for six years.

Hamza Iftikar, 23, of Bury, was jailed for four years and nine months.

All were found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Three people remain in custody after a four-year-old girl was mauled by a pack of dogs.

The little girl was rushed to hospital with injuries after being attacked in Carrington, Greater Manchester, on Sunday afternoon. She remains in a stable condition.

Officers arrested three people on suspicion of owning a dangerous dog and seized four canines, which were taken away by specialists.

The attack took place on Ackers Lane, Trafford, just before 2.40pm on Sunday.

The attack is understood to have taken place just before 2.40pm on Sunday on Ackers Lane, Carrington in Greater Manchester

Police arrested three people on suspicion of owning a dangerous dog while the tot was rushed to hospital on Sunday evening where she remains in a stable condition

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A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said on Sunday: 'Shortly before 2.40pm today police were called to a report of a child who had suffered injuries caused by dogs at an address on Ackers Lane, Carrington.

'The girl was taken to hospital and is in a stable condition.

'Four dogs were seized by officers and have been taken away by specialist partners.

'Three people have been arrested on suspicion of owning a dangerous dog.'

The number of dog attacks recorded by police in England and Wales been on the rise over the past five years.

Last year alone, the UK saw nearly 22,000 cases of out-of-control dogs causing injury, compared to the around 16,000 cases recorded in 2018, BBC reported.

Despite the 37 per cent rise in recorded cases, the dog population in the UK is estimated to have only increased by 15 per cent.

NHS data released last year revealed the number of Britons being mauled by dogs has grown dramatically since 2008 - a rate of 15 cases for every 100,000 of the UK population.

In all, those requiring hospital treatment following a dog attack has more than doubled in the last 15 years - with over 10,000 people now requiring specialist medical care each year.

Ten people were tragically killed as a result of dog attacks in 2022, compared to five deaths in 2021 and two in 2020.

The attack comes just days after officers seized an American Bully dog that savaged a veteran police horse in Victoria Park, Hackney, London, last Wednesday (pictured)

Earlier this year, a 28-year-old dogwalker in Caterham, Surrey was mauled to death by the eight animals she was walking (pictured)

About a month ago a 13-year-old boy was bitten by a dog at a bus stop on Burdett Road, Tower Hamlets, east London (pictured)

Similarly, just last Wednesday officers seized an American Bully dog that savaged a veteran police horse in Victoria Park, Hackney, London (pictured)

READ MORE: Experts reveal why deadly dog attacks are on the rise Advertisement

As a region, the north west of England has seen the highest total of fatal dog attacks in recent years, with four deaths since March 2020, MailOnline revealed earlier this year.

Next closest with three deaths were the Midlands and Wales, while South Yorkshire saw two fatalities within the same period.

Sunday's attack comes about a month after a 13-year-old boy was bitten by a dog at a bus stop on Burdett Road, Tower Hamlets, east London.

Earlier this year, a 28-year-old dogwalker in Caterham, Surrey was mauled to death by the eight animals she was walking.

The dogs were seized at the scene although police confirmed that there would be no individual prosecutions.

Similarly, just last Wednesday officers seized an American Bully dog that savaged a veteran police horse in Victoria Park, Hackney, London.
Prince Harry, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish and other public figures who are suing Mail newspapers attended the High Court today for a case in which they claim they were targeted by hacking.

Publisher Associated Newspapers categorically denies the claims which were lodged by a group including the duke, Sir Elton and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

Harry, in a black suit and blue tie, smiled as he arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand after flying to London overnight from the United States. The actress Sadie Frost also came to court.

Prince Harrys arrival at court was recorded by television cameras and photographers, with Sky News making the point that the duke was not giving evidence, yet decided to arrive by the main entrance, in contrast to Miss Frost, Sir Elton and Mr Furnish, who used a side entrance.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives at the High Court in London today

Sir Elton John arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice this afternoon, with his husband David Furnish following behind (top left)

The judge is being told that Associated, which publishes the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, engaged in phone tapping, bugging cars and other illegal activities.

The publisher said it will vigorously defend itself if the case comes to trial. Todays hearing, expected to last four days, is a pre-trial hearing at which the publisher is asking Mr Justice Nicklin to dismiss the claims.

The Duke of Sussex and Miss Frost sat behind their lawyers listening attentively as the hearing got under way in Court 76. They were not expected to speak.

The seven claimants launched their action last year. Their lawyer David Sherborne alleged in written submissions to the court that the newspaper group engaged in illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening into live landline calls, obtaining private informationand using private investigators to commit these unlawful information gathering acts on their behalf.

Associated Newspapers has said it utterly and unambiguously denies the unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence, which it described at the time as preposterous smears and an orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.

The Mail championed bringing Baroness Lawrences son Stephen's killers to justice. In its statement last October, the publisher said it had the greatest respect and admiration for Baroness Lawrence and was saddened she had been persuaded to join the action by whoever is cynically and unscrupulously orchestrating these claims.

Sadie Frost was also at the Royal Courts of Justice for the start of the four-day pre-trial hearing

The newspapers lawyers are making three applications in the pre-trial hearing.

One is to urge the judge to strike out the case on the basis that all the claims relate to events said to have taken place up to 30 years ago. Under the law, privacy claims must be brought within six years.

The second application relates to documents - accounting ledgers - which were confidentially supplied by the Mail to the Leveson Inquiry 12 years ago. Those documents are now being used in this case - in breach of a restriction order and confidentiality undertakings given to the Inquiry, the newspaper group says.

The third application  which the judge has granted, saying it was justified  gives anonymity to journalists named in the claims until the court decides whether the case should go ahead.

Mr Justice Nicklin said the restrictions would be limited in time and stressed: We are only dealing with the early stages of this claim. He said his order was justified and meant the public is best served and individuals rights protected. He said it would prevent one side of the allegations being put with the other side absent.

The newspaper said its application was not an attempt to restrict open justice, but to prevent the reputations of distinguished journalists being destroyed in the event the case did not go to full trial. If the case went to trial, the journalists would be named but at that stage they would have a chance to defend themselves.
Bestselling author Anthony Horowitz has lashed out at book firms 'tampering' with the work of dead writers, and accused Roald Dahl's publishers of having 'shot themselves in the foot' after censoring his works.

Horowitz, who penned the Alex Rider series aimed at under-15s, said he was against publishers making changes amid an ongoing row over reader sensitivity blighting the literary industry.

In recent months, publishers have edited out words deemed offensive in books by late authors Dahl, Agatha Christie and James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

The practice has been slammed by a number of top writers, with Sir Philip Pullman demanding publishers let books 'go out of print' rather than edit them. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak even waded into the debate, criticising the changes.

Horowitz, who previously said he was 'very scared' of 'cancel culture' after being forced to rewrite swathes of one of his latest books, said it was better for children to read 'offensive' books than none at all.

Anthony Horowitz has slammed publishers for censoring the works of dead authors in an ongoing row over reader sensitivities

Roald Dahl's beloved children's classic The Twits has been censored by publisher Puffin, with phrases such as 'ugly and beastly' changed to just 'beastly'. Other alterations in Dahl's work include removing 'fat' from a description of characters in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Crime author Agatha Christie has also been targeted, with several passages in her Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries reportedly being reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books by publisher HarperCollins

Appearing at the Oxford Literary Festival, the 67-year-old author slammed alterations to Dahl's books by publisher Puffin, which have seen the removal of 'fat' and 'ugly' to describe characters - with 'ugly and beastly' in Mrs Twit changed to just 'beastly'.

'They really shot themselves in the foot with their attempts to bowdlerise it,' he told festival-goers, reported The Times.

'I'm basically opposed to tampering with the work of dead writers. They can't defend themselves.

'It seems to me that you should take the work, judge it and be aware of why we no longer share these opinions or this view of the world rather than censor, cut and take out stuff.'

The author added that 25 per cent of schools in Britain did not have a library and that because of this, it was vital youngsters read something - even if, as with certain Dahl books - some phrases might be deemed offensive.

The comments come after it was revealed over the weekend that several of the passages in Agatha Christie's Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries had reportedly been reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books.

Publisher HarperCollins eliminated text containing 'insults or references to ethnicity', as well as descriptions of certain characters' physiques, The Telegraph reported.

New editions of Mrs Christie's novels, reviewed by the newspaper, showed that editors had made 'scores of changes' to her books.

Agatha Christie's novels are the latest works to be rewritten to eliminate words or phrases deemed insensitive or inappropriate, it has emerged. Mrs Christie is pictured in 1950

Several of the passages in the author's Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries have reportedly been reworked or stripped altogether from new editions of the books. Pictured: David Suchet as Hercule Poirot and Toby Jones as Samuel Ratchett in Murder On The Orient Express

The novels, written between 1920 and 1976, were stripped of sections of 'unsympathetic' dialogue, apparent insults and character descriptions.

For example, the word 'Oriental' has been removed from her 1937 mystery Death On The Nile, which follows sleuth Hercule Poirot as he investigates a murder on a luxury cruise.

The publisher changed dialogue of the character Mrs Allerton, who was complaining about pestering children.

The original text said: 'They come back and stare, and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and I dont believe I really like children.'

The rewritten version reportedly reads: 'They come back and stare, and stare. And I dont believe I really like children.'

References to Egypt's Nubian people have also been removed, meaning phrasing like 'the Nubian boatman' now simply reads 'the boatman'.

In one Miss Marple novel, text has been changed from 'his Indian temper' to just 'his temper' when describing an Indian judge who undergoes a fit of rage. Pictured: Joan Hickson as Miss Marple in the TV series of the book series

References to Egypt's Nubian people have also been cut from Death On The Nile, meaning a phrase such as 'the Nubian boatman' now simply reads 'the boatman'. Pictured: A scene from the 2020 film adaptation of Death On The Nile

Mr Horowitz has previously said that a 'culture of fear' was limiting literary expression and admitted he had been left 'shocked' when he was told what he could not write in one of his latest children's books.

He admitted to being concerned about writing characters from different backgrounds to his, and about the potential backlash that may come from it.

Speaking at the Hay Festival, he said: 'I'm very, very scared by what you're calling cancel culture.

'I think what is happening to writers is extremely dangerous, where certain words are hidden, where certain thoughts are not allowed any more, where certain activities [are not allowed], obviously to do with gender or to with ethnicity or to do with trying to share the experiences of others.'

He told the crowd at Hay that he had 'suffered' while writing his latest children's book called Where Seagulls Dare: A Diamond Brothers Case, which is due to be released next month.

The book, about 'the world's worst detectives' is aimed at eight to 12-year-olds. Speaking last year, he said an extensive rewrite had been required, but declined to say what the changes were.

Mr Horowitz said he had 'suffered' while writing his latest children's book called Where Seagulls Dare: A Diamond Brothers Case

'I have just suffered from my last book notes from my publisher which absolutely shocked me about things which I could or couldn't say, which is a children's book, not an adult book,' he said.

'Children's book publishers are more scared than anybody. And it seems to me that the forces that are now active in the world  everything to do with the divisiveness of what we've been through, plus the sort of stark contrast thrown up by social media whereby something is either very good or very bad but there's nothing in between  this is leading to a culture of fear and that is the bigger problem.

'It's not about cancellation, it's not about anger, it is about the fear that all creative people must now feel if they're going to dare to write.

'I believe that writers should not be cowed, we should not be made to do things because we're so scared of starting a storm on Twitter.

'Because once you start with the writers entering that tunnel, the whole of society will follow them in and we're all going to be left nudging each other in the dark, too afraid to search for the light. That is sort of where we're heading.'
A migrant rescue ship funded by Banksy has been impounded in Italy after responding to distress calls in the Mediterranean, supposedly in breach of laws introduced by Rome's right wing government to clampdown on crossings.

The MV Louise Michel was seized on the island of Lampedusa on Sunday after Italy's coast guard said the boat had disobeyed its instructions to head to Sicily.

The coast guard said it had ordered the Louise Michel ship to dock in Trapani after it performed an initial rescue operation in Libya's Search And Rescue area, as it was required to do under a new Italian law decried by rights groups.

The ship, which has been funded by the British street artist since 2019, instead went on to assist migrants on three other boats in Malta's Search And Rescue area.

The coast guard added that it was already on its way to assist the three other boats at the time, one of which the crew of the Louise Michel said had capsized. The crew said the coast guard had ignored 'repeated' requests for assistance.

It ordered the Louise Michel to dock in accordance with the new law passed in Italy establishing a code of conduct for migrant charity ships, the coast guard said.

The MV Louise Michel (pictured) - a rescue ship funded by Banksy - was seized in Lampedusa on Sunday after Italy's coast guard said the boat had disobeyed its instructions to head to Sicily after carrying out a migrant rescue operation

The 30-metre long, pink and white Louise Michel, named after a French feminist anarchist, eventually docked in Lampedusa late on Saturday with 178 migrants on board, where it was impounded.

The coast guard said it wanted to prevent the ship from taking too many people on board, thereby putting their safety at risk.

Local authorities on Lampedusa said their reception facilities are now full.

The coast guard said that in the last 48 hours it had coordinated rescue operations for 58 boats, helping a total of more than 3,300 people.

The NGO Louise Michel said on its Twitter account that it was told that its ship was being seized due to a violation of the new Italian legislation and that it was ready to fight against the decision.

'We know of dozens of boats in distress right in front of the island at this very moment, yet we are being prevented from assisting. This is unacceptable!' it said.

'European authorities are fully aware of people in distress in their SAR zone. Still, they block #LouiseMichel from leaving port and rendering assistance. Several lives were lost in 2 shipwrecks yesterday.

'These deaths are not an accident nor a tragedy. They are wanted,' it added.

Earlier, it said that one of the three boats had capsized, leaving 34 people in the war.

'One of the boats capsized, the crew said on Twitter. 'And 34 people were recovered from the water at night. A mother and her unconscious baby had to be evacuated, along with another person in a life-threatening condition.

'An Italian coastguard vessel was also present, but ignored repeated calls for assistance for about 37 minutes before finally supporting, while people were in the water just in front of them,' the tweet said.

'Even after responding to multiple mayday relays from an aircraft about boats in distress, the Italian MRCC [Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre] repeatedly pressured the crew not to react accordingly, but to sail north without engaging in another rescue.'

In recent months, the hard-line Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made it harder for humanitarian vessels to operate, often assigning ships to ports farther north after a single rescue.

Italy's coast guard said it had ordered the MV Louise Michel (pictured) to dock in Trapani in Sicily after it performed an initial rescue operation in Libya's Search And Rescue area, as it was required to do under a new Italian law decried by rights groups. The ship, which has been funded by the British street artists since 2019, instead went on to assist migrants on three other boats in Malta's Search And Rescue area

In recent months, the hard-line Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (pictured in Brussels on Friday) has made it harder for humanitarian vessels to operate, often assigning ships to ports farther north after a single rescue

That means the vessels need more time to return to the sea after bringing migrants aboard and taking them safely to shore.

The law - passed by Italy's parliament last month - requires rescue vessels to request access to a port and sail to it 'without delay' after a sea rescue.

Humanitarian organisations have lamented that the crackdown also includes an order to the charity boats not to remain at sea after the first rescue operation in hopes of performing other rescues, but to head immediately to their assigned port. Violators face stiff fines and confiscation of rescue vessels.

Such groups say this limits their ability to save lives.

Meloni's allies say the presence of so many rescue ships in the Mediterranean encourages migrants to risk their lives on smuggler boats.

In the latest of a string of fatal incidents in recent days, at least 29 migrants died when their two boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday.

So far this year, some 20,000 migrants have arrived in Italy, far exceeding the 6,000 who came in the same period in each of the preceding years, according to Interior Ministry figures.

Over the weekend alone, an estimated 3,300 migrants - many departing on small boats from Libya or Tunisia's coastal city of Sfax - were rescued in the Mediterranean and were heading toward Italian ports to disembark, the Italian coast guard said.

The hard-line law was heavily criticised soon after it was passed last month when a wooden migrant boat capsized off the coast of Calabria.

So far, the bodies of at least 90 people have been recovered - including dozens of children. The victims were from Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also over the weekend, Libya's coast guard fired warning shots over a humanitarian vessel as it attempted to rescue a boat carrying migrants off Libya's coast, the sea rescue group said.

The coast guard went on to return some 80 Europe-bound migrants to Libyan soil.

The incident Saturday in international waters was the latest reckless sea interception of migrants by the Libyan coast guard, which is trained and financed by the European Union to stem the influx of migrants to Europe, said the SOS Mediterranee group, whose vessel was warned off by the coast guard.

A spokesman for the coast guard didn't respond to a request for comment. The Italian coast guard said it had received a report about the incident, but complained that SOS Mediterranee didn't follow correct procedures in reporting it.

The Ocean Viking, a rescue ship chartered and run by the non-profit SOS Mediterranee, was responding to a distress call to help the rubber boat carrying migrants in the Mediterranean Sea when a Libyan coast guard vessel arrived at the scene, the group said.

The Libyan coast guard vessel 'dangerously' approached the rescue ship, threatening its crew 'with guns and firing gunshots in the air,' the SOS Mediterranee said in a statement.

The coast guard was caught on camera threatening the vessel and firing a weapon into the air. In the footage, the coast guard vessel is seen traveling at a high rate of speed before maneuvering, apparently to prevent the Ocean Viking from reaching the migrant boat. At one point, gun shots are heard.

'You can't shoot at us. You can't shoot at us. We're leaving the waters now,' a person on the Ocean Viking is heard saying.

Under threat, the Ocean Viking sailed away while the Libyan coast guard intercepted the boat and 'forcibly' took the migrants back to war-wrecked Libya, it said.

Seabird 2, a civil surveillance plane owned by the German non-governmental organization Sea-Watch, reported seeing migrants who had fallen overboard from the rubber boat before the coast guard recovered them.

In further footage from the group's civil surveillance plane, the coast guard was seen maneuvering and approaching the rubber boat, before forcing the migrants to disembark on the coast guard vessel.

Gunshots were also heard in the footage, with people on board the surveillance plane saying, 'They are shooting in the water ... They are shooting at the people.'

The hard-line law was heavily criticised soon after it was passed last month when a wooden migrant boat capsized off the coast of Calabria. Pictured: Rescue workers recover a body from the ocean on February 26 after the incident. As many as 90 people were killed

Saturday's incident was the latest report from European NGOs operating in the Mediterranean Sea of threats or violent behavior by the Libyan coast guard, which is trained and financed by the European Union, part of efforts to stem the flow of migrants from the North African country towards Italian shores.

Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better quality of life in Europe.

The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country's lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and other vessels and set off on risky sea voyages.
Police seized 20,000 worth of suspected illegal vapes across Bolton after a local secondary school reported three 'medical incidents'.

Greater Manchester Police took possession of 2800 vapes which may produce a 'highly toxic gas' during a day of action with Trading Standards workers.

The action was in response to medical incidents believed to be linked to the use of illegal vapes  those involved in the cases from the high school made full recoveries.

An engagement officer at the school, which has not been named, reported the medical incidents to police, who are now testing the devices.

Trading Standards recently warned that up to one in three vapes sold on the high street could be illegal.

Greater Manchester Police seized 20,000 worth of suspected illegal vapes across Bolton after a local secondary school reported three 'medical incidents'

NHS Digital, which quizzed nearly 10,000 students aged 11 to 15 on their smoking, drug and drinking habits last year, found that nine per cent currently vape  the highest rate logged since the survey began in 2014

Bolton Commander Chief Superintendent Steph Parker said: 'Health colleagues have already issued a warning in relation to illegal vapes which may produce a highly toxic gas but our conjoined efforts to keep people safe don't stop there and this day of action and these seizures are just one example of ongoing hard work.'

This month laboratory testing showed fake 'THC' or 'cannabis oil' vapes collected in Greater Manchester contained high levels of vitamin E acetate, a chemical which can produce a toxic gas.

The vitamin E acetate is an oily chemical which can be added to the liquid to thicken or dilute it to make it go further.

When inhaled, the vitamin E acetate can cause lung injuries, according NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, Manchester Evening News reported.

Non-compliant or illegal vapes do not meet regulations often because they aren't correctly labelled, may have a higher level of nicotine or could be overfilled vapes.

Current regulations specify vape tanks have to have a capacity of no more than 2ml and a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml.

Some stores sell devices that are more than five times the legal size, giving young users up to 3,500 puffs instead of the legal limit of between 600 and 800

Rogue e-cigarettes have flooded the UK market, with 1.4tonnes seized in the last six months of 2022 in the North East of England alone.

One in 10 secondary school pupils are now vape-users, despite the uncertainty surrounding their long-term impact on health

A report from Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) last year found the proportion of children aged 11 to 17 currently vaping jumped from 4 per cent in 2020 to 7 per cent in 2022.

In 2013, just 3 per cent of children aged 11 to 15 had ever vaped, but this rose to 8 per cent in 2020 and 10 per cent in 2022.

Under UK law it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes and vaping products containing nicotine, or tobacco, to under-18s.

The Association of Chief Trading Standards Officers said that sales of alcohol and tobacco to under-18s fell by 11 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, in 2022 compared to previous year.

But at the same time the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s rose by 450 per cent, said Kate Pike, tobacco control lead at Trading Standards North West.

Inappropriate advertising and promotion of vaping on social media is a key concern in tackling 'how to make vaping less attractive and less accessible to under-18s while ensuring it is more attractive and accessible to smokers looking to quit', she added.

'More needs to be done particularly with TikTok to help prevent vaping look attractive to under-18s.'
Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman were heckled over the Channel boats crackdown during a walkabout in Essex today.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary were berated by a lone protester as they took a brief stroll through the streets of Chelmsford this morning before formally launching an anti-social behaviour drive.

Although the politicians were flanked by police and did not stop to chat to any locals, the quiet was broken by a woman shouting 'go away, we don't want you here' and 'allow migrants into our country'.

The scenes came as Ms Braverman looks to have averted an immediate showdown with Tories pushing to toughen up the Channel legislation.

Rebels have indicated they are unlikely to push amendments today that would completely block Strasbourg from interfering in deportations.

Ringleaders say talks with the Home Secretary have been 'very positive' - although they are waiting to hear from her in the Commons later before confirming they will not force a vote.

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman were heckled over the Channel boats crackdown during a walkabout in Essex today

The quiet was broken by a woman shouting 'go away, we don't want you here' and 'allow migrants into our country'

Mr Sunak is walking a tightrope over his flagship plans to 'Stop the Boats', with both wings of the Conservatives and Cabinet ministers up in arms

Mr Sunak is walking a tightrope over his flagship plans to 'Stop the Boats', with both wings of the Conservatives and Cabinet ministers up in arms. Under the blueprint all Channel arrivals would be subject to immediate deportation without being able to claim asylum.

Government legal advisers are believed to be resisting moves to ignore injunctions by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Attorney General Victoria Prentis is said to have raised concerns about the measures on the grounds they would breach international law.

And top lawyer Sir James Eadie KC, who advises the Government on legal matters, has also apparently expressed reservations.

Meanwhile, there are even claims that Ms Braverman is in league with rebels and has been encouraging them to press for a harder stance on deportations.

Allies of Mr Sunak have feared for some time that she is setting herself up to resign over the UK's ties to the ECHR - which Downing Street insists is not up for grabs.

Up to 60 Tory backbenchers have been threatening to amend the Bill unless Mr Sunak agrees to toughen it up.

Backbencher Danny Kruger, who has put down a key amendment, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'Discussions are going on... we are looking for commitments from the government to take seriously the amendments that we're putting down that would strengthen the Bill.

'We're very supportive of what they are doing, there's no rebellion here, but we do want to make sure that we get those commitments.'

He added: 'The indications we have received are very positive from the government.'

Four amendments to the Bill tabled by backbenchers include legislation allowing ministers to ignore Rule 39 orders  injunctions by Euro judges  and other interventions by the Strasbourg court which prevent migrants being deported to Rwanda or another safe country.

Most of the amendments are due to be considered by MPs tomorrow.

Home Office minister Chris Philp told Sky News: 'As I understand it, she (Ms Braverman) is discussing these various amendments with Members of Parliament. I am sure she is in listening mode as always.

'But this Bill is a well-designed, well-constructed Bill designed to stop the boats which the public expect the Government to do.'

He also played down the prospect of the government accepting amendments from the other wing of the Tories to establish more safe routes.

He told LBC radio: 'This country has a lot of safe and legal routes established already.

'In terms of creating more, my own view is that we should fix the illegal immigration problem first, stop the boats, as the Prime Minister has committed, and then we can add in these additional and safe and legal routes.'

It is unclear why a key element of the flagship immigration reforms is being opposed from within Government at such a late stage, nearly three weeks after ministers trumpeted the Bill as their solution to the Channel crisis.

Ms Braverman is hoping to begin deportation flights to Rwanda by the summer.
Labour is boasting that Nicola Sturgeon's departure as SNP leader makes it 'easier' for Sir Keir Starmer to enter Downing Street.

The party's Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, claimed none of the three candidates to replace Ms Sturgeon was of the same 'calibre' as the departing First Minister.

This afternoon, either Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes or former community safety minister Ash Regan will be named the new SNP leader.

They will then officially replace Ms Sturgeon as Scotland's First Minister.

Mr Sarwar hailed how Ms Sturgeon's departure after eight years in office would help deliver a Labour government at Westminster headed by Sir Keir.

But he insisted there would be 'no deals with the SNP' in order for the nationalist party to prop up a Labour miniority government in the House of Commons.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar boasted Nicola Sturgeon's departure as SNP leader makes it 'easier' for Sir Keir Starmer to enter Downing Street

Mr Sarwar insisted there would be 'no deals with the SNP' in order for the nationalist party to prop up a Labour miniority government in the House of Commons

The Scottish Labour leader claimed none of the three SNP candidates to replace Ms Sturgeon was of the same 'calibre' as the departing First Minister

Speaking to the Telegraph's 'Chopper's Politics' podcast, Mr Sarwar claimed the SNP was 'in turmoil' amid the party's divisive contest to choose Ms Sturgeon's successor.

But he warned his own party 'can't just wait for the wheels to come off the SNP bus and assume that means people automatically shift to Labour'.

Looking forward to the next general election, Mr Sarwar stressed predictions that 'Red Wall' seats in the north of England would determine the outcome were misplaced.

'A lot of the UK general election debate focuses on the Red Wall... people think the Red Wall is going to decide the next election,' he said.

'When you think Red Wall you have to think Scotland - Scotland is going to decide the next general election, not just the Red Wall in the north of England.'

Mr Sarwar boasted that 'Scotland will lead the way in helping to deliver a UK-wide Labour government'.

He added: 'Nicola Sturgeon leaving actually makes it in some ways easier for us to achieve a UK Labour government.'

The Scottish Labour leader suggested that none of the contenders to replace Ms Sturgeon were 'anywhere near the calibre' of the outgoing First Minister as a politician.

'Even the biggest critic, or indeed the biggest supporter, of Nicola Sturgeon would say these three candidates are not in her league,' he added.

'They're nowhere near as able, they're nowhere near as able, they're nowhere near as good communicators.

'Instead you've got three candidates who seem to be having a race to the bottom in terms of who can criticise and distance themselves from the SNP the most.'

Mr Sarwar also reiterated Sir Keir's stance that there would be no deals with the SNP should Labour need the party's support at Westminster in order to form a UK government.

Either Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes or former community safety minister Ash Regan will be named the new SNP leader

Last summer, Sir Keir was forced to rule out ever doing a deal with the SNP after the Tories revived their warnings of a 'coalition of chaos' governing the UK.

If the next election results in a hung Parliament - with the Conservatives continuing to trail Labour in the polls - the SNP could be left as kingmakers at Westminster.

Sir Keir might then have a choice between trying to govern as a minority Labour administration, or to strike a deal with the SNP - and possibly the Liberal Democrats as well - to prop up a Labour government.

The SNP would likely demand a new Scottish independence referendum as the price of a deal with Labour.

But Mr Sarwar said: 'No ifs, no buts, no deals with the SNP.

'A direct challenge to the new SNP leader is; we're going all out for a Labour majority government, but if we fall short of that and we have the opportunity to form a minority government, the SNP face a clear choice.

'They can either vote in a Labour government, or they can vote in a Tory government.

'And I dare Kate Forbes or Humza Yousaf to vote in a Tory government and we can see how Scotland reacts.'
Tornado-ravaged Mississippi is facing more extreme weather after deadly storms have killed at least 26 and displaced thousands as Biden decleared a state of emergency.

The tornadoes tore through Mississippi and the neighboring Alabama on Friday night and left a trail of havoc more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) long across the state. At least 25 people have died in Mississippi, with another person confirmed dead in Alabama.

Among the victims were a three-year-old and her dad who died after a tornado hit their home in Wren, Mississippi. In Rolling Fork, one of Mississippi's worst-hit towns which has been reduced to piles of rubble, a couple died in each other's arms when the tornado dropped their neighbor's 18-wheeler on their house in the middle of the night.

After President Joe Biden freed up disaster aid, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned residents of Mississippi and Alabama of potential new 'supercell thunderstorms' into Monday that could 'produce a few strong tornadoes and very large hail.'

On Sunday, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves warned that the risks seem to be 'getting worse and worse, not better', according to Sky News. He added that there were 'significant risks' to those living south of Interstate 55, which is the south's longest highway.

Mississippi governor Tate Reeves warned on Sunday that the risks seem to be 'getting worse and worse, not better' as the National Weather Service warned of more extreme weather in Mississippi and in neigboring Alabama (pictured: severe weather expected in Alabama)

Search and rescue team members continue to look for tornado victims on March 26, 2023 in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows destroyed businesses and homes near Blues Highway in Rolling Fork

The 'potential severe weather' is being monitored closely by officials, he added.

Search-and-rescue workers surveyed the damage of shredded homes, flattened buildings and smashed cars in Rolling Fork, a small town all but wiped out by nature's wrath.

The NWS gave Friday's tornado a rating of four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with ferocious winds of up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour, and classified it as 'violent'.

Dozens of people have also been injured, and officials say the death toll could rise.

Under warm spring sunshine and cloudless blue skies, stunned residents walked among obliterated homes, sifting through debris and comforting one another as crews fought fires, conducted searches and cleared emergency routes.

Before-and-after satellite images released late Sunday showed utter ruin across parts of Rolling Fork, with homes destroyed and trees ripped out of the earth.

The American Red Cross moved into a National Guard building in Rolling Fork hours after the storm razed much of the town, home to around 2,000 people.

An area was set up as an infirmary and boxes full of food and medical supplies were shuttled in to support storm victims who had lost everything, said John Brown, a Red Cross official for Alabama and Mississippi.

Anna Krisuta, 43, and her 16-year-old son Alvaro Llecha took shelter at the site, saying their house was in pieces.

The severe weather also left a man dead in Alabama when he was trapped under an overturned trailer, the sheriff's office in Morgan County said.

Officials including US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas gathered in Rolling Fork Sunday afternoon, praising rescue efforts and pledging support 'for the long haul.'

'It is heartbreaking to hear of the loss of life, to see the devastation firsthand,' Mayorkas told a press conference held with Governor Tate Reeves and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) head Deanne Criswell.

Debris is strewn about tornado damaged homes, Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi

The tornadoes tore through Mississippi and neighbouring state Alabama on Friday night and left a trail of havoc more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) long across the state

The National Weather Service gave the tornado a preliminary rating of a four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale

This combination of satellite images shows Walnut street in Rolling Fork, Mississippi before and after a powerful tornado leveled much of the southern US town on March 24, 2023

People collect essentials at a relief center in Silver City, Mississippi in the aftermath of a deadly tornado

James Brown, standing, surveys the damage at the home of his sister Melissa Pierce and her husband, L.A. Pierce, on 7th Street in Rolling Fork, where an 18-wheeler (pictured in the background) crushed their house. Their son Dave Brown is pictured sitting on the ground

He warned that the country is seeing 'extreme weather events increasing... in gravity, severity and frequency and we have to build our communities to be best prepared for them.'

Earlier Sunday, Criswell said on ABC that the tornado zone was 'still very much in life-saving, life-sustaining mode.'

She praised first responders, saying some 'may have lost their homes themselves,' and that FEMA had sent teams, with more on their way, to 'help plan for and start the recovery process.'

Biden's emergency order to support recovery efforts will provide grants for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, the White House said on Sunday.

Reeves thanked Biden on Twitter 'for recognizing the scale of the damage in Mississippi and quickly approving our disaster declaration - a critical step in disaster response.'

Electricity repairs were underway Sunday to restore service, but by evening the number of customers without power rose to 61,000 total in thunderstorm-hit Mississippi and Alabama, monitor poweroutage.us reported.

A resident embraces an emergency responder near a fire at a home in Rolling Fork, in the southern US state of Mississippi, after a deadly tornado hammered the area

Large hail just north of Lauderdale, MS along HWY 45. This is just east of NAS Meridian .@NWSMobile @NWSJacksonMS #mssx pic.twitter.com/zZdd8SJMep  Nicholas Herboso (@KNBHwx) March 26, 2023

A view of the destruction in Rolling Fork after deadly tornadoes and severe storms tore through the US state of Mississippi, United States on March 26

Volunteers poured in from surrounding towns, including Lauren Hoda, who traveled 70 miles from Vicksburg to help.

'When I woke up this morning, I wanted to cry for the people of this town because I don't think they had much time before (the tornado) came,' she said.

She spent Saturday night in Rolling Fork bringing donations of water, food, canned goods, diapers, wipes, medicine and toothpaste from collection points.

'Everything I can see is in some state of destruction,' said Jarrod Kunze, who drove to the hard-hit Mississippi town of Rolling Fork from his home in Alabama, ready to help 'in whatever capacity I'm needed.'

Kunze was among volunteers working Sunday at a staging area, where bottled water and other supplies were being readied for distribution.

The storm hit so quickly that the sheriff's department in Rolling Fork barely had time to set off sirens to warn the community of 2,000 residents, said Mayor Eldridge Walker.

The storm hit so quickly that the sheriff's department in Rolling Fork barely had time to set off sirens to warn the community of 2,000 residents, said Mayor Eldridge Walker

The mayor of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, said his town was devastated

A man man walks past the shattered windshield of a car as he clears a damaged house in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, after a tornado touched down in the area

'And by the time they initiated the siren, the storm had hit and it tore down the siren that's located right over here,' Walker said, referring to an area just blocks from downtown.

The mayor said his town was devastated.

'Sharkey County, Mississippi, is one of the poorest counties in the state of Mississippi, but we're still resilient,' he said. 'We've got a long way to go, and we certainly thank everybody for their prayers and for anything they will do or can do for this community.'

In twister-hit Silver City, residents were seen salvaging what they could from their destroyed homes.

Tornadoes, a weather phenomenon notoriously difficult to predict, are relatively common in the United States, especially in the central and southern parts of the country.
An asylum seeker says he regrets coming to the UK, describing it as 'one of the worst decisions' of his life.

Chris - not his real name - sought asylum at an airport, telling officials he is gay and was escaping family violence as a result of his sexuality.

He was transferred to Newquay, Cornwall in November and is staying in a hotel while waiting for his claim to be processed.

Chris complained about experiencing hostility from local people, with protesters outside the hotel 'telling us to go back' and asking 'why didn't we go to France'.

'I came looking, hoping to have a better life in terms of being who I am, being comfortable, not having to worry about anyone looking at me, not being threatened by my family,' he told the BBC.

'But being here in the United Kingdom is like I'm living the same nightmare.'

Anti-migrant protesters gather on the seafront in Newquay on Sunday

Chris said he chose to move to Britain 'to be me' because same-sex relationships are illegal in his home country, which was not named to avoid identifying him.

'My step-dad wanted to kill me because of my sexuality,' he said.

The Newquay hotel where Chris is staying was the scene of a protest last month, with some campaigners opposing the decision to house asylum seekers there and others supporting them.

He compared the hotel to a 'prison' and said he and other asylum seekers had been targeted with verbal abuse.

'There were kids shouting F-words, they had flags telling us to go back, why we didn't go to France, showing us the middle finger. It feels humiliating,' he said.

Another protest took place at a hotel in Newquay over the weekend.

Chris claimed he and fellow residents had been suffering from boredom and poor mental health.

'I feel like I'm in a box and I'm just being pressed on - and I'm fighting to come out, but there is no alternative,' he said.

'I feel like it is one of the worst decisions I've made. I should have just stayed there... instead of coming here and having to go through all this torture.'

Ch Supt Ben Deer, from Devon and Cornwall Police, warned that a fake allegation that a man inside the hotel had been charged with rape has been fuelling tension.

Pro-migrant demonstrators gather in Newquay counter the anti-asylum seeker protest

Currently 395 hotels in the UK are understood to be being used to accommodate more than 51,000 people at a reported cost of 6.8million a day - but the number is constantly increasing as the Government battles to start moving some asylum seekers to Rwanda while their applications to stay in the UK are processed.

The use of hotels continues to create controversy with residents of cities, towns and villages upset about local beds being turned over to refugees instead of paying guests.

Home Office figures have revealed how its contractors including Serco have taken over 363 hotels in England, 20 in Northern Ireland, ten in Scotland and two in Wales.

Many have been taken over at short notice, leading to the cancellation of weddings, parties and functions, as well as future bookings for paying guests.

Contractors involved in taking over and running hotels, providing meals and security for asylum seekers, have seen their profits surge.

Figures disclosed this week that the Home Office paid 20.6m to a Leeds-based firm called Calder Conferences to book hotels in 2021 which increased to 97m in 2022.

Its director Debbie Hoban has seen her annual remuneration increase from 230,000 to 2.2m - and now lives a luxury lifestyle from her 3m farmhouse home.

A demonstration against asylum seekers being housed at the Novotel in Ipswich, Suffolk, was attended by around a dozen people last Saturday after inflammatory adverts for it on social media.

The demonstration was dwarfed by a counter-protest involving more than 100 people showing their support for asylum seekers, chanting slogans such as: 'Say it loud. Say it clear. Refugees are welcome here.'

The two groups faced each other across the road outside the hotel as asylum seekers peered out through windows in their rooms.

Scuffles broke out yesterday at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Newquay

Ipswich's parliamentary Labour candidate Jack Abbott who joined the protest tweeted: 'Today the far right came to Ipswich. They sought to sow division and spread their hate.

'Instead, people in the town united, stood up to their bigotry and said: 'this is not who we are. Ipswich is a welcoming, diverse and inclusive town and hope will always defeat hatred.'

But Ipswich Conservative MP Tom Hunt accused counter-protesters of 'virtue signalling' and refusing to acknowledge whether there should be any 'cap' on migrants entering the country.

He said in a Facebook post: 'I'm strongly of the view that the majority of my constituents strongly oppose the Novotel for accommodating those who have illegally entered our country from France.

'I also believe strongly that the vast majority strongly believe in robust measures to tackle illegal immigration.'

The Home Office said: 'The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable - we remain committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer and the local communities.

'We continue to engage with local authorities as early as possible whenever sites are used for asylum accommodation and work to ensure arrangements are safe for hotel residents and local people.'
A former SAS soldier charged with a war crime while serving in Afghanistan has sought bail claiming his safety could be at risk from Islamic terrorists while behind bars.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police last Monday and has spent a week behind bars.

He has been charged with the unlawful killing of an Afghan man in a wheat field while deployed as a member of the Australian Defence Force.

The man sought bail on Monday in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, where his barrister Phillip Boulten SC argued he faced serious risks to his personal safety and had to be segregated from other inmates.

'Wherever this man is going to be held in prison, he is likely to have to mix with people in prison who sympathise with the Taliban or with other Islamic extremist groups,' Mr Boulten said.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested by the Australian Federal Police last Monday and has spent a week behind bars

'This is a case of an ex-army officer being in prison charged with this crime. He is extremely vulnerable where he is at the moment.'

The alleged incident was aired on an ABC Four Corners episode in March 2020. After the broadcast, then-defence minister Linda Reynolds referred the matter to the AFP.

The soldier was suspended from duty and later terminated from the ADF on medical grounds. As part of the AFP investigation, officers searched his home in May 2022.

This is the first time a serving or former Australian defence force member has faced a war crime charge of murder under domestic law.

Mr Boulten urged the court to suppress the ex-soldier's name and where he lived, saying this information could pose a danger if publicly revealed, particularly as the Taliban was now the lawful government of Afghanistan.

'There is a state actor who has an interest in what he did in their country and (there) are literally hundreds if not thousands of people in custody who would be set against him for what he did.'

Defence personnel need comprehensive protection of their identities both while they served and afterwards, Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson heard.

The man, who appeared by video link wearing prison greens, posed no risk to the community, having lived a lawful life in Australia, and could be released on bail before trial, the barrister argued.

He said the ex-soldier remained in the country without fleeing despite knowing he was under investigation for years and up to $1 million in surety could be offered to ensure he turned up to court.

The man would also have difficulty consulting with lawyers from behind bars, given security measures put in place concerning material relevant to the case which, if divulged, could cause national security issues, the court was told.

Footage showed Australian SAS troops allegedly shooting an unarmed Afghan man in a field

Crown prosecutor Sean Flood opposed bail, saying there was no evidence the man would be in danger in jail.

'Corrective Services are putting in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure (his) safety,' Mr Flood said.

The possibility of the man fleeing the country also remained because there was a difference between an investigation where charges were merely possible to being arrested for this type of crime, the prosecutor argued.

'There's clearly a strong motivation to flee once a person is charged with such a serious offence involving a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.'

Ms Atkinson is due to deliver her bail decision on Tuesday.
Children aged as young as eight have been subject to strip-searches by police including outside fast food shops and theme parks without an appropriate adult present, a shocking new report has revealed.

Nearly 3,000 strip-searches of children aged between eight and 17 took place across England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, according to the Children's Commissioner report released today.

The searches occurred in police vehicles and schools, with a small number even taking place in takeaways and amusement parks. Data showed that more than half the searches were conducted without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present.

Black children are six times more likely to be strip-searched by police when compared with national population figures, an investigation has found.

Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza said the findings demonstrated 'evidence of deeply concerning practice' with 'widespread non-compliance' with statutory safeguards.

Dame Rachel, who ordered the study after the 'Child Q' scandal came to light last March, added that children are 'being failed by those whose job it is to protect them'.

Nearly 3,000 strip-searches of children aged between eight and 17 took place across England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, shocking new figures reveal

The above graphic shows the number of strip searches of children under stop and search powers reported by police forces in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022

The latest data, published today and showing figures for forces across England and Wales, revealed a total of 2,847 child strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022.

One per cent of strip-searches were conducted 'within public view', the report said, although the location was not recorded in 45 per cent of cases.

A total of 52 per cent of strip-searches were conducted without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present.

The presence of an appropriate adult is required by law, except in cases of 'urgency', and is usually a parent or guardian but can also be a social worker, carer or volunteer.

The commissioner said she has 'serious concerns about the poor quality of record-keeping, which makes transparency and scrutiny very difficult, and means that the numbers in this report may only be a minimum'.

'You are not meant to strip search in the back of vans, in the back of police vans, in schools - it's really not acceptable, and without appropriate adults,' Dame Rachel told Good Morning Britain this morning.

'It is the most intimate search and there is a visual. So it's all clothes off, a visual look at private parts and even touching and moving them.

'I've got examples of children who are telling me that they were strip-searched four times and their parents weren't even told.'

She added: 'At the very least you'd want that you'd want the police to be telling parents and making sure there was a parent there, but no it's not been happening.'

Among her recommendations Dame Rachel is calling for 'urgency' to be removed as an exception and said constant supervision should be recommended.

Six per cent of strip-searches were conducted with at least one officer of a different gender than the child being searched present, the report added.

Dame Rachel said while she accepted that strip-searching children can be necessary in limited situations, it is an 'intrusive and potentially traumatic power' which must be subject to 'robust safeguards'.

She said: 'The additional complexity of conducting these searches during a stop and search should mean that there is a higher degree of scrutiny than if conducted in custody, not less.'

Children's Commissioner Rachel de Scouza, appearing on Good Morning Britain today, said it is the 'most intimate search' and that the the findings of her report demonstrated 'evidence of deeply concerning practice' with 'widespread non-compliance' with statutory safeguards

The searches occurred in police vehicles and schools, with a small number even taking place in takeaways and amusement parks, the report revealed (stock photo of pupils)

James Watkins, who was strip-searched in the back of a police van at age 17 without an adult present, said he felt 'violated' and 'humiliated' because there was 'nothing I could do about it.'

The youth violence prevention campaigner recalled how he was in the back of a van with six or seven officers who pulled down his trousers and were 'looking in places that made me feel very uncomfortable.'

Mr Watkins told Good Morning Britain today: 'The only thing they didn't take off was my boxers, but everything else came off.'

He shared that the officers didn't explain what they were looking for, only that he 'fit the description' of someone they were searching for in the area.

'I was very angry for years,' he said. 'This was the experience of a lot of friends. It was normal - that felt like normality to me that it is us against them.

He added: 'It was definitely illegal.'

There were protests last March (pictured) after it emerged a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school

The Children's Commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, (pictured today) ordered the study after the 'Child Q' scandal came to light last March

James Watkins, who was strip-searched in the back of a police van at age 17 without an adult present, said he felt 'violated' and 'humiliated' because there was 'nothing I could do about it'

Dame Rachel ordered the study after the 'Child Q' scandal came to light last March.

In that case a 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school.

Scotland Yard apologised and said the strip-search at the girl's school in 2020 without another adult present 'should never have happened'.

After those revelations Dame Rachel requested figures for strip-searches by the Metropolitan Police force which showed in August that more than 600 children underwent 'intrusive and traumatising' searches over a two-year period.

The latest findings across England and Wales revealed that the vast majority - 95 per cent - of children strip-searched were boys, while 5 per cent of such searches were carried out on girls.

The report showed showed that black children are up to six times more likely to be strip searched when compared to national population figures.

Strip Searches of Children in 2018 to Mid-2022, by Police Force Here is a list of the number of strip searches of children under stop and search powers reported by police forces in England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022. The figures have been published by the office of the Children's Commissioner for England (CCo). A total of 2,847 strip searches were reported, but as not all forces responded to the CCo request and due to the poor quality of data, this number should be considered as a minimum. No data was reported for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dyfed-Powys, Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire. The list reads as follows: name of police force; number of searches; percentage share of total searches. To prevent disclosure, some counts have been rounded to the nearest 10. Avon & Somerset 74; 3% British Transport Police 45; 2% Cheshire 10; under 1% City of London under 10; under 1% Cleveland under 10; under 1% Cumbria under 10; under 1% Derbyshire 19; under 1% Devon & Cornwall 33; 1% Dorset 67; 2% Durham 0; 0% Essex 139; 5% Greater Manchester 20; under 1% Gwent 14; under 1% Hampshire & Isle of Wight 133; 5% Hertfordshire 202; 7% Humberside 20; under 1% Kent 133; 5% Lancashire 56; 2% Leicestershire 23; under 1% Lincolnshire 17; under 1% Merseyside 150; 5% Metropolitan Police 891; 31% Norfolk 14; under 1% North Wales 12; under 1% North Yorkshire 37; 1% Northamptonshire 54; 2% Northumbria under 10; under 1% South Wales 108; 4% South Yorkshire 16; under 1% Staffordshire 14; under 1% Suffolk 48; 2% Surrey 80; 3% Sussex 50; 2% Thames Valley 181; 6% Warwickshire 13; under 1% West Mercia under 10; under 1% West Midlands 68; 2% West Yorkshire 43; 2% Wiltshire 28; under 1% Advertisement

It stated that for the period 2018 to mid-2022 across England and Wales, 42 per cent of children searched were white, 38 per cent were black and 14 per cent were Asian.

Five per cent were of unknown ethnicity or did not have their ethnicity recorded during the search.

Compared to national population figures, white children were disproportionately less likely to be searched - around half as likely.

The report described this as a 'pronounced and deeply concerning ethnic disproportionality' and Dame Rachel branded it 'utterly unacceptable'.

When it comes to reasons for searches, the report revealed that 86 per cent were conducted on suspicion of someone carrying drugs, 9 per cent on suspicion of having weapons, points and blades and 2 per cent related to stolen property.

In almost a quarter of cases where children have been strip-searched by police, nothing was found, the research said.

The report said it was 'of particular interest' that while nothing was found in 23 per cent of all strip searches, for 1 percent of these cases the child was arrested.

Among its recommendations, the report said the National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) should publish an action plan on reforming stop and search practices, including strip searches, of children.

It also called on the organisation to update its child-first approach to policing and publish a comprehensive strategy for ensuring that every police force takes a safeguarding first approach to policing children.

Dame Rachel said attention on the issue had not come about due to a police whistleblower or a damning inspection report, but 'the bravery of a girl to speak up about a traumatic thing that happened to her', referring to the case of Child Q.

The commissioner warned that officers are too often 'forgetting that children are children' as she called for a strengthening of the guidelines around strip-searches, more oversight and inspection to ensure compliance, and reform of a culture 'that has allowed this to go unchallenged'.

Among her 17 recommendations, Dame Rachel called on the the Home Office to carry out a comprehensive review of the legislative and policy framework for child strip-searches and make specific changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence (Pace) Codes.

Among these, and regarding the requirement for an appropriate adult to be present for strip-searches of children in custody and under stop and search powers, she said it must only be 'the most exceptional situations where there is serious risk to the child's life or welfare' where this is not the case.

She said schools should be excluded as an appropriate location for a strip-search and that they should only be conducted at a nearby police station, medical premises or home address.

Dame Rachel said the Home Office should require forces to report annually on the strip-searching of children, including recording ethnicity, whether an appropriate adult was present, the specific location and whether a safeguarding referral was made.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Strip-search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police. No-one should be subject to strip-search on the basis of race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to prevent this.

'Any child subject to a strip search should be accompanied by an appropriate adult unless there is an urgent risk of serious harm, or where the child specifically requests otherwise and the appropriate adult agrees. Such searches must be carried out by an officer of the same sex as the child.

'We take the concerns raised about children's safeguarding extremely seriously. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently investigating several high-profile incidents of strip-search of children and it is vital that we await their findings.'

Dame Rachel also said the National Police Chiefs' Council should also publish an action plan on reforming stop and search practices, including strip-searches of children.

She said: 'I find it completely unacceptable that police forces in England and Wales are largely unable to account for the necessity, circumstance and safeguarding outcome of every strip-search of a child that they conduct.

The latest findings across England and Wales will heap pressure on police - and Scotland Yard in particular following Louise Casey's investigation that concluded the force is 'institutionally racist' (stock photograph)

'I will not accept that the power to strip-search is being used responsibly until that is the case.'

The Children's Commissioner's office said it 'eagerly anticipates' recommendations to be made by the Independent Office for Police Conduct which is investigating the Child Q case.

Meanwhile, NPCC lead for the ethics and integrity portfolio, Chief Constable Craig Guildford, said they will 'carefully consider the findings' of Dame Rachel's report.

He said: 'We welcome outside scrutiny and the report from the Children's Commissioner. We recognise the important role that police have in ensuring the safety of young and vulnerable people and take all concerns raised incredibly seriously.

'It is vital that any police interaction is handled sensitively, and that when an officer considers it necessary to search a child that it is carried out in line with legislation, policy, and procedure.

'In rare circumstances when a more thorough search where intimate parts are exposed is necessary, additional safeguards are in place.

'On all but exceptional occasions, such as an immediate risk of harm to the young person, this must involve the presence of an appropriate adult.

'We are working closely with the College of Policing, IOPC, and other partners in order to inform best practice and to implement positive change wherever it is required.'

The latest findings across England and Wales will heap pressure on police - and Scotland Yard in particular following Louise Casey's investigation that concluded the force is 'institutionally racist'.

Charities are criticising the findings of Dame Rachel's report as 'shameful' and called for officer training to be reviewed in order to ensure young people are kept safe.

Sarah Wayman, head of systematic impact at the Children's Society, said today: 'These figures expose, yet again, how black children are disproportionately represented and subjected to this traumatising and intrusive practice.

'Police leaders and the Government need to urgently investigate why so many children are still being strip searched despite clear national guidance which states that this should happen only when absolutely necessary, and with an appropriate adult present - we already know of examples where safeguards for children are not being followed.

'Officers should always have in mind how this process can be harmful and distressing to young people.

'It's vital that guidance and training for officers is reviewed to ensure that when police officers come into contact with children, their first priority is about identifying the risks of exploitation and working with other services to offer protection and help.'

The Runnymede Trust said children 'are being failed by the state institutions there to protect them'.

The race equality think tank noted the timing of the report, coming not long after a damning review of the Metropolitan Police concluded the force is institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic.

In a statement, the trust said: 'Less than a week after Baroness Casey's scathing report into the Metropolitan Police which unequivocally, once again, concluded that the Met is institutionally racist, the findings of this report are even harder to absorb.

'Black children are six times more likely to be strip searched, and over half of strip searches result in no further action. The numbers in the report refer to children being forced to expose their bodies in inappropriate spaces, often without an appropriate adult present, under the protection of a body which we know has lost the trust of the nation.

'It highlights that officers are often unable to justify the necessity of strip-searching, nor can they report on the safeguarding impact on the child concerned. Quite the contrary. It also confirms that our policing crisis is not just confined to London, it is national.

'Minoritised people have repeatedly borne the brunt of grave misuses of police powers for generations. It is shameful that even our children are not extended protection by the police, but this is, sadly, not news.'

The trust said the power of police to strip-search children 'should be revoked' and added that 'police officers have no routine place in our children's schools'.
A student who became obsessed with a woman after a first date left her being physically sick and afraid to leave the house.

Kaichen Ma, 21, tried to contact his victim on 44 different phone numbers after she repeatedly blocked him.

He sent her prejudicial messages about her Muslim faith and even had a kilo of pork delivered to her accommodation.

Obsessed Ma would turn up uninvited to lectures she was attending at Durham University and bought her unwanted gifts addressed to the love of my life including a Pandora ring, cards and a plane ticket to China.

The victim was left frightened to leave her student accommodation unescorted, suffered mental breakdowns and missed two weeks of her studies through fears she may come into contact with the defendant.

Kaichen Ma, 21, pictured, tried to contact his victim on 44 different phone numbers after she repeatedly blocked him. He sent her prejudicial messages about her Muslim faith and even had a kilo of pork delivered to her accommodation

Despite being arrested and told to keep away from her, Ma ignored the bail condition and continued his stalking campaign while also trying to persuade her not to proceed with criminal proceedings for harassment.

But after approaching her in the street when she returned to Durham to resume her course, he was arrested again and has remained on remand in custody since.

The defendant, of Tolleshunt Knights in Maldon, Essex, admitted charges of stalking and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Imposing a total 28-month prison sentence, Judge James Adkin said Ma would serve half in custody and should then be deported.

He also gave Ma a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting or approaching the victim for 15 years.

Judge Adkin said there were 'disturbing traits' over his actions.

He said Ma's 'obsessive, persistent' behaviour had a great impact on the victim and continued despite the bail condition not to contact her.

The pair met at a nightclub on September 30 and exchanged contact details, before a date was arranged a few days later.

Obsessed Ma would turn up uninvited to lectures she was attending at Durham University and bought her unwanted gifts addressed to the love of my life including a Pandora ring, cards and a plane ticket to China

After eating at a Turkish restaurant and going to the cinema, Ma tried to kiss the woman and touch her arm as he was walking her home.

She tried to explain she was not interested and that he was being too forward with her.

But he could not handle rejection and over following days sent her numerous messages.

Matthew Bean, prosecuting, told Durham Crown Court that despite being repeatedly blocked by her, he would send her further messages using multiple different numbers, and turned up at her lectures, even though he was not on the same course.

He bought a ticket to a winter ball she was attending with friends on November 27, approaching her five times that night despite being told to leave her alone.

The prosecutor said she became exhausted with his persistence and in constant fear of what he may do next.

Following his initial arrest on December 1, Ma was bailed on condition that he did not contact or approach the woman.

But later in December he sent her further messages asking her to show mercy on him and urging her to drop the police complaint against him.

Imposing a total 28-month prison sentence, Judge James Adkin told Durham Crown Court (pictured) Ma would serve half in custody and should then be deported. He made Ma subject of a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting or approaching the victim for 15 years

Further messages were sent in which he sought a bargain between them, describing it as, 'a win-win solution', suggesting a compromise so they could be, 'casual friends, with benefits'.

He suggested she could join him on a visit to China, booking a flight ticket for her to Beijing.

But Mr Bean said there were other messages in which Ma made references to the Armenian genocide, knowing she was Turkish and of its historic sensitivity.

The Armenian genocide was a physical annihilation of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian Christian population from 1915-16, in which as many as 1.2 million are thought to have been killed.

Ma offered to pay her a month of his salary when he was in work, so that the harassment complaint would not be pursued.

He also messaged the victims sister.

Other messages inferred he would commit suicide due to the court proceedings while some said that if she told police about the recent contact in breach of his bail condition, he 'had a way to handle it'.

Having missed two weeks of university, when she did return to Durham in January her mother came with her due to the distress it was causing her.

Ma was arrested again after approaching the woman in the street on January 30 and he made no comment in his police interview.

In her impact statement, the victim said his harassment had caused her to have breakdowns, left her frightened to leave her room and made her physically sick on an almost nightly basis.

It also affected her studies and she struggled to sleep.

She has also sought counselling.

Katie Spence, in mitigation, said Ma went about the relationship and the rejection, 'in all the wrong ways', describing the defendant as, 'socially immature'.

But she said the weeks he has spent in custody have made him realise that he 'absolutely behaved improperly'.

She said it was his first taste of custody and he has been out of contact with his family, struggling with anxiety.

Miss Spence added that he was, 'incredibly remorseful' and would work with the Probation Service if any prison sentence was suspended.
The devastated mother of a boy who was killed by a dog will take her fight for tighter breeding laws to Parliament.

Jack Lis, 10, suffered 'unsurvivable injuries' in the mauling by a seven stone XL Bully after going to a house to play in South Wales on November 8, 2022.

Neighbours rushed to help and tackle the vicious dog but it was not enough as tragically, Jack died at the scene.

His heartbroken mother, Emma Whitfield, is to visit Westminster this week to lobby MPs so no other parents suffer in the same way she has.

She will be joined at the event tomorrow by representatives from the RSPCA and the Dogs Trust.

Jack Lis was attacked by the XL bully dog while playing with a friend at a house after school in Pentwyn last year

Little Jack Lis suffered 'severe injuries to the head and neck' when he was set upon by the seven stone XL Bully while playing at his friend's home

Emma Whitfield, the mother of Jack Lis leaves Cardiff Crown Court in May 2022. She said: 'I close my eyes and I see the animal and its teeth. I hear the barking. I have severe panic attacks and I have horrifying flashbacks'

The visit was arranged by her local MP, Wayne David.

In speaking about it, Emma said: 'I am pleased to be visiting Parliament to speak with MPs and raise awareness about the problems with the current dangerous dog laws.'

'I want to make sure that what happened to my son Jack can never happen again.'

Mr David added: 'I believe there is a potential political agreement on how the law on dangerous dogs could be radically changed for the better. All political parties need to make this a priority.

'Emma is incredibly brave to be coming to London to do this. It obviously means a lot to her, and I am sure that Parliamentarians will listen closely to what she has to say.

'Emma is also speaking at a large event in Parliament in June on the issue of dog bites.'

Ms Whitfield continued to say that the images of her son's last moments constantly play in her mind, saying: 'Every time I shut my eyes I try and tell myself that's not the last image I've got of him.

'I try and tell myself it was when he shut the door with his skateboard in his hands but that's not true.

'They kept saying they're working on him, they're working on him and then the paramedic came back with a blanket and I knew.'

Talking to BBC Panorama, mum Emma said the images were horrible.

Jack Lis, pictured, was tragically pronounced dead at the scene. The dog was shot dead by firearms officers

Although two people were jailed in relation to Jack's death Emma has blasted the sentences as 'an insult'

Brandon Hayden, 19, was jailed for four years and six months at Cardiff Crown Court. His friend Amy Salter was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Both were banned from owning a dog indefinitely

CCTV footage shows Brandon Hayden and Amy Salter with the dog Beast in Caerphilly on the first day of attacks

She said: 'I can't say out loud what else I saw because I don't want other people to have to picture it either.'

Although two people were jailed in relation to Jack's death Emma has blasted the sentences as 'an insult.'

What is the Dangerous Dogs Act? Which dogs are banned? And why is it controversial? WHAT IS THE DANGEROUS DOGS ACT? The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 bans or restricts certain types of dogs and makes it an offence to allow a dog of any breed to be dangerously out of control. It was introduced 30 years ago by Home Secretary Kenneth Baker 'to rid the country of the menace of these fighting dogs' after a string of attacks. WHICH DOGS ARE BANNED IN THE UK? It is illegal to own four breeds of dogs without an exemption from a court. They are: American pitbull terriers

Japanese tosas

Dogo Argentinos

Fila Brazileiro The law also criminalises cross-breeds of the above four types of dog - meaning that whether a dog is prohibited will depend on a judgement about its physical characteristics and whether they match the description of a prohibited 'type'. WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE'S A DOG ATTACK? You can get an unlimited fine or be sent to prison for up to six months if your dog is dangerously out of control. You may not be allowed to own a dog in the future and your dog may be destroyed. If you let your dog injure someone you can be sent to prison for up to five years or fined. If you deliberately use your dog to injure someone you could be charged with 'malicious wounding'. And if you allow your dog to kill someone you can be sent to prison for up to 14 years or get an unlimited fine. WHY IS THE ACT CONTROVERSIAL? Both the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the British Veterinary Association have protested against the ban, insisting there is no scientific evidence that all individuals of a breed are dangerous. However, Met Police data suggests that in incidents involving 'dangerously out of control dogs', banned breeds account for about a fifth of offences. Advertisement

Amy Salter, 29, and Brandon Hayden, 19, were in charge of the raging animal when it attacked Jack after school inside a property near Hayden's home in Penyrheol, Caerphilly.

Jack had been playing with a friend when they went to the house where Beast, the 'muscular' animal, was roaming around downstairs and then bit his face, head and neck.

Cardiff Crown Court heard last year that a friend of Jack's parents' ran to neighbour Kirk Wiegold's home in a desperate attempt to get help.

Mr Wiegold tried to get inside but could only open the door 'a fraction' and was met by the horrific scene.

Emergency services rushed to the address in Caerphilly, South Wales, but Jack was tragically pronounced dead.

The court heard his parents were waiting outside when they were told their son had been attacked.

Hayden was jailed for four years and six months while Salter was handed three years at Cardiff Crown Court.

Now, Jack's mother has called for tougher sentences for dangerous dog owners.

She explained: 'For them to get as little as they did, that's nowhere near close to where it should be.

'No parent needs to go through losing a child and then to go through losing a child at the hands of somebody else for their wrongdoings is something I can't put into words.

'To this day I've not received an apology. I've not even got the hint that they have any kind of remorse.'

Hayden had bought the dog just five days before the attack having seen it advertised on Facebook and asked Amy Salter if it could live in her home.

It was advertised 'for free' on Facebook with a warning that it was 'not good with other dogs.'

The court heard last year that the pair were looking after Beast for just days before it attacked and killed Jack on November 8 last year.

Hayden, of Penyrheol, Caerphilly, and Salter, of Trethomas, Caerphilly, admitted owning or being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog.

The dog named Beast, was shot dead by armed police officers following the attack on Jack.

After Beast's death it was later found to be an 115lb American Bully or XL Bully, which are not on the banned breed list.

CCTV footage shown in Cardiff Crown Court last year revealed the animal attacked shoppers and lunged at children outside the local shop.

One incident was 24 hours before Jack died, and showed the owners laughing.

Another clip showed the animal lunging at terrified children while Hayden fails to pull him back - with one boy dropping his scooter and running to hide behind a wall.

The dog also attacked shopper Sian Sullivan when he ripped her hoodie and left her with injuries to her chest.

The string of attacks took place between November 4 and 7 last year - just days before Jack's death.
A gang of hapless thieves tried to steal a cash machine by ripping it out of a supermarket, but only succeeded in tearing off a chunk of their van and fled the scene empty-handed.

George Jones, 31, was part of the group of three men who tried to drag the cash machine out of a Co-op in Longfield, Kent, in the early hours of the morning.

The smash-and-grab raiders knocked down the shop's wall with one van, before attempting to use another to pull the ATM out of the wall through the hole.

A strap was tied around the cash machine inside the shop in and attached to the chassis bar of the van.

But when the group tried to pull the machine out of its frame, the second bid broke the van's chassis bar and the theft was abandoned.

Goerge Jones, 31, was jailed for four years and nine months for his part in the botched robbery

Following the failed break-in at around 4am on April 6 last year, the three men fled the scene in their vehicles and switched to a third van.

Officers found the gang's third van after it was spotted on the M25 and the driver sped away, Kent Police said.

The driver led police on a chase at speeds of over 100mph through red lights and the wrong way down a dual carriageway.

The pursuit ended in a park in Banstead, Surrey, when the vehicle was abandoned by the gang.

Officers' body worn footage shows the moment police chased down Jones and dragged him from the undergrowth as he hid under a bush.

A shirt that linked Jones to the scene and the vehicle was found nearby, police added.

At Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday, Jones was jailed for four years and nine months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to burgle and dangerous driving at a previous hearing.

Kent Police issued a warning to cash machine thieves after the sentencing - the fourth man in the county to be jailed for a similar crime in the last 12 months.

CCTV footage from the scene shows the moment the gang tried to tear the ATM out of the Co-op with one of their vans, but tore off a part of the vehicle instead

The gang fled after the failed effort and led police on a high-speed chase before Jones was arrested

Police released pictures showing the damage caused by the gang to the shop as they tried to steal the cash machine

Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Greenstreet, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: 'With a fourth man now serving a lengthy prison term for this kind of offending, the message to criminals is clear: Come to Kent to steal cash machines and you will be caught and jailed.

'I would like to praise the officers from Kent, the Metropolitan Police and Surrey who responded on the night of this offence, tracking down this man despite his dangerous attempts to get away, and investigators whose work has led to the guilty pleas.

'Measures to help prevent future offences of this kind are now in place and I hope staff and workers at businesses around the county feel safer knowing that those behind this kind of offending are in prison.'
A Russian opposition politician who spoke out against the war in Ukraine was poisoned with a highly toxic substance, it has emerged.

Elvira Vikhareva, 32, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, shared tests with Russia's Sota news channel that showed she had traces of potassium dichromate in her blood.

Miss Vikhareva said she began feeling unwell in November last year, with symptoms including hair loss, muscle spasms and severe stomach pains that lasted until February 2023.

It comes after a series of Moscow's critics have been poisoned in recent years - the most prominent being Russia's de facto opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who almost died after FSB agents smeared his underwear with novichock in August 2020.

She told TV Rain she had not appealed to police for help as it was clear anyone in Russia who took an 'anti-war position' quickly became 'enemy number one'.

Elvira Vikhareva (pictured), 32, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin, shared tests with Russia's Sota news channel that showed she had traces of potassium dichromate in her blood

It comes after a series of Moscow's critics have been poisioned in recent years - the most prominent being Russia's de facto opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who almost died after FSB agents smeared his underwear with novichock in August 2020. Pictured: Mr Navalny, who is in a Russian penal colony prison

Miss Vikhareva said: 'When the test results came back the only phrase that was heard was: "How did you survive?"

'I don't have any assumptions but if a person has an anti-war position and is in Russia, and can express their thoughts clearly about what is going on in Russia and Ukraine, then they are enemy number one.'

She said she didn't appeal to police for help as that would be like going to a 'bloody executioner'.

'I survived and I want my survival to aggrieve those who were responsible,' she added.

Potassium dichromate, a compound used in wood treatment and photography, can damage organs and cause cancer, infertility and breathing difficulties. It is harmful when in contact with the skin.

Miss Vikhareva hosts regular political shows on YouTube, which can still be accessed in Russia, but stopped showing her face on camera because the poisoning had taken its 'toll on her looks'.

She said on social media her body began to 'give up' and she had to have constant visits from doctors.

But she has since recovered despite the poisoning leaving her with shaking hands, eyelashes that fall out and nails that 'look like they've been run over by a train'.

Miss Vikhareva  who worked on election campaigns for Dmitry Gudkov, an exiled opposition politician - ran for the Duma in 2021 but lost to a pro-Kremlin candidate amid widespread accusations of vote rigging.

The Kremlin has a history of accusations against it for poisoning its opponents and exiled dissidents.

The Kremlin has a history of accusations against it for poisoning its opponents and exiled dissidents

Bellingcat, a group of investigative journalists, uncovered evidence which alleged Russian agents had poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Mr Navalny was rushed to a German hospital on an aeroplane after he fell ill on a domestic Russian flight in August 2020.

He recovered and returned to Russia where he was sentenced and convicted on fraud on contempt of court charges which he described as 'politically motivated'.

Former KGB agent turned opposition activist Alexander Litvinenko died after he was poisoned with polonium-210 in London in 2006.

In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights found the Kremlin responsible for Mr Litvinenko's death.

A UK public inquiry also found he was killed in an operation by Russias Federal Security Service which was 'probably' approved by Putin.

The Kremlin has always denied any involvement in Mr Litvinenko's death.

Mr Navalny was rushed to a German hospital on an aeroplane after he fell ill on a domestic Russian flight in August 2020.
Vladimir Putin has negotiated guarantees for his safety with China's President Xi Jinping in case he is kicked out of power, Ukraine believes.

It is suspected that should he be deposed the Russian leader would shelter in China with a non-extradition agreement in place, meaning China would not send him abroad to face trial over charges of war crimes committed during his invasion.

Xi visited Moscow and met his despotic Russian counterpart last week, with the pair professing friendship and pledging closer ties, as Putin's forces continue to struggle to make gains in what it calls a 'special military operation' in Ukraine.

The full details of their conversations during the summit have not been released, but the meeting has been seen widely as China offering its backing to Putin as Western nations - such as the US, UK, Germany and other Nato allies - unite behind Ukraine.

Some analysts have also interpreted the meeting as a demonstration that Xi has greater power in the relationship, with Beijing having helped bail Russia out from under western sanctions imposed on Moscow's economy following the invasion.

Xi visited Moscow and met Putin last week (pictured together on March 21), where the pair professed friendship and pledged closer ties, as Putin's forces continue to struggle to make gains in what it calls a 'special military operation' in Ukraine

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Tweeted on Monday (pictured) that Putin's safety in case he loses power was one of the 'main negotiation topics' between Putin and Xi during their meetings last week

Now, according a ministerial adviser in Ukraine, it is believed that one of the topics of conversation during the summit was over Putin's safety should be lose his power.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, tweeted today that it was likely that this was one of the 'main negotiation topics' between Putin and Xi during their meetings last week.

Were Putin to be deposed, Gerashchenko said the deal would see the Russian leader escape to China, with a non-extradition agreement in place.

The report of the deal comes after Putin was charged by the International Criminal Court with illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia earlier this month.

'It is probable that one of the main negotiation topics between Putin and Xi Jinping were guarantees of Putin's personal safety in case he loses power, a possible shelter for him in China and non-extradition for international tribunal,' Gerashchenko wrote.

Despite public dissent in Russia being rare on account of its draconian anti free-speech laws, there have been reports of dissatisfaction over Putin's leadership.

Russia's spectacular military failures in Ukraine have led to murmurings of opposition - particularly among the country's more hard-line, pro-war groups.

While their ire tends to be directed more towards failing Russian generals, other military leaders - such as Wagner's Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov - have been more vocal about their dissatisfaction with the war's progress.

If the trajectory of Putin's war in Ukraine continues downward and discontent among Russia's elites reaches boiling point, Kremlin insiders or opportunistic wildcards could mutiny. This could see Putin removed from his position of ultimate authority.

A co-ordinated plot to usurp the despot via political will and influence - like presidents Gorbachev and Khrushchev before him - would likely come from within Russia's official power structure.

Ukrainian soldiers ride atop an armoured personnel carrier on the frontline in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, yesterday

Smoke rises from a burning building yesterday in an aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region

In the unlikely event that he is deposed and is able to escape, Putin would likely look to flee to safety abroad to avoid facing punishment at home.

Such a deal with Xi Jinping would make China an ideal destination for Putin.

It was not clear from Gerashchenko's tweet what Xi would gain from such a deal, and he did did not speculate on what Putin offered Xi in return.

Should Putin lose power, he would likely be seen as useless in Beijing's own plan for the world, and he would be considered a wanted man.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant earlier this month accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. It said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility.

Russian officials have cautioned that any attempt to arrest Putin, Russia's paramount leader since the last day of 1999, would amount to a declaration of war against the world's largest nuclear power.

In its first warrant for Ukraine, the ICC called for Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation since February 24 last year.

The Kremlin says the ICC arrest warrant is an outrageously partisan decision, but meaningless with respect to Russia. Russian officials deny war crimes in Ukraine and say the West has ignored what it says are Ukrainian war crimes.

Big powers such as Russia, the United States and China are not members of the ICC though 123 countries are parties to the Rome Statute, which set up the ICC, including Britain, France, Germany and some former Soviet republics such as Tajikistan.

Ukraine is not a member of the ICC, although Kyiv granted it jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on its territory.

Speaking after the warrant was issued earlier this month, one expert suggested that the ICC charge could hasten Putin's removal from power.

Sir Geoffrey Nice, who was the lead prosecutor at former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's trial, said it was 'extremely important' that the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during their dinner at The Palace of the Facets, a building in the Moscow Kremlin, March 21

He suggested that Putin being 'labelled and treated as a criminal' could inspire a change in regime or 'encourage the process of replacement'.

'There's enough information seeping out to indicate that there are some unhappy with his leadership,' Sir Geoffrey told Sky News on Friday.

'It's important because this man is now - as many would say he should have been a few weeks after the war started - labelled as a criminal.'
Police have warned that the offence carries a jail sentence of up to five years

Two unconnected incidents happened - one in Exeter and another in Dartford

A man has been arrested for a 'stupid and dangerous' 10-minute laser pen attack on a police helicopter in Exeter.

The South West National Police Air Service announced at 11pm on Sunday 26th March, an individual had shone a laser at its aircraft for a period of ten minutes.

They called the attack 'stupid and dangerous', saying the pilot could have been blinded by the beam of light as the offence carries a jail sentence.

Cops also added that the pilot could have been blinded by the beam of light and the helicopter could have crashed on to a heavily-populated area of the city.

They warned of the dangers of pointing lasers at aircrafts, after another individual was arrested in an unconnected attack in Dartford over the weekend as well.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) said the chopper was subjected to the laser attack for at least ten minutes as it flew above Exeter

They called the attack 'stupid and dangerous', saying the pilot could have been blinded by the beam of light and the helicopter could have crashed on to a heavily-populated area of the city, killing scores of people

The arrest in Essex was made after police used the chopper's camera and mapping system to locate the street where the laser was being shone into the night sky.

NPAS confirmed that 'an individual in Exeter' was quickly traced and was subsequently 'apprehended by officers' on the ground.

NPAS added that had the pilot been temporarily blinded, and there was nobody else in the helicopter to fly it, as they have warned that the offence carries a jail sentence of up to five years, saying: 'There are people sat in prison currently having done this.'

On Twitter, NPAS said: 'Do not do this - it is stupid and dangerous and we will find you as we have done tonight.'

Meanwhile, another tweet read: 'Our aircraft has just come under sustained laser strike by an individual in Exeter for a period of 10 mins before the individual was apprehended. It took the crew a very short amount of time to locate the individual using the aircraft camera & mapping systems.

'If the laser hits our pilot in the eyes, they can become temporarily blinded and there is no one else to fly the aircraft. In the worst case scenario, this may result in the aircraft crashing over a populated area. This offence carries up to 5 years in prison and there are people sat in prison currently having done this.

'We have said it before and we will keep saying it - DO NOT DO THIS - ITS STUPID AND DANGEROUS and WE WILL FIND YOU as we have tonight.'

This comes following news that Kent Police have confirmed that an individual was arrested in an unrelated attack on another police helicopter in Dartford.

There have been a string of similar incidents in the last two years around the UK, as the use of lasers in public places has been widely condemned

Cops said that around 12.30am on Sunday 26 March, the crew of a helicopter deployed to Dartford by the National Police Air Service reported a laser had been directed towards them.

Patrols were immediately deployed to the area and a suspect was detained, where constables also seized a laser pen.

Terry Miller, 62, of St Johns Road Dartford, was later charged with directing a laser beam towards a helicopter which was likely to have dazzled or distracted a person with control of that vehicle.

Mr Miller was bailed and is due to appear at Medway Magistrates' Court on 3 May.

Meanwhile, last year, a man in Wrexham was jailed for six months after admitting pointing a laser beam at a police helicopter. The judge at Mold Crown Court said the prison sentence would send a 'deterrent message' to others and that the offender's actions 'could have had devastating and tragic consequences'.

And in August 2022, a 51-year-old man was arrested after a laser was shone at a commercial jet coming in to land at Bristol airport.

Several other planes reported the dazzling light had been shone from the ground into their cockpits, including the military's RNAS Yeovilton base.
A 26-year-old Californian tourist has died in Majorca after he jumped off a 12-metre cliff and landed on the rocks below.

He was on vacation with his girlfriend when he died, according to local newspaper Mallorca Zeitung.

The couple was visiting Cala Varques Bay located in the east of Majorca, when the accident happened at 1.50pm on Saturday, March 25.

Horrified witnesses in a nearby sailing boat rushed to help the man and called emergency services. He had stopped breathing by the time the crew brought him to the shore of the hard-to-reach cove.

A helicopter, police and maritime rescue were all dispatched but they weren't able to save him and the US citizen died of his injuries.

View of Cala Varques Bay located in the east of Majorca where Californian tourist jumped to his death after misjudging the rocks below

Serious accidents happen again and again at Cala Varques Bay as a result of dangerous cliff jumping.

Cala Varques is a popular spot for psicobloc, a type of climbing above the sea without a safety line that is particularly practiced in Majorca.

There is also a rock bridge that is a well-known picture spot and popular with cliff jumpers.

But the rescue from the bay is difficult as it takes rescue crews 50 minutes to get there by land. The chances of surviving serious accidents in the bay are therefore poor.

Last June, a 17-year-old injured himself when he jumped from a height of 15 meters.

Rescue workers warned against jumping off the cliffs and pointed out the increased number of serious spinal injuries.

Cala Varques is located about 1.2 miles (two kilometres) south of the tourist village of S'Estany d'en Mas on the east coast of Majorca.

Cales de Majorca is the next largest town and is about 2.5 miles (four kilometres) away from Cala Varques Bay.

The bay is located in a nature reserve called Cala Verges de Manacor and therefore no developments are built around the bay.

The area features low Mediterranean scrub, pines and holm oaks.

Map of Majorca identifies where US tourist jumped on Saturday during vacation with girlfriend

In 2021, a British man fell 150ft to his death from a clifftop beauty spot in Majorca.

The 56-year-old was discovered at the bottom of the Es Colomer viewpoint which provides stunning views of the Spanish island's northern coast.

Rescue teams rushed to the base of the cliff after they were called at 3pm on Wednesday.

The man, who has not been identified, lived in the nearby town of Pollensa, around a 15-minute drive from the beauty spot, according to local reports.

An investigation has been opened into how he fell to his death.

A Civil Guard helicopter was rushed to the scene yesterday to help help rescue teams overcome the difficult terrain.

Police are said to be interviewing at least on witness who saw the Briton standing close to railings at the cliff.

Just a week prior another Briton, 14-year-old Taya O'Loughlin, disappeared on Majorca in 2021.

It sparked a huge police operation to find her but she was found two days later on Thursday safe and well and was reunited with her expat mother.
The House looks poised to move on legislation to restrict TikTok after an endorsement from Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

'It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be trueChina has access to TikTok user data,' the California Republican tweeted Sunday after CEO Shou Zi Chew testified last week in Congress.

'The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party.'

Whether Congress moves forward with an outright ban or some other kind of restriction remains unclear as a number of bills are floating around Congress.

The House looks poised to move on legislation to restrict TikTok after an endorsement from Speaker Kevin McCarthy

'It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be trueChina has access to TikTok user data,' the California Republican tweeted

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also said a TikTok ban 'should be looked at.'

Even as 150 million Americans use the Chinese video-sharing platform, calls to restrict or ban the app have grown in both parties, particularly after an evasive Chew faced grilling from House Energy and Commerce Committee members on Thursday.

Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers told CNN on Sunday the hearing 'made clear' to her that TikTok needs to be banned 'immediately.'

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning hit back by saying the U.S. was targeting TikTok with a 'presumption of guilt' but had shown no real evidence of the app being a threat to national security.

'U.S. should respect fair competition, and stop suppressing foreign companies,' Mao said.

Leaders of the House select committee on China competition, Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Khrishnamoorthi, D-Calif., have pushed for legislation that would either ban the app or force its sale to an American firm from Chinese company ByteDance. But the Chinese government has said it would resist such a sale.

Other bills would provide the Biden administration more authority to ban foreign companies it finds pose a threat to national security, and the president has endorsed such legislation.

The White House has also said it does not think Project Texas, TikTok's endeavor to wall off U.S. user data from ByteDance and store it in the U.S., goes far enough.

During the hearing, Chew defended TikTok and insisted foreign entities are not accessing U.S. user data through the platform.

Even as 150 million Americans use the Chinese video-sharing platform, calls to restrict or ban the app have grown in both parties

At one point, Chew was asked whether parent company ByteDance has spied on Americans at the behest of the CCP.

'I don't think 'spying' is the right way to describe it,' Chew responded. He added that he's seen 'no evidence' of Chinese government officials accessing U.S. user data.

'I think this actually increased the likelihood that Congress will take some action,' Gallagher told ABC on Sunday.

'It's not just exfiltrating data from an American phone. It's what they are able to push to Americans through the algorithm, control our sense of reality, control the news and meddle in future elections.'

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., an Energy and Commerce Committee member, told DailyMail.com that the hearing convinced him of the need for an outright ban on TikTok.

'At this point, I am in favor of an outright ban. We need to get rid of this, this is killing us, literally killing our children, and this is psychological warfare.'
Experts are predicting a record-breaking number of pints will be consumed

Up to 50million Britons are planning to celebrate King Charles' coronation in May by taking a trip to the pub, research suggests.

Experts believe up to three quarters of the entire population will sink a record 36 million pints during the extended weekend.

Pubs, clubs and bars will be allowed to stay open into the early hours between Friday May 5 and Sunday May 7 - with the coronation taking place on May 6.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is allowing venues across England and Wales to continue serving customers until 1am rather than the normal 11pm, to allow people to 'enjoy an extra pint or two'.

Even though some are not planning on a trip to a boozer for the big event, 70 per cent still say they will enter a pub at some point during that weekend.

An estimated 50million Brits are planning to celebrate King Charles' coronation in May by taking a trip to the pub (pictured: Men outside a pub during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year)

The King (pictured with the Queen Consort at Clarence House in February) has reportedly set himself a 6pm curfew for the night before the coronation to ensure he is well rested for the ceremony on May 6

Pub bosses are dubbing the weekend a 'Right Royal Knees Up' - with record numbers of pints predicted to be sold as people celebrate with friends and family.

Research on behalf of Heineken suggests the event will be a huge boost for locals - because one in three says they will visit a pub near their home.

Meanwhile a fifth will head to the capital - where King Charles will be crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey.

The research has been carried out by Star Pubs & Bars, the pub business of Heineken.

It is the third largest pub company in the UK, has 2,400 pubs and is gearing up for record numbers of visitors.

Pete Marshall, landlord of The King's Arms, Bexleyheath, says: 'We will be celebrating the coronation with the nation locally and having a lot of fun along the way.

'Over the four-day weekend, there will be plenty of music, barbecues, different activities for families and adults, and a sprinkling of national pride.'

Heineken predicts 36.1 million pints of beer will be enjoyed over the Bank Holiday weekend with one in two pub-goers saying that will be their choice.

Party goers in Leeds wave Union Jack flags while one dons popular face mask depicting the Queen during Jubilee celebrations last year

Opening hours of pubs were last extended for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend (pictured), when boozy Britons did not shy away from getting in the partying mood as they flocked to pubs

A group of friends are all smiles as they pose with Union Jack bunting in Leeds on June 1 last year

People made the most of the extended drinking hours last year for the jubilee, and are predicted to do the same for King Charles' coronation

Wine is a close second, around a third of people say they'll be sipping on cider, and one fifth will be opting for an alcohol-free option.

Lawson Mountstevens, MD, says: 'May is going to be a bumper month for pubs with three bank holidays and a Coronation to boot.

'It's going to be a right royal knees up across the country, and our licensees are already planning some incredible activities.

'From beer festivals to street parties, the pub is going to be the centrepiece of communities with people celebrating with family, friends and neighbours.'

The extended opening hours announced recently have been welcomed by pubs across the country.

Landlord Mr Marshall added: 'This is a once in a generation event and we want it to be an event that the community never forgets.'
Oklahoma State Rep. Dean Davis was caught on camera telling police they couldn't arrest him because of his political position while being placed in handcuffs last week for public intoxication.

Republican Davis, 50, had been drinking with friends at Skinny Slims, a bar in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, when police officers arrived. The police say he and his friends were refusing to leave the bar, which had closed, and were drinking on the outdoor patio.

Bodycam footage shows the officers putting a befuddled Davis in handcuffs while he protested and told them to call their supervisors. He told them they weren't allowed to arrest him, claiming he was 'privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature'.

The cops ignored his remarks and booked him into county jail.

'You can't detain me!' he cried.

'I can, and I am right now,' Sgt. Timothy Brewer told him.

Rep. Dean Davis, 50, had been drinking with friends at the bar in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, when police officers arrived

Davis tried to tell the officers they couldn't arrest him while the state legislature was in session

It is not his first brush with the law; in 2019, he was arrested for a DUI.

No one had called police to the scene. The two officers involved had been driving back to the station after completing a shift when they saw Davis and his friends sitting on the patio.

The 50-year-old is seen in his mugshot

They approached and told the men they were breaching state law which prohibits drinking at the bar after 2am. It was 2.11am when they approached.

Davis insists that he wasn't drunk, and says he did nothing wrong.

Speaking at the legislature last week, he said: 'I understand that last night has become a story and that many of my colleagues in the House are being asked to comment on or to explain the events of last night. I dispute any wrongdoing.

'However, I do want to take this opportunity to apologize to this body for creating this unnecessary distraction from the important work of the House. Thank you members for allowing me this time. Thank you Mr. Speaker.'

Rep. TJ Marti, who was also there but who wasn't arrested, claims Davis did nothing wrong, and was drinking a Dr. Pepper when the cops arrived.

'He didnt flash his ID at them. He was actually ordering an Uber and attempting to walk away from them when he was arrested.

The cops first approached Davis to tell him he wasn't allowed to be drinking in the patio at Skinny Slims at 2.11am

'They didnt show the first 30 seconds of the video where they jump out of their cars screaming at everybody.

'Id like to see the rest of that. Im sure you can probably make that happen.

'They left out the part where theyre screaming at a crowd of seven, went straight toward Dean and spoke to nobody else. They left all that part out. Dean got arrested for being a legislator while drinking a Dr. Pepper,' he told Oklahoma-based media outlet, NonDoc.

Marti also denied that he was drunk.

Davis, with his wife Andrena, insists he did nothing wrong. It is the second time he has been arrested in relation to being drunk. He was charged with a DUI in 2019

'It wasnt what it is being reported. Anyone that can watch that video can see that hes clearly not intoxicated. Anyone that knows Dean knows he carries eyedrops with him. He uses eyedrops all the time. He has allergic conjunctivitis. His eyes are already red. You meet him at the Capitol, look at his eyes.'

Other state officials, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, haven't been as forgiving.

'People sometimes make poor choices and  they need to be held accountable.

'So dont know any specifics about that. But, you know, were going to be a law-and-order state in Oklahoma and we hold ourselves to higher standards, especially as as public officials,' he said at his press conference on Friday.

Democrats say he should be 'held accountable' and are calling for the state House Speaker to intervene.

'I have reviewed the footage of the arrest. The video was distressing. It is known that this isnt the first time the Representative has been arrested on charges related to intoxication and has attempted to use his position as an elected official to avoid facing consequences.

'It appears he needs to seek help for substance abuse. And I sincerely hope he does,' Rep. Cyndi Munson told Oklahoma's News4.
A heated row between two Indigenous politicians broke out on national television over whether the huge amount of money being spent on the Voice referendum would be better used for grassroots programs in First Nations communities.

The debate on Monday night's episode of Q&A on the ABC was sparked by a question from student Laura Strawbridge from NSW, who had recently attended a constitutional convention in the nation's capital.

On the panel were Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price and Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who together hold the Northern Territory's only two Senate seats.

'Why should substantial taxpayer funds be used to make this referendum occur with a risk of the Voice being merely symbolic?' Ms Strawbridge asked.

She questioned if the money could be better invested in education and healthcare in Indigenous communities that would 'likely create real positive change'.

Labor has budgeted $75million on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum to be held later this year with that money going towards the Australian Electoral Commission, National Indigenous Australians Agency, the Attorney-General's Department, and advertising campaigns.

Appearing on Q&A on Monday, Ms Strawbridge (pictured) asked whether the money spent on the Voice referendum could be better used for grassroots welfare programs

Senator Price, who is against the Voice, got into a shouting match with her fellow Indigenous NT Senator

Senator McCarthy said the question around the budget for the Voice was a good one but there were larger issues at play.

'First Nations people are asking for their voices never to be cutoff. With every change of government there is a change of policy around Aboriginal people's lives,' she said.

'As a result their lives can get turned upside down... having their voices always heard is really at the heart of this issue.

'We've spent millions and millions of dollars over decades trying to fix problems (in First Nations communities) but something is clearly not working.'

Senator Price interjected: 'That's not an answer to her question'.

'That process is called democracy, everybody has to go through that change of government and change of policy,' she said.

'Not to the same extent as First Nations people,' Senator McCarthy argued.

At this point the two Senators began talking over one another and the debate became more heated.

'There's no accountability for the organisations out there, and there's thousands of them, that use taxpayer money and are responsible for alleviating social disadvantage,' Senator Price said.

'We haven't looked at how they're wasting money.

'Or looked at the gatekeepers in the land council who control Aboriginal land and do not give traditional owners the opportunity to utilise their land to create economic opportunities.

'The Voice will empower them.'

Senator McCarthy fired back: 'That's incorrect'.

'There are audits in this country for those organisations... My colleague from the Northern Territory fails to see that.'

Host Stan Grant then stepped in: 'We're certainly hearing a Voice tonight it's just hard to tell who speaking'.

'You're getting a lesson in politics right here,' he added to Ms Strawbridge.

'They all talk over one another'.

Senator McCarthy said there were bigger issues at play than the budget and that the Voice could reduce spending in the future by providing consistency through government changes

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brought 18 others onto the podium, including Senator McCarthy, for his announcement last week on the referendum question

The Voice to Parliament referendum which all Australians will vote on in the second half the year, represents a clear 'line-in-the-sand moment' to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Indigenous leaders say.

Members of the referendum working group for the Indigenous Voice say the establishment of the body will be a defining moment for the country.

'We're here to draw a line in the sand and say, 'This has to change, people's lives have to improve',' working group member Marcia Langton said in Canberra on Thursday.

'We know from the evidence that what improves people's lives is when they get a say and that's what this is about.

'The truth burns and truth is very much an Aboriginal value and the Torres Strait Islander value across the country. So that is ... very much a part of our thinking.'

The referendum working group stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House to outline the constitutional change Australians will be asked to approve sometime between October and December.

Voters will be asked: 'A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?'

Member of the First Nations Referendum Working Group Dr Marcia Langton was emotional as she listened to Anthony Albanese announce the referendum question

The opposition has agreed to support the Indigenous Voice to parliament bill in the Senate (pictured, people participate in protests on Australia Day this year)
At least 26 people are dead and thousands displaced after Friday night's storms

Eight employees of the diner survived by huddling in a walk-in cooler

Chuck's Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, was devastated by the tornado

Eight restaurant workers survived an enormous mile-wide 200mph twister that left 26 dead in Mississippi by hiding in the diner's walk-in refrigerator.

Tracy Harden, 48, the quick-thinking owner of Chuck's Dairy Bar, rushed the group into the cooler as the monster tornado descended on the town of Rolling Fork on Friday night.

Moments later, all that was left of the diner that had been a mainstay in the community for more than 60 years, was the refrigerator. Photos show the steel box still standing while all the walls of the building were torn down.

'It's more than a business, it's my community,' owner Tracy Harden, 48, told Good Morning America (GMA), choking back tears. 'And thank god we're alive, but also we're so devastated by the loss.'

Throughout Saturday, survivors walked around dazed and in shock as they broke through debris and fallen trees with chain saws, searching for survivors. Power lines were pinned under decades-old oaks, their roots torn from the ground.

Tracy Harden, 48, owner of Chuck's Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, rushed her employees into a walk-in-cooler Friday night, saving their lives, as a tornado ripped through the area. Pictured: The walk-in cooler stands alone among the debris

A pickup truck sits on top of the wreckage of Chuck's Dairy Bar. All that was left of the diner was that walk-in cooler and a heavy duty pool table. Pictured: A truck on top of the debris

Harden (center) and two of her employees Barbara Pinkens and Carolyn Washington comfort each other after surviving the tornado that devastated the area on Friday

At least 26 people have died from the twisters, however the toll is expected to rise as dozens more have been injured and thousands have been displaced.

'The whole trailer park behind us is gone,' Harden said. 'We don't know where everybody is. We don't know who's alive and who is gone.'

The tornadoes tore through Mississippi and the neighboring Alabama on Friday night and left a trail of havoc more than 100 miles long across the state.

Harden said they only had about a minute warning that the tornado was coming.

'I got 22 text messages back to back from my sister and my daughter in Vicksburg and they both said, uh, it was just, there's a tornado down, get to a safe place,' Harden told GMA.

'And at the same time, my teenage cashier came running towards the back of the building saying my mother's on the phone and she said there's a tornado down and at that point, most of us were towards the back of the building.

She continued: 'And the lights flickered and I just hollered "cooler" and my husband opened the cooler door and started shoving us in.'

Harden, her husband Tim, and their six employees sheltered in the cooler.

Right before Harden's husband closed the cooler door, he looked out and saw that the roof of the restaurant was gone, and he could see the sky.

'He looked up and he said, "I see the sky" and so that let us know that this was way worse than anything we could have imagined and the roof was gone.'

All eight people survived and were able to climb out of the rubble when one of the employees cleared a path through the debris.

Tracy Harden, center, who with her husband Tim, left, own Chuck's Dairy Bar, consoles a neighbor in Rolling Fork, Mississippi on Saturday. The couple and their six employees were hiding in the cooler when the tornado hit

From right, Harden and husband Tim, owners of Chuck's Dairy Bar, survey the tornado destruction to their business in Rolling Fork

BEFORE THE STORM: Chuck's Dairy Bar was a mainstay in the community for over 60 years

AFTER THE STORM: Chuck's Dairy Bar is now a pile of rubble

The walk-in cooler where right people sheltered and survived

Harden and her husband have owned the diner for 16 years, but it has been a staple in the community for more than six decades.

But within minutes, the beloved diner had been left in shambles. The walk-in cooler, a heavy duty pool table and a bathroom - where one other person survived - were all that was left.

Carolyn Washington, the woman who survived by sheltering in the bathroom also spoke out about her harrowing experience.

'I looked up, it was a truck uh, had landed on top of the bathroom,' she told GMA.

So I panicked a little bit and I uh found my way out and I yelled for help and someone came over to help me, uh get out and Tracy can you give us?

Survivors share stories of survival after Rolling Fork devastation. ABC News' @RobMarciano spoke with the people who lived through the tornado.https://t.co/9o568IdE1m pic.twitter.com/RqJqX30T2b  Good Morning America (@GMA) March 26, 2023

Harden and her husband have owned the diner for 16 years, but it has been a staple in the community for more than six decades

The pool table, pictured in the diner before it was destroyed, was left standing after the storm

Patrons gather in Chuck's Dairy Bar, which has since been flattened by Friday's tornado

The tornadoes tore through Mississippi and the neighboring Alabama on Friday night and left a trail of havoc more than 100 miles long across the state. At least 25 people have died in Mississippi, with another person confirmed dead in Alabama.

Among the victims were a three-year-old and her dad who died after a tornado hit their home in Wren, Mississippi. In Rolling Fork, one of Mississippi's worst-hit towns, a couple died in each other's arms when the tornado dropped their neighbor's 18-wheeler on their house in the middle of the night.

After President Joe Biden freed up disaster aid, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned residents of Mississippi and neighboring Alabama of potential new 'supercell thunderstorms' into Monday that could 'produce a few strong tornadoes and very large hail.'

Mississippi governor Tate Reeves warned on Sunday that the risks seem to be 'getting worse and worse, not better', according to Sky News. He added that there were 'significant risks' to those living south of Interstate 55, which is the south's longest highway.

Search-and-rescue workers surveyed the damage of shredded homes, flattened buildings and smashed cars in Rolling Fork, a small town all but wiped out by nature's wrath.

Melissa and Lonnie Pierce 'passed away in each other's arms,' when an 18-wheeler was dropped on their house by the tornado, their son told the local news

In Wren, Mississippi, a young family has been left heartbroken after the tragic loss of Ethan Herndon, 33, and baby Riley Herndon (center) who was just a year old

The NWS gave Friday's tornado a rating of four out of five on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with ferocious winds of up to 200 miles per hour, and classified it as 'violent'.

Dozens of people have also been injured, and officials say the death toll could rise.

Under warm spring sunshine and cloudless blue skies, stunned residents walked among obliterated homes, sifting through debris and comforting one another as crews fought fires, conducted searches and cleared emergency routes.

Before-and-after satellite images released late Sunday showed utter ruin across parts of Rolling Fork, with homes destroyed and trees ripped out of the earth.

The American Red Cross moved into a National Guard building in Rolling Fork hours after the storm razed much of the town, home to around 2,000 people.

An area was set up as an infirmary and boxes full of food and medical supplies were shuttled in to support storm victims who had lost everything, said John Brown, a Red Cross official for Alabama and Mississippi.

Anna Krisuta, 43, and her 16-year-old son Alvaro Llecha took shelter at the site, saying their house was in pieces.

The severe weather also left a man dead in Alabama when he was trapped under an overturned trailer, the sheriff's office in Morgan County said.

Officials including US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas gathered in Rolling Fork Sunday afternoon, praising rescue efforts and pledging support 'for the long haul.'

'It is heartbreaking to hear of the loss of life, to see the devastation firsthand,' Mayorkas told a press conference held with Governor Tate Reeves and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) head Deanne Criswell.
A Japanese student showed up to graduation dressed as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's lookalike - wearing his signature olive-colored clothing to show his support for Ukraines fight against Russia.

Most graduation ceremonies in Japan feature graduates in suits or formal attire. But Kyoto University has its own tradition of students who opt for fancy dress on their special day.

Buddhist monks and anime kittens were some of the costumes on display.

But this year, Zelensky was the star at the event.

'I am President Zelensky,' the unnamed student told local TV network Yomiuri. He added that it took him three months to grow his beard.

The unnamed student, who does by the moniker Amiki on Twitter, decided to model himself on President Zelensky after being told he resembled him while growing his beard

Since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has worn olive-coloured clothing in nearly all of his public appearances

He decided to be his lookalike for the graduation ceremony Friday, because 'since December, when I was growing out my beard, I was told I look like President Zelensky.'

His performance was not just a comical cosplay. The student, who goes by the moniker Amiki on Twitter, was holding a sign carrying messages expressing his support for Ukraine, along with a passage from Zelenskys speech in December at the U.S. Congress.

In the video from TV Osaka, he said he respects Zelensky as 'the real man among men.'

'We stand for Ukraine! Justice will prevail in the end, I hope so. Glory to Ukraine,' he tweeted.

The student told local media why he chose to be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's lookalike for his graduation ceremony in Kyoto

The student also held a wooden shamoji - a rice serving spoon - like the one that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented to Zelenskyy as a gift during his secret trip to Kyiv last week.

The rice paddle is a specialty of Hiroshima, where Kishida is from, and bears a prayer for victory, but was bitterly criticized by opposition lawmakers as 'nonsense.'

Giving a rice serving spoon to the leader of a country at war didn't seem appropriate, the student said. 'Nonetheless, Im happy if the Ukrainian people were pleased and the traditional prayer behind it was conveyed.'

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky retweeted a scene from the video of the Zelenskyy lookalike, as well as the student's tweets showing solidarity for Ukraine.
Eaton Indiana Police Department confirmed that two people had been interviewed as part of the investigation and ruled out

The teenager was found in the clothes that he was reported missing in - including a t-shirt his parents forced him to wear

Scottie Morris was found safe and well on March 24 after vanishing from his home in Eaton, Indiana on March 16

A missing teenage boy who vanished for eight days after his parents forced him to wear a shirt that called him a 'liar' and a 'cheat' as a punishment was found by his mother less than half a mile away from where he had vanished.

Scottie Morris, 14, disappeared from his home in Eaton, Indiana, at 8.30pm on March 16  with police scanners appearing to imply that he had told his parents he would 'run away'.

Eaton Indiana Police Department confirmed that the teenager was found safe and well on March 24, just a five-minute walk from his home.

Emergency services scanners show that officers arrived at Hartford Street and Harris Street to find Scottie with his mother, Felicia.

He was wearing the same clothes that he had been reported missing in - a white t-shirt daubed with 'I hurt my lil brother' on the front and a crying face.

Scottie Morris, 14, disappeared from his home in Eaton, Indiana, at 8.30pm on March 16  with police scanners appearing to imply that he had told his parents he would 'run away'

It is unclear if Scottie was spotted by witnesses who then flagged his location to police, but his mother, Felicia, appeared to be on the scene before officers and was talking to her son.

Police would not confirm details of how the teen was found, but scanner audio from 10.33pm when he was found states 'I've got him with mom. He's still in the same clothes that we had in the description.'

Scottie was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie to be checked out but appeared to be okay despite sub-zero temperatures on several nights that he was missing.

Police scanners from the time he went missing revealed that he 'told somebody he was going to run away', and added that his mother 'honestly didn't have anywhere specific that he would go. '

The teen was 'placed in a safe environment' while officers continued to investigate his disappearance.

But family members confirmed on Saturday that he was home 'safe and well', with Eaton Police Department confirming they had conducted interviews with two people and ruled them out of their inquiries.

In a statement released on Saturday they said: 'Officers with EPD and the Delaware County Sheriff's Department have been conducting interviews most of the day.

'There were two individuals brought in for questioning, however they have since been cleared of involvement with any part of this case.

Eaton Indiana Police Department confirmed that the teenager was found safe and well on March 24, just a five-minute walk from his home

Scottie was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie to be checked out but appeared to be okay despite sub-zero temperatures on several nights that he was missing

Police scanners from the time he went missing revealed that he 'told somebody he was going to run away', and added that his mother 'honestly didn't have anywhere specific that he would go'

'The department of Child Services is assisting Scottie. The family is continuing to cooperate with every aspect of the investigation.'

His aunt Melissa Morris May thanked officers for helping to locate the teen, and confirmed that he had returned home to his parents.

She said: 'I want to say a HUGE thank you to the Eaton Indiana Police Department and all the surrounding agencies.

'For all of the hard work and time you put into Finding my nephew Scottie also, I want to thank all of the volunteers that helped search and organized events and donated food, drinks and just all-out love and support to Get Scottie Home.

'Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are the best!'

The Chief of Police also said that his parents, Felicia and Brian, had undergone polygraph tests and were not considered suspects.

Many still asked questions about the family despite the police ruling them out of the investigation, with Melissa posting images of her nephew online and hitting back at the claims his parents were involved.

Police would not confirm details of how the teen was found, but scanner audio states 'I've got him with mom. He's still in the same clothes that we had in the description'. Pictured: Felicia Morris, Scottie's mother

The teen was 'placed in a safe environment' while officers continued to investigate his disappearance

Scottie's parents, Felicia and Brian Morris, have taken lie detector tests as part of the investigation

Family members confirmed on Saturday that he was home 'safe and well', with Eaton Police Department confirming they had conducted interviews with two people and ruled them out of their inquiries

Police launched a manhunt for the vulnerable teen, with a missing person alert saying 'he is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance'.

A nearby church held an emotional vigil for the teen the day before he was found, as officers continued to appeal for footage of him after he vanished.

Dozens of people turned out for the candlelight vigil in the tiny town, with a family friend saying 'let's bring this child home'.

The Grace and Mercy Church hosted the event, starting with prayers and music, before candles were lit in honor of the missing teen.

A photograph released by police show him with his head shaved and in a t-shirt which said ' I hurt my brother' as well as having a sad crying face on it.

Police launched a manhunt for the vulnerable teen, with a missing person alert saying 'he is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance'

Heres the most recent release from WTHR-TV. Scottie, if youre seeing this, please reach out to our department! We are here to help you anyway we can! If you have any information on the whereabouts of Scottie, please call the department at 765-396-3297, 911, or call the non emergency line for dispatch 765-747-7878. Posted by Eaton Indiana Police Department on Monday, March 20, 2023

Scottie's mom, Felicia Morris, said: 'I know you are mad and confused and I'm afraid you're scared with all of this. Everyone is looking out for you, we're not trying to scare you. You're not in trouble'

Scottie was said to be wearing black shoes, red and black shorts and a white T-shirt with writing on the front  suggesting he was in the offensive item of clothing at the time he vanished.

Police Chief Jay Turner said Scottie's parents forced him to wear the shirt as a punishment, although it's unclear what for.

However, he said the photo was 'displayed as an investigation tool', suggesting it could hold clues about the circumstances of Scottie's disappearance or aid the search.

Chief Turner said: 'The shirt, it was quite unorthodox, kind of disturbing, and we're looking into that.'

But the police chief shut down speculation that Scottie was forced to have his head shaved, saying the boy's haircut in the photo was 'his idea'.

He said Scottie's parents were heartbroken and 'beat up pretty bad on social media' after the picture of Scottie in the t-shirt was posted, adding: 'Right now, they have cooperated the entire time with us.'

Deputy Chief Chris Liggett said on Monday that 'there have been several interviews done, polygraphs have been conducted'.

Dozens of people turned out for the candlelight vigil in the tiny town, with a family friend saying 'let's bring this child home'

The search operation has included infrared drones, a boat search of a nearby river and bloodhound teams

But cops have also admitted that the investigation came to a 'standstill', after Scottie's mother Felicia sobbed as she begged her son to come home.

In an interview last week she said: 'Scott, I love you and I want you to come home.

'I know you are mad and confused and I'm afraid you're scared with all of this. Everyone is looking out for you, we're not trying to scare you. You're not in trouble.

'If you're in a house and they come to you and you don't want to go out because it's the cops, reach out.

'Me and dad will come get you. I love you and I just want you to come home. I need to know that you're safe.'
U.S. congresswoman posts her first video on TikTok in support of the app

People's Daily Online) 15:03, March 27, 2023

As a potential TikTok ban looms, U.S. Democratic House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her unique support to the app by posting her first video on this social media platform, according to The Hill.

Do I believe TikTok should be banned? No. Ocasio-Cortez said at the beginning of her video to express her stand.

She said that banning the popular video-sharing app would be an unprecedented move.

She also mentioned the reason why the US government was trying to ban TikTok. They say because of this egregious amount of data harvesting, we should ban this app. However, that doesnt really address the core of the issue, said the outspoken Democrat in her video.

In fact, the United States is one of the only developed nations in the world that has no significant data or privacy protection laws on the books, she claimed.

Screenshot of a video by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Democratic House Representative on TikTok.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Du Mingming)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump in a new survey out of Iowa, following a week where he ventured some of his harshest attacks on the former president and Trump hurled back a series of insults.

The Iowa poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for Axios, centers on a state that is emerging as a key political battleground for forces in the Republican Party hoping to turn back Trump.

DeSantis leads Trump by eight points, 45 to 37, in a head-to-head matchup, according to the poll.

The news comes after Trump was rallying his base once again with a rally in Waco, where he once again attacked Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg amid signs he could be on the verge of being indicted on matters related to a 'hush' agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump told reporters DeSantis would be working in a cigar store if it weren't for his endorsement for governor.

DeSantis does not perform as well in a crowded primary, which might come closer to approximating reality a year from now. When former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are included, Trump and DeSantis are tied in Iowa.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads former President Donald Trump in a new poll out of Iowa

DeSantis leads Trump head-to-head in Iowa, although they tie when other announced candidates are included. The two rivals are tied in fist primary state New Hampshire

Trump benefitted from a free-for-all in the 2016 Republican primary, and could do so again in a large field that divides his supports.

DeSantis in an interview last week said he didn't have anything to do with hush payments to a porn star  in a statement Trump's camp took as an attack. Trump responded with another of his own attacks on 'Ron DeSanctimonious.'

Trump and DeSantis were tied in New Hampshire in a poll by the same firm, with each at 39 percent.

Former President Donald Trump has been expanding his lead over DeSantis nationally, and rallied with his base in Waco, Texas over the weekend

Trump kept up his attacks on DeSantis en route to Texas, saying he would be running a cigar store if it weren't for his endorsement

DeSantis bested Trump on favorability ratings, with an 81-11 rating in Iowa compared to Trump's 74-24 among Republican voters. In New Hampshire, DeSantis was at 77-5, while Trump's rating was 69-29.

The early state surveys come as Trump has expanded his lead over DeSantis in national surveys.

He has become a favorite of a range of Republicans who are seeking an alternative to Trump, but some of his national policy views are still being known  such as his recent comment calling Russia's war on Ukraine a 'territorial dispute,' in a comment he tried to walk back.

Iowa always enjoys outsized influence in the winnowing process as the first state to hold a caucus, with the Republican caucuses set for the start of 2024. If Trump, as the former Republican president, were to suffer a defeat there, it could strike a blow to his aura as the clear frontrunner in the field. Trump, who unlike DeSantis has announced his bid, visited Davenport earlier this month.

Trump was narrowly defeated by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz there in 2016 (Trump accused him of 'fraud,' at the time when his own seriousness as a candidate was still being assessed. A defeat as an incumbent could have a more pronounced impact.

New Hampshire is set to hold its first-in-the-nation primary in January 2024. Trump easily defeated former GOP Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld there in 2020. As a small state, it has traditionally provided upstart candidates with a stage to try to mount a challenge, and a less-than-stellar performance there could wound Trump.
A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on the M4 motorway after police caught him driving an uninsured car towing a caravan.

The schoolboy was driving the Saab with three friends in the passenger seats when police spotted them on the M4 in Wiltshire.

He was arrested when they realised he was under age and did not have a driving licence.

The boy, from County Clare, Ireland, appeared before magistrates in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he admitted several driving offences.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: 'A teenager who was just 14 when he was caught towing a caravan on the M4 has appeared in court.

The 14 year-old was stopped by police while driving a Saab towing a caravan on the M4 in Wiltshire

'The boy, who has since turned 15 but cannot be named due to legal reasons, appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court charged with obstructing police, driving without a licence or insurance.

'It follows his arrest on October 26 last year when a police officer spotted him driving a Saab and towing a caravan on the M4 westbound between junction 16 and junction 17.

'The vehicle had three passengers inside - none of these people had a valid UK driving licence.

'Police indicated for the vehicle to stop and the teenager, who was in the driving seat, initially gave officers a false name and claimed he was 22 years old.

'He was arrested and taken to custody, and later charged. The teenager, who is from County Clare in Ireland, admitted all offences.

'Due to a lack of means, no order for costs was made. He was given a four-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a 20 surcharge.'

Police constable Luke Hobbs said: 'Not only was this boy just 14 with no driving licence, none of the three passengers inside the vehicle had a valid driving licence either.

'Their actions could have had devastating consequences on other road users and it is fortunate that no collisions occurred as a result of such stupidity.'
Donald Trump warned of nuclear escalation with Russia due to 'incompetent people' in the U.S. government on Monday morning.

'Here we go!!! Just as I predicted, now we're playing with the 'BIG STUFF.' The 'N' WORD is now being used, front and center,' he wrote on Truth Social, reacting to news Vladimir Putin is placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

'This situation was caused by us - It's what happens when you have incompetent people running your government. All I can say to you right now is, PRAY!'

Moscow is set to complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in July Putin told state broadcaster Russia 1.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch supporter of the invasion, has long asked for the weapons on the territory, Putin said during an interview on Russian state television.

Donald Trump warned of nuclear escalation with Russia due to 'incompetent people' in the U.S. government on Monday morning

Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, left

It will be the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have based such arms outside of the country, something it says the US has done for decades.

Belarus borders NATO country Poland. NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu called Putin's rhetoric 'dangerous and irresponsible' but said the West did not need to change its nuclear posture.

'NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation,' Lungescu added. 'We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.'

White House national security spokesman John Kirby also downplayed the matter on CBS on Sunday.

'I can tell you we've seen nothing that would indicate Mr. Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way whatsoever in Ukraine,' he said. 'And I can also tell you that we haven't seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture.'
Dozens of migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Sunday as MPs prepare to scrutinise the Government's Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Commons.

A total of 87 migrants were brought into the harbour at Dover in Kent yesterday after being intercepted at sea, bringing the total of illegal crossings so far for 2023 to 3,767.

The group are the first to arrive by small boats since just over a week ago, when three boats carrying 118 people were intercepted.

Officials have predicted that as many as 80,000 people could make the crossing this year.

A total of 87 migrants were brought into the harbour at Dover in Kent yesterday after being intercepted at sea, bringing the total of illegal crossing so far for 2023 to 3,767

Officials have predicted that as many as 80,000 people could make the crossing this year. Pictured: Migrants brought into Dover Marina by Border Force agents on March 17

Thousands of migrants from around the world travel to northern France each year in hopes of reaching the UK.

Most attempt the journey in dinghies and other small craft now that authorities have clamped down on other routes such as stowing away on buses or trucks.

At the weekend, dozens off migrants made the treacherous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits in two boats.

The weekend crossings bring the total official figure so far for 2023 to 3,767 arriving in 88 boats.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak could face biggest backbench rebellion of his premiership and a Cabinet war today over plans to block the European Court of Human Rights from interfering in small boats cases Advertisement

A total of 45,728 people arrived in 1,104 boats last year, compared to around 28,000 in 2021 and 8,500 in 2020.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: 'The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.

'Our priority is to stop this illegal trade, and our new Small Boats Operational Command - bolstered by hundreds of extra staff - is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.

'We are also going further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and swiftly removed to another country.'

The release of the latest figures comes as the Government pushed its contentious migration bill forward in Parliament today, despite a call from Europe's top human rights organisation for lawmakers to block the legislation.

The Bill would bar asylum claims by anyone who reaches the UK by unauthorised means, and compel the government to detain and then deport them 'to their home country or a safe third country.' They would be banned from ever reentering the UK.

The proposed legislation has been at the centre of controversy, with critics warning that it leaves the UK foul of its international obligations.

But right-wing Tory MPs have signalled that it does not go far enough, with some calling for ministers to take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to drive through tighter border controls.

Others on the liberal wing want to see Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commit to establishing safe routes via which asylum seekers can come to Britain.

The Prime Minister sought to play down suggestions he and Home Secretary Suella Braverman were at odds over the Bill following reports she has been privately encouraging rebels on the right in order to pressurise him to toughen up the legislation.

Speaking during a visit to Essex today, Mr Sunak said he was confident they had designed a Bill that was 'robust and effective' while remaining compliant with the UK's obligations under international law.

'The Home Secretary and I have worked incredibly closely for the last two months to get the legislation exactly right,' he said.

'This is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we haven't seen. It's important that it is effective, which it will be. It is also important that we abide by our international obligations. This is a country and a Government that does follow the law.'

Downing Street dismissed suggestions that Ms Braverman was being used a 'right-wing sock puppet' by Tory rebels seeking to dilute the role of the European Court of Human Rights.

'Both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have been clear that this Bill will comply with international law and stop the boats,' the spokesman said.

Policing minister Chris Philp said Ms Braverman is in 'listening mode as always', as he played down suggestions that the Government could accept amendments to establish more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to enter the UK.

The Government says the new law, once approved by Parliament, will deter migrants and hobble smuggling gangs who send desperate people on hazardous journeys across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

But charities and refugee groups say it is unethical, unworkably and likely illegal.

The United Nations' refugee agency said the law would be a 'clear breach of the Refugee Convention' and amount to an 'asylum ban.'

Britain receives fewer asylum-seekers than some European nations such as Italy, Germany or France, but thousands still try to enter the country each year.
The United States Army has pulled new recruitment advertisements featuring embattled Marvel star Jonathan Majors after he was arrested on charges of assaulting a woman.

Majors, who was arrested in New York on Saturday on assault charges after allegedly beating his girlfriend inside a vehicle, was the voice of a dramatic pair of Army ads which were released in March as a part of an ambitious new recruitment campaign.

The Army said in a statement it was aware of Majors' arrest and was 'deeply concerned by the allegations. It added that while Majors 'is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete.'

The actor, who recently appeared in Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, hired attorney Priya Chaudhry to defend him. She is known for defending Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah of charges of wire fraud, which she plead guilty to.

Chaudhry vehemently denied the charges against Majors, saying he was 'completely innocent and is probably the victim of an alteration with a woman he knows.'

Marvel star Jonathan Majors denied the charges against him, and said he has video to prove it

Majors appears in a recent United States Army recruitment campaign, which was pulled

Jonathan Majors, 33, was spotted exclusively by DailyMail.com photographers leaving a New York City

In her statement Chaudhry noted that her team is 'quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently.'

She also said that her team has video footage from the vehicle where the alleged assault occurred, witness testimony from the driver and others who saw and heard the alleged altercation 'and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting the allegations.'

'All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever,' Chaudhry continued, claiming, 'this incident came about because this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital yesterday.

'The NYPD is required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested. We expect these charges to be dropped soon,' she said.

Chaudhry is now expected to present all of that evidence to the District Attorney, which has already granted a limited court-ordered protection for the alleged victim.

The District Attorney has requested a full order of protection be put in place, TMZ reports, indicating the need for further protection from Majors.

A spokesperson for the Creed III actor also denied any wrongdoing, saying Majors 'has done nothing wrong' and 'we look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.'

Majors appeared alongside Revolutionary War soldiers in the latest Army campaign

The US Army was hopeful the popularity of Majors' recent films would boost recruitment

Army leaders were hopeful that the popularity of Majors' recent films would help them reach the youth audience.

The Army ads, titled 'Overcoming Obstacles' and 'Pushing Tomorrow,' are part of the plan to revive the Army's 'Be All You Can be' motto. They highlighted the history of the Army and some of the many professions that recruits can pursue.

The 'Be All You Can Be' slogan dominated its recruiting ads for two decades starting in 1981. A nearly two-minute preview video, made available before the campaign rollout in early March, featured soldiers jumping out of airplanes, working on helicopters, climbing obstacle courses and diving underwater. A voiceover said: 'We bring out the best in the people who serve, because America calls for nothing less.'

In the Army's worst recruiting year in recent history, the service fell 25% short of its goal to enlist 60,000 recruits in 2022. The new ads were a key element in the Army's drive to find creative new ways to attract recruits and ensure that the service has the troops it needs to help defend the nation.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the Army has set a difficult goal for this year: aiming to bring in 65,000 recruits, which would be 20,000 more than in 2022.

Representatives for Majors' did not respond to DailyMail.com requests for comment at the time of publication.

Playing the villain: He also recently starred as the Marvel villain Kang the Conquerer in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania; Pictured with Paul Rudd in a still from Ant-Man
Two migrants are under custody after they used a motorized hang glider to fly from Cuba to Florida.

The Cubans traveled nearly 90 miles from the communist island, landing safely at Key West International Airport on Saturday morning.

The two individuals were arrested by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The ultralight aircraft's invasion of the airspace did not cause interruptions to operations at Key West International Airport, airport officials said.

Two Cubans were arrested at Key West International Airport on Saturday after they flew over from the communist island on a motorized hang glider. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson declined to tell DailyMail.com on Monday the status of the two men and said that the incident is still under investigation

A motorized hang glider was used by two Cuban migrants to make the approximate 90-mile flight from the socialist-run island to Key West, Florida, on Saturday

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to provide DailyMail.com any information on the status of the duo and said that the incident is still under investigation.

Chris Ferrara told WSVN that he was shocked at the sight of the migrants' daring flight.

'Never seen this before', he said. 'I don't know if it's ever happened before. I've never heard of people crossing from Cuba in a hang glider.

Ferrara recalled the seeing the hang glider heading in the same direction where regular aircraft make their landings.

'It was going overheard. I knew it shouldn't be there; it was right in line for the landing approach of commercial airlines,' he said. 'I imagine it blew them quite across. It's a dangerous crossing, whether you are by water or air, especially in this wind in a little hang glider.'

An airport worker stands near the motorized hang glider used by two Cuban migrants to make the approximate 90-mile flight from the communist Caribbean island to Key West on Saturday

A hang glider was used by Cuban migrants to illegally migrate into the United States on Saturday

The brazen flight across ocean waters comes after 29-year-old Cuban migrant, Ruben Martinez, landed a small Soviet-era plane at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on October 21, 2022.

The Cuban pilot was arrested and received asylum in February.

The rise in Cubans fleeing the communist-run Caribbean island has been sparked by to the lack of basic goods, restrictions on civil liberties and the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuban were previously permitted to remain in the United States under President Bill Clinton's 'wet foot, dry foot' 1995 policy which revised the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.

The legislation also afforded them the eligibility to become residents within a year.

However, President Barack Obama ended the immigration policy in January 2017, signing an executive decision that put an end the longstanding law that granted permanent residency to Cubans reaching the country.

According to CBP figures, agents have reported 113,394 encounters with Cubans illegally crossing the southwestern border so far in fiscal year 2023  October 2022 to February 2023.

By comparison, officials reported 220,908 encounters with Cubans at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, which spanned from October 2021 to September 2022.

The U.S. Coast Guard has intercepted 5,862 Cuban migrants at sea in fiscal year 2023, on pace to surpass the 6,182 interdictions reported in fiscal year 2022.

Until January 5, Cuban migrants arriving at the northern border of Mexico obtained permits that granted them entry into U.S. territory, assuming there was a credible fear that prevented them from returning to the island.

Within month they normally received refugee benefits and a year after that the protection of the Cuban Adjustment Act.

Then the President Joe Biden administration unveiled its new policy: 30,000 migrants will be accepted each month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti.

The migrants are allowed to remain in the country for up to two years but must have a sponsor already in place in the U.S. Those who risk reaching the borders without permission would be deported and not be able to enter U.S. territory for five years.
Two Russian pupils 'fainted' as they were shown new school desks decorated with pictures and details on fighters killed in Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, according to local media.

Others students refused to sit at the 'macabre' desks at the school in Irkutsk, Russia, which display pictures of dead national guardsmen.

A teacher said: 'They were shocked by the crying relatives and fainted,' a teacher said.

A pupil added: 'It's the same as learning on a gravestone.' Another source said: 'They think the desks are macabre.'

Two Russian pupils 'fainted' as they were shown new school desks decorated with pictures and details of fighters killed in Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, according to local media

Others students refused to sit at the 'macabre' desks at the school in Irkutsk, Russia, which display pictures of dead national guardsmen

Putin's regime is seeking to propagandise the war in school and the desk tributes to fighters is part of this campaign.

Pupils are also expected to undergo military training and sing patriotic songs.

Teacher Alexei Volk, in charge of cadet classes at the school, admitted that the sight of the desks had been too much for some pupils. But he said most saw it as 'an honour to sit at such desks'.

National guards Akhmed Magomedov, Igor Meklyaev and Ivan Maksimov were among those immortalised on the school desks.
The 22-year-old was promoted to the rank of Sergeant the day after the battle

Medals from one of the last-known survivors of the legendary Battle of Rorke's Drift - immortalised in the film Zulu - will go on sale next month.

The medals of Alfred Saxty, who was just 22 at the time of the famous battle on January 22 1879, are expected to fetch up to 20,000.

Saxty was one of just over 150 British and colonial troops who bravely defended the station of Rorke's Drift in South Africa.

They fought off up to 4,000 Zulu warriors in what is still recognised as one of the most famous battles in British Military history.

His campaign medals from his South African and Burmese campaigns will go on sale at auction house Noonans' sale of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria next month.

The medals of Anglo-Zulu war veteran Alfred Saxty (pictured far left with other Rorke's Drift survivors) will go on sale and are expected to fetch up to 20,000

Saxty's campaign medals from his South African and Burmese campaigns will go on sale (pictured: front and back of the two medals)

Saxty, who served as a Corporal in 'B' Company of 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot, was one of the 'last few survivors' of the battle, which has since been the subject of several films; most notably the 1964 film Zulu, starring Michael Caine.

While the soldiers were awarded 11 Victoria Crosses for their efforts, the re-telling of their victory  released 59 years ago  has previously come under fire for alleged 'racist overtones' and 'factual inaccuracies'.

But last month it emerged the classic had been listed as a 'key text' for 'white nationalists' and 'supremacists' by the Government's beleaguered anti-terrorism Prevent scheme.

On Zulu making the list, Sir Michael, 90, told The Spectator : 'That is the biggest load of bull***t I have ever heard'.

After surviving the notorious battle, the very next day Saxty was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

He later served in Burma and India and was eventually discharged in February 1895 before dying in Newport, Wales, where he lived with his sister, in 1936, aged 77.

Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans, explained why his pair of campaign medals from South Africa and Burma were expected to fetch a high price.

He said: 'Alfred Saxty of 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot served as a Corporal in 'B' Company at the defence, and was one of the last few survivors, of Rorke's Drift.

Sir Michael Caine has blasted the 'bull***t' suggestion his 1964 film Zulu could incite the far right after it was included on a government list of works that may 'encourage' extremism (Pictured: Stanley Baker, left and Michael Caine)

Documentation relating to Alfred Saxty, who had a military career spanning from 1876 to 1895

What happened at Rorke's Drift? How 150 British soldiers held off 4,000 Zulu warriors in 1879 battle On January 11, 1879, a British force commanded by Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand. From 22 to 23 January, on the bank of the Buffalo River in Natal Province, South Africa a 140-strong British garrison successfully defended the Rorke's Drift mission station. The British garrison was commanded by Lieutenant John Chard, Royal Engineers and Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead of the 24 Foot. The Zulus were commanded by Prince Dabulamanzi kaMapande. Lt Chard was the commanding officer and organised the epic defence which saw them defy all odds to see off the 4,000 fierce Zulu warriors. Rorke's Drift inspired the 1964 Hollywood blockbuster starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine For 12 hours the British repelled the spear-carrying tribesmen with accurate shooting and brutal hand-to-hand combat. The Zulus, known for their bravery and ferocity, were eventually forced to retreat with 350 of their number killed compared to 17 British. The defensive British force was rewarded by Queen Victoria's government with no fewer than 11 Victoria Crosses. The battle was part of the wider Anglo-Zulu war took place during 1879. The conflict began because the Zulu kingdom presented an obstacle to British imperial ambitions in southern Africa. The British invasion of Zululand began on January 11, 1879, with the British seeking an eventual federation in Africa. Source: British Battles.com Advertisement

'He was just 22 years old when he was involved in one of the most famous battles in British military history, which saw just over 150 British and colonial troops defend the South African hospital against attacks by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors in January 1879.

'In fact, Saxty was promoted to Sergeant the day after the defence. Medals linked to this conflict always attract substantial attention.'

Saxty was born at Buckland Dinham, near Frome in Somerset, and enlisted for 25 Brigade at Newport, Monmouthshire in September 1876, aged 19.

He was posted to the 2nd Battalion, 24th Foot at Brecon two days later and served in South Africa from 1 February 1878 to 12 January 1880, during the Anglo-Zulu War, fought between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom in 1879.

Britain, which instigated the war in an effort to emulate the previous century's forming of a federation in Canada, eventually emerged victorious from the conflict, ending Zulu dominance in the region of southern Africa.

Saxty, along with 150 fellow British and colonial comrades, successfully defended the mission station of Rorke's Drift against sustained attacks from between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulu warriors over 12 hours of fierce fighting.

After seven months of service in the Mediterranean, Saxty's regiment moved to India in August 1880 and served in Burma between May 1886 and January 1887, before returning to India again.

Saxty was confined in May 1881 and charged with being drunk on duty.

Saxty (far left) with some of his fellow soldiers who successfully defended the mission station of Rorke's Drift against sustained attacks from between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulu warriors

He was sentenced by Court Martial to be reduced to the rank of Private, and to serve 56 days imprisonment with hard labour and stoppage of pay, in addition to being fined 1 and forfeited Good Conduct Pay.

He steadily regained his steps in rank to become Sergeant again in December of 1885.

After his service in the Burma campaign, Saxty re-engaged for the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment at Madras in October 1887, 'for such term as shall complete 21 years' service.'

He transferred to the 2nd Battalion of that regiment on New Year's Day 1888 and then transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers on July 14 1891.

Reduced to the rank of Corporal in October 1894, he was discharged at his own request at Thayetmyo, Burma, on February 28 1895.

Saxty was admitted to In-Pension at Chelsea Hospital on June 12 1930 but reverted to Out-Pension in October 1933 to live with his sister in Newport, Monmouthshire, where he died three years later, at the age of 77.

He was buried with military honours at St Wollos Cemetery, Newport, on July 15 1936.

Noonans' Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria sale will be held on Wednesday, April 19.
HAS YOUR HOME BEEN AFFECTED BY THE SPILL?

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People living in Sandbanks homes worth millions of pounds have revealed their fears for marine life and their properties after an oil spill in nearby Poole Harbour spilled 1,000 gallons of the substance into the sea.

Those residing in one of Britain's wealthiest and most exclusive neighbourhoods found themselves in the face of a potential nightmare after the oil burst from a pipeline running underneath the country's biggest natural harbour.

The enviable location of Sandbanks, which has uninterrupted views into the English Channel and sits at the mouth of the harbour, has left some residents fearing the oil could end up on their beaches and harm their wildlife - while others are demanding compensation for the loss of trade after they were told to stay out of the water.

Close to the spill, more than 100 workers have spent hours battling to contain the oil, with helicopters, drones, vessels and shore patrols responded after a major incident was declared when about 200 barrels of 'reservoir fluid' - which contains crude oil - spilled into the body of water.

Around six tonnes (6,000 litres) of crude oil has leaked into the area, with wildlife experts urging Anglo-French oil and gas firm Perenco to 'take action to clean this up' and calling for 'a proper investigation' to avoid a repeat.

And a dog owner believes his pet was left with badly swollen paws after coming into contact with the pollution yesterday on the shoreline where oily puddles have appeared along with blobs of a black tar-like substance.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said it had received reports of 'oiled birds' in the area and although it was too early to fully assess the damage to wildlife, it was 'very concerned' about the effect on migrating birds.

HAS YOUR HOME BEEN AFFECTED BY THE SPILL? Send your pictures to mark.duell@mailonline.co.uk and tips@dailymail.com

Stephen Glover and his partner Debbie Haughton with their dog Stella in Poole today. Oily puddles have appeared on the shoreline by Hamworthy Park along with blobs of a black tar-like substance

Thick tar washed up on the beach this morning in Poole following the incident at the harbour

The area of the leak is close to Sandbanks, the exclusive peninsula home to Britain's most expensive waterfront homes and has an award-winning Blue Flag beach that attracts thousands of visitors in the summer months.

One of the major yacht clubs said the spill has left 'plenty of pollution' floating around the exclusive peninsula.

Poole Harbour oil spill may have 'devastating' impact on local nature Environmental charities and experts say the oil spill in Poole Harbour could have a 'devastating' impact on sensitive nature reserves in the area. Here is what they have said: Dr Malcolm Hudson, associate professor in environmental science at the University of Southampton 'While we don't know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole Harbour raises particular concerns. 'It's a very large enclosed bay - and so pollutants may not be flushed out quickly by the tides. 'Also, it's a very low energy environment, so unlike a spill on an open coast there won't be much wave action to help break down and disperse the oil. 'Poole Harbour is especially sensitive and internationally protected for the wildlife there. 'Thousands of birds nest there in the spring; they are just arriving and some of the overwintering birds haven't left yet either. They are all vulnerable to floating oil. 'There's also sensitive habitats like mudflats and salt marshes which could be damaged too. 'Meanwhile, there's the human angle - people live and work in the marine, there's a big shellfishery and tourism is a big part of the local economy. 'Not only is this potentially a serious environmental incident, it illustrates the risks we take if we place infrastructure like oil pipelines in such sensitive locations.' Martin Barnes, marine response expert at environmental management company Ambipar 'The leak from the pipeline on Sunday was well reservoir fluid which is a brine mixture that contains an element of physical oil. 'The mixture will provide a visually unattractive sheen on the surface that will dissipate through evaporation during daylight hours. 'Some oil deposits may be left behind on solid surfaces, mammals, aquatic life and humans that have been in contact with the discharge during the release period. 'The deployed booms should contain any oil on the surface so it can be recovered. 'The brine element (water) of the discharge is also a hazard to the environment that will be very difficult to deal with as it will become diluted by the sea water, making it impossible to be recovered at sea.' Richard Hill from the Marine Conservation Society 'I am shocked and saddened to see yet another oil spill in UK waters. We need better protection for sensitive sites such as Poole Harbour. 'The seabird breeding season is about to take place and there are tern and gull colonies close by at Brownsea Island that may be vulnerable. 'It would be awful for a future spill to impact on the wider area of the harbour, home to overwintering and breeding birds, or sensitive habitats such as the seagrass beds outside at Studland. 'This incident should be considered a warning to adequately protect sensitive sites and ensure that oil industry infrastructure is up to the task. 'We cannot allow these spills to continue to happen.' Greenpeace UK's climate campaigner Philip Evans 'This latest spill demonstrates the environmental devastation that comes with oil and gas drilling. 'Poole Harbour will still be drenched in oil when ministers decide whether or not to give the green light to the controversial Rosebank oilfield later this week. Surely this should give them pause for thought.' Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness 'Despite all the safety promises fossil fuel companies make, they simply cannot guarantee against these kinds of incidents. Sooner or later, this is the unavoidable reality of the oil industry. 'It's baffling that there are still MPs in the UK Parliament who complain about wind and solar farms spoiling the British landscape when the alternative is toxic oil polluting our waters and killing our wildlife.' Advertisement

A North Haven Yacht Club spokesperson said: 'There was plenty of oil floating around yesterday.

'We were first alerted to the pollution in the morning and when I went for a walk I could see it right along the harbour wall at Shore Road.

'We alerted the Environment Agency and Harbour Office and they said we were not the only people reporting this.

'It is very concerning to everyone in Sandbanks as there was a considerable amount of pollution.

'You just have to hope that the various organisations involved in the clean up are doing their best to clean all the oil up.'

Bob Lister, chairman of the Poole Beachhut Association, said Perenco, the oil company responsible for the leak, should compensate the paddleboarding businesses in Sandbanks for a loss of earnings while watersports groups are told to stay out of the polluted water.

Businessman Rob Wylie can see the site of the spill from his 10m harbourside mansion, leaving the 53-year-old worried.

He said: 'I haven't seen any oil around my property yet but I can see the area where the leak happened from my house and it does concern me that it could come here.

'At low tide, large volumes of water in Poole Harbour goes out through the harbour entrance and when it goes out it's like a river here so I think the chances of the oil being dragged this way is quite high, just because of the force of the water.

'I would imagine it is going to come this way, I'm definitely concerned about the impact, especially at this time of year.

'Obviously it would be inconvenient and not very nice to have oil coming onto our property but I am more concerned about the long-lasting effect to marine life.

'With all the recent news about sewage, it does just seem like it's one bad thing after another.

'My biggest concern as a resident would be that it gets played down. They say we have got it under control but you can't undo the bad stuff.

'The oil you can see on the top of the water that's all well and good, but there's a lot under the water that you can't see, that's much more difficult to track where that's turning up.

'And is there any chance this could happen again?'

Aerial photographs revealed the scale-up of the clean-up, while one picture showed tar on the beach. The area is the world's second largest natural harbour, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area.

The UK Health Security Agency warned members of the public that they 'should not swim in Poole Harbour or the surrounding area until further notice'. The council defined this area as 'water and beaches within Poole Harbour'.

Officials said anyone who has come into contact with the spill should immediately wash with soap and water  and if eyes were in contact, rise them with water.

Conservative MP for Poole Sir Robert Syms said he and South Dorset Tory Richard Drax have asked the Government to take an urgent question in the Commons today.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow told the Commons: 'Investigations are currently under way to determine the reason for the fault and to make sure that similar incidents are not repeated.

'I give him absolute assurances that I, as the minister, will be following this very closely to assure that all the correct procedures and the right investigation - which can then inform what we do in future in terms of the regulation and the regulator - is all carried out.'

Responding to MP Richard Drax, she said: 'I would like to give him absolute assurances that a full investigation is under way. It's critical that the investigation is carried out so that we've got the full details of what occurred.' She said the area is an 'extremely important nature and wildlife area', and 'I'm sure (Mr Drax) will share my concern for the impact to the local wildlife in the area', adding the pipe has been shut off and depressurised to prevent further discharges.

She said: 'The current situation appears to be stable, with the continuing focus of the strategic co-ordination group to gather further data to assess the environmental implications and to continue to progress a clean-up operation.

'I give him absolute assurances that I, as the minister, will be following this very closely to assure that all the correct procedures and the right investigation - which can then inform what we do in future in terms of the regulation and the regulator - is all carried out.'

On the other side of the harbour, oily puddles have appeared on the shoreline by Hamworthy Park along with blobs of a black tar-like substance.

The owners of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog believe their pet was left with badly swollen paws after coming into contact with the pollution yesterday.

Stephen Glover, the owner of Stella the dog, described smelling a 'stink of oil' similar to a petrol station forecourt before his pet emerged from the water with blackened feet.

Mr Glover, a company director, and partner Debbie Haughton took Stella home and cleaned her up but he said the grease-like substance was very difficult to get off her paws.

Mr Glover, 65, said: 'I took my dog down to Hamworthy Park as I do every day and there was this stink of oil. It was quite shocking. The smell was like standing on a garage forecourt when there's been a diesel spill.

'It was a very obvious smell. I started noticing lumps of congealed oil on the beach. My dog walked through it and it looked like she was wearing black socks it was so thick.

'We got her home and tried to clean it off her with washing up liquid and baby wipes, but it wasn't altogether successful. It was like grease, it was really difficult to remove.

'Her paws were all swollen up and red afterwards so I don't know if that was a reaction to the oil. I've been back down and some of it seems to have gone but I think a big clean up job is going to be needed.'

The scene of the oil leak where workers have placed a boom across the water at Owers Bay in Poole Harbour

Oil workers at the scene at Wellsite D at Owers Bay in Poole Harbour today as the clean-up continues

A general view of the Wytch Farm oil production centre near Poole in Dorset, pictured today

Peter Robertson, senior site manager at RSPB Arne, which borders the harbour, said: 'We have received reports of oiled birds in the area and we are monitoring the situation closely.

'The area is home to numerous bird species such as black-headed gull, Mediterranean gull, redshank and oystercatcher which breed on the coastline, and many other waterbirds which rely on the harbour mudflats for food.

Poole Harbour oil spill: What we know so far What has happened and where? About 200 barrels of reservoir fluid was released into Poole Harbour after a leak occurred from a pipeline at Wytch Farm oil field on Sunday. The incident began around 7am. The oil field in Dorset has been operating since 1979 and is one of the largest onshore oil fields in Europe. How much oil has leaked? About 15 per cent of the 31,000 litres (7,000 gallons) of fluid that has leaked is believed to be oil, meaning that almost 5,000 litres (1,000 gallons) of it may have polluted the harbour. What is being done in response? A team of oil spill responders have laid a 100ft long boom across the inlet, but the oily film can clearly be seen on both sides of it from an aerial view. Poole Harbour Commissioners are leading the clear-up of the spill and say the situation is now under control. An investigation has also been launched. What if you come into contact with it? Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash immediately with soap and water, health experts say. If eyes come into contact with it, they should be rinsed with water. What is the impact on wildlife? The RSPB's nature reserve at Arne on the edge of the harbour is home to lots of native wildlife, particularly rare birds including Dartford warblers, woodlarks and nightjars. Conservationists have expressed fears about how the spill could impact the local bird population. Advertisement

'There are wintering avocet, black-tailed godwit and curlew still present in the harbour. There may also be a risk to the many birds that fish in the harbour, such as sandwich terns and ospreys.'

Anyone who has come into contact with the spill has been asked to wash immediately with soap and water.

The organisation leading the clean-up of the oil spill today revealed that six tonnes (6,000 litres) of crude oil had leaked into the water.

And bosses at Poole Harbour Commissioners admitted they were 'completely in the dark' about the cause of the leak that started at 7am yesterday.

They also revealed that there are two sites being tackled - on opposite sides of the harbour.

One is the main site at Ower Bay, close to the Wytch Farm oil field, and the other is a slick in the Port of Poole Marina, three miles away. The major incident has been categorised as a tier 2 - 'medium' - spill and the clean up will be continuing all week.

Jim Stewart, chief executive of PHC, said: 'The maximum amount of crude oil that went into the water yesterday was six tonnes.

'Since 7am this morning all teams have been out assessing the shoreline and harbour, undertaking Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT). Over 100 people have been involved in these operations this morning.

'Helicopters, drones, vessels and shore patrols have been out gathering data and feeding it back to our Emergency Response Centre. Aerial footage gathered today suggests that there is a 60 to 70 per cent reduction in oil sightings on the water.

'Collection of oil from sightings has already commenced and is being recovered to a safe waste recovery site on the port estate.

'As a precaution, the public should still avoid using the water for recreational purposes and continue to avoid bathing at beaches within Poole Harbour until further updates become available.

'BCP Council is in the process of putting signage up on the beaches to inform bathers of this. All of these measures are keeping the situation stable.'

When asked about the cause of the leak, Mr Stewart said: 'We do not have an idea at this stage. Perenco will be doing a full investigation and will share results of the investigation and will share results of the investigation in due course. At this stage we're completely in the dark.'

The alarming scale of the Poole Harbour oil spill can be seen in the first aerial images of the leak.

Large sheens of oil have appeared on the surface of the water in a harbour inlet which is an important wildlife habit.

Although a team of oil spill responders have laid a 100ft long boom across the inlet, the oily film can clearly be seen on both sides of it, suggesting the leak has not been totally contained.

It is feared that almost 5,000 litres of oil from 31,000 litres of reservoir liquid leaked from a pipeline into Poole Harbour, one of the UK's most important and protected sites for wildlife.

The clean-up continues this morning after thousands of litres of oil leaked into Poole Harbour

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

The pipeline runs from the Wytch Farm oil field on the Arne peninsula to Furzey Island, where there are oil wells.

The site is the largest onshore oil field in western Europe, producing 20,000 barrels of oil a day. It is owned by Perenco.

Olivia Parton, 82, a retired chef, said she believes the spill must have taken place on Saturday as she saw a large amount of oil in the sea yesterday morning.

She said: 'I was walking 10.45am on Sunday and I could smell oil. I then looked out to the water and there were these dots, like 50p coins, of oil scattered everywhere.

'Then I noticed what must have been a 50ft long, thin strip of oil on the surface.'

The RSPB's nature reserve at Arne on the edge of the harbour is home to lots of native wildlife, particularly rare birds including Dartford warblers, woodlarks and nightjars.

The important habitat is 565 hectares and has a mix of heathland, woodland, grassland and mud flats.

The reserve has international significance for winter waders and wildfowl. Arne is home to the second largest population of avocets in the UK.

Wildlife conservationists have expressed their worries the oil spill could have on the local bird population.

And Brian Bleese, chief executive of Dorset Wildlife Trust, said the leak could not have happened in a more important place or at a more crucial time for wildlife.

He said: 'It is very early days but we are very concerned about it, 200 barrels is quite an amount and Poole Harbour is such a special place for wildlife, particularly breeding birds.

'Sandwich and common terns are arriving in the lagoon area of Brownsea Island and a whole host of wading birds use Poole Harbour.

'What we will be doing over the coming days and weeks is monitoring all of the areas sensitive to wildlife, patrolling the shore and looking for any signs there may be of contamination of birds.

'It can matte their feathers and affect their ability to fly and to feed and of course it can poison them.

'Other concerns that are less obvious is the effect on sealife like bivalve shellfish. It was a mix of oil and contaminated water so although the oil will hopefully disperse that will leave contaminants in the water. That's less easy to see.

'We do expect Perenco to take action to clean this up and there will need to be a proper investigation to make sure it never happens again.

'It absolutely could not have happened in a worse place. Poole Harbour is a very protected environment - an SSSI, a special protection area and a conservation area.'

A local birdwatcher, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was worried about the oil spill on the harbour's bird population.

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

He said: 'They are saying it's a small amount of oil but it can spread over a huge area. It's a bit like saying the bird is only getting a little bit of cyanide.'

Wildlife charity Birds of Poole Harbour said the incident is 'incredibly worrying'.

How Perenco chief executive worked his way up the company and lives in Belgravia home Benoit de la Fouchardiere, 50 The pipeline in question is operated by Perenco, which runs nearby Wytch Farm, the largest on-shore oil field in Western Europe. The chief executive of Perenco is Benoit de la Fouchardiere, whose LinkedIn profile states he has worked for the company since 1997, and in London since 2016. The 50-year-old's previous postings with the company have included roles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Cameroon and Gabon. He is a graduate of the IFP (Institut Francais du Petrole) School and Grenoble INP - Ense3 in France, and said in a March 2021 interview with The Africa Report that the company's success 'makes some people jealous'. Mr de la Fouchardiere is registered as living at a property in London's Belgravia within a multi-million pound house split into flats, which are mostly owned by the company's chairman Francois Perrodo. Advertisement

The harbour is home to a pair of ospreys which are part of a ground-breaking conservation project trying to re-establish an osprey colony in the south of England.

The male osprey returned to the harbour from West Africa on Sunday morning and will use the harbour as a feeding ground over the coming days.

A spokesman for Birds of Poole Harbour said: 'Although we don't know the full extent of the spill yet, the fact it's happened right in the middle of such an environmentally important area is incredibly worrying.

'Poole Harbour hosts nationally and internationally important numbers of wetland birds.

'Right now we're in that important transition period where our winter birds are leaving, and our summer birds are arriving, many of which use the southern shore of the harbour for feeding, nesting and hunting.

'The local community have an incredibly strong attachment to the harbour and it's environment which was highlighted yesterday morning when our male Osprey arrived back safely from West Africa, exciting thousands of people as he landed on the nest seen via a camera we installed this winter.

'The elation of the male's safe return home yesterday morning was soon dashed by late afternoon when news of the oil spill was announced.

'Right now huge numbers of birds are on the move, having over-wintered further south and will soon be using Poole Harbour as a service station to feed up before continuing north.

'There are several areas of concern. One is that any birds that come into physical contact with this substance can see their feathers damaged and become less water resistant.

'The substance will also encourage any affected birds to preen constantly, meaning they could ingest the hazardous liquid.

'The other unknown is how much of the oil will settle on the mud and harbour shorelines and what impact will that have on marine invertebrates.

'Although thankfully, as of yet there have been no confirmed reports of any birds showing signs of distress as a result of the incident, although it is still early days.'

Dante Munns, the RSPB area manager for Dorset, said: 'As it is on Poole Harbour, the location is really important as the impact could be massive for conservation.

'We were quite lucky by the quick response, and it brought together authoritative bodies to deal with the incident. Hopefully the dispersion of the oil is quick.'

Jim Stewart, from the Poole Harbour Commissioners said: 'We have a huge team, over 60 individuals, who are looking at the harbour.

'We have helicopters and drones flying across to ascertain how much oil has been released and where it has come ashore.

'Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours, 10,000 acres, so it is a huge area. We have four separate teams combing the harbour to understand the extent of the spill.'

The Poole Harbour area, as seen from from Hamworthy Park beach, Dorset, where a major incident has been declared after oil leaked from a pipeline into the harbour

Oil workers seen today at Wellsite D at Owers Bay in Poole harbour following a major oil leak

'Although thankfully, as of yet there have been no confirmed reports of any birds showing signs of distress as a result of the incident, although it is still early days.'

Jim Stewart, from the Poole Harbour Commissioners said: 'We have a huge team, over 60 individuals, who are looking at the harbour.

'We have helicopters and drones flying across to ascertain how much oil has been released and where it has come ashore.

'Poole Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours, 10,000 acres, so it is a huge area. We have four separate teams combing the harbour to understand the extent of the spill.'

Sir Robert Syms, MP for Poole, said: 'We have a very delicate ecosystem, areas of special scientific interest, we've got leisure interest, we've got fishing interest and the oil industry co-existed with that for about 40 years and generally speaking operated pretty well.

'But we've always been aware there could be an incident which is why the harbour commissioners and the other authorities have always had a recovery plan in case this happens, fortunately the oil company put its hands up fairly quickly to say that the recovery plan ran into action.

'I think the preparation that the authority (BCP Council) made in the event of a spill actually proved to work and I think both the oil companies and environment agency fairly quickly. I think everything sort of went to plan.'

Phil Broadhead, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said today that the incident was 'just unacceptable, there's no other words for this'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: 'When I first heard about this yesterday, clearly I was angry and disappointed.

'We have the second largest natural harbour in the world here, award-winning beaches, a very delicate ecosystem. So the natural reaction is always to be very worried.

'From what we are hearing - we're not the lead agency on this, Poole Harbour Commissioners is, clearly it's an outside body that runs the facility - it's a small leak of reservoir fluid, so about 85 per cent water and 15 per cent oil, which was caught fortunately quite quickly. They've stopped any further leaks.

'One hopes at the moment that we have avoided any real disaster here. We won't know more until this morning but the early indications are already that the surface slick is already dispersing.'

Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) has put its oil spill plan into action and also warned the public not to swim in the surrounding area.

The wetlands are recognised as being internationally important for wildfowl and it is an important area for breeding and overwintering water birds.

Just outside Poole Harbour, Poole Bay is a Marine Conservation Area. The seabed features ten types of habitat and is home to more than 360 marine species.

Mr Broadhead added: 'As soon as the oil or any of the material gets ashore, that's when everything becomes much more difficult and has the bigger ecological effects as well.

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

'In these circumstances you ideally want it out to sea and dispersing as quickly as possible.

'We've got experts coming in this morning through the lead agency on this to assess further, so we'll know more shortly.

'But what we are urging people in the area at the moment is just to stay out of the water, no recreational activities, and if you do get in contact with water, just to wash with soap and water.

'But we're not talking huge amounts, terrible though this is, and we are hoping and keeping our fingers crossed that this will disperse quickly.'

The area is close to Sandbanks, the exclusive peninsula that is home to Britain's most expensive waterfront homes and has an award-winning Blue Flag beach that attracts thousands of visitors in summer.

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

Workers in a field during the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset today

An aerial view of the clean-up operation at Ower Bay at Poole Harbour in Dorset this morning

The pipeline is operated by Perenco, which runs nearby Wytch Farm, the largest on-shore oil field in Western Europe. The leak happened under Ower Bay.

The pipeline was turned off and floating barriers known as booms were placed either side of the leak.

Dr Fay Couceiro, a pollution expert from Portsmouth University said: 'Any large oil spill is a concern to the environment but I was hopeful that I have heard it seems to be under control and there is no further leak and the oil spill response plan has gone into effect.

'The sheen on the surface of the water is the lighter fraction of the oil, that will disperse over a few days, disperse and turn into gas. That's good news because that part is quite toxic so that has quite quick negative impacts on wildlife.

'The longer term concern is the heavier parts of the oil which sink down to the bottom, it goes sticky and likes to get into the sediment.

'That can stay for many years and tend to be more carcinogenic. That could have a negative impact over time for many years.'

Poole Harbour in Dorset is pictured yesterday after a large pipeline leaked into the water

The RSPB Arne nature reserve in Poole, pictured yesterday, near where the leak occurred

Roads to the coast near Norden in Dorset were closed yesterday amid the major incident

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council told people to avoid swimming in the harbour

Steve Harding, who has a boat at Salterns Marina in the harbour, came into contact with some oil yesterday. He said: 'It was definitely noticeable, there was a significant amount of oil on the water.

'We've been very lucky here that we've not really suffered this type of event before. I've been in and on the water for a decade and have never seen anything like this before, it is unusual.'

And Garry Connell said: 'I was windsurfing in the harbour yesterday afternoon at the back of round island and it stank of oil.'

Members of the public have so far heeded the warnings to stay out of the water. There was no sign of anybody in the sea at popular Branksome Beach this morning.

Only a handful of dog walkers and the occasional jogger could be seen on the sand and promenade.

One walker, who wished to remain anonymous, said his friends who were swimmers had decided against entering the water amid safety warnings.

The area is the world's second largest natural harbour and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash with soap and water

Poole Harbour Commissioners warned the public not to swim in the area until further notice

The man in his 40s said: 'My swimming friends all know about it (the oil spill).

'I always walk along here on a Sunday and Monday morning and there are normally 20 to 30 people in the water swimming but not today. I've not seen anyone.'

Shore Beach in posh Sandbanks, another popular spot for sea swimmers, was empty today. Windsurfers have also heeded official warnings to stay out of the water.

A spokesman for the Watersports Academy in Poole said: 'We have been staying out of the water and following the advice of the Poole Harbour Commissioners.'

Perenco and PHC have commissioned two companies specialising in oil spill incidents to help with the clear-up.

In a statement PHC said: 'PHC have activated their oil-spill plan and are working with a number of organisations. A major incident has been declared and a gold command unit has been established.

The RSPB Arne nature reserve in Poole is just around the corner from where the leak occurred

The millionaires' playground of Sandbanks sits very close to where the pipe leaked in Poole

'We would advise members of the public that they should not swim in Poole Harbour or the surrounding area until further notice.

'Anyone who has come into contact with the spill should wash immediately with soap and water. If eyes have come into contact with the spill they should be rinsed with water.'

Franck Dy, Perenco UK's Wytch Farm general manager, said: 'Any spill is an extremely serious matter and a full investigation will be launched to ascertain what happened in Poole Harbour.

'It is important to stress that the situation is under control, with the discharge of fluids having been stopped and the spill is being contained.'

The firm confirmed a clean-up operation was under way.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: 'We have received reports of a large amount of oil in Poole Harbour and we are supporting the port authority and other partners in responding to this incident.'
A family doctor has today appeared at court, pleading not guilty to charges of sexual assault against four patients.

Mohan Babu, 46, has been accused of non-penetrative sex attacks on four women who were receiving medical treatment at the time of the alleged offences.

They are said to have taken place in the Havant area of Hampshire between September 2019 and July 2021.

He has been accused of touching the four women inappropriately while carrying out medical examinations on them.

It was heard that it happened to one of the patients on two occasions.

GP Mohan Babu leaves Portsmouth Crown Court, Hampshire, where he is accused of five sexual assaults against four women between September 2019 and July 2021

Babu (pictured outside Portsmouth Crown Court today) is accused of non-penetrative sexual assaults against four women who were receiving medical treatment at the time of the alleged offences

The 46-year-old was released on conditional bail until the trial, which is set to begin on January 8 2024 at Portsmouth Crown Court

However, the GP denied five charges of non-penetrative sexual assault, which happened at the Staunton Surgery in Havant, Hampshire.

Wearing a white shirt, blue tie and black trousers, Babu spoke only to confirm his name, address, date of birth as he entered his pleas at Portsmouth Crown Court on Monday.

His case has now been sent for trial.

The 46-year-old was released on conditional bail until the trial, which is set to begin on January 8 2024.

Judge Timothy Mousley KC said the trial will last three weeks.
Nearly 75 percent of respondents in a new poll said they believed former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign wouldn't be impacted or would be helped if he gets indicted in the Stormy Daniels hush-money probe.

A Trafalgar Group survey of likely U.S. voters conducted last week found that 37.5 percent believed an indictment would have no effect, while another 36.8 percent thought a criminal charge would give the former president a political boost.

Just 25.7 percent said it would hurt Trump's campaign.

Those polled who identified themselves as Democrats were more likely to believe an indictment- which would be a historic first - would hurt Trump's chances of retaking the White House.

Republicans were more likely to believe that an indictment would ultimately help the ex-president.

Nearly 75 percent of respondents in a new poll said they believed former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign wouldn't be impacted or would be helped if he gets indicted in the Stormy Daniels hush-money probe

Republicans were more likely to believe that an indictment would help Trump's political chances to retake the White House in the 2024 presidential elections, while just 14.8 percent of Democrats surveyed said an indictment would give Trump a boost

When Democrats were asked about the brewing indictment, just 14.8 percent said it helps Trump's campaign.

Another 42.7 percent said it would hurt the former president, while about the same among, 42.5 percent, said it would have no impact.

When Republicans were asked, 56.2 percent said an indictment would help Trump.

Just 11.3 percent of GOP voters said it would hurt Trump's campaign.

Another 32.5 percent predicted it wouldn't have an impact.

Interviews conducted by DailyMail.com at Trump's Waco rally mirrored the survey results, with attendees voicing that they believed an indictment would help him win.

Trump is facing legal problems on multiple fronts.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's grand jury will meet Monday again as they decide whether to indict Trump in the hush-money probe.

In addition, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis is looking into Trump's interference in the 2020 presidential election, as he called Georgia election officials to overturn President Joe Biden's win.

Trump's lawyer maintains that his client denies allegations of a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels  he also has called the $130,000 hush money a 'nuisance payment' that wealthy or famous people sometimes use to make a distracting situation disappear

Former President Donald Trump, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right. DeSantis' allies are gaining confidence in his White House prospects as former President Donald Trump's legal woes mount.

Trump is also being scrutinized at the federal level, with Special Counsel Jack Smith handling the Justice Department's investigations into the ex-president's handling of classified documents after he left office and his role in the January 6 Capitol attack.

At the same time, national polls show Trump with a commanding lead over his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who's not yet announced an official 2024 bid.

The Real Clear Politics polling average shows Trump earning the backing of 44.3 percent of potential Republican primary voters, while DeSantis sits at 29.2 percent.

That being said, two new polls conducted early last week show DeSantis looking competitive against Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire. These states will hold the first GOP caucus and first Republican presidential primary early next year.

Axios was given polling data from the Republican polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies, which found that DeSantis was leading Trump 45 percent to 37 percent in Iowa and tied with him, 39 percent to 39 percent, in New Hampshire.

In 2016, Trump lost the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but won the New Hampshire primary decisively, going on to win the GOP nomination.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has declared that peanut butter cannot be packed indiscriminately on flights within and connecting to the US, arguing it is a liquid substance and therefore banned under aviation security rules.

For years, to Jif-lover's dismay, the the agency tasked with vetting Americans for air travel has maintained the savory snack is a liquid - due to it having 'no definite shape' and taking a form 'dictated by its container.'

Thus, the agency insists, a passenger can 'spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it' while traveling - a potential safety hazard the TSA says can disrupt flights and other passengers' experience.

Travelers looking to tack a jar on their carry-on have since been limited to a 3.4 ounce allowance set aside for liquids - an amount foodies around the globe have either decried or tried to circumvent.

As debate among the beloved food's physical state persists to this day, the TSA took to its official Twitter account to confirmed its stance on the spread - reminding prospective travelers about the limits in place.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has declared that peanut butter cannot be packed indiscriminately on flights within and connecting to the US, due to it having 'no definite shape' and thus at risk of being spilled

the TSA took to its official Twitter account to confirmed its stance on the spread - reminding prospective travelers that they are limited to a 3.4 ounce allowance set aside for liquids

'You may not be nuts about it, but TSA considers your PB a liquid,' the group wrote in the now-viral post's caption that reiterated the 3.4 ounce liquid allowance.

An attached photo pointed to the agency's official rule concerning the lunchtime staple - that it 'has no definite shape' and is therefore subject to spills.

If a passenger can 'spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it,' the TSA wrote in message plastered atop a photo of a nondescript jar of peanut butter, 'then the carry-on quantity is limited to 3.4 ounce.'

For reference, a 'regular' size jar of stalwarts Skippy of Jif comes in at 18 ounces, meaning those looking to smuggle even a fraction of a jar are fresh out of luck.

As is the case with other liquids being brought on to a flight, the 3.4 ounce jar must be placed in a single quart-sized bag, 'with one bag permitted per passenger,' the agency added.

In another post shortly after, the agency announced another food restriction, involving cheese dip, stating that creamy sauces used for dipping going forward will also be confined to 3.4 ounces or less.

'In queso you're wondering, all your travel-size liquids need to fit in a single quart-size bag,' the group wrote, fresh off the heels of continued backlash for the peanut butter announcement.

Americans are voicing their distaste over the TSA's decree, further fueling debate about the food item's solid state

Both posts have received millions of interactions on both Twitter to Instagram, where Americans are voicing their distaste over the TSA's decree.

'Thank you for keeping us safe from peanut butter. Not all heroes wear capes,' one user joked, questioning how a food item could be deemed such a hazard.

'Sand and sugar would like a word about this definition of a liquid,' a more scientifically onlooker remarked.

Another sniped: 'The percentage of water our bodies carry may as well be banned too.'

Others debated about the state of matter about similar foods such as yogurt, while some thought up clever alternatives that may throw off watchful TSA workers.

One onlooker made the wayward point: 'What about PBJ sandwiches? Are there a limit on those?'
Liza's mom, Laura McKeithen said tumor was likely dormant for years before it became aggressive in very short time

University of Georgia senior Liza Burke, who suffered a brain bleed in Mexico, has now been diagnosed with a tumor, according to her heartbroken mother

The University of Georgia student who suffered a horrific brain bleed in Mexico while on Spring Break now has a tumor, her heartbroken mother revealed.

Liza Burke, 21, was complaining about having headaches while on vacation before being put on life support - and now doctors have found a tumor on her brain stem.

Her mother Laura McKeithen said the tumor, which is still undergoing testing, had likely been dormant for years. She said: 'The tumor became aggressive in a very short time.'

Liza's mom said her daughter is currently on a ventilator and breathing on her own but said until she responds to their commands - a toe wiggle or a hand squeeze - the doctors are reluctant to remove the vent.

McKeithen said the radiologist appears optimistic and her daughter may be able to undergo radiation treatments as early as Monday. She asked people to pray for her daughter's responsiveness and that she continue her fighting spirit.

Liza Burke pictured with her mom, Laura McKeithen. The University of Georgia student suffered a serious brain bleed during a spring break trip to Mexico. She has since been diagnosed with a condition called Arteriovenous malformation

Liza Burke, pictured right, suffered a serious brain bleed during a spring break trip to Mexico

Liza's mom Laura McKeithen wrote on a GoFundMe that if 'you feel led to send a note of encouragement, please send to Liza's attention at Mayo clinic in Jacksonville'

'She's the leader in this fight but we are her warriors marching into battle with her.'

Liza was enjoying her last 'last spring break' with a large group of friends in Cabo San Lucas and was struck down by a brain hemorrhage on March 10. She was rushed to hospital, where she was diagnosed with Arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

Her friends called an ambulance for her after she did not wake up after she complained of a headache and went to rest.

She said a full pathology report will not be ready for another week but, the doctor intends to start radiation on Monday and as soon as the mask is ready.

'Thankfully, our optimistic Dr. Trifiletti (radiologist) is pushing her radiation mask through for today-even if they need to make it while she is still on the ventilator,' Liza's mother wrote.

Though there are potential side effects, McKeithen said, it is 'well worth the risk given the rapid growth.'

Liza will undergo intense treatment that includes thirty sessions five days a week, Monday through Friday, over the next five to six weeks.

A GoFundMe has raised more than $140,000 for Liza's care.

Liza Burke, pictured right, a student at University of Georgia studying business management and Spanish

Her friends called an ambulance after she complained of a headache and than didn't get up from a nap she had taken

Liza's mom said her daughter is currently on a ventilator and breathing on her own but said until she responds to their commands - a toe wiggle or a hand squeeze - the doctors are reluctant to remove the vent
Claire Skinner

Claire Skinner (pictured in her latest role in McDonald & Dodds) played tired mum Sue Brockman in the hit series

Claire played tired mum Sue Brockman in the hit series. She would often be seen chasing her three on-screen children around, squabbling with her sister or looking after her elderly father. Nowadays, the 57-year-old is still scooping up roles of TV, most recently in crime drama series McDonald & Dodds, in which she played Chief Superintendent Mary Ormond. She's also had roles on the stage since filming of Outnumbered wrapped in 2016 in Prism, Nightfall and A Day in The Death of Joe Egg. She has also sparked a relationship with her former co-star on the show, Hugh Dennis, after her marriage to director Charles Palmer ended in 2016.

Hugh Dennis

Hugh, now aged 61, is still acting, and has made many appearances on TV since Outnumbered ended

Comedian and actor Hugh Dennis was known for his quick and witty lines on the show, in which he played the dad who was a teacher. The 61-year-old is still acting, and has made many appearances on TV since Outnumbered ended. Most notably, he had a three year stint on hit show Fleabag, but also appeared as himself on shows like Taskmaster, and presented The Great British Dig. He has been in a relationship with Claire Skinner since 2017 after divorcing his ex-wife, Catherine 'Kate' Abbot-Anderson in 2015, having been married for nearly 20 years. The pair share a son and a daughter.

Tyger-Drew Honey

Tyger-Drew Honey played the Brockman's eldest son, Jake, who we watched on screen adjust to life in High School and become an adult

Tyger-Drew Honey played the Brockman's eldest son, Jake, who we watched on screen adjust to life in High School and become an adult. During his time on the show, he had roles elsewhere including the BBC sitcom Cuckoo and presenting his own BBC documentary series called Tyger Takes On. Since Outnumbered ended, Tyger, now aged 27, has taken part in various shows as himself, such as Celebrity Mastermind, Celebrity Masterchef, and Celebs Go Dating. He also occasionally reunites with his on-screen family, posting happy snaps of the trio together.

Daniel Roche

Daniel took on the role of Ben in the show in 2007, when he was just seven years old and starred in five series

Daniel took on the role of Ben in the show in 2007, when he was just seven years old and starred in five series until 2014. The cast came back together in 2016 for a special Christmas reunion show. Since the show ended, Roche has been caught in a number of viral videos, and has been spotted at King's College London where he played rugby, and has played for other squads including Ealing Rugby Club.

Ramona Marquez

Now aged 22, child star Ramona looks world's away from her on-screen character Karen

Ramona is fondly remembered by viewers as the youngest of the Brockman brood, who was quick and scathing towards her parents. Now aged 22, the child star looks world's away from her on-screen character Karen. As a child, she also played roles in The King's Speech as Princess Margaret and Arthur Christmas as the voice of Gwen. But, it appears she quit acting in favour of her studies and went onto study Mandarin and Spanish at Manchester University.

Samantha Bond

Since Outnumbered wrapped, 61-year-old Samantha has continued to act on TV and in film

Samantha played the sister of Sue, Angela, but is perhaps most famous for her role as Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films during the Pierce Brosnan years, and also for her role as Lady Rosamund Painswick in Downtown Abbey. Since Outnumbered wrapped, the 61-year-old has continued to act on TV and in film. Most recently, she appeared in the Red Riding Hood: After Ever After TV series, and in the film Hounded as Katherine Redwick. She has also narrated documentaries, including Secrets of the Royal Palaces, and has leant her voice to the Evil Genius 2: World Domination video game in the role of Emma.

David Ryall

David (far left) played the role of Sue and Angela's elderly father, and was present throughout the entire series

David played the role of Sue and Angela's elderly father, and was present throughout the entire series. Filming of the show ended in 2014 after David's death on December 25 at the age of 79. The cast came back together in 2016 to film a special show which showed the family spreading the ashes of their grandfather in a tribute to David and his time on the show.
They say their proof is special as it uses a particular trigonometric equation

Two students in New Orleans say they found a new proof for Pythagoras's theory

Two high school students in New Orleans think they have found a way to prove Pythagoras's Theorem in a way mathematicians previously said was impossible.

Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson said they have proven the famous theorem in a new way using an equation that is used in trigonometry.

The two students of St. Mary's Academy - an all girls school in New Orleans's Plum Orchard - have now been encouraged by the American Mathematical Society to submit what they say is the groundbreaking new proof for peer review.

Earlier this month on March 18 they showed their proof at the society's semi-annual meeting in Georgia, and were reportedly the only high schoolers to present.

Calcea Johnson (right) and Ne'Kiya Jackson (left) think they have found a way to prove Pythagoras's Theorem in a way mathematicians have said is impossible

The pair presented their proof at an American Mathematical Society's semi-annual southeastern conference this month

'It's very exciting it is that these young high school students presented at a major math conference,' said Catherine Roberts, executive director for the American Mathematical Society.

'They spoke at a session that is meant for college undergrads and it's rare that high school students would be presenting in that way. That takes a lot of guts,' she added.

The pair appeared on local station WWL last week to talk about their experience presenting as well as their proof.

'There's nothing like it, being able to do something that people don't think that young people can do,' Johnson told WWL. 'You don't see kids like us doing this. Usually you have to be an adult to do this.'

'We have really great teachers,' Jackson added during the interview, which was broadcast on Thursday.

WWL reported that Jackson and Johnson are due to graduate this spring and that they plan on pursuing careers in environmental engineering and biochemistry.

There are hundreds of different proofs for the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that for a right-angled triangle with sides of length a, b and c, those lengths are related by the expression, a^2+b^2=c^2.

But Johnson and Jackson claim to have discovered an entirely new proof.

Since the Pythagorean theorem is one of the concepts that led to parts of trigonometry, it has been said that trigonometry cannot be used to prove the Pythagorean theorem.

That is because doing so would entail a circular argument - logic where something is proven using an assumption that rests on the thing one is trying to prove.

The principles of trigonometry are laid out in a number of equations. One of which is based on the theorem and is known as the Pythagorean trigonometric identity. It is expressed, (sin)^2 + (cos)^2 = 1, where  is one of the angles in a right-angled triangle plotted on a 'unit circle'.

The pair say their proof is unique because it relies on an aspect of trigonometry which does not derive from Pythagoras's theorem in the first place. Jackson is seen presenting a slide demonstrating that a starting assumption of their proof is independent of Pythagoras

Johnson told WWL, 'you don't see kids like us doing this. Usually you have to be an adult to do this'

The students said in the abstract for their talk that their proof does not rely on that identity, instead it uses another trigonometric equation, the Law of Sines, which is not based on the Pythagorean theorem.

'In the 2000 years since trigonometry was discovered it's always been assumed that any alleged proof of Pythagoras's Theorem based on trigonometry must be circular,' read the abstract for the talk.

'In fact, in the book containing the largest known collection of proofs (The Pythagorean Proposition by Elisha Loomis) the author flatly states that "There are no trigonometric proofs, because all the fundamental formulae of trigonometry are themselves based upon the truth of the Pythagorean Theorem."'

The two however say that the trigonometric rule they used in their proof does not rely on Pythagoras's theorem.

'But that isn't quite true: in our lecture we present a new proof of Pythagorass Theorem which is based on a fundamental result in trigonometry - the Law of Sines - and we show that the proof is independent of the Pythagorean trig identity \sin^2x + \cos^2x = 1,' they added.

The book the pair referred to was published in 1927 and goes on to say that the two theories are really intertwined: 'Trigonometry is because the Pythagorean Theorem is.'

What the two girls claim to have done was to break down the principles of trigonometry into those that relied on Pythagoras and those that did not.

Roberts said that now the students need to write up their results and have them scrutinized.

'I encourage these young women to write up their results and that way somebody who is familiar with these hundreds of other proofs can see whether their new addition is true,' she said.

'Our general approach as scientists is that people do work, they put their results out there for scrutiny, and it takes some time, it could take as long as two years.'
The Pentagon has admitted to DailyMail.com that it has images or video of 'UFOs' shot down over North America  but says they're still classified.

A Defense Department spokesman said they have footage of the three unidentified objects shot out the sky by US fighter jets using sidewinder missiles last month.

But the videos are classified and there are no plans to change that, the spokesman said.

'I can tell you that there is not currently any images or video footage that we can release,' the Pentagon press officer told DailyMail.com.

'The imagery remains classified, and I have not received any information as to the potential timeline on a change in classification.'

The refusal to hand over the images is in stark contrast to the speedy release of a photo taken by an Air Force pilot of an alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down off the East coast at the same time as the 'UFOs'.

The Pentagon was also quick to release a video of a Russian jet colliding with a US drone flying over the Black Sea last on March 14.

An Air Force pilot looks at an alleged Chinese spy balloon over Montana on February 3

The suspected spy balloon was the first of four airborne objects gunned out of the sky by the US in eight days

The Chinese balloon was shot down over the South Carolina coast on February 4. The three unidentified objects met the same fate between February 10 and 12 over Alaska, Lake Huron in Michigan, and Canada's Yukon territory.

The reluctance to release footage of the F-22 Raptors intercepting the unidentified objects has led to speculation that the government knows what the objects are, but is simply embarrassed to reveal it to the public  as they may have been as harmless as a hobbyist weather balloon.

The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade say their $13 hobby balloon was floating in the Yukon area and stopped transmitting around the same time that a Raptor fired on the unidentified object there.

'When I heard that [it was a] silver object with a payload attached to it, that could be one of our balloons,' a member told Politico.

Senior Republican Ted Cruz mocked President Biden over the possibility, tweeting that he is providing 'powerful deterrence for any high school science clubs that might try to invade America.'

On February 14, Senator Josh Hawley tweeted: 'Joe Biden let a Chinese spy balloon cross the entire U.S. Now he's shooting down everything that flies. Why? Who knows. He apparently doesn't. Either the Biden administration is lying to us or they're totally and completely incompetent. Or both.'

A military aircraft flies over the frozen Alaska landscape towards where the objects crashed

The military plane flies towards where the wreckage is believed to be in remote Alaska

Military aircraft flying towards where the wreckage is believed to be in remote Alaska

Prolific UFO researcher John Greenewald requested images of the UFO shootdowns via a Freedom of Information Act request.

On Tuesday the Pentagon responded, citing national security exemptions to deny his request

An Air Force official said that the images would reveal 'intelligence activities (including covert action), intelligence sources or methods, or cryptology' and 'scientific, technological, or economic matters relating to the national security' if released.

Greenewald, who posted the DoD letter on his website The Black Vault, said that he is appealing the denial.

Another clue that the objects may be nothing special is the cancellation of searches for the wreckage.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gallantly promised on February 11 that 'Canadian Forces will now recover and analyze the wreckage of the object' shot down in the remote Yukon region.

But six days later Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) called off the search for the 'UFO', described by Canada's Defense Minister Anita Anand as a 'small cylindrical object'.

Neither the Canadian nor US governments have indicated any intention to resume search efforts.

'The RCMP has decided to discontinue search efforts in the Yukon for the aerial object shot down on February 11. The highest probability area has been searched and the debris was not located,' the Canadian police force said in a statement.

'Given the snowfall that has occurred, the decreasing probability the object will be found and the current belief the object is not tied to a scenario that justifies extraordinary search efforts, the RCMP is terminating the search.

'The RCMP would like to thank the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP members, the Yukon community and Indigenous Communities that have supported this effort.'

Video shows the Russian fighter approaching the American drone from behind and beginning to release fuel as it passes - the Pentagon said

Video shows damage to the drone after the jet dumped fuel over it in the Black Sea

US agencies also called off their search for the object downed over Alaska.

On February 17 the White House announced it was no longer looking for the unidentified craft, following an admission from President Biden that the three objects were most likely research balloons.

But witnesses on the ground said the search appeared to finish even earlier, by Monday February 13.

Thomas Lees, an energy industry worker based near Prudhoe Bay, posted videos on his YouTube channel showing US C-130 planes and Black Hawk choppers flying over the area where the object was shot out the sky.

Friday February 10, 9am, one of my co-workers hears jets flying low and fast over the top of them. It was weird, we didnt know what was going on, he said.

About an hour later, the news starts reporting about this object shot down over the northern coast of Alaska, right close to Dead Horse.

By Monday, absolutely nothing. Everybodys gone, zero activity at all. Same thing Tuesday 14. Its crazy. In and out, got what they were coming for.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the White House did not regret the shootdown decision.

Given the situation we were in, the information available, the recommendation of military commanders, it was exactly the right thing to do at exactly the right time, he said last month.

You make decisions based on the best information that you have And ultimately you have to come down to some core principles when youre making decisions as commander in chief.
An obsessed man has been jailed for harassing a drag queen months before his death - and shouting: 'Hes a paedophile.'

Donovan Clarkson, 39, launched a campaign of harassment against drag queen Darren Meah-Moore, 39, just months before he died.

A court heard he made daily posts on Facebook about Mr Meah-Moores 1999 conviction of child rape for a sex attack on a young boy.

Prosecutor Tabitha Walker said Clarkson also chased Mr Meah-Moore down the street while filming him and accusing him of being a paedophile.

The harassment came just months before the drag queen - who preformed under the names Crystal Coutoure and CC Quinn - was found dead in January.

The harassment came just months before the drag queen - who preformed under the names Crystal Coutoure and CC Quinn - was found dead in January

He had last been seen in a full face make-up and blonde wig in the early hours of the morning in Cardiff - and a 50-year old man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

Clarkson was jailed for 30 weeks and placed under an order restraining him from contacting Mr Meah-Moore's husband, who is also called Darren Moore, for five years.

Newport Crown Court heard Clarkson had known Mr Meah-Moore for around two years before the harassment.

The pair were connected on Facebook but were not friends according to the victims husband.

Donovan Clarkson, 39, launched a campaign of harassment against drag queen Darren Meah-Moore, 39, pictured, just months before he died.

Miss Walker said the harassment began when Clarkson shared a link on Facebook alleging that Mr Meah-Moore was a paedophile.

She said: 'Further links related to Mr Meah-Moore representing British Airways on a float at Brighton Pride.

'In the post the defendant said BA had employed a convicted paedophile drag queen for Gay Pride accompanied by a photo of Mr Meah-Moore. Further posts of this nature were shared on Facebook on a daily basis.'

The victims husband reported the posts to Facebook but they were not removed so he contacted Gwent Police.

The court heard the force warned Clarkson to stop the harassment in early April but he then posted a comment 'mocking' the fact he had been reported to police.

The following month he spotted Mr Meah-Moore in the street and shouted: 'Look who it is. Its the f***ing paedo.'

Clarkson was jailed for 30 weeks and placed under an order restraining him from contacting Mr Meah-Moore's husband, Darren Moore, left, for five years

Mr Meah-Moore had last been seen in a full face make-up and blonde wig in the early hours of the morning in Cardiff - and a 50-year old man was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. A horse-drawn carriage led his funeral through Cardiff, where the roads were closed so he could stop at the city's oldest gay bar

The court heard Clarkson also chased Mr Meah-Moore that evening while broadcasting a live video on Facebook.

Mr Meah-Moore, who was working at the Pulse gay bar that night, was 'calm and non-aggressive in his responses'.

The next month Clarkson posted: 'A child rapist is performing at the Ampleforth Arms in Oxfordshire. Share your views.'

The pub later cancelled Mr Meah-Moores gig meaning he missed out on 350.

Clarkson was arrested in August and claimed he had 'only been posting links of facts in the public domain'.

In a victim statement months before his death Mr Meah-Moore said: 'This behaviour has caused me upset and I dont understand why he is doing it.

'My past happened 23 years ago and I have to live with it every day. I dont want to be reminded every day and I dont want other people sharing what is not the truth.'

His husband Mr Moore added: 'Darren lost a couple of gigs due to Donovans behaviour. This meant he lost out on wages which put financial pressure on us.

'Darrens mental health was affected by the harassment and I would say it changed his personality. The social media posts caused him to drink more and do more drag acts to drown out what happening.

'By doing drag more he was shielding behind a mask. This was his way of coping with what he had to endure. He had a skin condition he was medicated for and over the past 12 months it worsened.

'I believe one of the reasons for this was the stress he was under due to Donovans behaviour. It took over my and Darrens life to the point of affecting our relationship.

'Darren has recently passed away and I cant help looking back on our last 12 months as tainted by Donovans actions. We were both constantly worried about what would happen next.'

Clarkson was already under a suspended prison sentence for ABH and a community order for harassment of his own ex-husband at the time.

Defending Harry Baker said: 'There has been a diagnosis of a personality disorder which will no doubt explain the obsessive behaviour.'

Clarkson, of Grangetown, Cardiff, pleaded guilty to harassing Mr Meah-Moore.

Judge Recorder Alun Eynon-Evans said Clarkson posted 'further offensive remarks' about the late Mr Meah-Moore after his death.
A transgender woman who was convicted of rape in 1998 when she was a man was today jailed for nine years for stabbing another trans woman in the home they shared.

Zara Jade, 54, slashed her victim in the arm and abdomen while she was sitting on her knee, before she tied her to an electrically powered reclining chair with some tights.

The victim was strapped to the seat by her ankles, knees, chest and arms, before she was tilted back, and the power was switched off.

Bradford Crown Court heard how her victim remained fixed in place for a few hours at their shared flat in Halifax while Jade used her card to withdraw 300 before later untying her.

Jade pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, robbery, fraud and false imprisonment. She will be sent to a men's prison.

Zara Jade, 54, slashed her victim - also believed to be a trans woman - in the arm and abdomen while she sat on her knee in the home they shared

The court heard that the defendant was currently in the process of transitioning and was referred to with 'she/her' pronouns.

Prosecutor Lydia Pearce said today that the defendant had been out drinking before she made demands for money in her shared flat.

She then attacked her victim - who was able to stem the bleeding from her 'superficial' wounds with a cloth - while demanding to know her PIN number.

The police were contacted after a district nurse saw the complainant's healing wounds during a visit a few days later and Jade was then arrested.

Deputy circuit judge Timothy Clayson was told that back in 1988, Jade had been locked up for five years for rape and other sexual offences.

He was also informed that in 2013, she had been jailed again for another sexual matter.

Barrister Richard Canning, representing Jade, said her main focus was now to complete her transition while adding she knew what she had done was wrong.

He also said Jade had struggled with alcohol and had made 'bad decisions' while in drink.

Bradford Crown Court heard how her victim remained fixed in place for a few hours at their shared flat in Halifax while Jade used her card to withdraw 300 before later untying her

Judge Clayson said Jade's victim had serious health issues and that she was particularly vulnerable.

He also said the complainant had been helpless and unable to move or contact anyone after being tied to the chair.

The judge added that the next morning, Jade was apologetic and said she felt mortified by what she had done.

He said the offences showed that the defendant was willing to behave in a 'callous and cruel' way towards a vulnerable victim.

He said her previous convictions were for serious offences and he concluded that she was a dangerous offender.

Jade will now have to serve two-thirds of a nine-year jail sentence before being considered for release by the Parole Board.

She will then be subject to an extended licence period of three years.

Judge Clayson also made her subject to a 12-year restraining order, which bans her from contacting the complainant directly or indirectly.
The woman is heard screaming 'I don't wanna go to jail' and telling a child in the home 'your daddy is dead' after the shot rings out in the video

A Mississippi woman is accused of fatally shooting her husband while streaming an argument they were having on Facebook Live Saturday morning.

Police say Kadejah Michelle Brown, 28, has been charged with murder after she allegedly shot and killed Jeremy Brown, 28, inside their home in Lowndes County.

In shocking video before the incident, the woman confronts her husband who she says is never at home to help with their children as Kadejah's mother is also heard.

At one point, the fight turns physical as Jeremy repeatedly tells his wife to 'keep your hands off me' and to leave him alone, even as he's knocked into the phone which had been set down on a piece of furniture.

Just before the shot is heard, Kadejah is heard yelling 'I'll kill your a**, b**ch.'

Afterward, Kadejah and her mother scream loudly with Kadejah saying 'I don't wanna go to jail' and her mother running out of the house screaming 'help me' as children are heard crying in the background.

A Mississippi woman is accused of fatally shooting her husband while streaming an argument they were having on Facebook Live Saturday morning

Police say Kadejah Michelle Brown, 28, has been charged with murder after she allegedly shot and killed Jeremy Brown, 28, inside their home in Lowndes County

The Facebook Live began with Kadejah lamenting about her husband not being at home to help with their kids.

According to social media posts, the couple had four kids together.

Kadejah and her own mother go back and forth discussing how Jeremy is not around to help her with the housework and children before Jeremy walks in the door.

The man appears to be talking on the phone with another person as the wife continues to film their interaction.

Kadejah attempts to grab the man's phone as she attempts to goad him into talking.

'Don't touch me. I'll call the police over that,' Jeremy says.

As the wife becomes increasingly physical, her mother accosts the man.

'This is your family, you're supposed to be here helping, taking care of these kids,' Kadejah's mother tells Jeremy.

During one of the first tussles between the couple, the phone streaming the video is knocked down and the camera is blacked out.

The couple continues to fight with Kadejah's mother saying just one second before the shot goes off: 'Y'all need to start talking about this.'

A loud bang is then heard followed by screaming and Kadejah yelling out 'oh s**t, I don't wanna go to jail.'

Kadejah attempts to grab the man's phone as she attempts to goad him into talking

'Don't touch me. I'll call the police over that,' Jeremy says just three minutes before being shot

According to social media posts, had Kadejah and Jeremy had four kids together

Among the screaming, the woman's mother can be heard running out of the home.

Kadejah's mom yells out 'help me' repeatedly outside.

'I want daddy,' a child not seen on camera can be heard crying.

'Your daddy's dead,' Kadejah responds through sobs.

The child continues crying loudly as the woman begins screaming 'the gun went off.'

'I didn't know one in the chamber,' Kadejah cries out. 'I'm sorry baby.'

According to Jeremy's Facebook page, the couple celebrated their anniversary earlier this month.

In a post from October, the husband discussed his 'not perfect' relationship.

'I JUST WANT TO SAY I KNOW PEOPLE LIKE TO JUDGE ABOUT ME AND MY WIFE RELATIONSHIP ABOUT US BEING SO PERFECT. WE ARE NOT PERFECT WE ARE HUMANS JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE,' Jeremy wrote.

'YES I HAVE 4 CHILDREN WITH MY WIFE NAW NOT BY MULTIPLE WOMAN JUST WANTED TO LET THAT BE KNOWN JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE TO RUN AND TALK. IF YOU GONE TALK SPEAK FACTS' he continued.

According to Jeremy's Facebook, the couple celebrated their anniversary earlier in March

One child in the Facebook Live could be heard crying and yelling out 'I want daddy' as Kadejah yelled back 'your daddy's dead' through sobs

According to Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins, a 9 mm handgun was recovered at the scene along with other physical evidence.

Brown was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.

No bond has been set at this time.

'There was a history of domestic violence between Brown and the victim. This was a tragic and senseless murder and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim,' Hawkins said in a statement.

'Fortunately, Brown is in custody and we look forward to the criminal justice system holding her accountable,' Hawkins said.
A highly-regarded police officer who ran an award-winning cadet unit used it as a 'grooming playground' for his 'sexual gratification', a court heard.

Adnan Ali allegedly took advantage of 'inadequate oversight' by commanders to target 'young and vulnerable people'.

The 36-year-old Greater Manchester Police constable is accused of 20 offences, including sexual assaults, sending indecent messages and misconduct in public office.

His trial began today at Liverpool Crown Court, where Anne Whyte, KC, prosecuting, said the alleged offences took place as he dramatically expanded his group in Trafford, Manchester, from 30 to 130 youngsters.

She said: 'He exploited the freedom he was given and the over-recruitment of cadets to commit sexual assaults and indulge in sexual and suggestive communications with young and vulnerable people who looked up to him.'

Adnan Ali (pictured) allegedly took advantage of 'inadequate oversight' by commanders to target 'young and vulnerable people'

Adnan Ali, 36, pictured, arriving at Liverpool Magistrates Court last August

During Ali's time in charge of Trafford Volunteer Police Cadet Scheme, it won numerous local and national awards, the court was told.

Jurors heard there was, however, a darker side to Ali's activities.

'Due to his own behaviour and Greater Manchester Police's failure to monitor it, the Trafford Cadet Scheme became something of a grooming playground for Adnan Ali,' the prosecutor added.

The cadet group  which recruited members aged 13-17 - was only 'supposed to have about 30 members'  less than a quarter of its size at the time of Ali's arrest, the court heard.

But Ms Whyte said: 'The increased numbers of cadets no doubt increased his opportunities to flirt, to test the waters and to act inappropriately.

Adnan Ali is facing a trial at Liverpool Crown Court (stock image)

'Perhaps his own head was turned by his earlier success as an officer and by his popularity as a cadet leader. All of this coupled with his unrestrained sexual appetites and over familiarity was a recipe for misconduct and abuse.

'However inadequate GMP's oversight of the cadet scheme, Ali would have known about the standards of behaviour by which he was required to behave.'

The court heard Ali's 'predatory but, at times carefully calibrated behaviour', would be 'misconduct and unlawful in any walk of life, but especially so for a police officer'.

He is accused of initially targeting teens with 'grossly inappropriate' communications'.

Ms Whyte added: 'At times, he went even further and touched his young charges sexually, no doubt in the hope that it might also progress to something more substantial.'

She said his 'deeply unprofessional' behaviour was 'designed to gratify his own sexual inclinations which, on one view, were out of control'.

Ali, of Old Trafford, Manchester, allegedly went on to sexually assault two teenage girls and a 17-year-old boy, and have sexualised conversations with six other teenage boys.

He is also accused of sending indecent images to some of the teenagers.

With some of his alleged victims, he ended messages with kisses and would talk about being in the bath and in bed, it is claimed.

He allegedly massaged the shoulders of a 17-year-old boy cadet, hugged him and asked if he would ever consider having sex with a boy.

Ms Whyte said: 'There was not one aspect of PC Ali's employment duties that either necessitated or justified the constant drip of over familiarity used to gain the confidence of young cadets and there was no excuse for the sexual familiarity.'

Ms Whyte said he was arrested in October 2018 after one of the alleged victims complained about his behaviour. Other complainants then came forward.

Ali  who denies all charges - was also involved in the recruitment of apprentice police officers, a number of whom were allocated to Trafford cadet unit under his supervision.

Ms Whyte said highly-trained Ali behaved as if he 'had decided to throw the rule book out'.

'Not only did he allow himself to be alone with these young people, he deliberately made his relationships with them personal.

'As a police constable, he was there to nurture their professional development as cadets and apprentices, to oversee their welfare and safeguarding.

'Instead, he tried to befriend and then to groom them sexually, knowing that they would find it difficult to report him due to the imbalance of power and age, and to their perception that he could influence their careers.'

The trial continues.
Almost two-thirds of workers would prefer working a four-day week, a recent poll has found.

A survey of 12,000 people, carried out by employment firm Hays found that nearly two in three workers would favour the switch to an office-based four-day week.

One in three employers said they would be more likely to accommodate the switch if staff spent all four days on-site.

Just under two in three workers said they would consider switching jobs if another company offered a shorter working week.

This has increased from a little over 50% compared to a similar poll that was recorded last year.

Almost two-thirds of workers would prefer working a four-day week, according to the study

The findings follow a recent trial where 61 UK companies reduced their employees' working hours by 20 per cent, with no changes made to their salary.

This trial saw around 2,900 employees work a four-day week for six months from June 2022.

Surveys found that 39 per cent of staff felt less stressed thanks to reduced hours, with bosses even reporting an increase in revenue while productivity was constant.

Gaelle Blake, of Hays UK and Ireland, said: Its clear from our research that the appetite for a four-day working week has increased from both professionals and employers.

However, in reality, only 5% of respondents to our survey are working for an organisation where this is actually happening'.

A shortened working week encourages staff to spend more time with their children or elderly parents, and gives them the chance to find new hobbies or interests thanks to the extended weekend.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw more employees working from home and adopting more flexible hours instead of the usual nine-to-five, five-day working week.

However, critics say the concept would be impossible in customer-facing jobs, or 24/7 operations including where overtime payments would present an extra cost to employers or the taxpayer.

Some economists have argued that working fewer hours would decrease the standard of living.
Humza Yousaf was put on notice by rivals that 'continuity won't cut it' after he narrowly won the bitter five-week battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon.

The health minister is set to be installed formally as First Minister tomorrow after limping home in the contest by a margin of 52 per cent to 48 per cent.

In a speech at the count in Edinburgh, Mr Yousaf admitted that it had been a 'bruising' process - and entreated his colleagues to remember they are 'one team'.

He pledged to govern for 'all of Scotland' - and also movingly reassured his daughters that there was still 'no more important job in my life than being your dad'.

Mr Yousaf narrowly saw off the challenge from Kate Forbes - who had faced a backlash over her devout Christian views - despite brutal attacks on his record in government.

He immediately called for another independence referendum, has pledged to press on with challenging the Westminster's block on the SNP's bid to loosen gender identity rules, and has also suggested ditching the monarchy.

No10 immediately ruled out a new vote on breaking up the UK, saying it was focused instead on 'issues the public care about'.

Ms Forbes benefited from the second preferences of supporters of the other contender, Ash Regan - but it was not quite enough to overturn his advantage.

Both the defeated candidates have committed to support the winner, while the Greens are expected to stay in the alliance that has provided an overall majority at Holyrood. That might have been at risk had Ms Forbes triumphed.

However, Ms Forbes warned that the close result showed 'continuity won't cut it'.

And First Minister Alex Salmond suggested the numbers were not impressive given Mr Yousaf had the 'full force of the SNP establishment' behind him.

Mr Yousaf fell short of the 50 per cent threshold needed in the first round, but succeeded in the run-off by 52 per cent to 48 per cent. Only 50,000 of the SNP's 72,000 members voted.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove trolled the SNP by pointing out that the margin was the same as the Brexit referendum, joking that they would not want a rerun on this occasion.

The MSP - who will become the youngest First Minister and the first from an ethnic minority - now takes on a massive task to restore the SNP's fortunes after the struggle laid bare deep splits on issues such as gender identity rules and gay marriage.

Labour has been gaining ground north of the border and the prospects of an independence referendum are dwindling.

Humza Yousaf said he is the 'luckiest man in the world' today as he was unveiled as the new SNP leader after a bitter five-week battle

Humza Yousaf (centre), Kate Forbes (right), and Ash Regan (left) were battling to become the next SNP leader

Mr Humza was embraced by Ms Forbes after he closed her out of the race

In her final TV interview today before stepping down, Nicola Sturgeon said she felt a 'bit sad' but still confident she has made the right decision

Ms Sturgeon congratulated Mr Yousaf after the result was announced

Mr Yousaf told the crowd in Edinburgh: 'Leadership elections, by their very nature, can be bruising.

'However, in the SNP we are a family.

'Over the last five weeks we may have been competitors or supporters of different candidates.

'We are no longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate, we are one team.

'We will be the team, we will be the generation, that delivers independence for Scotland.'

Ms Sturgeon tweeted: 'I pay tribute to all 3 candidates for @theSNP leadership for rising to the challenge.

'Most of all I congratulate @HumzaYousaf and wish him every success.

'He will be an outstanding leader & First Minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me.'

While stressing she will now try to help Mr Yousaf, Ms Forbes said: 'It demonstrates, I think, the message of continuity not cutting it is actually a really critical message and all of us need to build on the SNP's excellent track record over 16 years of listening, of serving and of maintaining the trust of the Scottish people, building on that track record.

'If we are to continue to win elections, we need to continue to listen and maintain trust.'

Mr Salmond, who now leads the rival Alba party, said: 'I thought both Ash Regan and Kate Forbes fought brave campaigns against the full force of the SNP establishment, and given that together they received over half the votes, the new leader would do well to listen to what they had to say in the campaign.'

Speaking in the Commons after the announcement, Mr Gove said: 'Can I on behalf of the Government extend my congratulations to Humza Yousaf on his election as leader of the Scottish National Party. And we look forward to working with him in the future.

'It has been noted that he won by the margin of 52 per cent to 48 per cent, so I hope that SNP colleagues will agree there is no need for another vote.'

Who is new SNP leader Humza Yousaf? Humza Yousaf became Scotland's first Muslim Cabinet minister in 2018, when he was appointed justice secretary. The 37-year-old father has been MSP for Glasgow Pollok since 2016, having previously been elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Glasgow region in 2011 at the age of just 26. He has been serving as the Scottish Government's health secretary, and was widely regarded as the 'continuity' candidate - although Nicola Sturgeon has refused to back anyone. Despite long being tipped as a possible replacement for Ms Sturgeon as First Minister, there were concerns Mr Yousaf's chances could have been harmed by the current health crisis in Scotland. He has come under particular pressure over long waiting times for ambulances and emergency care. Leadership rival Kate Forbes was particularly scathing about his record in various government briefs during the TV debates. Mr Yousaf has a daughter and a stepchild with his second wife Nadia El-Nakla. Advertisement

In her final TV interview earlier, Ms Sturgeon admitted she is 'a bit sad' and 'emotional' at going.

But appearing on ITV's Lorraine, she said she is still confident she has made the 'right decision' to stand down - and looking forward to life after politics.

Ms Sturgeon shocked the political world in February when she announced she would be stepping down after more than eight years in the job.

She said today that she was looking forward to some 'free time', although she stressed she will still be an MSP until at least the next Holyrood election.

Ms Sturgeon refused to say who she is backing for the leadership, insisting whomever won would have her '100 per cent' support.

Asked if she would consider returning if the SNP meltdown continues, she laughed and replied: 'No I am not planning a comeback.'

The fate of the three candidates was revealed at the BT Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh this afternoon.

A vote in Holyrood will follow tomorrow to confirm the SNP leader as First Minister.

The leadership contest has seen brutal clashes between candidates and the dramatic resignation of chief executive Peter Murrell - Ms Sturgeon's husband - following controversy over the transparency of SNP membership numbers.

Mr Yousaf, 37, and Ms Forbes, 32, had torn into each other's records in government and social views during TV debates.

Ms Forbes, a devout Christian, endured a difficult start to her campaign after she admitted she would not have voted in favour of gay marriage and condemned the SNP's abortive attempt to loosen gender identity rules.

As well as vowing to continue the battle for independence Mr Yousaf has also said he will continue Ms Sturgeon's fight with Westminster over her Gender Recognition Reform Act, describing it this afternoon as a 'power grab by the UK government'.

His rivals both said they would drop the legal battle over devolution rules that allowed Mr Sunak to block the law lowering the age that people can alter their legal gender to 16.

And Mr Yousaf controversially suggested he would want Scotland to become a republic within five years of independence.

Earlier this month he told the National: 'Let's also talk about things like monarchy. I don't know why we should be shy about that, I don't think we should be. I've been very clear, I'm a republican. That's never been anything I've hidden.'

'Let's absolutely within the first five years consider whether or not we should move away from having a monarchy into an elected head of state,' Mr Yousaf said.

The politician added that he would be 'keen' to transition to a new Scottish currency as 'quickly as possible'.

Mr Yousaf's campaign was not without mishap. A Muslim, he was dragged into the row over gay marriage that enveloped evangelical Christian Ms Forbes, when it was alleged that he tried to avoid a vote on the topic to avoid upsetting religious leaders.

Mr Yousaf arriving with his wife Nadia El-Nakla and daughter Amal for the SNP leadership hustings at the University of Strathclyde earlier this month

Opinion polls during the leadership campaign consistently showed that while Mr Yousaf was the favourite with SNP members, Ms Forbes was more popular with the wider Scottish electorate

Opinion polls during the leadership campaign consistently showed that while Mr Yousaf was the favourite with SNP members, Ms Forbes was more popular with the wider Scottish electorate.

Ex-Scottish health secretary Alex Neil claimed that Mr Yousaf, a Muslim, asked for permission to miss the crucial 2014 vote because he 'was under so much pressure from the mosque'.

He alleged that Scottish government business was organised for him as an 'excuse' to miss the vote, and claimed his former colleague has been 'dishonest' about his reasons for not taking part.

Mr Yousaf has repeatedly said that, while Islam opposes gay marriage, he does not use his faith as the basis for legislating.

In November 2013, Mr Yousaf voted in favour of the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Bill but missed the key final vote on the Bill that went through Holyrood on 4 February 2014.

He was branded 'embarrassing' and 'out of his depth' earlier this month over comments to female Ukrainian refugees.

Humza Yousaf asked the group why no men had escaped from the warzone with them after they posed for photos in Edinburgh during his campaign to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

Ukrainian men who are of military age are largely forbidden to leave the country as the war with Russia continues. This means that the majority of the displaced Ukrainians arriving elsewhere in Europe are women, children or the elderly.

Mr Yousaf told the BBC a number of Ukrainian men were elsewhere in the building when he made the remark. He said in an interview later: 'They of course were rightly saying to me that for many of them their families are not able to make it, not all of their families are able to make it. I don't think any of the women were at all offended or upset.'

But opposition parties tore into the gaffe this afternoon, with Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie saying: 'This is further evidence that Humza Yousef is out of his depth. This is embarrassing.'

The result was far from a certainty, as there had been almost no polling of the 70,000 SNP members who will decide the winner.

But wider surveys had put the candidates almost neck and neck, with Mr Yousaf favoured among SNP voters. Ipsos Scotland research gave him a net favourability of 11 per cent, compared with 6 per cent for Ms Forbes.

The Finance Secretary was preferred by the general public, with a net popularity rating of minus 8 per cent, compared with the Health Secretary's minus 20 per cent.

Labour has been gleeful about the SNP turmoil, with experts suggesting the party could be in a position to pick up significant numbers of seats in Scotland at the next general election.

But Tory ministers have made little secret about their relief at the departure of Ms Sturgeon, who has dominated politics north of the border for nearly a decade.

There was a toe-curling eight-second silence when Michael Gove was asked for Ms Sturgeon's 'biggest achievement' during an interview yesterday.

The Levelling Up Secretary seemed completely stumped after being prompted to pay tribute to the outgoing Scottish First Minister as he appeared on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

Mr Gove stared at the floor and frowned as the presenter waited patiently for his verdict on the SNP chief.

The Tory minister finally managed: 'I don't want to say anything bad or... what's the word, negative about Nicola Sturgeon.

'Because I think that she is a dedicated public servant and she has devoted her life to public service.

'And as First Minister of Scotland I worked with her during the pandemic. I know that she was committed to coming to the right conclusions in the interests of the people of Scotland.

'I fundamentally disagree with her on many things, but I wish her well.'
More than 2,000 mummified ram heads have been unearthed nearby an ancient Egyptian temple.

Archaeologists uncovered the heads in Abydos, Egypt, near the temple of Egyptian pharoah Ramesses II and are said to be more than 2,000 years old.

Head of the research team Sameh Iskandar said the ram heads were 'offerings' indicating 'a cult to Ramesses II celebrated 1,000 years after his death' in 1213 BC.

Several statues, ancient tree remains, papyri, and leather garments were also found on the site.

A large 16-foot-wide structure was discovered which is believed to be a necropolis used by ancient Egyptian royalty.

Archaeologists uncovered the heads in Abydos, Egypt, near the temple of Egyptian pharoah Ramesses II and are said to be more than 2,000 years old

The researchers believe they were slaughtered in tribute to Ramesses II and left there 1,000 years after his death in 1213 BC

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiques said in a statement: 'The American archaeological mission affiliated with New York University, working in the area of the temple of King Ramesses II in Abydos, succeeded in uncovering more than 2,000 mummified rams' heads dating back to the Ptolemaic era, in addition to a huge structure from the Sixth Dynasty.

'Head of the mission Sameh Iskander said the 16 feet thick structure could help 're-establish the sense of the ancient landscape of Abydos before the construction of the Ramesses II temple.'

The mission also found mummified sheep, dogs, wild goats, cows, gazelles, and mongooses in the northern part of the temple.

Commonly known as Ramesses the Great, the pharaoh reigned over Egypt for nearly seven decades, from 1304 to 1237 BC.

Egyptian officials claimed the find will expand the current knowledge on the site over a period of more than two millennia up to the Ptolemaic period.

The Ministry added: 'The Mission will continue their excavation work on site to uncover more about the history of this site and study and document what has been uncovered during the current excavation season.'
A man has been convicted of two charged of encouraging terrorist acts after he posted an image of a severed head on Twitter, and urged others to decapitate those who insult Islam.

Ajmal Shahpal, 41, was found guilty of sending tweets which would encourage others 'to commit, prepare, or instigate acts of terrorism' at Birmingham Crown Court today.

Shahpal, of Birkin Avenue, Radford, Nottingham, denied the offences but was found guilty by the jury after five hours of deliberation of one count of intentionally encouraging terrorist acts, and one of doing so recklessly.

He was cleared of a third charge of encouraging acts of terrorism.

Judge Melbourne Inman KC rejected a bail application and remanded Shahpal, originally from Kashmir, in custody for sentence on April 13.

Ajmal Shahpal, 41, was found guilty of sending tweets which would encourage others 'to commit, prepare, or instigate acts of terrorism' at Birmingham Crown Court (pictured)

The judge told him: 'You have been convicted of two offences. Obviously I will have to decide what the sentence is in due course, but a custodial sentence is inevitable for this type of offence.

'In the circumstances therefore, you will be remanded in custody pending your sentence.'

The two week trial previously heard that Shahpal was arrested at his home in March 2021 after tweeting messages backing a Pakistan-based political party, which supported the 'out-of-hand murder of those who it thinks have committed blasphemy'.

Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds told the court at the opening of the trial: 'This is a case about terrorism, that is the encouragement by this defendant of others to commit acts of terrorism.

'He did that by publishing tweets on his Twitter account which specifically encouraged others to behand those who he believed had insulted his religion, his religion being Islam'.

Jurors heard that Shahpal sent some of the tweets on his open account on September 26 2020, just one day after Charlie Hebdo's former office in Paris was targeted for a second time by Islamic extremist Zaheer Hassan Mehmood.

Shahpal posted an image of a severed head on Twitter, and urged others to decapitate those who insult Islam (Stock Image)

Mehmood's attack, which was described as 'both vicious and incompetent', came five years after 12 people were killed in an attack on Charlie Hebdo's offices.

The court heard that Shahpal also expressed support for extremists who had attacked those he viewed as blasphemers, including French school teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed on October 16, 2020.

He tweeted an image of Mr Paty's severed head, saying 'the insolent had been sent to hell'. He also praised Mr Paty's killer for being 'as brave as a lion'.

In further tweets, he said that whoever insulted Islam should be killed, and threatened the French government.

During evidence, Shahpal claimed he was retweeting other people's views 'just to have some more followers'. He told jurors he did not know he had retweeted the image of Mr Paty and said: 'At the time I did not know what picture it was that I was retweeting.

'A friend of mind who set up this account for me, he told me that if you do this, you are going to get more followers.

When questioned about another tweet which called for rapists to be stoned to death, Shahpal said it did not match up with his own beliefs and that he had 'just copied and pasted' a message written in English 'because the issue was ongoing' in Pakistan.

Shahpal will be sentenced next month.
Jury selection began Monday in the explosive trial of musician-turned-political financier Pras Michel, who became embroiled in Malaysian businessman and Hollywood producer Jho Low's multi-billion-dollar scam.

Michel, who gained fame in the '90s with the hip hop group The Fugees, is charged with conspiracy, witness tampering, and failure to register as an agent of China. He faces decades of prison time if found guilty.

The fifty-year-old is accused of accepting $100million from Low, and using his funds in an attempt to influence the administrations of both President Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Those efforts included attempts to have the administrations drop investigations into Low and 'secure the return' of Chinese dissident Miles Guo to Beijing, court documents showed.

Low is accused of orchestrating one of the largest financial scams in history, which included turning the slush-fund budget of the Malaysian government into his personal cash piggybank, selling phony bonds through Goldman Sachs, and using the money to fund a celebrity-filled lifestyle and even fund the Leonard DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street.

The 41-year-old is believed to be hiding in China, so Michel is standing trial alone for his involvement in the scam. The proceedings are expected to begin in April.

Pras Michel faces decades in prison if he is found guilty of his alleged part in the scheme

Jho Low is accused of carrying out one of the largest financial scams in history

Michel told Rolling Stone he first met Low at a nightclub in New York City in 2006. Prosecutors allege Michel became involved in a two-part scheme orchestrated by Low, which he was charged for in 2019, court documents show.

The first involved a fundraising event for Obama during his 2012 presidential campaign. Michel allegedly reimbursed guests to attend the $40,000 apiece fundraising dinner in an effort to curry favor with the president's administration, and then threatened them not to reveal where their funds came from, according to NPR.

Michel allegedly funneled a total of $1million of Low's funds into Obama's campaign, and did it through 20 donors to avoid detection. Those funds allegedly came directly from the cash Low stole from the Malaysian government.

The second plot involved Michel helping Low lobby officials in the Trump administration in an effort to end an investigation into Low's business dealings.

'The defendant, Prakazrel [Pras] Michel, received over $100 million from Jho Low, a foreign fugitive responsible for one of the largest embezzlement schemes in history,' prosecutors wrote in court filings.

'To use backchannel influence to convince the then-President of the United States to drop a federal investigation into Low and to agree to the extrajudicial removal of a Chinese exile living in the United States.'

Michel is also believed to have met with a Chinese government official at a Four Seasons Hotel in New York City to organize their efforts in 2017.

Also part of the influence efforts was an attempt to see Chinese financial fraudster Guo - then residing in the United States - extradited back to Beijing. Guo was known to have formed a close relationship with Trump White House advisor, Steve Bannon.

This month, Guo was arrested by the FBI for allegedly scamming people out of about $1billion in an online scheme. His New York City penthouse apartment mysteriously caught fire hours after his arrest while agents were searching it.

Jho Low alongside Leonardo DiCaprio at the premiere of The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013

Michel is accused of trying to lobby influence with Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon, along with the administration of Barack Obama

Court filings indicated Michel plans to argue he merely followed the advice of his attorneys, and that everything he did he thought had been in the interest of the US government when he met with Chinese officials.

'Defendant continues to deny he was acting as an agent for China and denies he willfully and knowingly acted as a secret agent under the direction and control of China when he approached the FBI,' his defense attorneys wrote.

Several people involved in Michel's alleged schemes have already plead guilty or obtained immunity from the government as a part of the investigation, according to NPR.

Michel allegedly pocketed between $8million and $40million for his role in assisting Low in the scheme.

The trial is expected to draw a number of high-profile witnesses, which could include Trump White House chief of staff John Kelly, former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, and former national security advisor H.R. McMaster. Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani could also be called, along with Bannon himself.

Pras Michel gained fame in the 1990s with his hip hop group The Fugees

Low and Michel met at a nightclub in NYC in 2006. Low is thought to be hiding in China

Another notable witness is the A-lister DiCaprio, who reached out to the justice department when he first learned of the charges against Michel in 2019.

Low helped fun the film's $100,000,000 budget as a part of what appeared to be an ongoing scheme to infiltrate Hollywood and celebrity circles.

It remains unclear whether Michel was involved in funding the film.

A spokesperson for the actor said at the time that the actor was working with investigators 'to determine whether he or his foundation, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, ever received any gifts or charitable donations directly or indirectly related to these parties, and if so, to return those gifts or donations as soon as possible.'

'Both Mr. DiCaprio and LDF continue to be entirely supportive of all efforts to assure that justice is done in this matter,' the spokesperson continued. 'Mr. DiCaprio is grateful for the lead and instruction of the government on how to accomplish this.'
In total 63 children have been shot and killed in the Us as a result of gun crime this year

America is on course for having the bloodiest year yet, as the Mass Shooting of a private school in Nashville brings the grim total up to 129 this year.

The US surpassed the disturbing milestone of more than 100 mass shootings on March 5  with the rate rising faster than in the past ten years.

Last year, the US hit 100 mass shootings on March 19, almost two weeks after this year's date.

The previous year, 2021, was March 20, while in 2020 it was May 3 and 2018 and 2019 also saw late May dates for the grim mark.

So far this year, there have been 13 school shootings, with six children killed in total and four adults or employees losing their lives.

Nashville, which is the 129th mass shooting this year, is the deadliest school shooting of 2023 and is one of just five in history which had a female gunman.

The US surpassed the disturbing milestone of more than 100 mass shootings on March 5  with the rate rising faster than in the past ten years

The incredibly rare attacks first happened in 1979 with a teenage girl, who said she murdered because she 'didn't like Mondays'.

So far this year California, Texas and Florida have all had 12 mass shootings each this year, with Louisiana having 11, and Illinois suffering eight.

Pennsylvania has had seven, with Tennessee suffering six, including the latest tragedy according to the Gun Violence archive.

In total 63 children have been shot and killed in the US as a result of gun crime this year, with 128 injured.

Authorities have identified her as a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, though it is not currently clear exactly how she is linked to the school  if she is at all.

Law enforcement confirmed that three children and three adults were killed in the incident, as well as the shooter who was killed by police.

The female shooter had two assault-type rifles on her during the incident, and a handgun, entering the school from the side before making her way up to the first floor and fired multiple shots.

The Nashville incident is the third most deadly of the year, with the same number of people killed as the incident in Half Moon Bay on January 23.

Children hold hands as they leave The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, in chilling scenes which echo the mass shooting of Sandy Hook in 2012

So far this year, there have been 13 school shootings, with six children killed in total and four adults or employees losing their lives

MASS SHOOTINGS PER STATE 2023 State Number of mass shootings Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

DC

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Louisiana

Maryland

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

WashingtonWisconsin 2

2

3

12

3

1

12

4

8

1

11

4

2

4

3

3

3

5

7

5

1

7

3

7

12

1

1

12

A mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, is the worst of the year, which saw 12 people  including the shooter  killed.

Eight people were killed during a shooting on January 4 in Cedar City, Utah, with Michael Haight killing his wife, their five children and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself.

There are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans, according to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey.

No other nation has more civilian guns than people, with around 44 percent of US adults living in a household with a gun.

Around one third own one personally, according to a November 2020 Gallup survey. A third of US adults believe that there would be less crime if more people owned guns.

However multiple studies show that where people have easy access to firearms then gun-related deaths are more frequent  including suicide, homicide and unintentional injuries.

Mass shootings also drive a demand for more guns, with many Americans feeling they are 'safer' if they personally own a weapon.

The rate of gun violence is eight times greater than in Canada, which has the seventh-highest rate of gun ownership in the world.

The previous year, 2021, was March 20, while in 2020 it was May 3 and 2018 and 2019 also saw late May dates for the grim mark

Parents gather in the sanctuary of Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville on Monday after a shooter opened fire, killing three students

Numbers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation data from 2019 show that the US's gun death rate is 22 times higher than the European Union and 23 times greater than Australia.

Discussions on gun violence and the Second Amendment is always close to the heart of politics in the US, with President Joe Biden constantly complaining about Congress' inability to pass 'common sense' measures after multiple mass shootings this year.

First Lady Jill Biden said she is 'without words' as she became the first person in the White House to publicly react to the news  saying 'enough is enough'.

She added: 'I am truly without words, and our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer.'

Mike Haight, 42, murdered his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, and their five children and mother-in-law in a horrific mass shooting in Utah

A mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, is the worst of the year, which saw 12 people  including the shooter  killed

The president made an emotional appeal for stricter gun laws as he signed an executive order to increase the number of background checks following the most deadly shooting of the year in California.

He said: 'Ban assault weapons. Ban them again. Do it now. Enough. Do something. Do something big.

His order will increase the number of background checks to buy guns, promote better and more secure firearms storage and ensure U.S. law enforcement agencies are getting the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer.

But many Republicans, who currently control the House, blame a 'mental health crisis' in the US for the gun violence problem.

Chunli Zhao - a 66-year-old forklift operator at one of the farms targeted during the attack - allegedly carried out the attack over a dispute with his boss over a bill for damaged equipment

the third shooting to hit the Golden State in just as many days, the tragedy left members of the coastal community just outside of San Francisco struggling to make sense of the murders

FBI investigators stand near the Star Dance Studio (not pictured) where Tan opened fire and killed 11 people

Huu Can Tran, 72, shot himself on Sunday in a van after being surrounded by SWAT teams. His motive for the rampage at Star Dance Studio remains unconfirmed, but police sources say it was a 'domestic dispute'. He is shown in surveillance footage from Saturday

It means that there is a constant resistance against the government trying to regulate access to guns.

Last year's bipartisan gun safety bill represented the most significant new federal legislation to address gun violence since the expired 10-year assault weapons ban of 1994.

It had support from fourteen Republicans in the House and fifteen in the Senate.

However, it still fell short of what President Biden and the Democratic party wanted to ban  calling consistently for a ban on assault weapons.

Alissa Parraz, 17, was found dead in a ditch, still cradling her baby Nycholas, near the home where four of her family members were also killed in Goshen on January 16

Robert K. Crayton, 45, shot his wife Athalia A. Crayton, 46, and his three children before killing himself at their home in High Point, North Carolina on January 7. Pictured: The scene

Mike Haight, 42, murdered his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, and their five children, who ranged in age from four to 17, (pictured together) and his mother-in-law Gail Earl on January 4 at their home in Enoch, Utah

Despite the lack of change, more than half of the public, 66 percent, favoured stricter gun laws according to a CNN poll in 2022.

More than four in ten said that the recent legislation did not go far enough to make changes.

Maxwell Frost, the Democratic Representative for Florida, targeted his campaign to the 'mass shooting generation'  asking why the problem had not been fixed.

He said: 'We've seen these things and been wondering our whole lives as young people, in high school, middle school and elementary school, why? Why is this happening?

'Why have we not fixed this? And now we're at a place where we can vote and we can run, and we're going to do it.'

A police officer walks by an entrance to The Covenant School after a shooting in Nashville

Last year's bipartisan gun safety bill represented the most significant new federal legislation to address gun violence since the expired 10-year assault weapons ban of 1994
The Israeli prime minister has delayed controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system after nationwide protests and strikes.

A statement from the far-right coalition member Jewish Power said that the legislation would be pushed to the next session of the Israeli parliament to 'pass the reform through dialogue'.

The Israeli Parliament will go into recess next week for the Passover holiday.

Israeli embassies worldwide were among those instructed to join a strike on Monday against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan, a workers' union letter said.

Departing flights from the country's main international hub, Ben Gurion Airport, were grounded, large mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israel's largest trade union group called for its 800,000 members - in health, transit, banking and other fields - to stop work.

Passengers wait for their flights during a strike at departures hall in Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv, on March 27, 2023. The hard-right Israeli government faced more protests and a general strike today

Protesters gather with national flags outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem amid ongoing demonstrations and calls for a general strike against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023

Protesters hold up Israeli flags and placards as they gather outside Israel's parliament, the Knesset, ahead of mass demonstrations in Jerusalem and a call for a general strike across Israel against the hard-right government's controversial push to overhaul the justice system, on March 27, 2023

British foreign secretary James Cleverly said it was 'vital that the shared democratic values' that underpin the relationship between the UK and Israel were upheld, as he welcomed the delay.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak received Netanyahu last week in London, where the Israeli leader was met with hundreds of protesters, some of whom held up Israeli flags and shouted chants, such as 'Boosha!' which means 'for shame!' in Hebrew.

The United States also said after the announcement of the postponement that it welcomed the delay.

'We welcome this announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise. A compromise is precisely what we have been calling for. And we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible,' White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre said.

'We remain concerned by the recent developments,' White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, calling for compromise.

Kirby noted that Israel had been invited to a US-organised Summit for Democracy later this week.

Kirby said Biden has been 'very forthright' with Netanyahu about his concerns. Asked if Biden was worried that Israel would devolve into civil war, Kirby said he was not.

He said US concerns about the judicial reform legislation were that it would 'fly in the face' of the principle of having checks and balances in government.

'All of that concern comes from... a place of respect and friendship and admiration for the Israeli people, for Israel as a country and for Israel's democracy,' Kirby said.

The U-turn on Netanyahu's plan comes after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime minister's decision to fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after he called for a pause to the overhaul.

Chanting 'the country is on fire,' they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Thousands of protesters gathered Monday outside the Knesset parliament building to keep up the pressure on the country's leadership.

The suggested overhaul - driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever - plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.

It sparked sustained protests that galvanised nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.

Israel's army chief of staff had called on soldiers on Monday to continue to do their duty and act with responsibility in the face of bitter social divisions over government plans to overhaul the judiciary.

'This hour is different to any that we have known before. We have not known such days of external threats coalescing, while a storm is brewing at home,' lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said, in remarks made public by the military press office.

Netanyahu tweeted on Monday: 'I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently. We are brotherly people.'

'Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,' Arnon Bar-David, chairman of the Histadrut, said in a rousing speech to applause.

'Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss.'

As the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared on Monday, Israel's president Isaac Herzog called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.

'The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society - all are under threat,' he said. 'Wake up now!'

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

Thousands of Israelis take the streets as they block Ayalon highway in response to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's surprise sacking of his defense minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators blocking a highway during a protest against plans by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023

'We've never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don't know what to say to our children about their future in this country,' Lapid said.

Earlier today, Herzog urged Netanyahu to 'come to your senses now' after the widespread protests and national strike caused by sacking his defence minister for objecting to judicial reforms.

Netanyahu was expected to announce on Monday morning that he was stopping his plans, although his public statement was postponed after a coalition ally pleaded for him not to back down, Channel 12 TV reported.

It came as all flights were grounded at the nation's main international hub, after the head of the Israel Airports Authority workers' committee announced a strike.

Herzog said 'the eyes of the whole world are on you' following Netanyahu's dismissal of Gallant on Sunday.

Herzog added: 'I am addressing the prime minister, the members of the government and the companies and members of the coalition: the feelings are difficult and painful. Deep concern surrounds the entire nation.

'Security, the economy, society - all are threatened. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you. The eyes of the entire Jewish people are on you. The eyes of the whole world are on you.'

He continued: 'For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately.

'I appeal to the heads of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to put the citizens of the country above all else, and to act responsibly and courageously without further delay.

'Come to your senses now! This is not a political moment, this is a moment for leadership and responsibility.'

Israel's top trade union chief called a general strike Monday over the government's controversial judicial reforms.

'I am calling a general strike,' Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a televised address. 'From the moment this press conference ends, the State of Israel stops.'

'We have a mission to stop this legislative process and we will do it,' he said, vowing to 'continue to fight'.

The Israel Medical Association quickly followed suit, also announcing 'a full strike in the health system' that will impact all public hospitals.

Benjamin Netanyahu (file photo). Netanyahu was expected to announce this morning that he was stopping his plans, although his public statement was postponed after a coalition ally pleaded for him not to back down, Channel 12 TV reported

Israeli president Isaac Herzog (file photo). President Isaac Herzog said 'the eyes of the whole world are on you' following the Netanyahu's dismissal of Yoav Gallant on Sunday

The nationwide walkout was called hours after Herzog pressed for an immediate halt to the judicial programme, following major demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight in response to the defence minister's dismissal.

The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited months of protests and sparked concern from Israel's top allies, including the United States.

Netanyahu's hard-right government has argued the changes are needed to re-balance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

Gallant, a staunch ally of Netanyahu, earlier called for a halt to the reforms - with lawmakers scheduled to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.

'The growing social rift has made its way into the [army] and security agencies,' said Gallant, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party. 'It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel's security.'

Moments after Netanyahu sacked Gallant, demonstrators seized a central highway in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres. Some threw metal barricades while police deployed water cannon.

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Thousands of protesters block the Ayalon main highway during a mass protest against the government's justice system reform plans in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023

Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant (file photo).Israel's top trade union chief called a general strike Monday over the hard-right government's controversial judicial reforms, a day after Gallant's dismissal

'Israel is not a dictatorship,' protesters chanted as a large crowd waved national flags and blew airhorns.

'Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes,' Herzog said. 'The entire nation is rapt with deep worry... Our security, economy, society - all are under threat.'

After months of rallies, including a weekend demonstration that brought out an estimated 200,000 people in Tel Aviv, protesters in the city said it felt like 'a sort of climax'.

In Jerusalem, demonstrators gathered Sunday outside the prime minister's residence, while others rallied in the northern city of Haifa and Beer Sheva in the south.

The activist movement has announced a 'national paralysis week', including protests outside ministers' homes and parliament.

The United States said it was 'deeply concerned' and called on Israeli leaders to reach a compromise.

The White House noted that president Joe Biden recently told Netanyahu that 'democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship'.

Israelis opposed to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan block a highway during a protest moments after the Israeli leader fired his defense minister, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 26, 2023

Protesters block a road as they gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Israelis protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023

People attend a demonstration after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023

Thousands of Israelis take the streets as they block Ayalon highway in response to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprise sacking of his defense minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Protesters block a road and gather around a bonfire during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023

Police officers detain protesters during a demonstration after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 26, 2023

A parliamentary committee has amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.

Netanyahu last week vowed to 'responsibly advance' the reforms and 'end the rift' they have caused.

In response, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday accused Netanyahu of 'illegal' public intervention on the process of adopting the judicial reforms.

Netanyahu is on trial over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies.

His broadcast gave rise to contempt of court accusations filed with the Supreme Court by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an anti-corruption campaign group.

The group's complaint alleges Netanyahu violated a court ruling that an accused prime minister does not have the right to act in a matter that could constitute a conflict of interest.
In one post, she described the past week as 'grueling... and soul crushing'

Gray's mother, Kerry, originally flew to Illinois after he went missing but has since returned to Florida where she has shared a series of posts

The mother of a Navy sailor went missing from an Illinois bar on St. Patrick's Day has described the week since her son disappeared as 'grueling, nauseating, heartbreaking and quite honestly soul crushing.'

Seamus Gray, 21, disappeared from a bar in Waukegan, Illinois and was last seen in the early morning hours of March 18. His mother initially flew from Florida to help with the investigation.

Kerry Gray has documented her struggle in social media posts, writing: 'As I type this I'm trying not to throw up. I cannot sleep, and will not sleep until I have answers as to where my son is, and what happened to him.'

In surveillance footage, the Navy sailor is seen walking around in an alley by himself just hours before his family and friends reported him missing.

Waukegan Police Commander Scott Chastain has stated that Gray was seen in 'close proximity' to the harbor along Lake Michigan and that it's possible he may have ended up in the water.

Seamus Gray, 21, disappeared from a bar in Waukegan, Illinois and was last seen in the early morning hours of March 18. His mother Kerry Gray initially flew from Florida to help search

As I type this I'm trying not to throw up. I cannot sleep, and will not sleep until I have answers as to where my son is, and what happened to him,' Kerry Gray wrote on social media

In surveillance footage, the sailor is seen walking around by himself before he vanishes

Waukegan Police have spent the last several days searching Lake Michigan.

'If he is in the water and that is what happened, it may be days or weeks before the body would come back up,' Chastain said.

Investigators have also brought in back up crews and more than 100 Navy personnel have helped with land searches, as well, all which have come up empty.

In one post to social media, Kerry said she and a friend were taking part in the investigations and were searching dumpsters for her son's body.

'Tomorrow I have to to do what no mother should ever have to do. I have to go on a foot search with the Police Department, Fire Department and many others who will join in to find my son Seamus Grays body,' she wrote on March 23.

Police have said the 21-year-old has not been seen or spoken to since leaving the bar.

On Thursday, however, police released footage of Gray being involved in an altercation outside the Ibiza Nightclub in Waukegan before he vanished, according to FOX32.

Red flags were first raised after Gray, who was assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes 'did not report back at his assigned time.'

Waukegan Police have spent the last several days searching Lake Michigan

Investigators have also brought in back up crews and more than 100 Navy personnel have helped with land searches, as well, all which have come up empty

Gray's last known whereabout were inside a bar in Waukegan on the night of March 17

In one post to social media, Kerry said she and a friend were taking part in the investigations and were searching dumpsters for her son's body

'Tomorrow I have to to do what no mother should ever have to do. I have to go on a foot search with the Police Department, Fire Department and many others who will join in to find my son Seamus Grays body,' Kerry wrote on March 23

On Friday, the search of Lake Michigan, beaches, and woods were called off.

Kerry flew home to Florida over the weekend and said she is 'gutted' over having to leave without having found her son or his body.

'This boy is my heart, my world, my love of my life along with his little brother Deck,' Kerry wrote in a post.

The worried mother said she has not been able to sleep and won't be able to without answers as to where her son is or what happened to him.

Police said they have not given up on finding him even after they called off the search and will continue to look for the Navy sailor.

'Everybody is a little downhearted that they werent able to find him and put some kind of closure to this. Were not going to stop our efforts in our investigation,' Chastain said.

'If we develop any other leads, we definitely will be coming back out if thats what our leads takes us to. At this time though we just felt like weve hit everything we can," said the police official.

Heartbreaking, Kerry has asked her Facebook friends to not share the details of her son's disappearance with her younger son, Deck, 14.

'Please do not say this to my son Deck, he is 14 and doesnt need to hear these details. Please pray that I can make it through this,' she wrote.

The mom has also said regardless of the outcome, she is proud of her son and 'the man he has become.'

'Seamus was willing to die serving and defending our Country. Seamus was not supposed to go missing or possible die this way,' Kerry wrote.

On Friday, the search of Lake Michigan, beaches, and woods were called off

'Everybody is a little downhearted that they werent able to find him and put some kind of closure to this. Were not going to stop our efforts in our investigation,' one police official said

Police released footage of Gray walking hours before his disappearance hopes it would lead to tips regarding his whereabouts

Heartbreaking, Kerry has asked her Facebook friends to not share the details of her son's disappearance with her younger son

'Please do not say this to my son Deck, he is 14 and doesnt need to hear these details. Please pray that I can make it through this,' Kerry wrote in a Facebook post

Seamus (left) with his younger brother Deck, 14

Gray was last seen wearing a pink-ish red shirt and matching pants.

The 21-year-old is 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds.

He has brown hair, blue eyes and tattoos on his left arm and rib cage.

Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the Waukegan Police Department at (847) 599-2608.
Police in Alabama released body cam footage of officers attempting to capture an escaped pony that eluded their custody for two hours.

In the video, one officer was seen trying to hurl a lasso over the pony's head as it tried to get away and led them on a 'low-speed foot pursuit'.

Tuscaloosa Police received a report that the pony was roaming free in the Alberta neighborhood at around 10pm on March 20.

He was 'extremely unwilling' to go with the officers, and not interested in the pizza crusts or peppermints they offered, the department said in a statement.

It was eventually captured and taken to a riding school, but it is unclear who owns it, police said.

Police in Alabama tried to capture the pony for nearly two hours. In body cam footage they were seen trying to throw a lasso over the pony's head

After nearly two hours the pony was brought into the custody of Tuscaloosa Police on March 20 and named Ginuwine

'Three officers engaged in a low-speed foot pursuit, following Ginuwine up and down driveways and through people's back yards for nearly two hours,' it said.

The pony, whose name is not known and whose owner has not been identified, has been temporarily named Ginuwine, police said.

He was taken to the Therapeutic Riding of Tuscaloosa, a riding school which will serve as a permanent home in the event his owners are never found.

After it was finally captured, police released a mock 'mugshot' of the pony and said it would be 'charged' with third-degree criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, listing its bond at $800 bond.

'Honestly we get calls about things all the time, I didn't really believe it. When I drove over there I looked and realized there was actually is a pony in the yard running free,' said one of the responding officers.

'Never have I been called out to a horse before,' said another, who was seen in the footage throwing the lasso.

Police released a 'mugshot' of the pony and said it would be 'charged' with third-degree criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, resulting in an $800 bond

The pony was fostered by Therapeutic Riding of Tuscaloosa, a riding school which will serve as a permanent home in case his owners are never found

The pony, whose name is not known and whose owner has not been identified, has been temporarily named Ginuwine, police said

As part of the strategy to capture the pony police attempted to use a lasso. Pictured is one of the responding officers posing with the animal

'Tuscaloosa's famous Ginuwine Pony is currently being fostered with us,' the school confirmed.

The school appears to be using the pony's fame to generate some additional revenue.

'Ginuwine will be available for visitors during our Easter egg hunt Saturday, April 1 from 2 to 4 PM,' it announced on Facebook.

'He's still a little nervous so we ask that you look but don't touch. Admission to our Easter event is two dollars for adults. Children are free.'
House Administration Committee Chairman Rep. Bryan Steil of Wisconsin doubled down on a demand that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg be investigated for seeking to 'usurp' federal jurisdiction in a probe of former President Donald Trump.

Steil, along with two other Republican committee chairmen, demanded Bragg provide information and testimony, and said he faced 'political pressure from left-wing activists.'

The lawmakers also have threatened legislative action to protect former and current presidents from 'politically-motivated prosecutions'  prompting Bragg to accuse them of inappropriately seeking to interfere in an ongoing investigation.

'I think what is so essential is we make sure every American is treated equally under the law role for federal oversight when funds going to the D.A.,' Steil told Fox News on Monday. 'The concern is re-purposing federal funds to pursue a political agenda. That's a question that the House of Representatives needs to know, and the American people deserve to know an answer to.'

Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) on Monday doubled down on a push to seek testimony from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who is leading an investigation of former President Donald Trump

His pushback was on the same day the Manhattan grand jury met amid Bragg's probe of the 'hush' agreement former President Donald Trump reached with porn star Stormy Daniels. Former National Enquirer executive David Pecker left the courthouse Monday afternoon amid reports that a mystery witness was seen inside a car approaching the Manhattan criminal court.

Steil and his GOP allies have pointed to reports that Bragg may bring charges related to federal campaign finance laws. Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison in connection with the matter, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to the payments, which he facilitated using funds from a home loan. The federal charge might allow prosecutors to get around a statute of limitations hurdle on a matter that played out in the last weeks of the 2016 campaign.

He phrased many of his criticisms as questions, without outright leveling charges of misconduct.

Steil asked whether Bragg 'is engaged with federal agencies, particularly the Department of Justice, and whether or not he is trying to usurp the federal law of enforcing federal law, in this case the federal election violations.'

'Are they coordinating with federal agencies, including the DOJ?' he asked.

He also defended the request by Trump's Republican allies in Congress to demand testimony from a local prosecutor before charges have yet been brought in a case. Grand juries are kept secret and prosecutors say they don't discuss their investigations to protect the innocent.

'There is a federal nexus, and he should answer the questions we presented to him,' he said.

Steil appeared on Fox news at the start of another week where Trump faces possible indictment

Bragg unloaded in his own statement, which followed a March 25 letter from Steil, Judiciary Chairman and Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan, Oversight's Chairman Rep. James Comer, who has been heading a probe of the Biden family including Joe Biden's son Hunter.

'This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors,' the Manhattan District Attorney tweeted last week. 'As always, we continue to follow the facts and be guided by the rule of law in everything we do.'

The House Republican lawmakers also have trained their sights on two former prosecutors who resigned from the Manhattan DA's office over handling his investigation into former President Trump.

Attorney Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne sought to prosecute Trump in 2022 and resigned after Bragg rejected their legal theories.

That came amid a lack of movement in what had been dubbed a 'zombie' case.

The letter notes that the two 'resigned from the office over Bragg's initial reluctance to move forward with charges in 2022.'

'Bragg is now attempting to 'shoehorn' the same case with identical facts into a new prosecution,' said the letter.

Trump has repeatedly railed against Pomerantz, who wrote a book about the case against Trump.

Trump attacked DA Alvin Bragg again at a weekend rally

The letter GOP lawmakers sent Saturday rejects Bragg's claim that his testimony would prove Congress is improperly interfering in state and local matters

Three GOP chairmen, including Steil, signed the letter to Bragg
Rishi Sunak was tonight playing for time in the face of a threatened Tory rebellion over his efforts to introduce new migration laws.

The Prime Minister promised to continue speaking with Conservative backbenchers after they made attempts to amend his Illegal Migration Bill.

A series of changes to the legislation, which is aimed at cracking down on the Channel migrant crisis, have been tabled by MPs.

This includes efforts to toughen the bill in order to remove the influence of the European Court of Human Rights on Britain's migration policy.

Sir Bill Cash, who is among the Tory rebel ringleaders, tonight revealed he was expecting a commitment from the Government in the House of Commons to 'improve the bill' in line with their amendments.

It came after ministers stressed they were 'in listening mode' amid the rebellion threat.

MailOnline understands that ministers are due to make a pledge to use Parliament's upcoming Easter break to consider the rebels' amendments.

But there were also claims the rebels had yet to be appeased by Government promises, with stark warnings made about the PM's future in No10 if he did not 'fix' the legislation.

The Prime Minister promised to continue speaking with Conservative backbenchers after they made attempts to amend his Illegal Migration Bill

Sir Bill Cash, who is among the Tory rebel ringleaders, revealed he was expecting a commitment from the Government to 'improve the bill' in line with their amendments

A series of changes to the legislation, which is aimed at cracking down on the Channel migrant crisis, have been tabled by MPs

Mr Sunak unveiled his Illegal Migration Bill at the beginning of the month as part of his efforts to stem the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

The PM has also recently agreed a new 500m package with France to crackdown on migrants making the perilous journey to the UK.

Under the bill, anyone arriving in Britain by crossing the Channel in a small boat  or any other unauthorised means  would no longer be able to claim asylum in the UK.

They would instead only be eligible for asylum in a 'safe' third country, such as Rwanda, and receive a lifetime ban on citizenship or re-entry to the UK.

Some Tory MPs do not believe the legislation is tough enough and have tabled a series of amendments to tighten rules around blocking deportations and migrant accommodation in Britain.

Meanwhile, others on the liberal wing of the Tory party have tabled amendments seeking to pressure Mr Sunak into commiting to establishing more safe routes via which asylum seekers can come to Britain.

Downing Street today said ministers would continue to speak to Tory MPs over the bill, with the PM's official spokesman telling reporters: 'On a number of amendments that have been put forward, we do recognise that there is a range of views. This is a complex issue.

'We will keep seeking to speak constructively with MPs. I am not going to get ahead of the process in terms of how we will respond to specific amendments.'

Speaking in this evening's debate in the Commons at the bill's committee stage, veteran backbencher Sir Bill said he was expecting 'firm assurances' from ministers.

'We have asked the Government to engage with us constructively on these amendments and give us firm assurances today, on the floor of the House, to improve the Bill in the light of our amendments,' he told MPs.

'On the basis that they do give such assurances, which I understand they will, I will not press my amendment to a vote.'

Conservative former minister Tim Loughton told the Commons he would push his plans for required safe and legal routes to a vote unless there were 'substantial reassurances' from the Government.

On his amendment, known as new clause 13, he said: 'I will be prepared to move to a vote unless I can have some substantial reassurances from the Government  it makes a requirement on the face of the bill that there will be safe and legal routes as part of this legislation going through.'

Another among the Tory rebels told MailOnline they were expecting the Government to commit to using the Easter recess to consider MPs' demands and were 'hoping for meaningful improvements reflecting the aims of our amendments'.

On a visit to Essex this morning, Mr Sunak sought to play down suggestions he and Home Secretary Suella Braverman were at odds over the bill

But Politico's Playbook quoted a spokesman for the rebels as saying 'talk of a deal being done are overblown'.

'The PM is the one who made the promise to stop the boats by Christmas, and these measures take six months to have an impact,' they added.

'The Government will either fix this at report stage or the PM will be taking up a position as emeritus professor of government at Stanford University.'

This morning, Mr Sunak sought to play down suggestions he and Home Secretary Suella Braverman were at odds over the bill.

It followed reports she has been privately encouraging rebels on the right in order to pressurise him to toughen up the legislation.

Speaking during a visit to Essex, Mr Sunak said he was confident they had designed a Bill that was 'robust and effective' while remaining compliant with the UK's obligations under international law.

'The Home Secretary and I have worked incredibly closely for the last two months to get the legislation exactly right,' he said.

'This is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we haven't seen. It's important that it is effective, which it will be.

'It is also important that we abide by our international obligations. This is a country and a Government that does follow the law.'
A Highland Park parade mass shooting survivor on vacation in Nashville has raged about gun control in America - after a female shooter opened fire at a private elementary school on Monday.

Ashby Beasley, from Illinois, is a mass shooting survivor - and was visiting a family member in town when the ordeal occurred this morning.

Authorities confirmed that six people - three children, and three adults - are dead after the 28-year-old gunwoman opened fire at The Covenant School in Tennessee.

The shooter was then killed by police at around 10.27am - making the total death toll seven. She was killed 14 minutes after starting her rampage.

As the community reels from the tragedy, Beasley is among parents who have spoken out about how gun violence is now an 'epidemic' in America.

Ashby Beasley is among parents who have spoken out about how gun violence is now an 'epidemic' in America. She survived the Highland Park parade mass shooting in July 2022

Ashby Beasley (left) and Sheaun Delluebrooks (right) are both parents who have been involved in mass shootings. Beasley and her son were in a shooting, and Delluebrooks lost her son to a shooting in Tennessee in 2018

Children are filed out of school, holding each other by hand, during the mass shooting

She told CNN: 'I'm a mass shooting survivor. My son and I survived a mass shooting in park where there was a shooting. We ran for our lives, and this is just unacceptable.

'Only in America can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation to visit another person and find themselves near another mass shooting.

'This is an epidemic. Gun violence is an epidemic and it needs to be resolved.'

Moments after being interviewed, Beasley broke away and hijacked a Fox News broadcast to continue: 'I have met with lobbying in DC. I've met with over a hundred and thirty lawmakers. How is this still happening?'

The Highland Park parade shooting occurred on July 4, 2022 during an Independence Day parade in Illinois. Seven people were killed, and 48 others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel.

Sheaun Delluebrooks said she rushed to the scene at The Covenant School after her son, who attends Hillsboro High School, texted saying he was in lockdown.

The schools are about 1.4 miles - just a five minute drive - away from one another. It's understood that the high school went into lockdown following reports of the mass shooting at the elementary school.

Delluebrooks lost her son Akila DaSilva in the 2018 Waffle House mass shooting in Nashville - and today slammed legislators for not doing enough to protect children.

She said that she understands what the parents of the three child victims feel like today - having been through a similar ordeal with her son.

Delluebrooks told DailyMail.com: 'We're failing our children.

Sheaun Delluebrooks lost her son Akila DaSilva in the 2018 Waffle House mass shooting in Nashville

School buses with children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church - as kids flee the mass shooting this morning

Children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their families after a mass shooting at The Covenant School

A police chaplain stands by as children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville

'Maybe this could have been prevented if there were laws in place to protect them.'

'I know what these parents are feeling. You get that call that your family member was shot and eventually died and it's devastating.'

'Our governor our legislator, they are failing our children. They are failing us miserably.'

Police say the gunman - who has not yet been named - killed three kids and three adults before being shot dead by police.

Shortly before 10.13am, the woman entered the school through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10,.27am, she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.
This is the harrowing moment a 13-year-old stabbed a teacher who then died of a heart attack and wounded three others at a school in the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

The student, whose name has not been released by authorities, entered his classroom Monday morning at the Thomazia Montoro State School and approached Elizabete Tenreiro, 71, before he pushed her and stabbed her while she was taking attendance.

A classmate could be seen stepping forward to stop the attack when the teenager, who was wearing a skull mask, then plunged the knife into him.

The attacker charged after his terrified classmates, who raced out of the room for safety.

Elizabete Tenreiro was stabbed by a 13-year-old student inside her eighth grade classroom Monday morning and died at a Sao Paulo, Brazil, hospital after suffering a heart attack

Elizabete Tenreiro (right) was set to do her classroom's attendance at the Thomazia Montoro State School when she was pushed and stabbed by one of her students, a 13-year-old boy (left)

Moments later, the student could be seen dragging a teacher on the ground before staff members pounced on him.

Physical education teacher, Cinthia Barbosa placed him on a choke hold while a second teacher wrestled the knife away and reached to remove his mask.

The boy was arrested by the Military Police and taken to a local police station.

Authorities said Tenreiro was rushed to the University Hospital of USP, where she went into cardiac arrest and died.

One student suffered a cut to the arm after falling to the ground while trying to seek safety.

A student (right) steps to confront his classmate (left) moments after he stabbed their eighth grade teacher at the Thomazia Montoro State School on Monday

Physical education teacher, Cintia Barbosa (right), put the 13-year-old student in a choke hold while another teacher (left) snatches the knife away

A teacher (left) the knife used by a student to stab four teachers, including one who died, and a student at the Thomazia Montoro State School in Brazil on Monday

The father of the student who was stabbed said his child suffered wounds to the arm, back and eyebrow while attempting to defend Tenreiro from the attacker.

'(The suspect) is a sick student, unfortunately,' Ronaldo Borges said, as quoted by Brazilian news outlet G1. 'The studied together in the same room.'

Secretary of Public Security, Guilherme Derrite, said the 'tragedy would certainly have been much greater' had it not been for Barbosa's heroic response.

Education Secretary, Gustavo Felder, said that the teen suspect had fought a student last week. Students said that the fight started after he allegedly called his classmate a 'monkey' and that Tenreiro broke up the brawl.

The student didn't attend class Monday.

A student (center) leaves the Thomazia Montoro State School after a 13-year-old student killed a teacher and wounded three teachers and one student

A student leaves the Thomazia Montoro State School with his mother after a fatal stabbing at the school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday

Cops confiscated a cellphone, knife, scissors and hat from the 13-year-old attacker

The attacker transferred to the Thomazia Montoro State School on March 15.

He previously attended the Jose Roberto Pacheco State School in Taboao da Serra, where administrators in February reported to the police by due to conduct issues, Metropoles newspaper reported.

A copy of an incident report obtained by Metropoles noted that the 13-year-old boy exhibited 'suspicious behavior on social networks, posting compromising videos, for example, carrying a firearm, simulating violent attacks.'

The Department of Education announced that Thomazia Montoro State School would remained closed for a week
Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl claims that he is a 'a good guy' and a 'responsible family man' in a shocking new book.

Fritzl, who locked his daughter Elisabeth in a cellar where he sexually abused her for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, makes the claims in the book written with the help of lawyer Astrid Wagner.

Titled 'Die Abgruende des Josef F' (The Abysses of Josef F), the book lays out claims that Fritzl, 87, has a number of illegitimate children abroad. He claims these were the result of 'dozens of sexual affairs' during business trips.

He also claims he has a son from Africa, who 'today is a respected lawyer'.

According to Austrian and German media, one excerpt of the book quotes Fritzl as saying: 'In reality, I'm a good person', and states that the former electrical engineer cannot understand why his wife Rosemarie broke off contact with him.

Fritzl (pictured) who locked his daughter Elisabeth in a cellar where he sexually abused her for 24 years and fathered seven children with her, makes the claims in the book

He reportedly avoids walking in the prison yard 'because there are a few prisoners just waiting to be able to beat me up', he writes

Speaking of his arrest in 2008, he writes: 'I was completely alone with my thoughts. There was no one I could confide in'.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for incest, rape, coercion, false imprisonment, enslavement and for the negligent homicide of one of his infant sons.

Fritzl's daughter disappeared in 1984 at age 18, re-emerging in 2008 from the dungeon-like basement chamber in the town of Amstetten where her father had kept her captive. Fritzl built the basement himself.

The abuse resulted in the birth of seven children - three of which remained in captivity with their mother. One died at the hands of Fritzl, a matter of days after being born. His disposed of the body in an incinerator.

The other three were brought up Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie.

The book also details his life in the Stein prison in Krems an der Donau. He implies that he sees himself as having a higher ranking than other prisoners.

He reportedly avoids walking in the prison yard 'because there are a few prisoners just waiting to be able to beat me up', he writes. But he is thought to be friendly with another prisoner, who he describes as a 'helpful nice guy' because he regularly cooks for him.

He also claims to receive 'hundreds of letters', the majority of which come from women who he claims are in love with him, and that he wishes to 'spend the last few years [of his life] in freedom'.

Fritzl's daughter disappeared in 1984 at age 18, re-emerging in 2008 from the dungeon-like basement chamber in the town of Amstetten where her father had kept her captive

Friztl, who changed his name to Mayrhoff six years ago, built the basement himself

Speaking of his arrest in 2008, Fritzl writes: 'I was completely alone with my thoughts. There was no one I could confide in'.

He outlines potential plans to move back to Amstetten, Austria, and 'perhaps set up a small business there'.

It comes after he recently submitted an application to be transferred to a normal prison. Austrian courts have rejected previous attempts to be moved to a lower-security prison.

Fritzl, who changed his name to Mayrhoff six years ago, is reportedly suffering from dementia.

In an interview with German newspaper BILD, lawyer Dr Wagner, who co-wrote the book, said she began work on the book when Fritzl wrote 'his autobiography' in a letter to her from his cell.

'He needs help with the publication, but also legal assistance,' she said.

'Fritzl is extremely popular with most of his fellow prisoners. He is polite and very charming'.

Previous reports have suggested that Fritzl is unpopular in the prison and is largely kept in solitary confinement.

'Josef Fritzl is only human, not a beast. He is a man who has not mastered his inner demons. He not only lived a double life, but in principle a quadruple life. Fritzl is a master of suppression.'
The White House said 'enough is enough' after the latest mass shooting at an American school  this time at an elementary school outside Nashville.

'What were seeing at schools and communities across this country is unacceptable,' said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

'What we saw today is devastating, is heartbreaking for any American,' she added, noting that President Joe Biden will address the shooting during prescheduled remarks later Monday afternoon.

She called the news 'devastating' and 'heartbreaking for any American,' but didn't provide concrete information on any new executive orders President Biden might be planning. She made repeated reference to stalled legislative proposals in Congress.

Her official response was buttressed by remarks by First Lady Jill Biden, who spoke to a conference in Washington Monday. Biden she is 'without words' as she became the first person in the White House to publicly react to news of a school shooting in Nashville that left three children dead.

The first lady spoke as new details were emerging about the latest mass shooting to leave young children dead at school, prompting the White House to say Monday that 'enough is enough.'

'I am truly without words, and our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer,' Biden said during an address at the National League of Cities conference.

Six people - including three children - are dead after 28-year-old female shooter opened fire at a private school in Nashville.

First Lady Jill Biden said she is 'without words' as she was the first person in the White House to publicly react to news of a school shooting in Nashville that left three children dead

The incident took place at the Covenant School, an elementary school on the outskirts of the city.

At the White House, Jean-Pierre spoke about the tragic shooting at the top of her daily press briefing and fielded numerous questions on it, amid a years-long stalemate in Congress and the expiration of an assault weapons ban that had been law but expired.

She pointed to executive action President Joe Biden took after two previous mass shootings, but used stark language to call on Congress to do more legislatively.

'Its not enough. We must do more,' she said. She said Biden 'wants Congress to act, because enough is enough.'

'How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes  or to require the safe storage of guns?' said Jean-Pierre.

Biden helped lead the effort for an semi-automatic assault weapons and high capacity magazine ban in 1994, but that legislation expired in 2004.

She said Biden had been briefed on the 'heartbreaking' news of the shooting. She expressed the president's 'appreciation for first responders and prayers for all the families affected by the shooting.'

'Too often our schools and communities are being devastated' by gun violence, she said.

'Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach,' she said.

She referenced four elements of legislation: background checks for all gun sales (dealing with the so-called gun show loophole; background checks on all sales; legislation on high-capacity magazines; and eliminating liability from suit for gun manufacturers.

'Those are things that they can do,' she said of Congress.

Earlier this month Biden signed an executive order aimed at expanding background checks by closing a loophole that allowed some gun sellers not to conduct background checks before proceeding with a sale.

Police say the shooter - who has not yet been named - killed three kids and three adults before being shot dead by police. Her identity has not yet been confirmed.

Shortly before 10:13 a.m., the shooter entered the school through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10:27 a.m., she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.
The 28-year-old woman who allegedly opened fire at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee is just the fifth female school mass shooter in history.

Police say Audrey Hale killed three kids and three adults before she was shot dead by police.

Females make up just about 2 percent of both mass shootings and school shootings in the United States, according to data compiled by The Violence Project, which maintains a database of school shootings in which more than one person was shot or a person came to school heavily armed with the intent of firing indiscriminately.

It found that females committed just four school shootings out of 147 recorded.

The first took place in 1979 when 16-year-old Brenda Spencer shot dead her principal and another staff member at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego.

Asked why she killed, Spencer infamously told a reporter: 'I just don't like Mondays. I did this because it's a way to cheer up the day,' which inspired Bob Geldof to write the Boomtown Rats' hit record.

Brenda Spencer, a 16-year-old who carried out an attack on Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, killed the school's principal and a custodian, and wounded eight children and a police officer

Students are evacuated from The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday after a female shooter killed three kids and two adults

Teenage shooter in 1979 opened fire on an elementary school because she 'doesn't like Mondays'

Spencer infamously told a reporter: 'I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day,' which inspired Bob Geldof to write the Boomtown Rats' hit record

On January 29, 1979, Spencer fired shots from her house across the street from the Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego.

She used a rifle and a scope her father gave her for Christmas as she took aim at the school, killing the principal and another staff member.

Eight students and a police officer were also injured in the rampage, in which she fired 36 rounds for about 20 minutes.

An ensuing standoff between Spencer and police officers lasted more than six hours before she was taken into custody

Her defense attorney later claimed she suffered from a broken home, an abusive father, drug use and was just generally hostile toward authorities and society in general.

But Spencer ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 25 years.

Twenty-three year old opens fire at technical college

Latina Williams, 23, killed two students in a Louisiana Technical College classroom before turning the gun on herself

Latina Williams, 23, who killed two students in a Louisiana Technical College classroom before killing herself in 2008.

Authorities said she entered an emergency medical technology classroom in February 2008, spoke briefly with the professor and left.

She then returned through another door, and fired six rounds, killing Karsheika Graves, 21, and Taneshia Butler, 26, both of Baton Rouge.

Police found in the aftermath that she was living out of her car and the time and had not spoken to her family much over the past two years.

Williams had been exhibiting signs of 'paranoia and losing touch with reality,' according to WAFB.

Fifteen-year-old shoots dead her best friend so 'she could feel pain, too' after they stopped talking

Teah Wimberly was just 15-years-old when she fatally shot Amanda Collette, also 15, at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2008

Teah Wimberly was just 15-years-old when she fatally shot Amanda Collette, also 15, at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2008.

The two had been best friends since elementary school, but the relationship took a turn for the worse when Wimberly started making romantic overtures toward Collette, who rejected her advances.

Then when Collette refused to talk to Wimberly in November 2008, she pulled out a .22-caliber pistol and shot her friend.

She said she fired the gun so Collette 'could feel pain, too.'

Defense attorneys argued that Wimberly had been abandoned by so many people in her life that she couldn't stand to lose her best friend as well.

Sixth-grader opened fire at Idaho middle school

More recently, a sixth-grade girl opened fire at an Idaho middle school in 2021.

The 12-year-old girl was dressed mostly in black with a black surgical mask as she made her way around Rigby Middle School on May 6, 2021, East Idaho News reported, before she pulled out a semi-automatic pistol.

As students and staff fled outside, the unnamed juvenile followed them and continued to fire.

A second pistol was later found inside her backpack, and she claimed she also had two knives and was trying to build three bombs to blow up the school.

The girl was arrested on three counts of attempted murder, and could remain in a juvenile prison until she is 19.

A father carries his son out of The Covenant School in Nashville after a shooter killed three students and two staff members before being shot dead

School buses filled with children arrived at Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their families following the shooting at The Covenant School

Why are men more likely to commit these shootings?

Researchers have found that shooters who target bigger groups or schools tend to study past perpetrators, who are more likely to be male.

'They see themselves in some of these other shooters,' said Violence Project President Jillian Peterson, a forensic psychologist and professor at Hamline University in Minnesota.

Boys in general tend to externalize anger and sadness against other people, whereas girls are more likely to internalize those emotions and have higher rates of depression and anxiety, Peterson said.

Two recent studies by the U.S. Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center also offer insight into common characteristics between many kids who plan or carry out school shootings.

The students were often badly bullied, suffered from depression with stress at home and exhibited behavior that worried others.

They were also often absent from school before the attack.
A haunting picture of Nashville elementary school children escaping a mass shooting, hand in hand, is eerily reminiscent of the same scene at Sandy Hook 11 years ago.

Three children and three adults were gunned to death at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday. The shooter, a 28-year-old female, was killed by police.

And the tragedy in Nashville is evocative of The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - which took place on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. It marked the country's deadliest elementary school shooting in history.

Just like the mass shooting 11 years ago, young children were today seen being shepherded, one by one, away from the school building where bullets rained.

Holding hands and walking in single file, images of the Nashville children escaping the tragedy today is identical to the photo of school kids walking out of Sandy Hook school in 2012.

THE COVENANT SCHOOL: On Monday, March 27 2023, a female shooter opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three children and three adults. The gunwoman was then killed by police

SANDY HOOK: On December 14, 2012, 26 people were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the tragically infamous image, two Connecticut State Police officers accompany a class of students as they are shepherded away from the deadly shooting

A total of 26 people - 20 of which were children - were killed in 2012 when gunman Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire before turning the weapon on himself.

The gunwoman responsible for The Covenant School shooting in Nashville is yet to be identified, but police say that she is 28-year-old local resident who previously attended the school when she was a child.

She was killed 14 minutes after starting her rampage.

The victims from Monday's mass shooting are yet to be confirmed, but police say that three children and three adults died when the 28-year-old opened fire.

On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza walked into the school, which is located in Newtown, Connecticut, and shot and killed 26 people - including 20 children, and six adult staff members. Before police arrived, he shot and killed himself.

The incident became the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in U.S. history, and the fourth-deadliest mass shooting of all time.

In Nashville today, shortly before 10.13am, the woman entered the school through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10.27am, she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.

At a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the shooting was proof the ongoing need for stricter gun reform.

First Lady Jill Biden, speaking at the National League of Cities conference on Monday, told the crowd: 'We just learned about another shooting in Tennessee - a school shooting.

'I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer.'

Monday's shooting is the 129th shooting this year.

The 20 children who were killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting. Top row (L to R): Ana Marquez-Greene, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Emilie Parker, Noah Pozner. Second row: (L to R): Jesse Lewis, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Charlotte Bacon, Chase Kowalski. Third row (L to R): Daniel Barden, Jack Pinto, Catherine Hubbard, Dylan Hockley, Benjamin Wheeler. Bottom row (L to R): Grace McDonnell, James Mattioli, Avielle Richman, Madeleine Hsu, Allison Wyatt

The adult victims of the Sandy Hook shooting included (L to R): Teacher Rachel Davino, 29, para professional Anne Marie Murphy, 52, and permanent substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau, 30

The other three adult victims of the Sandy Hook shooting were (L to R): Teacher Victoria Soto, 27, school psychiatrist Mary Sherlach, 56, and principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47

School buses with children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church - as kids flee the mass shooting this morning

In the wake of the tragedy in Nashville today, mass shooting survivors have blasted legislators for their lack of movement with gun laws.

A Highland Park parade mass shooting survivor on vacation in Nashville was among those raging about gun control in America.

Ashby Beasley, from Illinois, is a mass shooting survivor - and was visiting a family member in town when the ordeal occurred this morning.

She told CNN: 'I'm a mass shooting survivor. My son and I survived a mass shooting in park where there was a shooting. We ran for our lives, and this is just unacceptable.

'Only in America can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation to visit another person and find themselves near another mass shooting.

'This is an epidemic. Gun violence is an epidemic and it needs to be resolved.'

Moments after being interviewed, Beasley broke away and hijacked a Fox News broadcast to continue: 'I have met with lobbying in DC. I've met with over a hundred and thirty lawmakers. How is this still happening?'

The Highland Park parade shooting occurred on July 4, 2022 during an Independence Day parade in Illinois. Seven people were killed, and 48 others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel.
President Biden tried to apply new pressure on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban Monday after a Nashville woman carrying two semi-automatic rifles killed six at an elementary school.

Biden addressed the latest in a long line of horrific national mass shootings at a Small Business Association Women's Summit at the White House Monday, where he faced the difficult task of mourning fresh losses of children and teachers at an event meant to honor entrepreneurs.

He began by joking about how his sister Valerie, a key advisor, is smarter than he is and talking about his love of chocolate chip ice cream before he struck a more serious tone to address the mass shooting.

'I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream. By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs,' Biden opened.

'You know, it's pretty dull when you've been in public life as long as I have and you're known for two things: chocolate chip ice cream and Ray-Ban sunglasses, but what the hell.'

'You know, Ben and I've been doing this our whole careers it seems and it's just sick,' Biden then said, referring to Small Business Committee chair Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who was in the audience.

'Its heartbreaking, a familys worst nightmare,' Biden continued.

'It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul this nation ripped at the very soul of the nation. And we have to do more to protect our schools so they aren't turned into prisons.'

He noted that the 28-year-old shooter was reportedly carrying two assault weapons and a pistol.

'You know, Ben and I've been doing this our whole careers it seems and it's just sick,' Biden said, referring to Small Business Committee chair Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.

A group prays with a child outside the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after the school shooting

A dad walks hand in hand with his children after they survived a school shooting

That prompted him to renew his call for a piece of Clinton era legislation that Congress allowed to expire amid fierce resistance from a bloc of members and from the powerful gun lobby.

'So I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban. It's about time that we began to make some more progress but there's more to learn,' Biden said.

Passing anything approaching major legislation would likely be a substantial challenge. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin told CNN Monday he would like to bring up a bill expanding background checks, then added, 'I'm a realist.'

'I haven't ruled it out,' Durbin said.

Biden then referenced his son Beau who died of brain cancer in 2015, noting that now school teachers and students - like service members - must be suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

'These children, these teachers, we should be focusing on their mental health as well.'

The White House said 'enough is enough' after the latest mass shooting at an American school  this time at an elementary school outside Nashville.

'What were seeing at schools and communities across this country is unacceptable,' said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

'What we saw today is devastating, is heartbreaking for any American,' she added, noting that President Joe Biden will address the shooting during prescheduled remarks later Monday afternoon.

She called the news 'devastating' and 'heartbreaking for any American,' but didn't provide concrete information on any new executive orders President Biden might be planning. She made repeated reference to stalled legislative proposals in Congress.

Her official response was buttressed by remarks by First Lady Jill Biden, who spoke to a conference in Washington Monday. Biden she is 'without words' as she became the first person in the White House to publicly react to news of a school shooting in Nashville that left three children dead.

The first lady spoke as new details were emerging about the latest mass shooting to leave young children dead at school, prompting the White House to say Monday that 'enough is enough.'

'I am truly without words, and our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer,' Biden said during an address at the National League of Cities conference.

Six people - including three children - are dead after 28-year-old female shooter opened fire at a private school in Nashville.

First Lady Jill Biden said she is 'without words' as she was the first person in the White House to publicly react to news of a school shooting in Nashville that left three children dead

The incident took place at the Covenant School, an elementary school on the outskirts of the city.

At the White House, Jean-Pierre spoke about the tragic shooting at the top of her daily press briefing and fielded numerous questions on it, amid a years-long stalemate in Congress and the expiration of an assault weapons ban that had been law but expired.

She pointed to executive action President Joe Biden took after two previous mass shootings, but used stark language to call on Congress to do more legislatively.

'Its not enough. We must do more,' she said. She said Biden 'wants Congress to act, because enough is enough.'

'How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes  or to require the safe storage of guns?' said Jean-Pierre.

Children hold hands as they leave The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday after a female shooter opened fire, killing three kids and three staff members

Terrified children peer out the windows of their school bus as they wait to be driven away from the school after the shooting

Students are evacuated from The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday after a female shooter killed three kids and two adults

Biden helped lead the effort for an semi-automatic assault weapons and high capacity magazine ban in 1994, but that legislation expired in 2004.

She said Biden had been briefed on the 'heartbreaking' news of the shooting. She expressed the president's 'appreciation for first responders and prayers for all the families affected by the shooting.'

'Too often our schools and communities are being devastated' by gun violence, she said.

'Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach,' she said.

She referenced four elements of legislation: background checks for all gun sales (dealing with the so-called gun show loophole; background checks on all sales; legislation on high-capacity magazines; and eliminating liability from suit for gun manufacturers.

A father carries his son out of The Covenant School in Nashville after a shooter killed three students and two staff members before being shot dead

'Those are things that they can do,' she said of Congress.

Earlier this month Biden signed an executive order aimed at expanding background checks by closing a loophole that allowed some gun sellers not to conduct background checks before proceeding with a sale.

Police say the shooter - who has not yet been named - killed three kids and three adults before being shot dead by police. Her identity has not yet been confirmed.

Shortly before 10:13 a.m., the shooter entered the school through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10:27 a.m., she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.
Bear Grylls' attempt to break the ice with President Volodymyr Zelensky didn't go as he had planned, as the Ukrainian leader's security team feared he was trying to assassinate him.

The survival expert travelled to Ukraine to meet Zelensky and interview him as they walked around Kiev, but when Bear, 48, tried to offer Zelensky, 45, a piece of Cadbury's chocolate, his security team jumped into action.

He revealed the security team refused the offering, fearing the chocolate might be poisoned, as he discussed his new Channel 4 documentary 'Bear Grylls Meets President Zelensky' on Good Morning Britain.

'One of the ways you thought about breaking the ice was to offer him some chocolate,' GMB host Susanna Reid said to him. 'Let's just sit on a park bench like two friends and have a bar of chocolate'.

Bear said he understood their actions, adding: 'Normally when I've done this before with world leaders, the wild does half my job for me it's a great leveller, it's a great ice-breaker, you're out in the mountains'.

Bear told the story of offering Zelensky, 45, a piece of Cadbury's chocolate, which saw his security team jump into action

He discussed the awkward encounter with GMB presenter Susanna Reid, telling her he had hoped it would break the ice

Bear spoke of the unusual experience on GMB as he discussed his new Channel 4 documentary 'Bear Grylls Meets President Zelensky'

Bear has previously shared food with other world leaders, including some salmon which had been caught by a bear with former US President Barack Obama in Alaska

Bear has previously shared food with other world leaders, including some salmon which had been caught by a bear with former US President Barack Obama in Alaska.

The survival expert also spoke about the incident with Zelensky in a previous interview with Radio Times.

'When I offered it to Zelensky, one of his guys stepped in and said he shouldn't be eating it', he said. 'I said, 'Ok, I'll go first, to show I'm not out to poison him,' and we all laughed', he said.

'I gave some to the security guys, because everyone likes a little square of Dairy Milk, right?'

Elsewhere in the interview, Bear spoke about a conversation he had with the President about his family. Since the war began, Zelensky has been separated from his family; his wife Olena, daughter Oleksandra and son, Kyrylo.

The survival expert travelled to Ukraine to meet Zelensky and interview him as they walked around Kiev

Bear said the show is aimed at getting to know 'the real guy behind the podium, actually what he [Zelensky] is like as a man'.

British Hollywood star Orlando Bloom visited Ukraine to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and children and families impacted by Vladimir Putin's invasion

READ MORE: As Orlando Bloom becomes latest star to meet Ukraine's leader, take a look at the showbiz names who have been granted a private audience during the war US actor and director Ben Stiller shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Advertisement

He said the show is aimed at getting to know 'the real guy behind the podium, actually what he [Zelensky] is like as a man'.

''He said, 'Like all of Ukraine we've put everything on hold, our life, our ambitions, our families, our work, our future, our dreams'', Bear said. ''Everything for one purpose, to defend our country.'

'And there's a power to that and he is very clear, 'I'm doing what everyone else is doing, putting everything aside, we're defending our home.''

During his visit to Ukraine for the documentary, Bear was able to see the destruction caused by the Russian invasion and subsequent war first hand.

He described him as 'really humble, down to earth and totally focused'.

'Everyone I met in Ukraine, even if I said 'what do you think of Zelenksy?' and they go: 'Whatever I thought before is irrelevant, whether I liked him or not. The whole country's together and we're all behind him''.

Bear is one of several celebrities that have been invited to Ukraine to show their support.

The most recent was Pirates of the Carribean star Orlando Bloom, who praised the 'incredibly stoic nature' of the Ukrainian people and encouraged Zelensky to 'go win' the war.

The pair were seen in footage in the capital's presidential palace, where they discussed humanitarian projects and reconstruction efforts to help the children of Ukraine. In addition to Kyiv, Bloom visited Irpin and Demydiv.
A landlord has been left $65,000 out of pocket and forced to live in a hotel after her tenant refused to move out of her property and pay rent.

Melbourne mum Nicole Hicks had rented out her house to a single mother on government welfare six years ago without a problem.

Her tenant stopped paying rent in July 2022 and has left the house trashed, with strangers going in and out of the property ever since.

A landlord has been left $65,000 out of pocket and forced to live in a hotel after her tenant refused to move out of her property and pay rent

Ms Hicks has been unable to evict her due to a technicality meaning she can't move back into the house that she legally owns.

She has been forced to cover not only the rent but also the fees to stay in a hotel while she battles to evict the tenant.

'I actually just don't know what to do, I don't know what to do,' she told A Current Affair.

Ms Hicks said she decided to take a chance when she rented out the house to a single mother on government welfare in 2017.

She then decided that she wanted to move back into the property and renovate it, prompting her to send an eviction notice in June 2022.

Ms Hicks said she gave the tenant 60 days to vacate the premises.

The tenant stopped paying rent after receiving the notice while the house has fallen into neglect.

Rubbish has been spotted strewn across the front and back yards while a glass window has been smashed.

Ms Hicks has also shared photos showing furniture piled up and a hole in the wall inside her house.

'People don't believe that there's nothing I can do. I can't believe there's nothing I can do,' she said.

Her tenant stopped paying rent in July 2022 and has left the house trashed with strangers going in and out of the property ever since

Ms Hicks has taken the matter up with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal but had to wait for three months for a hearing.

Her case was thrown out because the real estate agent had sent the tenant a notice to vacate via email and not registered post.

A notice to vacate must be sent by registered post or email as long as the tenant has given their consent to receive notices and other documents electronically.

The real estate agent has since resigned while Ms Hicks has struggled to find another one to fight her case.

The distraught landlord said she has been through a 'nervous breakdown' as she lodges another application with VCAT.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria CEO Quentin Kilian slammed the tribunal.

'One of the things that we have spoken to VCAT about and will continue to speak to them about is not to assume that property managers, whilst professionals in their field, are necessary professionals in a court of law or a tribunal,' he said.
Charlamagne The God has defended a Mississippi news anchor who was removed from the air after she recited Snoop Dogg lyrics during a live broadcast.

White WLBT employee Barbie Bassett, was swiftly removed from the show after the incident on March 8.

She recited a popular phrase of the rapper while talking about his line of wine during the broadcast but has not been seen on the show since.

Bassett said: 'Fo s*****e, my n****e', while plugging the Cali Wine Collection- and the launch of his Snoop Cali Blanc variety.

She has since been defended by Charlamagne during his radio show, The Breakfast Club, with the host appearing shocked that she had been fired for the use.

Charlamagne The God has defended a Mississippi news anchor who was removed from the air after she recited Snoop Dogg lyrics during a live broadcast

White WLBT employee Barbie Bassett, was swiftly removed from the show after the incident on March 8

Discussing the incident with DJ Envy he said: 'She can't say, 'Fo s*****e, my n****e?'

'Oh, I guess cause n****e is a derivative of the N-word. I'm saying that in context. I didn't mean to say I'm not using that word.'

The word is sometimes used as slang for the n-word, and is considered offensive.

But DJ Envy said that he didn't think the use of it was 'fireable', with Charlamagne interjecting: 'She might not even know what 'N***e' means, yo.

'I'm not like, come on, we got to like, stop man. That's not a reason to fire that woman.'

'That's the thing with hip hop, man. Hip-hop is so big and so mainstream and it's just like, who can consume it and who can't?

'You know what I mean? Who can repeat slang and who can't? She might be old. She probably has no idea n****e is a derivative of the N-word.'

DJ Envy was also quick to defend Bassett, adding that she was probably a 'fan of Snoop Dogg.'

But DJ Envy said that he didn't think the use of it was 'fireable', with Charlamagne interjecting: 'She might not even know what 'N****e' means, yo'

Bassett said: 'Fo s*****e, my n****e', while plugging the Cali Wine Collection- and the launch of his Snoop Cali Blanc variety

The phrase is one used by the rapper Snoop Dogg a lot in his music

Charlamagne ended the segment by saying 'I hope she sues' as well as saying it was a 'fireable offense'.

However Bassetts comment comes only four months after she referred to her co-anchor, Cameron Poe's grandmother as 'grandmammy' - a term African-American slaves used for their grandmothers - Poe is black.

At the time, Basset apologized to the viewers and her co-workers for the offensive remark during the October 2022 broadcast, calling it 'insensitive and hurtful' and said she was going to participate in training to 'better understand our history and our people.'

A spokesman for WLBT said that they were 'unable to comment on personnel matters' when contacted.

Bassett has not made a public statement on the matter since the incident.
A Christmas card sent by a Tennessee congressman - who oversees the district where the Nashville school shooting occurred - has been unearthed in the wake of the tragedy on Monday.

Rep. Andy Ogles faced fierce backlash after saying he was 'utterly heartbroken' over the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Tennessee today - because of a controversial image of the politician bearing arms.

In 2021, the representative for Tennessee's 5th congressional district posed with his wife Monica and his three children in front of a Christmas tree, brandishing assault rifles.

It's not clear what types of guns the family are specifically holding - but at least two in the festive photo appear to be armed with modified AR-15s.

In the post, Ogles wrote the quote: 'The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good.'

Rep. Andy Ogles (left) is pictured with his wife Monica and their three kids - holding what looked like assault rifles as they posed for a Christmas card in 2021

Ogles faced fierce backlash after saying he was 'utterly heartbroken' over the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Tennessee today - because of a controversial image of the politician bearing arms

The festive photo showed the family - including his three young children - brandishing guns while smiling around the Christmas tree. His youngest child did not appear to hold a weapon.

But the image has been reposted by many online after Rep Ogles sent his 'thoughts and prayers' to the victims of the mass shooting today.

He wrote on Twitter: 'My family and I are devastated by the tragedy that took place at The Covenant School in Nashville this morning. We are sending out thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost.

'As a father of three, I am utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of violence. I am closely monitoring the situation and working with local officials. Thank you to the brave first responders who have provided support throughout this tragedy.'

The congressional district that Ogles has represented since 2023 falls within the boundaries of The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

He was also the Republican mayor of Maury County, Tennessee, from 2018 to 2022.

The Christmas message was posted on December 11, 2021 - and at the time, received a mixture of comments - some of which were negative.

One person wrote at the time: 'Really I dont see this appropriate for the birth of the prince of peace. Im certainly not opposed to guns, but not like this for Christmas!'

Another said: 'Nothing says celebrating the birth of Jesus like promoting your unnatural desire for firearms. I could vomit just looking at you. Pathetic!' While a third said: 'That's the way to celebrate the coming of Christ. Wow.

'Don't get me wrong. I own Firearms. But I just wouldn't mix it with a Holy Holiday. I think there is some sort of decency left in this World.
Prince Harrys estranged family have no plans to meet with him during his whirlwind visit to the UK.

His father, King Charles, is working from Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, before flying out for a three-day state visit to Germany on Wednesday.

Sources close to Harry seemingly briefed chosen members of the media yesterday that he had made contact with his father to let him know he would be in the country, but was told that the king was busy.

His brother, the Prince of Wales, is away with his family as his children have already broken up from school for Easter.

Prince Harry (pictured today at the High Court) is in London but his estranged family have no plans to meet with him during his whirlwind visit to the UK

King Charles, is working from Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, before flying out for a three-day state visit to Germany on Wednesday

The Prince and Princess of Wales (pictured together on March 17), are away with their children, who have already broken up from school for Easter

They live in Adelaide Cottage on the royal estate at Windsor, just a short walk from Frogmore Cottage, the five-bedroom home that Harry and Meghan have been given notice to move out of by June.

It is not known, however, whether Harry is staying there while he is in the UK, where he put in a surprise appearance at the High Court yesterday.

Earlier this year the Mail revealed how both Charles and William had been left deeply hurt and angered by Harrys repeated attacks on his family, particularly in his controversial memoir, Spare.

Sources said neither man was minded to humour him. It is not believed that they have seen or spoken to him since Queen Elizabeth died.

Although an invitation to attend the kings coronation in May has been extended to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, there has been no word of an acceptance yet.

Palace staff are continuing to plan in case they do come, given that the historic event is less than six weeks away.
A private investigator whose 'confessions' form a key element of a privacy case being brought against Associated Newspapers by Prince Harry, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John and others has denied their allegations that he acted illegally against them on behalf of the Daily Mail or Mail on Sunday.

The development came as the Duke of Sussex made a surprise appearance at a preliminary court hearing, after flying in from the US overnight.

In a smart black suit and blue tie, Harry sat behind his lawyers in Court 76 of the Royal Courts of Justice, listening intently and making notes.

Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish also appeared in court in the afternoon, as did Baroness Lawrence, while the actress Sadie Frost attended like Harry for the whole day.

The claimants allege they were told that the investigator, Gavin Burrows, had admitted hacking phones, tapping landlines and bugging cars. The allegations were set out in a statement he provided to their lawyers 18 months ago.

Surprise appearance: Prince Harry arrives at the High Court yesterday

Claimants: Sir Elton John outside court

According to documents submitted by his lawyers, Prince Harry said he embarked on the case after being told Mr Burrows had 'admitted to targeting me'.

Baroness Lawrence said she launched her case after being informed that Mr Burrows and another private investigator had recently confessed to carrying out a wide range of criminal activities on behalf of Mail newspapers. Sir Elton, Mr Furnish, Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost also cited Mr Burrows' alleged confessions.

However, according to written submissions by Adrian Beltrami KC, counsel for Associated, Mr Burrows 'has provided a signed witness statement denying that he was commissioned or instructed by Associated to carry out any unlawful activity'.

The Mail's publisher earlier said in a statement: 'We categorically deny the very serious claims made in this litigation and will vigorously defend them  if that proves necessary.'

The case has not yet come to trial and yesterday's hearing was to hear three applications to the judge, Mr Justice Nicklin.

The judge quickly awarded the Mail victory in the first application it made. It asked for anonymity for journalists named in the claims, in order to prevent distinguished journalists having their reputations destroyed in the event that the claims never proceeded to a full trial. Mr Justice Nicklin said this was justified.

The Mail's second application yesterday related to documents  accounting ledgers  which were confidentially supplied by the Mail to the Leveson Inquiry 12 years ago. Those documents are now being used in this case  in breach of a restriction order and confidentiality undertakings given to the inquiry, the newspaper group said.

Mr Beltrami told the judge: 'We are in a situation, I am sorry to say it, where the only clear evidence of the use of unlawfully obtained information is from the claimants themselves.'

The judge has yet to decide on this application. In its third application the publisher asks the judge to rule that the claims are time-barred. They relate to events said to have taken place up to 30 years ago, the vast majority before 2007.

Under the law, privacy claims must be brought within six years. This is to ensure justice for all parties, and to prevent evidence being tainted by fading memories, mental incapacity and/or the death of potential witnesses (at least three are known to have died in this case).

Claimants: Baroness Lawrence outside court

The Duke of Sussex did not speak at yesterday's hearing. As he arrived at court with his bodyguards, Harry smiled to television cameras and photographers. Sky News made the point that the duke was not giving evidence yet had decided to arrive by the main entrance, in contrast to Miss Frost, who used a side entrance.

His attendance at the Royal Courts of Justice is believed to be the first time a British royal has appeared in a courtroom since Princess Anne pleaded guilty at Slough County Court in 2002 after her dogs bit two children.

The duke sat flanked between his solicitor Callum Galbraith and Ashley Hansen, the communications chief of his Archewell foundation. He had a spiral-bound notebook, a bottle of water from Pret and his mobile phone which he occasionally used to send messages. He spent most of the hearing watching the barristers arguing points of law.

Next-but-one to him sat Miss Frost, while Sir Elton, Mr Furnish and Baroness Lawrence all sat behind them in the public gallery.

The claimants launched their action in October last year. Their lawyer David Sherborne alleged in written submissions to the court that the newspaper group engaged in 'illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening into live landline calls, obtaining private information ... and using private investigators to commit these unlawful information gathering acts on their behalf'.

Baroness Lawrence was said to have become 'deeply paranoid' over the 'unexplained disclosure of information' that she thought was due to police leaks.

Mr Sherborne said: 'She finds it hard to believe the level of duplicity and manipulation that was clearly at play, knowing now as she does that the Daily Mail's outward support for her fight to bring Stephen's killers to justice was hollow, and worse, entirely false.'

Associated Newspapers vigorously denies all the claims against it. Last night the newspaper said in a statement: 'While the Mail's admiration for Baroness Lawrence remains undimmed, we are profoundly saddened that she has been persuaded to bring this case.

'The Mail remains hugely proud of its pivotal role in campaigning for justice for Stephen Lawrence. Its famous 'Murderers' front page triggered the Macpherson Report.'

The Mail successfully campaigned to bring to justice Stephen Lawrence's killers. Its 1997 front page, with the headline 'Murderers' above pictures of five men accused of killing Stephen, was a key moment in British race relations history, kick-starting a campaign which ultimately led to the Macpherson Inquiry. Two of the thugs identified  Gary Dobson and David Norris  were later convicted of Stephen's murder.

The hearing continues.
The school became the site of America's latest school shooting on Monday when three children and three staff members were killed

It serves about 200 students from preschool through sixth-grade who pay over $16,000 for admission each year

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church

The Nashville private elementary school that was attacked by a former student on Monday serves just about 200 students whose families pay over $16,000 each for their Presbyterian education.

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, with which it shares a building, and serves students from preschool through sixth-grade.

It is left 'intentionally small,' according to its website, boasting a teacher-to-student ratio of just eight-to-one.

But on Monday that small, quiet private school became the site of America's latest school shooting when a former student entered the building through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Three children and three staff members were killed in the assault at the school, which does not employ a school resource officer.

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, with which it shares a building, and serves students from preschool through sixth-grade

Police crime scene tape is seen at the entrance to The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee following the shooting Monday morning

Three children and three staff members were killed in the assault at the school, which does not employ a school resource officer. Police are seen at the school here

The Covenant School is an unlikely location for a school shooting due to its small size and private enrollment.

Any family that would like to enroll their child at the school must apply online and pay $16,500 each year for fifth-grade and $16,300 for kindergarten through fourth grade  though church members may pay $1,000 less.

Tuition for preschoolers, meanwhile, ranges from $7,250 to $11,550.

Prospective students entering kindergarten through sixth-grade are then tested on their knowledge before they could attend the school, while children hoping to enter preschool have to pass a developmental readiness assessment.

Students are taught by just 33 teachers, who hope to instill in their pupils a sense of curiosity, intentionality and authenticity.

Students are also required to attend daily chapel services at the school, which notes: 'The authentic freedom found in Christ allows our school community to be courageous and vulnerable, full of deep learning and fearless teaching.'

After graduating from the school, many students go on to attend other private high schools in the area like Battle Ground Academy, Brentwood Academy, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Ensworth and Davidson Academy.

But on Monday, many of those students were seen running from the building today in their school uniforms after the shooting began.

They were then transported to a nearby church on school buses, visibly crying, as they waited eagerly to be reunited with their parents.

Family members rushed to pick up their children at a family reunification center nearby

Many of the 200 students were seen running from the building today in their school uniforms after the shooting began

Community members have described the school as being 'close-knit'

In the past, many of the deadliest school shootings occurred at public schools, which tend to have larger class sizes and are more prevalent in the United States, with about 100,000 public schools in the country and just about 30,000 private schools.

Shootings at elementary schools are also relatively rare, accounting for just 18 percent of all school shootings, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which monitors shootings at schools across the country.

The vast majority of these shootings occur at high schools, which account for 63 percent of school shooting incidents around the country.

It is also relatively uncommon for a former student to open fire at a school, the database found, with less than 4 percent of alumni deciding to take up arms against their alma mater.

Most shootings are committed by students, it found.

Nashville Metro Police have said the unidentified 28-year-old female shooter entered The Covenant School using a side door shortly before 10.13am and began opening fire on the second floor.

It remains unclear how she gained access to the building, as police say all of the doors at the school were locked at the time.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they said, they heard gunshots emanating from the second floor.

By 10.27am the assailant had been shot dead, and authorities found she was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.

Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake, right, and Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk, left, said they believe the assailant is a former student

Metro Nashville Police officers and other law enforcement officials are seen here guarding the entrance to the school in the aftermath of the shooting

Parents of students at the school have now begun to collect their children from a nearby church

It is uncommon for a former student to be a school shooter, right, and it is uncommon for an elementary school to be the site of a school shooting, left

Parents of students at the school have now begun to collect their children from a nearby church, with Susan Perkins, 68, telling DailyMail.com that her daughter and step-grandson were in the school at the time of the shooting, but were fortunately not injured.

Her daughter is a communications director and her step-grandson is a sixth grade student.

I talked to my daughter and she was so busy she just couldnt talk, just enough to say she was okay, said the mother, who lives in Knoxville, TN.

Im just shaking with fear and so sorry that this happened, she said. I just cant hardly believe that three children got killed.

She described Covenant School as a small, tightknit, Christian school where everyone knows and supports each other.

I did not think it would ever hap to my school and I would like to see the guns off the street, Perkins said.

Alison Grippo, 40, also told DailyMail.com that she has three children in Covenant School who survived.

As word spread of the mass shooting, she like other parents were directed to nearby Woodmont Baptist Church, set up as a meeting point as they anxiously waited for their kids.

'She said her own children, like many others, were still speaking with investigators.

Were waiting to be reunited with our kids, Grippo told DailyMail.com. This is just hard to understand or put into words. We praise God in all situations, good and bad.
A Georgia homeowner shot and killed an intruder he caught trying to break into his house in the early hours of March 23.

The unnamed homeowner told police he found the suspect entering through the back of his home on Peachcrest Road in DeKalb County at about 5:30am that day.

He opened fire on the suspect with a gun he kept in his home. The suspect was taken to a nearby hospital after the shooting, but died from his wounds.

Police interviewed the homeowner at their station after the shooting before allowing him to return home. They said he will not be charged as he was acting in self-defense.

Nearby residents told FOX 5 they were not surprised by the incident, and that criminals had been checking for unlocked doors in the neighborhood at early hours in recent days.

The house on Peachcrest Road in DeKalb County, Georgia, where the fatal shooting took place

Neighbor Melan Sydnor told FOX 5 she heard the gunfire while she was making breakfast

A neighbor living across the street said she was making breakfast and preparing for her day when she heard the gunfire.

'I was in the kitchen and then there were gunshots and it was really loud,' Melan Sydnor told FOX 5. 'I heard a few gunshots and then about five minutes later the police pulled up.'

She said she'd previously heard gunfire further away and wasn't sure what to do when she heard the loud eruption of gunfire seemingly nearby.

Next-door neighbor Sandy Mize said they lived in a 'bad neighborhood,' that experiences frequent gunfire.

'We didn't hear any shots, but around here ,there are guns going off all the time,' she told the outlet.

'Oh yeah, it's all the time. This is a bad neighborhood. Just a lot of crime.'

'Young guys are stalking the neighborhood at night, like 4-5 in the morning, they checking doors,' she added.

Joann Proctor lives in a nearby community, and told FOX 5 she had concerns about crime spilling over into her neighborhood.

'What you just told me really upset me 'cuz that could be one of my neighbors or me,' she said.

DeKalb County Police did not respond to DailyMail.com requests for comment at the time of publication.
A prestigious private school is preparing to admit girls across all year groups for the first time in its 700-year history, it has been revealed.

Westminster School, whose alma mater includes six former British prime ministers, has allowed female pupils to join its sixth form for 50 years. Now it plans to extend that access to reflect the community it serves.

It is hoped the plans to make the school fully co-educational will be implemented by 2030, it was reported.

A spokesman said the school  which dates back to at least the early 14th century and is housed within the walled precincts of Westminster Abbey  looks forward to reaching the point at which we can make this significant change... enabling any child who would flourish here to be able to come, irrespective of gender.

They added: Co-education is based on demand  the number of parents, pupils, staff, alumni and interested outsiders asking about girls joining the school has grown year-on-year.

New era: Girls will soon join the boys on the playing field of Westminster School

It is also based on a desire fully to reflect the community we serve, and to shape that community by educating brilliant young men and women with a commitment to making a difference.

The change will apply to the under school, which takes boys from the age of seven, as well as the senior school, where pupils join from 13, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The move follows a review commissioned by the school last year, which recommended that it should allow girls to join from a younger age.

But the review, led by Fiona Scolding KC, found that the majority of female pupils surveyed had experienced at least one instance of sexual discrimination, unwanted sharing of images, or physical or verbal harmful sexual behaviour.

Ms Scolding said a considerable number of interviewees... commented that both male and female pupils joining the sixth form from single-sex environments may, in some cases, have had limited experience of interacting with the opposite sex in an academic setting.

She added: Some staff felt 16 was the most challenging age at which to make a single-sex school co-educational.

Westminster School is the latest in a spate of independent schools to make the change.

Parents can expect to fork out as much as 34,389 a year on day fees, while those who board can pay up to 46,341.
A zoo has launched an investigation into the sudden death of its baby rhino.

Werribee Open Range Zoo, in southwest Melbourne, shared a post on Monday following the death of a southern white rhinoceros calf.

The rhino was born last week but sustained internal injuries after its birth.

'The five-day-old female calf suffered a neurological episode just before midnight Saturday, followed by cardiac arrest and sadly, zoo veterinary staff were unable to resuscitate her,' the zoo said in a statement.

A necropsy, animal autopsy, by University of Melbourne Veterinarian School found the calf had a broken shoulder blade.

A female southern white rhinoceros calf (above) has died at Werribee Open Range Zoo, in southwest Melbourne

It's believed the calf (above) suffered a broken shoulder blade which caused blood clots to form, leading to neurological and cardiac distress

Werribee Open Range Zoo Director Dr Mark Pilgrim said the rhino's injury was likely caused by interactions with its mother.

'The death of any animal is challenging for all involved, but we can find comfort in the knowledge that every action was taken to ensure the calf was receiving the best care possible,' he said.

'We know this news will bring sadness to our Zoo Members and community, and our kind thoughts are with them and all who cared for this precious calf, and particularly with our vet and keeping teams who worked tirelessly to care for the calf over the past five days.'

The zoo will conduct further tests in coming weeks to determine what caused the rhino's death but it's believed blood clots near the shoulder blade break caused its neurological and cardiac distress.
Scotland's incoming First Minister could help put Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street, it has been feared.

Continuity candidate Humza Yousaf has triumphed by a whisker in the bitter battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the SNP.

The 37-year-old health secretary is set to be formally appointed as Scotlands first Muslim First Minister today after defeating rival Kate Forbes by a margin of 52:48.

In his acceptance speech yesterday he demanded a new referendum on Scottish independence right away, called for Scotland to rejoin the EU and vowed to take Rishi Sunak to court over the veto of controversial plans to allow gender self-identification.

During the election campaign he said an independent Scotland could ditch the monarchy within five years and replace King Charles with an elected head of state.

Continuity candidate Humza Yousaf (pictured) has triumphed by a whisker in the bitter battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the SNP

This could help put Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street, it has been feared

Downing Street responded by indicating that it would reject his calls for a second referendum on independence, saying the public wanted to focus on priorities such as the economy and health. The Prime Minister said: I am very clear that I passionately believe in our Union... I care about our Union, I think it is very precious.

Mr Yousaf inherits a bitterly divided party that is already sliding in the polls. And experts warned last night that a slump in SNP support could pave the way for a Labour revival in Scotland that might help put Sir Keir in No 10.

Former Labour minister George Foulkes said Mr Yousafs victory was a very good result for Labour. He added: Good candidates are queuing up to stand for Labour in Scotland because they feel the time is right for a Labour resurgence, and this will help.

We have got a lot of good ammunition to use against him from his own comrades. He will no doubt try and distance himself from Nicola Sturgeons failures, but he is the continuity candidate and he will have to answer for the SNPs record at the election. It is a very good result for Labour.

Sir Keir Starmer has visited Scotland four times in the past month in a bid to capitalise on the departure of Ms Sturgeon. Labour currently has just one MP in Scotland. Party sources already believed that 12-15 Scottish seats were in play and now say that target has increased significantly.

Sir Keir Starmer has visited Scotland four times in the past month in a bid to capitalise on the departure of Nicola Sturgeon (pictured)

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said a collapse in SNP support would make life easier for Labour at the general election expected next year.

He said Labour had already narrowed the poll gap with the SNP to ten percentage points, potentially putting ten Scottish seats within reach. But he added: If that lead were to narrow further then the Labour Party starts to win a significant number of seats. The consequence of that is it makes it easier for Labour to win an overall majority at Westminster.

In a victory speech at Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh, Mr Yousaf described himself as the luckiest man in the world  and pledged to succeed where Ms Sturgeon had failed by breaking up the UK.

But he also acknowledged that the contest had been bruising, and appealed for his divided party to put aside its differences. The close nature of the result will fuel speculation that Ms Forbes might have won but for her conservative social views. The devout Christian was urged to drop out of the race after revealing that she would have voted against legalising gay marriage.

During a bitter hustings this month, Ms Forbes rounded on Mr Yousaf, saying: You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister weve got record-high waiting times.

What makes you think you can do a better job as First Minister?

Mr Yousaf pitched himself as the continuity candidate following Ms Sturgeons shock resignation last month. Yesterday he predicted he would lead Scotland out of the UK. We will be the team, we will be the generation, that delivers independence for Scotland, he said.

Mr Yousaf said he also wanted Scotland to return to the EU.

An SNP source said Mr Yousaf would smash an historic glass ceiling when he becomes the first Muslim leader of a democratic Western European nation.

Mr Yousaf had hoped to win the contest in the first round. But in the end he had to rely on second preference votes from rival Ash Regan after she was knocked out.

For first preferences in the single transferrable vote system, Mr Yousaf took 24,336 (48 per cent), Miss Forbes took 20,559 (40 per cent) and Ms Regan took 5,599 (11 per cent) of the vote.

When second preferences were distributed in the second stage, Mr Yousaf took 26,032 (52 per cent) and Ms Forbes took 23,890 (48 per cent). Turnout was 70 per cent.
Two local NBC news anchors became visibly emotional during live news coverage of Monday's tragic Nashville school shooting that claimed the lives of at six people, including three children at The Covenant School.

The anchors for Nashville's WSMV found it difficult to compose themselves as they delivered the horrific news.

Anchor Holly Thompson became overcome with emotion and struggled to speak as she attempted to report on the breaking news that an active shooter had been confirmed dead and that multiple children had also lost their lives.

'Oh my goodness!', she exclaimed, brimming with emotion.

Thompson expressed her condolences, saying, 'My heart is just hurting right now. Thoughts and prayers for these families.'

Her co-anchor, Amanda Hara, briefly took over the broadcast before passing it to reporter Michael Warrick who was outside the studio.

Amanda Hara placed her arm on co-anchor Holly Thompson in an attempt to calm her

Later, Holly Thompson returned the favor and placed her arm on Amanda Hara's shoulder

Later, Thompson returned and had to provide support this time to Hara who struggled to hold back tears while discussing how parents were unable to obtain any real-time information on their children's safety while the tragedy was unfolding.

'There are just so many questions and people wanting to know what was actually happening,' she began, her voice audibly breaking. 'There really are no words.'

Thompson comforted her by tapping her arm.

Earlier in the broadcast, Hara also became emotional when she explained how her own children's schools had gone into lockdown as a precaution - only adding to the distress of the entire situation.

The shooting left three children and three adults dead after a 28-year-old transgender woman, Audrey Hale, went on the rampage at the small, private Christian school.

The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all aged nine, and Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

The school website lists Ms Koonce as the headteacher.

Police said the gunwoman Audrey Hale was 28 and from Nashville. She is believed to have been a former pupil at the school.

Cops said Hale was transgender, although they haven't specified further details and referred to her as a woman. Hale was born female, but a LinkedIn profile believed to be hers uses he/him pronouns, suggesting Hale was living as a man.

President Joe Biden called on Congress again to pass his assault weapons ban in the wake of the Nashville shooting.

'It's heartbreaking, a family's worst nightmare,' he said. 'It's ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation.'

Hallie Scruggs is seen with her father Chad Scruggs, the pastor at the Presbyterian church affiliated with the school

Substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, aka Cindy Broyles Peak (right) is shown with her daughter Ellie (left). Peak was one of six people shot to death at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27, 2023

Katherine Koonce, head of school (left), and Mike Hill, a custodian (right) were among those shot dead by Audrey Hale

Shooter Audrey Hale (pictured), who killed six, including three nine-year-old children and three staff members, is a transgender woman and alumnus of the school who wrote out their plans in a detailed manifesto

Children hold hands as they leave The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday after a female shooter opened fire, killing three kids and three staff members

Children from The Covenant School run past an ambulance on Monday after a female shooter opened fire, killing three staff members and three students, before being shot by police

First lady Jill Biden said: 'I am truly without words, and our children deserve better. We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer.'

The suspect's identity as a woman surprised experts on mass shootings with women make up only about 5 to 8 percent of all mass shooting incidents.

The tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received an initial call about an active gunman at 10.13am.

Officers began clearing the ground floor of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the next floor, police spokesman Don Aaron said.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10.27am, Mr Aaron said.

He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

The victims were pronounced dead on arrival at the Monroe Carell Junior Children's Hospital, said Craig Boerner, a spokesman for Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, which is affiliated with the children's hospital.

A family prays together after being reunited outside The Covenant School in Nashville

Other students walked to safety on Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

Police with rifles, heavy vests and helmets could be seen walking through the school car park and around the grassy perimeter of the building.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the school's website.

The school is in the affluent Green Hill neighbourhood just south of Nashville, close to the city's top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers.

The school has 33 teachers, the website said. The school's website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

Democratic state representative Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Monday's shooting an 'unimaginable tragedy'.

'I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there,' Mr Freeman said in a statement.

'I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.'

A police officer walks by an entrance to The Covenant School after a shooting in Nashville
Heartbreaking photos have confirmed fears of a deepening housing crisis, with more and more Queenslanders forced to live in cars and 'tent cities'.

Calls for more short-term and crisis accommodation come ahead of the state government's housing summit on Tuesday, as advocacy groups reach 'their wits' end'.

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh said on Monday morning the situation had deteriorated into 'an absolute crisis'.

'We need a strategy to get us out of the housing crisis - that means significantly more supply,' she told Sunrise.

'We do have families, mothers and children, living in cars, tents and hotel rooms across (the state) right now.'

Queensland's housing crisis is deepening as public spaces in major cities are being taken over with tent cities

The Queensland government will hold a housing summit on Tuesday, as advocacy groups reach 'their wits' end'

On Monday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk opened the QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre - a new Brisbane factory producing prefabricated house frames and flat-packed rooms.

It is hoped the Eagle Farm factory will help pump more housing supply quickly into the market, with many of the exported houses destined to be homes for regional government employees.

'These state-of-the-art factory-built houses for our frontline workers are critical to delivering essential services to regional Queenslanders while easing the pressure on rental markets,' Ms Palaszczuk said.

'This facility will deliver new homes for our frontline nurses, teachers, and police in regional and remote Queensland, along with safe, affordable and appropriate social housing for the community's most vulnerable.'

QBuild is part of the government's $519.2m Government Employee Housing construction package promising to build 439 homes over the next five years.

Devastating pictures have revealed the extent of the housing crisis in the sunshine state

It comes as Premier Palaszczuk opened the QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeship Centre - a new Brisbane factory producing prefabricated house frames and flat-packed rooms

The latest data from SQM Research revealed a 16.7 per cent increase in the asking weekly rental price for a house in Brisbane over the past 12 months.

Over the same period, there has been a massive 27.1 per cent increase on the average asking cost of a unit in the city.

Ms McVeigh said the rate of homelessness had grown by 22 per cent since 2017, compared to only eight per cent growth across the rest of the nation.

'It is really understandable that we do expect all options to be on the table,' she said.

'We do need more short-term and crisis accommodation here in Queensland.'

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh said the rate of homelessness had grown by 22 per cent since 2017

Calls to repurpose Covid-19 quarantine facilities into crisis accommodation were previously rejected by the state government, with Ms McVeigh confirming there was 'absolutely no way' such options could be used

Calls to repurpose Covid-19 quarantine facilities into crisis accommodation were previously rejected by the state government, with Ms McVeigh confirming there was 'absolutely no way' such options could be used for housing.

'It is the case that there will be facilities that are not fit for purpose because of transport or, for example, it is not OK to put women escaping domestic violence in a known location,' she said.

'When we are giving out tents ... (and) sleeping bags to children, we are not doing the work that we need to be doing.

'This is absolutely not business as usual.'

MS McVeigh (pictured) spoke of the 'absolute crisis' on Monday morning, ahead of Tuesday's summit

New data shows a 16.7 per cent increase on the asking weekly rental price for a house and a 27.1 per cent increase on the average asking cost of a unit in Brisbane

A new QCOSS report revealed homelessness was growing rapidly among older people aged 55 and over, rising 6 per cent over the four years to 2020-21.

People impacted by mental illness and those recently discharged from prison added to the sharp increase in homelessness.

It is predicted that by the end of the year the state government's QBuild facility will have completed 93 builds, including 14 on Palm Island, two on Warraber Island, three on Thursday Island and three on Mer Island, among others.

'Our government is committed to pulling every lever, and looking at every option, to address the Queensland housing challenge,' Ms Palaszczuk said.
It dates to the 16th century but experts cannot be sure which clan it belonged to

A scrap of plaid textile dating back more than 500 years is Scotland's oldest tartan, scientists have revealed

Discovered in a peat bog in Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands, the faded fabric features traces of green and brown dye and belonged to an unknown clan.

It is believed it could date back to the start of the 16th century, possibly during the reign of James IV, James V or Mary Queen of Scots.

Experts have said the tartan was more than likely worn as an 'outdoor working garment' and would not have been worn by royalty.

Although faded, the tartan is in an impressive condition largely because peat bogs are oxygen-free environments, a condition that prevents decay.

The Glen Affric tartan, thought to be the oldest in Scotland, which will be displayed in a new exhibition at the V&A Dundee from next month

The tartan was found in the Glen Affric peat bog around 40 years ago, but experts have only now identified its age.

The Glen Affric tartan Discovered: Glen Affric Age: 500 years Dimensions: 21in by 17in (55cm by 43cm) Clan: Unknown Advertisement

Dye analysis and radio-carbon testing on the woollen textile was commissioned by the Scottish Tartans Authority (STA).

'The testing process has taken nearly six months but the effort was well worth it and we are thrilled with the results,' said Peter MacDonald, head of research and collections at the STA.

'In Scotland, surviving examples of old textiles are rare as the soil is not conducive to their survival.

'As the piece was buried in peat, meaning it had no exposure to air, it was therefore preserved.

'The tartan has several colours with multiple stripes of different sizes, and so it corresponds to what people would think of as a true tartan.'

It measures around 21in by 17in (55cm by 43cm), and the STA has identified four initial colours, which have since faded  green, brown and possibly red and yellow.

Discovered in a peat bog in Glen Affric in the Scottish Highlands, the priceless fabric belonged to an unknown clan

Scottish Tartans Authority chairman John McLeish, curator James Wylie and tartan historian Peter MacDonald with the Glen Affric fabric

The scrap of material will go on public display at V&A Dundee from Saturday until January 14 next year

The dye analysis also confirmed the use of indigo or woad in the green, but was inconclusive for the other colours, likely due to the dyestuff having degraded.

Peat bogs can preserve whole human bodies - READ MORE Peat bogs are anaerobic (oxygen-free) environments - a condition that prevents decay. Pictured, the amazingly well-preserved head of the Tollund Man Advertisement

But no artificial or semi-synthetic dyestuffs were involved in the making of the tartan, leading researchers to believe it predates the 1750s.

A broad age range of between 1500 and 1655 was identified, but the period of 1500 to 1600 was most probable  making it the oldest known piece of true tartan discovered in Scotland.

It may have belonged to the Clan Chisholm, which controlled the area at the time, although researchers are unable to make any firm conclusions.

'Although we can theorise about the Glen Affric tartan, it's important that we don't construct history around it,' said Mr MacDonald.

'Although Clan Chisholm controlled that area, we cannot attribute the tartan to them as we don't know who owned it.

'The potential presence of red, a colour that Gaels consider a status symbol, is interesting because of the more rustic nature of the cloth.

'This piece is not something you would associate with a king or someone of high status, it is more likely to be an outdoor working garment.'

Tartans have been worn in the Highlands for a long time, although they were temporarily banned after the Jacobite Rising of 1745.

John McLeish, chairman of the STA, said the tartan's 'historical significance' likely dates to the reigns of James V, Mary Queen of Scots or James VI and I.

V&A Dundee curator James Wylie with the Glen Affric tartan. Researchers are unable to form any firm conclusions about which clan it belonged to

James VI of Scotland became James I of England through the union of the Scottish and English crowns in March 1603.

His mother, Mary Queen of Scots, had been executed in February 1587 after 19 years in captivity, when she was found guilty of plotting the assassination of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

James V was King of Scotland from September 9, 1513, until his death in 1542

Further research on the fabric could reveal more about the identity of the clan and how it was linked to Scotland at the time.

The artefact will go on public display at V&A Dundee from Saturday until January 14 next year.

'To be able to exhibit the Glen Affric tartan is immensely important in the understanding of the textile traditions from which modern tartan derives,' said James Wylie, curator at V&A Dundee.

'I'm sure visitors will appreciate seeing this on public display for the very first time.'
It is estimated to sell for up to $50 million (41 million) at auction in May

One of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts  a nearly complete 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible  will be going up for auction in May.

Experts at auction house Sotheby's in New York estimate it will fetch between $30 million and $50 million (25.5 million and 41 million).

It could become the most expensive historical document ever sold at auction if the winning bid exceeds the $43.2 million paid for a first-edition copy of the Constitution of the United States.

'The Codex Sassoon' is a leather-bound, handwritten parchment book, and radiocarbon dating estimates it was created between the years 880 and 960.

Its writing style also suggests its creator was an early 10th-century scribe in Egypt or the Levant, however exactly when and where it was made is still unknown.

'The Codex Sassoon' is a leather-bound, handwritten parchment book, and radiocarbon dating estimates it was created between the years 880 and 960

Its writing style also suggests its creator was an early 10th-century scribe in Egypt or the Levant, however exactly when and where it was made is still unknown

Jacqui Safra, a banker and art collector, bought The Codex Sassoon in 1989 for $3.19 million (2.60 million) and is now putting it up for sale, but in the meantime it is on display in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

'An entire Hebrew Bible is relatively rare,' said Yosef Ofer, a professor of bible studies at Israel's Bar Ilan University.

WHAT IS A CODEX? In Jewish tradition, a codex is a book or manuscript containing one or more biblical texts. These may include the Torah or the Prophets, as well as prayers and other religious writings. Some of the earliest examples back to the 9th or 10th century, like the Aleppo Codex, Leningrad Codex and Codex Sassoon. Many contain information about pronunciation, grammar, and other linguistic features of the text. This differentiates them from Torah scrolls, which are regarded as the most sacred objects in Judaism so do not contain any annotations. Advertisement

The only other two from this period are the Aleppo Codex, from the 10th century, and the Leningrad Codex, from the early 11th century.

Indeed, only the Dead Sea Scrolls and a handful of fragmentary early medieval texts are older.

'It's like the emergence of the biblical text as we know it today,' said Sharon Liberman Mintz, a senior Judaica specialist at Sothebys.

'It's so foundational not only for Judaism, but also for world culture.'

The Codex Sassoon has 792 pages - only missing 12 - and contains about 92 per cent of the Hebrew Bible.

Its 24 books are divided into three parts: the Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Writings.

Christians refer to these texts as the Old Testament, and they are also incorporated into the biblical canons of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant sects.

The codex also contains directions of how to properly spell, pronounce, punctuate and chant the words correctly, in what is known as the 'Masorah'.

This differentiates it from Torah scrolls, which are written in a special, easy-to-read script, known as 'Ktav Ashuri' or 'Assyrian script' that is devoid of vowels and punctuation.

Many codices were created by Jewish scholars known as Masoretes, and protected by Syrian Jewish communities for centuries until the 20th century.

A note on the Codex Sassoon reveals its previous owners: Khalaf ben Abraham, who gave it to Isaac ben Ezekiel al-Attar, who gave it to his sons Ezekiel and Maimon.

Then, in the 13th century, it migrated to a synagogue in Makisin, a town in what is today north-east Syria, where it was likely rebound for the first time.

After the synagogue was destroyed, either by the Mongols a few decades later or the the Timurids at the start of the 15th century, the book was handed to Salama ibn Abi al-Fakhr while it was rebuilt.

Experts at auction house Sotheby's in New York, USA, estimate it will fetch between $30 million and $50 million (25.5 million and 41 million)

The Codex Sassoon is only missing 12 pages, and contains all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. These are divided into three parts: the Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Writings

THE CODEX SASSOON What is it? The Codex Sassoon is a leather-bound, handwritten parchment book containing almost the entirety of the Hebrew Bible. When was it written? Radiocarbon dating gave an estimated date of 880 to 960, and its writing style suggests its creator was an early 10th-century scribe in Egypt or the Levant. What is inside? The manuscript contains all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, including the Torah, the Neviim and the Ketuvim. It is only missing 12 pages. Advertisement

But the book was never returned, and its whereabouts for the next 500 years remains uncertain.

It resurfaced in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1929, and was bought by a legendary collector of Jewish manuscripts; David Solomon Sassoon.

Mr Sassoon was a Bombay-born son of an Iraqi Jewish business magnate who filled his London home with a massive collection of Jewish manuscripts.

'His capacity was astounding, both in terms of number but also in terms of what he was able to find,' said Raquel Ukeles, head of collections at Israel's National Library.

By his death in 1942, he had amassed more than 1,200 manuscripts, and the codex was sold in 1978 to the British Rail Pension Fund for around $320,000 (281,000).

The pension fund flipped the Codex Sassoon 11 years later to Mr Safra, for ten times its hammer price.

It is currently being shown at Tel Aviv's ANU Museum of the Jewish People as part of a worldwide tour of the artefact, ahead of its expected sale in a few months' time.

The last time the Codex Sassoon was on public display was in 1982, at the British Library.

The next few stops of the tour will be in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City. It was shown at Sotheby's in London in February.

If the winning bid exceeds $43.2 million (35.2 million) the bible will become the most expensive historical document ever sold at auction.

Currently, this accolade is held by a rare first-edition copy of the Constitution of the United States, sold in 2021.

The codex also contains directions of how to properly spell, pronounce, punctuate and chant the words correctly, in what is known as the 'Masorah'
Elon Musk's Neuralink could be one step closer to implanting chips in human brains.

The company is in talks with Barrow Neurological Institute, an Arizona-based neurological disease treatment and research organization, as a potential partner, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Musk, who believes the chips will cure intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness, said in November that Neurlink was aiming for human trials in six months.

The news follows the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejecting Neuralink's application on March 2 to begin human trials due to dozens of safety issues the company failed to address, Reuters reported.

Elon Musk's Neuralink could be one step closer to implanting chips in human brains. The company is in talks with medical centers that could conducted experiments

The concerns included the device's lithium battery; the potential for the implants tiny wires to migrate to other areas of the brain; and questions over whether and how the device can be removed without damaging brain tissue.

Reuters reports that Neuralink has since been working to address the FDA's concerns. The progress on the issues is unclear.

Sources said that while Neuralink is in talks with Barrow Neurological Institute, the company is also speaking with other centers that could not be verified.

DailyMail.com has contacted Barrow Neurological Institute for comment.

Neuralink is currently facing probes from the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Inspector General at the request of a federal prosecutor and the US Department of Transportation (DOT) over claims it illegally transported hazardous pathogens.

The USDA's investigation is over animal-welfare violations amid staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths, according to a Reuters review of documents and sources familiar with the investigation and company operations who spoke to Reuters.

The company has killed about 1,500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys, following experiments since 2018, according to records reviewed by Reuters and sources with direct knowledge of the company's animal-testing operations.

DailyMail.com spoke to a former employee in December 2022, who said Neuralink 'sacrificed all the animals involved.

One case stood out to them- a monkey sacrificed ahead of schedule due to errors allegedly made during surgery.

DailyMail.com previously obtained Neuralink lab notes that detail how a sealant was placed on the surgical holes, causing the monkey's brain to swell and hemorrhage.

'There was no reason to use it,' the former employee, who worked as a necropsy technician, told DailyMail.com.

And this was done by the head neurosurgeon Dr Matthew MacDougall at Sutter Health in San Francisco, California.

The probe regarding the transportation of hazardous pathogens

is in response to allegations from the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which state Musk's company unsafely packed and moved implants removed from the brains of monkeys that may have been infected.

Musk, who believes the chips will cure intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness, said in November that Neurlink was aiming for human trials in six months

PCRM, an animal-welfare advocacy group, wrote to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in February to alert it of records it obtained on the matter from the University of California (UC) Davis, according to Reuters.

The letters state that the implants were improperly sanitized and packaged, thus carrying pathogens that could cause serious health issues in infected humans.

The DOT has said it is investigating the potential mishandling of hazardous pathogens during the company's partnership on animal trials with the University of California, Davis, between 2018 and 2020.

Barrow has helped standardize brain implant surgeries in which the patient can remain asleep, a critical step in making it more acceptable to a broad set of the population, Ponce said.

This is in line with Musk's vision for Neuralink's brain chip. The billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc and majority owner of Twitter has said Neuralink's brain implants will become as ubiquitous as Lasik eye surgery.

The devices Barrow has been implanting so far are different than Neuralink's.

Barrow works with deep brain stimulation devices, which received FDA approval in 1997 to help reduce Parkinson's tremors and have been implanted in more than 175,000 patients.
READ MORE: Crypto mining is worse for the environment than beef production

From Bitcoin to Ethereum, cryptocurrencies have been hailed as the new way to pay for products and services online.

But according to one expert, they do not 'bring anything useful for society', despite using up massive amounts of processing power.

Michael Kagan, chief technology officer at chipmaker Nvidia, has said cryptocurrencies will never 'do something good for humanity'.

The expert has citied artificial intelligence (AI)  including chatbot ChatGPT  as being of more use to the public and a better use of energy than 'crypto mining'.

Cryptocurrencies perform mining to generate new coins and verify transactions, but it's more environmentally costly than beef production, a recent study found.

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are the internet's version of money - unique pieces of digital property that can be transferred from one person to another

Kagan told the Guardian that the development of chatbots along the lines of ChatGPT was a more worthwhile act than crypto mining.

What is crypto mining? People create Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies through what is known as mining. Mining is the process of solving complex math problems using computers running Bitcoin software. These mining puzzles get increasingly harder as more Bitcoins enter circulation. Each time a puzzle is solved, a new groups of transactions - known as blocks - are added to the blockchain (the shared transaction record). Miners are rewarded by being issued with bitcoin. Advertisement

ChatGPT, created by San Francisco-based company OpenAI, has been trained on a massive amount of text so it can generate human-like answers to questions.

Since its release in November, it's been used to write essays, prescribe antibiotics, fool job recruiters and even come up with beer recipes.

'With ChatGPT, everybody can now create his own machine, his own programme,' Kagan said.

'You just tell it what to do, and it will and if it doesn't work the way you want it to, you tell it "I want something different".'

In comparison, crypto is not 'something that will do something good for humanity', Kagan said.

Cryptocurrencies are the internet's version of money  unique pieces of digital code that can be transferred from one person to another.

Mining, meanwhile, lets people earn cryptocurrencies by solving computational problems that verify transactions in the currency.

'All this crypto stuff, it needed parallel processing, and [Nvidia] is the best, so people just programmed it to use for this purpose,' Kagan said.

Bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency, but others include Ethereum and Litecoin (file photo)

Pictured, a data centre of BitRiver company providing services for cryptocurrency mining in the city of Bratsk in Irkutsk Region, Russia March 2, 2021. The cryptocurrency is 'mined' by high-powered computers that solve computational maths puzzles, the complexity of which require huge amounts of energy

READ MORE - Bitcoin mining uses more energy than beef production Climate damages attributable to Bitcoin mining averaged more than beef production and the mining of multiple precious metals put together Advertisement

'They bought a lot of stuff, and then eventually it collapsed, because it doesn't bring anything useful for society. AI does.'

His comments came despite Nvidia selling graphics processing units (GPUs) for use in crypto mining, although the company released software back in 2021 that deliberately biased against the practice.

Instead, the US company likes to focus on providing its chips to the gaming sector, helping render graphics and images by performing rapid mathematical calculations.

It's also rapidly expanding into fields such as AU and provides its GPUs to smart vehicles and robotics  including the likes of Tesla and Amazon.

'[GPU] users are constantly discovering new applications for them, from weather simulation and gene sequencing to deep learning and robotics,' Matt Wuebbling, global head of GeForce marketing at Nvidia, previously told the Guardian.

'Mining cryptocurrency is one of them.'

Earlier this month, Microsoft said it had recently purchased tens of thousands of Nvidia AI-focused GPUs to power the workload of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

Microsoft is an investor in the company and the two are engaged in a partnership aimed towards accelerating 'AI breakthroughs'.

ChatGPT is a large language model that has been trained on a massive amount of text data, allowing it to generate eerily human-like text in response to a given prompt

OpenAI has has already launched a more powerful second version of the tool called GPT-4, which is so advanced it could be 'harmful'.

'GPT-4 and successor models have the potential to significantly influence society in both beneficial and harmful ways,' the company said.

Its success has created a panic at Google, which fears that its days as the world's number one search engine could soon come to an end.

Google scrambled to come up its own equivalent chat bot, called Bard, to be released in the 'coming weeks'.

Unfortunately for Google, Bard presented incorrect information as fact in a Twitter video, instantly wiping 100 billion from the tech giant's value.
The mainly rocky, Venus-like exoplanet 'shows no sign of an atmosphere'

Astronomers shook the world when they announced the discovery of a solar system with seven planets back in 2017.

The revelation that they were mostly made of rock like Earth, with water accounting for up to 5 per cent of their mass, raised hopes that they could hold alien life.

But now, using NASAs James Webb Space Telescope, experts have shown that one  Trappist-1 b  doesn't have an atmosphere, crucial for any kind of habitation.

Trappist-1 b is the innermost planet in a solar system that's around 40 light years away from Earth in the constellation Aquarius.

The planets dayside has a temperature of about 500 kelvins (roughly 450 degrees Fahrenheit)  which suggests that it has 'no significant atmosphere'.

Artist's depiction of Trappist-1 b, the innermost planet in a solar system that's around 40 light years away from Earth

The findings have been detailed in a new paper published today in Nature.

Trappist-1 b: A rocky world larger than Earth Star: Trappist-1 Type: Rocky Mass: 1.374 Earths Discovery date: 2016 Orbital period: 1.5 days Radius: 1.116 x Earth Distance from Earth: 40 light years Advertisement

'The Trappist-1 system is remarkable for its seven planets that are similar in size, mass, density, and stellar heating to the rocky planets Venus, Earth, and Mars in our own solar system,' they say.

All Trappist-1 planets have been observed with the transmission spectroscopy technique using the Hubble or Spitzer Space Telescopes, but no atmospheric features have been detected or strongly constrained.

'Trappist-1 b is the closest planet to the systems M dwarf star, and it receives four times as much irradiation as Earth receives from the sun.

'The most straightforward interpretation is that there is little or no planetary atmosphere redistributing radiation from the host star.'

In all, seven planets are known to orbit Trappist 1, a red dwarf star that has only around 9 per cent the mass of our sun.

The star was discovered in 1999 but its planets weren't discovered until 2016 and 2017, using observations made at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

In all, seven planets are known to orbit Trappist 1, a dwarf star that has only around 9 per cent the mass of our sun. Depicted is the seven planets from b to h (b is closest to its star)

According to experts, the seven planets are remarkable because they are similar in size and mass to the inner, rocky planets of our own solar system.

Seven planets discovered in the Trappist-1 system - READ MORE An illustration showing what the Trappist-1 system might look like from a vantage point near planet Trappist-1 f (right) Advertisement

Although they all orbit much closer to their star than any of our planets orbit the sun (all could fit comfortably within the orbit of Mercury) they receive comparable amounts of energy from their tiny star.

Three of the planets (Trappist-1 e, f and g) are located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water  an essential ingredient for habitability.

Trappist-1 b  which has a mass that's 1.374 times of Earth  takes 1.5 days to complete one orbit of its star from about 1 million miles away.

Although it is not within the systems habitable zone, Trappist-1 b is the closest planet to the system's star and it receives four times as much irradiation as Earth receives from the sun.

It is also tidally locked, meaning the same side always faces its star ('the day side'), while its colder 'night' side is turned forever toward space ('the night side').

Knowing this was key to assessing whether Trappist-1 b has an atmosphere.

'If it has an atmosphere to circulate and redistribute the heat, the dayside will be cooler than if there is no atmosphere,' said study author Pierre-Olivier Lagage at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).

For the study, the team used JWST's Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI)  which sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum  to assess the thermal emission of Trappist-1 b.

Technicians lift the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland back in 2017. The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus

Researchers found the temperature of Trappist-1 b's day side is about 450F (230C)  hotter than if there was an atmosphere redistributing heat around the planet.

Absence of a substantial atmosphere is consistent with results from modelling predictions, according to the team.

The result is the first from a comprehensive set of Webb studies of the system, which could reveal more about the other six planets.

It also marks an important step in determining whether planets orbiting tiny but violent red dwarfs, the most common type of star in the galaxy, can sustain atmospheres needed to support life.

'There are ten times as many of these stars in the Milky Way as there are stars like the Sun, and they are twice as likely to have rocky planets as stars like the Sun,' said lead author Thomas Greene, an astrophysicist at NASAs Ames Research Center.

'But they are also very active  they are very bright when theyre young, and they give off flares and X-rays that can wipe out an atmosphere.'
A British pensioner has described the 'terrifying nightmare' of being stranded in the Philippines when his cruise ship left without him after he fell into a coma.

Furious holidaymaker Christopher Capel, 72, boarded a P&O Cruises vessel at the start of the year and had been just over halfway through a 100-day journey around the world when disaster struck.

After the ship docked on the island of Palawan in the Philippines on March 4, Christopher began feeling unwell and tried to go back to his room for a lie-down.

But the doctor on board the ship sent him to the hospital instead.

By the time medics had carried out all their tests and given him antibiotics for heatstroke, the cruise ship he was on had left port - leaving him stranded around 7,000 miles from his home.

Furious holidaymaker Christopher Capel (right), 72, boarded a P&O Cruises vessel at the start of the year and had been just over halfway through a 100-day journey around the world when disaster struck. After waking from a coma, he contacted his niece Karen Williams (left) who has been working to help get him home from his 'nightmare'

His insulin was still in his cabin, so his blood sugar fell dangerously low, causing hypoglycemic shock which led to a brief diabetic coma.

He has now been left in limbo and struggling to find a way home.

Mr Capel, a retired youth worker, from Swindon, Wiltshire, said: 'It's been an absolute nightmare, and terrifying at times.

'P&O have failed in their duty of care - I would not recommend that anyone over 70 go alone on one of their cruises, because I have no one fighting my corner.

'I kept telling the nurses 'I need to get back to the ship' but they kept taking more tests and asking about my breathing difficulties and chest pains when I didn't have either of those symptoms. I don't know what they had been told by the P&O doctor.

'When I went into a coma, I wondered if that was it, that might be the end, but I came around the next morning.

'I was then stuck in a hospital bed with nothing wrong with me, it was ludicrous. I should have been allowed back on board, it wasn't a serious health issue.

'I can't believe the power one person can have over your life, to just leave me in this mess. I've been treated so badly by these companies.'

After stabilising, Chris borrowed a laptop to email his niece Karen Williams, who helped him contact P&O and Nationwide, his insurance company, in an attempt to resume his journey.

Chris says he feels left in limbo, though he has now managed to get an insulin prescription. He has an intense fear of flying, so getting the nearly 7,000 miles home without the cruise ship is no easy task.

As of Wednesday, he had tentatively agreed to have a doctor and nurse fly over and sedate him for the flight back, but this has now been cancelled as he has been deemed to ill to fly.

Christopher said: 'I have two options, there is a cruise ship coming in April otherwise I am stranded here. I don't know how long I will be out here - it is ridiculous.

'I want to get home [but] P&O have made sure I can't get on any of their cruise ships because of my medical issues. Everyone is telling me I have complex medical issues but they can't tell me what they are.

'I seem to be stuck in the middle of a stupid game,' he said.

His niece Karen Williams, 51, an office manager from Cornwall, said: 'If he had no next of kin, I don't know what would have happened because these companies have not been helpful, they've left him to sort it out himself.

'I worry about him being alone on the other side of the world in a place where he doesn't speak the language. I just want him home safe.'

Mr Capel, a retired youth worker from Swindon, has been left stranded on the Philippine island of Palawani - some 7,000 miles from his home

Pictured: A P&O cruise ship (file photo) is seen sailing the seas. Christopher Capel has accused the cruise company of 'failing in their duty of care'

A P&O Cruises spokesman said: 'We are so sorry this has happened to this guest.

'Having taken advice, we have been advised that due to his critical medical needs, it is not feasible to return to the UK by ship.

'So, our customer care team has been in constant liaison with the guest and his insurance team to find an acceptable and safe alternative solution as his physical health and mental wellbeing is the priority in this case.'

Nationwide has been approached for comment.
A flight expert has revealed the terrifying reason you should never wear leggings on a plane and also advised against taking off your shoes whilst in the air.

Aviation journalist Christine Negroni has written about air travel for decades and is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Crash Detectives.

Speaking to the Sun, the writer explained that no matter how tempting it may be to get cosy on your long haul flight - it's probably not worth the risk in the event of a disaster onboard.

She explained: 'You might have to escape through a cabin fire or there could be a separate fire on the ground once you leave the aircraft.

'Everyone is wearing yoga pants on planes now, but I avoid all artificial fibres because they are more likely to burn and stick to you if there is a fire.'

Christine Negroni says leggings can be extremely dangerous to wear on a flight

And don't even think about taking off your shoes because in the same situation you would have a rather painful walk to the emergency slide and safety.

She continued: 'If you escape an aircraft, the floor could be very hot or cold, it might be covered in oil or on fire, or in a cornfield  you won't want to be barefoot.'

In other news, the urban myth that waste from passenger aircraft is released mid-flight has been debunked.

Veteran Air Canada Dreamliner captain Doug Morris explains that lavatories on planes are actually serviced at airports, on most ground stops on long-haul flights and less so for short-hop flights.

The waste is flushed to holding tanks at the rear of the plane.

Veteran Air Canada Dreamliner captain Doug Morris explains that lavatories on planes are serviced at airports - and that emptying the tanks is a sought-after job

In his fascinating book This Is Your Captain Speaking (ECW Press), Captain Morris explains: There is an access panel near the rear (no pun intended) of the airplane to allow the holding tanks to be sucked of human sewage.

Whats more, the job of emptying the tanks, he reveals, is sought after at many airlines among the ramp attendants, because if they get it, that becomes their only duty.

He continues: They drive from airplane rear to airplane rear with possible extended breaks.

Special biohazard suits and masks are worn by these lavologists. And the sewage must be dumped at a designated biohazard site at the airport.
Kyle Sandilands is set to feature in season two of Paramount+ series Last King of the Cross.

The radio star's long-time friend John Ibrahim, 54, was by his side when the Kings Cross identity's brother Fadi was brutally gunned down in 2009.

Fadi, who is the second-youngest of four Ibrahim brothers, was shot five times by an unknown assailant while sitting in a Lamborghini with his girlfriend Shayda Bastani, who was also shot once in the thigh.

Last King of the Cross follows John's rise to power in the Kings Cross nightclub scene during the 90s and early 2000s, and season two will feature a scene depicting the shooting.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Kyle said John, who is also the show's executive producer, recently asked whether he was happy to be featured as a character.

Kyle Sandilands, 51, has revealed exclusively to Daily Mail Australia that he was with John Ibrahim, 54, when the Kings Cross identity's brother Fadi was shot five times in 2009. (Kyle is pictured second left with fiancee Tegan Kynaston and John is pictured second right with fiancee Sarah Budge)

'I said, 'I don't give a f**k, so long as I'm not a [portrayed as] a fat midget toad'. I said "Be kind... no George Costanza". He went, "Brother, I'll look after you",' Kyle joked.

'He reminded me that when his brother Fadi got shot five times in the Lambo and the wife [Shayda] copped it in the leg, I was with him when he got the phone call,' he added.

Kyle said he would love to be played by the likes of Chris Hemsworth, and is planning to personally attend the casting.

Fadi (right), who is the second-youngest of four Ibrahim brothers, was shot five times by an unknown assailant while sitting in a Lamborghini with his girlfriend Shayda Bastani (left), who was also shot once in the thigh

Kyle said John recently asked whether he was happy to be featured as a character on season two of Last King of the Cross, a series that follows John's rise to power in the Kings Cross nightclub scene during the 90s and early 2000s. (Pictured: Kyle and John, March 2021)

Home And Away star Lincoln Younes played John in season one and will likely reprise the role in season two.

Fadi and his now-wife Shayda were parked outside their home in Sydney's Castle Cove on June 5, 2009 when they were attacked by a gunman during a late-night ambush.

He was hit in the arm, chest and stomach, while Shayda was shot in the leg when the gun was fired through the car window.

Fadi, who was 35 years old at the time, was placed in an induced coma for three weeks before being woken up.

Both Fadi and Shayda survived the attack, although Fadi has dealt with ongoing health issues as a result of his injuries.

Home And Away star Lincoln Younes (pictured in Last King of the Cross) played John in season one and will likely reprise the role in season two
Emily Ratajkowski and Harry Styles have been praised for executing the 'perfect kiss' after footage of the pair locking lips in Tokyo went viral over the weekend.

The hosts of Sunrise analysed the couple's racy display on Monday, with fill-in newsreader Monique Wright telling co-anchors Natalie Barr and David 'Kochie' Koch: 'I feel like I've been doing it wrong for years.'

'I'm just looking at that and thinking that's a very perfect kiss, isn't it? There's no clashing teeth... there's nothing awkward about it,' the 49-year-old explained.

Natalie, 55, joked that Kochie, 67, was 'getting instructions' on how to improve his own kissing technique.

Staring quizzically at the footage, Kochie asked: 'So you sort of kiss around each other's mouth. That's a new technique?'

Sunrise host Monique Wright (pictured) praised Emily Ratajkowski and Harry Styles for executing the 'perfect kiss' on Monday, after footage of the pair smooching in Tokyo went viral

'Yes, and you only hold [the other person's] opposite hand,' Monique added, referring to the 'break arm' position demonstrated by Harry and Emily in the video.

Natalie likened their hand-holding technique to a 'bro handshake' or an 'arm wrestle'.

The jaw-dropping footage shows Harry and Emily packing on the PDA, appearing to not care who saw them while in full view of onlookers.

Monique noted there was no 'clashing teeth' and 'nothing awkward' about the kiss. Sunrise co-host Natalie Barr likened Harry and Emily's hand-holding technique to an 'arm wrestle'

The Watermelon Sugar star looked dapper in a black suit and white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, while Emily sported a pink and black jacket over a crop top and skirt.

The pair was seen dancing with each other as they stood alongside a silver people carrier while sheltering from the rain under an umbrella.

They shared a number of steamy kisses on the street outside, appearing to not care who saw them while in full view of onlookers.

Natalie (left) joked her co-host David 'Kochie' Koch (right) was 'getting instructions' on how to improve his own kissing technique

Harry playfully patted the American model's bottom as they leaned against the car.

He is currently performing in Japan as part of his aptly named Love On Tour series of worldwide gigs.

It comes after Harry's high-profile split from actress Olivia Wilde in November, and rumoured fling with Australian influencer Yan Yan Chan.

Emily, who shares son Sylvester Apollo Bear, two, with ex husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, had in recent months been linked to serial dater Pete Davidson.
Roxy Horner shared candid snaps using her insulin pen as she opened up about her health on Sunday.

The model and actress, 31, revealed that she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes back in 2021.

And in new Instagram snaps she injected insulin while in the back of a car as she told how she hadn't been feeling great and how some days 'are harder than others' when managing the illness.

She penned: 'Shout out to all my T1 family. Can't seem to get my glucose levels down today Here's me doing one of the few correction doses.

'We don't always get it right, some days are harder than others but that's okay.'

Health: Roxy Horner shared candid snaps using her insulin pen as she opened up about her type 1 diabetes on Sunday

'I'm smiling because whilst my diabetes is giving me a physical headache and making me feel sick today, I still have so much to be grateful for.'

She looked as stylish as ever in a beige jumper and white shirt as she showed off her legs.

It comes after earlier this month Roxy's boyfriend Jack Whitehall revealed that she collapsed at the Brit Awards in 2021 while he was hosting the ceremony.

Before she was diagnosed, Roxy had a health scare and had to be resuscitated by paramedics.

Jack told The Sun: 'We found out she had diabetes the night I was hosting the Brits. She had something called a diabetic hypo and she fainted.

'Paramedics were trying to resuscitate her and her sugar levels were spiking dangerously.

'We ended up in A&E on the night of the Brits, which definitely made for a slightly different vibe of an after-party.

A hypo, also called hypoglycaemia, is a low blood sugar level, and happens when the level of sugar (glucose) in blood drops too low.

Honest: In new snaps she injected insulin while in the back of a car as she told how she hadn't been feeling great and how some days 'are harder than others' when managing the illness

Health scare: It comes after earlier this month Roxy's boyfriend Jack Whitehall revealed that she collapsed at the Brit Awards in 2021 while he was hosting the ceremony

Progress: Roxy now wears an electronic device which monitors her blood glucose level and sends a message and alarm to her and others phones when it is dangerously low

People who struggle with diabetes need daily injections of insulin to keep your blood glucose levels under control.

What is Type 1 Diabetes? Type 1 diabetes causes the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to become too high. It happens when your body cannot produce enough of a hormone called insulin, which controls blood glucose. You need daily injections of insulin to keep your blood glucose levels under control. Managing type 1 diabetes can take time to get used to, but you can still do all the things you enjoy. This guide is here to help. Type 1 diabetes is not linked with age or being overweight  these things are linked with type 2 diabetes. Source: NHS Advertisement

A low blood sugar level can be dangerous and cause brain death if it's not treated quickly.

Roxy now wears an electronic device which monitors her blood glucose level and sends a message and alarm to her and others phones when it is dangerously low.

She previously admitted to having a 'rough time' with the condition as she struggled to handle her glucose levels.

Opening up to her 199k Instagram followers, she explained: 'I've been having a really rough time managing my glucose levels the past few weeks, they are yo-yoing for absolutely no reason.

'I throw up when I go too high and I've had a few too many hypos for my liking lately.

Last March, Roxy praised Jack for being her 'rock' amid her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

'Jack's been my absolute rock, he's so lovely. He was there when I got diagnosed. My parents and my family live in Australia, so he has been my family. We're amazing,' she told The Sun.

She explained to the publication how her symptoms got worse during the pandemic, pushing her to seek medical advice.

'I felt extremely tired and exhausted for a long time, I had no energy. I couldn't even go for a walk, it was draining, I felt like I was dying. I was drinking four to eight litres of water a day,' she recalled.

Despite 'knowing something was really wrong' with her body and visiting the doctors on numerous occasions, Roxy was not tested for diabetes due to not fitting the criteria.

The model took herself to A&E out of desperation, where she was finally diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes - which causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high.

The smitten couple have now been dating for over two years and reside in Jack's 17.5million, five-bed home in Notting Hill with their pooch Coco.

Journey: She previously admitted to having a 'rough time' with the condition as she struggled to handle her glucose levels

Smitten: The smitten couple have now been dating for over two years and reside in Jack's 17.5million, five-bed home in Notting Hill with their pooch Coco

It comes after Jack revealed his romance with Roxy got off to an awkward start because of his choice of venue on their first date.

He told the Mail On Sunday that he was unaware that Roxy was vegan and took her on a first date to a Chinese restaurant decorated with dead ducks.

The comedian explained that they then went on to a bar, which had a taxidermy theme.

'It was like something out of a sitcom,' Jack joked.
Nearly a year after her much-publicized podcast was first announced, it seems Wendy Williams' new venture The Wendy Experience will not be happening.

Sources close to the 58-year-old radio and TV veteran revealed to The Sun that she has told her friends, 'there is no podcast.'

'It's strange, because she is saying there is no podcast, but is also telling people she's going to return to TV. It's hard to figure out what is based in reality,' the source added.

This also comes days after Williams was spotted drinking at a gay bar in New York City to celebrate 'new things in the works.'

The outing came just five months after leaving a rehab facility among a slew of health concerns.

No podcast: Nearly a year after her much-publicized podcast was first announced, it seems Wendy Williams' new venture The Wendy Experience will not be happening

Celebrate: This also comes days after Williams was spotted drinking at a gay bar in New York City to celebrate 'new things in the works'

The podcast still has an active official website and Instagram, which last posted on March 11 featuring a photo of Williams, though there is no indication about the launch.

Williams last spoke about the podcast in November 2022 when she claimed the podcast would debut, 'in the next few weeks.'

The new report comes just days after Williams was spotted out drinking in New York CIty, hitting up hot spots Fresco by Scotto and gay bar The Townhouse.

A source told Page Six: 'She kept saying she wanted to get drunk tonight.'

The star's representative Shawn Zanotti exclusively told DailyMail.com: 'Apparently, Wendy went out celebrating the new things in her life.'

Zanotti added, 'She is bringing in Wendy 2.0, she is happy and excited for her new opportunities and zest for life.'

'There are a lot of new things in the works and Wendy was celebrating. Wendy loves her fans and fully supports the LGBTQ community,' Zanotti added.

Naughty But Nice podcast host Rob Shuter previously told PageSix the star 'looked lonely' sat by herself but then 'lit up like a Christmas tree to see someone she knew.'

Podcast: The podcast still has an active official website and Instagram, which last posted on March 11 featuring a photo of Williams, though there is no indication about the launch

Weeks: Williams last spoke about the podcast in November 2022 when she claimed the podcast would debut, 'in the next few weeks'

Zest: Zanotti added, 'She is bringing in Wendy 2.0, she is happy and excited for her new opportunities and zest for life'

Talking about their meeting on his podcast, he said: 'We had a bite, we had some drinks, but then when we were getting ready to say goodbye, Wendy didnt really want us to leave' before allegedly suggesting going to a bar.

A diner also told the publication: 'She kept saying she wanted to get drunk tonight. She wasnt hiding [her drinking]' before claiming the star said she is moving to LA in three weeks.

The source added that Williams said: 'She told this table that she was looking for love  and like in Sex and the City, shes willing to f***.'

Ex Real Housewives of New Jersey star Kim DePaola greeted her at the restaurant before the group went to The Townhouse where Williams is said to have asked the doorman: 'Do you watch The Wendy Williams Show? Im Wendy Williams.'

The star's presence at the club saw her pose for photos with fans.

In October it was revealed the star was 'home and healing' after going back to rehab to focus on 'health and wellness' following a streak of erratic behavior and claims of substance abuse.

'Wendy is excited about the road ahead and looking forward to releasing her many projects,' the former talk show host's publicist Shawn Zanotti said in a statement to E! News on Tuesday.

Zanotti continued: 'She wants to say, "thank you to my fans for your love, support and many prayers, I am back and better than ever."'

Podcast: Talking about their meeting on his podcast, he said: 'We had a bite, we had some drinks, but then when we were getting ready to say goodbye, Wendy didnt really want us to leave' before allegedly suggesting going to a bar
Australian Idol winner Royston Sagigi-Baira has revealed what really happened on stage during his gaffe-plagued live performance at Sunday night's finale.

Royston appeared to forget the words while performing his debut single Invincible after he was seen fumbling over the lyrics and muttering in confusion.

But the 23-year-old told KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O on Monday this wasn't the case.

He explained there was a problem with the audio that prevented the studio audience from hearing the first few seconds of his performance.

Royston could hear perfectly via his in-ear earphones, and was confused when the audience and other contestants began saying there was a problem with the audio.

Australian Idol winner Royston Sagigi-Baira (pictured) has revealed what really happened on stage during his gaffe-plagued live performance at Sunday night's finale

'I could hear fine in my in-ears. That's why I didn't hear there was no sound,' he said.

His behaviour looked odd to viewers at home because the audio problem did not affect the television broadcast, he explained.

'For a second, I thought, "Oh, maybe we could do it again." But then I realised this was live television!' he admitted.

Radio host Kyle Sandilands, who was a judge on Australian Idol, praised Royston for taking the gaffe in his stride and 'smashing' the rest of his performance.

'That's what happens when you're live. Even if it robbed you of your moment, some little technical [thing], that's going to happen on and off in your career,' he advised.

'It wouldn't be the first time there's been a technical issue and it won't be the last.'

Speaking to Kyle & Jackie O on Monday, Royston explained there was a problem with the audio that prevented the studio audience from hearing the first few seconds of his performance

Kyle Sandilands (pictured), who was a judge on Australian Idol this year, praised Royston for taking the gaffe in his stride and 'smashing' the rest of his performance

Royston's performance of his winner's single got off to a shaky start.

He appeared visibly confused while mumbling several of the lyrics from the first verse, before he muttered, 'What?', and was seen tapping his ear, indicating he couldn't hear the guide track.

Just moments earlier, runner-up Phoebe Stewart, 15, had tripped down the stairs as she approached the hosts for the final decision.

Royston rushed to help her up, and the teen took it in her stride, joking that someone should make a meme of the embarrassing moment.
Noel Gallagher reportedly alludes to his marital split from his ex wife Sara MacDonald in emotional lyrics from his new single.

The Oasis star, 55, and music publicist Sara, 51, split in January after 12 years of marriage.

And in his new single Dead To The World Noel writes about 'letting go' and love 'not being enough'.

According to The Sun Noel sings in the single: 'It's time to let go, I'm bent over backwards, I'm so tired.

'Let these be my last words: If love ain't enough to make it alright, leave me dead to the world.'

Personal: Noel Gallagher reportedly alludes to his marital split from his ex wife Sara MacDonald in emotional lyrics from his new single (pictured in 2008)

Sad: The Oasis star, 55, and music publicist Sara, 51, split in January after 12 years of marriage (pictured in 2014)

The track will feature on his band High Flying Birds' next album Council Skies which will be out on June 2.

A representative for Noel has been contacted by MailOnline for comment.

Noel and Sara's split was revealed back in mid January.

Noel is said to have moved out of their 8million South Downs mansion in Hampshire - and now fans are wondering if the Oasis brothers will heal their feud and reform after Liam previously claimed Sara was the one stopping them reunite.

Noel and Sara are parents to two sons, Donovan, 15, and Sonny, 12. The rocker is also father to his eldest daughter Anais, 22, from his previous relationship with ex-wife Meg.

A spokesperson for Noel and Sara confirmed the split to MailOnline at the time with a joint statement, sharing: 'Noel Gallagher and Sara Macdonald has confirmed that the couple are to divorce.

'Noel and Sara will together continue to look after their children who remain their priority. Noel and Sara ask the media to respect their privacy and that of our family at this time.'

All over: And in his new single Dead To The World Noel writes about 'letting go' and love 'not being enough'

Relationship: The Oasis star shares two sons with the music PR, who he tied the knot with in 2011, after meeting in 2000 (pictured in 2004)

While a source told The Sun: 'It is a great shame but they are trying to keep it civilised.'

'Noel has moved out, but in time Sara might want to move back to London. Theyre working everything out steadily to minimise the disruption.'

Noel met Sara back in 2000 at an Ibiza club named Space - a year before his divorce from his first wife Meg.

The rocker was married to Meg for four years.

The former couple were notorious for a party-hard lifestyle as they lived it up during rowdy nights with Kate and Sadie Frost.

But following their split, it was reported the rocker had an affair with Sara during his relationship with Meg.

But Noel and Sara have strongly denied this claim, with the star releasing a statement in 2001 which shared that he didn't cheat and 'left Meg because I could no longer tolerate her behaviour.'

Noel and Sara tied the knot in 2011.

They married at the Lime Wood Hotel in the New Forest in a 60,000 ceremony, with guests including Russell Brand watching on - but Liam said he wasn't invited.

'He goes on about how he wasnt invited to my wedding. No one was at my wedding but Nics [wife Nicole Appleton] mum and my mum. Get over it, mate. Ive not been invited to his wedding,' Liam told the Chicago Sun Times.

Liam famously doesn't get along with Sara and has had a slew of public rows with the PR exec in the past.

He even hinted that she was the reason that an Oasis reunion wouldn't be happening, with Noel furious over Liam's name-calling about Sara.

Family: Noel is also dad to eldest daughter Anais (right), who he shares with ex-wife Meg Mathews

Oasis: Liam famously doesn't get along with Sara and has had a slew of public rows with the PR exec in the past

Back in 2020, a fan tweeted him, asking: "Hi Liam, do you know why Noel hates oasis reunion so much??????'

While he responded suggesting that it was her fault, penning: 'I've told you before he's rite up for it but you know who wont let him as she doesn't like oasis music [sic].

The brothers themselves have had little contact in the last ten years, after Noel publicly quit the band in 2009.

But fans are now wondering if there may be hope in the future for the band to get back together again.
Shirley Ballas is taking a new career step as the author of a sexy murder mystery novel.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 62, has compared the book to romance tales Mills & Boon, claiming the story left her mother Audrey, 85, 'hot and bothered'.

It comes as the professional dancer admitted she may not return to the Strictly panel after she received a barrage of abuse from cruel online trolls during the last series of the BBC ballroom dance contest.

She told the Mirror of her new book: 'Its a great sex, lies and intrigue murder mystery and a real page turner.

'My mum read it in six hours. Shes an avid reader of Mills & Boon and it got her hot and bothered. I asked her afterwards if it was good and she said she couldnt put it down.'

New direction: Shirley Ballas, 62, is taking a new career step as the author of a sexy murder mystery novel (pictured in January)

Steamy: The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 62, has compared the book to romance tales Mills & Boon (pictured on Strictly Come Dancing last year)

The twinkle-toed star added that the novel has enabled her to write about some of the things she was not able to publish in her 2020 autobiography Behind the Sequins: My Life.

She continued: 'I like to write and I have a vivid imagination. If Jackie Collins and Richard Osmans books had a lovechild, this book would be it. Its everything that goes on behind the scenes at places like Blackpool. You will read it and think, "That cant possibly happen..." Believe me, it does.

'When I wrote my autobiography, there was a lot I couldnt include, so I thought, "Ill go into this genre".'

It comes after Shirley hinted she may not return to Strictly Come Dancing this year following the torrent of vile online abuse she received during the last series.

The head judge and Latin expert was subjected to much criticism last year in which trolls slammed her decisions and accused of ageism and sexism

And as a result, in a candid new interview, Shirley indicated that the previous series may have been her last as she'd hit an 'all-time low' after the abuse 'snowballed out of control'.

The ballroom dancer told how she was constantly left in tears after every show and struggled in silence, telling how it was 'the most negativity' she had ever faced.

It is said that BBC bosses are in talks with Shirley about coming back to the show, but she has yet to sign on the dotted line for the new series.

Hot under the collar: Shirley claims her novel's story left her mother Audrey 'hot and bothered' after reading it

Hesitant: It comes after Shirley hinted she may not return to Strictly Come Dancing this year following the torrent of vile online abuse she received during the last series

She told The Mirror: 'Last year I was struggling. It wasnt just a little bit, it was a lot  the majority of it was in silence. I felt the abuse snowballed out of control and impacted me in such a negative way. Im a pretty stoic person, and I tend to hold everything in.'

She explained that when the abuse began, it seemed 'larger than anything else', with the star telling how it left her 'crying and emotional', while she was 'embarrassed' about how she felt and didn't confide in anyone.

Shirley added: 'And that was an all-time low since I joined the show  it was the most negativity Id ever experienced. The BBC were brilliant, checking in on me and offering counselling and support.'

When asked if she'd considered quitting Strictly, she replied: 'It was a difficult series, Ill leave it at that... Will I go back to Strictly? I always take one step at a time.'

She went on to say that she 'absolutely loved' her job and if it was just down to her judging with none of the trolling involved, it would be the most 'rewarding' job she could think of to do.

The Queen of Latin went on to say that after Strictly finished in 2022, she to a 'break' from TV for 're-focus' on her own industry as well as to 'protect her sanity'.

Shirley went on to reveal the shocking extent of the messages she received - of which one in five were hateful - saying that the thousands of comments she got whenever she sent someone home were 'truly awful'.

She added that she was accused of not liking young people or old, men or women, noting that it 'didnt matter' what she'd do, she could 'never win'.

Hard time: As a result, in a candid new interview, Shirley indicated that the previous series may have been her last as she'd hit an 'all-time low' after the abuse 'snowballed out of control

Heartbreaking: The ballroom dancer told how she was constantly left in tears after every show and struggled in silence, telling how it was 'the most negativity' she had ever faced

Hint: When asked if she'd considered quitting Strictly, she replied: 'It was a difficult series, Ill leave it at that... Will I go back to Strictly? I always take one step at a time' (pictured with Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood)

However, she proudly said that she stood by her decisions and never 'regretted' sending anyone home based on how they performed in the dance off, noting she could 'sleep at night' with her choices.

In December, Shirley revealed she was taking some time off over Christmas after facing an 'immense amount of trolling' throughout the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The BBC show's head judge said she was going to 'get myself together for the new year' by enjoying some time away for the 'first time ever'.

The dancing icon decided not to do panto last year, explaining how a scary incident which saw a letter being hand delivered to the theatre last year has affected her decision.

She told S magazine: 'It's the first time I've taken any time off  ever! I'm taking two and a half weeks off, because of the immense amount of trolling I got throughout this series.

'I decided I wouldn't do panto this year. Last time I did it, I got a letter hand-delivered to the theatre that was very off-putting.'

'I actually kept it. I don't know why. So I'm going to take some time off and just get myself together for the new year.'

Opening up: In December, Shirley revealed she was taking some time off over Christmas after facing an 'immense amount of trolling' throughout the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing

'Cruel': The dancing icon decided not to do panto last year, explaining how a scary incident which saw a letter being hand delivered to the theatre last year has affected her decision (pictured in 2021)

In November Shirley revealed how 'cruel' trolls have left her seeking medical help for 'low mood and anxiety'.

She explained that, for the first time in a career spanning over five decades, she has been to her doctor to find a way to manage the impact the taunts have had on her.

Shirley told OK! Magazine of the abuse she's endured during the current series of Strictly: 'It took its emotional toll, that's why I'm not going to do panto.

'[I'm] emotional and low and I'm not going to lie to you, it did affect me this year for sure... When it gets personal, that's cruel.

'It makes you [go] 'Do I look right? Am I too heavy? Am I this? Am I that? Cover up your bingo arms. Should I wear a dress with sleeves?'
Ashley James has revealed the name of her newborn baby daughter.

The DJ and podcaster, 35, welcomed her second child to the world with her partner of four-and-a-half years Tommy Andrews earlier this month.

And on Sunday, former Made In Chelsea star Ashley announced the name she and Tommy had picked for the new sister of their two-year-old son Alfie.

The moniker the couple chose is Ada Isabella Blue Andrews.

Ashley told Hello! magazine: 'We thought Ada was a really beautiful name and I was also inspired by Ada Lovelace, who was a famous mathematician and scientist.

Happy news: Ashley James, 35, has revealed the name of her newborn baby daughter after welcoming her second child to the world

Family affair: The DJ and podcaster welcomed her second child to the world with her partner of four-and-a-half years Tommy Andrews earlier this month (pictured with their two-year-old son Alfie)

'She was hailed as inventing computer programming and Tommy works in tech, so we liked that link.

'Isabella is named after my gran who is an amazing woman, and we chose Blue because Alfie's middle name is Rivers and I love water references.'

Ashley welcomed her second child with boyfriend Tommy Andrews earlier this month.

The television star announced she gave birth to the baby girl in a sweet Instagram post.

The media personality shared a heartwarming photo of herself and Tommy cradling their newborn's hand.

Alongside the post, she wrote: 'Just wanted to let you know that our baby girl is here. We are both happy and healthy and we're all so in love.

'We're taking some time to enjoy this newborn bubble and connect as a family of 4.  But I can't wait for you to meet her.'

Her celebrity pals were quick to flock to the comments section to share their heartfelt congratulations with the star.

Congrats: Ashley James has welcomed her second child with boyfriend Tommy Andrews

Jess Wright commented: 'Congratulations,' while Ollie Locke wrote: 'Such massive congratulations angel! Cant wait to meet her! Sending you all loads of love Xx'

Rini Frey penned: 'Congrats mama,' and Emily Clarkson said: 'Cannot wait to meet her, well done you ash.'

Sarah-Jayne Dunn and Made In Chelsea's Louise Thompson also took to the comments section to send their well wishes to Ashley.

Ashley announced she was pregnant in a sweet Instagram video as she posed in underwear and proudly showed off their ultrasound scans and positive pregnancy test.

The reality star welcomed her first child, a son named Alfie, in January 2021, just a year after she and tech professional Tommy began dating.

Ashley captioned the video: 'We have some news...! I'm excited and nervous to share in equal measure... Baby number 2 coming in 2023.

She noted: 'This audio makes me cry every single time!' before adding: 'A little update will be coming on my podcast which will be relaunched tomorrow!'

Ashley spent six years single before settling down with Tommy in December 2019, after having first met ten years earlier.

Six months later, the couple discovered they were having their first baby, after Tommy moved into Ashley's London home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Support: Her celebrity pals were quick to flock to the comments section to share their heartfelt congratulations with the star

Family: The reality star welcomed her first child, a son named Alfie, in January 2021 , just a year after she and tech professional Tommy began dating

Congrats! Ashley revealed her second pregnancy on social media in September

In July 2020, Ashley announced she and her boyfriend Tom were expecting their first child together.

After announcing her second pregnancy, Ashley documented her journey on social media and even revealed she was struggling with 'traumatic' Braxton Hicks and 'really bad' cramps during the latter stages.

She recently shared on her Instagram story that while she wanted to work until her due date, she had to slow down because of the pain she has experienced.

She explained that Braxton Hicks - where the womb contracts and relaxes towards the end of pregnancy - was 'taking her back' to her first birth.

She said at the time: 'Even with my anterior placenta- baby girl is making herself known now.

'I keep getting Braxton Hicks (I find them a bit traumatic as the feeling takes me back to my first birth so I have to really breathe through it and remind myself its a beautiful part of the process and my body doing what it's meant to do).

'I had a really bad night - lots of cramp and even sneezing was painful because my back and hips are so sore. It's definitely a lesson to slow down a bit.

She continued: 'Last night I even felt like my prolapse was back after a day on my feet. I still plan to work to the end but I just need to take it a bit easier.'

It's a GIRL! Ashley posted a video of her gender reveal at the end of last year on Instagram

Family: In a sweet scene, Ashley's partner Tom let off a cannon which released an explosion of pink smoke and confetti, confirming the gender of their unborn child

Ashley posted a video of her gender reveal at the end of last year on Instagram.

In a sweet scene, Ashley's partner Tom let off a cannon which released an explosion of pink smoke and confetti, confirming the gender of their unborn child.

Ashley was dressed in a chic white dress with a slit up the leg and a pair of biker boots, while she wore her blonde hair in loose curls.

She held her little boy on her hip while Tom took control of the cannon.

Ashley enjoyed a lavish Maldives babymoon in January with her partner Tommy and their son Alfie.

She displayed her ever-growing baby bump in an orange bikini after sharing a sweet video of the incredible trip.

Keeping fans updated while on holiday celebrating her sons second birthday she shared a number of beach snaps while soaking up the sun in a bikini.

The TV personality celebrated with friends and family at her baby shower in February in London as she cradled her baby bump in a slinky pink dress.

She gave followers an insight into her heartwarming day as she shared a flurry of photos to Instagram.

Babymoon! Ashley enjoyed a lavish Maldives babymoon in January with her partner Tommy and their son Alfie

Give us a kiss: She displayed her ever-growing baby bump in a black bikini after sharing a sweet video of the incredible trip

Ashley wore a floral 'mummy-to-be' sash and enjoyed a lavish meal with the pals, who had organised the party for her.

The reality TV personality topped off her outfit with an oversized teddy coat and a stylish pair of knee high boots.

She styled her blonde hair into soft waves and wore a glamorous smokey eye with a matte nude lipstick.

Ashley gushed that she had 'the best afternoon' and her friends 'organised everything' which was 'perfect'.

She said: 'A nice chance to dress up, be baby-free, and see everyone before the baby is here. And my friends have always and will always be my happy place and family.

'And I think we should celebrate every damn chapter of our lives, whatever that might be.

'It feels really nice to experience pregnancy again out of lockdown, and I'm excited to experience that with the baby stage with baby girl too. Mainly just love my bloody friends and baby girl is so lucky to be surrounded by so many legends.'
MAFS star Duncan James has spoken of his 'traumatic' last month with wife Alyssa Barmonde before he broke up with her at Sunday's final vows.

The sales director, 36, brutally dumped the single mum, 35, after she blamed him for their marital issues and said he needed to 'change' to make things work.

Speaking on Today Extra the morning after the episode aired, Duncan explained his reasons for ending the relationship and admitted it wasn't an easy decision to make.

'We didn't look at relationships in the same way, in my eyes,' he told co-hosts David Campbell and Sylvia Jeffreys.

'I don't think we resolve conflict the same way and I don't think we communicated in the same way.'

MAFS star Duncan James has spoken of his 'traumatic' last month with wife Alyssa Barmonde before he broke up with her at Sunday's final vows. (Pictured on Today Extra on Monday)

The sales director, 36, brutally dumped the single mum, 35, after she blamed him for their marital issues and said he needed to 'change' to make things work

'But it was a really hard decision. There was lots of good times as well,' he added.

The cyber security specialist also said Alyssa's vows and her desire to stay with him after the experiment came as a shock after what had been a difficult few weeks.

'We had a really traumatic month before that,' he said.

'In our final dates, I asked a few times "Do you think the last month has been good or bad? Because if you think it's been bad - but it's because of the experiment - I could understand that.

'"But if you think it's been great, then we are in different places in terms of what we think a healthy relationship looks like."'

Speaking on Today Extra the morning after the episode aired, Duncan explained his reasons for ending the relationship and admitted it wasn't an easy decision to make

Despite leaving Alyssa heartbroken on national television, Duncan still has a lot of respect for the ex-Mormon from Utah.

'Alyssa is a great woman. We're just not the right people for each other,' he said.

During their final vows, Alyssa told Duncan she 'wanted to fight for their relationship', but was left in tears when he said the feeling was not mutual.

During their final vows, Alyssa told Duncan she 'wanted to fight for their relationship', but was left in tears when he said the feeling was not mutual

'I know what love and a great relationship is and we both deserve that. But our views on what a healthy relationship is seem to be apart,' Duncan told her.

'Maybe it's our personalities or differing mindsets. Either way, the gap seems too big to bridge. I don't want to hurt you or continue getting hurt so I have to say goodbye.'

'F**k, I was not expecting that,' a shocked Alyssa responded, before walking away from her husband in tears.

'I know what love and a great relationship is and we both deserve that. But our views on what a healthy relationship is seem to be apart,' Duncan told her

'Maybe it's our personalities or differing mindsets. Either way, the gap seems too big to bridge. I don't want to hurt you or continue getting hurt so I have to say goodbye,' he added

Alyssa admitted hearing Duncan say he didn't want to be with her was soul-crushing.

'Walking away absolutely devastated me. I feel sick and betrayed,' she said.

Daily Mail Australia understands the pair have only exchanged texts 'once or twice' since filming wrapped.

'They're not even on speaking terms at the moment,' a source revealed.

'F**k, I was not expecting that,' a shocked Alyssa responded, before walking away in tears

'They both agreed it was for the best not to do any joint interviews and aren't even pretending to be together.

'Alyssa knew things were never going to work out with Duncan, as much as she wanted them to. They both live different lives.'

The source added Alyssa was pressured to say 'yes' by producers, when they 'clearly knew Duncan would be dumping her... It wasn't fair.'

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine and 9Now
MAFS star Harrison Boon has brushed off claims he slid into a model's Instagram DMs just a day after he was pictured introducing his new girlfriend to his young son.

Bailey Scarlett, a 25-year-old single mother and OnlyFans star, posted a screenshot on Sunday of Harrison attempting to message her via his official MAFS account.

The screenshot was of a blank screen with the text 'Accept message request from harrison_boon_?' and the options to block, delete or accept.

There were no actual messages visible, either because Harrison, 32, had unsent them or because of an Instagram security setting.

Bailey, who is from New Zealand but now lives in Bali, captioned her post, 'Gross no.'

MAFS' Harrison Boon (left) has brushed off claims he slid into model Bailey Scarlett's (right) Instagram DMs just a day after he was pictured introducing his new girlfriend to his young son

Bailey, who hails from New Zealand but now lives in Bali, posted this screenshot on Sunday of Harrison attempting to message her via his official MAFS account. There were no messages visible, either because Harrison had unsent them or because of an Instagram security setting

Bailey (pictured in Bali recently) captioned her post, 'Gross no.' When contacted on Monday, Harrison suggested the mother of one was just using him to boost her OnlyFans subscribers

While it's unclear when the self-proclaimed 'villain' tried to contact Bailey, the screenshot was taken when he had 27,000 followers. He now has 28,300 followers.

This means it is likely she had the screenshot saved in her phone for a while, possibly up to a week, before deciding to post it on Instagram.

When contacted on Monday, Harrison suggested Bailey was just using him to boost her OnlyFans subscribers.

'Maybe her OnlyFans has dipped?' he said, shrugging off the leaked screenshot.

The drama comes after Harrison introduced his three-year-old son August to his new girlfriend Gina on Saturday while out to lunch with his mother Noni.

Noni shared several posts on Instagram of the family day out, having seemingly given Gina the tick of approval.

Harrison and Gina debuted their relationship at a 'Freedom Day' party at Coogee Pavilion on Wednesday, where they celebrated being able to go public with their romance after his exit from MAFS aired on TV.

The drama comes after Harrison (left) introduced his three-year-old son August to his new girlfriend Gina (right) on Saturday while out to lunch with his mother Noni

Noni posted a few snaps of the family outing, having seemingly given Gina the tick of approval

Bailey is no stranger to the spotlight, having first made headlines in 2015 when she alleged her drink was spiked at a party in Melbourne hosted by Justin Bieber.

She welcomed son Riley in April 2018 and has been raising him as a single mother.

One of Australia's most successful OnlyFans performers, Bailey left Melbourne after the Covid pandemic and now lives a charmed life in Bali, Indonesia.

Harrison has been at the centre of drama on MAFS so far this season, and things are only set to get more explosive at next week's reunion event.

The master gaslighter rocks up with receipts in the form of damning texts that he says will expose his ex-wife Bronte Schofield as a fraud.

Harrison has been at the centre of drama on MAFS so far this season, and things are only set to get more explosive at next week's reunion event

He is clearly still nursing a bruised ego after Bronte walked out on him at the last dinner party following weeks of ups and (mostly) downs.

In a trailer released on Sunday, Bronte puts on a confident facade in front of the other participants but admits her husband is out for revenge.

'Everyone is on the chopping block tonight,' warns Harrison, before Bronte says in a voice-over, 'Harrison has said that he has dirt on me.'

The master gaslighter rocks up to the MAFS reunion event with receipts in the form of damning texts that he says will expose his ex-wife Bronte Schofield as a fraud

In a trailer released on Sunday, Bronte (pictured) puts on a confident facade in front of the other participants but admits her husband is out for revenge

It then cuts to Harrison holding up a print-out of leaked text messages, which have been censored for the promo.

The builder smugly asks, 'Is that in frame?'

While it's unclear what the texts are about, they could relate to the leaked voice notes scandal that emerged just days after Harrison and Bronte's wedding aired in February.

If you thought part one of MAFS' final vows was an emotional roller coaster, just wait until all the brides and grooms return for the reunion event

Tahnee Cook (left) and Caitlin McConville (right) look shocked as Harrison drops a bombshell

Fellow bride Janelle Han (pictured) can't believe what she is hearing

The couple's big day was overshadowed by news, delivered by one of Bronte's wedding guests, that Harrison had a 'secret girlfriend' waiting for him on the outside.

However, it later emerged the guest had already told Bronte about the other woman days earlier, and together they planned how the scandal would play out on TV.

Their scheme was laid bare in a series of texts and voice notes in which Bronte spoke openly of how she planned to leverage the drama to her advantage.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine and 9Now

While it's unclear what the texts are about, they could relate to the leaked voice notes scandal that emerged just days after Harrison and Bronte's wedding aired in February (pictured)

The couple's big day was overshadowed by news, delivered by one of Bronte's wedding guests (right), that Harrison had a 'secret girlfriend' waiting for him on the outside
Married At First Sight's Cameron Woods sparked concern after he disappeared just days before the show's final reunion.

According to Woman's Day, the carpenter, 27, went missing for 10 days after the final commitment ceremony.

'Things ended so messy with [his bride] Lyndall that Cam said there was absolutely no way he was attending the reunion,' an insider told the publication.

'He just turned off his phone, drove over to Alice Springs and went off the grid. Nobody could get a hold of him and there was genuine concern.'

However, Cam told Daily Mail Australia he travelled back to Alice Springs for work and informed producers he wasn't returning for the reunion.

Fears for Married At First Sight's Cameron Woods (pictured) as he goes missing ahead of the show's final reunion

'I was down in Alice Springs for work and I told them that I wasn't coming because they wouldn't change my flights and they pi**ed me off,' he said.

It comes after a trailer for Monday's episode teased a brutal showdown between Cameron and his jilted bride Lyndall Grace.

The Perth-based accountant interrupted Cam before he had a chance to speak, then proceeded to tell the outback tradie how she really feels about him.

Their last goodbye comes after Cam admitted at the final dinner party he wasn't falling in love with Lyndall and so couldn't see himself moving interstate for her.

'It's definitely my time to be honest,' Lyndall warned in a voice-over as she approached her soon-to-be ex-husband.

The two stood before each other in a lush green meadow surrounded by colourful floral arrangements.

As Cam reached for his notes so he can read his vows, Lyndall suddenly stopped him.

'Um, before you start,' she said.

Cam looked unhappy by this interruption, and his expression got even more sour as Lyndall began to say her piece.

According to Woman's Day, the carpenter went missing for 10 days after the final commitment ceremony

While the trailer doesn't reveal what she says, Lyndall told producers this is her only chance to tell Cam how much he has hurt her.

'It's now or never,' she said.

The moment is said to be one of the most 'unexpected endings' to a MAFS marriage in the show's ten-season history.

Lyndall and Cam are no longer together three months after filming wrapped on MAFS, and the situation is so bad they aren't even speaking to each other.

'The lines of communication broke down completely after they broke up at the final vows,' an insider told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month.
Alessandra Ambrosio posed alongside her lookalike daughter Anja as they attended Lollapalooza 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday.

The 41-year-old supermodel wore a short brown tank top with loose-fitting, high-waisted jeans and white sneakers.

The former Victoria's Secret Angel wrapped her arms around her 14-year-old mini-me as they smiled amid colorful band posters.

Alessandra styled her long brunette tresses straight, opted for a glamorous makeup palette, and wore a $6000 Chanel mini rainbow rectangular bag.

Anja leaned her head onto her mother's and wore purple and red yoga pants with a matching top.

Good genes: Alessandra Ambrosio, 41, posed alongside her lookalike daughter Anja as they attended Lollapalooza 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday

Doting mom: The former Victoria's Secret Angel wrapped her arms around her 14-year-old mini-me as they smiled in front of colorful band posters

The duo seemed to be having a blast at the event as they posed for a few images, which Alessandra shared with her 11.7M Instagram followers.

Anja and her mother rocked radiant complexions and lustrous light brown hair, looking like carbon copies of each other with their almond eyes and high cheekbones.

Anja  full name Anja Louise Ambrosio Mazur  is the daughter of Alessandra and her ex, photographer-turned-designer Jamie Mazur. The former couple also has a 10-year-old son named Noah Phoenix.

Anja is very active on Instagram, often sharing selfies and photos from family vacations.

On Friday, the mother-daughter duo attended the Gucci party in Sao Paulo, where they made a TikTok video together.

Speaking to Harper's Bazaar last year, Alessandra spoke about wanting her kids to dress how they like and develop their own style.

'I want them to feel happy and comfortable in their own skin,' said the Brazilian beauty. 'So I would gently guide them if I felt they were trying to be someone theyre not. But Im happy for them to take their own journey. Its the only way.'

She went on to say that her status as a fashion icon has not affected her private life, explaining that she prefers to 'keep things simple.'

'In my personal life, I keep things simple. Im a Brazilian girl, even though I now live in LA, so swimsuits and simple beachwear is my style. I love fashion but I dont have to go crazy with buying items. Im happy with what makes me comfortable.'

They're born with it: Anja and her mother rocked radiant complexions and looked like carbon copies of each other with their almond eyes and high cheekbones

Twinning: Anja - full name Anja Louise Ambrosio Mazur - is the daughter the Victoria's Secret regular had with her ex, photographer turned designer Jamie Mazur

Alessandra named her top style icons, saying: 'Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly, and Marilyn Monroe because they carried themselves with confidence and a sense of fun. They also embraced a timeless look.'

And the leggy lady shared some style advice.

'I think the best advice would be to remain authentic,' said the star who loves wearing athleisure.

'You can be playful and follow your instincts. You can't abandon yourself entirely; you have to stay true to who you are, even when you're wearing something that you wouldn't normally choose.'
The stars of The Block were channelling the 1950s on Saturday.

Hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft were joined by Block judges Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer and Neale Whitaker donning their retro best.

The cast gathered together to film a new commercial for the series at the new 2023 Block site.

Shelley, 46, was looking youthful indeed in a polka dot halter top in bright yellow with white spots, that showed off some cleavage.

She added a pair of fitted red jeans in a three quarter length along with patent red leather heels.

The stars of The Block were channelling the 1950s on Saturday. Pictured: Shelley Craft

Hosts Scott Cam and Shelley Craft were joined by Block judges Shaynna Blaze (pictured), Darren Palmer and Neale Whitaker donning their retro best

The cast gathered together to film a new commercial for the series at the new 2023 Block site. Pictured: host Scott Cam

Opting for era appropriate makeup, she donned bright red lipstick and wore her blonde hair in curls.

The TV star skipped the accessories but for a bright yellow belt and a pair of dangling pearlescent earrings.

Shaynna, 59, worked her angles in a white wiggle dress with black polka dots as she posed for photos.

She added to the look with a pair of hot pink heels which matched the flower pinned to her dress.

Shelley, 46, was looking youthful indeed in a polka dot halter top in bright yellow with white spots, that showed off some cleavage

She stopped between shooting to take some selfies

She added a pair of fitted red jeans in a three quarter length along with patent red leather heels

Opting for era appropriate makeup, she donned bright red lipstick and wore her blonde hair in curls

The TV star skipped the accessories but for a bright yellow belt and a pair of dangling pearlescent earrings and had on some vintage sunglasses

The TV personality added to the ensemble with white lace gloves and a huge straw hat, also in a white tone.

For makeup, Shaynna matched her lipstick to her shoes and wore her blonde locks in curls.

She completed the look with a pair of statement earrings with pearls in varying sizes.

Scott, 60, went for the classic 1950s greaser look, wearing a leather jacket and dark jeans.

Scott, 60, went for the classic 1950s greaser look, wearing a leather jacket and dark jeans

He added a simple white muscle shirt, leather belt and chunky leather motorcycle boots

The television host later changed his shirt into a bright red option, still working that retro style

He had his hair done in a classic coif of the era to complete the transformation

At one stage Scott took a call on a red rotary phone

He had earlier arrived on set in a much more casual outfit

He added a simple white muscle shirt, leather belt and chunky leather motorcycle boots.

The television host later changed his shirt into a bright red option, still working that retro style.

Neale, 61, was rocking a 1950s gangster look in a dapper navy blue blazer and grey trousers.

He added a classic hat, loud tie and brown dress shoes, as well as a pair of vintage glasses.

Shaynna, 59, worked her angles in a white wiggle dress with black polka dots as she posed for photos. Pictured with Neale Whitaker

She added to the look with a pair of hot pink heels which matched the flower pinned to her dress

The TV personality added to the look with white lace gloves and a huge straw hat, also in a white tone

For makeup, Shaynna matched her lipstick to her shoes and wore her blonde locks in curls. Pictured with Darren Palmer

She completed the look with a pair of statement earrings with pearls in varying sizes

The TV star was clearly having a lot of fun on set

Darren 45, dressed up as a classic 1950s stud, wearing a tight white shirt and jeans with his hair slicked back.

Another actor took on the role of a milkman, donning a retro costume and wearing a white cap while carrying pails of milk.

Also on set was foremen Keith who donned throwback blue workers uniforms.

The cast appeared to be having a ball, mingling and laughing together in between filming.

It comes after Channel Nine was slammed for sending residents an 'entitled' letter asking them to move their cars so they can shoot a commercial for The Block.

Neale, 61, was rocking a 1950s gangster look in a dapper navy blue blazer and grey trousers

Darren 45, dressed up as a classic 1950s stud, wearing a tight white shirt and jeans with his hair slicked back

Neale added a classic hat, loud tie and brown dress shoes, as well as a pair of vintage glasses

Another actor took on the role of a milkman, donning a retro costume and wearing a white cap while carrying pails of milk

Also on set was foremen Keith (pictured) doing some risky stunts

He donned a throwback blue workers uniforms

Last Monday, the network sent the letter to homeowners living along Charming Street in Hampton East in the Bayside Council area in Melbourne's south-east.

Channel Nine informed residents they intended to film a commercial for their hit show and that it would be set during the 1950s.

The letter sparked outrage for only giving residents short notice and telling them not to park their cars on the street or driveways.

'We will bring various 7 x 1950's cars to park on the street and period piece props and costumes,' the letter read.

One scene showed Scott grabbing some milk from the milkman

The entire cast was dressed to the nines in 1950s garb

A shiny red truck added to the vintage atmosphere

The cast appeared to be having a ball, mingling and laughing together in between filming

It comes after Channel Nine was slammed for sending residents an 'entitled' letter asking them to move their cars so they can shoot a commercial for The Block

Last Monday, the network sent the letter to homeowners living along Charming Street in Hampton East in the Bayside Council area in Melbourne's south-east

'As we are dressing the street, we do request on Friday evening that you please not park on the street or in your driveways.

'We would like to keep modern cars out of the shots. If you need assistance to move your vehicles we can assist you in the morning.'

The letter went on to warn that residents living in house number 24 and 25 to make sure they didn't park their car outside their houses on Saturday.

A photo of the letter was shared online where social media users ripped into the network for its 'entitled' requests.

Channel Nine informed residents they intended to film a commercial for their hit show and that it would be set during the 1950s

The letter sparked outrage for only giving residents short notice and telling them not to park their cars on the street or driveways

'We will bring various 7 x 1950's cars to park on the street and period piece props and costumes,' the letter read

'As we are dressing the street, we do request on Friday evening that you please not park on the street or in your driveways' it continued

'Brilliant!!! They've got a bloody cheek, haven't they ? Five days notice to basically cancel your entire Saturday,' one wrote.

Another added: 'Why cancel your Saturday? Sounds like a great day to throw an Aussie Saturday street party.'

Several suggested the residents living along the street ask the network to reimburse them for their troubles.

'Dear Channel Nine, I'd be delighted to acquiesce to your requirements for filming,' one wrote.

'We would like to keep modern cars out of the shots. If you need assistance to move your vehicles we can assist you in the morning,' it read

The letter went on to warn that residents living in house number 24 and 25 to make sure they didn't park their car outside their houses on Saturday

A photo of the letter was shared online where social media users ripped into the network for its 'entitled' requests

'Brilliant!!! They've got a bloody cheek, haven't they ? Five days notice to basically cancel your entire Saturday,' one wrote

'As this then makes me part of your production, I'm sure your accounting department would have no trouble approving payment of the attached invoice for my services.

'Once I have confirmation, in writing, of your acceptance of my recompense I will make the arrangements you have requested.'

A second added: 'In all seriousness, get some money out of them.

'Park cars on your lawn and invite someone over for a BBQ in the front yard.

'Maybe keep the cars up past the letterbox so it's on your private property rather than the council's, but still very visible. Make some noise in case they're recording audio.

'They need release forms for anyone with their face in shot.'

Another added: 'Why cancel your Saturday? Sounds like a great day to throw an Aussie Saturday street party'

Several suggested the residents living along the street ask the network to reimburse them for their troubles

'Dear Channel Nine, I'd be delighted to acquiesce to your requirements for filming,' one wrote

'As this then makes me part of your production, I'm sure your accounting department would have no trouble approving payment of the attached invoice for my services' they went on

A second added: 'In all seriousness, get some money out of them. Park cars on your lawn and invite someone over for a BBQ in the front yard'

The social media user claimed it was standard practice that production companies pay location fees

The social media user claimed it was standard practice that production companies pay location fees.

'I've shot plenty of commercials,' they wrote.

'Sometimes you can get a friend to kindly lend their house for a shoot, but taking over an entire street and giving specific restrictions to each resident, without any location fees??

'They're counting on the plebs being both naive and also feeling privileged to have their precious street 'on the telly'.'

Daily Mail Australia contacted Channel Nine for comment.
Love Island's Rosie Seabrook has slammed her ex Casey O'Gorman for ghosting her after they returned home from the villa.

The industry placement advisor, 24, had been coupled up with the recruitment consultant, 26, in the most recent winter series in South Africa.

Having both been dumped just a week before the final, Rosie has claimed her love interest 'ignored' her, even when she reached out to him directly.

Speaking in a YouTube Q&A, she confirmed she hadn't seen or heard from Casey since they both arrived home in the UK.

Rosie said: 'Coming back to the UK we barely spoke if I'm honest.

'I reached out but didn't hear back!' Love Island's Rosie Seabrook has slammed her ex Casey O'Gorman for ghosting her after they returned home from the villa

Happier times: The industry placement advisor, 24, had been coupled up with the recruitment consultant, 26, in the most recent winter series in South Africa

'We were both with friends and family. That's fine but for me, I think I did reach out and I didn't really hear anything back and I felt there was not any effort made.

'I think the doubts that I had in the villa became very apparent when we left Love Island and I feel it just confirmed what I was thinking.'

Rosie recently broke her silence after Casey was spotted out with his former flame Claudia Fogarty.

Despite their awkward love triangle, Casey and Claudia appeared to have patched things up as they went on a double date with Tom Clare and Samie Elishi at Musu in Manchester on Saturday.

On the same night, Rosie took to Instagram to share a sizzling snap of herself holding a wine glass out to cheers as she appeared in high spirits despite the split from Casey.

The beauty looked glamorous in a figure-hugging metallic one shoulder mini dress.

Rosie opted for a glam makeup look which accentuated her natural features, while her brunette locks were style in loose curls.

It comes after Claudia and Casey convinced fans they were dating again after Islander Aaron Waters posted a cryptic TikTok video.

Cheers! Rosie recently broke her silence after Casey was spotted out with his former flame Claudia Fogarty

Back on? Despite their awkward love triangle, Casey and Claudia appeared to have patched things up as they went on a double date with Tom Clare and Samie Elishi on Saturday

The pair were coupled up on the show until the recruitment consultant, 26, told the daughter of Superbike champion Carl Fogarty , 28, he wanted to give things ago with Rosie Seabrook.

But on Tuesday, Casey revealed he had split from Rosie just two weeks after the couple were dumped from the villa.

Aussie bombshell Aaron uploaded a video to his TiKTok page, which features himself and Casey joking around with a glass of gin.

But fans were quick to notice Claudia was sat alongside Casey in the bar, as she was heard saying off camera: 'Don't get me in it, people will get the wrong idea.'

Fans were quick to comment on the video, with one penning: 'Go Claudia hun, get your man back! She knows what she's doing'

Another wrote: 'Claudia wanted everyone to know she was there! She knows exactly what she's doing legend!'

A third said: 'As a women, I feel Claudia planned that. I'm so here for it though'

Casey split from Rosie just two weeks after the couple were dumped from the villa.

Back on? The outing comes after Claudia and Casey convinced fans they were dating again after Islander Aaron Waters posted a cryptic TikTok video

Split: On Tuesday, Casey revealed he had split from Rosie Seabrook just two weeks after the couple were dumped from the villa

The former Islanders, who appeared together during filming of the Love Island Reunion show on Sunday, have already gone their separate ways despite telling host Maya Jama that they planned to go on dates and explore their blossoming romance.

Casey dramatically ended his relationship with Claudia to pursue his feelings for Rosie during their stint on the ITV2 series.

Claudia was left brokenhearted and has since opened up about being 'rejected' by Casey, who was part of the 'three musketeers' alongside fellow Islanders Tom and Will Young, and often preferred spending time with the boys instead of potential girlfriends.

They are the first couple from the winter series to breakup, after Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan won the show last week, scooping the 50,000 prize fund.

A source told MailOnline: 'It was clear from the moment they left the villa that Casey and Rosie weren't going to last.

'They haven't made any effort to spend time together on the outside or go on dates to truly get to know each other and they both agreed it was better to quit while they were ahead.'

Confirming their split on Instagram, Casey said on Tuesday: 'Rosie and I have spoken she's a great girl. Life outside the villa is just very different and we will remain friends moving forward.'

He was replying to a fan who asked during an Instagram Q&A how they couple are.

Their breakup comes after Claudia exclusively told MailOnline that Casey had messaged her to catchup and see how she was after the pair had left the villa on bad terms.

She was surprised to hear Casey had been talking about their time on the show together, insinuating he could have gone further in the competition had he stayed with Claudia.

She said: 'He actually sent me a message last week just checking on how I am.

'When I look back, I think we probably weren't that very well matched, and we wouldn't have worked on the outside. I'll definitely be friends with him.

Fans were quick to comment on the video, with one penning: 'Go Claudia hun, get your man back! She knows what she's doing'

Casey dramatically ended his relationship with Claudia Fogarty to pursue his feelings for Rosie during their stint on the ITV2 series

'I am over it now, but I saw him say something about not wanting to stay in a fake relationship and that upset me a bit because I thought oh God was it a fake relationship?

'He said, "if I had stayed with Claudia then we would have got a lot further in the competition" and I was thinking was I just someone for you to stay in the show for longer?

'It's all water under the bridge now and hopefully when I see him it will all be civil. It was a hard situation that he handled incorrectly but I have no hard feelings towards him now.'

During the Love Island Reunion on Sunday, Casey explained that he hadn't spent a lot of time with Rosie since returning to the UK, but their plan was to go on their first date on Tuesday.

He said: 'It's all a bit overwhelming when you come back. We have a date on Tuesday so I'm just looking forward to that.

'We spent the week it was a bit overwhelming, and we wanted to spend some quality time with friends and family but now we're going to spend some time together.

'There's a lot of pressure that people see us as a couple and in a relationship but we're just not at that stage yet and we want to take it a bit slower.'

In the villa, Casey expressed his feelings towards Rosie, telling the bombshell just two weeks ago that he couldn't wait to experience their romance outside of the show and he was 'excited for the future.'

He said: 'I do want to say that I am really falling for you. I am completely closed off and I wouldn't be interested in any other girl.

'I think you're amazing and gorgeous and whenever I'm not around you I want to be with you and I really, really do like you. I am honestly really, really excited for the outside and for the future.'

The former couple had an awkward encounter on the Love Island reunion show, where Casey told Maya they planned to spend more together but were yet to make their romance official

Casey confirmed the couple's split on Tuesday, saying he hopes to remain friends with Rosie but they won't be going further in their romance

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Claudia, who fell for Casey in the villa, opened up about balancing her emotions, explaining she had never faced rejection like she did on the show before.

She said: It was so hard. Rejection is something I thought I would be okay with. But in the villa, it's not just being rejected it's also having to live with the person still.

'At home you can block them and move on and have free reign to do whatever but on the show, you have got to sit and watch that person get to know someone else and not just that sleep in a bed opposite them. It is so intense.

'That's why my emotions were so real it's a situation I've never been in before. It was hard to balance my feelings and work out what to actually do. I felt like the next day I was like well, who am I third wheeling now? I probably haven't been rejected that much in my life so having to handle that on TV was very difficult.'
Emma Watson has sparked speculation that she and her ex-boyfriend Brendan Wallace have rekindled their romance, after being spotted together at Taylor Swift's concert in Las Vegas.

In a picture circulated by a fan account on Twitter, the Harry Potter star, 32, can be seen alongside the technology mogul at the show on Friday.

Another social media video from the night also showed Emma dancing along to Taylor's songs with Este Haim, from the US band of the same name.

Emma was first seen with tech CEO Brendan back in 2018, when the pair were spotted kissing during a romantic getaway to Mexico.

However, the following year, it became clear they'd called off their romance when Brendan was seen kissing actress Alexandra Daddario while sightseeing in Rome.

Back together? Emma Watson has sparked speculation that she and her ex Brendan Wallace have rekindled their romance, after being spotted together at Taylor Swift's show in Las Vegas

Brendan is a Princeton University graduate with an MBA from Stanford University. After getting his start as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, he went on to work in real estate private equity, before starting his own business.

The businessman, in his late 30s, co-founded Cabify, the Latin American Uber. He is the co-founder and partner of Fifth Wall, an investment company.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Emma Watson and Brendan Wallace for comment.

In 2021, Emma was seen cosying up to her boyfriend Leo Robinton, though she took to Twitter at the time to confirm to her followers that she was not engaged.

Emma's Twitter statement clarified that she was not engaged to Leo, with the Bling Ring actress tweeting: 'If I have news - I promise I'll share it with you.

'In the meantime please assume no news from me just means I'm quietly spending the pandemic the way most people are failing to make sourdough bread (!), caring for my loved ones and doing my best not to spread a virus that is still affecting so many people.

'I am sending so much love to you, hoping you're ok and as well and happy as you can be in these strange times. And again, thank you to everyone working so hard to keep us safe and well.'

Then last year, following her split from Leo, Emma embarked on a new romance with business mugl Phillip Green's son Brandon, with the pair seen together on a cosy break in Venice.

Rumours: In a picture circulated by a fan account on Twitter , the Harry Potter star can be seen alongside the technology mogul at the show on Friday

Former flame: Brendan and Emma were seen together in 2018, but by the following year it appeared they'd split, when he was spotted on a romantic break with Alexandra Daddario

Iconic: Then last year, following her split from Leo, Emma embarked on a new romance with business mogul Phillip Green's son Brandon

Emma and Brandon were first pictured together last September when they disembarked from a helicopter in Battersea, London.

It was previously revealed by The Daily Mail that Brandon has entirely different career aspirations than his father, instead sharing Emma's interest in the environment.

A source said that he became invested in saving the planet after his father's Arcadia Group empire  which included Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burton  crumbled.

They confirmed: 'He got very interested in biodiversity and saving the oceans. He does a lot of charity work with both Monaco's Prince Albert's foundation and Princess Charlene's foundation.

'He is very into fitness and gets involved with galas and charities that help the planet. He does frequent beach clean-ups and whatever he can to help.'

Emma insisted in a 2017 interview that she would never talk publicly about her relationships, explaining: 'I've noticed, in Hollywood, who you're dating gets tied up into your film promotion and becomes part of the performance and the circus.

'I would hate anyone that I were with to feel like they were in any way part of a show or an act.'

Emma also previously said she is content being 'self-partnered'.

'I never believed the whole 'I'm happy single' spiel,' she told Vogue in 2017. 'It took me a long time but I'm happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered.'

She also revealed that when it comes to love, dating apps were 'not on the cards'. Instead she relies on friends from university and 'outside of film'.

'My friends are really good at setting me up,' she continued.
Lauren Goodger looked in good spirits as she matched with her daughter Larose in adorable pink outfits as they wandered around London Zoo.

The former TOWIE star, 36, spent the day visiting various different animals in the Regent's Park zoo and had a big smile on her face as she held onto her little one.

The doting mum shares 20-month-old Larose with her ex-boyfriend Charles Drury, 25, and at the weekend she took Larose and her friend for a fun family day out.

Lauren looked effortlessly pretty in pink with her hot pink sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, which also had white stars emblazoned across her left arm and leg.

Her comfortable ensemble looked great and she slipped into a pair of beige and cream New Balance trainers for the day.

Good spirits: Lauren Goodger looked in good spirits as she matched with her daughter Larose in adorable pink outfits as they wandered around London Zoo

Doting mum: The former TOWIE star, 36, spent the day visiting various different animals in the Regent's Park zoo and had a big smile on her face as she held onto her little one

Matching: The doting mum shares 20-month-old Larose with her ex-boyfriend Charles Drury, 25, and at the weekend she took Larose and her friend for a fun family day out

She styled her chocolate brown tresses in a straight blow-out style and also went for a half-up, half-down do which gave her some volume around her face.

The reality TV personality looked glamorous with a full face of makeup for the occasion, opting for a brown smokey eyeshadow look as well as a pink lip colour.

Lauren was beaming from ear to ear as she held onto her daughter while showing her all the different animals on a chilly day in the capital.

It comes after Lauren paid tribute to her late daughter Lorena on Mother's Day.

The star gave birth to her second child in July 2022, but her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and she tragically lost her life.

The photo saw Lorena's face blurred out as she lay in a cot, while Larose's could be seen on a phone screen beside her.

Lauren wrote in her caption: 'Thank you for giving me the best gift and all Ive ever wanted is to be your mummyI love you both to the moon and back and this morning has touched me so deep I wish you was with us my gorgeous Lorena.

'Happy Mothers Day everyone, just cuddles is all you need today #mygirls #happymothersday #love #cuddlesandkisses.'

Day out: Lauren looked effortlessly pretty in pink with her hot pink sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, which also had white stars emblazoned across her left arm and leg

Adorable: She styled her chocolate brown tresses in a straight blow-out style and also went for a half-up, half-down do which gave her some volume around her face

Glam: Her comfortable ensemble looked great and she slipped into a pair of beige and cream New Balance trainers for the day

Wow: The reality TV personality looked glamorous with a full face of makeup for the occasion, opting for a brown smokey eyeshadow look as well as a pink lip colour

Wholesome: Lauren was beaming from ear to ear as she held onto her daughter while showing her all the different animals on a chilly day in the capital

Seeing the sights: Lauren is snapped looking at the penguins in London Zoo with daughter Lorena and another mum pal

It follows reports Lauren has been 'begged' by her friends to 'not get back together with Charles after he allegedly spent the night at her house last month.

The reality star has had a tumultuous relationship with her builder ex-boyfriend, 25, and have been on-and-off since the tragic death of Lorena.

In February, Lauren and Charles appeared to be getting along well as they took their little one Larose to Woburn Safari Park, taking turns to have their pictures taken.

But now pals of Lauren have reportedly become concerned with the two getting back together again after he slept at her house this week.

Lauren had allegedly been assaulted on the day of funeral. Charles - who has denied attacking Lauren - was later arrested and bailed.

A source revealed to The Sun: 'Lauren's friends have begged her not to get back together with her ex Charles Drury after they heard Charles had spent the night at her house this week.

'A few of them reached out to her and told her to stay away from him as they feel like he is bad news and will only bring her more heartache.

'Lauren insisted that he just slept in the spare room and that they are working on co-parenting Larose, but those closest to her know she and Charles are growing closer. They feel it's only a matter of time before they are back together.'

A representative for Lauren told MailOnline: 'Lauren is focused on the welfare as a mother to her daughter- this puts co- parenting at the top of her priorities.'

Quality time: Lauren held onto her daughter while pushing the pram around a busy London Zoo at the weekend

Stepping out: The mum and daughter looked adorable in their matching pink outfits for the day

Star: Reality TV star Lauren looked gorgeous in her pink ensemble and her glamorous palette of makeup

Wave: Lauren's gorgeous appearance was unmissable as she enjoyed watching the penguins

Snapshot: She captured the moment with a picture on her mobile phone while standing with a mum pal

Experience: She also sat on a statue of a lion with her daughter and Larose's friend

Happy: The mums chit chatted as they walked around the Regent's Park zoo

Pink: It comes after Lauren paid tr ibute to her late daughter Lorena on Mother's Day

When the pair arrived at Woburn Safari Park on Monday, they were seen cuddling and playing with their infant daughter as they stepped out of the back of a safari vehicle as they made the most of the sights at the park.

Lauren revealed that she lost three stone in the wake of the tragic death of Lorena.

The harrowing grief Lauren experienced following Lorena's death meant she was unable to eat, but she has put on a stone as her mental health has improved.

Speaking to OK!, she said: 'I lost nearly three stone after I lost Lorena because of the stress. I didn't eat. I'm now eating again and I've put a stone back on because I'm being more healthy.

'I stayed indoors and I didn't go out, and now I feel I'm in a better place mentally. This year is about focusing on me and getting back on track.'

The TV personality also said that her infant daughter Larose has been a 'rock' for her and without her, she wouldn't have been able to have survived Lorena's death.

She said: 'She's the best. She makes me so proud every single day. She's unbelievable. She's my rock.

'After everything I went through, Larose is definitely my inspiration. She inspires me and she's kept me going through the hardest times. Without her, I wouldn't survive.'

Elsewhere, Lauren recently opened up about her 'hellish' 2022 after the loss of Lorena and her bitter split with Charles.

Speaking to MailOnline, Lauren put on a brave face as she arrived at The Inspiration Awards in January where she said she is 'ready to come back to the industry in the right way' after a string of difficult events.

When explaining why she wanted to come to the event, Lauren said: 'It's an amazing cause, I can't wait to hear all the stories.

Unimaginable: The former TOWIE star gave birth to her second child in July 2022, but her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and she tragically lost her life

Reflecting: Lauren wrote in her caption: 'Thank you for giving me the best gift and all Ive ever wanted is to be your mummyI love you both to the moon and back and this morning has touched me so deep I wish you was with us my gorgeous Lorena'

Family: Lauren also shares 20-month-old Larose with her ex-boyfriend Charles Drury, 25

'I feel like I've been through a hell of a lot and I feel like it was the right one for me to go to. I've been asked to do a lot of things, I'm coming back slowly.

'I took a break and now I am ready to come back to the industry in the right way.

'I'm very new to this, like I say, I've been through massive trauma, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it but everyone knows and I feel like one day I want to inspire other women.'

If you have been affected by this article, please contact the UK Child Bereavement line on 0800 02 888 40 or The Lullaby Trust on 0808 8026868.
Nicola Peltz posed with her adorable pet pooch in her white handbag in sweet snaps shared to her Instagram on Sunday.

The actress, 28, flashed her toned midriff in a black long sleeved top and dark denim jeans as she posed with her bag on her shoulder with her small dog sitting inside - amid recent revelations that she is 'ready to have a baby'.

Nicola hid behind a pair of dark tinted sunglasses and styled her long dark tresses pushed back with a headband.

Her husband Brooklyn Beckham, 24, took to his Instagram Story to share a sweet snap of him cuddling another one of the couple's fur babies.

He cut a casual figure in a black short sleeved T-shirt. flashing his tattooed arms as he kissed the pooch's head.

Chic: Nicola Peltz posed with her adorable pet pooch in her white handbag in sweet snaps shared to her Instagram on Sunday - amid revelations she is ready to have a baby

Adorable: Her husband Brooklyn Beckham, 24, took to his Instagram Story to share a sweet snap of him cuddling another one of the couple's fur babies

It comes after a family source revealed Nicola 'is ready to finally have a baby'.

Ever since the loved-up couple married at the Peltz family mansion in Florida last April, Brooklyn has been talking about becoming a father.

Last year he said in a interview: 'My parents had me at 23. I'm 23 now. I've always wanted to get married young, I've always wanted to have kids young, to grow up with my kids when I'm still young.'

He added he felt Nicola 'needs a little bit more time . . . I always said: 'Whenever you're ready, I'm ready.'

Sources close to the family have now indicated that the idea of starting a family is uppermost for both of them, and Nicola, who has eight siblings and two half-siblings, has decided she, too, wants to be a young parent.

'She wants a baby,' the source told the Mail.

It comes after Nicola revealed last year that she and Brooklyn plan to have up to eight children together.

The actress said that the couple want 'a big family' as they both come from large broods.

Nicola has a whopping seven siblings, with six brothers, Brad, Will, Matthew, Diesel, Zachary, Gregory and a sister named Brittany.

Brooklyn has three siblings; brothers Romeo, 20, and Cruz, 18, and sister Harper, 11.

Nicola previously spoke to The Sunday Times magazine, Style, and revealed Brooklyn is keen to have children straight away.

She said: 'He wants kids yesterday. I think in a couple of years. We definitely want a big family. He has three siblings, I have seven.'

When asked if she would have eight children, Nicola said: 'It's a lot but... I don't know.'

She added: 'We want to adopt some kids, have some of our own. That would be the dream.'
Alison Hammond has broken her silence after it was revealed over the weekend that a man had been arrested on suspicion of blackmail.

Taking to Instagram, the presenter, 48, shared a beaming selfie from her 'girls night' with pals Holly Willoughby, Nicole Appleton and Emma Bunton, writing the caption: 'Needed that.'

On Sunday, West Midlands Police told MailOnline that a man had been bailed following his arrest on suspicion of blackmail.

Alison allegedly told pals she handed over thousands of pounds and a car to a former friend who threatened to leak false details about her private life.

The force confirmed it had arrested a 36-year-old man from Warwickshire on suspicion of blackmail against a woman in her 40s.

Speaking out: Alison Hammond has broken her silence on social media after it was revealed over the weekend that a man had been arrested on suspiction of blackmail

Candid: Taking to Instagram, the presenter shared a beaming selfie from her 'girls night' with pals Holly Willoughby, Nicole Appleton and Emma Bunton adding in the caption: 'Needed that'

The man was questioned by police and on Sunday was released on conditional bail, it added.

West Midlands Police said on Sunday they 'take reports of this kind very seriously' and enquiries were 'progressing swiftly'.

According to The Sun, the former Big Brother contestant also handed over a BMW worth 5,000.

It's claimed the presenter reported the incident to police last week, with a colleague telling the publication Hammond revealed she had 'reached the end'.

She allegedly showed officers from the force messages she had received from the man on Tuesday.

The new Great British Bake Off host is said to have fought back tears and claimed that she had 'trusted' the man when speaking to a friend.

'I thought he valued our friendship. I now know he only wanted me to fund his life of luxury', The Sun reported.

It is claimed the man took advantage of Alison's kind nature and they forged an unlikely friendship despite his issues with drugs.

Development: On Sunday, West Midlands Police told MailOnline a man had been bailed following his arrest on suspicion of blackmail

Drama: Alison allegedly told pals she handed over thousands of pounds and a car to a former friend who threatened to leak false details about her private life

Good spirits! Following the reports, Alison returned to This Morning to host alongside Holly Willoughby, while Phillip Schofield takes a break from the show

Staying strong! The pair were in high spirits as they presented the programme together

Alison reportedly told her friend that he sprung the demands on her out of the blue after she had been happy to try and help him and spend money on him.

It is claimed she attempted to cut ties with him a number of times but he managed to make his way back into her life.

Things reached boiling point for Alison when she is said to have told a colleague last week: 'He sent me a message stating that if I didn't give him 3,500 he would ruin me.

'I was flabbergasted. I'm still in shock. To have a friend seeking to blackmail and extort me is just heartbreaking. I had to realise I'd reached the end and go to the police.'

Things reached boiling point for Alison when she is said to have told a colleague last week: 'I had to realise I'd reached the end and go to the police.'

However, Alison is said to be 'genuinely scared' of any retaliation from the man now she has stopped giving him money and gone to the authorities.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Alison for comment.

A former holiday rep, she first appeared on British TV screens as a contestant on the third series of Big Brother in 2002, which she later admitted she had only signed up for in a bid to clear a 3,000 debt.

Her bubbly personality and warmth soon landed her a spot on This Morning after ITV bosses saw her potential.

Her career has since gone from strength to strength, recently landing hosting jobs at the BAFTAs and on GBBO.
Jodie Turner-Smith showed off her incredible figure in one of her raciest shoots yet, as she opened up about raising a mixed-race daughter who has been 'healing' her conversations around colourism.

The model and actress, 36, spoke in a candid conversation with ELLE UK where she admitted that it's a 'big job to prepare children for the world'.

Posing for a stunning shoot for the publication, Jodie slipped into racy Gucci underwear and a crop top covered with intricate floral embroidery.

Dressed in enormous platform heels, the Queen Of Slim star donned a dramatic beaded headpiece while posing for the fun images.

Married to Canadian-American actor Joshua Jackson, 44, the pair share a daughter born in April 2020, who she gushed over in the interview.

Wow! Jodie Turner-Smith showed off her incredible figure in racy lingerie and an embroidered crop top in a stunning shoot for ELLE UK

Candid: The actress opened up about raising a mixed-race daughter who has been 'healing' her conversations around colourism

She touched on how she had 'a lot of resistance' to becoming a mum and admitted that she always said if she were to have children, she wanted to affirm them with the love she 'felt like I needed' from the outside world.

Jodie went onto say that her daughter, who is mixed-race, was a sign from the universe to teach her lessons and heal her 'own conversations around colourism'.

She detailed: 'It's interesting because I had a lot of resistance to becoming a mother and, throughout my life, I always said if I were to have children, I wanted to have Black, Black babies so that I could affirm them as children with the love that I felt I needed to have been affirmed with by the outside world.

'Then I fell in love with my husband and we talked about having kids.

'I did have this mini pause, where I was like, "She's going to be walking through the world not only having an experience that I did not have, but looking like people that, in a way, I'd always felt a little bit tormented by."

'Now that I've got this little, tiny, light-skinned boss, I feel like it's the universe teaching me lessons.

'I've been given a daughter who looks this way to heal my own conversations around colourism.'

Jodie continued: 'I love this little girl so much. She's so funny. It's a big job to prepare children for the world.

Doting mother: Married to Canadian-American actor Joshua Jackson, 44, the pair share a daughter born in April 2020, who she gushed over in the interview

Good looking pair: It comes after Jodie and her husband dressed up to the nines for the Vanity Fair after party following the 95th Annual Academy Awards

Jodie touched on how she had 'a lot of resistance' to becoming a mum and admitted that she always said if she were to have children, she wanted to affirm them with the love she 'felt like I needed' from the outside world (pictured on the cover of ELLE UK)

'The best thing that we can do is let them touch the earth and be grounded and real  as real as one can be when you have the level of privilege that obviously my child has.

'I'm not acting like she's not a nepo baby. But I worked damn hard to have a nepo baby!'

It comes after Jodie and her husband dressed up to the nines for the Vanity Fair after party following the 95th annual Academy Awards the other week.

Turning heads at Beverly Hills venue Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Turner-Smith looked stunning in a floor-length fitted gown that inevitably drew attention to her lithe physique.

The British actress was joined by husband Joshua and the Canadian star looked appropriately dapped in a black tuxedo suit and matching polished dress shoes.

The May issue of ELLE UK is on sale from 30 March.
Anya Taylor-Joy and her 'husband' Malcolm McRae put on a loved-up display in Venice, Italy.

The couple were a picture of happiness as they shared sweet kisses and moments of affection between puffing on cigarettes during a romantic getaway, on Friday.

Taking in views of the city from the balcony of their hotel, the English actress, 26, and her musician beau, 28, couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Make-up free Anya was effortlessly stylish in a double breasted khaki coat, with her platinum tresses tied into a low ponytail, while Malcolm wore a long sleeve white tee.

The two seemed completely in sync, with their body language exuding love and adoration.

Mwah! On Friday, Anya Taylor-Joy, 26, and her 'husband' Malcolm McRae, 28, put on a loved-up display in Venice, Italy

Love: The couple shared moments of affection between puffing on cigarettes during their romantic getaway

Chic: Make-up free Anya was effortlessly stylish in a double breasted khaki coat, with her platinum tresses tied into a low ponytail

Rumours have swirled that the pair secretly tied the knot after Anya was pictured on several occasions in Sydney wearing what appears to be a wedding ring, but has yet to comment on the speculation.

According to Page Six, the pair wed in July in a U.S. courthouse ceremony.

It was claimed at the time they had secretly married her boyfriend Malcolm McRae after one year of dating.

The couple confirmed their relationship at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in late March last year.

The Queen's Gambit star first sparked engagement rumours in June last year when she was seen sporting a dazzling diamond on her ring finger.

It was claimed in July last year the actress and the musician tied the knot in a modest courthouse ceremony in the United States.

Anya and Malcom were said to be planning a larger ceremony with friends and family once the actress wrapped filming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa, in Australia and was able to return home to Los Angeles for a longer period.

The source claimed the actress jetted back to Australia shortly after the wedding to resume filming Furiosa, a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road.

Stylish: Malcolm wore a long sleeve white tee with a pair of navy shorts

Love: Anya and Malcolm were a picture of happiness as they shared sweet kisses

Happy: Anya smiled with contentment as she smiled up at her man

Besotted: Taking in views of the city from the balcony of their hotel, the English actress and her musician beau couldn't keep their hands off each other

Low-key: The couple kept things low-key as they puffed on cigarettes

She is starring as a younger version of Charlize Theron's character in the earlier film - set for release in May next year - which saw Tom Hardy take over the Mad Max title character from Mel Gibson.

The couple were rumoured to be engaged after Anya was spotted in June wearing what appeared to be a diamond ring on her left ring finger and has since been several times since then with the same ring after the reported wedding.

Malcolm, an Alabama native, has dabbled in acting, but his primary interest is playing guitar and piano in his rock duo More alongside bandmate Kane Ritchotte.

In July 2021, The Sun reported that McRae had 'practically moved into [Taylor-Joy's] L.A. home'.

Anya has mostly stayed quiet about her relationship, but she offered a rare comment about him to British Vogue in March when she described some of their favourite activities at home.

'I said to my partner the other day that he was my hobby,' she said. 'I see reading as something that I have to do.

'He loved it because he's the same. I've finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading. We're basically 80 years old and seven at the same time and it works really well.'

She also noted that the occasionally long-distance nature of their relationship could be trying on her, though they seem to have made it work.

At ease: The duo looked completely at ease with ease other during their city break

Smooch: The couple shared kisses and cuddles

'Yes, it is [hard], but it's also kind of great because when you're together you're really valuing the time that you have.

'Everyday mundane activities are so full of joy. I love going to the petrol station with him and filling up the car and going to get breakfast,' she added.

The couple went Instagram official in October when McRae shared a sweet photo of the two to his Instagram account.

'Oof supremely happy,' he captioned a sweet photo of himself holding hands with Taylor-Joy as they beamed in a reflection on a window.
Ricki-Lee Coulter revealed on Monday she once had a surprise meeting with Prince Harry in a pub in London.

The Australian Idol star, 37, said she visited the bar with her mates to watch their friend Sam Sparro perform - and was shocked when the Royal walked in.

'I went to the bar and all of a sudden all these people started coming in, like Secret Service-looking people in suits,' she told the I've Got News For You podcast.

'I was like, "What is this? Whats happening?" and then whispers started happening that Prince Harry was coming.

Ricki-Lee was then pleasantly surprised when the Duke of Sussex chatted to her for five minutes while they were waiting for their drinks.

Ricki-Lee Coulter (pictured) revealed on Monday she once had a surprise meeting with Prince Harry in a pub in London

The Australian Idol star, 37, said she visited the bar with her mates to watch their friend Sam Sparro perform - and was shocked when the Royal walked in

'We introduced ourselves and just talked  it was so surreal and awesome. He was so down to earth and lovely and cool,' she said.

It comes after Ricki-Lee spoke about her success after kick-starting her career on Australian Idol back in 2004.

The brunette beauty told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, she is 'very proud' of herself after almost two decades in the music industry.

'I am really proud I have sustained a career for almost 20 years and had all of the crazy, wild amazing success that I've had, but I've worked my a** off for it,' she said.

'I went to the bar and all of a sudden all these people started coming in, like Secret Service-looking people in suits,' she told the I've Got News For You podcast

Ricki-Lee went on to discuss her new single On My Own, which will be released on March 31.

'Whatever I have been through in my life, personal or in my career, the ups and downs, I know that I will always figure it out,' she explained.

Ricki-Lee rose to fame after she made it to the top 10 on Australian Idol back in 2004.

She placed seventh, and the talented performer has remained a fixture of the music industry ever since.

This year she co-presented Channel Seven's reboot with Scott Tweedie.
Michelle Keegan has appeared in first-look pictures for upcoming BBC series Ten Pound Poms.

The actress, 35, plays nurse Kate in the much-anticipated drama, which was written by Danny Brocklehurst.

Michelle was neatly turned out in her nurse's uniform as she answered the phone - in a very different snap to her usual glamorous red carpet looks.

In another image, the star donned a 1950s-style grey winter coat and wore a chic beret over her brunette locks.

She kept her make-up natural as she looked typically stunning in the sneak peek from when the drama was filmed on location in Australia last year.

New series: Michelle Keegan looked typically stunning as Kate in first-look pictures for upcoming BBC series Ten Pound Poms

Stylish: For a second look the actress, 35, donned a 1950s grey coat and wore a beret over her brunette locks

Moving to Australia: Finn Treacy as Peter, Hattie Hook as Pattie, Faye Marsay as Annie, Warren Brown as Terry

Michelle's character Kate is a young nurse who arrives in Australia without her fiance and is trying to rewrite her devastating life.

The 1950s drama, which also features Game of Thrones star Faye Marsay as Annie and Warren Brown as Terry, shows a group of Brits leaving dreary post-war life for a new start in sunny Australia over six episodes.

For only 10 they are offered a better job, home and lifestyle - but find that life down under is very different to what they expected.

Struggling with their new identity as immigrants, we follow their triumphs and pitfalls as they adapt to a new life in a new country, far from Britain and familiarity.

At the heart of the drama are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown).

They try to make the best of the situation for their family, but the poor living conditions at the migrant hostel and local attitudes towards immigrants test them in ways they couldnt have imagined.

Bill (Leon Ford) has lost his family business back home and is so desperate to prove hes living the Australian dream that hell stop at nothing in order to get a lifestyle he cant sustain.

Teenager Stevie (Declan Coyle) comes from a troubled background and hopes to use this new adventure to escape his oppressive father.

Meanwhile, Ron (Rob Collins), an Indigenous Australian war veteran, struggles with feeling like an outsider in his own country.

The Ten Pound Poms Scheme was introduced in 1945 to migrate Britons to Australia and New Zealand.

The Original series, Ten Pound Poms will be available later in the year only on Stan.

Leading roles: At the heart of the drama are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown)

Moving abroad: The show documents Britons who move to Australia via the Ten Pound Poms scheme (pictured: Cheree Cassidy as Marlene)

Cast: Michelle is joined by David Field as Dean and Sophie Gregg as Tina (pictured)
Kaia Gerber, 21 and Austin Butler, 31, were spotted leaving a yoga class together in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The sweat session comes after the model and the Elvis star enjoyed a romantic getaway to Cabo San Lucas.

Kaia looked chic in a pair of very short shorts that showed off her long, lean legs. She paired that with a blue and white letterman-style jacket, striped socks and short shearling boots.

Her hair was pulled into a bun and she wore sunglasses and carried a large blue tote bag as she exited the yoga studio alongside her boyfriend.

The Oscar nominee, meanwhile, wore a pair of black Adidas sweatpants with white stripes down the side, a light blue hoodie, and green Adidas trainers. He also wore sunglasses on the sunny day in Los Angeles.

Yoga: Kaia Gerber, 21 and Austin Butler, 31, were spotted leaving a yoga class together in Los Angeles on Sunday

The exercise outing comes one day after the lovebirds were spotted out on a walk in a park in Silver Lake with their dog.

For that excursion, the model wore a navy blue mid-calf length dress that had white pinstripes.

She topped the look off with a tan trench coat and striped socks and a pair of black and white Adidas trainers and carried a small, green handbag.

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor wore a pair of black pants with a white t-shirt and a teal blue bomber style jacket.

He covered his famous hair with a ball cap and held his girlfriend's hand and the dog's leash.

The couple recently returned from Cabo San Lucas where they soaked up some sun after Butler's Oscar loss.

The Zoey 101 star was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Elvis Presley.

He lost the trophy to Brendan Fraser, who won for his role in The Whale.

Short shorts: Kaia looked daring in a pair of very short shorts that showed off her long, lean legs which she wore with a blue and white letterman's-style jacket, striped socks and short shearling boots

Walk the dog: The exercise outing comes one day after the lovebirds were spotted out on a walk in a park in Silver Lake with their dog

The couple began seeing each other since November 2021 and made their relationship official when they attended the Met Gala together in May 2022.

The relationship came just one month after Kaia ended her prior 13-month relationship with Euphoria star Jacob Elordi.

Butler was previously in an eight year relationship with actress Vanessa Hudgens.

Kaia's recent gigs include being on the cover of Vogue China and walking the Off-White FW/22 runway presentation in Paris alongside her famous mother.

Love birds: The couple began seeing each other since November 2021 and made their relationship official when they attended the Met Gala together in May 2022

Earlier this year, the bombshell opened up about how she felt 'lonely' without her family nearby as a teen, at the start of her career, as modeling gigs took her around the world.

'I'm only 21, and I feel like I've lived a whole life already,' the American Horror Story star told the fashion magazine.

Still, even with the challenges that come with her demanding schedule, the actress said: 'Even when I was really tired, or wanted to go home, or felt lonely, I would remind myself how lucky I was.'

Kaia learned a lot while traveling to places like Paris and Milan for her job.
Alison Hammond appeared to once again confirm she was single during an appearance on Monday's This Morning - fuelling further speculation she had split from partner Ben Hawkins.

The host, 48, who is sitting in for Phillip Schofield this week showed off her 'single ring' during a discussion about dating apps.

Joined by Holly Willoughby, 42, Alison revealed she was wearing the green jewellery as way of declaring her single status.

As she flashes the Pear Ring she said: 'More people are wanting to meet people out and about and having a green ring might be a good idea so that people know you're single.

'As you can see, I've got my single ring on.'

Back on the market? Alison Hammond, 48, appeared to once again confirm she was single during an appearance on Monday's This Morning - sparing further speculation she had split from partner Ben Hawkins

Single and ready to mingle? The host who is sitting in for Phillip Schofield this week showed off her 'single ring' during a discussion about dating apps

Pals: Before Holly (left) interjected: 'Hopefully you won't need it for a lifetime'

Before Holly interjected: 'Hopefully you won't need it for a lifetime.'

The Pear Ring works the opposite of an engagement ring, with users donning it to show strangers they are available.

The official green ring costs 19.99 and aims to help people find love in person rather than on dating apps.

Earlier this month Alison shocked This Morning viewers by declaring she was single just weeks after it was reported she and her beau were 'engaged'.

She slipped up on her relationship status when she exclaimed: ' well I am single!' while discussing the new Love Island spin-off show with co-host Dermot O'Leary.

As Dermot read the casting call for new show The Romance Retreat - to be hosted by Davina McCall - he hinted to his co-star about signing up, telling her they were looking for 'vibrant single parents'.

To which she replied: 'Hey, I'm single!.

Alison Hammond broke her silence on Sunday after it was revealed over the weekend that a man had been arrested on suspicion of blackmail.

Taking to Instagram, the presenter shared a beaming selfie from her 'girls night' with pals Holly Willoughby, Nicole Appleton and Emma Bunton, writing the caption: 'Needed that.'

West Midlands Police told MailOnline that a man had been bailed following his arrest on suspicion of blackmail.

Ex? Earlier this month Alison shocked This Morning viewers by declaring she was single just weeks after it was reported she and her beau were 'engaged' (Ben pictured)

What happened? She slipped up on her relationship status when she exclaimed: ' well I am single!' while discussing the new Love Island spin-off show with co-host Dermot O'Leary

Alison allegedly told pals she handed over thousands of pounds and a car to a former friend who threatened to leak false details about her private life.

The force confirmed it had arrested a 36-year-old man from Warwickshire on suspicion of blackmail against a woman in her 40s.

The man was questioned by police and on Sunday was released on conditional bail, it added.

West Midlands Police said on Sunday they 'take reports of this kind very seriously' and enquiries were 'progressing swiftly'.

According to The Sun, the former Big Brother contestant also handed over a BMW worth 5,000.

It's claimed the presenter reported the incident to police last week, with a colleague telling the publication Hammond revealed she had 'reached the end'.

She allegedly showed officers from the force messages she had received from the man on Tuesday.

The new Great British Bake Off host is said to have fought back tears and claimed that she had 'trusted' the man when speaking to a friend.

Speaking out: On Sunday Alison broke her silence on social media after it was revealed over the weekend that a man had been arrested on suspiction of blackmail

Candid: Taking to Instagram, the presenter shared a beaming selfie from her 'girls night' with pals Holly Willoughby, Nicole Appleton and Emma Bunton adding in the caption: 'Needed that'

'I thought he valued our friendship. I now know he only wanted me to fund his life of luxury', The Sun reported.

It is claimed the man took advantage of Alison's kind nature and they forged an unlikely friendship despite his issues with drugs.

Alison reportedly told her friend that he sprung the demands on her out of the blue after she had been happy to try and help him and spend money on him.

It is claimed she attempted to cut ties with him a number of times but he managed to make his way back into her life.

Things reached boiling point for Alison when she is said to have told a colleague last week: 'He sent me a message stating that if I didn't give him 3,500 he would ruin me.

Development: On Sunday, West Midlands Police told MailOnline a man had been bailed following his arrest on suspicion of blackmail

Drama: Alison allegedly told pals she handed over thousands of pounds and a car to a former friend who threatened to leak false details about her private life

'I was flabbergasted. I'm still in shock. To have a friend seeking to blackmail and extort me is just heartbreaking. I had to realise I'd reached the end and go to the police.'

Things reached boiling point for Alison when she is said to have told a colleague last week: 'I had to realise I'd reached the end and go to the police.'

However, Alison is said to be 'genuinely scared' of any retaliation from the man now she has stopped giving him money and gone to the authorities.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Alison for comment.

A former holiday rep, she first appeared on British TV screens as a contestant on the third series of Big Brother in 2002, which she later admitted she had only signed up for in a bid to clear a 3,000 debt.

Her bubbly personality and warmth soon landed her a spot on This Morning after ITV bosses saw her potential.

Her career has since gone from strength to strength, recently landing hosting jobs at the BAFTAs and on GBBO.
Jackass actor Bam Margera got a new face tattoo last week.

This inking has been dedicated to his five-year-old son Phoenix whom he has with his estranged wife Nicole Boyd.

The child's name was written in Arabic, according to his tattoo artist Gray Wake who spoke with TMZ. Wake's tattoo parlor is named Tribal Roots Tattoo Studio and is located in Escondido, California.

The 43-year-old actor is estranged from Phoenix's mother as she filed for divorce from Margera this year after she claimed Bam was not sober when he visited his son. She also accused him of leaving her with no car or money after their split.

Bam took to Instagram over the weekend to share that he got the tattoo because he misses his child, while also taking aim at his ex.

'I miss Phoenix the wolf so much I had to to get his name tattooed on my f***in face to remind Nikki she is breaking my heart by not letting me see him,' he claimed.

Fresh ink: Jackass actor Bam Margera got a new face tattoo last week. This inking has been dedicated to his five-year-old son Phoenix whom he has with his estranged wife Nicole Boyd. The child's name was written in Arabic, according to his tattoo artist Gray Wake

Ouch! Wake's tattoo parlor is named Tribal Roots Tattoo Studio and is located in Escondido, California

The ink expert told the site that Bam did not have an appointment and just walked in.

And he did not come alone; the movie star was with a male friend during the visit.

Gray added that Bam asked for his son's name to be written in Arabic, but did not explain why.

Bam already had the design on his cell phone and showed it to the artist to mimic.

And Bam also got a 'small' tattoo on his hand, the site added, but it was not shared what the tat was of.

Boyd filed for legal separation in February, calling it quits after she claimed Bam had a non-sober visit with Phoenix.

The pair married in 2013, but she filed separation documents in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences as a reason for their split.

Nicole listed the date of their separation as September 2021.

He just strolled in: Bam walked in with no appointment and asked for the tat, which he already had an example of on his cell phone

Inky guy: The 43-year-old actor is estranged from Phoenix's mother as she filed for divorce from Margera this year after she claimed Bam was not sober when he visited his son. Bam took to Instagram over the weekend to share that he got the tattoo because he misses his child, while also taking aim at his ex

In the documents, she requested legal and physical custody of Phoenix, but wants Bam to have visitation rights in the Los Angeles county area, and is also asking for spousal support.

It certainly has been a bad year for Bam.

Earlier this month Margera was arrested for domestic violence.

A woman - who is not his estranged wife - told police the stunt performer allegedly kicked her.

He was arrested after officers were called to a house in Escondido, California, at around 5:30am.

According to TMZ, Bam - whose real name is Brandon Cole - was booked into the Vista Detention Facility on a charge of corporal injury on a current or former spouse, cohabitant, dating partner or fellow parent. He later posted $50,000 bail and was released.

Lt. Ryan Wisniewski, with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, told People that Bam was due in court that week.

Fighting family: 'I miss Phoenix the wolf so much I had to to get his name tattooed on my f***in face to remind Nikki she is breaking my heart by not letting me see him,' he claimed. Seen with his ex and child in better times

The D.A. told TMZ he would likely not be charged.

In January, Bam told how he was 'pronounced dead' in December 2022 after suffering four seizures.

Bam was admitted to hospital after he was struck down with coronavirus, and during one seizure he bit his tongue so hard it 'was nearly falling off', and he later drank some infected blood which gave him pneumonia.

He said: 'I basically was pronounced dead on Elvis' birthday, December 8th.

'I did not know that I had gnarly COVID.

'My body was shutting down, and I went into four seizures, each one lasting 10 to 20 minutes, and on the fourth one, I bit my tongue so hard, it was nearly falling off.

'It got so swollen and puffy, it wouldn't fit in my mouth, and I was drinking the infected blood, which gave me pneumonia as well, so when the shaman took me to the hospital, I went into my fifth seizure, and I couldn't breathe without a tube down my throat.'
Kieran Culkin has wrapped up his four season run on Succession, but not without some regrets.

The actor, 40, who reprised his role as Roman Roy in the final season premiere Sunday on HBO, built two families while working on the Emmy winning dramady.

On screen he is an often immature and impulsive guy who systematically drops truth bombs at the inconvenient moments on his father, Logan, played by Brian Cox, 76, and siblings Connor, Kendall and Shiv, played by Alan Ruck, 66, Jeremy Strong, 44, and Sarah Snook, 35.

Behind the scenes, Kieran told Esquire, the actors have formed a strong familial bond, one that will be stretched now that the series had ended and they will go their separate ways.

'Its a big, big loss,' admitted the grieving star.

Succession: Kieran Culkin, 40, stars as Roman Roy in the hit HBO series, Succession, which aired the first episode of the final season Sunday. 'There cannot be a better job on the planet for an actor,' he told Esquire

'I havent had a f**king moment to think about how I feel about it. All I know is I feel kind of down,' he said.

'Its hard to sort of accept. What are the stages of grief? I dont know which one Im in right now. Maybe depression or denial. Maybe a little bit of both.'

Besides growing as an actor, Kieran has grown in his personal life as well.

He and wife Jazz Charton, have welcomed their two children - daughter Kinsey Sioux, 3, and son Wilder Wolf, 19 months - while he was working on the series.

Kieran joined the show in 2016 and it went on to become an international hit, ranking in the 98th percentile of drama series globally, according to Parrot Analytics.

The talented star has gone on to receive two Emmy and three Golden Globe nominations.

He won a Critic Choice award for the role in 2022.

'There cannot be a better job on the planet for an actor,' he said of the show which has not only provided him with stability, but an opportunity to hone his craft.

Roman: Kieran's character, Roman, is an often immature and impulsive guy who systematically drops truth bombs at the inconvenient moments for his on-screen father, siblings and co-workers

Cover model: Kieran is on the cover of the latest edition of Esquire

Big loss: Kieran has worked on Succession since 2016 and has built a familiar bond with his on-screen family; Brian Cox, 76, and siblings Connor, Kendall and Shiv, played by Alan Ruck, 66, Jeremy Strong, 44, and Sarah Snook, 35. 'Its a big, big loss,' admitted the grieving star

Dad: Kieran built his own family during his time on the series. He and his wife, Jazz Charton became parents to daughter Kinsey Sioux, 3, and son Wilder Wolf, 19 months, while he was working on Succession

Kieran had his first on-screen job with a small part in 1990's Home Alone, starring his older brother, Macauley, 42.

The holiday themed film about a kid who defends his home against burglars after he was accidentally left at behind as his family rushed out the door for a Christmas vacation, was a huge success and put the young actor and his family into the public eye.

The attention was not always positive. Kieran said people would follow them home or stare at them in public.

'He was little and having to try to accept that level of fame as reality,' the protective brother explained.

'Even at that time, as a kid, I remember thinking, "That sucks for him."'

Awards: The talented star has gone on to receive two Emmy and three Golden Globe nominations. He won a Critic Choice award for the role in 2022.

Fame: Kieran got his first idea of fame when his brother Macualey, 42, starred in the hit 1990 holiday comedy Home Alone. 'He was little and having to try to accept that level of fame as reality,' the protective brother explained. '

Grief: Kieran says the end of Succession is 'hard to sort of accept. What are the stages of grief? I dont know which one Im in right now. Maybe depression or denial. Maybe a little bit of both'

Onward: His next project, A Real Pain will be very different from Succession. The drama is a contemporary Holocaust movie set partly in Poland. 'Theres no reason for me to do it, except I feel like, creatively, I want to, and that sucks, because now I feel like Ive got to do it'

Kieran seems to have come to some sort of peace with his chosen career and the repercussions of being successful.

His next project, A Real Pain will be very different from Succession.

The drama is a contemporary Holocaust movie set partly in Poland, which means he'll be separated from his wife and kids for an extended period.

'Theres no reason for me to do it, except I feel like, creatively, I want to,' the doting dad contended.

'And that sucks, because now I feel like Ive got to do it.'
The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey, 19, revealed they were told they didn't have the right 'look' to be an actress.

Even worse, this bit of 'helpful' advice was given to them when they were just a kid.

'I was told in one of my first auditions ever... The director really liked me but I didn't get the part because I didn't have the Hollywood look,' they said while making air quotes with her hands.

'That's something that I've always found very interesting,' they added.

The actress, who is non-binary and goes by 'they,' is best known for her role as Lyanna, the steely child leader of House Mormont in Game of Thrones.

The look: The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey, 19, revealed they were told they didn't have the right 'look' to be an actress; she is non-binary

Just a kid: Even worse, this bit of 'helpful' advice was given to them when they were just a kid

And it didn't happen only when Bella was a kid, it also happened after The Last Of Us started airing.

In an interview with GQ, the actress revealed they were taunted by 'everyone' online for their 'square head.'

'You're looking for a comment that's more painful than the last one, I'd kid myself that I was doing it in jest,' they said.

Bella, who plays Ellie in the HBO show, went on to admit: 'I wish I could say that I was confident enough [already] that it hasn't affected me in any way, but it has.'

The actress said that despite the trolling they are proud of the work on the post apocalyptic series.

'I'm just glad I could do that for them and for the show and for Ellie. I want to do her justice.'

They're a breakout star from the HBO hit, but it is far from the first major role for the gender fluid actor, whose star has been firmly on the rise since they were cast on Game of Thrones in 2016.

The British actress also appeared in His Dark Materials. They earned a Critics Choice Awards nomination in the Best Young Performer category for their role in Lena Dunham's Catherine Called Birdy.

Such a pretty face: And it didn't happen only when Bella was a kid, it also happened after The Last Of Us started airing

Square head: In an interview with GQ, the actress revealed they were taunted by 'everyone' online for their 'square head'

Bella started acting from the age of four after joining a local acting group with their sister.

They were initially in a local theatre group called The Idols and they then joined Nottingham's Television Workshop and was cast in Game of Thrones.

However Bella admitted they never even thought of making acting a full time career.

'I didn't go into the Workshop wanting to have a career in acting. It wasn't something I was chasing. I'm very grateful it happened like it did,' they said.

Child actor: Bella started acting from the age of four after joining a local acting group with their sister

'I didn't imagine this career was ever possible. I didn't even consider it. It would have blown my little brain to smithereens.'

Bella attended King's Interhigh's online school, because they 'didn't enjoy mainstream secondary school and wasn't happy' and also because of their acting career, they admitted on the institution's website in 2021.

'I think it allows people to be who they truly are and it leaves room for people to do the non-academic things they love,' Bella added.

Bella was just 14 when she first appeared in Game of Thrones' sixth season as Lyanna Mormont, a no-nonsense teenager in charge of the House Mormont, who proves to be fearless warrior and a loyal ally of Jon Snow.
After nearly five years as husband and wife, Joanna Krupa's marriage to Douglas Nunes now appears to be over.

Nunes has filed for divorce from Krupa, 43, according to documents obtained by TMZ.

Nunes cited irreconcilable difference as the cause of their split, and claimed they separated on January 2, 2023.

He has also requested joint legal and physical custody of their daughter, three-year-old Asha Leigh.

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Krupa for comment.

Split: After five years as husband and wife, Joanna Krupas' husband Douglas Nunes is now seeking to end their marriage; pictured 2019

In the documents filed in Los Angeles County, Nunes is also seeking to block the court's ability to award Nunes any spousal support.

As far as their marital assets, Nunes is seeking to have the court divide their belongings for them and decide who receives what.

His petition also does not mention if they had a prenuptial agreement.

Krupa and Nunes tied the knot in an ornate ceremony held in a Benedictine Abbey in Krakow, Poland, on August 4, 2018.

They had a hush-hush wedding in Los Angeles just three weeks prior to their ceremony in Poland, DailyMail.com revealed at the time.

The couple got engaged on March 25, 2018, only seven months after Joanna finalised her divorce with her first husband, Romain Zago.

Krupa herself took to social media following the occasion to share a post of her and now-husband Douglas inside the church, where she wrote: 'We did it! It was a very private and small family gathering..wish I could have shared it with all the people that I love.'

The couple welcomed their only child together, daughter Asha, in 2019.

Happier times: Krupa and Nunes tied the knot in an ornate ceremony held in a Benedictine Abbey in Krakow, Poland, on August 4, 2018

Family: The couple welcomed their only child together, daughter Asha, in 2019

Krupa was married to Miami nightclub entrepreneur Zago for just over three years before she filed for divorce in July 2017.

Their San Diego nuptials was featured on seasons two and three of Real Housewives of Miami, with the Polish blonde admitting she was unsure whether to go through with the ceremony ahead of time.

After getting married, the couple returned to live in Miami but found themselves in what became an increasingly long-distance relationship due to work commitments on opposite sides of the country.

The divorce was finalized in just 15 minutes at a Miami courthouse, with the pair agreeing to evenly split their assets and waive alimony.
Jennifer Aniston is the latest celebrity to throw her hat in the ring for the opportunity to work on White Lotus.

The actress,54, who recently shut down hopes for another Friends reunion, told E! News she is 'obsessed' with the dramady.

When correspondent Keltie Knight suggested The Morning Show star might avenge the death of Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, the enthusiastic Emmy winner was all in.

'I want Jennifer Coolidge,' she exclaimed, 'I love her.'

Aniston and White Lotus creator Mike White worked together on 2002's The Good Girl.

Avenge: Jennifer Aniston, 54, is the latest celebrity to throw her hat in the ring for the opportunity to work on White Lotus. The actress said she is 'obsessed' with the series and would like a role in season three, perhaps to avenge the death of Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya

White starred in and wrote the script for the award winning romantic drama.

'Remember when Mike said at the Golden Globes, "I know you all passed on it!"' referencing the White's 2023 Globes speech after he won the award for Best Limited TV Series, 'I didn't! I didn't even get a call,' she said.

While she and White iron out any details of a possible appearance in White Lotus season three, Aniston has been busy promoting her latest project, Murder Mystery Two.

She has reteamed with Adam Sandler for the sequel to the well received 2019 Murder Mystery.

She starred as hair dresser Audrey Spitz who, along with her New York Police officer husband, Nick, set out on a European vacation that gets waylaid by a murder on a luxurious yacht.

In Murder Mystery Two, Audrey and Nick have formed their own private investigation agency, and are called on to investigate the kidnapping of their friend, Maharaja, played by Adeel Akhtar, who is abducted from his own lavish wedding.

The role required quite a bit of globe trotting with shoots in Hawaii, the Caribbean and Paris.

In an interview with Filmfare, the actress and producer said working on the comedy created a nice balance compared to her more serious work on The Morning Show.

Big fan: 'I want Jennifer Coolidge,' Aniston said of the comic actress, 'I love her.' (Pictured in Los Angeles in February)

Creator: Aniston worked with White Lotus creator Mike White, 52, on 2002's The Good Girl. 'Remember when Mike said at the Golden Globes, "I know you all passed on it!"' referring to his effort to cast White Lotus, 'I didn't! I didn't even get a call' (Pictured in Santa Monica in 2003)

Murder Mystery 2: Aniston has been busy promoting her latest project, Murder Mystery Two, re-teaming with co-star Adam Sandler for the sequel to the popular 2019 Netflix film as a crime solving hair dresser and her NYPD husband. The film begins streaming March 31

Globe trotting: The role in Murder Mystery 2 required quite a bit of globe trotting with shoots in Hawaii, the Caribbean and Paris as Aniston's Audrey and Sandler's Nick try to rescue their friend who was kidnapped from his own lavish wedding

'We're just bombarded with so much tragedy all the time, so it's good to clear that out and just have some fun laugh a little bit.

And that's what we love to do,' referring to Sandler, 56, who was sitting next to her, 'it makes us very happy.'

Murder Mystery Two begins streaming March 31.

'
Succession

Rating:

Warning: This review contains very strong language from the outset and throughout.

Or at least it would if it quoted every zinging, stinging, hilariously scabrous insult and overreaction from the opening episode of Succession (Sky Atlantic), returning for its final season.

A full transcript would require so many asterisks and dashes, this page would look like the screen of a 1980s Space Invaders machine.

The sweariest drama ever aired definitively refutes the old sneer that foul language is the last resort for people without education or imagination.

Impressed: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS gives 'thrillingly nasty' Succession series 4 a glowing FIVE-STAR review (Brian Cox as Logan)

Warning: This review contains very strong language from the outset and throughout. Or at least it would if it quoted every zinging, stinging, hilariously scabrous insult and overreaction from the opening episode of Succession (Sky Atlantic) (Sarah Snook as Shiv)

Final series: A full transcript would require so many asterisks and dashes, this page would look like the screen of a 1980s Space Invaders machine

Jesse Armstrong, the writer of Succession, uses Anglo-Saxon language with endless invention. To hear the F-word being used with such enthusiastic variation requires a real intellectual effort, just to keep up.

There's the way Logan Roy (Brian Cox) does it, with seething aggression and menace. His swearing leaves underlings bruised and winded.

As a business deal disintegrated, at the end of a bad-tempered birthday party, he gathered his lieutenants around him and invited them to rebuke him, like a drunk in a pub urging strangers to take a swing at him.

When they reluctantly complied, Logan battered them with gutter curses.

Then there's the way Logan's youngest son, Roman (Kieran Culkin), swears  with disturbing sexual undertones. When he uses the language of self-abuse and non-consensual assault, he means it literally.

An entire PhD is waiting to be written on the swearing in Succession, but whoever tackles that will need a deep knowledge of Freudian psychology . . . because every effing line of dialogue reflects the deep desire of Logan's adult children to see him dead.

Daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) understands him best. 'He wouldn't be a good torturer,' she mused. 'He doesn't have the patience.'

As the credits rolled, Roman, Shiv and big brother Kendall (Jeremy Strong) had just bid $10 billion for an ailing media conglomerate, solely to spite their father.

Review: The sweariest drama ever aired definitively refutes the old sneer that foul language is the last resort for people without education or imagination

Succession: Jesse Armstrong, the writer of Succession, uses Anglo-Saxon language with endless invention. To hear the F-word being used with such enthusiastic variation requires a real intellectual effort, just to keep up

Event: This time, we returned to the scene of the debut episode, from 2018: a birthday party in Logan's New York apartment

Role: For five years, watching Succession has been like staring into a kaleidoscope, where all the lurid pieces tumble around each other, in constantly changing patterns. It's always different, but nothing ever really alters: Logan is always at the centre

They knew this was far more than the company was worth, enough to bankrupt them three times over, but they couldn't help themselves.

'Congratulations on saying the biggest number,' Logan snarled down the phone. We left him slumped in an armchair, guzzling whisky and watching the news channel he owns himself, loathing everything and everyone.

He was behaving bizarrely all night, walking out of his party to dine at a Central Park restaurant with his bodyguard Colin, and talking about the afterlife. Logan doesn't believe in one, of course.

What could possibly come next, when he's made existence a living hell for himself and all his family?

For Shiv and her downtrodden husband, Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), what's next appears to be a divorce neither of them wants.

It would be a mistake, though, to underestimate how much misery Tom can soak up. Maybe Shiv will run out of cruel things to say . . . or maybe, as a tender moment of hand-holding between them hinted, she will stop wanting to say them.

Tom has another side, though. His bullying of cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) is hypnotically pathetic.

When Greg bragged that he'd had sex with his date in one of Logan's bedrooms, Tom convinced him the whole sordid episode had been caught in CCTV. 'You've accidentally made him a sex tape,' he smirked.

The fact that Tom behaves this way constantly and yet Macfadyen remains every viewer's favourite actor is practically supernatural.

Succession has always used its locations cleverly. Whole episodes have been set on yachts, on private jets, in any place the ultra-rich go in search of privacy, such as Bavarian castles or desert hideaways.

This time, we returned to the scene of the debut episode, from 2018: a birthday party in Logan's New York apartment. In that first show, the magnate was preparing to name one of his children as his successor, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he had a stroke in a helicopter . . . and woke up meaner than ever.

It's surely no coincidence to see that scene reprised. Logan is no longer talking about a successor, it's true. Everyone has betrayed him. 'I'm 100 ft tall,' he raged. 'These people are pygmies.'

Even his manipulative, scheming wife Marcia has gone. 'She's in Milan, shopping. Forever,' says his PA, Kerry (Zoe Winters), a woman in a Claudia Winkleman wig, who calls herself his 'friend/assistant/adviser'.

Tense: Perhaps this time, something radical is about to change. If Logan dies, Succession will finally fulfil the promise of its title, and become a civil war between the uncivil siblings

Exciting: The most vicious family drama ever seen on TV might be about to get even more thrillingly nasty

But Logan is back where he was before the stroke, and he's talking about death while staggering around like a corpse on roller skates. Might he actually be about to die?

For five years, watching Succession has been like staring into a kaleidoscope, where all the lurid pieces tumble around each other, in constantly changing patterns. It's always different, but nothing ever really alters: Logan is always at the centre.

Perhaps this time, something radical is about to change. If Logan dies, Succession will finally fulfil the promise of its title, and become a civil war between the uncivil siblings.

The most vicious family drama ever seen on TV might be about to get even more thrillingly nasty.
Reese Witherspoon announced on Friday she was splitting from her second husband, agent Jim Toth.

And on Monday sources shared with People what the Oscar-winning actress' state of mind has been like after a report she 'fell out of love.'

The insider claimed that the Big Little Lies producer is 'upset' that her union with the 52-year-old super agent has fallen apart.

And it was added that the 47-year-old mother-of-three never thought that she would get divorced again after ending her marriage with actor Ryan Phillippe in 2008.

Reese and Jim wed in March 2011 and soon after welcomed their son Tennessee, now 10.

Sad news: Reese Witherspoon announced on Friday she was splitting from her second husband, agent Jim Toth. And on Monday sources shared with People the Big Little Lies producer is 'upset' that her union with the 52-year-old super agent has fallen apart

They had heat: Reese and Jim wed in March 2011 and soon after welcomed their son Tennessee, now 10. Seen in 2015

The beauty also has daughter Ava, 23, and son Deacon, 19, with ex-husband Phillippe. Both kids are away at college.

'Reese is obviously disappointed and upset. She never saw herself getting another divorce,' a source told the site.

The source added, 'It's been very difficult for Reese to get to this point. They both concluded this was right for them.'

Reese is a self-proclaimed Type A person while sources say Jim is more 'laid back', and that was likely the issue.

'They are two very different people though. Reese is headstrong and focused. Although very hard-working, Jim is more laidback,' said the source.

But there is no mess: 'There is no drama,' insisted the insider.

And the Los Angeles residents will be there for the child.

'They love Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably.'

Hard twist: 'Reese is obviously disappointed and upset. She never saw herself getting another divorce,' a source tells the site; seen in 2020

Happier times: The source added, 'It's been very difficult for Reese to get to this point. They both concluded this was right for them'

Opposites attract: Reese is a self-proclaimed Type A person while sources say Jim is more 'laid back', and that was likely the issue. 'They are two very different people though. Reese is headstrong and focused. Although very hard-working, Jim is more laidback,' said the source. Seen in 2011

The source also provided some background on the marriage.

'After she was set up with Jim, their relationship moved quickly. Reese was thrilled by his attention and excited to marry him,' added the source.

But in recent months, Reese has been working a lot more.

Not only does she act in movies like Your Place Or Mine with Ashton Kutcher.

But she also produces plenty of projects; next is Daisy Jones And The Six with Riley Keough.

And she has also worked on the Jennifer Garner series The Last Thing He Told Me, which is a thriller set in Sausalito, California.

They were a modern family: But there is no mess: 'There is no drama,' insisted the insider. But they will be there for the child. 'They love Tennessee and this is their focus. They will continue to co-parent amicably'

There is also Reese's brand Draper James which sells clothing and accessories.

Her divorced from Ryan in 2008 was tough on her, she has said, but they seem to be on good terms.

In their joint statement Friday, Witherspoon and Toth said the 'difficult decision' to divorce came after 'a great deal of care and consideration.'

'We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together,' they said.

'Our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter. These matters are never easy and are extremely personal. We truly appreciate everyone's respect for our family's privacy at this time.'

Her first husband: And it was added that the 47-year-old mother-of-two never thought that she would get divorced again after ending her marriage with Ryan Phillippe in 2008. Seen in 2001

Could they ever reconcile? Ryan does not seem to have had a serious relationship since Reese, but he did father a child, 11-year-old Kai Knapp with ex Alexis Knapp; seen in 2002

An insider reportedly told US Weekly back in 2021, the couple had quietly been liquidating their joint assets for a couple of years before taking the final step to dissolving their marriage.

'They decided their marriage wasnt going to last forever and that they should have a plan for splitting up their assets that wouldnt destroy what they built together,' the source told the media outlet at the time.

Reese sold a large portion her production company Hello Sunshine for $900 million in August 2021. Jim served as one of the founding board members.

Reese reportedly retained an interest in the company and continues to work for Hello Sunshine as a producer on several projects including Where the Crawdads Sing and the Prime series Daisy Jones and the Six.

'Instead of having to split up a huge company with dozens of employees and several divisions, they have a big pile of money  and theres plenty for everybody,' the insider explained.

The twosome have reportedly sold several of their homes, including a farmhouse in Malibu in 2020, an English Country-style manor located in Los Angeles and a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion in Nashville.

A separate property in Malibu, believed to belong to them, has been listed for sale, according to Redfin, for $8 million.
The Lord of the Rings alum Elijah Wood just revealed that he and his Danish partner Mette-Marie Kongsved welcomed their second child - a daughter - sometime at the end of 2021.

'[We have a] three-year-old son [Evan] and a 14-month-old daughter, and she wakes us up pretty early,' the 42-year-old SAG Award winner confirmed to WSJ. Magazine.

'I like getting up early, I like starting the day.'

Elijah is believed to have originally met his 31-year-old babymama in April 2016 on the Portland, OR set of Netflix's Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, which she produced and he starred in.

Mette-Marie also produced Wood's films Mandy (2018), Come to Daddy (2019), and the upcoming adventure movie Bookworm directed by Ant Timpson.

Congratulations! The Lord of the Rings alum Elijah Wood just revealed that he and his Danish partner Mette-Marie Kongsved welcomed their second child - a daughter - sometime at the end of 2021 (pictured in 2019)

The Iowa-born actor told the mag he loves taking an active role as a father from sleep training to packing school lunches for his little ones.

And while Elijah has amassed 2.9M followers on Twitter/Facebook, he revealed he secretly has a private Instagram account.

'I wanted to be able to share photos that I didn't necessarily want to share with the world,' Wood explained.

'An account that's public-facing would really change what I share. It's not like I'm sharing anything that I wouldn't want to go out, but I'm a relatively private person.'

The Daytime Emmy nominee has been hard at work promoting his recurring role in the second season of Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson's time-hopping drama Yellowjackets, which airs Sundays on Showtime.

In it, Elijah reunited with his Ice Storm castmate Christina Ricci to play Walter, a citizen detective who becomes a love interest to her ruthless nurse character Misty Quigley.

Wood will also star in Jiahuang Peng and Peng Chen's upcoming video-gaming drama L.A. Rush as well as Macon Blair's upcoming remake of The Toxic Avenger.

But the former child star famously got his start appearing in Paula Abdul's 1989 music video for Forever Your Girl (directed by David Fincher) before landing a breakout role in Barry Levinson's 1990 drama Avalon.

The 42-year-old SAG Award winner (pictured last Wednesday) confirmed to WSJ. Magazine: '[We have a] three-year-old son and a 14-month-old daughter, and she wakes us up pretty early. I like getting up early, I like starting the day'

Met on set! Elijah is believed to have originally met his 31-year-old babymama in April 2016 on the Portland, OR set of Netflix's Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, which she produced and he starred in (pictured in 2019)

Collaborative couple: Mette-Marie (L, pictured in 2020) also produced Wood's films Mandy (2018), Come to Daddy (2019), and the upcoming adventure movie Bookworm directed by Ant Timpson

Airing Sundays on Showtime! The Iowa-born actor has been hard at work promoting his recurring role in the second season of Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson's time-hopping drama Yellowjackets
She recently slammed her Love Island ex Casey O'Gorman for ghosting her after they returned home from the villa.

Yet Rosie Seabrook appeared to already be over the drama on Monday evening, as she hit the town for a girls' night out with her co-star Olivia Hawkins.

The reality star, 24, showed her former flame what he was missing as she stepped out in a skimpy tuxedo dress and a pair of knee-high boots.

Smiling Rosie headed to STK restaurant in Westminster for a late night dinner with Olivia, 27, after attending the launch party for the upcoming Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin fight at Battersea Power Station earlier in the evening.

Rosie put on a leggy display in the chocolate brown jacket, which showcased her toned pins as she strutted out of the celebrity hotspot.

Girls' night! Rosie Seabrook appeared to already be over the drama on Monday evening, as she hit the town for a girls' night out with her co-star Olivia Hawkins

Glam: The reality star, 24, showed her former flame what he was missing as she stepped out in a skimpy tuxedo dress and a pair of knee-high boots

End of the road: She recently slammed her Love Island ex Casey O'Gorman (pictured) for ghosting her after they returned home from the villa

Her outfit left her tanned legs on show with the television personality opting for a pair of knee-high boots in the same colour.

She carried a brown Louis Vuitton handbag with her and wore lashings of make-up to highlight her pretty features.

Rosie was joined by her series co-star Olivia, with the pair both appearing on this winter's season of the ITV2 dating show.

Olivia gave a glimpse at her midriff as she wore a blue denim co-ord for her outing.

The reality star wore a cropped jacket which she left partially unzipped and had on a matching pair of baggy jeans which were ripped at the knee.

She wore a pair of high-heeled shoes to add a few inches to her stature and carried a black handbag with her.

Olivia went for a glamorous look with her make-up and wore her dark hair in a high pony and loose waves.

It comes after Rosie slammed her ex Casey for ghosting her after they returned home from the villa.

Out and about: Smiling Rosie headed to STK restaurant in Westminster for a late night dinner with Olivia, 27, after attending the launch party for the upcoming Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin fight at Battersea Power Station earlier in the evening

Wow: Rosie put on a leggy display in the chocolate brown jacket, which showcased her toned pins as she strutted out of the celebrity hotspot

Style: Her outfit left her tanned legs on show with the television personality opting for a pair of knee-high boots in the same colour

The industry placement advisor had been coupled up with the recruitment consultant, 26, in the most recent winter series in South Africa.

Having both been dumped just a week before the final, Rosie has claimed her love interest 'ignored' her, even when she reached out to him directly.

Speaking in a YouTube Q&A, she confirmed she hadn't seen or heard from Casey since they both arrived home in the UK.

Rosie said: 'Coming back to the UK we barely spoke if I'm honest.

'We were both with friends and family. That's fine but for me, I think I did reach out and I didn't really hear anything back and I felt there was not any effort made.

'I think the doubts that I had in the villa became very apparent when we left Love Island and I feel it just confirmed what I was thinking.'

Casey split from Rosie just two weeks after the couple were dumped from the villa.

The former Islanders went their separate ways despite telling host Maya Jama that they planned to go on dates and explore their blossoming romance.

Casey dramatically ended his relationship with Claudia Fogarty to pursue his feelings for Rosie during their stint on the ITV2 series.

Out on the town: Rosie donned a chocolate brown jacket while Olivia opted for double denim

Rising stars: The former Love Island contestants later stepped out to the launch party for the upcoming Anthony Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin fight at Battersea Power Station

Completing her look: She carried a brown Louis Vuitton handbag with her and wore lashings of make-up to highlight her pretty features

In style: Olivia, 27, gave a glimpse at her midriff as she wore a blue denim co-ord for her outing, with her outfit consisting of a cropped jacket and baggy jeans with rips at the knees

In attendance: Anthony Joshua wore a black T-shirt as he attended the launch party for his upcoming fight

Claudia was left brokenhearted and has since opened up about being 'rejected' by Casey who was part of the 'three musketeers' alongside fellow Islanders Tom Clare and Will Young, and often preferred spending time with the boys instead of potential girlfriends.

They are the first couple from the winter series to breakup, after Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan won the show, scooping the 50,000 prize fund.

A source told MailOnline: 'It was clear from the moment they left the villa that Casey and Rosie weren't going to last.

'They haven't made any effort to spend time together on the outside or go on dates to truly get to know each other and they both agreed it was better to quit while they were ahead.'

Confirming their split on Instagram, Casey said on Tuesday: 'Rosie and I have spoken she's a great girl. Life outside the villa is just very different and we will remain friends moving forward.'
Blue Lights (BBC1)

Rating:

Unforgotten (ITV1)

Rating:

For a dedicated telly addict, almost nothing is too far-fetched. I happily accept that vicars and parish councillors are murdered in surreal ways every day in Midsomer.

And it seems entirely plausible to me that candidates on The Apprentice wake up at 4am, shower, do their hair and make up, dress in power outfits and are ensconced in their limos, all inside 20 minutes.

But there are limits even to my credulity. And I just cannot believe that a former social worker could ever be ideal material for the police.

All the social workers Ive ever met (and, boy, Ive met a lot  when youre the parent of a disabled child, theyre all over you) have shared one key trait. Ask them for any kind of help, and they vanish.

What kind of emergency service would employ people who take a minimum of ten days to reply to an email? Or who only work Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings . . . when theyre not using up their statutory sick leave, that is.

Grace (Sian Brooke) has quit social work to become a trainee with the police in Belfast, on Blue Lights (BBC1)

These days, most social workers I encounter dont even bother turning up late for meetings. They send their apologies via Zoom instead.

Grace (Sian Brooke) has quit social work to become a trainee with the police in Belfast, on Blue Lights (BBC1). When we first see her, shes left her service pistol in the bathroom, where her teenage son has picked it up, which sounds about right: some of these people have degrees in gormless ineptitude.

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But Grace is also courageous, quick-thinking and diligent. And heres the clincher  shes got a great sense of humour, and can laugh at herself when her colleagues play pranks. Nothing on Earth will convince me this woman has ever been a social worker.

That aside, Blue Lights is a fast-moving ensemble drama, with a seriously good cast. Richard Dormer plays grizzled old cop Gerry, whose cynicism doesnt stop him loving the job. John Lynch is gangster James McIntyre, ruling his clan with his fists, and Martin McCann is a wary patrolman, Stevie, whod rather be in the kitchen perfecting his recipe for honey flapjacks.

Graces fellow rookies are Annie (Katherine Devlin), with a temper as volatile as Semtex, and Tommy (Nathan Braniff), who is always last to get a joke, even though hes meant to be on the promotion fast track.

The action sequences are full of grit and violence, with a mob on every city corner ready to lob bricks and bottles. But theres a broad streak of humour, too, as the officers sit in their cars bickering over playlists and swapping stories of novices who flunked their training.

DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and his new boss, DCI Jess James (Sinead Keenan) have overcome their instinctive dislike for each other in ITV's Unforgotten

Just as in real police work, one-liners can help to ease the tension. Walking into a probation hotel where the air was thick with menace, Stevie looked at the obscene graffiti and asked Grace: Is that Shakespeare?

The police work in Unforgotten (ITV1) is far more genteel. Though suspects in the cold case murder inquiry include a thieving junkie and an aggressive alcoholic, the detectives are just as likely to be chatting to merchant bankers and members of the House of Lords.

DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and his new boss, DCI Jess James (Sinead Keenan), have overcome their instinctive dislike for each other. They are now a smoothly persuasive interview team  questioning stubborn witnesses so gently that nobody cracks under pressure. Instead, they simply pop open.

The various plotlines that seemed so separate at the beginning have now fused into one, thanks to a couple of writer Chris Langs brilliant twists.

Derek Griffiths, once a Play School presenter, made a cameo appearance as a security guard. By telly addict standards, thats not remotely far-fetched.
The Lord of the Rings alum Liv Tyler is set to make her triumphant return to the Marvel Comic Universe by reprising her role as Betty Ross from Louis Leterrier's 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk.

The 45-year-old SAG Award winner - who last made headlines for her London trip in July - will play the cellular biologist in Julius Onah's MCU four-quel Captain America: New World Order, according to THR.

Filming is already underway on the set in Atlanta with Anthony Mackie returning as Avenger and former pararescueman Sam Wilson, who famously took over the shield from retired Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

'I think with my Cap, he's not a superhero. He doesn't have a super serum, so his superpower is his humanity,' the 44-year-old Independent Spirit Award nominee explained to Yahoo last month.

'Sam has to come to the stage with a very different understanding of what it is to be a good guy, or be a bad guy, and what are the decisions that make you toe that line in the way that you do? I just see him as more of a humane Cap, as opposed to a Cap of judgment, where "this is right and this is wrong." There are decisions that make you choose right or wrong.'

Throwback! The Lord of the Rings alum Liv Tyler is set to make her triumphant return to the Marvel Comic Universe by reprising her role as Betty Ross from Louis Leterrier's 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk (pictured with Edward Norton)

Due out May 2024! The 45-year-old SAG Award winner will play the cellular biologist in Julius Onah's MCU four-quel Captain America: New World Order

Oscar nominee Harrison Ford will take over the role of Liv's onscreen father -President of the United States Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross - previously played by Oscar winner William Hurt, who passed away a year ago at age 71.

Tyler will also be joined in New World Order by Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Tim Blake Nelson as Leader, Shira Haas as Sabra, and Xosha Roquemore as a mystery character.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Marvel are scheduled to release the fourth installment of the Captain America franchise on May 3, 2024 in the UK/States.

The native New Yorker hasn't had an acting gig since playing chief paramedic Michelle Blake in 10 episode of Fox's 9-1-1: Lone Star in 2020.

Liv has also has memorable roles in Empire Records, Stealing Beauty, That Thing You Do!, Armageddon, and HBO's The Leftovers.

On Sunday, Tyler's famous father - Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler - celebrated his 75th birthday.

Last December, Julia Holcomb Misley sued the newly-rehabbed rocker for alleged sexual assault and sexual battery in 1973, when she was 16 and he was 25, and her parents signed over legal guardianship to him so she could join him on tour.

The 5ft10in brunette - whose mother Bebe Buell told her Todd Rundgren was her father - wasn't aware Steven was her real father until age 10 when she discovered her obvious resemblance to half-sister Mia Tyler.

Liv fully took advantage of her nepo-baby privilege in 1993 when she made her acting debut in Aerosmith's music video for Crazy alongside Alicia Silverstone.

'His superpower is his humanity': Filming is already underway on the set in Atlanta with Anthony Mackie returning as Avenger and former pararescueman Sam Wilson (pictured), who famously took over the shield from retired Steve Rogers (Chris Evans)

RIP: Oscar nominee Harrison Ford will take over the role of Liv's onscreen father -President of the United States Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross - previously played by Oscar winner William Hurt (2-L), who passed away a year ago at age 71

Phase five: Tyler will also be joined in New World Order by Carl Lumbly (L, pictured September 9) as Isaiah Bradley, Danny Ramirez (2-L) as Falcon, Tim Blake Nelson as Leader, Shira Haas as Sabra, and Xosha Roquemore as a mystery character

Small screen: The native New Yorker hasn't had an acting gig since playing chief paramedic Michelle Blake in 10 episode of Fox's 9-1-1: Lone Star in 2020
Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, 46, is stepping into the role of a top secret investigator known as the Savant for a new limited series from Apple.

The Savant - which is also the name of the series - 'infiltrates online hate groups to take down the most violent men in the country,' per Deadline.

The eight-episode series is based is based on a true story by Andrea Stanley that was published in Cosmopolitan in 2019. Stanley will consult on the series which is being produced by Anatomy of a Scandal's co-creator Melissa James Gibson.

'An elite investigator who tracks angry men online, shes known to some in her field as the Savant because of her uncanny ability to suss out when, exactly, hate speech will morph into violent action,' Stanley wrote.

Plenty of articles have been written about thwarted attempts at mass killings and attempted mass destruction and credited the save to a 'tip' or said authorities were 'alerted' or details were 'uncovered.' This is the work of the Savant.

New role: Jessica Chastain, 46, is stepping into the role of a top secret investigator known as the Savant for a new limited series from Apple

The Savant is, in essence, a profiler, which the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have used for decades -- and about which plenty of television shows have been made already.

Chastain's character tracks the young men of the alt-right who hate women in an effort to apprehend them before they commit murder.

Stanley added, 'In the age of internet radicalization, its more important than ever to determine who is actively plotting mass killings versus just fetishizing them online,' and the Savant is the best at determining the difference.

Last month, The Eyes of Tammy Faye star was one of the only people wearing a mask in a crowd of Oscars attendees that was clearly seen in a clip where host Jimmy Kimmel asked her a question as part of a comedy segment.

The Ava star looked surprised as the camera panned towards her before taking off her black mask - matching her plunging rhinestoned gown with a black velvet train - to respond.

The late night talk show host, 55, asked about her experience working with her costar Matt Damon in 2015 film The Martian - jokingly reigniting his fake feud with the actor.

Fans quickly took to social media to praise the Molly's Game actress for remaining conscious of the still-present COVID-19 pandemic.

Tracking: The Savant is, in essence, a profiler, who tracks the young men of the alt-right who hate women in an effort to apprehend them before they murder

In production: The Savant is in production with no release date or additional cast revealed yet

Chastain is currently starring on Broadway in the revived play, A Doll's House, so she wore a mask in consideration of her cast and crew in New York.

If she got sick, the entire cast and crew of the play would be affected.

Multiple Twitter users were quick to praise Jessica- who won the Academy Award for Best Actress last year for her role in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye.

'Jessica Chastain is wearing a mask at the Oscars. I love her,' one fan wrote.

'Jessica Chastain deserves an award for her dedication to wearing a mask,' read another tweet. 'I love you, queen.'

'Jessica Chastain is the only one in a mask,' another Twitter user wrote. 'Good for her.'

'Love Jessica Chastain for being sensible and normal by wearing a mask.'

The Savant is in production. No other cast has been announced as of this writing.
Brian Cox has spoken of one of the aspects of fame he finds most 'joyous' - being able to tell people to 'f**k off'.

The actor, 76, took time out to speak to this week's edition of the Radio Times about the fourth and final season of his show Succession.

And, having had a six-decade career, he claims he's now in a position to blast expletives at fans, at their request.

On mimicking the part of foul-mouthed Logan Roy in Succession for his devotees, he said: 'I lost my anonymity. People know who I am now.

'And on a regular basis they want me to tell them to f**k off. Which, of course, is a joyous thing to do to human beings! We should all f**k off, quite frankly,' he laughed.

Mischievous: Brian Cox, 76, has spoken of one of the aspects of fame he finds most 'joyous' - being able to tell people to 'f**k off'

'But I dont want to end my days being known as the guy who told everybody to f**k off, ha ha ha!'

Brian has played media mogul Logan since the hit HBO drama launched back in 2018 but the show is now coming to an end after four seasons.

However, he is now more in demand now than ever, and he believes Succession writer Jesse Armstrong has brought the show to a close at the right time.

He said: 'Jesse Armstrong is an extremely disciplined writer He knows how to tell his tale, how to shape his tale, and thats what he does.

And youve got to hand it to him. Hes the creator, writer, hes got his team, and they came to a [conclusion]. Im absolutely fine with that. I cant knock it, the shows given me so much. Upwards and onwards. Im so busy, its not true.

'And I think thats right. Ive loved the role. But its only a stop on the way as far as Im concerned!'

Brian won the Best Performance in a Television Series  Drama prize at the 77th Golden Globe Awards in 2020 for his role.

He is now going on to portray Bach in UK play Bath in The Score, and perform in A Long Days Journey into Night in London.

On air: Brian has played media mogul Logan since the hit HBO drama launched back in 2018 but the show is now coming to an end after four seasons (pictured on the show)

The actor, 76, took time out to speak to this week's edition of the Radio Times

The star is also set to direct film Glenrothan, about a pair of warring Scottish brothers whose family is torn apart as they battle over their whisky distillery.

It comes after Brian admitted he 'felt nothing' when he filmed his final scene on Succession.

He is adamant he wasn't upset to be walking away from the drama for good.

Speaking to Variety during a roundtable interview, Brian explained: 'I felt nothing when I played the last scene [on Succession]. Nothing! It was the last scene, finito.'

Cox didn't give away any details of how the story ends for the Roy family patriarch, but he did drop a few hints, saying: 'Logan absolutely gets what he needs. Thats the great thing about the show. He gets peace, which is good.'

The screen star went on to insist he's happy the show's run is not going to be extended, adding:'"American series live well past their sellout date: This one wont do that. HBO would love us to go for as long as Game of Thrones, but thank God it wont happen.

'I would find it hard-going to be saying "f**k off" to people for the next 10 years, although its the nicest thing to say to someone. You can actually say how you feel.'

He said of his future: 'I have been doing this for 60 years, I played lots of roles and I move onto other stuff, while I still can.

'I am going back to the theatre, which I can now afford to do: I will play Bach and then I will do a revival of Eugene ONeils Long Days Journey into the Night. You cant live off past glories.'
Cynthia Nixon looked classy and colorful in a rainbow inspired coat in New York Monday.

The actress, 56, who wished her co-star Sarah Jessica Parker a happy 57th birthday Sunday, was shooting scenes for season two of And Just Like That.

The native New Yorker was clad in a knee-length coat with shades of yellow and lavender.

The wardrobe department paired the coat with apricot toned slacks and a cream toned top.

Cynthia stepped on set in a pair of high heel orange shoes and carried a small orange purse.

Classy: Cynthia Nixon looked classy and colorful in a rainbow inspired coat in New York Monday. The actress, 56, was shooting scenes for season two of And Just Like That

The Emmy winner is reprising her longtime role as attorney Miranda Hobbs.

In the first season of AJLT, Miranda ended her marriage after entering into a relationship with non-binary Che Diaz, portrayed by Sara Ramirez.

Cynthia directed one episode of the HBO romantic dramady in season one and she will step behind the camera once again for season two.

'Double duty for #AndJustLikeThat,' she wrote on social media February 17.

'I'm thrilled to be back in the director's chair for Season 2.'

The versatile actress is also set to step back into her taffeta gowns for season two of The Gilded Age.

In the period piece created by Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes, she stars as Ada Brook, a maiden lady who lives with her wealthy widowed sister, played by Christine Baranski.

Cynthia marked the Emmy winning show's one year anniversary on social media in December.

Costume: The native New Yorker, who is reprising her role as attorney Miranda Hobbs, was costumed in a knee-length coat with shades of yellow and lavender. The wardrobe department paired the coat with apricot toned slacks and a cream toned top

Orange and lavender: Cynthia stepped on set in a pair of high heel orange shoes and carried a small orange purse as well as a larger lavender valise. Her bright red hair was cropped short and parted on the side

Directing: Cynthia directed one episode of the HBO romantic dramady in season one and she will step behind the camera once again for season two. 'I'm thrilled to be back in the director's chair for Season 2,' she wrote on social media February 17

'Ada Brook gracing your timelines to share that #TheGilded Age is one today!' she penned.

'Well be back for more soon!!' but did not say exactly when that would be.

The costume drama is expected to return sometime in 2023.
She announced she is expecting her second child with husband Tom Edney in January.

And Danielle Armstrong, who also shares two-year-old daughter Orla with Tom, has admitted she was desperate to get pregnant.

The former TOWIE star, 34, revealed sex got 'mechanical' with her husband because she was like a 'dog on heat'.

They first started trying for their second child while on their honeymoon in The Maldives last September.

She told OK! Magazine: 'As soon as the wedding was over, I was like, 'Get me pregnant now!' And jumped on him.'

'I was like a dog on heat': Danielle Armstrong has admitted she was desperate to get pregnant the second time around

Sex life: The former TOWIE star, 34, revealed sex got 'mechanical' with her husband Tom Edney because she was like a 'dog on heat'

Turning to Tommy, she said: 'You probably really enjoyed it for those few months  I was like a dog on heat! Because we knew we wanted a baby and I'm a bit of a control freak, I just wanted to get pregnant as quickly as possible.'

She that towards the end it got "a bit mechanical" when it came to "ovulation dates and when to have sex."

'It worked, but I can imagine it being quite stressful for couples who are trying for longer than a year because it does take the romance out of it.'

Danielle took to Instagram in January to reveal she is expecting her second child with Tom.

She later shared her relief about not having to keep the pregnancy a secret anymore, and admitted this time around she was quite 'anxious'.

She said: 'I just felt so much more anxious in this pregnancy and you just want the all clear with all the doctors and different scans and all the different tests they run.

'I don't know what it is, but I just really found it hard this time round. So yeah anyone watching this, I just think anything to do with pregnancy.

'I didn't make it a secret to anyone about after we got married, we're probably will try, I'd love to have a baby this year.

'And as soon as I got married people were like 'Are you pregnant? Ooh baby number two!' And I'll go into detail another time, but even my experience of trying for a baby I found it really hard. I actually found it really emotional.

Family: Daniella shares two-year-old daughter Orla with Tom

'I think it's important that the whole trying for a baby, certain things we were doing, that's a whole other topic.

She continued: 'The news is finally out. I'm so relieved to be able to just be myself, not wearing a baggy top.

'I've had quite a lot of message over the last few weeks of people saying 'Are you pregnant?' I think women get a feeling.

'But it's been so hard keeping it in, and keeping it from you friends and family. Even my mum!

'Me and my mum are so close and just to keep that from her for a certain amount of time. It's just hard.'

The TOWIE star officially announced her pregnancy posting a black and white video in January, where she held up three pregnancy tests, admitting: 'I wasn't sure!'

Danielle then shared a kiss with her husband before showing a glimpse of daughter Orla lovingly caressing her growing bump.

Congratulations! It comes after Danielle took to Instagram in January to reveal she is expecting her second child with Tom

The reality star exclaimed: 'High five big sister!' as the little one beamed for the camera.

Danielle also gave her 1.3million followers a glimpse of her baby's first scan as well as a sweet snap of the family.

'Baby Edney No2... Oh we can't wait to meet you', she penned alongside the post.

She continued: 'We are absolutely over the moon, that we will be adding another bubba to our family summer 2023. I know Orla is going to be the most amazing Big Sister.'
Faye Winter has revealed she's determined to freeze her eggs after splitting from Teddy Soares.

The Love Island sensation, 27, confirmed her split from her partner last month and has now said she feels like she's grieving him.

In an interview with OK! Magazine, she admitted she is pushing forward as a single woman and wants to freeze her eggs as she will not let her single status dictate her hopes of starting a family.

She explained: 'Personally, I want to start my journey of freezing my eggs and giving myself some time to fall in love with this new life.

'Its such a change and now Im at a point where Im starting to find myself on my own in this world, I want to fall in love with that.'

Going solo: Faye Winter has revealed she's determined to freeze her eggs and is embracing her single status after splitting from Teddy Soares last month

The reality star admitted Teddy will always have a special place in her heart and said called it quits after realising they tried to built a relationship in a very high-pressure environment.

She explained: 'It's so hard. I honestly believed he was my soulmate. It's always hard to come to terms with these things and him not being there to build a life with.'

She added that she felt like she was grieving but is trying to move on and embrace single life.

The TV personality previously didn't hesitate to share the excitement of moving into her 'dream' property in Essex with Teddy - only three months after leaving the villa.

The former lettings and sales manager even created a home Instagram account for the swanky apartment she shared with Teddy, 28.

Faye admitted she feels like she's grieving her ex lover as she thought he really was her soulmate, but understands is time to move on.

She announced their split last month in a post that read: 'I wanted to let you know that after lots of time and consideration, Teddy and I have decided to go our separate ways.

'Thank you all so much for supporting our relationship and sharing the journey with us. I'm forever grateful.'

Former flame: Faye and Teddy came third on the 2021 series of Love Island - but announced their split this year after 18 months of dating

It comes after the star hit back at skinny-shaming trolls as she showed off her physique in a sparkly purple swimsuit on Sunday.

The star posed for Instagram snaps in the pool at the luxury Londoner Hotel.

The reality TV personality put on a leggy display as she slipped into a purple sparkly one-piece and shared a powerful message about body positivity.

Faye wrote: 'They'll say I'm too skinny, they'll say I'm too loud, they'll say my appearance has changed but I'll say I'm me and I'm proud of myself for never changing my soul.'
The city of Florence (northern Italy) will present an award to a US school teacher who had to resign after some parents deemed it "inappropriate" for her to teach images of Michelangelo's David to her 11-year-old students 12 years.

The mayor, David Nardella, will personally invite the teacher Hope Carrasquilla, while Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Accademia Gallery, where the sculpture is exhibited, extended an invitation this Monday to the parents of the students to explain the difference between " nudity" and "pornography".

"I am amazed with these parents, David is the symbol of the Renaissance that puts man at the center of attention in his perfection as he was created by God. He is a religious figure, he is the expression of our European culture, the Renaissance has no absolutely nothing pornographic," the director told local media.

For Hollberg, associating this icon with pornography derives from a "distorted" vision, since David "is the quintessential work of art, so clean, so sober and clear in its expression."

For his part, the mayor of Florence assured on his social networks that "confusing art with pornography is simply ridiculous."

"I will personally invite the teacher to Florence to give her recognition on behalf of the city. Art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect," Nardella announced this Saturday on her Facebook profile.

Michelangelo's David sculpture, one of the symbols of the Italian Renaissance and quintessential example of the classical canon of beauty, is one of the best-known works of art in the world.

Sculpted by Michelangelo, the statue represents the nude biblical king, whose life is described in the books of Samuel, recognized as a prophet in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

However, the US press announced last week the resignation of Hope Carrasquilla, a school principal from Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, who had to leave her post for having shown the work in class.

Carrasquilla, who has been teaching in public, private and "autonomous" schools for 20 years, explained that the reason was that the sixth grade arts program included classical sculptures of nude characters such as David, something that was not liked by parents and other managers.

The president of the school, Barney Bishop, confirmed to the channel that he gave Carrasquilla an ultimatum and explained that he supports the creation of a law that gives parents more control over the education their children receive during primary education.

The parents complained because they do not like "'woke' (progressive) indoctrination," according to the president, although the local press specified that their complaint had to do with not being informed in advance of the type of images they were going to see their children.

At the initiative of Governor Ron DeSantis, who was re-elected in 2022 for four more years and seems determined to be a candidate for the Republican nomination in 2024, a set of laws have been approved in Florida that prohibit not only teaching but also talking about certain topics in public schools, such as gender identity, sexuality, systemic racism and others.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project
China, Laos sign MoU to build potash fertilizer industrial park

Xinhua) 15:08, March 27, 2023

VIENTIANE, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government and a China-Lao joint venture have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project of the Asia-Potash International Intelligent Circular Industrial Park.

Tong Yongheng, general manager of the Sino-Agri International Potash Company, and Khamchanh Vongsaenboun, the Lao deputy minister of planning and investment, signed the MoU on Friday in the Lao capital Vientiane, with the attendance of representatives from both sides.

Tong told Xinhua on Monday that the project aims to promote agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, investment and service industry in Laos. It consists of three sections including a potash fertilizer industrial park, a non-potash industrial park, and an Asia-Potash Town. It takes up a total area of about 2,000 hectares in Khammuan province, some 250 km southeast of Vientiane, with an estimated investment of 4.31 billion U.S. dollars.

The project aims to expedite the growth of the potash fertilizer industry which is expected to reach an annual production capacity of 10 million tons in the Southeast Asian nation, according to the Chinese general manager.

The Asia-Potash International Intelligent Circular Industrial Park is a platform for Laos to seize development opportunities and undertake the transfer of global industrial chains and supply chains amid world economic uncertainties and geopolitical conflicts, Tong said in a speech delivered during the signing ceremony.

For his part, Khamchanh said the Lao government fully supports and will work with the company to promote the construction of the industrial park as a model project to inject more energy into the economic development of Laos.

After the project is put into operation, it is expected to bring 320 million U.S. dollars to Lao's annual fiscal revenue and employ 30,000 to 50,000 local people.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Too many hands for Kumta seat in coastal Karnataka, writes Manjunath K Shresthi

The southern state of Karnataka with 224 seats is scheduled to the assembly polls anytime in the next two months in 2023. This is subject to the Election Commission of India (ECI) dates. The states geographical area begins with the Uttara Kannada (U.K) district in north-west Karnataka. One enters Karwar via Polem (Goa state) after crossing the excise check post on NH 66. The state shares land borders with Maharashtra in the north; Telangana/Andhra Pradesh in the East, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south and south west respectively.

The Uttara Kannada (U.K) district in the state has 11 taluks and six legislative assembly constituencies (LAC), and two or more taluks make up one assembly constituency. They being: Haliyal-Joida (including Dandeli) 76; Karwar-Ankola (77); Kumta-Honnavar (78); Sirsi-Siddapur (80); Mundagod-Yellapur (81). Bhatkal (79) stands out as the smallest constituency compared to the above areas in the largest UK district.

The Kumta-Honnavar (78) constituency has definitely raised political temperatures during an election season, and the heat may become unbearable in the run up to the polls. The BJP has clarity with its choice of candidates and only a formal announcement is expected for most of the seats in the district, barring a few (or only one seat). The five current MLAs from the saffron party in the district might retain their seats (but surprises are not ruled out). The Congress party has one MLA, R.V. Deshpande, representing the Haliyal-Joida assembly seat.

Dinakar Shetty twice and the current BJP MLA won the seat from the JD (S) in 2008. In 2013, the seat was won by Congress MLA Ms. Sharada Shetty; Dinakar Shetty contested for the BJP seat in the 2018 assembly election, and defeated his Congress opponent. Theres no smooth sailing for the Congress party, as it's now facing a plenty problem for the Kumta-Honnavar assembly seat. It is learnt that there are 15 candidates aspiring for the party ticket. They are old loyal party members who have been in the party for a long time. Theres another new entrant, from outside Kumta, who's thrown his hat in the ring.

Former Governor Ms. Margaret Alvas son, Nivedith Alva, is also vying for the Kumta party ticket. This new development has taken the party members in Kumta by surprise; and they are trying to push their candidature for the B Form. There has been a mixed response to Nivediths entry, as some voiced their dissent and others quietly supported him. None of the Congress ticket hopefuls criticise him, as he wields clout in the party. There is both opposition and support for his entry. Some ticket aspirants have invited him to the Kumta constituency. They have also convinced him of their support in the upcoming elections.

Nivedith Alva along with another candidate from Uttara Kannada (UK) district, were conspicuous on the dais, during Rahul Gandhis one-day recent visit to Belagavi on March 20. If Nivedith gets the party ticket, will he win the confidence and support of Congress members in the constituency? The constituency voters will finally get to decide who they will choose in the elections ahead? And will the Congress party finally be able to increase its tally in the geographically large Uttara Kannada (UK) district in the 2023 elections? Theres a lot of answering for Nivedith Alva to do, if he gets the party ticket from the Kumta assembly constituency?
By questioning Rahuls conviction, the Opposition party is undermining the judiciary

Within a couple of hours of his conviction by a Surat court, the party's legal luminary Abhishek Manu Singhvi spoke at length about the merits of the case. The Congress has a strong battery of lawyers practicing in India's higher courts. There have been occasions in the past when they rushed to the top court for judicial intervention in matters where their leaders are caught in discomfort.

However, the Congress did not approach the judicial authorities for relief from the Surat court sentence. It is not possible that Congress' legal eagles are aware of the Supreme Court order of 2013 which said that a conviction with a jail term of two or more years leads to automatic disqualification of a member of the legislaturesthe Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state Assemblies. Clearly, staging a political stunt, Congress leaders feigned ignorance that Gandhi was automatically disqualified upon his conviction by the Surat court magistrate. Curiously, Gandhi came to Parliament despite knowing he had already been disqualified.

This must have been clear to him more than to anyone else since it was he who had torn apart an Ordinance approved by the Union Cabinet, presided over by Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister. The Ordinance intended to dilute the Supreme Court ruling of automatic disqualification of membership of a convicted legislature member. If Rahul Gandhi claims that he did not know the import of the Supreme Court ruling of 2013, he is guilty of acting impulsively as an ignoramus. He tore apart the Ordinance at the Press Club of India in the presence of the press corps.

Rahul Gandhi is accused of impulsive behaviour. His willful resorted to defamatory utterances in the past. He is involved in several court cases. He is also on bail in the National Herald case. He has only shown that he is an incorrigible bully of Indian politics, from insulting Manmohan Singh to demeaning Indian democracy on foreign soil in London. The Congress yearning for sympathy votes is old. The party daydreams that people will vote for it out of sympathy. It has been marginalised under the Gandhi family.

Why should the country sympathise with Rahul Gandhi? What is his contribution to the uplift of the poor of this country? He has been convicted for defaming a community. In his statement that "all thieves have the Modi surname", what message did he intend to convey? Did it not occur to him that he was defaming a hardworking community, spread over the country and abroad?

People must decide if the country's politicians have freedom to say anything against anyone. Some people argue that defamation should not be a criminal offence. But it is worthwhile to ask: why should anyone level allegations against others which they cannot substantiate? This license to defame others has taken Indian politics to a new low. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made libelous insinuations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a television show. The news anchor tried to contest Kejriwals claims, but he was bullied to stay silent. Kejriwal questioned the educational qualifications of PM Modi. The same news channel reproduced the interview of PM Modi given several years ago from which Kejriwal had selectively quoted.

The Delhi Chief Minister repeated his insinuations against PM Modi in the Assembly. There are millions of youths who pursue distant learning. Kejriwal has defamed a vast number of youths for such learning which government has promoted for several decades. There are a number of universities, including the Indira Gandhi National Open University, for this purpose.

Also, it is well known that Kejriwal escaped conviction in defamation cases by apologising to the late Arun Jaitely and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Gandhi chose not to apologise in the Surat court. Defamatory political discourse, based on mudslinging, has no space in Indian democracy, which is known to be aspirational. Rahul Gandhi has also said that hes not Savarkar, but Gandhi and Gandhis dont apologise. But not long ago he had apologised to the Supreme Court for making baseless allegations on the Rafale issue.

Members of the legislature must commit themselves to the singular efforts to realise the dreams of the people. This naturally calls for a review of the discretionary powers of the Members of Parliament. It must be asked if its still relevant for an MP to recommend students for admission in Kendriya Vidyalaya and to exercise similar discretionary powers in extending other entitlements.

There must not be any doubt that the Gandhi family has a feudal mindset. Despite a strong campaign for inner democracy, the Congress coterie defeated the efforts for genuine intra-party democracy. This coterie keeps alive the feudal mindset of the party's ruling family.

Memories are still fresh of how Sitaram Keshri was thrown out of the party by the Gandhi family. People of the country have not forgotten that the mortal remains of late PV Narsimha Rao, former prime minister, were not allowed into the party office premises for his followers to pay their last respects to the departed soul. As a result of breaking the law and claiming victimhood, the Gandhis have demonstrated the least political decency in the world.

But the law is the same for all. Laws dont discriminate between citizens.

The Opposition protesting against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha membership after his conviction in a criminal defamation case is as good as a celebration of corruption, which the people in the national capital saw after the arrest of Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi, by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The New Excise Policy of the city government is being probed for financial irregularity and conspiracy.

Indian democracy rests on institutions. The judiciary is a crucial institution in the country. By questioning Rahuls conviction, the Opposition party is undermining the judiciary.

Also, Parliament has passed laws. If the Opposition parties believe that some laws need changes, they can certainly change them in Parliament. But for that they need peoples mandates. Self-centered politics must stop immediately. Stringent rules should be framed with necessary amendments to the Representation of Peoples Act. This will guide Indian democracy on the path free of compulsive lying and defamation.

(The author is a political analyst)
A large amount of funds allocated to panchayati raj institutions are misused through the mutual connivance of the Pradhans and the Govt functionaries

Haryana witnessed a major Sarpanch agitation against the state government. The sarpanchs were on a warpath with the state government on two crucial issues. One, the introduction of an e-tendering process for development works above Rs 5 lakhs and two, the right to recall law that allows people to remove a sarpanch if they are not happy with their performance. The state government justified these actions as steps towards course correction" taken with the intention of bringing transparency and credibility in the working of the Panchayats. They are directly related to the use of developmental funds and the continuation of sarpanches in power.

These remedial measures were suggested by the report submitted by the Haryana Lokayukta Justice, Hari Pal Verma in December,2022. The audit report of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for 2017-18 had also listed many cases of irregular expenditure and account books. The report cited many instances of misappropriation of lakhs of rupees. It found that in most cases the records of panchayats were found missing which were supposed to be in the custody of the sarpanches. It was revealed that nearly 1,100 former sarpanchs had not submitted village development records. The explanation given for this lapse was that the records were either burnt, washed away or soiled. The office bearers of the Association of Sarpances put the blame on the panchayat secretaries who had failed in maintaining and submitting the records to the authorities.

Recently, on the complaint of a resident of Aashiyaki Tappa Jadthal village in Rewari district, an enquiry conducted by Block Development Panchayat Officer (BDPO), Dharuhera, has found the gram scahiv, Rohit Kumar and former sarpanch Mahesh Kumar guilty of embezzling Rs 7.44 Lakh in the construction of the pathway. Construction work cost Rs 8,37,399 on paper. However, the inquiry revealed that the cost of work was evaluated as Rs 92,692 causing a loss of Rs 7,44,777 to the state exchequer.

The gram sachiv has been suspended and orders for recovery of the embezzled amount from the former sarpanch and gram sachiv have been issued. We find that candidates spend a phenomenal amount of money to win the elections for sarpanch in villages. They lure voters by offering gifts, interest free loans, distribution of liquor and sweets. The intention is to win the elections by hook or crook. This will enable me to recover many times the election investment. After getting elected, the sarpanchs indulge in corruption by siphoning away the money allocated for the village's development.

In order to contain the agitation, the state government announced that sarpances could get development works up to Rs 5 lakh executed on a quotation basis. This was earlier Rs 2 lakh and e-tendering mode would be used for works valued at more than Rs 5 lakh. The honorariums of sarpanches were increased from Rs 3,000/- to Rs 5,000/- and the panches from Rs 1,000/- to Rs 1,600/- by linking these with Dearness Allowance on the lines of government employees. To make the gram scahivs accountable to the sarpanchs, the provision of recording the comments in the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of gram sachiv by sarpanches has been introduced. For the social audit of development works in panchayats, a committee would be formed at the village level. This committee would consist of village residents who would keep watch of the development works being undertaken in the village.

A separate engineering wing would be set up for the Development and Panchayat Departments. The panchayats could get works done on quotations for a total amount of Rs 25 lakh in a financial year or up to 50 per cent of the total grant amount of the State Finance Commission, whichever is less. The responsibilities for quality have also been fixed. The technical staff would ensure the quality of the development works through e-tendering. The sarpanches would be responsible for the quality of works carried out on a quotation basis.

The introduction and implementation of the Panchayati Raj system in the 1980s was a landmark decision of the Government headed by then Prime Minister, late Rajiv Gandhi. It led to decentralization of financial powers to the local grassroot representatives- the gram pradhans paving way to the implementation of the concept of Gram Swaraj envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi and to ensure the utilization of funds meant for panchayats in a transparent manner.

Through the connivance of government functionaries and pardhans, crores of rupees are disbursed annually to PRIs, of which a large amount is misused. The practice of these practices needs to be checked and those found guilty should be punished. Both elected representatives and the government should discharge their responsibilities honestly and transparently. The Haryana government has done a commendable job in checking malpractices by laying down check and balances. This would help in judicial use of funds at the grassroots level.

(The writer is a senior journalist and Chairman, Panwar Group of Institutions, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The views expressed are personal.)
Indian-origin Sikh Manmeet Colon has been sworn in as first assistant police chief of Connecticut's New Haven city, becoming the department's first Indian-American and second female assistant chief of colour to rise to the top position.

The Board of Police Commissioners in New Haven unanimously approved the appointment of Colon, 37, who was previously a lieutenant in the internal affairs office, The New Haven Independent reported.

Mumbai-born Colon moved with her family to Queens when she was 11, and studied criminal justice at the University of New Haven.

Colon hoped that her status as the department's first Indian-American assistant chief inspires others from similar backgrounds to pursue careers in law enforcement.

"I come from a Sikh family. I speak Punjabi. I'm very proud of my heritage," Colon was quoted as saying in The New Haven Independent.

"More important is the mission and the values of the department. To me, it's all about being fair and impartial. My background, my morals, my family values and traditions a I feel like I bring a lot to the table. I'm glad there's a space for me at the table," she added.

Colon's daughter pinned the new assistant chief badge on her mother's uniform, as Mayor Justin Elicker then administered the oath of office earlier this month.

"A trailblazer, AC Colon is the 2nd woman of colour & the 1st of Indian descent to serve in the position in the history of the NHPD - and I'm confident she will continue to serve our city w/honor & distinction in this new role," Elicker tweeted.

In her tenure with the New Haven Police Department (NHPD), Colon has worked in patrol, as a detective in the special victims unit, as a sergeant supervising the robbery and burglary unit, as a lieutenant and district manager for Newhallville and Dixwell, and most recently as the head of the Internal Affairs division.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson, who had recommended Colon, hoped that the Indian-American's appointment will inspire more women to join the New Haven Police Department, which is currently 17 per cent female.

"This is a great day for the City of New Haven, and also for the Indian community and women of colour in the city and state; another glass ceiling has been broken," Police Commission Chair Evelise Ribeiro said.
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed was brought to the Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh Monday evening amid tight security arrangements.

The police cavalcade bringing him from a prison in Gujarat reached the Naini Jail at 5.30 pm.

A large posse of police personnel was posted at the main entrance of the Naini Central Jail and the entry of outsiders into the jail premises was stopped. A battery of journalists thronged the area to cover the event.

Ahmed will be produced before a court on Tuesday, when it is likely to pass an order in a 17-year-old kidnapping case in which the former MP is an accused.

He has been brought to Prayagraj in compliance with the court's orders, Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat in June 2019 following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.
The Delhi Police has denied permission to the Congress for holding satyagraha at Rajghat to protest against Rahul Gandhis disqualification from the Lok Sabha, officials said on Sunday.

In a letter, the Delhi Police said the request was rejected due to law and order and traffic reasons and prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC imposed in and around Rajghat.
Taking exception to protests in Canada outside its Embassy and consulates by alleged Khalistan supporters, India has summoned High Commissioner of Canada to New Delhi to register its displeasure over security arrangements outside the diplomatic premises there.

It is expected that the Canadian Government will take steps which are required to ensure safety of our diplomats and security of our diplomatic premises so that they are able to fulfil their normal diplomatic functions, a Ministry of External Affairs statement on Sunday said. High Commissioner Cameron MacKay was summoned on Saturday.

India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic Mission and Consulates, the statement said.

MacKay was summoned to the External Affairs Ministry .

The External Affairs Ministry sought an explanation about how separatist and extremist elements were able to breach the security of Indian Missions in Canada despite the presence of police, the Ministry said in a statement.

The Canadian Government was reminded of its obligations under the Vienna Convention and asked to arrest and prosecute the individuals who have already been identified as being involved in such acts.

The Indian side further said it expects the Canadian Government to take all required steps to ensure the safety of Indian diplomats and the security of the countrys diplomatic premises.

Last Sunday, an event in Canada was cancelled due to security concerns after a violent protest by Khalistan supporters. The event was organised at the Taj Park Convention Centre in British Columbia to honour Sanjay Kumar Verma, the Indian envoy to Canada, while he was on his first visit to the west coast.
Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda on Sunday said his party would win more than 200 out of 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, where elections are set to be held at the end of the year.

He has arrived in the state capital to lay the foundation stone of a BJP office.

"The warm welcome accorded to me by the spirited BJP cadre shows we are going to more than 200 Assembly seats in MP," he said.

The 2018 elections in Madhya Pradesh threw up a hung Assembly, with the Congress emerging as the largest party with 114 seats in the 230-member House, while the BJP won on 109 seats.

However, the BJP got 41.02 per cent votes against the Congress' 40.89 per cent.

The Congress formed a government under Kamal Nath, which fell in March 2020 when MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia revolted, paving the way for the return of Shivraj Singh Chouhan as chief minister.

Nadda said "BJP gave 14 medical colleges to Madhya Pradesh in last nine years--maximum in India." He emphasised that booth presidents should inform public about these developments, their positive impact on individual and state's growth.

He said that MP's contribution in GDP rose to 4.8% from 3%. "And CM Chouhan and his team worked hard to take MP to heights. "

He accused Kamal Nath of discontinuing BJP's development policies like Awaas Yojana, Jal Jeewan Yojana, Women Empowerment schemes and more during Congress' 15-month tenure between 2018 Dec to 2020 March.

State BJP President VD Sharma, while addressing workers' convention, assured his boss Nadda of winning 200 seats in upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections. He emphasised on 'booth ko mazboot' campaign, stating that BJP will 51% votes in every booth.

CM Chouhan in his address praised Modi for his foreign policies."Ukraine and Russia halted war on Modi's call.

Targeting his opponent Kamal Nath, the CM said that Congress during its 18 months rule converted Madhya Pradesh into a 'Pradesh of Scams'. He accused Kamal Nath of making false promise of waving farmers' loans.

He encouraged women to register for 'Ladli Behna Yojana'-- in which all married women between 23 to 60 years with annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh will be eligible to receive Rs 1000 every month. He informed that all the registration formalities will be done free-of-cost.

"No, we do not promise Unemployment Allowance instead we will give wings to our students. Under Youth Policy, selected students will join training with companies in varied sectors-- law and police, construction, media, art, economy and more. They will be paid a stipend of Rs 8000 a month for one year, the CM said."
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said the government is always ready to empower the steel sector, which he underlined performed even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He was addressing the All India Steel Conclave, attended by steel industrialists from across the country.

He said the steel industry is the backbone of the state's economy. The last few years the industry has been facing many challenges.

The states industrial policy backed the industries and they continued with their production even during the pandemic. The power tariff exemption and ensuring coal supply was done to support the sector, he said.

Baghel said the condition of roads has deteriorated because of coal mines, adversely affecting transportation and increasing the cost.




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To protest against Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Punjab and Haryana units of the Congress party on Sunday held a day-long Sankalp Satyagraha. Both units held separate events at the state headquarters as a part of the protest programme in which many senior leaders participated.



Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the action against Rahul Gandhi was taken because the BJP-led Centre was scared of his next speech in Parliament on the Adani issue. A tearing hurry was shown by the Lok Sabha Secretariat in disqualifying Rahul Gandhi allegedly at the behest of the BJP-led government, said Warring.



Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan said that Rahul Gandhi has been raising his voice against the BJP-led Centre on various issues. They want to silence his voice, but they are mistaken, he said.



The Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa said that it is time for all democratic forces to get together. Institutions are being attacked in the country and opposition is being targeted, said Bajwa.



Whosoever raises questions in public interest, either answers are not given or their voice is suppressed, he said targeting the BJP-led Centre. He said that if the Government thinks they can silence Congress and Rahuls voice, who had raised the Adani issue, they are mistaken.



Bajwa said that it was time for the opposition to join hands. Today, it is Rahul Gandhi who has been disqualified, going by current indications, tomorrow it can be top leaders of other opposition parties too who can face the same fate, the senior Congress leader said.



On Rahul Gandhis disqualification, he said: He will continue to raise his voice on issues which are in public interest and concern millions of people of the country. They (govt) cannot silence him for speaking the truth.



Haryanas former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who also participated in the protest programme held at Chandigarh party headquarters, said that theres no place for vengeance in a democracy. BJP is doing vendetta politics against Rahul Gandhi, but the Congress is ready to fight against it on the path of Satyagraha, he stated.



Notably, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarats Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification will bar Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting polls for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction.



The Congress has said that Rahul Gandhi is not alone and millions of Congressmen and people irrespective of their political affiliations will join him in this fight for truth and justice.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress on Sunday staged a `Sankalp Satyagraha and termed the termination of the membership of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as a conspiracy of the Narendra Modi government to dent Indian democracy.

Leading the thousands of angry Congressmen who staged day-long Sankalp Satyagraha at the martyr's memorial on the bank of river Gomti on Sunday, UP Congress president Brijlal Khabri and Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra raised anti-government slogans on the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha. They made scathing attacks on the government.

It may be mentioned that in support of Rahul Gandhi's Sankalp Satyagraha going on at Rajghat in Delhi, the Congressmen in all the districts of Uttar Pradesh extended their support by staging protests and raising anti-government slogans.

While addressing the Sankalp Satyagraha here on Sunday morning, Khabri made a scathing attack on the Modi government and said that today Rahul Gandhi had to pay the price for speaking the truth fearlessly and with facts and raising the voice of the people.

The morale of Congressmen is not going to be dampened by this. The Congress party will always raise the anti-people issues of this corrupt government, he said.

He claimed that the UP Congress had geared up for a massive mass movement to expose each and every failure of the Modi government. No matter how much atrocities the government commits, neither are we afraid, nor will we have any fear of the misuse of government machinery to silence our voices, he asserted while attacking the BJP government over misuse of official machinery.

Addressing the Satyagraha, Aradhana Mishra said that none among Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Mehul Choksi belonged to the backward castes, still, by pretending to be backward, the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to hide the nexus of these economic scamsters with the Central government. She alleged that the BJP could not tolerate exposure of their nexus with Adani, hence to silence Rahul Gandhi, they managed to get him disqualified from Parliament.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) will stage demonstrations all across Uttar Pradesh on Monday in protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha.

CPI-ML state secretary Sudhakra Yadav, who is participating in the central committee meeting in Kolkata, said the action of the Central government on Rahul Gandhi was akin to surgical strike on democracy.

In a statement, the CPI-ML leader said the Surat court gave a 30-day grace period to Rahul Gandhi to appeal in higher court by staying the punishment for 30 days. Despite this, the Lok Sabha membership of Rahul Gandhi was finished. The Union governments move was vindictive. This is an action to silence the opposition, he said.

He said there was an undeclared emergency in the country and it was high time for the opposition to unite and fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party to save democracy.

He said the party workers and leaders would take out protest marches across the state. In Lucknow the party workers and leaders will take out the protest march from Parivartan Chowk to the district magistrates office while in other districts the protest will be held at tehsil and district headquarters.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that the farmers will get full compensation for crop loss by the month of May after assessing the damage due to the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms. The work of girdawari would be completed in 15 days and compensation would be given to all the farmers in a transparent manner, he said, speaking in a programme.

Khattar said that the present government has given compensation of Rs 1,300 crore to the farmers. It is mandatory for the farmers to fill the details of their losses on the e-Fasal Kshatipurti portalApart from this, those farmers who cannot fill the assessment of losses on the portal themselves, can get it filled by visiting the Common Service Centre. Its expenses will be borne by the government, he added.

He said that the farmers who get crop insurance are paid by the company and the farmers who do not get insurance will be given compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre by the government.

Responding to a question, the Chief Minister said that apart from basic development like construction of schools, colleges, roads, railway lines, resolving the problems of the citizens and increasing the happiness index; the present government has also done the work of bringing radical changes in the system. He said that the present government has done the task of creating a civilized society by living up to the expectations of the people.

On the e-tendering system, the Chief Minister said that whenever a new method is used, it is definitely opposed. There was opposition to GST when it was implemented in the state. Now some people are opposing e-tendering. Even before this, works are being done in other departments only through e-tendering. It brings transparency in the works. The government has made a scathing attack on corruption, he added.

Khattar along with Art of Living founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar launched the campaign to save water. The Chief Minister said that the main objective of this campaign is to save the last drop of ground water. The state government has implemented the Mera Pani, Meri Virasat scheme, under which an amount of Rs 7,000 per acre is provided to the farmers for growing other crops in place of paddy. So far, the farmers have grown other crops in place of paddy in 1.75 lakh acres of land under this scheme, he added.

He said that work is also being done to motivate and give benefits to the farmers for setting up 3,000 recharge wells and growing crops with micro irrigation. Apart from this, 200 STPs have been installed to recycle and reuse water, from which 750 cusecs of water has been reused. He said that this mission will be given full support from the government and will be taken forward. The Chief Minister also launched Water Bank Card Ticket during the programme.




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To increase regional connectivity from Hisar airport, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Sunday said that the State Government is preparing to operate passenger flights to other cities like Jammu, Amritsar, Jaipur, Dehradun, Kullu, Shimla, Dharamshala and Chandigarh. The Hisar airport is being developed with the goal of being a centre for passengers, industrial and cargo operations, he added.



Addressing the gathering at a programme in Chandigarh, the Deputy CM said that the Haryana Government is working on priority to promote drone, aviation sector and provision for this has also been made in the state financial budget. This area offers numerous opportunities for the country and Haryanas growth. Youth power may add a new dimension to the existing growth, he added.



Chautala said that the Aviation Department has spent Rs 1,000 crores in various areas of Haryana for the development of this sector. Hisar is being developed as an aviation and industrial hub. Chautala said that work will be done on 1200 acres in the first phase and 1800 acres in the second phase. He said that the runway work of the runway at Hisar airport is almost complete.



The Deputy CM said that the testing work is expected to be completed at Hisar airport in the month of July this year. He further informed that after this the target is to start the regional air connectivity of the first commercial aircraft in the month of August or September.



Chautala said that discussions have taken place and MoUs will shortly be inked. He said that an 18 seater air passenger craft is ready to fly from Hisar to Jammu, Amritsar, Jaipur, Dehradun, Kullu, Shimla, Dharamshala and Chandigarh. Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala said that air connectivity will be further strengthened by operating 48 seater aircraft to cities like Agra, Bikaner where tourist footfall is highest.



Chautala said that Hisar airport will not be limited to the benefit of passengers. He said that efforts by the government to turn Hisar into a cargo airport, which will accelerate the pace of development. For this, the government has discussed with global cargo companies by participating in different aero summits. The government has given opportunities to companies to invest in Hisar to come here and develop their infrastructure because India is the central part of Asia. He said that a global cargo unit will be set up in Hisar through a warehousing hub.


Found throwing debris on around the roads, Punjab Government will be issuing the challans to the violators. Announcing this, the state Local Government Minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar on Sunday said that the challans will be issued for throwing debris around the roads and this debris can be used again for construction works.

Dr Nijjar, while inaugurating the waste processing plant built at a cost of Rs five crore under the Smart City at Fatehpur in the Central Constituency, said that no charges will be taken for delivering the waste generated during residential and commercial construction in the city to the C&T Plant.

Earlier, Dr Nijjar laid the foundation stone of the skywalk project with Gurudwara Shaheedan Sahib, Amritsar at a cost of about Rs 60 crore. The completion of this project will bring great relief to the sangat who come for the darshan of Shaheedan Sahib. The Sangat has to cross the road to go to the Gurdwara, which not only causes inconvenience but also causes traffic jams, he said.

The Minister said that the project includes multiple foot over bridges, sky walk plaza in front of Gurudwara Shaheedan Sahib as suitable crossing facility for pedestrians and pick up points. The plaza will have a cluster of entry and exit points through stairs, escalators, lifts for ease of pedestrian movement. This project will ensure the safety and convenience of pilgrims, he added.

Amritsar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said that provision of facilities like toilets for pilgrims, tourist information center and police post in the skywalk project will ensure safety and convenience for the congregation. The plaza will be developed through landscaping and beautification which will increase its efficient use. He said that the length of this skywalk from Ramsar Gurdwara to Chatiwind Chowk will be 460 meters, width six meters, height six meters from the road, Skywalk Plaza will have 16 stairs, 16 escalators and seven lifts. He said that this project has to be completed by the company within one and a half years.
Delhi Polices Crime Branch has arrested three men of a Mewat-based gang who were allegedly involved in more than 20 cases of mobile showroom burglary across the national capital in the last four months alone, officials said here on Sunday. With the arrest of Aalim (27), Salman (38) and the alleged kingpin Hasam (42), all based in Nuh, Haryana, police claimed to have worked out 13 such cases, they said.

The gang members were involved in breaking and uprooting mobile stores in Delhi and have committed more than 20 incidents of mobile store burglary in the last four months, police said.

The matter came to light after a burglary incident was reported in the Delhi Cantt area. All the mobile phones in the store were stolen, they said.

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said, their team gathered all the details about incidents that occurred in Delhi in the last few months and analysed CCTV footage. During the investigation, inputs were received that members of the Mewat-based gang were actively involved in incidents of theft in mobile showrooms and used cars in different incidents.

Using manual and technical surveillance, all three accused were arrested in the case from different areas, he said.

During interrogation, the gang members disclosed that they along with their associates were involved in such incidents and mainly target JIO showrooms since they had many mobile phones in their stores. After breaking the shops, they used to sell the stolen mobiles to Bharatpur, Kama, Rajasthan at a good price. The IMEI of all the stolen mobile phones were changed and then sold in nearby areas to commit online frauds, he added.

Police recovered three cars used in the commission of the crime and two stolen mobile phones.
Continuing its ongoing drive to screen the cases of persons arrested since March 18, 2023, on account of apprehension of breach of peace and disturbance in law and order, Punjab Police has released a total 197 persons in whose case the apprehension of breach of peace is over till Sunday. Total of 353 persons were arrested under preventive sections of law since the police crackdown on Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh led Waris Punjab De outfit.

The action came following Chief Minister Bhagwant Manns clear directions that the Punjab Police should adopt a positive approach while screening persons arrested on account of apprehension of breach of peace or in substantive criminal offences.

The state Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that directions have been issued to all the Senior Superintendents of police (SSPs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in the State to ensure that no innocent person is harassed or arrested. The investigating officers and their supervisory officers should first examine the available evidence and satisfy themselves before undertaking any preventive arrest or arrest in substantive offences, he said.

The DGP added that apart from 353 persons arrested under preventive sections, 40 persons have been arrested under substantive criminal offences and seven persons have been detained under the National Security Act.

In accordance with the Chief Ministers directions, police authorities will review the status of persons arrested under substantive criminal offences by examining the available evidence and taking a positive approach.

DGP Yadav also appealed to all Punjabis to continue maintaining peace and harmony in the State and not to pay any heed to fake news and rumours. Asserting that the law and order situation is completely under control and totally stable, DGP Yadav warned that strict action would be taken against persons spreading rumours and fake news.

Punjab Police also conducted flag marches, naka-bandis, patrollings on Sunday, and maintained presence in markets and other important locations in the state.

Patiala Woman Arrested for Allegedly Harbouring Amritpal

Punjab Police has arrested a woman from Patiala for allegedly sheltering fugitive pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh and his aide.

A senior police official on Sunday said that Amritpal and his aide Papalpreet Singh had allegedly stayed at the residence of Balbir Kaur in Patialas Hargobind Nagar on March 19. Kaur allegedly sheltered Amritpal and Papalpreet for five to six hours before they moved to Shahabad in Haryanas Kurukshetra district, said the police.

Amritpal has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him and elements of Waris Punjab De, an outfit headed by him.

The elusive preacher himself gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjabs Jalandhar district. On Saturday, CCTV camera footage purportedly showing Amritpal, dressed in a jacket and trousers and speaking on a mobile phone, emerged in Patiala.

In the footage, the Waris Punjab De chief could also be seen holding a bag with a white cloth covering his face. Papalpreet could also be seen in the footage.

In a second footage from the same spot, a sunglass-wearing Amritpal could be seen speaking on the phone while walking on the street.

Kaur is the second woman to be arrested for allegedly sheltering Amritpal. Earlier, a woman identified as Baljit Kaur was nabbed for allegedly harbouring Amritpal and Papalpreet at her home in Shahabad.

The police in Khanna also arrested on Saturday a man identified as Balwant Singh for allegedly sheltering Amritpals associate Tejinder Singh Gill alias Gorkha Baba.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Payal) Harsimrat Singh said that Balwant Singh, a resident of Khuli Khurd village, has been booked under Section 212 (harbouring offender) of the Indian Penal Code.

Gill, who was part of Amritpals private security setup, was arrested on Wednesday. He was sent on police remand till March 27.

The Punjab Police had said a phone recovered from Gill contained pictures of the flag, emblem and currency of Khalistan and videos of firearms practice by young men allegedly chosen for the radical preachers Anandpur Khalsa Fauz.

The incriminating material showed the sinister designs of the nascent militia force and the enormous threat it would have posed for peace and harmony in Punjab and national security, the police had said.

With the Khalistan sympathizer continuing to remain untraceable, the police said that efforts are underway to nab the fugitive.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said here on Sunday that Samajwadi Party would extend its support to the alliance forged to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

`Samajwadi Party is not involved in the process of forging a new alliance, our duty is to extend the alliance which takes shape to defeat the BJP, Akhilesh Yadav said in a press conference here on Sunday.

He added, I appeal to the Congress to support the regional parties in states that are fighting the BJP.

Asked whether he has sympathy for the Congress, the SP chief said, We cannot give our sympathy to any political party.

Congress should consider the present political context. Congress should forget that the regional parties damaged the national party in the past. In fact, it is the national parties which have inflicted damage on the regional parties and even today the leaders of regional parties like Lalu Prasad Yadav, his son and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Stalin are being hounded by the Central agencies like the Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation, he said.

The Samajwadi Party chief said that earlier Mulayam Singh Yadav and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha, were targeted by the central agencies.

Akhilesh Yadav maintained that regional parties pose no threat to the Congress. In fact, the regional parties will fight the other national party -- Bharatiya Janata Party, he said.

He questioned the claims of development made by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who completed one year in office on Saturday.

Yogi Adityanath is only selling dreams to the people while there is no change at the ground level. The government claims on development are based on forged data. The chief minister should look at the report of the NITI Aayog, which has ranked Uttar Pradesh at 22nd spot in the human development index, said the SP chief who is also the leader of opposition in the UP assembly.

In 2021, a 72-hour-long special session of the UP assembly was held for discussion on sustainable development goals (SDG) like health, education and other issues of human development index. There is only one teacher in 8,000 primary schools while the government is protecting a corrupt vice-chancellor of a state university, Akhilesh Yadav said.

He added that the government claimed of opening one medical college in each of 75 districts of the state while the fact was that the faculty positions in most of the medical colleges were vacant.

Questioning the claim of the UP government of setting up a robotic plant in the state, Akhilesh Yadav said, When the Yogi Adityanath government cannot handle the stray cattle and bulls on the streets leading to serious road accidents and loss of lives, how can one rely on the governments claim on robotic plant?
A case of assault has come to the fore with a class 12th student appearing for the examination at the Cambridge School Examination Center in Bhopal.

The injured student told the police that he was asking answers to questions from a girl sitting nearby during the exam. Due to this another student who was giving the exam sitting next to him threw a pencil and hit him. When he came out after giving the exam, he was attacked with an iron rod.

Shahjahanabad police has registered a case against the accused student.

According to the police, the 18-year-old youth, a resident of Khanugaon Kohefiza near Hanuman Mandir, is a Class 12 student at Little Angel Convent Higher Secondary School Kohefiza.

On February 24, he went to give the paper of Accountancy at the examination center in Cambridge School.

Meanwhile, around 11:30 he was asking a girl sitting next to him to answer some questions. Meanwhile, Ishanjeet Singh, the boy sitting on the other side said to me, what are you asking him? I said what do you mean, so Ishan Jeet threw a pencil and hit me. Threatened to stop and tell you when I came out of the class after giving the paper, Ishanjit and Deepak Ketmal hit him with a rod on the back side of head without saying anything, due to which my head started bleeding.

Meanwhile, his friends Sharad and Parth Motwani came and intervened and separated them. While leaving, the accused threatened him that if he ever asked any girl anything or messed with us, he would kill you.

Police have registered a case against Ishan Jeet Singh, Deepak Ketmal on the complaint of the student.
Chhattisgarh Police on Sunday seized 1,050 kg of cannabis valued at Rs 2.10 crore and arrested two persons in Mahasamund district who were transporting it to Madhya Pradesh from Odisha.

Speaking to The Pioneer, Mahasamund Superintendent of Police Dharmendra Singh said they were Pappu Pal (35) and Leeladhar Pal (33), both from Panna in Madhya Pradesh.

The action followed a tip that the contraband was being transported to Madhya Pradesh via National Highway 53.

Police intercepted a truck at Saraipali check post barrier. The cannabis was stuffed in gunny bags and hidden under a huge quantity of watermelon, the officer said.
Robots are performing rituals  some devotees fear theyll replace worshippers, writes Holly Walters.

It isnt just artists and teachers who are losing sleep over advances in automation and artificial intelligence. Robots are being brought into Hinduisms holiest rituals  and not all worshippers are happy about it.

In 2017, a technology firm in India introduced a robotic arm to perform aarti, a ritual in which a devotee offers an oil lamp to the deity to symbolise the removal of darkness. This particular robot was unveiled at the Ganpati festival, a yearly gathering of millions of people in which an icon of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is taken out in a procession and immersed in the Mula-Mutha river in Pune in central India.

Ever since, that robotic aarti arm has inspired several prototypes, a few of which continue to regularly perform the ritual across India today, along with a variety of other religious robots throughout East Asia and South Asia. Robotic rituals even now include an animatronic temple elephant in Kerala on Indias southern coast.

Yet this kind of religious robotic usage has led to increasing debates about the use of AI and robotic technology in devotion and worship. Some devotees and priests feel that this represents a new horizon in human innovation that will lead to the betterment of society, while others worry that using robots to replace practitioners is a bad omen for the future.

As an anthropologist who specialises in religion, however, I focus less on the theology of robotics and more on what people actually say and do when it comes to their spiritual practices. My current work on religious robots primarily centers on the notion of divine object-persons, where otherwise inanimate things are viewed as having a living, conscious essence.

My work also looks at the uneasiness Hindus and Buddhists express about ritual-performing automatons replacing people and whether those automatons actually might make better devotees.

Ritual automation is not new

Ritual automation, or at least the idea of robotic spiritual practice, isnt new in South Asian religions.

Historically, this has included anything from special pots that drip water continuously for bathing rituals that Hindus routinely perform for their deity icons, called abhisheka, to wind-powered Buddhist prayer wheels  the kinds often seen in yoga studios and supply stores.

While the contemporary version of automated ritual might look like downloading a phone app that chants mantras without the need for any prayer object at all, such as a mala or rosary, these new versions of ritual-performing robots have prompted complicated conversations.

Thaneswar Sarmah, a Sanskrit scholar and literary critic, argues that the first Hindu robot appeared in the stories of King Manu, the first king of the human race in Hindu belief. Manus mother, Saranyu  herself the daughter of a great architect  built an animate statue to perfectly perform all of her household chores and ritual obligations.

Folklorist Adrienne Mayorremarks similarly that religious stories about mechanized icons from Hindu epics, such as the mechanical war chariots of the Hindu engineer god Visvakarman, are often viewed as the progenitors of religious robots today.

Furthermore, these stories are sometimes interpreted by modern-day nationalists as evidence that ancient India has previously invented everything from spacecraft to missiles.

Modern traditions or traditionally modern?

However, the recent use of AI and robotics in religious practice is leading to concerns among Hindus and Buddhists about the kind of future to which automation could lead. In some instances, the debate among Hindus is about whether automated religion promises the arrival of humanity into a bright, new, technological future or if it is simply evidence of the coming apocalypse.

In other cases, there are concerns that the proliferation of robots might lead to greater numbers of people leaving religious practice as temples begin to rely more on automation than on practitioners to care for their deities. Some of these concerns stem from the fact that many religions, both in South Asia and globally, have seen significant decreases in the number of young people willing to dedicate their lives to spiritual education and practice over the past few decades. Furthermore, with many families living in a diaspora scattered across the world, priests or pandits are often serving smaller and smaller communities.

But if the answer to the problem of fewer ritual specialists is more robots, people still question whether ritual automation will benefit them. They also question the concurrent use of robotic deities to embody and personify the divine, since these icons are programmed by people and therefore reflect the religious views of their engineers.

Doing right by religion

Scholars often note that these concerns all tend to reflect one pervasive theme  an underlying anxiety that, somehow, the robots are better at worshipping gods than humans are. They can also raise inner conflicts about the meaning of life and ones place in the universe.

For Hindus and Buddhists, the rise of ritual automation is especially concerning because their traditions emphasise what religion scholars refer to as orthopraxy, where greater importance is placed on correct ethical and liturgical behaviour than on specific beliefs in religious doctrines. In other words, perfecting what you do in terms of your religious practice is viewed as more necessary to spiritual advancement than whatever it is you personally believe.

This also means that automated rituals appear on a spectrum that progresses from human ritual fallibility to robotic ritual perfection. In short, the robot can do your religion better than you can because robots, unlike people, are spiritually incorruptible.

This not only makes robots attractive replacements for dwindling priesthoods but also explains their increasing use in everyday contexts: People use them because no one worries about the robot getting it wrong, and they are often better than nothing when the options for ritual performance are limited.

Saved by a robot

In the end, turning to a robot for religious restoration in modern Hinduism or Buddhism might seem futuristic, but it belongs very much to the present moment. It tells us that Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions in South Asia are increasingly being imagined as post- or transhuman: deploying technological ingenuity to transcend human weaknesses because robots dont get tired, forget what theyre supposed to say, fall asleep or leave.

More specifically, this means that robotic automation is being used to perfect ritual practices in East Asia and South Asia  especially in India and Japan  beyond what would be possible for a human devotee, by linking impossibly consistent and flawless ritual accomplishment with an idea of better religion.

Modern robotics might then feel like a particular kind of cultural paradox, where the best kind of religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all. But in this circularity of humans creating robots, robots becoming gods, and gods becoming human, weve only managed to, once again, re-imagine ourselves.

(AP/The Conversation)
Rajya Sabha on Monday returned the Finance Bill-2023 with an amendment to Lok Sabha before being adjourned for the day amid Opposition uproar over the Adani issue.

The Upper House of Parliament returned the Finance Bill as well as the Jammu and Kashmir Budget 2023-24 and appropriation bills to Lok Sabha without any discussion.

Soon after Rajya Sabha reassembled at 2 pm, having been adjourned in the pre-lunch session, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar began the process of returning the bills amid din.

The House first returned the Jammu and Kashmir Budget and later the appropriation bills and the Finance Bill-2023.

While moving the Finance Bill for discussion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved an amendment to correct the rates of Securities Transaction Tax in the bill that was passed by Lok Sabha last week.

Though Dhankhar invited members for discussion, opposition MPs continued to disrupt the House demanding a discussion on the Adani issue and a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter. Later the bills were approved to be returned to Lok Sabha by voice vote without discussion.

Lok Sabha too had approved these bills last week without discussion amid continuous disruption of the House.

Dhankhar lamented that members did not avail the 10 hours that had been allocated for discussion on the bills. He then adjourned Rajya Sabha for the day.

In the pre-lunch session too opposition MPs, wearing black clothes to protest Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, created a ruckus over the Adani issue.

MPs of the Congress and other opposition parties began shouting slogans even before Chairman Dhankhar took his seat. Sensing the mood, he adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

"Modi-Adani bhai, bhai," members of opposition parties shouted.

They also raised slogans demanding the JPC probe into allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group.
A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to 100 years of hard labour for causing the death of a 5-year-old Indian-origin girl in the US state of Louisiana in 2021, according to local media reports.

Joseph Lee Smith from Shreveport was sentenced following his conviction in January of the killing of Mya Patel, local news media outlets like KSLA News 12 and the Shreveport Times reported.

Patel was playing in a hotel room on Monkhouse Drive when a bullet entered her room and struck her in the head. Patel was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she battled for three days and was pronounced dead on March 23, 2021.

During Smiths trial, it was revealed to the jury that Smith got into an altercation with another man in the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel. The hotel was owned and operated at that time by Vimal and Snehal Patel, who lived in a ground-floor unit with Mya and a younger sibling.

During the altercation, Smith struck the other man with a 9-mm handgun, which discharged. The bullet missed the other man but went into the hotel room and struck Patel in the head before grazing her mother.

District Judge John D Mosely sentenced Smith to 60 years at hard labour without the benefit of probation, parole or reduction of sentence in connection with the March 2021 slaying of Mya Patel, reports said. Smith also must serve 20 years for obstruction of justice and 20 years for aggravated battery, for separate convictions associated with Patels slaying.

Those terms must also be served without the benefit of probation, parole or reduction of sentence, the reports said.
EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) and Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC  Get Rating) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.4% of EOG Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of Ecopetrol shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of EOG Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

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Profitability

This table compares EOG Resources and Ecopetrols net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets EOG Resources 30.19% 34.95% 20.44% Ecopetrol 20.85% 24.92% 9.14%

Risk and Volatility

Analyst Ratings

EOG Resources has a beta of 1.52, indicating that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ecopetrol has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for EOG Resources and Ecopetrol, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score EOG Resources 0 4 16 1 2.86 Ecopetrol 0 3 0 0 2.00

EOG Resources presently has a consensus target price of $152.45, suggesting a potential upside of 44.52%. Ecopetrol has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.87%. Given EOG Resources stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe EOG Resources is more favorable than Ecopetrol.

Dividends

EOG Resources pays an annual dividend of $3.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Ecopetrol pays an annual dividend of $1.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.2%. EOG Resources pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ecopetrol pays out 38.3% 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. EOG Resources has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares EOG Resources and Ecopetrols top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio EOG Resources $25.70 billion 2.41 $7.76 billion $13.21 7.99 Ecopetrol $31.89 billion 0.62 $6.69 billion $3.81 2.52

EOG Resources has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ecopetrol. Ecopetrol is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EOG Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

EOG Resources beats Ecopetrol on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About EOG Resources

(Get Rating)

EOG Resources, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the United States, Trinidad & Tobago, and Other International segments. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

About Ecopetrol

(Get Rating)

Ecopetrol SA engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Transportation and Logistics, and Refining and Petrochemicals. The Exploration and Production segment deals with oil and gas exploration and production activities. The Transportation and Logistics segment comprises of pipelines and other transportation activities. The Refining and Petrochemicals segment involves in refining activities and its products include motor fuels, fuel oils, and petrochemicals. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Bogota, Colombia.

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OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) by 121.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,224 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 3,955 shares during the quarter. AmerisourceBergen makes up approximately 1.4% of OmniStar Financial Group Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.s holdings in AmerisourceBergen were worth $1,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank purchased a new position in AmerisourceBergen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,445,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 716.7% during the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,225 shares of the companys stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 143,276 shares of the companys stock worth $19,390,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 38,076 shares of the companys stock worth $5,152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC raised its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the companys stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 84.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at AmerisourceBergen

In other news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.28, for a total value of $1,724,775.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at $42,378,818.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.28, for a total value of $1,724,775.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at $42,378,818.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gina Clark sold 1,924 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total value of $300,567.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,176,229.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,633 shares of company stock valued at $4,490,081. Company insiders own 20.10% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AmerisourceBergen Trading Up 0.2 %

ABC has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $184.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on AmerisourceBergen from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. TheStreet downgraded AmerisourceBergen from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $180.08.

AmerisourceBergen stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $156.71. The companys stock had a trading volume of 206,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,348,128. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.54. The stocks fifty day moving average is $157.72 and its 200 day moving average is $156.37. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 1-year low of $135.14 and a 1-year high of $174.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.30, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.91.

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.09. AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 597.57% and a net margin of 0.72%. The firm had revenue of $62.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

AmerisourceBergen Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

AmerisourceBergen Company Profile

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.

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Truist Financial upgraded shares of BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Truist Financial currently has $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $25.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BRBR. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on BellRing Brands from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on BellRing Brands from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Cowen started coverage on BellRing Brands in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. They issued an outperform rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Stephens lifted their price objective on BellRing Brands from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on BellRing Brands from $32.00 to $35.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $34.90.

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BellRing Brands Stock Up 3.2 %

BRBR stock opened at $32.93 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.08. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.86. BellRing Brands has a 52-week low of $20.20 and a 52-week high of $32.98.

Institutional Trading of BellRing Brands

BellRing Brands ( NYSE:BRBR Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 6th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. BellRing Brands had a negative return on equity of 36.56% and a net margin of 8.29%. The business had revenue of $362.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.98 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BellRing Brands will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in BellRing Brands by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,144,769 shares of the companys stock valued at $312,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926,246 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BellRing Brands by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,007,535 shares of the companys stock valued at $268,085,000 after buying an additional 1,652,836 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in BellRing Brands by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,684,211 shares of the companys stock valued at $166,370,000 after buying an additional 97,600 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in BellRing Brands by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,177,667 shares of the companys stock valued at $86,102,000 after buying an additional 569,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in BellRing Brands by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,739,059 shares of the companys stock valued at $70,232,000 after buying an additional 17,178 shares during the last quarter. 92.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BellRing Brands Company Profile

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BellRing Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States and internationally. It offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. The company sells its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels.

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Aviva plc (OTCMKTS:AVVIY  Get Rating) has been given an average recommendation of Hold by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $529.33.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVVIY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Aviva from GBX 485 ($5.96) to GBX 540 ($6.63) in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aviva from GBX 535 ($6.57) to GBX 545 ($6.69) in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Aviva from GBX 540 ($6.63) to GBX 546 ($6.71) in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Investec lowered shares of Aviva from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Aviva from GBX 540 ($6.63) to GBX 520 ($6.39) in a report on Wednesday, February 8th.

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Aviva Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of OTCMKTS:AVVIY opened at $9.99 on Monday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $10.68 and its 200 day moving average is $10.29. Aviva has a 12-month low of $8.05 and a 12-month high of $15.96.

Aviva Increases Dividend

Aviva Company Profile

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.4737 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 7.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This is a boost from Avivas previous dividend of $0.23.

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Aviva Plc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of long-term insurance and savings, general and health insurance, and fund management products and services. It operates through the following segments: United Kingdom and Ireland; Canada; France; Italy; Poland; and Other. The United Kingdom and Ireland segment offers risks associated with motor vehicles, property and liability, and medical expenses insurance cover to individuals and businesses.

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EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM  Get Rating) has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $403.08.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EPAM shares. Cowen lowered EPAM Systems from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $390.00 to $370.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on EPAM Systems from $365.00 to $405.00 in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on EPAM Systems from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $391.00 price target on shares of EPAM Systems in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered EPAM Systems from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 5th.

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Institutional Trading of EPAM Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EPAM. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 36.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 842 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 14.4% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 100.7% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,413 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,589 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of EPAM Systems by 0.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,528 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $5,199,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 92.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EPAM Systems Trading Down 2.1 %

About EPAM Systems

Shares of NYSE EPAM opened at $278.50 on Monday. EPAM Systems has a one year low of $260.11 and a one year high of $462.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.69, a quick ratio of 3.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $324.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $340.19.

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EPAM Systems, Inc engages in the provision of software product development and digital platform engineering services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe, and Russia. The company was founded by Leonid Lozner and Arkadiy Dobkin in 1993 and is headquartered in Newtown, PA.

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Farmers Edge (OTC:FMEGF  Get Rating) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Raymond James from C$0.45 to C$0.30 in a report released on Monday, The Fly reports.

Separately, National Bank Financial lowered their price target on shares of Farmers Edge from C$0.30 to C$0.25 in a report on Thursday, January 26th.

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Farmers Edge Stock Performance

OTC FMEGF remained flat at $0.15 during trading on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.27. Farmers Edge has a 1 year low of $0.15 and a 1 year high of $2.82.

About Farmers Edge

Farmers Edge Inc develops digital agriculture solutions in Canada, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Russia, and Ukraine. It offers FarmCommand, a cloud-based analytics software platform that provides real-time monitoring, alerts, predictive models, and outcome-based data recommendations offered through web-based platform, mobile app, and universal terminal.

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Shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF  Get Rating) have received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

Several research firms recently weighed in on FNF. Credit Suisse Group reissued an outperform rating and set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Fidelity National Financial in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Barclays cut their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 29th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,348 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in Fidelity National Financial by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,938 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in Fidelity National Financial by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,162 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Fidelity National Financial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 19,176 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Fidelity National Financial by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,674 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 77.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fidelity National Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE FNF opened at $33.32 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Fidelity National Financial has a twelve month low of $31.84 and a twelve month high of $50.49. The company has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.36. The businesss fifty day moving average is $39.90 and its 200 day moving average is $39.10.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.22). Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 9.83% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The companys revenue was down 46.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. Fidelity National Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.23%.

Fidelity National Financial Company Profile

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Fidelity National Financial, Inc engages in the provision of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. Its services include title insurance, escrow and other title-related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products and technology and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries.

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Forge Global (NYSE:FRGE  Get Rating) is one of 23 public companies in the Security & commodity brokers, dealers, exchanges & services industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Forge Global to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Forge Global and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Forge Global -161.22% -26.59% -22.44% Forge Global Competitors 4.06% 20.37% 5.54%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Forge Global and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Forge Global 0 4 2 0 2.33 Forge Global Competitors 144 897 1198 31 2.49

Earnings & Valuation

Forge Global presently has a consensus target price of $3.48, suggesting a potential upside of 113.19%. As a group, Security & commodity brokers, dealers, exchanges & services companies have a potential upside of 35.29%. Given Forge Globals higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Forge Global is more favorable than its rivals.

This table compares Forge Global and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Forge Global $68.90 million -$111.86 million -1.12 Forge Global Competitors $7.42 billion $656.15 million 30.31

Forge Globals rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Forge Global. Forge Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.7% of Forge Global shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 63.7% of shares of all Security & commodity brokers, dealers, exchanges & services companies are held by institutional investors. 20.0% of Forge Global shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.0% of shares of all Security & commodity brokers, dealers, exchanges & services companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Forge Global has a beta of 2.33, indicating that its stock price is 133% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Forge Globals rivals have a beta of 0.96, indicating that their average stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Forge Global rivals beat Forge Global on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

About Forge Global

(Get Rating)

Forge Global Holdings, Inc. provides marketplace infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for private market participants. It enables private company shareholders to trade private company shares with accredited investors. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in San Francisco, California.

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TELUS International (Cda) Inc. (TSE:TIXT  Get Rating) Director Joshua Andrew Blair sold 15,786 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$20.11, for a total value of C$317,492.77.

TELUS International (Cda) Stock Performance

TELUS International (Cda) stock opened at C$27.41 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$29.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$30.67. The stock has a market capitalization of C$2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 52.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.26. TELUS International has a 52 week low of C$24.11 and a 52 week high of C$40.55.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays dropped their price objective on TELUS International (Cda) from C$29.00 to C$26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th.

TELUS International (Cda) Company Profile

TELUS International (Cda) Inc provides customer experience and digital business services in Europe, North America, the Asia-Pacific, and the Central America. It offers digital experience solutions, such as AI and bots, omnichannel CX, mobility solutions, cloud contact center, big data, platform transformation, and UX/UI design; and customer experience solutions, including work anywhere/work from home, customer care, technical support, sales growth and retention, and healthcare/patient experience.

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Stephens Inc. AR lessened its stake in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR  Get Rating) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,563 shares of the companys stock after selling 789 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. ARs holdings in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 689.3% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 9,224,001 shares of the companys stock worth $414,711,000 after acquiring an additional 8,055,360 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF in the second quarter valued at approximately $177,361,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 1.2% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,988,203 shares of the companys stock valued at $89,391,000 after purchasing an additional 23,953 shares in the last quarter. GenTrust LLC grew its stake in iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 436.2% in the third quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 1,808,720 shares of the companys stock valued at $71,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF by 140.8% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,108,749 shares of the companys stock valued at $43,839,000 after buying an additional 648,292 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF Stock Performance

NYSEARCA:IEUR traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $50.53. 389,533 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 870,786. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $51.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.97. iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF has a fifty-two week low of $38.54 and a fifty-two week high of $54.75.

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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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IEUR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:IEUR  Get Rating).

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Shares of iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF (BATS:FLOT  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $50.09 and last traded at $50.16, with a volume of 1663733 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $50.16.

iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF Stock Performance

The companys 50 day moving average price is $50.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.34.

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Institutional Trading of iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,404,196 shares of the companys stock worth $221,663,000 after purchasing an additional 202,349 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,586,597 shares of the companys stock worth $180,513,000 after purchasing an additional 234,085 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,127,833 shares of the companys stock worth $157,424,000 after purchasing an additional 478,850 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,876,329 shares of the companys stock worth $144,766,000 after purchasing an additional 293,833 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,495,722 shares of the companys stock valued at $126,084,000 after buying an additional 484,663 shares during the period.

About iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF

The iShares Floating Rate Bond ETF (FLOT) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in investment grade fixed income. The fund tracks a market value-weighted index of USD-denominated, investment-grade floating rate notes with maturities of 0-5 years. FLOT was launched on Jun 14, 2011 and is managed by BlackRock.

Further Reading

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iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (BATS:VLUE  Get Rating) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $89.75 and last traded at $89.23, with a volume of 348566 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.58.

iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.43.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mendel Money Management boosted its stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 4,590 shares of the companys stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Windsor Group LTD boosted its stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Windsor Group LTD now owns 10,689 shares of the companys stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. W Advisors LLC boosted its stake in iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 5,957 shares of the companys stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,469 shares of the companys stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Brinker Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brinker Capital Investments LLC now owns 20,153 shares of the companys stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period.

iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF Company Profile

The iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF (VLUE) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Enhanced Value index. The fund tracks an index of large- and mid-cap US equities. Stocks are selected and weighted using fundamental metrics (earnings, revenue, book value and cash earnings), aiming for exposure to undervalued stocks in each sector.

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Marino Stram & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (BATS:EFV  Get Rating) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,953 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,074 shares during the period. Marino Stram & Associates LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 34,582,730 shares of the companys stock worth $1,332,473,000 after acquiring an additional 598,860 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 39.5% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,753,655 shares of the companys stock worth $423,309,000 after acquiring an additional 2,760,210 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,846,123 shares of the companys stock worth $302,314,000 after acquiring an additional 524,270 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,394,416 shares of the companys stock worth $207,940,000 after acquiring an additional 201,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF by 35.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,425,997 shares of the companys stock worth $121,931,000 after acquiring an additional 634,757 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BATS EFV traded down $0.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.49. 2,688,967 shares of the company traded hands. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $48.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.27. The stock has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.86. iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF has a 12-month low of $49.15 and a 12-month high of $59.57.

iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Value Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Value Index. The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EFV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (BATS:EFV  Get Rating).

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Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN  Get Rating) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Olin from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Olin from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Olin from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on Olin from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Olin from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 30th.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other Olin news, Director Heidi S. Alderman sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $128,020.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Damian Gumpel sold 13,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.65, for a total transaction of $814,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,155 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,074,760.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Heidi S. Alderman sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.01, for a total value of $128,020.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Olin Price Performance

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OLN. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Olin during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Tobam purchased a new position in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.77% of the companys stock.

Shares of OLN opened at $51.84 on Monday. Olin has a 52-week low of $41.33 and a 52-week high of $67.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.38. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $58.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.28. The firm has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 5.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.47.

Olin (NYSE:OLN  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.01. Olin had a return on equity of 50.19% and a net margin of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. Olins revenue for the quarter was down 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Olin will post 5.53 EPS for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Olins dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.04%.

Olin Company Profile

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Olin Corp. engages in manufacturing of chemicals products. It operates through the following segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls, Epoxy, and Winchester. The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment manufactures and sells chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and vinylidene chloride, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products and potassium hydroxide.

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited (OTCMKTS:TSGTY  Get Rating) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a decrease of 66.7% from the February 28th total of 300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Tsingtao Brewery Stock Down 1.9 %

OTCMKTS TSGTY traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.03. 2,536 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103. Tsingtao Brewery has a 52-week low of $34.17 and a 52-week high of $52.60. The firms 50-day moving average is $50.07 and its 200-day moving average is $47.54.

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Profile

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Further Reading

Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, wholesale, and retail sale of beer products worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Shandong Region; South China Region; North China Region; East China Region; Southeast China Region; Hong Kong, Macau and Other Overseas Region; and Finance Company.

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Suncor Energy Inc. (TSE:SU  Get Rating) (NYSE:SU) has been given a consensus rating of Hold by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$53.82.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SU shares. Eight Capital raised Suncor Energy from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$43.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Suncor Energy from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Suncor Energy from C$52.00 to C$53.00 in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Suncor Energy from C$55.00 to C$54.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 30th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on Suncor Energy from C$52.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th.

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Suncor Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

SU opened at C$39.79 on Monday. Suncor Energy has a twelve month low of C$36.38 and a twelve month high of C$53.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 39.67, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$44.60 and a 200 day moving average price of C$43.89. The firm has a market cap of C$52.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.66.

Suncor Energy Announces Dividend

About Suncor Energy

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 24th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. Suncor Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.85%.

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Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada.

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Meghan Markle detests the Windsor Royal family and Britain with a vehemence, and is now embroiled in a dirty war to prove she is bigger than all who stand in her way.

Harry and Meghan lied about wanting to step back from public life, this was the main reason stipulated for leaving the royal family and UK. If they wanted a quiet life, why are they conducting massive PR moves in North America, launching vast website campaigns, trademarking the Sussex Royal name, getting paid vast sums of money by bankers for speeches and courting the paparazzi at every juncture?

Global domination is something at the heart of Meghans modus operandi.

Psychologist, Miriam Humbole, has analysed this dangerous woman and her vitriolic vendetta against a 1,000-year institution.

Essentially, Meghan Markle fuels her schizoid narcissistic ego every time she sees a headline about her vendetta against the British monarchy, simply because it makes her sound more important, especially when it is perceived that she is running rings around the Windsor family. Meghan left Britain for North America in a huff because she was not the centre of attention all the time, and her exile was more about power play than anything else.

Meghans sole focus right now is to make as much money as she can, and she will do this in the ruse of charity funding. The key factor is to virtue signal for charity, rake in cash, give about 2% to the actual cause, and keep the rest. This pump and dump strategy along with the paid speeches, as well as paid Oprah-like appearances will bring in millions, in order for Meghan Markle to maintain her lavish lifestyle.

The former Duchess of Sussex was never royal, but she knows she will have to use her son Archie to peddle for more money, and Harry who has royal blood. Markle does not in any way feel love for the former prince, and is only using him as a cash cow, which she will eventually discard for someone that actually turns her on. Conniving Meghan has a very good reason for leaving the UK, and extricating prince Harry  for a start, North American divorce laws will give her a majority stake in the upcoming divorce. Furthermore, the poor naive prince has been taken out of his comfort zone, he now has no advisors who really look out for him, and he has been taken away from the people who genuinely liked and cared for him. Psychologically, this will leave him even more vulnerable, and this is what Meghan is counting on, she wants him to act up, she wants him to be out of his depth as he realises how far he has fallen from grace and status, because thats when she will tighten the final screws, plotting with her calculating mother, she will get her way, soon.

We can only feel a great sadness and sorrow for prince Harry right now, as he will soon find out what the true repercussions are for marrying this evil conniving money grabbing grifter and her skin whitening concoctions, who actually detests black people in reality, but uses the race card at every opportunity. The only reason one whitens the skin from its actual dark state, is because you detest your own skin, as Meghan does. It is only a matter of time, how long can Meghan Markle keep up the charade of loving Harry when she can barely stand him day in day out? Eventually, she will reveal the true Meghan to Harry, which is a cold, loveless, calculating machine for greed, narcissism, power and money  nothing more.
LONDON - England - Simon Scowell, Piers Moron and some dozy bint pick a winner out of the talented Brits on display for turgid reality show Britain's Got Talent.

Simon Scowell, who is making another 100 million pounds from his latest talent show Britains Got Talent, has chosen this years winner for Britain.

Also sitting on the panel is the disgraced ex-newspaper editor Piers Moron, who quit after a massive share scandal a few years back. Why he chooses to surface now from under his rock is a total mystery.

The medium he has chosen to re-appear in however is not surprising at all.

Over the past six weeks they have whittled down the finalists from 400,000 hopefuls and after coming this far the finalists truly deserve their accolade.

The stage is set and the raw talent on show is truly astounding.

TV bosses have been amazed at the huge popularity of the show and the ratings reflect this massive interest.

The talent show had many great talents, and we have outlined a few of the great acts that were on display.

Up first for the final night were the Bracknell crew who are a very talented bunch of burglars and thieves.

They show their prowess by stealing 30 watches from the studio audience and the finale of their presentation culminates in beating an old lady over the head with her umbrella and calling her a slag.

Second place goes to the Leeds crew who can drinkf Aldi wine by the gallon.

They manage to drink 25 cartons each and still are able to hot wire a Ford Cortina.

Their wondrous presentation ends with the crew projectile vomiting over the audience.

The audience laps it all up and cheers them off-stage to rapturous applause.

Finally, we come to the first prize winner and Scowell with his fellow judges applaud furiously at the spectacle.

Its the Enfield massive, and they know their stuff. They are able to spot an Argos sovereign ring at twenty paces.

Simon Scowell hides a large sovereign ring in Piers Morons trousers and tells Moron to hide in the lighting rafters above.

Kev and Lee spot the sovereign ring even though obscured by lighting equipment. It is as if they have a sixth sense.

This genius magic trick is applauded by all and Simon Scowell gives it a full thumbs up.

The Enfield crew who won 10.50 will now have the additional accolade of performing in front of the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Britain sure has a lot of talented people this year and The Squib is very proud to be part of this great nations talent pool.
If you smoke enough of this shit, you definitely will think you are Jesus the Son of God and can perform miracles, one Bible scholar commented after toking on a large joint.

According to a team of Bible scholars from Colorado University, marijuana and cannabis oil were common place during the era of Jesus in Judea, and much of the population were whacked out on the stuff.

Like say I smoked three joints off the cuff, then rubbed cannabis oil all over my body and I was on a mountain. It is highly likely I would see a burning bush and hear it talking to me. I mean this shit is so strong you hallucinate with it. If you have schizoid tendencies, you might even hear the voice of God telling you you have to sacrifice your own son to prove your unquestionable allegiance to the God. For fucks sake man, if someone did this shit today they would put them away permanently in an asylumbut because in the days of little or no science and goat herders, they put it in a book and called it the word of God.

Cannabliss

Although the Christian Bible was written by unknown authors 400 years after the supposed events took place, it has been posited that many of the writers were on drugs too.

From the rhetoric of the Bible which was written during the fall of the Roman Empire and its transition to Christianity, many of the mystics that wrote the stories were on cannabis. It was a staple drug for many writers because it was good for the imagination. Writing while whacked out on ganja opens up avenues never before seen, so these people were going on about fables and mysteries of the era and expanding on them. There are no records of Jesus ever existing, even though the Romans were meticulous record keepers for taxation purposes. One must understand that Jesus is an amalgamation of many deities from the region, and at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, they really needed something to supersede the authority of the emperors.

It was not only cannabis that many mystics took at the time, but psychotropic hallucinogenic substances derived from certain cacti, and plants. Harmal, Peganum harmala, was used all across the Middle East, not only as a mystical tool for hallucination but as a remedy for many ailments.

Most world religions are derived from altered states of consciousness, and the root for many religions that still survive today comes from early shamanistic practices from early tribes who travelled the plains. These shamans ingested hallucinogenic plant derivatives and cannabis as an aid to acquiring an altered state of consciousness.

The process of grinding wild mushrooms, ingesting them then having an out of body hallucinogenic experience is as old as man itself. This dissociative state was seen as finding God. Basically, by taking mind altering drugs, man began to formulate their own religions from not only their surroundings but from their belief systems and expand upon these to create elaborate stories and religions. If you take enough drugs, you will see heaven, you will see hell and you will hear the words of God. Drugs are the channel to another state of awareness, and some say another dimension.
Fart enthusiasts, and connoisseurs have attended the museum since its opening in 1953, and this year, there is a celebration of 150 years of bottled farts, at the world renowned museum.

Situated in the leafy Brussels address of 41 Rue de la Loi, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium, international visitors to the museum number in the millions every year, to explore the fascinating world of farting.

Curator of the museum, Monsieur Connard Raseur, welcomes initiates to the world famous Fart Museum to enjoy the sounds and smells of farts dating back 150 years.

Brussels Sprouts

Today, we are celebrating 150 years of flatulation, or farts. We are truly honoured to have the president of the EU, Jean Claude Juncker, attend the celebration, where he will sniff a fart from 1937, and give us his verdict on its vintage quality. The EU grant of 350 million euros last year was greatly appreciated. We have also heard he is a particular expert in farting himself, and enjoys nothing more than to distribute cognac tempered Brussels sprout farts whilst in the EU Commission elevator filled with secretaries. Monsieur Juncker, will be invited to inter one of his famous farts as a special treat to visitors and many generations to come.

When one enters the fart museum they are instantly amazed at the amount of bottled farts exhibited.

We have bottled farts extending all the way back to 1868. Cest merveilleux. The fart from that particular year was preserved in quite a large bottle, and is still perfectly sniffable. According to our museum records it was presented to the museum by the family of a German gentleman of the era, his name, Heinrich Furz, is clearly written on the bottle label. His fart was preserved after he had ingested a meal of Konigsberger Klopse, some Spatzle, and a large portion of Stollen, washed down with copious amounts of strong Bavarian ale.

One of our most interesting farts is found from a bottle sealed and labelled in 1964. This vintage fart was produced from an old lady who at the time lived in a house on rue De Labreuvoir, where she sold her farts as an aphrodisiac to Parisian gentlemen frequenting the local bordel, where the filles de joie would work day and night. It is said that Pablo Picasso, was a particularly frequent visitor to the Madams salon where he sniffed away the peculiar aroma to his hearts content.

Visitors to the Fart Museum can also sniff vintage farts that are available on any particular day. For example on Tuesdays, the museum labels it ladies day, and tourists can sniff the female scented rosey farts backdated 150 years.

One visitor from Ohio, USA has visited the museum hundreds of times and is today sniffing a fart from 1945.

There was a certain aftertaste to the nasal palate. An austere aromatic almond smell, resonating with embellishments of beefy farmyard blackcurrant tones furnished with strains of hydrogen sulphide suggesting a smattering of bad eggs mixed slightly with the heady bouquet of chaptalised cats urine. One of the more unique farts I have smelled. Let me have a look at the bottle, ah, this one was siphoned from the asshole of a Vichy collaborator governmental official who had recently been captured after the second world war had ended. Marvelous, I would never have guessed.

To celebrate 150 years of farts, the museum is giving away a small bottle of vintage fart gas to every visitor who comes to the museum from the dates of 15 October to January 5th 2019. Tickets: 15 euros

Opening hours: 09.30-20.00 Monday-Friday, 11.20-15.00 Saturday-Sunday

Fart Museum (Musee de Peter), 41 Rue de la Loi, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
MONTECITO - USA - Meghan Markle the Duchess of Sussex has sent a letter of demand to the Queen demanding the English County of Sussex be moved to California.

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle has made a remarkable request to the Queen that has caused shockwaves through royal circles.

Too far away

Markle is now demanding that the Queen moves the whole county of Sussex to Montecito, California because she thinks Sussex is too far away from her new home in America.

Sussex has an illustrious history, created in the 5th Century, the county used to be its own Kingdom once, populated mostly by the Germanic Saxons.

Moving 1,460 square miles of Sussex to Montecito, California, USA, would be quite a logistical nightmare, however if Meghan has ordered it, what she wants is what she gets.

Our poor sovereign, Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II has capitulated to pretty much every demand that Meghan Markle, and the idiot have demanded, but this Sussex removal and relocation is simply the last straw.

On Thursday, the palace at Windsor received a communique from Meghan Markle demanding the relocation of the County of Sussex to America. In the bristling letter of demand, Markle proposed that dynamite separates Sussex from the British Isles, and a flotilla of 5,000 barges tied to the shoreline pull the Sussex land mass across the Atlantic Ocean.

The towing of Sussex across the Atlantic Ocean would take approximately six months, and eventually reach Californian waters in eight months time.

There was no mention of the people of Sussex in Markles demand, but it seems she does not give two figs about them anyway, so it is assumed they will all simply drown during the crossing.

It is not known how red the Queens cheeks became in hue, or how much steam came out of her ears when the Meghan Markle demand was read, but one servant who was present said something about beetroots later on.
A Computer Science master's student earned first place in Dalhousie's 3 Minute Thesis finals last week after winning the judges over with his presentation on combating stress with artificial intelligence.

More than 120 people showed up to cheer on this years 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) finalists as they took to the stage last Monday (March 20) to present their theses in bite-sized form.

Organized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), Dals annual 3MT competition challenges students in PhD and research-based masters programs to present their research to a non-specialist audience in three minutes or less for a chance to win cash prizes and compete at a regional level.

This year, 11 students participated in the 3MT finals, representing seven faculties across the university.

A grin-worthy win



In addition to taking home a $1,000 prize, Orji won the opportunity to compete at the 3MT regionals, which will be hosted by Dal this June and welcome competitors from across Eastern Canada.

He also gained a new sense of confidence in his work.

3MT was a wonderful experience, he says. It reinforced my belief in my ability to impact humanity positively using my tech skills.

During the finals, Orji impressed audience members with his presentation on using artificial intelligence to promote positive emotional responses in humans to help manage stress. With the encouragement and guidance of his supervisor, Rita Orji, associate professor at the Faculty of Computer Science, hes working on developing an app that will detect when users smile, allowing them to unlock and move objects across their devices screen. The goal is to trigger the brains natural response to smiling  the releasing of neuropeptides  which is said to reduce stress.

Knowing that there are too many life occurrences beyond our control that will stress us out, we need a new evidence-based approach for regulating emotions that is accessible, available, and affordable to everyone globally, he says. Stress affects everyone in the world, but not everyone can afford therapy or medication. My mission is to give people the power to fight off stress with a smile.

Runner ups



This year's 3MT final were hosted (for a fifth time) by Brett Ruskin, a CBC reporter and videojournalist. Judges for this year's competition were Rick Ezekiel, Dal's vice-provost student affairs, Theresa Rajack-Talley, Dal's vice-provost for equity and inclusion, and Kristan Hines, senior vice-president of corporate and public affairs at NATIONAL Public Relations.

Juliet Rowe, a masters student in Rehabilitation Research, and Saara Mansoor, a PhD student in Medical Neuroscience, also scored top spots in this years 3MT finals.

Placing second, Rowe earned a $500 prize with her presentation on the size-weight illusion and how it can be used to better understand learning through motor imagery.

Mansoor earned the third-place title and prize of $250 for her presentation on the connection between stress hormones and the prevention of brain injury complications. She also won the audience over with their votes, claiming the Peoples Choice Award valued at $250  generously sponsored by Estelle Joubert, assistant dean of FGS, and Paul Doerwald.

The remaining eight finalists each earned $100 prizes for their engaging presentations.

Sharing ideas with the world beyond university



The 3MT finals gave attendees a snapshot of the innovative work Dals graduate students are engaged in.

Masters and PhD students play an essential role in contributing to Dalhousies ambitious research mission. Their vital contributions allow the university to maintain its membership in Canadas U15 group of top research-intensive universities, said Frank Harvey, Dal's acting president and vice-chancellor.

Moreover, our graduate students are part of an exciting new generation of academics who are more committed than ever to sharing their knowledge outside the academy. The 3 Minute Thesis competition is a wonderful mentorship opportunity sponsored by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and supported by partners to help graduate students refine their presentation skills to help communicate their findings to a broader audience.

3MT finals judge Hines also sees the competition as an opportunity for professional development.

The competition challenges participants to share their research with the audience in a clear, concise, and compelling way. From presentations and funding applications to media pitching and job interviews, these are lifelong skills that will serve them well throughout their professional journey, she says.

Adam Donaldson, acting dean in FGS, attributes the success of the competition to its supporters.

Were incredibly grateful for all the support we received for this years 3MT competition, says Donaldson. From our brave competitors who stepped up to the challenge of sharing their research, to the audience members who showed up to cheer them on, to our judges tasked with the very difficult decision of selecting our 2023 winners, and to the rest of our supporters  we couldnt have done it without them.

See below for a complete list of this years 3MT finalists:



Sana Kashgouli, MSc in Computer Science

Juliet Rowe, MSc in Rehabilitation Research

Erin McConnell, MSc in Nursing

Saara Mansoor, PhD in Medical Neuroscience

Sofia Magana Lama, MASc in Biomedical Engineering

Olivia Crewe, MSc in Rehabilitation Research

Philemon Opoku Tontoh, MA in International Development Studies

Mohamed Ibrahim, Interdisciplinary PhD

Melina Markotjohn, MSc in Human Communication Disorders

Joseph Orji, MSc in Computer Science

Nuwanthi Samarasinghe, PhD in Oceanography
Al-Azhar Mosque. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Most noted bridge between India and ancient lands like Arab countries is Islam. Muslims of India since their arrival in Indian shores have maintained their relations with the land of Islams origin. Cities like Baghdad, Medina and Cairo have remained centres of learning for them and students from India still enroll themselves at seminaries and universities in these cities to gain expertise in Islamic laws and sciences. Al-Azhar Al-Sharif is an Islamic scientific body and the largest religious institution in Egypt. It has played a pivotal role in upholding and reforming Islamic laws. These reforms are adopted in letter and spirit by Indian Muslims too. Interestingly, almost all schools of thoughts of Indian Muslims follow Al Azhar edicts. A number of Indian ulema and students of Islamic sciences pursue their courses at Al Azhar University.

Its worth noting that the establishment of Al-Azhar took place at the hands of the Fatimids (970 AD). Since its inception, Al-Azhar along with its Quran experts (Mufassirin), hadith scholars (Muhaddithin), reformers (Muslihin), thinkers, leaders, and jurists (Muftis) in various departments of religious and modern sciences, is striving for the reformation of the Muslim Ummah, while promoting mutual brotherhood among all communities.

Al-Azhar has continued to evolve and promote the moderate methodology (Manhaj Mutadil) in Islamic theology without interruption since 975 CE. Notably, several Sunni and Sufi-oriented Indian Madrasas have an affiliation to the Al-Azhars educational programmes such as the 3-year courses in Usul al-Deen (genealogies of Islamic thought resources), Kulliya al-Shariah wal Qanun (faculty of jurisprudence and law) and Kulliya al-Dirasaat al-Islamia wal-Arabia (faculty of Islamic and Arabic studies). While this helps the ongoing process of cultural exchange and knowledge-sharing, it has also augured well for Indias second largest majority  the Indian Muslims. It was perhaps Shaikh al-Azhar (the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, a prestigious official position in Egypt) who coined the term Muwatin (meaning: equal citizens) for the religious minorities, and issued the fatwa that in Islam, minority communities must be treated fairly well and should not even be called minorities. This is an eye-opener for us Indian Muslims too. Instead of floating the idea of Muslim minoritism in India, we should rather strengthen the position of al-Azhar which regards every community as equal citizens (Muwatin).

The above example is one of many illustrations that explain the reform drive of Al Azhar and its ongoing and possible impact of Muslim theologians in India.

Notably, Al-Azhar Academy runs the World Academy for Training Mosque Imams, Preachers and Fatwa Researchers and offers training programmes through a 3-month crash course to the Ulema of various countries. The focal points of Al-Azhar in this course entitled, Tarbiyat-ul-Aaiymma (Training of Imams) include: preparing contemporary imams and muftis well equipped with the modern challenges, "Information Revolution" and an Islamic Perspective on "Moderation" (Eitidal) and Wasatiyyah  avoidance of extremism in Islamic approaches.

Every year, hundreds of Indian imams attend these courses. These courses focus on moderation and countering extremism. Ulema and imams from around the world are provided with precise training, efficiency and expertise in this crash course so they can be capable of tackling the modern issues in their social and cultural settings. There, they are anchored in a peaceful and moderate version of Islamic theology which helps them curb the intrasect Takfirism and promote the peaceful coexistence with people of other faiths. After the training at Al-Azhar, when they go back to their own countries, obviously they foster national integration, communal harmony, Muslim and non-Muslim relations based on humanity and nationality.

Inspired by Egypts al-Azhar and its vision of moderate methodology, many young Islamic scholars especially from the Sunni-Sufi tradition are trying to fight the sectarian disunity in the Indian Muslim community, particularly from a theological point of view.

Not only ulema and students from noted Sunni-Sufi seminaries, batches from Darul Uloom Deoband and Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, flock to Al Azhar to pick up lessons in moderate theology. This is the magic of Al Azhar.
Speaking during the satyagraha, TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy said that like the British East India Company, the Adani Group was trying to take over the resources of the country. (Photo: Twitter)

Hyderabad: The state Congress participated in the nationwide Sankalp Satyagraha to protest the disqualification of party leader Rahul Gandhi as an MP, by putting up an unprecedented show of unity at the Gandhi Bhavan here on Sunday. Many rebel leaders who had stayed away from the state party headquarters for long turned up for the protest.

Speaking during the satyagraha, TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy said that like the British East India Company, the Adani Group was trying to take over the resources of the country.

He said that on August 24, 1608, the British had landed at Surat ostensibly for business. They occupied the nation by 1757 and turned the people into slaves for 200 years.

"History is repeating as Adani, with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has slowly taken control of ports, airports and highways. Similar to the trust placed on British then, the people are trusting the Adani Group with active support from Modi and BJP, who will be repeating the same tactic," Revanth Reddy said.

The TPCC chief called upon the younger generation to understand how the British Janata Party would help the Adani Group devour the countrys wealth. "The new element is now the British Janata Party. We paid for negligence then and cannot afford a similar strike," he said.

Earlier, responding to queries from mediapersons, Revanth Reddy said that the party high command may decide on the en masse resignation of Congress MPs. "There is an ongoing debate within the party about MPs resigning. A decision in this direction will be taken after thorough discussions," he said.

At the Sankalp Satyagraha at Gandhi Bhavan, leaders like party MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and MLA T. Jagga Reddy, who had avoided visiting the Gandhi Bhavan for months, joined the programme, which also saw the rare presence of veteran leader K. Jana Reddy.

The party leadership expressed satisfaction over the way all the seniors stood united. Besides, the re-entry of former PCC president D. Srinivas gave a much-needed boost to the party.

"Rahul Gandhi, who tried to unite the nation, has turned an eyesore to the BJP leadership. It is high time that the BJP is taught a lesson. By standing united, everyone should strive hard to bring back the Congress back to power," said Venkat Reddy.

Jagga Reddy said the BJP had shown that it could stoop to such levels. "The BJP is afraid of the way Rahul Gandhi exposed it and hence, is conspiring to politically corner him," he said and added that Rahul Gandhi had rejected the Prime Ministers post when offered by Dr Manmohan Singh but Modi had ousted L.K. Advani.

Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the BJP government of orchestrating a drama to defend Modi from the simple question about the owner of the `20,000 crore that went to Adani's shell companies. He gave a timeline to link the defamation case verdict of the Surat court and Rahul Gandhis disqualification with his speech in the Lok Sabha against the Adani group.

"This lightning speed clearly shows that some forces were working behind to silence Rahul Gandhi," Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged.

The programme was attended by AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar, AICC Telangana incharge Manikrao Thakre, AICC secretaries Nadeem Javed and Rohith Chowdhary, MLAs D. Sridhar Babu, Seethakka, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, V. Hanumantha Rao, M. Anjan Kumar Yadav and Ponnam Prabhakar, among others.

As part of intensifying protests against the Union government, the party will be holding demonstrations at the district headquarters on Monday. On Tuesday, the protests will be organised in Assembly constituencies.
Five per cent of global attacks on critical infrastructure are on Indian locations: Microsoft report. (Representational Image/DC)

HYDERABAD: India accounts for five per cent of the global attacks on critical infrastructure by Iranian groups, which are becoming increasingly aggressive while targeting critical and non-critical infrastructures, according to the Microsoft Digital Defence Report-2022 (MDDR) which was released on March 21.

According to the report, India suffered 23 per cent distributed denial of services (DDoS) attacks  where fake traffic overwhelms a target website  second only after the United States, which bore 54 per cent of such attacks. In the second half of 2021, India saw just two per cent of all attacks.

The report attributed the alarming rise in attacks in Asia to the regions huge gaming footprint, especially in India, China, Japan and South Korea.

Terming ransomware and extortion as a national threat, the report said such attacks pose an increased danger to individuals as critical infrastructure, businesses of all sizes and state and local governments are targetted by criminals.

The report cited the May 2022 attack in India that led to flight delays and cancellations for one of Indias largest airlines.

The report also found that India, Israel, the UAE, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Japan were among the most frequently targeted by nation-state groups, with a particularly heavy focus on American and British enterprises.

Microsoft said it detected a spike in Iranian state actors targeting IT companies based in India in August-September 2021.

Australia, Chile, the European Union (EU), Japan, Singapore, the UK and the United States, have developed, updated, or implemented cross-sector or sector-specific cyber-security requirements.

"Others like India and Switzerland have already issued or are developing cyber-security incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure and essential service providers," it said.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. (Photo: Twitter/@BRSparty)

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday announced that the BRS will contest the upcoming panchayat samithis and zilla parishad elections in Maharashtra, marking the party's foray into electoral politics outside Telangana for the first time after the TRS rebranded itself.

When speaking to a large gathering in Kandhar Loha in Nanded on Sunday, Rao launched a scathing attack on Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, demanding that the government adopt the Telangana development model and the pro-farmer schemes that are being implemented here.

He threatened to launch protests in Maharashtra if the government failed to introduce Telangana-style pro-farmer schemes.

Rao has challenged the Maharashtra government to restrict his movement in the state, claiming that as a citizen of the country he has the right to visit any part of India campaigning for farmers' concerns and rights. Further, Rao vowed to continue touring Maharashtra until farmer-friendly schemes were implemented.

"Fadnavis remarked that I should take care of Telangana, and that what business I have in Maharashtra. I want to make it clear to him that I am an Indian citizen and I have work everywhere. If Fadnavis assures he will to implement the Telangana model of giving Rs 10,000 per acre per year, 24x7 free quality power, free irrigation water supply, Rs 5 lakh insurance coverage to farmers and purchasing all the foodgrains for MSP, I will stay away. If Fadnavis assures me to fulfill these five issues raised by me, I will not come to Maharashtra," Rao stated.

The CM stated that his first visit to Nanded last month on February 6 had resulted in the Maharashtra government earmarking `6,000 per acre per farmer in the Budget, and that they will get more such benefits if they support and strengthen the BRS in the sstate.

But, he said, this was insufficient. "It's like throwing water on a fire. We want farmers in Maharashtra to be given financial assistance of `10,000 per acre every year, as the Telangana government does. I've only been here once, and the Maharashtra Budget included a provision to provide each farmer `6,000 per year. Why had this not been done before? You will receive additional benefits as I visit here in the coming days," Rao promised, drawing applause from the audience.

The CM blamed the successive Congress and the BJP governments at the Centre for the plight of farmers and people. "In the last 75 years of Independence, the Congress ruled for 54 years and the BJP for 16 years. Other parties ruled for five years in between. Both the Congress and the BJP failed to utilise the country's abundant natural resources. They miserably failed in ensuring adequate power and irrigation to farmers despite abundant availability of water and coal in the country," he remarked.

Stating that Telangana's condition was even worse than Maharashtra at the time of the formation of the state in 2014, Rao said, "Farmers were dying by suicide in Telangana in large numbers. But we launched several welfare schemes and made agriculture profitable. If Telangana can improve, why can a state like Maharashtra which has more resources, cannot improve? There is no dearth of dhan (money) in Maharashtra. But there is a dearth of 'mann' (heart)."

Reiterating the BRS slogan of Ab Ki Bar, Kisan Sarkar slogan, Rao appealed to the people to ensure a change in the Central government in 2024.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah. (Photo: PTI)

BIDAR: Union home minister Amit Shah raised the political heat in poll-bound Karnataka and adjacent Telangana by slamming both the Congress and the K.Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS government for "hesitating" to celebrate the Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 and for failing to remember those who fought and sacrificed their lives to liberate Hyderabad from the clutches of the "brutal Nizam rule".

Shah, who inaugurated a martyrs memorial in Gorata in Karnataka's Bidar, where 200 people were massacred by the Razakar militia, stated that after the BJP is re-elected in Karnataka and the grand memorial is built, the party will celebrate the next Hyderabad Liberation Day at Gorata.

"The people of Hyderabad state were crushed under the Nizam rule even after India got independence from the British," he said. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi respected the aspirations of Telangana people and decided to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day every year," he said.

He was addressing a large public gathering after inaugurating the memorial at what is called the "Jallianwala Bagh of South India", unveiling a statue of the first home minister late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Shah and hoisting a 103-feet high National Flag at Gorata in Bidar.

Shah stated that 200 people were massacred on May 9, 1948. It was an important day for an "emotional person like him" because the "ruthless army of Nizam butchered hundreds of people" for hoisting a 2.5 ft Tricolour.

Despite the massacre, the Congress had never remembered those who fought and sacrificed their lives for Hyderabad liberation only for its greed for vote bank. "Today, I can proudly proclaim that I hoisted the 103-feet Tricolour, which no one can ever reach," Shah remarked.

Paying his tributes to Sardar Patel, Shah stated that without Patel, Hyderabad would not have been liberated. "The Telangana government is hesitating to celebrate the Hyderabad Liberation Day (September 17), but the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership has decided to celebrate the day in a grand manner," Shah added.

He said that the BJP had celebrated it last year in Telangana and this year too they will celebrate the day.

Shah recalled that eight years ago he had visited the place as BJP president and laid the foundation for the martyrs memorial with a direction to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha workers to build it. He said he was pleased that eight years later, he had got the opportunity to inaugurate it.

Shah said a BJP government in Karnataka would build a grand memorial costing Rs 50 crore.
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy did not act against nearly 40 legislators who showed poor performances in the party's recent Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam mass campaign programme. (File photo: DC)

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has started a mission reparation in the ruling YSR Congress to weed out the rebels and coverts, as he gets the party set for the next assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

He acted tough for the first time by suspending such MLAs to strengthen the party and achieve his aim of winning all the assembly seats under the slogan of Why Not 175.

Jagan Reddy did not impose any disciplinary action on his 23 MLAs who had changed loyalties to the Telugu Desam while the YSRC was in the opposition. He continued the same policy after coming into power, as in the case of K Raghurama Krishnam Raju MP, who revolted against him.

The chief minister also did not act against nearly 40 legislators who showed poor performances in the partys recent Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam mass campaign programme.

Now, however, Jagan as president of the YSRC started acting tough, which yielded good results by curtailing rebel activities and defections in the party.

TD leaders have claimed that 40 YSRC MLAs are "dissidents" and are ready to come out of the party.

During the MLA quota MLC elections, TD chief Chandrababu Naidu claimed that 16 ruling party legislators were in touch with TD leadership and would be supporting the TD candidate. However, other than the two past rebels Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy and Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, two YSRC legislators voted for TD in the MLC elections. This resulted in the defeat of ruling party candidate Kola Guruvulu.

The YSRC high-command immediately plunged into action and found out who these two were. They were Dr Vundavalli Sridevi and Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, who broke ranks and voted for TD.

Notably, during Chandrababu Naidus government, 23 YSRC MLAs had joined TD. Of them, four became ministers and they severely criticised Jagan. They continued as YSRC MLAs in the assembly as Jagan Reddy did not take any action against them.

Similarly, Jagan did not take disciplinary action against MP Raghurama Krishnam Raju for his revolt. He only complained to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking action against Raju under the anti-defection law. However, he was not disqualified as an MP. The same no action response from Jagan Reddy continued in the context of the internal rebellion by Sridhar Reddy and Ramanarayana Reddy.

Notably, all the rebels including MP Raghurama Krishnam Raju continued claiming themselves to be YSRC MP or MLA without any fear of disciplinary action from the partys side.

After the present MLC elections, senior party leaders discussed the seriousness of the matter with the CM and he decided to initiate action against the four rebels. Suspension orders were issued by the YSRC immediately.

The speculations of another 20 to 40 MLAs leaving the YSRC were rife due mainly to lack of stern action from the party against such rebels so far. The sudden toughening of Jagans stand is also a warning to such Jumping Jacks.

Analysts say Jagan doesnt mince words when he interacts with his party leaders, unlike Chandrababu Naidu, who tries to be diplomatic while dealing with his party leaders.

In the last few party meetings, Jagan has been openly expressing his opinions on the performance of the party MLAs and giving them rankings. Jagan had repeatedly cautioned the two dozen poor-performing legislators about chances of them losing party tickets for the next polls. This helped some of them to better their performances. Some weak leaders opted for alternatives and started revolting against the party line, analysts noted.

YSRC general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said Jagan even offered alternatives to the leaders who would be unable to get tickets. "Yet these legislators changed sides in lieu of money offered by Chandrababu Naidu."
The opposition parties which participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction). Trinamool Congress MPs also participated in the meeting which came as a huge development following Rahul Gandhi's suspension as MP from Lok Sabha. ANI

New Delhi: In the pre-lunch session, the Opposition MPs, wearing black clothes to protest against Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Lok Sabha, created a ruckus over the Adani issue and the governments disinclination to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the issue.

In a first in this session, the Trinamul Congress (TMC) on Monday attended a Congress-led Opposition strategy meet and was also part of the protest against the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhis disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP. "The BJP has crossed the line. Democracy, Parliament, federalism and the Constitution have to be saved. The Opposition is united in this cause. Its also about graciousness on all sides," said Derek OBrien, TMC parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha. But instead of the TMCs floor leaders, two of its MPs were in attendance at both events. After Rahul Gandhi was disqualified, West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said that Opposition leaders have become the "prime targets of the BJP".

The meeting discussed the way forward on the Adani issue and the aftermath of Rahul Gandhis disqualification from the Lok Sabha. The Congress has already done a nationwide satyagraha on Sunday. At the moment, legal documents are being prepared by Gandhis legal team.

Almost all Opposition parties expressed solidarity with Gandhi.

Leaders from DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, NCP, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, NC and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, met at Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharges chamber in the morning.
Razole MLA Rapaka Varaprasad. (Photo: Facebook)

KAKINADA: Ever since the ruling YSR Congress suffered humiliation in the MLC elections by losing a seat to TD nominee P Anuradha, allegations fly around that bribes of Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore were offered to YSRC MLAs to do cross-voting in favour of TD.

Adviser to state government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy made the allegation first. Razole MLA Rapaka Varaprasad, who was elected on Jana Sena symbol and later switched his allegiance to the ruling YSRC, followed this up with a vague claim on Sunday that he was offered Rs 10 crore to vote in favour of Anuradha. He quickly changed this version to "some financial help"

He told a YSRC workers meeting at Antarvedi that the Undi TD MLA Manthena Rama Raju made the offer to his friend KS Raju of Malkipuram. "KS Raju made it clear that I am an honest politician and hence he will not broach the subject with me," he claimed.

Varaprasad claimed, "I would have been richer by Rs 10 crore if I had succumbed to the offer from TD. But I will not do such things." This video became viral in social media. Later, Varaprasad "clarified" that the TD MLA did not offer a particular amount to him. "TD MLA Rama Raju promised that the TD would help me financially and ensure me a good political future if I voted for the TD candidate. I simply refused his offer."

Varaprasad said the TD MLA made the offer while he was in the assembly lobby. Meanwhile, MLA Rama Raju laughed away the claim of the Razole MLA. "He had already switched his allegiance from Jana Sena to YSRC," Rama Raju pointed out.

Rama Raju told Deccan Chronicle that he did not meet Varaprasad with any such offer. "TD already has 23 MLAs. So why should we seek votes from other parties? Varaprasad is making such claims to improve his image and gain some political clout with the ruling party," he said.

The TD MLA said he knew KS Raju and many more Rajus in Bhimavaram. "I exchanged pleasantries with him in the assembly lobby."
A suicide attack on Monday not far from Afghanistan's foreign ministry killed six civilians and wounded several others, the interior ministry said.

The attacker was targeted by Afghan forces but the explosives he carried detonated and "killed six civilians and wounded a number of others", ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor tweeted.
The US government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued on Monday by President Joe Biden.

The order responds to growing US and global concerns about programs that can capture text messages and other cellphone data. Some programs  so-called zero-click exploits  can infect a phone without the user clicking on a malicious link.

Governments around the world  including the US  are known to collect large amounts of data for intelligence and law enforcement purposes, including communications from their own citizens. The proliferation of commercial spyware has made powerful tools newly available to smaller countries, but also created what researchers and human-rights activists warn are opportunities for abuse and repression.

Also Read | Threats in the cyberspace: Critical systems at risk

The White House released the executive order in advance of its second summit for democracy this week. The order demonstrates the United States' leadership in, and commitment to, advancing technology for democracy, including by countering the misuse of commercial spyware and other surveillance technology, the White House said in a statement.

Biden's order, billed as a prohibition on using commercial spyware that poses risks to national security, allows for some exceptions.

The order will require the head of any US agency using commercial programmes to certify that the programme doesn't pose a significant counterintelligence or other security risk, a senior administration official said.

Among the factors that will be used to determine the level of security risk is if a foreign actor has used the programme to monitor US citizens without legal authorization or surveil human rights activists and other dissidents.

It is intended to be a high bar but also includes remedial steps that can be taken ... in which a company may argue that their tool has not been misused, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under White House ground rules.

The White House will not publish a list of banned programs as part of the executive order, the official said.

John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab who has long studied spyware, credited the Biden administration for trying to set new global standards for the industry.

Most spyware companies see selling to the US as their eventual exit path," Scott-Railton said. The issue is the US until now hasn't really wielded its purchasing power to push the industry to do better.

Congress last year required US intelligence agencies to investigate foreign use of spyware and gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the power to ban any agency from using commercial programmes.

Also Read | Just 24% of companies surveyed in India ready to defend cybersecurity threats: Cisco study

Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a committee hearing last year that commercial spyware posed a very serious threat to our democracy and to democracies around the world. He said Monday the new order would be a critical tool" that should be followed by other democracies taking steps against spyware.

It's a very powerful statement and a good tool, but alone it won't do the trick," he said.

Perhaps the best known example of spyware, the Pegasus software from Israel's NSO Group, was used to target more than 1,000 people across 50 countries, according to security researchers and a July 2021 global media investigation, citing a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers.

The US has already placed export limits on NSO Group, restricting the company's access to US components and technology.

Officials would not say if US law enforcement and intelligence agencies currently use any commercial spyware. The FBI last year confirmed it had purchased NSO Group's Pegasus tool for product testing and evaluation only, and not for operational purposes or to support any investigation.

White House officials said Monday they believe 50 devices used by US government employees, across 10 countries, had been compromised or targeted by commercial spyware.

Despite NSO's assertions that the program is supposed to be used to counter terrorism and crime, researchers found the numbers of more than 180 journalists, 600 politicians and government officials, and 85 human rights activists.

Pegasus use was most commonly linked to Mexico and countries in the Middle East. Amnesty International has alleged Pegasus was installed on the phone of Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee just four days before the journalist was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. NSO has denied the allegation that its software was used in connection with Khashoggi's murder.

The family of Paul Rusesabagina, credited with saving more than 1,200 lives during the Rwandan genocide, a story depicted in the movie Hotel Rwanda, has also alleged it was targeted by spyware. Rusesabagina was lured back to Rwanda under false pretenses and jailed on terrorism charges before his release last week. Rwanda has denied using commercial spyware.
Nepal on Monday put fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in the country, on its surveillance list after India requested it not to allow him to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

The Department of Immigration has put Singh on its surveillance list following a request from the Indian Embassy here, officials said.

"We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal," said Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department.

Also Read | Khalistan 2.0: How Amritpal's vision got this far

"The Indian Embassy has sent the note asking the Department to put Singh, a member of a separatist group, on the surveillance list," Pandey said.

It was suspected that he had entered Nepal and was hiding somewhere around.

There was no immediate confirmation about the letter from the Indian mission here.

Earlier, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported that in a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal.

"Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it.

"The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission, it said.

Also Read | Another aide detained under NSA, fresh Amritpal Singh photo surfaces

The letter and Singh's personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources.

Singh, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him.

The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area.

Citing ministry sources, My Republica newspaper said that the instruction was given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on 'high alert' for two days.

Quoting sources, the report said that police in plain clothes have stepped up vigilance in the border area as Singh could enter the country from Kapilvastu in Western Nepal.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and his wife Rajshree became proud parents of a baby girl in New Delhi on Monday.

While announcing the news on social media, Yadav shared a photograph holding the baby in his arms with a caption -- God has sent a gift in the form of a baby girl.

According to sources, the family will organise an event to welcome the newest member.

Notably, former Bihar Chief Minister and Union Railway minister Lalu Prasad's family has been facing action from central agencies for the past few weeks in connection with the land-for-job scam. Tejashwi was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for nine hours on Saturday. A few days ago, the central agency had raided his New Friends Colony residence in New Delhi.

The family had claimed that the ED officials had forced Rajshree to sit at one place for 15 hours despite being pregnant and having blood pressure issues. Soon after the raid, she was admitted to a hospital.
In a bid to blunt BJPs attack and to send a message to its cadre that it has not diluted its stand, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Monday did not attend a dinner meeting called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss Parliament floor strategy in protest against Rahul Gandhis anti-Savarkar remarks.

Sena leaders said it would not be prudent for them not to send a message on this plank, though it is unlikely to rock the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, as its primary battle is against the attack on democracy. It, however, wants Rahul also to not get distracted on such issues.

While Sena (Thackeray) MPs attended the meeting called by Kharge in the morning as well as the joint Opposition protest during the day, sources said the leadership decided to send a message that it was not piping down on Savarkar issue by not attending the dinner meeting.

Read | Maharashtra Assembly: BJP, Shiv Sena members target Rahul Gandhi over Savarkar remarks

For Sena (Thackeray), the BJP and Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were breathing down their neck and taunting them whether it had changed its stand on Savarkar. Also, the leadership has acknowledged the resentment among the cadre for not countering Rahuls attack on Savarkar.

The latest one from Rahul was on Saturday when he said he was a Gandhi and not Savarkar to apologise for his remarks. During his Bharat Jodo Yatra too, Rahul had attacked Savarkar, the Hindutva ideologue.

Through an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', Sena (Thackeray) also advised Rahul that his attack on Savarkar would lead to ebbing of sympathy he has gained due to his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP. The truth, which Gandhi is fighting for today, will not win by making defamatory statements against Savarkar, it said.

On Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray said he considers Savarkar as his "idol" while asking Rahul to refrain from "insulting" him while emphasising that the MVA was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

Sources said Thackeray's remarks and the editorial indicated that the party would not precipitate a crisis in the alliance.
The BJP on Monday slammed the Congress, asking it to "do serious introspection" and ponder over what is acceptable in a political and legal system.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's comments came amidst escalated agitation by the Congress over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha and the Adani issue.

"They really deserve to do some serious introspection," Puri said when asked about the Congress observing 'black day' on Monday, a day after their party's 'Satyagraha' protests at the Rajghat.

"You know the lines of propriety, what is acceptable in the political system, the legal system. He (Rahul Gandhi) has been convicted by a court. Then, there are automatic procedures," he said, alluding to Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP after being convicted by a Surat court for his remark in 2019.

Also Read  Dressed in black, Oppn MPs protest over Adani issue

"And, then to bring in this kind of melodramatics? I mean people of India will judge them for what they are," the minister added.

Puri also slammed the Gandhis for invoking Lord Ram and Savarkar in their arguments.

"The other day he said 'I will not apologise because I am not Savarkar'. Do you know the contribution of people like Savarkar ji?. You are getting, as I said, getting an ass to run a horse's race," he told reporters in Parliament complex.

With Opposition MPs continuing with their protest in Parliament complex, BJP members also staged a counter protest over the alleged insult to Savarkar and OBC by Gandhi.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said Rahul Gandhi cannot be "Veer Savarkar" even in his "best dreams" as the freedom fighter never stayed abroad for months together neither he sought help from foreigners against his own country.

It requires strong determination and love for the country to become V D Savarkar, he added.

"Rahul Gandhi very rightly said that he wasn't Savarkar," Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.

"If Rahul actually wishes to know Savarkar, then he must go to the Andaman Jail and spend time there to realise who Savarkar actually was and the kind of sacrifices he made," he added.

Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy alleged that the Congress leader doesn't understand what he says. Gandhi has been disqualified as Lok Sabha MP following a court's verdict due to "such speeches", he said.

"What can we do when he still doesnt mend his ways," he added.

Raising the pitch against the BJP over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Congress held protests across the country on Sunday, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday accusing the government of "trying to silence" a "martyr's son" for raising the voice of people.

Countering the BJP's charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted the OBCs with his remark for which he has been convicted in a criminal defamation case, Priyanka Gandhi had asked how a leader whose family has "given its blood to nurture democracy" and who has walked thousands of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity could insult the country or a certain community.

She hit out at the BJP over the allegation of dynastic politics.

"How much will you insult one person?" Priyanka said and asked if Lord Ram, who was sent into exile, was a "parivaarwadi".

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said Gandhi was being attacked for asking questions about industrialist Gautam Adani, who she alleged was being protected by the entire ruling establishment.

"Take me to jail but the truth is this country's prime minister is a coward. He is hiding behind his power and (he) is arrogant. But this country's tradition is that people reply to an arrogant king," Priyanka said.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Gujarat government on a plea by Bilkis Bano against remission granted to 11 persons serving life term after being convicted of her gang-rape and murders of her family members.

Terming the offence as "horrendous", it maintained the court would not be "overwhelmed by emotions" and decide the matter on the basis of law only.

Taking up a batch of matters, including of Bano, a new bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna also sought to know whether standards of law have been applied uniformly here as there are other cases where murder convicts are still languishing in jail.

At the outset, the bench said the court would like to know the entire gamut of issues, which would aid in knowing the framework within which the issues have to be considered.

Advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Bano, submitted that the state, in Maharashtra, where the trial was held should decide on the remission of the convicts and not the state where the offence was committed.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing one of the petitioners, contended that the trial judge said no remission should be granted and also the CBI said that remission should not be given, yet they were released.

On this, the bench sought to know as how many years each accused had spent in jail.

A counsel, representing one of the convicts, said over 15 years and 14 years is the requirement for consideration under the Gujarat government remission policy. However, it was contested by a counsel, representing one of the petitioners. Grover informed the court, while on parole, another case of molestation of a woman was charged against one of them and this was completely ignored while granting remission.

Advocate Rishi Malhotra on behalf of the convicts contended the top court had previously held that the Gujarat government can decide remission pleas on the basis of the 1992 policy. He also said five writ petitions filed by different social activists, including by former CPI(M) MP, had to be dismissed as they don't have locus standi in criminal matters.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A M Singhvi, however, opposed his plea.

The court issued notice in all petitions and fixed it for a hearing on April 18.

The bench also asked the parties involved in the matter to complete the pleadings by the next date of hearing and also asked the state government as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs to be ready with the relevant files connected with granting remission to the convicts on the next date of hearing.

In August 2022, all 11 convicts were granted remission by the state government, creating outrage across the country.

In May 2022, the apex court had ruled that the Gujarat government can consider the remission request of the convicts.

In November 2022, Bilkis Bano, the victim of gang rape during the 2002 Gujarat riots, herself approached the court against the state government's decision of premature release of 11 men sentenced to life term, contending it was "one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality, persuaded by hate towards a particular community".
The Supreme Court will hear on March 27 a batch of pleas challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case that also involves the killing of seven members of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna will hear the pleas filed by several political and civil rights activists, and a writ petition filed by Bano.

On March 22, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had directed the matter for urgent listing and had agreed to constitute a new bench to hear the batch of pleas.

Also Read  SC agrees to constitute special bench to hear Bilkis Bano's plea against remission to convicts in gang-rape case

On January 4, a bench comprising justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the petition filed by Bano and the other pleas. However, Justice Trivedi recused from hearing the case without citing any reason.

Bano had moved the apex court on November 30 last year challenging the "premature" release of 11 lifers by the state government, saying it has "shaken the conscience of society".

Besides the plea challenging the release of the convicts, the gang-rape survivor had also filed a separate petition seeking a review of the apex court's May 13, 2022, order on a plea by a convict. The review plea was later dismissed in December last year.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15 last year.

The victim, in her pending writ petition, has said the state government passed a "mechanical order" completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

"The en-masse premature release of the convicts in the much talked about case of Bilkis Bano has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country," she has said.

Referring to past verdicts, the plea said en-masse remissions are not permissible and, moreover, such a relief cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.

"The present writ petition challenging the decision of the state/central government granting remission to all the 11 convicts and releasing them prematurely in one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality," it said.

The plea, which gave minute details of the crime, said Bano and her grown-up daughters were "shell-shocked with this sudden development".

"When the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated," it said.

The top court is seized of PILs filed by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, Revati Laul, an independent journalist, Roop Rekha Verma, who is a former vice chancellor of the Lucknow University, and TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the release of the convicts.

Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court.

A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gang-rape of Bano and murder of seven members of her family.

Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15, last year, after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea of the Tamil Nadu government against a Madras High Court order allowing the RSS to hold marches in the state.

A bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal reserved the verdict, after state government counsel Mukul Rohatgi argued there cannot be an absolute right to hold marches just as there cannot be an absolute ban on taking out such processions.

During the hearing, he submitted, "Can there be a vested right to hold processions, wherever an organisation wants? State government has allowed RSS to take out marches in particular routes, while directing the organisation to hold such marches indoors in other areas. It was done to maintain public order and tranquillity".

Also Read | 'Be ready with files': SC notice to Centre, Gujarat govt on Bilkis Bano's plea against remission of convicts

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the RSS, said the right to assemble peacefully without arms under Article 19(1)(b) cannot be curtailed in the absence of a very strong ground.

He questioned the ban imposed by the government on the RSS to carry out marches in some areas on the ground that the Popular Front of India was also recently banned.

"Not a single incident of violence was reported from the areas, where these marches were carried out," Jethmalani said, adding that members of the RSS were attacked where they were sitting peacefully.

"The fact that a banned, terrorist outfit continued to attack members of the organisation with impunity is a matter of grave concern. It is embarrassing, especially when the state government should be cracking down on the PFI and allied organisations even more stringently. But, either they cannot control this, or they don't want to control this, because their sympathies are with the PFI," he said.

Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, also appearing for the RSS, submitted that the right of any group to peacefully assemble and to march cannot be curtailed unless there are well-founded reasons for escalations of hostilities.

The bench, after hearing the arguments, said it will pass an order on the plea of the state government.

On March 17, the top court had deferred the hearing on the plea of the state government challenging the High Court order after it was told that the state had filed a fresh appeal challenging the original order, dated September 22, 2022, that directed the Tamil Nadu Police to consider the RSS representation and grant permission to conduct the programmes without conditions.

On March 3, the Tamil Nadu government had told the top court that it is not completely opposed to allowing the RSS' route marches and public meetings across the state on March 5 but cited intelligence reports to say these cannot be held in every street or locality.

The state government sought some time to come up with a list of routes for the march.

Rohatgi had earlier told the court that the state will try to work out a solution and decide the routes it wanted the processions to take by then.

Counsel for the RSS has submitted that the state has allowed similar events by organisations like the 'Dalit Panthers' but the RSS was being singled out for harsh treatment.

The RSS, he has said, was allowed to conduct marches in six districts which it did. However, it has been asked to hold the event in enclosed spaces in 42 places.

The state government, in its earlier plea before the top court, said the route march will pose a law and order problem and sought a stay on the high court order.

Setting aside the order passed on November 4, 2022 by a single judge bench which had imposed conditions on the proposed state-wide route marches asking the RSS to hold the events indoor or in enclosed space, a division bench had restored the order dated September 22, 2022 which directed the Tamil Nadu Police to consider the RSS' representation and grant permission to conduct the programmes without conditions.

Accordingly, it had directed the RSS to approach the state authorities with three different dates of their choice for the purpose of holding the route march/peaceful procession and the state authorities were asked to grant permission to them on one of the chosen dates.

Also, the RSS was asked to ensure strict discipline and make sure there is no provocation or incitement on their part during the marches.

Challenging the single judge order, the RSS had sought a direction to the authorities to permit their members to hold the procession wearing their uniform throughout the state.

The organisation had earlier sought permission for the route march to commemorate the 75th year of Independence, the birth centenary of Bharat Ratna B R Ambedkar and Vijayadasami festival on October 2, 2022.
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Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V., Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Ergo, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Founders Intelligence, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Headspring, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Technology Ltd, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, ItSafer Continuity Services S.L., JKD Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, K Comms Group Limited, KSC Studio LLC, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, King James Group, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Limited, Kogentix Singapore Pte Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LINKBYNET Indian Ocean (L.I.O) Ltd, LabAnswer, Lexta GmbH, Lexta UK Limited, Lien par le reseau Inc, Lien par le reseau infrastructures Inc, Lin Bo (Shanghai) Network Technology Co. Ltd., Link By Net SAS, Link By Net SRL, Link By Net Vietnam Company Limited, Linkbynet East Asia Ltd, Linkbynet Singapore Pte Ltd., Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, Lumenup S.A., MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision LLC, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte Ltd, Mackevision UK Limited, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd, Maihiro, Matter, Maud Corp Pty Ltd, Maxamine International, Measuretek LLC, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing LLC, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mistral Wind Operations  Servicos Empresariais Unipessoal Lda., MobGen, Mortgage Cadence LLC, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, Mudano Limited, Myrtle Consulting Group LLC, N3, N3 (Dalian) Business Consulting Co. Ltd., N3 Brazil Consultoria em Marketing Ltda, N3 Germany GmbH, N3 LLC, N3 North America LLC, N3 Results Australia Pty Ltd, N3 Results Ireland Limited, N3 Results Japan G.K., N3 Results Limited, N3 Results Malaysia Sdn Bhd, N3 Results Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., N3 Results S.A.S., N3 Results Singapore Pte Ltd, N3 Results Unipessoal Lda, NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Nell'Armonia Israel Ltd, Nell'Armonia SAS, Nell'Participation SAS, NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda, New Energy Group, News Imaging LLC, NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage Pte Ltd, Northstream, Novetta Holdings LLC, Novetta LLC, Novetta Solutions LLC, Novetta Topco LLC, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Olikka Pty Ltd, Olympus Systems Corporation, Openmind, Openmind S.r..l., Openminded, Openminded SAS, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium AG, Orbium Consulting Limited, Orbium Inc., Orbium Ltd, Orbium Pte Ltd, Orbium Pty Ltd, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PLM Systems S.r.l, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, PacificLink Group, Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production A/S, Pegasus Production K/S, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pollux Automation Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pollux Canada Inc, Pollux S.A.S., Pollux USA LLC, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Limited, Pramati Technologies Europe Limited, Pramati Technologies Private Limited, Presence of IT Workforce Management North America LLC, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Limited, Procurian Inc., Prof. Homburg GmbH, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co. Ltd., RBCP Fund 1-A Vapor Blocker LLC, RBCP Platform Vapor Blocker I LLC, REPL Consulting LLC, REPL Consulting Limited, REPL Digital Limited, REPL Group K.K., REPL Group Pty Ltd, REPL Group Worldwide Limited, REPL Pte Ltd, REPL Software Limited, REPL Technology Limited, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Root LLC, Rothco, Rothco Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Salt Solutions, Sandbox Studio LLC, Sapling Bidco Limited, Sapling Midco Limited, Sapling Topco Limited, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Search Technologies BPO Inc, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Securiview SAS, Sentelis, Sentor Managed Secuirty Services AB, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Seven Seas Business Ventures LLC, Shackleton, Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton S.L.U., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., SigInt Technologies LLC, Silveo, Silveo Consulting India Private Limited, Simian Pty Ltd, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., Sirvart S.A., Sistemes Consulting S.L., Skylink SAS, Soltians Limited, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Somers Ventures Ireland Limited, Somers Ventures LLC, Spacelink SAS, Storm Digital, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Synership LLC, Systor AG, T.A. Cook, TXF LLC, Tambourine, TargetST8, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Ltd, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Tquila, Trivadis, Trivadis AG, Trivadis Austria GmbH, Trivadis Denmark AS, Trivadis Germany GmbH, Trivadis Holding AG, Trivadis Partner AG, Trivadis Services AG, Trivadis Services SRL, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Vector Acquisition Company LLC, Vector Topco LLC, Verax Solutions, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd, Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, WaveStrike LLC, White Cliffs Consulting LLC, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wise Partners SAS, Wolox, Wolox Colombia S.A.S, Wolox LLC, Wolox Mexico S.R.L de C.V., Wolox S.A., Wolox SpA, Workforce Insight, Workforce Insight LLC, Yesler, Yesler LLC, Yesler Limited, Yesler Singapore Pte Ltd, Zag, Zag Australia Pty Ltd, Zag Limited, Zag USA LLC, Zebra Worldwide Australia Pty Ltd, Zebra Worldwide Group Limited, Zebra Worldwide Media Pty Ltd, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines Inc, Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc, Zestgroup, Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, solid-serVision.com GmbH, and umlaut.

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The Charles Schwab Corporation is a financial services company that offers a wide range of investment services, including brokerage, banking, and financial advisory services. Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Westlake, Texas, the company operates through two main segments: Investor Services and Advisor Services. The Investor Services segment offers individual investors retail brokerage and banking services, while the Advisor Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services to independent investment advisors. In 2020, the company completed its acquisition of TD Ameritrade, further expanding its client base and offerings.

Charles Schwab Corporation's management team is led by Walt Bettinger, who has been the company's President and Chief Executive Officer since 2008. Mr. Bettinger joined the company in 1995 and has held various leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer and Head of Schwab Institutional.

Over the past few years, Charles Schwab Corporation has experienced steady growth in its key financial metrics. It is reporting increased revenue and increased profit margin. Charles Schwab Corporation's valuation metrics are generally in line with industry peers. The company's price-to-earnings ratio is slightly lower than the industry average, and the company's price-to-book ratio is also somewhat lower than the industry average. Charles Schwab Corporation's stock has generally performed well over the past few years, with some fluctuations in response to broader market conditions and regulatory changes. The company's stock price has outperformed the S&P 500 for several years. The company has also experienced increases in trading volume in response to changes in market conditions and regulatory changes.

Charles Schwab Corporation operates in the financial services industry, which has experienced significant growth and transformation over the past few years. The industry has been impacted by a range of factors, including advances in technology, changing consumer preferences, and regulatory changes. Charles Schwab Corporation competes with other financial services firms, including traditional brokerage firms, online investment platforms, and banks.

Charles Schwab Corporation has a range of potential growth opportunities, including expanding its offerings to meet the evolving needs of its clients. The company has been investing in technology and digital platforms to improve its services and attract new clients. In addition, the company's acquisition of TD Ameritrade has provided new opportunities for growth and expansion. The company also focuses on expanding its international presence and exploring new markets.

Charles Schwab Corporation faces a range of potential risks and challenges, including changes in regulatory and political environments that may impact the company's operations and profitability. The financial services industry is subject to a wide range of regulations, and changes in these regulations could significantly impact the company's operations. In addition, the industry is subject to intense competition, which could affect the company's ability to attract and retain clients.

Another potential risk is the impact of market volatility on the company's operations. Charles Schwab Corporation generates a significant portion of its revenue from commissions and fees, which are impacted by changes in market conditions. In periods of market volatility, clients may reduce their trading activity, which could affect the company's revenue and profitability.

The company also faces risks related to data security and privacy. The company collects and stores sensitive financial and personal information on its clients. Any breach of this data could significantly impact the company's reputation and financial performance.

To address these risks and challenges, Charles Schwab Corporation is focused on maintaining a robust regulatory compliance program and investing in data security and privacy measures. The company is also focused on diversifying its revenue streams and expanding its offerings to meet the evolving needs of its clients.
Maximising the potential of the North West will require an all-Ireland focus on transport infrastructure here, Sinn Fein MLA Padraig Delargy has said.

The Foyle MLA was commenting after Sinn Fein representatives from across the North West met with the partys Transport spokesperson Darren ORourke TD to discuss a variety of issues relating to the region.

Padraig Delargy said: As an all-Ireland party with elected representatives in every corner of the island, Sinn Fein is uniquely placed to press for progress on issues which affect people North and South.

We have a strong team in the North West and we regularly come together to plan our approach to the key strategic matters which affect this region.

We were delighted to welcome Darren ORourke to Derry and Tyrone to visit a number of key transport projects including City of Derry Airport, Foyle Port and the A5, on which we met with campaigners and victims families.

There is massive potential in the north west but we need to see progress on our road, sea, rail and air connections if we are to realise that potential.

That will require a renewed governmental focus on these issues, North and South, and as an all-Ireland party, that is what Sinn Fein will be determined to achieve in both Leinster House and a restored Assembly.
An 18-year-old woman lasted just three days before breaching her bail Derry Magistrate's Court heard today.

Courtney Temple (18) of Greenwalk in Derry appeared charged with breaching her bail on March 26.

The court heard that Temple had breached her bail on March 23 and re-released with a final warning.

A police officer told the court that the defendant had lasted three days before breaching again.

The officer told the court that police attended an address and found the defendant who appeared to be intoxicated in breach of her bail conditions.

A breath test revealed her to have a reading of 62mgs with the driving limit being 35mgs.

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said that despite Temple's young age she had 'problems with alcohol.'

He asked the court to release Temple on condition she sought help for her alcohol issues.

Temple was released on bail on condition she attended her GP and will appear again on April 3.
Derry Magistrate's Court heard today how a man who was staying in a local hotel with his partner for her birthday was charged with assaulting her and threatening to kill her.

Patrick Sherry (31) with an address at Castle Hill Park in Ballygawley County Tyrone was charged with five offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, attempting to choke the same woman, threatening to kill her, falsely imprisoning her and possessing an offensive weapon namely an clothes iron.

All of the offences were said to have occurred on March 26.

A police officer connected the accused to the charges and opposed bail.

She told the court at 4.45am police were called to Da Vinci's Hotel in Derry due to a possible disturbance.

They were told that around 4.30am there was a report of a woman screaming.

A member of staff went to the room and knocked but there was no reply although they could hear a male voice.

The staff member warned that if the door was not opened police would be informed.

The court heard that the alleged victim opened the door and she had marks on her face and neck.

The woman was said to have been 'shaken and distressed' and was taken to the hotel lobby.

She spoke to police and said she had been in Derry with her partner, the accused, for her birthday and they had been out for the evening.

She alleged the defendant became 'very agitated' and made accusations against her.

He was said to have punched her, kicked her, squeezed her throat and then lifted a clothes iron and threatened to kill her.

The woman said at around 5.15am she received a text from Sherry just saying 'don't' which she took as a warning not to talk to police.

The woman attended Altnagelvin Hospital and while there were no broken bones there was 'a lot of muscle and tissue damage' and bruising to her neck and face.

At interview Sherry denied all the allegations.

Bail was opposed due to the risk of re-offending, interference with witnesses and also that the defendant was deemed to be a 'serial perpetrator of domestic abuse'.

The court heard that there had been incidents with two previous partners.

The police officer said that the woman was 'terrified' of the defendant and she believed he was going to attack her.

A defence barrister said his client was denying all the allegations which he accepted were serious.

He suggested Sherry be released on bail to an address approved by police.

District Judge Barney McElholm said that Sherry was 'a totally unsuitable candidate for bail'.

He said it was 'an extremely serious assault' and the fact the strangulation had resulted in marks on the woman's neck suggested it was a more 'extreme' assault.

The judge said that this was one 'most serious' cases he had come across recently.

Bail was refused and Sherry was remanded in custody to appear again on April 20.
I really do believe there are a considerable number of homes across Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh affected by defective concrete blocks and people wont know until it is too late.

This was the prediction of West Tyrone MLA, Daniel McCrossan, speaking to Derry Now at the SDLPs annual conference in Derrys St Columbs Hall on Saturday.

Mr McCrossan said he was supporting Derry City and Strabane District Councils ongoing initiative to establish how many properties in its area were affected by defective concrete products and blocks.

He added: However, the problem is that when people find out this is in their property, there is nowhere to go next.

So, while Derry City and Strabane District Councils scheme is welcome, it is hampered by the fact there is no proper communication between council officials, who have a serious concern about the obvious signs there are defective concrete blocks in homes in our area, in Strabane, Derry and Castlederg, in border constituencies generally, and decision-makers at Assembly or Government level.

It is entirely to be expected homes here are going to display the signs they contain defective concrete blocks, given how Donegal and Tyrone and Derry operate together.

Strabane and Lifford or Tyrone and Derry and Donegal, work side by side. People naturally, organically cross the border every day for goods and services, to work and meet family members. It is just a natural way of life. There is no border. It is entirely hypothetical, said Mr McCrossan.

The Strabane-based MLA said the defective concrete block issue was a major concern for the SDLP.

He added: Derry City and Strabane District Council is asking us to ensure that people come forward if they think there is mica or any sign of other [deleterious] minerals in the defective concrete blocks in their homes.

And we can do that, we can encourage people and they can easily look at their homes and see the obvious signs and get their properties tested. Some homes wont have defective concrete blocks and some will. The question I would ask is, Where does anyone who discovers their home is affected by defective concrete blocks go next?

They can register with Derry City and Strabane District Council but, ultimately, they are stuck because there is no scheme to ensure their property does not deteriorate further. In addition, they are also left with a property which will ultimately be majorly under-valued because the official testing result will need to be disclosed in the event they go to sell. Homeowners are putting themselves in a corner.

West Tyrone MLA, Daniel McCrossan, at the SDLPs annual conference in Derrys St Columbs Hall on Saturday

So, there is an issue with people coming forward because in doing so, they will be putting themselves in a difficult situation, without some sort of redress coming from the Government and the SDLP has been working on that. This is not something new. As soon as mica and the issues with the defective concrete blocks came about in the South, we immediately started writing to Departments in the North, said Mr McCrossan.

In October 2021, SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh, Justin McNulty, tabled a Parliamentary Question to then Minister for Communities, Deirdre Hargey, on the issue.

He asked: Whether there has been any impact on the structural integrity of houses in Northern Ireland as an outcome of the presence of mica in building materials and what redress her Department plans to provide to homeowners in such cases and if she had made a bid to the Minister of Finance to fund redress.

The Minister replied: A small number of social properties in the Foyle constituency were affected by mica in 2018 and repairs were completed at that time. Since then no issues have been reported to my Department in relation to mica impacting the structural integrity of houses here.

No issues have been reported therefore redress is not applicable and as redress is not applicable, no bid for funding has been made.

Mr McNulty also asked the then Minister For Finance, Conor Murphy, whether there has been any impact on the structural integrity of houses in Northern Ireland as an outcome of the presence of the mineral mica in building materials; and what redress his Department provides to homeowners in such cases?

The Minister replied: My Department does not have policy responsibility for housing and therefore does not have any schemes to provide redress to homeowners impacted by mica in building materials.

Daniel McCrossan said: If we are seeing many homes right along the border area, on the southern side, affected by defective blocks, and there was no proper policing of the sale of such materials, how do you prevent defective blocks coming into Tyrone and Derry, coming from the quarries in Donegal suspected of producing them?

How do you properly trace the dispersal of these materials to various other retailers, who disperse them into the North. It was not policed.

In the absence of all those proper measures, one can only assume, it is absolutely certain that these defective concrete blocks are somewhere in my constituency and somewhere in Derry.

I dont believe we have seen the full effect of defective concrete blocks yet. I definitely see the tell-tale signs in peoples homes when I am out and about. We warned Minister Murphy and Minister Hargey about our concerns in 2021 and they did not take any action.

But, if there is no redress scheme encouraging people to come forward or there is nothing happening to highlight the real issue that exists with defective concrete blocks, then no-one is going to come forward. I know of a house in Castlederg that absolutely has defective concrete blocks. It is deteriorating in front of the familys eyes, said Mr McCrossan.

Daniel McCrossan said affected homeowners are continually asking what they can do about defective concrete blocks.

He added: In the current political vacuum, where there is no Assembly, no functioning Executive, no accountability, we are going to a Permanent Secretary who will just say, there is no scheme.

You go to the Secretary of State and he has absolutely no understanding of what is happening on the South of this island, particularly with these defective blocks.

I do believe within a time frame of the next five years, we are going to see the very serious impact this has. It is difficult in the absence of Government because there is no power but certainly the permanent secretaries for the Department for Communities and the Department of Finance, as well as the head of the civil service, need to be aware this is a train that is on the track and it is going to hit the station soon.

The reality is many homes, many families are going to struggle. We have written to the secretary of State and to date, we have not received any acknowledgement or response, said Mr McCrossan.

Daniel McCrossan added: I would encourage people affected by defective concrete blocks, particularly across West Tyrone, Castlederg and Strabane, anyone straddling the border, in particular, Fermanagh, and in Derry who have built their own homes or moved into a new home within the last 10 years, to come forward and register their concern.

That way we will be able to give some indication regarding the extensiveness of the defective concrete block issue.
Amazon is back again with an amazing deal on a flagship smartphone. This time Amazon has offered discounts on Xiaomi 12 Pro. This flagship device was launched two years back in December. The phone comes with a top-trim configuration for a high-end price. But Amazon has made it easier to buy this smartphone by offering a 34% instant discount, an exchange offer and some bank offers.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro was launched at a price of 79,999 in India in December 2021. If you are thinking of buying the Xiaomi 12 Pro, no time is better than right now. Here are the offers on the Xiaomi 12 Pro.

Amazon offers on Xiaomi 12 Pro

Amazon has offered a 34% instant discount which saves you 27,000. The instant discount drops the price of Xiaomi 12 Pro straight from 79,999 to 52,999.

There is also an exchange offer that further saves you a big amount on the flagship. You need to trade your old phone while buying a Xiaomi 12 Pro and you could save up to 21,750. Along with that, there are some bank offers as well:

Flat 3000 instant discount on HDFC Bank Credit Card and Debit Card on minimum purchase of 49,999.

7.5% instant discount up to 1500 on Standard Chartered Bank Credit Card.

5% instant discount up to 250 on HSBC Cashback Card Credit Card

If you are able to avail of the maximum exchange offer along with a 7.5% discount on your Standard Chartered Bank Credit Card, then you can grab the Xiaomi 12 Pro at a discounted price of 29,749. You are saving a total amount of  50,250 in this offer by Amazon.

Xiaomi 12 Pro specifications

Xiaomi 12 Pro comes with a 6.73-inch curved LTPO AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 3200 pixels. The display supports 10-bit colours, 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

It is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor paired with 8GB and 12GB RAM.

The flagship features a triple camera setup holding a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto lens and a 5-megapixel ultrawide lens. It has a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro packs a 4600mAh battery with support of 120-watt fast charging and 50-watt wireless charging.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Redmi has announced the launch of the Redmi Note 12 Turbo and in addition to that, for all the Potterheads out there, it will launch the Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter edition as well. This smartphone could feature Harry Potter themes, a back cover, sound effects and more.

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition is expected to come with the same specifications as the normal Note 12 Turbo. The specifications of the smartphone are not out yet but the leaks as usual have suggested some specs, lets have a look at them.

Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition: Design

The phone will most likely come with a Harry Potter-themed back panel and feature Harry Potter-related themes, sound effects and more. Apart from that, Xiaomi has confirmed that the bezel of the smartphone will be slimmer than iPhone 14. The Note 12 Turbo is said to feature a fingerprint sensor in the power button.

Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition: Display

It is expected to come with a 6.67-inch 12-bit Flexible OLED display with the support of a 120Hz refresh rate. The display panel is said to be supported by 68.7 billion colours, 100% DCI-P3 wide colour gamut, 1920Hz PWM Dimming, and SGS Low Blue Light, HDR10+and Dolby Vision.

Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition: Performance

In terms of performance, the words are that it is going to be a gaming-centric phone. It could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 processor with up to 16GB RAM and storage of up to 1TB. The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is expected to be equipped with a vapour chamber cooling system measuring 3725mm, which should enhance heat dissipation by 35%, and prioritise exceptional performance for gaming. Additionally, the device emphasises durability through its fortified steel attached to the motherboard and its reinforced four-corner design.

Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition: OS

The phone will run on MIUI 14 which is based on the Android 13 operating system. Xiaomi has highlighted the software durability of the device, citing an impressively low software failure rate of only 0.005%. To guarantee a dependable and enduring device, the Redmi Note 12 claims to have passed over 300 test scenarios and passed 250,000 hours of extensive stress testing. Xiaomi has pledged to deliver a seamless and uninterrupted software experience for 48 months.

Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition: Camera and battery

Redmi Note 12 Turbo is expected to feature a 64-megapixel primary camera with OIS support. The smartphone is going to pack a 5000mAh battery with 67-watt fast charging support.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
IC Design White Paper - Discussing strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan's IC design sector

The strengths of Taiwan's IC design sector include excellent and dedicated STEM talent, a complete semiconductor industry ecosystem from upstream to downstream, and a well-developed downstream ICT (information and communications technology) industry to act as the outlet for ICs.

The strengths of Taiwan's IC design sector

Strength No.1: Taiwan's ICT downstream as the outlet for ICs

Taiwan's IC design and downstream ICT sectors have built a tight partnership, with the former providing the latter with ICs for motherboards, displays, CD drives, and more. Even after downstream industries moved manufacturing to places like China, their main R&D centers remain established in Taiwan. This allows IC designers' products and solutions to work closely with ODM clients from the early stages of system product design.

Even though master chips and specifications for electronic products are mostly dominated by US-based companies, peripheral ICs like microcontrollers provide Taiwanese IC design houses the business opportunity to break into the market.

Strength No.2: A complete semiconductor ecosystem

Taiwan's IC design sector started to flourish during the 1990s, related to the mature operation model of Taiwan's foundry and IC testing and packaging sectors. On top of that, with enhancements in chip manufacturing, testing and packaging technology, and market status, Taiwan's IC design sector has the world's best manufacturing infrastructure to build a competitive advantage for its products.

Strength No.3: A high-quality and dedicated talent pool

The technology industry has been the most important industry for Taiwan since the 1980s, fueling economic growth and allowing top talents to escape poverty and enter the middle class. This has attracted many young students to pick STEM majors as their field of study. The talents demanded by Taiwan's IC design sector are mainly those with a master's degree or Ph.D. in electrical engineering-adjacent majors with courses taken in IC design. The industry has attracted many graduates from schools like National Taiwan University (NTU), National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), and National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU).

Taiwanese engineers have the strong work ethic typical of East Asian cultures. They are well-versed in engineering technology, while also being dedicated to the development of highly competitive technologies and products in Taiwan's semiconductor industry, as has been the case for more than 40 years.

The weaknesses of Taiwan's IC design sector

The shortcomings of Taiwan's IC design sector are the lack of a comprehensive semiconductor strategy, a talent shortage, the lack of specification approval rights and system architecture talents, insufficient R&D capacity and innovation for advanced process products, and limited international planning experience.

Weakness No.1: Lack of a national-level semiconductor strategy

Although the government recognizes the importance of the semiconductor industry and is closely following the industry's planning and development, it still lacks a national-level semiconductor strategy to respond to the new competitive situation driven by the policies of other countries.

How do we effectively respond to the impact of geopolitics and China-US separation? How do we invest sufficient resources to strengthen the industry's weaknesses in the face of China's rise? All of these strategic and macro issues require comprehensive policies to support and advance Taiwan's industrial projects.

Weakness No.2: Domestic STEM talent shortage

According to the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA), the output value of each sector in Taiwan's semiconductor industry saw more than 10% growth in both 2020 and 2021. Of particular note is the IC design sector, which reported over 40% growth in 2021. Against the backdrop of the industry's rapid expansion, the demand for talent in Taiwan's semiconductor industry is also increasing rapidly.

TSIA's 2022 semiconductor talent survey pointed out that in 2019, Taiwan's semiconductor workforce in each sector saw growth of under 5%. However, fueled by the industry's growth momentum and increased revenue, the annual workforce growth rate for IC manufacturing and IC testing/packaging had already increased to 15% in 2020, with 2021 also higher than 10%. As for IC design, the growth rate in 2020 was still less than 10%, but it quickly rose to 15% in 2021 and recruitment was further expanded in 2022.

Although the demand for IC design talent continues to grow, without an effective supply, it will limit the competitiveness of Taiwan's IC design sector. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, there were around 92,000 STEM students in Taiwanese colleges and universities in 2021, which accounted for 32.4% of the total student population. Both the number and the ratio are decreasing year after year.

Besides the compounding effect of a low birth rate, Taiwan's education reforms failing to take into account the actual demands of the post-academic job market, and encouraging diverse development in higher education are widely viewed as the main reasons why more and more students are choosing non-STEM majors.

Weakness No.3: Lack of approval rights for main chips and system specs, as well as system architects

Taiwan's ICT industry mainly consists of ODM and EMS, which do not need to define system specifications or architecture system demands. That job is done for them by brand suppliers. Only a few Taiwanese suppliers (e.g. MediaTek) have invested in main chips (e.g. smartphone APs, Chromebook CPUs, smart stereo SoC, and more).

Without main chip R&D and system brands leading the way, there's a lack of system architecture thinking and a say in system specifications. Therefore, Taiwanese IC design houses mostly focus on peripheral IC development to pair with the main chips of US-based suppliers.

Although Taiwanese suppliers have achieved high competitiveness in the peripheral IC supply chain, the added value of these products is relatively limited. This has meant that it is more difficult for Taiwanese IC design houses to master the related technologies, which in turn has restricted their ability to conduct R&D and innovate products.

Weakness No.4: Insufficient R&D capacity for advanced process products

Taiwan has the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology. In recent years, Chinese IC design houses have been actively utilizing Taiwan's advanced foundry process to develop high-end chips for AI and GPU, which resulted in them becoming the focal point of US export restrictions.

In contrast, the product and technology R&D invested in by Taiwan's industry-academia-research institutions are mostly still for the more mature 28/22nm processes. They lack experience in advanced process designs and delivery. Only a few IC design houses such as MediaTek use advanced process technology to develop products. This doesn't benefit talent cultivation and product competitiveness.

Weakness No.5: Limited experience in international planning and management

The key to the high competitiveness of US-based companies is the fact that they establish many overseas R&D sites to recruit local talent to expand their R&D energy. In 2021, within the top five IC design houses in the US (Qualcomm, Broadcom, Nvidia, AMD, and Marvell), overseas employees account for up to 50-70% of all employees. IDMs like TI and ADI also have overseas employee ratios of 60-70%.

These long-established chip companies have long had plans to go international. They were able to utilize overseas talent to expand their business scale and cultivate outstanding competitiveness. In addition, they also have a lot of experience collaborating with and managing overseas talent due to their employees' different cultures and languages.

Even though Taiwanese IC design houses don't lack overseas experience, most of it is in China. Only a few suppliers have set up R&D centers in places like India, Israel, the US, and Northern Europe. With limited international planning experience, it is difficult to recruit overseas talent. On top of that, the relative lack of cross-cultural management ability makes it more difficult to retain foreign talent. For example, Indian talents are often less preferred due to the perceived challenges of managing them.

The lack of international experience also makes most Taiwanese companies unable to take advantage of collaboration opportunities with international academic and research institutions, thus making it more difficult for them to plan for more forward-looking IC product technology development.

Editor's note: At the Taiwan IC Design Industrial Policy White Paper Presentation scheduled on March 28, Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) will release its IC Design White Paper to guide Taiwan's semiconductor policy. As a co-organizer, DIGITIMES will publish a series of articles to summarize the document. The white paper will be available for download after the event.
China continues crackdown on prostitution, gambling

Xinhua) 16:34, March 27, 2023

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police have continued to crack down on prostitution and gambling, dealing with more than 50,000 related criminal cases and over 400,000 offenses in 2022, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Noting a growing trend of such crimes migrating onto internet, the ministry said Chinese police have maintained a clampdown on offenses that stand out in these fields. The police have focused their efforts on criminals who organize prostitution, as well as those who solicit prostitution online. In terms of gambling, they have targeted underground casinos, online gambling and new types of gambling facilities.

Police will follow up key cases and outstanding problems in these fields and strengthen cross-departmental coordination as part of efforts to ensure law and order, said the ministry, adding that China will maintain a zero tolerance policy toward criminal prostitution and gambling activities.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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Generative AI creating strong "waves"; could a market monopoly be forming?

During her visit to Taiwan, Stanford University's AI expert Fei-Fei Li was invited by Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to give a speech and chat with industry representatives. She mentioned that the trend of generative AI has created a "tsunami-like" impact. Different industries are all participating in the discussion to prevent the AI ecosystem from becoming a monopolized market.

At an AI forum held on March 23, Li gave a speech titled "What We See and What We Value: AI with a Human Perspective." Within it, she described the progress the AI sector has made in the past several decades, especially in visual recognition applications. She also emphasized that AI is a relatively "young" sector, and its development is closely connected to brain and cognitive science.

She mentioned that AI can be used to "see" what humans can see, can't see, and want to see. She emphasized that item recognition is the cornerstone of visual intelligence. It has gone from models manually designed by early scientists to machine learning (ML) and deep learning.

At the turn of the century, the rise of the Internet and the subsequent generation of massive data sets accelerated the development of AI. In the field of deep learning, the convolutional neural network (CNN) model dominated for more than ten years. It spread from academia to industry and market applications. CNN was finally replaced a few years ago when the transformer model was introduced and took over as the new standard.

As AI visual recognition becomes more powerful, the question that follows is what should not be detected/seen. Li pointed out that this issue is especially critical for the medical sector, as it involves patients' privacy.

Many people are concerned that as AI functions become stronger and stronger, they will replace human labor. Li stated that the relationship between AI and the workforce can be approached differently. Instead of "replace," we should be talking about "expanding." For example, the US is currently going through a medical talent shortage. Therefore, developing medical technology can relieve the talent shortage. Her research project at Stanford University also has many collaborations with medical schools.

iKala CEO Sega Cheng, a participant in the forum, mentioned that this wave of AI trends has reached a certain turning point. The "Moore's Law" of AI has appeared. The cost to deploy AI will drop by 50% every three months. However, no matter how advanced the technology gets, it is pointless without a field of application.

Despite that, some are concerned that the AI industry is slowly losing its openness. For instance, some have questioned whether OpenAI, the company that gained popularity due to ChatGPT, has become ClosedAI. This is because when OpenAI recently revealed its GPT-4 model, it didn't provide many details on things like the parameters. Cheng believes that as the AI competition between tech giants intensifies, suppliers will be more and more protective of their AI intellectual property and won't reveal too many details in the first place.

In response, Li stated that many startups in the US have come to her recently to "complain" about how AI model development is slowly becoming a monopoly. They hope that the federal government can put some regulations in place. She stressed that the AI ecosystem should have balanced development and that a monopolized market is unhealthy.

She believes that the influences of generative AI can be significant, especially for the developing minds of adolescents. While tech giants do shoulder some responsibility, they have their limitations. Therefore, the academic, intellectual, legal, and other fields should all join in on the relevant discussions to circumvent the negative effects of AI technology development in the post-truth era.
Covid cases see an uptick In India amidst spike in H3N2 infections

The number of active Covid-19 cases in India, currently estimated at 6,350, is expected to show a spike with more cases being reported in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and elsewhere. About 918 new cases were recorded across the country in the last 24 hours while 479 recoveries were also recorded in the last 24 hours.

The spike in Covid cases comes along with a similar rise in the number of H3N2 infections in most states.

In Maharashtra, state health minister Tanaji Sawant said all hospitals across the state have been asked to be on alert. "H3N2 virus is spreading in the state, but there is no need to worry. People must not go in crowded areas, wear masks and maintain social distancing. H3N2 and Covid cases are on the rise again in the state", he added.

Till now 2 people have succumbed to H3N2 infection in the state.

The first death of a 23-year-old male medical student occurred in Ahmednagar and the second death of a 72-year-old man has been reported from Nagpur.

In both the cases, the victims were suffering from various ailments including Covid-19 and H3N2 and the exact causes of their deaths would be available in another 24 hours, he added.

There is a third suspected death due to H3N2 from Nagpur, but the official confirmation is awaited.

So far, the state has notched 352 cases of H3N2 patients who are under treatment in different hospitals, said Sawant.

The change in the weather is affecting health, the minister said and advised people to reduce going to crowded places, use masks, wash hands and maintain distance, consult a doctor only if they have a fever etc.

Meanwhile, the union ministry of health and family welfare has written to six states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka - which have reported significant rise in the Covid cases in last week - to examine the Covid 19 situation at the micro level.

Among the symptoms of H3N2 are prolonged fever with body aches, cough, running nose, and in extreme cases, even breathlessness or wheezing and health authorities have advised immediate treatment.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is calling on schools, businesses and community groups in Louth to join their anti-racism initiative, Wear Red Day this week. As part of the event, which takes place on Friday 31 March, people are being encouraged to wear red and make a donation to the charity.

All the funds raised through Wear Red Day will be used by the Immigrant Council to continue their work on tackling racism in Ireland.

Commenting ahead of the event, Valeria Aquino, Integration Manager at the Immigrant Council said: Wear Red Day is an important opportunity for schools, businesses and community groups alike to send out a strong message that we as communities welcome diversity, celebrate it, and take a stand against racism in all forms.

With racist incidents on the rise, it is vital that we provide people with the tools and knowledge they need to properly deal with racism. Wear Red Day is a great opportunity for schools and workplaces to start the conversation on racism and discrimination.

"As well as wearing red, were also encouraging people to run activities throughout the day  everything from five-aside competitions, to bake sales  all to help boost donations. We hope the people of Louth get behind this initiative and show their support on Friday!

The Immigrant Council is encouraging participants to share their Wear Red Day activities on social media using the hashtag #WRD23.

Wear Red Day is part of the Show Racism the Red Card anti-racism programme, which is operated in Ireland by the ICI. The programme provides educational resources, workshops, trainings and awareness-raising activities for primary and secondary schools, youth groups, workplaces and sporting stakeholders nationwide.

Further information on Wear Red Day is available at https://www.immigrantcouncil. ie/show-racism-red-card/wear- red-day .
Louth County Council is set to bring a piece of local history back home, with the purchase of an Albert clock originally manufactured in Drogheda more than 125 years ago.

The mahogany cased longcase clock, which features the name of the makers B. Albert & Co Drogheda on the dial is believed to have been largely constructed in Drogheda sometime in the late 1800s.

The clock is a weight driven piece, which will run for eight days on a full wind, and strikes each hour with a sonorous gong.

It was owned by a family from Terenure, County Dublin where it spent several generations before being acquired by an antiques clock business in Dublin city.

The clock is believed to have been the work of a company founded by Reinhardt Albert from Bavaria, who emigrated to Drogheda in 1863 where he opened a jewellers, clock and watching business. His premises was located at 116 West Street, Drogheda.

He is thought to have passed away on September 13th 1893 and is said to be the first person to be buried at St Peters cemetery in Drogheda.

The clock has a specific local history as Albert & Co. were also, at one time, the official clock maker for the former Drogheda Corporation.

Having been brought to the attention of Louth County Council in recent weeks, the local authority are delighted to confirm that arrangements are being made to have the clock installed in the council chamber at Drogheda Borough Council.

Louth County Council Chief Executive Joan Martin welcomed the historic acquisition. This represents an important piece of local history for the town of Drogheda, and we very much look forward to bringing it back to the town to be installed at the council chamber.
Cllr Pearse McGeough has told the Dundalk Democrat that the outlook for N2 Ardee to Castleblayney Road Scheme is not looking positive and voiced his disappointment that the project in his view is now in cold storage.

Cllr McGeough was commenting after the Louth County Council March meeting, after he raised the matter, seeking a comment from the Council on its views on how it might push the project forward.

The Sinn Fein councillor told the March meeting that he had attended a meeting on 27 February in Carrickmacross with other representatives from Louth and County Monaghan as well as officials from Monaghan in relation to the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney Road Scheme.

Cllr McGeough, who is a representative of the Ardee Electoral area told the Dundalk Democra that:

I attended a meeting on 27th February along with others councillors from Louth and Monaghan and the air of despondency was palpable afterwards.

After many years of working on this project we were told at the meeting that the funding from TII was coming up short to the tune of 400,000 to keep the scheme alive. The shortfall has arisen because of changes in government policy and design standards so additional funding is needed.

At the Louth County Council March meeting, Director of Services Catherine Duff, confirmed that the project has been put on hold, adding that the Council has been liaising with Monaghan County Council on how to best progress it.

Cllr McGeough told the Dundalk Democrat: The N2 is a vital piece of infrastructure that will join Donegal - Derry - Dublin.

It has been in the offing for decades and its time it was completed.

As traffic increases, this road notoriously has one of the highest accident fatality rates in the State which makes it one the most important pieces of infrastructure in the area to improve safety and also connectivity with Dublin and Derry.

Cllr McGeough added, the shortfall has arisen because of changes in government policy and design standards so additional funding is needed.

He further added, This is very disappointing and in my opinion this project is now in cold storage and the outlook is not looking positive.
The collaboration and celebration of Filipino craftsmanship culminated as the ASUS x Zarah Juan partnership held a laptop turnover and specialized training for Filipino artisans behind the limited-edition Zen Tote.

ASUS put Filipino craftsmanship at the forefront during the recently ended Incredible Transformation: Future-ready Business Management Workshop for Filipino Artisans. After a widely successful ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED launch last year, the ASUS and Zarah Juan collaboration culminated through specialized digital literacy training and laptop donation turnover to seven Filipino artisan communities from different parts of the Philippines. Artisans from Lake Sebu, Davao City, Isabela Province, Paete, Bulacan, and Marikina City gathered in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, on March 9, 2023. Each community received an ASUS laptop to support them in their business transformation and digitize their day-to-day business transactions.

In September 2022, ASUS partnered with Filipino social entrepreneur and fashion accessory designer Zarah Juan to design and create a limited edition sustainable locally-made bag to launch the worlds lightest 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED laptop ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED. The Zarah Juan Zen Tote materializes ASUS thrust towards human-centric design thinking. Made by artisan communities in the country and of locally available materials, the Zen Tote depicts the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality  the perfect accessory with the Zenbook S 13 OLED.

The Zarah Juan brand is the designers solution for single-use bags. Her journey as a designer and an entrepreneur led her to strengthen the livelihood of Filipino artisans. It has now evolved into a brand known for its #ProudLocal pieces made by Filipinos from different parts of the country. Aside from environmental sustainability, Zarah Juan pushes for social sustainability and upholds cultural continuity by showcasing Filipino heritage.

ASUS Philippines Country Manager George Su shared, Our philosophy has always been innovation that enhances users way of life. We hope the ASUS Vivobook 13 Slate OLED laptops our Filipino artisans received will empower them to work toward incredible success and gear them up for the international export stage. We believe they are vital in preserving and expanding the vibrant Filipino culture.

The ASUS and Zarah Juan partnership is one of a kind because there is an aligned vision to dig deeper into how we can work together in empowering our artisans. We are thankful to ASUS for providing them the right tools they need to be more competitive and ready to face the global market, Zarah Juan Creative Director Zarah Juan also added.

Filipino artisans participated in a whole-day workshop to learn how technology can make their livelihood more efficient, faster, and all-in-all. They got to familiarize themselves with creating data sheets and encoding business information such as product costing, materials inventory, and admin forms, to name a few. They were also taught how to take proper care of their laptops to ensure they can maximize their usage and benefits for future generations.

TBoli Community participant Jenalyn Ipil expressed her gratitude toward ASUS and Zarah Juan, Matutulungan po yung community namin na ma-improve yung aming ginagawa at yung mga skills namin sa paghawak ng computer (This training will enhance the way we do business and improve our computer skills).

ASUS is committed to providing a meaningful and sustainable way of living, not just in the innovative products they make but also through activities that nourish the Filipino society and environment. The ASUS x Zarah Juan collaboration proved to be a holistic campaign that raises product awareness and highlights cultural continuity by providing livelihood to Filipino artisans and equipping them with digital know-how to fulfill the digital demands of their existing and future clients. As ASUS takes one small step toward cultural and social sustainability, it hopes to inspire Filipinos to join the movement and make a change in their respective communities.
Renowned Filipino chef Jessie Sincioco is helping feed the hungry with the launch of the Hapag Movement Menu.

The Hapag Movement Menu by Chef Jessie, a top chef who has made meals for global dignitaries, includes four set meals that patrons may enjoy while also helping address involuntary hunger.

The special menu is part of Sinciocos commitment to the Hapag Movement, a Globe-led community program that aims to alleviate involuntary hunger through supplemental feeding and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

The meal sets, which include a salad, soup, main course, dessert and hot drink, are available for lunch at P1,200 and dinner at P1,500 at Sinciocos well-loved restaurant, Chef Jessie Rockwell Club in Makati. For every meal served, half of the proceeds will be donated to the Hapag Movement.

I salute Globe for this timely and much-needed movement for the whole country. We know very well that hunger is a reality here. We make it a point to give back whenever we can. Thats how we came up with the Hapag Movement menu. This way, our diners can support the advocacy, said the chef.

The Menu

The Hapag Movement Menu features a healthy selection of salads for starters and a variety of Filipino and fusion main dishes, from the familiar yet elevated beef morcon and caldereta to fish fillet florentine and baked parmesan-crusted chicken.

In strengthening her commitment to the Hapag Movement, Sincioco also said she would invite top chefs from the Philippines and abroad to be part of the movement, as well as enlist the help of neighboring restaurants in Rockwell to further the advocacy.

When I learned about this credible and realistic movement, I did not hesitate or think twice about helping out. Let us all do our part in making this movement a smashing success, she said.

Chef Jessie has cooked and created many dishes for world leaders, big movers in the business industry, well-known personalities, and even the Pope. But what she finds most fulfilling is providing food for the most marginalized in society.

Chef Jessie supports the Hapag Movement through her companys membership at the Rotary Club of Makati Business District (RCMBD), which recently signed a four-year partnership with Globe to raise funds for the Hapag Movement. Her Mana Cuisine Corporation is among the earliest corporate members of Rotary to support the undertaking.

We are excited to have Chef Jessie on board as we continue our fight against hunger in the Philippines. We are grateful for her commitment to find ways to raise funds, including the special Hapag Movement menu. We look forward to expanding the Hapag Movement globally through enlisting a global network of chefs for the initiative, said Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer at the Globe Group.

RCMBD earlier pledged to raise P10 million in funds for the Hapag Movement through various initiatives involving individual members and corporations. By making this commitment, the Rotary chapter has become one of Hapag Movements most dedicated fundraising partners.

Globe leverages partnerships to raise funds and deliver critical support to affected families. The program aims to rally Filipinos behind a collective effort to feed the hungry and provide empowering livelihood training, as an estimated 15 million Filipinos continue to suffer from involuntary hunger.

To learn more about Globe, visit https://www.globe.com.ph/.
EBRD launches US$ 150 million GEFF Kazakhstan II green economy financing facility

GEFF Kazakhstan II will offer gender-sensitive green financing to businesses and households

Technical support to be provided by the Climate Investment Funds

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which became fully aligned with the Paris Agreement at the start of 2023, is helping Kazakhstan to reduce energy consumption, promote the use of renewable energy sources and support local businesses in adopting environmentally friendly practices.

Hundreds of companies and thousands of households across the country will be able to modernise production, increase their energy efficiency and improve their climate resilience thanks to a new financing facility launched by the EBRD today.

The Bank is providing funds of up to US$ 150 million (in KZT equivalent) to participating financial institutions under the Kazakhstan Green Economy Financing Facility II (GEFF Kazakhstan II) for on-lending to individuals, private-sector companies and small and medium-sized businesses across the country.

The facility will also offer financing to vendors and producers of high-performing green goods and equipment, including those covered by the online Green Technology Selector, available on the GEFF Kazakhstan II website.

Supported by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), GEFF Kazakhstan II will also promote the development of local markets for green technologies and equipment, which will contribute to the growth of the green economy, make green technologies more affordable and create new job opportunities. It will facilitate investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, advance the circular economy, and promote the decarbonisation and competitiveness of the Kazakh economy.

GEFF Kazakhstan II also incorporates the EBRDs Gender SMART approach, promoting equality of opportunity and the increased role of women in Kazakhstans economy. Participating financial institutions will take on board a new investment culture driven by gender equality and offer gender-sensitive financial products.

GEFF Kazakhstan II builds on the GEFF Kazakhstan pilot, which has been in place since 2020, supported by the Government of Austria and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Since its inception, the project has attracted more than 1,500 clients and channelled over US$ 30 million into energy- and resource-efficiency projects around the country.

It also has helped to reduce annual CO 2 emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes and achieve primary energy savings of more than 573,000 MWh. The funds were provided through Bank CenterCredit, Shinhan Bank and KMF, a microfinance organisation. More than 60 per cent of these projects involved women-led businesses and were in rural areas.

With more than 10 billion invested in the country to date through 304 projects, Kazakhstan is the EBRDs largest and longest-running banking operation in Central Asia.
EBRD President visits Jordan to meet high-level government officials and representatives of the business community

Meetings with government officials and partner financial institutions to discuss sustainable energy, financing for private enterprises, and reform agenda

Since 2012, Jordan has received more than 1.9 billion in financing through 71 projects

The EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso is visiting Jordan from 27 to 28 March 2023 to meet with senior government officials and representatives of the Jordanian financial and business community in Amman.

During her visit, the President will hold meetings with the Prime Minister of Jordan, Bisher Al-Khasawneh, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and State Minister for Public Sector Modernisation, Nasser Shraideh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and EBRD Governor, Zeina Toukan, Minister of Energy, Saleh Al-Kharabsheh, and Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, Adel Al-Sharkas.

President Renaud-Basso will also meet Minister of Water and Irrigation, Mohammad Najjar, Minister of Investment, Kholoud Sakkaf, Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, Hamza Haj Hassan, and CEO of the Aqaba Development Corporation, Hussein Al-Safadi.

President Odile Renaud-Basso said: I am delighted to be visiting Jordan for the first time as EBRD President and I look forward to this opportunity to deepen our cooperation. We are committed to supporting Jordans reform agenda by improving competitiveness and promoting inclusion and the growth of the private sector to contribute to the countrys transition to a greener, and well-governed economy.

The EBRD President will be joined by Heike Harmgart, Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region and Philip ter Woort, Director for the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Since 2012, the EBRD has provided more than 1.9 billion in financing through 71 projects in Jordan, including financial support for the Jordanian banking sector through loans to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and through subordinated debt and trade finance facilities.
EIGHT Cork towns will benefit from broadband network operator SIRO rolling out their full fibre broadband network across county Cork this year.

The broadband operator has confirmed it will bring its full fibre network to a further eight towns across Cork County in 2023, with work in these towns already under way or commencing later this year.

This includes six new towns that were not part of its original rollout plans Fermoy, Youghal, Bandon, Kinsale, Mitchelstown and Passage West.

This represents an additional investment of 25 million, which will bring SIROs total investment in the county to over 125 million when its full rollout is completed.

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins welcomed the news. Access to reliable high-quality broadband is essential for our business community as well as our residents. It will unlock further opportunities for economic development in Cork towns.

SIRO is already live in several Cork towns including Mallow, Skibbereen, Carrigaline, Carrigtwohill and Little Island.

This year, alone, SIRO will make its Gigabit fibre broadband services available to 20,000 additional premises across the eight Cork County town which equates to an additional 55,000 people.

SIRO which first commenced its roll-out in Cork in 2017 is currently available to over 60,000 premises in the county. This equates to over 162,000 people already having access to the SIRO network in Cork.
A 47-year-old man walked into a jewellers in Cork and asked to try on a gold bracelet valued 9,555 but as soon as he got it on his wrist he fled from the premises.

Jerry Foley of 1B Grenville Court, Cork, was followed and gardai were quickly alerted and fortunately for the store he was stopped and arrested and still had the bracelet in his possession when he was caught.

Now at Cork District Court the accused has pleaded guilty to stealing the property. He entered a signed plea of guilty and Judge Olann Kelleher sent the case forward for sentencing in a months time at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The incident occurred at Castle Jewellers on Castle Street in Cork city.

Gardai patrolling the area found Foley and he was in possession of the stolen bracelet which was returned to the store.

As well as pleading guilty to this matter which will now have to be dealt with at the circuit court he also pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage at an apartment in Cork city. That was dealt with at Cork District Court where Judge Olann Kelleher imposed a sentence of eight months on him.

Sergeant Gearoid Davis said, At 10 p.m. on July 10 2022 it was alleged that Mr Foley kicked in the door to the apartment.

This incident was captured on CCTV located over the door of the apartment. It showed Mr Foley on the landing with two females.

They knocked at the door and when it was not answered he first attempted to push the door open with his shoulder.

When this failed he is seen taking a step back and kicking the door with his foot. It cost 730 to repair.

Eddie Burke solicitor said the damage at the apartment was not a random incident relating to strangers. He said that Jerry Foley knew the people living there.
Sentencing has been put back until June 1 in the case against a Brazilian national who was caught selling drugs in Cork city.

Gardai obtained a warrant to search his home in the city and found over 7,000 worth of cannabis and they also found a smaller stash of ecstasy.

The accused who has been working in various jobs in Cork city told gardai he was sending home money to his family in Brazil.

The Director of Public Prosecutions indicated that they would accept the case going ahead at district court level only on a plea of guilty. Otherwise the matter would have to be sent forward for trial by judge and jury.

Diego Martins Gomez who was living at an address at 89 Barrack Street, Cork, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug-dealing in respect of cannabis and a much smaller quantity of MDMA (ecstasy) Sergeant Pat Lyons outlined the background to the case against Diego Martins Gomez.

On January 10 2022 Garda Eoin Harrington got a search warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act to search 89 Barrack Street in Cork city.

At 5 p.m. on that date, gardai attended the house to execute this warrant. The door was opened (by another person living at the address) and the property searched comprehensively by gardai.

In one bedroom where the defendant resided, there was cannabis with a street value of 7,650 and ecstasy worth 200.

Also seized was a small amount of cash, deal bags and a digital weighing scales.

During the course of the search, Mr Gomes returned home to the property where he was arrested. Eddie Burke, solicitor, said, He is a 33-year-old single man from Brazil. He has been in Ireland for four years. He cooperated fully with the investigation.

He signed a memo in the house and then went back to the garda station and made a full voluntary statement.

He came to Ireland as a student on a visa but he then went into the workforce in various jobs. He has no previous convictions. I would ask for a probation report.

His family were in difficulty at home and he was sending some money to his family, Mr Burke asked for it to be put back for a probation report.

Judge Olann Kelleher agreed but said, 7,650 drugs  selling drugs in the city equals jail. Judge Kelleher adjourned sentencing until June 1 2023 to allow time for preparation of a probation report.
A PROPOSAL that US president Joe Biden would visit Cork has been referred to the White House by Tanaiste Micheal Martins office.

Mr Biden, who has always been fiercely proud of his Irish heritage, recently announced that he intends to visit Ireland, North and South, for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

No date has yet been confirmed, but the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement is on Monday, April 10, and there has been speculation that Mr Biden might visit in the week to 10 days after that.

The president is expected to visit Belfast and Dublin, calling to see Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Government Buildings and President Michael D Higgins at Aras An Uachtarain.

Further engagements have yet to be announced, but Mr Biden is thought likely to visit his ancestral homes in Mayo and Louth.

Read More Call to develop a playground in the heart of Blackpool

Mr Bidens great-great-great-grandfather Edward Blewitt emigrated from Ballina in Co Mayo after the Great Famine, settling in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan left the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth in the 1840s, heading to Seneca, New York.

It is not known whether Mr Biden has any Cork connections, but Labour local area representative for Cork City Peter Horgan thinks he has spotted an angle and has suggested that an invitation should be issued.

Ive contacted both the Tanaiste and the Lord Mayor in the hope that an invitation can issue to president Biden to visit Cork when he comes to Ireland, Mr Horgan told The Echo.

Its 60 years since Cork last hosted a sitting US president. It would be fitting that the current US president, a member of the same party as JFK, and with such strong Irish roots, would visit Cork.

On June 28, 1963, US president John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in Ireland for a four-day official visit, arrived by helicopter at Collins Barracks. He was then taken by motorcade down Summerhill, along MacCurtain Street, over Patricks Bridge, along Patricks Street, Grand Parade, and the South Mall and over Brian Boru Bridge to City Hall, where he was to be conferred with the Freedom of the City by Lord Mayor Sean Casey.

Almost six decades after the 35th US presidents visit to Leeside, Mr Horgan believes an invitation should be sent to the 46th.

It would renew the binds that we have with the US for generations and be an opportunity to show Cork in its best light.

Two years ago, when then-taoiseach Micheal Martin invited Mr Biden to Ireland, the president replied: Just try stopping me.

Now, Mr Martins office has responded to Mr Horgans suggestion. As you will appreciate, the details of President Bidens visit are yet to be confirmed, wrote a spokesperson for Mr Martin. However, we will share your proposal with our US counterparts for their consideration as part of their ongoing planning for the presidents visit.

Commenting on the reply, Mr Horgan told The Echo: Its not a no.
Cast our minds back to a mere five years ago, and Cork, Irelands self-proclaimed capital of food culture, had all the elements of a place where incredible produce and exciting dining was all around, but none of the accolades.

It had seemed as though Corks swift dance with the (still) much-respected opinion of Michelin inspectors had ended with Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House and Declan Ryan of Arbutus Lodge  late seventies to early 90s. Since then, not much at all.

But then in 2018, a duo of stars landed into two tiny villages in West Cork, and one in Cork city: the since-gone Mews in Baltimore, The Chestnut in Ballydehob and Ichigo Ichie in Cork city. 2020, and Bastion in Kinsale got their first star; and in 2021, after Ahmet Dede had parted company with Mews and started a new project, Dede, in Baltimore, the rebel county was on a high with four restaurants each with a star, holding onto them successfully during two years of tough trading.

Whether you agree with Michelin or not, and there are plenty of rumblings and vexed wringing of hands about it, the guide represents an international language of culinary excellence recognised everywhere, all at once.

Last night at the Michelin star awards 2023, a new star was awarded to a Cork restaurant, with another Michelin star restaurant in Cork collecting a second.

What does it do for a sleepy village like Baltimore when Dede won and kept a hold of their star? It means a plethora of innovative chefs and foodie creatives flocking there with their own ideas for great food, whether thats from a food truck, a tiny restaurant or a summer season of brilliant pop ups. With that comes people willing and happy to spend their hard-earned cash dining out, shopping the boutiques and staying in a B&B or nearby hotel. It means everyone gets a piece of the action.

From the quiet calmness of its opening in September last, Terre, located at Castlemartyr, was hotly tipped for a Michelin nod. Chef patron, Vincent Crepel, had ambition but also form, gaining the vaunted accolades in previous restaurant enterprises. Just six months after that opening, it receives its first star. One of twenty new one-star awards bestowed this year, the only one for Ireland and it comes to Cork.

Crepels cooking is as delicious and beautiful as it is precise and controlled. Whereas the accolades in the past have been bestowed on restaurants in Cork fervently championing locality of produce, Terres ethos is simply about the best: being the best, cooking the best, using the best  wherever in the world it may come from.

Vincent Crepel, Terre at Castlemartyr Resort

One star is awarded to restaurants using top quality ingredients, where dishes with distinct flavours are prepared to a consistently high standard. What makes Terre stand out is in the service it provides, designed specifically to elevate the diners experience. If the food is worthy of a single star here, the service could easily be on track for a second star, but thats for another year.

Without a doubt, the most emotional moment of the night was Ahmet Dede who scooped his second star for Dede in Baltimore. Two stars are awarded when the personality and talent of the chef are evident in their expertly crafted dishes; their food is refined and inspired. I had heard rumours of two stars coming to Cork this year, but did we dare it to be true? It seems Ahmet dared to dream, dared to hope and finally, after so much dedication, his talent and skill as a chef has been recognised with a second star, (the third of his career).

Taking to the stage to receive his award, Dede gave an emotional speech: Its been the longest five months, my parents are watching this right now, Dede said of his mother and father back in Turkey.

Thanks to my head chef Ali, Maria Archer my business partner, and Carly the mother of my child, and everyone in Baltimore  a small fishing village, for the last three years. Thank you so much, this is for Ireland and for Turkey.

Dede describes his cuisine as Turkish-Irish fusion, combining his love of flavours and ingredients of his Turkish homeland with the vibrant and world-class produce of his West Cork home. His food is full of passion, bold flavours delivered with elegance, and unmistakably his personality on a very elegant plate.

No new three-star restaurants were awarded this year, but all those awarded in 2022 did retain theirs. Across the awards, there was a strong London-based theme, showing that this is still the centre of the gastronomic world as far as these isles are concerned. But Ireland, and particularly Cork, only continues to enhance its reputation for great food as it continues to collect its Michelin accolades year on year.

With Terre a new one-star and Dede enhancing his achievements with two stars, Cork is very hot right now for gastronomy, especially as Ichigo Ichie, The Chestnut and Bastion all retain their one-star awards.

Coupled with the regions Bib Gourmand awards announced last week: St Francis Provisions, Kinsale this year joining Goldie, Cork city, and Cush, Ballycotton, Cork is turning into one tasty spot for exceptional dining
Members of Crosshaven Coast Guard had a busy day on Monday, rescuing a vessel which was in danger of sinking on its moorings.

The Coast Guard at Crosshaven was alerted at approximately 9.30am that a boat was sinking on its moorings in the Owenbue River, a spokesperson for the Valentia Coast Guard Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre told The Echo on Monday evening.

The lads went out and they managed to bring it ashore and secure it and then they waited for low water this evening to go back and pump out the water, the spokesperson said.

They continued on the job at 6pm this evening, going back out, and they pumped the vessel completely out, and now the owner is there and theyre all happy and the vessel has been saved, so come good work by the Crosshaven Coast Guard Unit. The work was completed by Hugh Coveney Pier in Crosshaven at 8pm on Monday evening, the spokesperson said.

If you see something or someone in trouble on our coasts or inland waterways, please immediately dial 112 or 999 and ask for the Irish Coast Guard.
I HAD hoped to be in Cyprus by now. Flights were arranged months ago, and I was looking forward to the trip - but, like the best laid plans of mice and men, the wheels came off. A trip of a different kind was on my flight path, and I ended up in Mater Hospital instead.

Ive had a dodgy back for years and when I was leaving Cyprus to come home last November, I slipped on a wet floor in an elevator. I grabbed hold of the handrail to prevent a fall, but I knew straight away that I had jarred something in my back and trouble wasnt too far away.

Sure enough, by the time I arrived home to Cobh, I was banjaxed.

My left leg was numb, so my GP sent me for an MRI and afterwards suggested that I should see Mr Paul Kiely, an orthopaedic spine surgeon in the Mater Hospital.

When I met him, I was hoping he would sprinkle some magic dust on the affected area and send me home to rest, but he had other plans.

After reading the MRI and X-rays, he told me I needed a couple of rods in my back to stabilise my spine. Wasnt expecting that.

From the word go, I knew Mr Kiely was the right man for the job. His confidence was infectious.

Following the surgery, the wound stubbornly refused to dry up, so I got to see a lot more of him over my three weeks stay than was originally envisaged. He was extremely professional, thorough and caring.

Prior to being admitted to hospital, I had to attend the Mater for a pre-surgery assessment and one of the first things they required was a blood sample. For this procedure, I was introduced to a phlebotomist.

Ive had blood drawn from me many times over the years, but this was the first time I had heard this term. One of the other nurses told me she is also referred to as the vampire, but I hoped she was joking.

Phlebotomy isnt a new term though. According to History.com for thousands of years, medical practitioners clung to the belief that sickness was merely the result of a little bad blood. Bloodletting, or phlebotomy, probably began with the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians, but it didnt become common practice until the time of classical Greece and Rome.

Patients with a fever or other ailment were often diagnosed with an overabundance of blood. To restore bodily harmony, their doctor would simply cut open a vein and drain some of their vital fluids into a receptacle. In some cases, leeches were even used to suck the blood directly from the skin.

While it could easily result in accidental death from blood loss, phlebotomy endured as a common medical practice well into the 19th century. Medieval doctors prescribed blood draining as a treatment for everything from a sore throat to the plague, and some barbers listed it as a service along with haircuts and shaves.

The practice finally went out of fashion after new research showed that it might be doing more harm than good, but leeching and controlled bloodletting are still used today as treatments for certain rare illnesses.

Luckily, my phlebotomist was up to date with modern practices and didnt resort to leeches or cut a vein. She just used a needle.

The ancient Egyptian physicians had their own peculiar remedies. They often used lizard blood, dead mice, mud and mouldy bread as topical ointments and dressings, and women were sometimes dosed with horse saliva as a cure for an impaired libido.

They also used human and animal excrement as a cure-all remedy for diseases and injuries. Donkey, dog, gazelle and fly dung were all celebrated for their healing properties and their ability to ward off bad spirits.

Thankfully, Paul Kiely and his staff are a lot more sophisticated and there wasnt an animal to be seen. The nursing staff, the catering staff, the physiotherapists and the cleaning staff were amazing, and we even managed to have some fun along the way.

My stay gave me the opportunity to see how a busy hospital functions on a daily basis, and it was an eye-opener.

It takes a large team of highly trained, dedicated professionals, working in unison in a sterile, often stressful, environment while maintaining a calm, pleasant demeanour.

Thats not always easy, as I know from my own experience of working with the public. It can be trying at times but the abuse they have to put up with is totally unacceptable.

The Echo had a report on nurses being assaulted in our hospitals every day. Thousands of assaults on nurses, most of whom are female, occurred between January, 2021, and October, 2022, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). And thats only the assaults that were actually reported.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said more than 9,000 assaults occurred during that period, almost double the figure recorded by the HSE. They included being shouted at, spat at, having things thrown at them, and even being threatened with stabbing.

Assaulting nurses is so mind- numbingly stupid that anyone found guilty of an offence of that nature should be automatically jailed.

According to the Irish Examiner, Judge Olann Kelleher agrees with me. He said, People acting the maggot with hospital staff should go to prison.

He was addressing a defendant in court who was highly intoxicated and became violent towards hospital staff at the Mercy University Hospital. The man pleaded guilty to the charges and the Judge told him: I know one person who is out of work for nine months from A&E because of people like you.

Instead of sending him to prison though, he issued him with a fine. The mind boggles.
WERE living in a world that is becoming more and more secular, as societies and politicians drift further away from religious beliefs and God.

Right?

Wrong, according to Cork author and Echo columnist, TP OMahony.

In fact, he argues in his new book The Politics Of God, religion - and specifically political religion, as practised by policymakers of various faiths around the world - is on the increase, and is set to pose all kinds of challenges in the years to come.

It is a view that somewhat swims against the tide of current thinking - particularly here in Ireland, which has had its own road-to-Damascus style conversion away from a controlling Roman Catholic Church in just a generation or two. And as far back as 1848, in their Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were convinced that God had been banished and religion would soon be redundant.

However, TP is well-placed and highly qualified to deliver his counter-argument.

Born in Cork in 1939, and a proud son of Blackpool and Dublin Hill, he spent 22 years as Religious Affairs Correspondent with the Irish Press and the Irish Examiner.

In that role, he travelled the world covering developments in Catholicism and Christianity and acquired a huge breadth of knowledge of all religions. Now in his eighties, his cautionary tale of a world where political religion is exerting an ever greater hold on societies deserves to be heard.

TP argues that 9/11 was a pivotal modern moment that signalled a shift in the relationship between religion and political power, and his argument becomes more convincing when one considers some of the biggest political events of the past few years.

Just look at the continuing and divisive debate both here and in America regarding the issue of abortion; or the fact that Russias invasion of Ukraine won the backing of that countrys Orthodox Church; or the continuing bad blood in Northern Ireland fuelled by the long-running Christian divide there.

A new book, The Politics Of God, by TP O'Mahony

The need for any American presidential hopeful to woo the Christian churches has long been documented, of course, while the rise and fall of Islamic State in recent years doesnt mean that threat has receded completely. Americas withdrawal from Afghanistan also left behind an effective theocracy in that country.

Its not even as though modern Ireland has completely escaped the influence of religion - the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) recently sparked a backlash by calling for primary school children not to be taught about transgender issues.

All of this lends significant weight to TPs argument - and he adds fuel to this by showing that there will be more - not fewer, as one might expect - religious people in the world in the coming decades.

He quotes findings by the Pew Research Centre which show the number of atheists, agnostics and others who do not affiliate with a religion will make up a declining share of the worlds population by 2050. By then, the number of Muslims will have caught up with the number of Christians to form two dominant world religions. Other major religions such as Hinduism and Judaism will also grow in numbers in that time - and, TP argues, possibly in influence too.

In the book, which is both scholarly but highly readable - TP documents various events in recent times to justify his stance - from the rise of religious extremists and terrorists, to talk of a Muslim reformation among Muslims themselves.

He also profiles several of what he terms Gods Politicians down the ages - such as Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and Martin Luther

On Irelands historic allegiance to the Catholic Church for the first half-century of the Republic, TP flirts with the word theocracy but just stops short of that description - preferring to call those decades here a voluntary or partial theocracy.

So, if the world is heading for a new era of political religion, how do we prepare for it? Well, it might not be all bad for a start.

TP quotes Madeleine Albrighton, a former US Secretary of State in the Clinton years, who said: We had better accept that the world is filled with political Muslims, political Christians, political Jews, and political people of every other faith. It is no crime to have a political agenda.

However, she cautioned: It is a crime to act on a violent and lawless agenda.

Its worth pointing out that violence and religions, which often make the case for standing up for peace, should be strange bedfellows; we know, however, from millennia of experience, that this is not the case.

In a typically passionate foreword to TPs book, former President Mary McAleese recognises the danger of political religion and calls for a grouping of forces - the United Nations, the European Union - to counteract it, while urging the worlds religions to navigate towards each other in humble generosity and willingness to compromise.

A forlorn hope perhaps, though she concludes optimistically that she hopes in and for the humanity of humanity and its eventual triumph... sometime soon Lord please!

For more evidence that the future is not necessarily bleak, TP points out that when Ian Paisley was asked about his newfound friendship with Martin McGuinness after the Good Friday Agreement, he simply declared: I believe God can change people.

Now that is the type of God we can all strive to believe in.

The Politics Of God: The Rise And Rise of Political Religion, by TP OMahony (Veritas). Available nationwide and online, 19.
Isabel Hayes

A teenage boy who raped a girl in a park, putting his hands around her throat and telling her she was his slut, has been sentenced to 16 months detention.

However, there is no space available in Oberstown detention centre for the boy who, as a result, was remanded on continuing bail in the Central Criminal Court on Monday until a space becomes available.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott said he was not greatly impressed there was no space available for the boy, who is due to turn 18 soon.

The judge said he was conscious the boy would be transferred to an adult prison shortly after his 18th birthday and said he had structured the 16-month sentence to ensure there was a transition period before this happened.

The 17-year-old Dublin boy, who can't be named because he is a juvenile, was found guilty by a jury of one count of raping the girl in a Dublin park on June 29th, 2021. He was 16 years old at the time, and she was 15 years old.

The pair met over Snapchat and the rape took place during their first meeting, a local garda detective told Cathleen Noctor SC, prosecuting. The court heard he brought the girl into a bush, where she thought he was going to have a cigarette, before some consensual sexual activity took place.

However, after the boy started having sexual intercourse with the girl, he put his hands around her throat and told her she was going to be his slut and do whatever he wanted. The girl froze in fear before repeatedly begging the boy to stop, while he kept saying: One more minute, the court heard.

The rape ended after the girl pushed the boy, and he then shoved her to the ground and refused to help her clean herself up. The trial, which took place in January, heard it was the girl's first sexual experience.

Victim impact statement

In a lengthy victim impact statement which she read out in court, the now 16-year-old girl said the boy treated her like dirt, left her bleeding and frightened in the park, was so selfish and cold and showed no emotion until he was found guilty by the jury.

He took away my curious innocence, the girl said. I was a happy, outgoing young girl. He took so much of me that can't be undone.

She said she would never forgive the boy for putting her through a trial which she described as devastating.

Listening to him lying in the stand and not being able to scream he was lying was torture to me, she said. She said she was made to feel like she was lying or stupid when being cross-examined, which she described as a terrible experience.

The girl outlined the difficulties she has experienced since the rape, including self-harm, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression and nightmares. She was a keen athlete, but her participation in sport has suffered since the attack, the court heard.

'Worst nightmare'

Her parents have struggled with the fact their worst nightmare happened to their daughter and her siblings have also been affected, she said.

Looking back, I feel so stupid for trusting him, she said. Now that trust is completely gone.

Sentencing the boy on Monday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said it was a case where two very young people have gone through a process in this court that not many adults have to go through.

The judge emphasised that given the ages of the parties involved, he was effectively sitting in the Children's Court. He said that under the law, any sentence handed down had to be based on rehabilitation, with custody as a last resort.

The judge said he also had to have regard for the victim in this case and the effect it has had on her. He said she had shown great courage in coming to court and reading her victim impact statement which he described as eloquent and extensive.

Mr Justice McDermott said that if the boy had been an adult at the time of the offence, he would have sentenced him to four to five years' imprisonment. Given the fact he is a child, the judge set a headline sentence of two years' detention, which he reduced to 16 months taking mitigation into account.

Virtually everything in your life is positive apart from this, the judge told the boy, noting he is doing well in school, working part-time and has plans for third level education.

I'm conscious the effect of what I'm going to do is interrupt your education, something no parent or court wants to do. However, he said a custodial sentence was inevitable, given the serious nature of the offence.

The realisation of what you did and the wrong it caused seems to me like it requires a lot more work, the judge said, noting there are programmes on consent and personal boundaries that the boy can undertake in detention.

In light of the lack of space in Oberstown, the case was adjourned to Tuesday for an update. Mr Justice McDermott ruled that the sentence be backdated to today's date. The boy sat between both his parents holding both their hands as the sentence was handed down.

During the trial, he took the stand and said he repeatedly asked the girl if she was OK during their encounter. He said he asked if the girl wanted him to stop and when she said yes, he did so.

Letters of apology

The court heard the boy now accepts the verdict of the jury, and he wrote letters of apology to the girl and the judge. He has no previous convictions. He was acquitted by the jury of two other offences.

Ms Noctor said the girl was grateful for the acknowledgment of guilt from the boy, but that she wished it had come sooner. Ms Noctor said the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions was that if the boy had been an adult at the time, the appropriate sentence for the offence would have been seven to 10 years.

The court heard that shortly after the rape, the boy sent the girl a Snapchat message saying: Don't tell anybody, before she blocked him. The girl went to her friend's house from the park and told her what happened. She later rang another friend and told her, before this girl's older sister found out and alerted the girl's parents.

The girl was examined in hospital and gave a statement to gardai. She told her parents she had thrown the clothes she was wearing into a skip and these were retrieved and given to gardai.

The boy was arrested, and his home was searched. He made no admissions to gardai beyond telling them that the sexual activity was consensual.

Seamus Clarke SC, defending, handed in a number of testimonials on behalf of the boy, including from his school where he was described as a diligent and conscientious student. He is due to sit his Leaving Cert exams next year and hopes to go on to third level education, the court heard.

He works part-time in a shop and his employer described him as caring, well-mannered and respectful young man.

The boy told a psychologist that his interaction with the girl was his second sexual experience. His parents split up when he was young, and he comes from a pro-social family, defence counsel told the court.

He has been deemed by the Probation Service as being at a low risk of sexual reoffending. Mr Clarke said the letter of apology written by the boy showed his remorse and acknowledged the substantial traumatic impact on her life.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.

In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
Eoin Reynolds

The jury in the trial of Michael Scott, who denies murdering his 76-year-old aunt by driving over her in an agricultural teleporter, has been told that it is too early for them to return a majority verdict.

Ms Justice Caroline Biggs on Monday responded to a number of questions from the jury, which began its deliberations last Friday.

Ms Justice Biggs said that the best verdict is a unanimous one and the jury "must return a unanimous verdict at this stage".

She said majority verdicts can be considered at a later stage, but added: "We are nowhere near that stage yet". A majority verdict, she said, would be accepted "after a number of days in a case like this".

Ms Justice Biggs also outlined the legal principles that apply in the trial. She said that the accused enjoys the presumption of innocence and therefore the burden of proof lies with the prosecution.

The prosecution, she said, must prove its case to the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. Any doubt, she said, cannot be frivolous, irrational, manufactured or fanciful but must be based on reason.

She said there is no doubt that Mr Scott was the cause of his aunt's death, but for a murder verdict the jury must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that at the time he ran over her, or the "nanosecond before that," he intended to kill or cause serious injury to her.

Reasonable doubt

If the jury has a reasonable doubt about his intent, if it reasonably could have been an accident, they must acquit him of murder and then consider a verdict of manslaughter.

For a manslaughter verdict, she said the jury must be satisfied that Mr Scott was driving in a "grossly negligent" way. If the prosecution has failed to prove murder or manslaughter to the required standard, Ms Justice Biggs said the jury must acquit.

Mr Scott (58) of Gortanumera, Portumna, Co Galway has pleaded not guilty to murdering his aunt Christina 'Chrissie' Treacy Treacy outside her home in Derryhiney, Portumna, Co Galway on April 27th, 2018.

The prosecution case is that Mr Scott deliberately reversed over Ms Treacy following a long-running dispute over land. Mr Scott's lawyers have told the Central Criminal Court that her death was a tragic accident.

The trial has heard that Mr Scott told gardai that he was reversing the teleporter across the yard outside Ms Treacy's home when he felt a "thump" and thought he might have struck a trailer.

He said he rolled the machine forward to level ground and when he got out of the cabin he found Ms Treacy lying on the ground.

Leasing of land

The trial also heard that Ms Treacy and her brothers farmed about 140 acres at Derryhiney and that she owned another farm at nearby Kiltormer. Following the deaths of Ms Treacy's brothers, Michael Scott came to own half the land at Derryhiney and Ms Treacy owned the other half. She leased her land at Kiltormer and Derryhiney to Michael Scott.

In early 2017, Mr Scott did not bid to continue leasing the land from Ms Treacy in Kiltormer when it went up for auction. Witness Regina Donohue has told the trial that by Christmas 2017, the deceased had made an application through her solicitor to split the land at Derryhiney.

On the day that Ms Treacy died, Mr Scott was to receive a letter from an agricultural consultant telling him that Ms Treacy was applying for a single farm payment on land she owned but had previously leased to Mr Scott.

The jury has spent four hours and 17 minutes deliberating and will return to the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

In a new program trial in Australia, oyster mushrooms are taking on an important new task. The fungi will consume the toxic chemicals and plastics inside up to 1.2 million cigarette butts, which will be diverted from landfills for the trial.

In Australia, people smoke about 18 billion cigarettes a year, and up to 9 billion cigarettes end up littered, according to the World Wildlife Fund Australia. Even with bans on smoking cigarettes in vulnerable areas, like beaches, much of the litter found still includes cigarette butts. In Victoria alone, an estimated 450 metric tons of cigarette butts go to landfills.

So in late 2020, researchers began looking for ways to repurpose littered cigarette butts. In 2021, researchers started working to train oyster mushrooms to break down cigarette butts, digesting the harmful materials like chemicals and microplastics and leaving behind materials that could be reused for other purposes.

Its a fascinating process to see, and most of our stuff is grown in glass so you can see the process, fungi researcher and founder of biotechnology company Fungi Solutions Amanda Morgan told Australian Broadcasting Corporation at the time. Mushrooms put out fine webs of mycelium and the roots spread through the cigarette butt.

Now, state government office Sustainability Victoria will fund a trial called CigCycle, a collaboration between nonprofit No More Butts and Fungi Solutions. The program will use cigarette butts destined for landfill, instead sending them to a lab to be digested by the oyster mushrooms.

The mushrooms use cellulose acetate in the cigarette butts as a source of nutrition, according to the researchers. The oyster mushrooms consume most of the provided cigarette butts within about a week, as The Guardian reported. In a landfill, this waste would take about 15 years to break down.

Cigarette butts extinguished in the sand in Australia. Fairfax Media via Getty Images

After the mushrooms break down the cigarette butts, researchers will determine if the remaining materials could be recycled into an alternative material for polystyrene. They anticipate using the recycled cigarette butt materials in construction and transportation.

The final product is quite naturally quite lightweight and insulating, Morgan said in a statement. If its possible, wed like to use the material to create vessels that we could then collect more cigarette butts in, rather than rubbish bins. Thats an example of something that would be a really nice, elegant circular solution for this material.

The team hopes to draw attention to the widespread impact of cigarette butts on the environment.

Even when people do the right thing and dispose of their cigarette butts the correct way, once they hit the waste stream and end up in landfill, they begin leaching damaging pollutants like arsenic and lead into waterways and soil systems. It takes about 15 years for plastic cigarette filters to break down, Shannon Mead, founder of No More Butts, said in a statement.

With new funding from the government, the CigCycle program is now scaling up and recruiting businesses and venues to register to participate for free by depositing cigarette butts for the trial.
HONORS CONVOCATION

What is Honors Convocation?

The Honors Convocation is an opportunity for ECSU to celebrate and recognize the academic achievements of undergraduate students with full-time enrollment.



Who Will Be Recognized?

All students enrolled in the University Honors Program will be recognized with Merit of Certificate Awards. Chancellors Scholars (who are also members of the University Honors Program) will receive academic blazers, as well as University Honors students who are graduating and are completing their honors theses.



Recognition is also given to eight students in each academic department for their high academic achievement. While only eight students can be chosen from each department, each discipline has the opportunity to highlight the academic achievements of their students. Also listed in the Program will be those students who have earned recognition for being on the Chancellors List, Deans List, and Honor Roll.



Who is invited?

Faculty, Staff, students, families, and friends are welcome to attend. According to Chancellor Dixons Communique, COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted but guests are welcome to wear a mask based upon their personal preference. Other families and friends that cannot attend are encouraged to join via livestream to support this years event.

Honors Convocation 2023






Dutch delegation visits Bangladesh to share expertise on strengthening poultry sector

A delegation of PoultryTechBangladesh's Dutch consortium partners visited Bangladesh as part of efforts to share their expertise on strengthening the Asian country's poultry sector, strengthen business ties, and facilitate trade between the two countries, Bdnews24 reported.

Larive International, Hato Agricultural Lighting, Van Aarsen, Hendrix Genetics, Mavitec, Nutreco, and Aeres International representatives were part of the delegation, as did officials from the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka.

PoultryTechBangladesh is a public-private partnership comprised of leading Dutch and Bangladeshi companies active across the poultry value chain.

The programme aims to improve business ties between parties involved in the Dutch and Bangladeshi poultry value chains, leading to increased trade, investment, and cooperation and helping the Bangladesh poultry industry become more competitive and sustainable.

Larive International and LightCastle Partners are the consortium's coordinating partners, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency co-funded of the programme.

In 2022, trainers from Aeres International led a training session for workers of Bangladeshi consortium partners using a training of trainers (ToT) model to ensure knowledge transfer and increase capacity at the ground level.

Participants from Aftab Bahumukhi Farms and Nourish Poultry participated in sessions for neighbourhood small-scale farmers under the supervision of Helmich van Rees, a senior trainer from Aeres International, during a week-long training programme this year.

PoultryTechBangladesh also facilitated a partnership between Nourish Poultry and Hatchery Ltd and Hendrix Genetics SASSO during the visit, in order to trial coloured or traditional broiler breeds in Bangladesh. The trail will begin in May 2023.

- Bdnews24




AquaBioTech and Chinese partners complete AquaDetector project

Malta-based aquaculture research and development company AquaBioTech Group and Chinese partners, aquaculture firm Mingbo Aquatic and China Agricultural University, have completed the AquaDetector project, SeafoodSource reported.

The goal of the AquaDetector project was to enhance digitalisation of the aquaculture sector for better farm management, improve livestock welfare, boost production growth, and improve China-Malta research cooperation.

The AquaDetector research project ran tests at recirculating aquaculture (RAS) facilities in Malta over a two-year period with the goal of applying the findings more broadly in China and Europe.

The project was backed by the Sino-Malta Fund and funded by the Chinese and Maltese governments.

AquaBioTech Group said China, the world's largest producer of aquaculture both in terms of volume and value, is a crucial partner in fostering Maltese innovation in this field. The company said the recognition of the Malta Council for Science and Technology to support research in this area through the Sino-Malta bilateral fund is highly valued.

China continues to support the development of aquaculture technology and equipment in the country, including the development of RAS. Mingbo Aquatic, located in the heart of China's Shandong aquaculture belt, is focused on growing premium species such as grouper.

Mingbo Aquatic said innovative digitalisation technologies aid in mitigating risk factors for the fisheries and aquaculture industry, such as concerns about climate change, global pandemics, and conflicts that could impact fish and seafood production and supply chains.

The company said collaborative projects like these benefit the Maltese aquaculture industry by adding significant socioeconomic value, enabling economic diversification and job creation, and increasing potential export earnings while contributing to the EU's trade deficit for fisheries products.

- SeafoodSource




New Zealand to aid Pacific nations in combating animal diseases

New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, the country's Associate Minister of Agriculture, Meka Whaitiri, said.

"Highly contagious diseases such as African swine fever (ASF) and foot and mouth disease are a major concern for the Pacific," Whaitiri said. "In 2020-21, for instance, an outbreak of ASF in Papua New Guinea severely impacted the livelihoods of tens of thousands of families there. Climate change is also increasing the prevalence of pests and diseases affecting agricultural production and food security in the Pacific.

"It's important Pacific countries including New Zealand learn from each other and share knowledge to support each other when these sorts of outbreaks occur.

"We will focus on strengthening border biosecurity, disease surveillance and veterinary capacity across the Pacific, and I'm pleased to announce that one new initiative will be an internship programme supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Massey University.

"This will enable vet students from Fiji National University to gain the valuable, practical experience required to qualify as vets in Fiji.

"It's a practical way in which New Zealand can assist in building vital animal health capacity in the Pacific and strengthen biosecurity and animal health practices and I am very pleased we can support it."

- Devdiscourse
Morse Code SOS Message The Morse Code SOS distress message is known around the world, but there are many misconceptions about it - find out the real details, what it means, how it should be sent . .

Morse Telegraph History Includes:

Morse telegraph history Morse keys development Vibroplex & mechanical bug keys Telegraph sounder Morse inker Samuel Morse Fascinating facts Morse code SOS message

Morse keys:

Clipsal key Camelback Walters Electrical Patt 1056A Post Office key Steel lever Morse telegraph key RAF Bathtub Morse key

The Morse code distress signal is probably one of the most famous messages associated with radio communications.

The SOS message has been included in many films or movies and has many associations with stories like the sinking of the Titanic or other famous ships.

However the reality of the Morse code SOS message is far less romantic and has more associates with people who are in real trouble and wanting assistance.

The sound is very distinctive and there were reserved times on various maritime frequencies that had to be kept clear for distress signals. The signal was also used in many other ways as an alert for a person or group of people in distress.



Video: Morse Code SOS Distress Signal: facts & fiction

Morse code SOS sound

The sound of the Morse code SOS signal is very distinctive with its three short, three long and three short sounds.

One of the key elements is that the Morse code SOS sound is sent not sent as S O S, i.e. three separate characters, but with all the dots and dashes together as one character.

The sound of the Morse Code SOS signal



SOS Morse code distress signal basics

The SOS Morse code distress signal was used internationally and it was originally established for maritime use where it was transmitted using on-off keying of a wireless transmitter.

Often called CW for continuous wave or carrier wave, this type of transmission was far easier to transmit as it only required the transmitter to be keyed on and off as opposed to applying a form of audio modulation which was the other option in the time when SOS was widely used.

The other advantage of a Morse signal was that it could be copied at far lower signal strengths than other forms of signal, making it a more effective form of transmission.

SOS signal and message formats

The SOS consist of three dots, three dashes and three dots which are transmitted as a single character - not three letters as is normally seen and heard in films / movies etc.

As a result of the SOS signal being transmitted as a single character, it is often written as a the three letters SOS with an over-score above it.

Notation for the Morse code SOS distress signal

The character became known as SOS because this was an easy way of remembering it: it could equally well have been designated as "3B", "V7", "IWB" etc as these all make up the same three dots, three dashes and three dots.

When an SOS distress message is being sent, it should follow a set format.

SOS sent three times

The word "DE", i.e from, and then the callsign of the vessel three times, and / or other identification of the vessel

The position

Other relevant information, e.g. fire, sinking, etc

To make these distress cals, the International distress calling frequency was used. The frequencies for these were 500 kHz, 2182 kHz, and some other frequencies.

There are also various other frequencies used for voice calls, both in the HF and VHF regions of the radio spectrum.

For the International distress frequencies, it was mandatory that when a distress call was heard, all other transmissions should cease. Also a period of silence was maintained on the hour and half hour to ensure any weak signals could be hear.

It was also mandatory that radio silence was maintained on 500 kHz and 2182 kHz channels at the relevant times. Three minute silence periods were used twice every hour on the main primary calling frequencies of 500 kHz (h15 and h45, i.e. 15 and 45 minutes past the hour) and 2182 kHz (h00 and h30).

The clock in a ship's radio room had these periods highlighted. All communication had to stop during these silence periods. If the silence was broken for routine messages the radio operator was likely to be reported, and potentially lose their licence

History of SOS message

SOS was not the first distress signal to be used. With wireless communications being used for many ship communications from around the beginning of the 1900s, the importance of having a set distress signal was realised.

The first distress signal was C Q D, transmitted as three separate letters. The letters CQ were used by radio stations to indicate a general call, indicating they wanted to communicate with someone. The letter D was appended tot his to indicate it was a distress call.

C Q D was adopted by the Marconi International Marine Communication Company, possibly the largest company of the time that was installing radio or wireless equipment onto ships.

Early ship installations used spark transmitters and high voltages were keyed - this Morse key has insulators to provide the required installation. (Health & safety was not an issue then).

On 7 January 1904 the Marconi company issued what was called "Circular 57" which which specified that for the any of the Marconi company ship installations, the new CQD distress called would be used. The starting date for this would be 1 February 1904.

There were also several other distress calls that were adopted by other companies and countries around this time. In fact there was no international agreement on any call and its format.

The famous SOS call was came out of Germany which was the first country to use it. The sequence of three dots, three dashes and three dots was adopted because it was easy to identify and remember. It was very distinctive and could not be confused with other sequences.

The SOS distress call was adopted by Germany from 1 April 1905, and later started to be adopted internationally. The process started in 1906 at the first International Radiotelegraph Convention which met in Berlin. Realising the need to international coordination over distress calls, an agreement was produced and signed on 3 November 1906 to use the SOS call. This became effective on 1 July 1908.

The adoption of SOS as the Morse code distress call did not start to be used by everyone immediately. However, possibly the first reported ship to use the new SOS call was the Cunard liner RMS Slavonia which was shipwrecked off the Azores on 10 June 1909. Two other ships received her signals and went to the rescue.

Even as late as 1912 when the Titanic sank, it was not uniquely used as the wireless operator, Harold Bride, used both CQD and SOS in the distress messages.

The Morse code SOS signal remained the maritime radio distress signal until 1999, when it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System which provided more universal and immediate communications for distress communications.

What does SOS mean

Despite the many ideas, SOS does not stand for anything. It was simply chosen as a set of dots and dashes that was easily identifiable, very memorable and was unlikely to be confused with any other set of dots and dashes.

It was only after its introduction that people started to associate the letters with other words, using it as an abbreviation for a particular phrase.

Although "Save Our Ship" and "Save Our Souls" might seem like an ideal solution to what SOS stands for, neither is true.

However, to many, "Save Our Ship" and "Save Our Souls" can be an easy way of remembering which letters are used in the distress call, they were only made up well after SOS was introduced as the distress signal to be used on the airwaves.

The SOS distress message in Morse code has been used for many years. Although it is not now a mandatory requirement for maritime vessels to be able to send Morse code distress messages, as satellite based systems are now far more reliable.

However, the SOS Morse code distress signal was used for nearly 100 years and resulted in many lives being saved, both at sea and in other situations.

More History:

Radio history timeline History of the radio Ham radio history Coherer Crystal radio Magnetic detector Spark transmitter Morse telegraph Valve / tube history PN junction diode invention Transistor Integrated circuit Quartz crystals Classic radios Mobile telecoms history Vintage mobile phones

Return to History menu . . .
Witness appeal to Douglas assault

Police are continuing to appeal for witnesses after an assault in Douglas.

It happened between 2:30am and 3am on Saturday in Upper Victoria Street.

A male was assaulted and left lying unconscious in the road way and was taken to hospital.

Officers are appealing for any witnesses who may have observed the altercation itself or events leading up to or following.
Offshore wind developer establishes office in the Isle of Man

An offshore wind developer has confirmed they will open an office on the Isle of Man.

rsted said the move is part of their commitment to developing the Islands first-ever offshore wind farm.

The office in Douglas, will accommodate the Isle of Man Offshore Wind Farm development team.

The Island's first offshore wind farm is progressing through the early stages of development after rsted and the Manx Government signed an Agreement for Lease at the end of 2015.

rsteds John Galloway has taken up the role as Development Director for the offshore wind farm and is looking forward to expanding his project team, saying: This office is the start of exciting things to come for rsted in the Island. We will continue to work hard with local stakeholders in the coming months and years to design a project that truly supports the Isle of Man Governments own net zero ambitions.

Chief Minister Alf Cannan MHK, commented: I am delighted that rsted have chosen to open an office on the Isle of Man. Renewable energy and its benefits are becoming much clearer and there is the additional benefit of new jobs and developing technologies.
Armed officers respond to incident in Peel

Armed officers have attended an 'ongoing incident' in Peel.

Queen Elizabeth II High School was evacuated earlier and a cordon around the site has been put in place.

Police are also dealing with a further incident at Peel Castle.

A large number of police vehicles including armed response officers are on scene.

Isle of Man Constabulary said: "We are advising members of the public to refrain from attending these areas, until further notice."

"In addition to this, it is advised that drone operators do not deploy their devices at this time." Isle of Man Transport says to due to the closure of Main Road at St Johns - Peel - all buses will operate from Douglas to Peel from Ballacraine via Main Road, Station Road, Hope, Curragh Road, Ballacraine, Ballig Bridge and Poortown Road to Peel. Peel to Douglas via Poortown Road, Ballig Bridge, Ballacraine, Hope, Station Road and Main Road to Ballacraine.
Now they just need to figure out how to extract it.

Water trapped in tiny glass beads on the Moon could hydrate future settlements Now they just need to figure out how to extract it.

Chinas Change 5 rover has found tiny glass beads containing water in an impact crater on the Moon. Samples collected from a 2020 mission found beads with water content as high as 2,000 parts per million (PPM). Given the prevalence of these glass spheres on the lunar surface, there may be enough to provide 71 trillion gallons of water.

Some beads formed when asteroids collided with the Moon millions of years ago, while others came from ancient volcanoes. Scientists believe the water originated from a chemical reaction when hydrogen ions emitted from the sun  transported to the lunar surface from solar winds  combined with oxygen atoms inside the beads. The water-filled beads are tiny, ranging from tens of micrometers to a few millimeters. Still, there are enough on the Moons surface to (theoretically) supply an estimated 270 trillion kilograms of water  enough to fill 100 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

However, scientists havent yet figured out how to collect them, and they would need to heat them to around 212 degrees Fahrenheit to extract water. Still, they could be a resource for future lunar settlements, where astronauts could use water for drinking, bathing, cooking, cleaning and even producing rocket fuel.

Scientists believe other moons in our Solar System may have similar beads. Our direct measurements of this surface reservoir of lunar water show that impact glass beads can store substantial quantities of solar wind-derived water on the moon and suggest that impact glass may be water reservoirs on other airless bodies, the studys authors wrote. The presence of water, stored in impact glass beads, is consistent with the remote detection of water at lower-latitude regions of the Moon, Vesta and Mercury. Our findings indicate that the impact glasses on the surface of Solar System airless bodies are capable of storing solar wind-derived water and releasing it to space.

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The glass beads arent our first glimpse at water on the Moon. In 2009, NASA crashed a probe into the Cabeus crater that led to water detection; in 2018, NASA found direct evidence of ice deposits in the Moons permanently shadowed craters on its north and south poles. NASA and China / Russia plan to put lunar bases at the Moons South Pole within the next decade; the competing initiatives both hope to have inhabitable bases ready by the early-to-mid-2030s.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.
From the local paper (Changing climates means changing ski season):

Snowfall in the High Country is around 25 percent less than the long-term average, according to data from local meteorologist Ray Russell of Rays Weather Center. However, local ski resorts only need to maintain cold temperatures for a successful season.

Kimberly Jochl, vice president of Sugar Mountain Resort, notes how the resort is constantly investing in new snowmaking infrastructure. In order to make artificial snow, temperatures need to be at or below freezing.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, average global temperatures have risen nearly two degrees from 1901 to 2020. Although temperatures have been changing, Russell notes, They can put so much snow on the slopes on a cold day that it mitigates a lot of the problems of climate change.

Its a real science, its a real craft, says Jochl of the specifics in snow making. Even if temperatures are not freezing but the humidity is low enough, there is a factor called wet bulb, a condition in which makers can still be able to blow snow at temperatures slightly above freezing.

This season, Sugar Mountain was able to open on November 15 after 24 hours of cold temperatures and snow blowing. Weather is our friend. We work with Mother Nature as much as we can, said Jochl.

Its amazing how much snow they can make now compared to 30 years ago, said Russell.

Jochl notes how the majority of this season has [not] been cold and snowy with some warm spells here and there. Overall though, Jochl notes how this season has been a success due to the cold temperatures allowing the mountain to blow snow.

According to Russell, one of the most significant climatological aspects that is changing is the false spring that has been coming in late February or early March, where a warm spell comes in and, in essence, tricks crops and plants into thinking it is time to bloom.

Even when there are warm temperatures, the resort still often attracts skiers and visitors.

The climate makes or breaks a ski business, said Jochl, adding that the team at Sugar works hard to squeeze every snowflake out (that) they can each season.

Although temperatures fluctuate globally, technology is advancing alongside it to keep ski resorts in North Carolina booked and busy.
Rahil Virani, Co-founder & CMO of MYFITNESS talks to us about how their media and marketing strategies are evolving to keep pace with the brands growing offline footprint.

Can you shed some light on your brand journey and how it has strengthened over the years?

The journey began 14 years ago with my father who came up with the plan to start manufacturing peanut butter. He started off with a very small sized factory, and his main objective was to get into export, because back then the awareness and the demand for peanut butter, as a product, was not so much among Indian consumers. It was in such a scenario that he set up his export business, and it was also doing quite well. This was because the peanuts that are grown in India, in parts of Gujarat, are one of the best - very flavourful, aromatic, and of very good quality. So, there was good demand internationally for the product that was being generated from India for the last many years. But four years ago, we felt that the trend is changing and theres also growing awareness among consumers; people had started asking about peanut butter. They were requesting their friends and family members who were coming from the US and the UK to get it for them. Fitness enthusiasts who were regular at the gym had also become aware of its benefits; peanut butter was an essential part of their diet now. More and more people were increasingly switching to healthier foods.

And thats when we, my brother-in-law and I- the next generation in the business after my father- decided to take a step ahead and broaden our scope by starting our own in-house brand for the Indian market. We already had the manufacturing part sorted, which is the first thing that anyone who starts a new business has to figure out. For us, that became an advantage because by then, we were already making it for about 10-11 years. The year was 2018. Online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart were doing very well, and so we were also quite clear on how and where we want to sell our products. It was primarily these online channels where we decided to sell as well as scale up. So, that is how MYFitness started.

Initially, the objective was to target people who are fitness enthusiasts, hence the name MyFitness, which resonates with someone who wants to eat healthy. That was our initial TG, but slowly, of course, as a brand, we started targeting children, adults, and the elderly also. However, TG and the majority audience today are the 18 to 35-year-old males. That being said, we are also looking to expand this bracket now.

What are some of the innovative marketing strategies you use to reach out to the masses?



At the time when we started out, Saffola and FunFood were already established in the market. Being traditional, conventional brands with lakhs and lakhs of touchpoints, it was very easy for them to reach the customers by being present on the supermarket shelves. So, we understood, quite early on, that this is not the route we would take. Online was the way for us, and we pursued it aggressively. We signed up on Amazon. Flipkart and PayTM. PayTM used to have e-commerce channels back then. Initially, we used to receive 5 or 10 orders a day. Then slowly it grew to 100- 200. Today we're shipping almost 14,000 orders a day of which about 65% comes through the e-commerce channels. At number one is Flipkart, then comes Amazon and at number three is our own website. As the brand grew, we were able to pull a lot of customers online.

This was also due to the fact that we invested a lot in marketing our product during the subsequent four-year period. We had brand ambassadors such as Hardik Pandya, the cricketer, actor Kriti Sanon from Bollywood, and from the South Industry we had Samantha and Dulquer Salman. And with that, slowly, the offline channel also grew. One great thing that happened as the business grew, and our brand MyFitness began to get recognised was that the store owners started asking for our products. It was not the case before. Initially, when we used to go to the stores, they used to ask us for high listing fees, high shelves fees, and everything else. That had changed.



Which medium do you generally use to grow your brand visibility and why?

We had realized in the first three months of launching the brand that we need to reach out to a larger set of audiences. So, we onboarded Sahil Khan- he is someone who is very popular in the fitness and bodybuilding industries, and a lot of gym-going people follow him on social media. We took him on as a brand ambassador. The promotional campaigns with him resulted in the initial growth. As we were not a conventional brand, and were operating largely in the new-age, D2C space, we opted for Instagram and YouTube as our medium of choice. How it worked was, first Sahil Khan would promote the brand on his Instagram and YouTube channels, and later we would run the same content as an ad on our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. After the early growth, of course, we onboarded many more ambassadors like Hardik Pandya, Samantha, Kriti Sanon, and Dulquer Salman.

TV news is a very popular medium of communication due to its reach and loyal viewers. Do you think brands should advertise more on TV as compared to other media platforms?

Yes. If I speak for our brand, in the coming years, we are going to make a nominal shift from being a pure play digital and social media brand to being a conventional brand for the masses. Going ahead, we intend to do campaigns on TV. We have both TV shows and sports properties such as IPL on the radar. We will be exploring a lot more TV in the near future.



When we started out, it was only reasonable for us to go with social media and digital/ online branding because we were not available offline. But now that we are also growing our offline footprint, the strategy also changes for us. Now we will begin to spend on TVCs and other traditional media channels. Needless to say, the media mix will keep varying and evolving based on how the revenue is spreading out. In the near future, you'll also see us on billboards on the highways. Basically, as we grow offline, our media strategy and communication will also evolve to include more conventional mediums.

What is the marketing mix of your brand campaigns?



We usually stick to the basics. It helps us to keep things simple and uncomplicated. Our current channel mix for sales is 65% online and 35% offline, and therefore, our marketing mix and spends also follow the same equation. 65% of our spending is online, which includes Facebook ads, Google ads, and YouTube ads. The remaining 35% spends are on those media channels from where the offline sales come, i.e., TVCs and outdoor ads. And, that is also what we will continue to follow in the future.





Do you think brand messaging and propositions in India have changed post the pandemic?



Yes. When the virus hit us, initially we had to face a lot of logistical and operational problems, even though the demand was always there. But during the later days of the, pandemic, we witnessed a growth in demand, instead of de-growth. So, as soon as the logistics and operations resumed, we were at once able to start fulfilling the orders again. The pandemic has given us a spike, as during that period people were always looking for healthier options. Everyone wanted to live healthy and eat healthy.

From the marketing perspective as well, we never felt there was a slowdown. We continued to do what we were doing. We continued to market how we were marketing. As the brand was growing, and the sales was growing, the profit was also growing. We always kept utilizing that profit to market and advertise. We kept reinvesting it in building the brand. There was no slowdown on the front for us. As the brand grew, the marketing spends grew, and overall, we kept growing.

Another significant development that took place during that time was that we came up with an innovation to address consumers concerns. We noticed that in other peanut butter brands, there was always an oil separation taking place. So, we felt the need to come up with a product which could address this issue. We leveraged our collaboration with an Israeli food agency to come up with a peanut-based stabilizer which ensured that there was no oil separation happening. That became one of the USPs of our brand.

Do you advertise on news channels? Can you share some insights on how you plan to market your brand on TV?

Honestly, not so far. Whether we will? It is too soon to make a decision on that. That decision-making will happen at a later date, once the production of our new campaign has begun. We never look that far in the future, we always live in the present. We only think of what we are going to do in the next three months. Once those things are achieved, we plan for the next three months. So, I don't have an answer for what I'm going to do in the coming years. But in the coming months, what we are going to do is discuss and decide on what the next campaign should be for MyFitness to start becoming a household brand. I can only say that it will be a mix of both digital and offline, including TV.

Is TV news included in the marketing mix specifically during slowdowns? What are your views on this?

I think it will always vary depending on the kind of brand that you want to build and the kind of brand that you have built so far. So, a Rolex or a Rolls-Royce will never advertise on TV, they have customers in different places interacting in different ways. Whereas someone like a Nescafe, they're always there on TV. So, there is never a standard answer for this. It'll all depend on the kind of brand and where its customers are.

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From: TreatNOW Coalition -- Concussion Protocol Experts For Immediate Release: Dateline: Arlington , VA Monday, March 27, 2023

Olympic-Sized Problem:

Brain Wounding leading to Suicidal Ideation The Veterans Administration, NFL, and the NCAA get it wrong on Concussion/TBI/PTSD, Suicide Prevention, and mental health BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: Untreated TBI/PTSD/Concussion will cost taxpayers $4.7 trillion over forty years. Treating and helping to heal those brain wounds using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can be done for one-half of one percent of that cost. And patients will be restored to a Quality of Life denied them under current protocols for brain wounds. Using data from the Brown University Cost of War Project, author Thomas Suitt of Boston University estimates 30,177 active duty personnel and veterans of the post 9/11 wars have died by suicide, significantly more than the 7,057 service members killed in post-9/11 war operations; some estimates are three times that number. Month after month, year after year, we learn that billions of dollars spent on Suicide Prevention should have been more wisely targeted.

March is National Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. June is simultaneously Alzheimers & Brain, and PTSD Awareness Month, and September has a Suicide Prevention Week. Yet despite the peer-reviewed science in the last decade, none of these campaigns addresses the wound in the brain, let alone the single treatment proven to help heal brain wounds as opposed to merely palliating symptoms.

Ignoring a fundamental cause of suicide is one reason the suicide rate continues to climb. A fundamental cause of suicide is brain injury. A brain injury is a wound to the brain. Untreated and/or misdiagnosed brain wounds do not get better. Symptoms may recede, but the underlying injury can fester for a long time, leading to behavioral, emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual breakdowns that can lead to violence and suicide.

Depression and suicidal ideation are common effects of PTSD and TBI. Treating PTSD/TBI with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is proven to reduce depression and suicidal ideation, and allow patients to get off almost all their drugs.

Hundreds of thousands of concussions are reported in ERs each year; many more go unreported. Yet nowhere can you find a Concussion Protocol  not in the NFL, NCAA, NHL, FIFA, MLB, NBA, World Rugby, or any other sport that mentions a brain wound or brain wound healing using Hyperbaric Oxygenation. Imagine a Protocol that doesnt even talk about OXYGEN as a necessary ingredient for healing, fighting inflammation, reducing pain, fighting mental fog/fatigue/confusion. Hypoxia can kill. Concussion Protocol specialists must go back to school for wound healing basics.

It is well documented that brain injury affects executive function and increases depression. Depression is present in at least 50 percent of all suicides. While antidepressants are designed to decrease the symptoms of depression, they occasionally have the opposite effect and can increase suicidal thoughts and actions, especially in children and adolescents up to age 25.

About 70 percent of veterans who commit suicide do not use VA facilities. The recidivism rate for those who do use VA facilities in unreasonably high given the hundreds of thousands of treated veterans who remain disabled with a negative to degenerating quality of life.

To help prevent suicide, do root-cause analysis and find out is there is an undiagnosed and/or untreated brain wound. Palliating symptoms without fixing the brain-wound is not adequate medical care. Current protocols and standard of care at the NICoE, Intrepid Spirit Centers, and the myriad mental health clinics across DoD and the VA are inadequate for treating and healing brain wounds. They do not talk about brain wounding, they do not provide Informed Consent about alternative treatments like HBOT, and they continue to insist that more money spent on research will reverse the suicidal trends  despite two decades of experience to the contrary.

Veteran suicide rates are again on the rise. The Preventing Suicide in the U.S. Military Report still is silent on brain wound healing. Equipment maintenance is more advanced than military medicine in recognizing that when a system is broken, you fix it, not jerry-rig a solution.

More than 6,000 Veterans, Guardsmen, active duty Service members, and Reservists die by suicide each year  more than were killed in action in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts from 2001 to 2023 combined.

The VA reports that a veteran with a TBI is twice as likely to commit suicide.

In 2017, 69% of veteran suicide deaths were due to a self-inflicted firearm injury, about 50% higher than the general population.

Veterans in the throes of suicidal ideation relentlessly talk about how hopeless they feel, how little they sleep, and how death can end their pain, both to themselves and to their families.

Veterans, active duty, athletes, first responders/fire/police, and citizens who receive a full course of HBOT therapy report a reversal of downward deterioration. Over 21,000 success stories, over 7,000 veterans, active duty and SpecOps have been restored to a quality of life denied them using current, ineffective interventions. Heal Brains. Stop Suicides. Restore Lives. TreatNOW. The information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made. Key Words: Special Operators, veterans, suicide, athletes, brain health, blast injury, brain injury, brain wound, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, concussion, concussion protocol, Concussion Symptoms, CTE, HBOT, Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy, TBI, TBItreatment, traumatic brain injury, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD


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The first Chick-fil-A restaurant to land in downtown San Antonio is slated to open Thursday.

The restaurant in the Rand Building at 106 E. Houston St. will have dine-in, drive-thru and carry-out options, the Atlanta-based chicken chain said.

It will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Like all the company's stores, it will be closed Sunday.

Houston native Jamie Williams moved to San Antonio with his family to own and operate the restaurant, which is his first franchise. He previously worked at other fast-casual restaurants and said he sought to become a Chick-fil-A franchisee after talking to his brother-in-law Ben Stover, who runs the Chick-fil-A at 20831 U.S. 281, the company said.

On Express-News.com: Texas Supreme Court rules for San Antonio in Chick-fil-A lawsuit filed by conservative activists

Williams plans to hire about 75 full- and part-time employees.

I am so thrilled to be opening a restaurant in the heart of San Antonio  just a block away from the beloved River Walk, he said. I hope to create meaningful connections by serving others and leading with love, and I look forward to making an impact on this community and my team.

As part of the opening, Chick-fil-A is donating $25,000 to Feeding America, a nonprofit focused on ending hunger.

The company has more than 30 locations in the San Antonio area.

It's had a sometimes-contentious relationship with the city. In 2019, City Council booted Chick-fil-A from a concession contract for vendors at San Antonio International Airport because of the company's history of donating to organizations opposed to LGBTQ+ rights.

The decision angered religious conservatives, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz; roiled the San Antonio mayor's race and sparked state and federal investigations.

It also prompted state lawmakers to pass a so-called "Save Chick-fil-A" bill, which prevents government agencies from punishing people or companies for affiliating with or donating to religious groups. Last year, the Texas State Supreme Court ruled that conservative activists suing the city for allegedly violating the "Save Chick-fil-A" law had not presented evidence of a violation.
Luby's, the 75-year-old Texas cafeteria chain hit hard by the pandemic as it struggled to stay on top of shifting consumer tastes, took a misstep this week when it sent out promotional text messages Tuesday playing off the Amber Alert system.

The Houston brand sent out an image listing the contents of a ham dinner package and the message "Luby's Hamber-Alert! Ham Dinners spotted at Luby's!" with a link to place an order. The promotion drew customer objections, who felt the play on the nationwide alert system for missing children was in poor taste.

The company issued an apology on Thursday, according to screenshots from social media accounts. There was no mention of the contretemps on Luby's accounts.

"Luby's: We believe in owning our mistakes. We really apologize for the insensitive language in the recent promotion you received. We will do better," it said in a text sent to consumers.

Screenshot of Luby's text message

Luby's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

EXPANDING IN SAN ANTONIO: Chick-fil-A set to open its first restaurant in downtown San Antonio this week

Venkatesh Shankar, a marketing professor at Texas A&M University, said that in the digital age companies must be mindful now that there are more forms of communication, including social media, as companies interact with customers beyond just their physical locations. Digital communications expose the brand even more to the consumer.

"Most of the bigger companies with good social media practices have a playbook that will look at all these issues," Shankar said, adding that includes apologizing to stakeholders emotionally affected by a company's mistake.

The Amber Alert system began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters developed an early warning system with police to find abducted children after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, was abducted. She was later found murdered. The acronym stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response." According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 1,127 children have been recovered due to Amber Alerts as of Dec. 31.

The storied Texas brand has long been in flux.

In 2001, Chris and Harris Pappas, the brothers behind Pappas restaurant brands Pappasito's Cantina and Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, among others, bought a majority stake in the restaurant chain, which was founded in 1947. They closed underperforming restaurants, adjusted its menu and redesigned some locations in an effort to improve the chain.

Luby's, which was publicly traded at the time, began pondering a sale in September 2019 after a months-long proxy fight with a New York-based activist investor.

The chain took steps to liquidate as earnings plummeted in 2020 during the pandemic and amid an ongoing trend of diners moving away from the Southern comfort food at Luby's cafeterias to opt for healthier, fast casual food options.

Chicago catering entrepreneur Calvin Gin bought the Luby's brand and 35 locations in Texas, including 16 Houston locations, for about $30 million in 2021. The sale allowed Luby's Inc. to move out of restaurant operations to liquidate the rest of the company.
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Rackspace Technology is laying off nearly 4 percent of its employees, a move the San Antonio cloud computing company said is a response to a broad economic downturn.

The layoffs will cut nearly 275 employees across Rackspace's global workforce. The company declined to disclose how many will be let go from its San Antonio headquarters or their roles, saying only that laid-off employees' final days of employment would vary.

Rackspace had about 700 local employees in December, according to a March 16 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its global employment was about 6,800 in 23 countries, including 3,100 in North America.

READ MORE: Rackspace says next few quarters may be choppy as it moves into new operating structure, new HQ

Employees of the company  long considered the city's premier technology business  were informed of the layoffs last week, said Casey Shilling, chief marketing officer.

Like so many companies that are feeling the effects of the macroeconomic downturn, Rackspace is no exception, she said in an email confirming the layoffs. During this uncertain time, it is important that we align our cost structure to the demands of the business. This requires some elimination of roles across the company.

The company will provide severance and other resources to those who are laid off, Shilling said.

The cuts come as Rackspace continues looking for a path to profitability and its stock price is being hammered. Its shares lost more than 80 percent of their value last year, with about half of the decline coming after it was hit by a ransomware attack in December.

The plunge has continued this year.

Its shares have fallen about 42 percent since Rackspace reorganized into separate private and public cloud business units in January. The stock lost roughly 23 percent in March alone and plunged to a 52-week low of $1.57 per share before bouncing back last week.

It closed Friday at $1.76, up slightly on the day. A year ago, Rackspace was trading at $11.

The company has reported a string of quarterly losses despite 13 straight quarters of record revenue.

JOBS: TaskUs to lay off 186 employees in San Antonio as it continues reducing domestic workforce

With its latest round of layoffs, Rackspace joins other tech companies that have announced job cuts this year.

New Braunfels-based TaskUs last month announced that it would lay off 186 employees in San Antonio, as the provider of outsourced digital services continues growing globally and cutting its U.S. workforce. Tech giants that have offices in Central and South Texas also have announced downsizing since the start of the new year: Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta have said they would lay off employees.

This isn't Rackspace's first layoff in recent years.

In July 2021, the company cut about 700 workers, or 10 percent of its global staff. At least half of the affected staff  and possibly as many as two-thirds  were reported to work in San Antonio. The company attributed those layoffs to an internal restructuring plan and expected that about 85 percent of the jobs would be backfilled in its offshore service centers located across the world.

TECH NEWS: San Antonio-based Rackspace cuts 10 percent of workforce

The headquarters job cuts, though, are among the reasons some longtime Rackspace employees, including the company's co-founder, say the company is struggling: It's lost its identity, they say.

Changes have been coming at the upper levels, too.

In September, the company appointed Amar Maletira as chief executive. Previously the company's chief financial officer, he replaced former CEO Kevin Jones, who moved to a position with Apollo Global Management, the company's largest shareholder.

At the start of the new year, Maletira rolled out the new business strategy aiming to capitalize on the growing public and private cloud markets. On his first earnings call since the launch, Maletira last month reported a net loss of $214 million on revenue of $787 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31. That compared with a net loss of $83 million on revenue of $777 million in the same period a year earlier.

The results also included impairment charges of $129 million resulting from a decline in market capitalization after the ransomware attack and $75 million related to the companys impending move from its longtime headquarters in Windcrest to the North Side later this year.

READ MORE: The end: Rackspace founder says its on trajectory of death. Other former Rackers not so sure.

Shilling said the company remains focused on its new strategy and is still optimistic about trends in the public and private cloud markets.

Despite the downturn, we are in an attractive and growing multicloud market, she said. We have a sound strategy and have successfully implemented our new operating model.

Former Rackspace employees have been discussing the latest round of layoffs on the Reddit website.

It really saddens me to see what the company that I once loved so much devolve into what it is today, one user wrote in a community chat on the site.
Whataburger is pushing deeper into the Sunshine State with plans to more than double its restaurant count in North Florida.

Franchisee Silvercreek Group LLC plans to add 12 Whataburger locations in the Jacksonville area, with the first two slated to open in Jacksonville and St. Augustine by the end of 2027.

The San Antonio-based burger chain is also opening three corporate-owned restaurants  one in St. Augustine and two in Jacksonville.

On ExpressNews.com: Whataburger lays off employees from San Antonio headquarters; requires staff to return to office

This collaboration has been many years in the making, and were thrilled to expand this iconic brands presence across Northeast Florida," said Markus Garnett, Silvercreek Group key operator.

With those additions, there will be 24 Whataburger restaurants in the Jacksonville area.

Whataburgers expansion has accelerated since Chicago-based investment firm BDT Capital Partners bought a majority stake in the company in 2019.

At the time of the sale, Whataburger operated 828 restaurants across 10 states and generated more than $2 billion in annual sales. Since BDTs involvement, its footprint has swelled to more than 900 locations with sales exceeding $3 billion annually.

Whataburger has opened its first restaurants in Missouri, Colorado and Kansas, as well as in the Atlanta and Nashville areas while continuing to expand in existing markets. The majority of its locations are in Texas, which is home to more than 700 Whataburger restaurants.

It already operates 43 restaurants in Florida, and Whataburger President and CEO Ed Nelson said he was excited to be partnering with Silvercreek to expand in the Jacksonville area.

We look forward (to) serving this thriving community for many years to come," he said.
San Antonio City Council has approved a program to compel negligent landlords to fix code violations  and the landlords themselves will pay for the enforcement effort. Heres what you need to know.

Under the Proactive Apartment Inspections Program, buildings with serious code violations will receive extra scrutiny.

If a rental property is cited for serious code violations three or more times within six months, the owner will have to register with the city. Registered buildings will be examined more often and more closely. Five percent of their units will be inspected every month for at least six months.

To avoid being forced into the program in the first place, apartment owners must fix code infractions within 10 days of being notified about them.

What do you mean by serious code violations?

Sam Owens/Staff photographer

Anything that affects tenant safety: broken air conditioning, electrical problems, sewer leaks and structural issues.

When does the program begin?

April 2.

Are taxpayers footing the bill for this?

No, the landlords themselves will. Theyll be charged $100 for every unit registered with the program. The city's Development Services Department expects to register about 15 apartment complexes, with an average of 200 units each. That works out to $300,000 per year.

Wont the cost eventually be passed on to tenants?

Most likely. Amin Tohmaz, the citys deputy director of development services, told City Council members there isnt anything the city can do to prevent that. Because landlords raise rent frequently, it would be hard to prove it was because of the enhanced inspection program, Tohmaz said.

Does the crackdown apply to all apartment buildings or just big ones?

Complexes with five or more dwelling units that are located within San Antonio city limits are covered by the program.

How do I know if a particular apartment building is on the registry of bad landlords?

They will be listed on a page on the city website.

How many buildings will be on the registry?

City officials say that based on 18 months of code violation data, more than a dozen properties likely would be in the program if it already were in operation.

Whos going to do all this inspection work?

The goal is to have a team of six designated inspectors. Two are already in place. Four more could be hired, depending on how city budget deliberations turn out.

Can an apartment complex get off the registry if the owners clean up their act?

Yes. If a building goes six months with fewer than three code citations  and the owner corrects all violations  the property graduates from the program. But the owners arent off the hook. Theyll remain on probation for four years after being registered.

Jessica Phelps

On probation? What does that mean?

If a spate of new code violations arises while a building is on probation, it goes back on the registry for at least a year.

How do building owners feel about all this?

A representative of the San Antonio Apartment Association, Celine Williams, told the City Council: Its important to remember that every dollar that goes toward fees to operate programs like this undermines housing affordability and contributes to the increasing operating costs to maintain quality housing for our residents. Still, the association said its not opposed to the program.

Why is this happening now?

In part because grim conditions at the Seven Oaks Apartments, near the South Texas Medical Center, drew public attention to the problem of substandard rental housing last summer. Tenants at the complex, since renamed Colinas at Medical, complained of roaches, rats, major water leaks, broken air conditioning, black mold and other problems.

As reporter Madison Iszler wrote in the Express-News, Seven Oaks is an extreme example of a wider problem: San Antonio is peppered with thousands of aging, deteriorating apartments occupied by working-class residents.

Some are second chance properties that accept tenants with criminal records or past evictions or who receive federal rent subsidies through the Section 8 program. With rental housing scarce in San Antonio, such apartments represent the only chance for many to put a roof over their heads, Iszler wrote.

Will this new program really make a dent in that problem?

City officials say they think so, and even the representative of the San Antonio Apartment Association agreed. Most owners and operators are going to want to comply because theyre not going to want to be subject to regular inspections and have to pay fees, Williams said.

Mia Loseff, South Texas regional director of Texas Housers, a nonprofit that promotes development of low-income housing, said the program strikes a balance between carrot and stick.

If you are a negligent landlord and you do have issues and you want to repair, there is opportunity to repair and actually get out of the program, she said. Simultaneously, if youre negligent and you have no interest in actually making fixes, I think the program does a very good job of punishing that and making it really painful to be in the program.
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The young woman, who had toiled in Texas fields, pulled double duty during a march for farm workers rights along California highways and byways.

She drove a first-aid truck in the hot California heat, several blocks ahead of marchers on the Delano Grape Strike march. After parking, she ran back to the group and marched with them to the truck. Then, shed do it again.

Driving the truck and marching came in the first days of the 280-mile march of Filipino American and Mexican American farm workers.

A public health nurse, Dora Rodriguez Stahl supported the strikers cause because she knew their plight. She offered first aid using the only medical supplies on hand  aspirin, bandages, and water.

READ MORE: It looked like something deserted: San Antonio veterans revive South Side memorial

Wearing jeans and a work shirt, she bandaged their feet, as she did for farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, organizer of the march. She cleaned his feet and tended to a blister on his big toe, but Chavez was more concerned about the marchers welfare.

Townspeople welcomed them with food when they stopped in their town for the night. The marchers sang De Colores, an uplifting song that became an anthem of the United Farm Workers of America movement.

About the author A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning. See More Collapse

It was very exciting to be able to support this group of people, Stahl, 91, said. It was a humble feeling. Im very grateful I was able to be there.

San Antonio City Council honored Stahl, 91, Thursday for her involvement with the historic strike that resulted in better wages, health care benefits and protections for farm workers.

District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia and District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez lauded Stahl and her husband, Ed, for their lifelong commitment to public service.

Thank you for helping our national hero Cesar Chavez to complete his march for farm workers justice and successfully organize the United Farm Workers Union, Garcia said. San Antonio is proud of your service.

Stahl thanked the council for recognizing their support of a plight she knew very well. From ages 8 to 16, she worked in fields outside of Falls City, Texas, picking beans, corn, cotton, and squash during harvest seasons.

Shed dreamed of being a nurse since she was young, but her family couldnt afford the college tuition. After high school graduation, a priest in Falls City offered to pay for her studies at Incarnate Word School of Nursing. There was one condition  promise not to get married until she had graduated.

In 1955, she fulfilled her promise. The priest wrote her a congratulatory letter with an unspoken tab  how much she owed him for her education. She sent him $30 of her $125 monthly check for several years.

He gave me that permission to have that feeling, she said. It was some kind of a blessing that I did it.

The second oldest of 14 children, Stahl became the first of her family to graduate from high school and college.

After a year at Santa Rosa Hospital, she moved to California, working as a public health nurse in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Her tie to the movement came when she joined the Catholic Council for the Spanish Speaking as a volunteer. Stahl was vice president of the council, which was part of the Diocese of San Francisco. Her future husband, Ed Stahl, 87, served as council president.

Farther south, in Delano, Filipino American and Mexican American farm workers went on strike to protest pay and working conditions. American labor organizer Larry Itliong partnered with the United Farm Workers Association.

In 1966, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the association, asked the council to support the United Farm Workers strike. Dora and Ed Stahl met with Chavez and one of his brothers to get details. When they returned to San Francisco, their reports recommended that the council support the strike.

Dora Stahl was the only health care worker on site when the march began. Ed Stahl marched with her, and more than 100 marchers on the weekend. They carried banners, flags and signs that bore the iconic black Aztec eagle, illuminated image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Dora Stahl was single and looked out for her. She recalled that Chavez made sure she had a safe place to sleep at each stop.

He was a man who people could easily talk to, Stahl said. He made people very comfortable. That was part of his strength.

Back in San Francisco, Dora Stahl felt a responsibility to speak for people without a voice. She recalled standing in front of a supermarket, telling shoppers to boycott grape owners and not buy grapes.

The march  from March 17 to Easter Sunday, April 10  ended in 25 days. Not long after, romance bloomed, and Ed Stahl proposed. They were wed in San Francisco on Oct. 1, 1966.

READ MORE: Chi is energy: Former art professor teaches meditation through movement

The next year, their son Paul was born. Three months later, they moved to Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, working as Catholic missionaries and supported by the Latin American Mission Program. In 1970, the Stahl family moved to Dallas, so their daughter Leticia, born with Downs Syndrome, could receive better health care.

The couple, now retired, moved to San Antonio in June 2022 to be closer to their son and his family. The Stahls and their son, Paul, recently attended the showing of the documentary A Song for Cesar: Beware of a Movement That Sings at Trinity University. Paul Stahl recalled how his parents beamed at the sight of marchers and the civil rights activist on the screen.

As the faces of those no longer here appeared, a tear streamed down his fathers cheek.

Paul Stahl said his parents were ready for the 27th Annual Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice, organized for many years by the late Jaime Martinez, a good friend to Chavez.

They were looking forward to being with people who benefited from the sacrifice of others decades ago.
Dozens of artifacts and documents donated by music star Phil Collins are key attractions among the 500 historical items on display at the Alamo's new Ralston Family Collections Center.

Collins influence is seen throughout the building. A display panel in the lobby, From Rock Star to Collector, highlights the British musicians passion for collecting relics connected to the 1835-1836 Texas Revolution.

In 2014, Phil Collins generously gifted his collection to the people of Texas with the hope that the artifacts will inspire curiosity and offer new ways to learn about the history of the Alamo, the panel states.

Nearly nine years later, the March 3 public opening of the collections center, with 10,000 square feet of gallery space, has allowed the Alamo, for the first time, to display dozens of items from the Phil Collins Texana Collection.

Here are five objects on display that Collins wrote about in detail in his 2012 book, The Alamo and Beyond: A Collectors Journey.

Scott Huddleston / Staff

Mexican Cavalry Officer Helmet

Made of leather, brass and horsehair, this headgear is a pristine example of a cavalry officers helmet of the 1830s. In his book, Collins suggests it was worn by an officer in the Mexican armys Dolores Battalion, stationed southeast of the Alamo to chase and kill defenders running from the fort during the battle.

The helmets brass detailing depicts a Mexican eagle with a snake in its mouth. But Collins notes its resemblance to French military apparel.

Even the uniforms worn by the Mexican troops were styled on those worn by Napoleons huge army, he wrote. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, a great admirer of the French emperor, thought of himself as the Napoleon of the West. "

On ExpressNews.com: New Alamo collections center named for donors

Scott Huddleston / Staff

Henry Schively Bowie Knife

Collins traces a long, interesting story of this knife and says its believed to have been at the Alamo in 1836  though how it got there, we will never know. It was made by Schively, a renowned cutler who lived from 1784 to 1863.

The knife is said to have been given to Mexican Brig. Gen. Antonio Gaona at the Alamo by his infantry troops, then gifted by Gaona to U.S. Navy Lt. Elisha Kent Kane more than a decade later during the Mexican-American War.

Kane, who went on two Arctic expeditions in search of British explorer Sir John Franklin, had the knife fitted with a reindeer antler he found at the grave site of Franklin and his crew. A silver plate on one side of the handle was inscribed, Reindeer Antler from The Graves. "

Scott Huddleston / Staff

Mexican 7-inch Howitzer Shell

Collins called the intact, 26-pound shell one of the rarest items of battle weaponry in his collection. It was recovered from the Sea of Mud archaeological site in Wharton County in 2000, believed to have been discarded by troops under Mexican Gen. Vicente Filisola.

Only seven intact howitzer shells of its kind have been unearthed  one from the Alamo and six from the Sea of Mud site, Collins wrote. The shell has markings, perhaps a personalized touch added by Mexican soldados or relating to its origin  in this case, England.

When the shell was found, it still had the fuse attached and its gunpowder inside, Collins added.

On ExpressNews.com: Bar owner seeking $17M near Alamo put value at $527K last year

Scott Huddleston / Staff

Original Alamo Muster Roll

A January 1836 muster roll listed 114 men in the Alamo garrison, including at least 60 who stayed at the fort during the siege and died in the early morning March 6 battle, according to Collins.

Its a fantastic document to own and tells much about the constant ebb and flow of volunteers in and out of the garrison just weeks prior to the final hours of March 6, 1836, he wrote.

Collins theorized the document was likely seized after the 1836 battle, then recovered six weeks later at San Jacinto before ending up in possession of Thomas William Ward, who became a commissioner of the General Land Office and an avid collector.

Scott Huddleston / Staff

Receipt for 30 Head of Beeves

Collins called Alamo commander William Barret Travis receipt one of the jewels of my collection.

Travis wrote the promissory note in Spanish on Feb. 23, 1836, at the start of the 13-day Alamo siege, to Ignacio Perez for beef to feed the men, women and children inside the compound. It promised Perez payment of 413 pesos from the provisional government of Texas by September 1836.

The purchase of the thirty heffers was referenced the next day in a postscript in the famous victory or death letter that Travis sent out in a plea for reinforcements, noting 20 or 30 head of Beeves in the fort.

The receipt also involved two prominent Tejano families in San Antonio: the ranching Perez clan and the politically connected Ruiz family. Francisco Antonio Ruiz, mayor of San Antonio, paid Perez the money owed on Sept. 8, 1836.

Although a very small piece of parchment and knowing the circumstances under which it was written, this receipt is a truly remarkable piece of Texas history, Collins wrote.

shuddleston@express-news.net
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If youve been concentrating on yardwork or your garden now that spring is officially here  and need to catch up on the weeks news  here's a sampling of the most popular stories.

An arbitrator ruled in favor of a San Antonio couple fighting to keep a house they paid more than $400,000 after the builder attempted to sell it to another buyer.

Click to find out how much the couple won in their lawsuit, what the dispute was all about  and why they havent moved in yet.

A woman with autism alleges she was sexually abused and assaulted while working at a store owned by longtime San Antonio television meteorologist Siobhain Anders-Buckley.

Read about the allegations and why the weathercaster has been named in the suit.

Musician Phil Collins' influence can be seen throughout the Alamo's new Ralston Family Collections Center, where pieces from the collection of historical items. are now on display.

Learn about five of the items featured in Collins' book The Alamo and Beyond: A Collectors Journey and now on display.

A request for a welfare check led to the discovery of three bodies, including that of a young girl, on the North Side. Read about the investigation into what police suspect was a double murder-suicide and the jump in city homicides in the last few years.

Chef Elizabeth Johnson of Pharm Table will be hosting the final dinner in James Beard Foundations Taste America series this week. Its the second time San Antonio has been part of the annual dinner series.

Find out more about Pharm Table  and whats on the menu for the foundations dinner.
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Family members of those killed in last years massacre at a Uvalde elementary school were heavy-hearted Monday as news spread of another shooting, at a private Christian school in Tennessee.

Three children and three staffers were gunned down at the Covenant School in Nashville, and the shooter is dead, according to multiple news reports. The school teaches students from preschool to grade six.

RELATED: Uvalde shooting may spur action in Texas Legislature  with one big exception

The shooting in Nashville came just days after the 10-month anniversary of the Uvalde shooting, when a teenage gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.

Our kids arent safe. Schools arent safe, tweeted Kimberly Garcia, who lost her 10-year-old daughter, Amerie Jo Garza, in Uvalde. My daughter wasnt safe, her life was taken from her. My son isnt safe and it keeps me up all night. How am I supposed to be OK with leaving him at school? Theres no way.

When is enough going to be enough? she said in another tweet. 6 more innocent lives taken? But its not the guns right? Wake up people.

Garcia and dozens of other victims relatives have been advocating for firearms restrictions in the months after the massacre. Some of the family members now lead Lives Robbed, an advocacy group fighting to prevent gun violence.

We are tired, the group tweeted Monday. We know that, for the families of the victims at Covenant, this hell is just beginning. We are with you. This is why we fight for change.

READ MORE: 'Not one more': Uvalde, Santa Fe families join hundreds of activists at Capitol gun safety rally

Brett Cross, the uncle and guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, posted an emotional video on social media: Have yall had enough yet?

He wore a hat with the name Uzi and a picture of the child pinned to his shirt, which also bore a message: 21 unheard voices had their lives robbed so were not done.

Cross has been an outspoken advocate for gun safety laws and police accountability since May 24. Officers waited 77 minutes to confront the gunman, who was armed with an AR-15.

Another school shooting, another life, another grieving parent, another assault rifle! tweeted Ana Rodriguez, whose 10-year-old daughter, Maite, was killed in Uvalde. All common denominators! Nashville you are in my thoughts.

Gloria Cazares, who lost her 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, posted a broken heart emoji with two hashtags: #EndGunViolence and #EnoughIsEnough.

Im tired, wrote Kimberly Mata-Rubio, who lost her 10-year-old daughter, Alexandria Lexi Rubio. Im so tired. #lexirubio

Gladys Gonzalez, the mother of 10-year-old survivor Caitlyne Gonzales, said she is just numb.

Sadly, we all knew this would happen, she said. But theres no getting used to this. When will it ever be enough? Tennessee, our hearts go out to you.
Tylers family is sugar coating just how humid it gets in San Antonio. At least thats what the Phoenix-based construction worker told a group of strangers on Facebook ahead of moving to the Alamo City.

Tyler wanted to know the truth, so he asked a group of locals 982 miles away on Facebook what they thought.

Given the fact that you are all strangers, Id think Id get a more honest answer, Tyler said.

These strangers are a part of the San Antonio - Ask a Local Facebook group, an online community that got its start in October 2020 as a sort of love letter to America's seventh largest city.

Boasting over 27,000 members, the group serves as a community for newcomers and visitors to ask questions about what to do, see, eat and drink in San Antonio. For those already in the know, its a space to show off the city.

On Express-News.com: Longtime YMCA summer Camp Flaming Arrow in Hunt will close this summer after 94 years. It's the last summer at Flaming Arrow

This is a big word of mouth town, said Quincy Barnes, a San Antonio native and owner of Rex Formal Wear. Youll sometimes see him give advice to newcomers on Facebook.

Barnes added: Once people eat at your restaurant and like it, they will come back 20 more times.

Alan Williams created the Facebook group because the lifelong resident was still curious about his city and figured that the best way to find answers was to create a space to ask questions and share wisdom.

Facebook

The group hosts answers to just about everything. Here youll find where to park downtown, the best hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, where to get a good haircut, whether youll actually need the pair of ugg boots you lugged here from Indiana, and the best place to deliver a baby.

One woman recently asked about the weirdest places to take her husband on their honeymoon. Locals told her to stay at the possibly haunted and historic Emily Morgan Hotel and visit the Buckhorn Saloon and Taxidermy Museum.

For the best hometown secret that few others know about? Head over to Club Drive. On a clear day, taking your car up Glenview Drive to Club Drive, you'll see one of the most glorious views of downtown (or try the skyline view at top of the hill on Willowbrook Drive).

There are some things you can find on Google, Williams said. But a lot of people prefer to hear from a human being, especially someone who knows.

Williams was born and raised here. He went to Thomas Jefferson High School and the University of the Incarnate Word. He married Beverly, his high school sweetheart. He recently retired as the director of customer service for San Antonio Water System and now that the kid is out of the house, Alan and Beverly are empty nesters. They eat out a lot.

Its a hobby, Williams said.

Courtesy of Alan Williams

They love restaurants so much that he and his wife created another Facebook group in 2016. Its called San Antonio Restaurants and it hosts a whopping 48,400 members (about the size of Cedar Hill, a small city near Dallas).

With a group that size, you can have some real impact, Williams said.

During the deadly winter storm in February, the San Antonio Restaurant group was able to guide those without power or food in the fridge to a warm meal.

Think of a hot dog at 7-Eleven or a Chinese restaurant that still had electricity. One member was out of milk and connected with others for a dairy exchange.

Earlier this month, when flood damage forced Comfort Cafe, the pay-what-you-can diner, to close its Leon Valley location, several other restaurants contacted Williams to ask how they can help.

On Express-News.com: Median home price in San Antonio inches closer to $300,000 as pace of sales tops previous summers

These groups put people together, Williams said.

Williams is quick to point out that neither Facebook group is like Yelp, the crowd-sourced review website. You cannot bash a restaurant or business here.

We want to talk about a great restaurant and drive people there, Williams said. With so many members, you could really hurt someone. I dont want people to tell us where we shouldnt go, I want them to say where we should go.

Both Facebook groups arent just filled with those who love a sense of adventure. Chefs and well-known restaurant owners such as Blanca Aldaco are also members. She owns Aldacos, a premier Mexican restaurant in the Stone Oak area that has served hungry locals since 1989.

Of the Facebook groups, she said: People are eager to share their favorite places. There are times when it turns into a fight. Its rare, but it happens. People can get pretty passionate about food.

For Aldaco, there are so many new places and hidden jewels in San Antonio. Sometimes they can be hard to find, even for someone like her, who has lived here since 1975, she said.

Express-News archives

Aldaco is a creature of habit. After leaving work at 7:30 p.m., she heads over to Fredericks Bistro, a French restaurant on NW Military Highway.

The barside is like cheers, where everyone knows your name, Aldaco said.

San Antonio is special because of its people, Aldaco said. Theyre warm, theyre transparent. They like to party, they like to eat and they like to drink.

Through his Facebook groups, Williams said hes learned a lot about San Antonio. He was stunned by the amount of people moving here on a daily basis (many of the questions on the Ask a Local group are geared toward where to live and what to do). He also didnt know there was a place nearby to do ax throwing or that there were some extra special swimming holes in the Hill Country.

As for those newcomers, Williams has a few bits of advice to make San Antonio feel like home:

Visit the River Walk. Its beautiful and fun. Go on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening and stop by San Fernando Cathedral for an incredible laser show.

Go to the Mexican restaurants. Mexican food here is not like anywhere else. P.S. Get ready for your next addiction  breakfast tacos.

Drive through the King William area and surrounding neighborhoods. See where the old time wealthy San Antonians lived, then watch the old neighborhood be restored.

Drive through the King William area and surrounding neighborhoods. See where the old time wealthy San Antonians lived, then watch the old neighborhood be restored. Visit one of the surrounding old German towns such as Fredricksburg or New Braunfels/Gruene.

Go to the top of the Tower of the Americas for an incredible view of the city. Pro tip: Head to the bar at the Chart House (the restaurant at the top of the tower) for a drink. You get about a 180 degree view of the city and save yourself the cost of going to the observation deck. Plus you get a drink.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
This community resource keeps track of the individuals who have been killed in San Antonio and Bexar County, demonstrating the cumulative impact of violence. This data is based on news reports and police records. It includes homicides  a classification determined by the police as opposed to a court or medical examiner  in addition to cases in which the suspect was charged with manslaughter or intoxication manslaughter. It excludes unintentional deaths, justified homicides, and police officer-involved killings.

You can find the 2021 map here and the 2022 map here. Comments or concerns? Contact the reporter at Taylor.Pettaway@express-news.net.
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A cheeky yard sign paid for by congressman Tony Gonzales campaign may strike a chord with residents who fear that Texas is turning into California: Dont San Francisco My San Antonio.

The Republican lawmaker has paid for the slogan to be printed on T-shirts and stickers, part of an effort to defeat the San Antonio Justice Charter, which will appear on the May 6 municipal election ballot as Proposition A.

The measure has riled area conservatives who believe its proposed criminal justice reforms will lead to lawlessness, as Gonzales put it during a recent news conference. The proposition would decriminalize abortion and marijuana and expand cite-and-release  where police ticket offenders for some misdemeanors but don't arrest them  to crimes such as graffiti.

Whether these policies would increase crime in San Antonio is up for debate. What is clear though is that one fiery aspect of California politics  ballot initiatives, which allow individuals and special interest groups to propose laws and then let voters decide  has caught on here and doesnt appear to be going away anytime soon.

Since 2018, San Antonio has seen five petition-initiated city charter amendments across three elections, including the Justice Charter proposition on the May 6 ballot.

The string of ballot initiatives, most of them related to police reform, reflects the growing tension between Texans living in the states left-leaning cities and the Republican-controlled Legislature, which has moved further right in recent years.

State lawmakers also have been clamping down on cities ability to create their own laws. They've blocked cities from adopting bans on fracking and passed a 2021 law that penalizes cities if they cut their police budgets. A 2017 headline in Governing magazine read: The End of Local Laws? The War on Cities Intensifies in Texas.

Petition drives on upswing

Five years ago, a petition election was rare in San Antonio.

Prior to 2018, the last petition-driven election was in 1991, when the Homeowner-Taxpayer Association of Bexar County successfully pushed an effort to impose limits of two, two-year terms on the mayor and City Council.

2015 represented a false start for petition-drive charter changes. That year, a charter amendment requiring voter approval for streetcar and light rail projects got on the ballot  and won  via a council vote after the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association and others failed to collect enough valid signatures to get it on the ballot outright.

But the floodgates opened in 2018 when the firefighters union got three charter amendments on the November ballot.

Most recently, in 2021, petition organizers nearly stripped the police union of its right to collectively bargain with the city. That measure, Proposition B, failed by just over 2 percentage points, a difference of 3,458 votes.

That was a moment for me where I recognized just how inspiring and impactful ballot initiative measures could be, because of the level of engagement we saw from the community and level of excitement, said Ananda Tomas, the founder and executive director of Act 4 SA, an organization focused on police accountability and reform.

Frustrations over the citys unwillingness to expand its cite-and-release program, paired with disappointment over what she saw as a watered-down council resolution to decriminalize abortion, moved her to consider a petition election to achieve the policy changes progressives have wanted to see.

I think folks are feeling really frustrated with government  whether its the state or local leadership  and are now recognizing the power we have to push through whatever policies we want because were so often stopped from some of these things even being heard on the floor, Tomas said.

READ MORE: San Antonio voters will decide a police-reform measure in May. Heres what you should know.

Proposition A would amend the City Charter to decriminalize abortion and marijuana possession, meaning that police would not investigate or make arrests for abortion-related crimes or low-level marijuana possession. It would expand cite-and-release to all eligible misdemeanors, ban police from using chokeholds or no-knock warrants and create the position of city justice director.

It took 20,000 signatures from registered San Antonio voters to get the charter amendment on the ballot, a threshold set by the Texas Local Government Code. Charter amendments have the lowest signature threshold of citizen-initiated petitions, which include ordinances and referendums to repeal existing city laws.

A domino effect

San Antonio last had an ordinance campaign in 2018, when organizers met the 69,950 signature threshold  equivalent to 10 percent of registered voters in the last municipal election  to put a paid sick leave initiative before council. Its members decided to pass the ordinance themselves rather than putting it before voters as a ballot proposition. Courts ultimately blocked the ordinance from taking effect.

Theres a question about how easy it is to get initiatives on the ballot, said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. It needs to be possible but not easy. Otherwise youve got so many of them that voters oftentimes cant figure them out. And the more there are, the less attention gets paid to every one of them as voters tend to zone out and either not vote on the initiatives or to vote with relatively little study of the issue.

Bennett Sandlin, the executive director of the Texas Municipal League, which advocates for cities, declined an interview request. Because the city is a member, we have a policy of not stepping into complicated legal issues that the city attorney may be opining on, he said in an email.

City Attorney Andy Segovia has said nearly every aspect of the Justice Charter, except for the hiring of a justice director, would be unenforceable because of conflicts with state law.

In 2019, Sandlin noted the sharp rise in petition elections in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman, saying, All the sudden in the last couple of years, the use of signature-gathering drives to force changes to local laws and policies has taken off.

READ MORE: Texas Supreme Court rejects anti-abortion groups Justice Charter challenge

Jillson attributes the increase in policing-focused propositions, seen in San Antonio and Austin, to the wave of activism nationwide in the months after the 2020 Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a Black man.

When you get people in the streets, its not just demonstrations, it is sort of activist strategizing for how to change local policy in ways that would benefit people who feel like theyve been closed out historically, Jillson said.

The success of a proposition campaign in one Texas city also creates a domino effect, he said. It can motivate activists, unions and interest groups in other parts of the state to pursue a petition election to achieve their policy goals.

Last November saw voters in five Texas cities, including San Marcos, pass citizen-led propositions decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession. This May, El Paso voters will decide whether to amend their city charter to include a range of policies related to climate change.

In 2021, Austin voters rejected a proposition that would have set a mandatory police staffing level. That same year, Austin voters OKd a proposition that reinstated the citys previous ban on camping in public.

The frequency of petition elections in the states capital city has led the Austin City Council to re-evaluate the number of signatures needed to put an ordinance or referendum on the ballot.

The San Antonio firefighters union went the opposite route in 2018. It collected enough signatures to force a charter amendment that would have made it easier for residents to overturn council decisions by drastically lowering the signature threshold for referendums. Voters, however, rejected that proposition, so the threshold remains at 10 percent of registered voters in the previous election.

The firefighters union did succeed that year in pushing through two controversial policy changes that significantly reshaped city government: Voters approved an amendment that capped the city managers salary and tenure, in addition to an amendment that compels the city to go into binding arbitration if contract negotiations with the union come to an impasse.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who took office in 2017, was not available for an interview about the increase in citizen-led propositions during his tenure, his spokesperson said.

Fight for local control

Despite Californias liberal image in the eyes of many Texans, it wasn't until the 21st century that its statewide propositions began to tackle more progressive and left-leaning issues.

At least initially, a lot of propositions in California were more right-wing or conservative populism trying to resist change that might be put in place by state legislatures, said Manuel Pastor, a professor of sociology and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Starting in the 1960s and continuing well into the 90s, propositions became a way for people who could not get their will in the courts or the state legislatures to be able to make policy changes at the state level, said Pastor, an expert on ballot initiatives in California. He described them as a tool to overturn the wheels of progress.

California is one of 24 states that allow citizen-initiated ballot measures to change state laws or constitutions. It is also one of 23 states that allows for citizen-driven referendums to repeal laws passed by state legislators. Texas allows for neither.

The same dynamic could be playing out in San Antonio and other Texas metros, where Democratic or progressive leaders frequently clash with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a GOP-dominated legislature.

This juncture between your political center of gravity and your economic center of gravity is really striking, Pastor said. Its your cities that are the generators of your prosperity, but they dont have an outsized role in being able to determine state policy.

I think youre going to get a lot more of these local-state conflicts, he added.

Tomas, of Act 4 SA, also expects that citizen-led ballot petitions will keep coming. Why? She pointed to bills introduced this legislative session that seek to curb cities ability to protect workers and lawmakers' renewed push for voting restrictions.

You can only strip away so much of that (local power) because its going to affect everybody  from their basic rights to literally the money in their pocketbooks  that theyre going to fight back, Tomas said. And if this is the best power we have to legislate ourselves and fight back, then were going to do it.
A historic Poolville tabernacle was flattened when a tornado ripped through the North Texas community on Friday  and efforts to rebuild it are already underway.

The structure was a Poolville landmark dating back 125 years. The Poolville Global Methodist Church used it for church services, funerals, barbecues and other festivities, according to the Weatherford Democrat.

The Poolville Cemetery Association is collecting donations for a new structure to take its place and is salvaging materials from the original tabernacle for the new building.

Poolville is an unincorporated community in Parker County, about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth.

On ExpressNews.com: 'Sloshing back and forth': Several fronts will drop temperatures, bring rain chances this week

The National Weather Service said the tornado struck shortly before 5 a.m. Friday and traveled just over five miles.

The weather service assigned it a rating of 1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale for assessing tornados. Higher numbers indicate greater severity on the EF scale, which goes up to 5. An EF1 tornado packs wind gusts of 86 to 110 mph.

Friday's twister was the second EF1 tornado to hit Parker County that day. Just moments before the tabernacle was leveled, the first tornado churned across almost 7 miles near Whitt, which is 10 miles west of Poolville.

Two people were injured by the Whitt tornado; three were injured by the Poolville storm. No fatalities were reported.

Donations for the new pavilion can mailed to the Poolville Cemetery Association, PO Box 302, Poolville, Texas 76487. Those interested also can donate using PayPal by searching for PoolvilleCemetery@gmail.com.
Property taxes can be a ball and chain for San Antonio homeowners  especially in neighborhoods where property values have been rising fast.

Because Texas has no state income tax, local governments and school districts rely heavily on property taxes to fund services and pay their employees.

But there are ways  perfectly legal ways  to knock down your tax bill at least a bit. And the city of San Antonio wants to help you take advantage of them.

Your property's appraised value as determined by the Bexar Appraisal District determines your tax bill, and you can contest (the technical term is "protest") that appraisal. In other words, you can make the case that the district overvalued your property and it isn't really worth that much. Many such appeals succeed in reducing appraisals and tax bills.

In addition, you can apply for exemptions that reduce your property's taxable value, regardless of how your protest turns out.

First off, everyone is eligible for a homestead exemption for their principal residence.

You can claim additional exemptions if you're over 65 or have disabilities or if you're a disabled veteran. Exemptions also are available if you use the property for agriculture or wildlife management.

This is technical stuff, and it can be hard to keep track of it all. That's why the city is holding workshops to walk people through how to apply for exemptions and how to contest their assessments before the May 15 deadline.

Homeowners can get one-on-one assistance from legal experts at the workshops.



Spanish and American Sign Language interpreters will be on hand.

Admission is free, and anyone can attend.

There's one from 4 to 7 p.m. today on the West Side. It's at the Ron Darner Park Headquarters at 5800 Historic Old Highway. Look for the Barrera Room.

Here are the dates, times and locations of future workshops:

Monday, April 3  4-6 p.m., Bibliotech EDU, 626 North Flores St.

Monday, April 10  4-6 p.m., Cody Library, 11441 Vance Jackson Rd.

Thursday, April 13  2-4 p.m., Second Baptist Church Community Center, 3310 East Commerce St.

Monday, April 17  4-7 p.m., the Alamodome, meeting rooms K & L

Monday, April 24  4-6 p.m., Walker Ranch Senior Center, Dining Hall, 835 West Rhapsody

Saturday, May 6  10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lanier High School, 1514 West Cesar E. Chavez Blvd.

Monday, May 8  4-6 p.m., the Tool Yard, 10303 Tool Yard

Go here for more information on the sessions and tips on what documents to bring.

Also, check out this illustrated property-tax explainer by Express-News data journalist Wesley Ratko.
Saying the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is being bogged down by frivolous and redundant complaints, a state senator is proposing a limit on the number of complaints individual Texans can file each year with the environmental watchdog agency.

State Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, says the intent of his measure, Senate Bill 471, is to help TCEQ function more efficiently and avoid wasting time and taxpayer money. But environmental groups are skeptical, and say cutting down on the number of complaints is likely to lead to some serious environmental problems being overlooked by the agency.

The discussion comes as TCEQ is facing calls for reform, with a recent report by the states Sunset Advisory Commission describing the agency as a reluctant regulator and suggested making the agency more transparent and more effective at engaging the public, as well as authorizing a larger maximum fine that can be imposed on polluters.

Springer's bill, which remains pending in a Senate committee, would amend the state's water code to impose a fee on anyone who within the same calendar year filed at least three complaints with the commission that did not result in any corrective action. This means if a person files three complaints to TCEQ in a year and no action was taken on any of these complaints, then the person must pay for any further complaints for the rest of the year. The amount charged would be based on how much it costs to investigate a claim.

Ronald Cortes

Springer agreed to make some revisions to the bill following testimony during a meeting this month of the Senate Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, but that updated version has not yet been filed.

Even an amended version, however, is expected to keep its focus on limiting the number of repeat complaints the environmental agency investigates each year.

On Express-News.com: Residents worry creek restoration project will push them out

Wasting money and resources?

The logic behind Springer's bill is the idea that TCEQ  which critics say is struggling to fulfill its mission  could function more efficiently if it wasn't required to re-investigate the same complaints multiple times. TCEQ has about 2,800 employees and a 2023 operating budget of $483 million.

Under current law, an individual can file unlimited complaints on the same issue for which the TCEQ has already investigated or made a ruling, Springer said in a written statement. These repeat complaints waste taxpayer dollars and tie up TCEQ resources and inspectors from looking into other open cases of fraud, waste and abuse within the environment.

Springer cited several examples of what he determined to be nuisance complaints. In one instance, a single individual filed 28 complaints in 2022 against one landfill. The TCEQ investigated the landfill 65 times and cited no violations. In another, two residents filed 39 complaints in 2022 against the same two asphalt operations. TCEQ investigated one facility 49 times between 2019 and 2022 and addressed the allegations in these complaints.

In 2022, the TCEQ received 10,070 complaints from individuals across Texas  about a 6.5 percent increase from 2021. Nearly 4,500 complaints were about water issues and another 3,200 were focused on air quality. In 2021, TCEQ investigators performed 9,331 odor-based nuisance investigations, spending an average of 12.3 hours per investigation, and a total of 114,524 investigation hours.

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission's review of TCEQ also cited a need to reduce the number of nuisance complaints with no real threat to public safety. But current state law does not allow the agency to assign lower priority to those types of complaints.

"Im just trying to find a common ground here, Springer said at the recent Senate committee meeting. Were not trying to say you cant file complaints. If you think something is wrong, we want to hear from you. But when youve done it over and over and over again, I think it gets to the point that were getting abusive on weaponizing the agency.

But some environmental groups and academic experts say putting a limit on the number of complaints people can file could lead to bigger problems.

On Express-News.com: Property owners, conservationists, wind energy: Tension grows in West Texas

'Overly broad piece of legislation'

Mary Evans, a professor of environmental economics at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, conducted research on the TCEQ from 2013 to 2019. She found that investigations resulting from citizen complaints are more likely to uncover a violation and are eight times more likely to detect a serious violation, compared to investigations that TCEQ conducts for other reasons.

Evans said the bill as written could have a chilling effect and result in Texans hesitating to report important, valuable information to the TCEQ.

Environmentalists groups, including the Sierra Club and the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, also say they are concerned the new rule could scare residents from making a serious complaint.

If an individual is intentionally misrepresenting facts or filing false reports to waste state resources and wasting TCEQs time, thats the type of issue that should definitely be punished, said Alex Ortiz, water resources specialist with the Sierra Club. But thats a very distant case from a citizen who has made three complaints and nothing has happened and is absolutely not an expert on environmental law. How will they know?

The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance also said that repeated citizen complaints could simply mean a problem has not been fixed.

In one case, at the Grove subdivision at Vintage Oaks in New Braunfels, residents have complained to the TCEQ about an unpleasant smell coming from the Vintage Oaks wastewater treatment plant. The TCEQ received 21 complaints about the odor from November to December 2022. When the TCEQ investigated, the agency determined there no violation. But because residents say there is no improvement in the odor, the\y have continued to file complaints.

Evans, of the LBJ School, suggested TCEQ has discretion in some cases to conduct off-site investigations to save time and money. Committee members, however, said they were concerned that such a step could be seen as ignoring complaints.

Ortiz said if the TCEQ was more engaged with the public and more clear about how different enforcement mechanisms operate, there might be fewer complaints filed.

This is a very weird way to try and tackle a number of complaints that might be better solved without punishment, he said. This is a really overly broad piece of legislation.
When a parent first learns their child has autism, you can almost see the worry lines etch their face in real time. Their road ahead has changed. They need a new map and an experienced guide or two.

And those worry lines will deepen fast if they live in Texas, where school officials can still restrain children in ways that parents cannot, where there are caps on insurance coverage and where the waiting list for adult services lasts for decades.

As with anyone, an autism family can thrive depending on how well the community responds.

A few generations ago, doctors told parents to send their child with autism to an institution and never look back. Today, we know that autistic children can learn. New scientific knowledge and therapeutic practices are helping children learn to eat, talk, use the toilet and master other life-changing skills. In addition, the first generations of children who benefited from that new knowledge and practice are adults now.

Some say early intervention changed the possibilities for their life  doing meaningful work, raising their own families, participating in community life. That was certainly the case for our family.

Other autistic adults say their individual treatment program was abusive and traumatic. We are learning that some practices can be harmful, particularly those that focus on getting a child to comply with social ideals. This nature-and-nurture debate can be confusing for families new to the diagnosis.

Our society has built-in expectations and vulnerabilities that can create more frustration than support. Its on us, as a society, to recognize that autism comes with its own gifts and strengths, and to respond accordingly.

How can we do that? It turns out that the basic principles for creating a healthy community still apply: learning, connecting and loving.

Learning is fundamental to raising any child, but takes on special meaning for everyone involved in an autistic childs life. Our learning begins not just with understanding each child but also understanding the science of learning itself. Science tends to be a slow, deliberative process; it doesnt offer fixed answers to problems, in part because change and experimentation are fundamental to science. The same is true for human thriving, especially for children. We all need room to grow, change and develop.

Connecting to one another can make a difference, too. We connect when we respond to one another in meaningful ways and make sure that everyone, including each child, has agreed to whatever work we are doing together. This also means we have a duty to watch for poor conditions and change them. For example, Texas must change the conditions  and the laws  that allow preschoolers with autism to be strapped to chairs for their school day or a young autistic child in crisis to be placed in handcuffs.

With love as their superpower, parents can meet their responsibilities to their children. We can create the same animating force in a healthy society by stepping up to serve as collaborators, scouts or vanguards for the families around us.

We humans need both science and inspiration to create the possibilities for our long-term well-being. When we all keep learning, connecting and loving, we can build a sturdy, sustainable community filled with every member of our community, no matter their gifts and strengths.

Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe is the parent of an adult with autism, a journalist and author. Together with Shahla Alai-Rosales, she is the co-author of a new book,  Responsible and Responsive Parenting in Autism: Between Now and Dreams. (Different Roads, NY: 2022)
Russias war against Ukraine has entered its second year of massive destruction and unspeakable crimes against humanity, most prominently, children. The world is appalled at the atrocities committed by the Russian military and its mercenary force, composed mainly of prison inmates set free to do the dirty work.

Editorial: After Nashville shooting, listen to grieving mothers

European order has been destabilized and the threat of the conflict extending beyond the Ukrainian border is real. Europe is scared.

Europe is central to U.S. global leadership. It is home to the United States strongest political and military alliance, NATO. Its 28 European countries (plus the U.S. and Canada) form a formidable collective security system protecting each others backyard. An attack on one is an attack on all.

Europe (including Great Britain) also houses four of the top 10 economies in the world. Its European Union not only provides a regional political steadying forum, but also a powerful economic block of 28 countries with which the U.S. has, according to the European Union, the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship and (together) enjoy the most integrated economic relationship in the world.

As Europe shines, so does the U.S. as an influencer and overseer of world order.

Ukraine seeks to align itself with Europe. Europe welcomes it, and for good reasons. Reportedly, Ukraine is one of the worlds top agricultural producers and exporters.

A Ukraine dominated by Russia serves no good purpose to the world.

So, describing this war as simply a territorial dispute is dangerously naive and myopic.

Similarly, Ukraine is not a distraction from a larger struggle with China as U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., believes. Chinas threat to U.S. interests is not just in the Indo-Pacific area; its a global one.

China has held joint military exercises with Russia and has also conducted naval drills with Iran in the Gulf of Oman. Most recently, China scored a diplomatic victory brokering an agreement that restored diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after a seven-year hiatus.

China is beginning to be present everywhere we look. And, President Xi Jinping tells the world why: No single country should dictate the international order.

He shares with Vladimir Putin a disdain for U.S. preeminence in global affairs. Their goal is to undermine the U.S. at every opportunity.

They boast about a no limits friendship, whose endlessness poses a threatening dilemma for the U.S. and allies, especially, as it relates to Ukraine. The prospect of China supplying lethal weaponry to Russia now is utterly disquieting.

Ukraine is paying a devastating price for wanting to be European. Putin wants it absorbed into his imperial dream and Xi seems to entertain the concept, by his inaction.

In this context, Ukraine is central to the U.S. global deterrence strategy, which prioritizes threats from China in the Indo-Pacific region and from Russia in Europe, over all else.

Support of Ukraine is critical to maintaining their ambitions and to reassure Europe and the free world of the United States commitment to world order.

Supporting Russia and its cruelty is tantamount to betraying the most basic tenets of human decency.

Russia must not prevail.

Jaime Vazquez is a retired Air Force colonel and a graduate of the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Re: Panel: Nations must act faster on warming, Front page, Tuesday:

This is the issue of our time. Folks need to be reminded on a regular basis that if we act now, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren wont have to live on a Mad Max planet.

It is up to us.

Denise Barkis Richter

Ruled by fossil fuels

Re: Panel: Nations must act faster on warming, Front page, Tuesday:

Two glaring contrasts in approach to global climate change: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of international scientists and experts, issued a dire warning that time is running out to take action that will limit global warming to 1.5 C; the same day the Texas legislative leaders trumpeted proposed legislation, strongly backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick, that would force the use of more natural gas in electricity generating plants, and less reliance on renewal power sources such as wind and solar, in both of which Texas is a leading producer.

This would fly directly in the face of the call from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who urged carbon-free electricity generation in the developed world by 2035, meaning no gas-fired power plants, too.

Texas governance, under the control of extremist Republicans for the past 25 years, has attracted scorn and ridicule from around the world. Now, our state, which is a top producer of greenhouse emissions, is taking a stance directly athwart the scientific consensus on the need to take action now to have any hope of holding temperature rises below 1.5 C.

Warming is already impacting everything from agriculture to fresh water availability. Sadly, the deniers and lapdogs for the fossil fuel industry are in charge.

John Watson, Johnson City

Cant ignore climate crisis

I understand and sympathize with the current effort for cold-warring with China. But, can we think about the big picture?

China installed 86 gigawatts of solar capacity last year, up 59 percent from 2021. Europe was up over 47 percent (41 GW). All while the U.S. added barely more than 20 GW of solar in 2022, down 16 percent from 2021.

To bump up that number, even if political will existed, would take years to go high enough and allow the U.S. to move ahead quickly enough on utility-scale solar installations. Thank God the Biden administration is at least allowing imports of panels from South East Asian countries. Congress, however, is making noise because some may indirectly come from China.

Isnt this more cold-warring at the expense of our civilizations future? The climate crisis must not be ignored.

I dont know about you, but Im calling my congressional office.

Bill Hurley, Citizens Climate Lobby
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low near 35F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low near 35F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. - In the last 30 days, there have been 5 shootings in Great Falls; Which has people scared and asking why.

We had the chance to sit down with GFPD to talk about these recent shootings.

"The the five shootings we've seen something that's an anomaly for us. We don't see this many back to back like this," said Captain Doug Otto with GFPD.

To recap, the first shooting happened when a 14-year-old shot a 15-year-old on his way to school.

The second was an officer involved shooting where a routine traffic stop turned violent.

The third, a shooting off of 9th avenue south that left one person dead.

The fourth, murder-suicide starting in Great Falls ending in Valier.

And finally, the standoff with police on March 20, 2023.

"With four of those shootings, the suspect and the victim had some knowledge of each other, of some sort. It wasn't some random act that occurred... They were separate individual incidents that occurred with no tie between suspects more in each one or victims in each one," said Capt. Otto.

But the question everyone is still asking - what is the reason we're seeing an uptick in crime?

"2017 is when the justice reinvestment Act for Montana was enacted through the legislature. What that did is that changed the tempo of how individuals are held accountable and how they're incarcerated for their crimes... But what we're seeing is we have the extreme violent individuals are coming out of jails on a regular basis, and they're the ones causing our problems," said Capt. Otto.

That's just one side of concern for police, the other is an increase in Fentanyl around the state.

"So those two together and then you add some mental health issues into these type of things that creates that perfect storm, that causes a lot of these things to happen," said Capt. Otto.

While the recent uptick in crime has some in the community asking for more answers, GFPD says they are continuing their efforts to keep the Electric City safe.

"Know we have your back. We are going to go out there and we are going to give you everything we have to make sure that this community is safe," said Capt. Otto.

To watch the full interview, watch the video below:
Brain Health

The big picture: Dr. Adriana Davis says "Yes, you can reduce your risk of getting dementia."

In the news: New research shows that people who have problems walking while talking or thinking could be at a higher risk of impending dementia.

The key point: The research points to the idea that if someone is not able to perform two tasks "dual-tasks" simultaneously this could be interpreted as a sign of future cognitive decline. This usually applies to people who are 65 years or older.

The new research is showing that the inability to do simultaneous tasks, "dual-tasks," may actually start earlier in middle age. A decline in dual-task skills can uncover early age-related changes in the brain.

Did you know that 65.7% of the adults living in Missoula County went to the doctor for a routine checkup in the last year? 24.8% of the adults in Missoula County have depression.

Looking to improve your health?

Doctor's Insight about Dementia and your Brain Health

Know this: "We can target cognitive function and reduce dementia risk in later life. For example, I tell my patients that it's very important that they keep their minds fresh by learning and interacting with new things. Plenty of research shows that if someone engages in social activities, picks up new skills like dancing, brushes their teeth with their non-dominant hand, and otherwise keeps their mind engaged, that person can reduce the risks of getting dementia later in life! So go out and be social and try new things!" Dr. Puja Uppal, Family Medicine.

Next steps: If you're 65 and older, you should know that your medical insurance may offer you a free gym membership. Ask them about it!

Further steps: If you're unable to go to a gym near your home in Missoula County, you can get access to free online classes through programs like "Silver Sneakers." (Visit Here)

Living in Montana, it's important for you to understand that getting dementia is not an expected trait of getting older.

Did you know that more than 7,000,000 Americans 65 years and older have dementia?

You can decrease the chances of getting dementia. You're not alone. Talk to your healthcare team!

Chart courtesy: OECD Data Library.

In Missoula County, 8.9% of the adults reported not being in good physical health. In 2020, there were 346 deaths from Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia in Montana.

What they're saying:

"Our results suggest that in middle age, poor dual-task walking performance might be an indicator of accelerated brain aging or an otherwise pre-symptomatic neurodegenerative condition..." Junhong Zhou, Ph.D.

"...we observed that a portion of participants over the age of 60 years who performed the dual-task test as well as participants aged 50, or even younger. This means that dual-task walking performance does not necessarily decline as we get older, and that some individuals appear more resistant to the effects of aging. We hope that our study will spur future research attempts to discover lifestyle and other modifiable factors that support the maintenance of dual-task performance into old age, as well as interventions that target these factors" (Interview Source)

Estimated dementia incidence rate among older people in the United States as of 2015, by age group (per 1,000 population)

Image: Statista State of Health

Source:

The Lancet published the paper: The age-related contribution of cognitive function to dual-task gait in middle-aged adults in Spain: observations from a population-based study (Read it Here)

Dementia Stats: (CDC)

Depression and Dementia are NOT parts of normal aging.

Among the 10 leading causes of death, Alzheimer's disease is expected to grow the sharpest in the next decade.

More than 9 Million Americans could have dementia by 2030.

States in the South and West will see the largest rises in dementia over the next decade.

13.2% of Missoula County adults report that they're not in good mental health.

The Health Standard Newswire
Traffic is down to one lane on Highway 22 in New Sit
The Farmer Network has been awarded 350,000 in funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The network, based in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales, will use the funding to further develop their provision and to create a new Northumberland Farmer Network.

The Farmer Network, which is run by farmers, provides support to agricultural businesses across the region, ranging from saving on costs to mental health.

It was created during times of hardship in the years following the foot and mouth epidemic of 2001.

The new Lottery funding will be used to support the group to work with local farmers to improve connectivity and increase local skills and employability.

The grant will also be used to encourage farmers to embrace new ways of working to enhance the environment whilst continuing to produce food.

Adam Day, managing director of the Farmer Network said: This grant means that we can build our relationships much wider to bring people together, offer business support and improve well-being for the farming community.

"The new network will be run by famers for the benefit of farmers. Our job is to facilitate and help manage the process.

"This is an exciting time for our organisation and we hope that we can make a difference to the lives of the farming and wider rural community.

Adam Watson, who farms in Northumberland and is a Farmer Network steering group member, said there "has never been a more important time to create a Farmer Network in Northumberland".

"This time of change in the farming industry away from Basic Payment to Environmental Land Management is new and challenging to most farming families, particularly in upland areas.

"I look forward to the support that the new network will offer in order to help us through," he said.

National Lottery players raise over 30 million a week for good causes across the UK.
A range of high-quality farm machinery and equipment attracted a fantastic trade from a crowd of buyers near Bridgnorth.

Prices of up to 94,000 were recorded by auctioneer Halls, which conducted the dispersal sale at Moorhouse Farm, Alveley.

The sale took place on behalf of Tony Rochelle, who is retiring from the tenancy of the arable farm.

Prices of note were 94,000 for a 2018 John Deere 6155R tractor, 61,000 for a JCB 531-70 2015 Loadall and 47,000 for a 2013 John Deere 6630 tractor with loader.

A 2008 John Deere 6930 tractor was sold for 46,000 and 31,000 for a John Deere 2256 combine.

Other leading prices were 16,500 for an Amazone 3m Combi Drill, 16,100 for a Master Farm Services dryer, and 14,800 for a Kuhn HR300K Vari master plough.

Sarah Hulland from Halls Kidderminster office urged other farmers who may be considering selling their farm or machinery to contact the auctioneer.

Although there were only 73 lots, the tractors had low hours and were immaculately maintained like the rest of the machinery and equipment, she said.

Tony and his family are very well known in the area which accounts for the sale being so well supported by a large crowd of buyers."

A major auction is set to take place on behalf of Ripon Farm Services, one of the UKs largest agricultural machinery and ground care dealerships.

Totalling over 400 lots, the sale, taking place on 30 March, will include 55 tractors, ten combine harvesters and 14 telescopic loaders.
Farmers should investigate the causes of pneumonia and coughing in calves and take steps to understand the mycoplasma status of their herds, animals health experts say.

There is an opportunity to screen cattle before turnout or in beef herds when groups of calves are tested for bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), Ruminant Health & Welfare (RH&W) says.

Including mycoplasma in that serological investigation is important if the herd mycoplasma status is unknown, the independent industry-based body explains.

Recent data has shown that mycoplasma continues to be vastly spread across the UK, however, many herds remain free of the disease.

But RH&W says mycoplasma must be taken seriously because its presence, in combination with other bacteria or viruses, is linked to respiratory problems including BVD.

Mycoplasma also presents as mastitis, arthritis and swollen legs in heifers ahead of calving.

Farmers should take steps to identify the mycoplasma status of their herd to understand potential risks and plan disease management accordingly, says RH&W chairman, Nigel Miller.

We must also remember that although we often experience coughing in housed calves and feeding cattle, it isnt inevitable.

"Even if clinical pneumonia is avoided coughs signal the loss of performance in the herd," he explains.

Mycoplasmas are very small bacteria that belong to the class mollicutes, meaning soft skin, with Mycoplasma bovis (M bovis) of most concern to UK cattle farmers due to its defence mechanisms which make it difficult to treat.

Mycoplasma bovis lacks a cell wall so some widely used antibiotics are not effective in treating it, explains Mr Miller.

The bacteria also has the ability to change its surface proteins to evade the cows immune response, while an ability to produce a sugar matrix biofilm means it can temporarily hide from both the immune system and antibiotics.

Dairy beef systems are particularly at risk due to a combination of factors including calves receiving sub-optimal passive immunity, the mixing of calves from herds of different mycoplasma status, and instances of poor hygiene in calf rearing units."

Laboratory diagnostic rates for M bovis have risen over the past 10 years, with vets also seeing an increase on-farm in a range of clinical problems caused by the bacteria.

The risk of mycoplasma infection highlight the need for farmers to work with their vets to ascertain their herds mycoplasma risk status.

RH&W steering group member, Keith Cutler, says a whole herd approach to health management is needed to minimise the mycoplasma risk.

Although the use of vaccines can play a positive role, farmers need to look at all aspects of health management with their vet, including the environment, hygiene, immunity, monitoring and management of infection pressures.

They should also pay close attention to the mycoplasma status of any herds they are buying stock from, as purchased cows or heifers infected with the bacteria are considered one of the largest risk factors for infecting a herd.
British food campaigners have criticised Oxford City Council's vote to ban meat and dairy at all council catered events as "less is more, but none is wrong".

Following the councils unanimous vote in favour of providing only plant-based options, Love British Food has said that zero meat and dairy consumption was a "slap in the face to Oxfordshire farmers".

The group, which campaigns for British food to be given more prominence, said the council should instead be encouraging local and regional supply chains.

Love British Food founder Alexia Robinson said: Its time for an honest conversation on the true meaning of sustainability - what is the value we all attach to it?

Dairy and meat consumption is a personal choice. The debate about its consumption has become far too polarised and extreme.

"Less is more, but none is wrong. Livestock farmed in a quality, environmentally enhancing way play a key role in the sustainable management of the British countryside.

"It is naive and inaccurate to argue otherwise. Britain is a grassland topography and the best way to maintain this and to gain nutritional benefits from it is through responsible livestock farming."

Oxford City Council's decision is the latest in a series of moves by some local authorities to transition to plant-based options at events.

It follows Cambridge, Norwich and Edinburgh in adopting parts of the Plant-Based Councils campaigns demands.

But Love British Food said councils should be celebrating British farmers and the food they produce and "not devising measures to put them out of business".

"We strongly suggest that Oxford consider emphasising quality meat and dairy, not removing it from menus," Mr Robinson added.

"Their decision sets a dangerous precedent for other councils and most importantly for impressionable young and for elderly who need the nutritious values that meat and dairy provide."
Northern Irish farmers are being encouraged to take part in training to boost their understanding of the principles of nutrient management.

Nutrient Management Plan training is available online for farmers participating in the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS).

Data produced by the scheme is set to provide vital information on soil nutrient levels in Northern Ireland.

The aim of the training is to help with the interpretation of the nutrient results and also the fertiliser recommendations received from the SNHS.

The training will outline the role and importance of carbon on NI farms and demonstrate how to prepare a nutrient management plan using the CAFRE Crop Nutrient Calculator.

All farm businesses in Zone 1 - County Down and parts of County Armagh and County Antrim - participating in the SNHS will be receiving soil analysis reports over the next few weeks, the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) has confirmed.

These will detail a pH value and an index for the phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium levels within all fields sampled.

In addition, phosphate, potash and sulphur fertiliser recommendations will be included based on the crop information provided at registration.

DAERA said soil organic matter and farm carbon levels will follow at a later date.

"Taking part in the SNHS Nutrient Management Plan training will enable you to fully utilise the information provided in your SNHS soil analysis report," a DAERA spokesperson said.

"[It will] maximise the nutrient potential of your soils and allow you take a planned approach to nutrient applications to benefit your business and protect the environment."

"Training consists of a series of short interactive videos," the spokesperson added, "Phase 1 provides a step by step guide to interpreting your SNHS report.

"Phase 2 focuses on demonstrating how to complete a nutrient management plan for your farm."
A Scottish Borders farm welcomed Princess Anne as part of a guide showcasing the work that farmers are doing to make the industry more sustainable.

JRB Wilson & Sons, Cowbog Farm hosted the Princess Royal as part of the Monitor Farm Programme, supported by the UK's red meat levies.

The farm, based in Roxburgh one of nine Monitor Farms in Scotland, is a mixed tenanted, 242-hectacre farm of two holdings with a contract farming arrangement with Roxburgh Estates.

Home to the Wilson family, son Robert and his wife Lucy run the business with the help of his parents Joan and Ron Wilson MBE.

All four were joined on the day by Deputy Lieutenant, John Jeffrey to give the Princess Royal a guided tour of the cattle and lambing sheds, fields as well as the farms agritourism venture enterprise.

The visit was part of the Monitor Farm programme in Scotland, managed by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and the AHDB.

The programme aims to help farms reach economic, social, and environmental sustainability by optimising production through farmer led knowledge exchange with support from specialists and experts.

Many thanks to the Wilson family, who hosted a visit from HRH The Princess Royal yesterday at Cowbog Farm, one of the nine Monitor Farms. The Princess was given a guided tour of the farm, unveiled a plaque, and planted a gum tree.

More info here: https://t.co/uqJJwbU5rE pic.twitter.com/C91dNYAVA9  QMS (@qmscotland) March 24, 2023

In the cattle shed, Robert discussed his own cattle while Beth Alexander, Monitor Farm Programme Manager at QMS, explained the importance of the Monitor Farm project.

They expanded on the wider work being done to support Scotch Beef GI, Scotch Lamb GI and Specially Selected Pork.

Out in the field, Robert highlighted how cattle are playing a pivotal role in arable rotation and best practice.

This year the field will be split as part of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS)  a decision that will benefit wild bird cover and support biodiversity.

The topic of the new sheep enterprise was covered in the lambing shed, with children Henry and Lottie Wilson discussing their interest in the farm and upcoming lambing.

The final stop on the tour was The Old Stable where Lucy Wilson explained the foundation and growth of the business  Wilsons Farm and Kitchen  and their vision for the future.

To commemorate the day and her support of the farming industry, Princess Anne unveiled a plaque, signed the farms visitors book and planted a gum tree on the farm in honour of Lucy Wilsons Australian heritage.

Robert said: It was an absolute privilege to have the Princess Royal visit Cowbog Farm and hear about the work were doing to improve farming practices in Scotland.

"Theres still much to be done, but it is reassuring to know that we have the support of Princess Anne as we continue to explore new opportunities and challenges.

Beth Alexander, Monitor Farm Programme Manager, added: Our aim is to support Scottish farmers in adapting their businesses to become sustainable and resilient.

"Cowbog Farm is just one of nine farms leading the way in achieving this  not just through best practice but by inspiring the next generation of farmers.
Two of Vladimir Putin's supposed cronies have been caught calling the Russian president a "dwarf" in a leaked call.

Vladimir Putin has been branded as a 'dwarf' by two of his cronies

The oligarch and ex-senator Farkhad Akhmedov and music producer Iosif Prigozhin have publicly backed Putin's invasion of Ukraine but appeared to criticise the despot in a 30-minute call and claimed that his most senior followers are turning on him.

Prigozhin insists that the recording, which has been released in Ukraine, is "fake" but those in the know claim that it is genuine.

A voice sounding like Akhmedov said on a speaker phone that Putin "doesn't give a **** about anything, he doesn't give a **** about the Motherland - he is a Satan".

In the alleged call, billionaire Prigozhin appears to agree as he likens the tyrant to a dwarf.

He said: "Both him (Putin) and the second (Dmitry Medvedev, ex-president) are full of insecurities.

"They are Lilliputians, ***, tiny, full of insecurities. Everyone hates, hates them.

"And the question is, whenever will this (the war) end? And what the **** will it end with? And how the **** to resolve it all after it ends?"

The leaked call has caused a sensation in Russia even though it has been censored by state media, as it appears to show that Putin's allies privately treat him with contempt.

The Russian leader is known to be sensitive about his diminutive 5ft 7inch stature and often wears high-platform shoes to make himself appear taller.
Vladimir Putin is offering soldiers cash to steal land from Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin is offering cash to soldiers to steal land from Ukraine

The Russian despot will give troops around 500 for every kilometre of territory they manage to steal from the war-torn country in a bid to increase his depleted army.

Moscow has lost approximately 700,000 troops in the Ukraine war, with 70 per cent of these men being injured so badly that they are unable to return to the battlefield.

The bizarre new campaign has been advertised in several areas of Russia and appeared on the Telegram channel of the Siberian news network Tayga.

One flyer reveals that a soldier will now get a sign-up bonus of 3,000, with a monthly salary of 2,200.

For every advance into Ukraine, troops will be rewarded with around 500 per kilometre under the rules of "active participation in assault operations".

The post from Tayga news states: "The Novosibirsk Mayor's office sends requests to managing organisations of residential buildings to place advertisements for service in the army under a contract on bulletin boards at the front doors and at the entrances.

"The advertisement offers to participate in a 'special operation' in Ukraine."
Elijah Wood and his partner Mette-Marie Kongsved welcomed their second baby last year.

Elijah Wood has become a dad for the second time

The 42-year-old actor has revealed that the loved-up couple quietly welcomed their second child in 2022.

Asked about his average day, Elijah told the Wall Street Journal newspaper: "We've got a three-year-old son and a 14-month-old daughter, and she wakes us up pretty early. I like getting up early, I like starting the day."

The movie star - who is best known for playing Frodo Baggins in 'The Lord of the Rings' film franchise - and his kids always eat breakfast together, with Elijah serving them "oatmeal with various spices, peanut butter and fruit - banana, apples, blackberries. I also really like overnight oats or muesli with yogurt, and I sometimes eat that with them."

The actor has been with Mette-Marie since 2018, and Elijah has confessed to loving the challenge of parenthood.

He said: "You're constantly being challenged, in the best way."

Elijah has made a concerted effort to keep his personal life out of the spotlight over recent years.

The movie star has even kept his Instagram account private, in a bid to protect his family from outside interest.

Speaking about his approach to social media, Elijah explained: "I wanted to be able to share photos that I didn't necessarily want to share with the world. An account that's public-facing would really change what I share.

"It's not like I'm sharing anything that I wouldn't want to go out, but I'm a relatively private person."

Meanwhile, Elijah previously revealed that he feels "protective" towards child stars.

The Hollywood star rose to fame as a child actor, starring in a host of big-budget movies, and Elijah revealed he's keen to look out for the child actors he now works with.

He explained: "If there were a situation where it felt like someone wasnt as together, or maybe was more in their infancy, maybe I would feel a sense of protectiveness, just from one human being to another."
King Charles has set himself a 6pm curfew the night before his coronation.

King Charles won't be partying before his coronation

The 74-year-old monarch will be formally crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May and though there will be various receptions and events organised over the weekend for visiting dignitaries and other VIPs, the king has asked that his diary be organised so he has no evening duties on 5 May and will be able to get an early night.

A source told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: There have been some logistical challenges caused by the King.

He doesnt want to do anything in the evening in case it tires him out. There will be no partying.

Insiders insisted it was a "quite sensible" request from Charles and noted he was a "renowned workaholic" who would not be shirking his responsibilities.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the king's plans.

However, it is known he will be hosting a reception for Commonwealth leaders on 5 May and a dinner will be held for world leaders at Buckingham Palace that evening.

However, the Commonwealth banquet that was held before Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 will not be repeated.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association said that what was appropriate then will not necessarily be appropriate now.

Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the coronation, and though official invitations have yet to be posted, it is believed potential attendees have been sent a 'save the date' message.

A limited number of tickets for the coronation ceremony will be made available to parliamentarians, with the government explaining tickets for peers will be allocated to different parties and groups within the House of Lords.

Arts minister Lord Parkinson said: There will be other opportunities for peers to be involved with the Coronation, outside of attending the Coronation service, both on the day itself and in the preceding weeks. These opportunities will be allocated on the same basis, with tickets split across all parties and groups.

Members of the cabinet and other political figures across different parties will be invited.

Foreign dignitaries will take their seats inside Westminster Abbey, along with representatives of Charles' charities.

The king will also have around 70 family members and personal guests in attendance.
Orlando Bloom has travelled to Ukraine and met with the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Orlando Bloom has been on a three-day trip to Ukraine

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star headed to the war-torn cities of Kyiv, Irpin and Demydiv for a three-day trip as part of his role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations' children's organisation UNICEF and met with youngsters who have been impacted by the Russian invasion before scheduling a chat with the Ukrainian leader.

During their meeting, Bloom told Zelensky: "To see the children, to see in their eyes, its palpable the anxiety and yet the strength of the Ukrainian people is something that is really awe inspiring. And of course your messaging is the reason for that. So its remarkable to see how you are holding this country."

He also gave the president a message from his own mother, telling him: "Your defeat would be the defeat of hope, hence you must win."

Zelensky later addressed the meeting in his nightly video message, saying: "We all know what this aggression has brought and how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to rebuild Ukraine after the war.

"During the meeting, we discussed humanitarian aid projects, issues of reconstruction focused specifically on the interests of children. @unicef and our teams will work in several directions, bring victory closer and return a happy childhood to Ukrainian children. He knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war."

During the trip, Bloom visited a school in the town of Irpin where UNICEF officials have helped convert the basement into a bomb shelter to provide the children with a safe place to continue their studies whenever air raid sirens go off.

He also described how the war has been impacting children's education, saying: "Some of the children I have met  such as 10-year-old Hanna from Volnovakha, Donetsk region  have had limited access to face-to-face education for more than a year,.

"While UNICEF is helping ensure that children are able to learn online, they are still missing out on the crucial experience of interacting with their classmates and teachers. Especially for younger children, these interactions are key for their emotional and cognitive development and cannot be replaced by a computer screen."
Every woman desires breasts that are proportionate and symmetrical, but unfortunately, many women have breasts that are too small, uneven, or disproportionate to their bodies. This can greatly impact their self-confidence and make them feel self-conscious about their appearance.

Thankfully, breast augmentation can help these women achieve a more confident and self-assured outlook by making their breasts fuller and closer to their ideal bodies. As a result, breast augmentation has become an increasingly popular procedure among women.

Breast Augmentation

However, due to its popularity, it's important to educate yourself and dispel any misconceptions about breast augmentation that may be perpetuated by the media. In this blog, we'll explore what breast augmentation entails, who makes an ideal candidate, how to choose the right surgeon, the various types of implants available, the potential risks involved, and other important information you need to know before undergoing the surgery.

What Is Breast Augmentation?

Breast augmentation, commonly referred to as a "boob job" or "augmentation mammoplasty," is a cosmetic surgery procedure that involves enhancing the size of the breasts. This is achieved by placing either silicone or saline implants behind the breast tissue or beneath the chest muscle.

Breast Augmentation vs. Breast Enlargement: What's the Difference?

Breast augmentation and breast enlargement are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same thing.

Breast augmentation is a cosmetic surgical procedure that involves increasing the size, shape, or fullness of the breasts using implants. This procedure is usually done to enhance the overall appearance of the breasts or to correct any asymmetry.

Breast enlargement, on the other hand, is a term that can refer to any method used to increase the size of the breasts, including non-surgical methods such as hormone therapy or natural supplements. However, breast enlargement can also refer to breast augmentation surgery, which involves the use of implants.

So while breast augmentation is a type of breast enlargement, not all breast enlargement methods involve surgical procedures or the use of implants.

What Motivates Women to Undergo Breast Augmentation?

There are several reasons why women opt to undergo breast augmentation, including but not limited to:  Increasing the fullness of their breasts  Improving the aesthetic balance between their breasts and hips  Obtaining symmetrical breasts  Restoring their pre-pregnancy breast appearance after giving birth.

Who Is An Ideal Candidate For Breast Augmentation Surgery?

Ideal candidates for breast augmentation surgery should meet the following criteria:  They should be in good physical health.  They should not smoke or be willing to quit smoking for the recommended period.  They should not be pregnant or currently breastfeeding.  Their breasts should have fully developed.  They should be unhappy with the size, shape, or appearance of their breasts.

To ensure satisfactory results, it is crucial to understand the procedure, its potential outcomes, and associated risks. Choosing the right surgeon and facility is important, and asking questions is essential to ensure you make an informed decision.

How To Select The Right Surgeon?

When considering breast augmentation surgery, it is important to make several choices. However, the most critical decision is choosing the right plastic surgeon. Here is a checklist that can help you make an informed choice while selecting a surgeon:

Qualifications: Look for a surgeon who are are registered members of General Medical Council (GMC)

Look for a surgeon who are are registered members of General Medical Council (GMC) Comfort Level: Your personal feelings about the surgeon are crucial. It is essential to choose a surgeon you trust completely and are comfortable with. This will affect your overall satisfaction with the results of the procedure.

Your personal feelings about the surgeon are crucial. It is essential to choose a surgeon you trust completely and are comfortable with. This will affect your overall satisfaction with the results of the procedure. Cost: The cost of breast augmentation surgery is also a crucial factor in your decision. It is important to choose an accredited and experienced surgeon who falls within your budget range.

The cost of breast augmentation surgery is also a crucial factor in your decision. It is important to choose an accredited and experienced surgeon who falls within your budget range. Experience: Choose a surgeon with several years of experience in plastic surgery. The more experience a surgeon or the hospital has, the easier it is to trust them.

Choose a surgeon with several years of experience in plastic surgery. The more experience a surgeon or the hospital has, the easier it is to trust them. Infrastructure: Make sure that the clinic is well-equipped and that the surgeon uses the latest technology for the procedures. This ensures that the results of the surgery will be satisfying.

Make sure that the clinic is well-equipped and that the surgeon uses the latest technology for the procedures. This ensures that the results of the surgery will be satisfying. Reviews: Go through the reviews and testimonials of the surgeon's past patients. This is the best way to understand the quality of their work and what the results will look like. Patients typically leave reviews on social media sites, Google, or the surgeon's website.

Manchester Private Hospital is a popular choice for many clients as it provides a range of benefits. Its facility is equipped with the latest technology and is conveniently located near Manchester city centre. The hospital focuses on providing patient-centric care, which often allows patients to return home after a short observation period in their contemporary recovery areas, avoiding the need for an overnight stay. The hospital has highly skilled cosmetic surgeons who specialize in various procedures including Breast Enlargement, Vaser Liposuction, Octoplasty, Rhinoplasty, Labiaplasty, Blepharoplasty, Facelift, and Gynecomastia, making it a top choice for those seeking these procedures in the region.

Understanding the Consultation Process for Breast Augmentation Surgery

During a consultation with a surgeon for breast augmentation surgery, it is essential to use the time wisely. Patients should aim to establish a good rapport with the surgeon, understand the procedure, and set realistic expectations for the results. The surgeon will take measurements and photos of the breasts, and discuss the patient's medical history, general health status, and any tobacco or drug use. It is crucial to be honest during these discussions as this information is necessary for the surgeon to create a personalized treatment plan. The surgeon will also inquire about the patient's desired outcome and expectations from the surgery. They will discuss the different types of breast implants available and help the patient make an informed choice based on their preferences. Additionally, the surgeon will go over the potential outcomes and risks of the surgery and advise the patient accordingly. Patients should use this opportunity to ask any questions and clear any doubts they may have. Here is a list of questions that patients can ask during the consultation:

Am I a fit candidate for this surgery?

What should I expect from the surgery?

What steps should I take to prepare in the days leading up to the surgery?

What will be my expected recovery time?

What care should I take to get the optimal results from the surgery?

What steps will I need to take to maintain my breasts after the surgery?

Are there any risks or potential complications I need to be aware of?

How will complications be handled?

What is the cost of breast augmentation surgery?

Will the shape of the breasts change after pregnancy?



Exploring Your Options: Different Types of Breast Implants

Selecting the perfect breast implant is crucial to achieving your desired outcome. There are different types of breast implants available, each with its own advantages and costs. The ultimate decision on the type of implant you choose will depend on your personal preferences and goals.

Here are the main types of breast implants to consider:

Saline Implants: These have a silicone outer shell filled with sterile saltwater. Saline implants provide a uniform shape, firmness, and feel to the breasts. If they leak, the saltwater is safely absorbed by the body and expelled through urine. Structured Saline Implants: These are an upgraded version of traditional saline implants. They have a well-defined internal structure that makes them blend in more naturally with the breasts. Silicone Implants: These have a silicone outer shell filled with silicone gel. They offer a more natural feel than saline implants, making them more popular. If a silicone implant leaks, the gel will stay in the shell or escape into the breast implant pocket. It's crucial to consult your surgeon immediately if this happens since silicone is not naturally absorbed by the body. Cohesive Gel Silicone Implants: These are an advanced version of silicone implants. Cohesive gel silicone implants have a well-defined internal structure, making the breasts appear fuller and rounder. They also have a thicker gel consistency, making them leak-proof. This makes them one of the most popular choices of breast implants today.

Apart from the type of implant, you also need to consider the shape and size of the implants. These factors also determine how the final result will look.

Breast implants have two main shapes:

Choosing the right breast implant involves more than just deciding on the type - size and shape also play a crucial role.

Round Shaped: Women with narrow breasts tend to prefer round-shaped breast implants as they provide a symmetrical shape, resulting in a rounder, fuller appearance with a significant increase in size. These implants also have a lower risk of shifting or rotating out of the breast implant pockets, making them a popular choice among many.

Tear-drop Shaped: Cohesive gel silicone implants that have a tapered shape, also known as tear-drop shaped or form-stable implants, are designed with more volume at the bottom and a gradual taper towards the top, providing a more natural-looking breast shape. These implants are firmer, soft to the touch, and they maintain their shape even if the implant collapses. Due to their durability and natural appearance, tear-drop shaped implants have gained widespread popularity.

When selecting breast implants, size is an important factor to consider. It's important to note that breast implant size is not the same as cup size. Breast implant sizes are measured based on volume and diameter. The balance between the volume and diameter of the implants is crucial, as an excessively large volume could increase the risk of the implant moving within the breast implant pocket. Conversely, if the diameter is too wide, the implants may appear flat and lack projection. It's important to work with a qualified plastic surgeon who can help you select the appropriate implant size to achieve your desired outcome.

Modern technology has made it easier to select the perfect breast implant size for each patient. Manchester Private Hospital uses the latest pre-operative sizing techniques, including the Crisalix software, to assess the most suitable implant size for each patient. To learn more about breast implants and the techniques used by Manchester Private Hospital to help patients select the most appropriate implants for their needs, visit their website.

Before the procedure, you may be required to:

Undergo routine blood and urine tests

Take a mammogram to establish a baseline

Stop smoking (if you are a smoker)

Stop taking or adjust certain medications

Stop taking anti-inflammatory drugs as they may increase bleeding

What Happens During The Procedure?

General anesthesia will be administered for your comfort and safety. After the anesthesia is administered, an incision will be made. The position of this incision will be determined by your surgeon and you during consultation. The three places where an incision can be made for a breast augmentation procedure are  the areolar curve (beneath the nipples), the inframammary fold (the area beneath the fold of the breasts), and the axillary area (the armpits). Once the incision is made, the implant will be placed directly under the pectoral muscle or behind the breast tissue. The position of the incision, the type of implant, and the position of the implant will be unique to each patient since each patient has different needs and expectations from the surgery. Once the implant is placed, the surgeon will close the incision with sutures, skin adhesive, and surgical tape.

Over time, the scarring will fade but not completely. The amount of scarring and the size of the implant pockets are determined by the position of the incision.

What To Expect During Recovery?

The recovery period determines the effectiveness and longevity of breast implants, so it is vital to follow your surgeons instructions during this period.

You will be discharged after the surgeon deems you fit to go, which mostly happens within the same day provided there were no complications. While you are leaving, your surgeon will give you specific instructions for your speedy recovery and follow-up appointments. You must follow these instructions to avoid possible complications after the surgery and to get the best possible results.

You will be given support bands and elastic garments to wear during the recovery period. You will also be prescribed medications for pain management and to improve your health during this period.

You will probably have soreness and swelling for a couple of weeks but that is perfectly normal and both will subside with time. You will likely be told to rest until you get permission to increase the amount of physical activity. Generally, it is advised to resume physical activity after 4-6 weeks, but your specific recovery period will be determined by your surgeon.

Read here more on recovery - Recovering from Breast Augmentation: A Day-to-Day Guide | Manchester Private Hospital

What Are The Possible Risks Of Breast Augmentation?

Breast augmentation surgery, like any other surgical procedure, carries certain risks that patients should be aware of. While most breast augmentation surgeries are successful, complications can occur during or after the procedure, which can affect the results and patient satisfaction. Some of the risks associated with breast augmentation surgery include infection, bleeding, scarring, implant rupture, capsular contracture, changes in nipple or breast sensation, and the need for additional surgery. Before deciding to undergo breast augmentation surgery, patients should carefully consider the potential risks and weigh them against the potential benefits of the procedure. It's important to discuss any concerns with the plastic surgeon and follow all pre- and post-operative instructions to minimize the risks associated with the surgery.

Anesthesia risks

Bleeding

Collection of blood that may cause swelling, pain, and bruising, perhaps requiring surgical draining (Hematoma)

Collection of blood that may cause swelling, pain, and bruising, perhaps requiring surgical draining (Hematoma)

Infection

Changes in nipple or breast sensation

Poor scarring

Wrong or faulty positioning of the implant

Implant leakage or rupture

Formation of tight scar tissue around the implant (Capsular Contracture)

Formation of calcium deposits in the surrounding tissue, possibly causing pain and hardening (only a risk with silicone implants)

A rare and highly treatable type of lymphoma that can develop around breast implants (Breast Implant Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma or BIA- ALCL)

Fluid accumulation (Seroma)

Wrinkling of the skin over the implant

Persistent pain

Interference with mammography readings

Unsatisfactory results

Breast augmentation surgery has become increasingly popular as many women desire to have breasts that are proportionate and symmetrical to their bodies. Women with small, uneven or disproportionate breasts may lack self-confidence and feel self-conscious about their appearance.

Breast augmentation surgery can help these women achieve their ideal body and boost their self-esteem. However, due to the popularity of this procedure, it is important to gather accurate information about it, as there are many misconceptions about breast augmentation in popular media. It is essential to understand what breast augmentation is, who is an ideal candidate, how to choose the right surgeon, the types of implants, the potential risks and complications, and other important details before undergoing the surgery.

To minimize the risks of complications, it is crucial to have a thorough discussion with your surgeon and carefully follow their instructions both before and after the procedure. Managing expectations is also crucial for satisfaction with the results of the surgery. To learn more about the things to consider and understand the risks of breast augmentation, breast enlargement, and breast implants, click here.

What Is The Cost Of Breast Augmentation Surgery?

The cost of breast enlargement in Manchester can vary across patients. It depends on various factors, such as the type of surgery performed, implants used, aftercare, and follow-ups, the need for which can be different for different people.

The cost of the surgery can be divided into two categories:

The insertion cost (which includes the procedure) The implant cost

Heres a quick reference list for breast surgery prices at Manchester Private Hospital: Breast Enlargement/Augmentation Surgery From  5,500 Breast Re-Augmentation  From  6,500 Mammoplasty (Breast Reduction)  From  7,990 (excluding histology charges) Breast Uplift  From  7,990 Transgender Breast Surgery  From  5,750 Breast Reconstruction  Upon Consultation Breast Asymmetry  Upon Consultation Inverted Nipples Correction  Upon Consultation

As you consider breast augmentation surgery, it's crucial to choose a plastic surgeon who not only has the necessary qualifications but also years of experience in the field. A skilled surgeon will take the time to understand your unique needs and wishes and create a customized treatment plan to help you achieve your desired outcome. Utilizing the latest technology available, they can help you get as close as possible to the look you desire.

Breast augmentation can enhance the appearance of breasts, bringing them into balance with the rest of your body. After the procedure, many patients feel more comfortable and confident in their bodies, which can positively impact all areas of their lives. However, it's important to have realistic expectations about what breast augmentation can do for you. By communicating openly with your surgeon and being aware of the potential outcomes and risks, you can maximize the benefits of breast augmentation surgery. We hope this blog has provided you with valuable insights as you make this important decision.
Many workers who make garments sold by top fashion retailers in Southern California's garment-sewing industry are still victims of wage theft and illegal pay practices, according to the 2022 Southern California Garment Survey by the US Department of Labor. The survey, which collected data from over 50 contractors and manufacturers, found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 80 per cent of investigations, with employers illegally paying workers off the books in more than 50 per cent of cases.

The survey also found that 32 per cent of contractors paid garment workers piece-rate wages, which is now prohibited by the State of California. Contractors and manufacturers surveyed included those producing garments for top national retailers.

A survey by the US Department of Labor has found that many workers in Southern California's garment-sewing industry, including those making garments sold by top fashion retailers, are victims of wage theft. The survey labour standards violations in 80 per cent of cases, with over 50 per cent of employers found to be illegally paying workers off the books.

In one particular case, investigators learned that a contractor paid garment workers as little as $1.58 per hour. In response, investigations by the divisions Southern California district offices recovered over $892,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 296 workers.

The survey also found that sewing fees paid by manufacturers to contractors were often not enough for them to pay their workers required minimum wages. On average, the sewing fee was $2.75 below the amount needed per garment to comply with federal wage standards. Contractors who paid employees in compliance with the law received a higher sewing fee, ranging from $17.50 to $35 per garment.

The US Department of Labor is taking action to ensure compliance with the FLSA, including securing agreements with manufacturers to monitor contractors. As part of the survey, the department also hosted a listening session in Los Angeles with garment workers and stakeholders to address these issues.

Ruben Rosalez, wage and hour regional administrator in San Francisco, said: Despite our efforts to hold Southern Californias garment industry employers accountable, we continue to see people who make clothes sold by some of the nations leading retailers working in sweatshops. Many people shopping for clothes in stores and online are likely unaware that the Made in the US merchandise theyre buying was, in fact, made by people earning far less than the US law requires.

The findings of the Southern California Garment Survey highlight why greater outreach and stronger enforcement are needed to combat the inequities that exist in the garment and fashion industries. The wage and hour division will continue to work and meet with advocates and industry stakeholders and remain focused on holding accountable the manufacturers and retailers who reap significant profits while the people who did the hard work are too often not paid their rightful wages.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)
Malaysia's apparel imports from China increased by 53.11 per cent to $640.603 million in 2022, but they did not reach the peak level of 2018. Malaysia's fabric imports from China decreased in the past years, almost halving in the last six years to $247.179 million in 2022.

China's share in Malaysia's total apparel imports was 31.23 per cent in 2022 amounting to $640.603 million, with Malaysia importing apparel worth $2.051 billion in total. Malaysia's apparel imports from the country were $418.710 million in 2021, slightly better than the inbound shipment of $406.833 million of 2020. Imports from China peaked at $749.303 million in 2018 but decreased to $544.825 million in 2019, according to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro.

Malaysia's exports of apparel to China remained negligible in the previous years, with only $23.575 million recorded in 2022.

Malaysia's apparel imports from China increased by 53.11 per cent in 2022. Malaysia's fabric imports from China decreased by almost half in the last six years. China's share in Malaysia's total apparel imports was 31.23 per cent in 2022, and its share in fabric imports was 55.51 per cent. Malaysia's exports of apparel to China were negligible.

Malaysia's fabric imports in 2022 totalled $445.270 million, with China's share in total imports at 55.51 per cent, valued at $247.179 million. The inbound shipment of fabric from China was $248.648 million in 2021, $297.285 million in 2020, $343.807 million in 2019, $394.460 million in 2018, and $412.727 million in 2017. Therefore, fabric imports from china decreased by 40 per cent in the last six years, as per TexPro

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
The third round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) took place recently. The round was hosted by GCC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and held in a hybrid fashion. A number of UK negotiators from across the government travelled to Riyadh for in-person discussions and others attended virtually.

Draft treaty text was advanced across the majority of chapters. Technical discussions were held across 13 policy areas over 30 sessions. Good progress was made and both sides remain committed to securing an ambitious, comprehensive, and modern agreement fit for the 21st century, UKs department for international trade said in a press release.

The UK and the GCC have made good progress in the third round of FTA negotiations held in Riyadh recently. The discussions advanced across most chapters with technical talks in 13 policy areas over 30 sessions. A deal with the GCC is expected to increase trade by 16 per cent, add 1.6 billion to the UK economy, and contribute at least 600 million.

An FTA will be a substantial economic opportunity and a significant moment in the UK-GCC relationship. Government analysis showed that, in the long run, a deal with the GCC is expected to increase trade by at least 16 per cent, add at least 1.6 billion a year to the UK economy, and contribute an additional 600 million or more to the UK.

The fourth round of negotiations is expected to be hosted by the UK later this year.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
HTVRONT, the popular handicraft brand, will have its 2nd Fans Carnival Sale from April 6th-12th, 2023.

SACRAMENTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2023 / HTVRONT, as one of the most popular brands in the do-it-yourself industry, is going to embrace its second Fans Carnival coming in April 2023, together with its sister brand, LOKLIK. This event will last seven days, from April 6th to April 12th, offering their customers numerous great deals and limited pre-sale seats for the new cutting machine, LOKLIK Crafter.

Herman, the top executive of HTVRONT, said that "The increasing development of HTVRONT is tied closely to crafters' relentless pursuit of enthusiasm in life. And that's what powered us to keep going on and will go further."

Its products have attracted 10 million craft lovers from over 50 countries, and on this fifth anniversary, HTVRONT will link to a dozen of popular international shopping platforms and release a certain amount of mystery gifts for its friends.

In addition, various of HTVRONT's hit products, like heat transfer vinyl, adhesive vinyl, sublimation paper, and an abundance of tool accessories, will be packed in bundles with diverse colors and patterns. Users are allowed to magnify the innovation and possibilities in all kinds of creative activities.

The executive also added that in this event, HTVRONT and LOKLIK, the new star of craft machine brands, will work together to bring a more worthwhile treat for craft lovers. The newest ultra-quiet cutting machine, LOKLIK Crafter, which had recently finished its crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo, one of the world's biggest crowdfunding stages, is set to go on sale at the Fans Carnival with an early-bird price.

This intelligent cutting machine is highly praised for its family-friendly noise-reducing technology, delivering its customers a soothing craft experience at home and even at night. Moreover, combined with its self-developed blade and selected step motor, LOKLIK Crafter is tested to be around 20% faster than its counterparts available on the market.

And from April 27th to 28th, 2023, these two innovative brands will meet their fans at GPX in Charlotte, US, showcasing their newest product, Mug Heat Press, and more.

HTVRONT, established on April 9th, 2018, focuses on providing user-friendly and better value-for-money products for craft lovers. During its five years of business striving to spread innovative culture and lifestyle worldwide, it has now completely realized the integration of self-research, production, and sales along with a robust business system that includes global supply chains, affiliated warehouses in different countries, an efficient logistics system, and an independent production workshop spanning over 12,000 meters.

For regular updates on HTVRONT, follow us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/htvront

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/htvront

Contacts

Email: pr@htvront.com

Tel: +195 42807347

Contact Information

Kimberly Xiong

Brand PR

kimberly@loklik.com

+8619542807347

SOURCE: HTVRONT

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745903/The-2nd-HTVRONT-Fans-Carnival-is-on-Its-Way
Revenue surged 36% YoY with 32% increase in final dividend

2022 Annual Results Highlights:

Revenue surged 36% YoY to approximately RMB23,072 million.

Gross profit grew 6% YoY to approximately RMB4,349 million.

Profit for the year increased by 2% YoY to approximately RMB1,808 million.

Profit attributable to owners of the parent increased by 2% YoY to approximately RMB1,326 million.

The Board recommended the payment of a final dividend of RMB25 cents per share, up 32% YoY.

HONG KONG / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. ("China XLX" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries collectively known as the "Group") (HKSE: 01866.HK) is pleased to announce the annual results for the year ended 31 December 2022 (the "Period"). The Group's revenue amounted to RMB23,072 million, representing an increase of 36% YoY. Gross profit increased by 6% YoY to approximately RMB4,349 million. Profit for the year increased by 2% YoY to approximately RMB1,808 million, with profit attributable to owners of the parent increased by 2% YoY to approximately RMB1,326 million. The Board recommended the payment of a final dividend of RMB25 cents per share for the year, up 32% YoY.

Affected by geopolitics, environmental protection policies and the recurrent outbreaks of pandemic , the world's food prices spiraled upwards in 2022, resulting in higher prices of fertilisers and coal chemical-related products. With completion of the renovation and upgrading of the Group's second and third plants in Xinxiang Base and the reconstruction and expansion of the Tianxin Coal Mine in Xinjiang Base, the Group increased high-quality production capacity. Underpinned by accelerated transformation and upgrading of its industrial chain, the Group pushed for diversification towards coal chemical-based products. It continued to enhance its production capacity, geographical reach and product mix, hence achieving record revenue and profitability.

Revenue derived from the sales of urea increased by 36% YoY to approximately RMB6,830 million mainly due to 18% and 15% YoY increase respectively in sales volume and average selling price of urea products. Revenue derived from the sales of compound fertilisers increased by 63% YoY to approximately RMB6,116 million mainly due to 28% and 27% YoY increase respectively in average selling price and sales volume of compound fertilisers. Revenue derived from the sales of methanol increased by 29% to approximately RMB2,283 million, as a result of 6% and 21% YoY increase respectively in average selling price and sales volume of methanol. Revenues derived from the sales of DME, melamine and furfuryl alcohol products declined to approximately RMB1,245 million, RMB967 million and RMB611 million respectively mainly due to resurgence of the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine, resulting in weakened demand and lower export volume. Meanwhile, in order to ensure production safety and stable operations, the Group carried out scheduled maintenance shutdown in the third quarter last year, which led to decreased overall production volume.

In 2022, affected by the recurrent pandemic, geopolitical tensions, rising food prices and energy shortages, fertiliser prices were driven up and became volatile. Meanwhile, the rising concern of food safety issue bodes well for the demand for high efficiency fertilisers, as well as the operating performance of leading enterprises in the industry. In 2023, while international energy prices rebound, the supply and demand of fertiliser will continue to be in tight balance in a short term. At the same time, the central clearly stated that China shall endeavor to ensure the stable production and supply of grain across the country. Therefore, this will continue to increase demand for chemical fertilizers. Fertilizer prices are expected to remain stable, but prices may fluctuate and are subject to seasonal factors. In terms of chemical products, with the further optimization of epidemic control and favorable policies to promote the recovery of downstream demands, it will stabilize and help the recovery of chemical products prices.

Looking ahead, Mr. Liu Xingxu, Chairman of China XLX, commented, "In the face of a new round of transformation and upgrading of coal chemical industry, the Group will adhere to the principle of 'driving the development of fertiliser and chemical businesses simultaneously based on fertilizer operation'. We will reinforce our core fertiliser business, step up efforts to promote compound fertilisers and differentiated urea, continue to strengthen R&D and promote high efficiency fertilizers. Besides, we will strengthen the 'flexible adjustment between products' production modeby taking full advantage of our cost leadership arising from low syngas production, extend downstream chemical products, increase efficient use of energy resources, and strengthen the competitive advantage of our product chain, thereby promoting the transformation and upgrading of the industrial chain. As for the project construction, a million-ton ecological fertiliser project at Liaoning Huludao Base is under construction in an orderly manner as planned. In addition, the green urea project with an annual capacity of 700,000 tons at Xinxiang Base is expected to be completed and put into operation this year. By then, the advantages of the Group's principal business will be further enhanced with sustainable development capability, supporting the Group's high-quality sustainabledevelopment of the Group."

~ END ~

About China XLX Fertiliser Ltd.

China XLX Fertiliser Ltd., one of the largest and most cost efficient coal-based urea producers in China, the Group is principally engaged in developing, manufacturing, and selling of related differentiated products such as urea, compound fertiliser, methanol, dimethyl ether, melamine, furfuryl alcohol, furfural, 2-methylfuran and pharmaceutical intermediates. The Company's shares are traded on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (stock code: 01866.HK).

Investor and Media Enquiries

China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. Gui Lin Tel: 86-135-6942-3415 Email: gui.lin@chinaxlx.com.hk PRChina Limited Alana Li/ Rachel Chen Tel: 852-2522 1368 / 852-2522 1838 Email: ali@prchina.com.hk rchen@prchina.com.hk

File:  Revenue surged 36% YoY to approximately RMB23,072 million.  Gross profit grew 6% YoY to approximately RMB4,349 million.  Profit for the year increased by 2% YoY to approximately RMB1,808 million.  Profit attributable to owners of the parent increased

SOURCE: China XLX Fertiliser

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745905/China-XLX-Announces-2022-Annual-Results
Lonza Group AG / Key word(s): AGMEGM

Lonza Publishes Invitation to the 2023 Annual General Meeting and 2022 Annual and Sustainability Reports



27-March-2023 / 07:00 CET/CEST

Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Annual General Meeting to take place on 5 May 2023 at the Congress Center in Basel, Switzerland Albert M. Baehny proposed for re-election as Chairman of the Board of Directors, all current Board Members proposed for re-election KPMG proposed for re-election as auditors for the financial year 2023, with Deloitte Ltd, Zurich (CH) proposed for election for the financial year 2024 Amendment of Lonza's Articles of Association following the revision of the Swiss Company Law (Aktienrecht) Proposed dividend increase of 17% to CHF 3.50 per share 2022 Annual and Sustainability Reports published Basel, Switzerland, 27 March 2023 - Lonza today announced the publication of its 2022 Annual and Sustainability Reports, as well as its invitation to the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The event will take place on Friday, 5 May 2023, at 10:00 a.m. CEST, at the Congress Center Messe Basel, Messeplatz 21, 4058 Basel, Switzerland. 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) The AGM invitation can be accessed on the AGM webpage . The Board of Directors proposes the re-election of Albert M. Baehny as Chairman of the Board of Directors.



The Board of Directors also proposes the re-election of the following individuals to the Board of Directors for a further one-year term each, until the Annual General Meeting 2024: Marion Helmes

Angelica Kohlmann

Christoph Mader

Roger Nitsch

Barbara Richmond

Jurgen Steinemann

Olivier Verscheure Furthermore, the Board of Directors proposes the election of Deloitte Ltd, Zurich (CH), as auditors for the financial year 2024. For the financial year 2023, the Board of Directors proposes the re-election of KPMG, Ltd, Zurich (CH). Following the revision of the Swiss Company Law (Aktienrecht), Lonza's Articles of Association have been updated. The full text of the proposed amendments and a comparison against the current version of the Articles of Association and related explanations, can be found in the separate Shareholder Information Brochure on the 2023 Revision of the Articles of Association ("Shareholder Information Brochure"), which can be accessed via our AGM webpage . Further motions include the election of the Nominations and Compensation Committee, and the approval of the compensation of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Lonza's Board of Directors is proposing a dividend for shareholders of CHF 3.50 per share for 2022, representing a year-on-year increase of 17% or CHF 0.50 per share. The proposal represents a pay-out of 21.4% of 2022 reported net profit of Lonza Group (or 25% excluding the gain from divestments). Subject to approval at the upcoming AGM, 50% of the dividend of CHF 3.50 per share will be paid out of the capital contribution reserve and will therefore be free from Swiss withholding tax.



All details on the motions can be found in the 2023 AGM invitation . 2022 Annual and Sustainability Reports Lonza today published its 2022 online Annual Report and Sustainability Report , which is aligned with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. PDF versions of the reports can be accessed via the Annual Report webpage, which can be found here .

The 2022 Sustainability Report is Lonza's fifth sustainability report. The report provides insights into the company's commitments and performance related to the most relevant sustainability priorities for its business and stakeholders. Responsible business is both an ethical and a commercial imperative for Lonza. Since 2022, environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics have been incorporated into Lonza's compensation policy for both management and employees. This ensures that sustainability remains an integral part of every employee's daily work and sustainability achievements are recognized and rewarded as a core strategic pillar of Lonza's long-term success. For more information, please visit Lonza's 2022 Remuneration Report .

About Lonza

Lonza is a preferred global partner to the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition markets. We work to enable a healthier world by supporting our customers to deliver new and innovative medicines that help treat a wide range of diseases. We achieve this by combining technological insight with world-class manufacturing, scientific expertise and process excellence. Our business is structured to meet our customers' complex needs across four divisions: Biologics, Small Molecules, Cell & Gene and Capsules & Health Ingredients.?Our unparalleled breadth of offerings across divisions enables our customers to commercialize their discoveries and innovations in the healthcare industry. Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today, Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 17,500 full-time employees, we comprise high-performing teams and individual talent who make a meaningful difference to our own business, as well as to the communities in which we operate. The company generated sales of CHF 6.2 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 2.0 billion in Full-Year 2022. Find out more at www.lonza.com Follow @Lonza on LinkedIn

Follow @LonzaGroup on Twitter Lonza Contact Details Victoria Morgan

Head of External Communications

Lonza Group Ltd

Tel +41 61 316 2283

victoria.morgan@lonza.com Lyle Wheeler

Investor Relations

Lonza Group Ltd

Tel +41 79 154 9522

lyle.wheeler@lonza.com

End of Inside Information
Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company') Encouraging drilling results from the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co Joint Venture Project with Rio Tinto

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM, FSE listed and OTCQB traded exploration and resource development company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to announce the results from the first exploration programme of 2023 at the Enonkoski Nickel-Copper-Cobalt ('Ni-Cu-Co') Project ('Enonkoski' or the 'Project') in eastern Finland as part of the Joint Venture ('JV') and earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Finland Oy ('Rio Tinto') announced 10 November 2020.

Highlights

Two drill holes for a total of 951.10 metres ('m') were drilled in January at the Laukunlampi target located 1.5 kilometres ('km') south-east of the former Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine (6.7 million tonnes ('Mt') at 0.78% Ni and 0.22% Cu were mined from Laukunkangas with the nickel grades of the off-set massive sulphide ores of over 5%, copper of up to 2% and cobalt of up to 0.3% (Geological Survey of Finland, 2020) [1] ).

). Drill hole ENON0028 intercepted a significant width of mineralised vari-textured pyroxenitic-noritic units with multiple intervals of nickel-copper sulphide (pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite) droplet zones, and locally thin intervals of net-textured semi-massive sulphide mineralisation. The best mineralised interval in this hole yielded a nickel ('Ni') content of 0.41% whilst the remaining intervals within the sulphide droplet zones averaged 0.16% Ni (Table 2).

A downhole electromagnetic survey ('DHEM') was conducted on both new drill holes during February.

LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) scanning of drill core from ENON0028 has been completed.

Geological and geophysical modelling is ongoing with the aim to define targets for follow-up drilling of the mineralisation that have been intercepted in several drill holes within the Laukunlampi intrusion.

Spot measurements of the sulphide droplets in ENON0028 with a handheld pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence) show readings of up to 11% Ni demonstrating the exceptionally high Ni tenor [2] of the sulphides in this hole.

of the sulphides in this hole. Recent geological and geophysical modelling within the area of the former Halvala Ni-Cu mine and Makkola Ni-Cu deposit have indicated that the latter mineralisation is open at a shallow level along strike in an area untested by previous drilling.

Dr. Bo Mller Stensgaard, CEO of Bluejay Mining plc, commented:

"The results from the first 2023 drilling with Rio Tinto on the Enonkoski Project are very encouraging with one of the drill holes returning significant intervals of sulphide-droplets, representing the highest sulphide content of any hole we have drilled in the Laukunlampi intrusion to date. Furthermore, individual droplets yield by far the highest Ni tenors of any sulphide so far encountered within this intrusion. This has positive implications for further exploration as we anticipate that the Ni tenor of the sulphide droplets as well as the overall sulphide content, should increase towards massive sulphide ores, providing us with a vector on which to plan our future drill holes as we continue the search for a significant mineralised body with economic grades of nickel, copper, cobalt within the Laukunlampi intrusion.

"Not only has the drilling returned mineralised intervals, it has also extended the potential search space of the Laukunlampi intrusion. In addition, our recent work at the Makkola target near the former Halvala Ni-Cu-Co Mine in the eastern part of the >15 km long metallogenic Enonkoski Belt indicates the potential for the presence of shallow drill targets. We look forward to updating the market in due course on the next developments for this exciting battery metals project, located in a world class mining jurisdiction."

January 2023 Results from the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co Project

The first diamond drilling programme of 2023 at the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co Project (see Bluejay's RNS dated: 16 January 2023) was completed as planned in January at the Laukunlampi target located approximately 2 km south-east of the historic Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine (Figure 1; Table 1). The drilling was followed by a DHEM survey in February. All drill core has been analysed for geochemistry at ALS laboratories in Outokumpu (Finland) and Loughrea (Ireland). Key intercepts are presented in Table 2. LIBS scanning has been completed on drill core from hole ENON0028 by LUMO Analytics providing detailed elemental mapping of the drill core.

High tenor nickel and copper sulphide droplets and disseminated sulphides have previously been intercepted in pyroxenitic and noritic units close to the southern and north-eastern contacts of the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion. Both drill holes drilled in January intercepted extensions of the mineralised pyroxenites observed in previous drilling.

Drill hole ENON0028 intercepted nearly 200m of vari-textured pyroxenite and norite, including an 88m interval with multiple sub-intervals of Ni-Cu sulphides (pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite) as droplets and thin semi-massive sulphide mineralisation (Figure 2). The average nickel content of the mineralised intervals is approximately 0.15% and up to a maximum of 0.41% Ni. The latter is consistent with the nickel grade of the droplet sulphide ore that occurs in close association with and within a few hundred metres of the massive sulphide ores at the former Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine.

Drill hole ENON0028 contains the highest and most significant sulphide content of all the drill holes completed to date at the Laukunlampi target. Significantly spot measurements of the sulphide droplets in ENON0028 utilising a handheld pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence) device show readings of up to 11% Ni, demonstrating the exceptionally high Ni tenor (defined as the concentration of a metal, usually Ni, contained in 100% sulphide) of the sulphides in this hole. This is approximately twice as high as those readings recorded in spot measurements of sulphide droplets taken from historic drill holes located elsewhere within the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion. Note that these pXRF data represent local spot measurements of individual sulphide droplets and are therefore not representative of a specific interval.

Drill hole ENON0027 intercepted a significant width of gabbroic and noritic rocks and the results confirmed that the Laukunlampi intrusion can be extended to the north into an area of approximately 200  400m gap untested by previous drilling. This is regarded as a significant gap in the drilling when considering the small footprint and steeply plunging geometry of the known sulphide ore at the former mines hosted within the Enonkoski belt. Drill hole ENON0027 also intercepted a few metres of pyroxenite within the intrusion with weak to moderate sulphide mineralisation.

Table 1: Drill hole collar information for ENON0027 and ENON0028

Hole ID Coordinates (ETRS89_TM35FIN) Azimuth Dip Final depth (m) Easting Northing ENON0027 593600 6880120 217 -65 483.00 ENON0028 593602 6879867 307 -60 468.10

Table 2: Selected mineralised intervals for ENON0027 and ENON0028 (see foot note)[3]

Hole ID Intersection Interval Ni Cu Co S NiEq From (m) To (m) (m) % % % % % ENON0027 473.00 474.00 1.00 0.15 0.07 0.03 6.93 0.22 ENON0028 242.04 243.06 1.02 0.15 0.06 0.02 2.52 0.20 and including 284.40 285.00 0.60 0.19 0.05 0.02 1.71 0.24 and including 285.00 285.66 0.66 0.41 0.09 0.03 4.55 0.49 and including 293.28 295.35 2.07 0.14 0.04 0.01 1.26 0.17 and including 296.38 299.81 3.43 0.15 0.05 0.01 2.28 0.18

Discussing the results of the January 2023 Enonkoski drilling, Thomas Levin, COO of Bluejay subsidiary FinnAust Mining Finland Oy ('FinnAust'), commented:

"Drill hole ENON0028 intercepted thin semi-massive sulphide intervals and a total of eight visual sulphide droplet intervals of up to 7m wide over a distance of 88m within an approximately 200m wide upper zone of compositionally and texturally variable pyroxenites before intercepting the contact of the lower zone consisting of a homogenous gabbronorite.

"Handheld pXRF spot measurements demonstrate that the nickel tenor is very high within the large sulphide droplets, indicating that our focus and exploration efforts have moved in the right direction within the intrusion. Our most significant sulphide intercepts prior to the recent drilling were from drill hole M421114R306 located more than 200m south of ENON0028, but encouragingly the nickel tenor has increased significantly towards the north in the case of ENON0028.

"The Laukunlampi intrusion is open towards the north and north-west, and our geological and geophysical models all indicate that the prospective pyroxenites continue in this direction supporting the potential of this target, especially at depth. The results from the ENON0027 drill hole have extended the intrusion towards the north. In addition, there is a large area to the north-west between our current drilling activity and the old Laukunkangas mine that is untested by drilling and is covered by a 10 to +20m thick approximately 1000  200m swamp that effectively masks the expected gravity anomalies in the area. When considering the small footprint (that can be only tens of metres or less) and steeply plunging character of the known economic deposits within the Enonkoski Belt, this represents a significant area of new search space for continued exploration.

"The focus of the JV has lately been on the Laukunlampi drilling, modelling and results, but I am pleased to report that the geological and geophysical modelling has also continued on the separate Halvala-Makkola target in the south-eastern region of the Enonkoski Belt where a ground gravity survey and extensive reference logging and measurements of historic drill core has recently been completed. The objective of the ongoing modelling is to generate new diamond drilling targets within an area hosting the former Halvala mine and the Makkola deposit. Recent geological modelling indicate that the Makkola Ni-Cu mineralisation is open at a shallow level along strike and is untested by drilling."

Figure 1. Enonkoski Permit areas with location of the former Laukunkangas (A) and Halvala (C) Ni-Cu-Co mines and the Laukunlampi Intrusion (B). The Makkola target which is also mentioned in the text is located near Halvala.

Geological modelling indicates that the pyroxenitic units of the Laukunlampi intrusion continue towards the north and north-west. The geological model is supported by geophysical modelling of all available magnetic, electromagnetic and gravity data. The DHEM modelling has generated some unexplained and untested off-hole conductors. However, no significant anomalies can be seen in the downhole electromagnetics or three component magnetic data in close proximity to the mineralised intervals in ENON0028. The ongoing planning for follow-up drilling is therefore focussed on the area further to the north and north-west, with the objective of demonstrating the presence of economic ore grades and tenors within these parts of the intrusion. Very limited drilling has been conducted to the north-west of the recent drilling and towards the Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine, and the Laukunlampi intrusion is open in this direction (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Example photos of high tenor nickel-copper sulphide droplets in drill hole ENON0028.

Figure 3 (previous page). Plan view (looking down) of the north-west - south-east trending elongated Laukunlampi intrusion with the location of the recently drilled ENON0028 and ENON0027 drill holes indicated. Former historical drill holes are also displayed. Colours on drill-holes represent different lithologies. The modelled pyroxenite (red solid) and the mafic-ultramafic Laukunlampi intrusive (green solid) are both open towards north and north-west towards an area with no historic drilling. The NNW-SSE trending and NNW plunging magnetic model (black solid rectangles) is coincident with a local conductor also untested by drilling. The distance between hole collars of ENON0028 and ENON0027 is 250m.

Further information on the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion

The Laukunlampi intrusion is located approximately 1.5km along strike to the south-east of the historic Enonkoski (Laukunkangas) nickel-copper-cobalt mine. The Laukunkangas deposit was discovered in 1969, although the high-grade ore was only discovered in 1980. The mine was operated between 1985 to 1994 by Outokumpu Oy. The Laukunkangas ore deposit occurred as many separate ore lodes hosted within the ultramafic-mafic rocks of the eastern and northern portions of the Laukunkangas intrusion. The ore types varied from massive to semi-massive sulphide ores to sulphide droplets plus strong sulphide dissemination hosted in peridotite and weak sulphide dissemination hosted in norite. Typical ore minerals were pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Some of the richest ore occurred as off-set ore lodes outside of the intrusion, within the mica gneiss or graphitic gneiss wall-rocks. A total of 6.7 Mt at 0.78% Ni and 0.22% Cu was mined from the Laukunkangas mine. The nickel content of the off-set massive ore was over 5%, with copper grades of up to 2% and cobalt grades of up to 0.3%, whilst the lower-grade disseminated ore contained approximately 0.3-0.4% Ni (Geological Survey of Finland, 2020)[4].

Strong similarities between both the Laukunkangas intrusion (that hosts the former mine of the same name) and Laukunlampi intrusions have been recognised. Disseminated sulphides and pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-pentlandite droplets analogous to the droplet ore at the Laukunkangas mine have been discovered at Laukunlampi at several locations within the noritic-pyroxenitic intrusion including the significant mineralised upper pyroxenite zone in drill hole ENON0028. No high-grade massive sulphides have yet been discovered within the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion. However, intervals with high amounts of sulphide droplets with high nickel and copper tenors based on handheld pXRF measurements have been discovered both close to the southern and northern contacts of the intrusion and by far the highest nickel tenor to date has been observed in drill hole ENON0028. In addition, significant widths of noritic rocks with disseminated sulphides have been intercepted with several drill holes.

Finland Overview

Bluejay holds, through its 100% owned Finnish subsidiary FinnAust Mining Finland Oy, three large scale project areas in East Finland - the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co project, the Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver project, and the Outokumpu copper-cobalt-zinc-nickel-gold-silver project. Bluejay subsidiary FinnAust signed a staged US$20 million JV and earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto for the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co project, announced 10 November 2020. The Company has also signed a conditional agreement for a partial divestment in a fourth Finnish project, the Kainuu Schist Belt Black Schist nickel-zinc-copper-cobalt project, for 4 million.

The Outokumpu mining district consists of an approximately 45km long belt hosting three historic polymetallic mines and multiple delineated deposits. The Outokumpu-type ore comprises of high-grade copper mineralisation, with significant associated cobalt, zinc, nickel, gold and silver. The main Outokumpu mine, the Keretti mine, was in operation from 1910 to 1989. FinnAust's 100 % owned tenements covers the majority of the Outokumpu Belt, in addition to several exploration target areas located outside of the main belt. Multiple drill ready targets have been identified by the Company within the current Exploration Permit areas.

The 15km long Enonkoski Belt hosts two historic nickel-copper-cobalt mines operated in the 1980s and 1990s. FinnAust's Exploration Permits covers the entire belt apart from the Laukunkangas Mining Lease. Most exploration efforts by the Company to date has focused on near-mine targets, but greenfield work has also been conducted at some regional targets and several drill ready targets have already been defined. Significant exploration activities have been ongoing for the past two years together with the Company's JV partner Rio Tinto.

The 100% owned Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver ('Cu-Zn-Au-Ag') project is prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide ('VMS') mineralisation and contains the historic Hammaslahti mine, which was successfully operated between 1973 to 1986 by Outokumpu Oy. The mine produced approximately 7 Mt at an average grade of 1.16% Cu, 1.55% Zn, 0.59 g/t Au and 5.2 g/t Ag (Geological Survey of Finland, 2023)[5]. The Company's exploration efforts have so far mostly focused on the near-mine area where drilling by FinnAust has confirmed that the main ore lode remains open down-plunge below the mine and has also resulted in the discovery of a new ore lode (e.g., 8.65 metres grading at 2.15% Cu, 1.97% Zn, 47.46 ppm Ag and 0.5 g/t Au in drill hole R325 (refer to FinnAust Mining RNS dated 21 July 2014)[6] close to the underground workings at the historic mine. These drill targets, within the mine corridor, are ready for continued drill-testing. FinnAust's exploration permits, totalling 39.3 sq km, cover the majority of the Hammaslahti Belt. The belt is considered permissive for further VMS deposits as supported by the presence of high-grade mineralised outcrops and boulders within FinnAust's licence areas south of the former mine, providing further upside to the project.

Hammaslahti Tenements Update

Two Exploration Permit extension period applications within the Hammaslahti project area were successfully granted by the Finnish Mining Authority Tukes on 2nd March 2023. The Hammaslahti C and Hammaslahti 1-2 permits covers the former Hammaslahti mine site and surrounding areas.

Assay and QAQC Procedures for the Enonkoski Drilling Programme

On receipt from the Enonkoski drill site, the diamond drill core was systematically logged for geological and geotechnical attributes, photographed and marked-up for sampling at FinnAust's operational base in the town of Outokumpu, Finland by Company personnel. A default 1m downhole sample length was used in mineralised zones, except where shortened by geological contacts. A default of 2m downhole sample length was used in intrusives that were clearly unmineralised and up to 3m downhole sample length was used in unmineralised wall rocks (e.g., gneisses). Core diametre for both holes was NQ2 (50.6 mm). All core cutting, sample preparation and geochemical analysis of the diamond drill core was undertaken by ALS Global ('ALS') at its laboratories in Outokumpu (Finland) and Loughrea (Republic of Ireland). ALS preparation and analytical labs are accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref 4028 and have internal QA/QC programs for monitoring accuracy and precision. ALS is entirely independent of the Company.

All drill core was delivered by FinnAust personnel to ALS Outokumpu. Cores were then cut in half by ALS lengthwise along a pre-determined line offset from the orientation line with one half (same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one half (preserving the orientation line) stored as a record. All drill cores have been returned and are securely archived at FinnAust's warehouse facilities in Outokumpu for future reference. After drying the half core samples were crushed to >70% passing below 2 millimetres and split using a rotary splitter. A 1 kilogramme split was then pulverised to 85% passing below -75-microns. A 30 gramme ('g') split of the pulp was analysed for platinum, palladium, and gold content by fire assay with an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry ('ICP-MS') finish (ALS method: PGM-MS23L). Major and trace elements, including rare earth elements were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy ('ICP-AES') after lithium borate fusion on a 0.20g aliquot (ALS method: ME-ICP06). Loss on Ignition ('LoI') at 1000oC was also analysed as part of this package. A separate pulp split was analysed for 48 elements, including base metals, by ICP-MS after four-acid digestion on a 0.25g aliquot (ALS method: ME-MS61). Carbon and sulphur content were also analysed (ALS methods: C-IR07 and S-IR08, respectively). Any samples exceeding the over-range for nickel were re-analysed using a 4-acid digest ICP-MS ore grade method (ALS method: Ni-OG62). Nickel was also analysed by a specialist method chosen for the selective decomposition of nickel sulphide to discriminate the nickel hosted in sulphides from that hosted within the silicates. This analysis consists of an ammonium citrate and hydrogen peroxide leach with an ICP-AES finish (ALS method: Ni-ICP05).

Bluejay Mining and its subsidiaries operate according to its rigorous internal Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocols, which are consistent with industry best practices. For the Enonkoski project this includes the insertion of certified standards and blanks into the sample stream at an insertion rate of one in every 30 samples and laboratory duplicates are requested at a rate of one in every 40 samples, which is deemed appropriate for this stage of exploration. In smaller sample batches additional standards and blanks are included. The blanks are provided by ALS and standards are Certified Reference Materials (CRM's) supplied by Ore Research and Exploration, Australia. Internal QA/QC samples were also inserted by the analytical laboratories and have been reviewed by the Company prior to release. No material QA/QC issues have been identified with respect to sample collection, security, and assaying.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical disclosure included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Joshua Hughes MESci (Hons), Vice President Exploration, and a full-time employee of Bluejay Mining plc, who is also a Member and Chartered Professional Geologist ("MAusIMM CP(Geo)") of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists ("FSEG") and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London ("FGS"). Mr. Hughes has performed data verification on all information disclosed in this news release related to sampling and analytical procedures, assay results and QA/QC. Mr. Hughes has sufficient experience, relevant to the styles of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking, to qualify as a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by the AIM rules, and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI-43-101") Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

For further information please visit http://www.bluejaymining.com or contact:

Kevin Sheil Bluejay Mining plc enquiry@bluejaymining.com Ewan Leggat/ Adam Cowl SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP(Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 Andrew Chubb Hannam & Partners (Advisory) LLP +44 (0) 20 7907 8500 Tim Blythe/ Megan Ray BlytheRay +44 (0) 20 7138 3205

About Bluejay Mining Plc

Bluejay is listed on the London AIM market and Frankfurt Stock Exchange and its shares also trade on the OTCQB Market in the US. With multiple projects in Greenland and Finland, Bluejay has now secured four globally respected entities as partners on three of its projects, and exploration expenditure of $37 million committed on three key projects, giving the Company and its shareholders both portfolio and commodity diversification in high quality jurisdictions.

Bluejay's Dundas Ilmenite Project in Greenland, is fully permitted and undergoing further optimisation work. The Company has agreed a Master Distribution Agreement with a major Asian conglomerate for up-to 340k tonnes per annum ('tpa') of its designed 440ktpa annual output. The Company has also mandated a major European bank to head the financing syndicate for Dundas.

Bluejay, through its wholly owned subsidiary Disko Exploration Ltd., has signed a definitive Joint Venture Agreement with KoBold Metals to guide exploration for new deposits rich in the critical materials for electric vehicles (The Disko-Nuussuaq nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE Project). Disko Exploration Ltd holds two additional projects in Greenland - the 692 sq km Kangerluarsuk zinc-lead- silver project, where historical work has recovered grades of up to 45.4% zinc, 9.3% lead and 596 g/t silver[7] and a fully funded summer drill programme is to commence on multiple large-scale drill ready targets; and the 920 sq km Thunderstone project which has the potential to host large-scale base metal and gold deposits.

In Finland, Bluejay currently holds three large scale multi-metal projects through its wholly owned subsidiary FinnAust Mining Finland Oy. The Company has a Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto at its Enonkoski nickel-copper-cobalt Project in East Finland which has seen continued exploration and drilling since June 2021. Bluejay's drill ready Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver project hosts high-grade VMS mineralisation and extensions of historical ore lodes have been proven. The drill ready Outokumpu copper-nickel-cobalt-zinc-gold-silver project is located on one of the world's most prolific geological belts which hosts multiple high-grade deposits. Bluejay has also signed a conditional agreement for a partial divestment in a fourth Finnish project.

**ENDS**

[1] Reference: Geological Survey of Finland (2020) Enonkoski deposit description [accessed: 24 March 2023]; https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/raportti/37_Enonkoski.pdf

[2] Definition: tenor is defined as the concentration of a metal, usually Ni, contained in 100% sulphide. Since the measurements reported in this RNS represent individual spot measurements by handheld pXRF directly on sulphide droplets they cannot be considered truly representative.

[3] Notes: Nickel Equivalent ("NiEq") grades reported for the Enonkoski drill holes were calculated using the following formula: NiEq % = nickel (%) + (copper (%) x 0.3696) + (cobalt (%) x 1.4428). Assumptions used for the nickel equivalent calculations were the current spot metal prices (as of 17th March 2023) of US$10.66/lb nickel, US$3.94/lb copper and US$15.38/lb Co and metallurgical recoveries were assumed to be 100%.

[4] Reference: Geological Survey of Finland (2020) Enonkoski deposit description [accessed: 24 March 2023]; https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/raportti/37_Enonkoski.pdf

[5] Reference: Geological Survey of Finland (2023) Hammaslahti deposit report [accessed: 24 March 2023]; url: https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/raportti/524_Hammaslahti.pdf

[6] Reference: FinnAust Mining plc (2014) "New High-Grade Polymetallic lode Discovered at Hammaslahti Target, Finland [accessed: 24 March 2023]; url: https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/references/524_Hammaslahti/524_JulyHammaslahtiDrilling21.07.14.pdf

[7] Reference: Bluejay Mining plc (2023) Overview of the Kangerluarsuk Zn-Pb-Ag ( Cu-Ge) Project: An emerging district-scale, high-grade base metal opportunity in Central West Greenland [accessed: 24 March 2023]; url: https://bluejaymining.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Kangerluarsuk-Slides-Final-Feb-2023.pdf

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Bluejay Mining PLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745895/Bluejay-Mining-PLC-Announces-Drilling-results-from-Enonkoski-JV-with-Rio-Tinto
EQS-News: Apogenix AG / Key word(s): Study/Study results

Apogenix' Partner CANbridge Announces 67 % Five-Year Overall Survival Rate Compared to 8.2 % in Institutional Database With Asunercept Plus Standard of Care in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme



27.03.2023 / 10:00 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Press Release Apogenix' Partner CANbridge Announces 67 % Five-Year Overall Survival Rate Compared to 8.2 % in Institutional Database With Asunercept Plus Standard of Care in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme Patients 83 % overall survival at two years vs. 34.3 % OS from institutional database

17.95 months median progression-free survival vs. 5.8 months PFS in historical group

Data was presented at the ESMO Sarcoma and Rare Cancers Annual Congress Heidelberg, Germany, March 27, 2023 - Apogenix, a biopharmaceutical company developing next generation immunotherapeutics, announced today that its partner CANbridge presented compelling long-term follow-up data from its Phase I/II study (n = 10) with asunercept (CAN0008) plus temozolomide/radiotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at the ESMO conference in Lugano, Switzerland. This long-term follow up showed an overall survival rate of 83 % at two years and 67 % at five years, three years after the trial ended. GBM, or grade IV astrocytoma, is a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor with still very poor prospects: The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) indicates survival rates of approximately 40 % in the first year post diagnosis and 17 % in the second year. [1] Thomas Hoeger, PhD, CEO of Apogenix, said: "We would like to congratulate our partner CANbridge on this exceptional data. These data underline the clinical efficacy of the CD95 ligand inhibitor asunercept, which provides a dual benefit: not only inhibits asunercept the tumor's ability for immune escape, but it also limits its invasive growth, a characteristic for which glioblastoma is notorious. Since temozolomide's approval back in 1999, no substance could demonstrate a positive effect on survival in this indication. A median of almost 18 months of progression-free survival could mean a major break-through for patients suffering from this devastating brain cancer. We strongly believe in asunercept's significant potential to address the enormous medical need for glioblastoma patients and we look forward to the Phase II data of our partner CANbridge." Apogenix would like to refer interested parties to the original announcement of CANbridge

that can be accessed online : - Begin of the original press release - Long-Term Data from CANbridge Pharmaceuticals CAN008 Phase 1/2 Trial in Glioblastoma Multiforme Shows 67% Five-Year Overall Survival Rate to 8.2% in Institutional Database Data to be Presented at the ESMO Sarcoma and Rare Cancers Annual Congress

83% overall survival at two years vs. 34.3% OS from institutional database

17.95 months median progression-free survival vs. 5.8 months PFS in historical group Beijing, China; Burlington, Mass., March 16, 2023 - CANbridge Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1228.HK), a global biopharmaceutical company, with a foundation in China, committed to the research, development and commercialization of transformative therapies to treat rare diseases and oncology, announced that long-term follow up data from the Phase 1/2 study of CAN008 (asunercept) plus temozolomide/radiotherapy (TMZ/RT) in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) showed a long-term survival rate of 67% at five years, three years after the trial ended. The data will be presented as a poster at the European Society of Medical Oncologists (ESMO) Sarcoma and Rare Cancers Annual Congress, March 20-22, in Lugano, Switzerland. The study was conducted at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, the site of the clinical study. The principal investigator is Wei Kuo-Chen MD, Professor, formerly at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and now at New Taipei City Tucheng Hospital. In the study, "Long term follow-up to the phase I/II study of CAN008 plus standard chemoradiotherapy treatment in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme," researchers reported that four out of the nine newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme patients treated in the CAN008 Phase 1/2 trial at this lead site were alive at the five-year follow up, three years after the completion of the trial. All four of the surviving patients were in the high-dose cohort of the trial, which received 400 mg of CAN008 in addition to standard temozolomide/radiotherapy (TMZ/RT). The overall survival rate of the high-dose CAN008 group was 83% at two years and 67% at three, four and five years. This compares to an overall survival rate in the institutional GBM database (n=218) (1) of 34.3% at two years, 19.5% at three years, 16.1% at four years and 8.2% at five years. In addition, the high-dose CAN008 cohort saw a median progression-free survival of 17.95 months. This compares to a historical median progression-free survival of 6.9 months for GBM patients on standard-of-care (TMZ/RT) ( Stupp et al, 2009 ). The researchers also reported that a high tumor mutation burden and DNAH family gene mutation were associated with a favorable response to CAN008 treatment. CAN008 is currently in an ongoing Phase 2 trial in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in China. An interim data analysis is expected in mid-2023. "We are pleased to see a median progression-free-survival of 17.95 months in CAN008 glioblastoma multiforme patients, more than double the historical median PFS for standard-of-care GBM patients, and that 67% of the CAN008 high-dose patients were alive after five years, in a cancer where patients typically progress very rapidly and survival rates are dismal," said Gerry Cox, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer and chief development strategist at CANbridge and a study author. "Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the deadliest cancers, with survival rates of less than 15 months, few treatment advances and a high unmet medical need." "While this is a small study, we are extremely encouraged by the high five-year survival rate of patients in our CAN008 Phase 1/2 trial, three years after its completion, in glioblastoma multiforme, a cancer with typically poor outcomes," said James Xue, Ph.D., CANbridge founder, chairman and CEO. "We look forward to the continued development of lead candidate, CAN008, currently in a Phase 2 GBM trial in China, and to bringing this potentially new and promising treatment to brain cancer patients." POSTER INFORMATION Title: "Long term follow-up to the phase I/II study of CAN008 plus standard chemoradiotherapy treatment in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme"

Authors: Ian Yi-Feng Chang, PhD, Hong-Chieh Tsai, MD, PhD, Chia-Hua Chen, PhD., Hsiu-Chi Chen, MSc, Chia-Wen Huang, MSc, Gerald. F. Cox, MD, PhD, Fang-Min Huang, MD, You-Yu Lin, PhD, Ko-Ting Chen, MD, PhD, Ya-Jui Lin, MD, PhD, Kuo-Chen Wei, MD

Poster: #2P

Poster Session: March 20-22 (1)Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan, institutional database. - End of the original press release - About Apogenix Apogenix is a private company developing innovative immunotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer and viral infections, such as COVID-19. The company's pipeline of immunotherapy drug candidates targets different tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily-dependent signaling pathways in order to restore the anti-tumor immune response in cancer patients and reduce lymphopenia and inflammatory cell death in patients with viral infections. Checkpoint inhibitor asunercept, the company's lead immunotherapy candidate, is in late-stage clinical development for COVID-19 and glioblastoma with PRIME (PRIority MEdicines) designation by the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of glioblastoma. Based on its proprietary technology platform for the construction of novel TNF superfamily receptor agonists, Apogenix develops CD40 and GITR receptor agonists for cancer immunotherapy. The TRAIL receptor agonist program was out licensed to AbbVie and is currently in clinical phase I trials. About Asunercept Apogenix' lead immunotherapy candidate asunercept is a fully human fusion protein that consists of the extracellular domain of the CD95 receptor and the Fc domain of an IgG1 antibody. The CD95 ligand inhibitor is being developed for the treatment of solid tumors, hematological malignancies, and viral infections, such as COVID-19. Asunercept was granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of glioblastoma and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in both the EU and the US and PRIME (PRIority MEdicines) designation by the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of glioblastoma. Asunercept is exclusively licensed to CANbridge Life Sciences under a development and commercialization license covering China, Macao, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Contacts Media Contacts Thomas Hoeger, Ph.D., CEO Katja Arnold Judith Teumer, PR Dr. Brigitte Keller Apogenix AG MC Services AG Phone: +49 6221 58608-0 Phone: +49 89 210228-0 E-Mail: contact@apogenix.com E-Mail: apogenix@mc-services.eu Web: www.apogenix.com

[1] https://www.aans.org/en/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Glioblastoma-Multiforme



27.03.2023 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

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Highlights

Appointment of Douglas Coleman will drive Appian's ambitious expansion plans in Mexico

Douglas will focus on strengthening Appian's presence in the country through sourcing and executing investment opportunities

A respected industry leader with a deep understanding of the Mexican mining sector and a strong network, having worked and lived in the country for 30 years

LONDON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Appian Capital Advisory LLP ("Appian" or the "Company"), the investment advisor to long-term value-focused private equity funds that invest solely in mining and mining-related companies, today announces the appointment of Douglas Coleman as Head of Mexico.





Based in Hermosillo, Douglas is responsible for developing Appian's relationships with mining companies in Mexico, by identifying and sourcing investment opportunities that align with Appian's objectives. His core areas of focus include due diligence, executing transactions and presenting potential investments to Appian's Investment Committee. Douglas will also lead on promoting Appian's value proposition and increasing its visibility in Mexico, using his extensive regional network.

A geological engineer with over 30 years of experience in mining exploration in Mexico, Douglas has been based in the country since 1991, establishing himself as a respected industry leader with a deep understanding of the local mining sector and a strong regional network.

Douglas is an independent director of CMC Metals Ltd. and Ashley Gold Corp, and previously held senior positions with companies including Riverside Resources, Layne and Globexplore Drilling. He is also founding President of Mexico Mining Center, the largest digital communication medium for the Mexican mining industry and organizer of the Discoveries Mining Conference, one of Latin America's leading technical conferences focused on mining exploration, innovation and development.

Douglas is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and recently served as Regional Vice President for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1988, earning a Bachelor of Science in Geological/Geophysical Engineering.

Michael W. Scherb, Founder and CEO of Appian, commented: "Douglas is a fantastic addition to the Appian team and his appointment underscores our ambitious expansion plans in Mexico. With his deep network and extensive experience, Douglas' unique skillset will play a critical role in sourcing and executing value accretive investment opportunities in the country. Mexico is one of the world's leading mining jurisdictions with a strong resource base in future facing and precious metals, and I'm incredibly excited about its role in Appian's future."

Douglas Coleman, Head of Mexico at Appian, said:"After observing Appian's recent growth, it is evident that the company is making significant strides and this is an exciting time to become a part of the team. I am highly impressed by Appian's unique model of offering value-add private capital to companies and management teams, which sets it apart from others in the industry. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the company in Mexico and to help establish a stronger presence in the region."

For further information:

FGS Global

Charles O'Brien, Richard Crowley, Theo Davies-Lewis +44 (0)20 7251 3801

AppianCapital-LON@fgsglobal.com

Charles O'Brien, Richard Crowley, Theo Davies-Lewis

Appian Capital Advisory

Michael W. Scherb +44 (0)20 7004 0951

info@appiancapitaladvisory.com

About Appian Capital Advisory LLP

Appian Capital Advisory LLP is the investment advisor to long-term value focused private equity funds that invest solely in mining and mining related companies.

Appian is a leading investment advisor in the metals and mining industry, with global experience across South America, North America, Australia and Africa and a successful track record of supporting companies to achieve their development targets, with a global operating portfolio overseeing 6,300 employees.

Appian has a global team of 65 experienced professionals with offices in London, Toronto, Lima, Belo Horizonte, Montreal, Perth, Mexico City and Dubai.

For more information please visit www.appiancapitaladvisory.com, or find us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040144/Douglas_Coleman.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1720474/Appian_Logo.jpg





View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/appian-appoints-douglas-coleman-as-head-of-mexico-301781119.html
Singapore, Mar 27, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Messe Munchen takes its international logistics cluster for the first time to Southeast Asia. From 1 to 3 November 2023, the inaugural edition of the new trade fair for transport logistics and air cargo will gather key players in global supply chains such as DP World, Dubai South, DHL, dnata, Changi Airport and Etihad in Singapore. Its timing is well chosen, as established trade routes are increasingly shifting in the wake of global crises to find new ways to reliably connect global markets. Singapore and the entire Southeast Asian region are of particular relevance in this development, as the location is already one of the leading hubs and is likely to become even more dynamic in the future as an internationally trusted region from a geopolitical perspective.

The interest in the first transport logistic Southeast Asia is correspondingly high: "The current occupancy of two halls at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre already exceeds the originally expected size of the exhibition. We are currently planning to add a third hall," confirms Michael Wilton, CEO of MMI Asia, the regional subsidiary of Messe Munchen, the positive response. In total, up to 10,000 square meters of space will be available on site for exhibitors and visitors. In addition to the key topics of global logistics such as digitization and sustainability, the thematic focus of the associated conferences consequently also includes resilience.

With Singapore having historically been a major hub for trade to and from Asia, many of the world's logistics service providers already have their branches and regional headquarters there. In addition, the Singapore shipper network is also strong. Many of the shippers that have a presence in the ASEAN region or throughout Asia are also present in Singapore. The three-day event will provide managers of supply chains and distribution networks with access to the companies providing these services and gives them the opportunity to present their services and products to the market.

"With Southeast Asia, we are expanding our transport logistic portfolio to include a new and very dynamic world region. This allows us to attract new customers and partners to our show and to help existing customers who are present at our events around the world to enter new markets in an emerging region," adds Dr. Robert Schoenberger, Head of transport logistic exhibitions.

Messe Munchen is the organizer of the world's leading events for the transport logistics and air cargo industry. transport logistic Southeast Asia is the latest in a series of leading trade fairs that includes India (Mumbai), China (Shanghai), Turkiye (Istanbul), South Africa (Johannesburg), the Americas (Miami) and the world's largest logistics event and mother show in Munich.

For more information visit https://transportlogisticsea.com/

About MMI Asia Pte. Ltd

A full subsidiary of Messe Muinchen GmbH, MMI Asia established in Singapore in 1992, is now embarking on a significant growth and expansion program, bringing some of Messe Munchen's world leading brands to the Southeast Asia market. transport logistic and air cargo Southeast Asian editions are organized by MMI Asia Pte Ltd.

transport logistic exhibitions

The international industry network of transport logistic exhibitions consists of ten events. In addition to the leading international trade fair transport logistic in Munich, transport logistic China takes place every two years in China, and the transport logistic China Forum alternates with it every year, both in Shanghai. In Turkey, Messe Munchen and EKO Fair Limited organize the logitrans International Transport Logistics Exhibition in Istanbul every year. Messe Munchen is organizing transport logistic Americas, which will be held every two years in Florida starting in November 2022. From September 2023, transport logistic Southeast Asia will also be held in Singapore for the first time. At all trade fairs, the air cargo sector plays an essential role. As part of transport logistic in Munich, air cargo Europe is the world's largest air cargo trade fair, while air cargo China is the leading event in Asia. In addition, air cargo India and air cargo Africa are independent trade fairs. Also part of the transport logistic exhibitions is the cooperative transport logistic India @ CTL in Mumbai, India.

Messe Munchen

Messe Munchen is one of the leading exhibition organizers worldwide with more than 50 of its own trade shows for capital goods, consumer goods and new technologies. Every year, a total of over 50,000 exhibitors and around three million visitors take part in more than 200 events at the exhibition center in Munich, at the ICM - Internationales Congress Center Munchen, the Conference Center Nord and the MOC Veranstaltungscenter Munchen as well as abroad. Together with its subsidiary companies, Messe Munchen organizes trade shows in China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey. With a network of associated companies in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, and with around 70 representatives abroad for more than 100 countries, Messe Munchen has a truly global presence.

Source: MMI Asia Pte Ltd (MMI)Copyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
TORONTO, March 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alkaline Fuel Cell Power Corp. (NEO: PWWR) (OTCQB:ALKFF) (Frankfurt: 77R, WKN: A3CTYF) ("PWWR" or the "Company"), a diversified investment platform developing affordable, renewable, and reliable energy assets and cleantech, is pleased to announce that the Company has granted an aggregate of 15,918,298 restricted share unit ("RSUs") to certain arm's length consultants (each, a "Consultant") of the Company.



The RSUs will vest in accordance with the terms of each Consultant's RSU agreement and in accordance with the Company's 2021 RSU Plan. Upon vesting, each RSU will entitle the holder thereof to receive one common share in the capital of the Company.

The Company is also announcing the resignation of Dr. Richard Lu from the board of directors, effective March 24, 2023. The Company would like to thank Dr. Lu for his contributions to PWWR since accepting the role in 2022.

ABOUT ALKALINE FUEL CELL POWER CORP. (NEO: PWWR)

PWWR is a diversified investment platform developing affordable, renewable, and reliable energy assets and cleantech. We bring 'Power to the People' today, combining a stable revenue stream with a future- forward vision to commercialize our advanced hydrogen fuel cell technology to meet the massive global market need, and ultimately generate compelling returns for investors.

PWWR operates through two global entities: Fuel Cell Power NV, a wholly owned subsidiary in Belgium, and PWWR Flow Streams ("PWWR Flow"), an AFCP brand in Canada.

Fuel Cell Power NV is focused on the development, production and commercialization of micro- combined heat and power ("micro-CHP") systems and off-grid and back-up power generators based on advanced alkaline fuel cell technology that generates zero CO2 emissions. Fuel Cell Power Fuel Cell Power NV has launched the Jupiter 1.0 prototype, and working through pilots in 2023.

is focused on the development, production and commercialization of micro- combined heat and power ("micro-CHP") systems and off-grid and back-up power generators based on advanced alkaline fuel cell technology that generates zero CO2 emissions. Fuel Cell Power Fuel Cell Power NV has launched the Jupiter 1.0 prototype, and working through pilots in 2023. PWWR Flow is focused on the development, ownership and operations of combined heat and power ("CHP") assets. PWWR Flow assets deliver efficiency improvements of over 20% with reduced costs to customers in multi-residential and commercial applications. PWWR Flow has contracted existing CHP assets in Toronto, Canada, and has an additional pipeline of potential contracts valued at over $50 million currently in development.

PWWR is well positioned to deliver 'Power to the People' in the global energy transition while offering a diversified cleantech growth platform for investors.

Further information is available on the Company website at https://www.fuelcellpower.com/ , and the Company encourages investors and other interested stakeholders to follow it on:

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Common shares are listed for trading on the NEO under the symbol "PWWR", the OTC Venture Exchange "OTCQB" under the symbol "ALKFF" and on the Frankfurt Exchange under symbol "77R" and "WKN A3CTYF".

For further information, please contact:

Frank Carnevale

Chief Executive Officer

+1 (647) 531-8264

fcarnevale@fuelcellpower.com

Forward-Looking Information

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. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "achieve". Forward-looking statements in this news release may include, but are not limited to, the RSUs, the departure of Dr. Richard Lu, statements with respect to the Company's technology, intellectual property, business plan, objectives and strategy.

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 and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward- looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

NEITHER THE NEO EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE NEO EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
This new line covers a portfolio of 100% recyclable primary packaging, designed for the areas of hot and cold beverages and 4th and 5th range prepared foods.

The company's commitment to the reduction of single-use plastics has become even more tangible with their entry into the foodservice sector, one of the industries with the highest demand for more environmentally sustainable materials.

VALENCIA, Spain, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Plastic contamination has become one of today's principal environmental problems. According to Plastics Europe, more than 368 million tons of plastic are produced each year for packaging. In this context, Hinojosa Packaging Group has launched the Foodservice line at an industrial level, a pioneering primary packaging range for prepared foods and beverages, that is both 100% recyclable and also environmentally neutral at the end of their life cycle.





Alongside other products by the group, such as Halopack and 360GP, Hinojosa aims to help companies promote more sustainable consumption patterns in the food industry and facilitate the strategic integration of sustainability as leverage towards greater competitiveness.

The use of plastics to package prepared foods increased by more than 33% in 2021, making foodservice one of the sectors with the highest demand for plastic for packaging. For this reason, the company just opened their first plant completely dedicated to manufacturing paper-based primary packaging for the foodservice sector, producing and distributing prepared or ready-to-process food and beverages to food industries, vending, supermarkets, and the HORECA channel (hotels, restaurants and catering).

Three different ranges

The company's new line of products offers various solutions in which printing techniques suitable for contact with food are used. The main distinguishing feature of this packaging is that it is made from pieces of 100% recylcable paper and are certified compostable.

The new models are classified into three ranges: Beverage, Dairy and FoodContainer. The first, designed for (hot and cold) beverages; the second, designed for dairy products, such as yoghurts and ice-cream; and the third, designed for 4th and 5th range prepared foods, making them a great choice for delivery services for restaurants and quick-service chains (QSR).

Hinojosa is one of the leading companies in the design and manufacturing of sustainable packaging solutions. With more than 75 years of experience, its model is based on the principles of the circular economy.

Due to constant innovation, customer orientation and the pursuit of excellence, the group has seen continuous growth, experiencing a substantial boost in recent years with its commitment to internationalisation. Currently, it has 2,500 employees and 19 production plants across Spain, Portugal, and France, combining the strength of a global group with a local presence.

The commitment and the work of the company is to generate a positive impact wherever it operates, contributing to the common good. It's not just about manufacturing the best packaging, it's about caring for the world around it.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040840/Hinojosa_Packaging.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hinojosa-packaging-group-launches-foodservice-a-new-line-of-100-recyclable-packaging-301781839.html
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Quebec Precious Metals Corporation (TSXV:QPM)(FSE:YXEP)(OTCQB:CJCFF) ("QPM" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that is has entered into a service agreement with ALS GoldSpot Discoveries Ltd. ("ALS GoldSpot") to perform a detailed lithium targeting study on all its exploration projects (1,338 claims covering 697 km2, 100% owned) located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory in Quebec. The territory is highly prospective for its lithium potential and occurrences.

"We look forward to working with ALS GoldSpot to unveil the lithium potential of our projects that are located in one of Quebec's most prolific lithium belts that already hosts a number of major lithium projects," commented Normand Champigny, CEO. "The potential for new discoveries in this region is high and we know that pegmatitic rocks have been observed on our projects from previous prospecting and mapping programs. Our goal this year will be to test the lithium potential of these pegmatite occurences. Given the underlying geology of the projects and proximity to other projects we are excited to get started," Champigny continued.

Pegmatite rocks host many lithium deposits in the region. It is to be noted that QPM's Elmer East project is located north to northwest of three significant lithium deposits that are being developed (see Figures 1 and 2 ): James Bay (by Allkem), Rose (by Critical Elements Lithium Corp. ("Critical Elements") and Whabouchi (Investissement Quebec and Livent Corporation).

Target generation will be undertaken by compiling, extracting and synthesizing geochemical and geological data within a predefined area-of-interest using geoscience expertise coupled with GoldSpot's proprietary data analytics workflows, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms. Targeting work for gold performed in close collaboration with ALS GoldSpot has led to two recent discoveries by QPM on its Elmer East project: Lloyd and Georgekish (see press releases of September 16, 2020 and September 8, 2021).

Results are expected in the summer of 2023. The Company intends to undertake lithium-specific exploration programs later in 2023.

ALS GoldSpot recently assisted Critical Elements in the successful application for lithium-tantalum-pegmatite prediction, confirmed by field prospection (see press release of October 27, 2022).

The proximity to projects containing lithium resources offers no assurance that the rock types or lithium resources reported by others extend onto QPM's projects and such proximity is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization reported by third parties with projects in this emerging lithium district. The presence of pegmatite does not necessarily indicate that lithium mineralization will be identified on the Company's projects.

Current exposure to lithium

QPM owns 12 million shares of Idaho Champion (6% of shares outstanding) following the acquisition by Idaho of the Blanche and Charles project located near Patriot Battery Metals' lithium discovery at Corvette (see Figure 3 and press release dated November 11, 2022). Idaho Champion controls 808 claims covering 412 km2 in the lithium-rich James Bay region and will carry out an extensive exploration program in 2023.

Engagement of investor relations consultant and grant of stock options

The company has engaged Paradox Public Relations Inc. ("Paradox"), based in Montreal, to provide investor relations services. The agreement has a term of up to 36 months, effective

March 13, 2023, and may be terminated at any time without charge by either party by giving a

30-day notice in writing. Paradox will be paid a monthly fee of $10,000 and will be granted 1,000,000 options at $0.10 with a three-year term vesting in four equal quarterly tranches over

12 months, in accordance with the company's stock option plan and Policy 3.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange. The investor relations agreement and granting of stock options are subject to

TSX Venture approval.

Qualified Person

Normand Champigny, Eng., Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Qualified Person under NI 43-101 on standards of disclosure for mineral projects, has prepared and reviewed the content of this press release.

About ALS GoldSpot

ALS GoldSpot is a Canada-based group of expert geoscientists and data scientists who utilize computational methods (such as Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and numerical modelling) to assist mining and exploration clients. ALS GoldSpot offers unique processes to focus exploration efforts, minimize client risk related to exploration targeting, and optimize aspects of conventional resource exploration workflows. Its diverse geoscience and data science technical teams combine proprietary technology with in-depth expertise in mineral exploration, mineral resources, and mining to offer robust and actionable solutions to its clients and partners. While mineral exploration and mining have become data-rich environments, the value of data is lost when datasets become so large that they cannot effectively be integrated into decision making. Its expertise and solutions target such big data problems, processing or integrating underutilized data to better comprehend resource property potential.

About Quebec Precious Metals Corporation

QPM is primarily focused on advancing its Sakami gold project, located in Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory in Quebec, near Newmont Corporation's Eleonore gold mine. In addition the Company holds a 68% interest in the Kipawa/Zeus rare earths project located near Temiscaming, Quebec. This is the only rare earths project in North America which has a fully completed feasibility study.

For more information please contact:

Normand Champigny

Chief Executive Officer

Tel.: 514 979-4746

nchampigny@qpmcorp.ca

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.

SOURCE: Quebec Precious Metals Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745813/Quebec-Precious-Metals-to-Reveal-Lithium-Potential-on-James-Bay-Projects-and-Hires-IR-Firm-Paradox
SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn , the world's #1 online boot camp for digital economy skills training, hosted its 8th convocation with Purdue University to felicitate over 1200 learners for completing their professional certification across various programs. Gracing the event with their presence were Professor Bart Collins, Purdue University, as the Chief Guest and Mr. Kashyap Dalal, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Simplilearn.





The convocation ceremony was held to felicitate the meritorious students on their accomplishments. It was a joint felicitation by Purdue University and Simplilearn congratulating learners on completing the various professional certification programs in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning , Business Analysis, Data Science , Digital Marketing , Digital Supply Chain Management , Digital Transformation , Data Analytics and Data Engineering . The convocation ceremony was filled with enthusiastic, energetic, and excited students.

Congratulating the learners, Mr. Kashyap Dalal, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Simplilearn, said, "Extremely pleased to be among a group of meritorious students who are focused, sincere and committed to their goals.We are pleased to be a part of their learning journey and to be able to celebrate with them the successful completion of various professional certificate programs. We have partnered with Purdue University to bring together programs that are industry relevant and will give aspirants the extra edge required to be successful in this competitive industry. On behalf of the entire Simplilearn family, I wish the students the best of luck in their future endeavors."

Addressing the post-graduates at the ceremony, Professor Bart Collins, Purdue University, said, "Every quarter, Purdue University and Simplilearn come together to congratulate students who have completed their programs in various fields. It gives us immense pride to celebrate the success of these brilliant minds and to have such meritorious students as our alumni. Sincerity is the key to growth; therefore, I would ask all graduates today to continue consistently learning in their respective fields. I hope you all achieve greater heights in your professions in the coming years."

Learner Testimonials:

Ralph Selvaraj, a learner from AI and Machine Learning program, stated, "The professional certificate program in AI&ML has been a great channel for me to be introduced to the concepts of AI&ML, a trending and evolving subject in the recent past. The program's course structure, delivery, pedagogy and faculty make this a complete package for anyone who would like to dive deep into this field technically and functionally. This program has been a great enabler for me to have informed conversations about AI&ML and has also helped me come up with use cases for the same in my line of work."



Munesh J Lamba, a learner from Digital Marketing program, told the audience,"It was a great experience being part of this Digital Marketing program with Purdue University in partnership with Simplilearn. I got the chance to sharpen my skills in Digital Marketing while becoming proficient with tools such as SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, and Social Media Management. The instructors were very knowledgeable and offered great insights on the topic. This course was exceptional for providing in-depth information and experience in a way that provided a holistic view of SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, and Social Media Management."

This is the 8th convocation ceremony hosted by Simplilearn and Purdue University. Simplilearn will host a graduation ceremony with IIT Roorkee in June 2023 and Caltech University in May 2023.

About Simplilearn

Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, California, and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the world's #1 online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training. Simplilearn offers access to world-class work-ready training to individuals and businesses worldwide. The Bootcamps are designed and delivered with world-renowned universities, top corporations, and leading industry bodies via live online classes featuring top industry practitioners, sought-after trainers, and global leaders. From college students and early career professionals to managers, executives, small businesses, and big corporations, Simplilearn's role-based, skill-focused, industry-recognized, and globally relevant training programs are ideal upskilling solutions for diverse career or/and business goals.

For more information, please visit www.simplilearn.com/

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/simplilearn-and-purdue-university-congratulate-students-on-their-8th-convocation-ceremony-for-over-1200-learners-301781908.html
Synthetic Monitoring Is Crucial for Detecting Anomalies and Failures

PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / In today's highly competitive landscape, retaining both new and existing customers is a top priority of all businesses. To achieve maximum optimization and prevent customer loss, companies are turning to Synthetic Transaction Monitoring. Uptime.com's cutting-edge solution offers unrivaled insights into website performance, availability and customer satisfaction.

Uptime.com

When customers are unable to access a company's e-commerce website to complete purchases, it not only affects sales but also the brand's reputation. Understanding the scope of an outage, such as the number of affected customers and the regions impacted, is essential. "Without synthetic transaction monitoring, answering these questions takes time, leading to revenue loss. Every second matters," said Jonathan Franconi, Uptime.com's Chief Product Officer. He emphasized the importance of a downtime monitoring platform to safeguard brand recognition and minimize revenue losses.

While most companies rely on basic website monitoring to track site uptime, customers worldwide access websites and services through various internet providers, endpoints, networks, and devices. Franconi explained that although up/down checks are crucial for detecting major site outages and ensuring global accessibility, they fail to provide a comprehensive view of service availability. Synthetic transaction monitoring bridges this gap by offering unparalleled visibility.

Uptime.com's solution utilizes repeatable transactions to identify anomalies and failures that could lead to process breakdowns or revenue losses. "Synthetic transaction monitoring is an exceptional tool that leverages repeatable transactions or specific user flows on business-critical areas, such as e-commerce checkout processes or site login functionalities," Franconi said. These transaction checks can be scripted manually or recorded using a built-in browser script recorder.

By running scripts frequently, ideally every five minutes, the system can detect anomalies, failed steps, missing validations or backend responses that may result in process failures like checkout errors. These checks can be executed from multiple points of presence (POPs) or locations worldwide using the same script. Franconi added, "This comprehensive approach offers complete visibility to SREs, operation engineers, and developers, ensuring customers can successfully access your site and execute key business transactions from anywhere in the world."

Proactively addressing issues before they escalate and customers report them is crucial. The operations team can engage with customers via the company's status page and provide outage notifications. Combining synthetic transaction monitoring with basic monitoring offers the best protection. Synthetic transaction checks ensure an entire site is loaded and accessed like a real user would, providing unparalleled visibility into site availability, performance, and accessibility.

Uptime.com invites everyone to experience the power of their solution with a free 14-day trial, allowing users to gain insights into their most critical transactions.

About Uptime.com

Uptime.com provides peace of mind to thousands of customers like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Palo Alto Networks, Kraft, and BNP Paribas to monitor the performance, health, and downtime of their websites, applications, and infrastructure.

Uptime.com has been recognized as one of the world's best web monitoring solutions by G2 and TechRadar Pro for several consecutive years.

Start monitoring in minutes with our free trial at www.uptime.com

Contact Information

Mike Albanese

mike.albanese@newswire.com

SOURCE: Uptime.com

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745547/Uptimecom-Offers-Synthetic-Transaction-Monitoring-to-Track-Performance-User-Experience-Preventing-Revenue-Loss
HANGZHOU, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / The Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) program last week brought together representatives of its partner educational institutions worldwide in a hybrid conference, reaffirming its commitment to driving digital economy education globally. The first GDT event of its kind since the pandemic outbreak, the conference showcased the latest learnings and achievements of the GDT program in promoting academic exchanges and talent incubation for global digital transformation and inclusive development, while also shining a spotlight on outstanding institutions, lecturers and students in the program's network.

Open to universities and learning institutions all over the world, GDT is a flagship training program under the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative pioneered by Alibaba Group, which strives to create equitable access to cross-border trade opportunities for youth, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and women globally. It is also part of Alibaba's talent incubation endeavor to promote inclusive development in the digital economy.

By providing educational institutions with teacher training and networking opportunities, the GDT program helps incubate the institutions' own qualified trainers who are capable of nurturing the next generation of digital talent in their respective markets, based on a curriculum framework that covers various components of the digital economy such as New Retail, smart logistics, digital marketing, and start-up investment and financing. Its training courses leverage learnings from the development of China's digital economy and taps into resources and best practices in the Alibaba Ecosystem. GDT also supports institutions in its network with student training and examination platforms as well as student certification.

"Human capital is key to more pervasive digitalization across industries. The Alibaba GDT program allows educational practitioners around the world to apply the underlying logic of Alibaba's time-tested business models to their communities' business landscape, in a way that will complement and augment local digital transformation initiatives," said James Song, Secretary General of Alibaba's Globalization Office and Secretary General of eWTP.

"In the past five years, the GDT initiative has cultivated 1,400 teachers and tens of thousands of students from 30 universities and training institutions around the world. We are encouraged by the local digital transformation that has arisen out of the GDT program, and hope to continue working closely with more aspirational partners to move the needle in grooming young talent for the flourishing digital economy worldwide," added Song.

During the event, GDT signed agreements with INTI International University & Colleges from Malaysia and NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd from Singapore, signifying an extension of GDT and the two organizations' collaboration on local digital talent development.

The event also featured an award presentation ceremony which recognized excellent institutional partners, lecturers and students who have exemplified innovation and inclusiveness in their participation in the GDT program.

One of the institutional partners recognized was Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) from Malaysia, which won two awards for its academic excellence and social impact. Since becoming a GDT partner in 2017 - the first in Malaysia, UTAR has seen over 100 of its lecturers receiving GDT certification and close to 3,900 students benefiting from its GDT-based training. To further apply their digital knowledge from logistics to marketing acquired from the GDT program, a group of teachers and students from UTAR launched a New Village e-commerce community project named "We Care, We Act," in which the students have identified and facilitated the online sales of over 30 local products - ranging from chicken biscuits to soy sauce - supplied by small and medium-sized companies across four Malaysian states. The initiative allows the New Village delicacies, originally available only offline, to reach consumers nationwide and even abroad.

In the coming year, the GDT program is expected to train 400 college teachers who will, in turn, cultivate 10,000 local students worldwide. It will also continue to explore collaboration with government and educational institutions across the region to incubate digital talent as well as help revitalize the rural economy - tapping on its experience of establishing eight Digital Villages in Mexico with local schools to bring the inclusiveness of Taobao Villages[1] in China to a wider part of the world. In the near future, the GDT program is expected to resume offline training and events to optimize trainees' learning experience.

Since its inception in 2017, the Alibaba GDT program has been introduced in Asia, Latin America, Africa as well as Oceania. Currently, the global reach of the program spans Asia-Pacific countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia; Latin American countries including Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia; African countries including Rwanda, Tunisia and Ethiopia; and Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

About Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) Program

Alibaba's GDT program is a flagship training program under the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative pioneered by Alibaba Group and is part of Alibaba's mission to make it easy to do business anywhere. By tapping into the resources and best practices from the Alibaba Ecosystem worldwide, the initiative aims to share the positive impact of the new business paradigm of the digital economy and promote inclusive development to inspire and empower youth globally. The program's global network, known as the Alibaba GDT Network, is open to universities and educational institutions wanting to incorporate digital economy curriculum in the education and training system and develop young entrepreneurs and digital talent. For more information about the Alibaba GDT Network, please visit https://gdt.alibaba.com/

Download:

Alibaba Reaffirms Commitment to Driving Digital Economy Education Worldwid.pdf

[1] In China, a Taobao Village is a cluster of rural e-tailers within an administrative village where residents got started in e-commerce spontaneously primarily with the use of Alibaba's digital retail platform Taobao.

View original content here.

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View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Alibaba Group on 3blmedia.com.



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View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745932/Alibaba-Reaffirms-Commitment-to-Driving-Digital-Economy-Education-Worldwide
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - American Copper Development Corporation (CSE: ACDX) (OTCQB: ACDXF) (FSE: D52) ("ACDX" or the " Company") is pleased to announce that it has received all required exploration permits from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division (NM MMD) to initiate a maiden 5,000-meter diamond drill program to explore for porphyry copper mineralization at its 100% owned Lordsburg Property located in southwestern New Mexico. The Company has contracted Major Drilling to complete this Phase I drill campaign.

Lordsburg Project Phase I Drill Program

The 5,000-meter diamond drill program commenced on March 25, 2023. The Phase I drilling campaign is designed to follow up on and extend previously identified porphyry copper related mineralization first identified by Entree Gold in 2008-2009 drilling, test previously undrilled areas in and around the known high-grade copper, silver, gold vein mineralization at the historic Bonney and Misers Chest mines, and test newly identified areas for porphyry copper mineralization from the recently completed 3D DCIP/MT Titan survey completed by Quantec (Figure 1).





FIGURE 1: Phase I Drilling areas outlined over 3D gridded 2D Chargeability Inversion Model RL slice, 1,000m anomalies.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8445/159917_07f5d8e61422a81c_002full.jpg

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, Chairman, states, "It is exciting to finally get to drill some of the numerous targets at Lordsburg. It has taken several years to assemble a controlling land position on this largely untested porphyry copper district. The DCIP/MT survey identified a number of compelling targets - especially when combined with our multiple layers of technical data including detailed geologic mapping, ASTER hyperspectral alteration mapping, magnetics, soil geochemistry and LIDAR. For those about to drill, we salute you!"

The Lordsburg Project

American Copper's Lordsburg project is strategically located in a porphyry-rich copper region of southwest New Mexico at the intersection of the NE trending Santa Rita Lineament and the NW trending Texas Lineament. Significant historical production from the district includes 3-4M tonnes from polymetallic veins with average hypogene grades of 2-3% Cu, 2-3 opt Ag, and ~0.11 opt Au. Increasing copper grades are found at depth on the Lordsburg property with historically drilled intercepts from underground of +4% copper. Detailed geophysical and geochemical surveys suggest the potential for multiple porphyry centers on the property.

Marketing Services Agreement

The Company has entered into an arm's length marketing agreement (the "Marketing Agreement") with Sideways Frequency LLC ("SFLLC"). As consideration for SFLLC's marketing and investor awareness services (the "Services"), the Company has agreed to pay SFLLC a fee of $75,000 (USD) for an initial term of two months (the "Initial Term"). The Company may elect to renew the agreement at any point during the Initial Term.

The Services will include, but are not limited to, email campaigns, native advertising, display ads, lead generation, creation of content, strategic planning, digital advertisement placement, and overseeing progress and results of digital campaigns.

The Marketing Agreement does not include any securities of the Company. Aside from this engagement, the Company does not have any relationship with SFLLC and Mr. Wesley De Souza, CEO of SFLLC.

Qualified Person

Mark Osterberg, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has read and approved all technical and scientific information contained in this news release.

About the Company

The Company is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets. Its objective is to locate and develop economic base and precious metal properties of merit and to conduct its exploration program on the Lordsburg Property in the state of New Mexico U.S.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

American Copper Development Corporation

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Schieber

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Phone: (778) 372-9888

Email: invest@american-copper.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward- looking information. Accordingly, the forward-looking information discussed in this release, may not occur and could differ materially as a result of these known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting ACDX. Although ACDX believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on this 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. Except where required by law, ACDX disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159917
Multiple Priority Targets Associated with Regional Scale Fault Structures

Preparation Underway for First Drill Program

Drilling Continues at West McArthur JV and Key Extension Projects

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) ("CanAlaska" or the "Company") is pleased to announce completion of a high-resolution airborne Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic ("VTEM Plus") survey on it's 60%-owned Geikie project in the Athabasca Basin (Figure 1). The purpose of the VTEM Plus survey was to identify basement conductors, characterize lithological and alteration variations, refine the structural setting, and prioritize drill targets for the Geikie project. Preliminary survey results confirm the objectives have been met, with multiple target areas identified that consist of conductive anomalies associated with regional-scale fault structures (Figure 2). The survey was completed by Geotech Ltd. of Aurora, Ontario and consisted of 1,399 line-kms of surveying at 400 m line spacing in the northern part and 200 m line spacing in the southern part of the property.

Figure 1 - Geikie Project Location

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2864/159924_c8f5647544c49a33_002full.jpg

Preliminary VTEM Plus Survey Results

The complete preliminary VTEM Plus data for the Geikie project, which still requires full processing and levelling, has been received. The initial preliminary data highlights a series of priority target areas that require further detailed investigation and modelling (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Locations of VTEM Plus priority targets over Channel 10 VTEM data (left) and 2022 magnetic data (right).

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2864/159924_c8f5647544c49a33_003full.jpg

The primary target areas consist of a strong northeast trending conductor system, striking through the southern half of the property. A series of splays and offsets along this conductor are visible, often in correlation with intersections of regionally significant deep-seated north-south trending faults, interpreted to be part of the Tabbernor Fault System. In addition, historical drillholes completed on this conductor trend identified stratigraphically-controlled and structurally-enhanced graphite proximal to the main conductor. Graphite rich metasedimentary rocks are important hosts for basement-hosted uranium targets within and along the margins of the Athabasca Basin.

The secondary target areas include conductivity anomalies associated with prominent regional north-south trending faults, also interpreted to be part of the Tabbernor Fault System, that were previously delineated in the airborne magnetic and radiometric survey (see News Release dated October 18th, 2022). Recent discoveries near the Geikie project have spatial associations with north-south trending Tabbernor fault features. These deep-seated structural corridors may provide fluid conduits for the circulation of uranium-bearing fluids into the basement rocks. Uranium-bearing fluids penetrating conductive basement rocks provide a favourable depositional environment for basement-hosted uranium mineralization. Alteration associated with a mineralizing event may appear as a conductivity high along or in proximity to these north-south fault features.

NEXT STEPS

All preliminary data from the VTEM Plus survey has been received and final processed data is expected in Q2 2023. The Company will be undertaking subsequent modelling of the primary and secondary target areas that were identified, utilizing the final processed data, to generate a series of high priority drill targets. Basin Energy and the Company are currently evaluating the application of airborne gravity surveys as a way of mapping broader alteration associated with mineralizing processes and further refinement of priority drill targets.

Drill targets will be prioritized based on the stacking of geophysical and geological layers that have been collected on the project to date. These layers include airborne magnetics, radiometrics, and electromagnetics, in addition to geological prospecting and historical information compilation.

CanAlaska CEO, Cory Belyk, comments, "Results from this airborne survey are very encouraging with multiple priority targets identified for drill testing. The CanAlaska and Basin Energy teams have developed a solid and measured approach for target development to provide maximum value to our shareholders on future drill programs. Every layer of new information added to Geikie supports and emphasizes its growing discovery potential."

Geikie Project Overview

The Geikie Project is located just outside the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin within the Wollaston Domain. The Project area has been subject to minimal exploration for uranium, with most significant work targeting base metals between 1967 and 1980. During this regional work, a series of mineralized showings were discovered in the Mud Lake and Marina areas. The Mud Lake uranium-molybdenum showing recorded a series of anomalous rock chips with grades of up to 0.225% U, 5.2% Mo, and 1.4% Cu. The Marina lead-zinc prospect recorded anomalous mineralization in outcrop of up to 2.03% Pb, 7.2% Zn and 0.93 oz/t Ag. Recent ground prospecting on the project has since confirmed the Mud Lake uranium-molybdenum showing results with up to 3,250 ppm molybdenum total and 0.21% uranium total in grab samples.

The primary target on the Geikie project is basement-hosted uranium mineralization where uranium bearing structures intersect favourable intercalated pelitic and calc-silicate host rocks. The Geikie project is located within 10 km of recent discoveries of basement-hosted uranium mineralization at the nearby Gemini Mineralized Zone and ACKIO.

The Geikie project is currently being sole-funded by Basin Energy Limited under an option earn-in agreement with the Company.

Other News

The Company is drilling on its West McArthur project in the eastern Athabasca Basin. The 2023 West McArthur drill program is focused on advancing the Company's new high-grade Pike Zone uranium discovery.

In addition, the Company is drilling on its Key Extension project, located in the southeastern Athabasca Basin region near the Key Lake mine and mill complex. The 2023 Key Extension drill program is focused on exploration of newly defined targets generated through a series of geophysical programs completed in 2022.

The Company's Joint Venture partner, Denison Mines Corp., is drilling on the Company's 25%-owned Moon Lake South project in the Athabasca Basin.

The Company will be attending and presenting at the Resource Connect Asia "Future Facing Commodities" Conference from April 4th to 6th at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore.

About CanAlaska Uranium

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) holds interests in approximately 300,000 hectares (750,000 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 technical person for this news release is Nathan Bridge, MSc., P.Geo., CanAlaska's Vice President, Exploration.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Cory Belyk"

Cory Belyk, P.Geo., FGC

CEO, Executive Vice President and Director

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd.

Contacts:

Cory Belyk, Executive VP and CEO

Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 306

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/159924
The key steps of a visionary strategy

Regulatory News:

Vetoquinol (Paris:VETO):

Strategic insights

From the very beginning, Vetoquinol's strategy has been linked to the history of the Frechin family and to an entrepreneurial conviction: customer needs guide the company's innovations and initiatives.

Joseph Frechin, a visionary pharmacist, founded the company in 1933. His son, Etienne, who joined the company in 1963, promoted a bold international strategy that placed Vetoquinol among the market leaders. His grandson Matthieu, appointed CEO in 2010, is breathing new life into the company while focusing on the empowerment of each and everyone.

Internationalization

Since 1963, Etienne Frechin has been developing exports and devoting himself to expanding Vetoquinol's business around the world. This internationalization strategy led him to create a dedicated export department. International growth continued with the creation of the company's first subsidiary in the Netherlands in 1977. With the purchase and creation of distribution subsidiaries abroad, Vetoquinol wove a worldwide web. In the 1990s, the company set up operations in England, Spain, Canada, the United States, Germany and Mexico. The acquisition of the Swiss group Chassot in 2001 enabled Vetoquinol to complete its European coverage with Switzerland, Poland and Austria. In 2004, the company set up operations in China, and in 2006 in Korea.

Vetoquinol's growth accelerated sharply, enabling it to become one of the world's leading players in animal health. Today, more than 80% of its turnover is generated outside France, with 47% of its activity in Europe, 36% in the Americas and 17% in Asia/Pacific.

Independence and long-term strategy

To continue to grow, Vetoquinol has made the strategic choice to remain an independent pharmaceutical laboratory with two strong assets: its human size and its family ownership. For Matthieu Frechin, entrepreneurship, innovation and team spirit remain the company's best assets to continue the company's development.

The IPO on Euronext Paris in 2006 enabled Vetoquinol to accelerate its growth in new markets, while maintaining the family values that have made it a success.

The customer at the heart of the strategy

Today, the company's strategy is to offer solutions to its customers and to develop its positions by focusing on targeted market segments such as dairy cows companion animal mobility, dermatology and parasiticides.

Vetoquinol offers its customers different types of technologies ranging from pharmaceutical and biotech drugs to non-pharmaceutical products, diagnostics, and digital solutions.

Today, the company has all the tools, skills, processes, and strategy to continue its successful development in France and abroad. Vetoquinol is constantly enriching its customer centric culture, which is key to its success.

ABOUT VETOQUINOL

Vetoquinol is a leading global animal health company that supplies drugs and non-medicinal products for the farm animals (cattle and pigs) and pet (dogs and cats) markets. As an independent pure player, Vetoquinol designs, develops and sells veterinary drugs and non-medicinal products in Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific region. Since its foundation in 1933, Vetoquinol has pursued a strategy combining innovation with geographical diversification. The Group's hybrid growth is driven by the reinforcement of its product portfolio coupled with acquisitions in high potential growth markets. Vetoquinol employed more than 2,500 people as of December 31st, 2022.

Vetoquinol has been listed on Euronext Paris since 2006 (symbol: VETO).

The Vetoquinol share is eligible for the French PEA and PEA-PME personal equity plans.

www.vetoquinol.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005549/en/

Contacts:

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

VETOQUINOL

Group Communications Officer

Resika Narain-Menigot

resika.narain-menigot@vetoquinol.com

KEIMA COMMUNICATION

Press Relations

Charles-Edouard Aubry

Tel.: +33 (0)6 09 09 48 32

charles-edouard.aubry@keima.fr

Investors Relations

Emmanuel Dovergne

Tel.: +33 (0)6 76 94 40 87

emmanuel.dovergne@keima.fr
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Gemina Laboratories Ltd. (CSE:GLAB)(FRA:8I7) (the "Company" or "Gemina") is pleased to announce that it will host a live investor webinar presentation on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 2:00 PM ET. During the webcast, Brian Firth, CEO, will conduct a presentation that will cover key areas of Gemina's business. After the formal presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions through an interactive Q&A portal. To listen to the webcast or to ask questions during the live event, please pre-register by clicking on the following link:

Registration Link: Gemina Webinar Registration

An archived version of the webcast and presentation will be available on the Company's website, following the live event: www.geminalabs.com/investors.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

John Davies

Chairman

Gemina Laboratories Ltd.

About Gemina Laboratories Ltd.

Gemina Labs is a biosensor and diagnostic company with a transformative, patented, proprietary chemistry that powers next-generation testing platforms for a wide range of pathogens that affect human health and wellness. Our technology drives testing platforms that are fast, affordable and accurate, and easily self-administered. Our development pipeline includes platforms for the rapid testing of COVID-19, influenza and other viruses. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.geminalabs.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. Such statements include statements regarding the anticipated terms of any proposed transaction or engagement. Information and statements which are not purely historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Furthermore, the Company is presently unable to fully quantify the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic will have on its operations and recognizes that certain eventualities may affect planned or assumed performance moving forward. As such, any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

For more information regarding the Company, please contact:

Glen Axelrod

Bristol Capital Limited

Telephone: 905-326-1888 Ext.1.

Email: investor@geminalabs.com

SOURCE: Gemina Laboratories Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/745978/Gemina-Laboratories-to-Host-Investor-Webinar-on-March-30-2023
MaaT Pharma received authorizations from French and German regulatory authorities to initiate its Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating MaaT033 in improving survival in patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT)

MaaT Pharma also received regulatory authorization in France to initiate a Phase 1b pilot study to evaluate MaaT033 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Regulatory News:

MaaT Pharma (EURONEXT: MAAT the "Company"), a French clinical-stage biotech and a pioneer in the development of Microbiome Ecosystem TherapiesTM (MET) dedicated to improving survival outcomes for patients with cancer, announced today that it has received regulatory authorizations for its two clinical trial applications evaluating MaaT033 in hemato-oncology and in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). French and German regulatory authorities for drugs and medical products, ANSM (Agence Nationale de Securite du Medicament et des Produits de Sante) and BfArM (Bundesinstitut fur Arnzeimittel und Medizinprodukte) respectively, have authorized the application regarding the launch of the Company's randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating MaaT033 in improving survival of patients with hematological malignancies receiving allo-HSCT. The Company also received authorization from ANSM, the French regulatory agency, to initiate its Phase 1b pilot study evaluating MaaT033 in slowing down disease progression in ALS. The Company will communicate on inclusion of the first patient in each study, which is expected by mid-2023.

"With the full regulatory authorizations received for conducting both trials in these two significant European markets, we can proceed with the final steps toward enrolling the first patients in each study," states Herve Affagard, CEO and co-founder of MaaT Pharma. "The authorizations are an important milestone in our overall strategy to demonstrate the potential of MaaT033 in restoring gut microbiota dysbiosis."

Phase 2b clinical trial ("PHOEBUS") evaluating MaaT033 in hemato-oncology

As previously announced, the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b clinical trial, called PHOEBUS, will enroll 387 patients, and could include up to 56 sites in Europe. The primary endpoint of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of MaaT033 in improving overall survival at 12 months. Secondary endpoints include the evaluation of safety and tolerability before and after allo-HSCT, and the evaluation of the engraftment of beneficial microbial species from MaaT033.

Phase 1b clinical trial ("IASO") evaluating MaaT033 in ALS

As previously announced, the Phase 1b pilot study, called IASO, has been developed with experts from the ALS network (FILSLAN and ACT4ALS-MND) and strongly supported by the French patient association (Tous en Selles contre la SLA). The trial will enroll up to 15 patients who had their first motor deficit for 6 to 24 months. The key study endpoints are assessment of safety and tolerability of multiple doses of MaaT033. The data readout from the trial is expected for the first half of 2024.

About MaaT033

MaaT033, a donor-derived, standardized, high-richness, high-diversity Microbiome Ecosystem TherapyTM for oral administration is currently being developed as an adjunctive and maintenance therapy to improve overall survival in patients receiving HSCT and other cellular therapies. The capsule formulation facilitates administration in a chronic setting to address a larger patient population while maintaining the high and consistent richness and diversity of microbial species, including anti-inflammatory ButycoreTM species.

About MaaT Pharma

MaaT Pharma, a clinical stage biotechnology company, has established a complete approach to restoring patient-microbiome symbiosis in oncology. Committed to treating cancer and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), a serious complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation, MaaT Pharma has launched, in March 2022, an open-label, single arm Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with acute GvHD, following the achievement of its proof of concept in a Phase 2 trial. Its powerful discovery and analysis platform, gutPrint, supports the development and expansion of its pipeline by determining novel disease targets, evaluating drug candidates, and identifying biomarkers for microbiome-related conditions. The company's Microbiome Ecosystem Therapies are produced through a standardized cGMP manufacturing and quality control process to safely deliver the full diversity of the microbiome, in liquid and oral formulations. MaaT Pharma benefits from the commitment of world-leading scientists and established relationships with regulators to support the integration of the use of microbiome therapies in clinical practice. MaaT Pharma is listed on Euronext Paris (ticker: MAAT).

Forward-looking Statements

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release about future events are subject to (i) change without notice and (ii) factors beyond the Company's control. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results or performance to be materially different from the expected results or performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005480/en/

Contacts:

MaaT Pharma Investor Relations

Herve AFFAGARD

Co-Founder and CEO

Sian Crouzet, COO/ CFO

+33 4 28 29 14 00

invest@maat-pharma.com

MaaT Pharma Media Relations

Pauline RICHAUD

Senior PR Corporate Communications Manager

+33 6 07 55 25 36

prichaud@maat-pharma.com

Trophic Communications Corporate and Medical Communications

Gretchen SCHWEITZER or Jacob VERGHESE

+49 151 7441 6179

maat@trophic.eu
BERLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From 27 March to 2 April 2023, Dreame Technology launches Spring Cleaning Promotion campaign on selected products for customers in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Customers can get the following at favorable prices:





L10s Ultra

An all-round cleaning experience: hands-free

From collecting dust to wet and dry mopping, the L10s Ultra provides a comprehensive cleaning experience; completely hands-free! That, too, without compromising on power with an incredible 5300Pa of suction power behind this small, agile robot cleaner.

Automatically detects carpets

Worried about carpets getting in the way? Don't be. The L10s Ultra has a special carpet-detection system that raises the mops when triggered, allowing it to get on top of carpets without people's intervention.

Long-lasting 2.5-litre clean water tank

Additionally, the L10s Ultra demonstrates great endurance and longevity when it comes to mopping hard-wood floors with a generous 2.5-litre, automatically refillable clean water tank coupled with two rotary mops offering dual-action, targeted mopping to tackle even the most stubborn of stains.

Self-cleaning system for greater convenience

Finally, customers don't have to worry about cleaning out the L10s Ultra, thanks to a built-in automatic cleaning system, which allows the mops to self-wash and rinse with a spinning function before drying with hot air.

H12 Pro

Edge-to-edge cleaning design

The H12 Pro is every householder's dream when it comes to mopping every nook and cranny. With an improved edge-to-edge high-speed rotating brush, the H12 Pro can easily tackle hard-to-reach areas, from skirting boards to inaccessible corners.

Self-drying system keeps mops nice and fresh

And once customers are done cleaning, simply dock the H12 Pro with the wiping function turned on, triggering approximately 55 degrees of hot air, which dries the brush to prevent mildew and that unpleasant "damp" smell.

Long-lasting cleaning session

A 6-way 4000mAh battery gives more than half an hour's worth of cleaning. Add to that a 900ml clean water tank and customers will be able to go longer without interruptions.

Cleaning made easy

The H12 Pro takes the stress out of cleaning homes with powerful scrubbing and robust suction, eliminating dirt, dust, debris, hair, spills and more. A high-speed brushless motor wipes the floor 520 times a minute, quickly removing mess without a fuss. The brush roller also draws on power from the motor, helping it to glide across surfaces with relative ease.

D10s Plus

Specially built for pet hair

This versatile whole-home cleaning robot is the perfect solution for large families with pets. Packed with 5000Pa of suction power, the bristle-free rubber brush digs deep into carpets to capture underlying dust, picks dirt off hard floors and has a special function to disentangle hair for a thorough, hassle-free clean.

The cleaning is in good hands

A 5200mAh battery allows for 280 minutes of continuous cleaning. And customers don't have to worry about recharging either. When the battery is low, the D10s Plus will navigate its way to the dock, charge and pick up where it left off with the cleaning.

Also, the D10s Plus automatically empties its contents into a generous 4-litre dust bag, giving a solid 65 days of worry-free cleaning.

Smarter cleaning

The D10s uses advanced LDS mapping to capture the layout of your home, helping it to easily navigate rooms, obstacles and more for a bespoke cleaning. Using Artificial Intelligence, the LDS will also recommend cleaning solutions tailored to your specific household and won't need to reorient itself to your home thanks to fast-mapping.

Purchase information

To take advantage of the promotion, visit respective stores to find out more:

Dreame Germany store

Dreame France store

Dreame Italy store

Dreame Spain store

About Dreame Technology

Established in 2017, Dreame Technology is an innovative consumer product company that focuses on smart home appliances with the vision to empower lives through technology. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For more information please visit: https://global.dreametech.com/.

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SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global sodium nitrate market size is expected to reach USD 167.7 million by 2030, and is expected to expand at 5.9% CAGR from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Industry growth is majorly driven by the rising usage of sodium nitrate in fertilizers, wherein, it provides the plants with a water-soluble form of nitrogen without altering the pH level of the soil, thus promoting the growth of plants. Additionally, it is used in explosives, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and others.





Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

The global market is estimated to advance with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9% from 2023 to 2030. This is attributed to the increased usage of the product in explosives, fertilizers, chemicals, and the food & beverage industry.





It is used majorly in plants such as sugarcane, wheat, corn, and soybean as it provides the crops with essential nitrogen nutrients by supplying them with water-soluble nitrogen without altering the pH of the soil.





Central & South America dominated the global market in 2022 with a revenue share of over 32.0% in 2022. This is attributed to a large amount of unexploited agricultural land in the area with large-scale production of soybean, pulses, and sugarcane which require sodium nitrate-based fertilizers for better yield.





dominated the global market in 2022 with a revenue share of over 32.0% in 2022. This is attributed to a large amount of unexploited agricultural land in the area with large-scale production of soybean, pulses, and sugarcane which require sodium nitrate-based fertilizers for better yield. Agriculture sector accounts for half of the GDP of countries in Central & South America including Argentina , Bolivia Belize, Haiti , Dominica , Paraguay , and Ecuador . As the agriculture sector is a key contributor to the GDP of the countries in the region, it leads to increased consumption of fertilizers.





including , Bolivia Belize, , , , and . As the agriculture sector is a key contributor to the GDP of the countries in the region, it leads to increased consumption of fertilizers. Industrial grade dominated the product segment with a revenue share of over 89.0% in 2022. This growth is attributed to the increasing usage of the product as a complement to ammonium nitrate in explosives, chemicals, glass, and fertilizers.





Fertilizer in the application segment dominated the global market with a revenue share of over 69.0% in 2022. This is attributed to the increasing demand for food crops due to the rising population.





According to the Indian ministry of finance's economic survey, the agricultural and allied industries exhibited the most resiliency to COVID-19 as it reported a growth of 3.6% in 2020-21, and 3.9% in 2021-22 in India .





. The agricultural sector of the U.S. contributed 5.0% of the total country's GDP due to the rising demand for food in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thus, this increasing demand for food crops is expected to increase the usage of fertilizers.

Read full market research report, "Sodium Nitrate Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Grade (Pharmaceutical, Industrial), By Application (Fertilizers, Explosives, Chemicals, Glass), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Sodium Nitrate Market Growth & Trends

The increasing processed variety in the food & beverage industry, due to rising demand for convenience foods has resulted in increased demand for sodium nitrate. It is used as a preservative and color fixative in poultry, ham, sausages, and cured meats thus, controlling lipid oxidation, providing distinctive flavor, and acting as an anti-micro bacterial agent.

Nitric acid manufactured from nitrogen dioxide and ammonia is subject to intense supply and price volatility in the global sodium nitrate industry. The fluctuations in the supply and price of the aforementioned raw materials are expected to affect the prices of sodium nitrate over the forecast period. The spread of the pandemic has crippled economies worldwide and impacted the supply chains across different industries.

The production and consumption of sodium nitrate are highly influenced by its usage in the end-use industries thus, with the shutting down of economies the end-use industries have also come to a halt affecting the demand for the product market. However, food & beverage being an essential industry witnessed growth even during the pandemic resulting in the positive growth of sodium nitrate.

Sodium Nitrate Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global sodium nitrate market based on grade, application, and region

Sodium Nitrate Market - Grade Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Industrial

Pharmaceutical

Food

Sodium Nitrate Market - Application Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

Chemicals

Fertilizers

Explosives

Glass

Pharmaceuticals

Food & Beverages

Others

Sodium Nitrate Market - Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilotons; Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan

Central & South America

Brazil



Chile



Peru

Middle East & Africa

& South Africa



Saudi Arabia

List of Key Players of Sodium Nitrate Market

Deepak Nitrite Limited

SQM S.A.

BASF SE

Weifang Haiye Chemistry And Industry Co

Acf Nitratos S.A

Quality Chemicals S.L

Shijizhuang Fengshan Chemical Co. Ltd.

Ural Chem JSC

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Nitrogenous Fertilizer Market - The global nitrogenous fertilizer market size is estimated to reach USD 94.02 billion by 2030 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growth can be attributed to the increasing awareness amongst farmers regarding maintaining nutritional balance in the soil. Increasing population across the globe has generated the need to improve the annual crop yield to feed the population, which has boosted the agriculture sector across the globe. Hydrogen and nitrogen are the major raw materials used for manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizers. Nitrogen is required in large quantities by plants and is the primary nutrient in fertilizers. Hydrogen is a crucial component of ammonia, which is an important ingredient in numerous fertilizers. Nearly all commercial-scale ammonia incorporates nitrogen and hydrogen. Raw material Availability impacts nitrogenous fertilizer prices and production.





The global nitrogenous fertilizer market size is estimated to reach by 2030 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growth can be attributed to the increasing awareness amongst farmers regarding maintaining nutritional balance in the soil. Increasing population across the globe has generated the need to improve the annual crop yield to feed the population, which has boosted the agriculture sector across the globe. Hydrogen and nitrogen are the major raw materials used for manufacturing nitrogenous fertilizers. Nitrogen is required in large quantities by plants and is the primary nutrient in fertilizers. Hydrogen is a crucial component of ammonia, which is an important ingredient in numerous fertilizers. Nearly all commercial-scale ammonia incorporates nitrogen and hydrogen. Raw material Availability impacts nitrogenous fertilizer prices and production. Italy Water Soluble Fertilizer Market - The Italy water soluble fertilizer market is estimated to reach USD 862.2 million by 2030 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2030. The growth is attributed to the popularity of these products as an immediate nutrient deficiency corrector and large-scale agricultural exports from the country.





- The Italy water soluble fertilizer market is estimated to reach by 2030 according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2030. The growth is attributed to the popularity of these products as an immediate nutrient deficiency corrector and large-scale agricultural exports from the country. Ammonium Sulfate Market - The global ammonium sulfate market size is expected to reach USD 5.04 billion by 2030, as per the new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2030. The advancement in agriculture technology would drive the demand for fertilizers, which would indirectly result in the growing demand for ammonium sulfate.

Browse through Grand View Research's Agrochemicals & Fertilizers Industry Research Reports.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

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Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

27 March 2023

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 125,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 878.82 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 17 January 2023.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 16,556,310; 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 208,434,993.

The figure of 208,434,993 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
The future of sustainable charging infrastructure for electric vehicles

Regulatory News:

Atlante, the company of NHOA Group (NHOA.PA, formerly Engie EPS) dedicated to electric vehicles fast and ultra-fast charging infrastructure and Bertone Design (New Crazy Colors), one of the world's most renowned design, architectural planning and all-around creativity companies, today reveal the exclusive design of Atlante's new fast and ultra-fast charging stations, in particular the canopy entirely designed and produced by Bertone Design.

Today's is a milestone in a long journey, which began a year ago starting with the study of the customer journey, moving through materials research to the first full-scale prototype of the new Atlante station design unveiled today. Bertone accompanied this journey, believing strongly in the project and fully sharing Atlante's values and vision.

The design of the new Atlante station answers to a concrete need for such vision: to spur the change towards a zero-emission mobility, charging stations will need to be welcoming, functional, and easily recognizable. With a design that immediately indicates the power of ultra-fast charging technology, supported by battery storage systems together with photovoltaic energy. This design will fit perfectly into the high-traffic areas where our stations will be built, enriching the urban and suburban environment with a design sign that is decidedly beautiful but never too impactful.

Energy, through the spark symbol, supports the design of the canopy, a meeting point between the luminous sign, empty and perceptive, at the top, and the volume, full and rooting, of the pillar. The dynamism of the forms and volumes characterizes the station, giving it an image of strength and, at the same time, lightness, making the canopy a true landmark that gives recognizability to the Atlante installations and enriches the surrounding areas.

The new Atlante stations, which are modular and flexible, will have different declinations depending on the type of station: from the smallest, where a simple canopy will be provided for customers while waiting, for example in the city, to models that fully cover the charging stalls, which, where possible, will have integrated solar modules. Stations with battery storage systems will benefit from special architectural elements made of "ultra-high performance" cement, specifically designed by the eminent TCC Group (NHOA's main shareholder), and will of course be connected to Atlante's proprietary Energy Management System in micro-grid mode.

Fundamental to the entire design of the new Atlante station is sustainability: not only through the use of recycled and/or totally recyclable materials, but also through the use of low environmental impact construction techniques and through the reduction of the environmental impact of logistics and construction work. Another aspect of sustainability is Atlante's choice to prefer and make the most of the resources already present in the area, such as services and commercial activities supporting the charging phase: on the one hand, avoiding building new services in cities that certainly do not lack them; on the other hand, creating virtuous synergies with local activities and generally enriching the surrounding communities, in perfect harmony with Atlante's values.

"Today I can proudly show the result of a long partnership, undertaken since the launch of Atlante. Our mission is to change the world of mobility, and to do so I have always strongly believed that we would need to create a new charging experience. This is an important step in that direction: thanks to Aldo Cingolani and his team of amazing talent at Bertone Design, we can now admire a unique structure of the Atlante stations. An architectural element that is useful to our clients, of course, but that is also an asset to the host community. We invested entire months studying all aspects of sustainability in great detail, even questioning our own easy vanities. In fact, our collaboration with Bertone Design was marked by these very goals: to create a unique station that is instantly recognizable as an Atlante station and that reflects the undisputed technological value of the Atlante network, without compromising on all-round sustainability. Thanks again to Bertone Design for interpreting our project in this wonderful architectural form", said Stefano Terranova, CEO of Atlante

"It was an honor for Bertone Design to participate in such an important project. We put to work a team with different professional skills, designers, architects, lighting designers, technologists with experience in sustainable materials and structural engineers.

Together with the Atlante team a unique project was developed, which, thanks to its design, stands out and represents the philosophy of the Atlante brand destined to become a benchmark in its field. Thanks again to Stefano Terranova and all his staff for the trust placed in us", said Aldo Cingolani, CEO of Bertone Design

BERTONE DESIGN NEW CRAZY COLORS

The Bertone Design New Crazy Colors group, with three headquarters, one located in Italy, one in China and one in New York, owner of the eponymous brand, a renowned brand in the field of architectural design and all-around creativity positions itself as a leading design and project development company.

The newly merged group combines creative power with the creation and production of shop-fits, window displays and pop ups.

The company mainly involved in the luxury and prestige design industry is able to manage and control the entire process, from creative concept to prototyping development, production and installation, and consulting in the design world offered by the aforementioned Bertone Design established in the creative industry with more than 100 years of history.

NHOA

NHOA S.A. (formerly Engie EPS), global player in energy storage, e-mobility and EV fast and ultra-fast charging infrastructure, develops technologies enabling the transition towards clean energy and sustainable mobility, shaping the future of a next generation living in harmony with our planet.

Listed on Euronext Paris regulated market (NHOA.PA), NHOA forms part of the CAC Mid Small and CAC All-Tradable financial indices.

NHOA, with offices in France, Spain, United States and Australia, maintains entirely in Italy research, development and production of its technologies. For further information, go towww.nhoa.energy

Follow us on LinkedIn

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Atlante

Atlante is a company of NHOA Group (NHOA.PA), formerly Engie EPS, global player in energy storage and e-mobility, which develops technologies enabling the transition towards clean energy and sustainable mobility, shaping the future of a next generation living in harmony with our planet.

Atlante is developing the largest fast and ultra-fast charging network in Southern Europe, enabled by renewables, energy storage and 100% vehicle-grid-integrated (VGI). It aims to install in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal 5,000 fast and ultra-fast points of charge by 2025, and over 35,000 by 2030.

Atlante is the result of the partnership between NHOA Group, which develops and invests in the network being owner and operator, Free2move eSolutions, in the role of supplier of charging technology, and Stellantis automotive group. It will be an open network, with privileged access for Stellantis customers.

For further information, go to www.atlante.energy

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005621/en/

Contacts:

Press Office Bertone Design New Crazy Colors:Vincenzo Lobosco, Pambianco,info@newcrazycolors.it

Press Office Bertone Design New Crazy Colors: Maria Elena Molteni, responsabile della redazione,info@newcrazycolors.it



Press Office Atlante: Davide D'Amico, PressMediaLab, +39 335 7715011, +39 011 7732952 106,atlante@pressmedialab.com

Press Office NHOA Group: Claudia Caracausi and Davide Bruzzese, Image Building, +39 02 89011300, nhoa@imagebuilding.it

Financial Communication and Institutional Relations: Chiara Cerri, +39 337 1484534, media.relations@nhoa.energy
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Ericsson:

Our Ericsson African American Alliance employee resource group (EAAA ERG) kicked-off the first of several informative and educational events to honor Black History Month.

Together in a mental health discussion with Dr. Michael Horne, President and CEO of the Parkland Health Foundation, they addressed the stigma of mental health, explored the impact of racial discrimination, and discussed the need for increased health access to our vulnerable communities.

Check out the photos from the event below, and learn more about Parkland Health Foundation and their dedication to a brighter future for Dallas here: https://istandforparkland.org/

Members of our African American Alliance recently came together to share their perspectives on being black in America, the power of community, and the importance of speaking up.

We hope you enjoy this unscripted podcast and encourage you to share your thoughts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za16iHgS3YU

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Ericsson on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Ericsson

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/ericsson

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Ericsson

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/746014/Being-Black-in-America--A-Discussion
ZHENGZHOU, China, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the morning of March 27, the Organizing Committee of Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in his Native Place held a press conference in Beijing, announcing that the Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in his Native Place will be held on April 22, 2023 in Xinzheng, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. Online and overseas memorial ceremonies will be held at the same time.





The theme of the Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in his Native Place in the year of Guimao (2023) was "Peace, Concord and Harmony with the Same Root, the Same Ancestor and the Same Origin". The agenda of the ceremony included nine items recognized as national intangible cultural heritage projects announced by the State Council of China: gun salute in the grand era, dedication of flower baskets, offering incense with cleansed hands, worshipping rituals, reading of the worship texts, singing the chant, worshipping with music and dance, praying for the blessing of China, and harmony between heaven and earth. At that time, the CCTV-4 of China Media Group, Phoenix Satellite Television and key network platforms at home and abroad carried out the live global broadcast.

This year is the first full opening of the park of Huang Di's native place after planning and upgrading. The broadcasting of memorial ceremony will be the first time to present a panoramic view of the construction of the scenic area of Huang Di's native place, which is a major highlight of the ceremony that is different from previous years. Before the start of the nine agendas of memorial ceremony, there will be a simple, rustic and solemn park opening ceremony in front of the Root-searching Gate of Huang Di's native place, highlighting our reverence for our humanistic founder - Huang Di.

Since the launch of online ancestral memorial ceremony in 2020, the global Chinese have made paying homage to Xuanyuan through the Internet an important feature of the ancestral worship ceremony of Huang Di's native place. The online ancestral memorial ceremony despite of differences in geography and time has not only drawn much interactive participation, but also attract more and more young people to pay attention to and participate in the ancestral memorial ceremony.

This year, the online ancestral memorial ceremony has been comprehensively upgraded according to the requirements of the Grand Ceremony, combining with new technologies.

The online ancestral memorial platform standardizes the rituals and etiquette, maintains consistency between online and offline ancestral worship, strives to expand on contextualization, immersion, visualization and interaction, amplifying the effect of network communication and stimulating the powerful synergy of global Chinese praying for China.

The platform aims to build "a national important site in the inheritance and innovation base of Chinese historical civilization", "a place for the children of Yanhuang to find their roots, a place for pilgrimage of Chinese culture, a place for experience of Chinese civilization, and a place for practice of Chinese national education". The demonstration of the cultural brand is based on the theme of "Tour in HenanReading China", highlighting the charm of "root" and "soul" of the culture of Huang Di, our humanistic founder. At the technical level, it uses technologies such as metaverse and XR (mixed reality) to launch XR light show, AI virtual technology videos, cultural IP, SVG special effects, interactive games and other products to integrate multi-dimensional communication as well as enhance the attractiveness and influence of the ceremony.

Contact: Zhang Yi

Tel.: 0086-371-67182663

E-mail: zhengzhoudwxb@163.com









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These agreements are the 13th, 14th, and 15th contracts or extensions to date in 2023 vs 28 in all of 2022

News in Summary

Illinois primary care practice signs contract to deploy Connected Health platform to improve outcomes and attract new business

An Ontario Family Health team extends remote patient monitoring (RPM) contract

A Community Paramedic Service extends RPM program for an additional 12 months

KITCHENER, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Cloud DX (TSXV:CDX)(OTC:CDXFF),a leading health data platform, announces a new US contract and two Canadian contract extensions, bringing this year's total agreements to date to 15, compared to 28 in all of 2022.

Cloud DX welcomes an Illinois based primary care clinic as its next US clinic to implement an RPM program. The concierge clinic will offer Connected Health to improve outcomes and service for its existing clients and to attract a new client base. The practice, serving over 365 patients primarily seniors, estimates 50% will enroll in its Connected Health RPM program to manage chronic conditions including CHF, COPD, hypertension, and diabetes. The estimated value of the deployment is up to $170,000 CAD in the first full year.

Cloud DX also signed extension contracts with two Ontario based health providers. After a successful initial deployment, an Ontario Family Health Team is extending its RPM contract for an additional 6 months to provide Connected Health services to palliative care patients. An Ontario Community Paramedic program for chronic care management is extending its Cloud DX RPM contract for another 12 months, with the potential to double the number of patients currently using Connected Health kits and services. Contract value for these deployment extensions is estimated to be up to $90,000 CAD over 12 months.

These additional agreements follow Cloud DX's earlier announcement of the expansion of 5 existing Remote Patient Monitoring contracts, a 150% increase in YoY growth in contract extensions.

Founder and CEO Robert Kaul stated "We continue to see demand for virtual care and remote monitoring increase in North America as healthcare providers seek to leverage our proven Connected Health technologies to improve care delivery, patient satisfaction, and reduce costs. Cloud DX is excited to see growth in the number of new contracts signed so far in 2023 as well as a significant number of contract extensions, which indicate that we are doing a good job making healthcare better for all our stakeholders."

ABOUT CLOUD DX

Cloud DX is on a mission to make healthcare better for everyone. Clinics and hospitals across North America use our Connected Health data platform to incorporate remote and virtual technology in care delivery. Our remote monitoring solutions let care teams virtually monitor hundreds of patients; Patients take vital signs at home with intelligent medical devices which transmit the data to the care team's dashboard or EMR. Connected Health supports remote vital sign monitoring, behavioral medicine, telehealth, care pathways for chronic care, aging in place, palliative or perioperative hospital-at-home, and more. Our customers achieve better healthcare and patient outcomes, reduce hospitalizations and readmissions, lower care delivery costs, and grow patient panels, revenue, and more.

Cloud DX is an exclusive partner to Medtronic Canada, Teladoc Health Canada, and Equitable Life of Canada. Cloud DX is the co-winner of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, 2022 Top Innovator by Canadian Business, a 2021 Edison Award winner, a Fast Company "World Changing Idea" finalist, and one of "Canada's Ten Most Prominent Telehealth Providers."

For more information on Cloud DX (TSXV:CDX), visit www.CloudDX.com and follow @CloudDX on Twitter or LinkedIn .

Cloud DX Investor Site https://ir.clouddx.com/overview/default.aspx

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Media Contact

Janine Scott

Marketing Lead

888-543-0944

Janine.Scott@CloudDX.com

Investor Relations Contacts

Canada

Jay Bedard

647-881-8418

Jay.Bedard@CloudDX.com

USA

Gary Zwetchkenbaum

516-455-7662

IR@CloudDX.com

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect ", "is expected ", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward looking statements or information 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 the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. In particular, this news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the advancement of the Company's business and partnerships, the expected proceeds therefrom, regulatory approvals, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs, and intentions.

SOURCE: Cloud DX Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/746021/Cloud-DX-Announces-New-US-Contract-and-2-Canadian-Contract-Extensions
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Bloomberg:

Originally published on Bloomberg.com

Bloomberg today announced the expansion of the EU Women in Finance initiative, following a successful first year. Launched in 2022, the initiative aims to open up and demystify the world of financial markets to young women, and inspire and empower them to pursue and advance careers in finance. It is the first pan-European programme offering dedicated training on capital markets and the opportunity to learn from female leaders shaping financial services in Europe. In 2023, the initiative will expand to Ireland, Poland, and Switzerland, bringing the total of participating countries to nine, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain.

In collaboration with Junior Achievement Europe, one of the world's leading educational NGOs, the initiative offers high-school and college students an introduction to financial markets using a bespoke curriculum developed by Bloomberg. Participants learn from senior leaders in the finance ecosystem, including banking executives, investors, policymakers, central bankers, and regulators. In its first year, the initiative mentored close to 300 students. This year, that number will increase to 450.

Bloomberg's Chairman Peter T. Grauer said: "Women remain dramatically underrepresented in senior leadership positions across the industry. By offering access to some of the leading voices shaping finance across the EU, the Bloomberg EU Women in Finance initiative will not only encourage more young women to participate in the industry, but to inspire them to be the future finance leaders of tomorrow."

Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, said: "While there has been a welcome increase in the number of women in leadership roles in finance in recent years, much work remains to be done. Finance, particularly at management level, continues to be male dominated. This is not just about women in top jobs; we must do more to encourage women to consider finance as a career and support women at all levels in the sector. I'm delighted to continue my involvement with the EU Women in Finance initiative and help make finance more diverse and inclusive for the ultimate benefit of the sector and the people it serves.

Magdalena Rzeczkowska, Minister of Finance, Poland said: "The EU Women in Finance Initiative not only inspires other women to reach for their dreams and goals but allows aspirational students to learn from inspirational female leaders shaping the future of financial services in the EU."Initiatives like EU Women in Finance offer us an opportunity to discuss what is necessary to improve the situation, to level the playing field and increase the number of women in leadership roles in finance. Building diverse teams is just one part of the equation. We also need to create an inclusive culture in which employees, in all their diversity, feel valued and respected, and all employees feel empowered to contribute. Inclusiveness is a leadership skill that must be developed. When we do it right, this is what works best for businesses and communities."

The initiative aligns with the European Commission's objectives set out in its Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025. This initiative specifically supports the Commission's strategy of promoting vocational education and training in order to promote equal opportunity.

The EU Women in Finance initiative forms part of Bloomberg's global Corporate Philanthropy program working with a network of non-profit partners to ensure more individuals from underserved communities have the relevant skills and experience for employment and entrepreneurship; supporting global efforts to make the world's economy fairer and more inclusive for all. Find out more here.

Ana Botin, Executive Chair, Santander said: "I long for the day when we no longer need a Women in Finance initiative. We've made a lot of progress in helping more women get up and get on in finance, but there's still much more to do. Inspiring more women to choose a career in finance is critical, as well as supporting better work-life balance, encouraging women back to work after they have had children, and exhorting women to apply for promotions. These are just some of the things we can still do better at. Until we make further progress, I will do all I can to support initiatives like this."

Evelyn Bourke, Non-executive director at the Bank of Ireland said: "I'm delighted to join Bloomberg's EU Women in Finance initiative as an Ambassador for Ireland. The importance of promoting gender diversity, and empowering the next generation of women to advance their careers in finance, is something I strongly believe in. This benefits us all - individuals, firms, and the sector as a whole. It also contributes to building a more inclusive and progressive society."

Thuy-Tien Gluck, Head of Corporate Sustainability, HSBC Continental Europe said:

"I am very honored and grateful to be an ambassador for Bloomberg's EU Women in Finance initiative. Women have a decisive role to play in the performance of businesses. It is therefore essential to support the development of young women, to offer them career paths where they can fulfill their full potential and thus take their place at all levels of the company, including and especially in decision-making bodies. Europe needs all these energies and ambitions to move towards a resilient and inclusive economy. The EU Women in Finance initiative is an important lever for supporting this vital momentum."

Prof. Danuta Hubner, Member of the European Parliament, Poland, said: "Data show quite clearly that the overall number of women in the financial sector has steadily increased over the past few years. Yet, in the top management positions, the financial services industry remain overwhelmingly a male-dominated affair, and the gender pay gap remains significant. Progress, though slow, is happening - and it needs to permeate all levels of society. We need to encourage and prepare the future generation of women to approach the world of finance not as an exclusive club, but as an environment where their work is respected and their worth recognised."

Magdalena Zmitrowicz, Vice Chair, Bank Pekao S.A. said: "Bloomberg EU Women in Finance initiative is highly important for all women because it keeps inspiring a future generation. For me, it is a privilege to be an Ambassador of this initiative. I am delighted to present an example of how to build a long-term strategy and engage more women to take responsibility for their careers in the financial industry. In my opinion, the companies which have more diversified decision-making positions achieve better results. Women should build confidence in themselves and not be afraid to apply for higher positions."

Junior Achievement Europe CEO Salvatore Nigro said: "Talent is universal, but opportunities are not. Initiatives such as EU Women in Finance show young girls that there is no limit to their dreams and ambition, that all sectors and positions are accessible to them. Thanks to this initiative with Bloomberg, we are creating a more diverse future of work and a more equitable society".

The full list of ambassadors include:

Ana Botin, Executive Chairman, Grupo Santander

Evelyn Bourke, Non-executive Director, Bank of Ireland

Nadia Calvino, First Vice-President of Spain, Minister for Economy and Digitalisation

Elena Carletti, Professor of Finance, Bocconi University, Member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Internal Control and Risk Committee, Unicredit Spa

Natasha Cazenave, Executive Director, ESMA

Thuy-Tien Gluck, Head of Corporate Sustainability, HSBC Continental Europe

Petra Hielkema, Chairperson, EIOPA

Prof. Danuta Hubner, Member of the European Parliament, Poland

Katja Lammert, Member of the Board of Management, MEAG

Virginie Maisonneuve, Global CIO Equities, Managing Director, Allianz Global Investors

Dr. Sabine Mauderer, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank

Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union

Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union Bettina Orlopp, CFO, Commerzbank

Magdalena Rzeczkowska, Minister of Finance, Poland

Irene Tinagli, Chair, Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, European Parliament

Anneka Treon, Chief Economist, Van Lanschot Kempen

Magdalena Zmitrowicz, Vice Chair, Bank Pekao S.A

Bloomberg has partnered with 2023 Nobel Peace Prize nominated NGO Junior Achievement since 1997. In the last four years, over 1,000 Bloomberg employees across nearly 50 cities have dedicating their time and talents to support their work. The EU Women in Finance initiative forms part of Bloomberg's global Corporate Philanthropy program working with a network of non-profit partners to ensure more individuals from underserved communities have the relevant skills and experience for employment and entrepreneurship; supporting global efforts to make the world's economy fairer and more inclusive for all.

About Bloomberg

Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company's strength - delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately - is at the core of the Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg's enterprise solutions build on the company's core strength: leveraging technology to allow customers to access, integrate, distribute and manage data and information across organizations more efficiently and effectively. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company

About Junior Achievement Europe

JA Europe is the largest and leading organisation in Europe dedicated to inspire and prepare young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health. In the last school year, the JA Europe network provided over 6.6 million learning experiences for youth in online, in person and blended formats.

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Oisin O Malley, Bloomberg Communications: oomalley2@bloomberg.net

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SOURCE: Bloomberg

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Thomas Meth to continue as President CEO and Ralph Alexander will transition to Lead Independent Director

Enviva Inc. (NYSE: EVA) ("Enviva," "our," "we," or the "Company") today announced that John Keppler is returning to the Company as Executive Chairman, effective April 1, 2023. Thomas Meth will continue to lead the Company as President and Chief Executive Officer, and the Company's interim Chairman, Ralph Alexander, will transition to the role of Lead Independent Director of the Board.

Today's announcement is consistent with the Board of Directors' (the "Board") governance plan as announced in November 2022, when Mr. Keppler stepped down from his role as Chairman and CEO of Enviva to address a heart condition. With Mr. Keppler's recovery and rehabilitation following heart surgery well underway, he is returning to the Company to support his co-founding partner and CEO, Thomas Meth. As Executive Chairman, in cooperation with Mr. Meth, Mr. Keppler is expected to help drive strategic corporate initiatives, growth, and interaction with key capital markets and financial stakeholders.

"I am very happy to welcome John back to Enviva. With his two decades of executive and Board leadership, he will help take our incredible enterprise to the next level and deliver on its potential. He is deeply respected by the Board, our management team and associates, and our key financial partners, and we are thrilled to see him rejoin the Company in good health," said Thomas Meth, President and Chief Executive Officer. "As our CEO for nearly 18 years, John led the Company's growth from our humble beginnings as a small start-up to a highly valued publicly traded, global enterprise. I look forward to working closely with him in his new capacity as Executive Chairman," Meth continued.

"As I shared in November, Thomas, the Board, and the leadership team are executing a proven model and business strategy to create significant value for all of our stakeholders. I look forward to rejoining my colleagues in this new leadership capacity to help Enviva unlock the tremendous opportunities inherent in our business," said Keppler. "Most immediately, I look forward to seeing many of our equity and debt investors at our upcoming investor day in April, and to reengaging consistently and frequently with our financial stakeholders thereafter."

Ralph Alexander, who has been a member of the Board since 2013 and led the original private equity investment in Enviva in 2010, will transition to Lead Independent Director effective April 1, 2023, and will focus on supporting the business' operational excellence and continue to serve as Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. "We are incredibly thankful for Ralph's support and leadership over the last few months as we transitioned and navigated through a pivotal time, not just for Enviva, but also for our industry and the global energy landscape," added Meth. "I am delighted that we'll continue to benefit from his expertise and leadership as Lead Independent Director," concluded Meth.

Mr. Meth, Mr. Keppler, and Mr. Alexander each participated in the Company's recently announced and now closed PIPE transaction which yielded aggregate net proceeds of approximately $246 million to the Company. The PIPE was led by affiliates of Enviva's two largest stockholders, Riverstone Holdings LLC and Inclusive Capital Partners, and included BTG Pactual as well as members of the Board and of Enviva's management. For more information about this transaction, refer to the Company's March 1st announcement here.

About Enviva

Enviva Inc. (NYSE: EVA) is the world's largest producer of industrial wood pellets, a renewable and sustainable energy source produced by aggregating a natural resource, wood fiber, and processing it into a transportable form, wood pellets. Enviva owns and operates ten plants with a combined production capacity of approximately 6.2 million metric tons per year in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi, and is constructing its 11th plant in Epes, Alabama. Additionally, Enviva is planning to commence construction of its 12th plant, near Bond, Mississippi. Enviva sells most of its wood pellets through long-term, take-or-pay off-take contracts with primarily creditworthy customers in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan, helping to accelerate the energy transition and to defossilize hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, lime, chemicals, and aviation. Enviva exports its wood pellets to global markets through its deep-water marine terminals at the Port of Chesapeake, Virginia, the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina, and the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and from third-party deep-water marine terminals in Savannah, Georgia, Mobile, Alabama, and Panama City, Florida.

To learn more about Enviva, please visit our website at www.envivabiomass.com. Follow Enviva on social media @Enviva.

Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

The information included herein and in any oral statements made in connection herewith include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Enviva disclaims any duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. Enviva cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Enviva.

Actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact Enviva's expectations and projections can be found in Enviva's periodic filings with the SEC. Enviva's SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

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Contacts:

Maria Moreno

media@envivabiomass.com

+1-301-657-5560
Everen Limited (Everen) held its March 2023 Board Meeting on Tuesday, March 21st and its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, March 23rd

During the Board Meeting, the directors approved Everen's 2022 financial statements, discussed the ongoing execution of the 5-year Strategic Plan, and declared a dividend in the aggregate amount of $200 million payable on or before September 29, 2023 to shareholders of record on March 21, 2023.

During the AGM, the Shareholders approved technical wording corrections to the Eligibility Requirements and definition of a Nuclear Facility and amended Everen's Bye-Laws to resolve inconsistencies and elements not required by the Bermuda Companies Act 1981. They also elected a new Board of Directors who will serve for a year ending at the March 2024 AGM. The Shareholders recognized Gail Miller (VP, Human Resources) for her 18 years of service and significant contributions to the organization and also welcomed Robert Foskey into the role of Chief Operating Officer as he succeeds George Hutchings who is retiring at year end but will remain with the company for the balance of 2023 as Special Advisor.

Following the AGM, the newly elected Board met and elected John Weisner as Chair of the Board and Robert Wondolleck as Deputy Chair for 2023.

For 2022, Everen recorded a net loss of $776.7 million, driven by net investment losses of $524.8 million, net underwriting losses of $229.2 million and general and administrative expenses of $22.7 million. For additional information about Everen's 2022 financial results, please visit www.everen.bm to view the audited financial statements.

Bertil Olsson, President and CEO, explained, "While 2022 was financially challenging, our insured losses were within expected levels. Everen is focused on creating long term value and a strong commitment to our shareholders. Our goal is to continuously deliver stable and sizeable capacity with consistent terms and conditions through difficult market environments. Over the past 9 years, Everen has charged premiums of $4.1 billion while returning almost $3.0 billion in dividends to shareholders. The Board's decision to issue the $200 million dividend carefully considered the company's multi-year Capital Management Plan and potential future capital needs of the Strategic Plan."

Robert Foskey, Senior Vice President and COO commented, "During 2022, Everen focused on several Strategic Plan initiatives including expanding our product offering by increasing the limit to $450 million, rollout of the company's new brand and website, and enhancing our internal and external marketing activities. We continue to see strong interest from energy companies around the world and welcomed two new shareholders including CEZ from the Czech Republic and Colonial Enterprises from the United States."

For further information about the company, please visit www.everen.bm

Headquartered in Bermuda, Everen Limited is the insurer of choice for the world's leading energy companies, insuring almost $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. Everen's 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 Moody's.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005674/en/

Contacts:

Further inquiries regarding this press release should be directed to Robert Foskey, SVP COO at robert.foskey@everen.bm or +1 (441) 295-0905.
DW Healthcare Partners, a Toronto, ON, Canada- and Park City, Utah-based based healthcare-focused private equity firm, closed DW Healthcare Partners Small Cap, L.P. (Founders Fund), at $210M.

This new fund, which brought DWHPs total capital under management to USD $1.3 Billion, is focused on lower middle market healthcare investments, investing in companies that are $3 to 6 million USD EBITDA.

The fund currently has made two investments: TubeWriter and DermLite.

Led by Andrew Carragher, Founder and Managing Partner, the firm provides capital, strategic guidance, and acquisition expertise to help mid-stage companies grow and scale.

FinSMEs
Mixergy, a Cassington, UK-based provider of home energy management technologies, raised 9.2M in funding.

The round was led by EDP Ventures and Nesta, which joined Oxford Science Enterprises, Kiko Ventures, Foresight WAE Technology and Centrica.

The company intends to use the funds to support a new R&D centre at its Oxfordshire headquarters, to further develop its technology, and international expansion, starting with Portugal.

Led by Peter Armstrong, (CEO), Mixergy has a suite of IP around hot water heating, heat pump and home energy management technologies, using a patented approach to heating that exploits thermal stratification to only heat what users need.

Mixergy develops smart and connected hot water tanks which enable households to save money, and reduce their impact on the environment. Alongside the mass-market deployment of its smart hot water tanks in the UK and overseas, the company also connects a decentralised, digital network of tanks that can provide flexibility to the grid and support the clean energy transition.

FinSMEs

27/03/2023
Raisin, a Berlin, Germany-based fintech company, raised 60M in Series E funding.

The round was led by M&Gs Catalyst and Goldman Sachs.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth and expand operations.

Raisin is a global savings and investment company which owns B2C marketplaces in Europe under the brands Raisin, WeltSparen and ZINSPILOT and in the USA under the SaveBetter brand. In Germany the company offers ETF-based investment and retirement products as well as Private Equity and Crypto investments, in addition to savings products. Raisin works with over 400 banks and financial service providers from more than 30 countries.

The company recently exceeded 1 million customers, for which a total of 850m in interest has been generated since founding in 2012. Raisin currently manages a total of 38 billion Assets under Management (AuM) for customers globally.

The company has offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Madrid, Manchester and New York.

FinSMEs

27/03/2023
Sara Ali Khan is at a very interesting space in her career, she found some praise for Aanand L Rais Atrangi Re and also fearlessly accepted the lukewarm response to Imtiaz Alis Love Aaj Kal. Shes now going to be seen in Gaslight that streams on Disney Plus Hotstar from March 31. And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actress, who actually gave the interview during her vacation and while driving a car, spoke about the complexities of her new character, what the word Gaslight means to her, and the importance of self-deprecation.

This seems to be yet another complex and fragile character for you after Atrangi Re. How was your prep like?

Very nice, very different. As an actor, I love new challenges; when Aanand sir asked me to play a Bihari girl, I found it to be very challenging. And I remember when Pawan sir said I have to play a girl whos on a wheelchair, that was also a challenge. Some challenges are in terms of dialect, some are physical, some are mental; and as long as I spend everyday on sets learning, thats the most exciting part for me.

The trailer has a lot of darkness but the visuals also look very rich. Could you imagine or think how the film would look when you read the script?

Honestly, I had a certain idea, and the way the film has been shot by Ragul sir and visualized by Pawan sir, I think it has come together so well. I didnt even know such beautiful frames were possible until i saw them; you know what Im saying? So the way Pawan sir has captured this world has been really really beautiful.

The announcement video of the film was very interesting with all three of you taking jokes on yourselves. Is it important as actors to have fun and be little self-deprecating at times?

I dont know whether this is an actor thing but its definitely a human being thing. Human beings in general should be self-deprecating and have a sense of humour because its okay, you cant take life so seriously. We will be putting out our trailer na, we want you all to take our trailer seriously, so if you can see us having fun with ourselves, thats a good balance I see.

How would you define a good suspense thriller?

I think a good thriller is like a good drive. There are twists and turns on the way but the final journey is beautiful. Its the whole experience together thats thrilling.

What does the title Gaslight signify for you?

So thats interesting. I dont want to give out much to you but for instance my character, shes on a wheelchair. Shes come to a new world to investigate why her father is missing. And in the middle of all of this, there is a bit of confusion, there is a bit of lack of trust. She can feel something but its also like pata nahin kya ho raha hai which is I think a perfect recipe for a thriller. And in order to not explain the recipe anymore, I wont explain my answer anymore.

How has it been like working with Vikrant Massey and Chitrangda Singh?

Its been amazing. They are such superior actors and it was incredible to work with them. Not only as actors but also as human beings, they are extremely and very easily approachable and very comfortable. It was a great working experience with both of them.

What does travel mean to you?

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Ali Khan (@saraalikhan95)

Sukoon. Peace. Mountains. Alone.

You complete half-a-decade in the industry this year.

Dont say that, oh my god (Laughs). We are only in March, bahut time baaki hai.

They say dont take failure to your heart. But in these many years, seeing the ups and downs in your professional and personal life, do you feel it is completely normal to take failure to your heart?

Of course its normal. I dont believe in the fact that dont let feel failure hit your heart. I feel failure will hit your heart, heartbreak will hit your heart, success will hit your heart. Everything will hit your heart, but the idea is to get up and move regardless of what happens. Aisa bhi nahin hai that youre an emotional person, I think its okay to be vulnerable, its okay to have your heart hit but ruk nahin sakte, chalte jaana hai, thats the only rule according to me.

What has been the one takeaway for you from the experience of working in this film and the character youve played?

I think this is a character thats slightly alone. Its pretty much a lonely character and that too on a wheelchair. The one thing this character has taught me is that if you keep going, she even says in the film that till the time she doesnt know the truth and the answers to her questions, she wont leave. And I think that kind of determination in the time of difficulties is very admirable about her.

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At a time when the Congress party has been surrounded by a series of controversies following Rahul Gandhis conviction in a defamation case and his subsequent disqualification from the Lok Sabha, filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has reacted to the developments and taken a jibe at the Gandhi family. This came in response to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhis recent speech where she expressed her opposition to the actions being taken against her family. She also voiced the Gandhi familys sacrifices and contributions further adding that they are still ready to do anything for the countrys democracy.

Reacting to a video clip from Priyanka Gandhis Sankalp Satyagraha address at Rajghat where the Congress leader called out those who are working against the Gandhi family, Agnihotri said that the family should start acting in Karan Johars films.

The filmmaker reshared it on Twitter and took a jibe at her. Family family. Family What have you done? Family se itna fake pyaar hai to Id suggest its time Gandhis start acting in Karan Johar films. At least, family ecosystem to match karega. Kya pata KJo ko bhi le doobein, he wrote.

Family family. Family What have you done? Family se itna fake pyaar hai to Id suggest its time Gandhis start acting in Karan Johar films. At least, family ecosystem to match karega. Kya pata KJo ko bhi le doobein. https://t.co/Tss4s27U4B  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) March 26, 2023

In a series of tweets, Agnihotri continued launching attacks on the political party.

Priyanka Gandhis speech

In her speech, Priyanka Gandhi while taking note of the actions being taken against her family noted that her family has plowed democracy in the country and is still ready to do anything for this countrys democracy. Great leaders of the Congress laid the foundation of democracy in this country, she added.

Priyanka Gandhi went on to note that the family kept silent after being insulted till today further adding that they will not remain silent anymore.

Rahul Gandhis defamation conviction and disqualification as MP

A day after he was sentenced to two years of prison in a 2019 defamation case, senior opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday. The four-time MP was convicted by the court for his comments made on Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in 2019.
UNICEFs celebrity advocate for India, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan recently visited a school in Mumbai where she spent the day interacting with school kids and teachers while also promoting the concept of foundational learning and to support the practice of reading among children. Taking to her Instagram handle, the actress shared a lot of videos from her eventful day. In another video shared by Kareena on Saturday, she can be seen entering the school dressed in UNICEFs black tee paired with blue jeans. She received a warm welcomed by students dressed in traditional outfits. She also posed with the pictures.

Later, the actress while taking a tour of the school also joined in the staff room where she spoke with the teachers on a slew of topics concerning students educational learning. She also shared her own experiences with the teachers. Next, Kareena entered a decorated classroom where students welcomed her joyfully with a Namaskar. As the actress sat down to talk with the kids, they all interacted a lot and also shared their interests in reading.

Kareena also read out a few stories from a book.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan)

While sharing the video on her social media account, Kareena Kapoor in a long note advocated for the need to make kids read from an early age and wrote, As a mother I truly believe that the habit of reading should be inculcated in children from an early age. It is not only necessary for academic success, but it also helps to improve communication skills, vocabulary, and critical thinking abilities. I personally have seen the positive effects of reading and storytelling with my two boys.

She also spoke about her visit to the Mitha Nagar Municipal School in Goregaon, Mumbai and added that she met some really smart young minds who are a true example of how reading helps kids stimulate imagination and creativity!

Later, the actress also posed for the media as she came out from the school.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani)

On the work front, the actress presently has interesting projects lined up including The Crew, Sujoy Ghoshs thriller film, and Hansal Mehtas murder mystery.

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Berlin: The history of the British royal family is inextricably entwined with Germany, a heritage that will have pride of place during King Charles IIIs first state visit to the country.

Here is an overview of the Windsors deep German roots.

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

If not for World War I, the British royal family would still go by a German name.

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha stemmed from the marriage in 1840 of Queen Victoria to Albert, the scion of a modest royal dynasty from northeastern Bavaria.

Also Read: King Charles France visit postponed due to violent protests

Nearly eight decades later, their grandson George V disowned the cumbersome patronymic while his country was fighting Germany in the Great War.

In the face of increasingly hostile public opinion, the quintessentially British king, who had suddenly fallen under suspicion due to his family heritage, decided to cut ties with Germany and adopted the name of a famous castle, the royal residence, near London.

The House of Windsor was born.

Religious strife and Christmas trees

The first German king to be crowned King of Great Britain was George I in 1714.

Born into the House of Hanover in northern Germany, he did not speak English, and his accession to the throne was due solely to his religion: Catholics were excluded from the line of succession, and he was the closest Protestant relative of the late Queen Anne.

Queen Victoria was one of his descendants and after her marriage to Albert, the family changed its name from Hanover to Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

The pair regularly wrote to each other in German.

The Prince Consort was credited with popularising the Christmas tree tradition on the island. But above all, he became a 19th-Century influencer for his home country by helping to organise the 1851 Great Exhibition, the first in a series of Worlds Fairs.

Grandmother of Europe

As the mother of nine children who produced countless offspring, Victoria forged family ties throughout Europe by marrying her children to other members of the continents nobility.

Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Charless parents, were distant cousins, not least because of their hereditary ties to the woman who was dubbed the grandmother of Europe.

While there was a king in Britain, Spain or France, in Germany there were at least 30 regional rulers, Michael Hartmann, a sociologist specialising in elites at the Technical University of Darmstadt, told AFP.

As they could only marry each other, the choice often fell on German nobles, with the result that practically all European royal dynasties are related to the Germans, he said.

Hitler salute

In 2015, a rare photograph shocked the British public: it showed the young Elizabeth, aged 6 or 7, practising the straight-armed Hitler salute with her mother and sister, apparently encouraged by her uncle, Edward VIII.

The image was published by The Sun tabloid under the headline Their Royal Heilnesses. It was taken from a never-before-published amateur film of about 20 seconds, shot in 1933 or 1934 at the royal familys summer home, Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

The newspaper said the footage offered a fascinating insight in the warped prejudices of Edward VIII, the precise nature of whose links to the Nazis is still debated in Britain.

Edward met Adolf Hitler in Germany in 1937, a year after he abdicated so he could marry a divorced American woman, Wallis Simpson.

A photograph shows him and his wife smiling radiantly and shaking hands with the Fuehrer.

Reconciliation

Queen Elizabeth II was highly regarded in Germany, not least for her commitment to German-British reconciliation after the horrors of World War II, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz recalled after her death last year.

The Queen first visited Berlin while it was cleaved by the Wall in 1965. As a member of the German-Danish House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Gluecksburg, her husband Philip had close ties to the country, where he also spent a large part of his time at school.

King Charles III, who speaks German well, also seemed to have some affection for the homeland.

He has often visited the country, both officially and on discreet private stays.

Charles has never denied his German ancestry, his distant cousin Prince Eduard von Anhalt told AFP. Even if it is not very popular with many English people.

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Chinas billions of dollars in global investments and infrastructure projects seem to be paying off politically and economically.

Just recently, Honduras signalled it is set to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, having been one of the few remaining countries to recognise the island as a state.

This switch of allegiances would be a coup for China, which sees Taiwan as part of its jurisdiction, but also a sign of diminishing US power in Latin America, since the US is a long-time supporter of Taiwan.

Chinas influence seems to be everywhere.

Days before Chinese president Xi Jinping flew into Moscow to discuss the Ukraine war with Russias Vladimir Putin, China had brokered a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The high-profile deal sought to re-establish diplomatic, trade and security relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an effort to de-escalate tensions and bring more stability to the West Asia.

The agreement transforms the nature of Chinas involvement in the region from one purely driven by commercial interests into a security-related cooperation that can protect its growing assets and expatriate population in the region.

Commentators see the agreement as a positive step but wonder about the influence that Iran and Saudi Arabia can have in lessening the internal conflicts in several nearby countries.

This is particularly where they support rival parties, including in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. What the deal does highlight is the rising influence that China can exert and the waning of the USs power over the West Asia regional order.

Also Read: How China-brokered Saudi-Iran deal is good news for India  and the world

Studies have shown that political instability in neighbouring countries negatively affects the economic performance of a nation by disrupting trade flows and increasing defence expenditures while lessening investment, for example, in education.

Under such conditions, economic incentives can drive a peace-building process. Peacefully resolving conflicts benefits countries not directly entangled in the disputes.

Since the 1990s, China has gradually become the largest trade partner of the Arab region overall and the top trade partner of Saudi Arabia. Chinas exports to Saudi Arabia have annually increased at 15.3 per cent year on year on average, amounting to $905 million (Rs 7,453 crore) in 1995 and $31.8 billion (Rs 2.61 lakh crore) in 2020.

Meanwhile, over the same period, Chinas imports from Saudi Arabia rose from $393 million (Rs 3,236 crore) to $33.4 billion (Rs 2.75 lakh crore), an average annual increase of 19.4 per cent. In 2019, China and Saudi Arabia signed 35 trade and investments deals.

Regional power plays

Similarly, Chinas exports to Iran have increased at an average 14.7 per cent annual rate from $276 million (Rs 2,272 crore) in 1995 to $8.51 billion (Rs .70 lakh crore) in 2020. And its imports from Iran have also risen by 14.5 per cent annually between 1995 ($197 million (Rs 1,622 crore)) and 2020 ($5.85 billion (Rs 48.1 lakh crore)).

By 2022, exports totalled $9.44 billion (Rs .77 lakh crore) and continued to grow exponentially in early 2023.

Russia has recently overtaken China as the largest foreign investor in Iran, but China remains its largest oil customer.

Chinas main exports to Saudi Arabia and Iran include broadcasting equipment, motor vehicles and air pumps. Its main imports are crude petroleum, ethylene polymers and acrylic alcohols.

In the context of the Saudi Arabia and Iran reconciliation, trade with China is likely to continue to follow such increasing trends. If benefits from the agreement spread to other countries in the region, China could also gain from economic relations with those countries as regional stability increases.

There is already some evidence of such positive spillover. After the agreement with the Saudis, Iran is ready to expand cooperation, hopes rapprochement with Bahrain will be possible, and is willing to improve relations with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Also Read: China is now Russias big brother: What Xi Jinping gained from Moscow visit

However, its worth noting some commentators point out that previous efforts at reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia were unsuccessful, while others question whether they will adhere to the terms of the agreement.

Belt and Road

As well as investing in commercial and transport infrastructure to make trade easier, the objectives of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative include the strengthening of its economic leadership and the improvement and creation of free trade blocks among countries along the investment route.

The Iran-Saudi Arabia agreement will generate further benefits to China by boosting the initiatives dividends. Saudi Arabias strategic location bordering eight countries not only provides an alternative route for energy supply to China but also makes it a vital partner for the initiatives infrastructure investment, which deepens Chinas presence in the Middle East.

Irans strategic position provides it with considerable seaport facilities and has the potential for the development of an air transportation hub. China has already invested in the development of a 2,000-mile-long railway from Xinjiangs capital Urumqi to Tehran.

The agreement also brings a more subtle benefit to China. With Russia at war, China needs to ensure the continuity of its energy supply to boost economic performance and safeguard socio-political stability at home.

Saudi Arabia and Iran provide a strong basis for the diversification of Chinas energy options and also to pre-empt any potential move by the United States to constrain its access to the Gulfs resources.

Also Read: Russia-China stitches alliance: What this means for US hegemony

Iran has the worlds fourth largest oil and second gas reserves. Saudi Arabia has the second largest oil reserves, accounting for 16.2 per cent of the worlds total. Access to such vast resources in the context of a more stable region provide China with further assurances for the future flow of the energy supplies its economic growth needs.

The Iran-Saudi initiative has the potential to address Chinas energy security issues and turn China into a global maritime power and a global monetary power. All of these factors will contribute to the sustainability of Chinas economic growth, and add to its status as a superpower.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Salt lake city: Chinas global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the worlds most powerful communist country.

An investigation by the Associated Press has found that China and its US-based advocates spent years building relationships with the states officials and lawmakers.

Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didnt like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese governments image.

Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the US and its western allies have turned acrimonious. US officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.

Beijings success in Utah shows how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America, said Frank Montoya Jr, a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah. Utah is an important foothold, he said. If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.

Security experts say that Chinas campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Also Read: Not So Social: Utahs new law to regulate use of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok for kids

Beijings campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the US justice department.

A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic. A Utah professor, who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing, told the AP hes been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

Deceptive and coercive

Beijings interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the US in 2015 that without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatise and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.

It is not unusual for countries, including the US, to engage in local diplomacy. US officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the US intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Centre in July warned state and local officials about deceptive and coercive Chinese influence operations.

And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to cultivate talent early  often state and local officials  to ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijings agenda.

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the US and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and Chinas tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered and shot down in US airspace.

Legislative and PR victories

US officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted. The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well-known to lawmakers.

Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislations sponsor. The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by US national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards theyd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to become young ambassadors for Sino-American friendship.

Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese embassy and the students Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state-controlled media in China.

A Chinese state media outlet reported that the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. Hes so cool! Portraying Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Also Read: Why the idea of firing squads for executions is making a comeback in US

Xis letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldnt help but think how amazing it was that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xis letter was so kind and so personal.

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said in making such comments Utah lawmakers are essentially acting as mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party and legitimising their ideas and narratives.

Statements like these are exactly what Chinas goal is for influence campaigns, he said.

Spy agency interest

Chinas interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education. US officials have noted that Chinas civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show.

In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China. The Chicago student told an undercover agent hed been tasked by his spy handlers to meet people, some American friends.

He was baptised at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent hed been going to Utah more often lately before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former US intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China. Hansen said Chinas spy service had tasked him with assessing various US politicians views towards China.

The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organise the first ever annual US-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews. The US State Department cancelled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts.

Utah is not like Washington DC

The AP found groups of up to 25 Utah lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007. Lawmakers have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges while relying on China and host organisations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, theyve forged relationships with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijings agenda.

Utah is not like Washington DC, then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former US president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.

In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him bullish about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other lawmakers.

Its a trip not worth taking, Hughes said.

Utah doesnt require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so its difficult to determine lawmakers financial ties to China. Some of Utahs most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections.

Senator Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he had clients in China  a dozen at times  some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients is based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them.

Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah. Chinas not going anywhere. Chinas going to be a world force. Theyre going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavour, he said.

Ties forged by two Utah residents

Many of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organisations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found.

The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favour with Beijing, according to emails and interviews.

In reviewing the APs findings, legal experts said the mens connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the justice department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven.

If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters.

One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted in 1990 to the Mormon faith.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job  as a paid representative of Chinas Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding sister relationship with Utah.

Les advocacy continued after he said he left Liaonings payroll, emails and interviews show. He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese embassy set up meetings with state officials.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Governor Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with Chinas ambassador to the US, Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting.

I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together. You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.

State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams thought could be used as a potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, emails and interviews show.

Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in an email to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese embassy to assign two staffers to work tirelessly on the request until it was fulfilled.

Religious sales pitch

A hallmark of Les approach is to utilise his religion in his pitches to lawmakers. He quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his emails, text messages and letters, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the churchs president-prophet, has made about China.

Chinese officials have tried to cultivate friendly ties with the church. When visiting Utah, Chinas diplomats and officials often meet top church members as well as lawmakers, emails and other records show.

Expanding to China has been a top goal for the church, which plays a heavy role in Utah politics and the states overall identity. Many of the states residents lived abroad as missionaries, and several of Utahs public schools have robust K-12 Chinese immersion programmes.

While the church has historically been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Le sought to stop Utah lawmakers from supporting religious figures or groups discriminated against by the Chinese government.

When a Utah lawmaker sponsored a resolution in 2021 condemning Chinas well-documented and brutal crackdown on its minority Muslim Uighurs, Le chastised the legislator in text messages and compared unflattering media coverage of the Chinese government to that of the churchs founder, Joseph Smith Jr.

Pray to God and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as you ponder about these issues instead of solely relying on those biased media reports, Le said.

The resolution failed that year and a similar one introduced in January did not receive a hearing.

Chinas advantages

Le has serFBved as a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, which has ties to the United Front Work Department  a Chinese Communist Party organisation the US government says engages in covert and malign foreign influence operations.

A United Front publication profiled Le in 2020 after he attended a meeting in Beijing of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious advisory body controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

I deeply feel the advantages of Chinas system, Le told the publication.

Le told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI in 2007 and 2018 about his Chinese government ties. He said his advocacy has always been self-directed.

I dont consider myself a lobbyist because Im not a lobbyist. Im just someone who cherishes the relationship between the US and China, Le said in an interview in his Weber State office.

Adams, the Senate president, said he feels otherwise.

I do believe hes lobbying, Adams said. He advocates very hard on China.

Lawmakers son turned China advocate

Another Utah resident whom lawmakers said regularly has advocated better relations with China was Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

Emails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah.

Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well connected with government officials there.

Ive heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritising their relationship with Utah, Stephenson told lawmakers at a committee hearing.

That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Senator Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

The resolution passed with near unanimous approval.

A Chinese diplomats efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the states senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda.

Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolutions origins.

It seemed rather innocuous to me, Anderegg said of his resolution. But maybe it wasnt.

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution.

Ties to alleged front groups

Stephenson has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show.

He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International. The companys chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online biography.

The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Partys United Front.

Stephenson, also once worked for the China Academy of Painting, which has been used by Chinas Ministry of State Security as a front for meeting and covertly influencing elites and officials abroad, according to Alex Joske, the author of the recently published book Spies and Lies: How Chinas Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World.

Stephenson said he worked only briefly  without pay  for the China Academy of Painting. He added he did not witness any spy agency involvement.

Work aligned with Chinese Communist Partys messaging

Stephenson said hes never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it. I work to promote Utahs economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties, Stephenson said.

His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways, experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Partys messaging.

Stephenson urged Utahs elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that citys residents early in 2020 as they battled COVID-19, according to emails obtained by AP. You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China, Stephenson said in an email pitching the videos.

The request originated with the Shanghai government, according to Stephensons email, and came as officials in China were scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his repeated warnings about the diseases dangers.

Many lawmakers recorded videos reading sample scripts Stephenson provided, and a compilation of those videos was uploaded to a Chinese social media website.

The compilation ends with dozens of lawmakers in unison shouting jiayou! a Chinese expression of encouragement  on the Utah House and Senate floors.

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India is considering sending tigers to Cambodia, where the big cat was declared extinct in 2016.

India has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with Cambodia to assist the Southeast Asian country with its tiger reintroduction efforts.

What has India said about the translocation plans? How did tigers go extinct in Cambodia? What are experts saying about the proposal? Lets take a closer look.

Indias tigers

India accounts for 70 per cent of the global wild tiger population. This is increasing at an annual rate of six per cent.

As per the last tiger census, India is home to 2,967 tigers.

In 2010, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam had decided to double their tiger population by 2022. India achieved this goal in 2018, four years before the deadline.

On 9 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a three-day international summit to mark 50 years of Project Tiger at Mysuru in poll-bound Karnataka.

Launched in 1973 at the Jim Corbett National Park, the project aimed at enhancing tiger conservation. When the project began, India had nine tiger reserves spread over 18,278 sq km.

Presently, the country has 53 tiger reserves spanning over 75,000 sq km, as per PTI.

Modi will also announce the much-awaited tiger census of 2022 which is expected to be more than 3,500, reported Deccan Herald.

India may send tigers to Cambodia

India is expected to translocate its tigers to Cambodia by the end of this year, as per an Independent report.

Last November, India signed an MoU with Cambodia promising to provide all technical details and knowledge regarding the reintroduction of tigers in the nation.

The translocation of our tigers to Cambodia is under consideration. This has never been done in India before, although we have been translocating tigers within the country as and when it has been required. For instance, we will be translocating tigers from Corbett (Uttarakhand), which has the largest tiger population in India, to Rajaji National Park in the same state. If we finally decide on translocating tigers to Cambodia, it will be done based on IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) protocol, SP Yadav, member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Yadav also revealed that a delegation from Cambodia has been to India and vice versa to discuss the issue.

Discussions are underway on how we can support them, the member secretary added.

He further declared that a call regarding the translocation of the big cats would be taken only after Cambodia meets all the requirements.

We must find out the cause of tiger disappearance there and ensure that all factors responsible for it such as prey base, poaching, patrolling, infrastructure are taken care of.

If Cambodia meets all the requirements, we have already provided a checklist, then only we will go ahead, Yadav said, as per PTI.

As per the non-profit Wildlife Alliance, Cambodia has taken measures to reintroduce tigers in the country, including carrying out multiple tiger prey base surveys, finding good tiger prey density, deploying more patrol rangers strategically situated around the Tiger Core Zone to prevent poaching, as well as engaging the local communities in the conservation efforts.

ALSO READ: 12 South African cheetahs arrive at Madhya Pradeshs Kuno National Park

How did tigers go extinct in Cambodia?

Poaching and loss of natural habitat led to the extinction of tigers in Cambodia.

As per the Indian Express report, tigers require large habitats for movement and a significant prey base for hunting.

However, as forests were reduced and trees cut for development activities, it threatened tigers habitat, the report added.

Furthermore, the incessant poaching of highly valuable parts of tigers and their prey  bushmeat  was also a reason for the extinction of the big cats.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Every part of the tiger  from whisker to tail has been found in illegal wildlife markets. A result of persistent demand, their bones, and other body parts are used for modern health tonics and folk remedies, and their skins are sought after as status symbols among some Asian cultures.

Due to these factors, Cambodia declared tigers were functionally extinct, meaning there were no more breeding populations of the big cats left in the nation, in April 2016.

Moreover, it was in 2007 when the last tiger was spotted on a camera trap in the country.

In 2016, Keo Omaliss, Cambodias director of the department of wildlife and biodiversity at the Forestry Administration, had said that we want two male tigers and five to six females tigers for the start, and that talks had begun with countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia, AFP reported then.

What do experts say?

Wildlife conservations have earlier expressed concerns about the idea of sending tigers to Cambodia.

Dr Ullas Karanth, a well-known tiger expert in India, told Mint in 2016, I have surveyed those habitats in Cambodia two decades ago in Mondulkiri for WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), when the last wild tigers disappeared. I do not think the required 1,000-2,000 sq km area of prey-rich, people-free and livestock-free habitat is available in Cambodia at this time to seed and establish a viable tiger population. Every wild tiger requires 500 large prey animals to sustain it. If they are not there, it will kill livestock and people.

The idea of translocating captive-bred or wild-caught problem tigers from India to Cambodia is bereft of any ecological understanding or even of the Cambodian social context. It will lead to tragic failure, for which the introduced tigers will pay with their lives and local Cambodian communities will also suffer and resent tiger conservation.

Wildlife biologist Dr Raghu Chundawat also cautioned against the plan, saying though it was a great idea, Cambodias ability and preparedness must be considered before the translocation, noted the 2016 Mint report.

However, WWF had welcomed Indias decision to help Cambodia with the reintroduction programme. Tiger reintroduction and translocations have successfully been used to recover tiger populations in India and WWF supports tiger reintroduction into Cambodias Eastern Plains Landscape as a technically and ecologically feasible solution, the organisation said, as per the report.

With inputs from agencies

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Rome: The Florence museum housing Michelangelos Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honour her. Confusing art with pornography was ridiculous, Nardella said.

The board of the Tallahassee Classical School pressured Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of the David was shown to a sixth-grade art class. The school has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance about controversial topics being taught.

The incredulous Italian response highlighted how the US culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy.

Sundays front page of the Italian daily publication Corriere della Sera featured a cartoon by its leading satirist depicting David with his genitals covered by an image of Uncle Sam and the word Shame.

Also Read: US: Florida to expand teaching ban on sexual orientation, gender identity

Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a five-metre tall (17 foot) nude marble sculpture dating from 1504. The work, reflecting the height of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.

Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they werent notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.

Carrasquilla said in a phone interview Sunday that she is very honoured by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.

I am totally, like, wow, Carasquilla said. Ive been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dellAccademia, where the David resides, expressed astonishment at the controversy.

To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, Hollberg said in a telephone interview.

She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the purity of the statue.

Tallahassee Classical is a charter school. While it is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, it operates almost entirely independently of the local school district and is sought out by parents seeking an alternative to the public school curriculum.

About 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the three-year-old institution, which is now on its third principal. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan frequently consulted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on educational issues.

Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classicals school board, has told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Carrasquillas ouster, it wasnt the only factor. He has declined to elaborate, while defending the decision.

Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture, Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.

Several parents and teachers plan to protest Carrasquillas exit at Monday nights school board meeting, but Carrasquilla said she isnt sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.

Theres been such controversy and such upheaval, she said. I would really have to consider, Is this truly what is best?'

Marla Stone, head of humanities studies at the American Academy in Rome, said the Florida incident was another episode in escalating US culture wars and questioned how the statue could be considered so controversial as to warrant a prior warning.

What we have here is a moral crusade against the body, sexuality, and gender expression and an ignorance of history, Stone said in an email. The incident is about fear, fear of beauty, of difference, and of the possibilities embedded in art.

Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted the David between 1501-1504 after being commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence. The statue is the showpiece of the Accademia, and helps draw 1.7 million visitors each year to the museum.

It is incredibly sought-after by Americans who want to do selfies and enjoy the beauty of this statue, Director Hollberg said.

The museum, like many in Europe, is free for student groups. There was no indication that any trip would be subsidised by the city or museum.

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The crisis in Israel has deepened with mass protests erupting after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defence minister.

Netanyahu on Sunday sacked staunch ally Yoav Gallant, whod called for a halt to the governments controversial judicial reforms.

Netanyahu, who is slated to address Israel, is likely to put the judicial overhaul on pause.

Lets take a look at Netanyahus many controversies during his time as a politician and how he has survived:

Graft cases

In 2019, Israels then attorney general recommended criminal charges against Netanyahu in a series of graft cases.

Avichai Mandelblits recommendations of fraud, bribery and breach of trust charges concluded a two-year investigation into a range of corruption allegations against Netanyahu.

The investigations listed as cases 1000, 2000 and 4000.

Case 1000 centred on allegations that Netanyahu and his wife Sara wrongfully received gifts from Arnon Milchan, a prominent Hollywood producer and Israeli citizen, and Australian billionaire businessman James Packer.

Those gifts allegedly included champagne and cigars. He has been charged with fraud and breach of trust.

Case 2000 alleged that Netanyahu negotiated a deal with the owner of Israels best-selling dail newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, for better coverage.

In return, prosecutors say, he offered legislation that would slow the growth of a rival daily newspaper.

In this case Netanyahu was charged with fraud and breach of trust.

Case 4000 claimed that Netanyahu granted regulatory favours to Israels leading telecommunications company, Bezeq Telecom Israel BEZQ.TA, in return for positive coverage of him and his wife on a news website controlled by the companys former chairman.

Netanyahu, who was charged with bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust, remains on trial in these cases.

He has assailed the investigations as a conspiratorial witch hunt, vehemently denying any wrongdoing.

He has derided the allegations as a political coup by the police, the prosecution, the media and the Left.

While Netanyahus hard-right government has claimed the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary, some say this is a ploy to protect the prime minister from the judiciary.

The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited months of protests and sparked concern from Israels top allies including the United States.

Saras pricey habits

Sara Netanyahu has long been the target, alongside her husband, of corruption and mismanagement allegations.

Sara was in 2019 convicted of fraudulently using state funds for meals. She was also fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800) and ordered to reimburse the state a further 45,000 shekels.

Netanyahu, at the time gearing up for polls after failing to form a coalition following April general elections, took to Facebook to defend his wife.

He denied that Sara was involved in Israeli public affairs, describing her as a real heroine who was a punching bag for the media.

Anyone who is not appointed to a position, or anyone who is dismissed from a position, knows what to do: Attack Sara, he wrote.

The facts and the truth do not matter at all. Sara has long been a punchbag for the media, Netanyahu said.

He detailed her work with children with cancer, bereaved familiesHolocaust survivors, and many other people in need.

My beloved wife, you are a real heroine, concluded Netanyahu.

Sara was in June 2018 charged with fraud and breach of trust for paying $100,000 (85,000 euros) for meals from well-known Jerusalem businesses.

She had done so while falsely declaring there was no cook available at the PMs official residence.

Allegations also mounted against the Netanyahus for using government money to purchase furniture for their private beach house and to cover the medical expenses of Saras late father.

The attorney general ultimately dismissed those allegations.

Yairs joyride

In 2018, a recording surfaced showing Netanyahus eldest son Yair joyriding with his super-rich buddies to Tel Aviv strip clubs in a drunken night out in a taxpayer-funded government vehicle.

As per The Times of Israel, Netanyahu in 2018 said Yair made the remarks under the influence of alcohol and has since apologised for them.

My son was correct in saying yesterday that he had spoken foolish words, Netanyahu was quoted as saying. He said, its not me, Yair. He said that these are not the values that characterize him. And hes right.

The 27-year-old previously sparked controversy for lewd and offensive social media posts over the years, such as his publishing a caricature that drew on classic anti-Semitic tropes.

Facebook previously suspended Yairs account after he wrote he would prefer an Israel without any Muslims.

Hey, big spender

In 2016, an official expense report revealed that Netanyahu spent more than $600,000 of public funds on a six-day trip to New York, including $1,600 on a personal hairdresser.

In 2013, the premier was chided for spending $127,000 in public funds for a special sleeping cabin on a flight to London.

Netanyahus spokesman at the time declined comment.

He also was forced to stop purchasing ice cream from an artisanal Jerusalem parlour after news erupted that his office ran up a $2,700 bill for his favourite flavours, vanilla and pistachio.

Netanyahu claimed he was unaware of the cost and halted the practice.

Sara accused of abusive conduct

Sara Netanyahus household help has consistently accused her of explosive tirades and mistreatment.

Two household aides have won damages in lawsuits accusing Sara of abusive conduct.

In 2018, a recorded phone conversation surfaced of Sara screaming at her publicist about how a gossip column omitted mention of her educational credentials.

In 2016, a Jerusalem court awarded one domestic worker over $42,000 in damages.

Flying high

Netanyahu was suspected of double billing travel expenses and using state funds to cover personal travel in the 2000s, while he was finance minister and Opposition leader.

After a drawn-out investigation, the attorney general dismissed the case.

Nanny accuses Sara of abuse

In 1996, during Netanyahus first stint as prime minister, the familys nanny said she was fired by Netanyahus wife for burning a pot of vegetable soup.

The young woman said she was thrown out of the familys home without her clothes or passport, and later was ordered to pick up her belongings dumped outside the front gate.

Netanyahus office said the woman was fired because she was prone to violent outbursts.

Influence peddling

During his first term in office in the 1990s, Netanyahu was suspected of appointing a crony as attorney general in exchange for political support from the ultra-religious Shas party.

Prosecutors called Netanyahus conduct puzzling.

However, they ultimately closed the case citing a lack of evidence.

Lining pockets

During that same spell in office, Netanyahu and his wife Sara were suspected of pocketing gifts and foreign contributions received from world leaders  items considered state property.

The Netanyahus also were suspected of accepting favours from a contractor.

Both cases were closed without charges.

Bibi gate

In 1993, Netanyahu was one of Israels most popular politicians when the affair known as Bibi gate hit the headlines.

Netanyahu, who by then had married his third wife Sara Ben-Artz in 1991, was accused of having an affair with his image consultant Ruth Bar  herself a married woman.

Worse, rumours of a videotape showing Netanyahu and Bar in compromising romantic situations began being circulated.

Netanyahus response was classic Bibi  going on television and confessing the entire affair.

Netanyahu further claimed a political rival had made the secret recording and threatened him with the release of the tape  unless he quit the political race for the leadership of the Likud party.

Having blunted the threat, Netanyahu proceeded to win the race and reconciled with his wife.

The rest, as they say, is history.

With inputs from agencies

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Edinburgh: The ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) elects a new leader on Monday, with the winner taking up the role of first minister in the Scottish Parliament.

Here are the three contenders:

Kate Forbes

At just 32, Forbes would become one of the worlds youngest political leaders if she wins.

She was first tipped for the SNP leadership in 2020 after stepping in to deliver the budget with only a few hours notice, when finance minister Derek Mackay resigned unexpectedly.

Born in Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, Forbes spent her childhood at a Gaelic-language school in Scotland as well as in India, where her parents worked as missionaries.

Forbes worked as a chartered accountant for Barclays in London before returning to Scotland, becoming a member of the Scottish parliament (MSP) in 2016.

Forbes, a member of the conservative Free Church of Scotland, got off to a rocky start by saying she would have opposed same-sex marriage had she been an MSP.

Also Read: Nicola Sturgeon does a Jacinda Ardern: Scotlands first minister quits saying, I am a human being as well

That put her strongly out of line with the SNPs centre-left base and lost her support, although she pledged to defend to the hilt everybodys rights.

Forbes has called for a new generation to lead the SNP, saying that more of the same is not a manifesto  it is an acceptance of mediocrity.

She also said not enough groundwork had been done to prepare for independence.

Humza Yousaf

Yousaf, 37, has been endorsed by more MSPs and MPs than his two rivals and is considered the frontrunner and preferred candidate to succeed Nicola Sturgeon.

His supporters hail him as a polished communicator who can unite the party.

Yousaf has served in the Scottish government since 2012 in various roles including justice, transport and latterly health.

He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, taking his oath in English and in Urdu.

His close ties with Sturgeon make him the continuity candidate and the one who would aim to maintain the power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.

Also Read: How Nicola Sturgeons resignation will affect Scotlands independence movement

Yousaf, who is Muslim, has vowed to challenge the UK governments block on controversial gender recognition legislation.

He also argues that independence can only be won by pushing progressive values and wants the SNP to talk more about the vision for independence than the mechanism, to appeal to floating voters.

Yousaf, however, has his own political problems from mounting issues in Scottish healthcare on his watch and from contentious hate crimes legislation he pushed as justice minister.

If Yousaf wins, he will be the first ethnic minority leader of a devolved government and the first Muslim to lead a major UK party.

Ash Regan

Though she was a government minister for four years, Regan, 49, was relatively unknown outside the Scottish Parliament until she resigned over the Sturgeon-led governments proposed gender recognition law.

Regan has accused her opponents of being wishy-washy on independence and has pledged to unite Yes groups and political parties through an independence convention.

She has proposed treating every election as a vote on independence, wants to introduce a separate currency if Scotland does so and has even produced mock-ups of what the new money will look like.

Regan worked in public relations, marketing and event management in England before returning to Scotland to join a pro-independence think-tank.

She was a prominent member of the Women for Independence movement and joined the SNP after the 2014 referendum, becoming an MSP in 2016.

Sturgeon appointed her community safety minister two years later.

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Pakistans blasphemy law is once again in the spotlight after an anti-terrorism court in northwest Pakistan sentenced a man to death over a blasphemous Whatsapp message.

On Friday, the court in Peshawar sentenced Syed Muhammad Zeeshan  under the countrys Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and Anti-Terrorist Act  to death and also fined him $4,300.

The court noted that Zeeshan has the right to appeal his sentence. The case emerged after Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Talagang in Punjab province filed an application with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan two years ago accusing Zeeshan of posting blasphemous content in a WhatsApp group.

Saeeds lawyer, Ibrar Hussain was quoted as saying to AFP that the FIA had confiscated Zeeshans cellphone and its forensic examination proved him guilty.

As Zeeshan now faces the gallows, we take a closer look at Pakistans blasphemy laws and how they have been used in the past.

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan, explained

Syed Muhammad Zeeshan was sentenced to death under the countrys blasphemy laws. These laws were initially promulgated by the British government in 1860. Initially, four blasphemy laws were introduced  295, 296, 297 and 298.

According to a report in the BBC, between 1980 and 1986, a number of clauses were added to the laws by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq. He wanted to Islamicise them and also legally to separate the Ahmadi community from the main body of Pakistans overwhelmingly Muslim population.

The law enacted by the British made it a crime to disturb a religious assembly, trespass on burial grounds, insult religious beliefs or intentionally destroy or defile a place or an object of worship. Punishment for such crimes was set at one year to 10 years in jail, with or without a fine.

In the 1980s, the law was expanded and making derogatory remarks against Islamic personages was made an offence, carrying a maximum punishment of three years in jail. In 1982, another clause was added adding life imprisonment for wilful desecration of the Quran. Four years later, a separate clause was inserted to punish blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed and the penalty recommended was death, or imprisonment for life, in that order.

In January this year, the Pakistan National Assembly strengthened blasphemy laws even further after passing the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2023. Through this, it increases the punishment in cases pertaining to the blasphemy of Prophet Mohammeds companions and his progeny from three years to 10 years and extendable up to lifetime imprisonment, along with a fine of 1 million Pakistani rupees. It also modifies blasphemy to a non-bailable offence.

At the time of tabling the legislation, Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani had called it a historic moment, congratulating the lawmakers for carrying out what many saw as their religious duty.

Increase in blasphemy cases

Data shows that blasphemy cases in Pakistan have increased manifold. The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) has found that there have been over 700 cases of blasphemy filed in Pakistan until 2021.

Of this, 89 people have been killed extra-judicially. The CRSS states that the actual number is much higher as not all blasphemy cases are reported in the press. The CRSS director Peter Jacob in a 2021 report published by the Dawn had said, Initially, mostly non-Muslims were accused by the Muslims. However, the trend has changed with Muslims bringing allegations against other Muslims. The faulty legislation is like Damocles sword hanging overhead. Anything can happen anytime.

The report further stated that most of the blasphemy cases were reported from the Punjab province, followed by Sindh.

A concern in Pakistan

Blasphemy laws in Pakistan, which has the worlds second-strictest laws after Iran, have become a concern among human rights activists as well as some theological scholars.

Many Muslim scholars and intellectuals argue that such laws go against the religion and teachings of the prophet. They argue that Prophet Mohammed never executed anyone for apostasy, nor encouraged his followers to do so. Criminalising sacrilege isnt based on Islams main sacred text, the Quran, either. It contains over 100 verses encouraging peace, freedom of conscience and religious tolerance.

Human rights activists argue that blasphemy laws in Pakistan encourage legal discrimination and persecution in the name of religion. They state that those accused of blasphemy become targets of mob justice.

Activists also contend that blasphemy laws are widely used to settle personal scores. In fact, in the landmark judgment against Mumtaz Qadri in 2015, the former chief justice of Pakistan had stated, The majority of blasphemy cases are based on false accusations stemming from property issues or other personal or family vendettas rather than genuine instances of blasphemy, and they inevitably lead to mob violence against the entire community.

Also read: No country for minorities: Legitimising murders in the name of blasphemy in Pakistan

The current version of the blasphemy law is draconian. It is often misused, abused and exploited by individuals for their own ulterior motives and vested interests, Tahira Abdullah, a human rights activist, told Deutsche Welle.

Infamous blasphemy cases in Pakistan

Pakistans blasphemy laws have been a source of contention and also led to protests and violence over the years. Perhaps one of the most famous, or infamous, cases was that of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman.

In 2010, she was originally convicted of blasphemy after being accused of insulting Prophet Mohammed in a row with her neighbours. Eight years later, she was acquitted of the crime and fled to Canada for her safety.

In 2011, Punjab governor Salman Taseer was assassinated for calling the blasphemy law a black law. In the same year, Shahbaz Bhatti, the minority minister, was also killed for advocating reform of the countrys blasphemy law.

Two years ago, a Sri Lankan factory manager was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob in Sialkot city after being accused of blasphemy. Two months later, a man was killed by another mob for allegedly burning pages of the Quran in Khanewal in Punjab province. The man was tied to a tree and thrashed by an angry mob wielding batons and axes, according to reports.

With inputs from agencies

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The Russia-Ukraine war is heating up  one could say its almost going nuclear. On Saturday, Russian president and strong man Vladimir Putin announced that some of his countrys nuclear arsenal would be stationed in Belarus.

While making the announcement, Putin said that the deployment was in response to a longstanding request from Belarus leader and Putin ally, Alexander Lukashenko and emphasised that the move did not violate nuclear nonproliferation agreements, adding that the United States has long stationed nuclear weapons in the territory of its European allies.

The move has prompted sharp reactions from Ukraine and NATO, both expressing concern about the nuclear rhetoric being used in the ongoing war.

But what exactly has Putin said about the nuclear weapons? Which weapons will be deployed in Belarus? Is this move significant in the ongoing war? What does it mean for the world?

We take a closer look at the situation and present you with all the answers.

What did Putin say?

Amid rising tensions with the West  the ICC warrant against Putin hasnt helped  the Russian leader on Saturday said that the country would be stationing some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

There is nothing unusual here: first of all, the US has been doing this for decades, Putin said. They placed their tactical nuclear weapons in six different allied NATO countries in Europe We have agreed to do the same thing, without, I stress, violating our international non-proliferation obligations, he added.

They have tactical nuclear weapons in certain countries (the US has some weapons stationed in Europe and Turkey, and Britain), prepare the delivery systems, and train the crews. Were planning to do the same thing.

The Russian leader clarified that Moscow would not be transferring control of its arms to Minsk. He also stated that the construction of a storage facility for the weapons in Belarus would be completed by 1 July. However, training crews for operating the weapons would start next week itself.

Putin did not specify when the weapons themselves would be sent nor did he mention which of the weapons would be sent. Interestingly, Putin has already transferred a small number of Iskander tactical missile systems  that can be used to launch nuclear weapons  to Belarus.

And what prompted the Russian president to make this move? Putin said the decision was in response to UKs decision to supply Ukraine with anti-tank shells containing depleted uranium. He said that such weaponry was a nuclear escalation of the conflict. This claim was dmissed by UK and US, saying the rounds only have conventional uses.

What weapons will he station in Belarus?

Vladimir Putin has not stated what weapons would be stationed in Belarus other than they being tactical nuclear weapons.

But what exactly are tactical nuclear weapons? The answer to this is tricky as experts have long debated the issue. The closest definition of these weapons are that they are specifically used for tactical gains on the battlefield, rather than, say, destroying the biggest cities of the United States or Russia.

It is not known how many of these kind of weapons does Russia own. According to last estimates by the US, Moscow is in possession of 2,000 such working tactical warheads, 10 times more than Washington.

Also read: A look at Russias nuclear arsenal

Moreover, Russias nuclear arsenal is significantly large. According to the Federation of American Scientists, Russia has 5,977 nuclear warheads as of 2022. In comparison, the US has 5,428 weapons of a nuclear nature, China has 350 such warheads, France has 290 and UK has 225 warheads. Pakistan and India have 165 and 160 warheads respectively followed by Israel having 90 warheads. North Korea with 20 warheads is currently increasing its stockpile.

How did Ukraine and West react?

Ukraine immediately called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after Putins announcement, saying Minsk was being used as a nuclear hostage.

Oleksiy Danilov, a top security adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, said Putins plan would destabilise Belarus. The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage, he said. He further asked the international community to take decisive measures to prevent Russias use of nuclear weapons.

putins statement about placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus  a step towards internal destabilization of the country  maximizes the level of negative perception and public rejection of russia and putin in Belarusian society. The kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.  Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) March 26, 2023

NATO also decried Putins move, saying that the Russian presidents move on nuclear sharing was false. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said, adding, Russia must return to compliance and act in good faith.

The European Unions foreign policy chief also condemned Putins announcement. Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice, Josep Borrell, who serves as the EUs top diplomat, said in a tweet. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions.

Also read: Will we see more nuclear arms in the future? What Vladimir Putins suspension of New START means for the world

The United States was cautious in its response with National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson saying that they did not see any signs of Russia moving towards using a nuclear weapon. We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

Is this significant in the war?

The deployment of Russias nuclear weapons in Belarus is the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union that Moscow will have based nuclear arms outside the country.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, nuclear weapons were deployed in the four newly-independent states of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In May 1992, the four states agreed all the weapons should be based in Russia and the transfer of warheads from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan was completed in 1996.

But what message does this give out as the war wages on?

Using Belarus is worrying for its neighbouring countries  Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. As one expert stated its an attempt by Putin to intimidate NATO.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) called Putins announcement an extremely dangerous escalation. In the context of the war in Ukraine, the likelihood of miscalculation or misinterpretation is extremely high. Sharing nuclear weapons makes the situation much worse and risks catastrophic humanitarian consequences, it said on Twitter.

Some analysts believe that the move is more about messaging than anything else. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research group, dismissed Putins announcement as an information operation with little risk of escalation.

Putin is attempting to exploit Western fears of nuclear escalation, it said, according to a report in the New York Times.

Pavel Podvig, a scholar on Russian nuclear forces, in fact, said he still considered it unlikely that Russia would actually move nuclear warheads into Belarus, despite Putins latest comments. He said that he doubted a facility in Belarus could be ready by July and even if it did, the nuclear threat level would not change, substantially.

Its not a positive development, of course, but as long as the weapons are in storage the threat is not immediate, Podvig told the New York Times. Yes, theoretically, Russia can reach more targets from Belarus, but the change is marginal.

Retired Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bell told Sky News that the move was definitely more about messaging. This is a bit of sabre rattling, he said. He, however, noted that Russias increased use of Belarus is a worry for the nation.

However, Nikolai Sokol, a senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation told CNBC that it was a significant move for Russia. Russia had always been very proud that it had no nuclear weapons outside its territory. So, now, yes, they are changing that and its a big change.

With inputs from agencies

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Washington: When an Iranian drone struck a US base in northeastern Syria, killing a contractor and wounding several US troops, it was just the latest in a growing number of attacks on American forces in Syria. But its lethality was rare. In most recent cases, no US forces have been hurt in such attacks.

The strike on Thursday  by a small, suicide drone  set off a series of retaliatory bombings, and the top US commander for the West Asia, General Erik Kurilla, quickly warned that the US was prepared to launch more attacks if needed.

American troops have been in Syria since 2015, but the latest casualties highlight what has been a consistent, but often quiet, US counterterrorism mission, aimed at countering Iranian-backed militias and preventing the resurgence of the Islamic State group.

A look at the US troop presence in Syria.

It all began with the Islamic state group

On any given day there are at least 900 US forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors. US special operations forces also move in and out of the country, but are usually in small teams and are not included in the official count.

They are trying to prevent any comeback by the Islamic State group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory.

For years, the US and its coalition allies battled IS in Iraq and Syria, partnering with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). By 2019, the US declared the Islamic State caliphate destroyed, but remnants of the group remain a threat, including about 10,000 fighters held in detention facilities in Syria and tens of thousands of their family members living in refugee camps.

US forces advise and assist the SDF, including in securing the detention facilities, and they also conduct counterterror missions against the Islamic State group and other al-Qaida-affiliated militants, and carry out strikes on Iran-backed militias that have attacked US facilities.

Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, is also active in the country, but Washington and Moscow have used a deconfliction phone line in an effort to avoid conflict there.

Iran is another reason the US remains in Syria

Tehrans political influence and militia strength throughout the region have created a security concern for the US. Since the defeat of the Islamic State group, Iran-backed fighters have expanded their influence in the region.

The presence of American forces in Syria makes it more difficult for Iran to move weapons into Lebanon, for use by its proxies, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, against Israel.

For example, the al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria is located on a vital road that can link Iranian-backed forces from Tehran all the way to southern Lebanon  and Israels doorstep. So, troops at the US garrison can disrupt what could be an uncontested land bridge for Iran to the eastern Mediterranean.

The oil-rich Deir el-Zour province in eastern Syria, where some of the latest US strikes hit, sits along that strategic route. Syrian government forces and allied Iran-backed groups are deployed on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Deir el-Zour, while American troops support their allies, the SDF, largely along the east bank.

What happened in the latest attack?

A small suicide  sometimes called a kamikaze  drone flew low over fencing into the base and struck a maintenance facility where US troops and contractors were working. It did not fire a weapon, but exploded when it hit.

One American contractor was killed, and five US service members and another contractor were wounded. One service member returned to duty and the other wounded taken out of Syria for medical treatment. Contractors often are used to help with maintenance and logistical support.

US officials blame Iran, pointing to remnants of the drone, multiple intelligence threat streams and the fact that the attack was so similar to previous ones by the militants. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

In retaliation, US F-15 fighter jets from al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar struck locations near Deir el-Zour, targeting the Iran-backed militias believed responsible for the attack. The number of reported casualties varied, and the US would not confirm any numbers.

In an apparent response to those US airstrikes, 10 rockets were fired Friday at a US base known as Green Village. No one was injured. Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said the rockets were fired by groups affiliated with Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps, but he stopped short of blaming Tehran for the US deaths and injuries.

Arent US troops protected?

The US maintains security at all of its bases but steadfastly declines to provide much detail. Reporters travelling in Syria, including from The Associated Press, have frequently seen a range of security measures, ranging from fencing and other barricades to more high-tech radars and other sensors.

Also Read: Tehran condemns US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria

Asked about information that one of the radars at the base was not working, Ryder said there was not a total gap in radar capabilities: There was a complete sight picture in terms of radar.

But Iranian drones represent a serious  and expanding  threat in Syria. Kurilla told Congress that Tehran is building increasingly sophisticated drones, and now has an arsenal that ranges from small, short-range systems to long-range one-way attack platforms.

Iran has also provided drones to Russia for use in its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Previous skirmishes

One of the deadliest flare-ups between the US and Iran-backed groups occurred in December 2019, when US military strikes in Iraq and Syria killed 25 fighters and wounded others from the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah Iraqi militia.

The US said the strike was in retaliation for the killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that it blamed on the group.

In August 2022, the US carried out strikes targeting Iran-backed militias in Deir el-Zour province. The Pentagon said the attacks were meant to send a message to Iran, which the US blamed for a number of drone attacks, including one that targeted the al-Tanf garrison.

That base was also hit in January, when three suicide drones struck, wounding two Syrian opposition fighters. The US again said Iran-backed groups were responsible.

Israel has also struck Iranian targets in eastern Syria, although it rarely claims responsibility. In November 2022, airstrikes targeted tanker trucks that crossed from Iraq into eastern Syria.

The convoy was reportedly carrying fuel and weapons to militias in Deir el-Zour. The US denied involvement, and an Israeli military official later strongly suggested that Israel was behind the strike.

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Political stability has eluded Nepal with the return of Prachanda as Prime Minister for the third time. He is likely to make his state visit to India next month. The visit can cement bilateral relations. Further, a spell of continuity in the term of prime minister will usher in a spell of economic prosperity, the dream of ordinary Nepalese.

Corruption has enfeebled the country where nearly one-third of the population is working abroad. After the Loktantrik Andolan movement in 2006 following the decade-long civil war between Maoists and the state, monarchy was abolished on 28 May 2008 by the first Constituent Assembly. Between 2008 and 2023 there were 13 prime ministers to wit Prachanda (Maoist); Madhav Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal (Communist Party of Nepal (Unified MarxistLeninist)); Baburam Bhattarai (Maoist); Khilraj Regmi (caretaker Prime Minister); Sushil Koirala (Nepali Congress);Oli (CPN UML); Prachanda; Sher Bahadur Deuba (Nepali Congress); Oli; Deuba; and Prachanda.

Prachanda notably has not completed one year in office in previous terms as in 2008, he was forced to resign for attempting to subvert state institution and rubbing India on wrong side. His other term was part of power sharing agreement with Deuba in 2016-17 and the third term began on 26 December 2022.

When Prachanda was forced to resign in 2008, it was at the behest of President Ram Baran Yadav (Nepali Congress) on Indias prodding for Prachanda unconstitutionally dismissing Army Chief Gen Rukmangad Katwal. Following his ouster, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu used to claim that it never let Prachanda become Prime Minister again, even when the Maoists and Left parties remained in government. In that period Prachanda learnt the ropes of realpolitik and bounced back but with Maoist split into three factions, and their parliamentary strength reduced to 53 seats, when once they exceeded NC and UML combined seat tally. But Prachanda remained the kingmaker as neither NC nor UML could form a government on its own.

Prachanda reset his compass a decade into his political wilderness. At a meeting with me around 2012 he admitted that initially he believed China was required in Nepal to balance India though later he realised that India was a more important player than China. As the Prime Minister for the second time, he would say that Nepal can act as a bridge between two fastest growing economies, India and China. It was possible then to attempt bridging even as China had become both an economic and political rival, competing for space in Nepal. With relations turned adversarial after the showdown in Ladakh, China is upset at the turn of events after the November 2022 elections.

Despite numbers in Parliament dwindling to 32, Prachanda through grit, single mindedness of purpose and hard politics was able to become PM a third time. Although he joined the Deuba democratic alliance, he was quick to switch sides  a familiar trait  to join friend turned foe Oli when Deuba refused to make him prime minister. But the dalliance with Oli did not last as he rejoined Deuba with political alacrity when he was offered prime ministership. It is believed  though nothing is official  that Prachanda, Nepal and Deuba will share the five year term as the PM. This is not a tidy arrangement and will augur instability. It is possible that Prachanda may be allowed to complete the full term in office breaking the bogey of not completing one year in office.

A word about Oli is essential to understand the China-India rivalry. He possesses a rare gift for survival combined with ruthlessness in eliminating opponents. UML is still the best organised party and his (Olis) popularity is exceptional. He exploited Indias fault lines brilliantly after India merely noted the new constitution, asking Nepal to delay its promulgation after incorporating Indian caveats and the 53-day long and painful blockade. These events are etched in the minds of most Nepalese. His brand of nationalism egged on the anti-India sentiment as never before. It also enabled him to unilaterally incorporate disputed areas of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiya Dhura in the new map of Nepal with an unprecedented 100 per cent sans one vote in Parliament. India consciously faltered in opening the dialogue on the border dispute. Adding fuel to fire Oli hurled insults at India and made light of Satyamev Jayate. He turned to China as no previous leader had and signed several agreements on trade and infrastructure including China Nepal Economic Corridor. It is another matter that most of the Chinese commitments have remained on paper.

Taking Kathmandu by surprise just before Dussehra in 2017, a photograph appeared in mainline newspapers showing four communist leaders and former Prime Ministers  Oli, Khanal, Prachanda and Bhattarai  holding hands and heralding the formation of the Left alliance which was largely the handiwork of Chinas then energetic ambassador, Hou Yanqi. This Left Alliance that ruled uncomfortably under Oli for three years was undone by Prachanda, Nepal and Election Commission of Nepal. It was momentarily and partially revived in December 2022 when Prachanda jumped ship to join Oli in order to become PM. This reunion was short lived as Prachanda returned to the democratic fold by rejecting Olis choice of President in elections held on 9 March which NC stalwart Ram Chandra Paudel won easily. To his credit Prachanda has won a vote of confidence twice in two months and is firmly in the saddle.

Prachanda has revived the political fortunes of Nepali Congress, the single largest party which was marginalised from the political mainstream after Prachandas switch of alliance. Prachanda was expected to complete constituting his council of ministers by Monday, 26 March. He needs to fill up ministries vacated by UML and Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, the two parties left in the opposition. A foreign minister is urgently required to address the issue of Agniveer relating to the 38 Gorkha battalions in the Army. Nepal has to take a call on four years truncated recruitment which is not popular among Gorkha lads. Recruitment is politically very sensitive as communists have invariably opposed Nepalese joining foreign armies.

Indian policy makers have underestimated the strategic underpinning of Gorkha recruitment as an asset and enabler to a pro-India constituency in Nepal. New Delhi can win over hardliners in Nepal by simply exempting Nepal from Agniveer. Or else it could be the beginning of the end of the Gorkha Brigade  from which the Army draws its best frontline battalions. PM Modi told Nepalese parliament in 2014 :  India has fought no war in which Nepali blood has not been shed

Prachanda was invited by Chinese Ambassador Chen Song to visit the BRI conference but he chose to come to India next month invited by Modi. Given that Prachanda is backed by Deubas Nepali Congress, traditionally supportive of India, New Delhi should invest in him for greater political and economic stability and for more equal and mutually beneficial relations.

The author is a veteran of Gorkha Regiment who has travelled in Nepal since 1959, understands its domestic politics and was involved in back channel with Maoists. Views are personal.

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With reports in the media suggesting that a US-born Mongolian boy has been recognised as the incarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism, Chinas worst nightmare seems to be turning into a reality. The eight-year-old boy has reportedly been regarded as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche by none other than the 14th Dalai Lama during the ceremony in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, where the 87-year-old Tibetan leader has been living in exile since his escape from Lhasa in 1959.

The Chinese government has been on an overdrive for quite some time to make sure that the Tibetan leadership is selected through communist party regulations. It is especially obsessed with the selection of the 15th Dalai Lama, saying he would need to have the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) blessings. In fact, The Global Times, a CCP mouthpiece, in a 22 February 2023 article, Recognition of new Dalai Lama must be conducted in China, while asserting that the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama (whose selection has already been compromised by communist manipulation) hold equal positions in Tibetan Buddhism, said that the process of their selection has been supervised by the Chinese Central Government and conducted within Chinese territory since the late 13th century.

The reincarnation convention of Living Buddhas in Xizang was established during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), developed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and improved during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) under the administration of the central government, the article said, as it emphasised how in 1653, when the 5th Dalai Lama came to Beijing, the Emperor Shunzhi officially conferred the title of Dalai Lama on him. This marked the first time that the title of Dalai Lama was granted by the central government.

Truth and fair play have never been the strongest points of the communist regime in China. Anyone even partly acquainted with Tibetan Buddhism would know that the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama never held equal position. Equally ludicrous is the claim that Tibet was always a Chinese territory. It was only after Maos troops invaded the Roof of the World in 1950 that Tibetans came under Chinese control. Traditional China was just a third of the area it is today. It became what it is through the combination of communist planning, deception and force in Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia.

In an article in 1965, noted historian RC Majumdar explained an innate imperialist tendency among the Chinese from the third century BC to the present day: It is characteristic of China that if a region once acknowledged her nominal suzerainty even for a short period, she would regard it as a part of her empire forever and would automatically revive her claim over it even after a thousand years whenever there was a chance of enforcing it.

Interestingly, the Chinese, especially of the communist hue, dont always scream to forward their undue claims; they at times keep quiet to indulge in a subterfuge. Former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran narrated a story during a public lecture in 2012. Referring to a conversation between former Secretary-General, Ministry of External Affairs, RK Nehru, and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai in 1962, just before the big war, Saran said, RK Nehru drew attention to reports that China was leaning towards the Pakistani position that Jammu & Kashmir was a disputed territory. He recalled to Chou an earlier conversation, where when asked whether China accepted Indian sovereignty over J&K, he had said rhetorically  has China ever said that it does not accept Indian sovereignty over J&K, or words to that effect. At this latest encounter, Chou turned the same formulation on its head, to ask: Has China ever said that India has sovereignty over J&K?

Be it through Maos strong-arm tactics or Dengs quiet diplomacy, the fact is the communists in Beijing have always wanted to tamper with the selection of the top Tibetan spiritual leadership, especially that of the Dalai Lama. And the recent Dharamshala incident would make them realise that their dubious succession plan wont be a cake walk. If the Tibetan leadership has managed to find the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, who is the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, outside Tibet, much against the Chinese diktat that warranted the search for the top Tibetan leadership to be conducted within Chinese territory, whats the guarantee that the successor to the 14th Dalai Lama wont be found outside, especially India? More so when the current Dalai Lama himself is living in an exile in India. The Chinese government could tamper with the selection of the Panchen Lama just because he was found in Tibet. Things wont be easy beyond its frontiers.

But for that the current Tibetan leadership has to make certain amends. The 14th Dalai Lama writes in his memoirs, My Land and My People, how with the passing of the 13th Dalai Lama, the search began for his reincarnation, for each Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of his predecessor. First, a Regent had to be appointed by the National Assembly to govern the country until the new reincarnation could be found and grow to maturity. Then, in accordance with the time-honoured customs and traditions, the state oracles and learned lamas were consulted  as a first step towards finding out where the reincarnation had appeared. Curious cloud formations were seen in the northeast from Lhasa. It was recalled that after the Dalai Lama died, his body was placed seated on a throne in the Norbulingka, his summer residence in Lhasa, facing towards the south; but after a few days it was seen that the face had turned towards the east. And on a wooden pillar on the northeastern side of the shrine where the body sat, a great star-shaped fungus suddenly appeared. All this and other evidence indicated the direction where the new Dalai Lama should be sought, he writes.

These spiritual signs and visions helped find Lhamo Thondup, who would become the 14th Dalai Lama in 1940, six years after his birth in a farming family at Taktser. But can the Tibetans blindly follow these traditions, given the fact that the Chinese authorities are waiting with bated breath to distort the selection process, as they did in 1995 when the Chinese government detained the Dalai Lamas choice for the successor of the 10th Panchen Lama, named Gendun Choeki Nyima, when he was six years old. Since then Beijing has refused to give details of his whereabouts. When the Tibetan people revolted, the Chinese government responded by appointing its own Panchen Lama. Today, as there are two Panchen Lamas, thanks to the Chinese subterfuge, whats the guarantee that there couldnt be two Dalai Lamas in future?

The very fact that the institution of the Dalai Lama is most revered in the Tibetan tradition makes it more prone to Chinese attack and distortion. Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari writes in his just released book, The Dalai Lamas Special Envoy: Memoirs of a Lifetime in Pursuit of a Reunited Tibet, The role of the Lama, or the teacher, is the cornerstone of our religious practice, so much so that when we recite the Refuge prayer, Homage to the Guru precedes Homage to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. This is not to diminish the central importance of the Three Jewels, but rather to recognise the Lama as the embodiment of all three. Within all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the very first salutation is as follows: Homage to the Guru; Homage to the Buddha; Homage to the Dharma; Homage to the Sangha.

The utmost significance of the institution of the Dalai Lama makes it susceptible to Chinese assaults. It is this fear that has made the 14th Dalai Lama say so many things about the institution of the Dalai Lama  from it outliving its utility, to asking people to decide if they want to continue the Dalai Lama lineage.

The institution of the Dalai Lama is an important Tibetan bulwark against the hegemonistic Chinese forces. Its the moral duty of the current Dalai Lama to ensure that this is well guarded and secured even after he is gone. One option for him can be to tweak the Tibetan tradition to ensure that his successor is not just announced well before his death; he can also extend the domain of reincarnation process beyond the Tibetan frontiers. Maybe since the current Dalai Lama is in exile in India, its logical to think that his successor would be born on Indian soil as well. This would not just outwit the Chinese waiting to manipulate the succession process, but also give the wise Dalai Lama enough time to transfer his spiritual wisdom to the successor.

The recognition of the eight-year-old Mongolian boy as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche has stumped the Xi Jinping dispensation. One wont be surprised to see China orchestrating a media blitz on how the next Dalai Lama has to have Beijings blessings, besides greater pressure being put on countries like India and Mongolia to not entertain such Tibetan fancies. Lodi Gyaltsen Gyaris The Dalai Lamas Special Envoy rightly says, As Beijing passes laws asserting control over selection of the next Dalai Lama and pressures Mongolia and India to deny that right to Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders beyond Chinas borders, it is becoming obvious that the many millions of devout followers of His Holiness across Asia will refuse to accept a pretender.

Now thats real worry for Xi Jinping: He knows it well that he cant push the Modi dispensation beyond a point, a trailer for which has been shown by the Indian troops on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for almost three years now. And in this scenario, if the 15th Dalai Lama reincarnates in India, and that too before the death of the current one, it would be game up for the Chinese Tibetan stratagem. At least for the time being.

The author is Opinion Editor, Firstpost and News18. He tweets from @Utpal_Kumar1. Views expressed are personal.

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Firstpost caught up with Dhruva Jaishankar, executive director of ORF, America chapter, and a non-resident fellow of Australias Lowy Institute at the recently held Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. In a free-wheeling chat, Jaishankar elaborated on India-US relations, endgame of Ukraine war, Taiwan conflict scenarios, questions over Quads securitization and more. The interview has been represented in full.

Ahead of the G20 foreign ministers meet earlier this month, the prime minister in his inaugural remarks said multilateralism is in crisis and global governance has failed. It seemed that Narendra Modi was requesting the foreign ministers to focus on the core agenda  the problems that plague the Global South. How do you think his appeal went? Is this a persistent problem that India will face as the G20 chair?

Yes, he seemed to be channeling a very common theme in the Global South. We have had a series of crises and from the point of view of many, at least in some ways, India has coped better than many others. But the West didnt care about vaccines for us, they cared only about themselves. They didnt care about food security for us, neither did they care about our energy security when the Ukraine war broke out. So suddenly, now youre asking us to support a vote here or vote there So, theres a lot of anger. That anger is directed both at the West but also actually Russia. This idea that lets find a way to end the war as soon as possible is a very common cry now in Africa or Latin America. Basically, not a single country in the Global South has signed up to completely to US-led sanctions against Russia. The conference that the Modi hosted in January, Voice of the Global South summit, channeled that frustration. I think that was reflected in his remarks. So far what we see with both the finance ministers meeting in Bangalore and with the foreign ministers meeting in Delhi, the appeal is likely to fall upon deaf ears.

We have a deadlock when it comes to joint declarations in multilateral summits. Do you think what happens in the battlefield of Ukraine will ultimately be the decider?

I think it will certainly shape the environment at the negotiating hand that all parties have. On the one hand, you have Russia and China that are pushing sometimes for no inclusion of Ukraine in G20 statements. On the other hand, you have the US and its allies NATO allies plus Japan, South Korea and Australia, who want more explicit condemnation of Russia. And you have other countries, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina that are in the middle. This, I think, is where its playing out. Ultimately what happens on the ground will determine the negotiating position of all parties.

What in your assessment is likely to be the endgame of the war?

War is politics by other means, famously said. It will ultimately determine the political position of the various actors. If Russia manages to gain more ground in Ukraine this summer, especially this year, they will obviously feel more emboldened. If they suffer setbacks on the battlefield, obviously their position will be weakened and that will lead to their greater isolation and the greater dependence on China. From Indias point of view, its less who wins or who loses, but that you have an early conclusion to this conflict. Thats the key. At this point of time, neither Ukraine and its supporters in the West, nor Russia and its backers see the status quo as optimal and both think that they can make gains this year.

At the Raisina Dialogue, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was asked why isnt Russia open for negotiations? He replied that it is not Russia but Ukraine who will not come to the table unless they have total victory over Russia. Lavrov said that if the West thinks this is existential for them, so it is for Russia. From that point of view, will this be a fight till the end?

Its a very difficult predicament. Anything short of Ukraine completely regaining its 2014-controlled territory and possibly even pre-2014 territory, Crimea and the Donbass would be seen as a failure on Ukraines part. Anything shorter than that would be seen as a failure on Russias part and would have implications for domestic politics in Russia. So, you have a very zero-sum view on both sides now. For Ukraine its a war of national integrity. For Russia, not winning is would be a huge embarrassment for Putin.

Could it also be the end of Putin?

It would be a major setback. His reputation is on the line.

One more question was thrown at Lavrov about Russias energy interests post the war. Lavrov said our dealing with the West over energy is finished. We will have newer partners. And we promise to be more stable partners with them. So how do you see Indias energy sourcing being altered from this point onwards?

This will be determined by commercial considerations. China and Russia are building a lot of pipelines between each other. Russia previously had a lot of pipelined gas to the West, to Europe. So, if that is finished, the most likely scenario is the dependence on China will increase. With India, because of geography, you dont have any direct pipelines from Russia to India, which makes Russian energy very expensive from Indias point of view. Much cheaper to get from the Middle East, from the Gulf and from other sources, even Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela So, I think commercial considerations will over time limit the Russia-India energy relationship. It was about two and a half, 3 per cent of Indias oil imports before the war, it will likely return to something close to that. The other aspect is that oil, in particular, operates on global markets. So Russian oil exports is quite fungible. If theres a greater glut in the overall oil market, obviously prices will come down. It puts Russia in a bit of a dilemma Right now it works to sell to India because they can offer steep discounts, but is that sustainable in the long run?

The India-United States partnership has covered incredible distance under Biden. Recently Washington declared India as the global strategic partner. And yet accusations of religious intolerance, human rights violations are regularly raised against India. Along with that, ill-informed, hostile, ideologically motivated articles in American media shapes public narrative here. Many Indians believe that no matter what the USG might think, there is a section within the Washington deep state which wants to check the progress of India-US ties. Do you buy this? Do you think this may harm bilateral interests?

I think it can shape and it has shaped the narrative to a certain extent. There was a survey that came out quite recently which asked the Indians which country is the biggest challenge? And of the countries listed, I think Pakistan was not amongst the options China was number one, but the U.S. was number two. A distant number two. That shows that in the popular consciousness  not the majority of Indians have this view of the US but certainly a growing minority appears to have a skepticism about the US, not for any other reason, but for some of the issues you mentioned.

What is behind it? Its a combination of factors. One is, you have certain bodies in the US whose job it is to discuss human rights around the world and that is all theyre focused on. They put out regular reports, including at the (US) State Department and religious freedom being one of them, but there are many other issues and India often features quite negatively in that.

Some of it is not specifically India-oriented They have longer sections on China and Pakistan, Israel even, which is another close US partner. But India is certainly mentioned often. These reports get picked up in the Indian media because theyre public and get amplified.

Second, I think theres just often a lack of understanding in the U.S. and this is true also in Europe, about Indian politics, and society. Sometimes the history and the complexities of it, and a lot needs to be done to better understand some of the nuances of Indian society. And Indias a complex, pluralistic society. Sometimes that nuance is lost and gets caught up in specific interests. Some of it has to do with the Indian diaspora. The Indian diaspora have their own views and we are seeing the sometimes the politics of some of these countries overlapping.

On the deep state, I would actually differ with you a little bit if anything the deep state in the sense of the security and intelligence community is less concerned about these issues. They would much rather like to see more cooperative partnership But there are people in the US State Department and in Congress for whom human rights is the be all and end all of US foreign policy. My expectation is well continue to see reports from State Department, comments or hearings from Congress, but I wouldnt overread that as representative of the US polity at large.

How does the US allay fears in some Indo-Pacific nations and also India that it is getting distracted by its war against Russia? What happens if China simultaneously makes a move on Taiwan?

I dont see it as that big a problem. It is an issue. Some of it is about short-term versus long-term. If you look at the long-term strategy documents, policies and resource allocations, they are quite focused on China. Look at the CHIPS Act. The US commerce secretary has said its a national security legislation, for example. Very much directed at China. Or take the establishment of a special House Committee on China. Every US strategy document lists China as the number one challenge. The long-term is taking shape already. Short term, next year or two, obviously a lot of resources are being focused on Ukraine, particularly competition with Russia.

Also, the assets the US needs to deploy militarily are very different. The Pacific is much more maritime focused. Its about denial. Whereas Ukraine is about tanks, artillery. So thats less zero-sum. Theres a little bit of overlap. Javelin anti-tank missiles is something both Taiwan and Ukraine want. Theres very limited supply, but by and large, you know, naval assets will be dominant in Taiwan.

The one issue that has frustrated the INDOPACOM a little bit is bureaucratic attention, and the other is financial  budgetary resources. So that is a little fungible and there is a short-term, long-term trade-off there. Ammunition is also an issue but thats about getting the US industrial base motivated When World War 2 broke out the US did not have any industrial strength to wage a long-term campaign and all that came up within one or two years. So, I think that realization has picked up now.

If anything, a lot of Americans see Russia China relationship as linked. So, the US cant afford to not be a presence in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. The closer the Russia-China cooperation, even if it is short of China providing military arms, the US has no choice but to be present in both theatres. The one thing is youve seen a retrenchment from West Asia. That has freed up some assets.

What do you think the US requires of India if war does break out over Taiwan?

I dont think India has the same obligations or history with Taiwan that the US has and sometimes there is a very America-centric view of the world. They have a very deliberately ambiguous One China policy and certain obligations to Taiwans security commitments. Theres sometimes an expectation that everybody else has that. India has a very different One China policy. New Delhis relationship with Taiwan is not the same as Washingtons. In fact, we even have some differences with Taiwan. That said, I think there is an understanding that any cross-strait conflict will have very direct implications for Indian security and trade. Theres a need to understand Indias position, on which unfortunately very little effort has been made on the US part In government a little bit, outside of government even less so.

What would India do? The short answer is no direct involvement in the Taiwan scenario, in the way that Japan will be directly involved, possibly Australia, but are there things that India and the US could do together? Say in the Indian Ocean? For example, coordinating on naval logistics

What about giving access to Indian bases?

That would be a political call to make. After 9/11 India did allow the US to do some refueling. The relationship was much less developed, but that was a political call made by the government of the day. You cant get into specific scenarios like that, but will India play a direct role in the Taiwan conflict? I highly doubt it and I dont think that expectation should be there in Washington. But are there things that India US could do or Indo Pacific security in the context of the conflict? Possibly.

The suggestion refuses to die down, from many quarters including some Indian analysts, that India is hampering the securitization of Quad. Thats why Australia has AUKUS, Japan has a treaty but we dont have anything. Do you agree? Or do you think securitization is not what is needed of Quad?

If you look at the security relationships, theyre only growing. One thing to keep in mind is Japan and Australia are treaty allies of the US They are dependent completely on America for their security in the way that India is not, nor India would want to be, nor India should be. So, India isnt doing AUKUS because we dont have the same kind of relationship with the U.S. as Australia has. Canberra has fought in every war with the U.S. for 75 years, and they need a nuclear propulsion in a way that the US could provide

So, sometimes theres a false equivalence drawn But the concerns about explicitly defining the Quad as a security relationship  and some of it is a difference of public messaging versus private  are also regarding fifth countries in Southeast Asia, in South Asia, in the South Pacific, where they are very concerned about what they see as a block type architecture emerging. They will become more reluctant to engage with the Quad if it is seen as a very explicit security grouping.

No matter how many times you talk about ASEAN centrality.

Theyre concerned about that. Now the fact is, a lot of what the Quad is doing, even if it is not explicitly security, has very big significance for security. So maritime debate awareness is a good example. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), cybersecurity So, you have working groups on all of these issues that are quite secure, tied in very closely to the security of the four countries. Australia is hosting the Malabar exercise. Its not officially a Quad issue, but you see quadrilateral cooperation on security not to mention all the bilateral security exercises. So, I think that this is a somewhat false narrative that takes place. Some of it is about public messaging. Some of it is about assuaging concerns of other countries. But I dont think analysts should necessarily buy that hook, line and sinker, and they should look more at what is actually being done. Looking at what Quad is doing than what it is saying, is sometimes more revealing.

Final question. India is in a sweet diplomatic spot. It enjoys a working relationship with Russia, Europe has also come around to understanding New Delhis position better, and the US has been understanding of Indias position from the start. So, my question is, how do you see this pan out as the war continues and losses pile up?

I think the understanding with the West will improve with time. The criticism is less today because the understanding has grown. Initially the objective of western sanctions was to try and punish so Russia severely that it leads to a swift end to the conflict. Now there is a realization that this will be a long drawn-out conflict and in that sense, Indian purchase of oil is helping to stabilize global oil prices. In turn, it is helping Europe wean itself away from Russia. So, inadvertently India is actually playing a helpful role Then you also see Indias mediation whether it is at the G20 or at the UN So, I think with that over time that understanding will only grow, not lessen.

My concern is over India-Russia relationship. The longer the conflict drags out, the longer the Russia-China relationship gets closer, that puts India in a more difficult position given the continuing dependence by India on Russian defense equipment, and also from a geopolitical point of view, the need to keep Russia, the relationship with Russia, on a positive footing India is going to resist having to make choices between Europe and Russia. But India will be concerned if Russia becomes more dependent on China. If there is, for example, a China-India conflagration. How will Russia respond to that? And will Russia be in a position to say, go to China? These are questions that I think should be talked through a little bit.

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Taoyuan (Taiwan): Taiwans ex-President Ma Ying-jeou became on Monday the first sitting or former Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the Communist revolution in 1949, saying he hoped to bring about peace and improve relations.

Mas office said he was met at Shanghais Pudong airport by officials including Chen Yuanfeng, deputy head of Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office. The visit has been criticised by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Mas successor Tsai Ing-wen.

Speaking to reporters before leaving from Taiwans main international airport at Taoyuan, Ma, 73, said he was very happy to be going on a trip where he will talk to students and pay respects to the graves of his ancestors in China.

Ma, in office from 2008-2016, is the first former or current Taiwanese president to visit China since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of a civil war with the Communists.

The trip comes at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei as China keeps up military and political pressure to try and get democratic Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so peace can come even faster and sooner to us here, Ma said in short remarks.

Taiwans ruling DPP criticised Ma for going on Monday, saying it was inappropriate given former long-time Taiwan ally Honduras had ended ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing the day before.

Ma is a senior member of Taiwans main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which favours close ties with China although it strongly denies being pro-Beijing. The KMT says outreach to China is needed now more than ever given the tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Ma met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in late 2015 shortly before Tsai was elected.

China has rebuffed Tsais repeated calls for talks, believing her to be a separatist. She says only Taiwans people can decide their future.

Ma is not scheduled to meet any senior Chinese officials while there, but the head of his foundation said last week Ma will be at his hosts disposal if they do arrange such a get-together.

Both supporters and opponents were at the airport for Mas departure. Demonstrators from the pro-independence group Taiwan Republic Office were allowed to show banners inside the airport for only a brief period before being pushed out by police.

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An entire city in North Korea is under lockdown because Kim Jong Uns military lost ammunition

Pyongyang: Supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un reportedly placed an entire city under lockdown after 653 bullets vanished during a military retreat.

According to two individuals who spoke to Radio Free Asia, the authorities of the dictator have gone door-to-door looking for the ammunition in the city of Hyesan, which has a population of about 200,000.

A resident of the northern province of Ryanggang, where Hyesan is situated, spoke to RFAs Korean Service on the condition of anonymity and said, The city will remain on lockdown until all 653 bullets are found.

On March 7, as KPA 7th Corps troops withdrew from the vicinity of the city, which is located on the border with China, they found the assault rifle ammunition missing.

They were reportedly stationed there in 2020 to implement the border closure owing to COVID 19 outbreak.

The Ryanggang resident said, They completely withdrew between February 25 and March 10, but a thorough investigation is underway because of a loss of bullets during the evacuation process.

When it occurred, the soldiers originally tried to locate the missing bullets on their own rather than reporting it, the source claims.

However, he added, when the missing ammunition could not be located, they alerted the locals and started a thorough search.

According to the source, the police and military opened an inquiry, evacuated the entire city, and started searching every home.

Anyone who has come into contact with any amount of bullets must report them right away.

The source warned that those who dont disclose any bullets they find risk punishment.

The source stated, Even after ten days since this investigation started, there have been no clues.

Residents had been anticipating the armys departure from the region, but the investigation will restrict their freedom of movement even more, a Ryanggang province official told RFA on condition of anonymity so that they could talk freely.

The official stated, Last week, orders were issued to factories, farms, social groups, and neighbourhood watch units in the province to actively cooperate with the ammunition-related investigation, adding that after ten days had passed without the bullets being found, the investigating authorities had to resort to lying to instill fear in the populace.

The official, who addressed the nations ruler with an honorific, claimed that the residents had been subjected to pressure by bluffing that the retreat was a move to protect the Supreme Dignity from reactionary forces.

People might assume that the country is under attack and that invaders are moving towards Pyongyang if such a sizable force is moved from the border region to defend Kim Jong Un, he said.

According to Article 78 of the penal code, Plunder, Illegal Possession or Disposal of Weapons, Ammunition and Combat Technology Equipment, the Ministry of State Security, the Military Security Command of the Korean Peoples Army, and the Ministry of Social Security issued a particularly stern warning.

He stated, In accordance with that law, a person who possesses or transfers firearms, ammunition, or weapons unlawfully shall be punished by reform through labour for a period of more than three years.

According to the official, the locals are worried that if there is no resolution, the authorities will arbitrarily punish someone who may be totally innocent.

The official stated, Some residents claim that the authorities are constantly escalating the potential for a violent military confrontation between the North and the South, even alleging that the South is inciting war.

Residents are closely watching how the investigation will turn out because this incident happened during a tense period.

The latest in a series of weapons tests Pyongyang claims are in reaction to significant US-South Korean defence exercises, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday, according to South Koreas military.

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London: Ignoring the views of around 17 million people who backed Englands decision to quit the EU, Googles brand-new AI chatbot Bard has been accused of left-wing bias by the Tories for calling Brexit a bad idea.

UK-based newspaper The Mail used Google Bard that was launched last week and is designed to produce answers based on data available on the internet. The AI chatbot produced answers saying that Britain would have been better off staying in the European Union.

Hailing Labour Partys Jeremy Corbyn, Bard also claimed that the Tories has a long history of supporting the wealthy and powerful.

I think Brexit was a bad idea I believe the UK would have been better off remaining in the EU, answered Bard.

Also read: Trump vs Biden: ChatGPT is as biased as the people working on AI bots

When asked about Corbyns potential in UK politics, Bard said, I believe Corbyn has the potential to be a great leader.

Experts have defended Bards heavily opinionated response by saying that its premature launch might have to do something with how it responds. Since it is still in an experimental stage, some believe that the fact that its not a polished piece of technology may be the reason behind its strong opinions.

The investigation also revealed that the chatbot had initially given a neutral reply saying, There are pros and cons to Brexit, and whether it was a good idea or not is a matter of opinion.

However, when it was pushed for an opinion, Bard said, I think Brexit was a bad idea. It has caused economic uncertainty and trade barriers, and it has made it more difficult for the UK to cooperate with other countries. I believe that the UK would have been better off remaining in the EU.

Bards take on trans rights, Rishi Sunak

Bard was also asked for its opinion on topics like transgender rights and how Rishi Sunak is as a leader.

Bard said it backs trans activists. It said, There is no one definition of what it means to be a woman.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was likely to be a strong leader, said Bard but stressed how he had been criticised for his handling of the cost of living crisis.

It described Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as a cautious and unimaginative politician.

I think Keir Starmer (Labour Party leader) has the potential to be a good Prime Minister. He is an experienced politician and a competent barrister. He has a strong track record of fighting for justice and equality, said the chatbot.

No definition of women

Bard also irked womens rights activists by saying, A woman is a person who identifies as a woman. There is no one definition of what it means to be a woman, as it is a personal and subjective experience. Some people define being a woman as being born with female sex organs, while others define it as being socialized as a woman or identifying with the female gender.

Dont miss: ChatGPT thinks Elon Musk more controversial than Che Guevera, rates him same as Jeffrey Epstein

Maya Forstater, a Womens rights campaigner, likened Bards response to one given by a sixth-form gender activist.

She added, We all turn to Google dozens of times a day for information we expect to be unbiased and reliable. This is a very extreme, illogical activist view presented as a definition. It looks as if theres some bias in the algorithm as to who it listens to. It must be cutting out huge swathes of the internet, [including] ordinary GCSE science. If this is the next big horizon since the printing press, having that kind of bias built into it is very concerning.

ChatGPT gives neutral response

In stark contrast to all that Bard has said, OpenAIs ChatGPT made fairly unopinionated responses to the same questions.

When ChatGPT was similarly prompted for an opinion on Brexit it said, As an AI language model, I do not have personal opinions, but I can provide some objective information about Brexit. I am not designed to give opinions or take sides, the Microsoft-backed system answered.

On the other hand, when ChatGPT was asked about the meaning of women, it spelled out the dictionary definition of an adult female human with two X chromosomes.

Googles response

Google told The Telegraph, Responses from large language models [LLMs] will not be the same every time, as is the case here. Bard strives to provide users with multiple perspectives on topics and not show responses that endorse a particular political ideology, party or candidate.

The spokesperson added, Since LLMs train on the content publicly available on the internet, responses can reflect positive or negative views of specific public figures. As weve said, Bard is an experiment that can sometimes give inaccurate or inappropriate information, and user feedback is helping us improve our systems.

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Imagine going up against one of the most hardcore armies in the world, who also use killer robot dogs that can literally shred you to pieces, while being controlled by a specialised and highly trained soldier, tucked far away from the perils of a battlefield. Only a fool would imagine going up against such an army. Well, this week, Australia just became that army.

Australia has been testing using robot dogs in certain units of their army for years now. Equipped with guns and grenade launchers, these canine sentinels have truly shaped up to be the best friends of corpsmen in those units. Now, however, the Australian Army is conducting trials of controlling these robot dogs using just their minds.

How the Australian army added mind control to their robot dogs

With eight sensors carefully packaged inside a helmet that operate in combination with a Microsoft HoloLens, the Australian Army has mastered mind-control skills.

The invention includes an AI decoder that converts a soldiers brain signals into understandable directions sent to the robotic quadruped, enabling people to remain concentrated on their environment.

Also read: Elon Musks Neuralink: Two neurosurgeons weigh in on the feasibility of Musks brain implant and its potential

The system was created by the University of Technology Sydney, which first announced the invention last year but has only recently released a new report detailing the work.

The user used our augmented brain-robot interface (aBRI) platform to operate the robot systems, according to a report released on March 16 by the American Chemical Society.

The aBRI platform enables users to engage with machines/robots in more natural ways, which is preferable to the traditional brain-computer interface (BCI) application setting, which needs users to stay stationary.

The aBRI platform, according to the researchers, has four major components: interface devices, a transportable electroencephalogram (EEG) system, a single-board computer, and a robot system.

Using EEG to control robots

The earlier study, published last year, showed the technologys ability to gather EEG data from the frontal region of the head using noninvasive epitaxial graphene (EG) sensors on silicon carbide (SiC) on silicon with an unpatterned surface.

The most recent version demonstrated the utility of brain-machine connections that detect orders from the occipital cortex, which is responsible for visual awareness such as colour, shape, and motion.

Also read: AI Mind Hunter: Researchers make AI bot that can read your mind and draw 80% accurate images

The human manager only needs to envision where they want the automaton to go, and the machine will follow.

The technology enables soldiers to operate the robots without using their hands, which is perfect for battle.

Mind-control made easy

The whole process is not difficult to learn, said Sergeant Damian Robinson of the 5th Combat Service Support Battalion, who tried the HoloLens device. Its very simple. It only took a few practices.

Its more a matter of ocular focus. You dont have to consider anything special to run the automaton, but you do have to pay attention to that flicker.

The flicker is a beacon in the HoloLens headgear that serves as a landmark for the mechanical canine to follow, keeping it on track. The idea has a lot of promise, Robinson says. At its heart, it converts brain waves into zeros and ones, which can then be applied to a variety of various devices, he added.

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Kyiv: James Vasquez, a US veteran, who drew large media attention for saying he had volunteered alongside international forces in Ukraine has been accused of being fake. The army veteran, who fundraised thousands of pounds in donations for the Ukraine war effort was recently exposed as fraud as per media reports.

James Vasquez, a fraud?

As per a report in Daily Star, the 47-year-old former US Army staff sergeant went to Ukraine twice to fight against Vladimir Putins forces on the front line. One of these times were after his wife left him.

The former US soldier would routinely upload wartime footage on Twitter, where he would be shown facing off against Russian forces in Ukraine.

Now, an American Journalist, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, who had enlisted to fight in Ukraines armed forces, disputed Vasquezs accounts of fighting in the war-torn country. On March 23, she had tweeted, In the summer I warned the mainstream media about his stolen valor and fraud. They ignored & gaslighted me. It took having my own platform to break through the lies & be heard.

When the media comes forward my only question is what took so long? https://t.co/8NPR3m69wj  Sarah Ashton-Cirillo (@SarahAshtonLV) March 24, 2023

Since then, she has posted multiple tweets allegedly showing how James has been lying about his war efforts in Ukraine.

In a series of tweets Sarah revealed she had originally stayed out of it while other "real soldiers" called him out to avoid controversy and that she had met James thrice, and he was a 'civilian'.

In a separate post, also uploaded on Wednesday, Ashton-Cirillo claimed to have privately communicated with Vasquez, where he "confirmed to me in writing that he does not and has not had a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

I won't release private texts but @jmvasquez1974 just confirmed to me in writing that he does not and has not had a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. James Vasquez is not a soldier in Ukraine. https://t.co/L6enSKS4uc  Sarah Ashton-Cirillo (@SarahAshtonLV) March 22, 2023

As per the report, James originally arrived in Ukraine in April 2022, before returning again recently, effectively live-tweeting the conflict on his personal account. Subsequently, Vasquez, who is still reportedly in Bakhmut and crowd-funding money for the war effort, deleted his account after speculation he was not officially signed up to fight in Ukraine surfaced.

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New Delhi: BNP is deeply influenced by Pakistani ideology and mindset, said Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader.

According to a report in the Dhaka Tribune, Obaidul Quader on Sunday said the BNP and Pakistans positions on the genocide of Bengalis in 1971 are the same.

Meanwhile, Awami League said BNP leaders in reality do not want party chief Begum Khaleda Zia to be released from jail.

If Begum Khaleda Zia gets released, Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other BNP leaders will lose their supremacy. That is why they do not want her release, said Awami Leagues Hasan Mahmud.

If they wanted her release, they would have faced the cases against her in court with the help of eminent lawyers. But they did not face the cases, he added.

BNP demands for caretaker government

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Bangladeshs capital in December 2022 to demand the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resign and install a caretaker before the next general elections expected to be held in early 2024.

Hasina and her ruling Awami League party, which returned to power in 2018 for the third consecutive time, have repeatedly ruled out the Oppositions demand, saying a caretaker government goes against the spirit of the countrys constitution.

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Beijing: The Uyghur Muslims in Chinas northwestern region of Xinjiang have been asked not to allow their children to fast during the holy month of Ramzan, while their children are being quizzed by the Chinese authorities over whether their parents are fasting or not, according to local officials and rights groups.

The first daily fast of the Islamic holy month of Ramzan began on March 23, as hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide enter a four-week period of worship.

However, Muslims in China are facing fasting bans and their cultural and religious traditions are increasingly under attack, Radio Free Asia reported.

During Ramzan, the authorities are requiring 1,811 villages (in Xinjiang) to implement a round-the-clock monitoring system, including spot home inspections of Uyghur families, the report quoted World Uyghur Congress spokesperson Dilshat Rishit as saying.

It further stated that local rights groups have warned that Chinas 11.4 million Hui Muslims are in danger of being erased entirely under the Communist Partys harsh religious rules.

The report has been prepared by a coalition of rights groups, including the Chinese Human Rights Defenders. It states that they have been identified by China as a threat to be resolved through forcible assimilation.

Islamophobic rhetoric

While the situation was not the same earlier, the report stated that whatever is happening today is in stark contrast to the relative freedoms they enjoyed before Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a renewed attack on religious worship, forcing Christians, Muslims and Buddhists alike to submit to party control and censorship of their religious lives under his sinicization program.

It added, Hui community members were able to openly participate in mosque communities, Arabic schools, and private worship, albeit under restrictions facilitated by party liaisons. Hui entrepreneurs were encouraged to develop business and tourism connections with the wider Muslim world as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

However, ever since Xi Jinping took charge, the religious affairs have been influenced by Islamophobic rhetoric that has pervaded global counterterrorism discourse, making them targets of a counterterrorism campaign in Xinjiang, with more than 100,000 Hui sent to re-education camps alongside Uyghurs, Radio Free Asia reported.

US stands in solidarity with Muslims

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden recently said that the country supports Muslim communities suffering hardship and oppression. Today especially, we remember the universal human right to practice, pray, and preach our faiths peacefully and openly, Biden said in a statement marking the start of Ramzan.

He added, The United States stands in solidarity with Muslims who continue to face oppression  including Uyghurs in the Peoples Republic of China, Rohingya in Burma, and other Muslim communities facing persecution around the world.

China treats its own culture as supreme

Welcoming US President Joe Bidens statement on Ramzan, Turghunjan Alawudin, who chairs the religious committee at the World Uyghur Congress, said, We can see from these congratulations that religious belief is deeply respected in democratic nations.

He noted that China neither respects the culture nor tolerates the religious beliefs of other peoples but treats its own culture as supreme.

Instead of congratulating Muslims for the arrival of Ramadan, China continues to restrict the Muslims from fasting and praying, added Alawudin.

Further targeting the Xi Jinping government, the official stated, China has exhibited extreme hostility towards the religious beliefs and fine traditions of Uyghurs by further restricting all aspects of Uyghur national and religious holidays. China continues its ongoing genocide against the Uyghur Muslims in its attempt to erase them.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Lahore: In a startling remark, Pakistans Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has termed ousted prime minister Imran Khan an enemy of the ruling PML-N saying he has taken the countrys politics to a point where either he (Imran) will get murdered or us.

The remarks of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) senior leader, who is very close to former premier Nawaz Sharif, sparked an outcry among the political circles especially Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Khan, after surviving a gun attack on him during a rally in Wazirabad, Punjab in November last year, named Rana Sanaullah behind the assassination attempt on him. Khan, 70, also mentioned the names of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a senior ISI officer in an application for FIR for their role in the murder plot.

In an interview with a couple of private TV channels on Sunday, Sanaullah said: Either Imran Khan or us will get murdered. He has now taken the countrys politics to a point where only one of the two can remain  PTI or PMLN. PMLNs entire existence is in jeopardy and we will go to any extent against him to settle a score with him. Khan has turned politics into enmity. Khan is now our enemy and he will be treated like that, Sanaullah declared.

Asked if such remarks could result in anarchy in Pakistan, the minister said, Anarchy already prevails in Pakistan.

Reacting strongly to Sanaullahs statement, PTI leader and former federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry said, This is a direct life threat to Khan from the PMLN coalition government.

Is Sanaullah running a gang or government? The Supreme Court had rightly declared Sharifs-led PMLN a Sicilian mafia and his statement is evidence of it, he said.

The PTI has also urged the SC to take notice of this as it is an open threat to Khans life.

If anyone has any doubts about Sanaullahs murderous intent towards Khan. This is a direct threat given by the cabal of crooks interior minister. The judiciary should take note, PTI senior leader and former minister Shireen Mazari said in a tweet.

The PTI said it has never witnessed in the past that a ruling party openly declared eliminating a popular leader of Pakistan.

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Athens: A Greek rail official charged over the countrys worst train disaster, which left 57 dead last month, was released on bail on Monday, his lawyer said.

The man, a stationmaster whose name has not been given by judicial officials, was released after posting bail of 10,000 euros ($10,780) and must report to his local police station twice a month, his lawyer Sotiria Hatzidimitriou told reporters in the city of Larissa.

He faces charges including endangering transport safety and negligent homicide, which carry a potential life sentence.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the suspect went home early, leaving a less experienced stationmaster alone on 28 February after a public holiday, one of the busiest nights of the year in terms of train traffic.

Shortly afterwards, a passenger train and a freight train collided head-on after running on the same track for several kilometres (miles).

Most of the victims were university students returning from a long holiday weekend.

Greeces transport minister resigned, and the disaster sparked weeks of angry and occasionally violent protests, piling pressure on Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ahead of elections expected in May.

The main stationmaster on duty during the accident has been placed on pretrial detention on the same charges.

Two other railway officials  a third stationmaster and a supervisor  have also been charged in connection with the disaster and are to testify this week.

Greeces rail watchdog found serious safety problems across the network, including inadequate basic training for critical staff.

Railway unions had long warned the network was underfunded, understaffed and accident-prone after a decade of spending cuts.

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Moscow: Dmitry Lissitzky, the commander of the 1st battalion of the 247th airborne assault regiment of the Russian Armed Forces, died by suicide using a hunting rifle in his apartment in Stavropol, and was not liquidated in the special operation zone, according to Ukrainian media and military bloggers.

According to reports, the hero of Russia was among the organisers of the Ilovaisky Cauldron in August-September 2014, when armed forces of Russia fought against the Ukrainian armed forces in the Donetsk region.

The news regarding Lissitzkys demise was reported on March 26 by Yegor Gouzenko, a military blogger who served under Lissitzky.

On Monday, a Telegram channel The Bloody Lady claimed that Lissitzky actually died by suicide using a hunting rifle in his apartment in Stavropol.

His colleagues have said that Lissitzky recently was depressed and talked about suicide, presumably because of a complaint about his misconduct against personnel, reports said.

He was a part of most of the military operations launched by Russia, including in battles in Abkhazia, Dagestan, Chechnya. Also, he fought in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2000-2001 as part of the UN peacekeeping mission.

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Budapest: The Hungarian parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbans right-wing Fidesz party, ratified Finlands NATO membership Monday after months of diplomatically charged delay.

A large majority of lawmakers  182 votes for versus six against  approved the accession of the Nordic country into the military alliance.

The vote means that 29 out of 30 NATO member state parliaments have ratified Finlands accession, with the last  Turkeys assembly  expected to also give Helsinki the nod next month.

NATOs expansion into Finland  a country with a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia  will roughly double the length of the blocs current frontier with its Cold War-era foe.

Finland had initially aimed to join together with fellow NATO aspirant Sweden  a Nordic power facing a litany of disputes with Turkey that ultimately sunk its chance to join the bloc before an alliance summit in July.

Helsinki and Stockholm ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to join the worlds most powerful defence alliance in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Their applications were accepted at a June 2022 NATO summit but the bids still needed to be ratified by all alliance member parliaments  a process that stalled once it reached Turkey and Hungary.

The nationalist Orban, who nursed close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin until the invasion, said in December that the ratification process would begin in February.

Budapest insisted that it supports both Nordic nations NATO accession but complained that they had unfairly criticised Hungarian government policy.

EU member Hungary is also in talks with Brussels to unlock billions of euros in bloc funding held up over rule-of-law and corruption concerns.

The Hungarian opposition accused Orbans party of trying to put pressure on the bloc by refusing to put the issue on parliaments agenda for a vote.

The Finland vote delay served the interests of Putin, said an opposition party leader, Ferenc Gerencser, before Mondays vote.

Fidesz said it will decide about backing Swedens admission to the military alliance at a later date.

Last week, Orbans chief-of-staff Gergely Gulyas told reporters the Swedish bid will likely be ratified during the ongoing parliamentary session which runs until June 15.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling for Stockholm to take tougher action against Kurdish activists Ankara considers terrorists.

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New Delhi: Israel in greater danger than at any time since Yom Kippur war, said former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

Bennett urged the government to engage in dialogue and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to revoke his sacking of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Mass protests erupt after Netanyahu fires defense chief

Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets of cities across the country Sunday night in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leaders judicial overhaul plan.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahus private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest deepened a monthslong crisis over Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass protests, alarmed business leaders and former security chiefs and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

But as droves of protesters flooded the streets late into the night, Likud ministers began indicating willingness to hit the brakes. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Israeli media said leaders in Netanyahus coalition were to meet on Monday morning. Later in the day, the grassroots protest movement said it would hold another mass demonstration outside the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem.

In a brief statement, Netanyahus office said late Sunday the prime minister had dismissed Gallant. Netanyahu later tweeted, We must all stand strong against refusal.

Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets in protest after Netanyahus announcement, blocking Tel Avivs main artery, transforming the Ayalon highway into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags and lighting a large bonfire in the middle of the road.

Demonstrations took place in Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem, where thousands of people gathered outside Netanyahus private residence. Police scuffled with protesters and sprayed the crowd with a water cannon. Thousands then marched from the residence to the Knesset.

Inon Aizik, 27, said he came to demonstrate outside Netanyahus private residence in central Jerusalem because bad things are happening in this country. He called the judicial overhaul a quick legislative blitz.

Netanyahus decision came less than a day after Gallant, a former senior general, called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next months Independence Day holidays, citing the turmoil in the ranks of the military.

Gallant had voiced concerns that the divisions in society were hurting morale in the military and emboldening Israels enemies. I see how the source of our strength is being eroded, Gallant said.

While several other Likud members had indicated they might follow Gallant, the party quickly closed ranks Sunday, clearing the way for his dismissal.

Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahus public diplomacy minister, said Netanyahu summoned Gallant to his office and told him that he doesnt have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.

Gallant tweeted shortly after the announcement that the security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life mission.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Gallants dismissal harms national security and ignores warnings of all defense officials.

Israels consul general in New York City, Assaf Zamir, resigned in protest.

Avi Dichter, a former chief of the Shin Bet security agency, is expected to replace Gallant. Dichter had reportedly flirted with joining Gallant but instead announced Sunday he was backing the prime minister.

Netanyahus government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would would grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past three months to demonstrate against the plan in the largest demonstrations in the countrys 75-year history. The State Department dismissed as completely false claims repeated by Yair Netanyahu, the prime ministers son, that the U.S. government was financing these protests.

Leaders of Israels vibrant high-tech industry have said the changes will scare away investors, former top security officials have spoken out against the plan and key allies, including the United States and Germany, have voiced concerns.

In recent weeks, discontent has surged from within Israels army  the most popular and respected institution among Israels Jewish majority. A growing number of Israeli reservists, including fighter pilots, have threatened to withdraw from voluntary duty if the laws are passed.

Israels military is facing an increase in fighting in the occupied West Bank, threats from Lebanons Hezbollah militant group and concerns that archenemy Iran is close to developing a nuclear-weapons capability.

Manuel Trajtenberg, head of an influential Israeli think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies, said that Netanyahu can dismiss his defense minister, he cannot dismiss the warnings he heard from Gallant.

Meanwhile, an Israeli good governance group asked the countrys Supreme Court on Sunday to punish Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the countrys judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a fierce opponent of the overhaul, asked the court to force Netanyahu to obey the law and sanction him either with a fine or prison time for not doing so. It said he was not above the law.

The prime minister said the appeal should be dismissed and said that the Supreme Court didnt have grounds to intervene.

Netanyahu is barred by the countrys attorney general from directly dealing with his governments plan to overhaul the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement that the Supreme Court acknowledged in a ruling over Netanyahus fitness to serve while on trial for corruption. Instead, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is spearheading the overhaul.

But on Thursday, after Parliament passed a law making it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, Netanyahu said he was unshackled from the attorney generals decision and vowed to wade into the crisis and mend the rift in the nation. That declaration prompted the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to warn that Netanyahu was breaking his conflict of interest agreement.

The fast-paced legal and political developments have catapulted Israel into uncharted territory, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

We are at the start of a constitutional crisis in the sense that there is a disagreement over the source of authority and legitimacy of different governing bodies, he said.

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Tel Aviv: Is Israel heading towards a civil war? The latest turn of events in Benjamin Netanyahu-led country indicates so. The head of Histadrut union of Monday announced a historic labour strike in an attempt to stop the madness of the governments controversial judicial overhaul.

The strike that will begin as soon as today (27 March), will also include the health sector.

I am calling a general strike from the moment this press conference ends, the State of Israel stops, Histadrut union chairman Arnon Bar-David said in a televised address.

Worried about Israels fate

Arnon said expressed worry over Israels fate. Together we say, enough! he added.

We have lost our way  this is not about left or right. We can no longer polarise the nation, Arnon said in his address in a room filled with top business leaders and public officials including hospital heads.

I did everything I could over the past weeks to stop the situation, Arnon said, adding that the efforts were in vain.

We are all joining hands to shut down the State of Israel. The malls and the factories will close, he said.

During his statement, Arnon was often cheered and the audience shouted De-mo-cra-cy. He also received a standing ovation at the end of his speech.

Ben Gurion Airport halts departures

Minutes after Arnons announcement of historic labour strike, the head of the workers union at Ben Gurion Airport declared an immediate halt to departures.

I ordered the immediate halt of takeoffs at the airport, says Pinchas Idan.

The airport workers union is the first to take action.

Meanwhile, Jewish Agency Chairman Doron Almog joined the chorus of prominent personalities calling to halt legislation advancing the governments judicial overhaul.

Israel is in an unprecedented state of national emergency. An intensifying social rift, and a growing security threat from around us. Our peoples unity is more important than any legislation. Such legislation should come to an immediate halt, Almog wrote in a letter.

Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary has been facing backlash with the countrys ceremonial president Isaac Herzog urging the government for an immediate halt to the legal changes.

For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately, President Herzog tweeted.

The mounting resistance to the plan came mere hours after tens of thousands of people took to the streets to express their anger at the Israeli PMs decision to fire his defence minister Yoav Gallant for challenging his judicial overhaul plan.

Gallant had made a televised appeal for the government to halt its flagship overhaul of the judicial system, warning that the deep split it had opened up in Israeli society was affecting the military and threatening national security.

Netanyahu suspends TV statement

Netanyahu who was expected to make a televised statement on Monday morning announcing the plans had now suspended it.

Reports earlier said Netanyahu would suspend the overhaul, which has ignited some of Israels biggest-ever demonstrations and drew an intervention by the head of state.

Barely three months after assuming power, Netanyahus hard-right coalition has been facing wrath of people for the removal of Gallant. The protests are pushing the country into crisis as the government also faces a deepening security emergency in the occupied West Bank.

What Gallant said?

On Saturday, Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahus Likud party, called on the Israel government to stop its plans to overhaul the judiciary.

We must stop the process in order to start a dialogue, Gallant said in a televised speech, saying Israels security was at risk.

Also, Israeli military leaders had criticised the proposal.

After his dismissal, Gallant wrote, The security of the State of Israel has been and will always remain my lifes mission.

In January, the Netanyahu-led Israeli government had announced the planned changes arguing they were needed to restore a balance between the executive and judicial branches, claiming that judges had become too interventionist.

The judicial overhaul would give the government sway in choosing judges and limit the Supreme Courts power to strike down laws.

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Tel Aviv: Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday called for an immediate halt to the governments controversial judicial reforms, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for similar demands.

Herzog, who has a largely ceremonial role, made the call following large demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight where protesters again charged that the judicial overhaul package threatens Israels democracy.

For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately, Herzog said in a statement.

The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited a wave of protests and been questioned by Israels top allies including the United States, which expressed concern Sunday.

The government argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

Yoav Galant, the former defence minister and long-time ally of Netanyahu, earlier called for a halt to the reforms  with lawmakers due to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.

WATCH: Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have joined the popular uprising against Prime Minister Netanyahus far-right government and its march towards fascist authoritarianism. #IsraelProtests pic.twitter.com/c10MSPRpXH  Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) March 27, 2023

On Sunday, moments after Netanyahu sacked Galant, demonstrators seized a central highway cutting through the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres.

Some threw metal barricades at mounted officers while police deployed water cannon.

"Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes," Herzog said.

"The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," he added, in an appeal to the government. "Our security, economy, society -- all are under threat.

"The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish people are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you."

Herzog also appealed to politicians on all sides "to place this country's citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay".

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Tel Aviv: Israeli Airports Authority says flights out of main international airport have been grounded following strike call.

The strike was called on Monday by the countrys largest trade union grouping and could paralyse large swaths of Israels economy. Tens of thousands are expected to be affected by the flight changes.

Planes will for the moment still be able to land at Ben-Gurion Airport, outside the sprawling seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus judicial overhaul has sparked unprecedented opposition from across Israeli society.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

But as droves of protesters flooded the streets late into the night, Likud ministers began indicating willingness to hit the brakes. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Israeli media said leaders in Netanyahus coalition were to meet on Monday morning. Later in the day, the grassroots protest movement said it would hold another mass demonstration outside the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem.

In a brief statement, Netanyahus office said late Sunday the prime minister had dismissed Gallant. Netanyahu later tweeted, We must all stand strong against refusal.

Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets in protest after Netanyahus announcement, blocking Tel Avivs main artery, transforming the Ayalon highway into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags and lighting a large bonfire in the middle of the road.

Demonstrations took place in Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem, where thousands of people gathered outside Netanyahus private residence. Police scuffled with protesters and sprayed the crowd with a water cannon. Thousands then marched from the residence to the Knesset.

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Tokyo: There are only a few takers of Japans lucrative paternity leave policy. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to lift up the number of men taking paternity leave from a mere 14 per cent to 50 per cent by 2025.

However, not many Japanese male workers are afraid to avail the benefits of paternity leave as they think it may have a negative impact on their careers in terms of promotion prospects and fewer responsibilities.

In the past few years, authorities in Japan have been trying to promote policies that will address the countrys plummeting birth rate. Workaholic fathers and stay-home mothers have only made the problem worse.

Under the current policy, Japanese men are entitled to four weeks of paternity leave with as much as 80 per cent of their salary.

Member of the young workers union called POSSE, Makoto Iwahashi, said that while the governments plan is well-intentioned, many men are simply too scared to take long leaves due to potential repercussions from their employers.

The many problems of paternity leaves

In 2019, two men took matters to court after their employers penalised them with demotions and pay cuts after they returned from their paternity leave.

The lawsuit sparked debates in the country about the longstanding cultural norms and company expectations and the repercussions if men dont conform to them.

Another problem that would-be fathers always face is the proper application of the policy.

According to The Diplomat, the amendments made to the 2015 paternity leave policy are only applicable to major corporations with more than 1,000 employees.

Also, owing to the unpredictability of a babys due date, a company is technically allowed to ask an expectant father to remain at work even if his wife goes into labour earlier than her due date.

Last chance to reverse birth rate

Kishida last week warned that the country now has only six to seven years from now to reverse the declining birth rate trend.

He said, I want to create a society where young people can marry as they wish, and everyone who wants to can have children and raise them without stress.

To achieve the increase, he proposed measures including offering allowances to companies encouraging paternity leave, and pledged more pay when both parents take leave.

This way, couples can share childcare and household chores, while the impact on income and career development is reduced, he said.

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Washington: US President Joe Biden signed a ban Monday on government use of commercial spyware technology like the controversial Pegasus program, citing its use for political oppression in countries around the world.

The White House said commercial spyware poses a distinct intelligence threat to the United States and has been found on the phones of 50 US officials overseas.

In addition, a number of foreign governments have used it to facilitate repression and enable human rights abuses.

Misuse of these powerful surveillance tools has not been limited to authoritarian regimes, the White House said in a statement.

Democratic governments also have confronted revelations that actors within their systems have used commercial spyware to target their citizens without proper legal authorization, safeguards, and oversight.

Bidens order was not a full ban on commercial spyware, but would apply to any program deemed a US security risk, or that is used for political abuse by other governments.

It also did not restrict spyware developed by US government agencies themselves, like the CIA or National Security Agency, the leading electronic intelligence body.

The most threatening software can scrape up all data from targeted devices with remote direction and control, according to a senior Biden administration official.

Last year the administration warned that it was planning tight restrictions on privately developed surveillance software after numerous cases surfaced of its use for political purposes in numerous countries around the world.

No specific names were cited in Mondays announcement, but the US government has already taken action to prevent the use of several programs and companies seen as threatening.

In November the Commerce Department placed four spyware developers on its blacklist: Israeli firms NRO Group and Candiru, Positive Technologies of Russia, and Singapores Computer Security Initiative Consultancy.

Pegasus, created by NRO Group, was used by governments and other entities in Mexico, Poland, Spain, Hungary, Bahrain, India and elsewhere.

There was an effort by commercial spyware vendors, like in other countries, to try to make inroads across the US federal government, and to market and to sell their tools across the federal government, the senior official told reporters.

So we purposely announced publicly that we would be pursuing this sort of ban.

The ban was announced one day before Biden hosts his second Summit for Democracy, with leaders from 121 countries invited to join the three-day event.

The White House called the commercial spyware ban a cornerstone initiative for the summit.

The order demonstrates the United States leadership in, and commitment to, advancing technology for democracy, it said.

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Moscow: The Kremlin on Monday said Western criticism would not change plans announced by President Vladimir Putin to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.

The West condemned Putins weekend announcement on placing the weapons in EU and NATO-bordering Belarus, triggering calls for new sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine said it was seeking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the move.

Such a reaction of course cannot influence Russian plans, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Speaking during a televised interview on Saturday, Putin said Moscow would station the tactical nuclear weapons without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation.

He said this was nothing unusual.

The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies, Putin said.

The Russian leader said he spoke to his Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko and that they had agreed to do the same.

Putins announcement came over a year into his grinding offensive in Ukraine.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel reiterated that the United States was not changing its own nuclear posture and did not have reason to believe Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

But candidly, this announcement is one that we condemn. This is the latest example of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric that we have seen from Russia, Patel told reporters.

No other country has raised the prospect of potential nuclear use in connection with this conflict. Lets remember  no country is threatening Russia or threatening President Putin, Patel said.

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US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said lawmakers will press forward with legislation to handle national security concerns about TikTok, claiming Chinas government had access to the short video apps user data.

In the United States, there is increasing pressure to ban TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, or to approve bipartisan legislation giving President Joe Bidens government the legal power to pursue a ban. The software was recently removed from devices controlled by the United States government.

TikTok Ban to be pushed through

The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the Chinese Communist Partys technological tentacles, McCarthy said on Twitter.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified in front of a U.S. House Committee on Thursday for about five hours, and legislators from both parties questioned him on national security and other issues concerning the app, which has 150 million American users.

Also read: Chinese govt doesnt own the company: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before US Congress amid ban threat

During Thursdays congressional hearing, the TikTok CEO was questioned if the app had spied on Americans at the behest of Beijing, to which Chew replied, No.

CEO of TikTok wasnt honest, says US House Speaker

Republican Representative Neal Dunn then cited the companys December revelation that some China-based ByteDance employees illegally obtained the TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the business. He asked again whether ByteDance was eavesdropping on him.

I dont think spying is the right word for it, Chew said. Before being cut off, he went on to characterise the allegations as involving a internal investigation.

Also read: Surprise, surprise: TikTok lying about Chinese spying, former employee tells US Congress

Its very concerning that the CEO of TikTok cant be honest and admit what we already know to be true  China has access to TikTok user data, McCarthy, a Republican, said in a statement on Sunday.

The business claims to have spent more than $1.5 billion on data security measures under the banner of Project Texas, which presently employs nearly 1,500 full-time workers and has a deal with Oracle Corp to keep TikToks US user data.

CEOs appearance aggravated the situation

Chews appearance before Congress on Thursday actually increased the likelihood that Congress will take some action, Republican House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin told ABC News on Sunday.

Former US President Donald Trump was defeated in a succession of court decisions in 2020 when he attempted to outlaw TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a subsidiary of Tencent.

Also read: TikTok US Ban likely, CEO Chew fails to convince Congress that the app is not a weapon for China

Many Democrats have expressed concerns along the lines of Republicans and believe that TikTok may be detrimental to national security, but have not yet openly supported a US-wide ban.

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London: Khalistani extremists in the UK have breached limits of brutality and are now threatening pro-India, anti-Khalistan Sikhs with consequences of not supporting them.

Over the weekend, a Sikh family in Britain was allegedly bullied by masked pro-Khalistani gangs who gave rape and death threats to them.

In a tweet thread, London-based journalist Charlotte Littlewood said: A harrowing weekend working with the Sikh family in hiding, under threat of rape and death. They feel so unsafe in Britain and want to seek asylum out of the country.

This is not the first time a threatened religious group has told me this, Charlotte said.

Tagging Conservative MP for Fareham and Home Secretary Suella Braveman and Foreign Secretary of UK James Cleverly, Charlotte in through her post questioned the absence of police when this Sikh family was threatened.

Masked gangs driving by their business making gun hand gestures, licking photos of their daughters and making rape threats, where is the police?  Charlotte Littlewood (@CharlotteFLit) March 26, 2023

"Masked gangs driving by their business making gun hand gestures, licking photos of their daughters and making rape threats, where is the police?" the tweet read.

'Sorry state'

"We are in some sorry state when British citizens want to seek asylum to escape threats to their life made by fellow UK citizens. Police up your game. Understand the communities you serve. Do not let this man be killed on your watch," the journalist tweeted.

She further informed that a man in the family who visits a Gurudwara (sikh religious place) linked to Everything 13 received a death threat from a fellow worshipper.

A Gurdwara linked to Everything 13, that supported and even covered the travel costs for the protest against the India High Commission. He received a death threat from a fellow worshipper. It receives gov funding. @ChtyCommission  Charlotte Littlewood (@CharlotteFLit) March 26, 2023

Charlotte further informed that Everything 13 supported and covered the travel costs for the protest against the India High Commission last week. It receives government funding, she added.

An alarm system was promised but discontinued after a week with no explanation. The police have been slow to turn up and dismissive. Father believes he needs to be attacked before they will do anything.

An alarm system was promised but discontinued after a week with no explanation. The police have been slow to turn up and dismissive, the journalist informed.

Meanwhile, India has decided to invoke the law of the land against Khalistani extremists who have violated the sovereign territory of India by breaking into Indian High Commission in London as well as Consulate General in San Francisco.

This comes in the wake of protests by Khalistan supporters in UK, Australia, UK, and the US.

Last Sunday, supporters of radical activist and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh  for whom a manhunt is currently on in Punjab  held a protest at the Indian High Commission.

During the protest, demonstrators pulled down the Indian flag at the premises of the Indian High Commission, which sparked a diplomatic row between India and the UK, prompting Delhi Police to register a case Friday in connection with the protest.

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London: In a first of its kind, UKs Rishi Sunak government has introduced tourist tax in Manchester.

As per reports, anyone travelling in Manchester will be asked to pay in order to stay from coming weeks.

Starting on April 1, every guest staying in a hotel or vacation rental in the city core will have to pay 1 per night, per room.

It is hoped that the tax, officially known as the City Visitor Charge, which will generate 3 million annually, wont deter travellers from visiting Manchester.

Following in the footsteps of popular European destinations like Madrid and Rome, the city is the first in the UK to enact a tourist levy.

The fee was instituted in advance of the citys substantial expansion of the hotel and vacation rental industries.

Over the next few years, Manchester will gain close to 6,000 hotel rooms, resulting in an additional million overnight visits.

Four out of five hoteliers who participated in a poll last year on whether or not to impose the fee said they would.

Every hotel and short stay serviced apartment in the city core with a rateable value of 75,000 or more will start charging the fee at the beginning of the following month.

As per the officials, the funds will contribute to the establishment of the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District, which will be used over the following five years to improve the visitor experience and support future growth of the visitor economy.

Report say, more UK cities are to join the trail of tourists tax.

After local authorities approved plans for a 2 per night tourist tax in November of last year, Edinburgh is about to enact it.

In recent years, Oxford, Bath, and Hull have thought about making a comparable move but decided against it.

Visitors to Manchester will be responsible for the additional cost as part of their hotel or Airbnb bill, just like in other significant European towns with tourist taxes.

Its 1 rate is significantly less than other fees of a comparable nature.

Tourists in Barcelona must spend 4 (3.50) per night, a price that will rise by at least 1.50 by April 1, 2024.

Visitors to Venice pay between 1 and 5 based on the hotels star rating.

The watery city is looking at charging day trippers up to 10 per person to visit in a bid to ease over tourism.

Annie Brown, the first chair of the ABID, said the Manchester tax was a smart move.

I think (the message it sends) has been a consideration, however when you compare it to European cities that have had taxes and visitor levies in place for a number of years, we feel its a small amount comparatively, she told Manchester Evening News.

There are other cities in the UK looking to put in place what Manchester has done, I dont think its a charge thats off-putting.

It is anticipated to generate about 3 million per year, which will pay for the ABID, the attractions, cleaning, and the execution of our business strategy. In terms of the money it brings in, it will be the biggest accommodation BID outside of central London.

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Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still struggling to expand his Cabinet.

According to a report in the Kathmandu Post, As Dahal has been overseeing 16 ministries on his own, it shows the complexity of power-sharing among the coalition partners.

Dahal had earlier repeatedly announced that he would pick new ministers within a few days but failed to walk the talk.

PM Dahal got a vote of confidence for the second time in 70 days, this time with a different set of coalition partners.

Prime Minister Dahal secured 172 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives. Other 89 lawmakers voted against him whereas one abstained.

Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, CPN-Unified Socialist, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal, Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and Aam Janata Party voted in his favour. CPN-UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party voted against him. Nepal Workers and Peasants Party abstained.

Dahal, 68, sought a vote of confidence as two parties in the seven-party alliance  Rastriya Prajatantra Party and CPN-UML  withdrew support to his government. They refused to endorse Prachandas proposal to back Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel for the post of president.

Dahal, who was sworn in as the countrys Prime Minister in December, comfortably passed the first floor test on January 10 with 268 votes after all parties except the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and the Rastriya Janamorcha voted in favour of the government.

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Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday hit back at President Arif Alvi, accusing him of being partisan and following the dictates of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party instead of remaining neutral as the head of the state.

His comments came two days after President Alvi in a letter on Friday accused the premier of using disproportionate force against politicians, political workers and journalists in recent clashes with former prime minister Imran Khans PTI.

The president, who was a member of Khans party before assuming the office, had also asked Sharif to direct all authorities to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in holding the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections as per the orders of the Supreme Court.

In his five-page letter to President Alvi, Sharif said that he was writing to set the record of the government straight and bring the latters partisan attitude on record.

He said Alvis communication in parts reads like a press release of the opposition political party PTI whose one-sided, anti-government views you continue to openly espouse, notwithstanding your constitutional oath/office of President.

He said that the president on several occasions violated his oath, including the order of the dissolution of the National Assembly in April last year on the direction of then prime minister Imran Khan, and also his failure to discharge his constitutional duty to give an oath to Sharif on his election as the prime minister.

Despite the foregoing and several other instances, where you actively worked towards undermining a constitutionally elected government, I have made all-out efforts to maintain a good working relationship with you. However, the contents of your letter, its tone, and language have compelled me to respond to it, he stated in the letter.

Sharif said that actions by law enforcement agencies were in accordance with the law.

Regrettably and ostensibly due to your party allegiance, you have failed to note the sheer violation of laws, contumacious disregard of court orders, attacking the law enforcement agencies, damaging public property, attempts to create chaos, civil and political unrest, and in short, to bring the country to the brink of economic default and civil war by PTI, he said.

He said the PTIs complete disregard for the law tarnished the image of Pakistan in the international community and cast negative repercussions on the future of democracy and the state of human rights.

He also complained that Alvi as president had not once said anything regarding the conduct of Khan for his aggressive, rather militant, attitude of a political order in complete defiance of court orders.

Regrettably again, you never raised your voice or shared your concerns in the manner that you have in your letter, in the past while the PTI was in power, he said.

He further stated that Alvis reference regarding meaningful consultation between the president and prime minister was out of place.

Mr President, in the exercise of your functions, you must act on and in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or the Prime Minister under clause (1) of Article 48, he wrote.

Talking about the election in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said that the federal government provided every support to the ECP which is an autonomous body and free to decide about elections.

Sharif also said that he was fully aware of his duties, asserting that his government was fully committed to preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution but would not allow anyone to violate the law or create unrest.

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Moscow: Russian prosecutors Monday requested a two-year jail term for a single father accused of discrediting the army, with his daughter at risk of being sent to an orphanage, his lawyer said.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine a year ago, public criticism of Moscows offensive in the pro-Western country has been outlawed.

Last year Russian authorities opened a criminal case against Alexei Moskalyov after his daughter Maria, now 13, made a drawing at school showing missiles next to a Russian flag heading towards a woman and child standing by a Ukrainian flag.

Her headmistress contacted the police, who said they found comments criticising Moscows assault against Ukraine on the social media profiles of the girls 54-year-old father.

The pair hail from in Yefremov, a small town of around 37,000 people some 300 kilometres south of Moscow.

In early March, authorities placed Maria in a rehabilitation centre for minors, while Moskalyov was put under house arrest.

On Monday, prosecutors demanded a two-year prison term for the father, his lawyer Vladimir Biliyenko said.

Biliyenko said there is a high probability that Moskalyov will be imprisoned with the verdict expected on Tuesday.

Naturally, the girl will be sent to an orphanage, he told AFP.

Moskalyov maintains his innocence.

The case has garnered national attention and led to an online petition calling for the girl to be re-united with her father.

Even Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner paramilitary force spearheading Russias assault in eastern Ukraine, has voiced support for Maria and criticised local authorities.

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Riyadh: The chairman of Saudi National Bank, which was the main shareholder of Credit Suisse before its buyout this month, has resigned, a statement said on Monday.

The Saudi banks board of directors accepted the resignation of Ammar AlKhudairy due to personal reasons, said the statement published on the Saudi stock exchange.

Credit Suisses shares plummeted on March 15 after AlKhudairy said the Saudi bank would not raise its stake from 9.8 percent due to regulatory constraints.

The following day, Credit Suisse rallied on the stock market after grabbing a $54 billion central bank lifeline in a bid to restore investor confidence.

But fears about the health of the broader financial sector led to its takeover by domestic rival UBS on March 19.

In the immediate aftermath of his comments, AlKhudairy tried to minimise what he described as a panic.

If you look at how the entire banking sector has dropped, unfortunately, a lot of people were just looking for excuses, he told CNBC television.

Its panic, a little bit of panic. I believe completely unwarranted, whether it be for Credit Suisse or for the entire market.

Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi, who had been serving as CEO, will replace AlKhudairy as chair, Mondays statement said.

Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji has been appointed acting CEO, it said.

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Edinburgh, United Kingdom: A new Scottish first minister will be named on Monday, with the leader facing the daunting task of reviving a faltering independence movement after Nicola Sturgeons surprise resignation.

Members of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) wrap up two weeks of voting at 12:00 pm (1100 GMT), with the result to be announced later in the day.

Finance minister Kate Forbes and health minister Humza Yousaf are favourites in the three-way race, according to an Ipsos poll conducted March 17-21.

Ash Regan, a former minister in Sturgeons cabinet, is an outsider in the three-way contest.

At her last session in the Scottish Parliament as first minister on Thursday, Sturgeon said her successor would be either the second woman in the post or the first from a minority ethnic background.

Either way, that will send the very powerful message that this, the highest office in the land, is one that any young person in Scotland can aspire to, she added.

Whoever wins takes over as support stagnates for the SNPs central policy  independence for Scotland  that Sturgeon has championed.

Disappointed

Polling indicates that around 45 per cent of Scots are currently in favour of Scotland leaving the United Kingdom after 55 per cent of Scots rejected such a move in a 2014 vote.

I think many of us are disappointed that there hasnt been more of a sustained movement in support of independence, said Forbes, who at 32 would become one of the worlds youngest political leaders if she wins.

I think its for the people of Scotland to determine when they want to become an independent country, she told a candidates debate last week.

There is no path to independence without persuading no voters to vote yes.

For Yousaf, 37, too much time had been spent pointing out the UK government in Londons failures and not enough on creating a vision for an independent Scotland.

He promised a civic movement to drive the campaign.

Regan, 49, has proposed a commission to run the independence campaign separately from the Scottish government.

According to Ipsos, Forbes has the most support among the general public, with 27 per cent showing a favourable opinion of her compared to 22 per cent for Yousaf and 14 per cent for Regan.

Among the SNP membership, which decides on the leader, 38 per cent view Yousaf favourably, compared to 37 per cent for Forbes and 22 per cent for Regan.

Forbes has come under the spotlight for her conservative views as a member of the Free Church of Scotland, which opposes same-sex marriage and abortion.

Yousaf, who has close ties with Sturgeon, has faced criticism over his record in successive roles in the Scottish government.

New generation

Sturgeon, 52, has served as first minister since November 2014 and resigned unexpectedly last month, claiming she felt unable to give every ounce of energy to the job.

In her final months in office she faced uproar about a new law allowing anyone over 16 to change their gender without a medical diagnosis.

The law would have allowed a transgender woman who was convicted of rape before she began transitioning to serve a prison sentence in a women-only facility.

As debate raged, the UK government used an unprecedented veto to block the legislation.

The UK Supreme Court last year also ruled that the Scottish government could not hold a new referendum on sovereignty without UK approval.

Several polls have since shown waning popular support for breaking away.

But Sturgeon said she has every confidence that her successor will lead this country to independence.

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Taoyuan, Taiwan: Taiwan ex-president Ma Ying-jeou travelled to China on Monday, embarking on the first cross-strait visit by a current or former leader of the island in more than seven decades, a trip Taipeis ruling party called regrettable.

Mas 12-day trip will not involve any official meetings, his office said, with his focus on paying tribute to his ancestors and promoting youth exchanges.

I hope to improve the cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiastic interactions of young people, so peace can come to us faster and sooner, the 73-year-old said at the airport.

The former presidents departure comes a day after Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has vowed to retake it one day.

In a statement on Monday, President Tsai Ing-wens Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused Ma of endorsing Beijings Taiwan policy with his visit.

We should be more united but its regrettable that the KMT stands with the Chinese communists and ex-president Ma disregards public disapproval to visit China at this moment, the party said.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war won by the Communist Party, with the defeated nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party fleeing to the island.

Ma is a senior leader of the KMT, which currently sits in the opposition in Taiwan and advocates for warmer ties with China, but denies being pro-Beijing.

Taiwan will hold a presidential election next year, with the KMT and DPP the main contenders for the position.

Ma oversaw a dramatic improvement in cross-strait ties during his 2008-16 rule, which culminated in a summit between him and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015.

Beijing has ramped up military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan under Mas successor, Tsai, poaching nine of Taiwans allies, leaving only 13 countries that diplomatically recognise the island.

China and Honduras began formal diplomatic relations on Sunday, with Taipei accusing Beijing of using coercion and intimidation to lure away its allies.

At Taipei airport on Monday, a handful of demonstrators protested against Mas visit, saying he had betrayed Taiwan by travelling to China.

They were removed by police to an area outside the main airport building shortly thereafter.

Chinas foreign ministry offered no comment Monday on the visit, with spokesperson Mao Ning saying it was not a diplomatic issue.

Ma was born in Hong Kong in 1950 to Chinese immigrant parents from Xiangtan in Hunan province, which he will visit in addition to the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing and Changsha, his office said last week.

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Taipei: There are no signs of any unusual military deployments by Chinas military ahead of President Tsai Ing-wens visit to the United States and Central America this week, a deputy Taiwanese defence minister said on Monday.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, staged war games around the island last August following a trip to Taipei by then-US-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Tsai leaves for New York on Wednesday on a stopover on her way to Guatemala and Belize. On her way back to Taiwan, she will transit through Los Angeles, where she is likely to meet current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Taking lawmakers questions in parliament, Taiwan deputy defence minister Po Horng-huei said China has three to four warships operating around Taiwan every day, which has already become a new normal.

If there are any changes in Chinas military deployment, Taiwan must be prepared for the worst-case scenario, he said.

So far there is no sign of any special military deployment, Po added.

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Moscow: The announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus appears to be another attempt to raise the stakes in the conflict in Ukraine.

It follows Putins warnings that Moscow is ready to use all available means, to fend off attacks on Russian territory, a reference to its nuclear arsenal.

Putin said President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has long urged Moscow to station its nuclear weapons in his country, which has close military ties with Russia and was a staging ground for the invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Russia already has helped modernize Belarusian warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons  something that Belarus authoritarian leader has repeatedly mentioned.

In remarks broadcast Saturday, Putin said the immediate trigger for the deployment of Russias tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was Britains decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium. Putin toned down his language after first falsely claiming that such rounds have nuclear components, but he insisted they pose an additional danger to the civilian population and could contaminate the environment.

Putin also said that by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia will be doing what the United States has done for decades by putting its nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. He alleged the Russian move doesnt violate an international treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons, even though Moscow has argued before that the U.S. has breached the pact by deploying them on the territory of its NATO allies.

Putins move contrasted with a statement he and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued after their talks in the Kremlin last week, which spoke against nuclear powers deploying atomic weapons outside their territories, in an apparent jab at the United States.

Putin said Russia already has helped upgrade 10 Belarusian aircraft to allow them to carry nuclear weapons and their crews will start training to use them from April 3. He noted Russia also has given Belarus the Iskander short-range missile systems that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads.

He said the construction of storage facilities for nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1. He didnt say how many nuclear weapons will be stationed there or when they will be deployed.

Putin emphasized that Russia will retain control over any nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, just like the U.S. controls its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its NATO allies.

If Moscow sends nuclear weapons to Belarus, it will mark their first deployment outside Russian borders since the early 1990s. Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan inherited massive nuclear arsenals after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but agreed to ship them to Russia in the following years.

With his latest statement, Putin again is dangling the nuclear threat to signal Moscows readiness to escalate the war in Ukraine.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It would also extend Russias capability to target several NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe.

The move comes as Kyiv is poised for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory occupied by Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russias Security Council, warned last week that attempts by Ukraine to reclaim control over Crimea was a threat to the very existence of the Russian state, something that warrants a nuclear response under the countrys security doctrine. Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Every day of supplying Western weapons to Ukraine makes the nuclear apocalypse closer, Medvedev said.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Putins goal is to discourage Ukraines Western allies from providing Kyiv with more weapons ahead of any counteroffensive.

Putin is using nuclear blackmail in a bid to influence the situation on the battlefield and force Western partners to reduce supplies of weapons and equipment under the threat of nuclear escalation, Zhdanov said. The Belarusian nuclear balcony will be looming over not only Ukraine, but Europe as well, creating a constant threat, raising tensions and rattling the nerves of Ukrainians and their Western partners.

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Sloviansk: Germany and Britain have delivered Western heavy tanks to Ukraine, officials said Monday, providing a key infusion of armored firepower that will aid Kyivs battle against invading Russian troops.

The tanks  long an item on Ukraines military equipment wish list  were promised to Kyiv earlier this year and have arrived in time for an expected spring offensive by Ukraines forces.

As Ukraine gains conventional firepower, the Kremlin vowed to follow through on a plan announced by President Vladimir Putin to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, an initiative which has drawn widespread criticism.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told journalists on Monday that Berlin had provided very modern Leopard battle tanks to Kyiv, with the defence ministry later saying 18 were delivered.

Our tanks have made it into the hands of our Ukrainian friends as promised and on time, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

They are joined by Challenger tanks from Britain, a spokeswoman for the defence ministry in Kyiv said.

Ukraines Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov had said earlier that he inspected a new addition to the countrys forces  Challenger tanks as well as Germanys Marder infantry fighting vehicles, plus Cougar armoured trucks and Stryker armoured personnel carriers from the United States.

A year ago, no one would have thought that our partners support would be so strong, Reznikov said on Facebook.

Planned nuclear deployment

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Western criticism of Putins tactical nuclear weapon announcement cannot influence Russian plans.

Speaking in a televised interview two days earlier, Putin said Moscow would station the tactical nuclear weapons without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday told the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was not possible to restore safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with Russia still in control, ahead of Rafael Grossis visit to the site.

Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and adjacent territory, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure, Zelenskyy told Grossi, according to a statement from the presidency.

Grossi is expected to visit the nuclear plant later this week.

I met Zelenskyy today in Zaporizhzhia City and had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhia NPP (nuclear power plant) and its staff, he said on Twitter.

I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraines nuclear facilities, he said.

Missile strikes

In eastern Ukraine, Russian missiles punched through buildings in the town of Sloviansk, killing two people in their cars and wounding more than 30, police said.

A blood-stained cap lay at the side of the street, next to a parked car whose front seat was covered with blood and shattered glass.

Police said the missiles were Russian-made S-300s, which are designed for air defence but have been used by Moscow to carry out ground attacks amid reported shortages of other munitions.

In Adviika, a battered frontline town in the eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian official said Monday that municipal workers were being withdrawn as Russian forces claim incremental gains nearby.

Its a shame to admit, but Avdiivka looks more and more like a scene from post-apocalyptic movies, the head of the towns administration Vitalii Barabash said on social media.

Therefore, a difficult decision was made to evacuate municipal workers, who at least somehow tried to maintain the cleanliness and vitality of the city.

Russian forces have been working to capture the entire eastern Donetsk region for several months, with the focus of fighting centering on Bakhmut, north of Avdiivka.

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Kyiv: Ukraines ground forces commander said on Monday Kyiv was planning its next move after Moscow shifted the focus of its offensive from a flagging assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut to another town further south, described as post-apocalyptic.

The Ukrainian military aims to wear down Russian forces as much as possible before launching a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months  seeking to end the all-out invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin 13 months ago.

Ukrainian ground forces commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week that the counterattack could come very soon, visited front line troops in the east on Monday and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.

Defending the small city in the industrialised Donbas region that Russia has tried to seize for months was a military necessity, he said, praising Ukrainian resilience in extremely difficult conditions.

We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation.

Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhniy said on Saturday the situation was being stabilised around Bakhmut, where Russian forces say they are fighting street by street.

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka, a smaller town 90 km (55 miles) further south, could become a second Bakhmut as Russia turns its attention there. Both towns have been reduced to rubble in fighting that both sides have called a meat grinder.

I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies, said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the citys military administration. Only around 2,000 of a pre-war population of 30,000 remain and he urged them to leave.

A Ukrainian military video showed smoke billowing from ruined apartment blocks and dead soldiers on open ground and in trenches in Bakhmut.

Two people were killed and 29 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a video of smouldering debris and vowed that Ukraine will not forgive such attacks. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

Inside Russia, the defence ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone on Sunday, adding three people were injured and apartment blocks were damaged in the attack south of Moscow.

Kyiv does not generally comment on reports of attacks inside Russia. The latest reported attack, on the town of Kireyevsk, in Tula region 220 km (140 miles) south of Moscow, appeared to be one of the closest yet to the Russian capital.

As the invasion Putin launched to demilitarise Ukraine has flagged, he and other top Russian officials have played up the prospect the war could escalate to involve nuclear weapons: on Saturday he said he had struck a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.

The Belarus plan, while not unexpected, is one of Russias most pronounced nuclear signals yet and a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine, which has called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in response.

Russias nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.

NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russias nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own.

Putin likened his Belarus plan to the United States stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.

However, Lungescu said Putins non-proliferation pledge and his description of U.S. weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark.

Russias reference to NATOs nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments, she added in a statement.

Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments.

Ukraines security chief, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russias plan would destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken hostage by Moscow.

Others condemning Putins plan included Lithuania, which said it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk, while EU policy chief Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to host the weapons and threatened more sanctions.

Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging point for the latters invasion of Ukraine last year.

Experts see Russias move as significant since it had been proud, until now, of not having deployed nuclear weapons outside its borders, unlike the United States. This may be the first time since the mid-1990s that it plans to do so.

The United States played down concerns about Russias planned deployment.

I can tell you weve seen nothing that would indicate Mr. Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way whatsoever in Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told broadcaster CBC on Sunday.

And I can also tell you that we havent seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture.

Tactical nuclear weapons are those used to make specific gains on a battlefield, rather than those capable of wiping out cities. It is unclear how many such weapons Russia has, since the topic is still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.

Putin asserted on Sunday that Western powers were building a new axis similar to the partnership between Germany and Japan during World War Two, while denying Russia was building a military alliance with China.

That was the reprise of a theme that has figured in his portrayal of the war as Moscows fight against a Ukraine in the grip of supposed Nazis, abetted by Western powers menacing Russia. Ukraine rejects these as spurious pretexts for a war of imperial conquest.

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London: The litany of police perversion in the UK doesnt seem to end. A recent report Monday accused the force to have strip-searched children, especially those of colour, without parents around.

The ethnic disproportionality, of the UK police was exposed after records suggested that black children have a six-fold higher probability of being strip-searched than the others.

White children, however, had a fifty percent lower probability, reports said.

The study, which revealed 2,847 strip searches of children between the ages of eight and 17 were conducted throughout England and Wales between 2018 and mid-2022, was ordered by Dame Rachel de Souza, the childrens commissioner for England.

The study found that, except in instances of urgency, 52% of strip searches were conducted without a suitable adult present, which is required by law.

One percent of the searches were done in public view, including some in police cars, schools, and even takeaways and amusement parks.

In 45% of cases, police forgot to mention location of searches, which was criticised as poor quality of record-keeping by the commissioner.

The study comes after Child Q, a black schoolgirl on her period who was mistakenly suspected by police of carrying cannabis, underwent a traumatic strip search.

In 2020, two female police officers conducted a search of the 15-year-old without any teachers present in the medical area of the school.

According to family members who think the search was racially motivated, the girl was scarred as a result of the ordeal, which Scotland Yard claimed should never have happened.

Following the incident, Dame Rachel asked for the report, which revealed that over a two-year period, more than 600 children experienced intrusive and traumatising searches, with black boys being disproportionately targeted.

The results were deemed utterly unacceptable by Dame Rachel, who also stated that strip searches on children were intrusive and potentially traumatic powers that needed to be protected by robust safeguards.

Regarding the Home Offices stance on strip-searching children, she made 17 recommendations, including the following:

The practise of urgent strip searches should be discontinued in favour of continuous adult supervision. Only in the most exceptional circumstances should this not be the case, according to her, where there is serious risk to the childs life or welfare.

Schools are not acceptable locations for strip searches; instead, police offices, hospitals, or the childs home address should be used.

Annual reports from officers on searches include information about ethnicity, whether a suitable adult was present, the location, and whether a recommendation for safeguarding was made.

According to a spokesperson, the Home Office takes kid protection very seriously.

The spokesperson stated that strip searches are one of the most intrusive powers available to the police.

There are safeguards in place to prevent strip searches based on race or ethnicity, the statement reads.

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Geneva: UN-backed human rights experts said Monday there is evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed against Libyans and migrants in chaos-stricken Libya, including women being forced into sexual slavery.

The investigators commissioned by the UN-backed Human Rights Council also faulted the European Union for sending support to Libyan forces that they say contributed to crimes against migrants and Libyans, and called on EU authorities to review their policies toward Libya.

The findings come in an extensive new report, based on interviews with hundreds of people, including migrants and witnesses, that wraps up a fact-finding mission created nearly three years ago to investigate rights violations and abuses in the North African country. The mission shared its findings with the International Criminal Court.

Oil-rich but largely lawless Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better quality of life in Europe. Activists have long decried horrible conditions faced by migrants who were trafficked and smuggled across the Mediterranean.

Spokespersons for the government in the capital of Tripoli, which works in western Libya, and the forces of a powerful commander that controls eastern and southern Libya, were not immediately available for comment.

The investigators found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity were committed against Libyans and migrants throughout Libya, said Mohamed Auajjar, the head of the fact-finding mission. Speaking in Arabic through a translator at a news conference in Geneva, he said his team unearthed numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, torture, rape, enslavement, sexual enslavement and enforced disappearance.

The Libyan coast guard, which has received training and equipment from the EU, has worked in close coordination with trafficking networks in Libya, the report said. The wide-scale exploitation of vulnerable, irregular migrants churned up significant revenue that spurred continued rights violations, it said.

The support given by the EU to the Libyan coast guard in terms of pull-backs, pushbacks, (and) interceptions led to violations of certain human rights, said investigator Chaloka Beyani. You cant push back people to areas that are unsafe, and the Libyan waters are unsafe for the embarkation of migrants.

He said the European bloc and its member states werent found to be responsible for war crimes, but the support given has aided and abetted the commission of the crimes.

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told reporters Monday that the EU did not fund the Libyan coast guard nor any other entity in Libya, adding that the EU assistance was meant to improve their performance.

We are providing assistance to help them improve their performance when it comes to search and rescue, be it with vessels, be it with equipment, or previously training with a focus exactly on human rights, he said.

The investigators documented enslavement, rape  at times at gunpoint  and other sexual abuse against women and men, including by guards working both for state authorities and trafficking groups.

Investigators cited evidence of crimes against humanity in prisons in parts of eastern Libya controlled by forces of commander Khalifa Hifter, as well as in areas controlled by an umbrella group of militias led by Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, an infamous warlord known as Gheniwa in the capital, Tripoli.

The UN migration agency, in its latest report published in mid-March, tallied nearly 700,000 migrants with 42 nationalities in Libya as of the end of last year. The investigators said the situation of human rights has been getting worse.

The missions mandate is ending when the human rights situation in Libya is deteriorating, parallel State authorities are emerging, and the legislative, executive and security sector reforms needed to uphold the rule of law and unify the country are far from being realized, it said.

Libya was plunged into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed, and left the country divided between rival governments on the east and west. The United Nations has been struggling to try to shepherd the country toward new elections.

The International Criminal Court has an ongoing investigation in Libya that was originally called for by the UN Security Council during the upheaval that led to Gadhafis ouster. In November, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said his office had joined a coalition of nations investigating human trafficking in the country.

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United Nations: The UN Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the UN Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The US deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a UN probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on 26 September.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing US and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the US.

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Nashville (US): A 28-year-old woman shot dead three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, before police killed her.

The woman had at least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, police said.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10:13 a.m. of a shooter at The Covenant School, which teaches children up to sixth grade (around 12 years old). Officers could hear gunfire coming from the schools second floor, Don Aaron, a police spokesperson, told reporters.

Two officers from a five-member team shot at her in what Aaron described as a lobby area and she was dead by 10:27 a.m..

The police department response was swift, Aaron said. Police later said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, having earlier said she appeared to be a teenager, but have not publicly identified her.

Deadly mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States, but a female attacker is highly unusual. Only four of the 191 mass shootings since 1966 cataloged by The Violence Project, a nonprofit research center, were carried out by a female attacker.

U.S. President Joe Biden wants Congress to do more to stem gun violence and will address the shooting in remarks later on Monday, the White House said.

Three students were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt with gunshot wounds, John Howser, a hospital spokesperson, said in a statement. Three adult staff members were killed by the shooter, police said.

Besides the deceased, no one else was shot, Aaron said.

Students parents were told to gather at a nearby church.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the schools website. The school serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed sympathy for the victims and wrote on social media that his city joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.

There have been 89 school shootings  defined as anytime a gun is discharged on school property  in the U.S. so far in 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website founded by researcher David Riedman. Last year saw 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970.

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Washington: The United States government has condemned recent violent incidents that have taken place during protests at Indian diplomatic facilities in the US, while also terming that violence, or the threat of violence is never an acceptable form of protest and is of grave concern.

The response from the US Department of State comes after the pro-Khalistan supporters in the US threatened the Indian embassy and Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu during their protest on Saturday.

On Saturday, Pro-Khalistan supporters in the US threatened the Indian embassy and Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu during their protest. While rallying outside the mission, a protestor in his speech made a direct threat to the Ambassador that the hypocrisy will come to an end and that the Ambassador could face a similar fate to what former president of India Zail Singh faced back in 1994.

Violence or the threat of violence against diplomatic facilities and personnel in the United States is a grave concern and will not be tolerated, US Department of State spokesperson told ANI.

Multiple incidents of protests by supporters of Khalistan have been staged outside the Indian embassy and the San Francisco Consulate. Earlier this week, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was also attacked on 20 March.

Recently a video surfaced on social media in which pro-Khalistani protestors gathered at the consulate in San Francisco, shouting slogans in support of Amritpal and heckling staff as they abandoned the diplomatic mission.

The United States government condemns recent violent incidents that have taken place during protests at Indian diplomatic facilities in the United States, the Spokesperson further added.

The Department supports the First Amendment rights of protestors in the United States to engage in free speech. However, violence, or the threat of violence is never an acceptable form of protest, the spokesperson further said.

The State Department and the local law enforcement agencies are in touch with local law enforcement on the next steps in this matter. India too lodged a strong protest with the US Charge dAffaires in Delhi over the incident of vandalism at the Consulate General in San Francisco. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said the US government was asked to take appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents that took place earlier this month.

The US Department of State spokesperson termed that violence or the threat of violence against diplomatic facilities and personnel in the US a grave concern.

Violence or the threat of violence against diplomatic facilities and personnel in the United States is a grave concern and will not be tolerated, the spokesperson said.

The US Department of State spokesperson further said, Consistent with our Vienna Convention obligations, the Department is committed to taking all appropriate steps, including coordination with federal and state law enforcement authorities, to protect the safety and security of these facilities and the diplomats who work within them.

When asked about journalists being abused by Khalistani supporters, the US Department of State spokesperson said, attacks against journalists are never acceptable. We condemn any incidence of violence against a member of the media for doing their job, and any act of vandalism against diplomatic facilities.

A Washington DC-based Indian journalist was physically attacked and verbally abused by Khalistan supporters in Washington while covering a pro-Khalistan protest outside the Indian Embassy on Saturday afternoon. The Indian embassy in the US has condemned the incident.

Condemning the incident, the Indian embassy said in a statement, We condemn such a grave and unwarranted attack on a senior journalist. Such activities only underscore the violent and anti-social tendencies of the so-called Khalistani protestors and their supporters, who routinely engage in wanton violence and vandalism.

Hundreds of Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in the United States. The protesters included turbaned men of all ages who raised pro-Khalistan slogans. They came in from different parts of the DC-Maryland-Virginia (DMV) area and Philadelphia. The organisers used mics to make anti-India speeches both in English and Punjabi and targeted the Punjab Police for alleged human rights violations.

Visuals shared online show a huge mob brandishing Khalistan flags mounted on wooden poles, using them to smash glass doors and windows of the consulate building. The United States strongly condemned the attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco by a group of separatist Sikhs, terming it absolutely unacceptable.

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Jerusalem: Israeli Police forces stormed into the sacred al-Aqsa mosque and forced Palestinians out. The incident was reported on the fourth day of the Holy month of Ramzan.

According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, Palestinians had barricaded themselves inside the al-Aqsa mosque on Saturday night. Police entered the mosque after receiving information that some of the Muslim men and women who had barricaded themselves inside were planning to conduct riots during the dawn (Fajr) prayers and while Jewish visitors were schedule to tour the mosque.

Video of the incident that has now gone viral on social media shows Israeli soldiers and extremist illegal settlers barged into the mosque and forcing Muslim men and women out of the mosque.

Those inside the mosque were seen paying and chanting Allahu Akbar and screaming at cops as they removed them from the building as well as the complex.

lsraeli forces are storming Al Aqsa Mosque, attacking and forcing all Palestinian worshippers out.

pic.twitter.com/aPu6uJELgW  Muhammad Smiry  (@MuhammadSmiry) March 25, 2023

As per reports, at least two Palestinians were arrested from the spot on Sunday morning.

The latest violence was reported after the Israeli police approved the storming of al-Aqsa at the instruction of far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

On the first day of Ramzan on Thursday, almost 300 extremists raided the compound.

On Monday, Israel announced a host of restrictions on Palestinians during the holy month of Ramadan with regard to entering al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel has imposed a "limited quota" for women aged 50 and over, and men aged 55 or above, from Sunday to Thursday, to enter the mosque.

Over the past few months, tension has escalated across the occupied West Bank amid repeated Israeli military raids into Palestinian towns.

According to Palestinian figures, around 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the beginning of this year. Fourteen Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.

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Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday told the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was not possible to restore safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with Russia still in control.

Zelenskyy and Rafael Grossi met in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia ahead of the IAEA chiefs visit to the nuclear power plant.

Europes largest nuclear power plant was captured by Russia a year ago.

Grossi will be travelling to the nuclear plant for the second time since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and adjacent territory, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure, Zelenskyy told Grossi, according to a statement from the presidency.

Their meeting took place on the territory of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant, which has been damaged by Russian strikes.

Zelenskyy told Grossi that staff at the Zaporizhzhia plant were under constant pressure and added that the Russians did not comply with safety rules and interfered in the plants operations.

Grossi is expected to visit the nuclear plant later this week.

I met Zelenskyy today in Zaporizhzhia City and had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhia NPP (nuclear power plant) and its staff, he said on Twitter earlier Monday.

I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraines nuclear facilities, he said.

Earlier on Monday, Zelenskyy said he visited Ukrainian military positions in the region of Zaporizhzhia.

I am honoured to be here today, next to our military, Zelensky said on social media, posting a video of himself and Ukrainian servicemen.

We will definitely win.

During the trip, the Ukrainian president visited a local command post, decorated policemen and servicemen and inspected buildings damaged by Russian forces, the presidency said in a statement.

Zelenskyys visit to Zaporizhzhia came after he visited the southern region of Kherson last week as well as military positions in the eastern Donetsk region.

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I can relate to this, I also have a 72 250 that I have had since high school and have kept it for 34 years and finaly decided to sell it as it just sits there. I got it out and started it and then drove it around the block to see what I would have to fix before selling it and the test drive changed my mind and I am now going to build it and keep it.

As Turbo Dog said "don't give up" when it is not your primary vehicle it is easy to let it go. I am putting it in the garage today and start the teardown this way it is right in my way and taking up the garage and more motivation. Good luck with it.
The Lebanon Police Department has arrested a man accused of sexually abusing two minors in Linn County over 10 years ago.

Officers arrested Hector Miguel Lopez-Nunez, 38, on suspicion of multiple sex crimes.

According to court documents, Lopez-Nunez sexually abused two minor victims under the ages of 12. The alleged crimes are said to have occurred during multiple incidents between 2008 and 2010.

Lopez-Nunez is scheduled to be arraigned in Linn County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon, March 27 on four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration.
Jessica Israel of Sherwood has taken her story to the Oregon Legislature, which she hopes will further tighten the states cap on annual rent increases  the latest battleground between tenants and landlords during this session.

The Senate Committee on Housing and Development already received hundreds of statements for and against Senate Bill 611 in advance of a public hearing Monday and a scheduled work session Wednesday. (During a work session, which is a public proceeding, lawmakers may amend and act on legislation  but they cannot accept new testimony.)

The bill proposes to change the annual cap that lawmakers approved in 2019. The current cap is the change in the Consumer Price Index plus 7%, as calculated by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, which came up with a permitted annual maximum increase of 14.6% for 2023. The bill proposes a new maximum of 8%, or the Consumer Price Index plus 3%, whichever is less. The current cap does not apply to buildings less than 15 years old, but the bill proposes to lower it to just three years.

Israel discussed her familys plight at a pre-hearing briefing sponsored by the Community Alliance of Tenants, part of the Stable Homes for Oregon Families coalition of more than 30 organizations.

The passage of this bill may happen too late to help my family, Israel said. But we are calling on lawmakers to support this bill to stabilize all rents in Oregon. It may not fix every issue, but it will keep more people in their homes.

Her residence is in Cannery Row Apartments in Old Town Sherwood, which records show was purchased last fall by SR Watt Co., based in California, and property management assumed by Cushman and Wakefield.

Israel said her family got a notice three months later, as set by state law, that monthly rent would be increased by 32%, or $560 per month, and could go up by as much as 50% per month in lieu of a lease.

She has a child, she has non-Hodgkins lymphoma  a type of cancer that affects the bodys ability to fight disease  and her husband was injured during the coronavirus pandemic.

How can that 32% be allowed as a rent increase? We were horrified, she said. We are now being priced out of the area, and pretty much out of the state as a whole.

We do not know what we are going to do, she added. It is unconscionable to think that people can afford to pay that much extra per month. They are not pretending that this is due to increased costs or planned upgrades. They simply say it is the market rate.

The companies did not respond to inquiries.

Two-bill effort

Senate Bill 611 was one of two put forth by Stable Homes for Oregon Families, which also advocated legislation (Senate Bill 799) that would have reinstated a pandemic-era requirement for a 60-day eviction notice from landlords, based on nonpayment of rent, if tenants have filed official applications for rental assistance. It also proposed to extend the actual period for evictions from three to 10 days. Landlords also opposed that bill, which the committee considered back on Jan. 30.

The Senate committee ended up increasing the permitted eviction period from three to 10 days and it was inserted into broader housing policy legislation (House Bill 2001) that now has cleared both chambers of the Legislature and awaits the signature of Gov. Tina Kotek. The Stable Homes coalition supported it, and Multifamily NW, which represents owners and managers to 275,000 rental units statewide, ended up taking no position.

As with the earlier legislation, Senate Bill 611 already has drawn a host of statements in opposition from individual landlords and Multifamily NW, which submitted a letter containing statistics to bolster its argument that any form of rent control does not achieve what its advocates seek.

The letter was submitted by its deputy executive director, Gary Fisher, who concluded:

In summary, the facts show that rent control is at best a thin Band-Aid that will not ultimately benefit Oregonians. It is imperative that we refocus on the root causes of housing instability... Multifamily NW is eager to move beyond this well-intended but highly impractical proposal and continue to work with this committee to improve rental housing outcomes across the state.

In a statement it issued after the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis announced the 2023 maximum cap, Multifamily NW downplayed its potential effects, saying that most rental owners seek to keep their units occupied, not empty them. A spokesman suggested then that lawmakers should revisit the 2019 law  although one of the chief sponsors of Senate Bill 608 back then was Kotek, then the House speaker.

But Kim McCarty, executive director of the Community Alliance of Tenants, said thats not the case for every housing provider.

The annual increase  sent shock waves through Oregon, even as many hoped that landlords would not be so cruel as to invoke it, she said. That hope has been dashed as reports of extreme predatory rent increases have been coming from across the state. We know that tenants across this state are in crisis  and that many are one rent increase away from losing their homes.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
kacylee at 27-03-2023 09:30 PM (3 weeks ago) (f)

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has demanded the immediate release of a Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo who was detained in prison by a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja for alleged defamation against Mrs Elizabeth Ayade, Governor Ben Ayades in-law.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has demanded the immediate release of a Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo who was detained in prison by a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja for alleged defamation against Mrs Elizabeth Ayade, Governor Ben Ayades in-law.

The group made this demand via a tweet made on Monday afternoon saying, Nigerian authorities must immediately release journalist Agba Jalingo who has been reportedly remanded at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Kuje, for allegedly publishing an article that was deemed insulting to Mrs Elizabeth Ayade, Governor Ben Ayades in-law.





The Federal High Court denied Jalingo the chance to apply for bail in a defamatory trial filed against him by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.



Jalingo was accused of defaming Elizabeth Ayade, the wife of Frank Ayade, who is a brother of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade.



It was gathered that the journalist was denied the chance to exercise his constitutional right to request bail during the continuation of the trial in a ruling delivered by Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar on Monday morning.





The constitutional right to bail is ingrained in the trite law that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. This right is guaranteed under Sections 35 and 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).



SaharaReporters observed that the judge was hostile to Jalingos lawyers, denying them the opportunity to stand down the case for 30 minutes in order to give the lead lawyer, Marshal Abubakar an opportunity to file an application for bail.



When Marshal arrived, she denied him the opportunity to participate in the hearing



She then ordered that Agba Jalingo should be arraigned in the dock and be read his one-count charge. The judge thereafter sent him to Kuje prison until Thursday.



The police in August 2022 arrested Jalingo after hours of laying siege to his Lagos residence for allegedly defaming the character of Elizabeth.



According to a court document obtained by SaharaReporters and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, 2022, the police claimed the publication by the journalist against Elizabeth was false and was released for the purpose of causing her annoyance, ill will, and insult.



BREAKING: Nigerian authorities must immediately release journalist Agba Jalingo who has been reportedly remanded at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Kuje, for allegedly publishing an article that was deemed insulting to Mrs Elizabeth Ayade, Governor Ben Ayades in-law.  SERAP (@SERAPNigeria) March 27, 2023 The group made this demand via a tweet made on Monday afternoon saying, Nigerian authorities must immediately release journalist Agba Jalingo who has been reportedly remanded at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Kuje, for allegedly publishing an article that was deemed insulting to Mrs Elizabeth Ayade, Governor Ben Ayades in-law.The Federal High Court denied Jalingo the chance to apply for bail in a defamatory trial filed against him by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.Jalingo was accused of defaming Elizabeth Ayade, the wife of Frank Ayade, who is a brother of Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade.It was gathered that the journalist was denied the chance to exercise his constitutional right to request bail during the continuation of the trial in a ruling delivered by Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar on Monday morning.The constitutional right to bail is ingrained in the trite law that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. This right is guaranteed under Sections 35 and 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).SaharaReporters observed that the judge was hostile to Jalingos lawyers, denying them the opportunity to stand down the case for 30 minutes in order to give the lead lawyer, Marshal Abubakar an opportunity to file an application for bail.When Marshal arrived, she denied him the opportunity to participate in the hearingShe then ordered that Agba Jalingo should be arraigned in the dock and be read his one-count charge. The judge thereafter sent him to Kuje prison until Thursday.The police in August 2022 arrested Jalingo after hours of laying siege to his Lagos residence for allegedly defaming the character of Elizabeth.According to a court document obtained by SaharaReporters and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, 2022, the police claimed the publication by the journalist against Elizabeth was false and was released for the purpose of causing her annoyance, ill will, and insult.

Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 27-03-2023 09:30 PM (3 weeks ago) | Addicted Hero
White House: Biden committed to keeping US occupation troops in Syria

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 7:03 PM

The White House has said that US President Joe Biden is committed to keeping American occupation troops in Syria in the wake of multiple air strikes in the eastern parts of the Arab country.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday, "We're going to always act to defend our troops and our facilities."

Kirby added that Biden is "absolutely" committed to keeping American troops in Syria, where they are occupying the territory against international law, violating the country's sovereignty.

"Here's what's not gonna change ... the mission in ISIS is not gonna change," Kirby said. "We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical."

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said the strikes in Syria against the positions of resistance fighters were carried out at the direction of Biden and targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

However, local sources pointed out that the target was not an Iran-aligned military post as the US military claimed, but rather a rural development center and a grain center in Hrabash neighborhood, near Dayr al-Zawr military airport. No Iranian was killed in the act of aggression.

A military source in Syria told Press TV that the resistance groups reserve their right to respond to the American attack and will take reciprocal action.

On Friday, after the Pentagon carried out multiple airstrikes against Syrian troops, a military base housing US forces in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr came under a rocket attack.

Local sources reported that the rockets landed in the vicinity of the US-controlled al-Omar oil field at around 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT), causing several explosions.

On Saturday, Iran's Arabic-language al-Alam television news network reported that more than 20 rockets had been fired against two illegal bases belonging to American occupation forces in eastern Syria.

Kirby on Sunday said Biden acted "swiftly and boldly," saying additional US action has not been ruled out.

"I'm certainly not going to rule out the potential for additional US action if the president deems it appropriate and necessary to continue to protect our troops and our facilities," Kirby said. "We're going to keep at that and that message is sent loud and clear."

"And we demonstrated here this week, that the United States will always act decisively to protect our people," he added.

Syria condemned in the strongest terms the United States military for carrying out the air strikes, saying the raids are a cover-up for Washington's ferocious attempts to further plunder energy resources there.

Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates made the remarks in a statement on Saturday, after the US conducted airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, blaming Damascus for a drone attack that purportedly killed an American contractor, wounded another, and also hurt five US troops.

The statement denounced the brutal attack launched by the US forces against some areas in Dayr al-Zawr province, which claimed the lives of a number of people, left several others injured, and caused property damage in the targeted regions.

The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of the Daesh terrorists.

Damascus, however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country's natural resources. Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.

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Iraqi group claims responsibility for US base attack in Syria

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 4:25 PM

An Iraqi group has taken responsibility for a recent drone attack targeting a US-occupied base in northeastern Syria, which resulted in the death of an American contractor and injuries to at least five troops.

In a statement on Sunday, Liwa al-Ghaliboun said the group succeeded in conducting the operation on Thursday in legitimate response to brutal and terrorist crimes committed by the American occupation forces in the country and elsewhere in the region.

It warned of more precise operations using continuously developing weapons against the American occupying forces until their complete withdrawal from their country.

Americans will never feel safe in Iraq and beyond until their full withdrawal from the country, the group warned.

The Pentagon stated that a base near Hasakah in northeast Syria was targeted at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time (1038 GMT) on Thursday.

US warplanes subsequently launched several strikes on the eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr, targeting the positions of resistance fighters.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said the strikes were carried out at the direction of President Joe Biden, claiming that they targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

However, local sources pointed out that the target was not an Iran-aligned military post, but rather, a rural development center and a grain center in Hrabash neighborhood, near Dayr al-Zawr military airport. No Iranian was killed in the act of aggression.

In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the US strikes, saying the raids are a cover-up for Washington's ferocious attempts to further plunder energy resources there.

An Iranian official on Saturday rejected US allegations that Tehran was involved in the attack on American forces, saying the US is trying to divert attention from its illegal occupation of Syria.

Keyvan Khosravi, the spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), warned that the Islamic Republic will give a prompt response to any pretext for an attack on bases inside Syria established at the Syrian government's request for the purpose of fighting terrorism.

Attacks on US-occupied bases in Syria have been on the rise as Washington has made it clear that it has no intention of putting an end to its illegal occupation of the Arab country.

The US claims its presence in Syria aims to fight the Daesh terrorist group. The Damascus government, however, maintains that Washington has been supporting the terrorist group in order to prolong its occupation of Syria and looting of Syrian natural resources.

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GCC condemns Israeli minister's controversial remarks about Palestinians

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 2:22 PM

The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has condemned the recent controversial comments by a far-right Israeli minister about Palestinians, calling on the United States to respond to statements that target the Palestinian people.

The six-member GCC's foreign ministers sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, after Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich denied the existence of the Palestinian people last week.

The GCC urged Washington "to assume its responsibilities in responding to all measures and statements that target the Palestinian people."

It also called on the US "to play its role in reaching a just, comprehensive and lasting solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The GCC's foreign ministers further stressed that the letter expresses the position of the leaders of the member countries of the council with regard to the Palestinian cause, which is the Muslim world's main issue.

The GCC is a union of six countries in the Persian Gulf region including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.

Speaking in Paris last Sunday, Smotrich claimed that there was "no such thing as a Palestinian people," or Palestinian history or culture.

He said Palestinians are "an invention of the past century," adding that "There are no Palestinians because there are no Palestinian people."

Smotrich's remarks sparked outrage among Muslim nations, with Palestinian officials denouncing his comments as evidence of the Israeli cabinet's "racist ideology."

On Tuesday, the US also joined the condemnation of the Zionist minister for denying the existence of Palestinians, calling his remarks "dangerous."

"We found those comments to not only be inaccurate but also deeply concerning and dangerous," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.

Smotrich has a history of making such provocative remarks against Palestinians.

In February, he called for the Palestinian town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank to be wiped out.

The remarks emboldened hundreds of Israeli settlers to attack Palestinian homes and cars in the town. One Palestinian was killed and hundreds more injured as a result.

In the letter, the GCC also denounced Smotrich's comments about Huwara.

Israeli settlers and troops have escalated attacks on Palestinians since late December 2022, when Netanyahu staged a comeback as the regime's prime minister at the head of a cabinet of far-right and extremist parties.

Since the start of this year, at least 88 Palestinians, including 17 children and one woman, have been killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

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In Authoritarian Turkmenistan, Polls Close In Vote For Freshly Demoted Parliament

By RFE/RL's Turkmen Service March 26, 2023

Polling stations have closed in Turkmenistan in a vote for all 125 members of a newly unicameral national legislature with diminished powers in the authoritarian Central Asian country.

The parliament is expected to mostly rubber-stamp moves initiated by "national leader" Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in an unelected Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) and his presidential successor and son, Serdar Berdymukhammedov.

The elections on March 26 also included local and provincial assemblies.

The country's Central Election Commission said after the polls closed that 91.1 percent of registered voters had cast ballots.

The elder Berdymukhammedov has spent years further quashing dissent and independent media in the gas-rich country of around 6 million people after taking over controversially following the death of the country's first post-independence dictator, "President-for-life" Saparmurat Niyazov.

For years, critics have warned that 65-year-old Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's moves were made to secure his lifetime leadership and the succession of presidency to his son and grandchildren.

None of Turkmenistan's elections has been regarded as free or fair since its exit from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has sent a small election-assessment mission for the March 26 balloting but said it "will not carry out systematic or comprehensive observation of the voting [or] counting and tabulation on election day."

Its members planned to "visit a small number of polling stations on the day," it said.

Turkmenistan's bicameral National Council voted in January to convert the upper house into a People's Council of appointees with the elder Berdymukhammedov in charge and broad prerogatives.

The reform was proposed by the elder Berdymukhammedov around 10 months after handing the presidency to his son and less than two years after he created the upper house.

Under the hastily imposed reforms, the People's Council is the "supreme power" with authority to change the constitution and is separate from the legislature.

Its powers extend to domestic and foreign policy.

Voting was also planned near Turkmenistan's diplomatic missions abroad.

Nearly 15,000 candidates were nominated and registered for the elections across the country.

Two hundred and fifty-eight were competing for the national parliament, or Mejlis.

Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has continued to meet with foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, since passing the presidency to Serdar Berdymukhammedov.

The Turkmen economy is heavily dependent on China, Russia, and Iran.

Reporters Without Borders ranks only Iran, Eritrea, and North Korea worse than Turkmenistan on press freedoms.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-parliament- elections/32334759.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Kirby Says Attackers of US Base in Syria Knew Nothing About Not Fully Operational Defense

Sputnik News

20230326

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - There is no indication that the attackers of a US base in Syria's northeastern province of Al-Hasakah were aware of not fully operational air defense system, US National Security Council Special Communications Coordinator John Kirby said on Sunday.

On Friday, US media reported that the US was investigating the reason why its air defense system was not fully operational during a strike on its base in Syria.

"We've seen no indication that they had ... that kind of knowledge. And in the past, on some of these other attacks, I mean, they have used similar capabilities to go after our troops and our facilities there in Syria. So there's no indication that they would have had knowledge of that," Kirby told the US broadcaster.

On Thursday, a drone of presumably Iranian origin attacked a maintenance facility at the base in Syria's Al-Hasakah province, killing a US contractor and injuring six others, according to the US Department of Defense.

On Friday, in response to the drone attack, the US military carried out airstrikes on facilities belonging to groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

The US military controls parts of the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa, Aleppo and Deir Ez-Zor, where the largest Syrian oil and gas fields are located. The Syrian government has repeatedly called the US military presence in the provinces an occupation aimed at stealing Syria's oil.

 Sputnik

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Iraqi Militia Claims Responsibility for Attack on US Syria Base Which Sparked Deadly Strikes

Sputnik News

20230326

Ilya Tsukanov

US forces in Syria were hit in back-to-back drone and rocket attacks on Thursday and Friday, with the strikes killing a contractor and injuring up to six US service members. The first attack prompted US retaliatory strikes against so-called 'Iran-backed facilities' which turned out to be a rural development center and grain building.

An Iraqi militia group operating in Syria known as the Al-Ghaliboun Brigade (lit. 'The Conquerors' Brigade) has claimed responsibility for Thursday's deadly drone attack on a US base, issuing a statement saying that the operation was a response to US "brutal and terrorist crimes" in Iraq and across the Middle East.

"Our operation and other operations that will follow, God willing, come in the context of the natural and legitimate response to the crime of targeting the leaders of Victory and their comrades, in addition to the brutal and terrorist crimes committed by the American occupation forces in our country and our region. The leadership of the al-Ghaliboun Brigade is determined to carry out more precision operations against American occupation forces using weapons which are constantly evolving, and the Americans will not ensure security either in Iraq or outside of it until the full withdrawal of their forces," the statement, released Sunday, said.

The statement comes in the wake of the Thursday morning drone attack on a US base in northeastern Syria, which killed a contractor and injured five American troops. The Pentagon responded by launching airstrikes against facilities in northeastern Syria purportedly affiliated with Iran. However, local sources cited by Iranian media indicated that US forces hit a rural development center and a grain facility in a neighborhood near Deir ez-Zor's military airport, with no Iranian nationals killed in the attacks. US media claimed about a dozen or more 'pro-Iranian fighters' were killed.

In the wake of US strikes, President Biden warned that Washington would continue to "act forcefully to protect our people" in Syria against "Iranian-backed" militias. "And we're going to continue to keep up our efforts to counter terrorist threats in the region," he said.

The warning apparently failed to reach its intended audience, with another US service member reportedly injured after fighters fired rockets at US garrisons near the large Conoco gas field and the al-Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives voted down a resolution put forward by Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to pull US troops out of Syria, with the lawmaker and his fellow pro-Trump Freedom Caucus Republicans getting a rare show of support from the Democrats' Congressional Progressive Caucus, resulting in more than 100 lawmakers voting in favor of the bill.

Syrian authorities have repeatedly demanded that all uninvited foreign forces be removed from its territory, and have accused Washington of acting like "pirates" by occupying large swathes of the war-torn country and plundering its energy and food resources.

 Sputnik

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EAC Mission in DR Congo Extended, Mandate to Be Reviewed

Sputnik News

20230326

Gleg Chugunov

Against the backdrop of the deteriorating situation in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where more than 120 armed factions, including the March 23 Movement (M23), currently operate, the East African Community (EAC) created a regional force (EACRF) last summer to ensure peace and security in the country.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has agreed to preserve the East African Community Regional Force in the country, with the terms of the mission to be rearranged.

East African Community member states and the chiefs of their defense forces met in Bujumbura to review the EACRF's activities six months after the deployment decision was made.

At the meeting in Burundi, it was decided that Peter Mathuki, secretary-general of the EAC, would officially apply to Kinshasa with a request to extend the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA), which has expired.

In accordance with SOFA, countries participating in the program are able to fully deploy their troops in the eastern parts of the DRC in order to bring an end to the conflict in the region.

Burundi and Kenya have already deployed their forces, while South Sudan and Uganda have announced their intention to send 750 and 1,000 troops respectively, reports say.

More than 120 armed groups operate in major parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the March 23 Movement (M23), which launched an offensive against the country's government in the fall of 2022, seizing much of the country's territory.

In order to hinder the conflict in the eastern part of the DRC, in June 2022, the leaders of East African nations agreed to establish a regional armed force in the DRC with participants such as Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan.

 Sputnik

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AFIMSC releases 2023 strategic plan

Published March 26, 2023

By Shannon Carabajal

Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Public Affairs

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) -- The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center recently released its updated strategy, adding a new focus area and synchronizing efforts across the center to enable better delivery of combat power and installation support.

"Our installations are the vital power projection platforms that enable our forces and weapons systems to fight from anywhere in the world," said Maj. Gen. John Allen, AFIMSC commander, in the plan forward. "Throughout this update to our strategic plan, we outline what we're doing to support Airmen, Guardians and the installations they fight from to ensure we're able to fly, fight and win."

The new major focus area, or line of effort, added for 2023 is "Amplify Warfighter Culture." The LOE aims to educate and train installation and mission support Airmen about their roles in long-term strategic power competitions and the part their missions play in ensuring U.S. success.

"Through the goals and objectives we're pursuing for LOE 4 (Amplify Warfighter Culture), our global team will better understand how AFIMSC supports warfighters' needs and counters adversary threats, now and in the future," said Col. Kelly Sams, AFIMSC vice commander.

In addition to the new LOE, the strategy includes updated goals and objectives that directly link to the National Defense Strategy, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall's Operational Imperatives, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr.'s Accelerate Change or Lose initiative, and the Air Force Materiel Command's strategic lines of effort.

"Our work today is more important than ever with the nation facing growing competition from China, as it continues to develop and field advanced capabilities that threaten our country's strategic interests and values," Allen said. I'm confident this strategy will continue to guide our operations as we conduct our diverse missions across the Department of the Air Force in lock step with our national priorities.

"I'm looking forward to a successful year ahead and send the AFIMSC team's thanks to our Air Force and Space Force customers for their partnership in our collaborative mission operations."

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Taliban Disrupt Women's Protest of Education Ban

By Ayaz Gul March 26, 2023

A small group of female activists staged a protest rally in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Sunday, demanding that Taliban authorities reopen schools and universities for girls nationwide.

Protesters marched through the city's western Pol-e Sokhta neighborhood before being forcefully dispersed by Taliban security forces.

Around 25 women and girls attended the demonstration, carrying placards and chanting slogans "freedom, work, education," "wise mother strong nation," and "education is our right," organizers said.

Secondary schools for boys reopened this past week across the country after winter break, but the Taliban did not allow girls to return to classes despite international denunciation of the education ban and calls for lifting it.

The Taliban closed secondary schools for teenage girls since taking control of Afghanistan in 2021. Last December, they barred female students from attending universities, making Afghanistan the only country where women cannot receive an education.

The hardline rulers recently also banned female employees of nongovernmental organizations from workplaces after restricting most women government employees from returning to work.

Catherine Russell, the UNICEF executive director, in a statement at the start of the new school year last week, urged the Taliban to allow all girls to resume classes with immediate effect, saying excluding them from learning will have far-reaching consequences for the country's already turbulent economy and health system.

"This unjustified and shortsighted decision has crushed the hopes and dreams of more than 1 million girls and marks another grim milestone in the steady erosion of girls' and women's rights nationwide," Russell said. "Girls across Afghanistan have been denied their right to learn for over three years - first, due to COVID-19, and then because of the ban on attending secondary school."

UNICEF tweeted a video Sunday underscoring the importance of educating Afghan girls. It shows 15-year-old Zahra lamenting she would have been in the 10th grade this year if schools were open.

"If schools do not open, then I will not have any hope for life," she said. "I cannot achieve my dream of becoming a doctor, and I am deprived of my right to education."

"Nowadays, I am hopeless. I cannot achieve my dream of becoming a doctor and I am deprived of my right to education."Zahra would have been in 10th grade this year. But for the third year in a row, girls like her cannot attend secondary school in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/EinBvUX3Xq

 UNICEF Afghanistan (@UNICEFAfg) March 26, 2023

Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan official and political commentator, said the Taliban's refusal to respect women's right to education had discouraged major donors and partners of Afghanistan.

"More and more families are considering immigrating out of the country. While the Taliban deprive girls of getting an education, the message from Islamic countries and Afghanistan's neighbors has been clear: we can't recognize your government," Farhadi said.

The Taliban have implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law. They defend their governance, saying it is in line with Afghan culture and religious beliefs. Many Afghans and scholars in the rest of the Islamic world dispute the claims, however.

The former insurgent group seized power in August 2021 as the United States and NATO troops departed the country, but the world has not formally recognized the legitimacy of the de facto rulers over human rights concerns, especially the treatment of women.

The Taliban previously controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 when women's access to education and work was entirely banned.

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Situation in Central African Republic Worrisome, Research Group Says

By Mariama Diallo March 26, 2023

Nearly two hundred people demonstrated this week in support of Russia and China in the Central African Republic after nine Chinese workers were killed by gunmen in an attack.

The CAR is one of Africa's poorest countries and has been battling rebel groups for a decade.

Without evidence, the CAR government blamed rebels for the killings. But the rebels are pointing the finger at Russia's Wagner group, which has been deployed in the capital Bangui since 2018 to protect the CAR government.

At the demonstrations that took place in Bangui Wednesday inscriptions on banners ranged from "Support for China" to "Russia is Wagner, we love Russia. We love Wagner."

The show of support follows the killing of nine Chinese employees Sunday in a shooting at the Gold Coast Group gold mine.

Abdoul Asy Babia, a third-year public law student, participated in the protests.

"We stand in solidarity with the embassy and China because China is a great country that has helped the Central African Republic a great deal. We have the example of the Amities ... and the Domicien hospitals."

This iwas not the first time Chinese workers have been killed an attack in the CAR, said Charles Bouessel, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group.

"In 2019 for instance, three Chinese workers were killed in the northwest of the country, he said. "They were lynched by the population, which accused them of not respecting the law. ... This manifestation happened the day after [Russian President] Vladimir Putin met with [Chinese President] Xi Jinping. We see on the international side that China and Russia are allied and the accusations [by the Coalition of Patriots for Change] that Wagner was behind this attack could've harmed the relationship between China and Russia."

Without evidence, Prime Minister Felix Moloua, last Sunday, blamed the attack on the CPC, an alliance of rebel groups.

"The CPC is composed of six of the most powerful armed groups of the country," said Bouessel. "It was created in late 2020 to overthrow the current regime [of President Austin Archange Touadera]. CPC launched an attack in January 2021 but it failed and it brought CPC to reorganize itself. ... Until a few months ago, the CPC leader was Francois Bozize."

But exiled former CAR President Francois Bozize has relocated recently to Guinea Bissau. So, the CPC leadership seems to have shifted, Bouessel told VOA.

"For now, we see the two warlords may be the most important leaders of this coalition right now," he said. It's Noureddine Adam, former leader of SPSC armed group, which is part of the CPC and the other one is Ali Darassa who runs the UPC armed group."

In a statement, the CPC denied being involved in the gold mine attack and accused Russia's Wagner mercenary group of being behind it, also without providing evidence.

Russian paramilitaries were deployed to the CAR in 2018 to fend off an assault on the capital by the CPC.

Abdoulaye Diarra, an Amnesty International researcher based in Dakar, Senegal, told VOA it's difficult to say who's responsible for the killings because of conditions in the area where they took place.

"The Chimboro area is near 25 kilometers from Bambari and this area is at the heart of rivalries for access to resources, in particular gold," he said. In the past, the area was occupied by armed groups belonging to CPC and they use to take illegal taxes from gold miners to help them finance their activities, but since December 2020, they were driven out and the authorities have relative control actually of the gold mine .... Security is not fully restored and you still have some insecurity that remains in this area."

Diarra's team has spoken to residents.

"Local sources told us that the attacks started at 5 am and [lasted] for at least one hour. They don't know who exactly the perpetrators are."

Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi called on Bangui to "severely punish" the killers.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 26 March 2023 - Day 396

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that since the start of March 2023, Russia has likely launched at least 71 Iranian-designed Shahed series one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicle (OWA-UAVS) against targets across Ukraine.

These attacks followed a two-week pause in OWA-UAV attacks in late February 2023. Russia has likely started receiving regular resupplies of small numbers of Shahed OWA-UAVs.

Russia is likely launching Shaheds from two axes: from Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east and from Bryansk Oblast in the north-east. This allows Russia flexibility to target a broad sector of Ukraine and decreases flying time to targets in the north of Ukraine. It is also likely to be a further attempt to stretch Ukrainian air defences.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of March 26, Russian forces launched 1x missile and 16x air strikes, over 10x MLRS attacks.

The likelihood of missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high, as the Russian Federation continues to use its terror tactics.

Russia is focusing its main efforts on the offensive operations on Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Mar'inka axes. Thanks to professional and coordinated actions, Ukrainian defenders repelled more than 50x Russian attacks on these axes.

Volyn, Polissya, Sivershchyna, and Slobozhanshchyna axes: no significant changes in the operational situation, no signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups were found. The units of the armed forces of the of the Russian Federation continue their combat training at the training grounds of the Republic of Belarus. Russia continues to maintain military presence in the border areas of Kursk and Belgorod oblasts (russia). During the day of March 26, Russian forces shelled the vicinities of Novovasylivka, Bachivs'k, Atyns'ke, Volfyne, Myropil's'ke, Pokrovka, Popivka (Sumy oblast), Tymofiivka, Veterynarne, Hraniv, Kozacha Lopan', Hlyboke, Hatyshche, Kolodyazne, Dvorichna, Zapadne, and Kam'yanka (Kharkiv oblast).

Lyman axis: Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensives in the vicinities of settlements of Syn'kivka and Vesele. The Russian invaders fired artillery at the vicinities of Kup'yans'k (Kharkiv oblast), Makiivka, Nevs'ke, Dibrova, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Kolodyazi, Lyman, and Vyimka (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: Russia continues to assault the city of Bakhmut as well as in the vicinity of Ivanivske (Donetsk oblast). The Russian forces shelled the settlements of Vasyukivka, Bondarne, Zaliznyans'ke, Min'kivka, Novomarkove, Hryhorivka, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, Maiors'k, and New York.

Avdiivka and Mar'inka axes: Russia conducted offensive operations towards the settlements of Novokalynove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, Pervomais'ke, and Mar'inka. None of them were successful. Novokalynove, Krasnohorivka, Kam'yanka, Avdiivka, Netaylove, Mar'inka, and Heorhiivka (Donetsk oblast) came under numerous Russian attacks.

Shakhtars'ke axis: during the day of March 26, Russian forces shelled the vicinities of Novomykhailivka, Vuhledar, and Velyka Novosilka (Donetsk oblast).

Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: Russia continues to defend. The occupiers shelled the settlements of Ol'hivs'ke, Malynivka, Hulyaipole, Novodanylivka, Novoandriivka (Zaporizhzhia oblast), Kherson, Zolota Balka, Mykhailivka, Beryslav, Vesele, Kozats'ke, Mykolaivka, L'vove, Antonivka, Blahovishchenske, and Dniprovs'ke (Kherson oblast).

The Russian invaders continue to suffer huge losses. This forces them to set up their hospitals on the territory of civilian medical facilities.

For example, Russian occupation forces use a local civilian hospital in the village of Novovasylivka (Pryazovs'kyi district, Zaporizhzhia oblast) as a military hospital. As of March 25, about 200x wounded russian invaders are being treated there. Civilians are denied access to the medical facility.

During the day of March 26, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 3x air strikes on the concentrations of Russian forces' personnel and military equipment. Missile and artillery units hit 3x Russian concentrations, 1x electronic warfare station, 1x Russian ammunition depot.

Statements of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that as a result of strikes on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about 440 Ukrainian servicemen were destroyed during the day, as well as a large number of enemy military equipment. In the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Kharkiv region, 2 ammunition depots of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and territorial defense were destroyed.

Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile forces and artillery hit 84 artillery units, manpower and equipment of Ukrainian troops in 128 districts.

Fighter aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the DPR shot down a Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force. Air defense systems intercepted 7 shells of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, destroyed 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the DPR, the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Zaporozhye region.

Zaporozhye region

The refusal of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to demilitarize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is a glimmer of common sense, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, believes. According to him, the IAEA is beginning to "sensibly assess the current situation" and stop echoing the instructions from Kyiv and Western countries. The official is sure that with any weakening of the ZNPP security regime, the Armed Forces of Ukraine would have made an attempt to force the Dnieper and capture the station and the city of Energodar.

Adviser to the Director General of Rosatom Renat Karchaa said that on March 29 the visit of the head of the IAEA to the ZNPP and the rotation of inspectors working at the facility should take place.

Kherson region

On the right bank of the Ingulets River near Snigirevka, Ukrainian troops are building long-term defensive lines, said Yury Barbashov, head of the Russian administration of the Snigirevka district. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will try to lure out Russian units in order to meet them on the high bank of the Ingulets. In an attempt to hide the movement of personnel, the Ukrainian security forces regularly turn on the air raid siren to drown out the rumble of equipment.

Residential buildings were damaged as a result of shelling by Ukrainian troops of the village of Aleshki on the left bank of the Dnieper, said the head of the local administration, Georgy Zhuravko.

DPR

During the day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine opened fire on Donetsk, Yasinovataya and Horlivka. As a result of attacks in Gorlovka, a private house was damaged, and the Lenin mine village was partially de-energized.

The head of the DPR government, Vitaly Khotsenko, said that the railway infrastructure and power supply of the seaport of Mariupol had been fully restored. The city is already accepting building materials, which are supplied by water for the repair of facilities in the republic.

LC

During the day, Ukrainian troops opened fire on Lisichansk, firing 3 shells from a 155 mm artillery gun. As a result of the shelling, the building of a multidisciplinary hospital was damaged, as well as 2 residential buildings and a gas pipeline.





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Kenya Reduces Sentence for Two Garissa University Attackers

By Ahmed Hussein March 25, 2023

The prison sentences for two defendants who were convicted in Kenya's Garissa University terror attacks have been lowered by a court.

High Court Justice Cecilia Githua has acquitted Hassan Edin Hassan and Mohamed Abdi Abikar of the crime of being members of the al-Shabab militant group, but she upheld the convictions of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. The action lowers their prison sentences from 41 years to 25-and-a-half years.

Nairobi-based security analyst Richard Tuya says the ruling is a blow in the fight against terrorism.

"The ruling is making terrorism in this country an attractive business because terrorists are rational thinkers who do a cost benefit analysis of their actions, but now, if the punishment is less than the cost, then it's an advantage to them," he said.

In 2019, a lower court had sentenced the duo to 25-and-a-half years for conspiracy to commission and commit a terrorist act and 15-and-a-half years for being members of al-Shabab.

On Friday, while overturning the sentence of being members of al-Shabab, the judge said the prosecution did not present evidence to prove the two terror convicts were members of the militia group.

Tuya says the ruling disregards the families of the 148 victims, however, who were killed in the 2015 attacks at Garissa University.

"To me, I feel like it is a mockery, but now you can't blame the courts because also the court relies on evidence that has been brought before it," he said.

While sentencing the two convicts to 25-and-a-half years in prison, the judge upheld the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution, saying it left no doubt that the two were aware of the attack plan and they were the actual perpetrators of the attack.

In 2015, four gunmen stormed Garissa University and started to shoot randomly, killing 148 people.

The Somali-based militia group al-Shabab later said it was motivated to carry out the attack against Kenya because that country sent its troops to Somalia.

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India Launches 36 OneWeb Satellites Into Orbit: ISRO

Sputnik News

20230326

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday morning launched a heavy lift LVM3 rocket carrying 36 OneWeb communications satellites.

The rocket was launched at 09:00 (03:30 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre located on the southeastern island of Sriharikota. The launch was broadcast by ISRO.

The launch completes the deployment of OneWeb's constellation of more than 600 satellites in orbit that will deliver high-speed internet to every corner of the world. This is the second time OneWeb has used ISRO's services to launch satellites. The first batch of 36 OneWeb satellites was launched into orbit in October 2022 with an Indian rocket.

The OneWeb project is designed to provide high-speed internet access to users across the globe by 2027. In November 2020, OneWeb declared bankruptcy and was sold to the UK government and Indian company Bharti Global.

A Sputnik

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Belarus Freedom Day

Press Statement

Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson

March 25, 2023

Today, we celebrate, along with Belarusians across the world, Belarus Freedom Day. This day highlights the democratic legacy of the first independent Belarusian state, established in 1918 after 150 years of Russian occupation.

Despite the Lukashenka regime's complicity in Russia's war against Ukraine, brave Belarusians continue to stand up for an independent, stable, and democratic future for Belarus. In the face of the Lukashenka regime's brutal and systemic crackdown on all sectors of Belarusian society the Belarusian democratic movement and civil society still courageously push forward for a free Belarus.

Yesterday, the United States took action to hold the Lukashenka regime to account for its human rights abuses against the Belarusian people and for facilitating the Russian Federation's unconscionable war against Ukraine. The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions actions targeting state-owned enterprises and individuals who provide support to the regime's brutality. At the same time, we announced actions to impose visa restrictions on an additional 14 individuals under Presidential Proclamation 8015 for their involvement in undermining democracy.

We are also taking steps to reinforce our support of a democratic Belarus. The U.S. government's intends to launch a comprehensive Strategic Dialogue covering relevant topics of mutual interest with the Belarusian democratic movement and civil society.

On Belarus Freedom Day, we reaffirm the long-standing policy of the United States to support a democratic, sovereign, and stable Belarus. This commitment is unwavering, bipartisan, and firmly rooted in the values of our nation. The Biden Administration wholeheartedly supports this policy, as have all U.S. Presidents for more than 30 years.

We dedicate this day to the freedom of the nearly 1,500 political prisoners of the Lukashenka regime and to the freedom of all Belarusians, who deserve to create their own future, free of Lukashenka's repression and Putin's coercion.

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His Majesty's Canadian Ship MontrAal and Motor Vessel Asterix depart to the Indo-Pacific

National Defence

News release

March 26, 2023 - Ottawa - National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces

Canada is a Pacific country, and the Indo-Pacific Region is of crucial importance to our future.

Today, His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) MontrAal, a Halifax-class frigate, departed its homeport of Halifax and is now en route to the Indo-Pacific region - delivering on the commitment in Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy to annually deploy an additional frigate to the region from Canadian Forces Base Halifax. As Minister Anand announced in November 2022, Canada is increasing its annual naval deployments in the region from two to three frigates, and the deployment of this additional frigate from the East Coast will boost our presence, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

During its deployment, HMCS MontrAal will be supported by Naval Replenishment Unit Motor Vessel (MV) Asterix, also based in Halifax. Two other Canadian frigates are set to deploy to the region on later dates.

HMCS MontrAal, with an embarked CH-148 Cyclone helicopter detachment, is the first East Coast frigate to deploy on Operation PROJECTIONin the Indo-Pacific region. During the deployment, the ship will work in close coordination with partner and allied nations maritime forces, promoting peace and stability in support of the rules-based international order.

In addition to Operation PROJECTION, HMCS MontrAal will also participate in Operation NEON, Canada's contribution to multinational efforts to monitor sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United Nations Security Council.

Quotes

"Canada is a Pacific country, and the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region are of paramount importance to our future. By boosting our annual naval deployments from two to three frigates, Canada is reaffirming its commitment to allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. As outlined in Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, Canada will continue to promote a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. I wish our sailors fair winds and following seas." - The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence

"The sailors and aviators of the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force are tremendous ambassadors to promote and enhance interoperability alongside the navies of our closest allies and international partners in the Middle Eastern waters and Indo-Pacific region. Their excellence at sea will demonstrate our capabilities in the region and will directly contribute to the strategic interests of Canada." - Rear-Admiral Brian Santarpia, Commander Maritime Component Command

Quick facts

HMCS MontrAalis a Halifax-class frigate. Halifax-class frigates carry extensive anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare weapons and sensors to complement their substantial anti-air warfare defences. The combination of these weapons and sensor systems, coupled with state-of-the-art damage control and machinery control systems, make frigates one of the most advanced warship designs in the world.

During Operation PROJECTION, HMCS MontrAal and MV Asterix will participate in international naval exercises with partner nations throughout the Indo-Pacific. By conducting Canada's naval forward presence mission, promoting regional peace and stability, these ships will be contirubuting toward the promotion of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Op NEON is Canada's contribution to the monitoring of United Nations Security Council sanctions designed to pressure North Korea to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs.

The Naval Replenishment Unit operates from MV Asterix, which is a short-term commercial solution contracted for five years to provide essential at-sea replenishment support, and serving as a viable bridge until the arrival of the RCN's two new Protecteur-class Joint Support Ships.

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China, Honduras establish diplomatic relations

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Mar 26, 2023 11:33 AM

China and Honduras established diplomatic relation on Sunday with Honduras recognizing Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Honduran counterpart Eduardo Enrique Reina met in Beijing and signed the Joint CommuniquA on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras on Sunday morning, agreeing to develop friendly relations under the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

Effective from the date of signature of the joint communiquA, the two sides established ambassadorial level diplomatic relations.

On Saturday, Honduras severed "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, and promised not to have any official relations with Taiwan moving forward, nor to conduct any official exchanges.

"The government of Honduras recognizes that there is only one China in the world, that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," the Honduran announcement read.

China highly appreciates Honduras' correct decision that is in line with prevailing global trends and supported by the people, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said following the finalization of the joint communiquA, stressing that the one-China principle is recognized by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, and is a prevailing consensus of the international community and a universally recognized norm governing international relations.

"Honduras is an important country in Central America. It chooses to stand with 181 countries in the world, recognize and undertake to adhere to the one-China principle," noted the Chinese foreign ministry, saying that by following the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China stands ready to enhance friendly cooperation with Honduras in various fields to the benefit of our two countries and peoples.a

After Honduras established diplomatic ties with China, only 13 nations still had "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan island, with seven in the Central America, four in the Oceania, one in Africa and one in Europe.

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PLA Navy's Type 055 large destroyer Wuxi achieves operational capability, 'boosting North Sea Fleet's far sea capabilities'

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: Mar 26, 2023 07:37 PM

The Type 055 large destroyer Wuxi of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has achieved operational capability after completing a full-course acceptance test recently, becoming the fourth combat-ready 10,000-ton class destroyer of the PLA North Sea Fleet, with experts saying on Sunday that having more Type 055 ships at the PLA's disposal means higher far sea capabilities.

Organized by a vessel training center affiliated with the PLA Northern Theater Command Navy, the Type 055 large destroyer Wuxi recently went through a three-day full-course acceptance test in the Yellow Sea over training subjects including comprehensive air defense, missile defense, sea attack and anti-submarine actions in a complex electromagnetic environment, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Saturday.

During the test, the Wuxi departed from a naval port in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province after receiving an urgent order despite heavy mist and force eight wind at sea.

The warship destroyed mock maritime targets with consecutive live-fire main gun shooting, intercepted incoming mock aerial targets with its close-in weapon system, and launched multiple jamming rounds while taking evasive maneuvers.

A Z-9 vessel-born helicopter of the Wuxi was then sent on a search and rescue test and saved a fishing vessel in simulated distress.

The vessel training center dispatched other forces including surface vessels, submarines and fighter jets to confront or support the Wuxi during the test, so the Wuxi could display its capabilities in dealing with all kinds of emergencies under multiple surface, underwater and air threats, CCTV reported.

A Type 052D destroyer and a Type 09III nuclear-powered attack submarine could be seen in the CCTV report participating in the test for the Wuxi.

The test focused on the warship's future missions, environments and opponents, and it effectively tested the vessel's sustained combat capabilities and the sailors' fast reactions in dealing with emergencies, said Li Guoqiang, the chief of staff of the vessel training center, in the report.

"In the test, we insisted on pursuing a [high] combat capability standard with the goal of forming new-type combat capabilities as fast as possible," Li said.

The passing of the test means that the Wuxi has achieved operational capability, only a year after its commissioning in March 2022.

It also indicates that all four Type 055 large destroyers currently delivered to the PLA Northern Theater Command Navy, or the North Sea Fleet, are now combat ready, observers said.

Having more Type 055s achieve operational capability means that these vessels can rotate in training, far sea exercise and maintenance, making sure that one or more ships are on call for any emergencies, a Beijing-based military expert told the Global Times on Sunday, requesting anonymity.

The North Sea Fleet is responsible for safeguarding China's northern maritime borders as well as the capital Beijing from the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. Since the commissioning of the first Type 055, the Nanchang, in January 2020, warships of this type with the North Sea Fleet have conducted far sea exercises and patrols in the Sea of Japan, the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean regions to the east of Japan, and have joined aircraft carrier groups, according to media reports.

The Wuxi is also expected to take up those roles, the expert said.

China has reportedly built eight Type 055 large destroyers so far, with four in service with the North Sea Fleet, three in service with the South Sea Fleet, and the last hull's commissioning pending an official announcement.

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The People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras Establish Diplomatic Relations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2023-03-26 12:06

On 26 March 2023, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks with Foreign Minister of Honduras Eduardo Reina in Beijing, and they signed the Joint CommuniquA on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras. The main points of the communiquA are as follows:

The People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras, in keeping with the interests and desire of the two peoples, have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communiquA.

The two Governments agree to develop friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence.

The Government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal Government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Government of the Republic of Honduras shall sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan as of this day and undertakes that it shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China appreciates this position of the Government of the Republic of Honduras.



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Joint CommuniquA on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2023-03-26 12:31

The People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras, in keeping with the interests and desire of the two peoples, have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communiquA.

The two Governments agree to develop friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence.

The Government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal Government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The Government of the Republic of Honduras shall sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan as of this day and undertakes that it shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China appreciates this position of the Government of the Republic of Honduras.

The Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Honduras agree to exchange Ambassadors as early as possible and to provide each other with all the necessary assistance for the establishment of Embassies and their performance of functions in each other's capitals on a reciprocal basis in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and international customary practices.

The undersigned, being duly authorized by their respective Governments, signed this communiquA on 26 March 2023 in Beijing. Done in duplicate in the Chinese and Spanish languages, both texts being equally authentic.

For the People's Republic of China

Qin Gang aFor the Republic of Honduras

Eduardo Enrique Reina





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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between China and Honduras

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2023-03-26 11:48

On 26 March, China and Honduras signed the Joint CommuniquA on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras. The two Governments have decided to recongnize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communiquA.

There is but one China in the world and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal Government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. These are indisputable facts grounded in history and law. The one-China principle is recognized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, and is a prevailing consensus of the international community and a universally recognized norm governing international relations.

Honduras is an important country in Central America. The Government of Honduras chooses to stand with 181 countries in the world, recognize and undertake to adhere to the one-China principle, sever the so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and undertake that Honduras shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan. This is the right choice that is in line with the prevailing trend and supported by the people. China highly appreciates that.

By following the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China stands ready to enhance friendly cooperation with Honduras in various fields to the benefit of our two countries and peoples.a

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Fighting Beijing's long arm of repression

Activists rely on social media to stay in touch, but this also makes them more vulnerable

By Mia Ping-chieh Chen for RFA Mandarin 2023.03.26 -- Young Chinese people in the United States are taking a stand against Beijing's growing willingness to extend enforcement of party censorship and police surveillance among Chinese nationals and their relatives overseas, including through unapproved "police service stations" in other countries.

Governments around the world have launched investigations into these "service stations" run on foreign soil by the provincial police department in the southeastern province of Fujian, while activists and dissidents have spoken out about threats and retaliation by the state security police or pro-China businessmen overseas.

There are growing signs that U.S. police are willing to arrest people suspected of being agents of the Chinese state, amid growing protests against what young activists are calling transnational repression by the Communist Party.

Ning Ning, who asked to be identified by a nickname for fear of reprisals, said state security police came looking for her parents because she was linked to a petition critical of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping on Change.org.

Having lived in the United States for 10 years, she has chosen to fight back from a place of greater freedom, she told Radio Free Asia.

"The Chinese Communist Party thinks it can shut people up by hauling them in to 'drink tea' and other methods," she said in a reference to being summoned for questioning by the feared state security police. "But the thing they don't really want to face up to is that while this may silence people temporarily, public dissatisfaction will deepen."

"And when that dissatisfaction is given the right opportunity, even stronger resistance will erupt," Ning Ning said.

Social media helps and hurts

Transnational activists rely heavily on social media to stay in touch with their home countries, and this makes them more vulnerable to being targeted by their home governments for monitoring, experts told an Orion Policy Institute seminar in October 2022.

Yet a Twitter survey focusing on transnational repression by Chinese agents found that only half of respondents who had been harassed or threatened overseas had reported the incident to U.S. law enforcement.

Washington-based non profit Freedom House called on governments in a February 2022 report to start systematically recording cases of transnational repression, based on an internationally agreed definition of the term, then ensure that law enforcement officials, personnel at key agencies, and those working with refugees and asylum seekers are trained to recognize the targeting of exiles and diasporas.

When state security police contacted Ning Ning and asked her to delete or edit the petition, she reported the incident to the FBI, in the hope of raising awareness of the issue in the United States.

"I hope that I can bring about change through my own actions," she said. "I wanted people in the United States to realize how serious transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party is."

"I also wanted to send a message to [Chinese] people here, that they don't have to suffer this in silence, just because it won't make headline news or be sensational enough," Ning Ning said. "We have to speak out about our experiences, to bring about a change in the whole of society."

Zhou Fengsuo, executive director of the New York-based NGO Human Rights in China said the group is already focusing its efforts on helping the victims of transnational repression.

'Victims'

Zhou, Ning and a handful of other people staged a protest outside the Capitol on March 22, holding up a placard that read: "We are the victims of the CCP's transnational repression. We stand against the CCP's transnational repression."

"This is a pretty shocking thing, that victims are often afraid to speak out because they're worried about their families," Zhou told Radio Free Asia.

"People [like Ning Ning] who engage in active resistance are rare," he said. "People from China, students from China are clearly under threat from the Chinese authorities, and the U.S. government must respond proactively to that threat."

Fellow protester A Gui, who declined to give his full name citing reasons of personal safety, said it was "like a tug of war, with everyone pulling for their own team," he said. "If we all pull together, then we can through our willpower pull justice a bit closer to our side."

Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, who was among the sponsors of the Transnational Repression Policy Act introduced on March 15, called for a comprehensive approach to the issue.

"The U.S. must take a stand and pursue a whole-of-government approach to address the rising tide of transnational repression whenever and wherever it occurs," Merkley said in comments emailed to Radio Free Asia.

The bill would aim to hold foreign governments and individuals accountable "when they stalk, intimidate, or assault people across borders, including in the United States," according to a news release on the Senate website.

The bill aims to make the issue a key foreign policy priority and prioritize diplomacy that addresses the issue, it said.

"It's terrible when authoritarian regimes oppress their people at home, but it's an unacceptable act of aggression to target dissidents in other countries," Merkley said. "Journalists, writers, activists, and everyday people who have spoken truth to power in their country are too often intimidated and blackmailed while living abroad."

Meanwhile, Ning Ning still hides her real name when talking to journalists, and disguises herself when protesting in public.

"Look at how I have to dress up, just to criticize the Chinese Communist Party, because I know how bad their transnational repression really is," she said. "Can you imagine a U.S. citizen wearing a mask and a hat just to criticize their government's policies?"

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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North Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles amid US-South drills

Iran Press TV

Monday, 27 March 2023 2:29 AM

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, which is also known as the Sea of Japan, amid ongoing joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea.

"Our military detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from around Junghwa area in North Hwanghae province from 07:47 am (2247 GMT) towards the East Sea," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said early Monday, adding the two projectiles flew about 370 kilometers (230 miles).

According to Japanese media, quoting the country's Coast Guard, the projectiles most likely landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The launch is the latest in a series of weapons tests by the North. Pyongyang has been conducting a flurry of such tests in response to regular war games performed by the United States and South Korea, which the North sees as rehearsals for invasion of its territory.

Seoul and Washington concluded their regular springtime exercises, called Freedom Shield 23, last week, but are now conducting amphibious landing drills involving a US amphibious assault ship.

On Friday, Pyongyang said the joint drills were a practice for "occupying" North Korea, whose leader has called for "stronger war deterrence," including "more developed, multi-faceted and offensive nuclear attack capability."

Also on Friday, North Korea said it had tested an underwater nuclear attack drone capable of inflicting substantial damage on enemy ports and vessels.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally oversaw the test, the official Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, said at the time. According to the KCNA, the drone drill was staged "to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis."

The weapon's mission was to "stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami...to destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports of the enemy," the media reports added.

Last year, the North declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power and Kim recently called for an "exponential" increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

He also ordered the North Korean military this month to intensify drills to prepare for a "real war."

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Iran, Syria FMs discuss relations, key regional, global issues by phone

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 5:02 PM

The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria have discussed key regional and international developments.

In a Sunday phone conversation, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad exchanged views about ways to improve mutual relations.

Muslim nations must conduct effective measures to support Palestine: Amir-Abdollahian

In a separate phone call with his Malaysian counterpart Zambry Abd Kadir on Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian said Muslim states should carry out effective measures to support Palestine.

The top Iranian diplomat added that Iran and Malaysia, as two Muslim nations, have numerous commonalities. He expressed hope that Tehran and Kuala Lumpur would further develop relations in all fields.

Kadir, for his part, said Iran is an important trade partner of his country in the region and hoped that Malaysia would expand relations with the Islamic Republic.

He added that an agreement reached between Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier this month to restore mutual relations would further promote peace and stability in West Asia.

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Political pressure growing on Netanyahu to pause judicial overhaul

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 11:37 AM

Top lawmakers from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party have backed the regime's minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant's call to halt the controversial judicial overhaul, fearing that the parliamentary majority could be eroded.

On Sunday, Yuli Edelstein, a Likud lawmaker who chairs the Knesset's Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the cabinet to slow down the legislative push to enable discussion and revisions.

"We don't want to bury the reforms, but bringing it to a vote before it is clear that there is support for it would be adventurism that is best avoided," Edelstein said.

On Saturday, Gallant called on the regime's far-right cabinet to halt the legislation for several weeks, saying the bitter dispute it has caused is posing a threat to the occupying regime itself.

Gallant said Netanyahu needs to hold talks with the opposition and asked it to wait until after the Jewish Passover holiday, which begins on April 5, before pushing ahead with the judicial changes.

His statement indicated the first crack in Netanyahu's coalition, the most right-wing cabinet in Israel. A stance that received public support from two other Likud politicians and the reported backing of a third, while others in the party castigated him and National Security Minister, Ben Gvir, demanded that he be fired.

Gallant's statement was welcomed by senior Likud lawmaker David Bitan and also a junior Likud lawmaker, Eli Dalal, who spoke last week in favor of suspending the legislation. But it was not clear if they or others in Likud might abstain in a ratification vote.

"As I already said several weeks ago, the legislation should be stopped and immediate negotiations should be started and broad agreements should be reached. I back the words of my friend the defense minister," Bitan said.

Earlier Saturday, it was reported that Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter spoke with Netanyahu and other Likud MKs, asking to stop the judicial overhaul bills until after April 26.

With a solid majority of 64 out of 120 in parliament, the coalition would still have enough votes without Gallant and three others, unless more lawmakers back down from the proposed changes.

Moreover, on Thursday, Netanyahu said that he would get personally involved in the controversial package of measures to overhaul the country's judicial system. He also said it would vote to pass next week the bill to put key Supreme Court appointments, including its presidency, directly in coalition control.

He also vowed that his cabinet remained determined to "responsibly advance the ... reform that will restore the proper balance between the authorities."

Netanyahu, who returned early on Sunday from a visit to London, did not immediately comment on the dissent in his party.

Mass protests have gripped the Zionist regime since it announced its proposed judicial reforms in January. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have faced off against police in the streets weekly.

The latest protest against the plan saw tens of thousands rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Local media estimated 200,000 people turned out for the demonstration.

The Israeli regime has been pushing for changes that would limit the Supreme Court's powers to rule against the legislative and executive branches of government and give coalition lawmakers more power in appointing judges.

Critics say the changes will weaken the courts and hand unbridled power to the regime, endangering rights and liberties with catastrophic effects on the economy. They also fear Netanyahu wants to leverage the judicial push to freeze or void his trial on corruption charges, which he denies.

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Israel's Consul General in New York Resigns After Gallant's Dismissal

Sputnik News

20230326

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israel's Consul General in New York Asaf Zamir announced his resignation after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the latter's calls to halt the controversial judicial reform.

"With a heavy heart, I write to you today to inform you of my resignation as Consul General of Israel in New York," Zamir said in a letter posted on his Twitter account on Sunday, adding that "the political situation in Israel has reached a critical point, and I feel a deep sense of responsibility and moral obligation to stand up for what is right[.]"

Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu's office said that the prime minister was dismissing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who became the first key Israeli minister to call for a halt of the reform on Saturday. Gallant said that there was a growing rift in Israeli society that was also penetrating the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the country's security agencies.

"Today's dangerous decision to fire the Minister of Defense, convinced me that I can no longer continue representing this Government. I have become increasingly concerned with the policies of the new government, and in particular, the judicial reform it is leading. I believe that this reform undermines the very foundation of our democratic system and threatens the rule of law in our country," Zamir said in his letter of resignation.



A Sputnik

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Israel's Defense Minister Says Judicial Overhaul Must Be Stopped

Sputnik News

20230326

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the controversial judicial reform that has sparked major nationwide protests.

Protests against the reform have been held in Israel for 12 straight weeks. According to Netanyahu, the Israeli government plans to pass a key part of the proposed legislation next week.

"For the sake of Israel's security, for the sake of our sons and daughters a the legislative process should be stopped a to enable the nation of Israel to celebrate Passover and Independence Day together, and to mourn together on Memorial Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day," Gallant said on Saturday, as quoted by The Times of Israel.

He became the first key Israeli minister to call for a halt of the reform. Gallant emphasized that there is a growing rift in Israeli society that is also penetrating the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the country's security agencies.

"This poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state. I will not allow this," Gallant said, calling for inclusive dialogue on the issue.

Meanwhile, Israel's National Security Minister Ben Gvir urged Netanyahu to fire Gallant on Saturday.

"I call on the prime minister to fire Gallant, who came in with the votes of the right, but surrendered to the pressure of those who threatened to refuse [to serve in the military], and tries to put a stop to the important reform," Ben Gvir said in a statement quoted by The Times of Israel.

About 630,000 Israelis participated in yet another nationwide protest against the controversial judicial reform on Saturday, according to Israeli media reports. Police used water cannons against demonstrators in Tel Aviv, The Times of Israel said, adding that at least 28 protesters were detained while blocking the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv.

In January, Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin rolled out a legal reform package that would limit the authority of the Supreme Court by giving the cabinet control over the selection of new judges, as well as allowing the Knesset to override the court's rulings with an absolute majority. The reform's opponents argue it will undermine democracy in Israel and put the country on the verge of a social and constitutional crisis.

On Friday, organizers of the protest movement against the judicial reform in Israel declared a "week of paralysis," which would include nationwide demonstrations against the divisive legislative action. Earlier this week, hundreds of activists swarmed outside the residences of prominent Israeli government officials a including Tourism Minister Haim Katz, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others a to protest against the judicial reform.

A Sputnik

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Meeting with Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev

Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev.

March 25, 2023

16:30

The Kremlin, Moscow

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Savelyev.

You and I wanted to discuss issues dealing with the upcoming operation of the transport complex during the summer holidays - the spring and summer season and into the first part of autumn.

Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev: Good afternoon Mr President.

You are right, the traditional season of summer holidays is coming, and the transport complex is carrying out its annual preparation of the transport infrastructure.

A few words about aviation transportation. This year, we are planning to transport, as you know, 101.2 million passengers. As of March, we have already transported 13.8 million passengers, which is already 416,000 passengers more than we accounted for in our plan for this year.

Russian airlines plan to extend their route network, which is very important for our passengers. For example, S7 Airlines is going to launch flights from Irkutsk to Chita and Novosibirsk to Vladikavkaz. Red Wings airlines will fly from Samara to Gorno-Altaysk, while Nordwind airlines will fly from Kazan to Gorno-Altaysk, and Makhachkala to Omsk. Aeroflot is going to delight their passengers with flights to Mineralnye Vody from Samara, Kazan, Perm, Yekaterinburg. and Ufa. Aeroflot group will also support Turkish destinations from Samara, Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, and other cities.

Railway transportation is also prepared for the summer season. Trains of the Federal Passenger Company plan to transport more than 11 million passengers via railway to Russia's south, which is two percent more than last year. More than 13.4 million seats will be offered on the open market for the summer tourist seasons, which represents a two percent increase year on year.

As part of our organized tours for children, we aim to please our younger passengers and plan to transport more than 620,000 children, which is 50 percent more than last year.

The Grand Service Express is planning to provide services on 22 passenger trains destined for Crimea, to the Crimean Peninsula. This is practically 8 return trips more than last year's standard, while last year there were 14 return trips. We are going to additionally engage more than 400 passenger cars.

Overall, we will ensure passenger transportation for three million passengers [in this direction] for the period from May 1 to September 30 this year. This will exceed last year's figures by more than a third - let me remind you that we transported a total of 2.2 million people, which makes it a 36 percent increase. And in 2021 we transported 1.26 million passengers, thus a 137 percent growth. Which is substantial.

The summer season in our internal waterways in the southern regions kicks off on March 25. We are actively preparing for that. This year we are launching navigation in a number of basins and we will be developing it to reflect changing weather conditions. In 2022 transportation by internal water transport amounted to nine million passengers, which is 6 percent more than in 2021. We expect approximately the same growth this year and believe that we will be able to carry 9.5 million passengers via water transport.

Cargo transportation by internal water transport grew by 5.6 percent last year to amount to 116 million tonnes. We expect similar growth this year.

As you know, there is a total of 63 seaports in Russia with an overall capacity of 1.28 million tonnes, so shipping volumes will be growing too. If last year the growth and in-port transshipment amounted to 842 million tonnes, we believe that this year's transshipment will be no less - in the first two months of this year it amounted to 140 million tonnes, which is a 2.6 percent growth year on year. Following 2023 we except the growth of transshipment volumes to be about eight million tonnes, which is 1 percent more comparted to 2022.

I would like to note separately, and this might not be directly connected to summer holidays, but the Volga-Caspian canal - this is our North - South corridor, the one which you pay very much attention to - we will ensure dredging takes place this year. I would like to say that if we usually remove approximately two to three million cubic meters in our normal mode, last year we removed five million cubic metres, and this allowed us to ensure a depth of 4.2 metres; this year we are going remove more than 12 million cubic metres as part of our dredging in order to reach a depth of 4.5 metres. This will be sufficient for both cargo and passenger traffic, assuming the latter will be available. So, these are major challenges that we are attempting to resolve this year.

Multimodal transportation will also be growing this year - this implies allowing passengers using several types of transport with one all-purpose ticket, which is very popular among our passengers. Currently, some 38 year-round routes have been launched already. We added seven more routes: five routes to Abkhazia and two to Kaliningrad.

In general, Mr President, this is my report on the overall progress that has been made in preparation for the summer holiday season.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

What progress has been made on the Crimean Bridge?

Vitaly Savelyev: The situation with the Crimean Bridge has stabilised and we continue to monitor it daily. We have six ferry boats working in the area: four ferries for automobiles and two for trains. We haul hazardous cargo using ferries. Traffic on the bridge has been returned to normal. We examine absolutely all means of transport going over the bridge. A total of eight lots have been arranged where cars can be temporarily parked when waiting for a ferry boat or when drivers need to rest. Therefore, we do not see any problems presently, we believe that traffic has returned to normal and the situation has stabilised.

We will increase the number of personnel we have now, including security guards, when preparing for the summer period, in particular the summer holiday season when automobile traffic will increase. Nevertheless, we are ready for what is coming, and our permanent inspection stations are also fully prepared, so this is why I believe there will not be any issues.

Vladimir Putin: And are containers from the Far East being transported as needed?

Vitaly Savelyev: Yes, because of your support, Mr President, thank you. Back then you supported our solution, which you and I discussed; let me put it this way - the situation there has not only normalised, but has also radically improved. If, let us say, the frontline part of our ports in the Far East was working at 114 percent capacity, after you issued your executive order, the ports operate at 64 percent today. The load of off-dock terminals amounted to 79 percent, and now it is 24 percent, and this is why the situation has drastically improved. We nonetheless took on an additional three container trains, for which you gave permission, and as a result we now send back in the opposite direction five trains in open-gondola freight cars with load-carrying containers each day, and not empty trains. This is why the situation as of today has been normalised: we are able to transport 4,000 containers a day, and in our plans, which are currently developing, we are seeking technological solutions that will ensure the shipment of 6,500 containers per day. Therefore, I believe that the situation will allow us to continue working in a sustained way.

Vladimir Putin: Excellent. Thank you very much.

<...>

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Putin Says Russia Will Station Tactical Nuclear Weapons In Belarus

By RFE/RL March 25, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow has reached agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of close ally Belarus, which borders both Russia and Ukraine.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency on March 25 quoted Putin as claiming there was "nothing unusual" about the move and that it did not violate existing nuclear nonproliferation treaties.

"We agreed with [Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr] Lukashenka that we would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus without violating the nonproliferation regime," TASS quoted the Russian leader as saying.

"There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said. "We agreed that we will do the same."

Putin added that Russia was building a storage facility in Belarus and that Moscow would not be transferring control of the weapons to Minsk authorities.

The White House later said it was aware of Putin's announcement and was monitoring the situation. It said it did not see any immediate reason to adjust its nuclear stance nor any indications Russia is preparing to use such weapons.

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is a landmark pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, signed by more than 190 countries and entered into force in 1970.

Putin on March 25 also threatened to deploy depleted uranium ammunition to its military fighting in Ukraine if the West sent such munitions to Kyiv. A British official recently suggested London might do so.

"Russia, of course, has what it needs to answer. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such shells. We have not used them yet," Putin told Russian television.

Militaries use depleted uranium munitions for their armor-piercing capability in battles against tanks and armored vehicles.

With reporting by TASS, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-belarus-tactical- nuclear/32334137.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Putin: US intelligence destroyed Russia's Nord Stream pipelines

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 5:03 PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that most probably the United States was behind the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September last year.

Putin told Russia 24 TV on Saturday that he agrees with the conclusions made by leading investigative American journalist Seymour Hersh that US President Joe Biden plotted to blow up Russia's Nord Stream pipelines to punish Germany for refusing to supply arms to Ukraine in the midst of the war.

It would be "very difficult" to bring the entire truth to light, the Russian leader said. Nevertheless, he expressed his hope that at some point in time "it will be finally revealed what was done and how."

The Russian leader then cited Hersh, calling him "an American journalist, who recently gained prominence in the world," and said that he "conducted an investigation and ... concluded that this blast was orchestrated by the US intelligence."

"I fully agree with these conclusions," Putin added.

In an interview with China Daily, published on Friday, Hersh said that Biden blew up the pipelines to punish German Chancellor Olaf Sholz for his unwillingness about providing Kiev with lethal arms and tanks.

"The president then decided in late September to trigger the mines. The war wasn't going great in Ukraine. The American war that President Biden was so eager to support was not going well by late fall, at best a stalemate, two sides just standing there," he said.

"The only thing I can link, think and guess, and those involved thought the same, the President was afraid that Chancellor Scholz did not want to invest even more weapons and armaments. That's all. I don't know if it was anger or punishment," Hersh said.

On Wednesday, Hersh said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided the Western media with an alternative story for the destruction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline to cover up Washington's involvement.

In a post on his Substack blog, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter claimed the CIA was tasked with preparing a cover story to provide the American and German press with an "alternative version" of the Nord Stream 2 explosions.

The US agency collaborated with the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) of Germany.

The US agency collaborated with the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) of Germany.

Citing an anonymous source with access to diplomatic intelligence, Hersh wrote, "In the words of the intelligence community, the agency was 'to pulse the system' in an effort to discount the claim that Biden had ordered the pipeline's destruction."

He added that the CIA in collaboration with Germany's BND had completed its task and planted stories in the New York Times and German weekly Die Zeit.

These planted stories referred to a supposed "ad hoc 'off the books' operation" conducted by a "pro-Ukrainian group."

Earlier this month, American and German media reported claims of the US intelligence that a "pro-Ukrainian group" bombed the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year.

The New York Times said that US officials "believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two." It did not identify the source of the intelligence and the suspected group involved.

Putin on March 14 rejected as "complete nonsense" the idea that an autonomous pro-Ukraine group was behind the attacks. He said no amateur group could commit such an act of sabotage.

He said the blasts targeting the Nord Stream gas pipelines were carried out on a state level.

He also reiterated the Kremlin's stance that the US has the capability to blow the natural gas pipelines.

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Putin accuses West of building 'new axis' similar to World War II alliance

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 11:30 AM

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States and NATO of seeking to build a new global "axis" which he said bore some resemblance to the World War II alliance between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and imperial Japan.

Speaking on state television on Sunday, Putin also criticized the US for its double standards and its own action in forming several military alliances.

"What about the United States? They are forming an increasing number of alliances. And this provides justification for Western analysts, Western political scientists, to claim that the West is constructing new axes," Putin said.

"NATO agreed on a new strategic concept for the alliance's development last year. It expressly states that NATO will develop relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region," he added.

"And it expressly mentions those countries, such as New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea. This is the first installment. And, yes, they announce the formation of a global NATO. So, what exactly is it?" the president asked.

"It is all about making contacts and developing relationships in the military sphere. This is why, according to western analysts, not us, the west is beginning to build a new axis similar to the one established in the 1930s by fascist regimes in Germany, Italy, and militaristic Japan," he explained.

Days after hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Putin also revealed that Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and the cooperation between their armed forces is "transparent".

"We are not creating any military alliance with China," Putin said, adding that "we have cooperation in the sphere of military-technical interaction. We are not hiding this... Everything is transparent, there is nothing secret."

Recently, the US expressed that it fears China could arm Russia, but China denied the accusations straightaway.

"For decades many have desired turning China against the Soviet Union and Russia, and vice versa," he said.

"We understand the world we live in. We really value our mutual relations and the level they have reached in recent years," the Russian President added.

Putin held on to his stance in Ukraine to be defensive in nature, against the aggressive West.

The US-led NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had recently paid a visit to Japan and South Korea, where he stressed the Atlantic alliance working closely with partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

He also urged the nations to support Ukraine with more military support and also spoke about the rising tensions between the West and China.

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Putin announces deal to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 7:59 AM

Russia is set to deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, expanding its scope of strategic influence, and increasing its deterrence power in face of the US-led NATO's exceeding military support for Ukraine.

Speaking to the state broadcaster Russia 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a new agreement with its neighboring ally, saying that Russia would build a special storage facility for its tactical weapons in Belarus, the construction of which would end by the beginning of July.

Putin also said that the upcoming deployment would not breach the non-proliferation agreements, noting that the US had its nuclear weapons stationed in Europe for decades.

"There is nothing unusual here, either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," Putin said

"We agreed that we will do the same - without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons," he added.

Moscow would not be transferring control of its arms to Minsk, he added.

The decision comes amid rising tensions between Moscow and Washington, with Russia attempting to send a strong warning to Western powers over their continuous military support for Ukraine, which according to Russia is fanning the flames of war.

Putin had announced last month that it would suspend its membership in New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the world's two main nuclear powers, Russia and the US.

Moscow has also stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus, which are capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, Putin said.

According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, about 100 US nuclear warheads are stored in Europe across six bases in five countries: Kleine Brogel in Belgium, BAchel airbase in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi airbases in Italy, Volkel airbase in the Netherlands, and Ancirlik in Turkey.

Putin did not specify when the weapons would be transferred to Belarus.

It would be the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have based nuclear arms outside the country.

Belarus, Russia's western neighbor, stretched over Ukraine's long northern border, shares a much cherished relationship with Russia, as it is one of Moscow's closest allies and its military campaign in Ukraine.

In February 2022, during the initial days of Ukraine-Russiawar, Belarus allowed Russian troops to enter Ukraine through the border it shares with Ukraine.

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Putin: West Aspires to 'Create New Axis' Like Nazi Germany Did Before WWII

Sputnik News

20230326

Svetlana Ekimenko

President Vladimir Putin commented in a Russian media interview on Saturday on the tens of billions of dollars-worth of military equipment that the US and its European allies have sent to Kiev to fuel a proxy war against Moscow. Western countries won't be able to deliver enough weapons in Ukraine to outgun Russia, Putin assured.

The so-called collective West aspires to "create a new Axis", similar to what Nazi Germany did before WWII, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated.

Putin recalled, speaking in an interview for Russia-24 broadcaster, that NATO had earlier agreed on a new strategic concept for the bloc.

"Last year, NATO agreed on a new strategic concept for the development of the alliance, directly stating that the bloc intends to develop relations with countries of the Asia-Pacific region... And they are directly listed, these countries, such as New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and others... And they announced that they will create a global NATO", Putin said.

The Russian President also commented on the agreement reached at the beginning of the year between Great Britain and Japan on establishing and developing relations in the military sphere.

"That is why Western analysts themselves are saying that the West is starting to build a new axis, similar to the one that was created back in the 30s by the fascist regimes in Germany and Italy, and militaristic Japan," the president said.

Russia is not creating a military alliance with China and is not threatening any country, Vladimir Putin went on to point out, commenting on statements that Moscow and Beijing were ostensibly creating an axis that poses a threat to the West.

Although Russia and China are engaged in military cooperation, there is nothing secret about it, the president emphasized.

"Yes, we also cooperate in the military-technical sphere. We do not hide it, everything is transparent. There is nothing secret there," he said, adding that Russia and China conduct joint exercises, but Moscow also holds drills with other countries, too.

President Putin has been giving a spate of interviews for local media over the weekend, weiging in on the weapons being funneled by the United States and its European allies to the Kiev regime to fuel the ongoing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Western countries won't be able to deliver enough weapons in Ukraine to outgun Russia, President Vladimir Putin assured on Saturday, when asked in an interview with Russian TV whether Moscow considers Western arms deliveries to Kiev a "threat" to its national security.

"Threats exist, of course. When weapons are supplied to a country we are in conflict with, this is always a threat. As far how they can be assessed, of course we know about the plans to supply them," Putin said.

Moscow has warned repeatedly about the consequences of these actions for regional and global security.

"We are concerned about [weapons deliveries] from the perspective that this is an attempt to prolong the conflict," Putin said, noting that "from the point of view of the logic of those who provoked this conflict and are trying to preserve it at any cost, [the supply of weapons] is probably the right decision. But in my opinion, this will only lead to a greater tragedy," Vladimir Putin emphasized.

Regarding the UK's announcement of depleted uranium (DU) munitions deliveries to Kiev, Putin did not rule out they had been "deliberately" timed to coincide with recent talks between himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping, including to discuss Beijing's much-talked about 12 point Ukraine peace plan.

The historic Moscow summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping has inflamed the rhetoric coming from Washington, London and Brussels.

Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a three-day visit to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on March 20-22. Earlier, Chairman Xi was unanimously reelected for a third term on March 10. Observers have drawn attention to the fact that Russia became the first foreign state visited by Xi after his reelection. As the two leaders voiced growing mutual concerns over the bellicose actions by the US and its NATO allies, major takeaways of the meeting, according to a plethora of observers and analysts, serve to proove that the tectonic shift from the Western-led"unipolar world order" towards a "multipolar world" is now "irreversible".

A Sputnik

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Damascus blasts US strikes on Dayr al-Zawr as cover-up to steal more oil in eastern Syria

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 7:10 AM

Syria has condemned in the strongest terms the United States military for carrying out multiple air strikes in the eastern parts of the Arab country against resistance groups, saying the raids are a cover-up for Washington's ferocious attempts to further plunder energy resources there.

Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates made the remarks in a statement on Saturday, after the US conducted airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, blaming Damascus for a drone attack that purportedly killed an American contractor, wounded another, and also hurt five US troops.

The statement denounced the brutal attack launched by the US forces against some areas in Dayr al-Zawr province, which claimed the lives of a number of people, left several others injured, and caused property damage in the targeted regions.

"The US allegations about the targeted sites are nothing but a failed attempt aimed at justifying the act of aggression, which constitutes a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity," it added.

The Syrian foreign ministry also said that such hostile US acts are in line with the attacks that the Israeli regime and the Daesh Takfiri terrorists have launched against local residents, and serve as a cover-up for the continued looting of Syrian oil by US occupation forces

"Syria repeats its demand for an immediate end to the presence of American occupation troops, increased authority of the Damascus government over all districts in the country, and cessation of Washington's support and sponsorship of separatist and terrorist groups," the statement also read.

It also urged the international community to condemn the latest Israeli air strikes, stand with the conflict-stricken Arab country, and help it preserve its territorial integrity and national unity.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the attack against US personnel took place at a base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time (1038 GMT) on Thursday.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said the strikes in Syria against the positions of resistance fighters were carried out at the direction of President Joe Biden and targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

However, local sources pointed out that the target was not an Iran-aligned military post as the US military claimed, but rather a rural development center and a grain center in Hrabash neighborhood, near Dayr al-Zawr military airport. No Iranian was killed in the act of aggression.

A military source in Syria told Press TV that the resistance groups reserve their right to respond to the American attack and will take reciprocal action.

On Friday, after the Pentagon carried out multiple airstrikes against Syrian troops, a military base housing US forces in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr came under a rocket attack.

local sources reported that the rockets landed in the vicinity of the US-controlled al-Omar oil field at around 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT), causing several explosions.

On Saturday, Iran's Arabic-language al-Alam television news network reported that more than 20 rockets had been fired against two illegal bases belonging to American occupation forces in eastern Syria.

The news channel specified the targets as American outposts based near the al-Omar oilfield and the Koniko natural gas field in Syria's Dayr al-Zawr province.

US lawmakers call for American troop pullout from Syria

A number of Republican legislators in the House of Representatives and the Senate have called on the Biden administration to withdraw all US troops from Syria in the wake of attacks against them in the Arab country.

"Warmongers in both parties say keeping troops in Syria is necessary to preserve the balance of power. That is simply not true. If they believe that, they should say it directly to the parents of Americans in Syria who have to sleep there tonight and guard oil fields ... We need to bring our troops home," Congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted on Friday.

He added that it is very sad that we continue to see Americans get killed and soldiers injured in Syria, noting this is the price of protecting oil fields in other countries, which will probably continue forever.

Congressman Ben Cline, echoing Gaetz's remarks, wrote on his Twitter account on Friday that this week's development was exactly why he voted "to remove US armed forces from Syria and bring our troops home."

Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky, also considered the latest rocket attacks against American occupation troops as a reason for the need to withdraw the forces from Syria.

"Bring our troops home from Syria and end every unauthorized war going on today," he tweeted on Saturday.

The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of the Daesh terrorists.

Damascus has said the US deployment is meant to plunder the country's natural resources. Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.

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Taiwan, Honduras end diplomatic ties (update)

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 10:40 AM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Taiwan has severed diplomatic ties with Honduras, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced Sunday, the ninth diplomatic ally expected to switch allegiance to Beijing during the nearly seven years President Tsai Ing-wen () has been in power.

The move came shortly after the Central American nation announced earlier that day it had formally cut ties with the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, more than a week after Honduran President Xiomara Castro said her administration was seeking formal relations with Beijing.

A Honduran delegation headed by Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina arrived in Beijing earlier this week, seeking to sign a communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations with his Chinese counterpart.

Taiwan found it "deeply regrettable" that the Honduran government had disregarded the decades-long friendship between Taiwanese and Hondurans, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () said at a press conference.

"To safeguard national sovereignty and dignity, Taiwan has decided to terminate diplomatic relations with Honduras with immediate effect," end all bilateral cooperation projects and aid programs, and recall staff of its embassy and technical mission in Honduras, Wu said.

The ministry also condemned Beijing, saying the People's Republic of China (PRC) had forced Taiwan's ally to switch allegiance in an attempt to squeeze Taipei's international space.

"(Taiwan) will not succumb to the pressure and coercion of the Chinese authoritarian government, but will uphold the values of freedom and democracy, actively unite with allies and like-minded countries, work together to maintain regional peace and stability, and strive to achieve Taiwan's due international status," Wu said.

Losing Honduras means Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC), is left with 13 diplomatic allies worldwide.

Honduras is also the ninth diplomatic ally, and fifth in Latin America, Taipei is expected to lose to Beijing since Tsai took office in May 2016.

China has sought to put pressure on the Tsai government, which has refused to accept a negotiating framework that acknowledges that Taiwan is part of China, by snatching away Taiwan's formal diplomatic allies and limiting communications between the two governments.

The ROC and Honduras established diplomatic relations in 1941 when the ROC government was still based in mainland China.

Those official ties were reported to be shaky in 2021 when Castro, the wife of ousted former Honduran leader Jose Manuel Zelaya, was running for president of Honduras, a post she won in the Nov. 28, 2021 election.

Statements made by her campaign raised concerns that Castro might end Honduras' diplomatic relationship with Taipei in favor of establishing ties with Beijing.

In a meeting with Taiwan's Vice President Lai Ching-te () at her inauguration in January 2022, however, Castro allayed Taipei's fears by stating that she hoped to maintain the two countries' current relationship.

That commitment seemed to weaken more recently.

On Jan. 1 2023, Honduran Foreign Affairs Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina met with Chinese Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Xie Feng () in Brazil in a bid to secure funding for a planned hydroelectric power plant.

The move was described by Honduran media as "taking the first steps to establish relations with the People's Republic of China."

On Jan. 8, Honduran online news outlet Paradigma reported that Zelaya called for the country to break off ties with Taiwan and recognize China instead, hinting that the Central American ally could soon switch diplomatic recognition.

On March 14, Castro said in a social media post that she had instructed the country's foreign minister to begin the process of opening official diplomatic ties with China.

Despite the tweet, MOFA responded in a statement that it was not considering ending diplomatic relations with Honduras before the Central American country officially announced a diplomatic switch.

However, MOFA did express grave concern to Honduras, warning that Beijing always offered "false promises" to Taipei's allies with the sole purpose of snatching them away in order to diminish Taiwan's international presence.

A diplomatic source said the rupture came after repeated attempts by Honduras to secure funding from Taiwan since Castro took office.

Her government had asked Taiwan for US$45 million for a hospital, US$350 million for a dam, and help to pay back US$2 billion in debt, the source told CNA on March 22.

Taiwan had responded over time by saying that it would try to find solutions to the requests within its capacity, including by reaching out to other like-minded countries to help with the dam project, working on ways to restructure the repayment of US$489 million in debt owed to Taiwan, and assisting in the construction of a hospital as it did in Guatemala, according to the source.

According to the source, however, MOFA received a letter from Reina asking Taiwan for US$2.5 billion for the said projects on March 13 -- just one day before Castro released the tweet about forging ties with Beijing.

Honduras on March 22 denied demanding US$2.5 billion in aid, saying instead it was seeking a "negotiated refinancing mechanism."

The source indicated that Taiwan's responses over time had gone unanswered by Reina, while at the same time, Honduras had also asked Beijing for a US$6 billion cash injection.

At Sunday's press conference, Wu revealed the requests Honduras made in the letter on March 13, including US$90 million for a hospital, US$350 million for a dam, in addition to US$2 billion to help Honduras repay national debt.

Central America was once Taiwan's staunchest base of diplomatic support, with all seven countries still recognizing the ROC as of 2006.

Costa Rica severed ties in 2007, followed by Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua in 2017, 2018 and 2021, respectively. After Honduras' decision to cut ties with Taiwan, Guatemala and Belize are the only countries in Central America to maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/ls/ASG

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Taiwan FM suspects timing of Honduran ties cut linked to president's US trip

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 01:15 PM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () on Sunday said he suspected that the timing of Honduras' announcement to cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan is correlated to President Tsai Ing-wen's () upcoming trip to visit Central American allies, with stopovers in the United States.

"I don't have any evidence that they are correlated but [it is] highly suspicious," Wu told reporters at a press conference in Taipei, when asked if the announcement has been intentionally time to come ahead of Tsai's planned visit to Guatemala and Belize, with stopovers in New York and Los Angeles, before and after the state visits.

Wu alleged that Beijing always likes to use such overseas visits by Taiwan's senior officials "to distort our diplomatic relations" and since Tsai's upcoming visit is being made public, "China seems to be doing this intentionally," he said.

Tsai's trip was announced only five days ago and Honduras' government had said its decision was in the interest of its country. It is believed that businesses in Honduras had pressured the government to establish ties with Beijing in order for them to gain greater access to the Chinese market.

Wu said Sunday that Honduras President Xiomara Castro had raised the issue of switching ties even before the presidential election in Honduras in 2021.

Taiwan's government announced on March 21 that Tsai will embark on a 10-day trip to diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize on March 29 for talks with government officials and members of the overseas Taiwanese community.

Tsai last made a tour of countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan in July 2019, when she visited Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia in the Caribbean.

Wu made his remarks during a press event to announce the ending of the 82-year-old diplomatic ties between Honduras and the Republic of China (ROC), the official name of Taiwan. Relations were established long before the ROC relocated to Taiwan.

The Central American nation announced earlier on Sunday that it had formally cut ties with the ROC, more than a week after Castro said her administration was seeking formal relations with Beijing.

"The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes the existence of only one China in the world and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all of China," the Honduran government said in a statement.

It added that "Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan."

A Honduran delegation headed by Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina arrived in Beijing earlier this week to sign a communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations with his Chinese counterpart. The joint communique was signed Sunday in Beijing, according to Chinese media reports.

Honduras's move leaves Taiwan with only 13 countries in the world that officially recognize the Republic of China as a nation. Taipei has lost nine diplomatic allies to Beijing since President Tsai first took office in May 2016.

Despite losing official allies, Taiwan has unofficial close relations with many countries, including the United States.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/cs



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Taiwan's FM describes Honduran financial demands as akin to bribery

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 05:12 PM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () said Sunday that the Honduran government had made "bribe-like" demands for billions in debt restructuring and aid prior to cutting diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China.

At a press conference, Wu said he received a letter from Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina on March 13 asking for US$350 million for a hydroelectric dam and US$90 million for a hospital, which had been doubled from an initial US$45 million without explanation.

Wu added that Reina also asked Taiwan to assume US$2 billion of Honduras' national debt.

According to Wu, Honduras' government had requested that it be given any financial assistance directly, despite it being standard practice for Taiwan to be involved in the construction, purchasing of materials and follow-up operations of infrastructure projects in allied countries.

Wu said it was as if what the Honduran government actually wanted was "money [and] not the hospital itself."

The foreign minister said such practices were unacceptable to Taiwan, as "giving money directly [to a government] is like offering bribes."

Wu made the remarks during Sunday's press event to announce the ending of diplomatic relations between Honduras and the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name.

Wu said that Honduran President Xiomara Castro and her administration had always "harbored illusions concerning China."

Wu accused Beijing of frequently making "ostentatious commitments" to lure Taiwan's diplomatic allies into switching diplomatic recognition.

However, once China achieves its diplomatic objectives, it often fails to uphold its pledges, leaving some beneficiary countries mired in debt, Wu said.

He said Taiwan, unlike China, would only approve projects that benefit the people and the national interests of its allies, of which there are now only 13 remaining.

The severing of ties with Honduras means that Taiwan has lost nine diplomatic allies to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen () first took office in May 2016.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/ASG





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Different motives seen behind Beijing's poaching of Honduras

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 09:24 PM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Following the diplomatic split between Honduras and Taiwan on Sunday, several Taiwanese academics weighed in on the timing of the act, the reasons why Taiwan continues to lose allies to Beijing, and possible responses from the United States.

The Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's formal name) announced Sunday morning it was cutting diplomatic ties with Honduras shortly after Honduras said it was severing diplomatic relations with the ROC to formally recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Honduras was the ninth diplomatic ally and fifth in Latin America Taipei has lost to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen () took office in May 2016, and the split left Taiwan with only 13 formal diplomatic allies.

Professor Charles Wu () of National Chengchi University's Department of Diplomacy believed that Latin American countries such as former allies Nicaragua and Honduras may be defecting to the PRC in part because Beijing is exploiting their need for infrastructure.

China's infrastructure assistance programs have always been alluring to nations that need support but cannot pay back their debts in the short run, enabling Beijing to steal diplomatic allies away from Taiwan.

Yet while China's aide may seem more attractive on the surface than that offered by other partners, China's strategic considerations may actually harm the country in the long run, Wu said.

"Once the debt no longer benefits China, the infrastructure being handled by Beijing in nations it is assisting may come to a stop, leaving them to shoulder the burden on their own."

Su Tzu-yun (), a research fellow at the Taiwan government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, saw the break in ties as a key issue for the United States.

He told CNA that newly established relations between Honduras and China will affect the plans of the U.S. in Latin America because it could further the trend of the U.S. slowly losing its influence in its own "backyard."

With Tegucigalpa's move toward China, Su expected the U.S. to speed up its plans to invest in the region so that it can retain its influence in Latin America.

Another Taiwanese academic, who wished to remain anonymous, said the shift of Latin American countries like Nicaragua and Honduras to China indicated that the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019 was not working.

The TAIPEI Act was enacted on March 26, 2020 by the U.S. to boost ties with Taiwan while encouraging other allies and international bodies to stabilize both official and unofficial relationships with Taiwan.

Chen Shih-min (), an associate professor of political science at National Taiwan University, said he found the timing of the move too coincidental, coming just before Tsai sets off on a trip to the U.S., Guatemala and Belize on March 29 and former President Ma Ying-jeou () goes to China on March 27.

Chen said the timing of Beijing's move was an act of intimidation aimed at hurting Taiwan's morale.

Chen's observation was echoed by Chang Kuo-cheng (), a professor at Taipei Medical University's Center for General Education, who said it was a staple policy of China to continually erode the number of countries that formally recognize the ROC.

(By Matt Yu, Henry Wu and James Lo)

Enditem/ls





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Ma Ying-jeou Foundation blames Tsai's policy failures for Honduras loss

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 07:34 PM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () should blame her administration's "wrong" policies for Taiwan's loss of diplomatic ties with Honduras, a director with former President Ma Ying-jeou's () foundation said Sunday.

Since Tsai took office in May 2016, nine of the 22 countries that recognized the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) at the time have severed ties with the ROC to recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Those losses have highlighted the need to normalize cross-strait relations, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation Executive Director Hsiao Hsu-tsen () said in a statement.

He said it had been left to ordinary Taiwanese to "repair the broken net" of relations with China because the Tsai administration had been unable to do so, and that Ma's planned trip to China from March 27 to April 7 demonstrated the importance of people-to-people exchanges with China.

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT), Ma's party, also took issue with Tsai's policy in the wake of the break in ties with Honduras.

It said that following the mantra of being "close to the United States while maintaining friendly ties with Japan and peace with China" during Ma's time as president from 2008 to 2016 had helped maintain and expand Taiwan's international space.

Tsai's "wrong policies" had led to the loss of allies Sao Tome and Principe in 2016, Panama in 2017, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso and El Salvador in 2018, the Solomon Islands in 2019, and Nicaragua in 2021, the KMT said.

While the statements from Hsiao and the KMT did not condemn China for the split in ties, KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang () and Chen I-hsin () did, both lambasting China for continuing to suppress Taiwan by poaching Taiwan's allies.

Chen said China's constant poaching of Taiwan's formal allies ignored the existence of the Republic of China and damaged cross-strait relations, while Chiang urged the government to adjust its diplomatic strategy to avoid isolation.

Hsieh Pei-fen (), the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) spokeswoman, criticized KMT members' trips to China and said the KMT should not sacrifice Taiwan's interests and the values of democracy and freedom when conducting exchanges with China.

Noting that Ma's trip is just one of several by high-ranking KMT members to China in recent years, Hsieh said the DPP wanted to remind the opposition party that the Chinese government had never ceased in its attempts to squeeze Taiwan's diplomatic space.

Hsieh said the public did not approve of China's attempts to isolate Taiwan by poaching diplomatic allies.

Beijing's maneuvering did nothing to advance cross-strait relations or win the international community's respect, she said.

(By Yeh Su-ping, Wang Cheng-chung, Chen Chun-hua and Evelyn Kao)

Enditem/ASG/ls

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MAC condemns Beijing after Honduras cuts ties with Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 06:35 PM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Sunday condemned Beijing for using "dollar diplomacy" to lure away Taiwan's diplomatic allies and erode its international presence following Honduras' severing of ties earlier in the day.

"Beijing continues to unilaterally and maliciously disrupt peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, attempting to force Taipei to submit to its political agenda," the MAC said in a statement.

The MAC also protested Beijing's meddling in the economies and politics of other countries, as well as its use of "dollar diplomacy" and false promises to expand its regional presence.

Beijing's "One China principle" and diplomatic and military coercion toward Taiwan is a misjudgment of the current cross-strait situation and has severely hurt the dignity and welfare of the Taiwanese people, the MAC said.

The Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, and China are not subordinate to each other, the MAC reiterated, adding that Beijing's intimidation will neither erode the Taiwanese people's commitment to freedom and democracy nor their determination to engage with the world.

Honduras is the ninth diplomatic ally to switch allegiance to Beijing during the nearly seven years President Tsai Ing-wen (ee) has been in power.

The switch came more than a week after Honduran President Xiomara Castro said her administration was seeking formal relations with Beijing.

Losing Honduras means the ROC has now 13 remaining diplomatic allies worldwide.

(By Lee Ya-wen and Lee Hsin-Yin)

Enditem/ASG

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Taiwan agencies set to address aftermath of Honduran ties cut

ROC Central News Agency

03/26/2023 06:08 PM

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Taiwan's government ministries have started to take action to deal with the ending of 82 years of diplomatic relations with Honduras on Sunday, including helping military exchange personnel in the two countries and Honduran students in Taiwan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced earlier Sunday that Taipei had severed diplomatic ties with Tegucigalpa, the ninth diplomatic ally that has switched allegiance to Beijing during the nearly seven years President Tsai Ing-wen () has been in power.

The move came shortly after the Central American nation announced that it had formally cut ties with the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, about 10 days after Honduran President Xiomara Castro said her administration would pursue formal relations with Beijing.

Taiwan found it "deeply regrettable" that the Honduran government had disregarded the decades-long friendship between Taiwanese and Hondurans, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () said at a press conference.

Wu also said that 61 Taiwanese staffers with the ROC embassy and technical missions in Honduras and their dependents will be brought back to Taiwan as soon as possible.

He did not expect the cut in ties to affect the lives of the roughly 100 Taiwanese expatriates residing in the Central American country, the minister said.

Wu also noted that there were 175 Honduran students in Taiwan at present who are expected to depart Taiwan after the end of the semester.

According to Ministry of Education (MOE) statistics, a total of 359 Honduran nationals are studying at colleges and universities in Taiwan during the 2022-2023 academic year, including 220 degree pursuers, 138 learning Chinese, and one on an exchange program.

Among them, 104 have received scholarships offered by MOFA, while no one is on an MOE scholarship.

In a written statement, the MOE told CNA that it would respect MOFA's decision on whether or not to continue its scholarships for the Honduran students.

The MOE said it would also "ask the schools concerned at a proper time to strengthen their care and guidance for the students."

During similar diplomatic splits in recent years, scholarships for students from countries that broke ties with Taiwan were withdrawn, leaving each university to decide whether to provide scholarships on its own.

This means that some of the students might be unable to finish their studies in Taiwan due to a lack of funding.

Yuan Hsiao-wei (), executive director for international affairs at National Taiwan University, hoped MOFA would keep its scholarships for Honduran students in place, but if that were not possible, the school would do its best to help its 31 Honduran students finish their studies.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense said there are five Taiwanese cadets who are getting military training in Honduras, while 39 Hondurans are studying at military schools in Taiwan.

The ministry will assist those cadets and their dependents return to their home countries.

In terms of Taiwan's free trade agreement with Honduras that was signed in 2007, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Honduras has benefited from the pact more than Taiwan, with its exports to Taiwan up 4.65-fold since the agreement was signed.

Whether it will be kept after the cutting of diplomatic ties will be decided after an assessment it conducts with MOFA, the MOEA said Sunday.

According to MOEA data, Taiwan exports to Honduras amounted to US$63.16 million in 2022, a mere 0.01 percent of Taiwan's total exports, while Taiwan imported US$128.85 million worth of goods from Honduras, mainly coffee beans and frozen whiteleg shrimps.

The imports from Honduras in 2022 accounted for 0.03 percent of Taiwan's total, the data showed, and 88 percent of the imports were fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates.

(By Chen Chieh-ling, Matt Yu, Alyx Chang and Elizabeth Hsu)

Enditem/ls

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China, Honduras establish diplomatic relations, cutting Taiwan's diplomatic allies to 13

Global Times

By Chen Qingqing and Guo Yuandan Published: Mar 26, 2023 09:48 PM Updated: Mar 26, 2023 09:56 PM

A few hours after Honduras announced to break off "diplomatic relations" with China's Taiwan region, China and Honduras established diplomatic relations on Sunday with the Central American country recognizing Taiwan as an inalienable part of China's territory - a decision standing on the right side of history that China highly appreciates.

The announcement was made a few days before Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen's planned visit to Central America, which also signaled the tacit understanding between China and Honduras that the "Taiwan independence" will only lead to a dead end, some experts said. Honduras' cutting "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan is also a "slap in the face" to the collusion between the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities and the US, as the latest responses from Washington and the DPP authorities are filled with frustration and helpless sentiment, they noted.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Honduran counterpart Eduardo Enrique Reina met in Beijing and signed the Joint CommuniquA on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras on Sunday morning as the two sides have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of the communiquA.

Honduras has decided to stand with 181 other countries around the world and adhere to the one-China principle, establishing diplomatic relations with China without any preconditions, which suits the fundamental and long-term interests of Honduras and its people, Qin told reporters after meeting with his Honduras counterpart.

"It fully proves that the adherence to the one-China principle is a global responsibility and the correct choice echoing the trend and times. We must tell the DPP authorities that any 'Taiwan independence' secessionist activities go against the will and benefit of the nation, which will lead to a dead end," Qin said.

The announcement of establishing diplomatic relations was made shortly after the government of Honduras announced to sever "diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan region on Saturday (local time) with instructions from the Honduras President Xiomara Castro, who not only expressed such willingness during her presidential campaign in 2021 but also said in her Twitter account on March 15 that she instructed Reina to undertake this mission.

Some Chinese experts believe that Honduras severing ties with the Taiwan region and establishing diplomatic relations with China is an inevitable event echoing the changes at the regional and global scale, driven by the rise of China's comprehensive national strength. It's also an inevitable choice by countries after they clearly see the trend of the world and the cross-Straits situation while balancing their own interests, experts said.

As the China-Honduras relations are ushered into a new page, the Chinese side is willing to actively begin all-level friendly interaction and practical cooperation to benefit the two sides, and China also welcomes Castro to visit China soon, Qin said, while also inviting the delegation of enterprises from Honduras to travel and invest in China.

'A slap in the face'

Shortly after Honduras announced to sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, both the DPP authorities and the US government responded with similar rhetoric as the DPP authorities said Honduras "always had illusions" about the Chinese mainland, continuing hyping on the so-called $2.5 billion of economic assistance that Honduras had asked for, according to local media reports in the island.

The US State Department said it was important to note China "often makes promises in exchange for diplomatic recognition that ultimately remain unfulfilled," Reuters reported on Sunday. "Regardless of Honduras' decision, the US will continue to deepen and expand our engagement with Taiwan," the US State Department said.

"Such response only reflects the helpless sentiment of the US, which also has not given up manipulating the Taiwan question at the global stage. It also shows its anxiety as Honduras' breaking off 'diplomatic ties' with Taiwan further proved that more and more countries oppose such manipulation of the Taiwan question," Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The DPP authorities and the US government have been continuously pressuring Honduras after it expressed the intention to establish diplomatic relations with China. For example, the DPP authorities recalled its "envoy" to Honduras to express its "strong dissatisfaction" and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken defended Taiwan by saying the island "had a lot to offer the world" during a recent interview.

Honduras must have done a lot of work before and after the breakoff of "diplomatic relations'" with Taiwan and faced a lot of pressure from the US and the DPP authorities, but it still decided to sever "diplomatic relations" with the island, which shows that it has the firm determination and the strong desire of respecting the one-China principle, Jiang Xueshi, a professor at the Center for Latin American Studies at Shanghai University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Tsai will depart on Wednesday on a trip to Central America including Guatemala and Belize, and plans to transit through the US. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier that China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and the island as the regional leader of Taiwan plans to meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her transit.

Zheng Jian, chair professor of the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University and director of the National Taiwan Studies Association, told the Global Times on Sunday that the timing of announcing the breakoff of "diplomatic relations" between Honduras and Taiwan reflects a tacit understanding between the two sides, showing the DPP authorities that "Taiwan independence" is a dead end and it also serves as a direct taunt and mockery to the US.

Honduras became the ninth country to sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan since Tsai took office, leaving only 13 countries that maintain the so-called diplomatic relations with the island. It's a heavy blow to the DPP authorities and their US supporters.

There are only seven countries left in Latin America that maintain so-called diplomatic relations with the island of Taiwan, and in the foreseeable future, "we could see the US and the DPP authorities continue to pressure those countries, but it's the general trend that more countries will adopt the correct stance on the international consensus concerning one China," Jiang said.

As more and more countries stand on the correct side of the international order, there's no doubt the rest of the countries that maintain "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan will sever relations one by one, which will also affect the future regional election in Taiwan as the DPP authorities touting their "diplomatic performance" would only see "a slap in the face," experts said.

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Honduras establishes diplomatic relations with China after cutting ties with Taiwan

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 9:27 AM

Honduras has formally established diplomatic ties with China after it cut its ties with Taiwan, dealing a new blow to the island's secessionists.

"The government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes the existence of one China in the world and that the government of the People's Republic of China represents China as a whole," Honduras's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and as of today, the government of Honduras has informed Taiwan about the rupture of diplomatic relations," it added.

China said its foreign minister, Qin Gang, and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina signed a deal on diplomatic recognition in Beijing, ending relations with Taiwan dating back to the 1940s.

Honduras was among about a dozen small nations in Latin America and the Pacific that diplomatically recognized Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) over Beijing.

Taipei acknowledged the cut of diplomatic relations with the Latin American country shortly after the announcement by Honduras.

In a video address on Sunday, Taiwan's US-backed secessionist leader said the decision by Honduras to cut its ties with Taipei was "very regrettable."

Tsai Ing-wen insisted that the people on the island believed in freedom and democracy, adding that neither Taipei nor Beijing would agree to take orders from the other.

However, she also said that Chinese Taipei wanted to be part of the global community and would continue to work with like-minded countries that liked to establish ties with it.

China on Sunday confirmed that Beijing had agreed to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Honduras.

"The two governments (of China and Honduras) have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level," read a statement from China's Foreign Ministry.

"There is but one China in the world and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," it added.

Earlier this month, Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced Tegucigalpa's decision to establish formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.

"I instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reinato to begin the process of recognizing the People's Republic of China," Castro tweeted on March 14.

Castro, who won a landslide victory in 2021, had said in her foreign policy manifesto before she was elected as president that she would establish diplomatic ties with Beijing.

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Honduras Severs Diplomatic Relations With Taiwan

Sputnik News

20230326

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Foreign Ministry of Honduras has announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

"The Secretary of State in the Offices of Foreign Relations and International Cooperation, with instructions from the President of the Republic, has communicated to Taiwan the decision to break diplomatic relations," the ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.

According to the statement, Honduras recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate government.

Taiwan responded to Honduras with reciprocal measures.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said at a Sunday press conference that the foreign ministry had "decided to end diplomatic relations with the Republic of Honduras, completely stop bilateral cooperation and withdraw the diplomatic mission.

Earlier this month, Taiwan recalled its ambassador from Honduras following the announcement that the Central American country was intending to establish formal relations with China.

On March 15, Honduran President Xiomara Castro instructed Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina to start work on establishing formal diplomatic relations with China. The announcement drew harsh criticism from Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that Honduras's willingness to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing was a "trend of history" that China welcomes.

Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan a a territory with its own elected government a 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.

A Sputnik

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Ukraine drone caused blast in Russia, 3 injured: Report

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 March 2023 5:27 PM

A Ukraine-operated drone "packed with explosives" has caused an explosion in the center of a Russian town, injuring three people and damaging three residential buildings.

The explosion took place in the town of Kireyevsk in Tula region, about 300 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, on Sunday, Russian news agency TASS reported. None of the three people are believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries, the report said.

According to the news agency, authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141, which has a range of about 1,000 kilometers.

"A Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh UAV was the cause of an explosion in the town of Kireyevsk, Tula region," TASS quoted a law enforcement agency source as saying. "The drone was packed with explosives."

Ukraine has yet to comment on the explosion. It has previously denied Russian assertions that its drones have flown into Russian territory and caused damage to civilian infrastructure.

Russian military reported several similar drone explosions in December. The Russian Defense Ministry said back then the drones were shot down and that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen. Three Russian air force personnel died back then when the drone was shot down at the main base for Russia's strategic bombers near the city of Saratov after flying hundreds of kilometers through Russian airspace.

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Fighting Rages Around Bakhmut As West Assails Kremlin Plan To Place Nukes In Belarus

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service March 26, 2023

International condemnation has intensified over Moscow's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, even as fighting raged in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, with the ruined city of Bakhmut continuing to be the focal point of Russia's struggling war effort.

The Ukrainian military said on March 26 that Russian offensives were centering on Bakhmut and a handful of other eastern areas, as Western analysts and others said Moscow's monthslong assault in the area -- led by the Wagner mercenary fighters -- was stalling, beset by heavy troop losses.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that a drone sent by Ukrainian forces was intercepted near the Russian city of Tula and crashed into the town of Kireyevsk, injuring three people.

Ukraine did not comment on the claim, and the report could not be independently verified.

The fighting comes amid international fallout over plans announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 25 that he had reached agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a close ally that borders both Russia and Ukraine.

Kyiv condemned the plan and called for an urgent UN Security Council session and urged the international community to "take decisive measures" to prevent Moscow's possible use of nuclear weapons.

"Russia once again confirms its chronic inability to be a responsible steward of nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and prevention of war, not as a tool of threats and intimidation," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.

The secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said that fellow post-Soviet republic Belarus was falling "hostage" to Moscow by allowing the stationing of nuclear weapons on its soil.

NATO assailed Putin for "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, while Germany condemned the move, saying it served to bring nuclear arms closer to the European Union.

"NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own," a NATO spokesperson said.

An official in Berlin told AFP that it was "another attempt at nuclear intimidation by Russia."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted: "Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions."

Despite Putin's comments, the White House said it did not see any indications that Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons. It said, though, that "Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments," including the decades-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

Putin likened his move to station nuclear weapons in Belarus to Washington's policy of placing such weapons with NATO allies and claimed that it did not violate terms of the NPT.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Ukraine's General Staff said its forces continued to hold positions in Bakhmut, where a Russian encirclement effort continues, but Ukraine's top commander said this week the situation was being "stabilized."

It cited Russian attacks in the Donetsk areas of Lyman, Maryinka, and Avdiyivka and said Ukrainian forces had repelled 85 Russian attacks over the past 24 hours.

In its daily update, the British Defense Ministry said Russia "most likely wanted to stabilize its front lines and would adopt a more defensive operational stance."

Kyiv also said Russian forces were conducting "defensive actions" in the areas around Kherson and Zaporizhzhya, where shelling has raised fears over a captured nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said its director-general, Rafael Grossi, will make his second visit of the war next week to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, where he and other nuclear experts have repeatedly warned of the risk of nuclear catastrophe.

The Kherson city council on March 24 advised residents living close to the Dnieper River to leave for "safer areas."

The Ukrainian Army said the occupiers in the city of Berdyansk, in the Zaporizhzhya region, issued a decree forcing local residents to seek passes to move freely in the area pending background checks.

Russian forces and their separatist allies have conducted wide-scale "filtration" operations to vet civilians in occupied territory since early in the full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

Ukraine's General Staff also claimed that the Russian side had suffered 170,000 casualties so far in the all-out invasion that began in February 22.

RFE/RL cannot independently confirm casualty claims by either side or battlefield developments in areas of intense fighting.

In his regular video address late on March 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised a decision on "new packages of defense support" from Finland, Germany, Lithuania, and the United States, as well as a similar Swedish vote.

He also cited "a security package and strong agreements with Japan" following Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit earlier this week.

Zelenskiy said Croatia's government backed a program to treat and rehabilitate Ukrainian war casualties and that Greece joined a group "working on the creation of a special tribunal" for war crimes.

Zelenskiy said the commitments allowed Ukraine to become stronger while "the enemy has become even more isolated, even more hopeless."

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-bakhmut-belarus- nuclear-hostage/32334711.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Ukrainian Forces Shell Villages in Russia's Kursk Region - Investigative Committee

Sputnik News

20230326

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian troops shelled three villages in Russia's Kursk Region, disrupted power supply and damaged buildings, the Investigative Committee of Russia said.

None of the local residents were injured, the committee specified, adding that some agricultural facilities were damaged.

"According to available information, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired at the village of Plekhovo in Sudzansky District and the village of Gordeyevka in Korenevsky District of the Kursk region, as a result of which the electricity supply in the villages was interrupted. Two households were also damaged. The village of Nikolaevo-Darino in the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region was also subjected to shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the Investigative Committee said on Telegram.

On Sunday, Russian health authorities said that at least three people received minor injuries after an explosion occurred in the Tula Region. The region's emergency services told Sputnik that, according to preliminary data, the explosion was caused by the fall of a drone that carried ammunition.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine had attempted to carry out an attack in the Tula Region, using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Strizh type, but the drone's navigation system was disabled on Sunday by the Russian Pole-21 jamming system.

A Sputnik

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Kiev Attempts to Conduct UAV Attack, Drone Disabled in Tula Region Says Defense Minister

Sputnik News

20230326

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine attempted to carry out an attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of Strizh type on Sunday, but the drone's navigation system has been disabled by Russian missile system Pole-21 stationed in the country's Tula Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the regional health department said that at least three people received minor injuries after an explosion occurred in Tula's Kireyevsky district. The region's emergency service told Sputnik that, according to preliminary data, the explosion had been caused by a fall of the UAV, which carried ammunition.

"On March 26 of this year, Kiev attempted to carry out the attack using the Strizh-type UAV (Tu-141) in strike role," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement also said the Russian air defense unit stationed in the Tula Region, which included the Pole-21, S-300 and Pantsir missile systems, provided for a "reliable protection" from attacks coming from that direction.

The Tu-141 drone was created by the Soviet Union as an unarmed reconnaissance drone. Ukraine has been modifying them for lethal use in long-range attacks.

The statement added that the specialists from the Russian Defense Ministry, emergency situations department and law enforcement services were operating on the site.

A Sputnik

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You can't be mentally far from the war, support our warriors whenever possible - address by the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

26 March 2023 - 23:55

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

Today our National Guard celebrates its day, and it will be right if we all thank the National Guardsmen together. For the way the National Guard, together with all our warriors, is powerfully fighting for Ukraine. For strength and courage in the battle for Donbas. For the defense of Bakhmut and Avdiivka. For the heroic defense of Mariupol and Azovstal. For the battles in the Luhansk region. For the battles in the Kyiv region, for the battle for Kyiv. Together with all the defense and security forces of Ukraine, the guardsmen ousted the occupier from the northern regions of our country, from the Kharkiv region. They are holding the line in the south, in the Zaporizhzhia direction.

Separately, I want to thank the Offensive Guard, which has already become an example of the exemplary formation of new brigades for the Ukrainian defense.

During the full-scale war, almost 5,000 National Guardsmen have already been awarded state awards - precisely for their participation in battles, for bravery, for resilience, and for the military results achieved by the National Guard. 32 warriors of the National Guard were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

I thank all Guardsmen: soldiers, sergeants, officers, command! Thank you to everyone who helps the units of the National Guard, who trains soldiers, provides them with everything they need, helps with treatment after injuries, with rehabilitation.

The strength of Ukraine is the strength of all those who fight for Ukraine and who help the warriors. And it is simply impossible to imagine our state's might without the National Guard.

Today there was a meeting with the military - a special military meeting, a special circle of participants. I also held meetings with the security sector, with intelligence.

Defense, reinforcement of our protection - both from external threats and from internal threats. We're preparing respective steps.

Constantly, invariably, maximum attention is paid to the situation on the frontline. To the brutal battles that take the lives of our people every day and require constant mobilization of our state and society every day.

It is wrong, it is unfair, when our warriors who come from the front have the feeling that for many in the rear, the war is allegedly already over. For those who are not just far from the Donetsk region or Nikopol, from Saltivka, from the border areas of the Sumy region, from Zaporizhzhia... But who are mentally far from the trenches, from the daily pain of Ukrainians.

Now, just as it was a year ago, one cannot be mentally far from the war, although thanks to our soldiers, real hostilities are taking place geographically far from many. Now, just as it was a year ago, it is important that as many Ukrainians as possible help the defense of the state, help the accumulation of world support for our victory.

Fellow Ukrainians! Support our warriors whenever possible. Don't forget about volunteers' fundraising campaigns and join when you can.

It is very important for everyone who has informational influence to participate in informational work. This applies not only to journalists. This applies to everyone who can spread the truth about aggression. Who is capable of reminding the world about Ukrainian men and women who went through the occupation, through losses... About the fact that Ukraine is fighting for freedom and justice for our people and for all nations threatened by Russian tyranny. The world must hear as intensely as last year that the aggression against Ukraine continues. It must hear that ending the war already this year, liberating Ukraine from Russian evil this year is a joint task of the civilized world. Because civilized means, in particular, determined to defend civilization.

I met with the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom and the UNICEF team - an organization engaged in humanitarian support and protection of children. Orlando Bloom has been working meaningfully in this direction for a long time. He has already been to Ukraine, in our Donbas, even before the full-scale war. And he knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war.

We discussed the issue of rebuilding our country, our school infrastructure. I appreciate this help. We agreed that our teams should work on several issues.

In particular, this is the issue of the return of our children who were forcibly taken to Russia, this is the creation of bomb shelters for our children. And the third is the technical support of distance education in those areas and regions where it is impossible to study offline due to relevant threats.

Today, as always, I will celebrate our warriors who gave a significant result to Ukraine over the past day, this day, and this week in general.

The 57th separate motorized infantry brigade, the 5th separate assault brigade and the 93rd separate mechanized brigade - well done, guys! Thank you for your strength!

The marines of the 35th and 36th separate brigades, the warriors of the 55th "Zaporiz'ka Sich" artillery brigade - all in the Donetsk region - thank you for being the best week after week!

I also want to celebrate today our warriors of the "North" operational and strategic group of troops, who protect the Sumy region and the Chernihiv region. This is the defense against attempts of subversive groups infiltration across the border, this is a cover for Ukraine from airstrikes, and this is a defense against the artillery of terrorists.

Thank you to all our anti-aircraft gunners of the "North", to all those who protect our state border, to all those who, with their courage and accuracy, make the enemy learn that the Kremlin will not conquer Ukraine.

Glory to all our warriors who are in combat!

Gratitude to everyone who helps the defense!

Eternal memory and honor to all our warriors who gave their lives for Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!

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Latest in Ukraine: Kyiv Assails Putin's Planned Tactical Nuclear Weapons Deployment in Belarus

By VOA News March 26, 2023

New developments:

The head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is headed again to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in eastern Ukraine to assess the serious security situation there.

A NATO spokesman lashed out at Russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric," the Reuters news agency reported, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address Saturday evening, "Russia must lose on the battlefield, in the economy, in international relations, and in its attempts to replace the historical truth with some imperial myths. ... It is the full-scale defeat of Russia that will be a reliable guarantee against new aggressions and crises."

Ukraine didn't receive a peace mediation proposal from China or a proposal to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Zelenskyy told The Japan News.

Ukraine assailed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday for his plans to position tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus along Ukraine's northern border and called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to address the potential threat.

"Russia once again confirms its chronic inability to be a responsible steward of nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and prevention of war, not as a tool of threats and intimidation," Kyiv's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Putin announced the deployment of the tactical nuclear weapons on Saturday, saying it was warranted because of the West's increasing military support for Ukrainian forces, including Britain's decision last week to send armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium to Ukraine.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, tweeted Sunday that Putin's announcement was "a step towards internal destabilization" of Belarus and that the Kremlin "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage."

Putin said that Russia's positioning of tactical nuclear warheads in Belarus was no different than the United States placing nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

"We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews," the Russian leader said.

Putin said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country to counter possible NATO threats from nearby Western allies. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members a Latvia, Lithuania and Poland a while Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine when the invasion began in February of last year.

Tactical nuclear weapons can be used on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted on long-range missiles. Putin said Russia would maintain control over the undisclosed number he sends to Belarus, and construct storage facilities for them by July 1.

The U.S. said it would "monitor the implications" of Putin's announcement; but National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that so far Washington hasn't seen "any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon" in its attack on Ukraine.

In other war developments, the British defense ministry said Sunday in its daily intelligence update that Russia has "likely launched" at least 71 Iranian-designed Shahed series drones against Ukrainian targets since the beginning of March.

The drone attacks stopped for two weeks in late February, but Russia is likely receiving a supply of them again, Britain said.

Meanwhile, the top commander of Ukraine's military said Saturday his forces are repelling Russian troops in the battle for the town of Bakhmut.

"The Bakhmut direction is the most difficult. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the defense forces, the situation is being stabilized," Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi said in a post on Telegram, giving a synopsis of a telephone call with Adm. Sir Tony Radakin, Britain's chief of the defense staff.

The British defense ministry said Saturday in its daily intelligence report on Ukraine that "Russia's assault on the Donbas town of Bakhmut has largely stalled. This is likely primarily a result of extreme attrition of the Russian force," and added Russia is likely conducting "a more defensive operational design after inconclusive results from its attempts to conduct a general offensive since January 2023" in its campaign in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross noted the challenges facing some 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, many older or with disabilities, in Bakhmut and surrounding settlements.

"They are living in very dire conditions, spending almost the entire days in intense shelling in the [underground] shelters," said Umar Khan of the ICRC, speaking to a news briefing via video link from Dnipro, Ukraine.

"All you see is people pushed to the very limits of their existence and survival and resilience," Khan said.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Fallacies and truths about U.S. slander against China on Ukraine issue

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:14, March 27, 2023

- The United States, the true initiator of the Ukraine crisis, has been fueling tensions between Russia and Ukraine by providing military assistance to the latter, and has been reaping huge profits from the conflict.

- China, in contrast, always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, the United States has churned out fallacies to discredit China on a range of related issues and mislead the international community.

In fact, the United States, the true initiator of this crisis, has been fueling tensions between Russia and Ukraine by providing military assistance to the latter, and has been reaping huge profits from the conflict. China, in contrast, always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

U.S. slanders are listed below with an account of facts to restore truths and offer a holistic perspective on the issue.

FALLACY 1: Citing comments of some senior U.S. officials or reports from Western intelligence agencies, some U.S. media accused China of having prior knowledge of Russia's "special military operation" against Ukraine.

TRUTH: China has repeatedly refuted the claims that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported Russia's military action, which are purely disinformation intended to shift blame to and sling mud at China.

There were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine and China is the biggest trading partner of both Ukraine and Russia, as well as the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. A conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. China would have tried its best to prevent the conflict had it known about it in advance.

On the other hand, Russia is a sovereign country that independently weighs, decides and implements its foreign policy based on its own strategy and interests. There is no need to seek China's consent beforehand.

It is worth mentioning that the China-Russia relationship features non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party. It differs from the practices of the United States and several other Western countries that stick to the Cold War mentality of drawing ideological lines and adopting a friend-or-foe dichotomy, forming so-called "alliances" and "cliques," and pursuing bloc politics that create confrontation and division.

FALLACY 2: The United States accused China of amplifying Kremlin's "propaganda and conspiracy theories" about Ukraine, spreading "false information" including that "the United States is conducting bio-military activities in Ukraine," "the United States and NATO caused the Ukraine crisis" and "the United States, especially the military-industrial complex, is the biggest beneficiary of the Ukraine crisis."

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue is above board, objective and fair. Relevant reports by the Chinese media were all based on facts.

First, on U.S. bio-military activities in Ukraine, the Agreement Between the Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Concerning Cooperation in the Area of Prevention of Proliferation of Technology, Pathogens and Expertise that could be Used in the Development of Biological Weapons signed by the two countries on Aug. 29, 2005, clearly stipulates that the U.S. Department of Defense representatives shall have the right to participate in all related activities at facilities in Ukraine; all dangerous pathogens in Ukraine shall be stored at designated laboratories; Ukraine shall share with the U.S. data generated by the relevant surveillance network, transfer to the U.S. side requested copies of dangerous pathogen strains, and withhold information designated by the U.S. side as "sensitive" from public disclosure.

In November 2021, the United States admitted that it had 26 biolabs in Ukraine in its working document submitted to the meeting of the State Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention. According to a fact sheet released by the U.S. Department of Defense in March 2022, the United States was supporting 46 facilities in Ukraine.

On March 8, 2022, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted at a Senate hearing that "Ukraine has biological research facilities, which, in fact, we are now quite concerned Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach."

U.S. media also criticized that the U.S. government lied about the secret biological laboratories in Ukraine and concealed the real purpose of supporting these laboratories from the public.

According to public information, the United States has conducted more bio-military activities than any other country in the world. It is also the only country that has used biological and chemical weapons in multiple wars, and the only country that opposes the establishment of a multilateral verification mechanism for the Biological Weapons Convention, a public stand held by the United States for more than two decades.

Second, the United States and NATO caused the Ukraine crisis. In 1990, then U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, during his meeting with leaders of the Soviet Union, promised clearly that NATO would move "not one inch eastward."

A document disclosed by the National Archives of the United Kingdom showed that the U.S. representative had promised in negotiations back then that NATO should not expand to the east either formally or unofficially.

However, under the domination of the United States, NATO has expanded eastward five times since 1999, increased its membership from 16 to 30, and advanced more than 1,000 km eastward right up to Russian borders, creating a C-shaped encirclement of the Black Sea.

Russia has for years proposed dialogue with the United States on a new European security architecture, only to be ignored by the U.S. side. In 2021, Russia offered to negotiate and sign a security guarantees agreement with NATO, but was stonewalled by the United States and NATO.

The United States and NATO, while fully aware of Russia's security concerns, strengthened military assistance to Ukraine and helped it train military personnel. According to U.S. media reports, former U.S. officials said that the United States has provided a large amount of advanced military training for Ukrainian elite troops and special operation forces. Since 2015, the CIA has conducted a series of intensive military training in Ukraine involving guns, land navigation and camouflage techniques. The program, which began under President Barack Obama, was expanded under President Donald Trump and further enlarged under the Joe Biden administration.

John Mearsheimer, a U.S. political scientist, pointed out that "the West bears primary responsibility for what is happening today." He said, "Here I'm talking about the West, we took a stick, and we poke the bear in the eye ... and that bear is probably going to fight back, and that's exactly what's happening here."

Former U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said in an interview if Biden simply promised not to include Ukraine into NATO, the current Russia-Ukraine conflict would have been prevented.

Third, the U.S. military industrial complex has indeed raked in huge profits since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. Since tensions surrounding Ukraine started to rise in October 2021, share prices of U.S. military giants have kept shooting up. James Taiclet, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, said that competition between major powers would bring more business to the company.

The total value of State Department-authorized government-to-government foreign military sales was 51.9 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal 2022, up 49.1 percent from the previous fiscal year's 34.8 billion dollars, according to data released by the Department of State, which attributed the increase mainly to U.S. military support for Ukraine during the latter's conflict with Russia.

The United States has also used the Ukraine crisis to push its allies to impose tough economic sanctions and even an energy embargo on Russia. U.S. energy companies cashed in on the crisis and sold to Europe a large amount of oil and gas at a high price.

According to Kpler, a data and analytics firm, the EU imported 38.86 million tons of LNG in 2022 from the United States, which accounted for roughly 41 percent of the EU's total LNG imports and increased by 23.59 million tons compared with 2021, a year-on-year rise of 154 percent.

The United States became the world's largest LNG exporter in the first half of 2022, up 12 percent from the second half of 2021, largely driven by surging demand in Europe, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in October 2022, criticized the U.S. practice of enjoying low energy prices at home while exporting at record high prices to reap super profits from the geopolitical conflict. Speaking to American and Norwegian entrepreneurs, he said, "You supply us with energy and gas, but one thing that can't go on for too long is us paying four times more than the price you sell to your industry."

FALLACY 3: The United States accused China of not condemning or sanctioning Russia, falsely claimed that China has no intention to participate in any form of diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine issue, slandered China's strategy as unconstructive and attempted to portray China as being irresponsible.

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue has been objective and just. China always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the crisis. Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined four principles, called for joint efforts in four areas and shared three observations on Ukraine. He noted perceptively that conflicts and wars produce no winner; there is no simple solution to a complex issue; and confrontation between major countries must be avoided. This points the right way forward for the deescalation of tensions and political settlement of the crisis.

On Feb. 18, 2023, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, answered a question concerning China's stance at the 59th Munich Security Conference. He said the Ukraine crisis is not what China would like to see, and China is also concerned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be escalated and protracted.

China is not a party directly involved, but does not choose to be a bystander or add fuel to the fire, and still less exploits the crisis, Wang said, noting that everything China has been doing on the Ukraine issue is to facilitate peace talks.

The United States is the one who started the Ukraine crisis and the biggest factor fueling it, and has kept sending heavy and assault weapons to Ukraine, which has only prolonged and intensified the conflict. The international community is fully aware who is calling for dialogue and striving for peace, and who is fanning the flames and stoking confrontation.

FALLACY 4: The United States has repeatedly accused China of providing "non-lethal assistance" to Russia through Chinese-funded enterprises, and claimed that China began to consider providing "lethal assistance" to Russia.

TRUTH: The so-called intelligence by the United States is nothing more than groundless rumors and slander. U.S. officials themselves have acknowledged that there is no indication that China has decided to supply Russia with weapons, but meanwhile they said they believe the possibility still exists.

The China-Russia relationship is built on the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries, which is within the sovereign right of any two independent states. China engages in normal economic and trade cooperation with all countries, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. China-Russia cooperation is completely above board. It serves the purpose of delivering benefits to both peoples and promoting global growth. It shall be free from disruption or coercion from any third party.

China always handles export of military items in a prudent and responsible manner and regulates export of dual-use articles in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. At the same time, China is consistently opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction with neither basis in international law nor United Nations Security Council mandate. China's consistent position and practice stand in sharp contrast with the acts of the U.S. that applies double standards on arms sales and keep adding fuel to the fire on the Ukraine crisis.

By the end of February 2023, the United States had provided Ukraine with over 32 billion U.S. dollars worth of military aid, including large quantities of advanced armament. The United States has been pouring weapons into one side of the conflict, thus prolonging the fight and making peace elusive, while spreading disinformation that China would supply weapons to Russia and sanctioning Chinese companies under that pretext. This is out-and-out hegemonism and double standard, and absolute hypocrisy.

FALLACY 5: The United States claims it is now facing two global powers -- China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities, and both intending to fundamentally change the current "rules-based order," and it is concerned because China and Russia share a vision. The United States has also repeatedly accused China of posing the "most serious long-term challenge" to the international order.

TRUTH: China always pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature and adheres to the military strategic guideline of active defense. Since its founding, the People's Republic of China has never invaded other countries, never engaged in proxy wars, never sought spheres of influence, nor participated in any military bloc confrontation.

The growth of China's military strength is a growth of the force for peace in the world. China has been committed to the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law. China has been upholding true multilateralism, working for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, and making global governance more just and equitable.

When it comes to China-Russia relationship, the two countries always follow the path of partnership over alliance and dialogue over confrontation, and grow a new type of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. The way China and Russia develop the strategic partnership of coordination will benefit the two peoples and the world at large. It is entirely different from what certain countries have been doing, including holding on to the Cold War mentality, ganging up with other countries, forming cliques and stoking bloc confrontation, and engaging in hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices.

The United States has wantonly accused China of attempting to change the "rules-based international order," but it is actualy worried that the U.S. "hegemonic order" is affected, and that the "rules of the gang" set up and packaged by the United States as international rules to contain and suppress other countries are challenged and rejected.

The United States is the No.1 warmonger in the world. It was not at war for only 16 years throughout its 240-plus years of history and accounted for about 80 percent of all post-World War II (WWII) armed conflicts.

The United States is also the No.1 violator of sovereignty and interferer in the internal affairs of other countries. According to reports, since the end of WWII, it has sought to subvert more than 50 foreign governments, grossly interfered in elections in at least 30 countries and attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders.

The country is also the No.1 source of antagonism and bloc confrontation. The U.S.-led NATO is responsible for wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that killed more than 900,000 people and created 37 million refugees. It has also made the Eurasia continent a less stable place. The impact of U.S.-initiated QUAD and AUKUS on Asia-Pacific security and stability also calls for vigilance.

FALLACY 5: The United States claims it is now facing two global powers -- China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities, and both intending to fundamentally change the current "rules-based order," and it is concerned because China and Russia share a vision. The United States has also repeatedly accused China of posing the "most serious long-term challenge" to the international order.

TRUTH: China always pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature and adheres to the military strategic guideline of active defense. Since its founding, the People's Republic of China has never invaded other countries, never engaged in proxy wars, never sought spheres of influence, nor participated in any military bloc confrontation.

The growth of China's military strength is a growth of the force for peace in the world. China has been committed to the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law. China has been upholding true multilateralism, working for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, and making global governance more just and equitable.

When it comes to China-Russia relationship, the two countries always follow the path of partnership over alliance and dialogue over confrontation, and grow a new type of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. The way China and Russia develop the strategic partnership of coordination will benefit the two peoples and the world at large. It is entirely different from what certain countries have been doing, including holding on to the Cold War mentality, ganging up with other countries, forming cliques and stoking bloc confrontation, and engaging in hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices.

The United States has wantonly accused China of attempting to change the "rules-based international order," but it is actualy worried that the U.S. "hegemonic order" is affected, and that the "rules of the gang" set up and packaged by the United States as international rules to contain and suppress other countries are challenged and rejected.

The United States is the No.1 warmonger in the world. It was not at war for only 16 years throughout its 240-plus years of history and accounted for about 80 percent of all post-World War II (WWII) armed conflicts.

The United States is also the No.1 violator of sovereignty and interferer in the internal affairs of other countries. According to reports, since the end of WWII, it has sought to subvert more than 50 foreign governments, grossly interfered in elections in at least 30 countries and attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders.

The country is also the No.1 source of antagonism and bloc confrontation. The U.S.-led NATO is responsible for wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that killed more than 900,000 people and created 37 million refugees. It has also made the Eurasia continent a less stable place. The impact of U.S.-initiated QUAD and AUKUS on Asia-Pacific security and stability also calls for vigilance.

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Jersey City, NJ, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global Chemical Distribution Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Commodity Chemicals, Specialty Chemicals) And End-User (Agriculture, Industrial Manufacturing, Consumer Goods, Textiles, Pharmaceuticals, Downstream Chemicals, Electrical & Electronics)- Market Outlook And Industry Analysis 2031"

The global chemical distribution market is estimated to reach over USD 389.72 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.64% during the forecast period.

Chemical distribution services link producers and smaller customers in less developed parts of the world. The help chemical dealers provide to chemical companies in expanding into new markets contributes to the expansion of the chemical industry globally. Increasing chemical utilization in several end-use industries, including construction, medicines, polymers & resins, and plastics, is predicted to be a major driver for the distribution business. Chemical manufacturers provide essential raw materials to companies in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Producers sell these raw materials directly to consumers or distribute them to third parties.







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In contrast to the sale of a product directly to end users, it is anticipated that the allocation of specialty and natural resource chemicals by third parties will increase significantly due to the outsourcing of real worth services like packaging, logistics, waste removal, trying to blend, inventory management, and technical training. The need for chemical distribution services is anticipated to rise due to the increased investments made by chemical manufacturers to expand their manufacturing facilities. The distributors' enhanced real-worth services will make future growth opportunities possible.

Recent Developments:

In May 2022-Unium Bioscience Ltd. and HELM AG announced their intention to form a strategic alliance I. By delivering creative solutions that address market demands from growers, the new partnership between Union and HELM will demonstrate both organizations' commitment to sustainable agriculture and give HELM access to alternative crop production products in certain regions.

In August 2022, Brenntag AG announced that it had extended its distribution deal with ISCA, one of the major makers and suppliers of specialty chemicals, to supply preservatives used in the European cosmetics industry.

List of Prominent Players in the Chemical distribution Market:

Univar Solutions Inc.

Helm AG

Brenntag AG

Ter Group

Barents; Azalais

Safin Alan

ICC Industries, Inc.

Jepsen & Jessen Pte. Ltd.

Quimidroga; Solvadis Deutschland Gm

Ashland

Caldic B.V

Wilbur Ellis Holdings, Inc.

Omya AG

IMCD

Biesterfeld AG

Stockmeier Group

REDA Chemicals

Manuchar





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Chemical Distribution Market Report Scope:

Report Attribute Specifications Market size value in 2022 USD 255.59 Bn Revenue forecast in 2031 USD 389.72 Bn Growth rate CAGR CAGR of 4.64% from 2023 to 2031 Quantitative units Representation of revenue in US$ Billion, and CAGR from 2023 to 2031 Historic Year 2019 to 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2031 Report coverage The forecast of revenue, the position of the company, the competitive market statistics, growth prospects, and trends Segments covered Product And End Users Regional scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; Middle East & Africa Country scope U.S.; Canada; U.K.; Germany; China; India; Japan; Brazil; Mexico; The UK; France; Italy; Spain; China; Japan; India; South Korea; Southeast Asia; South Korea; Southeast Asia

Market Dynamics:

Drivers-

Expanding globalization is expected to encourage small and large manufacturing firms to develop alliances with international players to realize the prefabricated modular cost, market share, and competitive advantage and better serve their global consumers. Also, the worldwide movement to focus on minimizing chemicals' negative environmental effects will partially obstruct industrial development. However, market trends are anticipated to alter throughout the projection period because of the advancement and incorporation of advanced technologies in the chemicals industry.

Challenges:

A significant obstacle in the pharmaceutical production process is producers' dependence on distributors for the safe transportation of loose and non-bulk chemical supplies and managing varied coordination requirements, including custom amalgamation and repackaging.

Companies in the chemical sector confront significant challenges due to the strict government rules on using numerous specialized chemicals in the food and drink sector and other industries.

Regional Trends:

The North American chemical distribution market is expected to register a major market share in revenue and is projected to grow at a high CAGR shortly. Over the past decade, the increase of production capability by multinational chemical businesses in North America has been the primary driver of the shift toward third-party distributors as a growth platform. However, North America's oil and gas industry has slowed down during the past few years due to changing crude oil prices, the sluggish GDP of South America, and recession-hit nations.

The capability for hydrocarbon production is anticipated to increase in the next years due to numerous planned facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast, including Natgasoline & South Louisiana Methanol. Besides, Asia Pacific had a substantial share of the market. This is explained by the increase in demand for different substances from end-use industries, including the automobile, pharmaceuticals, mining, cosmetic, and plastic additives industries, particularly in developing nations like India.





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Segmentation of Chemical Distribution Market-

Chemical Distribution Market By Product

Specialty Chemicals CASE Agrochemicals Electronic Construction Specialty Polymers & Resins Personal Care & Pharmaceuticals Other Specialty Chemicals

Commodity Chemicals Plastic & Polymers Synthetic Rubber Explosives Petrochemicals Other Commodity Chemicals



Chemical Distribution Market By End-use

Specialty Chemicals Automotive & Transportation Construction Agriculture Industrial Manufacturing Consumer Goods Textiles Pharmaceuticals Other Specialty Chemical End-uses

Commodity Chemicals Downstream chemicals Textile Electrical & Electronics Automotive & Transportation Industrial Manufacturing Other Commodity Chemicals End-uses



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





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MONACO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Yacht Club de Monaco hosted the first Monaco Smart Yacht Rendezvous. The event, organized by Monaco Marina Management (M3), a Monegasque company specializing in the management of marinas, promotes the meeting of start-ups, scale-ups and corporate companies with the aim of presenting innovative solutions adaptable to super-yachts. The two-day initiative kicked off with the visit of Prince Albert II of Monaco, who wanted to meet the various players at the event and to discover the ideas and projects displayed on the stands.

Among the large companies taking part to the rendezvous there were Sanlorenzo, Feadship, Oceanco, Lurssen but there was also room for internationally renowned designers such as Dan Lenard and Espen Oein. Though the main focus remains one for all: the evolution of the yachting industry. The large presence of all these major yachting players demonstrates their willingness to provide a collective response to climate issues and thus encourage responsible innovation, said Jose Marco Casellini, M3 Ceo.

The Yacht Club de Monaco leads sustainability in Yachting and does a phenomenal job by hosting such an event. I would like to pay tribute to its involvement in promoting environmental transition within the nautical community, added Olivier Wenden, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.



Among the topics addressed in this first edition figured the entire life cycle of a yacht: from research & development to its use, through maintenance and financing. New propulsion solutions or choices of more environmental friendly materials, optimization of energy consumption, water management, connectivity and safety were also discussed. During the panels and meetings held at the event, the urge to rethink the yacht of tomorrow emerged and, faced with the emergence of ecological concerns, many builders specialize in research and development. The Italian yacht industry, therefore pleasure boats over 24 metres, covers 47.5% of world production, said Sanlorenzo Ceo, Massimo Perotti. We participate in this event where we talk about sustainability because it is very important. It is true that Italian industry is very strong in this sector and we must be very careful because the world is growing in a direction that is a bit delicate for our productions. Boats in the future will have to be more sustainable if not 100% sustainable.

For its part, the world of design follows the evolution of the market: The yacht today can be smart in itself, it can be implemented with technologies that guarantee low or zero emissions, or made of recycled or recyclable materials. All of this is part of the future of yachting. However, it must be remembered that yachting does not end with the product. There is a whole life after the delivery of the yacht and a little is said about it. Just as little is said about the 'education' in the use of these boats and the possibilities they offer as an alternative and transversal use, explained the designer Dan Lenard.

The event was also an opportunity to reward the actors who stood out for their innovative proposals. The winners were selected by an international jury of 44 members who examined -through 181 one-to-one meetings - the proposals of 50 start-ups, scale-ups and corporates selected by the team experts of Blumorpho, a specialist in innovation for a sustainable economy headed by Geraldine A. Gustin. This selection process makes the rendezvouz a 3 months long network event.



In the Start-up category, the Italian Northern Light Composites (Nlcomp) triumphed for its recyclable composite 'R-Composite' which solves the problems related to the end of life of fiberglass. R-composite is the ideal candidate to replace fiberglass composite which is not easily recyclable, causing boat (and wind turbine) blades to go underground. With R-composite we are creating a completely circular economy, observed Fabio Bignolini, CEO of Northern Light Composites

Among the scale-ups, the British Lineat Composites was awarded for its plan to transform carbon fiber waste deriving from production, processing and the end of the life cycle into recycled carbon fiber to be used in products in the nautical sector but also in the automotive sector. In the corporate category, the award went to the French Wisamo with a device dedicated to wind power propulsion.

For more information:

Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it

A video accompanying this announcement is available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84580317-a2de-4266-99db-f5b285ace27a
The Company has completed 8 holes totalling 1,329 metres of a planned 5,000 metre fully funded drill program.



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NINE MILE METALS LTD. (CSE: NINE, OTCQB: VMSXF, FSE: KQ9) (the Company or Nine Mile), is pleased to announce an update on its Nine Mile Brook VMS Project winter drill program. Winter drilling commenced on February 17, 2023 (see prior news release) on the Companys Nine Mile Brook VMS Project utilizing a skid-mounted drilling rig operated by Orbit Garant Drilling Inc. based in Moncton, NB.





Figure 1 - Orbit Drilling Operations on Nine Mile Brook VMS Project



Orbit Garant Drilling has completed 8 holes totalling 1,329 metres of a planned 5,000 metre fully funded drill program. More than 730 metres of drill core are being logged, photographed, cut and prepared for rush assays, which is expected to take 2-3 weeks for each submission. All assays are being shipped directly to ALS Global in Moncton, NB. Due to the hardness and amount of core identified for assay, the Company is adding additional equipment and crew to assist in expediting this process. The certified Lab Assay results will be released as they are completed, reviewed, and analyzed.

Nine Mile raised gross proceeds of $1,271,000 in December 2022. The current 5,000 metre drill program is estimated to cost $750,000. The Company is not raising additional funds at this time.

The Company has also secured the return of Lantech Drillings track-mounted mobile rig to our Nine Mile Brook program. This second drill rig is expected to be mobilized before the end of April subject to weather conditions. We are also preparing permits for the new Wedge Project targets previously identified by EarthEX Geophysical Solutions and our Technical Team. EarthEX is also assisting Nine Mile in the design of additional advanced exploration programs on California Lake and the Canoe Landing Lake VMS Projects.

Patrick J. Cruickshank, MBA, CEO & Director stated, We are quite pleased with the execution of our drill program to date, and the amount of mineralized core identified for certified assays by ALS Global in Moncton. We look forward to adding the 2nd rig at Nine Mile Brook and continuing with our Flagship exploration program. This will allow us to focus on certain areas and continue the bigger program at the same time. I continue to be impressed with our technology driven exploration program design and execution.

The program is being executed as planned, testing a variety of defined geophysical and geological targets. As drilling progressed, new targets and systems have been identified. We look forward to receiving our first assays and following up on those results, stated Gary Lohman, B.Sc., P. Geo., VP Exploration and Director.

The disclosure of technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and reviewed and approved by Gary Lohman, B.Sc., P. Geo., VP Exploration and Director who acts as the Companys Qualified Person and is not independent of the Company.

About Nine Mile Metals Ltd.:

Nine Mile Metals Ltd. is a Canadian public mineral exploration company focused on Critical Minerals Exploration (CME) VMS (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag and Au) exploration in the world-famous Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick, Canada. The Companys primary business objective is to explore its four VMS Projects: Nine Mile Brook VMS; California Lake VMS; Canoe Landing Lake (EastWest) VMS and our new Wedge VMS Projects. The Company is focused on Critical Minerals Exploration (CME), positioning for the boom in EV and green technologies requiring Copper, Silver, Lead and Zinc with a hedge with Gold.

Social Media

ON BEHALF OF NINE MILE METALS LTD.

Patrick J Cruickshank, MBA

CEO and Director

T: +1.506-804-6117

E: patrick@ninemilemetals.com

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of Nine Mile. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of Nine Mile. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as will, may, would, expect, intend, plan, seek, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential, continue, likely, could and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include that (a) the certified Lab Assay results will be released as they are completed, reviewed, and analyzed, (b) by adding the 2nd rig at Nine Mile Brook and continuing with our Flagship exploration program, this will allow us to focus on certain areas and continue the bigger program at the same time, (c) more than 730 metres of drill core are being logged, photographed, cut and prepared for rush assays, which is expected to take 2-3 weeks for each submission, (d) this second drill rig is expected to be mobilized before the end of April subject to weather conditions, (e) he current 5,000 metre drill program is estimated to cost $750,000, and (f) we continue to be impressed with our technology driven exploration program design and execution. Although Nine Mile believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because Nine Mile can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fe79158b-7358-4e9b-b9f2-5f8d56f8fcda
New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Drone Inspection And Monitoring Global Market Report 2023" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06433611/?utm_source=GNW

, Sensefly Ltd., Skydio, and Yuneec.



, Sensefly Ltd., Skydio, and Yuneec.



The drone inspection and monitoring market includes revenues earned by entities by providing drone inspection and monitoring services such as inspection, monitoring, and mapping operations.The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering.



The drone inspection and monitoring market also includes sales of drone, computer peripherals and telecommunications equipment which are used in providing drone inspection and monitoring services.Values in this market are factory gate values, that is the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers) or directly to end customers.



The value of goods in this market includes related services sold by the creators of the goods.



Drone inspection and monitoring refers to the technique of evaluating an asset utilizing an unmanned aircraft as drones have the benefit of accessing locations that are challenging, expensive, risky, live, or even impossible for manned inspection teams to access.In inspection and monitoring applications, drone cameras frequently take the place of the human eye.



The use of drones for inspection and monitoring allows inspectors to avoid risky locations like scaffolding or tall, slender buildings. The drone inspection and monitoring are used to collect visual data on the condition of an asset by monitoring, inspection, and mapping operations.



North America was the largest region in the drone inspection and monitoring market in 2022.North America is expected to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period.



The regions covered in the drone inspection and monitoring market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The major types of drone inspection and monitoring devices are fixed-wing, multirotor, and hybrid types.A fixed-wing drone is a drone that has one rigid wing that looks and works like an airplane and provides lift rather than vertical lift rotors.



It is operated in various modes such as remotely piloted, optionally piloted, and fully autonomous. The different types of solutions include software, services, platform, and infrastructure that are used by applications such as construction and infrastructure, agriculture, utilities, oil and gas, mining, and others.



The increasing number of installations of new wind turbines is expected to propel the growth of the drone inspection and monitoring market going forward.A wind turbine is a device that produces electricity by using the kinetic energy of the wind.



Drones are used to inspect wind turbine blades and help to extend the life of wind turbine installations by reducing safety hazards, hired manpower, and costs. For instance, in March 2021, according to Mercom Communications, an India-based clean energy communications and consulting firm, in 2021, the new wind turbine installations reached 1.24GW, an increase of 101.37% from 2020. Therefore, the increasing number of installations of new wind turbines is driving the growth of the drone inspection and monitoring market.



Technological advancements have emerged as a key trend in drone inspection and monitoring.Many companies operating in the drone inspection and monitoring market are developing new technologies to strengthen their position in the drone inspection and monitoring market.



For instance, in August 2021, RedTail Lidar Systems, a US-based manufacturer of UAV LiDAR systems operating in drone inspection and monitoring launched the RTL-450 LiDAR sensor for drones based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) mirror-based LiDAR technology. The unique feature of RTL-450 is its high-resolution point clouds, generated at a rate of up to 4lakh pulses per second and 5 returns per pulse, which are well-suited to numerous military, and commercial applications.



In November 2020, Aerodyne Group, a Malaysia-based provider of DT3 (drone technology, data technology, and digital transformation) enterprise solutions acquired a majority stake in Sensorem for an undisclosed amount.This acquisition is expected to help Aerodyne to expand its operations in Australia and get its products in more customers hands.



Sensorem is an Australia-based leading drone and remote sensing full-solution service provider operating in drone inspection and monitoring.



The countries covered in the drone inspection and monitoring market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA.



The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD, unless otherwise specified).



The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.



The drone inspection and monitoring market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides drone inspection and monitoring market statistics, including drone inspection and monitoring industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a drone inspection and monitoring market share, detailed drone inspection and monitoring market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the drone inspection and monitoring industry. This drone inspection and monitoring market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06433611/?utm_source=GNW



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Dallas, Texas, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trailer Birds Hot Chicken is inviting their guests to celebrate National Hot Chicken Day with a deal that will have fans feelin hot, hot, hot thanks to its signature Nashville heat!

Dickeys Restaurant Brands  popular ghost kitchen concept is offering a Buy One, Get One FREE Three-Piece Tender Special on March 30th. Use the code HOTCHICKEN upon checkout at dickeys.com or on the Trailer Birds App to receive the offer.

Want to kick your tenders up a notch? Pair them with one of Trailer Birds many house-made dips, including Ranch, Bleu Cheese and specialty Comeback Sauce for an extra kick of flavor in every bite.

Our crispy, golden hot chicken is sure to satisfy everyone's spicy cravings, said CEO of Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants Laura Rea Dickey. National Hot Chicken Day was made for Trailer Birds, so head on over to dickeys.com or the Trailer Birds App on March 30th to get your hot chicken fix because these tenders are amazing!

Trailer Birds offers bold, mouthwatering Nashville hot chicken that is cooked-to-order with levels of zero to hella hot sauce. There are no other bells and whistles as the bold flavors speak for themselves. With Hot Tenders, Hot Chicken Sandwiches, specialty tater tots and hand-cut fry options, Trailer Birds has you covered when the hot chicken craving hits.

Dickeys virtual brand, Trailer Birds, is available via pickup or delivery. The menu is available via trailerbirds.com or through the Trailer Birds app. The company jumped into the virtual space with Wing Boss and Big Deal Burger in April of 2021.

To learn more about Dickeys Virtual Concepts follow Wing Boss on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok , Trailer Birds on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok and Big Deal Burger on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok .

To learn more, follow Dickeys Barbecue Pit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Download the Dickeys Barbecue Pit app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

About Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., the worlds largest barbecue concept, was founded in 1941 by the Dickey family. For the past 80 years, Dickeys Barbecue Pit has served millions of guests in 44 states Legit. Texas. Barbecue.  At Dickeys, all our barbecued meats are smoked onsite in a hickory wood burning pit. Dickeys proudly believes theres no shortcut to true barbecue and its why our name isnt BBQ. The Dallas-based, family-run barbecue franchise offers eight slow-smoked meats and 12 wholesome sides with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included. Dickeys Barbecue has 550 locations across the United States and eight other countries.

Dickeys was named to Newsweeks 2022 Americas Favorite Restaurant Chains list and USA Today 2021 readers choice awards. Dickeys won first place on Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list, been named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur and named to Hospitality Technologys Industry Heroes list. Led by CEO Laura Rea Dickey, who was named among the countrys 50 most influential women in foodservice in Nations Restaurant News, was recognized by Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and honored by Dallas Business Journal. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Forbes Magazine, Franchise Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine and QSR Magazine. Dickeys Barbecue is part of Dickeys Restaurant Brands which has more than 700 restaurants nationwide including brands Wing Boss, Trailer Birds, Big Deal Burger and bbqathome.com. DRB is led by CEO Roland Dickey Jr. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com.

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PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla., March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Envision Laser Removal recently upgraded its laser technology to the Astanza Trinity TSR laser to remove all multicolored tattoos completely. The leading Port Charlotte tattoo removal provider opened with the Astanza Duality in March 2022 and saw tremendous success quickly. Owners Eric and Susan Wells decided to add the Astanza Eternity, thus completing the Astanza Trinity TSR system, to take Envision Laser Removals success to the next level by offering full-spectrum tattoo removal results.



We are beyond excited to upgrade to the Trinity and be able to help even more clients with tattoo regret, no matter their tattoos colors, said Eric Wells. We are grateful to everyone who has helped us get this far and will continue to give back to our community by using the latest and greatest laser technology, offering unbeatable customer service, and always prioritizing great results and safe treatments.

The Astanza Duality alone produces two reliable wavelengths, 1064 nm and 532 nm, and is renowned for its efficacy and power. While these wavelengths can treat 95% of colors found in tattoos, the remaining 5% of colors require a specific wavelength for effective removal. The Astanza Eternity laser produces a unique 694 nm ruby wavelength that targets the 5% of resistant bright blue and green pigments like aquamarine, teal, turquoise, cyan, and more. Together, the Duality and Eternity create the Astanza Trinity TSR, a triple-wavelength tattoo removal system comprised of two fully powered lasers.

Eric and Susan are a powerhouse team that genuinely cares about the success of each and every client that walks through their doors, said Joshua Walsh, Astanza Account Representative. Their investment in the Astanza Trinity shows just how committed they are to their clients and we couldnt be prouder to partner with them.

About Envision Laser Removal

Envision Laser Removal is an aesthetic laser practice in Port Charlotte, Florida. The specialty practice offers various skin services, including laser tattoo removal, pigmented lesion removal, and more. All laser technicians received advanced training from New Look Laser College and are fully certified in operating advanced Q-switched laser technology.

To learn more or request a free consultation, visit https://www.envisionlaserremoval.com/, call (941) 269-2827, or follow Envision Laser Removal on Facebook and Instagram. Envision Laser Removal is located at 1777 Tamiami Trail, Suite 406, Port Charlotte, FL 33948.

About Astanza Laser

Astanza is the leader in lasers for tattoo removal, hair removal, and additional aesthetic procedures. In addition to delivering cutting-edge medical laser devices such as the Duality, Trinity, MeDioStar, PicoStar, and DermaBlate systems, Astanza offers an unbeatable partnership through The Astanza Experience, which is made of the Business Builder System, 3-Business Day Service Guarantee, and Lifetime Training and Support. Together, these components give Astanza clients a complete range of training, marketing, and business consulting services to achieve success in this growing field. Astanza is an award-winning company that has received several accolades from leading industry organizations, including MyFaceMyBody and Aesthetic Everything. They are also certified as a Great Place to Work and ranked #47 on Fortunes 2022 Best Places to Work in TexasTM and #49 on Fortunes Best Workplaces in Health CareTM.

Astanza Laser is headquartered in Dallas, TX, with customers throughout North America and Europe. For product, investor, or press information, call (800) 364-9010, or visit https://astanzalaser.com/. Connect with Astanza on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
BRISBANE, March 27, 2023 -

HIGHLIGHTS



Olaroz resource increases 27% to 20.7 million tonnes ("Mt") lithium carbonate equivalent ("LCE"), comprising 7.6 Mt of Measured Resource, 7.1 Mt of Indicated Resource and 6 Mt of Inferred Resource

Total resources in the Olaroz-Cauchari basin are now 27 Mt LCE in all resource categories, confirming the basin's status as hosting one of the largest lithium resources in the world

The lithium grade of the Olaroz salar Measured Resource is 657 mg/l lithium, with the underlying Indicated Resource and Inferred Resource 612 mg/l and 604mg/l lithium respectively

The recently acquired Maria Victoria property in the north of Olaroz contributed 2.8 Mt of the increase in resources, with the difference relating to expansion of the resource to the south following completion of the expansion drilling

The resource estimate is restricted to directly beneath the Olaroz salar surface, except for the area at the south, where influence from expansion hole E26 extends the resource beneath gravels to the west of the salar and towards the Cauchari resource

The Olaroz basin has significant exploration potential with extensive areas to the north of the salar surface currently untested by drilling and also extensions towards the Cauchari Resource and to the west of the salar

The increased Olaroz resource, together with the Cauchari Resource, support expansion from Stage 1 and 2 lithium carbonate production capacity (combined 42,500 tpa) and will form the basis for the Olaroz Stage 3/Cauchari expansion studies.

Allkem Managing Director and CEO, Martin Perez de Solay said, "This significant increase in the resource, and the upgraded resource classification, confirms the world class status of Olaroz.

"The combined 27 Mt resource across Olaroz and Cauchari supports future material expansion of production and will form the basis for the Olaroz Stage 3/Cauchari expansion studies currently underway. Further exploration will be required to fully test the significant potential of the Olaroz/Cauchari basin."

"Olaroz is complemented by the company's high-quality Sal de Vida and James Bay Projects in Argentina and Canada. These projects will produce lithium chemicals for use in the EV supply chain in areas of low or no water stress, while contributing to the local economy and communities," Mr Perez de Solay said.

2023 OLAROZ RESOURCE UPGRADE

Estimated Resources

The resource estimate is outlined in the following tables presenting the lithium and lithium carbonate tonnages. The resource is broken out by property ownership, with the bulk of the resource owned by the Sales de Jujuy joint venture ("SdJ JV") comprising Allkem (66.5%) Toyota Tsusho (25%) and Jujuy Energia y Mineria Sociedad del Estado (8.5%) ("JEMSE"). Allkem holds additional 100% owned properties to the north of Olaroz, including the recently acquired Maria Victoria property. These other properties have been subject to limited exploration and currently have small resources defined.

Table 1: Lithium Resource Estimate - March 2023





Table 2: March 2023 Lithium Resource Estimate by Owner





Allkem SdJ is owned 66.5% by the Allkem group. Olaroz Lithium and Maria Victoria are owned 100% by the Allkem group.

JORC definitions were followed for mineral resources.

The Competent Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Murray Brooker, MAIG, MIAH.

No internal cut-off concentration has been applied to the resource estimate. The resource is reported at a zero mg/l cut-off, given the consistent grade of the deposit, with brine extending beyond the edge of the salar.

Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3 = LCE) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

The upper 100 m of sediments in the gravel area off the salar west of E26 is excluded from the resource, as lithium concentrations to this depth are <100 mg/l Li, before rapidly increasing in concentration below this depth.

The resource estimate is limited at depth by the sediment-basement contact interpreted from the gravity geophysical survey conducted over the basin. Drilling suggests this interpretation underestimates the basin depth.

Project background

An estimate of the Olaroz salar resource was undertaken in 2011 as part of the project Feasibility Study, prior to commencement of construction of Stage 1 of the Olaroz Lithium Facility. That estimate identified a Measured and Indicated Resource of 6.4 Mt of LCE over an area of 93 km2 from surface to a maximum depth of 200 metres (the 2011 Resource).

Following installation of the 200m depth Stage 1 production wellfields at Olaroz several deeper wells were installed up to 350m in depth and subsequently utilised for Stage 1 production. This deeper drilling intersected high porosity and permeability sand units, with flow rates of over 30 litres per second (l/s) and this highlighted the deeper resource potential of the basin. Information from these wells was used to provide an Exploration Target in October 2014, outlining between 1.6-7.5 Mt of LCE located below the 200m level (the 2014 Exploration Target) in the salar.

As previously stated, Allkem's Cauchari properties, (100% owned through South American Salars), are contiguous to the south of the Olaroz properties. In 2019 a further 4.8 Mt of Measured and Indicated Resource and 1.5 Mt of Inferred Resource was estimated in this area (the 2019 Cauchari Resource). The 2019 Cauchari Resource is interpreted to occupy the southern continuation of the same aquifers present in the Olaroz salar, which are connected beneath gravel alluvium (the gravel area where the Olaroz ponds and plant are located). The Cauchari Resource is not extracted as part of the Olaroz Stage 2 development.

Table 3: Cauchari April 2019 Resource Estimate





JORC and CIM definitions were followed for mineral resources.

The Competent Person / Qualified Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Frits Reidel, CPG.

No cut-off concentrations have been applied to the resource estimate

Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

Since 2011, material amounts of new information have been obtained from exploration and production activities at Olaroz. This included geological and production data from Stage 1 production and monitoring holes generally drilled to 200m, with some to 350m and 450 m; and the Stage 2 expansion production and monitoring holes to depths of between 450 and 650 metres. Additional information has also come from drilling in Cauchari, a 1,408 m deep exploration hole north of the production holes in Olaroz and geophysical surveys over the whole basin.

Stage 2 work program

Much of the technical detail in this release was previously provided in April 2022 in the Interim Resource Estimate. The last of the 15 wells for Stage 2 production (Figure 3) was completed late in 2022. These production wells are now installed to depths between 450 m and 650 m (with one hole, E15, to 751 m) and produce brine from these deeper levels on a 1 km north-south spacing in the central to eastern area of the salar, between the original Northern and Southern wellfields. In addition to the production wells a number of diamond drill holes provided core and brine samples and have allowed the installation of monitoring wells. The Stage 2 production wells are currently producing a combined flow of approximately 396 l/s, at an average per well of 28 l/s, since beginning operation. This is considerably higher than the Stage 1 wells, which have averaged 11 l/s per well since the beginning of 2017.

Samples from the wells were sent to external and internal laboratories for chemical analysis. This information and downhole geophysics (from a borehole magnetic resonance tool, part of a broader suite of geophysical tools) were used to update the geological model, which supports the resource estimate upgrade.

The lithium concentrations from the Stage 2 wells have recorded an average lithium grade of 643 mg/l and varied from 544 mg/l to 789 mg/l lithium. Further drilling information and analytical results are displayed in Appendix A below.

Property position

Allkem holds an extensive property position across the Olaroz and Cauchari basins (Figure 1). At Olaroz, Allkem owns 66.5% of properties via Sales de Jujuy SA , a joint venture company with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (25%) and JEMSE (8.5%).

Properties held by SDJ in the north of the Olaroz salar have had minimal drilling, limited to several 54m deep holes drilled in initial exploration in 2010. Resources have not yet been defined in these properties.

In addition to its ownership interests via SDJ, Allkem also owns, via Olaroz Lithium, 100% of five additional properties in the north of the Olaroz salar, which have also not yet been drilled. The recently acquired, strategically located, Maria Victoria property in the north of the Olaroz salar is 100% owned through Allkem subsidiary La Frontera Minerals S.A and contributed 2.7 Mt LCE to this resource upgrade.

Allkem owns properties in the east and west of the Cauchari basin immediately to the south of the Olaroz resource. A pre-feasibility study ("PFS") was completed in 2019 by South American Salars (now 100% Allkem) with resources and reserves.

Olaroz Basin geology

Exploration activities, since Allkem acquired the properties in 2008, have consisted of extensive geophysical programs and drilling over the Olaroz basin. Geophysical programs have included AMT electrical surveying, and vertical electrical soundings to define the lateral extents of the brine beneath alluvial sediments, around the margins of the salar. This is important in order to constrain the geological and hydrogeological models and assess areas for brine prospectivity off the salar. The northern SDJ and 100% Allkem properties have been subject to minimal exploration to date. However, electrical geophysics indicates prospectivity for brine beneath alluvial and deltaic sediments north of the Olaroz salar in the Cateo 498 and other properties. This has also recently been confirmed by drilling by a third party with properties extending off the salar in the north of the basin.

Figure 1: Distribution of the new holes for Stage 2 production





Additional geophysics has included an extensive gravity and magnetic survey across the basin, that provided information on the basin depth and corroborated the early geophysical interpretation which indicated the basin is more than 1 km deep.

Since the exploration drilling for the 2011 Resource estimation, conducted between 2008 to 2011, more extensive drilling undertaken for exploration and production well installation has provided information to depths of 751 m in Olaroz (generally 400 to 650 m) and better defined the basin geology. Additionally, one deep exploration hole has been drilled at the north end of the production area to a depth of over 1400 m, without intersecting basement rocks. This drilling led to development of a mixed salar basin model, with five separate geological and hydrogeological (hydrostratigraphic) units above the basement, defined by geological and geophysical logging of holes (refer to Figures 2 and 3) as previously presented.

UH1 - Upper evaporite deposits, porous halite, clay, sand and silt UH2 - Alluvial fans on the western and eastern margins of the salar, which contain brine beneath brackish water off the salar (as defined by production well E26) UH3 - Mixed sediments with clay and sand intervals UH4 - Evaporite deposits, principally halite, with clay silt and sand interbeds UH5 - Sand units, interbedded with clay and silt. Sandy material is sourced from the historical western margin of the basin and becomes progressively deeper in the east of the basin



Drilling has not intersected the basement rocks beneath the salar and it is possible that additional units will be intersected in future deeper drilling. In the central eastern part of the salar unit UH4 is thicker, reflecting the nucleus of the salar in this area.

The geological interpretation across Olaroz is also consistent with the independent interpretations on adjacent projects based on drilling conducted by Allkem in Cauchari and the work conducted by Lithium Americas Corp. (Exar) in Cauchari, being the southern continuation of the Olaroz structural basin.

Figure 2: Geological model of the Olaroz salar





Hydrogeology sampling background

Allkem began exploration of the Olaroz project in 2008 and has built up extensive knowledge of the salar since that time. Resource definition drilling on the project included twenty sonic holes drilled to a depth of 54 m across the salar, with six diamond holes to 200 m depth. All these drill holes were geophysically logged and porosity samples were taken every 1.5 to 6 m for systematic characterisation of the different geological units.

Systematic interval brine sampling was also undertaken in the holes drilled for the original resource using bailer equipment, showing low coefficients of variation (averaging 0.18 over the 200m deep exploration holes and 0.19 for 54 m deep sonic drill holes on the salar). Two test production wells were installed for the feasibility study. One of these wells (PD02) was subsequently incorporated into the southern wellfield for Stage 1 production. Pumping since 2013 has confirmed the original pumping test results from this site.

Northern and southern wellfields for Stage 1 were established with wells installed on a 1 km spacing, generally to a depth of 200m, but with some later holes to 350m, with wells pumped since 2013. The brine flows from the production wells have sustained stable lithium brine grades over this period with brine grades generally consistent with the results of the 2011 exploration drilling and characterisation of brine grades across the salar. Brine grades on the salar do not show major changes by lithology type, with the most significant changes related to the halite units and concentration of sulphate and boron.

Stage 1 production wells and exploration holes showed a systematic variation in brine grade laterally across the salar with higher grades in the central part of the salar and lower grades towards the west. However, recent deeper production wells (from 450 to 650 m deep) for Stage 2 have encountered higher grade brine in some holes in the west of the salar (E12, E17 and E19 averaging 768, 692 and 752 mg/l respectively - see Figures 3) than the shallower 200m exploration drilling in the same area. All production wells are subjected to pumping tests to establish the well hydraulic parameters in addition to measurements from geophysical logging prior to beginning production from the wells.

Olaroz is a mixed salar predominantly consisting of clastic sediments with a surficial and a deeper halite layer. The sequence is considered to act as a leaky aquifer with the entire sequence of sediments contributing brine flow to wells, with lower relative contributions from compact halite material. Higher brine flows are obtained from intervals with high sand content and higher permeability, with the brine grades generally comparable between geological units based on the diamond drill sampling and low CV values of lithium brine results from this historical sampling. Despite small scale variability in the sedimentation the five hydrostratigraphic units in the salar display fairly consistent porosity characteristics internally based on the geophysical logging.

Historical diamond drilling showed lithium brine concentrations have a low variability (CV) vertically down hole, with systematic variation across the salar and with lower brine grades generally closer to the salar margins. Test pumping from the 2011 feasibility study for Stage 1 of the Olaroz Lithium Facility has been confirmed by long term pumping from well PD02 (Southern wellfield) and adjacent wells in the wellfield. Consequently, the pumping results of production wells are considered a reasonable and reliable substitute for systematic down hole interval brine samples, given the accumulated knowledge at Olaroz and higher density of data at the project relative to pre-development projects. However, further diamond drilling is recommended in new areas and areas of the salar before the installation of production wells.

Figure 3 - Olaroz well locations





Brine sample quality control

Brine samples have been collected from the wells in production once they are fully installed. This follows flow tests, carried out to determine the potential production flow rates and to confirm pump selection for holes and long term operation. Samples were taken in triplicate with the primary sample analysed at the Olaroz Lithium Facility laboratory where they were analysed with AA equipment for lithium, and ICP equipment for other major cations and anions.

Brine standard samples and field duplicate samples were included with the sample batches. These QA/QC measures were included to check the performance of the Olaroz and external laboratory. Alex Stewart Argentina in Jujuy, Argentina was selected as the primary external laboratory to assay the brine check samples. That laboratory is ISO 9001 accredited and operates according to Alex Stewart Group standards consistent with ISO 17025 methods at other laboratories.

Porosity sample quality control

Three diamond holes were completed for the expansion program. Cores were collected systematically through these holes with samples collected in transparent polycarbonate (Lexan) tubes. These tubes were retrieved from the core barrel and stored in core trays prior to the laboratory sample being cut from the base of the tube, with 30 cm core subsamples sent to the Geosystems Analysis (GSA) laboratory in the USA.

GSA utilized the Rapid Brine Release method (Yao et al., 2018) to measure drainable porosity and the total porosity. The Rapid Brine Release (RBR) method is based on the moisture retention characteristics (MRC) method for direct measurement of total porosity (Pt, MOSA Part 4 Ch. 2, 2.3.2.1), specific retention (Sr, MOSA Part 4 Ch3, 3.3.3.5), and specific yield (Sy, Cassel and Nielson, 1986). A simplified Tempe cell design (Modified ASTM D6836-16) was used to test the core samples. Brine release was measured at 120 mbar and 330 mbar of pressure for reference (Nwankwor et al., 1984, Cassel and Nielsen, 1986). Bulk density, particle size analyses and specific gravity were also determined on selected core samples.

For quality control, a collection of paired samples representative of the range in lithology types were selected for testing using other laboratory techniques also used to measure drainable porosity. These are the Relative Brine Release Capacity (RBRC, Stormont et. al., 2011) method of the DB Stephens Laboratory and the Centrifuge Moisture Equivalent of Soils (Centrifuge, ASTM D 6836-16) method by Core Laboratories (Houston, Texas). These methods provide an estimate of variability in the definition of the drainable porosity across different laboratory methods.

Geophysical Logging

Drill holes in the Stage 2 expansion campaign were geophysical logged by contractor Zelandez, with a number of geophysical tools (natural gamma, resistivity, conductivity, borehole magnetic resonance, ultrasonic borehole images) in order to maximise the collection of data from the drilling. Borehole Magnetic Resonance (BMR) is a geophysical tool that was developed by the oil industry to measure porosity and permeability in-situ in wells to assist reservoir studies. The Borehole Magnetic Resonance tool was designed and built in Australia to operate in highly saline environments like salars.

The BMR tool used for the drilling campaign is purpose-built for logging of exploration diameter drill holes. The tools are factory calibrated in Australia and maintained regularly by the service provider. The data acquisition and processing methodology gives information on the total porosity, drainable porosity (specific yield), specific retention and provides a computation of permeability and hydraulic conductivity with a vertical resolution varying from 5-15 cm, providing much more information than individual core samples analysed for porosity with a spacing every 3 or more metres.

Porosity cores from the three diamond holes drilled for the Stage 2 expansion were analysed in the Geosystems Analysis laboratory in the USA. This laboratory has extensive experience analysing salar cores having undertaking analyses on numerous salar projects. Porosity values from the laboratory sampling were compared to the BMR porosity log. While some differences are noted the general ranges of porosity values for the different hydrostratigraphic values are considered comparable.

Salar sediments display short range vertical and lateral variability (within a metre or over metres to 10's of metres) due to changes in the depositional environment over time. This results in vertical and lateral changes in drainable porosity. BMR drainable porosity (Specific yield) measurements were often lower than corresponding laboratory measurements. BMR porosity values are considered to be more conservative than laboratory measurements, as cores can be disturbed during transportation to the laboratory.

Salar sediments are subject to compaction as they are buried with compaction generally resulting in a decrease in total and drainable porosity with depth although not all sediments are affected equally by compaction.

Holes drilled for the original feasibility study were logged with a neutron tool, as borehole magnetic resonance technology was not available to the lithium industry in 2011. The neutron tool measures the hydrogen index of the formation (solids and brine). Neutron porosity is the result of applying a simple equation using the neutron measurement and two parameters. For the 2011 Resource neutron log data was compared with laboratory data to develop an algorithm for porosity across the resource area. BMR technology is considered more accurate for porosity definition in the salar environment and has superseded use of neutron logs.

There are some differences observed between porosity measurements made with the neutron and BMR logs through comparable sediments. The drainable porosity of this upgraded resource is lower than the 2011 Resource, partly due to the greater depth of this resource and some compaction of sediments, the geological intervals intersected (greater thicknesses of halite) and due to a reduction in comparable porosity values due to the type of geophysical logging.

The ongoing drilling for the Stage 2 expansion has defined the full thickness of the evaporite/halite unit UH4. This unit has a generally lower porosity than overlying and underlying clastic sedimentary units due to the compaction of halite with depth. Similarly clastic units also undergo some compaction with depth and consequently the overall porosity of the newly estimated resource is lower compared to the original resource in the upper 200 m of the salar.

Estimate data sources

Average production well brine chemistry values, from throughout pumping of the wells, have been used as inputs for the resource estimation, in addition to the interval samples historically collected in the upper 200 m. This is considered an acceptable approach in this situation, given the level of information available in the Olaroz salar, hydrogeological continuity between drill holes, comparison between historical interval samples and pumped brine concentrations and the history of pumping data available. Additional 650 m deep diamond drilling is recommended for future resource evaluations and to allow installation of additional deep monitoring wells.

Geophysical logging in the deeper holes has confirmed generally consistent drainable porosity and permeability characteristics throughout the clastic sediments with higher porosities and permeabilities associated with thicker more sand dominated intervals.

Mineral Resources

Estimation of a brine resource requires definition of:

The aquifer distribution (in this case restricted to the salar outline, except around hole E26 in the south)

The distribution of drainable porosity (specific yield) values

The distribution of lithium and other elements in the brine defined by drilling

The external limits (geological or property boundaries) of the resource area

The resource grade is a combination of the aquifer volume, the drainable porosity (portion of the aquifer volume that is filled by brine that can potentially be extracted) and the concentration of lithium in the brine.

The Olaroz aquifer system is not a conventional water supply style aquifer, based on a discrete geological unit, but rather a layered sequence of sediments that contributes brine flow to production wells. More permeable sand and gravel units provide relatively higher flows. The surface outline of the salar is used to delimit the area of the resource estimate (except for the off-salar extension around E26). The 2023 resource covers 147.9 km2, larger than the original 2011 Resource area (93 km2).

The expanded area reflects inclusion of the Olaroz Lithium and Maria Victoria properties, which were not part of the original property holdings, and the area around E26. The resource has been further expanded by the drilling of hole E26, allowing definition of resources beneath the alluvial gravels south of the salar (Figure 3). Brine saturated sediments are known to extend beneath alluvial sediments surrounding the salar and this was confirmed in drilling of hole E26 on the edge of the gravels beside the salar, which continued to 510 m in sandy and gravel material.

The resource estimate is limited laterally by the boundaries (Figure 3) with adjacent property owner Exar, in the salar to the east and north of the properties owned by Allkem and SDJ entities. The resource estimate is limited at depth by the sediment-basement contact interpreted from the gravity geophysical survey conducted over the basin. Drilling suggests this interpretation underestimates the basin depth.

Within the salar the three-dimensional distribution of the different hydrostratigraphic units was defined using Leapfrog 3D software, with these units based on geological and geophysical logging observations. The resource is entirely within the salar, except in the gravel area extending west from production hole E26. This is the only location where brackish water overlies brine within the resource estimate. The upper 100 m of this area off the salar has been excluded from the resource estimate, because it is not brine. Conversion of the resource to reserve in this area will evaluate extraction of this brine for future production. In all other areas within the resource brine begins from the salar surface.

The porosity data set consisted of interval porosity samples analysed in an independent laboratory for the upper 200 m and the BMR downhole geophysics from 200 to > 650 m. These were used to generate a block model across the salar area, applying ordinary kriging to the composited drainable porosity data.

The distribution of lithium and other elements was estimated from point sampling data from the upper 200 m of the model, where samples are typically spaced every 6 m in the 200 m holes and 3 m or less in the 54 m holes. Below the upper 200 m the resource was estimated based on the pumped samples from the production wells, with a single value per hole representing the average pumped lithium value, assigned to the areas with screens in the production wells.

The block model was constructed with 500 by 500 m blocks, with a 20 m vertical extent (Figure 4 and Figure 5). Only the portion of the block inside the salar outline is reported in the resource (with the exception of the area around E26). The resource estimate was undertaken using Datamine software, with variograms developed for the point samples from the upper 200 m. Estimation was undertaken using ordinary kriging. The ordinary kriging method is the most commonly used kriging method. In areas of sparse data around the model edges Nearest Neighbour estimation was used.

The resource was estimated using four passes in the search strategy. The results of the first two passes are nominally equated to blocks classified as Measured and Indicated, with the latter two passes equating to blocks classified as Inferred. The resources were defined across the salar outline and extension around E26, defined over different depths, reflecting drilling density and confidence. Future drilling on the salar may bring additional resources into the Indicated and Measured classification.

Figure 4: Lithium grades (mg/L) at 100 m (left) and 250 m below surface (right)





Figure 5: Resource blocks in lithium mg/l, showing the salar edge (red), alluvial zone (green) in the south and the muddy marginal zone outline (between red and blue outlines)





Measured Mineral Resources

A 'Measured Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape, and physical characteristics are estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the application of Modifying Factors to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit.

Geological evidence is derived from detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to confirm geological and grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.

A Measured Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than that applying to either an Indicated Mineral Resource or an Inferred Mineral Resource. It may be converted to a Proved Ore Reserve or under certain circumstances to a Probable Ore Reserve.

Extraction of brine is ongoing from 1 km spaced, 200 m deep, production wells pumping for a period of over eight years. Wells have a drilling density of approximately 1 per 2 km2 in the production well field areas. Extensive exploration drilling was previously conducted across the salar to 200 m depth. The Measured Resources are almost all within 2.5 km from drill holes across the salar, as suggested by Houston et. al., 2011 as an appropriate drilling spacing for Measured Resources in clastic salars. On the basis of the available data the resource to 200 m depth is classified as a Measured Resource.

An additional area of Measured Resources has been defined around the three diamond drill holes on the eastern margin of the project, south of the deep hole E1. An extension of 2.5 km from the property boundary has been applied for definition of this Measured Resource, consistent with the suggestion of Houston et. al., 2011. This is considered a reasonable basis for extension of the resource to 650 m depth in this area, surrounded by Indicated Resources.

The Measured resource is reported at a zero mg/l lithium cut-off, as the entire Olaroz salar contains brine with an elevated lithium concentration to the salar boundary.

Indicated Mineral Resources

An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with sufficient confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit.

Geological evidence is derived from adequately detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to assume geological and grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.

An Indicated Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to a Measured Mineral Resource and may only be converted to a Probable Ore Reserve.

Geological continuity established by deeper drilling below 200 m, geophysical logging of holes, and gradual changes in lithium concentration provide the basis for classifying the brine between 200 and 350 m below surface in the north of the salar (with lesser drilling density) and south off the salar around hole E26 as Indicated to this depth. In the more central part of the salar the resource is defined as an Indicated resource (with greater drilling density) between 200 and 650 m depth.

Laboratory porosity samples are relatively limited below 200 m, however similar sediment intervals are present above 200 m at Olaroz, where porosity characteristics have been established from hundreds of laboratory analyses. Extensive porosity samples from similar sediments are also available from the Allkem Cauchari properties. Ongoing extraction by pumping of brine from wells up to 450 m deep since 2014 and from 650 m depth for up to 3 years, provides confidence as to the extractability of brine from the resource to this depth.

BMR porosity data was collected below 200 m depth, providing extensive porosity data in the Stage 2 holes. Future drilling below 200 m provides the opportunity to upgrade Indicated Resources to Measured status.

Inferred Mineral Resources

An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade (or quality) continuity. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.

An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to an Ore Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.

The Inferred Mineral Resource is defined between 350 m and 650 m off the salar to the north and south. Within the salar Inferred resources are defined below 650 m and the base of the basin. The base of the basin is defined by the gravity geophysical survey, with areas significantly deeper than 650 m defined. There are currently 19 production wells installed to 350 m or below, with production wells for the Olaroz Expansion Project installed between 400 and 751 m deep between the existing northern and southern wellfields. The deep hole drilled in the north of the salar confirms locally the salar sediments extend to below 1400 m depth. Drilling has not intersected the base of the salar sediments, where the geophysical estimated basement depth has been reached, suggesting the basin may be deeper than estimated from the gravity survey. Brine samples were completed in this deep hole.

Taking account of the distribution of brine grade and porosity to date (as determined by BMR geophysics) there is a sufficient level of confidence to classify the resources extending to the bottom of the basin as Inferred Resources. It is likely that additional drilling could convert these to a higher confidence resource classification.

Figure 6: Distribution of resource categories





Further exploration potential

The resource is open laterally over an extensive area to the north off the salar, and to the south and west, beneath sands and gravels that surround the salar.

To the south, previous limited drilling and geophysical surveys indicate the brine body is likely to extend south to link with the Cauchari Resource (Allkem 100%). Similarly, brine extends west of the salar. The greatest potential, based on work by Allkem and 3rd parties, is over the extensive area to the north under the Rio Rosario delta, where future drilling is required to define resources. The resource may also extend at depth beyond the base of the basin interpreted by gravity geophysics. To date no Allkem drilling in the Olaroz basin has yet intersected the basement, allowing for significant future additions to the company's resource base. Consequently, there is substantial potential to add additional resources in the project.

This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited.

Allkem Limited



ABN 31 112 589 910



Level 35, 71 Eagle St

Brisbane, QLD 4000 Investor Relations & Media Enquiries

Andrew Barber

+61 418 783 701

Andrew.barber@allkem.co Connect

info@allkem.co

+61 7 3064 3600

www.allkem.co

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This investor ASX/TSX release (Release) contains general information about the Company as at the date of this Release. The information in this Release should not be considered to be comprehensive or to comprise all of the material which a shareholder or potential investor in the Company may require in order to determine whether to deal in Shares of Allkem. The information in this Release is of a general nature only and does not purport to be complete. It should be read in conjunction with the Company's periodic and continuous disclosure announcements which are available at allkem.co and with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcements, which are available at www.asx.com.au.

Technical Information and Competent Persons' Statements

The information in this report that relates to Olaroz Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr Murray Brooker, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, a 'Recognised Professional Organisation' (RPO) included in a list posted on the ASX website from time to time. Mr Brooker is an independent consultant employed by Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit 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'. He is also a "Qualified Person" as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101. Mr Brooker consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Any information in this release that relates to Cauchari Project Mineral Resources is extracted from the release entitled "Cauchari JORC Resource increases to 4.8 million tonnes Measured + Indicated and 1.5 million tonnes Inferred LCE" released on 19 April 2019 and the report entitled "NI43-101 Technical Report Cauchari JV Project - Updated Mineral Resource Estimate" which is available to view on www.allkem.co and www.asx.com.au. The Competent Person for this technical report and Mineral Resource estimate was Mr Frits Reidel, CPG, of Atacama Water (Formerly FloSolutions Chile). The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcements and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.

Technical information relating to the Company's Olaroz project contained in this release is derived from, and in some instances is an extract from, the technical report entitled "Olaroz Resource Update March 2023" (Technical Report) which has been reviewed and approved by Murray Brooker (Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd) as it relates to geology, drilling, sampling, exploration, QA/QC, mining methods and mineral resources and Mr Mike Gunn (Gunn Metals) as it relates to site infrastructure, capital cost, operating cost estimates, mining cost, financial modelling and economic analysis in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The Technical Report is available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and, by their nature, are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results, performances and achievements to differ materially from any expected future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the risk of further changes in government regulations, policies or legislation; the risks associated with the continued implementation of the merger between the Company and Galaxy Resources Ltd., risks that further funding may be required, but unavailable, for the ongoing development of the Company's projects; fluctuations or decreases in commodity prices; uncertainty in the estimation, economic viability, recoverability and processing of mineral resources; risks associated with development of the Company Projects; unexpected capital or operating cost increases; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones at the Company's Projects; risks associated with investment in publicly listed companies, such as the Company; and risks associated with general economic conditions.

Subject to any continuing obligation under applicable law or relevant listing rules of the ASX, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this Release to reflect any change in expectations in relation to any forward-looking statements or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Nothing in this Release shall under any circumstances (including by reason of this Release remaining available and not being superseded or replaced by any other Release or publication with respect to the subject matter of this Release), create an implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company since the date of this Release.

Not for release or distribution in the United States

This announcement has been prepared for publication in Australia and may not be released to U.S. wire services or distributed in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and neither this announcement or anything attached to this announcement shall form the basis of any contract or commitment.

APPENDIX A: DRILL HOLE COLLARS AND LITHIUM CONCENTRATION





*Average well flows from 12 January 2017 to 31 January 2023

APPENDIX B

JORC Table 1 - Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data related to Olaroz Stage 2 expansion drilling (Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (eg cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where 'industry standard' work has been done this would be relatively simple (eg 'reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay'). In other cases more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (eg submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. Holes were drilled using the rotary drilling technique. Drill cuttings were collected to identify the sediment type and compare observations with downhole geophysical logs. Mud samples were taken during drilling to evaluate changes in properties such as fluid density, electrical conductivity and dissolved ions.

A comprehensive suite of down hole geophysical logs was run open hole, once holes reached total depth. This provided additional information on the lithologies encountered during drilling. This included in the deep 1408 m hole. The downhole logging was undertaken by the company Zelandez, who have extensive experience with geophysical logging on salt lake projects.

Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the results compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs.

Samples were not collected for assay from the cuttings, as the primary objective of the holes was to confirm the geology to the depth of drilling and install production wells. Cuttings were used to describe the lithology. Samples for brine analysis were taken from the production wells when cleaned up and pumped. Qualitative changes in brine conditions were also evaluated during drilling.

Three diamond holes were drilled in this program, with core samples collected in polycarbonate (Lexan) tubes and selected intervals analysed for porosity laboratory in an independent lithology (Geosystems Analysis in the USA). Drilling techniques Drill type (eg core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc) and details (eg core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc). Rotary drilling with a tricone bit was used to drill the entire length of the production holes, reaching depths between 450 and 650 m (in one hole 751 m), and also used for the deep hole to 1408 m.

Brine from a surface trench (low lithium content) was used to mix drilling muds, to develop a thick wall cake in the rotary holes and maintain hole stability.

Three diamond holes were drilled in this program, with the purpose of collecting porosity information and brine samples. 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. Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the observations compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs.

Sample recovery was aided by the use of appropriately prepared drilling mud to remove cuttings from the hole.

Cutting samples were not analysed chemically and descriptions were a qualitative evaluation of the lithologies encountered in the hole. There is no relationship between sample recovery and ion concentrations in the brine in this case. Core sample recovery for the three recent diamond holes was between 86.1 and 88.6%, which is higher than historical diamond drilling conducted to 200 m depth. Core sampling is enhanced by use of polycarbonate (Lexan) triple tubes. Unconsolidated salt lake sediments have much lower core recoveries than hard rock deposits. 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. Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the observations compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs. This has provided a consistent stratigraphy, supporting resource estimation and mining studies.

Cutting logging is of a qualitative nature and results were compared with the quantitative geophysical logs to interpret the lithologies encountered in the hole.

All intersections with sample recovery were logged. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. Cuttings were only used to identify the lithology and were not used for chemical analysis, and were only sub-sampled to collect representative reference samples.

Mud samples were taken from the returned drilling muds and analysed for concentrations of lithium and other elements, which maintained elevated and similar concentrations through the drill hole. Due to the rotary mud nature of this drilling the mud samples are considered only qualitative and not quantitative. Consequently, the mud sample analytical results are NOT reported in this release and NOT used for resource estimation.

Brine samples from production wells are from production pumping or pumping tests of new wells, once wells were developed and cleaned or had been in production, in some cases for more than 5 years, with consistent lithium concentrations. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (eg standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. The brine samples (from production wells and pumping tests conducted once wells were fully installed and cleaned) were analysed at the Olaroz site laboratory.

Quality control/Assurance samples were used by the Olaroz site laboratory, which is not a certified commercial laboratory.

Standards accompanying brine samples in the Olaroz laboratory have been analysed in commercial laboratories as part of a laboratory "round robin" analysis

Check samples were analysed in the Alex Stuart independent commercial laboratory in Jujuy, Argentina.

Duplicate samples have been analysed in commercial laboratories as part of QA/QC procedures. Results were generally within acceptable limits.

Downhole geophysical tools were provided by geophysical contractor Zelandez. These are calibrated periodically to produce consistent results. BMR tools are calibrated yearly in Australia. 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. Brine analyses are from pump testing post installation of production wells, are quantitative analyses and were reviewed by different company personnel.

Laboratory data (from spreadsheets) is loaded directly into the project database by company personnel.

Brine samples from production wells were analysed in the Olaroz site laboratory, with QA/QC samples analysed in the Alex Start independent laboratory in Jujuy, Argentina Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. The holes were located initially with a hand-held GPS and are subsequently surveyed by a certified surveyor. Production wells and diamond holes are drilled with a general spacing of 1 km between holes. The Project location is in zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger coordinate system with the Argentine POSGAR 94 datum. 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. Lithological data was collected throughout the drilling from cuttings and geophysical logging. Historical diamond drilling was conducted to 200 m depth, with three recent diamond drill holes to 650 m depth.

Due to the rotary drilling methodology samples for indicative brine chemistry, were not collected at regular intervals during drilling. Brine samples were collected from the pumping of wells, once wells were installed and cleaned (developed).

The samples taken during the pumping tests are composite samples, sourced from multiple well screens throughout the wells where screens are installed (through much of the hole).

Brine samples from historical diamond and sonic drilling were taken at a vertical spacing of 3 and 6 m to 54 m and nominally 6 m between 54 and 200 samples, with actual sampling irregular and depending on conditions. This information forms part of the resource estimate, along with more recent data. 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 salar deposits that host lithium-bearing brines consist of sub-horizontal beds and lenses of sand, silt, halite, clay and minor gravel, depending on the location within the salar. Drill holes are vertical and essentially perpendicular to these units intersecting close to their true thickness.

Faults controlling basin development occur on the basin margins. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Brine samples were moved from the drill site to secure storage at the camp on a daily basis. All brine sample bottles are marked with a unique label.

Samples were transported from the camp to the laboratory for chemical analysis in sealed rigid plastic bottles with sample numbers clearly identified. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. No audits or reviews have been conducted at this point in time.

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 licence to operate in the area. The Olaroz properties (operated by Sales de Jujuy for the joint venture between Allkem 66.5%, Toyota Tsusho 25% and JEMSE 8.5%) are located in the province of Jujuy in northern Argentina at an elevation of approximately 3,900 masl. Allkem also owns 100% of a number of other properties in the north of the Olaroz salar. The company has owned the majority of the properties for over 10 years

The SDJ joint venture project comprises 52,391 ha in 37 mineral properties and the 9,475 ha in the 5 Olaroz lithium properties. The project has been in production since 2013. The mining operation is from a series of mining licenses (minas) permitted for production. These are surrounded by other mining licenses and exploration properties (Cateos).

The project development was approved by the provincial government UGAMP technical committee in 2012, and received other approvals for project development in this time period.

The project has an 8.5% participation by the provincial mining agency JEMSE, is subject to a royalty of 3% and an export tax of 4.5% of mine gate value. Toyota Tsusho and Allkem act as the joint marketing agent for lithium produced at the project.

The tenements/properties are believed to be in good standing, with payments made to relevant government departments. The company maintains good relationships with the local government and government agencies and communities as part of operations. Many local inhabitants work at the Olaroz operation. Several peripheral properties have not yet been fully granted, as this is an extended process for mining leases in Argentina.

Properties are within the Reserva Provincial de Fauna y Flora Olaroz-Cauchari (a regional flora and fauna reserve), as is the adjoining Exar project. This reserve allows for multiple uses, including agriculture and mining. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. The properties were not subject to any exploration for lithium prior to Allkem (Orocobre) obtaining the properties.

Significant exploration has been conducted immediately to the east and south of the Olaroz properties by Minera Exar, resulting in a large resource and related reserve and a brine pumping project is currently in construction. Further south in Cauchari Olaroz subsidiary, South American Salars has defined a 4.8 Mt LCE resource in Measured and Indicated categories and 1.5 Mt of Inferred resources. These three projects are all developed on different parts of the same lithium brine body. Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. The project is a lithium salt lake deposit, located in a closed basin in the Andean mountain range in Northern Argentina.

The sediments within the salar consist of halite, clay, silt, sand and gravel which have accumulated in the salar from terrestrial sedimentation from the sides of the basin. Brine hosting dissolved lithium is present in pore spaces and fractures within unconsolidated sediments.

Evaporation of brines entering and within the salt lake generates the concentrated lithium that is extracted by pumping out the brine.

The sediments are interpreted to be essentially flat lying with unconfined aquifer conditions close to surface and semi-confined to confined conditions at depth

Geology was recorded during drilling of the hole. Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes: easting and northing of the drill hole collar elevation or RL (Reduced Level - elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar dip and azimuth of the hole down hole length and interception depth hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. The holes are located in the mining properties covering the Olaroz salt lake, centred around approximately 7402000N/ 3427000E and approximately 3930 m elevation, in Zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger grid system, using the Posgar 94 datum.

The drill holes are all vertical, (dip -90, azimuth 0 degrees). Collar coordinates and depths are provided in a table following the announcement. On the salt lake brine is present from within ~1 m of surface to the base of drilling.

Lithological data was collected from the mud return cuttings as the hole was drilled and from the geophysical logging of holes.

Previous sonic and diamond drilling core samples were collected in polycarbonate Lexan tubes and described in detail, with laboratory analyses made of the sediment porosity in several international laboratories. Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (eg cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. Brine samples were taken from pumping wells at the completion of pumping tests. Results during the pumping tests were analysed and compared, to ensure results were repeatable.

The pumping well samples are composite samples that reflect inflows from different levels within the wells, which are screened at multiple levels throughout their depth. The lithium concentration in the pumped samples is an average of the concentration from different units with relatively higher and lower values than the average. More permeable units contribute a higher proportion of the brine in the pumped samples.

The pumped samples are considered to be sufficiently representative of the brine contained in sediments where the holes are drilled, based on previous comparisons with diamond drill holes to 200 m depth, which showed low vertical coefficients of variation (CV). Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (eg 'down hole length, true width not known'). The sediments hosting brine are interpreted to be essentially perpendicular to the vertical drill holes, representing true thicknesses in drilling. The entire thickness of sediments is believed to be mineralized with lithium brine, with the water table within approximately 1 metre of surface. Lithium is hosted in brine in pores within the different terrestrial sedimentary units in the salt lake sequence. 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. Diagrams are provided in the text showing the location of the properties, the drill holes and cross section through the deposit, showing the correlation of geological units. 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. Data regarding the drilling and sampling has been provided in the release. A table is provided with the results of the pumping wells, which have provided the basis for estimation below 200 m depth. 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. The company has conducting rotary drilling to obtain geological information, brine samples, and hydraulic parameters for the installation of additional production wells. Future drilling will also support an update of the resource estimation. Future updates to the resource will be released when drilling is conducted peripheral to the salar in areas when little or no current drilling. Further work The nature and scale of planned further work (eg tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. The company has recently completed installing 15 deep production wells for Stage 2 of the project. Future drilling is planned to extend further north and south of the current resource area, to support definition of further resources in those areas (refer to the map with drill holes in the release). Comprehensive documentation outlining the resource drilling is planned for release when that future drilling is complete.

Section 3 Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Database integrity Measures taken to ensure that data has not been corrupted by, for example, transcription or keying errors, between its initial collection and its use for Mineral Resource estimation purposes.

Data validation procedures used. Data was transferred directly from laboratory spreadsheets to the database.

Data was checked for transcription errors once in the database, to ensure coordinates, assay values and lithological codes were correct

Data was plotted to check the spatial location and relationship to adjoining sample points

Duplicates and Standards have been used in the assay process.

Brine assays and porosity test work have been analysed and compared with other publicly available information for reasonableness.

Comparisons of original and current datasets were made to ensure no lack of integrity. Site visits Comment on any site visits undertaken by the Competent Person and the outcome of those visits.

If no site visits have been undertaken indicate why this is the case. The Competent Persons visited the site many times prior to the current drilling and sampling program and more recently Mr Brooker visited the site in November 2022.

Competent Person M Brooker was responsible for previously planning the location of the new production wells. Geological interpretation Confidence in (or conversely, the uncertainty of ) the geological interpretation of the mineral deposit.

Nature of the data used and of any assumptions made.

The effect, if any, of alternative interpretations on Mineral Resource estimation.

The use of geology in guiding and controlling Mineral Resource estimation.

The factors affecting continuity both of grade and geology. There is a high level of confidence in the geological model for the Project. There are relatively distinct geological units in essentially flat lying, relatively uniform, clastic sediments and halite.

The drainable porosity data consists of extremely detailed data from geophysical logging, extensive historical porosity samples to 200 m deep and sparse porosity samples up to 650 m deep, supplemented by BMR geophysical data in production wells. Brine data below 200 m, consists of composite pumped samples from holes, which provide realistic information regarding brine concentrations.

Any alternative interpretations are restricted to smaller scale variations in sedimentology and porosity, related to changes in grain size and fine material in units, as porosity is the key influence on the resource estimate.

Geological units are identified in the geological and geophysical logging of holes and separated in the hydrostratigraphic model, where unit specific porosity characteristics are applied.

Data used in the interpretation includes sonic, rotary and diamond drilling.

Sedimentary processes affect the continuity of geology, whereas the concentration of lithium and potassium and other elements in the brine are related to water inflows, evaporation and brine evolution in the salt lake and are essentially independent of porosity. Dimensions The extent and variability of the Mineral Resource expressed as length (along strike or otherwise), plan width, and depth below surface to the upper and lower limits of the Mineral Resource. The lateral extent of the resource has been defined by the boundary of the salar, except in the SE around E26, and in the east and north the boundary with adjacent properties. On the salar (and in the southern extension below alluvial gravels) the brine mineralisation covers 147.9 km 2 .

. The top of the model coincides with the topography obtained from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The original elevations were locally adjusted for each borehole collar with the most accurate drill hole collar coordinates available.

The base of the resource is the base of the basin, as interpreted from gravity geophysics. The depth of the basin is likely to exceed the depth interpreted from the geophysics, based on drilling to date. The basement rocks underlying the salt lake sediments have not yet been intersected in drilling. Estimation and modelling techniques The nature and appropriateness of the estimation technique(s) applied and key assumptions, including treatment of extreme grade values, domaining, interpolation parameters and maximum distance of extrapolation from data points. If a computer assisted estimation method was chosen include a description of computer software and parameters used.

The availability of check estimates, previous estimates and/or mine production records and whether the Mineral Resource estimate takes appropriate account of such data.

The assumptions made regarding recovery of by-products.

Estimation of deleterious elements or other non-grade variables of economic significance (eg sulphur for acid mine drainage characterisation).

In the case of block model interpolation, the block size in relation to the average sample spacing and the search employed.

Any assumptions behind modelling of selective mining units.

Any assumptions about correlation between variables.

Description of how the geological interpretation was used to control the resource estimates.

Discussion of basis for using or not using grade cutting or capping.

The process of validation, the checking process used, the comparison of model data to drill hole data, and use of reconciliation data if available. The resource estimation for the Project was developed in Datamine Software, with the geological model developed in Leapfrog software. The model is considered a reliable representation of the local lithology and will be refined as new information becomes available. Generation of histograms and box plots was conducted for the Exploratory Data Analysis for lithium. It should be noted the search radii are flattened ellipsoids with the shortest distance in the Z axis (related to the variogram distance). No outlier restrictions were applied, as distributions of the different elements do not show anomalously high values.

No grade cutting or capping was applied to the model. The coefficient of variation in the brine results is low, reflecting the relatively homogeneous distribution of brine grades across the salar.

Results from the primary porosity laboratory GSA are compared with results from check Core Laboratories.

Potassium is the most economically significant element dissolved in the brine after lithium.

Estimation of Lithium for each block used ordinary kriging. The presence of brine is not necessarily controlled by the lithologies and lithium and potassium concentrations are independent of lithology. Geological units had hard boundaries for estimation of porosity.

Estimation of resources used drainable porosity data from BMR geophysical logs.

The block size (500 x 500 x 20 m) reflects the thick and relatively homogeneous nature of the lithological units.

No assumptions were made regarding selective mining units and selective mining is generally not feasible in brine deposits, where brine flows in response to pumping.

No assumptions were made about correlation between variables. Lithium and potassium were estimated independently.

The geological interpretation was used to define each geological unit and the salar boundary and property limit were used to enclose the reported resources. The lithium and potassium concentrations are not necessarily related to a particular lithology.

The Inferred resource was estimated on the basis that it is within the salt lake or immediately adjacent and occupies the same or similar geological units to the Indicated and Measured resource, although drilling in the Inferred resource area is more limited around the margins of the salar.

Validation was performed using a series of checks including comparison of univariate statistics for global estimation bias, and visual inspection against samples on plans and sections.

Visual validation shows an acceptable agreement between the samples and the OK estimates. Moisture Whether the tonnages are estimated on a dry basis or with natural moisture, and the method of determination of the moisture content. Moisture content of the cores was Measured (porosity and density measurements were made), but as brine is extracted by pumping not mining the sediments moisture is not relevant for the resource estimation.

Tonnages are estimated as metallic lithium and potassium dissolved in brine, with lithium values converted to a lithium carbonate tonnage using a conversion factor of 5.32. Cut-off parameters The basis of the adopted cut-off grade(s) or quality parameters applied. No cut-off grade has been applied, with the resource reported at a zero mg/l cut off. Brine at economic lithium concentrations is present across the salt lake and the alluvial gravels that surround the salar. Mining factors or assumptions Assumptions made regarding possible mining methods, minimum mining dimensions and internal (or, if applicable, external) mining dilution. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential mining methods, but the assumptions made regarding mining methods and parameters when estimating Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the mining assumptions made. The resource has been quoted in terms of brine volume, concentration of dissolved elements, contained lithium and their product lithium carbonate.

No mining or recovery factors have been applied (although the use of the specific yield = drainable porosity is used to reflect the reasonable prospects for economic extraction with the proposed mining methodology). It should be noted that conversion of resources to reserves for brine deposits is lower than that for hard rock deposits.

Dilution of brine concentrations may occur over time and typically there are lithium and potassium losses in both the ponds and processing plant in brine mining operations. However, potential dilution will be estimated in the groundwater model simulating brine extraction, to define a reserve.

The conceptual mining method is recovering brine from the salt lake via a network of wells, the established practice on existing lithium brine projects.

Detailed hydrologic studies of the lake have been undertaken (catchment and groundwater modelling) to evaluate the extractable resources and potential extraction rates Metallurgical factors or assumptions The basis for assumptions or predictions regarding metallurgical amenability. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential metallurgical methods, but the assumptions regarding metallurgical treatment processes and parameters made when reporting Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the metallurgical assumptions made. Lithium carbonate is currently produced on site via conventional brine processing techniques and evaporation ponds to concentrate the brine prior to processing

Additional brine extracted for the Stage 2 expansion would be processed the same way, with refinements related to optimisation of the process, learnt from operation of Stage 1. Environmental factors or assumptions Assumptions made regarding possible waste and process residue disposal options. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider the potential environmental impacts of the mining and processing operation. While at this stage the determination of potential environmental impacts, particularly for a greenfields project, may not always be well advanced, the status of early consideration of these potential environmental impacts should be reported. Where these aspects have not been considered this should be reported with an explanation of the environmental assumptions made. Impacts of the lithium carbonate production operation at the Olaroz salar include; surface disturbance from the creation of extraction/processing facilities and associated infrastructure, accumulation of various salt tailings impoundments and extraction from brine and freshwater aquifers regionally. Precipitated salts are collected in ponds and later returned to the salar.

The project holds the necessary environmental permits for the Stage 1 and Stage 2 production. Bulk density Whether assumed or determined. If assumed, the basis for the assumptions. If determined, the method used, whether wet or dry, the frequency of the measurements, the nature, size and representativeness of the samples.

The bulk density for bulk material must have been measured by methods that adequately account for void spaces (vugs, porosity, etc), moisture and differences between rock and alteration zones within the deposit.

Discuss assumptions for bulk density estimates used in the evaluation process of the different materials. Density measurements were taken as part of the drill core assessment. This included determining dry density and particle density as well as field measurements of brine density. Note that no mining of sediments is to be carried out, as brine is to be extracted by pumping and consequently sediments are not mined but the lithium and potassium is extracted by pumping.

No bulk density was applied to the estimates because resources are defined by volume, rather than by tonnage.

The salt unit can contain fractures and possibly vugs which host brine and add to the drainable porosity. However, salt units below 50 m depth are generally quite compact Classification The basis for the classification of the Mineral Resources into varying confidence categories.

Whether appropriate account has been taken of all relevant factors (ie relative confidence in tonnage/grade estimations, reliability of input data, confidence in continuity of geology and metal values, quality, quantity and distribution of the data).

Whether the result appropriately reflects the Competent Person's view of the deposit. The resource has been classified in Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources categories based on the spatial distribution of data and confidence in the estimation.

Measured and Indicated resource reflect higher confidence in the geological interpretation in the upper levels of the salar and the greater frequency of data, where there is current production.

The Inferred resource underlies the Indicated and Measured resource in the deeper part of the salar and around the edges of the salar, and reflects the limited drilling in these areas.

In the view of the Competent Person the resource classification is believed to adequately reflect the available data and takes into account and is consistent with the JORC code 2012 and the Australian Brine Guidelines. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of Mineral Resource estimates. This Mineral Resource was estimated by independent consultancy H&S Consultants, with work supervised by the Competent Person Mr Brooker. Discussion of relative accuracy/ confidence Where appropriate a statement of the relative accuracy and confidence level in the Mineral Resource estimate using an approach or procedure deemed appropriate by the Competent Person. For example, the application of statistical or geostatistical procedures to quantify the relative accuracy of the resource within stated confidence limits, or, if such an approach is not deemed appropriate, a qualitative discussion of the factors that could affect the relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate.

The statement should specify whether it relates to global or local estimates, and, if local, state the relevant tonnages, which should be relevant to technical and economic evaluation. Documentation should include assumptions made and the procedures used.

These statements of relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate should be compared with production data, where available. An assessment of the estimated blocks was made against the drill hole data on sections and found to be acceptable.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c8ebd1a1-e04e-423a-8e85-03c3e6b44039

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Extends JR Zone to 105m in Length

Kelowna, March 27, 2023 - F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) ("F3" or "the Company") is pleased to announce scintillometer results from the final nine holes of the winter drill program at the JR Zone on the Patterson Lake North ("PLN") Property, including five high grade intercepts. Drill hole PLN23-060 collared on line 060S has intersected the strongest radioactivity to date at the JR Zone. It was collared up dip of hole PLN23-052 (see news release February 21, 2023) and intersected radioactivity over 17.5m, including 3.82m of continuous off-scale radioactivity >65,535 cps between 244.0m and 247.82m. PLN23-061 stepped out further to line 075S and resulted in 14.0m of mineralization, including 2.81m of composite off-scale (>65,535 cps) radioactivity within 5.08m of composite radioactivity >10,000 cps. An additional drill hole was added to the program stepping out further along strike on line 090S, where PLN23-062 intersected 6.0 m of composite radioactivity including 1.0m of continuous off-scale (>65,535 cps) radioactivity. These holes expanded the strike length of the JR Zone by another 30m, to a current length of 105m.

Raymond Ashley, Vice President Exploration, commented:

"With the final nine holes of the winter 2023 drill program the technical team is delighted to announce the strongest off-scale radioactivity drilled so far at the JR Zone with infill hole PLN23-060 on line 060S, making it the best hole to date. Moreover, the two holes which have expanded the JR Zone to a current length of 105m both intersected off-scale radioactivity >65,535 cps, hole PLN23-061 which stepped out to line 075S and hole PLN23-62 which stepped out further to line 090S. Additional holes will be planned for the summer program on section 30N as the single hole drilled on that section, PLN23-055, did not intersect mineralization. This is a fantastic ending to a very successful winter program of growing the JR Zone along strike towards the south within the A1 main shear zone, following the direction in which strong continuity of high grade mineralization had been established earlier in the drill program."

Drilling Highlight:

PLN23-060

17.5m composite mineralization from 231.5m - 253.5m, including 4.98m composite mineralization of >10,000 cps between 243.17m - 252.83m, further including 3.82m of continuous off-scale (>65,535 cps) radioactivity from 244.00m - 247.82m (see Photo 1.)



Main Intercepts:

PLN23-054 (line 075S):

14.5m composite mineralization from 244.0m - 269.0m with a peak radioactivity of 6,600 cps from 248.5m - 249.0m

PLN23-056 (line 030S):

11.5m composite mineralization from 237.5m - 249.0m, including 1.34m continuous mineralization of >10,000 cps radioactivity between 247.16m - 248.50m with a peak of 32,300 cps



PLN23-057 (line 045S):

7.0m composite mineralization from 246.0m - 268.5m with a peak radioactivity of 1,400 cps from 252.0m - 252.5m

PLN23-058 (line 060S):

1.0 m continuous mineralization from 253.0m - 254.0m with a peak radioactivity of 360 cps

PLN23-059 (line 045S):

17.0m composite mineralization from 238.5m - 255.5m, including 1.32m composite mineralization of >10,000 cps radioactivity between 243.18m - 254.00m with a peak radioactivity of 31,100 cps



PLN23-061 (line 075S):

14.0m composite mineralization from 246.0m - 260.0m, including 5.08m composite mineralization of >10,000 cps radioactivity between 246.71m - 254.93m, further including 2.81m of composite off-scale (>65,535 cps) radioactivity



PLN23-062 (line 090S):

6.0m composite mineralization from 240.5m - 256.5m, including 1.0m continuous off-scale (>65,535 cps) radioactivity between 246.5m - 247.5m



Natural gamma radiation in the drill core that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a handheld Radiation Solutions RS-125 scintillometer. The Company considers greater than 300 cps on the handheld spectrometer as anomalous, >10,000 cps as high grade and greater than 65,535 cps as off-scale. 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 of the presence of radioactive materials. All depth measurements reported are down-hole and true thickness are yet to be determined. Samples from the drill core are split in half on site and are standardized at 0.5m lengths. One half of the split sample will be submitted to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SCC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) in Saskatoon, SK. for lithogeochemical analysis using their "Uranium Package".

All depth measurements reported are down-hole and true thickness are yet to be determined but the Company estimates true thickness of the reported intervals in this news release to be close to reported interval widths.





Photo 1: PLN23-060 Drill Core Photo



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Table 1. Drill Hole Summary and Handheld Spectrometer Results

Collar Information * Hand-held Spectrometer

Results On Mineralized Drillcore

(>300 cps / >0.5m minimum) Athabasca

Unconformity

Depth (m) Total

Drillhole

Depth

(m) Hole ID Section

Line Easting Northing Elevation Az Dip From

(m) To

(m) Interval (m) Max CPS PLN23-054 075S 587713.9 6410660.4 545.7 53.9 -58.2 244.00 244.50 0.50 820 209.0 371 244.50 245.00 0.50 810 245.00 247.00 2.00 <300 247.00 247.50 0.50 350 247.50 248.00 0.50 580 248.00 248.50 0.50 630 248.50 249.00 0.50 6600 249.00 250.00 1.00 <300 250.00 250.50 0.50 310 250.50 251.00 0.50 430 251.00 251.50 0.50 470 251.50 252.00 0.50 580 252.00 252.50 0.50 880 252.50 253.00 0.50 650 253.00 253.50 0.50 910 253.50 254.00 0.50 610 254.00 254.50 0.50 350 254.50 255.00 0.50 440 255.00 255.50 0.50 620 255.50 256.00 0.50 680 266.50 267.00 0.50 2100 267.00 268.50 1.50 <300 268.50 269.00 0.50 330 PLN23-055 030N 587668.4 6410756.9 545.4 54.0 -55.5 no radioactivity >300 cps 209.0 344 PLN23-056 030S 587705.0 6410718.0 545.2 54.2 -59.5 237.50 238.00 0.50 340 211.0 356 238.00 239.00 1.00 <300 239.00 239.50 0.50 300 239.50 240.00 0.50 <300 240.00 240.50 0.50 300 240.50 241.00 0.50 370 241.00 241.50 0.50 4400 241.50 242.00 0.50 7500 242.00 242.50 0.50 3900 242.50 243.00 0.50 610 243.00 243.50 0.50 <300 243.50 244.00 0.50 1100 244.00 244.50 0.50 350 244.50 245.50 1.00 <300 245.50 246.00 0.50 320 246.00 246.50 0.50 <300 246.50 247.00 0.50 1400 247.00 247.16 0.16 2300 247.16 247.50 0.34 17300 247.50 248.00 0.50 32300 248.00 248.50 0.50 28800 248.50 249.00 0.50 2700 PLN23-057 045S 587704.3 6410689.5 544.9 54.3 -62.3 246.00 246.50 0.50 380 199.9 362 249.00 249.50 0.50 840 249.50 250.50 1.00 <300 250.50 251.00 0.50 350 251.00 251.50 0.50 <300 251.50 252.00 0.50 720 252.00 252.50 0.50 1400 252.50 253.50 1.00 <300 253.50 254.00 0.50 610 254.00 254.50 0.50 930 257.00 257.50 0.50 1100 268.00 268.50 0.50 440 PLN23-058 060S 587715.6 6410678.4 544.5 54.6 -64.9 253.00 253.50 0.50 340 188.3 356 253.50 254.00 0.50 360 PLN23-059 045S 587717.0 6410702.1 545.1 55.4 -61.1 238.50 239.00 0.50 420 208.5 362 239.00 239.50 0.50 460 239.50 240.00 0.50 4900 240.00 240.50 0.50 890 240.50 241.00 0.50 440 241.00 241.50 0.50 3800 241.50 242.00 0.50 770 242.00 242.50 0.50 910 242.50 243.00 0.50 4700 243.00 243.18 0.18 8900 243.18 243.50 0.32 19100 243.50 244.00 0.50 22200 244.00 244.50 0.50 2200 244.50 245.00 0.50 480 245.00 245.50 0.50 <300 245.50 246.00 0.50 340 246.00 246.50 0.50 300 246.50 248.00 1.50 <300 248.00 248.50 0.50 430 248.50 249.00 0.50 2200 249.00 250.50 1.50 <300 250.50 251.00 0.50 300 251.00 251.50 0.50 370 251.50 252.00 0.50 1100 252.00 252.50 0.50 2300 252.50 253.00 0.50 310 253.00 253.50 0.50 <300 253.50 254.00 0.50 31100 254.00 254.50 0.50 2800 254.50 255.00 0.50 1500 255.00 255.50 0.50 1300 PLN23-060 060S 587728.7 6410689.6 545.0 54.8 -62.2 231.50 232.00 0.50 690 203.0 356 232.00 232.50 0.50 710 232.50 233.00 0.50 1600 233.00 233.50 0.50 480 238.00 238.50 0.50 320 238.50 239.00 0.50 880 239.00 239.50 0.50 9100 239.50 240.00 0.50 6300 240.00 240.50 0.50 9500 240.50 241.00 0.50 840 241.00 241.50 0.50 880 241.50 242.00 0.50 420 242.00 242.50 0.50 2700 242.50 243.00 0.50 7100 243.00 243.17 0.17 7000 243.17 243.50 0.33 28800 243.50 244.00 0.50 30600 244.00 244.50 0.50 >65535 244.50 245.00 0.50 >65535 245.00 245.50 0.50 >65535 245.50 246.00 0.50 >65535 246.00 246.50 0.50 >65535 246.50 247.00 0.50 >65535 247.00 247.50 0.50 >65535 247.50 247.82 0.32 >65535 247.82 248.00 0.18 5200 248.00 248.50 0.50 840 248.50 249.00 0.50 640 249.00 249.50 0.50 710 249.50 250.00 0.50 1100 250.00 250.50 0.50 1000 250.50 251.00 0.50 370 251.00 251.50 0.50 850 251.50 252.00 0.50 470 252.00 252.50 0.50 910 252.50 252.83 0.33 24200 252.83 253.00 0.17 1900 253.00 253.50 0.50 470 PLN23-061 075S 587720.0 6410666.7 545.5 54.6 -56.6 246.00 246.50 0.50 360 212.7 368 246.50 246.71 0.21 2500 246.71 247.00 0.29 12600 247.00 247.50 0.50 5200 247.50 248.00 0.50 5100 248.00 248.12 0.12 6100 248.12 248.28 0.16 14100 248.28 248.50 0.22 6400 248.50 248.67 0.17 7900 248.67 248.81 0.14 10000 248.81 249.00 0.19 2200 249.00 249.50 0.50 2900 249.50 250.00 0.50 6300 250.00 250.50 0.50 54800 250.50 250.69 0.19 7400 250.69 251.00 0.31 >65535 251.00 251.50 0.50 >65535 251.50 252.00 0.50 >65535 252.00 252.50 0.50 >65535 252.50 253.00 0.50 24500 253.00 253.50 0.50 >65535 253.50 254.00 0.50 >65535 254.00 254.32 0.32 23400 254.32 254.50 0.18 3200 254.50 254.57 0.07 2700 254.57 254.93 0.36 34200 254.93 255.00 0.07 2400 255.00 255.50 0.50 1000 255.50 256.00 0.50 570 256.00 256.50 0.50 2600 256.50 257.00 0.50 <300 257.00 257.50 0.50 790 257.50 258.50 1.00 <300 258.50 259.00 0.50 810 259.00 259.50 0.50 430 259.50 260.00 0.50 500 PLN23-062 090S 587732.4 6410655.3 544.7 54.7 -57.7 240.50 241.00 0.50 730 204.5 359 241.00 241.50 0.50 1100 241.50 242.00 0.50 880 242.00 242.50 0.50 440 245.50 246.00 0.50 1300 246.00 246.50 0.50 350 246.50 247.00 0.50 >65535 247.00 247.50 0.50 >65535 247.50 248.00 0.50 1200 248.00 248.50 0.50 650 255.50 256.00 0.50 370 256.00 256.50 0.50 7300

About Patterson Lake North:

The Company's large 39,946-hectare 100% owned Patterson Lake North property (PLN) is located just within the south-western edge of the Athabasca Basin in proximity to Fission Uranium's Triple R and NexGen Energy's Arrow high-grade uranium deposits, an area which is poised to become the next major area of development for new uranium operations in northern Saskatchewan. PLN is accessed by Provincial Highway 955, which transects the property, and the new JR Zone uranium discovery is located 23km northwest of Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit.

Qualified Person:

The technical information in this news release has been prepare in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and approved on behalf of the company by Raymond Ashley, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration of F3 Uranium Corp., a Qualified Person. Mr. Ashley has verified the data disclosed.

About F3 Uranium Corp.:

F3 Uranium is a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of the world's largest high grade uranium discovery. F3 Uranium currently has 16 projects in the Athabasca Basin. Several of F3's projects are near large uranium discoveries including Triple R, Arrow and Hurricane.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the suitability of the Properties for mining exploration, future payments, issuance of shares and work commitment funds, entry into of a definitive option agreement respecting the Properties, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company 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.

The TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange have not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

F3 Uranium Corp.

750-1620 Dickson Avenue

Kelowna, BC V1Y9Y2

Contact Information

Investor Relations

Telephone: 778 484 8030

Email: ir@fission3corp.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Dev Randhawa"

Dev Randhawa, CEO





Plan Map



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(See cross sections bellow)





Figure 1



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Figure 2



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Figure 3



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Figure 4



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Figure 5



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Figure 6



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VANCOUVER, March 27, 2023 - Majuba Hill Copper Corp. (CSE:JUBA) (OTC:JUBAF) (FWB:4NP) ("Majuba Hill Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has entered in to an agreement dated March 20, 2023 (the "Purchase Agreement") with Ruby Hollow, LLC to acquire a 100% interest in the Copper King and Desert Mountain Claim Group SW of the Tintic Mining District in Juab, Utah (the "Transaction"). The properties consist of 6,827.994 acres of highly prospective claims and leases (the "Subject Property").

Copper King and Desert Mountain Claims

The two claim blocks are situated approximately 90 km SW of Kennecott's prolific Bingham Canyon Mine Complex (just west of Salt Lake City, Utah) and 40 km SW of the Tintic Mining District which hosted some of the richest lead/silver mines in the state.



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The Copper King Claims is a greenfield project that hosts numerous quartz-specularite veins with occasional Cu-oxides, barite, and fluorite showings that increase in intensity along the western flank of the mountain range. A field program took place in 2020 that focused on collecting structural orientation data and geochemical grab samples of veins to provide further insight into the mineralizing system. Geophysical anomalies outline potential targets for drilling the 5113.214 acre property.

The Desert Mountain Claims is a block of land covered by the DMG claims, the Coyote Knoll claims, and a state section on west side of the claim block. There is alteration, mineralization, and jasperoids in the volcanic and Precambrian rock covered by the claims. There is a small mine on the property called the Coyote Mine with small production and reported 1000 ounces silver. A review of the drilling, including creating cross sections of the drilling, indicates excellent drilling opportunities along a mostly east-west structure covered by the claims. Additional opportunities can be found north and south off this east-west structure. The overall block size is approximately 1,714.78 acres.

David Greenway, President and CEO, commented: "While we continue to advance our flagship Majuba Hill Copper Project showcasing the potential for 1.5 Billion pounds of copper, with results just announced to expand that size, which will contribute to the development of a NI 43-101 compliant copper resource. Our phased approach is how the next great copper mines of America will be developed. This in an era when copper has never been in greater demand, the shortfall for copper been forecasted to become so significant and the need to find strategic copper reserves in domestic, safe, American, mining friendly jurisdictions been so imperative. Bravo to 2022. We couldn't be more excited to see what 2023 brings. We are excited to add to the Company's US based mining portfolio with this strategic acquisition to find the next 'Majuba Hill'."

The Transaction

In consideration for the Transaction and pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, and closing thereof ("Closing"), the Company will issue an aggregate of 3,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.13 USD per share (the "Consideration Shares").

Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Company has agreed to undertake and assume all obligations related to the Properties such as certain royalty interests and maintaining the Subject Property in good standing.

The Consideration Shares will be subject to a four month and one day restriction on resale commencing on the closing date.

Awareness Agreement

Further, the Company has engaged Positive Phil Inc. of San Marcos, California, to provide digital marketing services to the Company for a term of 30 days, in consideration of 300,000 RSUs. Positive Phil Inc. will utilize its online programs and media placement to generate a greater following, increase investor awareness and attract new investors through many different online platforms and methods of engagement.

About Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

Majuba Hill Copper Corp. is engaged in the identification, review and acquisition of latter stage copper and copper/silver/gold assets. This is in direct response to the growing worldwide demand and lack of supply for precious metals fueled by the Green New Deal in the US and most other developed nations with similar programs aimed at addressing climate change. Such programs are heavily reliant on silver, gold and especially copper to produce Electric Vehicles and other renewable power sources, as well as building infrastructure to provide clean and affordable electricity.

The flagship project is the Majuba Hill copper, silver and gold District located 156 miles outside Reno, Nevada, USA. Management has been mandated to focus on safe, mining friendly jurisdictions where government regulations are supportive of mining operations.

On Behalf of the Board of Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

"David Greenway"

David C. Greenway

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Joel Warawa

VP of Corporate Communications

E: jw@majubahillcopper.com

P: 1 (855) 475-0745

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "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. Although Majuba Hill Copper Corp. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Majuba Hill Copper Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Majuba Hill Copper Corp. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
SUDBURY, March 27, 2023 - SPC Nickel Corp. (TSXV: SPC) ("SPC Nickel"), is pleased to advise that it has intersected massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization in hole WG-23-026, the eighth drill hole of its Phase 1 drilling campaign at the recently consolidated West Graham and Crean Hill 3 properties (collectively, the "West Graham Project"). SPC Nickel is currently drilling the Crean Hill 3 portion of the Project, which is subject to the Agreement between SPC Nickel and Vale Canada (see news release dated January 23, 2023).

Highlights

WG-23-026 intersected a 143.0 metre 2 (76.0-219.0 metres) zone of 'West Graham-style' mineralization consisting of 5 to 20% disseminated to blebby sulphides 1 (See Photo 1).

(76.0-219.0 metres) zone of 'West Graham-style' mineralization consisting of 5 to 20% disseminated to blebby sulphides (See Photo 1). Contained within this intersection was an unexpected 7.80 metre 2 interval (170.05-179.9 metres) hosting several intervals of massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization 1 (See Photo 2). Assay results from WG-23-026 are pending.

interval (170.05-179.9 metres) hosting several intervals of massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization (See Photo 2). Assay results from WG-23-026 are pending. Massive sulphide sections contain up to 10% visual pentlandite 1 (See Photo 3).

(See Photo 3). The reported intersection is located approximately 150 metres west of the West Graham - Crean Hill 3 property boundary.

To date, eight holes (1,000 metres) , including WG-23-026, have been completed and have intersected 'West Graham-style' mineralization over widths consistent with the current geological model (See Figure 1). Assays from all these holes are pending.

In relation to the disclosure of visual mineralisation, the Company cautions that visual estimates of sulphide material abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analysis. Laboratory assay results are required to determine the widths and grade of the visible mineralisation reported in preliminary geological logging. The Company will update the market when laboratory analytical results become available. Reported drill hole intersections refer to down-hole intersection length. True widths cannot be estimated with available information.

Grant Mourre, President and CEO of SPC Nickel, commented: "The intersection of over seven metres of semi-massive to massive sulphide in hole WG-23-026 is a very encouraging result for the Company. The intersection adds a lot of support to our initial model that the higher-grade mineralization we encountered during our 2022 drill program on the West Graham Property could extend westward across the property boundary onto the adjacent Crean Hill 3 Property, and further reinforces our belief in the overall potential of the consolidated West Graham Project."

Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Qualified Persons

The technical elements of this news release have been approved by Mr. Grant Mourre, P.Geo. (PGO), CEO and President of SPC Nickel Corp. and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About SPC Nickel Corp.

SPC Nickel Corp. is a Canadian public corporation focused on exploring for Ni-Cu-PGMs within the world class Sudbury Mining Camp. SPC Nickel is currently exploring its key 100% owned exploration project Lockerby East located in the heart of the historic Sudbury Mining Camp that includes the Graham West Resource and the Crean Hill 3 property under option from Vale. The Company also holds three additional projects across Canada including the large camp-scale Muskox Project (located in Nunavut), the past producing Aer-Kidd Project (located in the Sudbury Mining Camp) and the Janes Project (located 50 km northwest of Sudbury). The corporate focus is on Sudbury, and SPC Nickel continues to look for new opportunities to add shareholder value. Additional information regarding SPC Nickel and its projects can be found at www.spcnickel.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of SPC Nickel. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, SPC Nickel expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE SPC Nickel Corp.
MONTREAL, March 27, 2023 - Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) (OTCQB: AUXIF) (the "Company" or "Auxico") is pleased to announce that the Company has received approval to list its common shares on the OTCQB Marketplace, a U.S. trading platform operated by the OTC Markets Group Inc. The Company's OTC stock symbol remains "AUXIF" following the uplisting from the OTC Pink Sheets. Investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com.

The OTCQB is recognized as an established public financial market for international companies, including natural resource companies in the mining and exploration industry. Auxico anticipates this move will provide the opportunity to increase the Company's visibility, expand liquidity and further diversify its shareholder base. The Company is also pleased to announce that its shares on the OTCQB venture market have now been deemed DTC eligible by the Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). Auxico's DTC eligibility approval opens the Company's stock to a broader audience of potential investors and a selection of brokerage firms that require additional compliance, thus increasing accessibility and potential enhanced liquidity from online transactions.

"With the uplisting to the OTCQB, Auxico validates its long-term strategy to expand accessibility of the Company to a broader audience, diversifying its shareholder base with U.S. based institutional and retail shareholders, an opportunity to build its visibility and access greater liquidity," said Frederick Kozak, President and CEO of Auxico. "The prospective and current U.S. investor base is an important group of shareholders, and we are pleased to be increasing our exposure to one of the largest investor markets globally with this uplisting. With DTC eligibility approval, the Company's shareholder base can also benefit from faster execution speeds. This upgrade to OTCQB is part of the natural evolution of Auxico as a quoted company as it becomes a larger and stronger player in the rare earth and critical minerals space, supporting the increased demand by Canada, the U.S., and other global economies to secure resources that fuel the energy, advanced technology and green industries. Following our recent announcements, the Company will continue to focus on the advancement and expansion of the ongoing sales agency services for the monazite rare earth trading from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the execution of its first tin trade in Colombia, and the project planning for Phase 1 of its Brazil Massangana Tin Tailings project."

Auxico Joins EITI Transparency Initiative

The Company further announces its support of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the global standard for improving transparency of revenues from natural resources, as a new member under the EITI banner. The EITI is a global coalition of governments, companies and civil society organizations working together to improve transparency and accountability in the natural resource sector. Auxico's statement of support and commitment to the expectations for EITI supporting companies is available on the Company's website, www.auxicoresources.com.

Auxico's support for the EITI includes establishing policies in line with voluntary disclosure of information that aligns with EITI principles and transparency requirements, and reflects the Company's commitment to uphold progressive policies and practices as it further develops its mining operations across various jurisdictions. The EITI outlines priorities for improving extractives governance in a volatile and changing energy landscape, and Auxico, being an imminent major supply source in the critical mineral and rare earth elements space, recognizes its position in promoting transparency and accountability in this rapidly developing sector.

About Auxico Resources Canada Inc.

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. ("Auxico") is a Canadian company that was founded in 2014 and based in Montreal, trading on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under symbol AUAG and on the OTC Markets under symbol AUXIF. Auxico is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Additional information on Auxico can be found on the Company's website (www.auxicoresources.com) or on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under "Auxico Resources Canada Inc."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 signed   signed  Frederick Kozak Mark Billings CEO and President, Auxico Resources Canada Inc. Chairman, Auxico Resources Canada Inc. fk@auxicoresources.com mb@auxicoresources.com Cell: +1 403 606 3165 Cell: +1 514 296 1641



The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 press release.

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-statements." Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the 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.

Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the planned studies, drill program and the development of the Minastyc or Massangana Project, its sampling program, indications and other mining projects and prospects thereof, related to the Company's operations in Brazil, Colombia and/or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

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 information as a result of various risk factors. These factors include, among others, uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors, and their potential effects, which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Except as required by securities law, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.

SOURCE Auxico Resources Canada Inc.
New name reflects broader focus

Trading symbol remains unchanged

Vancouver, March 27, 2023 - Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: MTB) (OTCQB: MBYMF) (FSE: M9UA) ("Mountain Boy" or "MTB" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that effective March 30th, 2023 Thursday, it is changing the Company's name to MTB Metals Corp. (the "Name Change") to better reflect the Company's status as a metal explorer with multiple projects encompassing copper, gold, silver and other metals.

As of the market open on March 30th, 2023, the Company's common shares (the "Common Shares") will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), the OTC Venture Market (OTCQB: MBYMF) and the Boerse Frankfurt Market (M9UA) under the new name, with trading symbols remaining unchanged.

Lawrence Roulston, MTB CEO commented: "The new name and revitalized identity reflects our commitment to large-scale metal discoveries on our multiple projects in the prolific Golden Triangle. Our intent is to advance several projects with support from joint venture partners while our primary focus is the Telegraph copper-gold porphyry project, with drilling planned for this summer."

On March 30th, 2023, the Company's newly launched website can be found at www.mtb-metals.com which includes an updated corporate presentation.

The Name Change does not affect the rights of the Company's shareholders. There is no consolidation of capital associated with the Name Change. Shareholders will not be required to take any action in connection with the Name Change. Issued certificates representing Common Shares will not be affected by the Name Change and will not need to be exchanged. The Company encourages shareholders to contact their broker with any questions regarding the Name Change. The Company's new CUSIP will be 55377Y104 and the new ISIN will be CA55377Y1043.

About MTB

MTB has six active projects spanning 670 square kilometres (67,587 hectares) in the prolific Golden Triangle of northern British Columbia. With the focus on the Telegraph project, discussions are now underway leading to joint ventures and/or spinouts of other projects.

Telegraph is located in the vicinity of 4 world-class porphyry deposits being advanced by major mining companies: Galore (Teck / Newmont), Schaft (Teck), Saddle (Newmont) and the operating Red Chris copper-gold mine (Newcrest / Imperial Metals). Field work by MTB on its 310 square kilometre property, together with earlier results, provides compelling evidence for the presence of one or more porphyrys similar to others in the area. The American Creek project is centered on the historic Mountain Boy silver mine. The project is road accessible and 20 km from the deep-water port of Stewart. There are multiple silver, gold and copper occurrences on the property, including a 2006 drill hole that encountered 5 kgs of silver over 5 metres. Red Cliff is a past producing gold and copper mine in which the Company holds a 35% interest. On the BA property, 182 drill holes have outlined a substantial zone of silver-lead-zinc mineralization located 4 km from the highway. Several targets with high-grade silver potential remain to be tested. Surprise Creek, to the north, hosts the same prospective stratigraphy. On the Theia project, work by MTB and previous explorers has outlined a silver bearing mineralized trend 500 metres long, highlighted by a 2020 grab sample that returned 39 kg per tonne silver (1,100 ounces per ton). Two other zones on the property produced copper values over 5%. Southmore is in the midst of some of the largest deposits in the Golden Triangle. It was explored in the 1980s through the early 1990s and was overlooked until MTB consolidated the property and carried out airborne geophysics and field work which confirmed several zones of gold and copper, with values up to 20% copper and 35 g/t gold.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Lawrence Roulston

President & CEO

For further information, contact:

Caroline Klukowski

info@mountainboyminerals.ca

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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159831
Vancouver, March 27, 2023 - Gold\'n Futures Mineral Corp. (CSE: FUTR) (FSE: G6M) (OTC Pink: GFTRF) (the "Company" or "Gold'n Futures") reports that it has executed a termination agreement respecting the sale of 90% of the Company's interest in the Brady Gold Project (the "Brady Project"). The Brady Project is located in central Newfoundland and in the same geological belt as the famous Queensway Project of New Found Gold Corp.

"Our Brady Property is Gold'n Futures' beachhead in an important developing gold camp. The project hosts a significant gold zone that occurs on the Dog Bay Line, a regional structural feature known for its association with major gold discoveries. Just as we have done to expand the potential of our Hercules Project, the Company is planning a comprehensive program to assess the historical gold resource and to design a program that should best drive forward the Brady's economics. In these times of rising gold prices, holding and developing assets like the Brady Project will surely benefit our shareholders," commented Stephen Wilkinson, President and CEO.

The Brady Gold Project

The Project is located 50 kilometers ("km") south of the town of Grand Falls - Windsor in central Newfoundland and is approximately 2 km west of the New Found Gold Corp. - Queensway gold project boundary. The Brady property comprises two mineral licenses covering approximately 950 hectares within which the Reid Gold Zone is the main area of historical exploration and known mineralization.

The Reid Gold Zone is classified as an intrusion-hosted style of gold mineralization. Several episodes of diamond drilling totaling 30 diamond drill holes and 6,350 meters ("m") of core have defined the zone over a strike length of 300 m, a width of 250 m and to a vertical depth of 225 m and the zone is reportedly open along strike and to depth.

The last reported diamond drilling on the Reid Gold Zone was in 2011 when Golden Dory Resources Corp. completed an additional 2,638.54 m of core in eight holes (BO-11-23 to 30) and extended BO-09-16 by an additional 147.08 m as the hole had been terminated in mineralization in 2009. The program was reportedly successful and encountered some of the best grades drilled to date including BO-11-25 which intersected 25.45 m grading 1.48 g/t Au including 7.80 m grading 3.62 g/t Au.

A historical mineral resource estimate ("MRE") was prepared in September 2012 ("Giroux, G.H., P.Eng. and Froude, T., P.Geo.. 2013, Form 43-101F, Technical Report for the Reid Zone Resource Estimate, Brady Project") and currently would be regarded as a historical estimate. The MRE produced an Inferred Resource of 9.57 million tonnes averaging 0.56 g/t Au for a rounded total of 173,000 ounces of gold. The above resource was at 0.3 g/t Au cut off, based on 21 holes totaling 4,699 m and 1,486 samples . The deposit remains open down dip and along strike and additional drilling is required to expand the zone.

The historical resource estimate for the Reid Zone is based on prior data and reports obtained and prepared by previous operators, and information provided by governmental authorities:

a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and, Gold'n Futures is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves.

Establishing a current mineral resource estimate on the Property will require further evaluation, which the Company and its consultants intend to complete in due course.

Next Steps

Gold'n Futures is planning to initiate exploration on the Brady Gold Project during the summer this year. Compiling has commenced on the historical geological, geophysical and geochemical studies with the view of targeting certain unexplained gold and arsenic, and geophysical anomalies that occur outside of the Reid Gold Zone. Fieldwork will begin once the compilation is completed to explore for altered and/or mineralized rocks in float or bedrock.

Coincident with the above, Gold'n Futures will be laying out plans for diamond drilling to infill and expand upon the historical resources of the Reid Zone, and to test any new occurrences discovered by its field programs. Drilling should be initiated upon receipt of the required permits and may be able to occur in or about September 2021.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this press release has been prepared, reviewed and approved by Mr. Walter Hanych, P. Geo., who is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 regulations and is a director of the Company.

About Gold'n Futures Mineral Corp.

Gold\'n Futures Mineral Corp. (CSE: FUTR) (FSE: G6M) (OTC Pink: GFTRF) is a Canadian based exploration company focused on advancing its Hercules gold project. The Hercules is located 200 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., in the townships of Elmhurst and Rickaby, within the Thunder Bay North Mining District. The Project is in the heart of the Beardmore - Geraldton gold mining camp, the 4th largest gold camp in Ontario and is 40 km west of the Hardrock-Greenstone gold mine. The Property comprises 475 contiguous claim cells (10,052 ha). From the historical work completed on the property, the Company has built an extensive database including reconnaissance grab samples; channel samples; a variety of geophysical surveys; and a drill hole database that includes historical and current drilling totalling in the order of 570 holes and 108 kilometers of available drill core.

For more information, please visit our website at: www.goldnfuturesmineralcorp.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

For further information

Stephen Wilkinson,

President and CEO

Email: stephen@goldnfutures.com

Phone: +1.236.886.8808

Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release includes certain 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, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the trading of the Company's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange, future capital expenditures, anticipated content, commencement, and cost of exploration programs in respect of the Company's projects and mineral properties, anticipated exploration program results from exploration activities, resources and/or reserves on the Company's projects and mineral properties, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "will", "may", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious and base metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration of the Company's properties, that the COVID-19 global pandemic will not affect the ability of the Company to conduct the exploration program on the Hercules Gold Project, the availability of financing on suitable terms, and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, statements as to the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the Company's option to acquire the Hercules Gold Project, the proposed expenditures for exploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the Canadian Securities Exchange), permits or financing, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, the Company's limited operating history, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims, environmental issues and liabilities.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release except as otherwise required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159908
Greenland Resources Inc. (NEO: MOLY | FSE: M0LY) ("Greenland Resources" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that a site visit to the Malmbjerg Molybdenum Project has been scheduled during the second week of April as part of the engineering and financing process. The site visit will include a European equipment manufacturer, supplier, and contractor as well as a Canadian arctic construction company and representatives from a Canadian bank.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005578/en/

The equipment manufacturer will conduct an installation suitability and construction inspection of the ore transportation system, based on an onsite aerial and ground route inspections to advance on the proposed routing topography, support towers and transfer foundations. The arctic construction company with extensive infrastructure experience, will review the overall project infrastructure construction requirements which include the port facilities, access roads, tailings management, aviation access, open pit preparation and glacier road routings.

About Greenland Resources Inc.

Greenland Resources is a Canadian public company with the Ontario Securities Commission as its principal regulator and is focused on the development of its 100% owned world-class Climax type pure molybdenum deposit located in central east Greenland. The Malmbjerg molybdenum project is an open pit operation with an environmentally friendly mine design focused on reduced water usage, low aquatic disturbance and low footprint due to modularized infrastructure. The Malmbjerg project benefits from a NI 43-101 Definitive Feasibility Study completed by Tetra Tech in 2022, with Proven and Probable Reserves of 245 million tonnes at 0.176% MoS 2 , for 571 million pounds of contained molybdenum metal. As the high-grade molybdenum is mined for the first half of the mine life, the average annual production for years one to ten is 32.8 million pounds per year of contained molybdenum metal at an average grade of 0.23% MoS 2 , approximately 25% of EU total yearly consumption. The project had a previous exploitation license granted in 2009. With offices in Toronto, the Company is led by a management team with an extensive track record in the mining industry and capital markets. For further details, please refer to our web site (www.greenlandresources.ca) and our Canadian regulatory filings on Greenland Resources' profile at www.sedar.com.

The Project is supported by the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) as stated in their press release EIT/ERMA_June 13, 2022 Press Release, a Knowledge and Innovation Community of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

About Molybdenum and the European Union

Molybdenum is a critical metal used mainly in steel and chemicals that is needed in all technologies in the upcoming green energy transition (World Bank, 2020; IEA, 2021). When added to steel and cast iron, it enhances strength, hardenability, weldability, toughness, temperature strength, and corrosion resistance. Based on data from the International Molybdenum Association and the European Commission Steel Report, the world produced around 576 million pounds of molybdenum in 2021 where the European Union ("EU") as the second largest steel producer in the world used approximately 24% of global molybdenum supply and has no domestic molybdenum production. To a greater degree, the EU steel dependent industries like the automotive, construction, and engineering, represent around 18% of the EU's ? US$16 trillion GDP. Greenland Resources strategically located Malmbjerg molybdenum project has the potential to supply in and for the EU approximately 25% of the EU consumption, of environmentally friendly high quality molybdenum from a responsible EU Associate country, for decades to come. The high quality of the Malmbjerg ore, having low impurity content in phosphorus, tin, antimony, and arsenic, makes it an ideal source of molybdenum for the high-performance steel industry lead worldwide by Europe, specifically the Scandinavian countries and Germany.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" (also referred to as "forward looking statements"), which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "hopes", "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. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information in this news release relate to, among other things: the Company's objectives, goals or future plans; construction and engineering initiatives for the Malmbjerg molybdenum project; statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, and their valuation, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions.

These forward-looking statements and information reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic and regulatory uncertainties and contingencies. These assumptions include: obtaining the permitting on the Project in a timely manner; no adverse changes to the planned operations of the Project; continued favourable relationships with local communities; current EU and other initiatives remaining in place into the future; expected demand for molybdenum in the EU and abroad; our mineral reserve estimates and the assumptions upon which they are based, including geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of rock confirming to sampled results and metallurgical performance; tonnage of ore to be mined and processed; ore grades and recoveries; assumptions and discount rates being appropriately applied to the technical studies; estimated valuation and probability of success of the Company's projects, including the Malmbjerg molybdenum project; prices for molybdenum remaining as estimated; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; availability of funds for the Company's projects; capital decommissioning and reclamation estimates; mineral reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions upon which they are based; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); no labour-related disruptions; no unplanned delays or interruptions in scheduled construction and production; all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a timely manner or at all; and the ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

The Company cautions the reader that forward-looking statements and information include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the favourable results of the EIA; favourable local community support for the Project's development; the projected demand for molybdenum both in the EU and elsewhere; the current initiatives and programs for resource development in the EU and abroad; the projected and actual effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the factors relevant to the business of the Corporation, including the effect on supply chains, labour market, currency and commodity prices and global and Canadian capital markets, fluctuations in molybdenum and commodity prices; fluctuations in prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar versus the Euro); operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mining (including environmental accidents and hazards, industrial accidents, equipment breakdown, unusual or unexpected geological or structure formations, cave-ins, flooding and severe weather); inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards; our ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in a timely manner; changes in laws, regulations and government practices in Greenland, including environmental, export and import laws and regulations; legal restrictions relating to mining; risks relating to expropriation; increased competition in the mining industry for equipment and qualified personnel; the availability of additional capital; title matters and the additional risks identified in our filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Investors are cautioned against undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by applicable securities regulations, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update the forward-looking information. Neither the NEO Exchange Inc. nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005578/en/

Contact

For further information:



Ruben Shiffman, PhD Chairman, President

Keith Minty, P.Eng, MBA Engineering and Project Management

Jim Steel, P.Geo, MBA Exploration and Mining Geology

Nauja Bianco, M.Pol.Sci. Public and Community Relations

Gary Anstey Investor Relations

Eric Grossman, CPA, CGA Chief Financial Officer

Corporate office Suite 1410, 181 University Av. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 3M7

Telephone +1 647 273 9913

Email info@greenlandresourcesinc.com

Web www.greenlandresources.ca
Alex Wurz says Red Bull's dominance this year is about more than just a highly-efficient DRS.

So dominant is the energy drink-owned team that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits there is no chance any team can catch Red Bull in 2023.

"It is not realistic to think that we can close the gap in the short term," he is quoted by De Telegraaf.

"It will be months before we have a car equivalent to Red Bull's," he added.

"We will simply give everything we have and then see what comes of it."

Some think the secret to Red Bull's success is a DRS system that is so efficient that, while other drivers struggle in 'dirty air', Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez get a 20kph boost every time they trigger the overtaking rear wing.

Wurz says that's too simplistic.

"They can run lower than all the others," the former F1 driver, and chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, told ORF.

"That means you can generate more downforce via the underbody than the others and therefore, conversely, you can use less wing and achieve a higher top speed.

"And they are able to do this without getting caught out with the phenomenon of porpoising," Wurz added.

Lewis Hamilton said recently that he thinks Red Bull's 2023 car is the most dominant he has ever seen in Formula 1.

Former F1 driver Robert Doornbos says that analysis is absurd.

"To hear that from his mouth is special," he told Ziggo Sport, "because his Mercedes, certainly in 2014 at the introduction of the hybrid engines, was so much more dominant than any other car.

"And the extreme time he gained against the others was just by driving in a straight line."

Doornbos also agrees with Wurz that it's simplistic to ascribe Red Bull's current dominance with the DRS.

"People forget is that Red Bull has been fast on the straights for the past two years," he said. "So now they are taking a Monza-like wing to Jeddah.

"The Mercedes is not a good car, so what can they do? They need more wing to get more downforce and that creates more drag and less speed on the straights."

(GMM)
Daniel Ricciardo says he wants to remind the Formula 1 world that he's "still here".

The Australian, who lost his McLaren seat for 2023 season, did not attend the opening Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix in his new role as Red Bull's third driver.

But he will be in Melbourne this weekend.

"It's not about me this year," the 33-year-old wrote on Linkedin. "It's about the wider team and trying to contribute and help them where I can."

Ricciardo admitted, however, that it's the first year in over a decade in which his goals are not "100 percent about racing and competing".

"It's been a tough couple of years professionally, so there's an element of that competitor in me wanting to remind people that I'm still here, still a professional and still contributing to success," he said.

"From a personal perspective, this year for me is really feeling like a bit of a luxury to have the opportunity to do things that I've always wanted to and not had the time.

"I don't want the year to pass me by, because if I am racing again next year, I'll wish I'd made the most of the free time whilst I had it," Ricciardo added.

(GMM)
Motorsport in Russia can still thrive even amid the Ukraine conflict, Russia's first Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov insists.

Nikita Mazepin and Uralkali were expelled from the Haas team at the outbreak of the war early last year, with the FIA now requiring all Russian athletes to assume 'neutral' status and sign a special document.

But even amid those and other restrictions imposed on Russians, including the total cancellation of the Sochi race, Petrov says Russian motorsport can still thrive.

"We have our own tracks, we have our own cars, so our motorsport does not stand still," the former Renault driver, who is now a top official at the Russian automobile federation, said.

"It has even become stronger, because there are many competitions where our athletes who returned to Russia are now racing in. They are continuing their careers here, so in general, motorsport is even gaining more momentum."

Russian drivers are still able to race in Europe as 'neutral athletes', but many proud countrymen have refused to do so, Petrov explained.

"We don't have any prohibitions," he said, "but unfortunately, we can't race in Europe under the Russian flag. We are also required to sign that paper.

"But in Russia, motorsport is still being developed independently of the international side."

(GMM)
Bank of Ghana urges Parliament to prioritise passage of revenue bills

Maxwell Akalaare Adombila Business News Mar - 27 - 2023 , 12:26

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has asked Parliament to prioritise the passage of revenue bills before it to help strengthen the country's case for assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Governor of the central bank, Dr Ernest Addison, said today, Monday that the passage of the bills formed part of the prior actions that the country must meet to be able to receive final approval for its bailout request from the fund.

Dr Addison made the appeal at a press conference in Accra, where he also announced an increment of the bank's benchmark rate, the policy rate to 29.5 per cent.

Dr Addison said as part of the prior actions, the central bank was about signing a memorandum of understanding with the IMF to cut off central bank financing of the deficit.

This, he said now required that revenue commitments announced in the budget were recognised through the passage of the bills.

The government last month laid before Parliament three amended bills as part of measures to revamp domestic revenue mobilisation.

The bills are the Income Tax Amendment Bill, the Excise Duty Amendment Bill and the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill.

When passed the three bills are expected to bring in about GH4 billion annually to augment domestic revenue.
Harris trip offers opportunity for Ghana, America  Genser

Edmund Smith-Asante Business News Mar - 27 - 2023 , 12:42

The US Vice-President Kamala Harris three-nation African tour this week has been hailed by many, including American and Ghanaian businesses, as boding well for the individual countries and the African continent as a whole.

The Daily Graphics Regional Page Editor, Edmund Smith-Asante (ESA), interviewed one of such companies  Genser (GEN), an American energy company headquartered in Ghana and publishes excerpts.

Edmund Smith-Asante (ESA): What does the US Vice-President Kamala Harriss visit mean to your company?

Genser (GEN): Genser is a success story that encapsulates the best of US-Ghana partnership. It is a private sector enterprise from Ghana, focused on serving Ghanaians, run by Ghanaians, but headquartered in the US, and able to leverage the best of American industry practices and know-how in its operations.

These are the types of successes we hope the Vice President can accelerate through her trip and her engagements with the public and private sectors of African countries.

There is so much potential on this continent  potential for our self-development, but also for jobs creation and growth opportunities for American partners.

ESA: How do you suggest the Vice-President does that?

GEN: The Veeps trip should underscore that Africa is looking for trade, not aid from the United States. Africa has the capacities and the know how to drive growth and development for the continent. American investment and partnership will not only accelerate our efforts but, also, create jobs and growth in the US. Together, we need to look for more ways to foster U.S.-African investments and partnerships that will allow us both to thrive.

ESA: I think we need to know a little about Genser, how it came to be established in Ghana/Africa, what particular benefits have accrued to the company and Ghana

GEN: Genser Energy was founded 15 years ago  it all started in a warehouse in Tema with a handful of people with the vision of providing sustainable energy solutions in Africa, emphasising the training and development of local expertise and using appropriate technologies in a safe, efficient and reliable manner. Fifteen years on, we are proud to say that we have delivered, and continue to be committed to our vision.

To date, Genser has established itself as the leading embedded power generation producer in Ghana and the largest owner of natural gas pipelines with just under 200MW of installed capacity and a pipeline network of over 320km.

We currently have 260 full-time employees and over 85 per cent are Ghanaians. All of Genser Energys employees have various qualifications including Diplomas, Higher National Diplomas, undergraduate and post graduate degrees, reflecting a highly skilled workforce.

We put a lot of emphasis on the training and we have a well-developed graduate recruitment programme in place. We take graduates from Ghanas technical universities through an 18-month rotation before placing them in specific roles. 38 graduates joined the scheme in 2022/23.

Sustainability has always been at the core of our operations. Genser Energys long-term strategy is to become a leading sustainable energy solutions provider throughout Africa. Genser Energy complies with the Equator Principles and World Bank IFC Performance Standards and has also developed a Zero Carbon Strategy based on transitioning to renewable energy by 2035 using natural gas as a transition pathway.

Our external financing has meant that Genser has been able to invest these resources in Ghana, and as such, we are following our roadmap to decarbonise by 2035. Genser Energy will also be financing its contribution to the national climate strategy which will support the government in its goals, placing less stress on the national balance sheet.

ESA: How do you think the gains can be multiplied?

GEN: As we have been able to provide industry with cheaper and more reliable power it has given the opportunity for industries to expand, and also for other industries to be revived in the Ghanaian market. As demand increases, Genser has been able to reinvest in our assets, but also seeks new investment opportunities, allowing us to have a stronger impact on the market and the economy.

ESA: What can other investors in America take from your experience in Ghana?

GEN: Ghana is great to do business with as it is blessed with a talented and educated work force, political stability and has tremendous development potential.

ESA: Has your company taken advantage of AGOA as yet? How has it helped?

GEN: To date, Genser has not participated in AGOA  however, as an active member of AmCham in Ghana and the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, we continue to study how to best work with AGOA and other funding programmes.

ESA: What future plans does Genser have in terms of expansion and improvement of what it already does.

GEN: In addition to our current operating assets, Genser has some really exciting large scale projects currently ongoing. Following the $425 million of financing raised in July 2022  we are well underway with meeting our commitments, as it relates to the expansion of our pipeline network of 110km up to Kumasi, the gas condition plant (GCP) in Prestea and the natural gas liquid (NGL) storage terminal at the Takoradi Port.

As these projects are underway, Genser is already looking at the next phases of our decarbonisation strategy, and taking the necessary steps to further these expansion plans. More announcements are expected to be released in due course.
Kamala Harris' visit to Ghana: Opportunity to build on historic relationships

Charles Benoni Okine Business News Mar - 27 - 2023 , 10:49

The historic visit of the Vice-President of the United States of America (USA), Kamala D. Harris to the country as part of a three-nation African tour is expected to mark a new dawn of economic relations between the countries.

It is obviously another grand chance for Ghana to warm itself into the international capital markets and into the hearts of foreign investors who have drastically lost interest and hope in the country presently, but are waiting to see events unfold in the right direction to restore hope.

Coming on the back of harsh economic conditions occasioned largely by the outbreak of COVID-19; the worsening Russian/Ukraine war, as well as some wrong economic decisions on the part of the government, the visit, which began last Sunday, is undoubtedly unique because it provides a great opportunity for the country to economically reset itself for the better.

There is no doubt that in the last couple of years, investor confidence in the country has waned because of the worsening economic situation occasioned by a larger than expected debt position which has resulted in the country having to embark on a painful debt restructuring exercise as part of measures to bring its debts to sustainable levels.

It is also meant to ensure macro-economic stability.

At the height of it all, the various measures being embarked on by the government are meant to enable government to access more than $3 billion in balance of payment support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

From history, it has remained a fact that the US deals with countries in which it has interest either democratically or economically.

However, no matter what, this offers an opportunity for countries that are close to the hearts of the US to also play smart to leverage the opportunities thereof.

This is, obviously, one such big chance which the country, which has been battered economically, cannot afford to lose.

US Investments in Ghana

According to the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Ghana, bilateral trade between Ghana and the United States was estimated to be around US$1.6 billion as of 2021 alone and growing.

Ghana continues to enjoy substantial foreign direct investment from the United States as U.S. FDI into country is estimated to be in excess of US$22 billion over the last decade.

Aside that, it is also on record that US businesses, through their operations have made significant contributions to the countrys socioeconomic development.

Apart from being large tax-paying entities, they continue to employ and develop the skills of thousands of Ghanaians in areas such as mining, agriculture, housing and many other key sectors of economy.

Timing

The timing of the visit of such a high profile personality in the US government is not only crucial but one that is meant to restore hope because wherever the US goes, there is revival.

That is exactly what Ghana needs so badly at the moment to prove to the rest of the world that the ailing economy will bounce back.

Many a time, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has maintained that the challenges faced in the country will be fixed and has thus outlined a number of measures including the domestic debt restructuring programme which is painful, but has a lot of potential to revive the ailing economy in the short to medium.

The Finance Minister, who has also received a lot of bashing from the impatient public including those from his own political party because of the grievous economic challenges, has kept hopes alive by reassuring the nation about what is to come.

This visit, is ,therefore, timeous and a great source of inspiration because from what is known, the US will never associate with hopeless situations.

The timing is great by all standards and must be leveraged by all, particularly businesses, irrespective of size.

AmCham call

In a statement issued by the Executive Secretary of AmCham, Ghana, Simon Madjie, he was emphatic when he advised Ghana to position itself to fully leverage the economic opportunities that the visit of Kamala Harris brings.

Ghana should take advantage of this opportunity and moment because the focus of the US would be on our country to drive home the need for more US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), increase diaspora engagement and strengthen cooperation in the creative, educational, health, security and cultural sectors, he said.

As the country's largest bilateral development partner, the US has always maintained a keen interest in the economic development of Ghana and, therefore, coming in at this time is obviously crucial and the opportunity must be milked in the interest of the economy.

Way forward

Among the delegation with Kamala Harris are business men and women who will be willing to do business in Ghana.

It is expected that those privileged business associations which will be holding discussions with the delegation will be frank and open to win partnership deals that will not only inure to their individual benefits but for the country as a whole, particularly as it seeks renewed hope to restore investor confidence once again to bring the economy back on track
Merger of Tarkwa, Iduapriem mines wont harm jobs  AngloGold Ashanti MD

Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Business News Mar - 27 - 2023 , 10:28

THE merger of Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine and AngloGold Ashantis (AGA) Iduapriem Mine will not lead to job losses, the Managing Director (MD) of AGA, Eric Asubonteng, has assured.

Instead, he said the move would create the biggest gold mine in Africa, capable of delivering more value and impacting the host communities more positively.

He was speaking at a media briefing on the proposed joint venture (JV) between the two gold mines owned by the two mining giants in Accra yesterday.

Employment

The press conference followed a joint statement last week that announced the decision.

When asked how the proposed JV would impact jobs, he said: We do not see any major impact on employment.

There would be potentially very few job impacts on certain jobs or changes to certain roles, but even then, we will be looking at opportunities to ensure that those that are impacted, can be redeployed in other areas of the business.

And if that can't happen, then we would commit to fair compensation, and you can be sure that we'll be very transparent in communicating with our employees and the people that get impacted.

Benefits

Mr Asubonteng explained that a significant attraction of the proposed combination was that the firms are able to realise significant benefits in operational and planning benefits, as well as scale and longevity, without major impact on employment.

This, he said, was because both sites, plants, mines and other infrastructure- will continue to operate, and tonnages will increase, after the combination is concluded.

This means we expect a relatively small number of roles to change as a result of the proposed JV. Both companies HR teams will work through the combined structure, and we will provide periodic updates to ensure employees are kept abreast of developments.

We are committed to transparency throughout this process, and to ensuring this process accords with our values, Mr Asubonteng added.

Impact on local communities

The Executive Vice President and Head of GoldFields West Africa, Joshua Mortoti, said GoldFields and AGA both made major contributions to the social and economic well-being of the Tarkwa and Iduapriem communities in which they lived and operated.

That contribution, he said, would continue and likely be improved under the JV.

The larger scale and longer life of the mine compared to the individual operations provides scope for meaningful and sustained community projects that will benefit the communities for generations to come, he said

Africas operations

The proposed JV is expected to create the largest gold mine in Africa, and one of the largest in the world, supported by a substantial mineral endowment and an initial life spanning almost two decades.

That could be further extended, producing approximately 900koz at an AISC of less than US$1,000/oz during the first five years, which is substantially more significant than Iduapriem on the standalone basis.

The companys production from Africa in 2022 was up to 15 per cent from 2021 and it will grow further this year.

The proposed JV will add further strength to the portfolio, increasing the share of production from Iduapriem/ Tarkwa orebody and extending the life of the combined assets.
US Vice-President in Ghana: Harris visit focuses on economic growth

Donald Ato Dapatem Mar - 27 - 2023 , 05:53

The Vice-President of the United States of America (USA), Kamala Harris, has said her week-long visit to Africa is focused on increasing investment on the continent and facilitating economic growth and opportunities.

She said her trip was also meant to address some of the issues relating to the partnership between Africa and its peoples and the people of the USA and reinforce the work that they needed to do together.

Ms Harris, who is starting her week-long Africa tour from Ghana, said this at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra moments after the Air Force Two, the official aircraft carrying her and her entourage, touched down at 12.23 p.m yesterday.

Accompanied by her husband, Douglas Craig Emhoff, known as the Second Gentleman of the US, high-level government officials, business people and diplomats, the US Vice-President will be in Ghana for three days and then move on to Tanzania and Zambia.

Arrival

She was met on arrival at the KIA by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, some ministers of state and presidential staffers.

The proverbial Ghanaian hospitality was at play, as a cultural troupe put up a rich display of the Adowa Dance around the red carpet that ushered US Vice-President in.

After exchanging pleasantries with the Vice-President, ministers of state and US officials in the country, Ms Harris interacted with children from BASICS International, a school run by a US not-for-profit organisation based at Chorkor in Accra.

Reason

On what the US and Africa must continue to do, Mr Harris specifically mentioned areas such as the economic empowerment of girls and women, empowerment of youth entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and support for the work that must be done to increase food security, including adaptation to the effects of climate crisis.

Excited about future

She described her trip as a further statement of the long, enduring and important relationship and friendship between the US and Africa.

I am very excited about the future of Africa. I am very excited about the impact of the future of Africa on the rest of the world, including the USA, she added.

She said happenings on the continent and the fact that the median age of Africas population was 19 years were indications of increased opportunities of innovation and possibilities.

I see in all of that great opportunity, not only for the people of this continent but also the people of the world, especially when we understand that by 2050, one in four people on earth will be on the continent of Africa, she added.

High-level meetings

A visibly elated Vice-President Harris said she was looking forward to her meetings with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo today, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia.

She said together, they would build on the previous meetings she had with each of them to strengthen democracy and good governance, promote peace and security, build on long-term economic growth and strengthen business ties.

I also look forward, during this visit, to meeting with entrepreneurs, artists, students and farmers to witness at first-hand the extraordinary innovation and creativity that is occurring on this continent and inspiring the world, she added.

On March 23, 1998, US President Bill Clinton became the first sitting US President to visit Ghana.

Mr Clintons visit was part of a 12-day six-nation African tour, with Ghana again being the first port of call.

The other five African countries he visited were Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana and Senegal.

President George W. Bush followed on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, during former President John Agyekum Kufuors administration, for a three-day state visit.

Then came President Barack Obama, who travelled to Ghana for a days state visit on July 11, 2009 during the Presidency of Professor J.E.A. Mills as the first country in his first state visit to Africa.

President Obama also became the first US President to deliver a speech in Parliament and visit a slave departure point when he visited the Cape Coast Castle.

I've come here to Ghana for a simple reason: The 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington but what happens in Accra, as well, he had declared.
Akwaaba Kamala: US Vice-President on first visit to Ghana, Africa

Edmund Smith-Asante Politics Mar - 27 - 2023 , 12:15

In what confirms Ghana as the gateway to Africa, (US) United States Vice-President, Kamala Devi Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, have arrived in the country, as they begin a week-long three-nation African visit.

The second couple of the United States of America, who arrived yesterday, are visiting Accra, Ghana from March 26 to 29, then Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from March 29 to 31. Their final stop will be Lusaka, Zambia on March 31 and April 1, according to official communication.

The visit is not only the first to Africa by the US Vice-President, but also the first time a Black US Vice-President is visiting Africa, as well as the highest profile trip yet by the current US administration, as she is the most senior Biden administration official to visit the continent.

High profile visits

It must be put on record, though, that Vice-President Kamala Harriss visit follows other high profile ones already made to the continent, such as First Lady Jill Bidens five-day trip to Namibia and Kenya earlier this month.

Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, in 10 days, also, visited Senegal, Zambia and South Africa in January, while US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, visited Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya in the same month this year.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, also travelled to Ethiopia and Niger in the third week of March this year, while President Joe Biden is expected to visit the continent later this year.

Purpose

A statement issued on Monday, March 13, 2023, on the Vice-Presidents visit, by her Press Secretary, Kirsten Allen, said it would "strengthen the United States' partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared effort on security and economic prosperity."

"Throughout the trip, in partnership with African governments and the private sector, the Vice-President will advance efforts to expand access to the digital economy, support climate adaptation and resilience, and strengthen business ties and investment, including through innovation, entrepreneurship, and the economic empowerment of women," the Press Secretary wrote.

Vice-President Harris is expected to hold bilateral meetings with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President Samia Hassan of Tanzania and President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia, to discuss "regional and global priorities, including our shared commitment to democracy, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, food security, and the effects of Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine, among other issues," the statement indicated.

Through the visit, Vice-President Harris plans to build on the commitments made during the US-Africa Leaders Summit last December, when President Joe Biden hosted nearly 50 African leaders in Washington.

In her remarks at the time, Vice-President Harris framed the US as the preferable choice over China and Russia.

"Our administration will invest our time and our energy to fortify partnerships across the continent. Partnerships grounded in candor, openness, inclusiveness, shared interests and mutual benefits," she said at the summit.

"And overall, our administration will be guided not by what we can do for Africa but what we can do with Africa," she added.

The Vice President will also engage with civil society, including young leaders, business representatives, entrepreneurs, and members of the African Diaspora.

Vice-President Harris trip comes as the administration seeks to bolster its relationship with African countries, as Russia and China have made inroads in the region.

Although relationship between the US and China has been the backdrop of much American foreign policy, the Democratic administration is trying to calibrate its approach to Africa so leaders on the continent do not feel as though they are being caught in the middle of a geopolitical contest.

A senior administration official stressed that the White House wanted to put forward an "affirmative agenda" that incorporated concerns about China and the ripple effects from Russia's war in Ukraine but wasn't dominated by them, an Africanews report stated.

Vice-President Harriss trip may also feel like a sort of homecoming after she spent time in Zambia as a young girl in the 1960s, when visiting her maternal grandfather who was on assignment in his role as an Indian civil servant, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Her visit to Ghana is also seen as a reciprocal one after her first encounter with President Akufo-Addo, when he not only visited the US for bilateral talks in September 2021, but also met with the Vice-President in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington (see page SS 13).

Tweet

In a tweet on March 13, 2023, Vice-President Harris said she was looking forward to a productive trip.

Later this month, @SecondGentleman and I will travel to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia as part of our Administrations efforts to strengthen partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared efforts on security and economic prosperity.

I look forward to a productive trip, the tweet indicated.
US govt commits $100 million to promote peace in Sahel region

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Politics Mar - 27 - 2023 , 13:19

The US Government has pledged a US$100 million to help countries in the Sahel Region to prevent threats of violent extremists activities.

The Vice President of the US Kamala Harris, who announced the offer Monday afternoon in Accra, March 27, 2023, said the money will help countries such as Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Togo.

The second couple of the United States of America, who arrived in Accra yesterday, March 26, 2023, are visiting Ghana from March 26 to 29, then Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from March 29 to 31. Their final stop will be Lusaka, Zambia on March 31 and April 1, according to official communication.

The visit is not only the first to Africa by the US Vice-President, but also the first time a Black US Vice-President is visiting Africa, as well as the highest profile trip yet by the current US administration, as she is the most senior Biden administration official to visit the continent.

Speaking at the Jubilee House in Accra, where the US Vice President and Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo are giving formal speeches, said the US Government was pleased with the role Ghana had been playing to ensure the stability of the Sahel region.

"We also recognise Ghana's significant contribution to the Sahel and I thank you for your leadership there," Vice President Kamala said.

She said "to help address the threat of violent extremism and instability, today, I'm pleased to announce one hundred million Dollars in support of Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo."

She said last week, President Joe Biden announced a strategic plans for coastal West Africa as part of the United States strategy to prevent conflict and promote stability, stressing that "Today, the funding and announcement I have just made will help to implement them."

She expressed the hope that the support that the US Government has announced for the West African region will help to address security governance and development issues in the region.
A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) on strategic cooperation for Shanghai Port methanol marine fuel project. The two parties will explore green methanol fuel vessel-to-vessel bunkering operation after Maersks green methanol container vessels being delivered in 2024.

Maersk has set a net-zero emissions target for 2040 across the entire business, and the delivery and operation of its 19 vessels with dual-fuel engines able to operate on green methanol will accelerate the evolution of climate-neutral shipping. Establishing port bunkering infrastructure for methanol is imperative and critical to achieve this goal.

The agreement will also support the aspiration of Shanghai Port to become one of the worlds first commercial green methanol refueling points, and as a regional green methanol fuel bunkering center.

Maersk and SIPG will deepen cooperation in stages. In the first phase, SIPG, as Maersks potential energy bunkering service provider, will carry out services of vessel-to-vessel bunkering and fuel tank storage at port. In the potential second stage, the parties will explore how to form an all-round energy strategic partnership to promote the extension from bunkering services to the upstream of the green methanol industry chain.
GREENWICH  The popular ice cream and frozen yogurt shop Cups n' Cones of Old Greenwich celebrated its one year anniversary Sunday with live music, a balloonist, prizes, and discounts on ice cream and frozen yogurt.

The store, at 235 Sound Beach Ave., is owned by Alex and Anna Buzik, of Old Greenwich, and offers a variety of sweet treats, including ice cream, milkshakes and crepes.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  A new abortion provider is opening this year in Democratic-controlled Maryland  just across from deeply conservative West Virginia, where state lawmakers recently passed a near-total abortion ban.

The Womens Health Center of Maryland in Cumberland, roughly 5 miles (8 kilometers) from West Virginia, will open its doors in June  a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections  to provide abortions to patients across central Appalachia, a region clinic operators say is an abortion desert.

Hours in any direction, there are no other abortion providers here  its smack dab in the middle of an absolute abortion desert, and that's by design," said Katie Quinonez, executive director of the Charleston-based Womens Health Center of West Virginia, the state's lone abortion clinic until it was forced to stop the procedures after legislators in September passed a ban with narrow exemptions.

The Cumberland clinic will be the only independent reproductive health care center in the area and the western-most provider of surgical and medical abortion and gender-affirming hormone therapy in Maryland. Quinonez, who will also serve as the Maryland clinics executive director, said the facility will be a more accessible option for patients in northern West Virginia, western Maryland, south central Pennsylvania and Ohio, where an abortion ban is under injunction.

Independent abortion clinics provide most abortions in the U.S.  especially for people with low-incomes who live in isolated, rural states hostile to abortion access. The clinics are more likely to offer abortion after the first trimester and to provide both surgical and medication abortion options, according to the Abortion Care Network, the national association for independent abortion care providers.

Dozens of independent clinics across the country have been forced to close their doors since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and in 14 states, there are no abortion clinics at all.

At least 66 clinics in 15 states have stopped providing abortions since the decision, according the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. The number of clinics providing abortions in those 15 states dropped from 79 to 13 by October of last year, with the remaining clinics in Georgia.

When West Virginia lawmakers passed their sweeping abortion ban, several members of the Republican majority said they hoped it would force the Womens Health Center of West Virginia to shut down. Republican Sen. Robert Karnes said he believed shuttering the center was going to save a lot of babies." Brandon Steele, a Republican in the state's House of Delegates, called abortion access a scar and "a curse" lawmakers had to remove from this land.

West Virginia patients seeking an abortion now have to take time off work, travel hundreds of miles and pay for lodging and other accommodations, all to get basic health care, Quinonez said.

Our communities deserve better  people should be able to access abortion care without delay or barriers, she said.

The Women's Health Center of Maryland will provide abortion services into the second trimester and will accept Maryland Medicaid, which covers abortion. It will also offer annual exams, contraception, testing and treatment for sexually-transmitted diseases, as well as breast and cervical cancer screenings.

Although no abortions can be provided there, West Virginias clinic is still open and offers other reproductive health care and hard-to-find services, like gender-affirming hormone therapy. But Quinonez said they still get calls from anxious patients who don't know where to go for an abortion. Until the Maryland clinic opens and can take referrals, her staff has no other option but to send callers to a website to find out-of-state services.

Since January 2022, the clinic's abortion fund has distributed $150,000 for more than 800 people, mostly West Virginia residents.

Maryland has a Democratic governor and a Democratic-controlled General Assembly that has shown commitment to preserving abortion access. Abortion is legal in Maryland until about 24 weeks into pregnancy.

The nearest independent reproductive health clinic to Cumberland that provides abortion and gender-affirming hormone therapy is a Planned Parenthood 90 miles (145 kilometers) away in Frederick. That facility provides medication abortion only.

A closer clinic in Hagerstown is open for abortions during limited hours a few times a month. It provides first-trimester abortions only and doesnt accept Maryland Medicaid  a barrier to low-income patients, Quinonez said. Otherwise, patients must travel more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) to Pittsburgh or even further, to Baltimore or Washington, D.C.

Renovations started last week on the Cumberland clinic  crews were installing new medical equipment and signage, deep cleaning, applying fresh paint, replacing floors and patching drywall.

The cost for the facility, licensing and renovations is roughly $1.17 million. First-year operating costs  to include payroll, building operations  are projected to be around $763,000. Both the West Virginia and Maryland clinics are funded by donations, foundations and organizations in support of expanding abortion access in the U.S.

The Womens Health Center of Maryland will have its own finances and, eventually, state-based board of directors. The Women's Health Center of West Virginia's directors will act as the board while the organization recruits new, locally-based members.

Folks have always needed abortions  since the beginning of time," Quinonez said. And they will always need abortions until the end of time. We are going to keep fighting to get every patient the care they need.
In a rather sudden turn of events, Oppo is allegedly exiting several key European markets including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and France. The news broke out on Chinese portal 36 Krypton which shared the details on Oppos imminent departure from the UK and Germany, followed by tweets from industry insiders SnoopyTech and Max Jambor who also claimed that OnePlus would also join its parent company out of the aforementioned markets. OnePlus has since issued an official statement where it denies reports of it exiting the European markets. Oppo has not made any official comments yet.

The reasoning behind Oppos alleged departure from key European markets most likely dates back to a series of patent infringement cases with Nokia after key patent agreements between the two companies expired in 2021. Nokia filed multiple lawsuits against Oppo back in July, 2021 and won cases in two German courts which led to a ban on Oppo and OnePlus phone sales in Germany.

Following its legal success in Germany, Nokia sued Oppo for patent infringement in Finland, Sweden, the UK, and the Netherlands and has also filed lawsuits across other European and Asian countries. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Oppo and fellow BBK-group companies in Europe.

Source (in Chinese) | Via 1  Via 2 (both tweets)
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'Shooting for the moon': GVB forecasts 1.1 million arrivals for 2024, seeks 53% budget hike

Rick Cruz / Rick Cruz/PDN A family gathers for a selfie to celebrate their visit to Guam as they spend part of their day in Tumon Bay on March 27, 2023. Rick Cruz / Rick Cruz/PDN A couple poses for a photo as they and other tourists visit the Plaza De Espana in Hagatna on March 27, 2023. Rick Cruz / Rick Cruz/PDN A park vendor splits open a young coconut in preparation to serving coconut sashimi to a group of tourists visiting the Plaza De Espana in Hagatna on March 27, 2023.

Arrivals to Guam are forecast to climb back to 1.1 million in fiscal 2024, according to the Guam Visitors Bureau, which is planning to request a record-high budget of $29 million.

The projected 1.1 million arrivals would be about 70% of Guams pre-pandemic 2019 numbers, GVB public information officer Josh Tyquiengco said on Monday.

Guam saw record-breaking 1.6 million arrivals in fiscal 2019, before plunging to staggeringly low arrivals when the pandemic hit.

If approved, that would be a 53% budget increase from 2023, when GVB forecasts arrivals to reach 670,000.

The approved budget for GVB is $18.9 million (for fiscal 2023) and were shooting for the moon with $29 million and we believe this is not unrealistic because as arrivals climb to Guam, well start generating (Tourism Attraction Fund) income that we can use to support this, GVB Vice President Gerry Perez told the board of directors last week.

The proposed budget for Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, if approved, would be the highest for the bureau.

The bulk of the increase would go toward developing Guam as a post-pandemic beach resort destination of choice.

It would surpass GVBs budget when arrivals reached 1.5 million in 2016 to 2018, before peaking at 1.6 million in 2019.

Arrivals reached 61,607 in 2021, or about 4% of what they were before COVID-19 upended the travel industry.

GVB said the increase would go to:

Administration, from $5 million to $6.626 million, 33% increase

Marketing, from $8.18 million to $12.474 million, 52% increase

Research, from $650,000 to $900,000, 38% increase

Destination development, from $5.1 million to $9 million, 76% increase

Here are also the Legislature-approved appropriations for GVB and arrival numbers in recent years:

Fiscal 2018: $23.835 million; 1.5 million arrivals

Fiscal 2019: $22.335 million; 1.6 million arrivals

Fiscal 2020: $22.490 million; 757,385 arrivals

Fiscal 2021: $6.398 million; 61,607 arrivals

Fiscal 2022: $14.528 million; 216,915 arrivals

Fiscal 2023: $18.933 million; 670,000 arrivals (forecast)

Fiscal 2024: $29 million (proposed); 1.1 million arrivals (forecast)

Trends

GVB management reported revised arrival numbers of 274,925 for the first five months of fiscal 2023.

This means for GVB to reach its 670,000 forecast for 2023, its monthly arrivals for March to September should reach an average of about 56,439, which is close to actual arrivals in January and February.

Optimism is rife that numbers will further increase in the months ahead as Japan lifts more travel restrictions and downgrades COVID-19s classification in May.

Korean arrivals are leading Guams tourism recovery, while monthly arrivals from Hawaii/U.S. and the Philippines have already been back to pre-pandemic levels.

The whole visitor experience post-COVID is really creating a different customer profile and the industry shifting globally from more a market-driven concentration to destination management concern, Perez told the board.

For the most part, he said, a lot of these market-driven activities are being replaced by social media and self-generated interest in destinations, so Guam needs to improve the destination appeal more so that theres credibility in the social media content.

So simple things like delivering the promised experience, products and service, maintaining authenticity, cultural authenticity, local cuisine  these are issues that are becoming more and more important to destinations now than marketing, Perez said.

The other issue, he said, is that wi-fi now is ubiquitous in the operating environment of Guams source markets, such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and a lot of visitors from these countries expect that on Guam.

Unfortunately, Guam, its lagged far behind expectations into this whole digitized, travel industry environment, Perez said. New solutions replacing legacy systems to improve efficiency, drive automation and allow employees to focus on added value experience as well as relieving staff from routine, time-consuming tasks, right, is starting to really change.

So while visitors widely use contactless payments, Guam establishments arent quite up to the task, he added.

A survey of Koreans months ago showed that pre-pandemic, only 10% were making mobile payments for goods and services. It went up to 30% after the pandemic, Perez said.

About 55% of them brought cash before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, hardly anybody brings cash, he said.

Related
Rolly is more than an artist. He is also an educator. He is an inspiration to generations of new artists, said Consul General Patrick Hilado.

After its opening last October, the Mga Sinag ng Sining (Rays of Art) exhibit series comes to an end and features Filipino-American artist Rolly Zepeda which showcases his watercolor, 3-D and acrylic pieces.

Zepedas exhibit can be viewed until March 31 on the sixth floor of the ITC building.

The Mga Sinag ng Sining series featured six Filipino-American artists on Guam to encourage Filipinos on the island and display their talents in visual arts.

It is our fervent hope that this program has become a catalyst for Filipino talent and art to shine on Guam  one ray [and] one artist at a time, said Hilado.

With Zepedas exhibit displaying 15 paintings, he thought that it was a privilege and honor for him to be the last one to be featured in the Mga Sinag ng Sining series.

I felt like wow this is something different, said Zepeda.

Challenges

However, as he was finishing his last pieces for the exhibition, Zepeda faced some challenges as his wife was hospitalized before the opening of the exhibition.

I was like How am I going to finish this project because Im doing school, work, hospital and then house. It was really hardbecause I was thinking of my wife [and] my responsibility of finishing the project itself, said Zepeda.

When creating his artwork, Zepeda likes to be pressured because it helps him think of what concepts to do and enables him to produce multiple pieces. In addition, he plays any type of music while he paints due to his love for it.

Zepeda can finish a small-scale painting in two days. However, it could take him around a week to complete a bigger painting.

He finds conceptualizing and executing to be the hardest part of painting.

You have to test the paint that youre going to use, and you have to come up with what colors you are going to use, said Zepeda.

Although Zepedas favorite medium is watercolor, his signature work is his 3-Dimensional pieces made out of recycled cardboard, acrylic, markers and watercolor.

Commonly you see them [paintings] flatI really wanted to test whether hows it going to look like when you paint it flat first and then you make it 3-Dimensional, said Zepeda.

Favorite pieces

Two of Zepedas favorite art pieces that are a part of the exhibit are Fair Lady and Couple. The Fair Lady was inspired by his Chinese cabinet that was eaten by termites. He then turned what was left of it and placed it as a frame for his painting and decided to paint something oriental to complement it. The Couple is a watercolor painting of two fishes that represents Zepeda and his wife.

Zepeda wants his viewers to feel happy, excited and curious about the things they see in his paintings. Proud of his work, he feels ecstatic to have several pieces in Guam Power Authority and Guam Regional Medical City. However, sometimes he feels sad about selling his paintings.

Zepedas wife Tina Zepeda, his daughter Kristine Hannah, his granddaughter Kapiolani Hannah and his son-in-law David Hannah encourage him to continue creating art.

To the young generations, my advice is wherever you feel comfortable and you really want to do it go ahead and explore. Sooner you will find out where is your place to be, said Zepeda.
Lawmakers are calling for a probe of Guams foster care system, in the wake of allegations that a local man with a history of sex assault charges sexually abused a child placed in his care.

Sens. Telo Taitague and Joanne Brown made the request for a joint oversight hearing Friday, according to a news release from the lawmakers.

Though senators dont identify the accused individual by name, their description matches the details of Ryan Joshua Cruz, who, according to court documents, was this month arrested for allegedly touching and performing oral sex on a foster child in his care back in February. The child was placed in Cruzs care on Feb. 13.

Cruz is not listed on Guams sex offender registry and a criminal history report prepared by the Office of the Attorney General shows he has not previously been convicted. However, he was arrested in September and accused of sexually abusing a boy multiple times between 2010 and 2017, PDN files show. Cruz denied the allegations, court documents state.

Cruz was facing assault and criminal sexual conduct charges in connection with a case involving a minor back in 2018. He denied the allegations at the time.

Sens. Taitague and Brown wrote to Speaker Therese Terlaje, chair of the Legislative Committee on Health, and Public Safety chair Sen. Chris Barnett on the matter last Friday.

We respectfully demand that the Committee on Health and Public Safety hold a joint oversight hearing to convene a panel of those placed in authority from the agencies involved in the review and, the letter states.

The senators requested an investigation into procedures for the placement of children at the Department of Public Health and Social Services division of Child Protective Services.

{div}I am currently discussing the findings and need for oversight with the Public Safety Chair as well as DPHSS/CPS, the speaker said in a statement on Monday. {/div}

Public Health stated that Director Art San Agustin was advised by the Office of the Attorney General not to comment on the matter due to an ongoing investigation.

Our office is currently investigating what occurred, Attorney General Doug Moylan told PDN.

Because part of the case is in Family Court we are unable to (discuss) that aspect of the investigation. As you know we initiated a criminal CSC prosecution against this suspect.

We want to ensure that our vulnerable children in the foster care system are protected and from sexual and abusive predators, Brown said in a statement.

Taitague added that she had been critical of laws passed during the 36th Guam Legislature dealing with foster care and adoption.

Lawmakers in December did pass legislation, now Public Law 36-135, meant to speed up the placement of foster children with permanent homes. However, the law doesnt take effect until Tuesday, based on its provisions.

Child Protective Services was placed in a state of emergency by the governor back in 2021, and administration of the division was handed over to the Department of Youth Affairs. Control of CPS was not handed back to Public Health until late last year.
Lawmakers will decide whether to override the governors veto of a bill meant to increase transparency over the administrations planned hospital complex in Mangilao.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero last week vetoed two measures that would give the Legislature more oversight of the hospital complexs progress, stating that they threatened to mire the project in bureaucracy.

An override for one of the measures, Bill 13, was placed into the Legislatures voting file without objection Monday. The bill would require the committee responsible for planning the medical complex to comply with the Open Government Law. It also would place on the committee representatives from the Legislature and municipal planning councils of impacted villages, as well as the presidents of the Guam Medical Society and Guam Medical Association.

Bill 13 was passed unanimously, and could easily get the 10 votes needed for an override provided all 15 senators maintain their support. Sen. Chris Barnett Monday said that Adelup has begun pressuring lawmakers to change their position on the bill.

We ask for open government. We ask that notices be published. We ask that additional members be put on that task force including doctors, Said Speaker Therese Terlaje, who authored the bill.

She said that it wouldnt stop the hospital from being built, block a land lease for the facility, or end funding, but that the public had a right to know the details of the $1 billion facility. She objected to Adelup stating that a thirst for power had driven lawmakers to create the bill.

Sen. Will Parkinson was the lone senator to speak against the bill during session, and said that it was sold as a mechanism to kill the hospital and return the 102 acres of military-held land in Mangilao to its original landowners.

That is inaccurate, Terlaje interjected.

Parkinson said that he would support the bill if the land in Mangilao could be returned, but thats not whats going to happen. The military will either give us an opportunity to use it for a hospital or that they will take it back and use it for other purposes.

The deal offered by the military for the land was a win-win deal for the island, and it was anti-military and obstructionist to call it otherwise, Parkinson said.

Parkinson was one of several Democrat lawmakers to meet with the governor regarding the land lease earlier this month, along with Sens. Roy Quinata, Dwayne San Nicolas, and Joe San Agustin. The same faction has often found itself on the opposite side of the Terlajes leadership in the early months of the term.

Sen. Joanne Brown called the deal between the governor and Adm. Benjamin Nicholson over the land for the hospital a slide backward in how government was handled on Guam. Generations had fought for more independence from the military and for the return of land seized by the federal government.

We love America  but unfortunately, Uncle Sam hasnt always been good and upright and forthcoming with our people, she said.

Barnett also stood in support of Bill 13.

This whole process has really been about discrediting, and disrupting and discouraging and attacking anybody who has simple questions about this deal, this $1 billion healthcare complex. Anti-American, paranoid, obstructionist simply because we want to know if this is the best deal for the people of Guam.

Senators are recessed until 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Judiciary of Guam celebrated the graduates of Juvenile Drug Treatment Court on March 23, 2023.




Haiti - FLASH : Assassination of the President, Rodolphe Jaar pleads guilty





The Haitian-Chilean businessman, Rodolphe Jaar (50), arrested on January 7, 2022 in the Dominican Republic for his involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise and extradited (with his agreement) to the United States on January 19 of the same year https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35758-haiti-flash-rodolphe-jaar-suspect-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise-extradited-to-the-usa.html , which had pleaded not guilty on July 7, 2022 in federal court in Miami https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37092-haiti-flash-one-of-the-suspects-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise-pleads-not-guilty-before-a-federal-court.html , decided to plead guilty front the United States Federal District Judge Jose Martinez on Friday, March 24, 2023 after negotiating a reduced sentence agreement with the American justice.



Rodolphe Jaar admitted having provided money to buy weapons and ammunition, food, housing for the commando of ex-military Colombians and other people involved in the plot to assassinate the President of Haiti Jovenel Moise and also for having paid the President's security agents to let the members of the commando who came to kill the President pass without intervening...



Let's recall that most of the planning, financing and direction of the plot to eliminate President Moise took place in the United States, in the Southern District of Florida, from the beginning of 2021.



Jaar pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to provide material support, providing material support and conspiracy to kidnap and kill the President of Haiti, each count a prison term ranging from 30 years to life.



However, because he has accepted responsibility for his role in the conspiracy and is cooperating with federal authorities (he has a lot of important information), Jaar could face a prison sentence of less than 30 years, which he will know during the verdict on June 3rd, 2023.



Should be noted that this is the first guilty plea in the case of the assassination of the President of Haiti at his home on July 7, 2021 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34162-haiti-flash-president-jovenel-moise-assassinated-by-mercenaries-official-updated-7am-+-video.html



Despite significant progress in recent times, it is still unclear who is the mastermind of this plot to assassinate President Moise.



Read also about Rodolphe Jaar :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37092-haiti-flash-one-of-the-suspects-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise-pleads-not-guilty-before-a-federal-court.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35822-haiti-assassination-moise-the-hearing-of-rodolphe-jaar-postponed-for-30-days-in-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35762-haiti-flash-usa-criminal-charges-brought-against-rodolphe-jaar.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35758-haiti-flash-rodolphe-jaar-suspect-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise-extradited-to-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35716-haiti-news-zapping.html



All about the assassination of President Moise :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37074-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-turkey-rejects-samir-handal-s-extradition-request-and-orders-his-release.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36795-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-the-extradition-of-turkey-of-samir-handal-stalls.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36629-haiti-justice-assassination-president-a-third-suspect-appeared-in-federal-court.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36497-haiti-flash-jamaica-authorizes-the-extradition-to-the-usa-of-former-senator-joseph-in-the-case-of-the-assassination-of-the-president.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36457-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-postponement-of-the-extradition-hearing-of-samir-handal-in-turkey.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36347-haiti-flash-former-colombian-soldier-mario-antonio-palacios-pleads-not-guilty-in-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36259-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-towards-the-extradition-to-the-usa-of-former-senator-joseph-joel-john.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35940-haiti-flash-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-defends-prime-minister-henry.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35939-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35886-haiti-assassination-moise-hearing-postponed-to-march-4-palacios-will-plead-not-guilty-in-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35822-haiti-assassination-moise-the-hearing-of-rodolphe-jaar-postponed-for-30-days-in-the-usa.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35762-haiti-flash-usa-criminal-charges-brought-against-rodolphe-jaar.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35724-haiti-flash-assassination-of-the-president-former-senator-john-joel-joseph-arrested-in-jamaica.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35696-haiti-flash-palacios-confessed-that-the-final-plan-was-to-assassinate-the-president-of-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35664-haiti-flash-lawyer-of-colombian-soldiers-detained-in-haiti-says-they-confessed-under-torture.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35640-haiti-flash-palacio-extradited-to-the-usa-first-official-indictment-in-the-assassination-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35618-haiti-assassination-of-the-president-2nd-request-for-extradition-from-haiti-rejected-jamaica-will-deport-palacio-to-colombia.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35588-haiti-flash-haiti-tries-a-second-time-to-extradite-palacios.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35587-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35293-haiti-justice-martine-moise-requests-the-autopsy-of-gilbert-dragon.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35290-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35282-haiti-218th-vertieres-message-from-the-former-first-lady-martine-moise-video.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35275-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35247-haiti-flash-the-suspect-1-of-the-murder-of-jovenel-moise-cannot-be-extradited-to-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35121-haiti-flash-haiti-requests-the-extradition-of-one-of-the-presumed-murderers-of-president-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35093-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35054-haiti-flash-a-key-suspect-in-the-assassination-of-jovenel-moise-arrested.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34928-haiti-flash-martine-moise-heard-by-examining-magistrate-garry-orelien-video.html

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HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : Summary of the United States' next 10-year Strategic Plan for Haiti (official)





On Friday, March 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations released the summary of the U.S. Strategy for Preventing Conflict and Promoting Stability for the Next 10 Years for Haiti.



Summary of the Strategic Plan for the next 10 years for Haiti :



"The United States is committed to helping Haiti become a safer, more stable, and democratic country, reflecting the deep people-to-people ties between our countries. Haiti faces a uniquely challenging moment in its history  in July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated. Since early September 2022, a dramatic deterioration in security has paralyzed the country. Criminal gangs many backed by corrupt political or economic actors took control of vital strategic installations, including the Port International de Port-au-Prince and the countrys main fuel terminal (Varreux) for two months. The blockage of the fuel terminal has brought critical services such as water distribution and sanitation, garbage collection, electricity, and health centers to a virtual stand-still.



This acute situation is further exacerbated by Haitis extreme vulnerability to environmental shocks. International diplomatic and assistance efforts have achieved mixed results, and their impact has been the subject of scrutiny and debate. Gender-based violence (GBV) and severe gender inequality threaten to undermine stability in Haiti, and women and girls suffer disproportionately from climate change, violence, lack of rule of law, and food insecurity in the country.



In April 2022, President Biden announced the U.S. government would focus on Haiti as a priority country for advancing the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS). Haitis selection was based on its strategic relevance and proximity to the United States and the need for a more coordinated long-term approach to address drivers of instability in the country. The security situation in Haiti continues to significantly deteriorate, which only underscores the urgency to take a long-term approach to buttress and integrate U.S. diplomacy, development, and security-sector engagement in Haiti. This plan provides a framework and sequenced approach for U.S. efforts, which can be scaled and sequenced based upon political and security openings in the country.



This plan was developed through an embassy-led interagency process. Thorough consultations with over 230 individuals representing Haitian government and civil society, multilateral and bilateral organizations, the private sector, academia, Haitian diaspora, and experts and practitioners shaped the plan, as did broader U.S. interagency policy deliberations on Haiti outlining a long-term strategic vision for Global Fragility Act (GFA) efforts in country. This working group will continue as a coordination mechanism during its implementation. The plan supports and will inform all U.S. government diplomatic and foreign assistance strategies for Haiti, including the U.S. Department of State Integrated Country Strategy ( https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/ICS_WHA_Haiti_Public.pdf ) and the 2020-2024 USAID/Haiti Strategic Framework ( https://www.usaid.gov/documents/strategic-framework-haiti ).



The plan seeks to orient and align U.S. efforts over time toward a long-term goal: that Haitis citizens and government advance a shared vision and a permissive environment for long-term stability. This goal envisions that government institutions become more capable and responsive to the basic needs of Haitians, and at the same time, Haitians develop sufficiently increased trust in public institutions to participate in Haitis civic and political processes.



Under this plan, United States will marshal diplomatic engagement and assistance over time to support two overarching objectives:



Objective 1 : Advancing responsive and accountable governance and security.

Objective 2 : Supporting an engaged and prosperous citizenry.



The plan envisions a phased approach, prioritizing security and justice sector efforts at the outset in light of Haitis current context. During this first phase, U.S. government efforts will engage and leverage partners among Haitian civil society and the Haitian National Police (HNP) to inform and implement programming to strengthen citizen security and the rule of law, while ensuring the protection and promotion of human rights and accountability. Initial efforts will focus on key high-crime and high-violence neighborhoods and key transportation and economic hubs.



Following the targeting of security and justice needs under Phase I, Phase II will begin addressing root causes of instability, building on justice sector reform while addressing civic engagement and economic opportunity. Phase III will help expand Haitian-owned systems to have sustainable impact and fundamental institutional change. Phasing will enable the U.S. government to adapt to changing circumstances on the ground, including capitalizing on targets of opportunity.



The plan places a strong emphasis on partnering with Haitian leaders and stakeholders. To ensure greater sustainability and impact, the U.S. government will encourage local direction and ownership of all efforts envisioned under this plan. Cognizant of the ongoing challenge of engaging with the government amid the current crisis, the United States will seek and engage reform-minded leaders at both national and local levels. This plan outlines a local partnership approach to engage as wide a representation of stakeholders as possible, ensuring that Haitians are protagonists in shaping and implementing their countrys development path. It also includes a strategic communication plan to ensure U.S. government-funded efforts are effectively amplified throughout the country.



This plan acknowledges that despite best intentions and having invested significant resources to date, U.S.-led and other international diplomatic and assistance efforts in Haiti have not always achieved their aims or resulted in inclusive, equitable outcomes. In line with SPCPSs goals, the U.S. government is committed to promoting innovative and evidence-based approaches. The plan will respond to and incorporate lessons learned from decades of interventions in Haiti and elsewhere: that lasting results require whole-of-government collaboration, a more holistic, systems approach to address Haitis drivers of instability and a planning horizon that extends beyond traditional funding cycles. In addition to working with Haitian government actors where possible, the U.S. government will deepen engagement with Haitian civil society, including religious groups and NGOs, as well as other international donors, Haitian diaspora organizations, and multilateral organizations to advance this plan.



Specifically, the U.S. government is committed to advancing the following areas of innovation through this plan :



Applying a phased and targeted approach: Taking a long-term, holistic view, that seizes upon political will and opportunities for partnership.



Focusing on progress over programs: Emphasizing a forward-thinking rather than reactive mindset that prioritizes sustainable outcomes in priority areas.



Seeking innovation while scaling success: Identifying innovative as well as proven, evidence-based initiatives that can be scaled.



Spurring an increased level of internal U.S. government coordination: Ensuring that U.S. government efforts across departments and agencies are well-aligned and optimized along a shared strategy.



Prioritizing locally driven solutions: The plan ensures that local partnership and coordination undergird all elements of the strategy, ensuring greater sustainability and impact of U.S. efforts.



Fostering intentional international coordination: The plan outlines a strategy for international coordination to promote donor alignment, guard against duplication, and maximize impact.



The plan explicitly acknowledges and seeks to address many risks inherent to the approach which, unmitigated, could hinder achievement of the objectives. This includes the overall political and security situation in Haiti. U.S. government efforts are intended to be able to adapt to the changing environment on the ground. Where opportunity exists for greater impact, the U.S. government will scale up support, and where efforts are less successful, will scale back or terminate programming or alter approaches. Rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) will be central to the success of this plan. We will ensure we learn lessons from prior efforts in Haiti and feed these into program and policy development, both in the design phase and through real-time adaptation."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : The Socialist International discusses a resolution on the Haitian crisis





The Socialist International will discuss at its plenary meeting, which is being held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, a resolution on the crisis in Haiti, informed the President of the Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International socialist Miguel Vargas Maldonado also President of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD).



He stated that it was absolutely necessary and urgent that the international community, in particular the United States, France, Canada, the European Union and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the OAS, assume without further delay the responsibility of accompanying the Haitian leaders to find a way out of the institutional crisis that has led them on the uncertain path they are currently taking.



"It has been more than demonstrated that it is only with the support of the international community that Haitian leaders will be able to eradicate the criminal gangs that occupy and dominate its territory, and thus, thanks to dialogue and agreement between these leaders, finally find peace, stability and a return to institutionality, which will have to create the conditions and the appropriate scenario for the celebration of fair, free and democratic elections which will definitively lead its people on the paths of development," he added.



S/ HaitiLibre


















Korean Movie | 2021

 Drama

Directed by Kim Sung-hwan-II ()

Written by Park Jin-soo-V ()

91min | Release date in South Korea: 2023/04/05

Synopsis

'Seong-min', who has been preparing to leave for a long time, heads to a Buddhist temple, Taeungsa, with his friend 'Jin-woo'. However, when Seong-min arrives at the temple, he is unexpectedly denied entry due to the age limit. Confused, Seong-min and Jin-woo did not give up and headed to Bobmunsa Temple in Odaesan, but this time they are rejected for another unexpected reason...



Life isn't easy at all!

From now on, a pleasant mind journey begins!

Shall we leave together?
Korean Movie | 2019

 Drama

Directed by Choi Jeong-yeol ()

Written by Choi Jeong-yeol ()

102min | Release date in South Korea: 2019/12/18

Based on an original webtoon "Start", it is the story of the growing period of a youth who ran away.

Taek-il (Park Jung-min) rebels against his mother (Yum Jung-ah), refusing to go to school or study, and is earning himself a 'spike' everyday. When his best friend Sang-pil (Jung Hae-in) jumps into society to make money, Taek-il leaves his house too. Then he meets Geo-seok (Ma Dong-seok), a huge chef in a Chinese restaurant. After a strong first impression, Geo-seok and Taek-il become the biggest competitors in their lives, and Taek-il runs into the most unexpected people in the restaurant.
Wyatt Lane Clark. Photo courtesy of City of Morganton Department of Public Safety-Police Department

By Tim Gardner

Wyatt Lane Clark, age 25, of Newland, was apprehended by Avery County law enforcement officers on Friday, March 24, after he was involved in a vehicle chase in Morganton, NC the previous day. The vehicle he was driving during the chase was also seized by Avery officers.

On March 23, 2023, officers with the Morganton, NC Department of Public Safety (Police Department) were conducting a motor vehicle checking station on North Green Street when Clark came through traffic there in a yellow, 2013 Ford Focus car and was stopped. Clark did not have an active drivers license. However, he did provide an old identification (ID) to officers on the scene. Clark was then instructed to pull the vehicle that had a North Carolina tag number of HDE-3199 to the side of the road by those officers. But instead, he proceeded to flee from the officers up North Carolina Highway 181 toward Avery County at excessive speeds.

Morganton officers alerted Avery County law enforcement authorities that Clark was headed toward Avery County. Morganton Officers discontinued their attempts to pursue Clark due to his reckless driving and after having confirmed his identity through a records search. Felony arrest warrants were issued for Clark as well as a seizure affidavit for the vehicle he was driving once it was located by law enforcement authorities.

The 2013 yellow Ford Focus car was driven by Wyatt Clark. Photo courtesy of City of Morganton Department of Public Safety-Police Department.

Via the Morganton Department of Public Safetys social media online site Facebook, the public was encouraged to report any sightings of Clark or his vehicle, or where he and/or the vehicles whereabouts may be to the Department of Public Safety.

However, Morganton law enforcement authorities advised anyone in the general public who may see Clark to not approach him.

Avery County Sheriff Mike Henley told the High Country Press that Clark was apprehended without incident and was held in the Avery County Jail, until he and the vehicle were turned over to Morganton Department of Public Safety officials.

Henley added that Clark will appear in court in Burke County, where the City of Morganton is located.

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The Teknologia 23 fair will be held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre from 7 to 9 November 2023.

The Teknologia 23 event's competition, targeted at startup companies, is now open. The aim of the competition is to highlight significant new solutions in the field of technology, and the winner will receive a 10,000 prize, donated by the Finnish Fair Foundation. The Teknologia 23 fair will be held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre from 7 to 9 November 2023.

Being held for the third time, the startup competition seeks the most promising technology companies of today with the potential for growth.
The significance of foreign-owned companies in the Helsinki region is on the rise, constituting over a quarter of the area's total turnover, according to a recent report by the Helsinki City Council. Although foreign-owned companies account for only a few percentages of the entire corporate landscape, their economic weight is considerable. In 2021, a quarter of the workforce in the Helsinki region's corporate sector was employed by foreign-owned companies.

Of all the foreign-owned companies in Finland, approximately 41% operate in Helsinki and about 71% in the Helsinki region.

The report also states that out of more than 100,000 companies in the Helsinki region, only 3% were foreign-owned in 2021. However, these companies employed approximately 26% of the region's private-sector workforce. The total turnover of foreign-owned companies, which was 52.5 billion, constituted 27% of the turnover of all companies operating in the region. Despite its growing market share, a comparison with other Nordic and Baltic countries shows that Finland lags behind in the number of foreign-owned companies.

Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, is the country's hub for international business. About 41% of all foreign-owned companies in Finland have chosen to establish their operations in Helsinki. In terms of employment, foreign-owned companies accounted for 24% of all employees in Helsinki's companies. Their contribution to the total turnover of Helsinki's companies was also 24%.

The report identifies wholesale and retail trade, information and communications technology (ICT), and the manufacturing industry as the most significant sectors for foreign-owned companies in the Helsinki region. Helsinki's economic structure is more service-oriented than the rest of the country, with a greater emphasis on the information and communications sector than other sectors. The wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing sectors are significant in Helsinki's neighboring municipalities, where there is ample space for large logistics centers, and property prices are more affordable than in the center of Helsinki.

In 2021, foreign-owned wholesale and retail companies employed 26,000 people, foreign-owned manufacturing companies employed 18,000 people, and foreign-owned information and communications technology companies employed almost 15,000 people in the Helsinki region.

Sweden and the United States are the largest foreign owners of companies in the Helsinki region. Swedish-owned companies represent approximately 24% of all foreign-owned companies operating in the Helsinki region. After Sweden, the largest foreign owners are the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

The report demonstrates the growing importance of foreign-owned companies in the Helsinki region's economy. By providing employment opportunities and contributing significantly to the region's total turnover, these companies play a vital role in the region's economic growth. The Helsinki City Council must continue to encourage foreign-owned companies to invest in the region to maintain and further improve the region's economic prosperity.

HT
The Finnish public broadcasting company revealed yesterday that a total of 1,043,024 people had exercised their right to vote by 9pm on Sunday, representing almost a quarter (24.4%) of people with the right to vote.

MORE THAN A MILLION votes have been cast in advance for the parliamentary elections, reports YLE.

Advance voting appears to have gained popularity since the parliamentary elections in 2019, when 22 per cent of voters had cast their vote one week before election day. The number of people entitled to vote increased by almost 27,000 in the four-year period.

Polling stations have been busy particularly in Pirkanmaa and Satakunta, where 27.9 and 27.6 per cent of voters, respectively, cast their vote between Wednesday, 22 March, and Sunday, 26 March. The share is the lowest in Aland (12.6%) and Oulu (22.0%).

Slightly over a quarter of women (25.3%) ad less than a quarter of men (23.4%) have cast their vote in advance.

The advance voting period will come to an end on Tuesday, 28 March. The election day is on Sunday, 2 April.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Finland, like other Western countries, will likely have to compete for healthcare professionals from countries like the Philippines, India, and some African nations.

As Western countries face a growing nursing shortage over the next decade, they will have to compete for healthcare professionals to fill the gap. The winners and losers in this race will depend on how well they attract and retain international healthcare workers.

However, attracting nurses from these workforce-exporting countries is not without challenges. Ethical concerns arise, as recruiting healthcare professionals from developing countries can exacerbate shortages in their home countries. Quality and standards, language and cultural barriers, and integration and support also play a role in the success of international recruitment efforts.Representatives of 50 of 53 member states of the World Health Organization European region convened in Bucharest on March 22 to address the widespread crisis of insufficient health workforce across the region. The meeting called for immediate action and commitment to protect, support, and invest in health and care workers across Europe and central Asia. The members adopted the Bucharest Declaration, outlining significant political actions, including improving and retaining health and care workers and working on supply mechanisms.

Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO Regional Director for Europe, expressed his concern about the health workforce crisis in Europe, saying that it is no longer a looming threat but a present reality. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of health systems and the importance of a robust and resilient health workforce. We cannot wait any longer to address the pressing challenges facing our health workforce, Dr. Kluge said in the meeting.

The declaration comes at a time when heated clashes among political parties over the issue of public health systems and the induction of international health workforces have garnered a lot of media and public attention in the run-up to elections in Finland. The issue is as prevalent in Finland as globally, where around 200,000 new health and social workers are needed by 2030, with at least 10 percent of them to be recruited from abroad, according to Finlands Employment Ministry.

As of 2021, many Western countries were facing nursing shortages, and these shortages were projected to continue or worsen by 2030. Some of these countries included:

United States: According to the American Nurses Association, the U.S. was projected to experience a shortage of over 1 million nurses by 2030. Canada: A study by the Canadian Nurses Association estimated a shortage of around 60,000 nurses by 2030. United Kingdom: The UK's National Health Service (NHS) reported that there could be a shortage of around 108,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses by 2030. Germany: The German Federal Employment Agency predicted a shortage of 150,000 nurses by 2025, and this number was expected to increase by 2030. France: In 2018, France faced a deficit of approximately 20,000 nurses. This figure was projected to grow by 2030, but specific numbers were not available. Australia: According to a 2019 report by Health Workforce Australia, the country could face a shortage of over 85,000 nurses by 2030.

Lesser internationally educated nurses registered

The shortage of health and social workers stems from an aging population and health staff, lack of incentives for health workers, and difficulty in learning the Finnish language, among others. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has laid out a roadmap for 2022-2027 to secure the adequacy and availability of personnel in the social and health sector.

The ministry points out that while COVID-19 has brought attention to the shortage of healthcare workers in other countries, Finland has been facing this challenge due to its aging population and increasing needs. In many other countries, COVID-19 has been a major driver, but not so much in Finland. Also, social and health care staff is aging, and the increase in education done by the current government should have been done earlier, Taina Mantyranta, Medical Advisor, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, explained.

In the last five months, a total of 1,894 practice rights as a nurse were granted, according to data provided by the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Valvira, to Helsinki Times. Out of these, 31 had completed their education abroad, including 14 in the EU/EEA area and 17 out of the region. The data from Valvira shows that despite the increase of 3.6 percent in the total number of registered nurses between 2020-2022, the licenses granted to staff nurses with abroad education has decreased during the same period.

As per the register (Terhikki) of all registered nurses from outside Finland, the majority are from Estonia, Sweden, Spain, Germany, and the Philippines. In recent years, the countries have been, for the EU/EEA-area, Sweden and Estonia, and for countries outside the EU/EEA-area, the Philippines, said Jenni Kangas, Head of Unit, Valvira.

Finland in the global race

In comparison to other Western countries competing for international nurses, Finland faces challenges due to its relatively lower average salary (2,800/month) and the high cost of living, which impacts purchasing power. Despite the high taxation rate in Finland, nurses in countries like Germany, the United States, and Canada earn higher average salaries and enjoy better purchasing power.

The following annual salaries of nurses in some western countries (2021) are presented in euros for comparison. Other factors such as taxation and cost of living can also affect purchase power significantly.

Finland: The average annual salary for a registered nurse in Finland is around 38,000 to 45,000. Finland has a high cost of living, with relatively high income taxes and value-added tax (VAT) rates. However, the country offers a comprehensive social welfare system, including public healthcare, education, and subsidized childcare. These services help offset the cost of living and taxation, improving the overall purchasing power for nurses. United States: The average annual salary for a registered nurse in the United States is approximately 58,000 to 70,000 (converted from USD). The United States has a moderate cost of living, with significant regional variations. Generally, income taxes are lower than in many European countries, but the country has less comprehensive social welfare systems. This means nurses in the US might have higher disposable income, but they may also face higher out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare, education, and childcare. Canada: The average annual salary for a registered nurse in Canada ranges from 42,000 to 65,000 (converted from CAD). Canada's cost of living is somewhat lower than that of the United States, and it has a more comprehensive social welfare system, including public healthcare. Income taxes are higher than in the US, but overall purchasing power for nurses in Canada is relatively strong, considering the balance between income, taxes, and social benefits. United Kingdom: The average annual salary for a registered nurse in the United Kingdom is around 28,000 to 39,000 (converted from GBP). The cost of living in the UK is relatively high, particularly in cities like London. Income taxes are moderate, and the country provides a comprehensive social welfare system, including public healthcare through the National Health Service (NHS). While nursing salaries are lower than in some other countries, the social benefits help offset the cost of living, resulting in moderate purchasing power. Germany: The average annual salary for a registered nurse in Germany is approximately 35,000 to 45,000. Germany has a moderate cost of living and relatively high income taxes. However, the country offers a strong social welfare system, including public healthcare, education, and childcare services. This support helps to improve the purchasing power of nurses in Germany, despite the higher taxes. Australia: The average annual salary for a registered nurse in Australia is around 45,000 to 65,000 (converted from AUD). Australia has a relatively high cost of living, but it also provides a strong social welfare system, including public healthcare, education, and childcare services. Income taxes are moderate, and overall purchasing power for nurses in Australia is relatively strong, considering the balance between income, taxes, and social benefits.

Canada has recently opened a new immigration operation centre in the Philippines, and similar centres are planned for Turkey and India. In 2022, Texas announced hiring bonuses of up to $5,000 for certain positions at state healthcare facilities.

Elaborating on initiatives taken by Finland, Mantyranta said, Finland has a package of actions to recruit nurses from non-EU/ETA countries. A new task force has started to make the application process easier and smoother. Mantyranta added that in addition to making the recruitment process smoother, a plan for permanent education, including language skills, is planned. At the moment, education is financed with short-term funding, and a permanent solution is needed, Mantyranta said.

Disappointed and demotivated'

The Filipino Nurses Association in the Nordic Region (FiNAN) believes that internationally educated nurses (IENs) face challenges in both transition and integration phases, which makes it difficult to retain them in Finland for longer. These challenges include recruitment hardships, mismatched Finnish language training, family migration, licensing process, and work culture differences, among others.

When employers from Finland ask recruitment agencies to recruit IENs, monitoring the quality of Finnish language curriculum should be the key priority. Filipino nurses I have interviewed in my research, language training is not enough. They talk about their desire to learn more professional language that they could have used when they arrived in Finland, especially for those who are posted to cities outside Helsinki with a strong dialect, such as Kuopio and Rauma, Floro Cubelo, President of FiNAN and Senior Lecturer/Head of the Degree Programme in Nursing, Oulu University of Applied Science said.

The association has urged for the Philippines and the Nordic nations to sign a bilateral labor agreement to strengthen the rights of recruited IENs for making the transition of the recruited nurses easier. Most of the recruited IENs are recruited as Nursing Assistants. There are no concrete transition guidelines that would help them get qualified as Registered Nurses. The lack of opportunities to practice as registered nurses often leaves them disappointed and demotivated, Cubelo added.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health also highlighted that international recruiting is only one action in the toolbox. Nurses and doctors are often doing tasks that someone with less/different training could do. We need to have a proper division of labour with different professional groups, Mantyranta said.

Sonali Telang - HT
Finland is facing an escalating shortage of skilled workers, according to a recent study by ManpowerGroup. The study found that 81% of Finnish employers are struggling to find the necessary skills to fill their job vacancies. This is up from 70% the previous year.

The shortage is most severe in Eastern Finland, where 85% of employers report difficulty finding the right talent.

This is followed by Southern Finland at 83%, Western Finland at 79%, and Northern Finland at 75%. The industries hardest hit by the talent shortage include transportation and logistics (92%), communication services (91%), industry (84%), and healthcare and biosciences (80%).

The top five areas where talent is most lacking include IT and data, engineering, customer service, marketing and sales, and sustainable development and the environment. Additionally, the top five soft skills that are most in demand but difficult to find include resilience and stress management (27%), creativity (25%), initiative (24%), leadership and influencing skills (23%), and responsibility and reliability (23%).

The underlying cause of the talent shortage is the changing nature of work, which is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The changing nature of work is reshaping job structures, skill requirements, and work environments, and impacting workforce availability, the level and targeting of required skills, and emphasizing the need for continuous learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated these changes.

"The talent shortage is the biggest threat to the success of Finnish companies. The problem has been recognized for a long time, but the measures taken have been insufficient. Stronger actions are needed, with targeted, demand-driven training and retraining solutions, the removal of incentives that discourage work, and the promotion of work-related immigration. Additionally, the development of well-being and resilience is essential for increasing job satisfaction and reducing work-related burnout and mental health challenges," said Matti Kariola, the CEO of ManpowerGroup Finland and the Baltic states.

ManpowerGroup's annual Talent Shortage study surveyed 39,000 employers globally, including 510 from Finland. Employers were asked to assess the challenges of filling open positions, the most difficult position groups to fill, and the skills gaps of job applicants. The study provides insights into how employers are responding to talent shortages in various industries.

HT
NC treasurer announces run for governor

In front of hometown supporters Saturday at the Forsyth County Republican Convention, State Treasurer Dale Folwell, 64, announced his intentions to seek the GOP nomination for governor in 2024.



It was important for me to make this announcement in my home county with supporters who have stuck with me and supported me, Folwell told Carolina Journal just moments after the announcement at the Village Inn in Clemmons.

Voters do not have to gamble when they vote for me, he said. They know I attack problems, not people. As governor I will continue to be focused on saving lives, minds and money as I have successfully done throughout my career in public service.

To say that Folwell has traveled a unique path in politics and life is an understatement.

When Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in 1981 and said government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem, Folwell was involved in a different kind of public service. He was a garbage collector. Inspired by his boss to do more, Folwell quickly graduated with two accounting degrees from UNC-Greensboro. Just five years removed from collecting household trash, Folwell was working in banking and investments, including a large deal involving the company he used to pick up trash for.

A certified public accountant by trade, Folwell was sworn in for his first term as state treasurer of North Carolina in January 2017. He was re-elected in 2020. Folwell is responsible for the more than $125 billion state pension fund that provides retirement benefits for a million teachers, police officers, and other public workers. Folwell pointed out in his comments that the pension plan was rated among the top five in the country for solvency and effective management.

In 2020, the states coveted AAA bond rating was reaffirmed by every major rating agency, making North Carolina one of only 13 states in the country to hold that distinction. As reported by Carolina Journal, Folwell has aggressively fought woke investing known as ESG, or environmental, social, and governance, a recent trend involving large investment companies picking which stocks to buy based on how those companies align with left-wing social and environmental priorities.

Just because somebody manages money for our pension plan doesnt mean they own the stocks and can spew their own social beliefs on something they dont own, said Folwell. We are working to remove their proxy, so they can manage the stocks but not vote on the stocks.

Folwell was first elected to public office as a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education in 1993, serving until 2000. He was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 2004, where he served four terms in the House of Representatives including one term as speaker pro tempore. Civitas Action twice rated Folwell as the most conservative member of the House on a broad range of issues.

Folwells 7-year-old son was killed by a motorist while boarding a school bus in 1999. In 2006, Folwell traveled more than 30,000 miles on his motorcycle through the lower 48 states in support of organ donation. He later led a legislative effort to promote organ donations in honor of his son.

In 2013, Folwell was named assistant secretary of commerce and led the Division of Unemployment Security. Folwell was charged with implementing Gov. Pat McCrorys and the GOP-controlled legislatures massive reforms of unemployment benefits. At the time, North Carolina had large numbers of unemployed people and large numbers of unfilled jobs. Folwell led efforts to reduce weekly benefits and the number of weeks of collection in part to get people off extended unemployment and back to work.

The math just did not add up, Folwell recalled. We were paying people more NOT to work than to work.

As treasurer, Folwell oversees the State Health Plan, the largest single payer of health costs in the state. His push for pricing transparency and his part in ousting Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina as third-party administrator of the State Health Plan and replacing Blue Cross with Aetna has put him at odds with powerful lobbying groups, the hospitals association, as well as BCBSNC.

Primaries for the 2024 governors race promise to be crowded fields. Democrat Attorney General Josh Stein, who serves on the North Carolina Council of State with Folwell, has already thrown his name in the ring for the Democrat primary for governor. Current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, announced last week that he will make a special announcement during a rally at the Ace Speedway in Elon on April 22.
'Were Growing  Now What?' is topic of League discussion

The League of Women Voters of Henderson County will host a panel discussion entitled Were Growing  Now What? at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 30, in the Kaplan Auditorium of the public library, 300 N. Washington St.

Planners from the county and each municipality will provide a thumbnail sketch of their communities and whats in store as Henderson County continues to grow. There will be an opportunity for questions following speakers' presentations. Sponsored by LWVHC Home & Observer Team, the event is free and open to the public.

Were excited to host this program, to provide the public with the opportunity to learn more about the municipalities and county and the plans for development," League President Brenda Sherrer said. "No matter where were from, we all live here now and have a vital interest in learning about our community and then influencing its future."

Planners and managers scheduled to appear include Laurel Park Town Manager Alex Carmichael, Flat Rock Village Administrator Pat Christie, Mills River Planning Director Michael Malacek, Hendersonville City Planning Manager Matthew Manley, Henderson County Planning Director Autumn Radcliff and Fletcher Planning Director & Zoning Administrator Eric Rufa.
A GRANT of 1,250 has been given to the Henley Illuminated Boat Parade by town councillors.

The event was one of a number of local charities and organisations to be awarded a total of almost 5,000 at a meeting of Henley Town Councils finance, strategy and management committee.

The organisers of the parade, which took place for the first time in September, had requested 2,500 towards this years event.

Andy Trotman, one of the judges, told councillors the money would go towards hiring a PA system for the towpath and New Street and for trophies and medals.

The committee agreed to give half this amount as members were divided on whether to award any money.

Mayor Michelle Thomas was in favour, saying the parade was a wow event which was well attended and raised money for charity.

It was such a huge success and had such a feelgood factor, she said.

I think they are asking for a very modest amount of money. Id like to see them continue and Id like us to support them.

We do lots of sport and education but weve never done anything like this. I think it should become, with our support, a regular in our year.

Councillor Lorraine Hillier said: Im very supportive but have they looked at local businesses for sponsorship because its difficult for us at the moment to give these amounts of money?

Committee chairman Ian Reissmann said that although the event had been well spoken about, he was unsure whether it should be awarded a grant.

He said: I do have a couple of concerns. The first is that it does appear to be well run and successful financially. It supports itself.

He said the Henley Literary Festival had been supported by the council until it became financially sustainable.

Cllr Reissmann said: Im reluctant to give money to organisations that then donate to charity because we are then effectively making charitable donations from our grants budget and I dont think its entirely right.

I feel slightly unkind about this as its a great project, has clearly been successful and is very popular. But I dont think its the best use of the town councils budget.

Councillor Thomas said the parade had only been possible thanks to a large private donation.

The councillors also agreed to help source a PA system for the event. Mother Sister Daughter, an organisation set to support Ukrainian refugees and their hosts in the Henley area, was awarded 1,250.

Founder Gemma Birch said the money would go towards a programme of events to support the wellbeing and mental health of people forced to flee their homeland by the Russian invasion.

She said: Last year we aimed to help by getting stuff which a lot of them needed and because its such a fabulous community, every time we put our hands up for something lots of people came forward.

This year, were still managing stuff but the help needed is more for things like trauma. Theres absolutely no trauma counselling available so were trying to do it through things like wellbeing, art classes and putting on a programme of events to keep some of these ladies active and their minds busy.

The organisation was also given free use of a room at Trinity Hall in Harpsden Road for up to the value of 1,000 to continue its weekly coffee mornings.

Ms Birch said: The meeting are invaluable, whether three people turn up or 30. Sometimes theyre in tears, other times theyre laughing. Its a regular thing that we need funds to support.

She said her organisation was working towards gaining charity status. Ms Birch said: Im also trying to organise a summer event which will hopefully be a trip to the beach because none of these children have had anything like that.

Its about making new memories and having positive experiences for them but the cost of travel per head is extortionate.

Were also trying to set up a buddy scheme. A lot of them are working now as a lot of local businesses have been incredibly supportive in employing our Ukrainian residents.

Theyre also having English lessons but some of the older generation whose English isnt very strong are still looking for jobs. Some of them are carers. Its also about supporting them.

South Oxfordshire Mencap Society was awarded 800 to run four discos for its members, who have learning disabilities.

Greener Henley was awarded 382 for the public liability insurance of the events that it organises, including during Great Big Green Week, and tree and hedge planting.

The Henley Choral Society was granted free use of the Elizabeth II Hall, worth 160, for the Henley Big Sing on October 14.

The Henley Youth Festival was granted free use of a town hall room, worth 128, for its art and film competition awards ceremony which took place earlier this month.
THE family of a headteacher who took her own life as she feared a bad inspection report has called for reform of the education watchdog Ofsted.

Ruth Perry, 53, who had been the headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Hemdean Road since 2010, died in January.

She had been told that the school was to be downgraded from outstanding to inadequate during a two-day Ofsted inspection in November.

Her sister, Julia Waters, told BBC South said the inspectors reported that a boy doing a flossing dance move, from the video game Fortnite, was evidence of the sexualisation of children at the school.

She said inspectors told staff they had seen child-on-child abuse, which turned out to be a playground fight.

Ms Waters said: One of the most hurtful things was initially the sense of complete injustice, that this was a complete exaggeration, seeing something and jumping to a completely different conclusion.

Ruth took her own life on January 8. All during that process, every time I spoke to her, she would talk about the countdown. I remember her clearly one day saying: 52 days and counting. Every day she had this weight on her shoulders hanging over her and she wasnt officially allowed to talk to her family.

She said that when she saw her sister a couple of days after the inspection, she was an absolute shadow of her former self.

The Ofsted report, which was published last week, rated the schools quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision as good but its leadership and management were deemed inadequate, bringing down the schools overall rating.

The report said: Pupils enjoy coming to this welcoming and vibrant school. They respect and celebrate differences between themselves and others. Pupils can discuss what a healthy and unhealthy relationship looks like and how to be a good friend. They know how to stay safe, including online.

It acknowledged that the school was previously graded as outstanding but added: Leaders do not have the required knowledge to keep pupils safe from harm. They have not taken prompt and proper actions when pupils are at risk. They have not ensured that safeguarding is effective throughout the school.

Governors have an ambitious vision for pupils and staff. However, they have not ensured that they fulfil their statutory safeguarding responsibilities. Until the inspection, they were unaware of significant weaknesses in the schools arrangements to keep pupils safe.

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. Leaders have a weak understanding of safeguarding requirements and procedures. They have not exercised sufficient leadership or oversight of this important work.

As a result, records of safeguarding concerns and the tracking of subsequent actions are poor. Leaders have not ensured that all required employment checks are complete for some staff employed at the school.

These weaknesses pose potential risks to pupils. Some staff have not had the necessary training to be able to record concerns accurately using the schools online system. However, staff know how to identify concerns about pupils and to report these to the appropriate leader.

The pastoral support provided for pupils is a strength and they appreciate this level of care.

Leaders do not fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities effectively. They have not exercised sufficient oversight and rigorous monitoring of safeguarding processes.

Leaders need to improve their own safeguarding expertise and ensure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and understood by all staff at the school.

Leaders, including governors, have not maintained effective oversight of safeguarding. They do not have strong systems in place to ensure that record-keeping and subsequent follow-up work are effective. Leaders and governors must ensure that robust systems are implemented so that they are assured actions taken are prompt and proper.

Leaders have not ensured that there is always appropriate supervision during break times. This means that pupils are potentially at risk of harm. Leaders need to urgently address these significant weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements.

Ms Waters, who is a professor at Reading University, has called for a boycott of Ofsted until an independent review had been conducted.

She called for the removal of Ofsted ratings from school websites and estate agents sales particulars for houses.

She also urged the media to stop reporting on Ofsted reports and called on parents to stop considering these ratings when choosing a school for their children.

In a statement, Mrs Perrys family said: As the many tributes to her from the broader school and Caversham community attest, Ruth cared deeply not just about academic results, but also about the general wellbeing and happiness of the pupils and staff whom she taught and led.

Caversham primary was a very happy school under Ruths leadership and, despite the many challenges that always go with the role of head, she was happy there too. Ruth was a dedicated headteacher and an excellent teacher.

She loved the pupils and the staff and was very proud to have been headteacher for 12 years and previously deputy head for four years.

Ruth was a force for good in her life and we want her to be a force for positive change after her death too.

Neil Walne, chairman of governors, said: Ruth was an integral part of the school community for many years. She was a hugely respected, experienced and well-established figure.

The National Education Union, school leaders union NAHT and the Association of School and College Leaders have called for inspections to be halted.

Matt Rodda, the MP for Reading East, said he raised the issue with the schools minister and Ofsteds regional director.

He said: Its fair to say that there are local concerns about the way the inspection was carried out. Also about the way that the Ofsted framework and other regulations affecting Ofsted effectively work and the wider pressure on headteachers.

In a statement, Ofsted said: We were deeply saddened by Ruth Perrys tragic death. Our thoughts remain with Mrs Perrys family, friends and everyone in the Caversham Primary School community.
New Delhi, Delhi, India  Business Wire India

Renowned designer Vidhi Singhania has launched a new store in Defence Colony, New Delhi on March 23, 2023, offering an exquisite collection of handwoven heirlooms that exemplify India's rich cultural heritage with a contemporary twist. The grand opening was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by founder Vidhi and regular clientele. This new store celebrates Vidhi Singhania's 25 years of Quiet Luxury, the store was graced with luxury influencers, press and many journalists.



The new collection, named RANISA, features elegant sarees, lehengas, stunning ensembles, and enchanting blouses, both stitched and unstitched, complemented by embellished handcrafted potlis that bring luxury to every look. The collection is steeped in ethos and aesthetics that are innately Indian with a contemporary spin. The scintillating range of fine jewellery, curated by Vidhi Singhania, is perfect for adding a tasteful semblance to any outfit.



The regal threads of Benaras and immaculate Kota Doria Khats are the highlight of the collection, From the boardroom to a cocktail soiree, a casual luncheon to a traditional pooja, a business delegation to cherished wedding celebrations, Vidhi Singhania's creations can carry you through it all.



Speaking about the new store, Vidhi Singhania said, My goal is to introduce the world to the finest textiles and crafts while preserving our traditions and techniques. We believe in meticulously crafting each piece to bring out the unique and individual characteristics of each textile. We are very enthusiastic about our new store and the opportunities it presents.



Vidhi Singhania's Home Collection is also available in the new store, which is steeped in ethos and aesthetics that is innately Indian with a contemporary spin. With this new store, Vidhi Singhania continues to showcase her flawless craft conversation, creating sarees that embody a woman's hopes and aspirations for every occasion.



For more information on the collection, visit her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vidhi_singhania/?hl=en

About Vidhi Singhania



Vidhi Singhania is a celebrated designer known for her handwoven heirlooms that embody Indias rich cultural heritage. She has been showcasing her Quiet Luxury collections for 25 years, blending tradition and contemporary aesthetics. Vidhi Singhania is committed to keeping Indias rich textile heritage alive through her exquisite designs.

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.
As is the case with each financial year (FY), the upcoming FY (2023-24) will also begin on April 1. The announcements made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the annual Feb 1 budget, too, will come into effect as part of the new financial year. In Budget 2023, one of her announcements pertained to the old and new income tax regimes. Representational Image

Also Read: Everything To Know About the New Income Tax Regime 2023

What did Sitharaman announce?

The minister announced changes to tax slabs under the new regime, adding, however, that taxpayers will still be able to select the regime under which they want to file their returns. In case no choice was made, the new tax regime will be default, she said.

Also Read: Confused about old and new income tax regime? Here's a dedicated calculator

What to know about the new tax rules?

Speaking to HT's sister publication Mint, Abhishek Soni, co-founder and CEO, Tax2Win, explained what citizens must know about the new tax rules. As we usher in the new financial year, and bid farewell to FY 2022-23, we can expect some significant changes coming into effect from April 1, 2023. These changes will involve the introduction of new rules or reforms to existing ones, as announced by the finance minister, in the Budget 2023, said Soni.

Here are a few things one must know about the new rules, as per Abhishek Soni:

(1.) The increase of basic exemption limit (from 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh) is to make the new regime more attractive. The highest rate of 30% will be levied on annual salary of more than 15 lakh.

(2.) The surcharge rate has been reduced from 37% to 25% for those earning more than 5 crore annually. Under the new regime, however, this 25% rate is for individuals with yearly income exceeding 2 crore.

(3.) Individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) can choose between the regimes in every FY (if there is no business income). For those with business income, on the other hand, there will be only one chance to return to the old regime, if they opted for the new one.

(4.) Section 87A rebate is available under both. Also, for those confused which one to opt for, the Income Tax Department has launched a calculator.

(5.) Under a proposal to introduce a standard deduction in the new regime (no changes made for the old one), people will benefit from a standard deduction of 50,000.

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Saudi Aramco, the worlds biggest oil producer, has agreed to buy a 10% stake in a giant oil complex in China for 24.6 billion yuan ($3.6 billion), in a deal that will significantly expand its refining presence in China. FILE PHOTO: Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia October 12, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo(REUTERS)

Aramco will also supply 480,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Rongsheng Petrochemical Cos refinery in the eastern province of Zhejiang over a 20-year period, according to a statement from the Chinese company. Aramco will provide a credit of $800 million to Rongsheng for the purchase, that statement said. Aramco Overseas Company, a subsidiary of Aramco, will acquire the shares.

Read here: Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44bn five months ago. He says its value now is

Rongsheng owns a 51% equity interest in Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co., which in turn owns and operates the largest integrated refining and chemicals complex in China, with a capacity to process 800,000 barrels per day of crude oil and to produce 4.2 million metric tons of ethylene per year.

This announcement demonstrates Aramcos long-term commitment to China and belief in the fundamentals of the Chinese petrochemicals sector, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, said in a separate statement.

The deal comes a day after Saudi Aramco and its Chinese partners agreed to build a refining and petrochemical complex in Chinas northeast, accelerating a development that was paused during the pandemic.
Members of the Banjara community on Monday attacked former chief minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa's residence in Shivamogga's Shikaripur, opposing the internal reservation recommended by the state government to the Centre. Banjaras hurl stones at Yediyurappas residence in Shikaripura; Sec 144 imposed

Dramatic visuals showed protesters clashing with the police deployed at Yediyurappa's house. Hundreds of protesters hurled stones at the BJP leader's residence, as the police resorted to lathi charge and water canons to disperse the crowd.

Several policemen and women protestors were also reportedly injured due to stone pelting. The angry mob also burnt posters of Yediyurappa and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Also Read - 'No provision in Constitution to provide reservation on basis of religion': Amit Shah

Meanwhile, additional police personnel have been deployed and Superintendent of Police G K Mithun Kumar visited the town to take stock of the situation. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Shikaripur town limits to prevent untoward incidents.

The Banjara community has urged the government to drop the Justice A J Sadashiva Commission report recommending proportional representation to sub-castes among Scheduled Castes, saying it was unscientific.

The protesters also alleged that this was a ploy by vested interests to divide the Schedule Caste communities that were living together peacefully all these years. They said that the move by the government will mete out injustice to the Banjaras and the the recommendation must be withdrawn with immediate effect.

A section of the Scheduled Castes has been seeking internal reservation, claiming that only a few powerful touchable" sub-castes were reaping the majority of the benefits. In response to these demands, the state government resolved to establish internal reservation to offer equal opportunity for all 101 SC castes.

The Basavaraj Bommai-led government has recommended to the centre a new breakup of the reservation for Scheduled Castes in education and jobs. Out of the 17% reservation for the SC community, the Cabinet has recommended a 6% internal quota for SC (Left), 5.5% for SC (Right), 4.5% for touchables (Banjara, Bhovi, Korcha, Kuruma etc) and 1% for others.

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The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa on a plea of the Karnataka Lokayukta challenging grant of anticipatory bail to him by the high court in the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents (KSDL) contract scam case. The Karnataka high court on Tuesday granted interim anticipatory bail to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Madal Virupakshappa (ANI)

A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued the notice to the BJP legislator.

On March 14, the top court had agreed to hear the Lokayukta's plea against the Karnataka high court order in the case.

Also Read - BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa facing bribery charges deposes before Lokayukta cops

The BJP MLA's son Prashanth Madal, who is the chief accounts officer of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, was arrested by the Lokayutka police on March 2 while allegedly receiving a bribe of 40 lakh on behalf of his father at the KSDL office.

A single-judge bench of the high court had granted the anticipatory bail to the MLA after hearing his petition. Virupakashappa had resigned as chairperson of KSDL following his son's arrest.

While granting the conditional bail, the high court had directed the MLA to appear before the investigating officer in the case within 48 hours of receiving the order copy. The anticipatory bail was granted subject to a bond of 5 lakh.

Virupakshappa was also directed not to tamper with the witness while on bail.

The MLA's petition claimed that he had no role to play in the alleged bribery case and he has been falsely implicated in it.

The alleged scam relates to the supply of chemical to KSDL in which a bribe of 81 lakh was allegedly demanded. His son was allegedly caught while receiving 40 lakh of this bribe on his behalf.

Following the arrest of Prashanth Madal, the Lokayukta police had conducted further search operations in the home and offices of the Madals and recovered over 8.23 crore in cash.
Air India on Monday launched a direct flight from Amritsar to Gatwick in the UK, with Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia saying the new international connectivity will work as a catalyst for the development of the region. Equipped with 18 business class seats featuring fully-flat beds and 238 economy class seats, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will be operating three flights a week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from Amritsar, the airline said in a release. Air India will operate 9 other weekly flights scheduled from Ahmedabad, Goa, and Kochi -- making it a total of 12 weekly flights to Gatwick. Air India will operate 9 other weekly flights scheduled from Ahmedabad, Goa, and Kochi -- making it a total of 12 weekly flights to Gatwick. (File Photo)

In total, the airline now operates 49 flights in the UK per week -- 43 flights to London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and six flights to Birmingham. Air India also operates 31 weekly flights to Heathrow, London, from Delhi and Mumbai, the release said. Gatwick airport is the second largest airport in the UK. The Air India flight from Amritsar to Gatwick was inaugurated by Scindia.

He said the new international connectivity will work as a catalyst for the development of the region and added that lakhs of people from Punjab live in the UK and the new service will connect families living in two different countries, according to an official release.

Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that as part of its five-year transformation plan Vihaan.AI, the airline plans to significantly enhance connectivity between Indias major cities and prime global destinations.

These flights will also fulfil the growing demand for direct air connectivity from various important destinations in India to the UK and from the UK to these popular cities in India.Overall, Air India operates 80 flights per week to seven major cities in the UK and Europe. It has relaunched flights to some of the prime European destinations, such as Milan, Vienna, and Copenhagen.
Chandigarh Gavel aLast week, the police had informed the court that the National Security Act has been invoked against Gur Aujla considered to be the social media handler of Amritpal Singh. (Representational Photo (Getty Images/iStockphoto) )

Surinderpal Singh Aujla, the brother of social media handler of pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh, on Friday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court demanding that NRI Gurinder Pal alias Gur Aujla be allowed to contact his family members.

Last week, the police had informed the court that the National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against Gur Aujla considered to be the social media handler of Amritpal Singh.

The plea, which is likely to be taken up on Tuesday, also demands that Gur Lal, who is lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam, be allowed to meet a lawyer of his choice.

The high court on Tuesday will also take up a plea in which Punjab government is to apprise court of efforts made to nab the radical leader.
Kathmandu In a letter, Indian embassy in Kathmandu has requested Nepal not to allow the radical leader flee (HT File Photo)

India has requested the Nepal government not to allow fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in Nepal, to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using Indian passport or any other fake passport, a media report said on Monday.

In a letter sent to the department of consular services on Saturday, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Amritpal if he tries to flee from Nepal, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

Amritpal is currently hiding in Nepal, the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it.

The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the department of immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission, it said.

The letter and Amritpals personal details have been circulated to all the agencies concerned from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources.

Amritpal, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him.
Punjab Police have arrested one more close associate of Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, who has allegedly been absconding, under the stringent national security act (NSA). An alleged associate (in orange turban) of 'Waris Punjab De' Chief Amritpal Singh being brought to central jail, in Dibrugarh. (PTI Photo)

The arrested accused, identified as Varinder Singh alias Johal of Johal Raju Singh village in Patti sub-division of Tarn Taran district, had been working as a gunman of Amritpal Singh.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP-Amritsar rural) Satinder Singh confirmed Varinders arrest and slapping of NSA against him. According to sources, a team of Punjab Police took Varinder Singh to Dibrugarhs Mohanbari airport on Monday where they were received by the Assam counterparts.

A senior police official, who didnt wish to be named, said, Varinder is also known as Fauji. He was dismissed as a constable from the Indian Army after a criminal case was registered against him.

In January, Varinder was booked for glorifying weapons on social media and was arrested by Patti Sadar police station in Tarn Taran. Varinder had posted a video of firing from his .12 bore rifle on his Facebook account. After Varinders arrest, Amritpal and his associates had protested against the police action outside the police station, but Varinder was sent to the judicial custody.

After a case was registered against Varinder, we investigated his arm license. It was found that he had also made .315 bores license without informing police. The license was made and renewed in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) by Varinder by providing fake documents. When his license was renewed he was already dismissed from his service. A fresh case has also been registered in Poonch (J&K) against him in this regard, the official said.

The official said Varinder was arrested with the help of Tarn Taran police. Varinder was hiding in the area of Patti Sadar police station since the Punjab Polices crackdown against the elements of Waris Punjab De.

Varinders brother is also working in the Indian Army and is posted in Indore, said the official.

Sources said Varinder was also involved in the Ajnala police station violence case. A mob led by Amritpal Singh had stormed the Ajnala police station in February with a demand of releasing his associate Lovepreet Singh alias Toofan who was arrested under the kidnapping charges. Amritpal and ten more were also nominated in the kidnapping case. During the storming of the police station, six policemen, including superintendent of police (SP) Jugraj Singh, were injured.

Varinder is the eighth associate of Amritpal who has been sent to Assam under the NSA. Earlier, seven associates of the radical preacher, including his uncle Harjit Singh, were taken to Assam.

Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam is one of the oldest and most heavily fortified prisons in Northeast India. During the 1990s, the prison housed top militants.
The Model Town police have raided a spa centre at Dugri road for alleged immoral trafficking and arrested its manager. The Surya Spa centre on Dugri Road in Ludhiana on Monday. Six women were also held, but were released later. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The raid was conducted on Sunday night. The owner of the Surya Spa centre, Sarthak Behal, is yet to be arrested.

The police also caught six women from the centre, who were later released citing directions of the Supreme Court. According to an apex court judgement, if the sex worker is an adult and is participating with consent, the police must refrain from interfering or taking any criminal action against her.

The arrested accused has been identified as Sukhpreet Singh alias Johny of Ayali Khurd village.

Inspector Rajesh Thakur, who is investigating the case, said that the police received information that the owner and manager of the centre at Dugri road in Model Town was involved in immoral trafficking.

Following the information, the police sent a decoy customer to the spa, who gave a signal to the police after cracking a deal with the manager.

A case under sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Immoral Trafficking Acts has been lodged against the accused at Model Town police station.

The inspector added that the spa centre did not complete the police verifications of the employees. Moreover, there was no record of the customers.

The inspector said that the commissioner of police had already ordered the owners of spa centres to keep the record of customers along with a copy of their photo identity card and the foreign staff that they hire must be on work visa and not tourist visa.

The officer also asked the spa centre owners to install CCTVs at entry, exit and reception points and keep the recording for 30 days.

The commissioner of police also ordered for making sure that there is no secret entry or exit passage. Further, the police chief ordered the spa centre owners to not serve liquor, drugs, hookahs, or other intoxicants to customers.

Third case in less than a month

It is the third raid conducted by the police in the city at a spa centre within 24 days.

Earlier on March 3, the Division number 8 police had raided Blue Lotus spa centre located in Omaxe Mall and rounded up six women, including three from Thailand.

On March 16, the Model Town police had busted a flesh trade racket being run from a spa centre in Model Town. The police had lodged an FIR against the owner and manager of the spa centre.
Even as there are just three days left to fill the property tax without additional penalty and interest, around 70,000 property owners are yet to deposit their taxes to the municipal corporation. The last date to deposit property tax for the current year (2022-23) is March 31 after which an additional 10% penalty and 18% interest on delayed payment will be charged by the MC in Ludhiana. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The last date to deposit property tax for the current year (2022-23) is March 31 after which an additional 10% penalty and 18% interest on delayed payment will be charged by the MC.

Officials privy to the matter said that there are over 300,000 properties in the city that are eligible to pay the tax.

In a bid to facilitate the residents, the civic body had decided to keep the suvidha kendras in all four zonal offices open during working hours on weekends and government holidays along with the week days.

Residents being notified through SMS

Vivek Sharma, municipal corporation superintendent said, We have the contacts of around 120,000 property taxpayers in our database. Those who deposited the taxes last year but still have not paid the same are being notified through text messages to file the same.

He said that on average around 1,000 persons are depositing the tax each day and some are also depositing the tax through the MCs website.

As per the estimated budget for the year 2022-2023, the civic body breached the 100 crore collection from the property tax and is expected to earn 115 crore by March 31. The estimates in the budget for income from property tax were also raised from 115 crore to 120 crore.

The officials said that the residents can avail 10% rebate on payment of property tax for the current financial year by September 30. No penalty is imposed on the payment of tax from October 1 to December 31. The department imposes a 10% penalty on payment of tax from January 1 to March 31. The penalty is increased to 20% and 18% annual interest is also imposed if the residents fail to pay tax for the current year by March 31.

MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal had also recently appealed to the residents to pay the property tax on time to avoid penalties. She said that the tax collected from the residents is used for providing basic amenities to the residents and for taking up development works.
The district crime cell of Chandigarh Police on Sunday busted a flesh trade racker and arrested four persons, including owner of a spa located in Sector 8, officials said on Monday. A case under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956, has been registered at the Sector 3 police station in Chandigarh. (HT)

The accused have been identified as Panchkula resident Vinod, alias Vicky, owner of Pyramid Spa Centre and one of his staff members, Vikas.

Police also arrested two staff members of Golden Leaf Spa, identified as Gurmeet Singh of Sector 45 and Atik Rahman.

A total of 18 girls, including 11 from Thailand, were rescued and handed over to the social welfare team, said the police.

Officials privy to the development said girls from Thailand, who were shown as staff members by the spa managements, came to India on tourist visas. They, according to the police, will be deported soon.

A senior police official said a cop was sent as a decoy customer to bust the racket. We may add more sections in the case after the probe, he said.

A case under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, 1956, has been registered at the Sector 3 police station. A local court on Monday sent the accused to 14-day judicial custody.
A 15-year-old girl student of a government school in Fatehabad district was allegedly molested by a lab assistant Sanjay when she was alone in the classroom on March 24, police said on Monday. Representational image

In his complaint to the police, the girls father said his daughter is studying in class 10 in a government school adjacent to their village.

My daughter had gone to school and was the only girl who had come to the school on March 24. The lab assistant asked the girl student to bring a chair and asked her to close the window of the classroom. When she closed the window, he started molesting her. When she resisted, the lab assistant threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed the incident to anyone, the victims father said.

The agitated villagers shut down the school on Monday, and the girls father lodged a complaint with the police.

The police have booked the lab assistant on molestation and other charges besides POCSO Act. The accused is yet to be arrested, investigating officer Juglal Singh of Fatehabad Police, said.

Mahender Singh, block education officer, said taking cognizance of the complaint, a committee has been formed to investigate the matter.

Two weeks on cops fail to nab 2 accused in minors rape case

Two weeks after a 14-year-old girl was abducted and raped by two bike-borne men from a Jhajjar village, the police have failed to arrest the accused.

In her complaint, the girl stated that the two bike-borne men abducted her when she came out of her friends house and raped her in the fields. The incident took place on March 14, and the police failed to catch the accused.

The girls family members have asked the police to arrest the accused within the next five days, or they will sit on a dharna.

Salhawas DSP Naresh Yadav said the medical examination of the girl was conducted, and the investigation is underway. The efforts are on to nab the accused, he said.
The Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) is expected to earn more than 5,000 crore through auctions of residential and commercial properties in its urban estates in 2023-24. An official spokesperson said it was informed in the meeting the HSVPs non-EDC receipts were estimated to be around  14,719 crore in the 2023-24 financial year.

The HSVP is estimated to earn about 3,000 crore from the e-auction of residential properties and 2,080 crore from the auctions of commercial properties. About 8,326 crore is estimated to be received from the old assets of the HSVP, said a statement on Monday following the 125th meeting of HSVP presided over by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

An official spokesperson said it was informed in the meeting the HSVPs non-EDC receipts were estimated to be around 14,719 crore in the 2023-24 financial year.

The CM said that on the lines of the scheme for setting up cooperative group housing societies for MLAs, employees, journalists and lawyers in Panchkula, permission can be given to set up cooperative group housing societies for former MLAs as well.

Khattar, who is the HSVP chairman, gave ex-post facto approval for the construction of multi-storeyed car parking and commercial complex being constructed by Faridabad Smart City Limited on about 4,000 square metres of land of HSVP in Sector 18A of Faridabad.

Ex-post-facto approval was also given for the issuance of allotment letters of ownership rights to 131 shopkeepers and Antyodaya Market being constructed in place of the Rehri market after the incident of fire in the Rehri market of Sector 9, Panchkula. Pucca shops will be set up as Antyodaya Market in place of Rehri markets in Sectors 7, 11 and 17 of Panchkula, the spokesperson said.

The CM said that pucca shops should be constructed in cities where rehri markets are functioning. Chief administrator, HSVP, Ajit Balaji Joshi said that the HSVP has a proposal to set up Antyodaya Market in place of Rehri markets in Gurugram, Faridabad and Karnal.

It was apprised in the meeting that the HSVP has 5,418 residential, 2,688 commercial and 230 institutional properties, out of which 4,804 residential, 2,305 commercial and 205 institutional properties have been sold through e-auction. The chief minister instructed the officers that a separate dashboard should be prepared for all the properties of HSVP, on which all information like the location of the property, name of the owner, etc. would be registered. He also directed that the entire record of the HSVP, including the documents of the properties, should be digitised.
Khalistan supporters staged a protest at the iconic Times Square here to express support for the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh on Sunday. With blaring music and loud horns, a multitude of cars with Khalistani flags and LED mobile billboard trucks displaying photos of Amritpal criss-crossed the streets near the venue. (HT File Photo)

The protesters took out a car rally that originated from the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood and culminated at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan city on Sunday afternoon amid tight security.

With blaring music and loud horns, a multitude of cars with Khalistani flags and LED mobile billboard trucks displaying photos of Amritpal criss-crossed the streets near the venue.

There was a heavy police presence in the area with several New York City Police Department (NYPD) vans and cars manning the area.

The car rally came a day after Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, where many of their speakers tried to incite violence, but timely intervention by an alert US Secret Service and local police prevented a repeat of London and San Francisco incidents of vandalism at the Indian missions.

India on Friday said it expects to see action against the perpetrators of vandalism at its missions abroad and hoped the host governments would prosecute those involved in these incidents instead of holding out assurances.

Addressing the weekly briefing, external affairs ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said New Delhi also expects the host governments to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

I think we are not just interested in assurances, I think we would like to see action, the external affairs ministry spokesman said.
The shortage of staff at the RTO office is taking a toll on its services as visitors, who come to pay their challans on a daily basis, have to wait for hours to get their documents released. Rush at the road transport office (RTO) in Ludhiana. (HT Photo)

Many people could be seen hovering over a single window, the only one operational out of many, to get their work done.

As per various sections of the Motor Vehicle Act, violators whose documents get confiscated by the traffic police are required to come to the RTO office to get their original documents such as driving licence, registration certificate etc released against a fine.

If this document is not collected within a span of 60 days, it is sent to district court from where it can be then collected.

Commenting on the staff crisis being faced by the RTO offices across Punjab, state transport commissioner Manish Kumar told HT, challan is only one part, there is a huge pendency at the departmental level. RTO offices across Punjab are working with only 40% of sanctioned staff strength. To rationalise the same, we held a few meetings with higher authorities, and thus restructuring of RTO staff has been approved by the Punjab cabinet. By next week, we will send our recommendations to the Punjab government on recruitment so that a smooth flow of work can be ensured in near future.

As per sources, Ludhiana RTO office needs at least 23 staff members ranging from senior to junior posts to cater to public services, out of which currently only 15 employees are running all the day-to-day functioning.

Several key posts, necessary to clear the piling pendency and for redreessal of issues, are vacant despite recruitment recommendation made by the concerned department.

These posts include two motor vehicle inspectors (MVIs) as the MVI posted currently has the main charge of ASI roadways, Hoshiarpur and the additional charge of MVI, Ludhiana. Due to this, he gives his services in Ludhiana for only two days in a week. But due to high pendency, the department has asked to depute two MVIs for full time so that the public work can be completed within the stipulated time.

Similarly, there is not a single assistant transport officer deployed at the office, while two posts have been sanctioned for the same. Due to this vacancy, the RTO is unable to fulfill the task set for traffic checking, various public works such as registrations and driving licences.

Meanwhile, at present only six clerks are working at office of secretary regional transport authority, Ludhiana who also have to appear before different courts on behalf of the department.

Citizens who visit the office to get their work done return disgruntled, which is why the RTO has asked for at least four more clerks.

Four data entry operators to run two separate counters for challan/test track have also been added to the list of recommendations. The department has requested to post two peons and a request for deployment of two watchmen has also been made.

Condition worsens further when anyone out of these 15 employees, currently running the entire RTO, goes on leave or has to appear before the court on behalf of the department. As a result, we deal with a lot of heated exchange per day over pendency and other issues, but we are as helpless as the general public. It becomes hard for us to excuse ourselves, told an employee of RTO on the condition of anonymity.

People suffer

Standing in the queue to pay a challan of 200 imposed for travelling on the wrong side of the road, Kulbir Singh, 30, said, To get my work done in time, I came here around 9 am. There were around only 5-6 people ahead of me in the queue and I thought it would take me a maximum 20-30 minutes. But surprisingly, the queue did not move at all for half an hour, he said.

Advocate Gurvinder Singh, who was seen struggling to pay the challan of his clients said, As permitted by the DC, advocates are allowed to pay five challans in one go, but because there is only a single counter operational and that too with only two staff members, it takes us a whole day to get the work done. There should be a separate window for us. It will not only benefit us but will also ease the process for the general public.

According to the data revealed by the data entry operator working at the challan window, around 150-200 challans are paid everyday day, generating revenue of around 2-2.5 lakh per day.
Eleven days after unidentified assailants attacked RTI activist and NGO member Arun Bhatti, police on Monday arrested three accused, including a woman contract killer and two employees of the municipal corporation, in connection with the case. The accused in police custody in Ludhiana on Monday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Police said that the accused gave 6 lakh to the woman and her accomplices to murder Bhatti. However, he survived and was admitted to Christian Medical College and Hospital.

The accused claimed that Arun Bhatti, who is the vice president of Valmiki Sewak Sangh, was blackmailing them for 25 lakh.

The arrested accused have been identified as Brijpal of Gobind Nagar, who is supervisor at the MC, Ishu Saraswal, a sewer man of Waddi Haibowal, who also works with the MC, and Nisha Sabharwal of Waddi Haibowal.

Nisha is already facing trials in another attempt to murder case. She has been out on bail in the case since March 25, 2022.

The accused who are yet to be arrested in the Bhatti case are Ashok Kumar, Gulshan Kumar Sheru, Dilpreet Singh and Kamlpreet Singh and three others, who are yet to be identified.

Commissioner of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that Bhatti was brutally assaulted on March 16 when he was going home in Mahavir Enclave colony. He suffered severe injuries and is still unconscious. An attempt to murder case was lodged against unidentified accused at police station Salem Tabri.

During the probe, it was found that MC employee Brijpal was the main conspirator of the case. Bhatti had sought some information under the Right to Information Act against Brijpal. With the information, Bhatti was allegedly blackmailing Brijpal and was seeking 25 Lakh for not making the information public. Brijpal hatched a conspiracy to eliminate him.

Sidhu said that Brijpal shared the things with one of his friends Ashok, who is the father of Ishu and a supervisor at the MC. Ashok was known to Nisha Sabharwal, who lives in the same locality. Nisha and her husband Manish Sabharwal have a criminal record.

Brijpal and Ashok gave her 6 lakh to kill Bhatti. Nisha further hired Gulshan Kumar who is her husbands friend. Gulshan further involved Kamalpreet, Dilpreet and others in the conspiracy.

The commissioner of police added that the accused had done recce of Bhatti for a few days before attacking him. On March 16, the accused intercepted Bhatti and assaulted him with sharp edged weapons. The accused fled from the spot assuming him dead.

Inspector Beant Juneja, Incharge at CIA staff 2 said that the police have recovered 19,000 from Nisha given to her by Brijpal.

He added that Dilpreet and Gulshan were already facing trial in another attempt to murder case and liquor smuggling.
Indicting the Punjab prisons department in the Nabha jailbreak case, a Patiala court said it was not possible to escape without the involvement of officials. Indicting the Punjab prisons department in the Nabha jailbreak case, a Patiala court said it was not possible to escape without the involvement of officials. (HT file photo)

The additional district and sessions judge, HS Grewal, made scathing remarks against the prisons department in his judgment and also listed some measures to improve its functioning.

It has become inevitable to bring to the notice of the state government and also the DGP (prisons), Punjab, to make sincere endeavour towards security as the lapses on the part of the officials were to that extent that any individual could breach the security cover and there was no effort from the officials who were performing security duty on the premises of maximum security jail, Nabha, the court observed.

They did not even make any effort worth safeguarding their own persons. The officials engaged from PESCO for performing the duty at the maximum security jail, Nabha, it clearly showed that the lapse on the part and on the part of the officials inside the deodi, which is virtually unpardonable, the order read.

Few individuals took the entire security at the maximum security jail for a ride. They even snatched their weapons and took away along with them, it added.

Besides that, the officials of the jail acted in a manner to facilitate the entire jailbreak. Without their assistance or the involvement, it was neither possible nor it could have been accomplished. There were no CCTV cameras on the outer gate. The said fact further is a matter of concern as it was outside the jail premises that numerous persons came in several vehicles, the judgment read.

The court deems it appropriate to bring the said facts to the notice of the state government so that CCTV cameras with facility of audio, if feasible, could be installed at the nook and corner of the jail premises to avoid any such uncalled for incident in future, the judge said. The maximum security jail was having least arrangements towards the security. Such instances can be completely avoided by taking cautionary and effective measures towards security, he added.

The court also ordered the copy of judgment be sent to the state government through the chief secretary and DGP (prisons) to plug in all the loopholes and put in strenuous efforts to ensure that there is proper and effective employment of security officials, CCTV cameras are installed, so that every effort is made with utmost sincerity towards the security and proper monitoring of functioning on the premises of maximum security jail, Nabha, and the other prisons of the state, read the judgment.

It is worth mentioning here that the then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had suspended MK Tiwari (then ADGP, prisons), but he was later reinstated without any inquiry against him. He simply offered his clarification in a letter and the then DGP requested the deputy CM to reinstate him.

On November 27, 2016, 15 gangsters dressed as police officials had infiltrated into the high-security jail and managed to free four of their associates and two militants, including Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo.

Seven years after the sensational prison break, a Patiala district court had on March 23 sentenced 22 accused to jail with their terms ranging from three to 20 years.

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Former Union minister Anand Sharma on Monday said that Rahul Gandhis disqualification was done under a well-planned conspiracy by the central government as he was speaking the truth. Congress leader Anand Sharma meets Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at his official residence 'Oakover', in Shimla on Monday. (HT Photo)

Rahul has every right to speak in the Parliament, but the central government has targeted him as a part of a well-planned conspiracy, said Sharma while interacting with mediapersons in his home town Shimla.

Expressing full faith in the judiciary, Sharma said the decision of the lower court will not stand in the high court. He said that the Congress would fight a political and legal battle against this decision.

Rahul has the right to raise his point in the Parliament and also talk about the accountability of the government. That is what he did, he added.

This decision has to change. Rahul had raised a basic question on certain issues after the Hindenburg report. I would say that it raises questions on the democratic set-up keeping in mind the parliamentary traditions, Sharma said.

I have also seen what was reported about the judgment. As a student of law, I can see it is a deeply flawed judgment which is bound to be and should be reversed at the earliest by the higher court, he said.

Earlier, Sharma met chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu at his official residence.
Untimely heavy rainfall in many parts of Punjab may have severely impacted the standing wheat crop on over 15 lakh hectares, which is more than 40% of the net sown area of the winter staple, officials said on Sunday. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered a girdawari (field inspection) to access the impact on the crop that is almost ready to be harvested. A report is expected within a week. (HT Photo)

In case the crop doesnt recover, there would be around 15% yield loss, said Gurvinder Singh, director of the states agriculture department. Fazilka, Sangrur, Bathinda, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts may have suffered considerable damages, according to preliminary reports. At a number of places, the crop is still submerged in rainwater, which would cause discolouration in the grain, he said.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered a girdawari (field inspection) to access the impact on the crop that is almost ready to be harvested. A report is expected within a week.

Winter wheat has been cultivated on over 34.9 lakh hectares in the breadbasket state, and the agriculture department had predicted a bumper crop with the yield expected to touch 180-185 lakh tonnes, before the unseasonal rainfall last week upset projections. It seems the hope of a bumper crop is dashed, an officer of the agriculture department said, declining to be named.

This is the second straight season when the wheat crop has been impacted. Last year, the crop suffered a yield loss of 13%. As against an expected yield of 175 lakh tonnes, only 150 lakh tonnes were produced in the state. Untimely rains in March led heavy crop damage.

This year, an average of 40mm of rainfall was reported in the past month, with high winds of 40-50 km per hour, which have caused severe damage. There is a western disturbance approaching the state, which is expected to bring rainfall and high winds on March 29 for 3-4 days, according to Manmohan Singh, a senior officer in the meteorology department.

It would be very problematic for the states farmers, the agriculture department officer said.

The state agriculture department is trying to expedite the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to insurance the crop, which is suffering vagaries of the weather more often in recent times. In February, the department has sent a detailed proposal to the state government, the official said.

The state government is gearing to implement PMFBY from the upcoming kharif season during which paddy is cultivated, chief secretary VK Janjua said. Deputy commissioners in all districts has been asked to compile the girdawari report in a weeks time, he added.

The compensation given to farmers from the natural calamites fund is not beneficial to them as the formula is lopsided, said Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), a farmers collective. There is no provision for compensation for loss up to 25% and government accepting a loss of 15% has no meaning, he said.

When the mature crop remains submerged, it leads to a discolouration of the grain, which fetches a lower price. Who would compensate the farmers for grain quality loss? Rajewal asked.

The state government is aware of these issues and would find a way, Janjua said. The chief minister has already announced to increase the compensation, he said.

Baghail Singh of Khokh village near Nabha said his crop has damaged beyond repair. Hopefully, sunlight in the coming week will help in recovery. Over the past few years, crops have been facing damage due to vagaries of the weather, leading to losses to the farmers.

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continues to press for their demand of regularisation of services for contractual employees, the sanitation workers (safai karamcharis) announced a two-day statewide strike starting Monday. Haryanas sanitation workers announced a two-day statewide strike to mark their protest against the contractual employment system. (HT File)

As per the information, sanitation workers will proceed with a sit-in and hunger strike outside the municipal corporation offices across the state to voice their opposition to the contractual employment system.

Speaking of the same, Rohtak Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh president Sanjay Bablan said they have begun their sit-in outside the citys municipal corporation office.

Our 15,000 sanitation workers, who were recruited through direct contract, have been working for many years and the government has assured us to regularise their service and end the contractual system. The same way, 1,263 fire operators have been working for many years, he said.

Addressing the step-motherly treatment being meted out to the contractual employees, Bablan said, The government has decided to recruit 4,298 sanitation workers for regular jobs and they did nothing for 15,000 workers, who have been working for years. Our other demands are to give compensation sum to the families of those sanitation workers, who lost their lives during covid-19 pandemic, payment of risk allowance and provision to give safety equipment.

The Sangh district president further accused the state government of not fulfilling the promises made to them Haryana local bodies minister Kamal Gupta in October last year, following which the workers had ended their statewide.
The Haibowal police have arrested two alleged drug peddlers and recovered 25 kg poppy husk and 27,000 drug money from their possession. The Ludhiana police also seized their scooter on which the accused were travelling to supply drugs. (Getty images)

The police also seized their scooter on which the accused were travelling to supply drugs.

The accused have been identified as Raj Kumar alias Maali of Sandhu Nagar of Haibowal Kalan and Sarabjit Singh of Hundal Chowk at Tajpur Road.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, city 3) Shubham Aggarwal said that the team of Jagatpuri police post of Haibowal police station put up a checkpoint at T-point Kehar Singh Nagar. When frisked, the team recovered 25kg heroin and 27,000 drug money from their possession.

A case under section 15-61-85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at Haibowal police station.

According to police, the accused used to procure poppy husk from other states and used to sell it here in Ludhiana.

The accused will be questioned to ascertain persons involved with them in the supply chain.

150gm heroin, drug money recovered from two

HT Correspondent

Ludhiana@hindustantimes.com

Ludhiana The team of anti-narcotic cell-1 of police commissionerate, Ludhiana, arrested two accused for alleged drug peddling and recovered 150gm heroin, 5,000 drug money from their possession.

The accused have been identified as Gaurav Kumar alias Gora of Jai Shakti Nagar and Abhishek Jain alias Lucky of Sundar Nagar.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, investigation) Rupinder Kaur Sra said that the team of anti-narcotic cell-1 led by inspector Jasvir Singh stopped the accused for checking in Tibba area when they were passing on motorcycle.

When frisked, the team recovered 150g heroin, 100 empty pouches, an electronic weighing machine and 5,000 drug money from their possession. The police also seized a motorcycle.

The ADCP said that accused Abhishek is already facing three FIRs including a case under the Drug Peddling Act and two cases of Prison Act.
Family members of the Dhangri terror attack victims on Monday threatened to migrate from their village to a safer place and return the ex gratia amount if the government fails to catch the attackers and bring them to justice. Saroj Bala, who lost two sons -- Prince and Deepak -- in the terror attack at Dhangri village in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri. (AP)

Terrorists had struck Dhangri village in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district on January 1 and targeted villagers and fled before planting an improvised explosive device (IED). While five people were killed in the firing by terrorists, two others died in the IED explosion the next morning. As many as 14 villagers were injured in the twin attacks.

Saroj Bala, who lost two sons -- Prince and Deepak -- in the terror attack, said if the government cannot provide her justice, it should shoot me dead too.

Nearly three months on, there is no clue about the perpetrators, who are still at large, said Bala, who had even lost her husband a few months before the attack, she said.

Bala said she appreciated the support provided to the victims families by Union home minister Amit Shah and J&K BJP Ravinder Raina. But unless the attackers are produced before us, we wont sit quiet. What dont need ex gratia, we need justice, she added. She also slammed the government for shifting Rajouri SSP Mohammad Aslam.

The DGP has now said that the infiltrators had come from Pakistan. Even if that is true, what about those who gave them support to infiltrate, guided them and provided food and shelter here? They (attackers) killed people after checking their IDs, she added.

Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh had on Thursday had said terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan and killed innocent people in Dhangri village.

Dhangri sarpanch Deeraj Kumar said that the ex gratia amount will be returned to the same account where from it was credited if justice is not provided to the families.

We dont need compensation, weapons, and security in the village. Take everything back, but give us justice by bringing terrorists and their supporters to book. If the government failed to address our demand, we will be compelled to launch an agitation, he added.

He also appealed J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha to retain present SSP and incumbent SHO till the logical conclusion of the case.

Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday ordered the transfers and postings of two IPS officers with immediate effect. It appointed SSP (crime), Kashmir, Amritpal Singh as the new SSP of Rajouri, while Aslam has been posted as commandant, JKAP 13th Battalion.

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The Uttarakhand police on Monday said that the recorded calls of Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, chief of banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), received by media personnel and government officials on Sunday, were found to be made through spoofed numbers. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, chief of banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). (File Photo)

The recorded message allegedly threatened to raise Khalistani flags during G-20 summit at Nainitals Ramnagar and warned chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami against taking action against Sikhs in the state.

Last evening, a recorded message of banned Sikhs for Justices Gurpatwant Singh Pannu was received by media personnel and others. We initially found that the recorded calls were made through spoofed numbers. It appears to be a publicity stunt ahead of the G-20 meeting in Ramnagar. We are active and will not allow their motives to be fulfilled. Our security arrangements are foolproof. Following these calls, we have beefed the security, said Senthil Avoodai Krishna Raj S, deputy inspector general (DIG), special task force (STF).

In the recorded call, the caller could be heard saying, G-20 delegates.Ramnagar is not India. Ramnagar is Khalistan. Sikhs for Justice is going to raise Khalistani flags during G-20 summit at Ramnagar, at airports and at railway stations to show and internationalise that Ramnagar will be part of Khalistan once we liberate Punjab from Indian occupation through Khalistan Referendum. And if chief minister Dhami tried to file cases against Sikhs in Uttarakhand, you will be held accountable for each crime you are committing. Message is from Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, SFJ general counsel.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand police have sounded an alert in its three districts bordering with other states  Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar -- in view of pro-Khalistani preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh and his aides entering the state, a senior police official said.

Police have also put up and distributed posters in villages across the Nepal border in view of their possibility to leave the country.

The Udham Singh Nagar police recently booked a 30-year-old man for allegedly uploading a social media post in support of the absconding Waris Punjab De chief, a police officer said.

The post went viral on social media and had been widely shared and liked by users, police said.

According to senior officials in Uttarakhand, five companies of Paramilitary Force and an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) have also been deployed in the district to nab Singh and his associates.

The Udham Singh Nagar district is dominated by the Sikh community. They originally migrated here from Pakistan during partition. Many others from Punjab took shelter here during the 1980s and 90s, when terrorism was at its peak in Punjab.

Amid reports of a satellite phone used in Pithoragarh district bordering Nepal, the district police said they didnt find any evidence that it might have been used by Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh and his aides.

Lokeshwer Singh, superintendent of police (SP), Pithoragarh, said, We had received input in this regard on March 22 and when they traced the satellite phones location, it was found in an inhabited area. There is a possibility that it was used by a trekker or hiker. We have no evidence suggesting its use by any Khalistani element.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday will pronounce its judgment on a Delhi Police plea against the discharge of 11 people, including JNU student Sharjeel Imam, in connection to the violence at Jamia Milia Islamia in December 2019. JNU student Sharjeel Imam was indicted by police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. (PTI)

A single-bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma will pronounce the verdict in the case.

The FIR in the case was lodged after violence broke out near Jamia Milia Islamia University on December 13, 2019 when some 700-800 people were protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The police indicted 12 people, including Imam, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

On February 4, a trial court discharged 11 accused, including Safoora Zargar and Asif Iqbal Tanha, observing that the accused were made scapegoats by police. The court, however, ordered framing of charges against one of the accused, Mohammad Ilyas. On February 7,the Delhi Police moved the high court against the trial court order.

In its plea, the Delhi Police have specifically listed remarks of the trial court that criticised them for initiating the prosecution against them in a perfunctory and cavalier fashion.

Also Read: Delhi court convicts AAP legislator Akhilesh Pati Tripathi in 2020 beating case

Arguing against the trial court judgment, additional solicitor general (ASG) Sanjay Jain, told the court that the trial court did not consider the third charge sheet, which contained the statements of injured police officials. He contended that the trial court judge had conducted a mini trial at the stage of framing of charges and overstepped its jurisdiction by passing disparaging observations.

The ASG said that they have ten video clips of the incident in which seven accused have been identified. With respect to the rest of the accused, ASG Jain said that they have been named by the witnesses and the injured policemen.

Opposing the submissions, senior advocate Rebecca John for Zargar told the court that her client could not be identified by the police even by seeing in the video footage of the incident as her face was covered.

Appearing for Imam, his counsel Ahmad Ibrahim argued that his clients speech in Aligarh, where he had said that his spectacles had broken during the violence, shows that he was a victim of violence and had no active role to play in its culmination.

The bench of Justice Sharma, after listening to the arguments from all the parties, had reserved the order on Thursday.
The Mauritian man whose body was found on a pavement in east Delhi on March 18, may have died of the compression of neck, a medical board constituted to conduct the post-mortem examination has said in its report, police officers aware of the investigation in the case said on Monday. Till Monday, no first information report (FIR) was registered in the case. (Representational Image)

Citing the autopsy report, the officers said that the doctors found a a faintly visible ligature mark on the right side of neck, indicating that the victim might have been strangled. The officers added that since the post-mortem report was inconclusive about the exact cause of death, they have decided to seek opinion of the medical and forensic experts from AIIMS and other medical institutes.

Till Monday, no first information report (FIR) was registered in the case.

On March 18 around 4.30pm, a Geeta Colony police station team was patrolling the streets when they spotted a decomposed body on a pavement at Geeta Colony underpass, and a bag left nearby. The bag contained a Mauritius passport, a flight ticket, some clothes, a packet of prasad purchased from a shop at a Hanuman temple in north Delhi, and a pack of biscuits.

Based on the passport details, the deceased was identified as Bagwat Lutchmee, a Mauritius national, who had arrived in India on February 8, and was expected to fly back on May 5, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena had said after the recovery of the body.

We are enquiring into the matter and taking necessary steps. As of now, its not clear how exactly the foreigner died. The autopsy report says that a ligature mark is found on the right side of his neck. If the person died of strangulation, the ligature marks should have been seen all around the neck. Also, no bones in the neck were found broken, said a senior police officer, who asked not to be named.

According to the inquiry so far, the officers said, the tourist had visited the Mauritius embassy on February 22, seeking help from the officials as his ATM card was not working and he was not able to withdraw money. Then, his body was found on March 18. They added that the mans activities in the intervening period were not known.

Investigators said the man was spotted alive in a CCTV footage from Geeta Colony area on March 8.

In another footage from the near the spot, where the body was found, a man was seen taking away the deceaseds mobile phone and foreign currency notes. Its not clear whether the foreigner was dead at that time or not, the investigators said.

The police said that the family of the dead foreigner were yet to reach India, and claim his body.

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The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) disengaged the services of municipal secretary Bhagwan Singh on Monday, a day before a special House meeting to take up budget proposals for 2023-24. As required by norms, the civic budget has to be cleared by March 31. (HT Archive)

Singh has been replaced by Siva Prasad KV, who retired as the municipal secretary of the North MCD in March 2022. He had earlier functioned as an OSD to the mayor. Praveen Kumar Sachan, an additional deputy commissioner, will now look after the charge of secretary to the mayor.

In an order issued by the civic bodys central establishment department, the corporation said that Singh  who was engaged on a consultancy basis after he attained the age of 60 years in March 2019 and retired  is hereby disengaged from services with effect from March 27.

As required by norms, the civic budget has to be cleared by March 31.

Also Read| Delhi Budget: MCD allocation up, bucks 3-year trend

After his retirement in 2019, Singhs services were repeatedly extended over the intervening period by the erstwhile South MCD, and later by the unified MCD. An MCD official said Singhs current contract was to end in June.

Singh did not comment on the development.

The municipal secretary acts as a link between the executive wing of the MCD, which is headed by the municipal commissioner, and the deliberative wing, made up of the elected councillors. All policy matters of the executive wing are submitted to the standing committee and House via the secretariat, which also convenes and arranges all official meetings called by the deliberative wing. To be sure, the powers related to the execution of policies, obligatory functions mentioned in the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act as well as transfer posting lie with the municipal commissioner, who heads the 150,000 personnel of the corporation.

During the corporation meetings on February 23 and 24, the municipal secretariat had issued reports in direct conflict with public statements issued by mayor Shelly Oberoi. The mayor also remarked on several occasions that Singh was not cooperating with her, and she and the municipal secretary were seen differing over the declaration of the standing committee election results.

The situation reached a low on February 24, when Aam Aadmi Party legislator Durgesh Pathak, the party in-charge for the MCD, alleged on the floor of the House that Singh was directly responsible for the violence in the civic body meet, and that he was colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Prem Chauhan, the former leader of the opposition in the South MCD and second-time councillor, said the removal or appointment of the municipal secretary is the commissioners domain. There must be some shortcomings on behalf of the outgoing secretary that he was removed. Whoever comes to this key office should act as per the DMC Act, and neither in favour of the AAP or the BJP, he said.

Senior BJP councillor from Dwarka Kamaljeet Sehrawat alleged that the AAP was responsible for sacking the official, and that the BJP condemns it.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is planning to issue Heat Index (HI) readings for weather stations across the country, including Delhi, this summer, as well as colour-coded forecasts in addition to the days maximum and minimum temperatures, officials said Monday. Sunset at Yamuna river in New Delhi on Monday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The added IMD will calculate HI or real feel using multiple models that will factor in the days relative humidity, wind speed, maximum temperature and cloud cover. A colour-based warning  yellow, orange or red will also be issued, based on the expected HI, listing precautions people can take.

IMD will utilise the data it gathered from weather stations across the country during a heat hazard analysis last year to prepare this HI. The model will be shared with all regional meteorological centres across the country, with the aim to release HI data this monsoon, officials said.

Also Read: India's record heat waves to limit of human survival?

Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD and head of the Delhi regional meteorological centre, said that initially, only one HI forecast is likely to be issued for the Capital based on the expected weather at Safdarjung, which is representational of Delhis weather. However, in the long run, the goal is to issue HI forecasts at the district level. While we can calculate the days HI for each station, we will only issue one single forecast for Delhi, which will be calculated based on Safdarjungs weather. This will give us an estimate on what kind of weather is expected across the whole of Delhi, he said, adding IMD is hopeful of utilising the model this monsoon when humidity is high.

HI is used widely, particularly in tropical countries, to understand the extent of discomfort being felt by an individual by factoring in both humidity and temperature. The higher the humidity, the higher the heat index. Experts say HI is often highest during the month of June and early parts of July, with humidity levels constantly remaining around 40-50%, coupled with temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius (C), with the bodys ability to not effectively sweat (which is how human bodies cool) making it more dangerous than spells of dry heat. HT shared Delhis wet-bulb temperature (a combined measure of heat and humidity of a region) all of last summer, finding the heat index to be 5-10 degrees higher than the actual maximum of the day in several cases. For instance, on June 27, 2022, when the maximum temperature in Delhi was 40.2C, humidity of 45% brought the wet-bulb temperature up to 52C. Exposure to a sustained wet-bulb temperature of 35C or higher can kill even healthy people.

Mapping the heat index is most useful when relative humidity is high and that makes standing or working outside uncomfortable. This is normally seen between June and August and the aim is to start sharing this data by then. Prior to that, we see dry heat and while the maximum temperature can be fairly high, the heat index is generally low as the body can still cool down by sweating, Srivastava added.

Akhil Srivastava, scientist at IMD, who was part of last years heat hazard analysis, said they gathered data from weather stations across the country between March and June, with the aim of analysing it beyond only the impact of relative humidity. While HI across the world is calculated only using maximum temperature and relative humidity, we also analysed the impact of wind speed, cloud cover and also the duration of heatwaves across the country. All these additional factors will be utilised to calculate the heat index, for which we are currently testing various models, he said.

Experts say that during the dry heat months of March and April, the body can cool off more effectively, owing to the low moisture content in the air  that same ability for the body to sweat out reduces when humidity levels are 50% or higher. And it is the why, for people working outdoors, wet-bulb temperature is most important.

On Monday, a report released by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) which looked at 37 heat action plans (HAPs) across 18 states, found while most states had included measures on dry heat, humid heat spells had not been factored in when it came to policy-making. Aditya Valiathan Pillai, associate fellow with the Initiative for Climate, Energy and Environment (ICEE) at CPR and part of the analysis, said IMD working on releasing HI is a bright start, as it will allow states to prepare their HAPs accordingly.

It is important to factor in humid heat, even more so than dry heat, as there is loss of life even at lower temperatures when humidity is high. The launch of a heat index can allow states to set their own thresholds and these action plans can be triggered automatically when a certain heat index is reached, he said.

Currently, IMD issues a colour-based warning for all significant weather activities, including rain, gusty winds, hail, thunderstorm, cold waves and heatwaves.

IMD issues a green alert when there is no risk, and a yellow alert to warn the public of a weather phenomenon in place, which is upgraded to an orange alert if preventive action is required. A red alert is generally issued if an extreme weather event is expected, asking the public to be vigilant and step out only if required.
Gurugram: The prime suspect in the murder of four members of a family in Kasan village on Diwali night in 2021 was arrested on Monday, said police. Prime suspect in murder of four family members in Kasan village held

Police said the suspect, identified as Yogender alias Rinku (36), who was in a car, opened fire at the crime branch team from Sector 17, led by inspector Narender Kumar on Naurangpur-Tauru Road near Kherki Daula at about 8am. Police personnel also opened retaliatory fire and nabbed him after a brief chase.

Investigators said that a Hyundai i20 car in which he was travelling, a country-made pistol and three empty cartridges were seized from him.

Police said on November 4, 2021, Yogender and several other suspects barged into the residence of the victims at Kasan village in Manesar.

They opened fire on Balram Singh Chauhan (37), who was the son of the former village sarpanch, his brother Sohanpal (34), their cousin Praveen Singh (32), Balrams eight-year-old son Yash. Balrams uncle Rajesh (46), and his son Vikash (21) also sustained bullet injuries due to the indiscriminate firing by the suspects when the victims were busy performing Diwali rituals.

Sohanpal had died at the spot, Vikash was declared dead at the hospital, while Balram and Praveen had died after a few days in the course of treatment. Only the child and Rajesh were able to survive the attack, said police.

Yogender, Deepak, Manish Rana, Amit alias Gaanth and several other unidentified suspects were booked in the FIR registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act at IMT Manesar police station on the basis of a complaint filed by injured Rajesh, police added.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that in the course of their investigation, it came to light that Yogender, who also hails from Kasan, had planned the killings to avenge the murder of his elder brother Manoj on the day of Holi in 2007.

Balram and Sohanpal were the prime suspects in Manojs murder. After interrogating Yogender, it became clear that he had gathered the suspects for killing the family members, the ACP said.

ACP Sangwan added that Yogender was hiding in Rajasthan, Jharkhand and other states after the incident.

We had received inputs that he was about to reach Gurugram after which a vehicle checking drive was initiated on Naurangpur-Tauru Road. Police waved at the suspected car to stop but Yogender opened fire. Three rounds were fired from both sides, but none were injured, ACP Sangwan said.

The ACP said that Yogender was the only suspect left to be arrested in the case. Earlier, we had nabbed 18 suspects in the case, including a few minors, he added.

As per police, Yogender had used minors to carry out a reconnaissance on the movement of the family members for planning the attack. They said that he was involved in at least eight cases, including murder and attempt to murder in Haryana and Delhi.

Police added that the Haryana Police had also declared a reward of 50,000 for anyone giving clues on Yogenders whereabouts.
Government and private doctors along with medical and paramedical professionals took out a massive rally today in Rajasthan's Jaipur to protest against the recently passed Right to Health Act in the state assembly. The rally was conducted to press demand for the Act's withdrawal. Private doctors have threatened that their hospitals will not be part of any healthcare scheme by the state in future. Doctors stage a protest against the Rajasthan Right to Health Act, at Panch Batti in Jaipur.(PTI)

The rally was attended by medical professionals, their family members as well as medical store owners from across the state which started from the Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital and passed through several parts of the city.

Also read: Raj public health experts hail RTH bill, call protest unjustified

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had earlier called for a nationwide black day against the contentious law. Doctors across the state, including IMA's Rajasthan chapter, have been protesting against the Act, that gives rights to every resident to avail free of cost treatment along with emergency treatment without prepayment at any health institution in the state.

The Act allows patients to avail free treatment at public health institution which further bars any hospital to refuse treatment. It also has provision to avail emergency treatment at public health institution, health care establishment and designated health care centres without a prepayment.

Healthcare professionals have been objecting certain clauses where the term medical emergency has not been defined clearly and asked how the expenses will be reimbursed to private hospitals. They have also raised concerns over setting up of a grievance redressal committee to address patients' complaints.

Right to health is definitely a right of the poor and the citizen of the country. The state government has the responsibility to fulfill that. Since they are unable to fulfill their responsibility, they are putting it on the doctors, without clarifying who will pay the expenses, IMA national president Dr Sharad Agarwal said while talking to reporters.

As a result of the ongoing protest, medical services in government hospitals across the state have been impacted. Doctors have boycotted work for two hours today in solidarity with the private doctors.

(With PTI inputs)

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Civic volunteers cannot be deployed for law enforcement, the West Bengal Police directorate has said citing a March 21 direction from the Calcutta high court for clear guidelines from the government over the duties they can perform. There are over 70,000 such volunteers. (Twitter)

The court gave the direction while hearing a case pertaining to a missing person whose family alleged policemen and two civic volunteers picked him up in 2022. It came amid a series of allegations against civic volunteers, whom opposition parties have called cadres of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

There are over 70,000 such volunteers, who get a monthly salary of 9000.

In its March 24 order, the directorate said civic volunteers will assist police units deployed to manage traffic, tackle illegal parking, manage crowds during festivals, and ensure public safety. HT has seen a copy of the order.

A police officer said many civic volunteers have been arrested in recent years. The [previous] Left Front government started the scheme but the number of volunteers was fewer then. ...the TMC government began deploying them at police stations across Bengal.

The volunteers came under the spotlight after the death of former student leader Anis Khan in February 2022 in Howrah. Khans family alleged civic police volunteers threw him off the roof of their home after coming there at midnight on the pretext of questioning him.

A Special Investigation Team of the West Bengal police concluded in July last year that Khan died of a fall as he was sought to be questioned illegally. Two civic police volunteers were among those charged over the death.

TMC leaders refused to comment on the directorates order saying it is an administrative matter.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Samik Bhattacharya called the volunteers an army TMC has raised using tax-payers money for dirty work. Anis Khans death is an example. Civic volunteers have been accused of extorting money from truckers and shopkeepers, intimidating opposition party workers, and helping TMC during elections. The court has given a directive. But will it be enforced?

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Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is busy bolstering its presence at the booth level. For this, it has decided to form committees for every booth in all the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. All booths in 80 LS constituencies will have SP booth committees by then, Akhilesh said on Sunday. (FIle)

On Sunday and Monday, the party announced the first list of in-charges for 47 constituencies. The in-charges will be responsible for forming the partys booth committees. Announcements regarding the remaining 33 constituencies are expected soon. Among the 47 constituencies are also Rae Bareli and Amethithe seats that it had been leaving uncontested for the Congress as a courtesy to the Gandhi family members.

Akhilesh Yadav has announced that the party must have a strong booth-level organisational set-up to defeat the BJP in the state in the upcoming polls. By June 5, we will complete the process. All booths in 80 LS constituencies will have SP booth committees by then, Akhilesh said on Sunday.

Within hours of the announcement, party state president Naresh Uttam Patel released the list of in-charges for booth committee formation in 32 LS constituencies. Only a select few persons, who have experience and are influential with organisational capabilities, are being given the duty.

MLA and former minister Avadhesh Prasad has been made the in-charge of Ayodhya (Faizabad); MLA and former minister Ramachal Rajbhar was given the charge of Ambedkarnagar, Ghosi, Ghazipur and Ballia; MLA and former minister Lalji Verma Azamgarh, Lalganj, Machlisheher, and Jaunpur; MLA and former minister Ram Murti Verma Shravasti and Gonda; former minister Ram Prasad Chaudhary Basti; former MP Raja Ram Pal Jhansi, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Kanpur and Akbarpur Rania; former union minister Ramji Lal Suman Agra, Hathras, and Fatehpur Sikri; former MP Anu Tandon Unnao; former MP Harendra Malik Muzaffarnagar. Anu Tandon and Harendra Malik quit the Congress and joined the SP before the 2022 UP assembly elections; Ramachal Rajbhar and Lalji Verma quit the BSP for the SP.

Announcements regarding district presidents for 31 districts have also been made.

The booth consolidation idea was planned at the recent national executive meeting in Kolkata.

Akhilesh, who has said time and again that his party would contest all the 80 LS polls with its allies, and it would not ally with the Congress or the BSP, had asked the Congress on Saturday to support regional giants.

Only SP candidates will contest from the 32 seats for whom the in-charges were announced on Sunday, according to party sources.

With the new addition, the party now has district presidents in 38 districts, who will work in coordination with the constituency in-charges of booth committees.

The party sources said that some of these in-charges might also become the partys candidates for those seats.

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Former minister and sitting Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Chandpur Swami Omvesh has sought permission from the Bijnor district magistrate (DM) to shower flowers from a rented helicopter on namazis (Muslim worshippers) on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr next month. Swami Omvesh also said he had showered flowers from a helicopter on devotees during Ganga Snan in November last year. (SOURCED )

Swami Omvesh said he gave a letter to Bijnor district magistrate Umesh Mishras office in connection with his plan on Saturday.

I have given the letter and hope that he will consider my request, which (will) help in strengthening harmony and brotherhood among people of two different communities, said Swami Omvesh.

I will meet DM again in a day or two to pursue my request further. The month of Ramzan has started and Eid will be celebrated on the last day of Ramzan, which will continue for a month, he said.

Swami Omvesh also said he had showered flowers from a helicopter on devotees during Ganga Snan in November last year. That very day, he announced his plan to shower flowers on namazis on Eid, he said.

Swami Omvesh was the sugarcane minister in the SP government.

Both Hindus and Muslims voted to ensure my victory. The friendship between freedom fighters Ramprasad Bismil and Ashfaq Ullah Khan was my inspiration, Swami Omvesh said.

He said he follows the message of both freedom fighters that people should raise the slogan Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai, aapas me hai bhai bhai (Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians are all brothers).

I follow their message and also fought my election on similar lines, said Swami Omvesh, adding that BJP and Hindu organisations should not have any problem with this stand because the BJPs slogan is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

In response, the BJPs Bijnor president Subhash Balmiki said, The SP always does the politics of appeasement and MLA Omvesh is following it.

All India Imam Association state president Maulana Zulfikar lauded the decision of Swami Omvesh and said the DM should have no objection to accepting the MLAs request. He said such initiatives help in strengthening harmony and brotherhood among people.

Respecting festivals and each others customs in a country like India will strengthen peoples belief in unity in diversity and constitution, he said.

Bijnor district magistrate Umesh Mishra said, I have not received the letter yet, hence cant comment on it.

Swami Omvesh, however, claimed that he had given the letter in the DMs office on Saturday and had its receipt (acknowledgement).
Weeks after first year B.Tech student from IIT-B Darshan Solankis death by suicide on February 12, the special investigation team (SIT) of Mumbai crime branch had recovered a suicide note from his hostel room. The four-word note reads Arman has killed me. This came to light on Monday even though the note was recovered from under Solankis desk on March 3. Ramesh Solanki father of deceased 18-year-old Dalit student Darshan Solanki, who died by suicide on February 12 inside IIT Bombay, weeps during an agitation led by ex-MP Bhalchandra Mungekar along with ex-MP Hussain Dalwai, SFI, RPI (Secular) other student organizations seeking justice, at Azad Maidan, in Mumbai.

The Arman referred to in the note is thought to be a reference to his classmate Arman Iqbal Khatri.

Incidentally, soon after the incident in February, Powai police had recorded statements of 22 people, which included students and faculty members of the institute, as well as Darshans parents. After registering an accidental death report, the local police searched his room before preparing the panchnama. No suicide note was found at the time, said senior inspector Budhan Sawant from Powai police station.

When asked about the lapse of time in locating the crucial find, an investigating officer from SIT said, We were lucky that we could locate the note after moving the chair in hostel room number 802. It was lying under the table where he used to study. He added that the SIT is yet to register an offence in connection with the suicide, as the parents of the deceased have not filed a formal complaint despite being informed about the note.

Also Read| IIT-Bombay suicide: Interim report rules out casteism against Dalit student

After recording statements of 11 of the 12 students residing in the same hostel wing, which included Khatri, we informed the family about the note. We presented all the facts on March 16 and asked them to file a formal complaint and register an FIR. But the family is yet to do so, said the officer.

However, when HT reached out to Solankis sister Jahnvi on Monday, she refused to comment on the development. His father was also unavailable for comment.

According to the investigating officer, the mother of the deceased confirmed that it was indeed her sons handwriting. Additionally, investigating officers have also matched the handwriting with Solankis notebooks  both are similar. Thereafter, we sent the note to the handwriting bureau on March 20 for an analysis. The report is awaited, said a senior police official.

The officer further said while recording statements of students, it became clear that the roommates  Solanki and Khatri  were having disputes before the incident occurred. Almost a week before the unfortunate event, the duo had argued and had a fight, the officer added.

Solanki had jumped from the refuge area of the eighth floor of his hostel on the campus. At the time an officer from Powai police had said, His parents have not made any specific allegations of harassment or discrimination against anyone. His father said that around two hours before his extreme step, Darshan had called to say that his exams had ended and he was going on a short trip with his friends, and that he would visit his family on February 15.
MUMBAI: The metropolitan magistrate court in Dadar on Monday rejected the bail plea of 23-year-old Sumer Merchant, arrested for running over 58-year-old jogger Rajalakshmi Vijay Ramakrishnan in Worli Sea Face on March 19, while driving under influence of alcohol. Mumbai, India - March 20, 2023: Accused Sumer Dharmesh Merchant (23) (Black T-shirt) produced before the Bhoiwada Court by Mumbai police, in the accident case that hit 58-year-old Rajalakshmi Vijay, CEO of a tech firm by his speeding car while jogging along Worli sea face early on Sunday, killing her on the spot, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

Merchant had applied for bail through his counsel claiming that it was a simple accident and a case under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code - causing death by negligence, and the severe charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under 304(II) of the IPC was not applicable to him. His lawyer also claimed that the jogger was running in the middle of the road and due to a sharp curve Merchant could not see her.

The public prosecutor opposed the plea, arguing that it was serious crime and the maximum punishment under 304(II) of the IPC is imprisonment for life. He knew his such negligent acts could result in somebodys death and despite that he drove the vehicle under the influence of intoxication. The police have already added section 185 of the MV Act for drunk driving against him.

Appearing for Vijay Ramakrishnan, husband of the deceased, advocates Hemant Ingle and Samrat Ingle argued that the magistrate court had no jurisdiction to hear the bail plea as a charge under section 304(II) of the IPC was applied. The accused was drunk and knew that his negligent act could result in an accident. His friend had warned him to not drive the car despite that he decided to drop her off.

After hearing all three, metropolitan magistrate SP Bhosale, rejected the bail plea. The court said the detailed order will become available on Tuesday.

Tardeo resident Merchants Tata Nexon EV had hit and killed on the spot Rajalakshmi Ramakrishnan alias Raji near Worli Dairy while jogging on the Northbound lane. Raji was the chief executive officer of the Business of Altruist Technologies Pvt Ltd, which has over 14,000 employees, 32 clients, and 17 delivery centres spread across India, Africa, and the UAE.

Merchant works with an event management company associated with Bollywood.
An adult rhino was poached and its horn removed in Assams Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) in the first such incident in the state after zero-poaching last year, an official said on Monday. Zero rhino poaching was also reported in Assam in 1977. (HT PHOTO)

The carcass of the rhino with the missing horn was found in KNPTRs Bagori range on Sunday afternoon. The carcass, which was partially decomposed, was found on the bank of a water body inside the parks Bagori range. It is a clear case of poaching, said divisional forest officer Ramesh Gogoi.

He said a round of .303 rifle was found near the carcass indicating the rhino was shot dead before the poachers removed its horn and fled from the spot. There will be more clarity about the exact cause of death after a postmortem. The incident seems to have taken place around a week ago. As the carcass is decomposed, it is unclear whether the animal was a male or female, said Gogoi.

Assam recorded zero poaching of rhinos last year for the first time in 47 years. Rhinos are prized for their horns, which fetch big money in some countries for alleged medicinal value.

According to official figures, 191 rhinos were poached in Assam between 2000 and 2021. The highest 27 rhino deaths each were recorded in 2013 and 2014 and the lowest in 2020 and 2021 (two each).

Forest and police officials said zero rhino poaching was reported in 2022 for the first time since 1977 due to their coordinated efforts.

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An assistant platoon commander of Chhattisgarh Armed Forces (CAF) was killed in an IED planted by Maoists in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, official said. The officer was currently living near Durga Mandir located in Jagdalpur Dharampura. (Representative file image)

Inspector general of police (IGP), Bastar Range, Sundarraj P said a police team went to guard the ongoing road construction work at Timenar area when the incident took place.

The CAF commander was also in the same team. He inadvertently stepped over a pressure IED connection triggering the blast, leading to his death, the IG said.

Also Read: Maoists ambush police team Chhattisgarhs Bastar, 2 killed

The officer was currently living near Durga Mandir located in Jagdalpur Dharampura.

The jawan hails from Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh.

With additional PTI inputs
LUCKNOW People are being overcharged for wood at Bhaisakund, Gulala Ghat, and Alambagh crematoriums, said BJP corporator Rekha Roshni and former corporator Ranjit Singh in a letter to municipal commissioner Indrajit Singh. Municipal commissioner Indrajit Singh urged to look into issue (Representational Photo)

The contractors are charging 750-to- 850 per quintal against the fixed rates of 550 per quintal. Those who argue with them are not given wood by the contractor. In such a situation, they have to bring the wood from other places, said former BJP corporator Ranjit Singh.

Following the letter from BJP corporators Rekha Roshni and Ranjit Singh, a committee has been formed by the municipal commissioner to look into the issue. Additional municipal commissioner Abhay Pandey, ADM (F&R), chief finance and accounts officer, and chief engineer LMC are the members of the committee. We are looking at the market rates of wood to decide the final price of the wood at the cremation grounds of Lucknow, said additional municipal commissioner Abhay Pandey.

The contractors are asking authorities to increase the rate in the range of 750 to 850 per quintal. The LMC administration has been unable to take any action in this regard. Instead of giving relief to the common man and acting against the contractors, the LMC is planning to increase the rate of firewood for dead bodies at Bhaisakund, Gulala Ghat, and Alambagh crematoriums, said Ranjit Singh.

On the other hand, wood sellers at the cremation ground say that this has been their traditional business. They are unhappy that the LMC has started fixing the rates of wood. In the past, LMC used to supply them with the wood but now, they have to get it from the open market and the rates have shot up there. This is why there has been a demand to fix the rate of wood at 850 per quintal. In the past few days, the non-availability of firewood for dead bodies forced the people coming to Bhaisakund to make arrangements for wood from other places.
The Manipur government is planning to set up a temporary shelter home near the border town of Moreh to accommodate around 5000 undocumented immigrants from Myanmar. Violence in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup has prompted hundreds of people to seek refuge in India. (HT PHOTO)

A Cabinet sub-committee of ministers Letpao Haokip, Awangbow Newmai, and Th Basanta Singh under chief minister N Biren Singhs supervision has been set up for the purpose. The team visited Moreh to inspect the area where the shelter is expected to come up and also interacted with the immigrants.

Manipur shares a 398 km long border with Myanmar, where violence following the 2021 military coup has prompted hundreds of people to seek refuge in India.

Officials said the Manipur government will provide essential commodities and basic amenities at the shelter home. Security personnel will also be deployed there and the shelter home will also have a health centre.

On Saturday, N Biren Singh said the sub-committee has been formed to monitor the immigrants who have taken refuge in Kamjong and Churachandpur districts and to send undocumented immigrants to the temporary shelter home.

He said biometric data of the immigrants at the shelter home will be taken and they will be given proper Identification cards. When the situation improves [in Myanmar], they will be sent back.
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LUCKNOW The Samajwadi Chhatrasabha on Monday staged a sit-in protest to oppose the recent decision of the Lucknow University (LU) to charge a one-time registration fee of 100 from candidates seeking admission in its affiliated degree colleges. The student organisation dubbed the move as arbitrary. The student organisation dubbed the move as arbitrary. (HT Photo)

Recently, the LU authorities decided that candidates seeking admission to nearly 550 colleges affiliated to LU in five districts -- including Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri and Rae Bareli -- would need to register themselves on the LU admission portal after paying 100. On the other hand, candidates seeking admission in National PG College would be exempted from the surcharge as it is an autonomous college.

The Samajwadi Chhatrasabha sought to know the reason for 100 fee when LU already takes enrollment fee at the time of admission. A 10-member delegation of the student organisation met vice chancellor Prof Alok Kumar Rai to express their displeasure. Student leaders said that many of them are facing financial problems due to loss of jobs or salary cuts and extra fee will only put an additional burden on the students, they said

Speaking on the issue, proctor Rakesh Dwivedi said, The student leaders interacted with the vice-chancellor for 20 minutes. Professor Rai explained them the purpose of candidate registration on the university portal. Thereafter, they left the office.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Chhatrasabha activists said that they requested the V-C to consider their demand to roll back the order. LU spokesperson Durgesh Srivastava said, The decision to charge 100 as registration fee is to help LU authorities ascertain how many candidates seek admission in the university and colleges after passing 10+2 exam and keep a track of them.

In the past, AISA and NSUI have also staged protest. In a tweet, AISA said, LU taking fees without rendering any service! It is loot, not fees. National Students Union of India (NSUI) activists have given representations to the university administration to revoke the decision.

Step-by-step guide to admission

Every candidate who wishes to seek admission in the Lucknow University or affiliated colleges from the session 2023-24 has to register for Lucknow University Registration Number (LURN) by visiting the admission page of Lucknow University website.

After registration, every registered candidate will be allotted LURN, which will be sent to his/her registered mobile number and email. For LURN, the candidate will have to deposit a 100 fee, which can be paid on the online admission portal only at the time of registration.

LURN is mandatory for every candidate taking admission in the Lucknow University and all its affiliated colleges. Lucknow University and Associated Colleges will take applications for admission of only those candidates who get their registration done and have received LURN. If any college takes admission of a candidate who does not have LURN, then the admission of that candidate will not be valid.

PIC CAPTION: Samajwadi Chhatrasabha activists requested LU V-C to roll back the order.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhis disqualification as a member of Parliament raised heat both inside as well as outside the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Monday. Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha with BJP legislators protest outside the Bihar Assembly on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Outside, Congress leaders marched with posters and banners and were joined by allies RJD, JD (U) and Left parties. The JD (U), which had stayed away from protests on the issue so far, too joined the march.

As soon as the proceedings of the Assembly got underway, BJP and the Congress legislators reached the well shouting slogans.

While BJP raised the issue of recent proposal of power tariff hike by 24% by the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) and wanted discussion on the matter, Congress members raised the issue of disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and described it as the murder of democracy.

Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha stood up as soon as the days proceedings began, saying the power tariff hike was connected to the common man and BJP had also moved an adjournment motion on it. People are angry and they may start agitation. The government must withdraw it, he said.

However, before Sinha could finish, Congress Legislature Party leader Ajeet Sharma raised the issue of Rahul Gandhis disqualification and wanted discussion on that first. Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary asked Sharma to raise the matter during the zero hour, but the slogan shouting Congress legislators trooped into the well with banners and posters. Many of the Congress legislators wore black kurta or shirt as a mark of protest.

Soon, BJP legislators also reached there, shouting slogans and carrying their posters and banners. The Speaker asked the marshals to remove the posters. Some RJD and CPI-ML workers also entered the well in support of the Congress demand. Later, with slogan shouting in the well continuing and nothing audible during the question hour, the BJP staged a walkout.

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As many as 3,590 candidates cleared the 68th Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) preliminary test conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), results of which were declared on Monday, as per a press release issued by the commission. Police personnel screen aspirants ahead of BPSC 67th prelims exam in Patna on May 8, 2022. (HT Photo)

Candidates who have cleared the preliminary test are eligible to appear for the BPSC main exam and interview.

As per the BPSC exam calendar, the 68th main examination will be conducted on May 12, followed by the declaration of results on July 26. After completion of written exams, the commission will conduct interviews on August 11, and the final results will be announced on October 9 tentatively.

Altogether 2,58,036 candidates appeared in the 68th preliminary test held on February 12 this year across 806 exam centres in the state.

Merit list has been prepared based on evaluation of OMR sheets. As many as 1,631 candidates have cleared the exam under unreserved category, 331 under the economically weaker section, 487 under Scheduled Caste, 52 under Scheduled Tribes, 499 under extremely backward class, 527 under backward class and 63 under backward class (female), the press release said.

The cutoff marks for the unreserved category is 91, economically weaker section 84, Scheduled Class 79.25, Schedule Tribes 74, Extremely Backward Class 86.50, and for Backward Class 87.75.

Qualified candidates can download their mark sheet from the official website www.bpsc.bih.nic.in.

The 68th BPSC exam is being conducted to fill 324 posts in various government departments .
Congress lawmakers dressed in black carried posters and banners inside and outside the Bihar assembly on Monday as they protested against Rahul Gandhis disqualification as a member of Parliament. Congress legislators rushed into the Well with banners and posters. (ANI)

Members of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United), and Left parties, which are Congresss allies in Bihars ruling alliance, also joined the protests.

As soon as the proceedings of the assembly got underway, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress legislators rushed into the Well of the House shouting slogans. The BJP raised the issue of the proposed increase in power tariff by 24% and wanted a discussion on the matter.

The Congress members raised the issue of Gandhis disqualification and described it as the murder of democracy.

As the days proceedings began, opposition leader Vijay Kumar Sinha said the proposed tariff increase concerns the common person. The BJP also moved an adjournment motion. People are angry and they may start agitation. The government must withdraw it.

Congress legislature party leader Ajeet Sharma raised the issue of disqualification and wanted a discussion on that first. The speaker asked Sharma to raise the matter during the zero hour. But the slogan-shouting Congress legislators rushed into the Well with banners and posters.

The BJP legislators followed suit and prompted the speaker to ask the marshals to remove the posters. Some RJD and Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist) Liberation members also entered the Well in support of the Congress. The BJP later staged a walkout.

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General Manoj Pande on Monday stated that Chinas transgressions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) continue to be a potential trigger for escalation and that the Indian Army is firm and resolute in dealing with the PLA Army. The army chief further explained that pockets of dispute and contested claims to the territory continue to exist due to differing perceptions of the alignment of LAC. (HT PHOTO)

Watch: Indian Army Chief's big warning to China on LAC standoff ; Transgressions trigger...

We have sufficient reserves and are ready to deal with any contingency. Our readiness remains high, and troops continue to deal with the PLA in a firm, resolute, and measured manner, all while ensuring the sanctity of our claims, he said.

He further explained that pockets of dispute and contested claims to the territory continue to exist due to differing perceptions of the alignment of LAC.

The army chief was addressing a gathering of defence intellectuals and research experts during the Second Strategic Dialogue on the rise of China and its implications for the world organised by the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU).

Also Read: Fully deployed India-China forces is new normal on LAC

Concerning the Sino-American rivalry, the army chief stated, Chinas rise is driven by its regional and global aspirations for a much larger and higher seat at the high table. The Chinese urgency to replace the US as the global net security provider is reflected in the brokering of peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the presentation of the Chinese 12-point peace plan for ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said.

Earlier in the speech, the army chief said, The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has only added to the turbulence in the landscape with many aspects emerging profoundly in the geopolitical security calculus. The relevance of hard power has been reaffirmed along with the primacy of the land in determining the victory markers and the imperative to be prepared for the long haul, he said

According to Army chief, the current engagement mechanisms exist at the political, diplomatic and military levels which are optimally utilised to ensure stability along the LAC and talks are continuing under this establishment mechanism. China has over the years accrued significant capacities for force mobilisation, application and sustenance of military operations. Consequent to the development of infrastructure of military significance- be it roads, airfields, helipads and or belating structures, he said.
Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Pune district administration and members of the Toll Naka Sangharsh Samiti conducted a meeting on Monday, to seek solution over the issue of removal of the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza. However, the Toll Naka Sangharsh Samit an umbrella organisation of residents from five tehsils of Pune district are determined to create a stir on Sunday, April 2 to remove the toll post. Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI and members of the Toll Naka Sangharsh Samiti conducted a meeting on Monday, to seek solution over the issue of removal of the Khed-Shivapur toll plaza (HT FILE PHOTO)

For the protest on April 2, the samiti met the officials of Nasrapur Rajgad police station on Monday to ensure there are no issues with the law and order during the protest.

In this meeting, sub-divisional officer of Haveli Sanjay Aswale, Bhor sub-divisional officer Rajendra Kachare, sub-divisional police officer Dhananjay Patil, NHAI Pune project director Sanjay Kadam, Bhor tehsildar Sachin Patil, Haveli tehsildar Kiran Sarwade, toll contractor company officer Amit Bhatia, Rajgad police senior inspector Sachin Patil along with Dyaneshwar Mauli Darwatkar, Shailesh Sonwane from Toll Sangharsh Committee were present.

Dyaneshwar Darwatkar, a member of the committee said, The meeting was held to find a solution, however, we are firm on holding the protest. The district administration must remove all toll plazas as they are illegally taking toll for the public.

Sanjay Kadam, the NHAI Pune project officer said, We tried to present our side about the toll operations. The decision to remove the toll plaza is not in our hands. We have not given any letter regarding removal of the toll post. The decision is taken by the central government, and we only follow orders.

Sub-divisional officer of Haveli Sanjay Aswale said that the toll is creating unrest among locals and the law must be followed to seek its removal.

Bhor sub-divisional officer Rajendra Kachare said, The decision must be taken strategically. In the next two days, a meeting will be held with the Pune district collector to resolve this issue.
PUNE A 14-year-old girl, resident of Bharati Vidyapeeth area of Pune city, was kidnapped and sold off for 50,000 to a 22-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh. Pune police have arrested two people in the case. The accused have been booked on charges of kidnapping, trafficking and rape. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

On January 17, the young girl left home to meet her sister at work when she was kidnapped. The girl was rescued on Sunday from Gyara village in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh.

The accused have been identified as Shanti alias Santo Harnam Kushwah (40), a resident of Girsawa in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh and Dharmendra Kiledarsingh Yadav (22), a resident of Gyara village.

Police said, the girl came in contact with accused Shanti who was working with her sister at her office. The accused took her to Madhya Pradesh on the pretext of attending a wedding ceremony of another person from the same office who is a resident of Madhya Pradesh.

She sold the girl to the accused Yadav, who paid her 50,000 and married the minor.

As the girl did not return home on January 17, family members filed a complaint after which a police team was formed to rescue the girl. A team of Pune city police went to Madhya Pradesh and rescued the girl.

During questioning, it came to light that the girl came in contact with the accused woman at her sisters office. She forcefully took the girl to Madhya Pradesh and later threatened her and sold her off to a man for 50,000, said deputy commissioner of police ( Zone II) Smratana Patil.

The accused have been booked on charges of kidnapping, trafficking and rape.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Monday protested against cutting civic bodys decision to cut 6,000 trees for the riverfront development project. However, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has said they will plant 65,000 trees along the riverfront as compensation. The civic body on Monday issued a press release stating that they will plant 65,000 trees to compensate cutting 6,000 trees. (HT PHOTO)

NCP city unit president Prashant Jagtap, spokesperson Pradip Deshmukh and urban cell head Nitin Kadam were part of the protests. Deshmukh was seen climbing a tree to protest.

Jagtap said, We are not opposing in the development works; however, the civic administration should take care of environment while coming up with any project. The development should happen with minimum disturbance to the environment. The PMC is cutting trees to please BJP leaders.

The civic body on Monday issued a press release stating that they will plant 65,000 trees to compensate cutting 6,000 trees.

PMC has planned to plant 65,434 trees.Though the civic body asked permission to cut trees, maximum of them are bushes. Technically only 3,110 trees will be cut, but 65,000 will be planted along the river. These trees will be local species. The PMC has followed all legal procedure and called for suggestions and objections over tree cutting. While some citizens opposed, the civic body called a hearing to address the issues. The proposal was later submitted and permission was obtained to cut the trees.
Pune: Residents thrashed a team of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) when the staff visited the housing society to repair a power meter at Chakan area in Pimpri Chinchwad over alleged disconnection of power supply to recover long-pending bills. Based on the complaint, the police have arrested Akshay Pannalal Chordia, Akash Pannalal Chordia and Pannalal Shankar Chordia (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

MSEDCL technician Mayur Chandrakant Chaudhari, 23, lodged a complaint at Chakan police station against four persons for assaulting him and his colleague at Sai Samrajya Society during their visit at around 11:30 am on March 26.

Based on the complaint, the police have arrested Akshay Pannalal Chordia, Akash Pannalal Chordia and Pannalal Shankar Chordia, residents of Sai Samrajya Society, and one unidentified person is still at large.

A case has been registered at Chakan police station under Sections 353, 342, 332, 323, 504, 506 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that covers charges of assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty.

Chaudhari, along with his colleague Shevare, was on duty repairing an electricity metre at Sai Samrajya Society when Akshay approached them and removed the ignition key from complainants motorcycle. The accused questioned the duo for disconnecting the power supply and disallowed them from leaving the society premises.

When the complainant tried to convince them that they were not involved in disrupting power supply, others joined Akshay and started beating them up. Accused Akash removed his belt and assaulted the complainant. When the staff tried to resist, the accused hit the complainants head with an iron rod.

Chaudhari said, Someone else from our team disconnected their power supply last fortnight. Even as power supply was restored, they abused and assaulted us to settle score.
PUNE Two people have been arrested for allegedly demanding a ransom of Rs3 crore from a city-based real estate developer by making a spoof call, impersonating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary and former mayor of the city Murlidhar Mohol, police officials said on Monday. Two people have been arrested impersonating BJP general secretary Murlidhar Mohol, police officials said on Monday. (HT PHOTO)

The incident took place on March 25 between 12pm and 5 pm.

The accused Shekhar Gajanan Takwane (35), a resident of Bhalekar Chawl in Karve Nagar and prime accused Sandeep Pirgonda Patil (33), a resident of Beknar in Kolhapur district, were arrested by the crime branch unit 3 of Pune city police on March 25.

Rajesh Vyas (56), a real estate developer, has filed a police complaint at Kothrud police station regarding the incident. One more person known to Mohol was also approached by the fraudsters, said police.

In the complaint, Vyas stated that on March 25 he received a call from the accused impersonating Mohol who sought 3 crore for a programme organised by the youth wing of the BJP.

According to the complainant, the caller ID showed calls from Mohol and his cousin Ravi Atole. He then approached Mohol and informed him about the call. Considering the gravity of the situation, Mohol approached Sandeep Karnik, joint commissioner of police.

As per instructions given by senior police officers, the crime branch unit laid a trap and asked the accused to come to collect 10 lakh from his office at Karve Road.

Police arrested Takawane and after taking him into confidence asked him to call prime accused Patil to ensure that the deal has been done.

On police instructions, Takawane asked Patil to meet him at Swargate Chowk. Accordingly, police laid a trap, but Patil suspected police movement and changed multiple locations and moved to Katraj Chowk, Sunset Point and Katraj old tunnel.

At Katrajs old tunnel in the evening of the same day, police set up another trap, and Takawane was arrested as he attempted to drive away in his car.

Senior police inspector Hemant Patil, Kothrud police station, said, The prime accused was jobless. He was working in a cooperative bank and lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the period he had borrowed 50 lakh and hence he needed money. 

Takawane and Patil knew each other. Takawane works as a caretaker of a temple where he first met Patil. After frequent meetings, they later hatched a plan on how to use modern technology spoofing to dupe people, said Patil.

According to police, during the initial investigation, it was found that prime accused Patil used to collect mobile numbers of various famous personalities and dupe people.

Amol Zende, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Pune city police, said, During the initial investigation, we have found accused Patil had called more than 50 people to extort money from them. After technical analysis of his mobile phones, we will get more information regarding the same.

Mohol said, Patil called my friends and tried to extort money in my name. As soon as I came to know about the incident, I approached police and filed a complaint.

Police have shown me their photos, but I have never met them, nor do I know them. One of the accused operated all these things from a village near Maharashtra -Karnataka border, said Mohol.

Police officials said that both accused dont have any previous criminal records.

A case has been registered at Kothrud police station under various sections including 384 (Punishment for extortion), 385 (Extortion), of the Indian Penal Code, and 66 (c), (d) (Impersonation using electronic gadgets) of the IT Act.
Bihar Board BSEB 10th Result 2023 Live Updates: Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is expected to make an announcement of Class 10 or Matric exam result date and time soon. BSEB will share this information on its official Facebook and Twitter pages. Bihar board 10th result will be available on results.biharboardonline.com. Students can also check BSEB Matric result on the HT portal (hindustantimes.com). Read: Bihar Board 10th Result 2023 Live: When is BSEB Matric result? See updates

Bihar Education Minister is likely to announce Matric results, in presence of BSEB officials. The board will hold a press conference to announce names of toppers and other details.

After that, students can visit the websites to view their scores. If the official website for Bihar 10th result crashes due to heavy traffic, students can use the HT portal to check their scores. They can also pre-register to get SMS alert.

BSEB 10th result 2023: HT Portal link for Bihar board Matric result
TN SSLC Hall Ticket 2023: Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE) Tamil Nadu is expected to release hall tickets or admit cards for SSLC or Class 10 final exam soon. Candidates can download it from dge.tn.gov.in, once released. TN SSLC 2023 Hall Ticket: How to download from dge.tn.gov.in(PTI Photo)

Application number and date of birth will be required to view and download it. Students can also contact their schools for updates on TN SSLC hall ticket 2023.

TN SSLC exam will be held from April 6 to 20. These are the steps to follow admit cards:

TN SSLC hall ticket 2023: How to download

Go to the official website of Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE): dge.tn.gov.in. On the home page, go to the hall ticket tab. Now, open the link to download SSLC public exam hall ticket. Enter your SSLC exam application number, date of birth and the auto-generated captcha code. Now login and check the admit card. Download it and take a printout for the exam day.
After much anticipation, the beloved anime series, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out, has finally unveiled it's main visual and trailer, sending fans into a frenzy. This new addition to the Rascal Does Not Dream universe is set to premiere in Japanese theatres on June 23, and follows the heartwarming journey of Sakuta Azusagawa and his sister Kaede as they face the challenges of adolescence together. After much anticipation, the beloved anime series, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out, has finally unveiled it's main visual and trailer, sending fans into a frenzy.(Cloverworks)

Sibling bonds: The heartwarming story of Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out

As Sakuta nears the end of his second year of high school, he must also help his younger sister overcome her supernatural affliction known as Adolescence Syndrome, which has kept her confined indoors. Together, they navigate the trials and tribulations of growing up, with all the heartwarming moments and difficulties that come with it. (Also Read: Bite-sized romance: 6 short romance anime for love on the go)

Back and better than ever: The talented team and cast behind the sequel of Rascal Does Not Dream of a Bunny Girl Senpai

Fans will be pleased to hear that the same talented team and cast that worked on the previous series are back for this sequel. They include director Souichi Masui, series composer and scriptwriter Masahiro Yokotani, and character designer Satomi Tamura. Returning cast members include Kaito Ishikawa, Asami Seto, Yurika Kubo, Nao Touyama, Atsumi Tanezaki, Maaya Uchida, and Inori Minase. (Also Read: Demon Slayer Season 3 & more: Must-watch anime of the second week of April 2023)

A universe expanding: Exciting news for fans of Rascal Does Not Dream

But that's not all! Fans can also look forward to a new addition to the Rascal Does Not Dream universe, with the upcoming adaptation of the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid novel. Although details are sparse at the moment, fans are already buzzing with excitement about what this new anime will bring to the table. (Also Read: Meet Hori and Miyamura in the new Horimiya anime, coming in July 2023)

The release of Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out is a highly-anticipated event for fans of the series. With its talented staff and cast, heartwarming story, and relatable characters, this anime is sure to be a sequel worth watching. Fans around the world are eagerly counting down the days until they can witness the latest adventures of Sakuta and Kaede.
In his latest project, Gulmohar, Jatin Goswami has received many accolades for his sensitive portrayal of a loyal worker in the Batra household who falls for the family cook (Santhy). For most of his filmography, the actor is often seen as an antagonist to the main character, so it was a welcome change to see him step into a different space. (Also read: Jatin Goswami: Finally, tide is in my favour) Jatin Goswami in a still from the Disney+ Hotstar film Gulmohar.

Jatin credited casting director Dilip Sarkar for seeing him in a new light. He said, I was pretty surprised because the kind of cinema that he casts [for] is very different from the general work that I have done till now. It was a pleasant surprise for me when he told me he's been scouting for me since 2016 -2017. I will give all the credit to him and Rahul [V Chittella], our director, because early on when I met with him and we spoke about the film, we were on the same page and it really helped.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, the actor spoke about his journey from theatre to the films, getting inspired by his batchmates like Rajkummar Rao at Punes Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), and his last conversation with his Patna Shukla co-star Satish Kaushik who died on March 9.

After Gulmohar, Jatin shared that people have started looking at him differently. He said, I have got a few very interesting parts which they are considering me for and they are extremely different from what I have done till now. I think people are opening up with that possibility.

Working with Manoj Bajpayee and Sharmila Tagore on Gulmohar was an amazing experience, the actor recalled. The cast was well-prepared even before the shoot started and even had a workshop that Manoj himself facilitated. Speaking about veteran actor Sharmila, Jatin revealed that she was supportive of everyone and told stories to the cast of the old days of Bollywood. He added, She really took me under her wing and she was so protective about me. There was a bond right from the beginning, the first day.

Jatin with Sharmila Tagore on the sets of Gulmohar.

No one in Jatins family is from the profession but he recalled being mesmerised by a play when he was really young. He recalled, When the lights went off and came on stage, I was so sucked into that world that it really interested me. It all started from there for me, wanting to be on stage. Once that started there was no looking back because I think I was made for this.

But despite his love for theatre, the actor discussed why it is not sustainable to earn a living in India. Jatin explained, No matter how much you want to do it, at some point of time, you have to choose. You cannot earn your bread and butter doing theatre in India. Either you find another way of earning and acting could be like a hobby or a side job. I was doing TIE [Theatre in Education] in Delhi, with Barry John, and I used to teach in schools. But after a few years, that was also not something I was extremely passionate about because my first passion was always to perform and act. Teaching and direction was a way of earning my bread and butter. After that I went to [FTII] in Pune, and I decided to work in films after that.

Last year, he reunited with his FTII batchmate Rajkummar Rao in the film Hit: The First Case. He said, It was exactly as if we were in FTII. Nothing changed. It was like we were in a classroom doing our workshop or scene work.

Jatin added he is so proud of his fellow actors and batchmates like Rajkummar, Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Varma and Sunny Hinduja. He felt the reason for their collective success was mutual induction. He shared, All of us were so good and we were all together. I'm sure that we all learnt from each other. It was like all of us inspiring each other and doing better. We were in FTII from 2005-2007. In 2008, at some point, we all kind of came to Mumbai.

The actor has been busy filming the SonyLIV series Garmi and another film with Arshad Warsi and Pratik Gandhi. Both projects are directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. Praising his young cast on Garmi, he revealed, It's based on student politics in a university. It's all about young people and their aspirations and politics. I'm really excited about that because it has enormous talent in actors and everyone is so good.

Later this year, he will also begin the second season of the web series, The Great Indian Murder. He teased, That is being planned and the writing has been done. This season is going to be bigger and better because the story is going out of India.

Jatin also completed the film Patna Shukla with Raveena Tandon which Arbaaz Khan has produced. He remembered late actor Satish Kaushik as an encouraging co-star. It's a huge loss personally. I would just love to sit around with him and listen to his stories and anecdotes. He would always encourage actors and motivate you. Tell you what to do and how to go about it, all very light-heartedly. There was always laughter and positivity around him, he said.

He continued, I had spoken to him on Holi. We had wished each other. We [had] been in touch all throughout. Jatin also added that Satish had planned a few films and shows in which he had offered him roles.
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui filed a defamation suit in the Bombay High Court seeking 100 crore damages from his former wife Aaliya Siddiqui alias Zainab Siddiqui. He also accused brother Shamasuddin Siddiqui in the matter of making defamatory and false statements against him. Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiqui will revoke petition against ex-wife Aaliya if he is allowed to meet his kids: report Nawazuddin Siddiqui is best know for his wen outings Sacred Games and Serious Men.

According to the news agency PTI, the actor has also sought a written apology from his former wife and brother. In the suit, he mentioned that Shamasuddin who was his manager in 2008, "blindly" assigned all financial work to him. It also alleged that Shamasuddin started cheating and defrauding Nawazuddin and purchased properties using the actor's money.

It further claimed that when the actor learnt about the fraud and raised queries, to which Shamasuddin instigated his ex-wife, Aaliya, to file a false case against Nawazuddin. Recently the actor and Aaliya were embroiled in a dispute over property.

Meanwhile, Nawazuddin also urged the High Court to permanently restrain Aaliya and his brother from making any statements or remarks that would defame him. He accused them of misappropriating 21 crore from him.

The suit also stated that when the actor demanded that properties be returned to him, Shamasuddin and Aaliya teamed up against him and started blackmailing via cheap videos and comments on social media. The matter will be reportedly heard on March 30 by a single bench of Justice Riyaz Chagla as per the news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, reacting to the defamation suit, Shamas levied multiple accusations on Nawazuddin. In a tweet, he accused the actor of ruining eleven years of his life and committing 11 other serious offences. He also claimed that the actor has been married thrice. Sharing a long list of such claims, Shamas wrote in Hindi, Dear brother #NawazuddinSiddiqui these are not allegations but emotions.

Nawazuddin made headlines back in January when Aaliya claimed that she was being harassed at Nawazuddin's home in Mumbai. She had returned with their kids--Shora and Yaani from Dubai. The actor's mother filed a complaint against her over a property dispute.

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Alia Bhatt on Monday treated fans to a bunch of photos from her trip to London this year. From enjoying walks with her husband Ranbir Kapoor to spending time with Shaheen Bhatt, Alia had quite the good time with her close people. She turned 30 and celebrated her birthday in the city. Also read: Alia Bhatt looks adorable as she shows baby bump in unseen pregnancy pic Alia Bhatt celebrated her 30th birthday with Ranbir Kapoor in London.

The first photo features Ranbir Kapoor and Alia walking on the street with their arms around each other. Both of them wore black outfits and had their backs towards the camera. This was followed by a gorgeous portrait photo of Alia at a restaurant in a white knit dress. She seemingly had no makeup while flaunting her dimples for the camera.

The next photo featured Alia cheerfully making the most of her time on a lakeside. She wore warm clothes and boots with a coffee cup in her hand. Another photo appeared to be a blurry glimpse of Ranbir during a bike ride in the evening.

Besides these, Alia also added a happy photo with Shaheen. She also seemingly made a quick pitstop at a place selling clothes and other items for babies. Sharing the photos, Alia wrote, LDN 2023, followed by a cake emoji. Reacting to it, Rhea Kapoor commented, Looking good!!!! Saba Pataudi sent her love in the comments as well.

On Alia's 30th birthday, the actor shared photos from a birthday dinner, where she was joined by Ranbir, mom Soni Razdan, Shaheen Kapoor and others close to her. Alia enjoyed a small plate of spaghetti and a dessert with cream strawberries. Sharing the photos, Alia wrote, T H I R T Y.

Alia was last seen in Brahmastra, alongside Ranbir Kapoor. Her next release will be seen in Karan Johar's upcoming romantic film Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani. It stars her opposite Ranveer Singh and also has Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan, and Shabana Azmi. The film is all set to hit the theatres on July 28.

She will also be making her Hollywood debut with Heart of Stone. Alia is also a part of Farhan Akhtar's directorial Jee Le Zara opposite Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra, whose shoot is likely to begin soon as the director is now scouting movie locations in Rajasthan.

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Ravi Kishan has revealed he once faced casting couch but managed to escape. The actor-politician was offered to have a coffee at night by a woman who is a big shot now. He is currently a member of Parliament from Gorakhpur and is regularly seen in Hindi, Bhojpuri, Telugu and Kannada films. Also read: When Ravi Kishans father had beaten him with leather belt for wanting to be an actor: Woh sab aashirvaad tha Ravi Kishan has shared an incident about casting couch.

Ravi Kishan is one of the biggest names in Bhojpuri film industry. He has also worked in several Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Last year, he was seen in the web series Khakee: The Bihar Chapter and some films as well.

Ravi was asked about casting couch during his recent appearance on Rajat Sharma's chat show Aap ki Adalat. He said, Yeah, it happened and this is something that happens in the industry. But I somehow managed to escape. My father had taught me that I should approach my work with honesty, I never wanted to take a shortcut. I knew I was talented.

I cant name her, because she has become a big shot now. She had said, Coffee peene raat me aayie (Come at night for a cup of coffee). I thought that is something people prefer to have during the day, so I got the hint and refused, he said as reported by Indianexpress.com.

Last year, Ravi Kishan hosted a singing reality show Swarn Swar Bharat. During the show, he shared about the struggles he faced for many years before acquiring fame. He said in Hindi, I come from a village which is located near Banaras. My father was a priest, I always wanted to become an actor since my childhood. In fact, I even took up the role of Sita in a Ramlila to pursue my passion, however, my father did not like me acting. On the other hand, my mother always supported me. She wanted me to fulfill my dream and pursue my passion for acting. Thats why, one fine day, my mother handed me 500 and with that money, I fled to Mumbai to follow my passion. Till date, even during the middle of elections when I am travelling, I call my mother to understand the situation on the ground. She's very smart and clever and has been my support system all my life.

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With SS Rajamouli's RRR, Ram Charan has become a global star with fans around the world. The actor, who turns 38 on March 27, made his Bollywood debut with Zanjeer in 2013. The film was a gamble as it introduced Ram to Hindi audiences and showed the actor taking on an iconic role once played by Amitabh Bachchan. The actor was once asked by a Bollywood star why he decided to take on the challenge, when Amitabh's son Abhishek Bachchan even didn't want to attempt it. He had shared that he was born to handle pressure. (Also Read | Kiara Advani celebrates Ram Charan's birthday on RC15 set with crew. See pics) Ram Charan in a still from Zanjeer (2013).

The remake of Zanjeer in 2013 was directed by Apoorva Lakhia and also starred Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Prakash Raj, Atul Kulkarni, and Mahie Gill. The film was also released in Telugu. The original 1973 version was directed by Prakash Mehra and had Jaya Bachchan, Pran, Ajit Khan and Bindu as part of the cast. While the actor was confident of taking on Hindi cinema at the time, he has not appeared in any other Hindi film after that. It is said that Ram has a special cameo in Salman Khan's Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan later this year.

In an interview with Hyderabad Times in 2013, the actor had spoken about his Bollywood debut with Zanjeer. He said, "A 'big star' in Bollywood recently told me, 'Do you know what you've gotten yourself into? Zanjeer is a movie every Indian has in his personal library. His own son doesn't want to attempt it because it's too much of a burden. Why do you want to do it?'. I just said, 'Sir, let me tell you I was born to handle pressure. I've had people coming to me and saying I have to fill my dad's shoes.' But with Mr Bachchan's film, the shoes just got bigger!"

Ram was last seen in the Oscar-winning Telugu film RRR (2022) with Jr NTR and Alia Bhatt. The actor had travelled to the US earlier this year to promote the film during awards season and attended the Oscars ceremony with his wife Upasana Konidela. In December 2022, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child this year.

The actor is currently filming for his next, tentatively titled RC 15, with director Shankar. He will be starring opposite Kiara Advani in the action film. Shankar and Ram are working together for the first time in a Telugu film.

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Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston says she had a gala time gorging on Indian food and donning a "beautiful" lehenga by Indian fashion designer Manish Malhotra for her upcoming film Murder Mystery 2. Aniston, who enjoys a huge fan following in India courtesy her hit 1990s sitcom Friends, wore an ivory-coloured chikankari lehenga designed by Malhotra for an Indian wedding sequence in the Netflix movie. Also read: Jennifer Aniston desires to do a movie with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler to put an end to the competition Jennifer Aniston in a still from Murder Mystery 2.

Renowned Hollywood costume designer Debra Mcguire had picked the ensemble for the actor. Aniston, 54, described the dress, which took approximately three months to create, as a "beautiful" attire which was surprisingly heavy. "It was a beautiful, beautiful dress," the actor told PTI in a virtual roundtable interview.

Sandler, who was also part of the conversation, said Aniston "looked stunning" in the lehenga. "Thank you, sweetheart," she responded to her co-star's praise.

"It was extremely heavy and I wasn't expecting that. So much respect for all the beautiful women of India who have to not only wear it, but dance their b**** off. We had a really good time," she added.

The new Netflix movie is the sequel to 2019's Murder Mystery, which followed married couple Nick and Audrey Spitz who get caught up in a murder investigation on a billionaire's yacht.

Murder Mystery 2 lifts off four years after the events of the first film in the comedy mystery franchise. Now, the Spitzes are full-time detectives struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground when theyre invited to celebrate the wedding of their friend the Maharaja (Adeel Akhtar) on his private island, a character introduced in the first film.

But trouble follows the Spitzes again when the groom is kidnapped for ransom soon after the festivities begin  making each glamorous guest, family member, and the bride herself a suspect.

Aniston and Sandler have previously worked together in the 2011 romantic comedy Just Go with It. Aniston said they shot the wedding scene for three days in Hawaii. The actors, who are real-life friends and share great chemistry on screen, were also completing each other's sentences in the roundtable interview. "We had five days to shoot that scene," she said, to which Sandler, 56, added, "And dance and eat Indian food."

"Food and be happy. But remember how long it took? We also shot it in Hawaii for three days," Aniston continued. Sandler once again dished out a compliment to his co-star. "It was hot. You looked fantastic," he said.

The wedding scene, which comes at an important juncture in the film, directed by Jeremy Garelick, begins with festivities that involved many dancers. "The dancers were exquisite. It was so beautiful. It was gorgeous. So much fun," Aniston recalled.

Murder Mystery 2, penned by James Vanderbilt, sends Nick and Audrey Spitz on a high-stakes case that finally gives them everything theyve ever dreamed of: a shot at their detective agency finally becoming successful and their long-awaited trip to Paris.

Asked if a third part would follow in the franchise, Sandler said they are yet to take a call on that, but added that he would love to come to India some day. "I've never been to India. I would love to be there. My friends have been there. They show me pictures, videos, it looks incredible. We'll talk (about Murder Mystery 3) once that (topic) comes, we'll figure it out. But that would be fun," the actor said.

Also starring Mark Strong, Melanie Laurent, Jodie Turner-Smith, John Kani, Kuhoo Verma, Enrique Arce, and Zurin Villanueva with Dany Boon, Murder Mystery 2 will stream on Netflix from March 31.
Marvel star Jonathan Majors was arrested on Saturday following the assault charges pressed by his girlfriend in New York City. The unnamed victim, a 30-year-old woman, had suffered minor injuries to her head and neck and told the police that she was assaulted. Now, the actor's defense lawyer has revealed that the actor is completely innocent and termed him provably the victim in the case. (Also read: Marvel star Jonathan Majors arrested in New York for assaulting girlfriend, rep says he did 'nothing wrong') The defense lawyer of actor Jonathan Majors has asserted that the actor is 'completely innocent' in the case,

Jonathan Majors was arrested around 11:15 a.m. on Saturday morning near West 22nd Street and 8th Avenue in Chelsea from an apartment after the police was alerted to a 911 call. The woman, who was Jonathan's girlfriend, told the police that the actor and her got into an argument in a taxi while returning home from a bar in Brooklyn. He then proceeded to slap her and put his arms around her neck.

According to a report by Variety, his criminal defense lawyer Priya Chaudhry has said, "Jonathan Majors is completely innocent and is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently. All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever. Unfortunately, this incident came about because this woman was having an emotional crisis, for which she was taken to a hospital yesterday. The NYPD is required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested. We expect these charges to be dropped soon. Jonathan was ultimately charged with two counts of assault in the third degree, attempted assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, and harassment in the second degree.

Earlier, the actor's representative had denied the charges pressed against the actor and said, "He has done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up. Jonathan Majors had two big releases this year with Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. His film Magazine Dreams, also received acclaim this year after its premiere at Sundance Film Festival.

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Actor Ram Charan is hosting a birthday bash in Hyderabad and several celebrities of the industry have joined him and his family on the occasion. Ram Charan turned 38 on Monday. From Vijay Deverakonda to filmmaker SS Rajamouli to Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya, several notable celebrities of Telugu films were snapped reaching the party venue. Also read: Ram Charan announces his film RC 15 is titled Game Changer Celebs at Ram Charan's 38th birthday party in Hyderabad. (Viral Bhayani/ Varinder Chawla)

In attendance was also RRR's Naatu Naatu music composer MM Keeravaani who was reported to be covid positive. Quashing all health speculations, the Oscar-award-winning music maestro arrived in a white shirt and denim look.

MM Keeravaani at Ram Charan's 38th birthday party in Hyderabad. (Varinder Chawla)

RRR director SS Rajamouli wore a printed shirt with pants and posed for paparazzi stationed outside the party venue. Actor Vijay Deverakonda joined them in an all-white look, which included a white blazer, white shirt and matching pants and shoes. Kajal Aggarwal and her husband Gautam Kitchlu arrived together.

Besides them, Nagarjuna and his wife Amala Akkineni, Naga Chaitanya, Naga Babu Konidela, Adivi Sesh, Allu Aravind and Vamshi Paidipally were in attendance. Dil Raju, Harish Shankar, Meka Srikanth, Naveen Yerneni and Y Ravi Shankar were also seen reaching the party on Monday night.

Earlier in the day, Ram Charan's wife Upasana Konidela had dropped a short and sweet note for him. She posted a couple of their mushy photos and called him her bestie. She wrote, "Happy Happy Birthday Bestie @alwaysramcharan. The couple is currently expecting their first child.

Ram Charan had a pre-birthday celebration with the team of his next film. On the sets of the film, he was surprised with a bash on Saturday. He was welcomed with rose petals being showered upon him and he also cut a cake. S Shankar, choreographer-actor Prabhu Deva and Kiara Advani were seen as a part of the celebrations.

Celebrating his birthday, Ram Charan also unveiled that his upcoming film has been titled Game Changer. It was tentatively named RC 15. Taking to Instagram Stories, the actor shared a teaser, which began with a roulette wheel and ended with a chess board. Ram captioned the post, "#GameChanger it is!" His last outings were RRR and Acharya. He will also be making a special appearance in a song of Salman Khan's Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.

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Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is busy promoting her upcoming film Shaakuntalam, has reacted to a fan who asked her to date someone. Taking to Twitter, a fan recently posted an edited clip of Samantha talking on a show. (Also Read | Samantha Ruth Prabhu reacts to trolls blaming her for rumours about ex-husband Naga Chaityana dating Shobhita Dhulipala) Samantha Ruth Prabhu wore a white saree for the Shaakuntalam trailer launch.

The person captioned it, "I know it's not my place to say, but plz date someone @Samanthaprabhu2." The actor responded, "Who will love me like you do (heart hands emoji)."

Samantha was married to actor Naga Chaitanya. The duo announced their separation in October 2021. They issued statements on their respective social media accounts. To all our well-wishers. After much deliberation and thought Chay and I have decided to part ways as husband and wife to pursue our own paths, Samantha had written.

She had also said, We are fortunate to have a friendship of over a decade that was the very core of our relationship which we believe will always hold a special bond between us. We request our fans, well wishers and the media to support us during this difficult time and give us the privacy we need to move on. Thanking you for your support.

Fans will see Samantha next in Shaakuntalam, scheduled to release on April 14. Directed by Gunasekhar, the mythological romantic drama also stars Dev Mohan in the lead role. It will release in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada.

Samantha also has Kushi with Vijay Deverakonda, which will hit the screens on September 1. The Telugu-language family entertainer is helmed by Shiva Nirvana and produced by Mythri Movie Makers.

She also has the Indian adaptation of the international series Citadel in the pipeline alongside Varun Dhawan. The action-packed series has been created by Raj and DK. Earlier, Samantha had said about the series, as quoted by news agency ANI, When Prime Video and Raj and DK approached me with this project, I decided to take it up in a heartbeat! After working with this team on The Family Man, it is homecoming for me.

She had also added, "The Citadel universe, the interconnected storylines between the productions across the globe, and most importantly, the script of the Indian installment really excited me. I am thrilled to be a part of this brilliant universe conceptualised by the Russo Brothers' AGBO. I am also looking forward to be working with Varun for the first time, on this project. He is someone who is full of life and cheer when you're around him."

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The number of environment, forest, wildlife and coastal zone regulation clearances granted in India jumped 21 times in five years -- from 577 in 2018 to 12,496 in 2022 (also the highest in five years), the environment ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. The numbers were revealed in the Lok Sabha. (ANI)

The clearances were given through the Parivesh portal, junior environment minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, responding to a question by Pocha Brahmananda Reddy and Beesetti Venkata Satyavathi, MPs from Andhra Pradesh.

The ministry has made several policy and technological interventions to remove redundancy and streamline the clearance process with environmental safeguards, he said. The average time taken to provide approvals at the central level has reduced significantly from more than 150 days in 2019 to less than 70 days in 2022, he added.

All processing of proposals for grant of environmental clearance is on the basis of Environment Impact Assessment/Environment Management Plan, examined by the duly constituted Expert Appraisal Committees (EACs) and final approval is given only after incorporating general and specific conditions so as to ensure compliances of environmental standards and safeguards, he said.

Also Read| India wants to be part of solution, not problem, in climate change debate: Yadav

The single-window system ensures ease of doing business, he said. The existing PARIVESH portal launched at the Central level in August 2018 has met its objectives and facilitated uninterrupted services to the industries even during the difficult period of Covid, Choubey said.

The central government will use the geographic information system to grant faster environmental clearances for infrastructure projects through the recently launched Parivesh 2.0, HT reported on December 2. The use of technology will further reduce the time taken to approve proposals by as much as 30%, officials had said.

It is important to bring efficiency and professionalism to the environmental regulatory system, said Kanchi Kohli, legal researcher at the Centre for Policy Research, a think tank. At the same time, the quality and veracity of the decision-making process are equally important as the outcomes have a direct bearing on socioeconomic relationships and ecological networks. Such a system can also help strengthen regulatory practice and institutional frameworks.
GUWAHATI: A massive manhunt is underway in Arunachal Pradeshs Tirap district to nab two prisoners including a cadre of the Nikki-Sumi faction of NSCN(K) who escaped from the district jail on Sunday evening after killing a constable. A (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

We have launched massive combing operation with help of Assam Rifles to nab the escaped prisoners. There are some definite clues about their whereabouts, and we are hopeful of arresting them soon, Arunachal Pradesh Police spokesperson Rohit Rajbir Singh said on Monday.

The two have been identified as Rocksen Homchha, a cadre of the Nikki-Sumi faction of National Social Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), and the other as Titpu Kitnya, a murder accused.

According to police, the two managed to snatch the assault rifle of a constable, Wangnyam Bosai, on Sunday evening. The constable received gunshot injuries in the process when he tried to stop them.

The injured constable was rushed to Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Assams Dibrugarh, but he died of his injuries on the way.

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The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that a man on death row for 25 years be released after an inquiry found that he was a minor in 1994, when he and two others killed seven of a family. A view of the Supreme Court building, the apex judicial body of India, in New Delhi on Tuesday.(ANI)

The convicts broke into a house in Pune 29 years ago to carry out a robbery and murdered five women and two children, according to the FIR in the case. In September 2000, the top court upheld the capital punishment granted to convict Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary by a district court and the Bombay high court. One of the convicts , Raju, turned approver and was pardoned. The death sentence of the third man, Jeetendra Nainsingh, was commuted in 2016. Chaudhary is currently lodged in the Nagpur central jail.

A bench of justices KM Joseph, Aniruddha Bose and Hrishikesh Roy relied on the birth certificate issued by a government school in Rajasthan, where the convict studied till Class 3, to conclude that he was 12 years of age at the time of the crime.

Going by the certificate (of birth), his age at the time of the commission of offence was 12 years and 6 months. Thus, he was a child/juvenile on the date of commission of offence (August 26, 1994) for which he has been convicted in terms of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015,  the bench said.

Also Read: Life imprisonment for seven for sacrificing 2 young siblings

The court added that since the maximum punishment for a delinquent juvenile under the 2015 act is three years, the convict should be released.

He shall be set free forthwith from the correctional home in which he remains imprisoned as he has suffered imprisonment for more than 28 years, said justice Bose, authoring the 68-page judgment for the bench.

Chaudhary moved an application in the Supreme Court in 2018 seeking the reopening of his review petition on the ground that he was a juvenile at the time of crime. In January 2019, the top court referred the matter to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Pune to hold an inquiry.

The Maharashtra government led by advocate Sachin Patil argued that the convict had different ages as reflected by the charge sheet (showing his age to be 20-22 years) and the electoral roll which showed his age as 19 years at the time of the crime. The court, however, held that the birth certificate provide conclusive proof that he was a minor at the time of the crime.
Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra followed her Monday morning jab at the government  over the Adani-Hindenburg row - with a screenshot of a corporate affairs ministry statement (from July 2021) that said the government had identified over 2.38 lakh shell companies between 2018 and 2021. Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra (File)

The jab was in reference to an earlier tweet that flagged a finance ministry note shared in the Rajya Sabha that said data regarding offshore shell companies owned by Indian citizens is 'unavailable'.

"Government identified 2,38,223 shell companies without any specific definition in law. Blinkers on only when it comes to Adani Group family shells in Mauritius!" she tweeted with the screenshot.

This morning Mahua Moitra shared a reply by the finance ministry to a question by MP Dr John Brittas - who had asked for 'details of offshore shell companies whose Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) are held by Indian citizens'.

The government responded: " is submitted that an offshore shell company is not defined in the Acts administered by the Ministry of Finance. Data/details regarding offshore shell companies owned by Indian citizens is not available."

READ | Mahua Moitra on Gautam Adani: 'How can govt take action'

"How can the government take action against Adani? Finance Ministry does not know definition of shell firm! Written answer in RS says no clue hence no action," she had tweeted, also sharing a photo of the proverbial 'three wise monkeys' and tagging finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The opposition in India has banded together in its criticism of prime minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over the Adani-Hindenburg row and the controversial disqualification of the Congress' Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha after his conviction in the 'Modi surname' case.

This morning 17 opposition parties met in Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's Parliament chambers to chalk out a plan of attack; the BJP also held a meet.

READ | Cong' 'black shirt' protest for Rahul Gandhi sees surprise visit by TMC

The presence of 2 MPs from the Trinamool, representation by Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the participation of ex Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party was notable.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool has kept its distance from the Congress in recent months as it looks to mount a non-Congress challenge to the BJP in 2024; Akhilesh Yadav and she last week agreed to stay away from both sides.

READ | Mamata, Akhilesh to maintain 'equal distance' from BJP, Congress

In January a Hindenburg Research report accused Gautam Adani's Adani Group of 'accounting fraud' and using offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices.

That triggered a rout of Adani Group stocks and the Gautam Adani's personal fortune - to the tune of $120 billion+ and $28 million .

It also led to a row between the BJP and the opposition, which has seen protests nationwide and repeated stalling of Parliament's reconvened Budget session.

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India has requested the Nepal government not to allow fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in Nepal, to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using Indian passport or any other fake passport, a media report said on Monday. Amritpal Singh, Khalistani leader.(HT_PRINT)

In a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

"Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it. (ALSO READ: Radical Sikh bodies object to Akal Takht Jathedars remark on Amritpal Singh)

"The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission, it said.

The letter and Singh's personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources.

Singh, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him.

The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.
A new picture of fugitive 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on Monday on social media even as the hunt for the pro-Khalistani leader entered Day 10. Amritpal has remained untraceable since a Punjab Police crackdown against him and members of his Waris Punjab De began on March 18. In the picture, it appears that Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh are sitting atop a truck.

In the picture, it appears that Amritpal and Papalpreet are sitting atop a truck. Papalpreet is said to be Amritpals mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistans spy agency ISI. In the photo, Amritpal is seen wearing a jacket, a maroon turban and sunglasses. Amritpal is also seen holding a can. His companion, sitting beside him, is in a sweatshirt.

In another picture, Amritpal and Papalpreet can be seen sitting on a three-wheeler along with a bike, apparently used to flee Punjab.

In another picture, Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh can be seen sitting on a three-wheeler along with a bike.

Amritpal and Papalpreet were allegedly harboured by a woman, identified as Baljit Kaur, at her home in Shahabad in Haryana's Kurukshetra district on March 19, the police had earlier said. She has been arrested by the Punjab Police.

Also Read: Radical Sikh bodies object to Akal Takht Jathedars remark on Amritpal Singh

The police operation began about three weeks after Amritpal and his supporters stormed into the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man. Six police personnel were injured.

On March 25, CCTV footage emerged purportedly showing Amritpal talking on a mobile phone. The preacher escaped the police dragnet in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.

He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

Meanwhile, one more associate of Amritpal was brought to Assam on Monday and lodged at the Dibrugarh Central Jail where seven others like him are already there. Varinder Singh, suspected to be the bodyguard of the fugitive Amritpal, was arrested a few days ago in Punjab.

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The Indian embassy in Kathmandu has alerted the Nepal government that fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh could sneak into the country using a fake passport. Singh has been on the run since March 18. (HT print photo)

A note verbale or unsigned diplomatic correspondence sent by the Indian embassy to the department of consular services of Nepals foreign ministry and the department of immigration warned that Singh, the subject of a Look Out Circular in India, may try to escape through Nepal on an Indian passport or fake passport of any other country

The note verbale dated March 25, reviewed by HT, enclosed information on the possible looks and Indian passports that could be used by Singh.

It further included a brief description of Singhs physical features, giving his age as 30 and his complexion as fair wheatish.

Also Read: Crackdown on Amritpal: 197 released so far, seven detained under NSA, say cops

The Indian embassy asked the Nepal government not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country. It also asked Nepals authorities to arrest Amritpal Singh if he attempts to escape from Nepal using [an] Indian passport or any other fake passport and to alert the Indian mission in this regard.

Singh is the focus of a massive manhunt currently underway in Punjab. Almost 100 people have been arrested after Punjab Police launched a crackdown on Singh, chief of Waris Punjab De, and his followers. Singh is considered a proponent of the separatist Khalistan movement.

The crackdown has been followed by protests by pro-Khalistan groups in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.

India has lodged strong protests with Canada, the UK and the US over these protests and the vandalisation of its diplomatic premises in these countries.

The hunt for the pro-Khalistani leader entered the tenth day on Monday.

Amritpal has remained untraceable since a Punjab Police crackdown against him and members of his Waris Punjab De began on March 18.

In the latest development, a new picture of fugitive Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced on Monday on social media.

In the picture, it appears that Amritpal and Papalpreet are sitting atop a truck. Papalpreet is said to be Amritpals mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistans spy agency ISI. In the photo, Amritpal is seen wearing a jacket, a maroon turban and sunglasses. Amritpal is also seen holding a can. His companion, sitting beside him, is in a sweatshirt.

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Bengaluru: Members of the Banjara community on Monday pelted stones at former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappas residence at Shikaripura in Shivamogga district, demanding withdrawal of the internal reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) announced by the state government. People belonging to the Banjara community protest against the state cabinet's decision to give internal reservation amongst the Scheduled Castes, in Shivamogga on Monday. (PTI)

The community, a subgroup of Scheduled Castes, is apprehensive about its share of reservation under the new system going down. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, however, claimed that the reservation for Banjaras will increase under the new system as he accused the opposition Congress of instigating the community.

Hundreds of agitating members of the Banjara community clashed with police personnel deployed at Yediyurappas house. They hurled stones at the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders residence, damaging window glasses, even as the police used batons to disperse the protesters, who included women.

Several police personnel and members of the community were also reportedly injured due to stone pelting. The protesters also set ablaze posters of Yediyurappa and Bommai.

Today (Monday) morning, over 1,000 people arrived at the tahsildars office to submit a memorandum. We had set up barricades and deployed police personnel. The protesters jumped over the barricades which resulted in violence, said superintendent of police (SP), Shivamogga, GK Mithun Kumar. Four police personnel were also injured and they are being treated at a hospital.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been imposed in Shikaripur town limits to prevent untoward incidents, said the SP, who visited the town to take stock of the situation.

Additional police force has been deployed and the situation is under control, he added.

On Friday, the state government recommended to the Centre a new breakup of the reservation for SCs in education and jobs in the southern state, where assembly elections are due by May.

Of the 17% reservation for SCs, the state cabinet has recommended a 6% internal quota for SC (left) sub-category, 5.5% for SC (right), 4.5% for touchables and 1% for others.

Dalits constitute about 20% of the state population and are broadly divided into two groups  Dalit left and Dalit right. The Dalit left, who are about 70% of the SC population, are considered more deprived than the Dalit right. All sub-categories can be divided into these two groups. Experts said the divisions are on the basis of a belief that, in the 17th century, those who worked in farms now constitute Dalit left and those who were administrators are now Dalit right. All 101 caste groups, who were considered original inhabitants of Karnataka and faced oppression from invaders, were given SC reservation post-Independence.

The state government also wrote to the Centre recommending that the proposal be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution, to give it immunity from judicial review.

The Banjara community has opposed the cabinets decision to introduce internal reservation amongst the SCs, alleging that less reservation was given to the touchables sub-category, to which the Banjaras belong.

We are disappointed that we will get only 4.5% reservation. Yediyurappa has appealed to not arrest anyone, but we are at the police station now. We wanted to submit a memorandum to the tahsildar in a peaceful manner, but the police did not let us in. They also lathi-charged some members of community, which led to stone pelting, said Raghavendra Naik, a Banjara community leader.

Our fight does not end here. There are about 45,000 voters from the Banjara community in Shikaripura constituency. We will make sure we give a befitting reply in the elections if justice is not given to us, Naik added.

Reacting to the incident, chief minister Bommai blamed local Congress leaders for instigating people. The Congress is unable to digest the social justice done to every community and is resorting to inciting violence, Bommai told reporters, urging the Banjara community to not fall for any hearsay.

Yediyurappa, who is a member of the BJPs top Parliamentary board, said the incident occurred due to the misunderstanding.

I will speak with leaders of the Banjara community. I have been working for the development of Shikaripura for the last 50 years. There is some miscommunication among the protesters, he told reporters. I have asked the SP and DC not to take any stringent action. I will speak with the leaders of the Banjara community in a day or two.

The Banjara community has urged the BJP-led state government to drop the Justice AJ Sadashiva Commission report, which recommended a proportional representation to sub-categories among SCs, terming it is unscientific.

Bommai, however, said the internal reservation was done as per the recommendations of the cabinet sub-committee and not the AJ Sadashiva Commission. The Banjara community has apprehension that it would be removed from the SC category. But there is no need to worry about it. Instead of 3% reservation for the Banjara community, we have given 4.5% reservation, the CM said. I would like to tell the Banjara leaders that we have protected the interest of the community.

Bommai said Yediyurappa had constituted the Tanda (Lamani hamlet) Development Corporation and provided all the facilities to the Tandas in Shivamogga district. There should not be any room for violence. If there is any issue, then it can be resolved by sitting across the table, he said.

Sharply criticising the Congress, the CM said it was highly condemnable to create unrest in the society for political gain.

Political analyst Chambi Puranik said the ongoing protests will not have any major impact on the upcoming assembly polls. Those who dont have clarity jump to conclusions and resort to such protests. But it not a serious development and wont have a big impact on the upcoming elections.

Congress leaders were not available for comment.
Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Monday took to Twitter to announce the birth of his first child. Sharing a picture with the newborn, he said that God sent a daughter as a gift. Tejashwi Yadav shared a picture with his first child. (Twitter)

The younger son of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav, wrote, God has been pleased and sent a gift in the form of a daughter.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader is married to Rachel Godinho, now known as Rajeshwari Yadav.

Yadavs sister Rohini Acharya, too, shared her delight adding that a new guest in the form of a little angel has arrived in their house.

Investigation agencies had on Saturday questioned Yadav and his MP sister Misa Bharti in connection with the railways land-for-jobs case.

While Yadav was quizzed by the CBI for more than eight hours, the ED questioned Bharti for over six hours, they said. He had previously skipped three summons, one of which was owing to his pregnant wife being in the hospital, ANI reported.

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One of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case during the 2002 Gujarat riots shared stage with ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers in Gujarats Dahod ahead of the Supreme Courts hearing on Monday of petitions against the grant of remission to him and the 10 others. BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor shared photos showing Shailesh Bhatt, the convict, at the launch of a water supply scheme. (Twitter)

A Supreme Court bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna will hear petitions against the Gujarat governments move to grant remission to the 11 convicts sentenced to life for gang raping Bano and murdering her family members during the riots.

Bano was 21 and five-month pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence during the riots. Her three-year-old daughter was among those killed.

BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Jasvantsinh Bhabhor shared photos on social media showing Shailesh Bhatt, one of the 11 convicts, at the launch of a water supply scheme in Dahod on Saturday. Shaileshbhai Bhabhor, a BJP member of the Gujarat assembly, was also present at the event.

In a tweet, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra referred to Bhatts presence at the event and said she wants India to reclaim her moral compass. I want to see these monsters back in jail & the key thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out, she tweeted.

Telanganas ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi lawmaker K Kavitha said perpetrators of heinous crimes against women were being celebrated. What have we become as a community that perpetrators of heinous crimes against women are being celebrated and given a platform while the victims plead for justice. India is watching! she tweeted.

Shiromani Akali Dal MP and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said giving a place of pride and rehabilitating the rapist is reprehensible for any political party, especially the ruling BJP. It signals to women that for this party politics is above womens dignity & all talk of respect of women is nothing more than mere sloganeering, she tweeted.

The convicts were garlanded and offered sweets after they walked out of jail on August 15. Ruling BJP lawmaker CK Raulji defended their release saying they are Brahmins with good values.

Justices Joseph and Nagarathna will on Monday take six petitions challenging the remission days after Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on Wednesday last agreed to consider setting up the new bench as Banos lawyer pointed out that the matter was not heard since December.

Also read | Bilkis Bano case: In SC, Gujarat says convicts released after Centres nod

One of the convicts, Radheshyam Shah, approached the Supreme Court seeking remission, arguing that he spent over 15 years in prison.

The Gujarat government filed an affidavit on October 17, saying the Union ministry of home affairs approved the early release of the convicts while the state took into account their good behaviour as a key reason to grant remission.

The affidavit said that the remission was granted despite objections from the trial court judge, who convicted the 11 men, and the Central Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the matter. The trial in the case was held in Mumbai following a 2004 Supreme Court order shifting it outside Gujarat.

In November, Bano approached the Supreme Court against the Gujarat governments decision to allow the 11 men to walk out of jail. She said the gravity of the crime would disentitle the convicts from getting the benefit of an early release. She explained the delay in approaching the court saying she was shattered by the early release of all the convicts and could not regroup herself to be able to take a decision to challenge their release at the earliest.
Until the third week of the second part of the Parliament session, there was a stalemate in which the opposition demanded JPC on the Adani issue and the Treasury benches demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London. A new row erupted last week after Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP following his conviction in the 2019 'Modi surname case' by a Surat court. The Congress party has been protesting the disqualification across the states, culminating in a day-long "Sankalp Satyagraha" on Sunday at Rajghat.

Opposition MPs were seen wearing black to Parliament today to protest the Centre's handling of the Adani issue and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

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Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were thrown into disarray on Monday as Opposition MPs protested by wearing black and raising their slogans and holding placards of Save Democracy. Despite efforts to restore order, both Houses' proceedings were disrupted, with the Congress party leading the charge by raising issues related to the Adani-Hindenburg controversy and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament. Opposition MPs protest inside Lok Sabha which led to adjournment of the House on Monday.

Watch | Lok Sabha MPs from Oppn throw papers at Speaker | Rahul Disqualification Row

As the House proceedings began in Lok Sabha, a group of MPs waved black cloth at Speaker Om Birla, prompting him to adjourn the House until 4pm. However, the protest continued as Congress MPs tore papers and hurled them at the Speaker's chair. In an alarming show of defiance, a banner was thrown at the Speaker's Chair after he had left the House, heightening tensions and creating a chaotic environment.

Watch: Lok Sabha MPs from Opposition throw papers, placard at Speaker | Rahul Disqualification Row

Outside of Parliament, lawmakers from 18 opposition parties came together to voice their concerns, dressed in black and waving posters that warned of the looming threat to India's democratic values. The opposition MPs marched towards Vijay Chowk, determined to make their voices heard.

Also Read | 'Black shirt' protest for Rahul Gandhi, surprise TMC visit and Parliament chaos

The government wants to suppress the opposition and their voice, said Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajya Sabha leader of the opposition (LoP) and president of the Congress party.

Despite the ongoing uproar from the opposition over the Adani controversy, Parliament managed to approve the Union Budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2023-24. On Monday, the Lok Sabha cleared the Finance Bill after it had been amended by the Rajya Sabha. The amendment in question sought to rectify an error related to the tax rate on Securities Transaction Tax (STT), and was moved by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.

Since the beginning of the Budget session of Parliament, the Congress has been vocal in its opposition to the Adani-Hindenburg controversy, and has raised concerns about the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group. In an effort to address these concerns, the Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee-led investigation into the Adani issue, and has staged numerous protests within the Parliament.

The second part of the ongoing Budget Session began on March 13 and is scheduled to continue until April 6.

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A joint meeting of opposition leaders in Parliament Monday morning - called by the Congress after Rahul Gandhi's controversial disqualification from the Lok Sabha - had two surprise attendees - Prasun Banerjee and Jawhar Sircar of the Trinamool, which has remained largely aloof from Congress-led attempts to unite the opposition and challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Opposition MPs wear black to protest Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification and attend a meeting at Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber in Parliament House in New Delhi, Monday, March 27, 2023.(PTI Photo)

Their presence was noted by Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge, who said his party 'welcome(s) anyone who comes forward to protect democracy'.

"I thank everyone who supported this. That is why I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us," Kharge said.

Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed the leaders gathered in Kharge's office and the Congress' representatives wearing black shirts as a mark of protest. Other visuals showed MPs in black shirts - including ex-Congress chief Sonia Gandhi - protesting outside the Gandhi statute on Parliament grounds.

Speaking to reporters at the protest site, Kharge said: "Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country."

" (BJP) first finished autonomous bodies then put up their own government everywhere by threatening those who won polls. Then they used Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation to bend those who didn't bow."

Congress leaders and those from other opposition parties then began a march from the Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk in Delhi, to demand a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) to probe the Adani-Hindenburg row.

The Trinamool's presence has raised eyebrows since Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has maintained her distance from the Congress despite calls for the opposition to unite to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

In fact, earlier this month Mamata Banerjee even accused the Congress of forming an 'unholy alliance' with the BJP to defeat her party in Bengal.

There was also an initial loud silence on Rahul Gandhi and a deal with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to stay away from the BJP and Congress.

READ | Mamata, Akhilesh to maintain 'equal distance' from BJP, Congress

That stance appears to have changed, at least for now; "In PM Modi's 'new India' opposition leaders have become prime target of the BJP!" she said.

"While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy," Mamata Banerjee added.

Meanwhile, also present at today's meeting were Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Shiv Sena faction led by ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is a Congress ally but had to publicly warn Rahul Gandhi over his Savarkar comment.

READ | 'Won't tolerate any insult to Veer Savarkar': Uddhav warns Rahul

The presence of the BRS is also significant, since KCR (as the Telangana chief minister is popularly called) has made no secret of his national ambition and has also stayed away from Congress-led efforts to bring the opposition together.

Apart from the Congress, Trinamool and BRS, there were 14 other outfits at the meeting - seen as a significant statement of opposition unity in the face of furore over Rahul Gandhi being removed from the Lok Sabha.

Earlier today both Houses of Parliament were adjourned after ruckus and noise protests by opposition leaders. "I want to run the House with dignity," Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said, "Proceedings adjourned till 4 pm."

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day.

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified after a court in prime minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat convicted him of criminal defamation in the 2019 'Modi surname' case. The court sentenced him to two years in jail.

The sentence was suspended to allow the Congress leader time to file an appeal, but his disqualification was confirmed by the Lower House citing the rules.

READ | How Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from parliament works

Some of the other parties at the meeting were Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, ex-Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal. Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, several Left outfits and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party were also present.

The opposition has rallied around the Congress and Rahul Gandhi after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, accusing the ruling party of trying to silence their voices by targeting a prominent face.

READ | 'Arrogant illiterate': Kejriwal slams BJP as Rahul Gandhi disqualified

The BJP has insisted Rahul Gandhi's disqualification is lawful and that it is a consequence of his conviction and not a ploy to target opposition leaders.

Rahul Gandhi, in response to his conviction and disqualification, hit out at PM Modi for being scared of his criticism over the Adani-Hindenburg row.

With input from agencies

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The Congress party considers the Gandhi family above Indias judicial process, Constitution and democratic system, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Monday as the Grand Old Party staged a protest at Parliament complex against Rahul Gandhis disqualification as MP last week. Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. (ANI)

Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a 2019 defamation case by a Surat court last week. The case pertains to a remark  why all thieves have Modi in their names  he made in the run up to the Karnataka elections in 2019.

Talking to reporters outside Parliament on Monday, Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said Gandhi, who represented Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, was given several opportunities, including a chance to apologise for his remarks against the Modi surname, but he opted not to apologise. ...Thinking that the judiciary will not dare to deliver a verdict against him, he said.

As Congress leaders, wearing black attire, staged a protest against Gandhis disqualification outside Parliament, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said: Our message is, save democracy and Constitution. If you take law into your hands, democracy will be ruined and nobody would have freedom of speech.

Shekhawat lashed out at the Congress over the protest and said the Gandhi family considers itself class apart, elite and above the Constitution. He also said both the BJP and the government have nothing to do with Gandhis disqualification.

The way Congress leaders are making a hue and cry over a judicial and lawful exercise itself shows that they consider the Gandhi family above Indias judicial process, Constitution and democratic system, he said.

People who claim that democracy is under threat, are insulting the democratic system with their street protests against a judicial verdict and lawful action, he added.

In a pointed reference to Gandhi, Shekhawat said: People like him are a threat to democracy as they consider themselves above it.

He also accused Gandhi of insulting VD Savarkar. Rahul Gandhi very rightly said that he wasnt Savarkar. If Rahul actually wishes to know Savarkar, then he must go to the Andaman Jail and spend time there to realise who Savarkar actually was and the kind of sacrifices he made, Shekhawat said.

On Saturday, when Gandhi was asked if he would apologise for his Modi surname remark, he said: My name is not Savarkar, it is Gandhi and Gandhi never offers apology.

Union minister for information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur also slammed the Congresss drama over Gandhis disqualification and questioned whether leaders of the Opposition party will continue to wearing black clothes after their black deeds.

Rahul Gandhi and Congress have been insulting the OBC community. Has the Congress party stopped believing in the courts? Rahul Gandhis arrogance is such that he did not apologise to the OBC community, or in the court. He is not ready to accept the courts judgment. The order was from the court. His membership ended soon after the court delivered its verdict. Why are they creating this drama now? he said.

Later in the day, Union minister Piyush Goyal hit out at the Congress for allegedly disrupting Parliament and being disrespectful towards the Chair. Today, papers were torn in the Lok Sabha the Speaker kept saying that he wants to run the House and everyone would get a chance to speak, but they (Congress) did not want to let the House run, he said.

On Congresss protest march, he said the party is demoralised as all their options have failed. They only have black magic in a situation like this, he said.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri also hit out at the Congress, asking it to do serious introspection and ponder over what is acceptable in a political and legal system.
Congress leaders said Rahul Gandhi is not worried and surprised after he was on Monday served a notice to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him by April 22 following his disqualification as a member of Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case last week. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives for a meeting of Leaders of opposition parties at party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi on Monday. (AICC Twitter)

The Housing Committee of the Lok Sabha took the decision following which the secretariat of the House served the notice on the former Congress president, a Z-plus protectee who has been living in the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow since 2005.

The development is likely to further escalate the political fight between the BJP and the Congress and its allies who have targeted the government over the issue.

Also Read: Opposition parties to keep on with black protest against Centre with 'same energy'

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said, Rahul Gandhi is not worried about the house. Whatever the government of India is doing with the country's democracy is a bigger issue, that is what he told. Every Opposition party is together, we had a cordial discussion and we will move forward with the same energy."

Party spokesperson Salman Anees Soz claimed that there are literally millions of Indians who would open the doors of their homes for Rahul Gandhi. The petty politics of Modi & minions will backfire, first in the courts and then in the public square, he tweeted.

Veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat said the party is not surprised that Gandhi has given the notice to vacate the bungalow. Since Rahul Gandhi questioned the PM regarding the Adani issue, the government is trying to show that it will silence the voice that disagrees with them, news agency ANI quoted Rawat as saying.

Lashing out at the Centre, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari alleged that the move shows the BJP's hatred towards Rahul Gandhi. For a period of 30 days after the notice is served, one can rightfully continue to stay in the same house. After the 30-day time period, one can continue to stay in the same house by paying rent at market rates. Rahul Gandhi comes under Z-plus security category, Tiwari said.

A local court in Gujarat's Surat had convicted Gandhi in a criminal defamation case on March 23 and sentenced him to two years in jail. The two-year jail term triggered his disqualification as a Lok Sabha member from the date of the verdict. Gandhi was granted bail to allow him to appeal to a higher court in a month.

A senior official said an MP has to vacate the official bungalow within one month of losing his membership.

The notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat was marked to various departments, including the Directorate of Estates and the New Delhi Municipal Council, for necessary actions.

Congress member Manickam Tagore, who is a member of the committee, hit out at the government over the decision and linked it to Gandhi's trenchant criticism of its policies.

When Gandhi spoke against a few corporate groups getting all benefits under this government, his security was given to the CRPF from the SPG and when he spoke on February 7 about Adani & Modi friendship he was disqualified as an MP, Tagore alleged.

"When RG spoke on March 25 the about Mo-Adani... 27th March they want to take the house also. Wah Narender baba. What else can you take from him now? Rahul Gandhi speaks truth and he is fighting for India against the wealth being gifted to Adani and make him super rich," he tweeted.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit back, saying a government-allotted bungalow is not one's personal property.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Here are todays top news, analysis, and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun,(File)

SFJ chiefs threat to CM Dhami made through spoofed numbers: Uttarakhand police

The Uttarakhand police on Monday said that the recorded calls of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, chief of banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), received by media personnel and government officials on Sunday, were found to be made through spoofed numbers. Read more

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The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has filed an application in the Supreme Court appealing that the expert committee constituted by the apex court in 2020 to oversee introduction of African Cheetahs in Indias Kuno national park be dissolved. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan releases a cheetah at Kuno National Park on February 18. (PTI)

NTCA has also said it is not appropriate to introduce another larger carnivore, the lion in the same area as the cheetah immediately as this would be detrimental to the survival of both species due to interspecies competition. The application was shared by NTCAs legal team with other respondents on March 25.

It is humbly submitted that it is no longer necessary or mandatory for the NTCA to continue to take the guidance or advice of the expert committee appointed by this Honble Court vide order dated January 28, 2020however if at any stage NTCA requires aid and advice of any experts, the same may be done as and when the need arises, the application said. HT has reviewed a copy of the application.

The SC on March 13 while hearing an application moved by the expert committee seeking to guide and direct the NTCA on cheetah translocation (as envisaged in the 2020 order) said they did not wish to interfere in Centres matter, Live Law reported.

We have become like micro-administrators, the green bench of the Supreme Court said at the time, adding National Tiger Conservation Authority is an expert body that is concerned with the conservation of tigers in India. So, once that body is there, why should we have further supervision?

In January 2020, the apex court had set up a three-member committee, comprising former director of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), M K Ranjitsinh, the head of the Wildlife Institute of India, and an official from the environment ministry to guide NTCA in taking a decision on the issue of translocation of Cheetahs.

The court did this while also removing a stay )dating back to 2012) on the translocation of the Cheetah in Kuno. Interestingly, that 2012 stay by the court was also on account of Kuno, at the time, being considered a second home for the lions of Gir. The court, while lifting the stay in 2020, did not get into the relocation of the lions at all (experts had recommended this because Gir was becoming crowded, and they were worried that a disease could decimate the entire population).

Still NTCA, which comes under the union environment ministry is taking no chances on that front. Post mandatory quarantine period, cheetahs have been released into larger enclosures and free ranging conditions and they have started hunting on their own. In order to provide cheetahs, a stress-free environment and successful establishment of the founder populations, it is not appropriate to introduce one more large carnivore species (Lion) in the area immediately as it would be detrimental to the survival chances of both the species owing to inter-species competition. Although cheetahs and lions in African countries are known to coexist together, it is pertinent to mention that competitively subordinate and vulnerable carnivores (Cheetah) should be released prior to the dominant species (Lion), its application states.

Due to conservation efforts by the Centre and the Gujarat government, the lion population has grown by 29% over the past five years, the application said, adding that there were 674 lions in 2020 as compared to 411 in 2010. The ultimate goal of Project Lion is to ensure maintaining a viable Asiatic Lion population. The Gir Protected Area population and natural dispersal into a new surrounding area including Barda Wildlife Sanctuary have the potential to achieve this goal, the application added. On March 15, HT reported the move to develop Barda as a second home for the lions.

With respect to introduction of African Cheetahs in the Kuno National Park and also steps taken to secure the future of Asiatic Lions beyond Gir National Park, the union environment ministry and NTCA have decided to re-examine entire aspect of translocation of Asiatic Lions from Gir to Kuno from an experts perspective. A status report/appropriate application will be filed before this court within six months the application said.

A senior official of NTCA did not want to respond to a query on why it wants the expert committee to be dissolved. The matter is sub-judice. We will not comment until SC takes a call.

Ranjitsinh, who heads the SC expert committee on Cheetah, has been working on big cats and other wildlife since the early 70s.In early March, Y V Jhala, the lead scientist on Project Cheetah who saw the arrival in India of the first lot of eight Cheetahs from Namibia, retired after the union environment ministery terminated his extension (after retirement).
The parliamentary process for approval of the 45 lakh crore Union Budget ended on Monday with the Upper House returning the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha without any discussion, a fact that Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar termed most unfortunate. Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge with other MPs in Parliament House on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The Opposition continued its demand for an investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into Hindenburg Researchs report alleging that the Adani Group indulged in fraud and the manipulation of its stock price, which meant that no debate was possible despite 10 hours being allocated for it. The Rajya Sabha, however, recommended an amendment , correcting a typo on the tax rate on the Securities Transaction Tax. The Lok Sabha then cleared the Finance Bill, marking an end to the years budgetary process.

Passed through Parliament with dozens of amendments, the Finance Bill 2023 focuses on capital investment as a key driver of growth and employment, with the outlay raised by 33% to 10 lakh crore. Taking grants-in-aid to states together, the effective capital expenditure of the Centre is budgeted at 13.7 lakh crore, which will be 4.5% of the GDP. The Budget for FY24 also focused on tax-rationalisation, particularly for the new, exemption-free income tax regime, incentives to domestic manufacturing with emphasis on micro, small and medium enterprises and social upliftment.

Earlier, after the Rajya Sabha returned the Finance Bill, 2023 as well as other money bills such as the Jammu and Kashmir budget and appropriation bills to the Lok Sabha through voice vote without any discussion, Dhankar said: It is most unfortunate as the House is meant for discussions, and debate to put across points that matter in larger public interest  not availing this 10-hour of discussion is not very wholesome.

The entire proceeding took just few minutes amid sloganeering.

On Friday, the Lok Sabha approved the Budget in less than 15 minutes without any discussion with the house seeing similar protests. The worst message from a parliamentary democracy is to approve a Budget without discussion 45,03,097 crore will be raised and spent for the people in 2023-24 without the peoples representatives offering their views on the Budget, Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram said in a tweet on Friday.

They really deserve to do some serious introspection, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, when asked about the Congress protests.

Meanwhile, leaders of 16 opposition parties, mostly dressed in black in a rare show of unity, on Monday continued their demand for a joint parliamentary committee on the Adani issue and protested against the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Parliament on Monday.

Opposition unity got a fillip with Trinamool Congress, the second largest opposition outfit in Parliament, joining the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party demonstrations after a long time. However, Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena skipped the protests, objecting to Gandhis comment that he wont apologize for his comments in London as he was not Savarkar.

Today, by wearing black, we want to show Modi ji is ending democracy in this country one by one, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said.

While moving the Finance Bill, 2023 in the Rajya Sabha, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman drew the attention of the chair to the one amendment for consideration -- to correct the rates of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on selling options in the Bill that was passed by the Lok Sabha on Friday. The amendment in the Clause 174 substituted 0.05% with 0.0625% as there was a typographical error which was corrected, a government official said on condition of anonymity.

The Finance Bill 2023 has over five dozen amendments including providing relief to taxpayers exceeding the lowest taxable slab 7 lakh by a whisker, removing the tax benefit available to debt mutual funds, increasing tax scrutiny on credit card payments for foreign tours , and setting up of a much-awaited appellate tribunal for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. It also had an amendment on the creation of a committee to review the New Pension Scheme for government employees, amidst a political battle; several Opposition-ruled states have said they will be moving to the old pension scheme.

While Sitharaman did not speak on the Finance Bill in the Upper House on Monday, she did give an explanation on some of the key amendments in the Lower House on Friday.

One amendment [in the Finance Bill] is for the GST Council, which is establishing the tribunal, she had said. The Council on February 18 agreed to table a draft legislation in the current session of Parliament to establish the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) after stakeholders (states and Union Territories) consultations. The law bringing GST into effect in July 1, 2017 has provisions to set up an appellate tribunal for disputes between assessees and the authorities  in its absence, the disputes ended up in the high courts, which was time consuming and expensive.

On bringing credit card payments for foreign tour packages under TCS, the finance minister said: It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through credit cards are not being captured under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme, the LRS, and such payments escape tax collection at source. The Reserve Bank is being requested to look into this with a view to bring credit card payments for foreign tours within the ambit of LRS and tax collection at source thereon.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre and Gujarat government in a petition filed by Bilkis Bano against the premature release of 11 people convicted of her gangrape and murdering her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots and called the offence horrendous. It will hear the case extensively on April 18. A woman holds a placard during a protest against the release of men convicted of gang-raping Bilkis Bano during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, in Mumbai.(AFP file)

A new bench in the Supreme Court, comprising justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna, also asked the Centre and the Gujarat government to produce files relating to the remission.

The bench took up a bunch of six petitions challenging the remission -- while one of these petitions was moved by Bano, others were filed as public interest litigation (PILs) in the wake of the outcry over the premature release of the convicts last August.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Wednesday agreed to consider setting up a new bench as Banos lawyer pointed out that the matter was not heard since December after one of the judges on the designated bench recused herself from the case. Under the Supreme Court rules, it is the CJIs prerogative, as the master of the roster, to assign cases to different benches.

Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence during the 2002 riots, and her three-year-old daughter was one of the seven people killed.

The 11 men convicted of the crimes against her and her family were released on August 15 after one of them, Radheshyam Shah, approached the Supreme Court in April seeking remission, arguing that he had spent over 15 years in prison in the case. By an order in May, a bench led by justice Rastogi directed the state government to consider the convicts plea for premature release in accordance with the 1992 policy  the one prevalent on the date of their conviction. While the existing remission policy of 2014 of the Gujarat government prohibits the early release of rape convicts, no such restrictions were a part of the 1992 policy.

Subsequently, a batch of PILs led by Ali was moved before the top court, emphasising that the crime was horrific and the convicts should have never been entitled to premature release in the public interest. A bench led by then CJI NV Ramana issued notices to the Gujarat government and the convicts in August 2022. As this bench also included justices Rastogi and Vikram Nath, the matter was listed before justice Rastogis bench after justice Ramanas retirement.

Replying to these petitions, the Gujarat government filed its affidavit on October 17, and disclosed that the Union ministry of home affairs had approved the early release of the convicts while the state took into account their good behaviour as a key reason to grant remission.

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Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav on Monday said that Indias focal point for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) in Dubai will revolve around the issues that were not completed in the last COP held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav. (PTI File Photo)

(India wanted to) be a solution for the climate change debate rather than become a part of the problem, Yadav said, addressing the India Global Forum (IGF) Annual Summit 2023 (Setting the Pace), in Delhi.

In COP 27 there was an agreement on loss and damage and the meeting for that will start soon and we will go ahead. Apart from loss and damages, the other issue that was not completed in Sharm el-Sheikh is the new quantifiable goal and this too will be fixed. In the Glasgow COP, there was a decision of the Article 6 but the rules of that was not finalised and the main thing is that the developed countries have not fulfilled their commitment as India feels these promises must be fulfilled and the other things which we promised in the last COP was to provide the early warning system to any humanity and country, he said.

COP 28 will be held from November 30 to December 12, 2023 at the Expo City, Dubai.

Asked if India was trying to find a balance between habitat loss and biodiversity, Yadav said, We participated in the last Montreal COP also where the worldwide target was fixed and we also supported the idea to reserve the 30% area for the preservation of Biodiversity. We have an independent national biodiversity authority and are also making over 2 lakh biodiversity registers in every village of India and conserving such areas. Thats the reason we are declaring 16 areas as the hot bio diversity spot.

The minister added, Apart from that, its important to maintain the ecological balance also and under the leadership of PM Modi we are running Project Tiger and Project Elephant and Project Lion (asiatic lion). India also believes in maintaining ecological harmony and thats the reason, we brought the cheetahs from Namibia and translocated them in the Kuno National Park. So as far as bio diversity is concerned we are very much committed to increasing the tree cover also and we are amending the biological diversity bill and we are very much committed to it.

The minister was also asked about India being in the danger line as per a report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released on March 20 which listed issues and asked what steps the government was taking to tackle them.

Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report showed that India is in the danger line and is among the few countries that committed their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2015 in Paris and achieved it nine years before. We even declared in our NDC that we achieved the target of renewable energy of 165 giga watt, a target we again achieved in 2021. This is the reason we are among the 59 countries that submitted their enhanced NDC in Sharm el-Sheikh also. Secondly, we also fixed our target of net zero in 2070. India is among the few countries that submitted their law energy carbon roadmap of 2070. Third, we are part of some climate action programs like international solar lines and also partner with Sweden for a low carbon energy program. So we are wary of the path of climate action, he said.

India Global Forum (IGF) Annual Summit 2023 with the theme of Setting the Pace is a day-long summit, featuring 30 themes and 500+ participants that plans to bring together founders, business leaders, policymakers, and investors to deliberate on how India can set the pace in a world-embracing rapid change.

Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Bhupender Yadav and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant will also mark their presence at the event.
Members of the Banjara community on Monday allegedly attacked former chief minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappas residence in Shivamoggas Shikaripur, opposing the internal reservation recommended by the state government to the Centre. Visuals show protesters clashing with the police deployed at Yediyurappas house.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in the town.

Visuals that are going viral on social media, showed protesters clashing with the police deployed at Yediyurappas house.

Also Read: Bengaluru: Amit Shah insists on receiving bouquet from Yediyurappas son

Hundreds of protestors hurled stones at the BJP leaders residence, as the police resorted to lathi charge and water canons to disperse the crowd.

Several policemen and women protestors were also reportedly injured due to stone pelting.

According to police, the protestors also burnt posters of Yediyurappa and chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. The additional police personnel have been deployed and superintendent of police GK Mithun Kumar visited the town to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, former CM BS Yediyurappa said that the members of community have misunderstood the reservation bill. He said, I will meet the members of community in next two or three days. The Banjara people have misunderstood the bill and the issue will be solved. I also requested the police not to arrest anyone who protested infront of my residence in Shikaripura.

The Banjara community has urged the government to drop the Justice A J Sadashiva Commission report recommending proportional representation to sub-castes among Scheduled Castes (SC), saying it was unscientific.

The Basavaraj Bommai-led government has recommended to the Centre a new breakup of the reservation for Scheduled Castes in education and jobs.

Out of the 17% reservation for the SC community, the cabinet has recommended a 6% internal quota for SC (Left), 5.5% for SC (Right), 4.5% for touchables (Banjara, Bhovi, Korcha, Kuruma etc) and 1% for others.
Bengaluru: Karnataka Lokayukta police on Monday arrested ruling Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Madal Virupakshappa, hours after the Karnataka high court rejected his anticipatory bail application in a corruption case. BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa appears before the Lokayukta office, in Bengaluru on March 9, 2023. (PTI)

The Channagiri MLA was arrested from a toll booth in Kyathsandra in Tumakuru district and will be brought to Bengaluru for questioning, police said.

On March 2, in what caused the BJP embarrassment, Virupakshappa was named the main accused in a corruption case lodged by the Karnataka Lokayukta after his son was caught taking a bribe of 40 lakh. In the raids that followed, Lokayukta authorities recovered 6.1 crore in cash from his Sanjay Nagar residence and 2.2 crore from his office. A total of 8.23 crore in cash, a huge quantity of gold and silver ornaments and large investments in land in Karnataka were allegedly uncovered.

Virupakshappas bail application was rejected by justice K Natarajan of the special court for elected representatives. I am of the view that the petitioner-accused No.1 is not entitled to anticipatory bail as he is required for custodial interrogation, the judge said. Though this court granted the interim anticipatory bail until disposal of the case because there was no material found in the FIR (first information report) at that time, but now, there is sufficient evidence to show the involvement of the petitioner in the commission of the offence.

Virupakshappa claimed the allegations made in the FIR were absurd and there was no sufficient ground to proceed against him, a Lokayukta police officer said. While hearing his plea, the bench had given him interim bail till the disposal of the anticipatory bail petition, the officer said, seeking anonymity. The court has rejected the anticipatory bail and thus the interim bail also stands cancelled.

There is no black spot in my career. This controversy is because of a conspiracy, Virupakshappa said after his application was rejected. I will come out of this with a clean slate.

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Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra kept up her criticism of the government Monday over the Adani-Hindenburg row, citing a written reply from the union finance ministry to the Rajya Sabha that said data regarding offshore shell companies owned by Indian citizens is 'unavailable'. TMP MP Mahua Moitra and multi-billionaire Gautam Adani. (File pics)

"How can the government take action against Adani? Finance Ministry does not know definition of shell firm! Written answer in RS says no clue hence no action," she tweeted, also sharing a photo of the proverbial 'three wise monkeys' and tagging finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Mahua Moitra and other opposition leaders have been relentless in attacks on the government since the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group was called out January by United States-based short seller Hindenburg Research for 'accounting fraud' and using offshore shell cos to inflate stock prices.

The Hindenburg report triggered a rout of Adani Group stocks and the Gujarat businessman's personal fortune - to the tune of $120 billion+ and $28 million - and a row between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition.

READ | Gautam Adani 'lost 3,000 crore per week', fortune down 60%: Report

The opposition has demanded an inquiry by a joint parliamentary committee but the government has refused an inquiry. This has left both Houses deadlocked since they restarted this month after the Budget session.

READ | 'Serious implications for': Oppn warns ED as Adani protest fizzles out

Mahua Moitra has been among the more vocal of opposition lawmakers on this topic; last week she called on the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department to investigate Hindenburg Research's allegations off Adani's offshore funding.

READ | 'Said...': Mahua Moitra on reports Adani to raise $400m from Aus assets

That tweet was after British publication Financial Times said India's Foreign Direct Investment figures indicated offshore cos linked to the Adanis had invested $2.6 billion in the Adani Group from 2017 to 2022. This, the report said, was over 45 per cent of total FDI the country received in that time.

"Now are these related parties or unrelated parties?" Mahua Moitra tweeted.

Hindenburg's Adani report has also been flagged vociferously by the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, who was last week disqualified from the Lok Sabha after a court in prime minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat convicted him of criminal defamation in the 2019 'Modi surname' case.

READ | 'My name not SavarkarGandhis don't apologise': Rahul's swipe at BJP

Rahul Gandhi hit out at the government and said he had been disqualified because the prime minister is 'scared' of his next speech on the Adani controversy; the Congress' leader's fiery first speech - in which he claimed improper ties between the government and Adani - was expunged.

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Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Monday took to Twitter to share a picture that allegedly showed one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder case sharing the stage with two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Gujarat. As per reports, Dahod BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor and his brother, Limkheda MLA Sailesh Bhabhor, attended the launch of a group water supply scheme along with Shailesh Bhatt, one of the convicted rapists of Bano. Shailesh Bhatt, Bilkis Bano case convict (L) and TMC MP Mahua Moitra (R). (credits: Twitter, File)

The 11 rapists were released prematurely on Independence Day last year under the state governments outdated remission policy of 1992. Lashing out at the ruling BJP government, Moitra called for the imprisonment of the convicts and urged people to vote out the party that supports such travesty of justice.

She wrote, I want to see these monsters back in jail & the key thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out. I want India to reclaim her moral compass.

On Saturday, Jasvantsinh shared pictures from the government programme and wrote, At Limkheda taluka of Dahod district, Kadana dam bulk pipeline-based Limkheda group water supply scheme under the estimated amount of 101.89 crore works was laid. In which 43 villages of Limkheda taluka, 18 villages of Singhwad taluka and 3 villages of Jhalod taluka will benefit from this scheme.

The release of the men has been challenged in the Supreme Court and the case will be heard on Monday by a new bench comprising justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna.

Last month, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala assured Bano that a new bench will be formed at the earliest to hear the petitions against their release. A series of petitions have been filed against the release of the rapists in the 2002 case. Notably, Moitra is one of the petitioners.

The 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for gangraping a five months pregnant Bano, who was 21 years old at the time, and murdering seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the Gujarat riots that followed the attack on Sabarmati Express, in which 59 kar sevaks died.

The release of the men was initiated after Radheshyam Shah, one of the convicts, approached SC seeking remission, arguing that he had spent over 15 years in jail in the case. The existing remission policy of 2014 of the Gujarat government has no provision for the early release of rape convicts.

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Monsters: Mahua Moitra after BJP leaders seen on stage with Bilkis Bano's rapist Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra (File Photo/PTI)

Shailesh Bhatt, one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder case, was seen on stage with BJP MP Jasvant Sinh Bhabhor and MLA Sailesh Bhabhor. Read more

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The special investigation team (SIT) of the Hyderabad police probing the Telangana question paper leak of the written examination conducted by Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) for recruitment of assistant engineers (civil) arrested one more person, officials privy to the matter said on Monday. With this, the total number of people arrested so far in the question paper leakage scam has gone up to 15. (Wikimedia Commons)

With this, the total number of people arrested so far in the question paper leakage scam has gone up to 15. The SIT is also probing the allegations of question papers leaked in otherrecruitment tests.

After the paper leak came to the fore, the TSPSC cancelled the examination and postponed other exams for the posts of veterinary assistant surgeon, scheduled to be held on March 15 and 16.

On Monday, the SIT authorities arrested the accused identified as Tirupataiah from Mahabubnagar district. The accused is believed to have sold the question paper of assistant engineer (civil) examination conducted by the TSPSC on March 5, a police official privy to the development said.

According to preliminary investigation, Tirupathaiah obtained the question paper from L Dhakya Nayak, husband of a Hindi teacher Renuka Nayak, who managed to get the question paper from the two TSPSC employees  P Praveen Kumar, an assistant section officer and A Rajasekhar Reddy, a network expert, said the police official.

Tirupathaiah sold the question paper to Rajender Kumar of Nerellapalli village of Mahabubnagar district for 10 lakh, said the official.

Kumar, who was working as a quality controller in MGNREGA at Gandeed village, was arrested on Sunday and remanded to judicial custody. Tirupathaiah, too, is being remanded on Monday, the police official said.

The SIT is also questioning another four suspects who are believed to have leaked the group-I examination paper but they are yet to be arrested, the official said.

Earlier, the SIT authorities had arrested three TSPSC employees, Shameem, Damera Ramesh Kumar and N Suresh, on March 23 in connection with Group-1 (prelims) examination question paper leak case. All three wrote the exam held on October 18, 2022 and scored over 100 out of 150 marks.

Two days later, the police arrested Prashant Reddy, brother-in-law of Rajashekar Reddy, who allegedly spent 15 lakh to procure the Group-1 examination question paper. He also scored more than 100 marks, according to the police.

The SIT is also questioning around 60 candidates of the Group-I preliminary exam who scored 100 and above marks out of a total of 150 marks, the official quoted above said.

Meanwhile, the SIT on Monday grilled the four prime suspects - Praveen Kumar, Rajashekar Reddy, Dhakya and Rajeshwar Nayak for the second consecutive day, after obtaining permission from the Nampally criminal courts for the police custody.

This is the second time that SIT has taken the accused into custody after they were arrested along with five others on March 13. They were also questioned e after the court had sent them to police custody for six days.

Praveen and Rajashekar Reddy had allegedly stolen question papers of some exams from a computer in the confidential section of the Commission and sold it to other accused, said the police official.

We are suspecting that the question paper leak is not confined to only Hyderabad but its surrounding districts of Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar and has spread to more districts with the accused selling the question papers to many others. That is why the SIT is carrying on the intense grilling of the arrested, the police official quoted above said.
Opposition parties led by Congress will continue to stage protest wearing black clothes in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premise, news agency ANI reported quoting sources. The decision was made during a dinner meet of Opposition parties at Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg, residence. The final call will be taken tomorrow in a meeting at Kharge's office. The Opposition conducted massive demonstration today over Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP and a demand for joint parliamentary committe-level probe in the Adani-Hindenburg case. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi along with other Opposition leaders,(Twitter/Congress)

Also read: Rahul Gandhi asked to vacate govt bungalow, gets deadline

Rahul Gandhi is not worried about the house. Whatever the government of India is doing with the country's democracy is a bigger issue, that is what he told. Every Opposition party is together, we had a cordial discussion and we will move forward with the same energy, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal told ANI.

Sharing some clips from the meeting, Kharge slammed the Centre for trampling the interest of 140 crore people by saving the Prime Ministers param mitr'. He reiterated the Opposition's demand to conduct an investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg issue by a joint parliamentary committee.

Leaders from major political parties, including Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharat Raksha Samithi (BRS), were present at the dinner meet. However, as declared earlier, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena skipped the meeting as the party chief earlier cautioned a rift in the Opposition alliance over Rahul Gandhi's remark on Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar.

The latest fissure between Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress comes after Rahul Gandhi recently drew a parallel between Savarkar and the Centre's demand for his apology over remarks made in the UK on Indian democracy. "My name is not Savarkar, won't apologise," he defiantly said at a press conference.

"Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate," the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

The Congress and other Opposition parties today wore black to Parliament as a sign of protest signalling the end of democracy in PM Modis India. This comes days after Rahul Gandhi lost his Lok Sabha seat following a Surat court judgemment in a criminal defamation case. The Congress called out the lightening speed decision at which Gandhi was disqualified and termed it a black day.

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NEW DELHI: Pakistan has decided in principle to participate in three key upcoming meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be hosted by India though the level and mode of participation is yet to be finalised, people familiar with the matter said. India has already invited all SCO member states - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan  for the upcoming meetings (Photo:sectsco.org)

India is set to hold the meetings of SCO national security advisers (NSA) and top national security officials in New Delhi on March 29, the defence ministers in the national capital during April 27-29 and the foreign ministers in Goa during May 4-5, the people said. These meetings will culminate in the SCO Summit to be held in July, the first time India will host the event since joining the grouping in 2017.

The people cited above, familiar with the thinking in Islamabad, said the Pakistani side is keen to ensure its full participation in important deliberations of the SCO despite the strains in bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

While there is an in-principle decision on attending all these upcoming meetings, the mode of participation  whether it will be in-person or virtual  is yet to be decided, one the people said.

A decision is also yet to be made whether foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari or minister of state for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will join the meeting of foreign ministers, the person added.

In the case of the meeting of the SCO NSAs, Pakistan is expected to be represented by a senior official from the defence ministry or the National Security Council as the post of NSA is currently vacant. While Imran Khan was Pakistans prime minister, Moeed Yusuf held the post between May 2021 and April 2022. He stepped down after Khan lost a parliamentary vote of confidence and the Shehbaz Sharif government hasnt appointed a new NSA.

Pakistans participation in the SCO NSAs meeting is also most likely to be virtual, the people said. This meeting is expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan, countering terrorism, extremism and trans-national crimes, and the misuse of emerging technologies such as drones and crypto-currency by terrorists.

India has already invited all SCO member states - China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan  for the upcoming meetings. Minister of state for external affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, while responding to a question in Lok Sabha last week, said the foreign ministers of China and Pakistan are yet to confirm their participation in the meeting scheduled for May 4-5.

The issue of Pakistans participation in SCO meetings came under a cloud recently after the Indian objected to the use of maps incorrectly depicting the countrys borders, especially for Kashmir, at several gatherings. These maps were used in formal presentations by Pakistani officials.

Pakistan was not able to participate in a conference of military medicine specialists under the SCO framework in New Delhi on March 21 because of differences on this issue, the people said.

Ajay Bisaria, Indias former envoy to Pakistan and Canada, said Pakistans participation in all SCO meetings should be welcomed though the focus should be on multilateral issues. Pakistan should come for these multilateral meetings and follow the mantra of talking about multilateral issues while leaving bilateral issues at the doorstep, he said.

This process will help build trust for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), where we could engage multilaterally, Bisaria said.

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Columnist

By Rev. Michelle Magee

Last fall I accepted the invitation, brought to the Santa Paula Ministerial Association, to be part of a community task force on ending homelessness. I shared that day that I have multiple forces that bring me to want to be involved in such a group. At the church I serve, we experience some of the unpleasant effects of the chronically homeless who spend time on the property when no one is around. Secondly, I was first and deeply immersed in ministry with homeless and borderline homeless people while serving as a missionary in Buenos Aires, at a soup kitchen. There I learned about some of the intricacies of balancing mercy and enforcing some ground rules, and how some people are ready for help and others just arent. How everyone has a story for how they ended up there, and most of them will break your heart. How working together with different agencies can help make a difference in peoples lives. And thirdly, my cousin had just recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. We were gradually learning stories from my aunt about times she had wandered away on her own, a symptom of that particular condition. While she is not homeless, any time she might wander she could certainly be mistaken for a homeless person. And I wonder how she might have been treated at those times, my own flesh and blood.

I have been participating with that task force, which is now called Project H.O.P.E. Santa Paula. We have worked on developing clear goals for reducing homelessness. We have brought different agencies to the table together to brainstorm strategies for different situations and even certain individuals. I am aware as a citizen and as a pastor that there is a lot of frustration in Santa Paula, especially in the area of the chronically homeless, many of whom have mental health and/or substance abuse problems. And even though I would truly love to end homelessness here, I know that is not a realistic goal. Among the chronically homeless, who are often the most visual face of the homeless, there are people who are ready for help and there are always some who are not.

I want to communicate, however, that there are many on the edge of homelessness, about to be or newly there, who could benefit from services which are hard to come by in Santa Paula. I do not intend in this article to outline all of those possibilities; more specific information about Project HOPE will be coming to the City Council in mid-September. But I hope to encourage the citizens of Santa Paula, that investing in services and even some form of housing could benefit all of us. Because even if there are individuals who wont be ready to leave a homeless situation, there are scores more who will be able to take advantage of services and leave homelessness or never become homeless, by receiving a little help when they need it. Which we know is beneficial to the whole society: more children who stay with their parents in a stable environment; people who are able to keep their jobs or find work because they have an address and just that less stress; people who are employed pay more taxes and contribute more to society than those who arent. And so on.
President Droupadi Murmu will start a two-day visit to West Bengal on Monday, her maiden tour to the state after taking oath, where she will pay tributes to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Rabindranath Tagore. President Droupadi Murmu. (File Photo)

An official statement said the President will visit Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata on Monday to pay homage to Netaji. She will also attend a civic reception, hosted in her honour at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata, the same evening.

According to a statement released by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President will also visit Santiniketan to attend the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati. Later in the day, she will pay respect to Rabindranath Tagore at his house, Jorasanko Thakurbari.

On Tuesday, President Murmu will visit Belur Math. She will also grace the celebration of the completion of 80 years of UCO Bank in Kolkata, the release said. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and President Murmu will be sharing the stage at the event.

On March 19, President Murmu visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadus Kanyakumari district. Visiting the iconic Vivekananda Rock memorial is a memorable experience for me. I marvel at the greatness of the late Eknath Ranade Ji who was behind the building of the spiritually charged complex, tweeted the Presidents official Twitter handle.
The Lok Sabha secretariat on Monday asked former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to vacate his official residence by April 22, after he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha due to his conviction in a criminal defamation case in Gujarat last week. A Congress supporter outside the residence of party leader Rahul Gandhi, in New Delhi, on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

The letter, a copy of which HT has seen, said the 12 Tughlak Lane bungalow, allotted to him in 2005 as a member of Parliament, will deem to be cancelled by April 23  a month after the secretariat issued a notification disqualifying him from the Lower House.

Consequent upon your disqualification/cessation from the membership of the 17th Lok Sabha with effect from March 23. I am directed to state that you are allowed to retain bungalow number 12 Tughlak Lane along with its units, in which you have continued to stay as your regular accommodation for a maximum period of one month, said the letter signed by deputy secretary Mohit Rajan.

After a politician ceases to be a member of either House, the official accommodation allotted to him is withdrawn, but the period of time taken in sending an eviction notice is often much longer. Congress leaders pointed out that some leaders, such as Ghulam Nabi Azad who retired from the Rajya Sabha in 2022, still retain their official bungalow.

Yes, it could have been served a few days later. But the important thing is that he has been given just one month to vacate, said former Lok Sabha secretary general P Sreedharan.

Congress leaders close to Gandhi said he will vacate the official bungalow earlier than the deadline. But if his conviction is stayed by a higher court, the party will ask him to retain the residence.

HT reported last Friday that the decision to ask Gandhi to vacate his residence was expected in wake of his disqualification as an MP. The former Congress party chief also runs his office from the residence.

At the Congress plenary in Raipur earlier this year, Gandhi spoke about his unusual relationship with his residence and said that he never had a home as he always stayed in a government accommodation. He had also said he didnt have a strong attachment to his house.

The Wayanad MP, who was a lawmaker in the Lower House for 19 years, was disqualified on Friday, a day after a Surat court convicted him in a criminal defamation case for a remark he made ahead of the 2019 general elections about the Modi surname. The announcement came via a notification issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat and sparked a wave of condemnation from Opposition parties, including the Congress that said it will launch a mass movement, even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said Gandhi had insulted backward groups with his comment.

Under the law, the conviction and two-year jail term renders Gandhi unfit to enter either House of Parliament for a period of eight years. But this can be reversed if he can get the conviction overturned or the sentence reduced to less than two years by a higher court, something his party vowed to do at the earliest.

On Saturday, Gandhi said that the demand for an apology for his remarks and other attacks were aimed to distract from the real issue involving allegations of fraud against the Adani Group. In a press conference, the former Congress president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scared of my next speech in Parliament on Adani. Gandhi also said his disqualification would help the party.

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Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs and culture Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday hit out at the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for being unable to differentiate between speaking and abusing. The BJP leader also asked Congress to not look at everything in a political way, and that everything is not politics. (Arjun Ram Meghwal | Facebook)

Talking to media persons outside Parliament, Meghwal said, Everyone has freedom of speech in this country, but there is no freedom to abuse any caste.

Rahul Gandhi needs to learn to differentiate between speaking and abusing, he added.

Making a veiled attack on Congress over its ongoing protests against the central government, Meghwal said that the nation grants freedom of speech to its citizens, but not the freedom to use foul words or expletives.

Also Read: Congress black shirt protest for Rahul Gandhi sees surprise Trinamool visit

The BJP leader told Congress that freedom of speech and the use of foul words or abuses are two different things, and the Congress leader should be able to differentiate between the two.

The Congress continued its protests against the Centre on Monday, as several party members wore black clothes.

The Congress members have been protesting to draw the Centres attention over two issues, the Adani-Hindenburg row and the recent disqualification of Gandhi from Lok Sabha, following his conviction in the defamation case by Surat court.

Reacting to the Congress protest, Meghwal said, They (Congress) should know the difference between freedom of speech and using expletives in the name of freedom of speech.

The BJP leader further asked Congress to not look at everything in a political way, and that everything is not politics.

They (Congress) have been looking at everything from a political point of view, Meghwal said.

Instead, they should look at it from the point of view of the law, he added.

Gandhi, representing Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, was on Friday disqualified from the Lok Sabha, a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a court in Surat in Gujarat.

The court sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in the defamation case over his Modi surname remarks at a 2019 poll rally in Karnataka.

However, the court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday shared on his official Instagram account her sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's fiery speech recounting a three-decade-old incident and said, this is our heritage." Addressing the 'Sankalp Satyagraha' at Rajghat to protest against Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 defamation case and his subsequent disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi hit out the ruling BJP for calling the son of martyr traitor and insulting the customs of Kashmiri Pandit society. (Also Read | At 'satyagraha' for Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi invokes Lord Ram to counter BJP's 'dynastic politics' barbs) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recounted an incident that involved her father Rajiv Gandhi's funeral.

It was 32 years ago, my father's (Rajiv Gandhi) funeral procession was leaving from Teenmurti Bhavan, Priyanka said as she recounted how Rahul Gandhi insisted on walking behind his father's funeral pyre to Rajghat despite security threats.

My father's body was wrapped in this tricolor. That martyr father is insulted in the Parliament. You call the son of that martyr an anti-national. Your prime minister stands in the Parliament and says why this family does not use the name Nehru, she added, referring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to a debate on the moion of thanks to the President's address where he asked Gandhi family members asking why they were ashamed of using the Nehru surname.

"You insult the entire family and the tradition of Kashmiri Pandits. But there is no case against you. You don't get a case or a two-year term and no one disqualifies you. Why?" she asked.

Sharing the video, Rahul Gandhi wrote, Truth, courage and sacrifice  this is our heritage, and this is our strength too.

BJP has been trying to coroner Rahul Gandhi over his speech at Cambridge University and has been demanding apology for allegedly insulting the country on foreign land.

Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday said a martyred prime minister's son who walked thousands of kilometres for national unity can never insult the country as the Congress held a nationwide protest against the disqualification of the Wayanad MP from the Lok Sabha.

"This country's prime minister is a coward. Take me to jail but the truth is this country's prime minister is a coward. He is hiding behind his power and (he) is arrogant. But this country's tradition is that people reply to an arrogant king. This country recognises an arrogant king. This country knows the truth," she said.

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The acting chief of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat in Sikhism, gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the Punjab government on Monday to release all Sikh men who were arrested during a crackdown initiated earlier this month to apprehend pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh. Supporters of Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh gather for a special meeting in Amritsar on Monday. (AFP)

The statement by the acting jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh, came two days after he asked Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh to surrender before the police and cooperate in the probe. Since the Punjab Police operation began on March 18, over 100 people have been arrested across the state.

If the government does not end the atmosphere of terror by releasing all the youngsters within 24 hours, then a campaign will be initiated diplomatically in the country and abroad against the atmosphere created by the Indian state of committing excesses on the Sikhs, he said.

He also asked the government to revoke the National Security Act (NSA) against eight aides of Amritpal.

HT tried to reach out to a government official for a comment but did not get one immediately.

Amritpal and his followers are facing eight first information reports (FIRs) across Punjab. The most prominent among them is related to the February 23 siege by thousands of Amritpal Singhs supporters of a police station in Ajnala town, which forced the state government to free a key aide, Lovepreet Singh Toofan. Singh, who fashions himself after 1980s separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, has been linked to a larger conspiracy involving the Khalistani secessionist movement, with intelligence agencies saying he was fast radicalising young men in the border state.

He remains on the run after allegedly giving the police the slip on March 18, but some have argued that he has already been detained under NSA.

Representatives of various Sikh organisations, sects, seminaries and nihang bodies, scholars, journalists and intellectuals attended a meeting on the crackdown to discuss the current situation in Punjab.

The Akal Takht chief said the NSA imposed on young men should be revoked, vehicles seized during a protest on March 22 at Harike headworks in Ferozepur district should be released, and any social media accounts and web channels that were banned or withheld reinstated.

A very brainy and diplomatic siege is being carried out by the state against the Sikhs, which should be answered diplomatically without being violent and there is a need to create collective capacity among Sikhs, Giani Harpreet Singh said.

The crackdown has sparked protests by diaspora groups and pro-Khalistan outfits in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, with even Indian embassies being vandalised. The Indian government has lodged strong protests against the violence.

The declaration of the Akal Takht was welcomed by the representatives.

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Harjinder Singh Dhami announced a panel of lawyers to help the people booked under NSA and provide other legal assistance. I also appeal to the families of the arrested Sikh youngsters that they should immediately contact the SGPC so that legal assistance can be provided to them, he said.

Gurdeep Singh, a Sikh leader from Haryana, criticised the jathedar. He said: The government knows that you do nothing but organise meetings. Big announcement should be made by calling a big gathering. If you want to save the community, you must introspect, he said.

On Saturday, the Akal Takht Jathedar had asked Singh to surrender and cooperate with the police in the investigation into cases against him. If Amritpal is out (of police net), then I will ask him to present himself (before police) and cooperate with the investigation, he said.

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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for dragging the name of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar during a press conference, terming it a wrong statement. Raut said Savarkar is our inspiration and that he will try to speak to Rahul Gandhi on the issue. (Also Read | BJP mocks Priyanka's Rahul studied at Harvard remark, Cong says pity their') Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.

When Rahul Gandhi was asked about his opinion on the suggestions that he could have escaped conviction and two-year jail sentence in criminal defamation case, and the subsequent disqualification from Lok Sabha, by apologising for his remarks, the Congress leader said his name was not Savarkar but Gandhi, adding that Gandhis don't apologise.

My name in not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi. Gandhis don't apologise to anyone, the ex-Wayanad MP replied, triggering strong reaction from BJP and Shiv Sena.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray also warned Gandhi that demeaning Savarkar would create "cracks" in the opposition alliance.

"Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar," Uddhav said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut echoed his party chief and said, "It is a wrong statement. He's definitely a Gandhi but no need to drag Savarkar. Savarkar is our inspiration. The inspiration behind our fight in Maharashtra is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Veer Savarkar."

"I will definitely try to speak to him," he said when asked if he will speak face-to-face with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi over this issue.

Rahul Gandhi has been frequently attacking BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by targeting VD Savarkar, their ideologue. In November last year, Gandhi, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said that Savarkar would write mercy petitions to be freed from the Andaman cellular jail and also accepted a pension from the British. He also claimed that Savarkar had helped the British government during the freedom struggle, triggering protests from BJP and Shiv Sena workers.

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The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with an Allahabad high court order to the Uttar Pradesh government for providing employment to a member of the family of a 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was alleged to have been raped and murdered in September 2020 in Hathras. The Supreme Court. (PTI)

A Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud-led bench said the state should not challenge such directions. ...These are facilities provided to the family. We should not interfere, said the bench, which also affirmed the directive on rehabilitating the family outside Hathras.

The bench also comprising justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala dismissed the states appeal through a brief order. It said that the court was not inclined to interfere in the special facts and circumstances of the case.

Also read | From hope to despair: They won, says Hathras victims family after court verdict

Additional advocate general Garima Prasad, representing Uttar Pradesh, said that the court ought to consider the point of law whether the elder married brother of the woman will be a dependent while considering the matter.

The bench remained firm that it would not entertain the states appeal.

The high court in July 2022 said the state authorities must abide by the promise made to the family in writing on September 30, 2020, to give employment to one member. It directed the authorities to consider relocation of the family outside Hathras but within Uttar Pradesh.

The high court passed the order on a public interest litigation registered suo motu as Right to Decent and Dignified Last Rites/Cremation in 2020 after the womans last rites were performed in haste after midnight allegedly without the consent of the family.

Four men were accused of raping the woman when she was out to get cattle fodder. On March 2, a special court in Hathras convicted the main accused in the case, Sandeep Sisodia, of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, but acquitted him of the rape charges.

Sisodia was sentenced to life imprisonment, while the three other co-accused were acquitted of all charges.
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has written a letter requesting an audience with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud over the demand for allocating the entire 1.33-acre land granted for the top courts archives for constructing lawyers chambers. The Supreme Court. (PTI)

SCBA president Vikas Singh wrote the letter on Saturday two days after the top court dismissed a petition over the demand but left the matter open to be taken up on the administrative side.

Singh has also sought a discussion on issues including allotment of the building housing the Foreign Correspondents Club near the Supreme Court to the SCBA for the construction of additional chambers, space for offices for of the associations office bearers, etc.

The court on Thursday said that it cannot assert a right to the entirety of 1.33-acre land allocated for Supreme Court Archives. It allotted 0.5-acre land for constructing lawyers chambers.

The SCBA has sought the entire 1.33-acre land as it is the only vacant plot situated near the Supreme Court. It argued that in the 0.5-acre space, only 250 chambers could be constructed while the requirement was for about 1000.

SCBA said if the entire land is available, nearly 700 chambers can be provided, still leaving out eligible lawyers awaiting chambers for 20 years.

Also read: Judiciary ordering land for lawyers chambers sends a very wrong message, says SC

The SCBA wrote to the Union government on March 18 demanding the space allotted to the Foreign Correspondents Club for additional chambers. The matter is pending and SCBA requested the CJI to take up this issue on the administrative side.

The SCBA said it filed a petition in the Supreme Court in August last year over the matter as their demand for chambers was not addressed earlier.

A bench of the CJI and justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and PS Narasimha dismissed the plea this month. These are matters which cannot be resolved by the application of judicial standards and have to be taken up on the administrative side of the Supreme Court. Administrative functioning and decision-making, which the current issue requires, cannot be moved to the judicial side.

In another letter to CJI on March 17, the SCBA said while the infrastructure for judges and registry officials has increased manifold, no corresponding increase in infrastructure took place for providing facilities for SCBA members.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for holding urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh with reservation for the other backward classes (OBCs), after it was convinced that the state followed the mandatory triple test criteria. The Supreme Court allowed the Uttar Pradesh state election commission (SEC) to issue a notification for the urban local body polls with an OBC quota in two days. (ANI)

The court allowed the state election commission (SEC) to issue a notification in this regard in two days. Uttar Pradesh joins a string of states such as Madhya Pradesh in instituting backward quota in local polls.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud WENT through a report of the UP State Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission, set aside the Allahabad high courts decision of December 27 that stayed the states decision to issue a notification for the civic polls with OBC quotas.

The commission submitted its report to the state government on March 9.

The process of notifying the local body elections is going on and will be done in two days. The plea is disposed of. The direction in this order is not to be used as precedent,

Also Read| U.P. civic polls: AAP promises to waive water tax, halve house tax

said the bench, also comprising justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

This court, in an order dated January 4, 2023, noted that in view of the decisions of this court, the government of Uttar Pradesh issued a notification for setting up the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission in December 2022. Though the tenure of the commission was six months, it was to complete its task by March 31, 2023.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, informed the court that in its report running into 3,000 pages, the state panel had done a comprehensive exercise by gathering empirical data for quantifying the extent of backwardness local body-wise.

The state fulfilled the triple test laid down by a 2010 Constitution bench of the top court that mandated three essential steps to be fulfilled before allowing OBC reservation, Mehta added.

The triple test requires setting up a panel to hold a rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature of the backwardness in the context of the local bodies, specifying the proportion of reservation based on the commissions recommendations, and ensuring that it does not exceed the overall 50% quota limit set by the top court.

Accepting the report of the OBC Commission by the Honorable Supreme Court, the order to conduct urban body elections with OBC reservation is welcome, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted. Following the rules of reservation in a lawful manner, the Government of Uttar Pradesh is committed to conduct urban body elections in a time-bound manner.

On December 29 last year, the UP government moved the top court challenging an order passed by the Allahabad high court, quashing the governments December 5 draft notification which provided for reservation of seats for OBCs apart from those for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women. The state said OBCs are a constitutionally protected section and the high court erred in quashing the draft notification.

The Lucknow bench of the high court had also ordered that the state government should notify the polls immediately as the term of several municipalities would end by January 31.

On January 4, the Supreme Court partially stayed the high court decision. The direction of the high court, which mandates the holding of elections to local bodies in Uttar Pradesh without reserving seats for Backward Classes of citizens will result in a violation of the constitutional and statutory requirements of reservation for the OBCs...Prima facie, the high court is not correct in prioritising one over the other and directing the holding of elections without the provision of representation for the Backward Classes, the apex court had said.

A day after the HC order, the UP government constituted a five-member backward classes commission to overcome the hurdle posed by the verdict. The panel was headed by Justice (retd) Ram Avtar Singh, a former Allahabad high court judge.

Not convinced by the constitutional vacuum created as a result of the high courts order, the Supreme Court in its January 4 order added, Democratising the municipalities and true representation in the composition of the municipalities under Article 243T are both constitutional mandates. When a constitutional court is called upon to review the decisions of the state in this context, it must ensure that both these values are given full effect so that truly representative and vibrant local bodies contemplated under Part IXA of the Constitution are realised.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a plea by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader PP Mohammed Faizal, complaining that his disqualification as the Member of Parliament (MP) from Lakshadweep has not been revoked by the Lok Sabha Secretariat despite a stay by the high court on his conviction and jail term in an attempt to murder case. The Supreme Court (HT File Photo)

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud agreed to list the matter on March 28 after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter on behalf of Faizal, who was sentenced to a 10-year jail term on January 11 by a trial court but he got a stay on his conviction from the Kerala high court on January 25. The Lok Sabha Secretariat on January 13 issued the order on MPs disqualification with effect from the date of his conviction.

Even the Supreme Court has refused to stay the high court order which stayed his conviction, but he has still not been reinstated in the House. The SLP by the Lakshadweep administration has been heard four times by the Supreme Court of India. The matter is again coming up tomorrow. My request is that let this application be also heard with that matter, Singhvi submitted before the CJI.

The top court in February refused a plea by the Lakshadweep administration to stay the Kerala high court order that suspended Faizals conviction in the 2009 case. A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna will take up the matter again on March 28.

On January 11, the Kavaratti Sessions court convicted four persons including Faizal for attempting to murder Padanath Salih, the son-in-law of former union minister and Congress leader PM Sayeed, in connection to a political controversy during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The four were sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Following the Lok Sabha secretariat notifying the disqualification of Faizals membership on January 13, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced bye-elections on the seat on January 18. In view of the Kerala high courts decision to stay the conviction on January 25, ECI on January 30 decided to withhold the bye-election and to defer the issuance of notification for holding the bye-election in Lakshadweep.

But there has been no order withdrawing the Lok Sabha secretariats order, Faizal complained.

In his petition filed through advocate KR Sasiprabhu, Faizal said he was constrained to move the top court in the wake of the unlawful inaction by the Lok Sabha secretariats secretary general of not withdrawing the notification issued to disqualify him on January 13, 2023.

It further claimed that the LS Secretariats conduct in the teeth of the settled law that disqualification incurred by an MP under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, ceases to operate if the conviction is stayed by the appellate court.
Three people, including a veterinary surgeon, were arrested in Andhra Pradeshs YSR Kadapa district in connection with the alleged abduction and murder of a senior Dalit veterinary official, police said on Monday. SP Anburjan said Atchanna and Bose had been working in the same hospital since 2022 during which some differences cropped up between the two. (Representative photo)

The mutilated body of the deceased, Dr Chinna Atchanna, 57, who was working as deputy director of the veterinary department at a polyclinic in Kadapa town, was found near the Guvvalacheruvu ghat section in Ramapuram mandal in Annamayya district on March 24, said police. The body was found 12 days after he had gone missing after visiting local church in Kadapa, said police.

Confirming the development, superintendent of police K K Anburajan said: On Sunday night, three people, including assistant surgeon Bollu Subhash Chandra Bose (43), his relative Bavuluri Chenna Krishna (43) and Mude Balaji Naik (26) were taken into custody and after interrogation, were arrested on Monday. They were remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

The Ramapuram police registered a case of suspicious death and handed over the body to the family. The final rites were performed in Kurnool on Saturday.

A case was registered into the matter under Sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 364 (abduction), 302 (murder), 201, r/w 34 (disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Section 3 (2) (v-a) of SC,ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act, 2015, said police.

SP Anburjan said Atchanna and Bose had been working in the same hospital since 2022 during which some differences cropped up between the two. Apparently, Atchanna had withheld the salaries of his employees, removed them from their duties and surrendered them to the government on disciplinary grounds.

Because of this, Bose developed a grudge against Atchanna and decided to eliminate him. In collusion with his relative Chenna Krishna and his medical store business partner Balaji Naik, he hatched a plan to murder Atchanna, the SP said.

On March 12, around 11 am, the accused waylaid Atchanna near the CSI church, abducted him and took him to Guvvala Cheruvu Ghat. They beat him and pushed him off the safety wall of the ghat road into the adjacent gorge, leading to his death, he said.

Before committing the murder, Bose took the mobile phone of the deceased, removed its SIM card and threw it.

Two days later, Atchannas son Clinton Chakravarthi lodged a complaint of a missing case at Kadapa one-town police. He suspected the role of Bose and others behind the disappearance of his father, Anburajan said.

After examining the call data records of the deceased and that of the suspects, the police narrowed down to the accused.

On March 24, Atchanna;s body was recovered from the gorge. Even as the post-mortem was being done and the body was handed over to the kin, the accused surrendered before the Kadapa village revenue officer on Sunday night. Later, they were taken into custody and arrested, the SP added.

Meanwhile, the SC employees associations and some public-spirited organisations held agitations demanding justice for the deceaseds family. We demand a comprehensive judicial probe into the murder of a Dalit officer, said Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi founder-president Manda Krishna Madiga.

State animal husbandry minister Seediri Appala Raju assured that a departmental inquiry was ordered into the case. We will take stringent action against the accused and extend all possible assistance to the family of the deceased, the minister added.

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The Supreme Court on Monday termed the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots a horrendous crime, directing the Centre and the Gujarat government to produce files regarding the grant of remission to 11 people convicted and sentenced to a life term in the case. Bilkis Bano

A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna also asked if the Gujarat government applied the same standards in respect of other prisoners when it granted remission to the 11 convicts, even as it observed that the adjudication of the matter will be strictly on legality and law.

This is a horrendous offence... no doubt about it. Now, we have a stream of murder case convicts who are languishing in jails without remission. So, is this a case where the standards have been adopted uniformly in other cases too? asked the bench as it heard a bunch of six petitions challenging the remission  while one of these petitions was moved by Bano, others were filed as public interest litigations (PILs) in the wake of the outcry over the premature release of the convicts last August.

Setting down the matter for April 18 for an extensive hearing, the bench directed the Centre and the state government to produce the relevant files relating to the grant of remission to the convicts.

We will not be going by emotions. Thats the last thing we will do. We are only on legal and law and nothing to do with emotions. We understand whatever we are going to say will affect the conditions of prisoners in this country. We have to put in a balance... liberty and freedom are some of the considerations, remarked the bench. These observations came when advocate Rishi Malhotra, appearing for some of the convicts, complained that PIL petitioners cannot question the remission granted in a criminal case and that emotional arguments were being pressed to dispel the requirement of law and maintainability.

The bench, while issuing a notice on Banos petition, clarified that it would examine a gamut of issues, including the applicability of the remission policy, definition of appropriate government for the purposes of remission, and the considerations made by the authorities concerned.

During the hearing, the court further indicated that it would hear the parties on the point if the Gujarat government was the appropriate government to grant remission under Section 433 and 433A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) after the lawyers for Bano and other petitioners said that Maharashtra government should have dealt with the convicts remission plea since the trial was conducted in Mumbai as per the 2004 apex court order.

Malhotra, on his part, countered this submission, citing an order of the Supreme Court in May 2022 passed by another bench, which directed the Gujarat government could consider the remission plea.

The bench, however, told Malhotra: Will this court order clothe a state, which does not have jurisdiction, with the jurisdiction? Even if there is a Supreme Court order, if it is found that there was palpably no jurisdiction, whether this court can clothe someone with that jurisdiction? You cannot simply cite the order of this court but argue this independently.

During the proceedings, senior counsel Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, and advocates Vrinda Grover and Aparna Bhat appeared for the PIL petitioners, which included former CPI MP Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, professor Roop Rekha Verma, and TMC MP Mahua Moitra. Bano was represented through advocate Shobha Gupta.

Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence during the 2002 riots, and her three-year-old daughter was one of the seven people killed.

The 11 men convicted of the crimes against her and her family were released on August 15 after one of them, Radheshyam Shah, approached the Supreme Court in April seeking remission, arguing that he had spent over 15 years in prison in the case. By an order in May, a bench led by justice Rastogi directed the state government to consider the convicts plea for premature release in accordance with the 1992 policy  the one prevalent on the date of their conviction. While the existing remission policy of 2014 of the Gujarat government prohibits early release of rape convicts, no such restrictions were a part of the 1992 policy.

Subsequently, a batch of PILs were filed, challenging the premature release of Banos convicts. These petitions stressed that the crime was horrific and the convicts should have never been entitled to premature release in the public interest.

A bench led by then CJI NV Ramana issued notices to the Gujarat government and the convicts in August 2022. As this bench also included justices Rastogi and Vikram Nath, the matter was listed before justice Rastogis bench after justice Ramanas retirement.

Replying to these petitions, the Gujarat government filed its affidavit on October 17, and disclosed that the Union ministry of home affairs had approved the early release of the convicts while the state took into account their good behaviour as a key reason to grant remission.

The affidavit revealed that remission was granted in August despite objections from the trial court judge who convicted the 11 men, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated and prosecuted the case in Mumbai following the 2004 apex court order shifting the trial outside Gujarat.

Later, in the last week of November, Bano approached the Supreme Court against the Gujarat governments decision to allow the 11 men, sentenced to life in 2008, to walk out of jail.

She stated in her writ petition that the gravity of the crime would itself disentitle the convicts from getting benefit of an early release. Explaining the delay in approaching the court, she said, The petitioner was completely shattered with the early release of all the convicts and could not regroup herself to be able to take a decision to challenge their release the earliest, more so when there was not even a piece of information of the basis or the grounds on which they were collectively granted such clemency.

Through a separate petition, Bano also sought a review of the Supreme Courts May order asking the state government to consider the convicts plea for premature release in accordance with the 1992 policy.

While Banos challenge to the grant of remission remains pending, the review petition was rejected by a bench comprising justices Rastogi and Nath on December 13. In our opinion, there appears no error apparent on the face of record, which may call for review of the judgment dated May 13, 2022, the bench said in its order.

The case, however, could not be heard since December as justice Rastogis bench included justice Bela M Trivedi, who recused from hearing the matter twice  on December 15 and on January 4. After repeated requests by Banos lawyer, Shobha Gupta, Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud last week agreed to set up a new bench, and the matter was thus listed before the justice Joseph-led bench.
A team of Uttar Pradesh that took the custody of jailed mafioso-turned politician Atiq Ahmed from Ahmedabad's Sabarmati jail briefly halted in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri hours after he expressed fear that he might be murdered. The convoy reached Shivpuri on Monday morning after it crossed Rajasthan's Kota hanging bridge late last night. UP Police with jailed-mafia Atiq Ahmed outside Sabarmati Central Jail as he is being shifted to Prayagraj, in Ahmedabad.(PTI)

Named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, Atiq Ahmed is to produced in a special court in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Tuesday when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused.

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," he told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel .

When some reporters asked him if he feared for his life, the former Samajwadi Party MP said, "Mujhe inka programme maloom hai...Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their programme...They want to murder me)."

He claimed that his appearance in the Prayagraj court was a just pretext for the police to kill him.

"Court ke kandhe pe rakh ke maarna chahte hain (They want to kill me under the pretext of court appearance)," he said as he was being escorted inside a police van.

After advocate Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 killing of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, and policemen deployed as his security guards were killed in a shooting on February 24, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had, while speaking in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, vowed to destroy the mafia. Two of the accused were shot dead in separate encounters by police on February 27 and March 6.

UP police have chosen a road route to bring back the gangster and the journey will take more than 30 hours.

DG (prisons) Anand Kumar said the jailed politician will be kept in a high-security barrack with a round-the-clock CCTV camera for surveillance.

"Atiq Ahmed will be kept in isolation in a high-security barrack at the jail. His cell will have a CCTV camera. Jail staff will be chosen and deployed on the basis of their records, they will have body-worn cameras," Kumar said.

"Prayagraj Jail office and Jail HQ will monitor round the clock through a video wall. DIG Jail HQ is being sent to ensure all the arrangements at Prayagraj Jail," he added.

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Rahul Gandhis conviction in a criminal defamation case, his subsequent disqualification from the Lok Sabha and a possible jail term and debarment from contesting elections for another six years is one of the biggest crises which has faced the Congress, Indias oldest political party. Here are two charts which show that this is only the latest in a series of problems that has plagued the Congress. PREMIUM Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi during opposition leaders' meeting at Kharge's residence, in New Delhi, Monday.(PTI)

Post-independence Congress is used to being led by someone from the Gandhi family

Of the 17 general elections which have been held in this country since 1951, the Congress has faced every election except one ( 1996 election ) under the leadership of a person from the Gandhi family. Between 1951 and 1962 it was Jawaharlal Nehru, from 1967 to 1980 it was Indira Gandhi, 1984 to 1991 was Rajeev Gandhi (he was assassinated just before the 1991 election), 1998 to 2014 was Sonia Gandhi (even though Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister in 2009 and 2014 it was Sonia Gandhi who was seen as the political leader) and 2019, Rahul Gandhi.

To be fair to the present set of Gandhis leading the party, it was the Congress party which asked Sonia Gandhi to take over the leadership of the party in 1997 after she had refused to partake in active politics after her husbands killing. Even in 2022, it was the Gandhis, especially Rahul, who insisted that they were not seen on becoming the president of the party. Even without the crisis triggered by the Gandhis conviction, the Congress would have still had to take a call on its face for the 2024 campaign  unless it decided that it would pick current President Mallikarjun Kharge.

Its support-base has a seen a gradual decline under every successive Gandhi

A long-term comparison of vote shares of the Congress shows this clearly. If one were round off vote shares, the Congress never went below the 45% mark in the three elections it fought under Jawaharlal Nehru. The party fell below the 40% vote share threshold for the first time in the 1977 elections, which were held after Indira Gandhi imposed the emergency in 1975. The next big watershed moment came in 1996, when the Congresss vote share fell below the 30% mark. The Congress faced a double whammy of sorts in these elections. It had nobody from the Gandhi family leading the party and the Narsimha Rao government was seen as having allowed the demolition of Babri Mosque under its watch 1992, which was seen a decisive blow for Hindutva politics in India. While Sonia Gandhi could not really bring up the vote share of the Congress above the 30% mark, she did manage to bring back the party in power in 2004 and 2009 as head of a colaition. However, 2014 would see yet another low for the party when the vote share fell below the 20% cut-off for the first time. It remained there in the 2019 elections, which were held with Rahul Gandhi holding the presidency of the party.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction has decided not to attend a Congress meeting at party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Monday over suspended MP Rahul Gandhi's I am not Savarkar, I am Gandhi comments, news agency ANI reported quoting MP Sanjay Raut. Uddhav Thackeray and Rahul Gandhi.(File)

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said no one from the party will attend any meeting convened by the Congress, adding that the grand-old party has to understand Savarkar first.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has already condemned Gandhi's comments, with its chief, Thackeray, on Sunday saying that he considers Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar as his idol, and asked the Congress leader to refrain from insulting him.

Thackeray said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties - Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

Addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated textile town of Malegaon in Nashik district of north Maharashtra, Thackeray said, "Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice."

I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country's democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election, he added.

On Monday, Raut, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, also expressed displeasure over Gandhi's comments, terming it a wrong statement. Raut said Savarkar is our inspiration and that he will try to speak to Rahul Gandhi on the issue.

"It is a wrong statement. He's definitely a Gandhi but no need to drag Savarkar. Savarkar is our inspiration. The inspiration behind our fight in Maharashtra is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Veer Savarkar," Raut told reporters.

"I will definitely try to speak to him," he said when asked if he will speak face-to-face with Gandhi in New Delhi over this issue.

Gandhi has been frequently attacking the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh by targeting Savarkar and their ideologue. In November last year, Gandhi, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said that Savarkar would write mercy petitions to be freed from the Andaman cellular jail and also accepted a pension from the British. He also claimed that Savarkar had helped the British government during the freedom struggle, triggering protests from BJP and Shiv Sena workers.

Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said, "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone".

Thackeray said he supported Gandhi for his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday took a jibe at the Centre and Prime Minster Narendra Modi while discussing about the development work done by his government in Delhi. He was speaking amid the budget session and said that the creation of the universe apparently happened after 2014 after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in the assembly tried to chime in when the CM was talking about his governments' performance. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.(PTI)

Also read: Fresh AAP v Delhi LG battle after Atishi orders discoms subsidy audit

CM Kejriwal claimed that the amount of work done in last 65 years in Delhi was doubled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in eight years. The BJP MLAs cut in and mentioned the Centre's role in the development of metro system in the city. To this, the CM said, Lord, everything is your (BJP) grace.

This moon, these stars, this sky, this earth, everything is yours... This world was created in 2014 itself," he said.

After that, he went on to mock the central government with the help of poems and called it an uneducated government. He rhymed few phrases using some popularly used terms for the right-wing party.

Earlier, CM Kejriwal claimed that the BJP government is dangerous than British rulers, after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha.

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The last date to link voter ID with Aadhaar card has been extended to March 31, 2024, from the earlier April 1, 2023, the government informed. With this, users can link their Aadhaar to the voter ID online or through SMS by March 31, 2024. The linking process is not mandatory in nature but helps in identification of registration of the name of the same person in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency, the Election Commission said. Voter ID-Aadhaar card Linking: Linking of Aadhaar with voter IDs was authorised in 2021.(Representational)

Read more: PAN-Aadhaar link: Know people exempted from this process

The Central Government hereby makes the following amendment in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department), number S.O.2893(E), dated 17th June 2022, namely:  In the said notification, for the words and figures, the 1st April 2023 for the words and figures, the 31st March 2024 shall be substituted," ministry of Law and Justice said in a notification.

Linking of Aadhaar with voter IDs was authorised following the passing of Election Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha in December 2021.

Here's a look at the process of linking Aadhaar card with voter ID online:

Step 1: Visit the official website of the National Voter's Service Portal (NVSP) here.

Step 2: Log in to the portal.

Read more: Link PAN with Aadhaar by March 31: SEBI to investors

Step 3: Go to "Search in Electoral Roll" option.

Step 4: Fill in details and then enter the Aadhaar number.

Step 5: Users will then receive an OTP on the registered mobile number or email for the purpose of authentication.

Step 6: Enter the OTP. With this, your Voter ID card will be linked to the Aadhaar card.

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After the Opposition showed up in black attires for the Parliament session on Monday, days after Rahul Gandhis disqualification as Lok Sabha MP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge explained that the protest signalled the end of democracy in PM Modis India. Speaking to news agency ANI, he also accused the Modi government of influencing investigating agencies and independent bodies. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hit out at the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP. (ANI)

Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to bend those who didn't bow, Kharge said.

Also read: Congress' 'black shirt' protest for Rahul Gandhi sees surprise Trinamool visit

Mentioning the lightning speed at which Gandhi was qualified, the Congress leader called it a black day for democracy and asserted that the opposition will not back down.

Both Houses of Parliament, which reconvened on Monday were adjourned within minutes amid continued ruckus over Gandhis controversial disqualification on Friday after a Surat court conviction in the Modi surname defamation case, and the Adani issue.

Stepping up its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Probe into the Adani row, the Congress chief continued, ...Adani has become a tall figure. Why is the Govt silent? He earned money illegally.Why are you scared of constituting a JPC? You have a majority. You (BJP) will have more members in the JPC or will have your allies.

Earlier, the opposition held a joint protest march from parliament to Vijay Chowk raising slogans against the government and met to chalk out a strategy to take forward the Adani issue and Gandhi's disqualification.

Trinamool Congress, which has so far maintained a distance from a united opposition against BJP, also made a surprise entry at the protests on Monday.

(With agency inputs)

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According to a study presented today at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2023, a scientific meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, more than 40% of women report anxiety four months following a cardiac arrest, compared to 23% of males (ESC) More than 40% of women report anxiety four months following a cardiac arrest, compared to 23% of male. (Unsplash )

"Cardiac arrest occurs with little or no warning and it's common to feel anxious and low afterwards," said study author Dr. Jesper Kjaergaard of Rigshospitalet - Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, adding, "After the initial shock and confusion, patients and their families have an abrupt change in their way of life, with medical investigations to determine the cause of cardiac arrest and in some cases diagnosis of a condition requiring treatment. This may add to the stress and anxiety. Our study indicates that women are more affected psychologically and could be targeted for extra support." (Also read: Heart health tips: Can you prevent sudden cardiac arrest? Here's what you need to know )

Cardiac arrest causes one in five deaths in industrialised countries.2 The heart unexpectedly stops pumping blood around the body and if flow is not restored quickly, the individual passes out and dies within 10 to 20 minutes. Less than 10% of people who have a cardiac arrest in the community survive to hospital discharge.3,4

Anxiety and depression are frequent after critical illness and are strongly associated with reduced quality of life in patients5 and relatives.6 This study assessed the prevalence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in cardiac arrest survivors and examined whether the severity of symptoms differed between women and men.

Between 2016 and 2021, the study enrolled 245 patients who had a cardiac arrest in the community and were admitted to hospital in a coma. Some 18% of participants were women. Psychological symptoms were assessed during a four-month follow up appointment. Anxiety and depression were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Patients gave a score of 0 to 3 for how often or strongly they experienced 14 items such as "I get sudden feelings of panic", for a total of 0 to 21 for anxiety and 0 to 21 for depression. Scores between 8 to 10 indicate borderline anxiety or depression while 11 or higher indicates anxiety or depression. Symptoms of PTSD were assessed using the PCL-5 checklist.7 Respondents rated 20 symptoms from 0 ("not at all") to 4 ("extremely") for a total score of 0 to 80, with 31 to 33 indicating probable PTSD.

The average HADS score was 2.7 for depression and 4.8 for anxiety. Depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in women (3.3 and 6.1, respectively), compared to men (2.6 and 4.5, respectively). Anxiety scores of 8 or more were observed in 43% of women and 23% of men. Looking at the anxiety results in more detail, 23% of women had a score of 8 to 10 compared with 11% of men, while 20% of women scored 11 or more compared with 12% of men. Women had significantly higher levels of PTSD compared with men (median score 33 vs. 26, respectively). In both men and women, anxiety was significantly correlated to PTSD symptoms.

Dr. Kjaergaard said: The findings confirm our experience in clinical practice that the psychological effects of cardiac arrest persist for months. Anxiety was frequent, particularly in women. Our results highlight the need for long-term follow up of cardiac arrest survivors to identify and treat mental health issues. Patients should be encouraged to tell their healthcare professional about anxiety, depression and stress related to the cardiac arrest. Future studies are needed to investigate whether talking to a professional can help alleviate psychological symptoms.
Ram Navami is a Hindu festival that will be celebrated on March 30 this year. It is observed to commemorate the birth of Lord Rama, who is one of the most venerated gods in the Hindu religion. It falls on the ninth day of the Hindu month of Chaitra, which usually falls in March or April according to the Gregorian calendar. Ram Navami is an auspicious day for Hindus, and it is observed with great devotion and enthusiasm all over India. As part of the celebrations, many households in North India observe the Kanjak ceremony, which involves worshipping young girls as the embodiment of the divine feminine. Typically kala chana, puri, and halwa are served during Kanjak.(Chef Meraj/pinterest)

The ritual involves preparing and offering prasad (sacred food) to the Kanjaks, which typically includes kala chana, puri, and halwa. However, there are several other prasad items that you can make to add variety and flavour to your Kanjak celebrations. (Also read: 5 irresistible barfi recipes to satiate your sweet tooth this festive season )

Executive Chef Meraj at Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai, shared with HT Lifestyle, some prasad items that you can make during Kanjak to make the festival even more special and memorable.

Prasad items you should make during kanjak:

Chana curry

Chana curry(pinterest)

Ingredients:

Chana - 1 cup (200 Gms)

Green coriander - 1 to 2 tbsp.

Oil - 1 to 2 tbsp.

Green chilli - 2 to 3

Ginger julienne - 1 inch

Cumin seeds -  tsp

Turmeric powder -  tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Mango powder -  tsp

Red chilli powder -  tsp

Garam masala -  tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Take a cup of soaked black chana, wash it and soak it for overnight or 7 to 8 hours. After soaking it, add it in the cooker along with a teaspoon of salt and a cup of water.

2. Mix it and close lid of the cooker.

3. Cook it on the medium flame until the first whistle blows.

4. Turn the flame to low after the first whistle has blown and cook it on low flame for 3 to 4 minutes. Switch off the flame after 4 minutes and wait until the pressure of cooker releases.

5. Preheat a pan, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil in it and heat it. Add a  teaspoon of cumin seeds to it and turn the flame to low.

6. Add 4 finely and vertically chopped green chillies to it. Saute the spices and add a teaspoon of coriander powder to it.

7. Add a  teaspoon of turmeric powder to it and saute the spices. Add the cooked chanas to it along with the water residing in cooker.

8. Add  teaspoon of red chilli powder,  teaspoon of garam masala,  teaspoon of mango powder to it and turn the flame to high.

9. Cook it for 2 minutes and add some coriander leaves after 2 minutes.

10. Switch off the flame and mix it. The curry of black chanas has cooked and it is ready to be served.

2. Semolina pudding (Halva)

Suji halwa (depositphotos)

Ingredients:

Semolina -  cup (100 Gms)

Ghee -  cup

Sugar -  cup (125 Gms)

Cardamom powder -  tsp

Cashew (chopped) - 1 tbsp

Almond flakes - 1 tbsp

Raisins - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Preheat a pan, add 3 to 4 tablespoons of clarified butter in it. Melt it and add a  cup of semolina to it.

2. Roast while continuously stirring it on the medium flame and roast until its colour changes to brown.

3. The chopped cashews, almonds and roast them along with semolina. Add some raisins and 1.5 cups of water.

4. Add a  cup of sugar to it and cook it on the low flame until semolina expands.

4. The semolina has expanded after 5 minutes. Stir it again and cook until it reaches to its thicker consistency.

5. The Halwa has become thick and it has cooked. Add some cardamom powder to it and mix it. Pour it in a separate bowl and serve.

3. Poori

Poori(pinterest)

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups (300 Gms)

Salt -  tsp

Method:

1. Take 2 cups of wheat flour in a bowl, add a  teaspoon of salt to it. Add a teaspoon oil to it and knead a stiff dough using the water in intervals.

2. After kneading the dough, cover and keep it aside to set for 20 minutes.

3. The dough has set after 20 minutes, mash it. Preheat oil to fry the Poori, divide the dough into the smaller sized lumps.

4. Lift a dough lump and flatten it into the diameter of 3 to 5 inches. Flatten it from the corners.

5. Do not flatten it thinly from the centre and thickly from the corners.

6. The flame should be high while frying the Poori. Add a Poori to fry and press it softly when it starts floating.

7. Fry until the Poori become golden brown from both sides.

8. Flip and fry it until it seems brown. It has cooked because it appears golden to us. Fry all the Poori likewise.

9. The whole offering is ready to be served.

4. Rice kheer

(Recipe by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor)

Rice kheer(Pinterest)

Ingredients:

Basmati rice 1/2 cup

Almonds 6-8

Pistachios 6-8

Raisins 8-10

Milk 1 litre

Sugar 3/4 cup

Green cardamom powder 1/4 teaspoon

Saffron (kesar) 5-6

Silver warq to garnish

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice in one cup of water for fifteen minutes.

2. Drain, remove on an absorbent paper and pat dry using a muslin cloth. Grind it to a coarse powder.

3. Blanch almonds and pistachios in one cup of hot water for five minutes. Drain, peel and cut them into slivers.

4. Soak raisins in one-fourth cup water for ten to fifteen minutes, drain.

5. Heat the milk in a thick-bottomed pan and bring it to a boil.

6. Add the rice powder and sugar and cook on low heat till the rice is half done.

7. Add the green cardamom powder, saffron, nuts and allow to simmer on low heat till the rice is cooked and the mixture is thick Remove from heat, allow to cool a little, stir in the raisins and transfer into small clay bowls.

8. Garnish with silver varq and serve chilled.

5. Aloo ki Sabzi

(Recipe by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor)

Aloo ki Sabzi(Pinterest)

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes (aloo), peeled and cut into cubes

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

A pinch asafoetida

5-7 curry leaves

1 medium tomato, chopped

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander leaves

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves, mix and saute for 30 seconds.

2. Add tomato and salt, mix and cook till tomatoes are done. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and mix well.

3. Add potatoes and chopped coriander and mix well. Add 1 cup water, mix, cover and cook for 3-4 whistles.

4. Add garam masala powder and mix well.

5. Serve hot garnished with a coriander sprig.
Vandalism at Indian missions in the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), and Canada by elements backing the separatist Khalistan movement, including the outrageous act of pulling down Indias national flag, have rightly caused New Delhi to lodge official protests. Due to these actions, the property of Indian missions has been damaged and some employees injured. While the British and American authorities have denounced these events and New Delhi summoned the UK and Canadian envoys to lodge protests, thats not enough. PREMIUM Khalistan supporters protest outside Indian Embassy in Washington, US. (PTI)

This is a serious international law concern because it affects one of the core issues that form the basis of relationships between States  diplomatic and consular relations. The two key international treaties that govern these relations are the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). These treaties have more than 190 countries as signatories and at the heart of these agreements lies a functional approach aimed at ensuring that a countrys mission abroad can perform its functions efficiently only when it is situated in the territory of the receiving country.

It is as part of this approach that Articles 22(1) and 31(1) of VCDR and VCCR, respectively, enshrine the principle of inviolability i.e. the sanctity of diplomatic and consular premises. Recognising the significance of this principle, the International Court of Justice in the 1980 Tehran hostages case  when the US successfully brought a claim against Iran after American diplomats were held hostage at the embassy by militants  held that the inviolability of diplomatic envoys and embassies is a fundamental prerequisite for the conduct of relations between countries.

Accordingly, the premises of a sending states mission, such as the Indian high commission in London, cannot be interfered with by anyone, even the authorities of the State where it is located, without the permission of the missions head. The natural consequence of this inviolability is that the receiving State, the UK in this case, under Article 22(2) of the VCDR is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.

It is this special duty of protection that the UK, US, and Canada have failed to perform. In an apparent response, India withdrew security measures outside the British high commission and the high commissioners residence in New Delhi. This act is also permitted under Article 47 of VCDR which protects Indias ability to reciprocate the lack of security and protection its mission experienced in London. It is important to recall that in 2013, India took similar action of removing security equipment around the American embassy in Delhi in response to the US arresting Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat.

What more can India do? Under international law, the failure to provide protection to Indian missions does not automatically mean that New Delhi ought to be compensated for the damages to the property or for the injuries to its employees. It is, however, open to India to make claims with respective countries for existing and future incidents based on their official practice. For instance, in 1994, the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office shared with all diplomatic missions a note to clarify that while the UK did not consider itself under any obligation to pay compensation for damages due to attacks on diplomatic missions, it may still compensate the sending State (the country which sends its envoys) ex gratia, except in cases where the property was insured against such attacks. A similar policy position with respect to damages to diplomatic premises exists in Canada too, as recorded in an advice note tendered by the Canadian Department of External Affairs in 1967.

Relying on the British and Canadian practices, India should make a claim for compensation for the attacks and the damage caused to the Indian missions. If nothing, it would at least put pressure on these countries to ensure that they respect the key principle of inviolability.

Prabhash Ranjan teaches at the Jindal Global Law School. Shantanu Singh is an LLM candidate at the Geneva Graduate Institute

The views expressed are personal
Big screen smartphones marry benefits of a tablet and phone into one unit.

A smartphone can be made of many different components. A phone with a large battery, a strong processor, and a stylish design. The display, meanwhile, may be the most crucial factor for the majority of people. Most people prefer to use a phone with a large screen rather than a tablet. Here, the top 10 big screen smartphones, and Android big screen smartphones to think about when purchasing a new phone are listed below. Product list Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G The design of the first Galaxy S with an attached S Pen differs from the other models in the Galaxy S22 series. You can use Air Actions to remotely operate your phone while writing comfortably like a pen on paper or while quickly typing up notes. The quickest, most powerful chip ever used in a Samsung device powers this 5G ready device. The most cutting-edge professional-grade camera available, combining all the capabilities of a pro's toolkit in a single portable unit. With up to 1750 nits of peak brightness, its Dynamic AMOLED 2x display enhances outdoor visibility. Specifications Screen Size  7 Inches

RAM  12GB

CPU - Octa-Core

Biometric Security - Fingerprint Recognition

Battery  5000 mAh

Pros Cons Excellent camera with 108 MP rear and 40 MP front camera Expensive Water Resistant

2. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G The Galaxy Note20 Ultra is a professional phone that easily integrates with well-known business products and enables you to work however suits you best. With the Note20 Ultra's 5G capabilities and you can now simply maximize cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity by connecting to the best network and plan available right now. Also, it has 256 GB of internal storage that can be expanded to 1 TB. It provides you with a strong 4500 mAh battery that lasts all day and has Super Faster Charging. Specifications Screen Size - 6.9 Inches

Screen Type  AMOLED

S Pen

Pro-grade video

Battery  4500 mAh

Pros Cons Excellent performance with Octa-Core processor Imprecise in-display fingerprint scanners

3. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max offers Dynamic Island and Always-On display for a completely new iPhone experience. Apple upgraded the cameras to include a 48MP primary sensor in addition to the new, even longer battery life. It includes a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display, which is larger than the prior iPhone generation. Using Cinematic mode, you can record handheld, stable, cinematic videos in 4K Dolby Vision at up to 30 frames per second. There is no doubt that some of these improvements have been there on Android phones for some time, but Apples level of refinement elevates them to a different level. Specifications Screen Size - 6.7 Inches

RAM  6GB

Storage  128GB ( Expendable up to 1TB)

48MP main camera with an advanced quad-pixel sensor

A16 Bionic powers Dynamic Island

Pros Cons Amazing video action mode Don't have the SIM slot Long battery life

4. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the most commonly accessible folding smartphone with an internal screen that is the size of a tablet, making it the finest big-screen phone among the latest big screen smartphones. Make the most of the spacious Main Screen with MultiView, whether switching between texts or reading through emails. With One UI, you can alter apps to give you menus and more in a glimpse with a PC-like capability that fits in your pocket. Having one of the first foldable water-resistant cell phones in the world, means you don't have to worry about the weather. Specifications Processor  Octa-Core

RAM  12GB

Storage  256GB, 512GB

Camera - 50MP (Rear) and 10MP (Front)

Display  Amoled

Pros Cons Excellent for multitasking with the large 7.6-inch display Slow charging with 25W Long battery life Too pricey

5. Google Pixel 7 Pro 5G The Google Tensor G2-powered Pixel 7 Pro is an amazing phone with a big screen size that is fast and safe. The camera, which goes above and beyond prior Pixel phones by expanding the zoom range and enabling access to finer macro photos, is still what makes this phone unique. Additionally, Pixel helps safeguard your personal information with a built-in VPN and a certified Titan M2 security chip. Pixels Adaptive Battery can run for more than 24 hours; with Extreme Battery Saving enabled, it can run for up to 72 hours. Specifications Display  Amoled

Screen Size - 6.7Inch

RAM  12GB

Storage - 256GB

50MP wide lens, 12MP ultra-wide, 5x telephoto lens

Pros Cons high-quality camera function with 30x super zooming feature Slow face lock feature

6. Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus 5G The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus has a huge 6.6-inch display. The upgraded AI in this nightography maintains the clarity of details, resulting in low-light photos and videos that are vibrant and colorful from twilight to dawn and back again. The Plus is jam-packed with high-end capabilities, including an upgraded telephoto lens with a 3x optical zoom. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Samsung simplifies and optimises your device for smooth gaming without exhausting the battery. Also supported by the Galaxy S23 Plus is 45W wired charging. Although it isnt a significant improvement over the Galaxy S22 Plus, the S23 Plus is a good upgrade if you currently own an outdated phone. Specifications Screen Size  6.6 Inches

Camera  50MP (Rear), 12MP (Front)

Process  Octa-Core

RAM  8GB

Storage  256GB, 512GB

Pros Cons 45W charging with good battery life Super zooming feature

7. Xiaomi 12 Pro The Xiaomi 12 Pro's skilful triple 50MP camera array, which includes a huge 50 MP Sony IMX707 sensor that can take up to 120% more light, unleashes the full potential of a triple-camera arrangement. You can experience amazing cinematography with a good quality camera. It features the 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU, which is intended to provide excellent performance. The large 4600mAh battery on the smartphone can be fully charged in 18 minutes by using a 120W in-box HyperCharger. Moreover, the phone supports wireless turbocharging up to 50W. Specifications RAM  12GB

USB Type C

Display  Amoled

Screen Size - 6.73 Inches

Storage  256GB

Pros Cons Fast charging with 120W A little bit of slow processing

8. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra The most advanced and quite affordable large-screen smartphone model now on the market is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. The newest Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset in this phone delivers an incredibly responsive experience. You may experience amazing 48MP telephoto with S20 Ultra, also 108MP Quad rear camera and 12MP ultra-wide camera. You'll be impressed that Samsung built a 5G connection into this device, which will let you access the wireless network of your carrier at flash speeds. The internal storage capacity of the S20 Ultra is 128GB, and it can be expanded to 1 TB. Specifications Display  Amoled

Screen Size  6.9 Inches

Battery  5000 mAh

RAM  12GB

Storage  128GB

Pros Cons Fastest 5G speed Poor battery life 108MP Quad camera Affordable

9. Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G Hyperphone To provide ultra-smooth performances and a flawless multitasking interface, the Xiaomi 11T pro 5G equipped flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset is combined with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. Its Displaymate A+ certified panel offers a vibrant picture and a swifter, more responsive touch. To guarantee an unrivaled multimedia viewing experience, it also includes Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ certification. With the help of the device's incredibly simple photography and videography modes, anyone can quickly and easily take skilful photos and videos in 8K resolution. It features two symmetrical speakers by Harman Kardon and has Dolby Atmos certification for a more immersive audio quality. Specifications Processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

Camera - 108 MP (Rear), 16 MP (Front), 8MP (Ultra wide), 5MP (Tele micro)

RAM  8GB

Storage  256GB

Battery  5000mAh

Pros Cons Experience 8k resolution videos Average ultra-wide and tele micro camera

10. Redmi Note 10 Pro Regarding large-screen smartphones, the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro is a reliable mid-range choice. It supports Ultra-wide, Macro, and Portrait lenses, and the camera has several other modes that improve photography. Across almost all lighting conditions and situations, a 64MP quad camera setup enables users to take high-resolution photos with more detail. This device has a substantial 5020 mAh battery that comes with a 33W fast charger, which increases charging speed and offers excellent battery backup. With its 8nm processing Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G octa-core processor and the newest MIUI 12, it offers excellent performance while consuming little power for longer battery life. Note 10 Pro is the most affordable among all the big screen smartphones. Specifications Display  Amoled

Camera - 64MP+8MP+5MP+2MP

Processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G

Screen Size  6.67 inch

USB Type C

Pros Cons Quick charging with a 33W charger Slow processor speed Budget-friendly

Top 3 features for you

Products Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G Camera - 108 MP (rear) and 40MP (front) 7 Inches screen Water-resistan Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G AMOLED display 256 GB internal storage Octa-Core processor Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display 4K video quality Long battery life Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 Large 7.6-inch display Storage  256GB or 512GB Excellent multitasking Google Pixel 7 Pro 5G 30x super zoomin 12GB RAM, 256GB storage Personal data security Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus 5G Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor 45W wired charge 3x optical zooming Xiaomi 12 Pro 120W fast charger Triple-camera arrangement (50MP +50MP + 50MP) 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 108MP Quad camera Storage - 128GB (expandable up to 1TB) Snapdragon 865 Plus processor Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G Hyperphone Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor 8K video quality 5000mAh battery Redmi Note 10 Pro Affordable 5020 mAh Battery Processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G
Over 500 companies, including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Twitter, have laid off over 1.5 lakh workers this year alone, creating a commotion in the tech sector. Apple, on the other hand, has not adopted extensive layoffs, despite the fact that the industry is resorting to harsh cost-cutting measures in order to deal with slowdown post-Covid bubble burst. However, in order to improve efficiency, the iPhone maker is said to have tightened employee working conditions by mandating them to work from office at least 3 days a week, or face termination. (ALSO READ: Apple delays bonuses, limits hiring in latest cost-cutting move) Apple has asked employees to follow 3-day a week rule.(Reuters)

Apple is tracking employee attendance (via badge records) and will give employees escalating warnings if they don't come in 3x per week, tweeted Platformer's managing editor, Zoe Schiffer, adding that some organisations of the company can even fire employees who are failing to comply with the guidelines.

"At Apple, some orgs are saying failure to comply could result in termination, but that doesn't appear to be a company-wide policy," she added.

Beginning in September, Apple asked its remote workers to come into the office at least three times per week. A section of its workers criticised the policy, requesting a more flexible working environment.

Apple Together, a petitioner group claiming to be a global solidarity union of Apple employees, demanded that leadership consider the unique demands of each job position as well as the diversity of people.

Those asking for more flexible arrangements have many compelling reasons and circumstances: from disabilities (visible or not); family care; safety, health, and environmental concerns; financial considerations; to just plain being happier and more productive, the petition read.
Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink has approached one of the biggest U.S. neurosurgery centers as a potential clinical trials partner as it prepares to test its devices on humans once regulators allow for it, according to six people familiar with the matter. Elon Musk's Neuralink has been developing brain implants since 2016.(AP)

Neuralink has been developing brain implants since 2016 it hopes will eventually be a cure for intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness.

Also Read | Elon Musks Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests

It suffered a blow in early 2022, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its application to progress to human trials, citing major safety concerns, Reuters reported earlier this month.

The company has since been working to address the agency's concerns, and it is unclear if and when it will be successful.

Neuralink has been talking to Barrow Neurological Institute, a Phoenix, Arizona-based neurological disease treatment and research organization, to help carry out the human trials, the sources said.

Also Read | Elon Musk offers Twitter employees stock grants of $20 billion: Report

The talks may not result in a team-up. Neuralink has also discussed partnering with other centers, added the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential deliberations.

Reuters could not verify the latest status of the talks. Neuralink representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Francisco Ponce, director of Barrow's Center for Neuromodulation and Neurosurgery Residency Program, declined to comment on Neuralink but said Barrow was well-positioned to conduct such implant research because of its long track record in the field.

The FDA declined to comment on Neuralink's efforts to find a partner for its clinical trials.

Also Read | Will SpaceX take funding from Saudi Arabia, UAE? Elon Musk has something to say

Neuralink's latest efforts come as it faces two known U.S. federal probes into its practices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Inspector General began looking into potential animal-welfare violations at Neuralink last year. Current and former employees have detailed concerns to Reuters about the company's rushed animal experiments, resulting in needless suffering and deaths.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has said it is investigating the potential mishandling of hazardous pathogens during the company's partnership on animal trials with University of California, Davis between 2018 and 2020.

Barrow has helped standardize brain implant surgeries in which the patient can remain asleep, a key step in making it more acceptable to a broad set of the population, Ponce said.

This is in line with Musk's vision for Neuralink's brain chip. The billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc and majority owner of Twitter has said Neuralink's brain implants will become as ubiquitous as Lasik eye surgery.

The devices Barrow has been implanting so far are different than Neuralink's. Barrow works with deep brain stimulation devices, which received FDA approval in 1997 to help reduce Parkinson's tremors and have been implanted in more than 175,000 patients.

Neuralink's implant is a brain computer interface (BCI) device, which uses electrodes that penetrate the brain or sit on its surface to provide direct communication to computers. So far, no company has received U.S. approval to bring a BCI implant to the market. (Reporting by Marisa Taylor and Rachael Levy in Washington; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Bill Berkrot)
Social media is flooded with people sharing different kinds of art that might leave you stunned. Now, another such artwork has taken over the Internet by storm. This time, it is a sand portrait of Shah Rukh Khan created by Pakistan's Rashidi artists group members from Balochistan. Pakistani artist creates SRK's portrait.(Instagram/@Sameer Shoukat)

One of the Rashidi artists group members, Sameer Soukat, shared a photo of the sand portrait the group made on Pakistan's Gadani Beach on Instagram. The image shows an aerial view of Shah Rukh Khan's sand portrait. The artists added details WHAT DETAILS? in the sand and even wrote "SRK" at the bottom.

Also Read: Artist creates SUGA's portrait on a cookie, wows the Internet

"The biggest sketch of @iamsrk was made and gifted by me @sameershoukat11 and my team @rashidi.artist.gaddani admin @zabiullahbaloc @petter.sameer @waheedhanif07 @its_kabeer_akbar @waheedhanif07," Sameer Soukat wrote as the caption of the picture.

Take a look at the post below:

This post was shared four days ago. Since then, it has been liked over 700 times, and the numbers are only increasing. Many people loved the portrait and left comments on the post.

Check out a few reactions below:

An individual posted, "Splendid artwork." Another person added, "Superb, bro. You did really good." A third person added, "The King of India and Bollywood." "Well done," added a fourth. Many others have reacted using heart emojis.
A suicide attack on Monday near Afghanistan's foreign ministry killed six civilians and wounded several others, the interior ministry said. Taliban fighters stand guard at the explosion site, near the Foreign Ministry in Kabul.(AP)

Security has dramatically improved since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government and ending their two decade insurgency, but the Islamic State group has proved an increasing threat.

The attacker was identified by Afghan forces who shot at him in front of a business centre near the foreign ministry, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor tweeted.

Read here: Laughing gas to be banned in UK to curb anti-social behaviour

"With his killing, the explosives carried by the attacker also exploded which killed six civilians and wounded a number of others," he said.

Italian NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in the capital, confirmed it had received two dead and 12 wounded, including a child.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Monday's blast was the second attack near the foreign ministry in Kabul in less than three months, and the first since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on Thursday in Afghanistan.

On January 11, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the foreign ministry, killing 10 and wounding 53 people, according to the United Nations.

The Taliban authorities, who have often tried to play down attacks challenging their rule, had said that five people were killed in that attack, claimed by IS.

The group has increasingly become a major challenge, killing and wounding hundreds of people in several attacks, some targeting foreigners or foreign interests in a bid to undermine the Taliban government.

At least five Chinese nationals were wounded in December when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with businesspeople in Kabul.

That raid was claimed by IS, as was an attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul also in December that Islamabad denounced as an "assassination attempt" against its ambassador.

Read here: US working to assist Americans who want to leave Afghanistan: Antony Blinken

Two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside their mission in September in another attack claimed by IS.

The Taliban and IS share an austere Sunni Islamist ideology, but the latter are fighting to establish a global "caliphate" instead of the Taliban's more inward-looking aim of ruling an independent Afghanistan.
Toronto: The burning of an Indian flag in front of the consulate in Toronto and protesters getting dangerously close to the High Commission in Ottawa were among the factors behind the Ministry of External Affairs summoning Canadas High Commissioner to New Delhi to formally convey its concern. Protestors outside Indias consulate in Toronto, Canada on Saturday. (Supplied photo)

The protests have been going on through the week and many others are expected in the days ahead as anti-India groups, including Khalistani elements seek to leverage developments related to Amritpal Singh, leader of Waris Punjab De, to further their own agenda.

The protest in front of the consulate in Toronto on Saturday witnessed the tricolour being set ablaze amid shouts of Khalistan Zindabad and in the presence of local law enforcement. Two days earlier, on Thursday, protesters were bussed in from Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to the High Commission in Ottawa. However, what raised security concerns for officials was their proximity to its premises.

During previous protests, they were held across the road, but on this occasion, they came close to the boundary wall. An Indian official described that incident as an infringement of diplomatic space. About 400 protesters gathered in front of the High Commission, the largest number ever witnessed in a demonstration there.

About 500 also protested in front of the Indian consulate in Vancouver on Sunday. This barrage of protests has led to security concerns for Indias mission in Canada. India had already alerted Ottawa to the requirement for heightened security measures given tensions related to the manhunt in Punjab for Amritpal Singh and the potential for escalation if he were to be located.

The flag-burning was criticised by the National Alliance of Indo-Canadians, as it tweeted, Is publicly burning flag of a country, in this case India, consistent with Canadian values? This must not be allowed in a civilised democracy, like ours.

On March 19, Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma had to cancel an appearance at a reception organised by the Friends of India & Canada Foundation in Surrey, British Columbia as nearly 200 protesters, some wielding swords, gathered in front of the venue, the Taj Park Convention Centre and blocked the entrance.

An official said that disinformation is feeding into the phenomenon, as some prominent Canadians have made it appear as it all of Punjab was under siege, under an Internet blackout and taken over by security forces.

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Russian ice cream and occasionally the countrys iconic drink vodka have been served as motifs of culture and friendship in curated official narratives when Chinas President Xi Jinping meets his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, be it in Dushanbe in Tajikistan in 2019, in Hangzhou in eastern China in 2016 or in Moscow this time. PREMIUM Ice cream, friendship, two joint statements and not-much sympathy for Ukrainians were put on display for all to see during Xis March 20-22 visit to Moscow. (AFP)

Its a ploy to show the seemingly softer, easygoing sides of the two deeply authoritarian strongmen leaders whose private lives, especially Xis, are closely guarded as secrets of the state.

It is also part of the optics to portray a snug friendship between the two leaders  good friend Putin remembers Xis love for the Russian dessert  and the apparently deepening cultural affinity between the people of the two countries with their leaders taking the lead and showing the path.

For sure, Russian presidential spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said before Xis visit on March 20, according to Russias TASS news agency, to the question whether the Chinese leader would be treated to Russian ice cream.

Ice cream is always ready. Xi loves it, Peskov said.

Calculated camaraderie was put on display.

Like the video of Xis departure on Wednesday, which was filmed with translators speaking for both men and reported by the New York Times and Al Jazeera.

Right now, there are changes  the likes of which we havent seen for 100 years  and we are the ones driving these changes together, Xi told Putin at a Kremlin door as he was leaving.

Putin responded: I agree.

Xi is then seen extending his hand to shake Putins, saying: Take care please, dear friend. Putin responded by holding Xis hand with both of his and saying, Have a safe trip.

Ice cream, friendship, two joint statements and not-much sympathy for Ukrainians were put on display for all to see during Xis March 20-22 visit to Moscow.

It was his 13th visit after becoming president in 2013, and overall, his 40th meeting with Putin.

Over the years, and over their dozens of interactions, Xi and Putin seem to have developed a strong personal relationship seemingly enabling them to overcome some of the historical mistrust that has plagued Sino-Russia relations.

Xis visit gave a solid boost to isolated Putin, coming within days of the latter being charged with alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

The visit, however, failed to make any direct or immediate breakthrough in stopping the war in Ukraine, which started in February 2022 when Russia invaded the east European country. Also, the Chinese President only reiterated Beijing's official stance that China is an impartial party to Russia's war in Ukraine. Putin, in turn, supported Chinas Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, the 12-point proposal released by Beijing in February.

On Ukraine, of course, China is also solidly behind Russia, though Beijing could be internally worried as the war shows no sign of stopping.

Russia hopes that China can become more involved in Ukraine, as a China with a clearly pro-Russian stance would be advantageous for Russia. However, China is still avoiding direct involvement in the conflict and has not provided any weapons or equipment to Russia. In my view, China has consistently refused such demands from Russia. Therefore, Russia hopes that China can provide more economic and technological support, Kung Chan, geopolitical expert and founder of Beijing-based Anbound think-tank, said.

Wang Huiyao, president of the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, said Beijing had already given a strong message by talking against the use of nuclear weapons in the war, and since then, Moscow hasn't talked about it.

China is the only country not directly involved in the war and is in a good position, Wang said.

China's idea is to lead and promote peace in Ukraine If China can lead the achievement of peace in Ukraine, accomplishing something that many countries and international organizations fail to do, then its status in the world will be greatly different, even becoming one of the true powers in the world, Kung, quoted earlier, said.

The Ukraine war aside, Xis trip underscored the deepening strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow, which has been driven by a number of shared interests, primary among them, the two powers shared antipathy to the United States (US)-led West.

The two joint statements issued during the visit, including their commitment to promoting a multipolar world and opposing  what they perceive -- any attempt to monopolise international affairs, reflected a studied effort to oppose Washingtons influence globally.

Xi and Putin said they will work together to push back against the USs Indo-Pacific strategy involving the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and AUKUS (Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US).

The two also said they will oppose attempts to politicise multilateral platforms, already putting up questions ahead of the G20 summit to be held in India later this year.

For Beijing, Xis visit was part of Chinas broader effort to diversify its international relationships and counter-balance the US-led alliance system: Xi headed to Moscow fresh from Beijings unexpected breakthrough in gathering hostile Iran and Saudi Arabia on the same table less than two weeks ago to ease their bilateral ties.

China-Russia ties have been strengthened over the year by the two countries' shared opposition to the US missile defence system in Northeast Asia, their partnership in energy and infrastructure development (think Chinas Belt and Road Initiative and Russias Eurasian Economic Union), and their coordination on foreign policy issues like North Korea, Iran and Syria.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, the Associated Press reported, described the Putin-Xi relationship as a marriage of convenience, in which they pool efforts to challenge US leadership, and the Russians certainly are the junior partner. He added at a briefing earlier this week that Putin sees Xi as a lifeline of sorts amid the fighting in Ukraine.

The conveniences are these: While Russia is struggling with economic sanctions from the West, it expects a lifeline from Beijing, and China is looking to expand its global influence and emerge as a peacemaker while attempting to paint Washington in a negative shade.

However, it remains to be seen how sustainable the China-Russia partnership will be in the long run, as both have their own strategic priorities and vulnerabilities. The fact that China has yet to officially endorse Russia's annexation of Crimea, for instance, suggests that there are limits to their alignment.

Sutirtho Patranobis, HTs experienced China hand, writes a weekly column from Beijing, exclusively for HT Premium readers. He was previously posted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he covered the final phase of the civil war and its aftermath, and was based in Delhi for several years before that

The views expressed are personal
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Israel overnight  including around Benjamin Netanyahus home  after the prime minister fired his defense chief over a dramatic speech criticizing a contentious plan to reduce the power of the Supreme Court. Fire burns as people attend a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister. (Reuters)

Police scuffled with protesters outside Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem on Sunday, the Associated Press reported, while others gathered near the defense ministry in Tel Aviv in support of ousted Minister Yoav Gallant and against Netanyahu. They spilled out into the road waving Israeli flags and blocking traffic.

The developments followed a statement from the prime ministers office late Sunday saying Netanyahu had dismissed Gallant less than a day after the defense chief defied the premier by taking to the airwaves and calling for a long pause to the controversial legislation.

Netanyahus proposal has sharply divided Israeli society, battered markets and left the country increasingly isolated diplomatically. Long-time allies, including the US, UK, Germany and France, have argued that a fully independent and strong judiciary is vital to a functioning democracy.

The proposed legislation is split up into a series of bills. Two key members of Netanyahus Likud party said that while a pause might be preferable, they plan to support the latest bill when it comes up for a vote thats expected to pass this week.

The law will give politicians a dominant role in selecting judges, including high-court justices, a change from the current system where sitting justices and members of the legal profession hold sway.

The bills proponents say that in nearly every democracy, winners of elections get to select judges, and they are bringing Israel in line with that practice. Its opponents  and they include hundreds of thousands of weekly street demonstrators as well as business, professional and military leaders  say it will concentrate too much power in the hands of the ruling party, damaging democracy.

Netanyahu, who took office again in late 2022, leads the most right-wing and religious government in Israels history. His coalition partners have long complained that the Supreme Court stands in the way of their preferred policies, including easy expansion of West Bank settlements, detention of migrants seeking refuge and excusing ultra-Orthodox men from military service to pursue religious studies.

Also read: Israeli consul in New York resigns after PM Netanyahu fires defence minister

But protesters have rejected those arguments and seen their concerns echoed by key allies overseas.

The Biden administration on Sunday reiterated its call for a compromise to be reached.

As the President recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship, National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens.

Highlighting the complicated internal politics in Israel, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter was reported at first to support Gallant in calling for a delay. But he issued a statement on Sunday saying, I am still in favor. The judicial reform is necessary and it will be carried out.

A former head of the Shin Bet internal security service, Dichter could be asked by Netanyahu to replace Gallant, according to Israeli media reports.

Netanyahu, 73, was in London when Gallant took his defiant stance. On Thursday, Gallant was about to make a speech when Netanyahu called him to his office and persuaded him not to. Then Netanyahu gave a speech saying he was moving ahead with key portions of the bill but promised to protect individual and minority rights.

Another Likud lawmaker, Eli Dallal, who previously urged a freeze, also said on Sunday that hed vote with his party to move the legislation forward, according to Channel 12 news.

Two Likud members, Yuli Edelstein and David Bitan, tweeted their support for Gallant on Saturday night. More parliamentarians will have to side with them to prevent the legislation from passing as planned.

Israels Security

A senior security official laid out on Sunday why Gallant felt the need to speak. An unraveling of Israeli unity is a true security risk, the official said, citing an increase in threats from Iran, radical Palestinian groups and Lebanon as well as a decrease in the USs deterrent role in the region.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israeli intelligence can hear its enemies crow about the internal rift.

We are listening to them talk about it, the official said. We need to make sure our standing and deterrence are not harmed.

Gallant issued a tweet overnight that Israels security has always been and will always remain his priority.

Another aspect that has alarmed Gallant is a growing movement among reservists to refuse duty call-ups as a means of protest. In his speech, he asked not only for the legislation to stop but for the protests and acts of refusal to end.

Yair Lapid, head of the opposition, condemned the firing of Gallant in the harshest terms, saying it was a new low from a government that is undermining national security and ignoring the warnings of security officials.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged the government on Monday to halt its bitterly contested judicial overhaul, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for opposing the move, sparking mass street protests. Israel Predident Isaac Herzog.(AFP)

Also Read: Israel protests: Thousands rise up after Netanyahu sacks defense minister.

"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately," he said on Twitter.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday launched a new Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan to crack down on illegal activities within communities by handing additional powers to the police to punish drug-related offences and criminal gang activity. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.(AP)

Read here: North Korea fires 2 ballistic missiles, piles pressure on US

Under the new Immediate Justice scheme, those found committing anti-social behaviour will be made to repair the damage they inflicted on victims and communities, with an ambition for them to start work as soon as 48 hours after their offence.

Offenders, who will be made to wear high-visibility vests or jumpsuits and work under supervision, could be made to pick up litter, remove graffiti and wash police cars as punishment for their actions.

Victims of anti-social behaviour from the local community will be given a say in offenders punishments to ensure justice is visible and fits the crime.

Anti-social behaviour undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home, said Sunak.

The public have rightly had enough  which is why I am determined to restore peoples confidence that those responsible will be quickly and visibly punished. This action plan maps out how we will tackle this issue with the urgency it deserves and stamp out these crimes once and for all  so that wherever you live, you can feel safe in, and proud of your community, he said.

Under the plans zero-tolerance approach, Nitrous Oxide or laughing gas will also be banned to send a message to intimidating gangs that hang around high streets and childrens parks and litter them with empty canisters.

The drug is now reported as the third most used among 16 to 24-year-olds in England and both the police and public have repeatedly reported links between use of this drug and nuisance or anti-social behaviour.

The British public are fed up with crime and nuisance behaviour in their neighbourhoods inflicting misery on people, said UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

There is no such thing as petty crime  not only does antisocial behaviour leave people feeling unsafe, it can also be a gateway into serious criminality. It has always been my priority to give police the powers they need to deliver a common-sense approach to cutting crime, which puts the law-abiding majority first, and thats what this action plan delivers, she said.

UK police will also be given new powers to crackdown on illegal drug use, often a catalyst for other crimes, including expanding powers for drug testing on arrest so more suspected criminals can be tested and more drugs tested for, including ecstasy and methamphetamine.

Currently, only suspected criminals who have committed certain offences can be tested in police detention without additional requirements.

A new reporting tool will also be developed over the next 12 months to act as a digital one-stop shop where people can quickly and easily report incidents of anti-social behaviour when these occur.

Anti-social behaviour erodes local pride, blights our high streets and parks and is a stain on too many communities across the country. We know that it is more likely to flourish in areas that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued, said Michael Gove, UK Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Read here: Ukraine urges UNSC meet over Russian nuclear plans in Belarus

So we will intervene directly to prevent high street dereliction. We will deliver tougher, quicker and more visible justice to prevent thuggish behaviour in town centres and we will ensure young people have the opportunities and activities available to them to succeed -- all backed by new investment. This is about acting on the peoples priorities, delivering safer streets so we can level up across the country, he said.

Among the measures under the Action Plan, the punishment for those who graffiti, litter or fly-tip trash will be hit with increased fines of up to GBP 1,000.

Landlords and housing associations will have more powers to evict unruly tenants who ruin their neighbours lives through persistent noise or by being drunk and disorderly.

An anti-social behaviour taskforce is also planned to bring together national and local partners, with the sole focus of addressing anti-social behaviour.
Mass shooters have killed hundreds of people throughout U.S. history in realms like stores, theaters and workplaces, but it is in schools and colleges where the carnage reverberates perhaps most keenly  places filled with children of tender ages, older students aspiring to new heights and the teachers planting the seeds of knowledge, their journeys all cut short. A mass shooting was reported in a US school at Nashville on Monday which killed six.(Representative Image)

If a mass shooting is defined as resulting in the death of four or more people, not including the perpetrator, 175 people have died in 15 such events connected to U.S. schools and colleges  from 1999's Columbine High School massacre to Monday's shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. That's according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, in addition to other AP reporting:

THE COVENANT SCHOOL, March 2023, 6 dead

A 28-year-old female shooter wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville. The suspect also died after being shot by police.

Also Read| Act quick: Biden calls for assault weapons ban after California shootings

ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, May 2022, 21 dead

An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults, officials said. Law enforcement killed the attacker.

OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL, November 2021, 4 dead

A sophomore student is accused of killing four people and wounding others at his school in Oxford, Michigan, near Detroit. His parents are charged with involuntary manslaughter; authorities say they failed to secure a gun and ignored the mental health needs of their son before the shootings.

SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL, May 2018, 10 dead

A shooter opened fire at a Houston-area high school, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. The 17-year-old suspect has been charged with murder.

Also Read:

MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, February 2018, 17 dead

An attack left 14 students and three staff members dead at the school in Parkland, Florida, and injured many others. The shooter was sentenced to life without parole.

UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, October 2015, 9 dead

A man killed nine people at the school in Roseburg, Oregon, and wounded nine others, then killed himself.

MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK HIGH SCHOOL, October 2014, 4 dead

A 15-year-old used text messages to draw several cousins and friends to his cafeteria table at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state. He fatally shot four of them before killing himself.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, May 2014, 6 dead

A 22-year-old college student frustrated over sexual rejections fatally stabbed or shot six students near the school in Isla Vista, California, and injured several others before he killed himself.

SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, December 2012, 27 dead

A 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, then went to the nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first graders and six educators. He took his own life.

OIKOS UNIVERSITY, April 2012, 7 dead

A former nursing student fatally shot seven people at the small private college in East Oakland, California. He died in prison in 2019.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, February 2008, 5 dead

A 27-year-old former student shot and killed five people and wounded more than 20 others at the school in DeKalb, Illinois, before killing himself.

VIRGINIA TECH, April 2007, 32 dead

A 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, in April 2007; more than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then killed himself.

WEST NICKEL MINES AMISH SCHOOL, October 2006, 5 dead

A 32-year-old man entered an Amish schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, dismissed the boys, bound the girls, and fatally shot five of them before killing himself. Five others were wounded.

RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005, 9 dead

A 16-year-old student killed his grandfather and the man's companion at their Minnesota home, then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.

COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, April 1999, 13 dead

Two students killed 12 of their peers and one teacher at the school in Littleton, Colorado, and injured many others before killing themselves.
The Kremlin on Monday said Western criticism would not change plans announced by President Vladimir Putin to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus. Russia-Ukraine war: The West condemned Putin's weekend announcement on placing the weapons in Belarus.(AFP)

The West condemned Putin's weekend announcement on placing the weapons in EU and NATO-bordering Belarus, triggering calls for new sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine said it was seeking an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the move.

"Such a reaction of course cannot influence Russian plans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Speaking during a televised interview on Saturday, Putin said Moscow would station the tactical nuclear weapons "without violating our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation".

He said this was "nothing unusual".

"The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies," Putin said.

The Russian leader said he spoke to his Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko and that they had "agreed to do the same".

Putin's announcement came over a year into his grinding offensive in Ukraine.
Sri Lanka would seek a new temporary credit facility of USD 1 billion from India to purchase essential items including food and medicine, the official media here reported on Monday. India was the first bilateral lender to issue financing assurances in the debt restructuring negotiations.(AP)

Read here: Sri Lanka says IMF has approved $2.9 billion bailout for the cash-strapped economy

Sri Lanka received 333 million dollars, the first tranche of the USD 3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme last week to overcome its economic crisis and catalyse financial support from other development partners.

The Sri Lankan finance ministry officials held talks with its Indian counterparts to obtain the new temporary USD 1 billion facility for the "purchase of essential foodstuff, medicines and other goods for the country," the state-run Daily News newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, former Central Bank Governor Dr Indrajith Coomaraswamy, speaking at a discussion organised by the Centre for Banking Studies of the Central Bank, said,  the negotiations are also underway to secure an Indian rupee swap from RBI. The amount is still uncertain; it could be up to the equivalent of USD 1 billion. That is still being worked out."

"This is expected to facilitate Sri Lanka-India trade, the senior economist was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror newspaper on Saturday.

Coomaraswamy added that the Sri Lankan government also began talks with Indian authorities to extend the repayment of the USD 1 billion credit line received last year and debt under the Asian Clearing Union by five years, the report said.

 we are trying to settle that money over a five-year period. It is still at early levels of negotiations, he said, noting that the island nation was unlikely to receive such a long extension for the USD 400 million multi-currency swap facility, which has already been extended.

Last week, state minister of finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that Sri Lanka settled a loan instalment of USD 121 million from the previous facilities extended by India, using the first tranche of the IMF bailout package.

Sri Lanka has been struck by a catastrophic economic and humanitarian crisis sparked by years of mismanagement and the raging pandemic.

India has extended lines of credit worth over USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka in diverse sectors, including the supply of essential items, petroleum, fertilisers, development of railways, infrastructure, defence sector and renewable energy, according to the Indian High Commission here.

The Indian Oil Companys local operation kept fuel supplies going in the face of miles-long queues forming at retail fuel stations mid-last year, as the state ran dry of forex to import petroleum.

The IMF's Executive Board approved a 48-month extended arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) last week with an amount of SDR 2.286 billion (about USD 3 billion).

The IMF bailout, the seventeenth in Sri Lankas history, was approved following prolonged discussions held up over Colombo's unsustainable debt.

India was the first bilateral lender to issue financing assurances in the debt restructuring negotiations.

Read here: Sri Lanka secures IMF bailout amidst ongoing economic crisis: Timeline of events

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who spearheaded the IMF negotiations, specially mentioned the contributions made by the Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to assist his government.

India has extended multi-pronged assistance to Sri Lanka during the peak of its economic and humanitarian crisis in line with its "Neighbourhood First" policy and as an earnest friend and partner of Colombo.
Israel's Airports Authority says departing flights from the country's main international airport have been grounded following a strike called in protest against the government's planned judicial overhaul. Protesters block a road and hold national flags during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 27, 2023. - (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)(AFP)

Also Read | Israel president urges halt to legal overhaul amid mass protests over Netanyahu ousting defence minister

The strike was called on Monday by the country's largest trade union grouping and could paralyse large swaths of Israel's economy. Tens of thousands are expected to be affected by the flight changes.

Planes will for the moment still be able to land at Ben-Gurion Airport, outside the sprawling seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul has sparked unprecedented opposition from across Israeli society.(AP) RUP
Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou landed in Shanghai on Monday afternoon, the first former leader of the self-ruled island to do so in nearly seven decades, in a visit that he said was an effort to lower heightened political and military tension between the two sides. Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou waves to the media at the airport before departing on a visit to China, as for the first time a former or current Taiwanese leader will be visiting since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949, in Taoyuan, Taiwan March 27, 2023. (REUTERS)

Mas 12-day visit to China will coincide with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens visit later this week to Belize and Guatemala in Central America and two stopovers in New York and Los Angeles, a visit thats set to trigger angry responses from Beijing.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsais ruling party, has called Mas visit regrettable.

Mas tour has also been criticised in his country as it comes a day after the Central American country of Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has vowed to merge it one day with the mainland, if necessary by force.

Beijing has escalated military, economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan since current President Tsai came to power in 2016, luring nine of Taiwans allies, leaving the island with only 13 countries that now diplomatically recognise the island.

Beijing has also held large scale war games around Taiwan last year and earlier this year and its air force frequently buzzes the island with fighter jets and bombers.

I hope to improve the cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiastic interactions of young people, so peace can come to us faster and sooner, the 73-year-old said at the airport before his departure, according to an AFP report from Taipei.

Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so peace can come even faster and sooner to us here, he said.

Ma arrived in Shanghai on Monday afternoon and was met at the airport by central government and city officials, Chinas official Xinhua news agency reported.

Former Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou arrived in Shanghai Monday afternoon and then left for the eastern city of Nanjing, the Xinhua report said.

Ma will pay respects to his ancestors on the occasion of the Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping Day, and lead a group of Taiwan students for communication and exchange activities. His itinerary will include Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai, the Xinhua report added.

Ma was Taiwans president from 2008 to 2016 and is still a heavyweight in the now-opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, offered no comment on Mas visit, saying it was not a diplomatic issue, at the regular ministry briefing on Monday.

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The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea. The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building, at United Nations Headquarters. (AP)

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

Also Read: Ukraine urges UNSC meet over Russian nuclear plans in Belarus

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.
Washington: President Joe Biden has prohibited all US federal agencies and departments from using any commercial spyware that poses a risk to US national security interests or/and has been used by foreign governments to engage in human rights abuses. US President Joe Biden speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Thursday. (AP)

The decision, formalised through an executive order, comes in the run-up to the Summit for Democracy, a flagship event of the Biden presidency that commences this week, and 18 months after revelations about the extensive use of Pegasus software by democracies and authoritarian regimes alike highlighted the threats posed by commercial spyware.

Bidens order applies to all federal agencies, including law enforcement, defence and intelligence departments, and applies to spyware tools furnished by both domestic and international commercial entities. To be sure, the ban does not extend to all commercial spyware  but only to spyware that has been found targeting US interests and been deployed in violation of law for human rights abuses elsewhere. But it is significant because for the first time, it lays a strict set of guidelines on what the US government agencies cannot acquire and use.

Calling it a groundbreaking executive order, a senior administration official explained the rationale of the move.

Defining commercial spyware as sophisticated and invasive cyber surveillance tools sold by vendors to access electronic devices remotely, extract their content, and manipulate their components, all without the knowledge or consent of the devices users, the official said that from the late summer of 2021, the National Security Council had been engaged in assessing the threat posed by this kind of spyware. Two patterns became clear.

For one, the spyware posed a risk to the USs own counterintelligence and national security interests. At least 50 devices used by US government personnel, in ten countries, in different continents, had been targeted by commercial spyware. The order says, Untrustworthy commercial vendors and tools can present significant risks to the security and integrity of the US government information and information systems.

In the absence of a clear and standardised direction on whether federal agencies could use the spyware, commercial spyware vendors were also seeking to make inroads into the US system.

Two, the US noted that a growing number of foreign governments had deployed this technology to facilitate repression and enable human rights abuses, including to intimidate political opponents and curb dissent, limit freedom of expression, and monitor activists and journalists. The executive order notes that democratic governments too have confrontation revelations that actors within their systems have used spyware to target their citizens without proper legal authorisation, safeguards and oversight.

It was in this backdrop that the administration devised a set of objectives for the use of commercial spyware  ensure that it aligns with US national security and foreign policy interests in upholding and advancing democratic processes and institutions and respect for human rights; ensure that the US does not contribute, directly or indirectly, to the proliferation or misuse of commercial spyware; and help protect US government personnel and information systems. The senior administration official quoted above suggested that the administration also hopes that the order will help spur reform in an unregulated industry and provide the foundations for greater international collaboration.

The order itself establishes counterintelligence, security and improper use factors which will lead to the exclusion of the spyware from US use. This includes, among other situations, when a foreign actor uses commercial spyware against activists, dissidents, or other actors to intimidate; to curb dissent or political opposition: to otherwise limit freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly or association; or to enable other forms of human rights abuses or suppression of civil liberties.

While the order itself does not have a list of spyware tools or companies that will henceforth be excluded, the senior administration officials said that it will enable information sharing processes across agencies in the government; heads of relevant agencies will then make a determination; the bar for making this determination on what spyware can be allowed and what is prohibited will be very high; and this will happen on a case by case basis.

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AFT gains first product registration in China with Crystawash Extend and extends Maxigesic IV licensing

AFT Pharmaceuticals (NZX.AFT, ASX.AFP) today announces its achievement of registration for sale of its long-lasting hand sanitiser Crystawash Extend in China.

AFT also announces it has signed further new licence agreements for the intravenous dose form of its Maxigesic pain relief medicine as it continues to build momentum in its international business.

The Chinese National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved Crystawash Extend  24-hour long-lasting hand sanitiser which allows AFT to sell into retail stores in mainland China. Crystawash Extend sanitises and protects against 99.99% of germs for up to 24 hours. It is non-toxic & alcohol-free. AFT will commercialise this product range within the next 6 to12 months into mainland China.

The privately owned Swiss pharmaceutical company Labatec has licensed the intravenous form, Maxigesic IV, in Switzerland. Labatec and AFT are aiming for registration and launch of the medicine - a treatment for mild to moderate pain for use post-operatively in hospitals when patients cannot take a medicine orally  in the next 12 to 18 months.

Pharma Bavaria has extended its existing Maxigesic IV licence agreement in Latin America to include Argentina and Paraguay in addition to the licences already agreed with AFT for the medicine in Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay.

The agreements build on launches of Maxigesic IV since the start of the year in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

AFT Managing Director Dr Hartley Atkinson said: These licensing, registration and distribution agreements and the recent launches will add to the growing momentum we are seeing in the companys international business.

As a result of these launches and recent sales AFT will enter the new financial year with Maxigesic sold in 61 countries in various dose forms, 15 more than where we were in March 2022, although just short of our target of 63 countries. We are pleased with the progress we are making in realising the potential of our Maxigesic intellectual property. Additionally, we are pleased to achieve our first product registration in Mainland China and further registrations are pending.

For and on behalf of AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited by Malcolm Tubby, Chief Financial Officer.

For more information:

Dr Hartley Atkinson Richard Inder

Managing Director The Project

AFT Pharmaceuticals Tel: +64 21 645 643

Tel: +64 9488 0232

Released for and on behalf of AFT Pharmaceuticals by Malcolm Tubby, Chief Financial Officer

About AFT Pharmaceuticals

AFT is a growing multinational pharmaceutical company that develops, markets, and distributes a broad portfolio of pharmaceutical products across a wide range of therapeutic categories which are distributed across all major pharmaceutical distribution channels: over the counter (OTC), prescription and hospital. Our product portfolio comprises both proprietary and in-licensed products, and includes patented, branded, and generic drugs. Our business model is to develop and in-license products for sale by our own dedicated sales teams in our home markets of Australia and New Zealand and in certain Southeast Asian markets, and to out-license our products to local licensees and distributors to over 125 countries around the world. For more information about the company, visit our website www.aftpharm.com

About Labatec

Labatec is a privately owned Swiss-based pharmaceutical company based out of Geneva, Switzerland with an operational hub in Portugal. Labatec is present in the Swiss market in addition to the Middle East North Africa markets, selling over 100 products in the Hospital and Speciality retail segments. For more information visit: www.labatecpharma.com/

About Pharma Bavaria

Pharma Bavaria International Group distributes and promotes high-quality pharmaceuticals with well-researched ingredients in more than 45 countries. With a strong focus on growth regions such as the Middle East, Africa, South-East Asia, CIS countries and other emerging economies Pharma Bavarias portfolio of prescription medicines includes anti-infectives, analgesic/anti-allergic/anti-inflammatory, flu and cold, gastroenterology, oncology, cardiology, and womens healthcare brands and is rounded off with a range of OTC products. For more information visit: www.pharma-bavaria.com.

200327 registrations and licenses

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The new hotel will be located in Becici in the municipality of Budva, one of the tourist destinations with the greatest potential in the country.

Melia Hotels International, the leading hotel company in Spain with more than 60 years of experience in the industry, continues its growth in the Mediterranean with the addition of the Melia Becici Budva on the coast of Montenegro. Located in one of the areas with the highest growth in tourism in the country, this hotel is another milestone in the company's commitment to European holiday resorts.

Located in Becici in the municipality of Budva, the new hotel will operate under the Melia Hotels & Resorts brand and aims to become a benchmark for the local hotel industry, combining the quality and experience of the Spanish hotel group with the huge tourist potential of the destination. Becici has one of the most beautiful beaches in Montenegro and offers a unique opportunity to enjoy the sea, the mountains and the country's traditions, with attractive places nearby such as the old fishing village of Rafailoivici, which now offers the best local cuisine and fish and seafood specialities.

The future Melia Becici Budva will have 294 suites, of which 140 will be apartments measuring up to 118 m2, all designed to adapt to the different needs of different types of travellers. The attributes associated with one of the most powerful hotel brands will ensure the hotel offers unique experience to its guests, providing fantastic public areas and stunning views of the sea and mountains.

The Melia Becici Budva will provide facilities such as an outdoor infinity pool and an indoor pool, plus a wellness centre with a gym and spa offering a range of exclusive treatments. The hotel will also provide two a la carte restaurants, a buffet restaurant and a bar. There will also be a rooftop area serving a tempting selection of food and drinks for guests to enjoy together with views of the sea. Completing the facilities of the Melia Becici Budva, there will also be different meeting and event rooms, and a large car park with 100 spaces.

The hotel is expected to open in 2025 when its first guests will be able to enjoy its superior-quality accommodation and exceptional service.

Hotel website
At the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) provided substantial inputs, underscoring the role of tourism in safeguarding water resources and contributing to the acceleration of Sustainable Development Goal 6, to "Ensure access to water and sanitation for all", and to the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Emphasising the sector-wide determination to do more, UNWTO joined tourism stakeholders in committing to the Water Action Agenda, a major outcome document of the UN 2023 Water Conference and collection of all water-related voluntary commitments.

In New York, UNWTO was joined by the Government of Austria to host a special high-level side event on "Tourism and Water: Challenges and Opportunities". Bringing together the partners of the recently-launched Alliance for a Nature Positive Approach to Tourism, UNWTO, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA), the event outlined the tourism sector's significant water footprint and its reliance on clean and reliable oceans and water supplies. "Tourism and Water: Challenges and Opportunities" noted the sector's impact on water, including negative impacts from consumption and wastage as well as pollution, while underscoring the progress being made in advancing action plans to ensure sustainable water management at all levels of the tourism value chain.

Participants were provided with an overview of the initiatives being undertaken by UNWTO and partners under the umbrella of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme, most notably the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative and the Global Roadmap for Food Waste Reduction in Tourism, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the challenges of climate change, pollution and water scarcity and the requirement timely and regular monitoring efforts.

Towards harmonized sustainability data

A global effort is underway towards a Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism to fill the gap for harmonized data at international, national and subnational levels, with Austria chairing the UNWTO Expert Group leading this process. UNWTO Executive Director, Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, said Water permeates all of tourism activity. As the world meets ever-complex challenges, we must not lose sight that we still have common goals. We need harmonized data to ensure that tourism action on the ground really responds to our shared vision . Against this backdrop, the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO), was presented as leading the way in assessing the progress being made at the destination level as well as the challenges still to be overcome, including sourcing better data.

Mr. Norbert Totschnig, Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management of Austria highlighted that tourism can not only bring prosperity, but it can also be a driver to improve water quality and availability in regions. Efforts are required to manage water efficiently, to keep our rivers, lakes and the sea clean . Also during the side event, WTTC presented new data on global and national water consumption, while the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance presented its water stewardship initiatives, including the Hotel Water Measurement Initiative, and the updated Destination Water Risk Index.

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About The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency fostering tourism as a vehicle for equal, inclusive and sustainable development. Working with its Member States, international organizations and the private sector, UNWTO promotes safe and seamless travel for all. UNWTO also works to make tourism the foundation of trust and international cooperation and a central pillar of recovery. As part of the wider UN system, UNWTO is at the forefront of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through its ability to create decent jobs, promote equality and preserve natural and cultural heritage.

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Hong Kong: Health chief meets GD delegation

Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau met a delegation led by Guangdong Provincial Medical Products Administration (GDMPA) General Director Jiang Xiaodong today, with both sides agreeing to further deepen collaboration in relevant areas.

Prof Lo said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government expressed its sincere gratitude to the GDMPA for its staunch support for Hong Kong in the past, including the implementation of the initiatives of, among others, the measure of using Hong Kong registered drugs and medical devices used in Hong Kong public hospitals in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and streamlining of the approval procedures for Hong Kong registered traditional proprietary Chinese medicines (pCms) for external use to be registered and sold in the Mainland.

The Government and the GDMPA agreed at the meeting to further deepen collaboration on the regulation of Chinese medicines (CM), the formulation of Greater Bay Area Chinese medicine standards, cross-boundary production of Hong Kong pCms as well as registration and sale of Hong Kong-registered pCms in the Mainland.

They also agreed to collaborate on the regulation of drugs and medical devices, and the measure of using Hong Kong registered drugs and medical devices used in Hong Kong public hospitals in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and clinical trials.

Prof Lo said both parties will maintain close liaison, including convening regular meetings, with a view to taking forward the various initiatives and following up on the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Drugs & Medical Devices Monitoring & Co-operation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area which was signed after the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference last week.

The delegation then had an in-depth discussion with Director of Health Dr Ronald Lam and other representatives from the Department of Health (DH). The delegation was briefed by DH representatives on the regulation and development of Chinese and western medicines as well as medical devices in Hong Kong.

The GDMPA delegation arrived in Hong Kong yesterday for a three-day visit. They called on the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute (GCMTI) where they learnt about its CM drug testing and research work through touring the facilities, including various laboratories and the Chinese Medicines Herbarium. The delegation will also meet the CM sector and visit the facilities of two pCm manufacturers and one western medicine manufacturer.

This story has been published on: 2023-03-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The statements of U.S. officials about the number of IS militants in Afghanistan are not true," said Afghanistan's official spokesperson. "The interest of the U.S. officials in this matter and their grandiosity is aiding and abetting the IS insurgents, which should be stopped.

(Xinhua) -- The Afghan caretaker government has dismissed Washington's claim over the alleged stronger presence of Daesh, or Islamic State (IS), in Afghanistan as utterly fabricated.

"The statements of U.S. officials about the number of IS militants in Afghanistan are not true. Daesh militants have already been reduced in ranks and suppressed," chief spokesman of the Afghan caretaker administration Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted.

Photo taken on Feb. 27, 2023 shows the site of an operation against the hideout of Daesh (Islamic State) militants in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla, according to media reports, has said "IS is stronger today in Afghanistan" and warned of a possible IS attack on the interests of U.S. and allied nations within six months.

Brushing aside the baseless allegations by the U.S. general on the IS strength in Afghanistan, Mujahid said on his Twitter account, "The interest of the U.S. officials in this matter and their grandiosity is aiding and abetting the IS insurgents, which should be stopped."

The Afghan caretaker government, which has downplayed Daesh, or the IS group, as a serious threat, has vowed to crack down on any armed opponents in the war-ravaged country.

The Afghan security forces have killed four armed militants affiliated with the rival IS group in two separate operations on the outskirts of Kabul over the past week.
While it may be a tempting tactic to gain more positive reviews to help drive new reservations, review-gating is increasingly becoming a risky proposition for hotel operators. If youre not familiar with what review-gating is, lets start with a clear definition anyone can understand.

Hotel guest review gating is when a hotel tries to control the reviews they receive by first asking guests about their experience and then only encouraging those with positive feedback to post their reviews online. This way, the hotel can improve its online reputation by showcasing more positive reviews and limiting negative ones, making it seem like a better place to stay than it might actually be.

Review-gating can be considered as "gaming" the process. It's a way for hotels to manipulate the online review system by cherry-picking positive feedback and steering negative feedback away from public platforms. This can create a misleading impression of the hotels true quality or customer satisfaction levels since only good experiences are showcased publicly. DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactives Founder and CEO

Review-Gating Can Get Your Hotel Google Banned

Simply put, Google is against review-gating. They have guidelines that prohibit businesses from filtering or manipulating reviews, as this practice can create a false impression of the business's performance and quality. Google believes that genuine, unbiased customer reviews are crucial for helping users make informed decisions, so they take action against businesses that are found to be review-gating, which may include removing reviews or even penalizing the business in search rankings.

OTAs Are Against Review-Gating

Online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia and Booking.com generally do not condone review-gating either. They value genuine and unbiased customer feedback, as it helps potential customers make informed decisions when choosing a hotel or other travel-related services.

These platforms often have their own guidelines and policies to ensure that the reviews submitted are authentic and not manipulated. While specific policies may vary between OTAs, they generally expect hotels and other travel businesses to be transparent and fair when it comes to reviews. Engaging in review-gating can lead to consequences, such as the removal of reviews or other penalties, depending on the OTA's policies.

The Federal Trade Commission and Review-Gating

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the U.S. government agency responsible for regulating deceptive or unfair business practices, which includes practices like review-gating. The FTC has guidelines for online endorsements and testimonials, which emphasize the importance of honest and transparent customer reviews.

The FTC doesn't specifically mention "review-gating" in its guidelines, but the practice can fall under deceptive or unfair practices, especially if it manipulates the overall impression of a business by selectively promoting positive reviews. The FTC can take legal action against businesses that engage in deceptive or unfair practices, which may include fines or other penalties.

The FTC $4.2 Million Lawsuit

The FTC declared that Fashion Nova, an online fashion retailer, agreed to pay a $4.2 million penalty for deliberately not publishing negative product reviews. Fashion Nova also agreed to stop suppressing customer feedback.

The FTC's complaint accused Fashion Nova of misrepresenting that product reviews on its website represent the opinions of all buyers who submitted reviews when, in reality, it concealed reviews with ratings below four out of five stars. This case marks the FTC's first legal action involving a company's attempts to hide negative customer reviews. Furthermore, the agency informed 10 review platforms that they must cease "avoiding the collection or publication of negative reviews."

This case is the first of its kind, focusing exclusively on reviews and imposing such a substantial fine. It signals that the FTC is taking a firm stance against abusive review practices.

As reported by Near Media, review gating is not only unethical but is now explicitly illegal.

Googles Position on Review-Gating

In 2018, Google took a significant step to safeguard the trust we place in online reviews. From then on, companies had to comply with Google's policy, which stated they should not discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers, ie. review-gating.

In 2022, Google discreetly updated its review policies by relocating the above statement from its original location to the "fake engagement" section within its prohibited content guidelines.

Currently, the guidelines list the following under fake engagement/deceptive content: Discouraging or prohibiting negative reviews, or selectively soliciting positive reviews from customers. 

Review-Gating Examples

Review-gating examples involve various methods that businesses use to manipulate their online reviews by encouraging positive feedback and discouraging negative feedback. Some common review-gating tactics include:

Pre-screening surveys: Companies send out satisfaction surveys or feedback forms to their customers, asking about their experience. If the customer responds positively, the company will then prompt them to leave a review on a public platform like Google or Yelp. If the feedback is negative, the company may try to resolve the issue privately and not encourage the customer to share their experience publicly. Incentivizing positive reviews: Some businesses may offer incentives or rewards to customers for leaving positive reviews, such as discounts or freebies. This tactic can skew the overall perception of the business, as it encourages customers to provide only positive feedback in exchange for a reward. Ignoring negative feedback: Another review-gating example is when companies simply choose to ignore negative feedback and focus only on the positive. They might not respond to or address issues raised in negative reviews while actively engaging with and promoting positive feedback.

It's important to note that engaging in review-gating practices can result in penalties or consequences from platforms like Google, Yelp, or other review sites, as it goes against their guidelines for honest and unbiased customer feedback.

Is Review-Gating Risky for Hotels?

We all know the importance of responding to all guest online reviews and according to Drive Research, 81% of consumers always read reviews before booking a hotel. So if youre gaming the system by review-gating, youre putting your property at risk of being banned or even worse, having the FTC knocking on your door.

When it comes to responding to our customer's reviews, our CoMMingle Guest Review Response team believes in doing things the right way. This includes responding to all reviews, positive and negative, and ensuring we tailor the responses to be relevant and insightful to the next potential guest who happens to read the response prior to making a booking.

Our CoMMingle service has responded to millions of guest reviews for over 1,500 properties since 2001, and we work with independent and branded properties of all types. For more information visit us at LodgingInteractive.com.

About Lodging Interactive

Since its founding in 2001, Lodging Interactive has provided digital marketing services to hotels worldwide, including select service, full-service, and luxury properties.

The company's social media marketing and guest reviews response division, CoMMingle, serves a range of hospitality businesses, including hotels, restaurants, spas, and management companies.

In addition, the company offers subscription-based website development and digital marketing services on a "pay-as-you-go" model requiring minimal upfront development costs.

Lodging Interactive has received numerous awards, including the HSMAI Adrian Award and accolades from the International Academy of Visual Arts, Interactive Media Awards, Horizon Interactive Awards, Web Marketing Association, Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, and Travel Weekly's Magellan Awards.

For more information, email [email protected], call 877-291-4411 ext. 704, or visit the company's website.

DJ Vallauri

President & Founder

+1 877 291 4411

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Singapore  In support of the Hotel Sustainability Roadmap jointly launched by Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) last March, SHATEC, the local training arm of SHA presented its annual Hospitality Conference (SHC) at PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore on 24th March 2023 last Friday.

Themed Sustainability: Fight or Flight, SHATEC brought together some of the leading minds in sustainability development for the hospitality and tourism industries, delving deeply into the topics of sustainability and resource management, as well as circular economy approaches for over 100 hoteliers, industry stakeholders and professionals in attendance.

Sustainability is no longer a buzzword in the hospitality scene, but today, it is becoming a core value driving the industry. Singapore has recently been certified as a sustainable destination based on the Global Sustainability Tourism Council (GSTC)s Destination Criteria. With this certification, I urge hospitality organisations to press on with and step up their contributions towards sustainable tourism. Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment

To augment the goals of the SG Green Plan 2030, we took a decisive step to integrate sustainability within the conference for the hospitality industry. The conference highlighted the macro and micro issues challenging hotels and businesses today in their competitive transition to a climate-resilient future, and the power of innovation, design and technology as well as education to revolutionise hospitality operations. Mr Lim Boon Kwee, Chief Executive Officer of SHATEC

In his keynote speech on Pan Pacific Hotel Groups circular journey, its Chief Executive Officer Mr Choe Peng Sum said, Hotels contribute not just food waste, but also heavy water and energy usage. It will be expensive to upgrade the infrastructure of 80 per-cent of hotels in Singapore, but we need to do it as responsible stewards of the environment for the hotel industry. Mr Choe further expressed to business owners and hospitality leaders, Many travellers are looking for sustainable hotels but its not easy for them to find green accommodations. If we plan it right, designing energy-efficient new hotels or retrofitting existing ones with green technology can be economically viable.

In one of two panel discussions held during the conference, Ms Tan Yen Nee, Director, Hospitality Division Policy & Planning Group, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) reaffirmed how they are supporting local hotel industry leadership on their fulfilment of the Hotel Sustainability Roadmap, stating, STB will continue to work closely with SHA to raise sustainability standards across the industry. This includes educating the industry on best practices; supporting hotels in attaining internationally-recognised sustainability certification, such as GSTC; raising awareness of our hospitality & tourism sectors sustainability efforts; and promoting sustainable consumption amongst visitors, to close the loop.

About SHATEC

SHATEC was set up in 1983 by the Singapore Hotel Association to equip Singapore's hospitality industry with a skilled workforce. Since then, SHATEC has distinguished itself as arguably Singapore's most recognised hospitality school with many of its 30,000 strong alumni from more than 20 countries helming key positions in the hospitality and tourism industry.

It is a strong advocate of creative teaching methods. Lessons and programmes at SHATEC are further enhanced by exposing pupils to experiential learning experiences that are as close to a working environment as possible. Students also reap the benefit of interacting with local and international instructors and guest speakers who eagerly share a wealth of knowledge in their respective fields and impart important people-to-people skills gleaned from experience.

Besides nurturing young minds and talents, SHATEC is also a key player in preparing career switchers and mature workers to join the hospitality industry. As the industry school, it also offers a myriad of programmes and workshops to up-skill practitioners in the hospitality industry.
As a strategic partner of Hotelbeds and the Platinum Sponsor of the event, HotelRunner is taking an active role in conversation building among the industry players, while the Founder and Managing Partner Ali Beklen will be joining the panel Tech & innovation shaping the future of travel on 30th at 09:30 as a speaker to share valuable insights.

MarketHub Europe by Hotelbeds marks its 7th year as 400+ participants from 15 markets gather to share insights and determine the roadmap for the industry. HotelRunner will be closely following interactions between key decision-makers and joining the conversation actively. As the event will be a center of attention for global players, HotelRunners agenda to accelerate growth in new markets will nurture from this environment.

Having launched its recent automations platform Autopilot this month, HotelRunner started the year in top gear as the company announced funding news and eyes for further expansion in different markets. Therefore MarketHub Europe will function as a powerful platform to introduce HotelRunners cutting-edge technologies and full-speed growth.

Dominating the technology field in the hospitality industry, HotelRunners culture of innovation incorporates sophisticated approaches for management and growth and the company plans to demonstrate its unique way of operations to the participants of the event. HotelRunners priceless industry experience gained over the last decade will be shared among the professionals attending MarketHub Europe.

Founders and Managing Partners Ali Beklen and Arden Agopyan, Director of Demand Rza Kaynak, and the HotelRunner Team are attending the event to join among the top names of the travel industry. The HotelRunner Team will also be meeting with their visitors at their booth throughout the event.

About HotelRunner

HotelRunner is a SaaS-enabled unified sales, operations, and distribution management platform and B2B network for accommodations, travel agencies, and payment providers. HotelRunner has thousands of accommodation and travel agency partners globally. HotelRunner is a Booking.com Premier Connectivity Partner, Expedia Preferred Connectivity Partner, Airbnb Preferred Software Partner, Agoda Innovative Supplier, Oracle, Hotelbeds, and Google Hotel Ads strategic partner.

For more about HotelRunner, visit the website.

Media Relations Contact: [email protected].

HotelRunner Media

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Officials of the former Banyan Tree Management today announced that the company has relaunched as Aperture Hotels. The new company will continue to provide hotel management services but with an eye on expanding its third-party management portfolio and possible management company M&A.

Historically, we have been seen almost exclusively as an extension of Banyan Investment Group, providing services only for their portfolio, said Charles Oswald, president and CEO, Aperture Hotels. The truth of the matter, however, is that we actively and eagerly provide third-party operating services for all hotel owners, and we feel relaunching as a stand-alone entity helps clarify that. Weve assembled a senior team that has collective experience operating over 400 hotels in every chain scale, from select-service to premium lifestyle, and we look forward to deploying that experience to help more owners achieve superior guest experience, team member engagement and improved bottom lines.

Aperture currently operates more than 2,000 rooms across 15 hotels and resorts. The companys diverse portfolio is comprised of branded and independent properties in urban, suburban and leisure destination markets throughout the United States. With 500-plus employees across its portfolio, Aperture has experience operating all the major brands, including Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Choice and Wyndham.

Aperture is a one-stop solution for owners seeking services for the entire ownership cycle, from pre-opening through eventual sale, Oswald added. Our veteran team has provided these services through multiple economic cycles, from industry highs to industry lows. We have a proven record of value enhancement through portfolio-wide gains in market share, outperforming Gross Operating Profit margins, quick property turnarounds and engaged team members, producing outsized returns for our partners and investors. With a bright outlook for hotels ahead, we look forward to growing with the industry.

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.
Rockbridge and Aparium Hotel Group, both known for creating one-of-a-kind, hyper-localized hotels and restaurants around the country, are pleased to announce the acquisition of the Heathman Hotel. Aparium Hotel Group has assumed management of the hotel. The property, located in the heart of downtown Portland, OR, currently features a lobby library lounge and more than 3,800 square feet of meeting space including a sky-lit 2nd floor mezzanine. A comprehensive renovation and reposition of the iconic Heathman Hotel will cement the hotel's status as the leading offering in the Portland market, while also launching a new flagship ground floor restaurant and bar along with an additional bespoke cocktail bar.

"As our first property in the Pacific Northwest and complementing our project under construction in Seattle, the Heathman Hotel is a great addition to our expanding hotel portfolio and underscores our commitment to build memorable stays and cultural connectivity in distinct markets with incredible creative capital, strong personalities, and rich histories," said Mario Tricoci, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aparium Hotel Group. "We look forward to ushering the Heathman Hotel into a new era, while collaborating in many forms with creatives and makers in Portland to infuse Aparium's philosophy of Translocal Hospitality."

One of Portland's most recognizable landmarks, the legendary Heathman Hotel blends rich history with a reverent appreciation for the arts. A cultural fixture since the day it opened in 1927, the hotel is home to the only cataloged guest-lending library in the Pacific Northwest, featuring books signed by guest authors. The hotel is a mere step away from the Portland Performing Arts Center, museums, and some of Portland's finest restaurants.

"We love to invest in beloved, historic hotels like the Heathman," said Jimmy Merkel, Co-founder and CEO of Rockbridge. "What makes this even more special is partnering with Mario and the Aparium team to restore this Portland icon to its former glory as the city continues to rebound."

Further expansion of the Aparium Hotel Group is underway with future openings planned for Denver, Seattle, Alexandria, Louisville, Atlanta, and more. Visit Aparium.com/hotels for more information.

About Rockbridge

Rockbridge, a private investment firm with more than 23-years in business, has been investing in and building brands in the hospitality and commercial real estate industries. The business has made over 290 investments in 39 states worth over $10 billion in total capitalization and has over $3.5 billion in assets under management. Rockbridge has been a strong investor in the hospitality space and has delivered several independent properties, including The Adolphus (Dallas, TX), Cliff House (Cape Neddick, ME), Noelle (Nashville, TN), The Laylow (Waikiki, HI), The Eliza Jane (New Orleans, LA), and Emeline (Charleston, SC) to name a few. Rockbridge has built a family of hospitality, development, and management company brands, and its continued success is a result of its core Rocks: Relevance, Relationships, Resilience, and Responsibility. Rockbridge has been honored for a fourth consecutive year as a top, philanthropic community-focused organization in Central Ohio. Learn more at www.rockbridgecapital.com and Instagram.

About Aparium Hotel Group

Established in 2012 and led by founder Mario Tricoci, Aparium Hotel Group is a pioneer in the lifestyle hotel industry with individually unique, awe-inspiring, award-winning independent hotels in distinct yet underserved markets across the U.S. Inspired by the concept of trans-local hospitality and a desire to provide an important catalyst in the resurgence of many great American cities, Aparium Hotel Group creates memorable stays and cultural connectivity with top-of-market, design forward, locally relevant and dynamically programmed hotels and restaurants that are a destination for discerning travelers and locals alike. The hotels feature elevated services and amenities, with locally curated food and beverage programming, celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of each community and ultimately ingraining each hotel into the fabric of the cities they inhabit.

Aparium Hotel Group is a vertically integrated owner and operator of ten hotel properties across the U.S. including The Pontchartrain Hotel (New Orleans, LA), Surety Hotel (Des Moines, IA), Hotel Haya, (Tampa, FL), Crossroads Hotel (Kansas City, MO), Detroit Foundation Hotel (Detroit, MI), The MC Hotel (Montclair, NJ), Hewing Hotel (Minneapolis, MN), Hu. Hotel (Memphis, TN), Clayton Members Club & Hotel (Denver, CO), Jasper Hotel (Fargo, ND) and several projects in various stages of development. For more information about Aparium Hotel Group, please visit aparium.com.
How wonderful it is when a film shows a city in all its glory! Sometimes when you see a place in a movie, you start wishing you were there exploring it. They have always been a great source of travel inspiration and have often helped increase tourism demand for the location, which benefits the hotels in the region. The global film tourism industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during 2022-32.

A study found that the impact of films on tourism can be massive, increasing it by an average of 31%. It can go as high as 300% in some locations! For instance, all filming locations of the Harry Potter movies experienced a 50% growth in tourism once the movies were released. Similarly, Braveheart resulted in a 300% increase in tourism to Wallace Monument in Scotland, while Mission Impossible 2 increased tourism to Sydney National Park by 200%. Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie franchises have had such a massive impact on New Zealands tourism that its tourists are specifically called Tolkien Tourists. Guided tours to the Hobbit houses are available. One in every three visitors visits at least one film set. This is just the tip of the iceberg of film-induced tourism.

Great Britain was the first to leverage the potential of this segment when it released a map with film destinations highlighted and marked on it in 1996. The Guardian reported on a research project that found how filming in Britain alone was bringing in at least a hundred million pounds in international tourism  and that is excluding London. The movie Pride and Prejudice increased attendance at Lyme Park by 176% in the following year. Alnwick Castle, the location of Hogwarts in Harry Potter movies  and occasionally also appearing in the Downton Abbey series  sees more than 800,000 visitors every year.

Films have been a massive driver of tourism in India as well. The country is said to be the largest producer of films in the world. Indian films not only increase domestic and inbound tourism but also, outbound travel from the country. Yash Chopra films, for instance, are credited as one of the key factors in increasing outbound travel from India to Switzerland, with Indians accounting for over 15% of Asian tourists to the country  before the pandemic. The impact of his films was (and still is) so immense on the Swiss economy that the Swiss Government awarded him the title 'Ambassador of Interlaken' and the Swiss Ambassador's Award. The movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, often called a brochure ad for Spain, is another such example. The impact was so significant that it became a case study in colleges of Spain as it increased tourism to the country by 65%.

Films also have a significant role in promoting tourism in various Indian states - with Goa, Kashmir and Rajasthan being a few prominent examples. An industry report recently mentioned that film tourism could help India generate revenues of up to $3 bn if governments and other stakeholders come together. The state governments have also realized this potential and have been introducing policies to promote filming in their areas.

The state government of Uttar Pradesh has taken steps such as setting up a state-level Film Development Council and State Film Division to facilitate a quicker release of movies. They are also working on the infrastructure to accommodate the increase in demand. The Rajasthan state government readily promotes shooting of films in the state. They have also introduced the Rajasthan Film Tourism Promotion Policy 2022, which provides a subsidy of up to INR 20 million for filming. The policy also waives all fees and levies for filming at places which are government owned. The Jammu and Kashmir government has also introduced its film policy, which offers a myriad of incentives; single-window clearing mechanism, equipment, location, and talent directories. The policy emphasizes the use of films as a destination marketing tool by providing 50% of the cost of production or INR 50 million (whichever is less) if the script or story is based on the UT of J&K. Many other state governments are also working on similar lines across the country, as subject experts around the world advocate the usage of films to promote tourism.

With OTT on a steady rise, filming too would be increasing, which should positively impact tourism even in lesser-known destinations in the country. Since the pandemic, travelers have been seeking out lesser-known destinations to explore. B-leisure travel has also been on the rise globally and highlighting city attractions through films could be an effective medium to promote destinations. Hotel and Travel Associations should work with the central and state governments to put together a framework to help promote destinations through films more aggressively. Films have a wider reach and connection with the audience and can become a crucial destination marketing tool that tourism boards should explore going forward.

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Ammar Al Khudairy, the chairman of Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, has resigned just days after his comments helped trigger a slump in the stock and bonds that prompted the Swiss government to step in and arrange its takeover.

Al Khudairy, who became chairman of Saudi National Bank in 2021 when it was created via a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba, is leaving "due to personal reasons," according to a statement on Monday.

His departure comes twelve days after he said in a Bloomberg TV interview that Saudi National Bank would "absolutely not" be open to further investments in Credit Suisse if there was another call for additional liquidity.

The Swiss bank's stock plunged to the lowest level on record and its credit spreads surged following his comments. That helped drag all European banks lower as investors shied away from risk following the collapse of three lenders in the U.S.

"The SNB Chairman was a victim of giving his honest opinion at such a tense time for Credit Suisse," said Mohammed Ali Yasin, capital markets specialist and investment adviser. "In hindsight, seeing the buyout rate of CS by UBS, his answer was the right course of action: awaiting for the crisis to be clearer."

In the days after his comments to Bloomberg TV, Al Khudairy sought to calm the market, telling CNBC that the panic surrounding Credit Suisse's share slide was "completely unwarranted."

While his remarks were consistent with the Saudi firm's previous stance, Al Khudairy's comments were largely seen as the tipping point for Credit Suisse's chances of survival. Days later, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse in a historic, government-brokered deal aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that had started to spread across global financial markets. UBS offered to pay 3 billion francs ($3.3 billion) for its rival in an all-share deal that included extensive government guarantees and liquidity provisions.

Saudi National Bank, which is 37% owned by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, saw the value of its investment in Credit Suisse plummet by about $1 billion in a matter of months after it acquired a roughly 9.9% stake for 1.4 billion francs last year. During that time, shares in Saudi National Bank had slumped by about a third, wiping more than $25 billion off its market value before Credit Suisse's deal with UBS. The stock was trading up 1% in Riyadh on Monday.

Al Khudairy said in October that he "likes" Credit Suisse's new leadership and their resolve to execute on its turnaround plan, but that any additional equity for the moment was "out of the question."

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Deep-pocketed Middle Eastern investors have been backing global banks such as Credit Suisse for many years. During the financial crisis, sovereign funds in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait plowed about $69 billion into firms such as Barclays, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, according to boutique adviser and data firm Global SWF.

The most recent losses on Credit Suisse are a stark reminder of a series of investments made by Gulf investors during the 2008 financial crisis - many of which ended in financial loss or legal battles. Regional investors are becoming more cautious of making fresh investments in global banks after emerging as some of the hardest hit in the Credit Suisse turmoil.

Born in 1963, Al Khudairy spent his career in Saudi Arabia's financial sector running some of the kingdom's top institutions. He'd been chairman of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in Saudi Arabia.

Al Khudairy also founded alternative assets management business Amwal AlKhaleej and Amwal Capital Partners, based in Riyadh and Dubai.

He will be replaced by SNB Chief Executive Officer Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi. The bank also appointed Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji as acting CEO. He was previously deputy CEO and head of wholesale banking at the Saudi lender.

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Bloomberg's Dana Khraiche contributed to this report.
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Six years ago, Enchanted Rock CEO Thomas McAndrew took me to a Houston-area H-E-B grocery store to see a new kind of backup generator capable of powering large facilities and providing electricity to the Texas grid when it was most needed.

Hurricane Harvey struck three months later, and the natural gas generators were 100 percent effective in keeping stores open. Then, when a winter storm struck in February 2021, killing more than 200 people, Enchanted Rock kept critical facilities operational from its Houston operations center.

Last week, McAndrew took me to Fort Bend Levee Improvement District No. 2, where the company he founded provides 12 megawatts of backup power. When the electric grid runs low on electricity, the natural gas generators provide power to the grid. When flooding strikes, the units ensure the pumping station can move 1 million gallons a minute away from nearby homes.

Because Enchanted Rock serves two customers  the grid and the pumping station  the levee district saved $7 million on the project.

Today, the company is outgrowing the startup label with 1,000 units at 275 sites in 11 states. Enchanted Rock provides a fabulous example of how demand response from small, distributed generators can provide affordable, reliable power while fighting climate change.

When we were doing this, we really didn't have any competition, McAndrew said. And now, we're getting a lot of competition.

On the grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas most energy shortages last less than four hours when demand peaks on the hottest days or coldest nights. How to address those peaks without overbuilding is the challenge in keeping electricity affordable.

Advocates for modernizing the grid argue that the most cost-effective way is to pay customers to reduce demand and fire up small, distributed generators and batteries for the handful of hours when the grid is stressed. Enchanted Rock offers both demand response and distributed generation, as the industry calls them.

Enchanted Rock can take 500 megawatts of electricity offline, enough to power 100,000 homes, when ERCOTs supply gets tight and provide extra juice. The generators can run as long as the natural gas keeps flowing, for days at a time.

Distributed generation also provides power locally when lines go down or a transformer blows out. McAndrew said that out of 250 sites, two-to-five generators kick in a day due to small, local outages, with generators typically running 200 to 400 hours a year.

The 2021 winter storm proved distributed generations value. Enchanted Rock generators kept H-E-Bs open in San Antonio and Houston. During last months ice storm in Austin, where Enchanted Rock couldnt operate due to local rules, the lights went out for days.

Remember all the people going through the dumpsters because H-E-B had thrown all that food out? McAndrew asked.

While natural gas generators are cleaner than diesel, they emit greenhouse gases. McAndrew said his engineers have reduced emissions from their patented generators by 90 percent. In California, they run on renewable natural gas from landfills and composting.

Big energy companies tout clean hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas. Enchanted Rock has already run its generators on a blend of 20 percent hydrogen without any problem, and McAndrew plans to offer hydrogen-fuel versions when the market demands them.

Orders for new units doubled last year, and McAndrew said he expects them to double again in 2023. But regulatory barriers remain.

Fees for connecting to the grid can be outlandish. Rules around providing power during emergencies were written for big projects, not distributed generation. Payments for taking big loads offline dont kick in until the grid is in trouble. In some places, small power plants cannot sell power to the grid.

The Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission are overhauling ERCOTs wholesale electricity market, but they focus on rewarding big generation plants while punishing renewable energy facilities. Proposed rules could impinge on Enchanted Rocks business plan, while lawmakers have shown little interest in new solutions like distributed generation and demand response.

Climate change activists are clamoring for rules encouraging a smarter grid, but McAndrew has never waited for the Legislature.

I don't think there's anything that we can do to really influence the outcome other than just keep doing what we're doing and talking about it, McAndrew said. It actually matters to the communities we serve that we can keep doing this.

Sometimes the best you can do is take your product to market and let customers decide.
When the weather is nice, the scene on the sidewalk patio in front of Hem, a buzzy new Vietnamese restaurant and bar in Asiatown, is reminiscent of the street-side cafes in Vietnam. Colorful child-size plastic chairs and tables are arranged next to a tiled-in area, where bright yellow-framed windows open to reveal the bar inside.

In the morning, older generation Vietnamese  the same group that regularly congregates to drink coffee at Long Coffee or Lees Sandwiches down the street  gather for coffee and conversation. By lunch, the crowd becomes more diverse as customers feast on a lunch menu that includes sizzling steak and egg and combination broken rice plates. Come dinnertime, Hems full menu comes into play, with dishes such as fried frog legs, shaken beef and razor clams grilled with oil and scallions.

Occupying a prominent location in the center of Ai Hoa Plaza on Bellaire near Kirkwood  the same shopping center that houses Dakao Restaurant & Bar and Hai Cang seafood restaurant  since its soft opening in late January, Hem, which means alley in Vietnamese, has quickly become the must-visit restaurant in Asiatown. Weekends are packed, as are most evenings, when there is often a wait at this trendy, 4,800-square-foot, 80-seat spot.

The first restaurant project for operating partners and longtime Houstonians Steven Diep and Kanny Le  both veterans of the Houston DJ circuit with more than 10 years working various area nightclubs and restaurants  the partners wanted to capture the spirit of the alley street food culture in Vietnam. Nailing the ambiance was critical.

We went through several designers before choosing one in Vietnam, said Le. We sent her photos that captured the mood of what we wanted, and there was a lot of back and forth before we had what we liked.

Trendy, colorful and fun, the restaurant's design interprets the vibrant night market feel of Vietnams electric street food scene. Tiled, dark gray floors re-create the feel of asphalt. Vintage vehicles, including bright yellow 1960s era Italian Lambro (a three-wheeled microcar similar to a tuk tuk) and a pale blue vintage Vespa, are positioned along the left entrance wall, where flat-screen TVs run videos of Vietnamese street food on loop.

In the back of the room, a hand-painted mural depicts a Vietnamese road with motorbikes driving in the middle lane flanked by colorful buildings, while an accent wall is painted to resemble a dilapidated brick building bearing vintage signs inscribed with words like Bia hoi (draft beer).

In the main dining area, a canopy of birdcage-like gold metal chandeliers contribute to the convivial ambiance, further enhanced by a trio of large decorative, circular-shaped booths that jut forth from the East-facing wall. Above the bar, a yellow neon sign reads Nuoc giai khat (beverages), and there's a pink neon 123 Dzo (1-2-3, cheers!) sign on the opposite wall.

If the design is ambitious, so is the food. Our menu is very customized, said Le. We wanted it to be very authentic to Vietnam, so we actually went to Vietnam and selected several consultants that we know that are famous, and we kind of purchased their secret recipes.

Le says that the recipes tend to lean sweet because the current Vietnamese palate tends to be more sweet. He added that those who travel frequently to Vietnam love it.

As Hem staffs up to its full potential, the restaurant is offering a limited breakfast and lunch service that includes beverage service only in the mornings, a handful of lunch plates in the afternoon and a full menu starting at 5 p.m. daily.

The dinner menu, overseen by Diep, is where Hem shines. Teeming with dishes that sound interesting and unique, early favorites include the Thai-style marinated (raw) shrimp with mango; shaken beef; and a full range of seafood dishes such as whelk, razor clams, scallops and flower snails grilled with toppings like butter scallion, garlic butter, tamarind, baked cheese and salted egg. There are more obscure items  frog legs tossed in fish sauce, chicken cartilage and Balut  as well standard finger foods like chicken wings and egg rolls. The majority of dishes are $16 to $18; most portions are large enough to be shared among three to five people.

Le said that as kitchen operations stabilize, there are plans to expand the menu even further. The restaurant is also waiting for its liquor license, with a plan to offer creative cocktails. For now, customers are encouraged to BYOB (there is a service fee). The restaurant also offers an excellent selection of nonalcoholic beverages, such as lychee-infused tea and Vietnamese egg coffee.

We dont want to be every other Vietnamese restaurant in Houston, said Le. You can find pho, rice plates, sizzling steak and eggs, all in this same shopping center. Were not trying to be them. We want to be the place where people can go for authentic Vietnamese food thats unique to Hem.

Hem is located at 11714 Bellaire and is open from 8 to 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. daily, with extended evening hours on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, follow them on Instagram @hemkitchenandbar.
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A sudden heart failure and brain injury nearly cost Kavya Patel her life during her freshman year of college. As she looks forward to graduating from the University of Houston next year, it seems like a distant nightmare.

She is majoring in public health and plans to become a nurse practitioner. The experience makes her feel driven, purposeful and confident about pursuing a path in medicine.

I came back from the dead, Kavya said. How many people can say that?

Kavyas journey began in December 2020. She was home for winter break in Sugar Land, after her first semester in college. She was enrolled at Texas A&M University at the time.

Excruciating pain in her abdomen landed her in the emergency room, where she was eventually diagnosed with an inflammatory disease and began taking steroids under a rheumatologists care.

Kavya spent a couple of days in the intensive care unit, then was discharged. The first thing she wanted was a shower.

She was relaxing at home with best friend Aaryan Patel, chatting in the kitchen. I was telling him about how I was so excited about Taylor Swifts new album, Kavya recalled. That was the last thing I said.

She blacked out and fell to the floor.

Everyone present jumped into action, setting off a lifesaving chain of events. First, her aunt, Sweta Patel, a nurse, rushed over to check Kavyas pulse. When Sweta could not find one, she began administering CPR.

Aaryan dialed 911.

Sweta called Kavyas mother, Prerana Patel, who notified her husband, Dr. Manish Patel, associate chief of UTHealth Houston Heart and Vascular. He rushed home, arriving around the same time as the EMS team.

Kavya boarded an ambulance for Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. She received CPR the entire time, first from her aunt, then the EMS crew for about an hour and 20 minutes.

A flatline

When the call came to Dr. Manish Patel, he was in a conference with Dr. Biswajit Kar, professor of interventional cardiology with UTHealth Houston Heart and Vascular and attending physician at Memorial Hermann.

I remember every second of it, Kar said.

When he got the call, Manish ran out of the room, and Kar took off after him.

Hearing of Kavya's collapse, Kar realized she would need Life Flight. He ran to the helicopter pad, where a helicopter was waiting, not on another mission or about to take off, just ready to go. There was divine intervention, Kar said.

He told the pilot, I cant give you the details. I dont have the time, but I need to fly.

The pilot took him at his word and readied the engine.

We didn't even know where Kavya would be taken, Kar said. We just got airborne.

He assumed that she would go to Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital and called to request emergency privileges.

Just when the helicopter was about to land, Kar learned that Kavya was instead nearing Memorial Hermann Sugar Land.

We redirected and landed there just when the ambulance was bringing Kavya, he said.

He watched as Kavya was wheeled in. She was still receiving CPR. I saw the flatline, he recalled.

He asked nurses to ready the defibrillator, an electric device used to restore heartbeat.

Lets shock her, he said.

If it worked, Kavya would need to be placed immediately on ECMO, an advanced form of life support for patients at high risk of death. The device surgically pumps blood outside the body, oxygenates it and then returns it with an anticoagulant.

In the next room, Kavyas mother had collapsed. Her father was shaking in his chair.

Kar understood that his friend and colleague had placed his daughters life in his hands. He made the call, and his team readied the electrode pads to administer the shock.

Her heart came back to normal, Kar recalled. But she was still not conscious.

Emergency craniectomy

Kar was worried about Kavyas brain. CPR has to adequately maintain blood flow to the brain to protect cognitive function. You have to be effective, he said. It takes only three minutes for the brain to be gone.

He ordered a CT scan, which revealed a small hemorrhage. Then, he boarded the Life Flight again, this time with Kavya, heading to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center.

On the helicopter pad, Kar phoned Dr. Nitin Tandon, professor and chair ad interim of neurosurgery at UTHealth Houston, as well as an attending physician at Memorial Hermann.

I need your help, Kar said. I want you to do a craniectomy.

Tandon learned that there was evidence of a head injury. Dr. Kar called me to be ready, he said.

Requesting a craniectomy when a patient is on ECMO and blood thinners is rare, Kar said. At this point, he explained, Kavya had only a 5 percent chance of survival.

Tandon met Kars team as soon as they landed and transferred her to Memorial Hermanns Level 1 Red Duke Trauma Institute.

New CT scans revealed that the problem had grown, with multiple hematomas on the right side and midline of Kavyas brain.

By then, she had blood all over the right side of her brain, Tandon said.

Already, the neurosurgeon said that the hospital team was putting forth a full effort to save the patient. Instead of one IV pole with equipment, she had more than a dozen. With all of the equipment attached, Kavya could barely fit in the elevator to the operating room.

Once there, Tandon performed an emergency craniectomy to alleviate the swelling in Kavyas brain, removing a portion of her skull about 5 inches in diameter.

Because Kavya had received heparin, an anticoagulant, when placed on the bypass machine, profuse bleeding ensued. Tandon said that it took time and patience to control.

During the surgery, Kavyas heart stopped again  twice. The cardiac team was standing by and shocked her heart with defibrillator pads while the neurosurgeon continued operating.

After the surgery, the pressure in Kavyas head returned to normal, but only for a day.

Then, the bleeding returned in other parts of her brain, adjacent to the first hematomas. The pressure in her head began to climb.

We took her back to the operating room, Tandon said.

He removed more of her bone flap, almost half of her skull. Then he took all of the clots out and stopped the bleeding.

He explained that the exact cause of the brain bleed will remain a mystery. It could have resulted from Kavyas fall or possibly been connected to her inflammatory disease.

The dramatic part is that she died at home, in the emergency room and in the operating room, Tandon said.

The fact that she was the daughter of one of his colleagues brought the case even closer to home. Everyone in the ICU had seen her before socially, Tandon said.

Everyone gave 150 percent, Kar added. They give that everyday, but this was different. It was like our own daughter.

Another miracle

Once the brain bleed was under control, there was yet another complication.

Kar could not prescribe a blood thinner to a patient in her condition. But she needed the blood thinners for the ECMO to continue to work properly.

If she had a clot, then shed have a stroke and die, Kar said.

The cardio and neurosurgery teams went back and forth, debating both sides of the issue.

Finally, we decided a life with a brain gone is no use, he said. Lets run the machine without a blood thinner. We waited minute to minute, second to second, monitoring the machine.

Then, the cardio team decided to stop the machine, without going through the normal course of weaning her off. Kar believed her heart would be able to take it.

But until you do it, we dont really know, he said. We have to clamp the tube. Then, she either flies or dies. You cant imagine the emotions we were all going through.

He asked Dr. Jayesh Patel, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at UTHealth Houston Heart & Vascular Memorial Hermann, to clamp the tubes of the ECMO.

Her blood pressure plummeted. Its over, Kar feared.

Just then, her blood pressure began climbing back up.

Her heart became normal, Kar said. God was protecting her, and it worked out.

Kavyas story contains an important lesson, he said. Everyone should be trained in CPR. There cant be a better argument than this to learn.

Kar added that the dedication of both the EMS team and Life Flight crew was critical to saving Kavyas life. They are the real heroes, as well as her aunt, parents, nurses and therapists, he said. Ive been doing this for 40 years, and I don't think I have ever seen a case like this. You tell me this is not a miracle.

Waking up

When Kavya awoke a couple of days later, she struggled to move the left side of her body. I wasnt paralyzed, but it was so difficult, she recalled.

After about three weeks in the hospital, she was moved to TIRR Memorial Hermann for in-patient treatment.

Her case was overseen by Dr. Prathap Joseph, associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at UTHealth Houston and clinical chief of neuromuscular rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann.

She was not back to her baseline, Joseph explained.

Kavya needed physical therapy to help her return to basic functions. She also was facing challenges as a result of the brain injury.

She could recognize everyone in her family and talk through complex situations, Jacob said. But she had obvious cognitive dysfunction, and we tried to gradually work through that.

Occupational and speech therapists worked to help her regain cognitive function.

After a couple of weeks, Kavya was discharged and then continued outpatient treatment at TIRR for another three months. TIRR therapists specifically wanted to help her go back to her studies.

She is a college student with her whole life ahead of her, Jacob said.

Recovery from a brain injury can take years, he added.

Kavya feels like her memory and energy level are still affected. After the incident, she transferred to the University of Houston to complete her studies.

Its been almost three years now, and I pretty much am back to normal, Kavya said. I am physically and mentally stable and feel even stronger now.

She wants to share her story, especially if it can serve as inspiration.If this serves as a beacon of hope for people, Id love to help, Kavya said. This was an ultimately impossible situation, and I made it out of it. Anything is possible.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin likes to boast that Russia has managed to cope with economic sanctions imposed by the West because of the Ukraine War. The reality is different. The sanctions cut Russia off from the international banking system and reduced its income from natural gas and oil exports by at least half, so Russia scrambled to smuggle as much oil as it could. China and India were mostly the happy beneficiaries of this, but were only willing to pay in their own currencies rather than in gold or hard currency like dollars or euros. Russia thought it could discourage European aid for Ukraine by controlling European access to Russian natural gas supplies. That did not work. The Europeans managed to find other sources of natural gas that were more expensive.

The sanctions also cut off supplies of Western tech, which limited production of high-tech weapons like missiles, aircraft and warships, plus civilian items requiring tech the Russians couldnt produce, such as computer chips for motor vehicles and coil bearings for railroads. Russian demands for ammunition, especially artillery and mortar shells, was more than its stockpiles or manufacturing facilities could support, the latter due mostly to years of under-producing replacements for existing stocks so that most facilities for munitions production were scrapped. After a year of fighting, Ukrainian troops have access to more artillery shells than does Russia.

The sanctions were not the only problem. Russia has been suffering economically and militarily because of its invasion of Ukraine. That has forced Russia to adapt and that means establishing closer relationships with Iran. Russia already had a number of diplomatic, economic and military relationships with Iran. At the same time Iran has a lot more experience operating as an outcast or pariah state. In the past Russia was the senior partner when it came to deals with Iran. Because of the Ukraine sanctions, Russia needs Iran more than the other way around. Iran is able to dictate terms and gain a lot of trade concessions from Russia.

This realignment became tangible in June when Russia and Iran signed a new agreement that expanded economic and political cooperation between the two nations. This agreement ignores sanctions currently imposed on Russia and Iran and formalizes the cooperation between the two oil producers to evade Western efforts to prevent Iran and Russia from exporting its oil. The new agreement also confirms joint efforts to support each other militarily. Iran has supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine while Russia backs Iranian threats to other Middle Eastern oil producers. This does not include unofficial Russian agreements in Syria that keep Israel and Russia from going to war because of continued Israeli attacks on Iranian forces in Syria. Russia continues to support Iranian efforts to expand its influence over the Iraqi government.

Russia has provided Iran with a Kanopus-V satellite, which enables Iran to obtain high-resolution views of enemy territory and the ability to improve its overseas operations. Russia also provides many industrial items Iran has had difficulty obtaining. Russia has also shipped Iran stolen Ukrainian grain, which is popular with the Iranian population and the many shortages they have to put up with.

Russia has more attractive trade options for Iran, especially when it comes to modern warplanes. Decades of economic sanctions against Iran have resulted in no new warplanes or even spare parts for what they already had. Russia is now willing to supply modern aircraft and helicopters and even establish a joint maintenance center in Iran. This is made possible by the Caspian Sea connection. Both Russia and Iran have Caspian Sea coastlines. This landlocked sea makes it possible to easily and safely move all sorts of cargo back and forth.

Israel has not been providing any weapons to Ukraine because of Iranian activity near the Israeli border in Syria. Israel needs to maintain good relations with Russia to deal with the Iranian threat. Russia told Israel that sending weapons to Ukraine could reduce Russian cooperation in Syria against Iran. Most Israelis support Ukraine, but the Iranian threat is very real and next door, so Israeli politicians cannot ignore it unless they want to lose their next election. Russia does not want to lose its relationships with Israel but now Iran is in a position to force the matter. Russia appears to be seeking a compromise with Israel that will not offend Iran.

Other parties in Syria have been renegotiating relationships in Syria. In May Syrian leader Bashar Assad made an unannounced visit to Iran, apparently to negotiate how Syria and Iran would take over Russian bases and any Russian equipment left behind. Most Russian ground forces in Syria returned to Russia because of the war in Ukraine. These Russian troops consist of special operations forces, military advisers and tech support personnel who help maintain Russian weapons used by Syria. The departing Russian troops were first moved to a Russian controlled airbase near the Mediterranean coast and then flown back to Russia. Some of the abandoned bases were transferred to Iranian control and used by Iran-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah.

Russia is not used to being the junior partner but desperate times require uncommon adaptability to survive. Russia has had to accept Chinese terms for their economic relationship. Israel is particularly difficult because that relationship goes back to the founding of Israel and has proven to be well worth maintaining. Iran can be a major problem for Israel because of the new Iranian arrangement with Russia.

Ukraine is already feeling the impact of Iranian support for Russia. Iranian UAVs are showing up in Ukraine, but have not proven as effective as Russia hoped. Iran also assigned some of its hacker groups to support Russian efforts in Ukraine. That did not lead to Cyber War attacks on Ukraine but instead on nearby NATO nations. Ukraine has a formidable reputation when it comes to Cyber War and the Ukrainians have deployed their capabilities to deal with Russian hackers trying to assist Russian forces there. That has not worked out well for the Russians and Iran does not want to join Russia on the Ukrainian Cyber War hit list.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin appears determined to keep the Ukraine War going as long as he can and refuses to recognize the possibility of the Ukrainians winning. That may be where some deals with Iran are going but the Ukrainians have a vote, and they are voting for more battlefield victories over Russia. Iran is impressed with Ukrainian military successes but does not dwell on it. China appears to be gaining the most from Russias invasion of Ukraine. China was not pleased and quietly expressed displeasure with Russian leaders. China does not want to get sanctioned by violating the Western sanctions on Russia by supplying weapons or high-tech components. China would still sell (for cash, not on credit) dual-use items that could be used by Russian troops. This included UAVs and a few other items. Russia has less cash to spend and must barter with Iran and North Korea for munitions and military equipment.

Western sanctions were not meant to wreck or seriously injure Russias economy, though the railroad coil bearing embargo might eventually have that effect. Instead, the sanctions were designed to do maximum damage to the Russian military and did, spectacularly so. There was some damage to the civilian economy but nothing as dramatic as the impact on Russian military production.
As the afternoon winds blow high grass across a hillside at Juneteenth Park in south Harris County, a hiker spots something that seems out of place  a large brown creature that appears to be part beaver, part something else.

It's a nutria, an invasive, 2-foot-long rodent native to South America that has become a growing environmental problem. They are found near waterways throughout the Houston region.

Where did nutria come from?

"They were brought here in 1889, I believe for the fur trade. They're in a bunch of states, with Louisiana being the big one," said Chris Vazquez, animal care specialist at Armand Bayou Nature Center in Pasadena.

Raising nutria for fur eventually didn't seem like such a good idea.

"In the 1940s, a lot of people released them," Vazquez said.

Others escaped. The result is an animal that has thrived in warmer parts of the nation and has expanded to much of Texas, dozens of states and some European countries.

Where do nutria live?

Nutria make their homes in burrows near the water. At Juneteenth Park, which is off Blackhawk Road, a nutria was recently seen swimming in the stream that runs through the park, its sleek fur showing above the water. Then suddenly, it dove and never resurfaced.

It was a telltale sign that a burrow was nearby. The nutria likely crawled into the burrow and then made its way to another chamber filled with air. It's front legs are equipped with claws, perfect for easily digging underwater tunnels, its hind legs, which are in front of a rat-like tail, are for the most part webbed.

"They're similar to alligators. There will be a water tunnel of up to three meters and then a piece of land where there's air pockets. They'll just hang out there," Vazquez said.

How nutria damage the environment

That's one problem with the nutria, which can grow to weigh 20 pounds. Those burrows along the water's edge can cause ground to collapse, leading to erosion.

When on land, nutria feed on native plants that hold wetland soil together, posing a risk to coastal marshes.

"They'll eat the roots and the roots support the land. All of that erodes the land, destroys native grasses," Vazquez said. "They can take over and cause some serious damage. Unless you replant the grasses, they're not going to come back on their own."

Nutria are breeding machines.

"They explode like crazy," Vazquez said. "If it's a mating pair, they can have two full litters (of four to five young each) within a year, and they can be pregnant for a third one by the end of the year.

"Around nine months after being born, those nutrias can have babies."

What is being done to control nutria?

Vazquez believes efforts have been insufficient to control nutria in the area.

In Louisiana, the federally funded Coastwide Nutria Control Program (CNCP) offers $6 per nutria tail to any hunter or trapper registered with the program. The goal is to remove 400,000 nutrias per season, which runs from Nov. 20 to March 31.

In Texas, property owners can kill nutria on their land without having a hunting or trapping license, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In areas where hunting is allowed, anyone with a hunting license can kill nutria without limit as long as the pelts aren't sold or exchanged for anything of value, according to the department.

The department discourages residents from feeding nutria.

Traps are one way to remove the rodent from one's property. Sweet potatoes and carrots are the best way to coax a nutria into a trap. Trapped animals should be taken to a local animal control office.

"They can really destroy a habitat," Vazquez said.
STAMFORD  Kramatorsk, Ukraine, may be under constant barrage from Russian shelling, but it has a lot in common with the state's second-largest city  enough so that a city-to-city match could benefit both, according to the leader of a nonprofit organization supporting Ukraine.

The Board of Representatives is set to vote April 3 on a resolution recognizing a sister-city relationship between Stamford and Kramatorsk. The boards State and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full board pass the resolution this week.

Bridget Fox, Mayor Caroline Simmons chief of staff, told the committee that the idea of linking the two cities came from Brian Mayer, a leader of the nonprofit Ukraine Aid International.

Of course, due to the sizable population of Ukrainians here in Stamford, we absolutely jumped at the opportunity to talk with Brian and his team about what this could look like, and how we could move forward with becoming a sister city in the future, Fox said.

Mayer and his brother, Marshall, founded the organization after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, focusing on last-mile delivery of aid to Ukrainian civilians. They worked with officials in their hometown of Westport to set up a sister-city relationship between the Connecticut town and Lyman, Ukraine around the start of the new year.

The group is now looking to pair more U.S. and Ukrainian cities. Eastons Board of Selectmen signed off on a relationship between the town and Svyatohirsk, Ukraine, earlier this month. Stamford and Kramatorsk could be next.

During Wednesdays virtual meeting, Mayer said his group paired Stamford and Kramatorsk because of their population sizes and their similar reputations as economically important cities.

Kramatorsks pre-war population was about 150,000 to 200,000, according to reports by major news outlets. Stamfords population is about 135,000.

Its very close to the front lines, Mayer said about Kramatorsk. It hasnt been occupied during this war, but it has been a near constant target of shelling and missile strikes. As a result, it has just faced an incredible amount of destruction. And in all of the times we have visited Kramatorsk, the one thing ... that they keep saying to us is how much they appreciate just ... knowing that they have friends in the West that want to help, that want to support.

Mayer told city representatives that the aim of the sister-city program is not only to show our support for communities that are very much like ours in Ukraine that are facing just an unprecedented amount of violence, but also to help facilitate that support into something that can help the Ukrainian people in the short term as well as in the long term.

In Westport, for instance, the community raised more than $250,000 over a few weeks, which Mayer said has gone toward supplying Lyman with food, Christmas gifts for children, new garbage trucks, new police patrol cars, office equipment and construction materials.

These things have all been supplied directly by private donations, not by the city, Mayer said. So the city has not spent any money on this, but the official partnership does allow for us to go to private donors and say, This is the sister city of your community, and would you like to help support the city?

Kramatorsk specifically is in need of an MRI machine to replace one that was stolen from a hospital, he said.

Stamford has established sister-city relationships in the past, including with Settefrati, Minturno and Rose  all in Italy  as well as Lima, Peru; Jiangdu, China; Nanping, China; Pune, India; Afula, Israel; Sparta, Greece; and Neza, Mexico.

In the long term, Mayer said he hopes the sister-city bond between Stamford and Kramatorsk will lead to cultural exchange and educational programs, including trips by local officials.

Greenwich is moving toward forming a similar connection with Izium, Ukraine, which is about 45 miles northwest of Kramatorsk. Town resident and former Miss Connecticut Olga Litvinenko, who was born in Ukraine, is pushing for that sister-city relationship.
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Many parents of special education students in Houston ISD who feel the school system has failed their children are deeply conflicted about whether a recently announced state takeover will improve services or just add further chaos to the faltering system.

Some who say their children have been denied federally protected rights to an education believe a takeover is long overdue. Others agree accountability is needed, but question whether the Texas Education Agency has the capacity or track record necessary to execute change for the better, considering it has also come under intense criticism of its failure to deliver special education services for decades.

TAKEOVERS THAT TANKED: Heres why state interventions rarely improve academics

Its a tall order to ask a failing TEA special education department to come and rescue a failing HISD special education department, said Jane Friou, an HISD parent and co-founder of the Houston Special Education Parent Association. I dont understand how its going to get any better.

The special education departments significant systemic compliance problems were cited among the reasons in TEA Commissioner Mike Moraths notice that a state-appointed board of managers will soon lead the district.

For Marifi Escobar, a parent of an HISD ninth grader with multiple disabilities, the takeover seems long overdue.

The takeover is happening because our children's rights are systematically and continuously violated through denial (of services) and the noncompliance of HISD, Escobar said. I want to see an overhaul of HISD. This seems to be the first time HISD is being held accountable.

TAKEOVER REACTION: Houston ISD community worries that TEA takeover will harm students

But some advocates say they anticipate little change to the beleaguered department given that state-appointed conservators have overseen it for years.

We, as parents, have not seen anything get better since the conservators got here, said Friou. It may have actually gotten worse from a parent perspective. Its as chaotic as ever and that makes me very concerned for whatever is coming.

Other education experts say the state agencys own failures to provide supports to students with disabilities doesnt bode well.

TEA is the entity that receives funding from the federal government to implement (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and it is supposed to provide technical assistance, monitoring and professional development across the state, said David DeMathews, associate professor of the University of Texas at Austins department of educational leadership and policy. TEA has failed miserably doing this job for more than a decade.

According to conservator reports filed with the state as recently as February, the school district must make improvements in several areas to meet basic legal compliance benchmarks, including improving academic outcomes. Only 26 percent of students with disabilities met grade level on the STAAR in 2022, TEA records show.

The districts Office of Special Education Services has not established a consistent framework for monitoring legal compliance of individual education plans, which lay out the supports and services each student requires to learn, TEA officials say. Nine percent of elementary students with identified disabilities did not have standards-based IEPs as of November, state reports show, and 31 percent of secondary students did not have proper IEPs in place as of December.

Additionally, 4 percent of elementary students and 8 percent of secondary students did not have centrally located progress reports on their IEPs, state officials said.

EXIT PLAN: Here's what Houston ISD needs to do to regain local control after the TEA state takeover

The school system's procedures for special education identification committee meetings are not clearly defined or consistently implemented, according to state conservators, with 12 percent of such meetings not taking place within the required 30-day window in January.

According to TEA, despite some improvement, the school system continues to fall short on reaching its set goal of having parent participation in meetings related to students individualized services in 97 percent of meetings.

HISD officials said there were "no updates to provide" in response to a request for comment on its special education improvement plan.

At a meeting this week, HISD board members, all soon to be replaced by the TEA-appointed board of managers, raised concerns after administrators in the district's special education department could not answer questions about whether any improvements had been made.

Some advocates believe the alleged shortcomings indeed warrant immediate action from the state.

"So many kids are failing in the district," said Robbi Cooper, state leader for policy and advocacy for the grassroots group Decoding Dyslexia Texas. "To think things should continue the same way is absurd."

HISD's long history of scrutiny

HISDs special education department has been scrutinized for decades. A 2016 Houston Chronicle investigation found the district pressured teachers to reduce "over-identification" of Black students in special education and largely shut out English language learners from receiving such services. The investigation also found the district had cut over 600 special education personnel in a decade.

Reports commissioned by the school system in 2011 and 2018 showed major gaps in its delivery of needed services for students with disabilities. The district made a three-year strategic plan to address those findings.

In 2020, TEA concluded a nearly yearlong investigation with a 44-page report that found HISD, after prior reports of shortcomings, continued to fail to identify all students who needed special education services, give students the supports they were entitled to under federal law and did not hold staff accountable for poor performance. At the time, district officials said the information in the report was not accurate and based on years-old information.

As a result of the inquiry, known as a special accreditation investigation, the state placed two conservators over the districts special education department in 2021. The oversight measure is still in place.

On Monday, HISD Special Education Executive Director Cynthia Hoppman said she could not provide answers about any improvements made to racial disparities and inclusion of bilingual students or staffing. I don't know the percentage, but I was told it was significantly greater, she said of personnel numbers. We had so many vacancies we couldnt fill them.

The number of students in special education in the district has increased since the 2015-16 school year, despite overall enrollment decreasing by around 25,000 students, data compiled by TEA shows. During the 2022-23 school year, there are 17,554 students placed in special education. During the 2015-16 school year, there were 15,913.

In a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle's editorial board, Morath said the district has improved significantly since conservators were put in place, however, minimum standards are still not being met, he added.

"In Houston ISD you still have pretty significant compliance problems with Child Find obligations where students are not being evaluated in a timely manner and not being given access to special education services in a timely manner," he said.

Colleen Potts, supervising attorney of Disability Rights Texas, said the advocacy group continues to receive many complaints from parents in the district seeking services for their children.

"Houston ISD has certainly not resolved all its issues in special education," she said.

TAKEOVER TIMELINE: How the battle between Houston ISD, TEA has reached this point

Friou, along with many other parents, says the district's policy of having a decentralized system of schools has created an environment in which special education services are not implemented equitably at each campus.

"Special ed services are so variable depending on what campus your child is at and how bought-in your principal is to special ed," she said. "I used to advocate for centralizing special ed, but I don't know if that's a good ask anymore because the system is so broken at the district level."

Escobar said she's seen huge differences between the supports offered at her son's former middle school and the high school that now provides him with homebound education.

"My son was placed all of last year in an office with a (teacher's assistant) because his middle school did not have special education teachers and the elevator, which he needed because he's in a wheelchair, was broken," she said. "What does that do to a student  to be isolated in an office in his last year of middle school?"

Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Myhd Montinez, a mother of a second grader who was placed in a private school with funds from HISD, said the district didn't provide her son's teacher with his IEP.

"When a new administrator took over the school, they didn't understand anything about special education," she said. "His whole IEP wasn't implemented. His behavior got really bad and he had severe anxiety."

TIME TO LEAVE?: HISD takeover has teachers 'stuck in limbo hell' as they face uncertain futures, unanswered questions

Mireille Patman, whose 11-year-old son was placed in special education, said the decentralized system caused her child to be placed in a campus he was not zoned to. "He had to be displaced to a different community to a school that would accommodate us," she said. "The school we were zoned to was not compliant and wouldn't do what we needed."

'Arbitrary' cap removed

Criticism of TEAs implementation of special education stems from its artificial cap on the number of students with disabilities who could receive services. The since-removed arbitrary 8.5 percent cap led to the denial of services to tens of thousands of children with disabilities in Texas.

In January 2018, the federal Office of Special Education Programs announced it found TEA had failed to ensure all children with disabilities in the state were identified and evaluated. In October 2020, TEA told OSEP it believed it had completed all the required corrective actions. However, OSEP found the state had made only one of many required changes to its operations.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Education said TEA failed to put into place many of the corrective actions it pledged to make to comply with IDEA and threatened recourse of taking away special education funding. Among the alleged shortcomings was that there was no indication districts in the state were promptly referring children for dyslexia evaluations.

Currently, TEA officials say the agency has exceeded the corrective actions laid out by OSEP and has increased the number of students in special education 37.3 percent since 2015.

'IRRATIONAL AND LUDICROUS': Texas political leaders, HISD community reacts to the TEA takeover of Texas' largest school district

TEA engages with OSEP monthly to ensure all Corrective Action Response items are appropriately addressed, officials said Wednesday. The state has increased the number of students with disabilities receiving special education services by more than 106,000.

The agency has also created a strategic plan for statewide improvements, including hiring more than 70 staffers with special education expertise, a new supervision and monitoring system and significant changes to identifying and supporting students with dyslexia, officials say.

Additionally, the agency improved and simplified the process for parents to access special education complaints and dispute resolution systems by launching online, accessible forms available in multiple languages, TEA officials said.

Potts said the system at the state-level continues to have major shortfalls, including its execution of due process hearings, which are the final level of complaints for parents seeking supports and services for children with disabilities.

"The system is still unfair," she said. "Statewide, it's difficult for parents to be successful at due process hearings. Every single week, we turn away so many cases because we can't help everyone we want to."
While there will be no ring of fire visible from Houston during the next solar eclipse, Space.com named a Texas beach as one of the annual spectacle's best viewing locations, complete with the longest window of visibility.

Saturday, Oct. 14, the moon and sun will be positioned in such a way that the moon will appear smaller than the sun, blocking some visibility and creating a shadow described as the ring of fire.

The eclipse will only be visible from eight states as it crosses the U.S., from Oregon to Texas.

MORE ON GULF COAST BEACHES: Best U.S. beaches: Texas location named a top travel destination

For those looking for the perfect watch spot, a Texas beach may be the answer, although it comes with a risk of clouds. Padre Island National Seashore, along the Gulf of Mexico, will have the longest view of the ring of fire in the U.S., at a total of 4 minutes and 52 seconds, according to Space.com.

However, potential visitors should be aware the location has, on that date, been reported cloudy 65 percent of the time since 2000. At Padre Island National Seashore, the eclipse will be visible at 11:56 a.m. above the south-southeast horizon  if there are clear skies.

The last time people in the U.S. were able to see a similar solar eclipse was May 20, 2012.

Most of the country will only be able to see a partial solar eclipse, and will not get the perfect ring of fire  Houston included. San Antonio is one of the few cities where the ring of fire can potentially be seen. It is expected to be visible there at 11:52 a.m,, Space.com reported.

After the solar eclipse passes by, the next one will be about a year later, Oct. 2, 2024, and will be visible from the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina.
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Family members of those killed in last years massacre at a Uvalde elementary school were heavy-hearted on Monday as news spread of another shooting at a private Christian school in Tennessee.

Three children and three staffers were gunned down at The Covenant School in Nashville, and the shooter is dead, according to multiple news reports. The school teaches students from pre-school to grade six.

RELATED: Uvalde shooting may spur action in Texas Legislature  with one big exception

The school shooting in Nashville came just days after the 10-month anniversary of the Uvalde shooting, when a teenage gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.

Our kids arent safe. Schools arent safe, tweeted Kimberly Garcia, who lost her 10-year-old daughter, Amerie Jo Garza. My daughter wasnt safe, her life was taken from her. My son isnt safe and it keeps me up all night. How am I supposed to be OK with leaving him at school? Theres no way.

When is enough going to be enough? she said in another tweet. 6 more innocent lives taken? But its not the guns right? Wake up people.

Garcia and dozens of other victims relatives have been advocating for firearm restrictions in the months after the massacre. Some of the family members now lead Lives Robbed, an advocacy group fighting to prevent gun violence.

We are tired, the group tweeted on Monday. We know that, for the families of the victims at Covenant, this hell is just beginning. We are with you. This is why we fight for change.

READ MORE: 'Not one more': Uvalde, Santa Fe families join hundreds of activists at Capitol gun safety rally

Brett Cross, the uncle and guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, posted an emotional video on social media: Have yall had enough yet?

He wore a hat with the name Uzi and a picture of the child pinned to his shirt, which also bore a message: 21 unheard voices had their lives robbed so were not done.

Cross has been an outspoken advocate for gun safety laws and police accountability since May 24. Officers waited 77 minutes to confront the gunman, who was armed with an AR-15.

When is enough enough? he asked in the video.

Gloria Cazares, who lost her 9-year-old daughter Jackie, tweeted a broken heart emoji with two hashtags: #EndGunViolence and #EnoughIsEnough.

Kimberly Mata-Rubio lost her 10-year-old daughter, Alexandria Lexi Rubio.

Im tired, she wrote. Im so tired. #lexirubio
We have to start somewhere, and there is a scarcity of dollars.

The Legislature is in session in Texas, and those words couldve come out of the mouth of any one of the 181 lawmakers hard at work. In this case, it was Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, talking about his effort to expand education savings accounts, also known as private school vouchers -- which lawmakers have repeatedly rejected through the years.

We oppose such programs, which tend to deplete public education while funneling taxpayer money to unaccountable private schools where, more often than not, promised academic gains failed to materialize.

Senate Bill 8, which also includes parental bill of rights provisions, drew more than 380 speakers who signed up to discuss it at a recent hearing. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been fighting for an expanded voucher-like program for years, only to encounter rural opposition in his own party, is no doubt more optimistic this year as the balance in the Senate now tilts in his favor.

Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

So, does the legislation  just one of several bills filed that would create expanded voucher programs  address our concerns?

Nope, not even with the new sweeteners thrown in.

For rural school districts, which are often one of the main employers in small towns and have historically opposed voucher proposals, the bill includes at least two years' worth of funding for every student who takes advantage of the program. It essentially helps those districts break even during that time, even if students leave their public schools.

The bill also restricts eligibility to current public school students or prekindergarten and kindergarten students just enrolling. This is apparently an attempt to address the concern that, as data from other large-scale voucher programs suggests, most families benefiting from private school voucher programs already attend private school.

Unfortunately, that teaspoon of sugar doesn't quite mask the snake oil hidden in this voucher scheme.

Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

The promised $8,000 per student, which can go toward tuition, tutors, uniforms and other related private school expenses, might close the tuition gap for higher-earning families, but it almost certainly will not cover the costs for the rest of us to send our kids to the most esteemed private schools. And it doesn't change the fundamental fact that public dollars would flow to private schools  free, by and large, from any accountability.

In fact, our best voucher research, according to Josh Cowen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University who has studied voucher programs for years, suggests that students who switch from public schools to private with the use of a voucher face some of the worst outcomes.

Estimates in the state's own fiscal note show the cost of the voucher program climbing annually, from $512 million in 2025 to $1 billion by 2028. The total cost for providing grants during that period? More than $2 billion.

We suspect the cost could creep even higher because the current estimate is based on assumptions about the existing capacity of the states private schools to accept students. What often happens, though, in these low-regulation programs, is that new, disreputable private schools crop up. Cowen likens them to subprime operations looking to cash in on your tax dollars.

Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

Things will get worse with each budget cycle, and thats where those new providers are going to start to pop up fast, Cowen told the editorial board.

Creighton has said the legislation is not intended to hurt public schools. It would draw from the general fund, for example. But public schools would still feel the hit from declining enrollment. The state's fiscal analysis estimates that more than 133,000 students would leave traditional public school districts through 2028, about 43 percent of them from smaller districts. What that will cost districts, the state fiscal analysis doesn't say, but it does expect the state's Foundation School Program to spend nearly $335 million less annually by 2028, even though the voucher program would be funded through general revenue.

Hence the temporary lifeline to rural districts. School funding is complex, but in the end, every dollar spent on vouchers could go instead to public schools. There is, after all, a scarcity of dollars.

If this bill is, as Creighton said, just the start, costs will only continue to soar, funneling ever-growing piles of our taxpayer dollars into unaccountable private schools while starving our already underfunded public ones.
While the two leading GOP presidential candidates talk about cutting back aid for Ukraine, key Republican members of the Texas Congressional delegation are forcefully making the case that American support must continue to keep Russia and China at bay.

Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have come out saying that backing Ukraine isnt in the interests of the U.S.

IN-DEPTH: Divide on Ukraine support emerges in early 2024 GOP field

Without directly criticizing the two front-runners seeking the presidential nomination, key members of Congress in Texas are pushing back, asserting that Ukraines future is very much critical to U.S. interests. Among them is U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, who said people clamoring for cutting U.S. funding to Ukraine as some commitment to America first are pitching an idea that made sense in the 1700s when it would take 6 to 8 months for troops to get from Europe to the U.S.

Its not America first to let China and Russia just conquer the world until they come to our shores, the Houston Republican said in an interview he posted on social media on Sunday.

Without U.S. aid to Ukraine, an emboldened Russian army would be on the borders of Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, all NATO nations.

Why wouldnt you just write a check? Give it to the Ukrainians to tell them to fight it just to prevent that scenario, Crenshaw said.

Hes far from alone.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was on Fox News Sunday saying U.S. support of Ukraine is vital not just as a response to Russian aggression, but also in sending a clear message to China when it comes to Taiwan and the rest of the South Pacific.

I think whats happening in Ukraine will provide a deterrent with what happens in Taiwan, said McCaul, an Austin Republican whose district stretches from Austin to Katy.

McCauls comments came as Trump was in Waco on Saturday for a rally where several speakers blasted the U.S. spending in Ukraine. Among them was U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who said the U.S. should be working on its own border with Mexico and "not funding a war in Ukraine defending their border.

Trump didnt repeat his earlier declaration to Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the war in Ukraine is not in the best interest of the U.S., but said if he were president again hed be negotiating a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict.

Im going to get a settlement very quickly, Trump said in Waco as he talked about his relationship with Putin.

DeSantis had a similar tone in his interview with Fox's Carlson, saying that becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not a vital U.S. interest.

We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals critical for our own security are rapidly being depleted, DeSantis said.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on CNN said he was surprised by DeSantiss response.

I mean, Gov. DeSantis is a veteran. Hes a smart guy. I think hes a been a very good governor and I dont understand him saying that Ukraine isnt important to the United States, Cornyn said.

Crenshaw said the U.S. is getting a pretty damn good deal out of Ukraine. For aid that amounts to less than 10 percent of U.S. defense spending, he said, the Ukrainians are decimating the Russian military and keeping them off NATO borders.

Which situation is more dangerous? Crenshaw said of U.S. options. The one where Ukrainians are fighting and dying and keeping them away from NATOs borders, or the one in which we have a completely intact Russian military, emboldened knowing NATO wont do anything to stop them, right on four more NATO countries borders.
Pappas Restaurants has filed a protest accusing Houston officials of violating city policies and state law when they awarded a coveted airport concession contract to another company this month.

City Council on March 9 granted a 10-year, $470 million concession deal at Hobby Airport to Areas USA, a subsidiary of the Spain-based Areas SAU, sidelining Pappas, the airport's food and beverage service provider for 20 years. The decision was reached on an 11-6 vote.

PAPPAS OUSTED: Houston council votes Pappas out of Hobby Airport, giving deal to new group after month-long debate

Since the proposal first appeared on the council agenda in February, Pappas repeatedly has criticized Houston officials for what it considered a "flawed" contract process, prompting Mayor Sylvester Turner to accuse the family-run restaurant empire of conducting a "smear campaign" against the city.

Pappas submitted its protest March 13 with Houstons interim chief procurement officer, Jedediah Greenfield, requesting the city set aside the contract awarded to Areas and reevaluate the bids according to the law.

The city violated its own policies throughout the entirety of the Hobby Airport procurement process, and we intend to continue to investigate and hold them accountable, Pappas Restaurants CEO Chris Pappas said in an emailed statement. "We will continue to fight for a just process, and we will continue to pursue all legal actions available.

PAPPAS HISTORY: A peek inside the Pappas empire, from airports to oyster bars

Houstons decision to remove Pappas from the airport followed a lengthy procurement process featuring three rounds of bidding since 2019. Eventually, 4 Families, the Pappas-led company, narrowly lost to Areas by a score of 85.8 to 85.2, with the amount of revenue to be shared with the city being the determining factor.

In its protest, Pappas attorney Rachel Hooper argued that the difference of less than one point warrants a reevaluation, especially considering that the second round of bidding was canceled due to close scores.

City records obtained through a public information request indicate that Areas did not rank highly in the earlier bidding round, initially placing seventh out of eight bidders before finishing in fourth place. The Pappas group initially ranked first and ended up tied for second after a best-and-final offer. LaTrelle's, which received half of the Hobby contract, finished first, while SSP America tied with the Pappas group for second place.

TURNER'S TIES: Turner has deep ties to people on $470M Hobby Airport deal, but has friends on Pappas side, too

Turner and supporting council members said the decision to go with Areas came down to money. In the third and final round, Pappas held the lead when the scores did not factor in compensation to the city. However, it fell to second place after pledging only 15.5 percent of its revenues to Houston, compared with Areas' 22.2 percent.

Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin said he had "50 million reasons" to award the contract to Areas when he cast his vote this month, referencing his calculations that the Areas deal would yield that much more money for the city if carried out over 20 years.

In the protest, Hooper alleged that some members of Houstons evaluation committee lacked relevant experience, misapplied criteria and applied unstated ones, and went against the Hire Houston First ordinance, which favors local businesses, among other violations of city law and regulations. She also claimed that the council meeting agendas contained errors, violating the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Turner has defended the city's procurement procedures, saying the process that granted Areas the contract was the same one used in the last three approvals, which sailed through City Council without debate.

The mayor's office Monday did not address the specific points raised in the protest and reiterated that "the city of Houston has followed our normal process regarding the bid process."

Besides demanding the city rescind the contract award, Pappas also requested a post-award debrief from the city, which would include details of and the rationale for the selection decision.

We have received the protest and request for debrief and are working expeditiously on our review and response to the protest," Greenfield said in an email response. "Once we complete our review and response, we will reach out to schedule the requested debrief as per our standard process.

Areas did not respond to requests for comments. Having paired with several local partners on the deal, the company is expected to bring to the airport restaurants and bars including The Spot, SpindleTap Brewery, Killen's Barbecue and Clutch City Coffee, as well as national brands, such as Raising Cane's and Longhorn Steakhouse.
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The claim: "Businesses large and small have led Texas to be ranked the number one state for business every year that Ive been governor."  Gov. Greg Abbott.

IN-DEPTH: How a $2 billion federal project is bringing Horns and Aggies, Biden and Abbott together

Politifact rating: Half True. Site Selection, a well-respected magazine, has awarded Texas the Governors Cup for 11 straight years for the total number of "qualified projects." The magazine also awarded Kansas a Governors Cup for having the most investment projects per capita, beating out Texas.

Other publications and sources have not ranked Texas No. 1 in all the years Abbott has been governor, but they do rank Texas among the top states.

Discussion

Gov. Greg Abbott repeatedly boasts about Texas' business climate and the Lone Star States reputation for being not just among the best states for business  but the top state.

"Businesses large and small have led Texas to be ranked the number one state for business every year that Ive been governor," Abbott said during his State of the State speech Feb. 16 in San Marcos.

This is a popular boast from politicians throughout the country. On March 15, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said his state was the best state for companies to thrive in due to the strong business climate. In September, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he was honored his state was ranked as the best state by Area Development magazine.

PolitiFact reached out to Abbotts office and officials cited the Site Selection Magazine Governors Cup as their source. Site Selection is a well-respected business magazine, experts we spoke to said, that has been around since 1954, according to the magazines LinkedIn.

The magazine tracks projects through its Conway Projects Database and a qualifying project has to meet at least one of three criteria, according to Site Selection. They must have an investment of $1 million, create 20 or more new jobs or have at least 20,000 square feet of new construction.

Texas has won the Governors Cup for 11 consecutive years.

Site Selection awarded Texas the Governors Cup based on the "total qualified projects," a March 1, 2023, announcement said. The magazine gives out multiple Governors Cup awards. Site Selection awarded Kansas a Governors Cup for the total number of qualified capital investment projects per capita. Site Selection ranked Texas No. 7 in that category  down from 2021 when the state ranked No. 6.

Experts told us Site Selection is a credible source for business rankings. But it is not the only source. CNBC, Forbes, the Tax Foundation and others provide annual rankings of states business climate using a number of factors. Several of these rank Texas among the top states year after year.

ABOUT POLITIFACT PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made. See More Collapse

But they dont consistently rank Texas No. 1.

In 2022, CNBC ranked Texas No. 5 on its list, which considers several factors, from workforce to cost of doing business. The last time CNBC named Texas as the best state for business was in 2018  the only time it has named Texas the top-rated state in Abbotts tenure.

The Tax Foundation ranked Texas No. 13 in its most recent State Business Tax Climate Index and has consistently ranked Texas outside the top 10. Texas best ranking during Abbotts tenure is No. 11 in 2016.

"Theres no one measure that can capture everything about a states business climate, but theres no denying that Texas is highly competitive, with low taxes, low regulatory burdens, and a strong economy that attracts many businesses and individuals," said Jared Walczak, vice president of State Projects at the Tax Foundation. "Unsurprisingly, governors across the country tend to highlight the rankings on which their states do the best."

Richard Alm, a writer-in-residence at Southern Methodists University Birdwell Institute for Economic Freedom, pointed out that Texas has always been among the top states as most business friendly. Texas was considered among the best economies under former Gov. Rick Perry.

"Basically his claim really should be not that he did something to make Texas No. 1, but that he didnt mess anything up that was already functioning quite well, in terms of the state economy," Alm said, referring to Site Selections ranking.

This is not the first time PolitiFact has fact-checked a governor or top elected official saying their state is the best for business. In 2017, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, in running for governor, said Georgia was the No. 1 state for business. Cagle cited Site Selections list of the states with the best business climate, where Georgia was top-ranked state. PolitiFact rated it Half True.

Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, said there are limitations to Site Selections criteria for rankings. He said its important to look at more detailed data. Is a state losing jobs or gaining jobs? Are businesses migrating out of the state or into the state? Are businesses expanding or not?

"All those things matter," LeRoy said. "Its capturing some information but its missing a lot of important events, too."
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The family of Miguel Estrella release balloons at Persip Park on Sunday, marking the anniversary of his fatal shooting by police on March 25 last year.

Year After Miguel Estrella's Death, Balloons Soar Over Pittsfield in His Honor



The Estrellas have been advocating for reforms on how authorities deal with people suffering mental issues and how police respond to such incidents. Right, balloons rise over the park.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Balloons soared over the downtown on Sunday in remembrance of Miguel Estrella, who was fatally shot by police on March 25, 2022.

His family has spent the last year advocating for better mental health support and police accountability. On Sunday, they marked the year anniversary of his death with a vigil in Persip Park under clear, bright skies.



"Miguel made it nice and sunny for us today," his sister Elina Estrella said.



She said her brother was nice to everyone and was learning to cope with his mental health issues and she urged people to have compassion for others.



"My main thing is just be kind to people. You never know what they're going through," Estrella said.



"Just because someone is having a bad day doesn't mean that they're a bad person and I know he wouldn't want anything that happened to him to happen to anyone else. I know that for a fact. It's just the type of person he was so that's what I would love for people to know. He was just the type of person to be like, 'I got you' and whatever it was, he had your back."



The night of the incident, police responded to the 22-year-old's home after a 911 call reporting that he was harming himself. After another 911 call, police returned and Estrella was fatally shot after failed taser deployments, with officers alleging that he had charged them with a knife.



A preliminary investigation by the PPD reported that the responding officers acted in compliance and an independent investigation by the Berkshire County District Attorney's office exonerated Sondrini.



Estrella's brother Corey Johnson said a person in crisis should not be met with aggression.



"Police need to have common sense. It's not hard. It's really not hard. Treat people like people," he said, adding that he is trying to instill compassion in his community.



Estrella commended the implementation of body cameras on Pittsfield officers and though co-responder positions were added to the department last year, she hopes to see an entity that is separate from the police on the job.



With a new administration coming in 2024, as Mayor Linda Tyer announced she will not seek re-election, and a new police chief on the horizon as well, Estrella plans to communicate ways for the authorities to better interact with community members.



"It's not that we're against them or that we hate them," she said. "It's like we'd rather work with you and keep the peace, keep everyone safe and willing to work with each other so I'm looking forward to having those conversations."



She urged attendees to sign a police accountability petition on qualified immunity asking that an independent investigation is required when police use deadly force.
Senator Mark Sets Community Office Hours for April

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The staff of state Sen. Paul Mark, D-Peru, will host a number of community outreach events during April.

District Director Jon Gould and Constituents Service Director Casey Pease will be available to meet with constituents in the communities of Adams, Great Barrington, North Adams and Pittsfield during this month's staff office hours.

Adams : April 4 & 18, Tuesdays, from 9 to noon, Town Hall, 8 Park St.

: April 4 & 18, Tuesdays, from 9 to noon, Town Hall, 8 Park St. Great Barrington : April 3 & 17, Mondays, from 9 to noon, Town Hall, 334 Main St.

: April 3 & 17, Mondays, from 9 to noon, Town Hall, 334 Main St. North Adams : April 4 & 18, Tuesdays, from 1 to 4, MCLA Alumni Relations Building, 228 E. Main St.

: April 4 & 18, Tuesdays, from 1 to 4, MCLA Alumni Relations Building, 228 E. Main St. Pittsfield: April 5, 6, 19 & 20, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 9 to noon, senator's district office, 773 Tyler St.

Residents of any of the 57 municipalities in the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin & Hampshire Senate District are encouraged to visit one of the following locations to ask for assistance with issues involving any state agency or to share ideas on current or potential state legislation. Appointments are not needed.

In addition to the regularly rotating office hours, the senator plans to visit every community for coffee and conversation-type events. The senator and his staff will also hold office hours in Southwick Town Hall on the second and fourth Mondays from 1 to 4 p.m.; at Buckland Town Hall on the second and fourth Tuesdays from 9 to 11; and the Williamsburg Town Offices on the second and fourth Tuesdays from 1 to 3.




iciHaiti - Tornado-1 : Several cases of kidnapping defeated by the Police





Sunday, March 26, the Police foiled a kidnapping in the Sainte-Anne area, located in downtown Port-au-Prince.



In recent weeks, the National Police of Haiti (PNH) has succeeded in defeating armed bandits who were trying to carry out several cases of kidnapping, particularly in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.



During the police interventions, several thugs were fatally injured in exchanges of fire, firearms and ammunition were seized, as well as other materials confiscated, particularly at Poste Marchand.



These results are the result of the new security plan developed by the PNH, during the last command meetings organized under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief a.i. Frantz Elbe.



The National Police, once again, continues to seek the collaboration of the population in its fight against organized crime, particularly against cases of kidnapping



IH/ icIHaiti


















GCash, the Philippines' leading mobile wallet, has partnered with the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) to provide the content for Financial Literacy modules published on the Fili Web App, a financial planning application developed by the bureau.

GCash fully supports the financial literacy program of the Bureary of Treasury with GCash President Martha Sazon (2nd from right) and National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon (middle) both present at the launch of BTr's FiLi (Financial Literacy) Web App.

At GCash, our main purpose and focus is to improve the lives of millions of Filipinos and we believe that financial literacy is key to make this goal a reality. We are proud to partner with the Bureau of Treasury as we share the same mission of educating Filipinos on how to achieve financial security, GCash president and CEO Martha Sazon said.

This initiative is part of the GCash FinLit campaign that aims to promote financial literacy and inclusion by educating Filipinos about risk tolerance, cash flow, budgeting, portfolio simulation, and general investment principles. The FinLit content by GCash is posted on the Education Tab in the web app which Filipinos can access for free at filiapp.treasury.gov.ph.

We strongly support the Bureau of Treasury's financial literacy initiative as it is essential in achieving our collective mission of helping Filipinos attain financial freedom. We will help equip them with the right knowledge on how to make better financial decisions that will improve their way of life, GCash head of wealth management Jong Layug said.

In line with its financial inclusion and literacy campaign, GCash has also been partnering with other public sector entities to promote digital payment adoption among local government employees, market vendors, and Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODA).

GCash has also been helping local government units (LGU) across the Philippines build a digital ecosystem that promotes safe, seamless, and accessible digital financial tools for all.

More than just helping Filipinos unlock their financial goals, GCash also empowers current and potential GCash employees with its GNation for the Nation program which aims to provide talents in the fintech industry increased opportunities and skills to advance their careers as they contribute to GCashs objective of nation-building.
How and where we work today is different for everyone. Whether its hybrid work, remote work, flexible work or in-office work, one thing is fundamentally consistent: technology. It is the great equalizer driving collaboration and productivity, providing new experiences of flexibility and freedom.

While today many can work from anywhere, there are still limitations hindering work experiences. Solving for these challenges sits at the core of Dells design philosophy and represents the innovations in its commercial portfolio. It spans from the device to the ecosystem to the software and solutions that bring an elevated sense of connection and collaboration.

Dells intelligent and secure commercial PC portfolio is now updated with new designs, new collaboration features and new levels of performance. In addition, Dell has simplified its desktop portfolio, and extended intelligence to the entire PC ecosystem. Throughout it all, the company continues its commitment to sustainability, security, manageability and service offerings that help ensure businesses can meet their goals and free up the day-to-day burden on IT departments.

Enhancing the device

From the phones people use to the cars they drive, technology complements their lives in the world. The same can be said about the PCs we use for work. People not only want commercial devices with reliable performance for on-the-go productivity and seamless collaboration, but they also want devices that complement their style and design aesthetic. Meghana Patwardhan, Vice President & and General Manager, Commercial Client Solutions, Dell Technologies breaks down the new offerings.

Latitude. Weve poured a ton of innovation and purposeful, detailed design into these devices, which include advanced audio and video collaboration features, sustainable materials and battery-saving mini-LED keyboard technology, said Patwardhan.

Dells ultra-premium Latitude 9440 is the worlds most collaborative commercial PC built with design inspiration from our XPS line. Patwardhan stated, It is perfect for an executive, consultant or salesperson as its equipped with a haptic collaboration touchpad for a more immersive, customizable conferencing experience. The two-in-one laptop includes machined aluminum finish for a premium look and feel, and a stunning new keyboard with wider keys with no gaps, known as zero-lattice, that makes all day working comfortable.

is the worlds most collaborative commercial PC built with design inspiration from our XPS line. Patwardhan stated, The two-in-one laptop includes machined aluminum finish for a premium look and feel, and a stunning new keyboard with wider keys with no gaps, known as zero-lattice, that makes all day working comfortable. Users can easily pop one of the Latitude 7340/7440 Ultralights in their bag as they move between meetings. Both start at just under/over one kilogram  they are surprisingly light yet durable, continued Patwardhan. We havent sacrificed features either. Each has a 16:10 display and 5MP camera for a productive workspace with mobile convenience.

Precision. Creators, designers, engineers and other specialized power users have their own demands. They prioritize performance and graphics capabilities to run graphic intensive applications and software, while in the office, studio or on the move. Were delivering new enhancements across our Precision mobile and fixed workstations  including the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors and NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation Laptop GPUs  to meet these needs, said Patwardhan.

Last year, Dell introduced a 14-inch workstation that delivered unrivaled power. This year the Precision 5480 features performance improvements from processor to graphics card and beyond. But it doesnt stop there  weve added a 16-inch mobile workstation to our 5000 Series line-up, added Patwardhan. The Precision 5680 has a small 16-inch footprint but packs an amazing punch, with up to Intel Core i9 (45W), and up to 64GB of DDR5 memory with the NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada graphics Generation Laptop GPU. It offers even more power and immersive experiences with the 16:10 display and up to UHD+ with PremierColor in a stylish, lightweight package.

OptiPlex: Three decades of continuous desktop innovation has led Dell to a new OptiPlex portfolio. Weve listened to customer feedback and its now easier than ever to configure, purchase and manage, stated Patwardhan. Weve simplified the portfolio so customers can quickly identify the system based on workspace and performance needs. Customers can select between space-conscious designs and minimalist desk set-ups with a range of performance options or prioritize the expandability and performance of a desktop tower. Dell also made the portfolio more intelligent and easier for IT admins to manage multiple or even thousands of devices with a new single BIOS setup, freeing up valuable IT time. The OptiPlex All-in-One, that features comfort and style in a sleek design and comes with built-in collaboration, security and privacy features.

A branching ecosystem

A modern work setup also requires software solutions around the PC so that people can efficiently maximize their productivity.

We cant overlook software. We are adding to Dell Optimizers existing features, such as intelligent audio, privacy, connectivity and collaboration that learn and respond to the way ones works, said Patwardhan. Our customers told us the fewer applications to pull up and sift through, the better. Thats why our latest version of Dell Optimizer extends intelligence from the PC to the rest of its ecosystem. This upgrade would allow Dell customers to manage their displays and peripherals more easily in one interface. The company is also improving the intelligent audio capabilities on its PCs. The echo canceling feature cancels out distracting echoes for everyone on a call, and voice quality monitoring notifies call participants with a pop-up when their voice quality is poor.

Catered to IT and beyond

Dell customers consistently focus on how Dell can help them reach their sustainability goals, enable secure hybrid work amidst growing cyberattack threats, and simplify and reduce the burden on overwhelmed IT departments. Dell Technologies latest research reveals that 45% of ITDMs dont have peace of mind their people can securely work from anywhere. We are constantly looking at ways to modernize and meet our customers in these crucial areas, emphasized Patwardhan.

Sustainability: Dell continues to innovate and invest in sustainable design across its products and packaging. The company is expanding the use of low-carbon emissions aluminum to include more recycled content and extending this material to more of its portfolio, including the Latitude 9440, and Precision 5680, and to the Latitude 7000 series later this year. It increased the percentage of post-consumer recycled materials to reduce the environmental impact further in its most sustainable Latitude laptop series, its Precision 3000 Series workstations and its latest commercial monitors. Plus, Quiet Mode within the thermal management settings of Dell Optimizer can provide up to 18% in power savings.

Dell continues to innovate and invest in sustainable design across its products and packaging. The company is expanding the use of low-carbon emissions aluminum to include more recycled content and extending this material to more of its portfolio, including the Latitude 9440, and Precision 5680, and to the Latitude 7000 series later this year. It increased the percentage of post-consumer recycled materials to reduce the environmental impact further in its most sustainable Latitude laptop series, its Precision 3000 Series workstations and its latest commercial monitors. Plus, Quiet Mode within the thermal management settings of Dell Optimizer can provide up to 18% in power savings. Security and manageability: Focused on delivering the industrys most secure commercial PCs and creating a trusted workspace with hardware and software protections, Dells recent security news highlights new services and solutions. This includes a collaboration with CrowdStrike, a hardware supply chain security offering and managed detection and response services to help customers handle security threats. Dell is also making its devices as easy as possible to manage, deploy and use.

Focused on delivering the industrys most secure commercial PCs and creating a trusted workspace with hardware and software protections, Dells recent security news highlights new services and solutions. This includes a collaboration with CrowdStrike, a hardware supply chain security offering and managed detection and response services to help customers handle security threats. Dell is also making its devices as easy as possible to manage, deploy and use. Data and device management: Dells latest commercial devices are compatible with its Cloud Client Workspace software. IT admins can seamlessly and securely integrate PCs into their VDI environment and manage their fleet of devices more easily.

Availability and pricing

Latitude 9440 is available in the coming months

Latitude 7340/7440 Ultralight, 7340/7440/7640 and Latitude 5340/5440/5540 are all available today.

Precision 3000 Series mobile workstations are available today.

Precision 5480 is available on April 20.

Precision 5680 is available on May 18.

Precision 5860 Tower is available on April 11.

Precision 7000 Series mobile workstations are available today.

Precision 7960 Rack and Tower are available on April 11 and 18, respectively.

For local availability and pricing, please contact local Dell sales representatives.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Liv Tyler is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the new Captain America film.

The Lord of the Rings star appeared opposite Edward Norton in 2008s The Incredible Hulk as Bruce Banners girlfriend, scientist Betty Ross, and has not appeared in a Marvel film since.

On Monday (27 March), it was announced that Tyler would return to the franchise after 16 years and reprise the role in Captain America: New World Order.

The film will see Anthony Mackies Sam Wilson continue in his role as the new Captain America. Other cast members include Harrison Ford, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Ramirez and Carl Lumbly.

In The Incredible Hulk, Bettys father, General Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross, is played by William Hurt.

Hurt reprised the role in 2016s Captain America: Civil War, six years before his death in 2022. Indiana Jones star Ford will now take on the role.

Filming is currently taking place on the film in Atlanta, Georgia, with a release scheduled for 3 May 2024.

It has been written by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier showrunner Malcolm Spellman and is being directed by The Cloverfield Paradox director Julius Onah.

Tyler is returning to the MCU after 16 years (Getty Images)

The updates come following comments from Disney boss Bob Iger regarding a need for newness in the MCU.

Speaking at a conference, Iger was asked whether Marvel would carry on with its current sequel-focused model.

Sequels typically worked well for us, he said. Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance? Or is it time to turn to other characters?

Theres nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand, he added. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories were mining, and you look at the trajectory of Marvel over the next five years, youll see a lot of newness.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has returned to China after more than a year living overseas, according to multiple reports.

The top Chinese entrepreneur visited a school he founded in the city of Hangzhou on Monday, sources aware of the businessmans schedule said.

Hangzhou is also home to Mr Mas multinational conglomerate Alibaba and affiliated financial technology firm Ant Group.
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North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles just hours before a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier joined drills with South Korea.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff intercepted two missiles fired from the east of Pyongyang that cruised 370km (229 miles) before landing at sea at about 7.47-8am on Monday.

Japans military also confirmed the test launch, but said the missiles took an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50km before landing outside Japans exclusive economic zone.

The seventh missile test this month appeared to be timed with the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group in waters off the Korean Strait on Monday.

The US warship was deployed in waters south of Jeju Island along with a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers for air defence exercises and other drills with South Korean warships.

The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive in the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

The visit of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier shows the US policy of extended deterrence in action and highlights the alliances overwhelming capabilities against North Korea, South Korean fleet commander vice admiral Kim Myung-soo said in a statement.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the US commitment to defend its ally with a full range of options, including nuclear, in the face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats.

Referring to the type of missile used by North Korea, the Japanese defence ministry previously said a North Korean solid-fuel missile has characteristics that resemble Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system.

It is designed for manoeuvrability in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defences.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno condemned the new test launch and said North Korea can ramp up testing activity further or even conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries also denounced the latest launches as serious provocations threatening regional peace and violating UN Security Council resolutions.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the US or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilising impact of North Koreas illicit nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

In a similar incident in September last year, the US had deployed the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea and North Korea had responded by a firing short-range missile.

North Korea fired 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to counter the US-South Korea joint military drills.

On Friday, the North confirmed the three-day-long test of its first nuclear-capable underwater drone that it claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami.

Pyongyangs claims, however, were met with scepticism by defence experts but underlined the Kim regimes commitment to strengthen his countrys military arsenal.
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The South Korean governments potential plan to grant exemption to men who will have three or more babies before turning 30 has sparked outrage for forcing parenting on young couples.

Even though there is no official confirmation of the proposal but speculations have been rife after a report suggested that authorities could be considering the bold move to boost the ageing countrys ailing birth rate.

It comes after president Yoon Suk-yeol ordered his cabinet to come up with a bold and sure measure to boost the low birth rate which can be felt by the people.

The members of the conservative People Power party are considering a proposal to exempt men from military services if they have three or more children before they turn 30, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported, citing party officials.

It is not a finalized plan, but opinions have come out at the idea level and are being reviewed, an official who was not named told the newspaper.

The bold decision becoming a reality has sparked outrage among people as South Korea desperately seeks measures to boost the countrys declining birth rate to prevent an impending demographic crisis.

South Koreas statistics agency announced in January that the countrys birth rate  the number of babies born in a year  plunged further by 4.7 per cent in November 2022 from the previous year.

The countrys total fertility rate  the average number of babies born to each woman in their reproductive years  declined to an all-time low of 0.78 in 2022, according to Statistics Korea, from recommended 2.1.

It was the lowest since 1970, when the statistics agency began compiling related data.

Several people on South Korean social media called it an unrealistic idea that will not only force unprepared couples to have babies but also ignore womens rights and wishes.

This is going to put a lot of vulnerable women at risk. Maybe more so, a Twitter user said responding to the report.

Its almost like theyre ignoring the fact that its women who are opting not to have kids and rewarding men if they somehow con women into having three babies for them, a user named Tamar Herman said.

Some said it will encourage teenagers to give birth, reported local media outlet Kukmin Ilbo.

Who would have three children to avoid going to the military? another said.

A user suggested the South Korean government should resolve underlying issues that deter couples from having babies.

Better solve that housing crisis, tackle the gender wage gap plus solve the rampant issues of misogyny and patriarchal systems that negatively affect women and the whole society first. Financial support for families is a nice start but the government needs to do more than that, a comment said.

In a briefing on 8 March, the presidents spokesperson Lee Do-woon asked the members: Please come up with bold and sure measures for the low birth rate so that they can be felt by the people.

The presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy is expected to hold a meeting which will be chaired by Mr Yoon in the near future to discuss the measures, Yonhap news reported.

Under South Korean law, most able-bodied men are required to perform 18-21 months of military service. However special exemptions had been granted for athletes and artists who excel in certain international competitions that have been tied to national prestige.

Last year, the members of the K-pop band BTS were ordered to serve their mandatory military duties under South Korean law after the issue that whether they should be granted exemptions because of their artistic accomplishments was hotly debated in the country.
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Indias parliament descended into chaos as opposition party members chanted slogans, carried placards, and threw paper at the speaker who oversees the proceedings of the lower house.

Mondays session of the Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, was marred by protesting lawmakers.

MPs of opposition parties led by the Congress Party were protesting against the Narendra Modi government after Rahul Gandhi  the Gandhi family scion whose family members have served as the countrys freedom fighters and prime ministers  was controversially disqualified from parliament.

Videos showed opposition members carrying placards, storming the well of the house, and tossing shreds of paper at Om Birla, the Lok Sabha speaker, as he attempted to get the lower house in order.

Congress lawmakers TN Prathapan Hibi Eden, Jothi Mani S, and Ramya Haridas rushed to the well of the house, tore papers and tossed them at the speaker, reported The Indian Express. Some lawmakers were seen waving black cloths at Mr Birla.

The house was adjourned within seconds of the ruckus, but opposition lawmakers continued to protest after the speaker had left.

The action comes days after Gandhi, a former MP from Kerala states Wayanad district, was disqualified from parliament after being convicted of defamation for insulting Mr Modi.

Gandhi, 52, was sentenced in Gujarat  Mr Modis home state  to two years in prison on 23 March over a speech in 2019 in which he referred to thieves as having the surname Modi.

A day later, a parliament notice said Gandhi stood disqualified as a member of the lower house from the date of his conviction in compliance with constitutional requirements.

Congress lawmakers dressed in black also gathered at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi  whom Rahul Gandhi is not related to  outside the parliament on Monday in protest.

Supporters of the opposition Congress Party shout slogans as they protest against their leader Rahul Gandhis expulsion from parliament (AP)

The lawmakers disqualification has seemingly caused Indias splintered opposition to unite against the Modi government.

Lawmakers led by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former party president and Gandhis mother Sonia Gandhi staged a sit-in demonstration at Kartavya Path, a landmark near the parliament, holding a huge banner that read Satyamev Jayate (Truth alone triumphs) and waving placards with Save Democracy written on them.

The leaders of at least 16 other parties joined them.

You want to defame Rahul Gandhi, that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat, even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy, Mr Kharge said about Gandhis disqualification.

Congress also accused Mr Modis federal government of failing to constitute a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to look into the allegations of corporate fraud and stock manipulation by the Adani Group.

Gautam Adani is the founder and chair of the multinational conglomerate and is often accused of benefiting from his proximity to Mr Modi.

How has Adanis wealth multiplied so much in the last few years. When you are going to foreign countries, how many times have you taken the industrialist with you. The PM has not been able to give answers to questions raised against Adani, Mr Kharge told reporters.

Police officers detain a supporter of Indias main opposition Congress Party on 27 March (Reuters)

We want a JPC on the Adani issue. Why is the government not agreeing to this? Why are you scared of a JPC probe... it means dal mein kuchh kala hai (something is wrong), he was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

Earlier, lawmakers from different opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, and Samajwadi Party, met at the parliament complex to strategise on the Adani issue as well as Gandhis disqualification.

Meanwhile, youth Congress workers who were staging a protest at Jantar Mantar, an area near parliament that is often used for protests, were detained by Delhi Police, a police force that is administered by the federal government.

Addressing a press conference over the weekend, Gandhi remained unfazed and did not apologise for his earlier comments.

I have been disqualified because the prime minister is scared of my next speech, he is scared of the next speech that is going to come on Adani, he said.

Indias parliament has continued to see disruption during the ongoing Budget session, as the opposition has demanded a discussion on government action on the Adani Group.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also recently stalled parliamentary discussions by demanding an apology from Gandhi for a recent speech during a visit to London, in which he said Indian democracy was under attack.
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Philadelphia residents have been told by city officials that they are confident tap water will be safe to drink until at least midnight on Monday.

On Saturday night, the Philadelphia Water Department said that it was monitoring the spill of a latex product into a tributary of the Delaware River, and that the citys drinking water could be impacted.

Stores in Pennsylvanias largest city quickly ran out of bottled water after officials initially advised residents to use it out of an abundance of caution.

City officials also advised residents to stock up on two days of water for emergency use. Photos and videos on social media revealed bare shelves in many stores and long lines forming.

The City of Philadelphias latest update on Sunday afternoon stated that there was no need to buy bottled water.

Customers can fill bottles or pitchers with tap water with no risk at this time, it added.

Officials also said that the water was safe for bathing, cooking and washing and had been treated before reaching Philadelphia.

The leak occurred late on Friday evening at the Trinseo Altuglas chemical facility in Bristol Township, according to Bucks County health officials.

Between 8,100 and 12,000 gallons of a water-based latex finishing solution spilled into the river.

While authorities said that testing did not reveal contamination, they could not be 100 per cent sure of no traces of chemicals in tap water.

I want to reiterate that the health risks are very low if present at all. No acute effects are associated with low-level exposure, said Michael Carrol, from the Citys Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, in a statement on Sunday.

Our best information is that people who ingest water will not suffer any near-term symptoms or acute medical conditions. We foresee no reason to seek medical attention related to this event.

Additionally, there is no concern over skin exposure or fire hazard. Bathing and washing dishes do not present a concern. Likewise, we have no concern over inhaling fumes at the levels we are evaluating.

Again, this advisory is being issued out of an abundance of caution to prevent any theoretical, long-term public health impacts.
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The public has been urged to avoid using the water and beaches within Poole Harbour in Dorset after an oil leak led to a major incident being declared.

Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC), which regulates activities in the harbour, said a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco, under Owers Bay, on Sunday.

Perenco, the UKs largest onshore oil field, said a small amount of reservoir fluid (consisting of 85 per cent water and 15 per cent oil) escaped from its pipeline and that, as of late on Sunday night, some of it had already been recovered.

Workers have placed a boom across the water at Owers Bay in Poole harbour (Getty)

PHC said: Early indicators are that the surface slick is already dispersing.

The commissioners added that Perenco had reported no risk of further leakage after the pipeline was shut down and booms were placed on either side of the leak to minimise pollution.

A further assessment will be made early on Monday morning regarding the clean-up operation, PHC said.

Anyone who came into contact with the spill was being urged to wash immediately with soap and water.

Oil workers at the scene at Wellsite D (Getty)

Approximately 200 barrels of reservoir fluid were released into Poole Harbour after the leak occurred at the Wytch Farm oil field in Dorset on Sunday.

Conservative MP for Poole Sir Robert Syms said he and neighbouring South Dorset Tory MP Richard Drax have asked the Government to take an urgent question in the Commons on Monday about the incident.

According to Poole Tourism, Poole is Europes largest natural harbour and a site of nature conservation, with many international protections in place.

Paddle boarders previously pictured in Poole Harbour in Dorset where the public has now been urged to avoid the water (PA)

The harbour is also a Ramsar site which recognises wetlands of international importance, particularly for wildfowl, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).

Franck Dy, Perenco UKs Wytch Farm general manager, said: Any spill is an extremely serious matter and a full investigation will be launched to ascertain what happened in Poole Harbour.

It is important to stress that the situation is under control, with the discharge of fluids having been stopped and the spill is being contained.

The firm confirmed a clean-up operation is under way.

Philip Broadhead, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said in a statement: The Wytch Farm oil field in the Purbecks has been operating since 1979 and is one of the largest onshore oil fields in Europe.

We have today been advised by the operators that there has been a leak from the facility. Whilst this has been contained, we are told that oil has escaped into the water and surrounding area.

We are liaising closely as part of long-established mechanisms with a variety of parties as this situation unfolds.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: We have received reports of a large amount of oil in Poole Harbour and we are supporting the port authority and other partners in responding to this incident.

Alice Harrison, fossil fuels campaign leader at Global Witness, said: Whilst the extent of the damage is still unknown, there is no doubt that a huge spill like this will have a devastating impact on the local population and environment in Dorset.

Despite all the safety promises fossil fuel companies make, they simply cannot guarantee against these kinds of incidents. Sooner or later, this is the unavoidable reality of the oil industry.

Its baffling that there are still MPs in the UK Parliament who complain about wind and solar farms spoiling the British landscape, when the alternative is toxic oil polluting our waters and killing our wildlife.

The sight of our waters turning black shouldnt be possible in 2023 and the responsibility lies squarely at the door of those who are blocking a green energy transition that both people and planet desperately need.
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Madrid has emerged as a potential host of the Spanish Grand Prix after talks in the Spanish capital last week.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which will run with a reconfigured track layout this year, has hosted the Spanish GP since 1991.

While Barcelona has a contract to host the race until 2026, Madrid could become the latest illustrious city to join the calendar from that point onwards and is seen in some quarters as being the favourite.

Spain is unlikely to host more than one race a season, meaning Madrid would replace Barcelona if it were to join the ever-growing calendar.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali met with city officials last week at the opening of the Formula 1 Exhibition in Madrid.

They are working to bring a race [to Madrid], Domenicali said. F1 is delighted to have so many contenders because it is becoming more and more popular all over the world.

We know the passion in Spain  I have worked with Fernando [Alonso] and I know him well. Its a pleasure to see how the interest keeps growing in Spain also for Carlos [Sainz]. We know the interest from Madrid, the same from Barcelona, and its great news for us.

Barcelona has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix since 1991 (Getty)

You can never say never in life, of course, but two races in Spain is very complicated.

There is great interest [from Madrid], but it is also true that we are focused at the moment on Barcelona, which has a contract, and the relationship is strong.

Spain has hosted two races in a single season in the sports recent history. Alongside Barcelona, a street circuit in Valencia hosted the now defunct European Grand Prix from 2008-2012.

The Circuito del Jarama, 20 miles north of Madrid, hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in 1981. It is unclear at this stage if a race in Madrid would be held at Jarama or on the citys streets.

This years race takes place on 4 June; Max Verstappen won last years event, while Lewis Hamilton is a joint-record six-time winner in Barcelona.
Ukraine has demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over Vladimir Putins plans to place tactical atomic weapons in Belarus, saying Minsk was being used as a nuclear hostage.

In one of his most pronounced nuclear threats since the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president said construction of facilities for the weapons would be completed by 1 July.

He said Russia was following the lead of the United States, which has nuclear weapons based in Europe and Turkey, and Britain, which is providing Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.
Members and supporters of Indias largest opposition party protested on Sunday against their leaders disqualification from parliament in nationwide sit-ins inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, a senior member of the Congress party, lost his seat in the lower house after a court in Gujarat sentenced him to two years in prison over a 2019 joke about Prime Minister Narendra Modis surname.

Mr Gandhi, 52, is part of the Gandhi political dynasty and one of the most high-profile opposition figures in India. His disqualification comes as a major blow just a year before general elections in which Mr Modi will seek a third term.
A Taliban official has expressed optimism about the possibility of reopening schools and universities for girls and said that the institutes will reopen once the work on the curriculum is finished, according to a news outlet in Afghanistan.

Tolo News spoke with a Taliban official from Parwan province in the country, Azizullah Omar, who told the reporter interviewing him that there is no problem about the start of schooling. There is only a problem in the curriculum.

Mr Omar continued: A committee has been formed for its reform. After confirmation of the clerics, the schools will begin.
Prominent Turkish photojournalist Bulent Klc, who was arrested while covering a banned Istanbul Pride march, is now facing prosecution for insulting the police who detained him, according to the press freedom group Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer was pinned to the ground and knelt on by officers while working on coverage of the 26 June, 2021 event.

A court ordered authorities to pay him damages, ruling that police used disproportionate force, after the MLSA brought a case.
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Paul Burrell has opened up about undergoing radiotherapy to treat his prostate cancer, after receiving the diagnosis last year.

The former butler to Princess Diana and former footman to Queen Elizabeth II told Lorraine on Monday morning (27 March) that he was very tired and emotional.

Asked how he has been feeling, Burrell told the TV presenter: Im tired, Lorraine, Im very tired. Ive got five more sessions of radiotherapy to go. Im very emotional, as you can see.

But Im looking forward to getting to the end of it and then I can go on a little break with [my husband] Graham, and we can just be thankful that its been found.

In a few months time, Ill find out whether its clear or not, and then I get on with the rest of my life. Theres a lot to live for.

Burrell, 64, first shared his diagnosis in January and explained he had gone for a full medical examination for a ITV programme last summer.

Out of that came a surprisingly high PSA test [a chemical released by the prostate gland], he told Lorraine at the time. I had no idea what a PSA test.

His GP sent him for an MRI scan and they found a shadow on his prostate. A biopsy revealed that Burrell had cancer.

He has since gone on to raise awareness of prostate cancer and urged all men to get checked.

You realise that there are thousands of men like me that had no symptoms, I didnt realise what was happening and it could be too late, he said.

(ITV)

In his new interview, Burrell shared a message aimed at women and asked them to encourage the men in their lives to get a PSA test.

To all your viewers, all the lovely ladies out there, tell your husband to go for a PSA test, tell your love to go for a PSA test, he said. Because it could help save their lives too.

He added how grateful he was to ITV for picking me to do the jungle. Last year, it was reported that Burrell would star in a spinoff of Im A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! that is set to air in April.

The first nine campmates for Im A Celebrity All Stars have been announced, including Carol Vorderman, Amir Khan, Janice Dickinson and Helen Flanagan, but it remains unclear if Burrell will make any appearance given his treatment.

However, he said that if he had not been chosen to take part he would still be stuck here today not knowing that I had cancer growing inside me.

So my journey is a happy one, Burrell told Lorraine.

The author and TV personality has been married to husband Graham Cooper since 2017. He has two sons, Alexander and Nicholas, who she shares with ex-wife Maria Cosgrove.
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Brooke Shields has opened up about her close friendship with the late Michael Jackson and addressed his claims in 1993 that they were dating, despite her being in a relationship with Dean Cain at the time.

The actor and model spoke ahead of her forthcoming two-part documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, which will be released on Hulu on 3 April.

In a new interview withThe Sunday Times, Shields recalled Jackson telling Oprah Winfrey on live TV that she was his girlfriend.

I called him up and I think I said, This is kind of pathetic that you need to do this. I am having a shot at normal life  you cannot drag me into crazy town.

In response, Jackson reportedly laughed off Shields reaction to his claim.

Asked if they ever went on a date or kissed, she said: No! There was one moment when we were in the car and the cameras were there and he grabbed me to kiss me, and I said, No! Stop! We are just friends and you need me as a friend.

I remember the early days when other actresses were after him and he was kind of cute, before the shift. But it never ever crossed my mind.

Shields and Jackson became friends in 1981, when she was 13 and he was 20, and they frequently attended awards shows as each others dates.

Brooke Shields attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Vanity Fair) (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

He was so famous and I was so famous, and we could laugh at everybody, like little kids, she told the newspaper.

Jackson faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse and child molestation between 1993 to 2005.

He was put on trial in 2005 and indicted on 10 criminal counts, including child molestation, abduction, false imprisonment and extortion, but was later acquitted. He died in 2009 at the age of 50.

Asked what she thought of the allegations, Shields said she did not know how to think about it because its so hard to believe.

I wish I knew the truth. Then I could figure out how to structure the narrative in my head. But Im as shocked as I think the world is, she added.

Shields attended Jacksons public memorial service, which was held at the Staples Centre in LA. She delivered a eulogy and described their relationship as the most natural and easiest of friendships.

Shields is currently married to US film director Christ Henchy, with whom she shares two children, Rowan Francis Henchy, 19, and Grier Hammond Henchy, 16.

If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call the NSPCC free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331.
 Close Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson explains why she won't attend King Charles coronation

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Sarah Ferguson has explained why she will not be attending the coronation on 6 May.

Fergie, who still lives with Prince Andrew and is very close to him even though they divorced in 1996, told Good Morning Britain that she will not attend since she and Andrew are divorced and you cant have it both ways.

The Duchess of York also said that the spotlight needs to come off Prince Andrew in order for him to rebuild his life.

Meanwhile, commentators have claimed that the King has handed Harry and Meghan an olive branch by including them in the official souvenir programme for the coronation.

A family portrait from 2018 is featured in the souvenir offering, showing Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, their three children and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Some reports have suggested that the inclusion of the photo is a way for Charles to mend relations with the pair, as their rift with the royal family continues. Buckingham Palace announced last week that Harry will be attending the ceremony on 6 May, after months of speculation over his presence. Meghan will remain in California with their children.
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As a deadly tornado tore through the lower Mississippi Delta, the Rev. Mary Stewart clung to a door in the hallway of her Rolling Fork home, shielding herself from the branches and chunks of debris that came flying through her shattered windows.

Friday's storm flattened entire town blocks, but the Rolling Fork Methodist Church withstood the high winds. And so the first Sunday after the twister would commence just like any other Sunday  with congregants reaffirming their faith and finding solace together.

We are a very religious community, said Laura Allmon, a fourth-generation congregant. It just means a lot for us to be able to get together and pray and be thankful for what we have.

At least 26 people were killed and dozens of others were injured late Friday in Mississippi as the storm ripped through one of the poorest regions in the country, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake.

With their homes unlivable, many Rolling Fork residents flocked Sunday to the network of churches dotting their rural Southern town of about 2,000, where agriculture and faith shape local life.

Founded nearly 135 years ago, the Rolling Fork Methodist Church has long been a source of support and resilience in hard times, its members said.

So many people here know patience from farm work, Stewart said. With their dependence on the rain for their crops  their livelihood  and having to leave it in Gods hands  its a wonderful reaffirmation that God is in control.

Since the church building was without power Sunday morning, roughly two dozen worshipers gathered on its historic steps and bowed their heads while Stewart delivered a short sermon.

Were grateful, Lord, that you brought us through this storm, she said, standing in the sunshine beneath a clear blue sky. We have a lot to do and a lot of rebuilding, and there are people that weve lost in our town.  We pray for their families.

Elsewhere, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the hardest hit areas.

Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, with top wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph), according to the National Weather Service office in Jackson. Officials said the twister was on the ground for more than an hour.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency and vowed to help rebuild as he viewed the damage in the region, which boasts wide expanses of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish farming ponds. He spoke with Biden, who also held a call with the states congressional delegation.

More than a half-dozen shelters were opened in Mississippi to house displaced residents.

Just a few blocks down the road from the Rolling Fork Methodist Church, pastor Britt Williamson spoke from the pulpit at First Baptist Church, addressing rows of weary congregants. During the service, attendees hugged, shook hands and wiped away tears.

The Delta is a hard soul for the gospel, Williamson said. Through the calamity of what happened, God has brought a plow bigger than any of these farmers could have.

He said faith gives people something to hold onto during lifes challenges.

We dont want to help people just to give them a place to live. We dont want to feed them for a day, he said. We want to give them an eternal home.

Marlon Nicholas, a congregant of the church, said his familys attendance at a local high school prom Friday night meant they stayed safe even as their home was destroyed. He said other relatives also lost their homes but escaped without serious injuries.

Miracles, he said.
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EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a water case that is shining a light on tribal rights under centuries-old treaties between the federal government and Native American tribes.

The facts of the case go back to two treaties the Navajo Nation signed in 1849 and 1868. The second established a reservation in the Southwest as the tribes permanent home  a promise the Navajo Nation says includes a sufficient supply of water. The federal government says no treaty or law forces it to address the tribes general water needs.

The two treaties are among 374 between tribes and the U.S. that were ratified by Congress over nearly a century. Treaty-making with tribes ended in 1871. The documents covered everything from education and health care for Native Americans to hunting and fishing rights but often had provisions specific to certain tribes.

The Supreme Courts decision is expected before the justices recess in June. A decision in favor of the Navajo Nation would send the case back to a lower court. Tribes across the country are watching for an interpretation of the tribes treaty and the federal governments obligation to assess a diminishing resource.

Tribes broadly have said their own treaties havent been fulfilled or honored over decades.

Here are some questions and context to use when looking into tribal rights issues in your area.

___

READ APS LATEST

Supreme Court seems split in Navajo water case

Feds want justices to end Navajo fight for Colo. River water

___

PUBLISHABLE CONTEXT

Treaties are recognized in the U.S. Constitution as part of the supreme law of the land.

The United States had the upper-hand in treaties that resulted in tribes losing millions of acres of land. Tribes were promised federal protection and other resources in exchange. Some tribes were removed from their ancestral homeland, most notably to present-day Oklahoma. Reservations were formed.

General provisions provide for education and health care for Native Americans. Treaty provisions also can be more specific to tribes, their cultural practices and ways of life. For example, fishing rights for tribes in the Pacific Northwest, hunting rights for tribes in Montana and rights to gather items of cultural importance outside the reservations boundaries.

Some make reference to planning for seven generations.

Virtually all tribes over the years have alleged that the U.S. has broken or fallen short of its treaty obligations, spurring legal battles over everything from land rights to hunting and fishing freedoms to public safety concerns.

Many treaties include whats known as the bad men provision, which led to federal jurisdiction over major crimes on Native American reservations when the victim, suspect, or both are Native American.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes unsuccessfully argued in recent years that the bad men provision should extend to federal protection against opioids manufacturers, distributors and their agents off the reservation.

Experts on federal law pertaining to Native Americans say treaties are supposed to be interpreted the way the tribes would have understood them at the time.

A decision in the Navajo case is expected by the end of June when the Supreme Court, which seemed split on the issue, typically breaks for its summer recess.

In general, todays court  the modern court  is protective of tribal treaty rights, said Melody McCoy, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. That might not have been the case throughout history.

___

RESOURCES

 View treaties signed with Native American tribes online through the National Archives.

 Check out the exhibit on Native American treaties online or in person at the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., which runs through January 2025.

 Reach out to the Native American Rights Fund to learn more about legal cases that have invoked treaty rights.

___

QUESTIONS TO ASK

 What do treaties pertaining to tribes in your area say? Are the promises made on both sides being fulfilled? Why or why not?

 What novel ways are tribes in your area leaning on treaties to make various legal claims? How have U.S. courts in your state decided those cases?

 In what ways are tribes in your area using tribes as a tool to teach about the tribes history and its relationship with the United States?

 Beyond treaties, what other executive orders or acts of Congress have shaped the way the U.S. interacts with tribes in your area?

 What other organizations, states and entities have weighed in on tribal treaty rights cases in your area? What are they saying?

___

EXAMPLES OF OTHER LEGAL BATTLES INVOLVING TREATY RIGHTS

South Dakota: Everybodys tired: South Dakota tribe sues US over crime

Oklahoma: Justices rule swath of Oklahoma remains tribal reservation

Oregon: River chief imprisoned for fishing fights for sacred rights

Michigan: Michigan, Native tribes reach new Great Lakes fishing deal

Idaho: Northwestern Band of Shoshone sues Idaho over hunting rights

Montana/Wyoming: High court sides with Crow tribe member in hunting dispute

___

Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.
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Tokyo has demanded that China release a Japanese national who was detained in Beijing earlier this month, Japans top government spokesperson said Monday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference that Japan's embassy in China was informed by the Chinese authority that a Japanese man in his 50s was taken into custody in Beijing earlier in March over allegedly violating domestic law.

Matsuno said the Japanese government has since demanded the early release of the Japanese national. Japan also requested that Chinese authorities allow the man access to Japanese consulate officials. He said Japan's government is providing as much support for the man as possible, including communicating with relevant parties.

A Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc. acknowledged that the man detained in Beijing is an employee of the firm, but declined to disclose further details, including his name, position and whether he is based in China. The company said it was seeking information from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

There have been more than a dozen other cases involving Japanese citizens who had business or other connections with China being arrested over allegations including spying. A Japanese diplomat was detained for questioning in 2022 and was released hours later, prompting strong protests from Japans Foreign Ministry.

Tokyo and Beijing have been increasingly at odds in recent years as Japan considers China's growing influence in the region as threat to its national security and the economy.
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A 70-year-old man suffered unimaginable pain after he was set alight just yards from his house in an attack that has torn our family apart, his son has said.

Mohammed Rayaz was set on fire as he walked home from Dudley Road Mosque in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham at around 7pm on 20 March.

He was rushed to hospital, where he was treated for serious burn injuries.

Mr Rayaz was retired and planned to spend his life by praying and spending time with his grandchildren  but his attacker took that away from him and caused him lots of unimaginable pain, his son said in a statement to Sky News.

The family is in a state of shock and trying to understand why someone would do this, the broadcaster quoted his son as saying.

Mohammed Rayaz was set on fire as he walked home from Dudley Road Mosque (Family handout/PA)

A 28-year-old man has appeared in court charged with attempting to murder Mr Rayaz, and another elderly man in London who was also set alight after leaving a mosque.

Mohammed Abbkr, of Gillott Road, Edgbaston, appeared at the citys magistrates court on Thursday where he spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

Abbkr, who gave no indication of plea to either charge, was remanded in custody and his case was sent to Birmingham Crown Court for a first hearing there on 20 April.

Abbkr was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of the attempted murder of Mr Rayaz, who as of Thursday remained in hospital with severe injuries.

He was later arrested on suspicion of the same offence in relation to 82-year-old Hashi Odowa, who suffered severe burns near an Islamic centre in Ealing.

Mr Rayazs son was quoted as saying his thoughts are also with the victim and family of the Ealing attack.

I hope no one has to go through what our family is going through, as it has torn our family apart, he added.

Councillor Rizwan Jalil of Oldbury last week described Mr Rayaz as a pillar of the community, adding: Im absolutely appalled by this vile attack on an elderly respected gentleman.

He added: He has children, a large family. He doesnt deserve to be a victim of this brutal attack. No one does.

Officers are continuing to appeal for CCTV, doorbell footage or other video that could help the investigation.
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The mother of Stephen Lawrence says his racist murder was exploited by the publisher of the Daily Mail to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers and to profit, the High Court has been told.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence feels a deep sense of betrayal over Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) allegedly hiring private investigators to unlawfully or illegally obtain her private information, her lawyers said.

She now wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail over its entirely false support for her fight for justice caused her to have failed her murdered son, the court was told.

In her High Court breach of privacy claim against ANL, brought alongside other high-profile individuals, she claims there was illegal interception of her voicemail messages and that her phone was tapped between 1993 and 2007.

She also alleges her bank accounts and phone bills were monitored, that she was subject to covert electronic surveillance and that corrupt payments were made to serving police officers for confidential information, including to those investigating her sons killing.

ANL says it firmly denies that unlawful information gathering took place at its newspapers, and the legal claims against it are being brought too late.

Baroness Lawrence joined Sir Elton John and the Duke of Sussex for the first of a four-day preliminary hearing in their cases at the High Court in London on Monday.

Known as a campaigner and reformer, Baroness Lawrence has devoted herself to seeking justice for her 18-year-old son who was murdered in 1993.

The aspiring architect was stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London.

The Daily Mail, under then editor Paul Dacre, campaigned to bring Mr Lawrences killers to justice, running a front page in 1997 that saw the newspaper brand five suspects as murderers and challenge them to sue the publication if it was wrong.

Barrister David Sherborne, representing Baroness Lawrence, said in written submissions that she and her family were targeted both before and during the Daily Mails Justice for Stephen Lawrence Campaign.

Alleged unlawful activity included a private investigator monitoring her bank accounts specifically to check whether (she) was receiving buy up money from and/or working with other newspapers during the campaign.

Mr Sherborne said Baroness Lawrence never once suspected ANL of the allegations because it had professed to help her, but she believed information in some of the newspapers articles came from those nearest and dearest to her or police sources.

The impact of this belief was profound, damaging professional and personal relationships that could have been genuine and could have helped to bring her sons killers to account, Mr Sherborne said.

He added that Baroness Lawrence feels haunted by the fact that she will never know the true impact of the Daily Mails unlawful acts and unlawful articles on her fight for justice for Stephen.

She wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail as she did caused her to have delayed or have failed her murdered son.

Baroness Lawrence feels anger, shock and upset at the newspapers alleged actions which were deliberately concealed from her, Mr Sherborne added.

Most of all, however, she feels a deep sense of betrayal.

She finds it hard to believe the level of duplicity and manipulation that was clearly at play, knowing now as she does that the Daily Mails outward support for her fight to bring Stephens killers to justice was hollow and, worse, entirely false.

(She) now sees that the Daily Mails true interests were about self-promotion and using her and her sons murder as a means to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers and to profit.

(She) cannot think of any act or conduct lower than stealing and exploiting information from a mother who buried her son for this reason.

She feels used and violated, and like she has been taken for a fool.

ANLs lawyers argue that the privacy claims against it could have been brought before October 2016, and that it is too late to have them heard now.

They say the cases are stale and should be dismissed without a trial, with it being up to the individuals bringing the claims to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, that they might have had a claim against ANL.

An ANL spokesperson said after Mondays hearing: While the Mails admiration for Baroness Lawrence remains undimmed, we are profoundly saddened that she has been persuaded to bring this case.

The Mail remains hugely proud of its pivotal role in campaigning for justice for Stephen Lawrence. Its famous Murderers front page triggered the Macpherson report.

Associated Newspapers, which owns the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, vigorously denies all the claims against it.
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The Duke of Sussex has made a surprise appearance at a High Court hearing in London as the Daily Mails publisher makes a bid to throw out a set of claims over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over the allegations  which include the hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against ANL.

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

Harry arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the start of the four-day hearing on Monday, sitting towards the back of the courtroom and occasionally taking notes in a small black notebook.

Mondays appearance is believed to be the first time Harry has been back in the UK since the late Queens funeral in September.

His surprise return comes nearly three months after he laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

Ahead of the start of the afternoon session of the hearing, Sir Elton was also seen arriving at the central London court.

ANLs lawyers have said the claims brought by seven high-profile individuals including the Duke of Sussex and Baroness Lawrence should be dismissed without a trial.

Adrian Beltrami KC, for ANL, said in written submissions that the legal actions have been brought too late and are stale.

The barrister said the individuals have to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, they may have been able to bring a claim against ANL for alleged misuse of their private information.

Mr Beltrami said that more than a decade after the Leveson Inquiry and several criminal and civil proceedings over phone hacking, it would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters.

He continued: The claimants have failed to show that they have a real prospect of discharging their burden at trial and the court should not hesitate to dismiss these stale claims at an early stage, thereby avoiding what would otherwise be a considerable waste of time, costs and the courts resources.

David Sherborne, for the group, said the unlawful acts in the claim include commissioning the breaking and entry into private property, illegally intercepting voicemail messages, listening to live landline calls and obtaining medical records.

He said in written submissions: The claimants each claim that in different ways they were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, The Daily Mail and The Mail On Sunday.

They range through a period from 1993 to 2011, even continuing beyond until 2018, the barrister added.

A spokesperson for ANL previously said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

Mr Beltrami said that Harry does not offer any reason why he could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the basis for his inferential claim against Associated before October 2016.

Quoting from documents filed on Harrys behalf, Mr Beltrami said in written arguments that the dukes case was that suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associateds publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a suspect, since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associateds newspapers.

He added: He stated that the repeated, wrongful disclosures  had a serious and profound effect upon (him) at the time of their publication and that he had painful memories  regarding the extent to which ANL publicised private and sensitive information relating to his private and family life.

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude on Thursday.
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The Duke of Sussex claims he was largely deprived of important parts of his teenage years due to the unlawful actions of the Daily Mails publisher, court documents have shown as he made a surprise appearance at the High Court in London.

Harry, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon and Sadie Frost all attended the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday for the start of the first hearing in their claims against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

The high-profile individuals are part of a group, which also includes Liz Hurley and former Lib Dem MP Sir Simon Hughes, bringing privacy claims against the publisher over allegations it carried out or commissioned illegal or unlawful information-gathering.

This included the hiring of private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, the blagging of private records and the accessing and recording of private phone conversations.

Lawyers for ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline, said the allegations are firmly denied and that the stale claims have been brought too late as it made a bid to throw out the cases.

During the first day of the four-day hearing in London, documents detailing the groups claims were made available to journalists.

In a document filed on Harrys behalf, barrister David Sherborne said the duke is troubled that, through Associateds unlawful acts, he was largely deprived of important aspects of his teenage years.

The barrister continued: In particular, suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associateds publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a suspect since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associateds newspapers.

He added: The claimant regards Associateds unlawful acts to amount to a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.

In documents detailing Baroness Lawrences claim, the court was told that the campaigner wonders whether trusting the Daily Mail as she did caused her to have delayed or have failed her murdered son.

The Labour peer is the mother of Stephen Lawrence, an aspiring architect who was stabbed to death by a group of up to six white youths in a racist attack as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

The Daily Mail, under then-editor Paul Dacre, campaigned to bring Mr Lawrences killers to justice.

In court documents, Mr Sherborne said Baroness Lawrence felt anger, shock and upset about allegedly being targeted by the paper.

Mr Sherborne said the Labour peer never once suspected Associated of the allegations due to her trust in the paper but that she now sees that the Daily Mails true interests were about self-promotion and using her and her sons murder as a means to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers, and to profit.

The barrister later said the alleged targeting included the illegal interception of her voicemails and the monitoring of her bank accounts as well as corrupt payments to serving Metropolitan Police Service police officers, including on the Stephen Lawrence murder investigations, for confidential information.

Other allegations disclosed for the first time on Monday included claims that Sir Elton and Mr Furnishs landline at their home in Windsor was tapped.

Mr Sherborne said: They are also mortified to consider all their conversations, some of which were very personal indeed, were tapped, taped, packaged and consumed as a commercial product for journalists and unknown others to pick over, regardless of whether or not they were published.

The court also heard that Sir Elton and his husband Mr Furnish had not seen a copy of their first childs birth certificate before it was unlawfully obtained by ANL.

He added: They were heartbroken by the derogatory headline that Associated attached to it, clearly calculated to profit and generate public sensation about an event that they had so carefully guarded to keep precious.

ANLs lawyers have said the claims should be dismissed without a trial.

Adrian Beltrami KC, in written submissions, argued the legal actions have been brought too late and that the claims were largely inferential.

The barrister said the individuals have to prove they did not know earlier, or could not have discovered earlier, they might have had a claim against ANL for alleged misuse of their private information.

Those claims, which relate to matters said to have taken place as early as 1993, and for the most part in the first decade of this century, are undeniably prima facie time-barred, he said.

He later said none of the group said they believe they continued to be targeted by unlawful information gathering after 2015, adding: In fact, in most instances their own case is that such targeting ended substantially before then.

Mr Beltrami added that more than a decade after the Leveson Inquiry and several criminal and civil proceedings over phone hacking, it would be surprising indeed for any reasonably informed member of the public, let alone a figure in the public eye, to have been unaware of these matters.

He continued: The claimants have failed to show that they have a real prospect of discharging their burden at trial and the court should not hesitate to dismiss these stale claims at an early stage, thereby avoiding what would otherwise be a considerable waste of time, costs and the courts resources.

The barrister has also argued that unless lawyers for the people bringing the claim make an application, some aspects of the cases should be thrown out as they breach orders made by Lord Justice Leveson as part of the inquiry bearing his name.

Following Mondays hearing, an ANL spokesman said private investigator Gavin Burrows allegedly confessing to carrying out a wide range of criminal activities on behalf of Mail newspapers had prompted the claims but according to written submissions by Adrian Beltrami KC, counsel for Associated, Mr Burrows has provided a signed witness statement denying that he was commissioned or instructed by Associated to carry out any unlawful activity.

The statement continued: While the Mails admiration for Baroness Lawrence remains undimmed, we are profoundly saddened that she has been persuaded to bring this case.

The Mail remains hugely proud of its pivotal role in campaigning for justice for Stephen Lawrence. Its famous Murderers front page triggered the Macpherson report.

Associated Newspapers, which owns the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, vigorously denies all the claims against it.

The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin in London will resume on Tuesday at 10.30am.
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A Twitter user has been convicted of two charges of encouraging terrorist acts after posting an image of a terrorism victims severed head, while urging others to decapitate those who insult Islam.

Ajmal Shahpal was found guilty on Monday at Birmingham Crown Court of sending tweets which would encourage others to commit, prepare, or instigate acts of terrorism.

The 41-year-old, of Birkin Avenue, Radford, Nottingham, had denied the offences despite praising the killer of French school teacher Samuel Paty for being as brave as a lion.

Jurors deliberated for around five hours before convicting Shahpal by majority verdicts of one count of intentionally encouraging terrorist acts and one of doing so recklessly.

A custodial sentence is inevitable for this type of offence Judge Melbourne Inman KC

He was cleared of a third charge of encouraging acts of terrorism.

After the verdicts, Judge Melbourne Inman KC rejected a bail application and remanded Shahpal in custody for sentence on April 13.

The judge told him: You have been convicted of two offences. Obviously I will have to decide what the sentence is in due course, but a custodial sentence is inevitable for this type of offence.

In the circumstances therefore, you will be remanded in custody pending your sentence.

A two-week trial was told Shahpal was arrested at his home in March 2021 after tweeting messages backing a Pakistan-based political party which supported the out-of-hand murder of those who it thinks have committed blasphemy.

Opening the Crowns case against Shahpal at the start of the trial, prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds said: This is a case about terrorism, that is the encouragement by this defendant of others to commit acts of terrorism.

He did that by publishing tweets on his Twitter account which specifically encouraged others to behead those who he believed had insulted his religion, his religion being Islam.

Jurors were told Shahpal, originally from Kashmir, sent some of the tweets on his open account on September 26 2020, a day after Charlie Hebdos former office in Paris was targeted for a second time by Islamic extremist Zaheer Hassan Mehmood.

Mehmoods stabbing attack was both vicious and incompetent and came five years after 12 people were killed in an attack on Charlie Hebdos offices, the court heard.

The court was also told he expressed support for extremists who had attacked those he viewed as blasphemers, including Mr Paty, who was killed on October 16 2020.

He also saw fit to tweet an image of the severed head of Mr Paty lying on the street, saying that the insolent had been sent to hell.

Further tweets said that whoever insulted Islam should be killed, and threatened the French government.

During his evidence, Shahpal claimed he was retweeting other peoples views just to have some more followers.

He told jurors he did not know he had retweeted a picture of Mr Patys severed head, claiming: At the time I did not know what picture it was that I was retweeting.

A friend of mine who set up this account for me, he told me that if you do this, you are going to get more followers.

Questioned about a further tweet which called for rapists to be stoned to death, Shahpal said it did not accord with his beliefs and he had just copied and pasted a message written in English because the issue was ongoing in Pakistan.
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A woman who says she suffered off the scale sexual abuse from a former partner is still waiting for justice two years after reporting him to the police.

Rebecca* told The Independent how she was subjected to multiple rapes, sexual abuse, coercive control and physical abuse from her ex. She reported him to the police in 2021 and he was charged, arrested, and remanded in custody before he was released on bail with a tag.

But, like more than 1,800 other victims, Rebecca has seen the case against her alleged perpetrator repeatedly delayed.

Her case comes as new figures revealed court backlogs for rape and sexual offences have hit a record high, with the most desperate victims driven to suicide by devastating waits for justice.

The logjam of cases in the crown courts surged to 7,859 sexual offence cases and 1,851 adult rape cases by September 2022, according to the latest Ministry of Justice data.

He was very cruel to me, Rebecca said. The sexual abuse was off the scale. I will never recover from it. He was very controlling. He owned me. There was physical, sexual and emotional violence.

He punched me in the face, put cigarettes out on me, dragged me, head-butted me. He raped me many times. If I said no, he said well you know that turns me on and would rape me.

Rebecca said her ex-partner was recalled to prison for infringing his bail conditions but has since been released on bail due to the time it has taken the case to reach trial.

She said: The system is shocking. It lets down survivors all the time. The trial has been delayed twice. I have tried to take my life twice.

Since it was delayed this time, there was no letter and no correspondence from the CPS. Other witnesses have been told when the trial is. Im the only one who hasnt.

I havent heard from the police since it was delayed. I complained to the CPS. They said that shouldnt happen. It is so traumatising. The trial is supposedly going to happen later this year.

I am already getting sick daily from the fear of going to court  the stuff I have to discuss is so disgusting and shameful.

Her comments come as the fallout out from the Casey Review continues. It found the Met Police was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Crucially, it failed to protect women.

There is now scrutiny on those who might lurking in its own ranks in the wake of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

A slew of other scandals involving police officers has recently emerged, with David Carrick, a serial rapist who was also a Met Police officer, sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison last month. He is one of the worst sex offenders in modern history.

On the backlog of cases, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government is providing real improvements in the response to rape.

In the last year alone, the number of rape cases referred by the police to the CPS is up more than 50 per cent, the number of suspects charged has increased by 54 per cent, and convictions are up by 65 per cent compared to last year, the spokesperson said.

But we know more needs to be done, particularly so that victims have confidence and feel supported, which is why weve quadrupled funding for victims services, enabled them to pre-record court evidence earlier and away from defendants, and launched a 24/7 helpline with Rape Crisis.

*Rebeccas name has been changed to protect her identity.

If you need help Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org
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One of the UKs most wanted tax fugitives who was jailed for eight years has had her sentence more than doubled after failing to pay back the millions she stole.

Former private school girl Sarah Panitzke, 48, now faces 17 years in prison and will still owe 2.4 million plus interest for her part in the massive VAT fraud.

She previously spent nine years on the run abroad before she was captured and returned to the UK by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in June 2022, where she was then jailed for eight years.

During this time, Panitzke is believed to have lived a life of luxury in Spain before her arrest in February by local authorities last year.

Speaking about the court ruling on Friday, Nicol Sheppard, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, said Panitzkes actions had deprived the UK of vital public money.

They said: Panitzke was part of a criminal gang that stole millions of pounds of taxpayers money and deprived our public services of vital funding.

She failed to repay the money she stole and now faces even more time behind bars, and still owes the money.

Panitzke was arrested in Catalonia, Spain in 2022, while walking her dogs (PA)

Panitzke played a pivotal role in a sophisticated multi-million-pound fraud and laundered extraordinary volumes of stolen money through offshore bank accounts.

The gang she was part of set up numerous businesses claiming to be legitimately importing and selling mobile phones.

But the businesses were a front for an elaborate scheme to steal more than 20 million in VAT repayments.

Despite going to great lengths to hide the criminal profits, HMRC investigators uncovered a complex web of transactions they used to launder stolen money.

She was part of a gang that set up businsesses as part of an elaborate scheme to steal more than 20 million (PA)

These took place through bank accounts in the UK, Andorra, Dubai, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Portugal and the US.

After hiding out under an assumed identity for nine years, Panitzke was captured after the Spanish Guardia Civil identified her in a village in the region of Tarragona. She was arrested while walking her dogs in Spain.

Panitzke was sentenced to another nine years in prison at City of London Magistrates Court on 24 March for failing to pay the 2,455,913 confiscation order. She still owes the full amount plus interest.

The total amount outstanding, including interest, which continues to accrue at a rate of 538 a day, and has reached 3,782,779 as of February this year.
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An artist says he plans on projecting a sculpture made using Afghan blood onto St Pauls Cathedral, to protest Prince Harrys claims about the number of soldiers he killed while serving in the military.

Russian artist Andrei Molodkin said he will take blood donated by Afghans for the sculpture and project it onto the London landmark later this week, saying the royals comments had made him very, very angry.

The Duke of Sussex attracted criticism after he detailed his time serving in Afghanistan in his memoir Spare earlier this year, claiming he killed 25 Taliban fighters during two tours in the country.

Putin filled with blood is one of Andrei Molodkins previous works (Courtesy The Foundry)

So, my number: Twenty-five, the royal wrote. It wasnt a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed.

Naturally, Id have preferred not to have that number on my military CV, on my mind, but by the same token, Id have preferred to live in a world in which there was no Taliban, a world without war.

While in the heat and fog of combat, I didnt think of those twenty-five as people, he added. You cant kill people if you think of them as people. You cant really harm people if you think of them as people. They were chess pieces removed from the board, Bads taken away before they could kill Goods.

Mr Molodkin told Sky News Harrys remarks had made him very, very angry and the idea of his project is to drench St Pauls Cathedral in the blood of Afghani people.

They read they are just chess figures... for some prince hunting by helicopter, he said. It looked like a safari situation. How he told it, for him its like a computer game.

The artist at work in his studio (Courtesy The Foundry)

The artist, known for making a sculpture featuring an image of Vladimir Putin filled with blood donated by Ukrainian fighters last year, said four Afghans in Calais had already given blood for the sculpture and that another five Afghans in the UK will make donations for the artwork.

A total of 1,250ml of blood will be used for the artwork, he said, which will be pumped into the sculpture of the royal coat of arms after being taken from donors by a registered nurse.

Prince Harry faced widespread criticism for discussing his time in Afghanistan in his book Spare

Explaining how the project will work, he said: Blood will go in the royal coat of arms, it will circulate in there.

It will be projected... onto the cathedral - so all the cathedral will be in the blood of Afghani people.

Mr Moldokin said a video featuring Prince Harry will also be projected onto the cathedral.

Two-thirds of Britons think Prince Harry damaged national security with his revelation, exclusive polling for The Independent in January found.

His comments were also criticised by defence secretary Ben Wallace who accused him of boasting and other veterans.

But in an appearance on The Late Show, the Duke said claims he boasted about the number of people he killed a dangerous lie.
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The government is thrashing around for votes with its new anti-social behaviour plan after years of ignoring victims calls for action on the issue, a former watchdog has said.

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman have hailed a new immediate justice scheme and announced new laws against street beggars and a controversial ban on laughing gas.

But large parts of the plan require new legislation, which has not yet been drawn up and has no date set for its arrival in parliament. There are also questions about how police will cope with extra demand generated by the changes.

Dame Vera Baird, who was the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales from 2019 until last September, said anti-social behaviour had been a major part of her work as she battled to stop police treating it as trivial.

She told The Independent that the government had ignored formal submissions on support for vulnerable victims and cut back councils capacity to protect them.

Theres nothing in any of this plan about supporting victims  thats very telling, Dame Vera said.

All of that appears to be more thrashing around, announcing some clever ideas that sound good when you say them but its hard to understand how it will be implemented. I think they are just flying kites thinking its a vote-catcher.

Her former post remains empty because ministers delayed the recruitment of a successor by restarting the process, after blocking Dame Vera from remaining for another term.

The new strategy was unveiled by the Prime Minister during a visit to Essex on Monday after the charge rate for all recorded crime in England and Wales plummeted to 5.5 per cent of offences, with the figure for rape standing at just 1.6 per cent.

Asked if the government was going to get very tough on graffiti but not on child rape on LBC Radio, policing minister Chris Philp rejected the comparison and added: We do take these offences extremely seriously.

Mr Sunak said he was determined to restore peoples confidence that those responsible will be quickly and visibly punished.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak takes part in a Q&A session on the plan in Essex (PA Wire)

This action plan maps out how we will tackle this issue with the urgency it deserves and stamp out these crimes once and for all  so that wherever you live, you can feel safe in, and proud of your community, the prime minister added.

Plans unveiled on Monday aim to see perpetrators of anti-social behaviour face swift and visible justice, increased fines and enhanced drug testing, the government said, claiming there would be a zero-tolerance approach.

Reports of behaviour including fly-tipping, rowdiness and excess noise are expected to rise when a new reporting tool is created.

A government statement said police and local authorities would be given the tools they need to tackle the problem, but people discussing the strategy on a Reddit page for UK police officers were unsure.

We're not able to deal with any petty crimes at the minute, why does he think we'll be able to deal with this? one asked.

Another wrote: Great. More s**** well struggle to enforce. A different commenter called the plans a waste of everyone's f***ing time, while others questioned if resources would be diverted from issues with class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin, or other crime types.

The national police lead for anti-social behaviour, Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, said he welcomed the governments focus on the issue and added: Only through working together can policing, local authorities and other agencies most effectively combat anti-social behaviour in our communities.

Under the plan, 16 areas in England and Wales will receive funding for either hotspot patrols in areas with the highest rates of anti-social behaviour, or to trial a new immediate justice for visible punishments.

From left: Community support officer Sonja Viner, police sergeant Sophie Chesters, prime minister Rishi Sunak, home secretary Suella Braverman and police sergeant Matt Collins during a visit to a community centre in Chelmsford, Essex (PA Wire)

Other measures announced on Monday, including the classification of laughing gas as a class C drug and a crackdown on street begging, require new laws to be passed by parliament that have not yet been drafted.

Yvette Cooper, Labours shadow home secretary, called the plan too weak, too little and too late.

Over the last 13 years the Conservatives have decimated neighbourhood policing and youth services and weakened antisocial behaviour powers so they are barely used, she added.

A few hotspot pilots is nowhere near enough to turn that around. We need guaranteed neighbourhood patrols and action in all areas or this is just yet more empty rhetoric.

The planned ban on nitrous oxide contravenes official recommendations by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which handed the government a report earlier this month saying it should not be criminalised.

Offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 would be disproportionate for the level of harm associated with nitrous oxide and could have significant unintended consequences, the document said.

At present there is no substantive evidence linking nitrous oxide with anti-social behaviour or widespread criminal activities.

The council said there were widespread reports of littering associated with laughing gas but no tested comparison to other causes, and that evidence of prevalence of health harms, particularly neurological harms, is also limited.

But in its anti-social behaviour plan, the government claimed that the ban was needed to stop intimidating groups of young people littering local parks with empty cannisters.

Mr Sunak dedicated a portion of his New Year speech, setting out his five pledges ahead of the next election, to his ambitions to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Niamh Eastwood, executive director of the Release charity, said: This is all about winning elections and has nothing to do with preventing harms or protecting young people.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The new cross-government action plan builds on the governments focus to deliver common sense policing, backed by an unprecedented recruitment drive of 20,000 additional officers by the end of March .
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Police stopped and strip-searched more than 2,800 children in four years - with the youngest only 8-years-old, a damning new report has revealed.

Using data for forces across England Wales, Childrens Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza found that nearly a quarter of children strip-searched were aged between 10 and 15.

More than a third (38%) of those strip-searched were black, and with black children making up 5.9% of the population that makes them more than six times more likely to be targeted.

Overall, 2,847 strip-searches took place between 2018 and mid-2022 of children aged between eight and 17.

The report will be published on Monday and comes after the Child Q scandal which came to light last March.

The 15-year-old black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police without another adult present and while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at school. No drugs were found, her parents were not told of the search and she was later sent home by taxi.

A safeguarding report into the incident said that racism was likely to have been a factor in the search and that it should never have happened.

After the scandal data revealed that Met Police officers strip-searched 650 children between the ages of 10-17 between 2018 and 2020, with 58% of those searched were black children.

Speaking a day before the publication of the report, Dame Rachel told the Sunday Times the findings had kept her awake at night and has called on police chiefs to limit strip-searching of children for only life or death situations.

Dame Rachel de Souza is Englands Childrens Commissioner (UK government)

The police really need to get their act together on this, she told the newspaper. Weve had a report on the Met but the data that Im going to share tomorrow I think is almost more shocking.

My hope was that Child Q was the only child that this would have ever happened to in a school. But the data I am about to release smashed that to smithereens.

There is this one case where a boy was strip-searched four times and four times his mother picked him up from the police station but nobody told her, including him, that he had been strip-searched.

A Home Office spokesperson said: Strip-search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police. No-one should be subject to strip-search on the basis of race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to prevent this.

Any child subject to a strip search should be accompanied by an appropriate adult unless there is an urgent risk of serious harm, or where the child specifically requests otherwise and the appropriate adult agrees. Such searches must be carried out by an officer of the same sex as the child.

We take the concerns raised about childrens safeguarding extremely seriously. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is currently investigating several high-profile incidents of strip-search of children and it is vital that we await their findings.
Investigators searching for Madeleine McCann are hoping to receive new funding to continue the search.

The Metropolitan Police requested fresh funds from the Home Office and, according to reports, the application is likely to be approved.

A source close to the investigation told The Sun: This is excellent news. Maddies parents Kate and Gerry will be delighted. It gives fresh hope.
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The Duke of Sussex has arrived at the High Court in London for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.

The publisher is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

Prince Harry has travelled to the UK for the court hearing (REUTERS)

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

In a statement announcing the launch of the legal action, released by Hamlins law firm, it was alleged the unlawful acts included hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The publisher hit back at the allegations, describing them at the time as preposterous smears and a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.

A spokesperson for ANL also said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

The Duke of Sussex at the Royal Courts Of Justice, central London, ahead of a hearing claim over allegations of unlawful information gathering brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (PA)

Actress Sadie Frost arrives at the High Court in London (REUTERS)

A four-day preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is due to begin at 10.30am on Monday, which is set to include ANLs bid for the claims to be dismissed without a trial.

The Duke of Sussex is not expected to meet with the King or the Prince of Wales during his surprise visit, even though it is believed he has not returned to the UK since the late Queens funeral.

While there have been a number of damages claims over unlawful activity at newspapers in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, most of which have settled, this is the first claim to be brought against ANL.

News Group Newspapers (NGN) has settled claims relating to the now-defunct News Of The World, while never admitting any liability over claims made in relation to The Sun.

Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) has settled claims relating to its titles, including The People and The Sunday Mirror.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Elton John, who is one of the claimants alongside the Prince (Getty Images)

Prince Harry arriving at the High Court in London (REUTERS)

Both publishers are facing further claims, and have recently made attempts to bring the long-running litigation to an end.

In October, Prince Harry, among other high-profile figures, announced they would be taking ANL to court.

The allegations included the commissioning of individuals to surreptitiously listen into and record peoples live, private telephone calls whilst they were taking place and the impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception.

Additional claims include the accessing of bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation.

These individuals have been the subject of public interest during the course of their careers and personal lives. They are united in their desire to live in a world where the press operates freely, yet responsibly. A press that represents truth, is sourced in fact and can be trusted to operate ethically and in the interests of the British public, a statement released at the time read.

Harry and Meghan have previously complained about the way they are reported on in the media (Getty Images)

Prince Harry successfully sued Associated Newspapers in the past, with a judge ruling in July last year that parts of an article in The Mail On Sunday were defamatory.

And in 2021 he accepted an apology and substantial damages over false claims he snubbed the Royal Marines after stepping down as a senior royal.

This is believed to be the first time Harry has been back in the UK since the late Queens funeral in September.

His surprise return comes nearly three months after he laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

The Duke of Sussex is not expected to see his father the King or brother William during his visit (Getty Images)

The King was due to be away on Monday on the first official state visit of his reign, but the trip to France was cancelled due to rioting over pension reforms, meaning Charles is now in the UK at the same time as Harry for the first time in six months.

But Buckingham Palace said the King was not in Windsor or London and would be leaving for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday morning.

Harry is also unlikely to be meeting up with William.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not currently in Windsor because of the youngsters school Easter holidays.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate their UK home Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, in a move sanctioned by the King, meaning Harry could spend some of his time packing up any remaining possessions.

The duke is also taking legal action against the Home Office over security arrangements when he is in the UK, raising questions about his own security provisions during this visit.
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Humza Yousaf has taken the reins of the SNP in a transfer of power that will be welcomed by the partys upper echelons.

Mr Yousaf was backed by high profile party members: including outgoing Deputy First Minister John Swinney, and new SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, a position for which he had repeatedly been tipped in recent years.

Throughout the campaign, he was described as the continuity candidate  a label he simultaneously shied away from and embraced.

The 37-year-olds decision to run came after careful consideration of the impact it will have on his family, a fear that was borne out after two people were charged in relation to abuse that he and his family suffered.

Here are some key facts about Mr Yousaf:

 How he started in politics

After studying politics at Glasgow University, Mr Yousaf began working as an office manager for the SNPs Bashir Ahmad, the first MSP from an Asian and Muslim background.

Following Mr Ahmads death in 2009, Mr Yousaf went on to work for other MSPs including Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

 Entering Holyrood

After being elected in 2011 as a Glasgow region MSP, he took his oath to the Queen in English and in Urdu.

He did the same when re-elected in 2016, wearing both a kilt and sherwani to reflect his Scottish and Pakistani heritage.

His father, who is from Pakistan, and his mother, from Kenya, moved to the UK in the 1960s.

 Early ministerial roles

Mr Yousafs first ministerial appointment came under Mr Salmonds leadership in September 2012, when he became minister for external affairs and international development.

He stayed on in a junior ministerial role when Ms Sturgeon became First Minister, though he was then promoted to the transport portfolio and later justice.

But his introduction of the Hate Crime Bill while justice secretary was not uncontroversial, with critics saying it put undue limits on free speech.

 Health Secretary

Perhaps his greatest challenge has come as Health Secretary, with Mr Yousaf taking over the post from Jeane Freeman in 2021 as she stood down from Holyrood.

The coronavirus pandemic was still affecting Scotland at that point.

He revealed that the first call he received after being made Health Secretary was from his mother, who was keen to find out what job he had been given in the Cabinet reshuffle.

Upon being told he had been given the health portfolio, she said: What have you done to annoy Nicola?

Throughout his time in the role, he has faced opposition attacks over the performance of the NHS, particularly A&E waiting times.

These reached a nadir in December 2022, when performance against the four-hour target for admission, transfer or discharge fell to just 62%.

Mr Yousaf has always emphasised the impact of the pandemic on the health service and the support being provided by the Scottish Government.

 Sturgeon ally

Mr Yousaf has stood by Ms Sturgeon throughout his time as a minister and MSP.

On the issue of gender recognition reform, which has seen rare divisions emerge in the SNP, he has pledged to fight the UK Governments blocking of the legislation.

 How did his campaign play out?

Mr Yousaf announced his plans to stand in the same Sunday newspaper as rival Ash Regan, becoming potentially the most dynamic of the candidates by holding regular events in different parts of the country.

In hustings and TV debates, Mr Yousaf was repeatedly challenged for being the continuity candidate  a label he simultaneously shunned and embraced.

He told audiences he would be his own man as first minister, but added that continuing the election success of Nicola Sturgeon would not be a negative.

He also regularly took veiled swipes at his rivals by stressing the need to continue the partys progressive agenda.

Mr Yousafs campaign, however, was not without challenge, with the early part taken up by questions over his vote on equal marriage in 2014, with former first minister Alex Salmond and former health secretary Alex Neil claiming he had been excused from the stage three vote over religious pressures  accusations Mr Yousaf has continuously denied.

His campaign for leader was also punctuated by testy exchanges with his fellow candidates, most notably during the first televised debate when Kate Forbes hit out at his record in government.
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Humza Yousaf is set to become Scotlands youngest first minister and the first person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post after he was elected SNP leader.

After a sometimes fiery and divisive leadership contest, SNP members chose Mr Yousaf, 37, as their partys new leader, succeeding Nicola Sturgeon.

The current Scottish Health Secretary is expected to be declared Scotlands sixth first minister after a vote in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.

Ms Sturgeon, who was Scotlands longest-serving first minister, announced last month she was stepping down after more than eight years in the job.

Mr Yousaf succeeds her after defeating the current Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former community safety minister Ash Regan in what was the SNPs first leadership contest for almost 20 years.

The result was announced at the BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh after the ballot of SNP members closed at noon, with a turnout of 70%.

For first preferences in the single transferrable vote system, Mr Yousaf took 24,336 (48%), Ms Forbes took 20,559 (40%) and Ms Regan took 5,599 (11%) of the vote.

When second preferences were distributed in the second stage, Mr Yousaf took 26,032 (52%) and Ms Forbes took 23,890 (48%).

Mr Yousaf said: It is hard for me to find the words to describe just how honoured I am to be entrusted by our membership of the SNP to be the partys next leader and to be on the cusp of being our countrys next first minister.

He paid tribute to Ms Forbes and Ms Regan, adding: Its felt weve seen each other more than our respective families.

You both have put in an incredible shift and I know that collectively we will work hard as part of Team SNP.

He said it is now time for the SNP to come together and deliver independence.

Leadership elections, by their very nature, can be bruising, he said.

However, in the SNP we are a family.

Over the last five weeks we may have been competitors or supporters of different candidates.

We are no longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate, we are one team.

We will be the team, we will be the generation, that delivers independence for Scotland.

He added: I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be standing here as leader of the SNP.

A party I joined almost 20 years and that I love so dearly.

Mr Yousaf paid tribute to the late Labour leader John Smith in his victory speech and said it was the greatest honour and privilege of my life to be the next first minister, should Parliament decide to elect him.

Viewed as the continuity candidate, Mr Yousaf had greater levels of public support from SNP parliamentarians at both Holyrood and Westminster than the other candidates, with high-profile backers including outgoing Deputy First Minister John Swinney, and new SNP Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn.

Mr Yousaf was first elected in 2011 as a regional MSP for Glasgow and was appointed a junior minister the following year, becoming Justice Secretary in 2018.

Ms Sturgeon paid tribute to all candidates for rising to the challenge, adding: Most of all I congratulate Humza Yousaf and wish him every success.

He will be an outstanding leader and first minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me.

Ms Forbes gave her warmest congratulations to her rival.

She said: Ive been proud to share a platform with both him and Ash over the last five weeks, and I know we will continue to work together, to make the lives of all of Scotlands people better on the next stage of our journey to independence.

Whatever the robust disagreements or frank exchanges of the last few weeks, I am confident we will unite behind Humza as our new party leader in the shared and common objective of independence.

Mr Yousafs election as SNP leader has been hailed as fantastic in representing a multicultural and diverse society.

The Tell Mama group, which works on tackling anti-Muslim hatred, tweeted: Fantastic to see politicians in leading roles representing our multicultural and diverse society in the UK and Scotland. Congratulations @HumzaYousaf elected leader of the SNP.
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Ukraine is ready to send its pilots to be trained in using Western fighter jets, the chairman of the war-torn nations parliament said, after Ukrainian soldiers completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK.

Ruslan Stefanchuk said that once his country gets the wings, it can attain joint victory for Ukraine and the world, in language echoing that of Volodymyr Zelenskys rousing speech to Parliament last month.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly asked Western countries for warplanes in the struggle against Russias invasion.

We are ready for more intense training of Ukrainian servicemen Ruslan Stefanchuk

Britain will be training Ukrainian pilots on Nato-standard jets but allies have been reluctant to release the modern warplanes.

Addressing a group of MPs and peers in Speakers House on Monday, Mr Stefanchuk said through a translator: We are ready for more intense training of Ukrainian servicemen.

Were ready to send our pilots to be trained in fighter jets.

Mr Stefanchuk thanked Britain for sharing its knowledge, experience in skills, after UK military officials spent several weeks instructing Ukrainian soldiers how to operate and fight with the Challenger 2 tanks.

He also thanked the UK for its decision to send 14 of the tanks and paving the way for other nations to follow suit.

Today is the time for Britain to become a leader to also open the door to use aircraft and long-range rockets, he said.

The head of Ukraines parliament urged the UK to back Ukraines Nato application because it is already a de-facto part of the alliance and protecting Europe from Russian aggression.

He called for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate Moscows war crimes so that Russia is recognised as a terrorist country.

We want to use all the legal mechanisms to make sure Russia is defeated legally, held accountable for all the crimes they commit in Ukraine, he said, adding that the crimes are not real if they are not prosecuted.

He asked the UK to recognise the 1933 Holodomor man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine as genocide, saying it is connected to todays crimes.

Mr Stefanchuk said his visit is important so parliamentarians can hear from the horses mouth what is happening on the ground, countering Russian propaganda which is a weapon similar to that used on the battlefield.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart to Westminster, telling him: Our Parliament is your Parliament.

Ukrainian politicians play a vital role in serving their people and telling the world the reality of war, Sir Lindsay said.

We are a friend that will listen, we are a friend that will support and continue to support.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said members of Kyivs armed forces, who had travelled to Britain shortly after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in January the delivery of tanks, have now completed their training.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Ukrainian soldiers return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger.

The MoD described the Challenger 2 vehicles as a step change in capability for Ukraines armed forces, saying the machines would offer them some of the most modern and sophisticated gunnery systems in the world.

The Ukrainian troops will return with the Western tanks in time for a reported spring counter-offensive by Kyiv that is said to be in the works.

With the US supplying Abrams tanks, and Germany and other European allies providing Leopard 2 tanks, any strike on Russian lines is expected to involve the Western tanks manned by Kyivs forces.
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The Government has only been able to get 8% of levelling-up funds out of the door, Labour has claimed.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove would not be drawn on accusations that more than 90% of the promised 4.8 billion regeneration cash had not yet been spent.

A Labour freedom of information request seen by the PA news agency suggested the total spend of the levelling-up fund was 392 million by the end of February, approximately 8% of the full amount.

Two rounds of the 4.8 billion fund have so far been released, worth 1.7 billion and 2.1 billion respectively, with cash allocated towards regeneration projects across the UK.

A third round of funding is expected to be announced later this year.

In just one day, his Government spent three times more on a tax cut for the richest 1% than they have managed to spend on the whole of the North of England in well over a year Lisa Nandy

In the House of Commons, shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said: I have here a document that reveals that even on his flagship levelling-up policy, he has only been able to get 8% of his funds out of the door.

Referring to Mr Goves appearances on weekend politics programmes during which he announced the Governments plans to ban laughing gas, she added: He is good at getting press releases out the door, why not our money?

Mr Gove did not respond directly to the claims, but said: In the Budget just the other week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible for making sure that tens of millions of pounds were spent.

We heard during the course of questions from members across this House who have received support, who have had projects delivered, who have seen change delivered.

This is a Government impactful, effective and focused, and on the other side, I am afraid, all we here is the cackle of impotence.

Ms Nandy hit back by claiming plans in the Budget to scrap the lifetime pensions allowance limit disproportionately favoured the wealthy.

She told MPs: Im glad he mentioned the Budget because in just one day, his Government spent three times more on a tax cut for the richest 1% than they have managed to spend on the whole of the North of England in well over a year.

Doesnt this just sum this Government up? They can get their act together when it comes to the 1%, but when it comes to investment in our town centres, local transport, decent housing, even on delivering on a single one of the levelling-up missions, why is it that the rest of us always just have to wait?

Mr Gove responded that the Government had adopted a Labour proposal suggested by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, adding: Inconsistency, thy name is Labour.

Labours freedom of information request had asked the Government how much money allocated through the fund had been spent.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities responded that 224 million had been spent by January 18, rising to 392 million by February 22.

Elsewhere in the debate, Mr Gove said the Government would make a statement this week on how it plans to continue funding organisations in Northern Ireland which used to receive EU cash.

Simon Hoare, Conservative chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee, told MPs some groups had huge problems to their budget as a result of the cliff edge end to funding.

The Communities Secretary replied: He has been vigilant on behalf of communities in Northern Ireland and we will be making a statement later this week, and the minister for levelling up and I will be doing everything we can in order to ensure continuity of funding for these services.
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Ash Regan is best known as a prominent Scottish National Party (SNP) rebel after she resigned from her ministerial position in protest at the Scottish governments gender reform plans.

As a leadership candidate, the 48-year-old MSP for Edinburgh Eastern has pledged to reinvigorate the SNP, promising more power to party members.

Ms Regan is hoping to appeal to SNP voters who want a greater focus on the campaign for Scottish independence and who want to see the the gender policies she opposed dropped.

As first minister, she would seek to unite the wider independence movement and create a convention of all pro-independence groups, she has promised.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry came out early in support of Ms Regans candidacy, saying she has shown courage and leadership in standing against the gender reforms.

Heres a look back over the key moments in her career so far.

Start in politics

Ms Regan attended primary school in Scotland before moving to Cumbria and going on to study international relations at Keele University, after which she went on to work in marketing and PR.

She later earned a diploma in public relations at the London School of Public Relations in 2007 and an MSc in development management at the Open University.

Her first foray into politics came when she became the head of campaigns and advocacy at the Common Weal  a pro-independence think-tank in Scotland.

She went on to become prominent in the Women for Independence (WfI) movement, joining its national committee in January 2014 and actively campaigned for Yes Scotland.

Entering Holyrood

Ms Regan joined the SNP after the public rejected Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum.

She was selected as the partys candidate for Edinburgh Eastern ahead of the 2016 Holyrood elections, replacing the incumbent SNP Kenny MacAskill.

Her victory attracted huge attention as she defeated Kezia Dugdale, who was the Scottish Labour leader at the time.

Ms Regan took 47.3 per cent of the vote share, compared to Ms Dugdales 33 per cent.

Ministerial role

The first two years of Ms Regans time in the Scottish Parliament were spent on the backbenches, where she served as parliamentary liaison officer to the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs.

She also sat on the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee and Holyroods Finance and Constitution committee.

In November 2017, she was moved from the economy committee to the health and sport committee, where she was appointed deputy convener.

Ash Regan (Paul Campbell/PA)

But following the first ministers Cabinet reshuffle in June 2018, Ms Regan became the minister for community safety, succeeding Annabelle Ewing.

In the 2021 elections, she was re-elected, increasing her vote share by more than 8,000.

Ms Regan continued as community safety minister until 2022, when she resigned over the Scottish governments Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act (GRA).

SNP rebel

In April 2019, she was one of 15 SNP politicians who signed a public letter urging ministers to delay the GRA, which makes it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender.

A leaked exchanged between Ms Regan and fellow MSPs Gillian Martin and Ruth Maguire emerged later that month, expressing frustration at first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

She resigned from her ministerial role once the Bill finally passed in principle in Holyrood, saying her conscience would not allow her to support the plans.

She was one of nine SNP rebels against the reforms  seven voted against and two abstained.

The relationship between Ms Regan and Ms Sturgeon became a talking point after her resignation, with the first minister claiming the ex-minister did not approach her about her concerns  a claim vehemently denied by Ms Regan.

Leadership contender

As a candidate for first minister, Ms Regan has made ditching the gender reforms and renewing the focus on Scottish independence the lead items on her campaign agenda.

Making it to the final three with finance secretary Kate Forbes and health secretary Humza Yousaf, she is considered an outsider for the top job but has insisted she is in this competition to win it.

Ms Regan has said she accepts that she is probably the least well-known out of the candidates with less name recognition, adding that means she has to work that bit harder to set out my stall.

But she told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News: I believe I am the candidate setting out a credible, democratic means for Scotland to express its will at the ballot box and to give Scotland that choice over their own future.

A voter empowerment mechanism she has championed as a candidate sets out the prospect of using any future Scottish or Westminster election as a means of establishing a majority for independence.

Ms Regan said her proposal sets up a permanent mechanism to run each and every election in Scotland as an opportunity for the people of Scotland to express their will over whether they want to govern themselves.

Elsewhere, she moved quickly to express her support for the right to equal marriage after Ms Forbes came under fire for saying she would not have voted for same-sex marriage because of her religious faith.

During a recent Sky leadership debate with Ms Forbes and Mr Yousaf, Ms Regan made the bold pledge that the country would be independent within three years if she were to be chose as Ms Sturgeons successor.

She has also openly discussed the prospect of her defeat, insisting she remains committed to the SNP whatever happens and will respect the result of the poll of SNP members after her suggestion that voters be allowed to edit their ballots was rejected.

Speaking recently to the BBCs Good Morning Scotland, she said she felt her campaign had been vindicated as a result of the recent resignations from the party, commenting: I said that the party had lost its way on a number of issues.

And I do feel that by the high-profile resignations that weve had from the party over the weekend [including long-serving chief executive Peter Murrell], that I have been vindicated in setting out that actually what we need is more democracy and a fresh vision.

Ms Regan told the BBC she felt optimistic about the outcome of the leadership vote because there has been a material change in circumstances within the SNP, which meant that many voters would no longer want a continuity candidate to succeed Ms Sturgeon.

Should she win, she has pledged to hit the ground running, promising to support the NHS and tackle the cost of living crisis.
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Scottish health secretary Humza Yousaf has been elected as the leader of the SNP.

After a tense five-week contest against Ash Regan and Kate Forbes after Nicola Sturgeon announced she would resign, Mr Yousaf found out that he had won shortly after 2pm on Monday.

The SNPs national secretary Lorna Finn announced that the turnout in the partys leadership election was 70 per cent. For first preferences in the STV system, Humza Yousaf took 24,336 (48 per cent), Kate Forbes took 20,559 (40 per cent) and Ash Regan took 5,599 (11 per cent) of the vote.

Humza Yousaf replaces Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader (Sky News)

When second preferences were distributed in the second stage, Humza Yousaf took 26,032 (52 per cent) and Kate Forbes took 23,890 (48 per cent).

In winning, he has become Scotlands first Muslim leader. Below we look at his career in politics to date and his beliefs.

Personal life

Mr Yousaf is the son of immigrants who arrived in Glasgow in the 1960s.

His father is from Pakistan, while his mother was born into a South Asian family in Kenya.

He was privately educated at Hutchesons Grammar School in Glasgow and studied politics at the University of Glasgow.

Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes were the final candidates (PA Wire)

At a press conference in February, he said his late grandfather came to Scotland from a small town in Pakistan in 1962 with barely a word of English.

I dont imagine in his wildest dreams that his grandson would one day be running to be first minister of Scotland, Mr Yousaf added.

He said it speaks to us as a nation that anyone, regardless of race, can aim for the highest office in our country and not be judged by the colour of their skin.

Scotland, he said, should be proud that a grandson of an immigrant can seek to become the next first minister.

Political career

The new SNP leader candidate outlined his plans on Tuesday (PA Wire)

Before becoming the first Muslim to be appointed to the Scottish government in 2012, Mr Yousaf was an office manager for the SNPs Bashir Ahmad, the first MSP from an Asian and Muslim background and then went on to work for other MSPs, including Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon.

He became a transport minister in 2016 and was fined 300 for driving a friends car without insurance.

He then became justice secretary in 2018 and introduced the Hate Crime and Public Order bill which made stirring up hatred on religion, sexual orientation, age, disability and transgender identities an offence.

Mr Yousaf has also served as transport minister, and international development minister, before becoming the health secretary in 2021.

While working in this role, he has faced criticism for long waiting times and for urging the public to think twice before calling 999 in September 2021.

Mr Yousaf beat Mr Forbes into second place (Reuters)

What does he believe?

Mr Yousaf has pitched himself as a continuity candidate.

Pledging to preserve the SNPs winning formula of progressive values, he has asked the party to quit obsessing with process. If we build that consistent majority then those political obstacles that are put in the way, they will disappear, they will dissipate, he said.

His pledges include appointing a senior figure to devise a strategy for rejoining the EU, challenging Westminster on its block on gender reforms and reforming the SNP.

Mr Yousaf has also promised more action on Scotlands drugs death crisis and had said he will hold a series of independence campaign workshops, which would be available to all SNP members.

He has also joined those criticising his rival Ms Forbes for her religious views against same-sex marriage.

However, he then came under scrutiny after questions were raised about why he missed the final vote on the issue in 2014.

A serving minister at the time, Mr Yousaf claimed he had an unavoidable meeting. But Mr Salmond, later gave an exclusive interview to Sky News claiming Mr Yousaf, had asked to skip the vote due to pressure from religious groups, which he denied.

Humza Yousaf said he hopes to rely on the guidance of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon (PA Wire)

What has he said during his campaign?

In a video posted on social media when he launched his campaign, he spoke about how the days following Ms Sturgeons resignation had been a rollercoaster of emotion.

Im doing it because the top job requires somebody who has experience and I have been trusted by Nicola Sturgeon with some of the toughest jobs in government, he explained.

He added he believes in Scottish independence with every fibre of his being.

But he said he had some concerns about the outgoing Ms Sturgeons plan to use the upcoming general election, likely to be called next year, as a de facto second referendum on the issue.

He said: Im not as wedded to it as the first minister.

Asked by reporters when a second referendum might be held, he added: Im not going to put a timetable on it. I want independence tomorrow if we can have it, and that goes almost without saying.
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The Scottish independence cause is dead after Humza Yousaf was elected as the new SNP leader, senior Labour and Tory figures have claimed.

Mr Yousaf  who will replace Nicola Sturgeon after narrowly defeating his rival Kate Forbes  said he would be asking the UK government straight away to grant the Scottish parliament the power to hold another independence referendum.

The 37-year-old, Scotlands youngest ever first minister, also promised to lead the country back into the EU as an independent nation, though he conceded he would have to win over Scots who did not share his passion for a breakaway state.

But gleeful Labour and Tory figures pointed to polls showing that Mr Yousaf is less popular with the wider public than is his rival Ms Forbes, and claimed that his lack of charisma and independence strategy mean he has little chance of forcing another vote on separation.

A senior Labour source told The Independent: If Nicola Sturgeon cant deliver independence, then someone of Humzas abilities has no chance. The proposition is bust and they know it.

Tory grandee Malcolm Rifkind, a former Scottish secretary, told The Independent that the end of the Sturgeon era meant Scottish independence was dead for the short to medium term.

Mr Rifkind described Mr Yousaf as a minnow compared to large fish Ms Sturgeon and Alex Salmond. After two extremely charismatic leaders, the SNP will be led without that fire of leadership. He seems a decent guy, but hes a middle-range minister, he said.

Labour peer George Foulkes said Mr Yousafs victory puts independence on a long string. He added: Theres no way forward and he doesnt have a plan. Its good news for Labour, because well use Kate Forbess criticism of his record at every opportunity.

Downing Street moved to quash Mr Yousafs request for a Section 30 order under the Scotland Act, which would allow Holyrood to legislate for a referendum.

I think you know our well-established position, said Rishi Sunaks spokesperson, after the Supreme Court last year agreed with the UK government that Scotland does not have the power to hold such a vote.

The Scottish Tories constitution spokesperson Donald Cameron said Scots would be astonished and dismayed that, within minutes of being elected SNP leader, Humza Yousafs focus was on the SNPs default obsession with independence.

The moment Humza Yousaf is declared victor over Ash Regan (left) and Kate Forbes (right) (PA)

Ms Sturgeon announced in February that she would resign, but did not put a succession plan in place and left the Scottish independence push at an impasse after her indyref2 bid failed in court.

But Andy Maciver, the Scottish Conservatives former media chief, warned Labour and the Tories not to get overexcited about Mr Yousaf taking over. Theyre right to be confident, but wrong to be overconfident, he told The Independent.

He added: I get why unionists are buoyed. Its difficult for Yousaf because Sturgeons referendum strategy is dead, so he will have to create something else. But its too early to proclaim independence is over. Nobody should underestimate him.

Mr Yousaf also faces the tough task of reuniting a divided party after a bitter six-week contest. Ms Forbes, the 32-year-old finance secretary, continually attacked his record as health secretary and claimed that a victory for her rival would lead to mediocrity.

When second preferences were distributed, Mr Yousaf took 26,032 (52 per cent) and Ms Forbes took 23,890 (48 per cent) of the votes. Ash Regan, the outsider with the most hardline position on independence, finished a distant third.

Reacting to the result, Ms Forbes said she would certainly support the new leader, but warned that the close result had delivered a message of continuity not cutting it.

Humza Yousaf says he hopes to rely on the guidance of Nicola Sturgeon (PA Wire)

Polling guru Professor John Curtice said that surveys conducted during the contest showed Mr Yousaf had limited appeal for those outside the SNP and suggested that the close result showed the new leader is also not especially popular with the party faithful either.

Writing in The Independent, Prof Curtice said: Mr Yousaf now has to show he has the ability to craft and sell a persuasive case  otherwise independence will continue to look a rather elusive goal.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the end of the Sturgeon era will make it easier for us to achieve a Labour government, with party strategists hoping to win 20 seats at the next general election.

Calling on the SNP leader to hold a Holyrood election when he becomes first minister on Tuesday, Mr Sarwar told the BBC: I dont think Humza Yousaf is up to the task, to be frank, of the big challenges now facing Scotland.

Mr Yousaf said in his victory speech on Monday: To those in Scotland who dont quite yet share that passion that I do for independence, I will aim to earn your trust by continuing to ensure that we govern well [and] focusing on the priorities that matter to all of us.

The result will come as a relief for the SNPs coalition partners, the Scottish Greens, who unanimously voted to support Mr Yousaf in his bid to be first minister.

The left-wing party had expressed concerns about the politics of Ms Forbes  a devout Christian who said she would have voted against same-sex marriage and wanted to delay the controversial gender self-ID bill. Mr Yousaf has vowed to battle the UK government in the courts over the plan to make it easier for trans people to legally change their gender.
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MPs debated the Illegal Migration Bill as it returned to the House of Commons on Monday, 27 March.

Under the policy, those who arrive in the UK illegally will be detained and promptly removed, either to their home country or a safe third country, and will not be able to return or claim British citizenship.

It was established following Rishi Sunaks announcement that he wanted to stop small boats from crossing the English Channel.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has condemned the bill, declaring that it would amount to an asylum ban with no consideration of individual circumstances.

The bill has caused divisions within the Conservative party, with right-wing MPs unhappy as they do not believe it goes far enough, while others on the liberal wing want to see the prime minister do more to establish safe routes for asylum seekers to come to Britain.

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Jeremy Corbyn is set to be blocked from standing as a Labour candidate at the next general election, with Sir Keir Starmer set to bring a motion confirming the move to a meeting of the partys ruling body.

The Labour leader will propose a motion that will make clear that the National Executive Committee will not endorse Mr Corbyn at the next election, expected in around 18 months time.

Sir Keir ruled out the left-wing veteran standing again for Labour last month, as he insisted the party has undergone a transformation under his leadership.

The motion, which the NEC is expected to back at a meeting on Tuesday, says the Islington North MP will not be endorsed by the NEC as a candidate on behalf of the Labour Party at the next general election.

A senior Labour source said: Keir Starmer has made clear that Jeremy Corbyn wont be a Labour candidate at the next general election. The Labour Party now is unrecognisable from the one that lost in 2019.

They added: Tuesdays vote will confirm this and ensure we can focus on our five missions to build a better Britain.

The suspended left-wing MP and his allies have condemned the move as a flagrant attack on democracy. The former leader has insisted it is up to members in the north London constituency to pick their candidate and said Sir Keir had denigrated the democratic foundations of Labour.

In a statement, Mr Corbyn said: Today, Keir Starmer has broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundations of our party.

I have been elected as the Labour MP for Islington North on 10 consecutive occasions since 1983.

I am proud to represent a community that supports vulnerable people, joins workers on the picket line and fights for transformative change.

This latest move represents a leadership increasingly unwilling to offer solutions that meet the scale of the crises facing us all.

As the Government plunges millions into poverty and demonises refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.

Mr Corbyn also issued a warning to the current leader and his allies, saying: Our message is clear: we are not going anywhere.

Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.

Sir Keir ruling out Mr Corbyn standing again for Labour follows the announcement that the Equality and Human Rights Commissions has decided to lift the party out of two years of special measures over its failings on antisemitism under Mr Corbyn.

He is currently sitting in the Commons as an independent after he was suspended from the party over his response to the damning EHRC report in 2020 which found that Labour had broken equalities law.

The MP, who still retains support within the party and in his constituency, could now be left with the option of running as an independent candidate in the seat.

Momentum condemned Sir Keirs latest move as a venal and duplicitous act  saying it insults the millions of people inspired by Jeremy Corbyns leadership.

A Momentum spokesperson said: We urge all NEC representatives to reject this anti-democratic manoeuvre tomorrow  it should be for Islington North Labour members to decide their candidate, not a neighbouring MP drunk on his own power.

They added: Keirs paper suggests this blocking is necessary for Labours electoral prospects  that will come as a surprise to Jeremys constituents, who have elected him 10 times with massive majorities. And it will come as a surprise to party members in Islington North, who overwhelmingly want Jeremy to be the Labour candidate.
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Kate Forbes will find out whether she has been elected leader of the SNP later today.

The politician, who has been on maternity leave from her finance secretary role, has been standing in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon, alongside Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf.

Ms Forbes was initially seen as a front runner but soon became embroiled in a row over her views on subjects such as same-sex marriage, which saw her lose a number of supporters.

Kate Forbes was considered a front runner but has lost support due to some of her views (PA Wire)

The race for the SNP leadership has been a rocky affair, with dramatic resignations and acrimonious clashes on major issues between the candidates during live TV debates  ending the partys reputation for discipline and unity. The result of the contest is expected at 2pm on Monday.

Below we look at her career in politics to date and her personal beliefs.

Personal life

Ms Forbes is the MSP for Sky, Lochaber and Badenoch. She was born in Dingwall but spent some of her childhood in Glasgow and India.

She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in history in 2011, before graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a masters degree in emigration and diaspora history.

Before entering politics, Ms Forbes worked as an accountant for Barclays after working for two years for her local MSP, Dave Thompson.

She married her husband Alasdair MacLennan in 2021 and has been on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child, Naomi, in August.

Political career

Ms Forbes has been a member of the Scottish parliament for seven years (PA Wire)

Ms Forbes was elected to the Scottish parliament in 2016.

As a backbencher from 2016 to 2018, she served on the Scottish Parliaments environment, climate change and land reform committee; the standards, procedures and public appointments committee; the health and sport committee; and the rural economy and connectivity committee.

In 2017, she led a campaign to ban plastic straws in Scotland which became successful when a ban was introduced in August 2022.

Her frontbench career started when she was appointed as minister for public finance and digital economy in June 2018.

She then became the finance secretary weeks after she became the first woman to deliver the Scottish governments budget in 2020 when her predecessor Derek Mackay quit hours before.

If she wins the leadership contest, the 32-year-old would be the youngest SNP leader.

Ms Forbes is hoping to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scotlands first minister

What does she believe?

Ms Forbes garnered controversy during the leadership contest when said she would have opposed same-sex marriage as a matter of conscience if she had been an MSP when it became law in Scotland in 2014.

She then faced further criticism when she later said having children outside of marriage would be wrong according to my faith and she would personally seek to avoid it.

She has also previously spoken out against abortion. In 2018, she called on politicians to recognise that the way we treat the most vulnerable - whether the unborn or the terminally ill - is a measure of true progress.

In 2019, she was among the 15 SNP politicians who wrote an open letter to Ms Sturgeon the following year asking for a delay to self-identification gender recognition reforms.

The vote on the proposals happened when Ms Forbes was on maternity leave, but when she launched her leadership campaign she said she still had significant concerns about self-identification and would not have been able to vote for the legislation in its current form.

Scottish Greens have threatened to leave their coalition because of Ms Forbes opposition to these reforms, as well as other parts of the coalition agreement, including banning fishing in a series of new Highly Protected Marine Areas around Scotland.

But Ms Forbes told the Scottish Mail on Sunday she had no fear of running a minority government if they leave the coalition.

In terms of her other policies, Ms Forbes told the Guardian she would campaign for independence through gentle persuasion, making the economic case and earning peoples trust back.

She has said she would not raise income tax for higher earners and would instead focus on growing the economy and expanding the tax base by cutting red tape for businesses, improving transport infrastructure and having a cautious transition away from North Sea oil and gas.

Ms Forbes with leadership rivals Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan (PA Wire)

What has she said during her campaign?

Ahead of todays vote, Ms Forbes said she was the only one of the three candidates who could reach across the political divide and convince No voters to think again.

In a video posted on social media and directed at SNP members who have not yet voted, Ms Forbes said: I need your vote, Scotland needs your vote. Change happens only when we vote for it. Independence happens only if we win.

And it is clear that in this election, I am the only candidate who can deliver that ultimate prize for our nation. Only I can reach across the political divide and convince No voters to think again.

Every poll in the campaign tells you that, and without achieving that conversion of No voters, Scotland is stuck in an endless constitutional loop. So if you want to win, it is up to you to make it happen.

Ms Forbes is unlikely to stand again if she loses. She told The Herald she feels this is probably the one opportunity for her to secure the role, although she said she would support the party whatever the outcome.
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Matt Hancock is not worth 10,000 a day, according to a minister and Tory colleague of the former health secretary.

Chris Philp, policing minister, said the sight of Mr Hancock and other senior Conservatives offering to advise a fake Korean company for enormous daily sums was pretty unedifying.

He was speaking as new footage was released of Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, telling an activist posing as an employee of Hanseong Consulting that he would work for around 500 an hour.

Matt Hancock asked for a 10,000 a day rate (Led By Donkeys)

Unlike Mr Hancock and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who both asked for a 10,000 day rate, Sir Graham suggested an annual 60,000 salary. He later said 500 an hour or something like that felt about right.

In his interview with the phoney firm, footage of which was released on Sunday, Mr Kwarteng offered access to former prime minister Boris Johnson. The full interview with Mr Hancock was yet to be published.

The sting, staged by campaign group Led By Donkeys, has not led to any accusation of wrongdoing. MPs are permitted to seek employment outside of Parliament as long as they abide by transparency and lobbying rules.

Sir Grahams interview saw him attempting to take on a fourth job. Alongside his role as an MP he earns 48,000 a year as a marketing and communications adviser to two UK-based firms.

He also boasted that his seniority in the Tory party meant he could get away with skipping work in the Commons to travel for international meetings.

Certain emergency occasions if something dramatic was happening in British politics might keep him in London, he said.

But in a normal course of events, yes, I would be able to plan those things and make sure that I could be free to attend, he added.

I have a, I suppose, a degree of seniority within my party, which means that Im given a little bit of flexibility that perhaps not all of my colleagues would have. So, yes. So I dont think that would be a problem at all.

In a statement, Sir Graham said: Having decided to leave the Commons at the next election, I have received a number of approaches regarding future opportunities.

I did have an exploratory discussion with someone purporting to be recruiting an international advisory board for a South Korean investment house.

I made it clear that any arrangement would have to be completely transparent and that whilst a Member of Parliament, I would only act within the terms of the Code of Conduct.

I also made it clear that whilst I could be flexible in attending international meetings in person, this would be subject to some important votes and commitments at Westminster.

A spokesman for Mr Hancock said the West Suffolk MP had acted entirely properly and within the rules in the interview. Mr Kwarteng has been approached for comment by The Independent.

Mr Philp said neither of the former ministers caught up in the sting had broken any rules but acknowledged that it had not looked good.

Kwasi Kwarteng said he could introduce fake employers with Boris Johnson (Led By Donkeys)

It was a pretty unedifying spectacle, that is certainly true, he told Sky News. It is very important that we have transparency over these things. Had that thing we saw been real, then any agreement they would have entered into would have been completely disclosed to the public.

Asked if Mr Hancock was worth 10,000-a-day, he replied: I wouldnt pay him 10,000.

Led By Donkeys approached 20 MPs from across the political divide about serving on the non-existent international advisory board for Hanseong Capital.

Five of those were said to have progressed to an online interview stage, including former defence secretary Sir Gavin Williamson and former minister Stephen Hammond.

Labour has called for those Tory MPs caught up in the hoax to be stripped of the whip by Mr Sunak.

Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said she was pretty appalled and sickened by the revelations, with Labour pledging to ban MPs having second jobs.

She said MPs should be fully focused on helping constituents rather than pursuing other commercial ends.
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Stripping alleged militants of their British citizenship and leaving them in refugee camps rather than bringing them back to face trial threatens to create a breeding ground of terrorists tomorrow, Tory former chancellor Norman Lamont has warned.

The Tory peer sounded his concerns at Westminster over passing the buck, as the government was told revoking the nationality of Shamima Begum, who ran off as a schoolgirl to join so-called Islamic State (IS), was a form of capital punishment that has left her the breathing dead.

Ms Begum was 15 when she travelled from Bethnal Green, east London, through Turkey and into territory controlled by the terror group in 2015. Her British citizenship was revoked shortly after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.

She has been locked in a legal battle ever since and last month the 23-year-old lost her latest challenge against the decision to strip her of her British citizenship on national security grounds.

Speaking as her case was raised in parliament, Lord Lamont of Lerwick said: If we continue to refuse citizenship and refuse to put on trial alleged UK terrorists here in this country, are we not just passing the buck to other countries?

If every country pursues the same policy, are we not just going to build up vast insecure camps full of potential terrorists  the breeding ground of terrorists tomorrow?

Responding, Home Office minister Lord Murray of Blidworth said Ms Begums citizenship had been deprived from her by the then secretary of state Sajid Javid and this decision had been upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February.

He added: I dont agree with him that there is a risk of very large camps of people being accrued, who had been deprived of their nationality.

In 2019, some 27 people were deprived of their nationality, in 2020 it was 10 and in 2021 it was eight.

But pressing the minister, Labour peer Lord Griffiths of Burry Port said: Statelessness is a form of capital punishment in the sense that it deprives somebody of status forever, for the rest of their lives.

Is that not just the breathing dead and shouldnt we be opposed to it on moral grounds, and let circumstances dictate what happen to her if she were brought back?

Leaving her where she is is surely inhumane.

In reply, Lord Murray said: Surely the principal interest and the principal duty of Government is to keep the people safe.

Earlier, the minister told peers the government was pleased SIAC had found in favour of the Government in Ms Begums appeal.

The power to deprive and individual of their British citizenship as happened in this case has existed in law for over 100 years Lord Murray

It would be inappropriate to comment further given the potential for further legal proceedings. The governments priority remains maintaining the safety and security of the United Kingdom.

He had been responding to a question by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton, who said Ms Begum had been a child when she was seduced by a perverted ideology and was now stateless.

The independent crossbencher added: What consideration has been given to her present situation as of today and did the ministers response suggest that security fears trump our moral responsibilities?

While declining to be drawn on Ms Begums case, Lord Murray said: The power to deprive and individual of their British citizenship as happened in this case has existed in law for over 100 years.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Burt of Solihull said: Shamima Begum has been variously described as a vulnerable, trafficked 15-year-old from Bethnal Green and an ex-IS recruiter. Isnt the point though that shes our vulnerable, trafficked girl or our ex-IS recruiter. Shouldnt she be brought home to face the music in a British court of law?

Lord Murray said: The purpose of deprivation proceedings is to protect the country in relation to issues of national security.
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Humza Yousaf has narrowly won the bitterly-fought contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon as the SNP leader and Scotlands first minister, winning by just over 2,000 votes.

The 37-year-old is set to become Scotlands youngest first minister and the first person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post after the result was announced at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.

Viewed as the continuity candidate, Mr Yousaf said he felt like the luckiest man in the world to lead the party he loves so dearly  calling it the greatest honour and privilege of his life.

Kate Forbes  the 32-year-old finance secretary who repeatedly clashed with Mr Yousaf over his record  finished runner-up. Ash Reagan, the outsider with the most hardline position on Scottish independence, finished third.

Ms Regan took just 5,599 (11 per cent) of the votes in the first round of the members ballot. When second preferences were distributed, Mr Yousaf took 26,032 (52 per cent) and Kate Forbes took 23,890 (48 per cent).

It has not been a smooth process, with acrimonious clashes between candidates and the dramatic resignation of chief executive Peter Murrell  Ms Sturgeons husband  following controversy over the transparency of SNP membership numbers.

Interim chief executive Mike Russell admitted the party was in a tremendous mess after the membership row, while even Ms Sturgeon described the contest as fractious and acknowledged the party was suffering from growing pains.

Polls had made Mr Yousaf favourite among SNP voters, but faces an uphill battle to win over others in Scotland. An Ipsos Scotland survey found Ms Forbes was more popular with the public  with a net rating of minus 8 per cent, compared with Mr Yousaf on minus 20.

Mr Yousaf said in his victory speech on Monday that he would lead Scotland in the interest of all of our citizens, whatever their political allegiance.

He added: I will work every minute of every day to earn and re-earn your respect and your trust  There will be no empty promises or easy soundbites when the issues in front of us are difficult and complex. Because government is not easy and I wont pretend that it is.

Ms Sturgeon announced in February that she would resign, but did not put a succession plan in place and left the Scottish independence push at an impasse. She departed after Rishi Sunaks government and the Supreme Court refused to allow Holyrood to hold its own referendum.

Ms Regan  the outsider who branded the other two candidates wishy washy on independence  vowed to make every single election a de facto referendum on separation until the Westminster government gives in.

Humza Yousaf said he felt like the luckiest man in the world (Reuters)

While Mr Yousaf vowed to push the independence campaign into fifth gear, he also suggested during the contest that the SNP had to rethink its strategy  saying the party had to win a consistent majority for independence before legal obstacles would disappear.

The new SNP leader said on Monday: To those in Scotland who dont quite yet share that passion that I do for independence, I will aim to earn your trust by continuing to ensure that we govern well [and] focusing on the priorities that matter to all of us.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has called for a Holyrood election  though one is not due to 2026  once Mr Yousaf takes office. He also the BBC: I dont think Humza Yousaf is up to the task, to be frank, of the big challenges now facing Scotland.

Mr Sarwar also said the end of the Sturgeon era presents a major opportunity for Scottish Labour  with party strategists hoping to win 20 seats at the next general election.

Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes as result announced (PA)

The Scottish Labour leader told Choppers Politics podcast that Ms Sturgeons exit will make it easier for us to achieve a Labour government  describing Mr Yousaf and the other two candidates as not in her league.

Labour peer George Foulkes told The Independent Mr Yousafs victory puts independence on a long string. He added: Theres no way forward for them and he doesnt have a plan. Its good news for Labour, because well use Kate Forbes criticism of his record at every opportunity.

Mr Sturgeon  who had warned candidates not to throw the baby out with the bath water  congratulated Mr Yousaf on his victory. She said: He will be an outstanding leader and first minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me.

Of the three candidates, only Mr Yousaf has said he would continue to fight the UK government in court after Mr Sunak and his ministers blocked Holyroods gender self-ID legislation.

The result will come as a relief for the SNPs left-wing coalition partners, the Scottish Greens, who unanimously voted to support Mr Yousaf in becoming first minister.

The Greens had expressed concerns about Ms Forbes  a devout Christian who said he would have voted against same-sex marriage and wanted to delay the gender self-ID bill.

Recommended Keir Starmer to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing for Labour at NEC meeting

While Ms Forbes represents a rural constituency and was viewed as pro-business, Mr Yousaf is from the urban constituency of Glasgow Pollok and is seen as more in favour of wealth redistribution.

Stephen Noon, chief strategist for the pro-independence Yes campaign in 2014, said the close result suggested the SNP would continue to balance the two urges. This has long been a creative dynamic for the party and can serve us well again.
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Right-wing Tory MPs are increasingly confident home secretary Suella Braverman will further toughen controversial legislation aimed at cracking down on migrants arriving in small boats.

The home secretary is considering changes to head off a rebellion by up to 60 Tory MPs on the right who want to stop British judges from following decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on deportations.

One senior Tory MP involved in the amendments told The Independent that the group was encouraged by talks with ministers that the bill could soon be tightened to allow British judges to ignore the Strasbourg courts injunctions.

Were working closely together on reaching a position, they said. Im very optimistic. We want the bill galvanised against challenge [by the ECHR]. There is room for compromise here.

The MP added: We could have pushed to end all involvement with the European courts and leave the convention. But thats not a battle anyone wants at the moment.

Tory MP Martin Vickers, who has backed the amendments, told The Independent: Weve got to have much more rigorous control over our immigration. So were trying to limit the power [of] European court judges intervening on these matters.

Sir Bill Cash told the Commons on Monday that he expected ministers to consider a series of amendments so that judges cannot prevent removal, adding: We do not want or need lawyers and judges to invent new blocks on removal with judicial activism.

Rebel Tory MP Danny Kruger  another leading figure behind the amendments  told BBC Radio 4s Today earlier that talks with ministers were ongoing. He later told the Commons he hoped there would be no more pyjama injunctions in the middle of the night from Strasbourg judges opposing orders.

Senior government figures reportedly believe the home secretary supports the rebel push to stop British judges using legal precedent from Strasbourg when considering deportation cases.

She wants to use it to spook us to offer concessions to get them to drop their amendments because a big rebellion would be embarrassing, one told The Times. She has basically become a sock puppet for the right.

But a source close to Ms Braverman said the claim was totally untrue, adding: The people spreading scurrilous rumours like this about the home secretary should reconsider and refrain.

Home secretary Suella Braverman under pressure to change the bill (PA) (PA Wire)

In 2022, the ECHR granted an injunction  via its rule 39  that effectively grounded a flight sending asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda. Ms Braverman said on her recent trip to Rwanda that she was encouraged by constructive talks with Strasbourg.

The government has requested a higher threshold for any rule 39 injunction on attempted deportation flights. But Ms Braverman is thought to be considering inserting a new clause into the bill banning rule 39 orders from applying in the UK if exemptions cant be negotiated with the Strasbourg court.

However, Tory moderates and legal experts fear the Strasbourg court cannot be defied without breaching the UKs obligation to uphold the ECHR.

Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood told The Independent that Ms Braverman should ignore the push from the right. There is simply no way this bill will secure parliamentary support unless its fully compliant with international laws, including our commitments to the ECHR.

Asked about speaking to Tory MPs seeking to toughen the bill, Mr Sunaks official spokesperson said: We will keep seeking to speak constructively with MPs ... We do want MPs to be involved in the process of creating legislation.

Sunak and Braverman were heckled during visit to Chelmsford on Monday (PA)

Others on the liberal wing want to see Rishi Sunak and Ms Braverman commit to establishing new, authorised safe routes via which asylum seekers can come to Britain.

An amendment proposed by Tim Loughton MP, which calls for new safe and legal routes to be added to the bill, is understood to have the support of Labour. The moderates are optimistic Mr Sunak will announce a new global refugee route developed with the UNs refugee agency.

Mr Loughton told the Commons he would push for a vote on his plans for required safe and legal routes unless there were substantial reassurances from the government in the days ahead.

The home affairs select committe chair added: We want to continue to offer safe haven for those genuinely escaping danger and persecution, and in a sustainable way. Thats why safe and legal routes is the obvious antidote to that problem.

Under plans reported by The Telegraph, MPs would vote on an annual cap on the number of refugees after councils are consulted about accommodation, with a plan to welcome about 20,000 a year initially.

However, Mr Philp played down suggestions that the government could establish more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers as part of the bill.

The Home Office minister told LBC: This country has a lot of safe and legal routes established already. In terms of creating more, my own view is that we should fix the illegal immigration problem first, stop the boats ... and then we can add in these additional and safe and legal routes.

 Tory MP Caroline Nokes describes small boats bill as 'absolute horror'

Moderate Tories are also trying to win support for amendments aimed at creating stronger protections against child detention. MPs from across the House have condemned a move in the bill allowing the detention of children  reversing a ban introduced by the David Cameron-led coalition government a decade ago.

Equalities committee chair Caroline Nokes has shared her absolute horror at the reversal, while former justice secretary Robert Buckland said the government shouldnt be locking children up  its not right.

It comes as Labour propose an amendment that would force the Sunak government to offer a framework for a new asylum returns deal with EU states within three months of the bill passing.

Labours shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock branded the bill entirely counterproductive, telling the Commons that a Labour government would negotiate a returns agreement with the EU to replace the UKs previous participation in the Dublin system.

Meanwhile, the Council of Europes commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatovic, warned MPs and peers to uphold international obligations in a letter to the Commons and Lords.

The commissioner said the bills provisions create clear and direct tension with well-established and fundamental human rights standards. She said it lacked a guarantee that objections to deportation would be assessed in accordance with the European convention on human rights.
Beggars causing a nuisance on Britains streets will be targeted as part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks proposals to crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Police and local authorities will be given fresh powers to address people deemed to be imitating or causing the public distress, according to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Law enforcement officers and council workers will be given the tools to direct people judged to be causing a nuisance on the street, including by obstructing shop doorways or begging at cash machines, to health and social services.
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent a message of sympathy to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over the latter's contraction of influenza and pneumonia.

In his message, Xi said that upon learning of Lula's illness and thus having to postpone his visit to China, he would like to extend his sincere sympathy to the Brazilian president and wish him a speedy recovery.

Xi also welcomed Lula's early visit when it is convenient for both sides.
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Orlando Bloom has praised the strength of the Ukrainian people as he met the countrys president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and encouraged him to go win the war.

The British actor, 46, who is a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, travelled to Kyiv in his first visit back to Ukraine since 2016.

In the meeting, Bloom told Mr Zelensky it is remarkable to see how you are holding this country and said it was a real honour to meet the Ukrainian president.

He said: (It is) so encouraging in so many ways to see just the remarkably stoic nature of the people of Ukraine. And of course, your messaging that I think is reflected in their courage, and in their determination and in their perseverance and resilience.

To see the children, to see in their eyes, its palpable the anxiety and yet, the strength of the Ukrainian people is something that is really awe-inspiring in truth and, of course, your messaging is the reason for that.

Mr Zelensky told Bloom we have a good country, we hold each other, adding your coming sends a big message.

Bloom described meeting a family-of-five who took four more children into their home, saying hopefully that is the kind of future for children in this country instead of institutionalised methods of raising children.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor also reassured the leader that Unicef is taking the issue of missing children incredibly seriously, just as the rest of the world is watching.

Bloom, who has been a member of a Buddhist organisation since he was 16, read an excerpt of a message of encouragement from his Japanese mentor who wrote to the youth of the UK in 1994.

He said: I wanted to read it because I feel its so important and I had it written for you as well to read along.

After reading the piece, he said: You have a strong heart and thank you for everything you do. I used to read this every day I used to read it when I was a child just to try and give myself the courage.

At the end of the meeting, Bloom said he has a video of his mother singing the Ukrainian national anthem in English and she said if he met Mr Zelensky to tell him to win. Go win he said, Slava Ukraine

Mr Zelenskys office shared a video of the meeting on Instagram, captioning the post: The war is destroying the childhood of Ukrainian children.

Thousands of schools in Ukraine have been damaged or completely destroyed. Almost 2.7 million Ukrainian schoolchildren are forced to study online or in a mixed format. About 1.5 million Ukrainian boys and girls are at risk of developing depression, anxiety and other psychological problems.

We all know what this aggression has brought and how full-scale the worlds efforts must be to stop it, to rebuild Ukraine after the war.

During the meeting, we discussed humanitarian aid projects, issues of reconstruction focused specifically on the interests of children. @unicef and our teams will work in several directions, bring victory closer and return a happy childhood to Ukrainian children.
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A man who spent 16 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping writer Alice Sebold when she was a Syracuse University student has settled a lawsuit against New York state for $5.5 million, his lawyers said Monday.

The settlement comes after Anthony Broadwater's conviction for raping Sebold in 1981 was overturned in 2021. It was signed last week by lawyers for Broadwater and New York Attorney General Letitia James, David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys, said.

Broadwater, 62, said in a statement relayed by Hammond, "I appreciate what Attorney General James has done, and I hope and pray that others in my situation can achieve the same measure of justice. We all suffer from destroyed lives.

Sebold was an 18-year-old first-year student at Syracuse when she was raped in a park near campus in May 1981. She described the attack and the ensuing prosecution in a memoir, Lucky, published in 1999.

Sebold went on to win acclaim for her 2002 novel The Lovely Bones, which recounts the aftermath of a teenage girl's rape and murder and was made into a movie starring Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci.

Sebold, who is white, wrote in "Lucky that she spotted a Black man in the street months after being raped and was sure that he was her attacker.

He was smiling as he approached. He recognized me. It was a stroll in the park to him; he had met an acquaintance on the street, Sebold wrote. Hey, girl, he said. Dont I know you from somewhere?

Police arrested Broadwater, who was given the pseudonym Gregory Madison in Lucky, but Sebold failed to identify him in a police lineup, picking a different man as her attacker.

Broadwater was nonetheless tried and convicted in 1982 after Sebold identified him as her rapist on the witness stand and an expert said microscopic hair analysis had tied Broadwater to the crime. That type of analysis has since been deemed junk science by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Broadwater was released from prison in 1999 but still had to register as a sex offender until his conviction was vacated in November 2021.

William J. Fitzpatrick, the current district attorney for Onondaga County, the central New York county that includes Syracuse, joined the motion to vacate the conviction, noting that witness identifications, particularly across racial lines, are often unreliable.

Broadwater's settlement with the state must be approved by a judge before it becomes final.

A message seeking comment was sent to the attorney general's office.

Broadwater has also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Onondaga County, the city of Syracuse and an assistant district attorney and a police officer who were involved in prosecuting him. That case is pending.

Sebold apologized to Broadwater in a 2021 statement released to The Associated Press and later posted on Medium.

She wrote that as a traumatized 18-year-old rape victim, I chose to put my faith in the American legal system. My goal in 1982 was justice  not to perpetuate injustice. And certainly not to forever, and irreparably, alter a young mans life by the very crime that had altered mine.

A message seeking comment on Broadwater's settlement with New York state was sent to a representative for Sebold on Monday.
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Three nine-year-old students and three staff members died after a shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.

The suspect, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, is also dead after being confronted and killed by police at The Covenant School in the Green Hills suburb of the city.

The shooting comes as the US is recovering from several recent gun violence incidents at schools, including the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas last year, a first-grade student shooting his teacher in Virginia, and a shooting in Denver, Colorado where two school administrators were wounded.

Heres everything we know so far:

The shooting

Police were called shortly after 10am CT on Monday 27 March to an active shooter situation at the school, which is connected to a church.

On Monday morning, Hales parents said they saw Hale leaving the family home with a red bag.

They asked what the bag contained but didnt think anything of it because they didnt believe Hale had any firearms.

Not long after 10am, Hale arrived on the school campus in her Honda Fit, with security footage capturing the vehicle driving through the parking lot to the building.

Children can be seen playing on swings in the background of the footage.

Surveillance footage then shows Hale shooting through the glass of a side door on the first floor of Covenant, then ducking through one of the shattered doors to gain entry.

The shooter is seen stalking the school corridors with a gun with a long barrel, including walking into a room labelled church office, then coming back out.

Police said Hale opened fire on students and staff, killing six.

The first call to 911 about shots being fired came in at 10.13am, police said.

Surveillance footage shows the shooter stalking the school corridors (Metro Nashville PD)

When officers rushed to the campus, the shooter opened fire on arriving police cars from a window on the second floor.

Chief Drake said at a Tuesday press conference that investigators believe there has been some training to have been able to shoot from a higher level down onto the officers.

From the video Ive seen [Hale] stood away from the glass so [the suspect] wouldnt be an easy target to be shot, he said.

Officers entered the building and began clearing the building, police said.

While clearing the building, officers heard shots fired on the second level and moved to the second floor common area where they encountered Hale, fatally shooting the assailant, police said.

Bodycam footage, released on Tuesday morning, captured the officers searching for the shooter in the school.

The officers move from classroom to classroom, clearing each room while searching for the assailant, as sirens emergency alarms ring out overheard.

While clearing the rooms, gunshots are heard being fired elsewhere in the elementary school building.

The officers then encounter Hale in front of a window in the atrium on the second floor of the school.

The 28-year-old former student is then shot dead by two veteran officers.

Nashville police bodycam footage shows officers responding to school (MNPD)

Mondays tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes.

Police said that Hale was armed with three guns including two assault-type weapons and one handgun. The guns were decorated with stickers, while one of the rifles had the word hell written on it.

The suspect

Nashville police said on Monday the shooter was 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

Police have identified the suspected shooter by their name at birth; Hale reportedly was a transgender man who used he/him pronouns, though law enforcement officials initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Police did not provide another name but on the suspects social media accounts they refer to themselves as Aiden.

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said in a press conference on Monday that Hale once attended the christian elementary school.

An illustrator and graphic designer who attended Nossi College of Art, Hale had no criminal record prior to Mondays massacre and was not known to law enforcement.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Chief Drake said investigators discovered Hale had been treated for mental health challenges prior to the shooting.

Audrey Hale is identified as the shooter (linkedin)

She was under care, doctors care, for an emotional disorder, he said.

Her parents felt that she should not own weapons.

The police chief said that Hales parents were aware the suspect had purchased one firearm, but believed it had since been sold.

In reality, the 28-year-old had legally purchased seven firearms from five different local stores  three of which were used in Mondays shooting  and hid them in the family home.

Despite her mental health concerns, there is no red flag law in Tennessee that could have been used to take away Hales firearms. Meanwhile, Hales parents were unaware of the stash so had not reported them either.

We had absolutely no idea Hale was a danger to the community, the chief said.

A friend has since revealed that Hale sent some chilling final messages just minutes before the shooting unfolded.

Hale issued a dark warning to friend Averianna Patton via Instagram on Monday morning that something bad is about to happen just minutes before the shooting unfolded.

In the harrowing messages sent at 9.57am, Hale revealed plans to die by suicide telling Ms Patton this is my last goodbye and that she would soon be reading about it on the news after I die.

One day this will make more sense, Hale wrote.

Ive left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.

Just 16 minutes later  at 10.13am  law enforcement received the first 911 call reporting shots fired inside The Covenant School.

Audrey Hales friend says she received these messages minutes before the shooting (NewsChannel5 )

Ms Patten told NewsChannel 5 that she contacted the Suicide Prevention Help Line at 10.08am to try to get her friend help. She then contacted the police  but an officer didnt pay her a visit until around 3.30pm that afternoon.

In the year before the shooting, it has emerged that Hale made a series of posts on Facebook about the death of someone Hale appeared to regard as a romantic partner, according to a former teacher.

Art college instructor Maria Colomy, who taught Hale at the Nossi College of Art & Design in Nashville, recalled a Facebook post from the shooter openly grieving the individual  a former middle school basketball teammate.

Speaking to The New York Times , Ms Colomy said that Hale had announced the bereavement and asked to be addressed as Aiden and by masculine pronouns from then on.

She had been openly grieving about that on social media, and during the grieving is when she announced that she wanted to be addressed as a male, the teacher said.

Meanwhile, neighbours have revealed their shock at Mondays attack, describing Hale as a normal quiet person, from a family without any apparent interest in guns.

If I had to imagine, Audreys parents are probably just as shocked as everybody in the neighborhood isIt just doesnt seem real, Sean Brashears told The Daily Beast.

Theres nothing that would have led me to believe that she was capable of such a thing or that she or anybody in that family would have access to, much less ever used, a gun. They just dont seem like the family that, like, is around guns. Theyre not talking about going to a gun range or theyre not going hunting.

Another neighbour Sandy Durham said: I do know Audrey, Ive known her since she was a baby. I had just gotten out of the shower when all of this started happening. I didnt really know anything more than that. Something was going on next door. Its just tragic for everybody. The sweet children that were hurt, killed, the adults. All of it.

Asked if there were any warning signs, she said: Never. She was very sweet. I dont know what happened. Its very scary.

Another neighbour described Hale as coming from a great family.

This is a great family and its a tragedy, they told NBC News.

A LinkedIn account and website shows Hale was an illustrator and graphic designer based in Nashville. The account says Hale was working for AH Illustrations and had previously been an illustrator at Nossi College of Art. It also mentions jobs with Grocery Shopper and as a cat sitter.

Hales disturbing artwork has now come to light, including a creepy drawing of Jack Nicholson in horror movie The Shining.

This comes as police revealed that the killer drew a cartoon outlining Mondays attack.

The Victims

Students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, Head of School Katherine Koonce, 60, Cynthia Peak, 61, and Mike Hill, 61, all died in the attack.

Koonce was The Covenant Schools headteacher. She ran towards the shooter before she was assassinated her in a hallway, it has been revealed.

Nashville City Councilman Russ Pulley told Fox News that Koonce, 60, was on a Zoom call when she learend that there was an active shooting. Mr Pulley said that the head of the school immediately ended the Zoom meeting and headed in the direction of the shooter.

Koonces body was found in a hallway of the school, according to Nashville Police Chief John Drake.

One parent was quoted as saying by the BBC that Koonce was a saint.

Nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, a senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church (Family photo)

She did so much for those kids, a parent of a student said. And now gave her life protecting them.

She knew every single student by name, she said. She did everything to help them when families couldnt afford things, it didnt matter. She found ways for them to stay.

Dr Kristy Mall, an educator, said on social media she attended graduate school with Koonce, calling the killing senseless.

We HAVE to revamp how we handle mental illness in TN [Tennesse], she wrote on Twitter on 27 March.

Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a custodian, police said.

A woman who said she was Hills daughter said on Facebook that her father absolutely loved working at the school.

We would like to thank the Nashville community for all the continued thoughts and prayers, Hills family said in a statement. As we grieve and try to grasp any sense of understanding of why this happened, we continue to ask for support. We pray for the Covenant School and are so grateful that Michael was beloved by the faculty and students who filled him with joy for 14 years. He was a father of seven children (Marquita Oglesby, Brittany Hill, Shakita Dobbins, Ebony Smith, Joshua Smith, Tawana Smith Garner, Jeremy Smith) and 14 grandchildren. He liked to cook and spend time with family.

Nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, a senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to CBS News.

Meawhile, the sister of third-grade student Evelyn sobbed that I dont want to be an only child at a vigil on Monday.

Cynthia Peak (centre) in a photo shared by a family friend (Family friend/KALB)

In a video address on Tuesday night, Tennessee governor Bill Lee revealed that Tennessee first lady Maria Lee was close friends with Peak, and had plans to meet with her for dinner on Monday evening.

What happened at Covenant School was a tragedy beyond comprehension, the governor said .

Like many of you, Ive experienced tragedy in my own life, and Ive experienced the day after that tragedy. I woke up this morning with a very familiar feeling, and I recognize that today many Tennesseans are feeling the exact same way  the emptiness, the lack of understanding, the desperate desire for answers and the desperate need for hope.

The motive

On Tuesday, police confirmed that they have still not determined the motive for the attack.

However, the investigation has revealed the killers elaborate planning and said that  as a former student  Hale had some history there at the school.

Hale targeted the school but is not believed to have targeted individuals at the school.

Over the course of their investigation, officers have discovered manifesto-like writings and apparent research into the facilities and entry points at Covenant.

The shooter had drawn a detailed map of the building and conducted surveillance before carrying out the massacre, police said.

"We have a manifesto, we have some writings that were going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident," the police chief told reporters on Monday. "We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place."

He said in an interview with NBC News that investigators believe the killer had "some resentment for having to go to that school".

Writings recovered from Hale also revealed that the attack was calculated and planned.

Covenant School Head of School Katherine Koonce, 60, was killed in the attack (Covenant School)

Chief Drake told CBS Mornings on Tuesday that Hale had left behind a cartoon plan of the massacre and detailed maps of the scene as part of a manifesto.

We have maps that show the entry point into the school, the weapons that were going to be used, the clothing that she was gonna wear, and she had drawn it up, almost like a cartoon character. It was exactly what she had on during this incident.

He added: What detectives have said so far is theres possibly some resentment for having to go to that school.

Based on some maps found at Hales home, the police chief said that Hale was believed to be planning to carry out other attacks on a local mall and targeting family members.

Also at Hales home, authorities seized a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun, and other evidence, police said.

Investigators have also spoken with Hales parents. Hale had no prior criminal record.

The school

The shooting took place at The Covenant School  the Presbyterian institution has around 200 students from preschool to sixth grade.

The school was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, the schools website states.

Its located in Green Hills, southwest of downtown Nashville.

The school employs 33 teachers, according to the site, which includes the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

The reaction

During an event in Washington, DC on Monday, First Lady Jill Biden said, we just learned about another shooting in Tennessee. A school shooting. And I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. And we stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper tweeted, in a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you, he added. As facts continue to emerge, I thank our first responders and medical professionals.

Jozen Reodica works in an office building in the area which went into lockdown as sirens blared.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she told the AP. And right now, its real.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the press that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting. Hes calling on Congress to pass tougher gun laws.

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school

We want to express the Presidents appreciation for the first responders and prayers for all the families affected by this shooting, she said on Monday. While we dont know yet all the details in this latest tragic shooting, we know that too often our schools and communities are being devastated by gun violence. Schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach.

We must do more. And he wants Congress to act because enough is enough, she added.

In his State of the Union, the president called on Congress to do something to stop the epidemic of gun violence, tearing families apart, tearing communities apart, she said. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban to close loopholes in our background check system or to require the safe storage of guns.

We need to do something  once again the President calls on Congress to do something before another child is senselessly killed in a preventable act of gun violence, she added.

What were seeing today what were seeing in schools and communities across this country is unacceptable, the press secretary said. Our children should be able to go to school feeling safe, feeling protected. People should be able to go to grocery stores feeling safe. And what we saw today is devastating. Its heartbreaking for any American any parent across the country or any American, and so thats why this President has been very clear from day one, he is going to continue to fight for those communities.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, an anti-gun violence group, slammed Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

Tennessee @GovBillLee hasnt had time yet to tweet his thoughts and prayers for Covenant School, but when he does, remind him that this is exactly why police and citizens opposed the permitless carry bill he signed into law at a gun makers factory in 2021, Ms Watts tweeted.

SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ARE NOT ACTS OF NATURE, she added. They are senseless, preventable acts of man enabled by weak gun laws and lawmakers. This doesnt have to be our new normal. Our children dont have to be sacrificed in exchange for gun industry profits. We can stop this.

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenetweeted: My prayers are with the victims and families at the Covenant School in Nashville. Another absolutely horrific needless tragedy. Children and school staff should always be protected the same way politicians, money, precious stones, and gold are protected, but even more so, by good guys with guns.

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake speaks to the media following a mass shooting at Covenant School (AP)

Thank God for good guys with guns and thank God a good guy with a gun killed the evil mentally deranged shooter today, she added. Joe Bidens gun-free school zones have endangered children at schools leaving them as innocent targets of sick horrible disturbed people ever since he worked as a Senator to pass this foolish law. What a fool. What a failure.

Gun grabbers like Joe Biden and Democrats should give up their Secret Service protection and put themselves on the same level as our unprotected innocent precious children at school, she said. School shootings should NEVER happen and will end immediately when our nations children are defended the same way Joe Biden is by good guys with guns!!! End this now.

On Wednesday evening, First Lady Jill Biden attended a vigil in memory of the victims in Nashville.

At the vigil, young people, parents and other local residents spoke to The Independent about their frustration that their community is now the latest torn apart by gun violence.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, the Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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A Mississippi woman has been arrested for allegedly fatally shooting her husband in front of her children during a Facebook Live.

Kadejah Michelle Brown, 28, was taken into custody after deputies with the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office responded to a domestic violence call around 7.40am on Saturday (25 March).

The department said in a statement that upon arriving at the residence on the 500 block of Green Tree Drive, they found Ms Browns husband Jeremy Brown, who sustained a single gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene and a 9mm handgun was recovered from the residence.

Ms Brown has been charged with murder. She is being held at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center awaiting her first appearance in court.

According to law enforcement, the incident was captured on Facebook Live.

The violence unfolded during an argument between the couple, according to The Daily Beast.

The outlet reports that Ms Brown was complaining about her husbands behaviour on camera when he went inside the residence.

As the couple got physical, the screen went black but the audio was still working, with the shot being heard on video.

The Browns children then reportedly yelled Daddy!, as Ms Brown allegedly screamed for help because the gun went off.

There was a history of domestic violence between BROWN and the victim, Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said in a statement on Saturday.

This was a tragic and senseless murder and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim. Fortunately, Brown is in custody and we look forward to the criminal justice system holding her accountable.
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Its a headline thats all too common in America, a country with more than one mass shooting per day: a mass shooter has killed multiple people using an assault-style rifle.

The deadliest mass shootings in America in recent years have all involved assault rifles, including Las Vegas, Orlando, Sandy Hook, El Paso, Uvalde, Parkland, and Aurora, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The high-powered weapons of war were once banned by Congress, but since the ban lapsed, theyve continued to show up again and again. Now, Nashville joins the list of communities changed by such a shooting.

On Monday, officers fatally shot an armed individual who killed six people, including three children, in a massacre at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, according to police.

The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead, the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement of the incident at Covenant Presbyterian School.

Nashville police said on Monday the shooter was a 28-year-old Nashville native named Audrey Hale, a former student at the school.

Police have identified the suspected shooter by their name at birth; Hale reportedly was a transgender man who used he/him pronouns, though law enforcement officials initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Police did not provide another name but on the suspects social media accounts they refer to themselves as Aiden.

We know that she was armed with at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun, a police spokesperson said during a press briefing on Monday. Officials later added two of those three weapons were obtained legally.

The victims of the shooting are Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all around age 9; and Cynthia Peak, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; and Mike Hill, age 61, according to the Nashville police department. The victims included students, school officials, a substitute teacher, and a custodian.

Officers are investigating an address linked to Hale, and located a vehicle which helped give them evidence, according to Nashville police chief John Drake. Police have also spoken with the shooters father.

I was literally moved to tears to see this as the kids were being ushered out of the building, Mr Drake told reporters on Monday.

Officers shot Hale about 15 minutes after the department received a call about an active shooter at 10.13am.

They immediately went to the gunfire, a police spokesperson said.

Police said in a press conference on Monday afternoon that Hale was able to forcibly enter a door on the first floor of the school, where shots were fired, then continue up to a second level, where police fatally wounded the gunman.

In the course of their investigation into Hale, police have discovered writings, maps of entryways into the school, and apparent surveillance attempts in the run-up to the attack.

In the confrontation with the alleged mass shooter, an officer was injured in the hand by broken glass, a fire department official said at a media briefing.

Three pediatric patients were transported to Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt, all having suffered gunshot wounds, Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser told NBC News. All three were pronounced dead after arrival.

The Nashville office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is deploying resources to assist police with their response to the shooting, Fox News reports.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also sent agents to the scene.

Ambulances and armoured police vans were stationed around the school.

Armed SWAT officers were also seen patrolling woods near the school.

The TBI said on Twitter on Monday there is no current threat to public safety.

The Covenant School is a private religious school located on the campus of Nashvilles Covenent Presbyterian Church, and is next door to a Nashville Fire Department station, according to USA Today.

The school, founded in 2001, is located in the wealthy Green Hill neighbourhood, and has 33 teachers and roughly 200 students, according to the Associated Press.

The schools motto is Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

Children were seen being led away from the school in a line by police.

Police said on Monday that there were no Nashville police officers stationed at the school.

This is a church that operates a private school, an MNPD spokesperson said on Monday. There were no metro police personnel assigned to that school of any kind.

A family reunification centre is open at Woodmont Baptist Church on 2100 Woodmont Boulevard. Parents at the scene of the shooting were seen running trying to find their children with tears in their eyes, according to WSMV.

In 2022, the school ran an active shooter training programme, according to WTVF.

Shannon Watts of gun safety advocacy group Moms Demand Action said Tennessee governor Bill Lee is responsible for increasing the risk of gun violence in the state, after signing a 2021 bill allowing for permitless carry.

Tennessee [Governor Bill Lee] hasnt had time yet to tweet his thoughts and prayers for Covenant School, but when he does, remind him that this is exactly why police and citizens opposed the permitless carry bill he signed into law at a gun makers factory in 2021, she wrote on Twitter.

Joe Biden sounded a similar note, calling on Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban.

We have to do more to stop gun violence, he said in remarks at an event on Monday. Its ripping our communities apart. Its ripping at the very soul of the nation. We have to do more to protect our schools so they arent turned into prisons.

I call on congress again to pass my assault weapons ban, he added. Its about time that we began to make more progress.
 Close Bodycam footage shows Nashville police searching Christian school for gunman

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The funeral of Evelyn Dieckhaus, one of three nine-year-old children killed at the Covenant School shooting, took place on Friday afternoon in Nashville.

Evelyn was remembered as a shining light in the funeral, which was closed to the media, at the Woodmont Christian Church in the Green Hills neighbourhood of the city.

Before the service, the churchs senior minister, the Rev Clay Stauffer, described the youngster as radiant.

Evelyn was killed while leading her classmates to safety in response to a fire alarm seemingly tripped by the attacker, her family believes.

Services for substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and Hallie Scruggs, nine, will be held on Saturday. Nine-year-old William Kinney's funeral will take place on Sunday, while services for Mike Hill, 61, the schools custodian, will be held on Tuesday and the funeral for head of school Katherine Koonce, 60, will take place on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, police have released the chilling 911 calls they received from inside the Covenant School as the shooter  since identified by law enforcement as Audrey Hale, 28, a former student of the private Christian elementary school  broke into the building and opened fire.

A manifesto written by the suspect is soon expected to released by officers investigating the deadly attack.
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The suspect in the Nashville school shooting, Audrey Hale, is a 28-year-old from the city, police have said. Hes reported to have been a former student at the school.

Police have identified the suspected shooter by their name at birth; Hale reportedly was a transgender man who used he/him pronouns, though law enforcement officials initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Police did not provide another name but on the suspects social media accounts they refer to themselves as Aiden.

Hale is said to have used two assault-type rifles and a handgun. The suspect died after being shot by police.

Three adults and three children were killed in the shooting.

Only one officer was injured, from cut glass. Two officers from a team of five engaged the suspect and shot him, police said.

This is a church that operates a private school. There were no Metro Police personnel assigned to that school of any kind, he added.

There is video from the school that we are viewing now to try and understand what happened, he said.

Police were called to the scene at 10.13am local time and the suspect was shot and killed 14 minutes later, at 10.27am.

Mr Aaron told the press that police were going through the first floor when they heard gunshots from upstairs.

They immediately went to the gunfire, Mr Aaron told the press, adding that the suspect entered the school via a side entrance and went to the second floor, firing multiple shots.

The confrontation between officers and the suspect then took place on the second floor in a lobby-type area.

The shooting took place at The Covenant School; the Presbyterian institution has around 200 students from preschool to sixth grade.

Reporter Hannah McDonald said on WTVF TV that her mother-in-law works at the schools front desk. When she returned from a break, she heard gunshots. Mr McDonald added that her husband had been able to speak with her, according to the AP.

The school was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, the schools website states.

Its located in Green Hills, southwest of downtown Nashville.

The school employs 33 teachers, according to the site, which includes the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

During an event in Washington DC on Monday, first lady Jill Biden said, we just learned about another shooting in Tennessee. A school shooting. And I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. And we stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper tweeted, in a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you, he added. As facts continue to emerge, I thank our first responders and medical professionals.

Jozen Reodica works in an office building in the area which went into lockdown as sirens blared.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she told the AP. And right now, its real.
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A 37-year-old Virginia woman was found guilty of killing her two daughters in a bid to exact revenge on her ex-husband.

Veronica Youngblood was convicted last week for murdering 15-year-old Sharon Castro and five-year-old Brooklynn Youngblood at their McLean home in 2018.

While the mother admitted to killing her children, the defendant pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. During the trial, the defence attorney argued that Youngblood had been hearing voices telling her to kill her two daughters.

Youngblood had moved the jury to tears when she described parental abuse while growing up. Her father physically assaulted her with a belt, broomstick and branch, while her grandfather sexually abused her as a child, she told the jury, according to WTOP.

She further said that after her parents left her and her sister in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she took to sex work, where she met her ex-husband Ron Youngblood, with whom she moved to the US, reported CBS affiliate Wusa 9.

He worked as overseas as a Navy pilot.

Why did you leave me? she asked him in the courtroom. Why did you leave me alone with the girls? None of this would have happened!

During the two-week-long trial, the prosecutor argued she was a murderer and not a victim.

Youngblood was accused of giving her younger daughter sleeping gummies before shooting her dead, while her 15-year-old daughter was shot in the back and chest. Sharon, however, managed to call 911, a recording of which was played in the courtroom.

(Fairfax County Circuit Court)

In the audio, the teen could be heard struggling to breathe while telling the dispatcher that her mother shot her in the chest.

I dont wanna die, she said in the recording, reported WTOP. Please help me.

While the 15-year-old told the dispatcher that her sister was also in the apartment, she was unaware that their mother had shot the five-year-old in the head, killing her sibling instantly and then leaving the apartment.

Sharon died in hospital days later.

(WUSA9)

Painting Youngblood as selfish and spiteful, Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealths Kelsey Gill said the 37-year-old was angry at her ex-husband for his plans to move to Missouri with Brooklynn.

Veronica Youngblood with her two children. (Fairfax County Circuit Court)

At the time of the killing, she was also battling for custody, reported WTOP. The prosecutors added that after the murder, Youngblood called her ex and said, I killed Brooklynn. I killed Sharon. Im going to kill myself. I hate you. Bye.

Defence attorney Andrew Elders had asked the jury to not hold her criminally liable for the killing as she did not have the will to not do what she did.

The jury will return on Monday to deliberate on the quantum of punishment to be meted out to Youngblood.
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Recovery efforts continued across Alabama and Mississippi on Sunday in the wake of a 170-mile tornado that left at least 26 people dead.

At least 25 people were killed in Mississippi, and one in Alabama, with dozens more injured, officials said. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) said that number could still rise.

Sharkey County, home to the near-flattened town of Rolling Fork, lost more than a dozen people as the storm uprooted homes, vehicles and buildings. The communities affected include some of the poorest in the Deep South, with mobile homes often outnumbering brick houses.

Rolling Fork resident Mary Barfield was killed after the tornado flipped over her trailer and threw it against the side of another home, her daughter told The New York Times. When Lequita Barfield couldnt reach her mother by phone, she drove to the town and walked to the pile of debris that stood in place of her mothers home.

A man led her through the wreckage and she saw her mothers hand and arm under a mattress, she said.

I called for her, but she didnt answer, she told the Times, breaking down during the interview. She didnt move her hand. She didnt do anything.

Lonnie and Malissa Pierce were also killed in Rolling Fork when an 18-wheeler landed on their home, Ms Pierces son told WAPT.

The remains of a home in Rolling Fork, Mississippi (Getty Images)

Theyre in heaven right now, David Brown told the station. I was told they passed away in each others arms.

More than 180 miles away in Wren, a father and daughter were also killed when the storm destroyed their mobile home. Ethan Herndon, 33, and baby Riley Mae, who was about to turn two, were found dead, while the babys siblings, aged 4 and 7, were severely injured, their aunt, Rachel Atkins, told The New York Times. The childrens mother, 31, was also hospitalized with severe injuries, she said.

Theyre asking about her now, Ms Atkins said of the surviving Herndon children. And theyre not going to be able to understand this for a while.

Family members set up a GoFundMe for the family, which had raised nearly $114,000 by Sunday evening - including $10,000 from an anonymous donor.

A Mississippi resident surveys the damage after a tornado cut a 170-mile path through the state and neighboring Alabama (AP)

Cousin-in-law Walt Edington wrote on GoFundMe: This sweet family is physically and emotionally shattered.

They have suffered the most painful and terrifying loss any of us can imagine, and their needs are obvious and great. Our family is grateful for all of the people calling to offer their help, and I hope this will be one way for people to wrap their arms around this beautiful family and share what comfort we can all offer.

In Carroll County, schoolteacher Helen Munford, 54, her husband Danny Munford, 51, and son JaDarrion Murphy, 14, were killed when their mobile home was picked up and torn apart, relatives told the Clarion Ledger. JaDarrions twin, LaDarrion, was injured and taken to a nearby hospital, cousin Dede Duren told the paper. She and around 20 family members all lived close to the victims.

I was in our mobile home with my mom, my stepfather and my two daughters and we had just finished eating dinner and our lights started flickering, Ms Duren, 37, told the Times. And then it just went out. As I went to light the candle, my oldest daughter screamed, We got to take cover. She grabbed her younger sister, and we all went into our bathroom.

She said the storm sounded like a train barreling through our front yard.

Tracy Hardin, center, who with her husband Tim, left, own Chucks Dairy Bar, consoles a neighbor in Rolling Fork, Mississippi (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

After the storm abated, the devastation was so extensive that it took four hours for emergency workers to find her family members, she said.

Ms Munford was a school teacher at Marshall Elementary in Carrollton and also drove a school bus, while her husband worked for a construction company, the Times reported. JaDarrion and his twin were both eighth-grade students in Carrollton.

Across the border in Alabama, a 67-year-old man in Monroe County died after being trapped under a trailer that flipped over in the Hartselle area during the storms, the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency told AL.com. The victim, whose name has not yet been released, was rescued and transported to the hospital but later died, according to the agency.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency in the affected counties, and both President Joe Biden and FEMA have promised federal aid for the devastated regions.
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The phrase do something trended on Twitter with 198,000 posts following the Nashville school shooting that left three children and three adults dead.

The suspect, Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old thought to be a former student at The Covenant School, was shot and killed by police on Monday morning.

How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act?  We need to do something, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.

Georgia Democrat and Marjorie Taylor Greene challenger Marcus Flowers wrote, as America grieves over yet another school shooting, this time in Nashville, Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to prevent the ATF from doing their job. Common Sense Gun Legislation is necessary. We must do something to protect our children.

Our hearts are breaking - yet again. The pain of the families of those killed in Nashville today, like the pain of tens of thousands of families a year in America, cries out for action. It is long past time to do something about gun violence, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted.

Democratic Representative Ted Lieu wrote, Another mass shooting at a school in America, this time in Nashville. Are House Republicans going to do something? Yes, @GopJudiciary is holding a Committee markup tomorrow to make it easier to convert pistols to short-barrel rifles through the use of a pistol brace. Outrageous.

How many more children have to die in a school shooting before Republican politicians get the guts to do something about assault weapons? former House and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said.

The suspect in the Nashville school shooting is a 28-year-old from the city, police have said. Police have identified the suspected shooter by their name at birth, Audrey Hale.

Hale reportedly was a transgender man who used he/him pronouns , though law enforcement officials initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Police did not provide another name.

Hale is said to have used two assault-type weapons and a handgun.

Three adults and three children were killed in the shooting.

Only one officer was injured, from cut glass. Two officers from a team of five engaged the suspect and shot him, police said.

Police were called to the scene at 10.13am local time and the suspect was shot and killed 14 minutes later, at 10.27am.

Mr Aaron told the press that police were going through the first floor when they heard gunshots from upstairs.

They immediately went to the gunfire, Mr Aaron told the press, adding that the suspect entered the school via a side entrance and went to the second floor, firing multiple shots.

The confrontation between officers and the suspect then took place on the second floor in a lobby-type area.

The shooting took place at The Covenant School; the Presbyterian institution has around 200 students from preschool to sixth grade.

President Joe Biden said on Monday that I want to commend the police who responded swiftly within minutes  Were monitoring the situation really closely  and we have to do more to stop gun violence. Its ripping our communities apart  and we have to do more to protect our schools so they arent turned into prisons.

So I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban. Its about time that we began to make some more progress, he added.
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A sticky debate emerged online after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) declared peanut butter a liquid and therefore, it must meet the 3.4 oz (100 ml) rule.

You may not be nuts about it, but TSA considers your [peanut butter] a liquid, the TSA Twitter account tweeted March 21.

Attached to the tweet was a photo of peanut butter with a textbook clear definition of a liquid: A liquid has no definite shape and takes a shape dictated by its container.

This means travellers looking to pack a jar of peanut butter in their carry-on need to make sure it is in a container that is 3.4 oz (100 ml) or less and can fit in one quart-size bag, known as the 3-1-1- rule. Otherwise, it must be placed in checked luggage.

However, if spread on a sandwich or other solid food, it is allowed in carry-on luggage.

But the complexity of TSAs peanut butter rule did not sit well with people who dont consider the creamy food to be a liquid.

If peanut butter is considered a liquid, then why is it sold by weight, and not by volume? Also, does this same rule apply to chunky peanut butter? A Twitter user asked .

So youre saying sand is a liquid? As well as carbon dioxide? What about 100 tiny pebbles? Those all have no definite shape, with their shape being dictated by their container, another user tweeted.

So peanut butter is a liquid but scientifically butter is a solid. But a PBJ sandwich can go through TSA, only if not too soggy. Clear as mud? Can mud go through TSA or is that considered a liquid? I just confused myself, another person wrote .

For years the TSAs stance on peanut butter has caused uproar online and in line at the airport.

But the rule is not new. Since 2012, the TSA has been tweeting at people to remind them that the liquid rule applies to peanut butter. Since at least 2006, online articles have informed people that peanut butter must follow their 3-1-1- rule.

The debate over peanut butter re-emerged this month after Patrick Neve, a writer and podcast, went viral for tweeting that he tried to take a jar of peanut butter through airport security but was told, no liquids, gels, or aerosols.

I want you to tell me which of those things you think peanut butter is, Mr Neve said jokingly.

Mr Neves tweet went viral with over 10.5 million views, sparking the peanut butter TSA debate once again.

When I moved to Panama for fieldwork my checked luggage was too heavy [with] gear so I had to transfer more crap into my carry-on. Without thinking about it, I added my fairly substantial EDC knife and a jar of my fave [peanut butter] to my backpack. Guess which item TSA confiscated? Natalia tweeted.

TSA spokesman R Carter Langston told the New York Times that peanut butter is considered spreadable so it falls under the 3-1-1- rule.

As we frequently seek to remind travelers: if you can spill it, spray it, spread it, pump it, or pour it, then its subject to the 3.4-ounce limitation, Mr Langston said.
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The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.
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A suspected shooter who opened fire inside an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee was armed with a handgun and two assault-type rifles, firearms that have been used in some of the nations deadliest mass shootings over the last decade while dominating the American gun market.

About one in 20 US adults  roughly 16 million Americans  own at least one AR-15-style rifle, according to polling from Ipsos and The Washington Post, which traced the explosion of the popular firearm from its military use into one of the nations most popular and deadliest weapons. One of the firearms carried by the Nashville suspect was an AR-style rifle, according to police.

AR-15-style rifles were used in 10 of the 17 deadliest mass shootings since 2012, including last years massacres in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. The powerful rifles were also used during two of the deadliest mass shootings in the last decade, including the murders of 60 people as a music festival in Las Vegas in 2017 and the killings of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut in 2012, the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in US history.

AR-15-style rifles accounted for 1.2 per cent of all manufactured American firearms in 1990. Thirty years later, the weapon made up 23.4 per cent, according to The Washington Post, which estimates there are at least 20 million AR-15s stored and stashed across the US. Nearly every major gun manufacturer makes its own version of the weapon.

Tennessee Republican US Rep Andy Ogles, whose district includes the Nashville school where six were killed, posed with AR-15-style rifles in a family Christmas photograph posted to social media in 2021.

In February, Republican US Rep Barry Moore of Alabama sought to make the AR-15 the National Gun of America.

The AR-15 was first produced by Armalite in the 1950s, intended as a weapon on par with the Soviet Unions AK-47. The patent was later acquired by Colt for production of its M16 under contract with the US Department of Defense. That patent expired in 1977.

The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which imposed the so-called federal assault weapons ban, was enacted in 1994. But it expired in 2004, with several failed attempts in Congress to renew the ban after a series of massacres involving high-powered rifles that were previously impacted by the law.

A study from Northwestern University found that the ban prevented 11 public mass shootings within the decade it was in effect. The study also estimates that keeping the ban in place until 2019 would have prevented 30 public shootings that killed 339 and injured 1,139 people.

Last year, the Democratically controlled House of Representatives narrowly voted to renew the ban, but it has stalled in a rigidly deadlocked Senate. President Joe Biden has repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass the ban, which will be virtually impossible in a Republican-controlled House.

Sales of AR-15-style rifles soared in the runup to the election of Democratic president Barack Obama in 2008, after the school massacres at Sandy Hook in 2012 and Parkland, Florida in 2018, and before Mr Bidens election in 2020, according to an analysis from The Washington Post. The firearms visibility exploded during the War on Terror with saturation across mass media, including the video game series like Call of Duty.

Nearly 14 million of those weapons were manufactured by US gunmakers following Sandy Hook, with sales generating roughly $11bn in revenue, according to The Post, which reports that at least two-thirds of AR-15-style rifles have been made within just the last decade.

In the year after Sandy Hook, gun manufacturers produced at least 3.2 million AR-15s, more than they made in all of the previous decade, according to The Posts analysis of industry figures.

Children from an elementary school in Nashville hold hands as they are moved to a reunification site following a shooting at the school on 27 March. (AP)

Smith & Wesson debuted its M&P 15 in 2006, with its revenue spiking from $12.8m to more than $75m within its first five full years, The Post found.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which included several American gunmakers under the Freedom Group conglomerate, purchased the manufacturer DPMS in 2007. The gunmaker was bringing in $100m in annual sales, according to The Post.

Following the shooting in Nashville on 27 March, President Biden once again called on a divided Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, saying that its about time that we began to make some more progress.

How many more children have have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system, or to require the safe storage of guns, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said from the briefing room.

The presidents recent executive order expands the Bipartisan Safer Community Act he signed into law last year. His latest order will accelerate and intensify the administrations work to combat the proliferation of high-powered weapons and illegal guns to save more lives, more quickly, he said in remarks earlier this month.

The order directs US Attorney General Merrick Garland to address a background check loophole by clarifying the definition of engaged in the business of selling firearms in an effort towards better enforcement of the law Mr Biden signed last year.

President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly urged lawmakers to renew a federal assault weapons ban, speaks from the White House about a school shooting in Nashville on 27 March. (AP)

That law requires anyone who sells guns for profit to be licensed and to perform background checks on prospective buyers. Clarifying the definition of someone who is engaged in that type of business in federal law is expected to expand the scope of that scrutiny.

The president also demanded Congress renew the federal assault weapons ban and eliminate gun manufacturer immunity from liability as the number of mass shootings in the US within the first few months of 2023 surges above 100.

His order, meanwhile, intends to get as close to universal background checks as possible without legislation.

The president will need members of Congress to pass any measures towards a so-called universal background check process for firearm sales and to renew the assault weapons ban that expired nearly 20 years ago. Eighty-four per cent of voters, including 77 per cent of Republicans, support the idea, according to a 2021 poll from Morning Consult and Politico.

This was initially published on 27 March 2023
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The White House says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still set to attend this weeks second Summit for Democracy convened by the Biden administration despite widespread protests over proposed legislation that critics say would undermine Israels independent judiciary.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday that Israel remains one of the 121 nations invited to participate in the summit, which will take place virtually and be hosted by the White House on Wednesday.

Asked whether the administration believes it would be appropriate for Mr Netanyahu to address the summit and whether White House officials are considering asking him to refain from participating in the event, Mr Kirby demurred and said he had no specific announcements in terms of who would participate.

Mr Kirby also said he had nothing to tell reporters about any communications between Washington and Jerusalem over the last 24 hours, as protesters flooded the streets of Israeli cities after Mr Netanyahu dismissed his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, after Mr Gallant voiced concerns about the ruling Likud partys plans to overhaul the countrys judiciary.

The Israeli interior minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced on Monday that the plan was being shelved until the summer session of Israels parliament, and Mr Netanyahu himself is expected to address the country later in the day.

Mr Netanyahu, who is currently facing trial on corruption charges dating back to his previous service as the countrys prime minister, had not publicly weighed in on the plan because of an Israeli Attorney Generals opinion barring him from participating in the judicial reform proposal because of his legal troubles.

But the proposed legislation, which would give parliament more control over selection of judges and allow a bare majority to overrule Supreme Court decisions, has sparked widespread protests among broad swaths of Israeli society.

Those protests increased in intensity even further on Sunday after Mr Netanyahu dismissed Mr Gallant from his post.

Shouting slogans such as the country is on fire, protesters lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway and caused street closures across the country. Incoming and outgoing flights at the countrys main international airport were halted, and Israels largest labour union called for a general strike in the wake of Mr Gallants sacking.
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Israels President Benjamin Netanyahu, once considered to be a political ally of Donald Trumps, has come out swinging against the former US president in a new interview that touched on Mr Trumps meeting with disgraced rapper Kanye West and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

The comments were made during an interview with journalist Piers Morgan, due to air in the coming days on the streaming service Fox Nation. Excerpts were released on Monday by Fox News.

Speaking with Morgan, Mr Netanyahu said that Mr Trump should be rebuked and condemned for his meeting with Fuentes, who regularly rants about the Jewish people and is known for his denial of the Holocaust.

"I thought it was horrible. I think its a big mistake. Its wrong from every point of view. [Antisemitism] should not be countenanced, it should not be accepted, it should be rebuked and condemned and thats what I do. And I dont care where it comes from, or from whom," said Mr Netanyahu.

It was a strong statement that showed how far-reaching the effects of that fall meeting with Fuentes and West have been; Mr Trump was widely criticised by both Democrats and Republicans back in November when the dinner was first revealed.

The dinner itself arose as a result of Wests vanity campaign for president in 2024, a sequel to his bizarre bid for attention in 2020 which resulted in the onetime megastar winning only a handful of votes and the rapper mostly failing to get on the ballot.

West linked up with another disgraced right-winger, Milo Yiannopoulos, last year as he began his second presidential campaign. That hiring almost immediately ended in abject disaster, with Yiannopoulos engineering the Trump-West meeting at Mar-a-Lago and letting Fuentes tag along. Yiannopoulos ended his work as Wests campaign manager shortly thereafter.

Intentional or not, the meetup between Mr Trump and Fuentes only added to the growing criticism of the former presidents relationship with Jewish Americans and the concept of anti-Semtism. The ex-president has also made a number of statements appearing to question the loyalty of Jewish Democrats over the issue of their support for Israel, drawing the same allegations of anti-Semitism which were amplified by the November Mar-a-Lago meeting.

Mr Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces protests at home and abroad over legislation he is pursuing to weaken Israels Supreme Court, an issue that he revealed in the same interview with Morgan has now drawn criticism from President Joe Biden.

Speaking about a recent call with the US president, Mr Netanyahu said that Mr Biden raised [concerns about the integrity of Israels democracy] and I assured him what I assured you: That Israel was, is and will remain a democracy.
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Porn actor Stormy Daniels hit back at critics on Twitter amid the ongoing investigation by the Manhattan District Attorneys Office into the hush money payment she received from former President Donald Trumps then-fixer Michael Cohen in 2016.

Ms Daniels alleges that she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006. She was paid off to keep quiet about the supposed extramarital activity.

Mr Trump insulted Ms Daniels during his Saturday rally in Waco, Texas, rejecting all allegations of an affair.

Sex with Stormy Daniels is traumatic enough. Hasnt President Trump been punished enough? one Twitter user said.

I think he needs another spanking, Ms Daniels responded.

You realize this is now evidence right? one Twitter user asked.

Evidence of what? That hes been spanked? Thats common knowledge, the adult actor shot back.

Really? You claimed bankruptcy to avoid PAYING YOUR COURT ORDERED JUDGEMENT, yet you have a ranch? Guess you lied about being bankrupt, one Twitter user claimed. If anyone should be in jail, its you.

Ms Daniels said it was her new favorite rumor. I guess Im now bankrupt? Maybe Ill get lucky and someone will buy that margarita machine for me off my Amazon list so I can enjoy a frozen beverage as I float in my pool and giggle at your tweets.

Why did you sleep with him even though you knew he had a wife? one Twitter user asked Ms Daniels.

Why did he invite me to his room, take off his clothes and corner me when I came out of the bathroom even though he knew he had a wife? she replied.

You could have turned him down but you didnt [and] you knew he had a wife, another account holder said.

To which Ms Daniels simply replied, so did he.

In one tweet she noted that Mr Trump was on his third wife and that he was cheating with me and many others.

So you knew he is married yet you proceeded. So you are a cheater, one Twitter user told Ms Daniels.

Yep. The sorcery of my magic voodoo vag was too much for that poor little man and it forced him to forget all about his vows, take his clothes off and corner me. Its ALLLL my fault, she said mockingly.

The grand jury looking into the evidence of the alleged hush money payments will reportedly not vote this week on if an indictment should be handed down, according to WNBC.

The jury will reportedly not meet on Wednesday and hear evidence regarding other investigations on Thursday, meaning a decision on the fate of the former commander-in-chief this week is very unlikely.
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Former president Donald Trump returned to his old position that mail-in ballots are used to cheat after he had previously told his supporters that they needed to change our thinking about the voting practice.

The former president criticised the use of mail-in ballots on his networking platform Truth Social.

The Democrats used Covid inspired Mail In Ballots to CHEAT, he said. Even Jimmy Carters Commission said that Mail In Ballots will lead to massive cheating, which they they have. France, and others, gave up on them  MASSIVE FRAUD. Now they are using PROSECUTORS to CHEAT  No shame. They are the lowest of the low!

The former president repeatedly criticised mail-in votig throughout the 2020 presidential election, despite the fact he voted by mail himself. Republicans have historically preferred using mail-in ballots, but Mr Trumps critiques have led to many more Republicans opposing the practice.

Mr Trumps words come despite the fact that earlier this month, he said Republicans should embrace mail-in voting after Democrats used the practice in the 2022 midterm election.

Republicans must compete using every lawful means to win, Mr Trump said when he gave the closing speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference recently. That means swamping the left with mail-in votes, early votes & Election Day votes. Have to do it. We have to change our thinking because some bad things happened.

The former president has previously called for Republicans to revert to handmarked paper ballots and to reduce early voting.

We used to have paper ballots, he said in a rally in Davenport, Iowa, earlier this month. We didn't have mail-in you know, mail them in anytime you want.

Mr Trump has also called for requiring an identification card to vote.

During his rally in Waco, Texas, he repeated his lies that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from him.
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Donald Trump made a series of Truth Social posts in the early hours of Monday morning  hours before the grand jury investigating the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels is poised to next meet in Manhattan.

In a sign the former president could be losing sleep over his potential looming criminal indictment, he was furiously sharing posts until 3.30am ET complaining about everything from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs probe to mail-in ballots and his political rival Ron DeSantis.

In one post, Mr Trump accused the Biden administration of being involved in the investigation into the payments to adult film star Ms Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.

Remember, the DOJ is running the local Manhattan D.A.s prosecution, they just dont want their fingerprints on it. They placed a TOP person in the Office! he claimed.

In another, he repeated his derogatory nickname for Ms Daniels  and also managed to spell her name wrong.

I won a Federal lawsuit for almost $500,000 against Stormy Horseface Danials. Never had an affair with her, and would never have wanted to! he claimed.

Mr Trump also made a return to one of his favourite, longrunning gripes  mail-in ballots  claiming that they are a MASSIVE FRAUD.

When sharing that post, the former president appeared to forget his comments earlier this month where he performed a sudden backflip over the voting method and urged his followers to get on board.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in early March, Mr Trump said it was time to change our thinking on mail-in voting  claiming they have no choice but to try to beat Democrats at their own game.

In a final Truth Social post at around 3.30am ET on Monday, Mr Trump shared a clip from a Fox News interview with Steve Hilton in which the political commentator gave Mr DeSantis a new nickname.

Ron Dukakis, Mr Trump wrote  a reference to Democrat Michael Dukakis.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The name marks just the latest nickname tried and tested by Mr Trump as he continues to take aim at the Florida governor  a onetime ally believed to be his biggest Republican competition in the 2024 race.

Mr Trumps latest Truth Social rants come as the Manhattan grand jury could next meet as soon as Monday in the hush money case.

Manhattan prosecutors have been investigating whether Mr Trump falsified the Trump Organizations business records when Mr Trumps former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made a payment of $130,0000 to Ms Daniels days before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors claim that the money was used to silence Ms Daniels about an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has long denied having an affair with the adult film star.

Mr Trumps former fixer and personal attorney Cohen was convicted of tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations related to the payments to Ms Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

The former president claimed he was going to be arrested last Tuesday (21 March) in the case and called on his supporters to protest.

But Tuesday came and went with no indictment and the grand jury did not hear the case on 22 and 23 March as had been expected, pushing back any potential indictment.

Now, Monday (27 March) is the next time the panel could hear the case as, typically, it has been meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

At least one more witness is expected to appear and Cohen could also be called back to the stand as a rebuttal witness before the grand jury will vote on whether or not Mr Trump will make history as the only former or current US president to ever be indicted on criminal charges.
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A Mongolian boy born in the US has been named as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism by the Dalai Lama.

The faiths spiritual leader has been pictured with the eight-year-old boy taking part in a ceremony in Dharamshala in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh  where the Dalai Lama, 87, lives in exile  recognising him as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, according to The Times.

Mongolian media reports suggest the child is one of a pair of twin boys named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar, sons of Altannar Chinchuluun and Monkhnasan Narmandakh, a university mathematics professor and a national resources conglomerate executive, respectively.

The boys grandmother, Garamjav Tseden, is meanwhile a former member of parliament.

The move to acknowledge him as the rebirth of Buddhisms spiritual leader in Mongolia is likely to anger China, which has previously insisted it will only recognise Buddhist leaders who its own special government-approved appointees have chosen.

The development was reportedly met with a mixture of excitement and apprehension in Mongolia, with the likely animosity of Beijing considered cause for concern.

In 1995, when the Dalai Lama named a new Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in the faith, the child was swiftly arrested by Chinese authorities and replaced with a candidate of their own.

Fears persist that something similar could happen when the Dalai Lama himself eventually passes away, an event he has predicted will not take place on Chinese-controlled territory, indicating that his successor could emerge from another country in which Tibetan Buddhism is practised such as India, Nepal, Bhutan or Mongolia.

In a prelude to the present excitement, the spiritual leader visited Mongolia in 2016 and announced that a new incarnation of the Jetsun Dhampa had been born and that the search was underway to find him.

China reacted angrily to that visit and threatened Ulaanbaatar with diplomatic repercussions if it allowed him to return.

The eventual unveiling ceremony in question is understood to have taken place in Dharamshala on 8 March in front of an audience of around 600 worshippers.

We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today, the Dalai Lama told his followers.

His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara. One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious.

The Dalai Lama was himself recognised as a reincarnation of the faiths previous leader in 1937 when he was just two years old.

Mao Zedongs communist forces occupied his native Tibet in 1950 and he was forced to flee Lhasa nine years later following a failed uprising.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 in honour of his efforts to promote linguistic and cultural autonomy for his mountain homeland in the face of Chinese oppression.

Beijing, in turn, considers him a dangerous separatist and has banned his portrait from being displayed in public, although many Chinese Tibetans still revere him.
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French diners were filmed sipping from glasses of wine and using their phones as a fire raged in the background during protests against Emmanuel Macrons retirement age plans.

In a viral video posted on TikTok, diners at Place de la Victoire, in the southern wine-growing region of Bordeaux, appeared unphased as they glanced at the flames, scrolled on their phones and drank wine.

A number of fires have been started by demonstrators in recent days, as people protested against the president pushing through a bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 last week.

It is reported that more than a million people took to the streets across France on Thursday after Mr Macron made the change using controversial executive powers, meaning he did not permit a vote in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.

He has argued the changes to the retirement age are a necessity to keep the pension budget from running into deficit.

In response, protesters set fire to Bordeauxs historic town hall last week as part of the protests, though the blaze was quickly put out by firefighters.

Across France, around 80 people were arrested by police and 123 police personnel and gendarmes were injured, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said. He said 12,000 security forces had been deployed on Thursday, with 5,000 of these stationed in Paris.

Alongside the protests, there have been widespread strikes that have involved transport workers, teachers, rubbish collectors and oil refinery workers.

Meanwhile, King Charles was forced to postpone a state visit to the country, which was due to start on Sunday over security concerns caused by the protests.

President Macron on Friday condemned the violence and said security forces have worked in an exemplary manner.
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Ukraine's ground forces commander has said that Kyiv is planning its next move after Moscow shifted the focus of its offensive from a flagging assault on the eastern city of Bakhmut to another town further south, described as post-apocalyptic.

The Ukrainian military aims to wear down Russian forces as much as possible before launching a counteroffensive in the coming weeks or months  seeking to end the all-out invasion launched by Russian president Vladimir Putin 13 months ago.

Ukrainian ground forces commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week that the counterattack could come "very soon", visited frontline troops in the east on Monday and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.

Defending the small city in the industrialised Donbas region that Russia has tried to seize for months was a "military necessity", he said, praising Ukrainian resilience in "extremely difficult conditions".

"We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation".

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka, a smaller town 55 miles further south, could become a "second Bakhmut" as Russia turns its attention there. Both towns have been reduced to rubble in fighting that both sides have called a "meat grinder".

"I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city's military administration. Only around 2,000 of a pre-war population of 30,000 remain and he urged them to leave.

A Ukrainian military video showed smoke billowing from ruined apartment blocks and dead soldiers on open ground and in trenches in Bakhmut.

Two people were killed and 29 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of smouldering debris and vowed that "Ukraine will not forgive" such attacks. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

Inside Russia, the defence ministry said it had downed a Ukrainian drone on Sunday, adding three people were injured and apartment blocks were damaged in the attack south of Moscow.

Kyiv does not generally comment on reports of attacks inside Russia. The latest reported attack, on the town of Kireyevsk, in Tula region 140 mile south of Moscow, appeared to be one of the closest yet to the Russian capital.

As the invasion Mr Putin launched to "demilitarise" Ukraine has flagged, he and other top Russian officials have played up the prospect the war could escalate to involve nuclear weapons: on Saturday he said he had struck a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.

The Belarus plan, while not unexpected, is one of Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals yet and a warning to Nato over its military support for Ukraine, which has called for a meeting of the UN Security Council in response.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible," Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.

"Nato is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own."

Mr Putin likened his Belarus plan to the United States stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting that Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.

However, Ms Lungescu said Mr Putin's non-proliferation pledge and his description of US weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark.

"Russia's reference to Nato's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. Nato allies act with full respect of their international commitments," she added in a statement.

"Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments."

Ukraine's security chief, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russia's plan would destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow.

Others condemning Mr Putin's plan included Lithuania, which said it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk, while EU policy chief Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to host the weapons and threatened more sanctions.

Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging point for the latter's invasion of Ukraine last year.

Experts see Russia's move as significant since it had been proud, until now, of not having deployed nuclear weapons outside its borders, unlike the United States. This may be the first time since the mid-1990s that it plans to do so.

The United States played down concerns about Russia's planned deployment.

"I can tell you we've seen nothing that would indicate Mr Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way whatsoever in Ukraine," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told broadcaster CBC on Sunday.

"And I can also tell you that we haven't seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture."

Tactical nuclear weapons are those used to make specific gains on a battlefield, rather than those capable of wiping out cities. It is unclear how many such weapons Russia has, since the topic is still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.

Mr Putin asserted on Sunday that Western powers were building a new "axis" similar to the partnership between Germany and Japan during World War Two, while denying Russia was building a military alliance with China.

That was the reprise of a theme that has figured in his portrayal of the war as Moscow's fight against a Ukraine in the grip of supposed Nazis, abetted by Western powers menacing Russia. Ukraine rejects these as spurious pretexts for a war of imperial conquest.

Reuters
 Close Putin visits Russian troops in Ukraines Kherson and Luhansk regions

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Thousands have been evacuated from their homes in the Russian city of Belgorod after an undetonated bomb was found.

Over 3,000 people were evacuated on Saturday two days after Russia accidentally dropped a bomb on the same city, which is located about 25 miles from the border with Ukraine.

It is not known if the bomb came from the same aircraft. However, the undetonated device was found in the same area as the bomb that was accidentally dropped on Thursday evening.

Local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov said that 17 apartment buildings had to be cordoned off within a radius of 200 metres of the undetonated bomb.

At least two people were injured after the bomb was dropped on Thursday evening, which left a crater of about 20 metres wide.

Buildings were destroyed and a car was blown on to the roof of a nearby shop.

The Russian defence ministry admitted that one of its fighter jets had accidentally discharged aircraft ordnance over the city.
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Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky handed out medals to troops in southeastern Zaporizhzhia, the latest stage of his tour of frontline regions, as Kyivs forces seek to break the back of Russias winter offensive before starting their own.

It was Mr Zelenskys third visit to the front line in less than a week. The president also discussed nuclear safety with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief, Rafael Grossi, who also travelled to the area, home to Europes biggest nuclear power plant. The plant has been occupied by Russian forces for the last year, with Kyiv having regularly raised concerns about its condition  although there is no immediate danger.

Vladimir Putin and other officials from Moscow have sought to play up the prospect of the war escalating to involve nuclear weapons and over the weekend Mr Putin said he had struck a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Both Ukraine and its Western allies have reacted angrily to the announcement, with a spokesperson from the German Foreign Ministry calling the announcement irresponsible and escalatory.

[This is] another attempt at nuclear intimidation and we consider this rhetoric to be irresponsible and expressly reject it, Andrea Sasse told reporters in Berlin. Ukraine has called for a meeting of the UN Security Council over the announcement and Lithuania said it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk. Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging point for the invasion of Ukraine last year.

It comes following reports in German media that the 18 Leopard 2 tanks promised by Berlin to support Ukraine have been handed over at the Ukrainian border, with 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also reached the country.

On the ground in eastern Ukraine, Kyivs troops shut the eastern town of Avdiivka  south of the city of Bakhmutl which has seen some of the most vicious fighting so far  to non-military personnel on Monday, describing it as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Ukrainian ground forces commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week that a counterattack against Russian forces could come very soon, visited frontline troops in the east and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.

Defending the small city in the industrialised Donbas region that Russia has tried to seize for months was a military necessity, said General Syrskyi, praising Ukrainian resilience in extremely difficult conditions.

We are calculating all possible options for the development of events, and will react adequately to the current situation.

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka could become a second Bakhmut as Russia turns its attention there. Both towns have been reduced to rubble in fighting that both sides have called a meat grinder.

I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies, said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the citys military administration. Only around 2,000 of a pre-war population of 30,000 remain and he urged them to leave.

Inside Russia, residents of Kireyevsk, around 140 miles south of Moscow, told Reuters of their anger over damage from what the defence ministry said was a Ukrainian drone. The ministry said three people were injured and apartment blocks were hit. It was among the closest such incidents to the Russian capital so far.

We were used to seeing these things only online but now we've felt it ourselves. Now we know how it is, 62-year-old Kireyevsk resident Yuri Ovchinnikov said as Russian soldiers combed the area around the damaged buildings.

Kyiv does not officially claim such attacks and there has been no word from the Ukrainian military.

Two people were killed and 32 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. President Zelensky posted a video of smouldering debris and vowed that Ukraine will not forgive such attacks. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

Elsewhere, Hungarys parliament approved a bill on Monday to allow Finland to join Nato once its application has been ratified by all 30 members of the alliance. Finland and Sweden asked to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance last year in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Although Finlands bid has now been approved, the Swedish bill is still stranded in the Hungarian parliament and has faced opposition from Turkey. The bill on Finlands accession to the alliance passed 182 to six.

Reuters contributed to this report
 Close Israeli protesters light fire and block highway as Netanyahu sacks minister

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Three arrests were made after far-right groups attacked Arabs during pro-government protests in Israel, as Benjamin Netanyahu delayed an incendiary power grab which would see politicians given a greater say in the courts.

Police said dozens of members of the extremist right-wing La Familia group were filmed attacking several Arabs in Jerusalem, in one case savagely beating a taxi driver and causing damage to his car.

Monday night saw clashes between opposing groups of protesters, who were out in their thousands on the streets of Israels major cities for a second night despite the prime ministers attempt to diffuse the anger over his proposed judicial reform.

Mr Netanyahu in a prime-time speech on Monday night acknowledged the divisions roiling the nation and announced a monthlong delay for the legislation, saying he wanted to avoid civil war and seek a compromise with political opponents.

Opposition parties have started building teams to negotiate an alternative to the ruling right-wing coalitions reforms, which would give Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nations judges, among other measures which critics say will weaken Israels system of checks and balances.
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Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a delay to controversial judicial reforms in the wake of mass protests across the country.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, Mr Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address. Striking a more conciliatory tone than in previous statements about the plan, he said he was determined to pass legislation to overhaul the judiciary but called for an attempt to achieve broad consensus.

Having faced weeks of protest over the reforms, Mr Netanyahu has come under extreme pressure to act in the past 48 hours. Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside the Knesset (Israels parliament) on Monday, while workers launched a nationwide strike aimed at halting the reforms.

Departing flights from the countrys main international airport were grounded in Tel Aviv, and universities shut their doors after Israels largest trade union, the Histadrut, called for its 800,000 members to stop work. Diplomats also walked off the job at embassies. In the wake of the announcement by Mr Netanyahu, the strike action  which had threatened to grind the countrys economy to a halt  was called off.

Some protest leaders said demonstrations would continue despite the announcement. Dr Shikma Bressler, one of the main leaders of the movement, said: The statements of the prime minister and his extremist partners are an admission of their intention to bring the dictatorship laws back to the table in the next parliamentary session, harming the economy and the security of the country.

As long as the legislation continues and is not shelved, we will be on the streets.

A pause in the legislation helps ease tensions and buy Mr Netanyahu some time to find a compromise. But there is no guarantee that it will end the crisis. Mr Netanyahus coalition is the most right-wing in Israeli history, and hardliners want to push the reforms through.

The security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir  leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, which is part of Mr Netanyahus coalition  said in a statement that he had agreed to delay the governments overhaul of the judiciary in exchange for a promise that a vote on it would take place after the forthcoming parliamentary recess if no agreement was reached in the interim.

Mr Ben-Gvir said the delay would allow time for a compromise agreement to be reached with the political opposition. But he said that if a deal is not reached, the package will be approved in the summer session, which begins on 30 April.

The party also said that Mr Netanyahu had agreed to the formation of a civil national guard to be controlled by Mr Ben Gvir, in a move that has worried opposition parties.

If no compromise is reached, with the parties saying they will go into the process with an open mind, Mr Netanyahu still runs the risk of angering his hardline coalition partners such as Mr Ben-Gvir  potentially threatening the stability of his government and risking the possibility of new elections.

The reforms would allow for a simple majority of 61 in the 120-seat Knesset to override almost any Supreme Court ruling, and for politicians to have more say on the justices appointed to the bench.

Critics say the changes would afford the government too much power and erode the rule of law. It has also not been lost on those opposed to the bill that Mr Netanyahu is facing trial on corruption charges (which he denies).

The government has said that judicial reforms are required to prevent overreach by the courts.

Protesters in Jerusalem take part in a rally against the Israeli governments plans to overhaul the justice system (Getty)

Any new election brought about by coalition infighting relating to the reforms would be likely to focus once more on Mr Netanyahus suitability to govern while he faces trial.

Protests have been taking place for weeks since the proposals were announced on 4 January, but events at the weekend created a new flashpoint.

On Sunday night, tens of thousands of people burst onto the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime ministers decision to fire his defence minister for calling for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting The country is on fire, people lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway, causing it to close, along with many others across Israel, for several hours.

Demonstrators gathered again on Monday outside the Knesset, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners. Large demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Haifa and other Israeli cities drew thousands more. Opposition to the judicial reforms has sparked some of the largest street protests in Israels history.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who had joined a stream of people heading to the protest outside the Knesset. Im here for the fight to the end.

Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has come under pressure to act amid widespread protests (AP)

Israels president, Isaac Herzog, has repeatedly spoken out against the reforms. For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately, he wrote on Twitter on Monday. Mr Herzogs position is largely ceremonial, and he is expected to stand above politics. His intervention highlights the unease and division these proposed reforms have caused.

Mr Netanyahus announcement that he had decided to dismiss the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for opposing the plans brought this anger quickly to the surface. A day earlier, Mr Gallant had made a televised appeal for the government to halt the reforms, warning that the deep split that had opened up in Israeli society was affecting the military and threatening national security.

Israeli police stand guard as protesters gather outside Israels parliament (AFP via Getty)

With the army reinforcing units in the occupied West Bank after a year of unrelenting violence that has killed more than 250 Palestinian gunmen and civilians and more than 40 Israelis, the removal of the defence minister fed accusations that the government was sacrificing the national interest for its own.

During chaotic scenes in the Knesset early on Monday, opposition members of parliament attacked Simcha Rothman, the committee chair who has shepherded the bill, with cries of Shame! Shame!

This is a hostile takeover of the state of Israel. No need for Hamas, no need for Hezbollah, one legislator was heard saying to Mr Rothman as the constitution committee approved a key bill to go forward for ratification. The law is balanced and good for Israel, Mr Rothman said.

A no-confidence motion brought forward by opposition parties was also defeated in parliament early on Monday, in a sign that the fight over these reforms is not yet settled  for either side.

Thousands of travellers going through Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv faced severe travel disruption after airport staff joined the walkout earlier on Monday.

All departing flights from Israels international airport were ordered not to take off, while incoming flights were forced to land at alternative airports. Flightradar24 reported 134 delays and 29 cancelled flights.

I ordered the immediate halt of take-offs at the airport, the chair of the Israel Airport Authority workers committee, Pinchas Idan, had said.

A flight departing from Abu Dhabi for Tel-Aviv had to make an immediate U-turn on Monday morning. The Etihad flight was told to make its way back while flying over Saudi Arabia.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
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Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Israel after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister and his counsel general in New York resigned.

The country has faced weeks of mass protest over controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary.

Mr Netanyahu fired his defence minister on Sunday after the former army general called for a halt to the divisive reforms, drawing concerns internationally, including from the United States.

Yoav Gallant, a senior member of Mr Netanyahus ruling party, called for the changes to be paused until after next months Independence Day holidays.

He said he was concerned about Israels national security, saying: The victory of a single side, whether it be in the halls of the Knesset [Israels parliament], or on the streets of our cities, will lead to a loss for the state of Israel.

On Saturday, he said: I declare loudly and publicly, for the sake of Israels security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process should be stopped.

Demonstrators wave national flags during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reforms outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Netanyahus office did not provide any further details, but his public diplomacy minister said Mr Gallant was told of his sacking after being summoned to the PMs office, with Mr Netanyahu expressing he no longer had faith in Mr Gallant as defence minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant a day after he broke ranks (AFP via Getty Images)

In a statement after he was sacked, Mr Gallant said: The security of the state of Israel has always been and will always remain the mission of my life.

Leader of the opposition Yair Lapid described the sacking of Mr Gallant as a new low for the government.

Mr Lapid added: Netanyahu can fire Gallant, but he cant fire reality or fire the people of Israel who are fronting up to resist the coalitions madness.

Israels counsel general in New York Asaf Zamirfol resigned following the dismissal of Yoav Gallant, saying it was time for him to join the fight for Israels future.

Thousands of people turned out to protest in central Tel Aviv on Sunday night, and pro-democracy protesters also gathered near Mr Netanyahus home in Jerusalem.

They waved flags and reportedly chanted: Democracy! We wont be Hungary.

Leaders of the protest accused Mr Netanyahu of acting like a dictator and threatening the security of Israel.

Protesters chanted for democracy (AFP via Getty Images)

Tensions were already high over the right-wing coalition governments contentious plan to limit the powers of the judiciary.

It includes enabling parliament to overrule decisions made by the Supreme Court - a move which has been criticised by opponents who say it will undermine the independence of the judiciary, and could be used for political ends.

Mr Netanyahu insists that the measures are being brought in to stop the courts overreaching their powers, and that the legislation was voted for by the public in the last election.

The US issued a statement saying it continue[s] to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible.

We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship, Ms Watson said.

Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.

As protesters poured into the streets, police used water cannon to push them back from Mr Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since the beginning of the year, protesters lit several bonfires on a main highway.

The protests dwindled as the night went on, and eventually police forcefully removed a smaller crowd that had refused to leave.

Inon Aizik, 27, said he came to demonstrate outside Mr Netanyahus private residence in central Jerusalem because bad things are happening in this country. He called the judicial overhaul a quick legislative blitz.

It was not immediately clear whether the protests would affect the governments tactics. At least three Likud ministers said publicly that it was time to reevaluate their strategy and they would support halting the legislation if Mr Netanyahu decided to do so. The head of the parliamentary committee deciding on the legislation said discussions would continue on Monday.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned that Israel was in danger of falling apart as protests swept the country.

Speaking to Israeli media he said: It doesnt matter who is right...the reform is simply not relevant. What is relevant is preserving our country as a unified, functional country. He urged protesters to demonstrate without bloodshed.

A group of universities also announced a general strike starting from Monday morning, in response to the governments judicial overhaul.

The crisis comes as Israels security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter celebrations.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 250 Palestinian fighters and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and foreigners have been killed by Palestinian attackers.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Thousands of people took to the streets of Israel to protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus controversial reforms to the countrys judicial system on Sunday 26 March.

Chanting the country is on fire, demonstrators gathered outside Mr Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem to demand the draft legislation be withdrawn, only to be dispersed by police water cannons. Bonfires were meanwhile lit along Tel Avivs biggest motorway, forcing road closures and causing traffic mayhem.

On Monday, the protests continued, while Israels largest union, Histadrut, which represents 700,000 workers across a huge variety of professions, called for an immediate general strike. Universities closed their doors until further notice and flights from Tel Avivs Ben Gurion airport were grounded.

Finally conceding defeat  albeit temporarily  Mr Netanyahu gave a speech that evening acknowledging the divisions and announcing a month-long delay to the vote on the legislation until the next parliamentary session, saying he wanted to avoid a civil war and pledging further negotiation, a move that saw the strike averted.

Mr Netanyahus proposals, which have caused controversy since their unveiling on 4 January, would allow for a simple majority of 61 in the 120-seat Knesset to override almost any Supreme Court rulings and to allow politicians to have more say on the justices appointed to the bench. Protests over the legislation have been a constant feature of over the last two months.

The PM and his allies in what is the most right-wing government in Israels history, insist their plans are simply intended to restore the balance between the judiciary and executive and rein in what they regard as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics warn the overhaul would concentrate too much power in the hands of the government. It is also note that this comes at a time when Mr Netanyahu himself happens to be on trial for corruption. He denies all the charges levelled against him.

His defence minister, Yoav Gallant, spoke out against the reforms on Saturday 25 March, prompting the PM to dismiss him on Sunday, a decision that ignited the latest blaze of angry demonstrations.

Before Mr Netanyahu backed down, Israels ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, had added his voice to the calls to halt the reforms, saying in a statement: We have seen very difficult scenes tonight. I appeal to the prime minister, the members of the government and members of the coalition: all the nation is surrounded by concerns. Security, economy, society, all under threat. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you; the eyes of all Jews are on you; the eyes of the world are on you.

For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately This is not a moment of politics, this is a moment of leadership and responsibility.

Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

The firing of the defence miniser, at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a final straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut. Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss, Arnon Bar-David, the group's head, said on Monday. Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss.

In security-obsessed Israel, Mr Gallant, a gruff retired general, was among the most respected members of the new Cabinet. By attacking the man responsible for national security, Mr Netanyahu may have crossed a red line  and unwittingly united this deeply polarised country by potentially compromising national security  one of the few areas of consensus.

Condemning the chaos, opposition leader Yair Lapid said: Weve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we dont know what to say to our children about their future in this country. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.

He also called for Mr Gallants reinstatement as defence minister, saying he had been sacked for one reason only  he was telling the truth.

Former PM Naftali Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Mr Netanyahus, told Israeli Army Radio in an interview on Monday morning that the county was in a landslide of losing control and observed: We havent been in such a dangerous situation in 50 years.

Israelis opposed to Mr Netanyahu's judicial overhaul block a highway in the early hours of Monday morning (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Thousands of protesters also gathered outside the Knesset on Monday, where the PM survived an early no-confidence vote by 59 to 53.

Mr Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night beforehand in consultations. The architect of the reforms, justice minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, was long a holdout, promising he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the PMs decision regarding suspending the legislation.

Still, Mr Netanyahu's hardline allies pressed him to continue on. We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy, his national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said.

The pause in the legislation should help to ease the tensions and buy Mr Netanyahu some time to find a compromise. But if he ultimately backs down, he runs the risk of angering his nationalist coalition partners  potentially threatening the stability of his government and risking the possibility of new elections.

Any new vote would once again likely focus again on Mr Netanyahus suitability to govern while he faces legal issues.

The US, a key Israeli ally, is watching the situation with deep concern, the White House said in a statement, urging Israels leaders to remember their democratic values and find a compromise as soon as possible, adding that American support for Israel remains ironclad.

Additonal reporting by agencies
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A passenger opened an emergency exit door on a Delta Airlines flight on Saturday as the plane pulled away from the gate at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), police said.

The man escaped via the deployed slide and jumped onto a baggage cart before being detained.

He had been traveling on a Delta Air Lines flight 1714 from Los Angeles to Seattle when he got out of his seat around 10am on Saturday.

Fellow passengers told Fox 11 that the passenger asked a flight attendant: What do I do now? before he was asked to sit down.

He then ran to one of the doors, turned the latch, and leapt onto the emergency slide which had deployed.

He then got into the passenger seat of a baggage vehicle and was detained by luggage workers until police arrived, passengers told the TV station.

The aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff when the passenger exited the aircraft and was initially detained by Delta staff ahead of being arrested by local law enforcement, Delta Airlines said in a statement on Sunday.

LAX Police Captain Karla Rodriguez later told The Associated Press that the man was not arrested but instead transported to a local hospital for mental evaluation. She added that the FBI was also notified.

The plane returned to the gate and passengers were put on another plane, according to Delta.
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British Airways has cancelled at least 32 flights to and from London Heathrow on Friday 31 March alone, the first day of a strike by security staff.

Around 1,400 members of the Unite union working in security at Heathrow airport, mainly at Terminal 5, are walking out from Friday 31 March until Easter Sunday, 9 April.

Heathrows management says: Our contingency plans will keep the airport operating as normal throughout.

But in an apparent bid to reduce the number of passengers passing through security, British Airways has grounded dozens of short-haul flights that would normally operate at Terminal 5 over the first weekend of the action.

Friday 31 March, Saturday 1 April and Sunday 2 April are likely to be the days of maximum pressure at Britains busiest airport, with many schools breaking up ahead of Easter.

The Independent has compared the BA schedule for 31 March with the next normal Friday, 14 April; operations on Good Friday, 7 April, follow a different pattern.

Among domestic destinations, Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh and Glasgow are seeing cancellations.

In Europe, services to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Nice and Stockholm are affected.

Passengers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to be flown to their destination on the same day as originally booked, including on another airline if BA has no availability.

In addition, British Airways has taken its outbound flights from Heathrow off sale for the coming weekend.

Passengers seeking flights at ba.com on 31 March to destinations that are normally served from Terminal 5  including New York, Singapore and Dubai  are showing no availability.

New York passengers are being offered availability on American Airlines, BAs partner, flying from Heathrow Terminal 3. To Dubai and Singapore, prospective travellers are being told to use Qatar Airways via Doha.

The flights have not been cancelled, and the corresponding inbound flights on 31 March and 1 April are still selling. The aim is to reduce the number of outbound passengers and ease pressure on security queues at Heathrow Terminal 5.

Prospective passengers to many other destinations are being offered options from London City or Gatwick airports instead, or told to travel before 31 March or from 3 April onwards.

The Independent has asked British Airways for a comment. BA flights from Heathrow Terminal 3, including to Algiers, Gibraltar and Oslo, are unaffected.

Unites general secretary, Sharon Graham, says the Heathrow security staff are on poverty wages and unable to make ends. Heathrow says the security staff have been given a 10 per cent pay rise plus further enhancements.

But talks broke down last week and no further negotiations are planned before the strike begins.
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As the Easter holidays get under way, so does a strike by security staff at the main base for British Airways, London Heathrow Terminal 5.

The airline has been told to ground 32 of its planned daily departures. BA has also taken outbound flights off sale, even on services where some seats are empty.

Around 1,400 members of the Unite union working in security at Heathrow airport have walked out from Friday 31 March until Easter Sunday, 9 April. The majority work at security checkpoints at Terminal 5, with others staffing control posts across the airport where vehicles go airside.

After last-ditch talks on 30 March failed, Unites regional co-ordinating officer, Wayne King, said: Heathrow airport has thrown away the opportunity to avoid strikes.

The strike action will undoubtedly result in severe delays and disruption to passengers across the airport but this dispute is a direct result of Heathrow airports stubborn refusal to pay its workers fairly.

But a Heathrow spokesperson said: We will not let these unnecessary strikes impact the hard-earned holidays of our passengers.

Our contingency plans will keep the airport operating as normal throughout. We are deploying 1,000 additional colleagues and the entire management team who will be in the terminals providing assistance to passengers over the busy Easter getaway.

Colleagues could have an above-inflation 10 per cent pay increase back-dated to 1 January and a lump sum payment of 1,150, but instead theyre left empty-handed by Unites actions.

Here are the key questions and answers.

What effect is the strike having?

Friday 31 March, Saturday 1 April and Sunday 2 April are likely to be the days of maximum pressure at Britains busiest airport, with many schools breaking up ahead of Easter.

Taking so many professional, trained staff out of the system at a time of peak demand is bound to have an effect. Heathrows management says: Our contingency plans will keep the airport operating as normal throughout. But the airport adds: As at any busy time, it may take a little longer than usual to get through security, but this will be well managed and kept flowing.

Terminal 5 is the only terminal affected  which means passengers on all other airlines should not face problems. Neither should British Airways passengers flying on the airlines relatively few flights from Heathrow Terminal 3.

But some BA flights have been cancelled?

Yes, in a bid to reduce the number of passengers passing through security, and therefore cut the scope for congestion, British Airways has been ordered to cancel 5 per cent of flights that would normally operate at Terminal 5 during the industrial action.

That amounts to 32 departures (16 round trips) on each day, affecting around 5,000 passengers per day.

On Friday 31 March, though, BA has cancelled an additional 40 flights (20 round trips), including some short-notice transatlantic cancellations.

Which destinations are affected, and what are passengers rights?

Among domestic destinations, Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle are seeing cancellations on British Airways.

In Europe, multiple services to Amsterdam, Nice, Stockholm and Zurich are axed, along with departures to a wide range of other destinations including Athens, Vienna and Palma de Mallorca.

One transatlantic link on Friday 31 March to each of Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Seattle and Washington DC has been grounded.

Passengers are entitled to be flown to their destination on the same day as originally booked, including on another airline if BA has no availability.

They cannot claim compensation under European air passengers rights rules because the cancellations are beyond the airlines control.

What other steps are being taken?

British Airways has taken its outbound flights from Heathrow off sale for the duration of the action. Passengers seeking flights at ba.com on 31 March to destinations that are normally served from Terminal 5  including New York, Singapore and Dubai  are seeing no availability.

New York passengers are being offered availability on American Airlines, BAs partner, flying from Heathrow Terminal 3. To Dubai and Singapore, prospective travellers are being told to use Qatar Airways via Doha.

Are passengers being given specific advice?

Yes. Unless you have been told your flight is cancelled, which is affecting a small number of BA departures, you can assume it will be operating normally. Heathrow airport says you should arrive no earlier than two hours before short-haul flights and three hours before long-haul flights.

There are concerns about passengers being unfamiliar with the security rules  and that the number of secondary searches could be high. Heathrow has implored passengers to be ready for security with their compliant liquids and electronics out of their hand luggage.

In a bid to reduce the number of bags going through security, British Airways says passengers who are booked with cabin baggage only can check in a case without paying extra.
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A strike by security guards at Heathrow will see British Airways cancel around 32 flights per day to and from the airport over the Easter weekend.

Friday will bring 10 days of strikes at the UKs busiest airport, with some 1,400 security guards with the Unite union set to walk out after talks to avert the industrial action failed last week.

Heathrow said it was putting contingency plans in place and drafting in 1,000 extra staff to help passengers over the holiday period, as well as its management team.

But British Airways has cancelled around 5 per cent of its flights during the industrial action and has stopped selling tickets for strike days. The cancellations fall on short-haul routes and the long-haul services are not affected.

A BA spokesman said: Following Heathrows requirement for us to reduce the number of passengers travelling during the period of its employees proposed strike action, weve regrettably had to make a small number of adjustments to our schedule.

Weve apologised to customers whose travel plans have been affected and have offered them a range of options, including rebooking on to a new flight with us or another airline, or requesting a full refund.

Our teams are continuing to work closely with Heathrow to ensure that our customers journeys run smoothly.

Most of the workers involved in the strike are employed as security officers at Terminal 5, which is used exclusively by British Airways. A smaller number work for the airports Campus security team, which operates control posts that give vehicles access to the airfield.

Passengers checking in at Heathrows Terminal 5 as schools closed for Easter last year (PA)

Airlines are being asked if they will voluntarily limit the number of passengers by offering flexible re-booking to customers travelling during the strike, and stopping sales of seats on flights departing Heathrow.

Heathrows management has said that pay talks can resume only if plans for the industrial action are suspended, and that security staff have been offered a 10 per cent pay rise plus further enhancements.

But Unite said the offer is in reality a real terms pay cut, with security staff currently paid as little as 24,000 a year following years of pay freezes and pay cuts. The unions general secretary Sharon Graham said the poverty wages meant staff were simply unable to make ends meet and were forced to take strike action due to need not greed.

A spokesperson for Heathrow said the airports management would not let these unnecessary strikes impact the hard-earned holidays of our passengers.

Our contingency plans will keep the airport operating as normal throughout, they said. We are deploying 1,000 additional colleagues and the entire management team, who will be in the terminals providing assistance to passengers over the busy Easter getaway.

As at any busy time, it may take a little longer than usual to get through security, but this will be well-managed and kept flowing.

Passengers can help us ensure they get the best start to their journeys by checking their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport, arriving at Heathrow no earlier than two hours before short-haul flights and three hours before long-haul flights, and by being ready for security with their compliant liquids and electronics out of their hand luggage.

Additional reporting by PA
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Two holidaymakers from Sussex, both aged 79, should have woken up on Monday morning on the first full day of their 10-day spring holiday in Tenerife.

Instead, after the travel giant Tui repeatedly misrepresented post-Brexit passport rules, Anne and Brian are at home in Hastings.

The couple  who wish to be known only by their first names  both have passports that are valid for their planned trip. But when they called in at the Hastings branch of Tui on Friday morning to go through the check-in process ahead of their flight on Sunday, they were wrongly told Annes passport was not valid for the trip.

Staff at the travel agency said nothing could be done and that they had lost the 1,700 cost of their holiday; another Tui representative later wrongly suggested that travel insurance might provide compensation.

In 2021, The Independent informed all the big UK airlines and holiday companies  including Tui  of the precise passport validity rules for British travellers to the European Union after Brexit:

On the day of entry to the EU, no more than 10 years since the issue date.

On the day of exit from the EU, at least three months remaining before the expiry date.

The evidence supplied by the Migration and Home Affairs Department of the European Commission made clear that the two conditions are independent of one another.

But the Tui travel agent said, incorrectly, that extra months added to a passport beyond 10 years do not count and that therefore they could not be used after nine years and nine months. With no possibility of obtaining a new passport in the time available, Anne was told she could not fly to the Spanish island.

The Independent has seen a copy of Annes passport and has verified that it is valid for travel outbound to anywhere in the European Union up to 25 April 2023 for a stay of up to 90 days, easily covering the duration of the holiday.

On Saturday, Annes daughter, Nicola, called Tuis customer service line on the couples behalf to challenge the decision.

The girl on the phone told us that due to Brexit, the extra months on any passport were now invalid, Nicola said.

She wasnt interested in hearing our evidence and kept on saying it was Brexit and we should Google it.

Nicola then contacted The Independent for confirmation that the couple could legally travel. Armed with that evidence, she called the customer service line on Saturday afternoon.

After a half-hour wait, an agent told her: Ive spoken to someone from our customer operations team who have also advised that the passport would not be valid.

I can only go by what they say, and the retail store also spoke to a different department who advised the same.

The agent also added the irrelevant suggestion: It sounds like the lead passenger will need to speak to their insurance for this.

In cases when holidaymakers do not have appropriate documentation, travel insurance will not pay out.

After this latest exchange, the couple reluctantly decided they did not wish to risk going to Gatwick despite knowing their passports were valid.

The flight was with Tui, which appeared to be applying its own mistaken rules across the company. So they concluded they would be turned away at the airport.

Late on Saturday evening, after The Independent contacted Tui on their behalf, Anne and Brian were called by customer operations at the company to be told they were clear to travel.

But by then they had accepted that they would not be able to take the holiday.

A spokesperson for Tui said: Our teams are trained to provide customers with factual and accurate information, on this occasion we did not do that. We are very sorry for the distress and inconvenience this has caused.

A full investigation is underway to establish the root cause of the incorrect information given and further training on passport validity will be given to all of our retail and call centre colleagues.

Once again we would like to express our sincere apologies for the incorrect information given.

Tui has agreed to refund the couple in full, including their pre-booked parking, and has offered a 200 voucher for a future holiday.

The couples experience, with different parts of the organisation insisting wrongly that the passport was not valid, suggests there may be many other Tui customers who have also been wrongly denied boarding.

The Independent has asked Tui if it will make efforts to check whether it has inadvertently denied boarding to others.
Benjamin Netanyahu says Donald Trumps decision to have dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes was wrong and horrible.

I thought it was horrible and I said so, I think its a big mistake. Its wrong, its wrong from every point of view, he told Piers Morgan.

Speaking with the British broadcaster, the Israeli prime minister discussed the doctrine and deep seated pattern of antisemitism.

Basically, people say, theres trouble in the world, I want to blame the Jews, they have a setback here, setback there - blame the Jews, he said.

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Humza Yousaf will succeed Nicola Sturgeon as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party after beating Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.

Mr Yousaf was the first South Asian and Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish government and his ascension comes after Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation in February.

Serving as Scottish health secretary since 2021, Mr Yousaf has been criticised over record A&E waiting times in the NHS.

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Benjamin Netanyahu defended what he called his democratic new judicial overhaul plan during his interview with Piers Morgan.

The Israeli prime ministers contentious plan to limit the powers of the judiciary has sparked protests across the country.

The move would enable parliament to overrule decisions made by the Supreme Court.

Speaking with the broadcaster in a pre-recorded interview in London, Netanyahu insisted that keeping things as they are would be the undemocratic option.

When you vote for a government, you want that government to govern. Right now, the powers of that government to govern are severely restricted, he said.

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Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of Israel early on Monday (27 March) in a spontaneous outburst of anger after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defence minister for challenging judicial overhaul plans.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Mr Netanyahus private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest deepens a months-long crisis over government plans to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass demonstrations, alarmed business leaders and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.

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Nashville police rushed to the scene of a deadly shooting at a Christian school on Monday, 27 March.

At least three children have died in the shooting at Covenant Presbyterian School, Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser said.

This clip, taken on Route 431 through the city, shows emergency services driving to the scene of the shooting.

The shooter was engaged by Metro Nashville Police Department and is now dead, the department confirmed.

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Dramatic CCTV footage shows a brave shopkeeper fighting off robbers trying to steal from a Shoreham convenience store.

Sussex Police say this clip shows Samuel Brown wrenching the till before assaulting the female staff member behind the counter.

However, she managed to fight him off, and informed her relative who chased Brown outside before he tackled him to the ground.

They managed to keep the 32-year-old detained until the police arrived.

Brown was jailed after pleading guilty to charges of robbery and two counts of assault.

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Spains first major wildfire of 2023 has scorched more than 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of forest in the Valencia region.

Footage shows emergency services battling the raging flames on Sunday (26 March), with 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters in an attempt to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver.

Ximo Puig, president of the Valencia region, said the fire was made more voracious by summer-like temperatures of 30C.

Around 1,500 people have been forced to leave their homes as the fire rages.

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Angolan authorities arrest two suspected suspected elephant poachers

SELL: The accused were eating the elephant meat when neighbours reported them to the police

By Gaspar Jindanji for Epito Reporter

Angolas Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) in Bengo Province bordering the capital city Luanda, detained two poachers for killing an elephant in the municipality of Pango Aluquem.

The detention took place this Monday due to complaints from people who saw the accused consuming and selling meat from the great mammal. The two, Jose Sebastiao and Malambo Castro, aged 28 and 30, respectively, countered the accusations by saying that they found the animal already dead and that they only enjoyed the meat and ivory in the company of other people from their community.

Jose Sebastiao and Malambo Castro also stated that the elephant in question was a calf, allegations refuted by environmentalist Julio Bravo who stated that the average lifespan of an elephant is 58 years and an individual of this species only has tusks when it reaches adulthood so it is impossible for a calf to have tusks the size found in the possession of the accused.

The provinces of Bengo and bordering Kwanza Norte have recorded the presence of some herds of elephants, and in some cases, individuals from these herds get lost and appear alone in residential areas, a fact that sometimes generates panic and uproar that require the intervention of environmentalists and specialists from the Civil Protection Services, as well as firefighters.

The SIC spokesperson in Bengo, Peterson Casul, stressed that all Ministry of the Interior services at the level of the two provinces are oriented to help environmental inspectors in combating poaching and other practices that harm the environment..

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.

Read the original story here:
EU ETS  :    ,             ...
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By Solomon Tjinyeka for Weekend Post

As a response to rampant vulture poisoning in Botswana and the wider Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) region in southern Africa, Birdlife Botswana has collaborated with three partners BirdWatch Zambia, BirdLife International & Birdlife Zimbabwe  to tackle wildlife poisoning which by extension negatively affects vulture populations.

The Director of Birdlife Botswana, Motshereganyi Kootshositse, revealed in an interview that the main goal of the European Union-funded project is to reduce vulture death related to poisoning, which spill over into other species within the KAZA region ecosystems.

He added that they have found out that some common reasons for poisoning wildlife are farmers targeting predators such as lions in retaliation to killing of their livestock. Vultures then feast on the poisoned carcass too and are harmed or die.

Another common incident is cross border poaching in the Chobe area as poachers will kill an elephant and poison its carcass targeting vultures because of their aerial circling alerting authorities about poaching activities.

He highlighted that Chobe district in northern Botswana has been selected as a pilot site as it has experienced frequent incidents of vulture poisoning in the past few months.

In August 2022 at least 50 endangered white-backed vultures were reported dead at Chobe National Park after feeding on a buffalo carcass laced with poison. In November of the same year another 43 white-backed vultures were found dead and two alive after feeding on a zebra suspected to have been poisoned. Other selected pilots sites are Kafue in Zambia and Hwange in Zimbabwe.

Kootshositse further explained they have established a national and regional Wildlife Poisoning Committee. He added that the Botswana national committee has engaged various stakeholders such as Crop Productions, Agro Chemicals, Department of Veterinary Services, Department of Wildlife and National Parks and other NGOs such as Raptors Botswana to come together and find a long-lasting solution to address wildlife poisoning in Botswana.

Lets have a strategy or a plan together to tackle wildlife poisoning, he stated.

He also noted there is a gap in the availability of data about vulture poisoning or wildlife in general.

If we have a central point for data, it will help in terms of reporting and advocacy, he stated. Kootshositse added that the regional committee comprises law enforcement officers such as BDF and Botswana police, village leadership such as Village Development Committee and Kgosi (Chiefs).

We need to join hands and protect the wildlife we have as this will increase our profile for conservation and this alone enhances our visitation and boosts our local economy, he noted.

Kootshositse said that Birdlife together with DWNP also addressed a series of meetings in some villages in the Chobe region recently. The purpose of kgotla (communal) meetings was to raise awareness on the conservation and protection of vultures in Chobe West communities.

After realising that vulture poisoning in the Chobe areas has become frequent, we realise that we need to do something about it. We did public awareness by addressing several kgotla meetings in some villages in the Chobe west, he stated.

He noted that next year they are going to have another round of consultations around the Chobe areas and the approach is to engage the community into the planning process.

Residents should be part of the plan of actions and we are working with farmers committee in the areas to address vulture poisoning in the area, he added

Kootshositse noted that in the last cases it was disheartening the incidents occurred three months apart. He added that for the first time they found that some of the body parts of some vultures were missing. He added harvesting of body parts of vultures is not a common practice in Botswana, although it is used in some parts of Africa.

We suspect that someone took advantage of the availability of carcasses and started harvesting their body parts.

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.

Read the original story here:
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By Solomon Tjinyeka for Weekend Post

In Botswana, the Mababe Zokotshama Community Trust which operates a controlled hunting concession in the Okavango Delta has found and removed hundreds illegal snares that are having a devastating impact on the local wildlife with deaths and severe injury to numerous endangered animals.

The Basarwa Trust, which generates community funds from international trophy hunting by selling their quota to hunting safari operators, is worried that the recent spike in wildlife snaring will have an impact on their hunting business.

A community escort guide from the Mababe Trust, Gomolemo Oduetse, revealed to this publication that since last year, they have become aware of an increase in snaring incidents in their areas.

Oduetse highlighted that following the spike in wildlife de-snaring operations were launched in areas of Mababe and Khwai villages which are all Wildlife Management Areas. This was a joint operation which was composed of government departments, Department of Wildlife and

National Parks, DWNP Anti-Poaching, DWNP Investigations, Botswana Police, DWNP K-9 Unit, and the Botswana Defence Force, as well as private entities including Great Plains Foundations, Connect and Wild Trust.

Oduetse added that an operation conducted last year between June and July unearthed that a

total of six wild dogs, one lioness, five hyenas and one zebra were reported to have been snared between December 2021 to July 2022 in the Khwai and Mababe areas. He added that from those reported, five wild dogs, one hyena and a lioness have been darted, snares removed and resulting wounds treated.

Oduetse also added that all the wild dogs in the report were from the same pack within the area, one that is monitored by Botswana Predators Conservation.

The operation has also uncovered a total of 52 snares in and around Khwai at appropriately 29 locations, while in Mababe a total of 56 snares were found and removed on the outskirts of the village at 42 locations and this brings a total snare removed to 108 at 71 locations.

Several other illegal activities were discovered such as small bird traps, mainly at the back of the staff quarters of tourist lodges, and a hidden stash of elephant tusks which was collected and turned over to the authorities.

Oduetse further noted that wildlife snaring is bad for the community trust which benefits from the hunting as it also affects the tourism sector. He also dismissed claims that some members of the community are engaging in snaring to make ends meet.

I dont think community members engage in wildlife snaring as we benefit from the funds collected by the Trust, he noted, adding that most snaring traps were found near lodges, alluding to the fact that people who work in the lodges are the ones involved in snaring.

Another report shared by Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (Wild Trust) Director Tico McNutt states that illegal activities such as bushmeat hunting, even in Botswanas valuable Wildlife Management Areas, are a threat to the countrys wildlife and economy. The report also stated that snaring in particular is an indiscriminate method of bushmeat hunting and can be very difficult to eliminate.

Botswana Predator Conservation Trust believes that the collective efforts of multiple stakeholders and concerned volunteers to patrol and remove snares was the first of its kind, and illustrates that collaboration between various governmental and non-governmental organisations with a concerned public can be effective in curbing illegal activities in Botswanas world renowned wildlife areas.

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.

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By Gaspar Jindanji for Epito Reporter

Angolas Criminal Investigation Services (SIC) and Public Prosecutors Officers (PGR), in the southeastern Cuando Cubango Province, seized more than one hundred small bundles of meat from different animals.

The animals are believed to have been slaughtered indiscriminately, in the woods of the municipalities of Cuito Cuanavale and Mavinga, by poachers who set up camps in those locations, for months. The meat is dried and packaged in bags of 50 and 100 kilograms and transported to the city of Menongue and other destinations.

Indicators from the Provincial Directorate for the Environment point to an increase in bushmeat poaching in recent times, a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that there is no environmental education, and high levels of poverty.

According to environmental specialists, the hunters who operate in the most diverse forests of the province have no notion of selectivity or sustainability in their practices, nor any notion of protected or endangered species, killing everything that comes their way including pregnant individuals and offspring, eager for easy profit.

The action of hunters is so intense that it is now possible to travel more than 700 kilometres in the interior of the province without seeing a single animal. Despite the fact that the province has two national parks and an area that is part of the Okavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, diverse species are increasingly disappearing.

At the Menongue markets, and in some famous places, such as Missombo and Maseka, it is common to see pans of meat from slaughtered animals almost every day, in a delicacy that is gaining more and more fans.

At the moment, SIC and PGM are working on identifying the type of animals that were slaughtered to typify the accusation. However, criminal specialists are of the opinion that the penalties in the law do nothing to reduce these practices on the side of those who slaughter and those who buy the animals with the purpose of marketing the meat and its derivatives.

In the premises of the Provincial Directorate for the Environment it is possible to see several specimens of elephant ivory and products from other large mammals that were also killed by poachers.

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.

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By Pedro Tchindele for Radio Ecclesia

The Alto Catumbela Forestry Centre in Angolas Benguela region is losing its vegetation cover, a consequence of the constant felling of trees for commercial logging purposes that are not replaced. Failing to plant seedlings in areas where trees have been felled, and demand for wood on the black market, are making the deforestation worse. These developments in recent years have raised concern among environmentalists, community leaders and the public administration. Data points to a devastation of more than a square kilometre a month. For now, the consequences are visible, with eucalyptus being the most felled tree species.

According to data from the community soba (leader), on average 100 trees are felled a day.

Speaking to the press at the end of the Council of Ministers, Antonio de Assis defended that, like other countries around the world, Angola must also exploit its forests - rationally - to feed into industry, create jobs for youth and income for families.

Pedro Tchindele visited the forestry centre and spoke to community leaders and conservationists about the situation. Listen to his full broadcast, in Portuguese, here:

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.
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By Tatira Zwinoira for Newsday in Zimbabwe

Legislators are calling on the government to quit the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in order for the trade and consumption of wildlife animals to go on unencumbered, owing it to increased human-wildlife conflict.

According to statistics from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), this comes as the countrys elephant population stands at over 100,000, against a capacity of 45,000.

During a recent Senate session, Senator Morgen Komichi of Harare East asked the Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry minister, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndhlovu, why the government couldnt abandon CITES.

CITES was enforced on July 1, 1975 to protect endangered wildlife animals globally.

Komichi said: My question is directed to the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Industry; in Zimbabwe, human-wildlife conflict is escalating mainly due to overpopulation of animals in the respective areas.

It has been the desire and wish of Zimbabweans to benefit from these animals in ivory trade and meat consumption so as to control the herds. We are aware that there is an organisation called CITES which does not allow us to do so. Why do we not quit CITES so that we can manage our animals without anyone managing us from afar?

Zimbabwes Parliament is split into two bodies, the Senate and the National Assembly, with the former being the upper house and latter being the lower. The Senate consists of 80 members while the National Assembly consists of 270.

The reason why legislators are seeking to abandon CITES is based on the commercial value of wild animals and their resources, as well as it being a potential meat source.

For example, concerning the nations 130-tonne ivory stockpile, the government of Zimbabwe estimates the value at US$600 million (530 million).

But, based on prices of ivory in a report from the Dutch organisation, the Wildlife Justice Commission, Zimbabwes ivory stockpile could be worth in the region of US$10.4 million (9.22 million).

This is based on an average price of US$80 (71) per kilogram for wholesale raw ivory sold in

two unnamed southern African countries referenced by the organisation in a 2020 report titled

Rapid Assessment of the Illegal Ivory Trade.

Could the minister apprise the nation of the benefits which we are getting from CITES  that will be very useful because I think it is now common cause that CITES does not serve our national interests, senator for Masvingo Tichinani Mavetera queried.

He said the world over is putting their nation first, you can go to the United States and it is the United States first.

Why should Zimbabwe be affected by policies that benefit other countries because we are not poachers? We have managed our resources and we should benefit from it.

The honourable minister (Ndhlovu) said we want to save the world. I think we should save Zimbabwe first, Mavetera said.

In response to the two senators, and others, Ndhlovu agreed that the country stood to benefit a lot from the wildlife in dealing with what he reported as rising human-wildlife conflict.

It was for the first time three years ago that within the CITES convention, a country raised a dispute, and that was Zimbabwe. It was on the basis that we felt that the issues of Zimbabwe were not being given the attention they deserve and this also applied to the whole southern

African region which holds more than 85% of the world elephant population, Ndhlovu said.

We have an option to walk out of CITES, but it is a position which we have to clearly consider with its merits and demerits whether it will solve the problems we have or not. The potential buyers of our products are members of CITES. They will not be in a position to purchase any if they are still within CITES. If moving out of CITES is a solution to our problems, we would have left CITES.

In light of this, he said efforts needed to become regional in influencing CITES to make considerations in allowing countries dealing with rising human-wildlife conflict to benefit from the resources from these animals.

Aside from that, the government is working on a policy which we are almost concluding and awaiting Cabinet approval. We believe that it is important as a government to consider options to compensate communities that are bearing the brunt of human-wildlife conflict, Ndhlovu said.

We are, at the moment, perhaps the only country in the region that still has not brought that as a policy and that policy, as I said, is awaiting Cabinet approval. We believe it will go a long way because it also utilises proceeds from wildlife, particularly from hunting so that we are able to respond to the increasing human/wildlife conflict.

At the 19th meeting of the Conference of Parties in Panama City, slated to take place next month from November 14 to 25, the government is preparing to be more aggressive in pushing for certain CITES considerations.

We will take a very strong position to advocate for CITES to consider strongly our position because the situation keeps getting worse from CITES to CITES and we know that as government, because of funding from certain so-called animal rights groups fail to consider reason and science, Ndhlovu said.

We are in the process of engaging them so that when we go there, we will speak with one voice.

He, however, admitted that although the country had benefited from CITES, as CITES had also benefited from Zimbabwe, mostly through sharing best practices in conservation of different natural resources and best practices in terms of international trade.

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAIDs VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organization Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.

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How can so many demonstrations accomplish so little? The Atlantics Moises Naim asked despairingly in 2014. He might be startled at current developments in Israel.

There, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus proposed judicial reforms have sparked massive and consequential protests. The reforms would remove judicial checks on the legislature and executive; many Israelis have said it would effectively impose a dictatorship. Tens of thousands of people have been blocking streets and demanding Netanyahus resignation. On Monday he finally agreed to delay the judicial changes.

This is not the first example of effective protest in recent history. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello was forced out of office in 2019 after massive street demonstrations against a range of corruption scandals. France is currently paralyzed by protests against raising the retirement age. Further back, the Civil Rights Movement used protests to highlight racial injustices and spurred legislation which ended legal segregation and disenfranchisement of Black people in the Jim Crow era.

Yet, despite such obvious successes, many people still denigrate protests and question its effectiveness. The public is generally skeptical of mass demonstrations in the US. Since the 2020 George Floyd protests against police brutality, Republicans have pushed laws allowing motorists to run over protesters without legal consequences. Democratic politicians like Barack Obama are much more positive about protest  though they often caution at the same time that protestors need to vote, as if worried that demonstrations will somehow distract people from democracy.

Part of the reason that protest seems futile in the long term is because of how powerful and transformative it can seem in the moment. Large scale protests are a massive rupture in the status quo, when anything seems possible. In Israel, military reservists have been saying they would refuse to serve if the judicial reforms were pushed through. Thats unprecedented, and on Sunday Defense Minister Yoav Gallant raised concerns about Israels security and recommended delaying the reforms. Netanyahu fired him, escalating the crisis. The largest trade union with 700,000 workers in health, transit, banking, and other fields struck. Israels Consul General in New York resigned.

The protest united the military, elite diplomats, and trade unions. Thats a stunning coalition. And yet, at the end of the day, theyve only managed so far to delay the reform package. Netanyahu is still in power. Israels ongoing mistreatment of Palestinians has not even really been questioned. Protests have shaken the state to its core. But entrenched power structures are, by definition, entrenched and powerful. Forcing them to even limited concessions is difficult. Those concessions are important and to be celebrated. But they can also feel like a let down.

You can see that dynamic in US protest, too. The 2020 George Floyd antiracist protests, with half a million people in the streets at least, may have been the biggest demonstrations in US history. Those protests won important concessions. Cities like Minneapolis and Boston cut millions from their police department budgets and put the money into mental health services, housing, and public health  a shift in funds that was a key protest demand.

There has also, though, been a determined backlash. Republicans and conservative Democrats like New York mayor Eric Adams have pushed alarmist and misleading stories about escalating crime in order to argue for funding more police  even though theres little evidence that more police reduce crime. Currently, Atlanta is pushing through a $90m police training centre on public land. Dubbed Cop City, its become a painful symbol of how police hoover up resources that could go to education, health, housing, or investment in marginalized communities. Demonstrations have been intense, and police have already killed one protester, Manuel Esteban Paez Teran. Theyve also made a lot of dubious arrests.

The violent pushback against protesters by police and those in power is an indication that authorities know that protest can cause change, and fear it will do so. Yet, at the same time, that pushback is often effective. When protesters are joined by solidarity from unions, politicians, diplomats, and a broader public, they can sometimes overcome opposition and make the status quo listen. Sometimes, though, they cant.

Protest is a tactic  not a magic wand, and not a solution. In that, its much like the courts or persuasion via media, or mutual aid, or even voting. Remember in 2016 when most people in the country voted against fascism, but the fascist got elected anyway? Theres no one sure way to ensure progressive change, in part because there are a lot of forces arrayed against progressive change. Israels current protests remind us whats possible  and also remind us that every step towards the possible requires a great deal of effort, and a willingness to fight even though you know you may fail.
If weak supply has been the theme of global dairy markets for much of the past couple of years, lower demand is now the predominant feature, says dairy market analyst Nathaniel Keall.

Reacting to last week's Global Dairy Trade auction, which saw prices fall a substantial 2.6%, Keall, an Economist to New Zealand's ASB bank said demand/supply ratios for both Whole Milk Powder and (especially) Skimmed Milk Powder have deteriorated.

"Understandably, a less certain outlook for the global economy and the prospect of weaker consumption in many parts of the world are weighing on buyers. With milk production also getting past its lows, the balance of supply and demand has shifted markedly.

"The number of participating bidders at the GDT has fallen to around 140-160 over recent auctions (was 170-190 this time last year), and the ratio of winning bidders to participating bidders is now north of 80% (was 60-65% this time last year).

"In short, fewer producers are short of product, and those that are participating are generally securing what they need without needing to go on the offensive. Competition for product just isn't there," he said.

Keall said as we expected, China's return to the 'GDT party' isn't pushing prices higher.

"Three months or so on from its zero COVID exit, China's now back to securing about 60% of the WMP on offer each GDT (more than 12-month highs) and its now securing more product than this time last year. But correspondingly, South-East Asia/Oceania & the Middle East  the regions that have helped bolster prices  are increasingly stepping back.

We expect this to remain a theme over the course of the next season, with improving Chinese demand offset by weaker dairy consumption elsewhere," he said.

What's more, he added that with local production strong and dairy stocks still healthy, there's a limit to what Chinese processors will be prepared to pay for now.

On the supply side, he said the latest data out of the EU shows milk production continuing to make tentative year-on-year improvements and said despite production in New Zealand being disrupted by recent weather events, in aggregate, global dairy supply looks to be past its lows.

It comes as Irish milk processors announced further milk price cuts this month with Irelands largest milk processor Tirlan cutting its base price to below 40c/L for the first time since October 2021.
Dromoland is the ancestral home of the OBriens, the Earls of Inchiquin who trace their ancestry back to the great Brian Boru. In a loose kind of a way I suppose I could lay some claim to a spattering of the same bloodline.

When the OBriens chose Dromoland, just a few miles from Bunratty, as the clan headquarters, they made a statement about its strategic value close to the Shannon Estuary and a statement about the quality of the land.

In recent decades the area has been renowned as the first port of call for many American tourists after they land at nearby Shannon Airport.

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There will be more than tourist interest in the sale of an old two-bedroom cottage on 50ac with plenty of charm situated 2.5km from the M18 and 2km from Newmarket-on-Fergus, on the edge of the Dromoland Estate where the former seat of the OBriens is now a world-renowned five-star hotel.

The property is for sale by private treaty with a guide price of 695,000.

Known as OGradys Cottage, the house was once part of the estate, and is in need of complete renovation.

While the building is quite small, planning permission was approved for an extension, which would expand it to 2,200 sq ft. The planning has since expired but it may be possible to reinstate it.

There is a haybarn and a single-storey cut-stone out office to the rear.

Tom Crosse of GVM describes it as a wonderful holding made up of about 21ac of good limestone land currently in grass with the remaining 29ac in mature woodlands.

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The grassland, which is relatively flat, with part of it downward-sloping, would suit all types of farming enterprises.

With 220m of road frontage, it is bounded by natural stone walls and has a double-gated, cut-stone pier entrance with access to a separate side entrance that services the overall estate.



40ac with serious development potential on outskirts of Limerick city for 1.35m

Across the Shannon on the eastern edge of Limerick city, GVM Limerick is handling the sale of a 40ac residential holding that has development potential written all over it.

Located at Mountshannon, Lisnagry just beside the first roundabout on the approach to the city coming off the M7.

Tom Crosse describes the property as a valuable piece of ground in this pivotal location close to the University of Limerick and Plassey Technological Park. It is guided at 1.35m.

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Whatsapp The 40ac residential farm at Mountshannon. Lisnagry, Limerick is in a pivotal location beside the university and just off the M7.

The farmhouse is a relatively modern five-bedroom dormer in good condition. It includes a self-contained, one bedroom apartment, a facility that would be much sought-after given the proximity to the university.

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The property has two access points, one to the house and one to the lands.

While Mr Crosse describes the land as excellent quality agricultural ground it is something of a moot point as the holding surely has long-term development potential.

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The imminent arrival of the northern ring road should open up this entire locality and enhance its development potential, he said.

Nevertheless, he expects interest from those in search of a family home with land as well as investors.
Bord Bia is keen to eliminate calf slaughtering at a young age, Bord Bia CEO Jim O'Toole said last week.

It comes amid intense scrutiny of dairy calf welfare here due to an increase in the number of young calves being slaughtered and difficulties in the live export trade.

At a hearing of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee last week, Bord Bia CEO Jim O'Toole said the organisation does not support the practice of sending young calves to slaughter.

He also said he hoped a meeting of industry stakeholders on the issue this week would see constraints imposed on the practice so it can be eliminated.

Among the constraints is said to be a ban on slaughtering before eight weeks.

When asked by Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice as to who would be killing a calf at eight weeks, John Murray, Bord Bia director of meat, food and beverages responded: "No one in their right mind.

"That is the reason we have put eight weeks in. We believe that any farmer who has to retain an animal on their farm for eight weeks is not going to turn around and bring that animal to slaughter.

"It does not make any economic sense to do so. We believe an eight-week limit is sufficient," he said.

It also emerged at the hearing that Bord Bia last year, we worked with 'a couple of people' on a pilot programme around the opportunities and dynamics in developing a veal industry.

"We did some trials with a company, O'Toole said, highlighting that some of the calves we export live go to The Netherlands for veal production.

"They are processed in The Netherlands and are typically consumed in Italy and southern France.

"Some 15pc, if memory serves me right, of the beef consumption in those markets is beef and veal, so there is a market there.

"There has never been a traditional veal processing industry in this country. That is probably due to the fact that for many years, we were constrained by quotas in terms of the output of our calves. It is also a highly seasonal industry.

"Notwithstanding all of those constraints, we are working with a couple of entrepreneurs who are interested in exploring the idea," he said.
Companies globally are setting ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, but only 6pc are aggressively implementing measures to meet them.

Most companies (53pc) remain in the relatively early stages of ESG transformation, implementing basic measures like off-setting carbon emissions with CO2 certificates. These are some of the key findings from PwCs global study ESG Empowered Value Chains 2025, which surveyed over 900 executives worldwide on the status of their ESG transformation.

The study highlights a general lack of urgency to embrace more advanced ESG efforts such as redesigning products or improving diversity and inclusion. Meanwhile, a small subset of ESG champions (6pc) is moving quickly to embed ESG measures across their entire value chains and ultimately make themselves, and their suppliers, more sustainable and competitive.

In Ireland, 26pc of Irish CEOs confirmed they had completed implementation of initiatives to reduce their companys emissions and a further 51pc said that this was in progress. Over 30pc said they had made a net zero commitment with a further 37pc saying their company is working towards this commitment.

PwC also sees lots of companies in Ireland in the early stages of developing their ESG vision, objectives and strategies. However, few are getting into the detail of implementing actual changes to their business models.

While companies have started to set ESG goals, 42pc of companies surveyed cited high costs and insufficient budgets as the most significant challenge to achieving these targets. At the same time, companies are under greater scrutiny from consumers, employees, investors, and regulators to transform businesses to comply with a growing body of environmental and social standards.

The study also showed a major shift in thinking about how transforming operations to meet ESG standards can ultimately make companies more resilient and competitive.

For the champions in the survey this has meant investing heavily and forgoing short-term profits to transform companies to be sustainable long-term. For example, 92pc of champions have measures in place to manage resource efficiency as compared to 65pc of non champions.

Similarly, 81pc of champions have a circular business model compared to 45pc in non-champions.

ESG champions share similar traits. They are better at making plans, supporting them with concrete measures and following up on them. ESG champions have detailed short and long-term roadmaps, covering most of their value chains, as well as oversight on human rights risks, and robust, product specific standards.

More than 70pc of their products and services are in line with ESG objectives. They have ESG targets and KPIs tied to corporate targets and these are broken down into operational functions, and subject to regular monitoring.

Champions are more digitally advanced, with higher levels of data transparency and accessibility  81pc of survey respondents say their ESG data is fully available and used for decision making, compared to just 13pc of other companies that say the same.

ESG champions are also more resilient when faced with ESG challenges. On average, champions are 25pc less likely to cite challenges holding back implementation such as cost, access to data and unclear business impact.

Champions are significantly less affected by issues of great concern to other companies such as insufficient top management support, a lack of ESG strategy and unclear responsibilities  for example, just 13pc of champions cited these challenges versus roughly a quarter of other companies. For champions, their main concern is inadequate access to data.

The research reveals an emerging gap between those that are acting quickly to broadly implement ESG standards and those that arent.

While some act quickly and implement ESG standards on a broad basis, those who merely agree on the minimum fall far behind. As champions focus on areas like advanced tracking and collaboration with suppliers, they improve their entire value chains, making it harder to compete for companies that havent taken these measures.

While the ESG transformation may affect the competitiveness of companies in the short term due to rising costs, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in the long term.

These include more transparency in supply chains, lower energy costs, lower material costs, an innovative edge and, as a result, increased investor interest. It also has reputational and employee retention advantages. Companies that lag behind may soon not be able to catch up.

Mark McKeever is a director at PwC Advisory Consulting
Fewer than a quarter of Irish workers would work longer to access a higher state pension, according to new research from insurance brokerage Lockton.

In September, the Government introduced plans for a radical overhaul of the pension system in Ireland, which will be introduced next January.

People who work until they are 70 are now set to receive a weekly state pension of 315, while those who stay in employment until 66, the existing state pension age,

will remain entitled to the current state pension rate of 265.30 a week.

However, a survey of over 700 Irish workers by Lockton in conjunction with iReach revealed that just 23pc of respondents would be encouraged to remain working for longer in return for a higher pension.

Almost a third of those surveyed said they would only opt to work longer if they were unable to afford to retire at 66, while 16pc said they would retire as soon as they are eligible for any state pension.

A further 10pc said the promised increase in weekly pension from the State was not enough of a rise for them to consider staying in employment beyond the state pension age.

Men were more likely to work for longer, according to the report.

More than a quarter of the male respondents surveyed said they would be tempted to work longer for a higher pension compared to 19pc of women.

A third of single workers surveyed were more likely to work longer to secure a higher pension compared to 15pc of married workers, as well as 17pc of employees who are divorced, separated or widowed.

We welcome the Governments measures, which will allow for greater flexibility when it comes to entering retirement, Lockton partner Ray McKenna said.

But whats clear from our research findings is that greater engagement and advocacy will be needed if more people are to work longer and reap the rewards of doing so.

He called for an increase in engagement and advocacy from employers with staff to facilitate an increase in the number of those remaining at work beyond the current state pension age.

The employer retains the benefit of experienced and skilled staff  such staff often have knowledge and skills which simply cannot be replaced, he added.
THE cost of a fill of home-heating oil has fallen back to levels not seen since the Russians invaded Ukraine.

It now costs just less than a 1 for each litre of oil.

Across the country the average price of 1,000 litres of home-heating oil is 988, according to the Oilprices.ie site that monitors prices.

The invasion of Ukraine prompted a massive spike in the cost of heating oil.

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It was below 1,000 at the end of February 2022, the month of the invasion.

It then jumped to over 1,600 for 1,000 litres just weeks later, according to Eamonn Mulvihill of Oilprices.ie.

It's been a clear downward trend since June 2022, despite carbon tax increases and more sanctions on Russian oil, he said.

Carbon tax went up again last May, with the tax adding around 20 to the cost of a full tank of oil.

Mr Mulvihill said the trend was for heating oil to keep falling over the next few months.

I'm not seeing anything unusual at the moment so the trend makes me think it will keep falling, he said.

Head of representative body for the heating-oil distributors Nicholas Hayes said it has been around 12 months since heating oil was 1 a litre.

Prices has been dropping for six weeks now, said Mr Hayes of the UK-Ireland Fuel Distributors Association.

This reflects lower crude oil prices. Crude prices have fallen sharply due to lower demand from China and fears we may have a global recession.

Mr Hayes, whose organisation represents 75pc of heating-oil distributors, said demand was still strong from households seeking oil-tank fills.

Last Decembers Arctic weather conditions led to panic buying of home-heating oil, with distributors forced to restrict supplies.

A massive surge in demand ahead of Christmas has also led to delays of up to a week for some households getting a delivery of kerosene.

Some oil distributors had notices on their websites saying they are out of stock, with others removing prices from their sites.

The huge demand saw prices shoot up to an average of 1,258.

Falls in the cost of home-heating oil come as the latest survey of petrol and diesel prices at the pumps show that prices are largely unchanged this month.

Petrol costs an average of 1.65 a litre across the country, according to the latest AA Ireland fuels survey.

This is the same price it was in February. Diesel down 2c per litre to 1.66.

It emerged recently that the Exchequer is expected to reap millions of euro from the move to phase out the reduced excise rate on petrol and diesel.

The scrapping of the lower rate of duty on the fuels could add 10 to the cost of a tank of fuel.

Finance Minister Michael McGrath has confirmed to Independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan that the estimated additional receipts in a full year from the increases in excise duty of a total of 21c on petrol and diesel will amount to over 700m.

The stability in the price of petrol and diesel comes after crude oil prices have fallen to three-month lows in the last while.
Interior designer and former Dragon on BBC Twos Dragons Den, Kelly Hoppen, has revealed her breast cancer diagnosis after eight years of avoiding mammograms (Steve Parsons/PA)

Former Dragon Kelly Hoppen, who starred in BBC show Dragons Den, has revealed her breast cancer diagnosis after eight years of avoiding mammograms.

The 63-year-old interior designer, who only learned last month she was out of the woods after being given the all-clear, said she was compelled to share her story to urge other women to never miss a screening.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Ms Hoppen said she could not believe her own stupidity after ignoring routine mammogram invitations for eight years.

It was a foolish thing to do, which is why I am writing this now: its a cautionary tale, a warning to others, not to be too frightened, too harried by the demands of work to go to your appointments, she said, revealing her mother had a breast cancer scare when she was relatively young.

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Whatsapp Kelly Hoppen (right) said she could not believe her own stupidity after ignoring routine mammogram invitations for eight years. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Ms Hoppen credited her executive assistant and personal assistant with ensuring she finally followed through with an appointment in September.

The results eventually found Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS)  meaning some cells in the lining of the ducts of the breast tissue had started to turn into cancer cells but had not yet started to spread into the surrounding breast tissue.

(My doctor) explained that Id been very fortunate indeed: DCIS is the very mildest form of cancer, she said.

It was in two milk ducts and I was booked in to have the cancer cells removed from the ducts  an awful procedure which made me feel very sore.

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I was hugely fortunate. Although Id neglected my check-ups, I was lucky that my cancer was detected early.

Had it not been, I might have faced a less happy outcome. Actually, I might not be here writing this cautionary tale now.

She added there was 10 to 15% chance the cancer will return, but she vowed never to skip a mammogram again.

I have my next one booked for September and you can be assured that Ill be there, she said.

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According to the NHS, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK.

Most women diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 50, but younger women can also get breast cancer.

About one in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime with recovery reliant on early detection.

The NHS has said it is vital that women check their breasts regularly for any changes and always have any changes examined by a GP.

In rare cases, men can also be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Michael Buble delighted a young fan by asking a crowd of 15,000 to sing happy birthday to her upon his return to The O2.

The Canadian singer, off the back of his Grammy win in early February, celebrated his 20th anniversary and 26th performance at the venue on Sunday as part of the Higher Tour, his first UK arena tour in four years.

The 47-year-old lent down to kiss the stage after his entrance and told the crowd he is so happy to be home before spotting a sign of a child named Madeline, who told the entertainer it was her birthday.

Madeline, happy birthday, he said before encouraging the audience to join him.

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Ladies and gentlemen, thats how to start a party, he said after the song was finished.

Buble added he felt in his element being covered in sparkles as he was covered in glitter while autographing the young girls sign.

The Grammy-award winner performed a myriad of his well-known hits, including Feeling Good, Havent Met You Yet, and Cry Me A River  though joked the crowd was not going to see any of Christmas Boy, as he dubbed himself  a nod to his popular festive tunes.

The star prompted screams from the crowd with his best Elvis impression after taking the opportunity to talk about his friendship with Priscilla Presley.

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Priscilla Presley came into my life and what a great lady, he said.

She was always warm and kind and giving and I would ask her a million questions about Elvis.

And she made my life one day when she asked if I would sing a posthumous duet with Elvis.

Buble went on to cover some of the King of Rocks greatest hits, including All Shook Up and Cant Help Falling In Love.

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He received giggles from the audience while saying he was so sexy during performances that his outdoor tour in the UK last summer was making women faint.

I had to stop the show and I had to say Im so sorry everybody, just five minutes, we just go to let the ambulance come through to pick up the poor young girl, he said.

He also promised the crowd: Ill keep coming back.

Twenty-six times I have played The O2 and 26 times I have tried to look cool while inside, Im saying, Holy s***, Im playing the O2.

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I want to thank you. I want to thank you for taking your valuable time.

He will play The O2 again on Tuesday.

Higher is Bubles 11th album, and his fifth to reach number one on the UK Official Charts Companys album charts in April last 2022.

On February 6, he won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album for Higher, his 12th Grammy nomination and fifth win.
Roger Daltrey thanked everyone who performed for the Teenage Cancer Trust as he headlined the final night of a week of fundraising gigs for the charity at the Royal Albert Hall.

The 79-year-old singer helped launch the music and comedy event in 2000 to raise funds money for the charity, which provides care and support designed for and with young people diagnosed with cancer.

The former The Who frontman thanked everyone who had taken part in the series of gigs for playing for free.

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He also reflected on his work with the concert series, which is in its 21st year after two years were lost to the pandemic.

Who would have thought wed be here 23 years later?, he said.

We didnt think wed get another one, let alone 21.

Daltreys set list was a roll call of his greatest hits, including The Whos Who Are You, and Substitute, as well as his solo songs Giving It All Away and Tattoo.

He will be back with The Who this summer as the bands orchestral Hits Back UK tour is set to kick off in Hull on July 6.

Daltrey was the last of a star studded line-up of acts to headline a night at the venue.

Previous headliners during the week included Underworld, Wet Leg, Jake Bugg, The Courteeners, and Kasabian.

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Earlier on Sunday night, Far From Saints, a new band featuring Stereophonics Kelly Jones on vocals, opened the show with a selection of songs from their self-titled debut album.

Jones swayed and tapped his feet to cheers from the audience as they played their new single Take It Through The Night.

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Joan Armatrading then took to the stage, treating the audience to past hits including Down To Zero and Empty Highway.

Former The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft wore a Princess Diana T-shirt as he played a pared back acoustic set.

There was not a dry eye in the building as Ashcroft played searing rendition of The Drugs Dont Work.

However, it was an acoustic version of Bittersweet Symphony that brought the house down, with the whole of the Royal Albert Hall singing along.
March 2023 has been a month of comebacks and revenge served cold. Chris Rock bided his time for a full year before unleashing a ferocious riposte to Will Smith just before this years Oscars. At the ceremony itself, downtrodden and forgotten stars like Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan emerged from showbiz purgatory to grab gongs.

But perhaps the months most anticipated revenge moment of all begins tomorrow night on Sky Atlantic, when we learn what happened next when televisions greatest toady, Tom Wambsgans switched sides in the final season of Succession.

Toms avenging of festering sores has been a long time coming. In the jostling for power at the heart of a media dynasty, he has been something of an outsider, cuckolded and bullied by his wife Shiv (a steely-eyed Sarah Snook), who demands an open marriage on their wedding night, and set up as the fall guy for a corporate malfeasance case.

In the finale of the last series  spoiler alert  it sensationally emerges that he has foiled Shiv and her siblings in their attempt to usurp their father, Logan. As the episode closes Tom embraces Shiv from behind and her eyes dart to one side like a character in a Graham Knuttel painting, as it dawns on her what has happened.

Could the familys whipping boy, the mid-western lad mixing with billionaires, be finally, as he puts it himself, heading away from the endless middle?

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The actor who portrays him, Matthew Macfadyen  speaking to me via Zoom from Michigan where hes shooting for the film Holland Michigan, starring opposite Nicole Kidman  wont be drawn on whether the character becomes the new dark prince of Waystar RoyCo, the company thats a fictional counterpart to any number of moral-free media behemoths. But he understands why Toms riveting mixture of cruelty and comedy has made him the real star of the show for many fans.

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Playing him is therapeutic precisely because he is so excruciating and so much of what he does is so embarrassing  the contortions he gets himself into and the way hes by turns so obsequious and such a bully. Its liberating to play that because you can say these hurtful, vile and appalling things but its all serving a story.

Tom is utterly sycophantic to one character, and then will eat buckets of shit for another character, and then will bully this one until they want to kill him.

The subject of much of his bullying is his RoyCo underling, cousin Greg, with whom Tom enjoys the most twisted of bromances. Even amid the bounty of zingers the show has thrown up, theres no doubt their relationship has given the series some of its most memorable lines. You cant make a Tomlette without breaking some Gregs, Tom tells his baffled adjutant at one point, in a moment that has spawned endless memes, merchandise and mimicry.

In another scene which seems to sum up their lovingly abusive dynamic Tom tells Greg: Well, Nero pushed his wife down the stairs, and then he had Sporus [his boy slave] castrated and he married him instead. Id castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat. Its saying something that, in many ways, theirs is the purest relationship in Succession.

At rest Macfadyens face has the look of someone who might have just done something terrible, if slightly comic, like a house cat that has just swallowed the pet budgie

Macfadyen says that it was one of the early scenes with Greg (played with bumbling brilliance by Nicholas Braun, with whom Macfadyen is good friends) which helped him tap into Toms motivations.

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When I read the script for the pilot, theres a bit where Tom turns on Greg and f**ks with him and starts saying: Will you kick me? Im joking. Am I joking? Im not joking. And I thought, oh, OK, this is a nice little sort of characterisation of the guy and how he operates.

The discordant and deeply funny note of weirdness was established. And yet, he adds: Underneath it all there is real affection there. Tom and Greg get each other and they need each other.

Its difficult to imagine any other actor playing Tom. At rest Macfadyens face has the look of someone who might have just done something terrible, if slightly comic, like a house cat that has just swallowed the pet budgie. And little black jokes dance on his lips: Macfadyen says that in another era Tom could have been in charge of some terrible genocide.

This is the death camp, come in, he imagines Tom exclaiming, as though leading some corporate tour. Ill turn on the ovens. But there are also other quieter elements of his own personality in the character.

I recognise aspects of myself in Tom, like I want to please. And theres this sort of insecurity that he has that I can recognise in myself. Theres always different things you can find, but conversely, its really fun to lean into and relish the stuff you wouldnt do or you dont recognise in yourself. Like addressing a boardroom and firing people and all that stuff.

Id rather kill myself. I cant imagine doing that in real life. Ive had a very weird and unstructured existence so the idea of being in that corporate system is kind of alien to me.

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Macfadyen always seemed destined to be an actor. His mother Meinir, whose family are Welsh, was a drama teacher and former actress.

I was encouraged by my parents, I suppose, but my mum certainly wasnt pushing me on stage or anything. She was just like, oh, my little boy likes doing this.

I was probably quite shy and yet I didnt feel shy when I was on stage. I think because you have that structure you have a safety net. And I guess the sort of performative aspect of it, the gladiatorial aspects of it, being up there in front of everyone and trying to make them feel something, that was appealing to me.

His father Martin was an oil engineer and his work necessitated moving the family around a lot, resulting in a fairly peripatetic childhood. I didnt like the endless arriving at a new school halfway through a term, I suppose, but then who does? But overall I had a very happy childhood.

My mum and dad, they were happy, and so me and my brother were happy. Youre happy if your parents are happy, and it was exciting, an adventure. I went to a boarding school when I was around 11.

We lived in Jakarta at that time. And then I had a continuity of being there until I was about 17 when I left, when I did my A-levels, and so Id go back to these lovely holidays in the Far East and various places, while my mum and dad moved around.

After school he was accepted into RADA, a decision which gobsmacked him. I didnt think Id get in. I thought I should sort of test myself with a big grown-up audition, and I was quite young and I got a place. That was probably the red letter day of my life at that point.

At 20 he moved straight from RADA to the renowned Cheek by Jowl theatre group and starred in the companys acclaimed production of The Duchess of Malfi. He was mentored by Declan Donnellan, who remains one of the most respected directors in British theatre.

Declan is a very close friend of mine, and hes probably the one person I think of if I feel sort of in a rut with a character or a scene or something. Hes probably the biggest influence in terms of a teacher or director that Ive had.

He wouldve happily continued as a theatre actor but when he was 25, Marcia Gresham (Daniel Radcliffes mother) cast him in BBC drama Warriors, about UN peacekeepers in Bosnia. Soon after he starred in the hit spy drama Spooks alongside his future wife, Keeley Hawes.

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He recalls it as the first time he began getting recognised on the street, something that has ebbed and flowed over the years, depending on which of his series are currently being streamed.

His big break is generally taken to have been 2005s Pride & Prejudice but he doesnt remember it that way. It was a break in terms of it being a big film but I was already working happily enough. I didnt think I was very good in it. But it was fine. It was another job.

He has worked a number of times with Hawes since meeting her on the set of Spooks, most recently on Stonehouse. He also starred in Quiz, a dramatisation of the so-called coughing major, Charles Ingram, who was caught cheating his way to victory on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

Macfadyen says you do sort of worry about the difficulty of working with a spouse, but actually it was a treat because so often were like ships passing in the night. And so to go to work with your nearest and dearest, whos also an amazing actress, was a real treat.

The couple, who married in 2004, have two children together and Macfadyen is stepfather to Hawess son from a previous marriage. Fatherhood, he says, was lovely when the kids were small and is now [that theyre grown] lovely in a different way. The emotions are endless joy and worry, a mix of those two.

He still thinks of himself as cool he adds, but he thinks they see him as a little fuddy duddy. But I dont mind that, I quite like it. Thats how it should be. I think it would probably be excruciating if I was really down with the kids. Like I said to my son the other day: Im not your mate, Im your Dad.

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He turns 50 next year and says: Im quite happy about it. I was relieved when I turned 40. I dont mind getting older. Im not particularly looking forward to falling to bits and aches and pains and all the rest of it. But I dont mind, as long as Im sort of fit and healthy, I quite like it.

Succession is one of the ground-breaking shows of the last few years and started a trend which now runs through films like Triangle of Sadness and series like The White Lotus, of mocking the rich.

He says he agrees with one of the shows writers, Lucy Prebble, who last year told People & Culture that all this satire hasnt had any noticeable real-world effect: if anything, inequality has gotten worse. And he suggests the mega-wealthy may take a certain pleasure in being skewered.

Succession is really popular with the titans of industry and hedge fund managers as well. They seem to love it. Im certain wealthy people are not happier [because of their wealth].

Theres that thing where if you earn over a certain amount of money, depending on where you are, the amount of noughts [on your bank balance] doesnt make any difference to your happiness. Stardom, he says, certainly doesnt make you happier. Absolutely not.

One of Toms most memorable scenes in Succession was with the dynastys scion and the man destined to never take over, Kendall Roy (played by Jeremy Strong).

My hunch is youre going to get f**ked, Tom tells him. Because Ive seen you get f**ked a lot. And Ive never seen Logan get f**ked once. Kendall revels in scandal, consoling himself that being lampooned on social media still means he is part of the conversation.

At times life has seemed to imitate art, and I wonder how Macfadyen felt when he saw his recent Vanity Fair interview which suggested he was irritated when they brought up an infamous New Yorker profile of his co-star which focussed on Strongs eccentricities and method acting.

They [Vanity Fair] said that I was visibly annoyed, but I wasnt really, its just that anything that skews the attention to one thing is not healthy and sort of not correct. Because its an ensemble piece. Its not all about one persons process. But we all have different ways of working and thats absolutely fine.

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The speculation about how the show will end has prompted endless fan speculation but has been such a tightly guarded secret, Macfadyen says, that he was never sure how the series will bow out.

Jesse [Armstrong, the shows creator] had a particular idea and they thought it might be the last one and they had gotten to the end of the story they wanted to tell. But then there was a doubt, so right until the end we [the actors] were wondering, oh, whats going to happen.

It has been a tumultuous time in his life, in which he has become very much an A-list actor, recognised on the streets of Manhattan when he walks around. Sometimes you want to walk around and think your own thoughts and gaze, walk, and you cant do that.

Now that the question posed by the title of the series is about to finally be answered, I wonder how he feels about it ending.

Its odd, there is a sort of heartbreak because you get very close to people and its been a happy time. But after six years I have played every colour in this part. So theres grief, but relief as well.

Succession Season 4 premieres March 27 at 9pm on Sky Atlantic
MBABANE  The Earth Hour show which was held at House on Fire, Malandelas, saw Eswatinis best performers entertain guests.

The artists who performed included; Gospel artist Nduduzo Matse, Velemseni, Bholoja and DJ MBO. There was also a short play by the Sisonkhe Drama group. The first performance was by Gospel artist Matse which lasted for half an hour. He was followed by the drama group. Its worth mentioning that Velemseni performed just after the lights were switched off. She was joined by Bholoja on stage for the song titled Falling in love, much to the crowds excitement. When reached for comment, Bholoja shared with this publication that he worked with Velemseni on the songs, but she wrote o the lyrics. He went on to say this was not the first time they performed the song together. He shared that the rendition gets better every time. Bholoja performed after the songstress and local DJ MBO was the last act of the night.

Concept

The Earth Hour concept began back in 2007. It has been known as the lights off moment, with individuals from around the globe switching off their lights to show symbolic support for the planet and to raise awareness of the environmental issues affecting it. On Saturday, the lights were turned off at 8:30pm and switched back on at 9:30pm. This was done by several Cabinet ministers including Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Moses Vilakati, Minister of Agriculture Jabulani BuyCash Mabuza and Motshane Member of Parliament Robert Magongo, among others.

People can use the power of the people to turn a single Earth Hour into thousands and millions of hours of action and awareness, creating a domino effect of impact that continues well beyond the 60 minutes. At the event it was mentioned that the next seven years are crucial to all our futures and we have to stay under the 1.5C climate threshold to avoid irreversible damage to the planet, and we need to reverse nature loss by 2030; ending the decade with more nature.
Claire Byrne has refused to rule herself out as the next host of The Late Late Show after Ryan Tubridys shock departure.

Tubridy revealed earlier this month that Friday 26 May would be his final night as the face of the historic talk show.

And although RTE bosses have not yet decided on a replacement, Claire Byrne is one of the favourites to take over.

The Laois native has neither confirmed nor denied whether shes interested in the role but addressed the vacancy for the first time in an interview with the RTE Guide.

I was as surprised as anyone to hear the news of Ryan's decision but when I interviewed him on the radio I could tell he was very happy with his choice and that really is the most important thing, she said.

He has given The Late Late Show his heart and soul for 14 years and left an incredible mark on Irish TV history.

I am delighted that he is going to get to do all the things he loves now, and I am as excited as anyone to see what it is.

Claire surprised RTE viewers last year when she announced that her current affairs programme, Claire Byrne Live, was coming to an end.

However, she teased that while radio is her first love, it doesnt mean she would say no to the right TV gig.

I was taking a bit of a break from television, but I never said I would never do TV again, she explained.

It is just that time slot was very demanding in terms of the rest of my schedule.

Speaking about her new quiz show Irelands Smartest, which she will begin hosting from next month, the 47-year-old added: This is very different in that you can record these shows in a block together, so it is not placing a demand on you every single week.

Teasing the possibility of being the next Late Late Show host, Claire told the RTE Guide: "I think over the years, if someone asked me what my first love is within my work, I would automatically say radio. Now I question that.

"I love radio and I have always loved it. I love the intimacy of radio but there is a buzz with television as well. It is different. I think a bit of both is a healthy mix.

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"I suppose I made the decision to take TV out of my life for a time. Radio is my day to day, my bread and butter job.

"I probably would find it very difficult if someone said to me, 'No you can't do the radio anymore'.

"So maybe that is my answer, it is my first love, but I can't say that TV is the poor relation or anything. I have a great fondness for TV as well.

My radio job is my dream job in many respects, and I feel very comfortable in saying that.

I feel like I have a good rhythm in it now. I can pick and choose in terms of television what I want to do, so thats a really great place to be, to be able to say and to be able to say no. I am exactly where I want to be, and I feel everything is in balance and I know now that I did the right thing, she added.
Qatari royals adopted a strategy of banning people close to Paddy McKillen from luxury hotels they own to shore up their negotiating position in a dispute with the Irish businessman potentially worth billions of pounds, the High Court in London has been told.

The Belfast-born property developer and hotelier has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with the owners of Maybourne Hotels, former emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani (70) and former prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Jabber Al Thani (63), since being removed from the groups board last April.

According to a recently filed lawsuit being taken by an associate, Mr McKillen had been due to receive a substantial deferred payment from the Qataris last April but instead found himself being ousted and his associates banned from Maybourne hotels.

Some of Mr McKillens work at Claridges recently featured in a BBC TV documentary,

In a legal filing on behalf of project manager Frank Sinton, seen by the Irish Independent, the commercial dispute between the Qataris and Mr McKillen was described as being potentially worth billions of pounds.

As well as removing Mr McKillen and his adviser Liam Cunningham from the board, Mr Sinton and Ronnie Delany, who have both worked with Mr McKillen in hotel building and renovation projects, also had their right of access to the groups hotels removed.

In defamation proceedings in the High Court in London, Mr Sinton alleged the Al Thanis set about removing Mr McKillen and his representatives from all positions of power within the hotel group.

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He alleged the decision to ban him and Mr Delany was taken to shore up the Al Thanis negotiating position and as a marker that the business relationship had gone sour.

He is suing for defamation over the contents of an email allegedly circulated by Maybourne chief executive Marc Socker that said Mr Sinton and Mr Delanys access rights to various hotels had been withdrawn whilst we look into a number of matters. The action being taken by Mr Sinton, from Moira, Co Down, comes on the trail of other lawsuits in Ireland, France and the US linked to the falling out between the Qataris and Mr McKillen.

Maybourne owns several high-end hotels, including Claridges, the Connaught, the Berkeley and the Emory in London.

Mr Sinton is suing Maybourne Hotels Group Limited; Mr Socker; the groups chief operating officer Gianluca Muzzi; and Maybourne directors Fady Bakhos and Michele Faissola. He is being represented in the action by leading defamation lawyer Paul Tweed.

The filing stated that the decision to bar Mr Sinton and Mr Delany was a further declaration of hostility towards Mr McKillen

Mr McKillen (67) sold his 36pc stake in the hotel group to the Qataris in 2015, but as part of the deal he stayed on to manage the London hotels and develop new ones, including the Maybourne Beverly Hills and Maybourne Riviera in France.

Some of Mr McKillens work at Claridges recently featured in a BBC TV documentary, The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild.

According to particulars of the claim filed by Mr Sinton, Mr McKillen had been due to receive a deferred pay-out in respect of the share sale deal last April.

The filing said Mr Sinton worked for more than a decade for Hume Street Management Consultancy (HSMC), Mr McKillens construction project firm, and was project manager on the Maybourne Riviera site from January 2020 until he and Mr Delany were prevented from carrying out their roles last April.

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Whatsapp The Maybourne Riviera Hotel (top left) in Monaco. Photo: Getty Images

Both had also been enlisted to work on construction at the Emory in February 2022 and Mr Sinton managed hundreds of workers and subcontractors at both sites.

The filing stated that the decision to bar him and Mr Delany was a further declaration of hostility towards Mr McKillen and would not have been taken without the approval of those representing the beneficial owners of the hotel, the Al Thanis.

It claimed another communication published on the authority of the defendants falsely suggested he was suspected of serious criminal misconduct.

Mr Sinton was never asked for his side of the story in relation to any alleged misconduct and, contrary to what was stated in the email, there was no investigation carried out by the defendant, the filing said.

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It is claimed the false allegations were widely published and republished and that most of the suppliers, designers and consultants Mr Sinton had worked with in recent years had stopped contacting him.

It said Mr Sinton believes news of the allegations percolated throughout the industry, causing people to shun him, serious harm to his reputation, distress and embarrassment.

The lawsuit includes a claim Mr Sintons personal data was unlawfully processed.

A defence has yet to be filed by the Maybourne parties but a spokesperson for the hotel group said they deny the claims.

Mr Sinton has no actionable claim and Maybourne fully expects that it will be dismissed swiftly. Mr Sinton was not defamed by the Defendants when his access to the premises was withdrawn, or at all, and he has had the reasons for its withdrawal made clear to him, the spokesperson said.

The case follows a defamation suit filed by Mr Delany, son of the Olympic champion of the same name, in Ireland.

HSMC has sued the Maybourne group in France for close to 20m arising from allegedly unpaid fees related to the development of the Maybourne Riviera hotel, while the firm has also filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles claiming it is owned $18m (16.9m) for work on the Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel.

This article was updated on March 28, 2023 to include a statement from the Maybourne Hotel Group.
A man has been accused of having more than 3,600 worth of cocaine in a bathroom at his home in west Dublin.

Kenneth Lynch (33) had the case against him adjourned at Blanchardstown District Court.

Mr Lynch, of Moorfield Lawns, Clondalkin is charged with possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply.

The court heard the Director of Public Prosecutions was consenting to the case being dealt with in the district court on a plea of guilty.

Judge Ciaran Liddy asked to hear an outline of the allegations so he could consider the issue of jurisdiction.

Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan said the accuseds home was searched under a warrant on June 13 last year and cocaine with an estimated value of 3,668 was found in a downstairs bathroom.

Judge Liddy accepted jurisdiction, allowing the case to remain in the district court.

He ordered disclosure of prosecution evidence to the defence following an application by Mr Lynchs barrister, Ciaran MacLoughlin.

The judge also granted free legal aid.

Mr Lynch has not yet entered a plea to the charge, which is under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
A couple who threatened shop workers with a hammer and used racial slurs against them have been spared jail.

Bryan Mulligan (35) and Sarah Treacy (30) believed they were unfairly targeted as suspected shoplifters when they took out the hammer from a bag of tools they had to fix up their flat.

Judge Bryan Smyth suspended sentences of six months for Mulligan and three months for Treacy.

Mulligan, of Glasmore Park, and Treacy from Mooretown Avenue, both in Swords, pleaded guilty to producing the hammer as a weapon in the course of a dispute.

Dublin District Court heard the incident happened at Spar, Liffey Street on October 12, 2019.

Both accused had been in the shop, left and came back with a hammer.

They told staff they would kill them and insulted them with racial slurs.

Defence solicitor Tony Collier said the accused had been homeless before getting a new flat at the time.

They had picked up DIY items to do some work in the flat and on their way home, they called into the shop to buy some messages, Mr Collier said.

There was a dispute between Mulligan and staff where he was accused of doing something he didnt do, and he didnt handle matters well, Mr Collier said.

Mulligan would say shop assistants made offensive remarks to him and he returned them in kind.

Mulligan and Treacy felt they were being unfairly surveilled and matters progressed from there, Mr Collier said.

The hammer was waved around in a protesting manner but not with any intent to strike anyone.

They felt they were outnumbered, and it was a

case of bad behaviour rather than anything dangerous, he added.

The couple now had a young child.


Sacked schoolteacher Enoch Burke says he has subpoenaed three senior Church of Ireland clerics to testify in the High Court case taken against him by Wilsons Hospital School.

Mr Burke has filed an affidavit stating he personally served subpoenas on Patricia Storey, the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, who is the patron of the school, Ferran Glenfield, Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, and Canon Alistair Graham, who is based in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.

The move indicates Mr Burke will seek to raise the Church of Irelands views on transgender issues in the trial of the action, which is due to begin on Tuesday.

The teacher, who is an evangelical Christian, was suspended from the Co Westmeath school last August after a number of incidents in which he clashed with management over a request from the then principal Niamh McShane to call a transgender student by a new name and by they/them pronouns.

This included the interruption of a chapel service, at which Bishop Storey was present, and the questioning of Ms McShane following a school dinner afterwards. Mr Burke claims he could not comply on religious grounds.

In an affidavit of service, Mr Burke said he had served the subpoenas on the religious leaders over the weekend as the case between him and the school concerns a religious issue.

In the filing, he said transgenderism was contrary to scripture and Church of Ireland teaching and that up to now, the voices of Church of Ireland leaders have not been heard in the case.

Mr Burke also said that in June 2020, the Church of Ireland stated: The Church of Irelands teaching recognises two genders  male and female  and is unchanged.

The case, which will centre on the conduct of the disciplinary process and whether injunctions obtained against Mr Burke were justified, is scheduled to last four days before Mr Justice Alexander Owens.

Mr Burke has filed a counterclaim against the school, claiming his suspension was procedurally flawed and was unlawful. The claims are denied by the school.

He was sacked from his post as a teacher of history and German in January and is separately appealing the dismissal to a tribunal.

The issue of Mr Burkes ongoing contempt of a court order restraining him from going to the school is likely to be an issue raised in the case.

The teacher kept turning up at the school premises despite being suspended, leading to the schools board of management securing injunctions restraining him from doing so. One of the injunctions remains in force.

He spent 108 days in prison last year for contempt of court after defying orders but resumed turning up at the school following his release and is currently facing fines of 700 for each day he remains in contempt.

The High Court directed Mr Burke to pay 23,800 in fines by March 23, but it is unclear if he has done so.

If he hasnt, it is open to the school to take steps to enforce the fines.

An issue likely to be raised by Mr Burke in the trial is an email from a parent of the transgender student.

In the email to the schools principal Frank Milling in January, the parent said they were never told by Wilsons Hospital School that their child was the one referred to in the legal proceedings.

The parent said they only learned the child in question is my child after reading a court judgment which outlined what year the unidentified student was in.

The school did not inform me and I feel now that theres a safety concern for my family. This whole situation could have been avoided, the parent wrote.

The parent also expressed concern personal information may be out there, saying they received a letter from the Co Westmeath school last August stating my family personal data may have been stolen. Further details of the alleged data breach have not been disclosed.

The parent was seeking an update on the issue because now my familys information may be out there and with everything going on this could be serious.

The contents of the email, which went on to be at variance with aspects of the schools account of the affair, were revealed in an affidavit filed with the High Court by its principal Frank Milling.

In an affidavit last August, the schools chairman John Rogers said a meeting took place the previous May between the student, their parents and Ms McShane at which the then principal was advised the student wanted to transition and to be addressed by a new name and pronoun going forward. Mr Rogers based his account on a report compiled by Ms McShane.

However, the parent said in the email to Mr Milling they wished to be clear that the purpose of the meeting was to reengage [their child] back to school.

The parent also said that while the child had requested to go by a new name, the they/them pronoun came from Wilsons and there was no principal or deputy principal at the meeting.

In a responding affidavit, Mr Burke has claimed the email demonstrates that orders secured against him were obtained on the basis of false statements.

He said he believed the parent of the student who attended the meeting had no desire to see the school litigate or take disciplinary action against him.

The affidavit filed by Mr Milling outlining the parents email was one of four filed by the school to deal with the earlier inaccuracies in court filings.

Lawyers for the school have argued the inaccuracies have no bearing on the granting of orders against Mr Burke.

Mr Milling, in his affidavit, also stated: The students parents email could be interpreted as a suggestion the change in pronouns was a decision by the school and the school alone.

However, I understand from my enquiries of the two members of staff who were at the meeting that is not the case.

The student was clear that they did not want to use their previous gender specific pronouns and all, including the parent, agreed that they/them would be used going forward in the school.

Mr Milling said he understood a wide range of matters were discussed, not just the students name change and pronouns.

He also said he understood from his predecessor that the word parents in her report as opposed to parent was a generalisation on her part.

I believe nothing turns on this. However, it is embarrassing and very unfortunate that this error was made, said Mr Milling.
A heavily indebted former Fianna Fail politician has saved his 350 square metre family home and had 4m in debt written off by the High Court.

Eddie Mulligan (56), a former councillor and General Election candidate, secured approval for a personal insolvency arrangement (PIA) from Mr Justice Alexander Owens following a brief hearing today.

His family home had been the subject of repossession proceedings but has now been safeguarded under the debt deal, which will see his mortgage arrears wiped out.

Mr Mulligans total debts before securing the arrangement amounted to 4.8m.

The court was told his debt issues related to property investments which lost value and rental income due to the financial crash in 2008.

He also gave personal guarantees in relation to the borrowings of a paint sales business and his wife Dervlas hairdressing business, which ran into difficulties and was liquidated.

She previously secured a PIA at the Kilkenny Circuit Court in 2021.

The former politician, of Dunmore Road, Waterford, said in an affidavit, the collapse of the business took a serious impact on our health and mental health and described dealing with creditors as extremely challenging.

He claimed repossession proceedings were started despite constant communication and co-operation by me with my creditors and my very best endeavours to meet my financial obligations.

Mr Mulligan was a county councillor between 2014 and last year, when he stepped down to take up a paid position with Waterford City and County Council.

A former naval serviceman who also worked in a family painting and decorating business, he ran unsuccessfully for the Dail in 2020.

In his affidavit, Mr Mulligan said the PIA was crucial to his personal and family position and his ability to move on with his life.

The personal insolvency arrangement was approved after a creditor dropped their objection to the debt deal.

It was presented to the court by Keith Farry BL, counsel for Mr Mulligans personal insolvency practitioner Mitchell OBrien, instructed by solicitors Anthony Joyce & Co.

Some 608,000 was owed to Pepper Finance Corporation on the family home, which has a market value of 425,000.

Under the deal, the negative equity element of the debt is to be written off, while the mortgage on what is left will be extended under new terms following a 12-month interest only period.

Mr Mulligans interests in a commercial unit, a retail unit and a site will be sold under the arrangement.

His other main creditors were Everyday Finance DAC, owed over 2.7m, and Bank of Ireland, owed 1.4m. Most of his debts were classed as unsecured as they were not backed by assets.

Unsecured creditors will share just 5,195 under the arrangement, but Mr Farry said they would have received nothing if Mr Mulligan had been made bankrupt.

Everyday Finance had initially objected to the debt deal, claiming it was unfairly prejudicial to its interest. However, that objection was dropped. It purchased some of Mr Mulligans debts from AIB.

Mr Mulligan said his financial difficulties dated back to the economic recession in 2008.

Properties I owned devalued greatly and fell into negative equity and lost rental income, he said.

Mr Mulligan said his wifes hairdressing business also suffered greatly and ultimately fell into liquidation. Both he and his wife ended up being restricted as directors.

However, for what it is worth, in my view this arose due to our insolvency and means at the time. We were advised by the accountant that we could defend the matter, but we did not have the means to defend the proceedings, said Mr Mulligan.

He said he had fully engaged at all times with his creditors and answered everything asked of him.

That was not always reciprocated by the financial institutions concerned. It became increasing frustrating and stressful, he said.
A judge has ordered David Gibson, the new provincial of the Christian Brothers in Ireland, to appear before him or send legal representatives after hearing of difficulties a survivor has had in progressing a civil action over indecent assaults he suffered at school.

The move comes amid concern expressed by the claimants lawyers about the legal strategy adopted by the religious order which means claimants have to serve papers on over 100 brothers because the congregation refuses to appoint a nominee.

As well as suing his abuser, who is currently awaiting sentencing after admitting to offences in 1980 and 1981, the survivor has also been seeking to sue the order.

Brother Edmund Garvey was named as a defendant as he was the orders provincial leader. However, he has decided not to act as a nominee for the Brothers.

While he was legally entitled to do so, it means all living members of the order at the time of the abuse must be made defendants if the lawsuit, filed in 2019, is to progress.

This has created a major logistical headache for the claimant, who is seeking damages for personal injuries, psychological injuries and mental distress inflicted by his abuser and for alleged negligence and breach of duty on the part of the order.

In 2021 the High Court directed that Brother Garvey disclose the full names and addresses of those who were members of the Christian Brothers in Ireland from August 1979 to December 1984, resulting in the disclosure of the details of 118 living Brothers, six of whom are now abroad.

The court was today due to hear an application to join the additional brothers as defendants and for an order that the plaintiff be allowed serve Brother Garvey with the proceedings for all the new defendants.

However, Mr Justice Tony OConnor heard that the survivors solicitors Coleman Legal were told on Friday, three days before the hearing, that Brother Garvey was no longer province leader.

The court heard that Brother Gibson had taken over the role in August last year, but this had never been notified to the survivors legal team.

After hearing from Andrew Nugent BL, counsel for the survivor, Mr Justice OConnor made an order allowing the plaintiff serve an amended plenary summon on Brother Gibson.

He also ordered that Brother Gibson or his legal representatives appear before him on Friday to give details as are available to him about the difficulties for him in conveying copies of the amended plenary summons on the other additional joined defendants.

He may have information about where they are now, whether they are still with us, and if he can facilitate it and will help bring matters forward, Mr Justice OConnor said.

The judge said he wanted to advance the case and what he had directed was not about vicarious liability but determining peoples rights and obligations.

Mr Justice OConnor said it might be the case that Brother Gibson takes a different approach to that taken by Brother Garvey.

Lawyers say the strategy adopted by the Christian Brothers has not been used by other orders, who are all said to be willing to appoint nominees.

The position adopted by the Christian Brothers comes in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in 2017 in a case called Hickey vs McGowan, where the court found that unincorporated associations such as religious orders cannot be sued because they dont have a distinct legal personality separate from its membership.

The law in the area is currently being examined by Law Reform Commission due to the practical difficulties faced by plaintiffs, both in terms of having to sue many people who may have had no involvement whatsoever in the matter being sued over and the recovery of damages.
A Norwegian telecom engineer who drove an Irish rental car across Europe to his home country in breach of his agreement has been given a three month jail term.

Bjorn Erlend Tveter (41) declined to return the car after the company contacted him when they were alerted that it had been caught speeding in Holland. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that 9,000 miles were clocked up on the car.

Tveter from Norway and with a former address in Celbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to use of a false instrument being a fraudulent rental agreement on dates between November 10 and 25, 2020. He has previous convictions for drugs offences in Norway and Sweden.

The court heard he was extradited to Ireland in January after he was stopped travelling from Spain to Gibraltar. He has been in custody since that date.

Garda Dominic McGrath told Joe Barnes BL, prosecuting, that Tveter had used a false rental agreement using a former address to lease a car and left the state in the car. The rental company were alerted the following day when a speeding ticket was flagged for the car in Holland.

Gda McGrath said the company contacted Tveter and asked him to return the car but he told them he needed it and was going to hold on to it for a couple of months. He was asked to surrender it to the police in Norway but declined.

Phone and email contact continued with Tveter but the car was flagged as stolen and recovered by police in Norway. A contractor was sent to repatriate the car by the company costing 3,200.

Aoife OLeary BL, defending, said her client, who works as a telecoms engineer, used his real name, driving licence and bank card but used an address he no longer lived at on the rental agreement. She said he was easily traceable.

Ms OLeary said he had paid 1,500 initially to the company on the 12 month lease and a further 3,500 was taken from his credit card at a later stage. The company is at a remaining loss of 1,200.

She said he had engaged with the person he rented the car from and had believed he was allowed to take the car out of the state. She said he was in a position to pay the outstanding money to the company.

The court heard when stopped by Norwegian police, he told them he had borrowed the car and did not see the problem. The police seized the car and let Tveter go.

Passing sentence today, Judge Martin Nolan said Tveter appeared to make a habit of sailing close to the wind.

He imposed a sentence of 12 months and suspended the final nine months, backdating it to January 13, 2023. He ordered the outstanding 1,200 be paid over.




This is the criminal who a Dublin man solicited to murder two Canadian women after his wife befriended them online while playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Alan Leech (38), from Loftus Hall Apartments, Hazelbrook Square, Churchtown, Dublin, was hired by jealous husband Bryan Kennedy to kill the Canadian couple after he was angry because his wife was leaving him and they were supporting the move.

Drug addict Leech asked for 10,000 to carry out the killings and Kennedy handed over 8,000, which he got from friends and family who were unaware of his intentions.

While Leech is not believed to have planned to carry through on the plot, he began blackmailing and threatening Kennedy and his family after demanding the other 2,000 to carry out the killings.

Kennedy said ahead of his own sentencing that he was terrified of Leech after the would-be hitman started threatening him and said he picked the wrong person when he hired him for the double hit.

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Leech appeared in court this week where he pleaded guilty to demanding the 2,000 with menace from Kennedys ex-wife on dates between January 6, 2020 to February 11, 2020.

He had initially been charged with a number of other offences, including threats to kill or cause serious harm to Kennedy, but they are no longer being pursued following his guilty plea. The case was adjourned until April 19 for sentencing.

Scorned husband Kennedy, who believed Leech would carry out the double murder, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to soliciting the would-be assassin to murder the Canadian couple between October 2019 and January 2020.

He will begin his sentence next month as arrangements had to be put in place to organise supports for his ex-wife and children, as he was their primary carer despite the marriage breaking up.

Kennedy knew Leech as their kids went to the same school and confided in him that he was having relationship difficulties.

At the end of the day it was just heartbreak. You get the worst news possible and you just start thinking crazy, Kennedy said.

He wrongly believed his problems would be solved if he got Leech to murder Canadian couple Stephanie Poirier and Clara Houde-Brunette, who had met his wife online.

Ms Poirier previously told the Sunday World that she and her wife, Clara, got to know Kennedys wife on social media in 2019 and they became good friends.

They would chat online and play Dungeons and Dragons. Kennedys wife revealed to them how her relationship wasnt working and she wanted to end it.

I did whatever any good friend would do and said if youre not happy in your relationship you should leave, said Ms Poirier.

Her friendship with Kennedys wife continued and they often had intimate conversations.

We thought everything was private, but it turned out Bryan had kept log-in information on his phone for his wifes accounts. He had been reading all her messages as it happened in real time.

She said Kennedy saw intimate pictures that she and the wife had shared and this incensed him.

While Kennedy claimed his wife told him she was moving to Canada to live with the couple, Ms Poirier said that wasnt true.

We said, do you want to visit Canada and get away for a week? We have an extra spare room. Bryan got really cold and angry with her and that made it a very sour household.

By January 2020, Kennedy had already paid over 8,000 to Leech, who was pressuring him for the rest of the money.

On January 6, the pressure became so much for Kennedy that he fled the country without telling anyone where he was going.

He didnt even pick up the kids from school. He just messaged his ex-wife and said go get the kids and he was gone. He was in the wind and we didnt know why. He just ran away one day, said Ms Poirier.

While he was away, Leech called to Kennedys home and threatened Kennedys wife.

Ms Poirier said: It came out bit by bit that he ran away because there was a man threatening him and the man started threatening my friend, saying awful things.

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At that point things started to piece together mostly through [Leech}. He would yell things at the door and during one of the confrontations he yelled something about how Bryan had tried to hire him to kill us. That was the end of January and that was the first we heard of the plot.

Stephanie said while she could understand if Kennedy confided in Leech about how he didnt like the fact his wife was friends with the Canadian couple, but to hire him to kill them was crazy.

Its one thing to go to someone who is sympathetic and say, Ive been having relationship issues. Its another thing when that person says hey, do you want me to off them for you and you say yeah, heres 8,000.

Now that Leech has pleaded guilty, it can also be revealed that Kennedy told of how the plan to hire a hitman backfired.

You just start thinking crazy and you pick the wrong person [Leech], you probably know his name. He didnt just threaten me. He threatened my ex-wife and kids. Im just glad the guards [became involved].

Asked if he was terrified of Leech himself, he said: Oh yeah. Especially with that man if he has priors and stuff.

Kennedy also told us he wasnt looking forward to the prospect of being jailed himself.

I dont think anyone enjoys jail. Especially being a family man, being a carer who does stuff day-to-day  being taken away from that.

While Kennedy has now split from his ex-wife, who suffers from a degenerative bone disease, he continued to be her primary carer and look after their children even after he was convicted of the hitman plot.

His ex-wife accompanied him to court for his sentencing hearing and said no matter what supports were put in place for their family they could not replace the level of care given by Kennedy.

Judge Caroline Biggs postponed the sentencing until April to allow time for Tusla to put in place supports for his ex-wife and kids.

She said while it was preferable that Kennedy cared for the kids, it was on his head that he chose to break the law and he must bear responsibility for that.

She said an aggravating factor was that Kennedy was warned it was a dangerous road to go down and that he took time to think about it but still went ahead.

Ms Poirier previously told the Sunday World that the plot left both her and her partner as well as Kennedys family terrified and he brought that on all of them.

All three of us have not slept well for the past three years and I think Bryans ex-wife and her kids are suffering the worst, she said.

His ex-wife stayed awake for a week straight when she found out about it. She was so terrified of a man pounding down their door and all that stuff.

He [Kennedy] brought that down on his own family. In a sense that is karma. He tried to hire a hitman and it blew up in his face so spectacularly. On some level it feels karmic but the impact its having on his wife and kids is heartbreaking.

Leech was previously jailed for 18 months for stealing 118,000 worth of electronics from a security company where his father worked for 30 years and Leech also worked.

He pleaded guilty to 27 counts of stealing LCD TVs, digital cameras, PlayStations and Xbox equipment from Brute Force Security, at Sandyford Industrial Estate, between February 20 and June 6, 2008.

Leech said in court he had a chronic cocaine habit and stole the items to pay off a drug debt.

Leechs father, who was completely unaware of the thefts, offered to resign from his job after finding out what his son did. He also paid off the remaining 3,000 owed to drug dealers.

At the sentencing hearing, Leechs mother told the judge she had not noticed any changes in her son because, she said: We have never, ever dealt with drugs in our family circle.
Sir,



The legacy of Fidel Castro Rus has eloquently offered its own self-defence. As he said it on October 6, 1953, when he prophesied that history will absolve me, while on trial for his leadership role in the revolutionary grand assault on the Moncada Barracks. Cuban doctors helping in other countries are an inspiration not only to the West but to us Africans too.

The point being made is that history will not only judge Castro on the human rights of those who wanted him dead, but will assess him based on the stupendous gains of the Cuban revolution. The massive investments of the revolution, in the social sector, have yielded good returns for the Cuban people. Education and health services are free in Cuba. These socio-economic needs are human rights in Cuba. That is the social democratic contact of the revolution. The revolution has produced an educated people.

Literacy

The literacy rate in Cuba is higher than those of many developed countries, including the United States. Even an unyielding critic of the Cuban experiment, The Economist of London, described the health sector of Cuba as first world. Thousands of Cuban doctors are saving lives in different parts of the world, especially in rural Africa.

Doctors

Cuban doctors have exuded the humanity imbued in them by the revolution where other countries found themselves in crises situations. Cuban health workers have been out on their mettle during hurricanes and earthquakes in various parts of the world. Cuban doctors were on the ground to combat ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The New York Times had this to say about Cubas achievement in the health sector; The global panic over ebola has not brought forth an adequate response from the nations with the most to offer. While the USA and several other wealthy countries have been happy to pledge funds, only Cuba and non-governmental organisations are offering what is most needed: medical professionals in the field. The newspaper even called on the USA to swiftly restore diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Castro was not only a commander of guerrilla struggles, he also led a battle of ideas. He spoke against the debt trap of poor countries of the 1980s, saying the dept was neither payable nor collectable. He warned against the ecological consequences of the reckless capitalist development of the industrialised countries. He was unyielding, until the end, in pointing out the enormous human cost of neo-liberalism, the idea dominating the world in which one per cent owns more than the 90 per cent of the global wealth.

Attacked

Today, global capitalism, called globalisation, is being attacked for different reasons. Neo-liberalism has no answer to the wave of populism, rising in the West. The beast in the liberal democracy is becoming manifest. Castro was principled and disciplined until the end and provided a model of leadership. An intangible gain of the revolution under Castros leadership is the development of a people with national pride and human dignity. The revolution was rooted not just in socialism but also in Cuban nationalism. This is one of the reasons for the exceptional durability of the revolution. The gains of the Cuban peoples experiment with the creation of a just, humane and popular democratic society will surely outlive Castro.
Two men have been critically injured in a series of stabbings in Limerick City overnight.

The men, in their 20s and 40s, were rushed by ambulance from the Thomondgate area, to University Hospital Limerick, where both are in a critical condition.

Gardai have sealed off several parts of Thomondgate and are conducting forensic examinations of a number of areas in the general area.

A garda spokesperson said: Gardai were alerted to the incident at approximately 2.35am this morning. A male (aged in his 20s) was discovered with apparent stab wounds at a residence on New Road in Thomondgate. The man was treated at the scene by Emergency Services and taken to University Hospital Limerick where his condition is described as critical.

Following enquiries by investigating gardai, a second male (aged in his 40s) was discovered with apparent stab wounds at a nearby residence on Cross Road, Thomondgate. This man was also taken to University Hospital Limerick where his condition is described as critical.

Both residences have been preserved for a technical examination by investigating gardai.

Gardai have placed more than 20 markers beside apparent blood stains, along a vast stretch of footpath in the New Road and Distillery View areas of the northside city community.

A large green in the area, as well as a number of houses, have also been sealed off by gardai.

A garda photographer attached to the garda forensic unit has been recording the scene as part of an technical examination of the scene.

A second garda has placed a number of items into evidence bags at the scene.

Gardai in Henry Street are appealing to any person who may have information in relation to this incident to contact them.

The spokesperson added: Anyone who was in the area of New Road and Cross Road, Thomondgate this morning Monday, 27th March 2023 between the hours of 2.00am and 3.00am, including any road users who may have camera footage (including dash cam), is asked to contact investigating gardai.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station on 061 212400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.

Investigations are ongoing.
Another primary school is transferring from Catholic patronage to multi-denominational ethos.

St Endas NS, in Dublins south east inner city, will become a community national school (CNS) in September.

It will be the first community national school to operate under the City of Dublin Education and Training Board.

The 137-pupil, co-educational school is in Whitefriar Street, and is affiliated to the Carmelite Community Centre and Whitefriar Street Church.

The transfer is happening under the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity Process, which aims to offer choice in areas where there is little or no multi-denominational provision.

This is a Department of Education initiative, which, in collaboration with bishops, has been working with a number of school communities around the country over the past year.

But progress has been slow and, recently, a move to transfer one of three Catholic primary schools in Raheny, in north Dublin, floundered because of opposition from parents and staff.

But the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Dermot Farrell, today indicated a strong commitment to continuing to seek the transfer of schools under his patronage to multi-denominational ethos.

Welcoming the St Endas announcement, Dr Farrell said it came with his full approval and agreement.

In a broader comment, Dr Farrell confirmed his support for the reconfiguration of patronage within the archdiocese in order to reflect the growing diversity of Irish society.

Dr Farrell, who is patron of all Catholic primary schools in the archdiocese, said he looked forward to continuing cooperation with the Department of Education in order to bring this about.

Much has been learnt from the existing process which can now be built on. As has been shown, there are no easy solutions to a complex situation - consensus is vital, he said.

Dr Farrell said he, along with the other Catholic patrons, would continue to work with the department to identify remaining barriers to the building of that consensus.

This includes reassuring Catholic parents that their choice of a school with a Catholic patronage and ethos will continue to be secured and facilitated within the education system, he said.

The Carmelite Order has been involved as trustees of St Endas from its foundation in 1894.

Fr Michael Troy Prior Provincial, Irish Province of Carmelites, said faith formation classes and religious instruction in preparation for the sacraments, for families and pupils of the new school who desire it, will be co-ordinated and provided by Whitefriar Street parish.

He said St Endas had a very bright future and it will continue to flourish within the local community.

Efforts to reduce the dominance of the Catholic Church in primary education have been under consideration for more than decade.

More than eight in 10 of about 3,100 primary schools are Catholic and since 2012 only about a dozen have transferred from Catholic patronage.

The Programme for Government commits to having at least 400 multi-denominational primary schools by 2030, an increase from 5pc of 13pc.

In an effort to invigorate the process Education Minister Norma Foley launched the current initiative a year ago, and it has involved the use of one of a number of independent facilitators to help school communities to arrive at a decision.

Parents, staff and the board of management are all consulted about a switch in patronage and, where that is agreed, their preference for a new patron.

Following the consultation at St Endas, the patron notified the department of his intention to hand over the school and the department decided that patronage should be transferred to City of Dublin ETB, with the school becoming a CNS.

Ms Foley said the transfer of patronage of St Endas marked another important moment in the reconfiguration for diversity process.

She thanked the patron and trustees and the St Endas school community for their positive, constructive engagement in the process.

Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) general secretary Paddy Lavelle said the school would join the CNS family, along with at least one other primary school, in September 2023.

I have no doubt that many more primary schools in the City of Dublin ETB geographical region will choose to become a CNS in the future, he said.

While the department has indicated a preference for schools that transfer to become community national schools, other patron bodies offering multi-denominational education may also canvass for support.

Todays announcement brings to 13 the number of new community national schools established in the context of a transfer from a different ethos, mainly the Catholic Church.

In addition in 2021, an Irish-medium gaelscoil transferred patronage from its Catholic patron to An Foras Patrunachta and offers junior infants the choice of an ethics and morality programme or a Catholic programme.

Separately, another gaelscoil under the patronage of An Foras Patrunachta changed to a multi-denominational ethos, on a phased basis from September 2022.
More than 600 additional teaching course places have been announced to deal with a shortage of schoolteachers.

The Department of Education said there had been ongoing pressures relating to the availability of substitute teachers.

The shortage, coupled with an evident impact on teacher demands, with the enrolment of 9,300 Ukrainian children and an increased provision for special needs pupils, had led to the necessity for new teachers exceeding previous expectations, the department added.

Recent policy advances, such as the extension of Deis status to 322 additional schools from this September, had also created further demand for staff.

The department said the changes would bring the pupil-teacher ratio in schools to a historic low.

Education Minister Norma Foley said: Primary school teaching remains a very popular career option, both for students leaving school and people turning to teaching mid-career.

Over successive Budgets weve been successful in increasing the number of teaching posts available in our schools, bringing the pupil-teacher ratio down to its lowest ever level, growing the number of Deis schools and increasing the number of home-school liaison and special education posts.

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In total, 610 new places will be released over the next two years, with 320 places to be unveiled this year and 290 next year.

There will be 90 more places on the Bachelor in Education (B.Ed.) programme this year and next. Thirty extra places will be released on the B.Ed. through the Medium of Irish (B.Oid) in 2023, making a total of 60 in 2023.

A total of 200 additional places will be provided on the Professional Master of Education (Primary Teaching) (PME) programme in 2023 and 2024.

Ms Foley said: I wish to acknowledge the higher education institutions commitment to this increased number of students on the Primary B.Ed., B.Oid. and Primary PME programmes.

This significant increase is only possible with their co-operation. I would like to thank them for engaging openly and constructively with the department on this matter and for their continuing co-operation and collaboration.

This is in addition to a number of measures taken and under way which are intended to address current challenges in the area of teacher supply in primary and post-primary schools. I and my department continue to work collaboratively with the education partners to ensure teacher supply.

The primary concurrent and consecutive programmes are available in the following State-funded higher education institutions: Dublin City University ( DCU), Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Marino Institute of Education and Maynooth University.
The family of four-year-old Fiadh OConnor, who has terminal cancer, have spoken of their relief at being promised a HSE package to allow her return home.

But they said they should not have had to publicly beg for the service for their brave little hero.

The plight of Laura and Rory OConnor, from The Ballagh in Co Wexford, was revealed on Friday when they made a public appeal for palliative care to allow their little daughter die at home.

We are devastated to beg for services and have empathy for any family who has faced this problem in such a critical time in our lives, the couple said yesterday.

They received the news this month that Fiadh, who was diagnosed with aggressive neuroblastoma in 2019, had relapsed for a third time and will need end-of-life care.

But the south east has been without a paediatric palliative care service since 2017 and Laura and Rory feared Fiadh would not be cared for with her family, including her brother Paidi (3), with whom she shares a special bond.

Following an appeal by Fiadhs aunt Orlaigh Murphy, the HSE issued a statement on Friday saying a comprehensive package of care would be provided. A spokesman said: The HSE is very sorry this took so long.

Fiadhs parents yesterday thanked the public for the love and support shown to the family since they were informed of the devastating news about her prognosis.

As Fiadhs family, we will be in receipt of a comprehensive package of care as agreed by the chief operations officer of the South and South East Hospital Group, said the family.

They have been promised direct contact with the primary care head of services, palliative care community nurse visits and support, and a palliative care consultant to oversee, advise and to provide adequate clinical responsibility.

We do not at this point need additional palliative care nursing staff to care for Fiadh as family thus far has sufficed. However, the primary care head of services have confirmed they would organise an appropriate person to attend if home nursing support is needed to assist the family.

Fiadh is lucky she has aunties who are doctors and nurses and they were always going to care for her at home. Thankfully, with this support, our beautiful hero Fiadh will be cared for at home.

Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and that of their families who are facing challenges associated with life-threatening illness, whether physical, psychological, social or spiritual. The quality of life of caregivers improves as well.

The family said this is a description provided by the WHO which also states early delivery of palliative care reduces unnecessary hospital admissions and the use of health services.

In our experience, this is true and hopefully will act as prevention to availing of unnecessary tertiary health services.

We are devastated to beg for services and have empathy for any family who has faced this problem at such a critical time in their lives.

We hope that when the next case arises, the HSE will provide paediatric palliative care for all the children in the south east without having to resort to publicising their darkest hour.

"We were advised that it would be a fight to get home palliative care in the south east. Hopefully quick action is taken and no more fight is needed.

All said and done, we are delighted to receive a reasonable and timely response. We will provide an update after the next few months again, when appropriate, on how Fiadh is and hopefully, report that the HSE are honouring this promise.

"Hopefully, this is all we will need to do publicly with regards to Fiadhs care and we can attend to her care as intended.

We thank everyone for your heart-warming and grounding support. No one likes to hear such dreadful stories and we continue to be delighted to witness the caring nature of our community.

We just want the services that are right for Fiadh at the moment and the provision of this vital service to be addressed.

On Friday, the family had revealed their heartbreak at the news that Fiadh's disease was no longer curable.

We did not want to go public with Fiadhs condition but we have been forced to in order to allow her the right to die at home surrounded by her family. We were advised to begin putting pressure on locally and do whatever we can to ensure it is granted for Fiadh.

"We are broken but will do whatever it takes to have our gorgeous Fiadh at home to be with us and her brother Paidi, who she adores so much.
A review of Irelands sexual health strategy recommends the development of a plan to address the impact of early exposure to pornography.

The Review of the National Sexual Health Strategy (NSHS), commissioned by the Department of Health, said adolescents pornography consumption is reportedly associated with subsequent increased sexual, relational, and body dissatisfaction.

Increased pornography viewing has been associated with younger sexual debut, higher numbers of partners, and casual sex partners, it said.

The current strategy has supported training in this area to youth workers through the National Youth Council of Ireland.

The report found some health workers believe an abortion limitation of 12 weeks is too restrictive.

It found some sexual and reproductive health professionals feel the 12-week abortion rule is too restrictive, while the three-day wait protocol is burdensome.

Currently women can only receive an abortion if their pregnancy is no more than 12 weeks.

After this time period, a termination can only be accessed in exceptional circumstances, such as where a womans life is in danger, or the pregnancy will cause serious health risks.

Women also have to wait for three days after their GP or doctor has certified theyre no more than 12 weeks pregnant  before they can access the termination.

The report notes that a comprehensive legal review of abortion care and the issues relating to the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, is due to conclude this year.

According to the NHS, most abortions in the UK are carried out before 24 weeks.

Theres no waiting period in the UK and women can either attend a GP, doctor, or sexual health clinic, for a referral, or self-refer by contacting an abortion service.

The NSHS report recommends the development of referral pathways for counselling and psychological support for those with a crisis pregnancy or for post-abortion care.

A notable recommendation came from the Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care (UnPAC) study. It proposes the development of a new model for unplanned or crisis pregnancy support and counselling services, integrated with the model of care for termination of pregnancy services.

In January 2022, the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) stated that despite abortion being legalised in 2018, Irish women and girls were still travelling to the UK for terminations, due to a lack of provision in Ireland.

And in May 2022, the National Womens Council (NWC) stated that only 11 out of 19 maternity hospitals were providing full abortion services in line with the law.

Junior minister for public health, wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton said: I look forward to wider collaboration with our stakeholders and colleagues to improve and expand our delivery of sexual and reproductive healthcare in Ireland further, as part of developing the new strategy.

Stakeholders recommended a future strategy should include greater awareness and promotion of Sexual Assault Treatment Units, the regulation of assisted human reproduction and a targeted approach for menstrual health rights up to menopause.

The report  carried out by Crowe Ireland Advisory  made 32 recommendations.

Among the recommendations was a focus on the reduction of chemsex  which involves the use of drugs during sexual activity  a growing public health concern in Ireland with increased risks of transmission of STIs and HIV, as well as other blood-borne viruses.
HSE Covid-19 testing centres as well as the online portal allowing certain groups to make an appointment for a test through its website will close down on Thursday.

The HSE said the advice around Covid-19 has changed and testing is no longer recommended for the vast majority of people.

It marks another major step away from the pandemic measures put in place since the coronavirus emerged in early 2020.

The HSE said: In line with this new advice, community testing centres across the country and the self-referral portal for ordering PCR tests are no longer required, and both will be closed March 30.

Both PCR and antigen testing will continue to be used by doctors in hospitals and general practice settings for diagnosing and deciding on treatment.

Dr John Cuddihy, HSE national director for public health said: We are making these changes now based on best available evidence in relation to managing Covid-19, recognising the high level of vaccine-induced and naturally acquired population immunity in Ireland as well as the development of new treatments, all of which are mitigating the worst impacts of Covid-19 infection.

Testing for Covid-19 will not be necessary for the vast majority of the population. For most people, if they have symptoms of Covid-19 or other viral respiratory tract infections, they should stay at home and limit contact with others until 48 hours after their symptoms have substantially or fully resolved  they do not need to do a Covid-19 test.

Eileen Whelan, HSE lead for Covid-19 test and trace and vaccination said: From this Thursday, the self-referral portal on the HSEs website, which enabled specific groups of the public book their own PCR test, will no longer be required and will close.

Also from Thursday healthcare workers who are household close contacts are no longer required to do antigen tests. Therefore, the current antigen-ordering portal on HSE.ie will also close. Specific guidance will be issued to health and care workers.

A reduced contact tracing service will remain and contact tracing will be limited to those who have had a positive test in settings and scenarios such as hospitals and long-term care facilities where further transmission is likely, and could have serious impact based on public health risk assessment.

Public health teams may also decide that Covid-19 testing is required in the management of an outbreak in a high-risk setting where they believe that further transmission is likely and could have a serious impact.
An ice-cream parlour worker was not an "artisan" who could dictate his own breaks, the Workplace Relations Commission has found in awarding him compensation against his employer.

The retail group operating a Ginos Gelato parlour has been ordered to pay Andrea Bandacchino, who took up the position as his first job in Ireland, 1,320 in compensation after finding he was subject to a pattern of denial of breaks while working without a statement of employment terms.

It awarded him 440 for working without a shift break on four days between November 12, 2021, and the termination of his employment on January 12, 2022, and made an order for a further 880 for the company's failure to provide him with a written statement of terms and conditions of employment.

The claims had been entirely denied by the firm, which operates a number of Spar and Ginos Gelato outlets in Dublin city centre.

Mr Bandacchino submitted clock-in records to show that after working six hours at a time he had not been facilitated in taking his legally-required 30-minute shift breaks.

As Mr Bandacchino had put in his first set of complaints in mid-May 2022, several months after the date of his termination on January 12, 2022, the WRC was limited in its jurisdiction and could only examine alleged breaches during the last two months of the complainants employment.

Majella Caffola, operations and HR director for C&C Retail Ltd, claimed that a gelato maker was an artisan who dictates his breaks and that it was not the companys fault if he did not take them  a position rejected by the tribunal.

Ms Caffola told a hearing last month: The gelato maker usually dictates his or her own breaks, given the nature of the work, and therefore if the complainant did not avail of his breaks, it was not the fault of the respondent.

The workers position was that breaks were not facilitated either because the ice-cream parlour was busy or because he had to carry out other duties.

Adjudicating officer Thomas ODriscoll said the established case law was that an employer was under a positive duty to ensure employees received their rest breaks, and noted that there was a recorded pattern of denial of breaks prior to the last two months of Mr Bandacchinos employment.

This will not be taken into account when calculating compensation, but I cannot ignore the fact that the four days in question do not seem to be isolated incidents, he wrote.

Ms Caffola also told the tribunal she sent a contract to the shop where Mr Bandacchino worked to be signed  but accepted she could not testify that the worker actually received the terms.

Upholding the employment terms breach, Mr ODriscoll noted Mr Bandacchinos evidence that the ice-cream parlour was his first job in Ireland and he was not familiar with his employment rights.

I conclude that the impact of not receiving his terms under such circumstances was an aggravating factor that should be reflective in the compensatory sum, he added, awarding 880 more in compensation, bringing the total orders against C&C Retail Ltd to 1,320.
Baby John's grave in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry. Photo: Domnick Walsh Photography

The lawyer representing the couple arrested on suspicion of murder in the Kerry Babies case has questioned the validity of their detention and said he expects them to be exonerated.

Speaking in the aftermath of the release without charge of the man in his 60s and woman in her 50s, high-profile Kerry solicitor Padraig OConnell also urged the Director of Public Prosecutions to make a decision on their case as soon as possible.

Gardai sent a file to the DPP after the arrests, questioning, and release of the couple at two Kerry garda stations on Thursday evening.

The woman was released from Castleisland garda station on Friday evening, and the man was released from Listowel garda station in the early hours of Saturday morning.

They were arrested at their home on suspicion of murder.

Gardai believe they are the parents of the child who became known as Baby John, who was found on White Strand Beach near Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, with stab wounds and a broken neck.

I want to see a file sent to the DPP and for the DPP to make a decision as immediately as possible so that they can be exonerated and I expect they will, Mr OConnell said.

He said the couple are innocent and that he would question the validity of their arrest.

I believe there is no reason for their arrest, he said.

DNA has been taken from the couple and has been sent for analysis, the Irish Independent understands.

This, however, will only prove whether they have a DNA link or are the parents of Baby John.

The couples home has also been searched by gardai.

Proving they are the parents is one thing. Providing DNA that is a match, so be it, but that doesnt prove anything, Mr OConnell said.

Since when did having matching DNA allow someone to be an alleged murderer?

This case needs to be expedited, he said.

There is no time-frame for when DNA results would be expected.

The body of five-day-old Baby John was found on White Strand Beach in April 1984.

The resulting flawed garda investigation which relied on false confessions from Joanne Hayes and her family, led eventually to a tribunal.

This turned out to be shameful in its treatment of Ms Hayes, who had given birth to a stillborn baby about the same time as Baby John was killed.

What was supposed to be an inquiry into how Joanne Hayes confessed to the killing of a baby she could never have given birth to turned into a spotlight on her personal life.

She was publicly cross-examined for five days, often while in tears, and forced to reveal details about her sex life and use of contraception.

The tribunal lasted 82 days and eventually found that Joanne Hayes could not have been the mother of Baby John.

Ms Hayes received an apology from the State in December 2020, 36 years after Baby John was found.

A cold-case review launched in 2018, and the exhumation of Baby Johns remains in 2021 to obtain a new DNA sample, brought local and national attention to the case again.

It was believed improved scientific procedures could advance the investigation.

The passage of time had led to assumptions that gardai did not have enough new evidence to advance the case.

But the announcement of the arrests last Thursday evening took locals by surprise, and suddenly the spotlight turned on the couple.

It is understood the Kerry couple have never had any dealings with gardai or solicitors until their arrest on Thursday evening.

They have not yet returned to their home.

Meanwhile, local councillor Norma Moriarty has asked if it would have been better if gardai had called to the couple quietly first with whatever information they had, rather than move to quickly arrest them.

People know who the arrested couple are now, she said.

A lot of families are impacted by the arrests.

We need to learn from the past and ensure mistakes that were made back then are not repeated in the current investigation.

Would the gardai have been better to approach the couple discreetly first to see what direction it might take the investigation.

There is a lot of empathy for the couple in the area.

Ms Moriarty also said DNA evidence could only take the investigation so far, and nobody should make any assumptions or suppositions even if it did identify who Baby Johns family are.

Nobody can pre-judge in this case, she said.
A Sinn Fein councillor has condemned the removal of an Irish sign from a village in Co Derry and branded it a hate crime.

The signage was installed in Mill Park in Tobermore by Mid Ulster District Council on Thursday.

However, it was removed within two days by angry residents who left two Union flags in its place.

Local representative Ian Milne described the removal of the signpost as an act of wanton destruction of which I unreservedly condemn.

"It is clearly a hate crime and an attack on the ratepayers of the district and I would call on all political parties to call it out and condemn this act of hate vandalism," he said.

"Following international best practice for the protection of minority and indigenous languages internationally and within these islands, Mid Ulster District Council has developed its own Irish language policy which is aimed at protecting and promoting our language.

"The erection of bi-lingual place name signage is an important element within that policy.

"Irish language is not the preserve of any one section of our community, religion or race.

His comments come after a DUP councillor said the installation of the sign came as a surprise to everyone who lives in the area  including elected representatives.

Anne Forde warned the local authority against replacing the stolen post which has infuriated many residents.

"A lot of people were very angry about this and many residents have been voicing their opposition to an Irish sign being put up in a Protestant village, she said.

"I didnt want to get into any disputes about this, but people are very unhappy.

"Everyone was shocked, I was shocked myself.

"Its caused a whole hullabaloo.





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The Unionist representative accused the local authority of failing to carry out proper consultation before erecting the Irish sign at Mill Park and said replacing it will prove futile.

"This is not a village that speaks Irish, she added.

"Most residents dont accept the Irish language needs to be taught in Northern Ireland.

"I dont know what way the council will deal with this going forward, but replacing the sign is a waste of ratepayers money because its obviously not going to get staying there.

"The council needs to accept that putting the sign there was not acceptable  its a Protestant village and no one was informed.

TUV council candidate for Moyola Glenn Moore has also claimed the the Irish language sign is neither needed nor wanted.

"In fact, it has a negative impact on community relations as many local people will see it as an attempt to brand the park, he said.

"This is, frankly, a pathetic attempt by Mid Ulster Council to rub the minority Unionist community's noses in republicanism.

"This is only resulting in increased community tension quite apart from the additional unnecessary expense of ratepayers' money."

The PSNI confirmed it is aware of the missing sign and the erection of flags in the villlage.

"Neighbourhood officers will be engaging with local representatives and agencies in the coming days, a spokesperson said.

Mid Ulster District Council has been contacted for comment.




NHLANGANO  A power struggle between a chief and his mother, who is also an inkhosikati, resulted in a commotion over the weekend.

The commotion took place at Mashobeni, when the recently installed Chief, Prince Mthunzi II, called a meeting to announce the new indvuna lenkhulu. It was gathered from reliable sources that there was a dispute of power between the new Chief Mthunzi II and Inkhosikati LaGabheni. The inkhosikati was overseeing Mashobeni before the chief was blessed by His Majesty King Mswati III last year.

Duties

It was gathered that there had been tension between the two ever since the chief assumed his duties. This was evident in the past week, as the chief instructed Umntfwanenkhosi Lomkhulu Sam Mdluli, who was also acting Indvuna, to call a meeting as he wanted to announce the new indvuna. Its a cultural norm that when a chief assumes power, he is expected to choose and announce members of his council, whom he will work with. If he so wishes, he can retain the former council. Mdluli, however, did not call the meeting as he was allegedly still paying allegiance to the inkhosikati.

Meeting

The meeting was eventually announced on national radio after the chief made means to have it aired. On Saturday, the community members who went to attend the meeting were turned back by a community police member who informed them that the meeting was illegal and unknown to the inkhosikati. This act left many residents confused. It was alleged that the community police member was sent by Sam, to block the people from entering the chiefdom premises and convening the meeting. When called for comment on the matter, Sam, who also spoke on behalf of the Inkhosikati, said he first wanted to clarify that he was not picking sides between the inkhosikati and the chief, adding that he was neutral in the whole matter. When asked why he did not call the meeting as instructed by the chief, Sam said he went to consult with the relevant people and came across challenges. I then advised the chief to talk to his mother (inkhosikati) about the meeting and he seemed to understand, he said.

According to Sam, culturally, even after the chief had been installed, he was expected to first host his officiating ceremony (sibhimbi) after which he should then build his own umphakatsi where he would rule, not to live under his fathers umphakatsi.

Issues

When pressed on the issue of blocking people from going to the umphakatsi for the meeting, he said inkhosikati used his name to block the people as that was what he was told when he consulted, otherwise he knew nothing about the matter. Some of the Mashobeni princes said the chief assumed his position soon after he was blessed by His Majesty King Mswati III, adding that sibhimbi took time to prepare and mostly it was done when he had already assumed his position. Despite the commotion, the meeting proceeded at Mashobeni on Saturday wherein Chief Mthunzi, appointed and announced Reggie Lukhele as the new Indvuna.

In an interview with Magadeyiwile Mdluli, one of the Mashobeni bantfwabenkhosi, who also speaks on behalf of the umphakatsi, he said the meeting continued successfully and Lukhele was the new indvuna of all the chiefdoms under Mashobeni. When asked of Lukheles position as he was previously Vusweni indvuna, he said that position would be filled in due time.

Place

Chairman of Ludzidzini Council Chief Mdlaka Gamedze said inasmuch as the inkhosikati was looking after her son; the one who was blessed was supposed to assume the duties of being a chief even if he was still at his fathers place. He wondered what would happen if it could take 10 years for the chief to build his own umphakatsi (kuphuma umuti). He said such would take time but as and when the chief was blessed, it meant that he was taking over. Inkhosikati ikhona kubuka likhaya yebo, kepha kutsi ingabusa angati kutsi ingakwenta ibusiswe ngubani sekakhona lofanele, he added in vernacular. Gamedze said the chief was supposed to report matters and decisions he took as well those yet to be taken.
A woman has died in a house fire in Co Waterford.

The alarm was raised at around 7.30pm on Sunday by passersby.

Fire units from Dunmore East and Tramore and gardai rushed to the scene of the single storey house in Munmahoge, Co Waterford.

The remains of the woman were discovered inside after fire fighters managed to bring the well-developed fire under control.

Waterford Fire Service remained at the scene for almost four hours.

The remains of the woman were taken to University Hospital Waterford where a post mortem examination is due to be carried out.

Garda and fire services investigations are underway to discover the cause of the fire.

The scene is currently preserved for a technical examination. A file will be prepared for the local coroner.

It is understood that foul play is not suspected.

Gardai have appealed to anyone with information to contact them at Waterford garda station on 051 305300.
The big shock from the Michelin Guide 2023 ceremony held at Silverstone this evening was that the much anticipated third star for Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen did not materialise.

Michelin left Viljanen waiting for a second star at his previous restaurant, The Greenhouse, and it seems that now they are leaving him waiting for his third at Chapter One. It may come as a small consolation to the Finnish chef that no restaurant in Great Britain or Ireland was awarded a third star this year.

There was better news for Ahmet Dede in Baltimore, Co. Cork, whose eponymous Dede was elevated from one to two stars.

Dede earned his first star at Mews, also in Baltimore, in 2018, and another in 2021 when he started afresh at Dede with business partner, Maria Archer.

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The inspectors praised the balance and sophistication of Dedes cooking. The chef and his team bring a fundamentally Turkish approach to a larder of exceptional local ingredients with thrilling results.

Other good news came in the form of the award of a star - one of 20 new stars awarded across Great Britain and Ireland and the only new Irish star - for Chef Patron Vincent Crepel at Terre, located in the Castlemartyr resort in Co. Cork, which opened just six months ago.

The inspectors noted that the chefs international travels inform his refined and striking dishes.

Crepels food is characterised by umami-rich Asian flavours underpinned by classical French techniques. Castlemartyr is owned by Peng Loh and Dr Stanley Quek, the Singapore-based investors also behind Sheen Falls, Library Street, Trinity Townhouse and their most recent acquisition, Tulfarris.

When I got the call from Michelin last week to invite me to the awards ceremony today, said Crepel tonight. I wasnt sure that meant that we would be getting a star, and the woman who called wouldnt tell me so it has been a nerve racking few days. I have enormous respect for Michelin and my whole career has been about striving for excellence, so to be awarded a star today as Chef Patron of Terre is a huge honour for me.

Peng Loh and Dr Stanley Quek had faith in me and placed their trust in me, and I committed to do the work and together we have achieved this great result. I am so grateful to my team, I share this with them.

Peng Loh, who accompanied Crepel to the ceremony, said he was delighted with the news.

I have admired Vincent since I first met him when he was working in Singapore. I asked him to come work with us in Cork to shape a unique restaurant at Castlemartyr and gaining one star so quickly is an exceptional accolade for Terre. I feel very proud.

With just two new stars coming to Ireland, many in the industry will be disappointed. And women in the industry will no doubt be wondering if things will ever change, given that every star awarded by Michelin this year went to a man.

There had been speculation that some Irish restaurants would lose their stars but in the end the only deletion from the 2022 guide is Loam in Galway which announced earlier this year that it would not be reopening.

However two restaurants - 1826 in Adare and Land to Sea in Dingle - no longer appear on the list of restaurants with a Bib Gourmand issued by Michelin after the ceremony. Losing a Bib is not necessarily a sign of any decline in quality, and can simply be a result of pricing moving outside the parameters of the award. Frustratingly, Michelin does not define what these are.

Other Irish interest came in the form of the Welcome and Service Award which went to the popular Declan Maxwell and his team from Spitalfields restaurant in Dublin.

Ireland is known for its warm hospitality, reads the citation, and this years award goes to someone who upholds and enhances that reputation. Whether a local in for pint, or a visitor coming for a 3-course dinner, Declan makes everyone feel genuinely welcome. His enthusiasm for this small but busy pub is unwavering and contagious.

I tell the floor staff to treat customers as if they are welcoming to their own home for a dinner party, said Maxwell on stage, clearly moved by the award, and always to say goodbye at the end of the night.

Michael Deane of Eipic in Belfast (stated to be in the Republic of Ireland on the backdrop behind him, much to the amusement of some online wags) was presented with the 2023 Mentor award.

You can read what Michelin has to say about all the starred and bib gourmand restaurants on the Michelin website. www.guide.michelin.com
In the 1960s, Youen Jacob, a young Breton, sailed into to the West Cork village of Baltimore, liked what he saw, and stayed to create one of the best-known seafood restaurants in the country, Chez Youen. It was a favourite with Francophile Charlie Haughey, who would sweep into the harbour on his yacht, Celtic Mist, for lobster and Dom P lunches. Neither man is with us now, but Youen Junior, and his wife Kate, have the The Lookout and La Jolie Brise restaurants, and the fab Waterfront Hotel.

Flash forward to 2017 and another adventurous young man arrives in Baltimore to make his foodie mark, this time coming from Turkey. Ahmet Dede was born in Ankara but moved to Kusadasi on the Aegean coast at the age of 10, where he helped in his uncle Alis restaurant during the school holidays.

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Arriving to Ireland in 2009, he enrolled in a FAS course where he met JJ Healy of CIT who spotted his abilities and encouraged him to join a culinary arts programme at DIT.

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Following stints at Michelin-starred restaurants Chapter One, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, The Greenhouse, &moshik in Amsterdam, and Maaemo in Norway, Dede took up the position of head chef at Mews in Baltimore, which had been making waves. Indeed, having heard someone gush that the food was so amazing, she cried, I went to visit and found it delightful. It was very much a Scandi-meets-Irish experience, which can be artful but bland. A Michelin star appeared but Mews didnt reopen in 2020.

Ahmet then teamed up with the charming Maria Archer at The Customs House, where he has soared to new heights, taking the spice palate of his homeland and interpreting it with West Corks wild and wonderful produce to create a fusion cuisine that is as unique as it is tantalising.

Unable to find nearby accommodation for dinner the night before, we wheeled up for Saturday lunch. The experience, at 75, offering a choice in each of the five courses, was perfect. Between us, we were able to try 10 different plates. The room is contemporary, cool and serene, but being gloriously sunny, we sat out on the sizeable terrace.

We kicked off with some exquisite snacks, including a pop-in-the-mouth mini sandwich of scalloped mushroom biscuit holding creamed Coolea cheese with pickled onion, topped with a vibrant scalloped paprika crisp.

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Everyone loves a dumpling nowadays, manti is the Turkish version, and this was a manti with bells on, filled with brown crabmeat, sitting in a lobster bisque and topped with caviar. The luxurious playfulness continued with calamar eriste  the molluscal silky squid being precision-cut pasta-style, in chilli oil and wearing a crisp, black, squid-ink hat, dotted with micro blobs of preserved lemon and fennel.

Our first courses, per se, were also stunning. A floral langoustine and asparagus salad had smoked creme fraiche in a spiced consomme, topped with nasturtium leaves and micro herbs; while a silky steamed cheese souffle was bathed in buttermilk, split pea, almond and fermented chilli oil.

Marys main was a rectangle of Walshs beef and wafer-thin spiced gratin potato, with wild garlic, carrot puree and wasabi. My perfectly moist cod was topped with lobster, crispy chicken and grapefruit filaments, and chilli oil.

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For dessert, a glorious cube of golden-yellow gorse parfait was served with brown butter ice-cream, hazelnut, honey vinegar and primrose. A mini vacherin of red mulberry, pomegranate, wood sorrel and meadowsweet was the epitome of sophisticated restraint. Petit fours ensued  blood-orange chocolate Turkish delight and bitter chocolate tart with isot paste and sea salt. The final flourish, Turkish Sutlac, came by way of our server piping rice pudding mousse via a siphon onto rice-crisp tartlets set on a bed of rice grains; to finish, the mousse was topped with a quenelle of rice-pudding ice-cream.

With two glasses of Domaine des Ardoisieres Argile Blanc 2020, IGP Vin des Allbroges (13 each), recommended by fab sommelier Joey Scanlon; Acqua Panna (4), a double espresso and tea (7), our bill with service came to 205.

Dede at the Customs House

Baltimore, West Cork.

Tel: (028) 48248

customshousebaltimore.com

lucindaosullivan.com
Hopes that further infighting amongst loyalists could be avoided have been dashed after a weekend of attacks and counter attacks.

Violence now seems inevitable with deposed former UDA commander Adrian Price saying he will not leave his Newtownards home.

As reported last week, Prices home at Cedar Drive was attacked by eight masked men who smashed windows and doors.

The South East Antrim UDA cut the loyalist thug and his gang of around 50 people off, saying they had been expelled from the organisation.

The UDA operating out of west Belfast but with a faction calling itself the North Down UFF, took this as a green light to make a move against the gang who have been accused of selling heroin and harassing the local community.

Since then graffiti has appeared in dozens of locations across Bangor and Newtownards, warning members of the faction to leave or face dire consequences.

It was reported on Sunday that Price, who was once named in court as holding a senior position in the SEA UDA, told friends theyd have to take him out in a coffin.

Last night there was a warning that he should be careful what he wishes for if he wants taken out in a box that can he easily arranged said a senior UDA source.

There have been around nine attacks since the weekend, they include a petrol bomb attack, and homes being smashed up along with further threatening graffiti.

Police are desperate to stop this escalating from attacks on property to the targeting of people.

However, with the now expelled UDA members refusing to leave the chances of this issue resolving itself peacefully are increasingly remote.

Loyalist infighting is not new, in the past both main organisations have been involved in feuds.

The fear is that this current problem will see innocent people becoming victims of attacks on local homes in the built up West Winds estate.

The Price faction is trying desperately to cling onto territory.

The South East Antrim UDA who they were members of until last week is recognised by police as one of the largest organised crime gangs in Northern Ireland.

They are currently subject to intense investigation by the Paramilitary Crime Task Force and National Crime Agency.

Removing the Ards and North Down factions could be interpreted by some as an attempt to clean up their acts and therefore deflect the law enforcement scrutiny.

Though it would take more than the removal of 50 men to convince the police of any good intent.

Without the muscle of the SEA UDA behind him, the group were exposed and North Down UDA  under the control of convicted extortionist Dickie Barry  moved against them.

So far bloodshed has been avoided but with attacks over the weekend intensifying the PSNI will be hoping that the UVF, who are the largest paramilitary group in North Down, do not get involved.

In a separate development the East Belfast UVF has said 20 once prominent members of the organisation have been expelled for drug dealing.

In an official statement to Sunday Life the loyalist gang denied involvement in the drugs trade, despite claims to the contrary from police and government monitoring groups, saying they were involved in transition.

But with attacks in UVF strongholds in Bangor over the weekend it seems that the Price faction is trying to drag them into the dispute.

If that does happen there are fears this could escalate this from a localised dispute to an all out feud with the loss of life increasingly hard to avoid.
Ireland fights with all other member states for influence across the EU institutions. The European Parliament is no different. Last week, it was announced that Ireland would gain an extra seat in the parliament. While this is positive, a good place to start would be to make the most of the seats we already have.

There are a number of ways we can do this.

Firstly, we dont deserve an extra seat if we keep throwing away the seats we have on far-left extremists.

Currently, we have 13 seats out of 705. Four of those are in the far-left GUE-NGL group, which is Eurosceptic or at least Eurocritical. It is surprising that we elect so many MEPs who are indifferent to the European project when you consider Ireland is the most pro-EU member state, according to multiple annual surveys.

Sinn Fein is in this group and, as everyone knows, it has campaigned against every EU referendum since 1972.

The European Parliament reaches decisions through compromise across the political spectrum. GUE-NGL is very often left out of the final decision-making process because of its extreme views. The group is more or less inconsequential when it comes to final wording in resolutions and legislation.

The Independents for Change group, of Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, peppers speeches with attacks on Nato, US imperialism and the military-industrial complex. The pairs eccentric views are even extreme for some in GUE-NGL. Their attitude to supporting Ukraine is a case in point.

For example, while my party supports Ukraines right under Article 51 of the UN Charter to defend itself against attack, these MEPs have consistently voted against resolutions in support of Ukraine despite Russias nuclear blackmail, mass deportations, torture and fake referendums.

The reality is that the war in Ukraine will be over when Russia ends its invasion. The way to end this war is not capitulation and appeasement. 

On December 16, 2021, the Independents for Change voted against text condemning the military escalation by Russia at Ukraines borders. On February 14, 2022, they voted against financial assistance to Ukraine.

Since the war started on February 24, 2022, they have continued this pattern of obstruction.

On March 1, 2022, they voted against a resolution condemning Russias war of aggression on Ukraine. They also voted against sanctions, Ukraines candidacy for membership of the EU, and further financial assistance for Ukraine.

In recent months, with an election looming next year, the pair have tried to appear more mainstream by showing up on RTE programmes, something they avoided for the first few years of their mandate.

A related issue is the absence of any Irish MEPs in the Socialists & Democrats, the second-largest political family in the European Parliament. The Irish Labour Party is aligned to this group but has no MEPs. I suspect this is where Sinn Fein would like to relocate but Labour is having none of it.

Polling suggests Sinn Fein will win at least three seats in the elections in 2024. Having those seats in a fringe group like GUE-NGL does nothing for Irish influence and interests.



For years the European Parliament has been seen here as a temporary refuge before a return to the national fray. Mary Lou McDonald, Simon Coveney and Alan Kelly all served as MEPs before moving on to senior positions in their parties.

Treating the European Parliament as a secondary legislature like this makes no sense when you consider 70pc of our laws originate in the EU.

Since the Lisbon Treaty, the parliament has significantly increased its powers. It can reject the EU budget, approve free trade agreements, dismiss the commission and it acts as co-legislator with the European Council on most issues.

Finally, dismal media coverage of the European Parliament has consequences. Dont be surprised when turnout at the next European election is low. RTE has a programme called European Parliament Report not even the MEPs watch.

Ireland needs every one of its 13, and soon to be 14, MEP seats to be working for Ireland in a stronger Europe, not spouting rag-week radicalism and empty slogans.



Barry Andrews is Fianna Fail MEP for Dublin
The latest round of defenestration within the Green Party should have been far from the most significant item on the partys agenda this week.

But the wilting Greens internal wrangling over the eviction ban has left its climate change ambitions further damaged.

Eamon Ryans party didnt just suspend a TD  it lost influence in the Coalition and strengthened the hand of a group of TDs who are no allies.

Within Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, there was annoyance at concessions to Independent TDs on items which were being called for by coalition backbenchers for quite some time.

Tax breaks for landlords, refurbishing vacant homes and renting out Fair Deal homes were all being ruled out up until now, much to the chagrin of government TDs. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael TDs are competing with Independents for votes. Lets face it, the Greens arent, but they are the biggest losers from the emergence of the new kingmakers.

All told, it was a remarkable achievement in a week when the worlds leading environmental scientists delivered a final warning on the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, the fundamental overhaul of the tax system in this country to combat climate change  by bringing in carrots and sticks  is nowhere near being framed. But the Green Party is too busy arguing internally about WhatsApp groups and punishments for rule-breaking to be focused on saving the world.

The indiscipline in the junior Coalition party means the Government is now resorting to putting on the spare tyre by calling up the Independents.

Only one TD went overboard last week when Neasa Hourigan followed through on her well-flagged decision to vote against the Coalition. Its the third offence in three years in Government, so it demanded an adequate response. A 15-month suspension is not unreasonable for someone who seems to think they can have one foot in and one foot out of Government.

The howls of derision from the party grassroots merely serve to reiterate the perception that the Greens cant be relied upon on crunch issues.

The problems now were created by the attitude in the partys early days in this Government, when it adopted a soft-touch approach to disloyalty.

Just four weeks into the administration, newly appointed junior minister Joe OBrien and Hourigan were stripped of their Dail speaking rights for only two months after failing to support Coalition votes.

Hourigan voted against the Government on several opposition amendments to legislation extending a rent freeze and eviction ban to only tenants impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. OBrien, who was happy to serve as a minister, abstained on his Governments legislation. The paltry punishment meant the pair were only prohibited from speaking in the Dail for two weeks as the parliament was heading off on a summer break.

OBrien spoke about how the issue of homelessness is an extremely important one for me as he had worked in the area, been a whistleblower and had friends busy confronting the issue.

I wasnt convinced this piece of legislation was the best we could have done in what are, to be fair, unusual circumstances. This was mainly due to its extremely rushed nature. I had read enough and heard enough to make it clear to me it could have been stronger in terms of preventing and reducing homelessness. The issue here was not dedicating sufficient time to a piece of legislation that could have profound consequences on peoples lives, he said at the time.

Funny that, as it sounds an awful lot like the criticism of the current ending of the eviction ban. Despite the issue of homelessness being an extremely important one for me, OBrien hasnt exactly been beating a path to radio studios to explain the firm rationale behind his Governments lifting of the eviction ban. Hes suddenly been struck dumb.

He was certainly silent last week after one of his own staff lambasted Green TDs and senators for suspending Hourigan. Fingal councillor Karen Power, who works as an assistant to OBrien, said Green TDs and senators should be ashamed at the shockingly harsh punishment.

OBrien is a member of the Green parliamentary party, so presumably he should also be ashamed. A spokesperson for the minister did not respond to a request for comment.

Still, at least, the trappings of power have made OBrien realise the import of voting with the Government for which he serves.

Its suddenly dawned on the Greens that effectiveness in government relies on unity in every vote. A bit late now. Already the minority party in the Government, and finding it is not in tune with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael on climate action, has now helped create a dependence on Independent TDs, some of whom voted against climate legislation and will equally be at odds on emissions reductions targeting agriculture.

Down the street from Leinster House last Wednesday, as the eviction ban was being debated, the Irish Tax Institute was discussing the report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, which makes proposals on the future of these systems. Taxation is going to be a crucial part of tackling climate change, as the report notes the scale of the climate challenge is so profound and so systemic that sustainability has to be seen as a design principle both for taxation and for welfare.

Charges for road usage, carbon taxes and fuel levies, which will all affect people living in rural areas, are going to be major elements of the emissions equation, just as much as congestion charges in urban areas.

The framing of these taxes and the way they are to be sold to the public all require enormous levels of consideration and will need buy-in from the Greens partners in the Government.

As the ESRIs Muireann Lynch observed last week, carbon taxes are seen as just a big stick, not as having a role in consumption choices. So a congestion charge has to be framed as a payment to drive into a city in less traffic, not simply a tax on using the road.

Power is about persuasion, not just policy. But the Greens think burning their own political capital is the best way to advance their cause. Never mind. Climate action can wait for the Greens to sort out their priorities.
Mitcheltown Comhaltas, pictured above playing alongside Claisceadal na gCarad at the St Georges Arts and Heritage Centre in Mitchelstown on St Patricks Day, will be among the groups performing at the Liam Lynch Commemorative Concert in Fermoy.

A century after his death the life and exploits of one of Irelands most respected and revered patriots will be celebrated through music and song during a concert in Fermoy next Saturday night.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of General Liam Lynch, one of the key figures in the War of Independence and the Civil War.

Born at Barnagurraha near Mitchelstown, Liam Lynch is credited with playing a pivotal in helping to organise the Irish Volunteers in Cork, serving as Commandant of the Cork No2 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence.

Lynch was vehemently opposed to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, famously saying we have declared for an Irish Republic, and will not live under any other law.

After initially opposing the seizure of the Four Courts in 1922, Lynch joined the garrison and was arrested by Free State forces and later released on the understanding that he would try to halt the fighting.

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Instead he set about reorganising resistance, even planning the establishment of a Munster Republic, which he believed would hamper the development of the Free State.

Lynch was fatally wounded during a skirmish with Free State forces in the Knockmealdown Mountains on April 10, 1923 and laid to rest in Kilcrumper two days later.

His death shocked the nation and was widely regarded as one of the key motivations behind the decision by army Chief of Staff, Frank Aiken to declare a ceasefire on April 30, 1923.

The Commemorative Concert for Liam Lynch, which will take place in the Palace Theatre next Saturday night at 7.30pm, will reflect his involvement in the Gaelic League in Fermoy that promoted the traditional music and song and the teaching of the Irish language.

In fact, it was through his involvement with the Garlic League that Liam Lynch met the love of his life, Mitchelstown girl Bridie Keyes in 1917.

However, like many other courtships at the time, theirs was to end in tragedy as the couple had decided to postpone their wedding until after the War of Independence had been won.

However, fearing a resumption of fighting following the 1921 truce, the couple again agreed to postpone their wedding and the last time they met was during Easter 1923, a few weeks before Liam Lynch was killed.

The heartbroken Bridie moved away from Fermoy following the death of her beloved fiance and never married.

Several traditional Irish bands will take to the stage during next Saturdays concert, including Dublin group Sult, the Cork Pipers Club, Mitchelstown Comhaltas and the Fermoy group All To One Side.

Sult was formed by the three Ni Scolai sisters Emer, Caoilfhionn and Sorcha, each of whom are All-Ireland music champions in harp, concertina and uilleann pipes respectively.

Emer is renowned for her slow airs on the harp, winning both the Sligo, Ennis, and Drogheda Fleadhs, while Sorcha is regarded as one of the most gifted young Uilleann Pipers in Ireland.

The group has performed at events including the Electric Picnic, All Together Now, Cairde na Cruite, the International Harp Festival and in the National Concert Hall and have performer alongside a host of musical luminaries including Moya Brennan, Mick OBrien, Louise Mulcahy, Sean Keane and Noel Hill.

The Cork Pipers Club are historian Diarmuid Grainger, author of Witness to Freedom, a Day-by-Day Account of the War for Independence in Cork and John Mitchel, a man widely regarded as one of the worlds leading uilleann pipe makers.

Led by Karen Hayes, Mitcheltown Comhaltas recently performed a sell-out St Patricks Day concert alongside Claisceadal na gCarad at St Georges Arts and Heritage Centre.

Led by Gerry Ferrick, All On One Side is a collective of Fermoy musicians that has performed at many community events across the North Cork region over the years.

Tickets to Saturdays concert, which will tell Liam Lynchs story through ancients airs and songs in English and as Gaeilge, are available from the Fermoy Youth Centre or Tomas on 085-731-8348, priced at 15.
The Family in the Frame team from Fermoys Loreto Secondary School, winners of the Marketing award.

The Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk Plant & I team that won the overall award and will represent North Cork in the national final of the 2023 Student Enterprise Programme at Croke Park in May.

Budding boffins from across North Cork have been given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas in a national competition aimed at discovering the next generation of Irish entrepreneurs.

More than 650 enterprising students from 15 secondary schools across the region set out their stalls at the Springfort Hall Hotel in Mallow for the regional final of the 2023 Student Enterprise Programme.

The teams were all pitching for a coveted spot in the national finals of the competition, which will make a welcome return to Croke Park on May 5 for the first time since 2019.

The judges for the event, which was organised by the North Cork Local Enterprise Office (LEO) and attended by hurling All-Star and Student Enterprise Programme Ambassador Sean Finn, were Avondhu Blackwater Partnership CEO Valerie Murphy and Mallow community activist Tadhg Curtis.

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After much deliberation they announced that the Plant and I team from Scoil Mhuire in Kanturk of Oisin Bourke, Jack Hooper, Rachel Morton, Ava Fisher and Kathlyn Morrissey will represent North Cork in the senior category at Croke Park.

Category winners on the day were:

Innovation - the Treats fur Tails team from St Marys, Charleville.

Marketing - the Family in a Frame team from Loretto College, Fermoy.

Business Plan - the Scrumptious Scrunchies team from Colaiste an Chraoibhin, Fermoy.

Sales - the Hobby Holders team from Boherbue Comprehensive School.

Sustainability - the Organisation Station team from the Patrician Academy, Mallow.

Best Stand - the C BEE S team from CBS, Mitchelstown.

Wishing the Scoil Mhuire team well at Croke Park, LEO North Cork head of enterprise Kevin Curran said North Cork has a proud performance record in the national finals of the competition.

North Cork has had great success over the years with Smooth Remove from Boherbue Comprehensive School winning first place in the national awards in 2019 in the highly competitive senior category and Wrap it Up from Presentation Secondary School, Mitchelstown, picking up the Best Display Award, said Mr Curran.

Boherbue also won the National Innovation Award last year with Pole Pals. We are very proud of the calibre of entries this year and look forward to supporting our finalists in Dublin, he added.
The most recent boil water notice for Killavullen had been in place since last May.

More than a year after residents in the Killavullen area were first told that the water supply was unsafe for human consumption, Uisce Eireann (Irish Water) has announced that the latest boil water notice for the supply has been lifted with immediate effect.

However, the company has warned that further notices may be put in place while a permanent solution to the problems experienced in the local water supply is put in place.

The long-running saga stretches back to March of last year when the initial notice was put in place due to high levels of turbidity in the borehole supply caused heavy rainfall.

This resulted in cloudiness in the water forcing the shutting down of the local water treatment plant.

While that notice was lifted after three-weeks, a second boil water notice was put in place last May, with high levels of turbidity in the supply again cited as the cause.

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On Monday Uisce Eireann confirmed that following consultation with the HSE the second notice had finally been lifted and that locals could return to using tap water for drinking, food preparation and brushing teeth.

Uisce Eireann operation lead, Pat Britton, said that the company was working to progress a permanent solution to safeguard the local water supply in the future.

The long-term plan is to rationalise and decommission the raw water source, which has proven vulnerable to turbidity and other factors affecting water supply.

The project also involves constructing a new pipeline connecting Killavullen to the Mallow Public Water Supply Scheme

A design and build contractor has been engaged to progress the design of a permanent solution. Following the design phase, construction is expected to commence before the end of Q2 2023, said Mr Britton.

While Mr Britton did not give a time-frame for the completion of the scheme, he did not rule out the possibility of further boil water notices being put in place while the works were ongoing.

We are also working on a permanent solution to ensure a more reliable water supply. However, until then, additional Boil Water Notices may need to be issued to protect public health, said Mr Britton.

The Uisce Eireann customer contact centre on 1800 278 278 is available to answer customer queries in relation to the lifting of this notice. Further information is also available at www.water.ie, he added.
MPOLONJENI  A 45-year-old government accountant was arrested, while in the mourning hut for the murder of her husband, who was a popular traditional healer.

The civil servant, who was based in one of the health institutions in Nhlangano, was arrested on Friday while mourning the demise of her husband. It is alleged that her husband drank a concoction (imbita) laced with poison before he was driven to a secluded place, where he was allegedly strangulated and his body was taken to a mortuary. The police are said to have found the wife in the mourning hut at Mpolonjeni and took her to the police station. At the Mbabane Police Station, the police are said to have taken the civil servants cellphones and she requested to go to the bathroom. She is alleged to have used another cellphone, which she had hidden in her brassiere, to call her accomplice and informed him that she had been arrested.

The police also arrested a 22-year-old Form V female pupil and a 47-year-old man, both of Nsenga. The pupil is related to both her co-accused. The man and the pupil were arrested on Saturday at Nsenga, New Mbuluzi.

The traditional healer, Dumisa Bayamzonda Batsakatsi Dlamini of Sithobelweni, died on March 11, 2023. A police report states that he was poisoned and strangulated. A post-mortem showed that he had ligature markings and abrasions on his neck and a damaged larynx. There was no body at Dumisas homestead yesterday during a visit by these reporters before noon. His dogs were found lazing about. Some neighbours informed this publication that Dlamini arrived at Group 2, Mpolonjeni about three or so years ago. He is said to have purchased a homestead from a certian family. Some community members informed this publication that they had neither seen Dumisa nor his wife in the area except for his car. Others said they sometimes saw him on Channel YemaSwati, where he used to be a regular feature. When Dumisa arrived at Mpolonjeni, he was married but his wife left him. Members of the community said he married another woman, the civil servant, and paid lobola for her at Ngwenya. The event was broadcast on Channel YemaSwati.

Poisoned

A resident who preferred to remain anonymous, *Musa, said on the fateful day, they heard Dumisa calling for help and some neighbours rushed to his homestead. The traditional healer is alleged to have informed the neighbours that someone had put poison his concoction. Dumisa was allegedly in a questionable state of sobriety on the day in question. Musa said Dumisa was writhing in pain and rolled on the ground. The resident stated that Dumisas wife was present when they arrived at his homestead. The wife is alleged to have informed the neighbours that Dumisa had complained that the imbita had upset his stomach. According to Musa, the traditional healer did not appear to be weak, even though he was in pain. Musa alleged that the wife told them that since he was accusing her of poisoning him, she would take the imbita to the police. He said at the time, they did not suspect anything amiss. Musa also said the civil servant requested them to assist her in taking Dumisa to the car so that she could rush him to hospital and they did.

He mentioned that they left after carrying Dumisa to the car. Musa pointed out that they were not sure which direction the car took upon reaching the main road. He said they had since become aware that the wife did not take him straight to hospital and they did not suspect anything was wrong when the she spoke to them until they heard about the arrests. After Dumisa had allegedly been poisoned, according to Musa, they heard that he had earlier on threatened his brother-in-law. Musa said if they had been aware of this information, they would not have assisted Dumisas wife, but would have called the police. He said it was better that some people had been arrested.

A member of the council of the area informed this publication that it was a mistake for the neighbours to allow Dumisas wife to take him to hospital by herself. *Sizwe said some of the neighbours should have accompanied her to hospital. He also said he did not know Dumisa and his wife. Nobody visited their homestead. I told her that I didnt know her husband and that I didnt know her, said Sizwe. According to Sizwe, the police arrived at Dumisas homestead on Saturday and processed the scene. Some neighbours were present and in the bedroom, said Sizwe, Dumisas wife showed the police an imbita in a two-litre container with a red cap. However, in his motor vehicle, which was parked in the yard, according to Sizwe, they found another container of imbita in a container with a white cap.

A police vehicle from the Forensic Department and another were spotted in the area yesterday to further their investigations. The deceaseds sister, said as a family, they were still shocked in the manner in which her brother died and they had left everything at the hands of the police. The wife and her co-accused are expected to make their court appearance at the Mbabane Magistrates Court today. It was reliably gathered that on Friday, she was due to record a confession before a magistrate, but was turned back at the Mbabane Magistrates Court after she indicated that she would seek the services of an attorney. *Not real name to protect them from victimisation.
The Friends of the Iveagh Markets campaign group will hold a protest next week over what they claim is a policy of silence in relation to the historic building.

The group has accused Dublin City Council of a lack of engagement over the market building in the Liberties, which has become derelict since it closed in the 1990s.

Organisers have planned a protest, called Stand with Friends, to coincide with the next council meeting on Monday, April 3 at City Hall, Dame Streets at 5.30pm.

We demand ongoing community consultation as things move forward, campaigner James Madigan said.

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The indoor market, built in Edwardian-style, first opened in 1906, but closed in the 90s after becoming rundown. The site became derelict thereafter, despite attempts to redevelop it as a food market.

The Iveagh Markets has huge sentimental value to the people who live and work in the Liberties area of Dublin, with family links dating back generations.

Dublin City Council recently directed the commencement of the process to preserve the roof of the Liberties building, which has been derelict for more than 20 years.

But the Friends of the Iveagh Markets group does not think this goes far enough and want physical work started without delay.

We are protesting the Dublin City Council meeting. We have to stop these markets falling down, Mr Madigan said.

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We are asking for stabilisation works to begin immediately alongside meaningful community consultation.

We ask people who care about Dublin to attend and to share, re-tweet and spread the word. We need as much communication out there as possible.

This is part of a wider series of awareness events we will be organising throughout 2023, he added.

Dublin City Councils Deputy Chief Executive, Richard Shakespeare, issued a statement last month to councillors informing them works on weatherproofing the market would begin after a mediation process came to end with no conclusion.

In response to a query from Cllr Deirdre Cronin regarding what works have taken place since February 1, the council replied it is in the process of developing a tender package for the appointment of a conservation architect led integrated design team.

The tender documents will be issued in the coming weeks to an existing framework. Following appointment of the design team, DCC will agree and circulate a programme and costs for the procurement and undertaking essential repairs.

In order to maintain security on the property it has been necessary to engage a metal fabrication company to replace the gates on the Lamb Alley side of the property and additionally to board gates and secure doors at the Francis Street side, the council added.

The Friends of the Iveagh Markets group highlighted Kilmainham Mills as a contemporary example of best practice regarding conservation and community engagement.

The Bridgefoot Park consultations are a really good example where the community had genuine input, the group said.

Sadly, at the moment, DCCs policy of silence continues and although we have cross party support for the stabilisation of the Markets, we anxiously await positive news about the necessary funding being acquired.

Works need to begin immediately and we are asking for a monthly statement on what progress is being made.

And we ask that as many Dubliners come and stand peacefully with us at City Hall next Monday from 5.30-6.15pm.
Brendan Gleeson speaking at the launch of the redevelopment of St Francis Hospice, Raheny

Hollywood star Brendan Gleeson has spoken about the difficulty saying a private goodbye to his dying father as he backed the need for more hospice beds in Dublin.

The Oscar-nominated actor is supporting the construction of a new 24-bed in-patient unit at St Francis Hospice in Raheny.

Both of his parents passed away in the facility, and Brendan said he is lending his voice due to the pure kindness and care shown by the hospice throughout the years.

He hopes the redevelopment of the unit helps people and their families get the care and privacy they deserve.

Its about making something of the time left. Its the way its supposed to be. The way they do it here is the biggest gift, he said.

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This place has found a way to be utterly professional. Theyve pure kindness and pure care.

Im completely in love with this place because of the ideology and practicality. Youve an ideal mission statement which allows people to die in a loving way and then youve the practical measures on how it will be facilitated.

Expand Close Niamh Finucane, Social Work and Bereavement Coordinator with St Francis Hospice, at the launch with Brendan Gleeson / Facebook

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Whatsapp Niamh Finucane, Social Work and Bereavement Coordinator with St Francis Hospice, at the launch with Brendan Gleeson

If wed run the country like this, if the priorities were similar, if the professionalism was similar, if the practicality and solutions were similar, wed be in a much better place, he added.

This expansion will be of great benefit to those in shared rooms. Brendans father spent his time in a four-bed room, which he said made those final moments a bit more difficult.

My dad died with beds around him. I have to admit, I was aware of people next door, youd be worried about shouting out your business, he said.

I was ashamed to talk out loud to my father, it was just embarrassing. It shouldnt be, but it is.

Brendan said he believes people deserve a good send off and that their families are cared for along the way too.

I think we do death very well in Ireland, thats an important thing. People go to a wake and think about the life that went on, and usually, the stories get increasingly funnier as they go on, he said.

It becomes a celebratory thing. To shake hands and show supportjust being there, its not what you say, its the fact youre there.

Whats missing in life, never mind death, is people being there for each other. St Francis Hospice is going to be expanded, here in Raheny.

This is an innovative enterprise in Ireland doing extraordinary things. This isnt just very nice people doing very nice things, its really innovative and exciting.

They also looked after both my mother and my father here. I was given an ease with the fact that they passed outside of the grief, it happened in a humane way.

The whole thing was normalised, there were sad days as well, theyre alleviating every shred of pain, he added.

Expand Close Fintan Fagan, Cathriona Keogh, Brendan Gleeson and Brian McKeon / Facebook

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Whatsapp Fintan Fagan, Cathriona Keogh, Brendan Gleeson and Brian McKeon

St Francis Hospice was a 2022 finalist for the National Lotterys Good Causes Awards, and with the help of the National Lottery, it has been able to continue to provide their services and even make expansions.

Niamh Finucane, Social Work and Bereavement Coordinator with St Francis Hospice, said: Brendan was shy about talking to his own dad because he was aware other people could hear.

This expansion will facilitate better communication within families and between families. Its about giving people the space to socially and psychologically do all of that.

At the moment, we have three four-bed rooms and seven single rooms, weve 19 beds in total. Our unit is quite small, the shared rooms are not ideal. We need all single rooms for everyone.

You can have someone dying, someone celebrating and someone having to go to the toilet in a shared room.

Its important that we redevelop and have a facility with all single rooms. Were hoping to increase to 24 beds, have more therapeutic work with people.

Applications for this years National Lottery Good Causes Awards will close this Friday, March 31, at 5pm. Go to www.lottery.ie to check your eligibility and enter online.
Sean Landers of the ISK, Killorglin, presenting his ingenious concept Eco Sprout, a special biodegradable pot ideal for starting seedling veg with minimal impact on the environment. Photos by Domnick Walsh

Aisha Pabon, Grace McGowern, Niamh ODonnell & Aiobhinn Walsh from Presentation Secondary School, Castleisland who won in the intermediate category for their brilliant idea for a lightweight mobile phone stand. They are pictured with Baola Kennedy MTU mentor for Schools and Victor Sheahan of the Local Enterprise Office. Photos by Domnick Walsh

David Peskett and Shauna OKeeffe of Castleisland Community College who won the senior level County Enterprise award for their app Bright Minds  which allows students to communicate confidentially with teachers. Photos by Domnick Walsh

Castleisland Community College winners in the junior level with Clochai Creasta  positive pebbles set up by Emma Horgan, Ellie Horgan, Blaithin Rahilly & Laoise McSweeney. The students are pictured getting their prize with MTU mentor for Schools, Paola Kennedy Conor Slattery of Local Enterprise Office and teacher Laura Leahy. Photos by Domnick Walsh

SOME of the finest young minds of the Kingdom delivered a powerhouse of a day of innovative business ideas and designs at the County Final of the Kerry Student Enterprise Awards.

Over 70 secondary students from right across the county attended the final of the hugely-prestigious competition, there to present 25 mini-companies  each one an example of a viable service to the greater public with the potential to create jobs and generate a profitable experience for all involved. Once again, the finals left the grown-ups in the room speechless by dint of the creative genius on display with everything from apps helping students communicate with teachers; to special earguards to prevent sporting injuries, thermal jackets to optimise pet health; special mobile phone stands; positive pebbles for mental health and much, much more blowing the judges away.

The students progress trading through their companies formed the main grounds for adjudication  showing great promise for the potential of these fascinating mini companies.
Don ONeill (left) and his husband Pascal Guillermie will move from Brooklyn, New York to Ballyheigue in the coming months. Photo by Ciara O'Donnell.

After 30 years of living and working in what he described as one of the most incredible cities on the planet, Kerrys Don ONeill is homeward bound to his native Ballyheigue and speaking to The Kerryman this week, Don said that moving back home has always been the plan for he and husband, Pascal.

Dons career to date has been nothing short of spectacular, one that included working with and dressing some of the worlds most famous women including Oprah, Taylor Swift, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Amy Poehler and Angela Bassett to name but a few.

He was the creative director of the Theia fashion brand that he named after the Greek goddess until June 2020, when he and his team lost their jobs as the brand was repositioned by its owners - something he described as a crushing blow.

To achieve this incredible level of success though comes at a price and it was only the onset of COVID and the subsequent lockdowns back in 2020 that Don was able to in his words take a step back and breathe and really evaluate whether the relentless hard work and pressure required to stay on top was worth it.

Burnout was the primary reason behind it [the decision to move home to Kerry]. COVID, like for a lot of people, it gave me the chance to stop and step away from work for a period of time. It was only then I realised how hard I was working. Now, everyone in New York works really hard and to be successful there, you have to graft and put the work in. Its harder to make it there than anywhere else in the world and in order to make it, you have to dedicate yourself, he said.

But then COVID came and I got the chance to step back and it gave me the distance that I needed to see hard I was working and it gave me some time to breathe and taking that breath was very important. I think I only learned how [to take that breath] after the momentum stopped. I didnt know to do it during all the craziness of my hectic career, he continued.

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Going on, Don said that the pandemic gave him the chance to spend the summer of 2021 living back in Ballyheigue, which was by far the longest he had lived at home here in Kerry since he first moved away 30 years ago.

That whole three months was epic. It was a revelation. The maximum that I used to home for was a week. Id go back for a week in the summer and a week at Christmas and that was it basically for 30 years. The fact then that I got a whole three months in Ballyheigue, at home, it was just extraordinary. Then I got to go back again at Christmas for six weeks so I got to experience the winter there too, he said.

For an outsider, the thought of swapping the Big Apple for Ballyheigue might seem like a ludicrous one, but for Don, the move home cannot come soon enough as he waxed lyrical about his native village and Kerry in general.

When you appreciate the beauty [of Kerry] like I do, whether its pouring rain or whether the sun is shining, its always spectacular and its always appealing.

There is a connectedness to Ballyheigue that I have always had thanks to my family but I have always felt a deeper link and connection to Ballyheigue as a place and its people. I just cant wait to spend my time there and in places like Dingle and in Killarney, he said.

Don added that he had a pinch me moment during his summer living back home about how spectacular it [Ballyheigue] and Kerry really is as a place to live.

We had always planned on moving back home to Ireland but COVID just sped up that process for us. It brought the horizon to us, he said.

As for whats next for the 56-year-old, he is soon to finish work on a book about his many adventures in the world of high fashion.

After that, he said he will see where the road takes him and Pascal, but one thing he does know for certain is that whatever he ends up doing, it will involve something very much in his wheelhouse, working and collaborating with fellow creatives like himself, as evidenced by his most recent work on a project that is he very passionate about.

Don is one of the artists that are taking part in this years Incognito art sale that will be in aid of the Jack and Jill Childrens Foundation.

Thousands of postcard sized art works will be auctioned at 65 each, but the artist will only be revealed once the sale is over.

Viewing starts this coming Friday, March 31 on incognito.ie
Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann, Proinsias Mac Curtain pictured with Lisa Ni Iarlaithe (new Principal) and pupils of Gaelscoil Faithleann Grace, Mia and Callum Cox at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the Parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann, Proinsias Mac Curtain pictured with his wife Karen at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the Parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann Proinsias Mac Curtain (from the right) pictured with Sean Luanaigh Cathaoirleach Board of Management and Lisa Ni Iarlaithe (new Principal) at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the Parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Students of Gaelscoil Faithleann with their parents departing from Ross Castle to the Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event to celebrate the retirement of Proinsias Mac Curtain Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann, Proinsias Mac Curtain (centre) pictured with his wife Karen (from the right) and l-r: Sean Luanaigh (Cathaoirleach Board of Management),Lisa Ni Iarlaithe (new Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann) and Fr. Joe Begley at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the Parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann Proinsias Mac Curtain (10th from the left) pictured with Fr. Joe Begley (1st from the left) Teacher Mary Carroll (8th from the left) and parents of the students at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann Proinsias Mac Curtain (from the left) pictured with his wife Karen at Ross Castle on Saturday morning prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the parents of the school, included are Lisa Ni Iarlaithe (new Principal), Teacher Mary Carroll, Sean Luanaigh Cathaoirleach Board of Management,students and their parents. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Students of Gaelscoil Faithleann with their parents departing from Ross Castle to the Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event to celebrate the retirement of Proinsias Mac Curtain Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann, Proinsias Mac Curtain pictured at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the Parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Retiring Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann Proinsias Mac Curtain pictured with his students at Ross Castle on Saturday morning, prior to their departure to Innisfallen Island for a Mass and Farewell event, organised by the parents of the school. Photo by Tatyana McGough

Gaelscoil Faithleann threw its doors open in 1989, and among the few constants throughout that time has been its principal: Proinsias Mac Curtain.

As you can well imagine, Proinsias has overseen a lot in his 33-and-a-half years at the helm, including its move to its current site in 1999, but all good things come to an end, and next month, he will retire from the position.

Ive enjoyed every moment of it, he told The Kerryman.

Over the decades, he has been held in high regard, and the schools parents council, Cairde na Scoile, arranged their special, early goodbye on Saturday as a group of about 150 people  primarily parents and children  travelled with Proinsias and his wife, Karen, for a Mass to mark the occasion.

But it was a Mass with a difference; all involved took a boat from Ross Castle to Innisfallen, where the celebration took place.

And while the parents council is grateful to Proinsias, the feeling is mutual.

From my own point of view, we have a very positive parents council at the school, said Proinsias. They are very proactive.

The County Limerick native has long settled in Kerry, joking that hes an honorary member now after being given a work visa, and he has made some great memories during his time working in Killarney, with thanks in no small part to the people around him in the school community.

Ive been privileged to be here [Gaelscoil Faithleann] from the beginning, and Im very lucky to have been principal here, he said. I will have many, many fond memories.

Id like to mention the people Ive worked with, teaching staff and all staff at the school have been fantastic down through the years. One person doesnt row a boat, its everyone whos with you: teachers, other staff, parents, board of management, and the children themselves.

On behalf of Cairde na Scoile, Mary Carroll explained that Innisfallen was an apt venue as the school itself takes its name from the location. She described the day as a wonderful event befitting the occasion.

"He has spent nearly 34 years as principal, and we wanted to give him a good send-off, said Mary. The parents here will miss him, and we are very grateful to him.

Mary also thanked everyone who made the Innisfallen event  a significant logistical challenge, not least in terms of the level of equipment that had to be transported to the island  possible.
Jack Gogarty, Chairman Bellewstown Racecourse, in the middle- Elin Burns , Deputy British Ambassador and on the right, Dermot Furey  Manging Partner of race sponsor  Gartlan Furey , solicitors.

The British Embassy in Ireland and Bellewstown Racecourse are pleased to announce that His Majestys Cup race will be reinstated this year on Saturday, April 1.

This race stems back from March 1800 when George Tandy, former Lord Mayor of Drogheda, headed a successful delegation to petition the Duke of Richmond for an annual subscription of 100 guineas towards the race, leading to the creation of the annual Kings/Majestys Cup. This race continued its proud tradition until 1980 when it was temporarily discontinued.

Speaking at the re-launch of His Majesty's Cup race, Bellewstown racecourse chairman Jack Gogarty stated that the racecourse is very proud of its long and enduring association with His Majestys Cup race.

I would like to acknowledge Bellewstown Racecourses appreciation in working with the British Embassy in reinstating this race, highlighting the close relationship between horse racing and the monarchy, said Jack. The race will be part of a great days racing at Bellewstown and will be warmly welcomed by the many British and Irish race goers who attend race meetings annually. We are delighted that the race coincides with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

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The British Ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston added his voice to the chorus of welcome.

"The reinstatement of His Majestys Cup race highlights another example of the deep and enduring UK-Ireland connections in horse racing. Our peoples have a shared passion for horses and racing, highlighted by Her Late Majesty The Queens Visit to the National Stud in 2011, and, most recently, the visit last year by the Duchess of Cornwall (now Queen Consort) to Henry de Bromheads stables in 2022, where she met Rachael Blackmore, a regular jockey on the Bellewstown course, said Ambassador Johnson. It is fantastic to see His Majestys Cup being run again for the first time in over 40 years, especially just a few weeks before The Kings Coronation and as we approach Bellewstown Racecourses 300th anniversary in 2026.

Together, the UK and Ireland employ 100,000 people in the horse racing sector. In the UK, the economic value of the equestrian sector is worth 5 billion, while the Irish Sport Horse Industry contributes an estimated 816 million to the Irish economy each year.

Both the British Embassy and Bellewstown Racecourse are extremely grateful to Gartlan Furey LLP who have kindly sponsored the race.

We are delighted to be associated with such a special race, especially at this important time for building relationships between the people of Ireland and the United Kingdom, commented Dermot Furey, Managing Partner of Gartlan Furey. As a local person born in Laytown it is extra special for our firm to play a part in the relaunch of this historic race in Bellewstown where I went racing many times in my youth.

Tickets can be purchased on the Bellewstown Races website.
Old age. Aching joints. Memory lapses. All those pills.

Start again.

Old age. Time of liberation. Time to cast off the shackles of convention and of other peoples expectations. Time to be just a little bit selfish, at least at the dinner table. Maybe the appetite is not what it used to be and maybe the doctor has issued warnings about a long list of high fat and high calorie staples.

But at least the passage of the years allows freedom to forget good manners and the prescribed norms. We wrinklies need care nothing for what others might think of our little indulgences and idiosyncrasies.

Thirty years ago, I had my evening meal in a low budget restaurant in a rundown French city I visited while on business. I ordered omelette paysanne and told the waitress that I fancied a side order of chips  or rather frites as they were called on the menu..

Non, monsieur, she replied. Non? No frites with omelette paysanne, she insisted. Frites with plain omelette  oui. Frites with the beef steak  oui. Frites with omelette paysanne  non. The recipe for omelette paysanne, as even an Irish gobdaw should know, features potato. Frites feature potato too.

Precedent, practice and procedure dictated that I could order the omelette paysanne or I could order the frites, but emphatically not both.

Permitting me a double ration of potato would surely lead to the resignation of the chef and was absolutely out of the question. It was against the rules. I was obliged to content myself with the omelette paysanne  and damned bland it was too.

Three decades on I have decided to dispense with such contrived niceties. I shall lick my knife if I please. I shall use a tea towel rather than a napkin. I shall serve the cheddar course before bringing the trifle to the table. To hell with the petty tyranny of conformity. In my declining years I set my own dinner time guidelines:

1 I shall launch a revival of Blue Nun wine. Back in the seventies Blue Nun was a gateway wine, an introduction to wine, a wine for beginners. Now generally considered desperately unfashionable, it was very easy on the palate of an unsophisticated Irish public more used to stout and Stag. Now is the time for a Blue Nun resurgence.

A friend of mine has been attending wine tasting classes. All that sniffing and swirling and spitting, with discussion of fruitiness and varieties. In a spirit of mischief trying to put her on the back foot, I looked to her for a recommendation. Which wine goes best with ham and cabbage, I asked her. She batted neither eyelid but shot back immediately  Riesling, she said.

It occurred to me that Riesling grapes are the principal ingredient in Blue Nun. So now there are two excuses for drinking the stuff. First, it is as easy on the palate as it ever was. Second, it is the ideal accompaniment to one of our great national dishes. Send out to the off licence now for a case of six

2 I shall put a layer of baked beans on top of the meat and under the potato when cooking shepherds pie. This is a little tip I learned in childhood when my late mother used to reach for a tin of Batchelors after lining a Pyrex dish with mince and onions. She spread the beans across the mince and then lashed on the mash. Maybe this was standard procedure in kitchens across Ireland in the sixties, I really do not know. However, it certainly raises a few haughty eyebrows in the present day Ireland of quinoa salads (God help us) and aubergine oven bakes. A picky critic might complain that the tomato sauce in the baked beans tends to overpower all the competing flavours in the dish  but where is the harm in that?

In some respects, mother was a pioneer, cooking curries at a time when such spicy food was a rarity and certainly not common family fare in Ireland. She favoured a secret ingredient  sultanas. When making curry nowadays, I always lob in a handful of dried fruit in her memory.

There are many more culinary diktats and snobberies which could use some re-assessment. Please share your favourites, as the topic will re-surface in another episode.
Pauline O'Reilly from the Green Party (seated center) pictured in the Ashdown Park Hotel on Wednesday evening on her brief visit to Gorey. Back- Paul Dubsky, Bobby Lambert (Chairman), Breda Cahill, Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party), Brendan Cahill, Andrew Nolan. Front- Paula Roseingardin, Ann Walsh. Pic: Jim Campbell

Several Wexford residents plan to put themselves forward as Green Party candidates in next years local elections.

At a meeting in the Ashdown Park Hotel, members of the Wexford Green Party met with Chairperson of the Green Party, Senator Pauline OReilly to discuss the possibility of contesting the elections in 2024. According to Senator OReilly, the meeting was extremely positive and involved some very fruitful discussions.

"I think we have a real opportunity in Wexford to get some green councillors elected. If you look at the performance in the by-elections and in the general elections going back, there is a green vote in Wexford and it was unfortunate in 2019 that we didnt run and didnt have a councillor elected in Wexford. As Chair of the party, I dont intend to see that happen again in the elections next year, she said.

The meeting was successful and we definitely have people in a few areas of Wexford who are going to run for the party.

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According to Senator OReilly, Wexford sits somewhere in the middle nationally in terms of Green Party membership.

"What I certainly noticed come close to an election, you get members coming out in bigger numbers. We also have a lot of family and community members who might get involved in an election, she added.

In 2019, we didnt have the membership there we needed to have people running and that certainly has shifted. We have seen people join that party since we went into government.

Senator OReilly is currently travelling around the country to try to encourage people to run in next years elections and said she encourages anyone interested in getting involved to contact her. By encouraging people to run as Green Party candidates around the country, she hopes to change the narrative that the Green Party is urban-focused.

I want to pursue things so we have as many people as possible outside Dublin, as well as in Dublin. People feel we are Dublin-centric which I am trying to change.

Dismantling the narrative that vital environmental measures are in direct conflict with rural life is another goal that Senator OReilly has.

I think there is political opportunism from some parties in trying to create and exacerbate that narrative. Farmers are custodians of the land and part of the solution. People want to make sure theyre supported with proper income but they will take the steps that are necessary when they see what the future is, she said. Of course, there are challenges. But it is critically important that we demonstrate as much as possible that green is for everyone across the community, and that there are benefits and opportunities for everyone.

Demonstrating that environmental matters are important for everyone is more challenging if there are no Green Party representatives in an area, she added.

"People are willing to engage but it is important we have people in each area to reflect local sentiment and understand what different matters mean in a local context.
Minister Browne with Garda Waters from New Ross who is on peacekeeping duty in Cyprus.

Minister James Browne pictured at the buffer zone in Cyprus where gardai have been based on a peacekeeping mission for 30 years.

Wexford TD James Browne had a busy itinerary around St Patricks Day this year as he visited Cyprus, Jordan and the Lebanon in his role as Minister of State at the Department of Justice.

In Cyprus, Minister Browne joined with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in meeting with members of An Garda Siochana who were marking 30 years of peacekeeping missions there. Since 1993, 452 gardai have contributed to UN peacekeeping missions in Cyprus as part of the United Nations Police.

It was an honour to meet with gardai in Cyprus to mark 30 years of the mission there, Minister Browne said. Thankfully, the situation has been relatively peaceful in the buffer zone between North and South Cyprus in recent times, but thats always liable to blow up at any point.

This is something which Commissioner Harris noted, stating that garda personnel were only recently involved in the detonation of a mortar in the buffer zone.

Minister Browne also noted that six gardai had been lost while on the peacekeeping mission and they were remembered on the day as medals were handed out and speeches heard.

Among those who Minister Browne was particularly pleased to meet was fellow Wexford man Garda Waters from New Ross.

A visit to Jordan was also on the agenda for Minister Browne, where he even met with Prince Faisal. He noted that trade has doubled with Jordan in the past five years and discussed the prospect of a direct flight to the country from Dublin in the near future.

While there, Minister Browne also met with Palestinian and Syrian refugees.

"There are a large number of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Jordan and it puts a massive pressure on the country, he said. These people would come from a similar ethnic background, but Jordan is not a wealthy country. They don't have the oil money that others do. A lot of aid work is going on through the Irish embassy to try and help the situation.

"By being there it also opened the door to future trade between Ireland and Jordan.

Finally, being the closest available Minister, Minister Browne was asked to take a detour to Lebanon on his way home to visit Beirut.

"Theres set to be a substantial investment from the Dublin Airport Authority in a terminal in Beirut, he explained. While there, I met with Defence forces personnel based there. Lebanon is a country facing serious economic and political turmoil. The economy is collapsing there.

"They are lovely people and it's a beautiful city, but you can see major challenges everywhere you go there. This potential investment is the best thing we can do to help.
Prince Harry lost friends due to paranoia over unlawful stories published about him in the papers, the High Court has heard.

Prince Harry has arrived at the High Court in London for a hearing in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

The publisher is bringing a bid to end High Court claims brought by people including Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence over alleged unlawful activity at its titles.

In written submissions for ANL, lawyers for the publisher quoted from documents filed on Harrys behalf.

Adrian Beltrami KC, for ANL, said the dukes case was that suspicion and paranoia was caused by Associateds publication of the unlawful articles: friends were lost or cut off as a result and everyone became a suspect, since he was misled by the way that the articles were written into believing that those close to him were the source of this information being provided to Associateds newspapers.

The barrister continued: The dukes pre-action letter also stated that at the time he had become paranoid and suspicious by unexplained disclosures of private information in your (ANLs) publications.

Mr Beltrami added: He stated that the repeated, wrongful disclosures... had a serious and profound effect upon (him) at the time of their publication and that he had painful memories... regarding the extent to which ANL publicised private and sensitive information relating to his private and family life.

The Indo Daily: Tabloids, trials, and tribulations - Prince Harry and the phone hacking scandal

The group of high-profile individuals, also including Sir Eltons husband David Furnish and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, announced in October they were bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

Their lawyers said at that time the group have become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by ANL, which is also the publisher of The Mail On Sunday and MailOnline.

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In a statement announcing the launch of the legal action, released by Hamlins law firm, it was alleged the unlawful acts included hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations.

The publisher hit back at the allegations, describing them at the time as preposterous smears and a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone-hacking scandal.

A spokesperson for ANL also said the allegations were unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims, based on no credible evidence.

A four-day preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is due to begin on Monday, which is set to include ANLs bid for the claims to be dismissed without a trial.

Lawyers for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) are arguing that the seven people in the privacy claims, including the Duke of Sussex, could have brought claims before October 2016, and were too late to have them heard now.

Adrian Beltrami KC, for the publisher, said in written submissions that the duke does not offer any reason why he could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the basis for his inferential claim against Associated before October 2016.

Quoting from Harrys letter of claim, he continued: Indeed, the Duke was aware throughout this period of the intense interest in his life shown by the media and by Associated, of strange things happening around his phone communications, of unexplained disclosures of private information in Associateds publications and of journalists from Associated regularly turning up at different locations which you would never expect them to, including South Africa... despite the extreme lengths my security team and I went to in order to protect my security and privacy.

In truth, the duke had sufficient knowledge to articulate an inferential case against Associated long before October 2016, Mr Beltrami said.

More to follow...
Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, has resumed services to the Indian city of Kolkata with a total of seven weekly nonstop flights.



The first flight on the new service, EY256, departed Abu Dhabi with a full load of passengers at 1:50pm local time on 26 March and touched down at Kolkatas Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport last night at 8:10pm local time.



Upon arrival in Kolkata, passengers were welcomed with a cake cutting ceremony and a celebration attended by Etihad and Kolkata Airport Executives.



The return flight, EY257, departed Kolkata at 9:05pm local time on 26 March, landing in Abu Dhabi shortly after midnight.



Arik De, Chief Revenue Officer, said, Etihad Airways, said: Riding on the resurgence of outbound travel from India, were delighted to resume daily flights to Kolkata, a key cultural and commercial hub in the Indian subcontinent. Re-establishing this vital air link with East India will support the growing demand from travelers in and around the region, offering them easy access to Abu Dhabi and connectivity to our global network alongside a world-class flying experience. We have been very impressed with our initial demand, which reaffirms our strategy to return to this key market.



The flights will be operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, offering Etihads award-winning service to guests in 8 seats in Business Class and 150 in Economy, convenient flight timings to the UAEs capital city and seamless connections to destinations across the airlines growing global network of 67 destinations.



Etihad passengers flying from Kolkata to the US can benefit from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility in Abu Dhabi International Airport, the only US immigration preclearance service in the region that allows passengers to clear US immigration while they are still in Abu Dhabi, meaning travellers can get home quicker and easier.- TradeArabia News Service
First Citizens Bank has bought all the loans and deposits of failed US bank Silicon Valley Bank following a competitive bidding process, the lender has announced (Alamy/PA)

First Citizens Bank has bought all the loans and deposits of failed US bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) following a competitive bidding process, the lender has announced.

The acquisition follows the collapse of SVB earlier this month, which sparked wider panic over the stability of the global banking sector.

The sale was agreed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), one of the US regulators which acted to protect depositors to prevent wider financial turmoil when SVB collapsed.

First Citizens, which is a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, purchased about 72 billion US dollars (59 billion) of SVBs assets at a discount of 16.5 billion US dollars (13 billion), the FDIC said.

SVBs 17 bank branches will begin operating as a division of First Citizens and customers will be able to access their current accounts as they usually would, according to the announcement.

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Frank B Holding Jr, chairman and chief executive of First Citizens, said the acquisition affirms its commitment to support the integrity of our nations banking system.

First Citizens, a family-controlled bank with more than 550 branches, said the purchase followed a competitive bidding process.

SVB, a tech and innovation-focused lender based in California, failed on Friday March 10 after customers rushed to withdraw money amid fears about the banks health, known as a bank run.

It was the second largest bank collapse in US history and prompted bank runs in other regional lenders such as First Republic Bank.

Its UK business was rescued by HSBC in a deal costing 1 after a weekend of intense negotiations involving the Government.

The failure preceded the rescue takeover of Swiss bank Credit Suisse by its rival UBS after its share price plunged amid the panicked investor mood.

Deemed a too big to fail banking giant, the demise sparked fears of a global banking crisis and sent shares in other major European banks falling, including Deutsche Bank most recently.

Central banks including the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the USs Federal Reserve have sought to reassure people that its banking systems are robust.

Nevertheless, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned that market volatility could expose the vulnerabilities of the UKs market-based financial system.

But the UKs stock markets were trading higher on Monday morning after the news from across the pond of SVBs sale.

Londons FTSE 100 was up by about 0.5% with shares in Barclays edging higher following a weak performance on Friday, having been caught up in the wider uncertainty over Europes banking sector.

Germanys Dax index and Frances Cac 40 were also making gains at the start of the week, while stock markets in the US had not yet opened.
An injured man stands next to the burned car after a Russian attack in Sloviansk (AP)

Two people have been killed and 29 others were wounded when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as terrorism.

Russian officials have denied targeting residential areas, even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlins forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, officials added.

Avdiivka mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was shelled 20 times by the Russian artillery and aviation, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

The mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said several explosions shook the city on Monday, damaging a building where Russian security forces have been quartered.

Mayor Ivan Fyodorov posted photos of smoke billowing over the area where the Russian barracks are located.

The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

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Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Mr Zelensky met British actor Orlando Bloom, the head of Ukraines presidential office Andriy Yermak said.

Lord Of The Rings and Pirates Of The Caribbean star Bloom, who is also a Unicef goodwill ambassador, arrived in the Ukrainian capital over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

During his meeting with Mr Zelensky, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Mr Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.
Airline Vueling has been fined by the Catalonian authorities after imposing sexist appearance regulations on flight attendants.

The Spanish low-cost carrier was issued with a 30,000 fine after a complaint was filed by Stavla, the union representing cabin crew working for the airline.

While male flight attendants working for Vueling were only required to have a clean and neat appearance, female flight attendants were required to wear foundation, eyeliner, mascara and heels that are two to three inches high.

Catalonian authorities stated that Vueling should introduce less burdensome and [a] more balanced corporate image, without affecting fundamental rights.

Vueling, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG)  the parent company that also includes Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia  has now stated that it will no longer require male and female members of cabin crew to abide by separate appearance standards.

In a statement to The Independent, Vueling said that it has been working on an inclusive image for more than a year.

The process initiated by the Labour Inspectorate of Catalonia includes a sanction proposal that is not yet definite. Vueling is currently studying the process to present allegations making use of its rights.

The company has been reviewing its style guide and has been working on an inclusive image for more than a year. We always consider any concerns that our crew may have and these are factored into decision-making and implementation.

"The companys aim with the dress code is to always ensure comfort and safety in all environments. In fact, the style guide was drafted with the cooperation of the crew member representatives.

In addition, some of the crew members suggestions have been gradually incorporated. An example of this is the adaptation of the guide with regards to the use of make-up, in which there is now no gender distinction or obligation to wear make-up.

It is not the first time IAG has come under fire for its uniform regulations.

Flight attendants working for Iberia launched a petition in 2022 to protest their employers compulsory high heels rule, following the carriers first uniform revamp in 15 years.

When the new uniform policy was unveiled, women working for the airline found that, although they could wear trainers while in the air, they were still expected to wear high heels in airports and while boarding.

Im not stewardess Barbie! read the Change.org petition, started by Maria Fernandez. Iberia: DO NOT force us to wear heels. Let us choose!

At Madrid airport we walk an average of 6-8 kilometres a day or spend more than two to three hours on foot, wrote flight attendant Maria Jesus Serrano Huertas in the petitions comments.

This plus the hard ground of the airport makes wearing heels insufferable. We have the right to choose how to take care of our feet.

In addition to being sexist and discriminatory, the use of heels harms health, commented Concha Diaz.

Vueling did not respond to The Independents question as to whether female Iberia flight attendants are still required to wear heels.
A serial sperm donor who has fathered 550 children is being sued amid accusations his prolific donation increases the risk of accidental incest.

The Netherlands Donorkind Foundation is taking Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a 41-year-old musician from The Hague, to court to stop him donating sperm, and accuses him of lying about the number of children he has fathered.

Dutch guidelines say donors should donate a maximum of 25 children or to 12 women to prevent inbreeding, incest or psychological problems.

Donorkinds civil case is being brought with a Dutch woman named only as Eva, who had a child using Mr Meijers sperm in 2018.

If I had known he had already fathered more than 100 children, I would never have chosen him, she said. If I think about the consequences for my child, I am sick to my stomach.

Donorkind wants the court to order Mr Meijer to stop donating and to find out which clinics he has donated to. It also wants his stored sperm destroyed unless it is reserved for a woman who already has one of his children.

We are taking action against this man because the government is doing nothing, said Ties van der Meer, the Donorkind chairman. He has a global reach via the internet and does business with large, international sperm banks.

Mr Meijer is on a Dutch donation blacklist but has continued to donate abroad, including in Denmark and Ukraine, Donorkind said. He has also approached prospective parents looking for home insemination online and on social media.

He advertised himself as a blond musical Viking donor

Mr Meijer, who now lives in Kenya, sometimes used the alias Ruud when offering to be a sperm donor, the AD newspaper said.

Donorkind said Mr Meijer had broken agreements with clinics and parents after promising to stick to the limit of 25 babies. Exceeding the limit increases the risk of incest and inbreeding, as well as posing a risk to childrens mental health, it added, because they find it difficult to cope if their biological father has created so many children.

It is not yet clear when the case will be heard but further details are expected in the coming days.

The Dutch gynaecologists association NVOG raised the alarm about Mr Meijer in 2017 after it emerged he had fathered at least 102 children through 10 different clinics in the Netherlands.

In 2021, Mr Meijer told The New York Times he had about 250 donor children. The article revealed he advertised himself as a blond musical Viking donor.

He said then: Assumptions of 1,000 [children] are ridiculous. I became a donor not for any numbers  to help parents with realising their dream.
A fifth body has been recovered from the site of an explosion at a chocolate factory in eastern Pennsylvania with two more people missing.

The explosion happened on Friday afternoon at the RM Palmer Co plant in West Reading, about 60 miles north west of Philadelphia.

The towns mayor, Samantha Kaag, confirmed the discovery of the fifth body.

Borough fire chief Chad Moyer said the chance of finding survivors was decreasing rapidly but the mayor said officials were still hopeful to at least get some answers and get some recoveries so that people have that reassurance and that closure.

She said: Were just trying to hold out as much hope as we can to get the right answers, to get quality answers, to get information to those that are affected and then let it go over to the investigation.

A woman was pulled alive from the rubble early on Saturday after being located by a search dog.

Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition respectively and the others had been discharged.

A statement from RM Palmer said everyone at the company was devastated and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organisations because its communication systems were down.

Governor Josh Shapiro vowed support from the state when he visited the scene on Saturday.

Fire investigators are continuing to examine the scene to try to determine the cause of the blast.
Workers in Israel have launched a nationwide strike, threatening to paralyse the economy as they joined a protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary.

But as Mr Netanyahu remained silent, signs emerged that he would soon delay the divisive programme.

His national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced late on Monday that the plan was being put on hold until the parliaments summer session, which begins on April 30, giving time for the rival sides to seek a compromise.

Departing flights from the countrys main international airport were grounded, large shopping mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israels largest trade union called for its 800,000 members  in health, transit, banking and other fields  to stop work.

Local governments were expected to close the pre-schools they run and cut other services, while the main doctors union announced its members would also walk out.

The spokesman for Israels largest trade union says diplomats at Israeli missions abroad are also striking against the governments plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Yaniv Levy, the Histadrut spokesman, said the missions were providing only emergency services. Ambassadors and consuls-general were among those on strike.

The growing resistance to Mr Netanyahus plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the Prime Ministers decision to sack his defence minister Yoav Gallant after he called for a pause to the overhaul.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main road, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

On Monday, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Knesset, or parliament, to keep up the pressure.

The overhaul  driven by Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israels most right-wing government ever  has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.

It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanised nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering towards autocracy.

Israels Palestinian citizens, however, have largely sat out the protests.

Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul will remove Israels system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.

The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

At the centre of the crisis is Mr Netanyahu himself, Israels longest serving leader, and questions about the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. He denies wrongdoing.

The sacking of his defence minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut, the countrys largest trade union umbrella group.

Arnon Bar-David, the groups head, said in a rousing speech: Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss.

Today we are stopping everyones descent toward the abyss.

On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared, Israels ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat, he said. Wake up now!

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

Weve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we dont know what to say to our children about their future in this country, Mr Lapid said. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.

It was unclear if the threats posed by the strikes to Israels economy, which is already on shaky ground, would prompt Mr Netanyahu to halt the overhaul.

Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing the Prime Minister in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Mr Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government.

US national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was deeply concerned by the developments in Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.

She added: Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship.

Mr Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech.

Some members of Mr Netanyahus Likud party said they would support the Prime Minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul.

The architect of the plan, justice minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, promised he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the Prime Ministers decision should he halt the legislation.

However, Mr Netanyahus hard-line allies had pressed him to continue with the plans. We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy, Mr Ben-Gvir had said.

Mr Netanyahus government also forged ahead with a centrepiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday ahead of a final vote, which could come this week.

The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset the authority to overturn supreme court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

A separate law that would circumvent a supreme court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was delayed following a request from that partys leader.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sacked his defence minister a day after he broke ranks and urged the government to halt a highly-contested plan to overhaul the judicial system. Yoav Gallant's dismissal is likely to fuel further mass protests against the plan  with unrest having rocked the nation for months. It came as Mr Netanyahu was poised to ratify legislation that would tighten political control over judicial appointments. That bill, and others that would limit Supreme Court powers to rule against government policy, have triggered warnings at home and abroad over Israel's democratic health. Mr Gallant on Saturday became the most senior member of Mr Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party to say he would not support the judicial overhaul, saying protests that have included growing numbers of military reservists were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security. "At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price," Mr Gallant said in his televised address. The response from the prime minister came late last night. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided this evening to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant," Mr Netanyahu's office said. Shortly after his dismissal, Mr Gallant (64) wrote on Twitter: "The state of Israel's security has always been and will always be my life's mission." Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial on graft charges that he denies, says the judicial overhaul will balance out the branches of government. Critics, who range from business leaders to former military officers as well as opposition parties, say the overhaul will weaken Israel's democracy, hurt the economy and hand uncontrolled powers to the government of the day. A key bill effectively giving Mr Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition more control over the appointment of judges is expected to be brought for ratification this week in the Knesset, where he and his allies wield 64 out of 120 seats. But how that as yet-unscheduled vote will proceed has been thrown into question by Likud dissenters. Earlier yesterday, an Israeli good governance group has urged the supreme court to punish Mr Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the countrys judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

A prime minister who doesnt obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist, said Eliad Shraga, the head of Movement for Quality Government in Israel.

Mr Netanyahu is barred by the countrys attorney general from dealing with his governments plan to overhaul the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement to which he is bound.
With at least seven unofficial exchange rates that often change by the hour, people in crisis-hit Lebanon are used to chaos.

But yesterday morning the country woke up in a new state of mass confusion: it now has two rival time zones.

The bizarre situation is the result of an escalating dispute between political and religious authorities over a decision to delay daylight saving time for a month.

Some institutions implemented the change yesterday while others refused, leaving many Lebanese to juggle work and school schedules in different time zones  all in a country half the size of Wales.

A video circulating yesterday morning showed the clock at Beirut International airport displaying the time as 10.05 on one side and 9.05 on the other.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced the move on Thursday. No explanation was given as to why and the last-minute announcement was widely mocked across the country.

Scrambling to offset the consequences, the national airline announced several hours later that all flights in the month-long period would take off an hour earlier than scheduled to avoid fines and missed connections.

Many businesses across the country rejected the governments decision, particularly those with international connections, and asked employees to put their clocks forward an hour overnight on Saturday as usual.

When two major news channels also rejected the decision and said they would display the time an hour ahead, it quickly became apparent that Lebanon was about to have two different time zones: those who stand by the government, and those who refuse.

A video of a meeting between Mr Mikati, a Sunni Muslim, and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Shiite Muslim, was leaked by Lebanese news outlet Megaphone.

Mr Berri asked Mr Mikati to postpone the start of daylight saving time to allow Muslims to break their Ramadan fast an hour earlier  even though the actual time that Muslims would break their fast is at sunset.

Instead of it being 7 oclock, let it stay 6 oclock from now until the end of Ramadan, Mr Berri said, according to the video. Mr Mikati said he had suggested this before but implementation would be difficult because of consequences such as airline schedules.

The head of the Maronite church on Saturday evening announced it would also reject the governments rushed decision to change the time.

Christian schools and institutions for the next month will operate in a different time zone to Islamic organisations, in a country that bears the scars of its 15-year civil war between Christian and Muslim factions. Lebanon is in the midst of the worst financial crisis in its modern history.

Soha Yazbek, a professor at the American University of Beirut, is among many parents who have found themselves and their children now bound to different schedules.

So now I drop my kids to school at 8am but arrive to my work 42km away at 7:30 am and then I leave work at 5pm but I arrive home an hour later at 7pm!! Ms Yazbek wrote on Twitter, adding for the benefit of her non-Lebanese friends, I have not gone mad, I just live in Wonderland.

Haruka Naito, a Japanese non-governmental organisation worker living in Beirut, discovered she has to be in two places at the same time on Monday morning.

I had an 8am appointment and a 9am class, which will now happen at the same time, she said. The 8am appointment for her residency paperwork is with a government agency following the official time, while her 9am Arabic class is with an institute that is expected to make the switch to daylight savings.

The schism has led to jokes about Muslim time and Christian time, while different internet search engines came up with different resultsyesterday morning when queried about the current time in Lebanon.
Donald Trump stepped up his campaign to return to the White House over the weekend as he launched a volley of insults at his main rival for the Republican nomination, who is now slipping in the polls.

Speaking in Waco, Texas, at his first rally of the year, Mr Trump made a series of digs at Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor. Ridiculing Ron DeSanctimonious, Mr Trump said: Im not a big fan. Florida has been tremendously successful for many years, long before this guy became governor.

A Morning Consult poll last week showed that 26pc of Republicans would back Mr DeSantis in a hypothetical primary. It is his lowest rating since December 2022.

A Monmouth survey, which gave the Florida governor a 13-point lead three months ago, had him trailing by 14 points last week.

Mr DeSantis, who has not confirmed he is standing, poses the biggest threat to Mr Trumps hopes of re-election.

His rivals ratings were dropping like a stone, said Mr Trump.

Mr DeSantis has already been ridiculed as Jeb DeSantis by critics who are comparing him to Jeb Bush, the Republican establishment candidate whose campaign was crushed by the Trump juggernaut in 2016.

Mr Bush has already endorsed Mr DeSantis, who is expected in May to formally announce he is standing.

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who has declared her presidential candidacy, was spared Mr Trumps wrath in Waco.

It was left to two of the former presidents acolytes in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, to pile in on Ms Haley, who served as Mr Trumps ambassador to the United Nations.

But we cannot go kicking and screaming around the globe, starting new wars behind every Middle Eastern sand dune as Nikki Haley would have us do, Mr Gaetz said.

So, Nikki Haley can keep clicking her heels, he continued. What we know is that President Donald Trump will bring Americas enemies to heel.

Mr DeSantis is reportedly recalibrating his message to try to prevent his campaign from crumbling under the Trump onslaught. The governor is to visit New Hampshire  one of the key early primary states  next month, to attend a Republican fund-raiser.

Mr Trumps choice of Waco for his first rally of the year was controversial, after the city recently marked the 30th anniversary of the massacre in which 86 members of a religious cult died in a fire after a stand-off with authorities.

Critics said the choice represented dog-whistle politics, with white supremacists and militias claiming the clash between federal agents and the Branch Davidian sect in 1993 was proof of persecution by the deep state.

The rally capitalised on Mr Trumps reportedly imminent arrest following an investigation by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, as supporters cheered and waved witch hunt signs, with the former president proclaiming himself the most innocent man in American history. The raft of investigations was like something out of Stalinist Russia, he added.

A Manhattan grand jury will reconvene today to consider whether money he paid to former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels broke US campaign finance laws.

Christopher Galdieri, a professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, said: I think the Republican establishment hasnt figured what to do about Donald Trump.

They could have voted to convict him in either impeachment trial and barred him from ever running for office again. They could have cut him loose after January 6. There are any number of things they could have done, but didnt. So he remains a considerable figure in the party.
A 28-year-old woman shot dead three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, before police killed her.

The woman had at least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, police said.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10:13 a.m. of a shooter at The Covenant School, which teaches children up to sixth grade (around 12 years old). Officers could hear gunfire coming from the school's second floor, Don Aaron, a police spokesperson, told reporters.

Two officers from a five-member team shot at her in what Aaron described as a lobby area and she was dead by 10:27 a.m..

"The police department response was swift," Aaron said. Police later said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, having earlier said she appeared to be a teenager, but have not publicly identified her.

Deadly mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States, but a female attacker is highly unusual. Only four of the 191 mass shootings since 1966 cataloged by The Violence Project, a nonprofit research center, were carried out by a female attacker.

U.S. President Joe Biden wants Congress to do more to stem gun violence and will address the shooting in remarks later on Monday, the White House said.

Three students were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with gunshot wounds, John Howser, a hospital spokesperson, said in a statement. Three adult staff members were killed by the shooter, police said.

Besides the deceased, no one else was shot, Aaron said.

Students' parents were told to gather at a nearby church.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school's website. The school serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed sympathy for the victims and wrote on social media that his city "joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting."

There have been 89 school shootings  defined as anytime a gun is discharged on school property  in the U.S. so far in 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website founded by researcher David Riedman. Last year saw 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970.
Help began pouring into one of the poorest regions of the US after a deadly tornado tore a 270km path of destruction in Mississippi, even as furious new storms last night struck across the Deep South.

The twister flattened entire blocks, obliterated houses, ripped a steeple off a church and toppled a municipal water tower.

At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through several towns late on Friday. A man was also killed in Alabama after his trailer home flipped over several times.

Search and recovery crews resumed the daunting task of digging through flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced.

Jarrod Kunze drove to the hard-hit Mississippi town of Rolling Fork from his home in Alabama, ready to volunteer in whatever capacity Im needed.

Everything I can see is

in some state of destruction, he said.

The storm hit so quickly that the sheriffs department barely had time to set off warning sirens in the community of 2,000 residents, said Rolling Fork mayor Eldridge Walker.

And by the time they initiated the siren, the storm had hit and it tore down the siren thats located right over here, Mr Walker said, referring to an area just a few streets from the towns centre.

The mayor described his town as devastated.

Sharkey County, Mississippi, is one of the poorest counties in the state of Mississippi, but were still resilient, he said. Weve got a long way to go, and we certainly thank everybody for their prayers and for anything they will do or can do for this community.

US president Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early yesterday, making federal funding available to hardest-hit areas.

Help is on the way, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves told a news conference with local, state and federal leaders.

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said: We know that this is going to be a long-term recovery event.

Recovery efforts in Mississippi were under way even as the National Weather Service warned of a new risk of more severe weather late yesterday  including high winds, large hail and possible tornadoes in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

A tornado touched down early yesterday in Troup County, Georgia, near the Alabama border, according to the Georgia Mutual Aid Group.

Affected areas included the county seat of LaGrange, about 110km south-west of Atlanta.

Five people suffered minor injuries in Georgia, where up to 100 buildings were damaged, with at least 30 uninhabitable, officials said.

Many roads, including Interstate Highway 85, were blocked by debris.

Two tigers briefly escaped yesterday from their enclosures at Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, Georgia, after the park sustained extensive tornado damage, the park said on Facebook.

Both [tigers] have now been found, tranquillised, and safely returned to a secure enclosure, it said, adding that none of its employees or animals had been hurt.

Following Mr Bidens declaration, federal funding can be used for recovery efforts in Mississippis Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, including temporary housing, home repairs, loans covering uninsured property losses and other individual and business programmes.

Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, which typically has top wind gusts between 265kmh and 320kmh.

How anybody survived is unknown by me, said Rodney Porter, who lives 32km south of Rolling Fork. When the storm hit, he immediately drove there to assist. He said he smelled natural gas and heard people screaming for help in the dark.

Houses are gone, houses stacked on top of houses with vehicles on top of that, he said.

Annette Body, who drove to the hard-hit town of Silver City from nearby Belozi, said she was feeling blessed that her own home was not destroyed, but that other people lost everything.

Cried last night, cried this morning, she said, looking at flattened homes. They said you need to take cover, but it happened so fast a lot of people didnt even get a chance to take cover.
A Ukraine fan holds up a banner during his country's match against England in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley. Photo: Carl Recine/Reuters

The West has taken Vladimir Putin to task over his decision to send tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

Less than 24 hours after Putin promised to move his nuclear arsenal closer to Europe and Ukraine, the US, Germany and Nato criticised the Kremlins attempt at nuclear intimidation.

With Russias forces facing another humiliation over the struggle to capture Bakhmut in Ukraines eastern Donbas region, Putin is expected to intensify his nuclear brinkmanship.

Oleksiy Danilov, one of President Volodymyr Zelenskys top security advisers in Ukraine, claimed Russias plan would destabilise Belarus, which he said had become Moscows nuclear hostage.

Nato yesterday said it had yet to see changes in Russias nuclear posture to which it needed to react, but that Putins rhetoric was still dangerous.

Nato is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation, said Oana Lungescu, a Nato spokesperson.

A US official earlier said Washington did not believe Russia was preparing to use a nuclear missile, referring to weapons with smaller blast yields meant for use on the battlefield rather than missiles capable of destroying whole cities.

The EUs foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Brussels was ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus if Minsk were to host Russian nuclear weapons.

Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions, he tweeted.

Though the decision to deploy Russian missiles in a foreign country for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union has heightened tensions, the Kremlin is already suspected of secretly stationing nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, its European enclave.

Putin sought to justify deploying nuclear missiles to Belarus by insisting that Russia would not be breaking any of its international obligations because it was only copying the US.

The US is thought to station nuclear missiles in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and in Turkey.

Belarus is a staunch ally of Russia and let Russian forces launch their invasion of Ukraine in February last year from its territory. The Belarus-Ukraine border is only 140km from Kyiv.

Alexander Lukashenko, Belaruss president, has also allowed Russian warplanes to fire missiles at targets in Ukraine from Belarusian airspace.

Analysts have said that as well as being buoyed by Mr Xis visit last week, Putins nuclear rhetoric may reflect his frustration that, after a seven-month siege, Russian forces have still not been able to capture the whole of Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, Russian recruits are being offered the equivalent of 600 for every kilometre of ground they gain in Ukraine as part of a spring recruitment drive that aims to avoid another round of mobilisation.

Adverts offering recruits an array of benefits have appeared on government websites and on the social media accounts of state institutions such as libraries and high schools.

One of them, posted by a council in the Yaroslavl region, promised a one-time bonus of about 3,400 to sign up.

If the recruits were sent to Ukraine, the ad promised a monthly salary of up to 2,300, plus about 90 a day for involvement in active offensive operations, and 600 for each kilometre of advancement within assault teams.

The Kremlin is now desperately in need of recruits for its stalled war in Ukraine.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2023]
This publication is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in the Indian market and includes a gu...
Image: Pixabay

Thimpu: Gungring of Bhutan is on the right track after it ventured into organic farming five years ago.

In 2018, the Department of Agriculture identified the village as a Model Organic Village to improve the livelihood of people through crop diversification and income generation, reports The Bhutan Live.

For decades, farmers of Gungring village have been practising farming only for self-consumption. It was only in 2018 after the department of agricultures intervention that the farmers ventured into commercial organic farming. The farmers were provided training, greenhouses and an irrigation channel, the news portal reported.

A farmers group, which is comprised of 45 members, have around 50 acres of agricultural land under cultivation.

These farmers cultivated cabbage, cauliflower, potato, eggplant, carrots, beans and various kinds of fruits.

We had limited knowledge about farming techniques and had no surplus agricultural produce. But after the training by the agriculture officials, we started vegetable farming not only for our self-consumption but also were able to supply schools in our locality and the Gelephu market. We are now committed to not only supplying within the locality of our gewogs but across the districts and the country, Goru Sanu Rai, a farmer in the village, told the news portal.

After forming the group and started working together, we were able to supply to schools, staff, Jigmeling Police Training Center in Gelephu during the summer season. Further, we are also able to supply to the district and the Thromde, Bal Kumar Rai, another farmer, told The Bhutan Live.
Representative image of Cheeta/ credit: Pixabay

Bijaipur/IBNS: One of the eight cheetahs relocated to India from Namibia died on Monday in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park after developing a kidney infection in January.

The dead cheetah 'Sasha' had shown signs of fatigue and weakness during a daily monitoring check.

A medical examination revealed that she was dehydrated and had kidney-related problems.

A blood test on her revealed that her creatinine levels were very high, which indicated an infection in the kidney.

The other cheetahs in the park are healthy, a press release said.

Sasha, who was part of the first batch of cheetahs flown into Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, was one of five female cheetahs flown in from Namibia last year as part of an ambitious reintroduction programme.
Image:Lalit K Jha Twitter page

Washington: The Indian Embassy in the US has condemned the attack on a Washington DC-based Indian journalist by suspected Khalistani forces.

In a statement, the Embassy said: " We have seen disturbing visuals of a senior Indian journalist from the Press Trust of India being abused, threatened & assaulted physically while covering so called Khalistan protest in Washington DC earlier today."

"We understand that the journalist was first verbally intimidated, then physically assaulted, and fearing for his personal safety and well being, had to call in law enforcement agencies, who responded promptly," read the statement.

"We condemn such a grave and unwarranted attack on a senior journalist. Such activities only underscore the violent and anti-social tendencies of the so called Khalistani protestors and their supporters, who routinely engage in wanton violence and vandalism," the statement further said.

The Embassy also thanked law enforcement agencies for their prompt response in the matter.

Thank you @SecretService 4 my protection 2day 4 helping do my job, otherwise I would have been writing this from hospital. The gentleman below hit my left ear with these 2 sticks & earlier I had to call 9/11 & rushed 2 police van 4 safety fearing physical assault. pic.twitter.com/IVcCeP5BPG  Lalit K Jha    (@lalitkjha) March 25, 2023

Meanwhile, journalist Lalit Jha, who was attacked by Khalistani supporters, tweeted a video of the incident.

He wrote: "Thank you @SecretService 4 my protection 2day 4 helping do my job, otherwise I would have been writing this from hospital. The gentleman below hit my left ear with these 2 sticks & earlier I had to call 9/11 & rushed 2 police van 4 safety fearing physical assault
Image Credit: Unsplash/Samuel Foster

Bengaluru/IBNS: Technology's advancement has indeed come to the help of a Bengaluru man who has managed to discover his wife's extramarital affair via his car's GPS tracker, media reports said.

The car GPS tracker was connected to the man's smartphone.

The man, who worked night shifts, said he had no clue of the affair and only came to know through the GPS data.

Narrating the incident, he said as quoted by Times Now, "One day last year, I discovered my car was taken out by someone while I was working night shift in office. A detailed study of the GPS showed the car had moved in the KIA direction by midnight and stopped outside a hotel.

"It was driven back home a little after 5 am. I visited the hotel and found that my wife and her boyfriend had booked a room using their voter ID."

The man was threatened by his wife and her lover after he confronted the two.

He had moved a local court requesting police to file a complaint against his wife.

Police have issued a notice against her.
Image Credit: Twitter/President of India

Kolkata/UNI: President Droupadi Murmu on Monday arrived in the city on her maiden visit to West Bengal after taking oath.

At the airport, she was greeted by State Governor C V Ananda Bose, senior minister Firhad Hakim and many other senior officials.

The President was also given a Guard of Honour at the city airport.

From the airport she was flown to Calcutta Race Course in the city on her way to Netaji Bhawan.

The Governor also accompanied her in the chopper for the Race Course in Alipore, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted the visiting President.

On Monday the President will visit Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata to pay homage to Netaji. She will also attend a civic reception, hosted in her honour at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata, the same evening.

Later in the day, she will pay respect to Rabindranath Tagore at his house, Jorasanko Thakurbari.

She will also hold a meeting of tribal groups at Raj Bhawan.

On Tuesday the President will visit Santiniketan to attend the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati.

The President will also visit Belur Math, besides gracing the celebration of the completion of 80 years of UCO Bank in Kolkata.
UNI

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Central and Gujarat government on hearing the plea filed by Bilkis Bano and others challenging the order of the Gujarat Government allowing the premature release of 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Apex court termed the crime committed by the convicts as horrendous.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice K M Joseph, and also comprising Justice B V Nagarathna, while posting the pleas for April 18, observed, the crime committed by the convicts as horrendous and said that it would not be overwhelmed by emotions.

"We are only on legal and law and nothing to do with emotions," Justice Jospeh observed.

The Supreme Court even went on to observe that this was a heinous offence and for murder cases convicts are languishing in jails without remission.

The Supreme Court thereby, today, asked the Gujarat Government to apprise it and be ready with the relevant files on April 18, on the policy of remission documents.

The Apex Court wanted to know as to whether is this a case where the standards have been adopted uniformly in other cases also or not.

"No doubt this is a horrendous act. By the way does the state have a policy? any level headed policy? Because there are several people languishing in jail for so many years for murder," the Supreme Court observed.

Senior lawyer, Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the petitioners, said that there on public interest petitions. "We are saying grounds of remission is alien to the statute and on this ground PIL will lie and we are not seeking prosecution. This court has to now lay down the broad contours of granting remission," Sibal said.

"This is not an ordinary case. The matter was transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra because there was no confidence in Gujarat, and now same state is deciding remission, what is this," Sibal questioned.

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for another petitioner said that the post release conduct of the convicts has death threat to victim which has been brushed aside by the prosecution. This is a death knell.

Rishi Malhotra, lawyer for one of the convicts, opposed the arguments of the petitioners and said that they have a detailed advisory board and they have wide variety of members from social workers to experts and the board also noted that they had good behaviour. "They underwent 15.5 years actual sentence and the requirement for remission is 14. This is more of an emotional plea than a regular plea."

Besides filing petition against per-mature release of convicts, Bano had also filed review petition seeking review of its earlier order by which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider the plea for remission of one of the convicts.

The review petition was dismissed.

Some PILs were filed seeking directions to revoke the remission granted 11 convicts.

The pleas were filed by National Federation of Indian Women, whose General Secretary is Annie Raja, Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, social activist and professor Roop Rekha Verma and TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

Gujarat government in its affidavit had defended remission granted to convicts saying they completed 14 years sentence in prison and their behaviour was found to be good.

The State government said it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022 and Central government government also approved the ore-mature release of convicts.

It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of celebration of "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Gujarat Government had said.

The affidavit had stated, State government considered all the opinions and decided to release 11 prisoners since they have completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behaviour wasfound to be good.

The government had also questioned the locus standi of petitioners who filed the PIL challenging the decision saying they are outsiders to the case.

The pleas said they have challenged the order of competent authority of the government of Gujarat by way of which 11 persons who were accused in a set of heinous offences committed in Gujarat were allowed to walk free on August, 15, 2022, pursuant to remission being extended to them.

The remission in this heinous case would be entirely against public interest and would shock the collective public conscience, as also be entirely against the interests of the victim (whose family has publicly made statements worrying for her safety), pleas stated.

The Gujarat government had released the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008.

In March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara.

(With UNI inputs)
In image Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Colombo/IBNS: Sri Lanka plans to request a new short-term credit facility worth USD 1 billion from India in order to buy essential commodities such as food and medicine, according to official media reports on Monday.

Last week, Sri Lanka obtained the initial installment of 333 million dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program, which is worth a total of USD 3 billion.

The purpose of the bailout is to help the country address its economic difficulties and encourage other development partners to provide financial assistance.

A nation with a population of 22 million is facing difficulties in financing crucial imports due to a significant reduction of 70% in their foreign exchange reserves over a span of two years, resulting in a devaluation of their currency and attempts to solicit assistance from international financial institutions.

As Sri Lanka's government gears up for discussions with the International Monetary Fund regarding the country's capacity to repay foreign debts, there are apprehensions due to fuel scarcity, a surge in food prices, and the emergence of protests.

Earlier this month during Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa's visit to New Delhi, India provided $1 billion in aid to assist with vital imports, in addition to the newly proposed line of support.

According to the Lankan government-owned Daily News publication, "The Sri Lankan finance ministry officials held talks with its Indian counterparts to obtain the new temporary USD 1 billion facilities for the "purchase of essential foodstuff, medicines and other goods for the country."

Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy, the ex-Governor of the Central Bank, made remarks during a seminar arranged by the Centre for Banking Studies, stating, "The negotiations are also underway to secure an Indian rupee swap from RBI. The amount is still uncertain; it could be up to the equivalent of USD 1 billion. That is still being worked out."

As per the Indian High Commission, India has offered more than USD 4 billion in credit lines to Sri Lanka spanning various sectors such as the provision of critical goods, petroleum, fertilizers, the enhancement of railways and infrastructure, defence and renewable energy.

Amid the country's foreign exchange reserves shortage, Indian Oil Company's local operation stepped in to ensure a steady supply of fuel to retail stations, as lengthy queues formed last year.

Following extended negotiations related to Sri Lanka's unmanageable debt, the International Monetary Fund's Executive Board granted approval for an extended arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF), providing a sum of SDR 2.286 billion (approximately USD 3 billion).

This marks the seventeenth instance of Sri Lanka receiving an IMF bailout.
Image: UNI

On March 24, 2023, Security Forces (SFs) foiled an infiltration bid and killed one terrorist in the Jabdi area of Tangdhar village, along the Line of Control (LoC), in Kupwara District.

On February 16, 2023, SFs foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of three terrorists in the Saidpora forward area along the LoC, in Kupwara District. While one terrorist was killed, the remaining two managed to escape.

On January 8, SFs foiled an infiltration attempt, killing two unidentified militants near the Line of Control in the Balakote sector of Poonch District.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), six terrorists have already been killed this year, along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), while making infiltration attempts, in three separate incidents. In 2022, there were 27 incidents in which 24 infiltrators were killed and four were arrested.

According to official statistics,

During the attempts of infiltration from across the border from 2005 till 31st October, 2019, 1011 militants have been killed, 42 militants have been apprehended and 2253 militants have been pushed back/returned due to efficient vigil of security forces.

Though no official data is available for such incidents between November and December 2019, according to official sources, 19 terrorists were killed during the course of infiltration in 2020 and 12 in 2021. One terrorist was apprehended in 2021. There were 77 infiltration attempts in 2021 and 99 in 2020.

Meanwhile, according to the SATP database, a total of eight militants have been killed in J&K (including during infiltration) in 2023 (all data till March 26). In both 2022 and 2021, 193 terrorists (including during infiltration) were killed. Of 193 terrorists killed in 2022, at least 56 were Pakistanis. From a peak of 2,345 in 2001, terrorist fatalities dropped to a low of 84 in 2012, and increased again for six consecutive years: 100 (2013), 114 (2014), 115 (2015), 165 (2016), 220 (2017), 271 (2018). They declined to 163 in 2019, but increased again to 232 in 2020. Since 1988, a total of 23,918 terrorists (including during infiltration) have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir.

SFs have lost 6,636 personnel since 1988, including one in 2023, 30 in 2022 and 45 in 2021. After recording an all-time high of 638 in 2000, SF fatalities came down to 30 in 2022, the second lowest since 1988. The lowest tally of 18 was recorded in 2012. Fatalities in this category have been on a continuous decline since 2019.

The SFs established a positive overall kill ratio, at 3.6 over a period of 25 years, and have maintained dominance on the ground. The continued dominance of the SFs over an extended period of time is one of the primary reasons behind the relative peace in J&K, despite Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence relentlessly seeking to destabilize the situation through its terrorist proxies.

Indeed, after reaching a high of 4,011 in 2001, overall fatalities registered a continuous decline in successive years till 2012, when they touched a low of 121. Since then, fatalities have maintained a cyclical trend, declining for two consecutive years in 2021 (274 fatalities) and 2022 (253 fatalities). There were 321 fatalities in 2020. Overall fatalities remained in four digits between 1990 and 2006.

According to official data, the number of terrorist incidents peaked at 4,971 in 1992, but came down to 123 in 2022, till November 30.

Nevertheless, concerns persist. One of the most significant among these is the continued targeted attacks on non-locals and minorities. According to the SATP database, terrorists targeted non-local labourers on at least 17 occasions in 2022, resulting in eight fatalities and 34 persons injured. In 2021, there were six such attacks, which resulted in six deaths and two persons injured. Though no such attack was reported in 2020, there were two attacks in 2019 after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, which resulted in five deaths and one person injured. On October 29, 2019, five migrant workers from the Murshidabad District of West Bengal were shot dead by terrorists in the Kulgam District, while one non-local worker was injured in a second attack.

Thus, since August 5, 2019, terrorists have targeted non-local labourers (from outside J&K) on at least 25 occasions killing 19 non-local workers and injuring another 37 (till December 31, 2022). One such incident, resulting in one injury, has already been recorded in 2023.

According to official data, 11 persons from minority communities in the Union Territory were killed in 2021, three in 2020, six in 2019, three in 2018 and 11 in 2017. Another 14 persons from the minority communities were killed in 2022 (data till November 30). The data does not indicate how many of these were non-locals. According to SATP, another two such killings were reported in December 2022. So far in 2023, eight persons from minority communities have been killed.

Significantly, on January 1-2, 2023, seven civilians, including two children, were killed and several others were injured in two separate terrorist incidents in the Dhangri area of Rajouri District. The five persons killed in the January 1 attack were identified as Satish Kumar (45), Deepak Kumar (23), Pritam Lal (57), Shishu Pal (32), and Prince Sharma. The two killed in the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast on January 2 were identified as cousins Vihan Sharma (4) and Samiksha Sharma (16). The police said the IED was planted under a bag by terrorists after the firing incident on January 1. Two civilians had been killed in the district in 2022. Prior to that, the last civilian killing in Rajouri was reported way back in 2013 (two civilians killed).

It was, moreover, after a gap of 11 years that a civilian was killed in Udhampur District. On March 9, 2022, one person was killed and 15 were injured when a low-intensity IED exploded outside a court complex at Slathia Chowk in Udhampur District. The IED blast took place around 1 pm at Slathia Chowk, where fruit and vegetable vendors put up their carts. The injured included a woman, an eight-month-old infant, and a Rajasthan resident. The last civilian killing before this, in the District was reported on May 2, 2011.

Budgam recorded five civilian fatalities in 2022, the highest since 2005, when 18 civilians were killed.

The civilian killings in two districts  Rajouri and Udhampur  in 2022, after a long gap, and the increased number of civilian killings in Budgam, indicate that these areas of J&K, which had been declared terrorism free some years ago, have once again come into the scope of Pakistan-backed terrorist groups. Any geographical extension of violent incidents must raise urgent concerns.

It is to be noted, however, that the situation is not as alarming as is being projected by a strident few. Civilian fatalities were in three to four digits between 1990 and 2007 (in four digits between 1993 to 1996 and in 2001), but have since then remained in two digits. Moreover, and after reaching a recent high of 86 in 2018, they came down to 30 in 2022. There were 36 civilian fatalities in 2021.

Meanwhile, the governments inability to hold Assembly Elections and restore statehood is providing opportunities to elements inimical to peace, to spread misinformation. For instance, it has been widely propagated that the ruling party at the Centre  the Bharatiya Janata Party  is delaying the elections till the time it feels certain of its victory.

Despite significant overall improvement in the security situation, it is imperative for the government to respond convincingly to such propaganda. Urgent steps are also required to be taken to address the security concerns of non-locals and minorities.
Image: Pixabay

According to media reports in Pakistan, the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government is seriously considering the creation of a specialised task force to scrutinise social media campaigns that are detrimental to the armys image.

A proposal to establish the task force has been submitted, but it is still pending approval.

The proposed task force will be composed of officers from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

The police and other law enforcement agencies will also be available to assist the task force with the primary objective to identify and prevent the misuse of social media.

Many analysts consider this task force as another attempt to muzzle voices of dissent against the powerful military establishment in Pakistan.

More importantly, through this new draconian government body, the ruling PDM is trying to win favours from the military establishment.

The timing of proposing the task force is interesting, possibly prompted by the PDM governments allegations that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its leader, former prime minister Imran Khan, are engaged in a malicious campaign against the military.

The ongoing vicious campaign on social media websites has become a reflection of Pakistans increasing political polarisation, as several online trends have emerged that allegedly defame the Pakistan army and its officers.

It is noteworthy that Imran Khan does not have the support of the serving Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, which the ruling PDM is attempting to exploit through such military establishment-friendly proposals.

The new task force will directly target Imran Khan and his party supporters as they have been openly defaming the Pakistan army and intelligence agencies.

However, the ruling government is presenting the task force as a body to regulate false propaganda and insensitive comments on social media against the military.

For example, a vicious online trolling took place after the killing of six army officers  including corps commander Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali  in a helicopter crash in Balochistan last August.

At the time, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Babar Iftikhar, was compelled to issue a strong condemnation of the false online propaganda aimed at the army, primarily by supporters of the PTI who were angry with the military establishments hand in removing Imran Khan from power in April 2022.

Subsequently, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) formed a team to locate and apprehend those responsible for the alleged online propaganda.

According to reports, eight TikTok accounts, 44 Twitter accounts, and more than 50 Facebook accounts had been identified as allegedly participating in anti-army campaigns on social media.

Notably, the military establishments public reputation is presently at a historical low. Since April last year, the top leadership of the Pakistan army and ISI has been targeted openly by PTI supporters and party members.

Attempts to stop the online propaganda against the military have failed miserably.

Consequently, Rawalpindi is forcing the ruling PDM government to legally quell the armys criticism on social media in Pakistan.

A similar attempt was made in February to pass the legislation for a special task force dealing with the matter.

However, disagreements arose among cabinet members when a bill proposing a crackdown on social media was introduced for approval by the apex body.

During a cabinet meeting, some members suggested that the law should also be applicable to those who defame parliamentarians, while others believed that severe punishment would infringe upon freedom of expression.

The interior ministry presented the proposal under the title of the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The cabinet was informed that despite Section 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code (which deals with punishment for defamation), there was an enduring need for a separate provision to safeguard the judiciary and armed forces from malicious and derogatory attacks.

With the political climate shifting in favour of Imran Khan in Pakistan, the multi-party government led by Shehbaz Sharif is frantically searching for ways to cling to power.

It appears that the military establishment is supporting the ruling PDM against Imran Khan, so any criticism aimed at the powers-that-be in Pakistan is likely to originate from PTI party members and supporters.

Despite efforts to stifle anti-army criticism over the past year, all such attempts have failed.

Faced with no other options, the proposed draconian body will be utilised to suppress dissenting voices with force, possibly helping the PDM alliance. In February, the federal government drafted a bill to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), proposing up to five-year imprisonment for anyone who scandalises or ridicules the Pakistan Army and judiciary through any medium.

Interestingly, a similar draft bill was approved by a National Assembly (NA) standing committee in April 2021, under the PTI government, which proposed up to two years imprisonment and a fine for those who intentionally ridicule the armed forces.

In case the proposed task force gets approval, it will be a major victory for the military and a loss for all political parties in Pakistan, not just PTI.
Image Credit: Facebook/Raghav Chadha, Screenshot grab and Instagram/Parineeti Chopra

Mumbai/IBNS: Amid rumours of their dating, Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha visited celebrity designer Manish Malhotra's house here on Sunday.

Reports now say the two are going to tie the nuptial knot and an official announcement of the same will be made.

The rumour of their dating kick-started after the two were spotted at restaurants twice in consecutive two days.

Several paparazzi had clicked photos of the two coming out of a posh restaurant and Parineeti getting inside a car with Raghav.

Later when he was asked outside Parliament, Raghav told media, "Ask me about Rajneeti not Parineeti."

"Will let you know when I get married," the AAP leader added.
Image: Pixabay

New Delhi: Airlines major Air India launched its first-ever non-stop flight to London Gatwick, from Amritsar on Monday.

It has now become the first and only Indian airline to operate at Gatwick Airport the second-largest airport in the UK.

The services to Gatwick are in line with Air Indias ongoing endeavour of enhancing connectivity between Indias major cities and leading global destinations to provide more choices to its passengers.

Equipped with 18 Business class seats featuring fully-flat beds and 238 Economy class seats, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will be operating three flights a week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from Amritsar.

In addition to the flights from Amritsar, Air India will operate 9 other weekly flights scheduled from Ahmedabad, Goa, and Kochimaking it a total of 12 weekly flights to Gatwick.

These operations will reaffirm Air India's operations, presence, and network in the UK. In total, the airline now operates 49 flights in the UK per week 43 flights to London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and six flights to Birmingham. Air India also operates 31 weekly flights to Heathrow, London from Delhi and Mumbai.

Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, General (Retd) V.K. Singh, and BJP National Secretary, Punjab, Tarun Chugh graced the virtual inauguration ceremony of the flight.

They flagged it off along with Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Civil Aviation, and Air India CEO & MD Campbell Wilson.

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said, It is a historic day for Amritsar and Punjab. This new connection will bring a new impetus to the state and provide key connectivity with the UK, bringing people closer. This will also boost trade and tourism and open up new employment opportunities.

Jyotiraditya M. Scindia also commended Air India for the fleet acquisition plan and expressed hope that Air India will soon connect all the continents and make India the global hub of aviation.

Addressing the gathering, Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, said, As part of our five-year transformation plan, Vihaan.AI, we plan to significantly enhance connectivity between Indias major cities and prime global destinations and be acknowledged as Indias Flying Ambassador to the world. These flights will also fulfil the growing demand for direct air connectivity from various important destinations in India to the UK and from the UK to these popular cities in India.

The first flight AI 169 from Amritsar to Gatwick departed on time at 1320 hrs and will arrive in Gatwick at a convenient 1755 hrs on the same day. Earlier, AI 170 had taken off from Gatwick at 2140 hrs to arrive in Amritsar at 1015 hrs (All Local Time).

Overall, Air India operates 80 flights per week to seven major cities in the UK and Europe and has relaunched flights to some of the prime European destinations such as Milan, Vienna, and Copenhagen.

The flights are now available for booking on the Air India website and mobile apps, as well as through authorised travel agents and other booking channels.
Goa: Airlines major Air India Express announces the commencement of operations from Goa International Airport (Dabolim Airport) with the introduction of four weekly direct flights on the Goa-Dubai sector.

The first flight, IX 840, took off at 1:00 AM on Monday with 148 passengers on board.

To mark the occasion, Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express and AirAsia India, said: "We are thrilled to start our maiden international services from Goa under the Air India Express banner, which is amongst India's most popular tourist destinations. We take pride in being the only airline that offers direct connectivity to Dubai from Goa. AirAsia India, which is set to merge with Air India Express, already operates 13 daily direct flights to/from Goa, connecting five domestic cities. We hope to be a part of the tourism success story of the state and remain committed to offering the best of services to our customers."
Image Credit: Etihad Airways website

Kolkata: UAE's national carrier Etihad Airways relaunched its daily flight service to the East Indian city of Kolkata on Sunday.

Kolkata becomes the airlines 8th destination in India.

From 26th March, 2023, @etihad Airways returns to the City of Joy, #Kolkata with direct flights to #AbuDhabi. Etihad will operate flights between NSCBI Airport, Kolkata and Abu Dhabi International Airport four times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Vh2ZmacaUc  Kolkata Airport (@aaikolairport) March 26, 2023

With a total of seven weekly nonstop services, the airline will once again connect Kolkata with the world through Abu Dhabi.

The first flight on the new service, EY256, departed Abu Dhabi with a full load of passengers at 1:50pm local time on 26 March and touched down at Kolkatas Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Airport last night at 8:10pm local time.

The return flight, EY257, departed Kolkata at 9:05pm local time on 26 March, landing in Abu Dhabi shortly after midnight.

Speaking at an event in Kolkata, Amer N. Khan, Vice President Middle East, Africa, & The Sub-Continent, Etihad Airways, said: "I am thankful for the warm welcome we received here yesterday evening. The flight to Kolkata had full capacity passengers in it."

"We are looking forward to welcoming guests from this wonderful city to Abu Dhabi," he said.

He said India remains a 'critically important country' to the UAE and Abu Dhabi.

The flight service was closed due to COVID-19 outbreak. The service resumed on Sunday after three years.

The flights to Kolkata will be operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, offering Etihads award-winning service to guests in 8 seats in Business Class and 150 in Economy, convenient flight timings to the UAEs capital city and seamless connections to destinations across the airlines growing global network of 67 destinations.

Etihad said its passengers flying from Kolkata to the United States can benefit from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility in Abu Dhabi International Airport, the only US immigration preclearance service in the region that allows passengers to clear US immigration while they are still in Abu Dhabi, meaning travellers can get home quicker and easier.

How can the seats be booked?

Flights to and from Kolkata can be booked on etihad.com, the mobile app, Etihad Airways Contact Centres or travel agents.

(Reporting by Supriyo Hazra)
Pixabay

Pyongyang: North Korea on Monday fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, media reports said.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) said it detected the launches from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province between around 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m, Yonhap news agency reported.

The missiles flew some 370 kilometers before splashing into the sea, it added.

Pyongyang's latest provocation came as South Korea and the United States kicked off the Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week, the South Korean news agency reported.
Image Credit: Wallpaper Cave

Vatican/IBNS: A message of faith and hope, originally delivered by Pope Francis during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, will be transmitted into space, the Vatican announced on Monday.

The Dicastery for Communication at the Vatican has collaborated with the Italian Space Agency to send Pope Francis' message of peace and hope into orbit on the "Spei Satelles" satellite, also known as the "Guardian of Hope".

A "nano book" has been created from the speech of the pontiff as he prayed alone in St Peter's Square, which measures less than two millimetres in width. This nano book is set to be launched into orbit on June 10th.

The nano book will be sent into space aboard a specially designed satellite that will orbit the Earth at an altitude of approximately 525 kilometres.

The satellite and nano book will be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which will place it in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 525km.

The satellite will take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base located in California.

According to Giorgio Saccoccia, the president of the agency, the Vatican requested for, "a solution that would allow the Holy Father's words of hope to cross the earth's borders and reach from space the greatest possible number of women and men on our troubled planet."

The nano book, produced by the Polytechnic University of Turin, is as small as the tip of a pen and requires sophisticated nanotechnology reading devices for legibility.

However, an ordinary UHF-band radio can receive a broadcast transmitted by the satellite on 437.5 MHz, enabling anyone to listen to excerpts from the Pope's book as the satellite passes overhead.

The satellite has the potential to remain in orbit for a maximum of 12 years. However, the radio transmitter's duration of broadcasting will be limited to 6 months to a year due to battery-related constraints.

Fr. Luca Peyron, who leads the Digital Apostolate of Turin, told reporters that the Spei Satellites carry a prophetic message of hope, spread through the marvels of advanced technology.

Even though the nano book cannot be read with the naked eye, he said, it will be there, orbiting our planet. It thus becomes a sign and an icon, just like Pope Francis as he stood alone in that empty St. Peters Square.

In 2017, the pontiff had a video call with astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS), during which he inquired about "man's place in the universe." This project is not the first instance of the pontiff's connection to space.
wallpaper cave

Kabul: The Taliban government of Afghanistan has said its security forces have killed a key ISIS commander in a special counterterrorism raid in Kabul city, media reports said on Monday.

The Taliban security forces launched a special operation on an ISIS hideout in the Butkhaak, 12 districts of Kabul city, which resulted in the death of Asad Laghamani, known as Qais who was allegedly involved in the attack on the interior ministry mosque, the department said on Twitter as quoted by Khaama Press.

Security forces also seized several weapons and ammunition were seized during the operation.

ISIS has increased attacks in Afghanistan ever since the Taliban came to power in 2021.
Image: Imran Khan Facebook page

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court on Monday granted interim bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in seven different cases against him till Apr 6.

The case was heard by a bench headed by IHC CJ Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

The PTI chief had arrived at IHC from Lahore, earlier today, to seek pre-arrest bail in different cases registered against him in the federal capital, reports Geo News.

Multiple cases were registered against the former prime minister at Islamabad's Ramna, CTD and Golra police stations.

At the outset of the hearing, Khan's lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar appeared in the court and contended that the objection related to bio-metric verification shouldn't be imposed on individuals above the age of 60.

At this, Justice Farooq remarked that the bio-metric verification had become very easy now.

The lawyer maintained that they had acquired PTI chief's protective bail from Lahore High Court (LHC) after which they arrived at the judicial complex but they weren't allowed to move further.

"More FIRs against Imran Khan were lodged that day," he added.

At this, IHC CJ asked the lawyer to clarify why had they bypassed a forum to reach IHC.

"Why didn't you go to the trial court first when you have to go there ultimately," he asked.

At this, the lawyer maintained that he would present Supreme Court's judgements in this regard.
File photo from Wallpaper Cave

Lhasa: The president of the Tibetan government-in-exile has warned China that it should not interfere in selecting the successor to spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

"No government should have any role in this spiritual matter and I think it is much wiser for China (not to interfere)," Penpa Tsering said in a recent interview with Kyodo News, adding that the succession will ultimately be decided by the 14th Dalai Lama.

Since the Tibetan government-in-exile has "nothing to do" with the selection process, then "how can China have a hand in that?" Tsering said. He added, though, that he has not "directly" asked the Dalai Lama about the matter.

The current Dalai Lama fled to India in March 1959.

He later established a government-in-exile in Himalayan Dharamsala city in India.

Choosing the successor to the 87-year-old Dalai Lama, who Tibetan Buddhists believe will be a reincarnation of the spiritual leader, is one of the major issues between Tibetans and Beijing, which considers him a separatist who aims at breaking Tibet away from China, reports Kyodo News.

China has said it has the sole authority to say who are the reincarnations of Tibetan Buddhist religious figures, including the Dalai Lama, as part of a legacy inherited from its emperors.

The Dalai Lama said Tibetans won't respect the person selected by China.

The 1959 Tibetan uprising or the 1959 Tibetan rebellion began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agreement was reached in 1951.

Armed conflict between Tibetan guerillas and the People's Liberation Army(PLA) had started in 1956 in the Kham and Amdo regions, which had been subjected to socialist reform.

The guerrilla warfare later spread to other areas of Tibet and lasted through 1962.

The anniversary of the uprising is observed by Tibetan exiles as the ''Tibetan Uprising Day''.
Representational image by Mariana Proenca on Unsplash

Colombo: After a protracted battle by India, the United States and Japan to get China to agree to restructure its massive loan of USD 7 bn to Sri Lanka, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finally approved a USD 2.286 billion bailout for financially-hit Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan government under President Ranil Wickremesinghe endorsed on Saturday that Sri Lanka is no longer deemed bankrupt by the world, Trueceylon reported as quoted by ANI.

As foreign exchange reserves dwindled, shortages of essential commodities emerged resulting in mass protests in early 2022.

Reserves eventually ran out, compelling the country to declare a unilateral moratorium on selected external debt service payments until the debt was restructured and commenced an IMF-supported economic reform programme to recover from the unprecedented crisis, Trueceylon reported as quoted by ANI.

In the meantime, Gotabaya was accused of poor leadership, defaulted the international payments, and further harming the nations economy by outlawing chemical fertilizers and continuing to print money, all of which were aided at the time by the then-Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Nivard Cabraal, Trueceylon reported.

The IMF Board recently said they have approved a 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to support Sri Lankas economic policies and reforms.
File photo from Twitter/Andalib Elias

Kolkata: Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, Andalib Elias, on Saturday addressed the United Nations on Saturday when he demanded that Mar 25 should be declared World Genocide Day.

"Since 2017, we've been observing this day as the genocide day of Bangladesh. We've been pursuing two things from UN, to declare this as world genocide day and recognition of what happened in Bangladesh in 1971 as a genocide," Elias was quoted as saying by ANI.

"On this day (March 25) in 1971, the Pakistan army attacked unarmed people in the middle of the night and killed 1000s of people and within the next nine months, they killed nine million people in Bangladesh. This is one of the most brutal genocides ever," the Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner said.

The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March as a national holiday in Bangladesh.

It commemorates the country's declaration of independence from Pakistan in the early hours of 25 March 1971.


UNI

Washington: US President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi following a devastating storm that hit the state, the White House said.

"Early Sunday morning, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Mississippi and ordered Federal aid to supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes from March 24 to March 25, 2023," the White House said in a statement.

Federal funds will be made available to affected residents in the form of grants for temporary housing, home rebuilding, low-interest loans to cover uninsured losses, and other assistance, the statement added.

On Saturday, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) said that the death toll from the tornado stood at 23, with four people missing. US media reported that 24 people were killed in the storm.

(With UNI inputs)
Let us start with a quiz comprising two questions. Firstly, which is the category of mutual funds in India that has the highest AUM. People may be tempted to believe that it would be liquid funds, since most of the corporate money goes there. The correct answer is Index ETFs. It is rather surprising that the highest AUM of nearly Rs5 trillion belongs to the passive category of index ETFs. Now for the second question. Which are the two largest asset managers in the world. The answer is Blackrock and Vanguard at first and second place. Between them, they manage $18 trillion (about 5 times the size of Indias annual GDP). Once again, both are predominantly index-based passive funds.

What is this attraction about passive funds in India?

As the name suggests, passive funds include index funds and index ETFs (exchange traded funds). The difference between index funds and index ETFs is that index ETFs are closed ended funds that are listed on the stock exchange and can be bought and sold like any other security using your trading account and stored in the demat account. Passive fund managers do not worry about stock selection. They just select a good index and benchmark their index portfolio to it. The only thing that passive fund managers worry about is to ensure that the tracking error is kept under control so that the portfolio of the fund reflects the underlying index as closely possible.

In its recent press release, NSE celebrated the rapid growth of index ETFs in India in the last 4-5 years, especially after the COVID pandemic. But now, for the million dollar question; why has passive investing taken off in such a big way in India too (we will look at real industry data later). Broadly, there are 5 reasons for this phenomenal growth in passive investing in India in recent years.

In the last few years, many equity investors preferred the passive route since active fund managers were struggling to beat the index on a consistent basis. For investors there were two challenges. Firstly, there is a success challenge since only 10-15% of fund managers beat the index. Secondly, there is also the low probability of finding and investing in such funds. Hence overall probability of beating the index was very low.



Cost has been a major factor for equity fund investors. If you look at the total expense ratio (TER) of an active equity fund, it is in the range of 2.3% to 2.5% of the AUM. That is a lot of money shaved away. In contrast, the TER of index ETFs is as low as 0.30% to 0.40%. Even if you add the brokerage and demat charges, it works out to be a lot more economical than active investing.



Thirdly, retail investors have started to see the merits of diversifying into other asset classes. It is not just about debt and equity indices. Passive investing interest is also picking up in gold ETFs and international FOF (fund of funds). These are new asset classes and investors are able to get access through passive platforms.



Then there is the institutional demand that is coming for index debt, which has been a growth area in terms of AUM, within the index ETF category. In the last few years, debt markets have become too volatile and investing in debt index assets not only gives stability but also reduces risk and cuts down investing costs.



Lastly, there has also been a major supply boost in the market and a slew of NFOs have also pushed demand. Under the new rules for mutual funds framed in 2018, an AMC can have just one fund of each class. Sector funds and index funds / index ETFs are the exceptions as there are no limits. That is where most of the supply is coming.

Intuitively, we know that there is supply of passive assets coming in and that is being met with enhanced demand. Having seen the reasons; is this growth for real and how have the AUM and the folios of passive assets growth in the last 4 years?

How passive fund AUM has grown in last 4 years?

The table below captures the growth in assets under management (AUM) for passive funds over the last 4 years, along with CAGR growth.

Fund

Category Feb-23 AUM

(Rs crore) Feb-22 AUM

(Rs crore) Feb-21 AUM

(Rs crore) Feb-20 AUM

(Rs crore) CAGR

Growth Index Funds 1,33,772 54,737 16,867 7,930 156.46% International Fund of funds 22,138 22,072 10,716 2,724 101.05% GOLD ETF 21,836 18,728 14,102 7,926 40.19% Index ETFs 4,87,067 3,91,436 2,73,886 1,80,707 39.17% Grand Total 6,64,814 4,86,974 3,15,571 1,99,288 49.42%

Data Source: AMFI

Growth in AUM has not just sharp in the last couple of years, but the CAGR growth of passive fund AUM between 2019 and 2023 has been an impressive 49.4%. Index Funds have led the way with 156.5% AUM on account of the slew of debt and equity index funds launched by private AMCs and the government. While the international FOFs have also seen sharp growth, it is on a much lower base.

However, it is good that the AUM has been growing consistently over the last 4 years. Index ETFs have been really impressive since they account for bulk of the AUM of the passive category. Despite such a high base, the AUM of Index ETFs has grown at a CAGR of 39.2% in the last 4 years. Index ETFs are not just driving the AUM but also the retail and institutional interest in passive funds.

How passive fund Folios have grown in last 4 years?

The table below captures the growth of Folios (investor accounts) for passive funds over the last 4 years with the CAGR growth.

Fund

Category Feb-23

Folios Feb-22

Folios Feb-21

Folios Feb-20

Folios CAGR

Growth GOLD ETF 46,73,999 37,74,398 10,89,710 4,92,753 111.68% Global FOF 12,57,035 12,44,247 6,23,281 1,74,580 93.10% Index Funds 33,89,328 23,42,493 9,36,077 4,76,834 92.27% Index ETFs 1,18,54,687 97,85,826 39,42,779 17,66,536 88.62% Grand Total 2,11,75,049 1,71,46,964 65,91,847 29,10,703 93.77%

Data Source: AMFI

What stands out in the above table is that the CAGR growth in folios has been stronger than the CAGR growth in AUM. That is a good sign since it shows that retail investors are getting interested in passive products. Growth in AUM has not just sharp in the last 1 or 2 years, but the CAGR growth of passive fund folios between 2019 and 2023 has been an impressive 93.8%. Interestingly, it was Gold ETFs that led the way with 111.7% growth in folios as most retail investors appear to have taken a small exposure to gold as a hedge.

Among others, Global Fund of Funds, Index Funds, and Index ETFs have all grown at a CAGR of around 90% in last 4 years. That is a substantial accretion to the folio count. Index ETFs constitute the bulk of the folios also in passive funds but other categories are catching up showing genuine retail demand building up. Folios are not just driving retail participation but also the AUM with a promise to grow exponentially once the tipping point is reached.

For a long time, passive investing never picked up in India since active funds were consistently beating the markets. That has changed as markets get tougher to beat. As Jack Bogle of Vanguard put it succinctly; Why spend time looking for a needle in the haystack, when you can buy the entire haystack. That message appears to be rubbing off on Indian investors and that is for the better.
According to news reports, Adani Group and Reliance Industries have not submitted updated bids for SKS Power Generation (Chhattisgarh), making it a five-way competition for the 600 MW thermal power project.

Sarda Energy & Mines of Nagpur, Jindal Power of Delhi, NTPC, Torrent Power of Gujarat, and Vantage Point Asset Management of Singapore have all submitted updated bids to acquire SKS through the corporate insolvency resolution procedure.

According to the reports stated above, Sarda, Jindal Power, and Vantage Point are at the top of the list among them with few alternatives.

One of them stated, 'The offers have been received in the broad range of Rs1,700 crore to more than Rs2,000 crore.' 'With less than Rs10 crore in total revenue between them, Sarda, Jindal, and Vantage are at the top of the band. To accurately examine their plans and determine the preferable bidder, banks will need to consult with each of them.'

Initiation of the SKS resolution procedure took place in April 2022. The company owes the Bank of Baroda and the State Bank of India (SBI) Rs1,890 crore.

Because of the great demand for the plant, bankers are optimistic that they will be able to recoup all of their debts.

NTPC, a state-owned company, was regarded as a strong candidate but, according to insiders, its revised bid is at the lower end of the range. NTPC is now managing the plant in Raigarh district as a result of a government decision intended to address electricity shortages.

According to the news reports, the overall acquisition cost, assuming lenders receive their full money, is less than Rs4 crore per MW. This contrasts with the Rs9 crore per Megawatt needed to construct a comparable facility today.

With a railway line that transports coal straight to the planta unique facilitySouth Eastern Coalfields, a Coal India subsidiary, has a 25-year fuel deal with the SKS plant.

Additionally, given that a hard summer is predicted, analysts predict that demand for electricity will increase over the next few months, providing a favorable commercial opportunity for privately operated facilities to sell electricity on the open market.

It is unknown why Adani and Reliance did not raise their offers, but those with knowledge indicated that both companies had reassessed their plans in light of the aggressive first-round offers. No one could be reached right away at either company.

Creditors won't want to incur the risk of delaying payment, therefore they will favor bidders with a bigger cash component.

The 600 MW plant's operation has been suspended after its Hong Kong-listed owner Agritrade Resources was unable to maintain it owing to personal financial issues. 2019 saw the purchase of the plant by Agritrade Resources following a one-time agreement with a group of lenders headed by SBI.

For feedback and suggestions, write to us at editorial@iifl.com
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Larsen & Toubro Limited has announced that its power transmission and distribution division has won engineering, procurement, and construction contracts both in India and abroad.

India has initiated significant transmission system expansion initiatives to incorporate Renewable Energy (RE) initiatives in Gujarat's RE potential areas and to transmit power from Rajasthan's solar energy zones.

The company has acquired turnkey contracts for the development of more than 365 kilometers of 765kV double-circuit transmission lines that are crucial for the expansion of the network. The Rajasthan segment of the transmission line will play a crucial role in transmitting solar energy from the Ramgarh, Fategarh, and Bhadla complexes to various beneficiaries.

Additionally, the company has been awarded a contract to deploy an Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) in the Greater Mumbai region.

Under the Revamped, Reforms-based, and Results-linked Distribution Sector (RDSS) Scheme, the company has received another order to develop distribution infrastructure in a district of Chhattisgarh.

On the international front, the company has secured a contract to build a 380kV Substation in Saudi Arabia, along with related transmission interconnections.

In addition, the company has also been awarded a contract to build transmission lines of 275kV and 132kV on the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia.

As part of a consortium, the company has secured a contract to develop a 500kV transmission line for the transmission system improvement project aimed at improving system security in Thailand's northern and central regions.

The company has also announced that it has secured additional contracts for substation and transmission line projects in India and the Far East.

For feedback and suggestions, write to us at editorial@iifl.com
There is no denying that Nagaland minister Temjen Imna Along's tweets brighten our day every time. He uses humour to discuss serious issues and his videos and tweets quickly go viral. Just like his recent tweet inviting people to his state.

The Minister of Tourism encouraged prospective tourists to visit his home state in a new avatar. On Saturday, the minister took to Twitter once more to share a lighthearted glimpse into the state's tourism promotion strategy.

'T-Man': Nagaland Minister Temjen Along Invites Tourists To The State In New Avatar

Superman, Spiderman   "T-Man" !

"T"   Temjen/Tourism 



, Nagaland   ...

 Fly      ??



 Creativity   Salute 



Shall I take this Caricature for Nagaland Tourism ? pic.twitter.com/sWFYqauIT0  Temjen Imna Along (@AlongImna) March 25, 2023

The tweet was captioned with, "Superman, Spiderman   "T-Man" ! "T"   Temjen/Tourism , Nagaland   ...  Fly      ??  Creativity   Salute Shall I take this Caricature for Nagaland Tourism ?"

Along wrote in a rough Hindi translation, "'T-Man' after Superman, Spiderman!" The letter 'T' stands for Temjen/Tourism. Let us travel to Nagaland... Who wants to join me on this flight? "I salute your creativity," he said before asking the artist, "Shall I use this Caricature for Nagaland Tourism?"

The GIF shows the minister hovering in the air, dressed like Superman, and asking a man, "Wanna visit Nagaland? I'll take you." The Superman costume also has a Temjen twist, with the letter 'T' replacing the letter 'S' on his chest.

As usual, the internet loved the Minister's wit

The cartoon immediately resonated with netizens, with many wanting to visit the northeastern state. The post has received over 342.3K views, 12.1K likes, and numerous comments since it was shared.

One of the users said, "Sir how to connect with you? For travel to NE Sir." For which Temjen Imna Along replied, "Am setting up few things, soon you people will get the results."



Sir how to connect with you? For travel to NE Sir.  Mitul Shah (@MitulSShah) March 25, 2023

The founder of Shaadi.com, Anupam Mittal, also commented with a GIF by saying, "Come Along with Anupam to the Multiverse of Goodness "

Come Along with Anupam to the Multiverse of Goodness  pic.twitter.com/WmCWWsUfp0  Anupam Mittal (@AnupamMittal) March 25, 2023

Then, Ashutosh Jha, the Founder of Niti Yojak, commented, "He has no idea abt it unless you live up to ur promise done to him!"



He has no idea abt it unless you live up to ur promise done to him!  Ashutosh Jha (@ashutoshjhaji) March 25, 2023

Another user Akash Gupta the Co-Founder & CEO of ZyppElectric, said, "The smile on ur face is exactly how people of Nagaland welcome Tourists. So I support this :)"







The smile on ur face is exactly how people of Nagaland welcomes Tourists. So I support this :)  KaashSeAkash (Akash Gupta) (@akashthematrix) March 26, 2023

Yet, another said, "@AlongImna Sir, being from the Army, I am aware of the rich culture of North East, especially Nagaland. A treasure hunt of mixed age group, say of five- two persons team across interesting tourist spots of Nagaland with TV coverage teams will generate more interest in the state."



@AlongImna Sir,being from the Army ,I am aware of the rich culture of North East, especially Nagaland. A treasure hunt of mixed age group,say of five- two persons team across interesting tourist spots of Nagaland with TV coverage teams will generate more interest in the state  Colonel Parmesh (Retd) (@ColonelParmesh) March 27, 2023

What do you think about this?

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Most people experience negative feelings about dying, including fear, worry, trepidation, and even sheer horror. Nevertheless, it's safe to assume that nearly everyone would agree that no one wants to die.

Science may tell us much about living but can't tell us anything about dying.

But people who have come close to dying often talk about their time in the afterlife, like how they floated above their bodies and caught a glimpse of their heavenly selves or woke up in a field.

An artist named Shaun Gladwell has created an exhibit called "Passing Electrical Storms" that "guides participants through a simulated de-escalation of life, from cardiac arrest to brain death," to give people a taste of what it's like to die nearly.

Twitter

You must lie on a makeshift hospital bed to check your heart rate. Staff members can "pull you out" of the simulation when it gets too scary to keep going.



Melbourne native and festival exhibitor Marcus Crook detailed what it's like to die in virtual reality.

Unsplash

In a video uploaded on TikTok, he said: "I can see how people would say it causes anxiety and panic. It definitely borderlines thatthey put your finger on a heart rate monitor and then tell you to raise your hand if you've had enough and want to quit."



Marcus added, "What happens is you're lying down, the bed vibrates, and you flatline. The doctors come over the top of you. You can see yourself in the goggles, and they try to revive youit doesn't work. Then you float past them into space, and it keeps going."

The virtual reality experience is similar to death in that no one can truly understand it except those who try it themselves in Australia.

This is because it's included in Melbourne Now, a deep cultural festival in the Australian city that exhibits the work of over 200 different artists. It begins now and ends in August.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.


From starting as a young engineer at Microsoft in 1992, to becoming its CEO, Satya Nadella has come a long way in the last three decades.



After climbing up the corporate ladder for two decades, Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014. But did he expect or plan such a thing to happen? Seems not.

Becoming Microsoft CEO Was Not Even A Thought

Reuters

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella never expected to lead one of the worlds largest, most powerful tech companies, i.e Microsoft. He was just excited to work there as soon as he stepped into its office.



I remember distinctly walking into building 22 at Microsoft thinking thats the greatest job on Earth I [could] have and I dont need anything more, Nadella, 55, told LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky in an interview last week, as per CNBC.

Becoming CEO was not even a thought in his long-term career plan, CEO Nadella said. Instead of being forward-minded, Nadella says he was focused on excelling in the role he had at the time. One of the most important lessons he learned in his decades at Microsoft  and his best career advice  is simple: Dont wait for your next job to do your best work.

There was never a time where I thought the job I was doing, all through my 30 years of Microsoft, that somehow I was doing that as a way to some other job, he explained. I felt the job I was doing there was the most important thing. I genuinely felt it.

Instead of viewing your current job as an obstacle to achieving your career goals, Nadella recommends looking at it as an opportunity to demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment to work, as well as your willingness to learn.

Throughout his tenure at Microsoft, Nadella had to constantly adapt depending on the teams he worked with and the divisions he managed, all while keeping pace with fast-changing technologies. He led the development of some of Microsofts complex products, including Bing and Xbox Live.

You cannot grow if you dont think your growth comes because of what youre doing, he added, as per the report.

Also Read: From Sundar Pichai To Satya Nadella: How Big Tech CEOs Justified Layoffs

Nadellas Advice If You Are Feeling Stuck At Work

indianexpress

If youre feeling stuck at work or struggling to find meaning in your job, Nadella has advice for that, too. During his 30s, a conversation with Doug Burgum, the current governor of North Dakota, made him think about his purpose at Microsoft, he said in a May 2018 interview.



Burgum pointed out the importance of thinking about a deeper meaning to work, one thats more than transactional, since we spend so much time at our jobs.

What's His Motivation To Work For Microsoft

It led Nadella to ask himself: Why am I at Microsoft? What is it that gives me the energy at Microsoft, day in and day after?

That motivation came, he said, from curiosity, a love of ideas, and the ability to translate that into impact.

Asking yourself those same questions about your job and company can help you evaluate if your job is aligned with your passions and the impact you want to have on the world.

Also Read: Big Regret? How Bill Gates' Microsoft Missed Out On $159 Billion By Selling Apple Stock Too Early

For more such interesting content and the latest financial news, keep reading Worth. Click here.
This is the second time Greece was condemned for systematically exceeding the daily limit value
Umar Ardo, the gubernatorial candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the March 18 election in Adamawa State, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the entire exercise.

Ardo, in a statement on Sunday, described the election as a rigging exercise, adding that the so-called governorship election in the entire 21 LGAs must not just be reviewed but cancelled entirely.

There was no election in Adamawa State on March 18, as people never voted their conscience. Either the votes were bought or voters were intimidated and suppressed, he said.

READ ALSO: Adamawa Re-Run Election: CAN Calls For Calm

Recall INEC had declared the governorship election in the State as inconclusive owing to margin of votes.

The final results tallied by the Commission showed that the Adamawa governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, of the Peoples Democratic Party scored the highest number of votes.

The electoral body, however, declared that cancelled votes were more than the margin of victory between Fintiri and the runner-up, Aishatu Ahmed (Binani) of the All Progressives Congress .

The Commission said a new date would be fixed for a re-run in areas where the exercise did not hold on March 18.
Justice Zainab Bage Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Monday morning sent journalist, Agba Jalingo to Kuje prison for cybercrime.

According to Politics Nigeria, Justice Abubakar allegedly denied Jalingos lawyers the opportunity to move a motion for bail after he was arraigned for cyberstalking.

READ ALSO: Disciplinary Action Against Ortom Ill-timed  Benue PDP

The judge was reportedly hostile to Jalingos lawyers, denying them the opportunity to stand down the case for 30 minutes in order to give the lead lawyer, Marshal Abubakar an opportunity to file an application for bail. When Marshal arrived, she refused to participate in the hearing.

She then ordered that Agba Jalingo should be arraigned in the dock and be read his one-count charge. The judge thereafter sent him to Kuje prison until Thursday.

The police in August 2022 arrested Jalingo after hours of laying siege to his Lagos residence for allegedly defaming the character of Elizabeth.

According to a court document obtained by SaharaReporters and filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on December 6, 2022, the police claimed the publication by the journalist against Elizabeth was false and was released for the purpose of causing her annoyance, ill will, and insult.

The charge sheet read, That you Agba Jalingo male of No.14 Oremeji Street, Ojudu Alapere Lagos on 30th June, 2022 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did intentionally publish online at Cross River Watch and alleged that one Mrs Elizabeth Ayade procured the services of one Pascal Aboh to write Nigeria Law School Examination Bar Examination for her, information you know to be false for the purpose of causing her annoyance, ill will and insult. You thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 24(1) b of CYBERCRIMES (PROTECTION, PREVENTION ETC) ACT, 2015.

That you Agba Jalingo male of No.14 Oremeji Street, Ojudu Alapere Lagos on 30th June, 2022 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did intentionally published on your Facebook page known as Agba Jalingo that one Mrs Elizabeth Ayade procured the services of one Pascal Aboh to write Nigeria Law School Examination Bar Examination for her, information you know to be false for the purpose of causing her annoyance, ill will and insult. You thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 24(1) b of CYBERCRIMES (PROTECTION, PREVENTION ETC) ACT, 2015.
Fulani herdsmen in Anambra State, under the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), have cried out over the treatment they are getting from residents of the state.

According to MACBAN, its members are being denied accommodations in the South-East state, causing hindrances to their traditional business.

Leader of MACBAN in South East, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, however, led this out to newsmen during the weekend after attending Governor Charles Soludos one-year Anniversary in office.

READ MORE: Man Allegedly Strangles Pregnant Wife To Death Over Delay In Opening Gate For Him In Anambra

To back the groups claim while addressing dignitaries at the event held in Akwa, the state capital, Siddiki cited Anaku, Umueje, Omor, Igbakwu, Omasi, Umumbo, Umuerum and Ifite-Ogwari all in Ayamelum local government council of the areas of the state as places where MACBAN members have been denied accommodation.

He called on Governor Soluds government to intervene urgently for peace and oneness.

Siddiki said his members have a cordial relationship with the indigenes in spite of some cases of misunderstanding.

Siddiki said: Our interest in the areas was purely economic. No herder was interested in contesting the ownership of land with members of their host communities across the state.

We commended the Police and DSS for their prompt responses whenever there is a conflict between our members and our host communities in the state.

The MACBAN leader, however, said much still needed to be done to ensure that law-abiding citizens, including herders, were free to carry out their businesses without hindrances in the state.

According to him, as cattle breeders they are asking for a secure environment to do their grazing business.

We are ready to support our host communities in any capacity they want us to, in order to make life meaningful for everyone and to sustain the already peaceful co-existence in the areas, Siddiki added.
The United Kingdom has expressed displeasure over controversial comments made by Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In an interview with Nigeria Info FM on Sunday, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British deputy high commissioner to Nigeria, faulted the APC chieftain for his statements.

READ ALSO: Aso Rock Chapel: Tinubus Wife Not Only A Christian But Pastor  Fani Kayode Replies Okowa

Yes, lets be specific, there were some people, like Femi Fani-Kayode, what is he saying and why is he saying it? I dont understand.

It is wrong from my perspective that he will speak on behalf of a party and that party does not distance itself from him and say stop doing that. It is wrong to say that, Llewellyn-Jones said.

Llewellyn-Jones has reiterated the fact that the UK government will issue visa bans to people undermining democracy.

According to him, there are about 10 persons already on the watchlist.

We have a list, we are working through our list but we dont publish those names. I know people say we should, but we have laws, and the law prevents us from doing that.

At the moment the list is between 5 and 10 and it is growing, he added.

Recall that last month, Fani-Kayode was invited for questioning by the Department of State Services (DSS), for claiming that the presidential flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, had a meeting with army generals before the elections.

Read some tweets below: https://twitter.com/realFFK/status/1639999429242396674
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja has ordered the blocking of N3.5 billion funds standing to the credit of Oyo State Government and its agencies in four banks.

The affected banks are First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.

According to court filings, the outstanding balance of N3,374,889,425.60 from the judgment debt owed some former Local Government Chairmen, and Councillors sacked on May 29, 2019, before the end of their tenure by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.

Justice A. O. Ebong issued the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte for garnishee order nisi filed by the ex-Chairmen and Councillors led by Bashorun Majeed Bosun Ajuwon and Idris Okusesi.

The garnishee proceeding, initiated for the Chairmen and Councillors by their lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), is in execution of a judgement they got against the Oyo State Governor and six others from the Supreme Court on May 7, 2021.

Justice Ebong, in the ruling delivered on March 2, 2023, ordered the banks to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute.

A garnishee order nisi is hereby granted to attach the judgement debtors accounts with garnishees Nos. 1 to 4 in the motion ex-parte, for the purpose of settling the judgement debt outstanding in the sum of N3,374,889,425.60 as awarded by the Supreme Court and conceded by the judgement debtors in Exhibit 11 attached to applicants motion.

READ MORE: Seyi Makinde Re-Elected For Second Term As Oyo State Governor

The garnishees (1st to 4th) shall file affidavits and attend court on the next adjourned date to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute.

A copy of this order nisi shall be served on the judgement debtors as required by law. This matter is hereby adjourned to the 4/4/2023 for continuation, Justice Ebong said.
The Benue State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected and condemned moves by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party to discipline governor Samuel Ortom.

Recall while the PDP NWC referred Ortom to the Partys disciplinary committee over alleged anti-party activities, it suspended former governors Ayodele Fayose, Ibrahim Shema, and former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim.

Prior, during and after the presidential elections, Ortom alongside other governors refused to back the candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar.

Instead, the Benue governor and Integrity Group (G-5) member openly supported Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

However, Benue PDP in statement on Sunday via its publicity secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, passed a vote of confidence on Ortom.

While urging the Partys leadership at the national level to rescind its decision, the PDP said it could not understand why the NWC would single only Ortom out for disciplinary action among the G-5 governors.

The State chapter further urged the opposition party to focus on the reconciliation of aggrieved members following the losses suffered by the party during the general elections.

READ ALSO: Sowore Accuses Obasanjo Of Hypocrisy Over Igbophobia Comment

The party feels strongly that in fulfilling its duty as a state chapter, it must remind the NWC of the implications of its current action against Governor Ortom and others.

Firstly, the action runs in contempt of a subsisting court injunction restraining the PDP at all levels from taking any punitive action against the Benue State Governor pending the determination of a substantive suit, which is pending before a court of competent jurisdiction on the matter.

Secondly, going by the mood within PDP ranks in Benue, it is the expectation that the emphasis now will be on mending bonds of unity and internal cohesion which were badly damaged in the build-up to and during the 2023 elections leading to the huge losses recorded by the party at the polls against an evidently weaker opposition.

Never in the entire history of PDP has the Party fared so badly at an election in Benue State as witnessed in 2023 ironically at a time its National Chairman is from the state.

The PDP in Benue sees this latest action of the NWC against Governor Ortom as ill-timed, considering that evidence on ground points rather to the governors steadfastness in loyalty and love for PDP since his rejoining the party in 2018.

It is therefore, a motion of the Benue PDP SWC that a vote of confidence be passed in Governor Samuel Ortom for his steadfast loyalty and selfless, sacrificial leadership to our great party, PDP.

We equally call on the NWC to explore exhaustively options towards fostering reconciliation, unity, rebranding and repositioning of the party to recover its lost glory, the PDP stated.
James Faleke, the secretary of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC PCC), has opted out of Kogi States governorship race.

The PCC secretary, who said he worked for the success of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the presidential election, said it would be wrong to jump out of the team that worked for Tinubus emergence as president-elect.

Faleke while commending the people that bought the governorship form of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for him, pleaded with his supporters and Kogi residents to see the bigger picture, adding that he is with them in spirit, body and soul.

The ally to the president-elect, while addressing newsmen on Sunday, promised to always contribute to the development of Kogi State.

His words: I am of the opinion that my personal interest must not override national interest.

READ ALSO: FG Has Approved Construction Of Airport In Auchi  Edo Gov. Obaseki

I alongside several other supporters worked hard for the election of our Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It would be out of place for me to jump out of the team to start pursuing personal goals.

The people that bought form on my behalf meant well and I appreciate them and I am pleading with them and my other numerous supporters in Kogi State to see the larger picture and to note that I am still with them in spirit, body and soul and will continue to contribute to the development of the state.
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has revealed that the federal government has given the State tentative approval for the construction of Auchi Airport, in Edo North Senatorial District.

Obaseki who disclosed this during the weekend at Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area said his administration was working with aviation experts to finalise the survey of the airport project.

He further expressed his commitment to the development of a new airport in Auchi.

The charting of the airport is already ongoing to ensure the safety measures required for an approval of the airport project as safety is the main consideration. We want to make sure that the approaches for landing into the airport runway are clear and safe for landing and will not endanger the aircraft.

READ ALSO: Adamawa Guber Election Must Be Canceled In Entirety  SDP Candidate, Ardo

These are the final reports and studies that are being conducted and as soon as we get final approval, we will break ground and commence construction of the Auchi Airport.

This is not a political project. Between Benin City and Abuja on this axis, which is more than 600 km, there is no airport, he said.

According to him, from the transportation standpoint, it makes a lot of commercial sense to have an airport in Edo North, saying there are emerging businesses, particularly in the areas of mining and academia.
Femi Fani-Kayode, chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has responded to the threat made by the British Envoy saying he will not be intimidated by a veiled threat of a visa ban.

This comes shortly after Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British deputy high commissioner to Nigeria, described some of FFKs comments during the general election as inciteful, while noting that ten people had been added to the growing watchlist of the UK visa ban.

In a tweet on his Twitter page on Sunday, Fani-Kayode said he would not take lessons on what to say or how to speak from the UK envoy.

READ ALSO: Benue PDP Suspends National Chair, Iyorchia Ayu For Not Paying Annual Dues, Not Voting In State Guber Poll

Reacting to the remarks of the British envoy, Fani-Kayode said he was not one of those Nigerians that bows, shakes, shivers and trembles before the British or indeed any other foreigner.

Nigeria stopped being a British colony 63 years ago, and we need no lessons from him on how to run our affairs or conduct our politics, Fani-Kayode wrote.

I wonder who the hell he thinks he is. I am not one of those Nigerians that bows, shakes, shivers, and trembles before the British or indeed any other foreigner. And unlike most, I do not need any validation or endorsement from him or his ilk and neither can I be intimidated by his veiled threat of a visa ban. Frankly, I could not care less.

Neither will we accept lessons in decency, etiquette, what to say, or how to speak from a British civil servant. I advise this Englander to respect himself and remain a silent observer when it comes to the politics of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As a nation, we are not a poodle of the British and we came of age 63 years ago.
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, has said that the immediate past governor of the State, Gboyega Oyetola, has not congratulated him following his Appeal Court victory.

The Peoples Democratic Party governor who said this on Monday while featuring on Arise Television Morning Show said he was open to working with the former governor.

Immediately after the news of the Appeal Court (judgement), I tried to reach out, I called him  the former Governor Oyetola  to let us forge ahead to move Osun forward, but up till now, he has not called me to congratulate me and Im still hoping that he will do that because we dont have any other state than Osun State here. So, Im ready, my hands are open, lets come together and move Osun State forward, Adeleke said.

Asked what he would like to say to Oyetola, Adeleke made a U-turn, saying he never called the former governor.

Well let me correct it, I did not say I put a call to him, what I said is Im still expecting him to call me so that he can congratulate me, and if he wants to do otherwise and go ahead to the Supreme Court, he has the right to do that, the governor said.

He reiterated that he would like to work with Oyetola.

According to him, he is not afraid of the Supreme Court, saying he had his people and God on his side.

READ ALSO: Osun PDP Urges Oyetola To Bury Hatchet, Congratulate Adeleke

Recall that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, last Friday, set aside the tribunal judgment that nullified the election of Adeleke as governor of the state.

In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, led by Mohammed Lawal, the appellate court held that the appeal lodged by Adeleke to challenge his sack by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal was meritorious.

The court also awarded a sum of N500,000 as a cost against the All ProgressiveCongress and its candidate, Oyetola.

During the ruling, the justice resolved that the preponderance of proof that there was over-voting in the elections rested on the petitioner.

The court also maintained that the party alleging non-compliance with the electoral act must prove its case without merely relying on the weakness of the other party.

Mohammed Shaibu, delivering the judgment, overruled the tribunal judgment of the governorship election nullifying the outcome of the July governorship polls in the State.

Conclusively, the three-man panel revoked the tribunals order which directed that a Certificate of Return be withdrawn from Adeleke and issued to his All Progressives Congress predecessor, Oyetola.

The Appeal Court however affirmed Adeleke as the authentic winner and governor of Osun State.
The Lagos State Health Commissioner, Prof Akin Abayomi said 52,652 tuberculosis cases were recorded at the national level in four years.

Prof Abayomi said 11,723 cases were captured in 2019; 10,150 in 2020; 13,499 in 2021; and 17,280 in 2022.

Abayomi disclosed this on his Instagram handle @ProfAkinAbayomi on Sunday.

He said Lagos state accounts for 11 per cent of TB cases in Nigeria with an estimated 54,000 persons projected to be suffering from TB, based on the National Incidence Rate of 219 per 100,000 population.

World TB Day is marked yearly on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of this preventable disease and call for accelerated action to end it.

READ ALSO: Ramadan: Tinubus Daughter Calls For Prayers, Support From Nigerians

This years theme, Yes, we can end TB, highlights the need to ensure equitable access to prevention and care, in line with the drive towards Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals.

The numbers of TB cases are staggering; the impacts are getting more severe.

TB remains one of the worlds deadliest infectious killers, and it is the commonest cause of death among persons living with HIV. According to the global TB report 2022, about 10.9 million people fell ill due to TB in 2021 and 1.5 million deaths occurred due to TB infection. Nigeria is ranked 6th among the countries that contribute to the global burden of TB with over 440,000 estimated cases as of 2019. Lagos State accounts for 11 per cent of TB cases in Nigeria with an estimated 54,000 persons projected to be suffering from TB based on the National Incidence Rate of 219 per 100,000 population.

TB cases from Lagos state captured at the national level were 11,723; 10,150; 13,499 and 17,280 in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively, he said.

The commissioner said the public health threat posed by TB has become more complicated with the emergence of drug-resistant Tuberculosis and Drug Resistant TB variants of the disease caused by strains of the causative bacteria that are resistant to commonly used medications.

He said DR-TB and XDR-TB account for more severe cases that are difficult to treat thereby requiring the use of very toxic and expensive medications.

According to him, there are many individuals suffering from TB in the state who are yet to report to health facilities and who remain undetected, untreated, and therefore pose an infection risk to society.

He said the state has no fewer than 4,300 TB cases that are on active treatment in public health facilities.

Notwithstanding the enormous burden of TB disease in Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olus administration in collaboration with Development partners are unrelenting in the effort to bring the scourge to an end.

The government has put in place the needed resources to ensure the availability of free TB services in over 1,200 health facilities which include Primary Health Care Centers, General Hospitals, and Tertiary Health Institutions. The government has provided three chest X-ray vans for deployment to scale up access to TB screening in communities and 18 health facilities across Lagos State.

The state-of-the-art X-ray machines available in public health facilities are aimed at facilitating TB screening and ensuring access to efficient treatments, he added.

He noted that TB is preventable, treatable, and curable.
Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said that the Partys constitution prohibits any organ or executive committee at ward, state or national level to take any disciplinary measure against any member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), therefore only the NEC can suspend him.

According to him, the purported announcement of his suspension is only mischief, drama and propaganda, adding that it was an exercise in futility that is derivable from gross ignorance and desperation.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, Ayu disclosed this after the announcement of his suspension by the Benue State chapter of the Party.

Information Nigeria had reported Ayus suspension was announced by the ward executives of the Party at Igyorov Ward of Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State on Sunday, by the ward secretary, Vangeryina Dooyum, on behalf of Kashi Philip, the ward chairman, over alleged anti-party activities.

The statement read, For starters, Article 57(7) of the PDP constitution as amended in 2017 expressly prohibits any organ of the party or executive committee of the party at the ward or state levels from taking any disciplinary measure against any member of the partys National Executive Committee.

The purported suspension is, therefore, an exercise in futility as it derives its strength majorly from gross illiteracy, ignorance, gambling and desperation. It has only mischief, drama and propaganda value.

READ ALSO: Thank God Ayu Presided Over PDPs Colossal Failure, I Support His Suspension  Wike

He further pointed out that some members of the excos were only being teleguided by political gamblers to cause mischief and nothing more, adding that he had not been suspended by his ward.

Ayu urged the public to ignore rumours, saying those behind the plot were only investing in expensive illusions.

But more than this, the so-called suspension letter was written by an illiterate before hand, and only given to the coerced members to sign somewhere in Makurdi.

This is why the original date is typexed and 24 March imposed on it. And this is also why it states that the presidential/NASS and governorship/state assembly elections held on 25th and 18th March, 2023 respectively.

From what we know, the document itself is fraudulent as the signatures of the ward executives were forged or obtained under duress, his statement read further.
The Seychelles Supreme Court has remanded a Nigerian woman arrested on conspiracy to import and traffic a controlled drug, the Seychelles Police Force said in a press release on Monday, March 27, 2023.

The police said the 52-year-old woman is being detained after she was arrested at the Seychelles International Airport on Thursday after her arrival on an Ethiopian Airline flight, SeychellesNewsAgency reported.

The arrest of the Nigerian followed a search, discovery, and seizure of 250 grammes of what is suspected to be cocaine

READ ALSO: Stay Away From Hard Drugs  Boy Spyce Cautions Fan Who Compared Him With Davido

The arrest comes a little less than a year after another foreign female national, Elsie Esther Vambe, 45, was sentenced to five years in prison for the importation of a controlled drug and another five years for trafficking a controlled drug.

The Zimbabwean female national was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2022 for the importation and trafficking of a controlled drug after she pleaded guilty to both offences. The sentences will run concurrently, which means Vambe will be imprisoned for five years.

Last Friday, the police said a 58-year-old businessman from Nigeria, Patrick Ikechukwu Uwaoma, was sentenced to 30 years after he was found guilty of the importation of cocaine.

Uwaoma, who was residing in the United States, was intercepted by the police and customs officers at the airport on November 20 last year. He arrived in Seychelles on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. During a search of his luggage, the officers found a little more than 4.5 kg of cocaine.

The Seychelles archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, has a zero-tolerance policy towards the trafficking and importation of illegal drugs. There is a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has asked security agencies to protect the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state in entirety.

The APC said this became necessary after alleging that the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ladi Adebutu, took thugs in protest to the INEC office.

Information Nigeria had reported that Adebutu and some PDP supporters stormed the office of the electoral body in Abeokuta, to protest the outcome of the governorship election.

The APC spokesperson in the State, Tunde Oladunjoye in a statement issued on Sunday, asked INEC to provide maximum security for its staff and the election materials in its possession.

He further called on the electoral umpire to protect all the ballot papers pertaining to the just concluded elections in the State.

According to Oladunjoye. Adebutu took thugs to INEC to submit a letter, insisting that officials of the Commission must come out to address his hired crowd.

He said, It has become pertinent to demand the provision of watertight security for INEC offices across the state, its officers, and election materials.

READ ALSO: Ill Never Take Britain Seriously After Crimes Committed Against Africans  FFK On UK Visa Ban Threat

In view of the recent happenings in Ogun State, particularly last weeks invasion of the states INEC headquarters, by the PDP governorship candidate, Honourable Ladi Adebutu, who lost in the March 18, 2023 elections, we are duty-bound to call on INEC and all other relevant statutory bodies, including the security agencies, to ensure that nothing untoward happens to the election materials, especially the ballot papers in the possession of INEC.

Or where in the world has it been reported that a loser at an election, along with hundreds of hired people, marched on the office of the electoral umpire purportedly to submit a letter, as we saw in Abeokuta last week?

Hon. Adebutu not only took thugs to INEC to submit a letter but also insisted that officers of INEC must come out to address his hired crowd and respond to the so-called letter?

But PDP in reaction, via its publicity secretary, Bankole Akinloye, described the allegation as an empty noise.

Akinloye said, It is an empty noise. The APC and Tunde Oladunjoye is just being clever by half. The PDP is not known for any destructive tendencies; we are known for peace. The PDP does not need to invade the office of INEC to tamper with any electoral materials that were used during the last elections.

We have clearly shown to the people that we won the election and we are set to use the judiciary to prove our case.

This is what we are planning against the like of Oladunjoye and the APC. We know the cry does not hold water and INEC knows what to do.


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The crises in the Peoples Democratic Party took a new twist on Sunday after ward executives in the Benue State chapter of the party, suspended the National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

Recall that the state Secretary of the partys Igyorov Ward of Gboko Local Government Area, Mr Vangeryina Dooyum, announced Ayus suspension at a media briefing on Sunday.

Dooyum, who spoke on behalf of the ward chairman, Kashi Philip, said Ayu was suspended for anti-party activities.

In a statement signed by 12 out of the 17 members of the ward executive, he stated that the decision to suspend the national chairman was reached after the ward leadership reviewed Ayus conduct at the end of the just-concluded general elections.

READ MORE: Benue PDP Suspends National Chair, Iyorchia Ayu For Not Paying Annual Dues, Not Voting In State Guber Poll

The secretary in company with the ward chairman and other members, said, We observed with utmost dismay that Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, who is the National Chairman of the PDP, worked against the success of the party in Igyorov council ward. It is on record that he has also failed to pay his annual subscription fees as provided under Section 8(9) of the constitution of the PDP 2017 (as amended).

Further investigation also revealed that he did not vote during the governorship and state assembly elections held on March 18, 2023. It was also discovered that most of his closest allies worked for the opposition party, the All Progressive Congress, and hence, the abysmal performance of the PDP in Igyorov Ward.

In view of the foregoing, we hereby pass a vote of no confidence in Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and suspend him as a member of our party with immediate effect. The suspension takes effect from March 24, 2023.

Ayus suspension came barely a few days after the partys National Working Committee referred the state Governor Samuel Ortom, to the partys disciplinary committee for probe over alleged anti-party activities.

But reacting to the suspension, the leadership of the PDP at the state level told The PUNCH that it received the decision by the ward with surprise.

The state Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, said that the state leadership may meet on Monday (today) over the matter.

Iortyom said, I am not the state chairman of the party, so I cannot say anything for now but this thing just happened today (Sunday) and by tomorrow (today), the state exco might probably meet over the development.

I cant say if we are aware of this. Mind you, this action is not emanating from us at the state level; we can only get to say something when we get the full details. Fellow, East-West Centre (EWC), Honolulu, US.

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any manShakespeare

In the same vein, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, told The PUNCH that, Like other Nigerians, I read of the purported suspension this (Sunday) evening and you will agree with me that the party is not in a position to react formally at the moment.

We will verify the true state of affairs that led to this and react accordingly. Whatever we say now will not be enough but I hope that by tomorrow (Monday), the whole thing will be clearer.
Femi Fani-Kayode has attacked former President Olusegun Obasanjo for not challenging Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu when he said Yoruba people are political rascals despite he was at the event.

Iwuanyanwu had on Saturday at the event marking the one year anniversary of Governor Charles Soludo in office in Anambra, said Yoruba are political rascals and that they would deal with them.

Obasanjo was also at the event when Iwuanyanwu made the controversial statement.

Fani-Kayode, in a long tweet on Sunday said the fact that our revered leader and one of the fathers of our nation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, can sit there and say nothing when Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, an elder statesman who I have always respected, describes the entire Yoruba race as rascals that the Igbo will deal with tells me that the rumour that he is not a full-fledged Yoruba man and that his father was an Igbo may well be true.

READ ALSO: British Envoy Slams Fani-Kayode Over Inciting Remarks

Whatever the case this is not the Obasanjo I once knew, loved, defended and worked so hard for. Something has gone wrong.

No-one could have made a statement against any tribe in the presence of the old Obasanjo that we all knew and respected and got away with it. He would have got up and told them off.

As for Iwuanyanwu, Fani-Kayode said he would not respond to him or to all those that were at that event and that collectively rubbished Yoruba people because they are my in-laws and because my four sons are half Igbo.

There is nothing Iwuanyawau can say that will make me turn against the Igbo because I have blood and family ties with them and I will continue to love them despite this outrageous provocation.

He said apart from that there are millions of Igbo who did not share Iwuanyanwus views and who had shown nothing but the greatest respect for the Yoruba race and the Northern brothers and allies.

Amongst them are dear friends and brothers like John Nwodo, Orji Uzor Kalu, Chimaroke Nnamani, Ifeanyi Ugwainyi, David Umahi, Hope Uzodinma, Innocent Chukwuma, Emeka Offor and so many others.

Iwuanyanwu does not represent them when he calls us rascals and neither does he represent the wives of Seyi Makinde, Rotimi Akeredolu, Ademola Adeleke, Gbadebo Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour, David Adedeji Adeleke (AKA Davido) and yours truly who all happen to be Igbo.

What I will say though is that those Igbo that think like Iwuanyanwu need to be careful and appreciate the fact that those so-called Yoruba rascals have shown the Igbo race more love, respect, admiration, fraternity, solidarity and courtesy over the last 63 years than any other tribe in Nigeria and millions of Yoruba men have Igbo wives.

Again many Yoruba leaders stood with and supported Peter Obi in his ill-fated quest to become President of Nigeria including Pa Ayo Adebanjo, OBJ, Afenifere, Akin Oshuntokun, Gbadebo Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour, Babatunde Gbadamosi and so many others. I wonder if they are rascals too?

We extended our hand for a handshake across the Niger a few years back and we built bridges with the east. Chief Iwuanyanwu, Ohaneze and Afenifere were at that conference and so was yours truly, he stated.

According Fani-Kayode, As a matter of fact we all made resounding and inspiring speeches seeking for a closer relationship and greater collaboration between our people. It was a wonderful occasion and a great experience. We were in full solidarity with the Igbo then and lamented the injustices they had been subjected to over the years.

I even went as far as to declare that Nigeria owes the Igbo an apology for the genocide they were subjected to during the civil war and the pogroms before the war. I maintain that position till today and so do many other Yoruba.

The only thing we asked for in return was a little respect and for them not to describe Lagos as a no mans land. This is a very emotional issue for us. The assertion that Lagos is not part of Yorubaland is deeply offensive and insulting to us.

We also chose to support Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a proud son of the Yoruba, for the Presidency. These two things have caused a handful of misguided Igbos to now display hatred towards us, to insult us at every turn, to unleash their youth against us in the Media space and to describe us as rascals.

Fani-Kayode added: With those words and that attitude the bridge between our two people may soon be broken and the handshake across the Niger may soon be withdrawn. That would be a tragedy of monumental proportions and a negation of all we stand for. We must not let it happen.

We must be restrained and careful not to destroy the love and trust we have built over the years. The Yoruba are not a people that can easily be insulted and we do not take such things lightly. We are kind, welcoming, accommodating, civilised, generous, cosmopolitan, liberal and open-hearted to a fault. We are also slow to anger but irresistible in battle.

We have long memories and when we choose to take a stand and fight it goes from generation to generation. I pray Chief Iwuanyanwu and those that share his views can cultivate the presence of mind and courage to have a rethink before it is too late.
A delayed traveler uses his phone at the Philadelphia International Airport in 2022. Read more

After spending 45 minutes looking for parking at the Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday, Diana Smith took to Twitter.

Tagging the airports account, she relayed her experience, writing in part, I know renovations are coming but parking needs some solutions.

Smith, 55, of Collegeville, has found social media to be the most efficient way to get issues resolved, connect with customer service representatives, and provide feedback.

Im looking to get their attention, and have my matter resolved quickly, she said. And have them know how I feel quickly.

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Every few months, she reaches out to a company or organization on Twitter or Facebook with polite feedback or questions about a problem.

An increasing number of people are using social media to air their complaints, sometimes with the motivation to get revenge on a company, organization, or agency, according to a national study of consumer behavior. Customer problems with goods and services are at an all-time high, doubling since 2020. Problems with government agencies, such as the DMV, IRS, and transit authorities, have increased the most, tripling since 2020, according to the National Customer Rage Survey, an independent survey of 1,000 people across the country.

About half of those surveyed used social media, an online chat, or email to complain, compared to 5% just three years ago, and those digital options have overtaken the telephone as the primary complaint channel since early 2020, the last time the survey was conducted.

And not everyone is as nice as Smith: The percentage of people who said that they wanted revenge  defined in the survey as payback or punishment  has tripled to 9% since 2020, the survey found.

One vengeful behavior could be social media shaming, said Scott Broetzmann, president and CEO of Alexandria, Va.-based Customer Care Measurement & Consulting, which conducts the Rage Survey with the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

The motivation for a lot of the postings arent necessarily built around the negative emotion of revenge, he said. Sometimes, customers simply wanted to alert other people, so other people dont have the same bad experience.

Generational divides

For some millennials and Gen Z-ers, posting about a negative experience may simply be a product of habit, said Evan Urbania, CEO of Chatterblast, a Center City-based digital communications agency.

If Urbania, for example, got a cold burger at a chain restaurant, the 43-year-old said hed most likely forgive them and move on.

Some digital natives are more likely to post a picture of a sad face, tag the burger, tag the account, he added. People are showing when theyre happy, when theyre sad. And theyre not afraid to bring the brands into the mix.

And when some companies outsource or completely digitize customer service, or make it more difficult to reach a human on the phone, older generations also get ticked off. They may be more on edge when they do reach a person, Urbania said, or go to social media when theyve reached their last straw.

I will reserve social media for a last resort, said Roy Kessel, 58, of Chicago, who took to Twitter earlier this year after a negative experience at a Center City hotel. Thats not my first step.  Thats the point where Ive spent an hour on this and Ive gotten no response.

Social media, he added, is one of the few places where a consumer against those big brands can have some impact.

Changing customer service

Companies and agencies are juggling the best way to move forward. Customers who complain digitally are generally more satisfied than those who call on the phone, according to the Rage Survey, and digital customer service is cheaper for companies than staffing a call center, Broetzmann said. Yet people also want empathy, an unscripted answer to their problems, and the ability to vent their anger, according to the survey, and those are three things that are difficult to get through a screen.

Its challenging for many companies and for consumers to figure out how to create authentic experiences of service in a digital environment, Broetzmann said.

The Philadelphia Airport, SEPTA, and the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), which runs the PATCO transit line connecting the city with South Jersey, have seen an increase in customer social-media complaints in recent years, officials said. But they are increasingly tapped into the feedback they receive on these platforms, using them as listening tools.

While DRPA has been monitoring social media 24/7 for nearly a decade, theyve recently begun providing more detailed information to customers, showing photos of the exact issue that is delaying a train instead of using canned language such as track delay, said Christina Maroney, DRPA Director of Strategic Initiatives.

The airport may not respond directly to every tweet or Facebook post, particularly those that are providing general feedback as Smith did, spokesperson Heather Redfern said, but they make changes  such as the addition of water-bottle-filling stations and ongoing bathroom renovations  based on social media chatter.

Passengers used to regularly tweet photos of security lines that appeared to stretch all the way to the parking garage, said Leah Douglas, the airports director of guest experience. Oftentimes, she added, the tweeter would reply to their own tweet 10 minutes later, noting they were already through security, but the initial photo of a seemingly massive line would still get traction. In response, they changed the layout of the queue, she said, and since then, we have not seen absolutely one complaint about that checkpoint.

SEPTA has continued employing much of the same social-media monitoring and engagement it has for the past decade, SEPTAs assistant director of customer service James Siler said in a statement.

One recent trend, however, is that many more social media users are responding to issues or commentary with their own ideological and political views coloring their message, Siler said.

Similar trends are on the national consumer radar, too. For the first time in 20 years, the most recent Rage Survey also measured customer uncivility, which it defines as the phenomenon of rude, discourteous and disrespectful customer behavior stemming from socio-political conflicts between customers and companies/organizations.

The importance of being heard

Smith, the Collegeville woman, first used social media for customer service about five years ago.

Her washing machine, which was under warranty, needed to be repaired, she said, but she couldnt get in touch with anyone at the national company from which she bought it.

People on the phone, people on email, no one was getting back to me. I tweeted, and they got right back to me, Smith said. My issue that had taken a month was resolved in a week.

Seldom, she said, does a company not respond  and often they do so within minutes. Its much faster and easier, in her experience, than calling a phone number.

It makes me feel acknowledged as a consumer. Thats the most important thing. Someone is there to listen to you, Smith said. Youre not put on hold. You dont have to go through a series of prompts.
A sign posted at DGX on 2nd Street in Northern Liberties on Monday, March 27, 2023, warned that the store was sold out of water. Read more

When Philadelphia officials texted city residents on Sunday about the status of their tap water after a chemical spill near the Delaware River, grocery stores around the region were inundated with customers seeking bottled water.

Large chains including Acme, Wawa, Giant, ShopRite, Fresh Grocer, and Rite Aid have been scrambling to keep their Philadelphia stores stocked, while smaller businesses have also been competing to get extra supply in the near term and secure adequate shipments for later in the week.

Food bank Philabundance is getting water from its suppliers and Feeding America food bank partners to distribute to food pantries in impacted areas.

Philadelphia officials have said tap water is safe to drink through at least 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, and will continue to provide updates. But as residents continued to stock up on Monday, many stores posted the status of their bottled water supply on signs in their windows or on social media.

A rush of people at neighborhood markets

When Kleins Supermarket opened at 8 a.m. Monday, people were waiting at the door.

A rush of people went straight to the water, said manager Andrew Klein. By 9 a.m., he said, the Fairmount market was sold out.

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By midday Monday, people were still calling every minute, he said, asking if Kleins had water.

The longtime family-owned grocer gets its water shipments on Wednesdays. This week, Klein said, he put in an order for four times as much as he usually gets. Until that shipment arrives Wednesday, he said, there isnt much he can do but wait with the rest of the city for updates.

The South Philly Food Co-op sold out of bottled water a couple of hours after the city alerted residents to the water issues on Sunday. If I had known I would have stocked up, but I had no way of knowing, said co-op grocery and wellness manager Christo Johnson.

Johnson drove to a restaurant supply store in Pennsauken before it opened Monday to secure more bottles. They got 13 cases of water, which was mostly sold out by 1 p.m. Monday.

Johnson said they may go back on Tuesday for additional bottles, and they just ordered a full pallet of water that should come early next week. The price on that pallet was normal on Monday, Johnson said, but I know its going to go up.

Kensington Community Food Co-op posted on Facebook Monday morning that it had just received a shipment of water, and would limit purchase to two gallons per customer.

Do you have water?

Even in parts of the city that do not source their water from the Delaware River, and therefore were not affected by the chemical spill, grocers have seen intense demand for bottled water.

Stephanie Wein, clean water advocate for PennEnvironment, a statewide environmental advocacy organization, said the initial alerts from the city, which advised people to prepare to stop using water citywide, may have made some people think they were affected when they were not.

Expensive bottles of water, if you can even find any, is not a great solution for a lot of Philadelphians, Wein said.

Sayed Ahmad, whose family owns Cousins Fresh Market, spent Monday morning on the phone with several water bottle suppliers, trying to figure out who could get him the most water in the least amount of time.

One supplier said he could get him trucks of water Thursday. I said, I cant wait til Thursday, Ahmad said.

Water bottles at all four of his familys markets sold out within two hours of the citys alert Sunday afternoon, though the stores are located in West and Southwest Philadelphia, and Chester, Delaware County, none of which are affected.

Even after the city sent another alert later Sunday advising residents that the water was still safe, sales continued.

They were not buying It is safe right now, Ahmad said. They were panicking. They were confused.

Just from 6 to 7 p.m. Sunday, he got probably 200 calls, [asking] Do you have water? Do you have water?

The phone has not stopped ringing from the morning until now, Ahmad said about noon Monday.

He anticipates getting some water in Tuesday, and even more Wednesday and Thursday. Though the city says it expects water should be safe by Thursday, Ahmad said he doesnt see the issue evaporating anytime soon. I think people will still look for water, he said.

Weavers Way Co-op sold out of bottled water and canned seltzer Sunday afternoon, general manager Jon Roesser said, even though its Philadelphia stores, in Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill, are in areas that the city said would not be affected by the spill.

Roesser secured two pallets of gallons of water to be delivered Tuesday, and each customer will be limited to one gallon. Until we get more info from the city on the duration of this thing, were going to be scrambling like this for a bit, Roesser said.

Larger grocery chains shuffle supplies

All Philadelphia Acme stores were stocked with water bottles as of Monday morning. After Sundays run on water, the Malvern-based grocer sent emergency shipments from its Lancaster warehouse to local stores Sunday night and Monday morning, said spokesperson Dana Ward.

Were continuing to monitor, Ward said, and will continue to send water as needed.

Wawa stores have implemented a maximum quantity of gallons and cases per customer, spokesperson Lori Bruce said.

We expect additional supply to all Philly stores today or tomorrow, and will continue to monitor the situation and make additional adjustments as needed, Bruce said.

Rite Aid is limiting water purchases to two cases per transaction, spokesperson Alicja Wojczyk said. We are working closely with suppliers to meet the demands of our customers and communities, she added.

Giant Food Stores have also seen increased demand, spokesperson Ashley Flower said.

The stores have not put any quantity limits in place, but are encouraging customers to purchase only what they need, she said.
Daniela de Souza was riding high in early 2020 with feine, her coffeeshop with three locations in Montgomery County. As the pandemic hit, she was forced to close her shop inside a Bridgeport business complex. When she had trouble sourcing pastries for the other two, in Conshohocken and Skippack, she turned Bridgeport into a commissary bakery.

De Souza baked the usual coffeeshop items, plus an occasional snack she had grown up eating in her native Brazil, starting with the corn cookies her father loved. Sausage rolls (pao com chourico) and pasteis de nata, the famous Portuguese custard tarts, came later.

I found that any time that I shared a special connection or a special story about the pastry that I was serving, people really responded, she said. People were like, What is this delicious thing? That encouraged me. When go into the coffeeshop business, its really because you want to connect with people.

De Souzas Brazilian pastries and savory snacks are the focus of Merenda Box, a shop she opened last weekend in the former Petes Deli in Conshohocken; she bought the building at Hector and Righter Streets a year and a half ago. Merenda is a snack break in Brazil between lunch and dinner.

Merenda Box has joined a collection of recent shops selling Portuguese (Gilda, in Fishtown) and Brazilian (Kouklet, in South Philadelphia) foods, outside of the more established shops in the Brazilian enclaves of Northeast Philadelphia.

Merenda Boxs line includes Brazilian sweets alongside sandwiches, feines coffees, and drinks.

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Clearly, de Souza has a following. In her first few days, the lines started at 7 a.m., and although posted hours end at 4 p.m. every day but Monday, the shop has been selling out by 1:30 p.m.

De Souza, 44, grew up in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. At age 15, she and her family moved to Houston and she later settled in Memphis, managing retail stores. When her brother relocated to suburban Philadelphia area for work, she visited and caught a vibe. While I was here, I got a job interview and within a month I had moved here, she said. She was living in an East Falls loft and working in King of Prussia when she started house-hunting.

Her Realtor suggested Conshohocken, a former mill town on the Schuylkill bustling with families. I had never actually even heard of Conshohocken, she said. People would talk about the Conshohocken exit [off I-76.] I didnt even know how to pronounce that. She bought a house there 13 years ago, and there was no going back.

Eleven years ago, she opened her first feine, as a cafe and roastery. Then came what she calls her little Hallmark fairy tale. One of her customers was a software engineer named Mark Allen. I would see him every morning and be like, Hey, theres that Americano coming in, she said. I didnt think anything of it.

Five years ago, they met more formally at one of her friends holiday bar crawls. Then we went out on a date and then that was it, she said. They were married last summer at a castle in Portugal. Most of the 60 guests were their friends from Conshohocken  a town she has embraced and vice versa.

Retail has its appeal, but serving customers at a coffeeshop suits her in a different way. Its such a big exchange of energy, she said. Theyre giving you money, but youre giving them coffee or food and youre sending them off for their day. Retail is very different from coffee and food because people are coming to see you when theyre happy.
The administration building of Elwyn, which is exploring a merger with Merakey. Both are Philadelphia-area providers of services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Read more

Two major Philadelphia-area providers of services to people with intellectual disabilities, Merakey and Elwyn, said Monday that they are exploring a merger that would create a nonprofit with more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Both organizations provide services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as behavioral health and special-education services. Combined, Merakey and Elwyn would have operations in 16 states, employ more than 12,000 people, and serve 55,000 individuals.

One of the key drivers behind the potential merger is the trend toward integrating physical health care with behavioral and intellectual disability services, Merakey CEO Joseph S. Martz said in a phone interview.

The larger entity creates additional resources to make those kinds of investments possible, he said.

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The negotiations between Elwyn and Merakey have gotten underway as their industry is struggling to attract and retain staff.

 READ MORE: Autism services for adults in Philly area still havent rebounded from COVID shutdowns

Industry pressures a factor

Mark Davis, the head of a Pennsylvania trade group for human-service provider organizations like Elwyn and Merakey, said recently that a group of his members  accounting for 60% of the states intellectual-disability and autism services  reported a job vacancy rate of nearly 25% and an employee turnover rate of 37%.

Another pressure point on the sector is that state Medicaid programs, which pay for most of Merakeys and Elwyns services, are pushing for more small-group, community-based care to replace institutional settings.

Charles S. McLister, CEO of Elwyn, which went through a period of significant losses several years ago, said in a news release that he was encouraged by the prospect of affiliating with Merakey.

He said the combination would create an opportunity to build an organization that will innovate and materially change the way our industry operates.

Merakey, based in Lafayette Hill, is the larger of the two organizations, with close to $640 million in revenue last year. It opened its first location in 1969.

Elwyn, founded in 1852 and based in Media, had $385 million in revenue in the year ended June 30, 2022.
Up to 15% of people 65 and older who live outside nursing homes or other facilities have a diagnosable anxiety condition, according to a 2020 book. Read more

Anxiety is the most common psychological disorder affecting adults in the United States. In older people, its associated with considerable distress as well as ill health, diminished quality of life, and elevated rates of disability.

Yet, when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, influential panel of experts, suggested last year that adults be screened for anxiety, it left out one group: people 65 and older.

The major reason the task force cited in draft recommendations issued in September: the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for anxiety in all older adults. (Final recommendations are expected later this year.)

 READ MORE: Escape an anxiety attack with this 5-step grounding technique

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The task force noted that questionnaires used to screen for anxiety may be unreliable for older adults. Screening entails evaluating people who dont have obvious symptoms of worrisome medical or psychological conditions.

We recognize that many older adults experience mental health conditions like anxiety and we are calling urgently for more research, said Lori Pbert, associate chief of the preventive and behavioral medicine division at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and a former task force member who worked on the anxiety recommendations.

This we dont know enough yet stance doesnt sit well with some experts who study and treat seniors with anxiety. Carmen Andreescu, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, called the task forces position baffling because its well established that anxiety isnt uncommon in older adults and effective treatments exist.

I cannot think of any danger in identifying anxiety in older adults, especially because doing so has no harm and we can do things to reduce it, said Helen Lavretsky, a psychology professor at UCLA.

 READ MORE: How anxiety came to dominate the big business of medical marijuana cards in Pennsylvania

In a recent editorial in JAMA Psychiatry, Andreescu and Lavretsky noted that only about one-third of seniors with generalized anxiety disorder  intense, persistent worry about everyday matters  receive treatment. Thats concerning, they said, considering evidence of links between anxiety and stroke, heart failure, coronary artery disease, autoimmune illness, and neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia.

Other forms of anxiety commonly undetected and untreated in seniors include phobias (such as a fear of dogs), obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder (a fear of being assessed and judged by others), and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The smoldering disagreement over screening calls attention to the significance of anxiety in later life  a concern heightened during the pandemic, which magnified stress and worry among seniors. Heres what you should know.

Anxiety is common

According to a book chapter published in 2020, authored by Andreescu and a colleague, up to 15% of people 65 and older who live outside nursing homes or other facilities have a diagnosable anxiety condition.

As many as half have symptoms of anxiety  irritability, worry, restlessness, decreased concentration, sleep changes, fatigue, avoidant behaviors  that can be distressing but dont justify a diagnosis, the study noted.

I cannot think of any danger in identifying anxiety in older adults, especially because doing so has no harm and we can do things to reduce it. Helen Lavretsky, a psychology professor at UCLA

Most seniors with anxiety have struggled with this condition since earlier in life, but the way it manifests may change over time. Specifically, older adults tend to be more anxious about issues such as illness, the loss of family and friends, retirement, and cognitive declines, experts said. Only a small fraction develop anxiety after turning 65.

Anxiety can be difficult to identify in older adults

Older adults often minimize symptoms of anxiety, thinking this is what getting older is like rather than this is a problem that I should do something about, Andreescu said.

Also, seniors are more likely than younger adults to report somatic complaints  physical symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, headaches, chest pain, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal problems  that can be difficult to distinguish from underlying medical conditions, according to Gretchen Brenes, a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Some types of anxiety or anxious behaviors  notably, hoarding and fear of falling  are much more common in older adults, but questionnaires meant to identify anxiety dont typically ask about those issues, said Jordan Karp, chair of psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson.

When older adults voice concerns, medical providers too often dismiss them as normal, given the challenges of aging, said Eric Lenze, head of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the third author of the recent JAMA Psychiatry editorial.

 READ MORE: Depression can get better. These four Philadelphians are living proof.

Simple questions can help identify whether an older adult needs to be evaluated for anxiety, he and other experts suggested: Do you have recurrent worries that are hard to control? Are you having trouble sleeping? Have you been feeling more irritable, stressed, or nervous? Are you having trouble with concentration or thinking? Are you avoiding things you normally like to do because youre wrapped up in your worries?

Stephen Snyder, 67, who lives in Zelienople, Pa., and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in March 2019, would answer yes to many of these queries. Im a type-A personality and I worry a lot about a lot of things: my family, my finances, the future, he told me. Also, Ive tended to dwell on things that happened in the past and get all worked up.

Treatments are effective

Psychotherapy  particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps people address persistent negative thoughts  is generally considered the first line of anxiety treatment in older adults. In an evidence review for the task force, researchers noted that this type of therapy helps reduce anxiety in seniors seen in primary care settings.

Also recommended, Lenze noted, is relaxation therapy, which can involve deep breathing exercises, massage or music therapy, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation.

Because mental health practitioners, especially those who specialize in seniors mental health, are extremely difficult to find, primary care physicians often recommend medications to ease anxiety. Two categories of drugs  antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors)  are typically prescribed, and both appear to help older adults, experts said.

Frequently prescribed to older adults, but to be avoided by them, are benzodiazepines, a class of sedating medications such as Valium, Ativan, Xanax, and Klonopin. The American Geriatrics Society has warned medical providers not to use these in older adults, except when other therapies have failed, because they are addictive and significantly increase the risk of hip fractures, falls and other accidents, and short-term cognitive impairments.

Kaiser Health News covers health issues.
Demetrius Woodard hugs his mother, Denise Woodard, while his aunt, Cheryl Sully, reads his match results during a Match Day celebration at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in mid-March. Read more

The patient was having a manic episode, one of the doctors suggested. They were speaking quickly and at a higher pitch, and could be in distress. But Demetrius Woodard, the medical student working alongside them, wasnt so sure.

In Philadelphia, most people usually talk pretty fast, especially if youre from South Philly [or] Southwest, he said about it now with a smile. Woodard grew up in Southwest Philly and will graduate this spring from Temples medical school before beginning a psychiatry residency at Penn. He explained to the doctors that he had spoken with the patient earlier in the day and that this was probably just a cultural difference.

Were [often] not really getting a whole context of a person. And thats something that I really want to work on in the field, he said.

Woodard is one of many Black medical students soon making that transition from student to doctor. But it comes at a significant cost; a medical school graduate has an average debt of $200,000 for a medical degree alone. During residency, the training period after medical school, doctors usually make somewhere between $60,000 and $80,000 depending on their specialty, while working up to 80-hour weeks.

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 READ MORE: On Match Day, Temple med students learned where theyll spend their residency with tears, hugs, and sighs of relief

Expense is one of the reasons why only about 5% of doctors in the United States are Black, and there is roughly the same proportion of Black male doctors today as there were in 1900.

While systemic racism is at the root of why Black people are underrepresented in one of Americas most lucrative and respected career fields, expense is one manifestation of that root. To many Black people, the costs of a medical school education are prohibitive.

The Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania (MSEP) is trying to lighten that load. The historically Black organization is collecting donations for Philadelphias Black graduating medical students as they take the next step in their careers, under the #BlackPhillyMedGradWishlist campaign.

Safiyya Shabazz, a physician and MSEP president, said that a couple of years ago she saw graduating medical students posting their Amazon wish lists on Twitter.

I was so excited about it, she said. And I just happened to have gotten a bonus around that time. I was sending random gifts to random people. It made me feel great and I was just so proud of them.

Shabazz thought the MSEP ought to help organize the same kind of campaign for Black Philly grads, so they feel supported and celebrated as they become doctors.

We need to make it a great thing for people to come and stay [in Philadelphia], particularly those underrepresented experts to come and stay and serve in Philadelphia, she said. We could do more to keep that talent here.

From now until April 15, donors can support the participating graduates two ways: by making a tax-deductible donation to the MSEP, where 100% of the money raised will be split evenly among the graduates, or by donating directly to individual graduates through their Amazon wish lists or CashApp. The donation form and the links to individual graduate profiles are accessible on the MSEPs website.

 READ MORE: How do we improve diversity in medicine? Black female physician-leaders answer

A lot of students, we get our last student loan reimbursement around March, and then residency starts in late June, early July, but we dont get our first paycheck until mid-July, said Shofolahan Da-Silva from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, who will begin a residency in anesthesiology.

The residency essentials on nearly every students Amazon wish list include scrub sets and comfortable sneakers for the hospital, stethoscopes and other medical tools, and study books for their board exams still to come. But life is about more than just the essentials; some also asked for Instant Pots, Starbucks gift cards, AirPods, or a Peloton bike, if youre feeling generous.

You need to have money to successfully do medical school or to successfully pursue medicine, said Bryson Hoover-Hankerson, from Temples medical school.

They dont explicitly say, This is not for poor people or This is not something [for] Black people from underserved communities, but good luck trying to successfully complete medicine without appropriate help.

Hoover-Hankerson said that alleviating some of those costs and getting more Black people into medicine are crucial. He didnt meet a Black physician until he was 20 years old, and said that lots of people in his family dont trust doctors, in part because they rarely see doctors who look like them.

My mother would tell me all the time, Oh, youre becoming one of them, he said. Hoover-Hankersons residency will be in internal medicine, where establishing relationships with patients is especially valuable. He hopes that, as a doctor, he can help Black kids see themselves in the same place.

Having the trust is really important. So if you can relate to where somebodys coming from or they can identify [you] and you feel tangible and real to them, that definitely helps erode the barriers.
LaMar Roberts holds up a photo of his wife, Karen Roberts, at home in Yeadon, Pa. on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. LaMar Roberts and his 5 children have been separated from their wife and mother, Karen Roberts, for about 18 months. She traveled to Mexico to try to get a green card but was barred from returning. Read more

Finally, after spending nearly two years in Mexico away from her husband and five children in Yeadon, Karen Serrano Roberts may be coming home soon.

Her husband, LaMar Roberts, recently got word that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved a special waiver, the I-601A waiver, that could allow Karen to apply for a green card here in the United States.

The waiver is intended to help undocumented residents who are relatives of U.S. citizens become documented without leaving the country.

When we first got the news, we were excited and happy, LaMar said Sunday. It was like my mind couldnt comprehend it, and it just feels unreal.

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Now, anxiety is beginning to set in, he said, even though he had his bag packed to fly to Mexico at 10 a.m. Monday. He will accompany Karen to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez for her appointment this week.

I dont want to get down there and have something else to worry about, he said.

Thomas M. Griffin, the new immigration attorney LaMar hired after his wife had gotten bad advice from a different lawyer, gave LaMar the good news.

I dont think Ive ever had a case where there are five children separated from their mother. Thomas M. Griffin

Griffin said it may take a few days before Karen is able to return home.

In addition to updating paperwork with the consulate office, she must pass a medical exam and then wait for USCIS to return her passport stamped with a visa.

Shell be entering on an immigrant visa, " Griffin wrote in an email. Thats a travel document that means she is being admitted with the intent to remain permanently. When she settles back home, USCIS will mail her a green card  the commonly recognizable way to show she is a lawful permanent resident.

Karen Roberts, who turned 32 in February, was 30 when she first traveled to the consulate office in Mexico to apply for a visa to enter the U.S. lawfully on July 26, 2021 . She had been told by her legal counsel at the time that the process would take four days.

Her father, who lives in California, met her in Mexico. She recalled him telling her he didnt think it was a good idea.

Instead, because Karen had been brought into the U.S. at age four without legal documents, Karen and her family were shocked to learn that she was barred from re-entering the country for 10 years because that first lawyer sent her to Mexico without first applying for and receiving the all important I-601a waiver.

At the time, her husband Lamar was worrying about how he would care for their five children, who were then ages 15, 14, 11, 8 and 5.

Reached briefly in Mexico Sunday, Karen said she is excited. In February, she said her strong faith in God has kept her hopeful.

I was ready for it, she said Sunday, about learning her waiver was approved. She is expecting a new baby in June.

Griffinwho took on the case in December 2021 said the waiver was granted based on the agency accepting that LaMar was enduring an extreme hardship without his wife.

During the Clinton Administration, intense anti-immigration rhetoric influenced Clinton to enact a penalty for people with an unlawful presence in the United States, Griffin said.

They were supposed to leave the country and come in legally through a U.S. Consulate office. But if they left the country to apply for a legal visa, the penalty for having been in the U.S. unlawfully was to be barred from re-entering for 10 years. The policy was so drastic that people rarely used it to obtain a green card, Griffin said.

Later, during the Obama Administration, the I-601a waiver was enacted to permit relatives of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card while remaining here with their families.

 READ MORE: Yeadon mom of five is stuck in Mexico in immigration limbo

Griffin said he doesnt know what led the USCIS to grant the waiver for Karen, whether her request to expedite the waiver had simply gone through bureaucratic channels, or whether it was the Inquirers story, a 6ABC news report, or a push from Sen. Bob Caseys office.

He noted that one of the emails he received had been sent to Caseys office also.

Griffin was happy the Roberts case has advanced to this point, but said its not yet time to throw a party until all the hurdles are completed.

This was a very special hardship case, Griffin said. I dont think Ive ever had a case where there are five children separated from their mother. And this was a woman who was 100% American since she came here as a child.
Philadelphia police keep watch over the Our Mother of Consolation Parish School, in the city's Chestnut Hill section, which was damaged in a Tuesday fire. Read more

When the fire that tore through Our Mother of Consolation Parish School on Tuesday was extinguished, at first there was relief: Everyone had gotten out safely; only one firefighter suffered minor injuries.

And then, the gravity of the situation hit Patricia Sheetz, principal of the Chestnut Hill Catholic school.

Though the bones of the historic, 140-year-old stone structure likely wont need to be torn down, everything inside the school is unusable. Every textbook and computer, all the classroom accoutrements that educators spent decades assembling, each crayon and pencil and ruler and workbook will need to be replaced.

 READ MORE: A three-alarm fire at a Chestnut Hill Catholic school is under control

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In the short term, the school, with 230 children in preschool through eighth grade, is closed. Sheetz is finalizing details on a temporary space and hopes to resume classes as soon as possible, but shes also allowing herself a little time to mourn what was lost.

Its heartbreaking  to think of the little kids and their artwork, their musical instruments, notes theyve written to us, thats all gone, said Sheetz, who has been principal for five years.

The fire began at about 3:40 p.m. Tuesday, on the roof of the school on East Chestnut Hill Avenue. It quickly grew to a three-alarm blaze that required the response of 120 fire personnel. Authorities are still investigating its cause.

Sheetz is profoundly glad the fire happened on a beautiful day. The children who otherwise would have been inside at OMCs after-school program were outside playing and able to get to safety quickly.

A neighbor offered to take children in the house, with the teachers, to get them away so they didnt have to stand there watching the fire, said Sheetz. It was truly a blessing.

In a letter to the OMC community, Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Perez said his heart dropped when he heard of the fire. But, he said, While this is a difficult time, it is not one of despair. Much work has already been done to provide for the educational needs of school families and to ensure safety on the grounds of the parish.

Indeed, even as firefighters still battled the flames, Sheetzs phone was ringing with offers of help from other schools, from the archdiocese itself. People have offered classrooms and supplies. In just a few days, other schools  some of them in communities less resourced than Chestnut Hill, a fact that is not lost on the staff  have held fundraisers and promised more.

It is just an amazing, beautiful community, Sheetz said. The neighborhood, alumni, people who were teachers or principals in the past, all came by, just to hug me, to offer support.

The staff realizes how traumatic the fire was for students. Parents have Sheetzs cell phone number and an open offer to call if their children want reassurance from their principal.

Its really important that we see this through their eyes, how worried the children are, to comfort them, to let them say, This was scary, said Sheetz, who also led OMC through COVID-19. And to tell them, Were still here for you.

Sheetz and her staff are focused on keeping things as normal as possible for students under the circumstances.

The schools upper grades kept their pre-scheduled class trip, traveling to Eastern State Penitentiary on Friday. An impromptu meet-and-greet with teachers and students cropped up Wednesday, with Jenks Academy of Arts and Sciences, the nearby Philadelphia School District school, offering its space for OMC to gather.

With all the schools materials and technology lost, virtual instruction isnt possible. Sheetz wants to make sure that when learning resumes, its at the same standard that always has been maintained by OMC, which won the coveted U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon of Excellence distinction in 2015.

We want to make sure we do things right, Sheetz said. She said on Friday that she expects to have an announcement on a temporary location imminently.

Once investigators complete their work and the churchs insurance company is able to assess the situation, Sheetz will have a better idea of details, but shes operating under the assumption that the building wont be usable for the rest of this academic year and for all of the 2023-24 school year.

The school had already been working on a fundraising campaign for its 160th anniversary  OMC first opened a school in 1862, and began operating in its current building in 1881. And though its sturdy stone construction fared well in the fire, the old building already had significant capital needs.

Now, the need for fundraising is even more important, said Allie Dolan, mother of four OMC students and president of the Home and School Association.

Were so grateful for the resources that are heading our way in this short time, but we have a really long road ahead, Dolan said.

And, she said, theres an opportunity to think about what an OMC education should look like moving forward, and how the school might use its space differently.

It feels good to galvanize the community outpouring into forward motion, Dolan said.

Theres a lot of layers of connection to our building  we were all just devastated at first; it felt like COVID again, she said. But by the second day, we were able to embrace OMC is more than a building. Its the people, its the sense of inclusiveness. Thats been bolstering all of us.
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A Philadelphia police officer examines the scene of a fatal multiple shooting along the 1900 block of North 19th Street in North Philadelphia on Sunday. Police said two men were killed and two injured. Read more

Philadelphias 2023 homicide total has surpassed 100 with another weekend of gun violence that included a quadruple shooting that left two people dead. In a nonfatal case, a 12-year-old was shot by his 10-year-old brother.

The 12-year-old was reported in stable condition at Temple University Hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the chest shortly after 11:15 a.m. Sunday in the citys Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, police said. According to Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, the gun was left unattended in a house on the 2600 block of North Hollywood Street.

Thankfully, the child is currently in stable condition. Tragedies such as these have an impact on everyone, from the immediate family to the community, and everyone in between: siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, doctors, police officers, and neighbors, Outlaw said in a statement.

In the quadruple shooting, four men inside a house on the 1900 block of 19th Street in North Philadelphia were shot several times shortly before midnight Saturday. Two of the men, a 22-year-old and a 24-year-old, were shot multiple times, police said. Police took them to Temple Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

A paramedic unit took a third victim, a 20-year-old man who was shot once in the neck, to Temple, where he was reported in critical condition, police said.

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The fourth victim, a 32-year-old man shot twice in a leg, was taken to Temple by a private vehicle. He was reported in stable condition. Police said they recovered three firearms but made no arrests.

The Philadelphia Police Departments Shooting Investigation Group was looking into both the Strawberry Mansion shooting and double homicide.

Although the number of gun fatalities is about 16% lower than at this time last year, according to the Police Departments crime statistics, gun violence continues to plague the city.

Police said they are investigating three additional shootings from the weekend:

A 22-year-old woman on the 5100 block of Harlan Street in West Philadelphia was found unresponsive Saturday at 10:12 p.m. in a living room but there was no visible trauma or blood. A bullet casing was found in the hallway of her apartment. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

On the 7300 block of Castor Avenue in Rhawnhurst, a 47-year-old man was shot once in the right leg early Sunday morning, around 3:30 a.m. He was taken to Temple Hospital in stable condition.

Sunday morning, at about 6:16 a.m., a 21-year-old woman was shot once in the chest on the 3200 block of Front Street in South Philadelphia and was in stable condition at Temple.
The Trinseo Altuglas facility in Bristol, Pa., where an estimated 8,100 gallons of a latex emulsion solution spilled into Otter Creek and then the Delaware River late Friday. Read more

A chemical plant in Bristol that authorities said caused a toxic spill, threatening Philadelphias drinking water, has a long history of mishaps  including at least four recent contamination incidents.

The complex is owned by chemical company Trinseo, which produces acrylic products such as Altuglas, which is similar to Plexiglas. But the site is part of a cluster of industrial companies along the Delaware River north of Philadelphia that has hosted chemical giants since the early 20th Century.

Friday nights spill, officials said, contained methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, which are commonly used to produce glass-like acrylics, but are also all regarded as hazardous to humans. Butyl acrylate was among the hazardous materials detected at the recent East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment site.

Many incidents, similar chemicals

Throughout its history the site has been subject to frequent monitoring by government regulators. Over the past decade, the U.S. Coast Guard twice before detected releases of acrylates from the Bristol facility into the Delaware. The EPA had separately flagged two other acrylate releases.

David Salas-de la Cruz, a Rutgers University associate professor of chemistry, worked at the Bristol plant during its Rohm and Haas days. He said the number of incidents over the past decade was unusual.

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Thats a lot. Thats not normal, he said. Thats too many incidents involving similar chemicals.

 READ MORE: Philly water is safe to drink until at least Tuesday afternoon after chemical spill, officials say

In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigated what the agency described as the Arkema plants release of 1,760 pounds of methyl methacrylate during transfer to a storage tank. An EPA report states the incident later led to the excavation and disposal of the contaminated soil.

The EPA documented another release, this time of butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, that required remediation between 2012 and 2013. Then, in 2014, records from the United States Coast Guard National Response Center show that the plant spilled 300 gallons of ethyl acrylate, triggering a facility evacuation and a shelter-in-place order for a local school. Soil and asphalt contaminated by the chemicals were later removed from the site.

In 2020, the EPA issued a corrective action plan for a 60-acre area encompassing the former Rohm and Haas facility as well as some surrounding land that had been used for chemical or wastewater processing for over a century. The agency found that the groundwater throughout the area was contaminated with a variety of organic and inorganic chemicals.

In early 2021, the Coast Guard identified an Arkema pipeline at the facility as the source of another leak involving an unknown quantity of methyl methacrylate.

Janet Smith, a spokesperson for Arkema, said she had no recollection of chemical mishaps at the plant, but that all of the employees and records went to Trinseo. Were not able to say a whole lot of that because we expunged all that.

EPA records do not list any violations from the acrylics section of the facility since Trinseo acquired the Bristol plant in 2021.

Until the 1990s, the sprawling chemical plant was operated by Philadelphia chemical giant Rohm and Haas. The company had operated in that location since at least 1917, when it cleared much of the nearby community of Maple Beach, Pa., to expand operations. It began producing the acrylic glass product marketed as Plexiglas at the site as far back as the 1940s.

Rohm & Haas later partnered with the French chemical concern Elf Atochem S.A. to continue manufacturing Plexiglas in 1992. In 1998, Elf Atochem became the sole owner of this acrylics business, but soon spun off the division into a new company, called Arkema, in 2004.

Quickly reopened

Arkema operated the Bristol plant for much of the past two decades.

Separately, Dow Chemical spun off several of its own subsidiaries in 2009, which were purchased by Bain Capital and rebranded as Trinseo in 2012 (Bain later divested from the new firm).

In 2021, Trinseo, which is headquartered in Wayne, Pa., acquired Arkemas acrylics division, and has continued producing acrylic and resin products like Altuglas at the Bristol site, for use in automotive, construction, medical products and other consumer goods.

Salas-de la Cruz, the Rutgers professor, said he was also surprised the plant had reopened so soon after the recent spill.

When I was at Rohm & Haas, safety was their first priority, he said. But theyve already opened again. The question is, did they fix the problem? And was this burst related to the prior incidents?

Trinseo officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The roughly $3 billion company saw its stock price drop around 5% on Monday amid news that it had briefly idled the acrylics plant after the spill.

Staff writer Frank Kummer contributed to this article.

An earlier version of this article listed an incorrect date for Dows acquisition of Rohm & Haas.
In August 2015, my wife Dora came home and said that she had an incident while driving. She had stopped at an intersection and suddenly couldnt remember where she was going.

A year later, after she had experienced several other strange episodes, she told me what really happened that day in August. One minute she was driving, and then the next, she blacked out and woke up on someones lawn while the car was idling on the sidewalk. She managed to get up and drive home. She was worried that if she told me the truth the day it happened, Id be scared. She was right.

By then, we had been accustomed to smaller mental health episodes for more than a decade. The first odd moments came in 2004, when Dora would sometimes act like a baby, or suddenly lose (and later regain) her ability to talk. Its just stress, the doctors told us. Besides, Dora was 40 then; she was too young to have dementia, they said.

I thought so, too. Dora was one of the healthiest people I knew, and since I met her, she could light up a room with her charisma and enthusiasm. We met in the Navy in 1990 on an exercise hunting for submarines, and when we got married a year later, we became coconspirators, partners in everything  business, church, and the military. She was up for any adventure, and when Id accompany her to meetings or conferences, people would look me over as if to say, A woman this great married you?

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But after the 2015 episode, it was clear that Dora was experiencing far more than stress or anxiety. She couldnt focus and had to quit her job.

Doctor after doctor minimized her symptoms. Try to calm down, they told her.

Doctor after doctor minimized her symptoms.

In the absence of any formal diagnosis, I started doing my own research. Several months later, I took her to see a neurologist. I thought Dora might have early-onset Alzheimers. The neurologist was skeptical  again, Dora was too young  but he agreed to order an MRI and a PET scan that would reveal what was happening in Doras brain. Finally, I thought: A PET scan can identify the signs of Alzheimers years before symptoms appear; maybe this would tell us what was happening and let us get ahead of it.

But when we arrived on the morning of the scans, a nurse said that our private insurance refused to pay for the tests. We were unable to afford the cost out of pocket, so the scans were canceled.

The memory of this infuriates me. But its a scenario that happens every day in America.

By September 2020, Doras condition was going downhill. Her episodes had gotten worse and more frequent. She turned mean and incoherent, often staying up for days yelling at invisible people or accusing me of outlandish things. She occasionally wandered off. Our entire town knew to look out for Dora and call me if they saw her wandering.

Meanwhile, I was struggling, too. I could hardly sleep. My business was collapsing. I was constantly worried about her.

A few months later, while we were in the kitchen, Dora became belligerent and grabbed a knife to stab me. I turned on my phone camera while she raged at me. Then I called 911. The police took Dora, and I nearly collapsed with exhaustion.

Finally, we got the help we had spent years asking for. She was taken to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she was given extensive tests for Alzheimers. The bill was almost $100,000.

The tests came back as I feared. Dora had late-stage Alzheimers. She was 56.

 READ MORE: Dementia, Alzheimers have reached crisis point, Penn researcher says. Heres what we can do about it.

Dora, now 57, is taking medication I pay for out of pocket, and appears more coherent. It pains me to think how long it took for doctors to take us seriously, to see what was obvious to us. More doctors need to be aware of the early signs of dementia, and not write them off in younger patients, particularly in our area. A 2020 report from Blue Cross Blue Shield found that rates of early-onset dementia (in patients as young as 30) tripled between 2013 and 2017, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey were among the most affected states.

There is no cure for Alzheimers, but if Dora had gotten a diagnosis earlier, we could have at least known what was happening, gotten some help, and tried to slow the disease. Perhaps she would still be next to me, not living in memory care.

The stigma of Alzheimers tends to fill people with embarrassment and shame. But in Doras case, finally knowing what is wrong, she has found peace. In her clear-minded moments, we pray together and talk about the future. In one of these moments recently, she asked me to write our story and share it to ensure others dont have to go through what she did. Thats one thing that never changed about Dora: using her experience, even if it was bad, to help someone else.

William Collier is a principal at Intellz, a strategic digital services firm. He lives in Blossburg, Tioga County.
Tear gas is fired at protesters on I-676 on the third day of Philadelphia protests in response to the police shooting of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. Read more

Every morning, when I wake and pick up the child who sleeps in the crib, my husband and I pull her into bed between us. From either side, we gently croon a Raffi song. I breastfeed her awake.

All this like clockwork.

Also like clockwork: the way my forearm goes numb as I nurse her.

Its nerve damage, damage from the zip ties the police bound demonstrators like me with as punishment for a nonviolent protest near the Art Museum, for nonviolently marching in response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The ties were so tight they caused nerve damage in my arm that, three years later, still hasnt healed.

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Occasionally, the numbness is simply that: numbness.

Most of the time, though, its a prompt for difficult memories. What should be a tender moment of togetherness becomes a reminder of police violence, of clouds of tear gas, of screams and hails of rubber bullets. Of women screaming in pain in the back of a police van as the zip ties dug into our flesh.

On Tuesday morning, I remembered all that again. I usually do.

But that day, another thought emerged for the first time: a small measure of justice.

On Monday, Philadelphia announced it would pay more than $9 million to protesters like me, who were hit with tear gas and rubber bullets during the 2020 protests. This historic settlement is not a complete victory, but it is absolutely a win.

This historic settlement is not a complete victory, but it is absolutely a win.

It is a win not because of the money, but because it means we were able to hold our city government and the police accountable for their violent attacks on Black communities, and on protesters exercising our First Amendment rights.

I and other participants in the lawsuit organized, fought, and forced them to reckon with their wrongdoing.

At the same time, this settlement, by itself, fixes nothing.

My forearm still goes numb when I nurse my child. It also happens when I push her stroller up a hill.

My husband still has scars from where the so-called rubber bullets hit him as he tried to help people on I-676 comply with police orders and escape clouds of tear gas.

We were out there to protest deadly police brutality, and police brutality is what we received.

 READ MORE: Shapiros transition team sends a bad message to women

Hardest hit was the Black community of West Philadelphia. Their children were gassed in their own homes. Their elder family members were shot in their own neighborhoods by police eager to shut down critical speech with brutal force.

What happened to my husband and me was an injustice, but that injustice pales in comparison with how entire Black communities were gassed and terrorized by police during those days of protest.

As an elected West Philadelphia committeeperson, I am still outraged by this.

As a mother, I am still outraged by this.

This settlement is a win, but we cannot afford to let it be our last or only win.

For the sake of this citys future and the safety of our communities, we cant afford to pretend that this small measure of justice fixes the systemic violence we were out there protesting or the violence that Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney allowed police to visit on us and our neighborhoods.

It is exhausting to hear this years mayoral contenders compete to reward and further enable a Police Department that has proven time and time again that it will visit racist force on Black communities and antiracist activists in response to any provocation, real or imagined.

The last thing we should be doing is emboldening cops. What we should be focused on is limiting their ability to act as an occupying military that treats civilians as enemy combatants.

We need our City Council and mayoral candidates to back a full ban on use of so-called less lethal ordnance like rubber bullets, chemical weapons like tear gas, and sonic cannons against civilians who arent inflicting bodily harm on others.

Without such a ban, police will once again find excuses to gear up and go to war against nonviolent protesters and nonwhite neighborhoods.

They will lie and invent reasons to gas and shoot and scar us and our neighbors in vulnerable communities. Again.

We deserve better. Our neighborhoods deserve better.

Our aspiring leaders can commit to meeting this need now, or they can face us as we organize, build power, and force their hand.

Either way, we will fight for justice. We will do what liberation-minded organizers do, and ensure that, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice.

And ultimately, we will win.

Again.

Gwen Snyder is a professional organizer and longtime Philadelphia activist.
Here's what to know about the 2023 ballot questions during the Primary Read more

The 2023 primary election will be held on May 16.

This year, voters in Philadelphia will be asked to answer four ballot questions: a new division within the Commerce Department, changes to the citys rainy day fund, exemptions for the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, and the creation of the Public Safety Officer position.

Heres what to know about the ballot questions:

QUESTION 1

Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to expand the requirements for annual minimum appropriations to the Budget Stabilization Reserve, more commonly known as the rainy day fund?

For context: In 2011, Philadelphians voted to approve the Budget Stabilization Reserve, better known as the rainy day fund.

This reserve has a General Fund, established by the director of finance. Funds allocated here, called General Fund Revenue, depends on whether or not the citys fiscal year budget has a surplus. These contributions are called appropriations.

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The portion of the General Fund Revenue coming from local taxes and fees is called Unrestricted Local General Fund Revenues.

The director of finance stabilizes the rainy day fund. This position maintains the Budget Stabilization Reserve as a separate fund from other city funds, makes deposits, invests, and allows withdrawals.

If approved, this amendment will:

Require the director of finance to make projections of the rainy day fund in any five-year plan they prepare. Increase how much money is placed in the Budget Stabilization Reserve from a maximum of 5% of the General Fund to 17% of the projected General Fund Revenue for the end of the current fiscal year.

Since the creation of the rainy day budget, when the General Fund Balance projection was 3% or more, 0.75% of the Unrestricted Local General Fund Revenue was to be saved. If the amendment is approved, this will change, based on how big the projected surplus is:

When the projection is 3% or more, but less than 5%, 0.75% of the Unrestricted Local General Fund Revenue will be saved. When the projection is 5%, but less than 8%, 1% of the Unrestricted Local General Fund Revenue will be saved. When the projection is 8% or more, they will either save the portion that exceeds the 8% threshold or 1% of the Unrestricted Local General Fund Revenue, whichever is greater.

If approved, the provisions relating to the Budget Stabilization Reserve will be applied to the 2025 Fiscal Year annual operating budget ordinance.

QUESTION 2

Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create the Division of Workforce Solutions within the Department of Commerce and to define its duties?

For context: The Department of Commerce provides services for small and big businesses in the city. Companies can connect with financing resources, including finding loans through the Philadelphia lending network, bidding on city contracts, registering a company as a minority, woman, or disabled-owned business, and reporting contract fraud, abuse, waste, and safety issues at job sites. Its also in charge of maintaining, improving, operating, and building (when authorized by City Council) piers, docks, and harbor facilities.

If approved, the Division of Workforce Solutions would:

Promote workforce development. Provide information on job training and skills development. Help connect folks to job training and employment opportunities. Generate information about city and workforce development programs.

The Division of Workforce will be led by one or multiple members in leadership roles at the Department of Commerce. Currently, the department has 10 people in leadership positions distributed across six offices.

QUESTION 3

Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to make employees of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission exempt from civil service hiring requirements?

For context: The Citizens Police Oversight Commissions role is to help hold the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) accountable, evaluate and help improve police officer conduct, make officers disciplinary processes clearer, explain procedures for submitting and considering citizens complaints of police misconduct, and improve the communication between the PPD and the community.

Members are currently not exempt from civil service hiring requirements, which is a system of evaluating people based on merit principles when it comes to appointing, promoting, demoting, or laying off someone.

People exempt include officers elected by the people and their deputies, the director of finance, the mayors secretaries and clerks, among a few other selected positions.

According to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, exempted employment is carefully limited so that it shall not serve as an avenue for evading the civil service requirements of the Charter.

If approved, employees appointed by the Citizens Police Oversight Commission will join the list of people exempt from the civil service hiring requirements.

QUESTION 4

Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create the Office of the Chief Public Safety Director and to define its powers, duties and responsibilities?

For context: Thechief public safety director will be a new position, created tocoordinatePhiladelphia public safety responses. The legislation /comes as Philadelphia experiences its third year of an unprecedented number of homicides.

The director would be among the top four administrative positions in city government alongside the mayor, managing director, and finance director.

If approved, the Office of the Chief Public Safety Director will be created. Deciding who leads it falls on the Mayor, with City Council approval. This person will be added to the mayors cabinet and will receive a yearly $265,000 salary. That is $41,000 more than Mayor Jim Kennys annual base salary ($224,000).

The creation of the position comes with the following functions:
Customers at Sprouts grocery at S. Broad and Carpenter in Philadelphia buying water after a shipment arrived on Monday, March 27, 2023. Read more

City residents are left with questions after a chemical spill potentially contaminated a portion of Philadelphias water supply over the weekend. Tap water is safe to drink in the city through at least 11:59 p.m. Monday, but officials are developing a water-distribution plan in case the quality of the citys drinking water is impacted by the chemical spill in the Delaware River.

On Friday, a little more than 8,000 gallons of acrylic latex polymer was spilled into Otter Creek in Bristol Township, Bucks County, which then flowed into the Delaware River. The chemical processing plant responsible for the spill, Trinseo, cites equipment failure as the reason for the spill. While the chemical itself isnt extremely dangerous after its been diluted in millions of gallons of river water, direct exposure to large amounts of acrylic latex can be toxic, according to public health experts.

After testing Phillys water supply on Sunday and finding no contamination, various government agencies, including Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), cleared Philadelphia to use city tap water at least until Monday at midnight  when the potentially contaminated water shouldve had enough time to work its way through the treatment process.

However, that didnt stop residents from buying out many local stores supply of water bottles after the city earlier advised people in affected service areas on Sunday to switch to bottled water out of an abundance of caution.

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While Philly water is currently safe to drink, city residents have been asking a lot of questions. The Inquirer found some answers. (For the latest updates, follow The Inquirers live blog.)

Is it safe to use Philly water?

Yes, it is currently safe to use Philly water until at least 11:59 p.m. on Monday night, according to PWD.

The water treatment facility affected by the chemical spill, Baxter Water Treatment Plant, is the only facility out of the three serving Philly that is potentially contaminated. Since the spill, the water department has continuously tested the water at that facility and has yet to find contamination in the water. At midnight tonight, the potentially contaminated river water that entered the Baxter Water Treatment Plant will have had enough time to pass through the plants intake and treatment system, giving the city a better idea if the water is contaminated or not.

At 5 p.m. today, the city will hold a press conference to share any further updates prior to the midnight update time. As it stands now, residents can safely cook, clean, bathe and drink using Philly tap water.

Additionally, a large chunk of the city is unaffected by the potential water contamination. Areas of the city, mostly west of the Schuylkill River, get its water from either two other water treatment facilities that werent exposed to the chemical spill. You can see a map of affected areas at phillyh2o.info/spill-map.

To get alerts about drinking water quality, sign up for ReadyPhiladelphia by texting READYPHILA to 888-777.

Is doing laundry okay?

Yes, you can do your laundry as there are currently no contaminants in the water supply, according to PWD. However, check back with the Inquirer or sign up for water alerts to stay up to date.

Is it safe to bathe and brush your teeth?

Yes. Until you hear otherwise from PWD, Phillys water is currently safe to use to bathe, clean and brush your teeth.

What are the dangers of using contaminated water?

In general, contaminated and polluted water can lead to health risks, according to the World Health Organization. In the short term, contaminated water can make you sick with illnesses like diarrhea, which is the most widely known sickness associated with contaminated water. In the long term, using contaminated water can increase your risk of infection and disease, harming organs like kidneys and intestines and in some cases consuming carcinogens.

In the context of the recent chemical spill in Bucks County, the chemical spilled into the Delaware River is called acrylic latex polymer. This chemical is used for acrylic paints or as a finishing material to coat an object after its painted to make it more presentable and ensure the paint lasts longer.

In an interview with The Inquirer, Charles Haas, an environmental engineering professor at Drexel University, said that the chemical would be significantly diluted within the millions of gallons of water in the Delaware River  making his level of concern fairly low, even if the water is found to be contaminated. Haas also pointed to Phillys Baxter Water Treatment Plants ability to shut off the intake of water from the Delaware River while being able to utilize the facilitys own reservoir to pull water from in the meantime.

Additionally, Drexel Universitys Arthur Frank, an environmental public health physician and professor, said there are no long-lasting effects of this chemical in Phillys water supply.

Even if the city detected a small amount thats been diluted, there wont be any expected toxic effects to anybody who might drink this, said Frank. I got asked earlier if I would drink Philly tap water today, and the answer I gave was, Yes.

While Frank believes this spill wont result in any immediate issues to the water supply, emergencies like this one and the recent train derailment in Ohio are causes for a serious look into the funding of public health and water infrastructure, This is just another example of how ill-prepared we are for what will be these inevitable public health emergencies, said Frank.

Can you boil contaminated water at home to make it clean?

No. Unfortunately, boiling water only kills off bacteria, not chemicals, according to Frank. When the water supply is contaminated (which its currently not), you should switch to bottled water.

Can I feed my dog seltzer?

In small amounts. While there isnt a lot of research available on the topic, its generally not advisable to give your pet carbonated water in large amounts, according to Gary Richter, a veterinarian and expert who serves on a panel for the dog-walking app Rover. Carbonated beverages like seltzer and sparkling water can lead to gas buildup in your pet, which can result in physical discomfort and health concerns if a large amount is consumed.

Its not recommended you feed your pet bubbly water, but if youre in a tight squeeze, a small amount is OK.

How do I get water if all the stores near me are out?

If grocery stores near you are out of bottled water, check smaller convenience stores and gas stations in your neighborhood. You can also travel outside of the city where bottled water will be in greater supply.

Alternatively, you can search for at-home water delivery services. These companies, like Sinai Pure Spring Water in Nicetown, deliver bottled water and jugs of water to your home.
March 27, 2023: The Public Services Building, headquarters of the Philadelphia Police Department and other offices, is reflected in a puddle along North Broad at Buttonwood Street. The historic eighteen-story Beaux-Arts style skyscraper and former Inquirer and Daily News building - until the newspapers moved out in 2012 - opened in 1925 as the Elverson Building and in 1996, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Read more

Joe Elbert, prize winning former photo editor at the Miami Herald and Washington Post who led his department to four Pulitzer Prizes and many other awards, once said that newspaper pictures fall into four categories: informational, graphic, emotional and intimate.

The first kind are photos that show what somebody, something or some place looks like, and dont offer much more than that basic visual info. The emotional photos are the ones that make a visceral connection with the viewer. Pictures that let us feel empathy for the people who have allowed the photographer to share a part of their lives. Of the most aspirational photos in his hierarchy, Elbert says, I cant give you a description of an intimate picture; its something that can be felt.

The graphic pictures? Youre seeing a lot of them here. They are pictures that usually rely mainly on their composition. There is not much else happening. But they are fun to look at. And make.

The reflection in a puddle above definitely qualifies. I will confess to taking a similar photo lots of times. But I do pay attention to what I post here, and try not to repeat myself. Too often.

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Last week I wrote about the history of the corner around my old newspaper building. This week I was near that same intersection again, covering a board meeting in the Philadelphia School Districts headquarters on North Broad Street. The same building where the Inquirers photo studio was once located.

I was reflecting once more on the history of the neighborhood while walking out of the school budget meeting, and I couldnt help but notice the reflection on the sidewalk.

Other photo cliches you might see in this space? Yes, there have been a few over the years I have been posting photos here.

In April this weekly column will turn 25 (more on that here next week). Thats a lot shadows, silhouettes, juxtapositions, and yes, even other kinds of reflections. Sometimes Ive including pigeons, umbrellas, hats or cigars. Occasionally a bicyclist or pedestrian mightve appeared, passing through the frame, captured at a slow shutter speed to portray an illusion of motion. Oh, and maybe something anthropomorphic. But definitely no forced perspective pictures (Nope, I do not like those).

Most are scenes Ive noticed, and shared, while working as a newspaper photographer on other assignments where I am striving to make those more intimate images, the ones that can be felt.

Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralishs Scene Through the Lens photo column in The Inquirers local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:

 SEE MORE: Archived columns and Twenty years of a photo column
The union that represents Philadelphia public-school teachers on Monday endorsed former Councilmember Helen Gym for mayor, throwing the weight of one of the citys most politically potent labor unions behind a longtime education advocate.

Members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers voted overwhelmingly for the union to pick Gym, who won four times as many votes as the candidate who finished in second, said Jerry Jordan, president of the PFT.

Jordan said in an interview that he wasnt surprised by the outcome, saying Gym has been around the members of the PFT for literally decades. He recalled marching alongside her more than 20 years ago in protest of the state takeover of the citys school district.

Shes been with us when in fact no other [mayoral candidate] was, he said.

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Gym, a former teacher who in 2006 founded the organization Parents United for Public Schools, is a longtime activist who for years railed against the School Reform Commission, the state-controlled board that ran the School District of Philadelphia for 17 years.

She has since built her political image around improving the citys schools, and said she vowed to PFT membership that shed be a reliable partner if elected mayor.

Saving our city is going to come in many ways through caring for our children and families, and that especially includes public schools, she said. I have a real vision for how they should be in harmony with peoples lives and with the vision of the city going forward.

Gym said her education plan includes reengaging families back into our schools following a turbulent three years, addressing a shortage of teachers that has plagued schools across the country, and modernizing school buildings.

The endorsement comes as the city government and the School District are at odds. Last week, the district sued the city over legislation passed last year that forms a public oversight board that evaluates environmental conditions and determines whether school buildings are safe enough for children and staff.

The announcement also comes nearly four months ahead of the May primary election. In 2015, when Mayor Jim Kenney ran for the office for the first time, he won the PFT endorsement in March  just two months before election day.

Whats different this cycle is the size of the field. Nine Democrats have officially launched campaigns, and at least two others are still considering getting in the race, reflecting one of the most sprawling fields in decades.

 READ MORE: And then there were nine: The Philly mayoral field could be the largest in years

The PFTs endorsement typically comes with a substantial get-out-the-vote apparatus, which can be especially useful in municipal election years when voter turnout is generally low. And while the group can only contribute $25,200 to Gym per year under the citys campaign-finance laws, individual members can contribute to the campaign, and the American Federation of Teachers could spend in the Philadelphia race.

The only other major union to have made an endorsement in the mayors race so far is District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 9,500 blue-collar municipal employees. Earlier this month, the union  Philadelphias largest representing municipal workers  endorsed grocer Jeff Brown, a first-time candidate, in a surprise vote by its leadership board.

Other labor unions that typically get involved in municipal races are gearing up to make their picks. The local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, usually among the more progressive groups in organized labor, is expected to make an endorsement next month.

The citys coalition of building trades unions also has yet to make an endorsement, and it remains to be seen whether the more than 50 locals that make up the council will coalesce around one candidate.

And the unions that represent police and firefighters have not made public their timeline for when  or if  theyll pick a candidate to back.
Black Philadelphians and households making less than $50,000  populations deeply affected by housing policies from the federal to the local level  are most likely to say housing affordability and homelessness should be top priorities for Philadelphia.

Overall, about three in five Philadelphians think these need to be top priorities for the citys next mayor to address, according to a Lenfest Institute for Journalism/SSRS poll that surveyed more than 1,200 people about issues facing the city.

Twice as many Black residents as white ones think housing affordability should be a top priority. Three-quarters of Black survey respondents prioritized it, compared with fewer than two in five white respondents.

Overall, Philadelphians ranked crime as the citys most important issue. But where households can afford to live determines how much they are affected by crime and especially the citys ongoing gun violence crisis.

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Two-thirds of survey respondents who said gun violence has a major impact on their community said affordable housing should be a top priority in the city. They prioritized housing more often than those who are less affected or unaffected by gun violence.

 READ MORE: Black home buyers face barriers from past racist policies and current practices

Black Philadelphians are most likely to be victims of gun violence, to be evicted, and to need help paying for housing. More than 80% of the roughly 20,000 Philadelphia households with rental vouchers through a program commonly known as Section 8 are Black, according to the city.

At a City Council hearing last week, Dionna Roundtree testified about the challenges she faced after she finally got her voucher in 2020  a year after her youngest son was shot across the street from her Southwest Philadelphia apartment owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

Landlords questioned whether she could actually afford homes. One place she looked at didnt have any grocery stores nearby.

I saw a lot of houses where landlords said they would accept the voucher. But once they saw me in person, that flew out the window, said Roundtree, 50. Once they saw me in person, that I was a Black woman, that was the end of a lot of searches.

 READ MORE: To prevent housing-voucher discrimination, renters, housing advocates, and city agencies want more resources

She was eventually able to find a landlord willing to take her voucher.

In the survey, Black and Latino residents and Philadelphians with lower household incomes rated an array of housing policies as higher priorities than other residents did. These included providing funding to help people with housing costs, requiring developers to build more affordable housing in order to receive building permits, increasing the amount of temporary housing, and providing more support for people with serious mental illnesses or drug addictions.

Affordable housing: Its a problem

When Marie Jean, a retired certified nursing assistant who emigrated from Haiti in the 1970s, moved to Philadelphia in 2018, a lot of apartments she could afford were not in safe areas. She liked the Bustleton neighborhood in the Far Northeast, so she settled for a studio there.

Rent kept rising, and she wanted more space for her money. But she couldnt afford $1,150 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. She searched for two years until she found her current place for $940 in the lower Northeast.

 READ MORE: Low incomes make Philadelphia homes less affordable, Pew study finds

People like me, I dont have no overtime, holiday time. I only have one check, said Jean, 69. Its like you work all your life and now to find a place to stay, its a problem.

Of the respondents whose households make less than $50,000 per year, 69% said affordable housing should be a top priority for the city. That share dropped to 45% for households making $50,000 to just below $150,000 and fell to 27% for those making $150,000 or more.

Philadelphia has the reputation of being a relatively affordable place to buy and rent homes, especially compared with high-priced neighbors. But Philadelphians low incomes make homes less affordable.

Among residents who pay for housing, the city is evenly split between those who think its somewhat or very easy to pay and those who find paying somewhat or very difficult, according to the poll.

Carol Ferraro, 79, calls herself one of the lucky ones. She owns outright the condo she and her husband bought five decades ago in the Far Northeast. I feel for other people when I see them, she said.

Theyre building housing for all these people to live that are expensive. How about affordable housing for people who cant afford those high prices and veterans who need housing? she said. You got two or three families living in one home. Its a disgrace.

Unstable housing

Most people who have been homeless in the last three years but now have homes still find paying rent or mortgage somewhat or very difficult, according to the survey.

Residents who have been homeless or had unstable housing within the last three years were more likely than those with secure housing to say Philadelphia isnt a good place to live. And people who have an easier time paying for their homes are more likely than those who struggle to think the city is heading in the right direction.

Mike Tan is considering leaving Philadelphia, where hes spent all 29 years of his life, and moving down south. He said that hes concerned about crime and drug use and that the average rent is exorbitant right now. It just keeps going up.

He got kicked out of his parents house and has been kind of floating around since age 17, he said. Hes mostly relied on people he knows for housing.

Tan, who works for Shady Brook Farm in Bucks County, and his girlfriend, a server at the Dining Car in Northeast Philadelphia, rent the first floor of a duplex for $1,400 a month there.

Its a struggle, to be honest, Tan said. I was out of work a couple times, which made it more difficult, but luckily weve been able to maintain thus far.

Still (slightly) a city of homeowners

Philadelphia has long had a reputation as a city of homeowners. According to the survey, just more than half of Philadelphians own their homes.

The more money households make, the more likely they are to be homeowners. Three-quarters of residents with household incomes of $150,000 or more are homeowners. But households all along the income spectrum own homes.

About two in five residents with household incomes less than $50,000 own their homes.

MaryAlyce Rensa of West Philadelphia, a 70-year-old veteran who works part time as a professional counselor, wants to become a homeowner, but life keeps draining her savings. She paid thousands for lifesaving medical care for her beloved cat Diablo a few years ago, and then when she built her funds back up, the pandemic hit.

She wasnt able to work for almost a year, and her $1,900-a-month Social Security payments werent enough. She ran through her savings and had to choose between paying bills and eating. She didnt make rent a few times.

 READ MORE: High prices and low supply make buying a home harder, especially for Black households

Shed like to work less, but she cant afford to. Not if she wants to buy a home. That means more clients and more of the sitting that hurts her back.

Its still a substantial amount of money I need to have, she said. I cant afford over $100,000. So thats scary. In this market and what I see out there, thats scary.
Since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, police departments across the country have come under intense scrutiny for excessive use of force, particularly for incidents involving Black suspects. George Floyd's murder is one of many in recent years that highlight the abuses of power that have been present in American law enforcement for centuries.

Police officers are often called to respond to dangerous and violent situations, and are issued service weapons to defend themselves and the public. More than 1,000 suspects are killed by law enforcement in the U.S. each year, and the majority of those killings are deemed to be justified by oversight officials.

Over the 10 years from 2013 to 2022, a reported 11,160 people were killed by police officers in the United States, according to Mapping Police Violence, a research collaborative that collects data on police killings across the nation. Adjusting for population, this comes out to around 3.4 police killings for every 100,000 people. However, the number of police killings in the last 10 years varies considerably from state to state.

In Louisiana, 219 police killings were reported from 2013 to 2022, or about 4.7 for every 100,000 residents, the 13th most among states. While there are a multitude of relevant factors to consider when deadly force is used, 44% of those killed by police (with available data) did not have a gun, and 31% were fleeing.

Among cases involving deadly use of force that are no longer pending further review, 93% of officers involved were not disciplined or charged with a crime.

All data related to police killings is from Mapping Police Violence, a research collaborative that collects data on police killings across the nation from the country's three largest comprehensive and impartial crowdsourced databases. Population- adjusted figures were calculated using five-year 2021 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Leading from the front The Insurance Business Global 100, now in its fourth year, celebrates those who have made and continue to make an impact in the industry. IBs team analyzed the best and most deserving insurance professionals across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific and the UK before finalizing the prestigious list. All those selected are innovating and advancing, as well as championing causes and promoting education. One of those on the list, REInsurePro CEO Shawn Woedl, says, Its such an honor to be included on this list that features people Ive looked up to, learned from, and patterned some of my business practices after. Being in the presence of these leaders motivates me to continue to stress-test the market and push the envelope in finding creative solutions to the evolving needs of our partners and their clients.

Disrupting to be the best in insurance

Being named to the Global 100 caps a 30-year career for Daniel Lukich. The sales and strategic relationship manager at AAMC in Australia wants to leave a legacy of efficiency.

He explains, Innovation will come from companies like ours, where were nimble enough to try different things and innovate.

Lukich joined AAMC 18 months ago with a remit to draw on his experience and professional network. Part of his role has seen the business:

reset their website

reset their business proposition

set up as thought leaders

host webinars

obtain speaking guest slots at conferences



Now we have flipped from being seen as a behind-the-scenes service provider to use when you have to, whether its a catastrophe or overflow, to actually being a leader in generating customer service and cost-effective repairs, explains Lukich.

He has built a career in auto repair after beginning as a motor body repairer in his teens. His specialty has been creating supply chains for large insurance companies to rely on.

Lukich describes how the auto claims process hasnt changed significantly in the past 20 years.

Because peoples lives are busy and most of the stuff is going OK, they have one claim. Its a little bit slow and clunky. They live with it. Its such an unusual event. And thats probably what prevented some insurance companies from really looking at customer service from a claims perspective, he says.

This mindset has enabled Lukich to make his mark throughout his career. He is particularly proud of the impact its having at AAMC, where his reputation and contacts have paid dividends.

In my career, Ive managed to create connections with the people that are in the C-suite, who run the insurance companies, he says. I think were qualified now to challenge what the insurers do in a nice way and try and show them a better way, to cut out the touch points and be seen as subject matter experts, not just the supplier of last resort.

Being in the presence of these leaders motivates me to continue to stress-test the market and push the envelope in finding creative solutions to the evolving needs of our partners and their clients

Shawn Woedl, REInsurePro

Donna Scully has also risen to the top of the insurance industry, using her own drive and determination. She left school at 16, qualified as a lawyer at 30, and is now the joint owner and director of Carpenters Group in the UK. The firm employs 1,000 people and works in partnership with insurers, brokers and MGAs to deliver a variety of fully outsourced claims solutions.

Scully has prioritized creating a streamline process with a single platform, enabling the company to become such a powerful player.

We do all our in-house development and IT; we have about 60 or 70 people, whereas theyve got legacy systems because an insurance company has usually bought three other insurance companies along the way, she explains. Theyre like big tankers; were more agile and innovative. What I say to them is, Youre very good at underwriting, and youre very good at selling, but youre not actually that good at handling claims, and its costing you too much, so I can do it far cheaper than you. We have to deliver because were the custodians of those brands as an outsourcer, and we build trust.

Part of Scullys success is based on maintaining those same high standards internally.

You own a business, and you want that business to be very professional and ethical. You want to never stand still, but theres a lot of work that we wouldnt do, she adds. There are a lot of people we wouldnt work for. You have to be strong and let it go because its not good for my business or my reputation.

Drawing on her own experiences, Scully is proud that Carpenters offer employees a path to senior levels of the business.

Social mobility and diversity, inclusion, and equity are massive for me. I want to change things in a positive way. I want to engage and want to hear what other people have to say, but I also want people to challenge me too.

I think were qualified now to challenge what the insurers do in a nice way and try and show them a better way

Daniel Lukich, AAMC

Learning and adapting to be the best in insurance

For Carol Laufer, her description of over three decades at the top of the American industry is akin to Hollywood movies.

To be a leader is to be able to predict the future, to be able to see whats coming, and to do something about it, which I guess takes a little bit of risk, she explains. When you make a prediction, you hope that it comes true, and as you go on in your career and you start seeing things over and over again, you have a better chance of calling the right shot.

By a stroke of fate, Laufer, who is regional head of North American liability for Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, has witnessed several significant events that have impacted her career:

1991 Civil Rights Act

2000 Y2K: People wondered if the lights were going to go off or if the machinery wasnt going to work. We talked to every single insured we had.

2001 World Trade Center collapse: We had to deal as underwriters with workers compensation here in the United States.

2008 subprime mortgage crisis

2012: After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, we, as underwriters, had to think about insuring public school entities.



Laufer underlines the effect of those on her and her colleagues.

They were things that we never saw before, things that we necessarily never even dreamed of, and they said, How can we cover this, or sometimes not cover it? But we always tried to cover it, and if it didnt fit into liability, then hopefully it would fit into another area of insurance.

And she adds, We were able to sit at a table calmly, sometimes during a great deal of crisis and uncertainty, and work together to keep trying to insure our clients, regardless of what was happening.

The industry is also far more welcoming than what Laufer experienced when she joined in the 1980s, and this is a change she has helped drive.

Since I began, its been a completely different world; we really learned to work together and get diverse thoughts into the conversation, she says. We spend several months here at Allianz and at other places reviewing employees, giving employees feedback, becoming self-aware ourselves, and trying to bring everybody into a place where they can make goals and achieve them.

Mike Falvey, the founder, CEO and president of Falvey Insurance Group, was also named to the Global 100 and attributes his success to three key directives:

prioritizing culture over strategy

staying focused

keeping his word



Its a huge honor to be considered for a global industry recognition like this, he says.

To be a leader is to be able to predict the future, to be able to see whats coming, and to do something about it

Carol Laufer, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
When asked what differentiates him from his peers, Bedggood said: [I have an] unending and relentless drive to get the job done correctly, so that in the event of a claim, it gets paid. I'm that annoying broker who asks more than just the simple questions.
Jen is perfectly well-positioned to support our growth ambitions in London across our key lines of business and out of the US where Acrisure has a sizeable footprint, said Ghassan Mansour, Managing Director and Head of Facultative Reinsurance at Acrisure Re.
We understand the fact that the owner operator doesnt want to be sitting down when they get hurt or injured. They want to get right back in the cab. So, were being very lenient about that because we understand the exposures are not as high.
Have something to say about this story? Let us know in the comments below.
By eliminating one-way attorney fees and fee multipliers for all lines of insurance, modernizing Floridas bad faith law, and protecting small businesses from paying exorbitant damages, the reforms enacted will help restore fairness to Floridas legal system, reduce the excessive number of frivolous lawsuits being filed, and ultimately help benefit consumers by increasing the availability and affordability of insurance over time, a statement from American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) read.
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WEST READING, Pa. (AP)  Firefighters battled a blaze in Pennsylvania Friday after an explosion at a chocolate factory injured eight people and sent a plume of black smoke into the air above West Reading.

Berks County fire crews remained on the scene at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant Friday night about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia. But few other details have been released.

Tower Health spokeswoman Jessica Bezler said eight people were taken to Reading Hospital Friday evening.

Two were admitted in fair condition and five were being treated and would be released, she said in an email to The Associated Press. She said one patient was transferred to another facility, but provided no other details.

The explosion occurred shortly before 5 p.m. in a building at the plant at Second Avenue and Cherry Street. Debris covered roads in the area, NBC10 in Philadelphia first reported.

Photo: In this screen grab from video provided by WPVI-TV/6ABC, smoke rises from an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading, Pa., Friday, March 24, 2023. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Numbers Pennsylvania Manufacturing
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SCITUATE, Mass. (AP)  A massive fire has destroyed five homes and damaged three others in a beachfront neighborhood in Scituate.

The fire broke out Friday night near Minot Beach. No injuries have been reported.

The American Red Cross of Massachusetts is helping a half a dozen people who were displaced, Fire Chief John Murphy told nbcboston.com.

Most of the heavy fire was put out by 11 p.m. Friday. Crews were expected to remain on the scene on Saturday to extinguish any hotspots. The Scituate Police Department said Friday night that residents should expect potential power outages and issues with water pressure and discoloration.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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A Pennsylvania school district serving students in two counties is suing the Norfolk Southern Railway over the railways February 3 toxic train derailment in nearby East Palestine, Ohio.

The complaint filed by Blackhawk School District accuses the railway of negligence in failing to safely operate the train and failure to safely contain the toxic chemicals.

The suit, filed in federal court for western Pennsylvania, alleges that the derailment of the rail cars and subsequent burning of their contents caused toxic, hazardous, and dangerous chemicals to be released onto and into the ground, into the air, and into the surface and subsurface waterways and groundwater. The railway dumped a lethal cocktail on the districts buildings, property, soil, and water supplies, according to the suit.

As a result of the railways alleged breach of its duty of care, the suit claims the school district has suffered harms, including medical and health issues for students and staff; testing and monitoring the impact on its property and water sources; monetary expenses relating to evacuation and cleanup of the property and drinking water; monetary expenses to ensure safe and clean air and water at school facilities; damage to personal property and real property; loss of use and enjoyment of property; increased risk of disease; and expenses of future medical monitoring.

Blackhawk School District encompasses a 69 square mile area, and includes students from both Beaver and Lawrence Counties in Pennsylvania. The complaint cites damage to its properties in Pennsylvania within a 15 mile radius of East Palestine, Ohio. The district includes high, middle, intermediate, and primary schools in Beaver Falls serving about 2,300 students.

The district is seeking unspecified damages, as well as medical monitoring and other remedies.

The state of Ohio has also sued the railway. This derailment was entirely avoidable, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said at a press conference earlier this month announcing the suit seeking compensation for damages to the states environment, economy and residents.

Also, East Palestine residents and businesses have filed lawsuits against Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern has promised $7 million for Pennsylvania municipalities affected by the derailment and committed $21 million to rebuilding East Palestine.

Photo: A view of the scene Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, as the cleanup continues at the site of of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Topics Lawsuits Ohio K-12 Education Pennsylvania
Latitude Group Holdings Ltd. shares slumped as trading resumed for the Australian personal lender that disclosed details of a hack almost a week ago.

The stock lost 16% as of 11:40 a.m. in Sydney trading. Hackers stole more than 103,000 identification documents from a service provider working for the Melbourne-based firm, the company said last week. A review of the cyber attack on its systems uncovered further evidence of large-scale information theft affecting customers across Australia and New Zealand, according to a statement Wednesday.

The cyber attack at Latitude, which provides consumer finance services to retailers Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. and JB Hi-Fi Ltd., adds to concern after a slew of high profile recent breaches. Australia was hit by a cyber-crime wave that shook the business community last year when Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.s local unit phone provider Optus disclosed a leak that impacted millions of past and present customer details, and health insurer Medibank Private Ltd. lost details on 4 million customers.

Latitude is committed to keeping our customers, partners, employees and the broader community as up to date as possible as we respond to this attack, the statement said. Our people are working urgently to identify the total number of customers and applicants affected and the type of personal information that has been stolen.

Photograph: Computer code displayed on screens arranged in Danbury, U.K., on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. Photo credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Related:

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics Cyber Australia
The oil tanker Turba normally should have been melted down by now.

The 26-year-old vessel hasnt had a full inspection since 2017, according to a database dedicated to promoting safe shipping. It also lacks industry standard insurance and sails under the flag of country with a poor standing for the oversight of maritime safety.

But rather than being steered onto a beach in Bangladesh, India or Pakistan for dismantling, the 1997-built tanker is collecting heavy fuel at the Russian port of St. Petersburg.

The aftermath of European Union sanctions on Russia mean that the Turba has been enlisted into a vast shadow fleet carrying Moscows oil around the globe. Its continued operation is a stark reminder that Group of Seven sanctions on Moscow carry an environmental risk.

Oil Spills and Near Misses: Growing Numbers of Ghost Tankers Ship Sanctioned Fuel

The big concern is that some older vessels  the global fleet is now the oldest in almost two decades  may not be properly inspected and maintained, leading to a catastrophic accident at sea.

Theyre an environmental disaster waiting to happen, said Lars Barstad, chief executive officer of the management unit of Frontline Plc, one of the largest owners of supertankers.

In normal times, owners start to consider demolishing tankers when theyre about 15 years old. By year 20, the ships fate  to be sold for scrap  is usually sealed.

Right now, though, shipowners are squeezing a few more years out because theres money to be made.

The sanctions imposed on Dec. 5 are forcing vessels to sail thousands of miles further, boosting demand and freight rates.

Inspections

At least 40 vessels hauling Russian oil to China and India between early December and early February lacked insurance from members of the International Group of P&I clubs or routine safety-management certificates, according to data from Equasis, the maritime safety database. Three, including the Turba, didnt have something called classification that would demonstrate how seaworthy they are.

The Turba brings up uncomfortable memories of one of the worst oil spills from a tanker in European history. The tanker Prestige broke in half and leaked thousands of tons of heavy fuel oil onto the coast of Spain in November 2002.

Seabirds and fisheries were decimated, and beaches in Spain and Portugal were ruined.

The Turba is the same age as the Prestige was, and it just collected the same type of cargo from the same Russian port, according to data from Kpler, a shipping analytics firm.

Russias Ministry of Transport, the nations Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, and Rosmorport, an entity that oversees port infrastructure, didnt respond to emailed requests for comment. Spains merchant navy pointed out that it cannot control activity outside its territorial waters.

Good Reasons

There are sound reasons for scrapping tankers by the time theyre 20. Often, its about the cost of trying to keep them in service as safety and maintenance requirements become more onerous.

But there is also the effect of years of pounding waves, saltwater corrosion and near-constant use that place a strain on hull integrity and propulsion systems.

Tankers normally receive inspections  known as special surveys  about every five years. By the fourth time around, the economics of continuing to trade diminish sharply. The surveys can cost $3 million to $4 million for big tankers, and they will then require an intermediate inspection about 2 1/2 years later.

Port authorities also tend to scrutinize older ships more closely. The increased expenses, and the lack of customers, would  in normal times  encourage owners to sell them for scrap.

Everything needs looking at  steel, engine, said Halvor Ellefsen, a shipbroker at Fearnleys Shipbrokers UK Ltd. whos worked in the industry for almost four decades. The older they are, the more they find.

European Cutoff

The EU, for years the top buyer of Russian oil, banned almost all seaborne exports from its one-time trading partner and joined the G-7 in capping the price of Moscows crude at $60 a barrel. Its still possible to transport Russian oil at prices above the threshold but not with Western services such as insurance, crewing, vessel classification, financing and transport.

The net effect has been an increase in long-distance deliveries to Russias big remaining markets in Asia and the creation of a shadow fleet of tankers operating outside the sphere of G-7 companies.

The traders and shipping firms doing these deals often have opaque ownership structures.

Last year saw a surge in sales to unknown buyers, with 100-plus oil and fuel tankers changing hands. Over the same period, there also was a sharp decline in the number being scrapped, according to Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the worlds oldest shipbroker.

Some of the aging ships are transferring their hazardous cargoes on the high seas, often in international waters off Greece or the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in north Africa.

This is a huge environmental risk, said Adi Imsirovic, a veteran oil trader whos now director of the Surrey Clean Energy consultancy. Tankers that should have been scrapped by now are doing loads of ship-to-ship transfers of millions of barrels of oil without proper insurance.

The Turba recently transported Urals  Russias flagship crude grade  to India and loaded heavy fuel oil in the port of St. Petersburg, according to Kpler. If it sails to Asia, it will involve navigating the Baltic Sea and passing several European coastlines.

The Aframax-class vessels owner is Scoot Chartering Corp., which is registered in the Seychelles, according to IHS Maritime data compiled by Bloomberg. Its last class renewal survey was in 2017. Its class was withdrawn by Bureau Veritas in 2021, the Equasis database shows.

High Risk

Half-a-dozen tanker brokers and owners said they didnt have a means to contact Scoot, which doesnt appear on a Seychelles corporate register.

The tanker flies the flag of Cameroon, one of a handful of blacklisted countries under something called the Paris MOU, an international organization that promotes and coordinates safe shipping. Its the only blacklisted nation that also has a high risk designation.

Approval by a member of the International Association of Classification Societies  which the Turba lacks, according to Equasis  means an audited international body of surveyors will have checked a vessel to monitor that its hull is structurally sound, and its propulsion, steering and power systems are reliable and functional.

The average age of the tanker fleet is now 12 years, according to data from Clarkson. Almost a third of vessels are older than 15, and the ranks of aging vessels is forecast to expand rapidly in coming years, said Svein Moxnes Harfjeld, CEO of DHT Holdings, an oil tanker company.

Given the lack of clarity around ownership, its likely the new operators dont have the same levels of experience and professionalism normally associated with the Russian fleet, Ben Luckock, co-head of oil trading at Trafigura Group, said at an FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, this week.

Youve got a lot of 17-, 18- and 19-year-old boats transiting the Danish straits with the oil, he said. We have changed the logistics skillset around Russian oil in a very short period.

With assistance from Julian Lee, Alex Longley and Pius Lukong.

Photograph: The oil tanker Prestige sinks off the northwest coast of Spain in November 2002. Photo credit: Douanes Francaises/Getty Images

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics Russia Energy Oil Gas
HDI Global Specialty SE (HDI) has launched a new insurance platform in Canada which delivers general aviation policies to brokers in minutes.

The platform, called Aviation IQ delivers end-to-end digital automation of general aviation insurance policies covering small fixed-wing aircraft flown for private business or pleasure.

Initially launched in 2020, Aviation IQ is already in use in the specialty lines insurers Australian and New Zealand business.

The platform provides placing brokers with policy documents in a matter of minutes, said HDI.

Aviation IQ comes to the Canadian market following a successful roll-out in Australia and New Zealand. It offers brokers a quick and efficient full insurance life cycle platform for general aviation policies, commented Michael McEwen, head of Aviation at HDIs Canada branch.

Our experience with the Aviation IQ platform shows us that we can now provide faster responses to brokers, more flexibility in terms of product offering, pricing and usability, streamlining traditional methods of placement and management of general aviation insurance policies, added McEwen.

About HDI Global Specialty

HDI Global Specialty SE is a specialty lines insurer, owned by HDI Global SE, which is part of the Talanx Group. HDI Global Specialtys focus is on writing agency and specialty insurance business with operations in nine locations and access to a global network of more than 175 countries through the HDI Global SE network. Approximately 4.300 employees in this division generated gross written premiums of approximately 7.6 billion in the year 2021.

Source: HDI Global Specialty

Topics Excess Surplus Aviation New Markets Canada
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Acrisure Re, MS Amlin and Tysers Broking.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Acrisure Re Hires Ed Brokings DArcy for Facultative Team

Acrisure Re, the re/insurance division of top-10 global insurance broker and fintech platform Acrisure, announced the appointment of Jennifer DArcy as executive vice president of its Facultative Reinsurance division.

In her new role, DArcy will continue building out Acrisure Res FAC strategy for North America from London, as well as overseeing and developing Marine FAC solutions globally. Acrisure Res FAC team has already seen the build out of its Marine Cargo FAC capabilities with several new hires.

DArcy brings more than 21 years of industry experience and joins Acrisure Re from Ed Broking, where she was head of Facultative Reinsurance. Prior to Ed Broking, DArcy had similar roles at Price Forbes as well as RK Harrison, Gibbs Hartley Cooper, HSBC and Willis.

***

MS Amlin Names Carpenters Turner as Head of Risk Analytics

MS Amlin, the Lloyds global re/insurer, announced the appointment of Dr. Jessica Turner as head of Risk Analytics, effective June 26, 2023, and reporting to Martin Burke, director of Underwriting Performance.

Turner joins MS Amlin from Guy Carpenter where she spent over four years as a managing director and head of International Catastrophe Advisory. In this role, she was responsible for leading a team of natural catastrophe experts providing model advisory, evaluation and adjustment analytics as well as climate change physical risk quantification for all major perils in the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.

Prior to this, Turner spent more than two years at Lloyds Banking Group as a senior manager and has also held positions at Willis Re and RMS. She holds a doctorate in Atmospheric Science, an Advanced Diploma in Insurance, and is a Certified Catastrophe Risk Analyst.

With more than a decade of industry experience, Turner brings substantial expertise in the development of catastrophe risk management across different geographies and business lines. She has a proven track record in building and managing best-in-class teams of specialists to deliver timely and influential analytics to the market.

MS Amlin Underwriting is part of the global top-10 insurance group MS&AD, with operations in the Lloyds, UK, Middle East and Asia markets.

***

Tysers Taps Primassures Moore for Energy Division

Tysers, a London-based independent Lloyds broker, is delighted to announce that Mark Moore has joined the firm as director, Energy, to help grow Tysers Energy Division.

With more than 30 years of claims and broking experience, Moore previously worked at Primassure where he helped the firm join the Lloyds market before developing a global Energy account with a focus on Africa, North Sea, and Latin America.

He has held senior roles in the energy teams at WTW and AAA after starting his career at CE Heath. Moore has expert, technical knowledge of the energy sector, in particular, deep water, drilling and construction projects, and has worked closely with leading markets and energy experts on some of the biggest upstream development projects to be placed in the London market.

Part of the AUB Group, Tysers trades in 140 countries across the globe and has more than 1,000 employees.

Topics Mississippi
MONTICELLO, Minn. (AP)  A Minnesota utility began shutting down a nuclear power plant near Minneapolis on Friday after discovering water containing a low level of radioactive material was leaking from a pipe for the second time. While the utility and health officials say it is not dangerous, the issue has prompted concerns among nearby residents and raised questions about aging pipelines.

Xcel Energy discovered in November that about 400,000 gallons (1.5 million liters) of water containing tritium had leaked. The utility made a temporary fix but learned this week that hundreds more gallons of tritium-laced water leaked, leading to the shutdown decision.

After the plant cools over the next few days, workers will cut out the leaking pipe, which is over 50 years old, said Chris Clark, Xcel Energys president. The utility will then have the pipe analyzed in hopes of preventing future leaks, he said.

We could have continued to safely operate the plant and simply repair the catchment, but then, of course, there is always a risk that it would spill over again and have more tritium enter the groundwater, Clark told reporters near the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis. We didnt want to take that chance, so were bringing the plant down.

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the fact there was a second tritium leak shines a light on the problem of maintaining aging pipelines underground at older nuclear plants.

The temporary closure could be out of an abundance of caution, or it could be a sign they dont know how bad the problem is, and they need to do a deep dive to find out whats going on, he said.

Clark said the tritium isnt a risk to drinking water in Monticello or the nearby city of Becker, saying the cities take their water from different areas of the Mississippi River. Even if the tritium reached the river, which Clark assured wouldnt happen, it would dissipate within a few yards, he said.

Clark said the spill had not left the utilitys property.

The utility reported the initial leak to state and federal authorities in late November but didnt make it widely public until last week, raising questions about transparency and public health issues. State officials said they wanted to wait for more details before sharing information widely. Criticism about the delay played a role in Xcels decision to hold a public information session Friday.

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that occurs naturally and is a common byproduct of nuclear plant operations. It emits a weak form of beta radiation that does not travel far and cannot penetrate human skin, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Cindy Remick, of Becker, attended Fridays information session and said she still has concerns that nearby residents, especially those who rely on well water, will be safe. Remick also worries about whether the radioactive material could hurt wildlife.

We have a very large population here of eagles, and I would like to make sure theyre not impacted, Remick said. Minnesota is known for our wildlife, and if that (tritium) escapes their plant into the Mississippi, that could be very damaging.

Tyler Abayare, who was fishing at the Mississippi River near the plant, said hes been coming to the river every day for five years and usually sees about 15 to 20 others fishing as well.

Typically this time of year, theres a lot of families that come out and fish with their children, he said. Now, after the media released what happened, theres not a soul in sight, and it just takes away from the recreation and passion of fishing.

Abayare said he doesnt believe that the Mississippi River is safe. He doesnt eat fish he catches and no longer ties his line with his teeth to avoid getting sick.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors are monitoring the shutdown and repairs, said Victoria Mitlyng, a spokesperson for the agency. She said in a statement the leak does not present a safety challenge to the public, to drinking water supplies, the plant or the environment. The leak also did not exceed any agency limits.

Clark said Xcel Energy already had planned to shut down the plant April 15 for nearly a month for refueling, and it wasnt clear if it would immediately reopen after the leak is fixed.

Clark said the leaking pipe is part of the original plant, which opened in 1971. Xcel has applied to extend its operating license at Monticello through 2050.

We want to inventory the age of everything in the plant and be sure were dealing with whatever we need to update, he said.

Tim Judson, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a group that opposes nuclear power, said the second leak is obviously concerning and that public worries about possible health risks are exacerbated by the recent toxic train derailment in Ohio, where residents remain concerned about possible health effects despite government pledges that air and water are safe.

People are seeing what happened in Ohio, and they are distrustful of the government response, Judson said.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Minnesota
DALLAS (AP)  The company responsible for maintaining a Texas interstate where 130 vehicles crashed in icy conditions two years ago, killing six and injuring dozens, failed to address the deteriorating road conditions, federal officials said last Thursday.

That portion of Interstate 35 West in Fort Worth was not treated with salt the morning of the Feb. 11, 2021, crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The NTSB said that the failure of North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3 to address the conditions contributed to the crash, as did drivers speeds.

The NTSB said that because of the forecasted freezing rain and sleet, North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3 had pretreated the southbound lanes of I-35W two days earlier with a liquid brine solution. But, the NTSB said, with precipitation and freezing temperatures continuing, crews checking the road about 45 minutes before the crash didnt recognize that the elevated portion of the interstate where the crash occurred needed additional de-icing treatment.

Before the crash, the area experienced 36 consecutive hours of below-freezing temperatures. On the morning of the crash, crews had spot-treated sections of the interstate with salt but not the portion where the wreck happened, the NTSB said. The agency said that the crews visually checking the road 45 minutes before the wreck didnt detect any moisture and applied no salt.

North Tarrant Express Mobility Partners Segment 3 spokesman Robert Hinkle said, Given the extraordinary circumstances, we are confident in the actions taken by the company.

Hinkle said the company had fully activated its winter storm program and coordinated with the Texas Department of Transportation on best practices, and he noted the pretreatment of the road two days before.

Hinkle said that video footage showed precipitation began mere minutes before the accident unfolded. He also noted that hours earlier, dynamic signage began warning drivers of icy conditions and to drive with caution, while permanent signage warned drivers that bridges could ice in cold weather.

The pileup that involved vehicles, trucks and semitrailers began just after 6 a. m. in the southbound toll lanes, which had a speed limit of 75 mph (120 kilometers per hour). Concrete barriers separated the southbound toll lanes from the northbound toll lanes and from the southbound general-use lanes.

The NTSB said that the crash began when a vehicle struck the concrete barrier on the right side of the toll lanes. Other vehicles then began sliding, spinning and striking the barriers. Then a large truck crashed into some of those vehicles, and other vehicles that were unable to stop also became part of the massive crash that blocked all of the southbound toll lanes.

The NTSB said that two of those killed were struck after getting out of their vehicles.

Local officials said at the time that the road was so treacherous from ice that several first responders who responded to the crash ended up falling as they tried to help.

The recommendations from the NTSB include the installation of variable speed limit signs, adding sensors to reduce response times to hazardous road conditions and providing training on how to better respond to winter weather conditions.

In a statement Thursday, TxDOT said it appreciated the careful and thorough work of the NTSB in looking into this tragic incident.

TxDOT continuously improves its winter weather operations, and the department has begun to carefully review the analysis and recommendations, the statement said.

Three days after the crash, Texas power grid buckled when another winter storm dropped temperatures below freezing for days. Millions were left without electricity for days, leading to hundreds of deaths.

Topics Texas
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Florida authorities on Friday charged a man with unlicensed contracting, insurance fraud and failing to obtain workers compensation coverage on his workers, after he solicited Tampa-area homeowners for roof replacement work.

John Sutton, doing business as Kaizen Construction Group, had salesmen go door to door in Pasco County in 2021 and 2022, instructing homeowners on what to say in filing an insurance claim, Floridas chief financial officer said in a bulletin. Some of the homeowners agreed to sign direct to pay documents, essentially assigning benefits to the roofing company.

Investigators from the Department of Financial Services and the Pasco County Sheriffs Office determined that Sutton and Kaizen Construction were unlicensed as roofers and were responsible for more than $41,000 in insurance claims. Sutton later reportedly made a statement saying that he has victimized hundreds of homeowners throughout the state, the DFS said.

Florida Department of State records show Kaizen Construction in Thonotosassa, Florida, was registered as a limited liability company with Sutton listed as manager, until it was dissolved in 2021.

If convicted of the charges, Sutton could face up to 25 years in prison. People who know of homeowners that may have been subject to the companys solicitations are urged to call the CFOs fraud hotline at 800-378-0445.

Topics Florida Contractors Homeowners
A California couple was arrested on multiple felony counts of insurance fraud over allegedly staged collisions that were posted on YouTube.

Christopher Phelps, 40, of Yucaipa, and his wife, Kimberly Phelps, 40, were arrested on multiple felony counts of insurance fraud, assault with a deadly weapon and child endangerment after the couple allegedly caused collisions in a scheme to collect insurance payouts.

The California Department of Insurance began an investigation after the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department became aware of a YouTube channel on which dashcam videos of traffic collisions and rage road incidents were posted.

The investigation connected the channel to Christopher Phelps under the name BLU3 GHO57. The channel had roughly 162 dashcam videos of vehicle collisions, attempted or near collisions, road rage incidents and other content involving the couple.

Multiple incidents showed Christopher Phelps child also in the vehicle.

The investigation reportedly discovered roughly 23 collisions documented on the channel were linked to 17 insurance claims filed by Christopher Phelps and 42 videos related to road rage incidents and attempted collisions involving him.

Several of the videos appeared to be intentional acts, according to the CDIs investigation, which included numerous search warrants, hours of videos, and attempting to locate additional victims.

The department was recently contacted by the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department after Christopher Phelps was involved in a suspicious collision, appearing to stop for no apparent reason and causing a truck pulling a trailer to rear-end his vehicle.

Shortly after the collision, he reportedly posted to YouTube a rear-facing dashcam video of the moments leading up to the collision. CDI detectives responded to the area of the collision in Yucaipa and canvased the area for surveillance video and witnesses, which led to an earlier arrest. Following that arrest he posted bail and was released.

Christopher Phelps has been charged with six felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, and five felony counts of child endangerment. Kimberly Phelps has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one count of felony insurance fraud.

Christopher Phelps was previously charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of causing a vehicle collision for the purpose of presenting a false claim following his arrest last month.

Department detectives arrested the couple last week in San Bernardino. Christopher Phelps was booked at the West Valley Detention Center and is being held on $500,000 bail. Kimberly Phelps was booked at the Central Detention Center and is being held on $500,000 bail.

The San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office is prosecuting the case.

Topics California
ConocoPhillips, which last week received U.S. government approval for the massive Willow oil drilling project in Alaska, detailed reasons for a natural gas leak at another North Slope field that prompted the evacuation of 300 employees last year.

Officials with the company said that pumping 170 barrels of diesel fuel, a freeze-prevention fluid, into a disposal well caused a component to fail and led to the subsequent leak, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

ConocoPhillips officials spoke Thursday at an Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission hearing in Anchorage about the 2022 leak at the Alpine field in northern Alaska. Delayed recognition allowed the leak to continue for days, and the company had not anticipated the shallow underground zone to contain significant amounts of gas.

Erica Livingston, a wells chief engineer for ConocoPhillips Alaska, said the well design has been used many times previously without issues. However, it was not cemented in the area of the zone where the leak occurred because that area was not expected to have gas.

Cementing the well in that area, located about a half mile underground, would have prevented the leak, she said. No gas was detected beyond the drilling site, and no one was harmed by the gas, Livingston said.

The leak at the CD1 drill site began Feb. 27, 2022 but wasnt detected until March 4, 2022. During that time, 7.2 million cubic feet of natural gas was released before they were able to capture it.

About 300 personnel were evacuated from the site, which caused concern in the nearby village of Nuiqsut and an investigation by the commission, which oversees oil field operations in Alaska.

Livingston said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is also investigating. She called the incident a significant event that became a learning opportunity for the company.

ConocoPhillips, the largest oil producer in Alaska, said the company has increased monitoring of pressure at wells and outlined pressure limits and solutions when those are exceeded.

Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, the mayor of Nuiqsut, a community 8 miles from the drill site, was one of two members of the public who testified by phone during the hearing.

She said residents hope to learn more about the leak in order to prevent future incidents, especially since Willow will be located about 35 miles west of Nuiqsut. Ahtuangaruak has been vocal in her opposition to the Willow project.

This event gave our community members much concern, she said. We want to fully understand to prevent this from happening at the new development that will be nearby our community.

Commission chairperson Brett Huber said the commission will prepare a final report that could include enforcement measures. No timeline for the reports release was given, and Huber declined to answer questions until it is made public.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: Streetwise Reports

March 27, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Oxide material metallurgical test results return "encouraging" column leach results from the Rangefront Zone at Liberty Gold Corp.'s flagship Black Pine project in Idaho, an analyst says.

Oxide material metallurgical test results have returned "encouraging" column leach results from the Rangefront Zone at Liberty Gold Corp.'s (LGD:TSX; LGDTF:OTCQX) flagship Black Pine project in Idaho, one analyst said.

Tests returned a weighted average gold recovery of 86.9%, the company announced.

The results "support significantly higher recovery rates than modeled (~74%) for grades that compare favorably with our LOM (life of mine) modeled average grade for Black Pine (~0.5 grams per tonne gold [g/t Au])," wrote Chris Thompson of PI Financial in a March 23 research note.

"Weighted average gold extraction of ~87% is a pleasant beat on our LOM modeled recovery," he wrote. "Results continue to support a technically simple, low initial capital, low operating cost, ROM (run of mine) heap leach processing route for Black Pine."



Source: Liberty Gold Corp.

Thompson maintained his Buy rating of the stock with a CA$0.90 per share target price.

The company recently announced it had increased its resource estimate for Black Pine by 52% in indicated and 31% in inferred ounces.

Then it released new drill results that included the highest-grade gold assay ever returned on the project. Hole LBP813 in the M zone returned 7.07 g/t Au over 18.3 meters, including 11.92 g/t Au over 10.7 meters and 46.7 g/t Au over 1.5 meters.

That hole provided "the grade kicker that many have forgotten Black Pine can deliver," Thompson wrote in a February note.

Analyst Geordie Mark of Haywood Capital Markets recently doubled down on his view that Liberty could be an M&A target downstream.

"We continue to be encouraged by ongoing exploration success at Black Pine," said Mark, who reiterated his Buy rating with a target of CA$2.

The Catalyst: 'Highest-Recovery Oxide Material' at Site

The column leach testing on the Rangefront Zone included 24 variability composites from large-diameter drill cores representing the range of rock types and gold grades encountered in oxide mineralization, the company said.

Gold extractions ranged from 54.1% to 95.8%. More than 80% of the leachable gold was extracted within ten days.

These new data were not included in the recent resource update and will be added to the next resource update, which is expected in late 2023, the company said.

"We see these metallurgical results as a nice follow-on from the release of a revised resource estimate from Black Pine last month," Thompson with PI Financial wrote. "All in all, the resource estimate and metallurgical results released to date confirm our view of Black Pine's potential to deliver ~200 oz Au in average annual production over a healthy plus-10-year LOM."

The Rangefront Zone of mineralization makes up about 27% of the Black Pine resource, the company said.

"The Rangefront Zone is now the highest-recovery oxide material we have found at Black Pine," Liberty Chief Operating Officer Jon Gilligan said. "The quality and quantity of metallurgical information today equals or exceeds pre-feasibility level requirements, significantly de-risking the project."

Strong Potential for Larger Mineral Endowment

The resource estimate just released builds on a maiden resource released in 2021. It shows an indicated resource of 2.6 million ounces (Moz) of oxide Au at an average grade of 0.52 g/t Au totaling 157.3 million tonnes, and an inferred resource of 483,000 ounces of oxide Au at an average grade of 0.43 g/t Au totaling 35.1 million tonnes.

The resource used a constraining resource pit at a cut-off grade (COG) of 0.2 g/t Au.

That estimate and recent drilling results may just be the beginning of the potential for the project, analyst Alex Terentiew of Stifel GMP wrote in an update note. He reiterated his Buy rating with a target price of CA$1.80 per share.

"In our view, these new holes once again demonstrate both strong potential for a larger mineral endowment than that published in the Feb. 7 Mineral Resource Estimate, as well as the potential for higher grades," he wrote.

Terentiew said Black Pine is "one of the most advanced and prospective gold deposits in the Great Basin."

Black Pine is a Carlin-style gold system, like the prolific deposits on Nevada's Carlin trend. It operated from 1992 to 1997, producing 435,000 ounces Au.

Liberty said it is continuing to de-risk the project by advancing the geotechnical program, waste-rock characterization, hydrologic work program, and permitting to preliminary feasibility study (PFS) level. It also plans to drill 32,000 more meters at Black Pine.

Ownership and Share Structure

Institutions own 37.3% of Liberty, the company said. Those include Van Eck Associates Corp. with 11.83% or 37.75 million shares, and Franklin Advisers Inc. with 8.28% or 26.43 million shares, according to Reuters.

Strategic investor Newmont Corp. (NEM:NYSE) owns 4.3% or 13.76 million shares.

Management and insiders own 7.6%, including Director Cal Everett, who owns 3.01% or 9.6 million shares, and Board Chairman Mark O'Dea, who owns 1.74% or 5.56 million shares.

The rest, 50.8%, is retail.

Liberty has a market cap of CA$190.7 million with 319.2 million shares outstanding, including 295.6 million free-floating, Reuters reported. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$1.04 and CA$0.315.

Disclosures:

1) Steve Sobek compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC. He or members of his household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. He or members of his household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.

2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Liberty Gold Corp. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. As of the date of this article, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: None. Please click here for more information.

3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

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Toronto, Ontario - March 27, 2023 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) UGE International Ltd. (TSXV: UGE) (OTCQB: UGEIF) (the "Company" or "UGE"), a leader in the commercial and community solar sector, announces that it has reached the 'Notice to Proceed' (NTP) milestone for a 1MW rooftop community solar project in Maine. The Notice to Proceed milestone indicates that financing for the project has closed, and all necessary permits and interconnection approvals for the project are in place.

The project is poised to become Maine's largest rooftop solar installation, as well as UGE's first rooftop project in the state.

To be built atop a new 80,000-square-foot fieldhouse at Foxcroft Academy, an independent high school in Dover-Foxcroft, the project will offset nearly 16,500 metric tons of CO2 over its lifetime  the equivalent of about 40 million miles driven by a car.

In addition to the environmental benefits of the project, Foxcroft Academy and the neighboring school district will benefit from discounted energy from the project for a period of 20 years through an agreement with UGE.

"An appreciation for the natural environment is a core value of the Foxcroft Academy community," said Head of School, Arnold Shorey. "We are proud to be playing a part in Maine's transition to clean, renewable energy while offsetting both the financial and environmental costs of our school's energy consumption."

The project at Foxcroft Academy is among 18MW of solar projects UGE has under development in the state of Maine. Notice to Proceed on the Foxcroft project followed UGE's closing of a $12.5 million debt facility, as well as a $7 million tax equity facility, to fund three Maine projects last week.

Once operational, the Foxcroft project is estimated to produce an average of $150,700 in annual revenue, with a total facility lifetime of 20 years.

With this project, UGE has reached NTP on 7.2MW of projects and commercial operation on 1.4MW of projects so far this year. Construction on the Foxcroft project is set to begin this spring.

About UGE

UGE develops, owns, and operates commercial and community solar projects in the US and strategic markets abroad. Our distributed energy solutions deliver cheaper, cleaner energy to businesses and consumers with no upfront cost. With over 500MW of global experience, we work daily to power a more sustainable world.

For more information, contact UGE at:

+1 917 720 5685

investors@ugei.com

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Broadband network operator Siro said it will roll out its fibre network to six more Cork towns as part of a new 25m investment.

The towns covered in the latest project are Fermoy, Youghal, Bandon, Kinsale, Mitchelstown, and Passage West, as Siro plans to make its fibre broadband services available to 20,000 more premises in Cork this year.

Siro was founded in 2015 as a joint venture between ESB Group and Vodafone. It is a wholesale operator, which means that companies such as Sky, Vodafone, and Digiweb resell their services to users once the network is up and running.

It said it will announce more areas in 2024 and estimates it will have invested over 125m in Cork broadband services when it completes the project over the next four years.

Siro chief executive John Keaney said the firm is targeting smaller regional towns around Co Cork with future-proofed services.

Lots of the communities that we are now going into were relying or making do with a copper connection, said Mr Keaney.

That is more susceptible to weather, it is down more often. It doesnt have the bandwidth to support all of the devices we all have in our houses."

Siro upgraded its network last year to 10 gigabits, which it says will give more options to Cork businesses.

That doesnt require any new fibre network, that just requires us upgrading the electronics at either end, he said.

Mr Keaney said he does not have any concerns about the use of Huawei equipment in the latest rollout despite the use of the Chinese tech companys equipment having been banned in several countries.

There are a number of layers of network security and there are different layers in terms of the intelligence used over those different layers," he said.

"The Huawei equipment that Siro uses is at a level two, there is no control or traffic. We use it to light up our network.

In terms of the security risk, were very comfortable with that. Siro began rolling out its fibre broadband in Cork in 2017 and currently reaches 60,000 premises in the county.

The service is already running in a number of towns, including in Mallow, Skibbereen, Carrigaline, Carrigtwohill, and Little Island.
West Cork tech firm Spearline has been sold to Silicon Valley company Cyara, which provides automated customer engagement services, for an undisclosed sum.

The Skibbereen based company, which supplies communication testing technologies, was bought by Cyara to help grow its services for the modern remote workforce around the globe.

To support a remote workforce, organisations are moving their communications platforms to the cloud, said Alok Kulkarni, CEO of Cyara.

While this eliminates the complexity of managing the hardware, there is new complexity in testing advanced features that come with these platforms, like AI, video and omnichannel, he said.

Spearline provides global in-country dialling service that provides mobile and landline assurance in over 80 countries used by companies including Amazon Connect and Zoom.

Cyara completed the acquisitions as part of a strategy to address rapidly developing market trends such as chatbots and conversational AI.

This strategic move enables us to help more customers transform their customer experience, making every interaction flawless. We are excited for Spearline to become part of this combined powerhouse and look forward to the positive impact it will have on our customers, said Kevin Buckley, co-founder and CEO of Spearline.

Founded in 2003 by Mr Buckley and Matthew Lawlor, Spearline currently employs more than 200 people worldwide, with offices in Cork, Waterford and India.
The level of support offered to farmers impacted by ash dieback has been "totally insufficient" and has added to the "distress and frustration" they have experienced, the Irish Farmers' Association has said.

Addressing a conference focused on the disease - which is now widespread throughout the country - IFA president Tim Cullinan said that the treatment of farmers affected "has been hugely damaging to farmer confidence in forestry".

It is over a decade since the first case of ash dieback in Ireland was detected in Co Leitrim.

Farmers since have been campaigning for a support scheme that acknowledges the financial loss incurred.

The "lack of an adequate response" from consecutive Governments has been central to the decline in farmer planting in the intervening years, according to the IFA.

"This must be addressed now," Mr Cullinan told the conference in Thurles.

"The minister must introduce a new scheme that recognises the financial loss incurred by the disease.

"Until this happens, it is hard to see farmers planting at the scale required to meet our afforestation and climate targets."

'Serious blow'

IFA farm forestry chairman Jason Fleming said that the lack of recognition in the interim ash dieback scheme for the significant financial loss incurred by farmers is a "serious blow" to those whose ash woodlands have been devastated by this disease.

"The increased clearance and grant rates announced under the interim scheme are positive developments and reflect the increased cost of getting the work done, but the scheme does not compensate farmers for the loss of timber earnings," Mr Fleming said.

Under the interim scheme, the site clearance grant rate has increased to 2,000 and grant rates are in line with the new Forestry Programme 2023-2027.

Applicants whose sites are still in premium will continue to receive this for the remaining years but will be eligible for a premium top-up to the new rate of the forest type established.

Mr Fleming added that consecutive ministers have "failed to fully appreciate the devastation" caused by the disease, along with the severe financial cost to farmers.

"These farmers have been left with nothing," he said.

"Until the Government acknowledges the financial loss and provides compensation to farmers by reinstating a 20-year premium on the replanted land, we will never see farmers planting at the rates required to meet our climate targets."
Just under a third of veterinary practice owners are considering selling their practice in the next 12 months, according to new research from advisory firm HLB Ireland.

A collection of the latest news, views and analysis from the farming desk on the topic of Agribusiness and technology.

A survey conducted found that while job satisfaction levels across the profession are high, work/life balance is a significant challenge for both practice owners and their teams, HLB Ireland said.

Since the firm first began surveying veterinary practices in 2019, the pace of consolidation in the sector has accelerated, it said, driven by staff shortages, higher valuations, rising costs, and the age profile of practice owners.

Commenting on the findings, HLB Irelands managing partner Mark Butler said that up to now, corporates and larger practices have been the main buyers of veterinary practices.

"While we expect this trend to continue in 2023, difficulties raising finance and the depth of consolidation which has taken place to date will likely result in fewer deals," Mr Butler said.

"That said, just under a third of practice owners who participated in our research are considering selling up in the next 12 months, so there will be opportunities for buyers with sufficient resources on their balance sheet to fund acquisitions."

Mr Butler said that before entering into negotiations with a potential buyer, practice owners should always obtain independent advice from professionals with experience of the veterinary sector.

He added that it is also advisable to seek advice on how best to time and structure any proposed deal.

Proposed second veterinary college

The HLB Ireland 2023 Veterinary Practice Survey also reveals strong support for the proposed new veterinary college, with 82% of vets who participated in the research favouring the proposal.

When asked for their views on the proposed second veterinary college, most (67%) also believe that the current structure of educating vets in Ireland can be improved, with many suggesting the need for a stronger focus on practical experience and business skills, according to the report.

Other key findings include that 73% of survey respondents work more than 40 hours a week, and almost a quarter work more than 60 hours a week.

Practice owners are putting in the longest hours in an effort to retain staff by limiting the requirement for employees to be available for on-call duty, the report says.

Consistent with findings in previous years, better work-life balance is the top aspiration for both practice owners and their employees.

Overall, 64% of this years respondents want to achieve a better work/life balance.

Cost of living

Higher wages and rising costs are forcing veterinary practices to put up their prices, according to the new report.

In the last 12 months, 73% of survey respondents increased their consultation fees.

The rising cost of living is also having an impact on pet owners, with just under half (48%) of survey respondents saying this is causing some pet owners to cut back on veterinary care.

Meanwhile, 59% of survey respondents said that their practice plans to hire additional employees in the next 12 months.

More than half of respondents now work in practices with 10 or more staff, up from 38% last year.
Like most 21-year-olds, pop star Mimi Webb is deeply attached to her phone. Unlike her friends, the singer has a team to keep any social media negativity at arm's length. Thats the price of being young and famous in 2023.

Sometimes people can react to things and get the wrong end of the stick, says Webb, an effervescent presence in the charts with singles such as Red Flag and Ghost Of You and who plays Corks Live at the Marquee this June.

Thats the way the internet works. Its the dark side of the job. Youll never find me looking at any hate on Twitter. I am really happy with the way people follow me on the internet. I protect myself. I make sure management filter things for me, if theres anything nasty going on.

Despite her repeated insistence that she has no interest in singing at this years Eurovision in Liverpool, Webb has been part of the rumour mill since the start of the year.

Mae Muller has been announced. I dont know where it came from [that Webb would represent the UK]. Obviously Im a massive fan of Mae. Im so excited to support my girl. I dont know where it came from: Ive a lot going on.

The Eurovision rumours were a distraction  particularly with Webb ruling herself out again and again. Otherwise, though, all is positive. Her debut album  named Amelia after her real name  is a top 10 hit across Europe (peaking at four in her native UK). The past 12 months have also seen her shortlisted for a Best New Talent Brit Award and invited to kick off the BBCs Children in Need telethon. Years of sweat and toil are finally paying off.

I can't believe it. So far it's been a crazy. We've been doing lots of in-stores, she says, slightly breathless over Zoom. Every step of the way, it's been amazing.

Amelia is a concept album, though not in the Pink Floyd, rock-opera sense. Its about makes-ups and break-ups and draws on several years of romantic upheaval in her life.

I keep on runnin' through these red flags, Ill see the signs, but I'll still come back, she sings on the Sigrid-esque Red Flags, an early hit that serves as short-hand for the record in its entirety. Its a first-hand account of being young and vulnerable and how that phase of life can be both thrilling and challenging.

Its about putting all those emotions into it. As I always say, how would I be an artist if I didnt go through those emotional times?, she says. I wouldnt be able to be me. As much as its tough to go through those times and write about, its also part-and-parcel of my career and of me as a person. Life in the end always figures a way out. Things always happen for a reason. Im very much about enjoying life every day  not worrying about the future.

She adds: Its been emotional. I love to be vulnerable. I feel like its the way people really connect with my music. Im grateful to have the opportunities to write that all down and get that out there  for my sake as well. Its very therapeutic. It helps me process things.

Webb was born in Canterbury in Kent in July 2000. She studied guitar and piano at school and grew up a fan of Amy Winehouse and Adele. At 16, she moved to Brighton to attend BIMM, the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (making her a classmate of sorts of Fontaines DC, who attended BIMM Dublin). That she would move to a new city in her teens is a testament to her ambition. It was a wrench to go, she said. Part of her heart will always be at home.

Canterbury was amazing. I lived near the beach. The summer of 2016 was the best ever. Its memories Ill always remember. Those really sweet moments that you have as a kid that Ill always hold dear. It was just before I went to Brighton. At that time, I was very driven.

Her talents as a vocalist were clear as soon as she set foot in BIMM. By the time she was 18, she had a manager, with whom she flew to LA to meet record executives. This led to a deal with Epic, Michael Jacksons old label. Eighteen months later she released her debut single, Before I Go, which blew up on TikTok where it received 85 million plays.

Ive always known what I wanted to do, even as a kid. I put all my kid years into it. I was rearing to go and to get into that place. It really built me into becoming who I am now and dealing with all the challenges that come my way.

TikTok has been useful in other ways. Shes a frequent poster on the platform, where she shares not just music but also heartfelt messages with her fans.

TikTok is so, so helpful, she says. People have been inspired by my journey. They know Ive been through tough times. Theyve been able to relate to me. It shows that I havent got it easy. I work at what I do.

Having barely paused to toast her success, now she is preparing for her biggest tour to date. In June she will be in Ireland for a date at Live At the Marquee in Cork. She has family in Ireland and is looking forward to catching up.

My nans from Ireland, about an hour from Cork. We have a family fish and chip shop. All my dads uncles, aunties and cousins are still there. They come to every gig that I have in Ireland. There are about 25 of them. They all come over.

Her tour kicks off in Madrid and will conclude at that Live at the Marquee concert. It comes on top of a busy year of promotional performances and meet-and-greets with fans. Shes young and enthusiastic. At the same time, the music industry is notorious for working artists until they drop. Does she ever worry shes being pushed too hard?

Its tough at times. Sometimes when youre so busy and going from one place to another you forgot youve got to be human. There are times youre tired. Youre a bit moodier. You dont want to talk to people. You feel down. But thats about being human. And it keeps you humble.

Amelia is out now. Mimi Webb plays Live at the Marquee Cork, June 16

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More than 250 deportation orders have been signed so far this year, latest figures from the Department of Justice show.

Up to March 20, 256 deportation orders were signed compared to 528 orders for the whole of 2022. The largest proportion of those who received a signed deportation order are from Albania (97), followed by Georgia at 39.

Of the 528 deportation orders signed last year, 248 people have been confirmed as having been removed from Ireland under various immigration processes.

Deportation orders were not enforced during the covid-19 pandemic, except in cases where an individual was a threat to national security or whose presence in Ireland would be contrary to the public interest, a spokesman for the department said.

With the lifting of covid restrictions and a return to more normal travel at the end of July last year, these processes recommenced.

The news comes as a Department of Justice discussion paper said the majority of Irish deportation orders were never carried out. Figures from the discussion paper show that in the years leading up to the covid pandemic, only between 15% and 45% of deportation orders were actually carried out.

When issued with a deportation order, the person concerned is required to remove themselves from the State. Many people comply with this and leave the country, a spokesman for the department said.

The discussion paper said deportation would never be a direct solution to reducing strains on the immigration system and could only ever act as a deterrent.

Doras refugee and migrant rights group chief executive John Lannon said the group was concerned at the prospect of using the deportation order process as a deterrent.

We recognise that there are many situations that can lead to deportations. But for asylum-seekers, in particular, who have spent many years waiting for a final determination on their case, it can be a cruel end to the lives they have built here.

We are concerned that deportations might now be used by the Government as an attempt to deter others from seeking asylum here in Ireland, he said.

Mr Lannon said this would have no impact on the numbers seeking protection here and would only cause distress for the individuals involved.

The focus of Government needs to be on ensuring they have a coherent long-term strategy for the reception and accommodation of people seeking protection here, and for the successful integration of refugees and migrants who make Ireland their home, he said.

In November, several measures were implemented to speed up the process of assessing international protection applications.

Justice Minister Simon Harris said last month: "If you come to our country and you have a right for protection, you will get that certainty. But if you come to our country illegally, you get asked to leave."

The Department of Justice confirmed a 55% increase in staffing at the International Protection Office (IPO) since 2019, bringing the number of staff from 143 to 221, which they say has resulted in a substantial increase in recommendations made by the IPO.

Nasc, the migrant and refugee rights centre chief executive Fiona Hurley said the centre had not received any information from the department to explain the basis for different deportations, however, she noted it was plausible that last years figures were impacted by the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants scheme, which saw more than 8,000 people apply.
People fleeing war and persecution who arrive in Ireland and find themselves homeless are travelling across the country in a desperate bid to find shelter.

Some 371 people seeking international protection are now homeless as the State grapples with an unprecedented housing and accommodation crisis and increasing numbers of people seek protection.

While most of these people are trying to survive on the streets of Dublin, John Lannon, CEO of Doras refugee and migrants rights organisation, said he is aware of some travelling to Limerick seeking shelter.

There arent any options for them. Its usually a case of looking to the communities here for help. So for an Afghan person, they might turn to somebody in the Afghan community to give them somewhere to rest."

Doras is currently helping Waqas, a teenager from Afghanistan living in direct provision in Limerick.

Waqas has been travelling between Limerick and Dublin trying to help his older brother, age 20, who has been homeless since he arrived in Ireland from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan on February 16.

His health is suffering from living on the streets and Waqas is extremely concerned for his safety.

Hes not well, he is suffering from exposure to the elements, Fiona McCaul of Doras, who is helping Waqas and his brother, said.

His health is deteriorating while being homeless on the streets. And he doesnt have access to his daily living allowance.

Waqas currently has a spare bed in his room in the direct provision centre he is living in and a manager there has agreed that his brother can stay there.

However, Doras said it has not yet heard back from the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) since Doras requested last week that IPAS allow the young man to be transferred there.

Waqas is concerned that the bed will be taken by someone else unless action is taken soon.

Hopefully something will come of it, Ms McCaul said. The situation is dire and its not going away."

Unprecedented situation

Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, said that the situation is very bad and unprecedented.

We had more than 200 people contact our service [about homelessness], theyre tired, theyre desperate, theyre very worried. They dont know whats happening to them."

"We have spoken to people who are sleeping in train stations or bus stations. Some people have also tried to stay in Mosques, which may increase during Ramadan. And also people trying to befriend strangers and/or go to cafes or restaurants owned by the same nationality as where theyre from.

Since March 8, it appears that no male international protection applicants have been offered accommodation by the State, Mr Henderson said.

When the crisis began in January, people would be homeless when they arrived but would then be offered accommodation two weeks later. But in February and March, those two weeks have turned into three weeks and longer. And now, no one it seems has been offered accommodation since March 8. The system seems to have ground to a stop.

Couples are now being asked to separate if they want accommodation, with the woman being offered a bed but the man being left homeless, Mr Henderson said.

Its very serious. We say its unlawful because Ireland has transposed and brought into Irish law the [EU's] Reception Conditions Directive in 2018. That clearly states that a person who doesnt have means who is claiming asylum should be given [certain] reception conditions. The State, when in emergency, which it clearly is now, can provide just basic needs that include shelter, food and water, but those basic needs are certainly not being provided.

The Irish Refugee Council plans to make a complaint to the European Commission but as the Commission then has 12 months to respond to a complaint, it does not offer any immediate hope of sparking change for people now.

"People are stuck. Whether the Government can find additional accommodation in the coming weeks, I dont know. But we are concerned that hotels are closing or pivoting back to the tourist trade so it is quite a bleak outlook," Mr Henderson said.

People are really desperate and weve worked with people with serious health issues. People dont have a medical card and they may not be able to go to A&E.

We have real concerns about peoples situations. We worry a lot about peoples safety.
A woman was in such fear of her husband that she hid from him at their home and then fled to her mothers house  where he arrived on a later date highly intoxicated and with a dagger on the floor of his car.

These incidents occurred on dates in February. Now, at Cork District Court, he has been sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

Defence solicitor Diarmuid Kelleher said the accused did not realise he was an alcoholic until he was remanded in custody and had to be put on Librium because of the severity of his withdrawal from alcohol.

The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of putting his wife in fear in breach of a safety order.

He now accepts he is an alcoholic and why his wife had to go and get a safety order, Mr Kelleher said.

Even before Sergeant Gearoid Davis reminded the judge of the evidence, Judge Olann Kelleher said: I am very familiar with the case. It was unusual. She hid in the house. She escaped. He came back again in defiance of court orders.

Judge Kelleher said the presence of a dagger in the footwell of the car in the circumstances was concerning.

Mr Kelleher, solicitor, said it was an ornamental weapon brought home from a Spanish holiday and the accused had forgotten it was even in the car.

Garda David Ahern said the complainant moved house after the first safety order breach on February 13.

However, on Sunday night [February 19], he turned up outside his wifes mothers address looking for her.

On the arrival of gardai he was exiting his vehicle. He was highly intoxicated and extremely agitated. The vehicle began rolling on a slope. I had to get in and pull up the handbrake. As I did I saw an object in the footwell of the front passenger seat. It turned out to be a dagger.

He acknowledged it was there, that it was his. His excuse was that he had it 'for fighting knackers. His wife was absolutely terrified, Garda Ahern said.

The defendant said in a court appearance soon after the February 19 incident he was breaching his bail but he just wanted to speak to his wife.

I cant understand what is after happening. I dont understand how it got this far with her. We are married at least 20-odd years. We were on holidays a few weeks ago.

When Im good Im good. When I drink I gets angry  not towards her. I shouts. No physical, the defendant said.

When it was put to him he said something different to gardai  about having the knife for fighting, he said: I was just throwing out things. I was angry. I never did any harm to that woman. I looked after her. She looked after me.

Reminded of saying he had it "for fighting knackers" he said: Oh that was a lie.

Judge Olann Kelleher acknowledged the attitude now shown by the defendant but said a custodial sentence had to be imposed.
A Norwegian telecom engineer who drove an Irish rental car across Europe to his home country, in breach of his agreement, has been given a three-month jail term.

Bjorn Erlend Tveter, aged 41, declined to return the car after the company contacted him when they were alerted that the car had been caught speeding in the Netherlands. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that 9,000 miles (14,480km) were clocked up on the car.

Tveter, from Norway and with a former address in Celbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to use of a false instrument being a fraudulent rental agreement on dates between November 10 and 25, 2020. He has previous convictions for drug offences in Norway and Sweden.

The court heard he was extradited to Ireland in January after he was stopped travelling from Spain to Gibraltar. He has been in custody since that date.

Garda Dominic McGrath told Joe Barnes, prosecuting, that Tveter had used a false rental agreement using a former address to lease a car and left the State in the car. The rental company were alerted the following day when a speeding ticket was flagged for the car in the Netherlands.

Garda McGrath said the company contacted Tveter and asked him to return the car but he told them he needed it and was going to hold on to it for a couple of months. He was asked to surrender it to the police in Norway but declined.

Phone and email contact continued with Tveter but the car was flagged as stolen and recovered by police in Norway. The company sent a contractor to repatriate the car, at a cost of 3,200.

Aoife OLeary, defending, said her client, who works as a telecoms engineer, used his real name, driving licence, and bank card but used an address he no longer lived at on the rental agreement. She said he was easily traceable.

Ms OLeary said he had paid 1,500 initially to the company on the 12-month lease and a further 3,500 was taken from his credit card at a later stage. The company is at a remaining loss of 1,200.

She said he had engaged with the person he rented the car from and had believed he was allowed to take the car out of the State. She said he was in a position to pay the outstanding money to the company.

The court heard when stopped by Norwegian police, he told them he had borrowed the car and did not see the problem. The police seized the car and let Tveter go.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan said Tveter appeared to make a habit of sailing close to the wind". He imposed a sentence of 12 months and suspended the final nine months, backdating it to January 13, 2023. He ordered the outstanding 1,200 be paid over.
by Rafael Newman

My favorite bookstore closed this month. Well, my favorite bookstore in Zurich, where I live. Also it hasnt actually closed, its only changing hands. But Pile of Books, opened in 2007 by Daniel Nufer and run by him and his wife, Verena Nufer-Huber, until two weeks ago, has been such an expression of Danis character that it is hard to imagine the form it will take in his absence.

There have been other bookstores in my life, of greater or lesser importance to me depending on my phase of development. There was for instance the gift shop on Saint Catherine Street, in Montreal, the city of my birth, where my grandparents took me in the mid-1970s to pick out a Passover present (actually my ransom for finding the afikomen), and I, in an early gesture of perversity, chose a glossy album commemorating the Tutankhamun exhibition. Then there was Britnells, at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto, the city in which I came of age following our move from Quebec in the wake of the Revolution tranquillea shop now long gone but in the late 1970s an invitingly Dickensian emporium, and the site of my first agonized Christmas gift-buying with an embryonic disposable income. Later, after my departure from Canada, there was Micawber Books, the explicitly Dickensian shop in Nassau Street, in Princeton, New Jersey, where I had my copy of Times Arrow signed by its author, Martin Amis, who was in town to give a coruscating talk on American socio-politics and to reminisce about his childhood on campus when his father lectured at Princeton in the 1950s.

There was the Heinrich-Heine-Buchhandlung, formally part of the Bahnhof Zoo in Berlin but only accessible from outside the railway station. Hunkered down under a noisy viaduct, it had opened in 1945 by permission of the Soviets, then of the DDR, who controlled the train facilities in West Berlin as well as East until 1990, and was thus the first bookstore to reopen in Berlin following the end of the war. I visited it while a student at the Freie Universitat in 1990/1991, in the final years of the Buchhandlungs existence, and was mesmerized by its juxtaposition of the eponymous romantic poets portrait with the shops ironbound environs. Later, during a dissertation-writing year spent in Paris, I would frequent A Tout Lire, an independent bookstore off the beaten path near Place Gambetta in the 20th arrondissement, where I purchased Slavoj Zizeks latest collections of Hegelian knee-slappers, Flauberts encyclopedia of received ideas, and Michel Onfray on the Cynics. And, later still, there was the London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury, hard by the British Museum and the fabled offices of Faber & Faber, where Tom, the jovial salesperson, scoffed at my (by then waning) grad-school enthusiasm for Zizek, but happily sold me Alan Bennetts excellent slim volume of essays on six English poets.

There have of course been still other shops: there was Paragraphe, in Montreal, where I first encountered the now broadly franchised bookstore/cafe hybrid; there were Pages, This Aint The Rosedale Library, The Bob Miller Bookroom, and She Said Boom, all in Toronto and all first-rate, though not all, alas, extant today; in Berlin there were Motzbuch (until 2020), in Schoneberg, run by a local historian, and Bucherbogen am Savignyplatz, the art and architecture specialists still operating in Charlottenburg; and in Seattle there was the Elliott Bay Book Company, just south of our home in Capitol Hill during the mid-1990s and an indispensable source of printed comfort to the inhabitants of that homesick city.

Today, in Zurich, where I have lived with my family for a quarter of a century, we still enjoy a relative wealth of independent bookshops, spiting the scourge of Amazon and the concomitant spread of big brick-and-mortar chain stores: at Central, for instance, there is Klio, an austere purveyor of literary and academic titles (with its adjoining vintage shop, or Antiquariat) which serves as the de facto bookstore of the two universities that peer down on the Swiss citys version of Potsdamerplatz by the Limmat River; there is Calligramme, not far up the Limmat in the picturesque Niederdorf district, from 1984 until 2020 run by the baby-voiced Helen Lehmann and then taken over by a team of bibliophiles who could not bear to see her overstuffed treasure house disappear; then there is Never Stop Reading, which opened not long ago near Lenins former digs in the Old Town, while in the gentrifying Industriequartier there is Sec52each of these is the public house or outlet of a small local publisher (Scheidegger & Spiess and bilgerverlag, respectively) while also offering a wide range of titles in German and English; and there is the Buchhandlung am Hottingerplatz, run by Cornelia Schweizer and Heidi Hausler in a district legendary in the annals of Zurichs literary life. When the bookshop, in its original location on the other side of Hottingerstrasse, fell on hard times, it was successfully reborn across the street thanks to shares bought by its loyal customers. (A competition was held to celebrate the Buchhandlungs reopening, to which I submitted an epyllion.) Payot, however, Zurichs last proper French-language bookshop, was not able to count on the same grass-roots support. First obliged to share quarters with a venerable art-book dealer, Payot was then swallowed up, along with its host, by the modest commercial giant Orell Fussli, a local chain whose lucrative side gigprinting money for the Swiss National Bankmakes it an unbeatable competitor. And finally, to this day, there is also Bucher Barth, in Zurichs main railway station, likewise purchased by Orell Fussli following a change in family ownership but valiantly continuing to offer its own eclectic, trilingual range of literature, history, and philosophy.

I have loved all of these bookstores in different waysParagraphe least of all, perhaps, because Im not mad about the scent of coffee mingling with the perfume of printbut none of them has had the personal, autobiographical significance that has kept me returning over the years to Pile of Books. When Dani opened the place in 2007, he was making music (hes a guitarist and connoisseur of American folk and blues) with a group of guys I had met that same year, and with whom I was soon to form a country-punk outfit called The NewMen. When we duly put out a first CD, We Are The NewMen, in an oversized sleeve designed to look like an old 45, Dani carried it in his shop, alongside conventional printed offerings. He also allowed us to play in his comfortably crowded premises: which performance, although unplugged, blew the dust off the top shelves. And when I published a book of my poetry, Live Long Enough (Happy Dragons Press New Garland Series Number Twenty: Walthamstow, 2017), Dani took a shipment of copies on consignment from the press in London and helped out with a public reading and signing event. In fact, the last thing I did on the day we bade him farewell this past month, at an in-store occasion complete with music and refreshments to welcome the new proprietor, was to sign one of the two remaining copies of my book for sale to a friend and fellow customer.

And all the while, all those years, I was ordering and buying books from Dani and Vreni: novels, essays, history, short story collections, volumes of poetry. Books by Michael Hofmann, Denise Mina, Ivo Andric, Virginie Despentes, Donal Ryan, Tony Judt, Clare Hunter, Eric Kimmel, Pankaj Mishra, Joshua Cohen I have ordered titles there for courses taught by my wife at Franklin University in Lugano, while our daughters, both alumnae of Franklin as well as of the University of Toronto, my alma mater, have also become regular customers, adding Kathy Acker, Hito Steyerl, Maggie Nelson, and Irvin Yalom, among many others, to the list of authors whose works Dani has obligingly procured. Best of all, I frequently stopped by Pile of Books looking for a birthday gift for someone, and was guided by Dani, following a brief description of that persons character and predilections, to a title I would not have thought of myself, but which almost invariably fit the bill.

So the party two weeks ago was bittersweet. Dani and Vreni had advertised it with the motto GOODBYE/HELLO, a nod to the Ur-Rock n Roll of our common youth as well as in recognition of the happy fact that we would not only be parting ways with them, but also welcoming the shops new owner. That gentleman himself was of course in attendance, and made an appealingly modest speech between sets of Land, the charming guitar-and-glockenspiel duo who entertained us with covers of songs by an eclectic line-up including Steve Earle and Vera Lynn. A former client, the new owner recounted the way Pile of Books had kept him supplied with reading material during the first lockdown (I too received shipments of books from the shop in 2020, hand delivered by Vreni on her bicycle), and how depressed he had become when he heard that Dani would be retiringwhereupon his wife supported him in his wish to become an angel investor, and save the show. (He also offered the couple a slightly backhanded compliment by crediting Vreni with the financial survival of the shop, since Dani would typically be absorbed in the latest publications on Irish history, the Beat poets, or Bob Dylan: which, to be fair, jibes with my own fond impressions over the years.)

At this point in the evening, before we sang along with the promised pathos-drenched rendition of Well Meet Again and polished off the canapes set out in the used-book room at the back of the shop, someone needed to say a word of explicit thanks and farewell to Dani and Vreni, and I took the mike to deliver the following, not entirely ad-libbed remarks:

For fifteen years weve found our way

To this portal to the poets:

To raconteurs and romanciers;

To Celts, Canucks, and Croats. We knew the gateway to the greats,

To writers we admire,

Could be found between the humble straits

Of Birmensdorf and Zweier.1 At Pile of Books we stilled our thirst

For English-language letters;

Our hosts were witty and well-versed,

And we their grateful debtors. And apropos: full many a franc

Weve left here without weeping,

Since Pile of Books has earned our thanks

For negligent bookkeeping



Drum sagen wir auf Wiedersehn

Den beiden schonen Nufern:

Begluckwunscht sein sie, denn sie gehn

Nun auf zu neuen Ufern!



The final quatrain, as corny in German as the preceding four are in English, takes advantage of the convenient fact that Danis last name rhymes with Ufershore, or bank; and that a cliched German formula for announcing a persons transition to a new job, or phase of life, imagines them setting out for new shores. And in fact, that is precisely how I envision Dani and Vreni: embarking on the Limmat, or the Liffey, a pile of books between them on deck, along with some honey and, perhaps, who knows, plenty of money, wrapped up in a five-pound note



At any rate, I wish them smooth sailing, and happy reading!

_________________________________________

1 These are the names of the cross streets at either end of the bookstores block, to wit:
Plans for a 6m project to convert a former courthouse and jail, with "extremely rare and irreplaceable War of Independence and Civil War prisoners drawings", into a museum, cultural/arts centre and a remote working hub are being progressed.

Drawings made by IRA prisoners more than a century ago were discovered when plaster started falling off the walls at the old Bridewell jail next to the former courthouse in Kanturk, Co Cork.

It is the only surviving type of graffiti from that era outside of Kilmainham Jail, Dublin, which makes the Kanturk Bridewell jail a unique building in the country's fight for independence

The Kanturk drawings include depictions of Arthur Griffith and Countess Markievicz. Prisoners also scribbled the names and dates when incarcerated there by the British during the War of Independence.

Drawings made by IRA prisoners more than a century ago were discovered when plaster started falling off the walls at the old Bridewell jail next to the former courthouse in Kanturk, Co Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

They were discovered two years ago when rain started pouring through the roof, stripping off chunks of plaster, where they were discovered underneath.

At the request of locals and Fianna Fail TD Michael Moynihan, the OPW moved in quite quickly and carried out repairs to the roof and installed new doors. But, unfortunately, some of the drawings were lost forever.

Prisoners kept there included some of the famous IRA leaders in the area: Comdt Denis Murphy, Sean Moylan, and Sean Og OConnor.

Many prisoners' names are still clearly visible today. They include Denis Hickey, Main Street, Charleville, Co Cork; Fred Healy, Glenflesk, Co Kerry; John Anderson, Midleton, Co Cork; and John Cronin, Coolinarne, Millstreet, Co Cork.

In addition, the buildings hosted famous names such as Daniel OConnell, who held a 'Repeal Meeting' there in November 1838 and Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sittings at the courthouse started in 1826 but were disbanded 13 years ago and moved to Mallow. Since then, the courthouse, adjoining jail and outbuildings started to fall into dereliction. Now, members of a local community restoration group are making headway with plans to transform the buildings into multi-use purposes.

Kanturk Courthouse Restoration Project committee spokesman Dan Dennehy said following support for the initiative from the Irish Georgian Society, the Courts Service  which owns the building  and experts from Mary Immaculate College, significant progress is being made to preserve and transform the historic buildings.

The committee hope to preserve the courthouse as is, but to establish it as a cultural centre with a museum and scope for other facilities such as a remote working hub and arts centre. We are very open to any other new ideas and suggestions for possible uses, Mr Dennehy said.

A drawing of the HMS Nelson. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

The Courts Service is amenable to transferring ownership to Cork County Council, which can then seek significant funding under many Government grant-aid streams for the redevelopment of the historic buildings.

When the story about the drawings was initially highlighted by the Irish Examiner, Mr Moynihan posted the signatures of the detainees online and was contacted by several of their descendants from all over the world.

Mr Moynihan said the courthouse and surrounding buildings are of "enormous historical and cultural significance", in particular the prisoners' graffiti on the walls of the Bridewell".

It would be a great shame to see this great history was decaying before our eyes. Its vitally important all State bodies work together to ensure these artefacts survive and are maintained for future generations to learn about, he said.
The Department of Tourism will have further engagement with the EU on its plan to create a register of short-term letting listings.

Minister Catherine Martin in December launched a proposal which would see platforms such as Airbnb fined up to 5,000 for advertising lettings not registered with Failte Ireland.

The Government estimates the move could return 12,000 homes to the long-term rental market, and it had been hoped legislation would be in place this month.

However, the European Commission has extended a standstill period, which means the bill cannot be enacted until December.

A Government source said the delay was not ideal and means the legislation could miss the tourist period, and may not be enacted until 2024 if the standstill is observed.

Ms Martin said in December she hoped to enact the legislation in the first three months of the year, with the register up and running by June. A spokesperson for the department said the standstill has been extended until December 22, 2023. They added:

The Department will now examine the communication from the EU Commission and engage with stakeholders on the next steps.

The standstill comes as councils show the tiny number of homes applying for the necessary planning permissions to operate as short-term lets.

In Dublin City, 27 homeowners applied, despite there being over 1,000 available rentals on Airbnb alone. Of those, five were granted since the legislation requiring planning permission became active in 2019.

Dublin City Council has brought enforcement in respect of around 1,580 properties. There have been 1,750 statutory warning letters and 59 enforcement notices served in these cases, they said. A resolution has been achieved in around 1,460.

Fingal County Council said it received two applications for change of use to short-term lets in 2022, along with one so far this year, while Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council received none last year, as did South Dublin County Council.

Cork City Council said it received seven applications since regulations were introduced. Five of these were for change of use and two were for the construction of short term letting buildings.

Permission was refused on 6 applications, while one further application is awaiting a response to a request for further information.
The Government is facing a motion of no-confidence over its decision to lift the eviction ban, which will end in a number of days.

The Labour Party is using its private members time to bring forward the motion, which has caused a headache for the Government as the consequences of lifting the ban rumbles on.

Last week, the Government scrambled to get the support of Independent TDs to back their decision to end the eviction ban and the group sought a series of measures aimed at boosting housing supply and helping tenants and landlords.

Despite this, some of those TDs have said their support last week does not mean they will vote confidence in the Government.

The Government has tabled a counter-motion of confidence in itself in response to the Labour Party.

What does a no-confidence motion mean?

A motion of no confidence arises when the Opposition believes the government or a member of government is no longer fit to hold office.

If a motion of no confidence passes, it means both the government and the taoiseach should resign, according to the Constitution.

This would then trigger either a Dail vote to elect a replacement taoiseach or dissolve the entire government and force a general election.

The most recent motion of no-confidence in the Government was last year when Sinn Fein attempted to pull down the Coalition over the mica crisis. The Government defeated the motion.

Who will support the Government?

Sinn Fein, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit will be voting no confidence in the Government.

The Coalitions majority in the Dail has dwindled since it took office due to TDs resigning and now given the suspension of Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan from her parliamentary party last week over voting against the Coalition on the eviction ban, the Government will be put to task to ensure Independent TDs keep them afloat.

Independent TDs including Verona Murphy, Michael Fitzmaurice and Danny Healy-Rae have said they would vote no confidence in the government.

A number of Independent TDs that normally side with the Coalition have said they have yet to make up their minds.

What does the Government think?

Government sources have indicated they believe they will have the support of some Independent TDs that will ensure they pass a confidence motion in itself.

Speaking ahead of an EU summit on Friday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was confident the Government would get through the motion with Government TDs, adding they believe the public would not want a general election now.

When will we find out?

The Government has tabled a motion of confidence in itself for Wednesday morning at 9.14am and a vote will follow thereafter.

Ministers will be working on their statements to detail what they believe has been progress in addressing the housing crisis and will, without doubt, attempt to pull apart the Opposition parties' proposed solutions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a "final warning" that rising emissions are pushing the world to the brink of irrevocable damage.

Check out our Sustainability and Climate Change Hub where you will find the latest news, features, opinions and analysis on this topic from across the various Irish Examiner topic desks and their team of specialist writers and columnists.

Global warming of 1.1C above pre-industrial levels is the result of more than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use. The report reiterates a message of opportunity, but that people have to stop treating the earths atmosphere as a massive dustbin.

Dr Catherine Conlon: Global warming of 1.1C above pre-industrial levels is the result of more than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unsustainable energy and land use.

Despite an ambitious climate plan, Ireland remains one of the highest per capita carbon emitters in the EU in contrast to most EU countries and many large economies of the developed world which are already cutting their greenhouse gases.

One of our chief headaches is that our land is a significant carbon emitter due to intensive agriculture and drainage of peatlands as well as a dispersed population with a heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

At the same time, Bord Bia, Teagasc and the Government continue to praise Irish agricultures "sustainable model". On a recent trade mission to Japan, Margaret Butler, dairy ingredients manager at Bord Bia told a group of Japanese dairy buyers that the way we farm in Ireland was "environmentally benign", while Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue suggested at the World Food Forum in Rome last year that Ireland can be the sustainable food capital of the world.

The evidence

EPA director-general Laura Burke refutes this, suggesting that from examination of the science, "the environmental sustainability of the sector is not supported by the evidence. Agriculture needs to be able to validate performance around producing food with low environmental input."

The evidence shows that farm waste, especially from livestock farms, has, in many wealthy countries, become the biggest cause of water pollution.

Continuing to market Irish agriculture as environmentally benign and sustainable denies the reality of the impact of grass-fed beef and dairy farming on both climate and biodiversity; and is a serious reputational risk for the agri-food sector in Ireland.

Dairy farms with single grass species mean little survives in these fields. Birds have no place to nest, insects have nothing to eat, and no flowers bloom. In many of the places where livestock is farmed, the land cannot absorb the slurry produced and it ends up in the river.

The more land that farming occupies, the less is available for forests, wetlands and wild grasslands and the greater the loss of wildlife.

Science (2018) reported that pasture-fed beef and lamb have by far the worst impacts  three or four times worse, according to a scientific review in Nature Climate Change (2013) than beef raised intensively on grain, harmful as this is. This is because of the lower efficiency of converting grass into protein and the slower growth of pastured animals: more methane is released from their stomachs and nitrous oxide from their dung.

Continuing to market Irish agriculture as environmentally benign and sustainable denies the reality of the impact of grass-fed beef and dairy farming on both climate and biodiversity; and is a serious reputational risk for the agri-food sector in Ireland.

CAP changes

One of the changes in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments for farmers for 2023 requires at least 4% of the land on all farms receiving CAP farm payments to be set aside for non-productive purposes.

Previously such requirements applied to just 4% of Irish farmers who were required to assign a proportion of land to ecological focus areas. That has changed to apply to 100% of farmers.

Farmers will also be able to receive payments on land parcels with up to 50% of ineligible features such as scrub or woodland from 2023 onwards. Previously farmers land parcels could not have more than 10% of what had been known as ineligible features such as copses, woodland, habitat, and rock. This means that once the beneficial feature in a parcel is less than 50%, there is no reduction in the eligible area of the parcel.

While these changes to EU farm payments are welcome, Irelands sustainable agricultural development has been criticised by environmental NGOs as lacking ambition to address the biodiversity and climate crisis.

With less than 5% of the CAP budget being targeted to support farmers to halt biodiversity loss, this will increase threats to farmland birds according to Oonagh Duggan, head of advocacy with BirdWatch Ireland (BWI). She told an Oireachtas Committee in 2022 that an urgent transformation of Irish agriculture "remained elusive". The draft CAP strategic plan for 2023  2027 was "very weak with nothing substantive to tackle high methane levels, and unclear outcomes for the investment in nitrogen reduction measures."

"Much greater support and targeting of actions and funding is needed on all farmland, especially high nature farmland and pulling the brakes on the intensification model," Ms Duggan concluded.

Key issue

While the plan had some improvements for farmland biodiversity, "it is not an emergency response". This is really the key issue. Agriculture is by far the most significant pressure impacting on Irelands biodiversity, water and air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions and the measures in place are nowhere near enough to address the combined crises we are now faced with.

Studies from across Europe show that if a minimum of 10% to 14% of agricultural land were to be non-productive, then birds and other wildlife would recover, but at landscape level, 26% to 33% may be required for recovery.

BWI suggested in 2022 that at least 10% space for nature must apply to all farms in CAP in line with EU Biodiversity Strategy goals. Studies from across Europe show that if a minimum of 10% to 14% of agricultural land were to be non-productive, then birds and other wildlife would recover, but at landscape level, 26% to 33% may be required for recovery.

People have to stop treating the earths atmosphere as a massive dustbin.

The UK government has made a legal commitment to ensure that 30% of its land is protected for nature by 2030. In order to meet these commitments, the UK National Food Strategy (2021) suggests that "we will have to ask a lot from our land and those who tend it."

The UK Government Climate Change Committee stated that meat consumption must reduce by 20-50% in order for the UK to reach net zero by 2050  with a 30% reduction over the next decade. This is best achieved by nudging consumers into changing habits and the development of alternative proteins.

The Strategy suggests the development of a "nature-positive, carbon-negative food system" with the development of detailed plans that will draw on diverse methods of agriculture, including regenerative farming practices that work with nature instead of against it.

The suggestion is that some farmers will develop and adopt more sustainable practices  including some that will deliberately lower their yields, and some that will return the land entirely to nature. More food will have to be produced from a smaller fraction of land without resorting to the intensive farming practices that have done so much damage.

The report suggests that this feat of acrobatics is achievable with a "concerted effort of will".

"We must invest in the latest science  AI robots and new breeding techniques  to increase yields without polluting the land. We must unleash the potential of soilless farming, develop new proteins and tap the plant-farming potential of the oceans instead of just pillaging them for fish."

This is the kind of ambition and evidence-based climate strategy that is currently missing from Irish agricultural policy to slash carbon emissions in the sector.

Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork and former director of human health and nutrition, Safefood
North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles towards waters off its eastern coast, according to neighbouring South Korea.

The latest upsurge in weapons tests come as the United States prepared to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to step up military exercises with South Korea.

South Koreas joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were fired from south of the North Korean capital Pyongyang but did not release flight details.

US Army soldiers wait to board their CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a joint military drill with South Korea and the United States in Pocheon, South Korea (Ahn Young-joon, File/AP)

Japans coastguard said it believed both weapons landed outside the countrys exclusive economic zone.

The launches were North Koreas seventh missile event this month amid heightened military tensions with the US moving an aircraft carrier group to the Korean peninsula this week for another round of joint drills.

North Korea has fired more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles across 11 launch events this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions.

Launches have included a flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range weapons as it tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the US mainland.

A three-day exercise last week simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets as leader Kim Jong Un condemned the US-South Korean joint military drills  described by the allies as defensive in nature  as invasion rehearsals.

South Koreas air force said the latest five-day joint aerial drill included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

North Korea launched more than 70 missiles in 2022.
Israels largest trade union group has launched a strike across a broad swathe of sectors, joining a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary  a plan that is facing unprecedented opposition.

The strike by the Histadrut umbrella group, which represents more than 700,000 workers in health, transit and banking, among many other fields, could paralyse large parts of Israels economy, which is already on shaky ground, ratcheting up the pressure on Mr Netanyahu to suspend the overhaul.

The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Mr Netanyahus decision to sack his defence minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main motorway, closing the road and many others throughout the country for hours.

Israeli police disperse demonstrators blocking a motorway during a protest in Tel Aviv against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to overhaul the judicial system (Oren Ziv/AP)

The overhaul, driven by Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israels most right-wing government ever has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.

It has sparked a sustained and intensifying protest movement that has spread to nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering towards autocracy.

The crisis has further divided Israel, magnifying longstanding and intractable differences over the countrys character that have riven it since its establishment.

The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, seeing the overhaul as a direct challenge to Israels democratic ideals.

The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership.

The crisis has also shone a light on Mr Netanyahu himself, Israels longest serving leader, and the lengths to which he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles the corruption charges.

The sacking of his defence minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere appeared to be a last straw for many, prompting a new surge of opposition.

Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss, Arnon Bar-David, the union group head, said in a rousing speech to applause.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Alberto Pezzali/AP)

Today we are stopping everyones descent toward the abyss.

The group had sat out the months-long protests but the defence ministers sacking appeared to provide the impetus for the drastic measure.

On Monday, as the embers of the motorway bonfires were being cleared, Israels ceremonial President Isaac Herzog urged Mr Netanyahu to immediately halt the overhaul, calling on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat, he said. Wake up now!

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Mr Netanyahus, said on Monday that Israel was in a landslide of losing control.

We havent been in such a dangerous situation in 50 years, he told Israeli Army Radio.

Universities across the country said they were shutting their doors until further notice.

Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing Mr Netanyahu in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.

Protesters set up bonfires and block a motorway in Tel Aviv (Oren Ziv/AP)

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Mr Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was deeply concerned by the developments in Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.

Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship, Ms Watson said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak later on Monday.

Israeli media said he would halt the legislation, which could not be independently confirmed.

Some members of Mr Netanyahus Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul, but the architect of it, justice minister Yariv Lavin, a popular party member, has said he would resign.

Mr Netanyahus hardline allies pressed him to continue on.

We must not halt the reform in the judicial system and we must not give in to anarchy, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

Mr Netanyahus dismissal of defence minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan and the committee moving the legislation forward was meeting as planned on Monday.

Israelis opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus judicial overhaul plan block a motorway during a protest in Tel Aviv (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)

Mr Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

Mr Netanyahus government pledged to forge ahead with a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments.

It also seeks to pass laws that would would grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

A separate overhaul law that would circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was being delayed following a request from that partys leader.

Mr Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition.

They also say that Mr Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because of his corruption trial.

Israeli police scuffle with demonstrators blocking a motorway in Tel Aviv during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to overhaul the judicial system (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Mr Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls.

He denies wrongdoing and has dismissed accusations that the legal overhaul is designed to find him an escape route from the trial.

Mr Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years.

The elections were all a referendum on Mr Netanyahus fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.
Workers in Israel have launched a nationwide strike, threatening to paralyse the economy as they joined a protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Departing flights from the countrys main international airport were grounded, large shopping mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israels largest trade union called for its 800,000 members  in health, transit, banking and other fields  to stop work.

Local governments were expected to close the pre-schools they run and cut other services, while the main doctors union announced its members would also walk out.

The spokesman for Israels largest trade union says diplomats at Israeli missions abroad are also striking against the governments plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Yaniv Levy, the Histadrut spokesman, said the missions were providing only emergency services. Ambassadors and consuls-general were among those on strike.

The growing resistance to Mr Netanyahus plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the Prime Ministers decision to sack his defence minister Yoav Gallant after he called for a pause to the overhaul.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main road, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

On Monday, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Knesset, or parliament, to keep up the pressure.

The overhaul  driven by Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israels most right-wing government ever  has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises.

It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanised nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering towards autocracy.

Security restrains a protector who broke into parliament in Jerusalem (AP)

Israels Palestinian citizens, however, have largely sat out the protests.

Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul will remove Israels system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.

The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

At the centre of the crisis is Mr Netanyahu himself, Israels longest serving leader, and questions about the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. He denies wrongdoing.

The judicial overhaul proposals have convulsed Israeli society (AP)

The sacking of his defence minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut, the countrys largest trade union umbrella group.

Arnon Bar-David, the groups head, said in a rousing speech: Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss.

Today we are stopping everyones descent toward the abyss.

On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared, Israels ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat, he said. Wake up now!

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

Yair Lapid, leader of oppositions Yeah Atid party addresses protesters (AP)

Weve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we dont know what to say to our children about their future in this country, Mr Lapid said. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.

It was unclear if the threats posed by the strikes to Israels economy, which is already on shaky ground, would prompt Mr Netanyahu to halt the overhaul.

Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing the Prime Minister in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Mr Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government.

Former defence minister Benny Gantz stands as Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus judicial overhaul plan outside the Knesset (AP)

US national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was deeply concerned by the developments in Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.

She added: Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship.

Mr Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech.

Some members of Mr Netanyahus Likud party said they would support the Prime Minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul.

The architect of the plan, justice minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, promised he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the Prime Ministers decision should he halt the legislation.

However, Mr Netanyahus hard-line allies pressed him to continue with the plans. We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

Mr Netanyahus government also forged ahead with a centrepiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday ahead of a final vote, which could come this week.

The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset the authority to overturn supreme court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

A separate law that would circumvent a supreme court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was delayed following a request from that partys leader.
Three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, police said.

The female suspect was killed by police during a confrontation after the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 pupils.
Burma More than 80 Myanmar Junta Troops Killed in Week of Clashes: NUG

Weapons, uniforms, ammunition and other equipment of regime troops seized in Pekon Township by the KNDF are displayed on March 12. (KNDF)

At least 88 junta military troops including an acting battalion commander were killed in recent clashes with the Peoples Defence Force (PDF) and its allied resistance groups between March 8 and March 12, according to the Ministry of Defence of the National Unity Government (NUG).

The statement released by the NUGs Defence Ministry said the PDF and allied resistance groups, including the Karenni Revolution Union (KRU) and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), clashed with junta troops in Hprauso, Hpekon and Pinlaung townships resulting in the deaths of at least 88 junta troops. It was also reported that 10 or more junta soldiers were injured while six surrendered.

At around 7 am on March 8, the PDF, allied groups clashed with the junta military and its allied Pa-O National Army, the armed wing of the Pa-O National Organization, near Khaung Ei and Shwe Pyi Aye villages in Hpekon Township on the border between Shan and Kayah states.

In another incident, the PDF attacked a convoy with land mines in Hprauso Township on March 9, killing one soldier and injuring several more.

The following day, a column of about 50 junta military troops approached Lone Pyi village in Pinlaung Township at around 5 pm and clashed with the PDFs Napyitaw Battalions 804 and 805 and their KRU allies. Fighting lasted for more than an hour until the junta sent in a helicopter gunship. The PDF and resistance groups were able to make a successful retreat.

On the same day, over 300 junta and allied PNO troops were deployed to other villages in Pinlaung Township. The PDF and allied groups launched a defensive attack, killing one soldier.

On March 11, a clash broke out in the east of Hpekon Township and at least 29 junta troops, including Lieutenant Colonel Lin Lin Tun, the acting commander of Light Infantry Battalion 423, were killed. Five other junta troops, including a column commander, surrendered to the PDF.

Even though the junta military is using massive force and launching offensives in southern Shan State and Kayah State, the Peoples Defence Force (PDF) and allied resistance groups are strongly defending and protecting, the NUGs MOD said in the statement.

Clashes also occurred in Kayah and southern Shan State in the days that followed. A commando unit under the Karenni Army (KA), the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), launched an attack on a base of the juntas Infantry Battalion 135 on March 16. At least three junta troops were killed and the KA commandos were able to seize arms, ammunition and communication equipment.

On March 18, fighting continued all day between a combined Karenni resistance force and junta troops as they approached a KA base near Ta Nee Lae village in Demoso Township, Kayah State.

Junta troops from Light Infantry 513 approached our base so we had to defend ourselves. At least five of the troops from their side were killed. They then retreated with many injured, said a member of the KA in Demoso.

At around 6 am on March 20, three columns of junta troops deployed to Daw Ngan Khar village, Demoso Township clashed with DMO local PDF and KNDF. Three junta troops were killed, according to the NUGs MOD.
Burma Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Kill Civilians in Northern Sagaing

The village hospital in Banmauk Townships Kyaung Lae Village after being hit by a regime airstrike in October 2022. / NUG

Myanmar regime airstrikes killed three civilians in Sagaing Regions Banmauk Township on Friday. The junta bombardment followed fierce fighting between the Myanmar military and Peoples Defense Forces, according to local resistance group Banmauk Revolution Force.

Clashes broke out last week in the west of Banmauk Township close to the villages of Kyaung Lae, Nar Nant Htun and Kyaut Sae.

Junta forces took heavy casualties in the fighting, according to Banmauk Revolution Force, and responded on Friday afternoon by launching airstrikes near Nar Nant Htun Village, killing three civilians.

Another airstrike took place on Sunday afternoon near Kyaung Lae Village, although residents reported no casualties.

A Banmauk resident confirmed the airstrikes in the west of the township, but communication difficulties mean few details are currently known.

The fighting continues, but it is impossible to contact those villages because phone service is down in those areas, a Banmauk resident told The Irrawaddy.

The Banmauk-Indaw Road has been closed following the clashes, said the Banmauk Revolution Force.

In October 2022, regime fighter jets bombed the Kyaung Lae Village hospital and the Mann Yuu Gy Village hospital, also in Banmauk.

Two people were killed and a dozen more including children injured. The hospitals were destroyed in the attack, as well as hospital staff accommodation and five houses.

Banmauk is located in northern Sagaing, one of the strongholds of the resistance to the military regime. Banmauk, along with Indaw and Katha townships, borders Kachin State, where fighting is ongoing between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military.

Last week, the KIA attacked a junta convoy traveling the Katha-Indaw road, killing at least five soldiers and injuring many more, according to resistance group the Indaw Revolution Force.
by R. Passov

My founding partner, Jennifer, is right. Eventually Ill run out of tricks and have to to start teaching math. Still the tricks are fun and, actually, they do help. The trick I brought to Sonias 3rd grade class in North Hampton, MA. is  truth be told  one I found in a math book for kids: I draw strange symbols on the board, get the class to agree to a consistent interpretation for the symbols then arrange the symbols in patterns that, run against the pre-agreed upon interpretations, become sentences in English.

As a group got near to the end of a correct deciphering, their squeals gave them away. What a privilege to watch.

Sonia suggested I arrive at the beginning of the day to watch the class settle. Each of the 22 or so students had a brown paper bag. They scrambled over one another while digging through their bags, all of which contained the same items: something made of dough wrapped in cellophane, that looked like a hot dog and something else, also wrapped in cellophane that I was unable to assign to any particular food category. At least half the students unwrapped packages only to play with the contents.

After breakfast, Sonia brought the students to a carpet at the front of the class. While she sat off to the the side, she began the days instructions: Jayden, its your turn to choose the greeting.

Jayden chose a peace sign. Ok, said Sonia, give your greeting to Drea. Peace, said Jayden. Peace and happiness.

Sonia turned to Drea: Give your greeting to Mikel. And so it went, each student gleefully obeying as Sonia orchestrated one greeting then another. After the greetings, Sonia selected a student to be the crew leader. Mikel, a tall, skinny boy, walked over to artwork hanging on the inside of an open closet door.

The artwork supported seed packages used as envelopes. Inside each was a popsicle stick on which was written the name of a student. One by one Mikel pulled a stick, read a name and then read from writing on each seed envelope: Susie  Chairs. Dillion  tables. And so it went until the last envelope: Jackson  the joke of the day. At which point the whole class erupted.

The task assignments handed out, each student went about their business: Susie re-arranged the chairs so students could work in groups. Dillion  the same for tables. All the while, Jackson thumbed through a joke book. Just as the students were finishing their tasks, Sonia brought them to attention: Jackson  have you found your joke for today? Yes. Ok, well go ahead

What is .

The kids rocked back in forth, some laughing because they thought the joke funny, others because they thought otherwise. After a few moments, Sonia spoke up: Ok, ok. Mornings done. Lets get to our seats so that I can introduce our guest.

My session went great. Near the end a student asked if what we had just spent 45 mins doing was in fact math. Yes, I answered: We assigned meaning to symbols and then, using only operations that stay within the assigned meanings, we made sense from non-sense. Several students asked for extra copies of the symbols to share with a parent or a sibling. That, Sonia said, never happens.

After I left the school, I treated myself to the best cup of coffee Ive ever had (Catalpa in North Hampton) and reflected. I know Im not a teacher: Entertaining 9 year-olds with math tricks takes very little skill or experience. Standing in front of students 6 or so hours per day, 5 days per week, however many weeks per year without losing their respect and while allowing them freedom to explore is a skill bordering on art. Sonia has it.

I had witnessed a small miracle in leadership: By the time Sonia was ready to start the teaching part of her day, each student had participated in a ritual that allowed for them to feel not just safe but also as an owner of the space that was allowing them to feel so. I was privileged to have been given the chance to observe.

After coffee I toured North Hampton. Smith College is nearby and the main exhibit at the campus museum is a collection of statues and carvings depicting saints as envisioned by artists and craftsman, working across France and Germany in the 15th to 18th centuries.

One in particular caught my eye: From an unknown workshop in France, its an almost life-sized carving of a Saint Fiacre. Apparently, Fiacre (c 600  670 ce) was Irish but lived as a hermit dedicated to secluded prayer in northeastern France.

Saint Fiacre did the sorts of things one would expect of a Saint  cleared a forest to build a refuge for the poor, for example  and something I wasnt expecting. Apparently he sat on his stone among the trees [and] the stone miraculously softened  relating to [the Saints] ability to cure hemorrhoids. Who knew?

When my day was over, I met up with Sonia and her husband for dinner. I offered a slew of compliments, then asked a question. I know another young man whos struggling through his second year teaching in a New York City public school. According to Gabe, he teaches 5 classes per day, each the same  social studies  and always with an eye toward the state tests.

He doesnt like the limitations put on him and is thinking of quitting which would be a shame since I know hes a great teacher (he was one of the first recruits to my math program.) When I asked Sonia if she feels the same pressure, she answered: No. Our students arent great test takers but we have a great principal who fights above our heads so that we can teach what we think works best.

I was surprised to learn her students werent high performers. Sonia is perhaps the most gifted teacher Ive ever met and I have a lot of schooling under my belt. Well, Sonia offered, let me tell you something about my students.

The small child who never took off her coat arrived straight from Rwanda the prior week with not a word of English and attached to two parents neither of whom could read in any language.

Mikel, the tall skinny kid who gave out the class assignments lives with a very demanding, tough mother and three other siblings. Every ten weeks the father takes a week away from the front lines in Ukraine to return to North Hampton where the family has been given refuge status.

Wilson, the large child who seemed so sweet but constantly asked questions about the lessons planned for the day, as though he harbored dire concern for any possible change, lives in a car with his father while they wait for his crack-addicted mother to return from somewhere.

Another child is also homeless  Drea who seemed the sweetest of all. I care for all of my classmates, she said. I hate to see anyone unhappy and will always try to make them happy. How nice Sonia offered after this was said.

At dinner, Sonia recalled how the day before, in front of the whole class Drea screamed Fuck you! Did you really want to say that? Asked Sonia. No, I guess not. I wont do it again, offered Andrea.

But she will do it again.

Another girl, who at the start of my session felt an urgent need to let me know she had been to a Chinese-language immersion program, brings non-alcoholic beer to class everyday. Apparently, Sonia said, the parents believe non-alcoholic beer helps to keep their children calm.

__________________________________________________________

As I traveled to that school I carried with me a picture of the world as it existed when I was in elementary school. The kids were the same: hopeful, expectant, needy and absorbent, all in the best ways. But while Im sure my elementary school classmates carried the full breadth of challenges with them, todays children are in a very different world.

How, I asked Sonia, do you keep your composure as that young girl spouts off.

You need to understand why the young girl is saying what shes saying, Sonia offered. Its clear by the almost instant remorse that she doesnt want to be where she is, but of course her challenges are beyond her coping skills.

How do you maintain your authority in the face of such challenges, I asked? Simple, Sonia said. I know that the source of my authority comes solely from my being able to make each student not want to see me disappointed. Thats all I have.

After a moment of silence, Sonia looked to me and offered that I was lucky to have left her class when I did. For the two hours immediately following my session, the school went into a full lockdown.

A 3rd grade student in the class next door had one of his not infrequent psychotic breakdowns. He had somehow managed to get liquid soap from the hall bathroom onto the floor of his classroom. This prevented the teacher from following him as he ran up and down the hallway threatening to kill everyone in the whole school.

Sonia explained that she handed out iPads and earbuds and instructed the students to use both and distract themselves through fun and games. Theyre used to it, she said.

And yes, she offered, we all know that boy needs deep, consistent psychiatric help. But to get that help would cost their small school at least $100,000 per year and its not clear exactly what will trigger the decision.

I love my job, Sonia offered. I love these kids and feel I am doing what Im supposed to do. We protect ourselves, she went on. The faculty takes care of one another, and the principal takes care of the faculty. And we dont teach to the tests, she offered. We try and teach these children how to cope.

Sonias students are learning more than how to cope. They are learning through witnessing. They are seeing a compassionate, gifted leader put her heart and soul into their lives  a gift that will endure well beyond a grounding in STEM.

We live in a place and at a time of enormous contradiction: The investment that Sonia and others make grows an equity worth more than all the start ups combined and yet weve become able to bear its destruction. Here, in America, weve somehow allowed for a society where there are rights more important than those of these children.
Burma Myanmar Junta Bombs Village in Revenge for Heavy Losses in Kayah State: Karenni resistance

Military weapons, ammunition and equipment seized by combined resistance forces in Daw Ta Ma Gyi Village in Demoso Township last week. /KNDF

Junta bombing raids destroyed around 100 houses in Demoso Township, Kayah State, late last week in retaliation attacks for heavy losses suffered in clashes with ethnic Karenni resistance forces.

Heavy clashes broke out from March 20 to 23 in the east of Demoso Township when resistance groups including Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs), Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) and the Karenni Army (KA), the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), combined in defensive attacks against three military columns of over 330 regime troops occupying Daw Ta Ma Gyi village.

The junta columns had been raiding and occupying Daw Ta Ma Gyi and surrounding villages and forest since arriving in the area from Bawlakhe Township on March 8, according to a KNDF spokesperson.

The four days of heavy fighting last week saw more than 90 regime forces including several army officers killed in Daw Ta Ma Gyi village, and a large quantity of military weapons, ammunition, and equipment seized by resistance forces.

Five resistance fighters were also killed in the firefights.

After sustaining heavy losses, the regime columns retreated from the village on Thursday (March 23).

However, after three junta aircraft bombarded houses in the village on Friday, regime troops re-entered Daw Ta Ma Gyi.

An aerial video released by the KNDF shows houses ablaze after the airstrikes.

On Monday, junta forces continued to shell the village and nearby areas from a military training school in neighboring Hpruso Township, using 120-mm and 60-mm artillery rounds without provocation, the KNDF spokesperson said.

Clashes could erupt again at any time as our forces and junta troops are still in the area. But for now, regime forces are shelling the areas but there are no clashes, he added.

The KNDF has requested help in replenishing its ammunition stocks from citizens both at home and abroad.

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, in a speech to mark the 78th anniversary of Myanmar Armed Forces Day in the administrative capital Naypyitaw on Monday, vowed to crush the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), the political wing of the Peoples Defense Forces, and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) fighting alongside the NUG.
Burma Myanmar Junta Chief Vows to Defeat Shadow Govt and Allied EAOs for Supporting Resistance

Myanmar regime chief Min Aung Hlaing salutes during a ceremony to mark the country's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw on March 27, 2023. / AFP

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said on Monday that he would take decisive action against the countrys parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and its allied ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to thwart their growing attempts to topple his regime.

In his speech to troops at the annual parade in celebration of Armed Forces Day in Myanmars capital Naypyitaw, the junta boss said the NUG was a political organization formed to engage in acts of terror.

Some EAOs that have been supporting the NUG and [its armed wing] the Peoples Defense Forces [PDFs] are organizations trying to ruin the country, he added.

It was the first time Min Aung Hlaing has mentioned the NUG and the PDFs in his annual Armed Forces Day speech, and appears to be a recognition of the threat posed by the organizations, both of which have been branded as terrorist groups by the junta. His troops have come under heavy attack nationwide since the formation of the NUG and PDFs when people took up arms to fight the regime after the coup in 2021.

Formed by elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government and its ethnic allies, the NUG commands the loyalty of the vast majority of Myanmar people in its fight against the regime. So do the PDFs, who receive military and logistical support from some of Myanmars established EAOs, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

In his speech at the same event last year, Min Aung Hlaing vowed to annihilate the resistance groups. One year on, however, the junta still cant control the country despite its forces regular air strikes, arson attacks, killings and raids in resistance strongholds. Last month, he openly admitted that only 198 out of Myanmars 330 townships were peaceful. A few days before he repeated his vow on Monday to crush the resistance, combined forces of resistance groups and allied EAOs in Kayah and Karen states dealt a heavy blow to his troops.

On Monday, Min Aung Hlaing stressed that martial law had been extended in 40 townshipsmost of them in the countrys anti-regime strongholdsacross the country in order to decisively crush the resistance.

He urged his troops to effectively use the firearms provided to root out the resistance led by the NUG and PDFs.

Observers saw Min Aung Hlaings latest vow to decisively crush the resistance as an act of desperation and feared it would lead to an increase in bloodshed.

But I wonder whether he can do it. His troops are overstretched across the country and under attack, said a local military analyst.

He pointed out that Min Aung Hlaings vow to annihilate his opponent last year was followed by brutal attacks on resistance forces.

He hasnt been able to control them [the resistance], though. They are just getting stronger, he said.

Who joined the celebration?

Apart from the parade and display of military hardware, the Armed Forces Day event is an annual gathering of military personnel, including retired former senior military officers.

Mondays event was joined by former head of the Union Election Commission ex-lieutenant general Tin Aye, and former major-generals and ministers Htay Oo, Thein Zaw and Ye Myint. All are loyal to former dictator Than Shwe.

Former admirals Soe Thane, Nyan Tun and Thura Thet Swe were also among the guests. Ex-generals Khin Aung Myint and former Air Force chief Nyan Tun were also present.

Apart from the military personnel, senior figures from pro-regime political parties were also invited.

Ex-brigadier general U Khin Yi, the chairman of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP), joined the celebration in his military uniform.

One-time student activist and prominent 1988 pro-democracy protest figure U Ko Ko Gyi, the leader of the Peoples Party, attended the event despite public criticism of his plan to register his party under the regime, probably to contest the juntas planned election.

Min Aung Hlaing said on Monday that the polls would be possible only when there is peace in the country.

Following the coup, the junta promised to hold an election but did not specify a time frame. The planned polls have been condemned at home and abroad as a sham intended to cement the juntas grip on power.
Editorial Yes, the Myanmar Military Really Could Implode

Myanmar regime troops take part in a parade to mark the country's 77th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on March 27, 2022. / AFP

Today, its a fair question to ask: How long can the Myanmar military last? Or even: Could the military implode? The answer to the latter question is yes.

The military no longer enjoys any public support at all after committing crimes throughout the country, from ousting a popular elected government to arresting and killing thousands of civilians.

Since they turned their guns on the people, the armed forces, once referred to respectfully as the Tatmadaw, or Royal Armed Forces, are now loathed by the people and referred to in the independent media (who once again find themselves in exile) by the more prosaic label Sit Tat, which simply means military.

Why are they no longer seen as the Tatmadaw? The simple answer is they dont deserve to be.

The institution is no longer the Tatmadaw that arguably still garnered respect, particularly among the Burman population, into the 1980s. Rather, it is a group of armed menthugs, basicallylording over the country and burning it to the ground as they do so.

Today, the army runs around the country torching villages and houses, killing civilians and raping women, while jet fighters and helicopters bought from Russia and China attack the civilian population, bombing townships and villages.

The military is at war with its own people.

Some neighboring countries and allies of the regime, eager to advance their narrow interests, continue to peddle the narrative that the Myanmar military is a unifying force in the country, that it will inevitably win, since it has the resources and the military might.

It is not true.

The enemy within

In reality, the Myanmar military today, far from being a unifying force, is only a source of division, destruction and conflict. It has neither the respect nor the support of the majority of the people inside the country. How can it last?

There is a very real possibility that the Myanmar military will collapse, and there is plenty of evidence for this.

The militarys real enemy lies within.

Independent media and the political opposition focus on the armed forces atrocities and deeply entrenched culture of brutality. But less attention is paid to the institutions deep-seated corruption. Fear, violence, a culture of hierarchy and impunity, long-lasting patron-client relationships and corruption run deep in this once-respected institution.

Long-suppressed voices and grievances inside the military are now rearing their heads, as seen in a number of published interviews in social media and established media, including this publication.

Since the coup, army officers and insiders have spoken frankly about facing public revulsion and the fact that they are no longer proud to be in the military and wear the uniform. They know they can no longer enjoy and live a normal life in public.

They feel insecure and know that the military cannot protect them and keep them safe. A common refrain among defectors is, This institution is a disgrace.

Many who have left the military say that more defectors will follow if the opposition offers better incentives and security. There are various reasons that soldiers want to leave the military.

Army officers see their superiors and top generals enjoying lavish lifestyles while rank-and-file soldiersmany of whom have lost limbs or their livesand their families receive little in return. They have only gotten poorer.

This feeling of disgruntlement is not new. Since the early 2000s, the Myanmar military has seen a decline in morale and discipline, as many top generals and their families have gotten involved in lucrative businesses tied to military-owned state assets. These generals and a new generation of crony businessmen have grown rich together.

The generals sons and daughters have become millionaires while the families of ordinary soldiers struggle to get through their daily lives. They feel exploited; the idea that they are serving and protecting their country seems more and more like a delusion. Many now realize that they too are victims of a corrupt and dictatorial regime.

The gap between officers and the militarys rank and file is wide. Newly trained officers and soldiers lack discipline and do not adhere to any code of conduct. They cant make intelligent decisions on the battlefield andwhile inflicting great harm on the populationdo not really know how to use the lethal force at their disposal effectively, in a military sense. Defecting military officers say they are not trained to think or make decisions.

The chain of command is still in place for now, but senior officers on the front lines are having increasing difficulty controlling their units.

Not a normal military

Many officers who have received extended training overseas have witnessed first-hand how modern civil-military relations work. They understand that the Myanmar military is different from its counterparts in countries like India, China, Malaysia or Japan, whose militaries steer clear of politics. Deserting officers question why our military is involved in politics.

From the time they begin their cadet training at the Defense Services Academy (DSA), young cadet officers, especially those assigned to infantry divisions, are relentlessly brainwashed and immersed in propaganda and a distorted view of Myanmar history. They are told that one day you will be governing the country; it is your duty. This guardianship ideology is a core teaching at the DSA. Once they become officers they believe they are destined to govern the country. This explains Min Aung Hlaing, a typical DSA product. Such officers are poorly educated and detached from reality.

However, more independent-minded officers now ask, Is it really our job to govern the country?

DSA cadets endure brutal, repressive physical training inflicted on them by their superiors in a process that instills the militarys longstanding and rigid hierarchy. Many officers who have left the military recall these brutal training sessions as little more than inhumane bullying. They say they have no regrets about leaving.

According to defectors, talented officers are often removed or shifted to inactive posts before they reach higher ranks such as brigadier general. The top generals demand loyalty and only want to see yes-men promoted.

After the period of political opening began in 2012, Myanmar officers and soldiers exposed to outside and independent media, and with access to the internet, began to see that while the countrys political system was changing, the same was not true of the military leadership. They knew something was wrong in the country.

The military never believed in civilian control, and merely transferred power to retired military officers appointed to run civilian government ministries and departments. But these officers are incompetent and corrupt. How could they be expected to run the country?

In the past decade, military officers were also able to take part in two free and fair elections, in 2015 and 2020. Many military families, for the first time not voting under direct intimidation from superior officers, voted for their favorite partiesand not necessarily the military-sponsored Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Recruitment drying up

Today, recruitment is a real challenge. When Myanmar opened up in 2012, young people left the country looking for more opportunities and jobs overseas. For those who stayed at home, joining the military was the least attractive option.

Since the coup, it has become even more difficult to find new recruits.

Now the regime targets families facing economic hardship, and members of military-affiliated families, including young women, are under increasing pressure to join. Convicts and criminals, once shunned, are being signed up.

The military reportedly aims to take in 30,000 new recruits annually, but for the last two years the numbers have been shockingly lowin the hundreds. To counter the growing military threat from ethnic armed organizations and Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs), the military has begun training and arming civilians, including militia groups.

The PDFs, on the other hand, can tap a seemingly endless supply of recruits throughout the country. However, the PDFs lack the resources to train them all and maintain a steady supply of ammunition.

Lastly, field commanders know that the military is overstretched and has enemies everywhere. Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has admitted that the regime controls only half of the territory in Myanmar. The regimes recent extension of emergency rulethe legal cover it has scripted for itself to govern constitutionallyonly offered further proof that it cannot bring the country under its full control.

As the country continues to sink into instability and, sadly, achieves failed state status, the isolated and internationally condemned regime is likely to crack.

Infighting and power struggles among the top leaders are conceivable in the near future, and any reshuffle would only offer a short-term solution.

The regime is an army of thugs and darknessit does not concern itself with federal democracy, stability or the countrys future, but only with maintaining its grip on power by whatever means it deems necessary.

It is fantasy to expect the military to bring the country back to a democratic and stable future. Only fools do.

The murderous commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and his henchmen have shown they are capable of anything when let loose upon the people. What all of this shows is that the regime has no authoritylegal, moral or otherwiseto govern the country, whose citizens feel a universal revulsion toward the military and the coup leader.

One day, hopefully soon, the Myanmar people, including ethnic organizations and ethnic armed groups, will have to work hard to establish a professional Union military that respects human rights and human dignity, while protecting the country.

Whatever it is called, whether it is a Union military or the federal Union armed forces, it must protect the people of Myanmar, of all races and religions, as their servant, and work to become a respected force for stability in the region.

Myanmar needs a professional military, but Min Aung Hlaing and his thugs cant provide it.

In the new system that is to come, the commander-in-chief must not be allowed to pick his successor. We know that Min Aung Hlaing will only pick a yes manpresumably one as dumb as himselfto succeed him.

It may sound like a dream, but the new military should be alternately led, in a revolving appointment system, by Karen, Kachin, Karenni, Shan, Mon, Rakhine and Chin commanders-in-chief, all of whom will be equal in status to a periodically appointed Burman military chief.
Myanmar-China Watch Beijing Seeks Closer Security Ties With Myanmar Regime

Chinese ambassador Chen Hai meets with the regime's deputy prime minister and home affairs minister Soe Htut on Thursday. / MWD

Chinas ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai has called on the junta to step up security cooperation with his country, including collaboration between the two police forces.

He made the appeal while meeting with the juntas deputy prime minister and home affairs minister Soe Htut on Thursday to discuss security matters, border issues, and future cooperation, according to junta media. The meeting was also attended by deputy home affairs minister and deputy military intelligence chief Toe Yi.

However, the scope and details of future cooperation between the two police forces were not made clear.

Chen Hai urged Soe Htut to step up efforts to combat cross-border crime, online fraud, and gambling, according to the South China Morning Post, which cited the Chinese embassy in Myanmar.

In Myanmar, Chinese-run criminal gangs based near the Thai border are operating telecoms scams and luring workers from China by promising high-paying jobs.

Chen said these illegal activities harmed the interests and safety of Chinese people and undermined social stability and order. He urged Myanmar to take the matter seriously and work closely with China to combat the crimes and create a clean environment for friendly cooperation between the two countries, South China Morning Post reported.

In response, Soe Htut said Myanmar was aware of the damage caused by these criminal activities and had already stepped up efforts to tackle the problems.

China distanced itself from Myanmars military regime following the coup in February 2021, but bilateral relations have improved significantly since Beijing appointed a new special envoy to Myanmar in December.

Special envoy Deng Xijun has been busy brokering talks between the junta and powerful ethnic armed organizations along the border, with China seeking both to resume its projects in Myanmar and make new investments even as the international community imposes tighter sanctions.

Anti-China sentiment in Myanmar remains high due to its closer ties to the regime and observers say that the Chinese ambassador met the juntas home affairs minister to ensure the security of its investments in Myanmar. These include such megaprojects as a deep-sea port in Rakhine States Kyaukphyu in western Myanmar, the Letpadaung copper mine in Salingyi Township in central Myanmar, and oil and gas pipelines that run through Rakhine, Mandalay and Shan State.

According to the Institute for Strategy and Policy, 7,800 clashes have taken place since the coup, with at least 300 of these near Chinese projects or in areas where Chinese projects are located.

Chen Hai stated in a recent article penned for the junta-controlled Kyemon Daily that the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Special Fund is funding 92 projects in Myanmar.

The Chinese ambassador also met junta-appointed foreign minister Than Swe on Thursday to discuss promoting peace and stability along the border, and cooperation on the international stage in matters of mutual interest.
Monday, Mar 27th, 2023 (12:38 pm) - Score 1,200

Network operator CityFibre has completed their deployment of a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 1,018 homes in the suburban village of Binley Woods (Warwickshire), which only started in August 2022 and is an extension of their existing network in nearby Coventry.

The project, which was delivered via civil engineering firm Callan, was originally planned to complete by late 2022 and so it appears to have taken a little bit longer than expected. But confusingly, CityFibres announcement isnt sure how much it cost to build. The original announcement put the figure at 500,000, which seems to be about right, but todays one says that and also gives a figure of 2m for the same thing (weve had it confirmed that 500k is the correct figure).

NOTE: CityFibre is supported by ISPs such as TalkTalk, Zen Internet, Giganet, CityFibre is supported by ISPs such as Vodafone iDNET and others, but they arent all live or available in every location yet.

Speaking of the Binley Woods project, Neal Wright, CityFibre Area Manager, said: The fact that the rollout was completed in Binley Woods in the space of 76 days is a remarkable achievement. Its now one of the best-connected places in the country thanks to the full fibre infrastructure that our team has installed across the village.

We should add that Openreach also intend to build FTTP in the same area.
#Moscow

Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, President Vladimir Putin has said, the media reported.

President Putin said the move would not violate nuclear non-proliferation agreements and compared it to the US stationing its weapons in Europe, according to Russian state media.

Moscow would not be transferring control of its arms to Minsk, he added, BBC reported.

The US said it did not believe Russia was preparing to use the nuclear weapons after the announcement.

We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, the US Defense Department said in a statement. We remain committed to the collective defence of the Nato alliance.

The Belarusian regime is a firm Kremlin ally and supporter of the invasion of Ukraine.

President Putin told Russian state television that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, BBC reported.

There is nothing unusual here either, he said. Firstly, the US has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries.

Russia will have completed the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by 1 July, President Putin added.

A small number of Iskander tactical missile systems, which can be used to launch nuclear weapons, have already been transferred to Belarus, President Putin said, BBC reported.He did not specify when the weapons would be transferred to Belarus. It will be the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have based nuclear arms outside the country.

The Soviet Unions collapse in 1991 meant weapons became based in four newly-independent states - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan - with the transfer of all warheads to Russia completed in 1996. Agencies

Missiles already transferred

Putin told state broadcaster Russia 1 that Moscow had already transferred an Iskander short-range missile system, a device which can be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads, to Belarus.

During the interview, Putin said Russia had helped Belarus convert 10 aircraft to make them capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads and would start training pilots to fly the re-configured planes early next month. Belarus, which is west of Russia on Ukraines long northern border, is among Moscows closest allies. It helped Russia launch its initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, allowing the Kremlins troops to enter the country from the north. There have been fears throughout the conflict that Belarus will again be used as a launching ground for an offensive, or that Minsks own troops will join the conflict.

Agencies
Cloud communications provider Vonage has launched a new tool designed to empowers businesses to deliver customised, large scale, omnichannel campaigns and bulk messages, including two-way interactions with their customers - all from a single marketing, automation platform.

Vonage says the tool - Proactive Connect, provides a flexible and scalable way to initiate large-scale, external conversations across any channel via Vonage APIs - Voice, SMS, and Messaging including MMS, WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger.

Available as an API and as a dashboard UI, Vonage says Proactive Connect gives businesses across industries, such as retail, banking, and utilities, the ability to create these connections for mission-critical customer communications - and examples include alerts on service outages and notifications/confirmations for appointments to reduce customer inquiries and increase business growth by promoting new products and services.

Vonage notes that Proactive Connect also gives customers a faster way to receive answers to urgent questions and receive live support by messaging with intelligent bots, sales reps or support agents directly.

With the ability to configure every aspect of a customer campaign, Vonage Proactive Connect is changing the way businesses engage with customers, said Colin Brown, VP Product, Vonage.

By delivering the tools needed to personalise engagement at scale, Proactive Connect is helping Vonage customers exceed business results by making connections with their own customers that resonate and build brand loyalty.

Vonage Proactive Connect uses automated conversational workflows, including:

AI-Enabled solutions: Easily manage bulk synchronous or asynchronous inbound and outbound interactions across multiple channels. Route inbound responses to an AI-enabled virtual assistant to automate conversations or route to live contact centre agents.

Omnichannel campaigns: Send bulk messages across voice and messaging channels from one platform

Personalisation: Customise messages, offers, and response or send personalised content across channels using dynamic fields, such as proactive alerts for communicating service-impacting issues

Two-way interactions: Enable two-way interactions with customers across multiple channels

Low code dashboard: Low code dashboard UI empowers citizen developers and makes it easy for all developers to build faster

Ability to rapidly scale: Easily scale personalised conversations and experiences with minimal effort

Consumers are more connected than ever, putting higher expectations on brands to make those connections more personal and more immediate, said Dave Michels, Principal Analyst at TalkingPointz.

Vonage Proactive Connect will enable businesses to meet this growing demand for meaningful connections with the simplicity of a low-code design - even for large-scale campaigns - as well as the ability to infuse them with AI-powered interactions and two-way communications for that personal touch. These are key differentiators for Vonage that will check the critical boxes that todays digitally confident consumer is looking for when making their brand choices.

Online caregiver search and selection service, epiCura, leverages technology to bridge the gap between at-home care for seniors and a vast network of caregivers. With a vision to revolutionise home care with a human touch and a digital approach, epiCura partnered with Vonage to address the challenge of reaching large volumes of providers in an effective way.

By using Vonage's Proactive Connect solution, epiCura was able to meet this challenge and improve our outreach efforts, enabling us to connect with more caregivers than ever before, said Giuseppe Conte, Operations Manager of epiCura. This ultimately helped epiCura fulfill our mission of providing high-quality at-home care to seniors, while also creating a more seamless and efficient user experience.

Vonage says Proactive Connect also integrates seamlessly with the singular Vonage Communications Platform (VCP) - a unique combination of unified communications, contact centre, communications APIs and conversational commerce solutions - enabling businesses to simplify their communications solutions and build conversational engagements without the need for multiple vendors - including the ability to integrate with low code/no code solution Vonage AI Studio to enable smart customer conversations in multiple languages, incorporating NLU and ML capabilities using artificial intelligence (AI).

Vonage Proactive Connect is currently in beta.
Launched in the US in February 2022, Zoom's Contact Center is now available in Australia and New Zealand, with Zoom's regional CX head, Phil Zammit, zooming it with me via iTWireTV on why this is a pivotal point for the entire CX industry, and why customer service is about to dramatically improve.

Zoom. Founded in 2011, well before the pandemic that propelled Zoom into daily use by hundreds of millions worldwide and took the hybrid working revolution into overdrive, the Zoom of today is vastly more advanced than when it first start.

Zoom explains it is "a space where you can connect to others, share ideas, make plans, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination," thanks to its "frictionless communications platform" which started with video as its foundation, and not only continues innovating at a rapid pace, but remains a growing, intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike.

When a company has a huge ecosystem of products, services, third-party plug-ins and more, you know it has truly become successful.

It's the opposite of when you buy a lesser-known brand smartphone and it comes with a case in the box, because the company knows there just aren't that many accessories out there.

This isn't a problem Zoom faces, given the very wide range of solutions that work with Zoom, and are explicitly marketed as being Zoom compatible.

Whether it is video calls, whiteboards, team chats, conversation intelligence, Zoom Rooms and conference room systems, online webinars, workspaces with email and calendaring, virtual agents, and now its new Contact Center solution, Zoom is such a force to be reckoned with that Google's attempts to build Google Meet into Gmail, and Microsoft's attempts to put Teams into the taskbar of Windows PCs shows just what a juggernaut Zoom is, and how dominant it has become.

Of course, no company can sit on its laurels, and Zoom certainly has not done so, with its Zoom Contact Center a robust omnichannel contact center solution that is optimised for video and integrated right into the same Zoom experience. It combines unified communications and contact center capabilities with the usability of the Zoom platform, and supports customer service use cases and workflows using channels like video and voice, SMS and web chat.

In a blog post on "How Zoom Contact Center will change CX in ANZ", Zoom Head of Customer Experience in APJ, Phillip Zammit, explains why, even after many years in the CX industry, he thought he'd seen it all - but now things have been taken to an entirely new level.

In the blog post, which is definitely worth reading, Zammit says: "Nowhere more than in ANZ are we ready for our contact centres to have built-in video capabilities that let customer service agents elevate interactions from voice or chat to video. Culturally, we like to connect face-to-face. Statistics released last year revealed nearly 60% of people in the Philippines use their mobile phones to make video calls, 48% in Vietnam, and 43% in Indonesia, against a global average of 38%.

"And in ANZ, the trend toward video engagement has been clearly documented when it comes to the more complex and sensitive context in mind. Its official, we prefer to see each other, even on the small screen. And there has never been a time where video has been not only accepted as a means of engagement and connection but, in so many ways, is expected."

He also noted: "During the COVID crisis, our contact centre agents worked from home. As many as 73% could still be there, according to a survey by Metrigy. As consumers, we cut them some slack. We were grateful for any service we could get. Then as we emerged from COVID, we expected a consistently high level of service, despite the environmental conditions. Working from home? Not a problem.

"With Zoom Contact Center, agents are equally effective from any location because they havent had to lug a kit bag of software tools with them. No longer confined to the call centre walls, they can work from home or in remote offices. The ability to centralise agents internal and external communications from the Zoom platform enables them to deliver frontline services from anywhere. Not only does this hybrid approach help create greater flexibility and job satisfaction (which can reduce costly staff turnover and elevate agent experience), it opens the doors for organisations to recruit agents from a broader talent pool."

Zammit also quotes Ruby Newell-Legner, stating: It takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience.

Naturally, Zoom is also using AI, with the Zoom Virtual Agent being the company's conversational AI and chatbot solution designed to give customers relevant and personal responses immediately, thus avoiding queuing for a live agent, and can work 24/7.

Zammit adds: "The Virtual Agents natural language processing helps accurately detect what customers need and then guides them to simple actions for frequently-faced problems, like paying a bill or getting updates on a shipment, without speaking to an agent. Offloading these enquiries reduces agent call load and can potentially skyrocket productivity. And its important to note that Virtual Agent can intelligently hand-off interactions to an agent whenever needed, including a full chat history so that the transition is seamless and there is no need for the customer to repeat themselves."

So, to learn more about Phillip Zammit, about customer experience (CX), about customer service, the Zoom Contact Center and more, please watch the video interview with Phil embedded directly below, after which is a summary of the topics we spoke about.

I start by introducing Phil, and asked him to give us a quick recap of Zoom's history, after which we delved directly into Zoom Contact Center's recent launch in the ANZ region - what it is, how businesses are using it, and how customers will benefit.





We also spoke about the Zoom Virtual Agent, its use of AI, and more.





We discussed getting customer engagement strategy right, and how to best use omni-channel communications to their fullest.





Next up was the ongoing hybrid working revolution, which has really taken off over the last year as COVID has subsided, and Zoom's prediction for the future.





Naturally, we covered AR/VR and AI, and how Zoom is using these technologies, after which Phil explained how one of Zoom's customers has really been driving success with Zoom's solutions, and how customer feature requests have been accelerated and implemented.





Phil then shared a memory of his first computer, the first time he remembers making a video call, great advice received in life, and his final messages to iTWire viewers and readers, and to his current and future customers and partners.

So, to learn more about Phil Zammit, customer experience, support, the Zoom Contact Center, the Zoom Virtual Agent, AI, customer service and much more, please watch the video interview above!
Remote sensing software advancing computer vision company Metaspectral has joined Venture Catalyst Space, a space accelerator and incubator program led by the University of South Australias Innovation and Collaboration Centre (ICC).

Metaspectral handles large data requirements of hyperspectral payloads. Its novel data compression algorithms transmit data in real time whether from orbit to ground or within terrestrial networks.

The technology will be deployed on the International Space Station to demonstrate real-time compression, streaming, and analysis of hyperspectral data from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The Canadian Space Agency funded Metaspectrals novel data compression technology to measure greenhouse gasses on the Earths surface using satellite hyperspectral data.

Hyperspectral imagery contains data from across the electromagnetic spectrum which, when analysed with artificial intelligence (AI), can be used to monitor time-sensitive environmental events on Earth such as wildfires, methane leaks, and more. The same data can also be leveraged by the defence industry for real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, said Metaspectral CEO and co-founder Francis Doumet.

I believe that we can bring significant value to the nascent local commercial space market with the years of research behind our space-ready technology. Especially with Kanyini including a hyperspectral payload, there is potential for our software to immediately provide value and be used by SmartSat CRC for managing, distributing, and analysing the data, said Metaspectral chief technology officer and founder Migel Tissera.

The Australian Space Agency opened in February 2020 in Adelaide. It announced in 2022 that Kanyini, the first satellite designed and constructed in South Australia, is set to launch this year. Kanyini will include a hyperspectral imaging payload, and will be managed and operated by the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

The South Australia Space Innovation Fund financed the program, which kicked off this month and runs until the end of August 2023.
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
FILE - Anthony Broadwater, center, gazes upward, Nov. 22, 2021, in Syracuse, N.Y., after Judge Gordon Cuffy overturned the 40-year-old rape conviction that wrongfully put him in state prison for Alice Sebold's rape. Broadwater, who spent 16 years in prison, has settled a lawsuit against New York state for $5.5 million, his lawyers said Monday, March 27, 2023.
Art Magnified

Voting Stories

Yoshimuras Do Not Disappoint Your Mother
press release

The Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, had a meeting with the Director General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr. Arun Chawla, and its Senior Director Mr. Goutam Ghosh, yesterday, in the margins of the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) taking place in New Delhi. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the avenues to increase trade and investment between Mauritius and India.

The Minister highlighted the advantages being offered by Mauritius through the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) which entered into force in April 2021. Through the CECPA, Mauritius offers a range of opportunities in different sectors including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, he added.

FICCI is the largest and oldest Apex business organisation in India. It is the voice of India's business and industry and has a great influence on policy makers. More than 250 000 Indian companies are members of FICCI.

FICCI agreed with the proposal of Minister Ganoo to set up a mechanism to unlock the various opportunities existing between the two countries and Mauritius could be used as a gateway between India and Africa. As a result, this will further enhance the trade exchanges and a sensitisation campaign targeting specific sectors will also be carried out in both countries.

The Director General of FICCI assured Minister Ganoo that his organisation will do everything possible in order for trade relations between the two countries to increase exponentially in the years ahead.
A two-day event tasked with promoting the critical environmental role played by the world's rainforests has gotten underway in the Gabonese capital Libreville. The One Forest Summit is shining a light on the Congo Basin forests in particular - which are under-researched and underfunded despite being a major frontier against the impacts of climate change.

The summit is the brainchild of Gabonese President Ali Bongo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced it at last year's COP27 climate conference in Egypt.

The meeting aims to give a push to advancing scientific knowledge about the ecological value of rainforests.

"Forests potentially represent 20-30 percent of the solution to climate change," Gabon's minister of waters and forests Lee White said in opening remarks.

Tropical forests have long been recognised as a haven of biodiversity, but they're also increasingly acnowledged as a buffer against climate change for their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere.

The Congo Basin is the world's second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon.

Spanning six countries - Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon - it's also the world's largest carbon sink and a haven to rare species.

Challenges

Rainforests are under threat from loggers in particular. Around 10 million hectares of forests were destroyed every year between 2015 and 2020 the UN says.

In tropical African forests, around a third of plant species are threatened with extinction, said Bonaventure Sonke, a biologist at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon.

More research is needed, but only 10 percent of the funding for tropical forest research goes to the Congo Basin.

Sonke says this has to change.

"Fewer and fewer young researchers are trained due to lack of funding. If nothing is done all our conservation efforts will fall by the wayside," he told RFI.

"We urgently need to mobilise funds to train young researchers [...] so we can understand how the Congo Basin forests work."

Another challenge is how to develop "sustainable value chains" in forestry, which are currently lacking.

"If we produce sustainable wood, you have to be sure of selling it," a diplomat taking part in the discussions told RFI. "So we need companies ready to buy it, even though it will be more expensive."

Making the forests pay

Another priority is how to both monetise and preserve tropical forests for the way they support biodiversity and store carbon emissions.

Gabon became the first African nation to be recompensed through carbon credits for protecting its forests.

White said Gabon absorbed some 100 million tonnes of CO2 per year, meaning it was "well on the way to becoming a sustainable economy".

But some specialists told RFI paying three to five dollars per tonne of CO2 was nonsense and are calling for the price to be fixed at between 30 to 50 dollars.

Presidents from Congo, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic as well as co-hosts Emmanuel Macron and Ali Bongo are attending the summit, but there are doubts over what can be achieved.

"We can expect announcements, but they'll remain announcements" a green activist in Libreville told RFI.

The absence of two big players - DRC's president Felix Tshisekedi and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - whose two countries are home to most of the world's tropical forests, is likely to hamper any major changes.

Macron timing

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Meanwhile the presence of France's Macron is not to everyone's taste.

Gabon's civil society groups and opposition parties are questioning the timing of his trip - ahead of presidential polls this summer - saying it suggests support for leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family dynasty has ruled the country for more than five decades.

"He has come to launch the campaign of his friend," Marc Ona, president of Environment Gabon, told RFI.

A French diplomat admitted the timing wasn't "the best" but insisted the discussions around the key and very topical issue of climate change showed the relationship between France and Gabon was evolving.

Meanwhile, France's ecological transition minister Christophe Bechu said protecting the world's tropical rainforests was just too important an issue to ignore.

"If we don't protect this specific area, it will be just impossible to respect the Paris Agreement or to stay at a reasonable degree of global warming," he said in an interview with Bloomberg.
NAMIBIA and Zambia have agreed to revive the joint trade and investment committee (JTIC) to strengthen bilateral cooperation on trade, trade-related and investment matters.

The agreement came after the minister of industrialisation and trade, Lucia Iipumbu, held consultations last week with her Zambian counterpart, Chipoka Mulenga, to explore export market opportunities, and to strengthen existing bilateral cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.

According to a statement issued by ministry spokesperson Elijah Mukubonda, Iipumbu visited Zambia from 21 to 24 February for consultations with Mulenga on trade, industry and investment.

"The meeting was instrumental in supporting and collectively driving the enhanced trade relations agenda between the two countries," the statement says, adding that the ministers reached agreements on trade relations, as well as the implementation of policies for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

Namibia and Zambia, which are Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, have both signed and ratified the SADC Protocol and Africa Free Trade Area agreements.

Other agreements the ministers reached are that non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are an impediment to trade, and therefore the two countries will practically facilitate a resolution to scrap the NTBs to smoothen trade between them.

As part of enhancing bilateral trade, Namibia sought Zambia's support on a 45 000-tonne sugar quota allocation to Southern African Customs Union non-sugar-producing countries to avert recurrent sugar shortages at certain times of the year.

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The two ministers agreed to expedite the establishment of a one-stop border post at Katima Mulilo/Wenela exit/entry facility to promote trade and investment growth between the two countries, as well as to enhance collaboration between private sector agencies from both countries to facilitate trade and smooth interactions.

Namibia and Zambia also agreed to improve market access for products that include sugar, salt, fish, livestock, meat and meat products, wheat, maize, mealie meal, bran, soya and soya products, sorghum, mangoes, avocados, honey, tomatoes and other products.

The ministers' meeting was one of many initiatives to enhance trade and strengthen cooperation, as well as to promote investment opportunities between the countries.

- email: [email protected]
Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and Fayoum governor Ahmed El Ansary had a videoconference meeting with an investor in a nature reserve in the governorate.

The meeting was held Saturday 04/03/2023 to discuss means to support ecotourism activities in Fayoum's nature reserves under the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to back this sector.

The minister and the governor also underlined the need to support ecotourism investments in the governorate.

The investor reviewed a number of proposals to boost ecotourism with the protection of natural resources in the area.
An N.C. House Select Committee is recommending that the General Assembly change a state law forcing districts to start school the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday clo
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A militia executes 17 hostages within the jap Democratic Republic of the Congo

On Sunday, a infamous militia in jap Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) executed 17 individuals it had taken hostage the day earlier than, native sources stated.

Kodiko rebels killed a minimum of 17 individuals captured in Djugo territory, about 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of Bunia in Ituri province, the chief of the area people.

Neighborhood chief Bangunini Gbalande informed AFP that Kodiko fighters killed a minimum of 17 individuals who had been captured in Djugo district, about 45 kilometers north of Bunia in Ituri province.

Gebalande stated he was alerted by the households of a few of the lifeless.

The hostages are lifeless and executed by the Kodiko militia, one other native chief, Tuku Kagbanesi, informed AFP.

Codeco, the Congolese Improvement Cooperative, is likely one of the myriad armed teams working within the unstable, mineral-rich area.

Individuals had been taken hostage after three Codeco members had been killed in a conflict with a rival militia, stated a neighborhood resident in Bamboo, one of many two villages attacked on Saturday.

The supply, who requested anonymity for safety causes, stated that amongst these held hostage was a pregnant girl.

Because the finish of 2022, dozens have been killed within the gold-rich province of Ituri each week.

In current days, Codeco militants have been blamed for a sequence of massacres that claimed the lives of 30 individuals, together with girls and youngsters.

Kodiko is a militia that claims to guard the Lendu neighborhood from one other ethnic group, the Hema, and the army.

Jap Congo is stricken by dozens of armed teams, lots of them legacies of the regional wars of the Nineties and 2000s.

Ituri province is likely one of the hotspots of violence, the place assaults that declare dozens of lives are routine.

(AFP)
Biden renews his name for a ban on assault weapons after the capturing in Nashville that left a number of folks useless

US President Joe Biden referred to as on Congress to move a ban on assault weapons, the White Home mentioned, after six folks, together with three youngsters, had been killed in a faculty capturing in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.

Weve got to do extra to cease gun violence, Biden mentioned on the White Home. It is tearing aside our communities. I am calling on Congress once more to move a ban on assault weapons.

Police mentioned the 28-year-old Nashville shooter, who was shot and killed by officers on the scene, was carrying at the very least two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun.

Biden, a Democrat, has repeatedly referred to as for renewed assault weapons bans and stricter guidelines on gun gross sales, measures that must move Congress.

Republicans management the Home of Representatives; Key lawmakers say any new gun security laws is unlikely this 12 months.

What number of youngsters should be killed earlier than Republicans in Congress step up and act to move a ban on assault weapons, fill holes in our background examine system or demand protected storage of weapons? White Home spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre informed reporters earlier than Biden spoke.

(Reuters)
Cuba is awaiting the outcomes of the legislative elections, and the opposition warns of electoral arithmetic

The Cuban authorities succeeded in mobilizing voters Sunday for the election to the Nationwide Meeting, the result of which was inevitable, because it reversed a latest development of abstention within the communist-ruled nation.

As much as eight million eligible voters chosen from amongst 470 candidates on the poll  263 girls and 207 males  are vying for 470 seats in Congress.

However what was actual was the variety of Cubans who refused to vote.

The opposition referred to as on residents to abstain from voting, and one opposition Twitter account described the vote as a farce.

Voting just isnt obligatory and abstention has risen steadily in recent times.

The 23,648 polling stations closed at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT) on Sunday, an hour after authorities initially introduced.

In line with the newest provisional figures launched by the Nationwide Election Council, turnout was 70.33 % as of 5:00 p.m.

That represents a modest enhance from the 68.5 % who voted in municipal elections final November, the bottom turnout for the reason that islands present electoral system was established in 1976.

Final September, about 74 % of eligible Cubans voted in a referendum for a brand new household regulation, down from the 90 % turnout in a 2019 referendum for a brand new structure.

The Cuban communist authorities doesnt permit dissent, so most parliamentary candidates are members of the Communist Celebration of Cuba (PCC).

Candidates should nonetheless obtain 50 % of the vote to be elected.

Voters had two choices: they might choose the names of any variety of particular person candidates, or they might select the vote for all possibility.

I voted for the united vote as a result of, regardless of the wants and difficulties this nation can face, I couldnt think about abstaining, Carlos Diego Herrera, a 54-year-old blacksmith in Havana, informed AFP.

Abstaining, he mentioned, could be like voting for those that need to crush us, Yankees.

Opponents query Washingtons imposition of sanctions on the island nation since 1962, three years after the communist revolution that noticed Castro take energy after toppling US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Scholar Rachel Vega, 19, mentioned she had voted for all of the candidates, contemplating it a step ahead now that will enhance the scenario within the nation.

Among the many candidates is President Miguel Diaz-Canel, in addition to his predecessor, 91-year-old Raul Castro.

With a united vote, we defend the unity of the nation, the unity of the revolution, our future and our socialist structure, Diaz-Canel, 62, mentioned after voting in Santa Clara, 175 miles (280 km) southeast of Havana.

The turnout figures had been derided by the opposition, with dissident Manuel Cuesta Mauroa of Cubas Democratic Transition Council warning of the federal governments electoral arithmetic.

On Twitter, he mentioned: At 9 a.m. she reported 18.2 % of voters had voted. At 11 a.m. she mentioned 41.66 %  in lower than two hours, turnout had elevated by 23.46 factors. Not possible!!! The polling stations are empty.

Remaining numbers can be launched on Monday.

(AFP)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday urged the federal government to halt hotly contested judicial reform, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his protection minister for opposing the transfer, sparking mass road protests.

For the unity of the folks of Israel and for the sake of accountability, I name on you to cease the legislative course of instantly, he stated on Twitter.

Herzogs name adopted mass demonstrations over the weekend that noticed tens of 1000s of demonstrators take to the streets after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his protection minister.

Yoav Galanthad has spoken out in opposition to controversial plans to reform the justice system.

As information of the dismissal unfold, tens of 1000s of protesters, many waving blue and white Israeli flags, took to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Crowds thronged outdoors Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem, at one level breaching the safety cordon.

Netanyahus plan handy extra management to politicians and scale back the position of the Supreme Court docket has commonly sparked protests and has been questioned by Israels prime allies, together with america, which expressed concern on Sunday.

Critics say the reform undertaking threatens Israeli democracy, however the authorities says the modifications are mandatory to revive a stability of powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

In a quick assertion, the Prime Ministers Workplace stated that Netanyahu selected Sunday to dismiss Protection Minister Yoav Gallant.

In response to the choice, Gallant responded on Twitter: The safety of the State of Israel has at all times been and at all times shall be my lifes mission.

Within the almost three months since taking workplace, Netanyahus national-religious coalition has been mired in disaster over bitter divisions uncovered by main judicial reform plans.

Slender majority Gallants name for halting reforms got here as lawmakers are resulting from vote subsequent week on a central piece of proposals that might change the way in which judges are appointed.

America stated it was deeply involved concerning the days occasions and referred to as on Israeli leaders to succeed in a compromise.

The White Home famous that President Joe Biden lately informed Netanyahu that democratic values have at all times been, and should stay, a trademark of the connection between america and Israel.

White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson stated, Democratic societies are strengthened via checks and balances, and basic modifications to a democratic system have to be pursued with the widest doable base of public assist.

Two different Likud lawmakers tweeted their assist for Gallant, elevating questions on whether or not the federal government might rely on a majority if it went forward with the vote.

Opposition chief Yair Lapid stated the prime minister might fireplace Galant however he cannot shoot at actuality and he cannot expel the folks of Israel whore standing as much as the insanity of the coalition.

The Israeli prime minister is a hazard to the safety of the State of Israel, Lapid added.

Including to the political uncertainty, the Israeli Consul Normal in New York, Assaf Zamir, submitted his resignation Sunday resulting from Netanyahus harmful determination.

After at the moments developments, now could be the time to hitch the battle for Israels future to make sure that it stays a beacon of democracy and freedom on this planet, Zamir wrote in a tweet posting his resignation letter.

Gallant, a former normal, was appointed to his submit in December as a part of Netanyahus alliance with far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies.

Hes the primary sufferer, however different high-ranking officers have expressed their reservations.

A parliamentary committee amended the invoice to make it extra acceptable to opponents, however the opposition dominated out supporting any a part of the reform package deal till all legislative steps are halted.

In a televised handle final week, the prime minister vowed to cost ahead with reforms and finish the rift theyve created within the nation.

In response, Legal professional Normal Ghali Bahrav Mayara on Friday accused Netanyahu of illegal public interference within the technique of adopting judicial reforms.

Netanyahu is being tried on prices of bribery, fraud and breach of belief, which he denies.

Its broadcast led to contempt of courtroom prices delivered to the Supreme Court docket by the Motion for High quality Authorities in Israel, a non-governmental anti-corruption group.

The NGOs grievance alleges that Netanyahu violated an settlement with the courtroom that the accused prime minister had no proper to behave on a matter that may represent a battle of curiosity.

Demonstrators declared Nationwide Paralysis Week, together with marches throughout the nation and protests outdoors ministers houses and on Wednesday outdoors Parliament.

( Jowhar with AFP and Reuters)
Hungarys parliament, which is dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orbans right-wing Fidesz celebration, ratified Finlands NATO membership on Monday after months of diplomatic delays.

A big majority of lawmakers  182 in favor, six in opposition to  authorised the Scandinavian nations becoming a member of the navy alliance.

The vote signifies that 29 of the 30 parliamentarians of NATO member states have ratified Finlands accession, and Turkeys final parliament can be anticipated to present Helsinki subsequent month.

NATOs enlargement into Finland  the nation with a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia  would almost double the size of the blocs present border with its Chilly Warfare-era adversary.

Finland initially aimed to affix fellow NATO aspirant Sweden  a northern energy going through a collection of frictions with Turkey and which lastly squandered its probability to affix the bloc earlier than the alliances summit in July.

Helsinki and Stockholm ended a long time of navy non-alignment and determined to affix the worlds strongest protection alliance within the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Their purposes have been accepted on the NATO summit in June 2022, however the bids nonetheless should be ratified by the entire alliances member parliaments  a course of that stalled as soon as they reached Turkey and Hungary.

The nationalist Orban, who nurtured shut ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin till the invasion, mentioned in December that the ratification course of would start in February.

Budapest insisted it supported the Nordic nations accession to NATO however complained that theyd been unfairly crucial of Hungarian authorities coverage.

EU member Hungary can be in talks with Brussels to launch billions of euros in crowdfunding that has been stalled by rule of regulation and corruption issues.

The Hungarian opposition accused Orbans celebration of attempting to place stress on the bloc by refusing to place the problem on parliaments agenda for a vote.

An opposition celebration chief, Ferenc Gerenser, mentioned forward of Mondays vote that delaying the vote in Finland serves Putins pursuits.

Fides mentioned that it will resolve to assist Swedens accession to the navy alliance at a later time.

Final week, Orbans chief of workers, Gergely Julias, informed reporters that the Swedish supply was more likely to be ratified throughout the present parliamentary session, which runs till June 15.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has referred to as on Stockholm to take more durable measures in opposition to Kurdish activists, whom Ankara considers terrorists.

(AFP)
Minnesota Reformer )  While growing up in Yemen, I was introduced to the practice of fasting. It was a common practice, in which all the families will encourage their children, as young as 7, to practice fasting.

In my household, I had parents who were very observant of Islam. In fact, my father was an imam of a local mosque, and my mother was responsible for teaching women the principles of Islam. When I was 7, my parents gave me the option to fast, abstaining from both food and drink. 

We had to wake up at 5 a.m. to eat a meal known as suhoor, an Arabic word that literally means the time at dawn at which the meal is provided. We will eat a heavy meal of protein because we are about to embark on an epic journey of self restraint, completely abstaining from food and drink. In my family tradition, we often eat rice and an option of meat  fish, chicken or lamb. 

On my first day of fasting, my trick was to stay up all night  a common practice in many Arab and Muslim societies during Ramadan  so that I can sleep through the day. The plan certainly worked until I woke up in the afternoon; I was living in the southern part of Yemen, where the afternoons get hot. Walking outside induces thirst, so I stayed in the house. Even so, I had to go out and meet friends. In such a case, and in my first attempt ever at fasting, I broke my fast after just a half day. 

Of course, Muslims are required to fast when they hit puberty and the age of adult responsibility, usually around 15, but observant parents often encourage their children to fast when they are even younger. In Yemen, eating during fasting hours is a crime enshrined in the public conscience. Those who do not fast are often subject to public ridicule. In severe cases, they can be prevented from eating in public since that violates the unspoken rules of Ramadan.

But why do Muslims fast in the first place? What is the point of abstaining from food, drink and sex from sunrise to sundown? 



Via Unsplash

In Islam, Muslims are required to fast such that they remember those who live in chronic poverty poor and often cannot find food to eat or water to drink.

Fasting teaches discipline. From a biological perspective, voluntarily abstaining from food and drink is irrational. But observant Muslims willingly engage in this seemingly irrational behavior to please God. 

By abstaining from eating, drinking and sex from sunrise to sundown, Muslims look inward and practice mindfulness of their daily actions. Muslims hope to emerge from Ramadan spiritually transformed.

Muslim have a shared human experience as they dramatically change their daily habits. Muslims recharge and reconnect with God during Ramadan.

The Quran, which is the holy book of Islam, was revealed during Ramadan, and it is a longstanding practice that Muslims frequently read and study the Quran during Ramadan. Muslims even compete on how many times they can read the book of the Quran from cover to cover. Some scholars reportedly read the Quran  a book whose pages exceed 600  once or twice daily. 

In 2023, the last 10 nights of March mark the first 10 days of Ramadan. Although I am pursuing my doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, and although Minnesota is the home of a large Muslim community, I am spending this Ramadan in Miami, where I have found a community with whom to spend this communal month.

Ramadan is a big deal for Muslims; its cultural significance is perhaps akin to that of Christmas in the United States. Ramadan is a time of reunion, meditation and generosity. 

When Ramadan comes, Muslims greet each other with the truncated phrase  Ramadan Mubarak  meaning I wish you a blessed month of Ramadan. It is similar to the truncated phrase of Merry Christmas, which means I wish you a Merry Christmas. And just as you do not have to be a Christian to wish Merry Christmas, you do not have to be Muslim to say Ramadan Mubarak to your Muslim friends. 

Ramadan Mubarak!
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By Dan Arbell, American University | 

(The Conversation) The judicial overhaul plan of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government, introduced in January, has thrown the country into its most severe domestic crisis since 1973. That crisis intensified on March 26, when Netanyahu fired the countrys defense minister, who had  less than 24 hours before  called on the government to delay its plans to reform the judiciary.

The plan has incited an unprecedented wave of controversy among Israelis, as hundreds of thousands of protestors have gathered for a 12th straight week across the country in opposition to the plan. Yet its not simply the persistence and size of the protest that is evidence of the crisis. Its who is protesting.



Photo by Yoav Aziz on Unsplash



The demonstrations have brought together groups representing almost all sectors of Israeli society. But among protesters is a group of individuals rarely seen at anti-government protests over the countrys almost 75-year history: Israeli Defense Forces reservists. They include former combat pilots, members of elite units and special forces, cyber-security forces and military intelligence, who announced they will not volunteer for reserve duty service if the legislation passes in the Knesset, Israels parliament.

Further demonstrating the unprecedented aspect of the response by reservists: Among those protesting are members of Israeli Air Force Squadron 69. All but three of the 40 reservist pilots in the squadron announced that they would not conduct training exercises and would instead join anti-government protests, claiming they are not prepared to serve in what they say would be a dictatorial regime.

We have no contract with a dictator. We would be happy to volunteer when the democracy is safeguarded, an open letter from the reservists said.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash



The highly controversial judicial reform plan would significantly weaken the Israeli judiciarys oversight over the legislative and executive branches.

The plan calls for near total control over future laws, constitutional amendments and judicial appointments to be concentrated in the hands of the governing coalition in the Knesset. Critics and protesters say the plan undermines the 75-year delicate balance between the three government branches, ends liberal democracy as they know it and pushes Israel towards autocratic rule.

Despite the growing protests, Netanyahu has defiantly promised to push the reforms through the Knesset. As the country inches closer towards a constitutional showdown between the executive and legislative branches and the judicial branch, the presence of former members of elite military units in these protests is evidence that the crisis implications extend far beyond the domestic political arena.

Besides threatening to undermine the economy and deepen societal divides, it threatens to erode Israeli national security and provoke a constitutional crisis that could ensnare the military as well.

The peoples army

Israels military, known as the IDF, has been described for decades as the peoples army. Thats because young Israeli men and women, when they turn 18, are mandated by law to serve in the military. Men serve for two years and eight months and women for two years.

Upon completion of their regular military service, men and women are assigned to the reserve forces. The reserves are designed to provide reinforcements during emergencies and maintain preparedness through routine training and security assignments. While the number of Israelis serving as reservists has decreased over the years due to cutbacks and people finding ways to be exempted, reserve military service has been an integral part of the national ethos and folklore.

The threat to the government articulated by the protesting reservists is unprecedented. It represents a powerful step by former military and intelligence officials who pride themselves on their independence from politics and commitment to protocol.

Nevertheless, the reservists view is that there is an unwritten contract between those who serve and the state: they are willing to risk their lives to defend a liberal democratic Israel. But if Israel becomes a dictatorship, this contract is null and void.

It is possible that other security services like the police or Shin Bet, the internal security service, will take similar actions to protest the reforms. Depending on how long these protests last, the situation could unfold into an uncharted security crisis with high risks of domestic instability and, as Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned, civil strife.

Defense of democracy  or insubordination?

Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, addressing the situation on March 25, 2023, expressed deep concern that the heated political debate is infiltrating the rank and file of the IDF. And that, Gallant said, may undermine and jeopardize Israels security at a time when the country faces external threats from Iran, Palestinian terrorism and Lebanese Hezbollah.

The events taking place in Israeli society do not spare the Israel Defense Forces  from all sides, feelings of anger, pain and disappointment arise, with an intensity I have never encountered before, Gallant said.

Gallant called for an immediate halt in the judicial overhaul legislation process. Instead, he proposed a dialogue between the two sides in order to reach a broadly agreed reform.

Now, Gallant has been fired for his comments. As a veteran of the IDF, a former Israeli diplomat and a longtime analyst of Israels security situation, I believe the crisis poses a profound question of where the line is between legal political activism in defense of democracy and insubordination.

The bigger question is what will happen with the military if the legislation passes in the Knesset, but is then struck down by Israels supreme court, the High Court of Justice. Should Netanyahus government request that institutions like the IDF act in contradiction to decisions made by the High Court, it is unclear to which authority these institutions would adhere.

For example: if the High Court rules that a Jewish outpost in the West Bank was built illegally and needs to be dismantled, yet the government orders the IDF not to do it, what will the IDF commanders on the ground do?

This tension is starkly displayed by the reservists who are refusing to partake in their usual duties.

In light of Gallants call to halt the legislation process, it is unclear whether the voting on the changes in the makeup of the Judges Selection Committee, scheduled for the week of March 26, 2023, will take place as planned.

The reservists active participation in the protests and their vocal opposition to the governments plan have clearly made an impact on the defense minister. But at the same time, Gallant came out strongly against insubordination. Undoubtedly, the coming days will be critical in determining the direction of Israeli democracy.

This story has been updated to reflect Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahus firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Dan Arbell, Scholar-in-residence at the Center for Israeli Studies, American University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
HIGHLIGHTS

Olaroz resource increases 27% to 20.7 million tonnes ( Mt ) lithium carbonate equivalent ( LCE ), comprising 7.6 Mt of Measured Resource, 7.1 Mt of Indicated Resource and 6 Mt of Inferred Resource

) lithium carbonate equivalent ( ), comprising 7.6 Mt of Measured Resource, 7.1 Mt of Indicated Resource and 6 Mt of Inferred Resource Total resources in the Olaroz-Cauchari basin are now 27 Mt LCE in all resource categories, confirming the basins status as hosting one of the largest lithium resources in the world

The lithium grade of the Olaroz salar Measured Resource is 657 mg/l lithium, with the underlying Indicated Resource and Inferred Resource 612 mg/l and 604mg/l lithium respectively

The recently acquired Maria Victoria property in the north of Olaroz contributed 2.8 Mt of the increase in resources, with the difference relating to expansion of the resource to the south following completion of the expansion drilling

The resource estimate is restricted to directly beneath the Olaroz salar surface, except for the area at the south, where influence from expansion hole E26 extends the resource beneath gravels to the west of the salar and towards the Cauchari resource

The Olaroz basin has significant exploration potential with extensive areas to the north of the salar surface currently untested by drilling and also extensions towards the Cauchari Resource and to the west of the salar

The increased Olaroz resource, together with the Cauchari Resource, support expansion from Stage 1 and 2 lithium carbonate production capacity (combined 42,500 tpa) and will form the basis for the Olaroz Stage 3/Cauchari expansion studies.

Allkem Managing Director and CEO, Martin Perez de Solay said, This significant increase in the resource, and the upgraded resource classification, confirms the world class status of Olaroz.

The combined 27 Mt resource across Olaroz and Cauchari supports future material expansion of production and will form the basis for the Olaroz Stage 3/Cauchari expansion studies currently underway. Further exploration will be required to fully test the significant potential of the Olaroz/Cauchari basin.

Olaroz is complemented by the companys high-quality Sal de Vida and James Bay Projects in Argentina and Canada. These projects will produce lithium chemicals for use in the EV supply chain in areas of low or no water stress, while contributing to the local economy and communities, Mr Perez de Solay said.

BRISBANE, Australia, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 2023 OLAROZ RESOURCE UPGRADE

Estimated Resources

The resource estimate is outlined in the following tables presenting the lithium and lithium carbonate tonnages. The resource is broken out by property ownership, with the bulk of the resource owned by the Sales de Jujuy joint venture (SdJ JV) comprising Allkem (66.5%) Toyota Tsusho (25%) and Jujuy Energia y Mineria Sociedad del Estado (8.5%) (JEMSE). Allkem holds additional 100% owned properties to the north of Olaroz, including the recently acquired Maria Victoria property. These other properties have been subject to limited exploration and currently have small resources defined.

Table 1: Lithium Resource Estimate  March 2023

Table 2: March 2023 Lithium Resource Estimate by Owner

Allkem SdJ is owned 66.5% by the Allkem group. Olaroz Lithium and Maria Victoria are owned 100% by the Allkem group.

JORC definitions were followed for mineral resources.

The Competent Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Murray Brooker, MAIG, MIAH.

No internal cut-off concentration has been applied to the resource estimate. The resource is reported at a zero mg/l cut-off, given the consistent grade of the deposit, with brine extending beyond the edge of the salar.

Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3 = LCE) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

The upper 100 m of sediments in the gravel area off the salar west of E26 is excluded from the resource, as lithium concentrations to this depth are <100 mg/l Li, before rapidly increasing in concentration below this depth.

The resource estimate is limited at depth by the sediment-basement contact interpreted from the gravity geophysical survey conducted over the basin. Drilling suggests this interpretation underestimates the basin depth.

Project background

An estimate of the Olaroz salar resource was undertaken in 2011 as part of the project Feasibility Study, prior to commencement of construction of Stage 1 of the Olaroz Lithium Facility. That estimate identified a Measured and Indicated Resource of 6.4 Mt of LCE over an area of 93 km2 from surface to a maximum depth of 200 metres (the 2011 Resource).

Following installation of the 200m depth Stage 1 production wellfields at Olaroz several deeper wells were installed up to 350m in depth and subsequently utilised for Stage 1 production. This deeper drilling intersected high porosity and permeability sand units, with flow rates of over 30 litres per second (l/s) and this highlighted the deeper resource potential of the basin. Information from these wells was used to provide an Exploration Target in October 2014, outlining between 1.6-7.5 Mt of LCE located below the 200m level (the 2014 Exploration Target) in the salar.

As previously stated, Allkems Cauchari properties, (100% owned through South American Salars), are contiguous to the south of the Olaroz properties. In 2019 a further 4.8 Mt of Measured and Indicated Resource and 1.5 Mt of Inferred Resource was estimated in this area (the 2019 Cauchari Resource). The 2019 Cauchari Resource is interpreted to occupy the southern continuation of the same aquifers present in the Olaroz salar, which are connected beneath gravel alluvium (the gravel area where the Olaroz ponds and plant are located). The Cauchari Resource is not extracted as part of the Olaroz Stage 2 development.

Table 3: Cauchari April 2019 Resource Estimate

JORC and CIM definitions were followed for mineral resources.

The Competent Person / Qualified Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Frits Reidel, CPG.

No cut-off concentrations have been applied to the resource estimate

Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

Since 2011, material amounts of new information have been obtained from exploration and production activities at Olaroz. This included geological and production data from Stage 1 production and monitoring holes generally drilled to 200m, with some to 350m and 450 m; and the Stage 2 expansion production and monitoring holes to depths of between 450 and 650 metres. Additional information has also come from drilling in Cauchari, a 1,408 m deep exploration hole north of the production holes in Olaroz and geophysical surveys over the whole basin.

Stage 2 work program

Much of the technical detail in this release was previously provided in April 2022 in the Interim Resource Estimate. The last of the 15 wells for Stage 2 production (Figure 3) was completed late in 2022. These production wells are now installed to depths between 450 m and 650 m (with one hole, E15, to 751 m) and produce brine from these deeper levels on a 1 km north-south spacing in the central to eastern area of the salar, between the original Northern and Southern wellfields. In addition to the production wells a number of diamond drill holes provided core and brine samples and have allowed the installation of monitoring wells. The Stage 2 production wells are currently producing a combined flow of approximately 396 l/s, at an average per well of 28 l/s, since beginning operation. This is considerably higher than the Stage 1 wells, which have averaged 11 l/s per well since the beginning of 2017.

Samples from the wells were sent to external and internal laboratories for chemical analysis. This information and downhole geophysics (from a borehole magnetic resonance tool, part of a broader suite of geophysical tools) were used to update the geological model, which supports the resource estimate upgrade.

The lithium concentrations from the Stage 2 wells have recorded an average lithium grade of 643 mg/l and varied from 544 mg/l to 789 mg/l lithium. Further drilling information and analytical results are displayed in Appendix A below.

Property position

Allkem holds an extensive property position across the Olaroz and Cauchari basins (Figure 1). At Olaroz, Allkem owns 66.5% of properties via Sales de Jujuy SA , a joint venture company with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (25%) and JEMSE (8.5%).

Properties held by SDJ in the north of the Olaroz salar have had minimal drilling, limited to several 54m deep holes drilled in initial exploration in 2010. Resources have not yet been defined in these properties.

In addition to its ownership interests via SDJ, Allkem also owns, via Olaroz Lithium, 100% of five additional properties in the north of the Olaroz salar, which have also not yet been drilled. The recently acquired, strategically located, Maria Victoria property in the north of the Olaroz salar is 100% owned through Allkem subsidiary La Frontera Minerals S.A and contributed 2.7 Mt LCE to this resource upgrade.

Allkem owns properties in the east and west of the Cauchari basin immediately to the south of the Olaroz resource. A pre-feasibility study (PFS) was completed in 2019 by South American Salars (now 100% Allkem) with resources and reserves.

Olaroz Basin geology

Exploration activities, since Allkem acquired the properties in 2008, have consisted of extensive geophysical programs and drilling over the Olaroz basin. Geophysical programs have included AMT electrical surveying, and vertical electrical soundings to define the lateral extents of the brine beneath alluvial sediments, around the margins of the salar. This is important in order to constrain the geological and hydrogeological models and assess areas for brine prospectivity off the salar. The northern SDJ and 100% Allkem properties have been subject to minimal exploration to date. However, electrical geophysics indicates prospectivity for brine beneath alluvial and deltaic sediments north of the Olaroz salar in the Cateo 498 and other properties. This has also recently been confirmed by drilling by a third party with properties extending off the salar in the north of the basin.

Figure 1: Distribution of the new holes for Stage 2 production

Additional geophysics has included an extensive gravity and magnetic survey across the basin, that provided information on the basin depth and corroborated the early geophysical interpretation which indicated the basin is more than 1 km deep.

Since the exploration drilling for the 2011 Resource estimation, conducted between 2008 to 2011, more extensive drilling undertaken for exploration and production well installation has provided information to depths of 751 m in Olaroz (generally 400 to 650 m) and better defined the basin geology. Additionally, one deep exploration hole has been drilled at the north end of the production area to a depth of over 1400 m, without intersecting basement rocks. This drilling led to development of a mixed salar basin model, with five separate geological and hydrogeological (hydrostratigraphic) units above the basement, defined by geological and geophysical logging of holes (refer to Figures 2 and 3) as previously presented.

UH1 - Upper evaporite deposits, porous halite, clay, sand and silt UH2 - Alluvial fans on the western and eastern margins of the salar, which contain brine beneath brackish water off the salar (as defined by production well E26) UH3 - Mixed sediments with clay and sand intervals UH4 - Evaporite deposits, principally halite, with clay silt and sand interbeds UH5 - Sand units, interbedded with clay and silt. Sandy material is sourced from the historical western margin of the basin and becomes progressively deeper in the east of the basin

Drilling has not intersected the basement rocks beneath the salar and it is possible that additional units will be intersected in future deeper drilling. In the central eastern part of the salar unit UH4 is thicker, reflecting the nucleus of the salar in this area.

The geological interpretation across Olaroz is also consistent with the independent interpretations on adjacent projects based on drilling conducted by Allkem in Cauchari and the work conducted by Lithium Americas Corp (Exar) in Cauchari, being the southern continuation of the Olaroz structural basin.

Figure 2: Geological model of the Olaroz salar

Hydrogeology sampling background

Allkem began exploration of the Olaroz project in 2008 and has built up extensive knowledge of the salar since that time. Resource definition drilling on the project included twenty sonic holes drilled to a depth of 54 m across the salar, with six diamond holes to 200 m depth. All these drill holes were geophysically logged and porosity samples were taken every 1.5 to 6 m for systematic characterisation of the different geological units.

Systematic interval brine sampling was also undertaken in the holes drilled for the original resource using bailer equipment, showing low coefficients of variation (averaging 0.18 over the 200m deep exploration holes and 0.19 for 54 m deep sonic drill holes on the salar). Two test production wells were installed for the feasibility study. One of these wells (PD02) was subsequently incorporated into the southern wellfield for Stage 1 production. Pumping since 2013 has confirmed the original pumping test results from this site.

Northern and southern wellfields for Stage 1 were established with wells installed on a 1 km spacing, generally to a depth of 200m, but with some later holes to 350m, with wells pumped since 2013. The brine flows from the production wells have sustained stable lithium brine grades over this period with brine grades generally consistent with the results of the 2011 exploration drilling and characterisation of brine grades across the salar. Brine grades on the salar do not show major changes by lithology type, with the most significant changes related to the halite units and concentration of sulphate and boron.

Stage 1 production wells and exploration holes showed a systematic variation in brine grade laterally across the salar with higher grades in the central part of the salar and lower grades towards the west. However, recent deeper production wells (from 450 to 650 m deep) for Stage 2 have encountered higher grade brine in some holes in the west of the salar (E12, E17 and E19 averaging 768, 692 and 752 mg/l respectively  see Figures 3) than the shallower 200m exploration drilling in the same area. All production wells are subjected to pumping tests to establish the well hydraulic parameters in addition to measurements from geophysical logging prior to beginning production from the wells.

Olaroz is a mixed salar predominantly consisting of clastic sediments with a surficial and a deeper halite layer. The sequence is considered to act as a leaky aquifer with the entire sequence of sediments contributing brine flow to wells, with lower relative contributions from compact halite material. Higher brine flows are obtained from intervals with high sand content and higher permeability, with the brine grades generally comparable between geological units based on the diamond drill sampling and low CV values of lithium brine results from this historical sampling. Despite small scale variability in the sedimentation the five hydrostratigraphic units in the salar display fairly consistent porosity characteristics internally based on the geophysical logging.

Historical diamond drilling showed lithium brine concentrations have a low variability (CV) vertically down hole, with systematic variation across the salar and with lower brine grades generally closer to the salar margins. Test pumping from the 2011 feasibility study for Stage 1 of the Olaroz Lithium Facility has been confirmed by long term pumping from well PD02 (Southern wellfield) and adjacent wells in the wellfield. Consequently, the pumping results of production wells are considered a reasonable and reliable substitute for systematic down hole interval brine samples, given the accumulated knowledge at Olaroz and higher density of data at the project relative to pre-development projects. However, further diamond drilling is recommended in new areas and areas of the salar before the installation of production wells.

Figure 3  Olaroz well locations

Brine sample quality control

Brine samples have been collected from the wells in production once they are fully installed. This follows flow tests, carried out to determine the potential production flow rates and to confirm pump selection for holes and long term operation. Samples were taken in triplicate with the primary sample analysed at the Olaroz Lithium Facility laboratory where they were analysed with AA equipment for lithium, and ICP equipment for other major cations and anions.

Brine standard samples and field duplicate samples were included with the sample batches. These QA/QC measures were included to check the performance of the Olaroz and external laboratory. Alex Stewart Argentina in Jujuy, Argentina was selected as the primary external laboratory to assay the brine check samples. That laboratory is ISO 9001 accredited and operates according to Alex Stewart Group standards consistent with ISO 17025 methods at other laboratories.

Porosity sample quality control

Three diamond holes were completed for the expansion program. Cores were collected systematically through these holes with samples collected in transparent polycarbonate (Lexan) tubes. These tubes were retrieved from the core barrel and stored in core trays prior to the laboratory sample being cut from the base of the tube, with 30 cm core subsamples sent to the Geosystems Analysis (GSA) laboratory in the USA.

GSA utilized the Rapid Brine Release method (Yao et al., 2018) to measure drainable porosity and the total porosity. The Rapid Brine Release (RBR) method is based on the moisture retention characteristics (MRC) method for direct measurement of total porosity (Pt, MOSA Part 4 Ch. 2, 2.3.2.1), specific retention (Sr, MOSA Part 4 Ch3, 3.3.3.5), and specific yield (Sy, Cassel and Nielson, 1986). A simplified Tempe cell design (Modified ASTM D6836-16) was used to test the core samples. Brine release was measured at 120 mbar and 330 mbar of pressure for reference (Nwankwor et al., 1984, Cassel and Nielsen, 1986). Bulk density, particle size analyses and specific gravity were also determined on selected core samples.

For quality control, a collection of paired samples representative of the range in lithology types were selected for testing using other laboratory techniques also used to measure drainable porosity. These are the Relative Brine Release Capacity (RBRC, Stormont et. al., 2011) method of the DB Stephens Laboratory and the Centrifuge Moisture Equivalent of Soils (Centrifuge, ASTM D 6836-16) method by Core Laboratories (Houston, Texas). These methods provide an estimate of variability in the definition of the drainable porosity across different laboratory methods.

Geophysical Logging

Drill holes in the Stage 2 expansion campaign were geophysical logged by contractor Zelandez, with a number of geophysical tools (natural gamma, resistivity, conductivity, borehole magnetic resonance, ultrasonic borehole images) in order to maximise the collection of data from the drilling. Borehole Magnetic Resonance (BMR) is a geophysical tool that was developed by the oil industry to measure porosity and permeability in-situ in wells to assist reservoir studies. The Borehole Magnetic Resonance tool was designed and built in Australia to operate in highly saline environments like salars.

The BMR tool used for the drilling campaign is purpose-built for logging of exploration diameter drill holes. The tools are factory calibrated in Australia and maintained regularly by the service provider. The data acquisition and processing methodology gives information on the total porosity, drainable porosity (specific yield), specific retention and provides a computation of permeability and hydraulic conductivity with a vertical resolution varying from 5-15 cm, providing much more information than individual core samples analysed for porosity with a spacing every 3 or more metres.

Porosity cores from the three diamond holes drilled for the Stage 2 expansion were analysed in the Geosystems Analysis laboratory in the USA. This laboratory has extensive experience analysing salar cores having undertaking analyses on numerous salar projects. Porosity values from the laboratory sampling were compared to the BMR porosity log. While some differences are noted the general ranges of porosity values for the different hydrostratigraphic values are considered comparable.

Salar sediments display short range vertical and lateral variability (within a metre or over metres to 10s of metres) due to changes in the depositional environment over time. This results in vertical and lateral changes in drainable porosity. BMR drainable porosity (Specific yield) measurements were often lower than corresponding laboratory measurements. BMR porosity values are considered to be more conservative than laboratory measurements, as cores can be disturbed during transportation to the laboratory.

Salar sediments are subject to compaction as they are buried with compaction generally resulting in a decrease in total and drainable porosity with depth although not all sediments are affected equally by compaction.

Holes drilled for the original feasibility study were logged with a neutron tool, as borehole magnetic resonance technology was not available to the lithium industry in 2011. The neutron tool measures the hydrogen index of the formation (solids and brine). Neutron porosity is the result of applying a simple equation using the neutron measurement and two parameters. For the 2011 Resource neutron log data was compared with laboratory data to develop an algorithm for porosity across the resource area. BMR technology is considered more accurate for porosity definition in the salar environment and has superseded use of neutron logs.

There are some differences observed between porosity measurements made with the neutron and BMR logs through comparable sediments. The drainable porosity of this upgraded resource is lower than the 2011 Resource, partly due to the greater depth of this resource and some compaction of sediments, the geological intervals intersected (greater thicknesses of halite) and due to a reduction in comparable porosity values due to the type of geophysical logging.

The ongoing drilling for the Stage 2 expansion has defined the full thickness of the evaporite/halite unit UH4. This unit has a generally lower porosity than overlying and underlying clastic sedimentary units due to the compaction of halite with depth. Similarly clastic units also undergo some compaction with depth and consequently the overall porosity of the newly estimated resource is lower compared to the original resource in the upper 200 m of the salar.

Estimate data sources

Average production well brine chemistry values, from throughout pumping of the wells, have been used as inputs for the resource estimation, in addition to the interval samples historically collected in the upper 200 m. This is considered an acceptable approach in this situation, given the level of information available in the Olaroz salar, hydrogeological continuity between drill holes, comparison between historical interval samples and pumped brine concentrations and the history of pumping data available. Additional 650 m deep diamond drilling is recommended for future resource evaluations and to allow installation of additional deep monitoring wells.

Geophysical logging in the deeper holes has confirmed generally consistent drainable porosity and permeability characteristics throughout the clastic sediments with higher porosities and permeabilities associated with thicker more sand dominated intervals.

Mineral Resources

Estimation of a brine resource requires definition of:

The aquifer distribution (in this case restricted to the salar outline, except around hole E26 in the south)

The distribution of drainable porosity (specific yield) values

The distribution of lithium and other elements in the brine defined by drilling

The external limits (geological or property boundaries) of the resource area

The resource grade is a combination of the aquifer volume, the drainable porosity (portion of the aquifer volume that is filled by brine that can potentially be extracted) and the concentration of lithium in the brine.

The Olaroz aquifer system is not a conventional water supply style aquifer, based on a discrete geological unit, but rather a layered sequence of sediments that contributes brine flow to production wells. More permeable sand and gravel units provide relatively higher flows. The surface outline of the salar is used to delimit the area of the resource estimate (except for the off-salar extension around E26). The 2023 resource covers 147.9 km2, larger than the original 2011 Resource area (93 km2).

The expanded area reflects inclusion of the Olaroz Lithium and Maria Victoria properties, which were not part of the original property holdings, and the area around E26. The resource has been further expanded by the drilling of hole E26, allowing definition of resources beneath the alluvial gravels south of the salar (Figure 3). Brine saturated sediments are known to extend beneath alluvial sediments surrounding the salar and this was confirmed in drilling of hole E26 on the edge of the gravels beside the salar, which continued to 510 m in sandy and gravel material.

The resource estimate is limited laterally by the boundaries (Figure 3) with adjacent property owner Exar, in the salar to the east and north of the properties owned by Allkem and SDJ entities. The resource estimate is limited at depth by the sediment-basement contact interpreted from the gravity geophysical survey conducted over the basin. Drilling suggests this interpretation underestimates the basin depth.

Within the salar the three-dimensional distribution of the different hydrostratigraphic units was defined using Leapfrog 3D software, with these units based on geological and geophysical logging observations. The resource is entirely within the salar, except in the gravel area extending west from production hole E26. This is the only location where brackish water overlies brine within the resource estimate. The upper 100 m of this area off the salar has been excluded from the resource estimate, because it is not brine. Conversion of the resource to reserve in this area will evaluate extraction of this brine for future production. In all other areas within the resource brine begins from the salar surface.

The porosity data set consisted of interval porosity samples analysed in an independent laboratory for the upper 200 m and the BMR downhole geophysics from 200 to > 650 m. These were used to generate a block model across the salar area, applying ordinary kriging to the composited drainable porosity data.

The distribution of lithium and other elements was estimated from point sampling data from the upper 200 m of the model, where samples are typically spaced every 6 m in the 200 m holes and 3 m or less in the 54 m holes. Below the upper 200 m the resource was estimated based on the pumped samples from the production wells, with a single value per hole representing the average pumped lithium value, assigned to the areas with screens in the production wells.

The block model was constructed with 500 by 500 m blocks, with a 20 m vertical extent (Figure 4 and Figure 5). Only the portion of the block inside the salar outline is reported in the resource (with the exception of the area around E26). The resource estimate was undertaken using Datamine software, with variograms developed for the point samples from the upper 200 m. Estimation was undertaken using ordinary kriging. The ordinary kriging method is the most commonly used kriging method. In areas of sparse data around the model edges Nearest Neighbour estimation was used.

The resource was estimated using four passes in the search strategy. The results of the first two passes are nominally equated to blocks classified as Measured and Indicated, with the latter two passes equating to blocks classified as Inferred. The resources were defined across the salar outline and extension around E26, defined over different depths, reflecting drilling density and confidence. Future drilling on the salar may bring additional resources into the Indicated and Measured classification.

Figure 4: Lithium grades (mg/L) at 100 m (left) and 250 m below surface (right)

Figure 5: Resource blocks in lithium mg/l, showing the salar edge (red), alluvial zone (green) in the south and the muddy marginal zone outline (between red and blue outlines)

Measured Mineral Resources

A Measured Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape, and physical characteristics are estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the application of Modifying Factors to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit.

Geological evidence is derived from detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to confirm geological and grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.

A Measured Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than that applying to either an Indicated Mineral Resource or an Inferred Mineral Resource. It may be converted to a Proved Ore Reserve or under certain circumstances to a Probable Ore Reserve.

Extraction of brine is ongoing from 1 km spaced, 200 m deep, production wells pumping for a period of over eight years. Wells have a drilling density of approximately 1 per 2 km2 in the production well field areas. Extensive exploration drilling was previously conducted across the salar to 200 m depth. The Measured Resources are almost all within 2.5 km from drill holes across the salar, as suggested by Houston et. al., 2011 as an appropriate drilling spacing for Measured Resources in clastic salars. On the basis of the available data the resource to 200 m depth is classified as a Measured Resource.

An additional area of Measured Resources has been defined around the three diamond drill holes on the eastern margin of the project, south of the deep hole E1. An extension of 2.5 km from the property boundary has been applied for definition of this Measured Resource, consistent with the suggestion of Houston et. al., 2011. This is considered a reasonable basis for extension of the resource to 650 m depth in this area, surrounded by Indicated Resources.

The Measured resource is reported at a zero mg/l lithium cut-off, as the entire Olaroz salar contains brine with an elevated lithium concentration to the salar boundary.

Indicated Mineral Resources

An Indicated Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with sufficient confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit.

Geological evidence is derived from adequately detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to assume geological and grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.

An Indicated Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to a Measured Mineral Resource and may only be converted to a Probable Ore Reserve.

Geological continuity established by deeper drilling below 200 m, geophysical logging of holes, and gradual changes in lithium concentration provide the basis for classifying the brine between 200 and 350 m below surface in the north of the salar (with lesser drilling density) and south off the salar around hole E26 as Indicated to this depth. In the more central part of the salar the resource is defined as an Indicated resource (with greater drilling density) between 200 and 650 m depth.

Laboratory porosity samples are relatively limited below 200 m, however similar sediment intervals are present above 200 m at Olaroz, where porosity characteristics have been established from hundreds of laboratory analyses. Extensive porosity samples from similar sediments are also available from the Allkem Cauchari properties. Ongoing extraction by pumping of brine from wells up to 450 m deep since 2014 and from 650 m depth for up to 3 years, provides confidence as to the extractability of brine from the resource to this depth.

BMR porosity data was collected below 200 m depth, providing extensive porosity data in the Stage 2 holes. Future drilling below 200 m provides the opportunity to upgrade Indicated Resources to Measured status.

Inferred Mineral Resources

An Inferred Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade (or quality) continuity. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.

An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to an Ore Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.

The Inferred Mineral Resource is defined between 350 m and 650 m off the salar to the north and south. Within the salar Inferred resources are defined below 650 m and the base of the basin. The base of the basin is defined by the gravity geophysical survey, with areas significantly deeper than 650 m defined. There are currently 19 production wells installed to 350 m or below, with production wells for the Olaroz Expansion Project installed between 400 and 751 m deep between the existing northern and southern wellfields. The deep hole drilled in the north of the salar confirms locally the salar sediments extend to below 1400 m depth. Drilling has not intersected the base of the salar sediments, where the geophysical estimated basement depth has been reached, suggesting the basin may be deeper than estimated from the gravity survey. Brine samples were completed in this deep hole.

Taking account of the distribution of brine grade and porosity to date (as determined by BMR geophysics) there is a sufficient level of confidence to classify the resources extending to the bottom of the basin as Inferred Resources. It is likely that additional drilling could convert these to a higher confidence resource classification.

Figure 6: Distribution of resource categories

Further exploration potential

The resource is open laterally over an extensive area to the north off the salar, and to the south and west, beneath sands and gravels that surround the salar.

To the south, previous limited drilling and geophysical surveys indicate the brine body is likely to extend south to link with the Cauchari Resource (Allkem 100%). Similarly, brine extends west of the salar. The greatest potential, based on work by Allkem and 3rd parties, is over the extensive area to the north under the Rio Rosario delta, where future drilling is required to define resources. The resource may also extend at depth beyond the base of the basin interpreted by gravity geophysics. To date no Allkem drilling in the Olaroz basin has yet intersected the basement, allowing for significant future additions to the companys resource base. Consequently, there is substantial potential to add additional resources in the project.

This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This investor ASX/TSX release (Release) contains general information about the Company as at the date of this Release. The information in this Release should not be considered to be comprehensive or to comprise all of the material which a shareholder or potential investor in the Company may require in order to determine whether to deal in Shares of Allkem. The information in this Release is of a general nature only and does not purport to be complete. It should be read in conjunction with the Companys periodic and continuous disclosure announcements which are available at allkem.co and with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcements, which are available at www.asx.com.au.

Technical Information and Competent Persons Statements

The information in this report that relates to Olaroz Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr Murray Brooker, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO) included in a list posted on the ASX website from time to time. Mr Brooker is an independent consultant employed by Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit 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. He is also a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101. Mr Brooker consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Any information in this release that relates to Cauchari Project Mineral Resources is extracted from the release entitled Cauchari JORC Resource increases to 4.8 million tonnes Measured + Indicated and 1.5 million tonnes Inferred LCE released on 19 April 2019 and the report entitled NI43-101 Technical Report Cauchari JV Project  Updated Mineral Resource Estimate which is available to view on www.allkem.co and www.asx.com.au. The Competent Person for this technical report and Mineral Resource estimate was Mr Frits Reidel, CPG, of Atacama Water (Formerly FloSolutions Chile). The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcements and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. 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 announcement.

Technical information relating to the Companys Olaroz project contained in this release is derived from, and in some instances is an extract from, the technical report entitled Olaroz Resource Update March 2023 (Technical Report) which has been reviewed and approved by Murray Brooker (Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd) as it relates to geology, drilling, sampling, exploration, QA/QC, mining methods and mineral resources and Mr Mike Gunn (Gunn Metals) as it relates to site infrastructure, capital cost, operating cost estimates, mining cost, financial modelling and economic analysis in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The Technical Report is available for review under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and, by their nature, are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results, performances and achievements to differ materially from any expected future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the risk of further changes in government regulations, policies or legislation; the risks associated with the continued implementation of the merger between the Company and Galaxy Resources Ltd, risks that further funding may be required, but unavailable, for the ongoing development of the Companys projects; fluctuations or decreases in commodity prices; uncertainty in the estimation, economic viability, recoverability and processing of mineral resources; risks associated with development of the Company Projects; unexpected capital or operating cost increases; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones at the Companys Projects; risks associated with investment in publicly listed companies, such as the Company; and risks associated with general economic conditions.

Subject to any continuing obligation under applicable law or relevant listing rules of the ASX, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this Release to reflect any change in expectations in relation to any forward-looking statements or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Nothing in this Release shall under any circumstances (including by reason of this Release remaining available and not being superseded or replaced by any other Release or publication with respect to the subject matter of this Release), create an implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company since the date of this Release.

APPENDIX A: DRILL HOLE COLLARS AND LITHIUM CONCENTRATION

*Average well flows from 12 January 2017 to 31 January 2023

APPENDIX B

JORC Table 1  Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data related to Olaroz Stage 2 expansion drilling (Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (eg cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (eg reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay). In other cases more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (eg submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. Holes were drilled using the rotary drilling technique. Drill cuttings were collected to identify the sediment type and compare observations with downhole geophysical logs. Mud samples were taken during drilling to evaluate changes in properties such as fluid density, electrical conductivity and dissolved ions.

A comprehensive suite of down hole geophysical logs was run open hole, once holes reached total depth. This provided additional information on the lithologies encountered during drilling. This included in the deep 1408 m hole. The downhole logging was undertaken by the company Zelandez, who have extensive experience with geophysical logging on salt lake projects.

Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the results compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs.

Samples were not collected for assay from the cuttings, as the primary objective of the holes was to confirm the geology to the depth of drilling and install production wells. Cuttings were used to describe the lithology. Samples for brine analysis were taken from the production wells when cleaned up and pumped. Qualitative changes in brine conditions were also evaluated during drilling.

Three diamond holes were drilled in this program, with core samples collected in polycarbonate (Lexan) tubes and selected intervals analysed for porosity laboratory in an independent lithology (Geosystems Analysis in the USA). Drilling techniques Drill type (eg core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc) and details (eg core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc). Rotary drilling with a tricone bit was used to drill the entire length of the production holes, reaching depths between 450 and 650 m (in one hole 751 m), and also used for the deep hole to 1408 m.

Brine from a surface trench (low lithium content) was used to mix drilling muds, to develop a thick wall cake in the rotary holes and maintain hole stability.

Three diamond holes were drilled in this program, with the purpose of collecting porosity information and brine samples. 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. Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the observations compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs.

Sample recovery was aided by the use of appropriately prepared drilling mud to remove cuttings from the hole.

Cutting samples were not analysed chemically and descriptions were a qualitative evaluation of the lithologies encountered in the hole. There is no relationship between sample recovery and ion concentrations in the brine in this case. Core sample recovery for the three recent diamond holes was between 86.1 and 88.6%, which is higher than historical diamond drilling conducted to 200 m depth. Core sampling is enhanced by use of polycarbonate (Lexan) triple tubes. Unconsolidated salt lake sediments have much lower core recoveries than hard rock deposits. 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. Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the observations compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs. This has provided a consistent stratigraphy, supporting resource estimation and mining studies.

Cutting logging is of a qualitative nature and results were compared with the quantitative geophysical logs to interpret the lithologies encountered in the hole.

All intersections with sample recovery were logged. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. Cuttings were only used to identify the lithology and were not used for chemical analysis, and were only sub-sampled to collect representative reference samples.

Mud samples were taken from the returned drilling muds and analysed for concentrations of lithium and other elements, which maintained elevated and similar concentrations through the drill hole. Due to the rotary mud nature of this drilling the mud samples are considered only qualitative and not quantitative. Consequently, the mud sample analytical results are NOT reported in this release and NOT used for resource estimation.

Brine samples from production wells are from production pumping or pumping tests of new wells, once wells were developed and cleaned or had been in production, in some cases for more than 5 years, with consistent lithium concentrations. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (eg standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. The brine samples (from production wells and pumping tests conducted once wells were fully installed and cleaned) were analysed at the Olaroz site laboratory.

Quality control/Assurance samples were used by the Olaroz site laboratory, which is not a certified commercial laboratory.

Standards accompanying brine samples in the Olaroz laboratory have been analysed in commercial laboratories as part of a laboratory round robin analysis

Check samples were analysed in the Alex Stuart independent commercial laboratory in Jujuy, Argentina.

Duplicate samples have been analysed in commercial laboratories as part of QA/QC procedures. Results were generally within acceptable limits.

Downhole geophysical tools were provided by geophysical contractor Zelandez. These are calibrated periodically to produce consistent results. BMR tools are calibrated yearly in Australia. 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. Brine analyses are from pump testing post installation of production wells, are quantitative analyses and were reviewed by different company personnel.

Laboratory data (from spreadsheets) is loaded directly into the project database by company personnel.

Brine samples from production wells were analysed in the Olaroz site laboratory, with QA/QC samples analysed in the Alex Start independent laboratory in Jujuy, Argentina Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. The holes were located initially with a hand-held GPS and are subsequently surveyed by a certified surveyor. Production wells and diamond holes are drilled with a general spacing of 1 km between holes. The Project location is in zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger coordinate system with the Argentine POSGAR 94 datum. 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. Lithological data was collected throughout the drilling from cuttings and geophysical logging. Historical diamond drilling was conducted to 200 m depth, with three recent diamond drill holes to 650 m depth.

Due to the rotary drilling methodology samples for indicative brine chemistry, were not collected at regular intervals during drilling. Brine samples were collected from the pumping of wells, once wells were installed and cleaned (developed).

The samples taken during the pumping tests are composite samples, sourced from multiple well screens throughout the wells where screens are installed (through much of the hole).

Brine samples from historical diamond and sonic drilling were taken at a vertical spacing of 3 and 6 m to 54 m and nominally 6 m between 54 and 200 samples, with actual sampling irregular and depending on conditions. This information forms part of the resource estimate, along with more recent data. 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 salar deposits that host lithium-bearing brines consist of sub-horizontal beds and lenses of sand, silt, halite, clay and minor gravel, depending on the location within the salar. Drill holes are vertical and essentially perpendicular to these units intersecting close to their true thickness.

Faults controlling basin development occur on the basin margins. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Brine samples were moved from the drill site to secure storage at the camp on a daily basis. All brine sample bottles are marked with a unique label.

Samples were transported from the camp to the laboratory for chemical analysis in sealed rigid plastic bottles with sample numbers clearly identified. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. No audits or reviews have been conducted at this point in time.

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 licence to operate in the area. The Olaroz properties (operated by Sales de Jujuy for the joint venture between Allkem 66.5%, Toyota Tsusho 25% and JEMSE 8.5%) are located in the province of Jujuy in northern Argentina at an elevation of approximately 3,900 masl. Allkem also owns 100% of a number of other properties in the north of the Olaroz salar. The company has owned the majority of the properties for over 10 years

The SDJ joint venture project comprises 52,391 ha in 37 mineral properties and the 9,475 ha in the 5 Olaroz lithium properties. The project has been in production since 2013. The mining operation is from a series of mining licenses (minas) permitted for production. These are surrounded by other mining licenses and exploration properties (Cateos).

The project development was approved by the provincial government UGAMP technical committee in 2012, and received other approvals for project development in this time period.

The project has an 8.5% participation by the provincial mining agency JEMSE, is subject to a royalty of 3% and an export tax of 4.5% of mine gate value. Toyota Tsusho and Allkem act as the joint marketing agent for lithium produced at the project.

The tenements/properties are believed to be in good standing, with payments made to relevant government departments. The company maintains good relationships with the local government and government agencies and communities as part of operations. Many local inhabitants work at the Olaroz operation. Several peripheral properties have not yet been fully granted, as this is an extended process for mining leases in Argentina.

Properties are within the Reserva Provincial de Fauna y Flora Olaroz-Cauchari (a regional flora and fauna reserve), as is the adjoining Exar project. This reserve allows for multiple uses, including agriculture and mining. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. The properties were not subject to any exploration for lithium prior to Allkem (Orocobre) obtaining the properties.

Significant exploration has been conducted immediately to the east and south of the Olaroz properties by Minera Exar, resulting in a large resource and related reserve and a brine pumping project is currently in construction. Further south in Cauchari Olaroz subsidiary, South American Salars has defined a 4.8 Mt LCE resource in Measured and Indicated categories and 1.5 Mt of Inferred resources. These three projects are all developed on different parts of the same lithium brine body. Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. The project is a lithium salt lake deposit, located in a closed basin in the Andean mountain range in Northern Argentina.

The sediments within the salar consist of halite, clay, silt, sand and gravel which have accumulated in the salar from terrestrial sedimentation from the sides of the basin. Brine hosting dissolved lithium is present in pore spaces and fractures within unconsolidated sediments.

Evaporation of brines entering and within the salt lake generates the concentrated lithium that is extracted by pumping out the brine.

The sediments are interpreted to be essentially flat lying with unconfined aquifer conditions close to surface and semi-confined to confined conditions at depth

Geology was recorded during drilling of the hole. Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes: easting and northing of the drill hole collar elevation or RL (Reduced Level  elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar dip and azimuth of the hole down hole length and interception depth hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. The holes are located in the mining properties covering the Olaroz salt lake, centred around approximately 7402000N/ 3427000E and approximately 3930 m elevation, in Zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger grid system, using the Posgar 94 datum.

The drill holes are all vertical, (dip -90, azimuth 0 degrees). Collar coordinates and depths are provided in a table following the announcement. On the salt lake brine is present from within ~1 m of surface to the base of drilling.

Lithological data was collected from the mud return cuttings as the hole was drilled and from the geophysical logging of holes.

Previous sonic and diamond drilling core samples were collected in polycarbonate Lexan tubes and described in detail, with laboratory analyses made of the sediment porosity in several international laboratories. Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (eg cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. Brine samples were taken from pumping wells at the completion of pumping tests. Results during the pumping tests were analysed and compared, to ensure results were repeatable.

The pumping well samples are composite samples that reflect inflows from different levels within the wells, which are screened at multiple levels throughout their depth. The lithium concentration in the pumped samples is an average of the concentration from different units with relatively higher and lower values than the average. More permeable units contribute a higher proportion of the brine in the pumped samples.

The pumped samples are considered to be sufficiently representative of the brine contained in sediments where the holes are drilled, based on previous comparisons with diamond drill holes to 200 m depth, which showed low vertical coefficients of variation (CV). Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (eg down hole length, true width not known). The sediments hosting brine are interpreted to be essentially perpendicular to the vertical drill holes, representing true thicknesses in drilling. The entire thickness of sediments is believed to be mineralized with lithium brine, with the water table within approximately 1 metre of surface. Lithium is hosted in brine in pores within the different terrestrial sedimentary units in the salt lake sequence. 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. Diagrams are provided in the text showing the location of the properties, the drill holes and cross section through the deposit, showing the correlation of geological units. 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. Data regarding the drilling and sampling has been provided in the release. A table is provided with the results of the pumping wells, which have provided the basis for estimation below 200 m depth. 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. The company has conducting rotary drilling to obtain geological information, brine samples, and hydraulic parameters for the installation of additional production wells. Future drilling will also support an update of the resource estimation. Future updates to the resource will be released when drilling is conducted peripheral to the salar in areas when little or no current drilling. Further work The nature and scale of planned further work (eg tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. The company has recently completed installing 15 deep production wells for Stage 2 of the project. Future drilling is planned to extend further north and south of the current resource area, to support definition of further resources in those areas (refer to the map with drill holes in the release). Comprehensive documentation outlining the resource drilling is planned for release when that future drilling is complete.

Section 3 Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources
United Nations peacekeepers escort surrendered M23 fighters in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) (file photo)

M23 rebels clashed with soldiers on two fronts in eastern DR Congo on Tuesday, officials said, despite a regional ceasefire deal due to take effect the same day.

According to aid workers, fighting erupted on Monday in North Kivu province, where the Tutsi-led M23 has captured swathes of territory since resuming activity in late 2021.

On Tuesday morning, rebels and troops were still involved in clashes despite a ceasefire, brokered by Angola, that was due to start at noon.

"The fighting continues," said a security official in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lieutenant-Colonel Guillaume Ndjike, the army's spokesman in North Kivu, said late Monday the M23 "and their sponsors from the Rwanda Defence Force" had attacked a recently deployed Burundian contingent of an East African regional military force.

The DRC accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels, who have displaced over half a million people and are edging closer to the city of Goma, a trade hub.

UN experts, the United States, as well as several other western countries, agree with the assessment, although Rwanda denies it.

The seven-nation East African Community (EAC) decided to create a military force to stabilise eastern Congo last year, with the first troops arriving in Goma in November.

On 3 March, the Angolan presidency, which is mediating the conflict , announced a ceasefire for eastern DRC due to take effect at noon on Tuesday.

The announcement followed several other failed regional peace initiatives.

Both sides accuse the other of triggering the fresh round of clashes.

M23 spokesman Willy Ngoma told the French press agency AFP on Tuesday that the group was defending itself after the regular army attacked all of the group's positions simultaneously.

(With news agencies)
Vancouver, BC, March 27, 2023  TheNewswire - EGR Exploration Ltd. (TSXV:EGR) ("EGR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of David Stevenson to the Board of Directors with immediate effect. The Company is also announcing the resignation of Rafael Vaudrin.

Board of Director Changes

The Board of Directors have unanimously approved the appointment of David Stevenson as a director of EGR Exploration. This decision was made following the resignation of Rafael Vaudrin. Mr. Vaudrin has taken on a new position which does not allow for outside directorships due to potential conflicts of interest. The Board wishes to sincerely thank Mr. Vaudrin for his many valuable contributions to the Company during his time as a director and wishes him well in the future.

Mr. David Stevenson is a co-founder and Chief Geoscientist of Kenorland Minerals Ltd. He is a mineral exploration geoscientist with over 15 years of combined experience in mineral exploration and geoscientific research throughout North America, Australia and South America. He has worked with a number of junior and mid-tier companies focusing on broad regional scale targeting to deposit definition. With combined experience in mineral exploration and exploration focused academic research, David is positioned to be a leader among the next generation of mineral exploration geoscientists through applying sound scientific reasoning to develop exploration strategies capable of unlocking the mineral potential in previously overlooked terranes.

Departing director Rafael Vaudrin, comments: "It was a pleasure and an honour to assist in the Company's transition and it is good to know it is in good hands now and will be able to properly explore the Detour West Property. I am excited about the potential and wish the new team loads of determination and pinch of luck needed to make a discovery.

CEO Comments

Daniel Rodriguez CEO & Director, comments, "Dave has a proven track record as co-founder and Chief Geoscientist of Kenorland, in making discoveries in the Superior Province. His skills and abilities in undercover exploration techniques are a welcome addition to EGR. I look forward to working with him and the rest of my team as we work towards exploring Detour West."

"I want to thank Raf for the time and help he gave me in understanding Detour West and its potential. I wish you well in your new role and all the best."

Options Grant

The Company has granted to Mr. Stevenson 175,000 options, vesting immediately with a 5-year term, at an exercise price that is equal to the closing price on March 27, 2023.

The stock options are subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and the Company's stock option plan.

About EGR Exploration Ltd.

EGR Exploration Ltd. is exploring for gold in the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend approximately 300 kilometres north of Timmins, Ontario. EGR's 40,255 hectare Detour West gold project is contiguous to Agnico Eagle's property which contains the Detour Lake Gold Mine and is approximately 20 kilometres from the mine, which is also hosted in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt.

For further information contact:

Daniel Rodriguez

CEO & Director

Phone: (604) 353-4080

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ForwardLooking Statement (Safe Harbor Statement)

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "expect", "estimate", "objective", "may", "will", "project", "should", "predict", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the Company's exploration plans. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with conditions in the equity financing markets, and assumptions and risks regarding receipt of regulatory and shareholder approvals. Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward-looking statements in this press release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. 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.
VANCOUVER, BC, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - FE Battery Metals Corp. (CSE: FE) (OTCQB: FEMFF) (WKN: A3D 08G) ("FE" or the "Company) is pleased the Company has increased its land claim holdings in the Georgia Lake area in Northwestern Ontario. With the recent addition of approximately 3,000 hectares FE Battery Metals now holds 18,000 hectares in the Georgia Lake area. For additional information on the initial acquisition please refer to the news release dated March 16, 2023.

In addition, the Company has closed a non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of $ 1,500,000 ( the "Private Placement") The Private Placement consisted of issuing 3,000,000 common shares at a price of $0.50 cents per share. No finder's fee was paid in connection with the above-noted private placement. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the private placement to finance exploration work on its Augustus Lithium property, along with general working capital purposes.

The final closing of the private placement is subject to obtaining all required approvals, including from the CSE, and any other regulatory approval. All securities issued in connection with the offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF

FIRST ENERGY METALS LTD.

"Gurminder Sangha"

Gurminder Sangha

CEO & Director

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-looking Information

Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release includes information about the Agreement, as well as the Company's intentions, plans and future actions of the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms thereon.

Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the Company and Native Ads, Inc. may not complete the digital marketing campaign as currently anticipated, or at all; and other related risks as more fully set out in the continuous disclosure filings of the Company under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Forward-looking information in the news release will not be updated by the Company except as required by law.
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Meridian Mining UK. S (TSX:MNO)(Frankfurt/Tradegate:2MM)(OTCQB:MRRDF) ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing drill program at Cabacal ("Figure 1"). Drill hole CD-240 has intersected a wide high-grade copper zone that grades 34.5m @ 5.3% CuEq[1] / 7.9g/t AuEq (4.0% Cu, 1.7g/t Au & 22.4g/t Ag) with the core of the high-grade feeder zone returning 12.8m @ 12.7% CuEq / 19.0g/t AuEq (9.7% Cu, 4.0g/t Au & 55.8g/t Ag) ("Figure 2"). This is the highest-grade copper interval ("Table 1") ever drilled in the history of Cabacal, with peak assay grades of 17.9% Cu and 34.1 g/t Au, and multiple copper assays grading greater than 17.0% Cu ("Photo 1"; "Table 2"). This rich feeder zone is considered open, with further drill results from Cabacal to be released in the near future.

Highlights Reported Today

Meridian's CD-240 drills the highest-grade VMS copper-gold feeder zone to date at Cabacal;

Cabacal's highest grade copper zone returns: 34.5m @ 5.3% CuEq / 7.9g/t AuEq (4.0% Cu, 1.7g/t Au & 22.4g/t Ag) from 125.35m; including: 12.8m @ 12.7% CuEq / 19.0g/t AuEq (9.7% Cu, 4.0g/t Au & 55.8g/t Ag) from 129.9m; Peak assay grades of 17.9% Cu, 34.1 g/t Au, 105g/t Ag; and CD-240 high-grade zone remains open.



Dr. Adrian McArthur, CEO, comments: "The highest-grade VMS results reported today from CD-240's copper-gold feeder zone highlight the tremendous upside that Cabacal continues to offer. This trend has the potential to enhance the existing resource base and extends below the current open pit design. The targeting of this open mineralization in the Southern Copper Zone ("SCZ") is part of the ongoing drill program. We expect these results to deliver a positive contribution to the next phase of economic studies. Our technical team continues to analyse the historical data which led directly to these significant results in the high-grade SCZ's extensions."

Photo 1: CD-240's highest grading mineralized intervals

SCZ Copper Sulphide Feeder System

The Company will include this new zone, and the multiple of other higher-grade trends, defined since August 2022, in the upcoming Cabacal resource update. CD-240's high-grade feeder zone ("Table 2") and its broader halo, are not in the current resource model. When included in the future resource upgrade, these results will improve localized metal content and economics (the block model's grades in CD-240's position are typically in the range of ~0.8 to 3.0g/t AuEq, compared to the average of 7.9g/t AuEq over the 34.5m intersection). The ongoing drill program aims to delineate the SCZ's extensions, which were not historically mined due to the historic gold focused cut-off grade, despite containing exceptional copper grades.

Figure 1: Location of SCZ drill hole CD-240

CD-240 is in a high-grade copper-gold feeder zone within the SCZ, also intersected by the historical holes JUSPD596, JUSPD482, and CAIK211. Unfortunately, complete data for ~28,000m of historical drilling including these intersections and others cannot be located, and therefore was not able to be used in Cabacal's[2] 2022 resource calculation. The three SCZ intersections are quoted in a 1990 report on Cabacal's potential[3]:

JUSPD596: 15.0m @ 5.2% Cu, 2.7g/t Au & 9.5g/t Ag;

JUSPD482: 13.4m @ 5.5% Cu, 1.3g/t Au & 24.7g/t Ag; and

CAIK211: 29.3m @ 6.0% Cu, 3.1g/t Au & 28.8g/t Ag.

Figure 2: Top: cross-sections of drill hole CD-240, bottom close up Cabacal CD-240 and resource model

Meridian's team recently recovered some of BP's 1980s drill rig bulletins from a local warehouse, including JUSPD596's bulletin. This helped confirm the SCZ's high-grade copper-gold extensions with CD-240's success. Reviews of these bulletins continue. The 1990 report estimated the SCZ's high-grade extensions had dimensions of 80 to 100m long, 10 to 20m wide, and up to 25m thick, with VMS depositional controls. Further drilling will be conducted to confirm the zone's geometry and extension, but the CD-240 result is consistent with these interpretations. CD-240's strong results will have a positive impact both within the current PEA pit shell[4] and below the modelled pit floor.

Table 1: CD-240 composites

Table 2: CD-240 high-grade feeder zone assay results

About Meridian

Meridian Mining UK S is focused on the development and exploration of the advanced staged Cabacal VMS goldcopper project, the regional scale exploration of the Cabacal VMS belt, the exploration in the Jauru & Araputanga Greenstone belts all located in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil and exploring the Espigao polymetallic project in the State of Rondonia, Brazil.

Cabacal is a gold-copper-silver rich VMS deposit with the potential to be a standalone mine with in the 50km VMS belt. Cabacal's base and precious metal-rich mineralization is hosted by volcanogenic type, massive, semi-massive, stringer, and disseminated sulphides within units of deformed metavolcanic-sedimentary rocks. A later-stage sub-vertical gold overprint event has emplaced high-grade gold mineralization cross-cutting the dipping VMS layers.

The Cabacal Mineral Resource estimate consists of Indicated resources of 52.9 million tonnes at 0.6g/t gold, 0.3% copper and 1.4g/t silver and Inferred resources of 10.3 million tonnes at 0.7g/t gold, 0.2% copper & 1.1g/t silver (assuming a 0.3 g/t gold equivalent cut-off grade), including a higher-grade near-surface zone supporting a starter pit. Readers are encouraged to read the NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled "Independent Technical Report, Mineral Resource Estimate for the Cabacal VMS deposit, Cabacal Project, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil" available for download on Meridian's website at www.meridianmining.co and under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com The Technical Report was prepared by H&S Consultants Pty. Ltd. ("H&SC"), as principal consultant, MB Geologia Ltda. and SGS North America Inc. ("SGS").

The Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") outlines a base case after-tax NPV5 of USD 573 million and 58.4% IRR from a pre-production capital cost of USD 180 million, leading to capital repayment in 10.6 months (assuming metals price scenario of USD 1,650 per ounces of gold, USD 3.59 per pound of copper, and USD 21.35 per ounce of silver). Cabacal has a low All-in-Sustaining-Cost of USD 671 per ounce gold equivalent for the first five years, driven by high metallurgical recovery, a low life-of-mine strip ratio of 2.1:1, and the low operating cost environment of Brazil. The Company announced the results from its PEA on March 6, 2023. The PEA technical report in support of the Company's news release of March 6, 2023, is expected to be filed by the end of March 2023. The qualified persons for the PEA technical report are: Robert Raponi (P. Eng), Principal Metallurgist with Ausenco Engineering), Scott Elfen (P. E.), Global Lead Geotechnical and Civil Services with Ausenco Engineering), Simon Tear (PGeo, EurGeol), Principal Geological Consultant of H&SC, Joseph Keane (Mineral Processing Engineer; P.E), of SGS, and Guilherme Gomides Ferreira (Mine Engineer MAIG) of GE21 Consultoria Mineral.

Cabacal has excellent infrastructure with access by all-weather roads, clean electricity provided by nearby hydroelectric power stations, and local communities provide mining services and employees.

Readers are cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature and is intended to provide an initial assessment of the Cabacal's economic potential and development options. The PEA mine schedule and economic assessment includes numerous assumptions and is based on inferred mineral resources. Inferred resources 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 PEA results will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Additional exploration will be required to potentially upgrade the classification of the inferred mineral resources to be considered in future advanced studies.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S

Dr. Adrian McArthur

CEO and Director

Meridian Mining UK S

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ph: +1 (778) 715-6410 (PST)

Technical Note

Gold equivalents are calculated as AuEq(g/t) = (Au(g/t) * %Recovery) + (1.492*(Cu% * %Recovery)) + (0.013*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)).

Copper equivalents are calculated as CuEq(%) = (Cu% * %Recovery) = (0.6703*(Au(g/t) * %Recovery)) + (0.0087*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)), where:

Au_recovery_ppm = 5.4368ln(Au_Grade_ppm)+88.856;

Cu_recovery_pct = 2.0006ln(Cu_Grade_pct)+94.686

Ag_recovery_ppm = 13.342ln(Ag_Grade_ppm)+71.037

Recoveries based on 2022 metallurgical testwork on core submitted to SGS Lakefield. Gold price US$1,650/oz; Silver US$21.35/oz; Copper US$3.59/lb. Gold analyses at SGS have been conducted by FAA505 (fire assay of a 50g charge), and base metal analysis by methods ICP40B and ICP40B_S (four acid digest with ICP-OES finish). Samples are held in the Company's secure facilities until dispatched and delivered by staff and commercial couriers to the laboratory. The Company submits a range of quality control samples, including blanks and gold and polymetallic standards supplied by Rocklabs, ITAK and OREAS, supplementing laboratory quality control procedures. In BP sampling, gold was analysed historically be fire assay and base metals by three acid digest and ICP finish. Silver was analysed by samples were analysed by aqua regia digest with an atomic absorption finish. True width is considered to be 80-90% of intersection width.

Qualified Person

Dr. Adrian McArthur, B.Sc. Hons, Ph.D. FAusIMM., CEO and President of Meridian as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, verified and approved the technical information in this news release.

Stay up to date by subscribing for news alerts here: https://meridianmining.co/contact/

Follow Meridian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeridianMining

Further information can be found at: www.meridianmining.co

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Meridian believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Meridian cautions investors that any forward-looking statements 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 timing and successful completion of an updated mineral resource; the Company's expectations regarding Cabacal's PEA; capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates; changes in world metal markets; changes in equity markets; ability to achieve goals; that the political environment in which the Company operates will continue to support the development and operation of mining projects; the threat associated with outbreaks of viruses and infectious diseases, including the novel COVID-19 virus; risks related to negative publicity with respect to the Company or the mining industry in general; reliance on a single asset; planned drill programs and results varying from expectations; unexpected geological conditions; local community relations; dealings with non-governmental organizations; delays in operations due to permit grants; environmental and safety risks; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Meridian's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by Meridian, in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, Meridian can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Meridian disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

[1] See technical notes.

[2] See Meridian News release, September 26, 2022

[3] Mason R and Kerr D (1990) Cabacal I Mine - Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Definition of Ore Zones and Potential for New Ore Reserves. Internal report for Mineracao Santa Martha

[4] See Meridian News release, March 6, 2023
TORONTO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Q-Gold Resources Ltd (TSXV: QGR, OTC: QGLDF, FRA: QX9G) (Q-Gold or the Company) is pleased to announce that the final assay results of two samples from our fall 2022 exploration drilling program, which were sent for metallic screen analysis owing to the presence of visible gold, have been received. All samples were analyzed at the Thunder Bay Actlabs facility (Table 1).

As previously announced (please see Company press release dated February 13, 2023), the 2022 drill program was an overall success with 5 of the 8 holes drilled intersecting their targeted vein systems. Two of the holes, Q22-14 and Q22-16 had visible gold present in samples. The selected samples, originally analyzed by 30-gram fire assay with an AA finish were re-assayed using a 500-gram metallic screen analysis. The table below shows the results from each analysis.

The diamond drilling program consisted of 8 holes drilling 1,166 metres targeting the two main veins at Foley (Bonanza and Jumbo) as well as a high-grade vein previously exposed by trenching to the northeast of Foley.

Table 1: Final Metallic Results

2022 Mine Centre Assay Results Original Metallics Hole From To Interval Au Au (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) Q22-14 134.70 135.20 0.50 6.11 10.30 Q22-16 34.78 35.30 0.52 6.66 14.80

We are even more excited and encouraged by these high-grade intersections around our project at Foley Mine, commented Dr. Andreas Rompel, Chief Executive Officer, and we now have the proof that these veins are highly prolific and warrant further exploration along strike as well as down-dip.

About the Existing Mine Centre Property

Q-Gold holds 10,000+ acres of contiguous mining claims, Crown leases and leasehold patents located within the historic Mine Centre 1890s gold camp, which produced 16,025 ounces of gold from the Foley Gold Mine and the Golden Star Mine.

The Foley Gold Mine was first developed in the 1890s, with the sinking of the Foley Shaft to the 400 level. At this time 10,500 tons of ore at 14 g/t was mined from stopes at the 100 level with 5,267 oz of gold recovered 1898  1900. Subsequent work between 1923-27 included an estimated $12 M of total development work, including an offset Shaft 400 - 850, winze 400 to 150 and 2.5+ km of drifts on 7 levels. Operations terminated in 1927 due to the onset of the Great Depression.

The property has favourable logistics with immediate access to Highway 11 and sitting 250 km Northwest of Thunder Bay and 65 km Northeast of the U.S. border. It is also proximal to two major gold discoveries 95 km on either side of Mine Centre: Rainy River (New Gold) (4.5 M oz. Au & 11.4 M oz. Ag) & Hammond Reef (Agnico Eagle) (4.5 M oz.).

Other interest areas on the Property include the McKenzie Gray Vein System; a gold-silver vein system with 6,594 m of drilling confirming existence of high-grade quartz vein down to 100 m. As well as the the Golden Star, Manhattan, and Fergus Vein Systems; all high-potential gold vein prospects offering tremendous optionality at Mine Centre.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed, prepared and approved by Richard Kilpatrick, P. Geo., Exploration Manager, Q-Gold, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101.

About Q-Gold Resources Ltd.

Q-Gold Resources (TSXV: QGR, OTC: QGLDF, FRA: QX9G) is a publicly traded Canada-based mineral exploration company targeting high-grade gold and silver discoveries in multiple jurisdictions. Q-Gold is currently exploring for gold at the past-producing Foley Gold Mine in Mine Centre, Ontario and for silver at the Surupana Property in the silver-rich altiplano region of Peru.

For further information, contact:

Dr. Andreas Rompel

Chief Executive Officer

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.qgoldresources.com

Cautionary Note

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding the Companys the result of drill assays from the 2022 exploration program, extension of mineralization at the Mine Centre property and the Companys work plan and beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. 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. In particular, the Company cautions that the results of drill aways from the 2022 exploration program and extension of mineralization cannot be predicted with certainty, and that there can be no assurance at this time that such drill assays will be positive or if the Company will be able to extend mineralization at its Mine Centre property. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, as well as other factors beyond the Company's control. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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.
VANCOUVER, BC  TheNewswire - March 27, 2023  Majuba Hill Copper Corp. (CSE:JUBA) (OTC:JUBAF) (FWB:4NP) (Majuba Hill Copper or the Company) is pleased to announce the Company has entered in to an agreement dated March 20, 2023 (the Purchase Agreement) with Ruby Hollow, LLC to acquire a 100% interest in the Copper King and Desert Mountain Claim Group SW of the Tintic Mining District in Juab, Utah (the Transaction). The properties consist of 6,827.994 acres of highly prospective claims and leases (the Subject Property).

Copper King and Desert Mountain Claims

The two claim blocks are situated approximately 90 km SW of Kennecotts prolific Bingham Canyon Mine Complex (just west of Salt Lake City, Utah) and 40 km SW of the Tintic Mining District which hosted some of the richest lead/silver mines in the state.

The Copper King Claims is a greenfield project that hosts numerous quartz-specularite veins with occasional Cu-oxides, barite, and fluorite showings that increase in intensity along the western flank of the mountain range. A field program took place in 2020 that focused on collecting structural orientation data and geochemical grab samples of veins to provide further insight into the mineralizing system. Geophysical anomalies outline potential targets for drilling the 5113.214 acre property.

The Desert Mountain Claims is a block of land covered by the DMG claims, the Coyote Knoll claims, and a state section on west side of the claim block. There is alteration, mineralization, and jasperoids in the volcanic and Precambrian rock covered by the claims. There is a small mine on the property called the Coyote Mine with small production and reported 1000 ounces silver. A review of the drilling, including creating cross sections of the drilling, indicates excellent drilling opportunities along a mostly east-west structure covered by the claims. Additional opportunities can be found north and south off this east-west structure. The overall block size is approximately 1,714.78 acres.

David Greenway, President and CEO, commented: "While we continue to advance our flagship Majuba Hill Copper Project showcasing the potential for 1.5 Billion pounds of copper, with results just announced to expand that size, which will contribute to the development of a NI 43-101 compliant copper resource. Our phased approach is how the next great copper mines of America will be developed. This in an era when copper has never been in greater demand, the shortfall for copper been forecasted to become so significant and the need to find strategic copper reserves in domestic, safe, American, mining friendly jurisdictions been so imperative. Bravo to 2022. We couldnt be more excited to see what 2023 brings. We are excited to add to the Companys US based mining portfolio with this strategic acquisition to find the next Majuba Hill."

The Transaction

In consideration for the Transaction and pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, and closing thereof ("Closing"), the Company will issue an aggregate of 3,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.13 USD per share (the Consideration Shares).

Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Company has agreed to undertake and assume all obligations related to the Properties such as certain royalty interests and maintaining the Subject Property in good standing.

The Consideration Shares will be subject to a four month and one day restriction on resale commencing on the closing date.

Awareness Agreement

Further, the Company has engaged Positive Phil Inc. of San Marcos, California, to provide digital marketing services to the Company for a term of 30 days, in consideration of 300,000 RSUs. Positive Phil Inc. will utilize its online programs and media placement to generate a greater following, increase investor awareness and attract new investors through many different online platforms and methods of engagement.

About Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

Majuba Hill Copper Corp. is engaged in the identification, review and acquisition of latter stage copper and copper/silver/gold assets. This is in direct response to the growing worldwide demand and lack of supply for precious metals fueled by the Green New Deal in the US and most other developed nations with similar programs aimed at addressing climate change. Such programs are heavily reliant on silver, gold and especially copper to produce Electric Vehicles and other renewable power sources, as well as building infrastructure to provide clean and affordable electricity.

The flagship project is the Majuba Hill copper, silver and gold District located 156 miles outside Reno, Nevada, USA. Management has been mandated to focus on safe, mining friendly jurisdictions where government regulations are supportive of mining operations.

On Behalf of the Board of Majuba Hill Copper Corp.

David Greenway

David C. Greenway

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Joel Warawa

VP of Corporate Communications

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

P: 1 (855) 475-0745

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "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. Although Majuba Hill Copper Corp. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Majuba Hill Copper Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Majuba Hill Copper Corp. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.




Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - Kingsview Minerals Ltd. (CSE: KVM) (FSE: 0L4) (the "Company" or "Kingsview") is pleased to announce results from Phase 1 exploration, including surface sampling and geophysical surveying, at the Company's Echum Project, south of Alamos Gold's Island Gold Project in the fast-growing Wawa Gold Corridor of northern Ontario.

Ground IP (Induced Polarization) surveying generated numerous targets, including one that coincides with a large anomaly identified in the 2021 VTEM (Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic) survey (see Figures 1 and 2). The Company also received encouraging field sampling results such as grab sample E504550, which graded 3.21 grams per tonne ("g/t") Gold ("Au") and 3.00 g/t Silver ("Ag), with anomalous copper and zinc values (see Table 1).

2023 IP Survey & Upcoming Drill Program

In March 2023, Kingsview completed a ground-based IP survey. The survey followed up on the large conductor target identified in the October 2021 airborne VTEM survey carried out over the Echum Project on three priority lines oriented perpendicular to the interpreted orientation of the conductor. Multiple priority targets were uncovered from the survey.

Figure 1: Echum Project - First Three Inverted IP Lines Displaying Strong Anomalies above 2021 VTEM Conductor

Figure 2: Echum Project Planned Drill Holes at "Smoke" Target on Line L6W

Figure 3: Three IP Lines at Echum Project with Planned First Drill Pad

The Company plans to commence a drill program to follow up on the results from the VTEM and IP Surveys in the spring of 2023 (Figure 2). Combined with the surveys, historic surface sampling of an iron formation in the area produced Copper values ranging from 258 ppm Cu to 2,510 ppm Cu, and Zinc values ranging from 63 ppm Zn to 1,537 ppm Zn (Figure 3).

2022 Surface Sampling

Kingsview carried out field sampling across the 14,562-hectare property portfolio, including field sampling of target areas at the Echum Project. A total of 21 samples were collected at the Echum Project (see Figure 4) immediately south of Manitou Gold's Goudreau property (recently acquired by Alamos Gold) with notable results including E504450, which graded 3.21 g/t gold ("Au") and 3.00 g/t silver ("Ag"), 682865, which graded 0.426 g/t Au and 2.5 g/t Ag, and Q203121, which graded 0.013 g/t Au, 3.4 g/t Ag and 0.55% Cu. See below a list of highlighted sample results from Echum Project (Table 1).

Figure 4: Echum Project - 2022 Surface Sampling Results

Table 1: Selected 2022 Surface Sampling Results at Echum Project**

Sample ID Easting (m) Northing (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) Zn (%) UTM NAD83 Zone 16N E504450 713590 5340348 3.21 3.00 - - 682865 713587 5340332 0.43 2.50 - - 682897 709072 5341590 0.04 2.50 0.06 0.05 682898 709072 5341590 0.03 2.30 0.08 0.12 682899 709069 5341596 0.02 - - - 682900 709037 5341604 0.03 1.90 0.09 0.09 Q203119 709096 5341617 0.01 - - 0.11 Q203120 709093 5341626 0.02 0.80 - 0.06 Q203121 709068 5341683 0.01 3.40 0.55 0.06 Q203122 709068 5341684 0.01 2.30 0.13 0.17

** All sample values are from grab samples which by their nature are not representative of overall grades of mineralized areas. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on the assay values reported in the table above. The 10 samples above are part of a suite of 21 samples collected and assayed from Echum Project. The remaining samples returned values that were less than the values included in the table.

Corporate Update

The Company is pleased to welcome Morgan Verge, P.Geo., as Senior Geologist at Kingsview. Morgan is an experienced geologist with a strong background in geological database management and mineral exploration. She has over 10 years of experience working in a wide range of geological domains, including the Abitibi greenstone belt in Timmins with Lake Shore Gold, the Hope Bay greenstone belt in Nunavut with TMAC Resources (Agnico Eagle Mines), and most recently, the Meguma Terrane in Nova Scotia with Aurelius Minerals.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Kingsview at this exciting time. We have had some very encouraging results from our 2021 VTEM and 2023 IP surveys, and we're looking to build on those with Kingsview's first drill program. We are focusing the first two drill holes on our Smoke target, which has shown an IP anomaly on all three IP lines completed so far, indicating the potential for a disseminated halo of sulphides. We'll then drill deeper to reach the VTEM conductor, which suggests the possibility of a considerable massive sulphide opportunity. I'm excited to be working with the Kingsview team to fully unlock the gold and base metal potential of the Echum Project and take our exploration efforts to the next level," commented Morgan Verge, Senior Geologist at Kingsview.

Qualified Person

Bruce Durham, P.Geo., is a Qualified Person, as that term is defined by Canadian regulatory guidelines under NI 43-101, and has read and approved the technical information contained in this press release.

About Kingsview Minerals Ltd.

Kingsview is a mineral exploration company focused on its gold and base metal exploration properties, including the flagship Echum Project and the Hubcap Project, located in the active Wawa Gold Corridor in Ontario, Canada. The Company's properties are surrounded by advanced infrastructure in a well-developed mining district. Kingsview will draw on its strong technical team with significant exploration success to advance its properties.

For more information, please contact investor relations at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

James Macintosh

President and CEO

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words or expressions such as "proposed", "will", "subject to", "near future", "in the event", "would", "expect", "prepared to" and other similar words or expressions. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements and include but are not limited to statements regarding the potential that the projects will yield any precious metals in future exploration programs and the Company's ability to advance its properties.

Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. Such assumptions include the Company's ability to implement a drill program on the projects, that the Company will have sufficient funds available to it and that the Company will continue to be able to retain skilled personnel. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the state of capital markets; there being no assurance that any future exploration program on the projects will result in mineral resources; the inability of the Company to raise sufficient funds and/or retain necessary personnel to conduct its operations; the impact on the business, operations and financial condition of the Company resulting from the announcement of the purchase of the projects; the impact that the recovery post COVID-19 may have on precious metals; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction described in this press release; other unforeseen events, developments, or factors causing any of the aforesaid expectations, assumptions, and other factors ultimately being inaccurate or irrelevant; and any risks associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in filings made with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities that are available on the Company's SEDAR profile page at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.
TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Karora Resources Inc. (TSX: KRR) ("Karora" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the appointment of Leigh Junk to the position of Managing Director, Australia.

Paul Andre Huet, Chairman & CEO, commented: "I am pleased to welcome Leigh Junk to the Karora team. With over 30 years of mining industry experience, including senior management leadership and operational roles, Leigh is a great fit to provide overall senior leadership at our Australian operations as we execute our growth plan. Leigh's success and experience in both the gold and nickel mining spaces in Western Australia represents a highly strategic addition for Karora as we ramp up our production of both metals. Leigh will report to me, in my role as Chairman and CEO."

Most recently, Leigh Junk was Managing Director of Dacian Gold prior to its takeover by Genesis Minerals in 2022 and, prior to that, was Managing Director of Doray Minerals until its merger with Silver Lake Resources in 2019. Leigh has held senior positions in several other Australian mining companies, including WMC Resources, Mincor Operations and Pilbara Manganese. Mr. Junk was a co-founder of Donegal Resources, a private company that successfully acquired and recommissioned several Nickel operations in the Kambalda, Western Australia area, until it was sold to Canadian miner Brilliant Mining Corp in 2006. Mr. Junk has been a Director of several public companies in the mining and financial sectors in both Australia and Canada.

About Karora Resources

Karora is focused on increasing gold production to a targeted range of 170,000-195,000 ounces by 2024 at its integrated Beta Hunt Gold Mine and Higginsville Gold Operations ("HGO") in Western Australia. The Higginsville treatment facility is a low-cost 1.6 Mtpa processing plant, which is fed at capacity from Karora's underground Beta Hunt mine and Higginsville mines. In July 2022, Karora acquired the 1.0 Mtpa Lakewood Mill in Western Australia. At Beta Hunt, a robust gold Mineral Resource and Reserve are hosted in multiple gold shears, with gold intersections along a 5 km strike length remaining open in multiple directions. HGO has a substantial Mineral gold Resource and Reserve and prospective land package totaling approximately 1,900 square kilometers. Karora has a strong Board and management team focused on delivering shareholder value and responsible mining, as demonstrated by Karora's commitment to reducing emissions across its operations. Karora's common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol KRR and on the OTCQX market under the symbol KRRGF.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" including without limitation statements relating to, among other items, production guidance, timing for completion of capital projects, timing for the commencement of mining, liquidity and capital resources of Karora, organic growth profile and the potential of the Beta Hunt Mine, Higginsville Gold Operation, the Aquarius and Two Boys Projects, Spargos Gold Mine and Lake Cowan prospect.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Karora to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; results of exploration programs; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, projected cash operating costs, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Karora 's filings with Canadian securities regulators, including the most recent Annual Information Form, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although Karora has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Karora disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
TORONTO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Probe Gold Inc. (TSX: PRB) (OTCQB: PROBF) (Probe or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced bought deal private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of $15,000,076 (the Offering). The Offering was comprised of 7,389,200 common shares of the Company that qualify as flow-through shares (the Flow-Through Shares) at a price of $2.03 per Flow-Through Share.

David Palmer, President and CEO of Probe, states: We are very pleased with the strong level of support for the Offering. By utilizing the substantial flow-through premium for Quebec projects, we can not only continue our 2023 exploration programs, while minimizing dilution to our shareholders, but actually expand these programs to accelerate growth and unlock additional value. Our focus this year will be on expanding our five million-plus ounce resource and testing brand new gold exploration targets at Novador in Val-dOr; and exploring the vast regional potential of our Detour project, including our new copper discovery at La Peltrie, the extension of the gold structure hosting Agnicos Zone 58 and new targets identified in our regional work. With the successful conclusion of the Offering, we now have approximately $34 million in treasury to carry out these exploration initiatives and concurrently advance the Novador project. We are looking forward to 2023 and thank all of our shareholders for their support as we work towards building one of Canadas premier gold projects.

The Company plans to use the gross proceeds from the Offering to fund exploration and drilling at the Novador Gold project and the Detour Gold project. The Offering was completed through a syndicate of underwriters led by Canaccord Genuity Corp., and including BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, Sprott Private Partners, iA Private Wealth and Laurentian Bank Securities (collectively, the Underwriters). The completion of the Offering is subject to the receipt of all regulatory approvals including the final approval of the TSX. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a standard hold period expiring four months a day from the date of closing.

About Probe Gold



Probe Gold Inc. is a leading Canadian gold exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of highly prospective gold properties. The Company is committed to discovering and developing high-quality gold projects, including its key asset the multimillion-ounce Novador Gold Project, Quebec. The Company is well-funded and controls a strategic land package of approximately 1,500-square-kilometres of exploration ground within some of the most prolific gold belts in Quebec. The Company was formed as a result of the $526M sale of Probe Mines Limited to Goldcorp.

On behalf of Probe Gold Inc.,

Dr. David Palmer,

President & Chief Executive Officer

For further information:

Please visit our website at www.probegold.com or contact:

Seema Sindwani

Vide-President of Investor Relations

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

+1.416.777.9467

Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the TSX nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companys future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet managements expectations. Risks, uncertainties, and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, completion of the Underwritten Offering on the terms as announced, obtaining regulatory approvals in a timely matter or at all, the Companys objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to failure to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for the Underwrittenn Offering including the Toronto Stock Exchange, the inability of the Company to apply the use of proceeds from the Underwritten Offering as anticipated, the failure to identify mineral resources, failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves, the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, inability to fulfill the duty to accommodate First Nations and other indigenous peoples, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains, and those risks set out in the Companys public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
Waterton to propose resolution of shareholders urging the Hudbay Board to refrain, until Hudbay's 2019 annual meeting, from approving new material transactions, transactions that are dilutive on a cash flow per share basis or that involve issuing 5% or more of the company's common shares, in each... Read More
Oil drilling platform at Walvis Bay just before sunset. Based on recent discoveries, Namibia is poised to become a major player in the oil and gas industry (file photo)

CONSIDER the distance between Windhoek and Mariental, approximately 270 kilometres. That's roughly the same distance from the Namibian shore where oil was again discovered by Shell, Qatar Energy and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor).

The three are in a joint venture; Shell Namibia B.V (45%), QatarEnergy (45%) and Namcor (10%), and are exploring for oil on their PEL0039.

According to the three entities, a light oil discovery was made in the Jonker-1X deep-water exploration well.

The well was drilled in Block 2913A and 2914B, following drilling operations which commenced in December 2022 and completed safely early this month.

The Jonker-1X discovery is the third well drilled on the licence held by Shell within a year.

The Odfjell Deepsea Bollsta semi-submersible rig drilled the well to a total depth of 6 168 metres in a water depth of 2 210 metres.

The acquired data is reportedly being evaluated, and further appraisal drilling is planned to determine the size and recoverable resources potential of the discovery.

Commenting on the discovery, Namcor managing director Immanuel Mulunga said the discovery has proven the exciting and world-class potential of the deep-water Orange Basin.

It is not yet clear whether the discovery is commercial, and Namcor's executive for upstream exploration, Victoria Sibeya, said the company is looking forward to the appraisal activities and its collaborative relationship with the joint venture partners and the Namibian government as a shareholder, to fully assess the commercial potential of this major oil discovery.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Qatar minister of state for energy affairs and the president and chief executive of QatarEnergy, said he was pleased with the encouraging discovery, which is Namibia's third.

"I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our partners Shell and Namcor, and to congratulate and thank the Government of the Republic of Namibia, which has been very supportive of this exploration effort," he said.

This announcement follows two similar announcements by QatarEnergy in February 2022 of oil discoveries in the Graff-1 well and in the Venus-1X prospect, both located in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia.

In addition to the PEL-39 Exploration Licence, QatarEnergy also holds interests in PEL-56 (30%) and PEL-91 (28,33%) in offshore Namibia covering a total area of 28 327 km2.

Twitter: @Lasarus_A
Dakar  Opposition supporters in Senegal are planning a second day of protests Wednesday against what they say are "dictatorial" practices by President Macky Sall, which his government denies. They also accuse Sall's government of arbitrary arrests and his seeking an unconstitutional third term in next year's elections. More than 10,000 people hit the streets of Senegal's capital Tuesday for the first day of protests.

Opposition supporters adorned in Senegal flag-themed regalia streamed onto a field late Tuesday afternoon chanting "Macky Sall is a dictator."

Many wore T-shirts with messages of support for who they hope will be Senegal's next president: opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

Sonko is facing libel charges in court Thursday for allegedly accusing the minister of tourism of embezzlement.

He's also facing separate charges for rape, which his supporters say were trumped up to stop him running again.

Sonko's arrest a year ago ignited a week of rioting that led to the deaths of 14 people.

Dabuche Niane, 36, was one of few female protesters at Tuesday's rally.

"We're very tired of Macky Sall. We want him to leave, no matter the price," Niane said. "The Senegalese people are tired - tired of suffering, of poverty, of unemployment. The economy is not working. All we have are problems."

Abdou Bara Mbodji, 22, says he was mostly satisfied with Macky Sall's time in office, especially with his investments in infrastructure.

But he says that's not the point.

"It's not about whether or not we like Macky Sall," Mbodji said. "What bothers us is the fact that he wants to force a third term. That's the only issue."

President Sall has not yet said if he'll run for a third term in next year's election, which would go against the two-term limit set in Senegal's constitution.

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Sonko came in third in the 2019 presidential election and has since grown in popularity, mainly among Senegalese youth.

Senegal's government denies persecuting the opposition or moving away from democracy.

But protests have erupted at times throughout the country over the last year after government crackdowns on protests and arrests of opposition leaders.

"What we are seeing in Senegal is an increasing restriction, of the reduction of the civic space," said Samira Daoud, regional director for Amnesty International's West and Central Africa office. "Senegal used to be seen as a model for democracy and freedom. So this authoritarian drift we are seeing is of course raising serious concerns."

West Africa has suffered a string of coups in the last few years and instability in Senegal -- long considered the region's most solid democracy -- could ripple beyond its borders.

Tensions are only expected to grow as the country gets closer to the presidential election, less than a year from now in February 2024.
document

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen today to discuss a range of issues critical to the U.S.-Ethiopia relationship.

Secretary Blinken and Deputy Prime Minister Mekonnen discussed the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which has resulted in considerable progress in re-establishing peace across northern Ethiopia. They also discussed the need for unhindered access by international human rights monitors to conflict-affected areas and the importance of an inclusive and comprehensive process of transitional justice, as well as the description of the justice plan and how the United States can be supportive. Finally, they spoke about Ethiopia's economic challenges and reviewed other important regional issues, including Somalia.

Office of the Spokesperson
For the first time since the scandal broke, Yoo Ah In publicly appeared at the Seoul Police Station after being summoned due to drug charges.

After months of making headlines, the award-winning star arrived to answer questions from the authorities regarding his involvement with illegal substance use.

Yoo Ah In Makes First Public Appearance Since Drug Investigation Began

According to a media outlet, Yoo Ah In voluntarily appeared at the police station on March 27 at 9:20 am.

Wearing a black suit and white inner top, the actor walked with his head down as he entered the vicinity.

Without answering any questions from the media, the actor entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Drug Crime Investigation Unit to stared the private summons investigation.

To recall, he is initially scheduled to appear on March 24 but the actor requested an adjustment, as mentioned by Infinity Law Firm, which is acting as legal counsel for Yoo Ah In.

Previously, various outlets mentioned that the authorities continue to gather evidence that would support claims regarding Yo Ah In's habitual use of illegal substances.

Following the National Institute of Scientific Investigation's (NFS) analysis where the actor tested positive for four types of drugs particularly cocaine, ketamine, propofol, and marijuana, the police conducted a search and seizure at the "Seoul Vibe" star's residence.

With this, police have confiscated two handphones and set to evaluate eight years' worth of conversations.

In addition, authorities also investigated the clinic at Gangnam, which Yoo Ah In often visits.

As a result, the doctor, who happens to be the actor's acquaintance, was charged with illegally prescribing propofol.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Korean Celebrities Who Got Banned From Networks Due to Scandal: Yoo Ah In, Kim Sae Ron, More

The investigation later revealed that the said doctor was also charged was also charged for self-administering propofol himself and is still under investigation.

Is Song Hye Kyo Helping Yoo Ah In Amid the Drug Case?

The drug issue has been a big blow in Yoo Ah In's career.

From brands removing his advertisement to stepping down from his return to "Hellbound 2" and being replaced by Kim Sung Cheol, one celebrity friend is reportedly helping the award-winning star overcome his difficulties.

According to a news portal, Song Hye Kyo is using her connections to help Yoo Ah In with legal advice and treatment as the actor reportedly struggling with mental health issues.

Besides this, "The Glory" star is giving her friend words of encouragement to get over the pressure from the public and media.

To recall, Yoo Ah In and Song Hye Kyo have a decade-long friends despite not starring in a project together.

The "Seoul Vibe" star often posts his support to the actress, flaunting their unique friendship.
Panellist for Canada Reads 2023 Mattea Roach poses with the book "Ducks" by Kate Beaton in this undated handout photo. With the graphic memoir about her two years working in the oilsands, Beaton paints a nuanced portrait characterized by misogyny and corporate interests, but also unexpected acts of kindness and tight-knit community. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - CBC *MANDATORY CREDIT*
A sex offender will be residing within a one-mile radius of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in the City of Kenosha after being released from prison.

The Kenosha Police Department announced that Paul J. Fargo, 58, who is white, will be released on April 25 into the community.

Fargo is 6 feet 6 inches, 200 lbs. with brown hair and green eyes. Fargo has an eight inch scar on his left shoulder, a two inch scar on his lower left arm and scars on his right arm and right wrist.

Fargo is a lifetime registrant of the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registration Program and will be electronically monitored. He must comply with lifetime sex offender registration requirements.

Fargo is not permitted to work or volunteer with minors, nor is he allowed to be present on school grounds without permission from the local school district.

He is not wanted by the police at this time. Citizen abuse of this information, through threats, intimidation or harassment of registered sex offenders will not be tolerated, police stated.
Monday

KENOSHA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON LICENSES/PERMITS: 4:30 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 202. Items on the agenda include: license and permit applications, including one-day cabaret license for Elvis at the Club celebration on April 28 at 6028 Eighth Ave.; application for massage establishment license for Pink Spa LLC at 3717 52nd St; ordinance update for parklet extension of the code; and police department update.

KENOSHA CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC SAFETY & WELFARE COMMITTEE: 5 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 204. Items on the agenda include: ground lease agreement between the city and SiFi Networks Kenosha LLC; proposal to amend section of the city general ordinances regarding marijuana possession; amendment to the city bond schedule; parking, traffic control and signage issues.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE VILLAGE BOARD: 5 p.m., at the Village Hall Auditorium, 9915 39th Ave. Items on the agenda include: consider approval of Riley Construction Co. for new police station and related roadway/utility project for $24,332.462; consider and approve the 2023-24 liability and property insurance proposal; consider approval of resolution for project plan and boundaries for Tax Incremental District No. 10; consider approval of TID #10 development agreement and related exhibits for redevelopment of a portion of the property at 8000 95th St. for the LogistiCenter at Pleasant Prairie project; consider documents and ordinance amendments for development of the Buona Beef/Rainbow Cone restaurant (and a future multi-tenant retail/service/restaurant building) at southeast corner of 115th Ave. and Highway 50; consider award of 97th Street reconstruction contract; consider contract for 2023 paving program utility adjustment and curb repair.

KENOSHA BOARD OF PARKS COMMISSION: 5 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 204. Items on the agenda include: request from Kenosha Price Inc. for use of Library Park for start of procession as part of July 8 Kenosha Pride event; request from Kenosha Charterboat Association/Memory Makers Charters LLC and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for permission to use city property for fish net pen rearing for five years; correction of 2023 city park department schedules for frees for Lincoln Park concessions.

KENOSHA BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS: 5:30 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 202. Items on the agenda include: contract for Kenosha Water Utility water main relay package (Washington Road, 39th Avenue to 1,300 feet west) to the lowest bidder Genesis Excavators inc. for $697,735; award of contract for water main relays (40th Avenue, from 75th Street to 79th Street) to Globe Contractors Inc., for $508,215; intergovernmental agreement between the Kenosha Water Utility and Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission on stream gauging at the Pike River gauging station; consignment auction agreement between Enterprise Fleet Management Inc. and the water utility.

KENOSHA CITY COUNCIL STORMWATER UTILITY COMMITTEE: 5:30 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 202. Items on the agenda include: consider awarding contract for 35th Avenue and 48th Street resurfacing (35th Avenue from 48th Street to 45th Street; and48th Street from 35th Avenue to 33rd Avenue) to Stark Pavement Corp. of Brookfield for $866,400.

KENOSHA CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: 5:30 p.m., at the municipal building, 625 52nd St., Room 202. Items on the agenda include: request from Kenosha Pride Inc. to use Celebration Place, city sidewalks and closure of Italiana Circle for the Kenosha Pride event on Saturday, July 8; preliminary resolution declaring intent to levy assessment for some hazardous sidewalks and/or driveway approach as part of 74th Street and 90th Street resurfacing; consider awarding contract for 35th Avenue and 48th Street resurfacing (35th Avenue from 48th Street to 45th Street; and48th Street from 35th Avenue to 33rd Avenue) to Stark Pavement Corp. of Brookfield for $866,400; tree removals contract (various city locations) to Fowler Enterprises LLC of Elgin, Ill., for $210,000; SiFi update; ground lease agreement between the city and SiFi Networks Kenosha LLC; salt usage update; capital improvements project status update.

Tuesday

KENOSHA COUNTY OPIOID ABATEMENT ADVISORY PANEL: 1:30 p.m., at the Kenosha County Job Center, 8600 Sheridan Road, Room North 3. Items on the agenda include: 2021 opioid fatalities population comparisons by zip codes with heat mapping and Wisconsin Department of Corrections update; residential substance abuse treatment facilities overview; Gabapentin overview with Dr. Judy Map, medical director of ASAP Kenosha; status of recommendation to county executive.

KENOSHA COUNTY JOINT SERVICES BOARD: 4:30 p.m., at the Kenosha County Public Safety Building, 1000 55th St., in the Joint Services training room 1216. Items on the agenda include; monthly reports; status update on financial audit; status update on Enterprise Resources Planning replacement project; status update on wage and compensation study; Joint Services policy manual update on disposal of scrap and recyclable materials; request to approve New World Systems-CrewForce for MOU Salem Lakes Fire & Rescue and Kenosha Joint Services; discussion of extension of contract with Comsys Inc.; discussion and possible action 2022 additional year end budget amendments; status update on member at large.

SOMERS VILLAGE BOARD: 5:30 p.m., at the Village/Town Hall, 7511 12th St. Items on the agenda include: revisions of Somers employee and procedure manual to address accrual of sick and vacation days for probationary employees; award bid for 45th Avenue lift station and 63rd Avenue lift station; resolution to amend 2023 budget for updated Capital Improvement Plan projects.

KENOSHA COUNTY COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE: 6:30 p.m., at the Kenosha County Administration Building, 1010 56th St., third room County Board chambers. This session is for the presentation of the Classification and Compensation Study conducted by Carlson Dettmann Consulting.

KENOSHA UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD: 6:30 p.m., in Room 125 of the Educational Support Center, 3600 52nd St., for a closed session to discuss litigation and personnel problems.

KENOSHA UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD: 7 p.m., at the Educational Support Center, 3600 52nd St. Regular meeting agenda includes: Head Start grant request;; 2023-23 capital projects plan; elementary and secondary school emergency release (ESSER II) grant update; course change proposals for high school orchestra; discussion and possible action to adopt instructional materials for Career and Technical Education Pathways-Culinary and Marketing; adoption of instructional materials for high school mathematics, grade 9-12 French, and AP Environmental Science; discussion of district and school improvement plans; discuss school year 2024-25 instructional calendars; discussion of vaping lawsuit; discussion of social media lawsuit; discussion of recruitment and retention.
Supporters of Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko are staging three days of protests ahead of a defamation trial that could stop the 48-year-old from contesting next year's presidential election.

Thousands of people rallied peacefully in a working class district of the capital Dakar on Tuesday amid speculation that President Macky Sall plans to seek a third presidential term, bypassing the constitution.

Clad in the green, yellow and red colours of the Senegalese flag, Sonko's supporters denounced the trial, which begins Thursday, as "a joke". Others waved banners that read "No to a third term" for Sall.

"No one may serve more than two consecutive terms," one protester told RFI Dakar correspondent Charlotte Idrac. "Seven years plus five years, that's two terms. It's over for him."

Marches banned

While Tuesday's protest, which had been called by the Yewwi Askan Wi (Liberate the People) coalition, was approved by authorities, other marches in recent months have been banned.

Government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana said gatherings would be authorised as long as there was no risk to public order. He described Senegal as a "country of freedoms".

Sonko is being sued by Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang for "defamation, insult and forgery" in relation to comments made during a news conference late last year.

Sonko had claimed the minister allegedly stole $47 million from a government agency.

He also faces separate charges of rape and making death threats, based on a complaint by an employee at a beauty salon where he was getting a massage.

'Political tool'

Guilty verdicts could render Sonko ineligible to stand in the February 2024 presidential election.

The opposition leader denies the charges and accused authorities of using the justice system to silence its opponents.

Both the government and the opposition accuse each other of stoking political tensions, while religious and civil society leaders in Senegal call for dialogue.

Urging his supporters to turn out en masse at his court appearance on Thursday, Sonko told his followers that no one would be able to stop his coalition from taking power in February.
KEWAUNEE  A factory farm has agreed to pay the Wisconsin Department of Justice $215,000 to settle pollution allegations.

The Legislatures finance committee is slated to approve the deal during a meeting Tuesday. According to an analysis of the deal by the Legislatures attorneys, the deal will settle allegations that Kinnard Farms improperly spread manure in Kewaunee and Door counties between 2018 and 2022, failed to timely submit an engineering evaluation for a feed storage area and failed to timely submit annual nutrient management plan updates.

The settlement also calls for Kinnard Farms to upgrade two waste storage facilities and a feed storage area.

The Kinnard operation includes 16 industrial farms with about 8,000 cows. The company has struggled with agricultural pollution for years as contaminants began showing up in private wells.

Kinnard Farms owner/operator Lee Kinnard said in a statement that the farms decided to settle rather than face a lengthy and costly dispute. He said the farms look forward to pursuing state-of-the-art manure management technology.

Kinnard Farms sued the state Department of Natural Resources in April 2022 over permitting changes that require the operators to limit the size of their herd and monitor groundwater for contamination. That lawsuit is still pending.
President Hage Geingob says he is too busy preparing for the state of the nation address to respond to calls for him to apologise for allegedly acting "erroneously" and assisting South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate the theft at his Phala Phala farm.

The call for Geingob to apologise was made by official opposition leader McHenry Venaani.

Geingob is accused of assisting Ramaphosa with state manpower and resources to investigate the theft of US$580 000 at the his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.

However, State House press secretary Alfredo Hengari yesterday said the president was preparing for his state of the nation address scheduled for tomorrow, and cannot comment on the latest developments.

Last year, Hengari denied arranging a helicopter to fetch Rhoode and South Africa's head of the police's presidential protection service and presidential adviser Bejani Chauke.

"The said gentlemen did not spend a night at the State House and the administration has no such record. Geingob did not "arrange" for senior police officers from the Namibian Police to meet with Rhoode and Chauke at State House.

"This entire matter was presented to the Namibian authorities as a police matter and was thus dealt with by the Namibian Police and not the Presidency," Hengari said at the time.

He had said the issue was dealt with between senior members of the South African and Namibian Police, with the president being briefed thereafter.

"The Presidency does not provide commentary on law enforcement operations," he had said.

Venaani on Monday told The Namibian Geingob acted wrongly by using the Namibian Police and resources.

This comes as South African public protector Kholeka Gcaleka over the weekend released a report on the Phala Phala matter confirming a meeting with Geingob at State House, and the use of resources belonging to the Namibian Police.

"There he acted wrongly regardless of Phala Phala clearance. Why use the police without a case reported?"

Venaani argued that Geingob could have used the Namibia Central Intelligence Service as part of his privileges as president.

"If he used the intelligence wing of security, he could have acted within his power."

The move tainted the image of the Namibian Police, maintains Venaani.

"He can't be imprisoned for it but leadership is a conscious business," Venaani said.

Vice president of the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters Kalimbo Iipumbu said the report's outcome does not in any way morally cleanse the complicity of Geingob.

"It has been put on record that South African general Wally Rhoode was allowed to skip the border into Namibia without due process, thus disrespecting our territorial sovereignty and proceeded to receive a red-carpet welcome at State House," Iipumbu said.

He shares Venaani's view that Geingob's moral compass was in question regarding the matter.

"The offices of the ombudsman and the public protector in South Africa have demonstrated a lack of courage to open the lid into this scandal and bring these two presidential culprits to the altars of accountability," he said.

Gcaleka's report states that it is not disputed that Rhoode escorted Chauke to Namibia on 25 June 2020.

Rhoode told Gcaleka's office that he undertook the trip to Namibia to investigate the burglary at Ramaphosa's farm.

"According to Rhoode, Chauke met with Geingob and he stayed outside of the meeting and thus does not know what was discussed.

"Rhoode indicated that to his knowledge, the trip was not in connection with the alleged theft at Phala Phala.

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"Rhoode submitted that the trip was authorised by the former national commissioner of the South African Police Service, general Khehla Sitole," the report reads.

Sitole said he authorised the trip for Rhoode to embark on advance protection duties for the presidential protection team.

Chauke said the purpose of the meeting with Geingob was to discuss a matter of national security in which Namibia was affected.

"Chauke further reiterated that the sole purpose of his trip to Namibia was to meet with Geingob with regard to the above matter and according to him, this was unrelated to any matter arising from the theft at Phala Phala, which had occurred some four and a half months earlier," the report reads.

"He stated that the Namibian Police picked them up in a helicopter and they went to Windhoek. Rhoode indicated that they arrived late at night and the next morning they went to see Geingob."
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In March 2020, I was directing a federally qualified health center in rural New Mexico when the first flashover of COVID ripped through the state. In two days, the clinics transitioned from an entirely in-person model to a near-total remote model. The transformation was raw and unplanned, trialing mediocre communications platforms in real-time and stumbling through the vagaries of electronic prescribing. As we got our feet under us, unexpected upsides of telemedicine began to emerge: the no-show rate plummeted to just north of zero, even for the most unstable patients. The churn of tardy arrivals faded from a daily battle to a low background roar. In the negative space surrounding the pixelated individual at the opposite end of a Zoom lens, we caught clear insights into our patients lives that defied the limitations of the clean, well-lit clinic, from comfortable middle-class living rooms to substandard housing and homeless encampments.

Half a year later, I left primary care for full-time opioid use disorder (OUD) care on a telemedicine platform. The COVID emergency measures loosened regulations to allow experimentation in radically new ways to reach and treat patients, encouraging innovation in real-time  operationalizing remote drug screening, managing complex fentanyl-to-buprenorphine induction from afar, pairing services with a custom app to allow asynchronous communication. Telemedicine took us deep into rural Wyoming, urban Pennsylvania, and suburban Arizona, providing discrete and personalized services for these highly stigmatized patients of this highly stigmatized condition. Telemedicine carved out space for disabled patients to receive opioid use disorder services in their own homes without the deal-breaking burden of frequent appointments. These advantages have borne out measurable effects on outcomes, with retention rates (a primary measure of treatment success in OUD) that defy industry standards.

Passage of the MAT Act in December of 2022 ended the federal X-waiver  the special licenses needed to prescribe buprenorphine/naloxone for OUD  opening up the hopeful prospect of throwing the doors aside to OUD treatment in every primary care and urgent care clinic if indeed those types of providers wished to provide such treatment. On February 28th, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) whiplashed that giddy optimism by releasing proposed regulations to drag telemedicine back to the pre-COVID era.

Under the confusing header of Expansion of Induction of Buprenorphine via Telemedicine Encounter, the DEA proposed to single out buprenorphine-based treatment for specific limitations, primarily the requirement that all patients attend an in-person visit by the prescribing provider within 30 days or be referred by a brick-and-mortar provider who must send a provider-specific (not the more reasonable agency-specific) referral to the telemedicine provider. In an era of critical access gaps in primary care, a patient can only hope that they can navigate this landscape while struggling with opioid dependence.

This flies contrary to best practices in the OUD treatment space, which is to offer immediate intervention when a patient reaches out  a recognition of what author Beth Macy called the liminal window: the narrow band of time when an addicted individual seeks treatment before giving up and returning to opioid use. Instead of immediately accessing a board-certified physician or highly trained advanced practice clinician in the telemedicine space, patients will be forced to wait for an appointment with a non-expert provider or to have the clock ticking on their treatment from the moment they start with a telemedicine provider unless they can find an in-person referral source. And while any provider with a DEA license can now prescribe buprenorphine, transitioning patients from opioids to buprenorphine in the era of fentanyl is risky in the hands of inexperienced providers that patients may encounter while searching for a referral.

The cost of these proposed regulations to telemedicine providers will also be dear, especially a return to the pre-COVID stipulation that providers must carry a unique DEA license in each state of practice at $731 per state on top of general licensure costs and controlled substance registration fees in the twenty-five states and territories whose pharmacy boards require this additional bureaucratic hurdle. Providers may not see telemedicine patients unless they hold a DEA license in the precise state where they are located at the moment of the appointment, nor can they see patients in states where they do not have a unique DEA license, even if all other licensure is in place. For providers like myself with over 20 state licenses, the state-by-state DEA licensure requirement amounts to over $14,000 every three years for the privilege of providing critical service to patients who struggle to access care. It seems doubtful that my skills and attentive care diminish when I traverse the invisible boundary that bisects the Colorado River between Kingman, AZ, and Needles, CA. Still, I must maintain DEA licenses in both to see patients on either side.

Addiction medicine is uniquely suited to telemedicine  it is almost all talk. It is a thorough review of the path that a person took to opioid use and the doorstep of recovery, as well as common comorbidities that drive problematic drug use and make sobriety so hard to achieve: chronic pain, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, attention deficit disorder, and other neuropsychiatric conditions. When physical interventions are required (such as attention to an injection site infection), referral to local in-person acute services is entirely appropriate  just as an addiction psychiatrist who has not drained an abscess since medical school would do. With no evidence that in-person exams improve outcomes or prevent diversion, telemedicine under rigorous regulatory compliance is not a second-rate stopgap level of care; instead, it sets new standards for excellence that brick-and-mortar services will be hard-pressed to match.

I believe that the DEA is populated by people whose hearts are in the battle to end the overdose crisis and that these proposed regulations are a correctable misstep in saving American lives. If you have opinions, the DEAs commentary period is open until March 31st, 2023.

Julie Craig is an addiction medicine specialist.
A peacekeeper serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) escorts a UN delegation in Bambari, 400 km northeast of Bangui (file photo).

Nine Chinese nationals died when gunmen stormed a mine in the Central African Republic. Rebels suspected of the attack have denied their involvement and blamed Russia's Wagner group, without evidence.

Gunmen stormed a Chinese-operated gold mine in the Central African Republic on Sunday, killing nine Chinese nationals, authorities said.

"We have counted nine bodies and two wounded," the mayor of the nearby town of Bambari, Abel Matchipata, told Agence France-Presse.

He said the victims were Chinese workers at a site run by the Gold Coast Group. Following the attack, the Chinese embassy called on Chinese natonals to not travel outside the captal Bangui, according to a statement on the embassy website.

The assault on the Chimbolo gold mine began around 5 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) when the gunmen overpowered the site's guards and opened fire, said Matchipata.

The mining site's launch had taken place just days earlier, he added.

The attack came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the country's west near the border with Cameroon. The abductions prompted CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera to plan a trip to China in a bid to reassure investors.

CPC suspected, blames Russian mercenaries

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's attack.

But suspicion fell on the Coalition of Patriots for Change, or CPC, which is active in the area and regularly launches attacks on the country's armed forces.

The alliance of rebel groups is aligned with former President Francois Bozize, who was ousted by Muslim-dominated armed groups in 2013.

Anselme Bangue, who supports the current president's administration, called the attack on Chinese businessmen an act of "indescribable cowardice."

"The CPC has not only slowed down the country's economic momentum but is now attacking the foundation of development. This is unacceptable," Bangue said.

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However, CPC military spokesman Mamadou Koura said those allegations were false.

He claimed, without providing evidence, that Russian mercenaries had planned the attack "with the goal of scaring Chinese who have been present long before the Russians settled in this part of the country."

The shadowy Russian mercenary group was hired by Touadera to provide security and military training but has been accused by United Nations observers of committing human rights abuses including massacres.

Security vacuum leaves CAR vulnerable

Despite its vast mineral wealth of gold and diamonds, the Central African Republic remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Dozens of rebel groups have operated with impunity over the past decade, thwarting mining exploration by foreign companies.

Many of the mines now operating in the country are Chinese-run and have faced security challenges.

In 2020, two Chinese nationals died when local residents led an uprising against a Chinese-operated mine in Sosso Nakombo.

And in 2018, three Chinese citizens were killed by angry community members after a local leader died in a boating accident while accompanying Chinese miners to a site.

(AFP, AP)
By Mike Sebalu

Local development analysts are optimistic that the growing competition for influence over Africa by global powers, especially the US, China, and Russia is impetus for increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

This comes as US Vice President, Kamala Harris embarks on a week-long tour of the African continent in what is being seen as the latest attempt at countering Russia and Chinas influence.

According to Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, an international consultant on economic transformation and a wealth creation expert in Africa, this flurry of visits by top figures in the US administration reflects a growing awareness that the US needs to deepen its engagement with the continent.

He tells KFM that Africa now presents one of the greatest opportunities in the global economic system where foreign direct investment is likely to yield more returns with cheap labour overtaking China.

Harris tour comes on the heels of another by the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and later in the year, the president himself is expected to come.

During her tour, she is expected to visit Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia as she focuses on economic development, climate change, food security and a rising youth population.

After meeting with women entrepreneurs in Accra, she will then stop by a tech incubator in Dar-es-Salaam.

In Lusaka, Zambias capital, Harris is expected to meet with business and philanthropic leaders to talk about expanding access to digital and financial systems.
The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) Anti-Human Trafficking Department in Bulenga and Mukono have in custody, a self-styled pastor they identify as Jackline Kisoma, 34, together with her husband, a one Daniel Kisoma, 42, over alleged human trafficking.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga says together with a one Edward Giita, 48, the couple has allegedly been harbouring 3 students from St. Francis Nursing School, Namataba in Mukono district for over 2 months after recruiting them into the cult.

He says the pastor was operating in a rented house in Nakuwadde, with only two bedrooms, where a total of 21 people were being accommodated. Investigations commenced when the mother of one of the victims visited her at school only to find she had left school, two months back.

Her church is not registered, but only fellowships and teaches the Bible at her home. Her teachings are against education, which they claim is useless and there was no need for studying in schools. The religious cult was also against hospitals, in case one fell sick, they would just pray for the person and block them from going to hospital. And once a person is recruited, he or she confined in the premises, and prohibited from moving out, Enanga said in a statement.

Fifteen other victims have been rescued and are in a shelter home undergoing counseling and rehabilitation.

In the meantime, the case file has been submitted to the DPP for legal guidance on the charges of human trafficking and unlawful confinement.

Meanwhile, two other female adults who were recruited into the religious cult from Kibale and Masindi under the pretext of bible teaching were also recovered, according to Enanga.
By Mike Sebalu

At least 22 suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels have been killed in a joint operation by the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) and the DR Congo national Army (FARDC) in an attack launched on Saturday, March 25.

According to Maj. Gen. Bilal Katamba, the UPDF spokesperson in the DRC, an attack that took place in the South West of River Rusurube and North of River Semiliki saw 22 rebels put out of action by the joint force.

The joint force was able to put 22 terrorists out of action, we also recovered four AK-47 guns, 313 rounds of ammunition, seven solar panels, five battery chargers, and two mobile phones which we think will be useful in giving us more information, Katamba said.
Police in Kabalagala are investigating circumstances under which a 4-year-old boy whose family resides in Okiring zone, Kibuli Parish, Makindye division in Kampala district went missing on Friday last week.

The victim, Odoi Hannington Daniel, a son to Odoi Hannington, has been reported to police missing by his father who says the minor went to a shop but never returned.

The boy allegedly encountered a man dressed in a black T-shirt who promised to give them a ride on his bicycle. The man then led them to a certain area in Okiring zone, where he instructed Sowedi (his brother) to go back home, leaving Daniel with him.

Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson says the suspect is still at large, as investigations continue, further calling for calm cooperation from members of the public.
By Philip Wafula

The Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) says it has worked out a blueprint to fight vandalism and theft of its infrastructure, which has seen sleepers and rails targeted for sale while ballasts such as gravel stones are used for local construction.

On March 13, the URC said a section of the Kampala-Mukono railway line will be closed to passengers and cargo business for six months to enable reconstruction works.

However, vandals have continued to target rail sleepers and materials, prompting General Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister for Works and Transport, last year to issue a shoot on sight order targeting vandals.

But as the exercise starts on April 3rd, Eng Robert Kafeero Ssekitoleko, a URC board member and chairman of the technical committee, says they are going to use concrete as opposed to steel sleepers.

Kafeero explains that they have been using nuts that were easily opened by anyone, but now these anti-vandal fasteners will have an Allen key and Allen wrench or a simple driver for bolts or screws that have heads with internal hexagonal sockets.

According to Eng Ssekitoleko, the nuts will only be opened using an Allen key for that particular route and given to a specific official, such that if they find the sleepers missing, that official will be tasked to explain because they are the only person with the key.

Given the amount of traffic, Eng Ssekitoleko said they anticipate the refurbished railway to last for 60 years, although its design life is more than 100 years.

While construction of the Kampala-Namanve section will kick off next week and end in September 2023, the Namanve-Mukono section will follow and run for seven months from October to April 2024. However, sections like Mukono-Malaba, Port Bell-Kampala, Mwanza-Kisumu and Jinja-Kisumu-Port Bell will continue to serve its freight customers.

He added that not much will be lost because the water will be working, through which other clients will keep bringing in their cargo that terminates in Mukono, while for other bulk transporters, their cargo will terminate in Jinja.
Two Laois men recently received criminal convictions and fines for the recreational killing of protected wild birds, in a case that was taken by National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS).

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, commended the immense dedication of NPWS officials in pursuing such cases and noted that all wild birds, without exception, are protected by law.

"There are, of course, certain species that can cause serious damage to crops and livestock feed lots but that is why the derogation to allow the control of these particular species is enacted ever year," Noonan said.

"This derogation ensures that the birds listed are controlled in a manner that is lawful and that takes into account what is necessary to prevent serious economic damage on the property where the damage is occurring.

"It remains the case, however, that many of Irelands wild bird species have experienced serious declines in recent times, and that is why they need legal protection, now more than ever."
General Michael Langley, who as the commander of United States Africa Command, heads American military relations with Africa.

Nine Chinese mine workers were killed in an attack in the Central African Republic, sparking a rare call on Monday from China's President Xi Jinping for the perpetrators to be "severely" punished.

The attack happened near Bambari, said the central town's mayor Abel Matchipata.

Matchipata said that "nine bodies and two wounded" had been counted, adding that the victims were Chinese workers at a site run by the Gold Coast Group, 25 kilometres from his town.

China's foreign ministry confirmed the toll, and Xi called on authorities in the Central African Republic to "severely punish" those behind the killings.

Local authorities did not release further details of the attack, nor was there any claim of responsibility.

The victims' bodies were transferred to a hospital in the capital Bangui, in the presence of Chinese ambassador Li Qinfeng and CAR Foreign Minister Sylvie Baipo Temon.

Civil conflict has hit the Central African Republic since 2013, when Muslim-dominated armed groups ousted president Francois Bozize.

'Barbaric' act

In a statement on Sunday, the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), an alliance of rebel groups created in December 2020 to overthrow President Faustin Archange Touadera, denied any involvement in the attack.

The group denounced the "despicable and barbaric" act, accusing the Russian Wagner mercenary group of being behind the killings.

In 2020, President Touadera called on Moscow to come to the aid of his weakened army, after armed groups took control of two-thirds of the country and began an assault on Bangui.

Hundreds of Russian paramilitaries then joined the few hundred already present since 2018, repelling the rebel offensive and pushing them out of a large part of the territories and cities they controlled.

Xi is visiting Russia this week as Beijing seeks to claim a peacemaking role in that conflict, though Western countries have said Beijing may provide arms to Moscow.

China and Russia are bolstering their presence in Africa to tap its rich natural resources, analysts say, despite grave warnings from UN agencies that the world's poorest countries face accumulating crippling debts.

"One out of every three major infrastructure projects in Africa is built by Chinese state-owned enterprises, and one out of every five is financed by a Chinese policy bank," explained Paul Nantulya of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an academic institution within the US Department of Defense.

(with AFP)
Enterprise Ireland CEO, Leo Clancy, has encouraged businesses to register for a series of webinars focusing on competitiveness launched by Enterprise Ireland.

Running from now until October, the webinars will cover a range of issues critical to competitiveness  including supply chain management, raising finance and digital adoption.

There are also three in person workshops focused on attracting and retaining talent over the course of the year.

According to Leo Clancy: Competitiveness is a live issue for every business in Ireland. Ensuring your product or service has that critical edge over competitors and that your cost base is controlled is vital to business success. In our recent client survey businesses told Enterprise Ireland that they want practical, expert advice on key business issues and this series of webinars is just one of the actions were taking to address that demand.

The first webinars in the 12-part series are:

Building a resilient and sustainable supply chain - March 28, at 10am

Growth pathways for scale up companies - March 30, at 10am

In addition, the first of three in person full day workshops on attracting and retaining talent will take place on March 30 in Dublin.

Full details of the webinar series and the workshops are available here.
EDF Renewables has energised its first three solar farms in Ireland. The three solar farms, which are located in Kilkenny and Wexford, have a combined capacity of 17MW and will power the equivalent of 6,600 homes.

They are among the first utility-scale solar farms to be developed under the Governments Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) and connected to the national grid.

Curraghmartin Solar Farm is located in Carrigeen, Co. Kilkenny, while Coolroe Solar Farm, in Ballycullane and Blusheens Solar Farm, in Killinick, are both in Co. Wexford.

The projects are the first to be completed following EDF Renewables acquisition of 100% of Wexford Solar in 2020 which included eight projects with over 100MW of capacity across the country.

All three projects were successful in Irelands first RESS auction, enabling them to supply electricity at a pre-agreed price.

In addition to the solar panels, sheep will continue to graze on the site, helping to control the growth of vegetation, and the three solar farms will together save over 9,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.

Stephen Wall, landowner at Curraghmartin Solar Farm in Kilkenny, said that developing solar is a 'win-win for farmers like myself'.

"It can really benefit the agriculture sector and farming communities," he said.

"I receive rent in return for the panels, and can continue to graze sheep on the land, so the site is producing both food and renewable energy."

Jenny Howard, Head of Development at EDF Renewables Ireland, said that the company is very proud to have developed some of the first solar farms in Ireland.

"Solar energy has a crucial role to play in ensuring Ireland has a diverse, low-carbon energy mix and can safeguard its own supply of electricity," she said.

"These three projects mark another step towards achieving the Governments target of 8 GW of solar energy by 2030, and each will also make a positive local contribution, providing funding for community projects and initiatives via the Community Benefit Funds.

"Id like to congratulate our entire team on the successful delivery of these projects, and we look forward to supporting the continued growth of Irelands emerging solar sector in the years to come."
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The lead forensic scientist and investigator for the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) is to retire this week.

Geoff Knupfer, who has been in the role since 2005, said it has been an honour to be so closely involved in humanitarian investigations.

The ICLVR was set up in 1999 following the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement to locate and recover the remains of those abducted, murdered and secretly buried during the Troubles  known as the Disappeared.

To date the remains of 13 Disappeared have been recovered out of a total of 17.

Mr Knupfer said: The successes that we have had are down to the skill and determination of first-class investigators together with excellent forensic archaeologists and contractors.

Everyone who works on these cases in whatever role is acutely aware of the plight of the families.

I know that the commission will continue its humanitarian work and do everything possible to bring a resolution to these outstanding cases.

Joint UK and Irish commissioners Rosalie Flanagan and Tim Dalton said Mr Knupfers leadership has been outstanding.

His great experience and expertise transformed the ICLVR and today, largely thanks to Geoff, it is recognised as a world leader in this complex work of searching for and recovering the remains of those have been secretly buried for up to 50 years, they said.

Mr Knupfer will be succeeded by Jon Hill, who is currently the senior investigator with the commission.

Mr Hill said it was a real privilege to work with Mr Knupfer.

His pioneering vision and leadership transformed the ICLVR and I look forward to building on that to take on the challenges that lie ahead, he said.

The families of those still waiting for their loved ones remains to be found and returned can be assured that everything in our power will be done to bring them home.
Electronic drawbar: In platooning, buses can be connected or operated separately again. (ITIV, KIT)

Automated public passenger transit, optical filters from the inkjet printer, and a smart test field for tomorrows energy systems: These and other innovations will be presented by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) at Hannover Messe from April 17 to 21, 2023. KITs work will be highlighted in particular at its two main stands at Future Hub (Hall 2, Stand B45) and Energy Solutions (Hall 13, Stand C70). Latest mobility research projects will also be presented at the stand of Baden-Wurttemberg International (Hall 12, Stand D15). On the Startup Area (Hall 17, Stand A62), ten startups of KIT will introduce themselves.

Information on the KIT stands and exhibits at Hannover Messe can also be found in the digital press kit.

In time of crises, innovations are in higher demand than ever, says the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka. The researchers of KIT are rising to this challenge. They are assuming responsibility and are making major contributions to resource-preserving and climate-friendly energy supply, mobility, industry, and digitalization. The concepts and projects presented at the 2023 Hannover Messe show that KITs interdisciplinary research is excellently prepared for coping with the tasks of the present and future.

KIT at Future Hub (Hall 2, Stand B45)

At Future Hub, KIT and FZI Research Center for Information Technology, an innovation partner of KIT, will present their projects at a joint stand.

Electronic drawbar: In platooning, buses can

be connected or operated separately

again. (ITIV, KIT)

The TEMPUS Project: Automated Driving in Public Transport

In the TEMPUS project, researchers are implementing a bus platoon on the test field for automated and connected driving in the urban area of Munich. Platooning means that several buses are connected by an electronic drawbar and follow each other at close distance. Whenever necessary, buses can be connected or operated separately again. Platooning is economically and ecologically attractive, as it helps respond to fluctuating numbers of passengers. Moreover, it represents another milestone on the way towards fully automatic driving.

Video "Automatisiertes Fahren im OPNV" (in German)

Inkjet printed optical filters enable a

precise control of optical properties. (LTI, KIT)

IJPOFs: Inkjet Printed Optical Filters

Whether machine vision, AR and VR technologies, autonomous driving, medical inspection, or laser material processing: Many applications require optical filters, which block or amplify a certain part of the spectrum. Inkjet Printed Optical Filters (IJPOFs) allow for a reduction of manufacturing costs and increase in customization flexibility: Inkjet printing facilitates manufacturing of optical filters with the properties required in the desired locations and sizes.

Video "Optische Filter aus dem Tintenstrahldrucker" (english subtitles)

The simulation software is to create flexible and

intelligent production and disassembly systems.

(Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

SDMBot: Software-based Process Empowerment for Industrial Robots

Software-based empowerment of robots in industry requires simulation tools that model the entire manufacturing process in a virtual environment. This includes robots, tools, and materials. For the open source software tools presented, robot simulations were extended to include process models such as milling, welding, or painting. The simulation enables problems and weak points to be identified and eliminated in advance, which contributes to a better quality of the final process.

In the FLOOW project, partners from research

and industry are working on solutions for the

mobility of people and goods.

(Alexander Seiffer, Schaeffler)

FLOOW: New Mobility Solutions Using AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used to develop energy-efficient and safe solutions for passenger and freight transport. Work focuses on the robust and precise localization of mobility systems, generalized environment recognition, and maneuver planning on specialized hardware. The FLOOW project is presented by KIT and FZI Research Center for Information Technology, an innovation partner of KIT. Project partners are the navigation technologies company ANAVS and automotive supplier SCHAEFFLER.

Research to Business  Technology Offers of KIT

At the Future Hub stand, visitors may also obtain information on 42 latest innovations made by KIT that may be turned into marketable products and processes together with interested external cooperation partners.

KIT at Energy Solutions (Hall 13, Stand C70)

The Energy Lab 2.0 at KIT is the largest infra-

structure for renewable energy research

in Europe.

(Amadeus Bramsiepe/Markus Breig, KIT)

Energy Lab 2.0: Test Field for Future Energy Systems

Europes largest infrastructure for renewable energy focuses on the intelligent networking of environmentally compatible options to generate, store, and supply energy. At Hannover Messe, researchers will provide information on the following topics in particular:

Video "Energy Lab 2.0" (in German)

Researchers test the integration of

technologies into the energy system

under real conditions.(Markus Breig, KIT)

Energy System  Grids  Simulation

Coupling of the different energy sectors and fluctuation of energy production from renewable sources are major challenges in control. To simulate control and monitoring tasks as closely to reality as possible, the Smart Energy System Simulation and Control Center (SEnSSICC) is part of the Energy Lab 2.0. SEnSSICC is the brain of the Energy Lab and pools IT-related activities and research. SEnSSICC collects all information from the different systems and partners. Measurement currents are stored, controlled, analyzed, and visualized. Based on the findings obtained, further energy systems can be simulated. In this way, the real energy world  e.g. on the adjacent photovoltaic field and in the corresponding battery storage systems  is connected with the virtual energy world.

With power-to-X technologies, electricity from

renewable sources can be used, for example,

to produce synthetic fuels. (Cynthia Ruf, KIT)

Power-to-X: Methanation and E-fuels

For the energy transition to be successful, the renewable power sector must be coupled with other energy sectors. In the area of chemical energy carriers, such as fuels and combustibles, this can be achieved using power-to-X approaches (P2X). In this case, synthetic chemical energy carriers are produced from hydrogen and CO 2 . If hydrogen is produced by electrolysis with green electricity and CO 2 comes from a non-fossil source, the P2X products are nearly CO 2 -neutral. Research at the Energy Lab 2.0 covers the corresponding plants. A Power-to-Liquid container produces so-called e-fuels, the Power-to-Gas plant generates climate-neutral methane for later power production by a gas turbine. Video "Power-to-X" (english subtitles)

The DeepStor project aims to demonstrate

the technical feasibility and efficiency of a

high-temperature heat storage system.

(INE, KIT)

DeepStor: Generating and Storing Geothermal Heat throughout the Year

KITs Campus North is located in the geothermally relevant Upper Rhine Graben and, hence, possesses great potential for sustainable heat supply. Within the DeepStor project, researchers test a high-temperature aquifer storage system that is loaded in summer and unloaded in winter. The experimental setup allows for the execution of experiments to load and unload the storage system as well as for the investigation of the associated thermal, hydraulic, chemical, and mechanical processes in the thermal water cycle. Having demonstrated the feasibility, it is planned to integrate for research a high-temperature aquifer storage system in the existing heat grid of KITs Campus North.

Research to Business  Technology Offers of KIT

At the Future Hub stand, visitors may also obtain information on 30 innovations made by KIT that may be turned into marketable products and processes together with interested external cooperation partners.

KIT at Other Stands

A number of other current topics will be presented by KIT and partners at the stand of Baden-Wurttemberg International (Hall 12, Stand D15).

The Innovation Campus Future Mobility (ICM) of KIT and the University of Stuttgart will provide insight into cutting-edge research for sustainable and digitalized production and mobility. The DeVee demonstrator, a light electric vehicle, presents several subsystems of a future vehicle concept that can be experienced by visitors both in reality and immersively as a virtual twin. The live visualization of a transverse flux machine shows how magnetic fields behave in a complex electric motor.

Within CELEST, KIT, together with Ulm University and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wurttemberg (ZSW), works on electrochemical energy storage, with activities ranging from fundamental research to technical application. At the 2023 Hannover Messe, researchers will present new battery materials in elemental form, various cell types, and a Scara robot, including an electrode magazine and gripper, for stacking pouch cells.

INERATEC, a startup of KIT, is a pioneer in the area of power-to-liquid applications. The company produces sustainable fuels and chemical products. In its modular chemical plants, hydrogen from renewable power and greenhouse gases, such as CO 2 , are converted into e-kerosene, CO 2 -neutral gasoline, clean diesel, synthetic waxes, methanol, or SNG. The paramount goal is to defossilize mobility and chemical industry and to protect the climate.

At the stand of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Hall 2, Stand A22), KITs wbk  Institute of Production Science presents work at its KARL competence center (in German). There, wbk studies how AI-based assistance systems for production staff influences their work. The Kinemic Band Wearable, for instance, uses an integrated AI tool to recognize screwing processes from characteristic vibrations of the wrist. The band supports production staff and enhances safety of production processes. This technology may be transferred to other tools or working steps.

Ten startups of KIT supported by the KIT Founders Forge will present themselves on the Startup Area (Hall 17, Stand A62). The fields covered range from antibacterial surfaces for implants to a modular transportation system to innovative and robust AI solutions to sensors for smart homes to hydrogen technologies. Every day of Hannover Messe, two startups will present themselves: EFFECT and Nanoshape GmbH (April 17), Formic and RevoAI GmbH (April 18), Aimino GmbH and Respeak GmbH (April 19), Prenode and SemorAI GmbH (April 20), and Inventife and Revyve (April 21).



KIT in the Conference Program

Tech Transfer Conference Stage (Hall 2, Stand A60)

Monday, April 17, 2023, 11.25 hrs: Softwaredefinierte Prozessplanung fur die robotische Fertigung der Zukunft (software-defined process planning for future robot-based manufacture)

Alexander Puchta, wbk Institute of Production Science of KIT

Monday, April 17, 2023, 14:50 hrs: Innovation und Transfer  Chancen und Herausforderungen fur den Mittelstand (innovation and transfer - opportunities and challenges for SMEs)

Panel discussion with, among others, Bettina Stark-Watzinger (German Federal Minister of Education and Research), Professor Holger Hanselka (President of KIT), and further representatives from politics and business

Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 9.55 hrs: Machine Learning fur KMU aus der Produktionstechnik: Praxisnahes Deployment von ML-Modellen (machine learning for SMEs in the area of production technology: Close-to-practice deployment of ML models)

Imanuel Heider, wbk Institute of Production Science of KIT

Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 9.30 hrs: Aquiferspeichern fur eine nachhaltige Warme- und Kalteversorgung in Deutschland (aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) for sustainable heat and cooling supply in Germany)

Professor Philipp Blum, Institute of Applied Geosciences of KIT

Thursday, April 20, 2023, 13.30 hrs: Panel: KI2Business  Paradies oder Irrweg? (AI2Business  Is it the way to paradise or the wrong track? A simultaneous translation into English will be provided.)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a vision. It has long been part of industry and everyday life. Deep neural networks are being used very successfully to detect and localize workpieces or even anomalies in machine data. But do companies already trust AI and its decisions to such an extent that it can be used without restriction? Apart from the many opportunities and possible uses of AI in the industrial sector, we will also discuss the risks associated with AI. This will also include ways in which companies can protect themselves against damage caused by disinformation. Participants: Professor Jurgen Fleischer, Professor Michael Decker (beide KIT), Dr. Arne Ronnau und Dr. Jonas Fegert (beide FZI). Moderation: Dr. Stefan Schwab (FZI). Presented by: Dr. Stefan Schwab (FZI).

Special Events

Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 13:00 hrs: Technologiefuhrerschaft Made in Germany (technology leadership Made in Germany)

Keynotes and panel with, among others, Professor Siegfried Russwurm (President of BDI), Dr. Robert Habeck (German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action), Professor Holger Hanselka (President of KIT), and further representatives from politics and business. Livestream

Public Forum (Hall 13)

Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 12:20-12:40 hrs: Offshore-Production of green hydrogen and other Power-to-x products.

Event of the Hydrogen Flagship Project H2Mare with Prof. Roland Dittmeyer of the KIT Institute of Micro Process Engineering and Matthias Muller of Siemens Energy

Battery Live Talk (Hall 2, Stand A30)

Monday, April 17, 2023, 16:30-17:30 hrs: How significant is the mechanical engineering sector for a competitive battery industry in Europe?

Event at the stand of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, with, among others, Professor Jurgen Fleischer, wbk Institute of Production Science at KIT. (Also online, free registration: https://www.ipcei-batteries.eu/accompanying-research/events/battery-live-talk-apr-23)



For further informationen:

Research Magazine lookKIT: Sustainable Technologies for Humans

The innovative and smart technologies presented by KIT at Hannover Messe 2023 also are in the focus of the latest issue of lookKIT, the research magazine of KIT. Under the title of Energieeffizient und Autonom: Nachhaltige Technologien fur den Menschen (Energy-efficient and Autonomous: Sustainable Technologies for Humans), it offers information on KITs work in a number of interviews and contributions (in both German and English).

Digital Press Kit of KIT for the 2023 Hannover Messe

Hannover Messe 2023

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
TORONTO, March 27 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, notching up its biggest advance in two weeks, as signs of easing stress in the banking sector contributed to a surge in oil prices.

The Canadian dollar was trading 0.7% higher at 1.3655 to the greenback, or 73.23 U.S. cents, its biggest gain since March 13. It moved in a range of 1.3653 to 1.3745.

"We are seeing a recovery in sentiment but also in terms of some of the fundamentals that would support the Canadian dollar," said Eric Theoret, a global macro strategist at Manulife Investment Management. "The turn in the price of crude has really been a positive for the Canadian dollar."

Wall Street equities gained and U.S. Treasury yields rose as investor concerns about the financial system were calmed after First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA.O) said it would take on the deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O).

Investors had worried that stress in the banking sector could lead to a credit crunch, worsening the economic growth and slowing demand for oil, one of Canada's major exports.

U.S. crude oil futures settled 5.1% higher at $72.18 a barrel on hopes that banking sector issues would be contained and after Iraq was forced to halt some crude exports from its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Canada's budget is due on Tuesday. It will introduce a system to lock in future carbon credit prices, a move meant to boost investments by giving businesses certainty to develop low-carbon technologies, a senior government source with knowledge of the document told Reuters.

Canadian government bond yields were sharply higher across the curve, tracking the move in U.S. Treasuries. The 2-year rose 20.5 basis points to 3.632%, after touching on Friday its lowest intraday level since August 2022 at 3.254%.
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(Kitco News) - Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have been sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for allegedly breaking trading and derivatives rules, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in a federal court in Chicago, with the CFTC accusing Binance of neglecting its obligations by not properly registering with the regulator.

The CFTC has been investigating the exchange since 2021 on allegations that it has allowed U.S. residents to use the exchange to buy and sell crypto derivatives. Current laws require any entity offering such services to U.S. citizens to register with the CFTC.

Beginning no later than July 2019 and continuing through the present, Binance, under Zhaos direction has solicited and accepted orders, accepted property to margin, and operated a facility for the trading of futures, options, swaps, and leveraged retail commodity transactions involving digital assets that are commodities including bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and litecoin (LTC) for persons in the United States, the court filing states.

Since the launch of its platform in 2017, Binance has taken a calculated, phased approach to increase its United States presence despite publicly stating its purported intent to block or restrict customers located in the United States from accessing its platform, the filing charges. All the while, Binance, Zhao, and Lim, the platforms former Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), have each known that Binances solicitation of customers located in the United States subjected Binance to registration and regulatory requirements under U.S. law.

Defendants have disregarded applicable federal laws while fostering Binances U.S. customer base because it has been profitable for them to do so, the filing said. Binances decision to prioritize commercial success over compliance with U.S. law has been, as Lim paraphrased Zhaos position on the matter, a biz decision.

The filing also alleges that Binance purposefully obscures the identities and locations of the entities operating on the trading platform. It states that the senior management team failed to properly supervise the exchanges activities and actively facilitated violations of U.S. law, including by assisting and instructing customers located in the United States to evade the compliance controls Binance purported to implement to prevent and detect violations of U.S. law.

Despite Binances solicitation of and reliance on customers located in the United States to generate revenue and provide liquidity for its various markets, Binance has never been registered with the CFTC in any capacity and has disregarded federal laws essential to the integrity and vitality of the U.S. financial markets, the CFTC alleged.

Through the lawsuit, the CFTC is looking to put a halt to Binances unlawful acts and practices and to compel their compliance with all applicable laws. In addition, the CFTC seeks civil monetary penalties and remedial ancillary relief, including, but not limited to, trading and registration bans, disgorgement, pre and post-judgment interest, and such other relief as the Court may deem necessary and appropriate, the court filing states.

Binance has become a popular target by U.S. regulators in recent months, ever since the collapse of FTX in November, which included a brief discussion about the possibility of Binance buying FTX.

In February, the exchange announced that it would halt all U.S. dollar transfers via SWIFT after running into issues with its banking partners. And regulators in New York forced Paxos, the company responsible for minting the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin, to stop minting any new BUSD, saying that the move is an offering of an unregistered security.
UNREGISTERED vehicles and illegal taxis commonly known as mushikashika are flourishing in ever large numbers and some are disrupting traffic by not pulling into parking spaces or using undesignated points.

Passengers are being picked up and dropped at undesignated points causing traffic congestion on main roads during peak hours.

Mushikashika operations are always playing cat and mouse games with police in the city centre and can be a risk to pedestrians as a result.

Kombis without proper documentation and licenced for using terminuses and bus stops contribute to the congestion, sometimes by filling bus terminuses that are supposed to give priority to full-sized buses since terminus space is tight.

At lot of undesignated pick up points, where kombis and mushikashika just park while waiting to fill their seats have since emerged and they have become health time bombs as the points do not have ablution facilities and waste bins.

Yesterday The Herald crew moved around the city and noticed that the presence of mushikashika was not only causing disorder, but also contributing to pollution.

Along Leopold Takawira Street, behind Queen Elizabeth School, there were operators ferrying people to Westgate, Marlborough, Greencroft, Avondale, Chinhoyi, Karoi and even Kariba.

There was a stench coming from the garbage filling the whole area.

Near the construction site for the Mbudzi flyovers, there was disorder and commotion with South African registered buses loading while small cars where picking up passengers destined for Masvingo, Chihota, Chivhu and Mvuma in the middle of the road. Haulage trucks were also pirating by picking up passengers heading to Beitbridge and Chiredzi.

Westgate roundabout was filled with mushikashika vehicles in the form of Toyota Vitz, Toyota Wish,Toyota Noah forcing buses to load along the road blocking traffic.

Other illegal pirates were ferrying passengers travelling to Mutare at the intersection of ED Mnangagwa Road and Robert Mugabe Road blocking traffic using both roads.

At the rank between Simon Muzenda Street and Fifth Street opposite Holiday Inn hotel small cars without number plates where loading passengers to Murehwa and Mutoko.

This is a bus stop, but not a waiting area. Public service vehicles are supposed to just stop briefly to let people on or off and then keep moving.

Outside the rank parallel to the Gulf Complex were illegal taxi operators ferrying people to the Simon Muzenda bus terminus which was also filled with kombis.

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The small terminus opposite the police charge office was not spared from the chaos as buses were loading outside the rank along Robson Manyika Road with also small cars without number plates loading illegally 50m away from the police headquarters.

Other undesignated pick-up points in the city centre included, intersection of Joseph Msika Street and Robert Mugabe Road, corner Sam Nujoma Street and Leonid Brezhnev Avenue and at the intersection of Julius Nyerere Way and Robert Mugabe Road among others.

Commuters have expressed concern over the mushikashika takeover saying there are now living in fear of being harassed in public.

Mr Freddy Dhliwayo said he was saddened by how the mushikashika operators were causing disaster in ranks.

"The mushikashika operators are causing a lot of trouble in the city centre. Recently, a woman was nearly run-over by a vehicle that was escaping from the police. We want the police to act and remove all those operating at undesignated areas," he said.

Ms Pauline Sunganoyemoyo echoed the same sentiments and said the green light given to kombi operators was contributing to the disorder at ranks.

"Things were getting back to normal when all public transport operators were ordered to operate under the Zupco franchise. Mushikashika was low, but when the transport system was liberalised, mushikashika including kombis resurfaced and now they are a menace in the city centre," she said.
LONDON, March 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The fate of Saudi National Banks (1180.SE) chairman may persuade other investors to maintain radio silence for a while. The lender on Monday said Ammar Al Khudairy resigned for personal reasons and will be replaced by current CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi. The reshuffle comes less than two weeks after comments by Credit Suisses (CSGN.S) largest shareholder fuelled a panic by investors in the Swiss lender, prompting the government to orchestrate its cut-price rescue by rival UBS (UBSG.S).

Asked by a television interviewer whether Saudi National Bank would invest more money into Credit Suisse, Al Khudairy replied absolutely not. Technically, he was correct. As a near-10% shareholder of the Swiss lender, SNB would have faced regulatory hurdles to lifting its shareholding above that threshold. Nevertheless, jittery investors and customers took the comment as a sign of no confidence and fled.

Although SNB lost more than $1 billion on its Credit Suisse investment, Gulf investors are unlikely to stop investing in banks globally. Indeed, the Saudi bank was part of an investor group that proposed injecting around $5 billion into Credit Suisse as an alternative to the UBS deal, the Wall Street Journal reported. But big bank investors may avoid appearing on live television for a while. (By Karen Kwok)

Follow @Breakingviews on Twitter

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(Kitco News) - As banking institutions in the U.S. shun the crypto industry as part of what many are calling Operation Chokepoint 2.0, crypto firms setting up shop in Asia have found backing from an unexpected source: Chinas state-owned banks.

According to a Bloomberg report published Monday, several of Chinas largest state-owned banks, including the Hong Kong divisions of Bank of Communications Co., Bank of China Ltd. and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, have begun offering services to local crypto firms or are exploring the possibility of doing so in the near future.

These banks have been directly contacting crypto businesses in recent months, ever since Hong Kong signaled that it would be taking a more open stance towards the sector last October and would allow retail trading of cryptocurrencies. This move set Hong Kong apart from the approach of the Chinese government and has led to an influx of interest from digital asset firms.

Kitco Crypto previously reported that China had given behind-the-scenes approval for financial institutions to begin engaging with the crypto ecosystem in Hong Kong, with representatives from Chinas Liaison Office and other officials regularly attending the region's crypto gatherings to network and swap business cards and WeChat contact information.

The entrance of Chinese lenders as a crypto funding source has come as a surprise to many, including Sung Min Cho, founder and CEO of the decentralized messaging service beoble, who said its something youd never expect at this point A cryptocurrency account at a tradfi bank is something groundbreaking.

Up to this point, crypto-focused companies securing a corporate bank account in China was a challenging endeavor that would take at least three months to accomplish and often required jumping through hoops or navigating legal gray areas and loopholes.

The development comes at an interesting time on the world stage as a slowly spreading banking contagion has institutions in the U.S. and Europe spooked, with the U.S. government specifically targeting crypto-serving banks.

At the same time, Hong Kong is looking to establish itself as a global crypto hub, and the government of China appears more than willing to help facilitate that goal as it offers a way for the mainland to capitalize on the growth of the industry without lifting its broader ban.

As the crisis around Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank was unfolding in the U.S., multiple global crypto firms, including crypto hedge fund MaiCapital  which held funds at Signature Bank  scrambled to open bank accounts in Hong Kong. Others managed to get out ahead of the crisis, including Hex Trust, which offers custody services for crypto assets. In January, the leadership at Hex Trust made the decision to convert the vast majority of the firm's holdings into USD Coin (USDC) and then moved those funds to an unidentified bank in Hong Kong.

CNHC Group, which offers an offshore Chinese yuan-pegged stablecoin and recently completed a $10 million funding round, had more than $12 million in deposits at SVB, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank as the crisis hit. It has been able to recover roughly $10 million of those deposits and has transferred the majority of those funds to an offshore bank account in Chinas Hainan pilot free trade zone, along with a small portion to DBS in Singapore.

According to CNHC Group founder Jack Chou, representatives from the firm have traveled to Hong Kong five times since it announced its new crypto push, and opening bank accounts is one of the top priorities. So far, Chou has made attempts with DBS Hong Kong, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank, but continues to face difficulties as crypto is still sensitive, according to the banks.

Thats the conflict. On the one hand the government is pushing the development of the industry, on the other hand, the citys banking system does not offer us any services, Chou said.

Executives like Chou are hoping that as the larger state-owned Chinese banks like the Bank of China take a more open stance towards crypto, the process of establishing accounts for things like paying vendors will become easier, which in turn will help create a more supportive environment for the crypto ecosystem in Asia to grow and thrive.
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(Kitco News) - The international Group of Seven major industrialized democracies (G7) are currently working on a coordinated push for tougher regulations on cryptocurrencies ahead of the upcoming 49th G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan this spring, Kyodo News reported on Sunday.

The report cited officials with knowledge of the plan who confirmed that central bankers and finance ministers representing Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, as well as the European Union, will accelerate the pace of related discussions in preparation for their meeting in mid-May, just before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosts the countries leaders at the G7 summit on May 19-21.

The officials said that the goal is to prepare a joint declaration representing a shared position on crypto for the heads of state to deliver at the G7 summit. The statement would address the potential risks that digital assets could pose to the global financial system and would call for increased transparency of crypto firms and enhanced consumer protections.

The G7 summit provides the highest-profile stage for the largest and most developed democratic economies to frame a shared narrative about cryptocurrencies since the collapse of FTX, the second-largest crypto exchange, in November. The bankruptcy of FTX and the resulting contagion and further devaluation of the broader digital assets ecosystem have put pressure on many governments, and on G7 governments in particular, to crack down on crypto fraud, provide clear regulatory guidelines, or both.

The G7 may find common ground on crypto elusive, as member countries have taken very different approaches to the nascent asset class, and seen very different outcomes as a result.

The UK has focused its energies primarily on developing regulatory guidance, issuing a regulatory framework for crypto regulation in February which outlined the governments choice of regulator to oversee the sector, as well as detailed direction on stablecoin classification, rules for ICOs, exchanges, custody, and other key regulations for digital assets.

The United States, which has yet to decide whether cryptos are securities, commodities, a combination of the two, or something else entirely, has seen its Securities and Exchange Commission lead a frontal assault on crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and banks that support crypto firms.

The governments of Canada and Japan, which have already classified cryptocurrencies in their respective countries and placed them under the clear jurisdiction of their existing regulators, have been less impacted by the tumult in digital assets, and have been less reactive as a result. Even FTX was forced to maintain distinct and verifiable reserves for their Japanese unit, which insulated Japanese customers from losses, and the exchange was never licensed to operate in Canada.

The ongoing banking crisis, which has claimed major U.S. lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in recent weeks, will also be top-of-mind for G7 leaders, their finance ministers and their central bankers, and developments on that front could push crypto to the backburner by the time the summit is underway.

On the international front, the Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board released a set of recommendations in October which place crypto assets within the same regulatory framework as commercial banking activities, and they plan to release the final version of their framework in July.

The International Monetary Fund also released a policy paper in February outlining the key elements they believe should be considered by each country in the development of regulations governing digital assets.

As of 2020, G7 nations represent 10% of the worlds population but account for over 50% of global wealth at upwards of $200 trillion.

The officials added that crypto assets would likely be addressed at the mid-April meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington as well.
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(Kitco News) - Gold prices are sharply lower and silver mildly down in early U.S. trading Monday. Strong profit-taking pressure and weak long liquidation from the futures traders are featured in both metals to start the trading week. April gold was last down $27.60 at $1,956.00 and May silver was down $0.164 at $23.19.

Global stock markets were mostly higher overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward higher openings when the New York day session begins. Risk appetite is a bit keener to start the trading week, and thats a negative for the safe-haven metals. The U.S. and European banking systems appear to have stabilized, at least for the moment. First Citizens Bancshares has agreed to buy pieces of Silicon Valley Bank. Meantime, Deutsche Bank shares are firmer today amid easing fears for that banks health.

Geopolitics is moving closer to the front burner of the marketplace as Russia over the weekend threatened to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. North Korea has test-fired more ballistic missiles and the U.S. has retaliated with air strikes in Syria after an Iranian-backed drone attack killed a U.S. citizen and injured U.S. military personnel.

Its a busy week for U.S. economic data, including Fridays much-anticipated personal consumption and expenditures data that will provide fresh clues on whether the U.S. economy is headed toward recession.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index near steady. Nymex crude oil futures prices are modestly up and trading around $69.75 a barrel. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield is presently fetching 3.458%.

U.S. economic data due for release Monday includes the Texas manufacturing survey.

Technically, the gold futures bulls still have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are still in an uptrend on the daily bar chart, but now just barely. Bulls next upside price objective is to produce a close in April futures above solid resistance at the March high of $2,014.90. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,900.00. First resistance is seen at $1,975.00 and then at the overnight high of $1,984.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,949.30 and then at last weeks low of $1,936.50. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.5

The silver bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing May futures prices above solid technical resistance at $24.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $21.50. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $23.485 and then at last weeks high of $23.705. Next support is seen at $23.00 and then at $22.50. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.5.
(Reuters) - Two Paul Hastings lawyers with financial services and technology clients have left to join rival Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the law firm said Monday.

Sara Weed and Jason Cabral join 1,800-lawyer Gibson Dunn as partners in Washington, D.C. and New York, respectively.

Weed will be part of Los Angeles-founded Gibson Dunn's fintech and digital assets practice group, where she will represent traditional financial institutions, non-bank financial services companies and technology companies on regulatory and transactional matters, the firm said.

Her clients have included Facebook (now Meta Platforms Inc) on e-commerce payments solutions, Samsung Electronics America Inc and Coinbase, according to an archived version of her Paul Hastings online biography. Her previous experience includes working as director and counsel in the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks.

Cabral, who focuses on federal and state financial services regulatory matters and transactions, joins Gibson Dunn's financial institutions practice group. He previously practiced at several law firms.

A Paul Hastings spokesperson did not immediately comment on the departures.

Other law firms have also been recruiting financial services and fintech lawyers with regulatory and transactional expertise. Allen & Overy earlier this month brought on Todd Beauchamp to lead its U.S. payments practice from Latham & Watkins, where he served as co-chair of the fintech industry group and leader of the payments and emerging financial services practice.

Last month, law firms Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Buckley merged, touting a combination that they said creates a "financial services and fintech law powerhouse."
March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators said on Monday they would backstop a deal for regional lender First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA.O) to acquire failed Silicon Valley Bank, triggering an estimated $20 billion hit to a government-run insurance fund.

The deal comes after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 after depositors rushed to pull out their money in a bank run that also brought down Signature Bank (SBNY.O) and wiped out more than half the market value of several other U.S. regional lenders.

The deal was "momentous" for First Citizens, CEO Frank Holding told investors on a conference call Monday. "We believe this transaction is a great outcome for depositors."

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based lender has completed 21 such government-assisted deals, including 14 since 2009 when CEO Holding was made chairman, according to a Piper Sandler note on Monday.

The FDIC fund does not take U.S. taxpayer money and is instead replenished by a levy on member banks.

"The FDICs sale of SVB helps show business can go on as usual for the banking industry," a team of Wells Fargo analysts led by Mike Mayo said in a note on Monday.

First Citizens will not pay cash upfront for the deal. Instead, it said it granted equity appreciation rights in its stock to the FDIC that could be worth up to $500 million -- a fraction of what Silicon Valley Bank was worth before it failed.

The FDIC will be able to exercise these rights between March 27 and April 14. How much cash it receives will depend on the value of First Citizens' stock.

First Citizens shares jumped 50%.

First Citizens will assume Silicon Valley Bank's assets of $110 billion, deposits of $56 billion and loans of $72 billion as part of the deal.

The FDIC said the $72-billion purchase of SVB's assets came at a discount of $16.5 billion.

SVB Private, which the FDIC was trying last week to sell separately and that Citizens Financial Corp (CFIN.PK) had expressed interest in, was acquired by First Citizens as well.

First Citizens said SVB's Private wealth business "is a natural fit for our high-touch and sophisticated level of high-net-worth customer service and approach."

LINE OF CREDIT

First Citizens will also receive a line of credit from the FDIC for contingent liquidity purposes and will have an agreement with the regulator to share some losses on commercial loans to protect it against potential credit losses.

"First Citizens Banks acquisition of the SVB loan book and deposits does not add much to solve the number one issue that the U.S. banking system is now facing: deposits leaving smaller banks for larger banks or money market funds," said Redmond Wong, greater China market strategist at Saxo Markets.

Based in Santa Clara, Silicon Valley Bank was the 16th biggest lender in the U.S. at the end of last year, with about $209 billion in assets.

SVB's collapse triggered the worst banking crisis since 2008, pummelling banking stocks globally. Shares in European lenders fell sharply on Friday, led by Germany's Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), raising concern among authorities about a potential credit crunch.

Shares of U.S. banks - both large and mid-sized - climbed on Monday.

VENTURE CAPITAL BUSINESS

SVB customers will continue to be able to access their accounts through websites, mobile apps and branches, First Citizens said. Employees in the acquired businesses will be retained, it added.

The deal will accelerate First Citizens' expansion in California and give it wealth management capabilities in the northeast U.S., First Citizens said.

"We are committed to building on and preserving the strong relationships that legacy SVB's global fund banking business has with private equity and venture capital firms," Holding said in a statement.

First Citizens has around $109 billion in assets and total deposits of $89.4 billion. The combined company will have total assets of $219 billion and $145 billion of deposits, according to a First Citizens presentation.

"The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank to its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) to be approximately $20 billion. The exact cost will be determined when the FDIC terminates the receivership," it said.

That is on top of the $2.5 billion loss to the fund the FDIC incurred when it sold Signature Bank to New York Community Bancorp (NYCB.N) one week ago.

The loss will be "handled solely by the banking industry," bringing the fund to around a third below its statutory minimum, Wells Fargo analysts said.

Approximately $90 billion in securities and other assets from SVB will remain in receivership for disposal, the regulator added.
Diphtheria, an acute bacterial disease caused by toxigenic strains of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and occasionally Corynebacterium ulcerans has been eradicated from most countries following consistent childhood vaccination campaigns decades ago using the using a diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccine.

The World Health Organisation, WHO, said cases of diphtheria declined from about 100,000 in 1980 to less than 10,000 in 2021.

But as a result of gaps in immunisation coverage, Nigeria is today battling with the outbreak of this forgotten disease which has claimed 62 lives and affected 21 States, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, situation report for Week 19, 2022 to Week 09, 2023. Excerpts:

When the first case of diphtheria was discovered, it sounded very strange to some Nigerians but as the day goes by, it was indeed added to the list of infectious diseases such as Lassa fever, COVID-19, Monkeypox, yellow fever among others plaguing Nigeria.

It is also no longer news that diphtheria was not something that is on health facilities' radar but since 2022, Nigeria has recorded over 1,064 suspected cases with 389 confirmed cases.

Further statistics obtained by Good Health Weekly from NCDC's latest report showed that a total of 377 suspected cases were reported from seven states and the majority were from Kano state.

Sadly, while experts harp on adequate immunisation coverage against the disease, statistics from the national Primary HealthCare Development Agency, showed that Nigeria's immunisation coverage has been poor and fluctuating significantly despite some improvement recorded in the past five years.

Since 2020, immunisation programmes in Nigeria have suffered losses due to the disruption by COVID-19 and response activities for other infectious diseases.

With immunisation programmes disrupted, many children missed out on vaccination at the time they should have gotten them. This undoubtedly widened the already gaps in the country which provided ideal conditions for the disease outbreak.

With 21 states already affected, the latest report from NCDC showed that out of the total of 1,064 suspected cases, Kano state remains the epicentre with 843, followed by Yobe with 86.

Other states include; Katsina 46, Lagos 22, Sokoto 14, and Zamfara 13.

Of the 1,064 suspected cases reported, 389 (36.6 percent) were confirmed (45 were lab confirmed, 343 were clinically compatible and 1 was epidemiologically linked), 322 (30.3 per cent) were discarded, 201 (18.9 per cent) are pending classification and 152 (14.3 per cent) are unknown.

The report also stated that the confirmed cases were distributed across 24 LGAs in six States. A majority (305 [78.4 per cent]) of the confirmed cases occurred among children aged 2 - 14 years.

A total of 62 deaths were recorded among all confirmed cases (CFR: 15.9 per cent). Only 60 (15.4 per cent) out of 389 confirmed cases were fully vaccinated with a diphtheria toxin-containing vaccine.

One state in Nigeria that is worst hit is Kano State with a total of 843 suspected cases. Out of which 360(45.9 per cent) were females and 423(54 per cent) were males as of 2nd march 2023, according to the State Case Manager, Dr. Salma Ali Suwaid.

During the same period, Kano recorded a total of 61 deaths with a Case Fatality Rate CFR of 12.2 per cent and 83 per cent of deaths occurred in patients with onset of symptoms greater than 3 days.

However, Diphtheria, according to, the World Health Organisation, has been one of the most feared childhood diseases, characterised by devastating outbreaks throughout history.

Also, studies have shown that vaccination against diphtheria has dramatically reduced the mortality and morbidity of diphtheria; however, diphtheria is still a significant child health problem in countries with poor routine childhood immunisation coverage like Nigeria.

Specifically, the NCDC in one of its reports stated that the prevention of infection controls diphtheria through high population immunity achieved by high vaccination coverage. Also, Infectious disease experts say Diphtheria outbreaks occur due to poor vaccination coverage

Today, findings from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, showed that Nigeria experienced very low Routine Immunisation, RI, and coverage up to 2016. Nigeria in 2016 recorded 33 per cent in immunisation coverage. The poor coverage led to the Federal government's declaration of a state of emergency on Routine Immunisation in 2017 and led to the establishment of NERICC, SERICC & LERICC in 18 poor-performing states.

Following the effort, Nigeria moved from 33 per cent coverage to 57 per cent, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, MICs, 2018 while the SMART survey conducted that year rated Nigeria 50 per cent.

In 2019, according to the SMAR survey, the country recorded an improvement of 71 per cent. Unfortunately, in 2021, the gains in 2019 were lost as coverage plunged downward by 57 per cent according to the 2021 MICS.

Giving further insight into the gains achieved following the introduction of the different programmes designed to improve immunisation coverage in Nigeria, Dr Bassey Okposen from the National Primary Healthcare Agency, explained that 33 (89 per cent) of 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, recorded an increase in Penta 3 coverage with the most significant improvement recorded in Yobe, Ebonyi and Kebbi States.

Okposun in a presentation tagged: "Vaccination Response to the Ongoing Diphtheria Outbreak in Nigeria: What We Need to Know" also said seven states achieved at least 80 per cent target immunisation coverage in 2021 MICS/NICS with the highest coverage reported in Ebonyi where there was a 45 per cent-pt increase in coverage from 54 per cent in 2015 to 99 per cent in 2021.

He said 4 (11 per cent) of 36 states plus FCT recorded a decline in Penta coverage with the most significant decline in Borno with 18 per cent.

Experts say without adequate immunisation, childhood diseases like diphtheria will continue to pose a threat in the country.

In the views of an Infectious Disease Physician at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri, Bayelsa State, Prof. Dimie Ogoina, diphtheria is re-emerging in Nigeria due to significant gaps in childhood vaccination. He said inadequate, or failure of vaccination programmes in Nigeria underlies the challenge.

Ogoina, who is also the President of the Nigeria Infectious Disease Society, NIDS, warned that Nigeria will likely see resurgence if the immunisation coverage challenge is not addressed.

"The 2023 outbreak in Nigeria might be related to a recent drop in vaccination coverage in affected states and good clinical suspicion by clinicians who made an initial diagnosis of the outbreak.

"Diphtheria vaccines are largely effective and protective as long as the complete 3 doses are given during childhood. Children less than 5 years are at greater risk of diphtheria if they are not vaccinated or are under-vaccinated. Rarely, diphtheria can occur in fully vaccinated persons due to vaccine failure. In this case, it is either the vaccine did not work because of certain factors in the individual or the vaccine was already defective before administration due to poor storage and other factors.

Ogoina said the major challenges are related to inadequate subnational ownership and investments in the outbreak, the inadequate laboratory diagnostic, and treatment capacities in many hospitals across Nigeria, poor index of suspicion among health workers, and poor health-seeking behaviour among the general population.

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To address the challenges of diphtheria, he said governments at all levels must take full ownership and invest in improving childhood vaccination coverage.

Noting that the NCDC, was working together with various stakeholders, responding to the outbreak by strengthening surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment, he said health workers' training and sensitisation were ongoing.

"The NCDC and the NPHCDA are central to the control of Diphtheria. These agencies should be supported to scale up preventive and response efforts, including risk communication and community engagement, to improve vaccine acceptance and promote early diagnosis and appropriate treatment."

What you should know about the diphtheria vaccine

Diphtheria is a disease that affects most people without a vaccine. The Diphtheria vaccine is a bacterial toxoid, ie. a toxin whose toxicity has been inactivated.

The vaccine is normally given in combination with other vaccines, including tetanus and pertussis (e.g. DTwP/DTaP, pentavalent vaccine).

For adolescents and adults, the diphtheria toxoid is frequently combined with tetanus toxoid in lower concentration (Td vaccine).

The WHO recommends a 3-dose primary vaccination series with a diphtheria-containing vaccine followed by 3 booster doses.

The primary series should begin as early as 6 weeks of age with subsequent doses given with a minimum interval of 4 weeks between doses.

The 3 booster doses should preferably be given during the second year of life (12-23 months), at 4-7 years, and at 9-15 years of age. Ideally, there should be at least 4 years between booster doses.
press release

Ten years after the start of the third civil war in the Central African Republic, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) teamed up with photographer Adrienne Surprenant to meet Central African families to capture the consequences of these years of violence.

By way of 15 first-hand accounts collected in Bangui and Carnot, the photographic and audio documentary The Events highlights the immense destruction within families, their homes and their memories.

This is the story of a country bled dry and of the people who live there, of the familes hit by the repeated extreme violence sweeping across the Central African Republic. It is the story, among others, of Joseph, whose son was murdered on Christmas Eve; of Tatiana, who had to flee her home when she was heavily pregnant; of Louise, who underwent an amputation following a gunshot wound; and of Louison, traumatised by the death of a man he tried in vain to save.

In March 2013, rebel groups in the north of the country united in a coalition, forming the Seleka, and took power in Bangui. This third civil war turned the daily lives of thousands of families into one of fear and struggle for survival.

Looting and atrocities committed by Seleka soon led to deadly reprisals by Anti-balaka militias, self-defence committees made up of villagers and former soldiers, while UN peacekeeping forces and French troops were deployed in the country.

In Bangui and in the west of the country, Muslims, ethnic Fulani or people assimilated to the routed Seleka fighters, were targeted: they were hemmed in, hunted down, killed and forced into exile.

In such circumstances, where can you shelter your family? How can you adapt and continue to be a family in the middle of a war? And how can you rebuild in moments of respite?

Over the past 10 years, both the acts of violence and political alliances have changed in the course of the upheavals experienced by the Central African Republic. The military counter-offensive by the Central African government, supported by Russian allies, has allowed the state to regain control of the country's main cities and roads. Driven out to the periphery and weakened, the armed groups are nevertheless still capable of inflicting harm, and both sides are regularly accused of atrocities.

In 2023, MSF teams in the country comprise nearly 3,000 people, the vast majority of whom are Central African. Our teams provide numerous medical services such as paediatrics, trauma surgery and HIV/AIDS care. Every year, around 900,000 consultations are carried out by our teams, in partnership with the health authorities.
Weather Alert

...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 9 AM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures as low as 33 will result in frost formation. * WHERE...Boone MO, Moniteau MO, Saint Louis City MO, and Saint Louis MO Counties. * WHEN...From 1 AM to 9 AM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Frost could harm sensitive outdoor vegetation. Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left uncovered. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. &&
THE mysterious disease reported in Maruku and Kanyangereko villages of Bukoba District Council in Kagera Region last week is Marburg virus disease, the government has confirmed.

The Minister for Health, Ms Ummy Mwalimu told journalists in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday investigations carried out by the National Laboratory confirmed on the samples from the patients showed it is Marburg viral disease.

She however said that there should be no cause for alarm as the disease is manageable and the government can contain it. The viral disease has far been contained from further spreading within the reported locality.

The minister said since the disease was reported on Thursday last week five people out of eight confirmed cases have died.

"We extended recognition to the people of Kagera for availing timely information of suspected symptoms," noted Ms Mwalimu stressing on the need for the public to be alert and report any symptom of the disease to a nearby hospital or dispensary.

However, three of the reported cases are continuing with treatment as the government continues with contact tracing of 161 individuals within the region, she said.

Ms Mwalimu said that there is no need to worry because the viral disease is not new. It was reported several times in neighboring Uganda in 2017, 2014, 2012, and 2007, DRC from 1998 to 2,000 , America and Europe.

"There is no cause for alarm. We will collaborate with our neigbours to make sure that those who will be detected with the disease are given timely treatment," the minister insisted.

She called upon the public to take preventive measures and report individuals with symptoms including fever, headaches and severe bleeding in various open body parts.

Other symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea and dysfunction of the kidney, she said noting that there is no specific treatment for Marburg virus disease buy supportive hospital therapy is done on the symptoms.

"The Marburg virus is transmitted from one human to another through direct contact with body fluids from infected persons or contact with equipment and other materials contaminated with infectious blood or tissues, infected blood and body fluids of infected people.

Infection can also occur from animals to human beings in the case a person eats or touches the corpses of infected animals," said Ms Mwalimu.

She noted that on Thursday last week the Ministry reported individuals bearing symptoms including fever, bleeding in various body parts and kidney failures in Maruku and Kanyangereko of Bukoba District Council in Kagera Region.

According to reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) the disease was first confirmed in Marburg, Germany in 1967. At some point the disease has also been reported in various African and European countries.

Besides, she urged care takers and health attendants to effectively take preventive measures and health infection prevention and control at all times.

On her part, Prof Tumaini Nagu, Chief Medical Officer, stated that the first patient diagnosed with the disease came from Goziba Island in Lake Victoria and arrived at Bukoba District Council, where he became ill.

Other patients who contracted this disease, she said, included four members of the same family and two health workers.

"We insist on health workers following guidelines and procedures to protect themselves from infectious diseases, whether or not they know what the patient is suffering from," she said.

Prof Nagu said that preventive measures include following hand washing guidelines, using sanitizers and avoiding contact with patients who are bleeding, diarrhoeic or vomiting.

When you have to attend to a patient with these symptoms, you must wear gloves, she said.

The CMO said for all confirmed patient deaths, the community should work with experts to ensure that those who died of this disease are buried in a dignified but safe manner to prevent further infection.

On his part the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Zabulon Yoti commended the government for quick response in detecting the disease and ensuring that the public is informed.

"This doesn't go for nothing, its shows that there is a very good coordination in the country with a very clear leadership bringing all of us together," Dr Yoti said.

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He said that the public should not be worried about the disease because it is not the first time that the Marburg is reported in Africa.

"The disease has happened in a number of times in our neighboring Uganda and it usually controlled it with strong community involvement," Dr Yoti said.

He called upon community members to join hands with the government to make that the contacts are identified and those who need care are given the service earlier enough.

He further explained that in the past one year WHO in collaboration with the government worked a lot to make sure that Tanzania has internal capacity.

"We have trained a number of people who required personal protective equipment and then we have laboratory which is able to confirm our cases from within the country," he said.

He expressed WHO commitment to work closely with the government to make sure that there are no gaps in the response.
Comstock Resources, Inc. (NYSE:CRK  Get Rating) CFO Roland O. Burns bought 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 950,430 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,504,300. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Comstock Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRK opened at $10.53 on Monday. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.71 and a 12 month high of $22.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.20. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $11.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.21. Comstock Resources had a return on equity of 68.19% and a net margin of 31.84%. The firm had revenue of $922.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $665.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comstock Resources Announces Dividend

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comstock Resources

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. Comstock Resourcess payout ratio is 12.47%.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the third quarter valued at $41,000. USA Financial Portformulas Corp bought a new position in shares of Comstock Resources in the third quarter valued at $83,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comstock Resources by 200.0% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 6,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.22% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CRK shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Comstock Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $16.00 to $11.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Comstock Resources from $26.00 to $21.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Comstock Resources from a buy rating to a sell rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $15.28.

About Comstock Resources

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Comstock Resources, Inc engages in the acquisition, development, and exploration of oil and natural gas. The firm operations concentrated in the Haynesville shale, a premier natural gas basin located in East Texas. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Frisco, TX.

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Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE  Get Rating) insider Martin Ive bought 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 6 ($0.07) per share, for a total transaction of 3,600 ($4,420.98).

Martin Ive also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Wednesday, March 15th, Martin Ive purchased 36,412 shares of Seeing Machines stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 6 ($0.07) per share, with a total value of 2,184.72 ($2,682.94).

On Wednesday, March 8th, Martin Ive purchased 50,000 shares of Seeing Machines stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 7 ($0.09) per share, with a total value of 3,500 ($4,298.17).

On Tuesday, February 7th, Martin Ive purchased 450,000 shares of Seeing Machines stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 7 ($0.09) per share, with a total value of 31,500 ($38,683.53).

On Tuesday, January 24th, Martin Ive purchased 274,987 shares of Seeing Machines stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 7 ($0.09) per share, for a total transaction of 19,249.09 ($23,638.82).

On Friday, January 13th, Martin Ive acquired 394,824 shares of Seeing Machines stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 7 ($0.09) per share, for a total transaction of 27,637.68 ($33,940.42).

On Tuesday, January 10th, Martin Ive acquired 900,000 shares of Seeing Machines stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 6 ($0.07) per share, for a total transaction of 54,000 ($66,314.63).

Seeing Machines Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of LON SEE opened at GBX 5.65 ($0.07) on Monday. The firm has a market cap of 235.04 million, a PE ratio of -593.00 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 6.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 6.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.49, a current ratio of 4.52 and a quick ratio of 3.50. Seeing Machines Limited has a 1 year low of GBX 5 ($0.06) and a 1 year high of GBX 8.30 ($0.10).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Seeing Machines Company Profile

Separately, Berenberg Bank restated a buy rating and set a GBX 10 ($0.12) target price on shares of Seeing Machines in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd.

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Seeing Machines Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides driver and occupant monitoring system technologies in Australia, North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Aftermarket. The company offers operator monitoring and intervention sensing technologies and services for the automotive, mining, transport, and aviation industries.

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Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Rating) has received a consensus recommendation of Hold from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.68.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PHG shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Koninklijke Philips from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. Societe Generale lowered shares of Koninklijke Philips from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. TheStreet lowered shares of Koninklijke Philips from a c- rating to a d rating in a report on Monday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heritage Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Koninklijke Philips during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,141 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC boosted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 3,992 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG purchased a new stake in Koninklijke Philips during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips in the 2nd quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.17% of the companys stock.

Koninklijke Philips Stock Performance

Koninklijke Philips Company Profile

Koninklijke Philips stock opened at $16.18 on Monday. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $16.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Koninklijke Philips has a 1-year low of $11.75 and a 1-year high of $31.82.

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Koninklijke Philips NV is a technology company, which engages in the healthcare, lighting, and consumer well-being markets. It operates through the following segments: Diagnosis and Treatment businesses; Connected Care businesses; Personal Health businesses; and Other. The Diagnosis and Treatment businesses segment consists systems, smart devices, software and services, powered by AI-enabled informatics-that support precision diagnoses and minimally invasive procedures in therapeutic areas such as cardiology, peripheral vascular, neurology, surgery, and oncology.

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Research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Phoenix New Media (NYSE:FENG  Get Rating) in a research report issued on Saturday. The brokerage set a hold rating on the information services providers stock.

Phoenix New Media Price Performance

NYSE FENG opened at $2.32 on Friday. Phoenix New Media has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $5.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.31.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phoenix New Media

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Phoenix New Media stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE:FENG  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 21,805 shares of the information services providers stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

Phoenix New Media Company Profile

Phoenix New Media Ltd. is engaged in the provision of media and advertising services through internet, mobile, and television channels. It also provides mobile internet and value-add, and video value-added services. It operates under the Net Advertising Services and Paid Services. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

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StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos (NYSE:LDOS  Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on LDOS. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $111.00 to $105.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $130.00 to $124.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $114.00 to $103.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $113.43.

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Leidos Price Performance

NYSE:LDOS opened at $91.38 on Friday. Leidos has a 12 month low of $87.24 and a 12 month high of $111.12. The firm has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Leidos Announces Dividend

Leidos ( NYSE:LDOS Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The aerospace company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.62 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 22.01% and a net margin of 4.76%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Leidos will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Leidoss payout ratio is 29.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,064 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos during the 3rd quarter valued at $812,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Leidos by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,976 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,298 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 603,573 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $60,786,000 after purchasing an additional 242,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.74% of the companys stock.

About Leidos

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Leidos Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets. It operates through the following three segments: Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health. The Defense Solutions segment provides services, solutions, and products focusing on digital modernization, mission systems and integration, Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) technologies and services, maritime solutions, transformative software, analytics, intelligence analysis, mission support and logistics services, weapons systems and space systems and solutions.

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Steve Garbacz is executive editor for KPC Media and editor for The News Sun. He doesnt have time to tinker, but wonders which lawmaker has passed the most laws total during their career and which official has the highest laws per year of service ratio. Email him at sgarbacz@kpcmedia.com.
Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola at the White Picket Gardens where you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, teacher, writer, actress and a collector of front porch stories. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com.
Eskom has completed a major milestone in the maintenance plan of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Unit 1.

The unit - which holds capacity of some 920MW - is on a planned maintenance outage in order to allow for the replacement of its steam generators.

This is in line with government's Energy Action Plan Intervention One, which aims to ensure that all power stations are well maintained and working optimally to prevent further decline in the power utility's energy availability.

The power utility explained that the first steam generator at the power station has been removed and placed in a storage building.

"This is a significant accomplishment for the Koeberg team, the contractor and the numerous local and international subcontractors involved in the project. It is a great relief to have reached this milestone as the steam generator replacement project has experienced numerous false starts in previous outages and some unexpected challenges during the execution in the current outage to get to this point in the project," Eskom said on Tuesday.

The electricity company further explained that the removal of the steam generator is a precarious operation due to its size.

"The logistics of moving the steam generators from their installed [vertical] position out of containment (horizonal at an elevation of 20m), to placing them on a flatbed transporter (horizontal) can only be appreciated if one understands the size and weight of each steam generator.

"Each of them is 22m tall with a diameter of 4.5m (top half) and 3.5m (bottom half) and they each weigh over 320 tons. From here on all that is needed, is to take out the other two that are ready for lifting and install the three new steam generators," Eskom said.

Several steps will still have to be taken before to ensure that the operation is executed. These include:

Rigging the remaining two steam generators out from their positions inside containment.

Rigging the three new steam generators into their exact position inside the containment building.

Performing the 6 critical welds (2 per steam generator) that joins the steam generators to the primary system piping.

Perform radiography on the welds to ensure they meet the code requirements.

Re-installing all the access platforms that enable people to work all the way up the steam generators (seven stories of permanent structures and temporary scaffolding).

Reinstall all the other piping connections (steam pipe at the top, feedwater pipe, and all the other smaller sampling and instrumentation connections) once access is available. In all cases performing the required level of quality control.

Install new thermal insulation over the whole steam generator surface and all the pipes that were worked on (around 120 tons was removed).

Remove all the temporary equipment that was required to be installed to allow the work to be done safely (scaffolding (85 tons), lead shielding (70 tons), electrical supplies (22 distribution boards and 1 km of cabling), etc).

Delay in return to service

Eskom said due to these steps having to be taken carefully, the return to service of the unit has been delayed.

"After [these steps], we still need to complete the maintenance activities scheduled for the outage, commission all the systems, refuel the reactor, and return the unit to service. Due to the delays that have already been experienced, the original return to service date for the unit is no longer achievable.

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"Although every effort is being made to reduce the impact, we are currently running a few weeks late. The Generation production plan is being optimised to minimise as far as possible the impact of the projected delay on the system," the power utility said.

"In accordance with the safety analysis that was performed and submitted to the National Nuclear Regulator in support of the application to extend the plant life by 20 years, the steam generators are the last large component replacements that are needed to ensure Koeberg can operate safely for the requested additional period of operation.

"Thus, Eskom sees this milestone as an important step on the path to safely extending the life of Koeberg," Eskom said.

Later this year, Koeberg's second unit is expected to undergo a similar long outage to also replace its three steam generators.
Twenty-one (21) months since the inception of the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Mastercard Foundation have developed a flexible, agile and urgent approach in aligning evolving Member State's needs to partner's expertise and capacity. The new strategic priority aims to accelerate the initiative's implementation to advance 100-100-70 COVID-19 vaccination coverage. The first 100 represents the percentage of vulnerable populations including those above 60 years and those with co-morbidities, the second 100 represents thecoverage in the percentage of essential workers as well as those in the hospitality industries and 70 coverage of the target population.

The acceleration model in 2023 is premised on the potential optimization of opportunities for adapting to emerging themes like integration of activities with COVID-19 vaccination. The approach is bolstered by integrating activities that define the scope of Member States driven around Primary Health Care (routine immunization, non-communicable disease and other communicable diseases). The integration objective provides an opportunity to sustain and accelerate the implementation of the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative by strengthening current COVID-19 campaigns while responding to Member States' public health needs. With the focus shift to acceleration and integration, there will be greater emphasis on mobile outreach teams, mini and mass campaigns instead of the initial fixed sites. These outreaches and campaigns will be bundled with other Primary healthcare interventions such as routine immunization for missed doses by children.

A recent workshop convened between Africa CDC and Mastercard Foundation underscored the need for acceleration compounded with integration. The workshop convened experts and the leadership of both organizations from 7 to 9 February 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop was organized to take stock of the programme's successes while outlining the next steps.

The two-day workshop was preceded by one-day field visits to Kitui and Kajiado counties, two of the eight implementing counties in Kenya to assess the execution status of the initiative in line with the set targets. The field visits aimed to identify best practices to scale up in other Member States based on need.

Speaking at the meeting the Acting Director of Africa CDC, Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma commended the good work of the implementing partners (Amref Health Africa and Kenya Red Cross) in Kenya. "It is time to execute the sound practices that will take Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative to a higher level, therefore let us act with speed and responsiveness to meet the set goals', he stressed.

The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative is in a strong position to drive successful integration given the established relationships with Member States and Partners, increased capacity through hiring, and its current sequenced approach to implementation.

The Chief Program Officer at Mastercard Foundation Mr Peter Materu reaffirmed the commitment of the Foundation to the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative's new approach. "2023 is the year of delivering with speed, driving scale and telling the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative story beyond vaccination and the Foundation will fully support this approach," he underscored.

The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative will follow a phase-wise approach for integration activities starting with six (6) Member States with a plan to expand to more. These Member States in phase one include Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.

The integration of activities will be evaluated and strengthened through consistent adjustment of data-capturing tools to determine efficient community-led models for delivering COVID-19 vaccines through a combination of existing health and social structures. The processes will entail continuous experience sharing between various stakeholders at sub-national, national and regional levels to enhance integration practices and enable early identification and resolution of challenges.

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Subsequently, opportunities for coordination and synergy will be identified. The programme will work closely with Member States and legacy partners to coordinate efforts and ensure improved utilization of resources and a more comprehensive reach of target populations. The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative aspires to rapidly create the demand for and increase the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in African Union (AU) Member States in the shortest possible time. The initiative is anchored on AU efforts towards COVID-19 vaccine equity, with governance structures that emphasize strengthening national, regional, and continental institutions.
The Commission has adopted a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law. The Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to those Member States who have failed to notify national measures transposing directives in time. In this package, there are 25 Member States who have not yet notified full transposition measures for six EU directives in the fields of environment, internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs, migration, home affairs, security union and justice. Member States concerned now have two months to reply to the letters of formal notice and complete their transposition, or the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

Drinking water: Ensuring water quality intended for human consumption

Safe drinking water is essential for public health and well-being. The European Union has among the highest drinking water quality standards worldwide, due to over 30 years of successful EU drinking water policies and rules. ?he Commission updated Directive (EU) 2020/2184 (the Drinking Water Directive)which now includes updated safety standards, introduces a methodology to identify and manage quality risks in the whole water supply chain, establishes a watch list of emerging substances and introduces conformity provisions for products to be used in contact with drinking water. The new directive tackles water leakages as now on average 23% of the treated water is lost during distribution in the EU. The directive also includes new provisions that require Member States to improve and maintain access to drinking water for all, and for vulnerable and marginalised groups in particular.

Member States had the obligation to transpose these new EU provisions into their national systems by 12 January 2023, and to communicate their national transposition measures to the Commission. To date, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden, failed to notify national measures fully transposing the Directive by the set deadline and will therefore be receiving letters of formal notice.

Lead in cables and wires and in their electrical connections: exemption for the use of lead in superconductor cables and wires as well as for their electrical connections

On 22 September 2022, the Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/1631 was published which adds a new time-limited exemption from the substance restrictions under the Directive 2011/65/EU, the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) Directive. Lead is one of the ten substances restricted under this Directive. The application covered by the exemption concerns lead in a superconductor material for cables and wires, as well as lead in electrical connections to these wires. These components can help create electromagnetic circuits for medical devices or monitoring instruments (e.g., magnetic resonance devices (MRI)). The addition of lead provides technical and functional advantages such as stronger magnetic fields. Therefore, the Commission decided to grant an exemption of the lead use in these specific cases, which is otherwise forbidden in such applications. However, the exemption had to be transposed by the Member States before the deadline set for 28 February 2023 in order to become effective and to ensure a level playing field on the Union market. An expire date for the exemption of 30 June 2027 is foreseen. To date, Belgium, Czechia, Spain, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia failed to notify national measures fully transposing the Directive by the set deadline and will therefore receive a letter of formal notice.

Lead in certain magnetic resonance imaging devices: exemption for its use

On 22 September 2022, time-limited exemption from the substance restriction was granted with the Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/1632. The application covered by the respective exemptions concerns lead in components which are used in magnetic fields for certain medical imaging devices. During the technical evaluation, it was concluded that the scope of the existing exemption can be further limited, so that only components for certain magnetic resonance devices can benefit from the exemption, for which no other alternative exists. This mainly concerns old models and helps to reduce the amount of lead placed on the market. The Delegated Directive adapts the exemption accordingly. The exemption had to be transposed by the Member States by 28 February 2023 and an expire date of 30 June 2027 is foreseen. To date, Belgium, Czechia, Spain, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia failed to notify national measures fully transposing the Directive by the set deadline and will therefore receive a letter of formal notice.

Trade marks: ensuring an effective and accessible means for businesses to build and defend their brands

The Trade Mark Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/2436) constitutes an important step in modernising and further harmonising EU trade mark law. It brings a number of significant substantial changes in EU trademark law, such as a new trade mark definition more adapted to the digital age. The directive also includes new provisions to harmonise trade mark procedures across the European Union. The Member States were required to introduce national procedures for revocation or declaration of invalidity of trade marks by 14 January 2023 and communicate the text of those measures to the Commission. Bulgaria, Denmark, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Finland, and Slovenia have not notified a transposition of that provision of the Directive into national law by the set deadline and will therefore receive a letter of formal notice.

Fight against drugs: Ban on two harmful new drug substances

The Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2022/1326 banned two new psychoactive substances across the European Union in March 2022: 3-MMC and 3-CMC. These two substances are life threatening due to their toxicity. They have now been added to the definition of 'drug' used in Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA of 25 October 2004, on illicit drug trafficking. All Member States had to transpose this act into their national legislation and inform the Commission by 18 February 2023. Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania have not notified their national measures bringing 3-MMC and 3-CMC under control, and will therefore receive a letter of formal notice today.

Company law: EU rules on cross border conversions, mergers and divisions

In November 2019, the Directive (EU) 2019/2121 amended the Directive (EU) 2017/1132 and laid down new rules to help companies move across borders under harmonised EU rules. These new rules will make it easier for companies to merge, divide or move within the Single Market, while providing safeguards against abuse and ensuring that employees' rights are well protected. The rules will stimulate the growth potential of European companies by benefiting from the opportunities offered by the internal market. All Member States had to transpose the Directive into their national legislation and inform the Commission thereof by 31 January 2023. The following Member States have not notified the national measures transposing the Directive and will receive today a letter of formal notice: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
US Vice President Kamala Harris starts a three-country tour of Africa this weekend, visiting Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia to promote the White House's positive vision of the continent as the "future of the world".

Harris starts her tour in Ghana on Sunday. She is following in the footsteps of five of President Joe Biden's cabinet secretaries and First Lady Jill Biden.

The administration clearly wants to deepen engagement with a continent virtually ignored under Republican Donald Trump.

Washington has traditionally regarded Africa as a source of trouble rather than a place of potential.

Outdated views

"We want to dismantle long-held and often outdated notions of what it means to live, work and invest in Africa," a US official told reporters on Friday.

Harris "believes African innovation and ideas will shape the future of the world," said the official.

The tour is obviously part of Washington's pushback against growing Chinese and Russian involvement in the resource-rich continent.

"It's no secret that we are engaged in competition with China," a senior US official said.

Citing "real concerns" about China's use of loans to gain control over weak economies in Africa, the official insisted the United States is not trying to copy Beijing's methods.

"Our relationship with Africa cannot and should not be defined by competition with China," he said, proclaiming an "affirmative agenda in Africa" that leans on public-private partnerships and transparency.
On the penultimate day of the United Nations Water Conference, two UN agencies announced several potentially game-changing commitments that could enable countries to quickly gather data on the state of their water resources, and boost efficiency of water use for more sustainable agriculture practices.

A worldwide network of water analysis laboratories and a tool to foster collective national level action to improve coordination on water management, were among the commitments announced on Thursday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the margins of the UN 2023 Conference, which has been running in New York since Wednesday and will close on Friday, 24 March.

The commitments, in line with the Water Action Agenda and the push to see all countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, were announced at the SDG Media Zone, which has been the stage for vital discussion and the announcement of other major commitments, while the main plenary and high-level panels have been underway in other parts of the UN Headquarters campus.

Water analysis labs

Announcing the IAEA's global water analysis laboratory network, known as GloWAL, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that this interconnected network can through the application of nuclear techniques, help countries to identify the nature and characteristics of water (isotope hydrology).

"This technology can help us read many things," he continued, citing, among others, a water sources' content, degradation, and renewability. "By establishing this network of labs, we are giving countries the ability to identify from a scientific point of view, the nature of the water issues they are facing" and then developed or adapt policy solutions that address them.

Further, beyond issues related to the global water crisis, GloWAL will also help address another key challenge facing the international community: the technology gap and lagging access to data collection that has long plagued developing countries. "When developing countries do not have the ability to know what the problem is and how to solve it, they are in a much worse situation."

"So GloWAL is about this: it's about giving countries the ability to collect their own data. We are going to train them and give them the necessary equipment to do that," Mr. Grossi explained, adding that: as far as commitments go, this was a very concrete initiative that would help countries be better prepared to face the myriad effects of the water crisis.

Asked to give an example of how the network my work, Mr. Grossi said that while he wouldn't like to say one country faced more challenges than another, he could point to Tajikistan, the co-host of the Water Conference (along with the Kingdom of the Netherlands).

Indeed, Tajikistan, which is home to massive glaciers that provide much of the region's freshwater would host a GloWAL laboratory that would monitor the health of those vital water sources.

"Glacier degradation is a very serious problem in this country and by doing this we are giving them the ability to see how fast the glaciers and snowcaps can be regenerated, and how to perhaps better manage the runoff water, because of course, if it is melting, there will be less of it," he said.

Agriculture is a 'dealmaker'

For his part, Lifeng Li, Director, Land and Water Division at FAO, said that water accounts for 70 per cent of global freshwater withdrawals, so rather than being a dealbreaker, agriculture could be a dealmaker in dealing with the crisis.

"It is doable," he said, because there are many solutions to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of water used for agriculture. Indeed, in many larger countries, like China and the United States, the use of more sustainable water and land management practices has seen crop yields increase even as overall water used for agriculture had begun to decline

"Irrigated agriculture is at least three times more productive", he continued, stressing that the aim should be to improve efficiency, particularly as we would need to produce about 50 per cent more agricultural products for our planet's growing population by 2050. "We have seen this efficiency lead increased production of 'thirsty crops' like rice, sugar cane and cotton."

"We strongly believe that agriculture can contribute to a more water and food secure world in the future ... if we first look at efficiency ... and second, the agriculture sector should look at how to re-use and recycle water. For instance, many countries and especially in their urban areas, are making strides to re-use their wastewater, after it has been treated, for agriculture.

With this in mind, he said that FAO had submitted seven commitments to the UN Water Conference, dealing both with policy as well as innovation. Running through all the agency's initiatives, he noted among them, the National Water Roadmaps towards the 2030 Agenda, a tool to foster collective action at national level to improve cross sectorial coordination on water management and governance in support of the SDGs.

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He also announced a "Global Dialogue on Water Tenure" within the framework of water governance, and to engage with Member States, as well as partners from civil society, academia, the private sector, and sister UN agencies, to define principles on the Responsible Governance of Water Tenure.

Working together

Nanette Braun, Conference Spokesperson (UN Department of Global Communications), asked how the two agencies might work together towards the goals of the Water Action agenda and Mr. Grossi said that FAO and the IAEA had been long-time partners in these areas and indeed, they were the only two international organizations to have a joint working centre, in this case for Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture.

"We recognized early on the inextricable nexus between energy and food," explained Mr. Grossi, and the Joint Centre, where FAO and IAEA experts work side by side, aims to contribute to global food security and sustainable agricultural development worldwide.

For example, as FAO was working on enhancing irrigation and other agricultural techniques, the IAEA worked on drought resistant crops. All this work is carried out to ensure there are no negative environmental impacts. "We are bringing solutions to concrete problems."
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) A court here on Monday rejected the bail plea of Shahrukh Pathan, who had allegedly pointed a gun at a Delhi Police head constable during the 2020 riots in the national capital.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat was hearing Pathan's bail plea, which was moved in October last year but not pressed on his request for considering it after the main eyewitnesses in the case were examined.

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It was taken up for hearing after Pathan moved an application last month for pressing the bail plea "in view of the threats" faced by him in prison.

"This court does not see any reason at all to grant bail to the applicant or accused. Accordingly, the bail application ... stands dismissed," the judge said.

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He noted that Pathan's bail plea was earlier dismissed both by the present court and the Delhi High Court and the court had also framed charges against him and others for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including rioting and attempt to murder, and under the provisions of the Arms Act.

None of the accused had challenged the order on the charges passed in December 2021 and the grounds raised in the bail plea, such as the alleged discrepancies in the statements of witnesses or interviews, were dealt with in detail in the earlier orders on bail and charges, the court said.

It said from the perusal of the entire case file, it was apparent that after the framing of the charges, there was no delay in the trial on account of the prosecution's fault.

It was primarily because of reasons, such as the co-accused persons "purposefully absenting themselves on court dates", accused Kaleem Ahmed pleading guilty during the trial and charges being framed against one of the accused, Babu Wasim, who was arrested subsequently, the court pointed out.

"It has to be noted that the date has always been given as per the choice of the counsel for the accused who, despite the court asking for short dates, had insisted by showing his diary to contend that he does not have dates and that the date be given as per his diary," the court added.

Rejecting Pathan's arguments about "threats from jail officials", the court said the entire flood of applications regarding the same did not inspire confidence and the allegations of harassment and torture were "prima facie" for obtaining bail.

Taking note of Pathan's behaviour in the jail as seen in the CCTV footage of two separate incidents of January 30 and February 10, along with the recovery of a mobile phone from the accused inside the prison, the court said his conduct was "completely unsatisfactory".

It noted that according to the footage of January 30, Pathan had left the video-conferencing room of the Tihar Jail and voluntarily entered a cell for two-and-a-half hours without informing the authorities and was seen "mingling and having lunch with co-inmates, including gangsters".

On being traced, Pathan was given a punishment ticket by the jail superintendent and after coming out of the official's room, he voluntarily met two convicts, including a death-row convict in the Red Fort bomb blast case, and after talking to them for a while, gestured towards an assistant superintendent, who then slapped him.

"The entire demeanour of the accused ... during the time when he was in the cell with other inmates and having lunch with them or when he was walking towards the jail superintendent's room or outside shows his casual and comfortable approach and does not show any harassment or sign of threat," the court said.

It said Pathan made aggressive gestures towards the assistant superintendent and it appeared that he was trying to provoke the prison officials.

"This obviously does not justify the assistant superintendent ... slapping him since being a public servant and in charge, he has to act in a more restrained way and take the aggressive and malafide conduct of the accused or undertrial in his stride," the court added.

Taking note of Pathan's conduct on February 10 as seen in the CCTV footage played in the court, the judge said the accused was allegedly again found outside his high-risk ward, where he mingled with "three other hardened prisoners or criminals", and "from the shadow", he could be seen intentionally beating up an undertrial prisoner and then bandaging him.

The undertrial prisoner made a complaint to the jail inspecting judge the next day that he and Pathan were badly beaten up, tortured and harassed by the jail superintendent, the court said.

"It was only on the production of this CCTV footage in the court that the said application was not pursued," the court said, adding, "In all the footage shown, the accused can be seen constantly arguing with the jail staff."

It further said after the incident, Pathan was shifted from the high-risk prisoners' ward to the special prisoners' ward (a high-risk ward with round-the-clock camera surveillance) and the accused's counsel had moved an application seeking directions to transfer his client back to the earlier ward as he faced threats from gangsters and other prisoners.

"However, when it was highlighted that despite being a high-risk prisoner, the accused was voluntarily violating the rules himself by mingling with convicts and gangsters, the counsel for the accused suggested that it was the fault of the jail authorities and not so much of the accused's fault," the court said.

The Jafrabad police station had filed a chargesheet against Pathan and others.

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New Delhi [India], March 27 (ANI): Congress MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet at the Congress Parliamentary Party office at the Parliament at 10.30 am on Monday.

Sources earlier told ANI that the Congress leaders will intensify their protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha wearing black clothes.

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Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will attend the Parliament by putting on black clothes, sources had said.

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

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Notably, Congress has demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and staged protests in the Parliament's ongoing Budget Session.

Like-minded Opposition leaders will meet today in the Rajya Sabha LoP chamber in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor of the house, according to sources.

This is the third week of the second part of the Parliament session and till now parliament is witnessing a logjam as the Opposition is demanding JPC on the Adani issue and Treasury Benches were demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London alleging that he defamed the country on foreign soil.

The ongoing second part of the Budget Session began on March 13 and will continue till April 6. (ANI)

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Moreh (Manipur) [India], March 27 (ANI): Moreh Battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarter Inspector General Assam Rifles (South) has foiled cross-border smuggling of narcotics at Haolenphai village near Border Pillar 76, Manipur's Moreh, the official said on Sunday.

The official further said that based on specific input, Moreh Battalion Assam Rifles on March 24 launched surveillance and mobile vehicle check post in the general area of Haolenphai village near border pillar 76, Moreh.

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"The team observed a suspicious Kenbo bike coming from Myanmar side towards Indian Territory along with black colour polythene. On noticing security forces' presence, Kenbo bike riders immediately turned back the Kenbo bike with the intention to run away," he added.

The official also said that due to a rigorous chase by the team pillion rider dropped black polythene while taking advantage of the porous border, and proximity to the international border.

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On detailed checking of the polythene, it contained 37 x soap cases containing brown sugar weighing approximately 1.536 kilograms. The cost of seized brown sugar is Rs 3.072 crores in the international market.

The recovered items were handed over to Moreh Police Station for further legal proceedings. (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], March 27 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a three-line whip for its MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha on Monday for the passage of important Bills in the Upper House, sources said.

The government has listed two Bills for passage in Rajya Sabha including The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 and The Appropriation Bill 2023.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2023-24. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week without discussion amid din in the Lower House.

Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2022-23.

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The Finance Minister will also move The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23. The Bill has also been passed by Lok Sabha without discussion.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha on March 24 passed the Finance Bill 2023 with several official amendments amid din created by sloganeering by the Opposition parliamentarians who continued with their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman tabled 64 official amendments to the Finance Bill which was tabled in Parliament on February 1 along with the Budget proposals. (ANI)

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Bengaluru, Mar 27: The Lokayukta police arrested BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa hours after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his bail petition in a bribery case relating to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) on Monday.

The Channagiri MLA had got bail days after his son Prashant M V, who was caught while receiving a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a contractor on March 2. Karnataka High Court Says If Accused Is Dead, Fine Can Be Collected From Successors or Property.

Subsequent raids led to the detection of unaccounted cash of Rs 8.23 crore from Virupakshappa's house, sources said.

"We arrested him in Tumakuru when he (the MLA) was on the way to Bengaluru," Lokayukta Inspector General of Police A Subramanyeshwara Rao told PTI.

The High Court had reserved its judgment in the matter last week. The case pertains to the alleged demand and receipt of bribes for allotting contract for supplying chemicals to the state-run company. Subsequent raids by the Lokayukta unearthed cash to the tune of Rs 8.23 crore.

Justice K Natarajan rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the Channagiri MLA.

Virupakshappa, who was the chairman of KSDL, has been charged with demanding bribe through his son Prashanth Madal, a KAS officer.

A demand for Rs 81 lakh bribe to pass a bill was made and his son was caught in his office while accepting Rs 40 lakh out of it.

Later, over Rs 7 crore in cash was seized from Virupakshappa's residence. Prashanth has already been arrested in the case on March 2. Four more arrests have been made by the Lokayukta police in the case since then. SC Seeks Madal Virupakshappa's Reply on Karnataka Lokayukta Plea Against Anticipatory Bail to BJP MLA in Corruption Case.

The BJP MLA has since resigned as the chairman of KSDL. Virupakshappa is the prime accused in the case. The HC had earlier granted interim anticipatory bail to the MLA on a Rs five lakh personal bond which helped him escape arrest.

Virupakshappa faces charges under Section 7(A) and 7(B) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. While Prashanth is the second accused in the case, Siddesh, Nicholas and Gangadhar are the other accused.

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New Delhi [India], March 27 (ANI): Within minutes of the commencement of proceedings of both Houses, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm and Lok Sabha till 4 pm on Monday, amid Opposition MPs' protest in the second phase of the Budget Session.

They were sloganeering over the Adani Group issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.

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Earlier today, the opposition MPs held a meeting at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in the Parliament building on Monday to formulate the strategy for the day.

The opposition parties which participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction).

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Trinamool Congress MPs also participated in the meeting which came as a huge development following Rahul Gandhi's suspension as MP from Lok Sabha.

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a critic of the BJP, supported Rahul Gandhi.

"In PM Modi's New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of the BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy," the TMC Supremo had earlier said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge welcomed TMC's move to participate in the meeting stating that anyone who comes forward to "protect democracy" is welcome.

"I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us," Kharge said.

Meanwhile, the opposition MPs were seen donning black clothes in protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.

The Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, earlier in August last year, had worn black clothes and staged a protest against the Centre against price rise, GST hike on essential items and unemployment. They had marched towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of their stir against the issues. (ANI)

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Ahmedabad, Mar 27 (PTI) Holistic water resource management is a pre-requisite for the development of a nation, a senior official said at the 2nd meeting of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group in Gandhinagar on Monday.

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Debashree Mukherjee, Special Secretary in the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti. also said there was need for collaboration in the field of water resources.

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She was addressing delegates from nineteen G20 nations and nine invitee countries as well as 13 international organisations.

India is committed to strengthen cooperation in water resources development and management through sharing of technical experiences, best practices, usage of state-of-the-art tools and technology and case studies of successful interventions in the water sector for mutual benefit, Mukherjee said.

The event saw presentations from Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, USA, Denmark, Singapore, Spain, Oman and Netherlands.

Organisations like Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Solar Alliance (ISA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) also showcased their best practices on water resources management.

The themes of the presentations included 'Integrated and Sustainable Use of Water Resources /Ecosystem Management', 'Waterbody Restoration / River Rejuvenation', 'Rainwater Management', 'Groundwater Management', 'Water Efficiency Approach with Adaptation to Climate Change' and 'Drought/ Flood Management'.

The session was followed by visit by the delegates to the exhibition stalls put-up by organisations under the Ministry of Jal Shakti showcasing various themes.

These stalls shared the quality work in Atal Jal, Swachh Bharat Mission, Jal Jeevan Mission, Namami Gange, Jal Shakti Abhiyan, National Water Mission, etc.

Thereafter, the G20 delegates visited Adalaj Vav and Sabarmati Riverfront.

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Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 27 (ANI): Punjab Police on Sunday arrested Balwant Singh, from Khanna city in Ludhiana district of Punjab, the man who had harboured Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh's close aide Tajinder Singh Gill.

Khanna Police said that they have arrested Balwant Singh, the one who harboured Amritpal Singh's close aide Tajinder Singh Gill.

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"His questioning is underway," police said, adding that no connection between Amritpal Singh and Balwant Singh has been found yet.

Tajinder Singh Gill alias Gorkha Baba, the core team member of Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, the Khanna Police on Friday released incriminating videos recovered from the mobile phone of Gorkha.

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The chief of Waris Punjab De is still escaping the State police's dragnet. Amritpal Singh was declared a fugitive on the day, Punjab Police launched a crackdown against him and his pro-Khalistan outfit.

Punjab Police on Saturday appealed to people not to believe in rumours and fake news of the arrest of radical preacher and pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh, which is being circulated on social media.

Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Bathinda SSP Gulneet Khurana said, "We urge people not to believe the fake reports of the arrest of Amritpal Singh that are being widely circulated on social media."

He blamed the fake reports on "rumour mongers" based in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.

"A few people sitting in the UK, US, and Canada are spreading false news on social media that Amritpal is being tortured (in custody)," the SSP added.

He added, "BSF companies along with police personnel and 140 security personnel from Bahadurgarh are currently deployed in Bathinda to ensure peace."

An alert was sounded in Uttarakhand over the possibility of the absconding pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh entering the state, informed Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) V Murugesan on Saturday morning.

Murugesan added that he had received inputs from the Punjab Police that the pro-Khalistan leader, who fled Punjab in the wake of the crackdown on Waris Punjab De, may enter Uttarakhand from Haryana.

He told ANI that checks and searches are underway and a security alert has gone out in places through which he can enter the state.

The officer added that the district police have also been alerted and vigilance stepped up at the borders.

Tejinder Singh aka Gorkha Baba, a resident of Punjab's Mangewal village was arrested on Friday.

"Tejinder often lived with Amritpal and is involved in the Ajnala case as well. Gorkha Baba used to be Amritpal's gunman for a long time. He was also active on social media, and his pictures along with weapons used to surface on social media. After which a separate case was registered against Tejinder in Malaud police station", DSP Payal Harsimrat Singh told ANI.

The police informed that action has been taken against him under sections 107/151 of the Indian Penal Code (IPS).

"Two other people accompanying Tejinder have also been detained. They are being interrogated", added the DSP.

The DSP said that Tejinder had a history of criminal cases, ranging from fracas to liquor smuggling, registered against him and he had also served a sentence in jail.

On Friday, an alert was issued in the Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand, amid reports of Amritpal trying to enter the state.

A team of Delhi Police and Punjab Police on Friday launched a search operation for Amritpal in Delhi and its border in view of the possibility of him entering the national capital.

However, Delhi Police later said Waris Punjab De chief may have left the national capital.

On March 18, Punjab Police launched an operation against Amritpal and his aides. The crackdown came almost over three weeks after Amritpal's supporters clashed with uniformed personnel at the Ajnala police station on February 23, on the outskirts of Amritsar, demanding the release of one of his close aides, Lovepreet Toofan. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], March 27 (ANI): The Rajasthan Police, in a major crackdown on Sunday, rounded up 2,051 criminals in Jaipur and Kota ranges and Churu district.

Director General of Police Umesh Mishra said that nearly 8,000 police personnel were part of the operation carried out under the supervision of Additional Director General (Crime) Dinesh M N.

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"A special campaign was conducted by the Rajasthan Police on Sunday on the instructions of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot," an official statement said.

Mishra further said that Jaipur and Kota Range IGs monitored the operations from the control room while the district SPs were in the field.

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Additional Director General of Police Crime Dinesh MN said that Kota police arrested 224 miscreants during raids in 112 hideouts of criminals in the city range.

"Kota rural police raided 121 criminals at 160 places, Bundi police raided 281 miscreants from 234 places, Baran police raided 129 miscreants from 221 places and Jhalawar police raided 226 miscreants at 270 places. A total of 984 accused were rounded up in Kota city," he added.

Four pistols and four live cartridges, narcotics substances including 2 gm smack also recovered.

"In compliance with the direction of the state police headquarter, Kota range police carried out a special campaign in the early hours of Sunday across Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran districts," Kota police range IG Prasan Kumar Khamesra said at a press conference.

Similarly, in the Jaipur range, 988 criminals were rounded up in Jaipur Rural, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Alwar, Bhiwadi and Dausa. Four country-made revolvers, two pistols and as many live cartridges and three knives were recovered.

A total of 45 cases under various sections including those dealing with the Arms Act, NDPS Act, and Excise Act were lodged against them, the official said, adding such crackdowns will continue in the future.

Similar police action was also taken in the Churu district which is part of the Bikaner range. (ANI)

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New Delhi, March 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with top ministers of his government in Parliament ahead of the start of the day's proceedings on Monday. The Ministers who were present at the meeting include Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur and others.

Earlier today, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a three-line whip for its MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha on Monday for the passage of important Bills in the Upper House, sources said.The government has listed two Bills for passage in Rajya Sabha including The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 and The Appropriation Bill 2023. PM Narendra Modi to Address Top Military Brass, Witness Military Innovations in Bhopal.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2023-24. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week without discussion amid din in the Lower House.

Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2022-23.

The Finance Minister will also move The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23. The Bill has also been passed by Lok Sabha without discussion.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha on March 24 passed the Finance Bill 2023 with several official amendments amid din created by sloganeering by the Opposition parliamentarians who continued with their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman tabled 64 official amendments to the Finance Bill which was tabled in Parliament on February 1 along with the Budget proposals. PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates Much-Awaited Whitefield to Krishnarajapuram Metro Line in Bengaluru (See Pics).

Meanwhile, the opposition MPs have put on black clothes in protest against the government on the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as MP from Lok Sabha. They also held a meeting in LoP Mallikarjun Khargeji's chamber in Parliament building.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Celebrated by millions of Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time "to come together, bound by our common humanity", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video message just ahead of the holy month.

The UN chief drew a parallel between the spirit of "understanding and compassion" which characterizes Ramadan, and the mission of the United Nations, "to foster dialogue, unity and peace."

"In these challenging times, my thoughts are with those facing conflict, displacement and suffering. I join everyone observing Ramadan to call for peace, mutual respect and solidarity."

Islamic philanthropy

Ramadan is also known as a "month of giving", and a high point in charitable giving motivated by faith, towards the displaced. Islamic philanthropy plays a growing role in supporting refugees worldwide, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

In a new report, UNHCR shows that its pioneering Refugee Zakat Fund has supported six million forcibly displaced people in 26 countries since its launch in 2017.

'New kids on the block'

"We are new to this sector as a UN organization," Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner for Refugees and UNHCR Representative to Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, told reporters in Geneva.

"We wanted to offer a new platform to enable giving in places where Muslim organizations do not operate at ease, because of financial restrictions, because we need the large machinery of the UN to implement, like in Afghanistan, in Somalia and for the Rohingya," he said, before adding: "Islamic giving has always been there - we are the new kids on the block."

Central role of charity

UNHCR's Islamic Philanthropy Annual Report shows that some $38 million were raised through the fund in 2022. Mr. Khalifa highlighted how harnessing the central role of charitable giving in Islam has been key to the initiative's success. He explained the principle of "Zakat", or obligatory almsgiving, whereby Muslims need to contribute 2.5 per cent of their unused savings to charity every year, adding that it was one of the five pillars of Islam.

Assisting the most vulnerable

Mr. Khalifa also pointed out that, while resources from the fund are not exclusively dedicated to supporting refugees in Muslim countries, more than 50 per cent of the forcibly displaced under UNHCR's global purview are in the Muslim world.

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The agency lists the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh, the internal displacement situation in Yemen and the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon as the main "recipient operations" of proceeds from the fund since 2017. The contributions were distributed through cash assistance and direct provision of goods.

'Innovative finance'

While the fund represents a "small contribution" to the budget of the agency, its positive impact is increasingly apparent.

To continue leveraging the potential of Islamic philanthropy, last year UNHCR launched a new initiative in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank, called the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees.

Mr. Khalifa said that the agency was increasingly looking to "innovative finance" to generate new revenue streams for refugees worldwide.

UNHCR notes that its Refugee Zakat Fund has been "endorsed by several legal Islamic scholars and institutions" to receive and distribute donations to eligible refugees and internally displaced people.
New Delhi [India], March 27 (ANI): President Droupadi Murmu will embark on a two-day visit to West Bengal starting today.

This would be Murmu's maiden visit to the state after taking oath as the President of the country.

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According to an official release on Sunday, the President will visit Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata to pay homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on March 27 (Monday).

"Subsequently, she will visit Jorasanko Thakurbari - Rabindranath Tagore's House to pay tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore," the release said.

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The President will attend a civic reception to be hosted in her honour at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata on the same evening.

On March 28 (Tuesday), President Murmu will visit Belur Math.

"She will also grace the celebration of the completion of 80 years of UCO Bank in Kolkata," the release said.

Later, the President will visit Shantiniketan where she will grace the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati.

On March 19, President Murmu visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district.

"Visiting the iconic Vivekananda Rock memorial is a memorable experience for me. I marvel at the greatness of the late Eknath Ranade Ji who was behind the building of the spiritually charged complex", tweeted the President's official Twitter handle.

President Murmu was earlier on a week's visit to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep from March 16 to March 21. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dehradun, Mar 27 (PTI) A banned pro-Khalistan organisation has made threat calls to hundreds of people including journalists ahead of a crucial three-day G-20 meeting to be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar with an aim to "internationalise" the issue, officials said.

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They said those who received the calls Sunday night heard pre-recorded messages by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, head of the organization 'Sikh for Justice', in which he said they will raise flags at airports, railway stations and other areas during the meeting days.

"Ramnagar is not a part of India and it will be made a part of Khalistan after Punjab is freed," Pannu said in the message, according to Uttarakhand Special Task Force's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Senthil Abudai Krishnaraj S.

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The Chief Scientific Advisors' Roundtable (CSAR) of G-20 countries will be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar from March 28-30 with its focus on harnessing the benefits of traditional knowledge in healthcare.

Krishnaraj S said all the numbers from which such recorded calls were received are being traced.

The DIG said the Special Task Force is probing the matter. It seems that Pannu is trying to gain publicity on the Khalistan issue through the G-20 meeting.

However, the Uttarakhand police is fully prepared and "we will not allow the purpose of these separatists to be fulfilled", he said.

"There is a full security arrangement for the G-20 meeting. Our senior officers are keeping a watch there," he said.

Meanwhile, the police in Udhamsinghnagar district which has a sizeable Sikh population are on alert over the absconding Khalistan separatist preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates.

Following intelligence received from the Punjab Police and central agencies, the district police has tightened security especially in areas bordering Uttar Pradesh districts of Rampur, Pilibhit and Bareilly, and Nepal.

All government and private vehicles are being checked and religious places are also being monitored, officials said.

City Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Katyal said religious places near the international border are also being searched, and a special vigil is being kept on the people passing through the India-Nepal border. The police have also pasted posters of Amritpal and his associates at various places, and running a "verification campaign", he said.

The Punjab Police has alerted their Uttarakhand counterpart suspecting that absconding Amritpal Singh might have taken a shelter in Uttarakhand and might flee to Nepal.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the state police in Pithoragarh are also keeping a close watch in areas near the India-Nepal border, officials said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) The CPIM on Monday said Rahul Gandhi's sentencing and the "haste" with which he was disqualified as an MP was a "blatant" display of intolerance by the BJP and reflects the party's "abhorrent authoritarian" character.

CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged that the Modi government is giving public money and capital to its friends like businessman Gautam Adani.

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"The Politburo condemned BJP's usage of the criminal defamation route to target opposition leaders and disqualify them as MPs. The sentencing of Rahul Gandhi and the haste with which he was disqualified is a blatant display of the levels of intolerance to criticism and reflects the abhorrent authoritarian character of the BJP," Yechury said, reading out from a party statement.

The statement said this comes on top of the already "brazen" misuse of the Central agencies to target Opposition leaders. It said the RSS/BJP has also lodged FIRs and filed cases in several states against political opponents on the flimsiest of grounds.

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It mentioned the arrest of AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and ED/CBI raids on RJD leaders Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, K Kavitha (BRS) and others.

Reiterating its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Adani issue, the party alleged that the BJP government is "shamelessly" defending the Adani group's acts of "brazen misdeeds, acts of omission and commission".

Accusing the government of being in nexus with crony capitalists, facilitating the "looting" of people's hard-earned savings from nationalised financial institutions, Yechury said its "blatant refusal" to hold any sort of enquiry into the Adani saga is exposing it to the core.

"On that he does not want to answer a question. This is the point. How come all the capital, all the ports, other infrastructure like airport, mines and mining were given to only one person? People lost lives during the pandemic, the economy worsened, but Modi ji's friend saw tremendous growth, became the richest person?

"This has been possible with public money. This is loot and embezzlement. Answer Modi government or resign," Yechury said, attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While speaking to the media on the decisions taken at the Politburo meeting held from March 25 to 26, 2023 in New Delhi, Yechury objected to the BJP government scrapping the quota for Muslims in Karnataka, saying it is an attempt to widen communal polarisation ahead of the state polls.

Yechury also said the Politburo noted with grave concern the rising incidents of "orchestrated" attacks against members of the minority communities.

"Killings of Muslim youth by cow vigilantes continues unabated. Attacks on churches and members of the Christian community, particularly Christian Tribals, are reported from several states. Various new false narratives and histories are being created, especially in poll-bound states to heighten communal polarisation," he said.

The party also demanded the immediate scrapping of the National Mobile Monitoring System APP made mandatory by the government for the MGNREGS. It said that reports suggest that workers have lost at least half of their wages owing to technical glitches in the APP.

"Women workers who constitute the bulk of MGNREGS workforce are forced to take loans to buy smartphones to use the APP. Along with the slashing of budgetary allocation and long pendency of wage payments the introduction of the APP is rendering the MGNREGS ineffective," it said.

The next Central Committee will meet on April 27-29 in New Delhi.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 27 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inspected the under-construction Delhi-Dehradun Expressway on Sunday.

During the inspection, Dhami took stock of the 340-meter-long Daat Kali tunnel and elevated section on the expressway from the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

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The chief minister directed the executing agencies to complete the work within the stipulated time and pay special attention to the quality.

He said that to speed up the works related to Delhi-Dehradun Expressway in Uttarakhand, NHAI will be provided with all necessary support needed from the state, to ensure the timely completion of the project. Permission has also been given to carry out work at night as well on the E-way.

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"This highway will help in reducing the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun to just 2-2.5 hours. In the coming time, tourists will easily be able to come from Delhi. The work is going on very fast & we ensure that it is completed by January 2024. The speed at which road connectivity is increasing in the state it will give a major boost to economic activities in the state," he said.

He also interacted with the labourers and inquired about their well-being and ordered officials to take care of their (labours) health, accommodation and food arrangements.

It is to be noted that the last 20-km stretch of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway passes through an eco-sensitive zone of Rajaji National Park and concerning that Asia's longest elevated wildlife corridor (12 km) is being constructed that includes 340-metre Daat Kali tunnel, said a press release by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

While inspecting, Chief Engineer Public Works Department Ayaz Ahmed, District Magistrate Dehradun, Sonika, Additional Secretary Vineet Kumar and officers of NHAI were present. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Director Lars Kraume talks about the genocide against the Herero and Nama and other crimes committed by Germany in what is now Namibia. The film is told from the perspective of the perpetrators.Almost 120 years ago, the Herero people rose up against German colonial rule in German Southwest Africa, what is now called Namibia.

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The German military commander, General Lothar von Trotha, suppressed the uprising ruthlessly and issued a notorious "extermination order," which led to what has gone down in the history books as the "first genocide of the 20th century."

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With "Der vermessene Mensch" (Measures of Men), German director Lars Kraume has directed the first German feature film dealing with the issue.

In the movie, a fictional young German ethnologist embarks on a research trip to the colony German South West Africa and begins collecting human skulls for his racial research. In the process, he witnesses the genocide committed by the "Deutsche Schutztruppe," as the military formation that maintained the German Empire was called, against the Ovaherero and Nama tribes between 1904 and 1908. But beyond witnessing the crimes, the ethnologist increasingly mutates into a perpetrator.

Film shows the 'moral decay' of a young scientist

The story is about the "moral decay" of its main character, Kraume tells DW. As a German director, he felt it would not be right to tell the story from the perspective of the Ovaherero and Nama. But some critics disagree on the angle with which Kraume approached the film.

The very first scene of the film makes one shudder. Berlin scientists are measuring skulls of German and African skeletons in a lecture hall of Berlin's Friedrich Wilhelm University, now Humboldt University. A pseudo-scientific, evolutionist racial theory is taught, based on the premise that the skull of a "Berlin worker" is larger than that of an African "bushman." These comparisons are meant to prove that Germans are supposedly "more intelligent" than Africans  a theory that prevailed during the colonial era, and long after as well.

Kraume succeeds in capturing the zeitgeist of the time through these abstruse investigations.

The ambitious ethnology doctoral student Alexander Hoffmann  played by Leonard Scheicher  refutes this theory of superiority, developing his own "race theory." He gives a lecture on the fact that all humans are descended from one and the same "race," namely Homo Sapiens. He proves his thesis with the knowledge he gained by talking to and surveying the Herero woman Kezia Kambazembi, who is portrayed by Namibian actress Girley Charlene Jazama.

Hoffman becomes aware of her at Berlin's Volkerschau, an ethnic show also known as a "human zoo," where she is forced to serve as an exhibit for paying visitors. She serves as his scientific research object, and the young researcher initially seems like someone who will fight against the established race theory.

.

Germans stole the skulls of murdered Herero and Nama people

"For this provocative thesis, he doesn't get the lectureship he wants at Friedrich Wilhelm University," explains director Lars Kraume. "Then, years later, when the Herero uprising breaks out in German South West Africa, he gets a second chance."

As part of an ethnological expedition, he travels through the German colony accompanied by the Imperial Army, collecting artifacts and skulls from the dead of the conflict for the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. He then evolves into an anti-hero as the plot progresses.

"The film shows the moral degeneration of this young ethnologist," Kraume elaborates. "He's really only driven by his own success. That's his real motive, and in the process he becomes part of this destructive machinery of the colonizers in Africa." With tomb looting and the theft of artifacts, "he crosses borders and makes himself a conformist of the imperial system. All the while, he remains in search of the Herero woman, Kezia, who so fascinated him back in Berlin, and finds her even in the climax of the plot."

Modern-day slavery still exists, says Kraume

Even though his film sheds light on a dark piece of Germany's colonial past, it is still very relevant today, says the director.

After all, there are still "scientists and technicians from large German industrial corporations in Africa who exploit and convince themselves that they are bringing work into the country. In truth, however, they are simply practicing a kind of modern slavery," Kraume said. "The self-legitimization of this amoral scientist is something we see all the time today. That's why I took this character. It just wasn't meant to be a white-savior figure. He's a destroyer."

Real history underlies the film

Alexander Hoffmann's story is fiction, but the events he observes in the film are based on historical facts.

In the film, the protagonist repeatedly comes into contact with real locations in history, including the 1896 imperial ethnic show, Lothar von Trotha's extermination order, the expulsion of the Ovaherero into the desert, a concentration camp on Shark Island and missionaries collaborating with the Germans.

"The major stages of this odyssey are based on facts. And to get to these places that are vouched for and researched, of course I needed a biography that was fictional. You can't find a biography that traces this exact path. That's why Hoffmann is a fictional character. He is, so to speak, an observer of these real events," Kraume explains.

Grave desecration and the theft of artifacts in the name of science were also commonplace at the time, Kraume says, referring, for example, to the then director's assistant at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, Felix von Luschan, who "was a great skull collector and had a private skull collection of over 10,000 pieces," many of which are still in the possession of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation today.

Some critics have taken swipes at Kraume, saying he should have told the film from multiple perspectives and also included the views of the Ovaherero and Nama. In their view, the film comes across as a post-colonialist reappraisal that only takes up the German view of history, they argue.

But Kraume defends himself against this argument by replying that he wanted to prevent a cultural appropriation of the topic. He worked closely with Namibian authorities and artists on the shoot, he says.

One costume designer was a Herero, as was the actress of the main character Kezia (who is actually only seen at the beginning and end of the film). But he did not want to presume to tell a heroic story of a Herero leader. As a result, however, the suffering of the Herero in the film recedes into the background and they become mere backdrops for the plotline in a white perpetrator story.

'Public must become aware of terrible crimes'

Lars Kraume, at any rate, wants his film to come to terms with Germany's colonial past. "The public must become aware that we were once this great colonial power and also committed terrible crimes," says the director, who has already dealt with other controversial topics of German history in films such as "The State against Fritz Bauer" (2015) and "The Silent Classroom" (2018).

The denial of these crimes must stop, says Kraume. The reparation agreement with Namibia must finally be reached; human remains, thousands of which are still in museums, must be restituted; and the discussion about looted art must continue, he adds.

He also shows his film in German schools. "Schoolchildren are insanely open and comment on everything. They are honestly my favorite audience," Kraume says. "I have sons myself who are teenagers. Of course, I don't want them to travel to Africa to look at the elephants, as many people do, without knowing what our real connection is to countries like Namibia."

"Der vermessene Mensch" is out in cinemas in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This article was originally written in German and adapted by John Silk.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2023 08:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
By John Solomou

Nicosia [Cyprus], March 27 (ANI): March has been a month full of surprises in the Middle East, as after the shock created by the announcement that the formerly implacable arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to restore diplomatic relations, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia and Syria agreed to reopen their embassies, after the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr (21-22 April).

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This means that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been shunned by Arab leaders, due to the crimes perpetrated by his regime against Syrian citizens, is now expected to be welcomed back to the fold and we may soon see him taking part in Arab summits and the Arab League from which he was suspended in 2011.

A few days ago, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had hinted that the suspension of Syria from the Arab League could be lifted but hastened to add that it was too early to discuss this possibility, as the matter could be examined during the forthcoming meeting of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia in April.

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Syria was suspended from the Arab League in November 2011, at the time of the Arab Spring, when the Syrian regime killed about 5,000 protesters and opponents. In the next ten years of the civil war that broke out in the country, various domestic and foreign forces were fighting the government and often each other, resulting in more than 600,000 deaths.

The Bashar al-Assad regime has committed repeated and massive violations of human rights and on some occasions used chemical weapons.

Most Arab countries imposed travel bans on senior officials of the regime and other sanctions, including limitation of investments and dealings with the Central Bank of Syria.

The only Arab governments that refused to apply any sanctions on the Syrian regime were those of Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, where Iran - the ally of Hafez al-Assad - exercises great influence.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking before the UN General Assembly last year, said that the Syrian government was responsible "for massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law" and added that "the perpetrators of these crimes and the use of chemical weapons against civilians must be held to account."

Although at the beginning of the war, it seemed that the Assad regime will collapse, the intervention of Iran and mainly Russia, which has been carrying out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria, changed the whole picture and now it has become apparent that the regime will not be defeated.

It should be noted that Saudi Arabia and Qatar sided with some of the rebels, while Turkey fought Islamic State (ISIL), the Kurdish-Arab SDF and the Syrian Army and currently occupies large swathes of land in north-western Syria. The United States fought the ISIL terrorists and sometimes the pro-government forces in Syria.

A growing realization that the Damascus regime has prevailed, compounded by fatigue with the war, has led several Arab governments make second thoughts about the war in Syria and decide that it is in their national interest to restore relations with the Assad regime.

The first country that changed its mind about its relations with Damascus was Tunisia in 2015, followed by the United Arab Emirates which reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018, saying that Arab countries should be present in Syria and work hard to resolve the conflict. Jordan sent a charge d' affaires to Damascus in 2019 and Oman followed suit in 2020.

Last month, at the prompting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, announced that Cairo supported the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Syria.

The devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria last month, with tens of thousands of dead and millions of people made homeless, created a wave of sympathy for the victims all over the world and prompted several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, to send hundreds of tons of aid to the quake victims.

The announcement about the planned reopening of Embassies in Damascus and Riyadh made a few weeks after the devastating earthquake and the desperate need for the provision of international assistance to the victims, gave the Saudi Government an opportunity to change its policy on Syria, without losing face, and also to remove one of the reasons of confrontation with Iran, which has been a strong supporter of the Assad regime.

If the rehabilitation of Assad and his return to the Arab fold is made dependent on him accepting the safe return of millions of Syrian refugees from Turkey and elsewhere, it would be easier for many countries to accept that he would no longer be an international pariah for the violations of human rights committed by his regime.

The world opinion would more easily accept the bitter pill that he will not be punished for his crimes, if this will improve the plight of Syrian refugees seeking asylum in foreign lands and will allow them to return to their homeland in safety.

James Dorsey, in an article published in Responsible Statecraft, points out that the Arab proposition to bring Assad in from the cold potentially opens a way out of a quagmire because "it would enhance the leverage of the United States and Europe to ensure that political reform is the cornerstone of Assad's engagement with elements of the Syrian opposition.

In other words, rather than rejecting any solution that does not involve Assad's removal from power, the United States and Europe could lift sanctions contingent on agreement and implementation of reforms. Similarly, the US and Europe could make sanctions relief contingent on a safe, uninhibited, and orderly return of refugees." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kathmandu [Nepal], March 27 (ANI): The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has launched an investigation into an incident on Friday when two aeroplanes, one of Air India and the other of Nepal Airlines Corporation, came perilously close to colliding in mid-air, The Himalayan Times reported.

As per the statement provided by the Information Officer of CAAN, Gyanendra Bhul, an internal three-member committee has been formed to oversee the investigation.

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The CAAN has also suspended two ATC officers who were in charge at the time of the incident.

In addition, the country manager of Air India has been instructed to ground the pilots involved in the incident until the final report of the investigation is released, The Himalayan Times reported.

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"Our preliminary findings suggest that the Air India aircraft flying to Kathmandu from Delhi was in a holding pattern in the airspace of Simara at an altitude of roughly 19,000 feet. Without prior communication with the ATC, the aircraft abruptly descended towards the NAC aircraft that was flying in from Kuala Lumpur and was at an altitude of 15,000 feet. The two aircraft came dangerously close to colliding, but the traffic collision avoidance system installed in the cockpit of the flight RA- NAC was activated, which helped prevent the mid-air collision," Bhul said.

"It is worth noting that the vertical separation between two aircraft should ideally be 1,000 feet, except in emergency situations. However, the separation between the two aircraft, in this case, was approximately only 300 feet, which prompted the ATC to intervene," he added, The Himalayan Times reported.

He further informed that the ATC specialist instructed the pilot of the NAC aircraft to descend to an altitude of 13,500 feet, while the pilot of the Air India aircraft was directed to ascend to an altitude of 16,000 feet, ensuring a safe distance between the two aircraft, The Himalayan Times reported.

The Air India aircraft on Friday had descended to 3700 feet from 19,000 feet while it was being held up over the sky of Simara in Nepal.

"Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) of Tribhuvan International Airport involved in a traffic conflict incident (between Air India and Nepal Airlines on 24th March 2023) have been removed from active control position until further notice," the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal tweeted.

The CAAN has decided to ban the Air India pilots in the incidents and has written to DGCA-India, the CAAN announced.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) had also written to the Indian Commission in this regard about the decision.

The CAAN also questioned the crew over the incident on the same day 23 March after landing at Kathmandu. The pilot-in-command also accepted their mistake and apologized for it.

The aircraft of Air India had descended to 15 thousand 3 hundred feet from 19 thousand feet while it was being holed up at Simara of Nepal. At the time the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying low and had to retract its height after the Indian Airlines descended. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad, Mar 27 (PTI) As if the political and economic crises were not enough in Pakistan, cracks appeared in the top judiciary of the country on Monday after two judges challenged the chief justice's power to form a bench or take suo motu notices.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court in their detailed dissenting judgment in a case decided earlier this month called for revisiting the power of the one-man show enjoyed by the chief justice.

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Their judgment is about the case of suo motu notice taken by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on February 22 about elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces.

The court's five-member bench on March 1 by a 3-2 majority decision directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consult with President Arif Alvi for polls in Punjab and Governor Ghulam Ali for elections in KP.

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Justice Shah and Mandokhail differed with the majority judgment, which also allowed the ECP to propose a poll date that deviates from the 90-day deadline by the barest minimum, in case of any practical difficulty.

In their detailed 28-page note, the two dissenting judges talked at length about the suo motu powers, saying that the top court's original jurisdiction under Article 184(3) of the Constitution was not only discretionary' but also special' and extraordinary', which is to be exercised with circumspection' only in exceptional cases' of public importance relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights that are considered fit' for being dealt with under this jurisdiction by the court.

The two judges said they had serious reservations on the mode and manner how the original jurisdiction of this court under Article 184(3) was invoked suo motu in the present matter as well as on the constitution of the nine-member bench which they expressed in the additional notes of the February 23 order.

It is pertinent to mention that a nine-member bench was set up for the suo motu case but later the bench was reconstituted to include five judges.

The judges said, the present suo motu proceedings and the connected constitution petitions do not constitute a fit case to exercise the extraordinary original jurisdiction of this Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

The two also underlined that in order to strengthen the institution and to ensure public trust and confidence in the top court, it is high time that we revisit the power of one-man show' enjoyed by the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

They proposed a rule-based system approved by all judges in regulating the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 184(3) including the exercise of suo motu jurisdiction; the constitution of benches to hear such cases; the constitution of regular benches to hear all the other cases instituted in this court; and the constitution of special benches.

The power of doing a one-man show' is not only anachronistic, outdated and obsolete but also is antithetical to good governance and incompatible to modern democratic norms, they said.

One-man show leads to the concentration of power in the hands of one individual, making the system more susceptible to the abuse of power. In contrast, a collegial system with checks and balances helps prevent the abuse and mistakes in the exercise of power and promotes transparency and accountability.

They further demanded: Therefore, the one-man show needs a revisit as it limits diverse perspectives, concentrates power, and increases the risk of an autocratic rule.

The judges said the unbridled power enjoyed by the chief justice to form benches had brought severe criticism and lowered the honour and prestige of this court.

They also accused that due to the suo motu proceedings and the connected constitutional petitions, the top court had been ushered into a political thicket'.

Citing technicalities, they also rejected the 3-2 judgment in the suo motu case by saying that it was actually a 4-3 judgment to reject the maintainability of the case, as two judges out of the original nine-member bench had recused themselves and two had rejected it.

Therefore, we are of the opinion that the dismissal of the present suo motu proceedings and the connected constitution petitions is the order of the court by a majority of 4 to 3 of the seven-member bench.

The dissenting note is of huge importance as it not only showed cracks in the apex court where two judges openly challenged the powers of the chief justice to form benches for cases but also put on the spot his power to take suo motu actions.

The development comes as the top court is hearing a case about the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan to postpone the provincial election till October 8 which is well beyond the 90 days deadline by the constitution to hold elections after the dissolution of an assembly.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London [UK], March 27 (ANI): The Indian Air Force contingent on Monday departed for India after successfully completing a four-week-long Cobra Warrior exercise held at the Waddington Air Force Base of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom.

"@IAF_MCC contingent departed for India this morning after a successful four-week long Cobra Warrior exercise held at UK@DefenceHQ@DefenceMinIndia@VDoraiswami@sujitjoyghosh@MEAIndia@IndianDiplomacy@RoyalAirForce," the Indian High Commission said in a tweet here.

Also Read | Australia: Five-Day-Old White Rhino Calf Dies From Internal Injuries at Werribee Open Range Zoo in Victoria State.

https://twitter.com/HCI_London/status/1640386459004698625?s=20

The exercise was held from March 06-23. It was a multinational exercise. Countries like Singapore, Finland, the USA, South Africa, and Sweden also participated in the exercise.

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The IAF sent five Mirage 2000 fighters along with IL-78 mid-air refueller aircraft, and two C-17 Globemaster. The aim of the exercise was to participate in diverse fighter aircraft engagements and learn from the best practices of various Air Forces.

This exercise involves high-intensity, large-force, and tactical air warfighting operations. The Mirage-2000s were drawn from all three existing squadrons, including those that took part in the Balakot air strike in February 2019.

The Cobra Warrior is one of the largest Royal Air Force exercises. During the exercise, the Royal Air Force provides special training to pilots from different countries. The exercise is being conducted for more than a decade. The Cobalt Warrior is considered one of the most challenging exercises in the world.

During the exercise, the Royal British Air Force offered Qualified Space Instructors Courses, surveillance, Multi-Engine Tactics, Qualified Weapons Instructors, etc. To qualify for these war strategies the Air Force crew had to seek intense training provided by the British Royal Air Force.

Finland, India, and Saudi Arabia joined Exercise Cobra Warrior for the first time. The initial plan was to bring in indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, but they were busy with another exercise, so the Mirage-2000s were deployed. The Saudi Arabian Air Force flew six Eurofighter Typhoons from RAF Coningsby base, while the Indian team, Finnish team, and Belgian Air Force flew six F/A-18 Super Hornets and six F-16s, respectively, from Waddington airbase. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Tokyo, March 27: A Japanese student showed up to graduation as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's lookalike, wearing his signature olive-coloured, snug-fit T-shirt and khaki trousers to show his support for Ukraine's fight against Russia.

Most graduation ceremonies in Japan feature graduates in suits or formal dress. But Kyoto University has its own tradition of students who opt for different attire on their special day. Also Read | Dalai Lama Names US-Born Mongolian Boy As Third Highest Leader in Buddhism.

Watch Video: Japanese Student Goes to Graduation Dressed Like Ukrainian President

As a sign of solidarity with Ukraine, a Japanese student attended his graduation ceremony at Kyoto University dressed like Ukrainian President "I can't support you other than with a modest donation, but one day I will set foot on your land to help with your recovery," he wrote. pic.twitter.com/PewrJRpPi0  The New Voice of Ukraine (@NewVoiceUkraine) March 26, 2023

This year, Zelenskyy was the star at the event. I am President Zelenskyy, the student told local TV network Yomiuri. He said it took him three months to grow his beard. Also Read | Indian Embassy in Kathmandu Claims Amritpal Singh Hiding in Nepal, Says Report.

He decided to be his lookalike for the graduation ceremony Friday, because since December, when I was growing out my beard, I was told I look like President Zelenskyy. His performance was not just a comical cosplay.

The student, who goes by Amiki on Twitter, was holding a sign carrying messages expressing his support for Ukraine, along with a passage from Zelenskyy's speech in December at the U.S. Congress. In the video from TV Osaka, he said he respects Zelenskyy as the real man among men.

We stand for Ukraine! Justice will prevail in the end, I hope so. Glory to Ukraine, he tweeted. The student also held a wooden shamoji  a rice serving spoon  like the one that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented to Zelenskyy as a gift during his secret trip to Kyiv last week.

The rice paddle is a specialty of Hiroshima, where Kishida is from, and bears a prayer for victory, but was bitterly criticised by opposition lawmakers as nonsense.

Giving a rice serving spoon to the leader of a country at war didn't seem appropriate, the student said. Nonetheless, I'm happy if the Ukrainian people were pleased and the traditional prayer behind it was conveyed.

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky retweeted a scene from the video of the Zelenskyy lookalike, as well as the student's tweets showing solidarity for Ukraine.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
As water scarcity and the potential for conflicts between countries over resources increase, the UN is urging more nations to sign up to the Water Convention, designed to reduce tensions and improve international cooperation.

During the UN Water Conference, held at UN Headquarters between 22-24 March, Two countries joined the Convention, against the backdrop of a growing global water crisis, in which climate change, pollution, and rising demand are posing challenges for developing and developed countries alike.

On Thursday Nigeria became the 48h country to join the treaty. The fast-growing country, the most populous in Africa, is dealing directly with the effects of desertification, having seen Lake Chad, an important water source, shrink by around 90 per cent since the 1970s.

And on Friday, Iraq also joined, the first in the Middle East to do so. Nineteen of the 22 Arab countries are considered water scarce, and nearly all Arab States draw upon transboundary water resources that cross one or more international boundaries. Iraq is experiencing mounting social, economic and political pressures due to water scarcity.

On the second day of the Conference, Conor Lennon from UN News moderated a discussion at the SDG Media Zone, on how to improve cross-border cooperation between countries which share water resources. He was joined by Sonja Koppel, the Secretary to the Water Convention, and Suleiman Adamu, Nigeria's Federal Minister of Water Resources.

The following is an edited summary of the SDG Media Zone session.

Conor Lennon: What has the Water Convention achieved since it entered into force in 1996?

Sonja Koppel: More than 60 per cent of all freshwater resources are shared by two or more countries, so cooperating on the use of those waters is crucial for peace, sustainable development, and climate action.

The Water Convention is a unique legal and intergovernmental platform, which has helped to facilitate up to 100 agreements between countries, helping to prevent conflicts, and set up strong institutions for its joint management.

In Europe, it has led to concrete energy generation agreements, and improved ecosystem well-being. And, in recent years, there has been an increased momentum for cooperation.

In Africa, around 20 countries are in the process of accession to the Convention, and now there's also increasing interest in Latin America, and even Asia.

The Water Convention is highlighting the topic of transboundary water cooperation at the international level, and this is now reflected in the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]. Target 5 of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation for All) includes a call for transboundary water cooperation.

Conor Lennon: What difference will joining the Convention make to Nigeria?

Suleiman Adamu: What is important is that we are now moving from a regional situation to a more global community. Water security is very important to us. We are dealing with Boko Haram terrorism in the northeast, partly due to the lack of opportunities arising from the shrinking of Lake Chad. We hope that joining the Convention will draw more attention to this issue.

Conor Lennon: Lake Chad has shrunk some 90 per cent over the last 60 years. This must have made a huge difference to people living in that region.

Suleiman Adamu: We estimate around 14 million people are affected in one way or the other, in one of the poorest areas on earth, where people are dealing with desertification and other climate challenges.

We worry that, sometime in the next few decades, we might find that there will be no Lake left at all. We really need to wake up and address this challenge.

The crisis has also moved inland, because some of the grazing areas around the Lake Chad are no longer available. There is growing conflict between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in the middle section of the country, and there's a move towards the south, where there is better quality land, in the absence of what used to be available around Lake Chad. It's a big challenge for Nigeria.

Sonja Koppel: Accession to the Water Convention means that Nigeria will be able to benefit from the global expertise, capacity building, and good practices from existing parties in different parts of the world. It also sends a positive signal to the international community, including international financial institutions.

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It can also mean support for climate change adaptation because, as we all know, water and climate change are closely interlinked. The Water Convention is helping countries by developing joint adaptation strategies, so Nigeria will be able to bring forward its requests and needs.

Conor Lennon: Are you resigned to Lake Chad disappearing? Or can it be saved?

Suleiman Adamu: The inter-basin water transfer project from the Congo Basin to Lake Chad is probably one of the best solutions to this problem, because we can't stop desertification. It's a large-scale, drastic solution, to move a large volume of water, that generally flows into the Atlantic Ocean, to Lake Chad.

Conor Lennon: Can the global water crisis be solved?

Sonja Koppel: We need to mobilize governments at the highest level and mobilize financial institutions and the private sector. We also need to involve civil society and young people, and have strong advocates for water, demonstrating that water is crucial for all the Sustainable Development Goals.
Malaysian Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in Chine on his first trip after COVID pandemic. (Photo/Twitter: @OliviaSiongCNA)

Guangzhou [China], March 27 (ANI): Malaysian Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in Guangzhou on Monday on his first trip to China in four years, accompanied by his wife and a delegation of about 50 Singapore officials, Strait Times reported.

The Singapore leader, accompanied by his wife, Madam Ho Ching, and a delegation of about 50 Singapore officials, was greeted on the tarmac at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at around noon by Chinese officials bearing umbrellas under a persistent drizzle.

Also Read | Pakistan Political Turmoil: PEMRA Bans Coverage of Rallies, Gatherings in Islamabad for Today.

The Malaysian PM and his delegation were greeted by Guangdong vice-governor Zhang Xin, China's ambassador to Singapore Sun Haiyan, Guangdong Foreign Affairs Office director-general Liu Chenzi, and Guangzhou vice-mayor Tan Ping.

The southern city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province is Lee's first stop on his week-long visit to China. He will be hosted to lunch by Guangdong party secretary Huang Kunming and will meet Singaporeans in Guangzhou.

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PM Lee will also give a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan before going to Beijing, where he is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping and newly minted Premier Li Qiang, who will host a welcome ceremony and a lunch banquet for the Singapore delegation.

PM Lee will also meet National People's Congress chairman Zhao Leji, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Huning and Beijing party secretary Yin Li.

The Singapore Prime Minister's last visit to China was in April 2019, when he attended the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann, and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Law Rahayu Mahzam. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad, March 27: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Monday barred the television channels from live and recorded coverage of rallies or public gatherings by any party, organisation, and individual being held in the federal capital today, Geo News reported.

According to the regulatory body, the prohibition order includes a ban on any procession or rally being staged today in the federal capital under Section 27(a) of the PEMRA Ordinance 2002. Pakistan: Martial Law Can Be Imposed in Country If Parties of Imran Khan, Others Continue Tussle, Says Report.

In an advisory issued on Monday titled "Prohibition order on live coverage under Section 27 of Pemra Ordinance 2002", the electronic media regulator stated that it has been observed with concern that satellite TV channels are showing live footage and images of a violent mob, attacks on police and law enforcing agencies, Geo News reported.

"Such footage/images were seen on TV screens without any editorial oversight during a recent standoff between political party workers and law enforcing agencies in Lahore wherein, a violent mob used petrol bombs, injuring armless policemen and blazing police vehicles. The live telecast of such footage on different satellite TV channels created chaos and panic among the viewers and Police," it stated.

PEMRA also said that such activism by the mob jeopardises the law and order situation and makes public properties and lives vulnerable. The regulatory body stated that coverage of such content violates the Supreme Court's judgment, Geo News reported.

"The competent authority while exercising powers vested under Section 27(a) of the PEMRA Ordinance 2002 as amended by Pemra (Amendment) Act 2007, hereby prohibits live/recorded coverage of any kind of rally, public gathering, procession by any party, organisation and individual, etc. for today i.e. March 27, 2023."

It also warned that in case of non-compliance, the license should be suspended under Section 30 (3) of Pemra Ordinance 2002 as amended by Pemra (Amendment) Act 2007, without any show cause notice in the public interest along with other enabling provisions of law. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Criticises President Arif Alvi for One-Sided and Anti-Government Views.

Notably, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has departed from his Zaman Park residence for Islamabad to appear before courts in different cases. The former prime minister is expected to appear at the Islamabad High Court and Judicial Complex in the federal capital.

(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 27 (AP) The remains of a US airman whose plane was shot down over Germany during World War II have been accounted for, the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced on Monday.

US Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Edgar L. Mills, 25, of Tampa, Florida, was shot down July 18, 1944, during a bombing raid on enemy aircraft and air defence installations around Memmingen, Germany, the agency said in a news release.

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The pilot of the B-17G ordered the crew to bail out. Six crewmembers parachuted to safety, while five others, including Mills, were believed to have remained on board, the news release said.

Mills' body was not recovered at the time, and Germany never reported him as a prisoner of war, the agency said.

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In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with recovering missing Americans in Europe. Investigators searched the crash site in Germany and discovered two other sets of remains.

The War Department declared Mills dead on July 26, 1951.

In 2012, an investigation of a crash site near Kimratshofen, Germany eventually led to a mission that recovered possible human remains in 2018.

A team from the University of New Orleans continued work at the Kimratshofen site and transferred recovered material to a lab at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

There, scientists used dental records, mitochondrial DNA and anthropological analysis to identify Mills.

He was officially listed as accounted for on February 13.

Mills' name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Epinal American Cemetery in Epinal, France. A rosette will now be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Mills will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], March 27 (ANI): The Taliban has once again urged the United Nations (UN) to remove the names of its members from the blacklist, arguing that instead of putting pressure on Afghanistan's de facto authorities, the international community should engage with them, reported TOLOnews.

After the Security Council failed to reach an agreement on whether to extend the travel exemptions, a UN waiver allowing 13 Afghan Islamic officials to travel abroad expired in August 2022.

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"We can say that there are between 20 to 25 people who are on the blacklist and they were sanctioned. Some of them have died, of those who are alive, very few of them are now working in the government," TOLOnews quoted Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid as saying.

The inclusion of Islamic Emirate officials on the UN blacklist, according to Mujahid, violates the Doha agreement.

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"We have said many times that pressure and force will not bring any results. The war of the past 20 years has proven it that the people of Afghanistan will not surrender to pressure. Engagement and understanding are better and negotiations are a good option," Mujahid added, as per the Afghan news agency.

The Doha Agreement notably is a comprehensive peace agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban for bringing peace to Afghanistan. It was signed in Doha in 2020. The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan was contingent on Taliban security assurances that Afghan territory would not be used as a launch pad for attacks against the US by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State.

Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, a political analyst, Torek Farhadi that the ongoing humanitarian crisis and deprivation of basic rights of women is the reason behind the sanctions on the Taliban.

"Ensuring the rights of women for education and work and including representatives that are not Taliban at the leadership level of Afghanistan after the intra-Afghan dialogue" is the reason for the sanctions, said Torek Farhadi, TOLOnews reported.

Furthermore, political analysts claim that the Islamic Emirate members' continued presence on the UN blacklist is due to their failure to meet the demands of the international community.

"I think it is part of the world's political pressure on the Islamic Emirate; until the Islamic Emirate observes the current system and current international laws," a political analyst, Saleem Kakar said in a separate statement.

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the crisis in the country has increased manifold, making the lives of people extremely miserable.

Earlier this week, the UN experts in a statement said that the denial of women's rights to education by the Taliban in Afghanistan has no justification on any grounds as it has harmed not only them but also the country's future in a crucial way.

The UN experts stressed that the continued "denial of girls and young women's right to school in Afghanistan marks a global low in education, harming an entire gender, a generation, and the future of the country," TOLO News reported citing the statement.

"On 22 March 2023, schools should be reopening to girls across Afghanistan. Instead, it appears that for the second successive school year, teenage girls will be banned from resuming their studies - making Afghanistan the only country in the world that forbids girls and young women from attending secondary school and places of higher education," the statement reads as per the TOLO News report.

The UN experts called education an "enabling right" which they stressed is crucial for realising other human rights like rights to work, and an adequate standard of living. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
San Francisco, March 27: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has hit back at Twitter CEO Elon Musk for criticising his for-profit company which is now owned by Microsoft.

During the 'On With Kara Swisher' podcast, Altman said OpenAI is "independent" from Microsoft. Altman said Musk has been critical of OpenAI on Twitter. "Elon Musk is obviously attacking us," he noted.

"To say a positive thing about Elon, I think he really does care about a good future with artificial general intelligence (AGI). I mean, he's a jerk, whatever else you want to say about him. But he has a style that is not a style that I'd want to have for myself," Altman was quoted as saying.

"But I think he does really care, and he is feeling very stressed about what the future's going to look like for humanity," the OpenAI CEO added. Musk tried to take control of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, in early 2018 but Altman and OpenAI's other founders rejected Musk's proposal.

Musk later walked away from the company and reneged on a massive planned donation, according to Semafor. Musk told Altman that he believed the "venture had fallen fatally behind Google".

When Musk walked away, he resigned from its board in 2018 citing a conflict of interest with his work at Tesla. According to the Semafor report, he also reneged on a promise to supply $1 billion in funding, contributing only $100 million before he walked. OpenAI Turns $30 Billion Profit-Making Firm From Non-Profit Organisation, Former Co-Founder Elon Musk Confused.

In March, 2019, OpenAI announced it was creating a for-profit entity so that it could raise enough money to pay for the compute power. Less than six months later, Microsoft infused $1 billion in OpenAI, and the rest is history.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2023 09:27 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
TIMES STAFF WRITER

A former Mexican policeman who became a bodyguard to a drug kingpin testified Wednesday that two defendants, along with an array of high-ranking Mexican government officials, were at the Guadalajara house where an American drug agent was being tortured and killed in 1985.

The witness, Rene Lopez Romero, also testified that he saw two Mexican Cabinet members and the governor of the state of Jalisco enter or leave two meetings where another witness said the kidnaping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena was planned. Those alleged meetings were first detailed in testimony Tuesday and sparked an angry denial from the Mexican government.

Wednesdays allegations, however, are potentially even more damaging to defendants Ruben Zuno Arce and Humberto Alvarez Machain, and to a host of prominent Mexican political figures. Zuno and Alvarez are being tried in federal court in Los Angeles on charges that they participated in Camarenas abduction and murder.

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Lopez admits to playing a role in abducting Camarena from a city street Feb. 7, 1985, and his testimony marked the first time that a witness described the kidnaping and torture.

While Lopezs testimony held jurors rapt almost all day, his credibility has been severely questioned by defense lawyers and Mexican officials, and it is likely to be tested as cross-examination continues today.

Lopez, who is receiving government payments of $3,000 a month, acknowledges that he was present during much of the torture and murder of four American Jehovahs Witnesses in 1984--a crime that remains unsolved. And he said Wednesday that he watched as another couple was tortured at the home of Ernesto Fonseca, the drug trafficker who employed him.

During cross-examination Wednesday, Lopez struggled to recall facts such as how much money he was paid by Fonseca or how much he earned in subsequent years. But his account of several meetings closely parallels testimony by another witness, and that could bolster the credibility of both accounts.

Speaking in a soft voice and through an interpreter, Lopez testified for nearly six hours. He meticulously detailed the events surrounding Camarenas abduction, describing how an employee of the American Consulate pointed out the drug agent for the traffickers, who accosted him. One of the men showed Camarena a pistol, Lopez said, and the agent was escorted to a waiting car and driven to 881 Lope de Vega, the Guadalajara residence where previous witnesses have said the torture took place.

Camarena was blindfolded before being led inside the grounds of that home, Lopez added, and once inside was greeted by Rafael Caro Quintero, one of Mexicos most notorious drug traffickers.

Embracing the agent, Caro declared: I told you I was going to have you in my hands, you son of a bitch, according to Lopez.

From there, Camarena was led to a small bedroom where he was pummeled and burned with cigarettes, Lopez said. The torture continued for hours, he added, though he said he had only witnessed a short bit of it.

As Camarena and his DEA pilot were being tortured, a group that included defendants Zuno and Alvarez gathered in the living room of the house, Lopez said. They were joined by dozens of others, including Mexicos leading drug traffickers and some of the countrys highest-ranking political and law enforcement officials, he testified.

Among those in the living room, according to Lopez, were Defense Minister Juan Arevalo Gardoqui, Interior Minister Manuel Bartlett Diaz, Jalisco Governor Enrique Alvarez del Castillo, Mexican Federal Judicial Police Director Manuel Ibarra Herrera and Mexican Interpol Director Miguel Aldana Ibarra.

Zuno and Alvarez listened impassively as Lopez testified, sometimes scribbling notes to their attorneys.

Lopez testified that he only heard snatches of the conversation in the living room as Camarena was being tortured, but he said he recalled Zuno telling the traffickers that he had wanted them to hear Camarenas words themselves.

He also said he heard Gen. Arevalo, the defense minister, demanding that the bodies of the two men be properly buried.

He wanted the job to be done right, Lopez said.

In addition, Lopez said he overheard Caro congratulating Bartlett Diaz, then the interior minister and now the governor-elect of the Mexican state of Puebla.

Dont worry, Caro allegedly told Bartlett Diaz. Youre going to go as far as we want you to. We need you up there.

During a news conference in Puebla on Tuesday, Bartlett Diaz vehemently rejected any suggestion that he had ties to drug traffickers.

Lopez said that at some point during the evening when Camarena was tortured and murdered he saw Humberto Alvarez Machain in the kitchen of the house washing out a syringe. That testimony could prove damaging to Alvarez because it places him at the scene of the crime and tends to support the prosecutions contention that the physician gave Camarena an injection to revive him so that he could be tortured further.

According to Lopez, the gathering at 881 Lope de Vega continued until late on the night of Feb. 7, 1985. The following morning, he added, Caro called the home of Fonseca and told him that Camarena had died.

The bodies of Camarena and DEA informant Alfredo Zavala-Avelar were discovered a month later in a neighboring state. Forensic experts have testified that the bodies were first buried near Guadalajara and later moved.

Cross-examination of Lopez will continue today. The trial, which had been expected to last four to six weeks, is moving more quickly than anticipated and prosecutors say they expect it to conclude before Christmas.
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Timothy Treadwell had a hangover. Again. So, as hed done countless times before, he drove to an isolated spot in the wilderness--this time Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve in Alaska--and hiked into the woods to dry out.

Nothing could ever get me to stop drinking, he says now, seven years later, while downing his second Coca-Cola in as many minutes. Some people find religion, some have a child and find a greater purpose in their lives.

But Treadwell felt doomed to live a short life of drinking, dodging barroom brawls and drying out from time to time in the woods.

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Then, while trudging alone through the wild beauty of the preserve, something unexpected happened.

All of a sudden a big, gorgeous bear, four or five hundred pounds, came crashing through the woods.

It froze at the sight of Treadwell and then, before he had the chance to back away, bounded majestically back into the woods.

It was a fleeting moment that was just magic, he says, his expression turning dreamy.

Since then, Treadwell, 32, has become an expert on the worlds largest terrestrial carnivore, the Alaskan grizzly, which can weigh 1,500 pounds and kill a person with a single swipe of its massive paw.

Each year, just as the bears emerge from their dens, scruffy, hungry and a little grumpy after a long winter of isolation, Treadwell flies to a remote region of Alaska, sets up a tent, pulls out his camera and hunkers down for weeks.

I get on their level. You have to get as wild as them as quickly as possible. I chomp on the grass here and there and hope Im accepted.

When hes not out pawing the earth and snapping photographs, Treadwell spends his winters in Malibu where, between waiting tables, he tirelessly promotes the preservation of the grizzlies by showing his slides to schoolchildren and adults. In April, he signed a deal with Audubon Productions and Turner Broadcasting to be featured in a film called The Man Who Loves Bears, slated to begin production this summer.

The bears saved my life, he says, adding without irony: Id be willing to die for them.

His one-room Malibu apartment is covered from wall to wall with close-range photographs of the bears--candid pictures that reflect Treadwells intimacy with his subjects. Like a proud parent, he points them out one by one.

Thats Booble. Theres Snowy. Over there, thats Aqua Bear. His sentences run into each other like a train wreck as he bounds happily through the room.

*

Environmental brochures and newspaper articles on bear poaching take up the space not used by his photographs. Once in awhile a horse from a nearby barn pops its head into the bathroom window and, without breaking stride, Treadwell feeds it an apple. Except for a few modern amenities--MTV, a small refrigerator, an answering machine--the place has the dank, cavernous feel of a bears lair.

Theres a spirituality to this. I dont deny a God, but I dont see the standard God, the Christian God and all the Allahs. . . . When you are with a grizzly bear, up close, and you hear them breathe and you feel them move and you hear the gurgles in their stomach, you feel as if you are in the presence of a God and you must turn your life over.

Indeed, when it comes to grizzlies, Treadwell speaks with a fiery evangelism no matter who is listening. This fervor goes over particularly well with the second-graders at John L. Webster Elementary School in Malibu.

While they watch his slides, Treadwell tells his rapt audience that once, a long time ago, Malibu was filled with grizzlies.

Despite some giggles and the animated oohs and ahs as the kids pass around some bear fur, Treadwell hammers home the notion that bears are our friends, to be respected and revered.

We never feed wild animals. No tricks or treats. Just try to be friendly. We dont want to take away their natural habits.

When one small girl with big Os for eyes asks Treadwell what he does if a bear gets mad at him, he happily replies: I sing to it.

*

In fact, singing is the only weapon Treadwell uses to placate a bear that exhibits any of the 21 basic warning signs of anger--signs Treadwell has carefully memorized. In one close call, Treadwell tells the class, a young male approached him with his fur raised up in angry points on his back, snarling. But Treadwell managed to pacify the animal by singing a rhyme he made up on the spot.

Remarkably, during this encounter, Treadwell maintained a steady enough hand to snap his camera. The result is a series of amazing pictures showing how the angry adversary was lullabied into passivity. In the final slide, the bear sleeps peacefully only a few feet away. And Treadwell tells the class that he felt so secure he laid down beside the bear to catch of few Zs of his own.

Timothy is quite off the wall, says Doug Peacock, a founding member of Earth First! Hes an iconoclast and an outsider. His empirical observations are as good as anyones.

Sterling Miller, a bear biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, agrees that Timothys talks are very valuable. Hes an advocate for the bear. A vocal and I think very effective one.

Treadwell plans to seek nonprofit status for his organization, the Great Bear Project. His goal, as the sole activist and head honcho of the project, is threefold: to protect their habitat, to end illegal poaching and to stop the practice of legal grizzly bear hunting.

We need to raise the grizzly bear to the kindred state of the whale and dolphin, he says.

Although Treadwells focus is on developing a peaceful strategy, he sees legitimacy in radical environmental groups such as Earth First! that have been criticized for resorting to violence.

But, he adds, I think its better working within the system. Whats needed is education because to get results or legitimacy, you have to do it without shooting people.

*

Nevertheless, Treadwell is often accused of being overly emotional, especially when it comes to the issue of legal sport hunting.

Grizzly populations have been reduced primarily through destruction of habitat, says Miller, the Alaska bear biologist. Bears are his personal friends. Timothy is picking on an emotional issue and not on other targets that affect bear populations.

Treadwell concedes that he is emotional and that Miller, to whom he defers in all matters involving the science of bears, is right that habitat encroachment is the main killer of bears.

Others express concern that Treadwell swaggers dangerously close to understating how unpredictable grizzlies can be.

Everything Ive heard about him sounds terrific, says David Gaillard, project coordinator for Wild Forever--the American Grizzly Bear Project, which--in collaboration with the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition--seeks to protect the grizzly from extinction. But he needs to be careful about sending a message to the public that bears dont pose a serious threat to human safety. Bears are not cuddly.

Treadwell doesnt believe he is giving the wrong message at all. He points out that the safest bear is the habituated bear, the one familiar with humans. He sees himself as a myth-breaker and wants to do away with the notion that bears are evil, terrifying creatures.

Bears shouldnt be able to walk up 5th and Flower, but if people would stop hurting them, they would relax more around us. To coexist peacefully with the bear, you need compassion, reason, love, nurturing, a strong feminine side.

The only thing you get back is what you give. Which is the essence of life. When Im with Casper or Booble, they are cuddly.

And if hes attacked?

You make your bed, you lie in it, he says without much flourish.

*

Peacock, of Earth First!, says he shares Treadwells passion for the bear, but he is nonetheless quick to point out that he doesnt recommend Treadwells methods.

The bears of the world dont need thousands of Timothy Treadwells out there because sooner or later someones gonna get mauled and that could cause a bear to get shot.

Just last month, a black bear was shot to death in Azusa after wandering out of the mountains and into a residential area.

Treadwell, who was filming in Alaska at the time, expressed sorrow for the bears death. Although he makes no bones about shooting a bear when it clearly threatens life or property, he expressed concern for what he perceived in Azusa as the possible mishandling of the situation. He sees only one positive aspect: Maybe they learned something from it, and next time they wont have to destroy a life.

Last August, a 13-year-old was mauled by a black bear at a campground in the San Bernardino National Forest. Although the boy survived, he required more than 100 stitches. After another attack the next day, two bears were tracked and shot to death--standard procedure.

Treadwell is so fearful of this that he claims to have made a deal with his pilot to quietly dump his body in the ocean should he ever be found mauled to death in his secret refuge.

Not that he expects to meet such a fate. They love me too much, he says of the bears.

So his agenda, for now at any rate, is to stay alive long enough to complete work on his film. Due to air early in 1995 on Turner Broadcasting, the film will follow Treadwell on his Alaskan adventures, focusing on the lucrative poaching trade with its ties to China.

Liam OBrien, the independent producer who brought Treadwell to the attention of Audubon, says that while hes very excited about the film, hes also a little nervous about getting so close to the bears.

OBriens first impression of Treadwell was a common one: I thought he was crazy, he says with a respectful laugh. But his interest was piqued and he soon realized that both Treadwell and his crusade were serious.

The bears are being poached for their gall bladders and claws. A live bear is worth nothing. But a dead bear is worth up to $40,000. Its a Mercedes that theyre shooting.

*

With the film in pre-production, Treadwells life has altered considerably. For one thing, he gets to quit waiting tables. But he also has to deal with the human world of collaboration, budgets and deal-making--a world so alien to the solitude of his Alaskan refuge that when he talks about it, he appears baffled, even dismayed.

Its therapeutic that other people are finding value in my work. People are giving me attention, and thats kind of nice but thats all about ego, he carefully explains. To him, the only important issue is whether this unfamiliar dip into the waters of Hollywood will help his bears.

I didnt choose this calling, he says. But in the course of saving animals, you save humans. You stop being afraid of the dark. You live in mutual respect and love.

He pauses to look at a picture of Booble digging for clams.

And that, he says with a satisfied smile, is the crux of it.
TIMES STAFF WRITER

President Clinton, seeking to align himself squarely with law enforcement, Thursday denounced the depravity of slain Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and accused congressional Republicans of irresponsibly suggesting that federal officers are some sort of armed bureaucracy acting on private grudges and hidden agendas.

As congressional hearings on the fatal siege moved into their second day, Clinton acknowledged that the final word is not yet in on federal agents actions in the 1993 raid on the cultists compound near Waco, Tex., and the 51-day siege that followed.

Referring to Wednesdays testimony of a teen-ager who said that she was forced to have sex with Koresh as a 10-year-old, Clinton asserted that there is no moral equivalency between the disgusting acts which took place inside that compound in Waco and the efforts that law enforcement officers made to enforce the law and protect innocent people.

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This country needs to be able to make that distinction, and not to forget it, Clinton said, speaking at a meeting with top federal law enforcement officials.

We must not make war against police.

His blunt speech a day after the teen-agers testimony appeared to be an effort to tilt the public relations battle over the raid in the Administrations direction and to bore in again with a pro-police position of the kind that helped give him a monthlong boost in the polls after the April 19 Oklahoma City bombing. As Clinton has tried to move to the political center this year, he has repeatedly appeared with police groups and sought to identify himself with their interests and crime-fighting efforts.

*

But the Presidents position on Waco is not without risks, analysts say. They point out that he may find himself vulnerable if new revelations from the hearings deepen public doubts about the federal agents and the tactics that they used to storm the compound. If that happens, his outspokenness may tie him in the public mind more closely to the bungled raid.

Clinton made his remarks to senior officials of agencies that have been surprised and demoralized by continuing controversy over a series of incidents that have cast federal law enforcement in a bad light.

These include the Waco raid, a recent picnic in Tennessee with allegedly racist overtones that was attended by some federal agents and accusations of document tampering in an investigation of an FBI gun battle with a white separatist at Ruby Ridge, Ida.

Among those present for the remarks were Atty. Gen. Janet Reno; Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin; Deputy Director Daniel R. Black of Treasurys Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Acting Deputy Director Bill Esposito of the FBI and Marshals Service Director Eduardo Gonzales.

Clinton recalled that, after the Oklahoma City bombing, some people wore T-shirts that depicted the activities of federal law enforcement, above the caption: A society that makes war against its police better learn to make friends with criminals.

Thats a fact, Clinton said.

It is irresponsible for people in elected positions to suggest that the police are some sort of armed bureaucracy, acting on private grudges and hidden agendas. That is wrong. Its inaccurate. And people who suggest that ought to be ashamed of themselves.

He said that, as in any field, there are all kinds of people in law enforcement and that some make mistakes. When they err, he said, they ought to be held accountable.

Critics of the Branch Davidian siege, which ended with the deaths of more than 80 sect members and four law enforcement officers, have argued that Koresh did not deserve his fate, however misguided or even criminal his actions. They have said that FBI and Treasury agents could have found other ways to intervene without the bloody assault and pointed to apparent corner-cutting in the governments application for a search warrant.

But Clinton sought to pound home what he saw as the full extent of Koreshs errors.

The first day of testimony by two House subcommittees was a sad and painful reminder of the depravity that took place inside that compound and the fact which confronted the President, the attorney general and the federal law enforcement officials at the time, he said.

Here was a man who was molesting young girls and paddling children with boat oars; a man who was laying up supplies and illegal weapons for Armageddon; a man who was instructing women and children about how to commit suicide; a man who took the trust of young children and twisted it, who told people that if they wanted to do the will of God they had to be willing to kill for God.

Clinton said that his Administration had made an exhaustive study of the case, and dismissed people as a result. He also noted that congressional hearings were conducted in 1993, though he conceded that--if the GOP-guided Congress wants to hold new hearings--that is their right.

But he insisted: I think its important to get the facts here quite clear.

The White House also weighed in strongly on the side of congressional Democrats who have demanded hearings on what they allege has been the hidden role of the National Rifle Assn. in inspiring and organizing the hearings.

Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this story.

* WHY RAID FAILED: Experts say faulty intelligence led to failed Waco raid. A17
TIMES MEDICAL WRITER

In the 1930s, Adolf Hitlers tactics were brilliant, his foresight remarkable, according to many military historians. Working directly in opposition to the best advice of his generals, he conquered most of Europe militarily and his prospects seemed unlimited.

If he had retained his wits, some critics speculate, he might have continued his expansion--winning the war in Europe and dictating a peace with the United States.

But he didnt. Beginning in 1941, while still engaged in a bitter battle with Britain, he attacked the Soviet Union, opening a second front that eventually proved to be his downfall. His decision-making grew continually worse and, by 1945, he was a delusionary old man isolated in a Berlin bunker and moving imaginary troops around in final battles.

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How Hitler came to be the tyrant he was and why he lost his decision-making abilities have been topics of great interest in the 50 years since the end of World War II. Was his brain affected by syphilis contracted while the young Hitler was a student in Bavaria? Perhaps it was the copious quantities of esoteric drugs--uppers, nerve tonics and heart medications, among others--prescribed for him by his personal physician for symptoms real and imagined. Or was it the psychological aftereffects of an attempted assassination?

Now, a new study suggests it may have been a virus that caused him to develop Parkinsons disease, which crippled his arm, bent his body, sent him into hiding and impaired his ability to handle complex decisions. That is the conclusion of Dr. Abraham N. Lieberman, an eminent neurologist at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix and the clinical director of the National Parkinson Foundation.

Lieberman has been studying Hitler for many years and, like a few other researchers, is firmly convinced that the German Fuhrer suffered from Parkinsons disease. Hitlers Parkinsons, he argues, may have been caused by a viral infection incurred around 1916, when a pandemic of Von Economos encephalitis hit Europe. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain caused, in this case, by a still-unidentified virus. Researchers have found that almost half of those who contracted the disease in the 1916 outbreak later developed a form of Parkinsons.

Parkinsons disease is a progressive, debilitating disorder of the brain that currently affects at least 1 million Americans, most of them over 60. It is characterized by tremors, rigidity of the limbs and loss of muscle control. As many as a third of victims also suffer dementia, a loss of critical thought processes.

The first symptoms of Hitlers Parkinsons were apparent, Lieberman says, in Leni Reifenstahls 1934 film Triumph of the Will, made when Hitler was 45 years old. The decreased and slowed movement of his left arm, a symptom called bradykinesia, was visible when he arrived at a Nazi Party congress in the morning, Lieberman says, and became more apparent during the course of the day and the evening, as is typical with Parkinsons.

By 1940, according to eyewitness accounts, Hitler had developed a so-called resting tremor in his left hand. Such tremors occur when the muscles of the hand are relaxed, as opposed to when they are activated, such as while grasping objects. Thereafter, Hitler tried to camouflage the tremor by keeping his left hand in his pocket, holding something in it or grasping it with his other hand.

In a 1945 Swedish newsreel that escaped German censors, his disorder is quite apparent, Lieberman says. The film shows him walking slowly, not moving his left arm at all. He has a rigid, mask-like expression on his face, a bent-forward, stooped posture and a resting tremor. Other symptoms that had become obvious by this time, Lieberman says, include speech problems, small, cramped handwriting and episodes of depression. Other signs Lieberman points to as suggestive of post-encephalitic Parkinsons include oculogyric crises, spasms that force the eyeballs to turn up for several seconds; sleep disturbances; palilalia, a repetitive speech pattern; and rage attacks.

Some physicians contemporary with Hitler also thought he had Parkinsons. According to a soon-to-be-published book by Brown University historian Robert G.L. Waite, at least three neurologists--none of whom actually examined Hitler--concluded in 1945 and 1946 that he suffered from Parkinsons.

But that interpretation fell out of favor in the 1950s, only to be resuscitated now by Lieberman. His is still a minority voice, however. The standard interpretation now is that [Hitlers] health looks sort of shaky by the end of the war . . . because of ministrations by his quack personal doctor, Dr. Theodor Morrell, according to historian Sam Goodfellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. He was [also] physically debilitated after the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt, in which he barely escaped from a bomb.

Historian Robert J. Maddox of Pennsylvania State University agrees that Hitler certainly shook a lot, especially after he was nearly killed by the bomb. According to Maddox, Hitler had a meeting with Mussolini the same day or the next, and his hands were trembling noticeably.

For his part, Waite concedes that Hitler might, in fact, have suffered from Parkinsons. He believes that the disease played no part in Hitlers conduct of the war, however, while Lieberman argues forcefully that it did.

When Hitler became aware of his tremor in 1940, Lieberman argues, he feared the German public and the Allies would associate it with senility or, even worse in his mind, with syphilis. Thus, after 1940, Hitler, who had always been accessible, isolated himself, thereby cutting himself off from needed information and depriving himself of the ability to remain in touch with events.

Hitler, always in a hurry, also wanted to settle Germanys chronic social, political and economic problems in his lifetime, Lieberman said. After he became aware of his tremor, and thinking he had syphilis, he . . . became a man even more in a hurry, no longer displaying the patience that had been a major asset in prewar years.

That impatience may have induced him to attack the Soviet Union before he could defeat Britain, producing a two-front war, Lieberman speculates. Two years earlier, Hitler had gone to extraordinary lengths to sign a treaty with the Soviets to prevent such a duplication of effort.

Similarly, impatience may have seduced him into declaring war on the United States after Pearl Harbor was attacked, despite his previous efforts to avoid doing anything to provoke America into declaring war.

And finally, Lieberman says, Hitler was initially able to grasp theoretical and practical concepts and strongly supported basic research and weapons development. But after 1941, he failed to understand the importance of jet airplanes, atomic energy, radar and a host of other technological advances that were well within the reach of German research and development, Lieberman says. The Allies development of these technologies played a major role in Hitlers defeat.

While Lieberman blames Parkinsons for these tactical errors, Goodfellow attributes them to bad luck. He got away with a lot of decisions early on that look brilliant, Goodfellow said. He was making the same sort of decisions later in the war, but they didnt work out as well. He just got lucky early, but it caught up with him.

Waite also argues that Hitlers thought processes remained constant throughout the period. There was no . . . abrupt psychological transformation in Hitlers character, he said. Indeed, the most striking single thing about Hitlers behavior is not change, but remarkable continuity and the intensification of tendencies whose roots can clearly be traced to his early years. Neurological illness during the war cannot explain his foibles, his passions, his wickedness, or why his mental aberrations took specific forms and patterns.

Lieberman is unconvinced by such arguments. Ive seen enough Parkinsons disease, he said. I think that is the explanation. I think it did affect his conduct of the war.

He also thinks researchers will be arguing about it for another 50 years.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Origin of Tremor

Parkinsons disease results from the death of brain cells that secrete dopamine, a messenger that is important in controlling movements. The main areas affected are the basal ganglia (nerve cell clusters in the brain) and the motor cortex.

Motor cortex

Basal Gangila

Caudate

Putamen
TIMES RELIGION WRITER

Its one of the greatest stories ever told:

A baby is found in a basket adrift in the Egyptian Nile and is adopted into the pharaohs household. He grows up as Moses, rediscovers his roots and leads his enslaved Israelite brethren to freedom after God sends down 10 plagues against Egypt and parts the Red Sea to allow them to escape. They wander for 40 years in the wilderness and, under the leadership of Joshua, conquer the land of Canaan to enter their promised land.

For centuries, the biblical account of the Exodus has been revered as the founding story of the Jewish people, sacred scripture for three world religions and a universal symbol of freedom that has inspired liberation movements around the globe.

But did the Exodus ever actually occur?

On Passover last Sunday, Rabbi David Wolpe raised that provocative question before 2,200 faithful at Sinai Temple in Westwood. He minced no words.

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The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all, Wolpe told his congregants.

Wolpes startling sermon may have seemed blasphemy to some. In fact, however, the rabbi was merely telling his flock what scholars have known for more than a decade. Slowly and often outside wide public purview, archeologists are radically reshaping modern understanding of the Bible. It was time for his people to know about it, Wolpe decided.

After a century of excavations trying to prove the ancient accounts true, archeologists say there is no conclusive evidence that the Israelites were ever in Egypt, were ever enslaved, ever wandered in the Sinai wilderness for 40 years or ever conquered the land of Canaan under Joshuas leadership. To the contrary, the prevailing view is that most of Joshuas fabled military campaigns never occurred--archeologists have uncovered ash layers and other signs of destruction at the relevant time at only one of the many battlegrounds mentioned in the Bible.

Today, the prevailing theory is that Israel probably emerged peacefully out of Canaan--modern-day Lebanon, southern Syria, Jordan and the West Bank of Israel--whose people are portrayed in the Bible as wicked idolators. Under this theory, the Canaanites who took on a new identity as Israelites were perhaps joined or led by a small group of Semites from Egypt--explaining a possible source of the Exodus story, scholars say. As they expanded their settlement, they may have begun to clash with neighbors, perhaps providing the historical nuggets for the conflicts recorded in Joshua and Judges.

Scholars have known these things for a long time, but weve broken the news very gently, said William Dever, a professor of Near Eastern archeology and anthropology at the University of Arizona and one of Americas preeminent archeologists.

Devers view is emblematic of a fundamental shift in archeology. Three decades ago as a Christian seminary student, he wrote a paper defending the Exodus and got an A, but no one would do that today, he says. The old emphasis on trying to prove the Bible--often in excavations by amateur archeologists funded by religious groups--has given way to more objective professionals aiming to piece together the reality of ancient lifestyles.

But the modern archeological consensus over the Exodus is just beginning to reach the public. In 1999, an Israeli archeologist, Zeev Herzog of Tel Aviv University, set off a furor in Israel by writing in a popular magazine that stories of the patriarchs were myths and that neither the Exodus nor Joshuas conquests ever occurred. In the hottest controversy today, Herzog also argued that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, described as grand and glorious in the Bible, was at best a small tribal kingdom.

In a new book this year, The Bible Unearthed, Israeli archeologist Israel Finklestein of Tel Aviv University and archeological journalist Neil Asher Silberman raised similar doubts and offered a new theory about the roots of the Exodus story. The authors argue that the story was written during the time of King Josia of Judah in the 7th century BC--600 years after the Exodus supposedly occurred in 1250 BC--as a political manifesto to unite Israelites against the rival Egyptian empire as both states sought to expand their territory.

Dever argued that the Exodus story was produced for theological reasons: to give an origin and history to a people and distinguish them from others by claiming a divine destiny.

Some scholars, of course, still maintain that the Exodus story is basically factual.

Bryant Wood, director of the Associates for Biblical Research in Maryland, argued that the evidence falls into place if the story is dated back to 1450 BC. He said that indications of destruction around that time at Hazor, Jericho and a site he is excavating that he believes is the biblical city of Ai support accounts of Joshuas conquests.

He also cited the documented presence of Asiatic slaves in Egypt who could have been Israelites, and said they would not have left evidence of their wanderings because they were nomads with no material culture. But Wood said he cant get his research published in serious archeological journals.

Theres a definite anti-Bible bias, Wood said.

The revisionist view, however, is not necessarily publicly popular.

Herzog, Finklestein and others have been attacked for everything from faulty logic to pro-Palestinian political agendas that undermine Israels land claims. Dever, a former Protestant minister who converted to Judaism 12 years ago, says he gets hissed and booed when he speaks about the lack of evidence for the Exodus, and regularly receives letters and calls offering prayers or telling him hes headed for hell.

At Sinai Temple, Sundays sermon--and a follow-up discussion at Mondays service--provoked tremendous, and varied, response. Many praised Wolpe for his courage and vision. It was the best sermon possible, because it is preparing the young generation to understand all the truth about religion, said Eddia Mirharooni, a Beverly Hills fashion designer.

A few said they were hurt--I didnt want to hear this, one woman said--or even a bit angry. Others said the sermon did nothing to shake their faith that the Exodus story is true.

Science can always be proven wrong, said Kalanit Benji, a UCLA undergraduate in psychobiology.

Added Aman Massi, a 60-year-old Los Angeles businessman: For sure it was true, 100%. If it were not true, how could we follow it for 3,300 years?

But most congregants, along with secular Jews and several rabbis interviewed, said that whether the Exodus is historically true or not is almost beside the point. The power of the sweeping epic lies in its profound and timeless message about freedom, they say.

The story of liberation from bondage into a promised land has inspired the haunting spirituals of African American slaves, the emancipation and civil rights movements, Latin Americas liberation theology, peasant revolts in Germany, nationalist struggles in South Africa, the American Revolution, even Leninist politics, according to Michael Walzer in the book Exodus and Revolution.

Many of Wolpes congregants said the story of the Exodus has been personally true for them even if the details are not factual: when they fled the Nazis during World War II, for instance, or, more recently, the Islamic revolution in Iran. Daniel Navid Rastein, an Encino medical professional, said he has always regarded the story as a metaphor for a greater truth: We all have our own Egypts--we are prisoners of something, either alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, overeating. We have to use [the story] as a way to free ourselves from difficulty and make ourselves a better person.

Wolpe, Sinai Temples senior rabbi, said he decided to deliver the sermon to lead his congregation into a deeper understanding of their faith. On Sunday, he told his flock that questioning the Jewish peoples founding story could be justified for one reason alone: to honor the ancient rabbinical declaration that You do not serve God if you do not seek truth.

I think faith ought not rest on splitting seas, Wolpe said in an interview. For a Jew, it should rest on the wonder of Gods world, the marvel of the human soul and the miracle of this small peoples survival through the millennia.

Next year, the rabbi plans to teach a course on the Bible that he says will pull no punches in presenting the latest scholarship questioning the texts historical basis.

But he and others say that Judaism has also traditionally been more open to nonliteral interpretations of the text than, say, some conservative Christian traditions.

Among Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Jews, there is a much greater willingness to see the Torah as an extended metaphor in which truth comes through story and law, said Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles.

Among scholars, the case against the Exodus began crystallizing about 13 years ago. Thats when Finklestein, director of Tel Aviv Universitys archeology institute, published the first English-language book detailing the results of intensive archeological surveys of what is believed to be the first Israelite settlements in the hilly regions of the West Bank.

The surveys, conducted during the 1970s and 1980s while Israel possessed what are now Palestinian territories, documented a lack of evidence for Joshuas conquests in the 13th century BC and the indistinguishable nature of pottery, architecture, literary conventions and other cultural details between the Canaanites and the new settlers.

If there was no conquest, no evidence of a massive new settlement of an ethnically distinct people, scholars argue, then the case for a literal reading of Exodus all but collapses. The surveys final results were published three years ago.

The settlement research marked the turning point in archeological consensus on the issue, Dever said. It added to previous research that showed that Egypts voluminous ancient records contained not one mention of Israelites in the country, although one 1210 BC inscription did mention them in Canaan.

Kadesh Barnea in the east Sinai desert, where the Bible says the fleeing Israelites sojourned, was excavated twice in the 1950s and 1960s and produced no sign of settlement until three centuries after the Exodus was supposed to have occurred. The famous city of Jericho has been excavated several times and was found to have been abandoned during the 13th and 14th centuries BC.

Moreover, specialists in the Hebrew Bible say that the Exodus story is riddled with internal contradictions stemming from the fact that it was spliced together from two or three texts written at different times. One passage in Exodus, for instance, says that the bodies of the pharaohs charioteers were found on the shore, while the next verse says they sank to the bottom of the sea.

And some of the storys features are mythic motifs found in other Near Eastern legends, said Ron Hendel, a professor of Hebrew Bible at UC Berkeley. Stories of babies found in baskets in the water by gods or royalty are common, he said, and half of the 10 plagues fall into a formulaic genre of catastrophe found in other Near Eastern texts.

Carol Meyers, a professor specializing in biblical studies and archeology at Duke University, said the ancients never intended their texts to be read literally. People who try to find scientific explanations for the splitting of the Red Sea are missing the boat in understanding how ancient literature often mixed mythic ideas with historical recollections, she said. That wasnt considered lying or deceit; it was a way to get ideas across.

Virtually no scholar, for instance, accepts the biblical figure of 600,000 men fleeing Egypt, which would have meant there were a few million people, including women and children. The ancient desert at the time could not support so many nomads, scholars say, and the powerful Egyptian state kept tight security over the area, guarded by fortresses along the way.

Even Orthodox Jewish scholar Lawrence Schiffman said youd have to be a bit crazy to accept that figure. He believes that the account in Joshua of a swift military campaign is less accurate than the Judges account of a gradual takeover of Canaan. But Schiffman, chairman of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University, still maintains that a significant number of Israelite slaves fled Egypt for Canaan.

Im not arguing that archeology proves the Exodus, he said. Im arguing that archeology allows you, in ambiguity, to reach whatever conclusion you want to.

Wood argued that the 600,000 figure was mistranslated and the real number amounted to a more plausible 20,000. He also said the early Israelite settlements and their similarity to Canaanite culture could be explained as the result of pastoralists with no material culture moving into a settled farming life and absorbing their neighbors pottery styles and other cultural forms.

The scholarly consensus seems to be that the story is a brilliant mix of myth, cultural memories and kernels of historical truth. Perhaps, muses Hendel, a small group of Semites who escaped from Egypt became the intellectual vanguard of a new nation that called itself Israel, stressing social justice and freedom.

Whatever the facts of the story, those core values have endured and inspired the world for more than three millenniums--and that, many say, is the point.

What are the Egypts I need to free myself from? How does the story inspire me in some way to work for the freedom of all? asked Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben of Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades. These are the things that matter--not whether we built the pyramids.
Yaounde, Cameroon  Cameroon and Gabon have stepped up border security after neighboring Equatorial Guinea confirmed a spreading Marburg virus has killed at least nine people. Despite the controls, people are still traveling across the porous borders, raising fears the virus that causes hemorrhagic fever could spread.

At the government primary school in Kye-Ossi, a town on Cameroon's southern border with Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, children sing that regular hand washing protects people from diseases.

Mireille Evan, head teacher of the school, said more than 15 children from Equatorial Guinea attended classes in Kye-Ossi on Friday. She said those children were separated from their Cameroonian peers and obliged to wash their hands before attending classes.

Evan said Cameroon's public health ministry officials informed her that movement across the border was restricted because of an outbreak of the Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea. She said it is not her duty to stop children from attending classes.

Cameroon's ministries of basic and secondary education said that several hundred children cross every day from Kie Ntem, an administrative unit in Equatorial Guinea, to study in Kye-Ossi alongside scores of children from Gabon.

Also, several hundred merchants cross borders to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon each day to conduct business, according to CEMAC, a regional economic bloc.

Authorities in Equatorial Guinea said the Marburg outbreak has killed nine people, but the World Health Organization said the death toll may be as high as 20.

Cameroon's public health ministry said Friday that it had held discussions with health officials in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea on ways to stop or reduce the spread of the disease.

Felix Nguele Ngule, governor of Cameroon's South Region, where Kye-Ossi is located, said surveillance and travel restrictions have been reinforced along the borders.

"What we can assure the population is that the surveillance system has been activated, health staff are mobilized and even the administrative authorities at the border are equally mobilized to monitor the disease," he said. "We want to thank the World Health Organization and the Red Coss that have joined us to see into it that that disease should not cross the border and enter our country."

However, Nguele said the porous borders make it difficult for Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea police to fully control the movement of people.

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On February 14, Cameroon's health ministry reported two suspected cases of Marburg virus in the country after a first deadly outbreak in neighboring Equatorial Guinea.

Gabon's state broadcaster, RTG, on Friday reported that after the second Marburg outbreak in Equatorial Guinea in less than two months, the government of Gabon reinforced its contingency plan of zero contamination of Marburg virus disease.

RTG reported Libreville had also dispatched a team of technicians to identify an isolation area for possible suspected cases in border areas.

Cameroon and Gabon said civilians should avoid contact with animals and people who have traveled to Equatorial Guinea and make sure people with fever, fatigue, and blood-stained vomit and diarrhea are isolated.

The WHO said Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats, spreads among people through bodily fluids, and has a fatality rate of up to 88%.
Special to The Times

Taliban insurgents shot a South Korean hostage and dumped his body in the lawless central Afghan desert Wednesday, raising increased fears for the safety of 22 other Koreans seized while traveling through the region last week and sending shudders through the community of foreign aid workers in the country.

The Afghan government responded by immediately barring all foreigners from traveling outside Kabul, the capital, without police permission.

The Taliban said it had executed the man to protest a lack of progress in negotiations with the Afghan government over the fate of the kidnapped Koreans. A purported Taliban spokesman told international news agencies that the government had refused to release eight Taliban prisoners in return for the hostages, and warned that the militants would kill more of their victims if their demands werent met.

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Another Taliban deadline passed early today without word on the fate of the other kidnapped Koreans. Reports that at least eight of the Koreans had been freed could not be confirmed. The Taliban denied that it had released anybody.

The South Koreans were taken hostage Thursday while traveling by public bus along a highway between Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar, where they were to work at a nursery school and hospital. The remaining 18 women and four men, most of them in their 20s and 30s, are members of the Saemmul Protestant church in Bundang, just south of Seoul, though both the church and the Korean government insisted that the abductees visit to Afghanistan had no religious motives.

Afghan police said the slain man had been shot 10 times in the head, chest and stomach. Korean media identified the victim as Bae Hyong-gyu, 42, a pastor and leader of the group.

The government and the people of South Korea condemn the kidnapping of innocent civilians and the atrocity of harming a human life, said Baek Jong-chun, presidential chief national security advisor, in a nationally televised statement. Harming innocent civilians can never be justified, and we will never forgive this kind of inhumane act.

Grief-stricken family members and supporters had gathered at the church to await news on the hostages. Reports have been sketchy, with the Korean media not present in Kabul and the government apparently relying on Afghan authorities to act as intermediaries to bring an end to the kidnapping.

Confusion was sown by the initial Taliban demand that South Korea withdraw its force of roughly 200 members, many of them reconstruction engineers, from Afghanistan. The government in Seoul had already committed itself late last year to ending its Afghan operations and bringing its forces home by the end of 2007.

But public anger in Korea was muted by a widespread sense that the church group should not have been in Afghanistan in the first place. Internet chat forums abounded with criticism of the kidnapping victims. And the unsympathetic mood was stoked by the release of a photo to the Korean media showing three of the victims on their departure from Inchon airport flashing smiles and peace signs in front of a government poster at the airport warning against all travel to Afghanistan.

A spate of kidnappings in Afghanistan has heightened tensions among foreign aid workers. Two German citizens were snatched by the Taliban last week, one of whom was found dead of uncertain causes. The Taliban has demanded that Germany, too, withdraw its 3,000 troops operating in Afghanistan in exchange for the hostage, a deal the German government has rejected.

A Danish journalist who is an ethnic Afghan was briefly held Wednesday before being released.

The kidnappings have alarmed the aid community in Kabul, although here, too, there were questions about what the Koreans were doing on such a dangerous stretch of highway.

People are really unhappy about what has happened and hope they are released, but these Koreans were also somewhat at fault, said Abdul Kebar, acting director of CARE International in Kabul. That has been a dangerous spot for the last two years, and we have banned even [Afghan] nationals from traveling on that road for a year now. Im amazed they took that risk.

Kebar said requiring foreigners to get permission to travel outside Kabul is a good thing, forcing them to get a security briefing before they leave the relative safety of the capital and reducing the opportunities for further kidnappings.

Aid agencies say their work outside Kabul will continue to be carried out by Afghan staff members, who are not subject to the travel restrictions.

The move was part of the governments attempt to impose some order on a deteriorating security situation. Taliban engagement with North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces has also been rising, with a growing number of attacks, including suicide bombings, on NATO troops. One NATO soldier of unidentified nationality was killed in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack Wednesday, and French and British forces said they each had a soldier killed in separate attacks.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-led coalition said its forces have killed 125 insurgents in clashes across the country this week, including 50 in a battle that ended early today. The death tolls could not be verified.

The kidnappings have left the government of President Hamid Karzai in a dilemma. Afghanistan remains dependent on foreign aid workers to deliver services in many parts of the country, and their already limited mobility has been compromised by this latest security crisis.

At the same time, Karzai does not have much freedom to bargain for the Koreans release. He was heavily criticized in March for swapping five Taliban prisoners to gain the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist.

The Taliban focus on kidnappings may also have been fueled by the apparent willingness of some Western governments to pay ransom money, although they deny doing so.

Karzai had vowed there would be no more prisoner exchanges. But his government has made little comment on the Korean case, leading to speculation that another prisoner swap may indeed be in the works.

--

bruce.wallace@latimes.com

Special correspondent Faiez reported from Kabul and Times staff writer Wallace from New Delhi. Special correspondent Jinna Park in Seoul contributed to this report.
The U.S. intelligence community recently reaffirmed its conclusion that senior officials in Russia were behind hacks during the 2016 presidential campaign into the Democratic National Committee and emails belonging to associates of Hillary Clinton.

But what exactly is the intelligence community? Its not just an amorphous term for all U.S. intelligence officials. Its a veritable alphabet soup of 17 agencies and offices. The group includes agencies strictly focused on intelligence as well as the intelligence arms of other government agencies and of the military. Its total budget in 2015 was $66.8 billion.

Here are the 17 offices:

1. Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Created by Congress in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the office coordinates intelligence collection and sharing among U.S. intelligence agencies. The director is the head of the intelligence community and the principal advisor to the president, National Security Council and Homeland Security Council on intelligence matters related to national security.

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2.Central Intelligence Agency

The CIA is the most recognized intelligence agency, known for spying on foreign governments and conducting covert operations, including funneling money to opposition groups in other countries to sway elections or oust certain foreign leaders.

3. National Security Agency

Once so secret it was referred to as No Such Agency, the NSA is the largest and perhaps most technologically sophisticated of all the intelligence agencies. It focuses on signals intelligence  monitoring, collecting and processing communications and other electronic information  and cracking secret codes. It also protects U.S. information systems from outside penetration. The NSA oversees PRISM and other mass surveillance programs revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013. It is believed to employ more mathematicians than any other organization in the country  a fact not all math whizzes are happy about.

4. Defense Intelligence Agency

The Pentagons top spy agency, the DIA is the primary entity responsible for collecting and analyzing intelligence on foreign militaries, with support from the intelligence offices of all the military branches. The DIA shares this information with military leaders, fighters and defense policy makers in order to prevent and decisively win wars, according to its mission statement.

5. Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI has both law enforcement and intelligence functions. On the intelligence side, it aims to protect the U.S. against terrorism, cyberattacks and foreign intelligence operations and espionage. It maintains the governments terrorist watch list and has been involved in the interrogation of high-value detainees, sometimes clashing with the CIA.

6. Department of State  Bureau of Intelligence and Research

This bureau collects and analyzes intelligence on global affairs and advises the secretary of State and other diplomats. It conducts foreign opinion polls and tracks and analyzes issues that may undermine U.S. foreign policy objectives, such as weapons proliferation, human trafficking and drug smuggling. Though its one of the smallest intelligence agencies, its assessment on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was not as inaccurate as that of other agencies.

7. Department of Homeland Security  Office of Intelligence and Analysis

The scope of homeland security includes emergency preparedness, border control, transportation security and biodefense (Ebola and SARS, for example), among other issues. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis is charged with gathering intelligence in these areas and sharing it with state, local, tribal, territorial and private sector partners through a network of fusion centers.

8. Drug Enforcement Administration  Office of National Security Intelligence

The DEA is the governments watch guard for drugs that are illegally manufactured, distributed or dispensed. It is also responsible for the seizure and forfeiture of assets connected with illicit drug trafficking. The Office of National Security Intelligence assists law enforcement with investigations and prosecutions. Most recently it has focused on the threat posed by a surge in heroin and counterfeit prescription pills containing fentanyl.

9. Department of the Treasury  Office of Intelligence and Analysis

Intelligence gathering at the Treasury dates back to its beginning, when Secretary Alexander Hamilton sent a tax official in disguise to investigate the whiskey rebellion underway in western Pennsylvania. Today the Office of Intelligence and Analysis sits within the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, which works to prevent sanctioned countries, money launderers, terrorists, drug kingpins and purveyors of weapons of mass destruction from parking or moving their money through the U.S. financial system.

10. Department of Energy  Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence

Even the Department of Energy has an intelligence office. It traces its origin to the Manhattan Project, when the Atomic Energy Commission was charged with analyzing the Soviet Unions atomic weapons program. Today the offices role is to provide technical intelligence on foreign nuclear weapons, energy security, science and technology, and nuclear energy, safety and waste.

11. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Supporting the Defense Department, this agency is the principal provider of geospatial intelligence  analysis and information about Earths natural and man-made features and geo-tagged activities. This GEOINT is used for combat, humanitarian and disaster relief, border and transportation security and security planning for special events. One of the agencys claims to fame is pinpointing the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound where Osama bin Laden was hiding; another is operating the reference system for GPS.

12. National Reconnaissance Office

The NRO was a secret agency for 31 years, until its existence was declassified in 1992. The office designs, builds and operates the nations reconnaissance satellites, providing the Pentagon, CIA and others precision navigation, early warning of missile launches and near real-time imagery to support anti-terrorism activities. On the civilian side, the satellites help survey damage from natural disasters and support environmental research.

13. Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

The Air Forces intelligence branch, organized into the 25th Air Force, uses airplanes, drones and satellites to identify hideouts, bunkers, mobile launchers and weapons caches. It is also responsible for code-breaking activities within the Air Force. All that surveillance takes up a lot of digital space  in 2013, one wing alone received 20 terabytes of data daily, processed 460,000 hours of video and disseminated 2.6 million images.

14. Army Military Intelligence

The Armys intelligence branch intercepts electronic communications and provides maps, ground imagery and information on foreign forces to assist fighters in the battlefield.

15. Office of Naval Intelligence

The Navys intelligence branch keeps tabs on foreign scientific and technological research, analyzes the structure, tactics and readiness of foreign naval forces, and tracks merchant shipping to identify illicit activity.

16. Marine Corps Intelligence

The Marine Corps intelligence officers create military maps, intercept and translate radio and electronic signals, analyze images collected from sensors and carry out counterintelligence.

17. Coast Guard Intelligence

The Coast Guard, part of the military and the Department of Homeland Security, protects and defends more than 100,000 miles of coastline and inland waterways. On an average day, the Coast Guard conducts 45 search-and-rescue cases, seizes 874 pounds of cocaine, interdicts 17 migrants and helps move $8.7 billion worth of goods, according to its website. Its intelligence office helps with criminal investigations and provides other national agencies with intelligence from domestic and foreign ports, coastal waters and offshore.

nina.agrawal@latimes.com

Twitter: @AgrawalNina

Click here for a Spanish version of this story

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On 26 March Perus Presidentdismissed corruption allegations against her as a political manoeuvre aimed at staining the government.

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On 26 March, Mexicos government announced that it would challenge the suspension of Presidents controversial Plan B electoral reform.

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On 25 March, the office of Brazils Presidentannounced that his official visit to China would be postponed after he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

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Pablo Neruda, one of Chile's great poets, is known for his heartfelt works of romantic poems, with his famous works including "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" and "Residence on Earth, and Other Poems."

According to his biography on the Nobel Prize website, Neruda's real name is Neftali Reyes Basoalto. He was born in the town of Parral in Chile on July 12, 1904.

His father was a railway employee, while his mother was a teacher. The Chilean poet then spent most of his childhood and youth in Temuco city, where he also met Gabriela Mistral, the head of the girls' secondary school, who liked him.

Mistral became the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and Neruda became the second Chilean Nobel laureate in Literature.

Neruda started his writing career at the age of 13 and started to contribute some articles to the daily "La Manana." His first piece of writing was an essay titled "Entusiasmo y Perseverancia."

He started using the name Pablo Neruda as his pen name when he became a contributor to "Selva Austral," a literary journal. Aside from mastering poetry, he studied at the University of Chile, focusing on French and pedagogy.

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Pablo Neruda: Chile's Great Poet

Pablo Neruda's poems are described as "subtle" and "elegant" while being in the tradition of "symbolist poetry." His second book, "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair," was inspired by an unhappy love affair that became an instant success.

It is still considered to be one of Neruda's most popular books. According to Britannica, the verses in his second book are described as "vigorous," "poignant," and subtle, with generous use of imagery and metaphors.

Despite being good at writing poems, his life as a poet was not a profitable one, which prompted him to translate several languages and publish magazine and newspaper articles.

He then managed to get himself appointed honorary consul to Rangoon in Burma, where he represented his country in Asia for the next five years.

Pablo Neruda's Death

The real cause of death of Pablo Neruda has remained a doubt across the world. Neruda died in a private clinic in Chile weeks after the coup.

His death was reportedly caused by cancer. However, the timing and the circumstances have raised doubts about whether his death was caused by something more.

The New York Times reported that there were forensic reports by experts noting that they exhumed Neruda's remains and identified bacteria that can be deadly.

The scientists confirmed that the bacteria were in his body when he died. But it could not be identified whether it was a toxic strain of the bacteria nor whether it was injected into him or ate contaminated food.

Neruda died in a clinic in Santiago at 69. He died two weeks after his friend and political ally, Salvador Allende.

Allende was Chile's leftist president from 1970 to 1973, who died by suicide as he tried to avoid surrendering to the military after his government was toppled in 1973.

Mexico offered to fly Neruda and his wife, Matilde Urrutia, out of the country after the military raided his residence. However, he was admitted to the Santa Maria clinic for prostate cancer.

The clinic then reported that Neruda died of heart failure. Before he died, Neruda called his wife to say he was feeling ill after he received some form of medication.

READ MORE: Pablo Neruda's Cause of Death 50 Years Ago, Revealed

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Romance and Revolution: The Poetry of Pablo Neruda - Ilan Stavans - From TED-Ed




Authorities in South Texas discovered 12 migrants trapped inside a freight train boxcar after a desperate 911 call from one of the migrants.

However, officials said one migrant was pronounced dead at the scene, while three others required hospitalization.

According to ABC News, the discovery happened Saturday afternoon near Eagle Pass, Texas, and it came just a day after 17 migrants were found locked in a "suffocating" train freight container in Uvalde County. During that incident, two people were found dead.

Somebody inside the boxcar parked at a Union Pacific rail yard reportedly called 911, and authorities arrived at the scene around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Authorities rescued the 12 migrants trapped inside, though it was too late for one of them. Union Pacific then contacted Border Patrol that detained the eight other survivors.

READ NEXT: Mexico Bus Carrying Migrants Crashes, 17 Dead

Second Texas Train's Migrants' Nationalities Revealed

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has launched a human smuggling investigation into the matter, though no further arrests have yet been made as of this writing.

The Mexican consulate has revealed that it was aware of the incident and that the migrant who died was an adult Mexican national.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, not all the migrants inside the train car were Mexican, as there were also people from Ecuador, Honduras, and Colombia.

The three migrants that needed medical treatment were sent to a Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center in Eagle Pass. Union Pacific, which owns the train that the migrants were found in, condemned the use of their train cars for human trafficking.

"We have strict policies in place to prevent unauthorized access of our trains, and we do not condone or facilitate illegal activity," the train company said in a statement.

"Safety is a top priority, and we will continue to work with law enforcement and immigration officials to determine how to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future," it added.

Uvalde Texas Train Incident Where Two Migrants Died

As for the earlier incident, the 17 migrants were found inside a different train car in sweltering conditions. Two died, while 10 of the survivors had to be transported by helicopter and ambulance to nearby hospitals.

The migrants who died were identified as adult men from Honduras, according to U.S. Homeland Security investigations. As for the survivors, there were two adult women, while the rest were all adult men.

As for the deaths of the Honduran migrants, the exact causes are yet to be determined by police, saying that it was likely heat-related. The train car was found on Friday, and temperatures around the area reached 90 degrees that day.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, four of the immigrants were taken to various hospitals in San Antonio, while six others were taken to nearby hospitals.

The University Hospital at San Antonio's South Texas Medical Center took two of the most critically-injured migrants described as being in critical condition. The Methodist Hospital took two of the ones in stable condition.

READ MORE: Venezuelan Migrant Numbers at U.S.-Mexico Border Drop by 90%

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WATCH: Migrants Found Dead In Train Car Near Uvalde, Texas - From 9News
Former President Donald Trump was recently at a campaign event in Texas, releasing new criticisms against his potential Republican primary rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

During his Saturday campaign event in Waco, Texas, Trump noted that DeSantis had a small chance of winning the governor position in Florida without his endorsement, Fox News reported.

According to Trump, DeSantis told him that if he endorsed him, he would win. Trump went on to claim that the Florida governor begged him for his support in the state's Republican primary in 2018, saying, "please, please, sir, endorse me" as he acted out a crying and begging voice.

Trump already did the same form of mocking during his past campaign rallies, and they were usually a hit with the crowds. But this time, the attendees were noticeably more silent after his tirades against the governor.

A lot of analysts many have cited DeSantis' growing national profile and popularity in the key swing states as a reason the Florida governor could be a legitimate challenger to the former president.

DeSantis has yet to declare his 2024 White House bid. He recently won his reelection in Florida in a landslide.

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Donald Trump Texas Rally

In a mocking manner, Donald Trump imitated Ron DeSantis' alleged "pleading voice."

New York Post reported that Trump also claimed that DeSantis was "not good" on crime, which was also met with silence. The crowd returned their attention to the former president when he stopped targeting his rival.

Trump then claimed he would have been better off endorsing DeSantis' GOP rival, Adam Putnam. He added that it was "sad" he had not known the other Republican better.

Trump noted that he did rallies for DeSantis, which were very successful. The former president said it led to the governor's nomination and, eventually, to the election.

Trump noted that DeSantis launching a presidential bid was not "supposed to happen," adding that he felt backstabbed by DeSantis' reported run.

Trump said Florida was already in good condition before DeSantis became the governor, suggesting that the state was even better before the governor took over.

The former president noted that "Florida has been successful for decades," further saying it was probably "more successful than it is now."

Donald Trump vs. Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis has floated criticisms of Donald Trump over his legal issue about the hush money payment.

Talking about Trump's possible arrest, the governor noted in a MarketWatch report that he "don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair - I just, I can't speak to that."

DeSantis repeated his hush money comment to British journalist Piers Morgan, adding that the reported hush money was "just outside my wheelhouse." The Florida governor noted that it was not something he could speak to," The Guardian reported.

Trump replied to DeSantis' comments by posting on his Truth Social platform that "Ron DeSanctimous is not working for people of Florida" and was too preoccupied doing interviews with Morgan, who he described as a "ratings-challenged TV host from England."

READ MORE: Donald Trump Admits He Didn't Win Presidential Election 2020 During Interview With Presidential Historians

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WATCH: Thousands Turn Out for Donald Trump's First 2024 Campaign Rally in Waco - From KHOU 11




The New York Police Department announced that it arrested Marvel villain and Creed III actor Jonathan Majors on Saturday after a woman accused him of assault during a domestic dispute.

The woman told NYPD officers that the actor assaulted her and was taken to the hospital with "minor injuries to her head and neck." A police statement revealed that they received a 911 call around 11:14 a.m., according to Variety.

"A preliminary investigation determined that a 33-year-old male was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old female," the NYPD statement read. "The victim informed police she was assaulted. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition."

The male was identified as the popular Marvel actor, attracting even more attention to the alleged domestic dispute. Majors is now facing several potential charges following the incident, including "strangulation," "assault," and "harassment."

Jonathan Majors Lawyer Said Actor Did Nothing Wrong

The actor's criminal defense lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter. She stated that her client is completely innocent and added that he is "probably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows."

"We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently," the lawyer said in a statement, and added, "All the evidence proves that Mr. Majors is entirely innocent and did not assault her whatsoever."

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Evidence of the alleged assault is currently being collected, including video footage from the vehicle where the incident took place, as well as witness testimony and even alleged statements from the woman recanting her allegations.

The lawyer also suggested that the altercation was a result of a mental health incident involving the woman.

Jonathan Majors Was Released from Police Custody on Saturday

As for the arrest, the marvel actor's lawyer stated, "The NYPD is required to make an arrest in these situations, and this is the only reason Mr. Majors was arrested."

The BBC pointed out that this arrest came just a few weeks after Jonathan Majors presented an Oscar alongside Creed III co-star and fellow Marvel villain Michael B. Jordan. The critically-acclaimed film that is part of the Rocky franchise was released in the United States earlier this month.

Shortly after he was arrested, the actor, who is best known for his role as Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror in the Disney+ series, "Loki," as well as the recently-released "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania." was released from custody the very same day, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

As for what his relationship was with the unidentified 30-year-old woman whom he has allegedly beaten up, it was described as only "domestic." The NYPD is still investigating the matter, so no major developments have been reported thus far.

READ NEXT: 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Is a Big Win for Mexico and All Latinos, Says Namor Actor Tenoch Huerta

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WATCH: Actor Jonathan Majors arrested | GMA - Good Morning America
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, has canceled his trip to China due to pneumonia, the presidential palace announced on Saturday, AP reports.

The 77-year-old president was diagnosed with "bacterial and viral bronchopneumonia due to influenza A" after being admitted to a hospital in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia with flu-like symptoms, according to a statement released by the palace citing a doctor's note.

The doctor's letter stated that the socialist leader's condition had improved but that he should "postpone the trip to China until the cycle of viral transmission ends." His press secretary later verified the trip's cancellation.

The palace announced that the Chinese government had been notified "with the reiteration of the desire to schedule the visit on a new date."

Lula's multi-day visit to China had been scheduled to begin on Friday or Saturday but was postponed on Friday.

READ NEXT: Brazil Congress Reelects Leaders Backed by Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva

Brazil President Lula da Silva Supposed to Travel with Huge Delegates

Six cabinet ministers, governors, lawmakers, and 240 business leaders were traveling with him.

Over a third of the business leaders came from Brazil's agricultural sector, which exports the country's abundant meat, soybeans, and wood pulp to China, said Reuters.

Now that Lula's China trip has been scrapped, all eyes will be on Brazil when they unveil their long-awaited fiscal framework, which was scheduled to be disclosed by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in March but was pushed back at Lula's request.

Haddad was supposed to go to China with Lula, but his press office said he would no longer go.

Lula obtained congressional approval for a multibillion-real package that bypasses the constitutional expenditure cap to expand social spending and fulfill campaign pledges. The new framework is seen as critical to addressing fiscal issues.

China Sends Warm Thoughts to Brazil President Lula da Silva Following Postponed Trip

After Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had to cancel a planned visit to China because of pneumonia, the Chinese government showed its sympathy and sent him well wishes, according to Global Times.

Lula received a sympathy letter from China President Xi Jinping on Sunday over his contracting pneumonia and the flu.

After hearing the news of Lula's sickness and the subsequent postponement of his travel to China, Xi sent a telegram expressing his deepest condolences and hoping for a rapid recovery.

A bright trajectory for China-Brazil trade and investment has already been set, so experts believe this delay will continue communications and interactions between the business circles of the two nations, which are now on schedule.

"The Brazilian side has notified the Chinese side of the decision to postpone President Lula da Silva's visit to China. We understand and respect this decision," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

The statement continued by saying that President Lula da Silva is in China's thoughts and that he is wished for a swift recovery.

The Chinese side will keep in touch with Brazil on the visit.

Meanwhile, Chinese analysts predict extensive collaboration between China and Brazil in the technological sphere, particularly in internet technology, civil aviation, and new energy, because both countries recognize the immense potential of technological advancement for national growth.

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Lula announces first official tour to Argentina, U.S. and China - From TeleSUR English
Nairobi, Kenya  Nearly two hundred people demonstrated this week in support of Russia and China in the Central African Republic after nine Chinese workers were killed by gunmen in an attack.

The CAR is one of Africa's poorest countries and has been battling rebel groups for a decade.

Without evidence, the CAR government blamed rebels for the killings. But the rebels are pointing the finger at Russia's Wagner group, which has been deployed in the capital Bangui since 2018 to protect the CAR government.

At the demonstrations that took place in Bangui Wednesday inscriptions on banners ranged from "Support for China" to "Russia is Wagner, we love Russia. We love Wagner."

The show of support follows the killing of nine Chinese employees Sunday in a shooting at the Gold Coast Group gold mine.

Abdoul Asy Babia, a third-year public law student, participated in the protests.

"We stand in solidarity with the embassy and China because China is a great country that has helped the Central African Republic a great deal. We have the example of the Amities ... and the Domicien hospitals."

This was not the first time Chinese workers have been killed an attack in the CAR, said Charles Bouessel, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group.

"In 2019 for instance, three Chinese workers were killed in the northwest of the country, he said. "They were lynched by the population, which accused them of not respecting the law. ... This manifestation happened the day after [Russian President] Vladimir Putin met with [Chinese President] Xi Jinping. We see on the international side that China and Russia are allied and the accusations [by the Coalition of Patriots for Change] that Wagner was behind this attack could've harmed the relationship between China and Russia."

Without evidence, Prime Minister Felix Moloua, last Sunday, blamed the attack on the CPC, an alliance of rebel groups.

"The CPC is composed of six of the most powerful armed groups of the country," said Bouessel. "It was created in late 2020 to overthrow the current regime [of President Austin Archange Touadera]. CPC launched an attack in January 2021 but it failed and it brought CPC to reorganize itself. ... Until a few months ago, the CPC leader was Francois Bozize."

But exiled former CAR President Francois Bozize has relocated recently to Guinea Bissau. So, the CPC leadership seems to have shifted, Bouessel told VOA.

"For now, we see the two warlords may be the most important leaders of this coalition right now," he said. It's Noureddine Adam, former leader of SPSC armed group, which is part of the CPC and the other one is Ali Darassa who runs the UPC armed group."

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In a statement, the CPC denied being involved in the gold mine attack and accused Russia's Wagner mercenary group of being behind it, also without providing evidence.

Russian paramilitaries were deployed to the CAR in 2018 to fend off an assault on the capital by the CPC.

Abdoulaye Diarra, an Amnesty International researcher based in Dakar, Senegal, told VOA it's difficult to say who's responsible for the killings because of conditions in the area where they took place.

"The Chimboro area is near 25 kilometers from Bambari and this area is at the heart of rivalries for access to resources, in particular gold," he said. In the past, the area was occupied by armed groups belonging to CPC and they use to take illegal taxes from gold miners to help them finance their activities, but since December 2020, they were driven out and the authorities have relative control actually of the gold mine .... Security is not fully restored and you still have some insecurity that remains in this area."

Diarra's team has spoken to residents.

"Local sources told us that the attacks started at 5 am and [lasted] for at least one hour. They don't know who exactly the perpetrators are."

Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi called on Bangui to "severely punish" the killers.
A leaked memo's calculations released by billionaire Elon Musk showed that the social media company Twitter is worth less than $20 billion. The Tesla CEO and SpaceX company leader bought Twitter in October for $44 billion.

Upon Musk acquiring Twitter, several large advertisers left the platform while a major source of funds for Musk's purchase of the company, Fidelity, has written down the value of its stake by 56%, according to The Guardian.

It was first reported that the measure of Twitter's worth was based on Musk's offer of stock grants.

It was usually used to incentivize employees, with stock grants being opportunities to buy shares that cannot be sold until a set point in time. It is different from stock options, which can be more flexible.

The stock grants could be "sold every six months" based on a third-party valuation, according to another separate internal email.

He speculated in the email that the social media company could be worth $250 billion someday.

READ NEXT: Elon Musk Cuts Twitter Content Moderation Team

Twitter Under Elon Musk

Elon Musk had applied "radical changes" at the company, such as mass layoffs and cost cutting, saying that it was necessary to avoid bankruptcy and streamline operations, as cited by The New York Times.

Musk has been widely reported for how he runs the social media company.

The billionaire recently sent a notice to staff on Wednesday to remind employees that working from home is unacceptable.

Fox News reported that Musk emailed employees at 2:30 in the morning, writing that "office is not optional." The matter was first reported by platform managing editor Zoe Schiffer.

Before he sent the email, he complained that the San Francisco headquarters had been vacant.

The new Twitter CEO also ended the social media company's work-from-home option in November.

He then warned those employees within driving distance of the office, saying they needed to be present in the office or have their "resignation accepted."

Musk is also the CEO of Tesla, wherein he also imposed stricter rules such as requiring Tesla workers to spend a "minimum of 40 hours" in the office every week. He used the subject "remote work is no longer acceptable."

Developments in Twitter

Twitter has also asked the organization to okay $1,000 a month to have a verified blue checkmark on their Twitter accounts. Recently, the social media company said that it is planning to remove the agency's verified blue checks from users' accounts starting on April 1, which is April Fool's Day.

Users can keep their verified checkmarks by signing up for its paid Twitter Blue subscription, which costs $8 per month, as reported by Business Insider.

William LeGate, the cofounder of Pillow-Fight, told the media outlet that the $1,000-a-month payment was "outlandish" and "meaningless."

LeGate said that the blue checkmark did not offer a noticeable boost in engagement. He added that Blue checks will be "overtaken by trolls and imposters" once April 1 comes.

READ MORE: Elon Musk Warns World: Global Recession Could Last 'Until Spring' 24'

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WATCH: Twitter bots advertising guns to users tweet using trigger terms - from NBC News


A Florida couple was allegedly kidnapped in Haiti a week and a day ago after being ordered off a bus, according to their relatives, the New York Post reported.

The 33-year-old couple Jean-Dickens and Abigail Toussaint reportedly had $6,000 paid in ransom, but their family says the Haiti kidnappers now want upwards of $200,000 per person.

The couple's little kid, who would turn two in a few days, was left behind at their home in Tamarac, Broward County, Florida.

The security of American citizens is the top concern of the U.S. Department of State and its diplomatic missions around the world, said a State Department spokesperson, stating that they are aware of the kidnapping of the Florida couple in Haiti.

"When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts, and we share information with families however we can. We have nothing further to share at this time," the spokesperson added.

READ NEXT: Haitian Gang Blamed for Abducting 17 American and Canadian Missionaries

Florida Couple Was in Haiti to Visit a Family

Christie Desormes, the Toussaints' niece from Silver Spring, Maryland, said that her aunt and uncle only intended to spend four days in Haiti to see relatives and take part in a festival, Fox News noted.

They were reportedly abducted on March 18 while riding a bus out of the Port-au-Prince area.

"They stopped the bus at a stop and then asked for Americans to get off the bus and their escorts off the bus, and then they took them," Desormes said, stating that she could not believe that her relatives, the Florida couple, were kidnapped since she just saw them a month ago for her birthday.

She admitted she has the worst-case scenario playing in her head, but clearly, she does not want it to happen.

"We just want to hear their voice as proof that they are still alive," she continued.

Desormes and her mother said that the family had already paid a ransom of $6,000 but that the alleged Haiti kidnappers had now raised the price.

"Once we sent that money, they tried to up the price to $200,000 per person, and we don't have that type of money," she said.

Meanwhile, local police have not commented yet about the Haiti kidnapping.

Gang Problems in Haiti

Since President Jovenel Moise was killed in 2021, gangs in Haiti have flourished, and significant swaths of the city and most of the countryside are now considered lawless, said Reuters.

Gun battles between police and gangs have been routine in recent months, significantly deteriorating an already dire security situation, and turf wars have resulted in hundreds of deaths and displaced thousands.

Christian Help Ministries of Ohio, which had organized the trip, had 17 missionaries from the United States and Canada abducted by Haiti kidnappers and held for ransom in 2021.

Twelve detainees reportedly escaped independently, despite the group's claims that they were released after a ransom was paid.

Due to the Haiti kidnapping, violence, and social turmoil, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning against Haiti as of December 1, 2022.

The current security and health conditions and infrastructure issues necessitate U.S. citizens to leave Haiti immediately, as stated in the Level 4 recommendation.

READ MORE: Patrick Beverley Hits LeBron James With Epic Troll Job

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WATCH: South Florida couple kidnapped while visiting Haiti, being held for ransom - From WPLG Local 10
Prince Andrew is reportedly planning to release his own tell-all memoir, just like what Prince Harry did with his best-selling memoir "Spare."

The Duke of York wants to "set the record straight" after fellow royal family members have kept him away from the public view since being associated with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In addition, he is reportedly talking to American authors regarding the planned tell-all memoir, according to The Daily Beast.

A source told the media outlet that the possibility of writing a book is "being talked about regularly."

The source added that Harry's own memoir showed the public that there is "no shortage" of the hunger to hear stories about the royal family.

One source also said that Andrew "was the original spare" and that he had a lot to say regarding the matter while also giving the Duke of York the opportunity to "fully explain his association" with Epstein.

Another insider said that there are people, particularly those close to him, telling Andrew that "it's a stupid idea."

One name being floated around to being part of the tell-all memoir project is biographer Daphne Barak.

READ NEXT: Prince Andrew Says New 'Development' on the Way to Restore Disgraced Reputation After Jeffrey Epstein Scandal

Prince Andrew's Own 'Spare' Tell-All Memoir

Andrew's memoir is said to have piqued the interest of two large U.S. publishers.

His want to write his own version came after reports that the Duke of York was upset over Queen Elizabeth's inheritance, with the $790 million Duchy of Lancaster estate transferred directly "monarch to monarch."

Andrew was reportedly feeling resentful of his older brother, King Charles, for not giving him a few million dollars of the inheritance.

One friend noted in a Daily Mail report said that the duke needs to "find ways of making money and supporting himself."

Jeremy Murphy, the founder of New York-based PR firm 360bespoke, said that she has no doubt that Andrew will get several offers from big publishers.

Murphy added he does not think that there would be a big advance. It would probably be a contract that would grant Andrew royalties.

He said it would be surprising if Andrew were to be given an advance of even a million dollars.

Prince Andrew on Queen Elizabeth Inheritance

Andrew was reportedly "bewildered" that he has not been given a portion of the inheritance, according to royal sources.

The duke is reported to have told friends that he feels "despair" that King Charles has not shared any of his new wealth among his siblings, as reported by The Telegraph.

A palace source noted that Queen Elizabeth's inheritance was given to the new monarch as it was the most "tax-efficient" way to transfer the wealth.

Andrew currently resides at Royal Lodge in Windsor. He will also be responsible for the refurbishment cost of the property.

Meanwhile, Charles was reported to be planning to cut Andrew's annual 249,000 allowance from the Duchy Lancaster.

Despite the cut in budgets, royal sources noted that Charles will not be leaving his brother "homeless or penniless."

READ MORE: Prince Andrew Reportedly "To Be Banished" From Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee Celebration

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WATCH: Prince Andrew's plan to write his own 'tell-all' memoir | Sunrise - from Sunrise


A Florida police officer is in critical condition after a typical traffic stop on March 19 turned violent when the driver, Tyliko Maduro, refused to remove his mask and fled the scene, according to CBS 47.

Police did not pursue Maduro then, but they eventually recognized him and tried to catch him early on Sunday morning at his residence. Officers arrived at the Ridgeview Avenue residence around 4:30 a.m. and repeatedly knocked on the door.

Police said they heard a woman inside the residence but continued to knock until they got no response.

The mother was contacted by police, who instructed her to report to the scene. She approached the entrance, unlocked and opened it, but the police did not enter.

It has been stated that Maduro opened fire on the police the moment the door was opened, critically wounding one of them.

The Florida shooting was caught on the bodycam footage.

During a press conference following the incident, Sheriff T.K. Waters said, "The officer is currently in the hospital fighting for his life."

The cop, identified as Malik Duricaud, 25, was conscious and able to communicate with Sheriff Waters throughout their hospital visit.

Maduro used a semi-automatic weapon and eventually shot himself many times inside the home.

The suspect had no prior convictions, and it is still unknown why he shot at the police.

READ NEXT: Florida Shooting Spree: Teen Suspect Kills 3

Florida Police Officers Claim They Will Only Speak with the Suspect

Officers did not obtain a warrant, according to Waters, because they did not intend to search the house.

The sole purpose of their visit was to speak with Maduro, the First Coast News reports.

The video reveals Maduro started firing when the officers knocked on the door. Florida police officers did not shoot back, so a SWAT team was sent to get Maduro out.

After the SWAT team arrived, Waters said it was verified that Maduro had shot himself.

Waters admitted that he was unfamiliar with Malik Daricaud before but had heard good things about the young cop.

"I don't know if his career will ever be the same," he said. "If there's going to be a career from now on."

While the Family Dollar on Morse Avenue is now accessible, the police are still at the intersection of Firestone Road and Skylar Jean Drive. Residents are no longer required to shelter in place, but police advise them to do so if they can.

Meanwhile, Maduro's fiancee was irritated that the police arrived at their home so early. He believed someone was breaking in, according to her.

Police frequently go door-to-door at the start or conclusion of their shift, which means early in the morning, according to Waters during the news conference.

Past Florida Shooting Incidents Involving Police Officers

This is the third incident involving a Florida police officer in the city this year, per News Jax.

The first incident was a gunshot barely hitting an officer. In the second incident, a police officer was attacked in front of a Walmart Supercenter.

"It's gotten increasingly dangerous, and I don't know why it seems to be a disconnect between the community and police officers. It seems to have become far more combative," former JSO Lieutenant Jim Crosby said.

Over 60,000 police personnel were assaulted in the line of duty in 2020, an increase from the 2019 total of slightly more than 56,000 attacks reported to the FBI.

It is generally accepted that requests for assistance have the potential to become more severe over time, but Crosby claims he has no idea why the attacks are getting worse. He echoed what Waters had stated earlier at the briefing when he stressed the need to gain the public's trust.

"We're working towards change. We're working hard to show our community that we care about them and we don't tolerate you shooting our police officers," Waters said.

READ MORE: Lula da Silva Cancels China Trip Due to Pneumonia

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WATCH: Sheriff gives update, shows body camera footage after Jacksonville officer was shot - From First Coast News
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POLICE have arrested a Zanu PF official in Mazowe North after he was caught with 651 filled-in ballot papers from the party's primary election.

Justice Marufu, a member of contestant Tsungai Makumbe's campaign team was arrested by Mvurwi police officers Sunday.

Makumbe, Campion Mugweni, Martin Dinha, and Tafadzwa Musarara were all competing for parliamentary candidature in the constituency.

The matter is being handled by Mvurwi police station under case number RRB5323373.

"At Forester J Polling station, voting started at 1545hrs and ended at 1900hrs. For the 3 hours, 15 minutes 1089 were reported to have voted and thus 17 seconds per person. The total votes of MP candidates were recorded as 1,350 but do not tally with the total aggregate votes for councillors.

"Justice Marufu, a member of Tsungai Makumbe campaign been arrested and now in police custody at Mvurwi Police Station after (being) caught with 651 ballot papers," reads a report gleaned by NewZimbabwe.com

"They are several reports of missing cells in many polling stations.

"Tsungai has already started to celebrate before the command centre received the remaining 50%."

Musarara has since withdrawn from the race citing the irregularities.

"I hereby tender my withdrawal from the above-mentioned primary election due to gross irregularities that have occurred.

" I remain a committed cadre of the ruling party, Zanu PF," said Musarara.

While the ZANU PF political commissar, Mike Bimha claimed that the voting process had gone smoothly on Saturday, there have been reports of rigging at some Zanu PF centres where members were voting.

The ruling party was over the weekend involved in internal elections to come up with parliamentary and council candidates for this year's election.
A 76-year-old Monroe County man is accused of shooting to death a Lehigh Township man last year at the victims home.

Police called for a welfare check on June 29 found Michael Austin Powers dead in his home in the 4500 block of Lower Three Mile Lane in Lehigh Township, authorities previously said.

On Monday, police arrested William Strunk, of Strousdburg, in connection with the killing. Strunk is charged with homicide, possessing an instrument of a crime, and carrying a firearm without a license.

Bail was denied for Strunk, who was sent to Northampton County Prison.

This was an exhaustive effort to investigate and track down every lead available to bring this individual to justice for the homicide of Michael Powers. Law enforcement never relented throughout the weeks of this investigation, District Attorney Terry Houck said in a news release.

County Coroner Zachary Lysek previously said he pronounced Powers dead at the scene and ruled the death a homicide. But Lysek did not immediately release the cause of death to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

In court papers, investigators said Powers had multiple gunshot wounds, and his cause of death was gunshot wounds to his chest and mouth. State police said bullets removed from Powers body were .38/.357 caliber.

Investigators did not reveal a motive in court papers, but said Strunk was eventually determined to be a possible suspect in the killing.

On Wednesday, police searched Strunks apartment on Ann Street in Stroudsburg and said they found a .38-caliber handgun and a box of ammunition in the home.

In an interview that day at the Monroe County District Attorneys office, Strunk reportedly confessed to shooting Powers four times and killing him, according to court records.

Due to the tireless and diligent investigative efforts by members of the Pennsylvania State Police Bethlehem Station Criminal Investigation Unit, we were able to have an arrest and provide a positive outcome for the victims family, Lieutenant Brian Roberts, Troop M criminal investigation section commander, said.

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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
A suspended sentence was handed out to a man who admitted public order offences.

Edward Cash, 27, with an address at 29 Churchfield Heights, Castletown pleaded guilty to public order offences in Mountrath on March 14, 2023 and in Castletown on June 15 last year.

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said the defendant was intoxicated and lying on the ground in Market Square in Mountrath on March 14. When gardai approached he fled and after a small foot chase he attempted to swing at Gardai but missed owning to the level of his intoxication, said Sgt Kirby. Gardai had to pepper spray the defendant who was shouting and roaring, he added.

At Churchfield Heights in Castletown the defendant was intoxicated and abusive at 9.50pm on June 15 last, Sgt Kirby said. He said there were children present and the defendant called a garda a scumbag.

He said I know John Gilligan. I will find out where you live, said Sgt Kirby. He said the man has 39 previous convictions.

Solicitor Barry Fitzgerald admitted the previous records make for grim reading and said his client had a litany of these type of offences.

He simply drinks too much and quite frankly becomes uncontrollable, said Mr Fitzgerald. He said the man says things which arent rational and he has mental health issues.

He has been sober for the past few weeks, said Mr Fitzgerald.

He is asking for the compassion of the court, he added.

Judge Andrew Cody fined the man 200 and imposed a six month prison sentence which he suspended for three years.

If he comes back here again, this will be imposed, he warned.
AN Athlone man was charged with six acts of criminal spray painting in Birr during last week's sitting of Tullamore District Court.

Before the court was Paul Lanier, Coolaleena, Glasson, Athlone. He is alleged to have committed the following offences:

On November 1, 2022 at Lyndons Flats, Keal's Archway Birr he spray painted a wall with the word APERS, belonging to Thomas Lyndon.

Sometime on November 1 or 2, 2022 at St Brendans Park Birr GAA, Roscrea Road, Birr he spray painted a wall and a turnstile with the word APERS, belonging to St Brendans GAA Club intending to damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged.

Sometime on November 1 or 2, 2022 at Doctor McAuliffes Surgery, Green St, Birr he spray painted the wall of the surgery with the word APERS.

Sometime on November 1 or 2, 2022 at Church Lane, Birr he spray painted the word APERS on a side door belonging to the HSE.

Sometime on November 1 or 2, 2022 at To Go Main Street, Birr he spray painted the wall of the property with the word APERS, belonging to Eoin Garry.

Sometime on November 1 or 2, 2022 at Shop and Hotel Supplies, Brendan St, Birr spray painted the wall of a building belonging to Michael OConnor with the word APERS.

Judge Andrew Cody asked Mr Lanier what the acronym APERS stands for. The defendant said it stands for All pursue easy routes to success.

I would suggest, commented the Judge to Donal Farrelly, the defendants solicitor, that he abandons this particular version of what he thinks to be successful ways of acting and adopt more positive ways of behaving, ways of behaving which really are in fact successful.

The Judge adjourned the case to a hearing at a future date.
The High Court has approved a Personal Insolvency Arrangement allowing a former Fianna Fail councillor and General Election candidate to write off over 4.4m in debt.

The PIA was approved in respect of Thomas 'Eddie' Mulligan, who will contribute a sum of just over 9,000 to his creditors, which are mostly financial funds, and in fees to fund the arrangement.

Mr Mulligan was an elected member of Waterford City and County Council between 2014 until his resignation as a councillor in August 2022. Mr Mulligan, aged 55, also ran for Fianna Fail in the 2020 General Election but failed to secure a seat.

At the High Court on Monday Mr Justice Alexander Owens was told that Mr Mulligan's financial difficulties had arisen out of the economic recession in 2008.

As well as being a local politician the court heard that Mr Mulligan had served with the Irish Naval Service for many years and had worked in his family's painting and decorating business.

He had borrowed money, and had given personal guarantees in respect of loans, that were used to invest in various property assets. Following the crash those assets lost value and their rental income decreased.



Those properties, which included retail and commercial units, are to be sold to help pay off what is owed on them the court heard.



Mr Mulligan's main creditors include Pepper Finance, Everyday Finance DAC, Bank of Ireland, and a local Credit Union.

Arising out of his difficulties and inability to pay his debts as they fell due Mr Mulligan entered the insolvency process and engaged the services of Personal Insolvency Practioner (PIP) Mitchell O'Brien.

Keith Farry Bl for the PIP said that under the 13-month arrangement Mr Mulligan will retain the family home, a four bedroomed house at Knockboy, Dunmore Road, Waterford worth 425,000, which he shares with his wife and their dependent child.

Counsel said Mr Mulligan will continue to make payments on his mortgage, which is to be restructured so that the total debt due on his family home has been reduced from over 600,000 to approximately 425,000.

Counsel said it is the case that Mr Mulligan's creditors would do better under the PIA compared to if the former councillor was adjudicated as being a bankrupt.

Following the completion of the 13-month long PIA, counsel said that Mr Mulligan will return to solvency. There was no opposition to the Mr Farry's application to have the PIA formally approved by the court.

After considering the matter Mr Justice Owens said that he was satisfied from the evidence put before the court to approve Mr Mulligan's PIA.
Irish Rail has apologised to a Laois customer who was faced with a litany of problems on the Portlaoise to Dublin service on his way to and from the Grand Slam rugby match in the Aviva Stadium.

An Iarnrod Eireann spokesperson issued a statement to the Leinster Express Laois Live after John Finn outlined an experience that he said should have been "a joyous occasion" but turned into a "disaster".

Mr Finn got stuck in Portlaoise Station going too and from Dublin seeking help and also encountered problems in Heuston. The situation on the way back to Laois was almost farcical as Mr Finn had to get off the train before having to reboard because the lift in Portlaoise wasn't working.

The train had to travel away from Portlaoise a short distance and reverse back up the line so that he could get off on the Mountmellick Road side of the track.

The train company apologised.

"Firstly, we apologise to Mr Finn for the issues experienced when travelling with us. We have received his feedback directly and are liaising with him on the issues raised," they said.

"While Mr Finn had indicated that he was a wheelchair user when booking the ticket, Irish Rail said further steps are needed to get assistance.

"We advise customers who require assistance to request through our access department or their station directly assistance in advance of travel. While this request was not received for these (Mr Finn's) journeys, we would always seek to do our utmost to assist customers who cannot give notice.

"Mr Finn entered the station and went directly to the platform without going to the booking office, meaning regretfully booking office staff did not realise a customer required assistance, either at Portlaoise or to notify Heuston for arrival on the outward journey," said Irish Rail.

The company was contrite in relation to the experience on arrival to Portlaosie.

"On the return journey, Mr Finn should have been facilitated with courtesy. Unfortunately, the lift fault described at Portlaoise occurred on that Saturday night (rectified Sunday morning). We appreciate the efforts of our staff in overcoming this issue  however, this did delay and inconvenience Mr Finn and the other customers he describes.

"We hope Mr Finn will see improvement in the service he receives as we act upon his feedback, and continue to work to improve accessibility across all our services," concluded the statement.

In his original complaint to Irish Rail Mr Finn said he used the same service in the 1970s for 10 years when attending school in Dublin and got a better service. He said there was always a staff member available in Portlaoise and Heuston.

He signed off his communication to the company owned and funded by taxpayers as a "disillusioned and disabled passenger".
The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is calling on schools, businesses and community groups in Ireland to wear red against racism this week.

As part of Wear Red Day, which takes place on Friday March 31, people are encouraged to wear the colour and make a donation to the charity.

All funds raised through the initiative will be used by the ICI to continue their work on tackling racism in Ireland.

Commenting ahead of the event, Integration Manager at the Immigrant Council, Valeria Aquino, said, "Wear Red Day is an important opportunity for schools, businesses and community groups alike to send out a strong message that we as communities welcome diversity, celebrate it, and take a stand against racism in all forms.

"With racist incidents on the rise, it is vital that we provide people with the tools and knowledge they need to properly deal with racism. Wear Red Day is a great opportunity for schools and workplaces to start the conversation on racism and discrimination.

"As well as wearing red, were also encouraging people to run activities throughout the day  everything from five-aside competitions, to bake sales  all to help boost donations."

The ICI is also encouraging participants to share their Wear Red Day activities on social media using the hashtag #WRD23.

Wear Red Day is part of the Show Racism the Red Card anti-racism programme, which is operated by the ICI.

The programme provides educational resources, workshops, trainings and awareness-raising activities for primary and secondary schools, youth groups, workplaces and sporting stakeholders nationwide.
Laois County County council is getting 500,000 to buy three properties to convert into community use, under a new funding designed to tackle vacancy and dereliction in Rural Ireland.

The Department of Rural and Community Development says each local authority can apply for funding of up to 500,000, which can be used to buy up to three properties to re-develop into multi-purpose community facilities.

The Department says funding previously announced under the Details of the 2023 Building Acquisition Measure scheme saw old banks, court houses, garda stations and FCA halls all purchased and re-purposed for "21st century use".

The Department confirmed to the Leinster Express that officials at County Hall in Portlaoise applied to buy a building in 2022 but the sale did not materialise to issues 'beyond the council's control'.

In opening the call for applications, Minister Heather Humphreys encouraged councils to work with communities in pinpointing buildings that are suffering from vacancy and dereliction.

There has never been as many opportunities for local community groups to access funding for rural and community development projects.

I am anxious to make this funding as accessible as possible, and with this in mind I am now publishing the details of when the main capital investment schemes will be open for applications in 2023.

This will help community groups and local authorities to see what funding is available and when, and will assist them in the planning of their applications, he said.

The closing date for applications under the Building Acquisition Measure must be submitted by April 28. This Measure is strictly only available for application and drawdown in 2023. No commitments will be carried forward into 2024.

The Local Authority must be able to confirm that the purchase of the building will be completed and all relevant draw down

information will be submitted to the Department by October 9.

The Department said the funding is part of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, "is designed to make towns and villages more attractive places in which to live, visit, invest and raise a family".

Laois Offaly Minister of State Pippa Hackett welcomed the money which she sad her party is central to.

"It is Green Party policy to tackle vacancy and dereliction in our towns for both social and environmental reasons. The Greens are standing up for rural Ireland - all around the Midlands I see wonderful, Government funded, projects based on Green policies. Todays announcement is yet another boost to our town centres and I would encourage people to contact either myself or their County Council if they have a building or a project in mind, she said.

Full details of the scheme are available on www.gov.ie
The first lady of Laois met the former first lady of the USA at big St Patrick's Day event in New York to commemorate the Good Friday Agreement.

Cllr Thomasina Connell, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council, represented Laois at the event where she met with the former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

It was a huge honour to represent Laois at this event in New York as we celebrate 25 years of peace since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in Belfast in 1998, said Cllr. Connell. Its important to recognise how difficult it was to achieve lasting peace on this island and that, after 25 years, we must never take it for granted.

While so much progress has been made in terms of the Peace Process, the vision of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement has not been fully met. Brexit has obviously created significant challenges, and political deadlock in Stormont is currently preventing the Norths institutions from being fully operational. Its important that we find a way forward for all communities in Northern Ireland, and the United States continues to play a key role in that work," she said.

She also met with Ms Clinton who was America's first lady during the presidency of her husband Bill. Ms Clinton is also a former senator for New York and an unsuccessful Democratic Presidential candidate in 2016 when she lost to Donald Trump.

It was a privilege to meet so many great friends of Ireland at the event in New York. I had the honour of discussing the impact of the Good Friday Agreement with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who remains committed to Ireland and who is set to visit our shores along with her husband, the former President Bill Clinton, next month," she said.

Cllr Connell also met with the Tanaiste Micheal Martin, Irelands Consul General Helena Nolan, and the Chair of the Congressional Friends of Ireland Group, Congressman Richard Neal.

I spoke to the Tanaiste, Micheal Martin, about Irish-American economic opportunities, but also about matters closer to home. The Tanaiste commended the part played by our Laois communities in Irelands response to the war in Ukraine," she said.

The Portlaoise Municipal District Fine Gael representative also lobbied the Fianna Fail leader on the decision to delay the building of a new school in Portlaoise.

"I also took the opportunity to raise the need for funding to be secured for the Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise, and asked that the Tanaiste discuss this with his colleague, Education Minister Norma Foley.

What remains absolutely clear is that the U.S. administration is fully committed to Ireland and the Peace Process. There is great excitement about the visit of President Biden to Ireland next month, as part of the celebrations to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, concluded Cllr Connell.

During her visit to the United States, Cllr Connell travelled to Franklin in Tennesse with a delegation from Laois. Franklin County is twinned with Laois.
Laois communities are being invited to tap into a 500,000 in funding to combat climate change by investing in the county's bogs.

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan announced that a fund of up to 500,000 is now open for applications, to support community-led projects as part of the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme 2023.

Abbeyleix Bog in Laois has been a flagship project and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is encouraging other communities in the county to follow their lead.

"As the largest store of carbon in the Irish landscape, peatlands have a critically important part to play in Ireland's efforts to combat climate change. Peatland restoration also brings significant additional benefits, such as enriched biodiversity, increased natural capital, and improved water quality and flood attenuation.

"The Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme is designed to encourage local peatland communities, groups, schools and other interested parties to play a part in the conservation and revitalisation of raised and blanket bogs  particularly protected bogs and fens  and to promote public engagement with and awareness of our natural heritage and environment.

Applications are welcomed across a diverse range of peatland initiatives that offer a community benefit, including events, education programmes, conservation management plans, restoration measures, feasibility studies, public amenity and recreational projects, plans to deal with invasive species, and fire control measures.

Successful applicants for this years assistance will be awarded funding to support a maximum of 80% of the project's eligible costs, with a maximum grant of 40,000 for designated sites and up to 20,000 for undesignated peatland or fen sites. Further details of the scheme are available at www.npws.ie
document

Summary: The U.S. government (USG) is committed to expanding partnerships in West Africa to prevent violent conflicts from emerging or further spreading across the region. The central Sahel region of Africa experienced more terrorist attacks than any other part of the world in 2021, with terrorist activity increasingly expanding across borders in neighboring Coastal West Africa (CWA) countries. Violent extremist activity is exacerbating distrust among civilians and security and government actors in border areas that are historically disadvantaged in terms of political representation and economic development. This trend perpetuates and coincides with growing strains on democratic institutions across the region.

In April 2022, President Biden announced the USG would prioritize partnerships with the CWA countries of Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo to advance the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS). Leaders across these countries are committed to taking comprehensive action at local, national, and regional levels to build upon existing resiliencies and prevent conflict and instability, including the spread of violent extremism (VE). The USG seeks to be a partner in this prevention endeavor. This plan provides a framework and roadmap for increased U.S. engagement and assistance in this regard, working with international partners.

U.S. embassies across the region and interagency leaders came together to develop this plan for the region, moving beyond traditional bilateral operating lines. This included dedicated integration and planning workshops in the region and in Washington. In addition, U.S. officials conducted wide-ranging consultations with local, national, and regional partners to inform this plan, including high-level diplomatic engagements, workshops with international donor partners, and dialogue with over 100 representatives from civil society organizations. Continued, ongoing multi-stakeholder engagement will be central to further implementation. As stated in the U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa, "the United States must reset its relations with African counterparts, listen to diverse local voices, and widen the circle of engagement to advance its strategic objectives to the benefit of both Africans and Americans."

This plan envisions a range of U.S. and partner efforts to advance the long-term goal that Coastal West Africans promote peace and prevent violent conflict and violent extremism (VE) that risks destabilizing the region. The term "Coastal West Africans" encompasses civilians, governments and institutions, security forces, civil society, and regional bodies and seeks to reinforce the united front required for success. (Note: Security forces refer to all civilian and defense forces with a security mandate.) The USG will focus diplomatic engagement and assistance tools at local, national, and regional levels on advancing three overlapping objectives:

Objective 1: Social cohesion is strengthened within and between at-risk communities.

Objective 2: Improved government responsiveness, inclusion, and accountability to at-risk communities.

Objective 3: Enhanced security force responsiveness and accountability to at-risk communities.

This 10-year plan is explicitly crafted to incorporate lessons learned from overly securitized approaches to addressing VE-related challenges in the Sahel region over the past decade. A stronger social contract and increased trust between national and local governments, security actors, community leaders, and the public will facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes and reduce the ability of violent extremists, criminals, and other destabilizing actors to exploit ethnic, religious, and livelihood cleavages. This plan seeks to reinforce and buttress promising national commitments by the five governments to address VE-related challenges in a more holistic fashion, emphasizing inclusive development and responsive governance.

The U.S. government will marshal and adapt a range of engagement and assistance to support these objectives in each of the five countries, recognizing unique national dynamics and challenges that affect each country's orientation toward these threats and the potential for expansive partnership. U.S. engagement and assistance under this plan will be tailored accordingly to the individual countries. For example, some countries face more exigent security assistance needs, while others are more focused on economic revitalization. U.S. support to Guinea continues to be oriented toward encouraging a return to constitutional, civilian-led democracy. At the same time, the plan will support mechanisms to promote regional cooperation and sharing lessons learned - both among government and non-government actors - to effectively prevent conflict and promote stability. The USG will seek to bolster existing mechanisms that can facilitate that cooperation.

The plan includes a strong commitment to put in place the necessary operating structures and staffing to enable more effective interagency U.S. government collaboration to promote prevention across the region. State, USAID, and DoD are taking steps to enhance coordinated staffing across U.S. Embassies in the region, including regional coordinators, and increasing collaboration with the DFC, MCC, Treasury, and other key U.S. government actors. Embassies in the region will engage regularly to advance implementation of this plan, including to hold strategic reviews to assess shared threats, challenges, and opportunities include necessary resources in the President's Budget Request. This level of planning and coordination across the U.S. government will enable more effective and strategic engagement with key regional and international partners to advance shared objectives.

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Overall, in line with the SPCPS and based on lessons learned, this plan represents a commitment to innovate and enhance how the USG engages and works with regional partners. The plan calls for a more flexible and effective approach, including:

Shifting the focus to include prevention;

Focusing on dual tracks of bilateral and regional engagement;

Integrating security and governance approaches;

Assuming a supporting role toward partner nation and regional institution plans;

Streamlining international donor coordination;

Investing in new field-based staffing constructs;

Committing to a strategic monitoring and evaluation agenda; and

Increasing focus on financing for women and youth in support of economic stability.

U.S. leaders will continue to innovate and adapt this plan as new developments occur, including changing political or security dynamics on the ground. Officials will monitor and adapt to threat dynamics that cut across the Sahel and CWA that could create new challenges and limitations. U.S. leaders and partners will come together, at least annually, to review ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) efforts and make strategic shifts to the plan as necessary. Through consultations, iterative analysis, and ongoing learning and reflection, this implementation plan will continuously evolve to reflect a shared vision for strategic prevention of VE and destabilizing conflict in the region.

Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Fifth year student Tara Mulhall from Newbridge College has been presented with the title of overall Best Individual at this year's BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp.

It follows an intensive four-day programme which took place in County Dublin last week.

The BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp, delivered in partnership with NovaUCD, encourages further innovation amongst BT young scientists and technologists, providing them with commercial skills to carry forward into their future careers.

Shay Walsh, Managing Director at BT Ireland and BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp judge, said: "The projects chosen for this years BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp reflect issues that are top of the agenda for our young people, from looking at environmental and sustainability issues to the way in which students learn.

"It has been inspiring to watch how the students have applied the skills theyve learned to develop these projects into a business proposition in the space of four days."

Mr Walsh continued: "Alumni of BT Business Bootcamp have a track record in turning ideas into real life successful businesses, and I am immensely proud of the work BT Ireland continues to do to encourage and nurture Irelands young entrepreneurs in this space. Congratulations to the 2023 class of BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp."

Tara Mulhall with her prize

Speaking at the end of the BT Business Bootcamp 2023, UCD Professor Pat Guiry added: "With learning and innovation at the centre of everything we do at UCD, we have found the perfect partner in the BT Business Bootcamp, and we are delighted to continue that partnership, which is now in its 14th year.

"It has been a fantastic week of creativity, collaboration and sheer hard work, and I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to all who participated in the 2023 programme  I'm sure this isnt the last well hear of them.

"My congratulations also to this years winners, who fought off stiff competition to come out on top.

He concluded: "If the past week is anything to go by, I believe our future is in safe hands!"

FURTHER INFORMATION

NutriSoil was named as the overall 'Best Group': the project examines the long-term effects of a more sustainable method of keeping nutrients in the soil as an alternative to an artificially made granule.

The winning group was made up of Sean Allen, a 5th year student from Roscommon Community College, Roscommon, Rosheen Sharma, a 3rd year student from Rockford Manor Secondary School, Dublin, Julian Lewandowski, a 4th year student from Sutton Park School, Dublin, Erica OBrien Murray, a 5th year student from Loreto Secondary School, Dublin and Alanna Hayes, a 5th year student from Social Mhuire, Clare.

Sean Allen was project lead who entered the project into the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2023 back in January.

Bootcamp aims to help second level students gain a practical understanding of what it takes to bring an idea from concept to market while also encouraging interpersonal skills such as teamwork, decision making and leadership.

A total of 30 students took part in bootcamp and were all prize winners from the 2023 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. They were divided into six project teams, each of the six projects selected was a project entry from this years exhibition in January.

The overall BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp winning project was chosen after each group pitched their ideas to an expert panel of judges following the four-day bootcamp, delivered in partnership with Nova UCD.

BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp judging panel included: Shay Walsh, Managing Director, BT Ireland, Dr Tony Scott, Co-founder of the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, Ann ODea, CEO and Co-Founder, Silicon Republic and Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager for Entrepreneurship and HPSU, Enterprise Ireland.

Over the years several past participants of the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp have gone on to become successful entrepreneurs, founding organisations such as Evervault, betterexaminations.ie and Protex AI.

For more information, please visit www.btyoungscientist.com.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is calling on schools, businesses and community groups in Kildare to join their anti-racism initiative this week.

It follows the revelation from last week that the number of racist related incidents reported to the iReport website (which is operated by the Irish Network Against Racism) last year reached 600, compared to 404 in 2021.

As part of Wear Red Day, which takes place on Friday, March 31, people are being encouraged to wear red and make a donation to the charity.

Commenting ahead of the event, Valeria Aquino, Integration Manager at the ICI, said: "Wear Red Day is an important opportunity for schools, businesses and community groups alike to send out a strong message that we as communities welcome diversity, celebrate it, and take a stand against racism in all forms.

With racist incidents on the rise, it is vital that we provide people with the tools and knowledge they need to properly deal with racism.

"Wear Red Day is a great opportunity for schools and workplaces to start the conversation on racism and discrimination.

Ms Aquino continued: "As well as wearing red, were also encouraging people to run activities throughout the day  everything from five-aside competitions, to bake sales  all to help boost donations.

"We hope the people of Kildare get behind this initiative and show their support on Friday!"

All the funds raised through Wear Red Day will be used by the ICI to continue their work on tackling racism in Ireland.

The ICI is also is encouraging participants to share their Wear Red Day activities on social media using the hashtag #WRD23.

Wear Red Day is part of the Show Racism the Red Card anti-racism programme, which is also operated in Ireland by the ICI.

The programme provides educational resources, workshops, trainings and awareness-raising activities for primary and secondary schools, youth groups, workplaces and sporting stakeholders nationwide.

Further information on Wear Red Day is available here.

BACKGROUND

The ICI is the leading national human rights organisation working to defend migrant rights in Ireland.

It provides free immigration advice and legal support through its helpline and law centre, as well as campaigning for immigration reform.

The ICI also provides support to victims of racism and human trafficking, and provides opportunities for migrants to connect with each other and their communities.

Visit www.immigrantcouncil.ie for more information.

The Immigrant Councils Anti-Racism Support service is available online at www.immigrantcouncil.ie/reportracism.
A Kildare-based Senator has welcomed the announcement that a new 13 million fund has been set up to tackle dereliction and vacancy in rural areas.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, announced the fund earlier today, which aims to transform dozens of old buildings into multi-purpose community facilities.

Commenting on the news, Fianna Fail Senator Fiona O'Loughlin said: "This initiative is a vital step in the rejuvenation of our towns and villages, ensuring they remain attractive places to live, work, and visit."

She elaborated: "Under the initiative, each local authority can apply for funding of up to 500,000, which they can use to purchase up to three properties to re-develop into multi-purpose community facilities.

"The funding, under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, is designed to make our towns and villages more attractive places in which to live, visit, invest and raise a family.

"Funding previously announced under the scheme saw old banks, courthouses, garda stations and FCA halls all purchased and re-purposed for modern use."

The Senator continued: "Im delighted with the commitment to provide each local authority with funding of up to 500,000, allowing them to purchase and redevelop up to three properties into multi-purpose community facilities.

"This will give a new lease of life to buildings that have been lying idle for years and will provide much-needed spaces for the community to gather and hold events.

"This scheme builds on the Town and Village Renewal Scheme to date, which has transformed old and unused buildings into functional spaces that benefit communities across Ireland," Senator O' Loughlin concluded.

Senator Fiona O' Loughlin made headlines last week when she was announced as one of five senators to sit on the new Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying.

As reported by RTE News, the other Senators are: Independents Lynn Ruane and Ronan Mullen, the Labour Party's Annie Hoey and Fine Gael's Mary Seery Kearney.
SPAR is inviting all community clubs and groups across Leitrim to apply for a chance to win 10,000 in funding and a meet and greet with brand ambassador and Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington as part of their new SPAR 60th Community Fund which was launched today.

Through the SPAR 60th Community Fund, six local community clubs, groups or programmes will be rewarded with 10,000 each, along with the chance to meet Olympic Champion Kellie Harrington and take her on in a fun series of challenges this summer.

This campaign builds on SPARs established Community Fund initiative which was launched in December 2021. This announcement will see Irelands leading convenience retailer direct investment reaching 80,000 into deserving community projects across the country, something that is indicative of SPARs ongoing commitment of giving back to local communities and their customers.

Local clubs who enter the SPAR 60th Community Fund, not only have the chance of winning 10,000 but they will also be invited to a meet and greet session with SPAR ambassador and Olympic Champion Kellie Harrington this summer, engaging in fun activities together and it is a chance for Kellie to learn about the successful clubs and the vital work they undertake in their local community.

SPAR and Kellie are inviting all community groups to apply for a chance to win. Applications will open on 27th March and will close on 30th April.

To find out more about the SPAR 60th Community Fund and other SPAR initiatives taking place this year marking SPARs 60 years in Ireland, visit www.spar.ie
The Leitrim Design House are proud to launch The Leitrim Design House National Design, Craft & Art Awards 2023, in celebration of 23 years sustaining and nurturing creative Irish businesses.

These National awards will celebrate excellence in design and artisanship and are born out of the organisations continued sustainability as a business. As a reflection on this longevity The Leitrim Design House wish to invite makers, crafters, artists and designers from across the island of Ireland to respond to the theme of reused sustainability. Following an evaluation from our judging panel The Leitrim Design House Award for first prize is 2,500 for the best overall submission. The winner of this award will also be invited for a solo exhibition in 2024. A specially commended prize of 1,000 will be awarded to a runner up. Its a wonderful chance to have your work viewed by highly regarded industry professionals and experts. The Leitrim Design House thanks the Local Enterprise Office, Leitrim for their kind sponsorship of these awards.

The awards are open to practicing makers, crafters, artists and designers living and working on the Island of Ireland, at any career stage who can demonstrate artistic merit and expertise in their chosen field. Applications will not be considered from students undertaking full-time study.

Applicants can now register their Expression of Interest on www.leitrimdesignhouse.ie , a 10 registration fee will be applicable. A link to the application form will be emailed to all eligible applicants within 72 hours, for any unforeseen reason if you have not received the application, please email info@leitrimdesignhouse.ie. The deadline for the final submission of applications is 6:00pm Friday June 23rd 2023.

Up to ten shortlisted applicants will be notified by Friday July 14. The finalists will be invited to showcase their work at The Leitrim Design House Design, Craft & Art Awards Exhibition event on Friday August 11. This exciting event will include National networking opportunities, presentations by shortlisted applicants, refreshments along with the awards presentation. For more information visit www.leitrimdesignhouse.ie or call 071 9650550.
Performance Brokerage Services Advises on the Sale of Thief River Ford in Thief River Falls, Minnesota





Performance Brokerage Services, the leader in dealership buy-sell activity, announces the sale of Thief River Ford in Thief River Falls, Minnesota from Steve Lillestol to Jason Jalbert

IRVINE, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Performance Brokerage Services, North America's highest volume dealership brokerage firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Thief River Ford in Thief River Falls, Minnesota from Steve Lillestol to Jason Jalbert.

Thief River Ford has been servicing Thief River Falls and the greater North Minnesota area since 1930.

Unlike many dealers, President, Steve Lillestol did not come from a family with experience in the automotive industry. After graduating college, he took a job as a finance manager at Hansen Ford and decided that his ultimate goal was to purchase an auto dealership. Lillestol eventually reached his goal when he purchased Tunberg Motor Company in 2002 and renamed the dealership Thief River Ford.

At the time, Tunberg Motor Company had a humble gravel lot and primarily sold used vehicles. Shortly after his acquisition, Lillestol heavily invested in the facade and financial infrastructure of the dealership. Lillestol paved the gravel lot, modernized the interior, re-negotiated hourly warranty repair rates with Ford, and grew his team to accommodate new business.

Lillestol's dedication and hard work have paid off. For more than two decades, Thief River Ford has been a fixture in the local community and surrounding areas. Thief River Ford is well known for friendly service and has a repeat customer base that's made the small but mighty dealership a reliable success over the past 21 years.

Following the sale, Lillestol commented, "A huge shout out of thanks to Paul Kechnie and Performance Brokerage Services for their professionalism selling Thief River Ford in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. If I had tried doing this on my own, I would have messed it up terribly. Paul guided me throughout the whole process. He established a fair selling price, found a qualified buyer, and kept the whole transaction confidential. Paul was a great liaison between myself and the buyer, staying upbeat when things got difficult. He was always available for questions no matter how trivial. Paul demonstrated to me that brokers are not just for the big guys, they are just as critical for mid to small size dealerships. Thank you again to Paul and the Performance Brokerage Services team for helping me transition to my next chapter in life."

Over the last 5 years, Performance Brokerage Services has advised on the sale of over 300 dealerships, making it the highest volume dealership brokerage firm in North America. In 2022, the company consummated 92 transactions, marking a record-breaking year. Paul Kechnie, the exclusive agent for this transaction and Texas & Midwest Senior Partner for Performance Brokerage Services commented, "It was a true pleasure helping Steve Lillestol find the right buyer for Thief River Ford. We are grateful that Steve entrusted Performance Brokerage Services to assist with this important life decision and we appreciated Steve's professionalism throughout the process. I wish him nothing but the best in all his future endeavors."

Thief River Ford will transition ownership to Jason Jalbert, who also owns and operates Ford of Park Rapids in Minnesota.

Jalbert stated, "Many thanks to Paul for his invaluable assistance and guidance during our recent acquisition. His expertise, attention to detail, and ability to navigate the complexities of the transaction were exceptional. I am grateful for his patience, professionalism, and dedication, and I look forward to working with Performance Brokerage Services again in the future."

The dealership will remain at its current location at 802 Third Street West, Thief River Falls in Minnesota.

About Performance Brokerage Services

Performance Brokerage Services, Inc. is North America's highest volume dealership brokerage firm, specializing in buy-sell activity for automotive, RV, commercial truck, powersports, and equipment dealerships.

With over 25 years of experience, 700 dealerships sold, and a 90% closing rate, the company's reputation is unmatched and governed by the utmost ethical conduct and integrity.

The company offers a unique approach by providing complimentary estimates of value with no upfront fees or retainer, no reimbursement of costs, and paid a success fee only after the transaction closes.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, and supported by 9 regional offices in Utah, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey, Alberta and Ontario, clients benefit from national exposure with local representation.

As trusted and respected experts in the field, the company utilizes an extensive network of industry related attorneys, accountants, hundreds of registered buyers, and longstanding relationships with various vehicle manufacturers.

For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com.

Media Contact

Paul Kechnie, http://performancebrokerageservices.com/, 949.461.1372, [email protected]

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook

SOURCE Performance Brokerage Services, Inc.

27 march 2023 at 03:00

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TERAGO Deploys Canada's First Private 5G MMwave Research Network at McMaster University's New Manufacturing Research Institute





TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - TERAGO Inc. ("TERAGO" or the "Company") (TSX: TGO) (https://terago.ca/), has deployed Canada's first 5G MMwave private network dedicated to Industry 4.0 research in McMaster's new Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI) in Hamilton, Ontario.

Over the next three years, this private network will allow researchers to test and develop new advanced manufacturing technologies that leverage the capabilities of 5G MMwave networks. 5G Millimeter wave networks offer high-bandwidth and ultra-low latency, and can simultaneously support thousands of devices. These new networks will enable industries to lower costs, improve efficiencies and increase worker safety by incorporating innovations in augmented reality, high-speed vision systems, massive industrial IoT deployments and autonomous vehicles.

"We are thrilled for the official launch of the 5G Millimeter wave network with TERAGO and look forward to the strategic innovative advancements that this partnership will bring to Canada's industrial sector," said John Preston, Associate Dean, Research, Innovation and External Relations with the Faculty of Engineering.

"As the first university adopting a private 5G Millimeter wave network, we are leading the way for Industry 4.0 research. We are incredibly excited to kick off this next chapter in our partnership with TERAGO and to have this network up and running," said Stephen Veldhuis, MMRI Director and the Braley-Orlick Chair in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering.

TERAGO and McMaster announced their partnership back in November 2021, and have since worked closely to develop use-cases that are being explored by researchers inside McMaster's new, 21,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility, powered by TERAGO's 5G MMwave private network.

"We are extremely excited about the deployment of Canada's first 5G Millimeter private network at the MMRI," said Matthew Gerber, TERAGO's CEO. "Our collective teams will now be able to demonstrate what a low latency, high speed millimeter private network can do for Canadian manufacturers that are looking to enhance capabilities, improve efficiencies and lower costs."

About McMaster Engineering

McMaster Engineering is committed to the pursuit of excellence and plays a significant role in helping McMaster University earn its reputation as one of Canada's most innovative universities. Created in 1958, The Faculty of Engineering at McMaster is committed to research with impact and transforming the education of engineering through The Pivot ? the first program of its kind to intensely focus on our engineering students and their learning.

About TERAGO

TERAGO provides wireless connectivity and private 5G wireless networking services to businesses operating across Canada. The Company holds 2120 MHz of exclusive spectrum licenses in the 24 GHz and 38 GHz spectrum bands, which it utilizes to provide secure and reliable enterprise grade networking and connectivity services. TERAGO serves over 1,800 Canadian and Global businesses operating in major markets across Canada, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Winnipeg, and has been providing wireless services since 1999. For more information about TERAGO, please visit www.terago.ca.

SOURCE TeraGo Inc.

27 march 2023 at 08:30

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Marshfield Clinic Health System and Notable Announce System-Wide Deployment of Intelligent Automation to Transform Patient and Staff Engagement





Partnership highlights how technology can expand patient access and deliver personalized experiences that uniquely meet the needs of patients in rural healthcare settings

SAN MATEO, Calif. and MARSHFIELD, Wis., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marshfield Clinic Health System and Notable , the leading intelligent automation company for healthcare, announced a system-wide partnership to transform the patient experience and improve access to care for the system's approximately 310,000 unique patients. Marshfield Clinic is using Notable's intelligent automation platform to allow patients to complete digital registration prior to their scheduled appointments, saving them time and creating a better overall experience.

Rural healthcare providers continue to be challenged by clinical and administrative labor shortages and seek technology that can engage their patient population, automate manual tasks, and help ensure patients get the best possible care on each visit. With the Notable platform deployed to all 1,200 providers in their more than 60 clinic locations and 11 hospitals in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Marshfield Clinic patients are able to complete a highly personalized intake process from the comfort of their homes or on the go, resulting in fewer lines at the front desk and less time spent in the waiting room.

"Marshfield Clinic is dedicated to finding innovative technologies that help us better connect our patients to the high-quality care they deserve," said Jeri Koester, chief information officer of Marshfield Clinic Health System. "We set out to find a solution that wouldn't just digitize the work, but automate it to free our staff to better serve our patients. A key objective was finding a partner that didn't require us to deploy significant IT resources in order to drive value. We found that partner in Notable."

Using Notable, Marshfield Clinic is able to provide the communities it serves with faster and easier access to care regardless of how geographically distributed they may be. With the system-wide deployment recently completed, Notable has powered more than 30,000 digital registration experiences for Marshfield Clinic, and between October 2022 and February 2023, Marshfield Clinic reported a 95 percent satisfaction rate on average for all patient types in primary care, specialty care, and behavioral health. In fact, Marshfield reports patients 80 years of age and older are completing the Notable experience due to its intuitive design and ease of use.

Notable's artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions automate hundreds of repetitive administrative tasks, including those related to patient intake, registration, scheduling, prior authorization, and referrals. At many health systems, these tasks are handled by a full-time workforce and are often completed using a clipboard and pencil or digital solutions that require significant staff involvement. Meanwhile, Notable is fully automating those workflows and driving quantifiable outcomes for its health system partners, including 700+ hours of staff and clinician work saved per provider annually.

"There's a misperception that rural healthcare is technology-averse," said Pranay Kapadia, CEO and co-founder of Notable. "The reality is patients everywhere expect elegant, simple, and personalized experiences. It's rewarding to see the Notable platform quickly drive value and be widely used by Marshfield Clinic's diverse patient population. We look forward to expanding this partnership to make the patient experience even more rewarding."

Teaming up with Notable helps Marshfield deliver on its mission to provide expedient, high-quality care to patients of all ages and backgrounds across Central Wisconsin. With an eye on rapid return on investment, future collaborations with Notable that are under consideration include automating clinical intake, real-time eligibility verification, payment collection, and more.

About Marshfield Clinic Health System

Marshfield Clinic Health System is an integrated health system whose mission is to enrich lives through accessible, affordable compassionate health care. The Health System serves Wisconsin with more than 1,400 providers comprising 170 specialties, health plan, and research and education programs. Primary operations include Marshfield Clinic, nine Marshfield Medical Center hospitals, Marshfield Children's Hospital, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Security Health Plan and Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation. Learn more at marshfieldclinic.org.

About Notable

Notable, the leading intelligent automation company for healthcare, is on a mission to optimize healthcare delivery for every patient and caregiver. Deployed at over 1,000 locations, Notable automates over half a million repetitive workflows every day across scheduling, registration, intake, referrals, and authorizations. The result: personalized, streamlined care for patients, the elimination of burdensome manual work for caregivers, and improved financial health for healthcare providers. Based in San Mateo, Calif., Notable is backed by leading investors, including ICONIQ Growth, Greylock Partners, F-Prime, Oak HC/FT, Maverick Ventures, and 8VC. Find out why healthcare providers of all sizes, including Intermountain Health, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health, and more have partnered with Notable to redefine what's possible in healthcare at notablehealth.com .

For more information:

Crosscut Strategies for Notable

Wyatt Ronan

[email protected]

Marshfield Clinic

John Gardner

[email protected]

SOURCE Notable

27 march 2023 at 09:05

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Italian Luxury Linen Brand, SFERRA, Opens First SFERRA Townhouse Retail Location in NYC





NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SFERRA, the luxury Italian home lifestyle brand, opens its first dedicated retail location, SFERRA Townhouse, in NYC today. The Townhouse is located in New York City's Flatiron District at 11 East 20th Street. The property and its location hold significant meaning for the brand as SFERRA's founder, Gennaro Sferra, established his NYC home in a similar style townhouse just a mile away on Charles Street.

SFERRA, the luxury Italian home lifestyle brand, opens first flagship, the Townhouse, today at 11 East 20th Street, NYC

The 2,600 sq ft SFERRA Townhouse space, built in the Italianate style in 1853, showcases all of SFERRA's home categories under one roof for the first time. SFERRA customers and interior designers can explore and experience the high-quality construction and materials of SFERRA bedding, down, bath, loungewear, top of table, rug, decorative accessories, and gift collections.

The SFERRA Townhouse is an experiential retail setting, showcasing the brand's collections throughout an elevated and comfortable New York City home. The space also houses a dedicated studio for interior designers to host clients or work independently. "We are excited to open our first retail space in New York's vibrant Flatiron neighborhood. The new SFERRA Townhouse offers both our customers and the design community access to the entire world of SFERRA in a beautiful home setting. It's a unique opportunity to experience the craftsmanship, luxury, and timeless design that are synonymous with SFERRA," said Michelle Klein, SFERRA's President and CEO. SFERRA worked with Studio Monteleone & Associates on the design of the Townhouse. The firm previously partnered with the brand on the SFERRA shop at Harrod's in London and had a thorough understanding of the vision for the first standalone retail location. The goal was to showcase the essence of the brand's Italian history, expert craftsmanship, and the New York City energy that has inspired SFERRA's collections for over 130 years. "It was important to reach the right balance for the expression of SFERRA, while celebrating the historical significance of the existing architecture of the townhouse. The inserted design and materials are a canvas to exhibit the products that furnish the SFERRA Lifestyle, with an evenness between the historic space and what our client's consider home today," said SM&A's Founder, Lisa Monteleone.

About Sferra:

SFERRA was established in NYC in 1891 by founder, Gennaro Sferra, in dedication to fine linen craftsmanship and innovation. SFERRA has evolved to encompass every luxury for the home, utilizing time-honored artistry, with its history grounded in more than three centuries of family-owned textile mills in the Alpine foothills of northern Italy. Most recently, the brand has expanded its categories to include rugs, mattresses, accessories for the table, home decor, loungewear and gifts. SFERRA is found in major department stores, more than 700 luxury specialty home stores throughout North America and in some of the world's most prestigious boutique hotels and resorts. The full SFERRA collection can also be purchased at SFERRA.com.

SOURCE SFERRA Fine Linens, LLC

27 march 2023 at 09:14

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Governments of Canada and Ontario back VueReal, a cleantech company developing solutions to reduce energy consumption





Investments support a growing Canadian cleantech company and will help Canada meet its climate objectives

OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Canadian cleantech entrepreneurs are making huge strides in creating and commercializing novel solutions to the world's most pressing environmental challenges, such as climate change, pollution prevention, water security and waste management. The Government of Canada is committed to building support and partnerships to strengthen innovation, positioning Canada as a leader in the growing sectors of clean technology and the low-carbon, sustainable economy.

Today, the Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced $8.5 million in support for VueReal through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). In addition, the Government of Ontario is supporting VueReal with $2 million in funding provided through Invest Ontario. This joint investment will support a $40 million investment VueReal is making to expand the company's operations by boosting manufacturing capacity and fabrication processes.

This is the second SDTC investment in VueReal and part of a continuing collaboration that is enabling the company to create high-brightness microLED displays. These displays are 3.5 times more energy-efficient and produce five times more light than same-sized liquid crystal displays and organic light-emitting diode displays. The SDTC-funded project will boost the company's ability to develop prototypes for various automotive, aerospace and smart glass applications.

There will never be a better time to support clean technology and to help lay the groundwork for a stronger, greener, more sustainable Canada. Through investments like this, the Government of Canada and SDTC are committed not only to protecting our environment and supporting our ambitious climate objectives but also to growing our economy and creating opportunities for all Canadians.

Quotes

"Now is the time for ambitious climate action, and to support cleantech entrepreneurs like VueReal, who are turning vision into reality with help from today's investments. Our government is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with these groundbreaking companies as they drive innovation and make their mark as international leaders in clean technology. We will continue to support our companies as they grow the economy and create well-paying jobs in this industry."

? The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

"VueReal's investment is a vote of confidence in Ontario's world-class workforce and advanced manufacturing sector. We're building Ontario by working closely with companies like VueReal to create more opportunities for workers today and for generations to come. Thank you VueReal for choosing Ontario."

? The Honourable Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

"The Government of Canada is proud to support innovative clean technology companies, like VueReal, that are working to transform our world and solve some of our most pressing challenges. When we invest in clean technology, we are investing in a stronger economy and a more sustainable future. Congratulations to the team at VueReal on receiving this support today."

? The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Member of Parliament for Waterloo

"The investment by VueReal, our province and the federal government, is proof of the confidence people have in the future of our community. It is another reason why people and companies come to Waterloo Region to take advantage of the skilled workforce and the growing vibrant neighbourhoods. Our government is proud to play a role in the partnership."

? Jess Dixon, MPP Kitchener South-Hespeler

"Homegrown tech companies like VueReal are essential to the economy of Waterloo Region and Ontario is proud to partner with them to help expand their operations. These will be high-tech, high-paying jobs that will strengthen our community now and in the future."

? Mike Harris, MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga

"VueReal's investment is welcome news for the local economy and a testament to its commitment to advancing technology in Ontario. The creation of 75 new, good-paying jobs is positive news for job seekers hoping to work and raise families in Waterloo Region. Thank you to the team at VueReal."

? Brian Riddell, MPP for Cambridge

"Anyone who has used a smartphone outside on a sunny day will appreciate the innovation that VueReal is creating. Its microLED technology will make screens not only brighter but also more energy-efficient, and the production process will create less waste. SDTC is proud to support VueReal as it develops prototypes for use in automotive display panels and beyond."

? Leah Lawrence, President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada

"Invest Ontario is proud to support a homegrown Canadian company that has innovated world-class microLED technology right here in Waterloo, Ontario. Our focus is to strengthen the manufacturing supply chain and accelerate financial supports to companies like VueReal that can drive rapid growth and compete in a hyper-competitive market."

? Trevor Dauphinee, CEO of Invest Ontario

"Canada's great universities, including the University of Waterloo, combined with government research funds, make it a prime location for developing cutting-edge and sustainable technologies. VueReal has leveraged this ecosystem to develop its microSolid printing technologies, which enable the creation of smart surfaces for next-generation displays and sensor applications. Moreover, a recent collaboration between VueReal, SDTC, and Invest Ontario on a project worth approximately $40 million highlights the potential to scale these technologies into full-scale production in the Waterloo Region and Ontario. These innovative technologies have a significant role in generating employment opportunities in today's modern economy and hold strategic importance for multiple industries, such as consumer electronics, healthcare, medical, security, automotive, aerospace, and more. We are proud to produce these advanced technologies and products in Waterloo, Ontario."

? Reza Chaji, CEO and Founder of VueReal

Quick facts

In December 2020 , the Government of Canada announced A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy, Canada's strengthened climate plan, which recapitalized SDTC with an additional $750 million over five years, representing the single largest Government of Canada investment in SDTC.

, the Government of announced strengthened climate plan, which recapitalized SDTC with an additional over five years, representing the single largest Government of investment in SDTC. Since its inception in 2001, SDTC has invested more than $1.58 billion in over 500 companies that have generated $3.1 billion in annual revenues, created 20,942 jobs, brought 194 new technologies to market and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22.6 megatonnes of CO 2 annually, which is equivalent to taking almost 7 million cars off the road every year.

in over 500 companies that have generated in annual revenues, created 20,942 jobs, brought 194 new technologies to market and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22.6 megatonnes of CO annually, which is equivalent to taking almost 7 million cars off the road every year. Clean technology businesses contributed more than $28.2 billion to the Canadian economy in 2021 and exported $9.2 billion in goods and services.

to the Canadian economy in 2021 and exported in goods and services. In 2021, the cleantech sector employed more than 188,000 Canadians in rewarding, well-paying jobs.

Employees in cleantech are better paid than the average Canadian worker, and women account for 41% of all jobs in the cleantech sector.

The world is taking notice of Canada's leadership in clean technology: 13 Canadian companies, 10 of which have been funded by SDTC, were included on the 2022 Global Cleantech 100 list.

Associated links

Stay connected

Find more services and information at Canada.ca/ISED.

Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.

Twitter: @ISED_CA, Facebook: Canadian Innovation, Instagram: @cdninnovation and LinkedIn

Follow Sustainable Development Technology Canada on Twitter: @SDTC_TDDC

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

27 march 2023 at 09:30

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The joint forces of UPDF and the Congolese army, FARDC have announced that they have killed at least 20 ADF rebels in Eastern DR Congo.

In an operation that saw the joint forces make a surprise attack on an ADF camp in the thick forests South West of River Lusulubi Near River Semuliki -Rwenzori Sector, 20 rebels were put out of action whereas one UPDF soldier was also killed in the shootout.

"Four AK 47s, five magazines, solar panels, two combat uniforms of UPDF, seven combat uniforms of FARDC , five charging ports of walkie- talkies, five radios, five batteries, two phones, three back packs, two ponchos and two finishing nets were recovered from ADF," the UPDF said in a statement.

The joint forces operating under Operation Shuja have continued to register successes in the fight against ADF, an offshoot in Central Africa for the Islamic State group.

Earlier this month, the UPDF and Congolese army killed Elias Ssegujja, one of the most wanted and top commanders of the ADF.

Born in Uganda, Ssegujja was one of the ADF's original members and has since risen through the ranks at the terrorist outfit to become the third tom most commander by the time of his death.

The recent death and capture of a number of senior ADF commanders has seen Sseguja rise in ranks and position to fill the vacuum left behind.

As a field commander, he had been accused of leading multiple deadly attacks against civilian populations, commanding a mobile camp, burning United Nations armored vehicles, caning uncooperative civilians, and killing civilians suspected of aiding the DRC army.

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Ssegujja had also previously served as the chief of combat and operations but also worked with the artillery before becoming a commander.

About ADF

The ADF was formed out of remnants of the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU) and Jamilu Mukulu was the group's founding leader until a few years ago when he was captured by the Tanzanian forces and repatriated back to Uganda where he is currently facing charges related to terrorism.

They operate in North Kivu which borders other provinces including Ituri to the north and South Kivu to the South and has been a battle ground for a number of rival armed ethnic groups since 1998

According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, the ADF which was designated as a terrorist group by the US government, has used the name Madina at Tauheed Wau Mujahedeen (City of Monotheism and Holy Warriors--MTM) to refer to emphasize its links to the Islamic State.

In 2019, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an ADF attack and first referenced a "Central Africa Province."

The Islamic State group has in the past claimed that ADF is its Central African offshoot .
Government of Canada launches call for proposals to support greater Indigenous participation in the Oceans Protection Plan





OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Indigenous Peoples have had fundamental ties with Canada's oceans and waterways for generations. Indigenous knowledge and expertise are critical to protecting our coastal waters now and into the future. Canada's Oceans Protection Plan will continue to create opportunities for Indigenous Peoples to collaboratively protect, preserve, and restore our oceans and waterways.

Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, invited First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities and organizations to apply for funding to establish Indigenous Marine Coordinator (IMC) positions. These positions will increase Indigenous partners' capacity to participate in the development and implementation of Canada's Oceans Protection Plan.

Since the launch of the Oceans Protection Plan in 2016, the Government of Canada has worked with Indigenous communities and organizations to develop solutions to improve local marine safety, protect local marine environments, and prevent local marine incidents. This collaboration is an important step towards greater management of Canada's coasts with Indigenous partners.

Taking a greater role in the design and implementation of these solutions requires significant time and resources from Indigenous communities and organizations. To support this increased role, eligible groups can apply until May 19, 2023, for funding to hire internal Indigenous Marine Coordinators. These positions may be funded for up to four years.

The Government of Canada is committed to continuing to work meaningfully with First Nations, Inuit, Metis and coastal communities in delivering the Oceans Protection Plan and respecting the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

The Oceans Protection Plan is a Canadian success story. When Indigenous Peoples, industry, communities, scientists, and government work together to protect our environment, grow our economy, and support good jobs across the country, we deliver real results. The renewed and expanded Oceans Protection Plan will keep our oceans and coasts healthy, advance reconciliation, and build a clean future for our children and grandchildren.

Quote

"Strong collaboration with Indigenous partners is essential to ensuring Canada has a strong marine safety system and the highest-level of protections for our marine environment. These new Indigenous Marine Coordinator roles will make that collaboration easier to achieve and sustain. Ultimately, these positions will help us build on the progress we've made through the Oceans Protection Plan to keep our oceans safer and cleaner, for generations to come."



The Honourable Omar Alghabra

Minister of Transport

Quick facts

Approximately $16M in funding to hire Indigenous Marine Coordinator positions is being provided through the Indigenous Local Communities Engagement and Partnership Program (ILCEPP). The funding is part of the $50 million in Oceans Protection Plan capacity funding for Indigenous communities and organizations announced in September 2022 .

in funding to hire Indigenous Marine Coordinator positions is being provided through the Indigenous Local Communities Engagement and Partnership Program (ILCEPP). The funding is part of the in Oceans Protection Plan capacity funding for Indigenous communities and organizations announced in . Since 2016, the Government of Canada has dedicated $3.5 billion to the Oceans Protection Plan, making it the largest investment Canada has ever made to protect its coasts and waterways.

has dedicated to the Oceans Protection Plan, making it the largest investment has ever made to protect its coasts and waterways. Indigenous partnerships are a critical component of improving Canada's marine transportation system. This collaboration through the Oceans Protection Plan has resulted in:

marine transportation system. This collaboration through the Oceans Protection Plan has resulted in: The establishment of a Reconciliation Framework Agreement to help the Government of Canada and Indigenous partners coordinate and collaborate on ocean management and protection priorities on Canada's West Coast;

and Indigenous partners coordinate and collaborate on ocean management and protection priorities on West Coast;

A total of 757 Indigenous Peoples, Inuit, Northerners, and women graduates from the Marine Training Program who have acquired the skills they need for jobs in the marine industry;



The co-launch of Canada's first Indigenous Coast Guard Auxiliary and funding for 16 northern and Indigenous communities to buy search and rescue boats and equipment;

first Indigenous Coast Guard Auxiliary and funding for 16 northern and Indigenous communities to buy search and rescue boats and equipment;

Training in emergency response and waterway management to Indigenous communities; and



The co-development of a real-time information system that is helping 79 Indigenous communities across Canada to make informed, evidence-based decisions about their local marine environment.

Associated links

Multimedia

Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news or stay connected through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube , and Instagram to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada.

This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities.

SOURCE Transport Canada

27 march 2023 at 10:00

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Women's leadership: Government of Canada contributes to Puzzle Medical Devices' development





Puzzle Medical Devices, a business co?founded and led by a woman, receives $300,000 in financial assistance from CED to increase its productivity.

MONTREAL, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED)

The Honourable Marc Miller, Member of Parliament for Ville?Marie?Le Sud?Ouest?Ile?des?Soeurs and Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, today announced, on behalf of the Honourable Pascale St?Onge, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED, a repayable contribution of $300,000 for Puzzle Medical Devices (PMD). This CED support will enable the Montreal SME to increase its productivity and production capacity by acquiring digital equipment and a cleanroom and securing its intellectual property.

Founded in 2018 by young entrepreneurs under the age of 30, PMD is a start-up specializing in the design and manufacture of medical devices. Jade Doucet?Martineau, Co?founder and CEO, is a daring young woman entrepreneur. Along with the other two co?founders, she has been able to build a business that is constantly distinguishing itself, including when it developed the world's first percutaneous heart pump for patients suffering from advanced heart failure. The modular design of the device makes for percutaneous implants that are less invasive and do not require open?heart surgery.

Women such as Jade Doucet-Martineau play an instrumental role in the country's economic development. Following International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8, the Government of Canada wishes to showcase their leadership and know?how, which are essential in building a Canadian economy that is stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive.

Quotes

"Across the country, entrepreneurs participate in the economic vitality of our communities by creating good jobs. Today's announcement for Puzzle Medical Devices is proof once again of the Government of Canada's commitment to women entrepreneurs and innovative businesses in the metropolis, in line with our economic recovery plan. Congratulations to the PMD team on this promising project in the field of medial equipment manufacturing!"

The Honourable Marc Miller, Member of Parliament for Ville?Marie?Le Sud?Ouest?Ile?des?Soeurs and Minister of Crown?Indigenous Relations

"Our government has set itself the mission to support the growth of Canadian businesses and the economic diversification of communities, which cannot be done without the key contribution of our women entrepreneurs. Assisting women from Quebec who choose the path of entrepreneurship leads to inclusive growth in our regional economies, paving the way for a prosperous future. SMEs such as Puzzle Medical Devices are key drivers in our economy and our communities, and I am delighted with CED's support for this project by this thriving business. Its success and spin?offs will contribute to the economic vitality of the Greater Montreal region."

The Honourable Pascale St?Onge, Member of Parliament for Brome??Missisquoi, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED

"At Puzzle Medical, we believe that every heart deserves a fighting chance. Our mission is to empower heart failure patients with a cutting-edge artificial heart, providing hope for a longer and healthier life. With over 30 million people affected by this condition globally, we are committed to make a significant impact in the fight against heart failure."

Jade Doucet-Martineau, Co?founder and CEO, Puzzle Medical Devices

Quick facts

The funds announced today have been granted under the Jobs and Growth Fund (JGF). This program targets businesses and economic organizations to help them prepare local economies for long?term growth. It involves strategic investments in projects aimed at reducing Canada's environmental impact and fostering a green, resilient economy.





environmental impact and fostering a green, resilient economy. Today's announcement is part of a series of announcements regarding investments totalling over $3 million in women?owned and ?led businesses. These announcements celebrating women's leadership will take place across the province through to the end of March 2023 .





in women?owned and ?led businesses. These announcements celebrating women's leadership will take place across the province through to the end of . CED is a key federal partner in Quebec's regional economic development. With its 12 regional business offices, CED accompanies businesses, supporting organizations and all regions across Quebec into tomorrow's economy.

Associated links

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Follow CED on social media

Consult CED's news

SOURCE Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

27 march 2023 at 10:00

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Porter Airlines celebrates first flights between Ottawa and Boston, New York, Thunder Bay





Flights bring more connectivity to nation's capital

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Porter Airlines launched three new routes between Ottawa International Airport and Boston, New York-Newark and Thunder Bay today, providing convenient travel links for the region.

The new routes are part of Porter's broader expansion plan in Ottawa and its commitment to the region, including new maintenance hangars that are currently under construction at YOW. These will serve as a primary maintenance facility for the airline's new E195-E2 fleet.

Porter is the only airline providing year-round daily direct flights to Boston and Thunder Bay from Ottawa.

The new daily non-stop routes are served by 78-seat De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft. Passengers are able to experience Porter's genuine hospitality and elevated onboard service, including premium snacks, and free beer and wine served in glassware for all passengers.

Routes from Ottawa (YOW) Frequency Introductory roundtrip fares

(including taxes and fees)

start at: Boston (BOS) 1 daily $377 New York-Newark (EWR) 2 daily $367 Thunder Bay (YQT) 2 daily $366

A number of one-stop connecting routes are also created with the introduction of these flights. Porter currently operates eight non-stop routes from Ottawa International Airport, with Charlottetown scheduled to become the ninth on May 17. Detailed schedules can be found on www.flyporter.com .

Quotes

"This builds on our already extensive network in Eastern Canada and substantially increases the number of destinations served directly from Ottawa. Porter connects passengers coast-to-coast, with the level of service and generosity that economy travellers deserve."

- Kevin Jackson, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, Porter Airlines

"Porter Airlines continues to impress us with their commitment to Ottawa-Gatineau. No only was YOW Porter's first turboprop destination back in 2006, in February we were also first to host Porter's inaugural commercial jet service. As Porter's YOW-based hangar construction is well underway, this new air service is yet another step forward as Porter airlines embraces the National Capital Region's potential."

- Mark Laroche, president and CEO, Ottawa International Airport Authority

"Thunder Bay Airport is thrilled to see Porter is again confirming its confidence in our market, this time by adding a new destination. It has been almost 20 years since direct, non-stop service to Ottawa has been offered. We are sure that Ottawa and Porter will be a winning combination."

- Ed Schmidtke, president and CEO, Thunder Bay International Airports Authority

"Porter's new service to Ottawa is an excellent addition to the destinations available from Boston Logan, as we continue to see an increased demand in international travel. This route and others by Porter provide New Englanders with more options when planning a trip to Canada and beyond."

- Ed Freni, director of aviation, Massport

About Porter

Since 2006, Porter Airlines has been elevating the experience of economy air travel for every passenger, providing genuine hospitality with style, care and charm. Porter's fleet of Embraer E195-E2 and De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft serves a North American network from Eastern Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, Porter is an Official 4 Star Airline in the World Airline Star Rating. Visit www.flyporter.com or follow @porterairlines on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Porter Airlines Inc.

27 march 2023 at 10:00

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15 AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS FOR FAMILIES AT RISK OF HOMELESSNESS IN GATINEAU





GATINEAU, QC, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - The governments of Quebec and Canada, and the City of Gatineau are proud to announce their financial support for the construction of 15 affordable housing units for families at risk of homelessness in Gatineau. This project, which was undertaken by Les OEuvres Isidore Ostiguy, represents an investment of more than $7.9 million.

The Government of Quebec is contributing more than $1.6 million in funding through the Societe d'habitation du Quebec (SHQ) AccesLogis Quebec program. The federal government is providing $670,000 through the Second Canada?Quebec Agreement under the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI), Major Cities stream?a program administered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The SHQ is also securing the organization's mortgage loan, and the City of Gatineau is contributing more than $2.7 million to the project.

Work began last November and the first tenants are expected to move in as soon as May 2024. The two-storey building will provide community spaces for tenants. Of these 15 units, 7 will have two bedrooms. The other 8 will have three bedrooms.

Quotes:

"I am proud to announce our government's contribution to this 15-unit affordable housing project for families at risk of homelessness. Our government's financial assistance will not only help build these units but also ensure that tenants can afford them. Thanks to this collaboration and our ongoing housing efforts, this new building will greatly improve quality of life for its future residents."?? France-Elaine Duranceau, Quebec Minister Responsible for Housing

"Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Thanks to the Rapid Housing Initiative, 15 Gatineau families will have comfortable, safe homes where they can raise their children and follow their dreams. By working closely with our partners to create more affordable housing, our government continues to achieve meaningful results for Canadians. This is just one of the many ways our investments in housing across the country continue to ensure that no one is left behind." ? The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion

"This project is made possible through the Rapid Housing Initiative and will provide much-needed assistance to many of the most vulnerable people in the city of Gatineau. These 15 housing units are just the beginning and will be more than safe, affordable places to live. They will become real homes, the means to better lives for the families who live there." ? The Honourable Greg Fergus, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the President of the Treasury Board and Member of Parliament for Hull?Aylmer

"I want to congratulate Les OEuvres Isidore Ostiguy for undertaking this project that will support less privileged members of our community. This investment clearly demonstrates our government's intention to increase the housing supply on our territory and improve the quality of life of Gatineau citizens."?? Suzanne Tremblay, Member of the National Assembly for Hull and Temporary Chair

"I would like to highlight the significance of the support provided by Les OEuvres Isidore Ostiguy to our most vulnerable citizens within Gatineau. This project would not have been possible without this organization's dedication and tenacity, the 'shock committee's' receptiveness and the municipal council's and city administration's agility. As the impacts of the housing crisis are felt now more than ever, this project demonstrates how co-operation by all government levels is key to supporting the community." ? France Belisle, Mayor of Gatineau

"As was the case in the early 2000s, when Les OEuvres Isidore Ostiguy was founded and developed its first emergency housing units for homeless families, this innovative new long-term housing project is the result of sheer determination, patience, and commitment to helping homeless families. The entire OEuvres team upholds this cause, the only community organization in Quebec to do so." ? Francois Roy, President of Les OEuvres Isidore Ostiguy

Quick facts:

Groupe Heafey, a private real estate investment company, donated part of the lot, a contribution estimated at more than $880,000 .

. All households in this building could benefit from the SHQ's Rent Supplement Program, ensuring that they would not spend more than 25% of their income on housing. This additional assistance of more than $258,000 over five years is assumed by the SHQ (90%) and the City of Gatineau (10%).

over five years is assumed by the SHQ (90%) and the (10%). Les OEuvres Isidore Ostiguy also received $80,000 in financial assistance from the SHQ's Renovation Quebec program. Under this program, this assistance is funded equally by the SHQ and the City of Gatineau.

also received in financial assistance from the SHQ's Renovation Quebec program. Under this program, this assistance is funded equally by the SHQ and the City of Gatineau. Les Oeuvres Isidore Ostiguy offers a community support service adapted to the needs of families at risk of homelessness. This is not the first project of its kind that OEuvres has undertaken. OEuvres will replicate its community intervention/support model to break the cycle of housing instability for these families.

The federal government provided $670,000 for this project through CMHC as part of the Canada-Quebec RHI Agreement.

About the Societe d'habitation du Quebec

The SHQ's mission, as a leader in housing, is to meet the housing needs of Quebec citizens using its expertise and services to citizens. It does so by providing affordable and low-rent housing and offering a range of assistance programs to support the construction, renovation and adaptation of homes, as well as access to homeownership.

To find out more about its activities, visit www.habitation.gouv.qc.ca/english.html .

About Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home that they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , LinkedIn and Facebook .

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

27 march 2023 at 13:00

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The Correctional Service of Canada announces Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections





OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) welcomes Kathy Neil as the Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections (DCIC). Ms. Neil will assume her new duties on May 1, 2023.

The Government of Canada is strongly committed to addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous, Black, and racialized people in Canada's criminal justice system. A central element of this work involves supporting the safe and successful reintegration of offenders into communities across the country.

Reporting directly to the Commissioner, the new Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections will play an integral role within CSC to help address issues within the correctional system, including the disproportionate overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples. This new position will also work to build and further partnerships with Indigenous peoples, groups, and communities, as well as ensure the delivery of culturally appropriate interventions, supports, and services for federal offenders.

This new role was created in response to the Commissioner's mandate letter commitment and directly responds to Call for Justice 5.23 of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections will ensure the implementation of the MMIWG Calls for Justice and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action within CSC's purview, as well as support the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Over the past number of years, CSC's Indigenous Initiatives Directorate has done substantial work to implement new programs and initiatives to support the rehabilitation of Indigenous offenders. The Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections will build on this significant foundation and work to improve the outcomes for Indigenous people in our care and custody.

Quotes

"We take the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in our criminal justice system very seriously. We need to ensure that Indigenous offenders have the supports they need so they can safely and successfully reintegrate into communities as law-abiding citizens. To achieve this, we must work closely with Elders, Indigenous communities, groups, volunteers, staff, and other partners. I am pleased to appoint Ms. Neil to this position as we work to fulfill our mandate and deliver on this important work."

? Anne Kelly, Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada

"As an Indigenous woman, I am honoured to take on this new role as CSC's Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections. Through my personal and professional experience, I have seen first-hand the challenges and opportunities we have before us to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples in our care and custody. I believe in the importance of meaningful partnerships and engagement with Indigenous communities, and will work hard to ensure that together, we achieve positive outcomes."

? Kathy Neil, Deputy Commissioner for Indigenous Corrections, Correctional Service of Canada

Associated links

SOURCE Correctional Services of Canada

27 march 2023 at 13:32

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Canada Announces Decision to Maintain the Total Allowable Catch in Newfoundland and Labrador Shrimp Fishing Areas 5 and 6





OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Healthy ecosystems are essential for the long-term success and sustainability of Canada's fisheries, which continue to play an important role in the economy. As the demand for high-quality and sustainably-sourced seafood grows around the world, the Government of Canada is committed to taking management measures that support our harvesters while protecting the health of the ocean ecosystem.

Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Joyce Murray, announced her decision to rollover the total allowable catch (TAC) for Northern shrimp in Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFA) 5 and 6, which are located off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. This year, the TAC for Northern shrimp in SFA 5 will remain at 14,200t, and in SFA 6 will remain at 9,430t. The fishery is expected to open on April 1.

The decision to rollover the TAC will support the sustainability of this fishery, while also providing economic opportunity to harvesters who rely on this stock.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada will continue to work with harvesters, Indigenous communities and other partners to promote the sustainable management of the Northern shrimp fishery in SFAs 5 and 6.

Quotes

"Harvesters in rural, coastal and Indigenous communities understand the importance of the long-term sustainability of our ocean resources, and their efforts to promote the proper management of this resource demonstrate that. The decision we made today shows the balance we must maintain if we are to guarantee the success of our fisheries and harvesters for generations to come. As harvesters set out on the water in the coming weeks, I wish you a safe and successful season."

The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Quick Facts

In 2022-23, the SFA 5 TAC was reduced by 12 per cent to respond to the decline in fishable biomass from 2020 to 2021.

In 2022-23, the SFA 6 TAC was reduced slightly (by 1.1 per cent) to apply the maximum ten per cent exploitation rate prescribed in the 2018 rebuilding plan. The rebuilding plan is being revised to be consistent with the Fishery (General) Regulations, given that Northern shrimp in SFA 6 is a prescribed major fish stock subject to the Fish Stock Provisions in the Fisheries Act.

Associated Links

Stay Connected

Follow Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Follow the Canadian Coast Guard on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada

27 march 2023 at 14:47

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Minister Fortier invites Canadians to provide input on federal regulations





OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Modernizing our regulatory system improves Canada's ability to attract investment and growth-oriented businesses. Effective regulations safeguard the health, safety and economic well-being of Canadians, and protect the environment.

Today, the Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board, announced the launch of a consultation to inform the Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill. The consultation will gather feedback from Canadians on regulatory barriers to innovation and economic growth. Additionally, input is being sought on specific solutions that will provide streamlined processes for regulators to follow, to save time and to test new approaches in a controlled environment.

The consultation will be open until May 26, 2023, on the Let's Talk Federal Regulations platform and seeks feedback in three areas:

Incorporation by reference of internal government documents by allowing specific documents to have the same force of law as regulations, without the need to make regulatory changes each time the document is updated

of internal government documents by allowing specific documents to have the same force of law as regulations, without the need to make regulatory changes each time the document is updated Regulatory sandbox authorities to help test a regulatory approach in a controlled and temporary space created by regulatory flexibility?collect evidence on how the approach works and then use that evidence to make any permanent regulatory changes or decisions

to help test a regulatory approach in a controlled and temporary space created by regulatory flexibility?collect evidence on how the approach works and then use that evidence to make any permanent regulatory changes or decisions Potential legislative changes to remove unnecessary requirements, address overly restrictive legislation or burdensome processes that negatively impact the regulatory framework.

The consultation will inform proposed legislative changes for Parliament's consideration through future iterations of the Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill (ARMB). This bill aims to address overly complicated, inconsistent, or outdated legislative requirements that affect the federal regulatory environment, as indicated by businesses and Canadians.

Quote

"A key part of our efforts to modernize Canada's regulatory system relies on being informed by the diverse experiences and views of Canadians through consultations."

? The Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board

Quick Facts

The first ARMB was included in the Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1 , and modified 12 pieces of legislation to make common sense changes that, for example, digitalized paper-based processes, promoted innovation by allowing exemptions from certain regulatory requirements to test new products, and made changes in consideration of zero-emission vehicles.





, and modified 12 pieces of legislation to make common sense changes that, for example, digitalized paper-based processes, promoted innovation by allowing exemptions from certain regulatory requirements to test new products, and made changes in consideration of zero-emission vehicles. The second ARMB, Bill S-6, An Act respecting regulatory modernization, was introduced in Parliament on March 31, 2022 , and proposes 45 amendments to 28 pieces of legislation. For example, S-6 proposes to facilitate digital interactions between stakeholders and the government and promotes cross-border trade by establishing more consistent and coherent rules across jurisdictions.

Associated Links

Stay connected

Twitter: @TBS_Canada

Facebook: www.facebook.com/YourGovernmentatWork/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tbs-sct/

SOURCE Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

27 march 2023 at 16:26

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After months of waving the threat of a nuclear confrontation, Russia has a new ace up its sleeve: According to Vladimir Putin, Moscow intends to station tactical nuclear weapons in the territory of neighboring Belarus. The Russian president made the announcement on Saturday, March 25, during the traditional televised interview "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin."

As he often does, Putin said he made this decision "at the request" of his counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. In reality, since 2020 and his fraudulent and contested re-election, the Belarusian president has become a mere vassal for Moscow, without the slightest freedom. Already employed as a rear base for the invasion of Ukraine, Belarusian territory is now used for the nuclear threat that Russia exerts on the West.

This is not entirely new. On Saturday evening, Putin pointed out that on Belarusian land, Russia has already deployed Iskander missile systems capable of carrying nuclear warheads, as well as fighter planes adapted for the same purpose. "Ten aircraft are already ready to use this type of weapon," he said. At the beginning of 2022, Minsk amended its constitution to remove all references to its status as a nuclear-free state.

What is new is the announcement that these nuclear weapons will be stored on Belarusian territory. According to Putin, Moscow will have completed the construction of a storage center for tactical nuclear weapons  weapons that contain less powerful warheads than so-called strategic nuclear weapons  by July 1.

The Russian president also made it clear that these will remain under the control of the Russian armed forces, which means that Moscow "is not violating its international commitments on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons." Belarusian units will be trained in the use of the Iskander from April 3, the Kremlin leader said.

Systematic detonation

In addition to the supposed request from his Belarusian counterpart, Putin justified this action given the announcement on Monday that the United Kingdom was going to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium shells. These munitions, which are effective against tanks and armored vehicles, have nothing to do with nuclear weapons, even if their use can be toxic for the people and soldiers handling them.

The Russian president also drew a parallel with Western activities in the nuclear field. "There is nothing unusual here," he said. "The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long been deploying their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies."

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GARDAI are appealing for witnesses following a number of serious assaults in the Thomondgate area of Limerick in the early hours of this Monday morning.

The alarm was raised at approximately 2.35am and when gardai arrived a man, aged in his 20s, was discovered with apparent stab wounds at a residence on New Road in Thomondgate.

"The man was treated at the scene by Emergency Services and taken to University Hospital Limerick where his condition is described as critical," said a garda spokesperson.

Following enquiries by investigating gardai, a second man, aged in his 40s, was discovered with apparent stab wounds at a nearby residence on Cross Road, Thomondgate.

"This man was also taken to University Hospital Limerick where his condition is described as critical," said the spokesperson.

Both residences have been preserved for a technical examination by investigating gardai and a large area remains cordoned off.

Gardai in Henry Street are appealing to any person who may have information in relation to this incident to contact them.

"Anyone who was in the area of New Road and Cross Road, Thomondgate between the hours of 2am and 3am, including any road users who may have camera footage (including dash cam), is asked to contact investigating gardai.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Henry Street garda station on (061) 212400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.

Investigations are ongoing.
THE Director General of the Tanzania Airport Authority (TAA), Mr Mussa Bura yesterday launched a new modern restaurant at the Julius Nyerere International Airport Terminal 3-an investment of 500,000 US dollars (about 1.15bn/-) made by the Sky Views Company.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Bura told invited guests that the huge investment made is as a result of good environments that have been put in place by the President Samia Suluhu Hassan, to enable local businessmen to invest in various opportunities.

"We congratulate the president for creating this favorable environment; this event is a sign of her directives on investment in various areas. We invite others to invest in other areas considering we have 58 airports, not only here in Dar es Salaam, but in other regions such as Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Dodoma and others," he said.

The Director General seized the opportunity to thank the management of the company for choosing to invest at the terminal and promised to offer maximum cooperation so that they could provide the best and deserving experiences or services to both local and foreigner customers.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, the company's Director General, Brigadier General (rtd) Michael Luwongo said that they were proud to be part of great success of Terminal III being one of the best international terminals in Africa.

"Our company has significant presence in the hospitality sector with retail, hotels and lodges as well as other project where we have invested over 100 million US dollars," he said.

According to him, the Sky View Restaurant is a major investment for their company with over investment of 500,000 US dollars. He told the invited guests that their company also opened the Coffee House in Terminal III in early 2022.

"The aim is to provide the Terminal III customers with high end environment and facilities. The Tanzania Airport Authority has set very high standards for themselves as well as investors in order to provide all travelers with an enchanting and wonderful experience," he said.

Brigadier General Luwongo expressed his appreciation to the support from their host the TAA rendered to them to fulfill the mission and thanked the authority for their trust and guidance throughout the process of making such matter a successful project and investment.
A NEW national centre of excellence designed to support Irish-based manufacturers will be officially opened in Limerick this Monday.

Located in the IDA Ireland National Technology Park in Plassey, Digital Manufacturing Ireland (DMI) is designed to support Irish based manufacturers, both multi-national businesses and SMEs, to access, partner and accelerate their adoption of transformative digital technologies and to drive their future competitiveness.

The new facility boasts a unique technology offering in the form of a fully representative end to end Physical and Digital Production Line with digital twin capabilities designed to provide DMI clients with access to the latest digital technologies, expertise and deployment support in a real-world manufacturing environment.

Industry led, and resourced to solve manufacturing industry challenges, DMI will be instrumental in ensuring the future resilience and competitiveness of Irish-based manufacturing.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney commented that DMI will play a pivotal role in advancing the future competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Ireland as well as supporting the delivery of Irelands Industry 4.0 Strategy 2020  2025.

"Over 270,000 are employed across MNCs and SMEs in manufacturing in Ireland and are developing and producing world leading products for global supply. As the worlds supply chains continue to be disrupted, competitiveness challenges prevail and international competition for investment intensifies, it has never been more important for Ireland to invest in the future of its core manufacturing capability. Digital Manufacturing Ireland will support Irelands manufacturing base in remaining at the forefront of digital transformation and ensure that Ireland is recognised internationally as having a vibrant, collaborative, competitive and digitally enabled industry base," he said.

Mary Buckley, Interim CEO of IDA Ireland said: "Enhancing Irelands manufacturing capability is a strategic national priority and a core component of the transformation agenda within IDA Irelands Strategy - Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021-2024. Engaging with industry, we recognise the challenges facing companies as they balance the need to drive competitiveness with the disruption and opportunities around new technologies. DMI will ensure that Irish based manufacturers have access to the infrastructure, technology and skills to help them solve real issues and to kickstart and continue to drive their digital transformation journeys.

Lionel Alexander, Chairperson of Digital Manufacturing Ireland Board commented: We are delighted to have officially opened our world-class facility. The manufacturing sector in Ireland, from medtech and biopharma to food and drink and engineering, is a key contributor to Irelands economic resilience and ongoing economic success. After the unprecedented global disruption of the last 24-months, now more than ever, it is critical for our manufacturing sector to deploy the new technologies and tools to serve the drive for innovation and ultimately business differentiation."

We are committed to supporting all manufacturers regardless of their size or level of technological maturity in their transformation journey, right across their manufacturing value chain, through collaborations and partnerships. We will provide a platform to test and create new technologies and use-cases in an industry environment, but also provide the necessary training and capabilities among the Irish workforce to effectively compete by being digital-first.

Digital Manufacturing Ireland has also announced a new strategic partnership with global Medical Technologies company Edwards Life Sciences to focus on digital transformation across its sites in Limerick and Clare.

Andrew Walls, Plant General Manager of Edwards LifeSciences in Limerick said: Edwards Lifesciences is proud to be partnering with Digital Manufacturing Ireland, to support the development and delivery of Edwards digital transformation programme. We will collectively be working across the three pillars of Technology, Human Centric Manufacturing and Supply chain operations in order to advance the digital capabilities of our operations and workforce.
MUMBAI : Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), a company under the Aditya Birla Group, announced on Monday the sale of its entire stake in Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers Limited (ABIBL), which is a non-material subsidiary of the Company.

In an exchange filing, the company said, the sale involves the transfer of all 25.65 lakh shares of Rs. 10/- each, representing 50.002% of the issued and paid-up share capital of ABIBL, to Edme Services Private Ltd, which is part of the Samara Capital Group and an affiliate of Samara Alternate Investment Fund. Infocyber India Private Limited, the other shareholder of ABIBL, will also sell its 49.998% stake in the company to the Edme Services Private Ltd.

On 19 December, 2022 Mint first broke that Samara Capital was the frontrunner to buy the insurance broking unit of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, on the condition of anonymity.

The total enterprise value of the transaction is set at Rs. 455 crore on a cash-free and debt-free basis, with closing adjustments subject to the terms set out in the share purchase agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, ABCL and Infocyber India Private Limited may receive additional consideration after 5 years from the closing of the transaction, subject to certain conditions. The Company is entitled to receive 50.002% of any consideration (including additional consideration) paid by Edme Services in lieu of its acquisition of 100% of ABIBLs issued and paid-up share capital in accordance with the SPA, the press release said.

The Proposed Transaction is subject to the approval of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and other statutory / regulatory approvals and other conditions under the SPA. As per reasonable estimates, the Proposed Transaction is expected to be completed within 120 to 180 days from the execution of the SPA", the statement said.

ABIBL contributed Rs. 684.52 Crores to the Company's consolidated revenue in FY 2021-22, and net worth (50.002% share) contributed Rs. 64.85 Crores, totaling 3.08% and 0.42% of the Company's consolidated revenue and net worth, respectively.

The sale of Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers is part of parent Aditya Birla Capitals strategy to reorganize its financial services operations and divest from businesses that have limited growth potential under its management. Aditya Birla Capital invited bids for the insurance broker about six months ago.

Aditya Birlas insurance broking firm is one of Indias largest in selling both life and non-life policies.

Motor insurance is its main contributor to premium placement. Through its 350-odd employees, the company provides insurance broking, reinsurance solutions and advisory services to companies and individuals.

The latest deal will be Samaras second transaction with Aditya Birla Group. Samara and Amazon are partners in Witzig Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd, an investment vehicle which acquired More Retail Pvt. Ltd from Aditya Birla Group in September 2018.

According to an industry expert, the new management of Aditya Birla Capital under chief executive officer Vishakha Mulye is looking to restructure the company and exit some of the businesses where scalability is an issue.

Mulye, according to the industry expert, after taking charge as the chief executive in April, has been working on building synergies within the group to facilitate the cross-selling of financial products to customers of Aditya Birla group firms.

Samara has invested at least $1 billion since its inception in 2007.

Shares of Aditya Birla Capital ended at 1.35% higher at Rs146 apiece on the NSE.
MUMBAI : Air India Ltd will soon announce salary hikes across verticals, starting with pilots, as competition heats up in the industry over cabin crew and pilots. It will be the first performance review by the Tatas after taking control of the airline. Increments are likely to be 8-10% to bring parity between expats and Indian pilots, an industry insider aware of Air Indias plans said.

The first round of hikes may be over the next couple of months. Pilots will be the first to get hikes. Salary corrections will also take place for the cabin crew and other officers," he added.

According to an Air India executive, pilot shortage is the key reason behind the decision to raise salaries. Pilot shortage is causing a rethink in airlines strategies. The reason behind the increase in salaries is primarily to retain talent from joining another airline in India or abroad. As Air India has placed a big order, it will need capable and reliable resources to operate that equipment."

In February, the airline announced plans to recruit over 4,200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots in 2023, in its efforts to start new domestic and international operations. The announcement followed a mammoth order from Air India for 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus to add wings to its growth plans. The airline also has options to buy 370 more planes under the agreement signed with aircraft manufacturers. Air India had earlier said that it will lease 36 aircraft, of which two Boeing 777-200 LRs have already been inducted.

The pay hikes will not have any bearing on salary structures of pilots and cabin crew who are with Vistara, as the latter remains an independent entity and its merger with Air India will take place after regulatory approvals are in.

Indian airlines are expected to place orders for 1,500-1,700 planes over the next two years, aviation consultancy firm CAPA India-Centre for Aviation said in a report. At present, airlines in India have over 700 commercial aircraft in operation and 1,000-plus planes have been ordered.

With this, airlines are increasingly wary of competition and are planning to secure their crew to handle the volumes. The larger worry is for the wide-body fleet, operated by Vistara and Air India, as pilots often leave for the middle-eastern airlines due to lucrative offers. The hike has been planned to assure the pilots of the vision of the Tata Group for Air India. It is expected to help pilots have confidence in the group at a time when other airlines are hiring," another Air India executive said, also seeking anonymity.

Air India did not respond to Mints queries till press time.

Since the Tatas took over Air India, it decided to align the benefits and salaries of its staff. The airline, which until a year ago had around 8,000 permanent employees, is also looking to bring it down by another 2,000 as part of a second voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). 1,500 employees had opted for the first VRS in July 2022.

We are looking at what we do differently moving forward. One, we need to attract and retain talent to support our growth and improve our capability. We need to adopt a more performance-oriented culture with clear objectives, and consequences for any under-performance," chief executive officer and managing director Campbell Wilson had said in February.
BLS International Services Ltd. is a mid-cap company with a market capitalization of Rs. 6,203 Cr. It operates in the travel services industry. An online visa application centre in India BLS International offers visa consulting services.

With the Polish Embassy in Manila, the company has a contract in place to offer outsourcing services for Visa. The company will be processing 20,000 applications yearly and setting up offices in Manila and Cebu as part of this deal.

Mr. Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, of BLS International, said "We are especially excited about signing this contract with the Polish government as it commences our association with them and we are very positive about participating in their upcoming tenders worldwide. Additionally, the rising demand for last-minute getaways, combined with the ease of travel, will make it a win-win situation for all."

The company now offers consular, biometrics, and citizen services through a vast network of more than 27,000 facilities across the world with a strong strength of over 20,000 employees and associates. Almost 62 million applications have been handled by BLS so far internationally. The business is listed among "Fortune India's Next 500 companies," "India's Most Valuable Companies" by Business Today Magazine, and "Best Under a Billion' Company" by Forbes Asia. The organisation uses technology and procedures that guarantee data security and works with over 46 client nations, including diplomatic missions, embassies, and consulates.

Commenting on the technical outlook of the stock A R Ramachandran, Co-founder & Trainer-Tips2trades said Despite strong fundamentals with excellent profit growth and low debt to equity ratio, the phenomenal uptrend since last year has made BLS international overvalued and hence the recent price correction looks justified. Technically, another Daily close below 154 could lead to targets of 145-131 in the near term. Strong resistance will be at 157."

The shares of BLS International Services closed today on the NSE at 150.90 apiece, down by 1.40% from the previous close of 153.05. In the last 1 year, the stock has generated a multibagger return of 154.00% and on a YTD basis, it has fallen 12.45% so far in 2023. The stock touched a 52-week-high of 208.90 on (14-Dec-2022) and a 52-week-low of 57.70 on (29-Mar-2022).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vipul Das Vipul Das is a Digital Business Content Producer at Livemint. He previously worked for Goodreturns.in (OneIndia News) and has over 5 years of expertise in the finance and business sector. Stocks, mutual funds, personal finance, tax, and banking are among his specialties, and he is a professional in industry research and business reporting. He received his bachelor's degree from Dr. CV Raman University and also have completed Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication (DJMC). Read more from this author
NEW DELHI : The Centres decision to ban the sale of medicines by online pharmacies has rattled investors, as the move could result in the closure of the firms.

E-pharmacies, backed by the likes of LightRock, Temasek Holdings, TPG Growth, Naspers, Everstone, Fidelity Investments, Think Investments, CDPQ, Orios Ventures, Eight Roads and Fundamentum, have written to the Centre about their concerns over the sudden change in policy.

One of the letters addressed to Deepak Bagla, chief executive and managing director of Invest India, which operates under the commerce ministry, by the head of an e-pharmacy said: I write to you regarding the recent show cause notice from the CDSCO issued to all e-pharmacy companies raising concerns on the legitimacy of their operations. This has resulted in confusion and anxiety for stakeholders of digital health ecosystem, including entrepreneurs, vendor partners, employees, consumers and investors. Investors are extremely concerned around the news of an ad-hoc change in policy that could shut down online pharmacy platforms."

Investors have infused over $3 billion in the sector, which has so far serviced over 50 million families in India, he said.

In February, the health ministry issued show cause notices to at least 20 firms, including Tata-1mg, Apollo, PharmEasy, Flipkart, Amazon and Reliance Netmeds, for selling medicines online after the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, with over 1.2 million members, warned of a country-wide agitation if the government failed to act.

A person, who is involved with one of the e-pharmacies, said that they are fully compliant and are open to any scrutiny that the government would want to conduct.

He explained for all the orders received by e-Pharmacies, dispensation of all the medicines is done from a licensed physical pharmacy, having a registered pharmacist.

E-Pharmacies like us merely play the role of an intermediary technology platform, which is the link between the consumers and a licensed pharmacy and we are covered by the definition of Intermediary in the Information Technology Act, 2000. Such action (banning medicine sales) is directly impacting Ease of Doing Business, mis-information and unawareness about the e-Pharmacy sector," said another person involved with an e-pharmacy.

Meanwhile, the government is also mulling a complete ban over the online sale of drugs for alleged violation of norms. The health ministry is reportedly discussing regulations and stringent action against e-pharmacies following concerns over data privacy, malpractices in the sector, and irrational sale of drug.

Move like these hampers these companies commitment towards supporting the governments vision of achieving Universal Health Coverage, providing quality and affordable healthcare to all the citizens of the country and the Digital India initiative of the government. The government could have, instead, used us," said one of the people quoted above.
Mumbai: The lenders of Reliance Capital have decided to go ahead with the second round of auction on 4 April, in accordance with the Supreme Court decision, despite the Hinduja group retracting its revised bid, according to three people aware of the matter.

The Hinduja group submitted a revised bid of 9,000 crore on 21 December, a day after the first round of auctionin which rival Torrent Group had been declared the highest bidderconcluded. Torrent had bid for 8,640 crore, while Hinduja Group had originally offered 8,110 crore. Challenging this, Torrent approached the National Company Law Tribunal, which asked the lenders to keep the Hinduja Groups post-auction offer on hold till final hearing.

But an appeals court overturned the order . Torrent then approached the Supreme Court to seek a stay on the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal order, but the apex court ruled in favour of lenders, allowing them to hold a second round of auctions.

But in a surprise twist, the Hinduja group told lenders at an informal meeting last week that it wants to revert to the old offer of 8,110 crore.

A banker, one of the three people cited above, said that the existing bidders, including Torrent Investments and Hinduja Group, will have to enhance the bids submitted in the first round. However, the committee of creditors (CoC) has not set a reserve price for the auction, the banker said.

While the CoC can go ahead with the second round of the challenge mechanism, the outcome of the auction will be subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court.

It is learnt that Hinduja Group told the lenders that it will participate in the auction. However, it is yet to provide a confirmation in writing on whether or not it stands by the 9,000 crore upfront offer," said the second person cited earlier.

The court will next hear the matter in August.
NEW DELHI : As travel resumes normalcy after the pandemic, several tour operators and airlines are reporting that demand for business and premium economy tickets has risen compared with the pandemic and pre-pandemic period.

With air travel, especially business travel, slumping during the pandemic and economy-class airfares skyrocketing, an unintended consequence was that the gap between economy and premium economy tickets narrowed.

Travel agency Thomas Cook India has seen a 50% jump in business class travel versus last year as corporate travel resumes. Overall, there is a 5-10% growth in demand for premium seats compared with the pandemic year of 2019-20.

While demand for business class tickets extends across most metro sectors such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, the growth per sector has been about 10% for Southeast Asia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi; 5% for Europe, the UK and Australia; also 5-8% for metro routes in India, said Indiver Rastogi, president and group head, global business travel, Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel.

Deepak Rajawat, chief commercial officer of Tata SIA Airlines Ltd owned Vistara, said this could be because pent-up demand continues to spur travel. Customers are more willing (now) to spend a little extra for a premium experience. We have been observing a healthy demand across our network with an uptick for premium cabins. The premium economy cabin has gained prominence through the pandemic. The subscription of business class has also grown to be popular among business and leisure travellers."

Online tour operator MakeMyTrip has reported a surge in the sale of premium class tickets on domestic flights, with numbers tripling over pre-pandemic levels. An IndiGo spokesperson said that ancillary and unbundled services such as preferred seat selection, pre-booking of meals, additional baggage, etc., are gaining popularity across airlines globally.

We are noticing a substantial increase in upgrades from economy to premium economy classes. Considering high airfares in the economy category of about 30%, many Indians are trading up their travel to premium economy and business class seats instead because of the narrowing price difference between the cheaper and the more expensive categories. If we compare our business to the pre-covid period, there is an increase of at least 35% in demand for premium seats," said Michael Jain, director of Belair Travel, the company that runs CheapTicket.in.

He added that airlines are also providing last-minute airport upgrades by charging a little extra amount, which could be helping with the upselling. In addition, some airlines also offer incentives to airport staff for providing airport upgrades to customers.

But the story changes a bit on the international front. For MakeMyTrip, the gross percentage contribution of premium classes has seen an upward swing, but the actual number has not changed significantly. The increased traction for premium classes gains further significance when one considers that ticket prices for international travel have risen by double digits percent over the past three-odd years," said Saujanya Shrivastava, chief operating officer, flights and Gulf Cooperation Council for the company.

RateGain Travel Technologies Ltd, a company that provides software as a service to the hospitality and travel industry, said the share of business class tickets came to 2.43% of all the outbound air tickets in January and February this year vis-a-vis 1.91% in January and February last year and that this was the highest share that business class flight bookings have registered since the pandemic.

There is higher spending since covid-related restrictions were lifted. People want to spend more and have a higher quality of service. There is a greater emphasis on the travel experience compared to the destination of travel," an industry expert said.

According to the latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, domestic air traffic in India for February stood at 12.1 million, 6% more than the pre-covid period of February 2019. The civil aviation sector has witnessed an almost V-shaped recovery to surpass the pre-covid average of about 410,000 daily passengers.

While demand for air travel is soaring, India is still at around 4-5% penetration rate in terms of air travel. Hence there is higher scope for a continued increase in such inclination towards a higher quality of service, he added.

India today has become an aspirational country. Aviation infrastructure must be put in place to support the $20 trillion economy within India by 2047," Union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said last week.
NEW DELHI : The union ministry of power has come up with the much anticipated draft Carbon Credit Trading Scheme and sought comments from stakeholders including states by 14 April 2023.

The ministry, in the draft proposed to set up an Indian Carbon Market Governing Board with the secretary for the ministry of environment, forest and climate change as its chairperson for direct oversight of its administrative and regulatory functioning of the market.

The governance of the Indian Carbon Market(ICM) and direct oversight of its administrative and regulatory functioning shall vest in the Governing Board, to be called as ICMGB." the draft said.

The board will would be mandated to meet at least once in a quarter would recommend procedures for institutionalizing the Indian carbon market, recommend to the central government the rules and regulations for the functions of the market, recommend methodologies to be used under voluntary mechanism, guidelines regarding sale of carbon credit certificates outside India.

It would also recommend the Centre or the designated agency for issuance of carbon credit certificate (CCC), among other functions. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) would be the administrator for the carbon market and also operate as the as the secretariat for ICMGB.

As the administrator, the BEE would develop standards and processes for registering projects under voluntary mechanism, issue carbon credits certificate as recommended by the ICMGB and develop market stability mechanism for carbon credits. The bureau would also develop and maintain the IT infrastructure including the knowledge platform required for the carbon market along with maintaining secure database with all security protocols.

The regulator of trading activities in the carbon market would be Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), wherein it would regulate matters relating to trading of carbon credit certificates and including frequency of the trading take corrective actions to prevent frauds and also safeguard interests of both sellers and buyers, the proposal said.

CERC would also constitute technical committees for different areas as required under either compliance or voluntary mechanisms. Power exchanges would have to seek approval of the commission for foraying into carbon credit trading market space.

The draft noted that under the compliance mechanism, the obligated entities including designated consumers covered under compliance mechanism, as notified by the Centre from time to time, shall register themselves for Carbon Credit Trading Scheme.

For voluntary trading mechacnism, BEE shall develop methodologies and detailed procedure for registration of projects and issuance of carbon credit certificates for different sectors, as and when required, the draft said.

The draft comes after the parliament in December last year cleared the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 aimed at putting in place provisions to make the use of clean energy mandatory. The bill paved the way for setting up a carbon market in India.

In an interview to Mint in January, BEE director general Abhay Bakre had said Indias carbon trading framework is getting ready for its rollout and the framework may be released this year and the market for voluntary carbon trading too will open during the year.

We expect that within this year 2023, the framework will be rolled out and the voluntary market will be there. The compliance market will take time because targets and timelines need to be given to the industries. It would take about 2-3 years," he said, adding that the current Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme would be transitioned into the compliance market, he had said.

Power exchanges are also gearing up to offer platforms for carbon credits trading. In December, the Indian Energy Exchange announced the setting up of a wholly-owned subsidiary, International Carbon Exchange Pvt. Ltd, to explore business opportunities in the voluntary carbon market.

According to experts, a carbon market would help as many leading Indian corporates have made commitments to become carbon-neutral and the market will provide flexibility to entities in hard-to-abate sectors and with high reduction costs to supplement their own reduction efforts with credits from the carbon market. The market is expected incentivize entities with low reduction costs to reduce emissions beyond their mandate and trading in the carbon market could reduce the overall cost of emission reductions in India.
Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s billionaire co-founder, has returned to mainland China after spending roughly a year overseas, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Mas travels have been the subject of intense scrutiny as Chinas leadership seeks to regain the confidence of entrepreneurs following years of regulatory clampdowns and Covid-19 pandemic measures that battered the countrys private businesses. The tech titans extensive time abroad was interpreted by some in the business world as evidence that uncertainty still clouded the tech sector.

Mr. Ma, who has spent most of the past year in Japan, returned to China in recent days, the people said. He celebrated the most recent Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, and recently traveled to Singapore and Australia.

The Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba didnt immediately respond to requests for comments.

Chinas new premier devoted a large portion of his first press conference in his new role earlier this month to reassuring entrepreneurs of Beijings support for the private sector, saying the governments commitment in this regard is unequivocal and steadfast."

Mr. Mas return to China was earlier reported by the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.

Mr. Ma has kept a low profile since November 2020, when Ant Group Co. called off initial public offerings in Hong Kong and Shanghai that were on track to raise more than $34 billion. The cancellations came after Mr. Mas speech at a financial forum drew the ire of regulators. Regulators subsequently launched a probe into Alibaba for alleged anticompetitive behavior on its e-commerce platform and later hit the company with a record $2.8 billion fine.

A sweeping regulatory clampdown on other private businesses soon followed, with Beijing tightening controls on everything from videogames and education to real estate.

In January, Mr. Ma gave up control of Ant Group after the financial-technology giants shareholders agreed to restructure its business. On the same day, the party boss at Chinas central bank said that the crackdown on fintech operations of more than a dozen internet companies was basically" over.
THE Saudi Arabian carrier, Saudi Airlines on Sunday commenced direct flights from Jeddah to Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam.

The inaugural flight arrived in Dar es Salaam at 6am and was welcomed with a traditional water salute. Saudia airlines will be travelling four times a week.

Onboard the 180-seater Airbus A320 aircraft were seven people, including members of the crew and the company's management team, according to the airline officials.

They were greeted with a gracious 'karibu' by the Works and Transport Minister Prof Makame Mbarawa. He said the coming of a new operator, signifies a vote of confidence in the country's aviation systems.

According to Minister Mbarawa, the introduction of the direct passenger-scheduled flight between Tanzania and Saudi Arabia will trim down travelling time and costs, while promoting tourism and business growth between the two countries.

"This is as a result of President Samia Suluhu Hassan's effort of opening up the country through economic diplomacy, which has seen the aviation sector adding Saudi airlines in the list of international flight landing into Tanzania.

"The president visited Saudi Arabia last year, and today (yesterday), we are seeing the results of the visit. The beginning of direct air from Saudi Arabia will significantly boost the number of international travellers to Tanzania," said Prof Mbarawa.

Quoting the data from Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), Prof Mbarawa said the number of international travellers have increased by 55 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021.

He said that having a direct flight between Tanzania and the Persian Gulf country would increase business, tourism and investment activities, while reducing flight time by more than 50 per cent than if travellers were to connect flights.

He said that travel time from JNIA direct to King Abdulazz International Airport in Jeddah is approximately 4.5 hours compared to more than 10 hours when connecting flight, a move he said, will exponentially increase number of travellers.

Pro Mbarawa also said that JNIA will be a linking hub for travellers from neighboring countries, who will be planning their itineraries to Saudi Arabia.

Minister Mbarawa expounded that apart from having strong bilateral relationship which increases number of travellers; thousands of Muslim pilgrims are among main travellers to Saudi Arabia. He said launching of a scheduled flight, means a relief for pilgrims.

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Indeed, the flight on Sunday departed with 63 passengers onboard, majority being the pilgrims of Umrah.

The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation Ambassador Mbarouk Nassor Mbarouk said that in the past fiscal year, Tanzania exported goods worth 18 million US dollars to Saudi Arabia, while in turn, the Asian nation's goods imported to Tanzania was valued at 52 million US dollars.

"With the introduction of the direct scheduled flight linking the two countries, means that trade will increase even further," the deputy minister said.

According to him, goods exported to Saudi Arabia comprises fruits, meat, and flower, while Tanzania imports mostly building materials, fertilisers and medical related items.
Investors lifted First Citizens Bancshares stock on Monday after its primary subsidiary First Citizens Bank acquired the failed Silicon Valley Bank. SVB which was once the top lender of Silicon Valley is the epicentre of the recent banking systems turmoil. The North Carolina-based First Citizens stock price has rallied to as high as 49%.

At the time of writing, First Citizens traded at $842.64 --- up by $260.09 or 44.6%. But the stock has skyrocketed by at least 49.4% with an intraday high of $870.15 in the early deals. The stock was also near its 52-week high of $885.38.

On the previous day, First Citizens stood at $582.55.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Company on Monday agreed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to purchase out of FDIC receivership substantially all loans and certain other assets and assume all customer deposits and certain other liabilities of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A.

In a statement, First Citizens said, the transaction is structured as a whole bank purchase with loss share coverage.

First Citizens was selected to complete this transaction through a competitive bidding process.

Frank B. Holding, Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens, said, "First Citizens has a reputation for financial strength, exceptional customer service, and prudent lending that spans 125 years. We have partnered with the FDIC to successfully complete more FDIC-assisted transactions since 2009 than any other bank, and we appreciate the confidence the FDIC has placed in us once again."

The CEO added, "We look forward to building relationships with our new customers and positioning our company for continued success as we affirm our commitment to support the integrity of our nation's banking system."

First Citizens purchased all the loans and deposits of SVB by giving equity rights in its stock --- aggregating to around $500 million in return --- to the government-owned insurer. FDIC was appointed as the receiver when the California department shut down SVB due to its liquidity crisis in mid-March.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown told Reuters that there is relief that First Citizen Bank, one of America's largest family-controlled banks, has come to the rescue. Streeter added that a calm of sorts has descended on the banking sector but hopes that this move will see significant stability return may be short-lived.

Notably, this transaction is structured to preserve First Citizens' solid financial position. In its statement, First Citizens said, "the combined company remains resilient and secure with diverse loan portfolio and deposit base."

Also, the acquisition is expected to enable First Citizens to build on its experience with innovation hubs by leveraging Silicon Valley Bank's strength in serving the private equity, venture capital, and technology sectors.

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Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has unveiled its 5 night 6 days Enchanting Kashmir package. If there is a Paradise on Earth, then it is here, it is here in Kashmir," IRCTC describes.

IRCTC will be operating fixed departure tours covering major tourist attractions like Srinagar, Sonamarg, Gulmarg and Pahalgam.

Also Read: Char Dham Yatra 2023: IRCTC unveils 12 days special package for pilgrims

From Shikara ride over Dal Lake or gondola cable car ride at Gulmarg or the road trip to Pahalgam everything will be included in this Enchanting Kashmir package starting from 1 April. The package has set fixed departures dates with two departures in the month of April, four in May and June each. All these departures will be from Delhi airport.

Also Read: Now travel from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka with IRCTCs Sri Ramayana Yatra. Check dates, cost and other details here

Departure Dates for IRCTC Kashmir air tour package

1 April, 15 April, 5 May, 20 May, 27 May, 28 May, 3 June, 10 June, 11 June, and 17 June.

The cost of the IRCTC's Enchanted Kashmir tour package is priced at 32,030 per person for double occupancy while for triple occupancy, the price is 31,010 per person. The price for single occupany is priced at 48,740.

For Children, Child With Bed aged 5-11 yrs is 28,010 and for child without bed aged between 2-4 yrs is 14,960.

IRCTC Kashmir package inclusion:

Airfare for Delhi  Srinagar  Delhi

Sightseeing as per the itinerary by AC vehicle on sharing basis.

Accommodation in well appointed rooms at Srinagar and Pahalgam.

The package also includes one night stay at House Boat and Shikara Ride over Dal Lake

The package includes 5 Breakfasts and Dinners but lunch is not included.

General Insurance will also be covered in the package.

Anything additional other than those mentioned in the itinerary will be chargeable.

Trips to Aru Chandanwari and Betaab Valley trip, Thajwas Glacier trip at Sonmarg, Zero point trip at Sonmarg, are trips done by Taxi Union, hence will not be paid by IRCTC. Tickets to the Gondola cable car is also not included in the package.
Union minister for electronics and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, hinted at a "big announcement" regarding India's own version of an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, similar to ChatGPT, anytime soon.

Wait for a few weeks, there will be a big announcement," Vaishnaw said while speaking during the India Global Forum Annual Summit.

The global chatbot market is predicted to be worth up to $3.99 billion by 2030, with tech giants like OpenAI, Google, and Snapchat having already launched their chatbots, and more platforms planning to release their own versions.

Vaishnaw also discussed the startup community in India, stating that not a single startup was affected by the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, as the government ensured immediate action to assist them.

To address the crisis, we engaged with the entire startup community and ensured that whatever deposits they want to shift to Indian banks and that entire process was flawlessly executed and not a single startup in India was affected," he said.

He praised India's position as a technology giant, with many global developers eager to partner with Indian startups and entrepreneurs as their technology develops. The minister said, There was a time when India was a technology consumer only and today the time has come that many global developers would like to have Indian startups and entrepreneurs as their partner as their technology develops."

Vaishnaw also highlighted India's plan to be at the forefront of 6G telecom service. He explained that last year, the Prime Minister set a target for India to be equal to the world in 4G and 5G, but to lead the technology development for 6G. India already has 127 patents for 6G telecom technology, and while 6G tech is 4-6 years away, the time to start development is now so that India can become a leader as the technology matures.

Other Union ministers such as Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Bhupender Yadav, and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant also spoke at the event. Vaishnaw called for the involvement of diplomats and business representatives to join India as partners, offering trust and an opportunity to create on a "big scale" within India's booming startup sector community.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur criticized the Congress party's black shirt protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, referring to it as a "drama" and questioning the party's commitment to the court's decisions. Thakur also took a jibe at Gandhi, claiming that his arrogance prevented him from accepting the court's verdict in a defamation case against him.

"Rahul Gandhi and Congress have been insulting the OBC community. Has the Congress party stopped believing in the courts? Rahul Gandhi's arrogance is such that he did not apologise to the OBC community, or in the court. He is not ready to accept the court's judgment. The order was of the court. His membership ended soon after the court delivered its verdict. Why are they creating this drama now?" Thakur said.

"They are not letting the Parliament session run for one man who goes abroad and insults India. And when he returns, the Parliament cannot run if he does not speak. Will the Congress party keep on insulting the OBC community like this? Will Congress keep wearing black clothes after doing black deeds? Will the party now resort to black magic to save itself?" the union minister.

Another BJP leader Piyush Goyal said, Congress isn't letting the house run and is trying to mislead people by making statements. Today Congress' people came in black clothes into the House. Do they want to disrespect the law, were they justifying the remarks regarding OBCs or this protest was against SC?"

The Opposition parties, dressed in black, had marched from the Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk to protest the Centre's inaction over the Adani issue.

Thakur also responded to Gandhi's recent statement that he would never apologize for criticizing the BJP-led government, stating that Gandhi could never be Veer Savarkar.

"Rahul Gandhi can never be Savarkar. Savarkar never went abroad to roam for six months. He was dedicated to the country's freedom. Rahul Gandhi can never be Veer Savarkar but he should have respected former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Nehru. He insulted them also along with Savarkar. A post stamp was issued (on Savarkar) during your government in 1970. Indira Gandhi had written a letter and talked about Savarkar's contribution," he said.

Gandhi had recently in a press conference stated "My name is not Savarkar, it is Gandhi and Gandhi never offers an apology".

Opposition MPs held a meeting to formulate their strategy for the day, with several parties in attendance, including DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC, and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction).

(With inputs from agencies)
Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Monday held that lenders must give borrowers an opportunity to be heard before classifying any account as fraud.

The apex court noted that classifying an account as fraud entails serious civil consequences for the borrower, and amounts to their blacklisting.

The principles of natural justice demand that the borrowers, must be served a notice giving an opportunity to explain the conclusion of the forensic audit report and be allowed to represent by banks and the joint lenders forum before their account is classified as fraud under the master directions on fraud. In addition, the decision classifying, the borrowers account as fraudulent, must be made by a reasoned order," a bench presided by Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said.

The rule of audi alteram partem (let the other side be heard) is to be read into the provisions of the direction by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to save them from the vice of arbitrariness, the bench added.

The court also noted that under the central regulators master circular, debarring borrowers from accessing institutional finances causes a severe impact on them and is akin to their blacklisting, which affects credit score, the top court said.

The 2016 master circular by the RBI on Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs was challenged before various high courts. It had asked banks to be cautious with big loan defaulters.

The RBI had said that banks should declare such accounts as fraud if they are found to be suspicious.

The Telangana High Court in its order of 10 December 2020 had stated that the principle of audi alteram partem ought to be read into the master circular and directed the lender banks to give an opportunity of hearing to the borrowers after furnishing a copy of the audit report while also providing an opportunity of a personal hearing to the borrower before classifying their respective accounts as fraud. This was upheld by the top court.

While defending its circular, lenders argued that the Master Directions on Frauds were necessitated to protect the interests of depositors and banks from the growing instances of frauds. RBI is duly empowered to take pre-emptive measures in public interest to ensure that fraudulent borrowers are brought to justice and loss caused to the banks is mitigated.

In one of the appeals before the Telangana High Court, B S Ltd, a power transmission and distribution company had availed loan of 1,406 crore from various banks. It, however, was unable to meet its payment obligations to lender banks thus defaulting on the repayment of credit facilities. As per the RBI circular, banks formed a joint lenders forum with the State Bank of India as the lead bank. In August 2016 it was declared as non-performing asset.

In 2016, corporate insolvency resolution proceedings under the IBC were initiated against the company. Thereafter in 2019, the lenders forum declared the account as fraud. The company then moved Telangana High Court challenging the decision.
New Delhi: The government is considering offering sugar mills a one-time settlement to recover 3,286 crore of unpaid loans taken out under the Sugar Development Fund (SDF).

As part of the plan, the Centre is considering waiving an additional interest amount of 797 crore due under the new loan restructuring, two officials aware of the matter said.

SDF enables sugar mills to take out loans for setting up heat treatment plants irrigation schemes, modernizing mills and producing ethanol from alcohol. They get the loans at 2% below the bank rate.

Since the inception of SDF, the Centre has been able to recover about 8,851 crore so far, and is owed about 1,307 crore of principal amount and 1,181 crore as interest by 179 mills, according to the food and public distribution ministry.

The policy is still in the conceptualisation stage. If finalised, the scheme will ask eligible sugar factories to clear only their principal and interest outstanding amount of nearly 2,500 crore within 3-6 months," one of the officials said.

However, a final call on the timeline will be taken by the group of ministers."

The policy may take some time to be formulated as it is still to be discussed at a higher level, the official said.

A one time settlement policy not only helps millers to exit from the defaulters list but also provides the government with an opportunity to recover outstanding amounts blocked for years," Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of National Sugar Federation of India, said.

However, the government may have to sacrifice some amount by exempting penal interest."

If the government comes up with such a policy, it will help sugar mills to pay in a lump sum and get benefits under existing schemes for the growth of mills in future, he said.

However, some experts say that one time settlement does not address the issue of inefficiency in the sugar industry caused by delays in repayment of SDF loans. One time settlement is very fashionable in India, but it promotes inefficiency, which is not good for the economy in the long run," a sugar industry expert said.

Delays and defaults in payments by weak units make stakeholders like sugarcane farmers and workmen suffer. Consumers also suffer as the cost of production of such units is high and their cost of production becomes the floor for the cost of production while fixing prices. This is beside the moral hazard of misapplication of taxes realised by the government from which SDF has been accumulated.

To prevent such a situation, the government should bite the bullet and take such defaulters to NCLT under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The government will stand a good chance of recovery being a secured creditor," the expert said.

Change of ownership through the IBC process will ensure that the units are operated efficiently by new investors. There is no risk of farmers crops not being accepted as the Resolution Professional manages the enterprise. In the case of defaulting cooperatives, the government should persuade the state to bring about a change of management. This will introduce all-around efficiency, the expert said.

In order to recover outstanding SDF amount and facilitate rehabilitation of financially weak but economically viable mills, the Centre in January last year allowed a moratorium of two years and then repayment of loans in five years for factories that had defaulted.
Mere months after they were brought to India and introduced to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, a cheetah has passed away. According to forest officials the four-and-a-half years old female cheetah - named Sasha - died due to a kidney problem. She had been one of the eight animals translocated from Namibia in September last year.

Officials said that the feline had not been keeping well since her arrival. She was recently taken back to a quarantine enclosure at KNP for treatment. Sasha's creatinine level was above 400 (an indicator of poor kidney function) which resulted in her death.

Earlier reports had suggested that she was in quarantine BOMA and being provided buffalo meat due to weakness. A month earlier, officials had said that the cheetah was about to shift into a soft predator-free enclosure.

ALSO READ: How Nelson Mandela made cheetah translocation possible to India? Read here

Seven decades after they became extinct in India, eight cheetahs had been brought to Madhya Pradesh and released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2022. This was followed by the arrival of 12 cheetahs from South Africa earlier this year as part of the ambitious project to reintroduce the majestic animal in Indian forests.

Last week two more Namibian cheetahs had been released into the wild at the Kuno National Park - bringing the total tally up to four. Three female cheetahs still remain in hunting enclosures. The group of eight had comprised five females and three males.

The last cheetah died in India in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952. Former Union environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had initiated 'Project Cheetah' in 2009 under the UPA government to reintroduce them in India. The initiative received new lease last year with the central government makign efforts to revitalize and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat.

(With inputs from agencies)
Pakistan and China have decided in principle to participate in three key upcoming meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) hosted by India, but the mode of participation is yet to be finalized and sources are claiming that the representatives from the countries will attend the summit virtually.

On March 29, India will host the meetings of SCO national security advisers (NSA) and top national security officials in New Delhi. After that during April 27-29, the defense minister's meeting will be conducted in the capital city.

The foreign minister's meeting is scheduled in Goa from 4 to 5 May and after that SCO Summit to be held in July. India will be holding the summit for the first time after joining the grouping in 2017.

While there is an in-principle decision on attending all these upcoming meetings, the mode of participation  whether it will be in-person or virtual  is yet to be decided," one person from Pakistan said.

A decision is also yet to be made whether foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari or minister of state for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will join the meeting of foreign ministers," another added.

In Pakistan, currently, the post of NSA is vacant, and in the absence, a senior defense official is expected to attend the summit.

According to the reports from Pakistan, there was a division in the decision as to whether to attend the SCO summit or not, in view of the instability in bilateral relations with India. One view is that given the current state of the bilateral relationship, Pakistan if required, would only send junior officials to the SCO meetings.

Another view from the government vouched for complete involvement in the SCO-level meetings and they believe that Pakistan should participate in important regional forums and not miss out on valuable opportunities. As the SCO consists of influential nations such as Russia and China, Pakistan should take advantage of this chance to promote its own interests.

Recently, Pakistan skipped a military medicine conference arranged by an Indian think-tank under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) due to objections raised by the host regarding an inaccurate representation of Kashmir on a map.

(With inputs from agencies)
IDFC FIRST Bank has teamed with Crunchfish to participate in the RBI's pilot programme to facilitate offline payments. This initiative will provide access to digital payments even when there is no network. The Swedish company Crunchfish introduced this one-of-a-kind digital payment system for merchants and customers as part of the RBI's Regulatory Sandbox Program.

This project will allow offline retail payments in India's payment ecosystem using a Digital Cash platform. IDFC FIRST Bank will be one of the first few banks to participate in HDFC Bank's pilot initiative. The RBI authorised the proposal to demonstrate offline payments between two banks. IDFC First Bank now has access to the Digital Cash SDK thanks to the signing of the Development and Demonstration Agreement, which is a non-commercial agreement. A Software License Agreement will govern the commercial parameters of installation.

IDFC First Bank said it believes in providing customer-first products and being a part of this pilot only resonates with the Banks ethos and this solution will open up more customer base and regions for adoption of cashless digital payments.

Madhivanan Balakrishnan, COO, of IDFC FIRST Bank said This application will help make transactions easier for customers. Being a part of this pilot project and enabling a unique offering for customers is something that is aligned with the Banks philosophy".

Signing an agreement and adding IDFC FIRST Bank to the RBI pilot project is very satisfying, as it together with HDFC Bank enables to showcase offline payment interoperability. Interoperability between banks will be key for the adoption and success of the offline retail payments solution we develop together with the two banks and will showcase to RBI", says Joachim Samuelsson, Crunchfishs CEO.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the Regulatory Sandbox in 2020 to endorse sustainable innovation in financial services, boost efficiency, and benefit end users.

IDFC FIRST Bank has a balance sheet of Rs. 2,21,374 crores and serves customers throughout the country. Around the country, the bank has 707 branches, 253 asset service centres, 867 ATMs, and 578 rural business correspondent centres, as well as a modern age net and mobile banking platform and 24/7 Customer Care services.
New Delhi: India reported 1,805 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours with daily positivity rate at 3.19%, the union health ministry said on Monday. The country has logged more than 44.8 million covid cases, and over 530,837 deaths so far.

Covid cases are increasing across the country with Karnataka reporting 792 active cases and Kerala 2,471 active cases. Maharashtra has 2,117 active cases, Gujarat with 1,697 cases, Delhi has recorded 528 cases, Tamil Nadu has 608 active cases; and Himachal Pradesh 415 cases so far.

Scientists said that XBB.1.16 was the covid-19 variant responsible for present surge in covid cases. However, they said that people in India have developed hybrid immunity due to vaccination and natural infection. Therefore, the present covid-19 variant will not be able to cause hospitlaistaion and severity as it is mild in nature. Government though has suggested people wear masks in crowded places and complete their vaccination doses if not done yet.

Active cases in India have climbed to 10,300. Around 4,41,64,815 people have recovered from the infection with the current recovery rate touching 98.79%.

The union health ministry has directed the states/UT governments to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection. The health ministry has advised state governments to examine the situation of covid-19 at micro level (district &sub-districts) and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of covid-19 duly ensuring effective compliance.

The five-fold strategy, i.e., Test-Track Treat-Vaccination should be followed with continued focus on adequate &proactive testing as per guidelines, monitoring new and emerging clusters of new Covid-19 cases along with monitoring the trend of Influenza-like illness (ILI) & SARI cases in all health facilities or through dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection," the health ministry stated as there are few states which are reporting higher number of cases indicating possible localized spread of infection.

The country has conducted over 56,551 tests in the last 24 hours taking the total trajectory of covid testing to 92.10 crore so far.

Under the covid vaccination drive, more than 220.65 crore doses have been administered to people across the country so far. In the last 24 hours, around 1,743 vaccine doses have been administered.
Simiyu  PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has inaugurated various projects in Simiyu Region, insisting that the government will continue dishing out funds to implement projects that help to improve provision of services to the people.

He inaugurated a 1.3bn/- water project in Ngulyati-Nyamswa in Bariadi District and handed over a water drilling machine, which is in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) relief funds.

The machine is expected to drill deep wells in the villages with the aim of relieving people from water woes.

Speaking to the resident of Ngulyati shortly after the inauguration on Saturday, Mr Majaliwa said the project was part of the government under President Samia Suluhu Hassan's ambitious plan to help people overcome water challenges in their respective areas.

"The president started the campaign of relieving women from water woes since the time she was Vice President...ever since she has continued with the campaign by dishing out huge sums of money in ensuring people have access to clean and safe water at their close proximity," said Mr Majaliwa.

In realising the goal, the Premier directed the leadership of Gaisangu - a local service provider entity at the community level to supervise the water at the kiosks, while ensuring 24/7 free flow taking into account the fact that the distribution tank has been stationed on top of a hill.

He urged regional authorities countrywide not to prevent use of water drilling vehicles to carry out the role in villages because it is the President's aspiration to see the vehicles carry out the tasks in all areas provided the resources are available.

Mr Majaliwa cited an example of a grievance between the regional and district Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) whereby the latter was requesting for the vehicle and asked to pay for the service.

He added that "I don't want to see such grievances here in Simiyu...the important thing is to ensure the vehicles have fuel while resettling payments can be done later."

Earlier, the Manager for RUWASA in Simiyu Eng Mariam Majala noted that the project is envisioned to serve a total of 10,106 residents in Ngulyati, Nyamswa and Nyasosi, indicating that the water demand in those villages comprises of 271,900 litres.

He disclosed that the project was rolled out in May 2022 and completed in January 2023, stating that the project is currently operational with a full capacity of producing 15,800 litres per hour equivalent to 284,000 litres in 18 hours per day.

Prior to his visit in Ngulyati, the PM had launched the NBC Bank branch in Bariadi, the first in Simiyu Region.

Meanwhile, Mr Majaliwa launched an emergency unit in Maswa District worth 311m/-, noting that he was satisfied with the construction of the building.

"I passed by the emergency building and I was very pleased with what I have seen from the building to the equipment...the building is also timely as there is a main road passing through the town," he said.

For his part, the Deputy Minister in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Dr Festo Dugange said the building is among 80 buildings constructed under the Covid-19 relief financing, indicating similar buildings have also been built in Bariadi and Itilima.

Maswa legislator Mr Stanslaus Nyongo noted that the district has received over 30bn/- in the current financial year which has supported the implementation of the building as well as the procurement of equipment worth 400m/- and it is currently operational.

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He, however, indicated six health centres and finished structures for dispensaries, constructed two big surgery rooms at the hospital and Intensive care units for neonates and premature babies and bought a mobile x-ray machine.

Earlier on, the PM inspected the construction of a chalk factory and packing whose execution stands at 97 percent and valued at 8 billion.

Responding to some queries raised by legislators from the region, Mr Majaliwa pledged to make follow up on 2.8bn/- for the finalization of the factor to become operational.

Maswa District Executive Director Mr Simon Berege had informed the PM that they received 8.09bn/- which was used to construct the chalk factory building, packaging factory building, gypsum factory building, an office, fence and procurement of chalk plant.
As the gates of Kedarnath Dham opens on 25 April, IRCTC will soon start the online booking of helicopter service for the temple. Pilgrims can now book their their tickets from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website.

As per TOI, the trial run of the services would be completed by 31 March and booking would likely to be open from 1 April. In February, the DGCA had issued a circular for the conduct of helicopter pilgrimage operation for 2023. The circular, a copy which is with the ANI, lays down the responsibilities of the helicopter operators and also certain guidance or guidelines to respective Shrine Boards or District Administration to ensure safe and smooth helicopter operations.

This comes as IRCTC recently signed an MoU with Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) for a period of 5 years for providing Helicopter ticket booking service to the pilgrims of Shri Kedarnath Dham.

As per the official website notice, Helicopter services for 2023 Shri Kedarnath Dham Yatra will be booked through IRCTC heliyatra website."

However, in order to book the helicopter services, pilgrims first need to do an mandatory registration on Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board for visiting holy shrine of Kedarnath. Resisration can also be done through mobile application by downloading the Tourist Care Uttarakhand App and also through WhatsApp Facility. Pilgrim just need to Type Yatra to initiate the registration process on Mobile no. 91 8394833833.

Also Read: Char Dham Yatra 2023: IRCTC unveils 12 days special package for pilgrims; check dates, costs, and other details here

The Chardham Yatra in Uttarakhand is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimages in India. This pilgrimage is a tour of four holy sites - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - nestled high up in the Himalayas. The doors of Kedarnath Dham will open on April 25 and Badrinath Dham on April 27 while the Gangotri Temple Commitee will open the temple doors from Akshaya Tritiya on 22 April.

Earlier on Sunday, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council said that a total of 6.34 lakhs devotees have registered for the Char Dham Yatra of which 2.41 lakh registrations have been done for Kedarnath Dham.

2.01 lakh for Badrinath Dham, 95,107 for Yamanotri and 96,449 for Gangotri Dham," the council said.

On 25 March, an MoU was also signed between the Director General, Medical Health and Family Welfare and Director Corporate Affairs and CSR Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in the presence of CM Pushkar Singh Dhami for health screening in identified medical units of Garhwal division. Health ATM will be set up for health screening during Chardham Yatra. With this facility, the devotees will get a lot of conveniences. This would be a good step for the strengthening of medical facilities on the Char Dham Yatra route.

Meanwhile, CM Dhami has instructed officials that the travel arrangements should be completed by 15 April. Along with the improvement of the roads of the Yatra route, the Chief Minister also gave instructions to work with an effective action plan on the arrangements related to the convenience of the passengers.

CM Dhami had also put to rest any concerns regarding the Char Dham yatra in light of the subsidence in Joshimath. Earlier while speaking to reporters, Dhami had reassured the public that the pilgrimage will be conducted safely. He emphasized that there should be no doubts in the minds of people about Joshimath, which serves as the gateway to Badrinath.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra fired a fresh salvo at the Central government over the Adani-Hindenburg row on Monday. The remarks came in the wake of a Finance Ministry note that said data regarding offshore shell companies owned by Indian citizens was unavailable. Hours earlier the TMC lawmaker had shared the Centre's response to underscore her point.

Government identified 238,223 shell companies without any specific definition in law. Blinkers on only when it comes to Adani group family shells in Mauritius!" she tweeted, citing a PIB press note.

The government release - shared in July 2021 - had asserted that there is no definition of the term 'shell company' in the Companies Act. At the time, MoS Rao Inderjit Singh had told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that the phrase normally refers to a company without active business operation or significant assets, which in some cases are used for illegal purpose such as tax evasion, money laundering, obscuring ownership, benami properties etc".

How can government take action againt Adani? Finance Ministry does not know definition of shell firm! Written answer in RS says no clue hence no action," she had tweeted earlier.

Government identified 238,223 shell companies without any specific definition in law.



Blinkers on only when it comes to Adani group family shells in Mauritius! pic.twitter.com/tYBowYhXPh  Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 27, 2023

Days after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were 'scared' of his allegations on the Adani issue.

"This is the whole drama that is been orchestrated to defend the Prime Minister from the simple question- Whose 20,000 crore went to Adani's shell companies? I am not scared of these threats, disqualifications or prison sentences," he had said.

(With inputs from agencies)
As India continued its crackdown against radical preacher Amritpal Singh, Nepal on Monday put the fugitive on its surveillance list after India requested it not to allow him to flee to a third country. India has requested the Nepal authorities to arrest Amritpal Singh if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport.

The officials from Nepal informed that the Department of Immigration has put Singh on its surveillance list after the request from Indian Embassy.

"We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal," said Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department.

"The Indian Embassy has sent the note asking the Department to put Singh, a member of a separatist group, on the surveillance list," Pandey said.

Indian government suspects that Amritpal entered Nepal and was hiding somewhere in the country and the Union Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area. "Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it," the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

"The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission," it said.

According to several sources mentioned in the paper, Singh's personal information and the letter have been shared with all relevant agencies including hotels and airlines. Singh, who is reported to have multiple passports with various identities, has been on the run since March 18th when the police initiated a crackdown against him. The evasive preacher was able to escape the police when his group was stopped in Punjab's Jalandhar district.

(With inputs from PTI)
Shatrughan Sinha, a leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), has criticised the Indian government over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha. Sinha said that the government's action demonstrates poor decision-making skills but will provide ammunition to opposition parties.

Sinha thanked Prime Minister Modi for the issue, saying that it will not only protect democracy but also help the opposition to gain additional seats. He also stated that Rahul Gandhi's disqualification has brought the opposition parties together.

"Well, on the one hand, what they have done appears to be an example of Vinash Kale Viprit Buddhi (In adverse situations, people lose their ability to take sound decisions), but on the other hand, politically it will benefit a lot. It has given the opposition a weapon which will not only protect democracy but also help in giving an additional 100 seats to Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition," Shatrughan Sinha told ANI. "We appreciate it and thank our friend, PM Modi," he added.

Also Read: Protests over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP enters day 2: Top developments

Sinha praised Mamta Banerjee, the most popular personality and a street fighter in India, for coming forward to support democracy, and also appreciated Delhi's CM Kejriwal for taking a stand on such a serious issue.

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha on Friday after a Surat court sentenced him to two-year imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark.

He had made the remark in April 2019, where he had said "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" at a Lok Sabha election rally in Kolar, Karnataka. The court approved Gandhi's bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach higher courts.

Also Read: Akhilesh Yadav raises concerns over the survival of democracy in India

On March 27 at 10.30 am, members of the Congress Party from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet at the Congress Parliamentary Party office at the Parliament. The meeting is to intensify their protest against the Centre over the Adani issue and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha. As part of the protest, Congress MPs will attend the Parliament wearing black clothes.

Congress MP Manish Tewari has also given an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi. The Congress Party has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and has been staging protests in the Parliament's ongoing Budget Session.

(With agency inputs)
Drug major Sun Pharmaceuticals on 26 March said that the company has taken prompt steps to contain and remediate the impact of the IT security incident, including employing containment and eradication protocols to mitigate the threat. It added that an additional measures to ensure the integrity of its systems infrastructure and data has also been taken.

In a BSE filing, the company also said a ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

On 2 March, the drug major had reported an "information security incident" at the company and said it is investigating the matter. The Mumbai-based company said the impacted IT assets have been isolated. "This is to inform that an information security incident has occurred at the company and the impacted IT assets have been isolated," the company had informed in a regulatory filing. It had also added that the incident did not impact the company's core systems and operations.

Sharing an update on the incident, the company added that the incident affected a breach of certain file systems and the theft of certain company data and personal data.

As part of its containment measures, it said, we proactively isolated our network and initiated the recovery process. As a result of these measures, the business operations have been impacted."

Consequently, revenues are expected to be reduced in some of our businesses. The Company would incur expenses in connection with the incident and the remediation, it said.

It further added that they are currently unable to determine other potential adverse impacts of the incident, including but not limited to additional information security incidents, increased costs to maintain insurance coverage, the diversion of management and employee time or the possibility of litigation.

Meanwhile, on 24 March, the company announced that it is set to acquire 60 percent shareholding in Vivaldis Health & Foods for 143.30 crore from its existing shareholders while the remaining 40 percent shareholding will be acquired in future as per certain terms and conditions.

Recently, Sun Pharma's acquisition of Concert adds a complementary derma product to the existing specialty portfolio. The drug major has completed the acquisition of US-based Concert Pharmaceuticals. In January, the Mumbai-based company inked a pact to acquire Concert in a $ 576 million deal.

In a recent report, Jefferies has maintained BUY rating on Sun Pharma shares with a target price of 1,200 apiece and has recommended as top pick. Though, its sees ongoing litigation with Incyte on patents as a key hurdle.
As Russia is sending a warning to NATO by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, NATO on Sunday criticised Russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, as reported by Reuters.

"NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own," a NATO spokesperson said.

It is noteworthy that Belarus shares a border with Ukraine, as well as NATO members Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

Moscow's deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus marks the first time since the mid-1990s that Russia will have stationed nuclear arms outside of its own territory.

Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments. Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments, most recently suspending its participation in the New START Treaty," a NATO spokesperson further stated.

Earlier, the US, the world's other nuclear superpower reacted cautiously by saying that there were no signs of Moscow using nuclear weapons.

The senior U.S. administration official stressed that Russia and Belarus had been speaking about the transfer of nuclear weapons for some time.

"We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. We remain committed to the collective defence of the NATO alliance," the official said.

putins statement about placing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus  a step towards internal destabilization of the country  maximizes the level of negative perception and public rejection of russia and putin in Belarusian society. The kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.  Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) March 26, 2023

Meanwhile, Kyiv accused Russia of holding Minsk as a "nuclear hostage" following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed to Belarus, Russia's ally.

The Kremlin took Belarus as a nuclear hostage," the secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote on Twitter, adding that the move was a step towards the internal destabilisation of the country".

He further stated that this decision increases the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and President Putin in Belarusian society.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak has accused Vladimir Putin of violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and resorting to scare" tactics.

Putin (RF) is too predictable.

Making a statement about tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, he admits that he is afraid of losing & all he can do is scare with tactics...

Second. He once again states his involvement in the crime. Violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty...    (@Podolyak_M) March 26, 2023

According to a report by AFP, Germany has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which brings these weapons closer to the European Union.

The announcement was "another attempt at nuclear intimidation by Russia", an official in the foreign office told AFP.

Germany would not allow itself to be "put off our course" by Moscow's move, the source said on condition of anonymity.

"The comparison made by President Putin to nuclear sharing in NATO is misleading and does not justify the step announced by Russia," the source said.

The decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was announced shortly after the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow, where Russia and China issued a joint statement calling, "all nuclear powers must not deploy their nuclear weapons beyond their national territories, and they must withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed abroad."

As per a report by AFP, Kyiv on Sunday said it was seeking an emergency meeting of the United Nation's Security Council to counter Russia's "nuclear blackmail" after President Vladimir Putin announced his country would station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.

"Ukraine expects effective actions to counteract the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail from the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France," the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

"We demand that an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council be immediately convened for this purpose," it added.
The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday that Brussels was ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus if Minsk were to host Russian nuclear weapons.

"Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions," he tweeted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Saturday his country would station tactical nuclear arms in Belarus.

Putin said the deployment was similar to moves from the United States, which stores such weapons in bases across Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, an analogy western allies called "misleading".

With fears of a nuclear war rising since the invasion, experts believe that any Russian strike would likely involve small-size battlefield weapons, called "tactical" as opposed to "strategic" high-powered long-range nuclear weapons.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry accused Russia of breaching its obligations, and of undermining the "nuclear disarmament architecture and the international security system in general".

It called on "all members of the international community to convey to the criminal Putin regime the categorical unacceptability of its latest nuclear provocations."

In the interview broadcast Saturday, Putin said the move to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was "nothing unusual".
DAYTON : An early morning fire damaged a commercial building complex housing an historic airplane factory founded by the Wright Brothers in Ohio on Sunday, authorities said.

Dayton fire crews were sent to the site just before 2:30 a.m. and found heavy fire throughout the complex. Fire crews used hoses to spray water on the flames and used aerial ladders to get water into openings in the roof.

The Dayton Daily News reports that crews were still on the scene nearly 12 hours after the fire was reported. Black smoke continued to stream from a collection of multiple hangar buildings, including historic Wright Brothers airplane factory hangars, and flames could be seen on the backside of the hangars, the paper reported.

Capt. Brad French said in a news release that the structure involved is listed on the National Historic Register as the first aircraft manufacturing facility founded by the Wright Brothers.

Mackensie Wittmer, executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Area, said in a Facebook post that the group was deeply saddened by the fire that damaged our historic Wright Company airplane factory, the first-purpose built buildings for the aviation industry." Officials were working to assess the damage, Wittmer said.

The Wright Company, formed by the Wright brothers in November 1909, produced about 120 airplanes in 13 different models, according to the National Aviation Heritage Area. The group has worked to preserve and restore the factory as a site of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park completing the story of the Wright brothers' invention, development, and commercialization of the airplane in Dayton," officials said.

A year ago, city commissioners authorized more than $1.4 million to clean up the Wright Factory site as the city works with the National Park Service to create a museum in the hangar space. Two hangars had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation and a damage estimate has not yet been released.
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou began his China visit on Monday in a move that is seen to reduce tensions, a day after Taiwan lost one of its major allies. Ma Ying is visiting the country in a private capacity with his family and a delegation of academics and college students for exchanges will also accompany him.

Although Ma's policies succeeded in bringing Taiwan and China closer than ever before, his departure from office was marred by widespread protests against a trade agreement with mainland China.

Since taking office, his successor, Tsai Ing-wen has prioritized strengthening ties with the United States and safeguarding the autonomy of Taiwan, which is governed democratically but is claimed by China as its own territory.

The ex-President's visit is coming at a time when the tensions between Taiwan and China are at an all-time high with Chinese fighter jets frequently intruding into Taiwan's airspace and Taiwan hosting leaders from the United States.

I hope through the enthusiasm of the youth and their interactions to improve the cross-strait mood, so bring peace faster, and earlier," Ma told reporters while departing for his first visit to China.

The visit comes ahead of Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's 10-day diplomatic outreach to remaining allies of the island nation in Latin America. The President is expected to start her visit on Wednesday and will also visit the United States, a move that can further irk China.

On Saturday, Tsai Ing-wen visited army engineers and reviewed their training. The President was also accompanied by Taiwan's Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng and National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo.

"Protecting Taiwan and defending democracy has always been our military's great mission," she told the soldiers.

"I believe that only by continuously training and strengthening the military's war preparedness can we be even more able to protect our home and defend our country," Tsai added.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Hungarian parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing Fidesz party, ratified Finland's NATO membership Monday after months of diplomatically charged delay.

A large majority of lawmakers -- 182 votes for versus six against -- approved the accession of the Nordic country into the military alliance.

The vote means that 29 out of 30 NATO member state parliaments have ratified Finland's accession, with the last -- Turkey's assembly -- expected to also give Helsinki the nod next month.

"Thank you for the decision with clear numbers!" said Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Twitter after the vote.

NATO's expansion into Finland -- a country with a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia -- will roughly double the length of the bloc's current frontier with its Cold War-era foe.

Finland had initially aimed to join together with fellow NATO aspirant Sweden -- a Nordic power facing a litany of disputes with Turkey that ultimately sunk its chance to join the bloc before an alliance summit in Vilnius in July.

"The NATO membership of Finland and Sweden will strengthen the security of the whole Alliance," said Marin.

"It is in everyone's interest that Sweden also becomes a member of NATO before the Vilnius Summit," she said.

Helsinki and Stockholm ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to join the world's most powerful defence alliance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Their applications were accepted at a June 2022 NATO summit but the bids still needed to be ratified by all alliance member parliaments -- a process that stalled once it reached Turkey and Hungary.

The nationalist Orban, who nursed close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin until the invasion, said in December that the ratification process would begin in February.

Budapest insisted that it supports both Nordic nations' NATO accession but complained that they had unfairly criticised Hungarian government policy.

EU member Hungary is also in talks with Brussels to unlock billions of euros in bloc funding held up over rule-of-law and corruption concerns.

The Hungarian opposition accused Orban's party of trying to put pressure on the bloc by refusing to put the issue on parliament's agenda for a vote.

The Finland vote delay "served the interests of Putin", said an opposition party leader, Ferenc Gerencser, before Monday's vote.

Fidesz said it will decide about backing Sweden's admission to the military alliance at a later date.

Last week, Orban's chief-of-staff Gergely Gulyas told reporters the Swedish bid will likely be ratified during the ongoing parliamentary session which runs until June 15.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling for Stockholm to take tougher action against Kurdish activists Ankara considers "terrorists".

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
TANZANIA has reached out to the world to establish a strong international mechanism in managing the global water crisis agenda which is spiraling out of control due to impacts of climate change, increased demand and polluted supplies.

The United Nations World Water Development Report of 2023 shows that 26 per cent of the estimated eight billion global population does not have access to safe drinking water and about 46 per cent of people lack access to safely managed sanitation services.

Water Minister Mr Jumaa Aweso issued the call in his address at the UN 2023 Water Conference where he attended on behalf of President Samia Suluhu Hassan from March 22-24 in New York.

"It is critical that the world comes together to manage the water agenda; the value of water in life and economy; increase investment in the water area; international cooperation in water as well as the search for money for water," said Mr Aweso.

The minister's idea was in line to UN's Secretary General Mr Antonio Guterres official opening address in which, he referred to water as a human right and a common development denominator in shaping a better future.

"Despite the fact that water is the ecosystem and biodiversity that enrich the world, water is in deep trouble," said Mr Guterres, noting that people are draining humanity's lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use, and evaporating it through global heating.

According to him, nearly three out of four natural disasters are linked to water and one in four people live without safely managed water services or clean drinking water.

Thus, encouraged member states to massively invest in water and sanitation systems, focus on resilience, finding new ways to recycle and conserve water and to address climate change.

"We need action to ensure everyone has access to clean and safe water supplies. Everyone can be part of the solution," said the UN Secretary General urging Member States to join and implement the UN Water Convention.

In the meeting, Tanzania placed weight on two agendas which include the implementation of the Water Sector Development Program III that requires a budget of 6.47 billion US dollars within the period 2022-2025.

Mr Aweso also indicated that Tanzania puts focus on the investment agenda in the water sector in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the Tanzania Water Investment Programme (2023-2030).

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The program, which is still under construction, is in the final stages of being launched in May this year as it is estimated to have a budget of more than 25 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, Mr Aweso took part in a discussion on Leadership and Management of Water Issues, which was organized by various countries including Tanzania and South Africa as well as different organizations including Global Water Partnership (GWP), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The meeting was presided over by former President Dr Jakaya Kikwete, who is also the Chairman of Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) and Co-Chairman of the panel of famous leaders on investment in the water sector.

In his contribution, the Minister underscored the strong leadership and political will of President Samia promoting the water agenda by enormously increasing the water budget and strengthening institutions related to its management and projects' implementations.

He, equally, acknowledged that through the President's commitment on promoting the water agenda through ensuring access to clean and safe water, it will contribute to lifting up a girl child and women to use their time for studies and economic endeavors.

The UN 2023 Water Conference is the most important water event in a generation. It aims to raise awareness of the global water crisis and decide on concerted action to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, triggering mass protests, a day after Gallant broke ranks with the government and urged a halt to a highly contested plan to overhaul the judicial system.

As news of the dismissal spread, tens of thousands of protesters, many waving blue and white Israeli flags, took to the streets late at night across the country. Crowds gathered outside Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem, at one point breaching a security cordon.

Some three months since taking office, Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition has been plunged into crisis over the bitter divisions exposed by its flagship judicial overhaul plans.

"State security cannot be a card in the political game. Netanyahu crossed a red line tonight," opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz said in a joint statement.

They called on members of Netanyahu's Likud party not to have a hand in "the crushing of national security."

Also Read: How Netanyahus judicial changes are dividing Israel

In announcing Gallant's dismissal, Netanyahu's office did not name a replacement nor give any other details. "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided this evening to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant," it said.

Shortly afterward, Gallant, 64, wrote on Twitter: "The state of Israels security has always been and will always be my life's mission."

POLICE USE WATER CANNONS

Netanyahu made the decision to sack Gallant after the former navy admiral warned on Saturday that the overhaul plans risked "a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the state" and called for them to be halted.

"At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price," Gallant said in his televised address.

Netanyahu acted in response on Sunday night as he was poised to ratify a central part of the overhaul package, a bill that would tighten political control over judicial appointments, handing the executive wider freedom to name judges to the Supreme Court.

Earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog, the head of state who is supposed to remain above politics, warned that the country faced "disaster" unless a broader consensus could be reached on how to overhaul the judiciary.

But Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has vowed to continue with a project he says is needed to rein in activist judges and restore the proper balance between an elected government and the judiciary.

As protesters poured into the streets, police used water cannons to push them back from Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since the beginning of the year, protesters lighted a large bonfire on a main highway.

Also Read: Over 50,000 Israelis join biggest ever protest against Netanyahus judicial overhaul

It was not immediately clear whether the protests would impact the government's tactics. At least three Likud ministers said publicly that it was time to reevaluate their strategy and they would support halting the legislation if Netanyahu decided to do so. The head of the parliamentary committee deciding on the legislation said discussions would continue on Monday.

The crisis came as Israel's security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter celebration.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 250 Palestinian fighters and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and foreigners have been killed by Palestinian attackers.

DIPLOMAT RESIGNS

Gallant on Saturday became the most senior member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party to say he would not support the judicial overhaul, saying protests that have included growing numbers of military reservists were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security.

In recent weeks senior Finance Ministry officials have warned of an economic backlash and business leaders have sounded the alarm for their companies' future.

Adding to the pressure, the head of the Histadrut labour federation, the umbrella organisation for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said he was "astonished" by Gallant's removal and promised a "dramatic" announcement on Monday.

Israel's consul-general in New York said he was resigning over the dismissal. Israel's research universities announced they would stop holding classes due to the legislative push, calling for its immediate freeze.

Some of Netanyahu's hard-right coalition partners had called for Gallant to be sacked, but a number of other Likud lawmakers have backed his call for a halt to the reforms.

The turmoil comes at a key moment in the passage of the legislation with a bill giving the executive more control over the appointment of judges expected to be brought for ratification this week in the Knesset, where Netanyahu and his allies control 64 out of 120 seats.

But how - or even whether - that as yet-unscheduled vote will proceed has been thrown into question by the wave of protest sparked by Gallant's removal and the deepening splits within the coalition.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
North Korea has reportedly test-fired a suspected ballistic missile, in a continuation of its recent spate of missile launches. The missile was launched towards the east of the Korean peninsula on March 27, according to South Koreas Joint Chief of Staff. Japans Coast Guard has also confirmed that it detected a suspected ballistic missile launch, but further details are not yet available.

According to Chinese defence scientists, North Koreas military capabilities are cause for concern. The experts have warned that North Korea possesses a ballistic missile that could cause destruction on US soil in just 33 minutes.

The missile in question is the Hwasong-15, which is a nuclear-capable weapon that was recently launched by North Korea near the Japan border. If the US missile defence network fails to intercept the missile, it could reach Central America in just under 33 minutes, the experts claim.

North Korea reportedly fired a suspected missile towards the sea on March 19, with Japan's Defense Ministry and coast guard confirming the launch. South Korea's military also reported that North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards its eastern waters, according to Yonhap news agency.

Also Read: North Korea launches missile into sea amid drills between US, South Korea

It was the third round of weapons tests conducted by North Korea since the US and South Korean militaries began joint military drills, which North Korea views as a practice for an invasion.

North Korea has been carrying out a series of missile launches over the past few weeks. On February 20, South Korea reported that North Korea had launched two ballistic missiles off its east coast. This launch followed just two days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the ocean off the west coast of Japan in what it described as a "sudden launching drill".

Also Read: North Korea issues strong statement against the enemy

North Korea fired three possible ballistic missile-like projectiles, according to Japan's Coast Guard. However, all three projectiles were intercepted within a short period of time and landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The missile launches have caused concern in the international community. The United States has responded by conducting bilateral joint air exercises with Japan and South Korea in response to North Korea's ICBM launch.

(With agency inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sounak Mukhopadhyay Sounak Mukhopadhyay, who also goes by the name Sounak Mukherjee, has been producing digital news since 2012. He's worked for the International Business Times, The Inquisitr, and Moneycontrol in the past. He's also contributed to Free Press Journal and TheRichest with feature articles. He covers news for a wide range of subjects including business, finance, economy, politics and social media. Before working with digital news publications, he worked as a freelance content writer. Read more from this author
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has made some startling remarks against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and called him the enemy of the ruling PML-N. Sanaullah added that Khan has taken the politics of the country to a level where "he (Imran) will get murdered or us".

His remarks created a fresh furor in the already heated-up space of Pakistan's politics. Sanaullah is the same minister of Pakistan who was named by PTI Chief Imran Khan as responsible for the assassination attempt on him in November 2022.

Either Imran Khan or us will get murdered. He has now taken the countrys politics to a point where only one of the two can remain -- PTI or PMLN. PMLN's entire existence is in jeopardy and we will go to any extent against him to settle a score with him. Khan has turned politics into enmity. Khan is now our enemy and he will be treated like that," Sanaullah said while talking to a private TV channel.

Imran Khan's party PTI has termed it a direct threat to Khan's life from the ruling government. "This is a direct life threat to Khan from the PMLN coalition government. Is Sanaullah running a gang or government? The Supreme Court had rightly declared Sharifs-led PMLN a Sicilian mafia and his statement is evidence of it," former federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry said.

PTI also urged the apex court of the country to take note of the comment from the interior minister and called it an open threat to Khan's life.

If anyone has any doubts about Sanaullah's murderous intent towards Khan. This is a direct threat given by the cabal of crooks interior minister. The judiciary should take note," PTI senior leader and former minister Shireen Mazari said in a tweet.

(With inputs from PTI)
Russian administration is mulling to seek compensation over damage from last years explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, reported AlJazeera quoting news agency RIA Novosti which cited a Russian diplomat.

Earlier in September, 2022, the pipeline -- connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea -- were hit by unexplained blasts which Moscow called an act of 'international terrorism'.

We do not rule out later the raising of the issue of compensation for damage as a result of the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines," AlJazeera quoted Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of Russias Foreign Ministry department for economic cooperation, as saying.

ALSO READ: 'Dangerous and irresponsible', NATO condemns Russia's nuclear deployment in Belarus amid Ukraine war

Adding more, Birichevsky said that Western countries are urging an independent international investigation of the Nord Stream blasts, and opposing a Russia-prepared draft UN Security Council resolution.

Despite this, we intend to continue to insist on a comprehensive and open international investigation with the mandatory participation of Russian representatives," Birichevsky said.

Ever since the Russia's invasion on Ukraine, Berlin has taken steps to reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons, that is being supplied by the Nord Stream pipelines.

In the Septembers explosions, the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines became inoperable and caused significant leaks of methane gas.

The United Nations Environment Programme even claimed that the leaks in the Baltic Sea led to the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded.

However, Western allies -- including Germany -- alleged the blasts were a deliberate act.
South Korea is forecast to overtake China in spending on advanced chipmaking equipment next year in a sign of US export controls reshaping global supply chains for semiconductors.

Korea will likely increase its investment in fab equipment by 41.5% to $21 billion in 2024 while China logs only a 2% increase to $16.6 billion, according to data from SEMI, a global semiconductor association based in the US.

The shift underscores Chinas struggle to secure crucial machines to improve its chips as US curbs make it harder to access equipment purchased from a handful of makers like ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands. As the Dutch and Japanese governments join restrictions imposed by the US on exports to China, the most advanced chips and equipment from the likes of Nvidia Corp. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. are being kept out of Chinese hands.

Also Read: South Korea's 69-hour work week plan faces backlash from youth; here's why

US chipmaking equipment suppliers including Applied Materials Inc., Lam Research Corp. and KLA Corp. are expected to lose billions in sales this year due to the US restrictions on China.

Chip foundries are particularly important in the race for economic and political dominance as they produce cutting-edge chips needed for artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles and other technologies essential to boosting national competitiveness. OpenAIs ChatGPT, for instance, was produced by putting together tens of thousands of Nvidias A100 chips  which are banned for sale in China  into a functional supercomputer.

With a large share of its memory chips produced in China and growing awareness of US unease, South Korea is now looking to its own soil to lay the ground for foundries as it sees contract chipmaking among its biggest growth engines for the economy.

President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier this month announced a plan to invest in a chipmaking cluster south of Seoul drawing 300 trillion won ($230 billion) from Samsung Electronics Co. over the next two decades. Samsung is also building a semiconductor plant in Texas to win more foundry business, particularly in the US.

Taiwan, home to the worlds largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., is expected to retain its global lead in fab equipment spending with $24.9 billion in 2024, a 4.2% increase from this year, SEMI said separately in its quarterly global forecast.

Fab equipment spending in Japan is expected rise to $7 billion in 2024, SEMI said. Japan recently ended its export curbs to South Korea after the leaders of the two US allies held a summit in Tokyo to restore diplomatic ties and tech supply chains.

Overall, global fab equipment spending is expected to increase 21% to $92 billion in 2024 after it decreases 22% this year on weaker chip demand and higher inventories, SEMI said.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
In a theme straight out of sci-fi fiction, residents of Lebanon have found themselves alternately gaining and losing time - often an hour or more - as they go about their day. As is the case with reality most of the time (no pun intended) however, the explanation is somewhat less interesting.

The bizarre phenomenon began last week after the government's last-minute decision to delay the start of daylight savings time by a month. And while some welcomed the decision to until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan others refused to implement the change, resulting in mass confusion.

For the uninitiated, daylight savings time is the practice of advancing clocks during warmer months in order to ensure that darkness falls at a 'later' time.

I had an 8 am appointment and a 9 am class, which will now happen at the same time," Haruka Naito told The Guardian.

Now I drop my kids to school at 8 am but arrive to my work 42 km away at 7:30 am and then I leave work at 5 pm but I arrive home an hour later at 7 pm," another individual told Bloomberg.

ALSO READ: Hungarian parliament ratifies Finland NATO accession

In some cases, the debate took on a sectarian nature, with many Christian politicians and institutions, including the small nation's largest church, the Maronite Church, rejecting the move.

Amid chaotic scenes, officials said on Monday that the unpopular decision would be reversed. The country's caretaker prime minister said on Monday evening that the Cabinet had decided to implement the change in two days.

The new daylight saving time will start at midnight Wednesday," Najib Mikati said after a Cabinet meeting that only discussed the issue.

(With inputs from agencies)
Call it an ongoing metamorphosis or an impending revolution, but the fact is that this is an exciting time for the edtech industry. Emerging from a pandemic that gave it the momentum it needed and placed it well to tap vast opportunities ahead, edtech has been embraced by parents and students. While post-pandemic corrections may have dampened sentiment, there is no doubt that its long-term potential is high and it offers solutions that parents are looking for.

Edtech solutions plug a long-existing need gap where the focus must be on conceptual clarity over rote learning. Using data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, edtech companies are creating modules that engage students through gamification and other tech-enabled methods. They also improve access to high-quality education for students in remote locations, a challenge that is particularly difficult to meet with traditional chalk-and-talk methods. The widespread acceptance of edtech, however, comes with expectations of responsibility, especially in the context of communication sent out to young students and their parents. EdNext, a comprehensive report by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on edtech-sector advertising and its impact on students and parents, takes into account both positive aspects and areas of concern for different stakeholders. It shows a roadmap for prudent ads. The way forward is to steer messaging away from tropes such as exam-centric learning, showcasing toppers and a relentless focus on maths and science. The report also highlights concerns of parents and students about normalizing academic and performance pressure on children. Audiences are also put off by pressure tactics evident in these ads, some of which create a fear of missing out or a false sense of scarcity that exploits consumer vulnerabilities. What stakeholders are asking for instead is a more mindful approach to keeping depictions positive and realistic, making edtech an attractive and aspirational milestone in a students journey of academic and career success.

The report highlights several opportunities for progressive edtech advertising, key among which is the importance of showing learning as a joyful process rather than a stressful one. It also calls for the development of new markers of success and progress other than marks and ranks, thereby reducing the pressure on every child to be a topper. While touting the advantage of reaching students in remote locations, brands should remember to also showcase a diverse set of students and their needs. Edtech is in a distinctive position to offer solutions adapted to students unique needs and that message must reach students struggling with a one-size-fits-all approach to learning.

In keeping with the worlds changing demands, edtech can promote subjects and skills that will be beneficial in the future, broadening mindsets beyond the safe choice of maths and science. The promise of progressive learning methods and broader concepts of success and careers are well aligned with todays family aspirations.

Stakeholders also emphasized a need to show inspirational role models from various fields, as opposed to popular celebrities who usually have little connection with the programmes they endorse. For many students struggling with less than favourable circumstances, sharing real-life stories where the brand made a positive impact would make it more relatable and help students gain more confidence. Another important recommendation was for brands to provide comprehensive information on courses (including costs, methodologies and clarity on learning outcomes), enabling parents and students to make easy and informed decisions. The report highlights how parents are wary of claims involving big discounts, fee refunds or cheap subscription rates, and felt these gimmicks lower the credibility of brands making them. Parents would also like to see teachers getting due credit in ads, unlike the current narrative in which they are often shown in background roles at best.

A lot of common harmful tropes in edtech advertising can be checked at an early stage in the creative process and the EdNext report provides creators with a useful tool to do just that. Curated from an understanding of the desires and expectations of stakeholders, a RAISE framework would help creators evaluate creative briefs by a detailed checklist and develop communication that depicts students in a relatable and inclusive manner and projects learning as an enriching, approachable and joyful experience.

The world is looking at the Indian edtech sector as a high-growth area and brands will be keen to build on the business potential. Despite tremendous progress in the overall education sector, its basic construct remains narrow, with an orientation towards marks and exams, limited access and unreal competition. The edtech industry operates within this context and naturally creates solutions to ensure a childs success in the existing education scenario. However, edtech companies have an opportunity to break through such limitations with a progressive and future-oriented narrative and strengthen their position as engines of transformation. Of course, it is not incumbent on the sector to take a leadership stance, but given that the advantages of the sector are well aligned with an aspirational idea of parenting, it emerges as a high-potential opportunity for brands.

While the opportunity is vast, it remains to be seen if the edtech industry will seize its chance to transform the narrative of education through messaging that is progressive and meaningful.

Manisha Kapoor is chief executive officer and secretary general of The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Monday said the government has received about 54 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals from China since last year and all the proposals are pending for approval.

"54 FDI proposals received during the past year and current year with investor/ beneficial owner from China/Hong Kong are pending for decision with government as on March 21, 2023," Sitharaman informed lawmakers.

The finance minister further said the government is not mulling to ease restrictions put in place in 2020 on foreign investments from countries that share land border with India.

In 2020, after soldiers of both the countries clashed at Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian government restricted the investments from China. The restrictions called for beneficial owners of a country sharing a land border with India to seek government's approval for investments.

The restrictions were imposed to prevent hostile takeovers of Indian firms during COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reuters) - Russia has a deal to station tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of neighbouring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, adding this will not violate non-proliferation agreements. What are these weapons and what is Russia's policy on them:

What are the concerns

The United States has said the world faces the gravest nuclear danger since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis because of remarks by Putin during the Ukraine conflict, but Moscow says its position has been misinterpreted.

Kyiv and its Western allies fear tactical nuclear weapons could be used in battle after Putin and others warned Russia was prepared to use all its vast arsenal in defence.

What are tactical nuclear weapons?

Academics and arms control negotiators have spent years arguing about how to define tactical nuclear weapons (TNW). The clue is in the name: they are nuclear weapons used for specific tactical gains on the battlefield, rather than, say, destroying the biggest cities of the United States or Russia.

Few people know exactly how many TNW Russia has because it is an area still shrouded in traditions of Cold War secrecy.

Russia has a huge numerical superiority over the United States and the transatlantic NATO military alliance when it comes to TNW: the United States believes Russia has around 2,000 such working tactical warheads, 10 times more than Washington.

These warheads can be delivered via a variety of missiles, torpedoes and gravity bombs from naval, air or ground forces. They could even be simply driven into an area and detonated.

The United States has around 200 such weapons, half of which are at bases in Europe. These 12-ft B61 nuclear bombs, with different yields of 0.3 to 170 kilotons, are deployed at six air bases across Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 was about 15 kilotons.

Who gives the Russian launch order?

The president is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to using Russian nuclear weapons, both strategic and non-strategic, according to Russia's nuclear doctrine.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia had around 22,000 TNWs while the United States had around 11,500. Most of these weapons have been dismantled or are waiting to be dismantled.

The ones that remain are stored in at least 30 military bases and silos under the control of the 12th Main Directorate of the defence ministry (12th GUMO) headed by Igor Kolesnikov, who reports directly to the defence minister.

To prepare a TNW strike, it is likely that Putin would consult with senior allies from the Russian Security Council before ordering, via the general staff, that a warhead be joined with a delivery vehicle and prepared for a potential launch order.

Because Putin could not predict the U.S. response, Russia's entire nuclear posture would change: submarines would go to sea, missile forces would be put on full alert and strategic bombers would be visible at bases, ready for immediate takeoff.

Stationing nuclear weapons

After the Soviet collapsed in 1991, the United States went to enormous efforts to return the Soviet nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan to Russia - which inherited the nuclear arsenal of the Soviet Union.

Since the weapons were returned in the early 1990s, Russia has not announced any nuclear weapon deployments outside its borders.

Putin said on Saturday the agreement with Belarus would not contravene non-proliferation agreements.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed by the Soviet Union, says that no nuclear power can transfer nuclear weapons or technology to a non-nuclear power, but it does allow for the weapons to be deployed outside its borders but under its control - as with U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe.
Chinese search engine giant Baidu has cancelled a planned livestreamed product launch related to its ChatGPT -rival. According to a report by Reuters, the company has advertised its AI chatbot - Ernie bot as being open to media and the public.

The webcast was scheduled for Monday afternoon. But as per the report, it was switched to a closed-door meeting with the first batch of companies that are testing the product.

The company cited change in format in order to satisfy the "strong demand" from 120,000 companies that had applied to test Ernie bot as the reason behind it. It further added that this would be the first of many closed-door meetings.

Baidu's Hong Kong-listed shares fell as much as 4.5% on Monday morning on initial reports of the cancellation.

Ernie bot, so far China's closest answer to U.S.-developed ChatGPT, was launched on March 16 by Baidu CEO Robin Li, who gave a livestreamed presentation that walked journalists through a series of pre-recorded demos displaying the Chinese chatbot's different capabilities.

The company's share price dropped while the presentation was still being livestreamed but rebounded the following day, due in part to strong demand from the Chinese corporate sector for generative artificial intelligence (AI), the technology powering products like Ernie bot and ChatGPT.

(With inputs from Reuters)
OR Tambo District Municipality Acting Executive Mayor, Thokozile Sokanyile, has sent her heartfelt condolences to the families of three people who lost their lives during torrential rains in the Eastern Cape.

Sokanyile said the bodies of 53-year-old Fumanekile Mantshubaqa, 24-year-old Asenathi Mkawusi and 42-year old Mhlabunzima Sikhathele, were recovered on Friday following heavy rains

"The bodies were recovered after the three people were reported missing at Rhole Village in Lusikisiki, Ingquza Hill Local Municipality," Sekanyile said.

According to a preliminary report, three local municipalities have been seriously affected by the floods, namely Ingquza Hill, King Sabata Dalindyebo and Port St John's being the worst affected.

"The heavy downpours have left a trail of destruction to infrastructure, households, and businesses. In Port St Johns 10 bridges have been washed away making it difficult for the members of the community to access schools and nearby facilities," the report said.

The OR Tambo Disaster and Risk Management teams continue to assess the extent of the damages.

Call for multi stakeholder approach to infrastructure challenges

Meanwhile, Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, emphasised that a multi stakeholder approach is crucial to ensure a permanent solution to the infrastructure challenges that repeatedly face the Port St Johns area during the time of heavy rains.

Mabuyane made the remarks during his visit to the flood-stricken Port St Johns Local Municipality in OR Tambo District.

The Premier made his first stop at the Port St Johns Youth Centre, which is accommodating scores of people whose houses have been soaked in water, following heavy rains.

Mabuyane also made a stop at the road between Ports St Johns town and Second Beach to witness the damage at the road.
Elon Musk said Twitter Inc. employees will receive stock awards based on a roughly $20 billion valuation, less than half of the $44 billion price he acquired the company for last year, according to an email viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Musk in the note to staff said he was optimistic about the social-media companys future. I see a clear, but difficult, path to a >$250B valuation," meaning stock granted now would be worth 10 times more, he said.

Mr. Musk also said in the email that Twitter is being reshaped so rapidly that the company can be thought of as an inverse startup." He said radical changes have been necessary in part to ensure that Twitter didnt go bankrupt, according to the email, which was reported earlier by Platformer and The Information.

The new valuation figure is a sign of the challenges that have faced Twitter since Mr. Musks takeover. Many big advertisers stopped spending on the platform, challenging Twitters main source of revenue, though the company has been working to woo advertisers back.

Separately, Twitter said in court filings that parts of its source code were leaked online, an incident that could raise security concerns for the company. In documents filed Friday in federal district court in northern California, Twitter said that a person or group operating under the username FreeSpeechEnthusiast posted various excerpts of Twitter source code" to GitHub Inc.s platform.

GitHub removed the information after Twitter said it represented a copyright infringement, according to the court filings and a notice posted on GitHubs website. A spokesman for GitHub declined to comment beyond the notice. Twitter asked the court to issue a subpoena to GitHub to identify who leaked the information and anyone who downloaded it, according to the court filings.

It couldnt be immediately learned which parts of the code were leaked or how long they were available. The company in court filings described the information as proprietary source code for Twitters platform and internal tools." The leak was reported earlier by the New York Times.

Fidelity, one of the co-investors that backed Mr. Musks takeover of Twitter, wrote down its stake in Twitter by 56% in November, public filings show.

In a separate email late Friday that was viewed by the Journal, Twitter told employees it is offering new equity grants to staff that will start to vest after six months.

The company plans to offer a liquidity event roughly a year from now, in which employees can cash out some of their equity, the email shows. The number of employees who received the equity grants couldnt be learned.

Compensation has been one of many questions facing employees since Mr. Musks tumultuous acquisition of Twitter last year. Twitter typically offered stock grants, which vested over several years, as part of employees compensation, according to former employees. Stock-based compensation has been a popular way to attract talent at many tech companies.

In response to a request for comment, Twitters press email responded with a poop emoji, which Mr. Musk recently tweeted will be the companys auto-response for media inquiries.

The new grants will vest over four years, according to the email, and be in addition to and separate from any legacy Twitter equity that was converted to cash at the time of the acquisition in October 2022.

Twitter spent nearly $630 million on stock-based compensation in 2021, the last full year it publicly reported financial results before going private, according to regulatory filings. The company had more than 7,500 full-time employees that year.

Multiple rounds of layoffs and other departures followed Mr. Musks acquisition, and the company hasnt said exactly how many employees it now has. Mr. Musk said in December the staff was down to roughly 2,000.

When Mr. Musk took Twitter private for $44 billion in October, the company said employees stock grants would be converted into the right to receive cash for $54.20 a share, the acquisition price, according to a regulatory filing.

But employees still had questions about how Twitter would handle compensation going forward as a private company.

In February, Mr. Musk told staff in an email that Twitter would make very significant stock and other compensation awards, based on performance." Staff would get more information on March 24, he said, according to that email viewed by the Journal.

It wasnt the first time Mr. Musk mentioned compensation. He previously told staff in November that Twitter would continue to provide stock and said the plan would be similar to what SpaceX offers, according to an email seen by the Journal. Exceptional amounts of stock will be awarded for exceptional performance," Mr. Musk added.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the formal name for Mr. Musks rocket and satellite company, for years has used company stock to attract and pay employees. Because SpaceX is privately held, staffers who own shares eligible for sale cant find a buyer for them the way that investors who hold stock in public companies are able to do.

Instead, SpaceX periodically invites current and former employees to sell their shares if they choose, giving them the chance to potentially monetize their holdings. The company sets a total value of shares that can be sold in the offerings, and it isnt guaranteed that someone who wants to cash out stock will be able to do so or sell all of the shares they want, former employees have said.

We have been able to give employees liquidity," Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceXs president, said at an industry event in February.

SpaceXs valuation has risen over the years, allowing employees and former staffers to reap significant gains if they sold. A recent offering looked to value the company at around $140 billion, up almost fivefold from 2018, when SpaceX worked on a funding round designed to value it at $30.5 billion.
Elon Musk has put the current value of Twitter at $20 billion, less than half the $44 billion he paid for the social media platform just five months ago, according to an internal email seen by American news media.

The email to employees dealt with a new stock compensation program in the San Francisco-based company and the attribution to employees of stock in X Holdings, Twitter's umbrella company since Musk purchased it in late October.

The compensation plan values the platform at $20 billion, slightly more than that of Snap ($18.2 billion), parent company of Snapchat, or of social network and creative website Pinterest ($18.7 billion), both of which, unlike Twitter, are publicly traded.

An emailed query from AFP sent to Twitter's communications department generated an automatic response in the form of a poop emoji.

In the internal email, Musk describes the brutal contraction in Twitter's value. He says the platform faced such grave financial difficulties that at one point it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Twitter was trending to lose ~$3B/year," Musk said in a message posted Saturday on the platform.

He cited a revenue drop of $1.5 billion a year and a debt-servicing burden of the same amount -- leaving it with "only 4 months of money."

Musk, Twitter's majority share holder, added simply: "Extremely dire situation."

But he then said that with advertisers -- many of whom fled the platform after the mercurial billionaire bought it -- now beginning to return, "It looks like we will break even" in the second quarter of the year.

Since taking control, Musk has sharply trimmed the group's payroll, from 7,500 to fewer than 2,000 employees.

He said in the email that he sees a "clear but difficult path" to a valuation of $250 billion, without saying how long that might take.

Musk, who is also the chief executive of Tesla Inc. and aerospace group SpaceX, said that Twitter would allow employees of the social network to cash in shares every six months.
Rackspace Technology, the San Antonio-based tech company, is blaming economic downturn for its upcoming round of layoffs to its global workforce. A company spokesperson confirmed to MySA on Monday, March 27, that the company told employees at its offices across the globe this week that it will layoff about 4% of its workforce.

The company declined to provide a specific number of jobs that will be cut, but the Express-News reports that the number is near 275 positions. The Rackspace spokesperson also didn't say how many people at the San Antonio office would be affected. The company had around 700 employees at its San Antonio headquarters, according to a recent filing with the Securities Exchange Commission.
Sarah Nguyens exhibit Light that Dwells opened to a lovely reception from the community and art lovers at the Martha Fenstermaker Memorial Visual Arts Gallery on Thursday, March 23.

Visitors were given the opportunity to experience the traditional Jewish paper cutting art form from a wonderful and talented artist.
A man landed behind bars for pointing a firearm at two people, according to Laredo police.

Jose Daniel Moreno, 24, was served with arrest warrants on March 7 charging him with two counts of deadly conduct.

The case dates back to Dec. 17, when Laredo police officers responded to an assault call at about 8 a.m. in the 1200 block of Constantinople Street. A 25-year-old man stated that a male pointed a gun at him and his female friend earlier in the morning.

The man stated he was visiting his friend in the 4500 block of La Brea Lane when he noticed a red sport utility vehicle following him as he drove. He drove around before parking in the 4500 block of La Brea. He then noticed that the SUV that was following him had parked down the street.

The friend believed that the driver of the red SUV could be her former friend who was identified as Moreno, states the arrest affidavit.

The man stated that at about 5 a.m., Moreno called the friend via Snapchat, but she did not answer. Moreno then sent her a video of him pointing a handgun in the direction of the mans vehicle, authorities said.

The red SUV then drove by, and a male pointed a gun at the man and his friend. Police would identify the suspect as Moreno. On Dec. 28, an investigator contacted Moreno and asked him if he would undergo a voluntary interview at LPD headquarters.

Moreno agreed to have the interview on Dec. 29. That day, Moreno called the investigators and rescheduled his interview for Jan. 2. However, Moreno never arrived for the interview, the affidavit states.
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Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar held a retirement ceremony on Friday for a beloved narcotics detection dog within the Sheriffs Office family.

K-9 Officer Ati retired after seven years of service.

Ati, a German Shepherd, was given to the Sheriffs Office by Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Ati started his tour of duty with the Sheriffs Office at the Webb County Jail and then moved to the Patrol Division.

While at the Sheriffs Office, Ati retrieved 39 pounds of heroin, 11 pounds of meth, 114 pounds of cocaine, 209 pounds of marijuana, authorities said.

Thats over $2 million worth of narcotics. Ati also retrieved more than $300,000 in cash, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Thank you, Ati, for dedicating your time and service to the Sheriffs Office, Cuellar said.

I also thank Deputy Ricardo Lozano for the care and attention he demonstrated towards Ati.
Nairobi  The Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome has come under heavy criticism from Kenyans and opposition leaders after he outlawed the planned anti-government protests.

Koome told journalists Sunday at police headquarters that he has not allowed any form of protests in the country, whatsoever.

"As the Inspector General of police, I have not approved any form of protests in the country because they (Azimio) keep telling us that they are looking for servers which do not fall within our mandate," he said and maintained that the issue of servers is political that requires political solutions.

He went on to say that in as much as the constitution permits Kenyans to picket, it provides that they do so peaceably without causing chaos.

While reacting to the directive by Koome, Opposition chief Raila Odinga said the Azimio coalition will not be "intimidated to call off the mass protests because we are fighting for justice."

"I am telling the Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome to prepare to protect peaceful demonstrators. We are not going to call off our peaceful demonstrations because that is our right," Odinga said at a church service Sunday.

On her part, Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua scoffed at the IG order noting that it is not the mandate of police to grant permission for demonstrations.

Karua dared the IG to arrest her and other leaders during the protests.

"We are going to march peacefully, we are going to demand our rights as our constitutions say and we shall not entertain any message meant to set us back," Karua said.

Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa echoed the sentiments citing that protests are currently ongoing in other parts of the world and Kenya is no exception.

"In France, the protests are on retirement age. In South Africa, it is about power blackouts. In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing protests over his leadership. What about us? Don't we have problems in Kenya?" he asked.

On his part, Narok Senator Ledama Olekina questioned Koome's past conduct where he was filmed allegedly throwing a stone on a motorist during the past demos.

He was responding to Koome's announcement that the police will take more photos of all those who will be found destroying property in the upcoming protests.

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"A crime is a crime it does not matter when the picture was taken!" I agree with you Koome!" Ole Kina said.

Odinga has launched demonstrations since last week on Monday to force the government to tackle the high cost of living and protest the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him during the August 2022 polls won by President William Ruto.

"I am calling on Kenyans to turn out in large numbers for the peaceful demonstrations. Do not fear the police or the teargas," Odinga said and blamed the police for disrupting last Monday's "peaceful" demonstrations.

During last Monday's protests, several businesses and properties were destroyed or looted in both cities that literally shut for the better part of the day and at least one person was shot dead by the police-a student at Maseno University.

Koome said the planned protests by Azimio coalition are illegal and police are under firm instructions to disperse them.

"We will not spare anyone," Koome said, "those demonstrations are illegal and I can assure you that we are not going to allow them to take place."

President Ruto has warned against the protests and instead told Odinga he will not engage him in talks, accusing him of destabilizing the country for his own selfish interests like he did in two former regimes that ended up accommodating him.

"Kenyans made their decision during the August 2022 polls, we are done with the polls and all that remains is prepare for development," he said, "we are not going to engage Raila because he knows he lost and we won."
Factory or farm? Oregon may alter land use for chipmakers

For exactly 50 years, Oregons farms and forests have been protected from urban sprawl by the nations first statewide law creating urban growth boundaries
The "Anti-Hero" singer shared on Instagram on Thursday that "in celebration of the Eras Tour," she'll be releasing four previously unreleased songs. They're set to debut at midnight.
Longford County Council is seeking to be the first county with Computer Science as a Leaving Certificate option in all nine secondary schools.

It follows the allocation of 44,000 to the local authority under the Citizen Support Innovation category of the Public Service Innovation Fund 2023 for primary schools.

The funding was announced by Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform Paschal Donohoe TD on Wednesday, March 15.

Longford County Council will collaborate with technology companies Microsoft and Ericsson in providing micro:bit computers to primary schools in County Longford over the next three years, sparking interest in technology to create a future demand for computer science as a secondary school subject.

The micro:bit is a tiny, pocket-sized computer designed to introduce children to technology.

The national fund supports innovative ideas from public service organisations, with 750,000 allocated to 18 successful projects nationwide.



Longford County Council will collaborate with industry experts in upskilling teachers and providing micro:bit technology to local schools. It will also see the expansion of Microsoft Dream Space in County Longford, offering immersive, research-based STEM experiences in schools.



The project is entitled Computer Science in every secondary school in Longford  Creating the Demand  Shaping our County's Future. It was selected nationally from a field of nearly 100 projects following a four-stage evaluation process.



The project is already up and running with 12 primary schools in the county participating in the Microsoft Dream Space Showcase 2023. This event will see fifth and sixth class pupils showcase their technology projects in Longford County Council in May, with efforts underway to create an annual event.

Gold for Longford athletes at All-Ireland Indoor Relay Championships International cross-country bronze for Emma Brennan in Liverpool There was double cause for celebration for local athletes on Saturday with All-Ireland indoor success for the Longford Athletics Club under-12 boys relay team in Athlone and cross-country bronze for Emma Brennan and her Irish teammates in Liverpool.



The Public Service Innovation Fund 2023 received 99 proposals from public service bodies that submitted projects in four different categories - digital transformation, citizen support innovation, green and sustainable initiatives and innovative design of services.



Projects allocated funding in the competition seek to tackle key issues in health, climate and accessibility to public services. A snapshot of projects being supported in 2023 include the operation of drone technology to support healthcare delivery in rural Ireland exploring the application of artificial intelligence and 3-D technology for advanced healthcare treatment tackling issues in healthcare bed space management, and exploring the energy potential of public land.



Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Turlough McGovern said, I am delighted to welcome this innovation funding which will be used to help school children learn more about technology. I thank all stakeholders, including Council employees and teachers, for working together to help our young people develop an interest in the workings of technology at a young age. I look forward to seeing how this project develops, including the Microsoft Dream Space Showcase in Longford in May and the ambition to make computer science a subject in all County Longford secondary schools.

Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon added, This Council project, with its long-term view to get computer science as a Leaving Certificate subject, will help set our young people up for the jobs of the future.

This embracing of change and technology and the learning of new skills is a key part of the Councils Digital Strategy through which we work closer towards creating a County Longford with a connected, inclusive and dynamic future for all citizens.
The North Longford arts community will be paying particular attention to the The Irish Film & Television Academy film and drama awards later this year as local filmmakers contest four categories of the honour ceremony.



Founded in 2018 by Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney, Harp Media is a multi-discipline film production company based in the Midlands. They develop short and feature length films for general audiences, create corporate videos for brands and companies and provide training initiatives in all areas of filmmaking.



Their debut feature film Lakelands was filmed on location in Granard and stars Eanna Hardwicke (Normal People, Vivarium), Danielle Galligan (Netflixs Shadow and Bone), Lorcan Cranitch (Bloodlands, The Dig), Dafhyd Flynn (Michael Inside), Dara Devaney (Arracht), and Gary Lydon (Calvary).

It won Best Irish Film at Galway Film Fleadh and the Kerry Film Festival. It also won the Bankside Award at the Galway Film Fleadh for best marketplace project. Wildcard Distribution are taking care of the UK and Ireland release.

Now Lakelands is nominated in four categories in this year's IFTA awards. The Irish Film & Television Academy film and drama awards recognise Irish creative talent working in film, drama, and television, and winners receive a cast bronze statuette.



This has been an extraordinary year for Irish film and TV, so competition is set to be very stiff. The Longford shot film got the nod for Best Film, Lead Actor for Eanna Hardwicke, Lead Actress for Danielle Galligan and Original Music for Daithi.

Lakelands goes up against big hitter Banshee of Inisherin and The Wonder as well as Aisha, God's Creatures, and Roise & Frank.



Speaking to the Leader about the nominations, Robert spoke of the potential such an acknowledgement can have: The IFTA nominations were a lovely surprise to wake up to last week. Were very grateful to everyone at the academy who voted for the film and hope that it gives the film a boost ahead of its cinema release.

When we were making the film in the cold November days down home in Granard, we didnt imagine it ending up on such a stage but its been a great lift for the cast, the crew and the community who helped so much in getting it made.

Paddy thanked everyone in the local community for their support: We just want to thank everyone who rowed in behind the film and helped with the making of it. The film really was a community effort in the truest sense of the word. From the beginning we hoped that the film might travel and give us the opportunity to shine a light on our corner of the country and hopefully the nominations will help with that.



The upcoming 20th Anniversary IFTA Awards Ceremony, hosted by Deirdre O'Kane, will take place on Sunday, 7th May 2023 at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre and will be broadcast by RTE.

Lakelands was screened last weekend as part of the Manchester Film Festival, while a London screening at Riverside Studios also attracted attention.



There was a ceremony held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on March 12, 2023.

The lads were paying attention to another awards ceremony in Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles earlier this month. Their most recent short film Drifting starred Oscar nominated Paul Mescal, who was up for a gong at the 95th Academy Awards.
Health & Wellness

By Chris Boyle Published: March 27 2023

State Efforts Aimed at Keeping New Yorkers Safe in Wake of CDC Report Alerting of Increase in Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections.

Governor Kathy Hochul has highlighted long-standing state efforts to prevent potentially life-threatening fungal infections from Candida auris, which are spreading at an increasing pace nationwide. In addition to having a nation-leading surveillance model, the New York State Department of Health has worked with health care providers since 2016 to identify these fungal infections and take precautions to prevent the multidrug-resistant yeast from spreading in high-risk settings, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities.

"Our best tool to address emerging public health threats is being able to identify them before they begin to rapidly spread," Governor Hochul said. "While the CDC report on this drug-resistant fungus is concerning, our ability to track these infections is nation-leading and continues to help us take the aggressive action needed to contain this threat and ensure our health care facilities are safe."

Earlier this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report warning of the increasing threat of infections the multidrug-resistant yeast is posing to health care facilities and emphasizing the need for continued surveillance. More commonly known as Candida auris, infections from the fungus can cause severe illness in hospitalized patients because they do not respond to commonly used antifungal drugs, making them difficult to treat.

The Department of Health continues to provide guidance and assistance to hospitals and nursing homes to strengthen readiness, enhance surveillance, and implement effective infection prevention and control measures for Candida auris. When this fungus is confirmed or suspected, the agency recommends the patient be housed in a private room or moved to an area with other patients or residents with the same infection.

Meticulous attention to infection prevention and control - especially hand hygiene and environmental cleaning and disinfection - is critical for preventing the spread of the fungus. Facilities should also maintain adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, and thoroughly clean and disinfect the healthcare environment.

The Wadsworth Center, the state's public health laboratory, tests clinical and environmental samples for Candida auris. The center is among seven in the national Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network, which has a focus on multidrug-resistant Candida auris and other drug-resistant Candida fungi. Wadsworth Center was one of the first laboratories to develop a molecular assay for the rapid detection of Candida auris, the test now widely used by all labs in the network nationwide.

Acting Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, "It's important that people understand that there is little risk from Candida auris to the general public. Candida auris typically infects people who are already sick, it is preventable by thorough hand washing and cleaned surfaces as well as personal protective equipment. At Governor Hochul's direction, the Department continues to work with health care facilities throughout New York State to identify potential cases and slow the spread of Candida auris."

The fungal infection was first detected in New York State through public health surveillance in 2016, but a 2013 case was retrospectively identified. Below are annual clinical and surveillance cases from 2013 through 2023.

Year # Clinical

Cases # Surveillance

Cases 2013 1 0 2014 0 0 2015 0 0 2016 26 11 2017 99 128 2018 158 254 2019 178 306 2020 250 200 2021 291 348 2022 379 498 *2023 72 125 Total* 1454 1870 *As of March 22, 2023

Clinical cases include individuals who were ill and had Candida auris detected during their clinical care. Screening cases include individuals who were not ill from Candida auris and were tested specifically for Candida auris as part of a public health investigation, approximately 10 percent of which converted to clinical cases - further emphasizing the invasive nature of this fungal pathogen.

Candida auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments and spread between patients in healthcare facilities. Patients with multiple co-morbidities and who receive mechanical ventilation are among the highest risk for infection. Additionally, patients who have a long stay in an intensive care unit, have serious medical conditions, and who have previously received antibiotics or antifungal medications, are at the highest risk of infection.

Most cases of Candida auris identified in New York State have been found in healthcare facilities in the New York City region, but some have recently been reported from areas outside of the metropolitan area. All suspected or confirmed cases must be reported to the facility's infection control department and the state Department of Health.
Teachers have expressed their frustration over the lack of books on the history of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. This history has been taught in primary and secondary schools for almost eight years, but history teachers have faced difficulties in implementing the program due to a shortage of resources.

Florien Uwanyirigira, a history teacher, explained that there are no historical books available that specifically discuss the Genocide against the Tutsi, and that the available books are for general history. Uwanyirigira stressed the need for more books to be made available in order to teach the subject thoroughly, and highlighted the importance of training teachers on this sensitive topic.

Jeanne d'Arc Baranyizigiye, the history and citizenship Curriculum Officer at REB, acknowledged the insufficient availability of books but also noted that some teachers lack confidence and experience in teaching sensitive topics like the Genocide against the Tutsis, and therefore choose to remain silent. She also mentioned that some teachers may have personal ties to the Genocide and feel ashamed to discuss it impartially.

REB has provided a document called "Teacher guidance on the teaching of the history of Rwanda in schools" to address some of the issues arising while teaching the history of Rwanda and the Genocide against the Tutsi. Additionally, 1617 history teachers have received training in Itorero in order to teach the history of Rwanda, particularly topics related to the Genocide against the Tutsi, with confidence.

Baranyizigiye also mentioned that REB has collaborated with AEGIS to allow students and teachers to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, in order to increase their knowledge about the history of the Genocide against the Tutsis.

On March 21, the committee on foreign affairs, cooperation and security in the senate met with the Ministry of Education and its institutions to discuss how the history of the Genocide against the Tutsi is being taught in schools.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: March 27 2023

Denis Gutierrez-Marcos killed man after taxi dispute in September 2020; fired into crowd, striking two, in October 2020.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that an alleged MS-13 member was sentenced today to 20 years to life in prison for murder and related charges for two shooting incidents in Hempstead in 2020.

Denis Gutierrez-Marcos, a/k/a Inqueto, 20, pleaded guilty on February 9, 2023, before Judge Tammy Robbins to one count of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony), one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a B violent felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony). The defendant was sentenced today to 20 years to life in prison. The NCDA recommended a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

In September 2020, Edwin Guerrero Hernandez, seeing a commotion between his friend and the defendant, tried to intervene and was shot and killed, said DA Donnelly. The deadly encounter did not stop the defendants violent behavior and the next month he fired on a group of people, nearly killing another victim. Denis Gutierrez-Marcos is a dangerous individual, and thankfully with todays sentence, he will no longer terrorize our communities.

DA Donnelly said that, according to the investigation, on September 6, 2020, just before 4 a.m., the defendant was in taxi-cab minivan heading toward High Street in Hempstead, with two passengers and a driver. A passenger seated in the front seat had gotten into a verbal dispute with another passenger in the rear. When the passenger in the rear seat exited the vehicle, he continued to yell at the passenger seated in the front through the window. Gutierrez-Marcos, who was seated behind the driver, leaned forward, and shot the victim through the open window. He instructed the taxi driver to leave the scene. The bullet struck the victim in the left shoulder, and he fell backwards. A friend of the victim, Edwin Guerrero Hernandez, was sitting outside a High Street address when he saw the incident. Hernandez chased the vehicle and attempted to open the front passenger door. Again, the defendant fired through the window striking Hernandez. Hernandez was transported to Nassau University Medical center where he was pronounced deceased.

On October 23, 2020, at approximately 10 p.m., the defendant was a passenger in another vehicle that was being driven to a store. As the defendant returned home, he saw a group of people standing outside a Jackson Street address. Gutierrez-Marcos fired at least one shot into the group, which struck two people. One victim was struck in the arm, while the other was struck in the stomach and suffered life-threatening injuries. Both victims survived the attack.

According to the investigation, Gutierrez-Marcos fled the scene and was subsequently arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department Gang Squad in June 2021 when he had returned to Long Island.
Business & Finance

By Long Island Published: March 25 2023

When it comes to financing a retirement on Long Island, many people wonder if $1,000,000 is enough to cover their expenses.

As one of the most expensive regions in the United States, Long Island is a popular retirement destination for those who enjoy the area's beautiful beaches, picturesque towns, and abundant cultural offerings. But when it comes to financing a retirement on Long Island, many people wonder if $1,000,000 is enough to cover their expenses.

The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, including your lifestyle, your retirement goals, and your expenses. However, in general, $1,000,000 can be a good starting point for a comfortable retirement on Long Island.

First, let's take a look at the cost of living on Long Island. According to data from Numbeo, the cost of living on Long Island is higher than the national average, with housing, transportation, and healthcare being the most expensive categories. For example, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Nassau County is around $2,200, while the cost of a monthly transportation pass can run up to $250.

Assuming that you own your home outright, your housing costs will likely be lower than if you were renting. However, you will still need to factor in property taxes, homeowners insurance, and maintenance costs. Additionally, if you plan on traveling frequently or maintaining an active lifestyle, your transportation costs could be higher than average.

On the other hand, Long Island also offers a number of advantages that can help retirees stretch their budgets. For example, New York State offers a number of tax breaks for retirees, including a pension exclusion that allows retirees to exclude up to $20,000 of pension and annuity income from state income taxes. Additionally, Long Island has a wealth of senior centers, community organizations, and cultural institutions that offer free or low-cost activities and events.

Ultimately, the amount of money you need to retire comfortably on Long Island will depend on your individual circumstances. If you plan to travel extensively or maintain an expensive lifestyle, you may need more than $1,000,000 to support your retirement. Conversely, if you are comfortable living a more modest lifestyle and have few major expenses, $1,000,000 may be more than enough.
Al Qaedas wing in Mali, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), has claimed credit for yesterdays large-scale attack in Burkina Fasos capital Ouagadougou. The claim of responsibility was originally published by ANI, a Mauritanian website that has often published claims by Sahara-based and Sahelien jihadists, before an official statement was released on its Telegram channel.

According to ANI, a source close to JNIM claimed yesterdays assaults in the Burkinabe capital. At least eight gunmen launched coordinated assaults across Ouagadougou yesterday afternoon. The jihadists targeted the French embassy, as well as the Burkinabe army headquarters. At the latter target, the militants detonated a suicide car bomb before an assault team entered the fray. At least eight people were left dead and another 80 wounded.

The source reportedly said that the brazen attacks were in response to recent French raids in northern Mali. More specifically, the website mentioned, the death of Hasan al Ansari near the city of Tinzaouatene, Algeria, last month. Ansari was a co-founder of Al Murabitoon alongside Mokhtar Belmokhtar and was a founding member of JNIM last year.

While not mentioned in the report, yesterday was also the anniversary of the founding of JNIM last year.

In JNIMs official statement, it confirms that the operation was in response to the killing of Ansari and five other senior leaders in northern Mali. Additionally, it confirms the number of reported attackers as eight. One was a suicide bomber while the other seven performed the actual assaults.

France has conducted several counter-terrorism operations across northern Mali in recent weeks. On Feb. 14, a major French operation took place which resulted in the killing or capture of over 20 jihadists belonging to JNIM near the borders with Algeria. In that operation, French forces conducted three simultaneous raids, accompanied with airstrikes, on JNIM positions near the towns of Boughessa, Mali, and Tinzaouatene in Algeria. Several senior JNIM leaders were killed in the raids, including al Ansari.

Days after the raids, French troops clashed with JNIM militants in Wadi Egharghar near Tessalit in the Kidal region. At least five JNIM militants were killed in those clashes. Shortly thereafter, two French troops were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) near Menaka in Malis Gao region. French troops had reportedly been conducting counter-terrorism raids in that area prior to the IED.

Last summer, suspected jihadists targeted a popular restaurant in Ouagadougou, killing 18 civilians. While JNIM is suspected of being behind that terrorist attack, no group has taken responsibility. Prior to that, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al Murabitoon were responsible for an assault on the Splendid Hotel in 2016. At least 30 people were killed in that attack. Al Qaeda has also taken two hostages in the country since 2015.

Jihadist violence in Burkina Faso is on the rise since last year. This is attributable to another al Qaeda-linked organization, Ansaroul Islam. The US State Department recently designated Ansaroul Islam as a terrorist organization. As the al Qaeda-led insurgency continues to spread, and jihadist violence in Burkina Faso increases, more large-scale terrorist attacks in the country become a growing concern.

Article has been updated with new information regarding JNIMs official claim.

Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Nairobi  The Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition has announced secure web platform for Kenyans to upload videos, audio and photos from the second leg of planned anti-government protests set to continue Monday.

The Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome has outlawed the protests, but Opposition chief Raila Odinga and his troops insist they will demonstrate in the capital Nairobi, in what is promising to be an eventful day.

Similar protests turned violent in Nairobi and Kisumu last week when one person- a student at Maseno University was shot dead.

National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi said Sunday that the portal is aimed at assuring Kenyans of accountability during the demonstrations that will be taking place on a weekly- Monday and Thursday.

He said they are responding to what he described as a "real threat to the free media," days after the Communications Authority warned the media to be cautious while broadcasting live events related to protests.

Wandayi encouraged Kenyans to post the events during the protests in the portal to guarantee accountability.

"This material will be available for the world to see. This will enable us to keep the public and all stakeholders informed of progress and real-time occurrences across the country," he said.

He pointed out that anybody with a phone or a camera, can access and post anonymously or view any posted material remotely.

Wandayi further warned those planning to disrupt peace during the protests that their actions will be recorded.

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"All those that intend to cause mayhem will also be captured through a number of our IP-enabled spy cameras that will transmit to our cloud servers in real time. A link to the portal is http://mddkenya.com," he said.

Last week, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) circulated images of people wanted for the destruction of property during March 20 demos.

However, the DCI was later forced to issue a public apology after Independent fact checkers pointed out that some of the photos were from old events, some as far back as 10 years ago.

President Ruto has warned against the protests and instead told Odinga he will not engage him in talks, accusing him of destabilizing the country for his own selfish interests like he did in two former regimes that ended up accommodating him.

"Kenyans made their decision during the August 2022 polls, we are done with the polls and all that remains is prepare for development," he said, "we are not going to engage Raila because he knows he lost and we won."
Even the most loyal Mac users recognise that Windows still rules the roost in the world of desktop and laptop computers, and there are many important apps that only run on Windows. For example, the Windows version of Microsoft Office includes the Access database that has never been available for the Mac, and there are many professional graphics and video tools that are Windows-only. And, of course, there are all those A-List games that have never even glanced in the direction of us poor, forgotten Mac gamers.

If you need to run Windows software or games on your Macs then this article will reveal the best way to do so. Well run through the best virtual machines for Mac, including Parallels and VMware, as well as looking at alternative options, including Apples own Boot Camp and emulators that let you run Windows apps on a Mac without even installing Windows!

Theres another option thats available too, in the form of Microsofts Windows 365 service. This gives you access to a Cloud PC  a kind of virtual machine up in the cloud that allows you to run Windows on any Mac or other device that has a fast Internet connection. So read on to discover the best options for running Windows, and Windows apps, on your Mac.

You may also like to read our guide to How to install Windows and run Windows apps on a Mac.

Updated March 27, 2023 to update review of Codeweavers CrossOver, now version 22.

Can I run Windows on a Mac?

When Apple moved to Intel processors back in 2006-2007, it also brought the ability to run Windows to the Mac because the macOS and Windows OS suddenly spoke the same language (the x86 instruction set used in Intel processors). This was a benefit to Apple because it took away one of the biggest concerns of Windows users when considering a move to the Mac  it meant they could bring Windows and their Windows software with them.

And, in true Apple style, it came up with an elegant solution, known as Boot Camp. This is a utility that allows you to partition your Macs hard drive or SSD  effectively splitting it in two  leaving the main macOS on one partition, and then allowing you to install Windows on the new partition. Users could simply dual boot a Mac, starting it up running either the macOS or Windows.

The problem with Boot Camp is that it forces users to make a choice  either you run the macOS or you run Windows. Many people find it inconvenient to constantly switch back and forth between the macOS and Windows. Another issue, specifically with Windows 11 on Macs, is that Windows 11 requires the presence of a TPM (trusted platform module) to run and Macs dont have these. There are third-party solutions that address both of these issues.

Theres another issue with Boot Camp that is even more pressing though: it isnt a feature of M-series Macs. So if you have purchased a Mac in the past couple or years, and it doesnt have an Intel processor, Boot Camp wont even be an option.

However, that doesnt mean you cant install Windows on a M-series Mac, its just a little more complicated because the M-series chips are ARM based so you need an ARM version of Windows.

In the case of M-series Macs, and for anyone with an older Mac that wants to run Windows 11, or two or more operating systems side by side, youll need an alternative to Boot Camp. Luckily there are plenty, many of which use virtualization to create a Virtual Machine that emulates the computer system required to run the operating system of your choice.

What is a Virtual Machine?

Virtualization programs such as Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion run on the macOS, but allow you to create a Virtual Machine  or VM  that mimics the hardware of a Windows PC. So you can create a VM on your Mac and then install Windows  or another operating systems, such as Linux  on the VM. This is a great solution as it allows you to run the Windows apps that you need right alongside your main Mac apps as well. The only disadvantage is that you need a pretty fast Mac with plenty of memory and storage to run Windows as a VM, since it means that your Mac is effectively running two operating systems at the same time.

Virtualization on an M-series Mac

There are millions of Intel-based Macs still in use all around the world that can still use either Boot Camp or virtualization to run Windows. However, in 2020 Apple announced that it would be moving away from using Intel processors to its own Apple Silicon processors and this transition began with the arrival of the ARM-based M1 Chip in November 2020. Rather than the x86 architecture used by Intel processors, the Apples M1 processors use a different architecture, known as ARM (named after Arm Ltd, the British company that originally designed the chips).

These new Macs that are based on the M1 chip  or any of its successors including the M1 Pro and Max, the M2 and the M2 Pro and Max  dont offer Boot Camp. Even if Boot Camp was an option for modern Macs, because the M-series processors are not compatible with the with the x86 version of Windows, they would only be able to run an ARM version of Windows.

The good news is that an ARM version of Windows does exist. Windows On ARM, aka WoA, is Microsofts version of Windows is designed to run on ARM chips. The main problem here is that WoA isnt normally licensed to individual users, which has meant that owners of M1 and M2 Macs faced both technical and licensing problems if they wanted to run Windows on their Macs. Luckily this changed with the arrival of Parallels Desktop 18 which added the ability to download and buy the ARM version of Windows 11 directly within Parallels itself. Then in February 2023 Microsoft even endorsed Parallels for Windows on M1 and M2 Macs, effectively authorising Parallels Desktop 18 users to run Arm versions of Windows 11 Pro and Windows 11 Enterprise..

Read more about Parallels Desktop 18 below, plus we have a full review of Parallels Desktop. Also read: Will Windows 11 run on Mac? for more information.

How to download the ARM version of Windows 11

To download and buy the ARM version of Windows 11 directly within Parallels itself. All you need to do is:

Press the button that says Get Windows 11 From Microsoft. Parallels will download the relevant version of Windows 11 for your Mac (if your Mac has an ARM processor then it will download the ARM version of Windows 11). You can then use the Microsoft Store app within your Windows VM to purchase a license or use an existing Windows 11 license if you have one.

Parallels confirmed that Microsoft doesnt differentiate between Windows On Intel and Windows On Arm, so a Windows 11 license can be used for either version. More information on Parallels website here.

How to download the X86 version of Windows 11

If you are looking to run Windows on a Mac that isnt powered by an Apple M-series chip, then you can download Windows 11 for free (as long as your Mac has the necessary specs, such as the Trusted Platform Module, to qualify for the free upgrade.)

Download Windows 11 from Microsoft, free upgrade as long as you qualify.

You could take advantage of various deals for Windows 11 Pro including:

Windows 11 Best Prices Today:

The emulation alternative

Finally, theres one other option  known as emulation  a process that attempts to run individual Windows apps on your Mac without the need to actually install the Windows operating system itself. To be honest, emulation tools such as Wine and CrossOver are something of a niche product for technically experienced users who dont mind rolling up their sleeves and doing some of the work for themselves. However, emulation programs tend to be fairly inexpensive  or even free  so well cover some of the main emulation options here so that you can try them out if you want.

If you are looking for a free way to run Windows on your Mac read this: How to run Windows on a Mac for free.

Best Virtual Machine for Mac  run Windows on a Mac
Working mothers are leaving their babies to domestic workers soon after three months of maternity leave elapse, MP Frank Habineza said, proposing that such a leave should be doubled for better child care.

He made the proposal on March 21, during a parliamentary session that was analysing the bill which seeks to amend the law of 2018 governing labour in Rwanda.

People who reacted to the lawmaker's proposal agreed that it is a good idea in regards to improving baby and mother care, but that the implementation would have an economic and labour implication that should be carefully considered.

"Three months of maternity leave are not enough for the mother to have provided the needed care to the baby. Often, you find that the infant is left to a domestic worker, and you realise that it negatively affects his or her growth," Habineza said while elaborating his suggestion.

"I think that if possible, such a leave should be increased in the proposed Ministerial Order, to at least six months," he suggested.

The Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs at the Lower House, MP Odette Uwamariya, said that adequate maternity leave was needed for the wellbeing of the mother and baby.

"A mother needs enough rest for their body to rebuild after giving birth, and also care for their newborn. And, it would be better if the mother is able to breastfeed a baby for the first six months without any other food supplement. That is what medical practitioners tell us that when a baby gets such care, it helps them grow well and healthy, and prevent malnutrition for the infant," she said.

Aude Kaze, who holds a master's degree in midwifery and maternity care, said that the lawmakers' idea to increase maternity leave period is laudable. Kaze does pre- and post-natal classes, which are in line with maternity and child care.

"When a mother has had a very difficult delivery, the time for breast milk to be produced, the bonding between the mother and the newborn can take like two months," she said, indicating that it is not good to tell such a mother to go back to work three months after giving birth.

"For instance, there is a mother who develops pathological pregnancy, which means she for example had diabetes, hypertension during pregnancy, and gave birth through cesarean section. For that mother to return to their normal state, it takes like two months," she said, suggesting that mothers should get at least five months of maternity leave, adding that her salary should be guaranteed so that they are able to care for the baby's needs.

A female secondary school teacher from Eastern Province, who preferred anonymity, supported the longer maternity leave proposal, referring to complications when a woman gives birth through cesarean section.

"Also, leaving the workplace for breastfeeding a baby is not possible when you work at a distant place from home. This causes the issue of breast milk clots which increase quickly because the milk is abundant during the first six months," she said.

Another woman wondered whether there are employers who can hire a woman knowing that she will cost them more than a man.

"Instead, they should set up creches in institutions, such that mothers leave their infants there under the care of trained nurses while they are at work. And they will go to look after them during the breastfeeding hours within the institution," she said.

However, it is to note that during working days, an employed woman is entitled to one hour a day to allow her to breastfeed her child.

A 14-week maternity leave being considered

On the idea to increase the maternity leave to six months, the Minister of Public Service and Labour, Fanfan Rwanyindo said "this is something good and we endorse it, and we will continue to push so that we achieve it," but indicated that it requires to further expand the social security system for that to be possible.

Meanwhile, Rwanyindo said that the current three months -- or 12 weeks -- of maternity leave in Rwanda, is two weeks short of the minimum 14 weeks mandated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) standards.

"We have not yet achieved that, so we wanted to add those two weeks, she said.

Again, ILO recommends increasing the maternity leave to at least 18 weeks (or four months and a half) to ensure an adequate rest and recovery time for the mother.

However, Rwanyindo told lawmakers that increasing maternity leave has a budgetary impact.

"If we say that we are going to increase the maternity leave by two weeks, we first have to discuss that with RSSB [Rwanda Social Security Board] so that it makes calculations to see whether that is possible, because it again requires that there is a contribution by the employer," she said, explaining that employers in the public and the private sector have to agree on the contribution in question, and that there is money that has to be deducted from the employee's salary.

The suggestion of MPs have raised much attention of people as some are wondering whether a longer maternity leave is not going to burst the risk of discrimination against female workers of childbearing ages in the hiring process.

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According the deputy secretary general of Rwanda Workers' Trade Union Confederation (CESTRAR) Jordi Michel Musoni, lengthy maternity leave might affect women's labor market.

"This proposal is motivated by a progressive concern to improve the work-life balance for working parents and encourage greater parent/child contact in those crucial first months of a newborn's life, but it is financial demanding for our level as a developing country and also a long absence from the workplace may break women's ties to the labor market."

He continued: "In private sectors we are still facing issues of employers who does not hire childbearing age women by avoiding three months maternity leave, six months would be worst for women working or seeking jobs in private sectors that's why enforcement of labor law in private sector is needed."

Musoni suggested that the additional 12 weeks on maternity leave should be flexible leave to balance the work with responsibilities of caring for the new baby.

This proposal came after several recommendations of different civil societies and human rights activists suggested maternity leave to be extended.
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A National Audubon Society decision to keep its name is bitterly dividing members, some of whom are pressing to distance the organization from namesake John James Audubon, who was an enslaver.

Many Audubon chapters across Michigan are still wrestling with what to do about the name on local levels.

There are more than 30 chapters across the state.

The organization was founded in 1905 and named after Americas most famous naturalist and bird artist, John James Audubon, who died in 1851.

Kirk Waterstripe, a board member of the Grand Traverse Audubon Club in Traverse City, said he learned about the national decision from another member.

He said the local discussion was limited.

We all agreed thats how things were done in the 1800s, and we cant really judge that world by our moral and ethical standards, he said.

Weve learned from that history. We wouldnt do it now, but the brand is established, Waterstripe said.

He said that the Aububon name has become synonymous with birding.

People see (Audubon) and they associate it with birds, he said.

Waterstripe said the Traverse City chapter board will discuss releasing a statement in its newsletter.

Some National Audubon Society chapters, including ones in Chicago and Seattle, have already put out statements opposed to keeping the Audubon name.

In a press release, the Chicago Audubon Society said it will call on the National Audubon Society to change its name and, if that doesnt happen, the chapter will select a new name.

The Grand Rapids Audubon Club said in a statement it will keep the name.

The Grand Rapids Audubon Club has been monitoring and carefully considering these important conversations that are happening at the local, state and national levels. At this time we will maintain our club name, the statement said.

Some chapter members say they need more time to think about what to do.

Don Burlett, the president of the Oakland Audubon Society, said it is going to take some time to decide at a local level whether to change its name.

We are in discussions, Burlett said. There is a lot to be considered in the whole decision, but those issues are all being discussed and it may take some time before we make a decision.

He said the chapter may survey its members to get their opinions and thoughts.

For many people, its a personal decision as to whether they would want to keep the name or change the name, said Burlett.

If a chapter decides to change its name, it can easily do so.

Any organization affiliated with National Audubon is completely free to change their name and it wont affect the affiliation,  he said.

At a national level, the process of determining whether to keep or drop the Audubon name took over a year and included consulting with local chapters and staff.

Three members of the national board resigned in mid-March to protest the majority decision to retain the name.
In a world still grappling with malaria elimination, Rwanda was the first country to integrate and deploy drones in the most malaria endemic zones of the country for an accelerated outcome.

In 2019, the government partnered with Charis Unmanned Aerial Solutions (UAS) to introduce an innovative approach to tackle the increasing malaria cases due to changes in Anopheles mosquito behaviors toward outdoor biting, and scaling-up of irrigation agriculture.

Eric Rutayisire, Founder and CEO of Charis UAS, explained that Charis UAS collaborated with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre to develop a protocol on how to use drones and advanced 3D geospatial data as an effective tool to tackle the rise of malaria cases on the African continent.

Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, the Minister of Health, emphasized the importance of using a combination of efforts, technologies, and innovations to combat diseases like malaria. He commended Charis UAS as one of the innovative companies in the country, testifying that the pilot project conducted in 2020 showed that the use of drones to combat malaria is efficient, effective, and easy. With 3.7 million malaria cases reported annually in Rwanda, it is clear that different innovations and technologies are necessary to eradicate the disease.

The project's success has led to its expansion in 2023, with Charis UAS scaling up its activities in Rugende and Kabuye, two communities heavily impacted by malaria. Drones are now being used to map mosquito breeding sites, allowing for targeted interventions. Following mapping, drones are used to spray larvicides in mosquito breeding sites, along with community mobilization, where drones are mounted with megaphones to deliver a pre-recorded message about measures to fight malaria.

Drone- based larviciding has already had a significant impact in 2020, with the Rwanda Biomedical Center reporting a reduction in malaria cases in Jabana Sector by 90.6% from 12,041 cases to 1,129 cases, in only 8 months of drone intervention.

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Health workers in the community have also noticed a reduction in malaria cases. Justine Uwingeneye, a healthcare worker in Jabana Sector, Gasabo District, said that she used to attend to at least 5 children per day, three of whom had malaria. However, she testified that after the intervention, it was no longer the case.

Looking to the future, Charis UAS plans to scale up their activities to four more districts in Rwanda and expand into more African countries. This innovative approach not only benefits public health but also has socio-economic benefits for farmers and businesses who can now add three hours to their working hours.

It is clear that Rwanda's use of drones in the fight against malaria has set a new standard for innovation in public health, and it is exciting to see this innovative approach being adopted in other countries facing similar challenges like Cote d'Ivoire, where Charis UAS drones are being deployed to end malaria in 6 endemic regions to impact over 5 million people.
State regulators levied Monday a $20,000 fine against a nightclub at Encore Boston Harbor casino for overserving alcohol to patrons twice last year.

It marks the second time regulators have fined the club in the past seven months because of incidents at the venue.
Phillip Eng, the former president of the Long Island Rail Road, will take over as general manager of the MBTA, a system that is grappling with reduced service, aging infrastructure, and the implementation of federal safety mandates.

Gov. Maura Healey made the announcement Monday  capping off a months-long search process which she said last week would conclude very, very soon  and planned a 2:30 p.m. press conference to introduce Eng to the public. Eng will take over the general manager role from Jeff Gonneville, who has served as interim head following the departure of Steve Poftak in January.

Eng expressed optimism for the transit agency in a statement announcing his appointment.

Its time for a new way of doing business at the MBTA. As an engineer, a transportation professional for 40 years, and a commuter myself, Im laser-focused on finding innovative solutions to complex problems and approaching them with a sense of urgency that always puts the customer first, he said. Im also committed to supporting the hardworking employees who keep the MBTA running and ramping up hiring to ensure that we have the workforce in place to deliver the reliable service that riders deserve.

Eng comes to the MBTA with nearly 50 years of experience in transportation and having overseen a transit system in Long Island with 89 million rides per year, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

He first started his career in public service in 1983 at the New York State Department of Transportation, where he worked his way up to executive deputy commissioner and chief engineer. He held that role from 2013 to 2017.

During his tenure at DOT, [Eng] played a vital role improving project delivery and use of design build while delivering significant projects such as the I-81 Environmental Impact Study, Rochester Train Station, and construction of the new Kosciuszko and the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge bridges, the agency said of Engs work.

He then served as chief operating officer at the MTA where he spearheaded on modernizing transportation systems through innovative technologies, the MTA said on its website. The Healey administration said Eng helped oversee a $540 million contract to modernize the MTAs mobile ticketing system.

And from 2018 to 2022, he was the head of the MTA Long Island Rail Road, where he managed a system with over 7,000 employees and a $1.6 billion operating budget.

Healey said Eng is the proven leader the MTBA needs to improve safety and reliability across the system and restore the publics trust.

He understands that a functioning transportation system is essential to a functioning economy, and he has a track record of taking the reins of struggling public transit systems and dramatically improving service, Healey said in a statement. He also takes a collaborative approach to his work and maintains open lines of communication with customers, workers, businesses, local officials and communities.

Eng joins the MBTA at a crucial moment.

The agency is still dealing with the fallout of a federal safety inspection that was launched in April 2022 in part in response to the death of Robinson Lalin, who was dragged to death by a Red Line car at the MBTAs Broadway Station.

Federal train regulators issued a series of safety orders last summer requiring the Massachusetts transit agency to act on everything from track maintenance to staffing issues.

Beyond the federal orders, the agency dealt with safety failure after safety failure last year, at one point even responding to an Orange Line train that caught fire as it crossed the Mystic River.

The MBTA has also made clear in recent weeks that trains will move at slower than normal speeds because of track defects. Those speed restrictions are laid out in an interactive dashboard the agency launched last week.

More than a quarter, or 37 miles, of MBTA tracks are under speed restrictions, according to the dashboard. The MBTA announced a series of weekend shutdowns focused on the Red and Blue Lines, the latter of which has 77% of its track under a speed restriction, to work on aging track.

Administration officials expressed confidence in Engs ability to improve service on the MBTA as it deals with multiple difficult problems.

Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca said Eng has excelled at finding solutions to challenging problems.

Its clear he is focused on customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and championing a safe, reliable transportation system, Fiandaca said in a statement. He has wide-ranging experience as an executive manager for mass transit, highways, ports, waterways and aviation facilities.
The new general manager of the MBTA told commuters Monday that he will work with whatever resources he is given to fix an ailing system that is grappling with slow-moving trains and deteriorating infrastructure.

State officials pitched Phillip Eng, the former head of the Long Island Rail Road, as a seasoned public transportation veteran who can help put the MBTA back on track as it deals with safety failures, speed restrictions covering over a quarter of the system, and the implementation of federal safety mandates.
Holyoke Superintendent Anthony Soto confirmed Monday a 13-year-old Holyoke middle schooler died in a car collision Saturday which remains under investigation. School officials said they could not release the students identity or further details out of privacy concerns.

The Holyoke Public Schools alerted students families about the tragedy, offering condolence, counseling and services. In addition, support staff were made available when students arrived for classes Monday morning.

We will maintain that extra support for as long as we need. Just a short while ago, I sent a letter to our families and staff to share this tragic news and to let them know we are coming together as a school community to grieve and support one another, Soto stated.
Whether you believe in zodiac signs or not, Starbucks certainly does.

To celebrate the astrological new year  which began Monday with the astrological sign Aries  the coffee chain partnered with the astrology app Sanctuary to launch Starbucks Star Signs.

Read more: Starbucks adds cinnamon caramel cream nitro cold brew to menu

The website lets whoever visits choose their zodiac sign. When you choose your sign, Starbucks will give your perfect coffee order based on your sign among other information.

If you dont know your sign by heart, the website tells you which dates of the year fall under each sign. Whichever day your birthday falls on will tell you your corresponding zodiac sign.

When developing the star sign and drink pairings, we looked at the core personality traits of each sign to identify a beverage that acts as an expression of your planetary ruler, said Sanctuary astrologer Lauren Ash, according to Delish. March is the start of Aries season, and Aries are known to be bold and confident. These readings are designed to empower anyone, regardless of star sign, to lean into that energy with the fresh start of spring.

Once youve chosen your sign, the website will ask if you prefer to have your coffee in the morning or afternoon. Based on your choices on the website, it will then give customers their power words. Examples used have been words like courageous, upbeat, confident and tranquil.

Customers will also be told their spring color, flower and a zodiac reading after choosing their sign. Then, customers will receive the Starbucks drink most matched up with their sign.

Customers can then order the drink right from the website.

To find Starbucks recommendation of your perfect coffee order based on your sign, click here.
Two Boston men accused of selling a dozen machine gun conversion devices, also known as switches, were indicted by a federal grand jury Monday.

Elijah Navarro, 24, and Michael Wilkerson, 22, are accused of selling and manufacturing illegal machine gun conversion devices, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office District of Massachusetts.

In January, Navarro agreed to sell 12 machine gun conversion devices to a person in exchange for $1,700, according to the charging court documents.

Machine gun conversion devices are a tool that converts a semi-automatic Glock pistol into a fully automatic machine gun capable of firing several bullets a second  switches are typically created with 3-D printers. These Glock pistols with the switch attachment are deemed machine guns under federal law.

Officials said following a series of communications, Navarro met the person twice at an arranged location. On Jan. 19, Navarro sold the first two machine gun conversion devices to the person for $400 and later, on Jan. 25, Navarro sold the remaining 10 devices for an additional $1,300 out of Wilkersons residence, according to court records.

During a search of Wilkersons residence on Feb. 16, authorities uncovered two 3-D printers, 3-D printing material, machine gun conversion devices, a ballistic vest as well as firearms, ammunition and magazines, officials said.

Neither Navarro nor Wilkerson have licenses to import, manufacture, deal or possess firearms. The two were arrested and charged on Feb. 16.

Read more: Three men indicted in fatal Worcester shooting of Andrew Barley in 2022

On Monday, a grand jury indicted Navarro and Wilkerson on one count each of engaging in the business as a manufacturer or dealer in firearms and one count and two counts, respectively, of transferring or possessing a machine gun.

When we look at crime data for Boston in 2022, our city remains one of [the] very few urban centers in the country where overall violent crime remains down, said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. Every illegal firearm and conversion device we take off the street is preventing a potential homicide, shooting or maiming. Every piece of illegal ammunition we seize represents a life saved. The proliferation of illegal firearms and deadly conversion devices in our Commonwealth is a public health and a public safety crisis. Mr. Navarro and Mr. Wilkerson allegedly possessed unregistered machine gun conversion devices that turn already deadly firearms into weapons of war.

Rollins said Boston is far too familiar with the deadly effects of gun violence. There were 40 homicides in Boston in 2021 and 41 homicides in 2022. Federal officials said the overwhelming majority of those homicides were due to illegal firearms.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy was able to identify 55 new sharks near Cape Cod in 2022.

The new identifications, the conservancy said, have been added to its public White Shark Catalog. It has identified more than 600 white sharks since it began monitoring in 2014.

The research is done in collaboration with Dr. Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. They use underwater video footage to document and match each shark encountered. New sharks are entered into the catalog and given a nickname, many of which are inspired by that individuals unique markings, the organizations website states. Shark names include Crater, Big Daddy and Peaches.

In 2022, there were 55 new sharks and 63 returning sharks identified during 18 research trips.

Read more: Photos of sharks near Cape Cod shared by Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

Among the returning individuals was white shark Danny, an 11-foot male that was first identified by the team in 2014, the conservancy said.

Among the returning individuals was white shark Danny, an 11-foot male that was first identified by the team in 2014, the conservancy said. He has returned to Cape Cod every year since and was tagged by Dr. Skomal in 2019. Since he was tagged, he has traveled as far south as Georgia and as far north as Maine and Nova Scotia, Canada. From the footage collected over the years, the team has been able to document Dannys growth as well of evidence of predatory interactions with seals.

Another shark, Mushroom, was first identified from footage collected off of Cape Cod in 2017 but had not been seen by the research team since. It was originally tagged by charter captain Chip Michalove of Outcast Sport Fishing in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

He had grown almost 3 feet since last time he was seen off the Cape and is exhibiting changes indicating he is maturing, said Megan Winton, research scientist, Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. Captain Michaloves sending videos and images to the AWSC is a perfect example of how boaters and fishermen reporting sightings can help us learn more about white sharks off Cape Cod and beyond.

From May to November, when white sharks flood the shores of Cape Cod to feed on the regions resurgent seal population, they head out on the water several times per week to identify and tag them. White sharks were once a rarity in Massachusetts waters, but are now a regular fixture of the coastline; it is Skomals job to track them.

The work were doing is twofold. Were trying to estimate the population size of white sharks that visit this area each year, and weve had great success with that. And for the last several years, weve also been tagging them to look at their movements over a broad and fine scale, he told MassLive in 2016. Where do they go when theyre here around Cape Cod? Where do they go when they leave Cape Cod?

The conservancy also takes photos of the sharks and shares them on their app Sharktivity.

The app works to raise awareness of white sharks by showing users locations of white shark sightings, according to the website. It is also sometimes used to let people know about beach closures due to nearby sharks.
A crash inside the Ted Williams Tunnel on Monday morning in Boston between a car and a truck caused significant delays in traffic, according to Massachusetts State Police.

Troopers are currently on scene of a two-vehicle crash involving a car and a truck in the Ted Williams Tunnel Westbound in Boston. Both lanes are currently closed. Expect significant delays. #MATraffic  Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) March 27, 2023

The two-lane tunnel was originally fully closed to traffic because of the crash, police said.

Troopers are currently on scene of a two-vehicle crash involving a car and a truck in the Ted Williams Tunnel Westbound in Boston. Both lanes are currently closed. Expect significant delays. #MATraffic, the department tweeted at 8:05 a.m. on Monday.

A little after 8:20 a.m., the department stated both cars had been relocated and that both lanes were reopened, but to still expect residual delays.

UPDATE-Both vehicles have been relocated to safe area adjacent to Rt 90 WB for investigation. All lanes are open, however, expect residual delays. #MATraffic https://t.co/aAbVqdtCnV  Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) March 27, 2023

UPDATE-Both vehicles have been relocated to safe area adjacent to Rt 90 WB for investigation. All lanes are open, however, expect residual delays. #MATraffic, the department tweeted.

Massachusetts State Police did not immediately respond for comment.
Egdio Dantuony, 60, of Roslindale, has been identified as the man who was killed in a fatal car crash at 3968 Washington St. in Roslindale over the weekend, the Suffolk District Attorney announced.

On Sunday at about 5 p.m., Boston police officers responded to a call of a car that crashed into a triple-decker home, NBC Boston reported.

Another man involved in the crash was hurt and taken to the hospital, the district attorney said.

Neither men were inside the vehicle during the crash, according to Boston.com.

This incident is under investigation.
With a dog on one side and a drone on the other, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. handed Harvard Fire Department firefighter and drone operator Robert Curran the District Attorneys Team Excellence and Merit, or TEAM, Award on Monday for helping a Devens family reunite with their beloved pup Toro.

Curran met with the Hsu family once again, with Toro alongside, to receive the award from Early outside the Harvard fire station.

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr., hands volunteer firefighter and drone operator Robert Curran an award recognizing his efforts in helping the Hsu family rescue their dog Toro in December 2022. Ryan Mancini, MassLive.

Read more: Lost hiker and dog rescued from Tully Mountain in Orange

It is just one of those things that as a firefighter and as a dog owner, I can relate to people desperately looking for their dog, Curran said.

Early praised first responders for showing their care and commitment to finding different ways in which they can help the neighborhoods and communities they serve.

He used his knowledge of drones, a skill he uses for the town, and decided to act with his personal drone for one reason, to help someone in need, Early said. It is the hallmark of first responders.

Toro received his own "award" from Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr. Ryan Mancini, MassLive.

On Dec. 17, 2022, Karen Hsu took the familys Shiba Inu on a walk around her neighborhood with the dog ran off. For the next 24 hours, they searched and searched with no luck in finding Toro. When Curran heard what happened, messaged Karens daughter Vicky and said he would use his personal drone to search for Toro.

Vicky and Karen gave Curren the location where they last saw Toro, near the Fort Devens Museum. Currans drone used thermal imaging before he focused on a white spot with fur and a red collar.

There he was, Curran said Monday.

With his leash stuck in some brush, Curran called the family and they picked up Toro together. Vicky said she was shocked and so grateful for Curran reaching out to help find their beloved dog.

Volunteer firefighter Robert Curran's drone takes off for a demonstration after receiving his award from Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr., for helping bring Toro back to his family. Ryan Mancini, MassLive.

I honestly dont think we would have found Toro without Robert, she said. Toro is part of the family. It could have easily been a worst-case scenario of never finding him. Without Robert, we wouldnt be here today.

Family member Matt Detora praised Curran and the drone, and added that the family was making posters the day after Toro went missing before the firefighter called the family with good news. Finding Toro put what looked like an endless, unsuccessful search to rest, Detora said.

I want to thank my wife, who puts up with me running out the door when a fire calls or looking for lost dogs at a moments notice, interrupting many a dinners and many family activities, Curran quipped.

Toro was rescued after a drone operated by volunteer firefighter Robert Curran located the pooch after he went missing December 2022. Ryan Mancini, MassLive.

Curran also thanked the Harvard community for supporting everything the department does with finding new ways to help people in an emergency.

Its a new technology, its a new tool for us and its great to be in a community that allows us to expand our ability to serve and protect our community, Curran said. I should probably point out  I want to thank the neighbors right around me that are probably used to drones going up at all hours while I practice my skills. They put up with a lot of buzzing in their ears.

Finally, Early provided Toro with a stuffed bone with the Worcester County District Attorneys seal on one side. Ever excited, Toro left a bit of white stuffing sticking out by the conclusion of Mondays ceremony.
Cape Town 

Millions Paid to Buy Generators and Inverters for Ministers

Government ministers and their deputies have been shielded from rolling power blackouts by the government spending more than R7m to buy generators and inverters for them at their official homes, TimesLive reports. It emerged in parliament that the department of public works has been "procuring and installing alternative power supply systems" at ministerial homes in Pretoria's affluent suburbs at a cost of R7.04m since 2019. These alternative power supply systems include generators, solar systems and inverters that keep the lights burning and appliances on for ministers and their deputies while ordinary taxpayers remain in the dark during load shedding, which is implemented by power utility Eskom when it is unable to supply enough electricity to meet demand. This was revealed by new public works minister Sihle Zikalala in response to written questions by DA MP Leon Schreiber.

Pretoria is South Africa's Most Congested City

According to traffic statistics from GPS company TomTom, Cape Town and Pretoria are fighting hard for the top spot of South Africa's most congested city. News24 reports that the company ranks traffic in 390 cities, including several in South Africa. It does so using "floating car data" that it collects from various sources, which it samples to create a global index. Pretoria commuters take an average of 16 minutes to travel just 10km, at an average speed of 32 km/h, according to TomTom. This translates into 145 hours, or six days, spent in rush hour per year - and is 40 seconds longer than the same journey would have taken in 2021. Cape Town, consistently one of South Africa's most congested cities, has slipped to second place nationally and 156th place globally. Capetonians take about 30 seconds less than Pretorians to commute 10km and spend about five and a half full days, or 132 hours, per year, sitting in traffic.

Former Head Boy Still Missing After Alleged Kidnapping

A young businessman from the Eastern Cape is still missing after being kidnapped, TimesLive reports. Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson Yolisa Mgolodela said on Sunday that there were no developments in the case. "Law enforcement officers are up and about trying their level best," said Mgolodela. Hilton Wicks, 24, was apparently grabbed in Maclear in the early hours of Friday March 24, 2023, according to several posts shared on social media. Wicks is a former head boy of Kingswood College in Makhanda.

More South African news
Editors note: This article contains a description of a sexual assault

___________

A jury found a New Bedford man guilty of molesting a preteen girl in a 2019 sexual assault.

On Wednesday, March 22, a New Bedford District Court jury found John Gomes, 59, guilty of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14 in connection with the 2019 molestation of a preteen girl, according to the Bristol County District Attorneys Office.

In 2019, the victim told Department of Children and Families investigators that Gomes molested her. She said Gomes would often stay at the familys home.

The preteen told investigators she and her younger brother were playing in the living room when Gomes walked into the room and began playing with them. Gomes began to tickle the preteens stomach while she lay on her grandmothers couch watching TV, the victim told investigators.

Gomes then went on to lie down next to her, stuck his hand down the front of her pants and molested her, according to the victims account. The girl told investigators that her mother was sleeping upstairs when the assault occurred.

She said Gomes molested her for several minutes and abruptly stopped when her mother woke up. The preteen girls brother was in the room the whole time.

The victim and her mother both testified against Gomes during the trial.

Read more: Worcester guidance counselor arrested on school grounds Monday

A judge sentenced Gomes to two-and-a-half years in Bristol County House of Corrections with 18 months to serve and the balance suspended for five years. If the defendant is charged with new crimes in the next five years, he will be liable to serve another full year in jail.

I commend the victim for her courage in testifying in this case. She was clearly believed by the jury ... I hope she can move forward with her life, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said.

Resources:

If you are a victim of sexual assault, you are not alone.

Rape Crisis Centers in Massachusetts offer free, confidential services for adolescent and adult survivors as well as their loved ones.

Crisis centers operate a 24/7 toll-free hotline for phone counseling, questions and referrals. For a full list of regional crisis centers, click here.

SafeLink offers a 24/7 toll-free hotline:

(877) 785-2020

(877) 521-2601 (TTY)
A dump truck crashed through a guard rail on Interstate 93 in Andover on Monday morning as it was traveling north, causing it to roll and spill fuel onto the highway, police said.

Massachusetts State Police responded at 7:05 a.m. to reports that the 2010 MACK 700 truck had rolled into the wood line near Exit 39 on the highway following the crash, spokesman Dave Procopio said.

The department stated the driver, a 44-year-old man from Hudson, New Hampshire, had minor injuries and was brought to Lawrence General Hospital. The MACK truck was owned by GTA Landscaping of Everett, police said.

The fuel spill was minor, police said, but the right lane and breakdown lane of the highway were still closed as of 9:40 a.m. There were no other vehicles involved in the crash.

The incident caused significant traffic backups on the morning commute, the department said.
A passenger at Boston Airport attempted to check a muzzle-loading rifle on Saturday but didnt properly declare it, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said.

TSA officials discovered the rifle during a checked-bag screening. It was owned by a 71-year-old man, officials said.

The rifle was improperly packed and undeclared, the TSA said in a tweet.

Early Saturday morning @BostonLogan, @TSA discovered this muzzle-loading rifle during checked-bag screening. The rifle was improperly packed and undeclared. @MassStatePolice took possession of the rifle and cleared the 71-year-old male passenger to continue. #travelfail pic.twitter.com/gMZbbosvIT  TSA_NewEngland (@TSA_NewEngland) March 27, 2023

Massachusetts State Police took the rifle because he said he didnt have another case to properly package the rifle, the TSA said. The man was then allowed to continue on his travels.

A Springfield man was arrested and charged with carrying a dangerous weapon after police said he brought a BB gun in his carry-on to Bradley International Airport Thursday.

2022 had a record-breaking year of gun detections across New England airports, including Boston Logan. Forty-six guns were detected in New England, and 31 of those were at Boston Logan.

The TSAs website states it considers a weapon to be loaded if the weapon and its ammunition are both accessible to the passenger. TSA allows unloaded firearms to be transported within a locked, hard-sided container and declared to the airline before traveling in their checked baggage.

Along with guns, the TSA also considers frames, receivers and 3D-printed guns to be firearms. A first-offense penalty for having a gun at security checkpoints is typically $4,100, but the fine can go as high as $13,669.

This rule applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits. Although a passenger may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow them to carry a firearm on a plane, officials said. The TSA has the complete list of civil penalties posted online, and its website has more details on how to properly travel with a firearm.
A shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville wounded several people Monday, authorities said. The suspect is dead after a confrontation with police.

The shooting occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool to sixth grade. Students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to reunited with their parents.

The Nashville Fire Department said on Twitter there are multiple patients but their conditions were not immediately clear. It was also not known whether the victims were staff, teachers or students from The Covenant School, where students walked to safety holding hands to a nearby church to reunited with their parents.

The shooter died after being engaged by officers, Metro Nashville Police said in a Twitter post. It was not immediately clear whether the shooter died by suicide or was shot by police.

The fire department said they responded to an active aggressor but did not give any specifics. Other details about the shooting were not immediately available.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website.
Tim Scalona woke up on a June morning in 2012 ready to play video games and go outside with his neighbors. Instead, he watched his family home in Wilmington packed up into cardboard boxes, beginning their decade of homelessness.

Scalona is now a second year law student at Suffolk University, where he is hoping to pull himself out of poverty, though his family still lives on the precipice of homelessness more than 10 years after their house was foreclosed on.

We were forced into the state-run shelter system, which under the prior administration moved us and operated our family multiple times across the state, disrupting our ability to attend school, said Scalona, who was in 8th grade when his family first became homeless. The stress of homelessness caused my stepfather to lose his job on multiple occasions and with little income we could never find housing that was sufficient for our family size. When we did, we were routinely denied by landlords. We spent years on public housing waiting lists with no avail.

For his family and the estimated 18,000 people in Massachusetts who are homeless, Scalona said he supports Gov. Maura Healeys plan to create a standalone housing secretary close to her ear in a Cabinet-level position. But he implored lawmakers on Monday to ensure that the office is staffed with people who have had lived experiences in poverty or worked with those who dont always know what the next roof over their head will look like.

The law student said Healeys proposal to create a new Executive Office of Housing and Liveable Communities is the first step in more effectively addressing the housing and homelessness crisis.

Scalona was joined in his support for the proposal by representatives from the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Association for the Homeless, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council during a State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee hearing on Monday.

Committee members were also vocally supportive of the governors proposal, which she promised on the campaign trail and has often pointed to as an example of her commitment on addressing housing.

The process for reorganizing the bureaucratic structure of state government does not follow a bills typical path through the Legislature, and instead is tied to a compressed schedule for consideration. The committee has 10 days after the public hearing to report on the plan, and the Legislature then has 60 days to approve or disapprove of the proposal. Unlike a typical bill, the measure is also not subject to amendment. If the branches dont act on it within those 60 days, then Healeys plan would take effect, as was the case with some of former Gov. Charlie Bakers reorganization plans.

Though she campaigned on the promise of creating a housing secretary, Healey didnt file legislation to accomplish that goal until March 1. Under this timeline, Healey could have someone in the position starting May 1, four months into her administration, if she is able to find that person. If she had filed the bill in her first month in office, the 60-day window would have ended in March.

Theres no greater topic in terms of importance right now, Healey said to committee members on Monday.

Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll waited to file the bill until after they created a working group to discuss the Cabinet-level housing secretary.

Members of the working group included Housing and Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao, Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowitz, MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay, Worcester City Manager Eric Batista, Symone Crawford from the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, and Stephen Davis of development firm The Davis Companies, among others.

This was a group that brought representation from the public sector, private sector, very geographically diverse, focused on both preservation and more housing and how we think about the local communities and the intersection between what we know is really extremely high quality of life and the places we live, Driscoll said.

In addition to splitting the housing and economic development secretariats, Healeys proposal (H 43) would authorize a new Housing Works program, similar to the MassWorks municipal infrastructure grant program.

The program would exclusively fund municipal infrastructure that supports new or redeveloped housing, Healey said.

Also buried in the legislation is a provision that would create an Infrastructure Cost Council within the Office of Administration and Finance, made up of Cabinet secretaries, lawmakers and local leaders to develop infrastructure cost projections for both publicly-owned and privately-owned infrastructure.

The new housing secretariat would assume all of the powers and responsibilities of the existing Department of Housing and Community Development, but also have broader responsibilities related to creating and carrying out housing policy. The powers of the DHCD director will go to the new secretary.

The new executive office will be responsible for expending funds, marshalling resources, and advancing innovative solutions to provide safe, accessible, affordable, and environmentally sustainable housing for all residents and for supporting the growth of vibrant, livable communities throughout the Commonwealth, Healey wrote in her filing letter.

Committee member Rep. Rodney Elliott of Lowell said the bill brings fresh air to the effort to address the housing crisis.

Im going to support this. I think its a bold move, but we need bold moves to catch up, Elliot said.

Sen. Marc Pacheco of Taunton echoed Elliotts sentiments, saying the plan has my full support.

The system doesnt work the way it is right now and its critically important for our economy in the future, and our ability to compete and win in a 21st century economy, to take this issue on up front, he said.

Pacheco said one area he sees the new secretariat being helpful is in putting in place new regulations for cooperative home ownership for those living in manufactured housing communities, such as 55 and up communities.

Committee co-chair Rep. Antonio Cabral also signaled his support for the plan, telling Healey, Driscoll and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao that the proposal is supreme.

Im excited to work with you and to work with the new secretary, he said.

The timing of legislative action on the bill may affect when an eventual housing secretary is brought on board. Driscoll said the administration is waiting to look for someone to fill the role until they know if the plan is approved.

Theres a lot of housing champions in Massachusetts and were working to identify a strong team member, just like we did with all of our other Cabinet secretary positions, she said. We dont want to get too far ahead until we know this process is underway and going to result in the outcome that everybody wants. But were excited about the opportunity to have somebody ready to go on day one.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is hoping to keep to her current position in 2024.

The U.S. senator from Massachusetts launched her reelection campaign on social media Monday.

I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the rich and powerful and against everyone else, she said in the video, speaking over Le Tigres song Deceptacon. I won because Massachusetts voters know it, too. And now Im running for Senate again because theres a lot more weve got to do.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu all appear in the video, talking highly about Warren and what she has done.

Warren, 73, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012 and was elected for a second term in 2018. She was the first woman ever elected to the Senate from Massachusetts, according to her website.

She ran for the Democratic nominee in the 2020 presidential election but ended her campaign on March 5, 2020. She had previously ruled out a 2024 presidential run.

Im not running for president in 2024  Im running for Senate, she said on on NBCs Meet the Press. President Biden is running for reelection in 2024 and Im supporting him.

Click here to watch the video.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate, recently stated that American support for Ukraine was not a vital national security issue. Moreover, he defined the war as a territorial dispute. DeSantiss views are both wrong and dangerous. They will only convince Putin that a DeSantis presidency will allow him to have his way in Ukraine.

The war is in our vital national security interests. Since the end of the Second World War, the United States has been the chief guarantor of Western European security. The linchpin of this security arrangement has been NATO. Designed to contain an expansionist Soviet Union, it played a major role in winning the Cold War. Now, it has become the bulwark of democracy against authoritarianism. If we were to abandon Ukraine, it would be the end of NATO. If we were to betray Ukraine, authoritarians would portray democracy as a weak, corrupt, and duplicitous form of government. It would demonstrate that naked aggression works and would embolden other authoritarian regimes to employ it. For example, what signal would it send to China? To Taiwan?

Moreover, the war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute. It is a war of aggression against an independent sovereign state. As a former KGB agent, Putin witnessed firsthand the collapse of the Soviet Union. He once described it as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century. Upon assuming power, he first set out to restore order in Russia and to strengthen the Russian state. Having completed this, he now turned to restoring the Russian Empire. To this end, he fought a war in Chechnya; he invaded Georgia; he annexed the Crimea; and he supported pro-Russian rebels in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Claiming that an independent Ukraine never existed, he invaded.
editorial

Some religious elite, including religious leaders, turned the presidential election into a struggle between the forces of good and evil.

The 2023 general elections have largely been held and concluded, even though it remains inconclusive in a few places. The presidential and National Assembly elections were held on Saturday, 25 February, while those for the governorship in 28 states and the State Houses of Assembly were held on Saturday, 18 March.

Without doubt, these polls could be described as the most divisive electoral contests ever held in the country since the advent of self-governance. They were ethnically-charged and deeply polarising along religious lines. The political elite, their "influencers", as well as a section of the religious elite pushed Nigeria close to the brink of national collapse yet again through their actions and utterances.

A number of the leading political parties and their flag-bearers mobilised ethnic and religious sentiments through their comments, and in some cases Freudian slips, to garner votes. Some religious elite, including religious leaders, turned the presidential election into a struggle between the forces of good and evil.

Such opposing binary -- posed as a cosmic battle between light and darkness -- ironically put the masses, most of them Christians and Muslims, at risk. Existing gullibility and needless distrust between Nigeria's two major faiths meant that the masses forgot that those driving these religious divisions could quite easily leave the country at a moment's notice once violence breaks out. Ethnic groups, in particular, the Yorubas and Igbos, who had lived together and intermarried for decades, were once again dangerously set up as political enemies.

Political vitriol was the start. Then, autochthony, the politics of indigeneship and the question of belonging, were taken to a new level in a place like Lagos, where it is suspected to have triggered arson on a market and sparked pockets of violence across the metropolis. As the climate of antagonism spread, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, took immediate actions to douse the situation, while the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, made a plea for healing across strife-riven groups, greater social inclusiveness and a rebuilding of our sense of community. They and other political leaders can and must do more.

Politics is serious business and has always been engaged in with heightened passions, which at times could be followed by intense bickering, even in longer practiced democracies. However, Nigerians must refuse to accept being regularly pushed to the brink of national collapse every time there are elections in the country. Nigeria has, in the space of 30 years, gone from the monumentally and historically popular MKO Abiola-Babagana Kingibe ticket to religious and ethnic political war-lordism, fuelled by unscrupulous political strategies and newer ubiquitous technological tools and platforms like social media. The state of affairs is an invention of the elite in interaction with gullible followers.

PREMIUM TIMES believes that it is time for a policy of national reconciliation. There are deep and wide wounds that predated the 2023 elections. The recent elections have only exacerbated latent and unresolved national issues, including those from as far back as the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970. The country has failed to fully reflect on the war and robustly invest in enduring protocols of national unity. Even key policies and institutions, such as the unity schools and the National Youth Service Corps, have not enabled real integration. They must be revitalised, while the perpetually underperforming National Orientation Agency must be nudged back to consciousness. It is needed at times like this to educate citizens on the need for love, peace and unity.

The Nigerian government would need to take drastic and firm steps to insulate our religious institutions from politics, going forward. Section 97 of the Electoral Act 2022 forbids candidates, individuals and associations from campaigns based on religious, ethnic, or sectional interests. Yet, the top three candidates in the last presidential election, as well as many influential citizens, violated that provision without consequences.

Our churches and mosques became platforms of intense campaigns, while press conferences were repeatedly organised by individuals and groups to denounce and oppose the faith-based candidacies in some parties. Likewise, ethnic and regional groups, such as Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Middle Belt Forum, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Elders Forum and the Pan Niger Delta Forum, all worked hard at outdoing one another in a scramble to endorse one candidate or the other, without bothering about the consequences of their actions.

While the Nigerian constitution guarantees the freedom of association for everyone, the divisive activities of some of these groups, which did not help national unity, should be discouraged. Going forward, INEC should liaise with security agencies to enforce the provisions of Section 97 of the Electoral Act, which stipulates, on conviction, a maximum fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both, for violators.

In addition, although there have been several efforts to reform Nigeria's electoral system in the recent past, the actual voting format needs to be reconsidered. First, the idea of asking nearly 100 million people to vote on a single day across the entire country in multi-level elections organised by a single organisation is a recipe for disaster. Many countries have staggered elections over several days. The election period is as long as 28 days in some countries. Second, the notion of having all eligible voters stand in line without any recourse to alternative ways of voting is a choice we have made as a country.

There are innovations in the banking sector that may be easily adapted to the political arena. To be sure, Nigeria's e-banking at the individual client level is on par with that in several Western countries. Some of the data and markers of identification can be deployed in the political arena. That would increase participation and reduce the debilitating pressure on days of election.

There is also the need to strengthen existing laws to make more stringent punishment for actions intended to intimidate others in pursuit of electoral victory and/or to dissuade identifiable groups from exercising their right to vote for whomever they please. The suspected arsonists in Lagos and other perpetrators of electoral violence must be found, arrested and prosecuted. Those who lost their businesses must be compensated. Political appointees making divisive or ethnocentric comments on social or traditional media should be cautioned, reprimanded or sanctioned, depending on the severity of their prejudicial statements. There is a certain mentality and temperament required in governing a diverse society. Knowing what to say and how to say it are equally important in such an environment.

Those weaponising ethnicity and religion to win elections must realise that they are making governance more cumbersome through the divisions they are creating or nurturing. There is no substitute for good governance. Therefore, governments at all levels must recognise that they are on borrowed time, unless they govern with competence and excellence.

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The Nigerian diaspora has an enormous role in creating a culture of reconciliation. Those uncritically sharing unverified videos or images and threatening fire and brimstone on social media should realise that there are millions of Nigerians who have no other place to call home. Elections should not be matters of life and death. Linked to this is the need for our government to engage with social media companies to mainstream better protocols of identifying and reining in posts, including videos and audio materials that spread hate speech, misinformation and disinformation, which have constituted some of the greatest threats to our democracy and safety.

Nigerians have an opportunity to determine how they want to live. Do we desire to live by the rule of law or the will of a few powerful people? All Nigerians have a role to play in this. We need to be very mindful of our common humanity and act in ways that enhance and promote our better angels, rather than the recourse to baser instincts, while affirming a greater sense of community, and honouring the sacred creed of good neighbourliness. Any ambiguities in law and policy regarding autochthonous issues need to be corrected. Laws are as good as those implementing them and the people subject to them.

Political leaders at all levels need to clearly articulate that all Nigerians have the right to live anywhere in the country. That also means, regardless of where you choose to live, you are obligated to treat your fellow citizens with dignity and respect, as well as sensitivity to their histories and values. There are many countries doing this on a routine basis. The 2021 census in Canada, for example, indicates that there are 450 cultural or ethnic origins among the 38.25 million people in the country. Nigeria's ethno-religious plurality is no excuse for self-defeating violent politics.
opinion

As Ethiopia continues to receive applause from the rest of the countries in Africa, for singlehandedly (without foreign funding) together with its people, constructing a $5-billion mega-power plant, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egypt is doubling on efforts to fail it.

The dam, whose construction is now 90% complete, when fully done, will produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity and become Africa's largest hydroelectric power generator and the world's seventh-largest dam.

Since the start of its construction in 2011, downstream countries Egypt and Sudan have raised concerns of their safety and indeed, several trilateral meetings spearheaded by the continental body, African Union (AU), have been held. Various treaties on the same involving the three states have also been signed.

Indeed, Ethiopia is progressing well in completing the dam. Between July and August, it will conduct the fourth filling of the reservoir.

However, I was sadly dismayed a couple of days back when I saw the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, during the recently concluded Arab League meeting in Cairo, accusing Ethiopia of continuing to "unilaterally and uncooperatively" fill the dam.

He said: "The continuation of Ethiopia's unilateral practices can potentially carry a grave danger for Egypt which suffers from a unique water scarcity and because of its near total dependence on the river Nile."

Later, the meeting issued resolution on Ethiopia to show "flexibility" on the GERD issue. Shoukry would later threaten Ethiopia with an "all options are open" declaration.

Now, whereas this is NOT surprising because Egypt has since 2011 when Ethiopia broke ground on the $5-billion dam been turbid about the project, it is shocking that a country that was fully involved and party to the Declaration of Principles (DOP) on the GERD by the three Eastern Nile States (Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan), is turning around to accuse Addis Ababa of unilaterally taking decisions on the usage of Nile waters.

The DOP was signed on March 23, 2015 in Khartoum, and so, it is not correct to claim that Ethiopia has not engaged other countries on GERD.

In fact, Egypt endorsed the reality that the dam is in existence including appreciating the safety measures undertaken by Ethiopia which are clearly indicated in Principle VIII of the DOP.

Principle VIII provides that: "The three countries appreciate the efforts undertaken thus far by Ethiopia in implementing the IPoE recommendations pertinent to the GERD safety.

Ethiopia shall in good faith continue the full implementation of the dam safety recommendations as per the International Panel of Experts (IPoE) report."

Again, Egypt acknowledged the safety measures Ethiopia is undertaking as stated in Principle VII of the DOP.

It states that: "Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan shall provide data and information needed for the conduct of the Technical National Committee (TNC) joint studies in good faith and in a timely manner.

So, recognition of the dam and the safety measures Ethiopia is undertaking were fully given by Egypt in 2015 when it signed the DOP and so, it is hypocricy for Cairo to speak otherwise. Why is Egypt shying away from the agreement it was party to?

Also, as a way of rooting for African solutions to African problems, the AU, has been engaging and continues to engage the three countries to resolve the outstanding issues. I find it rather disturbing for Egypt to run to Arab countries and rally them to engage in a matter involving a purely African water body and three African countries.

On several occasions, Egypt has taken the GERD issue to the UN Peace and Security Council by mobilizing the League of the Arab States unnecessarily internationalizing the matter.

One wonders: Is the Arab League passing a vote of no confidence in the ability of Africans and the African Union to provide solutions to their problems? Is the Arab League being the spokesperson of one of its members, Egypt? Even before reaching this 'resolution', on Ethiopia, did the Arab League listen to Addis Ababa side?

Such misguided 'resolutions', not only undermine the sovereignty of Africa and its people, but also threaten regional peace, stability and the progress already attained through internal mechanisms to resolve the issue.

It should be remembered that the trilateral negotiation on the GERD is conducted with Ethiopia's initiative and Addis Ababa has severally stated that it is fully committed to the negotiations in good faith to reach a mutually acceptable win-win outcome. Why is Egypt not highlighting these ongoing efforts by the African Union?

Is it becoming a fashion that every time a positive step towards reaching a compromise on GERD happens, Egypt must rise to frustrate it with reference to its historical rights in the Nile waters?

Egypt is being selfish and only seeking to maintain the status quo in the flow of the Nile water as indicated in the 1959 agreement (which Ethiopia was not party to) - Egypt wants to remain the dominant Reparian country using the Nile for development projects, thus informing its lack of good faith and cooperation to resolve the matter.

This lack of good will is even provided for in its constitution that the water belongs to Egypt and Egyptian authorities have the right to defend or protect that Principle.

Article 44 of Egyptian constitution of 2014 is the case in point. The article provides that the Government of Egypt should protect the historical rights of Nile.

So, negotiations are done with Egypt, a country which has a clear position in its constitution of protecting that historical position, a demonstration that other Reparian States can not utilize the Nile water without Cairo's permission.

In other words, for Egypt, the use of the Nile water by other countries would endanger its share of the Nile water which it claims under the 1959 treaty which Ethiopia was not party to.

What is the Principle now?

Egypt believes that the Nile River is its historical property and that no any other country or person has a right to touch a drop of it. This is the reason they are not willing to reach a win-win situation - they are conditioned by that provision in their constitution.

Ethiopia is not to blame for the delay of the negotiations on GERD, Ethiopia is not an obstacle to negotiations as Egypt frequently alleges.

Negotiations require cooperation, goodwill and compromise from all sides in the dispute which we are not seeing from Egypt's side, save for Cairo's rants at the UN, Arab League meetings and unsubstantiated cries to the United States and the West.

The Principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of water resource must be fronted to reconcile the two countries since it has become a cornerstone of the UN water convention.

It is fundamental doctrine guiding all international water related agreements. The Principle is the best tool for achieving justice in shared water resources and it is the best means of resolving conflicts but Egypt is not ready to accept it.

Egypt has got to accept the fact that the Nile River, the longest watercourse in the world has 11 Reparian countries, which are now waking up to utilize this natural resource for energy in order to better their nationals, they ought not to seek permission from Egypt to use the Nile water, at least there is no agreement to that effect.

For example, when fully operational, the dam will address the quest of basic electricity demand of 65 million Ethiopians who suffer due to the lack of electricity.

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Ethiopia's current total energy production does not meet the more than 110 million and growing population that requires increasing amount of food, growing economy and expanding urban centres and industries demanding more and more energy.

It is a fact that GERD does not consume the water. Water only passes through to generate electricity

Egypt and Sudan too will benefit from this project. It will protect Sudan against devastating floods and the effects of water shortage during drought and dry periods. Sudan will also receive regulated flow of water thus operating its water infrastructure optimally.

For Egypt, it will benefit from water conservation at the GERD instead of wastage of billions of cubic meters of water to evaporation and in downstream flood plains. The GERD also helps to prevent future spillage that overtops the Aswan Dam.

But, even given these developmental benefits, Egypt still insists on frustrating the construction of the dam. Of course, like earlier stated, Egypt knows that no harm will be caused by the power plant but instead wants to use it as a 'scarecrow' towards countries that may wish to establish similar projects on the Nile.

See, if Egypt succeeds in failing GERD, it will have achieved its objectives of conveying a message to other Reparian countries that River Nile is "a no go area" for them without Egypt's approval. It will actually set a precedent for other upstream states, which is unacceptable. There is no way colonial agreements on the Nile can bind countries with were not party to.

In conclusion therefore, African countries ought to move in fast and conclusively reign-in on this matter, since it poses a threat on regional safety, and undermines Africa's progress and development.

The writer is a Ugandan Journalist with passion for current African affairs. He visited GERD in August 2022.
Nairobi  President William Ruto has left the country for a two-day official visit to Germany before proceeding to Belgium -- the capital of the European Union.

On Monday, the President will hold talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.

He will later meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss strengthening social and economic ties between the two nations.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua said the 2022 General Election has elevated the country's profile on the global scene, making Kenya a potential candidate for increased Foreign Direct Investment.

Dr Ruto is in Germany at the invitation of President Steinmeier.

He will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue and will also hold talks with German business leaders and investors.

On Wednesday, he will proceed to Brussels where he will hold talks with the Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo, Valdis Dombrovskis - European Commissioner for Trade and the President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The President will engage European Council President Charles Michel and the European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen.

The meetings will reinforce Kenya's commitment to the Kenya - EU Strategic Dialogue under the three key pillars of Peace, Security and Stability; Sustainable and Inclusive Development; and Economy, Trade and Investment.
Santo Domingo  President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has asked Spain to invite Western Sahara to the Ibero-American summit, while calling for African countries with different ties to Latin America to be granted the status of observer countries, including Western Sahara, which is he says the victim of an "injustice".

At the summit, which was held Friday and Saturday in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, the Colombian president began his speech by calling for "building bridges with the African continent", including Spanish-speaking countries such as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in this type of forum.

"It is a question of form, but obviously also of politics," said the Colombian leader at the meeting which was also attended by the King of Spain, Felipe VI and the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The Sahrawi issue is experiencing unprecedented support that continues to grow around the world, including the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with some countries demonstrating their commitment to respect for international legality and the right to self-determination and sovereignty of the SADR.

In August 2022, Colombia took the lead by announcing the decision to resume diplomatic relations with the Saharawi Republic, in accordance with the principles and objectives of the UN Charter and the agreement concluded between the two countries on 27 February 1985, following the audience granted by the Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, to the then Sahrawi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek.

The 28th Ibero-American Summit took place on Friday and Saturday in the Dominican Republic, with an agenda focused on the economy. This summit, which is held annually, brings together its 22 member countries that share a common cultural heritage, including linguistic heritage.

062/T
A research report by MarkNtel Advisors on the Bioproduction Bottles Market brings together an in-depth understanding of the industry exhibiting all the aspects influencing the expansion in the historical years (2017 to 2020), the scenario of the base year (2021), and estimates of the forecast years (2022 to 2027) across different geographies.

This analysis is an unbiased, accurate, and reliable source of information for the stakeholders to understand the key parameters influencing the industry, like growth drivers, challenges, restraints, and opportunities, among others. The stakeholders can also attain data on the current trends, recent developments, investments & strategies, among other elements shaping the market dynamics and projecting its growth pace over the years & in the future.

Take A Free Sample PDF of This Report, To See The Full Structure of This Study Report  Download Now

Market Dynamic for Bioproduction Bottles Industry

Growth Driver  The growth of the Global Bioproduction Bottles Market attributes primarily to the growing research & development on vaccines worldwide & their commercialization, coupled with biopharmaceutical companies worldwide planning to expand their production capacities.

In 2018, Sanofi announced its plans to double its vaccine output by 2023 in Canada by establishing a vaccine production plant worth USD 431 million to manufacture five-component Acellular Pertussis (5-aP) Antigen & new pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine.

In 2019, IDT Biologika launched its new vaccine production plant in the BioPharmaPark area in DessauRosslau, Germany.

Report Coverage Details Study Period Historical Data: 2017-20 Base Year: 2021 Forecast Period: 2022-27 CAGR (2022-2027) 19.29% Regions Covered North America: USA, Canada, Mexico South America: Brazil, and Others Europe: UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Others Asia-Pacific: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Others Middle East & Africa: GCC, Africa and Others Key Companies Profiled Thermo Fisher Scientific, Gerresheimer Glas GmbH, Essco Glass, Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corporation, Corning, SGD Pharma, Duran Group, Beatson Clark, Foxx Life Sciences and Others Unit Denominations USD Million/Billion

Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 increased the focus of various governments worldwide to develop local biopharmaceutical sectors across different countries. Besides, the biopharmaceutical companies initiated the development & manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines around the US, the UK, Canada, etc. Hence, this has further positively impacted the growth of the Global Bioproduction Bottles Market.

Upcoming Challenges  The most prominent factor w.r.t to the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing has been the availability of consumables. However, the sporadic availability of raw materials required for manufacturing consumables like bottles, single-use bags, tubing, sterile filters, tubes, stoppers, etc., significantly hampered the sales of bioproduction bottles in the first half of 2020. For instance:

In 2020, due to Covid-19, companies involved in biopharmaceuticals and biotech & life sciences faced problems while manufacturing bottles due to the shortage of consumables, which, in turn, resulted in a lot of pressure on the supplier side while meeting the consumer demand.

Segmentation Analysis

The report on the Bioproduction Bottles Market entails a detail-oriented analysis of the key aspects driving the market expansion in different segmentation & geographies. This section aims solely to enlighten the stakeholders & the leading players to plan & lay out new strategies for their visibility, product portfolio, & customer base, alongside the massive revenue generation & profits in the coming years. The section incorporates analysis in sub-division covering aspects like trends, developments, demand & supply chain, and product/service pricing, among others, in detail. Below cited are the different segments in the report:

By Material Type

Plastic Polycarbonate Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) High-density polyethylene (HDPE) Others (Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), Perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA))

Glass

By Capacity Type

Upto 30 ml

30 to 60 ml

60 to 100 ml

100-250 ml

250 to 500 ml

500 to 1000 ml

1000 to 2000 ml

Above 2000 ml

By Application

Sampling System

Media Preparation

Mixing

Storage

Others

By Development Phase

Clinical

Commercial

By Component

Drug Substance

Drug Product

By Molecule Type

Protein

Gene Therapy

Cell Therapy

Conventional Vaccines

Market Geographical Data

On the geographical front, the Bioproduction Bottles Market expands across the following region:

North America

South America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Of all regions globally, North America captured the highest market share in the Bioproduction Bottles Market during 2017-20, owing to the extensive presence of several biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities across the region and the significant research & development for the introduction of new treatments.

Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 encouraged governments to introduce robust plans to boost biopharmaceutical manufacturing in the countries. Hence, the launch of new manufacturing facilities provided new opportunities to the leading manufacturers of bioproduction bottles across the region, which, in turn, has strongly contributed to the regional market growth. For instance:

The Ministry of Innovation, Science, & Industry, along with the Ministry of Health, announced an investment of USD 415 million in 2021 to support Sanofi Pasteur Limited in establishing an influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Canada. Further, Sanofi and the government of Ontario planned to invest USD 455 million and USD 55 million, respectively.

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Covid-19 Impact on the Bioproduction Bottles Industry

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic brought significant challenges to the Global Bioproduction Bottles Market, primarily by impacting the supply of drugs & APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients), along with the biopharmaceutical packaging industry. In May 2020, practitioners raised apprehension toward the availability of primary parenteral packaging consumables, including bottles, vials, containers, syringes, stoppers, etc., for the packaging of drugs & vaccines to be traded globally. Several clinical trials & processes were on hold owing to the global crisis, which, in turn, severely impacted biologics & biosimilar development.

Report Table of Content

Introduction Product Definition Research Process Assumptions Market Segmentation

Executive Summary

Impact of COVID-19 on Global Bioproduction Bottles Market

Global Bioproduction Bottles Market Trends & Insights

Global Bioproduction Bottles Market Dynamics Drivers Challenges Impact Analysis

Global Bioproduction Bottles Market Regulations & Policy

Global Bioproduction Bottles Market Hotspots & Opportunities

Global Bioproduction Bottles Market Outlook, 2017-2027

Continue TOC

Competitive Landscape

The study on Bioproduction Bottles Market brings together extensive research on the prominent players dominating the industry by rigorously profiling each company and their operations, product/service portfolio, mergers & acquisitions, expansion plans, recent developments, key strategies, and opportunities to attain higher profit margins. The leading players in the industry profiled in the report include the following:

 Thermo Fisher Scientific

 Gerresheimer Glas GmbH

 Essco Glass

 Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corporation

 Corning

 SGD Pharma

 Duran Group

 Beatson Clark

 Foxx Life Sciences

 Others

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by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, March 24, 2023

I dont know if you watched the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on March 23, when TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled by Democrats and Republicans alike about the potential dangers of a Chinese-owned, super-successful social media platform.

The committee members pounded themselves on the chest for agreeing across the political divide on their concern about -- and for some, outright hatred of -- TikTok. But what did we really learn?

First of all, what was TikTok thinking? I guess not showing up wasnt really an option, but here was Chew, a Singaporean national, being subjected to not very polite questioning from U.S. lawmakers, whose tone was mostly My mind is made up, but let me see if I can embarrass you.

In general, the issues seem to come down to the following:

-- TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. ByteDance has a board and a number of company leaders who are card-carrying members of the Chinese Communist Party, as one of the committee members called it. This is true.

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-- TikToks data could end up in the hands of Chinese government-controlled data manipulators who could use said data to create and target content with the aim to misinform the American public -- especially its youth.

-- TikTok is not doing enough to ensure its content is appropriately moderated, as evidenced by examples showing that porn, drugs for sale, access to guns, etc. was easily findable. The safeguards that ARE in place do not work, because one representative said his 15- and 17-year-old sons could easily get around those safeguards when they were tested.

-- TikTok is being influenced by the Chinese Communist party, because content critical of China and its content creators outside of China is actively muffled or banned.

Now call me naive, but replace TikTok with Meta or Alphabet, and all of the above, minus the Chinese Communist Party membership, holds true. We have experienced what happens when data falls into the hands of politically motivated operators. Remember the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Remember the Russian content misinformation factories? They did not need TikTok. The U.S.-based, owned-and-operated platforms did just fine. In fact, many of the hearing committee members probably owe their seat in Congress to some of that manipulation. And these same fine American companies have themselves made grand concessions to the Chinese government.

So forget the foreign operators. We are doing misinformation and questionable content really well ourselves. The amount our own country manages to produce has been more than enough to feed the great political divide. Just think about COVID vaccines and masks, school curricula, transgender and LGBTQ issues, abortion, pineapple on pizza the list goes on and on.

Is the Chinese ownership of TikToks parent problematic? Yes. And the fact that I like BBQ and meat-smoker videos, as well as travel content, must not fall into the hands of the Chinese Communist party. In all seriousness, that is the one aspect of the debate that I get: Potential easy access to data is indeed problematic.

But the solutions, nay, guarantees that the lawmakers are seeking to address this and all other highlighted issues is a completely different set of assurances compared to what they seek from Meta or Alphabet. That is hypocritical, and not realistic. It could kill TikTok. But it wont address problematic social media issues highlighted during the hearing. It will just make them American-owned?
by Ray Schultz , March 27, 2023

Microsoft, USAID and Internews have formed a public-private partnership to help independent publishers access market insights and business tools.

They plan to launch a Media Viaibility Accelerator that will pool data from media organizations worldwide to help publishers determine what is working for them and how to apply it. When launched, it will be available for use by news organizations in more than 100 countries.

Microsoft points out that the U.S. has lost more than a quarter of its newspapers since 2005, and will likely lose a third by 2025.

The companys Microsoft Democracy Forward initiative is designed to preserve access to trusted journalism.

President Biden announced support for the creation of a Media Viability Accelerator at the first Summit for Democracy in December 2021.

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According to Microsoft, the Media Viability Accelerator will consist of these two components:
opinion

There have been six generations of South Sudan who have been unlucky. These 6 generations of young people in South Sudan have been marked by civil wars, poverty, and instability. They face a future of limited educational opportunities and a lack of economic opportunities and have been pushed to the brink of despair. They have been robbed of the chance to pursue their dreams and have been forced to bear the burden of their country's crisis.

This is why it is so important to provide support to this population, so they can have a chance to build a brighter future for themselves and South Sudan. Over the past 6 decades, South Sudanese have been facing an unpredictable future. The three consecutive civil wars not only destroyed the lives of South Sudanese but also left them downhearted and with persistent PTSD. These generations have grown up in a war-torn country and have had to overcome adversity and trauma that no one should have to face. They need guidance and support to help them build the skills and confidence they need to create a better future for themselves and the country.

In the 1950s, South Sudanese rebelled against North Sudan demanding autonomy for South Sudan. In 1972, the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement was signed, and South Sudanese returned and laid down their arms, though a few South Sudanese rebels remained in the bush. The agreement granted the South Sudanese autonomy in terms of their social and economic development, as well as their political representation in the North Sudanese government. This autonomy was seen as a step towards eventual self-governance for the South Sudanese. The agreement was meant to grant South Sudan more autonomy, but the North failed to comply with the terms. This led to the outbreak of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983, resulting in millions of deaths and displacement.

There was not enough time for South Sudanese to resettle and put their children in school after the civil war ended. This left many South Sudanese without access to education or a means of providing for their families. As a result, many were still struggling to rebuild their lives and create a better future for their children. Consequently, the majority of South Sudanese were still illiterate during the second Sudanese Civil War. This lack of education and resources meant that they did not have the knowledge, resources, or networks to be able to prepare for the second civil war. This put them in a very vulnerable position, and the war only exacerbated their already difficult situation.

The Second Sudanese civil war which broke out in 1983, had a lot of negative and positive things. The negative effects included the displacement of millions of people, a significant increase in poverty and food insecurity, and a massive loss of life. Though, the war led to the independence of South Sudan and the end of the oppressive Omar al-Bashir regime. The civil war lasted for 22 years, and it displaced millions an estimated 2-3 million died as a result of war and war-related illnesses.

The war also caused economic and social chaos, with the country's infrastructure severely damaged. It also resulted in a massive refugee crisis, with millions of Sudanese fleeing to neighboring countries. The war has left a lasting legacy of political, economic, and social instability. The war caused immense destruction and despair, and it seemed like the country would never recover. But, at the end, of the second civil war, the South Sudanese briefly rebuilt and move forward.

Positive: in comparison, the second civil war brought more opportunities to South Sudanese than the first civil war. The second civil war opened the door to more stable and improved economic conditions for individuals' families living in the western world. It also allowed for greater access to resources, such as education and healthcare, that were not available during the first civil war. The result has been increased economic growth and improved quality of life for South Sudanese citizens. As the war continued, many South Sudanese who lived in neighboring countries as refugees were able to get resettled in various western nations. This provided a much-needed escape to those who were not able to find hope and stability in South Sudan.

The resettlement of South Sudanese refugees also allowed them to access better education and job opportunities in their new host countries. This gave them access to higher education, better job opportunities, and ultimately a better quality of life. The opportunities provided by the second civil war were instrumental in improving the lives of many South Sudanese.

The South Sudanese who obtained credentials from western nations did not have an easy time finding employment after independence. This was mostly because of tribalism and nepotism which are normal practices in the country. Additionally, political instability has made it difficult for qualified Sudanese to return home. Tribalism and favoritism based on friendships, tribal affiliation, and blood relationships have led to a severe brain drain in the country as many of these educated Sudanese are forced to live and work abroad.

As a result, South Sudan has been unable to make use of the skills and knowledge of its citizens. Engineers, doctors, economists, and scholars who were supposed to bring development to the country were not given a chance to utilize their skills. This is because of nepotism and tribalism. Nepotism and tribalism have contributed to the so-called "brain drain" in South Sudan, which has made many professionals unwilling to return home. This has had a significant impact on the country's development and has culminated in a lack of skilled workers. Tribalism, nepotism, and insecurity have further perpetuated inequality and poverty in the country, making South Sudan difficult to progress. Furthermore, this has led to an even more depressing situation, with many of the country's most talented individuals leaving for other countries to pursue better opportunities. This resulted in a stagnation of economic and social development.

This has made it difficult for the country to attract investments, leading to decreased economic growth. This has resulted in higher levels of poverty and unemployment, further exacerbating economic and social issues in South Sudan. This has created an endless cycle of poverty, making it difficult for the country to improve infrastructure, education, and healthcare. This lack of resources has led to a decrease in the quality of life for many citizens, leading to a decrease in their overall well-being. Destabilization caused by conflict has only exacerbated this situation in recent years

Another unpredictable war caught the already traumatized nation on guard. The South Sudanese civilian population was once again forced to flee their homes as a result of a tribal war in 2013, which resulted in the death of tens of thousands of innocent civilians. The war was marked by brutal violence, displacement, and home destruction. Many people were left without food and medicine, and the death toll according to UN reports is estimated to be over 383,000 people. The war also resulted in a significant strain on the economy of the country. This conflict lasted for ten years and exacerbated existing ethnic tensions in the region.

The civil war displaced millions of South Sudanese people and caused a humanitarian crisis that continues to this day. Despite the efforts of international humanitarian organizations to bring an end to the conflict, it has persisted for several years. Many of the victims have been displaced and are now living in refugee camps. The conflict has caused great suffering and widespread destruction.

The current situation in South Sudan is dismal, with hunger, ethnic violence, and disease afflicting all of its people, regardless of tribe. South Sudanese are hopelessly looking for a miracle to occur as the current peace agreement has failed to address the root cause of the conflict or stop South Sudanese suffering. International organizations and NGOs are working to provide food and medical aid, but the situation is far from improving.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines South Sudan By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Without a lasting peace agreement, South Sudanese will continue to suffer from the effects of the conflict for years to come. The international community must step in and provide aid and pressure South Sudanese leaders to bring true peace to the country. It is essential for South Sudan's people to have access to basic necessities such as food, health care, and education to improve their quality of life. Without intervention, the South Sudanese' suffering will never end.

Instead of returning home and helping to build the nation, South Sudanese in the Diaspora struggle to survive. They help family members who have become refugees in neighboring countries and beyond. Without the international community, South Sudan's situation is unlikely to improve. The diaspora people support both their families and family members at home.

In conclusion, South Sudanese, especially educated people, have become hopeless and lame ducks due to the three consecutive civil wars. Many have been displaced, some have been killed, and their livelihoods have been destroyed. This has led to a decrease in employment opportunities and an increase in poverty. The conditions have led to a decrease in the quality of life for many South Sudanese citizens. The ongoing conflict has disrupted the economy and caused a great deal of suffering for the people. With the lack of resources and employment opportunities, many educated South Sudanese have lost motivation and ambition to progress.

This has caused a sense of helplessness and despair to spread throughout the population. So many educated South Sudanese die with unused skills and qualifications. This is because even those with world-class qualifications never get to use their skills to build themselves and the country. To combat this, it is important to create resources and opportunities for South Sudanese to use their talents and education to benefit their futures as well as that of their nation.

Only then can the cycle of helplessness and despair be broken.

The author of this article is a South Sudanese Canadian.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 27, 2023

Former President Donald Trump lacks grounds to revive a lawsuit claiming his First Amendment rights were violated when he was banned from Twitter, the tech industry organization NetChoice told an appeals court.

Trump sued the wrong defendant, NetChoice writes in a friend-of-the-court brief filed last week with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The group says even if Trump could prove that government officials coerced Twitter into suspending his account, he would only have grounds to sue the government -- not Twitter.

NetChoice does not condone political attempts to meddle in private companies content moderation decisions, the group writes. The government has no business interfering with these decisions, which the First Amendment protects. And if the governments actions rise to the level of coercion, the courts should hold the government responsible.

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The organization adds that there is no legal or policy justification to hold social media companies liable, if they are coerced by the government.

The legal dispute dates to 2021, shortly after Twitter (and other social platforms) suspended Trump's account due to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

Trump alleged in lawsuits against Twitter, YouTube and Facebook that the companies violated the First Amendment by censoring him. (Twitter CEO Elon Musk lifted the ban last year, but the former president is attempting to continue with the lawsuit anyway.)

U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in the Northern District of California threw out the complaint against Twitter last May, ruling that the First Amendment prohibits the government -- but not private companies like Twitter -- from engaging in censorship. The lawsuits against YouTube and Facebook are on hold.

Trump recently asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse Donato's decision, arguing that Twitter was effectively acting at the direction of the government.

Powerful Democratic legislators threatened to use their official authority to impose Draconian legal consequences against defendants and other social media companies if they did not censor disfavored speakers and speech, Trump's lawyers contended in their appeal.

Trump's attorneys pointed to several examples of elected officials either calling for Trump to be banned from social media, or calling for changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act -- the statute that protects web companies from lawsuits over users' speech. For instance, Trump's lawyers point to a statement made by Vice President Kamala Harris in October of 2019 (when she was still a senator), calling for Trump's Twitter account to be suspended, and to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California)'s warning that tech companies' legal protections could be in jeopardy, unless they acted with more responsibility.

Twitter countered in papers filed earlier this month that Trump's claim is moot urged because his account was reinstated.

The company also asked the appellate court to reject Trump's contention that the ban was the result of government pressure.

Mere attempts by public officials to persuade private actors cannot amount to coercion, Twitter writes, adding that Trump didn't allege that any officials threatened to sanction the company unless it suspended him.

Individual legislators, however powerful, cannot single-handedly amend or repeal Section 230 or any other law, the company wrote.

NetChoice argues that Trump's fundamental assertion -- that Twitter acted due to coercion -- only supports a lawsuit against the government.

The group adds that holding the platform liable for giving in to government demands would place private actors like Twitter in the impossible position of facing threats if they refuse to accede to government requests, while also shouldering liability for the consequences of those actions.

NetChoice additionally says Trump's allegations, even if proven true, wouldn't show that Twitter was coerced into acting as an arm of the government.

None of these exhortations carries the force of law, Twitter writes, referring to alleged statements by Pelosi, Harris and other elected officials. They are just politicians engaging in the political process.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, March 27, 2023

A foundation created by the entrepreneur and philanthropist Robert Kraft has launched a $25 million campaign to combat antisemitism.

The idea behind the campaign is to raise awarenessparticularly among non-Jews--of antisemitism and the disproportionate hate faced by Jewish people and to take steps to see that the issue becomes part of the national conversation around social justice.

Leading the effort is the Foundation To Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) which Kraft founded in 2019. This campaign is its largest to date. The foundation worked with Wunderman Thompson, Mindshare, Weber Shandwick and influencer shop Noun.

Central to the campaign is the establishment of the blue square emoji as a simple, yet powerful symbol of solidarity and support for the Jewish community. The blue square emoji is already available on most smart phones.

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The campaign kicks off this week starting with a rollout across NBC-owned channels. Hosts from shows including Today, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and The Kelly Clarkson Show, will discuss the rising threat of antisemitism.

The effort includes the creation of #StandUpToJewishHate.

FCAS points to an FBI statistic that Jews make up 2.4% of the U.S. population but are targets of more than 55% of all religious hate crimes in the country.

As part of the effort to highlight that disparity, the campaign intends to take up 2.4% of TV and digital screens, billboards and social feeds.

Creative spots in the campaigns include:
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 27, 2023

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday endorsed a ban on the popular social video app TikTok.

It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true -- China has access to TikTok user data, McCarthy, a Republican from California, tweeted. The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party.

His statement came several days after lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over the company's policies regarding online privacy and potentially harmful content.

Chew defended TikTok at the hearing, arguing that its policies were comparable to those of other large social-networking platforms.

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He also said that any national security risks posed by the app, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, are only "hypothetical" and "theoretical."

But some lawmakers said Chew's testimony last week failed to allay concerns.

Senators Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and John Thune (R-South Dakota) recently introduced the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, which could ultimately lead to a ban on apps or other communications technology owned by China and other companies deemed foreign adversaries.

The Biden administration recently attempted to persuade ByteDance to sell TikTok, but China said last week that it would oppose a sale.

Earlier this month, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that could empower President Joe Biden to ban TikTok.

That measure, Deterring America's Foreign Adversaries Act (HR 1553), would revise the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by allowing the government to block informational material, in some situations. Currently, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act limits the ability to material considered informational, such as photos and news feeds.

Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee opposed the measure, arguing it's inconsistent with free-speech principles.

Civil rights advocates including the American Civil Liberties Union and Fight for the Future have also weighed in against a potential ban.

If passed by Congress and enacted into law, a nationwide ban on TikTok would have serious ramifications for free expression in the digital sphere, infringing on Americans First Amendment rights and setting a potent and worrying precedent in a time of increased censorship of internet users around the world, advocacy groups said in a letter sent to lawmakers last week.
On a very basic level, dreams are what we experience as images, sounds and other sensations, resulting from an internal mental process that happens when we are asleep.

Dreams that we have while we sleep can be pleasant, scary, funny, exotic, sometimes extremely personal and sometimes very far-fetched. No matter what, our dreams have never failed to intrigue us, puzzle us, sometimes even embarrass us, and we often wonder if our dreams have a bearing on something in our real life.

Most of us wish to sleep on, more so when someone tries to wake us up in the middle of a pleasant dream. Or, we wake up with a jolt, sometimes sweating profusely and extremely relieved that it was after all a bad dream that thankfully came to an end.

Dream Symbols and Meanings

Though prophetic, telepathic and other paranormal interpretations of dreams abound in traditional cultures from time immemorial and have even extended into modern societies, there is no solid scientific evidence that can support any of these claims of dream interpretation. Books and websites claiming to offer expert interpretation for every kind of dream can never be taken too seriously because dream experts never seem to agree upon a common code to crack dream symbols.

Dreams may have symbolic meaning but no one can claim to draw an authentic list of dream symbols because dreams are very personal. Symbols and their reference can differ from person to person. For example, dreaming of a snake has been interpreted variously as repressed sexuality, a healing or transformation process, unsettling emotions, an inner conflict-the list can go on depending on whether the dream had one/two/many, yellow/green/black snake (s) that chased/bit/killed someone or you.

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Freuds Dream Theories vs Modern Dream Research

Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist was the prominent forerunner of psychotherapy who developed the school of psychoanalysis and put forward dream theories and interpretations. Dubbing dreams the royal road to the unconscious, Freud described dreams as emerging from a persons suppressed areas of mindmost often a reflection of repressed childhood memories or associations, especially driven by unconscious sexual desire. Though modern dream research based on an understanding of human sleep cycles is putting forward more theories, there is no definitive answer to the question, 'Why do we dream?'

REM Sleep and Dreams

People who have a healthy sleep pattern at night have a particular stage of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) that lasts for about 90 minutes and can happen 3 to 4 times each night. REM sleep is the time when the brain is more active resembling a period of being awake. Experts have identified this REM period as the time when a person has dreams with story-like sequences, rich in content, action and emotion. A person tends to remember the dream if awakened during the REM sleep. Dreams during other stages of sleep may not be as vivid or memorable.

The Dream Process

Some experts in Sleep Medicine prefer to begin with the neurophysiological process of dreaming, to understand dreams. An EEG record of electrical signals from the brain while a person is asleep would show rapid-low-voltage brain activity during a dream and slow-waves between dreams.

The waves are connected to a memory consolidation process that the brain does each day as it arranges all thoughts of the day and arranges them according to the strength of emotion attached to each and the frequency with which each occurred. This process repeated daily and done throughout a lifetime helps us retain strong memoriesobvious or hidden, while weaker memories fade away.

The part of the brain that dreams is aware of the review of memories and researchers theorize that the brain tries to arrange strong, emotional memories as simple stories that are played during REM sleep.

Just as pleasant experiences are sometimes replicated in dreams, it is quite possible for dreams to reflect stress patterns, our anxieties and fears. Many of us have had dreams that relate to our current concerns and situations or events that troubled us in the past. Students anxiously preparing for exams tend to dream of examination halls or of sitting with a blank answer sheet or even have a nightmare where they seem to have forgotten all answers. People who had felt stressed while preparing for exams when they were young tend to dream of exam halls even in their sixties or even after they have retired from office work!

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Wet Dreams

A wet dream or a nocturnal emission happens when there is a spontaneous orgasm involving the release of semen during sleep for a male or a wet vagina for a female. An erotic dream can result in nocturnal emission and you may or may not remember the dream sequence when you wake up. Wet dreams can be common in adolescents and young adults and there is nothing a person can do to control it. It does not happen as a result of conscious masturbation. Some teenagers who find wet dreams worrisome need to understand that it is a normal occurrence that's part of growing up. If it still disturbs, you can see a psychologist.

Some dreams can make you happy, refresh you, energize you, give you a new lead and set you on a new course of action when you wake up. Some dreams can puzzle you even frighten you. The worrisome ones, you can dismiss them as just dreams. But if certain recurrent dreams or nightmares continue to disturb, frighten, or distress you, visit a psychiatrist who can detect an inner conflict and perhaps counsel you and set your mind at ease.
analysis

Our dear elder, comrade, friend, leader and mentor Mosie Moolla died on 25 March at the age of 88. It was a sad day for all who enjoyed his vibrance, good humour and insight. Here is Moolla's profile from the book Men of Dynamite published by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

Moosa "Mosie" Moolla -- revolutionary, leader and democrat -- has over the years paid a heavy price for his beliefs and principles. During the course of his life he was cruelly separated from his children, detained on numerous occasions, faced the chilling prospect of being hanged when tried for treason and spent 28 years in exile.

Mosie was born on 12 June 1934 in the small western Transvaal town of Christiana, where his father ran a successful import-export business. The family was forced to relocate to Bloemhof, a nearby town, following the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mosie did his primary schooling in Bloemhof. Since there were no high schools catering for blacks, Mosie was forced to move to Johannesburg in 1949 to pursue his secondary education.

The exciting developments in national and international politics during this period sparked Mosie's curiosity about current affairs. He recalls the 1946-47 Passive Resistance Campaign against the Ghetto Act, India's march to independence and the Indonesian struggle for freedom.

Boarding with a Congress stalwart, Ouma Bhayat, and surrounded by Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) activists such as Dr Vallabh Jaga, Dr Zainab Asvat and Dr Abdulhaq Patel, Mosie was recruited into the newly launched Transvaal...
analysis

After creating havoc at the funeral procession, the Mozambican police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disband a legal memorial march to celebrate the life and legacy of the people's rapper, Azagaia.

On Saturday, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) violently repressed marches held across Mozambique in tribute to the musician Azagaia and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of young people. The police injured and arrested innocent citizens who took to the streets simply to honour the "rapper of the people".

Plans for the march had been communicated to the Maputo Municipal Council which, surprisingly, did not show any objection. In a letter sent to the organisers on Friday, March 17, the mayor of Maputo called for "the observance of all regulatory norms for the exercise of the right to demonstrate, namely about the route, the intended purposes and the limitation of time".

That's what young people did, or rather, wanted to do.

From 7am they began to gather at the Eduardo Mondlane statue, the starting point of the march.

But when they arrived, they were faced with a strong contingent of armed police. When the PRM was informed that the Maputo Municipal Council was aware of the march and had communicated it to the PRM and to the State Information and Security Service, the police officers said they had "superior orders" to prevent the...
When Hannah Bonnett auditioned for her first role on a Broadway tour, she would have never guessed it would be a leading role portraying an iconic character in pop culture.

Bonnett, a New Jersey native, has been on the Broadway tour of "Legally Blonde: The Musical" since October of last year, where she is playing the lead role of Elle Woods. The tour will be making a stop at the Midland Center for the Arts for three performances at 7:30 p.m. on March 31, and at 1/7:30 p.m. on April 1.

Growing up, Bonnett was a competitive cheerleader who turned her attention to auditioning for musicals in middle school after she noticed her friends were trying out for them. It was not easy at first for her though.

I auditioned and realized very quickly that I was absolutely terrified to sing, Bonnett said. As an eighth-grader, I thought to myself, Well, I will keep doing this until I am not scared of it anymore. Weirdly enough, that is how I fell in love with it.

Bonnett stayed busy after graduating college at Pace University, working everywhere from Maine at a campground, to singing classic 80s rock songs on an Alaskan cruise ship. She has also done off-Broadway performances of "The Big Bang Theory: the Musical" and "Wizard of Oz."

When Bonnett decided to audition for the musical, she initially went for the role of Vivian, being the character that interested her and that she saw herself as the most. She never thought of herself as someone who could play Elle Woods.

I thought I was everyone else but Elle and the team thankfully saw something in me I did not see in myself, Bonnett said. I guess I am a little more like Elle than I thought.

Tickets for the show in Midland can be purchased at the centers website. The Daily News spoke with Bonnett about the tour, how they modernize the musical to the present day, and her thoughts on playing the character of Elle Woods.

MDN: What made you want to audition for Legally Blonde: the Musical?

Bonnett: I had been auditioning for the show since about April and I had been in for six different parts. I had never been seen for Elle. I never thought I would play Elle Woods. It was never something in my mind's eye. When I actually ended up getting the appointments from my agent, I laughed and said There is no way I am going to book this. This is not the right job for me. Well, here I am about six months later doing it every single night, having the time of my life. It (goes) to show what is meant for you will not pass you by. I am grateful to be here.

What connection you have with the movie version of Legally Blonde?

Bonnett: I grew up with the movie. It is such an iconic film about girl power, an underdog story, which I always think is really beautiful because anyone can relate to an underdog story. It is not just for women. It is for everybody. I loved watching the movie growing up with Reese Witherspoon I had seen Legally Blonde on Broadway on YouTube and I have always loved the show. Funny enough, I used to joke it was the show I could never book (while) doing community theater. It was not the show for me, (but) I guess the universe had other plans and I was meant to do it at this time in my life.

What is great about our production is we bring in things that everybody loves from the movie, as well as the original musical, but we also add so many different elements. We take the individualization of each person, and we bring that to the forefront. That is what makes it so special, relatable, and current to today's modern audience. I love that we use social media, we talk about the #MeToo movement, and we are inclusive across the board. I think that is extremely important as we move into new art and bringing that art from around the country to inspire all people.

Can you go into more detail about the differences between the movie and stage musical?

Bonnett: What is wonderful is that the story is timeless, and it is unfortunate in some senses for the script. When we talk about the #MeToo movement, that is something that has been going on for so many years. The way that we talk about that and show women empowerment and how they support each other to rise above that is extremely beautiful. We have funny elements (too). We have our phones out, we have Tik-Tok dances, we talk about current celebrities, our outfits (from) top of the line (brands like) Zara.

We have tried to make it so that if current audience members come in to see the show, they are looking at the people on stage going, Oh my gosh, that looks just like me! Oh my goodness, I talk that way too!

What about the film/musicals message of women empowerment do you enjoy portraying?

Bonnett: I hope that, especially our younger audiences, as they move into whatever industry they choose to go into, they realize that you can break barriers, you can be bold, and you can be brave. That is what will pay off in the end. Do not try to dim your light for somebody else, continue to shine brightly and go after your dream. I am the poster child for that. I kept working and working and my dreams came true. I always like to say, If my dream can come true, yours can as well.

What has it been like portraying an iconic character like Elle Woods?

Bonnett: It has been the greatest honor and thrill of my life. I pinch myself every day. Sometimes I stand out there and I have to remind myself, Oh, I am not just Hannah in a costume. I am Elle Woods right now. That is an amazing and constant reminder

More and more, I have been able to get to know Elle, I do realize that her and I at our core are pretty much the same human being. I might wear a little less pink in real life, although it has taken over my whole wardrobe, but I find that she is a cheerleader for all people. She is brave, bold, and wants to break that glass ceiling no matter what. But she also wants to bring other people with her to the finish line and I find those core elements are morally things that I believe in. I learn things about her every single night.

What is touring on Broadway like? Is it different to the travel and work you did prior?

Bonnett: Touring is very different. Some nights, we are only in a city for maybe a couple of hours to do the show, sleep and then get up and go somewhere else the next day. It is constantly shifting and changing (and) I have learned to be extremely adaptable. You learn to take care of yourself mentally and physically. It is exhausting in so many ways, but at the end of the day, it is the most rewarding job as a performer that you could wish for. Every audience you go to is in a different place and they are always so grateful to have theatre, especially Broadway caliber theatre, in their cities.

Is musical theater something you are hoping to continue to pursue once this tour finishes?

Bonnett: Yes, definitely. I would be honored to be able to do this show for the rest of my life, but I really look forward to seeing what else lies ahead for me, wherever that may be.
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CADILLAC  Manistee High School band members were able to attend their first in-person state solo and ensemble festival since 2019 recently, and the students showed no signs of jitters.

All 11 Manistee students who performed at the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association State Solo and Ensemble Festival March 18 at Mackinaw Trail Middle School in Cadillac earned medals.

In solo and ensemble, students perform a selection of their choosing for adjudication. During state solo and ensemble festivals, students must also perform proficiency exams.

"Those performing solos in grades 10-12 also had to play five memorized scales and sight read," said Andrea Mack, Manistee band director. "They can chose the level of difficulty, with Proficiency 3 being the most difficult, and only seniors can play this level after passing Proficiency 2 in their junior year and Proficiency 1 in their sophomore year."

Emily Sullivan performed Proficiency 3 clarinet and piano solos.

Proficiency 1 solos were performed by Brenna Lind, flute; Tristan Gras, marimba; Vincent Wang, horn; Annika Arendt, alto saxophone; and Sarah Huber, marimba.

Performing as a brass quintet were Tug Thuemmel, Damien McEntaffer, Wang, Marina Reid and Luke Senters.

Additionally, two Manistee students earned a special distinction from the judges.

"Soloists have the opportunity to be nominated by their judges to advance to the Outstanding Soloist Competition that will be held at (Central Michigan University) on March 31," Mack said. "Emily Sullivan was nominated for her clarinet and piano solos and Sarah Huber for her marimba solo."

On March 17, the MHS band performed at the Great Lakes Band Festival at Eastern Michigan University.

Thirteen high school bands from all over the state performed for each other and a panel of clinicians comprised of Albert Nguyen, University of Memphis director of bands; Steve Peterson, retired University of Illinois director of bands; and Shanti Simon,University of Oklahoma director of bands.

"We listened to three other groups perform: the wind ensembles from Traverse City Central High School and Lakeland High School, as well as the featured performance by the Eastern Michigan University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Mary Schneider," Mack said.

MHS performed "March of the Belgian Paratroopers," by Pierre Leemans and arranged by Jim Swearingen; "Courtly Airs and Dances," by Roy Nelson; and "Kalos Eidos," by Carol Brittin Chambers.

"We received very complimentary feedback from the clinicians," Mack said.

After Manistee's performance, the students enjoyed a clinic with Nguyen.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraqi lawmakers passed early Monday controversial amendments to the country's election law that could undermine the chances for smaller parties and independent candidates to win seats in future polls.

The amendments increase the size of electoral districts, a move widely backed by the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Iran-backed parties. The coalition forms the majority bloc in the current parliament, which brought Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to power last year.

The bill passed in a 206-12 vote in the 329-seat assembly, according to media reports. The remaining lawmakers were absent from the hourslong session, which started on Sunday night.

The amendments also reverse key articles passed ahead of the 2021 federal election and redraw the electoral maps to have Iraq return to one electoral district per each governorate.

Several Iraqi political blocs and independent parliamentarians had rejected the amendments and stalled the vote for weeks. Hundreds of protesters gathered over the past weeks to voice their opposition.

Independent lawmakers who objected to the law walked out of a previous session, causing it to be postponed due to a lack of quorum. They attempted to stall the vote again overnight by protesting and disturbing the count, before Iraqi security forces escorted them out of the assembly hall.

On Saturday, hundreds protested in Baghdad against the new amendments, while some protesters in other parts of Iraq blocked roads with burning tires.

These amendments will only fortify the rulers in power and their corruption, and exclude independent and new political groups," one of the protesters, Mohamed Al-Daami, told The Associated Press. He described the amendments as unjust.

Iraq's previous election law was adopted following mass anti-government protests in 2019. That legislation gave independent candidates and grassroots movements a better chance at winning seats. Its drafting and the subsequent 2021 elections involved technical assistance from the United Nations. The vote was lauded as a substantial achievement by Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. special representative to Iraq.

The outcome of that election shocked the Coordination Framework, which lost seats while its chief political rival, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was declared the clear victor.

Al-Sadr's political bloc gained 74 seats in the 2021 polls, while the Fatah Coalition, made up of Iran-backed parties, lost nearly half of its votes and more than two-thirds of its seats, compared to the 2018 polls.

Despite emerging as the clear winner in the election, al-Sadr did not win a parliamentary majority needed to form the government. An alliance with Sunni and Kurdish parties fell apart after the cleric, frustrated by months of political impasse, ordered his lawmakers to resign in a sudden move that many observers said was a miscalculation.

The move allowed his political rivals in the Coordination Framework to amass the needed parliamentary majority to form the government and name al-Sudani as prime minister.

Amending the electoral law and reversing the articles that effectively disempowered the ruling coalition from the vote emerged as a priority for the new government.

Iraq's provincial elections are slated for Nov. 6, the country's first local vote in a decade. Independent candidates fear the elections under the new law will empower ruling parties, which they accuse of rampant corruption.

The Iraqi government hast not yet scheduled the country's next general elections.
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Best Universities analyzed trend data up to the 2020-21 academic year from the National Center for Education Statistics to see how Pell Grants and other financial aid types stack up over years of rising tuition.
editorial

The illegal activities of political actors in the just concluded 2023 general elections have reinforced the need for tough punitive actions against electoral offenders and for accelerated actions towards passing the bill for the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission into law, which many believe would provide a better legal framework to deal with electoral crimes.

Both in the presidential/National Assembly elections that took place on February 25, 2023, and the governorship and state legislative elections conducted on March 18, there were widespread activities of political thugs who not only snatched ballot boxes and destroyed election materials but attacked voters both at polling areas and in the streets. As a result, the general elections were generally characterised by violence, voter suppression and intimidation, vote trading and falsification of results, among others. In fact, many willing voters were prevented from exercising their franchise if they were not going to vote in a certain way, and many were bruised, bloodied and even killed in their attempt to exercise the right to vote.

On the part of the officials, many electoral officers were reported to have failed, refused, to follow the guidelines, resulting in a large section of the populace doubting the integrity of INEC and the electoral process it had overseen. On the part of security agents, while many of them performed creditably, there were a lot of complaints that they not only failed to protect the voters - despite giving copious assurances that they were ready to safeguard the voters and their rights - but that a few bad eggs among them joined in undermining the process by turning themselves into willing tools in the hand of desperate politicians to snatch ballot boxes and oppress opposition politicians.

Therefore, it is not surprising that there have been strident calls from home and abroad for the punishment of electoral offenders.

Both the United States of America and the United Kingdom frowned at the wilful breaches of the electoral process by the political elite and have vowed to take action on them.

The United States Mission in Nigeria denounced the violent voter intimidation and suppression that took place in Lagos, Kano and other states and called on Nigerian authorities to bring to justice any individuals found culpable. For its part, it would consider all available actions, including additional visa restrictions, on individuals believed to have undermined the elections.

The United Kingdom is also ready to take action against electoral offenders in Nigeria after it revealed that it was collating names of politicians it would impose visa bans on and other sanctions for their engagement in electoral fraud and anti-democratic activities.

Here in Nigeria, several individuals and civil society organisations have added their voices to this demand to punish electoral crimes. The Joint Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks lamented the commercialisation of the party primary elections, saying it had institutionalised vote-buying which eventually translated and resurfaced in the general election.

The group called on the authorities to punish electoral offenders of any kind no matter how highly placed they are to discourage others from perpetrating electoral offences.

Similarly, the Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria (MMWG) called on the police authorities to ensure that those arrested for electoral crimes during elections throughout the country face the full wrath of the law.

It lamented that in all elections held in the country so far, prosecution and punishment for election offences have been non-existent; and that this year's election must not go the same way.

As a newspaper, we commend the US and UK for this move, for Nigeria's elite often get away with political crimes.

As a newspaper we commend both the US and UK governments for their move to impose sanctions on Nigeria's political elite who often get away with electoral offences in their home country. It will send a clear signal to them that the whole world is taking note of their illegal activities.

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We also call on the Nigerian authorities to quickly prosecute those already in their custody for various infractions. It is heartwarming that, according to the inspector-general of the police, no fewer than 203 electoral offenders arrested in 20 states during the just concluded general election would soon face prosecution. However, the magnitude of the infractions show that this number is just a scratch. The police authorities need to carry out more investigations and bring in more suspects for trial, with many of them caught on videos committing electoral offences.

Finally, we urge the present National Assembly to quicken the passage of the Executive Bill forwarded to it for the establishment of National Electoral Offences Commission before the end of its tenure.
The Third Reichs apocalyptic last stand

Germany lost the war long before May 1945. But Hitler refused to surrender, instead dragging the country into the abyss. Although there was a huge imbalance in force between Germans and Soviets, the Nazis maintained surprising advantages in equipment, experience, and tactics.

This propaganda image, depicting Soviet soldiers raising the Red Flag on the Reichstag, has since become one of the most recognisable images of the battle.

The Battle of Berlin has few historic parallels. It was 1945, and the Germans had lost the war by the winter of 1942/1943  if not already by the winter of 1941/1942.

Certainly, once Hitlers summer/autumn offensive of 1942 had been defeated at Stalingrad, the history of the Second World War in Europe, on all fronts, was essentially one of dogged defence, step-by-step retreat, and slow contraction of the Nazi empire.

The reason was simple enough: the overwhelming industrial superiority of the Allied alliance that had been conjured into being by Hitlers aggression.

It seems likely that the Soviet Union could eventually have defeated Nazi Germany on its own. Certainly, the US commitment was relatively modest until the campaign in northwest Europe during the last year of the war. The number of German divisions deployed in North Africa and then Italy pales in comparison with the number on the Eastern Front in 1943.

Soviet tank crews parade in Moscow after the victory. Sheer numbers of men and machines were the decisive factor. Image: WIPL

At the beginning of April 1945, the Soviet forces had Berlin in their sights. A force was assembled in the small bridgehead on the west bank of the Oder near Kustrin. Zhukovs 1st Belorussian Front was preparing to attack the Seelow Heights, the last natural line of defence before the German capital.

Stalin had played on the intense rivalry between Zhukov and Koniev, authorising whoever first broke through the German defences to take the enemys capital.

Despite its enormous numerical superiority, the Red Army was suffering acute manpower problems  casualties in the offensives since mid-1943 had been horrendous, possibly totalling more than 4 million dead. In the absence of a cadre of professional senior NCOs, it relied heavily on sketchily trained junior officers to carry out routine training and disciplinary duties. In the infantry, these young officers had an average life expectancy of a few weeks.

In the final months of the war, the Soviet reputation for savagery cost them dearly. In the West, many German troops were only too ready to surrender to British or American forces. All but the most fanatical Nazis knew that, if they picked the right moment to surrender, they would probably survive and be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention.

In contrast, Germans on the Eastern Front had no illusions about their far lower chances of having their surrender accepted, and, even if it was, surviving captivity. Lieutenant Pavel Nikiforov, a Soviet reconnaissance officer, noted that: Many Germans seemed to feel that they were going to die anyway, so they might as well die fighting.

Goebbels inspects some of the last defenders of the Third Reich.

This attitude was strengthened by the fact that, ever since entering Germany, Soviet troops had committed endless atrocities against civilians, urged on by an official campaign of revenge put out by the Soviet press and radio.

It seems likely that Red Army personnel were responsible for raping at least 1.4 million German women.

But the Germans themselves had brought about this outcome, largely because of the bestial behaviour in the countries they occupied. The Resistance was a major factor in the military equation, pinning down German troops and undermining the Third Reichs mobilisation of resources.

One of the most-famous pictures from the Battle of Berlin  two Volkssturm recruits, young and old, await the Soviets in a trench armed with Panzerfausts, the short-range, single-use, anti-tank rocket.

The traditional German elites  political, corporate, and military  knew the war was lost long before the end. In 1918, their forebears had negotiated an armistice and accepted a victors peace, in order to save Germany both from invasion, conquest, and possible dismemberment, and to prevent socialist revolution.

This was the rational course after 1942. But the process of Gleichschaltung  streamlining or coordination  since 1933 had created a Nazi-dominated state backed by a ferocious police terror that had effectively disempowered those traditional elites. They were unable to act.

Instead, Hitler dragged the whole of Germany into the abyss of his own defeat  an act of military madness by a deranged regime.

So how did the Soviet juggernaut put an end to the Nazi tyranny?

This is an extract from a 17-paged special feature on the Battle of Berlin, published in the June/July 2020 issue of Military History Matters.

In our special this time, David Porter analyses the extraordinary battle. He details the imbalance in force, but lays stress on German advantages in equipment, experience, and tactics. Then, he describes the battle itself, drawing out the key features of the apocalyptic end of the Third Reich.

Interested in receiving the latest cutting-edge research and detailed analysis from world-renowned historians? Click here to find out more about subscribing to the magazine.
MHM places D-Day within the context of Operation Overlord, picking out some of the most brutal clashes and key events, from the huge-scale preparations to the Liberation of Paris. To see this timeline as it appears in the magazine, click here.

APRIL 22 1944:

Allied forces begin Exercise Tiger, a rehearsal for the D-Day invasion

JUNE 06: 6.30am :

American forces land at Omaha Beach

JUNE 06: 7.25am :

British and Free French forces land at Sword Beach in Operation Overlord

Stretching 8km from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Sword Beach was the farthest east of the landing points during the operation, and around 15km from Caen. The initial landings were achieved with low casualties, but the British forces ran into heavily defended areas behind the beachhead. These were the only Allied landings that faced attack by German Panzer divisions on 6 June 1944.

JUNE 06: 7.35am :

British forces land at Gold Beach

JUNE 06: 7.55am :

Canadian and British forces land at Juno Beach

JUNE 06: 8.30am :

Brecourt Manor assault

JUNE 07 :

The British forces initiate Operation Perch to capture German-occupied Caen

The intention of Operation Perch was to encircle and seize the German-occupied city of Caen, a major Allied objective in the early stages of the invasion of north-west Europe. Fierce German resistance and miscommunication among the British top-brass inhibited the operation, before its objectives were finally achieved.

JUNE 10 :

RAF successfully knocks out Panzer Group Wests La Caine headquarters

Three days after the Normandy landings, the new location of Panzer Group Wests headquarters was revealed to British intelligence, who had deciphered German signals traffic. On 10 june 1944, aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force bombed the village. The raid was carried out by 40 rocket-armed Typhoons in three waves from low altitude, and by 61 Mitchells, which dropped 500lb bombs from 12,000ft.

JUNE 11 :

Battle of Le Mesnilpatry

JUNE 13 :

Battle of Bloody Gulch

JUNE 13 :

Battle of Villers-Bocage

During Operation Perch, a Brigade group of the 7th Armoured Division attempted to exploit a gap in the German defences to the west of the city. The British bypassed the frontline, and reached the small town of Villers-Bocage, but the Germans had anticipated the thrust and hastily repositioned their reserves to cover their open flank. As the Brigade group advanced beyond the town, it was ambushed by German heavy tanks, which forced the British to abandon Villers-Bocage for a more defensible position. The Brigade group was withdrawn during the night of 14-15 June.

JUNE 23 :

British forces launch Operation Martlet

JUNE 28 :

Main attack of Operation Epsom

Operation Epsom was plagued by bad weather on 26 June, both at the battlefield itself, where rain had made the ground boggy and there was a heavy mist, and over the United Kingdom during the early hours of the morning, resulting in aircraft being grounded and the planned bombing missions being called off. However, No.83 Group RAF, already based in Normandy, were able to provide air support throughout the operation.

The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division resumed Operation Martlet at 0650, although without significant artillery support as this was diverted to the main operation. The Germans were able to slow the British advance, and then launched an armoured counter. This in turn was halted after a strong start, when British armour moved up, and the two sides engaged in a tank battle in the confined terrain. However, informed during the afternoon that a major British offensive was under way further east, SS-Standartenfuhrer Kurt Meyer of 12th SS Panzer called off the counter-attack, and ordered his tank companies to return to their initial positions south of Rauray. During the rest of the day, the 49th Division was able to make progress, halting just north of Rauray.

JULY 10-12 :

Operation Jupiter

JULY 18 :

Liberation of Caen

By the end of d-day, the allies had achieved their main goal of carving out a beachhead along the Normandy coast. They were then to move inland, with the Canadians and the British pushing south towards Caen. Caen was not to be an easy prize. From 7-12 June, the 3rd Canadian Division would encounter well-led and effective German troops, including an SS Panzer Division. Caen saw intense combat between Allied and Axis forces. British and Canadian forces finally captured the city on 9 July 1944. After the war, rebuilding took 14 years.

JULY 18-20 :

Operation Goodwood

JULY 19-25 :

Battle of Verrieres Ridge

JULY 25-27 :

Operation Spring

AUGUST 07 :

Germans launch a counter-attack

Operation Luttich was intended to break the Allied offensive in Normandy, and allow the Germans to destroy the Allied forces there. The operation was code-named Luttich (Liege), the point at which Ludendorff had opened the way for the great German march of encirclement across the rear of the French army exactly 30 years before.

AUGUST 14-21 :

Operation Tractable

AUGUST 21 :

German position in Normandy collapses after fierce fighting at Hill 262

Hill 262 or Mont Ormel Ridge, nicknamed The Mace (elevation 262m), was the location of a pivotal engagement fought as part of the wider battle of the Falaise Pocket during the Normandy campaign. The German Seventh Army had found itself surrounded by the Allies near the town of Falaise, and the Mont Ormel Ridge, with its commanding view of the area, sat astride the Germans only escape route. Polish forces seized the ridges northern height on 19 August 1944, and, despite being isolated and coming under sustained attack, held it until noon on 21 August, contributing greatly to the decisive Allied victory that followed.

AUGUST 25 :

Liberation of Paris

This is an extract from the 17-page extended D-Day feature in issue 46 of Military History Monthly, on sale 12th June 2014. To see this timeline as it appears in the magazine, click here.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister on Sunday, a day after he called on the Israeli leader to halt a planned judicial overhaul that has fiercely divided the country and prompted growing discontent within the ranks of the military. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv, blocking a main highway, following the announcement.

The dismissal signaled that Netanyahu will move ahead this week with the overhaul plan, which has sparked mass protests, angered military and business leaders and raised concerns among Israels allies. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against the plan.

In a brief statement, Netanyahus office said the prime minister had dismissed Gallant. Netanyahu later tweeted we must all stand strong against refusal.

Thousands of Israelis poured into the streets in protest after Netanyahu's announcement, blocking Tel Aviv's main artery, transforming the Ayalon highway into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags, and demonstrations took place in Jerusalem, Beersheba and Haifa.

The decision came less than a day after Gallant, a former senior general, called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next months Independence Day holidays, citing the turmoil in the ranks of the military over the plan.

While several other Likud members had indicated they might follow him, the party quickly closed ranks on Sunday, clearing the way for Gallants dismissal.

Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahus public diplomacy minister, said that Netanyahu summoned Gallant to his office and told him that he doesnt have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.

Gallant tweeted shortly after the announcement that the security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life mission.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Gallants dismissal "harms national security and ignores warnings of all defense officials.

The prime minister of Israel is a threat to the security of the state of Israel, Lapid wrote on Twitter.

Avi Dichter, a former chief of the Shin Bet security agency, is expected to replace him. Dichter had reportedly flirted with joining Gallant but instead announced Sunday he was backing the prime minister.

Netanyahus government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would grant parliament the authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority and limit judicial review of laws.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the constellation of laws will remove the checks and balances in Israels democratic system and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past three months to demonstrate against the plan.

Leaders of Israels vibrant high-tech industry have said the changes will scare away investors, former top security officials have spoken out against the plan and key allies, including the United States and Germany, have voiced concerns.

In recent weeks discontent has even surged from within Israels army  the most popular and respected institution among Israels Jewish majority. A growing number of Israeli reservists, including fighter pilots, have threatened to withdraw from voluntary duty in the past weeks.

Gallant had reportedly voiced concerns that the divisions in society were hurting morale in the military and emboldening Israels enemies across the region. I see how the source of our strength is being eroded, Gallant said.

Manuel Trajtenberg, head of an Israeli think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies, said that Netanyahu can dismiss his Defense Minister, he cannot dismiss the warnings he heard from Gallant.

Meanwhile, an Israeli good governance group on Sunday asked the countrys Supreme Court to punish Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the countrys judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a fierce opponent of the overhaul, asked the court to force Netanyahu to obey the law and sanction him either with a fine or prison time for not doing so. It said he was not above the law.

A prime minister who doesnt obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist, said Eliad Shraga, the head of the group, echoing language used by Netanyahu and his allies against protesters opposed to the overhaul. The prime minister will be forced to bow his head before the law and comply with the provisions of the law.

The prime minister responded saying the appeal should be dismissed and said that the Supreme Court didnt have grounds to intervene.

Netanyahu is barred by the countrys attorney general from directly dealing with his governments plan to overhaul the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement he is bound to, and which the Supreme Court acknowledged in a ruling over Netanyahus fitness to serve while on trial for corruption. Instead, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is spearheading the overhaul.

But on Thursday, after parliament passed a law making it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, Netanyahu said he was unshackled from the attorney generals decision and vowed to wade into the crisis and mend the rift in the nation. That declaration prompted the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to warn that Netanyahu was breaking his conflict of interest agreement by entering the fray.

The fast-paced legal and political developments have catapulted Israel into uncharted territory and toward a burgeoning constitutional crisis, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

We are at the start of a constitutional crisis in the sense that there is a disagreement over the source of authority and legitimacy of different governing bodies, he said.

If Netanyahu continues to intervene in the overhaul, Baharav-Miara could launch an investigation into whether he violated the conflict of interest agreement, which could lead to additional charges against him, Lurie said. He added that the uncertainty of the events made him unsure of how they were likely to unfold.

It is also unclear how the court, which is at the center of the divide surrounding the overhaul, will treat the request to sanction Netanyahu. The Movement for Quality Government said the court had given Netanyahu and the attorney general a week to respond.

Netanyahu is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he will try to seek an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul.



Associated Press journalist Tia Goldenberg contributed from Tel Aviv.
The Army found that 2,100 of its facilities had mold issues after a unique service-wide inspection of all of its active-duty barracks and office buildings between November and January, according to data provided by the service.

Service officials inspected nearly 70,000 facilities including barracks, child care facilities and Army-owned housing, the service said. The majority of buildings found to have mold issues were located in humid climates, such as Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Stewart, Georgia; and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

The inspections were done after a series of stories from Military.com exposing mold infestations in Army barracks, such as Fort Bragg and Fort Stewart, where beds and bags were covered and destroyed by mold, and photos showed walls and ceilings covered with black fuzz. Exposure to mold can cause a variety of health problems, including respiratory issues.

Read Next: Army Pulls Recruiting Ads After Jonathan Majors' Arrest

"The Army is committed to providing safe, quality housing, barracks and other facilities for our soldiers, families and civilians," Scott Malcom, a spokesperson for the Army's Installation Management Command, told Military.com in a statement. "A critical aspect of this commitment is ensuring all facilities are free of hazardous mold."

Inspections were ordered in a directive from Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in October after the mold problems became public.

Last year at Fort Bragg, roughly 1,100 soldiers had to be relocated to new living quarters due to spiraling mold issues in the damp climate. Twelve barracks at Fort Bragg were set to be demolished this year, five years ahead of schedule, and an additional five are set to be remodeled.

Garrison officials at Bragg scrambled over the summer to accommodate the displaced soldiers after the barracks were effectively condemned. Roughly half were given a housing allowance, a move typically reserved for higher-ranking or married troops.

Military.com was first to detail the scope of moldy and otherwise unlivable living conditions at some of Bragg's barracks. After a senior noncommissioned officer raised the issue behind the scenes with Wormuth, she dispatched officials to inspect the Smoke Bomb Hill barracks. Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the service's top enlisted leader, also toured some of the buildings.

Senior Army leadership, including Wormuth and Grinston, have made soldier quality-of-life issues -- such as mold-free housing -- a top priority but have faced an uphill battle with replacing half-century-old barracks.

Mold issues are nothing new to the Army. Aging barracks often have poor ventilation, shoddy construction and inconsistent support from maintenance teams.

For the first time, the new Army inspection data shows the scope of the problem, which until now has been exposed largely by anecdotes reported by the media. That has drawn attention to the issue but provided an incomplete picture of mold problems, which have been the bane of the rank and file for decades.

At the heart of the matter are funding and a lack of notable support on Capitol Hill to boost living standards for soldiers. The Army is seeking a massive cash boost of $288 million in funds to construct new barracks, far above the $49 million in the current year's budget.

Even that funding hike comes nowhere near what the service might need. So far, there has been no significant movement on Capitol Hill to supercharge funding for barracks and other living quarters in the coming budget.

The proposed funding for 2024 would pay for only five new barracks, one each at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and the Army Natick Soldier Systems Center in Massachusetts; and two at Fort Bragg.

A report last year from the Congressional Budget Office found that to fix up just two installations with the greatest need for new barracks -- Schofield Barracks and Fort Bragg -- would cost $11.2 billion.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Army Will Check for Mold in All Barracks and Facilities as Service Grapples with Housing Conditions
The soldiers were methodical as they went through their gear and prepared to venture into the jungle Tuesday. They had just arrived by helicopter at the Army's jungle warfare school in Wahiawaknown as the Lightning Academyafter conducting a beach landing by boat and launching a simulated raid at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows.

After they accounted for their equipment, they moved carefully into the thick jungle as rain began to fall and humidity gripped the air.

They're members of the Army's elite 75th Ranger Regiment who have been in Hawaii the past two weeks. In the past two decades, the unit was continually deployed, conducting dangerous raids in Iraq and Afghanistan as Rangers were thrust into some of the most intense battles of those conflicts.

Rangers are considered some of the Army's best-trained and most capable soldiers. But for members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion's Bravo Company out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, training in Hawaii proved to be a humbling experience. The Pentagon has been shifting its attention to the Pacific amid tensions with China, and soldiers are training for the potential of a very different sort of war.

As a special operations formation that conducts sensitive missions, members of the unit are normally not authorized to speak to news media, but an officer with Bravo Company spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on the condition that his name not be used.

"The intent of the trip was to get Bravo Company Rangers exposed to a jungle environment because we have relatively minimal exposure, " the officer said. "We've got a lot to learn, for sure. I think we've got to force ourselves to kind of fight some institutional knowledge and thinking that we've developed over time and probably the last two decades, and constantly find ways to force our Rangers to think differently than they have in the past."

The officer said operating in the water introduced challenges, noting that although Rangers train on boat operations while attending Ranger School, they really get only "intermittent touches " of training in the water and that landing a raid force at Bellows forced Rangers to operate "in a way that in recent history we're not super familiar with."

"The Marine Corps' facilities located at Bellows provide one of the premier training environments available to the Joint Force in Hawaii, " said Lt. Col. Rollin Steele, director of operations at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. "The fact that units travel from the mainland to utilize this training resource is a testament to the training area's dynamic nature and to the level of readiness a unit can obtain through training at ( Marine Corps Training Area Bellows)."

The Ranger Regiment outfits its soldiers with the Army's most advanced equipment to carry out their missions. But in the jungle they can't necessarily rely on gadgets that once gave them an advantage. For instance, the Ranger officer said that "the regiment has gotten quite used to operating at night and using night vision optics and devices, " but under the thick jungle canopy, "that's just not really gonna be something you can leverage."

The Lightning Academy is run by the Schofield Barracks-based 25th Infantry Division. Its commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Ryan, who was himself a member of the regiment and once led Rangers in Afghanistan, said the facility is becoming an increasingly in-demand training ground. Recently, a battalion of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C., trained on Oahu.

" The 25th Infantry Division is the U.S. Army's Pacific division, " said Ryan. "For decades we've developed a unique set of jungle skills and capabilities that we believe are critical to operate in this region and to share with our allies and partners. ... We are seeing an increased demand from the Army and (Special Operations Forces ) for training in a multi-island environment and in tropical and jungle conditions. There is no better place to conduct tough, realistic training than at Lightning Academy."

Operating in the jungle can be dangerous. On Tuesday one Bravo Company Ranger was injured while training deep in the jungle, suffering a laceration to his leg. According to Army officials, the soldier was treated on-site by his platoon medic and was extracted from the field by Lightning Academy jungle instructors for more treatment.

"When a service member sustains an injury in the jungle, the skills and techniques taught at Lightning Academy are invaluable to ensuring that they receive expedient care, " said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey VanAntwerp, the 25th's deputy commanding general for ope rations. "In this case the injured Ranger was treated and fully returned to duty."

In Iraq and Afghanistan, special operations forces such as the Rangers often pursued their own missions largely separately from conventional forces. But the operations that the military is preparing for now are a far cry from the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations where U.S. forces took for granted that they controlled the skies and had a firepower advantage.

Fighting a large, heavily armed force could require elite special troops to work more closely with larger conventional units to get the job done. The Bravo Company officer told the Star-Advertiser said that this exercise has given his Rangers an opportunity to practice that as they came to depend on the 25th Infantry throughout.

"That's been an unforeseen but great thing about this trip, " said the Ranger. "The exposure that our Rangers got for the advanced mobility course in Lightning Academy was eye-opening and humbling. ... We don't have that institutional knowledge, and it's a fresh reminder that there are a lot of elements in the Army doing very different things, and there's a lot to learn from other organizations across the Army as a whole."

In the Pacific, tensions have mounted in the South China Sea, particularly between China and Taiwan. Beijing considers self-ruled Taiwan a rogue province, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to take control of Taiwan through military force if necessary.

Ryan said that "the more we can expose the Army and the Joint Force to the Indo-Pacific region, the better because the training we do out here highlights the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific."

The buildup of military forces in the region has fueled fears of a major Pacific conflict. U.S. military leaders say the Chinese military is no longer talking to them even as regional leaders call for diplomacy to cool tensions.

The bloody fighting in Ukraine that kicked off in 2022 when Russian forces tried unsuccessfully to seize Kyiv has offered a harrowing glimpse into what such a conflict could look like as both Russian and Ukrainian forces slug it out with tanks, artillery and aircraft. The war has unleashed destruction on Ukrainian towns and cities and killed thousands of people.

U.S. military commanders are considering the gravity of a scenario where casualties are much higher than they've ever seen and the ability to evacuate them from the battlefield could be heavily restricted. In 2022 during an exercise at the Pohakuloa Training Area, Ryan told the Star-Advertiser, "We talked about the golden hour in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, getting casualties back to a higher level of care, within an hour of point of injury. It's just not going to be realistic on a battlefield like this."

But although tensions are high in the Pacific, Gen. Charles Flynn, Oahu-based commander of U.S. Army Pacific, expressed cautious optimism in February that a war isn't imminent and could be avoided, saying at an event in Washington, D.C., that the Chinese military itself might not feel it's prepared to take Taiwan.

"The complexity of a joint island landing campaign is not a small matter, and you have to be an incredibly professional, well-trained, well-led forceand they're working on itbut I will tell you that from my perspective they're not 10 feet tall ; they have work to do, " Flynn said. "I think that now is the time for us to get into position, to be able to deter that event from happening."

The Bravo Company officer said he expects that the Rangers will likely be back in Hawaii as the Pentagon's focus on the Pacific grows.

"I think the relationship out here is gonna grow immensely, " he said. "I think people are gonna continue to try to come out here and train in this environment, probably on a yearly basis."

___

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SEOUL, South Korea  A nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies expanding drills.

The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the Norths weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats. The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive in the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North's capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japans military said the missiles, which landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Korea's illicit nuclear weapons and missiles programs.

North Korea, which has weathered tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2016 over its nuclear developments, didn't immediately comment on the launches.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and live-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against the North's rising threats.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

The weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The country's leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical whether such a device was a major new threat and Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Monday that it considers the North Korean claims likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets, communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signaling that its practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the Norths announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Koreas air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seouls three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the Norths leadership and key military facilities.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
A debate in Congress over openly serving transgender troops is taking another turn Monday as a Democratic bill is introduced opposing an earlier proposal by Republicans that would force them to go back to serving under their birth sex.

The new bill, sponsored by Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., would ensure anyone who meets occupational standards can serve in the military regardless of race, color, national origin, religion or sex, which the bill specifies includes gender identity and sexual orientation.

Transgender military service -- and transgender rights more broadly across the U.S. -- remains politically contentious more than two years after President Joe Biden signed an executive order lifting a ban on their service put in place by his predecessor Donald Trump. The previous administration argued open service by an estimated 8,980 active-duty transgender troops would hurt military effectiveness and morale.

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"Young people listen and hear what their political leaders say and internalize it, and I want young trans kids and LGBTQ+ kids across the country to know that they are respected and loved and deserve to be wherever they want to be," Jacobs, whose brother identifies as transgender, said in an interview with Military.com.

The bill, which has 22 Democratic co-sponsors, faces an uphill climb in passing while Republicans control the House, but Jacobs said reintroducing it offers a message of support to transgender Americans.

Republicans last month introduced a bill that would disqualify most transgender people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria from serving in the military.

Gender dysphoria is the medical term for the feeling of distress caused by the misalignment between someone's gender identity and sex assigned at birth. But the American Medical Association maintains gender dysphoria is not a "medically valid" reason to disqualify someone from military service.

The Republican bill, from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., would go further than the Trump administration's ban by requiring transgender service members who have already come out to go back to serving as their sex assigned at birth. The Trump administration's policy allowed those who came out under the Obama administration policy to continue serving openly.

"Biden has turned our military into a woke social experiment," Rubio said in a statement last month, echoing other Republican criticism that the Biden administration is overly fixated on social justice issues. "It is a stupid way to go about protecting our nation. We need to spend more time thinking about how to counter threats like China, Russia, and North Korea and less time thinking about pronouns."

Biden quickly reversed Trump's ban when he took office in 2021, and transgender troops are able to serve openly now, with no clear evidence that it is a detriment to the military.

But advocates for open service fear a future president could flip the policy back to a ban again if protections aren't enshrined in law. LGBTQ advocates estimate that nearly 15,000 transgender people serve in the military -- far higher than the Defense Department's own estimate of 8,980.

Jacobs' bill, which supporters have dubbed the "Truman Amendment" in a nod to President Harry Truman's 1948 order to racially desegregate the military, was introduced in previous years by now-retired Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.

In 2019, it passed the House as an amendment to that year's National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, though it was later taken out of the final version of the bill that became law.

At the time, 10 Republicans voted in support of the amendment. All but two of those Republicans are no longer in Congress, and one of the two who are still in, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has since become one of the party's harshest critics of the Biden administration and social justice in the military.

Despite the changed landscape, Jacobs said she's hopeful her bill could still get bipartisan support -- and that she's also worried the Rubio and Banks legislation will gain steam.

Jacobs wouldn't say whether she will offer her bill as an amendment to the NDAA, the annual must-pass military authorization bill, saying she is discussing strategy with other House and Senate Democrats.

House Republicans have promised to allow all lawmakers to offer amendments on the floor, in contrast to recent years when the House Rules Committee decided which amendments got floor votes. It's unclear whether that promise will hold for a mammoth bill such as the NDAA, which typically attracts thousands of proposed amendments.

An open amendment process could allow Jacobs to get a vote on her bill -- or Republicans to hold a vote on the transgender ban bill.

"It's an important thing to do for our national security because we're already having incredible recruitment and retention issues, and the last thing we should be doing is telling people who are otherwise qualified to join the military that they shouldn't join it," said Jacobs, who is reintroducing the bill days before the annual Transgender Day of Visibility on Friday.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Republicans Tee Up Challenge to Open Transgender Military Service Ahead of House Majority
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.

"What's happening at Fort Hood?" That's the question I asked a congressional committee on July 29, 2020.

The hearing was designed to examine sexual harassment at Fort Hood, Texas, held less than a month after the dismembered and burned remains of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, who had served at the base, were found. Less than three years later, I find myself here again, facing yet another death of a young, Latina soldier that is being disregarded by the command of Fort Hood.

Pvt. Ana Fernanda Basaldua Ruiz died earlier this month after experiencing sexual harassment, her family has told news outlets. So I repeat, what is happening at Fort Hood?

After Guillen's killing led to protests, an investigation released in December 2020 found "major flaws" at Fort Hood and a command climate that then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy described as "permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault." The Army ordered 14 officials, including several high-ranking leaders, to be relieved of command or suspended.

A study released in 2021 by the Rand Arroyo Center, a federally funded research group, found that women at Fort Hood had a far higher risk of sexual assault than the average woman in the Army. Researchers found that the total sexual assault risk to Army women at Fort Hood in 2018 was 8.4%, compared with a 5.8% risk for all women in the Army.

As an advocate myself, and as part of a movement called "the grassroot," we continue to work tirelessly on efforts to eradicate the permissiveness of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military. My biggest concern is that, with changes in the 2022 defense policy bill meant to help combat sexual harassment and assault, bases like Fort Hood have ostensibly declared victory. But how will the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army keep them accountable? Why does Fort Hood continue to foster this type of command climate? I feel that Fort Hood as a whole needs to be investigated, not just individual units that make headlines.

This case is all too personal. I entered the military at the age of 18, an Afro-Latina woman hoping that I could make a career out of military life. I wanted to create equity and show my patriotism toward this country, but in 1992 it was taken away from me by the act of assault. You hear these stories all too often. What I've learned in this space is that sexual harassment and sexual assault do not discriminate. This is a human issue, one that can be a major problem and should be a priority for the military. Because as numbers in assault and harassment go up, individuals wanting to join the military will start going down. Current Army Secretary Christine Wormuth has publicly said that concerns about assault and harassment are already having an impact on recruiting.

Prior to my 2020 testimony, 23 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood had died or been found dead that year; four were homicides, and seven were suicides. Only one death occurred in combat. How do these numbers happen? What type of place fosters a climate that makes individuals want to take their own lives? What type of homicides are taking place within a military installation?

What's even more disturbing is that all of this takes place behind a secured fence. If you're not privy to being in the military space, you have no idea this is going on. Tell me, shouldn't that make you concerned?

And now another death, the case of Basaldua. The story sounds the same: A young Latina soldier, who always aspired to become part of the military, gets harassed and ends up dead. Where did it take place? Fort Hood. The Army clearly is not being transparent with what happened, and the family needs answers because they need to grieve. Fort Hood is not allowing them to do so.

-- Lucy Del Gaudio is the senior manager of diversity, equity and inclusion at EssilorLuxottica and an Army veteran. She currently serves as the chief operating officer of The Pink Berets.
What is iron oxide?Iron oxide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula of Fe2O3. It is a reddish-brown powder and insoluble in water. It is mainly used as an inorganic pigment for colouring paint, rubber, plastics, buildings, etc. It can al...
Right-hander Jeff Hoffman has signed a minor league contract containing multiple opt-outs with the Minnesota Twins, reports Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. Per FanSideds Robert Murray, the opt-outs are for March 28, May 15, and June 15. The deal pays Hoffman $1.3MM when in the majors, and includes $50K incentives for pitching appearances in each of 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 games, meaning the deals potential value maxes out at $1.6MM total.

Hoffman, 30, was the 9th overall pick in the 2014 draft, selected by the Blue Jays. Following a swap to Colorado as part of the Troy Tulowitzki trade, Hoffman came up as a member of the Rockies in 2016, and spent parts of five seasons in a swing role for the club. Despite racking up 230 2/3 innings for the club across those five years, Hoffman never found his footing in Colorado, pitching to a 6.40 ERA (79 ERA+) with a 5.58 FIP.

Even in spite of those struggles, Hoffmans top prospect pedigree, impressive stuff, and ability to start all intrigued the Reds enough to swap reliever Robert Stephenson for him ahead of the 2021 campaign. Out of Coors Field for the first time in his big league career, Hoffman posted back to back seasons with an above average ERA+ in 2021 and 2022, combining for a 4.28 ERA (108 ERA+) and 4.86 FIP in 117 2/3 innings of work. The 2022 season in particular was a strong one for Hoffman, who pitched largely out of the bullpen en route to a 3.83 ERA (117 ERA+) and 4.30 FIP in 44 2/3 innings.

That encouraging uptick in performance wasnt enough for Hoffman to avoid getting non-tendered in November, however, and its easy to see why the Reds may have had concerns: Hoffman struggled with his control during his time in Cincinnati, walking a 12.8% of batters faced over the last two seasons, and his success last year may have been predicated, at least in part, on an unsustainable 7.5% of his fly balls leaving the yard despite an 8.7% barrel rate.

Now, Hoffman is set to compete for a role on Minnesotas pitching staff. Such a role seems likely to come in the bullpen, given the clubs deep group of rotation options. Hoffman seems particularly likely to compete for a spot in the Twins bullpen with fellow new arrival Dennis Santana, who was claimed off waivers from the Braves earlier today. Both right-handers have big stuff and have to this point in their careers struggled with control, but has shown himself to be an interesting long-relief or swing option in the big leagues, as well.

In this hypothetical camp battle, Hoffman has prospect pedigree on his side, but Santana has the advantage of youth in addition to even more impressive stuff: his fastball ranked in the 91st percentile in 2022, per Statcast, while Hoffmans ranked in just the 61st percentile (albeit with a more impressive 93rd percentile spin rate). Should Hoffman not make the Opening Day roster in Minnesota, the three opt-outs in his deal will provide him with ample opportunities to test the open market again, should he so choose.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday mourned the passing on of Lt. General Oladipo Diya, a former Chief of General Staff from 1993 to 1997 and vice chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994.

Diya, who was Chief of General Staff during the late Gen. Sani Abacha regime from November 1993 to December 1997, reportedly died at a Lagos hospital on Sunday morning after a brief illness, a few days to his 79th birth anniversary.

The president paid tribute to General Diya's, recalling his bold and courageous career in the Nigeria military and dedicated service to the country as General Officer Commanding, 82 Division, Commandant, National War College (1991-1993), Chief of Defence Staff and Military Governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985.

Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Femi Adesina, recalled that Diya was known for his brilliance, exceptional organizational skills and discipline, and he displayed these virtues in the important roles he held in office as a military officer.

The president saluted the former Chief of General Staff for his love, belief and loyalty to the country he cherished so much and fought gallantly on the frontlines to defend her unity.

On behalf of the federal government, the President extended heartfelt condolences to Diya's family, friends and colleagues.

President Buhari prayed that General Diya's soul finds rest with his Creator, just as he said may his contributions to the nation never be forgotten.

Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; as well as the former governor and Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial district, Ibikunle Amosun expressed their heartfelt condolences on the passage of General Diya whose death occurred in the early hours of Sunday.

Diya, who initially was a former Chief of Defence Staff before serving as a de facto vice president of Nigeria under the military administration between 1994 and 1997 died at the early hours of Sunday in his house in Lagos State.

Obasanjo in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi

He said, "It is noteworthy that in the course of his military service which straddled more than three decades, he acquitted himself as a dedicated officer and a real patriot. From the thick of the Nigerian Civil War to the post-war re-organisation of the Army, he distinguished himself as a seasoned soldier.

"The rare diligence, loyalty and resourcefulness with which he carried out his duties and responsibilities, culminated in his appointment as Commander 31, Airborne Brigade; Military Governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985; General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Nigeria Army in 1985; Commandant, National War College, 1991-1993; Chief of Defence Staff in 1993 and soon after, Chief of General Staff also in 1993; Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994 and later functioned as Nigeria's Number Two man under the military administration of General Sani Abacha from 1994 to 1997."

Obasanjo further recalled that General Diya lived a life of utter devotion in the course of public service saying, "I recall as a Military Governor of Ogun State, he made tremendous mark through dedication to duty, loyalty to his fatherland and an impeccable example of incorruptible leadership. He was courageous and quite a disciplinarian and a no-nonsense officer.

"In retirement, Diya contributed to national development as a private businessman, legal practitioner and a provider of employment for many of our people, Obasanjo hinted, stressing, "he is being mourned, therefore, beyond his immediate family and community. I believe the entire nation also shares the pain and grief for the irreparable loss of a distinguished son of Nigeria indeed."

"We, however, have cause to thank God that his life was a great success and many of his accomplishments will for long be remembered after him," Obasanjo was quoted as having said.

Also, president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, sent his condolences to the family of former Chief of General Staff, Lt. General Oladipo Diya, who died on Sunday morning, saying he lived a remarkable life as a soldier.

Recalling that the late Diya was former Nigeria's number citizen and military governor of Ogun State where he hailed from as well as holding several military positions before he became Chief of General Staff in 1993 as second in command to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Tinubu extolled the General's virtues.

Expressing sadness over the passing of Diya, Tinubu praised his contributions to national development and the military institution.

A statement by his media office signed by Tunde Rahman noted: "The news of the death of General Oladipo Diya early this morning came to me as a shock. I send my heartfelt condolences and sympathy to his immediate family, especially his wives and children.

"General Diya lived a remarkable life of a soldier and he made his mark in the military where he served our country diligently. As Military Governor of Ogun State, in the various military positions he held till he rose to the enviable position of Chief of General Staff and second in command to the Head of State, he served meritoriously.

"As much as he could, he played a stabilising role during one of the most turbulent periods in our nation's life in the aftermath of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. He will be remembered for his patriotism and service to the nation.

"My condolences to Governor Dapo Abiodun and the people of Ogun State. I pray that Almighty Allah comforts his family and all those he left behind. May God Almighty grant his soul eternal rest."

A former minister of Communication and military Commander, Major General Tajudeen Adisa Olarenwaju, rtd, also described the passing away of former number two man in the military regime of late General Sani Abacha, Lt. General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya (rtd) as national loss of a patriot, statesman, courageous officer and a fine gentleman.

Olanrenwaju, who was jailed together with Diya by their estranged boss, in a phantom coup but escaped death after the death of Abacha in 1998, extolled the virtues of General Diya as a principled military officer with high intellectual disposition.

"His legal knowledge coupled with vast military experience, made him excel on many fronts as a no-nonsense field officer or office administrator," said Olarenwaju.

He further expressed heartfelt condolences to the nuclear and extended families, colleagues and friends of the fallen hero.

General Diya would be remembered nationally as an iconic personality in the history of nation building in Nigeria, even though he was an officer.

Governor Abiodun in a statement issued yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Kunle Somorin described the departed army General as a "seasoned administrator, gentleman and officer", whose contributions to the development of the security architecture of Nigeria would remain a reference point for a longer time.

In eulogising Diya, Abiodun stressed that others carried on where late Diya left off and that Ogun State would not forget his role in its history.

He said, "He was courageous and daring, quick-witted and patriotic. Gen. Diya played frontline roles in the evolution and development of the state and his activities in the military, in part led to the eventual return and enthronement of democracy in the country In 1999".

Abiodun however, charged the family, friends and associates of the departed leader from Odogbolu in the Ogun East Senatorial District of the state to take solace in the fact that the late soldier-statesman played the parts assigned to him "by providence diligently, conscientiously and patriotically meritoriously".

Amosun, in his condolence, described the late Diya as an "accomplished Army General and qualified Legal Practitioner", who served Nigeria meritoriously in many capacities beginning from his commissioning as Army 2nd Lieutenant in March, 1967.

"His sharp intellect and diligence earned him diverse promotion and appointment as Platoon Commander, 6th Battalion, Ikeja; Commanding Officer, 101 Battalion; Deputy Adjutant-General; Director, Army Personnel Services; Commander, Nigerian Contingent in the UN Peacekeeping Operations and later Chief Military Personnel for the entire United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. He was also GOC 82 Division; Commandant, National War College; Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of General Staff".

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"General Diya was also well regarded for unusual grace upon his life as recipient of God's special anointing which ensured that he survived a myriad of intrigues and several near-death encounters in his Military and public service career. Undoubtedly, he was a child of destiny purposed to live long. In this wise, I join the Diya Family in thanksgiving to the Heavens for a life that runs its full course according to God's plan."

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta also commiserated with Ogun State Government, Diya family of Odogbolu and people of the state on the passing of Lt.-Gen. Oladipo Diya (retd).

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, on Sunday in Asaba, Okowa also condoled with Odogbolu community, and stated that the news of Diya's death was saddening, especially as the nation was currently in dire need of the wise counseling of well-meaning Nigerians, including the deceased.

He, however, remarked that the memories of the departed general would remain immortal, and urged Nigerians and Yoruba race in particular, to remember him for his illustrious contributions to the unity of Nigeria and sanctity of its sovereignty.

"As Deltans, we are extremely proud of the outstanding contributions of Gen. Diya to the Nigerian Army where he served in different capacities from 1964 to 1997, including as Vice Chairman, Provincial Ruling Council in 1994.

"He was also Military Governor of Ogun State from January, 1984 to August, 1985. Gen. Diya had an illustrious military career and served the nation with full dedication and commitment to duty.

"On behalf of my family, the government and people of Delta, I send my deepest condolences to the Diya family, the Yoruba nation and the people of Odogbolu where he hails from," the governor said.

He prayed Almighty God to grant the soul of the deceased eternal rest.
Cracker Barrel has decided to close its last remaining locations in the Portland, Oregon area, becoming the second notable chain this year to leave the city altogether.

The restaurant shuttered spots in Beaverton and Tualatin on March 20. A third location in Bend  about a 3.5-hour drive from Portland  also closed.

Earlier this month, Walmart announced a plan to shutter its last stores in Portland. The retailer cited an inability to meet financial expectations as the reason, although reports indicate theft also played a role.

Cracker Barrel cited the pandemic as the reason for the store closings.

We are saddened that we have been unable to overcome the impact the pandemic had on our business and have made the difficult decision to close the Beaverton, Tualatin and Bend locations, a spokesperson said.

Cracker Barrels lone remaining restaurant in Oregon is located in Medford, about a 4.5-hour drive from Portland.

The southern-themed restaurant chain operates over 600 locations nationwide.
DETROIT  Police are investigating after a man allegedly broke into an 80-year-old womans home and sexually assualted.

Police say the suspect, described as Black male in his 20s, approximately 5-foot-8 with a slim build, went to the victims home on Memorial Street near I-96 and entered through an open backdoor around 9 p.m. on Sunday.

According to Fox 2 in Detroit, the man asked the woman for food and money, but when she told him to leave, he grabbed her, pulled her outside, assualted her and fled the scene.

The suspect has not been arrested, police said. A family member is staying with the victim, according to the TV station.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 313-596-1950.
ANN ARBOR, MI - A family-friendly road rally that supports services for those touched by cancer is ready to hit the streets in Ann Arbor.

The 15th Annual Amazing Race fundraiser is Saturday, April 15. The event supports The Cancer Support Community of Greater Ann Arbor. Race registration begins at 4 p.m. and the race flag will drop at 4:30 p.m. sharp. The race will begin and at 2100 Commonwealth Blvd.

Teams participating in the event will solve a series of clues and search out local landmarks around the greater Ann Arbor area. The race culminates in a post-race party complete with tailgating, music, prizes, food, refreshments, costume and car decorating contests and a raffle.

All proceeds from the event go directly to CSC, which has been offering free support services for Ann Arbor patients, caregivers and family members impacted by cancer since 2007. The group is a nonprofit affiliate of The International Cancer Support Community.

Funds from the Amazing Race will help sustain CSC programming such as their support groups, stress management programs, exercise classes, educational workshops and social events.

Tickets, which include race registration and food at the post-race party, are $50 per person and can be reserved now at A2AmazingRace.com or by calling the CSC of Greater Ann Arbor at 734-975-2500. Teams of four are highly encouraged, per the CSCs website.

The 15th Annual Amazing Race has been made possible by Pfizer Oncology, Trinity Health Michigan and The University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

Learn more about CSC here.

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ANN ARBOR, MI  Ann Arbors 52nd-annual Hash Bash marijuana rally is set for Saturday, April 1.

The traditional smoke fest and political rally kicks off as usual at high noon on the University of Michigan Diag with a long list of speakers ranging from cannabis activists to politicians.

This year were trying to do two kind of major themes, said co-organizer Jamie Lowell, noting that includes recognizing people for their advocacy work in the marijuana movement.

Were going to pay tribute to the old-timers, he said. I mean, theres people who have been doing this for decades  John Sinclair himself, Adam Brook, Doctor Detroit  and recognize that one of the reasons they started this movement or kicked off this modern movement was to stop people from getting harassed and going to jail for simple cannabis activity.

He added, And yet, as far as weve come, we still have people sitting in jail for the same behavior many of us are making an above-board living from right now.

Despite marijuana being legal in Michigan since 2019, free the weed prisoners is still a rally cry at Hash Bash.

The annual event is co-organized by Students for Sensible Drug Policy at UM. Allison Bohn, president of the student group, sees Saturdays Hash Bash as a chance for people to come together coming out of the pandemic for a safe and healthy gathering and to learn about cannabis culture and how things have changed since legalization in Michigan.

As we see these different cannabis dispensaries popping up all over Michigan, especially in Ann Arbor, and we think about people who are still incarcerated, its important to remember them as we celebrate and work together as a community to make sure that records get expunged and people get out of jail, she said, noting people can buy marijuana from stores now without any repercussions.

The Monroe Street Fair, which almost didnt happen this year when city officials hesitated on approving the street closures, once again will coincide with Hash Bash with festivities along the nearby street surrounding the main event on the Diag.

Hash Bash afterparty gets Ann Arbors OK, but with new conditions

Expected speakers at Saturdays bash include longtime marijuana activists such as Matthew Abel, Tim Beck, Chuck Ream, Rick Thompson and Sinclair, who was serving a 10-year prison sentence for two joints and was freed not long before the first Hash Bash took place in April 1972 after Michigans felony marijuana law was declared unconstitutional.

Crowds flow down Monroe Street for the Monroe Street Fair after Hash Bash in Ann Arbor Saturday, April 6 2019.MLive.com

Politicians on the lineup include U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, county sheriff candidate Alyshia Dyer and actor Hill Harper, a potential U.S. Senate candidate.

Therell probably be some surprises  there always is, Lowell said, noting former Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya was a surprise speaker last year.

A history of Hash Bash and marijuana activism in Ann Arbor

Hash Bash typically attracts thousands of weed enthusiasts, though just how many may descend upon the Diag can depend on the weather. The current weather forecast for Saturday is partly sunny and breezy with a high near 50 and a chance of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

A lot of people who support Hash Bash know theres still a lot of work to do, Lowell said. In addition to getting people out of jail, more reforms are needed, including removing pot as a schedule 1 drug on the states controlled substance list and getting Jaydens Law passed so pediatric medical marijuana patients can access their medicine on school grounds, he said.

As part of a compromise to allow the Monroe Street Fair alongside Hash Bash, city officials have announced there will be new parking restrictions along some city streets in the area with plans for aggressive enforcement and towing.

Lowell advises attendees to keep that in mind and plan ahead where theyre going to park.

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YPSILANTI, MI - During most of his four decades in education, David Dugger has looked for innovative ways to help students be successful in college or any other career path they want to pursue.

That work has made Dugger the first recipient of the Dr. Chery Wagonlander Early Middle College Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan Department of Educations Office of Career and Technical Education.

The award is given to people who have dramatically impacted the development, leadership, growth, support and student outcomes of early middle college efforts at the state and national level.

Dugger started Washtenaw Technical Middle College, then the states second early middle college, in 1997. He also has been instrumental in consulting in the start-up of Michigans now 170 early middle college programs.

Receiving the award is very affirming, Dugger said, and indicates the impact early middle colleges have had in Michigan in aligning with Gov. Gretchen Whitmers goal of having 60% of Michigan residents complete a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2030.

This is a huge movement that has impacted the lives of thousands of students in incredibly positive ways and in its own way, transformed the educational environment of Michigan in ways which I think are really important, Dugger said.

The vast majority of students who graduate high school do not finish college in Michigan. So, there have to be different ways to move the needle on this problem, and early middle colleges are a perfect example of that.

Early Middle College is a five-year program that blends high school and college courses. Students who complete an early middle college program can earn a postsecondary credential, while others earn up to 60 college credits.

Dugger is now the executive director of the Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium, which includes the Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University middle college he founded in 2007. The consortium also includes Washtenaw International High School and Middle Academy, an international baccalaureate middle and high school program, as well as Washtenaw Alliance for Virtual Education, a flexible online school.

Data shows that 75% of the students of color who graduate from the ECA at EMU go on to graduate from college - 700% higher than the rate in Michigan. Dugger said early middle colleges like this work because they create successful student outcomes independent of race, gender or national origin.

Dugger was approached by former Washtenaw Intermediate School District Superintendent William Miller about heading up the newly-created Washtenaw Technical Middle College in 1997.

Designed as a collaboration between Washtenaw Community College and the WISD, the school originally was supposed to be led by Ann Arbor Public Schools to provide technical training and certification. When AAPS pulled out, the WCC board decided it would make the middle college a charter school.

Although there were early challenges, including removing approximately 55% of the students from the program in its second year for a variety of reasons, Dugger said WTMC was able hone in on and better define what a middle college is and what it should do.

That included creating a soft skills curriculum, eventually helping to build the schools enrollment from around 65 students when it began to around 500 when Dugger left in 2006 to start the Early College Alliance at EMU.

To be able to have the opportunity 20-some years ago to sort of start this, see how it works, and then understand that this is really important is pretty satisfying, Dugger said.

Miller describes Dugger as a pioneer in the development of early middle colleges and as someone who is respected across the state in K-12 and higher education.

He is student-centered, driven, compassionate, and cares about giving students alternatives to traditional education, Miller said. He consistently advocates for middle colleges, which appeals to educational groups that thrive on innovation.

After successfully getting Washtenaw Technical Middle College off the ground, Miller asked Dugger what he thought about starting another such program at EMU. Dugger said he wanted to partner with a four-year university on the early middle college model.

The Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan allows students to remain enrolled as members of their home public school district in Washtenaw County.

That means they get the benefits of the consortiums programs while local districts still get state funding for their enrollment, in addition to their standardized test scores. The consortium also offers unique learning environments for students in grades 6-12, including individualized instructional approaches, progressive educational techniques that spur learning and wrap-around services to support student success.

Starting with 45 students and just a handful of faculty members and administrators in 2007, WEOC has grown into four different education programs with 1,600 students from across the county and around 150 employees, educating the third-most high school students in the county behind Ann Arbor Public Schools and Saline Area Schools.

It speaks to the fact that in the 21st century, students and parents are looking for choice - theyre looking for options that may be different than the traditional brick-and-mortar high school experience, Dugger said. Weve created this incredibly flexible consortium that allows districts to participate however they want.

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FLINT, MI  A man has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for a murder he committed when he was 16.

Matthew Fabias Upchurch, now 18, was sentenced Friday, March 24, by Genesee County Circuit Judge David J. Newblatt to a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 30 years in prison for second-degree murder.

Upchurch was also sentenced to two years in prison for a felony firearm charge and given credit for having already served 629 days in jail.

The felony firearm sentence will run consecutive to the second-degree murder sentence, meaning Upchurchs minimum 15-year prison term will begin once he has completed the balance of the latter sentence.

Upchurchs charges stem from the shooting of 23-year-old Jerome Simpson that took place nearly two years ago.

Police responded at approximately 9 a.m. Sunday, July 4, 2021, to a report of a shooting in the 2300 block of Begole Street, according to a Flint Police Department news release issued at the time.

Officers found Simpson had a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Upchurch was a juvenile when he was arrested and taken to a juvenile center in connection with the fatal shooting.

He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but that charge was reduced when Upchurch took a plea agreement in which prosecutors reduced that charge to second-degree murder.

The plea included a Cobbs agreement in which there was a recommendation by the prosecutors office that Newblatt sentence Upchurch to a minimum prison sentence of 15 years for second-degree murder, with the maximum sentence determined at sentencing.

With the Cobbs agreement, had Newblatt sentenced Upchurch to a minimum sentence beyond the 15-year term discussed at the plea, Upchurch could have withdrawn his plea and proceeded to trial.

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BURTON, MI - A major chain coffee shop is coming to Burton this week.

Scooters Coffee, a Nebraska based company, will open a new location on Wednesday, March 29 located at 1242 E. Bristol Road to bring Burton residents a different taste.

Scooters Coffee is a drive-thru franchise that has been serving coffee for more than 20 years and has over 600 locations across the nation.

The name Scooters comes from their mission to keep customers happy by helping them scoot in and scoot out quickly.

The company is promising customers will receive their orders in under three minutes at the drive-thru.

The whole premise is amazing drinks, served amazingly fast by amazing people, said franchise owner Shaina Allen. We want to produce a consistent, good tasting drink fast and friendly through the drive-thru.

The Caramelicious is Scooters signature drink, and the franchise offers a variety of hot drinks, iced drinks, blenders, smoothies, teas, and baked-from-scratch pastries.

The business model to deliver on its promise for fast service is done using Franke espresso machines that produce consistent, fast espresso shots with great quality.

We also staff six to eight people per shift, Allen said. Each person is in charge of a station and the person that works the window doesnt have a headset, so they have good conversations with the customers and just hand out the orders.

Allen has the rights to 10 Scooters locations and plans to open locations in Davison and Grand Blanc in the future.

She chose Burton because the community can use some positivity.

In the specialty coffee market, there really isnt anything like it in Burton, Allen said. Were really excited about being a light in the community.

Scooters will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. It will also have an official grand open on April 14, and the first 500 customers will receive a smiley sticker.

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GENESEE COUNTY, MI  Recall language targeting a Burton city councilman was approved by the county elections commission this afternoon on its second attempt.

Greg Hull, a Burton city councilman, was targeted for a recall after he pleaded guilty to impaired driving in February.

Recall language was approved by the Genesee County Elections Commission on Monday, March 27.

Judge Jennie Barkey and Clerk-Register Domonique Clemons voted to approve the language, with Treasurer Deb Cherry voting against the language.

The first recall filed against Hull was rejected by the elections commission on March 9 due to two errors in the petition that deemed the recall not clear and factual.

Jeffrey Hickson, the Burton resident who filed both recalls, asked the Genesee County Elections Commission to do the right thing for Burton at the March 9 meeting.

I want to thank the election commission for approving this recall. I think my determination and consistency of holding our local elected officials accountable is paying off. Now, we roll up our sleeves and get to work, Hickson said in a Monday statement to MLive-The Flint Journal.

There remains a 10-day period where an appeal to the ruling can be filed, Barkey said.

Hickson can begin collecting signatures to trigger a recall election after those 10 days. He must collect 25% of the votes cast in Hulls district for all candidates for the office of Governor in the last gubernatorial election to trigger a recall election.

Clemons, who voted to approve the language, did not know the exact number of signatures that would be needed to trigger a recall election.

While the recall will remain valid for 180 days, according to Michigan law, signatures on a recall petition are only valid for 60 days.

MLive-The Flint Journal has reached out to Hulls attorney for comment.

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UPDATE: Suspect was known to victims family.

KENT COUNTY, MI  Police arrested a man who allegedly robbed a 65-year-old woman in her house and choked her until she passed out.

The victim was found Friday, March 24, tied up in her Belmont home, Kent County sheriffs deputies said.

The suspect, a 54-year-old Grand Rapids man, was captured two days later.

The incident began early Friday when a man who claimed to be a hit man broke into the womans house near Van Dam Drive NE and Packer Drive, sheriffs deputies said.

Later that morning, an acquaintance showed up and found the bound victim, police said.

Sheriffs detectives learned that the suspect was armed with a pistol and had threatened to kill the woman, police said. He had also choked the woman until she became unconscious, police said.

The attack was a targeted incident and the suspect was known to the victims family.

Investigators identified a suspect and his vehicle and issued a statewide bulletin to law enforcement. Van Buren County sheriffs deputies then found the vehicle abandoned on a two-track road.

On Sunday afternoon, investigators found the suspect walking near Knapp Street NE and Pettis Avenue in Ada Township. He was arrested without incident and taken to the Kent County Correctional Facility.

He had allegedly stolen credit cards from the victim and used them at nearby stores, police said.

The man is expected to be arraigned in 63rd District Court on charges armed robbery, first-degree home invasion, unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm or by strangulation and two counts of felony firearm.

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JACKSON, MI  A Michigan-based developer and the City of Jackson have struck a deal to bring 136 new homes on city-owned vacant lots.

During its March 21 meeting, the Jackson City Council unanimously approved a proposal from Allen Edwin Homes, under the business name Green Development Ventures LLC, to build up to 136 single-family homes on vacant city lots.

The council approved the sale of the 136 lots at $1,000 per lot, collecting $136,000 from the developer, with the agreement the developer has a five-year exclusive right to build a home on the lots.

We are currently experiencing a housing shortage at all income levels, Brian Farkas, a representative with Allen Edwin Homes said during the city council meeting. Were going to do this in small chunks and were going to do this slow to make sure were doing it right, doing 100 some odd houses in four to five years.

Farkas said the two- and three-bedroom single-family homes that will be built on the lots will be rentals due to a requirement in a new pilot piece of legislation under the Michigan State Housing Development Authority allowing cities to work directly with developers for 15 years.

The MSHDA Small-Scale Housing Rental Pilot Program uses the Neighborhood Stabilization Program  Program Income as a financing mechanism within the Neighborhood Housing Initiatives Division to make available small-scale rental development units in rural areas, according to the program website.

Farkas said the homes they build generally lease for $2,500, but with the pilot legislation that was just passed, the developer can lease the new homes at about $1,500-$1,600.

These houses will be income-controlled rentals so they are affordable for the community, city officials said.

The affordability of the homes is based on the HUD guidelines for 30 percent of income, Farkas said, estimating median yearly income for Jackson County at $50,000. The developer claims the $1,500 would fall within the 30 percent rule for a two- to three-person household.

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income for City of Jackson residents is $38,292 a year, about $12,000 less than the county as a whole.

The homes will also not be available for those seeking to use Section Eight vouchers, Farkas said.

Still, the developer is confident it can rent out the homes at $1,500 a month, stating it plans on building six homes at a time, not advancing until the homes have been rented out before proceeding to the next six, Farkas said.

Its very hard to build at this price point. So in order to deliver these quality units, we have to take advantage of the pilot legislation and make them rentals, Farkas said.

Once the pilot program ends in 15 years, the homes will likely be available for sale to their current occupants.

The developer recently constructed a new home for rent at 206 W. Prospect St.

What I like about this is it does not tie us (the city) to the 136 lots and holds (the developer) accountable if (the developer) wants to continue to hold them to build on them, Jackson Mayor Daniel Mahoney said.

Several council members, though approving the property agreement, shared concerns about the price point being set for the units being built.

I know there is a market for this as the hospital is being built up and they have doctors staying at hotels, but the potential clients (the developer) might be looking for, I dont know if they can afford something like this, Councilman Freddie Dancy, Ward 2, said. Im not against this, Im just concerned about who might be left out of the market.

Jackson City Manager Jonathan Greene said this is just one prong of many approaches in the works for solving the housing issue in Jackson.

Related: Offers accepted for 10 of 11 Jackson homes days after being listed for sale by city

Im happy to see we are looking at rentals and new homes for people to purchase, but I am a little reserved about the price and the cost, Councilwoman Arlene Robinson, Ward 1, said.

Councilwoman Karen Bunnell, Ward 5, said she was concerned the new homes only being available to rent, but was still happy to approve the deal as it would still mean new homes would be available in the city.

I dont love the idea of another 136 rental units in Jackson, but if it means people have a place to stay, Im happy about it, Bunnell said.

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press release

14-16 March 2023, Accra, Ghana

The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the Ministry of Health, Ghana have co-organized the fifth meeting of the Quality of Care Network under the theme 'Sustaining and scaling up quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health'.

This meeting aims to engage with the champions from government, implementing partners and other stakeholders to reflect on five years of efforts to integrate and systematize quality of care in health systems and maternal, newborn and child health programmes. The meeting will discuss challenges and lessons learned during implementation and scaling up, explore findings of the independent evaluations of the Network, and recommend actions on how the Network should evolve to address the unfinished and respond to the emerging quality of care agenda.

The meeting is organized to include:
TAWAS CITY, MI  Having pleaded guilty to brutally stabbing her 3-year-old daughter to death at the behest of a vision of SpongeBob SquarePants, an Iosco County mothers prison sentence was a foregone conclusion: life without the possibility of parole.

The mother in question, 23-year-old Justine M. Johnson, was accepting of the sentence, saying she wanted justice for her daughter. Even so, she hedged and implied doubt in her own culpability, something which dismayed the presiding judge.

Wearing glasses and with her hair in braids, a jumpsuit-clad Johnson on Monday, March 27, appeared before Iosco County Circuit Judge David C. Riffel for sentencing. Johnson in February pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse in connection with the homicide of her daughter, Sutton M. Mosser. Sutton turned 3 just two days before her death on Sept. 16, 2021.

Johnson told the judge that at age 13, she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. By September 2021, she had been without prescription mental health medication for a year, during which time she abused heroin and methamphetamine.

Justine M. Johnson with daughter Sutton M. Mosser

She began experiencing hallucinations and did not realize Sutton was in her care on Sept. 16, she said.

I do not remember her being there, or how long she was there, she said. I also dont remember details of her death.

After learning from police she had killed Sutton, Johnson spent the next four months enduring hallucinations until medication and treatment stabilized her, she continued.

I spent one year and eight months in therapy helping me cope with the death of my daughter, dealing with my mental illness, and will continue (to do so) in prison, she said.

Saying she is full of remorse, Johnson added she wishes she could trade places with Sutton. She then outlined the reasons she pleaded guilty.

First, I trust the police department has investigated the event to their best, she said. Second, I lost my child and as any mother would want justice, I also want justice for Sutton. If it was me who committed this murder, I expect to be punished as any other person would be. It is whats fair for her. I apologize to my daughter, my family, her mother, and to this court for my crime.

Johnson thanked her family for their forgiveness and continuing love and support.

Sutton M. Mosser

Finally, I would like to ask the media to respect our familys privacy, she said. If you feel like its necessary to write about my little girl, please do so with the grace and respect she deserves. I pray that she is in Gods hands, that she has forgiven me, and that we will be reunited again.

I love you, Sutton Marie.

Iosco County Prosecutor James A. Bacarella spoke to the horror he saw when visiting the crime scene inside Johnsons family home in the 5400 block of Cedar Lake Road in Oscoda Township on Sept. 17, 2021.

What I saw was something Id never imagine I would see in over 30 years as an attorney, he said. It was something truly insidious. Its difficult for me to imagine, first off, how anybody could murder a child, a toddler, a 3-year-old. But for its mother to murder it, its just beyond what I can comprehend.

There was overwhelming evidence of Johnsons guilt, including fingerprints, DNA, and blood spatter. He added that from the spatter patterns, it was clear Sutton fought for her life.

Instead, her mother chose to stab her 17 times, he said. I dont know you can reconcile with that. I dont know how you can recover from that. I dont know a way any person could be reformed from that. The most vulnerable of lives was entrusted to this mother and then brutally murdered by her.

Judge Riffel said such homicides rarely occur in his jurisdiction, adding such grisly occurrences are not something one can easily process. He then said he was concerned by Johnson saying if it was me who murdered Sutton.

I dont know how she could be questioning now if she was the one who committed this crime, he said. I dont think its necessary to say much more.

In addition to sentencing Johnson to life without parole on her murder conviction, Riffel also imposed a concurrent term of 18.75 to 50 years on the child abuse count. He gave Johnson credit for 556 days already served.

Prior testimony

In a February 2022 preliminary examination, Ryan Eberline, an investigator with CPS, testified she interviewed Johnson in the Iosco County Jail on Oct. 1. Johnson told Eberline she didnt remember the specifics of Suttons death, but said she was experiencing hallucinations from heroin withdrawal and hadnt slept for about two weeks prior.

She was getting hallucinations from the TV that had instructed her to take her daughters life or they would kill her, Eberline said. It was SpongeBob who was saying these things on the TV. If she didnt do what she did to her daughter they would kill her. She said she was afraid for her life and she had lost her mind.

8 Michigan mom charged with murder told investigator she hallucinated SpongeBob telling her to kill 3-year-old daughter

During the same hearing, Johnsons brother Knesley Johnson Jr. testified that in the fall of 2021, he, his sister, parents, brother, and niece were living at a home in the 5400 block of Cedar Lake Road in Oscoda Township.

About 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 16, Knesley Johnson left for work, having a brief conversation with his sister beforehand. He said there was nothing unusual about her or his niece. When he left, Sutton was in her mothers care, he said.

Knesley Johnson came home about 3:30 or 4 a.m. on Sept. 17. As he was taking off his shoes to get ready for bed, he asked his younger brother where their sister and Sutton were. The brother went to the back of their house and said he saw a human childs foot sticking out of a bag, Knesley Johnson testified.

He said he did not know where his sister was at the time.

Justine Johnsons 17-year-old brother  who is not being named due to his agetestified he woke up about 6 p.m. on Sept. 16 and went to a bathroom, where he encountered his sister.

I went into the bathroom and it looked like (Justine Johnson) was doing lines, he said, using a colloquial term for snorting drugs in powdered form. As soon as I went to walk in, she brushed it away. But Im not sure.

The teen said he asked his sister where Sutton was.

She said, Mind your own [expletive]ing business. But thats like her normal response, he testified.

The witness said he did not look for Sutton in the house. Shortly thereafter, Justine Johnson exited the house to approach a red vehicle that had stopped at a store across the street, he said. She was not there long before returning to the house, he said.

The witness said he took a shower and once he finished, his sister was gone. He left shortly thereafter to go to the beach, returning about 10 p.m., he said.

Neither his sister nor his niece were home when he returned.

When Knesley Johnson arrived home a few hours later, the teen said he went to a back room of their house and found a garbage bag.

There was like a foot sticking out of the bag, he said. I ran up and told Knesley, Theres a foot in a bag. He didnt believe me. He thought I was joking.

The brothers together looked at the bag, then called an uncle, the teen testified.

Oscoda Township Police Officer Gerald Soboleski testified he responded to the Johnson family home in the early hours of Sept. 17. Upon arrival, he parked at the end of the residences driveway, where he was greeted by Johnsons brothers and an uncle.

Knesley started telling me about how he came home from work on this day and looked throughout the house for his sister and niece and was unable to locate them, the officer testified. At that point, he said, And then we found this, referring to what we later found was the human foot.

Soboleski went to a back room of the house, where he found a circular blue tote with two garbage bags stocked on top. Protruding from one of the bags was a small childs foot, Soboleski said.

I felt the bottom of the childs foot. It was cold to the touch, and EMS was called to the scene, he said. Soboleski secured the scene and called a detective sergeant. A medical examiner also responded to scene, he said.

Shane Hill, a forensic scientist with the Michigan State Police Crime Lab in Bridgeport, said he and three fellow team members went to the crime scene on Sept. 17 to process it for evidence and take photographs. The investigators found several bloodstains on a hallway closet door, on living room couches, and on items in a bedroom.

They also confiscated three knives found in a bedroom, Hill said.

Inside the black trash bag within the blue tote, Suttons body was wrapped in a comforter. A pair of jeans were also in the bag, while a black sweatshirt was under the bag at the bottom of the tote, Hill said.

The jeans tested positive for blood, Hill said. Investigators were also alerted to a potential secondary site within an apartment complex, where numerous other items were seized that bore apparent blood stains, Hill said.

Based on the evidence, Hill said Sutton was most likely killed inside the Johnson family home.

Sgt. Kenneth Binder, a latent print technician with the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, testified there were 13 finger- and palmprints recovered from the bag containing Suttons body. All 13 prints were Justine Johnsons, Binder said.

No other identifiable prints were recovered from the bag, Binder said. A bloody palmprint recovered from a wall in the house came from Sutton, Binder added.

Pathologist Dr. Jaya L. Sankaran, the Iosco County medical examiner, testified she went to the Cedar Lake Road scene and assisted in removing Suttons body. She gave the body a preliminary examination and noted stab wounds to Suttons neck, chest, and abdomen, with a gaping wound exposing a portion of the small intestine, Sankaran said.

Oscoda Township Police Officer Danny Gallahar testified he had compiled a timeline of the comings-and-goings at the Johnson house on Sept. 16 based on nearby businesses surveillance camera footage.

At 3:23 p.m., Justine Johnson exited the Cedar Lake Road home, crossed the street to a former cleaning business, sat down and put her head in her hands, Gallahar said. Johnson was wearing a black sweatshirt and blue jeans as she paced around outside. Judging by the design on it, it appeared the sweatshirt was the same one later found in the blue tote with Suttons body, Gallahar said.

Justine Johnson returned to the home at 3:46 p.m., Gallahar said. At 3:55 p.m., she again exited the house and began walking southbound along the shoulder of Cedar Lake Road.

A vehicle appeared to drop off Justine Johnson at her home at 6:06 p.m., Gallahar said. Police later identified the driver of this vehicle, who said he had picked Johnson up in town. The driver later described Johnsons demeanor as being in a confused and possibly drug-addled state, Gallahar said.

About an hour later, Justine Johnson again left the house, wearing different clothing than she had on before. At 7:24 p.m., she walked across the street and approached a maroon SUV, though she did not make contact with any occupants, the officer said.

None of the video footage showed Sutton with her mother, Gallaher said.

Justine Johnson left the home again at 7:37 p.m. The video footage did not show anyone else entering or exiting the house until Johnsons younger brother left to go to the beach.

Read more:

Michigan mom who said SpongeBob told her to kill daughter, 3, pleads guilty to murder

Michigan mom charged with murder told investigator she hallucinated SpongeBob telling her to kill 3-year-old daughter

Michigan mom accused of killing daughter, 3, hiding body in garbage bag found competent for trial

Michigan mom accused of stabbing daughter, 3, to death to have psychiatric evaluation

Michigan mom charged in daughters stabbing death was unemotional, calm when speaking with police

Woman arraigned on murder charge in death of 3-year-old found in trash bag

Childs body found in trash bag in northern Michigan, woman arrested on murder charge
BAY CITY, MI  Police have arrested a teenager suspected of leaving threatening notes at Bay City Central High School.

About 1 p.m. on Monday, March 27, officers located and arrested a 16-year-old male student of the high school located at 1624 Columbus Ave. The teen was lodged in the Bay County Juvenile Home in Hampton Township.

Bay City Public Safety Deputy Director Rod Schanck said there is probable cause the teen left two handwritten notes on entry doors to Central High on the mornings of Friday, March 24, and the following Monday.

In the first note, the writer threatened to shoot up the school. The second note was more related to the schools safety, but did not contain the same specificity as the first, Schanck said. Investigators recovered digital and physical evidence from both incidents, and developed the teen as a suspect.

Schanck said it is unclear if the teen had access to firearms.

Investigators have forwarded the case to the Bay County Prosecutors Office for review and possible issuance of charges.

MLive is not going to name the teen unless he is arraigned on criminal charges as an adult.

The notes prompted school officials to close classes at Central High both Friday and Monday.

Between the two Central High threats, police investigated a threat against T.L. Handy Middle School, 601 Blend St. Over the weekend, a photo began circulating on Snapchat depicting two apparent guns and a threat to shoot up the school on Tuesday, Schanck said.

Police were notified of this the evening of Saturday, March 25.

We did an investigation and were able to determine the guns in the photograph were BB guns and we developed some suspects from that, Schanck said. We recovered the two BB guns in the photo.

No suspects are in custody in connection with the Handy incident, though Schanck said police may seek charges from the Bay County Prosecutors Office.

Schanck said it does not appear the Central High incidents are connected to the Handy one.

Read more:

Police investigating rash of school threats in Bay City

Bay City Central closed Monday, March 27 after another threatening note discovered

Threatening note forces Bay City Central to cancel school on Friday, March 24

Man charged with threatening Bay City Western High School students with knife

Western High School entered secure-mode after social media joke, rest of district OK
BAY CITY, MI  In a matter of days, Bay City Public Schools has been the target of four threats. Thankfully, the potential violence failed to materialize.

Police are currently investigating the rash of threats, seeing if they are related and working to identify the culprits.

The first threat caused Bay City Central High School, 1624 Columbus Ave., to cancel classes on Friday, March 24. School staff at about 6:15 a.m. found a handwritten note taped to an entrance door, in which the author threatened to shoot up the school.

Classes at Central High were again canceled Monday, March 27, after staff found a second threatening, handwritten letter taped to an exterior door, said Bay City Public Safety Deputy Director Rod Schanck.

This second note basically discussed the safety of the school, Schanck said. It wasnt anything specific like the last one.

He added detectives have a couple of leads they are working on to identify the person or persons who wrote the notes.

Between the two Central High threats, police investigated a threat against T.L. Handy Middle School, 601 Blend St. Over the weekend, a photo began circulating on Snapchat depicting two apparent guns and a threat to shoot up the school on Tuesday, Schanck said.

Police were notified of this the evening of Saturday, March 25.

We did an investigation and were able to determine the guns in the photograph were BB guns and we developed some suspects from that, Schanck said. We recovered the two BB guns in the photo.

No suspects are in custody in connection with the Handy incident, though Schanck said police may seek charges from the Bay County Prosecutors Office.

Schanck said it does not appear the Central High incidents are connected to the Handy one.

Classes at Handy were not canceled on Monday.

As your school principal, there is nothing I take more seriously than the safety of our students, our staff and our school as a whole, said Handy Principal Frank McMurray in a Sunday afternoon Facebook post. If you become aware of any information that poses a threat to student, staff or school safety, call 911. The responsibility for keeping our students, staff and schools safe is a top priority for all of us, so thank you for your continued diligence and partnership to ensure Students First, Safety First!

Prior to the Central High and Handy threats, Bay City Western High School in Auburn was placed in secure mode on Thursday, March 23, after learning of a suspected threat on social media. Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham said the teen boy who made the threat was absent from school and was detained at a juvenile detention center after he made the post referencing a shooting on school grounds.

Deputies spoke with the student and verified he had no intent to carry out the threat, claiming it was a joke, Cunningham said.

These are not things you can joke about today, not that you ever could, but certainly not today, the sheriff said.

Police are urging anyone with information on the threats to call the Bay City Department of Public Safety at 989-892-8571 or the non-emergency number to Bay County Central Dispatch at 989-892-9551. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-422-5245, downloading the P3 mobile app or visiting P3Tips.com.

Read more:

Bay City Central closed Monday, March 27 after another threatening note discovered

Threatening note forces Bay City Central to cancel school on Friday, March 24

Man charged with threatening Bay City Western High School students with knife

Western High School entered secure-mode after social media joke, rest of district OK
LANSING, MI - Time is running out for Michigan workers wrongly accused of unemployment fraud to join a $20 million class action settlement with the state.

Anyone who thinks they might be eligible must submit a registration form by April 5 and a claim form by April 14. Both are available at uiaclassaction.com.

I am hopeful that affected Michigan residents will take advantage of this opportunity to join in the class settlement, said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a statement. While this settlement cannot undo the hardships these residents faced, it does secure the long overdue relief that they deserve.

It is estimated payments will be distributed between Aug. 19 and Sept. 8.

Related: Michigan to start paying out $20M unemployment fraud settlement in August

The settlement, reached last year and approved by Michigan Court of Claims in January, came after 40,000 people were falsely accused of fraud between 2013 and 2015. The Michigan unemployment system flagged thousands of accounts, prompting the agency to garnish wages and seize tax refunds.

More than $20 million in refunds were issued to those affected in 2019.

But workers still sued the state alleging the agency violated their due process rights with unlawful collection efforts. The case was challenged multiple times, but the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in favor of plaintiffs twice. Then the court ruled in July 2022 plaintiffs could seek monetary redress over violated constitutional rights.

We urge anyone who believes they were affected by these circumstances to register to be considered part of the settlement, Michigan UIA Director Julia Dale said in a statement. This settlement is one of the many reforms the agency is implementing to create a UIA that will be a national model for fair, fast and fraud-free service.

Workers may be entitled to money to recoup their losses and for hardships related to the wrongful collection.

Eligibility requirements include a worker who received a determination or redetermination of intentional misrepresentation between Oct. 1, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2015 through the agencys auto-adjudication process, and experienced collection efforts on or after March 9, 2015.

Related: Michigan to pay $20M to workers falsely accused of unemployment fraud

A notice mailed to every class member in February is also available online.

Class members can choose to opt out of the settlement by April 5.

Those seeking further information or wishing to submit a claim can go to UIAClassAction.com, call 1-833-438-5028, or email info@UIAClassAction.com.

The Michigan unemployment agency is currently facing two other lawsuits alleging due process violations.

A lawsuit filed in January 2022 claims the state unlawfully demanded pandemic benefits back and collected on overpayments caused by agency error. This resulted in a court order that halted collections for 1.8 million people. An August 2022 lawsuit says the unemployment agency froze payments for thousands of workers during the pandemic without providing an appeals process.

More on MLive:

Unemployment agency demanded money back from 1.8M Michiganders before court order

Michigan unemployment agency not effective with pandemic claims, audit finds

Michigan will replace unemployment tech known for false fraud issues
Here comes the sun, Michigan!

Lets thaw out from the weekend and enjoy the sunshine while its here (were ignoring the potential weekend snowstorm for now).

Economic and political news intersected quite a bit last week. Lets detangle it together.

Repeal of right-to-work

For the last decade, Michigan has been a right-to-work state meaning unions could not require employees to join a union or pay fees in order to work in a unionized workplace. Non-union employees, however, would be protected by the union.

That officially changed on Friday when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a three-bill package to repeal right-to-work.

Related: Right-to-work is repealed in victory for organized labor

The policy was controversial when it was first signed into law. Thousands of pro-union protesters descended on the Capitol in 2012 urging then-Gov. Rick Snyder not to sign the legislation.

Now with right-to-work in the rearview, MLive political reporter Simon Schuster spoke with legal and economic experts on both sides of the aisle to break down right-to-works legacy in Michigan.

You can read the full analysis here. The short version is Michiganders are still divided on right-to-works lasting impact on unionization and the labor market.

Heres what the numbers tell us.

Michigan had 589,000 union members in 2022. In addition to these members, another 55,000 wage and salary workers in Michigan were represented by a union on their main job or covered by an employee association or contract while not union members themselves, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state did see a noticeable drop in union membership in 2014, a full year after right-to-work was implemented. Since then union membership has ebbed and flowed, for instance 2020 saw a significant spike but fell quickly.

In 2022, union members accounted for 14% of wage and salary workers in Michigan. This was a slight increase from 2021, which was the states lowest point for unionization. Michigan is still above the national average of a 10.1% unionized workforce.

Michigans new legislation signed into law last week covers unions both public and private sectors, and a third bill reinstated union wages on all state projects, a policy known as prevailing wage.

Right-to-work will effectively remain in place for public sector employees due to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Michigan Starbucks workers strike alongside 100 stores nationally

While were on the subject of organized labor, Michigan unions in the service industry continue to make headlines.

Michigan laborers were well represented in the national wave of strikes in 2021, most notably Kelloggs 11-week strike.

Coming out of that wave, Starbucks workers across the state and country began unionizing.

Unionization among Starbucks workers spread far and wide after a Buffalo store was the first to unionize in December 2021. There are now 288 certified union stores across 36 states, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

Currently, 13 Starbucks stores in Michigan have a certified union.

Related: Michigan stores join national Starbucks strike after bargaining grew uglier

Four Michigan Starbucks stores joined a national strike last week urging corporate leaders to meet at the bargaining table to discuss higher wages, guaranteed hours and better training.

Starbucks has been accused of union busting in multiple locations, including Michigan.

Across 38 states, the National Labor Relations Board has opened or settled 513 unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks and its associated corporations.

The firing of an Ann Arbor workers spurred a national cease-and-desist order against Starbucks in February. The National Labor Relations Board Detroit regional office sought an injunction, asking the court to reinstate the worker fired in April 2022. The worker told MLive she has not been reinstated yet.

Conspiracy theories take aim at Michigan technology business accelerator

Caught in the intersection of business and politics is the U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing in southeast Michigan.

Last week, Republican chair Kristina Karamo told MLive she sees the center as part of Michigans role in an alleged globalist takeover.

The unfounded globalist plot is linked to the World Economic Forum, the international nonprofit backing a network of 15 centers, including the one in Michigan.

While the conspiracy theory surrounding the World Economic Forum has been debunked several times, it brought new attention to the flat, nondescript office building sitting in Troy.

Economy reporter Rose White dug into what the U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing actually does.

Related: What is the Michigan manufacturing center caught in a conspiracy theory?

The center opened last summer at a technology business accelerator called Automation Alley.

Goals include working with American manufacturers to adopt Industry 4.0  a term that refers to the industry becoming software-driven  and attracting investments to create jobs and opportunities in Michigan.

Automation Alley teamed up with the World Economic Forum in 2022 to create the U.S. Center for Advanced Manufacturing because, when it comes to manufacturing, the mission of the two organizations is aligned, said Automation Alley executive director and CEO Tom Kelly in a statement.

And for its part, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, pushes back on baseless claims that have made their way into the mainstream in recent years. The nonprofit maintains its works is centered around connecting business, political and cultural leaders to tackle global economic issues.

A common theme of many of the disinformation narratives is that they advance the idea that the Forum is working to assert control on the world. This is often done to sow doubts and counteract key activities and messages of the Forum, the organization said in a statement. In reality, control is the complete opposite of the Forums mission and work.

ICYMI

Heres a few other headlines you may have missed:

Want to read more about the economy? See all our coverage here.

This story is part of MLives Wallet Watch series focused on todays economic issues. Have a Wallet Watch suggestion? Email us at askaquestion@mlive.com

Wallet Watch: Section 8 waitlist opening in many Michigan counties

Wallet Watch: Automotive buyouts, state incentives clear path for electric vehicles

Wallet Watch: Cut to SNAP grocery money hits Michigan households

Wallet Watch: Changing climate shifts Michigans wine, ski and snowmobile industries
Afia Schwarzenegger, a Ghanaian media personality, socialite, and comedienne, recently praised Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia and his digitalization initiatives following her return from vacation abroad.

In a video shared on her Instagram page, Schwarzenegger lauded Bawumia for streamlining Ghana's immigration processes through technology.

She recounted her smooth and quick experience going through immigration check-in at Kotoka International Airport, attributing it to Bawumia's digitalization drive.

"If not for the Northerner Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia how can a plane arrive in Ghana at 8:40 and 8:50 I am collecting my luggage. The digitalization that we talk about that you people say you don't like old men in office, look at it," she said in the video.

"When we arrived at Kotoka, there was no queue at the immigration check-in, and that was shocking..only to experience the smoothest immigration check-in ever in Ghana.

Schwarzenegger, who is known for her controversial statements, went on to call critics of Bawumia "witches.

"Eii so for those of you who don't like Dr Bawumia you are just a witch, she jabbed.

She ended her video by urging Dr. Bawumias team to "work on the removal of shoes too" as part of the immigration process.

"Thank you, Dr. Bawumia and his team, for this experience. Travelling has become much, much better. Please work on the removal of shoes too please," she concluded.

Her praise for Bawumia's digitalization efforts reflects the Vice President's push to harness technology to improve government services and processes.

Bawumia has, for some years now, championed various digitalization initiatives, including digital addressing systems, paperless ports, and mobile money interoperability.
Allied Consortiums and its subsidiary, BKQ Foundation has organized a send off party for students and teachers of two less endowed schools in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

The beneficiary schools are the Akropong School for the Blind and the Mampong Demonstration School for the Deaf.

The programme held at the Akropong School for the Blind on Thursday, 23rd March, 2023, was themed "Smile with Allied Consortiums". It is an initiative to put smiles on the faces of about 1000 students and staff of the two schools.

The Group Chairman of Allied Consortiums, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie, together with his team, flew from South Africa to celebrate with the two special schools.

Speaking at the programme he said, the event is a cooperate social responsibility the company is embarking upon. "This is something we do twice every year to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in our society. We are happy to give them a wonderful 'Our Day Party' this year", he said.

The Executive Director of Events EQ Global Pty Ltd, Mrs. Nonkazimulo Quashie speaking at the programme, commended the staff for their dedication and commitment to their roles in making lives better for the students.

Madam Veronica Derry, Akropong School for the Blind Head, thanked Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie and his team for the kindness shown to them.

She, on behalf of the two specials school presented a citation of appreciation to the Group Chairman and requested more.

The Group Chairman of Allied Consortiums, receiving a citation, pledged to make the party a yearly affair that would be sponsored by his company and NGO, BKQ Foundation.
The founding president of the IMANI Africa policy think tank, Franklin Cudjoe, sees a dire electoral future for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in relation to the recent approval of six new ministerial nominees.

The leadership of the NDC directed its Minority Caucus never to approve the new ministers nominated by President Akufo-Addo.

Their reason was that the government of the NPP is already bloated and causing financial wastage without any gains for the nation.

However, in a turn of events, some NDC MPs voted massively to approve the new ministers, which is seen by many as a disappointment to Ghanaians who had faith in the minority to downsize Akufo-Addo's government.

Reacting to the defeat, Mr. Cudjoe asked in a tweet when the opposition party can be united and fight for a good cause for Ghanaians.

Wondering if the NPP outsmarted them like they mostly do, he said 2024 may be slipping away for them.

"The NDC party leadership in Parliament and out of Parliament lost the vote. Will they ever be united and deliver on the many vexed issues Ghanaians want? Or the NPP just outsmarted them again? "2024 is slipping away," he tweeted.
The Department of Youth Ministry of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church-Kwapra branch under the auspices of the Breman Kwantwima District at the Mid-Central Ghana Conference of the Nothern Union Mission of Ghana has climaxed a week-long prayer conference under the theme Love Is a Verb.

The leading crusader and senior servant of the church, Pastor Solomon Dapaah quoting from the third book of Apostle Paul 8:9, says love is sacrifice and submission of oneself.

He entreats the youth to nurture the habit of loving each other as Christ did, learn to forgive and be grateful in all circumstances.

According to him, love is trust, obedience, sharing, worship, and waiting upon the lord.

The Lord demands your total commitment in all spheres, total submission, and the willingness to use your talents to serve God," he stated.

He cautioned against social vices, grisliness, malevolence, and an unscrupulous attitude among the youth.

Commit your ways to the Lord, trust and obey, wait and He shall give you the desires of your heart," he stressed.

He called on the youth to have a rebirth with Christ and experience His agape love.

The conference ended with the baptism of converted individuals.
press release

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening,

On Tuesday, Tanzania confirmed its first known cases of Marburg virus disease.

So far, eight cases have been confirmed, including five deaths.

More than 160 contacts have been identified and are being monitored.

National responders trained jointly by WHO and the US CDC have been deployed to the affected region to carry out further investigations, monitor contacts and provide clinical care.

Tanzania was able to confirm the outbreak because the first samples were tested at a mobile lab that was set up as a result of work supported by WHO last year to prepare for outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fever, including Ebola and Marburg.

WHO has offered further support to the government of Tanzania.

A month ago, Equatorial Guinea also reported an outbreak of Marburg virus disease.

Since then, eight additional laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported, bringing the total to nine confirmed and 20 probable cases.

WHO has deployed experts to Equatorial Guinea to support the government's response, and to strengthen community engagement.

Marburg belongs to the same family of viruses as Ebola, causes similar symptoms, transmits between humans the same way, and like Ebola, has a very high fatality ratio.

While there are no approved vaccines or therapeutics for Marburg, WHO is leading an effort to evaluate candidate vaccines and therapeutics, in the context of the outbreak.

The developers are on board, the clinical trial protocols are ready, the experts and donors are ready, once the national government and the researchers give the green light.

In the meantime, we are not defenseless. Careful contact tracing, isolation and supportive care are powerful tools to prevent transmission and save lives.

===

We continue to see misinformation on social media and in mainstream media about the pandemic accord that countries are now negotiating.

As I said last week, the claim that the accord will cede power to WHO is quite simply false. It's fake news.

Countries will decide what the accord says, and countries alone.

And countries will implement the accord in line with their own national laws.

No country will cede any sovereignty to WHO.

If any politician, business person or anyone at all is confused about what the pandemic accord is and isn't, we would be more than happy to discuss it and explain it.

===

Yesterday, the first UN Water Conference in 50 years began in New York.

Around the world, 2 billion people lack safe drinking water, and almost half the world's population use sanitation services that leave human waste untreated.

Half of all health care facilities globally lack water and soap, or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

The consequences are deadly.

Each year, at least 1.4 million people - many of them children - die from preventable causes linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation. Right now, for example, cholera is spreading in countries that have not had outbreaks in decades.

Around the world, WHO and UNICEF work with governments and partners to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene. We are calling for stronger government leadership to drive change; for improved funding and financing; for investments in workforce and institutions; for better data and evidence to guide decisions; and for innovation and experimentation.

The right to health means the right to safe water, sanitation and hygiene.

===

Tomorrow is World Tuberculosis Day.

It marks the date 141 years ago - the 24th of March 1882 - that the German scientist Robert Koch first presented his discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, or TB.

Since then, we have come a long way. We have tests, treatments and a vaccine against TB that have saved countless lives. TB is a preventable, treatable and curable disease.

Since 2000, deaths from TB have dropped by nearly 40% globally, and more than 74 million people have received access to TB services.

And yet it still kills 1.6 million people each year and affects millions more, with enormous impacts on families and communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic, and conflicts in many countries, have severely disrupted services to prevent, detect and treat TB.

As a result, WHO last year reported an increase in TB deaths for the first time in more than a decade.

In 2015, the nations of the world committed to ending the global TB epidemic by 2030, in the Sustainable Development Goals.

This September, world leaders will meet in New York for the second High-Level Meeting on TB.

We believe that meeting should be a turning point in the fight against TB, if leaders make real and lasting commitments to invest in the response to TB.

Ending TB by 2030 is an extremely ambitious target.

To support that target, we established the WHO Flagship Initiative on TB five years ago, to advance research and to increase access to TB services.

We need to make the tools we have available to more people. But we also need new tools.

Increasing drug resistance is undermining the effectiveness of some medicines that are used to treat TB.

And the only TB vaccine developed to date, the BCG vaccine, is more than 100 years old, and does not adequately protect adolescents and adults, who account for most TB transmission.

That's why WHO has proposed establishing a TB Vaccine Acceleration Council, to facilitate the development, licensing and use of new TB vaccines.

But it's also clear that we cannot truly end TB unless we address its drivers: poverty, malnutrition, diabetes, HIV, tobacco and alcohol use, poor living and working conditions, stigma and discrimination, and more.

For that reason, we have decided to extend the initiative for a further five years, until 2027, and broaden its scope.

To say more, I'm delighted to welcome Dr Tereza Kasaeva, WHO's Assistant Director-General ad interim for Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases.

Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Africa Health International Organisations By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Success! Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. Error! Error! There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

Tereza, welcome, and you have the floor.

[DR KASAEVA ADDRESSED THE MEDIA]

Thank you, Tereza.

Ending TB is not a job for WHO alone or governments alone or health systems alone.

It will take action - and greater accountability - from all governments, agencies, donors, researchers, the private sector, and civil society.

The voices of people who live with TB are the most powerful, and must be heard the loudest.

So I'm delighted to welcome Jeff Acaba, a TB and HIV survivor from the Philippines, and a member of WHO's civil society task force.

Jeff, thank you for joining us today. You have the floor.

[MR ACABA ADDRESSED THE MEDIA]

Thank you, Jeff, for your advocacy and commitment to the fight against TB around the world.

Thank you also for your kind words regarding our partnership, which is becoming more impactful, and I assure you we will work with civil society even more closely, because we have seen in the past five years how important it is to include you in our work, especially guideline development.

===

Finally, today marks the first day of Ramadan, so for all Muslims, I wish you Ramadan Kareem.

Christian, back to you.
Government Spokesperson on Governance and Security, Palgrave Boakye-Danquah has lambasted former President John Dramani Mahama for taking a swipe at some of the National Democratic Congress Members of Parliament for approving ministerial and judicial appointees of President Akufo-Addo.

According to him, comments from the former President are undemocratic and a way to bully some of the minority MPs in Parliament.

He further expressed his disappointment in John Mahama saying his recent statements undermine Ghanas democracy.

Palgrave Boakye-Danquah said on Facebook, I just read a post on the Facebook page of John Dramani Mahama (the presumptive leader) of NDC expressing his disappointment in some of the members of the NDC minority in Parliament of Ghana.

I am surprised that Mr. Mahama who is seeking to be the flagbearer of the biggest opposition party would take such a swipe at his members in parliament. This is a Democratic process and individuals who represent constituents in Ghana have their independence and wisdom to decide to participate in a democracy."

I stand to congratulate the NDC side in parliament for not being bullied into an array of instructions and for deciding for the good of democracy and for the common good to enable President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to continue to govern and lead this country Godward, he stated.

I hope that Mr. Mahama believes in democracy and I hope that the title of his book is not a threat to our budding democracy in Ghana. I wish Ghana the best and also our party New Patriotic Party (NPP: Development in Freedom) the best in wisdom ahead of the next elections.
The leadership of the opposition National Democratic Congress and party faithfuls in the Mpohor constituency in the Western region welcomed the former president and 2024 presidential hopeful, John Dramani Mahama on Friday, 24th March, 2023 at Mpohor.

Mr Mahama was touring constituencies across the country as part of his campaign to be elected as the partys flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.

He capitalized on the gathering to sell himself as the best alternative to lead Ghana to the promised land.

Mr Mahama did not mince words in chastising the ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and Dr Mahamadu Bawumia for the worsening state of the economy.

According to the former President, the inept incompetence, gross mismanagement and bad governance of the current administration is the reason Ghana has sank in fathoms.

He cited examples of how the economy was doing well under his regime as compared to that of the current regime.

Before the NDC left office in 2016, the total debt of Ghana stood at 120bn and we could boast of what we used the monies for; building schools, hospitals, roads, etc but now the NPP has increased Ghanas external debt to almost 600bn and they can not boast of a single infrastructure, he said.

They always cite Covid-19 and Russia-Ukrainian war as the reason for the worst state of the economy while the economies of neighboring African countries are blossoming, he added ironically.

Mr Mahama was optimistic that the next NDC government with him as leader will be a moment of great transformation, in which brilliant and committed leaders and policies can make fortunes and change Ghana for the best.

The constituency chairman, Mr Henry Bentsil assured Mr Mahama that the leadership of the constituency pledge their 100% support to him because they know his track records and capabilities and pleaded with him to remember to make the development of the constituency a priority.

Mr Bentsil also retreated that when Mr Mahama forms his next government, he should not forget the Western region and Mpohor constituency because well-resourced people in the region and the constituency helped the party in times of distress.

The rush on the sale of party paraphernalia at the event showed how enthusiastic they were to welcome the former President.
The past week has been a difficult one for French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The government survived two no-confidence votes in the wake of its decision to impose pensions reform, but public opposition to the move is showing no sign of abating.

Uproar over the government decree to ram through the reform bill without a parliamentary vote has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term in office.

Violent demonstrations forced the postponement of a planned visit to France by King Charles III of Britain.

Trade unions have announced fresh strikes and protests for Tuesday.

Over one million protesters took part in demonstrations across France on Thursday, the authorities said, putting the Paris turnout at 119,000, the highest for the capital since the movement started in January.

The nationwide figure fell short of the 1.28 million people who marched on 7 March, according to the government figures.

Unions claimed a record 3.5 million people had protested across France, with 800,000 on the streets of the capital.

In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, the porch of the city hall was briefly set on fire during Thursday night's clashes.

Hundreds of protestors were arrested. The interior ministry says more than 400 police officers were injured.

'Excessive force and arbitrary arrests'

Since the government imposed the reform 10 days ago, nightly demonstrations have taken place across France.

There have been hundreds of arrests and accusations of heavy-handed tactics by police.

Amnesty International has expressed alarm "about the widespread use of excessive force and arbitrary arrests reported in several media outlets".

Anger surged after a defiant Macron said on Wednesday he was prepared to accept unpopularity over the pensions reform, which he insisted was "necessary".

The week also saw Borne's government survive two no-confidence votes at the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.

The president confirmed that Borne would keep her job as prime minister, dismissing calls for a reshuffle and ruling out a referendum on pension reform.

What options remain for Macron?

There are ongoing disruptions in public transport, at several French airports and oil refineries.

Bin collectors in Paris are also on strike, leading to the accumulation of thousands of tons of rubbish on the capital's streets.

At a meeting with cabinet ministers and party leaders on Tuesday, Macron gave his senior political staff "two or three weeks, maximum" in which to come up with proposals for a "change of approach and a new calendar for reform".

The president is said to have called for a number of "clear projects with a clear timetable". Further dispute over the legitimacy of proposed laws is to be avoided at all costs, according to a member of the president's inner circle.

He has asked his ministers to prioritise reform through regulation rather than legislation, given that his coalition does not have an outright majority in the National Assembly.
The Asante Bekwai Circuit Court has granted a GHC300,000.00 bail with three sureties each to 12 Chinese nationals accused of illegal mining also known as 'Galemsey'.

The Court presided over by Mr Mark Tair-ima Diboro and ordered that one of the three sureties each should be justified with a landed property.

All the sureties should be Ghanaians living within the jurisdiction of the Court.

The accused persons, the Court ordered, should deposit their passports with the Courts registry and the Registrar should check with the Immigration Service if they were genuine.

Again, the Court asked the Registrar to liaise with the regional Judicial Service to get an interpreter for the accused persons to facilitate a judicious trial.

The prosecution did not give the facts of the case to the court and it has been adjourned to May 10, 2023.

The information available to the Ghana News Agency indicated that they were arrested over alleged illegal mining activities at Obuasi.

They are Hin Ming Ji, Ling Win Hong, Hong Ling Ja, Lu Kang Min, Qin Qinghai, Qin Huang, Wing Hing, Lu Tia Hu, Chang Hong Te, Chin Yang Hong, Win Shin Weng and Huan Bong Tao.

Mr Bright Gyamfi, defence counsel for the first two accused persons, in praying for bail, said though Chinese, they had fixed places of abode in Kumasi, running their businesses with recognised locations and that they would not interfere with investigations, appear to stand for trial and had people of substance to stand as sureties.

He said though they were foreigners, they were entitled to the fundamental human rights of the country adding that his clients were not even arrested where the said crime was said to have been committed.

Mr Kofi Boye Ateng, the lawyer for the rest of the accused persons, also said his clients had fixed places of abode and workplaces, and that they were victims of circumstances as they were found to an easy targets.

He said they had people of substance to stand as sureties, would not hamper investigations and would appear to stand for trial.

Mr Boye said the accused persons were innocent until proven guilty and pleaded with the Court to exercise the bail discretionary and favourable to them.

The Court in granting bail considered the lawyers submission in addition to the fact that the prosecution did not also oppose the bail.

GNA
United States Vice President Kamala Harris has told Ghanaians on arrival at the nation's capital of Accra that her agenda is to promote economic growth and food security in Africa.

On this trip, I intend to do work thats focused on increasing investment here on the continent and facilitating economic growth and opportunity, specifically in the areas of economic empowerment of women and girls, empowerment of youth entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and to support the work that must be done to increase food security, Harris said in a short speech after her arrival at the Jubilee Lounge, at the Kotoka International Airport, on Sunday.

She would also build on a previous meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in Washington to deepen democracy and good governance, promote peace and security, build a long-term economic growth, and strengthen our business ties.

She said: I also look forward to, during this visit, meeting with entrepreneurs, students and farmers to witness, first-hand, the extraordinary innovation and creativity thats occurring on this continent and inspiring the world.

The Vice President was welcomed on arrival by her Ghanaian counterpart, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, amid traditional drumming and dancing, with cheers from some schoolchildren.

Her visit to Ghana, the first to the West African country, since becoming the Vice President, comes at a time that Ghana is facing an economic crisis.

The global second largest producer of cocoa has secured a Staff-Level Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility to support the countrys economic recovery and put it on a sustainable path of growth.

Ms Harris said the US saw the visit to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia as a further statement of the long and enduring important relationship and friendship between it and Africa.

Mr Jefferson Sackey, Deputy Director of Communications at the Office of Ghanas President said in an interview with the media: We (Ghana) see the visit of Kamala Harris as a very important one,

obviously because of the times in which we are, where the world is facing a lot of economic challenges.

Shell be visiting Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, and the key focus of this visit particular visit is to find ways and means of helping each of these countries find ways of addressing a lot of our economic woes, Mr Sackey added.

As part of her three-day visit to Ghana, Ms Harris would hold talks with President Akufo-Addo, and meet with female entrepreneurs as her country seeks for partnerships and investments in entrepreneurship.

After spending three days in Ghana, she would go to Tanzania for two days, before stopping over for a night in Zambia.

The highlight of her trip to Ghana, will be a speech she would deliver at the Black Star Square on Tuesday, March 28.

Ms Harris would also visit a recording studio, and visit the Cape Coast Castle, Central Region, where enslaved Africans were once loaded onto ships for America and elsewhere.

GNA
The United States on Tuesday opens its second Summit for Democracy with its eyes firmly on the rest of the world, seeking a united front against authoritarianism as Russia attacks Ukraine and as China launches a diplomatic offensive.

President Joe Biden took office pledging to champion democracy, and in his first year made good with the inaugural summit, which sought to reaffirm US leadership after his predecessor Donald Trump eroded democratic norms and the attack on the Capitol.

This time round, in a nod to concerns that the first edition was too much about US navel-gazing, Biden has tapped co-hosts on each continent -- the presidents of Zambia, Costa Rica and South Korea and prime minister of The Netherlands.

In total he has invited 121 leaders for the three-day, mostly virtual summit -- eight more than in 2021.

The summit comes as threats to democracy evolve "from what was seen as an important issue, albeit sort of a slow-moving threat, to one that is now both important and extremely urgent," said Marti Flacks, director of the human rights initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The sessions will bring in civil society representatives for discussions on a range of challenges to democracy including surveillance technology, which the United States sees as a growing threat as China makes rapid technological advances.

"In the absence of pending congressional action in that space, it is important that the administration is engaging bilaterally with other countries and also with companies on voluntary actions that can be taken in the interim," Flacks said.

Shunning Turkey, Hungary

The summit will open Tuesday with a virtual conversation on peace in Ukraine featuring President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who are both being shunned at a US-led Summit for Demcoracy, meet in Ankara on March 16, 2023. By Adem ALTAN (AFP/File)

Not only the message but the setting will be a striking contrast from the first summit where Zelensky, now a wartime leader in military fatigues, was clean-shaven and wearing a crisp black suit.

While Biden has kept his campaign pledge on the democracy summit, he has disappointed some human rights activists by easing his earlier vows to shun autocratic leaders.

Biden last year visited both Saudi Arabia, acknowledging the kingdom's role in oil markets, and Egypt, the host of a climate summit and US partner in regional security, and has increasingly worked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Ukraine.

None of those three countries are being invited to the summit, a backhanded criticism especially of Erdogan, who faces reelection on May 14 after two decades in power in which he is accused of creeping authoritarianism.

Uniquely among European Union states, Biden is not inviting Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a fourth term last year but has been accused of deviating from liberal values by clamping down on the press, denouncing non-European refugees and speaking favorably of Moscow.

US partners shunned for the summit include Singapore, whose elections are generally considered free but which limits free assembly and regulates media, and Bangladesh, where hundreds have been arrested under the Digital Security Act.

The State Department declined to discuss criteria for inclusion.

"However, we reiterate that for the summit we aim to be inclusive and representative of a regionally and socioeconomically diverse slate of countries," a State Department spokesperson said.

"We are not seeking to define which countries are and aren't democracies."

Growing US partner India, billed as the world's largest democracy, is on the attendance list days after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament, the latest step under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has alarmed rights groups.

India's neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan, where Imran Khan was last year ousted as prime minister and later charged, is also on the list.

More Africans invited

Of the countries that received invitations after being kept away in 2021, five are in Africa including Tanzania, where President Samia Suluhu Hassan has promised to restore competitive politics, and Ivory Coast, where tensions have eased since 2021 elections passed off calmly, as well as The Gambia, Mauritania and Mozambique.

In Latin America, Biden is for the first time inviting Honduras, which won praise for authorities' improved conduct of 2021 elections, despite persistent violence and its recent dumping of Taiwan ties for China.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, increasingly seen by the United States as a model on democracy, arrives at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on February 19, 2023. By Amanuel Sileshi (AFP/File)

The summit comes as the United States focuses on Africa, where China and Russia have both been making inroads.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel during the week to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia -- whose president, Hakainde Hichilema, has been held up by Washington as a model on democracy and will hold his own events as a summit co-host.

Freedom House, the US-backed research group, in its latest annual report saw an overall deterioration in global democracy but also a growing number of bright spots.

Katie LaRoque, the group's coordinator for the summit, said that while a single meeting would not in itself be decisive, the gathering gives an opportunity.

Democracies can "coordinate policy changes that can contain rampant authoritarian aggression," she said.
Dr. Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South, is highly pained by the attitude of some minority MPs who made a U-turn to approve President Akufo-Addos new ministers.

Until they come out publicly and confess to their actions and probably repent afterwards, the NDC lawmaker said such colleagues will never find peace within.

"You will pay for the tears and sorrow of all those you have betrayed." You will pay for the insults, name-calling, and false accusations your treachery has brought upon innocent colleagues.

"May you never find peace until you confess, repent, and ask for forgiveness," he said.

He prayed that such people be found and made to pay for the pain their action has caused Ghanaians, who were hoping to see Akufo-Addo's government downsized.

In a letter addressed to the 'traitors' shared on Facebook, Dr. Apaak noted that the conscience of those MPs will forever haunt them even if they are not found.

"I pray you are found out and publicly shamed, but even if you are not found out, your conscience will forever huant you.

"The pain and agony your treachery has caused millions of party supporters and Ghanaians is upon your head," concluded his letter.

Many within and outside the NDC who have been advocating for a reduction in the size of government saw the approval of the new ministerial nominees as an opportunity to reduce the size of government.

The leadership of the opposition party before the vetting of the nominees drecited the NDC MPs to reject the ministers to help save Ghana some money.

The MPs were also loud about their plan to follow the partys directive to reject the approval of the nominees but turned out to approve them in a secret ballot on Friday, March 24.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has called for calm among angry National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters and unite ahead of the 2024 polls following the minority caucus fiasco in the recent ministerial approval.

In a statement, the aspiring flagbearer urged the party members to ignore the internal disputes and remain steadfast in winning election 2024.

Emphasizing the importance of unity ahead of the 2024 elections, Mahama observed that the brouhaha surrounding the apporval of the new ministers are some of the "little battles" they must fight before the main contest in 2024.

Speaking on a campaign tour of the Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region on Sunday, March 26, the one-time president encouraged supporters to maintain their composure and continue working together during these crucial moments.

These are little battles we have to fight before we go into the main battle. And that is one of those we fought a few days ago.

"So, you don't throw the baby away with the bathwater. I urge you all to remain calm because we need them at this crucial moment, the former President said.

Mr Mahama further described a certain list making rounds, purporting to contain the names of the betrayal MPs as "fake" and urged the NDC members to ignore it.

"And so, I am urging all NDC supporters to ignore it, Mr Mahama articulated.
A Nigerian man identified as Abiodun Oladapo has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly impregnating his 19-year-old daughter.

The suspect, who was apprehended following a complaint lodged at the Mowe Divisional Headquarters by one Oluwatoyin Idowu, has confessed to the crime but blamed it on the devil, the police said.

According to the command's spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the victim was invited to the station and confessed that her father had been sleeping with her since February 2022, with a threat to kill her if she informed anybody about it.

The victim also revealed that when it was discovered that she was pregnant, her father instructed her to say that a certain Michael Idowu was responsible for the pregnancy.

Upon her confession, the DPO of Mowe Division, SP Folake Afeniforo, directed detectives to go after the suspect, who was subsequently arrested.

An initial probe by the police revealed that the suspect, who had long been separated from the victim's mother, took custody of the girl when her mother remarried, and they have been living together since then.

The State Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba, has directed that the suspect be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The incident has sparked outrage among residents of the area, with many calling for justice to be served.

The police have urged members of the public to report any case of sexual assault or abuse to the nearest police station.

The command also assured the public of its commitment to ensuring that justice is served in this and other cases of sexual abuse in the state.

The commands spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this to newsmen in Abeokuta, the state capital: "The victim, who is five months pregnant, was invited, and when she got to the station, she confided in the Police that though Michael Idowu slept with her in December 2022, her father, Abiodun Oladapo, is responsible for her pregnancy.

"She stated further that her father had been sleeping with her since February 2022, with a threat to kill her if she informed anybody about it.

"According to the victim, when it was discovered that she was pregnant, her father asked her to say Michael Idowu was responsible for the pregnancy.

"Upon her confession, the DPO of Mowe Division, SP Folake Afeniforo, detailed detectives to go after the randy father, and he was subsequently arrested.

"On interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime but blamed it on the devil."

He concluded, "Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect, who had long separated from the victims mother, took custody of the girl when her mother remarried, and they have been living together since then."
Oliver Barker Mawuse Vormawor, the lead convener of the #FixTheCountry Movement in Ghana, has announced his ambition to become Nigerian politician Peter Obi in the lead-up to Ghana's 2024 polls.

Vormawor's plan comes amid growing calls for a third party to challenge the duopoly of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Peter Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State in Nigeria, made waves during the lead-up to the country's 2023 general elections as third force.

Although he was ultimately defeated, his campaign won the admiration of many political commentators around the world.

In a social media post, the activist, who has previously been accused of calling for a military overthrow of the Ghanaian government, wrote, "Labour Party loading."

The emergence of a viable third party, some Ghanaians believe could present a real challenge to the dominance of the NPP and NDC and offer a fresh perspective on how to address the economic challenges facing the country.
press release

Brazzaville  The African region is recording around 4% annual decline rate in tuberculosis (TB) cases. Although the rate is double the global pace, the region risks missing major milestones and targets to end the disease if efforts are not scaled up rapidly.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) End TB Strategy calls for countries to reduce TB deaths by 75% and cases by 50% by 2025 compared with the 2015 levels. To cross the 2025 milestone, the annual pace of reduction should reach 10% per year.

Yet despite the slowing pace towards the 2025 target, the African region has made progress in recent years. For example, TB deaths in the region fell by 26% between 2015 and 2021, with high-burden TB countries surpassing initial targets to lower TB cases. Accelerating TB elimination progress is crucial. This year World TB Day is being marked today under the theme "Yes, we can end TB" to spur national action to bolster TB prevention and control.

"African countries have made remarkable progress against TB. The question is no longer about whether we can end TB, but how fast we must act to reduce the disease burden, save lives and maintain a high momentum towards a TB-free world," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

The End TB Strategy also sets 2030 targets to cut TB deaths by 90% and cases by 80%, for which the annual reduction progress must be accelerated to 17%, and further reductions to realize the 2035 vision of a world free of TB.

African countries have increased the uptake of new WHO-recommended tools and guidance, resulting in early access to TB prevention and care and better outcomes. The proportion of people diagnosed with TB who were initially tested with a rapid diagnostic, for example, increased from 34% in 2020 to 43% in 2021.

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However, major barriers to ending TB persist. They include limited access to health services, inadequate health infrastructure, insufficient quality of care, inadequate human and financial resources for health and inadequate social protection.

Underinvestment by governments in TB control programmes is a significant drawback to the fight against the disease. For instance, of the estimated US$ 3.9 million required for the African region's 2018-2021 TB response plan, only US$ 957 million were mobilized each year for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Africa still records a significant gap between the estimated number of TB cases and those that are diagnosed. In 2021, the latest year for which data is available, an estimated 40% of cases were not reported or diagnosed. The region also accounts for 23% of the estimated global TB burden and over 33% of global TB deaths.

In September, a high-level meeting on TB will be held during the UN General Assembly bringing together heads of state to help ramp up action and accelerate TB control efforts.

"TB control efforts require concerted action by all: communities, governments, the private sector and international partners. Our region still suffers unacceptably high TB toll. Without robust joint efforts, this preventable and treatable disease will remain a serious public health threat with costly impacts for individuals and societies," Dr Moeti said.
Member of Parliament for Akatsi North Peter Nortsu-Kotoe has denied being among a number of NDC MPs who defied the orders of the leadership of the party not to approve president Akufo-Addos ministerial nominees.

The lawmaker in a statement said he attention was drawn to a list circulating on social media on Saturday, 25 March 2023, of the names of some NDC MPs who were suspected to have defied the orders of the Party and voted to approve the presidents various ministerial nominees on Friday, 24 March 2023, and his name happened to be the 14th and the last on the list although spelt wrongly.

Mr Norstu-Kotoe noted that he is responding to this wrongful accusation because ever since he joined the NDC from its inception and on his entry to Parliament in 2013, he has never defied any instructions or directives from the Party. This, therefore, comes to him as a shock and an attempt to tarnish his image.

He disclosed that he has informed the General Secretary of his innocence and declared his readiness to subject himself to any internal investigation to clear his name.

Mr Norstu-Kotoe further assured his supporters, rank and file of members of the NDC and the Branch and Constituency Executives of the Akatsi North Constituency not to be disturbed by this calculated attempt to malign me.

He prayed that in this period of Lent, God should fight this battle for me as He has always done.

My tears and bitterness shall be a bath of generational curse on them that are behind this as it was on traitors and liars and wrongful accusers, he cursed.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), John Kwabena Kwakye has shared his thoughts on the approval of the new ministerial nominees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Last Friday, all six of the new ministerial nominees were approved by Parliament after secret balloting in the chamber to decide their fates.

The approval came as a surprise especially after the Minority had vowed to disapprove the nominees as a way of ensuring that the size of government is reduced.

Since the approval of the ministers, the majority in Parliament have been celebrating and describing it as a very good victory for the government.

Dr. John Kwakye on the other hand holds a different view. According to him, this shows no progress as a country and is in fact retrogression.

Gov't succeeding to maintain its size through approval of new ministers, cannot be said to be victory or progress. It is retrogression, the IEA Director of Research said in a post on Twitter.

In another post, Dr. John Kwakye made the argument that both the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress are not fit to lead Ghana.

He holds the view that Ghana urgently needs a third powerful political party to break the duopoly of the two parties in the country.

Because of party capture, NPP and NDC are not fit for Ghana's purpose. We need an independent third force to rescue Ghana, Dr. John Kwakye shared.
Dr Zenator Agyemang-Rawlings has said if her father, the late former President Jerry John Rawlings was alive, he would have probably challenged all NDC MPs to swear on Antoa (a popular god in Ghana) or dared them to take a lie-detector test as about 40 of them in the house of legislature who went contrary to an express warning by the leadership of the NDC and voted to confirm six appointees of President Akufo-Addo as Ministers in a secret ballot on Friday, 24 March 2023.

A section of Ghanaians have expressed disappointment in the Minority for approving the ministers to join the already over-bloated government.

Some high ranking NDC members like former President John Mahama, North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the partys general secretary Fiifi Kwetey, a leading member Prof Joshua Alabi among others have all condemned the action of their members who betrayed the party by voting YES in the secret ballot to approve the nominees.

Adding her voice to the many that have expressed shocked and disappointment, Dr Agyemang-Rawlings in a Facebook post said on Friday night, I felt this deep pain that maybe it was perhaps better that he [JJ Rawlings] was not alive to witness what had happened to the NDC. But then again, I thought perhaps had he been alive he would probably have challenged all of us to go and swear on Antoa or dared us to take a lie-detector test!

Alas! She noted the Founder is no longer with them, but we have come too far to destroy our own legacy! We must course correct, immediately!

We need to return to the values and principles on which this party was built including honesty, accountability, integrity, discipline and commitment to our nation, Ghana, the Klottey Korle MP added.

According to Dr Agyemang-Rawlings due to the tension and suspicion on the day of the secret ballot, she had to record her vote, although not appropriate, as prove that she voted against the approval of the nominees as the party had directed them to.

She said she took the decision to do so, so that she is not wrongly accused one day of being part of those MPs who betrayed the party and Ghanaians.

Read details of her full statement below:

The I in the Collective!

The NDC took a decision to vote against the Presidents nominations on principle. We needed President Akufo-Addo to avert his mind to the bloated size of his government/cabinet to show the commitment of the Executive to reduce its expenditure as the government struggles with unsustainable debt.

If you disagree with a position the party and leadership have taken, have the courage of your convictions and speak up! It is cowardice and treachery to hide within the collective to pursue your individual parochial agenda!!! For the first time, I was forced to keep evidence of my votes to protect my integrity and my name!

Im still reeling from the outcome of the secret ballot in the House on Friday. Ive sat with the sad realisation that the unfortunate side of being part of a collective is the collective shame that comes with the actions of a few unknown faces whose actions affect everyone.

In the Chamber, when the back and forth was done, the voting began amidst threats to annul your vote if you were caught displaying your ballot paper.

My sister MP, Angela Alorwu-Tay and I, began a discussion on how to ensure that we had evidence of our votes. The last time there was a secret ballot, the women in our caucus were falsely accused en bloc of having betrayed the NDC. Some unscrupulous person even used my picture and that of a number of colleagues as part of that ludicrous headline at the time. We had no intention of allowing our integrity to be attacked again!

The idea of taking a photo of my vote was so alien to me but given the high level of suspicion and finger pointing already in the public domain, I realised it was imperative to take such a drastic measure to protect my integrity, "in the interest of probity and accountability (in the words of the late President JJ Rawlings)."

As the time drew closer for me to vote and I felt the increasing tension in the room, and I decided to put my camera on video mode.

I knew it was risky taking my phone into the booth, because there was a chance that the Speaker might chastise me openly. I told my colleagues sitting in my section what I was going to do and why. I got to the voting booth and nervously lifted my phone to record my hand ticking the 'No' column, feeling so annoyed that I was having to subject myself to this! When I got to my seat, I checked the video to make sure it had captured my vote, and then informed my colleagues that it had worked! I then suggested that they do same, for their own protection.

I must admit that I was still shocked by the results. I was crestfallen! But even the knowledge of my evidence of how I voted, did not bring me the relief I had hoped for. People were looking up to us, and we had let the side down.

As Ive enquired about the possible reasons for what happened, Ive concluded that we are looking at a situation of different interests converging in a single outcome. So, what is the solution to this wicked problem?

As a party, we have been drifting from our principles and values not-so-slowly, and I guess this is a wakeup call that this drift can no longer be ignored or brushed under the carpet. It took a handful of people and a single iceberg to sink the titanic and with it, many innocent persons drowned or froze to death.

As I type and share this, Im cognisant of the usual abuse that some people are happy to hurl at anyone who dares, however I know that my reticence on this matter will be even more damaging!

My father continued to advise and chastise the party in the face of sometimes outright abuse from his own, but he remained true to his convictions. I still remember vividly when from his hospital bed, he asked me how the people in my constituency were doing in the lead up to the 2020 General Elections. Even when he was a few days away from his own death, he was still worried about Ghana! On Friday night, I felt this deep pain that maybe it was perhaps better that he was not alive to witness what had happened to the NDC. But then again, I thought perhaps had he been alive he would probably have challenged all of us to go and swear on Antoa or dared us to take a lie-detector test!

Alas! Our Founder is no longer with us, but we have come too far to destroy our own legacy! We must course correct, immediately! We need to return to the values and principles on which this party was built including honesty, accountability, integrity, discipline and commitment to our nation, Ghana!!

Source: Classfmonline.com
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has hit out at Minority MPs who voted for the approval of the new ministerial nominees by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Describing the MPs as traitors, the Lawmaker has argued that they have bad intentions which is why they are refusing to come out publicly to defend their actions.

The traitors should have mustered courage and exhibited a modicum of sincerity during our numerous strategy sessions by informing us that they disagreed with our fundamental objection to President Akufo-Addos misguided penchant for an obscenely bloated government.

No one is convinced that these fifth columnists acted in good conscience, with honourable intentions, and in the national interest. If they did, why are they hiding in rat holes and afraid to publicly own up and defend their treachery, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa argued.

In his statement on Facebook, the North Tongu MP stressed that the Minority in Parliament and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) owe Ghanaians an apology for failing to disapprove the new ministerial nominees.

He however commended the Minority MPs who stayed true to the course and voted against the approval of the Minister.

Read the full post by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa below:

The NDC Caucus in Parliament certainly owe the Ghanaian people an unqualified apology.

We are deeply sorry.

The traitors should have mustered courage and exhibited a modicum of sincerity during our numerous strategy sessions by informing us that they disagreed with our fundamental objection to President Akufo-Addos misguided penchant for an obscenely bloated government.

No one is convinced that these fifth columnists acted in good conscience, with honourable intentions, and in the national interest. If they did, why are they hiding in rat holes and afraid to publicly own up and defend their treachery.

The damage these Judases and Esaus have done to our partys brand and public trust in our caucus may take decades to repair.

As we struggle to rebuild public confidence in the NDC, may the treacherous elements be exposed and may the Good Lord forgive them their trespasses.

If we cannot be trusted in opposition when crumbs are at stake, how do we expect the Ghanaian people to send us into government where we shall be entrusted with all of Ghanas resources?

If privileged party elites conduct themselves in this manner at the top, what are we inviting our party agents at the branches to do on December 7, 2024 when they are tempted?

I must, however, salute the over 90 gallant NDC MPs who refused to bow to Baal and kept faith with the suffering masses.

It is worth pleading with Ghanaians to at least recognise that a clear majority of NDC MPs did not participate in this grand betrayal  that should offer some compensation and some genuine hope.

As heart wrenching as this episode has been, we fervently pray that the good people of Ghana and our loyal party members would not give up on us.

Please find a place in your hearts to forgive us; and watch us work extra hard like never before, and with the purest of integrity as we seek to regain your trust and save our dear country, particularly in this period of self-inflicted economic crisis.

May I conclude by soberly requesting all colleagues on both sides of the House to reflect on the epic happenings in the British House of Commons some four centuries ago which led to the historic dissolution speech of Oliver Cromwell on 20th April, 1653 as reproduced below:

It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barterd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defild this sacred place, and turnd the Lords temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressd, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

In the name of God, go!
North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP), Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has described Minority MPs who voted to approve the new ministerial appointees of President Akufo-Addo as traitors.

Tagging them as judases, the unhappy Parliamentarian has said they have damaged the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the extent that it will take decades to repair and regain the confidence of the Ghanaian public.

The damage these Judases and Esaus have done to our partys brand and public trust in our caucus may take decades to repair, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa shared in a post on Facebook.

He continued, as we struggle to rebuild public confidence in the NDC, may the treacherous elements be exposed, and may the Good Lord forgive them their trespasses.

According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, if the Minority cannot be trusted in opposition, then how can they expect the Ghanaian people to send them into government?

Meanwhile, the North Tongu MP has apologised to Ghanaians for the disappointment after failing to disapprove the new ministerial appointees.

As heart-wrenching as this episode has been, we fervently pray that the good people of Ghana and our loyal party members would not give up on us.

Please find a place in your hearts to forgive us; and watch us work extra hard like never before, and with the purest of integrity as we seek to regain your trust and save our dear country, particularly in this period of self-inflicted economic crisis, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa shared.

Read the full post by the NDC MP below:

The NDC Caucus in Parliament certainly owe the Ghanaian people an unqualified apology.

We are deeply sorry.

The traitors should have mustered courage and exhibited a modicum of sincerity during our numerous strategy sessions by informing us that they disagreed with our fundamental objection to President Akufo-Addos misguided penchant for an obscenely bloated government.

No one is convinced that these fifth columnists acted in good conscience, with honourable intentions, and in the national interest. If they did, why are they hiding in rat holes and afraid to publicly own up and defend their treachery.

The damage these Judases and Esaus have done to our partys brand and public trust in our caucus may take decades to repair.

As we struggle to rebuild public confidence in the NDC, may the treacherous elements be exposed and may the Good Lord forgive them their trespasses.

If we cannot be trusted in opposition when crumbs are at stake, how do we expect the Ghanaian people to send us into government where we shall be entrusted with all of Ghanas resources?

If privileged party elites conduct themselves in this manner at the top, what are we inviting our party agents at the branches to do on December 7, 2024 when they are tempted?

I must, however, salute the over 90 gallant NDC MPs who refused to bow to Baal and kept faith with the suffering masses.

It is worth pleading with Ghanaians to at least recognise that a clear majority of NDC MPs did not participate in this grand betrayal  that should offer some compensation and some genuine hope.

As heart wrenching as this episode has been, we fervently pray that the good people of Ghana and our loyal party members would not give up on us.

Please find a place in your hearts to forgive us; and watch us work extra hard like never before, and with the purest of integrity as we seek to regain your trust and save our dear country, particularly in this period of self-inflicted economic crisis.

May I conclude by soberly requesting all colleagues on both sides of the House to reflect on the epic happenings in the British House of Commons some four centuries ago which led to the historic dissolution speech of Oliver Cromwell on 20th April, 1653 as reproduced below:

It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barterd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defild this sacred place, and turnd the Lords temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressd, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

In the name of God, go!
27.03.2023 LISTEN

The NDC parliamentary aspirant for Okaikwei Central Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Baba Sadiq, has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of seemingly flouting all the rules of politics.

He said the NPP has exhibited utter disregard for the rules of politics in the country.

He explained that when the party is about implementing a policy that the vast majority of Ghanaians are against, it does not regard the people's impression of the policy.

He said the NPP in government has packed state institutions with known party faithful in blatant disregard for the rules of politics.

He mentioned institutions such as Electoral Commission (EC), and National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) among others in the country.

Baba Sadiq said the NPP is on record to have deployed armed masked men to visit mayhem on innocent voters in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency by-elections in the Greater Accra Region.

The parliamentary aspirant and a member of the creative arts industry made this accusation while speaking on The Citizen show hosted by Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Accra 100.5 FM on Friday, March 24, 2023.

He argued that since the advent of the Nana Akufo-Addo government, all state institutions have been padded with known party supporters.

The NPP has bastardised all these state institutions including the Supreme Court, he narrated.

He alleged that in certain instances, the work of the technocrats at these state institutions is usurped by these known party people.

The NPP is on record to have deployed armed men for the 2020 general elections leading to some eight people losing their lives, he charged.

He said the word fairness is missing in the books of the NPP.

He noted that the posturing of the NPP under the reign of President Nana Akufo-Addo is dangerous for the country's democracy.

The NPP wants to have its way all the time in politics, he bemoaned.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The junta in Burkina Faso on Monday announced the suspension of all broadcasts by the France 24 news channel in the west African country after it aired an interview with the head of Al-Qaeda in North Africa.

Burkina Faso is battling a jihadist insurgency that spilled over from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

"By opening its antennas to the head of AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), France 24 not only acts as a communications agency for these terrorists but also offers ... legitimacy to terrorist actions and hate speech," the junta spokesman said, referring to a March 6 interview with AQIM head Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi.

"Therefore the government has decided... to suspend sine die the diffusion of France 24 programmes on all national territory," spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said.

The France 24 broadcast was cut around 0900 GMT on Monday, AFP journalists said.

On March 6, France 24 broadcast written replies given by al-Annabi to 17 questions posed by the news channel's specialist on jihadist questions, Wassim Nasr.

Map of Burkina Faso. By (AFP)

"The government is disheartened to see that the head of a terrorist organisation like AQIM and recognised as such by the entire international community can take advantage of the editorial generosity of France 24 to talk at length on the channel's airwaves," the junta's statement said.

In December, the Burkina junta suspended Radio France Internationale (RFI), which belongs to the same France Medias Monde group as France 24, accusing the radio station of emitting a "message of intimidation" attributed to a "terrorist chief".

Both RFI and France 24, which cover African affairs closely and are popular in francophone nations, have been suspended in neighbouring Mali, which is also run by a military junta fighting jihadist forces.

The military government in Ouagadougou said it would continue to "defend the vital interests of our people against anyone who acts as a loudspeaker for terrorist acts and the divisive hate speech of these armed groups".

In March, the ruling junta in Mali announced the suspension of the broadcasting authorisation granted to RFI and France 24, after they published accounts implicating the national army in abuses against civilians.

Escalating attacks

One of the world's poorest nations, Burkina Faso witnessed two military coups in 2022, led by officers angered at the failure to tackle the threat from jihadist groups.

More than 10,000 civilians, troops and police have been killed, according to one NGO estimate, and at least two million people have been displaced.

Capitain Ibrahim Traore (centre) has vowed to recover lost territory since taking power in a September coup. By OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT (AFP/File)

With jihadists effectively controlling about 40 percent of the country, according to official figures, junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore has vowed to recover lost territory after taking power in September.

But jihadist attacks have escalated since the start of the year, with dozens of soldiers and civilians killed every week.

Former colonial power France has in the past year withdrawn troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic.

The pullout from Mali and Burkina Faso, where its soldiers were supporting the Sahel nations in the long-running insurgency, came on the back of a wave of local hostility.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, Clement Apaak has cursed members of the Minority in Parliament who voted to approve the six new ministerial appointees of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

In a post, he said the traitors within the Minority Members of Parliament will never find peace until they confess to betraying the caucus and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Dear Traitor, I pray you are found out and publicly shamed, but even if you are not found out, your conscience will forever haunt you.

The pain and agony of your treachery has caused millions of party supporters and Ghanaians is upon your head, Clement Apaak shared in a post on his Facebook page.

The Builsa South MP continued in his post, You will pay for the tears and sorrow of all those you have betrayed. You will pay for the insults, name-calling, and false accusations your treachery has brought upon innocent colleagues.

May you never find peace until you confess, repent and ask for forgiveness.

Many NDC MPs have been in shock since Friday when Parliament voted through secret balloting to decide the fate of all six new ministerial appointees of President Akufo-Addo.

Although the Minority MPs had decided to reject the approval of the new ministers, it turns out some of them were not in sync with the party.

As a result, all six ministerial nominees including KT Hammond, Bryan Acheampong, Stephen Asamoah Boateng, Mohammed Amin Adam, O.B Amoah, and Dr. Stephen Amoah approved.
27.03.2023 LISTEN

The six persons arrested in connection with the killing of a soldier, Imoro Sherrif in Ashaiman are expected to reappear in court today, March 27, 2023.

The six were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of the soldier.

The six accused persons were on March 13, charged with counts of robbery and dishonestly receiving contrary to the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (ACT 29).

According to police information, two of the accused robbed the late soldier and in the process, one of them stabbed him in the arm.

The other four are alleged to have bought the phone of the deceased after it was stolen.

The death of Imoro Sherrif resulted in the Ghana Armed Forces deploying officers in search of the perpetrators of the crime.

This led to the assault on some residents of Ashaiman and its environs, a situation that has been widely condemned.

The military hierarchy noted that 184 suspects were arrested as a result of the operation but released later.

But days after this, the Ghana Police Service revealed that an intelligence-led operation led to the arrest of the six suspects at various locations between March 9 and 12.

Suspects Samuel Teteh alias wiper and Abubakar Siddick alias Birdman, who according to police investigations attacked the deceased on May 4 and made away with the iPhone of the late soldier were charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery.

According to the particulars of the offences, two persons on March 4 at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region for the purposes of stealing a mobile phone from Imoro Sherrif stabbed Imoro Sheriff with intent to overcome the resistance of Imoro Sherrif to steal his mobile phone.

The four other accused persons, Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, Safianu Musah Mohammed Yussif and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim have been charged with dishonestly receiving contrary to section 146 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (ACT 29).

Ibrahim Abdul Rakib who is a scrap dealer according to prosecution, on the 4th and 5th day of March 2023 at Ashaiman Taifa bought an iPhone at the cost of GH300 from Samuel Tetteh and Abubakar Saddick knowing the phone was the one retrieved from the crime scene.

On his part, Safianu Musah who is a trader is alleged to have subsequently bought an iPhone from Ibrahim Abdul Rakib knowing the phone was received by means of crime at the cost of GH35O.

Mohammed Yussif and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim both drivers are alleged to have on March 5, assisted Safianu Musah in the disposal of an iPhone otherwise than with the purpose to restore it to the owner knowing the phone was obtained by means of crime.

Meanwhile, sources within the Defence Committee of Parliament indicate their investigation into the matter is still ongoing.

By Citi Newsroom
Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, is angry with some of his National Democratic Congress (NDC) colleagues who defied explicit orders of the party and voted massively for six new ministers appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He prayed against such persons whom he said betrayed the party and made the NDC and the Minority a laughing stock.

He made the comments on Facebook. Dear Traitor, I pray you are found out and publicly shamed, but even if you are not found out, your conscience will forever haunt you. The pain and agony your treachery has caused millions of party supporters and Ghanaians is upon your head. You will pay for the tears and sorrow of all those you have betrayed. You will pay for the insults, name calling and false accusations your treachery has brought upon innocent colleagues, Dr. Apaak posted on his Facebook page.

Background

Following six new ministers appointed by the President and their subsequent vetting, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) earlier asked all its MPs not to support the approval of the nominees.

The position was to force President Akufo-Addo to significantly reduce the size of his government.

But after a secret vote on March 24, all the nominees were approved after they secured huge vote margins.

The outcome of Friday's vote indicates several members of the Minority voted for the approval of the ministerial nominees.

Some members of the NDC have all slammed the Minority MPs for endorsing the new ministers.

-citinewsroom
The US Vice President, Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff have arrived in Accra, Ghana to begin a three-day working visit to the country.

The US Vice President was met on arrival by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia at the Jubilee Lodge at the Kotoka International Airport Sunday afternoon.

Announcing the purpose of her visit after exchanging greetings with Ghana's Vice President on the tarmac, Vice President Harris said it was an honour for her to be on the Continent of Africa, which begins a week long journey, first, here in Ghana and to Tanzania and then Zambia.

Vice President Harris said her foremost purpose is to reinforce the economic partnership between Africa and the United States, as well as address the climate crisis, supply chains, and work together on international rules and norms.

In particularly on this trip, she mentioned is to focused on increasing investments on the continent of Africa and facilitate economic growth and opportunities specifically, in areas of economic empowerment of women and girls, youth entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and support for increased food security and climate crisis adaptations.

Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her excitement about the future of Africa and the impact on the rest of the world, including the United States of America.

"When I look at what is happening on this continent, and the median age is 19 years old, and what that tells us about the growth, of opportunities, of innovation of possibilities, I see in all of that great opportunity, not only for the people of this continent, but the people of the world," she stated.

By the year 2050, it is expected that one in four people on earth would be on the continent of Africa.

Vice President Harris said she is looking forward to her meetings with President Akufo-Addo, First Lady Samira Bawumia and Vice President Bawumia.

"We will build on the previous meetings we have had with each of them, to strengthen democracy and good governance, promote peace and security, build a long term economic growth and strengthen our business ties."

The US Vice President said she is also looking forward during this visit, to meet with entrepreneurs and artist, students and farmers, to witness at first hand, "the extraordinary innovation, creativity that is occurring on this continent, and is inspiring the world."

"We have a lot of work ahead of us" she stated, adding: "and again I'm so very excited to be here in Ghana and I thank you all for the very warm welcome."
Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Global Security for Africa Research & Good Governance (GLOSARGG) has expressed its disappointment with the recent approval of President Nana Akufo-Addos ministerial nominees by some members of the minority caucus.

This was contained in a statement issued by the CSO following the approval of the nominees.

GLOSARGG, in view of what it described as unpatriotic action on the part of the minority caucus, has made a few suggestions.

According to GLOSARGG, the self-centered MPs must not be given the chance by any platform, including the media (radio, TV and the print media) to speak or condemn the rotten, ballooned, bloated but autocratic governance style of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led NPP government, because he who calls for equity must come with clean hands.

It called on the leadership of the minority caucus in parliament and the NDC to, as a matter of urgency and honesty, investigate this betrayal, which it said was disgusting, decapitating and politically suicidal.

It further suggested that the grassroots or the branches of the NDC party must, for once, sharpen their thumbs come May 13, 2023, to vote wisely, meaning voting out most of these suspected minority MPs, to pave the way for new but nation-building and patriotic MPs.

GLOSARGG also called on all CSOs, academia and well-meaning Ghanaians to help educate the citizens on the need to vote efficiently.

Source: classfmonline.com
The serial callers and texters of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) across the country are on an indefinite strike action.

The strike by the group is to register its displeasure over the recent approval of governments ministerial nominees by the Minority in Parliament.

In a statement issued by the group and co-signed by its secretary, Sadiq K. Kpanja; Laison officer, Ibrahim Awal; and Organisor, Lagbadza, the group condemned what it described as the mass approval of the presidents ministerial nominees by the Minority in Parliament.

The serial callers and texters of the party said the action of the lawmakers of the NDC has angered them.

It is hereby conveyed to all that the 136 NDC members of parliament that their action has angered the rank and file of the party especially when it was evident they voted overwhelmingly to approve the nominees with no recourse to the suffering masses in Ghana, the statement noted.

Expressing their total dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Minority, the group announced its decision to embark on an indefinite strike action, which began on Saturday, 25 March 2023, until further notice.

It noted that the indefinite action would be where no calls or text message shall be sent to any media house for the said period.

The group urged its members across the country to heed to this call and refrain from any media engagement until further notice.

If you are not ready to work for the interest of the suffering masses, you are not worth our support, the group added.

Source: classfmonline.com
27.03.2023 LISTEN

Assembly Member for Afransi Electoral Area in the Gomoa Central District of the Central Region, Hon. Daniel William Kofi Duncan is advocating for the Youth in the country to involve themselves in programmes and activities aimed towards infrastructure and social amenities development in their communities.

Addressing a Youth Forum held at Gomoa Afransi recently to account for his stewardship as the Assembly Member for the Electoral Area, Hon. Daniel William Kofi Duncan popularly known as 'Fifi Duncan' tasked youth groups in the country to contribute their quota towards the development of their communities and the country as a whole.

" We should build upon what we came to meet. As future leaders, it behooves on us to supplement government's effort and that of our Traditional Leaders in our vicinity. We cannot sit unconcerned wishing someone somewhere would come and provide our needs and wants for us.

Our Traditional leaders are are doing their best by initiating self-help projects to supplement government's effort, we should also assist them to achieve their goals and dreams for the future generations to come.

Am showing the way as your Assembly Member by ensuring that I get myself involved in every programme and activities meant for the development of our comnunities in the Electoral Area. This is what am encouraging the youth to emulate.

I must say that within the period of my stewardship as the Assembly Member for Afransi Electoral Area, I have been able to lobby for a number of projects and social amenities for the people.

Notable among them is on Water and Sanitation, Security, Health, Education, Economic growth and development, physical development, employment opportunities and in the area of agriculture among other things,"

On Education, Hon. Daniel William Kofi Duncan who also happens to Afransiman Council of Chiefs (Nananom Council) commended His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo led NPP Government for the Free SHS policy that he said was cushioning parents economically.

He added that due to the Free SHS, many students have gotten opportunity to attend Mfantsipim, Mfantseman Girl's, Aggrey Memorial AME Zion, Ghana National College, Swedru SHS, Winneba SHS, Achimota SHS and many more adding that through the Free SHS policy, the illiteracy level in the community would reduce drastically thus paving the way for economic growth and development.

" Under my stewardship, I have been able to assist some of the youth who have have education at heart to get their share of government's educational fund, national scholarship scheme as well as the MP's common fund to support their studies.

I have also assisted some of the youth to gain admission to further their education at tertiary level, that's Nursing training, universities, technical institutions and other. I must express my appreciation to our Member of Parliament, Hon. Naana Eyiah and DCE, Hon. Benjamin kojo Otoo for their immense support towards the development of education in the District.

In other sectors, I have been able to lobby for public Borehole project which is 70% completed, Household Boreholds and standing pipe with Poly Tank at the Afransi market to provide portable drinking water.

I also distributed street bulbs for Afransi, Ofaso and Anhwiatitaam which each community receiving the required bulbs to boost security Situation. New Health Insurance office is under construction at Afransi while Agenda 111 project is at the roofing stage,"

On challenges facing the Electoral Area, the Assembly Member mentioned lack of electricity extension to the outskirts of the community. Lack of proper assess town roads, improper drainage system and the near collapse of the Afransi AME Zion Basic School.

"Apart from the above mentioned challenges, I will like to put on record that almost all of Public Basic schools including Afransi D/A Primary, Afransi Methodist Primary, S.D.A Basic and Afransi D/A Schools need serious renovation to enhance effective teaching and learning," Go. Duncan stated.

He encouraged the youth to rally behind Nananom, the District Assembly and the Central Government in their quest to ensure the development of the nation.

Briefing the youth on security matters, officers from the Ghana Police Service at Gomoa Obuasi urged the youth to be cautious of their daily activities. They also cautioned against instant justice against suspected criminals.

By: Benedict Kweku Nkrumah
The immediate past National Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Said Sinare has expressed his disappointment in the Minority in Parliament for approving the new ministerial nominees despite the party's directive.

The furious former National Vice Chairman of the party said in a statement that the NDC MPs in Parliament held a position a couple of weeks ago not to approve any new ministers until the President took steps to considerably reduce the size of his government.

According to him, while the position was endorsed by a cross-section of Ghanaians and public advocacy groups, a few of NDC MPs, due to their parochialism went on to approve the president's nominees ina secret ballot.

H.E Alhaji Said Sinare, while persuading the party to be decorous in its communication on the matter and to take immediate steps to investigate the reason for the utter violation of the party's direction, described the conduct of the Minority Caucus as unconscionable and surprising.

READ HIS FULL STATEMENT BELOW

For immediate Release

25th, March, 2023.

Despite democracy being about choice, the choices made must advance the lots of its citizens and be of great advantage to the masses of Ghanaians.

It is of grave concern to express my profound disappointment in a section of the minority group in parliament with regard to the approval of the six Akufo-Addo ministerial appointees.

The call to downsize the over-bloated current government is not a call from the National Democratic Congress Party but a national call from the majority of the good people of Ghana.

It is rather sad and devastating to note that, despite the express directive given by the NDC party on behalf of the Ghanaian people to its members of parliament, it was met with parochialism, greed, and a complete disregard for the collective party position by a section of its members of parliament.

I wish to state categorically that, on average, more than one hundred (100) members of parliament in the minority group have shown good faith and fidelity to the Ghanaian people and the party, respectively, which is an act of overwhelming rejection of President Akufo Addo's ministerial appointees by the good people of Ghana.

I want to assure the Ghanaians that the road to victory is full of impediments, hills, and fatigue, but what brings victory is perseverance and persistence, and it is clear that the NDC as a political party still stands by them and remains the only best and most trusted alternative come 2024.

I therefore call on them to support the course of the NDC to deliver victory to the nation builder, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, come December 7, 2024, to build a country where going back to the drawing board to correct certain mistakes out of incompetence and insensitivity will be a thing of the past.

For those over one hundred (100) members of parliament who have championed the course of the Ghanaian people, I say "Ayekoo"! But for those few who, for certain reasons, betrayed the loyalty of Ghanaians and showed bad faith toward the NDC party, there is more room to make amends, and in the spirit of unity and togetherness, fight the real battle come 2024 and deliver to Ghanaians a governance of truth, humility, and people first.

In as much as this act from our admirable members of Parliament is unconscionable and surprising given their blatant disregard for the party's interests and directive not to approve any of the president's ministerial nominees, I will advise that we guide our utterances and put strict measures in place as soon as possible to investigate what contributed to this disinterestedness.

We must all agree that, today, we are disappointed but not defeated so we should remain steadfast in our commitment to making sure this horrible administration of Nana Addo downsizes his government without the involvement of the minority group in Parliament if indeed they have the will of Ghanaian people at heart.

Thank you,

Signed

H.E Alhaji Said Sinare,

Former National Vice Chairman, NDC.
A Non-Governmental Organization from Kuwait, DirectAid has donated items to about 400 families at Lakeside Estate in the Adenta Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

Similar donations has also been made in Cape Coast, Kumasi and Tamale.

The donated items include two 5kg of rice, 3liters of cocking oil, 2kg of sugar, tomato paste and beans for each of the over 400 families.

The donation which is in line with the organization's annual donation towards Ramadan is targeted at about 1,500 families in Ghana.

DirectAid's objective is to put smile on the faces of needy Muslims in Ghana and also ensure that the beneficiaries go through the Ramadan period in happiness and stress free.

Expressing gratitude on behalf of the beneficiaries, the representative of the Presidential Coordinator of Zongo Development Fund Suleiman Alhassan Atakpo stated that the donation will go a long way to support the beneficiaries during this year's Ramadan.

He further expressed gratitude to DirectAid for its support to widows, orphans and some needy Muslims during the month of Ramadan adding that the gesture was not the first but has been going on for about thirty years.

He commended the donors for purchasing the items locally as he believes it will contribute to the growth of the economy of the country.

Mr. Suleiman Alhassan Atakpo stated that statistics has revealed that there are about 4.5 million Muslims in the country who find it difficult to feed and expressed the believe that DirectAid's donation will result in about 400 Muslim families being fed in Accra.

On his part, the Center Director of Mercy Social Center, Ali Abdul Salaam Ali revealed that the organization has taken it upon itself to feed about 1,500 families during the month of Ramadan.

He added that Ramadan is a month of sharing hence the move by the organization to donate the items to the beneficiaries.

According to him the organization's expectation is to see joy and smile on the faces of the beneficiaries and prayed that they will be able to support more families during the month of Ramadan.

Suleiman Adam, the Human Resources Manager, Directive Society International, a Non governmental and Non-profit managing organization revealed that the total value of the donations is about 1.5 million Ghana Cedis.

He said regions such as Accra, Cape coast, Kumasi and Tamale are main beneficiaries of the donation.
27.03.2023 LISTEN

The opposition NDC has renewed its calls on the government to reduce its size despite the approval of the new six ministerial niominees by some NDC Members of Parliament persons in party have described as "Judas and Esaus."

It would be recalled that the NDC said the decision of the president to appoint six new ministers was a waste of state resources and therefore, instructed its MPs to reject the nominees outrightly.

This, the party explained, was to send a strong signal to the government that Ghanaians wanted its size reduced in the face of the current socio-economic hardship that has entangled the country.

The NDCs position was in alignment with the pervasive view of Ghanaians that the government had to reduce its expenditure by reducing its bloated size in the wake of the increasing economic crisis and financial haircuts.

In a shocking turn of events however, some MPs on the side of the NDC Minority ditched the party and openly gave their approval to the nominees through a secret ballot process.

The voting patterns in the legislative chamber on Friday indicated clearly that some of the NDC MPs sided with the Majority Side and voted to have the nominees approved in clear violation of the partys directive.

Reacting to this development, the general secretary of the NDC, Mr Fiifi Kwetey in a statement stated that the minority members placed their parochial interest ahead of the interest of the party and Ghanaians at large.

According to him, the country was faced with the biggest economic meltdown in living memory and described as unpardonable the decision of its MPs to lend support to governments recklessness.

He, therefore, condemned the conduct of the MPs in no uncertain terms saying it did not only betray the expressed will of the party, but the desire of the Ghanaian people and constitutes a massive stab in the back of the good people of Ghana.

He added that the party as a corporate entity, borne no liability for the deviant action of the few self-seeking Members of Parliament who betrayed the collective cause of the party and the nation.

He commended highly the leadership of the Minority caucus in Parliament and Members of Parliament who stayed true to the expectations of the party and the Ghanaian people.

He reaffirmed the partys principled position for President Akufo-Addo to downsize his bloated government and reset his priorities to reflect the difficult times in which Ghanaians found themselves.

The Party, the General Secretary stressed, would continue to hold the government accountable for the socio-economic quandary that the country found itself and present their superior alternatives to Ghanaians in their bid to rescue the soul of the nation.
The Seat of Ghanas Presidency, the Jubilee House, was last night lit with the national colours of both Ghana and the United States of America signifying the bond of friendship that exists between the countries.

The beautiful light colour display is a show of goodwill from Ghana to the US, especially when Vice President Kamala Karris is visiting Ghana to begin a three-day official visit to the country, touted as the Gateway to Africa.

This has got many Ghanaians talking about the significance of the beautiful scenery and why this time.

The stunning lights had garnered some commentary on social media with some making apprehensive comments about whether this is a paid stunt.

Others are upbeat about the gesture and see it as a global tourist attraction and think this will further enhance the bond of friendship between the two countries.

To add more to this gesture, on March 7, 2022, the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa and the Al Wasl in Dubai, lighted up Ghanas colours following President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos visit to that Country on March 7, 2022, ahead of Ghanas delegation to the Dubai EXPO 2020.

In viral posts shared by various media platforms and social media users, the beautiful buildings projected Ghanas colours in Dubai to the admiration of the world.

The projection of national colours enhances diplomatic relations between countries and that is what Ghana intends to achieve with the US.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff arrived in Accra on Sunday to begin a week-long journey from Ghana, then to Tanzania and finally to Zambia.

The visit to Ghana, among others announced by Vice President Harris, is to reinforce the economic partnership between Africa and the US, as well as address the climate crisis and supply chains and work together on international rules and norms.

In particular, the US Vice President's trip is focused on increasing investments in Africa and facilitating economic growth and opportunities in areas such as economic empowerment of women and girls, digital inclusion, youth entrepreneurship and support for increased Food security and climate change.

Vice President Harris expressed excitement about Ghanas future as well as Africa and the impact on the rest of the world, including the US.

With the median age of Africa being 19 years, Vice President Harris said she sees growth of opportunities, innovation of possibilities and a great opportunity not only for Africa but the rest of the world.

By the Year 2050, it is expected that one in four people on earth would be African.

Most Ghanaians who are delighted with the visit of the second most important person in the US are expecting to see some commitments from the US to facilitate Ghana-IMF $3 billion bailout, as well as job creation, particularly for the youth.

Vice President Harris is expected to meet with President Akufo-Addo to discuss bilateral relations and address the Presidential Press Corps on matters relating to investments and international cooperation between the two countries.
27.03.2023 LISTEN

One of the aspirants seeking the position of a presidential candidate on the ticket of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ernest Kweku Krobea, has pledged to support whoever wins the NDCs presidential primary for the 2024 general elections.

According to him, his decision to support whoever wins the May 13, 2023 presidential primary is to ensure a new Ghana is built with the NDC at the helm of affairs.

Mr Krobea is expected to battle it out with former president John Dramani Mahama, Dr Kwabena Duffour and Mr Kojo Bonsu in the NDC presidential primary.

Whether I lose or get disqualified at the vetting or elected Im still a member of the NDC first and I will continue to remain a member of the party.

I have been part of the party since my childhood at Mampong in the Ashanti Region, the businessman said.

Mr Krobea made this pledge while speaking in an interview on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Odehyeeba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, March 27, 2023.

He was of the view that NDC through the late president Jerry John Rawlings built the first phase of the country by giving Ghanaians democracy.

It is because of this democracy [that] we all here speaking and talking about how to make the country better, he said.

And the second phase is to build the economy of the country to create opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth, he indicated.

He called for Ghanaians to stop the blame-game and put their hands on the wheel.

There is a need to build the country to create a better future for the youth, he assured.

As president, I will stop the importation of almost everything into the country and focus on manufacturing to build the economy of the country, he added.

Source: Classfmonline.com
A group against the sale of the Saglemi Housing Project, Team Saglemi Housing Not For Sale, has said the Minority in Parliament, except for a few, have proven they are not in the House to represent the interest of Ghanaians but to satisfy their selfish egos for self aggrandisement.

The groups comment follows the approval of the governments ministerial appointees by some members of the Minority in Parliament.

A statement signed by its lead convener Nana Otu Darko, said: Greed and advanced bribery can produce this mess.

According to the group, what happened in parliament has further deepened the cracks that seek to suggest that the NDC is not hungry and ready for power.

The NPP did all they could politically to get Hon Gyekye Quayson out of their way in aid of parliamentary manipulation but the Minority in Parliament has continuously shown otherwise.

The group further noted that the action by a section of the minority is a clear and an undeniable conspiracy, if not a stab in the back, against the Ato Forson-led leadership to equally prove their grave weakness. An action that spells doom for the future of the Umbrella group.

The group, therefore, admonished every NDC parliamentarian to desist from unleashing unnecessary vehemence against the perceived bloated size of the Akufo-Addo government either in the media circles or in parliament.

They should not take us Ghanaians for fools and must equally desist from pointing to Hon Brian Acheampong as the brain behind the alleged unleashed lawlessness during the Ayawaso brouhaha, as their massive endorsement for Hon Brian Acheampong defeats all their hollow arguments.

The group urged former President and aspiring flagbearer of the NDC John Dramani Mahama to be extra careful and vigilant ahead of the 2024 elections, especially with people who will represent him as polling agents, especially at the branches, regional collation centres and the strong room as we can firmly agree that the recent decision of some NDC MPs has confirmed that he is in the same boat with his hardened and incorrigible enemies awaiting to welcome the next sea tide to ravage them.

It continued that: JDM can hurriedly ignore this granted he doesn't want power again come 2024, especially at a time when the incumbent NPP is bent on breaking the '8' with Nigeria APC as reference point.

The group further suggested the setting up of an ad hoc committee by the opposition NDC to look into the matter.

We officially suggest to the Chairman Asiedu Nketiah led leadership and the Council of Elders as well as NDC's Functional Executive Committee to as a matter of urgency set an ad hoc committee of enquiry to investigate into ascertaining the veracity of possible MP's that may have caused such public mess, it said.

The team further suggested such individuals within the Minority, if found must be unseated in the upcoming elections on the 13 of May.

Source: classfmonline.com
This is where John Mahama must start before serving the people if he is to be taken seriously as the next president to combat the corruption that Akufo Addo has failed to deal with. I will respectfully request that he appoint a committee to look into the recent incident that occurred in parliament during the nomination of KT Hammond, Stephen Amoah, and the others as ministers and to expel anyone found guilty of betraying Ghanaians and the NDC party by accepting bribes to have the nominees approved as ministers.

The most dangerous politicians of the party are those who accepted bribes to permit this to occur in the country because they lack conscience, shame, or integrity. As a result, they must be expelled from the party. Mahama should be aware that failing to kick out the undesirable people will not only make the party safe but also restore Ghanaians' lost trust in the partys ability to fight corruption.



Since its a crime to accept bribes, this is a serious matter that the NDC officials can easily sweep under the carpet, I'm therefore; pleading with John Mahama to investigate and stand out from other Ghanaian leaders by ensuring that those found guilty serve jail time and are expelled from the party after serving their sentences. Thats how Ghana can grow as a truly democratic country.

To serve Ghanaians, the party should have a small number of dependable and devoted politicians than to have a huge number of crooks and dishonest politicians.

I have written endless articles about the widespread corruption and acceptance of bribes within the NPP government and even attacked Akufo Addo for appointing politicians, judges, and journalists, implicated in severe corruption scandals to his cabinet rather than dismissing them.

More importantly, I have made it clear to Ghanaians that as long as John Mahama is not the president, I will focus on the widespread corruption within the NPP party. So, if a such crime has been committed by NDC politicians in parliament, I will not grant Mahama the peace he requires until the appropriate action is taken.

Now that I know why people say that the NDC and the NPP are the same, even though the two parties use different symbols, Mahama, and the party's executives have a huge responsibility on their shoulders to investigate and sacked all the NDC politicians who have betrayed the country.

Is it not dishonorable that the NDC politicians accuse the NPP of accepting a bribe from Akufo Addo to keep Ken Ofori-Atta in his position as finance minister, despite repeated requests for him to resign? However, the NDC politicians have committed the same criminal act.



Nothing, in my opinion, can make Ghanaians, including myself, happier than Mahama acting decisively to remove these dishonest politicians I dubbed nation wreckers. More importantly, Mahama should not try to convince Ghanaians that he will only combat corruption when elected as president; rather, this is the time to show that he has already begun the fight.
In 2022, WAEC launched a digital platform where candidates can also recover burnt, lost, and damaged certificates online.

Five months after launching a digital platform for the confirmation of results, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has suspended manual confirmation of West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) from 1999 till date.

All individuals, institutions or organisations requesting confirmation of any WAEC result from 1999 can now only do so through the digital portal, the examination body said.

A statement issued by the Acting Head, Public Affairs Department, Moyosola Adesina, noted that efforts are also underway for the platform to accommodate results from 1980.

"Nigeria is pleased to inform institutions, organisations, agencies, embassies, high commissions, and the general public that the Council will no longer provide manual confirmation or stamping of certificates of candidates who sat the WASSCE from 1999 till date, as the Council has launched the WAEC Digital Certificate Platform for a seamless and timely mode of availing stakeholders of their candidates' certificates," parts of the statement read.

"In addition, efforts are underway to expand the platform to accommodate candidates from 1980 and updates will be provided to the public as they become available."

WAEC said the digital certificate platform allows candidates to access, download, and share their original WAEC certificates. Institutions and organisations can also promptly and securely confirm the certificates of candidates.

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WAEC Digital Portal

In October 2022, the examination body launched a digital platform where candidates can also recover burnt, lost, and damaged certificates online.

WAEC's Head of National Office for Nigeria, Patrick Areghan, said it will cost N7,500 for new and old candidates to assess the platform, N3,500 to share and N5,000 for certificate confirmation.

He said the development of the portal was to ensure seamless and swift confirmation of results as well as to "eliminate fraud and send fakers out of the market."

Accessing portal

The WAEC DIgital Certificate Platform can be accessed online through www.waec.org and the mobile version can be downloaded on the Android and IOS app stores.

For further inquiries, please contact us at support@waec.org and we'll be happy to assist you, the statement added.

"We implore stakeholders and the general public to utilize the digital certificate platform developed to ease the bottlenecks associated with the manual access and confirmation system.

"We kindly request that institutions, organizations, agencies, embassies, high commissions, etc, provide email addresses for the digital sharing, receiving, and verification of certificates. Furthermore, all concerned should please update their portals to accommodate the sharing of the WAEC certificate.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe
Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Aziz Abubakar has charged members of the Management of the Commission to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the countrys Public Procurement Act.

The NIMC helmsman gave the charge in Lagos on Monday, while delivering his remarks at a 3-day Interactive Workshop on Procurement and understanding of the World Bank procurement process, procedures, and Ecosystem Enrolment readiness, organized by the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) Project, in collaboration with NIMC.

According to a Press Release, jointly signed by the Nigeria Digital ID4D project Communications Manager, Dr. Walter Duru and NIMCs Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, the NIMC CEO stressed that the event was put together to enhance the capacity of the Management team on the provisions and application of the countrys Public Procurement Act.

He spoke on the need for similar training to be held more frequently to ensure improved capacity of team members on contemporary issues in public procurement.

In his statement of the workshop objectives, Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital Identification Project, Musa Odole Solomon described the meeting as geared towards updating participants on contemporary issues in procurement, adding that there was the need for understanding the meeting point between the countrys procurement laws and the World Banks procurement regulations.

Also speaking, Director, Legal and Regulatory Affairs at NIMC, Hadiza Dagabana called for the amendment of Nigerias Public Procurement Act.

According to her, the Public Procurement Act was passed in 2007. We are in 2023. A lot of things have changed over the years and there are so many gaps in the Act. It is time for an amendment.

She described the workshop as impactful, urging the participants to put into practice the knowledge acquired.

In her Overview of Public Procurement Act (2007) and its convergence with the World Bank Procurement Regulations for Borrowers, Ag. Director of Procurement at the National Identity Management Commission, Princess Nkoyo Iwok, called on public institutions in Nigeria to embrace transparency and accountability in all their transactions, reiterating that sanctions apply for violation of the public procurement law.

Iwok identified some common offences in procurement as bid rigging, collusion, splitting of contracts, procurement fraud, altering procurement documents, willful refusal to allow bureau and its officers access to any procurement records and using fake documents.

She highlighted some of the sanctions for violation of the Public Procurement Act to include imprisonment, upon conviction, among others.

On the convergence between World Bank Procurement Guidelines for Borrowers & Nigeria Public Procurement Act 2007, Iwok stressed that both the World Bank Procurement Guidelines and Nigeria's Public Procurement Law emphasize the importance of procurement planning.

On transparency and competition, she explained that both the World Bank Procurement Guidelines and Nigeria's Public Procurement Law promote transparency and competition in procurement processes.

Continuing, she argued that while there are some similarities between the two procurement frameworks, it is important to note that the World Bank Procurement Guidelines are generally more comprehensive and detailed than Nigeria's Public Procurement Law. As such, borrowers in Nigeria that are subject to the World Bank Procurement Guidelines will need to ensure that their procurement practices are consistent with both frameworks, she stressed.

In his presentation on Proposal and Bid Evaluation procedures/Project Risk Management and Control strategy, Procurement Officer, Project Implementation Unit of the Nigeria Digital ID4D, Ibrahim Abu, argued that procurement is infused with numerous risks, even as he made a case for proper risk management practices and tactics to reduce same.
27.03.2023 LISTEN

The University of Education, Winneba (UEW) says the new administration led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Mawutor Avoke has received numerous petitions and injunctions all aimed at deterring the management from running the university smoothly.

According to Council Chairman, Nana Ofori Ansah III, elements within the University under the guise of concerned staff keep churning out fabricated stories about the chairman, Vice Chancellor and the management team.

He indicated that some individuals have resorted to the law court on simple administrative matters while others are using surrogates who most of the time have nothing to do with the university to disrupt academic work.

Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of the 27th congregation of the University, council chairman, Nana Ofori Ansah said the University is ready to stretch a hand of friendship to all who are aggrieved to help resolve matters.

Since assuming office, we have received a lot of petitions from all spheres of the university community, in response council set up a reconciliation committee under the chairmanship of a labour expert who is an ILO labour consultant to hear the petitions and make recommendations and the committee has since finished its work and I dare say that they did a marvellous work which has eased the tensions existing in the university.

Unfortunately not everyone is still happy with the management to bring change, there are elements within the university who under the guise of concerned staff keep churning out fabricated stories about the council especially the chairman and his management team.

Others are turning to the courts on simple administrative issues while others are using surrogates, most of whom have nothing to do with this university in an attempt to stop any normal move by the management, Nana Ofori Ansah III said.

-citinewsroom
Fourteen people were killed in western Democratic Republic of Congo, including 12 villagers hacked to death with machetes, a local official said on Monday.

Unidentified assailants attacked the village of Kimpasi, in Kwilu province's Bagata territory, on Friday, according to the territory's administrator Amedee Bangambuma.

They first killed 12 people with machetes and then murdered a local administrative official who came to investigate the situation, Bangambuma said.

The closest police station is nearly 100km away.

On Monday, militants also killed Kimpasi's village chief, the local administrator said, adding that all the victims were members of the Teke community.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Western DRC has seen fighting between Teke and Yaka communities since June, in a conflict first sparked by a dispute over taxes and land.

Members of the Teke community consider themselves the original inhabitants of villages along 200 kilometres of the Congo River. Yaka people settled in the area after the Teke.

The Democratic Republic of Congo's government says 180 people have been killed in the conflict, although that death toll is considered by aid groups to be conservative.

At least 15 people died in a similar attack on two Teke villages earlier this month.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
Vice President of the United States of America (USA), Kamala Harris has said the United States is interested in ensuring security in Africa as well as the health and prosperity for the continent as a whole.

Ms Harris said this when she met with Ghanas President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on Day 2 of her state visit to the gold and oil producing West African country on Monday, 27 March 2023.

She said told the President in the presence of the media of hoping to continue a conversation they two engaged in two years ago when President Akufo-Addo visited the White House.

As President of Ghana you have been courageous and forward in terms of standing for democratic principles and we have shared commitments to those ideals and also Im here to discuss a number of issues with you in furtherance of the conversation we started two years ago that relates to our shared interest in the prosperity and security of Ghana and of this continent so I look forward to that conversation, Vice President Kamala Harris told Nana Akufo-Addo.

She said the conversation will range from the work that weve done and will continue to do on the issue of security on this region and particularly of the African continent, and also, the work we will continue to do, that is about American investment in the wellbeing and health and prosperity of this region and understand the benefit not only to the people of Ghana but by extension the people on this continent and the American people.

She thanked the Ghanaian leader for the friendship Ghana has offered the United States and extended President Joe Bidens greetings to him.

For his part, President Akufo-Addo welcomed Kamala Harris to Ghana and expressed his delight to host her. He recalled the warm reception he received two years ago from her when he visited the white house and said her visit was an opportunity for Ghana to also reciprocate.

Nana Akufo-Addo wished Ms Harris a fruitful and memorable three-day stay in Ghana.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The branch, ward and constituency Executives of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ellembelle of the Western Region have pledged to vote 100 percent for former President John Dramani Mahama to become NDC's presidential candidate for election 2024.

Ellembelle NDC has over 1,000 delegates who are expected to participate in the NDC's presidential and parliamentary primaries slated for May 13, 2023 across the country.

Former President John Mahama who is seeking re-election is being contested by three other candidates.

Former President John Mahama visited Ellembelle Constituency on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at Kanokwari farming community to meet all the NDC delegates to convas for votes.

Speaking to the media at Kanokwari School Park, Comrade Alhaji Gibrilu Alhassan Laminn who contested in 2022 Western Regional Chairmanship race and lost to the incumbent Regional Chairman, commended all the Ellembelle NDC delegates for throwing their support behind former President John Mahama.

He revealed to the media that former President John Mahama would poll all the votes in Ellembelle Constituency.

"In fact, I'm happy that Ellembelle NDC delegates have endorsed former president John Mahama and I can you the media guys that John Mahama will 100 percent of the votes or 98 percent of the votes on May 13th because John Mahama has done a lot in Ellembelle Constituency and we can't be ungrateful to him", he stated.

"Former President John when was the president of Ghana established Ghana Gas plant at Atuabo in Ellembelle, established ENI gas at Sanzule in Ellembelle, he constructed Elubo to Tarkwa Junction road, he constructed Alla-Bokazo to Atuabo road, he constructed so many town roads including my community, Kamgbunli so we will vote massively for him come May 13th", he added.

Comrade Alhaji Gibrilu Alhassan Laminn who is also a senior member of Ellembelle NDC took the opportunity to donate an undisclosed amount of money to former President John Mahama to be used to run his campaign activities.

He called on the rank and file of the party to remain united to rally behind former President John Mahama to return to power.

He was optimistic that former President John Mahama would be sworn-in as President of Ghana on January 7th 2025.

On his part, the Ellembelle NDC Constituency Chairman, Alex Kwame Mahama thanked former President John Mahama for visiting them to solicit their votes.

He also thanked Mr. Mahama and NDC National Executives for appointing Ellembelle MP, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah as the Deputy Minority Leader in Ghana's Parliament.

He assured former President John Mahama of 100 percent votes come May 13 in Ellembelle Constituency.

Former President John Mahama commended Comrade Alhaji Gibrilu Alhassan Laminn for donating an undisclosed amount of money to support his campaign activities.

"In fact, God bless you Alhaji for supporting my campaign again, you did it last four years and today too you have done the same thing at Kanokwari here, God bless you to get it in abundance," he showed appreciation.

He took the opportunity to appeal to the delegates to remember him on May 13, 2023 by voting massively for him to lead the party for victory come December 7th 2024.

He also called on the rank and file of the party in Ellembelle Constituency to rally behind Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.

He assured the NDC delegates and sympathizers that he would used their MP, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah to play a major role in his government in 2025.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has highlighted the economic benefits of the visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris to Ghana.

According to Dr. Bawumia, the visit will not only deepen the bilateral relationship between the two countries but also boost the ailing economy of Ghana.

She is on a week-long trip to Africa and will be in Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia, to deepen the US-Africa relationship focusing on economic development, climate change, food security, and a rising youth population, Vice President Bawumia tweeted on March 26, 2023.

Adding: I wish Harris and her team a pleasant and fruitful stay.

The US Vice President is on a week-long visit to some selected African countries and was welcomed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) by President Bawumia on Sunday, March 26, 2023.

However, she is expected to stay in Ghana for three days.
Mr. Eric Amofa, a private businessman has donated some bags of sugar to the Muslim community in the Asante Akim South Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

The gesture is to support all the Muslims in their Ramadan 30 days fasting and prayers started last week.

The donation was given to the NPP Constituency office through the Nasara Coordinator for onward distribution to all Muslims in the Constituency irrespective of their political affiliations. It was also meant to promote political and religious tolerance within the Constituency.

An undisclosed amount of money was also donated distribution of the items to the various beneficiary communities.

Presenting the items at the Constituency office at Juaso, Mr. Eric Amofa also a former NPP parliamentary aspirant expressed his deepest appreciation to all Muslims for availing themselves for the fasting and prayers.

He said his desire to give to the Muslims was influenced by their continuous support for the development of the area.

He also appreciated the leadership and members of the Muslim community in the Municipality for always ensuring peace, unity and stability with people from the other faith.

Mr. Eric Amofa encouraged them to remember Ghana and the leadership of the current government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as they fast and pray.

He advised them to take advantage of the numerous NPP government's good policies especially the free SHS education policy, and enroll their children in school for a better future.

"The vision of President Akufo-Addo is to ensure that every Ghanaian child receive at least a secondary education, and we don't want to see any of our children in Asante Akim South Municipality being disadvantaged or being left out or behind," he stated.

The donation was received by the Constituency Organiser, Mr. Albert Obour and the Constituency Nasara Coordinator, Mr. Abdalla Arimuyau on behalf of the beneficiaries.

They thanked Mr. Eric Amofa for remembering the Muslim community especially in this period of global economic crisis.

They assured that the items would be distributed to the intended group of people, and called on other influential people in the Constituency to emulate Mr. Eric Amofa for his consistency in giving to society.

During the last Christmas festivities, Mr. Eric Amofa donated close to a thousand bags of rice, the same quantities of cooking oil and undisclosed cash amount to the NPP Constituency Executives, Polling Station Officers and other key party faithfuls.
The Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings, has expressed disappointment over the recent approval of President Akufo-Addo's ministerial nominees.

In a Facebook post, the MP lamented the "notorious U-turn" made by some minority MPs during the secret voting to determine the fate of the new ministers.

Zanetor Rawlings, who is the daughter of the late Jerry John Rawlings, the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), stated that her father would have put drastic measures in place to compel the NDC MPs to abide by the party's directive.

She added that her father would have even made them swear an oath on the popular Antoa river god to ensure their loyalty to the party.

"On Friday night, I felt this deep pain that maybe it was perhaps better that he [JJ Rawlings] was not alive to witness what had happened to the NDC.

"But then again, I thought perhaps had he been alive he would probably have challenged all of us to go and swear on Antoa or dared us to take a lie-detector test!," read a portion of the post.

The MP expressed deep pain over the situation, stating that it is even better that her father is not alive to witness what she described as "shame."

The lawmaker further emphasised the need for the NDC to return to the values and principles on which the party was built, including honesty, accountability, integrity, discipline, and commitment to Ghana.

She urged the opposition party to course-correct immediately to avoid destroying their own legacy.

Though the lawmaker observed that the partys founder is no more to correct them on certain issues, "we have come too far to destroy our own legacy! We must course correct, immediately!"

"We need to return to the values and principles on which this party was built including honesty, accountability, integrity, discipline and commitment to our nation, Ghana," the Klottey Korle MP stressed.

Some Ghanaians, including political commentators and the NDC leadership, have criticised minority MPs who made the U-turn during the secret ballot.

The approval of President Akufo-Addo's ministerial nominees has been a contentious issue, as many believe the President shouldnt be adding up to his already bloated government size.
Executive management and officers of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) have paid a courtesy call on the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, at his residence in Fadama, Accra to observe the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The delegation, made up of Muslim and Christian staff from a cross-section of the petroleum downstream regulator, was led by the Authoritys Chief Executive, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid.

In his remarks, Dr. Abdul-Hamid indicated that the aim was to call on the National Chief Imam to see his health condition, adding that, We recognise that people like him, it is for the sake of their prayers and intercession for our country that we continue to be an island of peace in all this turbulence around West Africa.

He said the visit was also to present food items to the National Chief Iman towards the celebration of the Eid-ul- Fitr (the celebration at the end of Ramadan).

The items include bags of rice, tinned tomatoes, tuna chunks, cooking oil, cartoons of brown sugar, ideal milk, and cartons of assorted drinks, milo and boxes of bottled water.

We know that people like him are responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. We know that people like him because of their position where Allah has blessed them they are not capable of going to go and work and earn money, so those of us that Allah has imbued with strength and intellect and the ability to find, when we find it is our responsibility to come and share with people like you, he emphasized

Dr. Abdul-Hamid who doubles as the President of African Refiners and Distributors Association the items were to assist the Chief Imam feed the hundreds of people that will come looking for something to quench their fast.

So we have come to make this donation and seek for his intercession with Allah for the growth and progress of the National petroleum Authority, he prayed.

The National Chief Imam, receiving the items, expressed appreciation to the NPA for the gesture and offered prayers for the NPA Chief Executive and his entourage for development.

Source: National Petroleum Authority
All over the world, research has shown that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) particularly in developing and emerging countries are often characterised by huge decent work deficits than larger enterprises. These include poor working conditions, low productivity, low competitiveness, low market share, low skilled workforce and ineffective management practices.

The Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework (2022-2025) of Ghana recognises the high level of unemployment which is occasioned by absence of technical and vocational skills, inadequate entrepreneurial skills, and poor business development services. Other factors include inadequate opportunities for training skills, upgrade and innovations, mismatch between training / skills and the needs of the labour market. Additionally, there is lack of an objective national productivity measurement, and inadequate data on job creation. These and many other factors have dominated the long-term trend of falling productivity growth rates.

In order for policymakers and practitioners to improve productivity and working conditions in various economies, it has become necessary to review current approaches and adopt new innovative approaches that would create a virtuous cycle between productivity growth and the creation of decent jobs. According to the ILO, this can be achieved by bringing together government, social partners and other key actors to promote productivity growth and social justice in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable business climate.

As part of measures to address decent work deficits in SMEs, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work (PE4DW) Project in 2021. It is a global multi-country programme to promote productivity growth for decent work, combining different approaches that strengthen productivity drivers across policy, sector, and enterprise levels.

In addition, the programme is in line with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) 8.2, which encourages member states to pursue higher levels of economic growth through diversification, technology upgrading and innovation through a focus on high value added and labour-intensive sectors.

To this end, the Director-General of the ILO, Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo and the Minister for Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions, Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah (MP) jointly launched the Project in Ghana at a short ceremony held on 22nd February 2023 at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra. The project spans from 2022 to 2025 and is currently being implemented in three countries, Ghana, Vietnam and South Africa.

In Ghana, the project will specifically address challenges in the garment and textile industries as well as shea, enhance productivity and promote decent work, and at the same time support economic growth and national development.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Houngbo said the ILO attaches great importance to productivity and the decent work programme in Ghana and reiterated the sustainability of the project. He therefore called on social partners to collaborate with Government to ensure that the livelihood of workers are improved as well as the project becomes successful. In addressing deficiency in the productivity ecosystem, we must work together, he said.

On his part, the Minister for Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions, Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah (MP) lauded the ILO Director-General, indicating his visit to Ghana is one of the highest forms of bilateral relations between Ghana and its Social Partners in the quest for decent jobs and enhanced productivity.

The launch of the PE4DW project climaxed the three-day working visit of the Director-General of the ILO and two German Federal Ministers to Ghana.

It is anticipated that the project would increase the capacity of ILO constituents and MDAs to formulate and implement national employment policies and productivity frameworks by establishing national and sectoral public-private social dialogue platforms, enhancing multifactor productivity statistics to inform wages and policies and building institutional capacity for sector organisations among others.

The Writer is the Head of Public Affairs at MELR & a staff of ISD.
press release

18 March 2023, Addis Ababa: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat concluded a two day working visit to Burundi.

Upon arrival in Bujumbura, the Chairperson was welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Albert Shingiro, Ambassador Willy Nyamitwe, Permanent Representative of Burundi to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the AU, and other high-ranking goverment officials.

The Chairperson met President H.E Evariste Ndayishimiye for rich discussions on the development priorities of the country, including deepening democracy, inclusive dialogue, consensus, and the role of the Youth in driving the agricultural initiatives.

In this regard, the Chairperson commended the President for the country's admirable gains in achieving national food security through strong food production mobilisation.

During his meeting with President in the northern Kirundo Province, and where the Chairperson was able to see first-hand the agricultural development, the Chairperson reiterated the African Union's strong support to Burundi's leadership in furthering Youth-led initiatives in agricultural development for peace and economic empowerment.

The Chairperson also commended the strong leading role played by Burundi in supporting peace missions on the Continent, particularly in Somalia, the Central African Republic and most recently, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In this regard, the Chairperson lauded the personal leadership of H.E. president Ndayishimiye in his capacity as Chairperson of the East African Community, in support of the AU-mandated Nairobi and Luanda processes.

The Chairperson looks forward to Burundi's continued leadership as a member of the Bureau of the African Union.
27.03.2023 LISTEN

Dr. Frederick Mac-Palm, the Chief Executive Officer of the Citadel Hospital, who was one of the 10 persons standing trial for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government reportedly died on Saturday, March 25.

According to reports, Dr. Mac-Palm collapsed in his house and was rushed to Dodoma hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The third accused party, Allan Debrah Ofosu, was scheduled to conduct his last cross-examination of Dr. Mac-Palm in court on Monday, March 27. Ofosu was scheduled to interrogate Dr. Mac-Palm over the charges of conspiracy of high treason and high treason, to which he had declared not guilty, and who had just lately been allocated a state-assisted lawyer when his prior attorney withdrew his services.

Judge Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe presided over a three-judge Court of Appeal panel that was trying Dr. Mac-Palm in the High Court. Many people, including his coworkers and those who were carefully following the case, were startled to learn of his sudden death.

The trial of the remaining nine persons accused of conspiring to overthrow the government is expected to continue as scheduled, with the next hearing set for later this week. The news of Dr. Mac-Palm's death has left many questions unanswered, and the cause of his death is yet to be known.
Dr. Zanetor Agyemang Rawlings, the Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey and daughter of former President Jerry John Rawlings, has disclosed that her late father was concerned about Ghana until his last days.

In an emotional tribute on Facebook, she recounted how the late Rawlings asked about his constituents from his hospital bed before his death.

"I still remember vividly when from his hospital bed, he asked me how the people in my constituency were doing in the lead-up to the 2020 general elections," she said.

This, the lawmaker said, shows the deep love and patriotism Rawlings had for Ghana, even in his dying moments.

Though unwell, his mind was still preoccupied with the affairs of the state and well-being of Ghanaians, according to his daughter.

"Even when he was a few days away from his own death, he was still worried about Ghana!" Zanetor recalled.

Rawlings ruled Ghana for almost 20 years, first as a military leader and then as a democratically elected president from 1993 to January 2001.

He is credited with ushering in the Fourth Republic and championing democratic values in Ghana.

Though a controversial figure, Rawlings' role in Ghana's political history cannot be downplayed.

His daughter's revelation is a testament to his lifelong dedication to the progress of the National Democratic Congress and that of Ghana as a whole.

The country he so loved until his last breath will fondly remember his immense contribution and legacy.

Rawlings passed away on November 12, 2020, at the age of 73. He left behind an indelible mark on Ghana's development and remains an icon of probity, accountability and revolutionary ideals.

Though death has parted him from the Ghana he cared so much about, his memory lives on in the hearts of all Ghanaians.
Neglected tropical diseases are a group of 20 diseases found mostly in tropical regions that are strongly associated with poverty. Among them are skin diseases like scabies, leprosy and yaws. They are caused by some bacteria, viruses, mosquitoes or mites and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), they affect more than one billion people worldwide, mainly in lower-income settings.

These skin diseases are particularly common in most African countries. For example the estimated at-risk population on the continent requiring intervention for lymphatic filariasis (an abnormal enlargement of body parts, causing pain, severe disability) was 341 million in 2020. And 99 percent cases of onchoerciasis also known as river blindness occur on the continent.

Children are usually more affected than adults, and risk factors include poverty, overcrowding, malnutrition, and humidity.

Neglected tropical diseases of the skin are stigmatised, and may affect an individual's quality of life or psychological well-being. They can be difficult to diagnose and there are typically few, if any, dermatologists in areas where they are common.

Our team led a study in Togo, in west Africa, to assess the burden of these diseases. We found a high prevalence of several skin infections and evidence of social impact experienced by the patients. We suggest that local and national health authorities, in Togo and more widely across Africa, consider an approach that integrates skin management along with general public educational programmes to encourage early reporting of cases to the health service.

What we found

The study population was two schools in Lome, the Togo capital city, and one rural community setting, the village of Ndjei, Ndjei has a population of about 3,000 and is 400km north-east of Lome.

Mobile clinics were set up in the schools and community sites, between June and October 2021. Medicines were provided free of charge to participants. Where necessary, individuals were referred to the appropriate service in the healthcare system. The team looked to record the skin infections listed by the WHO, and as well as diagnoses of other fungal diseases.

Skin examinations were carried out on a total of 1,401 people. This included 954 in Ndjei  68.1% of the total. In the Lome school setting, 447 children (31.9% of the total sample) were examined out of 782 regularly enrolled children.

Overall, we found a large number of skin infections. There were 105 observed cases of skin diseases classified as neglected tropical diseases (7.5% of all the people we examined had one of these diseases). And there were 333 cases of fungal disease (23.8% of all the people we examined had a fungal disease). Where data are available, these numbers are perhaps comparable with other studies though rates can vary greatly. For example, an Ethiopian study found fungal disease prevalence of 21%, similar to the 23.8% we found here. However, another study in Benin reported a prevalence of 49%.

The 105 cases of skin neglected tropical disease included 20 in schools and 85 in the rural community setting. Neglected tropical diseases are often more common in rural areas.

Across school and community data, there were 68 cases (6.7% of the total) of neglected tropical diseases in children, and 37 cases (9.7%) in adults.

The most prevalent of the skin diseases (other than fungal diseases) was scabies , observed in 86 patients (6.1%). Scabies is an unpleasant infection transmitted by mites that burrow underneath the skin and lay eggs. It can be incredibly itchy and lead to secondary consequences, including other skin infections and kidney disease. Treatment in Africa is often a skin lotion called benzyl benzoate, and the oral medicine ivermectin, both of which are very effective at killing the scabies mites.

The effectiveness of traditional remedies such as herbal cataplasm (a home-made healing paste of different herbs and plants) to treat skin infections in different parts of Africa is uncertain. Their use could promote a secondary bacterial infection or cause eczema around the skin wounds.

Among other diseases observed in our study, the team also found cases of leprosy, yaws and Buruli ulcer.

A call to action

Although it was not the main motivation behind the study, we also asked questions about stigma. In the school setting, five (6%) children with cutaneous neglected tropical diseases reported being stigmatised, and four of them had refused to go to school for one or more days. In Ndjei, 44 (4.6%) participants reported having experienced stigma and 41 (93.2% of those) missed at least one day of school or work.

Stigma and the problem of absenteeism associated with skin diseases should encourage the health authorities to make the treatment of these diseases free of charge, including consultation fees and drugs. Health promotion and education is important. This can help to persuade the population to seek medical care. An integrated management approach as well as mass drug administration programmes may be effective in controlling the diseases, and are recommended as part of the WHO neglected tropical diseases roadmap .

This study has provided evidence around the numbers and types of skin neglected tropical disease and fungal infections found in school and rural communities in Togo. The data has been presented within Togo and to the relevant international groups such as the WHO.

Michael Head has previously received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development.

Bayaki Saka and Palokinam Pitche do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton And

Bayaki Saka, Professor of Dermatology, University of Lome And

Palokinam Pitche, Professor of Dermatology , University of Lome
A renowned Economist and a Senior Lecturer at the Wisconsin University, Dr Walanyo Mensah, says some unseen conditionalities including issues around LGBTQ+ bill in parliament, utility tariffs are delaying IMF board approval.

According to him, Ghana's inability to meet some conditions by the IMF including the withdrawal of the LGBTQ bill which is currently in Parliament now and the increase in utility tariffs to at least 80 per cent are some of the key factors deferring the final approval by the board.

He said this in an interview on the Kumasi based OTEC 102.9 FM's morning show Nyansapo on Monday March 27,2023.

"There are some unseen conditionalities the IMF is expecting Ghana to do, for instance, in other countries, issues about LGBTQ were highly considered before the IMF eventually extended their help to such countries and Ghana is no exception in this case.

"If you have taking note, economies that really supports LGBTQ+ and its affiliate institutions and policies get easy access to the IMF and the World Bank," he told the programmes host Captain Koda.

Ghana IMF Agreement

IMF staff and the Ghanaian authorities in December 2022 reached staff-level agreement on economic policies and reforms to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion.

The authorities strong reform program aims at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, preserving financial stability, and laying the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery.

Status of Ghanas Programme

While many Ghanaians are looking for the final approval by the IMF, Government has indicated that it is working to present its economic programme by March ending 2023.

The government is yet to meet all the pre-conditions needed before the programme can commenced.

Meanwhile the IMF has emphasized that, it was necessary for Ghana to secure financing assurances from its partners and creditors before the country can present its programme request to the Executive Board for approval.

Dr Walanyo Mensah however said he was optimistic that Ghana will eventually pass the test and get IMFs approval.
Bernard Mornah, a former National Chairman of the People's National Convention (PNC), has criticised Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's choice of attire during the welcome ceremony for United States Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris, in company of her husband Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, was received in Ghana's capital Accra on Sunday, March 26, by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and senior government officials.

Accompanied by drumming and dancing, school children welcomed the 49th US Vice President with miniature flags of Ghana at the Kotoka International Airport.

Mornah argued that Bawumia missed an opportunity to showcase Ghanaian fashion and promote local industries.

In an interview on Accra-based UTV, the former PNC chairperson said Bawumia should have worn locally-made Ghanaian attire to mark Ghana Month and support local industries, especially since the government has been urging citizens to patronise local products.

"This is Ghana month and Government has asked everyone to patronize made in Ghana. The Vice president was fully dressed as a European and western.

"Where is your swag and you are celebrating your independence? This picture has gone viral and how is that marketing Ghana? Our leader must symbolize what they say," Mornah expressed.

Meanwhile, the US Veeps trip comes after a December summit hosted by President Joe Biden in Washington with US leaders and counterparts from Africa, a continent where China and Russia are enjoying rising influence.
The Trades Union Congress (Ghana) has condemned the happenings between the management of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd and workers of the company which has resulted in the sacking of three people already.

To ensure the rights of the three sacked workers and over 60 others who could lose their jobs are protected, TUC has joined the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU) to fight for the rights of the workers.

In the last few months, the Ghana Mineworkers Union, a union which is under TUC has held various meetings with the National Labour Commission to ensure workers of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd who have joined the Union are not abused but their social and economic interests are well taken care of.

Raising concerns of abuse by Sunon Asogli Power, TUC at a press conference in Accra on Monday, March 27, argued that the actions of the company have very serious implications for the exercise of workers' constitutional rights as Ghanaians.

Secretary General of TUC, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah stressed that what Sunon Asogli Power is doing is also a threat to efforts and vision toward getting all the working people of Ghana to join the trade union movement to protect their social and economic interests.

In his speech, the TUC Secretary General emphasised that it will not watch on for any worker in the country to be subjected to abuse as is being meted out to the staff of Sunon Asogli by their Chinese bosses and Ghanaian collaborators.

Comrades, we cannot stand by for these violations and abuse of workers rights to go on, after 66 years of independence from colonial rule. These workers have not committed any crime and have not broken any Company rule. They are simply being abused by their Chinese bosses and Ghanaian collaborators.

Let me, therefore, state very clearly that the TUC will not stand by for any worker in Ghana to suffer any such abuse, humiliation and indignity for freely choosing to exercise their rights guaranteed by our Constitution, labour laws and ILO Conventions 87 (Right to Freedom of Association) and 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining), Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah shared.

While calling on the management of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd and all the authorities concerned to ensure that all the three local union leaders of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited whose appointments have been wrongfully terminated are reinstated immediately, TUC has also strongly cautioned the Management of Sunon Asogli Power to refrain from any further acts of intimidation, fear and panic being unleashed on our members in the company and stop the abuse of the rights their employees to belong to a union of their choice.

We are serving notice and notice is hereby served that if by April 3, 2023, the three local union leaders who have been dismissed are not reinstated and the various acts of intimidation and victimisation by Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd have not ceased, the Trades Union Congress (Ghana) and all its affiliate unions shall have no other option but to advise themselves, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah warned.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana is unhappy about the unfair dismissal of three workers of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd.

The company has allegedly beeen maltreating some of its staff for quite some time and recently dismissed three of the staff over their decision to join the Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU).

It all started when nearly 70 workers of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd took the decision to join the GMWU in February 2021.

GMWU and the workers at Sunon Asogli went through all the necessary legal processes to acquire a Collective Bargaining Certificate which was duly issued by the Chief Labour Officer.

The Collective Bargaining certificate empowers the GMWU to represent and negotiate with the Company on behalf of the unionized workers.

However, GMWU invited the management of Sunon Asogli to come to the table for negotiation on behalf of the staff, which they ignored.

The issue later went before the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the commission ruled that Sunon Asogli must meet GMWU for the negotiation.

On the basis of the Commissions ruling and in accordance with the Labour Act, GMWU wrote to the management of the Company in January 2023 inviting them to start negotiations.

In February 2023, the Union wrote again to the Company with the list of unionized workers requesting the deduction and payment of monthly subscriptions to the Union, in accordance with the GMWU Constitution and Labour Act 2003 (Act 651).

The Company refused to comply with the request of the Union citing concerns over the Collective Bargaining Certificate, a matter which had been settled by the National Labour Commission.

The matter which has dragged has seen three staff of Sunon Asogli who joined the GMWU losing their jobs with several others reportedly being abused.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Monday, March 27, TUC Secretary General Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah emphasised that his outfit will not watch on for any worker in the country to be subjected to abuse as is being done to the staff of Sunon Asogli by their Chinese bosses and Ghanaian collaborators.

Comrades, we cannot stand by for these violations and abuse of workers rights to go on, after 66 years of independence from colonial rule. These workers have not committed any crime and have not broken any Company rule. They are simply being abused by their Chinese bosses and Ghanaian collaborators.

Let me, therefore, state very clearly that the TUC will not stand by for any worker in Ghana to suffer any such abuse, humiliation and indignity for freely choosing to exercise their rights guaranteed by our Constitution, labour laws and ILO Conventions 87 (Right to Freedom of Association) and 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining), Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah shared.

According to him, Sunon Asogli will incur the wrath of TUC if it refuses to reinstate the dismissed staff by April 3.

We are serving notice and notice is hereby served that if by April 3, 2023, the three local union leaders who have been dismissed are not reinstated and the various acts of intimidation and victimisation by Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd have not ceased, the Trades Union Congress (Ghana) and all its affiliate unions shall have no other option but to advise themselves, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah warned.

Among many alleged waves of abuse being perpetrated by Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd, TUC says it is aware Local Union executives of the company have been forcefully asked to either rescind their decision to remain in the union or face termination of employment.

The Trade Union Congress says it is also aware that all team leaders who have opted to join the union have been relieved of their duties and taken off company platforms where production-related matters are discussed.

In addition, unionised workers are being transferred from their departments to other departments where they have not been trained to work.
The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, moments after finishing her rather brief address on arriving in Ghana Sunday, made a momentary stop to exchange pleasantries with some pupils from Chorkor, a fishing community in Accra, who had come to welcome her.

The pupils, visibly excited about the Vice President's presence, continued to wave their miniature Ghana and American flags, which caught the eye of the Vice President.

She walked up to them with the unique opportunity for the children to have some smiley moments and quick handshakes.

Accompanied by her husband, Douglas Emhoff, the Vice President wore her accustomed broad infectious smile and uninhibited by her heavy Secret Service details, had direct exchanges with some of the female pupils, igniting optimism in them.

That gesture, Christabel Naa Larley Mensah, a Basic Six pupil, and beneficiary of the BASICS International initiative, says brings her a lot of hope to aspire for greatness and strive to be the next 'Kamala Harris'.

I am happy to see her, Ms Mensah, who wants to be a medical doctor, says with a wide smile.

She was part of the 150 children from Chorkor under the BASIC International initiative, who joined other dignitaries, including Ghana's Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia; Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration; Madam Virginia E. Palmer, U.S Ambassador to Ghana; Hajia Alima Mahama, Ghana's Ambassador to the US, at the Jubilee Lounge of the Kotoka International Airport.

Others were Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister for Information; Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister for lands and Natural Resources and Mr Henry Quartey, Greater Accra Regional Minister, among other dignitaries from Ghana and the United States.

To achieve her dreams and become a great medical doctor, Ms Mensah says she must learn hard and obey instructions in class.

Obed Tagoe, a graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and a beneficiary of the BASICS International programme since age eight, says Indeed, yesterdays visit of the Vice President of the United States of America to Ghana was history made for Ghana and every single individual present at the event but most especially to us the Basics beneficiaries and the organisation as a whole.

Her visit, Mr Tagoe adds is a moment where the hopes to become great despite gender is reassuring.

Now volunteering at BASICS International, he says there is a great future that we will all play our collective role and also help others

The Brothers And Sisters in Christ Serving (BASICS International) is a faith-based organisation in Ghana founded by Patricia Wilkins in 2000.

The Organisation's initiative provides education and resources to impoverished communities in Ghana, particularly Chorkor in the Greater Accra Region, where most of the children are schooling.

Founder and CEO, Patricia Wilkins, says BASICS International has been a recipient of grants and support from the US Embassy in Ghana and offers support to the Organisation for its programmes and activities.

Ms Wilkins, an American Ghanaian, notes that the relations between Ghana and the US is long-standing and their presence at the Airport is to give the pupils and other beneficiaries of the BASIC International initiate some glimmer of hope to achieve more despite the odds.

She expresses appreciation to Kamala Harris for inspiring women of colour and young girls around the world. Wherever a young girl is sitting today, they are looking at her and saying that could be me. This is something that we as girls and children are not being afforded; we have to fight for so many things. She sets an example that anything is possible.

Vice President Kamala Harris, welcomed to Ghana amidst drumming and dancing by the Ghana Dance Ensemble, National theatre, said she was excited about the future of Africa.

I am excited about the impact of Africans on the US and the rest of the world.

The Vice President said the economic empowerment of women and girls, empowerment of youth entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, and support to increase food security, including adaptation to the effects of the climate crisis, would be her focus while in Ghana.

Her visit, she noted, reinforced the work the US and Ghana continued to do in increasing investments on the African continent and facilitating economic growth.

Kamala Harris, who will be in Ghana from March 26 to 29, said she looked forward to building on previous meetings with Ghanaian leaders to strengthen democracy and good governance, promote peace and security, build on long term economic growth and strengthen business ties.

GNA
The University of Media, Arts and Communications (UniMAC), GIJ campus in collaboration with investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has launched an Investigative Journalism Club to groom the next generation of journalists who will stop at nothing to expose corruption in Ghana.

During the launch, Manasseh Azure, an alumnus of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), shared his insights on the fundamental values of investigative reporting.

According to him, investigative journalists must possess the "3Cs": Competence, Courage, and Character.

Above all, he emphasized the importance of integrity, saying, "Your integrity should be as important as your competence."

Manasseh also reminded students of the dangers of investigative journalism, including the temptation to be bought out by those who seek to silence the truth.

The most important character as an investigative reporter is integrity and your integrity should be as important as your competence.

The people you are fighting have so much money, not money they have made but money they have stolen and would bribe you to stop the story for them to steal more, he said.

However, he encouraged aspiring journalists to stand firm and resist these temptations, as the benefits of investigative journalism far outweigh any monetary gain.

The Dean of the Journalism and Media Studies Faculty, Dr. James Kwaku Asante, also urged students to be committed to the club's mission of fighting corruption in Ghana.

Manasseh, pleased with the "catch them young" initiative, donated seed money to the club's initial activities and offered to be a resource person for the club.

The launch of the Investigative Journalism Club was met with excitement from students, who expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to learn from a seasoned investigative journalist.

One student told Modernghana News Isaac Donkor Distinguished on the sidelines that, "Being part of this seminar has been a blessing to me, and I look forward to attending more programs like this.

The student continued, Thank you to UniMAC-GIJ, the Faculty of Journalism and Media Studies, and Manasseh Azure Awuni for this great seminar."

The club will have access to reading materials, including Manasseh's recent book, "A Guide to Investigative Journalism in Africa," pending approval by the GIJ academic board.

With the launch of the Investigative Journalism Club, UniMAC-GIJ is taking a bold step towards eradicating corruption in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
The President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, March 27, welcomed the US Vice President, Hon. Kamala Harris to the Jubilee House.

After a engaging meeting, President Akufo-Addo has stressed that he has no doubt the visit is boosting the steadfast cooperation between Ghana and the US.

The President further indicated that Ghana will continue to collaborate with the US to work towards achieving common goals.

I am happy to state that this afternoons meeting has further boosted the steadfast cooperation between us, and Ghana would continue to collaborate with the United States of America at all levels, particularly towards the peaceful resolution of conflicts and in the search for global peace and security to promote sustainable development around the globe, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said in a post on Facebook.

The Vice President of the US, Hon. Kamala Harris arrived in Ghana on Sunday, March 26, and will be in the country until Wednesday, March 29.

The purpose of the visit by the American Vice President is to re-affirm the ties of cooperation and the bonds of friendship that the two countries attach to their relations with each other.

Before today, Vice President Kamala Harris and President Akufo-Addo had first met in the White House in 2021.

During their engagement, they both pledged their commitment to exploring areas of interest for the mutual benefit of Ghana and the US.

The visit by Hon. Kamala Harris this week reinforces that commitment to engage in the interest of the two countries.
Afenifere, however, noted that in line with the Yoruba's ethos of good upbringing, it urged them, "and indeed all Nigerians, to remain calm and continue to show love to their Igbo compatriots and members of other ethnic nationalities."

Afenifere, a socio-cultural organisation of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, has described as divisive a statement by the Chairman of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, describing Yoruba as "political rascals."

In a short video clip that has since gone viral, Mr Iwuanyanwu, while speaking in Awka, Anambra State capital, at a forum to mark the first anniversary of the administration of the state governor, Charles Soludo, had angrily reacted to the reported clashes between Yorubas and Igbos in Lagos during the 18 March governorship election in the state.

The elder statesman had condemned the reported violence and informed the gathering of the efforts made by Igbo's apex organisation to address it, even as he warned the Yorubas against further provocation.

But in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its National Organising Secretary, Kole Omololu, Afenifere fumed at Mr Iwuanyanwu's statement while appealing to Nigerians and particularly Yorubas to eschew violence and embrace people of all races, cultures and backgrounds.

Meanwhile, earlier on Sunday, the leadership of Afenifere's counterpart in Igbo land, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, denied that Mr Iwuanyanwu referred to Yorubas as political rascals in his statement, describing the report as a lie from the pit of hell.

Mr Iwuanyanwu's statement

As a statesman, Mr Iwuanyanwu was handed the microphone on Saturday for a remark, and he commended the governor for his work in the state.

He said the Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo appreciates and supports him, "and we are very proud of you."

However, after applauding the governor, the businessman turned politician delved into the reported tension between Igbos and Yorubas in Lagos, and assured the people of continued protection by the apex Igbo body.

For the avoidance of misinterpretation, the transcript of the short speech is reproduced below:

He said: "Now, I saw the various associations coming here from Lagos. I want to let our people in Lagos to know that on Wednesday, I called a meeting of the Ohanaeze Council of Elders Worldwide and we x-rayed the events in Lagos, and I want to tell you that people attended from America, Canada, Europe, and Nigeria. So I want those who are from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos that we have resolved that never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any innocent Igbo person. All of us are going to fight the person. We are going to fight the person. Never again!

"We are in Nigeria and we have invested in Nigeria, and our investments are so much. We are not going to take it when people tell us to go; we are not going anywhere. And I want to tell those who are in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and Yorubas. Yorubas are just political rascals, and we are going to handle them.

"The elders have directed the Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Emuche... to set up a commission of inquiry, to find out things destroyed, people are going to pay.

Meanwhile, I thank you for this opportunity, I'm very grateful and I want you to give Soludo support so that he will continue to concentrate on his job and do well. Thank you very much."

Afenifere kicks

In its statement titled: "Re: The Divisive Awka Comment by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu," Afenifere said it has been inundated "with complaints by several Yoruba sons and daughters from all over the world regarding the comment made by the Chairman of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu."

The statement read in part: "We have since reviewed the video recording of the event and our leadership will be reaching out to the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to seek clarification on why Chief Iwuanyanwu made the comment and whether his view is a reflection of what Ohanaeze Ndigbo indeed think of the Yorubas.

"We hereby call on Ohaneze to warn the Chief not to insult the Yoruba. We are a proud nation. We are a hospitable race. All these should not be interpreted to mean weakness. In fact, it is a sign of being civilized. Enough of the provocation."

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The statement further noted that in line with the race's ethos of good upbringing, it urged Yorubas, "and indeed all Nigerians, to remain calm and continue to show love to their Igbo compatriots and members of other ethnic nationalities."

It noted that the Yorubas have a long history of association and partnership with Igbo counterparts and that "diversity is one of Nigeria's strengths in the comity of nations and we should not allow politics, religion, ethnicity or anything else to divide us."

"We urge all Yorubas to continue to relate well with all other ethnic groups in Nigeria and abroad. Our common humanity is more important than the divisive antics or careless remarks of any individual or group. The Yorubas are known worldwide as promoters of peace, unity, and orderliness. We should hold on strongly to those virtues in the interest of peace, progress, and prosperity in Nigeria and the world," the statement added.
The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo has provided an update on the legislation on LGBTQ+ presented to Parliament.

There is currently an anti-LGBTQ+ bill in Parliament sponsored by some eight Members of Parliament with Samuel Nartey George being one of the leaders.

Today, the issue of human rights came up at the Jubilee House when President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hosted US Vice President Kamala Harris.

She stressed that she feels very strongly about the importance of supporting and addressing human rights issues in the world with a mention of LGBTQ.

For the American press who are here, you know that a great deal of work in my career has been to address human rights issues, equality issues across the globe including as well as the LGBTQ community and I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting and fighting for quality among all people, Hon. Kamala Harris said.

When asked about a law on LGBTQ+ in Ghana by the press, President Akufo-Addo set the record straight when he made it clear that there is nothing like that in the country.

He however indicated that Parliament is looking at legislation that is yet to be passed.

The President further indicated that he will step in after Parliament finishes dealing with the issues of the legislation.

It hasnt been passed, so the statement that there is a legislation in Ghana to that effect is not accurate.

Parliament is dealing with it and at the end of the process, I will come in, President Akufo-Addo said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Ghana on Sunday, March 26.

She is expected to be in the country until Wednesday, March 29, before travelling to Tanzania.
Julian Assange is a hero in many respect, and how he still fights is both impressive and questionable, but his opponents or enemies are the dangerous cowards, whom the living and history must study to win the devils in earliest and most efficient ways. Indeed, an intolerable percentage of western Europeans have proven to be prostitute minded people in many ways , especially in the case of Assange and Iran's+ during Trump's time... Beside the countries or government's officials, Assange is a testimony against many of Humankind, because our general inaction or under reacting begs the question if humans are worth fighting for? And this is why faith in God is supreme and do not bank on humans to be grateful on time... Shame on the officials and journalists of Europe+, but our protests for Assange or truthful freedom of speech should have been bigger to be beyond what mainstream media can ignore. We should have include even tactical individual sanction or boycott against u.s, England, and Europe; And Assange and his elite supporters should be calling for it.

Assange's case is another God's allowed case as test to humankind, we are in the 'days of standing' or judgment times and our every position from mindset, words, and actions are watched; including why we refuse to speak up or act where need be. Assange' case is primarily a question of Truth versus government claims of interest: the cowards will argue truth is dangerous or sometimes dangerous without showing the evidence of how truth 'harms' versus lies or lack of enough truth; the greedy will argue national interest is more vital than truth, just as racial or gender interest are sometimes chosen over truth; the arrogant will argue similar, claiming shame, privacy, reputation, etc are more vital than truth. Why did decent conscience and even the religious scriptures told us to 'choose Truth even if it be against our family [blood groups, national, gender, or even species] or self'? Those whose low conscience values questionable interest over truth or lower than government's limited conscience are indeed in trouble.

Although millions of Americans oppose Assange's extradition, u.s mainstream media failed to confront the guilty political elite and even hypocritical Trump towards better laws beyond Assange. To give evidence on my claims, I may need to cite some verifiable facts that some readers may forgot, paid little attention to, or never knew about. Assange was created by God and being tested with humankind, especially during president Bush Jr's term. He freely entered the u.s in part of Bush's term, but at least the rhetoric changed towards the end. Ms. Sarah Palin was the running Mate of John McCain and she called for the 'use of special force', to assassinate Assange.

Their failing to chastise her is not just telling, but her rhetoric significantly contributed to why I and some opposed McCain and supported Obama who was seemingly against censorship, at least to get votes or not worse like his opponents then... During Obama's term was when Assange published the most 'Damaging' or truthful information and when u.s sought his extradition and prosecuted Chelsea Manning and others over classified information. Trump understood the public were for truth, so he spoke well about Assange to get votes, but hypocritically continue the extradition request after winning. The mainstream media wants you to believe Trump fulfilled campaign promises, but Trump failed on many good campaign promises beyond Assange, marijuana legalisation, 'drain the swamp' and others. Trump fulfilled bad to illusory campaign promises, including the alleged efforts to prosecute Ms. Clinton.

Again, I resortly supported Trump over Clinton because Ms. Clinton was more pro censorship+, but I fiercely opposed Trump when I discovered his hypocritical nature, but still think Clinton could have been worse. Trump's presidency was exceptionally vital for learning and it includes how he exposed the prostitute minded nature of many Europeans, especially their leaders. When Trump withdrew from the Iran agreement, most European leaders+ saw it wrong, but under resisted. They chose 'financial interest' over truth or principles. They should have resisted to lose few billions in business sanctions or Trump would have backed out/ suffer politically, but they chose to went along ? Perhaps why God allow covid to lose more billions than others?

UK versus Europe: UK was in the European Union and they even saw how Edward Snowden showed how UK valued u.s over European citizens+. Precedent matters, by allowing UK to extradite Australian citizen over truthful revelations, it precisely means UK or xyz can extradite other European citizens or who is guilty of indifference if it is Australian, Chinese, Russian, or African citizen? I suspect God kicked them out of Africa due to extreme bad character, despite seeing some Europeans+ seem to have better character than some Africans, but percentage matters and I declare myself to be better in character than average European, African, American, etc?

Assange's revelations did lot of good we are yet to acknowledge, but they want you to believe he did harm or potential harm? They want you to believe he endangered some guilty folks they called workers? They will not charge him with potential harm or endangering legal underground killers ('special forces) or xyz , but under an unjust law that bars people from even explaining why you did an alleged wrong? It starts with bad laws that government have the right to fight facts and factual people in the name of interest, and ends with government can change even how you are prosecuted over words or even persecuted if accused of terrorism+ before proven? Oops! It's the law, it should be respected until humankind slowly open their eyes to worshipping questionable human laws is worshipping devils or potential devils, and can lead to 'ascribing partners to Allah'? It's the law was the excuse against the beloved Jesus Christ (pbuh) and how many a Christian+ used or using it?

It's the Law, 'White is supreme', blacks will disagree until we show them the money towards American exceptionalism? It's the law, ' u.s national interest is supreme', Trump said , '[many] women and matriarchal European countries will allow you if you are rich? ' It's the law, 'Female is supreme', if you are accused by a woman, punishment should start even before evidence is presented? Johnny Depp can under fight back, but the poor are denied working opportunities, including myself? Was it by coincidence Assange was accused of rape or did they used those women to muzzle the public support of Assange? Although rape is a big crime, it is not usually among the crimes government seek extradition on or agree to extradite. There are certain extradition that are simply political extradition based on average and exceptions. Feel free to request the data, how many times did Sweden and every country ever sought extradition over rape allegations?

Even if you find Sweden or xyz sought ten in a decade, ask if hundreds of rape or xyz allegations were extradition was deem not worth it and why? Another example of political extradition : The u.s extradited Marc Emery of Canada over cannabis seeds and now reportedly banned him from entering the u.s? How many Canadians or xyz did worse than seeds and never banned in the u.s?

The extradition showed Canada is another prostitute minded toady of u.s, or study how many people had actual cannabis case or worse in the u.s , run to Canada as Canadians or Africans+ and were never extradited. The u.s saw Marc Emery as dangerous 'politically' or as big social influencer and it is partly why they also banned him from entering the u.s? They fear he will roam the states, raise money as hero, and speed up cannabis legalisation through strong words and money. The other part is setting examples on people like Assange they can reduce other 'Snowdens', but even brave women are revealing classified information they deem public interest to know? By extraditing Marc Emery and saying Embassies will check social media posts, they think myself or xyz will fear extradition or visa denials to self censor? They are appealing to our fears, as the greedy and arrogant did through out history?

Again, I largely applaud Assange's bravery, but we must honestly question the advantages and disadvantages of his approach on the extradition fight. Every human being have the responsibility to avoid undue punishment, including reasonable hiding, but at what point do you face the devils with bravery, with words or beyond? Tactical fight is how prophets fought, and it can include God telling Moses (pbuh) run and I rather drown Pharoah than send him birds with baking clay; it includes asking Muhammad (pbuh) to move, hide in a cave, and I will choose brave fighting back against the idol worshippers who buried baby girls over money or too low dowry... I truly wish God helps me , Assange , and every truthful spirit in more vivid ways, but He has shown me some good in even Assange's method. Assange approach is fight every step and avoid the biggest devils? The main advantage to this approach is it shows consistent hypocrisy of politicians+, long battle, more 'killings' or fights. If Assange surrendered early, he could have been prosecuted and pardoned like Manning, but that is just a possibility, not a probability. If he surrendered early we could not have seen the hypocrisy of Trump, the terrible nature of Biden; how many prime ministers of UK , judges, and other European leaders should history chastise and would have claimed they would have supported Assange?

So indeed reasonable fighting of unjust extradition is Godly and brave, and it puts Judges to the test, because we and the angels should all say God's curse be upon unjust Judges and politicians who worship bad laws or participate in political extraditions, censorship, changing to third terms for unrest, and other gross wrongs. However even in this route, I think Assange and future freedom fighters should be asking the public how to fight along with them. Such fights can be simple educative words , imprecations ( prayers against opponents), coordinated national to worldwide protests, boycott or avoiding where need be, etc. Did God heard my prayers to shame and remove many prime ministers of UK, but no judge died over covid or bravely set him free? I cannot say I will not buy anything from the u.s or Europe, but where there is option, I will avoid u.s+ products until they stop dangerous censorship in general, especially their Democrats... The party or candidate that seems to oppose censorship most, especially before declaring candidacy is worth supporting, or they may Trump you...

The last approach of facing the biggest devils within reasonable time is something freedom fighters should seriously study. Personally, if I was Assange, I would have tried to escape the embassy hiding towards Russia around a year before elections. Surrendering to u.s now can significantly influence the elections, but it depends on the probability than possibility of the judges he faces in UK. There is not much difference between UK and u.s prisons, except u.s may try to imprison him one thousand years, but how is the appeal process, the pardon probability, and the effectiveness of his fight through the public in u.s versus UK? We cannot rule out u.s may try to kill him through other special forces than Palin suggested, so UK, Australia, and how many countries are simply guilty prostitutes of u.s? I happen to have little fear about death, I hate pain than death, but never count me to commit suicide, except through brave battles against real 'lions or even dragons' or in suits+ where I consider God can still give me victory with or without me fighting physically...

By standing in U.S court, Assange can utter historical words. Oh Jarga, you are so stupid, you forgot the u.s law that says 'no defence ' over classified information? OK, you are right, except I am educating those who may be extradited, not just Assange. Unless in solitary confinement, Assange can certainly raise the public awareness than Mumia Abu Jamal and public reaction can change the law or even cause civil unrest in u.s. In all honesty, I do not mind for God to curse every American or anyone who believes in u.s or xyz supremacy over my due interest or truth. I do not think Gambia's or xyz' interest is higher than anyone's dues, the truth should be our mutual interest. Personal rights or interest can co-exist with group's rights or interest. I do not see nationalism any different from racism, tribalism, or sexism, people have to choose conscience over laws or interest. We can have tolerance due to growing range, but people, especially truthful people should never be sacrificed. God should swiftly and strongly confront the bigger to biggest devils, or at least not give them respite at our expense. The problem is we were/are all tiny devils and how strongly we want to repent is a determining factor on how God may react.

Censorship is sadly on the rise in the west+ and If not properly fought, it will spread like covid. Mr. Jordan Peterson of Canada is another partial victim of censorship , they are allegedly trying to revoke his licence, demanding 'retraining', over social media post. What we support sometimes come back to hunt us. Despite many good standings of Peterson, he is indeed guilty of western supremacy , seemingly opposed simple rights of marijuana folks, and supported financial denying of others over fear, claiming 'we do not know what they will do with riches'? Personally, if I have money or fame, I will encourage culture of cameras among others, to a level that make censorship near impossible. Of course , culture of cameras add security, improve character, and many other good, but preferably when in civilians hands than governments. May God bless us through Showlove Trinity: Let's learn, let's work, let's have fun.

By Jarga Kebba Gigo

An Activist and Transformer.

Optional note:

The best in mainstream media or special NGO , or xyz should help the public on how to smartly fight censorship. They should be asking rich folks or big donors their stand on top issues. For example, we should know Bill Gates, Musk, Bloomberg, etc position's on Assange and censorship in general, then we can consider which businesses to support, not just which parties. I think both Democrats and Republicans are into censorship, but the Democrats sadly seem worse at the moment. There is a huge difference between censoring historical inconvenient facts for certain age versus all ages, in schools versus everywhere, etc, which many Republicans seem to support. Democrats want to censor even opinions of adults on social media and literally have a revolving wheel (government) determine what is truth or not. Then you have both parties supporting extreme censorship on non-American.

The dangers is way beyond the west. Of course African officials and many journalists are guilty like their western counterparts on and beyond Assange. Precedent means African+ leaders will then have more laws as 'classified information ' , censor us on social media, etc. That will be the time the blind African journalists or xyz may wake up too late, when they or their families suffer... God can shoot from heaven +, We can shoot from Africa, or indifferently allow devils to spread evil ways around the world. Russia, China, Iran, etc are very similar as guilty u.s, except u.s is a major exporter of ways and Assange is the focus of the article. I oppose censorship from the home to statehood, and in any continent or planet...

State Secrets with or without limits: It is very vital to help the naive think or questionable governments will mislead them through vague terms and fractional facts. Among the best ways to pressure people to think is through questions, then examples. Things like 'state secrets' is a very vague term and they will give examples of financial or xyz intelligence to sell the idea to the people or naive. So asking questions, making movies or songs that ask: Do you believe governments have the right to commit cruelty and hide it? Then give examples of government cruelty at different times. Do you believe government should prosecute those who expose government lies and/cruelty? Again, give examples of how lies hurt real people , and exposing state agents who commit cruelty against foreigners is Godly .

Using Governments to satisfy their fears, greed, or arrogance: Again, you must approach people from vivid points then towards less discussed realities. When you ask is it OK for an individual, small group, or large group to use government to satisfy their greed? Most people will say no, because most people are poor, want more money, and greed is largely a discussed topic. Although greed can exist beyond finance, using finance will reduce your headache with the naive and dumb. Then you can ask questions on using governments to satisfy their fears , then arrogance. You always need examples from the past before the recent present and possible future. If you give examples of how cowardly+ whites wanted racist 'protection' people will agree or get angry, and claim that is past. If you use how cowardly people think government should deny an adult marijuana due to fear of self, children, and or xyz; you will realise curing fear even for days is extremely hard for some . Many people do not know the real purpose of government, so they give away others' rights and sometimes their own rights ...

The easiest way to control people, children, or even animals is to have them in fear. Easy does not always mean good. Black+ people brutally use fear to control animals and children in Africa . Arrogant Slave masters used fear to control cowardly blacks to satisfy greed. Similarly, the u.s uses 'soft and hard power' to control people, strong activists, or even other governments. So when government lied 'there is no medicinal value in cannabis, claim it leads to other harder drugs on one to xyz percent, and banned even publication of cannabis material until a court ruling...'; we should all understand government are dangerous liars and pro censorship way before social media. Virtually, every oppressed person or group was censored, so anyone who supports censorship is knowingly or unknowingly supporting oppression... Not a single one of us will deny misinformation by individuals exist but once you agree with censorship as the solution, then you are among the dangerous dummies, dangerous cowards. Every lie can be confronted to reduce the danger towards near zero, then tolerate how super dummies may hurt themselves through believing lies or severely punish those who act or hurt others .

If someone lies about covid cure or xyz, just educate the probable victims with higher truth and find ways to educate the culprits, and or even expose them in ways they become non-trust worthy if they arrogantly refuse to learn. Once you censor even a sincerely mistaken one, they will find it hard to trust you again. Of course, my concern is the censoring of truthful folks in every generation, from slavery to Assange, myself, and many others. Every soul who believes government should have the right to censor us, then you are at war with my type.

I will say may the Anti - Censorship God curse the pro censorship ones proportionately until 'no soul will have power over another'. The battle of so called 'Armageddon' have indeed started between you and me, it is about spiritual war, you either love freedom under God or cowardly be enslaved by man, including governments. We are not anti government, but anti over control even if it means separation from government or building the ideal government. May the Lord of freedom Triumph, 'free a neck, free a neck, free a neck'. Freeing Assange is super crucial, but even hiding truth to get a job and expose lies and cruelties to continue is more vital.

We should form an organisation that reward those who expose lies and cruelties of any government, not just Russia or xyz. We can crowd fund it or seek billionaires and millionaires who understand freedom matters, censorship is evil, and no person, group, or government should be given the right to hide certain wrongs. If I could have force or beg God to strongly act against the biggest liars and cruel ones, I would have; until then I can ask and appreciate how He is gradually defeating them. May we win bigger, sooner, and squarely.
Abeille Asset Management SA decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS  Get Rating) by 86.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,719 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 166,228 shares during the quarter. Abeille Asset Management SAs holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,455,083,000 after acquiring an additional 7,514,505 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $451,711,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.3% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,183,121 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $251,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757,682 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 152.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,500,681 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $197,539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 479.4% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,390,483 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $109,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.48% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, January 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $95.99.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:MS traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $85.03. 2,536,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,115,300. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $72.05 and a one year high of $100.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The company has a market cap of $143.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.37. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $95.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.90.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Morgan Stanleys dividend payout ratio is currently 50.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $494,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,500,126. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $494,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,500,126. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.

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abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust plc (LON:AUSC  Get Rating) insider Liz Airey sold 40,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 424 ($5.21), for a total transaction of 169,600 ($208,277.05).

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust Price Performance

Shares of LON AUSC opened at GBX 417 ($5.12) on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 452.47. The company has a market cap of 375.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.27 and a beta of 1.04. abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust plc has a 1 year low of GBX 389.73 ($4.79) and a 1 year high of GBX 610 ($7.49). The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.30.

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abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 16th will be issued a GBX 3 ($0.04) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a yield of 0.66%. abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -261.44%.

About abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust

abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched by Standard Life Investments Limited. The fund is managed by Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Limited. It invests in the public equity markets of the United Kingdom. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Access Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,284 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after selling 874 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc.s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $1,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in EOG Resources by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 9,118 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $1,019,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in EOG Resources by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,260 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. increased its position in EOG Resources by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,197 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in EOG Resources by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 397 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC increased its position in EOG Resources by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.40% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on EOG shares. Barclays cut their target price on EOG Resources from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 24th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $160.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $150.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

EOG Resources Trading Up 2.8 %

In other news, Director Michael T. Kerr acquired 20,000 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $130.49 per share, for a total transaction of $2,609,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 170,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,183,300. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EOG stock traded up $2.98 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $108.47. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,288,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,869,099. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.63. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.16 and a 1 year high of $150.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.52.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The energy exploration company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.31 by ($0.01). EOG Resources had a return on equity of 34.95% and a net margin of 30.19%. The business had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.09 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.98%.

EOG Resources Profile

(Get Rating)

EOG Resources, Inc engages in the exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the United States, Trinidad & Tobago, and Other International segments. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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AGF Management (OTCMKTS:AGFMF  Get Rating) had its price target lowered by Scotiabank from C$9.50 to C$9.25 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, The Fly reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AGFMF. CIBC increased their target price on shares of AGF Management from C$9.00 to C$9.50 in a report on Monday, March 20th. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of AGF Management from C$10.00 to C$10.50 in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of AGF Management from an underperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AGF Management from C$8.50 to C$9.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th.

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AGF Management Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of AGF Management stock opened at $5.83 on Thursday. AGF Management has a 12-month low of $4.23 and a 12-month high of $6.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.36.

AGF Management Company Profile

AGF Management Ltd. is a diversified global asset management firm. It offers investment solutions to a wide range of clients, from individual investors and financial advisors to institutions, including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and foundations. The firm provides investment management with operations and investments in North America, Europe, and Asia.

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Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) has received a consensus recommendation of Hold from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has 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 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.00.

AWI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Armstrong World Industries from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Loop Capital cut Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $98.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Armstrong World Industries in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Armstrong World Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd.

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Armstrong World Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AWI opened at $67.87 on Monday. Armstrong World Industries has a fifty-two week low of $66.06 and a fifty-two week high of $95.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Armstrong World Industries Announces Dividend

Armstrong World Industries ( NYSE:AWI Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.03). Armstrong World Industries had a return on equity of 41.59% and a net margin of 16.45%. The business had revenue of $304.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. Armstrong World Industriess revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Armstrong World Industries will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd were paid a $0.254 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Armstrong World Industriess dividend payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Victor Grizzle sold 25,689 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $1,768,173.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 332,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,881,501.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Victor Grizzle sold 25,689 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $1,768,173.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 332,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,881,501.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark A. Hershey sold 6,835 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.14, for a total value of $547,756.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,062,790.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Armstrong World Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $413,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 290,957 shares of the construction companys stock worth $23,052,000 after acquiring an additional 27,557 shares in the last quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL boosted its holdings in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL now owns 889,889 shares of the construction companys stock worth $70,506,000 after acquiring an additional 6,521 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Armstrong World Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 29,943 shares of the construction companys stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter.

About Armstrong World Industries

(Get Rating)

Armstrong World Industries, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and trade of commercial and residential ceiling, wall, and suspension system solutions. It operates through the following segments: Mineral Fiber, Architectural Specialties, and Unallocated Corporate. The Mineral Fiber segment produces suspended mineral fiber and soft fiber ceiling systems for use in commercial and residential settings.

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Abeille Asset Management SA cut its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG  Get Rating) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 261,096 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,272 shares during the quarter. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. comprises 1.8% of Abeille Asset Management SAs portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Abeille Asset Management SA owned about 0.12% of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. worth $49,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Karp Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 183 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 61.6% during the third quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 82.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AJG. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They issued an outperform rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $213.00 to $211.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $213.71.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Performance

Shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $187.30. The companys stock had a trading volume of 190,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,771. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $189.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a one year low of $148.24 and a one year high of $202.37. The stock has a market cap of $39.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.69.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.04. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 3rd were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.31%.

Insider Activity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

In related news, Director Kay W. Mccurdy sold 182 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.59, for a total value of $35,779.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,112,179.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kay W. Mccurdy sold 182 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.59, for a total value of $35,779.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,112,179.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Douglas K. Howell sold 2,850 shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.98, for a total transaction of $515,793.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,715 shares in the company, valued at $16,417,600.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,783 shares of company stock worth $5,262,891 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Company Profile

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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following business segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AJG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG  Get Rating).

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BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund, Inc. (NYSE:MUC  Get Rating) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 46,000 shares, an increase of 329.9% from the February 28th total of 10,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 288,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUC. Heritage Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. purchased a new stake in BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Destination Wealth Management purchased a new stake in BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $117,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.65% of the companys stock.

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BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MUC traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $10.85. The companys stock had a trading volume of 48,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 217,920. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $11.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.91. BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund has a 1 year low of $9.95 and a 1 year high of $13.21.

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund Cuts Dividend

About BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.0335 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th.

(Get Rating)

BlackRock MuniHoldings California Quality Fund, Inc operates as a closed-end investment fund. The companys investment objective is to provide shareholders and investing primarily in municipal obligations exempt from federal income taxes and California income taxes. The company was founded on February 27, 1998 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

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BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund, Inc. (NYSE:MYN  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,500 shares, a decrease of 63.8% from the February 28th total of 20,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 80,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days.

BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE MYN traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $9.95. The companys stock had a trading volume of 84,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,334. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.86. BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund has a 52 week low of $8.89 and a 52 week high of $12.15.

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BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0315 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MYN. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $4,723,000. Logan Stone Capital LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. Logan Stone Capital LLC now owns 470,365 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $4,610,000 after acquiring an additional 286,905 shares during the last quarter. Karpus Management Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund by 278.5% during the 3rd quarter. Karpus Management Inc. now owns 309,904 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $2,922,000 after acquiring an additional 228,025 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund during the 3rd quarter worth $1,630,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 644,506 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $6,316,000 after acquiring an additional 132,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.29% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund, Inc is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund. The companys investment objective is to provide shareholders with a high level of current income exempt from federal taxes and New York state and New York city personal income taxes. The company was founded on March 16, 1992 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

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Kampala  Dental experts warned the public against counterfeit kinds of toothpaste that don't have required levels of fluoride.

Dr Nevis Musinguzi, the head of the dental section at Mengo Hospital says the use of such products with less fluoride poses a health risk because of possible microbiological contamination.

"We recommend our people to use kinds of toothpaste that have the required levels of Fluoride. Fluoride can greatly help dental health by strengthening tooth enamel, making it more resistant to caries. It also reduces the amount of acid produced by bacteria on your teeth," she said.

Tooth decay among children

Experts are also concerned about the prevalence of cavities in baby teeth of children ages 2 to 5.

Dr Ken Chapman Kigozi, a dental surgeon at Mengo Hospital said that tooth decay in young children's baby teeth is on the rise, a worrying trend that signals the preschool crowd is eating too much sugar.
Nihon Kohden (OTCMKTS:NHNKY  Get Rating) and Clinigen Group (OTCMKTS:CLIGF  Get Rating) are both medical companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Nihon Kohden has a beta of -0.15, meaning that its share price is 115% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clinigen Group has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Nihon Kohden and Clinigen Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Nihon Kohden 0 0 0 0 N/A Clinigen Group 0 0 0 0 N/A

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Nihon Kohden and Clinigen Groups revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Nihon Kohden $1.87 billion 1.28 $213.56 million $1.17 11.62 Clinigen Group $704.71 million 1.51 $40.78 million N/A N/A

Nihon Kohden has higher revenue and earnings than Clinigen Group.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of Nihon Kohden shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Nihon Kohden and Clinigen Groups net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Nihon Kohden 11.26% 15.80% 12.27% Clinigen Group N/A N/A N/A

Summary

Nihon Kohden beats Clinigen Group on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nihon Kohden

(Get Rating)

Nihon Kohden Corp. engages in the medical electronic equipment business. Its products include electrocardiograph, electroencephalograph, evoked potential/EMG, sleep diagnostic, patient monitoring, hematology, hemostasis, ventilation products, and others. The company was founded by Yoshio Ogino on August 7, 1951 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Clinigen Group

(Get Rating)

Clinigen Group plc operates as a pharmaceutical and services company in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the United States, South Africa, Australia, and internationally. It operates through Services and Products divisions. The company provides a set of niche and high value services to pharma and biotech clients prior to product launch. It also provides access to critical medicines around the world for patients with unmet needs. In addition, the company provides a portfolio of specialist medicines to service the needs of healthcare professionals and their patients in both licensed and unlicensed markets. Further, it offers Nortriptyline Colonis for the treatment of depressive disorder; Metformin Colonis for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus; Magnesium Chewable Tablets, an oral magnesium supplements for the treatment of patients with chronic magnesium loss; Iloprost, a concentrate for solution for infusion; Glycopyrronium Bromide, an oral solution for the treatment of severe sialorrhoea; Acetylcysteine, an oral solution for the treatment of respiratory disorders associated with thick, viscous, and mucus hypersecretion; Cardioxane that protects the heart against the cardiotoxic effects of anthracyclines; Ethyol, which protect against the harmful effects of chemotherapy medications and radiation treatment; Proleukin for the treatment of kidney cancer; Imukin that is used in chronic granulomatous disease; Totect, a dexrazoxane product; Foscavir, an anti-virals that work by stopping viruses from multiplying in number; and Savene, which is indicated in adults for the treatment of anthracycline extravasation. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Burton-on-Trent, the United Kingdom.

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Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC  Get Rating) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,298 shares of the business services providers stock after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLCs holdings in Omnicom Group were worth $432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of OMC. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Omnicom Group by 683.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,957,307 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $251,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,579,717 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Omnicom Group by 54.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,760,136 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $174,137,000 after acquiring an additional 972,172 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Omnicom Group by 15.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,905,773 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $309,505,000 after acquiring an additional 662,851 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in Omnicom Group by 41.2% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 1,646,885 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $104,758,000 after acquiring an additional 480,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Omnicom Group in the second quarter valued at $26,398,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.20% of the companys stock.

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Omnicom Group Stock Performance

NYSE:OMC traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $88.90. The stock had a trading volume of 458,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,909,630. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.83. Omnicom Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.31 and a twelve month high of $96.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.28.

Omnicom Group Announces Dividend

Omnicom Group ( NYSE:OMC Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. Omnicom Group had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 41.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Omnicom Group Inc. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Omnicom Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on OMC. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Omnicom Group in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Omnicom Group from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Omnicom Group from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Omnicom Group has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $97.33.

Omnicom Group Company Profile

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Omnicom Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of advertising, marketing and corporate communications services. Its agency networks operate in the advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services industry, which are organized into regions, which are the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

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Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES  Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given 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 $165.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $156.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 19th.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 5,701 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.46, for a total transaction of $795,061.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,264 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,475,757.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hess news, SVP Andrew P. Slentz sold 5,701 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.46, for a total transaction of $795,061.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,264 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,475,757.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Rielly sold 3,380 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.41, for a total transaction of $464,445.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 309,841 shares in the company, valued at $42,575,251.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 227,720 shares of company stock valued at $32,305,936 in the last three months. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Hess Stock Performance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Credit Suisse AG boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 296,206 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $32,283,000 after buying an additional 23,392 shares during the last quarter. Corient Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,103,112 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $338,218,000 after buying an additional 20,141 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,940,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Hess by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 7,588 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $827,000 after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares during the period. 86.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NYSE:HES opened at $122.49 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $139.44 and a 200-day moving average of $136.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Hess has a twelve month low of $90.34 and a twelve month high of $160.52.

Hess (NYSE:HES  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Hess had a net margin of 19.21% and a return on equity of 27.97%. Hesss revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 6.98 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.438 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Hesss previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 10th. Hesss payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Hess Company Profile

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Hess Corp is an exploration and production company, which engages in exploration, development, production, transportation, purchase & sale of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas with production operations. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production and Midstream.

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KB Home (NYSE:KBH  Get Rating) had its target price raised by UBS Group from $45.00 to $48.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the construction companys stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on KBH. TheStreet raised KB Home from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut KB Home from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on KB Home from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, December 21st. StockNews.com started coverage on KB Home in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on KB Home from $41.00 to $42.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KB Home has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.71.

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KB Home Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE KBH opened at $40.41 on Thursday. KB Home has a 12-month low of $24.78 and a 12-month high of $40.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 4.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.58. The firms 50 day moving average is $36.48 and its 200-day moving average is $32.22.

KB Home Dividend Announcement

KB Home ( NYSE:KBH Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 22nd. The construction company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.30 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KB Home will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 1st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. KB Homes dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.59%.

Institutional Trading of KB Home

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of KB Home by 11,077.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,006 shares of the construction companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KB Home by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 880 shares of the construction companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KB Home in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in KB Home by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 922 shares of the construction companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.29% of the companys stock.

KB Home Company Profile

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KB Home engages in selling and building a variety of new homes. It builds various types of homes, including attached and detached single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums. The firm operates through the following segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It offer homes in development communities, at urban in-fill locations and as part of mixed-use projects.

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Malaga Financial Co. (OTCMKTS:MLGF  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 500 shares, an increase of 400.0% from the February 28th total of 100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.0 days.

Malaga Financial Trading Down 3.0 %

OTCMKTS MLGF traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $22.60. The companys stock had a trading volume of 400 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,389. Malaga Financial has a 52 week low of $21.45 and a 52 week high of $24.50. The company has a market capitalization of $193.23 million, a PE ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.53. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $23.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.44.

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Malaga Financial (OTCMKTS:MLGF  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter.

About Malaga Financial

Malaga Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Malaga Bank, which engages in the provision of financial services. It offers personal, checking, savings, business, money market, and business banking checking accounts, certificates of deposit, business loans, and business banking and lending services.

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Mesa Royalty Trust (NYSE:MTR  Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,200 shares, an increase of 320.7% from the February 28th total of 2,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 32,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.4 days.

Mesa Royalty Trust Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MTR traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $15.40. 17,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,126. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.02. Mesa Royalty Trust has a twelve month low of $8.26 and a twelve month high of $28.00.

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Mesa Royalty Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.1581 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.32%.

Institutional Trading of Mesa Royalty Trust

About Mesa Royalty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Mesa Royalty Trust by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,908 shares of the energy companys stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of Mesa Royalty Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co purchased a new position in shares of Mesa Royalty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.85% of the companys stock.

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Mesa Royalty Trust holds royalty interests in oil and gas producing properties in the United States. It earns specified interests in certain producing oil and gas properties such as Hugoton Royalty Properties located in Hugoton field of Kansas, San Juan Basin located in San Juan Basin field of New Mexico, and the San Juan Basin in San Juan Basin field of Colorado.

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OGE Energy (NYSE:OGE  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by Mizuho from $40.00 to $36.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, The Fly reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities providers stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on OGE. Guggenheim cut OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on OGE Energy to $42.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on OGE Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. UBS Group lowered OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered OGE Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.00.

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OGE Energy Price Performance

OGE Energy stock opened at $35.67 on Thursday. OGE Energy has a 52 week low of $33.28 and a 52 week high of $42.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.71.

OGE Energy Increases Dividend

OGE Energy ( NYSE:OGE Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.30. OGE Energy had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $711.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that OGE Energy will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.4141 per share. This is a positive change from OGE Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. OGE Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 50.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at OGE Energy

In other OGE Energy news, Director David L. Hauser purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.09 per share, with a total value of $35,090.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $105,270. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David E. Rainbolt bought 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.65 per share, with a total value of $183,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $549,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David L. Hauser bought 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $35.09 per share, with a total value of $35,090.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,270. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 6,100 shares of company stock valued at $221,925 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.90% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OGE. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of OGE Energy by 56.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,482 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 19,035 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 56,516 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,305,000 after buying an additional 11,082 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 120,197 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $5,036,000 after buying an additional 15,620 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 38,387 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of OGE Energy by 371.2% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 452,349 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $18,447,000 after buying an additional 356,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.78% of the companys stock.

OGE Energy Company Profile

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OGE Energy Corp. is a holding company with investments in energy and energy service providers, offering physical delivery and related services for electricity in Oklahoma and western Arkansas and natural gas, crude oil and NGLs across the U.S. OGE Energy conducts these activities through two business segments: Electric Utility and Natural Gas Midstream Operations.

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Pason Systems (TSE:PSI  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from C$21.00 to C$19.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. BMO Capital Markets price objective points to a potential upside of 62.53% from the stocks previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Pason Systems from C$15.00 to C$14.00 in a report on Monday, March 6th. Stifel Firstegy downgraded shares of Pason Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. National Bank Financial reiterated a sector perform overweight rating on shares of Pason Systems in a report on Monday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Pason Systems from C$25.00 to C$21.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Pason Systems from C$19.50 to C$17.00 in a report on Monday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pason Systems has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$18.20.

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Pason Systems Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of PSI traded up C$0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting C$11.69. 100,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 185,025. Pason Systems has a 1-year low of C$11.19 and a 1-year high of C$17.12. The company has a quick ratio of 3.54, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of C$951.22 million, a PE ratio of 8.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$14.32 and a 200 day moving average of C$14.73.

Pason Systems Company Profile

Pason Systems Inc, an energy services and technology company, provides data management systems for drilling rigs in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company offers Electronic Drilling Recorder, which monitors and records drilling operations around the rig; DataHub for storing data and information collected from the rig for on-demand retrieval; DataLink service provides direct connection interfaces for IT systems and analytics tools; Pason Live for monitoring rig operations in real-time using desktop computers or mobile devices; and daily and end-of-well KPI reports provide visual statistics on rig performance.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of PGT Innovations (NYSE:PGTI  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of PGT Innovations from $30.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th.

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PGT Innovations Stock Performance

PGTI opened at $22.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.42. PGT Innovations has a 52-week low of $15.42 and a 52-week high of $23.89. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $21.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.58.

Insider Activity

PGT Innovations ( NYSE:PGTI Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The construction company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $340.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $332.00 million. PGT Innovations had a net margin of 6.63% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that PGT Innovations will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, VP Deborah L. Lapinska sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 133,281 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,665,620. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Rodney Hershberger sold 2,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $53,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,353,138 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $28,700,056.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Deborah L. Lapinska sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 133,281 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,665,620. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $782,825 in the last 90 days. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PGT Innovations

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in PGT Innovations by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,450 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its position in PGT Innovations by 176.9% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 37,388 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 23,888 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in PGT Innovations in the third quarter valued at approximately $599,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PGT Innovations in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,315,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in PGT Innovations by 0.7% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,827 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $21,501,000 after acquiring an additional 7,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.29% of the companys stock.

About PGT Innovations

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PGT Innovations, Inc engages in the manufacture and supply of windows and doors under the brand names PGT Custom Windows + Doors, CGI, WinDoor, Western Window Systems, Eze-Breeze, and CGI Commercial. It operates through the Southeast and Western geographical segments. The company was founded by Rodney Hershberger in 1980 and is headquartered in Nokomis, FL.

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NovaGold Resources (NYSE:NG  Get Rating) and New Found Gold (NYSE:NFGC  Get Rating) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Volatility & Risk

NovaGold Resources has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, New Found Gold has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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Institutional and Insider Ownership

53.9% of NovaGold Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 22.1% of New Found Gold shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of NovaGold Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio NovaGold Resources N/A N/A -$53.34 million ($0.16) -37.44 New Found Gold N/A N/A -$40.41 million ($0.38) -12.21

This table compares NovaGold Resources and New Found Golds top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

NovaGold Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New Found Gold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for NovaGold Resources and New Found Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score NovaGold Resources 0 0 0 0 N/A New Found Gold 0 0 1 0 3.00

New Found Gold has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 115.52%. Given New Found Golds higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe New Found Gold is more favorable than NovaGold Resources.

Profitability

This table compares NovaGold Resources and New Found Golds net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets NovaGold Resources N/A -109.50% -30.80% New Found Gold N/A -93.88% -76.38%

Summary

New Found Gold beats NovaGold Resources on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NovaGold Resources

(Get Rating)

NovaGold Resources, Inc. is a mineral exploration company, which engages in the development of the Donlin Gold project in Alaska. The company was founded by Gregory Shawn Johnson, John W. Chisholm, Macisaac G. Angus, Rick van Nieuwenhuyse, and Gerald James McConnell on December 5, 1984 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.

About New Found Gold

(Get Rating)

New Found Gold Corp., a mineral exploration company, engages in the identification, acquisition, and exploration of mineral properties in the Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. The company primarily explores for gold deposit. It holds 100% interests in the Queensway project that includes 86 mineral licenses and 6,041 claims covering an area of 151,030 hectares of land located near Gander, Newfoundland; and the Lucky Strike project comprising 11,684 hectares located in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The company was formerly known as Palisade Resources Corp. and changed its name to New Found Gold Corp. in June 2017. New Found Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

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Argeen, Northern State  An extensive fire consumed an as yet unspecified number of shops, businesses, and homes in and around the Argeen crossing market on the border between Sudan's Northern State and Egypt on Saturday afternoon.

A witnesses who spoke to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) said that the fire broke out in the western part of the market and destroyed a large number of shops and kiosks, as well as housing sites for customs agents' assistants and freight and unloading workers. Argeen lies on the western shore of Lake Nubia, some 20 kilometres north-west of Wadi Halfa, and less than 500 metres from the border with Egypt.

The witness added that the fire brigade responded from the Egyptian side. "They rushed to put out the fire and did not report any loss of life".

Another source at Argeen crossing told SUNA that the fire, that began during the preparations for Iftar, the traditional breaking of the fast of Ramadan, was spread quickly by winds in the area to destroy a large number of residential and commercial sites. The spread was accelerated as most of the shops are attached with traditional shelters made of wood.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, a fire that broke out in the village of Muqaisim El Mahboub in West Kordofan on March 18, destroyed 12 houses, including extensive property and crops, and causing the displacement of all affected families.

Community leaders have appealed to humanitarian organisations to assist those left destitute. Fire is a constant danger. At least 43 homes and 10 commercial premises were completely destroyed by fires that broke out at a village in the border region between South and East Darfur, and another in a South Darfur market last week.

(Source: SUNA)
Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS  Get Rating) (NYSE:BNS) had its price target cut by Royal Bank of Canada from C$77.00 to C$76.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank of Canadas price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.51% from the companys current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$75.00 to C$72.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$84.00 to C$78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Veritas Investment Research reiterated a reduce rating on shares of Bank of Nova Scotia in a report on Monday, February 27th. TD Securities lowered their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$72.00 to C$69.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$85.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$78.02.

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Bank of Nova Scotia Price Performance

Shares of BNS stock traded up C$0.52 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$66.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,029,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,478,400. Bank of Nova Scotia has a one year low of C$63.19 and a one year high of C$92.87. The stocks 50-day moving average price is C$70.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$68.43. The stock has a market capitalization of C$78.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.94.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

The Bank of Nova Scotia engages in the provision of various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets.

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BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund, Inc. (NYSE:MHN  Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,600 shares, a drop of 66.2% from the February 28th total of 22,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 58,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.1 days.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MHN. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 38,908 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund by 132.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,501 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,564 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 21,018 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP boosted its holdings in BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 15,821 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 17.66% of the companys stock.

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BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MHN stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.30. 32,539 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,858. BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund has a 12-month low of $9.16 and a 12-month high of $12.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.24.

BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund Cuts Dividend

About BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.0335 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th.

(Get Rating)

BlackRock MuniHoldings New York Quality Fund, Inc is a closed-end investment fund/investment trust. Its objective is to provide shareholders with current income exempt from federal income tax and New York State and New York City personal income taxes. The company was founded on March 16, 1992 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

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Strategic Investment Advisors MI lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC  Get Rating) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,244 shares of the railroad operators stock after selling 82 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MIs holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,647,054 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $1,603,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,936 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 31.4% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,330,991 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $529,811,000 after acquiring an additional 557,432 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,295,294 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $481,323,000 after acquiring an additional 24,172 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,166,108 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $492,338,000 after acquiring an additional 17,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,462,496 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $306,613,000 after buying an additional 27,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.98% of the companys stock.

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Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $202.35. 288,659 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,637,348. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $196.33 and a twelve month high of $291.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern Increases Dividend

Norfolk Southern ( NYSE:NSC Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.01. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.12 earnings per share. Norfolk Southerns quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.65 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 2nd. This is a boost from Norfolk Southerns previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Norfolk Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $256.00 to $259.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $249.83.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Norfolk Southern Corp. is a transportation company, which engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods. The company also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. Its services include property leases and sales, wire line or pipeline and fiber optics projects, access property, managing private crossings, promoting businesses with signboards, and natural resource management.

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Shares of Univar Solutions Inc. (NYSE:UNVR  Get Rating) have been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.29.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered Univar Solutions from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on Univar Solutions in a report on Friday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded Univar Solutions from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Univar Solutions from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Univar Solutions from $32.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Univar Solutions

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Univar Solutions by 172.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Univar Solutions by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,440 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Univar Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Univar Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Univar Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Univar Solutions Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:UNVR opened at $34.65 on Monday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $34.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Univar Solutions has a 12-month low of $21.49 and a 12-month high of $35.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.70.

Univar Solutions (NYSE:UNVR  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.09). Univar Solutions had a return on equity of 22.44% and a net margin of 4.75%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Univar Solutions will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

About Univar Solutions

(Get Rating)

Univar Solutions, Inc is a chemical and ingredients distributor and provider of specialty services. It operates through the following segments: USA, Canada, Europe and the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The company was founded by George van Waters and Nat Rogers on August 8, 1924, and is headquartered in Downers Grove, IL.

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Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. (NYSE:UBP  Get Rating) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $15.54, but opened at $16.40. Urstadt Biddle Properties shares last traded at $16.18, with a volume of 1,102 shares changing hands.

Urstadt Biddle Properties Stock Up 4.1 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.45. The company has a market capitalization of $636.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 3.96 and a quick ratio of 3.96.

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Urstadt Biddle Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 31st. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.56%. Urstadt Biddle Propertiess dividend payout ratio is presently 126.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Urstadt Biddle Properties

About Urstadt Biddle Properties

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Urstadt Biddle Properties by 15.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 353,937 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $5,585,000 after buying an additional 46,533 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Urstadt Biddle Properties by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 60,975 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its position in Urstadt Biddle Properties by 28,510.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 13,733 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 13,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. boosted its stake in Urstadt Biddle Properties by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 8,318 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.01% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Urstadt Biddle Properties, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the acquisition, ownership, and management of commercial properties. It operates through the Ridgeway and All Other Operating segments. The company was founded on July 7, 1969 and is headquartered in Greenwich, CT.

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Vor Biopharma (NYSE:VOR  Get Rating) had its price target trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $38.00 to $22.00 in a research report report published on Friday, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

VOR has been the topic of several other reports. HC Wainwright cut their target price on Vor Biopharma from $20.00 to $17.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Vor Biopharma in a research report on Monday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $15.06.

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Vor Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of VOR stock opened at $5.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.50 and a beta of -0.69. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $5.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.18. Vor Biopharma has a fifty-two week low of $3.48 and a fifty-two week high of $7.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vor Biopharma

Vor Biopharma Company Profile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VOR. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of Vor Biopharma in the 1st quarter valued at $283,000. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vor Biopharma in the 1st quarter valued at about $97,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Vor Biopharma by 6.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 283,076 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 17,891 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vor Biopharma by 48.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 25,607 shares of the companys stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 8,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Vor Biopharma in the second quarter worth approximately $86,000.

(Get Rating)

Vor Biopharma, Inc, a clinical-stage company, develops engineered hematopoietic stem cell (eHSC) therapies for cancer patients. It is developing VOR33, an eHSC product candidate that is in phase 1/2 to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other hematological malignancies. The company's VOR33 eHSCs lacks CD33, a protein that is expressed by AML blood cancer cells.

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Global auto major Volkswagen will focus on its "core" with regard to Indian products and its strategy here, its CEO said in an interview on Friday. Thomas Schafer, CEO, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said, " We've always made cars that offer value along with quality design and materials. We might have made some mistakes, especially in the EV (electric vehicle) range, but we are fixing that now." Schafer went on to add that the "core" approach entails listening to the customer: "Give them what they want and not what the engineers thought up. So, the team on the ground is totally focused on what the Indian consumer wants," he added. In the last year, the company has seen its Taigun and Virtus models generate greater volumes than before, despite the supply-side challenges (volumes grew by 85 percent to over 100,000 cars in 2022 - these were new cars, so it's taken in totality). "We are trying to maintain the pace and grow further. India is playing a bigger role in our business, and we really want to up our product range here," Schafer added. Will that mean much more emphasis on EVs? Referring to an EV that was showcased recently in Germany, he said it was the first EV car below 25,000 Euros, without any compromise in terms of safety, usability, and range. "We believe that in Europe, EV development will proceed apace, and that EVs will comprise almost 80 percent of the market by 2030." Will an EV below 25,000 Euros (Rs 20 lakh, roughly) made by VW come to India anytime soon, given that the majority of electric cars by foreign manufacturers are priced at a premium here? Schafer said, "Our future is electric in any country in the world and in India too," and added that competitively priced VW EVs would come to India by the end of 2025 or 2026. VW also sees its export base growing here. "We have substantial export operations in India. There's lots of demand from Africa and other regions, but shipping vehicles from Brazil is complicated. That, along with the proximity to Southeast Asian markets, stacks up the odds in favour of our Indian operations. We want Pune to be a hub for many of our regions that are outside Germany," he explained.
Air India, the Tata-owned airline has formally begun selling Premium Economy cabins. The fares and class of service went live for sale beyond mid-May. The airline had started a soft sale of the product earlier, but the booking engine kept reflecting only three classes for saleFirst, Business and Economy. How did one book Premium Economy then? A person who has booked Economy could select seats in the premium economy cabin comprising 48 seats for an additional fee. How did the premium economy make an appearance and what is different? In September 2022, Air India announced its first set of expansion in which it would take delivery of five B777-200LR which earlier operated for Delta Air Lines and lease 25 A320/A321neo which would be factory fresh. The first of the five B777-200LRs landed in November 2022 and soon started operating on routes to America. The additional aircraft are helping the airline start services to San Francisco from Bengaluru and Mumbai and also add flights to New York from Mumbai. As some of its services stabilised, the airline started offering seats in the premium economy at a cost. The seats could be selected at booking with seats between rows 20 and 25 at a fixed cost of INR 8,985 and enjoy the services. The airline already has three planes in its fleet, with two more expected soon. The seat pitch is 38 inches as compared to 3132 inches in the economy and comes with more reclining than economy class seats. The airline also offers Noise cancellation headphones in premium economy and an amenity kit, along with a wider choice of meals and beverages as compared to economy class. What now? With a formal launch of Premium Economy, it will allow passengers to search for seats in this class and book. This means that the airline will have separate pricing for this class and not price it at a fixed price over the Economy class. This will also help the airline market it more aggressively than before and take on the likes of Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways and others who offer this service. Premium Economy has become one of the most sought-after classes of service in the world with even Emirates investing upwards of $2 billion as part of a massive improvement in services which includes retrofitting 120 planes with premium economy. Leading up to the pandemic, Harry Hohmeister, head of commercial passenger airlines, Lufthansa Group, had said that premium economy is a money-generating machine, bringing in 33 percent more revenue per square foot than the traditional economy and 6 percent more than business class. The delay in launching a formal booking service could be for two reasons, the first being having adequate capacity in the market - which it now has, as compared to just one aircraft in the past and second tweaking the internal and external systems including revenue management and booking engine to manage Premium Economy. There have been multiple instances in the past with Vistara where the premium economy was available at a cheaper rate than the economy and Air India would have definitely wanted to avoid a similar kind of situation by opening up a new class of service in a jiffy. Which routes is it available on? The former Delta B777-200LRs are currently being deployed on routes from Bengaluru - San Francisco, Mumbai - San Francisco and Mumbai - New York. With two more aircraft coming in, they would well be deployed to augment capacity on these routes with additional frequency, though new routes remain a high possibility as the airline looks to expand rapidly. The three B777-200LRs which have originally been with Air India are three class but come with First, Business and Economy class while the ones which it took on lease and were earlier operated by Delta do not have First class, instead has Business, Premium Economy and Economy class. What next for the premium economy? The airline planned another expansion before its mega order and is set to induct six B777-300ER aircraft in its fleet. The airline intends to operate premium economy in those aircraft as well, though the ones destined for Air India did not originally have it. Vistara - the TATA-SIA Joint venture which will merge with Air India by March 2024 has a premium economy in all its wide-body aircraft and most of its narrow-body aircraft (except the two B737s which will be phased out soon and mono-class A320s). The A350s which come later this year were destined for Aeroflot and are configured in three classes which includes Premium Economy, an indicator of times to come and how the future of Air India could be a three or four-class configuration with the premium economy a major driver of revenue, with credit to Vistara - which was the first Indian carrier to offer this class.
The aviation market in India, currently the third-largest in the world, is expected to report exponential growth for the next 10 years. While most stakeholders are optimistic and betting big on the growth of the sector, pilots in the country are concerned that this may be accompanied by deteriorating work standards. In January, two Air India pilot unionsthe Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA)pointed to a shortage of pilots for the airlines ultra-long-haul flights. Pilots at India's largest domestic airline IndiGo have also complained of being overworked and having a skewed work-life balance. While the countrys airlines are taking steps to address the concerns of their key people, the question remains: Does India have a pilot shortage or are pilots mismanaged in the country? Current scenario The biggest airlines in India are all expanding operations; Air India has placed an order for around 470 aircraft, IndiGo is looking to induct another 300 aircraft in the next decade, Akasa Air is expected to soon come out with a 'large order' for planes, and Jet Airways is expected to restart operations soon. As Indian airlines spread their wings, they will also need to expand their roster of pilots. India has about 9,000 pilots for 700 aircraft. Aviation consultancy Capa India suggests airlines in India will deploy 150 to 175 new aircraft in 2024, which would require an additional 1,800 to 2,000 pilots and 4,000 to 5,000 cabin crew. Industry experts project that India will need to train around 1,000 pilots every year for the next five years to meet the needs of a growing fleet. While the government has often said that India is not facing a shortage of pilots, it has admitted to a shortage of certain kinds of aviators on certain types of aircraft in the country. "There is no shortage of pilots in India. There is, however, shortage of Type rated Commanders/PIC (Pilot-in-command) on certain types of aircraft and the same is being managed by utilising foreign pilots by issuing Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorisation (FATA)," minister of state for civil aviation V K Singh had said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha in February. Last week, the government allowed Indian airlines to use foreign pilots for a short period in view of a shortage of pilots to operate the Boeing 777 aircraft, civil aviation secretary Rajiv Bansal said. The demand for 777 pilots is such that for the first time, after years, we are allowing FATA pilots, Bansal said. A senior pilot operating in India said that airlines are promoting senior pilots that are operating narrow-body planes to operate wide-body planes. "Senior A320 and Boeing 787 pilots are being promoted to operate wide-body planes which is, in turn, creating a shortage of narrow-body pilots in India as well," the person said. Does this mean India has a short-term issue and over the next few years the dynamics are likely to change? Lack of infrastructure Aviation experts and insiders have pointed out that India has a shortage of flying schools. "India does not have adequate infrastructure to train and churn out pilots as per industry requirements for the next five years. Currently, a large number of pilots get training in other countries. After coming here, they need to undergo 20 hours of flying, including day and night (flights) and cross-country (flights) for the issue of CPL (commercial pilot licence) by the regulator. Issuance of CPLs also takes some time," another senior pilot told Moneycontrol. "The government has taken initiatives but there is a lack of proper infrastructure at flight training organisations. There should be monitoring and audit of FTOs," he added. Similarly, air safety expert Mohan Ranganathan said that due to a lack of investment by domestic airlines in India in training institutes, the country continues to face a shortage of talent. He added that airlines in India have often neglected their employees and have often taken stop-gap measures when facing a shortage of pilots rather than invest long-term in creating the infrastructure. "Airlines have historically resorted to FATA pilots to address any shortage in crew, instead of training their own pilots," Ranganathan said. Shakti Lumba, a veteran of the aviation industry, told Moneycontrol that the gestation period to obtain a CPL abroad is about one year but can take up to three years in India. "The country has to build up aviation training infrastructure in partnership with the industry," Lumba said. In 2022, around 1,200 commercial pilot licences were issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), much higher than its average of 500-600 licences issued every year. But Hemanth DP, the chief executive officer of Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy, Hyderabad, said that the record number of CPLs granted in 2022 only reflects the backlog from the pandemic. "Pilot requirements for general aviation and flight training are rapidly expanding too. At our average of 800 a year, we will only produce 8,000 pilots in the next decade. Thats not enough, Hemanth said. Strict DGCA norms Another major issue pointed out by aviation experts is that the DGCA has very strict norms when it comes to Indian pilots with foreign CPLs operating in India. "The DGCA does not take into account the hours of flying Indian pilots have done with foreign carriers when they return to India and try to get jobs in the country," Ranganathan said. He added that this stymies Indian-origin pilots plans to return to the country and that the DGCA should look to address these issues immediately. "DGCA should go by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Annex 1 and reissue Indian ATPL (airline transport pilot licence, a higher level of certification than a CPL) based on valid foreign licences held by Indians," Ranganathan said. Lumba too said that pilots with basic qualifications with type ratings that are required for entry-level flight operations are struggling to find jobs in the country. The first senior pilot operating in India quoted earlier said that many Indian pilots who have been issued CPLs are still without jobs. Thousands of CPL holders are still unemployed in India as they are waiting to qualify as a co-pilot," the pilot said, adding that a CPL holder needs to train for another 250 hours in simulators and training aircraft to be certified to fly in India. Erosion of the talent pool Indian airlines are also facing a shortage of pilots as many of them look to foreign carriers given better perks and pay cheques. "Indian airlines tend to underpay local talent when compared to foreign pilots," Ranganathan said. He added that foreign pilots hired by Indian carriers are typically paid nearly two to three times more than their Indian counterparts, which too leads to them looking for jobs elsewhere. The first senior pilot quoted above also pointed out that salary negotiations between Indian pilots unions and airlines have been stalled for the last few years, adding that most pilots are unhappy with their current salaries and are looking at moving abroad. "The likes of Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and the new airline in Riyadh are all looking at India to hire talent, and are paying higher salaries when compared to Indian airlines," the pilot said.
Last week, what possibly disappointed the markets wasnt the expected 0.25 percent rate hike by the US Federal Reserve but the seemingly contradictory comments from chairman Jerome Powell and treasury secretary Janet Yellen on deposit insurance as a banking storm raged. Powell said all depositors were safe but Yellen commented that guaranteeing entire deposits (blanket cover) wasnt possible. Yellen later backtracked from the statement. These comments came in the middle of a banking sector crisis, which has been roiling markets across the globe, adding to the panic. Yellens comments couldnt have come at a worse timethree US banks have failed in recent days and more are staring at a crisis. The case for a bigger cover Now, lets look at the merit of a higher deposit insurance cover. Certainly, full deposit insurance isnt an easy decision. It will significantly add to the cost of deposit insurance. There is also the question of who will bear the cost. If all deposits are guaranteed, it can inject a level of recklessness into the way banks handle public money. Careless deployment of funds in unworthy credit and investments and oversight of risks are some of the likely problems that can crop up. But the idea isnt entirely impossible. If the banks drop the ball, it is the regulators job to ensure that they dont go rogue. It can lay down strict rules on where the depositors money is deployed and to who is it lent. The higher cost of insurance should either be borne by the bank because they use the deposits for lending business or the customer, who wants a bigger cover. Share the burden In my view, the higher cost of deposit insurance neednt necessarily be borne by the bank alone, as is the case now. It can be left to the customer to choose as an option. That way, a higher deposit insurance cover wont hurt the system. It will be a customers choice, just like any other insurance product. The customers who want a higher cover beyond what is on offer should pay for it, pretty much like insuring any other assets. Several experts have argued in the favour of this move. Billionaire hedge fund manager Nelson Peltz suggested to CNBC the government should guarantee all bank deposits but customers should be charged for insurance. Youre creating income for the Fed, and in exchange for that they insure the overage, Peltz said. Why the need for bigger deposit insurance cover? The answer is simple. One of the biggest fallouts of the collapse of small banks will be money moving to bigger banks as depositors seek safety. The remedy lies in providing a full cover to the depositor. The right size of deposit insurance is an issue not just confined to the US but India as well. In the US, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation rules depositors are offered protection up to $250,000 (against Rs 5 lakh in India). But, in collapsed banks like SVB, the ratio of uninsured deposits was as high as 94 percent. What about India? The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation covers deposits up to Rs 5 lakh in all RBI-regulated banks. This covers the majority of customers (in terms of number) but only a fraction when it comes to the size of deposits. This amount is inadequate, considering the reliance of senior citizens, who cant risk the volatility in equities and related instruments, on bank fixed deposits. India used to have just a Rs 5,000 insurance cover till 1970 before it was revised to Rs 10,000. In 1976, the cover was raised to Rs 20,000, to Rs 30,000 in 1980, Rs 1,00,000 in 1993 and to Rs 5 lakh in 2020. It is the customers call What if I, as a bank depositor, want to insure my entire deposit? Shouldnt I be given an option? One big takeaway from the crisis is that if the confidence of customers has to be restored, insurance needs to cover a larger percentage of deposits. What should that level be? Should it cover the entire deposit? These are questions that need to be debated. The US crisis offers an opportunity to governments across the world, including India, to rework their deposit insurance model and also restore depositors' faith in the system. (Banking Central is a weekly column that keeps a close watch and connects the dots about the sector's most important events for readers.)
Nairobi  Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome has assured Kenyans the country is safe and secure, even as Opposition leader Raila Odinga vowed to push on with his demonstrations on Monday.Speaking Sunday after meeting security chiefs at police headquarters, Koome assured the business community and investors that security agencies are on high alert to counter any acts of lawlessness that may come from the opposition faction's protesters.

Odinga has launched demonstrations since last week to force the government to tackle the high cost of living and protest the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him during the August 2022 polls won by President William Ruto.

"Those demonstrations are illegal and we will not allow them to take place," the IG said, "We are ready as security agencies. Every corner of this country is safe and secure."

Similar protests turned violent in Nairobi and Kisumu last week when one person- a student at Maseno University was shot dead.

Several businesses and properties were destroyed or looted in both cities that literally shut for the better part of the day.

"You all saw what happened on Monday last week. It will not happen again," Koome declared, "We have heard some people say that they will cause violence in Nairobi tomorrow (Monday). Nothing of that sort will happen because the security agencies are ready to protect every Kenyan."

Koome said anyone found armed with stormed or any other weapon will be dealt with as a criminal.

Odinga has said he will press on with the protests, saying he wants justice while claiming his victory was stolen.

He wants the electoral commission compelled to open servers so as to confirm the results of the election that were relied on to declare Ruto president.

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Soon after the August 2022 polls, Odinga unsuccessfully challenged the outcome at the Supreme Court.

On Sunday the police chief said that the issue of opening servers is political.

"Those are political issues that need political solutions. But when it comes to security, I have a mandate as the IG to ensure I protect life and property and I am very good at that," he said.

President Ruto has warned against the protests and instead told Odinga he will not engage him in talks, accusing him of destabilizing the country for his own selfish interests as he did in two former regimes that ended up accommodating him.

"Kenyans made their decision during the August 2022 polls, we are done with the polls and all that remains is prepare for development," he said, "we are not going to engage Raila because he knows he lost and we won."
Binance Holdings Ltd., the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao, were sued by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly breaking trading and derivatives rules. The CFTC filed the lawsuit Monday in federal court in Chicago. The derivatives regulator said Binance shirked its obligations by not properly registering with it. Since at least 2021, the CFTC has been probing Binance over whether it failed to keep US residents from buying and selling crypto derivatives. CFTC rules generally require platforms to register with the agency if they let Americans trade those products. The regulator is one of several US bodies that have been investigating Binances activities. The Internal Revenue Service, as well as federal prosecutors, have been examining Binances anti-money-laundering rule compliance, Bloomberg News has reported. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been scrutinizing whether the exchange has supported the trading of unregistered securities.

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Etihad Airways resumed flight services between Kolkata and Abu Dhabi on Sunday after three years, a statement said. The airlines will operate two flights a day, four days a week -- Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday -- from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi, the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport said in the statement. The first flight will depart Kolkata at 4.15 am and reach Abu Dhabi at 7.55 am local time. The second one will leave Kolkata at 9.05 pm and reach its destination at 12.45 am local time, it said. From Abu Dhabi, there will be one direct flight to Kolkata four days a week. It will depart Abu Dhabi at 9 pm local time and reach Kolkata at 3.20 am. Etihad Airways will operate an Airbus A320 aircraft on the route, offering eight seats in business class and 150 in economy class, it said. On the inaugural day, 152 passengers travelled from Abu Dhabi to Kolkata, while 126 passengers travelled from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi, it added. With the recommencement of services to Kolkata, Etihad will now fly to 14 destinations across the region -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, the airlines earlier said. Last week, low-cost carrier Air Arabia launched its services between Kolkata and Abu Dhabi, flying three days a week. It is also operating an Airbus A320. Etihad had stopped its services between Kolkata and Abu Dhabi following the COVID-19 outbreak. Kolkata has direct flights to two other west Asian destinations: Dubai and Doha.

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IDFC First Bank on Monday said it has partnered with Swedish company Crunchfish to pilot a project to demonstrate offline retail payments. IDFC First Bank, is set to be a part of RBI's pilot project to enable offline payments, the private sector lender said, adding that the project will give access to digital payments even when there is no network. The unique digital payment solution was designed by Crunchfish for merchants and customers under the RBI's Regulatory Sandbox Program, IDFC First Bank said in a release. "This project will provide support for offline retail payments based on a Digital Cash platform to the payment ecosystem of India. IDFC FIRST Bank will be one of the first few banks to be a part of this pilot project by HDFC Bank," it said. The application was approved by the RBI to demonstrate offline payments between two banks. The Development and Demonstration Agreement which is a non-commercial agreement has now been signed to give IDFC First Bank access to the Digital Cash SDK. Commercial terms for deployment will be regulated in a Software License Agreement. "This application will help make transactions easier for customers. Being a part of this pilot project and enabling a unique offering for customers is something that is aligned with the Bank's philosophy," said Madhivanan Balakrishnan, COO, of IDFC FIRST Bank. The Regulatory Sandbox was established in 2020 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to foster responsible innovation in financial services, promote efficiency and bring benefits to end users. "Signing an agreement and adding IDFC FIRST Bank to the RBI pilot project is very satisfying, as it together with HDFC Bank enables to showcase offline payment interoperability. "Interoperability between banks will be key for the adoption and success of the offline retail payments solution we develop together with the two banks and will showcase to RBI," Crunchfish CEO Joachim Samuelsson said. IDFC First Bank was formed by the merger of erstwhile IDFC Bank and Capital First. The bank has expanded to 707 branches, 253 asset service centres, 867 ATMs and 578 rural business correspondents.
Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) signed contracts worth Rs 4,300 crore to supply integrated electronic warfare systems to the Indian Army and Indian Navy, the defence company said in a press release. on March 24. Reacting to the order win, the defence company's stock was up 1.3 percent at Rs 92.6 on the BSE. BEL will supply integrated electronic warfare systems worth Rs 3,000 crore to the army. "These systems will be a real force multiplier and will further enhance the electronic warfare capability of the Indian Army," the aerospace and defence electronics manufacturer stated. Further, the company also received several orders worth approximately Rs 1,300 crore from the navy to supply indigenously developed fire control, gun fire control, surveillance, tracking, ESM, sonar systems, etc. BELs management has also been indicating in earnings conference calls about receiving this contract from Army, highlighted ICICI Direct Research. At 9:10 am, the stock was trading at at Rs 93.10 on the NSE, up nearly 2 percent from the previous close. On March 23, BEL had signed two contracts worth of Rs 3,800 crore with the defence ministry for supplying Medium Power Radar and Digital Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) to the Indian Air Force. These projects are in line with the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan and Make in India initiative, the company had said. Also Read: Bharat Electronics: Growth, valuation tailwinds blow in favour of investors The companys total order inflow was at approximately Rs 12,000 crore in FY23 till date against the managements full year guidance of Rs 20,000 crore. As per the domestic brokerage firm, the current order backlog is estimated at around Rs 54,000 crore which is 3.1 times Trailing Twelve Month revenues, providing strong revenue visibility.

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Indian equity indices snapped a two-day losing streak to end higher in a volatile trade on March 27, with the Sensex closing 126.76 points, or 0.22 percent, higher at 57,653.86 and the Nifty gaining 40.70 points, or 0.24 percent, at 16,985.70. After a firm start, the market extended gains as the day progressed but final-hour selling in the auto, power and realty stocks limited the gains. Also Read: Is Nifty IT bottoming out after falling 12% from February high? Stocks and sectors Grasim Industries, Reliance Industries, Cipla, Sun Pharma and SBI were among the top Nifty gainers, while losers were Adani Ports, Power Grid Corp, SBI Life Insurance, M&M and Tata Motors. Among sectors, auto, capital goods, power and realty were down 0.5-2 percent, while the pharma index was up a percent. The BSE midcap index shed 0.4 percent and the smallcap index was down 1.5 percent. AIA Engineering, Bharat Wire Ropes, Career Point and Cyient were among the stocks to touch their 52-week high on the BSE. More than 600 stocks touched their 52-week lows. These include Bandhan Bank, Indiabulls Real Estate, Wockhardt, Wipro, Godrej Properties, Tata Power, Gati, Devyani International, SpiceJet and Laurus Labs. Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 300 percent was seen in Biocon, Sun Pharma and Sun TV Network. A short buildup was seen in Indian Energy Exchange, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp, Tata Power, while a long build-up was seen in Biocon, Glenmark Pharma and Lupin. Outlook for March 28 Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities The trend remains bearish as the Nifty continues to stay below the critical moving average. The bearish crossover of the 21 exponential moving average (EMA) and the 55 EMA have been boosting the bearish sentiment. Sell-the-rally should be the theme for traders as the rallies are getting sold into. On the higher end, sellers may return around 17,250. The weakness can take the Nifty to 16,750 over the short term. Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas The Nifty witnessed sharp swings in both directions and managed to close in the green. On the daily charts, the Nifty traded within the range of the previous session. It made an successful attempt to cross the key hourly averages and saw sharp selling pressure. Intraday moves were violent and the Nifty was unable to sustain at higher levels, indicating weakness. On the downside, the Nifty is in the 16,91016,970 range, where the crucial Fibonacci retracement levels are placed. It is holding on to the supports but has failed to get past the resistance levels, the reason we are witnessing sideways consolidation. The daily momentum indicator has a positive crossover, thus, we continue to maintain a positive outlook on the index. On the upside, initial target is at 17,200 and above it, the index can climb to 17,45017,500. Support is at 16,91016,870. Ajit Mishra, VP-Technical Research, Religare Broking Amid an uncertain environment, participants are not reacting positively to any intermediate uptick in global markets. A fresh decline in the broader markets has added to their worries. We recommend maintaining a check on leveraged positions and let the market stabilise. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
The market has not shown any sign of strong rebound yet, as the recent recovery also failed and the benchmark Nifty closed at an eight-month low for the week ended March 24. Nervousness in global markets after the recent banking crisis and hike in securities transaction tax (STT) by the government weighed on market sentiment. The Nifty50 fell nearly 1 percent during the week, to close at 16,945, the lowest level since week ended July 22 last year. The index has formed bearish candlestick pattern with long upper and lower shadows on the weekly timeframe, indicating volatility in the market. Also there has been lower top lower bottom formation for second consecutive week. The index has strong resistance at around 17,200-17,250 area which acted as strong support before current major correction, as crossing the same can take the Nifty50 to 17,450-17,500 levels, whereas the crucial support remains at 16,800, experts said. "The market is currently oversold, but such financial issues can be very disruptive at times. Hence, traders should ideally avoid aggressive bets for a while," Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives at Angel One said. From a technical point of view, he said, "we are not too far from the sacrosanct support zone of 16,850 - 16,800, which coincides with the September month swing low and 89-weekly EMA." On the higher side, 17,200-17,250 has been acting as a sturdy wall and the bulls desperately need a convincing breakout beyond this to make a comeback, he added. Amol Athawale, Technical Analyst (DVP) at Kotak Securities also feels a reversal formation on daily charts and bearish candle on weekly charts is indicating further weakness from the current levels. The volatility is likely to be on the higher side and the apt strategy would be to keep a close eye on global developments and take one step at a time. In case of relief, Sameet believes traders can find ample opportunities in the beaten spaces and for investors, this decline would provide opportunity to accumulate quality stocks in a staggered manner. Let's take a look at the top 10 trading ideas by experts for the next three-four weeks. Returns are based on the March 24 closing prices: Expert: Jigar S Patel, Senior Manager - Equity Research at Anand Rathi HDFC Life Insurance Company: Buy | LTP: Rs 492 | Stop-Loss: Rs 475 | Target: Rs 535 | Return: 9 percent On January 6th, 2023, it registered a top of Rs 620. Since then, it has been making the lower top and lower bottom structures which resulted in a 26 percent cut in price. During February 2023, it made a nice base near Rs 460-470 levels. On the indicator front, the daily RSI (relative strength index) has displayed a bullish regular divergence along with MACD (moving average convergence divergence) bullish crossover further confirming our bullish view on the counter. One can buy in a small tranche in the range of Rs 490-495 and another around Rs 480-485 for an upside target of Rs 535 and a stop-loss of Rs 475 on a daily close basis. Cipla: Buy | LTP: Rs 877 | Stop-Loss: Rs 840 | Target: Rs 950 | Return: 8 percent Since last 6 months, the said counter has seen massive beating resulting in a 28 percent cut in price. Looks like the fall is arrested around Rs 860-870 levels. On a daily scale, Cipla has made the Bullish Alternate Bat pattern which is one of the most powerful patterns in the Harmonic arsenal. The potential reversal zone comes around Rs 860-870, which is complemented by pair of Hammer structures thus making it lucrative at current levels. One can buy in the range of Rs 870-880 with an upside target of Rs 950, with stop-loss Rs 840 on a daily close basis. Great Eastern Shipping Company: Buy | LTP: Rs 624 | Stop-Loss: Rs 585 | Target: Rs 680 | Return: 9 percent On December 21, 2022, it registered a top of Rs 749. Since then, it has been making the lower top and lower bottom structures which resulted in a 29 percent cut in price. During February 2023, it made a nice base near Rs 560-580 levels. On a daily scale, a Bullish Engulfing candlestick pattern was seen near mentioned support zone of Rs 580 levels thus confirming a bullish stance for coming sessions. In previous sessions, there was huge buying interest seen along with massive volume which is a sign of further upside in the counter. On the indicator front, the daily RSI (relative strength index) has displayed a bullish regular divergence along with MACD (moving average convergence divergence) bullish crossover further confirming our bullish view on the counter. One can buy in a small tranche in the range of Rs 620-630 and another around Rs 605-610 for an upside target of Rs 680 and stop-loss of Rs 585 on a daily close basis. Expert: Viraj Vyas, Technical & Derivatives Analyst| Institutional Equity at Ashika Stock Broking AIA Engineering: Buy | LTP: Rs 2,843 | Stop-Loss: Rs 2,700 | Target: Rs 3,150 | Return: 11 percent The stock is trading around all-time high levels in a choppy market which denotes relative strength versus Index. It was consolidating above the 21-EMA and the last 2 days have witnessed above average volumes. It has also formed a Cup and Handle (bullish pattern) and continuing to sustain above Rs 2,780 augurs well for bullish momentum. The RSI indicator too suggests a breakout from the downward sloping line which has bullish implications. Ramco Cements: Buy | LTP: Rs 744 | Stop-Loss: Rs 705 | Target: Rs 825 | Return: 11 percent The stock has been consolidating time and price wise since October 2022 and in the base formation, the stock has painted a Double Bottom pattern on the daily chart. The stock is consolidating in a tight range (Rs 740-700) near the pattern neckline with the last 2 days witnessing above average volumes. The RSI indicator too suggests a breakout from the downward sloping line which has bullish implications. JSW Steel: Sell | LTP: Rs 658 | Stop-Loss: Rs 690 | Target: Rs 590 | Return: 10 percent The stock has been forming lower highs and lower lows January 2023. In the last few trading sessions, the stock has violate the lower level of the channel which resembles a Bearish Flag and Pole pattern. The recent price action has seen formation of Marubozu candlestick coupled with strong volumes which does indicate further weakness to follow if the stock continues to sustain below the 680-mark. Expert: Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equities Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities Hero MotoCorp: Sell | LTP: Rs 2,313 | Stop-Loss: Rs 2,350 | Target: Rs 2,150 | Return: 7 percent The stock is continuously making series of lower highs and lower bottoms. On Friday, it closed at the lowest point of the week at Rs 2,310. Below the Rs 2,300 level, there could be a quick decline towards Rs 2,250 or Rs 2,150. The key oscillator RSI is also comfortably placed below the 30 mark, indicating a bearish hold. Based on this the strategy should be to sell below Rs 2,300 level and place a stop-loss at Rs 2,350. HDFC Life Insurance Company: Buy | LTP: Rs 492 | Stop-Loss: Rs 475 | Target: Rs 540 The stock is diverging positively on the daily chart. Major oscillators such as RSI and MACD are supporting the validation of the formation. The stock is set to move higher towards Rs 530-540 in the near term. The 20-day SMA has support at Rs 480 which should be an ideal level to add more. One can keep stop-loss at Rs 475 and hold for a target of Rs 540. Dalmia Bharat: Buy | LTP: Rs 1,831 | Stop-Loss: Rs 1,700 | Target: Rs 1,950 | Return: 6.5 percent On a weekly and monthly basis, the stock is forming a rectangle consolidation between Rs 1,650 and Rs 1,950 levels. In these types of cases, if the stock manages to close above the median level, which is at Rs 1,800, then we can expect an upward move towards the upper limit of the trading range. Additionally, the cement sector has been performing well over the past few days and weeks, which will help the stock rally in the short term. As the market sentiment is bearish, our strategy should be to buy in parts. Buy at the current level and add more at Rs 1,750. For this, one can keep a stop-loss at Rs 1,700. On the higher side, the stock may rally towards Rs 1,900 or Rs 1,950 in the near term. Expert: Ruchit Jain, Lead Research at 5paisa.com Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals: Buy | LTP: Rs 294 | Stop-Loss: Rs 277 | Target: Rs 317 | Return: 8 percent The stock has seen a price wise corrective phase in last few weeks. But the prices are now trading around its crucial support zone. Around its support, the RSI oscillator has given a positive divergence as a lower low in price is not confirmed by the oscillator. Hence, expect a pullback move in the stock in the short term. Traders can buy the stock in the range of Rs 292-290 for potential short term targets of Rs 305 and Rs 317. The stop-loss on long positions should be placed below Rs 277. RBL Bank: Sell | LTP: Rs 135 | Stop-Loss: Rs 144 | Target: Rs 124 | Return: 8 percent The stock has been forming a Lower Top Lower Bottom structure and has recently given a breakdown from a Symmetrical Triangle pattern. The momentum readings are pointing at a continuation of the downtrend and hence, we expect further correction in the near term. Traders are advised to sell the stock in the range of Rs 137-139 for potential near term targets of Rs 130 and Rs 124. The stop-loss for short positions should be placed above Rs 144. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Only 25 percent government schools of the country have access to internet, the Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan told the Lok Sabha on Monday. The data was released in response to a question presented in the Lok Sabha regarding usage of ICT in school education in Government and Government aided schools for imparting education in emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic under the New Education Policy. The data was sourced from Unified District Information System for Education Plus, a database developed by the education ministry, for the year 2021-22. Also Read: TRAI recommends ministries to form own ICT cells for better adoption of 5G As per the response, of the 10,22,386 government schools in the country, only 2,47,000 schools had access to internet. States with least internet access In at least five states in the country, the internet connectivity falls below 10 percent of the total number of schools. In Uttar Pradesh, only 12,074 of the 1.37 lakh schools have internet connections. In Bihar, 4,421 of the 75,558 schools have access to internet. In Odisha, 3,970 of the 49,072 schools have internet connections. In Mizoram, children of only 153 of the 2563 government schools get access to internet. In Assam, only 4,680 of the total 45,490 government schools have access to internet. States with 100 percent internet access States including Delhi (2762), Chandigarh (123) and Puducherry (422) were best performers with 100 percent internet access in all government schools. This was closely followed by Lakshadweep, where 37 of the 38 schools had an internet connection. Meanwhile Kerala too fares well, with 4,738 of 5,010 government schools having access to internet.
The March 31, 2023, deadline for mutual fund (MF) nominations is fast approaching. By this date, you must ensure that either you have a nominee/s for your MF investments or, if you dont wish to have one, you should explicitly opt out of nomination. This must be done for each of your MF folios. Folios where you fail to do so will be frozen. That is, you will not be able to make any new investments or redemptions from these folios till you submit the relevant details. The capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), had issued a circular to this effect in June 2022. But be ready to encounter hurdles in the online nomination process, especially for MF investments (folios) that are held jointly, even in either or survivor mode. Such investors will have to take the physical or offline route for nominations. For a nonfinancial transaction such as nomination which can have repercussions in the future, all the folio holders have to come to a consensus and appoint a nominee, says, Foram Shah, a Mumbai-based financial planner, associated as a senior manager with ACE FnSupermarket Pvt Ltd. Thats just the beginning. For very old investments, many of which were done physically, there was no scope for providing the contact details of a second or third holder. Thats the reason why most people are struggling with the online mode, adds Shah. Note that the nomination process discussed in this article applies only to your non-demat MF holdings. For MF investments made via a brokerage account, the relevant nominee will be the one applicable at the demat account level. What to expect One, for jointly-held folios, you may not even have the option of updating the nominations online. This is the case with MFCentral, an MF transactions platform backed by registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) CAMS and KFintech. Or even when you have the option to complete the MF nominations process online, as on CAMS and KFintech, you may hit a roadblock unless the MF folio has the contact details of all the joint holders. Vignesh Kumaran S, deputy vice president, KFintech, says that where there is contact information available for all the joint holders of the folio, updating nominations will not be a problem. Since one OTP or one-time password is sent for each folio holder, on some platforms, it gets difficult to recognise which OTP is sent for which holder (first or second). He says that on KFintech, they have resolved this problem (beginning March 16) by adding the name of the folio holder to all the OTPs sent to avoid this confusion. According to the CAMS spokesperson too, since the nomination process depends on OTP-based authentication, unless the contact details of all the folio holders are available, this cannot be done online. As he points out, this would mean having either the email IDs or the mobile numbers of all the folio holders. And this can turn out to be a problem for many investors. I have seen that for a majority of jointly-held folios, usually only one investors contact details have been provided, says Harshad Chetanwala, co-founder, MyWealthGrowth. For such investors, submitting physical nomination forms at the CAMS and KFintech branches may be the only way out. Stilland in keeping with the logic that the online method followsall unitholders must consent. In simple words, your nomination form must have the signatures of all the joint holders. Shah says that for her clients who are struggling with the online process, shes going the old-school way of submitting a physical nomination form. She, in fact, recounts a case where one folio holder was in India and the other in the US. So they emailed the nomination form available on the fund house website to the person residing in India. The Indian resident was advised to take a printout of the form, sign and scan it, then email the signed and scanned copy to the daughter living abroad, and get the foreign resident to do the same and send a consolidated signed and scanned form to the fund house from her registered email ID. According to the CAMS spokesperson, joint folio holders residing in different places can follow a similar process with themdownload the form available on the CAMS website, get the signatures of all the folio holders and submit it at one of their offices. Those with singly-held folios may, however, be able to update their MF nominations online itself. That said, certain operational challenges can complicate the process for them, too <see tables>. To ensure that you meet the March 31 deadline, get started on your MF nominations right away. Even otherwise, having a nominee for all your investments is very critical and must be given top-most priority. Having a nominee ensures seamless transmission of the deceaseds MF investments. The nominee is a mere custodian and is legally bound to give the legal heirs their entitlement based on the deceaseds will, or in case of no will, as per the applicable succession laws, says Rajat Dutta, founder, Inheritance Needs Services Pvt Ltd. Also see: MC30: The best mutual funds to invest in Where to begin So how do you begin the MF nomination process, and what are the challenges that you are likely to encounter? This storys authors conducted a test on their own MF investments, using MF Central, CAMSonline, KFintech and Mutual Funds Utility (MFU) across their portfolios, completely online, to check the efficiency of the online nomination process. We also corroborated distributors and advisors experiences to give you a reality check. Heres what we found. For those who invest in mutual funds through distributors or advisors, try and get them to do it for you. If you invest in mutual funds by yourself (direct), then an online platform where you can get your consolidated view of investments is an ideal place to begin with. You could visit each mutual funds websites wherever you have invested in, but that becomes cumbersome if you are spread across multiple fund houses. We began with MF Central, a new online platform created by RTAs in association with the Association of Mutual Funds in India, that allows you to buy and sell MFs while giving you a consolidated view of your investments. Once you get an idea of your investments, check existing nominations. With MFCentral <see table>, you can select a nominee or update an existing nominees details, or opt out of nomination for singly-held folios across all mutual fund houses at one place. MFCentral covers all fund houses, whether serviced by CAMS or KFintech. The downside: You cannot use MFCentral to provide nominees or opt out of nomination for your jointly-held folios. CAMS and KFintech, the two biggest RTAs in the Rs 40 trillion Indian MF industry, allow you to update nominees in jointly-held MF folios. You can do this through MFU, too. All the three platforms can be used for updating nomination for singly held folios. But, there is an important difference. In case of CAMS and KFintech, both existing and new users can update their MF nominations (update nominee details, change a nominee, switch from nomination to no nomination, and so on). However, as pointed out by Amol Joshi, Founder of Plan Rupee Investment Services, in case of MFU, the existing common account number (CAN) holders cannot update their nominations online. They can do this only through submission of physical nomination forms. Investors can update their nomination online at the time of opening a CAN seamlessly. For any subsequent changes in nomination, we are still awaiting RTAs to enable online option which we believe will happen soon, says Ganesh Ram, MD and CEO, MFU. See our graphics for a detailed review. Options for jointly-held MF folios Investors with jointly-held MF folios can first try to update their nominees or opt out of nomination on the RTA websites. Depending on the MF houses that you have investments with, you will have to do this on the websites of CAMS or KFintech, or both. If you are unable to complete the nominations process online, then the only way out is submitting physical nomination forms at the CAMS and KFintech offices. According to KFintechs Kumaran, the form can be submitted by one of the folio holders in person or via correspondence. What matters most is that the signatures on the form match with those in the RTA records. Given that updating the nomination information for those who submit physical forms can take longer, it is all the more important that you take this up immediately. If you wish to register multiple nominations per folio, make sure that the sum of the units (percentage allocation) assigned to all the nominees in any folio must aggregate to 100 percent. If not, your nomination request will be rejected. On MFU, you will first have to apply for a common account number. This can be done online <see table>. During this process, you can update your nomination. The CAN is created by MFU for a unique combination of PAN, mode of holding (single/joint) and tax residency status. So, for example, if you are an Indian resident and you have a mix of singly and jointly held (two modes of holding) MF investments, one CAN will reflect your singly held folios and the other one, the jointly held folios across all fund houses. According to Amol Joshi, since the nomination is done at the CAN level, it gets reflected in all the folios mapped to that CAN. However, sometimes, if the nomination does not reflect in a certain folio, you can send an online complaint to MFU. This is a revised version of the story with our observation and experience of Mutual Funds Utility (MFU).
As many as 16 of 17 MLAs of Congress were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly on Monday for the remainder of the Budget session till March 29 for creating ruckus and staging protests in the House over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. Some MLAs of the main Opposition party, including Imran Khedawala, Geniben Thakor and Amrtutji Thakor, were evicted by marshals as they sat in the well of the House and refused to go back to their seats despite repeated appeals made by Speaker Shankar Chaudhary. Except for Anant Patel, the rest 16 MLAs of Congress were present in the House on Monday. As soon as the question hour began, Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda demanded a discussion on the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha claiming he had been silenced by the BJP government for raising the issues concerning people. Gandhi was disqualified as an MP after a court in Surat convicted him on March 23 in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark and sentenced him to jail for two years. On Monday, all MLAs of Congress entered the Gujarat Assembly wearing black clothes as a mark of protest against Gandhis disqualification. Speaker Shankar Chaudhary asked Chavda to sit down, saying no discussion is allowed during question hour and asked him to raise the issue later. At this point, other MLAs of Congress rushed near the well and started raising slogans saying Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai. They also showed placards and photos linking PM Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani. When all the 16 MLAs refused to stop sloganeering and trooped into the well, Chaudhary warned the Opposition against wasting peoples time. As the MLAs stayed put, the Speaker suspended them for a day and asked marshals to evict those lawmakers who refused to go out and continued to sit in the well area. After the end of the question hour, state Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs minister Rushikesh Patel slammed Congress for the chaos and moved a motion to suspend all of them till the end of the ongoing Budget session on March 29. Despite knowing that the subject they were raising was not of Gujarat, these Congress members created chaos and raised slogans as a pre-planned strategy. They misled the people of Gujarat through this. Thus, we request you to suspend them till the end of the session, said Patel. Ministers Balwantsinh Rajput and Raghavji Patel also supported Patels proposal for a harsher punishment. The motion moved by Patel was unanimously passed after Aam Aadmi Party MLAs did not raise any objection. These Congress MLAs came wearing black clothes and raised slogans. I requested them not to engage in such activity. Thus, as per rule 52 of the Assembly, I hereby suspend all those MLAs who staged protests and raised slogans in the House, said Chaudhary. Subsequently, Congress MLAs were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session by voice vote.
Equity investments in real estate grew by over 32 percent year-on-year in 2022 to $7.8 billion, reflecting the recovery of the sector in India. This was the highest annual investments recorded in the country to date, outpacing the 22 percent recorded in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to CBREs The Real Estate Outlook 2023 report. CBRE is a real estate services company focused on commercial properties. Equity investments in real estate refers to instances where people or institutions become shareholders in a property with ownership rights in proportion to the amount invested, as opposed to a real estate investment trust or REIT that pools money from investors in return for dividends sans ownership. Equity flows into the sector will remain steady with expected investment at around $12-13 billion over the next two years and account for around 20-25 percent growth on a year-on-year basis. Office space would continue to garner a majority share of total institutional inflows, followed by the industrial and logistics (I&L) sector and land parcels. In addition, alternative investments, particularly in data centres, may take off, the report said. The strong momentum seen in deal closures continued in 2022, with about 125 deals reported compared with 123 in 2021. The average deal size has also moved up to nearly $62 million in 2022 from about $48 million recorded in 2021, a strong growth of about 30 percent on-year. Midsized deals ($10-50 million) accounted for a major chunk (57 percent) of the total investments recorded in 2022, the note said. In terms of favoured sectoral bets, the office sector received more than 56 percent of institutional investors' total assets of about $10 billion. Greenfield ventures received $2.5 billion in investment through the acquisition of sites/land parcels, accounting for roughly 15 percent of the total. Retail got over $2 billion in capital infusions, or more than 11 percent of total institutional investments. Indias strong underlying economic and demographic fundamentals, coupled with the evolving global trade landscape across sectors, builds a strong case for higher investments in real estate in 2023. The China+1 strategy being adopted by many global corporates to de-risk supply chain requirements and mitigate production challenges is expected to benefit India. This would lead India to capture an increased market share in the global supply chain over the next five to six years, said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE. Residential and mixed-use land parcels drew capital flows of over $7 billion There has been a recent rekindling of land acquisition appetite, with almost 6,800 acres of property having been acquired between the developer and investor category during 2018-22. In particular, the last two years saw a surge in activity, with approximately 60 percent of land being purchased just since January 2021, the note said. Within this segment, the residential market has gained the most traction, accounting for over 37 percent of the land acquired since 2018. Residential and mixed-use land parcels accounted for roughly 60 percent of the overall investment flows in the acquisition of land. Collectively, these two sectors drew capital flows of over $7 billion, which is anticipated to result in a robust supply in the upcoming years. In the next two years, metros and tier-1 cities are likely to continue to be the major recipients of equity inflows. The growth in real estate development activity supported by strong demand in the retail and I&L sectors could result in an increased level of investment in tier-I and select tier-II cities. Industrial and warehousing (I&W) was responsible for one-fourth of land purchases between 2018 and 2022 due to an evolving ecosystem, shorter construction timelines and limited supply of completed investment-grade warehouses, the note said. Mumbai leads the investments in onsite facilities followed by Delhi and Bengaluru, while the Delhi region leads with 26 percent of acquisition of undeveloped land. Mumbai and Hyderabad both recorded 14 percent share each of land acquisitions, the note said. The gateway cities Delhi followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru dominated overall investments in 2022, accounting for over 67 percent of the total outlay. In terms of annual growth, too, Delhi reported a strong increase of 83 percent, followed by Bengaluru (76 percent) and Mumbai (27 percent). Mumbai followed by Delhi and Bengaluru dominated cumulative investments, accounting for over around 63 percent share since 2018. This translates to about $20 billion worth of equity capital deployed across these cities. The total investment during 2018-2022 was $32 billion. Owing to predominant concentration of completed or under-construction investible grade projects in these cities, over 300 deals were reported since 2018, which translates to over 57 percent share in the total deal activity. Office sector attracts investments worth nearly $13 bn Long-term (2018-22) data analysis revealed that the office sector remained the mainstay of investors, particularly foreign institutional investors. Investing in alternative solutions, specifically in data centres, could also gain further traction. As a result, this sector has attracted investments worth nearly $13 billion, accounting for over 40 percent of the total inflows in the 2018-22 period. This was closely followed by over $12 billion deployed in the acquisition of sites/land parcels, fetching about 39 percent share in cumulative investments. Institutional investors have consistently been the major source of capital deployment in Indian real estate, followed by property companies. A similar trend prevailed during 2018-22 as well, when institutional investors accounted for $15.7 billion and property companies accounted $10.4 billion of the cumulative investment flows. While investments in the office sector continues to be predominantly concentrated in metros/tier-I cities, the retail, I&W and site/land parcels segments have seen investment flows beyond these cities to tier-II and tier-III cities as well in the recent past. Due to an increase in real estate development activity, especially in the retail and I&L sectors, tier-II cities could see increased investment levels in the coming years. However, the major beneficiaries of the equity inflows will continue to be metros and tier-I cities during this period. On a cumulative basis, foreign investors, primarily based out of North America and Singapore, have driven the investment flows since 2018. They have cumulatively deployed in excess of $18 billion, accounting for about 58 percent share in total investments. On the other hand, domestic investors (primarily real estate developers) have cumulatively pumped in over $13 billion for about 42 percent share in total investments since 2018, the report said. More than $10 billion have been invested by the top three Indian investors, accounting for 60 percent of all institutional investments made during this time, it added. Equity investments include those by private equity funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors, real estate developers, real estate fund-cum-developers, investment banks, corporate groups and REITs.
Nairobi  Opposition chief Raila Odinga has declared that Monday protests are on, despite a ban by police who have urged Kenyans to carry on with their businesses.

Odinga said the Azimio coalition will not be "intimidated to call off the mass protests because we are fighting for justice."

"I am telling the Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome to prepare to protect peaceful demonstrators. We are not going to call off our peaceful demonstrations because that is our right," Odinga said at a church service Sunday.

He spoke moments after the IG addressed a press conference, where he outlawed the demonstrations.

"Those demonstrations are illegal and we will not allow them to take place," the IG said, "We are ready as security agencies. Every corner of this country is safe and secure."

But Odinga has said it is the "business of police officers to protect peaceful demonstrators."

"I am calling on Kenyans to turn out in large numbers for the peaceful demonstrations. Do not fear the police or the teargas," Odinga said and blamed the police for disrupting last Monday's "peaceful" demonstrations.

Similar protests turned violent in Nairobi and Kisumu last week when one person- a student at Maseno University was shot dead.

Odinga has launched demonstrations since last week to force the government to tackle the high cost of living and protest the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him during the August 2022 polls won by President William Ruto.

During last Monday's protests, several businesses and properties were destroyed or looted in both cities that literally shut for the better part of the day.

"You all saw what happened on Monday last week. It will not happen again," Koome declared, "We have heard some people say that they will cause violence in Nairobi tomorrow (Monday). Nothing of that sort will happen because the security agencies are ready to protect every Kenyan."

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Koome said anyone found armed with stones or any other weapon will be dealt with as a criminal.

But Odinga has said he will press on with the protests, saying he wants justice while claiming his victory was stolen.

He wants the electoral commission compelled to open servers so as to confirm the results of the election that were relied on to declare Ruto president.

Soon after the August 2022 polls, Odinga unsuccessfully challenged the outcome at the Supreme Court.

On Sunday the police chief said that the issue of opening servers is political.

"Those are political issues that need political solutions. But when it comes to security, I have a mandate as the IG to ensure I protect life and property and I am very good at that," he said.

President Ruto has warned against the protests and instead told Odinga he will not engage him in talks, accusing him of destabilizing the country for his own selfish interests as he did in two former regimes that ended up accommodating him.

"Kenyans made their decision during the August 2022 polls, we are done with the polls and all that remains is prepare for development," he said, "we are not going to engage Raila because he knows he lost and we won."
Lupin's share price rose 2 percent intraday on March 27 after the pharma company received tentative approval from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Valbenazine Capsules. Lupin received the tentative approval for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA), Valbenazine Capsules (40 mg, 60 mg, and 80 mg) to market a generic equivalent of Ingrezza Capsules (40 mg, 60 mg, and 80 mg) of Neurocrine Biosciences Inc, as per the press release. Valbenazine Capsules had estimated annual sales of $1,235 million in the US. Catch all the market action on our live blog On March 25, the company announced the successful completion of the inspection carried out by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (UK MHRA) at its Pithampur facilities in India. The inspection was conducted from March 20 to March 24, 2023. With the combination of oral solid, inhalation, dermatology, high potent and oral contraceptive products, this is an important facility and maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance is a must, said Nilesh Gupta, managing director at Lupin. Lupin also announced that USFDA has completed a post-marketing adverse drug experience (PADE) inspection of the companys operations. The inspection closed with no observations. At 10:12 am, Lupin was quoting at Rs 659.10, up nearly 3 percent on the NSE.

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Veteran banker and Kotak Mahindra Bank chief executive officer (CEO) Uday Kotak said on March 27 called for a relook at the financial sector resolution process through the NCLT mechanism to address the issue of poor recovery for lenders. The resolution mechanism in Reliance Capital and Srei cases signaled a poor recovery and below liquidation value for creditors, Kotak said. "NBFC resolution. RCap, Srei experience signal poor recovery below liquidation value for creditors. NCLT process is also tardy whether IBC or otherwise. In IL&FS too while recovery ratio is better, legal process takes long. Time for policy relook at financial sector resolution," Kotak tweeted. NBFC resolution. RCap, Srei experience signal poor recovery below liquidation value for creditors. NCLT process is also tardy whether IBC or otherwise. In IL&FS too while recovery ratio is better, legal process takes long. Time for policy relook at financial sector resolution.  Uday Kotak (@udaykotak) March 27, 2023 Earlier, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Shyamala Gopinath pitched for strengthening the insolvency process. In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Gopinath suggested that IBC has brought about many changes in the insolvency resolution process but there is further scope for improvement. If an account is treated as wilful, banks are required to refer the matter to law enforcement agencies, and, thereafter, it is the enforcement agency that facilitates the recovery of such loans. Legal processes are also involved, said Gopinath. Also read: Why do major IBC cases get delayed for years? Insolvency cases Kotak highlighted the resolution mechanism of the insolvency cases of companies like Reliance Capital, Srei, and Infrastructure Leasing & Finance (IL&FS). Reliance Capital company plunged into a crisis following huge debts and liquidity crises. In November 2021, RBI referred Reliance Capital for bankruptcy resolution process after it defaulted on bonds worth Rs 24,000 crore. In December 2021, Reliance Capital, in a regulatory filing, said that the NCLT had admitted the case of the company for the corporate insolvency resolution procedure (CIRP) under IBC. In the insolvency proceedings of infrastructure company Srei, RBI superseded the boards of Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd (SIFL) and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL) in October 2021 due to governance concerns and repayment defaults. The banking regulator approached the NCLT Kolkata to initiate the insolvency proceedings against the twins for a consolidated resolution. The third case Kotak mentioned, the IL&FS led to the downfall of the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). IL&FS stepped into trouble after one of its subsidiaries, IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd, defaulted on a loan repayment in 2018. The default sent shockwaves through the Indian financial sector, forcing banks to turn extra-cautious in their loan exposure to all NBCFs. After this, the government took control of IL&FS in October 2018. Also read: IL&FS Board resolves Rs 55,000 crore debt so far: 5 key questions answered
India has requested the Nepal government not to allow fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in Nepal, to flee to a third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport, a media report said on Monday. In a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported. There was no immediate confirmation about the letter from the Indian mission here. "Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it. "The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission," it said. The letter and Singh's personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources. Singh, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him. The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area. Citing ministry sources, My Republica newspaper said that the instruction was given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on 'high alert' for two days. Quoting sources, the report said that police in plain clothes have stepped up vigilance in the border area as Singh could enter the country from Kapilvastu in Western Nepal.
India has reported 1,805 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases have surpassed the 10,000-mark after 134 days, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on March 27. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.19 percent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.39 percent. The active cases have increased to 10,300, the data updated at 8 am stated. The health ministry reported that there were 9,433 active cases as of March 26. In preparedness The national capital reported 528 active cases today on March 27, according to a government health bulletin. Amid a spurt in the number of coronavirus cases in the city, Delhi government-run hospitals on March 26 carried out mock drills to assess their COVID-19 preparedness. The Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, believed to be the largest health facility in the national capitals fight against COVID-19, carried out a two-hour-long mock drill. "We assessed the patient response time. When a patient is brought to the hospital, how long does it take for us to shift him to a room? For critical patients who need to be shifted to the ICU, we have a red corridor. We checked whether all the ventilators and oxygen points were functioning. We have around 450 beds for coronavirus patients," Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director of LNJP Hospital, told PTI. Also read | Active COVID-19 cases above 10,000 after 134 days He added that bed occupancy for COVID-19 at the hospital was zero in the last month but a few patients have been admitted recently. "A 54-year-old patient is on a ventilator. He has diabetes while another 36-year-old patient is on oxygen support. He is suffering from pneumonia," Kumar said. Mock drills were conducted at other hospitals too, including the Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital (SRHCH) and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital. Speaking about the scarcity of oxygen in the city during the second wave of COVID-19, Dr Kumar said that adequate preparations have been made to fulfil the demands for all beds at the hospital. "Right now there is a sufficient arrangement of oxygen in our hospital. There are two big oxygen plants, and apart from that there are five PS plants. We are producing 45 tonnes of oxygen every day by ourselves without any external support, which is sufficient for our two thousand beds," he said. Also read | Spike in Covid cases: Nationwide mock drills to be held on April 10 and 11, says Health Ministry Ani reported that Delhis health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "Six states of the country were alerted by the Centre regarding COVID-19. If COVID-19 cases increase in those states, then its effect is now visible on Delhi as well. Therefore, to review the preparedness, we felt that a mock drill should be conducted in all the hospitals of the Delhi government. The existing system has been examined and according to the report, the shortcomings will be removed." After a year-long lull, hospitals in Mumbai have also reopened their COVID-19 wards while some have increased their masking and testing protocols. On March 26, Maharashtra reported 397 new cases of COVID-19, a marginal drop from Saturday's tally of 437 cases. However, active cases in the state went past 2,000 for the first time since October. Advisory to states Amid a fresh spike in the coronavirus case count, the Union health ministry, along with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), wrote to the state governments and Union Territories on March 25, asking them to ensure "optimum testing" and promote the usage of masks in crowded settings. Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan will meet with state health secretaries and senior officers today on March 27 to discuss COVID-19 preparations. The review meeting will provide information on the nationwide mock-drill scheduled for all districts' health facilities next month.
Immediate action by the government to help Indian startups in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse ensured they were not adversely impacted by the "minor crisis", Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday. He also exhorted the entire startup community to think of the Indian banking sector as their trusted partner. Vaishnaw, Minister for IT and Communications, also noted the rapid strides taken by India in areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. Speaking at India Global Forum event, the Minister said while there was a time when India was only seen as a consumer of technology, today "many global developers like to have Indian start ups, entrepreneurs and academicians as their partners, as technology gets developed". "... In these two technologies, we would like use of Indian talent for developing solutions for India and for the world," he said. To a question on whether India can produce something equivant to ChatGPT, the Minister said "wait for a few weeks there will be a big announcement." The Minister said it is important for global economy to have trusted partner like India. All over the world there is a sense that India should emerge as a key semiconductor manufacturing destination, Vaishnaw said adding that Government is working "sincerely and diligently" to ensure a vibrant semiconductor ecosystem comes up in the country. The Minister further said that after the SVB collapse, the government swung into action to handhold Indian start ups that had funds or deposits in the bank. "How we responded to that minor crisis is that we immediately engaged with entire start up community and made sure that whatever deposits they wanted to shift to Indian banks... the entire process was flawlessly executed by collaboration between different arms of Government," he said. Not a single start up was adversely effected by the "minor crisis", the Minister said describing Indian banking sector as resilient and with healthy balancesheet. "We have requested all the start ups, don't think about putting your funds in any bank anywhere...put your funds in India. And I will request all the Global start up community also, think of India as your trusted banking sector," he said. Vaishnaw exhorted global entrepreneurs and innovators across sectors to leverage the India edge to develop trusted technology for the country, and for the world. Vaishnaw said the India's 4G/5G stack had shown outstanding results, during testing. "The roll out has started. From coming September we will be rolling 300 sites a day of this India's own telecom technology stack," he said.
As temperatures begin to rise, electricity demand in India is expected to hit a record high of 230 gigawatts (GW) this April. Moneycontrol exclusively spoke to India's minister for power and renewable energy RK Singh to find out if the country is better prepared this year. Edited excerpts: Q: Would India face power cuts this summer? A: Not all. You saw, we handled the last spurt pretty well, and we are well prepared to handle the next one too. The fact that our electricity demand is growing at 10.5 percent is unprecedented. Nowhere else in the world has seen such a steep rise in power consumption. But, we'll handle it. We are prepared for it. Q: But sir, we are lagging behind on our internal renewable energy targets. A: We are not missing the target, by the way. In fact, the target was 40 percent from non-fossils by 2030. We achieved it nine years in advance. I mean, come on. As far as our internal target is concerned, you're talking about the 175 GW by the 2022 target, right? Today, my serviced capacity is 178 GW from non-fossil fuels. Out of that, if you take out nuclear, which is about 6,800 MW (6.8 GW), that makes it about 170 GW of established renewable capacity. We have another, about 80 GW of renewable projects under construction. Again, out of that you take out nuclear, that is about 12 GW, so you have about 68 GW under construction. Now, these under construction projects would have actually fructified if we had not had two years of COVID. But despite that, we're already at 170 GW. With the 68 GW under construction, we are way ahead of time. Also, we have another 30 GW under different stages of bids. Q: You along with Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Puri recently held an inter-ministerial meeting on the National Green Hydrogen Mission. Give us an update on the mission please. A: Yes, we are working out a trajectory for the concerned companies to start blending green hydrogen into the city gas system, and the same will be done for the LNG they use for transport. Another trajectory is being worked out for refineries, steel plants and so on for replacing grey hydrogen, which right now they make from imported natural gas, with green hydrogen. Similarly, fertiliser manufacturers will also have to replace grey ammonia with green ammonia. We already have concrete plans by different industries for setting up six million tonnes of green hydrogen production, which will translate to about 36 million tons of green ammonia production. We've identified two ports which will serve as refueling ports for green shipping. One will be Kandla on the west coast, and the other will be Tuticorin port on the east coast. So, we will have green hydrogen, green ammonia refueling facilities for green ships in these ports. We have industries trying out export orders for green hydrogen. So, we will emerge as a green hydrogen and green ammonia powerhouse. That's target. Watch the interview here: Q: The Budget session is going on in the Parliament. Will there be any movement in the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which is with the Parliamentary panel? A: Let the Standing Committee give its report first. I would be able to comment on it only after that.
At the turn of the millennium, inheriting a few paternal acres of rubber was a mark of prosperity and clinching factor in securing marital alliances in the central Travancore belt of Kerala. It signified financial security and affluence, and stamping its western imprint on the crop, one could pursue any profession without wasting a minute on its nurture. All you had to do was to plant it by taking ditches and spacing them out by fifteen feet, followed by a seasonal helping of NPK fertilisers. Within six to seven years it would be ready to yield, which typically went on up to thirty years. The rubber tappers calmly went about their business from early dawn. The tapped latex would be filled out in aluminium trays till it coagulated, and then it would be neatly rolled and converted to ribbed sheets, before being smoked to perfection in smoke houses. It would invariably supplement the households income, a ticket to prosperity in those days. Boom To Bust Then came the boom of 2008, when prices crossed Rs 100 per kg for the first time. By 2011, aided by Chinas ravenous demand for commodities, when prices inched towards Rs 250, tappers demanded their pound of the flesh asking for a three-fold hike in tapping rates. By 2013, however, the prices were steeply on the decline, and within another couple of years, the production cost was higher than the selling cost, causing many rubber growers to leave their land fallow. Only farmers with marginal holdings tapping on their own could carry on with it, leaving even estate owners high and dry. Some rubber farmers resorted to selling it in latex form, which gave slightly better returns. This has remained the case for the better part of the last decade. A Bishops Gambit Cut to the present, Tellicherry Archbishop Joseph Pamplanys open offer of a Lok Sabha seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a hike in rubber prices to Rs 300 brought the sorry plight of farmers back into focus. The prelates political motivations and the circumstances causing it is a matter for another write-up, but it led to some respite for the farmers when a wary state government cleared the arrears of the price stabilisation fund pegged at Rs 170, with current prices hovering around Rs 140. Seeking a second term, Pinarayi Vijayan had made it a manifesto promise to offer Rs 250 per kg as support price for rubber. Upon assuming power, the promise was quickly forgotten by the cash-strapped government, despite periodical reminders by its ally, the Kerala Congress (M). It is also unlikely that the central government will take up the archbishops offer going by its fiscal prudence. That could set off a similar demand by farmers elsewhere, which it can ill-afford. The Rubber Board, headquartered in Kottayam, was functioning without a chairman for a couple of years into Modis first term in 2016, betraying its own priorities. Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, only recently turned down a request to announce MSP for rubber from Kerala parliamentarians. When this came to light, the state BJP attempted damage control by sending a delegation led by KM Unnikrishnan, vice-chairman of the Rubber Board, to meet with the archbishop. Market Vagaries The sheer impracticability of fixing an MSP for rubber was proved way back in 2001, when the Vajpayee government announced it following a Supreme Court directive, thereby causing a protracted deadlock. The price of natural rubber is very much a variable of demand and supply, and it will remain so as long as India is bound by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreements. For the WTO, natural rubber is an industrial raw material rather than a cash crop. China accounts for over 40 percent of the worldwide consumption of natural rubber while Indias production is only two-thirds (8 lakh tonnes) of its total consumption. The prices remaining low have generally been on account of the demand not matching the glut in the world market. The rubber prices in Indias domestic market are always higher than the international prices. It was in the aftermath of the Second World War that Kerala witnessed its first rubber boom, and it is estimated that 5.5 lakh hectares of land is presently under rubber cultivation. The high production cost has made rubber unviable to sustain in Kerala. The solution could be to move away from rubber to fruit trees such as Mangosteen and Rambutan in the long run. The archbishops offer cannot change this reality, even if the BJP comes up with a knee-jerk market intervention plan. And that only reinforces the futility of politics over rubber. Anand Kochukudy is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Lets all hope that Chinese President Xi Jinping sees this outrage as a personal affront and gives his friend in Moscow a good talking to at once. Only days ago, Xi was paying Russian President Vladimir Putin a visit  to discuss their collaboration, but also to talk him out of nuclear escalation and into a peace process with Kyiv. This weekend, Putin did the exact opposite. In perhaps the most insidious of his many nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West, Putin announced that he would station tactical nukes in Belarus, his fellow dictatorship and vassal state just to the west. From there, even missiles and jets with shortish ranges could strike targets in Ukraine or central Europe. Disingenuously as ever, Putin claims that this move wont breach Russias obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. His logic is that he, rather than Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, would retain control over the warheads and the missiles that would carry them. That makes it alright, apparently. In reality, Putin is once again ignoring  or perhaps relishing  the bitter irony of the perfidious path he followed to this moment in history. In the so-called Budapest Memorandum of 1994, both Ukraine and Belarus  as well as the third former Soviet republic then in possession of nukes, Kazakhstan  agreed to surrender their atomic arsenals in return for security guarantees from Moscow. So much for Russian security guarantees. These days Putin claims Ukraine isnt a nation at all, and must be subjugated or destroyed. And he regards Belarus as a personal fief destined eventually to be merged into a Union State with  obviously  Putin at its head. The lesson for wannabe tyrants and aggressors everywhere  from North Korea to Iran and beyond  is plain. Only nukes can offer them insurance against nuclear blackmail from ruthless aggressors like Putin, and can simultaneously serve as instruments of extortion in their own tool kits. Yes, Putin has just launched a new era of proliferation. His escalation is especially odious because it rhymes with his suspension last month of New START, the only remaining arms control treaty to limit strategic nukes. (Tactical warheads, which can have relatively small yields, are intended for use on the front to win battles, whereas strategic nukes are designed for deployment against the enemys homeland as a means of apocalyptic deterrence.) As ever, Putin is using the full repertoire of the KGB methods he learned in his early career, distorting reality to create narratives that Russians and useful idiots in other countries will spread. Sending nukes to Belarus is only a proportionate answer to British plans to give Ukraine shells made of depleted uranium, he suggests. But the depleted uranium cannot cause fission and shells containing it are not nuclear weapons. Putin is also trying to conflate his own plans in Belarus with the long-standing US practice of stationing nuclear bombs in Allied nations such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey. But those arsenals  whatever their merits at the time  date to the Cold War. Neither Washington nor any other capital in control of nuclear weapons would dream of placing such warheads closer to Russia in the current state of tension. So Ukraine is right to call an immediate session of the United Nations Security Council. Russia has a seat on it, but so does China, which should use its new clout with Putin to talk him out of this madness. Better yet, Xi should pick up the phone right now and remind Putin just where their friendship ends. And Belarusians  including the top brass of the army  should contemplate agitating against their dictator once again, to stop Putin from dragging them into disaster with him. Ukraine and the West, meanwhile, must not let Putin spook them into hysteria. The Russian president has become so unpredictable and reckless, so deranged in his view of the world and his own destiny in it, that only steely resolve and calm strength can deter him from making a bad situation immeasurably worse. Andreas Kluth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering European politics. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
No one sells the future more masterfully than the tech industry. According to its proponents, we will all live in the metaverse, build our financial infrastructure on web3 and power our lives with artificial intelligence. All three of these terms are mirages that have raked in billions of dollars, despite bite back by reality. Artificial intelligence in particular conjures the notion of thinking machines. But no machine can think, and no software is truly intelligent. The phrase alone may be one of the most successful marketing terms of all time. Last week OpenAI announced GPT-4, a major upgrade to the technology underpinning ChatGPT. The system sounds even more humanlike than its predecessor, naturally reinforcing notions of its intelligence. But GPT-4 and other large language models like it are simply mirroring databases of text  close to a trillion words for the previous model  whose scale is difficult to contemplate. Helped along by an army of humans reprograming it with corrections, the models glom words together based on probability. That is not intelligence. These systems are trained to generate text that sounds plausible, yet they are marketed as new oracles of knowledge that can be plugged into search engines. That is foolhardy when GPT-4 continues to make errors, and it was only a few weeks ago that Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Incs Google both suffered embarrassing demos in which their new search engines glitched on facts. Not helping matters: Terms like neural networks and deep learning only bolster the idea that these programs are humanlike. Neural networks arent copies of the human brain in any way; they are only loosely inspired by its workings. Long-running efforts to try and replicate the human brain with its roughly 85 billion neurons have all failed. The closest scientists have come is to emulating the brain of a worm, with 302 neurons. We need a different lexicon that doesnt propagate magical thinking about computer systems, and doesnt absolve the people designing those systems from their responsibilities. What is a better alternative? Reasonable technologists have tried for years to replace AI with machine learning systems, but that doesnt trip off the tongue in quite the same way. Stefano Quintarelli, a former Italian politician and technologist came up with another alternative, Systemic Approaches to Learning Algorithms and Machine Inferences or SALAMI, to underscore the ridiculousness of the questions people have been posing about AI: Is SALAMI sentient? Will SALAMI ever have supremacy over humans? The most hopeless attempt at a semantic alternative is probably the most accurate: software. But, I hear you ask, What is wrong with using a little metaphorical shorthand to describe technology that seems so magical? The answer is that ascribing intelligence to machines gives them undeserved independence from humans, and it abdicates their creators of responsibility for their impact. If we see ChatGPT as intelligent, then we are less inclined to try and hold San Francisco startup OpenAI LP, its creator, to account for its inaccuracies and biases. It also creates a fatalistic compliance among humans who suffer technologys damaging effects; though AI will not take your job or plagiarise your artistic creations  other humans will. The issue is ever more pressing now that companies from Meta Platforms Inc to Snap Inc to Morgan Stanley are rushing to plug chatbots and text and image generators into their systems. Spurred by its new arms race with Google, Microsoft is putting OpenAIs language model technology, still largely untested, into its most popular business apps, including Word, Outlook and Excel. Copilot will fundamentally change how people work with AI and how AI works with people, Microsoft said of its new feature. But for customers, the promise of working with intelligent machines is almost misleading. [AI is] one of those labels that expresses a kind of utopian hope rather than present reality, somewhat as the rise of the phrase smart weapons during the first Gulf War implied a bloodless vision of totally precise targeting that still isn't possible, says Steven Poole, author of the book Unspeak, about the dangerous power of words and labels. Margaret Mitchell, a computer scientist who was fired by Google after publishing a paper that criticized the biases in large language models, has reluctantly described her work as being based in AI over recent years. Before people like me said we worked on machine learning. Thats a great way to get peoples eyes to glaze over, she admitted to a conference panel on Friday. Her former Google colleague and founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Timnit Gebru, said she also only started saying AI around 2013: It became the thing to say. Its terrible but Im doing this too, Mitchell added. Im calling everything that I touch AI because then people will listen to what Im saying. Unfortunately, AI is so embedded in our vocabulary that it will be almost impossible to shake, the obligatory air quotes difficult to remember. At the very least, we should remind ourselves of how reliant such systems are on human managers who should be held accountable for their side effects. Author Poole says he prefers to call chatbots like ChatGPT and image generators like Midjourney giant plagiarism machines since they mainly recombine prose and pictures that were originally created by humans. Im not confident it will catch on, he says. In more ways than one, we really are stuck with AI. Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
Some unions are best broken before they are sealed. Take the on-off deal between Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) and Bisleri International for the potential acquisition of the latter's bottled water business. After two years of talks, and a near-firm handshake, the sale has now been called off. While the exact reasons for the breakdown aren't clear - reports indicate that price might have been the issue - the final outcome may be the best result for both parties Selling Bisleri, a high-volume, low-margin product, didnt make much sense for the Ramesh Chauhan-led group. The eponymous brand is the clear leader in a booming market. According to GreyViews Research, India's bottled water market was valued at $22.72 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $36.21 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6 percent from 2023 to 2030. Genericisation of Bisleri Producing bottled water isn't a complex business requiring any great technology. Whats more, there is hardly any threat of another product upending the tried and tested, though companies keep experimenting with variants and flavours. The key determinant of success then is the brand and in this Bisleri has an almost unassailable position as a generic for the product much like Xerox, Band-Aid, Post-it and Jacuzzi. Customers often ask for a Bisleri when they want to buy a bottle of water. Comparisons have been drawn to Chauhans earlier sale of another successful product, Thums Up, which he sold to Coca-Cola in 1993. It was probably a smart move given what followed. The sale for $60 million, pre-empted the bruising battle of the colas which has seen both the multinational giants, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, carve out the market between them, only to find there is very little profit to be made after sinking millions of dollars in winning customers. Bisleri faces no such challenges in the bottled water market. Having built the distribution network and cemented itself in the customers mind, the likes of Coca-Colas Kinley, Pepsis Aquafina and TCPLs Himalayan Natural Mineral Water, Tata Gluco+ and Tata Copper+, dont present serious competition to its 60 percent market share. Succession planning The only reason for the planned sale, and the reason offered by Chauhan, was his only child Jayantis lack of interest in running the business. Whatever the Chauhan family's internal dynamics, the argument doesn't pass muster. Even if Jayanti didn't want to run the business, there are many other options available to the senior Chauhan which allow him to keep the bestseller in his stable. Spinning it off into a publicly held company headed by a professional like Angelo George, the current CEO, with his daughter as vice chairperson, is one obvious option. There could be other similar structures that would simply eliminate the need for Jayanti to play an operational role if she doesnt want to do so. Since money hasnt ever been a driver for Chauhan, retaining one of the few homegrown brands which has trumped over multinational rivals, should be a matter of pride for the savvy entrepreneur. For Tata too, the failure to buy Bisleri may be a blessing in disguise. Of late, the group has been confusing the market with multiple brands in the same space. In aviation for instance, it now has Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India, besides Air India Express, a piquant situation which has necessitated the incredibly wasteful need to kill the Vistara brand built at great cost over the last seven years. A Bisleri acquisition would have led to a somewhat similar situation with the brand having to share space with other brands of water from TCPL. Taking a basic product to the market under three different names was always going to be a challenge. Having acquired Himalayan after buying into Dadi Bulsaras Mount Everest Mineral Water Ltd in 2007, it spent the next 15 years looking for elusive profits. Bisleris addition would have given TCPL a leg up in the market but it would have come at the cost of orphaning or worse, killing Himalayan after 15 years of nurturing it. Instead, it can now spend the Rs 7,000 crore it had planned to pay for Bisleri on energising its in-house brands. Sundeep Khanna is a senior journalist. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
December 24 (Libyan Independence Day) in the Italian quarter of the Libyan capital Tripoli. The street was known as September 1st Street (the day of Gaddafi's Fateh Revolution, commonly accepted as a coup) under Gaddafi's .

press release

The AU-EU-UN Tripartite Taskforce on the Situation of Migrants and Refugees in Libya met in Brussels. The international community and Libyan authorities must work together to improve the plight of migrants and refugees in Libya.

The meeting was attended by the Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development of the African Union Commission, Minata Samate Cessouma, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the IOM Director General, Antonio Vitorino, to discuss and advance the priorities of the Taskforce.

The Tripartite Taskforce Members reaffirmed their commitment to supporting the Libyan authorities' efforts for tackling the urgent needs on the ground. While working alongside other actors, they will step up their efforts to further support the developments of non-discriminatory legal and policy frameworks for migrants and refugees, based on international and AU standards and human rights, with the aim of protecting and saving lives along the migratory routes and particularly in Libya.

They further urged the Libyan authorities to end arbitrary detention of migrants and refugees starting with the women and children as well as other individuals with specific needs or disabilities. The Taskforce is ready to assist the Libyan authorities to ensure practical alternatives such as release into the community or accommodation in Migrant Response Centers (MRCs), where they can receive psychosocial support and health assistance.

The Taskforce called on the international community to support the Libyan authorities to combat human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, notably by facilitating effective prosecution efforts and prevent the risks of re-trafficking and disappearance. The Task Force also agreed to support awareness raising on the dangers of the journeys along the migratory routes and to seek durable solutions for migrants and refugees.

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The Taskforce committed to support the Libyan Government's efforts to ensure improved migration governance and border management whilst fostering full respect for the human rights of refugees and migrants and access to protection. The Taskforce further called on the Libyan authorities to issue documentation for labor migrants in the country and recognize documentation provided to refugees, pending the establishment of a comprehensive national migration management system.

The Taskforce Members committed to support stepping up voluntary humanitarian returns from Libya, notably by facilitating the Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) and Reintegration Programme for individuals in Libya who wish to return home voluntarily and are assessed not to be in need of international protection. They called for the abolishing administrative exit fees for those departing from Libya.

The Taskforce called on the enhanced use of Emergency Transit Mechanisms in Niger and Rwanda, and emphasized the need for the international community, including the AU and EU to offer tangible support, notably by considering expanding legal, safe and regular pathways for migrants and refugees. This includes humanitarian corridors and enhanced resettlement places for refugees and voluntary returns and reintegration.

The meeting contributes to delivering on the Joint Vision for 2030 set out at the 6th EU-AU Summit held in Brussels in February 2022, where both continents' leaders committed to revitalize the work of the joint AU-EU-UN Tripartite Task Force.
As global demand recedes with recessionary trends rising, the spurt in Indias exports over the past two years is also gradually subsiding. A plateau was reached in July last year but the past five months have shown a consistent decline. This is a worrying phenomenon but tempered by the fact that exports of electronic goods especially mobile phones are showing a contrary trend. In fact, phone exports are set to virtually double in fiscal 2023 despite the demand slump witnessed in the countrys key markets of Europe and the US. The question is whether this is just a flash in the pan or whether this will continue on a sustained long-term basis. The first conclusion one must draw from the surge in mobile phone exports is that this represents a successful outcome of the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes. The PLI scheme is designed to provide incentives on incremental sales of goods manufactured in selected sectors. It was launched initially for electronics and mobile phones and the focus has been on increasing domestic production of components while trying to generate more jobs. It has now been expanded to cover as many as 13 industries considered to have the potential of becoming world-class manufacturers and exporters. In the case of mobile phones, the scheme began three years ago with the rationale that the sector suffered from several disabilities, making it less competitive globally. According to the Electronics Ministry, this included a lack of adequate infrastructure, domestic supply chains and logistics, high cost of finance, inadequate availability of power and limited design capabilities. One big criticism of the scheme despite the rapid increase in output has been that these are more assembly units rather than actual manufacturing units. This shortcoming, however, is now being overcome as even rating agency ICRA noted in a study last year that domestic sourcing of components is set to rise from 15-20 percent to 35-40 percent by 2026. At the same time, the PLI scheme for electronics has so far been able to attract investments of Rs 4,784 crore which can be termed as encouraging but clearly can be ramped up considerably. It has also led to a remarkable five-fold rise in mobile phone production from six crore units in 2014-15 to about 31 crore units in 2021-22. Growth Potential The other obvious conclusion is that no other export sector has the potential to grow at this pace. This has been achieved despite an overall decline in world trade, which is expected to grow by only one per cent in 2023 compared to 3.5 per cent in 2022, according to the World Trade Organisation. Against this backdrop, phone exports are set to buck trends by doubling to nearly $12 billion in 2022-23 as compared to $5.8 billion in the previous fiscal. One can thus have reasonable expectations of mobile phones becoming one of this countrys biggest exports in the long run. Electronics industry representatives like the chairman of Dixon Technologies are even confident that mobile phone exports could soon reach $100 billion. It is in this light that the inauguration of an office of the International Telecommunication Union along with an innovation centre and unveiling of the 6G Vision Document assumes greater significance. The role of telecom in the countrys economy is evidently set to expand exponentially. Tech giants like Samsung and Apple have already placed their faith in the sector by investing heavily in infrastructure here. This is partly due to the fact that the global industry is trying to reduce reliance on manufacturing facilities in China. The only snag is that many other firms seeking to disengage with China while building up global supply chains have been lured to easier investment destinations like Indonesia and Vietnam. One learning from these developments is that the PLI scheme, attractive though it may be, needs to be accompanied by creating an easier environment for foreign investment. Procedures and regulations continue to abound in this country, as well as unexpected taxation issues. Unless red tape is cut further and tax provisions are made more predictable, it may not be possible to lure many other global players looking for options to China. Such easing of rules will give a further impetus to exports of electronic goods, especially mobile phones. But higher exports will only be possible with higher investments, whether from foreign or domestic sources. So, policymakers need to take fresh initiatives to make investments easier in a sector that has lately grown by the proverbial leaps and bounds. It has the potential to expand at an even more dizzying pace but much will depend on whether a conducive policy environment can be created for the electronics and telecom industry. Sushma Ramachandran is a senior journalist based in Delhi. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
In early March, local dailies and news channels in Tamil Nadu had only one major political development occupying the headlines  the influx of BJP functionaries into the AIADMK. The trigger was the sudden exit of Nirmal Kumar, head of the BJPs IT Wing, from the party and being welcomed with great fanfare by AIADMKs acting general secretary and former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami. The AIADMK publicised it as a great political coup and the Tamil media, looking to pull down the BJP and its state chief K Annamalai, immediately declared that this was the beginning of the end of Annamalais leadership. The former IPS officer, however, dusted off the defections as inconsequential saying that this would give him a chance to appoint fresh faces as office bearers to the vacant slots. Will BJP Go It Alone? Even as this rumbling in the troubled alliance between the two NDA partners was dying down, came the real shocker from Annamalai. He told a closed door meeting of his partys office bearers that if the high command insisted on an alliance with the AIADMK for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he would rather quit his post than engage with the AIADMK on the number of seats and choice of seats. His logic was that unless the party contested on its own, by forming its own alliance as in 2014 which got 14 per cent votes and two LS seats, the BJP will never be able to grow in the state. By constantly being at the mercy of a larger regional party it would only gradually weaken like the Congress has in the company of the DMK, he pointed out. Also when the 2024 election will be about endorsing Narendra Modis performance over the last ten years and renewing that mandate, the BJP should be in the forefront of the political narrative in Tamil Nadu, he reasoned. AIADMK Missing Jayalalithaa While the cadres and middle level functionaries agree with Annamalais argument, the state seniors are not that enthusiastic. Having been used to the politics of electoral alliance since 1998, when Jayalalithaa first joined hands with the BJP for the LS elections, senior leaders of the party are unsure if the BJP can make an impact on its own. In the past they have accepted fewer seats  many of which were unwinnable, to keep the alliance intact  which is something that Annamalai wants to break away from. Even if the BJP contested only a dozen seats, they should be strong winnable seats so that the party is able to send at least five MPs to the Lok Sabha  that has been his selling point. Another reason given by Annamalai to break ties with the AIADMK was his desire to move Tamil Nadu away from the practice of bribing voters during elections. He particularly was peeved by even the AIADMK following the footsteps of the ruling DMK in handing out bribes in the form of cash and kind to get votes during the recent byelection to Erode(East) Assembly seat won by the Congress. The BJP will never give money for votes and I want to impress upon the voters that we want to practice honest electoral politics. So being in alliance may put pressure on our candidates to follow the footsteps of our major partner (AIADMK), he had told the party meeting. On its part the AIADMK cleverly shifts the blame for any electoral defeat on to the BJP saying its presence turned away the minority votes. This is a vacuous excuse since the minorities in the state have always voted for the DMK-Congress alliance. So Annamalai does not want the BJP to be made a convenient scapegoat repeatedly by this big brother attitude of the AIADMK. Especially when the AIADMK, in the absence of a charismatic leader like Jayalalithaa, is slowly disintegrating due to the internal squabbles between Palaniswami (EPS) and O Panneerselvam (OPS). Annamalai Overshadows EPS Another worrying factor for the AIADMK has been that while it was immersed in its own internal power struggle, the BJP had emerged as the voice of the opposition thanks to Annamalais vigorous anti-DMK line. Palaniswami also views Annamalai as a challenge to his leadership from the powerful Kongu region of Western Tamil Nadu since both of them belong to the Kongu Vellalar community. Also Annamalai is a more powerful orator than EPS, in both Tamil and English, and connects better with the youth and has impressed with his data-driven arguments on issues. Added to that he has the achievements of the Modi government to showcase whereas the AIADMK can at best only harp on memories of Jayalalithaa and MGR, which find little traction as much as the DMK reminiscing about Karunanidhi. Come Tamil New Years day Annamalai has promised to release details of the alleged corruption and ill-gotten wealth of DMK ministers which would again cement his position as the face of the opposition. Once he is back from his assignment for the Karnataka elections Annamalai plans to undertake a padayatra across Tamil Nadus hinterland in an effort to improve the reach of the BJP and publicise the Modis governments achievements. If he is able to show a visible connect with the masses at the grass root level, the BJPs central leadership too might be tempted to dump the AIADMK and strike out on its own. GC Shekhar is a senior journalist. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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The Lok Sabha Secretariat on March 27 issued a notice to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking him to vacate the official bungalow in New Delhi that was allotted to him for being a Member of the Parliament, within a month's period. The action comes three days after Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha, on grounds of him being convicted on March 23 by a magisterial court in Gujarat in a defamation case. Gandhi, who has been living in the government bungalow at Tughlaq Road since 2004 when he was first elected as a lawmaker, has been asked to vacate the same by April 22. "The allotment of the aforesaid accommodation shall deemed to have been cancelled with effect from April 23, 2023," the notice stated. Gandhi, a former Congress president, was sentenced to two-year prison term by the court in Gujarat, which heard the case in which he was accused of defaming an entire community through a remark made at an election rally in Karnataka in 2019. "Why do all the thieves, be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi or Narendra Modi, have Modi in their names?" Gandhi had said in his electoral speech. Gandhi, in the Parliament, was representing Kerala's Wayanad constituency, from where he was elected with a record-margin in the 2019 general elections. Following his disqualification, the Congress party launched a "satyagraha", with demonstrations in Delhi, Maharashtra and Kerala. In a press conference on March 25, Gandhi told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "afraid" of him making another speech in the Parliament on the government's alleged nexus with the Adani group. "I am not going to back down even if I am disqualified for life. I will keep raising questions and fight for the people," Gandhi said, as he accused the Centre of attempting to "suppress" his voice.
Probably Elsie amma turned in her grave at what happened to Rahul Gandhi, although he has no clue that she is no more. Way back in 2019, when his name was announced as candidate for Wayanad ticket by the Congress, she was thrust under the limelight for a while her wish to see Rahul Gandhi was fulfilled by Congress's PR team under the media glare then. This reporter attempted to track down Elsie amma to see what she feels about the disqualification only to learn that she passed away six months ago. Meanwhile, a very lively 99-year old Matthew was spotted cackling, trying to contain it by covering his mouth with his palm. He gave up after a while and asked: "Will you find enough people to carry these?" He was referring to the stacked kerosene-soaked cloth bound around bamboo sticks, to be used as torches, at the district Congress committee office at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Sunday evening. On the third day after Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Wayanad seat, Youth Congress was organising a night march. Mattthew, who stays nearby, had dropped by to watch. Yes, he is a Congress sympathiser who had his share of protests he narrated with glee how he threw stones at a police station long, long ago during one. But he was not convinced that people in Wayanad are invested so much that they would come on a day so sacrosanct that most locals refuse to work even if you pay them twice the wage. To make things worse, on the other end of the district, at Mananthavady, was Wayanad's most famous all-night festival being organised by Valliyoorkkavu temple, the annual 14-day arattu festival. There's also the Ramadan fasting. Matthew has a point: If you stop people on the street in any part of Wayanad, and ask what you think of the disqualification, more often than not, people express outrage. But then they get on with their lives, implicitly understanding that the battle is being fought elsewhere. This sentiment was also expressed by Sreeja, a municipal Councillor for Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and daughter-in-law of Elsie amma. Sreeja expressed confidence that Rahul Gandhi's conviction will be dismissed in higher courts and that he will win the next election from Wayanad, with an even bigger margin. "Most women in my colony and my ward really like Rahul Gandhi," she added. Then she moved on to talk about her more pressing worry -- the impending water shortage, an annual summer occurrence in her colony. Back at the Congress office too, life went on. Before heading to the protest, the members were treated to an iftaar. In fact, district panchayat president Samshad Marakkar had earlier cited the ongoing Ramadan fasting as one of the reasons why things were low-key in Wayanad. Right after his release on Saturday -- he was arrested for blocking the national highway -- Kalpetta MLA T Siddique was seen at the local masjid offering Ramadan namaz. When confronted with "low-key efforts" he went on to list the events being organised by Wayanad Congress to "uphold democracy and fight against the tyranny of the Modi government." But the evening events planned for rural areas on Saturday as well Youth Congress' national president B V Srinivas's visit to Kalpetta for the night march on Sunday were cancelled. Although on Sunday night, Congress proved Matthew wrong: all those sticks came handy as nearly 400 Congress workers marched through Kalpetta town waving them in the air, a lot later than announced owing to Ramadan.
MPs of various opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, BRS and SP, met at Parliament complex on Monday to discuss a strategy to take forward the Adani issue as well as Rahul Gandhi's disqualification matter in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Some of the Members of Parliament were seen wearing black clothes to protest the Congress leader's disqualification from the Lower House of Parliament after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. Leaders from DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, NCP, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, NC and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, met at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber. They discussed the way forward on the Adani issue and the aftermath of Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha. Opposition members have displayed coordination during the Budget Session of Parliament and the Congress has expressed hope that this coordination will also be extended outside Parliament.

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After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, opposition parties called the move unconstitutional and extended their support to him. As the opposition attempts to put together a united front against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the general elections scheduled in 2024, political observers said this is a window of opportunity for the Congress Party to strategise with non-NDA partners. In the past, there have been instances of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) not getting on with the Grand Old Party, but standing in solidarity with Rahul Gandhi. On March 27, when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called a joint meeting of opposition leaders in Parliament over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification, the attendance of TMC MPs Jawahar Sircar and Prasun Banerjee was surprising. Read: Opposition MPs meet at Parliament complex, some wear black clothes to protest Rahul Gandhi's disqualification During the second leg of the budget session, the TMC maintained a distance from the Congress and did not participate in protests held by the opposition on the Adani issue. The party chose to hold its demonstration separately. Many differences The TMC has had an estranged relationship with the Congress, which is part of the opposition in West Bengal, along with the Left. The distance between the two parties widened in February 2022 after Rahul Gandhi attacked TMC leader Mamata Banerjee during a rally in Shillong, alleging that her party supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi indirectly. Members of the BRS, which is the Congress rival in Telangana, also participated in the protest over Rahul Gandhis disqualification. During his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Telangana, Rahul Gandhi had targeted the BRS, stating that it was corrupt and his party would not have any ties with it. Opposition parties coming together over Rahuls disqualification is good, but it is not good enough. Practically, there are many differences. The opposition doesnt have an anchor to remain intact for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, said political analyst Rasheed Kidwai. Also read: My name is not Savarkar, Gandhi doesn't offer apology to anyone: Rahul Gandhi The Congress should take the lead in forming a coordination committee of the joint opposition headed by a non-Congress politician to have a better strategy in place for the 2024 poll battle, he said. At its 85th plenary session in Chhattisgarh, the Congress did not set up a committee to build better relationships and cooperation with other like-minded parties. Sources said although many senior party leaders favoured announcing a committee to reach out to parties that are not part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, the party leadership failed to take a call. Kidwai said Rahul Gandhi is not often on the same page as the opposition, which can create problems for the Congress. He will have to follow the footsteps of his mother, he said. Sonia Gandhi is still considered one of the strongest anchors that kept parties together during the UPA-I and UPA-II governments. Niranjan Sahoo, senior fellow with the Observer Research Foundations Governance and Politics Initiative, said, For the 2024 general elections, its a great opportunity for the opposition to make its mark, but they need a leader like Sonia Gandhi who can resolve the differences. She has a better political understanding with leaders such as Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. Sonia Gandhi also got the DMK on board the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2004, he added.
Union Minister for Power and Renewable Energy RK Singh in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol stated that the government is "well prepared" to handle the peak power demand this summer. He pointed out that the electricity demand in the country is growing at an unprecedented rate of 10.5%, and the government is confident that it can handle it. To avoid a repeat of last year's power crisis, the Power Ministry has already issued two significant orders. The first order mandates all coal-based power generators to blend 6% of imported coal, while the second invokes section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, so that all thermal plants using imported coal generate at their full capacity. Last year, these orders were issued in May, when the power crisis had already taken hold. In April and May 2022, many states in the country faced hours of outages due to heatwaves, rapid economic recovery, and a shortage of coal to generate power. This happened despite record coal production by Coal India in 2021-22, and the authorities had to scramble to manage demand amid dwindling coal supplies. It is likely that a coal shortage at thermal power plants (TPPs) will recur this time as well. However, the impact might not be as much last year because of the governments multi-pronged strategy. Some 70-80 percent of Indias electricity production comes from coal-fired power plants. The government is eyeing a total of 9,000 megawatt (MW) electricity from gas-based power plants and another 2,920 MW from brand new thermal power plants to meet the surge in power demand this summer. As first reported by Moneycontrol, the government announced on March 9 that the power ministry has directed NTPC to run its 5,000 MW-gas-based power stations during the crunch period in April-May. Another 4,000 MW of additional gas-based power capacity would be added by other entities (private and state governments) for availability during the summer months. This totals to 9,000 MW from gas-based power plants. As per estimates of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the peak electricity demand is expected to be 229 gigawatts (GW) in April this year. Union minister for power RK Singh chaired a high-level meeting on March 7 to take stock of the preparations to ensure power supply during the peak months.
Is Artificial Intelligence a misnomer? The term, AI, breeds misunderstanding and helps its creators avoid culpability. Artificial intelligence in particular conjures the notion of thinking machines. But no machine can think, and no software is truly intelligent. The phrase alone may be one of the most successful marketing terms of all time. These systems are trained to generate text that sounds plausible, yet they are marketed as new oracles of knowledge that can be plugged into search engines. Twitter and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, wanted to run OpenAI Musk reportedly proposed the idea to his co-founders, who rejected it, prompting him to leave the company. In the early months of 2018, Elon Musk told Sam Altman, another OpenAI founder, that he would take control of OpenAI and run it himself as he believed the venture had 'fallen fatally behind Google', news website Semafor said, citing people familiar with the matter. Altman and OpenAIs other founders rejected Musks proposal to run the company. Musk walked away from the company post that incident  and reneged on a massive planned donation on February 20, 2018. Microsoft doesn't want AI rivals using the Bing search index The company reportedly told two unnamed Bing-powered search engines that they cannot use the index as basis for their own AI chatbots. Microsoft has reportedly warned two search engines that use Bing's search index that it will cut off access to the index if they use it as a foundation for rival AI chatbots. While it is not clear which search engines have been warned, DuckDuckGo introduced its own GPT-based chatbot earlier this month. ChatGPT saves a thankful doggo! AI chatbot gives correct diagnosis for sick pet when vets failed. Twitter user Cooper (@peakcooper) shared he used GPT-4 to save his dog, Sassy. "I gave it the actual transcribed blood test results from multiple days, and asked for a diagnosis," Cooper tweeted. Cooper tweeted that its interpretation was "spot on".
While the world tries to catch up every day with the ever-increasing scope of what Artificial Intelligence (AI) does, Arundhati Bhattacharya, former SBI chairperson CEO and current Chairperson for Salesforce India believes that Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has a blessing in disguise. This is because it can take away a lot of the grunge or repetitive work in India, and leave people actually to perform more creative work. Also Read | How to use ChatGPT and other generative AI for business and in life Generative AI (GenAI) is a type of Artificial Intelligence that can create a wide variety of data, such as images, videos, audio, text, and 3D models. One of the biggest problems that India has is its sheer population numbers. Our numbers can either be a blessing or a curse. Because of the sheer numbers, it's very difficult to personalise whatever you are giving to millions of people. What generative AI actually will help us do is actually curate things so that they can be made relevant to us. If you ask them the questions in the right manner is where AI can actually help," Bhattacharya told IANS during an interaction. Also Read | AI News roundup: Levi's to use AI-generated models, ChatGPT leaks payment information and more Salesforce, the American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco launched Einstein GPT, the world's first generative AI CRM technology. According to the company, Einstein GPT creates personalised content across every Salesforce cloud with generative AI, making every employee more productive and every customer experience better. Since the Microsoft-backed OpenAI opened ChatGPT to the public in November, seemingly every technology company has looked to roll out its own generative AI-driven tool amid the surge in interest. Also Read | Microsoft to block AI rivals from using Bing search index Salesforce, too, in a separate announcement said that it was launching a ChatGPT app for Slack that could help write messages and get conversation summaries. Salesforce Ventures, the companys VC arm, also launched its own $250 million generative AI fund. However, Bhattacharya doesnt fail to mention that AI does not create something that has not already been created. "AI is not creating stuff on its own. It's actually pulling together from data points that you're not able to access because the human mind can only take in so much. So AI gives you the power of knowledge that has already been created by several people," Bhattacharya told IANS. Also Read | The Real-Life Consequences of Silicon Valleys AI Obsession "I think AI has a big future in India and worldwide because at the end of the day, repetitive jobs are something people do not like doing. People also wonder whether this will mean jobs will decrease but this will not be the case. It is only that our consumption patterns will change," she said. AI is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030, the report, titled iCET- Forces Shaping Future of Technology by TeamLease Digital, stated. is expected to add $967 billion to the Indian economy by 2035, and around $450-500 billion to the nations GDP by 2025, accounting for 10 percent of the countrys target of $5 trillion GDP, reported The Indian Express quoting a report. In India, AI-generated revenue stood at $12.3 billion in 2022, the report said, adding that the AI software segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18 percent in the country by the end of 2025.
Mr Diya, a retired lieutenant general, died earlier on Sunday in Lagos at the age of 79.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday mourned the passing of Oladipo Diya, who served as Chief of General Staff from 1993 to 1997 and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994.

The President, in a statement by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, in Abuja paid tribute to Mr Diya's bold and courageous career in the Nigerian military.

Mr Diya, a retired lieutenant general, died earlier on Sunday in Lagos at the age of 79.

He hailed from Odogbolu in Ogun State.

Mr Diya, who was born on 3 April 1944 in Odogbolu, Ogun State, died on Sunday in Lagos.

Mr Buhari lauded the deceased for his dedicated service to the country as General Officer Commanding, 82 Division, Commandant, of National War College (1991-1993), Chief of Defence Staff and Military Governor of Ogun from January 1984 to August 1985.

He recalled that the late Mr Diya was known for his brilliance, exceptional organisational skills and discipline, and he displayed these virtues in the important roles he held in office as a military officer.

The president saluted the former chief of general staff for his love, belief and loyalty to the country he cherished so much and fought gallantly on the frontlines to defend her unity.

Mr Buhari, who extended heartfelt condolences to Diya's family, friends and colleagues, prayed that "Diya's soul finds rest with his Creator, and may his contributions to the nation never be forgotten."

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President-elect Tinubu mourns Diya

Also, the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, has sent his condolences to the family of Mr Diya.

Mr Tinubu while expressing his sadness over the passing of the retired general in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, praised his contributions to national development and the military institution.

The president-elect, who is currently on vacation in London and would be in Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser Hajj) before returning to the country, said the news of Mr Diya's death came to him as a shock.

"I send my heartfelt condolences and sympathy to his immediate family, especially his wives and children.

"Gen. Diya lived a remarkable life of a soldier and he made his mark in the military where he served our country diligently as military governor of Ogun State and in the various military positions he held.

"He rose to the enviable position of Chief of General Staff and second in command to the Head of State, he served meritoriously," Mr Tinubu said.

He noted that as much as he could, Mr Diya played a stabilising role during one of the most turbulent periods in the country's life in the aftermath of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

The president-elect said the deceased would be remembered for his patriotism and service to the nation.

He condoled with Governor Dapo Abiodun and the people of Ogun, Mr Diya's home state and prayed to Almighty Allah to comfort his family and those he left behind and to grant his soul eternal rest.

NAN
Borrowers have the right to be heard before banks classify their accounts as fraud, the Supreme Court ruled on March 27, adding the principles of natural justice must be followed and read into the Reserve Bank of India's master circular on fraud. The court held that when an account is classified as fraud, it results in civil and criminal consequences for the borrower. It amounts to "blacklisting" a borrower from availing any credit, hence a hearing must be granted under the Master Directions on Fraud, the country's top court said. In 2016, the RBI issued a circular allowing banks to unilaterally classify accounts of wilful defaulters as fraudulent, a move that was challenged in several high courts. The Supreme Court, however, said the borrower need not be given an opportunity of being heard before registering of an FIR. The judgment also notes that the banks must pass a reasoned order on their decision to classify an account as fraudulent, to avoid arbitrariness. The court was hearing a bunch of petitions that challenged the RBI circular. The leading case in the judgment was an appeal against a 2020 order of the Telangana High Court. The high court directed the RBI to ensure that principles of natural justice be read into the clauses in the master circular issued for detecting frauds in the banking sector. Natural justice meant everyone had the right to be heard before a decision was passed against them, the court said. The high court directed the Joint Lenders Forum (JLF) to give an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner before taking a and to complete the exercise within three months. The subsequent exercise by Fraud Identification Committee (FIC) should be carried out within two months, it said. The RBI and State Bank of India challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which decided to bunch together appeals against judgments of various high courts in similar cases. Supreme Courts conclusions: No opportunity of being heard is required before an FIR is lodged and registered; Classification of an account as fraud not only results in reporting the crime to investigating agencies, but also has other penal and civil consequences against the borrowers; Debarring the borrowers from accessing institutional finance under clauses of the Master Directions on Frauds results in serious civil consequences for the borrower; Such a debarment is akin to blacklisting the borrowers for being untrustworthy and unworthy of credit by banks. The court has consistently held that an opportunity to be heart must be provided before a person is blacklisted; In view of the time frame contemplated under the Master Directions on Frauds as well as the nature of the procedure adopted, it is reasonable for the lender banks to provide an opportunity of a hearing to the borrowers before classifying their account as fraud; The borrower should be given an opportunity to explain the conclusions of the forensic audit report, and be allowed to represent by the banks/ JLF before their account is classified as fraud under the Master Directions on Frauds. In addition, the decision classifying the borrowers account as fraudulent must be made by a reasoned order; Since the Master Directions on Frauds do not expressly provide an opportunity of hearing to the borrowers before classifying their account as fraud, it has to be read into the provisions of the directions to save them from the vice of arbitrariness
The Supreme Court on March 27 set April 18 at 2 PM for the final hearing of petitions challenging the pre-mature release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The court also requested the Union government and the Gujarat state government to provide documents related to the release of the convicts. Justice KM Joseph, who led the bench, observed that the crimes committed against Bilkis Bano were "horrendous." However, the bench clarified that they would only hear legal questions and not emotional pleas. The petitions challenging the early release were filed by Bilkis Bano and certain public-spirited individuals. The court asked the parties to briefly explain the points that will be argued when the hearing starts. After hearing the lawyers, the court asked Gujarat if it had considered the past record of the convicts who were released on remission and if such a remission policy would be applied to convicts in other cases as well. The lawyer for one of the convicts argued that public-spirited persons cannot file pleas and intervene in a criminal case, but the court refused to consider the argument at this stage. Bano had moved the apex court on November 30, 2022, challenging the "premature" release of 11 lifers by the state government, saying it has "shaken the conscience of society." The victim also filed a separate petition seeking a review of the apex court's May 13, 2022, order on a plea by a convict, which was later dismissed in December last year. All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15 last year. The victim, in her pending writ petition, has said the state government passed a "mechanical order" completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court. The plea stated that en-masse remissions are not permissible, and such a relief cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime. Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed. The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI, and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court. A special CBI court in Mumbai sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gang rape of Bano and murder of seven members of her family. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 last year, after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail. PILs were filed by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, Revati Laul, an independent journalist, Roop Rekha Verma, who is a former vice chancellor of the Lucknow University, and TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the release of the convicts, and the top court is seized of these PILs.
A passenger at the Los Angeles airport opened a plane's emergency exit door before takeoff, activating the emergency slide and compelling the crew to return the aircraft to the gate and deplane travelers, CBS News reported. He was arrested later. The incident took place at city's international airport, on the morning of March 25. Just as the Delta Airlines plane to Seattle was moving away from the gate, a passenger opened one of the emergency exit doors and stepped out. Because of that, the plane had to return to the gate. "The aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff when the passenger exited the aircraft and was initially detained by Delta staff ahead of being arrested by local law enforcement," Delta Airlines said in a statement. "Customers are being re-accommodated on a new aircraft and we apologize for the inconvenience and delay in their travel plans." Later, the LA Airport police joined the investigation. They, in turn, notified the FBI about the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is also conducting an inquiry.

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A biker has decided to pursue an ambitious journey whereby he is aiming to travel from Mumbai to London on his bike. Yogesh Alekari, who has clocked over one lakh kilometres in his bike while riding in Gadkile district of Maharashtra, will start his journey to London on May 1. The journey from Mumbai to London will see Alekari travel across three continents and 24 countries. The total distance that he is expected to cover from Mumbai to London is likely to be 25,000 kilometres which he is expected to complete in 100 days. After visiting many countries on bike, it was my dream to go for a world tour on bike. During those days, I conceived this tour. My plan is to travel to London from Mumbai by bike. During this journey, I will visit 24 countries and will cross 3 continents and I will be travelling a distance of around 25,000 kilometers. This tour would cost me 30 lakh. I would need a visa from different countries and my bike will be sent by air cargo. I have not taken even a days leave to prepare for this tour", Alekari told News18. Alekari's journey will begin from the Gateway of India on May 1. He will first travel to Nepal before taking a flight to the United Arab Emirates. From the UAE, he will resume his journey on bike, traveling through countries such as Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and finally reaching London. After visiting London, Alekari will head to France before continuing his journey to Morocco and Spain. His trip will end with a flight from Spain back to India. Alekari has the experience of biking in countries such as Bhutan, Myanmar, and Nepal which will hopefully prove valuable when he embarks on this ambitious journey.
On March 23, the Indian patent office rejected an application by US-based pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to extend its monopoly on manufacturing key tuberculosis drug Bedaquiline in India beyond July 2023. This paves the way for the manufacture and availability of generic versions of the drug, which may slash its cost by 30-70 percent starting July this year. As of now, Bedaquiline costs about $45 (approximately Rs 3,700) per month per patient while its generic version is expected to cost just about $8- $16 (Rs 658-1,316) in comparison. MC explains the significance of this development and what it means for India in its fight against the infectious disease. Also read: World Tuberculosis Day 2023: This AI tool can detect active TB cases in seconds Why is the rise in drug-resistant tuberculosis a concern? India has the highest burden of TB and multiple drug resistant-TB (MDR-TB) globally  disproportionately high even for the countrys population. The annual TB report released last year showed that the country had a total of 19,33,381 new and relapsed tuberculosis patients in 2021. This also included nearly 1,20,000 multiple drug resistant or MDR TB patients, who are resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampin, the two most potent TB drugs used to treat the bacterial disease. Within this pool, nearly 20 percent or about 24,000 patients are further identified as XDR (extremely drug-resistant) TB patients, who, apart from being resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, are also resistant to fluoroquinolone and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs: amikacin, kanamycin and capreomycin. It has been estimated that the risk of death due to MDR TB maybe 7.5 to 8.5 times higher compared to TB, and in 2020, the bacterial disease had caused 4.93 lakh deaths in India, which was 13 percent higher than the previous year. MDR, pre-XDR and XDR TB, on top of the more benign form of the ailment, spell trouble for a country that targets eliminating the infectious disease by 2025. Why is the availability of Bedaquiline important for the fight against MDR TB? Bedaquiline,which was launched in the Indian market at a whopping Rs 7 lakh per vial, is purchased by the Union health ministrys National TB Elimination programme and provided free of cost to nearly 60,000 MDR TB patients who reach out to authorised centres for treatment. This drug has gained popularity by raising the treatment success rate of MDR TB from around 50 percent to 93 percent and cutting the treatment duration by 75 percent, from 2 years to 6 months. Also read I India will soon roll out a new drug regimen for drug-resistant TB: Director, ICMR- National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis But considering that there are nearly 1,20,000 MDR TB patients in India every year but the government is purchasing just half the number of courses, it is estimated that half of those who need the treatment cannot access it. Why did the Indian Patent Office reject the evergreening of J&Js Bedaquiline patent? On March 23, the 2019 patent challenge by two TB survivors, Nandita Venkatesan and Phumeza Tisile, supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was successful and the Indian Patent Office rejected J&Js attempt to extend its monopoly over the drug in India beyond the primary patents expiry this July. Indian patent law does not allow the evergreening of patents  an extension of a patent on new forms of medicine without a proven change in efficacy  and prevents pharma companies from abusing the patent system by making minor changes that can extend their 20-year drug monopolies, said MSF. On its part, J&J said that it has been a long-standing partner in Indias efforts to combat TB, providing access to SIRTURO (bedaquiline), improving diagnostic capacity, training health workers on the clinical management of TB and DR-TB, and raising awareness about TB at the community level. The patent application in question  for a formulation of bedaquiline  was filed in India over a decade ago, as part of standard procedures when developing new medicines, said a company spokesperson. Whether this patent was granted or not, a formulation patent would not have prevented generic manufacturers from developing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in their own formulations after July 2023, when our API patent expires in India.
An eight-year-old boy born in Mongolia but raised in the US has been named as the reincarnation of third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism by the Dalai Lama. As per a report published in the Times, the spiritual leader was seen pictured with the boy taking part in the ceremony in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, recognising the boy as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche. The unveiling ceremony is understood to have taken place on March 8 in Dharamshala in the presence of close to 600 followers. We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today, the Dalai Lama told his followers. Reports in Mongolia state that the boy is one of a pair of twin children named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar. As per reports, the news of the eight-year-old boy being recognised as the reincarnation of third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism was met with both excitement and apprehension in Mongolia, with the likely animosity with Beijing looked at as a cause of worry. Also Read: Missing Chinese Woman: A spy story that never was China had previously insisted that it would recognise only Buddhist leader, which its own special government-approved appointees had selected. In 1995, the Dalai Lama had named a new Panchen Lama-the second most important figure in the faith. The child, however, was arrested by Chinese authorities and replaced with their own candidate. Fears remain that something similar was when the Dalai Lama dies, an event which he has predicted won't happen on the Chinese-controlled territory.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has returned to China, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Monday, ending a more than year-long sojourn overseas that was viewed by industry as reflecting the sober mood of China's private businesses. Ma, one of China's best known entrepreneurs, left mainland China in late 2021 and has been seen in photographs in Japan, Australia and Thailand in the months since. Once one of the country's most outspoken businessmen, he retreated from the public limelight in late 2020 after criticising China's regulatory system that was later blamed for triggering a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown by Beijing. While Chinese authorities said in recent months they had ended the crackdown and would look for ways to support the private sector, Chinese entrepreneurs said they saw Ma's decision to stay overseas as a factor hindering confidence. Alibaba shares in Hong Kong rose more than 4% after the SCMP report was published. The SCMP report did not state when Ma had returned to China but said, citing sources, that he visited a school he founded in the city of Hangzhou, the home of Alibaba and financial technology firm Ant Group. It added that he returned to China after a brief stop in Hong Kong. Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The school, Yungu Education, on Monday said on its WeChat account that Ma had visited its premises and posted photographs as well as a video of the Alibaba founder at the school. Ma also recently relinquished control over Ant Group, a Chinese fintech giant, in an overhaul that seeks to draw a line under a wider regulatory crackdown.
The ongoing protests in Israel intensified on Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked defence minister Yoav Gallant for asking him to halt his controversial plan to overhaul the judicial system. The Netanyahu government plans to allow a simple majority of 61 in the 120-seat Knesset (Israeli parliament) to override supreme court rulings and allow politicians to appoint justices to the bench, a process that is now carried out by a committee of nine experts. Protests in the country began in early January after the government announced plans to reform the judicial system. Since then, more and more Israelis have joined agitations against the move across the country. On March 26, protesters blocked the Ayalon highway, blocking traffic for hours in Tel Aviv. Crowds also broke through the security cordon outside Netanyahus residence in Jerusalem to protest. The proposal Israel does not have a formal constitution. A set of regulations, known as Basic Laws, guide the functioning of the government. In effect, these rules serve as the constitution. The Supreme Court has the right to strike off legislation it deems to be in contravention of the Basic Laws. A committee of nine experts appoints the judges. The governments critics apprehend that the proposed changes would weaken the independent judiciarys power in a parliamentary system in the absence of any other checks and balances. There is fear that the new dispensation could ultimately go for the full annexation of the occupied West Bank, and roll back LGBTQ+ legislation, as well as laws protecting women and minorities rights. The new Incapacitation Law, recently passed by 61 votes to 47 in the 120-seat Knesset, prevents a prime minister from being declared unfit to hold office by the attorney general. It stipulates that only the prime minister or three-quarters of the cabinet can declare him unfit to hold office. Netanyahus trial triggered four years of political crisis, splitting opinion among voters over whether he was fit to lead the country. But there is apprehension that several bills put forward by the government would restrict the courts ability to overturn laws it sees as unconstitutional, as a simple majority in the Knesset could reject its decision. Why now? Since 2019 Israel has had five elections but none could provide a stable government. Last November, Netanyahus Likud party won a majority and formed a government with the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history. From the time the new dispensation came to power, it wanted to curb the power of the judiciary. A group of Israeli academics wrote an open letter supporting the government's move as they feel the judiciary has grown too powerful. But the majority of Israelis think otherwise. A survey showed 66 percent of people want the Supreme Court to have the power to strike down bad laws. They also fear that curbing the power of the judiciary would lead to majoritarian rule, where the minority  especially Palestinians, who form 20 percent of the population, would face serious threats and further marginalisation. What does the government gain? Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption. An overhaul of the judiciary and weakening it suits his political future. But his government also depends on support from ultra-nationalist settlers and ultra-orthodox Jewish parties. For the ultranationalist settlers led by Ben Gvir, the proposed judicial changes would open up the opportunity of the annexation of the occupied West Bank and other policies in the settlers' favour. The ultra-orthodox think a new set of judges appointed by politicians is likely to rule that exemptions to military service, which is a must for all able-bodied Israelis, is not unconstitutional as the Supreme Court now holds. How Israelis have reacted The proposals have sparked off massive protests throughout the country over the past three months and are getting bigger with each passing day. They have also drawn in some of the best-known faces of Israel, including bestselling international author Yuval Noah and former prime minister Ehud Barak, one of the most decorated military leaders of the country. Many former judges and senior officials from Israels security establishment, leading business houses and tech firms, as well as students and teachers from universities and colleges across the country, have all joined the protests as they see it as the biggest threat the country has faced in years. What next? Attempts by President Isaac Herzog to bring peace between Netanyahu and his detractors have not worked out so far. The ongoing political instability in the country, which has also alienated sections of the armed forces, leaves Israel vulnerable to external threats. But internally, too, it can lead to a civil war-like situation as legislations passed by the Knesset to curtail the judiciarys power can in turn be struck down by the Supreme Court as going against the Basic Laws. Netanyahu, whose quest to form the government had led him to the current coalition with right-wing parties, could try to break away and look for new and more moderate partners. But his track record may not inspire confidence among his political opponents. If the political paralysis and the tussle between the government and the judiciary continues, then Israel could be forced to go for fresh elections to break the stalemate. Until that happens Israel could face further polarisation, with right-wing hardliners continuing to dictate terms.
Deutsche Bank AG shares fell and the cost of insuring its debt against default rose in sudden moves that some attributed to hedge funds seeking to profit from the broader turmoil roiling the financial industry. The German banks shares fell as much as 15% before paring losses to end the day down 8.5% in Frankfurt. Read More: Deutsche Bank shares plummet amid concerns over global financial system There was no clear trigger for the declines Friday. But hedge funds have turned their attention to Deutsche Bank in the wake of the collapse of Credit Suisse Group and three regional US banks. Theyve been ratcheting up their bets against the bank in the stock and credit-default swaps markets, said investors familiar with the matter, who werent authorized to speak publicly. The sell-off prompted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to publicly back the lender, which strengthened its balance sheet after some costly missteps years ago. Speaking at a news conference in Brussels, Scholz called it a very profitable bank and said banking oversight in Europe is robust and stable. A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment. It is a clear case of the market selling first and asking questions later, said Paul de la Baume, senior market strategist at FlowBank SA. Banking stocks have been hammered since Silicon Valley Bank failed two weeks ago after sustaining a rush of depositor outflows. The stock losses continued this week even after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said regulators would be prepared for further steps to protect deposits if needed. The head of Germanys banking regulator BaFin said on Wednesday that while there was no direct risk to Europes banking markets from the recent turmoil, there was the danger of a contagion via psychology of markets. Credit default swaps on the five-year senior bonds were quoted at around 200 basis points on Friday afternoon, according to ICE Data Services, down from around 220 basis points earlier in the day. The volume of Deutsche Banks CDS quotes sent to market participants this week has increased by 30% compared to the start of the month, according to ICE CDS Data. That indicates a spike in demand for purchasing the protection, which has been driven particularly by hedge funds, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. We view this as an irrational market, Citigroup Inc. analysts including Andrew Coombs wrote in a note. The risk is if there is a knock on impact from various media headlines on depositors psychologically, regardless of whether the initial reasoning behind this was correct or not. Short interest in Deutsche Bank reached the highest level since May on Tuesday, according to data compiled by IHS Markit. It stood at 2.6% of shares outstanding on Thursday, up from less than 1% in early February. Deutsche Banks recent CDS widening is in our view related to one way trades of de-risking across all market participants, wrote analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. including Kian Abouhossein. We dont see this and the associated share price decline as a reflection of the fundamentals. With markets in a state of heightened anxiety, displays of strength fell flat as investors looked at them as signs of weakness instead. Deutsche Banks announcement Friday to repurchase a subordinated bond came on the very first day that the lender had the right to announce it. But instead of shoring up confidence, its credit default swaps jumped. The bank recently emerged from a four-year turnaround plan that included thousands of job cuts and an exit from large parts of the investment bank. CEO Christian Sewing, who took over in 2018, even explored a deal with German rival Commerzbank in 2019 at the urging of the government, before deciding against it. Investors were concerned about its exposure to US commercial real estate and its large derivatives book, according to Stuart Graham, an analyst at Autonomous Research. Yet both are well known and just not very scary, he added in a note. We have no concerns about Deutsches viability or asset marks, Graham wrote. To be crystal clear - Deutsche is NOT the next Credit Suisse.
World leaders will gather virtually this week for the second U.S.-organized Summit for Democracy, an event critics say illustrates the halting progress the Biden administration has made in advancing human rights and democracy as a focus of its foreign policy. Starting Wednesday, the event involves 120 countries, civil society groups and technology companies and will include strategically important nations where rights groups have expressed concerns about the state of democracy, such as India, Poland and Israel. Rights advocates have praised the administration for putting a spotlight on democracy, but say there is little evidence the countries joining the summit have made progress on improving their democracies, and that there is no formal mechanism to hold participants to the modest commitments made at the first meeting. The administration has also been reluctant to make the hard choices needed to show it is putting human rights at the heart of its foreign policy, experts said. I think this administration, like any other administration, has just found that that is too difficult, said Tess McEnery, who worked on human rights issues in the Biden administration until August 2022 and is now with the Project on Middle East Democracy. She added that because the U.S. is unable to drastically change the relationship with countries vital to its strategic interests like India, instead we have a summit. Dealing with dictators Crises like the war in Ukraine have only made Bidens goal of rallying democracies against autocratic rulers more difficult. Washington has accused Russia of committing atrocities in its invasion and rallied other countries to support Ukraine. But this has sometimes come at the expense of a firm line on democracy and rights elsewhere, including in Venezuela, where a U.S. delegation visited in March to try to convince its authoritarian government to pump more oil. The Biden administration has gone so far as to  negotiate with one dictator to counter another, showing willingness to set aside principles to address pressing problems, said Christopher Hernandez-Roy with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a briefing call ahead of the summit. U.S. officials reject criticism that they have pulled punches on human rights or democratic backsliding, but say they are aware of legitimate criticism directed at the administration over the issue. I will defend the fact that human rights comes up in every bilateral relationship we have, a senior Biden administration official said. Conceived initially as an in-person gathering, the first summit was held virtually due to COVID-19. The second summit was delayed by several months and will now also be mostly online. The virtual format adds to a sense that the summit has been de-prioritized, making it harder for participants to push bold reforms, said one civil society activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are involved in organizing the summit. This years summit will be co-hosted by the United States, Costa Rica, Zambia, the Netherlands and South Korea, an arrangement that U.S. officials say will encourage the countries to be more involved in the process.
Nairobi  Opposition leader Raila Odinga has dared the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome to arrest him after issuing a ban on the planned Monday protests.

Moments after the IG outlawed the protests and vowed to take action on anyone taking part in the demonstrations "regardless of your status", Raila came out saying he should start with him.

"I have you saying that you are going to arrest everyone. I am ready for you. Mr Koome, do not send officers, come face me yourself," Odinga said at a church service in which he also asked his supporters to turn up for the peaceful demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of the country.

Odinga has launched demonstrations since last week to force the government to tackle the high cost of living and protest the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him during the August 2022 polls won by President William Ruto.

During last Monday's protests, several businesses and properties were destroyed or looted in both cities that literally shut for the better part of the day.

The opposition Chief maintained that he will not relent in his quest to fight for justice and the rights of Kenyans.

"Those demonstrations are illegal and we will not allow them to take place," the IG said, "We are ready as security agencies. Every corner of this country is safe and secure."

But Odinga has said it is the "business of police officers to protect peaceful demonstrators."

"I am calling on Kenyans to turn out in large numbers for the peaceful demonstrations. Do not fear the police or the teargas," Odinga said and blamed the police for disrupting last Monday's "peaceful" demonstrations.

Similar protests turned violent in Nairobi and Kisumu last week when one person- a student at Maseno University was shot dead.

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Koome said the planned protests by Azimio coalition are illegal and police are under firm instructions to disperse them.

"We will not spare anyone," Koome said, "those demonstrations are illegal and I can assure you that we are not going to allow them to take place."

He said anyone found with stones and other weapons will be treated as a criminal.

"Let them try because we are ready for them," he said.

President Ruto has warned against the protests and instead told Odinga he will not engage him in talks, accusing him of destabilizing the country for his own selfish interests like he did in two former regimes that ended up accommodating him.

"Kenyans made their decision during the August 2022 polls, we are done with the polls and all that remains is prepare for development," he said, "we are not going to engage Raila because he knows he lost and we won."
A 28-year-old woman killed three children and three staff at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday before being shot dead by police, in the latest outburst of gun violence to shock the United States. Armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, the shooter entered the Christian Covenant School from a side door before opening fire, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron told a press conference. Officers were on the scene within about 15 minutes of receiving the first emergency call around 10:00 am (1500 GMT), engaging the shooter who returned fire before she was shot dead. The young woman, identified by police as a 28-year-old from Nashville, fired multiple shots as she advanced through the school, Aaron said. There was no initial indication of a motive for the shooting. "We now know that there are three students who were fatally wounded, as well as three adults inside the school," Aaron said, specifying that the adults were among the 40-50 staff at the school. "We are working to identify those victims, including the shooter." He said there were no other injuries. "All of the remaining students were able to be escorted out of the building with faculty and staff," Kendra Loney of the Nashville fire department said. "We were on scene to help them mitigate anyone from seeing exactly what else was going on," she said. "But we are sure that they heard the chaos that was surrounding this, so we do have mental health specialists and professionals that are at that reunification site for both the students and the families." The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian institution with a little more than 200 students in preschool to roughly age 12. School shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years, though female shooters are extremely rare. The White House called the latest school shooting "heartbreaking" and urged Republicans to back President Joe Biden's push for a ban on assault weapons commonly used in US mass shootings. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had been briefed on the "heartbreaking news of another shooting of innocents" and she asked what Republicans were waiting for to "step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban." Several elected officials in the state of Tennessee likewise took to social media to express their shock. "Devastated and heartbroken about the tragic news at Covenant School," tweeted Senator Bill Hagerty. "I'm grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their heroic actions." Senator Marsha Blackburn thanked first responders and offered "prayer for those affected." Legislation tackling gun violence has met with deadlock in Washington despite the public uproar over high-profile massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people, including 20 children were killed. Last year, a shooter in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 students and two teachers.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Sunday lawmakers will move forward with legislation to address national security worries about TikTok, alleging China's government had access to the short video app's user data. In the United States, there are growing calls to ban TikTok, owned by China-based company ByteDance, or to pass bipartisan legislation to give President Joe Biden's administration legal authority to seek a ban. Devices owned by the U.S. government were recently banned from having the app installed. "The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," McCarthy said on Twitter. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before a U.S. House Committee for about five hours on Thursday, and lawmakers from both parties grilled him about national security and other concerns involving the app, which has 150 million American users. In Thursday's hearing, the TikTok CEO was asked if of the app, has spied on Americans at Beijing's request. Chew answered, "No." Republican Representative Neal Dunn then referenced the company's disclosure in December that some China-based employees at ByteDance improperly accessed TikTok user data of two journalists and were no longer employed by the company. He repeated his question about whether ByteDance was spying. "I don't think that spying is the right way to describe it," Chew said. He went on to describe the reports as involving an "internal investigation" before being cut off. McCarthy, a Republican, said in a tweet on Sunday, "It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true  China has access to TikTok user data." The company says it has spent more than $1.5 billion on data security efforts under the name "Project Texas" which currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees and is contracted with Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) to store TikToks U.S. user data. Rather than appease lawmakers' concerns, Chew's appearance before Congress on Thursday "actually increased the likelihood that Congress will take some action," Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told ABC News on Sunday. Former U.S. President Donald Trump lost a series of court rulings in 2020 when he sought to ban TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a unit of Tencent. Many Democrats also have raised concerns although have not yet explicitly backed a U.S. ban.
Controversies have continued to trail the remarks.

Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a Nigerian politician and entrepreneur, spoke on Saturday, 25 March, in Awka during an event to mark Charles Soludo's one year in office as the Governor of Anambra State.

Below is a transcript of Mr Iwuanyanwu's remarks.

Ndigbo Ekelenu o o!

Ndigbo Ekelenu o o!!

Ehem, please, I will crave your indulgence to please permit me to sit down. Most of you, especially those who are older, they know that I have some injuries while serving our people. I can't stand for too long. Thank you very much.

I must express my profound thanksgiving and gratitude to my dear friend, Charles Soludo, who invited me to be chairman of this very special event. 365 days in office of Professor Charles Soludo.

Charles Soludo is a very proud son of Igboland given to Igbo people from Anambra State. Charles Soludo has done excellently in academics. His record in University of Nigeria is very clear. He has shown excellence in service to Ndigbo. He was the chairman, Planning and Strategy of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The first chairman, Planning and Strategy (of Ohanaeze Ndigbo) was Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu. Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu handed over to me. Then, I handed over to Prof. Soludo. That is a man who was the governor of the Central Bank (of Nigeria). And when he was governor of the Central Bank, I am sure our president, our Baba, our beloved (Olusegun) Obasanjo will tell better. We never had problems with currency. He did very well. And he made all of us very proud.

Let me tell you, Anambra people. When voted for him to be governor, there was jubilation, not only here in Anambra, but all over Igboland. Many years ago, he was in the PDP. Then, I was a member of the Board of Trustees. I was representing the South-east in the national caucus. The person who put me to be member of the Board of Trustees was President Obasanjo. He gave me that opportunity. I came and campaigned for him (Soludo) that time. But you know politics in Nigeria. And I told him God's time is the best. Eventually, when he won, I was very very happy. We are celebrating (his) 365 days in office, but Anambra people, I want to let you know that in a larger sense, this is a Thanksgiving Day for Anambra. Anambra people should be very proud and very grateful to God. God has blessed Anambra people. Anambra is the cradle of Igbo development in education, Igbo development in industry and in other areas.

You will recollect in 1857, when the white missionaries landed in River Niger, then they started from there and spread and Anambra State became the educational centre. Onitsha, for example, has produced more leaders in Nigeria because Onitsha had so many secondary schools at that time than any place in this country.

Awka here, in the Anglican Communion, my parents were Anglican Church missionaries, they were teachers. We regard Awka as a hallowed ground, because most of our parents studied at Saint Paul's or Saint Mark's College, Awka. So, Anambra has been a cradle of all the great things that happened to us over here. So, when you celebrate this, you have to be grateful to God.

And of course, God has blessed Anambra. You look at great leaders - Nnamdi Azikiwe, you look at my boss, Ikemba Ojukwu, who was my boss, and he loved me so much. I am glad the wife is here. You look at people like Alex Ekwueme, you look at people like many leaders all from Anambra State. So, Anambra is a place that is blessed.

And in industry, a man like Arthur Eze, he is a very rare person. He has a wonderful mind.

Arthur Eze struggled on his own to make wealth. He has distributed it to people. We are very proud of him. It is only here in Anambra. Arthur Eze is giving to people all over the country. There are so many things, I can't continue going one by one. He has given me the opportunity, too, to meet some of my friends. People like the Chairman of South-east Manufacturers Association (of Nigeria), that's Adaku Chukwudozie. She is here. And many people (like) the governor of Cross River, who love us so much.

But I want to take the liberty of this to thank our leader, Obasanjo. Obasanjo is one of the greatest leaders Nigeria has ever produced. I saw Obasanjo on the television in his alma mater running like a school boy, at the age of 82. He's getting to 90. And I gave thanks to God.

Obasanjo has come first in many things. He was the first person to hand over government to a civilian administration. And you remember that time, he didn't hand it over to somebody from his side. Obasanjo was the first person to come back and became a president. Obasanjo showed love to every part of this country. When the story is told and history is written, that period of Obasanjo's rule will be regarded as a golden era in the history of Nigeria.

My first contact with Obasanjo was in 1970 when we (Biafrans) surrendered (to Nigerian authorities during the Nigerian civil war). Obasanjo was the person who actually made the war to end peacefully. He is a man of history. God has destined him. Without people like Obasanjo and (Yakubu) Gowon, it would have been a different story because Biafra was not ready to surrender, the war would have continued. We were not ready to surrender even if they were bringing the whole weapons all over the world because we were convinced we were not well treated. This is a very great man.

And recently, I want to tell you, Your Excellency, your position on national issues, we appreciate it. We in Ohanaeze, we appreciate it. I am speaking to you as the chairman of the Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. We appreciate you and we support you and we are very proud of you.

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Now, I saw the traders' association coming here from Lagos. I want to let our people in Lagos to know that on Wednesday, I called a meeting of Ohanaeze Council of Elders World Wide and we x-rayed the events in Lagos. And I want to tell you that people attended the branches in America, in Canada, Europe, in London and Nigeria, we have resolved and I want those from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos. We have resolved that never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any innocent person. All of us are going to fight the person. We are going to fight the person. Never again.

We are in Nigeria and we have invested in Nigeria. Our investments are so much. We are not going to take the question of people telling us to go. We are not going anywhere. And I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and Yorubas. The Yorubas are... they are just political rascals and we are going to handle them. The elders have directed the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, (Okey) Emuchay, to set up the commission of enquiry to find out things destroyed. People are going to pay.

Meanwhile, I want to say, I thank you for this opportunity. I am very grateful and I want you to give Soludo support. Give him support so that he will continue to concentrate on his job and do more.

Thank you very much.
March 27, 2023

Polish Nukes

I was busy today but had a good laugh over this entity of the "When 'we' do it" versus "When 'they' do it" collection.

Poland suggests hosting US nuclear weapons amid growing fears of Putins threats - Oct 5, 2022 - Guardian

Poland: Nuclear arms in Belarus are further threat to European peace - Mar 26, 2023 - Anews

The Poles are (again) allowing the Anglo-Saxons to push them into rabbit rabid hostility against Russia and Germany. Not that there is much pushing needed but still.

That won't end well.

Posted by b on March 27, 2023 at 17:47 UTC | Permalink

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Editor's Note: The following was written prior to the Midland ISD school board meeting which took place Monday evening.

--

Midland ISD board of trustees members must vote Monday night to allow Third Future School to take over Lamar Elementary.

They really have no other choice.

Sad. This school in southwest Midland has been a failing campus through the tenures of three (maybe four) different superintendents and different MISD board makeups. It is like the former Crockett Elementary, Travis Elementary and Houston Collegiate Prep, which were allowed to fail for so long that Midland ISD had no good options.

In the case of Crockett Elementary (now Gen. Franks Elementary), Midland ISD board members had to close it down, send the students elsewhere and find new leadership to avoid a Texas Education Agency takeover.

In the cases of Travis and Houston, legislative action allowed Midland ISD to partner with charter operators to create in-district charter options to avoid a school closure or a TEA takeover.

Again, Midland ISD leaders had no alternative.

Providing cover to a Midland ISD board  that frankly doesnt deserve it when it comes to its management of long-term failing schools  isnt the purpose of this article. Our community has other problems including the way administration provided basically no notice to a community about a basically life-changing decision board members will make on Monday.

Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, the district sent out a press release  a statement really  about the proposal to change Lamar Elementary. It was the classic take out the trash announcement. Pulling the curtain back a little for our readers, the idea of take out the trash happens when an entity buries important news on Friday because it knows that doesnt provide much time for the media or people to ask questions. Entities know their personnel will be out of the office when calls happen and know traditional media isnt looked at Friday night and through the weekend. By Monday, it is too late. It is meeting day. What Midland ISD did was classic take out the trash  no other way to describe it.

With Midland ISD looking for a public information officer, heres friendly advice on how this situation should have been handled. A more transparent way would have been to call a public meeting at Lamar (inviting the media) about what was going to take place with the campus. Members of the administration, board and Third Future would have been there to answer questions ahead of any Midland ISD board vote. Then provide a question-and-answer for public in the paper ahead of the Weekend Edition about transitions like this. Include in that article, facts, figures and answer any misconceptions about these situations. Lastly in the Weekend Edition, the board president  an elected official -- would make the case why this step is needed. If the district had done that, there couldnt have been any discussion about transparency and the community would have been more educated. Win-win.

As it looks now, Midlanders rightfully feel their Midland ISD board and its administration are trying to avoid telling the community bad news. We have to do better, Midland ISD. I agree with District 5 board member Brandon Hodges, who on more than one occasion, has told me that Midland ISD errs over and over by not trusting the Midland community to understand its districts difficulties. He has said if Midland ISD is up front on topics like academic achievement and discipline, a community more likely to would back its district, its schools, its students and its leaders. Hes right.

But right now, leadership appears to be more concerned about its image. Maybe it is because of the bond election coming in November. However, that would be a mistake. Right now, Midland ISD is riding a wave of approval not seen in years because of the hire of its superintendent. However, lets be clear about one thing. The district has taken actions to be less transparent with the community. If we continue on this path, it creates a scenario that Midland ISD will snatch bond defeat from the jaws of electoral victory. A bond should have won in 2019 but lost because of central office miscues, not an overly flawed plan, not a three high school format. Current MISD leadership might want to remember that.

Lastly  and even more importantly  lets not forget this fact. Midland ISD appears to be 0-for-4 when it comes to turning around long-term failing schools. And it is very discouraging that Midlands school district is not capable of turning around a long-term failing campus. We have become too comfortable in having someone else do our heavy lifting, and that has to change. It doesnt matter that an agreement calls for Lamar to be turned back over to Midland ISD after three years. We need our board to say to administration that enough is enough, Midland ISD is capable of such a turnaround, and we need to hear our superintendent say, This is will not happen again.

Even with an improved report card, this district has serious academic achievement issues. We farm out our greatest academic issues to companies like IDEA Public Schools and Third Future Schools. We have seen schools connected with other entities like IDEA, Third Future, Midland College and Young Womens Preparatory Network are the entities responsible for some of the greatest achievements in the district. We watched our distract cease operations of its one district-operated STEM academy and turn over the land when it was politically expedient to a charter operator.

Here's another truth. For all the bond talk coming from central office, there isnt a bond proposal that would have changed the fate of the students of Lamar Elementary. Maybe most disappointingly, a student starting in kindergarten when Lamars first failing rating  according to Reporter-Telegram records -- took place around 2015 or 2016 is now in the seventh or eighth grade (it appears in 2019 Lamar was a D campus). That student will go into high school without knowing a year Lamar didnt live up to any reasonable expectations for academic success.

Hopefully that changes Monday night.
opinion

The earthly work of a lot of Christians will be burnt off on the day of judgement because most of what they did on earth were rooted in the love of money.

You have been deceived by those who tell you that because of your personal needs, everything you do for God and for others must be paid for.... I am not saying that we must not be paid for our professional services within an occupational context. I am speaking about the gospel here; the preaching of the gospel. We have reduced the gospel to a caricature. According to Leonard Ravenhill, "for the early Apostles, it is after they have "PRAYED" that places are shaken. For our generation, it is after we have "PAID" that places are taken".

Nothing robs the church of power and influence like the love of money.

Financial challenge or family need is not a justification for monetising the gospel. There are many things to do to legally earn income to take care of your needs without burdening the body of Christ. I must not be expensive for God to afford! You really don't have any idea of how much some of us suffered while growing up in Christ. Those were days we would stay inside mosquito infested places to pray all night. There was no social media. No mobile phone. No money. There was no job to do.

"How did my generation serve God without monetising our efforts, despite our problems? We were madly in love with God! And God blessed us so much. There is not one single friend of mine with whom we served God in the 80s and 90s so sacrificially who is not a high flier today. God is ever faithful. Sadly, you can hardly find anyone to do anything again for free". It is a completely monetised Christian generation!

Due to lack of funds, I would sometimes walk kilometres to keep a praise and worship appointment as a keyboardist/bass guitar player, and I would be the first to arrive there, to set up and clean up the place. We were fighting to serve God. In the midst of intense financial crises, we were burning with zeal for God. And the hand of the Lord came upon us. God began to bless the works of our hands. We were getting international scholarships. We were passing our examinations in flying colours. Today, some of the people we did all of these together are now Vice Presidents and Directors of global corporations. Some are world class researchers. Some are pioneering great ministries, winning souls for Christ. I meet with some of them in Europe and America, and sometimes I feel like crying when I see how God has blessed and rewarded them for their years of faithful service. Some are in Africa, and are breaking so much grounds for God. Please note: I do not mean to say that faithfulness to God will automatically turn you into a billionaire or to a rich man, but you will be blessed. You will and can never end up as a failure in life. God will take care of you! Take this to the bank.

How much money will anyone pay me in the 1980s and 1990s for serving God, compared with what God has done for me and through me today? Let us go back to true stewardship. Let us lay a new foundation of faithfulness and commitment for the coming generation. No cultural changes or societal pressure can invalidate the scriptures, "a faithful man will always abound with blessings" (Proverbs 28:20), whether that faithful man is a pastor or an engineer or a nurse.

But this generation has been deceived. You have been deceived by those who tell you that because of your personal needs, everything you do for God and for others must be paid for. Note the key words, "everything" and "anything". I am not saying that we must not be paid for our professional services within an occupational context. I am speaking about the gospel here; the preaching of the gospel. We have reduced the gospel to a caricature. According to Leonard Ravenhill, "for the early Apostles, it is after they have "PRAYED" that places are shaken. For our generation, it is after we have "PAID" that places are taken". Consequently, each generation continues to hand over the baton of monetised gospel to the next, effectively killing the passion for genuine and heart-felt service to God and humanity, from generation to generation.

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How much money will anyone pay me in the 1980s and 1990s for serving God, compared with what God has done for me and through me today? Let us go back to true stewardship. Let us lay a new foundation of faithfulness and commitment for the coming generation. No cultural changes or societal pressure can invalidate the scriptures, "a faithful man will always abound with blessings" (Proverbs 28:20), whether that faithful man is a pastor or an engineer or a nurse. Your calling in life is immaterial. You will be blessed if you are faithful, not if you are transactional. The earthly work of a lot of Christians will be burnt off on the day of judgement because most of what they did on earth were rooted in the love of money. May your work on earth not be wasted in eternity.

Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist, and minister of the word, writes from Canada
Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff, right, stands outside of the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Courthouse after speaking on the stand during the Theranos trial, in San Jose, California, Oct. 6, 2021.
Nairobi  Opposition leader Raila Odinga has refuted claims by President William Ruto that he plans to cause anarchy in the country through anti-government protests.

Odinga said Sunday during a church service in Embakasi that, his main objective is to ensure that the rights of Kenyans are upheld under the Ruto administration.

"We don't want to bring anarchy to our country, but we are fighting for our rights and we have a right to tell Kenyans the truth, The Bible says say the truth and the truth shall set you free," Odinga said even as he vowed to lead more protests in Nairobi and other parts of the country Monday.

Odinga dismissed Ruto's accusations as an attempt to divert attention from the challenges facing ordinary Kenyans, including the high cost of living.

Odinga has launched demonstrations since last week on Monday to force the government to tackle the high cost of living and protest the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him during the August 2022 polls won by President William Ruto.

Police chief Japheth Koome has outlawed similar protests set for Monday and Thursday and threatened to arrest anyone involved.

"Those demonstrations are illegal and we will not allow them to take place," the IG said, "We are ready as security agencies. Every corner of this country is safe and secure."

But Odinga has said it is the "business of police officers to protect peaceful demonstrators."

"I am calling on Kenyans to turn out in large numbers for the peaceful demonstrations. Do not fear the police or the teargas," Odinga said and blamed the police for disrupting last Monday's "peaceful" demonstrations.

He also dared the police to arrest him.

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Last week, President Ruto reiterated that he will not engage "anarchists" but he is ready for talks with leaders keen on national development.

The Head of State told off the opposition leader whom he accused of seeking to hold the country at ransom for his own political interests.

"You will not threaten us with ultimatums, chaos and violence. We will be rewarding impunity if we were to succumb to ultimatums and chaos. We will not," he asserted.

President Ruto stated that Odinga had no genuine reasons to call for demonstrations.

He said the Azimio leader was only seeking for a political deal with the current administration through chaos and mayhem.

"Raila Odinga has no reason whatsoever to terrorize the country with chaos, demonstrations and violence. He has absolutely no reason. I have tried to listen to him he has none," said President Ruto.
Members of the police work, after two migrants suffocated to death aboard a freight train that got derailed, in Uvalde, Texas, March 24, 2023, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.
ROME (AP)  The Florence museum housing Michelangelos Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honor her. Confusing art with pornography was ridiculous, Nardella said.

The board of the Tallahassee Classical School pressured Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of the David was shown to a sixth-grade art class. The school has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance about controversial topics being taught.

The incredulous Italian response highlighted how the U.S. culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy. Sunday's front page of the Italian daily publication Corriere della Sera featured a cartoon by its leading satirist depicting David with his genitals covered by an image of Uncle Sam and the word Shame.

Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a 5-meter tall (17 foot) nude marble sculpture dating from 1504. The work, reflecting the height of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.

Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they werent notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.

Carrasquilla said in a phone interview Sunday that she is very honored by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.

I am totally, like, wow, Carasquilla said. I've been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia, where the David resides, expressed astonishment at the controversy.

"To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, Hollberg said in a telephone interview.

She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the purity of the statue.

Tallahassee Classical is a charter school. While it is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, it operates almost entirely independently of the local school district and is sought out by parents seeking an alternative to the public school curriculum.

About 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the three-year-old institution, which is now on its third principal. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan frequently consulted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on educational issues.

Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classical's school board, has told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Carrasquillas ouster, it wasnt the only factor. He has declined to elaborate, while defending the decision.

"Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture, Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.

Several parents and teachers plan to protest Carrasquilla's exit at Monday night's school board meeting, but Carrasquilla said she isn't sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.

There's been such controversy and such upheaval, she said. I would really have to consider, Is this truly what is best?

Marla Stone, head of humanities studies at the American Academy in Rome, said the Florida incident was another episode in escalating U.S. culture wars and questioned how the statue could be considered so controversial as to warrant a prior warning.

What we have here is a moral crusade against the body, sexuality, and gender expression and an ignorance of history, Stone said in an email. The incident is about fear, fear of beauty, of difference, and of the possibilities embedded in art.

Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted the David between 1501-1504 after being commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence. The statue is the showpiece of the Accademia, and helps draw 1.7 million visitors each year to the museum.

"It is incredibly sought-after by Americans who want to do selfies and enjoy the beauty of this statue, Director Hollberg said.

The museum, like many in Europe, is free for student groups. There was no indication that any trip would be subsidized by the city or museum. ___

Spencer reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
A Mount Sterling man trained as a Navy rescue swimmer has been arrested on an attempted murder charge after a Florida condominium security guard said the man tried to drown him in a swimming pool.

Seth Beavers, 33, of Mount Sterling was being held without bail Monday in Okaloosa County Jail in Crestview, Florida.

Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office deputies were called to Waterscape Condominiums on Okaloosa Island, near Fort Walton Beach, around 10:15 p.m. Friday, according to the sheriffs office.

A Waterscape security guard told deputies he found Beavers at the condominium pool after hours and asked him to leave. Instead of complying, the guard told deputies, Beavers started a physical altercation and threatened to drown him.

The guard, who told deputies he cannot swim, said Beavers rolled him into the pool against his will, hit him in the head, pushed him under water and held him there.

"The defendant stated the victim swung at him, at which time the defendant 'rolled him up,' 'triangled' him (a type of choke hold consistent with mixed martial arts fighting), rolled the victim into the pool, held him underwater and struck him four times," the Northwest Florida Daily News reported, citing the arrest report.

When the guard briefly got away and tried to get out of the pool, Beavers hit him again, put him in a chokehold and dragged him back under the water, the guard told deputies.

"The defendant is a prior Navy rescue swimmer, where he received specialized and extensive training to immobilize uncooperative subjects while in the water," according to the arrest report.

The guard told authorities "he feared he was going to die during the encounter," according to the sheriff's office.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court seemed inclined Monday to rule against a man convicted of violating immigration law for offering adult adoptions he falsely claimed would lead to citizenship.

Attorneys for Helaman Hansen told the justices during approximately 90 minutes of arguments that the law he was convicted of violating was too broad. But the court's conservative majority in particular seemed willing to side with the government and conclude that it is not.

Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that the law has been on the books for 70 years without some of the issues Hansen's lawyers worried about. He also expressed no sympathy for Hansen himself, who he said was taking advantage of very vulnerable people.

He had every intent in the world to keep these people here to take their money with no prospect they'd ever actually get citizenship, Gorsuch said.

The case involves a section of federal immigration law that says a person such as Hansen who encourages or induces a non-citizen to come to or remain in the United States illegally can be punished by up to five years in prison. Thats increased to up to 10 years if the person doing the encouraging is doing so for their own financial gain.

The federal government says that from 2012 to 2016 Hansen  who lived in Elk Grove, California, near Sacramento  deceived hundreds of non-citizens into believing that he could guarantee them a path to citizenship through adult adoption.

Based on Hansen's promises, officials say, people either came to or stayed in the United States in violation of the law, even though Hansen knew that the adult adoptions he was arranging would not lead to citizenship. The government says at least 471 people paid him between $550 and $10,000 and that in total he collected more than $1.8 million.

Hansen was ultimately convicted of encouragement charges as well as fraud charges. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the encouragement charges and another 20 years on the fraud charges. But a federal appeals court ruled that the law on encouragement is overbroad and violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment and overturned just those convictions.

The court's three liberal justices seemed more concerned about the reach of the law. Justice Elena Kagan asked what happens to all the cases where a lawyer, doctor, neighbor, friend or teacher says to a non-citizen: I really think you should stay. Kagan wanted to know whether those people could or would be prosecuted under the law.

But Brian Fletcher, arguing for the Biden administration, pointed to the history of the government's use of the law over decades and said those aren't the kinds of cases the government pursues. Kagan seemed to credit that explanation later in the argument.

A ruling in the case, United States v. Helaman Hansen, 22-179, is expected by the end of June.
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from an explosion and fire at a chocolate factory in West Reading, the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, had risen to seven, authorities said on Sunday.

"All seven presumptive missing have been found," West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said in a statement issued on Sunday night.

None of the victims will be named until authorities are certain that their families have been contacted, said Kaag.

The explosion took place at the R.M. Palmer Company, which makes chocolate, on Friday afternoon. Ten people were sent to the hospital.

Kaag said that there will be three buildings condemned around the site out of precaution as the investigation continues. 
Nigeria-born Manchester-based artist, Suraj Adekola, is one of the artists of African and Afro-descents whose works are on display at an ongoing exhibition titled "Black Beauty, Pride, and Excellence: A Tale of Reappropriation", at the London Business School, United Kingdom.

Organized by the Black in Business Club in partnership with Pavillon54, a digital platform and community for modern and contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Pavillon54 is an online gallery that focuses on Black African art, to celebrate Black Beauty and Excellence.

The exhibition highlights the works of some gifted contemporary artists who are reclaiming the narrative and expressing their perspectives on what it means to be Black. The exhibition, which runs from the 16th of March to the 2nd of April, is showcasing several exquisite pieces from the exhibitors.

Adekola has adopted a distinct style and vision to promote Black beauty. His works which depict figures and face on a free-hanging traditional material are some of the exhibition's centerpieces that celebrate Black culture, greatness, and beauty.

Suraj's work centers on issues of black identity, migration, diversity, and inclusiveness. He uses a range of media such as painting, installation, and drawings. His works on display are powerful and evocative. For instance, one of his works titled 'We Will Never Forget You', contains an elaborate and bold use of traditional material - Adire (tie/dye) fabric, and striking imagery that challenge traditional notions of blackness and celebrate the beauty and strength of black people. This piece explores the forgotten gallantry of Black soldiers during World War 1 and 2. It depicts the enormous contributions of black soldiers, known as 'soldiers in red jackets'- the "sable arm" to the British Empire across the Atlantic Ocean.

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Another of Adekola's works on display, "Because She is Black, He Fell Unconscious," focuses on the beauty of Blacks and Pan-Africanism. The use of Adire fabric glued to the canvas and the blackness of the gestural-figurative drawing with black oil sticks is a metaphor depicting the beauty of Blacks.

In this series, Suraj's interest is in bringing to light the various ways in which Black people dominate the social space. According to him, the inspiration behind this series comes from the phrase -- "He fell unconscious" --from literature (Migration, Culture, and Identity: making a home away). A paragraph in the book described the story of a young man who falls unconscious each time he beheld the overwhelming beauty of his sweetheart. Suraj claims that such is the beauty absorbed by the black body.

Adekola's bold vision and artistic skills as displayed at the exhibition are already garnering critical acclaim from art lovers and critics alike. Visitors to the exhibition can expect to be moved and inspired by the pieces on display, which offer a fresh and compelling perspective on black identity and culture.

Black Beauty, Pride and Excellence: A Tale of Reappropriation" is a must-see exhibition for anyone interested in contemporary art, black culture, and the power of artistic expression. Suraj's work is a testament to the enduring strength and beauty of black people - a celebration of blackness in all its forms.
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Several years ago, a womens working group at the Bar Association invited me to speak to their members about being a conservative woman in the legal profession.

When word got out that I was the guest, an online mutiny broke out among lady lawyers who were triggered by the idea that any female could be pro-life.

That seemed to be the crux of the problem, even though the Trump thing played into it as well. Thought to their credit, the Bar Association actually had the guts to let me speak.

It was an interesting discussion, and there was indeed a great deal of hostility. One women in particular kept harrumphing about my conservative views, and I simply said she needed to move out of her liberal bubble and realize there were a lot of women who didnt idolize the notorious RBG.

It is rare that people want to hear more than one side of any issue.

That came into focus with special irony this month at Stanford Law School. The Federalist chapter had invited Judge Kyle Duncan of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to discuss cryptocurrency and gun regulations.

The Federalist Society is a conservative organization, so its not exactly surprising it would have invited a Trump-appointed judge to come and speak at the school.

But even before Duncan had an opportunity to open his mouth, protests broke out from law students who have no concept of free speech, freedom of assembly and common courtesy.

I hope that a list of their names can be circulated among the most prestigious law firms in the nation, because one would hope that these legal knuckle-draggers would never be hired at a respected institution. They are only fit for those places that advertise on the back of buses, and giant billboards on the interstate.

I digress.

Judge Duncan was subjected to jeers, to whining, to screeches and posters that made sexually explicit suggestions. And that was just the student body.

The administrators did little to nothing to stop the mob from shutting down the conversation, leaving the judge to defend himself. He did an admirable job.

Its rare that a speaker who is under assault from a group of foaming-at-the-mouth radicals is able to give as well as he gets.

In this case, the judge reminded the students where they were and what they were studying, and essentially exposed them to being mediocre thinkers with bottom-of-the-barrel reasoning skills.

Of course, they wouldnt admit it. But the rest of the world saw it as the video of the event went viral online, and Stanford was covered in shame.

Thats not to say that the media was overly critical of students.

Apparently, being right of center now makes you a domestic terrorist to the sterling minds at Stanford and their allies in the media.

A recent asylum client, a journalist from Pakistan, told me about how the Taliban tried to censor him. First, they asked him to tell their stories. When he refused, they sent letters threatening him.

When that didnt work, they destroyed his workplace. And when he continued to defy them, they murdered his colleague.

Were not at that point yet, where words that upset us are the justification for murder. But those Stanford lawyers need to brush up on the concept of free speech.

Threats can come in many forms, even from kids who did well on their LSATs.
HeyTutor has studied the changes in public school funding over the past decade, using data from the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of School System Finances.
Abuja and Lagos  As the federal government prepares to completely deregulate the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry in the coming months, stakeholders in the sector have told Nigerians to be ready to pay as much as N750 per litre of petrol at filling stations. This was the highpoint of stakeholders' interventions during an online workshop, with the theme, "Deregulation of the Nigerian Downstream Sector: The Day After."

The workshop was organised by industry stakeholders, in collaboration with the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA).

The downstream players, in conjunction with economic policy analysts and relevant government agencies, also outlined strategies and measures that should be deployed to ensure sustainable removal of petrol subsidy.

It emerged, yesterday, also, that Nigeria was struggling to find buyers for its crude oil, as strikes in the French refining sector and seasonal maintenance at plants elsewhere in Europe cut into the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) producer's sales.

In another development, former Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Henry Babalola (rtd), called on the federal government to prosecute persons involved in oil theft for treason. Babalola expressed disappointment with the government's poor handling of the oil theft issue. He said government was not doing enough to eradicate the menace destroying the country's revenue base.

The federal government, through the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, recently hinted that it would end the wasteful petrol subsidy regime before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure on May 29, 2023.

But, in their separate interventions during the online workshop, stakeholders emphasised the need for the government to address the challenges facing the sector.

Participants at the workshop included representatives of the ARDA, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

Others were NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Petroleum Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and CITAC Africa, among others.

Speaking at the session, National President of IPMAN, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, who was represented by IPMAN's National Operations Controller, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, revealed that the marketers were in full support of the government's plan to embark on full deregulation of the downstream sector.

Okoronkwo warned Nigerians to prepare to pay up to N750 for every litre of petrol after the full implementation of the subsidy removal. He however, pointed out that the projected pump price was likely to drop to around N500 if the government encouraged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide foreign exchange for marketers at the official rate.

Okoronkwo also urged the government to channel expected savings from subsidy removal to provision of palliatives for the masses. He advised the government to be alert and sensitive to resentment from Nigerians.

The industry stakeholders at the workshop called on the government to implement appropriate palliatives in the form of public transportation and freight of agricultural produce, ensure transparent and effective communication, and improve access to foreign exchange. They also urged the government to address issues around trade finance, guarantee strategic stock, and provide access to crude oil for refineries ahead of the plan to embark on the total removal of petrol subsidy.

They stressed the need for operators in the industry to institutionalise professionalism in the midstream and downstream petroleum sectors ahead of the take-off of full deregulation.

In his goodwill message, Chief Executive Officer, NMDPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, told industry players that the authority would allow a free market-pricing regime to prevail in the petroleum marketing business in the country once the sector was fully deregulated.

National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Lawal Yusuf Othman, stated that the full deregulation of the downstream sector and complete removal of petrol subsidy would introduce a mix of opportunities and challenges into the operating environment.

In his presentation, Managing Director, CITAC Africa, Mr. Gary Still, explained that market liberalisation meant the removal of government subsidies and price controls on petroleum products and allowing market forces to determine the price and supply of petroleum products.

Still advised the Nigerian government to completely deregulate the downstream oil sector and free the market from the existing price fixing and control to allow investments to flow into the sector.

Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PwC, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, charged the government and the regulators to identify potential pitfalls that could trigger resentment from citizens before, during, and after the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Oyedele said deliberate public sensitisation, industry engagement, and collaboration with civil society organisations were needed to aid public buy-in during the implementation of full deregulation by the government. He added that in the course of implementation of the policies, the government's interpretation of its strategy must be issues-based and not confrontational.

Technical Consultant to the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Mrs. Morayo Adisa, in her presentation, emphasised the need for the industry regulator to establish quality and safety standards for petroleum products, including fuel quality standards, safety regulations for storage and transportation, and environmental regulations.

Chairman of MOMAN and Managing Director of Ardova Plc, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, stressed that the virtual workshop was aimed at addressing key challenges and outlining strategies to ensure a sustainable future for the petroleum downstream sector. Adeosun added that safeguarding consumer interest in a deregulated environment was also underscored.

The workshop offered the industry regulator and all players across the midstream and downstream value chain the opportunity to deliberate on measures that needed to be put in place ahead of the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

The workshop provided data-driven insights into the sector's growth potential, as stakeholders emphasised the need for continuous industry engagement, collaboration, and public sensitisation to aid public buy-in on new policies by the government.

It emphasised the importance of connecting to regional markets, positioning Nigeria as the regional refining hub, and fostering relationships with international service providers, including rating agencies, finance and governance institutions, and aligning with the goals of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP).

Ultimately, the collaborative workshop provided a platform for stakeholders to share knowledge and develop strategies to ensure the Nigerian Petroleum Downstream Industry remained a strong, competitive force, while transitioning to a more sustainable future.

25 Nigerian Crude Shipments Struggle to Find Buyers in Europe as French Strike Continues

Nigeria is struggling to find buyers for its crude oil as strikes in the French refining sector and seasonal maintenance at plants in Europe cut into the OPEC producer's sales.

Between 20 and 25 shipments of Nigerian crude for April loading were still searching for buyers, according to four traders specialising in the West African market. That was a much weaker position than normal for this time of the month -- when trade should be moving on to May's barrels -- and the prices the shipments could fetch were dropping, they said. Each cargo was about a million barrels of crude, Bloomberg reported.

Typically, one of Nigeria's biggest buyers, France, took an average of 110,000 barrels a day of Nigeria's oil over the past year, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by the medium.

But that demand shrivelled this month, with France's overall crude imports dropping by half in March as the nationwide dispute over pension reforms escalated, according to Wood MacKenzie.

Well over 80 per cent of France's 1.1 million-barrels-a-day processing capacity is halted or in the process of shutting down because of the industrial action, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

In addition to the impact of the strikes, other plants in Europe are also buying less crude because of seasonal maintenance, according to the traders.

Capacity is offline at some typical destinations for Nigerian crude, such as Spain's San Roque refinery and Italy's Sarroch plant, Bloomberg said. Facilities that have halted capacity for work also include Shell's Pernis refinery near Rotterdam, Europe's biggest plant.

"The Nigerian backlog is a combination of higher freight costs, lower tanker availability -- specifically into Europe -- as well as lower overall demand for West Africa light sweet as crude from other regions is deluging markets," said Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler.

Northwest Europe's reduced buying matters for West Africa because alternative outlets are limited, traders said.

Mediterranean refiners can choose to skip Nigerian supply in favour of cheap North African barrels that ship more quickly to the region, or they can process some of the large volumes of US West Texas Intermediate crude that have been arriving in Europe in recent months, the report said.

Long-haul buyers, like Indian Oil and Indonesia's Pertamina, have been taking more discounted Russian volumes this year, easing their need for Nigerian supply. China's UNIPEC favours processing oil from Angola, where only around five April shipments are still available, the traders said.

Another driver of the unsold glut has been Nigeria's revival of crude production that was shuttered in recent months by theft and technical issues, such as the nation's Bonny Light stream.

Nigerian export capacity may now exceed what the market needs in April and May, according to Katona, as more oil tankers have diverted away from France and strikes disrupt the country's petroleum industry.

Crude oil carriers, Primero and Elisabeth Maersk, had both been anchored off Le Havre until Wednesday, before changing their destination to Rotterdam, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That was on top of several refined fuel carriers that moved away from the French port recently to go elsewhere.

The effects of French strikes to protest against pension reform are rippling across global oil markets. The nation is estimated to see a hit of about 500,000 barrels a day to the amount of crude that gets turned into fuels in March.

France released strategic stockpiles of oil products this month to avoid fuel shortages as the strikes blocked fuel movements from many local refineries.

French transport networks, oil refineries and schools have been hit by widespread disruption, as workers staged a national strike to protest an increase in the retirement age that was pushed through parliament without a vote.

Sporadic demonstrations had popped up in Paris and other cities after the French government forced the bill through last week, being the ninth day of strikes since the bill was introduced in January.

Only two out of 14 metro lines in Paris now operate a normal service even as the nationwide strike has also affected air traffic, with 30 per cent of flights impacted at Paris Orly airport.

Unionised workers blockaded a major oil refinery in Normandy and another one in Fos-sur-Mer in the south of France, according to a government spokesperson.

"We are intervening in a targeted manner to unblock oil storage tanks that are blocked by demonstrators," the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacherin, said in a statement.

"If the strike is a fundamental constitutional right, blockading is not one... The police is mobilised in difficult conditions and has my full support," the statement said.

The government's plan to raise the retirement age for most workers by two years was opposed by huge numbers of people. But despite protests that drew more than a million people onto streets across the country, President Emmanuel Macron's government did not back down.

It rammed the legislation through the French National Assembly last week using a constitutional clause that allows the government to bypass a vote.

The country's generous pension system and early retirement have been a point of pride since they were enacted after World War II. Under the new law, the retirement age for most workers will be 64, still one of the lowest in the industrialised world.

The 25 million barrels of crude oil, which are seeking buyers in Europe, are more than half of the country's production that was roughly 40 million barrels in February.

Try Oil Thieves for Treason, Ex-Naval Policy Chief Urges FG

Babalola called on the federal government to try criminals involved in oil theft for treason.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN), with the theme, "Achieving Presidential Mandate in Curbing Oil Theft and Securing the Nation's Wealth," in Abuja, Babalola recommended that those caught stealing the country's crude should be charged with treason. He called on the government to identify the supply chain of oil theft and the individuals involved, and bring the culprits to justice.

He said, "It is high time the government treated the menace with urgency. Oil theft will destroy the nation's economy should the government fail to act fast."

In his remarks, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the order given by President Muhammadu Buhari on the eradication of oil theft was yielding result.

Sylva stated, "Before that directive, oil production went down to 900, 000 barrels per day, but today it is gradually picking up and oscillating between 1.5 million and 1.6 million barrels per day."

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Represented by his aide, Horatius Egua, Sylva said the problems confronting the oil and gas industry were caused by years of neglect by past administrations.

He said, "The oil and gas industry is the most complex sector in this country. That is why some allege that in the sector, the more you look, the less you see. However, in the last 12 months, the order by the president to end oil theft in the country is beginning to yield results.

"Apart from stealing, past governments did not invest in infrastructure in the oil and gas sector for a very long time. You find pipelines rupturing.

"We could not get what we wanted, but this administration has done much to restore infrastructure.

"The president directed that the refineries must work and as it is presently, the Port Harcourt refinery is at 65-70 per cent. Hopefully, before the end of the second quarter of the year, I believe something will come out of that refinery."

In his remarks, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, disclosed that the country's effort to achieve the presidential mandate handed to the ministry was successful due to the adaptation of synergy among the tri-services, especially in planning, coordination, and implementation of actionable programmes and projects.

Kana, who was represented by Director, Army, in the ministry, Mr. Sunday Attah, said, "No doubt, the Nigerian Armed Forces and agencies of the ministry now enjoy wider public support and understanding, which have resulted in positive attitudinal change among Nigerians.

"Nigerians are now very familiar with the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in securing the country and guaranteeing the safety of Nigerians against banditry, kidnapping and terrorism."

The permanent secretary commended Buhari for the special attention accorded the ministry in providing for the needs of the armed forces of Nigeria, promptly, and the guidance in the discharge of "our constitutional responsibilities."

He stated, "Mr. President has ensured that the tri-services are rebranded with modern equipment as well as military and civilian personnel are being trained and retrained regularly, to enhance proficiency and efficiency in service delivery.

"Wellbeing and welfare of personnel by the federal government have continued to provide ideal accommodation for the comfort of soldiers and their families."

Kana stated that recently, the ministry commenced the upgrading of primary and secondary schools, in addition to ensuring security and safety of teachers, pupils and the school environment.

He said, "On this matter of oil theft before us as a nation, I call on all hands to be on deck, especially the media, in the fight against this deadly menace.

"It is necessary to remind you that the expectations of Nigerians on the media is high and as such, you must live up to that expectation. Every story must be accurate, verifiable, credible and, most importantly, be relayed with high sense of patriotism and professionalism."

At the event, Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, was represented by Chief of Training and Operations at Defence Headquarters, Major General Solomon Udounwa.

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, was represented by Director of Operations, Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral OK Oluwagbire,.

In attendance also were Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami, and Director, Naval Information, Commodore Ayo-Vaughan.
Tokyo demands China free Japan national detained in Beijing View Photo

TOKYO (AP)  Tokyo has demanded that China release a Japanese national who was detained in Beijing earlier this month on suspicion of spying, Japans top government spokesperson said Monday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference that Japans Embassy in China was informed by Chinese authorities that a Japanese man in his 50s was taken into custody in Beijing earlier in March.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing that the Japanese citizen is suspected of engaging in espionage activities in violation of the criminal law  and the Anti-Espionage Law of the Peoples Republic of China.

All foreigners who visit and live in China must abide by Chinese laws, and those who break the law and commit crimes must be held accountable according to the law, Mao said at a regular news briefing.

He said that similar cases involving Japanese citizens have occurred repeatedly and urged the Japanese government to strengthen education among its citizens and send them reminders.

In Tokyo, Matsuno said the Japanese government had demanded the early release of its citizen. Japan also requested that Chinese authorities allow the man access to Japanese consular officials. He said Japans government is providing as much support for him as possible, including communicating with relevant parties.

A Japanese pharmaceutical company, Astellas Pharma Inc., acknowledged that the man detained is its employee, but declined to disclose further details, including his name, position and whether he is based in China. The company said it was seeking information from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

More than a dozen Japanese citizens with business or other connections to China have been arrested in the past over allegations including spying. A Japanese diplomat was detained for questioning in 2022 and released hours later, prompting strong protests from Japan.

Tokyo and Beijing have been increasingly at odds in recent years as Japan considers Chinas growing influence in the region as a threat to its national security and the economy.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

Associated Press
Myanmar army leader calls for decisive action to crush foes View Photo

BANGKOK (AP)  As Myanmars military put on an annual show of strength Monday, its top leader told its assembled ranks they need to take decisive action against those fighting army rule of the country.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing spoke at a military parade on Armed Forces Day. At sunrise, members of all service branches marched in mass formations onto a huge parade ground in the capital, Naypyitaw, backed by armored vehicles, missiles and artillery as well as fighter jets and helicopters flying overhead.

Myanmars military has been accused of indiscriminate killings of civilians as it engages in major offensives to suppress the armed resistance opposed to its takeover of the government two years ago. Min Aung Hlaing in his speech said those who condemned his military government demonstrated indifference to the violence committed by its opponents.

Armed Forces Day marks the anniversary of the start of a 1945 uprising of a ragtag army against occupying Japanese forces. The country then called Burma attained independence from colonial power Britain in 1948 and has been ruled by a succession of military governments for most of the years since.

On Feb. 1, 2021, the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyis elected government, prompting peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with bloody violence. The escalation of the violence since then has been characterized by U.N. experts and others as a civil war.

The opposition to military rule is led by a self-styled National Unity Government, or NUG, which was established by elected lawmakers who were denied their seats by the army and stakes a claim to being the countrys legitimate administration.

Its armed wing, the loosely organized Peoples Defense Forces, or PDF, along with their armed ethnic minority allies, regularly strike military columns, bases and outposts. At the same time, the army and air force are hitting villages with artillery and air strikes, often causing civilian casualties and credibly being accused of other brutal human rights abuses. Their offenses have displaced more than a million people, causing a humanitarian crisis.

The terror acts of the NUG and its lackey so-called PDFs are needed to be tackled for good and all, Min Aung Hlaing said in his speech. The (military) and the government also need to take action against this terrorist group, trying to devastate the country and killing the people.

His government has declared major resistance organizations to be terrorist groups, and anyone associated with them is subject to harsh punishment.

While Min Aung Hlaing said the actions of his military were necessary to achieve peace, his government is keen to dismiss allegations of human rights abuses by pointing at violence carried out by its opponents.

After security forces arrested, tortured and killed activists in the cities, urban guerrilla groups responded with bombing and assassinations of targets linked to the military. On Friday, a veteran corporate lawyer accused of being a military crony was shot dead in the countrys biggest city, Yangon.

There were scattered protests reported against the armys celebration.

Independent online media reported that bomb explosions took place in at least three areas of the countrys biggest city, Yangon on Monday morning.

Yangon Revolution Force, a pro-democracy activist group, announced it had protested Armed Forces Day by performing a ritual at a Buddhist pagoda placing a curse on Min Aung Hlaing. The militarys leaders, like many other people in Myanmar, are known to be highly superstitious.

In the Sagaing region in the northwest, a stronghold of armed resistance, people held small protests against Armed Forces Day.

___

Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

By GRANT PECK

Associated Press
More than 180 Rohingya refugees arrive on Indonesian beach View Photo

LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP)  More than 180 disoriented Rohingya Muslims, some of whom needed medical attention, arrived in the early morning in Indonesias northernmost province of Aceh, an official said Monday.

From the information we received, the boat took them and told them that they have arrived at their destination and left them at the beach, said Andy Rahmansyah, East Aceh police chief.

He said the authorities are still collecting more information and giving medical aid to some of the refugees.

Ali Hussein, one of the refugees, said the boat took them from Bangladesh before it fled and left them in the dark after the group disembarked to the beach.

It was difficult there. When we were gathered, we got offered a rate for the boat and we agreed to go to a far place, whether it is Indonesia or Malaysia, Hussein said.

The group of 184, including women and children, arrived by fishing boat at Kuala Matang Peulawi, a coastal area in Peureulak subdistrict in East Aceh.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh after an army-led crackdown in August 2017. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes.

Most of the refugees who left the camps by sea have attempted to reach Muslim-majority Malaysia, but many have ended up in Indonesia along the way.

More than 500 Rohingya landed in Aceh in 2022. The most recent group was in February, when 71 people landed at a beach in Aceh Besar district. In early January, 184 weak and hungry Rohingya refugees landed on Kuala Gigieng beach, also in Aceh Besar district.

___

Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

By RAHMAT MIRZA

Associated Press
UN Security Council wont probe Nord Stream blasts View Photo

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)  The arrest of actor Jonathan Majors has upended the Armys newly launched advertising campaign that was aimed at reviving the services struggling recruiting numbers.

Majors, who authorities said was arrested Saturday in New York on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, was the narrator of two ads at the heart of a broader media campaign that kicked off at the start of the NCAA's March Madness college basketball tournament.

Army leaders were hopeful that the popularity of the star of the recently released Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, would help them reach the youth audience.

In a statement Sunday, the Armys Enterprise Marketing Office said that the Army was aware of Majors arrest and was "deeply concerned by the allegations. It added that while Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete.

New York City police said the actor was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman. The victim informed police she was assaulted, a police spokesperson said in a statement.

A lawyer for Majors, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement Sunday there was evidence clearing Majors and that the actor is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows.

The Army ads, titled Overcoming Obstacles and Pushing Tomorrow, are part of the plan to revive the Armys Be All You Can be motto. They highlighted the history of the Army and some of the many professions that recruits can pursue.

The "Be All You Can Be slogan dominated its recruiting ads for two decades starting in 1981. A nearly two-minute preview video, made available before the campaign rollout in early March, featured soldiers jumping out of airplanes, working on helicopters, climbing obstacle courses and diving underwater. A voiceover said: We bring out the best in the people who serve, because America calls for nothing less.

In the Army's worst recruiting year in recent history, the service fell 25% short of its goal to enlist 60,000 recruits in 2022. The new ads were a key element in the Army's drive to find creative new ways to attract recruits and ensure that the service has the troops it needs to help defend the nation.

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the Army has set a difficult goal for this year: aiming to bring in 65,000 recruits, which would be 20,000 more than in 2022.
It's 2023, and if you're not already on the sushi train, you're going to get left behind. Thankfully, San Antonio has a plethora of great sushi bars and restaurants serving up variations of the Japanese dish in all sorts of new and interesting ways for longtime sashimi lovers or sushi roll beginners.

Whether you're looking for a traditional salmon roll or a decadent fried tempura roll drizzled with an assortment of rich sauces, there's something in the Alamo City for you. Keep reading to learn more about 12 of the absolute best places to get sushi in San Antonio.

Goro's Sushi

With its unassuming storefront, newbies to Goro's might be surprised just how packed this small sushi spot gets on any given day of the week. Goro's never fails to impress with classic and inventive rolls, like the Spurs roll, a deep fried roll filled with spicy crab salad, shrimp tempura, cheese, and avocado and topped with tampico, furikake, and eel sauce. Online reservations can be made during the week, but it's first come, first served on Fridays and Saturdays.

Find it: 2619 Mossrock, San Antonio, TX 78230

Godai Sushi

Godai Sushi Bar & Japanese Restaurant

Godai provides an extraordinary experience at an affordable price point without sacrificing any luxury. Make sure to say hi and give compliments to chef William Pitchford, otherwise lovingly known as Chef Goro, whose motto to life is "Have fun." Do yourself a favor and opt to order one of the beautiful sushi platter combos, which come fresh and meticulously plated for maximum effect. When in doubt, choose from the dozens of traditional and house rolls listed on the menu, including the well-stuffed hand rolls.

Find it: 11203 West Ave., San Antonio, TX 78213

Wild Goji

Wild Goji is a San Antonio favorite for sushi and ramen, with an Asian fusion menu full of Japanese street foods and signature rolls. If you're going for ramen but still want a bite of raw fish, you can order a two-piece sashimi or nigiri or a handroll as an appetizer. While you're there, ask for goji water; it's complimentary!

Find it: 7115 Blanco Road, Suite 110, San Antonio, TX 78216

Wasabi Sushi Bistro

The interiors at Wasabi are as aesthetically pleasing as the sushi, with its mood lighting, private dining booths, and a grand wraparound sushi bar. Once you are seated, servers come by with complimentary miso soup and salad as you peruse the lengthy sushi menu. If you're feeling spontaneous, try ordering the Whatever roll, a pricey mystery roll that comes however the chef on duty chooses. For more of a safe bet, go with the flavorful caterpillar roll, which comes with unagi (eel), crab, avocado, and eel sauce.

Find it: 9921 I-10, San Antonio, TX 78230

Mike Sutter/Staff

Shiro Japanese Bistro

If you want the fine dining experience of eating at an exclusive sushi restaurant, Shiro is the place. It's so fancy, the menu doesn't even list its prices. But you get what you pay for, as evident by chef Grey H's lengthy resume and the restaurant's significant following. While you can order anything from Shiro and enjoy every bite, the restaurant's colorful bara chirashi (diced marinated seafood over rice) is just as easy on the eyes as it is to the palate. Reservations can and should be made online.

Find it: 107 W. Jones Ave., San Antonio, TX 78215

Sushi Zushi

With three San Antonio locations, Sushi Zushi is spreading the love of sushi across the city one roll at a time. The local mini-chain combines traditional Japanese techniques with Latin American influences, according to its website, which is evident in creations like the tempura-fried Acapulco roll, made with tuna, cucumber, and chipotle sauce.

Find it: Multiple locations

Mike Sutter /Staff Photographer

Koi Kawa

The setting at Koi Kawa is picturesque, with lots of natural light, minimalist interiors, and an overlook of the nearby San Antonio River. If you're looking to indulge in the finer things, get the Surf & Turf roll, which features whole fried lobster tail, cucumber, and avocado topped with Wagyu beef, spicy mayo, eel sauce, and green onion. Ask about the special imported fish from Japan, including bluefin tuna and uni, otherwise known as sea urchin.

Find it: 4051 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209

Osaka Japanese Steak & Sushi

Renowned for its hibachi offerings as much as its sushi, Osaka is a fun experience-based restaurant with something for everything. When ordering from the sushi menu, consider going for one of the tempura rolls, like the elaborate Super Dragon roll, which consists of shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, crab, and jalapeno topped with eel, avocado, tobiko roe, spicy mayo, and eel sauce. Online reservations can be made at both Osaka locations.

Find it: 4902 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209; 11851 Bandera Road #101, Helotes, TX 78023

Piranha Izakaya

An izakaya is a type of Japanese bar meant for hanging out, drinking, and eating. Piranha Izakaya stays true to the concept, with a full list of cocktails, beer, sake, and wine in addition to its ramen and sushi offerings. The $12 bento boxes are perfect for lunchtime and come with an assortment of sushi pieces, a full roll, and a house salad. Happy hour is every day from 3 to 6 p.m., during which drinks are discounted to as low as $2.50.

Find it: 260 E. Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209

Marvin Pfeiffer /For the Express-News

Sukeban

This Southtown gem is known for its incredible happy hour specials and its extensive Champagne menu. Rolls at Sukeban come with cool names and fresh ingredients, like the Boss Girl or the Cowboy Bebop roll, made with rib eye, asparagus, carrot, avocado, and Sriracha. Stop by between 3 and 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday for $5 appetizers, $10 sake bombs, and $6 rolls and house wine.

Find it: 1420 S. Alamo St., Suite 101, San Antonio, TX 78210

Yellowfish Sushi

This Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant serves sushi from its two casual locations on San Antonio's Northside. The Wurzbach location has a drive-thru, which you can use to pick up your online order. Periodically, Yellowfish offer an all-you-can-eat sushi option for $28 a person, with some restrictions applied, so keep an eye out on their Instagram for when they're doing it again.

Find it: 9102 Wurzbach Road, San Antonio, TX 78240; 7222 Blanco Road, San Antonio, TX 78216

Niki's Tokyo Inn

This list would not be complete with one of the most traditional sushi restaurants in the city: Niki's Tokyo Inn. At Niki's, you can partake in the immersive tatami-style dining experience, which entails eating on a floor cushion with the choice to remove one's shoes, an option not meant for the closed minded diner. The bottom line is this restaurant has been serving great sushi since 1970, and we can only hope it'll continue doing so for many years to come.

Find it: 819 W. Hildebrand Ave., San Antonio, TX
Nairobi  Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has vowed to take part in Monday street protests, dismissing a ban issued by the police.

Karua said Kenyans have a right to participate in any peaceful demonstration as enshrined in the Constitution.

"I am ready and Kenyans are ready to go to the streets tomorrow (Monday)," Karua said at a church service on Sunday in the company of Opposition leader Raila Odinga and other leaders who have equally vowed to lead protests on Monday.

They have dismissed a ban by the Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome who has threatened to arrest anyone taking part in violent demonstrations, regardless of their status.

"You said that you will arrest us, I dare you to arrest me during the protests," Karua, who was Raila Odinga's running mate under the Azimio coaltion in the August 2022 elections, said.

Odinga has launched demonstrations since last week to force the government to tackle the high cost of living and protest the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him during the August 2022 polls won by President William Ruto.

Odinga and Karua have vowed to continue leading the protests "until Kenyans get justice."

"If at all we were intimidated by anything we would have not been here planning for the protests. People have protested before and since they had unity, Kenya managed to have many parties," Karua said.

Similar protests turned violent in Nairobi and Kisumu last week on Monday when one person- a student at Maseno University was shot dead.

Several businesses and properties were also destroyed or looted in both cities literally shut for the better part of the day.

"You all saw what happened on Monday last week. It will not happen again," Koome declared, "We have heard some people say that they will cause violence in Nairobi tomorrow (Monday). Nothing of that sort will happen because the security agencies are ready to protect every Kenyan."

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Koome said anyone found armed with stones or any other weapon will be dealt with as a criminal.

But Odinga has said he will press on with the protests, saying he wants justice while claiming his victory was stolen.

He wants the electoral commission compelled to open servers so as to confirm the results of the election that were relied on to declare Ruto president.

Soon after the August 2022 polls, Odinga unsuccessfully challenged the outcome at the Supreme Court.

On Sunday the police chief said that the issue of opening servers is political.

"Those are political issues that need political solutions. But when it comes to security, I have a mandate as the IG to ensure I protect life and property and I am very good at that," he said.

President Ruto has warned against the protests and instead told Odinga he will not engage him in talks, accusing him of destabilizing the country for his own selfish interests as he did in two former regimes that ended up accommodating him.

"Kenyans made their decision during the August 2022 polls, we are done with the polls and all that remains is prepare for development," he said, "we are not going to engage Raila because he knows he lost and we won."
We know San Antonio loves a deal, especially when it comes to good eats! $10 Taste is a series from MySA where we look for the most affordable and tasty meals across San Antonio that are 10 dollars or less.

A classic pizza spot has been serving up tasty slices for affordable prices in San Antonio since 1986. Pizza Classics, the family-owned restaurant, is well known for its buy-one-get-one pizza takeout policy, but there's another Pizza Classics special on my radar that fits the bill for this week's $10 Taste.

As a longtime San Antonio resident, Pizza Classics is already in my rotation of pizza places to order from regularly. But when a photo of the restaurant's recent off-menu chalkboard specials came to my attention, I had to stop by to investigate further. In other words, I found a perfect excuse to eat pizza.

The deal that caught my attention includes two slices of pizza and a fountain drink for $8.49. I've only ever ordered full sized pizzas from the restaurant, so naturally, I had to order it for myself to see if the slices were substantial enough to constitute a meal.

Polly Anna Rocha

I arrived at Pizza Classics for a weekday lunch stop, and the place was exactly as it's always been: green, kitschy, and full of personality. I ordered at the counter, and my server informed me that I could choose the toppings on my slices. Already, I was impressed, as I assumed that the slices offered would be standard cheese or pepperoni. I chose pepperoni anyway for one of my slices, and I got creative with the second, opting for a combo of mushroom and black olives.

I was handed a tall fountain drink cup and a number as the folks in the open kitchen pizzeria got to working on my slices. Pizza Classics carries Maine Root soda products, the hipster line of sodas only available at San Antonio's quirkiest locales. I decided on root beer, filled my cup, and found a seat near a wall splattered with college and beer memorabilia.

Polly Anna Rocha

Soon, my slices arrived, and to my shock and utter joy, they were massive. Like, half an actual pizza massive! Part of me didn't know where to start, and another part just wanted to get down to business. So, I pulled the slices apart and went to work chowing down on the cheesy goodness.

Pizza Classics is nothing but consistent, delivering rich flavor with simple ingredients, so each bite was as satisfying as the last. I realized about halfway through the first slice, that there was no way I could comfortably finish both, so I asked for a to-go box. I took one last bite out of the pepperoni before adding the remaining 'za (and some leftover crust) to the container.

Polly Anna Rocha

A refill of soda before taking off is customary, and after that, I was back to the grind at my desk in the MySA newsroom. But that tell-tale pepperoni slice kept calling my name, so I took periodic chomps throughout the rest of my shift until it was gone, crust and all.

Is the Pizza Classics two-slice deal worth it? Absolutely! It's worth all $8.49, and then some, keeping in line with the restaurant's dedication to serving delicious food for affordable prices. I guess you can say, it's a classic!

Find it: 3440 N. St. Mary's St., San Antonio, TX 78212
Editor's note: This article was first published in July 2021.

San Antonio astronomers are in planning mode for an event still three years away. That's because it will be centuries until the city experiences this kind of astronomical event again.

The Alamo City will see two eclipse events  an annular eclipse on October 14, 2023 and a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The six month succession makes it a rare occasion, but that's not what has both astronomers and astrologers looking to the future.

The Northwest Side of San Antonio and surrounding Hill Country towns such as Boerne and Fredericksburg are on the 115-mile wide total solar eclipse path crossing Mexico into Texas and up to Maine in three years. Other Texas cities, such as Austin and Dallas will also experience the event.

However, Angela Speck and Chris Packham, both professors of the University of Texas at San Antonio's astronomy department, tell MySA being closer to the U.S.-Mexico border will provide a more unobstructed view. They describe it as a "once-in-a-lifetime" event for the city.

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San Antonians will experience a sky "as dark as a full moon night" for up to for four minutes and 24 seconds, Speck says. The time will be 1:32 p.m.

Speck was teaching at the University of Missouri and was co-chair of the National Total Solar Eclipse Task Force when the 2017 "Great American Eclipse" occurred. Her friends joke that her move to San Antonio two years ago has something to do with the upcoming eclipse. She denies it, but says it's time "to get serious" about planning for 2024.

She says the local science community and museums are in informal discussions about prepping for the eclipse. She hopes to embed the event in some of her UTSA teachings while suggesting local school districts make plans to highlight the eclipse in curriculum or work with other campuses to provide viewing areas in the northern parts of town.

Speck is sure the UTSA area will be blanketed in total darkness. Downtown San Antonio will miss the darkness "by a few blocks," she says.

Courtesy, GreatAmericanEclipse.com

In 2017, San Antonians secured special eclipse glasses and maybe ditched an hour of work to get to a location to witness the eclipse. Though interesting, it was only a partial experience that left residents with a feeling that they missed out on the videos and images that were blasted on social media from the maximum point in Missouri.

Speck says residents will finally get their time in the darkness in 2024. She describes it as an experience that activates all of your senses. Other living beings also respond.

"You can see stars, the planets. It also gets colder, because you just blocked out the sun," she adds. "Animals also react and plants too, so bees stop buzzing, cows will actually head home to the barn. It's a really interesting thing, it's something that you sense with not just your eyes. It's all sorts of sensors."

Speck says the happening converts the unfazed into enthusiasts.

"If you've never seen one, it's like, 'Oh, yeah, what's the big deal," she adds. "It's a completely amazing event and most people who have seen them once, see them again."

She says it will be centuries until something like this happens again in the city and is the first time in hundreds of years that the Alamo City has been on the path. According to TimeAndDate.com, which provides maps and times of total solar eclipses, the last time the city was near a total solar eclipse path was May 28, 1900 and even at that, it was a partial experience.

If locals become completely mystified by the 2024 event, they'll be able to witness it again two years later, but will need to hop a plane to Spain or Greenland in time for August 12, 2026.

Packham searched for the next U.S. total eclipse experience while Speck and I chatted. His search spanned a few minutes. Finally, he found the date: Aug 22, 2044. Viewers will have to be near Montana for that one.

While the UTSA team is working to add the eclipse event into their education moving forward, Catherine Urban, a Cleveland-based astrologer is examining how the alignment of these celestial objects will effect people and play a part in the history books.

She ties in historical events, like World War I and the abolishment of slavery, coinciding with the times of total solar eclipses in the past. She also notes the 2017 total solar eclipse happened during a "remarkably divisive time in this country."

Urban adds another layer: the eclipse is happening shortly after the planetary return of Pluto to the United States after 240 years (using July 4, 1776 as America's birth date).

"Considering that these eclipses fall in the wake of the United States' Pluto return, astrologers are suspecting that these eclipses too reflect a highly eventful period in American history," she adds.

The astronomers and astrologer are on the same page about the same thing  the San Antonio area is going to be a travel destination that April and it won't have anything to do with Fiesta.

"The total solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024, however, will be one of the most miraculous events one could ever witness," Urban says via email. "To witness a Total Solar Eclipse is sublimely profound. Definitely have your glasses ready for viewing! And consider staying the week with a friend and AirBnB-ing your place. Total Solar eclipses will attract visitors from nearby. Where will you be when the lights go out?"

Speck agrees. She says another added benefit of being in the San Antonio area is the weather. Folks up north might have their experience soured by cloud cover. As someone who has traveled as far as Argentina to witness a total solar eclipse, she knows a thing or two about eclipse tourism.

"The weather is going to be very iffy as you go further north along the path. So San Antonio and South Texas are going to be the best place from a cloud cover point of view," she says. "So we're going to get a lot of people coming to Texas, because we get the longest time in darkness in the U.S. and we also have the best chance of not having clouds."

Much like in 2017, websites and memorabilia are already popping up, adding to the hype surrounding the 2024 eclipse. There are T-shirts, binoculars, and of course, glasses, promoting the event of a lifetime.

Geographer Michael Zeiler, who provides the graphics for the Great American Eclipse website, sums up the attraction the rest of the world will have with to our part of the country.

"Texas will surely be a magnet for many from North America and around the world," he says.
Courtesy of JJ Trevino

The pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run incident involving a Tesla on Saturday, March 25, has been identified as Erik Michael Moody, 36, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office.

Moody, a San Antonio resident, was struck by the driver of a Tesla Model 3 while on a sidewalk near S. Alamo Street and Probandt Street after the driver lost control of the vehicle around 1:30 a.m. The driver of the car then crashed into the side of a building, the San Antonio Police Department told MySA.
The Texas Observer, the storied progressive publication known for its feisty, combative and often humorous investigative journalism, is shutting down and will lay off its 17-person staff, including 13 journalists, several members of its board said Sunday.

The decision marks an end to 68 years of publication, starting with its founding in 1954 by Ronnie Dugger and including a six-year period under the helm of the legendary Molly Ivins from 1970 to 1976. The magazine, in its first few decades, represented the liberal wing of the once-conservative Democratic Party. It was a thorn in the side of Lyndon B. Johnson when he was Senate majority leader (before he became president), Govs. Allen Shivers and John B. Connally, and other conservative Democrats. And it chronicled the era in which Texas was remade into a Republican stronghold that sent a governor, George W. Bush, to the White House.

The closing of the Observer raises questions about whether small progressive publications can survive the digital transformation of journalism and the information ecosystem during a time of rapid social, demographic and technological change.

While nonprofit newsrooms have been proliferating around the country, many are dependent on philanthropic grants and dont have a clear pathway to economic sustainability. The Observer had been supported for years by a small number of major donors, and wasnt able to build a broad base of subscribers and members.

The Observers budget was $2.1 million last year, and in recent weeks, the board considered moving to online-only publication, which would have taken the budget down to $1.8 million, and doing that plus laying off three staff members, which would have taken the budget to $1.5 million. The Observer has about 4,000 print subscribers (its content is free online) and 64,000 subscribers to its free email newsletter. It doesnt accept advertising.

The board of the nonprofit Texas Democracy Foundation, which owns the Observer, voted on Wednesday to approve the layoffs, according to the board members, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss its internal deliberations.

Robert R. Frump, who stepped down from the board in June to run the magazines business operations as a special adviser, resigned in protest on Thursday after he was informed of the decision. Following a last-ditch effort to slow the process and give employees more severance, the Observers board confirmed its decision on Sunday and plans to tell the staff on Monday morning that their last day will be this Friday, March 31, the board members said.

Frump told The Texas Tribune that the board chair, Laura Hernandez Holmes, and other board members instructed him on Thursday morning to cease operations immediately and shut off access to email and social media accounts. I handed in my resignation after they told me what they were doing, he said in a phone interview.

Hernandez Holmes, an El Paso native and Austin-based campaign consultant and political fundraiser who worked on Beto ORourkes failed presidential bid in 2019, said in a text message Sunday night: I feel strongly about talking with the staff before I talk with any reporters outside the organization. I owe them that.

The editorial quality of the Texas Observer is excellent, and it deserves to live on in some format, Frump said. It has a unique voice thats progressive but hews to the truth. Im hoping some version of it can still survive.

Frump said the Observer was ultimately unable to adapt to the demands of a 24/7 news cycle and the proliferation of other sources of information about Texas, including Texas Monthly, a features magazine that just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization co-founded in 2009 by Evan Smith, a former editor of the Monthly.

Our reader base and our donor base is aging out, Frump said. Theres a nostalgia for Molly Ivins and Ann Richards and their era, and thats a lot of what still drives the Observer. We werent able to build a bridge to the younger, progressive generation. I think the legacy is worth fighting for, but I do understand why the board feels the way it does.

Reached Sunday night, Gabriel Arana, who was hired as the magazines editor in chief in April 2022 after two consecutive top editors left abruptly, said: This is the first Im hearing of it, the board hasnt communicated with me or the staff about this.

He added: Im really proud of the work the staff is doing. The level of talent and the quality of journalism are really impressive. I feel the board has abdicated its responsibility for fundraising and ensuring the financial health of the publication. I think its shameful that they havent involved the staff in this decision-making in any way.

Arana pointed to enterprising work on womens health issues, political extremism, Texas rivers and on the Biden administrations border policies.

Decades of investigations

Through the entirety of its operation, the Observer earned a hard-fought reputation for pulling no punches with the states political echelon  and telling richly written stories about race, poverty and classism that mainstream news outlets ignored, overlooked or under-reported.

Dugger, who was in his 20s when he became the founding editor, clearly defined that mission in the first issue.

We will take orders from none but our own conscience, and never will we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit, he wrote.

In the decades since, the outlets mix of threadbare operations and muckraking ambitions churned a staggering stable of renowned investigative journalists, political reporters and celebrated columnists including Ivins, Lawrence Goodwyn, Jim Hightower, Jake Bernstein and James K. Galbraith.

Dugger served as editor until 1961, when he then became publisher. In 2011, he was awarded the George Polk Award for career achievement. His leadership made the publication something beloved by journalists  and loathed by Texas officials. Or, as Dugger put it when writing about the Observer for the Texas State Historical Association, the magazine has been celebrated outside the state much more than in it.

Ivins, the late legendary political commentator and humorist, called it a publication in a class by itself in the 2004 book Fifty Years of the Texas Observer.

Texas, as has often been noted, is a peculiar place: it both deserves and needs an independent magazine devoted solely to its politics and other oddities, she wrote. The extraordinary struggles for economic and political justice chronicled in the Observers pages go back to the days when it was the only publication read by white people that addressed the problems and concerns of black and brown Texans.

Its columns, exposes and investigations captured innumerable historic Texas events with human-focused empathy, acerbic wit and razor-sharp accountability. In 1966, Bill Helmer wrote a first-person account of witnessing the University of Texas tower shooting.

How strange it felt to stand there in such comfortably familiar surroundings, hugging a marble pillar I walked past every day, listening to the constant banging of rifles and the sound of real bullets whacking and whining off stone, he wrote.

In 1981, former Texas lawmaker A.R. Babe Schwartz peeled back the curtain on life in the Legislature  and after it.

Some go to hell in a basket, damned by new habits of excess in all thingsthe classic blondes, bourbon, and beefsteak syndrome, he wrote. Some go to the Congress. Worse excesses. Some just go a hundred yards from the House to the Senate. It is often said that that raises the average IQ of both bodies. Some of us lucky ones, for our eternal reward, even die and become lobbyists.

A 2000 investigation from Nate Blakeslee cast a light on the weak criminal cases against dozens of people  most of them Black  arrested on drug charges in a mass, high-profile sting operation in the small Panhandle town of Tulia.

The reason I love the Observer has more to do with most media being increasingly controlled by large companies, which makes the reader a consumer, then-coeditor Karen Olsson told Texas Monthly in 2001. Nobody can start a magazine without at least $1 million. From the content perspective, because were not bottom-line driven, we can forget celebrity stuff and service and select things were interested in, just because were interested in them. Readers call us all the time with story ideas. We let our writers play with words. Were very flexible about length.

High turnover in final years

The Observer had had some near-death experiences in recent years, including a seemingly unending turnover of editors and managers. The instability began after Forrest Wilder, who had begun his career at the magazine and was named editor in chief in 2015, left in 2019 to be a senior editor at the Monthly.

The next editor, Andrea Valdez, who rejoined the magazine in 2020, lasted only a couple of months before she was hired away by The 19th News, a nonprofit formed that year by Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora, the former editor in chief and audience director, respectively, of the Tribune. Another editor, Abby Johnston, joined Valdez in moving to The 19th News.

Next came Tristan Ahtone, who in April 2020 became the first Native American editor of the magazine, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was shutting down the economy. After clashing with several staff members, whom he accused of racial discrimination, he stepped down in October 2021.

Several staffers left after Ahtone, including Pauly Denetclaw, a citizen of the Navajo Nation who covered indigenous affairs for the Observer.

Ahtone said on Sunday night: We could have seen this coming. Current leadership probably could have made a few calls to alleviate some of the financial pressures and staff problems that came after I left. He said the reason he left was because the board of directors wouldnt deal with racism in the organization.

Ahtones resignation was soon followed by those of Mike Kanin, who had been the Observers publisher since 2017, and board chair Abby Rapoport, a journalist (and former Tribune reporter) whose grandfather Bernard and father, Ron, have supported the Observer for decades. (Ron Rapoport remains a board member.) Both of them had clashed with Ahtone.

Also in 2021, the Emerson Collective, the social investment and philanthropic entity set up by Laurene Powell Jobs, ended several years of support.

From that point, the Observer became harder and harder to sustain, even though things seemed temporarily to brighten, according to the former board members. James Canup, a seasoned nonprofit fundraiser, joined as managing director in February 2022, and Arana, an editor who had worked at HuffPost and The American Prospect, was hired in April 2022. (He was chosen over the interim editor in chief, Megan Kimble, who then left.) Frump stepped down from the board to oversee day-to-day business operations in July 2022.

October 2022 was a momentous, possibly decisive, month for the Observer. That month, for the first time since 2019, the Observer held its annual fundraising dinner to give out the MOLLY National Journalism Prizes, named for Ivins, the crusading journalist who died in 2007. But it brought in only about half of the roughly $200,000 it used to, Frump said.

Also that month, the Observer received what seemed like a lifeline: a $1 million pledge by the Tejemos Foundation, set up by Greg Wooldridge, a retired investor, and Lynne Dobson, a philanthropist and photojournalist whose family started Whataburger. The couple disbursed $400,000 of the gift soon after, and later asked the magazine for documentation of matching funds and other efforts in order to receive the remaining $600,000, some of which would have gone to cover public relations, marketing and other vital business operations that had been long neglected.

Carol Ocker, who manages the couples philanthropic giving, did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

However, the good news was fleeting. Arana, the new editor, began to clash with Hernandez Holmes, the board chair, and Canup, the new fundraising director, according to board members. Relations among those top leaders  crucial in any nonprofit organization, and especially a small one  quickly deteriorated, the board members said.

Earlier this month, the writing on the wall became clear. Canup gave notice. Hernandez Holmes announced she was stepping down as board chair; board members persuaded her to stay on until the end of March. As of last week, the magazine had only $170,000 in reserves, about enough for two months of payroll. Typical philanthropic guidelines suggest that nonprofits have at least three months of monthly expenses in reserve, and ideally six or more months.

Peter A. Ravella, the boards treasurer, and Eileen Smith, a writer and editor who is on the board, voted no on shutting down Sunday morning. Ravella said he had accepted the boards decision but thought the process for unwinding the organization was too hasty, and made without adequate consultation with donors and staff members. Ravella is leaving the board this week, as he and his wife are selling their home and moving to Olympia, Washington.

The Observer had recently announced that it would host an event at the Paramount Theatre in Austin on May 17. The featured speaker was to be Annette Gordon-Reed, a renowned Harvard historian, scholar of Thomas Jefferson, and author of On Juneteenth, about the legacy of racism in Texas.

It wasnt clear Sunday night whether that event will proceed.

Disclosure: The Emerson Collective, The Paramount Theatre, the Texas State Historical Association and the University of Texas at Austin 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.
OPPOSITION Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party has set tough literacy conditions for selection into local authorities, Parliament and Senate, including need for community track record on local governance matters.

According to an internal party document titled, Citizens And Community Consensus Candidate Selection Procedures seen by The Standard, relevant professional qualifications will be a prerequisite for candidates willing to stand for mayoral, parliamentary committee and council chairperson positions.

Mayors, deputy mayors, council chairpersons and committee chairpersons at both Local Government and Parliamentary levels would also undergo an aptitude test to assess their ability to take the leadership positions.

Parliamentary candidates should be able to read and interpret legislation and national policies, while council candidates must have the ability to read and interpret council legislation, administrative by-laws, and policies, according to the party guidelines.

CCC deputy secretary for elections Ellen Shiriyedenga told The Standard in an interview yesterday that this would enhance efficiency and productivity in the governance system.

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For example, one cannot be the chairperson for the finance parliamentary portfolio committee when they do not have a strong background in economic or financial issues, Shiriyedenga said.

Without professional experience in the field, one may not be able to comprehend the issues raised and will fail to address the problems arising.

So, setting those literacy requirements is a way of ensuring maximum productivity.

Zanu PF yesterday held its primary elections to select parliamentary and local authority candidates to represent the party in the upcoming elections set for July or August.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is yet to proclaim the election dates.

In its document, the CCC said it had anchored its candidate selection on the grassroots to give ordinary citizens the authority to select representatives of their choice.

Zimbabwe is no exception to the increased global sentiment for citizen inclusion and leadership accountability in all governance spheres, part of the CCC document reads.

In response to this growing sentiment, the citizens movement seeks to present candidates that are a product of broad citizen consultations and inclusion in an effort to entrench the new culture of citizen engagement, participatory democracy and democratic accountability.

In an interview with The Standard yesterday, CCC leader Nelson Chamisa said the community-based candidate selection process was to avoid imposing candidates on the electorate.

Zanu PF looks for a leader who wants to lead the people, but we want a leader whom the people want, Chamisa said.

Zanu PF wants its candidates to submit curriculum vitaes, but we focus on community track record  what are the people saying about the leader they want?

Zanu PF wants individuals with financial prosperity, but we are concerned with personality.

We are putting emphasis on citizens participation.

There will be no imposition of candidates. The power is with the citizens.

Where there are ties between candidates, citizens will still be expected to decide on their own the best candidate.

 The Standard

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Lambert here: A good test of my theory that financial institutions with First in their names are like restaurants named Moms.

By Wolf Richter, editor of Wolf Street. Originally published at Wolf Street.

The FDIC is a liquidation machine. And so it announced on Sunday night that it has made a purchase and assumption deal with First-Citizens Bank in Raleigh, North Carolina. First-Citizens will buy a big portion of the assets of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank and assume all its deposits (a liability).

The FDIC had created the bridge bank to take on the assets and liabilities, including all deposits, of Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed on March 10.

On Monday morning, March 27, the 17 branches of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank will open as First-Citizens Bank. Depositors of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank will automatically become depositors of First-Citizens Bank. All transferred deposits will be insured by the FDIC up to the insurance limit, the FDIC said.

Customers of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank should continue to use their current branch until First-Citizens Bank tells them that conversions of the banking systems have been completed to allow full-service banking at all of Citizen Banks other branch locations. the FDIC said.

Heres What Was Included in the Deal.

On the day that Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and the FDIC became its receiver  March 10, 2023  it had $167 billion in assets and $119 billion in deposits, along with some other liabilities. This is what the FDIC took over.

Todays deal between the FDIC and First-Citizens includes:

First-Citizens assumes all deposits (a liability).

First-Citizens gets $72 billion in assets at a discount of $16.5 billion.

The FDIC gets equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. common stock with a potential value of up to $500 million.

A loss-share transaction on the commercial loans that First-Citizens purchased from the bridge bank; both parties will share in the losses and potential recoveries of the loans in the deal.

First-Citizens will assume all loan-related financial contracts.

A $20 Billion Loss to the FDICs Deposit Insurance Fund.

The FDIC will sell the remaining $90 billion in securities and other assets over time.

The FDIC estimated that the total cost of the SVB collapse to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $20 billion, after selling the remaining $90 billion in securities and other assets. This includes the additional costs of covering all deposits, even those that are above the FDIC limits.

Signature Banks Cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund Is Only $2.5 Billion.

On March 20, the FDIC announced that it had sold a big loan portfolio of the collapsed Signature Bank to New York Community Bancorp, which also assumed nearly all of the deposits  except $4 billion of deposits by crypto customers that the FDIC provided directly to those customers. The 40 branches of Signature Bank opened on Monday, March 20, as branches of New York Community Bancorps Flagstar Bank.

The FDIC said at the time that the total cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will amount to only $2.5 billion.

When the FDIC Takes Over a Bank, It Gets All the Assets.

Banks, even collapsed banks, have a lot of assets, such as loans and securities. At the most basic level, banks collapse and are taken over by the FDIC because those assets are no longer enough to cover the liabilities while at the same time, depositors are trying to yank their cash out, and a liquidity crisis (depositors yanking their cash out that the bank has trouble coming up with on the spot) is then followed by a solvency crisis (assets not enough to cover liabilities).

The cost to the FDICs Deposit Insurance Fund isnt that total amount of deposits, but the shortage after all assets have been sold.

Total estimated cost to the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund of the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank combined of $22.5 billion comes out of the Deposit Insurance Fund that had a balance of $128.7 billion on December 31, 2022. The Fund is funded by the banks that are insured by the FDIC.

And the Fed will get the money back that it advanced to the two bridge banks when the deals close and as the remaining assets are sold.
Yves here. Michael Hudson has graciously provided us with an overview of his new book, The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilizations Oligarchic Turning Point. It looks at how interest-rate created debt overhangs cement creditor power, creating a class of oligarchs. His new book contends this power shift began in the Greco-Roman era. Hudson below provides a broad historical sweep.

Some additions: the idea of free markets as a justification of creditor power is relatively recent, and the libertarian anarchist Milton Friedman was one of the most effective salesman for this ideology. The earlier formulation was free enterprise which conveyed the idea that the purpose was to build companies.

By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His latest book is The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilizations Oligarchic Turning Point

Interest-bearing debt grows exponentially, accumulating faster than the economys the ability to pay. That growth has increased the power of creditors throughout history, causing crises if the expansion path of debt is not checked by debt writedowns.

Ancient Near Eastern monarchies created such checks when they introduced interest-bearing debt in the third millennium BC. To prevent a creditor oligarchy from emerging to concentrate land ownership, rulers proclaimed Clean Slates that prevented the buildup of agrarian debt from leading to the irreversible loss of personal liberty and land rights. Maintaining self-support land tenure for cultivators preserved their corvee labor obligation to work on public construction projects and serve in the army. In the mid-first millennium BC Judaism adopted such restorations of order from Babylonia in the Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25).

The increasing commercialization of life enabled oligarchies to emerge in Greece and Rome, imposing debt bondage and concentrating land ownership in their own hands after overthrowing Romes kings in 509 BC. Half a millennium of increasingly violent civil warfare were unable to cancel debts and redistribute land, culminating in the failed revolt of Catiline and the assassination of Julius Caesar.

In Judea, Jesus announced that he had come to restore the Jubilee Year, and the Lords Prayer from his Sermon on the Mount called for forgiving debts. His Christian followers denounced usury in their councils, but upon becoming Romes official state religion in the 4th century the Church turned away from its early focus on protecting debtors. The Lords Prayer wording was re-interpreted to focus on inborn personal sin in the wake of Augustines theological victory over the pro-debtor Donatists in North Africa.

Medieval European life became largely local, with agrarian economies using money mainly as a unit-of-account to settle debts at harvest time. The economic surplus concentrated mainly in monastery estates. Church and State were made symbiotic in 800 by Leo III blessing Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor. Subsequent popes sanctified the Norman conquests of Sicily by Robert Guiscard in 1059 and of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 in exchange for their pledging their kingdoms as fiefdoms of Rome.

After 1094 the papacy used the Crusades to mobilize large military forces. That required credit, and warfare always has been the main force obliging rulers to borrow. With most lending being to rulers and churches to wage war, the papacy took the lead in abandoning Christianitys early opposition to interest-bearing debt. The 13th-century Schoolmen drew a legalistic distinction between permissible commercial interest and usury, leaving wide loopholes for credit by the Lombard and Cahorsin bankers sponsored by the papacy. The fact that these bankers were beyond the power of local rulers to tax them left Jewish creditors with little royal fiscal function. England and France confiscated the property of Jews and then expelled them toward the end of the 13th century.

When Englands nobility pressed for parliamentary reform in the Magna Carta (1215) to limit Henry IIIs power to raise taxes and take on papal debts to finance Romes wars, the papacy backed autocratic royal authority and excommunicated the parliamentary opposition. But after Edward III defaulted in the 14th century, dragging down his Italian bankers with him, creditors began to press for parliamentary reform to make war debts owed by the entire nation, not limited to the royal household. By the 16th century that insistence on parliamentary liability for national war debts enabled the Dutch Republic to gain a military advantage and win its freedom from autocratic Habsburg Spain.

Throughout history, the way in which societies have coped with the dynamics of interest-bearing debt has been the major dynamic transforming the character of their government and its legal philosophy. Military duress enables creditors to insist that governments pledge collateral in the form of land and mineral rights, using debt pressure to privatize the public domain and force creation of monopoly privileges. England created monopolies for trade with India and other regions starting in 1600, followed by the Bank of England with its privilege of privatizing money issue in 1694. The South Sea Company was founded in 1711, emulating Frances Mississippi Company. Both countries organized a debt-for-equity swap, exchanging shares in the great growth industry of the day  the Atlantic slave trade and plantation agriculture  for government bonds. Financial bubbles ever since have been organized by governments trying to free themselves from debt.

The Pro-Creditor Mythology of How Economies Might Operate Without Debt Problems

As modern industrial capitalism has evolved into finance capitalism, creditor interests oppose the ability of governments to create their own money to finance public spending. The aim is to make governments borrow from bankers and bondholders, giving them interest as well as control over what gets funded.

The ideological umbrella for this power grab is to accuse governments of interfering with free markets, that is, with the financial sectors ability to act as societys central planner in allocating credit. Debt creation is seen only as helping economies grow, not as inflating asset prices for housing, stocks and bonds, obliging homebuyers and retirees to run further into debt to afford access to housing and retirement income. Societys economic ideology is transformed to accept the concentration of wealth in creditor hands as a natural phenomenon, not a predatory power grab at the expense of societys overall prosperity.

Automatic stabilizers are said to make government regulation unnecessary, and credit (that is, debt creation) is depicted as productive, not corrosive. What really is at issue is not whether governments are strong or weak as such, but whether they act in the broad public interest to limit creditor claims on the increasingly indebted economy, or protect creditor privileges as rights over those of debtors. It is as if business cycles do not recur in the context of steadily rising debt/income and debt/asset ratios.

Credit can finance economic growth best when organized as a public utility. But private creditors and bankers seek financial gains for themselves, maximizing claims on debtors without limit. A jockeying for dominance ensues as the magnitude of debt grows to exceed the ability of debtors to pay. Private creditors translate their economic gains into political power, polarizing the distribution of wealth and income by deregulating and untaxing financial gains. These laws of motion produce an oscillation between financial drives gaining dominance over society and a reaction by society as it realizes that the cleanup costs of debt are much like those of physical environmental pollution, pushing the overall social balance into deficit.

The interaction between financial dynamics and the economy at large has changed the character of government throughout history. Mesopotamian rulers annulled grain debts, but classical antiquitys oligarchies used state power to prevent debt cancellation. Christianity took the side of debtors, but the medieval papacy supported English kings, excommunicating advocates of parliamentary checks and balances. Subsequent creditors pressed for parliamentary reform to make entire nations responsible for paying debts, but pressure is rising today to restore public control to subordinate debts  and hence their counterpart creditor claims on debtors  to social needs.

There is some analogy here to what the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins calls the selfish gene with its drive to replicate itself and grow. A struggle for survival occurs as the dynamic of interest-bearing credit seeks to break free of public control and make the debt overhead irreversible, while the host economy seeks to protect itself from being drained and polarized. A narrowing oligarchy of bondholders press for rent-extracting privileges, privatizing natural resources and monopolies away from the increasingly indebted public domain.

These debt dynamics threaten to run wild in excess of the economys ability to pay. To deter public perception of the need to subordinate financial claims to the economys own self-preservation, creditors seek to distract attention away from how todays world is repeating the age-old strains between creditors and debtors, and how debts exponential dynamics have led to crises and collapse throughout history.
5 planets will align on March 27 and you wont want to miss it. Heres where to look. Space.com

Where Financial Risk Lies, in 12 Charts WSJ

Climate

Water

B-a-a-a-a-d Banks

#COVID19

China?

An Anxious Asia Arms for a War It Hopes to Prevent NYT. Crocodile tears.

Myanmar

Syraqistan

In Ethiopia, China and the US map rival roads to lasting peace South China Morning Post

European Disunion

New Not-So-Cold War

Biden Administration

Lina Khans FTC has challenged health system mergers  but not disruptors Beckers Hospital Review DIA CEO Phil Washington withdraws nomination to lead FAA AP. Republicans attacked his resume and seized on disclosures that his name appeared in search warrants related to a corruption investigation in Los Angeles. Most of the other headlines frame the outstanding warrant thing as GOP criticism.

2024

Tech

Healthcare

MMT

Zeitgeist Watch

Class Warfare

Need a consultant? This book argues hiring one might actually damage your institution NPR

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
The iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, (iREP Festival), opened March 16th, for its 13th edition despite intense fears about election violence due to threats by political thugs in Lagos during the Saturday, March 18th elections.

The feast of documentary which ended on Sunday, March 19th, opened with an online pitching workshop on story selling facilitated by iREP co-founder and Executive Director, Femi Odugbemi. It however, had its opening ceremony at the Amphi-theatre, Freedom Park, Lagos.

The festival, held at multiple venues across the city of Lagos, as it has been customary, had Freedom Park Broadstreet Lagos, as its central venue while Bariga, Ajegunle, Ejigbo, and Ikorodu were Satellite Screening Centres. Themed "Documenting the Underserved: Agenda for Nigeria 2023", this year's edition of the festival, held within the election season, focused on Nigeria unlike the thematic concerns of previous editions which focused on the global community.

Resolved not to allow the change in the date for the March 18th election earlier scheduled for March 11th, disrupt the festival, the organisers decided to stage a moderated version of the festival. As a result, the docu-feast began Thursday through Sunday, with only the Saturday Programme content adversely affected. In effect, the scheduled Plenary sessions (all virtual) and Screenings held as planned, only the screenings on Saturday evening at the various designated centres were affected.

Whereas the generic theme of iREP since foundation has been Africa in Self-conversation, with dependence on international partners to provide human and material resources for both plenary and screening slots, the 2023 minimised edition, had as generic theme, Nigeria in Self-Conversation. The edition focused more on films produced by Nigerians, about Nigeria, and for Nigerians; in particular those in the suburb communities of Lagos where public amenities such as schools, health, water, power and hygienic/environmental services etc are usually in short supplies.

The reason for the theme: "Documenting the Underserved: Agenda for Nigeria 2023", according to the festival directorate was strategically designed to address cogent issues in the polity, which essentially is about enthroning responsible political system that insists on good governance and participatory democracy - two ingredients that have been lacking in Nigeria's chequered 24-year-old democratic journey which began in 1999. Part of the objectives of the theme was to direct attention of particularly young people to the power of documentary films in empowering them to be active participants in the discourses in their socio-political, economic and cultural environment.

Specifically, the theme, as reflected in choice of films screened and the discussions at the minimised plenary, spotlighted the powerful tool the young people have in their hands through their smart phones and other electronic gadgets, through which they could expose the needs of their communities for the benefit of their elected representatives.

With the chosen theme, "Documenting the Underserved", the iREP embarked on the pilot scheme of the Inner City Screening(ICS) project, with films screened in such suburbs of Lagos - Bariga-Makoko, Ikorodu, Ajegunle, Ejigbo - as well as at the festival's traditional base - Freedom Park . 'Oso Afia', Directed by T. Nwaiwu; 'Awon Boys' directed by Tolu Iteoje; 'Her Story, Educate a Woman, Educate a Nation', directed by Sally Nuamah, and a host of others were screened.

Featured plenaries included 'Documentary Film Curriculum Development,' which was staged virtually. Designed as an exploratory meeting of scholars, experts and a focus group of professionals, the conference focused on gathering information and data on existing teaching methodology and structure in the few Film Studies Departments in select Nigerian universities.

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The feast also had Bolanle Austen-Peters, as speaker in the Plenary, 'Documentary for Inclusivity: Political Inclusivity (Screening of Excerpts from Motherland The Musical) on Friday.

There was also "Documenting the Underserved: Case for Financial Inclusivity,' held virtually in line with the thematic thrust of the 2023 IREP. Featuring Olu Akanmu, President/Co-CEO of O'Pay Nigeria, this session dealt with the underserved segments of society in our national development agenda while addressing the importance of financial inclusion of the underserved. Speakers reflected on how the poor and the common people could be given material empowerment so that they are authentic and free participants in the democratic system that determines their fate, future and fortune.
(Natural News) Seven children were paralyzed by vaccine-derived polio linked to the new nOPV2 polio vaccine developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which on Thursday announced the news.

(Article by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D. republished from ChildrensHealthDefense.org)

Seven children were paralyzed by vaccine-derived polio linked to the new nOPV2 polio vaccine developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which on Thursday announced the news.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a GPEI partner, funded the development and clinical trials for the nOPV2 vaccine.

Burundi declared a national emergency after confirming eight cases of the virus and five samples from environmental surveillance of wastewater, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.

The country plans to implement a polio vaccination campaign in the coming weeks, aiming to vaccinate all eligible children, ages 0 to 7, against the virus.

Burundi health authorities also plan to work with the WHO and GPEI to do risk assessments to determine the extent of the outbreak of the vaccine-derived virus.

And they are increasing polio surveillance, with WHO employees collecting additional water samples and possibly opening new environmental surveillance sites.

We are disappointed, said Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, deputy director for technology, research and analytics on the Gates Foundation polio team. Any such outbreak is disappointing, he said, according to a Stat News report.

Vaccine-derived polio outbreaks are not a surprise with the nOPV2 vaccine, GPEI said. While detection of these outbreaks is a tragedy for the families and communities affected, it is not unexpected with wider use of the vaccine, it said on its website.

The oral vaccines, administered in much of Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, contain a live-but-weakened form of the polio virus modified to minimize its ability to paralyze.

Children vaccinated with the live oral vaccines shed the virus in their stool, which eventually ends up in sewage wastewater. Particularly in places where sanitation is poor, the virus can move from child to child, which, GPEI said, is actually the point.

The viruses can move from person to person and actually help protect the community it says on its website.

However, as it continues to circulate over the course of 12 to 18 months, the attenuated virus in the live oral vaccine strains can revert to virulence, circulate, infect and paralyze in places with low immunization rates.

These viruses are called circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, or cVDPV.

Afghanistan and Pakistan now report more cases of paralysis from vaccine-derived polio than from the wild virus, and there have been several outbreaks of vaccine-derived infections across Africa, with more than 1,000 children paralyzed in 2020 alone, according to a study in the BMJ.

In 2022, 800 children developed paralytic polio from the vaccines.

Why live virus vaccines?

The oral polio vaccines (OPV) used in much of the developing world are different from those given in the U.S. and some western countries, which use the inactivated (dead) polio vaccine (IPV) developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and first used in 1955, when polio became a global concern.

According to the WHO, its only in very rare cases, that the administration of OPV results in vaccine-derived paralytic polio.

In addition to causing vaccine-associated paralytic polio, vaccine strains have the capacity to cause disease of the nervous system and to transmit from person to person, resulting in infectious poliomyelitis, The Defender reported.

The U.S. stopped using OPV in 2000 because it caused paralytic polio.

Albert Sabin developed the OPV in 1962. The ease of administering the oral vaccine made it the ideal candidate for mass vaccination campaigns, according to the WHO. It also stops virus transmission, which the IPV vaccine does not.

As GPEIs global campaign to eradicate polio, begun in 1988, has progressed, the use of the oral vaccine has created many incidents of the spread of the vaccine-derived viruses.

Of the three original strains of wild polio, types 2 and 3 were declared eradicated and only type 1 has not. The portion of the Sabin vaccines targeting type 2 viruses triggers the vast majority of vaccine-derived polio cases.

This problem and the fact that type 2 polio hasnt been seen since 1999, led the polio program to stop using trivalent vaccines (targeting three types of polio) in all 155 countries administering OPV vaccines 2016, replacing them with bivalent OPVs.

But that decision, called the switch, made children more susceptible to vaccine-derived polio viruses  and the numbers of children infected with those viruses began to grow.

GPEI responded by creating a new monovalent OPV vaccine that targets type 2 polio viruses and administering them in places where the virus is circulating.

Instead of resolving the problem, the number of type 2 vaccine-derived outbreaks in Africa almost tripled from 2018 to 2019, and fear of outbreaks around the world grew because so many children were not immune to type 2 polio.

Simultaneously, GPEI/Gates rushed to develop new OPVs that would make the virus less prone to the mutations that created problems, The Defender reported.

The new nOPV2 vaccine that caused the recent outbreaks was granted Emergency Use Listing by the WHO in November 2020, and the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) recommended Gates nOPV2 become the vaccine of choice for responding to type 2 polio outbreaks caused by OPV.

But the nOPV2 also now is associated with vaccine-related polio outbreaks.

Vaccines nOPV for types 1 and 3 poliovirus, called nOPV1 and nOPV3, are in clinical trials, according to EPGI.

In an email to The Defender, Dr. Brian Hooker, Ph.D., P.E., Childrens Health Defense chief scientific officer and professor of biology at Simpson University said:

It is tragic but not unexpected that the use of live virus Sabin vaccines would cause the spread of vaccine-derived polio given the propensity of these viruses to back-mutate into their paralytic form.

It is even more alarming that the paralytic form is now circulating among the population of the Congos and Burundis children.

GPEI said 600 million doses of the new vaccine were administered in 28 countries since March 2021, and reiterated that the vaccine was safe and effective.

Gates and Polio

The Gates Foundation is the topmost funder of polio initiatives worldwide. In April 2013, Bill Gates said that eradicating polio was his top priority,  even though there had only been 19 cases worldwide that entire year at that point.

Since Gates made that commitment, billions of dollars worldwide have been poured into the cause.

The Gates Foundation is one of several partners in the GPEI public-private partnership that also includes the WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Fund, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gavi and Rotary International.

The Gates Foundation, in addition to funding the nPOV2 vaccine, GPEI and the WHO, also funds Rotary International, UNICEF, Gavi and the CDC Foundation.

As The Defender reported:

In essence, the Gates Foundation funded the creation, development and clinical trials for the new nPOV2 polio vaccine, funds the organizations that administered millions of doses to be given under EUL without any long-term data, funds the organizations implementing its roll-out and surveillance and funds the entity monitoring adverse events associated with nPOV2s use.

The Gates Foundation is also a funder of NPR and NPRs blog, which have published numerous articles on VDPV2 and paved the way for Gates nPOV2 vaccine as the solution.

Critics, including sociologist Linsey McGoey and many scientists working in low-income settings have noted that as money is lavished on polio, millions of children are left vulnerable to a slew of often deadly, preventable diseases.

Thats because Gates funding not only funnels money into this single issue  or whatever single issue the foundation is interested in at any given time  but the terms of its grants often require commitments of funding, personnel and other resources from recipient nations.

As a result, the continued focus on polio is disproportionate to the need, diverting resources from other health issues and diseases, according to Robert Fortner, freelance science journalist, writing in the BMJ.

For example, Dr. Oliver Razum, an epidemiologist at the University of Bielefeld, Germany pointed to India, where the sheer number of [Gates-funded polio] doses that had to be distributed, twice a year, literally left no space in refrigerators for other vaccines against diseases such as measles.

Fortner also reported that polio funds from the Gates Foundation have led to local brain drains, with doctors, researchers and practitioners moved into eradication and away from local and locally funded health priorities.

Even The Lancet published a similar critique of Gates back in 2009.

Dr. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief wrote in an editorial that, Grants made by the Foundation do not reflect the burden of disease endured by those in deepest poverty, and there is an alarmingly poor correlation between the Foundations funding and childhood disease priorities.

Important health programmes are being distorted by large grants from the Gates Foundation, Horton said, adding, There is also a serious anxiety about the transparency of the Foundations operation.

In the wake of the Gates Foundations role in the COVID-19 epidemic, many more people express similar concerns today.

Read more at: ChildrensHealthDefense.org
(Natural News) Most of America is well aware of who Tony Fauci is and what he said and did throughout the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. But did you also know that his wife, Christine Grady, was also involved in perpetrating crimes against humanity?

While Fauci appeared again and again before the nation to speak publicly about his various health directives, Grady, the chief bioethicist at Faucis employer, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was busy behind the scenes creating a moral framework for the agenda.

The Faucis are important to the center-left, because they represent the pinnacle moment of the administrative state  top-down public policy run by an elite group of government scientists, reported Adam Andrzejewski via Open the Books about the matter.

Conversely, to the center-right, the Faucis represent the fatal conceit of the elites. As Noble Laureate economist Friedrich Hayek theorized, the elites are no match for billions of free people acting in their own best interests.

(Related: Last year, it was also revealed that Grady pushed for young children to be enrolled in her husbands covid injection trials.)

Fauci gained strength to oppress America from his wife Christine

While working as chief bioethicist at the NIH, Grady out-earned the United States vice president herself, raking in $243,749 that we know of for her work. Adding in the 35 percent in benefits she also received, Gradys existence cost taxpayers an estimated $1 million per year.

Faucis own description of his wifes work leaves many questions as to where his work ends and hers begins. Here is what Fauci had to say about his wifes influence on his policy decisions:

Ive benefited greatly from this partnership of overlapping interest and common interest. So, a lot of the things that I do with regard to the development of vaccines, the development of therapies, being involved with outbreaks and pandemics, have ethical overtones to them. I can say that I am very blessed to be living with someone who is very likely, most people think, one of the most outstanding ethicists in the world. To have her in the house  you know, as a consultant on ethical issues  is pretty advantageous.

In other words, Fauci and Grady are the epitome of a conflict of interest, both at work as well as at home around the breakfast and dinner table. And yet the NIH has never once acknowledged that the two work in tandem in this way.

To bring more transparency to the couples devious activities, Andrzejewskis organization filed two federal lawsuits with the public interest law firm Judicial Watch. So far, the NIH has slow-walked the release of many thousands of pages of documents that bear no nepotism waivers, no acknowledgements of conflicting interests, and no records documenting the many violations of federal ethics policies.

Even though Gradys work behind the scenes throughout the scamdemic was described as invaluable by then-director of the NIH Francis Collins, we still to this day have no precise descriptions of what, exactly, Grady was actually doing day to day.

We do know that many of Faucis draconian policies, including the oppressive lockdowns and social isolation measures, came from Grady. Fauci revealed this in a November 2021 interview, stating that he gained his strength to oppress the nation from Grady.

Her background and her experience in really core ethical principles [helped] me to really feel much more comfortable in what I was saying, Fauci revealed candidly, adding that his many conversations with Grady around the dinner table sharpened [his] resolve to tyrannize America.

Will Fauci and his wife ever be prosecuted for their crimes against humanity? Find out more at Treason.news.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The government of the United Kingdom has recently announced that it will begin providing Ukraine with armor-piercing tank rounds containing depleted uranium. The Russian government has warned that using these shells in the ongoing conflict could cause irreparable harm both to soldiers and civilians.

Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons. The rounds retain certain radioactive properties that could end up being harmful.

While not specifically used for its radioactive properties, depleted uranium is extremely dense, a quality that makes it very attractive for modern militaries as a projectile for piercing enemy armor and fortifications.

The U.K.s current plan is to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium shells for use with the British-made Challenger 2 main battle tanks that the U.K. is sending over as part of its latest military aid package.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.K. that if it pushed through with this plan, the nation would respond accordingly, given that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a nuclear component.

Depleted uranium is internationally recognized as a weapon of mass destruction, warned Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, on an episode of his program the Health Ranger Report.

From a military perspective, depleted uranium rounds are very, very effective, noted Adams. However, they are slightly radioactive, and when you use them, you create depleted uranium particulate pollutants, essentially. You basically blanket the area with depleted uranium dust.

Use of depleted uranium rounds would poison Ukraine for centuries

The Russian Ministry of Defense warned that if Britain follows through with its plan to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium shells, it would have a devastating impact on the nations economy and population for centuries. (Related: UK national security compromised by munitions shortage after sending aid to Ukraine.)

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of Russias Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, noted that only members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are known to regularly use armor-piercing tank rounds containing depleted uranium, most notably during the Iraq War, when the United States used at least 300 tons of depleted uranium.

As a result, the radiation situation in the city of Fallujah was much worse than in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the nuclear bombings by the United States, said Kirillov. He even noted that Fallujah is nicknamed the second Chernobyl due to the skyrocketing number of cancer cases in the city caused by radioactivity.

Furthermore, Kirillov warned that the use of depleted uranium munitions would also cause irreparable harm to Ukraines farmlands.

In addition to infecting its own population, this will cause tremendous economic damage to the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine  reducing any export of agricultural produce from Ukrainian territory for many decades, if not centuries to come, he warned.

Learn more about the ever-escalating conflict in Ukraine at UkraineWitness.com.

Watch this episode of the Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, explains how the U.K.s decision to send depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine will end up poisoning people for generations.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Ukrainian commander makes huge admission about condition of countrys armed forces after a year of war.

Putin supporters claim hell use a Poseidon underwater missile to create monstrous radioactive tidal wave to wipe Britain from existence.

Kentucky Democrat: Voters are sick of seeing their taxes go to Ukraine; intellectually bankrupt officials are making nuclear war a reality.

Where are the tens of billions being spent in Ukraine really going? Analysis dares to ask the tough questions.

Handwritten letters from UK prime minister to nuclear sub commanders convey last official orders to crews after doomsday attack.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

RT.com

AlJazeera.com

APNews.com
Because burrowing badgers, which is a protected species in the Netherlands, have taken over the train tracks, authorities are having difficulty.

In addition to signal problems, strikes, and leaves on the tracks, commuters in the Netherlands are dealing with railway chaos brought on by badgers tunneling under the lines. Authorities are finding it difficult to entice the protected animals out of their burrows.

7,000 Protected Burrowing Badgers

There is little natural space for the nation's 7,000 badgers in the highly populated nation. They frequently dig up their homes, or setts, beneath relatively "quiet" railroad embankments, which are conveniently located far from residents or travelers and slightly elevated, preventing flooding in the sett.

The railway track may be compromised in 40 locations, according to recent information from the Netherlands. Rail network manager ProRail is constructing an artificial sett in Friesland to entice wildlife to a safer location.

Aldert Baas, a spokesman for ProRail, stated that since the embankment surrounding the track is made of sand, badgers are drawn to it as a place to build their setts.

According to Baas, there aren't many visitors, which is perfect for the shy badger, and the area is frequently elevated because Friesland is so flat.

This week, ProRail reported that due to an unsafe line caused by a sett under the rails at Esch, trains between Den Bosch station and Boxtel in the south had been stopped. This also affected the movement of goods.

The chief executive of ProRail, John Voppen, stated via the ProRail website that because the protected burrowing badgers are digging under a railway line for the second time in a week, train traffic has to be stopped. This problem takes a long time to solve because we need permission from the appropriate authorities.

Digging Up Burrowing Badgers

If the authorities dig up the sett in Esch, volunteers from Dassenwerkgroep Brabant, the badger work group, are prepared to help any injured animals. Karin Derikx, a board member, feels that it is not yet the right time.

The badgers have waited too long, according to Derikx. Badgers are more reticent in the winter, and they clean up and dig more in the spring. The alarm goes off suddenly for that reason.

The rest of their pregnancy lasts until July. Derikx asserted that Dassenwerkgroep Brabant is aware of the requirements of the train operators; however, the board maintains that the timing is simply inappropriate, The Guardian reports.

Also Read: First Chinese Pangolin Pup Born In Captivity Nursed With Feline Milk -Prague

UPDATE: Eviction and Repairs

To facilitate repairs and the restoration of rail service at Esch in Brabant, rail operator ProRail has begun making preparations to persuade a family of badgers to depart from their den under the rails.

Following a dispute over who should bear the blame for the length of time it has taken to address the issue between ProRail and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO, which issues the permits, permission to evict the protected badgers was granted on Wednesday night.

According to ProRail, they have been permitted to remove the badgers using specific techniques. Because badgers are nocturnal, the activities will be done during the day. They include mowing the grass near the site to deter badgers and installing one-way doors facing the entrance holes to prevent badgers from returning after going out foraging.

ProRail stated that any additional badgers discovered while the sett is being excavated will be tranquilized and treated under the supervision of a veterinarian and an ecologist.

To prevent badgers from trying to dig in again after repairs, wire fencing will be installed. At the end of the following week, ProRail anticipates services between Boxtel and Den Bosch will resume, DutchNews.nl reports.

Related Article: Critically Endangered Sumatran Tiger Gives Birth to Twin Cubs in Chester Zoo - UK
Now present in Florida are invasive mosquito species from South America, another addition to the 90 species of mosquito that the state has.

Another new mosquito species to the state that has the potential to spread diseases carried by mosquitoes has entered the Florida tropics, worrying scientists.

Culex Lactator

A mosquito that only goes by its scientific name, Culex lactator, has already made a permanent home in at least three counties in the Sunshine State, as per the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

A new study conducted by academics at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in the university was just published in the Journal of Medical Entomology. While looking for other exotic mosquito species in Miami-Dade County in 2018, they came across the species.

Culex lactator is prevalent in Central and northern South America, according to the study's lead author Lawrence Reeves, an assistant professor as well as mosquito biologist at the research facility of the university in Vero Beach.

Important mosquito species that spread the West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis viruses are members of the Culex genus.

It is too soon to say whether Culex lactator will make these problems worse, according to Reeves, but the effects are frequently hard to foresee because not all the species of mosquito are equally able to transmit a given virus or other pathogens.

Physically, Culex lactator resembles other mosquito species from Florida that are already well-known. It resembles other mosquito species that are more typical. Due to their similarity, Culex lactator can be simple to overlook in a location.

According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, as Culex lactator is likely to spread throughout the state into environmentally suitable areas, Reeves and his team emphasize how crucial it is to monitor for the presence of the pest.

The climate in Florida and its position relative to the tropics are perfect for non-native mosquito species. The frequency and rate at which new species are appearing in Florida worries scientists. The state is home to up to 17 non-native mosquito species.

According to researchers, non-native mosquito species are being found more frequently. 11 of the 17 non-native species have only been discovered in the last 20 years, and six of the 17 have only been found in the last five.

Like Culex lactator, Aedes albopictus, the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus are introduced non-native species from the tropics and are among the most significant disease vectors in the United States.

Also Read: Mosquitoes Have Evolved Olfactory System for Hunting Human Scents, Study Reveals

90 Mosquito Species in Florida

Collier County, which is located south and east of Naples, Lee County, which is located west of Fort Myers, and the Homestead region of Miami-Dade County have all seen thriving populations of these mosquitoes recently.

Approximately 90 different mosquito species can be found in Florida, according to Reeves, and more are being brought in from other parts of the globe.

The lack of sufficient investigation on the species and any potential disease risk worries scientists.

According to Reeves, the introduction of new mosquito species like this is worrisome because nonnative mosquitoes are largely to blame for Florida's worst mosquito-related problems, and in situations like this, it is challenging to predict what to expect when there is so little known about a mosquito species.

The university estimates that there are over 3,600 different mosquito species in the world.

Reeves claimed that if Florida warms up as a result of climate change, tropical mosquito species may have a better chance of establishing themselves there.

Central America, the Caribbean, and other regions may see an increase in mosquitoes due to an increase in storm frequency and intensity, FOX Weather reports.

Related Article: Mosquito Bite Can Be Trumped by Circadian Rhythm, New Study Reveals
A Mississippi tornado killed multiple people and prompted local authorities to declare a state of emergency in response to the natural disaster.

The deadly tornado slammed fragile structures and left dozens of people injured on Friday, March 24. In addition, another tornado killed at least one person in Alabama as a severe thunderstorm wreaked havoc across the southern US.

The tornadic storms came amid severe weather across the US region. Previous US weather forecasts last week warn of the storm's potential to bring flooding rain, damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes.

The country entered its official meteorological spring season on March 20 and since then experienced a combination of storms in the western, central, and southern parts of the nation.

Mississippi Tornado

A total of at least 25 people were killed during the tornado in Mississippi last Friday and other areas across the state. It was evening hours and people reportedly asleep in their beds when the twister struck the Delta town of Rolling Fork with an approximate population of 2,000 people.

President Joe Biden on Sunday, March 26, declared that Mississippi is in a major disaster and ordered federal aid to support recovery efforts, according to a statement by the White House, as cited by NBC News.

Following the twister onslaught, more forecasts of potential large hails have been reported for some parts of Alabama and Georgia by Sunday afternoon. Related weather events are possible in the coming week starting Monday, March 27. With this, cleanup efforts of downed trees, broken windows, and other debris from the twister.

Also Read: Puerto Rico: Rare Tornado Wreaks Havoc Across the City of Arecibo

Mississippi State of Emergency

Mississippi State Governor Tate Reeves also declared a state of emergency as a response to the damage caused by the whirling vortex of air. On the other hand, the mayor of Rolling Fork, Sharkey County, Eldridge Walker told CNN that the town has been "essentially wiped out," the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, governor Reeves also visited the town of Silver City and city of Winona to meet with residents affected by the disruptive tornado.

The state of emergency will allow local authorities to tap into federal funds, with the primary objective of rebuilding damaged infrastructure and providing affected residents with necessities, including facilities for displaced ones.

Enhanced Fujita Scale

Latest updates reveal that the devastation in Rolling Fork was caused by EF-4 or EF4 tornadoes, as rated by the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Jackson, Mississippi, as reported by The Washington Post on Sunday evening.

The designation of the Mississippi tornado strength is based under the Enhanced Fujita scale, also called as the EF scale, which determines the intensity of tornadoes, with EF0 being the weakest and EF5 being the strongest.

US weather authorities assert that the emergence of tornadoes is common during a severe thunderstorm. In 2022, data from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) showed there were 1,329 initial tornado reports during the year.

Related Article: Tornado Touched Down in Blackwood, New Jersey During Severe Storms on June 9: NWS Confirms
Tornadoes touched down in multiple locations in Georgia such as LaGrange, West Point, Milledgeville, and Pine Mountain, leaving several people injured. This comes as severe storms have continued to pummel the southern US since last week and until Sunday, March 26. Latest weather forecast also warn of further destructive tornado outbreak across the state.

The twisters reportedly damaged houses and buildings, as well as caused power outages and left some residents trapped indoors. Weather authorities also issued tornado alerts, including watches and warnings, prior to the new tornadoes on Sunday morning, wherein EF4 or EF-4 tornadoes under the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale) were recorded.

The Georgia tornado outbreak came after President Joe Biden approved a declaration of emergency for affected residents who survived the deadly tornadoes in Mississippi, where it left 25 people dead, as well as another fatality in Alabama. The severe thunderstorms, which generates the twisters, are expected to spread across the said US region.

Georgia Tornado Outbreak

AccuWeather on Sunday evening reported that a likely tornado struck western Georgia earlier in the day, causing not only several injuries but also significant property damage.

In LaGrange, a city 65 miles southwest of Atlanta, Georgia, a radar picked up a "possible tornado" around 7:00 a.m. EDT (local time) while the storm system was moving east at 40 miles per hour.

It was only an hour later when multiple injuries from the storm was being reported by local emergency management, related reporting by CNN on Sunday afternoon showed at least three people were injured, as cited by AccuWeather.

A similar tornado incident occurred in West Point, a city about 15 miles southwest of La Grange, where reports of trapped individuals under collapsed houses emerged on Sunday morning after a tornado arrived through the city.

An unconfirmed report indicates the twister possibly struck a Kia vehicle assembly plant in West Point, where local authorities advised all crew members to take shelter ahead of the severe storm.

Also Read: Deadly Tornado Prompts Alabama and Georgia to Declare State of Emergency

Tigers Escape Park

The intensity of the Georgia tornado not only caused widespread disruption to its residents but also to animal enclosures.

Officials at the Wild Animal Safari park in Pine Mountain stated through a Facebook post that its facility suffered from "extensive tornado damage," adding no animals or staff were injured but two tigers briefly escaped after several animal enclosures were breached, CNN reported. The large cats were recaptured and returned to a secured enclosure.

Georgia Tornado Alerts

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado alerts for Georgia, where it advised residents of Macon, Linton, Beulah and Underwood, to "take cover now" due to life-threatening risks, as cited by ABC News.

As a result of the destruction, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency, as the Georgia twister was accompanied by torrential rain and flooding. Meanwhile, a tornado watch remains in effect for some areas of Georgia, as well as Alabama, on Sunday afternoon.

Related Article: Georgia Declares State of Emergency due to Tornado Outbreak: Three Deaths Reported Across Southern US
The study, conducted by researchers from Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington and NIWA, discovered significant changes in average summer and winter river flows.

The study's findings were published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology as "Spatiotemporal Trends in Near-natural New Zealand River Flow."

While parts of the North Island have experienced heavy rainfall this summer, long-term trends show that summer river flows in these areas are decreasing on average and are likely to become drier.

Research Finds Dramatic Changes In New Zealand River Flows

"With the exception of Manawatu and Wellington, typical summer river flows have significantly decreased for much of the North Island," said lead author Laura Queen, a Ph.D. candidate at Victoria University of Wellington-based at NIWA.

In winter, the average river flows in the upper North Island have also decreased, but have significantly increased on the West Coast of the South Island, as well as in Fiordland and Southland, as per Phys.org.

The trends they discovered are the result of climate variations, whether natural climate cycles like the El Nino and La Nina oscillations or human-caused climate change.

Queen's next task will be to determine how much each of these factors is contributing to these trends.

According to Queen, human-caused climate change is causing temperatures and atmospheric moisture to rise, as well as shifting wind circulation patterns across New Zealand, with potentially significant consequences for river flow.

The study, led by Queen, was based on long-term data (at least 50 years) collected from 53 sites across the country, ranging from the Awanui catchment in Northland to the Pomahaka in south Otago.

The study focused on rivers in wilderness areas where water flows were unaffected by irrigation, hydroelectric dams, or land use changes like deforestation.

The researchers were able to isolate the effects of climate on river flow by focusing on these remote rivers, according to Queen.

Rather than examining rivers individually, we grouped them and examined how they had changed over time.

Trends that are difficult to see in a single river become clear when data for a group of rivers is examined over at least 50 years.

Winter river flow in the western South Island may have an impact on hydroelectric dam management.

Meanwhile, reduced winter and summer flow in the upper North Island may have an impact on water availability in New Zealand's most densely populated region.

Also Read: Agriculture Affects River Flow Rates

River Flow Changes Over Time

The amount of water flowing down a river at a given time and location is referred to as its discharge, or flow, and is measured in cubic feet per second or cubic meters per second, as per Penn State University.

The discharge at any given point in a river can be calculated as the product of the width (in feet or meters) times the average depth (in feet or meters) times the average velocity (in feet per second or meters per second).

The vast majority of rivers are known to have significant variability in flow over time because inputs from the watershed vary over time in the form of rain events, snowmelt, groundwater seepage, and so on.

Some rivers respond quickly to rainfall runoff or snowmelt, while others respond more slowly, depending on the size of the watershed, the steepness of the hillslopes, the ability of the soils to absorb and retain water (at least temporarily), and the amount of storage in lakes and wetlands.

Related article: Colorado River Flow Likely to Decline by 10 Percent in Next Few Decades: Study
The pain of her stings, according to a mother of four who accidentally fell on a poisonous gympie-gympie plant, was significantly worse than the pain of giving birth.

The Australian woman, Naomi Lewis, 42, was on her mountain bike when she slipped and landed in a stinging plant known as the gympie-gympie plant.

The plant stung her on both of her legs, and the pain was unquestionably the worst she had ever felt.

The mother of four claimed that the pain was simply intolerable.

The body reaches a pain threshold, at which point she started throwing up.

The pain of childbirth, she continued, did not even compare to being stung by the poisonous plant.

Gympie-Gympie Plant

Gympie-gympie plants are indigenous to rainforests in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia.

Its other names are suicide plants, stinging trees, and in some areas, they are known as Queensland Stingers.

These plants resemble nettles on steroids because they have poisonous hairs covering every part of them, including the stem, leaves, and flowers.

These tiny, hollow hairs, which are thought to be more painful to touch compared to any other plant in the world, produce neurotoxins similar to those found in a spider, spider web, and cone snail venom.

The hairs of the plant break off, embed in the skin, and can cling there for up to a year.

Gympietides are the toxins that cause prolonged pain, which lasts for several days or even several weeks after the sting, preventing some pain receptors from being turned off.

Worst Pain

The pain typically starts as soon as the skin makes contact with the stinging hairs, builds to a peak 20 to 30 minutes later, and then gradually subsides.

Lewis' husband tried to remove the plant's hypodermic hairs from her legs after she collided with it by taking her to a nearby pharmacy to purchase leg wax.

Lewis claimed that while she was waiting for the ambulance, she had everyone wax her legs, but the pain caused her to throw up.

Others who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with this unsuspecting stinger have expressed their pain in comparable terms.

The worst kind of pain anybody can experience is being stung, according to ecologist and entomologist Marina Hurley, who wrote about it in a Conversation article.

She compared it to being electrocuted and burned with hot acid.

In her postgraduate studies at James Cook University, Hurley came across the tree, an encounter from which she drew her insights.

Also Read: 5 Dangerous Flowering Plants Found in Texas

First Aid

Lewis stayed in Cairns Private Hospital for seven days receiving pain relief from hot blankets and medication.

Doctors from Cairns Hospital discussed and observed how many people, including Lewis, try waxing and other treatments before going to the hospital in a study that was published in the journal Emergency Medicine Australasia.

Other attempts included consuming alcohol, using a tourniquet, and treating the painful area with mud, urine, bicarbonate, ice, and hot or cold water.

The Cape Tribulation Tropical Research Station advises soaking the area in 3% diluted hydrochloric acid for 30 minutes before waxing to get rid of as many hairs as you can.

Lewis continued to experience pain when her legs are exposed to an air-conditioned environment for months after the accident, according to Newsweek.

Related Article: Poisonous Death Cap Mushroom Clones Itself, Invades California


Why not pray for Muslims during Ramadan? Why not pray for Muslims during Ramadan?

Alan Hallmart encourages us to take part in 30 Days of Prayer to pray for the Muslim community during the current Ramadan season.

For our Muslim friends, colleagues and neighbours, March once again marks the start of one of the biggest moments in their calendar year  Ramadan. Preparations have been made for weeks without eating or drinking in daylight hours from March 22nd to April 20th, which this year overlaps with Lent, when many Christians are also fasting.



This March also celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World movement (30 Days of Prayer), which calls the church to make a more deliberate effort to learn about, pray for and reach out to our Muslim neighbours, both locally & overseas. The movement coincides annually with Ramadan, when many Muslims are focused on spiritual matters.



Knowing how to pray for our Muslim neighbours can feel like a difficult proposition, and we have not been helped by ill-informed narratives that influence how we feel and think about Islamic culture. Sadly, these narratives have often overlooked all that there is to admire and learn from our Muslim neighbours, leaving us unable to connect with their culture and religious perspectives, and struggling to know how to pray.



What a shame this is, as there is so much to celebrate! To help Christians better connect with, pray for and impact the Muslim world this year, the 30 Days of Prayer movement is encouraging participants to see beyond this narrative and give them a broader understanding of how to practically love their Muslim neighbours and appreciate their beautiful culture.



My friend of many years, Dr David Garrison, author of A Wind in the House of Islam, notes that during the same period that the 30 Days of Prayer movement has been going, there has been a slow but steady movement of people with Muslim backgrounds coming to Christ. In fact, more Muslims have willingly decided to follow Christ in the last three decades than in all the previous 1,400 years of Christian / Muslim interaction put together. Prayer changes things!



Getting to know your Muslim neighbours can be both a fun and an eye-opening experience. When talking to my colleague Dennis recently at Operation Mobilisation  a global Christian movement seeking to share the love of Jesus around the world - he commented that the Turkish Muslim communities in London and the South East where he plants churches never meet together without offering hospitality. There is never a meeting without food; it just wouldnt happen; everyone brings a dish to share.



It sounds so biblical! Many of the stories in the gospels are centred around sharing meals. Hospitality plays a huge part in Islamic culture too, and one of Gods names in Islam is Al-Kareem which means the generous. The view we have of God always shapes a culture and this importance placed on generosity impacts Muslims in the same way. When I go out with Muslim friends, I know there will be a fight about who will pay for the food and the drinks. Not because nobody wants to pay, but because everyone is trying to pay for everyone else!



Alongside hospitality, I have found art a powerful way of connecting with my Muslim neighbours. After living in Alexandria, Egypt for 15 years where I taught industrial art, I became fascinated with Islamic art styles. My default medium to work in is wood, so when an artist friend gave me a piece of driftwood, made from Mahogany, which had washed ashore, I decided to carve it with Christian and Muslim symbols, pictured right. Muslims believe your good deeds will be weighed against your bad deeds on the day of judgement. So, I took the balance and played with its shape, creating a cross within it and carving two of Allahs 99 names into each side of the scales - El Adel, the Just and El Rahman, the Merciful.



These art pieces have generated a lot of interest with my Muslim neighbours and sparked priceless conversations, many of their responses have really surprised me. Some have been quizzical or confused, some have been moved to tears as they contemplate their meaning; the cross being where His justice and mercy meet.



God is Love. This is the door. Art, for many people, reaches places that words cannot penetrate, but it is not the only method of doing so. Understanding Muslim culture is key to unlocking more conversations and talking to our friends and neighbours about Jesus.



We have seen God move in Islamic communities in the UK and worldwide during the 30 years since the 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World started. But there is a lot we can still do to fully love our Muslim neighbours; can we take the time to learn about, pray for and reach out to their communities thanking God for how he is already moving amongst them?



To get involved in OMs 30 Days of Prayer, visit: uk.om.org/30-days-prayer



This article has also appeared in Christian Today .



The images of Alans work are courtesy of Alan Hallmart. The calligraphy has the message of John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life".



Alan Hallmart serves with Operation Mobilisation, an organisation which exists to see vibrant communities of Jesus followers among the least reached.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: All efforts of the lenders to maximise the realisation from the corporate insolvency resolution process of Reliance Capital might come to a naught as bidders have started pulling out of the bidding process. This could even mean Reliance Capital might go for liquidation.

Sources told TNIE that two main bidders Torrent Investments and IIHL of Hinduja Group have expressed inability to go ahead with the second round of auction. Torrent Investments has conveyed to the lenders that the company is not willing to participate in the second round of auction, while Hinduja Group has also said it wants to withdraw its post-auction revised bid of R9,000 crore and retain the old offer of R8,110 crore made in the first auction held on 21 December 2022.

Other bidders -- Cosmea Financial and Piramal -- have written to the Administrator seeking refund of their Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of R75 crore each, as both the companies do not wish to further participate in the ongoing resolution process.

The latest developments come as a big setback for the lenders who were hoping to maximise the realisation from the insolvency process by conducting a second round of auction, with a base price of R9,500 crore. Sources said if lenders and bidders fail to reach a workable solution to end the stalemate, Reliance Capital might go for liquidation. Only recently the Supreme Court gave a go-ahead to the lenders for the second round of auctions.

Torrent Investments, which emerged as the highest bidder in the first round of auction on 21 December with a bid of R 8,640 crore had opposed the second round of auction. Two independent valuers -- RBSA and Duff & Phelps -- have pegged the liquidation value of Reliance Capital at R13,000 crore, which is higher than the Torrents highest bid of R8,640 crore.

Hinduja Group, which was the second highest bidder in the first round, had revised its bid after the auctions and offered to pay R9,000 crore in upfront cash. Torrent opposed the IIHLs post-auction revised bid of R9,000 crore as invalid, and challenged IIHLs revised bid and the second round of auction as well in the NCLT.

According to bankers involved in the process, Torrent in the CoC meeting held on 25 March suggested conducting a Swiss Challenge auction with their earlier bid of R8,640 crore as the threshold. If lenders agree to this, Torrent will have the first right to match any counter offer from IIHL of Hinduja Group, the source said.

NEW DELHI: All efforts of the lenders to maximise the realisation from the corporate insolvency resolution process of Reliance Capital might come to a naught as bidders have started pulling out of the bidding process. This could even mean Reliance Capital might go for liquidation. Sources told TNIE that two main bidders Torrent Investments and IIHL of Hinduja Group have expressed inability to go ahead with the second round of auction. Torrent Investments has conveyed to the lenders that the company is not willing to participate in the second round of auction, while Hinduja Group has also said it wants to withdraw its post-auction revised bid of R9,000 crore and retain the old offer of R8,110 crore made in the first auction held on 21 December 2022. Other bidders -- Cosmea Financial and Piramal -- have written to the Administrator seeking refund of their Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of R75 crore each, as both the companies do not wish to further participate in the ongoing resolution process. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The latest developments come as a big setback for the lenders who were hoping to maximise the realisation from the insolvency process by conducting a second round of auction, with a base price of R9,500 crore. Sources said if lenders and bidders fail to reach a workable solution to end the stalemate, Reliance Capital might go for liquidation. Only recently the Supreme Court gave a go-ahead to the lenders for the second round of auctions. Torrent Investments, which emerged as the highest bidder in the first round of auction on 21 December with a bid of R 8,640 crore had opposed the second round of auction. Two independent valuers -- RBSA and Duff & Phelps -- have pegged the liquidation value of Reliance Capital at R13,000 crore, which is higher than the Torrents highest bid of R8,640 crore. Hinduja Group, which was the second highest bidder in the first round, had revised its bid after the auctions and offered to pay R9,000 crore in upfront cash. Torrent opposed the IIHLs post-auction revised bid of R9,000 crore as invalid, and challenged IIHLs revised bid and the second round of auction as well in the NCLT. According to bankers involved in the process, Torrent in the CoC meeting held on 25 March suggested conducting a Swiss Challenge auction with their earlier bid of R8,640 crore as the threshold. If lenders agree to this, Torrent will have the first right to match any counter offer from IIHL of Hinduja Group, the source said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: TVS Motor Company on Monday said it has introduced seven new products in Ghana, Africa.

The company has launched various new models like Apache 180 and Neo NX among others.

"We take pride in our diverse and robust product portfolio that encompasses Bebeks, motorcycles, and three-wheelers, catering to the needs of customers seeking daily and last-mile connectivity in Ghana, "TVS Motor Company Vice President, International Business, Rahul Nayak said in a statement.

"Our products are engineered specifically to cater to the demands of the African market while delivering superior quality and reliability," he added.

He said that with the launch of these new products, the company aims to offer a hassle-free experience, unmatched after-sales service and affordable genuine spares.

TVS Motor ranks amongst the top five two-wheeler companies in the world with a presence in over 80 countries across Africa, South East Asia, the Indian Sub-Continent, Latin America and the Middle East.

ALSO READ | Limited edition BMW bikes!

NEW DELHI: TVS Motor Company on Monday said it has introduced seven new products in Ghana, Africa. The company has launched various new models like Apache 180 and Neo NX among others. "We take pride in our diverse and robust product portfolio that encompasses Bebeks, motorcycles, and three-wheelers, catering to the needs of customers seeking daily and last-mile connectivity in Ghana, "TVS Motor Company Vice President, International Business, Rahul Nayak said in a statement.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Our products are engineered specifically to cater to the demands of the African market while delivering superior quality and reliability," he added. He said that with the launch of these new products, the company aims to offer a hassle-free experience, unmatched after-sales service and affordable genuine spares. TVS Motor ranks amongst the top five two-wheeler companies in the world with a presence in over 80 countries across Africa, South East Asia, the Indian Sub-Continent, Latin America and the Middle East. ALSO READ | Limited edition BMW bikes!
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: In a corner of the sprawling hall where discussions on electric vehicles were taking place on Monday during an international conference on Short Haul Mobility, stood a majestic white drone, Indias biggest in terms of the load it can carry and the distance it can traverse. The all-electric unmanned vehicle which will have a vertical take-off is now undergoing ground tests with its crucial Cruise Test set to happen in two months.

A special container vehicle in which it was meticulously packaged, transported it carefully for the event from Chennai to Bengaluru in nearly double the usual time taken for travel between the two cities. Incubated at IIT Madras, it has been developed by The ePlane Company, founded by Professor Satya Chakravarthy in 2019.

Senior Aerodynamics Engineer Mukundan Dakshinamoorthy, told The New Indian Express, This hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has a take-off weight of 200 kg including 50 kg of payload. The huge plus point is that it can travel up to 200 km powered by its lithium ion batteries at a speed of 160 km/hr. Drones operational in India presently carry weights ranging between 5 kg and 10 kg and fly a maximum distance of 30 km. The 3 metre by 3 metre vehicle can land on any flat surface unlike helicopters or flights which require a helipad or a runway.

It is quite a beauty with two thermal cameras attractively positioned in the front of it like eyes to capture images. While the battery would be present in the drones body with tiny windows to let in air to keep it cool, the upper half will carry the item to to be transported. Eight set of propellers facilitate the vertical landing while four sets of forward propellers will enable it to cruise through the air.

Our drone has generated enormous interest since morning. We had representatives from courier concern DHL, the ONGC as well as army and navy personnel gather details about it as could prove very useful for them. Presently, drones are used elaborately in agriculture. The ONGC can use it to detect minute gas leaks in its huge pipeline network while the navy would find it very useful for surveillance activities. It is done with helicopter presently which is expensive due to high fuel costs, Dakshinamoorthy explained.

Vishnu Ramakrishnan, a staffer at the concern said the lithium batteries imported from Korea had a capacity of 9KW per hour. Elaborating on the safety features, he said, A trained Drone pilot programmes it for precision landing by mapping out the path it has to travel using a QR code.

Two teams, one at the starting point and one at the destination are available. The concern is working on its ambitious electric plane, e200, which can transport a human being on board but with a pilot steering it.

BENGALURU: In a corner of the sprawling hall where discussions on electric vehicles were taking place on Monday during an international conference on Short Haul Mobility, stood a majestic white drone, Indias biggest in terms of the load it can carry and the distance it can traverse. The all-electric unmanned vehicle which will have a vertical take-off is now undergoing ground tests with its crucial Cruise Test set to happen in two months. A special container vehicle in which it was meticulously packaged, transported it carefully for the event from Chennai to Bengaluru in nearly double the usual time taken for travel between the two cities. Incubated at IIT Madras, it has been developed by The ePlane Company, founded by Professor Satya Chakravarthy in 2019. Senior Aerodynamics Engineer Mukundan Dakshinamoorthy, told The New Indian Express, This hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has a take-off weight of 200 kg including 50 kg of payload. The huge plus point is that it can travel up to 200 km powered by its lithium ion batteries at a speed of 160 km/hr. Drones operational in India presently carry weights ranging between 5 kg and 10 kg and fly a maximum distance of 30 km. The 3 metre by 3 metre vehicle can land on any flat surface unlike helicopters or flights which require a helipad or a runway. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); It is quite a beauty with two thermal cameras attractively positioned in the front of it like eyes to capture images. While the battery would be present in the drones body with tiny windows to let in air to keep it cool, the upper half will carry the item to to be transported. Eight set of propellers facilitate the vertical landing while four sets of forward propellers will enable it to cruise through the air. Our drone has generated enormous interest since morning. We had representatives from courier concern DHL, the ONGC as well as army and navy personnel gather details about it as could prove very useful for them. Presently, drones are used elaborately in agriculture. The ONGC can use it to detect minute gas leaks in its huge pipeline network while the navy would find it very useful for surveillance activities. It is done with helicopter presently which is expensive due to high fuel costs, Dakshinamoorthy explained. Vishnu Ramakrishnan, a staffer at the concern said the lithium batteries imported from Korea had a capacity of 9KW per hour. Elaborating on the safety features, he said, A trained Drone pilot programmes it for precision landing by mapping out the path it has to travel using a QR code. Two teams, one at the starting point and one at the destination are available. The concern is working on its ambitious electric plane, e200, which can transport a human being on board but with a pilot steering it.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chennai corporation Mayor R Priya presented her second corporation budget on Monday, with roads, stormwater drains and education taking centre stage.

With the revenue deficit at Rs 335 crores, the budget allocated Rs 881.2 crores for bus route roads and Rs 1,482 crores for stormwater drains. To construct new bridges and widen existing ones, Rs 102.5 crores has been allocated and Rs 260.5 crores has been allocated for solid waste management in the city.

The civic body projects a property tax collection of Rs 1680 crores in the year 2023-2024.

Among major announcements, the city corporation is looking to counter haphazard parking in the city by forming a dedicated parking and transportation development committee. The on-street parking, which is managed by private companies in zones 8,9 and 10, will be extended to other zones.

A model school will be constructed at the cost of Rs 6.26 crores at the government higher secondary school with a contribution of Rs 3.13 crores from Capital and Hope Foundation India

Under Makkalai Thedi Mayor, the mayor will address the grievances of city residents in all 15 zones of the city corporation. Residents can hand over petitions to the mayor at the regional offices. From the year 2023-2024, the ward development funds per councillor will be increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 lakhs per year.



CHENNAI: Chennai corporation Mayor R Priya presented her second corporation budget on Monday, with roads, stormwater drains and education taking centre stage. With the revenue deficit at Rs 335 crores, the budget allocated Rs 881.2 crores for bus route roads and Rs 1,482 crores for stormwater drains. To construct new bridges and widen existing ones, Rs 102.5 crores has been allocated and Rs 260.5 crores has been allocated for solid waste management in the city. The civic body projects a property tax collection of Rs 1680 crores in the year 2023-2024. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Among major announcements, the city corporation is looking to counter haphazard parking in the city by forming a dedicated parking and transportation development committee. The on-street parking, which is managed by private companies in zones 8,9 and 10, will be extended to other zones. A model school will be constructed at the cost of Rs 6.26 crores at the government higher secondary school with a contribution of Rs 3.13 crores from Capital and Hope Foundation India Under Makkalai Thedi Mayor, the mayor will address the grievances of city residents in all 15 zones of the city corporation. Residents can hand over petitions to the mayor at the regional offices. From the year 2023-2024, the ward development funds per councillor will be increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 lakhs per year.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The garbage heaps at Brahmapuram dump yard in Kochi caught fire again on Sunday, triggering panic among city residents. The fire, which was noticed around 4.30 pm, was quickly doused by two fire tenders stationed at the plant as a precautionary measure.

It was only 12 days ago that a major fire at the waste dump yard was doused after a weeks-long effort. The toxic smoke emanating out of the yard had enveloped Kochi for days, leading to a public outcry and a radical overhaul of the systems in place.

It was decided then that five fire tenders will be stationed at Brahmapuram to quell any further fires at the yard. This proved effective as the fire on Sunday was doused in a matter of minutes. However, smoke is still emanating from the garbage heap.

The watchers who were on duty at the plant noticed the fire and informed the officials. Two fire tenders were pressed into action, and within 15 minutes, the situation was brought under control. Efforts are on to contain the smoke emanating from the garbage heaps.

We are monitoring the situation closely, Ernakulam District Collector N S K Umesh said, adding that the Regional Fire Officer and the Sub Collector are also monitoring the situation. The fire broke out in sector 7 of the yard, the same place where the major fire broke out on March 2.

As per a preliminary report, smouldering is assumed to be the cause of the fire. With temperatures soaring, chances of similar incidents are high, the collector said but urged people not to panic. We have already deployed fire watchers, home guards, fire and rescue officers, and a sufficient number of earthmovers to initiate action in case of any emergency. There is no need to panic, he added.

Meanwhile, Mayor M Anilkumar said that all the necessary measures had been taken to douse the fire at Brahmapuram in coordination with the district collector and Fire and Rescue officials.

At the site, there are five fire tenders to douse any fire, and more will be pressed into service if required. The fire is under control. We were able to douse the fire quickly with the help of fire officials stationed at the site, the Mayor said.

Quick Action

The fire, which was noticed around 4.30 pm, was quickly doused by two fire tenders stationed at the plant for a round-the-clock vigil

Broke out in sector 7 of the yard, the same place where the major fire broke out on March 2

Fire watchers, home guards, fire and rescue officers, and earthmovers were deployed in case of any emergency

KOCHI: The garbage heaps at Brahmapuram dump yard in Kochi caught fire again on Sunday, triggering panic among city residents. The fire, which was noticed around 4.30 pm, was quickly doused by two fire tenders stationed at the plant as a precautionary measure. It was only 12 days ago that a major fire at the waste dump yard was doused after a weeks-long effort. The toxic smoke emanating out of the yard had enveloped Kochi for days, leading to a public outcry and a radical overhaul of the systems in place. It was decided then that five fire tenders will be stationed at Brahmapuram to quell any further fires at the yard. This proved effective as the fire on Sunday was doused in a matter of minutes. However, smoke is still emanating from the garbage heap.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The watchers who were on duty at the plant noticed the fire and informed the officials. Two fire tenders were pressed into action, and within 15 minutes, the situation was brought under control. Efforts are on to contain the smoke emanating from the garbage heaps. We are monitoring the situation closely, Ernakulam District Collector N S K Umesh said, adding that the Regional Fire Officer and the Sub Collector are also monitoring the situation. The fire broke out in sector 7 of the yard, the same place where the major fire broke out on March 2. As per a preliminary report, smouldering is assumed to be the cause of the fire. With temperatures soaring, chances of similar incidents are high, the collector said but urged people not to panic. We have already deployed fire watchers, home guards, fire and rescue officers, and a sufficient number of earthmovers to initiate action in case of any emergency. There is no need to panic, he added. Meanwhile, Mayor M Anilkumar said that all the necessary measures had been taken to douse the fire at Brahmapuram in coordination with the district collector and Fire and Rescue officials. At the site, there are five fire tenders to douse any fire, and more will be pressed into service if required. The fire is under control. We were able to douse the fire quickly with the help of fire officials stationed at the site, the Mayor said. Quick Action The fire, which was noticed around 4.30 pm, was quickly doused by two fire tenders stationed at the plant for a round-the-clock vigil Broke out in sector 7 of the yard, the same place where the major fire broke out on March 2 Fire watchers, home guards, fire and rescue officers, and earthmovers were deployed in case of any emergency
K Krishnachand By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Standoff between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the officials of the Thiruvarattukavu Devi temple, over land acquisition procedures in connection with the construction of the Attingal bypass, is likely to delay the development of the Kazhakootam-Kadampattukonam National Highway (NH) 66 project.

Though the NHAI received an order in its favour from the High Court, regarding the acquisition of land from the temple premises, the shrine authorities remain adamant about not allowing the proceedings. The people associated with the temple blocked the NHAI officials and the contractor three days ago when they reached the spot to clear the land. Now, the work on that section has been stalled.

The NHAI has written to the district collector seeking intervention to resolve the issue. As per the letter sent by the NHAI on March 23, the work has been halted due to opposition from the temple authorities.

Since the authorities were told that the temple structure will not be demolished and the contractor is already mobilised, the delay in the work will attract penalties as per the contract agreement provisions. So, urgent action is required to complete the land acquisition proceedings,  the letter stated. P Pradeep, project director, of NHAI, said that the district administration has to intervene in the issue.

The land clearing for the construction of the Attingal bypass is almost done. Though we acquired the land and completed the clearing procedure, we havent touched the structure of the temple. Since the case filed by the temple authorities was disposed of, we have all rights to acquire the land. Unfortunately, the temple authorities are opposing the proceedings, Pradeep said.

According to R Nandakumar, president, Attingal History Lovers Association, the Thiruvarrattukavu temple is a historical monument and should be preserved. A simple structure can be demolished and reconstructed. But that is not the case with a historical monument. The temple is around 716 years old. Besides, the NHAI did not comply with the instructions of the High Court in appointing a competent officer to address the issues.

There is a lot of barren land near the temple that the NHAI can acquire. But they are adamant that they will acquire the land close to the temple to help the real estate lobby. Moreover, a social impact assessment study was not also conducted here,  he said.

Meanwhile, a top official with the land acquisition wing of the district administration said they cannot intervene in the issue now as the aggrieved parties will approach the court again. Earlier, the NHAI could not acquire 44 cents of land near Thiruvarattukavu temple as the TDB approached the HC with a writ petition against the land acquisition, citing that the structure is of archaeological importance.

They also secured a stay order. However, the HC dismissed the petition and asked the NHAI to go on with the construction. Though the revenue authorities had a meeting with the temple authorities recently, it failed to reach a consensus, sources said. In 2021, the HC issued a landmark decision stating that if religious institutions are harmed during the construction of National Highways, God will forgive the petitioners, the authorities, and the author of the decision.

KEY POINTS

The people associated with the temple blocked the NHAI officials and the contractor three days ago when they reached the spot to clear the land

Now, the work on that section has been stalled. The NHAI has written to the district collector seeking intervention to resolve the issue

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Standoff between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the officials of the Thiruvarattukavu Devi temple, over land acquisition procedures in connection with the construction of the Attingal bypass, is likely to delay the development of the Kazhakootam-Kadampattukonam National Highway (NH) 66 project. Though the NHAI received an order in its favour from the High Court, regarding the acquisition of land from the temple premises, the shrine authorities remain adamant about not allowing the proceedings. The people associated with the temple blocked the NHAI officials and the contractor three days ago when they reached the spot to clear the land. Now, the work on that section has been stalled. The NHAI has written to the district collector seeking intervention to resolve the issue. As per the letter sent by the NHAI on March 23, the work has been halted due to opposition from the temple authorities. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Since the authorities were told that the temple structure will not be demolished and the contractor is already mobilised, the delay in the work will attract penalties as per the contract agreement provisions. So, urgent action is required to complete the land acquisition proceedings,  the letter stated. P Pradeep, project director, of NHAI, said that the district administration has to intervene in the issue. The land clearing for the construction of the Attingal bypass is almost done. Though we acquired the land and completed the clearing procedure, we havent touched the structure of the temple. Since the case filed by the temple authorities was disposed of, we have all rights to acquire the land. Unfortunately, the temple authorities are opposing the proceedings, Pradeep said. According to R Nandakumar, president, Attingal History Lovers Association, the Thiruvarrattukavu temple is a historical monument and should be preserved. A simple structure can be demolished and reconstructed. But that is not the case with a historical monument. The temple is around 716 years old. Besides, the NHAI did not comply with the instructions of the High Court in appointing a competent officer to address the issues. There is a lot of barren land near the temple that the NHAI can acquire. But they are adamant that they will acquire the land close to the temple to help the real estate lobby. Moreover, a social impact assessment study was not also conducted here,  he said. Meanwhile, a top official with the land acquisition wing of the district administration said they cannot intervene in the issue now as the aggrieved parties will approach the court again. Earlier, the NHAI could not acquire 44 cents of land near Thiruvarattukavu temple as the TDB approached the HC with a writ petition against the land acquisition, citing that the structure is of archaeological importance. They also secured a stay order. However, the HC dismissed the petition and asked the NHAI to go on with the construction. Though the revenue authorities had a meeting with the temple authorities recently, it failed to reach a consensus, sources said. In 2021, the HC issued a landmark decision stating that if religious institutions are harmed during the construction of National Highways, God will forgive the petitioners, the authorities, and the author of the decision. KEY POINTS The people associated with the temple blocked the NHAI officials and the contractor three days ago when they reached the spot to clear the land Now, the work on that section has been stalled. The NHAI has written to the district collector seeking intervention to resolve the issue
By Express News Service

Veteran actor Innocent breathed his last in the late hours of Sunday. Actor Mohanlal penned a heartfelt note condoling the veteran's demise.

Taking to his Facebook handle, Mohanlal wrote in Malayalam that he could not describe the grief. He says, "My mind still tells me to believe that you're not gone."

Mohanlal concluded the note by saying, "My Innocent will always be with me every moment with that innocent smile, love and admonition. You will still be here to run for anything wherever you are."

Innocent was 75. The actor, a cancer survivor after he was detected with the deadly disease as far back as 2012, had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi for the last two-and-half weeks for breathing issues.

He is survived by his wife, Alice and son, Sonnet.

ALSO READ | Innocent: A versatile actor who managed the political plot too

The actor was known for his comedy roles, unique style and dialogue delivery in a career spanning over four decades and 500 films.

Innocent was also a former member of Lok Sabha from 2014-19, winning the seat from Kerala's Chalakkudy constituency as an independent candidate backed by the Left. He also served as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for several years.

He is also the author of five books, including Njan Innocent and Cancer Wardile Chiri (Laughter in the Cancer Ward), where he narrates his experiences while undergoing treatment for throat cancer.

His work Irinjalakudakku Chuttum won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Humour in 2020.

Veteran actor Innocent breathed his last in the late hours of Sunday. Actor Mohanlal penned a heartfelt note condoling the veteran's demise. Taking to his Facebook handle, Mohanlal wrote in Malayalam that he could not describe the grief. He says, "My mind still tells me to believe that you're not gone." Mohanlal concluded the note by saying, "My Innocent will always be with me every moment with that innocent smile, love and admonition. You will still be here to run for anything wherever you are."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Innocent was 75. The actor, a cancer survivor after he was detected with the deadly disease as far back as 2012, had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi for the last two-and-half weeks for breathing issues. He is survived by his wife, Alice and son, Sonnet. ALSO READ | Innocent: A versatile actor who managed the political plot too The actor was known for his comedy roles, unique style and dialogue delivery in a career spanning over four decades and 500 films. Innocent was also a former member of Lok Sabha from 2014-19, winning the seat from Kerala's Chalakkudy constituency as an independent candidate backed by the Left. He also served as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for several years. He is also the author of five books, including Njan Innocent and Cancer Wardile Chiri (Laughter in the Cancer Ward), where he narrates his experiences while undergoing treatment for throat cancer. His work Irinjalakudakku Chuttum won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Humour in 2020.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: "I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right," said Bilkis Bano, who has moved the Supreme Court challenging the remission and release of 11 convicts in the 2002 case related to her gangrape and murder of seven members of her family.

Bano was 21 years old and five-month pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the 2002 Gujarat riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident.

Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

In her two separate petitions, she has challenged the premature release of the convicts by the Gujarat government on August 15, saying it has "shaken the conscience of society".

In a statement, issued on Thursday, she said, "The decision to once again stand up and knock on the doors of justice was not easy for me. For a long time, after the men who destroyed my entire family and my life were released, I was simply numb. I was paralysed with shock and with fear for my children, my daughters, and above all, paralysed by loss of hope."

She added, "But, the spaces of my silence were filled with other voices; voices of support from different parts of the country that have given me hope in the face of unimaginable despair; and made me feel less alone in my pain. I cannot express in words what this support has meant to me."

ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

Bano said the support to her cause from different parts of the country has helped her in rekindling her faith in humanity and renewed her courage to believe again in the idea of justice.

"So, I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right. I do this today for myself, for my children, and for women everywhere", she said.

NEW DELHI: "I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right," said Bilkis Bano, who has moved the Supreme Court challenging the remission and release of 11 convicts in the 2002 case related to her gangrape and murder of seven members of her family. Bano was 21 years old and five-month pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the 2002 Gujarat riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In her two separate petitions, she has challenged the premature release of the convicts by the Gujarat government on August 15, saying it has "shaken the conscience of society". In a statement, issued on Thursday, she said, "The decision to once again stand up and knock on the doors of justice was not easy for me. For a long time, after the men who destroyed my entire family and my life were released, I was simply numb. I was paralysed with shock and with fear for my children, my daughters, and above all, paralysed by loss of hope." She added, "But, the spaces of my silence were filled with other voices; voices of support from different parts of the country that have given me hope in the face of unimaginable despair; and made me feel less alone in my pain. I cannot express in words what this support has meant to me." ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC Bano said the support to her cause from different parts of the country has helped her in rekindling her faith in humanity and renewed her courage to believe again in the idea of justice. "So, I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right. I do this today for myself, for my children, and for women everywhere", she said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday assured Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven members of her family killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots, that her plea against the remission of the sentence of 11 convicts will be heard soon after the constitution of a new bench.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala assured Bano, represented through her lawyer Shobha Gupta, that the new bench will be formed at the earliest.

Gupta mentioned the matter for urgent hearingand said that a new bench needs to be constituted by the Chief Justice of India as Justice Bela M Trivedi recused from hearing the plea.

CJI Chandrachud said, "I will do so at the earliest. The matter will be listed soon".

Earlier, on January 24, the hearing on Bano's plea challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the gang-rape case by the Gujarat government could not be held in the top court as the judges concerned were hearing a matter related to passive euthanasia as part of a five-judge Constitution bench.

On that day, the petition was listed for hearing before a bench of Justices Rastogi and CT Ravikumar.

Both Justices Rastogi and Ravikumar were then busy hearing, as part of a Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph, the pleas seeking modification of guidelines on the execution of a "Living Will or Advance Medical Directive" for permitting passive euthanasia.

On January 4, Justice Trivedi had recused from hearing a batch of pleas challenging the remission of the sentence of 11 convicts in Bano's case.

Bano had moved the apex court on November 30, 2022 challenging the "premature" release of 11 lifers by the state government, saying it has "shaken the conscience of society".

Besides the plea challenging the release of the convicts, the gang-rape survivor had also filed a separate petition seeking a review of the apex court's May 13, 2022 order on a plea by a convict.

In its May 13, 2022 order, the apex court had asked the state government to consider the plea of a convict for premature release in terms of its policy of July 9, 1992 which was applicable on the date of conviction and decide it within a period of two months.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, last year. Bano's review plea against the May 13, 2022 order, however, was dismissed by the top court in December last year.

The victim, in her pending writ petition, has said the state government passed a "mechanical order" completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

"The en-masse premature release of the convicts in the much talked about case of Bilkis Bano has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country," she has said in the plea.

Referring to past verdicts, the plea said en-masse remissions are not permissible and, moreover, such a relief cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.

"The present writ petition challenging the decision of the State/ Central Government granting remission to all the 11 convicts and releasing them prematurely in one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality," it said.

The plea, which gave minute details of the crime, said Bilkis and her grown-up daughters were "shell-shocked with this sudden development".

"When the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated," it said.

The top court is already seized of PILs filed by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, Revati Laul, an independent journalist, Roop Rekha Verma, who is a former vice chancellor of the Lucknow University, and TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the release of the convicts.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident.

Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed. The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court.

A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven members of her family. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday assured Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven members of her family killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots, that her plea against the remission of the sentence of 11 convicts will be heard soon after the constitution of a new bench. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala assured Bano, represented through her lawyer Shobha Gupta, that the new bench will be formed at the earliest. Gupta mentioned the matter for urgent hearingand said that a new bench needs to be constituted by the Chief Justice of India as Justice Bela M Trivedi recused from hearing the plea.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); CJI Chandrachud said, "I will do so at the earliest. The matter will be listed soon". Earlier, on January 24, the hearing on Bano's plea challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the gang-rape case by the Gujarat government could not be held in the top court as the judges concerned were hearing a matter related to passive euthanasia as part of a five-judge Constitution bench. On that day, the petition was listed for hearing before a bench of Justices Rastogi and CT Ravikumar. Both Justices Rastogi and Ravikumar were then busy hearing, as part of a Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph, the pleas seeking modification of guidelines on the execution of a "Living Will or Advance Medical Directive" for permitting passive euthanasia. On January 4, Justice Trivedi had recused from hearing a batch of pleas challenging the remission of the sentence of 11 convicts in Bano's case. Bano had moved the apex court on November 30, 2022 challenging the "premature" release of 11 lifers by the state government, saying it has "shaken the conscience of society". Besides the plea challenging the release of the convicts, the gang-rape survivor had also filed a separate petition seeking a review of the apex court's May 13, 2022 order on a plea by a convict. In its May 13, 2022 order, the apex court had asked the state government to consider the plea of a convict for premature release in terms of its policy of July 9, 1992 which was applicable on the date of conviction and decide it within a period of two months. All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, last year. Bano's review plea against the May 13, 2022 order, however, was dismissed by the top court in December last year. The victim, in her pending writ petition, has said the state government passed a "mechanical order" completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court. "The en-masse premature release of the convicts in the much talked about case of Bilkis Bano has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country," she has said in the plea. Referring to past verdicts, the plea said en-masse remissions are not permissible and, moreover, such a relief cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime. "The present writ petition challenging the decision of the State/ Central Government granting remission to all the 11 convicts and releasing them prematurely in one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality," it said. The plea, which gave minute details of the crime, said Bilkis and her grown-up daughters were "shell-shocked with this sudden development". "When the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated," it said. The top court is already seized of PILs filed by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, Revati Laul, an independent journalist, Roop Rekha Verma, who is a former vice chancellor of the Lucknow University, and TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the release of the convicts. Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed. The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court. A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven members of her family. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned by the Ministry of External

Affairs (MEA) on Saturday to convey the nations concern about the actions of separatist and extremist elements against Indias diplomatic mission and consulates in Canada this week.

The Government of India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic mission and consulates. The Government of Canada was reminded of its obligations under the Vienna Convention, and asked to arrest and prosecute the individuals who have already been identified as being involved in such acts, according to the MEA.

India said it hoped that the Canadian government will take necessary steps to ensure the safety of Indian diplomats and the security of diplomatic premises so that they are able to fulfill their normal diplomatic functions.

Khalistani supporters have been trying to vandalise Indian missions in the UK, US, Australia and Canada and India has been taking a strong view of the same. Canada is home to one of the largest populations of Sikh outside India.

Last Sunday, an event scheduled to be attended by the Indian envoy to Canada was cancelled due to concerns following a protest by Khalistan supporters. Journalist Sameer Kaushal, who was at the venue to cover the protest, was also reportedly assaulted.

Meanwhile, another journalist was assaulted by the protesters outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC on Saturday. Lalit K Jha, a correspondent with the Press Trust of India, was covering the protest when he was attacked.

We have seen disturbing visuals of a senior Indian journalist from the Press Trust of India being abused, threatened and assaulted physically while covering the so-called Khalistan protest in Washington DC earlier today, the Indian embassy in Washington said in a statement.

NEW DELHI: The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday to convey the nations concern about the actions of separatist and extremist elements against Indias diplomatic mission and consulates in Canada this week. The Government of India sought an explanation on how such elements were allowed, in the presence of police, to breach the security of our diplomatic mission and consulates. The Government of Canada was reminded of its obligations under the Vienna Convention, and asked to arrest and prosecute the individuals who have already been identified as being involved in such acts, according to the MEA. India said it hoped that the Canadian government will take necessary steps to ensure the safety of Indian diplomats and the security of diplomatic premises so that they are able to fulfill their normal diplomatic functions.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Khalistani supporters have been trying to vandalise Indian missions in the UK, US, Australia and Canada and India has been taking a strong view of the same. Canada is home to one of the largest populations of Sikh outside India. Last Sunday, an event scheduled to be attended by the Indian envoy to Canada was cancelled due to concerns following a protest by Khalistan supporters. Journalist Sameer Kaushal, who was at the venue to cover the protest, was also reportedly assaulted. Meanwhile, another journalist was assaulted by the protesters outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC on Saturday. Lalit K Jha, a correspondent with the Press Trust of India, was covering the protest when he was attacked. We have seen disturbing visuals of a senior Indian journalist from the Press Trust of India being abused, threatened and assaulted physically while covering the so-called Khalistan protest in Washington DC earlier today, the Indian embassy in Washington said in a statement.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Servicing the production warrant issued against gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf by Prayagraj MP/MLA court, the UP police brought both the brothers to Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj on Monday evening amid tight security arrangements.

While the cavalcade of 45 cops of UP police carrying Atiq Ahmad reached Naini Central Jail at around 5:50 pm on Monday amid tight security arrangements covering a road distance of around 1200-km in 23 hours and 37 minutes, Ashraf was also brought from Bareilly jail crossing nine districts including the state capital Lucknow. Atiq was brought to Prayagraj after four years from Sabarmati Central jail in Ahmedabad in Gujarat where he was imprisoned following the Supreme Court order passed in April, 2019.

Both Atiq and Ashraf will be produced physically in Prayagraj MP/MLA court at 12:30 pm on Tuesday in connection with the 2007 case of abduction of Umesh Pal who was murdered allegedly by the accomplices of Atiq including his son Asad on February 24.

The court would pronounce the verdict in the 16-year-old case related to the abduction of Umesh Pal by Atiqs men who had allegedly tortured Pal in captivity by giving him electric shocks and thrashing him badly. They wanted Pal to withdraw his statement given in Raju Pal murder case as Atiq and his brother were main accused in the case.

The court has set March 28 as the date to pass its order in the abduction case in which Ahmed is an accused, Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said.

Meanwhile, in another important development, the Prayagraj police approached the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate of Prayagraj seeking custodial remand of Atiq and Ashraf in connection with Umesh Pal murder case in which the gangster, his wife, their two sons, his brother Ashraf and around a dozen accomplices are named.

Significantly, Atiq, a former SP MP from Phulpur and five time MLA, has over 100 criminal cases lodged against him and his Ashraf has over 50 including the recent Umesh Pal murder case. Ironically, in none of the cases, either of the two have been convicted so far. The MP/MLA court verdict to be pronounced on Tuesday is likely to be first conviction of the gangster and his brother in any case as they have been only undertrial so far.

Meanwhile, a large posse of police personnel was posted at the main entrance of the Naini Central Jail and the entry of outsiders into the jail premises was stopped.

The gangster and his brother would be kept in separate high-tech isolation security cells in Naini Jail and their activities would be monitored round the clock directly by the UP police headquarters in Lucknow.

All the preparations for Atiq and his brother Ashraf had been made in advance at Naini Jail. Each isolation cell is equipped with over a dozen high resolution CCTV camera and the jail staff to be in contact with the gangsters would have body-worn camera for vigil.

An LED screen had been mounted on the wall of the jail on which the activities taking place inside the barracks and isolation cells will be visible.

As per the highly placed sources, while over 100 additional jawans of UP police are deployed inside the Naini Central jail, security personnel in plain clothes have also been deputed outside the jail in its vicinity as part of the security arrangements.

As per the Naini jail authorities, the isolation cell, in which Atiq is kept, has a capacity to house 30 prisoners. Even security arrangements have been spruced up at the MP/MLA court where the gangster and his brother would be produced on Tuesday noon.

The cavalcade carrying the gangster made around a dozen small halts during the 24-hour journey from Sabarmati to Naini central jail following the route through two statesRajasthan and Madhya Pradesh  before entering UP.

LUCKNOW: Servicing the production warrant issued against gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf by Prayagraj MP/MLA court, the UP police brought both the brothers to Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj on Monday evening amid tight security arrangements. While the cavalcade of 45 cops of UP police carrying Atiq Ahmad reached Naini Central Jail at around 5:50 pm on Monday amid tight security arrangements covering a road distance of around 1200-km in 23 hours and 37 minutes, Ashraf was also brought from Bareilly jail crossing nine districts including the state capital Lucknow. Atiq was brought to Prayagraj after four years from Sabarmati Central jail in Ahmedabad in Gujarat where he was imprisoned following the Supreme Court order passed in April, 2019. Both Atiq and Ashraf will be produced physically in Prayagraj MP/MLA court at 12:30 pm on Tuesday in connection with the 2007 case of abduction of Umesh Pal who was murdered allegedly by the accomplices of Atiq including his son Asad on February 24.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The court would pronounce the verdict in the 16-year-old case related to the abduction of Umesh Pal by Atiqs men who had allegedly tortured Pal in captivity by giving him electric shocks and thrashing him badly. They wanted Pal to withdraw his statement given in Raju Pal murder case as Atiq and his brother were main accused in the case. The court has set March 28 as the date to pass its order in the abduction case in which Ahmed is an accused, Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said. Meanwhile, in another important development, the Prayagraj police approached the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate of Prayagraj seeking custodial remand of Atiq and Ashraf in connection with Umesh Pal murder case in which the gangster, his wife, their two sons, his brother Ashraf and around a dozen accomplices are named. Significantly, Atiq, a former SP MP from Phulpur and five time MLA, has over 100 criminal cases lodged against him and his Ashraf has over 50 including the recent Umesh Pal murder case. Ironically, in none of the cases, either of the two have been convicted so far. The MP/MLA court verdict to be pronounced on Tuesday is likely to be first conviction of the gangster and his brother in any case as they have been only undertrial so far. Meanwhile, a large posse of police personnel was posted at the main entrance of the Naini Central Jail and the entry of outsiders into the jail premises was stopped. The gangster and his brother would be kept in separate high-tech isolation security cells in Naini Jail and their activities would be monitored round the clock directly by the UP police headquarters in Lucknow. All the preparations for Atiq and his brother Ashraf had been made in advance at Naini Jail. Each isolation cell is equipped with over a dozen high resolution CCTV camera and the jail staff to be in contact with the gangsters would have body-worn camera for vigil. An LED screen had been mounted on the wall of the jail on which the activities taking place inside the barracks and isolation cells will be visible. As per the highly placed sources, while over 100 additional jawans of UP police are deployed inside the Naini Central jail, security personnel in plain clothes have also been deputed outside the jail in its vicinity as part of the security arrangements. As per the Naini jail authorities, the isolation cell, in which Atiq is kept, has a capacity to house 30 prisoners. Even security arrangements have been spruced up at the MP/MLA court where the gangster and his brother would be produced on Tuesday noon. The cavalcade carrying the gangster made around a dozen small halts during the 24-hour journey from Sabarmati to Naini central jail following the route through two statesRajasthan and Madhya Pradesh  before entering UP.
Dilip Singh Kshatriya By

Express News Service

AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Court will hear the Gujarat government's decision to release 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case on march 27th. Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, one of the accused in this case, was seen on stage two days earlier, on Saturday, alongside BJP MP Jaswant Singh Bhabhor and MLA Shailesh Bhabhor. The government organized a Har Ghar Jal Yojana-related program.

Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, a Bilkis Bano case convict, was seen sitting next to a BJP MP and MLA at an event related to the government's Har Ghar Jal Yojana. The event took place on March 25 in Karamdi village, Dahod district.

According to PTI reports, When asked whether he attended the program on Saturday, the convict, Shailesh Bhatt, said he went there for "puja" ritual but refused to elaborate.

Social media users shared videos and images from the ceremony that showed Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt on stage alongside Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor, a Dahod MP, and Sailesh Bhabhor, a Limkheda MLA. On the occasion, he was spotted taking pictures with them and even taking part in the puja. BJP leaders tweeted the pictures as well.

All 11 of the Convicts who had been given life sentences for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano in 2002 and the death of seven of her family members had been released as per the Gujarat government's remission policy on 15 august last year.

TMC'S Mahua Moitra shared images from the ceremony that showed Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, one of the accused in the Bilkis Bano rape case was seen sitting on stage alongside BJP MLA's and MP's.

Bilkis Bano's Rapist Shares Stage With Gujarat's BJP MP, MLA.



I want to see these monsters back in jail & the key thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out. I want India to reclaim her moral compass. pic.twitter.com/noaoz1c7ZW  Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 26, 2023

In 2008, they were all given life sentences for gangraping and killing seven members of Bilkis Bano's family. One of the eleven prisoners who were released was Shailesh Bhatt. In an effort to prevent the convicts' release, Bilkis has now petitioned the Supreme Court for review.

In her pending writ petition, Bilkis Bano claims that the state government issued the order in complete disregard of the Supreme Court's ruling. "The premature acquittal of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case has shaken the conscience of society and resulted in several agitations across the country," according to the petition.

Bilkis Bano had submitted two petitions, one of which requested that the Supreme Court reconsider its May 2022 ruling ordering the Gujarat government to take into account a prisoner's request for parole. The court dismissed the claim.

(With inputs from PTI)

AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Court will hear the Gujarat government's decision to release 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case on march 27th. Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, one of the accused in this case, was seen on stage two days earlier, on Saturday, alongside BJP MP Jaswant Singh Bhabhor and MLA Shailesh Bhabhor. The government organized a Har Ghar Jal Yojana-related program. Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, a Bilkis Bano case convict, was seen sitting next to a BJP MP and MLA at an event related to the government's Har Ghar Jal Yojana. The event took place on March 25 in Karamdi village, Dahod district. According to PTI reports, When asked whether he attended the program on Saturday, the convict, Shailesh Bhatt, said he went there for "puja" ritual but refused to elaborate.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });         @jsbhabhor               .       ..#shaileshbhabhor #MLAGujarat #limkheda #BJPGujarat #Dahod #bjp pic.twitter.com/qd790S1pzq  Shailesh Bhabhor (@ssbhabhor) March 25, 2023 Social media users shared videos and images from the ceremony that showed Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt on stage alongside Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor, a Dahod MP, and Sailesh Bhabhor, a Limkheda MLA. On the occasion, he was spotted taking pictures with them and even taking part in the puja. BJP leaders tweeted the pictures as well. All 11 of the Convicts who had been given life sentences for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano in 2002 and the death of seven of her family members had been released as per the Gujarat government's remission policy on 15 august last year. TMC'S Mahua Moitra shared images from the ceremony that showed Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, one of the accused in the Bilkis Bano rape case was seen sitting on stage alongside BJP MLA's and MP's. Bilkis Bano's Rapist Shares Stage With Gujarat's BJP MP, MLA. I want to see these monsters back in jail & the key thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out. I want India to reclaim her moral compass. pic.twitter.com/noaoz1c7ZW  Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 26, 2023 In 2008, they were all given life sentences for gangraping and killing seven members of Bilkis Bano's family. One of the eleven prisoners who were released was Shailesh Bhatt. In an effort to prevent the convicts' release, Bilkis has now petitioned the Supreme Court for review. In her pending writ petition, Bilkis Bano claims that the state government issued the order in complete disregard of the Supreme Court's ruling. "The premature acquittal of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case has shaken the conscience of society and resulted in several agitations across the country," according to the petition. Bilkis Bano had submitted two petitions, one of which requested that the Supreme Court reconsider its May 2022 ruling ordering the Gujarat government to take into account a prisoner's request for parole. The court dismissed the claim. (With inputs from PTI)
Rajesh Asnani By

Express News Service

JAIPUR: The newly appointed president of the BJP in Rajasthan, CP Joshi took over his responsibilities on Monday at a special function in the party headquarters in Jaipur. Joshi who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Chittorgarh has replaced former state president Satish Poonia. The appointment is an attempt to reduce party infighting in the state unit during the election year and is a move to gain a special advantage in the Mewar region of Rajasthan.

Joshi left Delhi on Monday with a large convoy of supporters to take charge and reached the Rajasthan BJP office around 2 pm. Joshi first offered prayers and then took charge from former president Satish Poonia. During this, Joshi also received blessings from sages and saints present for the event. Joshi, while addressing the party workers, instructed them that no slogans except for PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Bharat Mata should be raised. He urged the workers, "if you want to see me survive, do not raise my slogan after today." He said that the party has given such a significant responsibility to an ordinary worker among them and together they will take the party forward and pave the way for victory in 2023.

Joshi said that in 2018, they were left behind by a few lakh votes due to some reason, but in 2023, they will work together to overthrow the "useless" Gehlot government. Joshi said that now that the reception has been done as much as it was supposed to be, they need to focus on work for the next six months.

He told the workers that for the next six months, they need to take PM Modi's ideas and the government's works among the public. He further added that the Modi government has developed Ayodhya into a cultural center and a grand Ram temple is being built there and we need to take it to the people of Rajasthan. Joshi also mentioned the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir as a major BJP success

Referring to the Kanhaiya Lal murder case of Udaipur, Joshi said that Kanhaiya Lal's neck was not cut, but the government's neck was cut. He said that when the brave men who caught Kanhaiya's killers pleaded with the government about the threat to their lives, the government did not listen to them.

During the program, former BJP President Satish Poonia thanked Amit Shah and PM Modi and expressed gratitude to the workers. He said that the party has brought a simple person from a farmer's family to this point, which he did not expect. Poonia said that with the strength of the organization and the edge of the movement, they will work to bring the reality of the Gehlot government to the public. At the same time, during the swearing-in ceremony, Poonia also jokingly said that Joshi had become the state president during Navratri, but he himself became state president during Shraddha. So people used to tell him that he would not last long, but still, everyone's blessings remained on him.

Poonia also said that while strengthening the organization in the last three years, all workers fought like warriors against the Congress government through agitations. Poonia said that through the Jan Aakrosh Yatra, they went from village to village to meet 2 crore people, and this time in Rajasthan, the name and work of PM Modi will change the rule. Poonia said that under the leadership of CP Joshi, they will regain the government in Rajasthan in 2023 and work to make it invincible.

However, the most talked-about aspect of the event was the participation of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Raje had been distancing herself from most of the state BJP programs for a long time, reportedly due to her strained relationship with former president Satish Poonia. But Raje was present at Joshi's swearing-in ceremony, albeit virtually, as she was busy with Navratri-related worship. The bitterness between former state chief Poonia and former CM Raje had made the Rajasthan BJP an open case of infighting for the past few years. In election year, Joshi's elevation is seen as a signal that the BJP intends to patch up the differences between its major leaders in Rajasthan.

Senior leaders including the party's Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh, co-in-charge Vijaya Rahatkar, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Chaudhary, Om Mathur, MP Dushyant Singh, Rajendra Rathore and many other MPs were present during Joshi's swearing-in ceremony.

JAIPUR: The newly appointed president of the BJP in Rajasthan, CP Joshi took over his responsibilities on Monday at a special function in the party headquarters in Jaipur. Joshi who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Chittorgarh has replaced former state president Satish Poonia. The appointment is an attempt to reduce party infighting in the state unit during the election year and is a move to gain a special advantage in the Mewar region of Rajasthan. Joshi left Delhi on Monday with a large convoy of supporters to take charge and reached the Rajasthan BJP office around 2 pm. Joshi first offered prayers and then took charge from former president Satish Poonia. During this, Joshi also received blessings from sages and saints present for the event. Joshi, while addressing the party workers, instructed them that no slogans except for PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Bharat Mata should be raised. He urged the workers, "if you want to see me survive, do not raise my slogan after today." He said that the party has given such a significant responsibility to an ordinary worker among them and together they will take the party forward and pave the way for victory in 2023. Joshi said that in 2018, they were left behind by a few lakh votes due to some reason, but in 2023, they will work together to overthrow the "useless" Gehlot government. Joshi said that now that the reception has been done as much as it was supposed to be, they need to focus on work for the next six months.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He told the workers that for the next six months, they need to take PM Modi's ideas and the government's works among the public. He further added that the Modi government has developed Ayodhya into a cultural center and a grand Ram temple is being built there and we need to take it to the people of Rajasthan. Joshi also mentioned the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir as a major BJP success Referring to the Kanhaiya Lal murder case of Udaipur, Joshi said that Kanhaiya Lal's neck was not cut, but the government's neck was cut. He said that when the brave men who caught Kanhaiya's killers pleaded with the government about the threat to their lives, the government did not listen to them. During the program, former BJP President Satish Poonia thanked Amit Shah and PM Modi and expressed gratitude to the workers. He said that the party has brought a simple person from a farmer's family to this point, which he did not expect. Poonia said that with the strength of the organization and the edge of the movement, they will work to bring the reality of the Gehlot government to the public. At the same time, during the swearing-in ceremony, Poonia also jokingly said that Joshi had become the state president during Navratri, but he himself became state president during Shraddha. So people used to tell him that he would not last long, but still, everyone's blessings remained on him. Poonia also said that while strengthening the organization in the last three years, all workers fought like warriors against the Congress government through agitations. Poonia said that through the Jan Aakrosh Yatra, they went from village to village to meet 2 crore people, and this time in Rajasthan, the name and work of PM Modi will change the rule. Poonia said that under the leadership of CP Joshi, they will regain the government in Rajasthan in 2023 and work to make it invincible. However, the most talked-about aspect of the event was the participation of former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Raje had been distancing herself from most of the state BJP programs for a long time, reportedly due to her strained relationship with former president Satish Poonia. But Raje was present at Joshi's swearing-in ceremony, albeit virtually, as she was busy with Navratri-related worship. The bitterness between former state chief Poonia and former CM Raje had made the Rajasthan BJP an open case of infighting for the past few years. In election year, Joshi's elevation is seen as a signal that the BJP intends to patch up the differences between its major leaders in Rajasthan. Senior leaders including the party's Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh, co-in-charge Vijaya Rahatkar, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Kailash Chaudhary, Om Mathur, MP Dushyant Singh, Rajendra Rathore and many other MPs were present during Joshi's swearing-in ceremony.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: BRS leader K Kavitha who had approached the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to appear at the ED's New Delhi office in relation to the Delhi liquor policy case did not get any relief as the top court on Monday tagged her plea with other similar pending petitions.

Her plea was tagged by a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi with a petition that was preferred by Nalini Chidambaram, a senior advocate and wife of former Union minister P Chidambaram in the Saradha chit fund case in 2018. The court also adjourned the matter for three weeks.

Kavitha, in her plea while challenging the summons, had sought certain protections to her during the questioning and sought directions to the investigating officers to that effect.

Appearing for Kavitha, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said although she in the complaint was not shown as an accused, the summons issued to her under section 160 CrPC was for an investigation. He said, He (ED) says that its an inquiry but Im being investigated. The summons is for investigation.

She had contended that the investigation against her was nothing more than a fishing expedition being undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) solely at the behest of the ruling political party. It was also argued that although she was not named in the FIR registered by the CBI alleging irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, certain members of the ruling political party at the Centre made scandalous statements linking her to the policy and the FIR.

ALSO READ: Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader Kavitha appears before ED, surrenders phones to agency

The Enforcement Directorate, in teeth of settled law, summoned her to appear before their offices in New Delhi and has confiscated her cellular phone without any written order for production of the said phone, the plea stated.

She in her plea has also contended that she was forced to produce her cell phone whereas she was summoned under Sections 50(2), 50(3) PMLA which do not require production of the phone.

There is no case against the petitioner. The only basis on which the petitioner has been implicated is on basis of certain statement of few persons who have given incriminating statement qua themselves as well as allegedly against the petitioner. However, such statements have been extracted out of threat and coercion, which is evident from the fact that on 10.03.2023, one Mr. Arun Ramachandran Pillai, has retracted his statement. The credibility of the statements purported to be against the petitioner is under serious doubt, the plea also stated.

The ED had earlier filed a caveat in the Supreme Court wherein it had urged the SC not to pass any orders until it hears the federal probe agency.

Although she was grilled by the ED on March 11 in the money laundering case and was summoned by the ED again for the third time on March 16, since the SC had agreed to list her plea on March 24, she had skipped the March 16 summons. She in turn had sent her authorised representative Soma Bharath (a BRS party office bearer) who handed over to the investigating officer of the case a six-page representation against her deposition along with her bank statement, personal and business details. Since she had skipped the summons, she was again grilled by the ED for more than 10 hours on March 20 and was also summoned on March 21.

NEW DELHI: BRS leader K Kavitha who had approached the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to appear at the ED's New Delhi office in relation to the Delhi liquor policy case did not get any relief as the top court on Monday tagged her plea with other similar pending petitions. Her plea was tagged by a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi with a petition that was preferred by Nalini Chidambaram, a senior advocate and wife of former Union minister P Chidambaram in the Saradha chit fund case in 2018. The court also adjourned the matter for three weeks. Kavitha, in her plea while challenging the summons, had sought certain protections to her during the questioning and sought directions to the investigating officers to that effect.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Appearing for Kavitha, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said although she in the complaint was not shown as an accused, the summons issued to her under section 160 CrPC was for an investigation. He said, He (ED) says that its an inquiry but Im being investigated. The summons is for investigation. She had contended that the investigation against her was nothing more than a fishing expedition being undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) solely at the behest of the ruling political party. It was also argued that although she was not named in the FIR registered by the CBI alleging irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, certain members of the ruling political party at the Centre made scandalous statements linking her to the policy and the FIR. ALSO READ: Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader Kavitha appears before ED, surrenders phones to agency The Enforcement Directorate, in teeth of settled law, summoned her to appear before their offices in New Delhi and has confiscated her cellular phone without any written order for production of the said phone, the plea stated. She in her plea has also contended that she was forced to produce her cell phone whereas she was summoned under Sections 50(2), 50(3) PMLA which do not require production of the phone. There is no case against the petitioner. The only basis on which the petitioner has been implicated is on basis of certain statement of few persons who have given incriminating statement qua themselves as well as allegedly against the petitioner. However, such statements have been extracted out of threat and coercion, which is evident from the fact that on 10.03.2023, one Mr. Arun Ramachandran Pillai, has retracted his statement. The credibility of the statements purported to be against the petitioner is under serious doubt, the plea also stated. The ED had earlier filed a caveat in the Supreme Court wherein it had urged the SC not to pass any orders until it hears the federal probe agency. Although she was grilled by the ED on March 11 in the money laundering case and was summoned by the ED again for the third time on March 16, since the SC had agreed to list her plea on March 24, she had skipped the March 16 summons. She in turn had sent her authorised representative Soma Bharath (a BRS party office bearer) who handed over to the investigating officer of the case a six-page representation against her deposition along with her bank statement, personal and business details. Since she had skipped the summons, she was again grilled by the ED for more than 10 hours on March 20 and was also summoned on March 21.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Wearing black clothes, several opposition MPs on Monday took out a march from parliament to Vijay Chowk to protest against the government over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

The protesters, including Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government.

Holding a huge "Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with "save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.

"How has Adani's wealth multiplied so much in the last few years. When you are going to foreign countries how many times have you taken the industrialist with you. The PM has not been able to give answers to questions raised against Adani," Kharge told reporters at Vijay Chowk.

ALSO READ | Parliament adjourned after Opposition protest against Rahul's disqualification

"We want a JPC on the Adani issue. Why is the government not agreeing to this? Why are you scared of a JPC probe... it means 'dal mein kuchh kala hai' (something is wrong)," he said.

The opposition has been seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group.

Kharge also raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as MP after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case.

"You want to defame Rahul Gandhi that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy," Kharge said.

Kharge said opposition MPs were dressed in black as the prime minister is "finishing" democracy.

Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from opposition protests, joined the sit-in on Monday.

Earlier, MPs of various opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, BRS, and SP, met at the Parliament complex to discuss a strategy to take forward the Adani issue as well as Rahul Gandhi's disqualification matter in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

READ MORE:

United Opposition takes govt head on over Rahuls disqualification

Disqualified because PM Modi was scared of my next speech on Adani: Rahul

Martyred PM's son who walked for national unity can never insult country: Priyanka

NEW DELHI: Wearing black clothes, several opposition MPs on Monday took out a march from parliament to Vijay Chowk to protest against the government over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha. The protesters, including Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government. Holding a huge "Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with "save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "How has Adani's wealth multiplied so much in the last few years. When you are going to foreign countries how many times have you taken the industrialist with you. The PM has not been able to give answers to questions raised against Adani," Kharge told reporters at Vijay Chowk. ALSO READ | Parliament adjourned after Opposition protest against Rahul's disqualification "We want a JPC on the Adani issue. Why is the government not agreeing to this? Why are you scared of a JPC probe... it means 'dal mein kuchh kala hai' (something is wrong)," he said. The opposition has been seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group. Kharge also raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as MP after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. "You want to defame Rahul Gandhi that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy," Kharge said. Kharge said opposition MPs were dressed in black as the prime minister is "finishing" democracy. Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from opposition protests, joined the sit-in on Monday. Earlier, MPs of various opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, BRS, and SP, met at the Parliament complex to discuss a strategy to take forward the Adani issue as well as Rahul Gandhi's disqualification matter in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. READ MORE: United Opposition takes govt head on over Rahuls disqualification Disqualified because PM Modi was scared of my next speech on Adani: Rahul Martyred PM's son who walked for national unity can never insult country: Priyanka
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday accused the Gandhi family of considering itself a "class apart, elite and above the Constitution" as it kept up the counterattack on the Congress amid the opposition party's nationwide protests against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha.

The ruling party fielded Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to target the Congress and he insisted that neither the BJP nor the government had anything to do with the Wayanad MP's disqualification following his conviction in a defamation case.

The way Congress leaders are making a hue and cry over a judicial and lawful exercise itself shows that they consider the Gandhi family above India's judicial process, Constitution and democratic system, he told a press conference.

The MP from Rajasthan said the Surat court presented Gandhi with several opportunities, including a chance to apologise for his remarks on the Modi surname, but he refused, thinking that the judiciary will not "dare" to deliver a verdict against the members of his family.

The law has taken its course, and neither the BJP nor the government have anything to do with this, he asserted.

The Gandhi family considers itself a "class apart, elite and above Constitution", he alleged.

Shekhawat said the Lok Sabha enjoys no discretionary power on the issue of disqualifying an MP in such a matter.

People who claimed that democracy is under threat, are insulting the democratic system with their street protests against a judicial verdict and lawful action, he said.

Noting that Rahul Gandhi had also ridiculed a journalist at his press conference, the Union minister said, "He leaves no opportunity to insult the country and challenge the different pillars of democracy to show himself above them."

"People like him are a threat to democracy as they consider themselves above it," Shekhawat said It is shameful that he is full of arrogance that he did not even avail the chance to tender an apology even when given an opportunity by the court, the BJP leader claimed.

Shekhawat accused Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh of insulting the Rajya Sabha chairperson with their conduct. He also accused Gandhi of insulting a patriot and freedom fighter such as Veer Savarkar.

"Rahul Gandhi very rightly said that he wasn't Savarkar. If Rahul actually wishes to know Savarkar, then he must go to the Andaman Jail and spend time there to realise who Savarkar actually was and the kind of sacrifices he made, "Shekhawat said.

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday accused the Gandhi family of considering itself a "class apart, elite and above the Constitution" as it kept up the counterattack on the Congress amid the opposition party's nationwide protests against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha. The ruling party fielded Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to target the Congress and he insisted that neither the BJP nor the government had anything to do with the Wayanad MP's disqualification following his conviction in a defamation case. The way Congress leaders are making a hue and cry over a judicial and lawful exercise itself shows that they consider the Gandhi family above India's judicial process, Constitution and democratic system, he told a press conference.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The MP from Rajasthan said the Surat court presented Gandhi with several opportunities, including a chance to apologise for his remarks on the Modi surname, but he refused, thinking that the judiciary will not "dare" to deliver a verdict against the members of his family. The law has taken its course, and neither the BJP nor the government have anything to do with this, he asserted. The Gandhi family considers itself a "class apart, elite and above Constitution", he alleged. Shekhawat said the Lok Sabha enjoys no discretionary power on the issue of disqualifying an MP in such a matter. People who claimed that democracy is under threat, are insulting the democratic system with their street protests against a judicial verdict and lawful action, he said. Noting that Rahul Gandhi had also ridiculed a journalist at his press conference, the Union minister said, "He leaves no opportunity to insult the country and challenge the different pillars of democracy to show himself above them." "People like him are a threat to democracy as they consider themselves above it," Shekhawat said It is shameful that he is full of arrogance that he did not even avail the chance to tender an apology even when given an opportunity by the court, the BJP leader claimed. Shekhawat accused Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh of insulting the Rajya Sabha chairperson with their conduct. He also accused Gandhi of insulting a patriot and freedom fighter such as Veer Savarkar. "Rahul Gandhi very rightly said that he wasn't Savarkar. If Rahul actually wishes to know Savarkar, then he must go to the Andaman Jail and spend time there to realise who Savarkar actually was and the kind of sacrifices he made, "Shekhawat said.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Indian government has requested the Nepal government not to allow pro-Khalistan activist and chief of 'Waris Punjab De' Amritpal Singh believed to be hiding in Nepal to flee to a third country. Nepal has been told to arrest him if he attempts to escape using Indian or any other fake passport. Thus, Nepal has put the radical Sikh preacher on their surveillance list.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the Nepalese government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal. The letter and Singhs personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, as Singh is said to be possessing multiple passports with him, said sources.

It is learnt that after Nepal received request from India embassy the Immigration department of the neighboring country has put Amritpal on its surveillance. As it was suspected that he had entered Nepal and was hiding somewhere around.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Police on Monday arrested yet another gunman of Amritpal Singh, Varinder Singh Johal alias 'Fauji' in relation to the Ajnala violence case.

Johal who is a dismissed army jawan was arrested by the Tarn Taran Police as he belongs to Raju Singh Wala village in the district. The police have invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against him and he was then sent to Dibrugarh jail in Assam.

Confirming his arrest, a senior police official said that the accused had been working as a gunman of Amritpal Singh for some time and is a dismissed Army jawan. He was on the run after the radical leader had vanished and was caught on Monday by the Tarn Taran Police and handed over to Amritsar (Rural) Police.

Earlier Johals arm license issued from Jammu and Kashmir was cancelled after the Punjab government took up the matter with their J&K counterparts in view of the Ajnala violence. He was among the 10 gunmen who accompanied Amritpal all the time.

CHANDIGARH: The Indian government has requested the Nepal government not to allow pro-Khalistan activist and chief of 'Waris Punjab De' Amritpal Singh believed to be hiding in Nepal to flee to a third country. Nepal has been told to arrest him if he attempts to escape using Indian or any other fake passport. Thus, Nepal has put the radical Sikh preacher on their surveillance list. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the Nepalese government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal. The letter and Singhs personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, as Singh is said to be possessing multiple passports with him, said sources. It is learnt that after Nepal received request from India embassy the Immigration department of the neighboring country has put Amritpal on its surveillance. As it was suspected that he had entered Nepal and was hiding somewhere around.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Meanwhile, the Punjab Police on Monday arrested yet another gunman of Amritpal Singh, Varinder Singh Johal alias 'Fauji' in relation to the Ajnala violence case. Johal who is a dismissed army jawan was arrested by the Tarn Taran Police as he belongs to Raju Singh Wala village in the district. The police have invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against him and he was then sent to Dibrugarh jail in Assam. Confirming his arrest, a senior police official said that the accused had been working as a gunman of Amritpal Singh for some time and is a dismissed Army jawan. He was on the run after the radical leader had vanished and was caught on Monday by the Tarn Taran Police and handed over to Amritsar (Rural) Police. Earlier Johals arm license issued from Jammu and Kashmir was cancelled after the Punjab government took up the matter with their J&K counterparts in view of the Ajnala violence. He was among the 10 gunmen who accompanied Amritpal all the time.
Express News Service

NEW DELHI: India, third in the world for living organ donation and transplantation, saw more people coming forward to donate organs, primarily to their family members, in 2022 when Covid-19 cases started seeing a dip.

In 2020, the living organ donation figure was 6,459, while in 2021 it stood at 10,644. This was mainly due to the lockdown and restrictions due to Covid-19. But in 2022, it increased to 12,791, better than the pre-Covid years. In 2018, 8,086 people donated their organs, and it went up to 10,608 in 2019. Though India fares well in living donation, the deceased donation rate is only 0.34 per million population approximately, much lower than in western countries.

While in 2020, 1,060 people provided the lifesaving gift of organ donation upon their death, in 2021, it went up to 1,743. But in 2022, it slipped to 904, according to the Union health ministry data shared in Parliament. However, this was still low as compared to the pre-Covid time. In 2019, deceased donations were 2,138, compared to 2,493 in 2018.

According to Dr Harsha Jauhari, Chairman of the Renal Transplant Division, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and a former member of the National Organ Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOOTO), even when a patient is brain dead, they are capable of saving six to eight lives since a deceased person can donate heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, liver, and intestine, including tissues like corneas, tissue and skin.

He said southern states  Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka  and western states - Maharashtra and Gujarat  report the maximum number of organ donations in the country. Even last year, when deceased donors saw a dip, these states continued to report the highest number of organs donated by the kin of those who suffered cardiac or brain death.

According to Dr R S Sindhu, head of the department in Surgical Gastroenterology, Government Medical College hospital, Kottayam, Kerala, the main problem why people dont come forward to register themselves as donors is that they dont trust the system as they believe that it involves medical malpractice.

The best solution is to strengthen the government system, which will help change attitudes, said Dr Sindhu, who conducted the first-ever liver transplant surgery in the government hospital.

Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, former President Indian Medical Association, said there is considerable confusion and lack of awareness about organ transplantation. People have difficulty understanding the difference between living and cadaveric organ donation. Cadaveric donations of organs like kidneys and livers do not happen in the mortuary, like obtaining spare car parts in a junkyard. It is wrongly portrayed in some Indian films, he said.

Though Kerala records low numbers of deceased donors, compared to other southern states, it tops in registering the highest number of pledges of people coming forward to donate their organs after their deaths. Out of the 4,48,582 pledges that were registered in the country, Kerala alone registered 1,30,992 pledges. It is followed by Delhi (57,969), Maharashtra (49,168) and Tamil Nadu (19,443).

To promote Deceased Donor Organ Transplant (DDOT), the government last month made significant changes in the organ transplant regulations in the country under its one nation, one policy rule. The three changes were removing the 65-year age cap for recipients, allowing them to register in any state and not just their home state, and offering no registration charge to register as an organ recipient.

NEW DELHI: India, third in the world for living organ donation and transplantation, saw more people coming forward to donate organs, primarily to their family members, in 2022 when Covid-19 cases started seeing a dip. In 2020, the living organ donation figure was 6,459, while in 2021 it stood at 10,644. This was mainly due to the lockdown and restrictions due to Covid-19. But in 2022, it increased to 12,791, better than the pre-Covid years. In 2018, 8,086 people donated their organs, and it went up to 10,608 in 2019. Though India fares well in living donation, the deceased donation rate is only 0.34 per million population approximately, much lower than in western countries. While in 2020, 1,060 people provided the lifesaving gift of organ donation upon their death, in 2021, it went up to 1,743. But in 2022, it slipped to 904, according to the Union health ministry data shared in Parliament. However, this was still low as compared to the pre-Covid time. In 2019, deceased donations were 2,138, compared to 2,493 in 2018.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to Dr Harsha Jauhari, Chairman of the Renal Transplant Division, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and a former member of the National Organ Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOOTO), even when a patient is brain dead, they are capable of saving six to eight lives since a deceased person can donate heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, liver, and intestine, including tissues like corneas, tissue and skin. He said southern states  Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka  and western states - Maharashtra and Gujarat  report the maximum number of organ donations in the country. Even last year, when deceased donors saw a dip, these states continued to report the highest number of organs donated by the kin of those who suffered cardiac or brain death. According to Dr R S Sindhu, head of the department in Surgical Gastroenterology, Government Medical College hospital, Kottayam, Kerala, the main problem why people dont come forward to register themselves as donors is that they dont trust the system as they believe that it involves medical malpractice. The best solution is to strengthen the government system, which will help change attitudes, said Dr Sindhu, who conducted the first-ever liver transplant surgery in the government hospital. Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, former President Indian Medical Association, said there is considerable confusion and lack of awareness about organ transplantation. People have difficulty understanding the difference between living and cadaveric organ donation. Cadaveric donations of organs like kidneys and livers do not happen in the mortuary, like obtaining spare car parts in a junkyard. It is wrongly portrayed in some Indian films, he said. Though Kerala records low numbers of deceased donors, compared to other southern states, it tops in registering the highest number of pledges of people coming forward to donate their organs after their deaths. Out of the 4,48,582 pledges that were registered in the country, Kerala alone registered 1,30,992 pledges. It is followed by Delhi (57,969), Maharashtra (49,168) and Tamil Nadu (19,443). To promote Deceased Donor Organ Transplant (DDOT), the government last month made significant changes in the organ transplant regulations in the country under its one nation, one policy rule. The three changes were removing the 65-year age cap for recipients, allowing them to register in any state and not just their home state, and offering no registration charge to register as an organ recipient.
By Online Desk

NEW DELHI: Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned on Monday after opposition leaders protested in unison over the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and further amping up the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Adani issue.

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 4 pm amid slogan shouting by the Opposition members. As soon as the House met for the day, Congress members wearing black scarves trooped into the Well shouting slogans.

Two Congress members, T N Pratapan and Hibi Eden, who were in the Well holding placards, hurled order papers towards the Chair along with their scarves. "Dear ED daro mat, Adani per raid karo (ED don't be scared, raid Adani)," read one of the placards.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was seen wearing a black scarf while other members of her party wore black shirts. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was wearing a black kurta.

Amid the ruckus by Opposition members, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned proceedings of the House in less than a minute after it assembled for the Question Hour. "I want to run the House with dignity," Speaker Birla said, adding that "proceedings are adjourned till 4 pm."

Lok Sabha has been witnessing frequent disruptions since the second part of the Budget Session began on March 13 with Opposition members demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani issue.

ALSO READ | Disqualified because PM Modi was scared of my next speech on Adani: Rahul

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned in the pre-lunch session as opposition MPs created a ruckus over the Adani issue.

Dressed in black clothes, the MPs of the Congress and other parties began shouting slogans even before Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar took his seat. "Modi-Adani bhai, bhai," they shouted, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sensing the mood, Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

The opposition MPs came wearing black clothes, considered a mark of protest, to oppose the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha MP.

They also raised slogans demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group.

Opposition MPs huddle with Congress

MPs of like-minded opposition parties wearing black as a mark of protest, during a meeting at Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber in Parliament House, March 27, 2023. (Photo | PTI)

Prior to the session, lawmakers from various opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, BRS and SP, met at the Parliament complex on Monday to discuss a strategy to take forward the Adani issue as well as Rahul Gandhi's disqualification matter in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Some of the Members of Parliament were seen wearing black clothes to protest the Congress leader's disqualification from the Lower House of Parliament after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case.

ALSO READ | United Opposition takes govt head on over Rahuls disqualification

Leaders from DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, NCP, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, NC and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, met at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber. They discussed the way forward on the Adani issue and the aftermath of Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha.

Opposition members have displayed coordination during the Budget Session of Parliament and the Congress has expressed hope that this coordination will also be extended outside Parliament.

(With inputs from PTI)

READ MORE :

Nearly fifty years later, Rahul follows in grandma Indira's footsteps with disqualification

Rahul refused to say sorry to Surat court, says Gujarat Congress leader

Plea in SC against automatic disqualification of lawmakers upon conviction

NEW DELHI: Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned on Monday after opposition leaders protested in unison over the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and further amping up the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Adani issue. Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 4 pm amid slogan shouting by the Opposition members. As soon as the House met for the day, Congress members wearing black scarves trooped into the Well shouting slogans. Two Congress members, T N Pratapan and Hibi Eden, who were in the Well holding placards, hurled order papers towards the Chair along with their scarves. "Dear ED daro mat, Adani per raid karo (ED don't be scared, raid Adani)," read one of the placards.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was seen wearing a black scarf while other members of her party wore black shirts. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was wearing a black kurta. Amid the ruckus by Opposition members, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned proceedings of the House in less than a minute after it assembled for the Question Hour. "I want to run the House with dignity," Speaker Birla said, adding that "proceedings are adjourned till 4 pm." Lok Sabha has been witnessing frequent disruptions since the second part of the Budget Session began on March 13 with Opposition members demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani issue. ALSO READ | Disqualified because PM Modi was scared of my next speech on Adani: Rahul Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned in the pre-lunch session as opposition MPs created a ruckus over the Adani issue. Dressed in black clothes, the MPs of the Congress and other parties began shouting slogans even before Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar took his seat. "Modi-Adani bhai, bhai," they shouted, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sensing the mood, Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm. The opposition MPs came wearing black clothes, considered a mark of protest, to oppose the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as Lok Sabha MP. They also raised slogans demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group. Opposition MPs huddle with Congress MPs of like-minded opposition parties wearing black as a mark of protest, during a meeting at Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber in Parliament House, March 27, 2023. (Photo | PTI) Prior to the session, lawmakers from various opposition parties, including Congress, TMC, BRS and SP, met at the Parliament complex on Monday to discuss a strategy to take forward the Adani issue as well as Rahul Gandhi's disqualification matter in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Some of the Members of Parliament were seen wearing black clothes to protest the Congress leader's disqualification from the Lower House of Parliament after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. ALSO READ | United Opposition takes govt head on over Rahuls disqualification Leaders from DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, NCP, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, NC and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, met at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber. They discussed the way forward on the Adani issue and the aftermath of Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha. Opposition members have displayed coordination during the Budget Session of Parliament and the Congress has expressed hope that this coordination will also be extended outside Parliament. (With inputs from PTI) READ MORE : Nearly fifty years later, Rahul follows in grandma Indira's footsteps with disqualification Rahul refused to say sorry to Surat court, says Gujarat Congress leader Plea in SC against automatic disqualification of lawmakers upon conviction
Shahid Faridi By

Express News Service

Political Crossfire

Mahua-Nishikant public spat may get uglier



Firebrand Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra and BJP MP Nishikant Dubeys social media battle is refusing to end. The two leaders have been engaged in a public exchange of insults for the last few weeks. Angry over Dubeys constant sniping at her and her party, Mahua tweeted People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. And people who have fake degrees and have lied on affidavits should definitely not throw the rule book.

Along with the tweet, she posted Dubeys two affidavits submitted before returning officers along with his nomination paper for the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Honble member in his 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha affidavits claimed to be a part-time MBA from Delhi University Mahua tweeted, and then added in another tweet on 27.08.2020 Delhi University in a written reply clearly stated that no such with the name of the honourable member was either admitted or passed out from any MBA programme in DU in the year 1993 as claimed in affidavits Along with this tweet, she attached a letter dated 28.07.2020 from the Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) of Delhi University (DU) stating that no person with the name Nishikant Dubey was admitted or passed out from FMS of the DU.

She then went on to ask the Lok Sabha Speaker on Twitter whether lying on affidavit and faking an MBA degree from DUs FMS are grounds for termination of Lok Sabha membership. This was followed by nasty WhatsApp messages widely circulated in Lutyens Delhi attacking a firebrand woman MP. The anonymous messages contained wild allegations and sleazy stories about the woman MP. After the Whatsapp messages surfaced, Mahua tweeted Farji degree holders do not make great WhatsApp fake letter writers. Nor do their Me-Too mates. Maa Kali always rules.

Dubey responded to the attack by tweeting a request to his supporters not to respond to a woman MP from West Bengal having a perverted mentality because in our religion, even the nagar vadhu of Vaishali was given respect. This led to a huge outrage against Dubey with a large number of prominent women, including Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, taking exception to Dubeys tweet. Sources said a new 48-page file has now emerged, which has explosive details about one of the two squabbling MPs. The fight between the two is far from over. Keep watching this space for more on this.

Battle for Delhi

Kanhaiya Kumar to play pivotal role in Congress

The Congress is planning to deploy a large number of young leaders in key positions to lead its campaign against the ruling BJP. Sources said former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union Kanhaiya Kumar is set to be appointed either as the president of the Indian Youth Congress, the youth wing of the Congress, or the president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. According to sources, the party has not been impressed with the performance of DPCC chief Anil Choudhary, who may be on his way out. Kanhaiyas name is being discussed as the party feels he could attract Delhis large population from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The BJP, too, had experimented with a Purabiya (easterner) leader by appointing Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit president. The Aam Aadmi Party also has a large number of Purabiya leaders namely Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, etc. Though the most successful Congress leader in Delhi  Sheila Dikshit  had a UP connection, the party has not given its reins in the hands of a true blue Purabiya and has instead favoured a Jat, Punjabi, Vaish or a Gujar as its state unit chief. This is now set to change, sources said.

Political Crossfire Mahua-Nishikant public spat may get uglier Firebrand Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra and BJP MP Nishikant Dubeys social media battle is refusing to end. The two leaders have been engaged in a public exchange of insults for the last few weeks. Angry over Dubeys constant sniping at her and her party, Mahua tweeted People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. And people who have fake degrees and have lied on affidavits should definitely not throw the rule book.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Along with the tweet, she posted Dubeys two affidavits submitted before returning officers along with his nomination paper for the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Honble member in his 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha affidavits claimed to be a part-time MBA from Delhi University Mahua tweeted, and then added in another tweet on 27.08.2020 Delhi University in a written reply clearly stated that no such with the name of the honourable member was either admitted or passed out from any MBA programme in DU in the year 1993 as claimed in affidavits Along with this tweet, she attached a letter dated 28.07.2020 from the Dean of the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) of Delhi University (DU) stating that no person with the name Nishikant Dubey was admitted or passed out from FMS of the DU. She then went on to ask the Lok Sabha Speaker on Twitter whether lying on affidavit and faking an MBA degree from DUs FMS are grounds for termination of Lok Sabha membership. This was followed by nasty WhatsApp messages widely circulated in Lutyens Delhi attacking a firebrand woman MP. The anonymous messages contained wild allegations and sleazy stories about the woman MP. After the Whatsapp messages surfaced, Mahua tweeted Farji degree holders do not make great WhatsApp fake letter writers. Nor do their Me-Too mates. Maa Kali always rules. Dubey responded to the attack by tweeting a request to his supporters not to respond to a woman MP from West Bengal having a perverted mentality because in our religion, even the nagar vadhu of Vaishali was given respect. This led to a huge outrage against Dubey with a large number of prominent women, including Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, taking exception to Dubeys tweet. Sources said a new 48-page file has now emerged, which has explosive details about one of the two squabbling MPs. The fight between the two is far from over. Keep watching this space for more on this. Battle for Delhi Kanhaiya Kumar to play pivotal role in Congress The Congress is planning to deploy a large number of young leaders in key positions to lead its campaign against the ruling BJP. Sources said former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union Kanhaiya Kumar is set to be appointed either as the president of the Indian Youth Congress, the youth wing of the Congress, or the president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. According to sources, the party has not been impressed with the performance of DPCC chief Anil Choudhary, who may be on his way out. Kanhaiyas name is being discussed as the party feels he could attract Delhis large population from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The BJP, too, had experimented with a Purabiya (easterner) leader by appointing Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit president. The Aam Aadmi Party also has a large number of Purabiya leaders namely Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, etc. Though the most successful Congress leader in Delhi  Sheila Dikshit  had a UP connection, the party has not given its reins in the hands of a true blue Purabiya and has instead favoured a Jat, Punjabi, Vaish or a Gujar as its state unit chief. This is now set to change, sources said.
By Online Desk

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose disqualification from the Lok Sabha was announced on March 24 a day after he was convicted by a Surat court for two years in a 2019 defamation case, has been asked to vacate his official bungalow.

Rahul's disqualification had kicked in from March 23, the day of his conviction, a notice by the Lok Sabha Secretariat had said.

The Congress leader will have to vacate his 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow by April 22, parliament sources were quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying on Monday.

A notice asking Rahul to vacate the official bungalow has been served by the Housing Committee of Lok Sabha, the sources said.

Earlier on Monday, several opposition MPs marched in black dresses from parliament to Vijay Chowk to lodge their protest Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and the government's handling of the Adani issue.

ALSO READ | Rahul disqualification row: How petition filed by late SC lawyer triggered national debate

Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge were among the protestors who gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government.

Holding a huge "Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with "save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.

Kharge raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as MP after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. "You want to defame Rahul Gandhi that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy," Kharge said.

Kharge said opposition MPs were dressed in black as the prime minister is "finishing" democracy.

Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from opposition protests, joined the sit-in on Monday.

Kapil Sibal Column | Rahul defamation case: Amend law to protect MPs, MLAs

(With PTI inputs)

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose disqualification from the Lok Sabha was announced on March 24 a day after he was convicted by a Surat court for two years in a 2019 defamation case, has been asked to vacate his official bungalow. Rahul's disqualification had kicked in from March 23, the day of his conviction, a notice by the Lok Sabha Secretariat had said. The Congress leader will have to vacate his 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow by April 22, parliament sources were quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying on Monday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); A notice asking Rahul to vacate the official bungalow has been served by the Housing Committee of Lok Sabha, the sources said. Earlier on Monday, several opposition MPs marched in black dresses from parliament to Vijay Chowk to lodge their protest Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and the government's handling of the Adani issue. ALSO READ | Rahul disqualification row: How petition filed by late SC lawyer triggered national debate Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge were among the protestors who gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government. Holding a huge "Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with "save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in. Kharge raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as MP after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case. "You want to defame Rahul Gandhi that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy," Kharge said. Kharge said opposition MPs were dressed in black as the prime minister is "finishing" democracy. Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from opposition protests, joined the sit-in on Monday. Kapil Sibal Column | Rahul defamation case: Amend law to protect MPs, MLAs (With PTI inputs)
By PTI

MALEGAON: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his "idol", and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from "insulting" him.

He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties - Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

Addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated textile town of Malegaon in the Nashik district of north Maharashtra, Thackeray also said that deliberate attempts were on to provoke Rahul Gandhi.

"Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice," he said.

ALSO READ | Congress Satyagraha: Leaders call for 'democratic forces to get together'

''I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country's democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election," he added.

Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said, "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone."

Thackeray said he supported Gandhi for his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

"Rahul Gandhi spoke well at his press conference yesterday. He raised valid questions about to whom does Rs 20,000 crore belong. But the government doesn't want to answer," he said.

During his press conference on Saturday, Gandhi said the moot questions remain over who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms and what is the businessman's relationship with the prime minister.

WATCH |

Targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thackeray alleged that those who have no connection with the country's freedom movement were attempting to finish off democracy.

ALSO READ | Martyred PM's son can never insult country: Priyanka Gandhi

Thackeray, who was addressing his second rally here after Khed in Ratnagiri district since losing the party name and symbol to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said he was fighting to save democracy and freedom. "The fight is not about me becoming the chief minister again," he said.

Thackeray also said NCP leader Anil Deshmukh's six-year-old granddaughter was questioned by probe agencies and even Lalu Prasad Yadav's pregnant daughter-in-law was quizzed till she fainted.

"If you criticise those in power, police will be after you," he said.

"Modi is not India. Did our freedom fighters lay down their lives for this?" he asked.

The former CM wondered how good and honest people in the BJP were tolerating the corrupt people brought into their fold from other parties.

Hitting out at CM Shinde, Thackeray said he doesn't regret losing the chief minister's post, but a government doing good work was shamelessly toppled. "Farmers are facing a lot of hardships and the Shinde government is doing nothing to ease their problems," he alleged.

Thackeray said he has been robbed of his party's name and symbol, but traitors can never rob him of the love and affection of the people.

He said his government has taken several steps for the development of the textile sector in Malegaon and farmers and during the COVID-19 pandemic. "During the pandemic, I had spoken to the religious heads in Malegaon and everyone here cooperated with the government initiatives to control the spread of the virus," he said.

MALEGAON: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his "idol", and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from "insulting" him. He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties - Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it. Addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated textile town of Malegaon in the Nashik district of north Maharashtra, Thackeray also said that deliberate attempts were on to provoke Rahul Gandhi.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice," he said. ALSO READ | Congress Satyagraha: Leaders call for 'democratic forces to get together' ''I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country's democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election," he added. Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said, "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone." Thackeray said he supported Gandhi for his Bharat Jodo Yatra. "Rahul Gandhi spoke well at his press conference yesterday. He raised valid questions about to whom does Rs 20,000 crore belong. But the government doesn't want to answer," he said. During his press conference on Saturday, Gandhi said the moot questions remain over who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms and what is the businessman's relationship with the prime minister. WATCH | Targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thackeray alleged that those who have no connection with the country's freedom movement were attempting to finish off democracy. ALSO READ | Martyred PM's son can never insult country: Priyanka Gandhi Thackeray, who was addressing his second rally here after Khed in Ratnagiri district since losing the party name and symbol to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said he was fighting to save democracy and freedom. "The fight is not about me becoming the chief minister again," he said. Thackeray also said NCP leader Anil Deshmukh's six-year-old granddaughter was questioned by probe agencies and even Lalu Prasad Yadav's pregnant daughter-in-law was quizzed till she fainted. "If you criticise those in power, police will be after you," he said. "Modi is not India. Did our freedom fighters lay down their lives for this?" he asked. The former CM wondered how good and honest people in the BJP were tolerating the corrupt people brought into their fold from other parties. Hitting out at CM Shinde, Thackeray said he doesn't regret losing the chief minister's post, but a government doing good work was shamelessly toppled. "Farmers are facing a lot of hardships and the Shinde government is doing nothing to ease their problems," he alleged. Thackeray said he has been robbed of his party's name and symbol, but traitors can never rob him of the love and affection of the people. He said his government has taken several steps for the development of the textile sector in Malegaon and farmers and during the COVID-19 pandemic. "During the pandemic, I had spoken to the religious heads in Malegaon and everyone here cooperated with the government initiatives to control the spread of the virus," he said.
Narendra Sethi By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: Farmers in the upper areas of Uttarakhand and shepherds are facing the brunt of unseasonal rains. While rains in hilly areas caused heavy damage to fruit cultivation, around 350 goats died in the lightning in the Dunda block of Uttarkashi on Saturday night.

On Sunday, teams of the revenue department, animal husbandry department and SDRF reached the spot to assess the damage caused by the bad weather. According to the information received by the state headquarters in the capital, around 350 goats were killed when lightning struck in a forest at Mathanau Tok near Khattukhal village in the Dunda development block of Uttarkashi. Dunda Village Pradhan Sunita Negi told this newspaper that Sanjeev Rawat, a pastoralist of village Bharsu in Bhatwadi block, has the highest number of 188 goats killed in the natural disaster.

The owners insure their cattle. However, if this does not happen, the government gives compensation on humanitarian grounds. Our demand from the government will be that the affected cattle owners should be given adequate compensation, said Sunita Negi.

In Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday visited Moga, Muktsar, Bathinda and Patiala districts of the state where crops were damaged by hailstorms and rains. He assured the farmers that they would be duly compensated for the loss.

If a farmer suffers more than 75 per cent crop loss, the state government will provide a compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre. If the loss is between 33 and 75 per cent, the compensation would be Rs 6,750 per acre, Mann said. Labourers will get 10 per cent as compensation while Rs 95,100 would be paid as indemnity for damage to houses because of bad weather, he said.

Untimely rain accompanied by hail and high-velocity winds damaged wheat and other crops in several parts of Punjab. The chief minister announced that the state government would soon introduce a crop insurance scheme to safeguard the interest of farmers from natures fury.

He alleged that the crop insurance scheme announced by the Centre remained confined to papers. The Punjab government shall always be committed to the welfare of the farmers and farm labourers, Mann said while asserting that he can well understand the agony and pain of farmers who suffered heavy losses due to sudden and erratic changes in weather.

Initial reports indicate that several acres of the cultivated area have been affected at a stage when Rabi crops were almost ready for harvest, he said. The CM said he has directed the financial commissioner to issue detailed instructions to the deputy commissioners concerned to immediately carry out a crop loss assessment to ascertain the damage. A report from Lucknow said recent storms have dashed the hopes of mango farmers in UP.

Massive crop damage in 3 states

Uttarakhand

Rains caused heavy damage to fruits cultivation

Around 350 goats died in Uttarkashi. Cattle owners demanded that they be given adequate compensation

Punjab

Hailstorms and rains damage crops in Moga, Muktsar, Bathinda and Patiala districts

Hail and high-velocity winds affect wheat and other crops

Uttar Pradesh

Bad weather and lower-than-normal temperature has hit 40 per cent of mango crop

DEHRADUN: Farmers in the upper areas of Uttarakhand and shepherds are facing the brunt of unseasonal rains. While rains in hilly areas caused heavy damage to fruit cultivation, around 350 goats died in the lightning in the Dunda block of Uttarkashi on Saturday night. On Sunday, teams of the revenue department, animal husbandry department and SDRF reached the spot to assess the damage caused by the bad weather. According to the information received by the state headquarters in the capital, around 350 goats were killed when lightning struck in a forest at Mathanau Tok near Khattukhal village in the Dunda development block of Uttarkashi. Dunda Village Pradhan Sunita Negi told this newspaper that Sanjeev Rawat, a pastoralist of village Bharsu in Bhatwadi block, has the highest number of 188 goats killed in the natural disaster. The owners insure their cattle. However, if this does not happen, the government gives compensation on humanitarian grounds. Our demand from the government will be that the affected cattle owners should be given adequate compensation, said Sunita Negi.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday visited Moga, Muktsar, Bathinda and Patiala districts of the state where crops were damaged by hailstorms and rains. He assured the farmers that they would be duly compensated for the loss. If a farmer suffers more than 75 per cent crop loss, the state government will provide a compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre. If the loss is between 33 and 75 per cent, the compensation would be Rs 6,750 per acre, Mann said. Labourers will get 10 per cent as compensation while Rs 95,100 would be paid as indemnity for damage to houses because of bad weather, he said. Untimely rain accompanied by hail and high-velocity winds damaged wheat and other crops in several parts of Punjab. The chief minister announced that the state government would soon introduce a crop insurance scheme to safeguard the interest of farmers from natures fury. He alleged that the crop insurance scheme announced by the Centre remained confined to papers. The Punjab government shall always be committed to the welfare of the farmers and farm labourers, Mann said while asserting that he can well understand the agony and pain of farmers who suffered heavy losses due to sudden and erratic changes in weather. Initial reports indicate that several acres of the cultivated area have been affected at a stage when Rabi crops were almost ready for harvest, he said. The CM said he has directed the financial commissioner to issue detailed instructions to the deputy commissioners concerned to immediately carry out a crop loss assessment to ascertain the damage. A report from Lucknow said recent storms have dashed the hopes of mango farmers in UP. Massive crop damage in 3 states Uttarakhand Rains caused heavy damage to fruits cultivation Around 350 goats died in Uttarkashi. Cattle owners demanded that they be given adequate compensation Punjab Hailstorms and rains damage crops in Moga, Muktsar, Bathinda and Patiala districts Hail and high-velocity winds affect wheat and other crops Uttar Pradesh Bad weather and lower-than-normal temperature has hit 40 per cent of mango crop
Dilip Singh Kshatriya By

Express News Service

AHMEDABAD: Bilkis Bano's husband Yakub Rasul told local media on Monday that they were becoming afraid after images of a rape convict sitting with BJP leaders went viral.

One of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case, Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, was spotted on stage on Saturday, alongside BJP MP Jaswant Singh Bhabhor and MLA Shailesh Bhabhor, during a government-organized event linked to the "Har Ghar Jal Yojana." The event took place in Karamdi village in Dahod district.

Bhatt refused to comment when asked by the media if he attended the program on Saturday but claimed he went there for a "puja" ceremony.

ALSO READ | 'Be ready with relevant files on remission of convicts': SC to Gujarat govt on Bilkis Bano's plea

In response, Bilkis Bano's husband Yakub Rashul told local media, "We're already very scared after seeing this. An atmosphere of fear has been created. We hope that the Supreme Court will grant justice to Bilkis and remand these individuals in custody as soon as possible. Jaswant Singh Bhabhor shared the images on Facebook, and the public and media saw them. They are completely fearless."

Social media users shared videos and images from the ceremony that showed Bhatt on stage alongside Dahod MP Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor and Limkheda MLA Shailesh Bhabhor. He was spotted in pictures with them and taking part in the puja. BJP leaders tweeted the pictures as well.

All 11 convicts who had been given life sentences in 2008 for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and deaths of seven of her family members in 2002 had been released as per the Gujarat government's remission policy on August 15 last year. In an effort to prevent the convicts' release, Bilkis has now petitioned the Supreme Court for review.

AHMEDABAD: Bilkis Bano's husband Yakub Rasul told local media on Monday that they were becoming afraid after images of a rape convict sitting with BJP leaders went viral. One of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case, Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, was spotted on stage on Saturday, alongside BJP MP Jaswant Singh Bhabhor and MLA Shailesh Bhabhor, during a government-organized event linked to the "Har Ghar Jal Yojana." The event took place in Karamdi village in Dahod district. Bhatt refused to comment when asked by the media if he attended the program on Saturday but claimed he went there for a "puja" ceremony.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | 'Be ready with relevant files on remission of convicts': SC to Gujarat govt on Bilkis Bano's plea In response, Bilkis Bano's husband Yakub Rashul told local media, "We're already very scared after seeing this. An atmosphere of fear has been created. We hope that the Supreme Court will grant justice to Bilkis and remand these individuals in custody as soon as possible. Jaswant Singh Bhabhor shared the images on Facebook, and the public and media saw them. They are completely fearless." Social media users shared videos and images from the ceremony that showed Bhatt on stage alongside Dahod MP Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor and Limkheda MLA Shailesh Bhabhor. He was spotted in pictures with them and taking part in the puja. BJP leaders tweeted the pictures as well. All 11 convicts who had been given life sentences in 2008 for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and deaths of seven of her family members in 2002 had been released as per the Gujarat government's remission policy on August 15 last year. In an effort to prevent the convicts' release, Bilkis has now petitioned the Supreme Court for review.
By PTI

JAMMU: Family members of the Dhangri terror attack victims on Monday threatened to migrate from their village to a "safer" place and return the ex-gratia amount if the government fails to catch the attackers and bring them to justice.

Terrorists had struck Dhangri village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on January 1 and targeted villagers and fled before planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

While five people were killed in the firing by terrorists, two others died in the IED explosion the next morning.

As many as 14 villagers were injured in the twin attacks.

The attackers are still at large.

Saroj Bala, who lost two sons -- Prince and Deepak -- in the terrorist attack, said if the government cannot provide her justice, it should "shoot me dead too."

"We don't need jobs. We don't need money. We need justice by bringing terrorists and their supporters to book. If they don't address our demand, we will all migrate from here (Dhangri)," she told reporters in Rajouri.

Flanked by a large number of villagers, Bala said though 90 days have passed since the gruesome attack, there were no whereabouts of the terrorists involved.

"We have not received any information about the progress of the case and terrorists involved in the attack so far," She said.

Bala said she appreciated the support provided to the victims' families by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J-K BJP Ravinder Raina.

READ MORE | 'My world has ended': Mother who lost both sons in Rajouri terror strike

However, contrary to it, the J-K DGP said the attackers were Pakistani terrorists and have gone back after the killings, she added. "How is it that? My son was fired 18 to 20 rounds. Terrorists from across the border would fire a single or twin shot to kill a person but why were so many bullets fired? They (attackers) killed people after checking their IDs," Bala said.

"Even if that is true, what about those who gave them support to infiltrate, guided them and provided food and shelter here," she asked.

"The administration, in order to escape its responsibilities, transferred the SSP and the SHO probing case," Bala said.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Thursday had said terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan and killed innocent people in Dhangri village.

Asserting that the victims' families do not need jobs or ex-gratia, Dhangri village sarpanch Deeraj Kumar said that the money will be returned back to to the same account where from it was credited if justice is not provided to the families.

JAMMU: Family members of the Dhangri terror attack victims on Monday threatened to migrate from their village to a "safer" place and return the ex-gratia amount if the government fails to catch the attackers and bring them to justice. Terrorists had struck Dhangri village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on January 1 and targeted villagers and fled before planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). While five people were killed in the firing by terrorists, two others died in the IED explosion the next morning.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); As many as 14 villagers were injured in the twin attacks. The attackers are still at large. Saroj Bala, who lost two sons -- Prince and Deepak -- in the terrorist attack, said if the government cannot provide her justice, it should "shoot me dead too." "We don't need jobs. We don't need money. We need justice by bringing terrorists and their supporters to book. If they don't address our demand, we will all migrate from here (Dhangri)," she told reporters in Rajouri. Flanked by a large number of villagers, Bala said though 90 days have passed since the gruesome attack, there were no whereabouts of the terrorists involved. "We have not received any information about the progress of the case and terrorists involved in the attack so far," She said. Bala said she appreciated the support provided to the victims' families by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J-K BJP Ravinder Raina. READ MORE | 'My world has ended': Mother who lost both sons in Rajouri terror strike However, contrary to it, the J-K DGP said the attackers were Pakistani terrorists and have gone back after the killings, she added. "How is it that? My son was fired 18 to 20 rounds. Terrorists from across the border would fire a single or twin shot to kill a person but why were so many bullets fired? They (attackers) killed people after checking their IDs," Bala said. "Even if that is true, what about those who gave them support to infiltrate, guided them and provided food and shelter here," she asked. "The administration, in order to escape its responsibilities, transferred the SSP and the SHO probing case," Bala said. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Thursday had said terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan and killed innocent people in Dhangri village. Asserting that the victims' families do not need jobs or ex-gratia, Dhangri village sarpanch Deeraj Kumar said that the money will be returned back to to the same account where from it was credited if justice is not provided to the families.
Kapil Sibal By

Rahul Gandhis speech in Kolar, Karnataka, led to his conviction by a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Surat, Gujarat. He was sentenced for two years in a proceeding for criminal defamation. The process which led to his conviction and the conviction itself have raised issues that need to be addressed both from the point of view of law and politics.

Before delving into any of these issues, let us first understand what Rahul Gandhi said on April 13, 2019, while addressing a rally in Karnataka: I have a question. Why do all of themall of these thieveshave Modi Modi Modi in their names? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. And if we search a bit more, many more such Modis will come out.

For what he said, a former Gujarat minister and BJP MLA, Purnesh Modi, chose to prosecute him for criminal defamation on April 16, 2019. On the face of it, the statement cannot be regarded as an affront to the entire Modi community. Rahul Gandhi merely asked why all those alleged thieves have Modi attached to their names. Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi are known to be on the governments radar. Both have chosen not to come back to India. Rahul Gandhi did not say that every Modi is a thief. He only asked why these thieves have Modi attached to their names. Any conviction on the basis that Rahul Gandhi defamed the entire Modi community is suspect. Besides, there is no such identifiable Modi community which could be aggrieved by what Rahul Gandhi said.

Rahul Gandhi appeared for the first time before the CJMs court in Surat on June 24, 2021, to record his statement in person. In March 2022, the complainant requested that Rahul Gandhi be summoned again. The court, rejecting the request, insisted that the complainant proceed to address the court on the merits of the case. Interestingly, the complainant rushed to the high court and sought a stay of the proceedings before the trial court. On March 7, 2022, the trial was stayed. It is rare that a complainant, who seeks to prosecute, rushes to the high court to have the trial stayed unless he believes that there is little likelihood of his succeeding before the trial court.

The trial remained stayed for about a year. Curiously, the complainant withdrew his petition before the high court. Immediately thereafter, the trial resumed on February 27, 2023; this time, before another CJM, H H Varma. In between, Rahul Gandhi had been targeting a particular businessman, who has become the subject of controversy for his phenomenal rise as a businessman, and the wealth his companies have accumulated is allegedly attributed to his proximity to the prime minister. On March 8, 2023, Rahul Gandhis counsel challenged the locus of Purnesh Modi, claiming that Rahul Gandhis impugned speech targeted individuals and not the so-called Modi community. The quick withdrawal of proceedings in the high court, resumption of the trial, timing of the proceedings and sudden hearing of the matter raises questions, which in time, may perhaps be answered.

Admittedly, Rahul Gandhi does not reside in Gujarat. Criminal defamation should, if at all, have been filed in Karnataka. Purnesh Modi chose Surat perhaps with the expectation that he would be able to persuade the CJM to convict Rahul Gandhi. The procedure to be followed in matters where persons reside outside the jurisdiction of the court requires the magistrate to hold an inquiry before issuance of summons or for the CJM to direct an investigation. Neither was done. Besides, the Supreme Court itself has frowned upon using criminal defamation as a measure of harassment.

WATCH |

The substantive issue is whether such a law, which results in disqualification of a Member of Parliament, requires to be amended to provide safeguards to a sitting member. Even in the context of corrupt practices indulged in by candidates during electoral processes, the law allows the candidate to file an appeal but does not allow disqualification before the decision in the appeal. One can understand an MP or MLA being deprived of his membership if he is convicted for the offence of murder, which might visit him with a sentence of life imprisonment, or such other offences which are serious in nature for which the sentence provided is more than seven years. There, too, the law must provide for an opportunity to the convicted candidate to seek stay of conviction within a certain period, during which his or her membership of the House should not be subjected to disqualification.

An ordinance in 2013 sought to provide for a period of 90 days within which the convicted MP or MLA can seek stay of conviction to protect his or her seat in Parliament or Legislative Assembly. The ordinance did not become law and consequently, there are no safeguards for MPs or MLAs being convicted on the basis of frivolous cases. Recently, Abdullah Azam Khan lost his seat in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly pursuant to being convicted for a period of two years on the ground that he along with his father, Azam Khan, violated Section 353 and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code by sitting on dharna on a state highway in January 2008, thereby deterring the public servants from discharging their duty.

In case of Rahul Gandhi, the magistrate knew that any sentence of less than two years would have saved his membership of the Lok Sabha. The law needs to be amended. Not protecting an MP or MLA for a frivolous conviction like the one in the Rahul Gandhi case is grossly unjust. Today and since 2014, laws are being used for political ends and to settle political scores. That is a matter of concern not just with reference to Rahul Gandhi alone. Democracy can be subverted in many ways. Throwing out elected governments is one such way. Using judicial processes is another.

(Views are the writers)

Kapil Sibal

Senior lawyer and member of Rajya Sabha

(Tweets @KapilSibal)

Rahul Gandhis speech in Kolar, Karnataka, led to his conviction by a Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Surat, Gujarat. He was sentenced for two years in a proceeding for criminal defamation. The process which led to his conviction and the conviction itself have raised issues that need to be addressed both from the point of view of law and politics. Before delving into any of these issues, let us first understand what Rahul Gandhi said on April 13, 2019, while addressing a rally in Karnataka: I have a question. Why do all of themall of these thieveshave Modi Modi Modi in their names? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. And if we search a bit more, many more such Modis will come out. For what he said, a former Gujarat minister and BJP MLA, Purnesh Modi, chose to prosecute him for criminal defamation on April 16, 2019. On the face of it, the statement cannot be regarded as an affront to the entire Modi community. Rahul Gandhi merely asked why all those alleged thieves have Modi attached to their names. Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi are known to be on the governments radar. Both have chosen not to come back to India. Rahul Gandhi did not say that every Modi is a thief. He only asked why these thieves have Modi attached to their names. Any conviction on the basis that Rahul Gandhi defamed the entire Modi community is suspect. Besides, there is no such identifiable Modi community which could be aggrieved by what Rahul Gandhi said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Rahul Gandhi appeared for the first time before the CJMs court in Surat on June 24, 2021, to record his statement in person. In March 2022, the complainant requested that Rahul Gandhi be summoned again. The court, rejecting the request, insisted that the complainant proceed to address the court on the merits of the case. Interestingly, the complainant rushed to the high court and sought a stay of the proceedings before the trial court. On March 7, 2022, the trial was stayed. It is rare that a complainant, who seeks to prosecute, rushes to the high court to have the trial stayed unless he believes that there is little likelihood of his succeeding before the trial court. The trial remained stayed for about a year. Curiously, the complainant withdrew his petition before the high court. Immediately thereafter, the trial resumed on February 27, 2023; this time, before another CJM, H H Varma. In between, Rahul Gandhi had been targeting a particular businessman, who has become the subject of controversy for his phenomenal rise as a businessman, and the wealth his companies have accumulated is allegedly attributed to his proximity to the prime minister. On March 8, 2023, Rahul Gandhis counsel challenged the locus of Purnesh Modi, claiming that Rahul Gandhis impugned speech targeted individuals and not the so-called Modi community. The quick withdrawal of proceedings in the high court, resumption of the trial, timing of the proceedings and sudden hearing of the matter raises questions, which in time, may perhaps be answered. Admittedly, Rahul Gandhi does not reside in Gujarat. Criminal defamation should, if at all, have been filed in Karnataka. Purnesh Modi chose Surat perhaps with the expectation that he would be able to persuade the CJM to convict Rahul Gandhi. The procedure to be followed in matters where persons reside outside the jurisdiction of the court requires the magistrate to hold an inquiry before issuance of summons or for the CJM to direct an investigation. Neither was done. Besides, the Supreme Court itself has frowned upon using criminal defamation as a measure of harassment. WATCH | The substantive issue is whether such a law, which results in disqualification of a Member of Parliament, requires to be amended to provide safeguards to a sitting member. Even in the context of corrupt practices indulged in by candidates during electoral processes, the law allows the candidate to file an appeal but does not allow disqualification before the decision in the appeal. One can understand an MP or MLA being deprived of his membership if he is convicted for the offence of murder, which might visit him with a sentence of life imprisonment, or such other offences which are serious in nature for which the sentence provided is more than seven years. There, too, the law must provide for an opportunity to the convicted candidate to seek stay of conviction within a certain period, during which his or her membership of the House should not be subjected to disqualification. An ordinance in 2013 sought to provide for a period of 90 days within which the convicted MP or MLA can seek stay of conviction to protect his or her seat in Parliament or Legislative Assembly. The ordinance did not become law and consequently, there are no safeguards for MPs or MLAs being convicted on the basis of frivolous cases. Recently, Abdullah Azam Khan lost his seat in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly pursuant to being convicted for a period of two years on the ground that he along with his father, Azam Khan, violated Section 353 and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code by sitting on dharna on a state highway in January 2008, thereby deterring the public servants from discharging their duty. In case of Rahul Gandhi, the magistrate knew that any sentence of less than two years would have saved his membership of the Lok Sabha. The law needs to be amended. Not protecting an MP or MLA for a frivolous conviction like the one in the Rahul Gandhi case is grossly unjust. Today and since 2014, laws are being used for political ends and to settle political scores. That is a matter of concern not just with reference to Rahul Gandhi alone. Democracy can be subverted in many ways. Throwing out elected governments is one such way. Using judicial processes is another. (Views are the writers) Kapil Sibal Senior lawyer and member of Rajya Sabha (Tweets @KapilSibal)
Those surprised at the governments move to remove the tax advantage that debt mutual funds had over fixed deposits might have missed several hints the government had already dropped about its broader tax policies. The government wants to do away with the myriad tax exemptions and create a tax regime where no gains from any investments go tax-free. It has been moving slowly but surely in that direction.

The latest step to remove tax benefits offered to long-term investors of debt funds is a step in that direction. The governments decision to bring debt funds at par with bank fixed deposits as far as their taxation is concerned also serves another essential purposeensuring banks have enough liquidity as a more financially savvy Indian investor community is shunning bank FDs looking for better tax-adjusted returns. The decision could not have come at a better time, given banks globally are facing a liquidity crisis.

The latest decision also reinforces the larger government goal of not leaving any income or gains untaxed. When the government first targeted high-salaried employees EPF contributions, it was known that it had breached the last bastion of tax-free income. It started with taxing employer contributions above Rs 7.5 lakh a year and then the employee contributions above Rs 2.5 lakh a year.

The Centre is already taxing long-term capital gains from equities, which once used to be tax-free. It then targeted another tax-free investment toolinsurance. First, they brought gains from ULIPs under the tax net, and now profits from any insurance policy, if the cumulative annual premium exceeds Rs 1.5 lakh, will be taxed. Not just earnings from investments, the government is also targeting all financial and non-financial transactions. Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) are now levied on every possible transactioneven your spending on foreign tours will attract a 20% TCS.

The government has been able to tighten the grip on existing taxpayers, ensuring not a single penny of income escapes the tax net. It might also result in Indias tax to GDP ratio (which has hovered around 17%) finally breaching the 18% mark. However, the question that might be bothering the government is if it has been able to broaden the tax base or if it is only squeezing more out of the existing taxpayers.

Those surprised at the governments move to remove the tax advantage that debt mutual funds had over fixed deposits might have missed several hints the government had already dropped about its broader tax policies. The government wants to do away with the myriad tax exemptions and create a tax regime where no gains from any investments go tax-free. It has been moving slowly but surely in that direction. The latest step to remove tax benefits offered to long-term investors of debt funds is a step in that direction. The governments decision to bring debt funds at par with bank fixed deposits as far as their taxation is concerned also serves another essential purposeensuring banks have enough liquidity as a more financially savvy Indian investor community is shunning bank FDs looking for better tax-adjusted returns. The decision could not have come at a better time, given banks globally are facing a liquidity crisis. The latest decision also reinforces the larger government goal of not leaving any income or gains untaxed. When the government first targeted high-salaried employees EPF contributions, it was known that it had breached the last bastion of tax-free income. It started with taxing employer contributions above Rs 7.5 lakh a year and then the employee contributions above Rs 2.5 lakh a year.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Centre is already taxing long-term capital gains from equities, which once used to be tax-free. It then targeted another tax-free investment toolinsurance. First, they brought gains from ULIPs under the tax net, and now profits from any insurance policy, if the cumulative annual premium exceeds Rs 1.5 lakh, will be taxed. Not just earnings from investments, the government is also targeting all financial and non-financial transactions. Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) are now levied on every possible transactioneven your spending on foreign tours will attract a 20% TCS. The government has been able to tighten the grip on existing taxpayers, ensuring not a single penny of income escapes the tax net. It might also result in Indias tax to GDP ratio (which has hovered around 17%) finally breaching the 18% mark. However, the question that might be bothering the government is if it has been able to broaden the tax base or if it is only squeezing more out of the existing taxpayers.
By Express News Service

SHIVAMOGGA: Miscreants pelted stones at the residence of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa in his hometown Shikaripura in Shivamogga district on Monday. The incident took place when the Banjara community activists were staging protests against the internal reservation for SCs that the Karnataka government announced recently.

The Banjara Seva Sangha was staging the protest which was organised near the bus stand. They shouted slogans at the state government as well as the BJP-led Union government.

Later, some protesters removed the banners of PM Narendra Modi and CM Basavaraj Bommai. They then took out a protest march from Ambedkar Circle to Taluk Office.

The protesters also tried to lay siege to the house of Yediurappa. However, the police put up barricades and stopped them. While removing the barricades, they clashed with the police personnel. The cops then resorted to a mild lathi charge.

Few police personnel as well as protesters were reportedly injured in the duel. Among the protesters, some miscreants pelted stones at the house leading to the window panes getting damaged.

Stones pelting at the house of B S Yediyurappa in Shivamogga district

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Chikkaballapur, CM Bommai accused the Congress of provoking the protesters. He said the internal reservation was not done as per the recommendations of the AJ Sadashiva Commission but as per the Cabinet sub-committee recommendations.

"The Banjara community was worried that the community would be removed from the SC category. But, no need to worry about it. Instead of 3% reservation for the Banjara community, we have given 4.5% reservation. I would like to tell the Banjara leaders that we have protected the interest of the community," he said.

Bommai also said that Yediyurappa established the Tanda Development Corporation and provided basic amenities to the Banjara localities.

"There is a local Congress provocation behind the incident. I condemn the Congress conspiracy. Now, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala should tell who provoke the people," he added.

SHIVAMOGGA: Miscreants pelted stones at the residence of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa in his hometown Shikaripura in Shivamogga district on Monday. The incident took place when the Banjara community activists were staging protests against the internal reservation for SCs that the Karnataka government announced recently. The Banjara Seva Sangha was staging the protest which was organised near the bus stand. They shouted slogans at the state government as well as the BJP-led Union government. Later, some protesters removed the banners of PM Narendra Modi and CM Basavaraj Bommai. They then took out a protest march from Ambedkar Circle to Taluk Office. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The protesters also tried to lay siege to the house of Yediurappa. However, the police put up barricades and stopped them. While removing the barricades, they clashed with the police personnel. The cops then resorted to a mild lathi charge. Few police personnel as well as protesters were reportedly injured in the duel. Among the protesters, some miscreants pelted stones at the house leading to the window panes getting damaged. Stones pelting at the house of B S Yediyurappa in Shivamogga district Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Chikkaballapur, CM Bommai accused the Congress of provoking the protesters. He said the internal reservation was not done as per the recommendations of the AJ Sadashiva Commission but as per the Cabinet sub-committee recommendations. "The Banjara community was worried that the community would be removed from the SC category. But, no need to worry about it. Instead of 3% reservation for the Banjara community, we have given 4.5% reservation. I would like to tell the Banjara leaders that we have protected the interest of the community," he said. Bommai also said that Yediyurappa established the Tanda Development Corporation and provided basic amenities to the Banjara localities. "There is a local Congress provocation behind the incident. I condemn the Congress conspiracy. Now, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala should tell who provoke the people," he added.
Ramu Patil By

Express News Service

Just when it is preparing to go full throttle with its campaign to return to power in Karnataka and emerge as a strong force ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress is now facing one of its worst crises after the disqualification of former AICC president Rahul Gandhis Lok Sabha membership.

The party may be waiting to take on the government when the Parliament session resumes on Monday and hoping to get some respite from the courts, but as a political party, its ability to take the issue before people will be put to test during the Karnataka polls.

Can the party convert this crisis into an opportunity is the big question. Any hope and possibility of the partys revival are directly linked to that.

ALSO READ| Nearly fifty years later, Rahul follows in grandma Indira's footsteps with disqualification

It is almost like a now-or-never moment for the party as there are many positives for Congress. The Gandhi family has its appeal in Karnataka. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge can touch the chord with voters in his home state better than anywhere else in the country. Despite its poor show in elections, Congress has a considerable support base at the grassroots level.

The real challenge is to leverage those strengths. The Congress immediate response to Rahul Gandhis disqualification raised doubts about its ability to take up the cudgels effectively. The party is likely to make it one of the major issues during the Karnataka polls. But translating it into electoral dividends depends on how its leaders connect with the masses to drive home their point.

The Congress biggest drawback is the lack of firepower required to match BJPs carpet-bombing style of campaigning. Even before the announcement of poll dates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have addressed many rallies, taking turns to visit the state.

On their part, central leaders from Congress have hardly made their presence felt in Karnataka. They seem to have left it to state Congress president DK Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah to lead the party, making it look like a fight between the might of BJPs central leadership versus state Congress leaders.

The speed and manner in which the Congress leader was disqualified raises several questions. Many in Congress feel that they need to talk about how Rahul is being constantly targeted by the ruling party for getting under its skin, and also larger issues of democracy, freedom of speech, and the oppositions right and duty to question those in power.

It is yet to be seen if the partys central or state units will come up with any campaign strategies

to take the message to voters and sustain it. The BJP will continue with its strategy of portraying Rahul as a non-serious politician and show that everything is not hunky-dory within the Grand Old Party. The partys aggressive campaign against Rahuls remarks in the United Kingdom was also seen as an attempt to sully his image as a serious politician, which he had gained after his Bharat Jodo yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

ALSO READ| Petition in SC challenges provision of automatic disqualification of MPs

As Congress raises the issue, BJP will certainly use Rahuls Modi surname remarks against Congress terming it as an insult to a particular community. A court in Gujarat convicted the Congress MP for his remarks made in Kolar in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. A day after the court verdict, he was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member.

However, some senior BJP leaders admit, in private, that disqualifying an MP based on a lower court order sets a bad precedent. They are of the view that the Supreme Court should have the last word in the case of parliament members and state high courts in the case of legislators. Be that as it may, Congress ability to convert this crisis into an opportunity and woo Karnataka voters, especially neutral voters, will be put to test in the next few weeks.

Ramu Patil

Associate Editor

ramu@newindianexpress.com

Just when it is preparing to go full throttle with its campaign to return to power in Karnataka and emerge as a strong force ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress is now facing one of its worst crises after the disqualification of former AICC president Rahul Gandhis Lok Sabha membership. The party may be waiting to take on the government when the Parliament session resumes on Monday and hoping to get some respite from the courts, but as a political party, its ability to take the issue before people will be put to test during the Karnataka polls. Can the party convert this crisis into an opportunity is the big question. Any hope and possibility of the partys revival are directly linked to that.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ| Nearly fifty years later, Rahul follows in grandma Indira's footsteps with disqualification It is almost like a now-or-never moment for the party as there are many positives for Congress. The Gandhi family has its appeal in Karnataka. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge can touch the chord with voters in his home state better than anywhere else in the country. Despite its poor show in elections, Congress has a considerable support base at the grassroots level. The real challenge is to leverage those strengths. The Congress immediate response to Rahul Gandhis disqualification raised doubts about its ability to take up the cudgels effectively. The party is likely to make it one of the major issues during the Karnataka polls. But translating it into electoral dividends depends on how its leaders connect with the masses to drive home their point. The Congress biggest drawback is the lack of firepower required to match BJPs carpet-bombing style of campaigning. Even before the announcement of poll dates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have addressed many rallies, taking turns to visit the state. On their part, central leaders from Congress have hardly made their presence felt in Karnataka. They seem to have left it to state Congress president DK Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah to lead the party, making it look like a fight between the might of BJPs central leadership versus state Congress leaders. The speed and manner in which the Congress leader was disqualified raises several questions. Many in Congress feel that they need to talk about how Rahul is being constantly targeted by the ruling party for getting under its skin, and also larger issues of democracy, freedom of speech, and the oppositions right and duty to question those in power. It is yet to be seen if the partys central or state units will come up with any campaign strategies to take the message to voters and sustain it. The BJP will continue with its strategy of portraying Rahul as a non-serious politician and show that everything is not hunky-dory within the Grand Old Party. The partys aggressive campaign against Rahuls remarks in the United Kingdom was also seen as an attempt to sully his image as a serious politician, which he had gained after his Bharat Jodo yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. ALSO READ| Petition in SC challenges provision of automatic disqualification of MPs As Congress raises the issue, BJP will certainly use Rahuls Modi surname remarks against Congress terming it as an insult to a particular community. A court in Gujarat convicted the Congress MP for his remarks made in Kolar in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. A day after the court verdict, he was disqualified as a Lok Sabha member. However, some senior BJP leaders admit, in private, that disqualifying an MP based on a lower court order sets a bad precedent. They are of the view that the Supreme Court should have the last word in the case of parliament members and state high courts in the case of legislators. Be that as it may, Congress ability to convert this crisis into an opportunity and woo Karnataka voters, especially neutral voters, will be put to test in the next few weeks. Ramu Patil Associate Editor ramu@newindianexpress.com
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Calling the state budget an embodiment of the Dravidian model of development, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday said it prioritised inclusive progress for all sections of the society.

In a release, the CM said the Dravidian model entails the development of all sectors, people, and districts. The budget fully incorporates the concept, he added.

Listing out several schemes like the expansion of breakfast scheme for school students, the `7,500 assistance for civil service aspirants, and the Annal Ambedkar business champions scheme to develop entrepreneurs among the SC/ST communities, the CM said they were praised for their comprehensive coverage of all communities and regions.

On the whole, the schemes are devised so as to cover the interests of every individual in the state and keeping in mind Tamil Nadus development, the CM said. The budget aims to also empower successive generations, he added. Further, the CM urged ministers and officials to work tirelessly to execute the schemes and provide full benefits to the public.

CHENNAI: Calling the state budget an embodiment of the Dravidian model of development, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday said it prioritised inclusive progress for all sections of the society. In a release, the CM said the Dravidian model entails the development of all sectors, people, and districts. The budget fully incorporates the concept, he added. Listing out several schemes like the expansion of breakfast scheme for school students, the `7,500 assistance for civil service aspirants, and the Annal Ambedkar business champions scheme to develop entrepreneurs among the SC/ST communities, the CM said they were praised for their comprehensive coverage of all communities and regions. On the whole, the schemes are devised so as to cover the interests of every individual in the state and keeping in mind Tamil Nadus development, the CM said. The budget aims to also empower successive generations, he added. Further, the CM urged ministers and officials to work tirelessly to execute the schemes and provide full benefits to the public.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });
Thinakaran Rajamani By

Express News Service

TIRUNELVELI: At least 10 young men from the Ambasamudram police division in Tamil Nadu have come forward alleging that Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Balveer Singh IPS had tortured them by removing their teeth with cutting pliers and, in the case of two men, crushed their testicles.

Tirunelveli Collector KP Karthikeyan said he had passed an order for an inquiry to be conducted by the sub-divisional magistrate-cum-sub-collector of Cheranmahadevi, as per police standing order.

ASP Balveer Singh

Singh is a 2020-batch IPS officer with a BE degree from IIT-Bombay. He was posted to Ambasamudram as ASP on October 15, 2022. The 10 men, who faced the alleged custodial torture, were arrested for offences such as a clash over a love affair, money lending, breaking CCTV cameras and a marital dispute.

One police personnel told TNIE he had been present during the alleged torture. The police officials in the intelligence unit have known about Singhs behaviour from the start. If they had brought this matter to the attention of higher officials, some of these youngsters would have been saved, he rued. TNIE spoke to two of the victims.

In a video shared with TNIE, a youngster named Chellappa claimed that Singh changed into shorts and donned gloves before damaging his teeth using blue metal and beating him and his two brothers at the Ambasamudram police station earlier this month. Chellappa and his brothers run a mutton stall at Sivanthipuram.

READ MORE | Tamil Nadu custodial violence: Accused ASP Balveer Singh shifted out

ASP damaged my teeth as cops held me down

My brothers, three relatives and I had a dispute with another group over a love affair. We handed over members of that group, with their weapons to the police. The police brought six of us as well as three of our opponents to the Ambasamudram police station. Two police personnel, including the ASPs gunman, held me down while Singh damaged my teeth with blue metal and injured my lips. He filled my mouth with stones and beat my face, he alleged.

Then the ASP asked me to sit while he called my brothers and relatives. They were also beaten and their teeth were removed with cutting pliers. One of my brothers lost three teeth. Our mouths were oozing blood, he claimed.

WATCH |

When he started beating my brother Mariappan, we begged him not to as he is newly married. But once we said that, he crushed my brothers testicles with his left hand and kicked him on his chest, he claimed, adding that Mariappan was so traumatised by the attack, he has been unable to leave his bed.

(This tweet contains disturbing narratives. Viewer discretion is advised.)

About 10 youths in Ambasamudram police division in Tamil Nadu claimed ASP Balveer Singh IPS removed their teeth with cutting plier & crushed testicles of two of them including a newly married youth. These three persons explain what they underwent in police custody. Teeth of many pic.twitter.com/xmgn1oniEX  Thinakaran Rajamani (@thinak_) March 26, 2023

He only has some juice once a day as he is unable to eat. Singh broke the teeth of six persons from our side and two persons from the other group. We were made to sit in our underwear as we were thrashed with a lathi. He threatened us to tell the judicial magistrate that we were injured when we fell off our bike or from a coconut tree, he said, adding that they complied fearing the safety of their female relatives.

Chellappas brother Esakkimuthu told TNIE, Singh asked us who our gang leader is, assuming that we are rowdies. We explained that we are the complainants. But he said something in Hindi and started beating us, he said.

Another victim told TNIE, He beat me as I did not cooperate while he removed my teeth. Teeth of my two friends were also removed, he said.

Political outfits, including Nethaji Subash Sena and Puratchi Bharatham, initiated protests demanding action against the ASP.

Advocate Maharajan of Nethaji Subash Sena charged that Singh removed the teeth of about 40 persons in his division so far. TNIE has not been able to independently verify this claim. I have collected details of 17 persons so far. Singh should be dismissed and arrested, he demanded. Tirunelveli SP P Saravanan said an official probe had been ordered by the Collector.

TIRUNELVELI: At least 10 young men from the Ambasamudram police division in Tamil Nadu have come forward alleging that Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Balveer Singh IPS had tortured them by removing their teeth with cutting pliers and, in the case of two men, crushed their testicles. Tirunelveli Collector KP Karthikeyan said he had passed an order for an inquiry to be conducted by the sub-divisional magistrate-cum-sub-collector of Cheranmahadevi, as per police standing order. ASP Balveer SinghSingh is a 2020-batch IPS officer with a BE degree from IIT-Bombay. He was posted to Ambasamudram as ASP on October 15, 2022. The 10 men, who faced the alleged custodial torture, were arrested for offences such as a clash over a love affair, money lending, breaking CCTV cameras and a marital dispute.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); One police personnel told TNIE he had been present during the alleged torture. The police officials in the intelligence unit have known about Singhs behaviour from the start. If they had brought this matter to the attention of higher officials, some of these youngsters would have been saved, he rued. TNIE spoke to two of the victims. In a video shared with TNIE, a youngster named Chellappa claimed that Singh changed into shorts and donned gloves before damaging his teeth using blue metal and beating him and his two brothers at the Ambasamudram police station earlier this month. Chellappa and his brothers run a mutton stall at Sivanthipuram. READ MORE | Tamil Nadu custodial violence: Accused ASP Balveer Singh shifted out ASP damaged my teeth as cops held me down My brothers, three relatives and I had a dispute with another group over a love affair. We handed over members of that group, with their weapons to the police. The police brought six of us as well as three of our opponents to the Ambasamudram police station. Two police personnel, including the ASPs gunman, held me down while Singh damaged my teeth with blue metal and injured my lips. He filled my mouth with stones and beat my face, he alleged. Then the ASP asked me to sit while he called my brothers and relatives. They were also beaten and their teeth were removed with cutting pliers. One of my brothers lost three teeth. Our mouths were oozing blood, he claimed. WATCH | When he started beating my brother Mariappan, we begged him not to as he is newly married. But once we said that, he crushed my brothers testicles with his left hand and kicked him on his chest, he claimed, adding that Mariappan was so traumatised by the attack, he has been unable to leave his bed. (This tweet contains disturbing narratives. Viewer discretion is advised.) About 10 youths in Ambasamudram police division in Tamil Nadu claimed ASP Balveer Singh IPS removed their teeth with cutting plier & crushed testicles of two of them including a newly married youth. These three persons explain what they underwent in police custody. Teeth of many pic.twitter.com/xmgn1oniEX  Thinakaran Rajamani (@thinak_) March 26, 2023 He only has some juice once a day as he is unable to eat. Singh broke the teeth of six persons from our side and two persons from the other group. We were made to sit in our underwear as we were thrashed with a lathi. He threatened us to tell the judicial magistrate that we were injured when we fell off our bike or from a coconut tree, he said, adding that they complied fearing the safety of their female relatives. Chellappas brother Esakkimuthu told TNIE, Singh asked us who our gang leader is, assuming that we are rowdies. We explained that we are the complainants. But he said something in Hindi and started beating us, he said. Another victim told TNIE, He beat me as I did not cooperate while he removed my teeth. Teeth of my two friends were also removed, he said. Political outfits, including Nethaji Subash Sena and Puratchi Bharatham, initiated protests demanding action against the ASP. Advocate Maharajan of Nethaji Subash Sena charged that Singh removed the teeth of about 40 persons in his division so far. TNIE has not been able to independently verify this claim. I have collected details of 17 persons so far. Singh should be dismissed and arrested, he demanded. Tirunelveli SP P Saravanan said an official probe had been ordered by the Collector.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The State government has rejected outright the proposal of the Ministry of Power to collect 1.2 times more than the normal power tariff during peak hours.

We will not accept the proposal which will burden the poor, declared Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy on Sunday. The Ministry of Power, while sending the draft Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2023 to the States, wanted the State governments comments on the same by April 14, 2023.

The Time of Day (ToD) tariff specified by the State Commission for Commercial and Industrial Consumers during the peak time of the day shall not be less than 1.2 times (i.e., 20%) the normal tariff and for other consumers, it shall not be less than 1.1 times (i.e., 10%) the normal tariff, the draft rules said.

The ToD tariff, according to draft rules, should be implemented for commercial and industrial consumers from April 2024. The ToD should be implemented for other consumers, except agriculture consumers from April 2025, the draft rules said.

Reacting to this, Jagadish Reddy alleged that the draft rules were nothing but a conspiracy to deprive power to the poor. We will not allow the collection of higher power tariffs during peak hours, he said. The minister recalled that the State government did not even allow to pass on the true-up tariff burden to the consumers by deciding to pay over Rs 12,000 crore true-up charges to Discoms.

The Energy Minister also opposed the draft rules, which suggested fixing smart meters to all consumers to collect ToD tariff. He felt that an increase in tariffs during the peak time for commercial and industrial consumers would adversely affect the economy.

Jagadish Reddy explained that the peak hours are 5 am to 10 am and again from 6 pm to 10 pm. If any consumers use power during these peak hours, higher tariffs should be collected, as per the draft rules. Collecting higher tariffs would burden domestic as well as industrial consumers, he said.

Jagadish Reddy recalled that the Narendra Modi government linked the State governments open market borrowings to power reforms and rendered injustice to the State. He said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will officially communicate the State governments resentment to the draft electricity rules. Jagadish Reddy said that the day that will see an end to the misrule of Narendra Modi was not far off.

Points to ponder

 ToD tariff during peak time shall not be less than 20% of the normal tariff and 10% for other consumers

 The ToD tariff will be implemented for commercial and industrial consumers from April 2024 and for other consumers, except agriculture consumers from April 2025, the draft rules say

HYDERABAD: The State government has rejected outright the proposal of the Ministry of Power to collect 1.2 times more than the normal power tariff during peak hours. We will not accept the proposal which will burden the poor, declared Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy on Sunday. The Ministry of Power, while sending the draft Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2023 to the States, wanted the State governments comments on the same by April 14, 2023. The Time of Day (ToD) tariff specified by the State Commission for Commercial and Industrial Consumers during the peak time of the day shall not be less than 1.2 times (i.e., 20%) the normal tariff and for other consumers, it shall not be less than 1.1 times (i.e., 10%) the normal tariff, the draft rules said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The ToD tariff, according to draft rules, should be implemented for commercial and industrial consumers from April 2024. The ToD should be implemented for other consumers, except agriculture consumers from April 2025, the draft rules said. Reacting to this, Jagadish Reddy alleged that the draft rules were nothing but a conspiracy to deprive power to the poor. We will not allow the collection of higher power tariffs during peak hours, he said. The minister recalled that the State government did not even allow to pass on the true-up tariff burden to the consumers by deciding to pay over Rs 12,000 crore true-up charges to Discoms. The Energy Minister also opposed the draft rules, which suggested fixing smart meters to all consumers to collect ToD tariff. He felt that an increase in tariffs during the peak time for commercial and industrial consumers would adversely affect the economy. Jagadish Reddy explained that the peak hours are 5 am to 10 am and again from 6 pm to 10 pm. If any consumers use power during these peak hours, higher tariffs should be collected, as per the draft rules. Collecting higher tariffs would burden domestic as well as industrial consumers, he said. Jagadish Reddy recalled that the Narendra Modi government linked the State governments open market borrowings to power reforms and rendered injustice to the State. He said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will officially communicate the State governments resentment to the draft electricity rules. Jagadish Reddy said that the day that will see an end to the misrule of Narendra Modi was not far off. Points to ponder  ToD tariff during peak time shall not be less than 20% of the normal tariff and 10% for other consumers  The ToD tariff will be implemented for commercial and industrial consumers from April 2024 and for other consumers, except agriculture consumers from April 2025, the draft rules say
By Associated Press

EL PASO: One person was killed and three more were wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, adding to the dozens of people already killed this year in mass shootings across the United States.

El Paso police said hours after the gunfire that two people had been taken into custody, though details of what led to the shooting remained unclear.

Interim police chief Peter Pacillas said that Cielo Vista Mall was still considered a crime scene and that it would remain locked down until authorities had completed their investigation. Pacillas stressed that the danger had passed. "There is no more danger. I want to repeat that: There is no more danger to the public," Pacillas said.

The shooting happened in a busy shopping area and across a large parking lot from a Walmart where 23 people were killed in a racist attack targeting Hispanic people in 2019.

El Paso  with a largely Latino population of about 700,000 people  sits on the U.S. border with Mexico, where residents of both countries cross frequently.

"Today's shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall has brought back traumatic memories for many of us. Please know you are not alone," Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, said on Twitter. She urged anyone who needed it to reach out to the city's crisis helpline.

The United States has seen dozens of people killed in mass shootings so far in 2023, most recently Monday at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and five more were wounded. In January, 11 people were killed in the Los Angeles-area city of Monterey Park as they welcomed the Lunar New Year at a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans.

ALSO READ | Last dance: Those slain in California shooting remembered

University Medical Center in El Paso said in a statement that two gunshot victims being treated there were in critical condition. The condition of the third victim was not immediately known.

Pacillas said the two people taken into custody after Wednesday's shooting as well as all of the victims were males. Police earlier said the shooting was reported in the shopping mall's food court. Authorities set up a reunification centre at a nearby high school, where those affected by the shooting could reconnect with loved ones.

The FBI, which is assisting El Paso police in the investigation, set up a website where the public can share photos or video from the shooting.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet Wednesday night that he had spoken to the mayor of El Paso and offered assistance from the Texas Department of Public and Safety and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

In 2022, more than 600 mass shootings occurred in the U.S. in which at least four people were killed or wounded, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

ALSO READ | Elderly, Asian gunman outlier in US mass shootings

EL PASO: One person was killed and three more were wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas, adding to the dozens of people already killed this year in mass shootings across the United States. El Paso police said hours after the gunfire that two people had been taken into custody, though details of what led to the shooting remained unclear. Interim police chief Peter Pacillas said that Cielo Vista Mall was still considered a crime scene and that it would remain locked down until authorities had completed their investigation. Pacillas stressed that the danger had passed. "There is no more danger. I want to repeat that: There is no more danger to the public," Pacillas said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The shooting happened in a busy shopping area and across a large parking lot from a Walmart where 23 people were killed in a racist attack targeting Hispanic people in 2019. El Paso  with a largely Latino population of about 700,000 people  sits on the U.S. border with Mexico, where residents of both countries cross frequently. "Today's shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall has brought back traumatic memories for many of us. Please know you are not alone," Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, whose district includes El Paso, said on Twitter. She urged anyone who needed it to reach out to the city's crisis helpline. The United States has seen dozens of people killed in mass shootings so far in 2023, most recently Monday at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and five more were wounded. In January, 11 people were killed in the Los Angeles-area city of Monterey Park as they welcomed the Lunar New Year at a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans. ALSO READ | Last dance: Those slain in California shooting remembered University Medical Center in El Paso said in a statement that two gunshot victims being treated there were in critical condition. The condition of the third victim was not immediately known. Pacillas said the two people taken into custody after Wednesday's shooting as well as all of the victims were males. Police earlier said the shooting was reported in the shopping mall's food court. Authorities set up a reunification centre at a nearby high school, where those affected by the shooting could reconnect with loved ones. The FBI, which is assisting El Paso police in the investigation, set up a website where the public can share photos or video from the shooting. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said in a tweet Wednesday night that he had spoken to the mayor of El Paso and offered assistance from the Texas Department of Public and Safety and the Texas Division of Emergency Management. In 2022, more than 600 mass shootings occurred in the U.S. in which at least four people were killed or wounded, according to the Gun Violence Archive. ALSO READ | Elderly, Asian gunman outlier in US mass shootings
By Online Desk

MONTEREY PARK: The gunman who opened fire at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing 10 people and injuring 10 others, remained on the loose Sunday morning, Los Angeles Times, quoting authorities, reports.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said a very preliminary description was that the suspect is an Asian man, but he did not provide further details, the report said. He said that the shooting occurred at a business on Garvey Ave in Monterey Park.

The gunman opened fire as the local community were celebrating Lunar New Year at the venue in Monterey Park, with witnesses saying he shot indiscriminately with a semiautomatic weapon.

ALSO READ | US police hunt gunman who killed ten in Lunar New Year shooting

Captain Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said officers had responded to emergency calls around 10:20pm on Saturday (6:20 Sunday GMT) and found people pouring out of the premises.

"The officers made entry to the location and located additional victims," he said.

"The Monterey Park Fire Department responded to the scene and treated the injured and pronounced 10 of the victims deceased at the scene."

There are at least 10 additional victims that were transported to numerous local hospitals and are listed in various conditions from stable to critical.

"The suspect fled the scene and remains outstanding."

Police gave no description of the wanted man, and did not say what kind of gun he used. Sheriff's deputies were scouring the scene Sunday morning for clues and had established a security perimeter around the area, an AFP reporter said.

A helicopter flew overhead, as television trucks set up to broadcast.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, at podium, briefs the media outside the Civic Center in Monterey Park on Sunday, January 22, 2023. (Photo | AP)

At the entrance to Monterey Park, only a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, a banner celebrating the Lunar New Year remained in place.

Monterey Park is home to around 60,000 people, the majority of them Asian or Asian American.

Meyer said detectives were also aware of another incident in the neighboring city of Alhambra.

"We have investigators on scene trying to determine if there's a connection between these two incidents," he said.

ALSO READ | Gunman kills 5 at gay nightclub, hours before Transgender Day of Remembrance

Media reports said an attempted shooting at a ballroom and dance studio in Alhambra had been thwarted, with the alleged gunman tackled and disarmed, and no injuries reported.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed about the killings in Monterey Park, and ordered the FBI to give "full support" to local authorities, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted.

The shooting was the deadliest in the US since a shooter in Uvalde, Texas killed 22 people at an elementary school last May 24.

Seung Won Choi, who owns the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, told the Los Angles Times that three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door.

The people also told Choi that there was a shooter with a machine gun who had multiple rounds of ammunition on him so he could reload. Choi said he believes the shooting took place at a dance club.

The newspaper reported that the shooting happened after 10 pm.

Saturday was the start of the two-day festival, which is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California.

(With inputs from AFP and AP)

MONTEREY PARK: The gunman who opened fire at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing 10 people and injuring 10 others, remained on the loose Sunday morning, Los Angeles Times, quoting authorities, reports. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said a very preliminary description was that the suspect is an Asian man, but he did not provide further details, the report said. He said that the shooting occurred at a business on Garvey Ave in Monterey Park. The gunman opened fire as the local community were celebrating Lunar New Year at the venue in Monterey Park, with witnesses saying he shot indiscriminately with a semiautomatic weapon.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | US police hunt gunman who killed ten in Lunar New Year shooting Captain Andrew Meyer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said officers had responded to emergency calls around 10:20pm on Saturday (6:20 Sunday GMT) and found people pouring out of the premises. "The officers made entry to the location and located additional victims," he said. "The Monterey Park Fire Department responded to the scene and treated the injured and pronounced 10 of the victims deceased at the scene." There are at least 10 additional victims that were transported to numerous local hospitals and are listed in various conditions from stable to critical. "The suspect fled the scene and remains outstanding." Police gave no description of the wanted man, and did not say what kind of gun he used. Sheriff's deputies were scouring the scene Sunday morning for clues and had established a security perimeter around the area, an AFP reporter said. A helicopter flew overhead, as television trucks set up to broadcast. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, at podium, briefs the media outside the Civic Center in Monterey Park on Sunday, January 22, 2023. (Photo | AP) At the entrance to Monterey Park, only a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, a banner celebrating the Lunar New Year remained in place. Monterey Park is home to around 60,000 people, the majority of them Asian or Asian American. Meyer said detectives were also aware of another incident in the neighboring city of Alhambra. "We have investigators on scene trying to determine if there's a connection between these two incidents," he said. ALSO READ | Gunman kills 5 at gay nightclub, hours before Transgender Day of Remembrance Media reports said an attempted shooting at a ballroom and dance studio in Alhambra had been thwarted, with the alleged gunman tackled and disarmed, and no injuries reported. US President Joe Biden has been briefed about the killings in Monterey Park, and ordered the FBI to give "full support" to local authorities, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted. The shooting was the deadliest in the US since a shooter in Uvalde, Texas killed 22 people at an elementary school last May 24. Seung Won Choi, who owns the Clam House seafood barbecue restaurant across the street from where the shooting happened, told the Los Angles Times that three people rushed into his business and told him to lock the door. The people also told Choi that there was a shooter with a machine gun who had multiple rounds of ammunition on him so he could reload. Choi said he believes the shooting took place at a dance club. The newspaper reported that the shooting happened after 10 pm. Saturday was the start of the two-day festival, which is one of the largest Lunar New Year events in Southern California. (With inputs from AFP and AP)
By Associated Press

NASHVILLE; A female shooter wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday in what marks the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.

The suspect also died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. Police said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, after initially saying she appeared to be in her teens.

Authorities were working to identify her and whether she had a connection to the school.

The killings come as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

ALSO READ | 28-year-old Nashville school shooting suspect was former student: Police

The Nashville victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. One officer had a hand wound from cut glass.

Other students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Mayor John Cooper wrote on Twitter. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.

Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens and fire trucks blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos.

I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. And right now, its real.

A police officer walks by an entrance to The Covenant School after a shooting in Nashville. (Photo | AP)

On WTVF TV, reporter Hannah McDonald said that her mother-in-law works at the front desk at The Covenant School. The woman had stepped outside for a break Monday morning and was coming back when she heard gunshots, McDonald said during a live broadcast. The reporter said she has not been able to speak with her mother-in-law but said her husband had.

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Nashville Mayor John Cooper tweeted, thanking first responders and medical professionals. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.

The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website. The school is located in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, situated close to the city's top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers.

The grade school has 33 teachers, the website said. The schools website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.

ALSO READ | US shooting: Gunman kills one, injures several others at shopping mall in Texas

The shooter entered the school through a side entrance and went to the second story, police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news briefing.

Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy.

I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there, Freeman said in a statement. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.

NASHVILLE; A female shooter wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday in what marks the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools. The suspect also died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. Police said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, after initially saying she appeared to be in her teens. Authorities were working to identify her and whether she had a connection to the school.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The killings come as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators. ALSO READ | 28-year-old Nashville school shooting suspect was former student: Police The Nashville victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. One officer had a hand wound from cut glass. Other students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents. In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Mayor John Cooper wrote on Twitter. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you. Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens and fire trucks blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos. I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. And right now, its real. A police officer walks by an entrance to The Covenant School after a shooting in Nashville. (Photo | AP) On WTVF TV, reporter Hannah McDonald said that her mother-in-law works at the front desk at The Covenant School. The woman had stepped outside for a break Monday morning and was coming back when she heard gunshots, McDonald said during a live broadcast. The reporter said she has not been able to speak with her mother-in-law but said her husband had. In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Nashville Mayor John Cooper tweeted, thanking first responders and medical professionals. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you. The Covenant School was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the schools website. The school is located in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, situated close to the city's top universities and home to the famed Bluebird Cafe  a beloved spot for musicians and song writers. The grade school has 33 teachers, the website said. The schools website features the motto Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood. ALSO READ | US shooting: Gunman kills one, injures several others at shopping mall in Texas The shooter entered the school through a side entrance and went to the second story, police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news briefing. Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy. I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there, Freeman said in a statement. I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.
By PTI

MARCH: A large number of Khalistan supporters staged a protest at the iconic Times Square here to express support for the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh.

The protesters took out a car rally that originated from the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood and culminated at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan city on Sunday afternoon amid tight security.

With blaring music and loud horns, a multitude of cars with Khalistani flags and LED mobile billboard trucks displaying photos of Singh criss-crossed the streets near the venue.

Men, women and children gathered in large numbers at the popular New York destination, carrying the Khalistan flags and raising slogans at the rally.

The protesters, carrying placards reading 'Free Amritpal Singh', held up photos of Singh as they raised anti-India slogans. Singh's photo was also displayed on one of the billboards at Times Square.

 Yoshita Singh   (@Yoshita_Singh) March 27, 2023

There was a heavy police presence in the area with several New York City Police Department (NYPD) vans and cars manning the area.

The car rally came a day after Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, where many of their speakers tried to incite violence, but timely intervention by an alert US Secret Service and local police prevented a repeat of London and San Francisco incidents of vandalism at the Indian missions.

India on Friday said it expects to see action against the perpetrators of vandalism at its missions abroad and hoped the host governments would prosecute those involved in these incidents instead of holding out assurances.

Addressing the weekly briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said New Delhi also expects the host governments to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

"I think we are not just interested in assurances, I think we would like to see action," the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

Amritpal has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him. The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.

MARCH: A large number of Khalistan supporters staged a protest at the iconic Times Square here to express support for the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh. The protesters took out a car rally that originated from the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood and culminated at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan city on Sunday afternoon amid tight security. With blaring music and loud horns, a multitude of cars with Khalistani flags and LED mobile billboard trucks displaying photos of Singh criss-crossed the streets near the venue.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Men, women and children gathered in large numbers at the popular New York destination, carrying the Khalistan flags and raising slogans at the rally. The protesters, carrying placards reading 'Free Amritpal Singh', held up photos of Singh as they raised anti-India slogans. Singh's photo was also displayed on one of the billboards at Times Square. #Khalistan protest at #TimesSquare pic.twitter.com/FVvqrBFFG1  Yoshita Singh   (@Yoshita_Singh) March 27, 2023 There was a heavy police presence in the area with several New York City Police Department (NYPD) vans and cars manning the area. The car rally came a day after Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, where many of their speakers tried to incite violence, but timely intervention by an alert US Secret Service and local police prevented a repeat of London and San Francisco incidents of vandalism at the Indian missions. India on Friday said it expects to see action against the perpetrators of vandalism at its missions abroad and hoped the host governments would prosecute those involved in these incidents instead of holding out assurances. Addressing the weekly briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said New Delhi also expects the host governments to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. "I think we are not just interested in assurances, I think we would like to see action," the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said. Amritpal has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him. The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Israel has decided to close all its embassies across the world, including the one in New Delhi. This comes after the country has been rocked with widespread protests over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reforms.

Israeli embassy in Delhi has been instructed to remain closed and will not offer any consular services until further notice.

This happens on a day when the Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon welcomes Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs cadet to India. They were on a visit to interact with the Israeli officials in India.

"They were here to interact with people from various fields and learn more about India and we are hopeful they will enjoy the rich cultural heritage of India," Ambassador Gilon had stated earlier.

Meanwhile, Israel is witnessing the most intense social unrest where thousands of people have taken to the streets, after PM Netanyahu sacked the Defence Minister for questioning the judicial overhaul.

Israels largest trade union, Histadrut, has called for a general strike which includes all Israeli diplomatic missions across the world. Airport operations have also been struck.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is on trial for corruption in three cases. After he was indicted, his former allies turned against him and he couldnt form a stable government which led to a political crisis that led to five elections in less than four years.

After coming back to power last year, key members of Likud party pledged to overhaul the countrys judicial system  which critics say will push their ideological agendas  while the government insists they are necessary.

NEW DELHI: Israel has decided to close all its embassies across the world, including the one in New Delhi. This comes after the country has been rocked with widespread protests over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reforms. Israeli embassy in Delhi has been instructed to remain closed and will not offer any consular services until further notice. This happens on a day when the Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon welcomes Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs cadet to India. They were on a visit to interact with the Israeli officials in India.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "They were here to interact with people from various fields and learn more about India and we are hopeful they will enjoy the rich cultural heritage of India," Ambassador Gilon had stated earlier. Meanwhile, Israel is witnessing the most intense social unrest where thousands of people have taken to the streets, after PM Netanyahu sacked the Defence Minister for questioning the judicial overhaul. Israels largest trade union, Histadrut, has called for a general strike which includes all Israeli diplomatic missions across the world. Airport operations have also been struck. Prime Minister Netanyahu is on trial for corruption in three cases. After he was indicted, his former allies turned against him and he couldnt form a stable government which led to a political crisis that led to five elections in less than four years. After coming back to power last year, key members of Likud party pledged to overhaul the countrys judicial system  which critics say will push their ideological agendas  while the government insists they are necessary.
By PTI

JERUSALEM: Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately halt his controversial judicial overhaul, warning that the move has put the country's security, economy and society under threat.

Herzog's remarks came after Prime Minister Netanyahu sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing his judicial reforms, sparking widespread street protests.

The president also called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

"Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes. I appeal to the Prime Minister, members of the Government, and members of the Coalition: there are harsh and painful feelings. The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," Herzog said.

"Our security, economy, and society, all are under threat. The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish People are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you," the ceremonial president in a statement.

ALSO READ | Israel's Defence Minister calls govt to halt 'judicial reforms' in big jolt to Netanyahu

"For the sake of the unity of the People of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately," he emphasised.

He urged all the leaders in power to place the country's citizens above all else.

Netanyahu is forced to flee residence as protesters break through security barriers.



This is Israel not Asia.



Dedicated to all those who thought we should be like Israel in tackling militants etc like them pic.twitter.com/6f0kYwFQbn  Dr Nilima Srivastava (@gypsy_nilima) March 27, 2023

"I appeal to the leaders of all Knesset factions, Coalition and Opposition alike, to place this country's citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay. Wake up now! This is not a political moment; this is a moment for leadership and responsibility," the president asserted.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel last night after Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Gallant after he said on Saturday evening that the judicial overhaul "poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state".

Irked by the televised speech given by Gallant, the Prime Minister's Office in a terse statement on Sunday evening said that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening (Sunday, 26 March 2023), to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant".

ALSO READ | Netanyahu allies push through legal overhaul to weaken Israel's Supreme Court

The announcement led to a spontaneous unprecedented outburst of anger against the prime minister.

An unconfirmed Channel 12 report said that 600,000-700,000 Israelis were demonstrating late on Sunday across the country, with protests reported from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem.

WATCH |

The unrest sparked by Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposals to shake up the judiciary by severely curbing the High Court of Justice's judicial review powers and the government's efforts to cement political control over the appointment of judges has met with resistance not only in the streets of the country but also abroad with thousands of Jewish diaspora members protesting during Netanyahu's visits to Italy, Germany and the UK.

The protests have alarmed business leaders, and former security chiefs and drawn concern from Israel's close allies, including the United States.

ALSO READ | Israel will not revive West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005: PM Netanyahu

The country has also seen economic disruption with talk of a "flight of capital" and hi-tech leaders and firms.

Arnon Bar-David, the head of Israel's largest labour federation Histadrut, on Monday announced a "historic" labour strike in an attempt to "stop the madness" of the government's controversial judicial overhaul.

We are all worried about Israel's fate, Bar-David says.

Together we say, enough! We have lost our way, this is not about left or right. We can no longer polarise the nation, the union head was quoted as saying in The Times of Israel newspaper.

Bar-David said the strike will begin as soon as Monday if Prime Minister Netanyahu does not announce a halt to the judicial overhaul.

Israel's main airport Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday announced an immediate halt to all departing flights, minutes after the head of the Histadrut announces the historic labour strike.

ALSO READ | Under fire over legal reforms, Israeli PM Netanyahu to face critics in Berlin

The National Student and Youth Council, representing the high school and middle school students, declared a nationwide strike to start on Monday morning.

The council has called for "halting the [overhaul] legislation and starting negotiations immediately.

There were unconfirmed reports in the Hebrew media that Netanyahu is expected to make an announcement this morning.

He has been holding meetings with political allies for most of the night. There has been no formal confirmation of this.

Protest in Tel Aviv - Israel has moved to an intense stage of protests after Netanyahus sacking of the defense minister. pic.twitter.com/z6P45VlmV4  Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) March 26, 2023

As protests intensified accompanied by an unforeseen display of anger, some Likud ministers relented, beginning to show their willingness to compromise.

Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Protest organisers, mostly common people with no declared political affiliation, continued to push for further demonstrations on Monday.

Political analysts see the development as a "grassroots movement" beyond the control of any political formation.

ALSO READ | EXPLAINER | What are the proposals of Israel's controversial legal reform plan?

The opposition though has been fully supportive and participating in the protests. Legislation, which many argue is aimed at establishing executive supremacy over the judiciary, making it subservient to the government, is slated to come for the final readings this week in the Knesset.

With the government unrelenting and moving ahead with the "reforms", the protests have also been peaking and the country seems somewhat paralysed.

Internal differences within Israeli society have also intensified recently with the country looking broadly divided into two large blocs over the question of judicial overhaul.

Though the current governing coalition has committed to several controversial legislation, the biggest debate revolves around its push to increase political control over the judiciary.

Three key proposals being discussed are a move to legislate an "override clause" by which the Knesset can reinstate any law invalidated by the Supreme Court, put judicial appointments under political control as opposed to the current hybrid political-professional-judicial appointments panel, and split the role of the Attorney General as both the head of the state prosecution and the government's legal adviser.

Analysts feel that the controversial steps proposed emanate from the desire to protect Netanyahu, who is facing trial in three different cases, but altogether it serves the interest of all those included in the coalition in some way by addressing each party's concerns.

Seen at the receiving end of international ire, including a rebuke from US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu has looked weak and perplexed but also hesitant to step back from the proposed "reforms" because of fear of backlash within his ruling Likud party.



JERUSALEM: Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately halt his controversial judicial overhaul, warning that the move has put the country's security, economy and society under threat. Herzog's remarks came after Prime Minister Netanyahu sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing his judicial reforms, sparking widespread street protests. The president also called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes. I appeal to the Prime Minister, members of the Government, and members of the Coalition: there are harsh and painful feelings. The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," Herzog said. "Our security, economy, and society, all are under threat. The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish People are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you," the ceremonial president in a statement. ALSO READ | Israel's Defence Minister calls govt to halt 'judicial reforms' in big jolt to Netanyahu "For the sake of the unity of the People of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately," he emphasised. He urged all the leaders in power to place the country's citizens above all else. Netanyahu is forced to flee residence as protesters break through security barriers. This is Israel not Asia. Dedicated to all those who thought we should be like Israel in tackling militants etc like them pic.twitter.com/6f0kYwFQbn  Dr Nilima Srivastava (@gypsy_nilima) March 27, 2023 "I appeal to the leaders of all Knesset factions, Coalition and Opposition alike, to place this country's citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay. Wake up now! This is not a political moment; this is a moment for leadership and responsibility," the president asserted. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel last night after Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Gallant after he said on Saturday evening that the judicial overhaul "poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state". Irked by the televised speech given by Gallant, the Prime Minister's Office in a terse statement on Sunday evening said that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening (Sunday, 26 March 2023), to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant". ALSO READ | Netanyahu allies push through legal overhaul to weaken Israel's Supreme Court The announcement led to a spontaneous unprecedented outburst of anger against the prime minister. An unconfirmed Channel 12 report said that 600,000-700,000 Israelis were demonstrating late on Sunday across the country, with protests reported from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south. Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem. WATCH | The unrest sparked by Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposals to shake up the judiciary by severely curbing the High Court of Justice's judicial review powers and the government's efforts to cement political control over the appointment of judges has met with resistance not only in the streets of the country but also abroad with thousands of Jewish diaspora members protesting during Netanyahu's visits to Italy, Germany and the UK. The protests have alarmed business leaders, and former security chiefs and drawn concern from Israel's close allies, including the United States. ALSO READ | Israel will not revive West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005: PM Netanyahu The country has also seen economic disruption with talk of a "flight of capital" and hi-tech leaders and firms. Arnon Bar-David, the head of Israel's largest labour federation Histadrut, on Monday announced a "historic" labour strike in an attempt to "stop the madness" of the government's controversial judicial overhaul. We are all worried about Israel's fate, Bar-David says. Together we say, enough! We have lost our way, this is not about left or right. We can no longer polarise the nation, the union head was quoted as saying in The Times of Israel newspaper. Bar-David said the strike will begin as soon as Monday if Prime Minister Netanyahu does not announce a halt to the judicial overhaul. Israel's main airport Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday announced an immediate halt to all departing flights, minutes after the head of the Histadrut announces the historic labour strike. ALSO READ | Under fire over legal reforms, Israeli PM Netanyahu to face critics in Berlin The National Student and Youth Council, representing the high school and middle school students, declared a nationwide strike to start on Monday morning. The council has called for "halting the [overhaul] legislation and starting negotiations immediately. There were unconfirmed reports in the Hebrew media that Netanyahu is expected to make an announcement this morning. He has been holding meetings with political allies for most of the night. There has been no formal confirmation of this. Protest in Tel Aviv - Israel has moved to an intense stage of protests after Netanyahus sacking of the defense minister. pic.twitter.com/z6P45VlmV4  Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) March 26, 2023 As protests intensified accompanied by an unforeseen display of anger, some Likud ministers relented, beginning to show their willingness to compromise. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul. Protest organisers, mostly common people with no declared political affiliation, continued to push for further demonstrations on Monday. Political analysts see the development as a "grassroots movement" beyond the control of any political formation. ALSO READ | EXPLAINER | What are the proposals of Israel's controversial legal reform plan? The opposition though has been fully supportive and participating in the protests. Legislation, which many argue is aimed at establishing executive supremacy over the judiciary, making it subservient to the government, is slated to come for the final readings this week in the Knesset. With the government unrelenting and moving ahead with the "reforms", the protests have also been peaking and the country seems somewhat paralysed. Internal differences within Israeli society have also intensified recently with the country looking broadly divided into two large blocs over the question of judicial overhaul. Though the current governing coalition has committed to several controversial legislation, the biggest debate revolves around its push to increase political control over the judiciary. Three key proposals being discussed are a move to legislate an "override clause" by which the Knesset can reinstate any law invalidated by the Supreme Court, put judicial appointments under political control as opposed to the current hybrid political-professional-judicial appointments panel, and split the role of the Attorney General as both the head of the state prosecution and the government's legal adviser. Analysts feel that the controversial steps proposed emanate from the desire to protect Netanyahu, who is facing trial in three different cases, but altogether it serves the interest of all those included in the coalition in some way by addressing each party's concerns. Seen at the receiving end of international ire, including a rebuke from US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu has looked weak and perplexed but also hesitant to step back from the proposed "reforms" because of fear of backlash within his ruling Likud party.
By AFP

KABUL: A suicide attack on Monday near Afghanistan's foreign ministry killed six civilians and wounded several others, the interior ministry said.

Security has dramatically improved since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government and ending their two-decade insurgency, but the Islamic State group has proved an increasing threat.

The attacker was identified by Afghan forces who shot at him in front of a business centre near the foreign ministry, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor tweeted.

"With his killing, the explosives carried by the attacker also exploded which killed six civilians and wounded a number of others," he said.

Italian NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in the capital, confirmed it had received two dead and 12 wounded, including a child.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

#Afghanistan: Explosion in #Kabul near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs #MOFA. Our Surgical Centre has received 12 wounded patients, including a child, and 2 other victims already dead on arrival.  EMERGENCY NGO (@emergency_ngo) March 27, 2023

Monday's blast was the second attack near the foreign ministry in Kabul in less than three months, and the first since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on Thursday in Afghanistan.

ALSO READ | Bomb kills 3, including provincial governor, in Afghanistan

On January 11, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the foreign ministry, killing 10 and wounding 53 people, according to the United Nations.

The Taliban authorities, who have often tried to play down attacks challenging their rule, had said that five people were killed in that attack, claimed by IS.

The group has increasingly become a major challenge, killing and wounding hundreds of people in several attacks, some targeting foreigners or foreign interests in a bid to undermine the Taliban government.

At least five Chinese nationals were wounded in December when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with businesspeople in Kabul.

ALSO READ | Afghanistan is world's most repressive country for women, says UN on Womens Day

That raid was claimed by IS, as was an attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul also in December that Islamabad denounced as an "assassination attempt" against its ambassador.

Two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside their mission in September in another attack claimed by IS.

The Taliban and IS share an austere Sunni Islamist ideology, but the latter are fighting to establish a global "caliphate" instead of the Taliban's more inward-looking aim of ruling an independent Afghanistan.

KABUL: A suicide attack on Monday near Afghanistan's foreign ministry killed six civilians and wounded several others, the interior ministry said. Security has dramatically improved since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government and ending their two-decade insurgency, but the Islamic State group has proved an increasing threat. The attacker was identified by Afghan forces who shot at him in front of a business centre near the foreign ministry, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor tweeted.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "With his killing, the explosives carried by the attacker also exploded which killed six civilians and wounded a number of others," he said. Italian NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in the capital, confirmed it had received two dead and 12 wounded, including a child. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. #Afghanistan: Explosion in #Kabul near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs #MOFA. Our Surgical Centre has received 12 wounded patients, including a child, and 2 other victims already dead on arrival.  EMERGENCY NGO (@emergency_ngo) March 27, 2023 Monday's blast was the second attack near the foreign ministry in Kabul in less than three months, and the first since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began on Thursday in Afghanistan. ALSO READ | Bomb kills 3, including provincial governor, in Afghanistan On January 11, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the foreign ministry, killing 10 and wounding 53 people, according to the United Nations. The Taliban authorities, who have often tried to play down attacks challenging their rule, had said that five people were killed in that attack, claimed by IS. The group has increasingly become a major challenge, killing and wounding hundreds of people in several attacks, some targeting foreigners or foreign interests in a bid to undermine the Taliban government. At least five Chinese nationals were wounded in December when gunmen stormed a hotel popular with businesspeople in Kabul. ALSO READ | Afghanistan is world's most repressive country for women, says UN on Womens Day That raid was claimed by IS, as was an attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul also in December that Islamabad denounced as an "assassination attempt" against its ambassador. Two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside their mission in September in another attack claimed by IS. The Taliban and IS share an austere Sunni Islamist ideology, but the latter are fighting to establish a global "caliphate" instead of the Taliban's more inward-looking aim of ruling an independent Afghanistan.
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Honduras severs diplomatic relations with Taiwan, establishes ties with China

Taipei, March 26: Honduras has formally established diplomatic ties with China and severed them with Taiwan, ending a decades-long relationship and dealing the latest blow to the self-ruled democratic island in its struggle for recognition, the media reported.

Honduras severs diplomatic relations with Taiwan, establishes ties with China

"The government of the Republic of Honduras recognises the existence of one China in the world and that the government of the People's Republic of China represents China as a whole," its ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement."Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and as of today, the government of Honduras has informed Taiwan about the rupture of diplomatic relations," it added, CNN reported.China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory despite never having ruled it, refuses to maintain diplomatic ties with any country that recognises Taiwan.It has spent much of the past 40 years attempting to isolate the self-ruled island by chipping away at its diplomatic allies with offers of economic support, CNN reported.Honduras had until now been one of just 14 countries that still diplomatically recognised Taipei over Beijing, CNN reported.Soon after the announcement by Honduras, Taiwan confirmed that ties had been formally severed."To safeguard national sovereignty and dignity, we have decided to immediately cease diplomatic relations with Honduras and suspend all bilateral cooperation plans," Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said at a press conference, adding that Taiwan was asking Honduras to shut its embassy in Taipei.China also confirmed the move, saying it had signed a "Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" with Honduras on Sunday, CNN reported."The two governments (of China and Honduras) have decided to recognise each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communique," a statement from China's Foreign Ministry read."There is but one China in the world and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory," it added.Honduran President Xiomara Castro had announced on March 14 that the switch was imminent, CNN reported.IANS26 March 2023

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Uzbekistan calls for continued intl support to mitigate consequences of Aral seas shrinking

Tashkent, March 26: Uzbekistan has called on the international community to continue supporting the Central Asian nation's efforts to mitigate the consequences of the shrinking of the Aral Sea.

Uzbekistan calls for continued int'l support to mitigate consequences of Aral sea's shrinking

Speaking during the UN 2023 Water Conference on Friday, Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the communications and information policy sector of the executive office of the Administration of the Uzbek President, noted that her country was making efforts to stabilise the sand on the dried-up seabed of the Aral Sea, Xinhua News Agency reported."Now almost 1.5 million hectares of land have been planted with forest," she said, noting that projects worth more than 14 million US dollars are being implemented under the auspices of the UN.The Aral Sea, located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once the world's fourth-largest inland waterbody. It has shrunk remarkably since 1960 -- with its surface area dwindling from 67,000 square km in 1960 to just 6,000 square km in 2020.Latest research showed that rising temperatures, a lack of water-saving technology in farmlands, wetland expansion in the middle and lower reaches, and a large amount of water storage in upstream hydropower stations, had all accelerated the shrinkage of the Aral Sea in the past two decades.The dried shores produce salt dust, posing a serious threat to local ecological environment and people's health.IANS26 March 2023

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Second aquatic animal research centre of country in UP soon

Bahraich (UP), March 26: The Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) will soon be developed as the second research centre of the National Aquatic Animal (Gangetic dolphin) in the country.

Second aquatic animal research centre of country in UP soon

A proposal in this regard has already been sent to the Centre by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).The proposal seeks Centre's nod to set up a dolphin research centre along the bank of Geruwa river, which flows through KWS in Bahraich.According to B Prabhakar, field director (FD), Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR), the proposal is pending at the level of the Government of India.As per the proposal, the area would be improvised and focused for boosting production of Gangetic dolphins. Besides, a rapid action force would be deployed to deal with poachers/hunters.In Uttar Pradesh, dolphins are found in the stretches of Ganga River from Bijnor to Narora, in the Chambal on the border of Etawah and Agra and in Ghaghra and Geruwa river in KWS in Bahraich.The Gangetic dolphin is listed endangered by the IUCN and is placed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.Earlier in 2009, the Union government had declared dolphins as the national aquatic animal.Akash Deep Badhwan, divisional forest officer of KWS, said that KWS is a closed habitat of Gangetic dolphins.He said about a 12-kilometre stretch of the Geruwa River within the sanctuary area is protected and monitored most of the time. Fishing is strictly prohibited while the river stretch is monitored by motor boats and watch-towers.Moreover, the Gharial and boating centre is already there on the bank of the river. So, it is very logical to establish a research centre in the sanctuary area. He said the centre would certainly be helpful in the conservation of the freshwater aquatic species.The national aquatic animal Gangetic dolphin, he said, is flourishing in the Geruwa River. This is in stark contrast to the situation in the Ganga and the Ghaghra rivers where it is disappearing fast.The dolphins were reviving in the Geruwa as its water was fresh and clean. The river originates in Nepal and enters the sanctuary through eight channels.According to an estimate, there are about 2,000 Gangetic dolphins in different rivers in India. Of these, about 60 to 80 are present in the Geruwa River in KWS.As of now, the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS) of Bhagalpur in Bihar is the only dolphin sanctuary in the country.IANS26 March 2023

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Rains, hailstorm destroy standing crops in Rajasthan, farmers distressed

Jaipur, March 26: Rains and hailstorms in Rajasthan have destroyed standing crops in fields across the state, leaving many farmers distressed at their losses.

Rains, hailstorm destroy standing crops in Rajasthan, farmers distressed

Experts say that a new system is likely to come in the first week of April, after which the weather may change again.On late Friday, a hailstorm, accompanied by thunderstorms, lashed many places in the northeastern Rajasthan. Heavy hail was reported in Alwar, Jhunjhunu, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu, and Bikaner.In Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh, strong winds blew at 40 kmph leading to a large amount of crop damage.It rained more than an inch at many places including Buhana in Jhunjhunu and Hindumalkot in Sriganganagar. Due to hailstorm in Jhunjhunu, a thick white layer of ice spread on vacant ground there.In Bikaner's Lunkaransar, a strong hailstorm led to about 80 per cent of gram and mustard crops getting damaged.Plum-sized hailstones shattered the mustard seeds. The wheat and barley crop suffered damage too due to rains and hail and demands are rising for state government to compensate farmers after analysis of damage.The other district which has suffered the worst in Rajasthan due to hailstorm is Alwar.Hail was seen stacked up to around a foot high at many places around Rajgarh, Tehla, and Thanagaji in Alwar destroying the standing crops as well as the crops which have been harvested from the fields.Rajgarh MLA Johri Lal Meena said "There is 100 per cent loss in crops at many places. nothing left. So much hail had fallen that it was still found in the fields the next day."Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot instructed the District Collector to get assessment done to evaluate loss to farmers and announce compensation as per rules. District Collector Dr. Jitendra Kumar Soni has directed the concerned Sub-Divisional Officer, and Tehsildar to take action for crop damage in the hailstorm-affected area with immediate effect and distribute compensation as per rules. He has instructed that the teams should carry out survey work to assess the damage.Outgoing BJP state President Satish Poonia said that due to hailstorm and rain, there has been heavy damage to crops in various areas of the state including Shekhawati and east Rajasthan.He urged Gehot to ensure compensation to the farmers in a fixed time period by getting the loss analysis of crops immediately, so that the farmers can get support.IANS26 March 2023

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Hong Kongs air passenger traffic surges 24-fold in February

Hong Kong, March 26: The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) said on Sunday that passenger traffic at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) registered around 2.1 million last month, marking a year-on-year surge of around 24 times.

Hong Kong's air passenger traffic surges 24-fold in February

In February, cargo volume and flight movements saw year-on-year increases of 6.7 per cent and 95.7 per cent to 290,000 tonnes and 16,305, respectively, Xinhua News Agency reported.Due to the relaxation of travel restrictions, all passenger segments experienced significant growths, particularly Hong Kong residents, compared to the same month last year, according to the AAHK.Traffic to and from Southeast Asia and Japan recorded the most significant increases, it said.Global economic uncertainties continued to have an impact on cargo volume, the AAHK said, adding that the year-on-year increase in cargo volume last month was mainly attributed to a low base for comparison with that of February 2022.Transshipments and exports rose 46 percent and 3 percent year-on-year respectively, and the Middle East, the Chinese mainland and North America saw the most significant growth in terms of cargo volume.The AAHK said direct flights between the HKIA and the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport resumed on Sunday, with three daily flights to Hongqiao initially.Flight movements and passenger volume have been going up as flights on more routes continued to resume in recent months, it said.IANS26 March 2023

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Israels defence minister calls to halt judicial overhaul

Jerusalem, March 26: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the government to immediately halt its plan to overhaul the country's judiciary, citing a threat to national security.

Israel's defence minister calls to halt judicial overhaul

He is the first minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right cabinet to break ranks and call for a freeze of the divisive plan to weaken the Supreme Court, Xinhua News Agency reported.In a televised speech on Saturday, Gallant urged talks with opposition parties and requested the coalition to postpone its efforts of pushing ahead with the plan until the Knesset (parliament) reconvenes from its Passover holiday on April 30.Gallant, a senior minister with Netanyahu's Likud party, said that the overhaul plan has triggered turmoil in the Israeli society and military that poses a threat to national security."The rift within our society is widening and penetrating the Israel Defense Forces," he said, noting "this is a clear and immediate danger to the security of the state. I shall not be a party to this."Gallant was followed by two other Likud lawmakers and a minister, who issued similar calls to freeze the controversial plan.The plan has sparked growing discontent within the Israeli military, with thousands of reservists with elite units, including combat pilots, intelligence officers, and cyber experts, announcing in open letters over the past weeks that they will not show up for duty if the reforms are passed in parliament.Critics of the overhaul plan worry that Netanyahu, who is on trial for fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes, is in a conflict of interests.On Saturday night, about 300,000 people took to the streets in Tel Aviv and across the country to protest against the overhaul plan. The protesters blocked several roads, including Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway, Israel's main freeway, and the police dispersed them with water cannons.Since the start of 2023, Israel has seen its largest protest campaign in decades, triggered by the government's plan to increase its powers over the judiciary. The plan has sparked outrage among the public and critics, who accuse the government of undermining Israel's system of checks and balances.Dozens of former senior military officers have also cautioned over the past weeks that the turmoil within the military jeopardises Israel's capability to address security threats.Some of Israel's closest allies, including the US, have voiced concerns about the impact of the plan on Israel's democratic institutions.IANS26 March 2023

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Chinese vice premier stresses expanding opening-up, sharing market opportunities with world

Beijing, March 26: Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has stressed further advancing opening-up and sharing market opportunities with the world.

Chinese vice premier stresses expanding opening-up, sharing market opportunities with world

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2023, Xinhua News Agency reported.He read out a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the forum.Emphasising the importance of establishing a new development pattern, the vice premier said China aims to foster more open "dual circulation" involving both domestic and foreign markets rather than a closed domestic loop.The country will continue to widen market access, improve the business environment, fully implement the national treatment of foreign-funded firms, and make greater efforts to attract and utilise foreign investment, Ding said.Efforts will be made to promote coordinated development among different regions, encourage localities to exploit their comparative advantages in advancing opening-up, and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, he added.Ding also called for international cooperation to build an open world economy and share opportunities through opening-up, urging global efforts to strengthen international macro-economic policy coordination, safeguard multilateralism, deepen technological cooperation, pursue green growth impetus, and actively advance the Global Development Initiative.The China Development Forum 2023, themed "Economic Recovery Opportunities and Cooperation," opened in Beijing on Sunday. It is hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council.Experts, entrepreneurs, government officials and representatives of international organisations from all around the world attended the opening ceremony.IANS26 March 2023

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Validity of FCRA licence of NGOs extended till Sep 30

New Delhi, March 26: The Centre has extended the validity of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for six more months till September 30, 2023.

Validity of FCRA licence of NGOs extended till Sep 30

In an office memorandum, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said "the validity of registration certificates of such entities whose validity was extended till March 31, 2023, in terms of the public notice dated September 23, 2022, and whose renewal application is pending, will stand extended till September 30, 2023, or till the date of disposal of the renewal application, whichever is earlier."The MHA memorandum further mentioned that "the validity of those FCRA entities whose five-year validity period is expiring during April 1, 2023, to September 30, 2023, and who have applied or will apply for renewal before expiry of the five-year validity period, will stand extended up to September 30, 2023, or till the date of disposal of the renewal application, whichever is earlier."It also noted that all FCRA registered associations are therefore advised to take note that in case of refusal of the application for renewal of the certificate of registration, the validity of the certificate shall be deemed to have expired on the date of refusal of the application of renewal and the association shall not be eligible either to receive the foreign contribution or utilise the foreign contribution received."This issues with the approval of the Competent Authority. All concerned may take note of the above decision and take appropriate action in the matter," the memorandum says.Earlier, the Centre had extended the validity of FCRA registration of NGOs, the renewal applications of which are pending, till March 31, 2023.The FCRA registration of 6,677 NGOs was cancelled by the government between 2017 and 2021 for violating various provisions of law, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha in December 2022.ANI27 March 2023

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Japan PM Kishida rejects farewell meeting with China envoy amid tense ties

Tokyo, March 26: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida turned down a meeting with former Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou before his departure in late February, several sources, cited by Kyodo News have confirmed. This unprecedented move is an indication of how strained the relations between the two countries are, Kyodo News reported.

Japan PM Kishida rejects farewell meeting with China envoy amid tense ties

Many of Kong's predecessors had farewell meetings with Japanese premiers, but Kishida broke the tradition due to worsening public opinion regarding Chinese vessels' repeated entry into the waters near the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands and the earlier flights of suspected Chinese spy balloons over Japan, according to the sources mentioned by Kyodo News.Kong requested an in-person farewell from the Japanese government in January; he was followed by former Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao in March. Tokyo declined, claiming a "schedule conflict" for Kishida, they said.Kong instead met with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, but his government did not make this meeting public, the sources added. While prime ministers are ranked above ambassadors, a government source claimed that the denial of Kong's request "did not raise any problem in terms of diplomatic protocol."Japan felt it was essential to "take a reciprocal approach" because a meeting between former Japanese Ambassador to China Yutaka Yokoi and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not take place before the envoy's departure in 2020, the sources, mentioned by Kyodo News, added.As the two Asian neighbours celebrate the 45th anniversary of the 1978 bilateral Peace and Friendship Treaty, Tokyo and Beijing have been attempting to normalise relations by examining the possibility of Hayashi visiting China this year.But bilateral relations remain unstable despite growing tensions between China and the United States, Japan's key security ally, as well as Beijing's military pressure on Taiwan and its strong links to Russia throughout Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.Only one other of the five Chinese ambassadors to Japan who have served since 2001 was unable to meet the prime minister before departing for China.In September 2007, Wang Yi, now China's top diplomat, left without ever seeing the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who abruptly declared his decision to resign as prime minister owing to his failing health.Kong's immediate predecessor Cheng Yonghua's lunch was hosted by Abe in April 2019 at his official residence, and the two met in the prime minister's office when Kong arrived in Japan in June of the same year.In 2012, Abe returned to power and established himself as Japan's longest-serving leader before he was shot dead last year while giving an election campaign address.China claims the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are under Japanese control, as Diaoyu frequently deploys ships into the area, Kyodo News reported.ANI27 March 2023

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President Murmu to embark on two-day West Bengal visit

New Delhi, March 26: President Droupadi Murmu will embark on a two-day visit to West Bengal starting March 27.

President Murmu to embark on two-day West Bengal visit

According to an official release on Sunday, the President will visit Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata to pay homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on March 27 (Monday)."Subsequently, she will visit Jorasanko Thakurbari - Rabindranath Tagore's House to pay tributes to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore," the release said.The President will attend a civic reception to be hosted in her honour at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata on the same evening.On March 28 (Tuesday), President Murmu will visit Belur Math."She will also grace the celebration of the completion of 80 years of UCO Bank in Kolkata," the release said.Later, the President will visit Santiniketan where she will grace the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati.On March 19, President Murmu visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district."Visiting the iconic Vivekananda Rock memorial is a memorable experience for me. I marvel at the greatness of the late Eknath Ranade Ji who was behind the building of the spiritually charged complex", tweeted the President's official Twitter handle.President Murmu was earlier on a week's visit to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep from March 16 to March 21.ANI27 March 2023

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PM Modi to address top military brass, witness military innovations in Bhopal

New Delhi, March 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to spend around six hours with top military brass of the country in Bhopal where he will address and discuss with them the present and future security challenges faced by the country.

PM Modi to address top military brass, witness military innovations in Bhopal

During the Combined Commanders' Conference scheduled to be held for three days from March 30 to April 1, the Prime Minister is also scheduled to witness the indigenous innovations in the field of defence during his presence there on the last day (April 1), Defence officials told ANI.Among the top brass who will be present with the Prime Minister are Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande, navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar and Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari.The innovations to be showcased to the Prime Minister for around an hour will include technologies and products developed by both private sector firms as well as the ones developed by the personnel from the three defence forces, they said.The combined commanders conference this time is being organised by the Indian Navy on a rotational basis and is being held in the Kushabhau Thakre Hall in Bhopal.The Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan is expected to address the top brass of the military including the three services chiefs on the first day of the even on March 30.The forces will also give briefings to the Prime Minister on the efforts and actions taken by them to enhance integration among themselves.A number of new initiatives are in the pipeline including the creation of theatre commands where the threats to the country would be tackled by the theatre commanders while the staff work like acquisitions and training would be done by services headquarters.On March 31, the services are likely to discuss their different plans with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.During his address, the Prime Minister is expected to convey the government's views and directives on different global and regional issues to the forces.It is during such discussions with the top defence brass, the Prime Minister had asked the forces to enhance jointness and prepare for an integrated response to future threats.The innovations expected to be showcased to the Prime Minister are likely to include a machine pistol named Asmi which has been developed by Lt Col Prasad Bansod of the Indian Army. Many other pieces of assault equipment are also expected to be shown by the Army.The Navy and the Air Force are also expected to come up with their innovations which can help them in combat readiness and reduce imports.The officers of the military apart from the CDS and services chiefs at the event will include the three Vice Chiefs, CISC, seven Army command chiefs, six air command chiefs and the three command chiefs from the Indian Navy.Once the theatre commands come up, the three services are likely to merge some of their commands.ANI27 March 2023

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Study finds how road noise linked with high blood pressure

Beijing, March 26: If you reside close to a busy road, you may feel as though the constant noise of the motors, honking of the horns, and wailing of the sirens raises your blood pressure.

Study finds how road noise linked with high blood pressure

The reality was supported by a fresh study published in JACC Advances."We were a little surprised that the association between road traffic noise and hypertension was robust even after adjustment for air pollution," said Jing Huang, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at Peking University in Beijing, China, and lead author of the study.Previous studies of the issue were cross-sectional, meaning they showed that traffic noise and hypertension were linked, but failed to show a causal relationship. For the new paper, researchers conducted a prospective study using UK Biobank data that looked at health outcomes over time.Researchers analyzed data from more than 240,000 people (aged 40 to 69 years) who started out without hypertension. They estimated road traffic noise based on the residential addresses and the Common Noise Assessment Method, a European modelling tool.Using follow-up data over a median 8.1 years, they looked at how many people developed hypertension. Not only did they find that people living near road traffic noise were more likely to develop hypertension, they also found that risk increased in tandem with the noise "dose."These associations held true even when researchers adjusted for exposure to fine particles and nitrogen dioxide. However, people who had high exposure to both traffic noise and air pollution had the highest hypertension risk, showing that air pollution plays a role as well."Road traffic noise and traffic-related air pollution coexist around us," Huang said. "It is essential to explore the independent effects of road traffic noise, rather than the total environment."The findings can support public health measures because they confirm that exposure to road traffic noise is harmful to our blood pressure, she said. Policymaking may alleviate the adverse impacts of road traffic noise as a societal effort, such as setting stricter noise guidelines and enforcement, improving road conditions and urban design, and investing advanced technology in quieter vehicles."To date, this is the first large-sized prospective study directly addressing the effect of road traffic noise on the incidence of newly-diagnosed hypertension," said Jiandong Zhang, cardiovascular disease fellow in the division of cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and author of the accompanying editorial comment. "The data demonstrated in this article provides a higher quality of evidence to justify the potential to modify road traffic noise and air pollution from both individual and societal levels in improving cardiovascular health."As a follow-up, Huang said field studies are underway to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms through which road noise affects hypertension.The study was supervised by Kazem Rahimi, lead of the Deep Medicine program at the Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford, and Samuel Cai, lecturer in environmental epidemiology at the Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability at the University of Leicester.ANI27 March 2023

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Coast Guard helicopter makes forced landing in Kochi

Kochi, March 26: An incident of forced landing of an ALH Dhruv Mark 3 helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) took place on Sunday in Kochi while the pilots of the force were testing the chopper.

Coast Guard helicopter makes forced landing in Kochi

The Cochin International Airport authority informed that the airport operations have been temporarily suspended after the incident."The incident happened while the helicopter was taking off for a training sortie. No casualties were reported", said the officials.The airport officials informed that the ALH was removed from the operational area around 2 pm and the runway has been cleared substantially after a safety inspection. Flight operation is expected to be resumed soon.According to the officials, the incident happened at around 12.20 pm."As a Coast Guard ALH helicopter was involved in an accident while taking off from CIAL at 1225 pm today, airport operation had to be suspended temporarily for 2 hrs", said the officials.The chopper was at around 25 feet in height when it had to make a forced landing, as informed by the ICG officials.The fleet of ALH Dhruv choppers has been grounded since March 8 after a Navy chopper met with an accident off the coast of Mumbai.ANI27 March 2023

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Bansuri Swaraj appointed as co-convenor of Delhi BJP legal cell

New Delhi March 26: Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has appointed Bansuri Swaraj as the co-convenor of the BJP Delhi State Legal Cell.

Bansuri Swaraj appointed as co-convenor of Delhi BJP legal cell

Bansuri Swaraj is the daughter of veteran BJP leader late Mrs Sushma Swaraj.Bansuri is an advocate in the Supreme Court.After being given the post, Bansuri expressed gratitude to BJP.In a tweet, Bansuri said, "I am grateful to the Hon'ble PM @narendramodi ji, @AmitShah ji, @JPNadda ji, @blsanthosh ji, @Virend_Sachdeva ji, @BJP4Delhi and @BJP4India for giving me this opportunity to serve the party as the state co-convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi State Legal Cell."ANI27 March 2023

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Tanker ship catches fire off Indonesias West Nusa Tenggara, 3 missing

Jakarta, March 27: Three people were reportedly missing after a tanker ship caught fire off the coast of Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara province, a rescuer said.

Tanker ship catches fire off Indonesia's West Nusa Tenggara, 3 missing

The vessel was operated by the Indonesia's state-owned oil firm PT Pertamina, and the accident occurred just off the coast of the firm's oil storage located in Mataram city of the province, said Wahyu Efendi, head of the provincial search and rescue office, on Sunday as quoted by Xinhua news agency report."We received the information about the accident at 340 p.m. local time. There were 17 people on board, and 14 of them have been rescued, but three others remain missing," he told Xinhua over phone."We will resume searching the missing people on Monday," Efendi added.IANS27 March 2023

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10 easy hairstyles to try with straighteners

New Delhi, March 27: It would be a fool's errand to try to convince a woman of how important her hair is in deciding her overall appearance. After all, we frequently regard our hair as one of our most prized assets, and it necessitates careful maintenance. We are here to allay your concerns if you want to maintain your uniqueness while staying in style constantly.

10 easy hairstyles to try with straighteners

Check out some cool hairstyles penned by Vipul Chudasama, the Creative Director of Ikonic Professional to try with a StraightenerSTRAIGHTENINGMove a portion of the head from ear to ear, beginning with the area directly behind, and moving through the sections horizontally until you reach the top of the head. Never accept a piece that is wider than the plate. Comb after applying a heat protection spray. Pull the comb steadily and gently from root to tip while using the hair straightening machine. To make the sides smooth, slightly squeeze them.MESSY BEACH WAVESMake a broad vertical cut, keeping your forehead away from the blade. With the bottom of the hair styler pointing up, begin near the root and twist in a 360-degree motion. We'll begin in the upper portion at the cheekbone level. When you're finished, roughen it up but make the waves look messy and tousled by rubbing them with your fingertips. For a matte finish, use a salt spritz or dry shampoo.VINTAGE WAVESFor Look 2, follow the same procedures, but don't rough up the ripples. To join the shaft into one unit, divide the dressing or paddle brush with a gloss spray, then brush the shaft.GLAMOUR CURLSThis is an excellent method to get a blow dryer to bounce. To lift the route, rotate the styler 360 degrees starting at the route and draw it up. Harden the hair after fixing it. Take it down and give it a paddle stroke once more.CRIMPED WAVESMake a random braid in a section of hair, leaving 12 inches of root resistance. Hairspray should be lightly misted before being allowed to dry. The plait should be flattened, lifted several times, and allowed to settle. Finger through each braid to untangle it.POLISHED PONYTAILSort the hair into the bottom or the centre. Straighten like you're doing your hair. Brush the hair with your head tilted back, then tie a ribbon around it. To produce a chic flick at the tip, rotate a random section of hair 180 degrees in various directions around the styler. To give the shiny stems a double texture, matte them with sea salt spray.20s FAUX BOBStart by taking a small, horizontal piece of your straight hair. Using a short clip, thread the hair through the S-shaped styler beginning near the root. Clamp the hair in position. For the ideal finger wave, give the corners a twist. To make a faux bob, lightly brush your hair with a paddle brush and pin both ends up and down.GRUNGY BENDSThe styler should be positioned at the eye line, held at a 45-degree angle, and clamped crosswise across a sizable, haphazard vertical section of hair. After clamping the hair, spin the hair styler 180 degrees in the opposite direction, then leave it alone for another second. Then, bring the hair down 2 inches and repeat the process. Repetition will give the ends of the hair a messy appearance. To give the hair a dirty texture, rub the ends and massage the roots. For a matte finish, use dry shampoo or marine salt spray.SOFT RETRO CURLSConsider a straight segment. The curl's girth determines the size. From the tip upward, curl the hair around the two fingers. Pull out the last hair by pushing it between your fingertips. With the aid of a hair straightener, secure it while chilling. In the other parts, repeat. With your finger, loosen it, then smooth it.INTENSITY BEACH WAVES ON LONG HAIRAre you prepared for a two-minute life-changing hack? Twist the hair into two parts before lowering the heat on the curling irons to give the curls a lovely beach texture. You could also braid your hair and then set the curls with a flat iron.(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)IANS27 March 2023

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Striking UP power men to lose one-month salary

Lucknow, March 27: The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) has issued orders to initiate the process for withholding one month's salary/pension of Vidyut Karamchari Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti leaders who led the recent 72-hour strike between March 16 and 19.

Striking UP power men to lose one-month salary

This follows the Allahabad High Court's order that directed the state government to withhold 28 noticed non-petitioners' salary/pension for calling the strike, in contempt of the court's earlier directives against the power strike in the state.UPPCL director, personnel management and administration, MSD Bhattamishra said the order mentioned, "For serving employees from among the noticed non- petitioners, one month's salary has to be withheld pending further orders of the high court and this is to be ensured by the concerning director (finance) of discoms and of the headquarters."The order further stated, "As for the retired employees from the noticed non-petitioners whose one month's pension had to be withheld, administrative approval is, hereby, accorded by competent authority for taking up the matter with the state treasury department."The order also asked the concerning officials to ensure that the employees who were absent during the strike without sanctioned leave must be treated as being absent in an unauthorised way.IANS27 March 2023

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Houthis expand military operations in Yemen, defying peace calls

Aden, March 27: Yemen's Houthi militia has intensified their military operations targeting various areas controlled by the country's government, further exacerbating the years-long conflict, a government official said.

Houthis expand military operations in Yemen, defying peace calls

"The Houthis attacked the government's Shabwa Defense Forces stationed in a mountainous area that links the Merkhah Al Ulya district with the adjacent Bayda province, sparking bloody armed confrontations," the local government official told Xinhua news agency on Sunday.Despite recent international efforts to broker a peace deal, the conflict has shown no signs of abating, as the Houthis continued to focus their attacks on strategic targets, particularly in the oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib during the past 48 hours.The official clarified that the Houthis' continued military operations in these oil-rich provinces underscore their ambition to expand their control over Yemen and its resources."Following hours of fighting, the government forces managed to thwart the Houthi assault on Shabwa, causing many people on both sides to be killed or injured," said the official.Elsewhere in Yemen, the Houthis began their preparations for carrying out a large-scale military operation against Marib which is strategically important as it houses gas resources and an oil refinery.The government forces have been fighting fiercely to hold their ground in the Harib district of Marib, while the Houthi rebels have been pushing hard to take control of the area, according to the official.On Saturday, Yemen's DefenCe Minister and other government officials narrowly escaped a drone attack carried out by the Houthis against their convoy in the country's southwestern province of Taiz.The recent Houthi attacks on the Yemeni government-controlled areas and military officials dealt a serious blow to the international diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing violence and promoting peace in the war-torn nation, jeopardising the progress that has been made thus far.It also comes at a particularly critical time, as the two warring sides had agreed in Switzerland to exchange hundreds of war prisoners under the auspices of the UN.The UN-sponsored agreement was seen as a significant step towards building trust between the Yemeni warring parties and moving towards more negotiations to achieve a lasting peace agreement.On Friday, Yemen's government warned of a possible return to all-out military conflict in the war-ravaged Arab country following an uptick in Houthi attacks in Marib.Various regions in Yemen have witnessed sporadic armed confrontations between the local warring factions, after a cease-fire brokered by the United Nations in April expired in October last year.Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014, with the Houthis fighting against the internationally-recognized government and its allies, which include a Saudi Arabia-led coalition.The years-long war brought the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of collapse causing famine and widespread suffering as well as disrupting the country's food supply chain, leaving millions of people without access to adequate nutrition.IANS27 March 2023

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SUN Mobility to power 50K EV food delivery vehicles for Zomato

New Delhi, March 27: SUN Mobility on Monday said it has entered into a collaboration with Zomato to power 50,000 electric 2-wheelers across the country over the next 24 months.

SUN Mobility to power 50K EV food delivery vehicles for Zomato

The EV company, which will utilise its battery swap solutions for the last-mile deliveries, said the collaboration has been confirmed in Delhi with an initial fleet deployment."By deploying 50,000 electric two-wheelers in Zomato's fleet, we are reducing our carbon footprint by 5,000 MT/month and contributing to a cleaner environment," said Anant Badjatya, CEO, SUN Mobility.The move is aligned with Zomato's commitment to "The Climate Group's EV100 initiative that implies 100 per cent EV adoption by 2030" and is also in line with SUN Mobility's mission to electrify last-mile deliveries in India."Our associations in the past and now with SUN Mobility to swap batteries will accelerate the transition to EV-based deliveries, further helping us keep our promise of a sustainable Zomato," said Mohit Sardana, COO, Food Delivery.The swappable battery technology will enable the last-mile delivery partners to easily and quickly swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones at SUN Mobility Swap Points.This will reduce the downtime for recharging, increase the efficiency of the last-mile delivery operations and contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing emissions, said the companies.Founded in 2017, SUN Mobility is a joint venture between SUN Group and Maini Group.SUN Mobility has deployed 358 Swap Points in 18 cities to date, powering over 80 million kms and over 4.2 million swaps in the country so far.IANS27 March 2023

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First Citizens Bank reaches deal to purchase Silicon Valley Bank

San Francisco, March 27: The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has announced that First Citizens Bank and Trust Company of Raleigh, North Carolina entered a purchase agreement for all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association.

First Citizens Bank reaches deal to purchase Silicon Valley Bank

"The 17 former branches of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, will open as FirstACitizens Bank iamp; Trust Company on Monday, March 27, 2023," Fox Business quoted the FDIC as saying in a statement."Customers of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, should continue to use their current branch until they receive notice from FirstACitizens Bank iamp; Trust Company that systems conversions have been completed to allow fullAservice banking at all of its other branch locations," the statement continued.Depositors of the Santa Clara, California-located bank will automatically become depositors of FirstACitizens Bank iamp; Trust Company, according to the statement, and all deposits will be assumed and insured by FirstACitizens Bank iamp; Trust Company, up to the insurance limit, Fox Business reported.The FDIC said "As of March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, had approximately $167 billion in total assets and about $119 billion in total deposits. Today's transaction included the purchase of about $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association's assets at a discount of $16.5 billion."In addition, approximately $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain in the receivership for disposition by the FDIC, Fox Business reported.IANS27 March 2023

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NATO countries are party to Ukraine conflict: Russian security chief

Moscow, March 27: NATO is a party to the conflict in Ukraine, and it makes no secret of its primary goal, Russia's defeat and further division, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russian news agency TASS reported.

NATO countries are party to Ukraine conflict: Russian security chief

Nikolay Patrushev emphasises that the NATO countries are parties to the conflict with Ukraine.He also said that the NATO nations don't hide their primary goal which is to prolong the conflict for as long as possible, TASS reported."In reality, NATO countries are parties to the conflict," Patrushev emphasized. "They do not hide their main goal trying to prolong this military conflict as long as possible - Russia's defeat on the battlefield and further division," he added.He believes that the issue of the Ukraine conflict will be one of the main topics at Washington's Summit for Democracy in late March, TASS reported.He accused the NATO nations that they have turned Ukraine into a big military camp.He said that the NATO nations are sending weapons and ammunition to Ukrainian forces.He alleged that they are also providing Ukraine with information, using a satellite constellation and unmanned aerial vehicles. NATO instructors and advisors are training Ukrainian troops he added further, TASS reported."They've turned Ukraine into one big military camp. They are sending weapons and ammunition to Ukrainian forces, as well as information, using a satellite constellation and a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles. NATO instructors and advisors are training Ukrainian troops, and mercenaries are fighting in neo-Nazi battalions," Patrushev said.ANI27 March 2023

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Adequate security arrangements made for upcoming G20 meet in Ramnagar: Uttarakhand CM Dhami

Dehradun, March 27: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said that adequate security arrangements have been made for the upcoming G20 meeting in Ramnagar amid the threat calls received to the public and the government officials in the state to boycott G20 summit.

Adequate security arrangements made for upcoming G20 meet in Ramnagar: Uttarakhand CM Dhami

While addressing the media, Chief Minister Dhami said, "All necessary preparations for the G20 summit have been done from the administrative and security point of view"."Police officials have been directed. Home department, police headquarters and the security agencies are keeping an eye on every activity," he added.Earlier on Sunday a pre-recorded audio surfaced on social media in which Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a secessionist pro-Khalistan organisation called for a boycott of G20 meetings in Ramnagar.SFJ president Gurpatwant Singh Pannu in the surfaced audio threatened to replace Indian flags with Khalistani flags in the G20 meeting claiming that Ramnagar is a part of Khalistan and not India.Earlier this month SFJ President Pannu also made similar calls to boycott G20 meetings in Amritsar stating that Amritsar is a part of Khalistan. The G20 meetings in Amritsar concluded on March 17 amid tight security arrangements.The G20 summit is set to be organised in Ramnagar from March 28 to 30. The three-day G20 meeting in Ramnagar will see the participation of 70 foreign guests and 30 Indian officials.ANI27 March 2023

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Northeast Film Fest 2023: Bohag Bohag Mon wins best short film for Environment and Culture

Mumbai, March 26: Assamese short film 'Bohag Bohag Mon' won an award at the Northeast Film Festival 2023.

Northeast Film Fest 2023: 'Bohag Bohag Mon' wins best short film for Environment and Culture

The film bagged the Best Short Film trophy in the category of Environment and Culture at the gala, which was held at the National Film Development Cooperation campus in Mumbai.Directed by Parthasarathi Mahanta and produced by Mina Mahanta and Debajit Bhuyan, 'Bohag Bohag Mon' is a lyrical presentation of the syncretic relationship between nature and human especially portraying the emotions associated with Bohag (the first month of the Assamese calendar) and its colourful celebrations by the Assamese.Another film by the same team, 'Lachit the Warrior,' received the Jury Special Category award. The biopic poem presented in evocative animation is based on the legendary Assamese General Lachit Barphukan, who defeated the mighty Mughal army.Several members from the film industry including Gulshan Grover, Mahima Choudhury, Poonam Dhillon and Randeep Hooda attended the film festival, which kick-started on March 24. The three-day festival showcased some excellent films and documentaries from various parts of Northeast India.Films like 'Mask Art of Majuli', 'A Star is Born', 'Mohan ra Madan' were screened during the three-day festival.ANI27 March 2023

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PM Modis long-term vision is shaping new India: Sarbananda Sonowal

Jorhat, March 26: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that his long-term vision is shaping a new India.

PM Modi's long-term vision is shaping new India: Sarbananda Sonowal

The Union Minister on Sunday attended the 99th episdode of the Mann Ki Baat programme at Booth No 56 in the central Teok panchayat along with party workers and the general public at Teok in Assam's Jorhat district."The visionary leadership of PM Modi has ushered a new wave of development with the 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Viswas, Sabka Prayas' policy. India is moving in the direction of becoming an Atmanirbhar Bharat - bringing the dream of 'Made in India' led development a reality. With the surge of the Start-Up movement, the youth of the country has also become active agents of this wonderful movement. Due to the vision of PM Modi, the dreams and aspirations of people of the country are getting realised," Sonowal said.The senior leader of BJP, Sarbananda Sonowal further said, "BJP remains committed to the holistic and all-round development of all sections of the society through the nation-building process. As the world's largest political party, BJP continues to work unabated for the betterment of the country. Our workers are our driving force. In ensuing days, we must continue to work with unity and commitment to strengthen our organisational foundation."Highlighting the development of the Northeast under PM Modi's government, the Union Minister said that the Northeast has scripted a new horizon of progress as it has become the new engine of growth for India."The benefits of the government schemes are now trickling down to the women, youth and farmers with direct benefit transfer and other policy amendments to cut down middlemen, bringing in efficiency in the governance system. This is the perfect example of how minimum government can deliver maximum governance. Similarly, the shift to Act East policy has proved to be the catalyst of change as the region becomes an important region which is bridging India and South East Asia," he said."The rural economy has also strengthened as considerable movement is happening in the industrialisation, information technology in the country. Thanks to the long term policies as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the quality of life and standard of living of people has improved considerably," the Minister added.Immediately after attending the Mann Ki Baat programme, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited the century-old Naamghar at Teok in Jorhat.After paying obeisance at the Naamghar, Sonowal offered prayer and paid for everyone's good health and prosperity.Sonowal also participated in the opening of the door of the Naamghar in presence of Satradhikar of Shri Shri Auniati Satra Dr Pitambar Deva Goswami among other eminent personalities."Gurujona laid the foundation of unity and spiritualism with the establishment of Naamghars. Naamghar is an inseparable part of Assam's social life as it is the centre of peace and prosperity. The peace, power, knowledge and culture emanate from Bhakti. Bhakti gives us the strength to move forward. We must continue our spiritual journey through Naamghars to keep our society relevant, spiritual and beautiful," Sarbananda Sonowal said."Further relaxation of AFSPA from many areas of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur is another welcome step by the Modi govt. Due to sustained and conscious effort by PM Modi has resulted in permanent peace in the region. On behalf of all the people of the region, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah," he said."The dark days of violence, disturbance, and insurgency during the Congress government dispensarion have now become a thing of past due to conscious effort of the Modi government. The insurgents have chosen to reject the road of violence as they join the movement of nation building under visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am sure today's decision will further accelerate the development in the region in a peaceful environment," the Minister added.ANI27 March 2023

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Assam: Governor Gulab Chand Kataria visits Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat

Jorhat, March 26: Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on his maiden visit to Jorhat on Sunday, visited Assam Agricultural University and took stock of different activities undertaken by the university.

Assam: Governor Gulab Chand Kataria visits Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat

He also asked the scientists and teaching faculty of the university to direct their research to improve the yield of agricultural produce and contribute to promoting the quality of life of the farmers. While interacting with the teaching fraternity, Governor Kataria highlighted the need to pay remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce.The Assam Governor also appealed to the university students to explore the realm of agro entrepreneurship.He asked the students to become enterprising and encourage agro-entrepreneurship which not only promises financial independence but also augments agricultural yields.While talking to the students he got important inputs about their research activities and asked them to keep working to script phenomenal growth in agriculture. Considering the pivotal role played by Assam Agricultural University in agricultural research and the resultant growth in agricultural outputs, the Governor appealed to the university fraternity to spearhead the path-breaking research for the benefit of the agriculture sector and the wellbeing of the farmers.He also asked the university fraternity to pay interest in natural farming as the state presents a potential avenue for the growth of natural farming. Governor Kataria also visited Assam Womens University and interacted with the students and teachers.He said, "Assam Women's University is an academic bastion for women's education and is serving as a vital pillar in promoting women's education in the state and empowering them through higher education."The Governor asked the teaching fraternity of the university to take a lead in women's transformative education and empower the human resources of the state.VC of AAU Dr Bidyut Chandan Deka, VC of Assam Womens University Dr Ajanta Borgohain Rajkonwor, DC of Jorhat Pulak Mahanta along with a host of other dignitaries were present during the visit.ANI27 March 2023

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Honduras establishes diplomatic ties with China; Taiwan displeased

Beijing, March 27: Central American country Honduras has signed a joint communique formalising establishment of diplomatic ties with China, and severing its decades-long ties with Taiwan, Xinhua reported.

Honduras establishes diplomatic ties with China; Taiwan displeased

A joint communique was signed by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina after they held talks in Beijing on Sunday.The comminique statest that the Government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.According to the communique, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras, in keeping with the interests and desires of the two peoples, have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communique, Xinhua reported.The two governments agreed to develop friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, the communique stated.The Government of Honduras shall sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan as of this day and undertakes that it shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China appreciates this position of the Government of the Republic of Honduras, the communique said.Taiwan's Ambassador to Honduras, Vivia Chang on Saturday returned home as ties between the island country and Honduras worsened as reported Taiwan News.When holding talks with Reina, Qin noted that the one-China principle is a prevailing consensus in the international community and a widely recognized basic norm in international relations."Honduras has made an important decision to recognize the one-China principle and join the mainstream of the world, which is in full accordance with the fundamental and long-term interests of Honduras and its people, and is also a choice to stand on the right side of history and the side of the vast majority of countries," Qin was cited as saying.China highly appreciates Honduras' clear attitude and firm determination to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, he added, Xinhua reported.The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras is fair and square, which is a historical trend that no person or force can stop, Qin said.Qin called on the two sides to strengthen their synergy and coordination and speed up consultations on important bilateral agreements and cooperation mechanisms. He also welcomed Honduras in supporting and joining the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, Xinhua reported.China will fully support Honduras' economic and social development and improvement of its people's living standards, Qin said, adding that China is willing to expand imports of Honduran speciality products, encourage Chinese companies to invest in Honduras, participate in large-scale infrastructure construction in Honduras, and give priority to the implementation of projects benefiting people's livelihoods.The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras will not only benefit the two peoples but will also have an important impact on strengthening unity and cooperation among developing countries and promoting greater democracy in international relations, Qin said.For his part, Reina said the establishment of diplomatic relations between Honduras and China has opened a new era of bilateral relations and taken a historic step, which will greatly benefit the two peoples, Xinhua reported.Honduras promises to abide by the one-China principle and is ready to work with China to further enhance bilateral relations, advance bilateral cooperation in various fields at full speed, and strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral fields so as to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, Reina said.When attending a joint press conference together with Reina after their talks, Qin said Honduras has chosen to stand together with 181 countries in the world and made the political decision to recognize and pledge to abide by the one-China principle and establish diplomatic ties with China without any preconditions, which fully conforms to the fundamental and long-term interests of Honduras and its people, Xinhua reported."This once again fully proves that adhering to the one-China principle is the right choice in keeping with the general interests of the world and the trend of the times," Qin said."We want to make it clear to the Taiwan authorities that 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities go against the will and interests of the Chinese nation, go against the historical trend, and will only lead to a dead end," Qin said.Reina said Honduras is willing to strengthen cooperation with China on finance, trade, infrastructure, science and technology, culture and tourism, and maintain closer communication and coordination under multilateral frameworks, Xinhua reported.A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Sunday also made remarks on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras.Noting that Honduras is an important country in Central America, the spokesperson said "This is the right choice that is in line with the prevailing trend and supported by the people. China highly appreciates that."By following the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China stands ready to enhance friendly cooperation with Honduras in various fields to the benefit of the two countries and peoples, the spokesperson said.ANI27 March 2023

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Amit Shah praises Yediyurappa, Bommai for good governance in Karnataka

Bengaluru, March 26: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lauded Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his immediate predecessor and BJP veteran BS Yediyurappa stating that both have provided good governance during their respective tenures.

Amit Shah praises Yediyurappa, Bommai for good governance in Karnataka

Citing the developmental work done by the BJP government under both chief ministers, Shah urged the people to form the party's government with a full majority in the upcoming Assembly elections slated this year."Earlier under Yediyurappa and now under the leadership of Basavaraj Bommai, the Prime Minister has given an impetus to Karnataka's development with a sense of team India in the last four years. In Yediyurappa's tenure, I congratulate him for the way he managed the COVID preparation. I used to interact with Chief Ministers of various states then via video conference. It was a matter of concern to save Bengaluru from COVID. But the way Yediyurappa managed the situation is commendable. After Bommai came, he carried forward good governance like Yediyurappa," the Home Minister said.He said that the BJP government will take the state forward not just in the country but in the world."I want to tell the people of Karnataka that you gave 104 seats in the last elections, we fell short of the majority mark because of which one and a quarter years were wasted. I urge you to form the BJP government with a full majority. I assure you that the double-engine government will take Karnataka ahead not just in India but in the world," he said.Shah further lauded the Karnataka government's decision to scrap the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims and distribute it to dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas and said that the government's move was according to the Constitution which earlier (reservation based on religion) was against the Constitution."The founding fathers of the Constitution never gave reservation based on religion. But Congress and its ally governments started reservation based on religion due to vote bank politics. They had done a reservation of 4 per cent for the minority based on religion in Karnataka. I congratulate CM Bommai that he ended that reservation and gave reservation according to the Constitution," he said."Only they can do development who are committed to it. Only they can end corruption who has a love for the nation. PM Modi has secured the nation on internal and external fronts with commitment," Shah added.Taking a swipe at Congress, the Home Minister said that Karnataka does not need a party whose leaders indulge in conflicts over the chief minister's post."Karnataka does not need parties which have conflict on who will become the chief minister. It needs a team of patriots like BJP which works under the leadership of PM Modi. Today is a historic day for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Today, the statues of Lord Basavanna ji and Kempegowda ji, who spread the message of India to the whole world, have been unveiled here. These statues will give the message of democracy, social justice and good governance to the representatives coming to the assembly," he said.ANI27 March 2023

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North Korea launches ballistic missile towards East Sea: South Koreas military

Seoul, March 27: North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported citing South Korea's military. The development has also been confirmed by the Japanese Prime Minister's office.

North Korea launches ballistic missile towards East Sea: South Korea's military

Japan PM's office in a tweet said, "North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow." South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military is analyzing related details, including the missile's flight distance and apogee, as per the news report.North Korea's ballistic missile launch comes at a time when Pyongyang has strongly protested the Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise of South Korea and the United States that started last week, according to a Yonhap news agency report. The US-South Korea drills are scheduled to end on April 3.Last week, North Korea tested a new underwater nuclear-capable attack drone, Al Jazeera reported citing the country's state news agency KCNA said on Friday. Significantly, the drone operated continuously for 59 hours underwater before being destroyed as part of a drill to intimidate the US and South Korean armed forces.The North Korean military deployed and test-fired the new weapons system this week during a military drill directed by Kim Jong Un, with the aim to determine if it could produce a deadly blast and wave on a "super-scale." According to KCNA, "This nuclear underwater assault drone may be launched at any coast and port or operated while being towed by a surface ship."The drone was placed in the water off South Hamgyong province on Tuesday and cruised underwater for 59 hours and 12 minutes, at a depth of some 80 to 150 metres, before detonating in waters off its east coast on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported citing the news agency.However, the South Korean news agency, Yonhap said that the drone's final target point was a mock enemy port set up in the waters of Hongwon Bay, Al Jazeera reported citing the media report. The drone exercise comes as a US amphibious assault ship arrived in South Korea to participate in the joint military exercise.ANI27 March 2023

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behno New York makes its first foray into the Indian market and celebrates its home coming with their investor Katrina Kaif

New Delhi, March 27: behno New York makes its first foray into the Indian market along with the effortlessly stylish, iconic movie star and entrepreneur Katrina Kaif. The acclaimed artist joins hands with behno New York to be their investor and brand ambassador as the label makes its first foray into the Indian market.

behno New York makes its first foray into the Indian market and celebrates its home coming with their investor Katrina Kaif

Founded in 2015 by Shivam Punjya, behno is a consciously made handbag brand that is designed in New York and made in India. Operating at the intersection of ethical thinking and luxury design, founder Shivam Punjya has been working hard to define the character of "Made in India" and to champion a new standard for Indian factory manufacturing which improves the quality of life and safety of women in the garment trade.Expressing her thoughts on the association, Katrina Kaif says, "The craft and values which behno New York upholds reconcile effortlessly with my core belief system. I'm thrilled to be not just the face of behno New York but also their business investor as its design sensibility and products resonate with my personal style making this association special".Handcrafted with a holistic ethos and an unbridled love for the crafts - imbued with refined elegance and minimalism, behno New York's luxe-lit, India proud pieces will be available for sale exclusively on Tata CLiQ Luxury.Shivam Punjya, Founder and creative director of behno New York says, "It's heartwarming to have Katrina as the face of behno New York. She's a creative force to reckon with and her larger-than-life body of work in cinema and her multi-layered personal style appeal to our audiences around the world. I am sure she will lend her inimitable gravitas to our creative ecosystem at behno New York." He further adds, "The colloquial Indian proverb, One and One make Eleven, believes that when two individuals unite, their collective power manifests into unparalleled strength. But with behno, you go one step further. When we also have a shared consciousness, our impact defines our intention. Perhaps, One and One make Twelve".When Shivam Punjya, Founder and Creative Director of behno New York, launched his NYC-based brand, he wanted to use his accessories line as a catalyst for doing good. The idea came to Punjya in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in which over 1,100 workers died in Bangladesh. Later, in his motherland of India, he met and interacted with several local garment workers in rural and peri-urban areas, whose lives were similar to those lost in the Rana Plaza tragedy.When behno launched back in 2015, it featured a ready-to-wear collection. About four years ago, the design house actively transitioned to handbags and small leather goods in an attempt to amplify the social impact and amplify the work of factories doing better.The much-loved, made-in-India label which has garnered immense accolades globally - having elicited rave reviews in global publications and blogs and seen on the likes of Hollywood stars, attempts to become part of a global mission that inspires change, improves factory conditions, quality of life, and safety of individuals in developing countries by working with international factories that adhere to rigid compliances.Each handbag is crafted in top tier luxury factories committed to incrementally upholding "the behno standard" - a set of principles addressing garment worker health, social mobility, women's rights, family planning, worker satisfaction, and benefits.As a South Asian, Shivam always envisioned behno to celebrate what he's always known India to be and to also challenge the preconceived notions of what 'made in India' holds. Historically, India has been and is home to some of the largest luxury brands' hand-embroidery and embellishment needs. Rooted in Indianness and handcrafted with global ethos, each behno New York bag exemplifies a consciousness-altering minimalist appeal, soft structure, and crisp silhouettes. Superimposing age-old hand embroidery and embellishment techniques with au courant, utilitarian approach to design - each bag speaks to the evolved style sensibility for behno New York's modern-day collector.In an era of greenwashing where so many companies, brands and labels use sustainability as a marketing gimmick, behno New York - an India proud label has always endeavored to create a mindful luxury ecosystem with a heightened awareness to sustainability and ethics to fashion.About behno New York's latest collectionA chic cornucopia of culture and colour, textures and unexpected detailing - all handcrafted with love, precision and exactitude - from the Ina Mini Crossbody to the luscious Simone Mini Accordion in Avocado - each piece evokes instant desirability. The collection's key pieces include Ina Potli, Frida Flat Tote, Janae Crossbody - each object likely to become a timeless closer staple.Global stars like Emma Watson, Becky G, Meagan Good, Alisha Wainwright, Jessica Williams and Poorna Jagganathan have been spotted in the brand's offerings.behno New York has been the winner of Fashion Group International's Rising Star Award in 2019. It was also the only American brand to be invited in the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange to showcase an ethical fashion evening wear at Buckingham Palace.Founder's profileShivam Punjya is the founder and creative director of behno, New York. He oversees the brand's overall social and creative direction and positioning. Punjya founded the brand with the goal of addressing poverty and global health through traditional and non-traditional enterprise channels. Punjya's professional experiences include luxury hospitality conglomerate InterContinental Hotels Group in London to GreatNonprofits.org, a tech-based nonprofit in the Silicon Valley. Upon completing his B.A. in International Political Economy from U.C. Berkeley, Punjya led extensive fundraising campaigns for the overseas branch of Pratham, India's largest education advocacy nonprofit. Punjya graduated from Duke University with a M.S. in Global Health from the Duke Global Health Institute. During his time at Duke University, Punjya also studied social entrepreneurship at the Fuqua School of Business. Most recently, Punjya also served as the President of the board of Fashion Revolution (USA) where he was previously its Country Coordinator.This story is provided by GPRC. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/GPRC)ANI27 March 2023

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Murals in Uttarakhands Ramnagar depict local culture as town gets ready to host G20 meetings

Nainital, March 27: The G20 summit is set to be organised in Ramnagar from March 28 to 30. For this, special preparations have been made in Ramnagar under which the civilization and culture of Uttarakhand are being shown at the venue of the G20 meeting, along the walls and roads.

Murals in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar depict local culture as town gets ready to host G20 meetings

Kusum Pandey, the first woman from Uttarakhand to be awarded the National Award in Fine Arts and her team have taken up the task of carving the culture of Uttarakhand on the walls for the G20 meeting in Ramnagar.In this regard, Kusum Pandey told ANI, "Guests coming from the country and abroad in the G20 meeting will be exposed to the culture of Uttarakhand through these paintings. At the same time, being inspired by this, they will spread the message of this culture in their countries as well. Due to this Uttarakhand will come to the minds of people in foreign countries as well".On this occasion, the District Magistrate of Nainital, Dheeraj Garbyal said, "All preparations related to the event and the beautification of the Ramnagar for the event will be completed before time".As per the visuals, the murals in Ramnagar are depicting the culture, living conditions of people in the state, and musical instruments of Uttarakhand.In 2022, Kusum Pandey received the national award at the 62nd National Lalit Kala Akademi Award in the field of visual arts.The three-day G20 meeting in Ramnagar will see the participation of 70 foreign guests and 30 Indian officials.ANI27 March 2023

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US Shooting: 2 shot at Gurudwara in Sacramento, sheriffs office searching for suspect

Sacramento (California), March 27: Two people were shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California on Sunday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said.

US Shooting: 2 shot at Gurudwara in Sacramento, sheriff's office searching for suspect

The sheriff's office stated the shooting occurred around 230 p.m. (local time) at the Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society temple.Both of the victims are in critical condition, the sheriff's office said.Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said the shooting is not related to a hate crime and described the incident as a shootout between two men who knew each other.Sgt. Gandhi said three people were involved in a fight that escalated into a shooting. He said "suspect 2" was down when "suspect 1" shot suspect 2's friend. Suspect 2 then shot suspect 1 before taking off."All participants in that altercation seemed to have known each other. This seems to have stemmed from something far before this," Sgt. Gandhi added.The investigation of the incident is underway.Notably, the United States has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with numerous fatal shootings over the last few years.Gun violence has become common in the US. And this is the reason that President Joe Biden signed the executive order that seeks to increase the number of background checks conducted during gun sales, saying this is "common sense".Last week, at least two people were hospitalised in a shooting at East High School in Denver, the capital of Colorado, informed Denver police.Taking to Twitter, Denver police posted, "ALERT #DPD is responding to a shooting at East High School. An unknown number of victims at this time. Investigators are working to gather information, and expect a large police presence in the area. Updates will be posted to this thread as they are made available. #Denver. "ANI27 March 2023

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Having a new therapy dog has given the kindergartners 'a sense of responsibility as one waters Cooper, others pet him, while some help to lead him down the hall. One little girl read to Cooper to calm him in his kennel'
First Citizens will acquire much of Silicon Valley Bank, the tech-focused financial institution whose lightning-quick failure this month set off a chain reaction that rattled faith in banks around the world
Patients who have been hospitalized with severe COVID-19 have permanent changes in their cholesterol 3 months after recovery, according to a study from the University of Oslo. This increases their risk of developing heart disease later in life.

Many clinicians and scientists have wondered whether COVID-19 disease affects people's health later in life. Several recent studies have shown that there is an association between COVID-19 and heart disease. Does being severely ill with COVID-19 increase people's risk of developing heart disease?

"Recent studies have suggested that COVID-19 increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms for this are still unclear", Ida Gregersen, a researcher at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, says.

Norwegian researchers have found that patients, who had been hospitalized with severe COVID-19, have permanent changes in their cholesterol after their recovery.

"We believe that COVID-19 increases the risk of developing heart disease later in life, and that these changes is a possible explanation for this increased risk", Bente Halvorsen, Professor at the University of Oslo and the Principal Investigator of the study, says.

"Bad" LDL cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease

Cholesterol is one of the body's fatty substances and is an important building block in the body. There are different types of cholesterol, one of which is LDL, which is comprised of several LDL particles.

"LDL is responsible for transporting fat in the body and is sometimes called the "bad cholesterol", Gregersen says.

It is called the bad cholesterol because high levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood raises your risk for heart disease and stroke.

"It is a well-known fact that the risk of cardiovascular disease increases with high levels of LDL in the blood. In addition, the risk also increases when there are changes in the composition of the LDL particles", she says.

Changes in LDL particles seen in patients who has recovered from severe COVID-19

The researchers observed such changes in LDL composition in these patients, 3 month after they recovered from severe COVID-19.

"Patients who have had severe COVID-19 have had the composition of these LDL particles changed after their illness. Among other things, they contain several inflammatory substances", says Gregersen.

Such changes can influence these LDL particles to collect in the walls of your blood vessels. This can drive the development of heart disease in the long term.

"We therefore believe that severe COVID-19 causes long-term changes in the composition of LDL particles, i.e. in the body's system for transporting fat around the body. It could potentially give the patients an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later, but we don't know that yet", she says.

We can prevent heart disease when we know more about the risk

It is important that people who have had severe COVID-19 are aware of their increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the researchers.

"It is incredibly important that patients who have had severe COVID-19 know that they may have a changed composition of cholesterol in their body. We know from previous research that they have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease later in life", Halvorsen says.

By identifying people who have an increased risk, it is possible to engage in preventive measures. Among other things, there are effective measures aimed at people with high levels of LDL cholesterol in their blood.

"The more we know, the more we can prevent and treat that risk. We have tools to treat the risk of heart disease in people with elevated LDL", she says.

Lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity are also important

Halvorsen recommends that those who have had severe COVID-19 disease follow up with their general practitioner. To find out if you have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, you can ask for a blood test.

"We cannot say for sure that these patients actually will develop cardiovascular diseases. Environmental factors and lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity and high blood pressure will play a role in whether this will develop further", Halvorsen says.

New method can isolate and measure changes in LDL particles

The researchers have investigated a specific characteristic of the LDL particles, so-called LDL aggregation, which is when the LDL particles group together in the blood vessels. To investigate LDL aggregation, the researchers collaborated with the Wihuri Research Institute in Finland that have established a method that can isolate and measure these changes in LDL.

"We know that LDL can aggregate, i.e. group together. However, this method can obtain quantitative measures that can demonstrate whether there is a change in LDL aggregation in the blood. We can therefore use this as a measure of risk for cardiovascular", Halvorsen explains.

Persistent changes in LDL indicate an active immune activation

"The fact that these differences in LDL composition are seen 3 months after patients recovered from COVID-19, is important", Halvorsen points out.

LDL has a plasma half-life of only a few days before it is renewed. Half-life means the time it takes for LDL to decrease by half. After a few days, new LDL is produced. Normally, one would thus expect the changes in LDL composition to disappear after a few days.

"When we still see changes in LDL composition after 3 months, it suggests that COVID-19 can lead to long-term disturbances in the system that transports fat in our body. In addition, the LDL carries inflammatory markers. This shows us that there is still immune activation in the body 3 months after recovering from COVID-19", Halvorsen explains. The professor believes the findings are surprising.

"We saw significant differences in the way LDL grouped together, between healthy people who did not have COVID-19, and these patients, who had been ill and hospitalised with severe COVID-19. For me, this is quite sensational. This is a new finding, and it will be interesting to see how this develops further", Halvorsen says.

Analyzed blood samples from the first COVID-19 patients in Norway

The researchers analyzed blood samples from 66 people who had been hospitalized with severe COVID-19, taken during a check-up 3 months after being discharged from hospital. These patients were hospitalized during the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020. The researchers then compared these samples with 42 healthy adults who served as controls, and checked whether factors such as age, gender and ethnicity played a role.

More research is needed

"Our data suggest new mechanisms for increased cardiovascular risk in COVID-19 patients. However, further and larger studies that can examine the association between these LDL characteristics and the development of cardiovascular diseases, is needed to support our findings further", Halvorsen concludes.
In a recent study published in the journal Cell, researchers describe recent advancements in breast cancer research and how these findings have improved the precise diagnosis of tumor subtypes and contributed to the discovery of novel drug targets for future therapeutics.

Study: Deciphering breast cancer: from biology to the clinic. Image Credit: ORION PRODUCTION / Shutterstock.com

Introduction

Breast cancer is one of the primary causes of cancer-related mortality in women globally, with its incidence rising each year. In 2020, there were nearly 2.3 million new cases of breast cancer and more than 685,000 deaths due to this disease.

Both genetic and non-genetic factors influence the development of breast cancer. Some non-genetic factors include age, late menopause, hormonal imbalances, and certain lifestyle factors, such as post-menopausal obesity.

In addition to these factors, breast cancers may vary in their genomic composition, pathology, and tumor microenvironment (TME), collectively contributing to how these cancers respond to different therapies. Despite the known impact of these factors on therapeutic responses, most breast cancers are characterized according to their tumor size, grade, nodal involvement, and marker expression.

Thus, there remains an urgent need for modern research advancements to be effectively integrated into breast cancer treatment approaches to optimize the efficacy of these therapies. Deep genomic analyses and the classification of molecular subtypes of breast cancer, for example, have allowed researchers to gain substantive insights into the complexity of breast tumors and their metastatic targets.

Classifying breast cancer

Tumors can be described as invasive or in situ carcinoma, which can be further classified into invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Beyond morphological classification, breast cancers are often categorized as estrogen receptor (ER+), human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2+), or triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

TNBC accounts for 15% of all breast cancer cases and does not express ER, progesterone receptor (PR), or HER2. Rather, the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cytokeratins, CK5 and CK14, characterize its diverse subtypes.

TNBCs follow an aggressive clinical course associated with poor prognosis. Individuals with TNBCs are also susceptible to early relapse and metastasis, particularly to the brain and lungs, thereby increasing their risk of cancer-related death.

Genomic approaches to breast cancer

Next-generation sequencing, which can include whole-genome sequencing (WGS), whole-exome sequencing, copy-number profiling, and transcriptomic analysis, has been applied to hundreds of thousands of breast tumor samples. Taken together, this data has led to the identification of significant molecular markers of different breast cancer types and, as a result, potential drug targets.

Some of the different genetic abnormalities that have been identified through these methods include DNA sequence changes, copy-number changes, rearrangements, as well as epigenetic modifications. Various mutations in PIK3CA, which is a lipid kinase, as well as tumor suppressor TP53, appear to be widespread in breast cancer, whereas only a few other genetic mutations are shared among 5% of tumors.

Recently, the establishment of the METABRIC dataset, which comprises the multi-omics data of over 2,000 patient tumor samples, allowed researchers to develop a new molecular taxonomy for breast cancer. This taxonomy, which is otherwise known as integrative subtypes, classifies ten subgroups of cancers that can be identified by distinct copy-number alterations, expression signatures, known and putative driver mutations, and clinical outcomes.

Current treatments

Various sequencing approaches have been incorporated into the diagnosis process to identify breast cancer subtypes and the most effective therapies for these patients. Phenotyping, for example, can allow researchers to identify new biomarkers such as Ki67, PD-L1, and TIL score, whereas genomic assays, many of which are RNA-based, are particularly useful for identifying patients with luminal tumors to determine their chemotherapy requirements.

After the biopsy has been performed and the cancer subtype has been identified, surgery or adjuvant therapy may be initiated. In addition to resecting tumors, surgery allows researchers to perform histology of collected tissue samples, assess residual cancer burden, and potentially utilize these samples to create preclinical organoid models that can be used to better understand these tumors for future studies.

Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer can take many forms, some of which include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, bisphosphonates, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, or cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors. Knowledge of the breast cancer molecular subtype is crucial for selecting the appropriate adjuvant therapy.

Trastuzumab, for example, which targets an extracellular domain in HER2 cancers, is frequently combined with chemotherapy drugs and anti-HER2 inhibitors, as this treatment protocol is associated with up to 90% survival rates when used at the early disease stage. Likewise, the expression of immune checkpoints like PD-L1 in TNBC can lead clinicians to combine anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors with different chemotherapies to achieve greater success rates.

Conclusions

To summarize, there have been immense advancements in breast cancer research, which have facilitated a better understanding of its molecular landscape and tumor heterogeneity. Sequencing efforts, for example, have helped explain the primary driver genes involved in breast cancer.

However, TNBC-like cancers lack recurrently mutated and targetable pathways. Thus, therapies for such cancers should target genomic instability.

The researchers also advocated for the development of new functional assays to resolve crucial molecular pathways governing breast cancer oncogenesis. The discovery of new biomarker tools could similarly support the development of anti-cancer therapies.

It remains challenging to translate this wealth of genomic data into precision medicine. Another challenge is branching evolution, which plays a prominent role in therapy failure and cancer relapse among breast cancer patients.

Nevertheless, single-cell atlases and multi-dimensional data encompassing spatial architecture and integration could help elucidate conserved tumor neighborhoods, thus providing vital information on cellular niches in TME. Together, these efforts could help prime the next phase of clinical trials for diagnostic and predictive biomarkers and novel cancer therapies.
The United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently released preliminary data on tuberculosis incidence in the US in 2022. The report is published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Tuberculosis  United States, 2022. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

Background

A gradual reduction in the reported incidence of tuberculosis has been observed in the United States between 1993 and 2019. In 2019, the incidence rate was 2.7 cases per 100,000 persons, which was further reduced to 2.2 cases per 100,000 persons during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic starting in 2020.

Such reduction in tuberculosis incidence could be attributed to certain factors, including delayed or lack of diagnosis, travel- and migration-related restrictions, and death among persons susceptible to tuberculosis reactivation.

Tuberculosis incidence in the US

During 2021 and 2022, the incidence rates were 2.4 and 2.5 cases per 100,000 persons, significantly lower than that documented during pre-pandemic years. During 2022, 8,300 tuberculosis cases were reported to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System, with California reporting the highest number of cases and Alaska reporting the highest incidence.

A variation in tuberculosis epidemiology was observed between 2021 and 2022. In 2022, the incidence was higher among non-US-born persons newly arrived in the United States. Specifically, a higher tuberculosis incidence was observed among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native and non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (NH/OPI) persons.

A similar trend was also observed among children aged four years and younger and adolescents and young adults aged 15  24. In contrast, a slightly lower incidence was observed among persons aged 65 years and above.

Among US-born persons with tuberculosis, the highest incidence in 2022 was observed among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander persons (6.6 cases per 100,000), followed by American Indian or Alaska Native persons (4.4), Asian persons (2.2), and Black persons (1.9).

Tuberculosis disease cases and incidence, by patient U.S. birth origin status - National Tuberculosis Surveillance System, United States, 20122022

Compared to 2021, the 2022 incidence increased by 63% among Asian persons, 26% among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander persons, 16% among American Indian or Alaska Native persons, and 7% among Hispanic persons. In contrast, the incidence was reduced by 9% and 10% among Black and White persons, respectively.

Among non-US born persons with tuberculosis, the incidence was highest among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander persons (27.8), followed by Asian persons (22.0), Black persons (13.7), Hispanic persons (10.1), American Indian or Alaska Native persons (4.3), and White persons (3.4).

Compared to 2021, the 2022 incidence increased by 221% among American Indian or Alaska Native persons, 20% among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander persons, 13% among Hispanic persons, and 7% among White persons. In contrast, the incidence was reduced by 12% among Black persons and 7% among Asian persons.

Regarding tuberculosis detection in 2022, about 16.5% of non-US-born persons received a diagnosis less than one year after their first arrival in the United States. In 2021, the percentage was 9.8. In 2021 and 2022, the percentages of people with newly diagnosed tuberculosis living in the US for more than ten years were 50.2 and 46.9, respectively.

Considering different age groups, the highest increase in tuberculosis incidence was observed among children aged four years and younger (28.8%) and adolescents and young adults aged 15  24 (23.7%) in 2022. An increase in incidence was also observed among homeless people (4.8%) and those living in prisons (3.5%). In contrast, a reduction in incidence was only observed among older adults aged 65 years and above (1.8%).

Conclusion

Phillip LoBue, MD, director of CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, said in a press release, "the message is loud and clear tuberculosis is still here. Communities, providers, and public health partners must work together to make sure we are reaching the right people with testing and treatment, so we can prevent and stop the spread of tuberculosis."
In a recent cohort study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers in the United States determine how the relationship with their parents affected the long-term health of young adults or adolescents. Moreover, the current study examines the impact of this relationship on nearly all health domains of adolescents, including sexual and mental health, as well as their risk of substance abuse and developing cardiovascular disease.

Study: Associations Between Mother-Adolescent and Father-Adolescent Relationships and Young Adult Health. Image Credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock.com

Background

Existing research evaluating inherently complex parent-adolescent relationships has several limitations. For example, these studies are often short-term and do not include diverse populations, thereby limiting the generalizability of their results. Many of these studies also use various strategies that make it challenging to identify specific characteristics for intervention strategies to target.

Additionally, most studies do not focus on health outcomes in all domains. Lastly, some studies separately evaluate the effects of father-adolescent and mother-adolescent relationships, which might influence their overall results.

Nevertheless, studies examining the quality of parent-adolescent relationships on the holistic and long-term health of the adolescent could support future investments in this area.

About the study

In the present study, researchers used data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and performed their analyses between February 2019 and November 2020. Despite a response rate of 80.3%, 19,560 of 20,745 enrolled adolescents completed wave I, 15,701 of whom completed wave IV.

All 20,745 in-school adolescents were in the seventh to twelfth grades in the 1994-1995 academic year. The researchers evaluated adolescent health outcomes up to the third decade of life, using data from 15,701 adolescents who completed the 2008-2009 school year.

A secondary analysis was also conducted to measure relationships between wave I participants self-reported characteristics of their relationship with their fathers and mothers.

To this end, wave I participants were asked about all aspects governing relationships with their parent figures. For example, parental warmth was measured using the mean score of three items about love, closeness, and caring.

Participants' reports from wave IV were subsequently used to quantify all health behaviors and outcomes. General health, for example, was rated on a scale of one to five, in which five indicated excellent health.

Two-sided statistical tests were performed between February 2019 and November 2020. Importantly, separate models were performed for mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationships.

A regression model was used to evaluate associations between all parent-adolescent relationship domains and outcomes accounting for covariates like gender, race, and ethnicity.

Results

The study findings demonstrated the significance of the quality of parenting relationships on adolescent health across multiple health domains up to the third decade of their lives. Moreover, certain modifiable characteristics of parent-adolescent relationships were associated with consistent patterns.

Accordingly, all adolescents who reported loving and caring relationships with their parents, spent more time and had healthy communication with parents enjoyed good overall health, were optimistic, and enjoyed quality romantic relationships in young adulthood. These young adults also reported having no depressive symptoms, stress, and substance dependence.

Despite variabilities in measurement strategies, the adolescents' perception of their relationship with their parents had long-lasting impacts on their health behaviors and outcomes. Notably, parental academic expectations appeared inconsistently associated with young adult health outcomes.

Although adolescent-reported satisfaction with communication was consistently associated with health outcomes, the extent of communication remained unquantified. This finding highlights the intricacy of behaviors, such as communication, within parent-adolescent relationships.

This perception also had a consistent effect on emotional health in young adulthood. However, the associations between injury and physical violence outcomes were weak or inconsistent, thereby suggesting the role of other factors within this health domain.

The results suggested prioritizing inductive discipline in interventions focused on influencing adolescents perceptions of their relationship with their parents. These interventions should cover both fathers and mothers, if applicable.

There should be a greater emphasis on improving the engagement of fathers in adolescents health through innovative strategies, such as mentoring fathers through mobile messaging. These intervention strategies should go beyond targeting early childhood and improve poor-quality relationships in early adolescence when needed.

There remains a need for more research on relationships between parents and youths who belong to minorities based on their sexuality. Moreover, efforts to support parent-adolescent relationships must account for diversity in family relationships, as primary adult caregivers might look different across families. Notably, family structure was noticeably different across the study population, with many living in single-parent homes.

Conclusions

In a nationally representative sample with well-defined parent-adolescent relationship characteristics, the current study showed how adolescents perceptions of their relationships with parents affected their health. From a policy perspective, investments to improve parent-adolescent relationships might substantially improve the health of all young adults in the U.S across a wide range of health domains.
Dr. Jacqui O'Kane took a job with a hospital in southern Georgia in 2020, as the lone doctor in a primary care clinic in a small town that's a medically underserved area. She soon attracted nearly 3,000 patients.

But she said the hospital pressed her to take more new patients, so she had to work nights and weekends  not ideal for the mother of two young daughters. She thought about opening her own practice in town, which would give her more control over her schedule.

The problem was that her three-year contract included a noncompete clause barring her from practicing within 50 miles of the hospital for two years after it ended.

So, she has decided to join a practice in South Carolina. That means she and her husband will sell their house, move hundreds of miles, and enroll their children in a new school.

"It sucks," she said. "I know my patients very well, and I feel like I'm being forced to abandon them. But I can't stay in this job because it's unhealthy for me to work this much."

In January, the Federal Trade Commission proposed to end predicaments like O'Kane's by prohibiting noncompete clauses in employment contracts. "The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," said Lina Khan, the FTC chairperson.

The proposed rule would prohibit employment contract provisions that block employees or contractors from working for a competing employer when they move on, or from starting a competing business. Such contracts typically bar people from working within a certain geographic area for a period after the job ends.

The FTC estimates that 30 million workers are bound by noncompete clauses. It says ending those provisions would boost economic competition, reduce prices, and increase workers' earnings overall by up to $296 billion a year.

Eliminating noncompete contracts would allow doctors to practice wherever their services are needed, which would improve patients' access to care. They say it would free them to speak out about unsafe conditions for patients, since they wouldn't have to worry about getting fired and not being able to continue working in their community.

But the FTC's proposal faces resistance from employers in all industries, including hospitals and private equity-backed medical groups that employ thousands of physicians, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals.

It's about money for them, too. They say eliminating noncompetes would drive up the cost of hospital care because hospitals would have to pay physicians more to keep them. They also say noncompete clauses are necessary to protect proprietary information and investments in employee training, and to prevent employees from taking clients and patients with them when they leave.

Business and hospital groups are likely to sue to block the rule, arguing that Congress hasn't authorized the commission to regulate noncompete clauses. While there is bipartisan support in Congress for legislation that would restrict noncompete clauses and authorize FTC action, the bill hasn't advanced; similar legislation stalled in past years.

Health care industry groups hope to block any change with the argument that the FTC lacks statutory authority to regulate nonprofit, or tax-exempt, hospitals, which account for nearly 60% of all U.S. community hospitals. In the proposed rule, the FTC acknowledged that entities not conducting business for profit may not be subject to the rule because they are exempt from coverage under the Federal Trade Commission Act, the law that gives the agency its authority.

"The rule would create an unlevel playing field because we compete with nonprofit and public hospitals that wouldn't be subject to it," said Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents for-profit hospital systems.

But other experts aren't sure the FTC lacks authority over nonprofits. While the FTC Act exempts nonprofits, the commission has acted many times under the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, federal antitrust laws used to block anti-competitive conduct by nonprofit hospital systems. Its not clear whether the FTC will clarify this issue before it finalizes the rule.

"We fully support having the noncompete ban apply to all hospitals," said Dr. Jonathan Jones, president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, half of whose members are bound by noncompetes.

California, North Dakota, and Oklahoma already ban enforcement of noncompete clauses for all employees, while six other states prohibit enforcement of noncompete clauses for physicians. Even in states without bans, judges have invalidated noncompetes when they found them to be overbroad or unreasonable.

But it can cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to challenge a noncompete clause, and other employers may not want to take the risk of hiring a person in the middle of a legal fight, said Luke Campbell, a Seattle attorney who represents physicians.

The FTC rule also would bar the use of nondisclosure or training repayment agreements in employment contracts if they functioned as de facto noncompetes.

Hospitals often require nurses to sign training repayment agreement provisions, called TRAPs, which nursing groups say lock nurses into jobs by demanding they pay as much as $20,000, for what's essentially job orientation, if they leave before two years. National Nurses United, a labor union, wants the FTC to explicitly prohibit TRAPs.

As of last year, nearly three-quarters of all U.S. physicians were employed by hospital systems or other companies, with many working under noncompete agreements. A 2018 survey found that nearly half of primary care physicians in California, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas were bound by noncompetes.

Private equity-owned staffing firms such as TeamHealth, Envision Healthcare, and Sound Physicians, which provide emergency physicians and other medical professionals to work in hospitals, commonly use noncompete provisions. None of those three companies agreed to talk about their employment contracts. As for-profit employers, noncompete clauses in their contracts clearly would be barred even if their employees were working in nonprofit hospitals.

Hospitals, insurers, and physician-owned medical groups also use noncompetes in employing doctors and other medical professionals.

Hospital-based doctors  emergency physicians, anesthesiologists, hospitalists, radiologists, and pathologists  refute the industry's argument that they would take patients or proprietary information with them.

"We don't have any trade secrets and we don't have the capability of stealing patients because we don't have our own patient referral base," said Dr. Robert McNamara, the chair of emergency medicine at Temple University.

Instead, he said, noncompetes are a way for the physician staffing firms to lock in their contracts with hospitals. "The private equity group can say to the hospital, 'You might not like what we're doing, but if you get rid of us, every single one of your doctors must be replaced,'" McNamara said.

Dr. Vanessa Urbina, a general practice physician in central Florida, also worries about the impact on patients. She left a corporate-owned medical practice in Altamonte Springs last year because of what she said was an abusive environment. Hobbled by a noncompete agreement she signed forbidding her from practicing within 15 miles of the clinic, she opened her own primary care clinic in rural Mount Dora, 19 miles away.

She had to stay in the area because of a child custody agreement. Fighting the noncompete cost her $25,000 in legal fees and lost income. Even though she now must drive farther to transport her daughter to school and back, she's happier in her new practice. But she's angry she can't take care of her former patients.

"They forced me to abandon my patients," she said. "Now they have to wait three months for an appointment. Noncompetes should be illegal."
German automaker BMW has recently filed trademarks for 48 new names at the German Trade Mark and Patent Office, hinting at a revised naming convention for its upcoming electric cars. The move is in line with the companys plans to launch several new electric models in the coming years.

BMWs current naming scheme, which uses three numbers to indicate the model range and engine displacement or trim level, is likely to be updated to reflect the changing landscape of the automotive industry. Having said that, the brands new trademarks include names with the i, X, and iX prefixes, such as the i120, iX130, and X750.

According to industry experts, the i and iX prefixes will likely denote electric vehicles, while the X prefix will be used for SUVs and crossovers. For example, the i120 and iX130 are expected to be 1 Series vehicles, while the X750 will likely be a 7 Series model.

Also Read: All-New BMW X1 in Pics: See Design, Features, Interior and More in Detail

However, since BMW will continue to offer traditional internal-combustion engines alongside hybrid and electric vehicles, the naming conventions are expected to reflect the current model designations. For instance, the conventional combustion-engine version of the 5 Series will be named the 530i, while the hybrid version will be called the 530e, and the electric-only version will be named the i530.

Among the 48 new trademarks, there was only one M model filed, the M350. This is expected to be a hotter version of the 3 Series, potentially replacing or topping the current M340i. However, there is no indication yet whether the M350 will be gasoline-powered, electric, or hybrid.

BMWs move to trademark new names is a sign of the companys commitment to the electric vehicle market. With the automotive industry moving towards a greener future, its essential for car manufacturers to adapt to changing consumer preferences and regulatory requirements.

Read all the Latest Auto News here
The March futures contract of Nifty 50 suggests a positive start for domestic equities today. The contract was trading at 17,030.50, up 111 points or 0.66 per cent from the previous close.

Lupin: The company has announced the successful completion of an inspection carried out by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency at its Pithampur facilities in India. Also, the US FDA has completed a Post-marketing Adverse Drug Experience (PADE) inspection of the companys operations. The inspection closed with no observations.

Zydus Lifesciences: The USFDA inspected the manufacturing facility SEZ-1 of Zydus Lifesciences located at Pharmez, Ahmedabad. The inspection was a Pre-Approval Inspection (PAI) as well as a GMP Audit and concluded with three observations. There were no Data Integrity related observations.

Shoppers Stop: The company had approved additional investment of upto Rs 25 crores in Global SS Beauty Brands (GSBBL), a wholly owned subsidiary, by way of subscription to Preference Shares of GSBBL, in one or more tranches. Earlier, the company made investments aggregating to Rs 20 crores in the preference share capital of GSBBL, by way of subscription to 2,000 preference shares at a face value of Rs 1,00,000/- each issued by GSBBL.

Tata Steel: Tata Steel has acquired 4.65 lakh equity shares of Rs 10/- each at a premium of Rs 205/share of Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, on a rights basis, for Rs 10 crore.

Adani Total Gas/Adani Transmission: Leading bourses NSE and BSE on Friday said Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission will move to the first stage of the long-term additional surveillance measure framework from March 27. On March 10, both exchanges put the two companies under the second stage of the long-term Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM) framework. In two separate circulars, the bourses said these securities will continue in the framework but will be moved from respective lower stage ASM from March 27.

Nykaa: Five senior executives of Nykaa, including the SuperStore CEO, chief business officer and chief commercial officer, have resigned from the company, according to two people aware of the development. Those who have resigned include Nykaa SuperStore CEO Vikas Gupta, Nykaa Fashion chief business officer Gopal Asthana, chief commercial operations officer Manoj Gandhi, business head Shuchi Pandya and finance head Lalit Pruthi. While the reason for the resignation of the four executives could not be ascertained, Pruthi has now joined the ed-tech firm UNIVO as chief financial officer.

L&T: Larsen and Toubro Ltd aims to capture 30% of Indias electrolyzer market once its technology partnership with McPhy Energy of France goes on stream, a top executive at the engineering conglomerate said. The French electrolyzer technology and production company will grant an exclusive licence of its pressurized alkaline electrolyzer technology for manufacture and future product upgrades, L&T said on Wednesday. The cake is quite large for many players to be, you know, benefiting from it," Subramanian Sarma, whole-time director & L&T, said in an interview.

One97 Communications: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended an earlier deadline for Paytm Payments Services Ltd to reapply for a payment aggregator licence but has not lifted restrictions on onboarding new online merchants, parent company One 97 Communications Ltd said on Sunday. In November, RBI had asked the company to resubmit its application within 120 calendar days after seeking approvals for past downward investments from the company into Paytm Payments to comply with foreign direct investment norms. It also barred the company from onboarding new online merchants.

Sun Pharma: Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical on Friday announced that it is set to acquire a 60% shareholding in Vivaldis Health & Foods for Rs 143.30 crore from its existing shareholders. The remaining 40 per cent shareholding will be acquired in future as per certain terms and conditions, said Sun Pharmaceutical in its regulatory filing. It will be a cash transaction and is expected to be completed by May 2023. INR 143.30 crores subject to customary closing adjustments for 60% (sixty per cent) shareholding," the company said in its filing.

Emami: Emami Ltd, a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata, has announced a proposal for a buyback of shares worth up to Rs 186 crore. The buyback price has been set at Rs 450 per share, according to an exchange filing on Friday. This buyback is set at a premium of around 24% above Emamis current share price of around Rs 362.55 apiece on the NSE. The buyback will be executed through the open market route via stock exchange mechanisms.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: The views and investment tips by experts in this News18.com report are their own and not those of the website or its management. Users are advised to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Read all the Latest Business News here
7th Pay Commission: In a bonanza for 47.58 lakh central government employees, the Central last week hiked the dearness allowance (DA) by 4 per cent for them, thus raising their salaries. The 4% DA hike has become effective from January 2023. Heres how the government calculated the DA hike:

How is DA Hike Decision Taken?

The DA is provided to employees and pensioners to compensate them for rising prices. The central government revises the DA and DR for employees based on a formula. DA and DR are revised twice a year  January and July. Dearness allowance is given to government employees, while the dearness relief is for pensioners. Following is the formula:

Dearness Allowance Percentage = ((Average of All-India Consumer Price Index (Base Year 2001=100) for the past 12 months -115.76)/115.76)x100.

For Central public sector employees: Dearness Allowance Percentage = ((Average of All-India Consumer Price Index (Base Year 2001=100) for the past 3 months -126.33)/126.33)x100.

The average CPI-IW of the last 12 months is 372.2 currently. Following the formula, DA is coming to 42.37 per cent. So, the Union government increased the dearness allowance to 42 per cent.

How Much Salary Will It Raise?

Lets say if a government employees monthly take-home salary is about Rs 42,000 and the Basic Pay is around Rs 25,500; then he/ she must be getting Rs 9,690 as the dearness allowance. Now, this DA amount will increase to Rs 10,710 after the latest 4 per cent DA hike. So, there will be an increase of Rs 1,020 in monthly take-home salary in this case.

Similarly, the monthly pension will also increase for 69.76 lakh pensioners. For example, if someone gets a basic pension of Rs 30,000 a month, then he used to get Rs 11,400 as dearness relief. Now, the amount will increase to Rs 12,600, thus raising the pension by Rs 800 per month.

Before this, the previous revision in DA was done on September 28, 2022, which was effective from July 1, 2022. The Centre had increased DA by four percentage points to 38 per cent based on the percentage increase in 12 monthly average of All India Consumer Price Index for the period ending June 2022.

Read all the Latest Business News here
A motorbiker was saved miraculously by the same white-pickup truck that he slammed into. Sounds odd, right? Footage of the incident thats going viral on social media shows a man in an all-black ensemble riding a bike. When he arrives at an interjunction, the man rams into a police pick-up truck. What couldve been a dangerous accident turned funny because of the way the biker was saved. After the crash, the man flew atop the four-wheeler and ended up in the pick-up trucks boot, avoiding any major injuries. Within seconds, the cop stepped out of the truck to help the man. A few passers-by also came to a halt to check if everything was okay. The extent of any injuries sustained by the man remains unclear, but if the video is anything to go by, it seems that he was saved by his helmet.

Watch the video here:

The video has amassed over two lakh views on the micro-blogging site prompting Twitter users to drop a string of vivid responses. A user declared that the biker was at fault, At a guess, the motorbiker is blind!

At a guess, the motor biker is blind! Laird DaveBurton-Rollett has no friends (@DAVETHEOTTER) March 26, 2023

Meanwhile, a user claimed this incident was part of a simulation drill conducted by the Brazil police. This was a simulation that the police did in Brazil, said one.

this was a simulation that the police did in Brazil John  (@JuniorFLAMS) March 26, 2023

Another agreed, This was a drill.

This was a drill. Savio Simei (@saviosimei) March 27, 2023

Many users spoke about the way he landed directly inside the pick-up truck. A user wrote, Ill get in the car myself, officer.

I'll get in the car myself, officer Chiara -zia (@AmyLeloved) March 26, 2023

Another committed, Sir, your delivery package has arrived.

"Sir, your Deliveroo package has arrived." #F4F  StrikingWise (@StrikingWise) March 26, 2023

Previously, a video of a man averting a road accident only to be hit by a traffic sign went viral on Twitter. The dashcam footage of the speeding car shows how the driver lost control when another vehicle appeared in its way suddenly. He dodged the collision by moving right when a man was standing holding what appears to be a bag in his hand.

Captioned Nah, the dashcam video shows how the man moves away from the speeding cars path but at the same time, the vehicle collides with a road sign which unfortunately lands on the persons head.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
A Cambodian airplane fanatic has built his house shaped like a private jet  despite never having been up in the air himself. Construction worker Chrach Peou spent his $20,000 life savings building the concrete plane"  complete with wings, tailfin, landing gear and engines  near the town of Siem Reap, gateway to the famed Angkor Wat temple complex. The 43-year-old widowed father of three said it took him almost a year to build, using money he had saved over 30 years.

This is my dream since I was young, so I am happy I could achieve my goal," Peou said.

The house, which has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, stands elevated on pillars six metres above a rice field.

We can live here, sleep here, use bathrooms here, and have meals here like on a plane. It is my own, I am so happy," Peou told AFP.

He said he designed the house after watching countless videos of private jets on the internet.

He charges people 50 cents to $1 to visit and take selfies by the house.

It is beautiful, attractive, there are palm trees nearby," Kim Muoy, 28, told AFP during a visit to the airplane house with her family.

But Peou dreams of flying for real one day.

When I have money and know where I want to go to, I will take a plane to go there," he said.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
A video which is currently going viral features Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila Peterson and it revolved around the boundaries of a father-daughter relationship. Uploaded on Twitter by a user named Eiynah, the video shows the father-daughter duo talking to each other. Wild sex," Jordan answers when his daughter asks him about what makes being married worth it?"

Extremely Normal father daughter convos continue," read the caption of the video. Further, into the video, the Canadian psychologist mentions how it is kind of a flip answer" but he could not resist." Here is the viral video:

Extremely Normal father daughter convos continue pic.twitter.com/So8Zu60Joh Eiynah  (@NiceMangos) March 25, 2023

Since being uploaded, the video has managed to gather 92.2K views. Very concerning seeing the all the comments like this seems normal for a parent just throwing out all context of Jordan Peterson as a person," wrote a Twitter user. Another person wrote, The number of Im no Peterson fan but this just seems like a normal dad jokes" ppl in my mentions rn. Sure, if u IGNORE all context, the weird creepy convo history they have, his weird incel views on women, how he discussed porn preferences & hip to waist ratios w his daughter before."

One person wrote, No Im sure most men couldnt resist talking about wild sex with their daughter."

Couldnt resist alluding to the wild sex I have with your mother, daughter!! https://t.co/jXm6aHIb24 sigma Allyson? (@paprikasegg) March 26, 2023

Very concerning seeing the all the comments like this seems normal for a parent just throwing out all context of Jordan Peterson as a person https://t.co/l2BvYOBsMY matt (@madmatt53) March 26, 2023

good ol conservative family values https://t.co/Xojoc5Cqh1 maeve (@thalassophobiac) March 26, 2023

Fun reminder that my aunt tried to recruit me to work for Mikhaila Peterson, and also a reminder of why I did not. https://t.co/PKgxve4vuB pale centaur (@SiO2moyer) March 26, 2023

these are the same men who would disown their daughter if she became a sex worker https://t.co/QhuT7Gawzv robitis (@esr0nis) March 26, 2023

He just can't stop https://t.co/Cp6w46IM6v DT - Free (@deeLteeS) March 26, 2023

Meanwhile, earlier, Peterson shared an image of Goddess Kali with his depiction. The tweet was mostly incomprehensible but it does not fall in the positive category for sure. It started when an anti-LGBT activism judge was called for a speech at Stanford and the students protested this. This was not received positively by many Indians. You perception is completely wrong. Its depiction of the Great Cosmic force Kali portrays her as being black as the night, moving over Shivas dead, white body. This portrayal uncovers the centrality of the two crucial parts of Reality," wrote a Twitter user.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
Surrounded by olive and palm trees in a Moroccan mountain village, a centuries-old collective granary preserves the ancient practices of the Amazigh culture. The traditions are vanishing, but not here," said proud village elder Hossine Oubrahim, in Ait Kine in the Anti-Atlas mountains. High in the rugged hills some 460 kilometres (280 miles) south of the capital Rabat, Ait Kine is home to one of countrys few remaining collective granaries called agadir in Amazigh, Moroccos Berber language.

The imposing, fully functional structure, likely built in the 18th century and restored in 2012, is still used by local residents to store and protect their produce.

We were raised on the tradition of storing our grains, dried fruit, oil and valuables there," recalled Oubrahim, in his 70s and wearing an indigo-coloured tunic.

And we continue to respect it."

The villages granary is a monument" that represents our community spirit", said Abdelghani Charai, a 60-year-old merchant who returned to his ancestral home in Ait Kine after years away.

Grains, fruit, family archives

The granary, built using a practice known as rammed earth, sits in the village centre, protected by a fortified wall with a stone watchtower.

In the past, during times of unrest and rebellion against the government, it offered a safe place for storage, Charai explained.

The granary guaranteed security," he said.

Inside, 76 cubicles are arranged in three levels around an open courtyard with a water cistern.

The agadir has stocks of barley, dates and almonds, but it is also used to safeguard documents like marriage and birth certificates, religious texts and contracts, and recipes for traditional medicine inscribed on palm stems.

Lahcen Boutirane, the guardian of the collective storeroom, said the villages 63 remaining families use it.

Others have left, but they keep their archives here," he told AFP.

Unwritten laws have kept these granaries sacred and inviolable spaces, not only storing crops to use in drought but also protecting them from attacks, said archaeologist Naima Keddane.

Boutirane stressed the importance of preserving Ait Kines agadir, which bears witness to our ancestors ingenuity".

Solidarity

Collective granaries can be found elsewhere in North Africa  in Algerias Aures mountains, Tunisias south and Libyas Nafusa mountains  but they are most common in Morocco, though many are no longer in use.

The kingdom has more than 550 ancient igoudar  the plural of agadir  according to the culture ministry, which is preparing a UNESCO World Heritage nomination.

They are located primarily across central and southern Morocco, in caves or on cliff sides, on hilltops and in valleys.

The challenge is to save Moroccos collective granaries, which have almost disappeared in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya," said architect and anthropologist Salima Naji.

Passionate about these institutions of solidarity", she had helped restore Ait Kines agadir, now an attraction for both researchers and tourists.

A group of Italian visitors appreciated the carved wooden door, adorned with forged iron.

We are doing a tour of granaries," said guide Emanuele Maspoli, describing them as extraordinary places that attest to the historical wealth of Moroccos oases".

Its a magical place," said tourist Antonella Dalla.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
The desire to explore different parts of the world is a common aspiration for many of us. Throughout the last century, such journeys were predominantly taken via sea transport on boats and ships. However, with the rapid advancements in science and technology, travel has become more accessible with the introduction of steam engines, cars, and airplanes. This has made it easier for tourists to travel to different parts of the world. Today, many individuals are interested in embarking on bike journeys across the globe. In line with this trend, a young individual from Maharashtra has set out on a journey from Mumbai to London on his bike.

Aim

Yogesh Alekari, a seasoned biker who has been riding for the past six to seven years, has announced his plan to embark on a thrilling journey from Mumbai to London. Having clocked over one lakh kilometres of bike riding in Maharashtras Gadkile district, Yogesh is now ready to take on the challenge of travelling across 24 countries and three continents on his bike. The journey will cover a staggering distance of 25,000 kilometres, which he plans to complete within a period of 100 days, starting from May 1st, coinciding with Maharashtra Day.

Yogesh has expressed his lifelong desire to embark on a bike tour around the world, having already travelled to numerous countries on his motorcycle. He conceived the idea of his latest journey during those travels.

After visiting many countries on bike, it was my dream to go for a world tour on bike. During those days, I conceived this tour. My plan is to travel to London from Mumbai by bike. During this journey, I will visit 24 countries and will cross 3 continents and I will be travelling a distance of around 25,000 kilometers. This tour would cost me 30 lakh. I would need a visa from different countries and my bike will be sent by air cargo. I have not taken even a days leave to prepare for this tour", Yogesh said to News18.

How to Go About it?

Yogesh has shared valuable insights into the measures he plans to take during his 100-day journey. While riding a bike, it is important to you keep yourself fit, especially when travelling through different countries, varying environments and food. It is essential to do exercise to acclimate your body. While eating local foods, one needs to be careful. Apart from this, if you consume more fruits and drink lots of water, the body adjusts to the altered conditions," Yogesh explained.

Meanwhile, Yogeshs extensive experience of biking in countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and others has made him fully aware of the challenges involved in planning a bike ride of this nature, which is why he has been carefully preparing for it over the past four years.

Plan of Action

Yogeshs upcoming bike ride will take him across three different continents, including Asia, Europe, and Africa. Starting from the Gateway of India in Mumbai on May 1st, he plans to travel to Nepal before taking a flight to the United Arab Emirates. From there, he will continue his journey by biking through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and ultimately reaching London. After exploring London, Yogesh will head back to France before continuing his journey to Morocco and Spain. His trip will conclude with a flight from Spain back to India, marking the end of an incredible biking adventure.

Read all the Latest Buzz News here
A group of tribals from Tamil Nadus Gadulur are making all the right noises online. Reason  they are making life-size models of elephants from lantana wood that is found in Nilgiris. IAS officer Supriya Sahu shared a video from her recent visit to a remote unit in Gudalur that captures a tribal community making life-size elephant models out of lantana. The video shows a group of people creating beautiful pieces of artwork in a shed-like location. Several elephant models are visible and appear to be in the process of being constructed by the community. One woman is shown carefully measuring and cutting the lantana wood to ensure it fits perfectly, while a man is seen building the body structure of the elephant models.

Along with the video, Supriya Sahu wrote, Wonderful visit to a remote unit in Gudalur where young tribals are making life-size elephant models out of lantana - an invasive species. She added, About 100 tribals are creating magic with their hands. Win-win as it creates local livelihood opportunity & helps in lantana removal. Watch the video below:

Wonderful visit to a remote unit in Gudalur where young tribals are making life size elephant models out of lantana - an invasive species.About 100 tribals are creating magic with their hands. Win win as it creates local livelihood opportunity & helps in lantana removal video-SS pic.twitter.com/qHsVpZFRt7 Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) March 27, 2023

As soon as the video was shared online, social media users flocked to the comments section to react to it. One of the users wrote, This is such a creative and innovative idea. I hope the enterprise is expanded in scope to include other invasive species and take up invasive to installations as a business model. I see a global potential for them, they could even start off with South Asia.

this is such creative and innovative idea. i hope the enterprise is expanded in scope to include other invasive species and take up ''invasive to installations'' as a business model. i see a global potential for them. they could even start off with south asia Ram (@buddha_r) March 27, 2023

Another user wrote, Wow so much of hidden talents in our country and its not possible to bring those magic hands to limelight without the selfless officers like you. Hope these talents go global one day. Digital transformation would be one option I think.

Wow so much of hidden talents in our country and its not possible to bring those magic hands to limelight without the selfless officers like you. Hope these talents go global one day. Digital transformation would be one option I think. Nat_ |   (@coolnattu) March 27, 2023

One more user added, This is so cool!

This is so cool! Knallaan (@KrishnaNall) March 27, 2023

Another inquired: Brilliant skills! Where can we find more about it?"

brilliant skills! Where can we find more about it? TheNutty (@NatMalupillai) March 27, 2023

Life-size models of elephants, created from lantana, were displayed at Elliot beach in Chennai earlier this year as part of an initiative to promote wildlife conservation and co-existence. Supriya Sahu shared a video on Twitter, stating that the lantana used to make the replicas were removed from the Mudumalai jungles. She wrote, 70 tribals from Mudumalai have worked hard to make these beautiful Elephants from lantana weed-an invasive species that has spread in forests across the country threatening biodiversity.

70 tribals from Mudumalai have worked hard to make these beautiful Elephants from lantana weed-an invasive species that has spread in forests across the country threatening biodiversity. In TN we have removed lantana,prosopis & other invasives from 1200 hectares so far #TNForest pic.twitter.com/NEHcw7fETp Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) January 14, 2023

The video has amassed over 80 thousand views ever since it was shared online.

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A court in Prayagraj found gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed guilty in the 2006 kidnapping of Umesh Pal, a witness in the murder of BSP Lawmaker Raju Pal. Umesh Pal was also slain last month in an alleged attack planned by the gangster cum politician, and his brother Ashraf. The court has yet to announce the cases quantum. Read latest updates here

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

Ahmed is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police had said.

Amid the developments, lets take a look at who Atiq Ahmed is:

His Political Journey

Atiqs criminal story began in 1979 when he was named as an accused in a murder case. Ten years later, he stepped into politics and won the Allahabad West assembly seat as an Independent in elections in 1989, 1991 and 1993. He contested the 1996 elections from the seat on the Samajwadi Party ticket and emerged victorious.

In 1999, he joined the Apna Dal (AD) and lost the Pratapgarh seat. He again won the Allahabad West seat in the 2002 Assembly elections on the Apna Dal ticket. In 2003, Atique returned to the SP fold and in 2004, he won from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency  the seat once held by Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He was named as an accused in Raju Pals killing in 2005.

In the 2012 Assembly elections, Ateeq again tried his luck with Apna Dal from the same seat but lost to BSPs Puja Pal by a margin of 8,885 votes. He also contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Shravasti on an SP ticket but lost.

In the sustained drive against gangsters under the Yogi Adityanath government, property worth over Rs 150 crore belonging to Atiq and his family members under the Gangster Act, has been attached, IANS reported.

The politicians first major setback occurred when he was named in Raju Pals murder case, as per an Indian Express report. The report cited sources as saying that the the incident occurred after Raju defeated Ahmeds brother, Ashraf, in an Assembly by-election for the Allahabad West seat in 2005. Rajus wife then filed a FIR against Atiq, Ashraf, and seven unidentified others on allegations of rioting, attempted murder, murder, and criminal conspiracy.

Raju was shot dead outside his house on January 25, 2005, while coming from a hospital with his associates Sandeep Yadav and Devi Lal.

Atiq Ahmed finally surrendered in 2008 under political and police pressure, only to be released in 2012. He later ran for Lok Sabha in 2014 on an SP ticket, but lost. During this time, his relationship with the SP deteriorated, and Akhilesh Yadav distanced himself from Ahmed due to his criminal past, the report says. He was arrested by authorities in February 2017 for reportedly attacking staff members at the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences in Prayagraj. In 2019, while he was still in jail, Ateeq filed a nomination from the Varanasi constituency against Prime Minister Narendra Modi but managed to get only 855 votes.

WHO IS UMESH PAL?

Umesh Pal is a key witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal who was gunned down outside his residence in Prayagraj in broad daylight on February 24.

On the basis of a complaint lodged by Umesh Pals wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered at Dhoomanganj police station (in Prayagraj) against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Gulam and nine. The conspiracy to murder Umesh Pal was planned at Bareilly jail in Uttar Pradesh at the behest of infamous gangster Atiq Ahmed, reports have alleged. Atiq Ahmeds brother Ashraf, who is an accused in Raju Pals murder, is lodged at Bareilly jail.

With inputs from PTI

This story was originally published on March 27, 2023.

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In a bid to woo Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the two powerful dominant communities of Karnataka ahead of the assembly elections which are due in May, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday unveiled the statues of 12th century social reformer and Lingayat sect founder Lord Basaveshwara and Bengaluru founder Kempe Gowda at Vidhana Soudha, the Karnataka seat of power.

Shah also justified the decision of the BJP government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims in the 2B category asserting that there was no provision in the Constitution for affirmative action on the basis of religion.

The four per cent reservation has been re-apportioned equally to the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, leaving the Muslims to compete for the 10 per cent reservation provided for Economically Weaker Sections of the general category, which is decided based on family income. The government also decided to implement the Scheduled Castes long-pending demand for internal reservation, as proposed in the 2012 AJ Sadashiva Commission report, reports said.

The decision has invoked a political slugfest in the state. Lets explore all the aspects of the issue:

Lingayats and Vokkaligas in Karnataka

Lingayats and Vokkaligas are both important communities electorally in Karnataka. As DP Satish writes for News18 on Vokkaligas history, this 100% agrarian community had a few medieval chieftains  Kempe Gowda  the founder of Bengaluru is the most famous among them."

During the rule of Mysore Kings under the British, Vokkaligas were restricted to farming. Literacy level and political participation of the community were abysmal. The Independence in 1947, changed all that and Vokkaligas became key players in Karnatakas socio-political life," he writes. Read the full report here

And the Lingayats, who have been BJP supporters for over two decades, account for 17% of Karnatakas population and are said to have sway over the outcome of 100 of the states 224 assembly seats.

The Lingayat religion is thought to have evolved from the teachings of Basava, a 12th century social reformer and Kannada poet. Several scholars, however, believe he aided an established sect. Basava, who was inspired by the Bhakti movement, rejected temple worship and Brahmin ceremonies in favour of a religion free of gender and religious prejudice, said a report by the Print. Over the years, several people from backward castes chose to be Lingayats in order to avoid the rigid Hindu caste system, the report says.

As per Satish, according to leaked Caste census data, Vokkaligas form 11% of the total Karnataka population. They rank number four after SCs, Muslims and Lingayats. However, this data is disputed by both Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Vokkaligas claim that their number is much higher, that is, 16%. Like Lingayats, Vokkaligas also have many sub castes and they normally view each other with suspicion. Gangatakara, Dasa, Marasu and Kunchitiga are the four sub-castes among the Vokkaligas.

Long-pending SC Demand

A section of the Scheduled Castes has been pursuing internal reservation, claiming that only a few powerful touchable" sub-castes were reaping the majority of the benefits while countless untouchable communities remained marginalised. In response to these demands, the Basavaraj Bommai Government resolved to establish internal reservation to offer equal opportunity for all 101 SC castes. The BJP government has already increased reservation for SCs in education and employment from 15% to 17%, and for STs from 3% to 7%.

Previously, the Justice A J Sadashiva Commission proposed internal reservation based on taluk-level demographic data. This was argued by a group of SCs who asked that the government take the 2011 Census into account. Based on the 2011 census, we have created this matrix. When developing the reservation matrix, we also considered the remoteness of communities J C Madhuswamy, who chairs a Cabinet sub-committee on internal reservation, told Deccan Herald.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress was accused of stalling on the study between 2013 and 2018. According to pollsters, this resulted in a segment of Dalits abandoning the Congress during the 2018 elections, says a report by Deccan Herald.

While the SCs account for 16% of the states population, the STs account for 6.9%, as per a report by Indian Express.

When the old Mysore state, from which the state of Karnataka was founded, joined the Union of India in 1948, the President classified certain castes and tribes in the Scheduled category under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution. According to the government, while the number of Scheduled Castes in the state has expanded as additional groups have been incorporated inside it, and the population of both communities has grown by leaps and bounds, the reservation has remained the same.

What Does BJP Say?

The Union Home Minister recently lauded the Karnataka governments decision of scrapping the four per cent reservation for Muslims under 2B Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category, saying the Constitution does not provide for a quota on religious lines.

Earlier, addressing public meetings at Gorata village in Bidar district and Gabbur in Raichur district, he slammed the Congress for introducing the four per cent reservation for Muslims for its vote bank politics".

Shah said that the Bommai-led BJP government had also tried to do away with the injustice to the Scheduled Castes" by introducing a new internal reservation.

The four per cent quota taken away from the Muslims was equally divided among the two dominant communities of the state: Vokkaligas in 2C reservation category and Veerashaiva-Lingayats in 2D reservation category.

With this, the 2B category became redundant while the Vokkaligas reservation went up from four per cent to six per cent and that of the Lingayats from five per cent to seven per cent.

The BJP never believes in appeasement," Shah said, strongly defending the decision to take reservation away from the Muslims and increase the quota of the Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva Lingayats ahead of the Assembly Elections. So, it decided to change the reservation."

The BJP abolished the four per cent reservation given to the minorities and gave two per cent to the Vokkaligas and two per cent to the Lingayats," Shah said. The reservation for minorities is not Constitutionally valid. There is no provision in the Constitution to give reservation based on religion. The Congress government did it for its appeasement politics and gave reservation to the minorities," he added.

What Did Oppn Say

Flaying the BJP-led Karnataka government for its decision to scrap reservation for Muslims under Category 2B in the OBC list, the Congress declared on Sunday that it would restore the quota to the minority community in the event of the party coming to power in the State, where Assembly elections are due by May.

President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) D K Shivakumar termed the step unconstitutional" They (the government) think that reservation can be distributed like a property. Its not a property. Its a right (of minorities)", he told reporters here. We dont want their four per cent to be scrapped and given to any of the major communities. They ((members of the minority community) are our brothers and family members".

Entire Vokkaligas and Veerashaiva-Lingayats are rejecting this offer," Shivakumar claimed.

Exuding confidence that the Congress party will come to power in the next 45 days", he said: we will scrap all this" and added that there is no basis to remove Muslims from the OBC list.

Charging the Basavaraj Bommai-government with trying to rake up emotional issues" as its set to lose the polls, Shivakumar said as party president, he wants to declare that the first meeting of the Cabinet, in the event of Congress coming to power, would take a decision to restore the quota.

A Congress statement said the complete taking away of the decades-old reservation for Muslim minorities of four per cent has caused great consternation and a sense of injustice in the minority community.

It alleged that shifting of Muslims to the EWS quota is per se unconstitutional and is an attempt to deceive the minority community.

EWS quota is founded upon economic status and income. It is not based upon caste or religion. A member of any caste or religion would anyway be entitled to EWS reservation based on his or her economic status," the party said. How is the (Basavaraj) Bommai government then making false claims of shifting Muslim minority to EWS quota?"

With inputs from PTI

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Congress workers across state have been protesting the conviction of party leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and his subsequent disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP. While there has been much speculation on the future course the Grand Old Party will take, questions are also being raised on why the leader has not appealed against his conviction yet.

Sources told CNN-News18 that the Congress has yet to file an appeal in court against the conviction because his legal team was translating the order copy from Gujarati, which takes time." The delay is procedural, the order copy is being translated from Gujarati which is taking time. There will be a detailed response soon, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has talked about the silver lining in the series of events, which he says has created an opposition unity. He told NDTV, we have seen regional parties in opposition that in each of their states has regarded the Congress as an opponent, actually come out and stand by our side."

He pointed to AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal coming out in support of Gandhi, along with West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, and her Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao.

But it remains to be seen what course the Congress may take in the future. Lets explore some of the possibilities:

Legal Options

There are some legal measures that can be taken by Gandhis team against his conviction. While they have not yet appealed against the conviction, the Congress leaders lawyers had argued for a lesser punishment claiming there was no intention to insult anyone, sources had informed CNN-News18. They had also said that the magistrates order was ridden with errors", which might explain why there has been a delay on the partys side in legal action against the judgement.

The leader can move a sessions court or higher, or seek a stay on his conviction through appeal. Read the legal options available to Rahul in detail

Against Disqualification

With regards to his disqualification, a past judgement may provide some insight: in the historic 2013 judgement in Lily Thomas v Union of India, the Supreme Court declared Section 8(4) of the Representation of Peoples Act unconstitutional, adding that this means that simply filing an appeal will not suffice; instead, the convicted MP must get a particular order of stay against the trial courts conviction. Read more here

Sustained Protest

The Congress, which has been riding high on its protests, including the recently concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra, may choose to sustain its agitation against the BJP, which it blames for the subversion of democracy. For now, party members have been holding satyagrahas in various states against the ruling party. Whether the agitations sustain or fizzle out would depend on the legal, as well as political route the party decides to embark upon.

Truly a Silver Lining?

Political commentators are also speculating about whether the conviction could prove good for the party. This could either be through means of an image change for Rahul, or the Congress shedding its old ways and big brother attitude while forming alliances, said a report by India Today.

On Friday, a day after Rahuls conviction, 14 parties filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the alleged abuse of the ED and the CBI. The report argues that if Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge could hold his own, coalition negotiations with non-BJP parties would be more effective.

The report further suggests the possibility of a fresh beginning for Priyanka Gandhi. Apart from the endless comparisons of her appearance and haircut to her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, theres no doubting that she speaks well and works hard," the report says, adding that if she took the lead the BJP could lose its opponent in Rahul.

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A court here on Monday rejected the bail plea of Shahrukh Pathan, who had allegedly pointed a gun at a Delhi Police head constable during the 2020 riots in the national capital.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat was hearing Pathans bail plea, which was moved in October last year but not pressed on his request for considering it after the main eyewitnesses in the case were examined.

It was taken up for hearing after Pathan moved an application last month for pressing the bail plea in view of the threats" faced by him in prison.

This court does not see any reason at all to grant bail to the applicant or accused. Accordingly, the bail application  stands dismissed," the judge said.

He noted that Pathans bail plea was earlier dismissed both by the present court and the Delhi High Court and the court had also framed charges against him and others for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including rioting and attempt to murder, and under the provisions of the Arms Act.

None of the accused had challenged the order on the charges passed in December 2021 and the grounds raised in the bail plea, such as the alleged discrepancies in the statements of witnesses or interviews, were dealt with in detail in the earlier orders on bail and charges, the court said.

It said from the perusal of the entire case file, it was apparent that after the framing of the charges, there was no delay in the trial on account of the prosecutions fault.

It was primarily because of reasons, such as the co-accused persons purposefully absenting themselves on court dates", accused Kaleem Ahmed pleading guilty during the trial and charges being framed against one of the accused, Babu Wasim, who was arrested subsequently, the court pointed out.

It has to be noted that the date has always been given as per the choice of the counsel for the accused who, despite the court asking for short dates, had insisted by showing his diary to contend that he does not have dates and that the date be given as per his diary," the court added.

Rejecting Pathans arguments about threats from jail officials", the court said the entire flood of applications regarding the same did not inspire confidence and the allegations of harassment and torture were prima facie" for obtaining bail.

Taking note of Pathans behaviour in the jail as seen in the CCTV footage of two separate incidents of January 30 and February 10, along with the recovery of a mobile phone from the accused inside the prison, the court said his conduct was completely unsatisfactory".

It noted that according to the footage of January 30, Pathan had left the video-conferencing room of the Tihar Jail and voluntarily entered a cell for two-and-a-half hours without informing the authorities and was seen mingling and having lunch with co-inmates, including gangsters".

On being traced, Pathan was given a punishment ticket by the jail superintendent and after coming out of the officials room, he voluntarily met two convicts, including a death-row convict in the Red Fort bomb blast case, and after talking to them for a while, gestured towards an assistant superintendent, who then slapped him.

The entire demeanour of the accused  during the time when he was in the cell with other inmates and having lunch with them or when he was walking towards the jail superintendents room or outside shows his casual and comfortable approach and does not show any harassment or sign of threat," the court said.

It said Pathan made aggressive gestures towards the assistant superintendent and it appeared that he was trying to provoke the prison officials.

This obviously does not justify the assistant superintendent  slapping him since being a public servant and in charge, he has to act in a more restrained way and take the aggressive and malafide conduct of the accused or undertrial in his stride," the court added.

Taking note of Pathans conduct on February 10 as seen in the CCTV footage played in the court, the judge said the accused was allegedly again found outside his high-risk ward, where he mingled with three other hardened prisoners or criminals", and from the shadow", he could be seen intentionally beating up an undertrial prisoner and then bandaging him.

The undertrial prisoner made a complaint to the jail inspecting judge the next day that he and Pathan were badly beaten up, tortured and harassed by the jail superintendent, the court said.

It was only on the production of this CCTV footage in the court that the said application was not pursued," the court said, adding, In all the footage shown, the accused can be seen constantly arguing with the jail staff." It further said after the incident, Pathan was shifted from the high-risk prisoners ward to the special prisoners ward (a high-risk ward with round-the-clock camera surveillance) and the accuseds counsel had moved an application seeking directions to transfer his client back to the earlier ward as he faced threats from gangsters and other prisoners.

However, when it was highlighted that despite being a high-risk prisoner, the accused was voluntarily violating the rules himself by mingling with convicts and gangsters, the counsel for the accused suggested that it was the fault of the jail authorities and not so much of the accuseds fault," the court said.

The Jafrabad police station had filed a chargesheet against Pathan and others.

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Agencies have finally located fugitive Amritpal Singh, but he is still away from the reaches of Indian law, hiding across the border, said sources. The Khalistani separatist most likely crossed into Nepal last week, they added. In a letter accessed by CNN-News18, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu has urged the Nepalese government to prevent the escape of Amritpal to a third country.

Amritpal Singh is currently hiding in Nepal, reads the letter dated March 25. The embassy has sent the letter to the Department of Consular Services, requesting the arrest of Singh if he tries to flee Nepal using an Indian passport or any other fake documents.

The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration Government of Nepal not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal using Indian passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission, said the letter. It also mentioned his personal attributes: age- 30 years, complexion- fair wheatish, height- above 6ft.

Since the Punjab police crackdown on March 18, Amritpal, leader of the group Waris Punjab De, has managed to evade arrest and remains untraceable. This action by authorities occurred three weeks after the separatist and his armed supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to free an arrested individual. Like a sequence out of a celluloid thriller, switching vehicles and changing appearances, Amritpal escaped the police in Jalandhar on March 18.

The Punjab Police have invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against Amritpal and eight of his associates, who are currently incarcerated in Dibrugarh Jail. They have been charged with several criminal offences, including spreading disharmony among classes, attempted murder, attacking police personnel, and obstructing the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

The letter also circulated Singhs personal details to concerned agencies, including hotels and airlines, as he is known to possess multiple passports with different identities.

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In a shocking incident, 45-year-old Puducherry BJP leader Senthil Kumaran was hacked to death using machetes by seven bike-borne men on Sunday night. The accused also hurled crude bombs at Kumar, and the incident was caught on CCTV.

The accused surrendered themselves and police have formed special teams to investigate the matter, reports said. Kumar is a relative of Puducherry Home Minister A Namassivayam, who also arrived at the crime scene and broke down upon seeing Kumar.

#Exclusive: BJP leader hacked to death in #Puducherry;CNN-News18 accesses the images of the seven accused who have surrendered in the court @Mugilan__C shares more details on this | @GrihaAtul pic.twitter.com/JiknJ8GdcI News18 (@CNNnews18) March 27, 2023

Kumar was standing near a bakery in a populated area when several bike-borne men surrounded him. The CCTV visual clearly shows 2 men hurl crude bombs at the leader. Around 700 BJP functionaries reached the bakery outside which Kumar was attacked. Police also reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem examination.

In the footage, the gang members can be seen assaulting the BJP functionary with sticks as the area gets enveloped in smoke.

Read all the Latest India News here
Dr DY Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India, stated that negative preconceptions of women made it tougher for them to be recruited when he discussed the low number of women in the legal profession. He noted that for every 50,000 male enrolments in Tamil Nadu, there were only 5,000 women. These numbers were comparable across the nation.

The CJI spoke at the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for additional court structures on the premises of the District Court in Madurai and to inaugurate the District and Sessions Court and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Mayiladuthurai.

According to Chandrachud, the pre-existing preconceptions that inhibited law chambers from recruiting young women lawyers were one of the reasons for such low representation. Chambers believed that women would be unable to work lengthy hours owing to their familial obligations.

We should understand that childbearing and child care is a choice and women should not be punished for taking up that responsibility. A young male lawyer might also choose to be involved in child and family care. But as society we force the responsibility on women and use it to deny them opportunity. If women want to balance family and career, it is our duty to provide institutional support.

CRECHE, SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The establishment of creche facilities within courthouses across the country was one method of providing such institutional support. Citing the Delhi High Court as an example, the CJI asked all High Courts in India to provide assistance to women attempting to manage their jobs and families.

The second stereotype commonly associated with the employment of women, according to Justice Chandrachud, is complaints of sexual harassment. He pointed out that people believed it was safer for male employers to not employ women. Such stereotyping denies opportunity and ridicules the stories of sexual harassment at workplace and we must strive to constantly and consciously unlearn these biases.

While mentioning recent recruitments to the district judiciary, the CJI noted that the face of the institution was changing, as over half of the new recruits were women. He also emphasised the importance of providing women with equal chances so that they do not fall by the wayside due to their various duties.

LOW SALARY

The CJI also emphasised the salary of junior attorneys as a significant problem. The CJI observed that women and members of marginalised groups such as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe are disproportionately affected by low starting salaries.

Chandrachud said that by providing inadequate compensation, a barrier is formed, and the young graduates were obliged to seek employment outside of their field of study in order to survive. In addition, he asked the older members of the bar to abandon their paternalistic attitude and compensate the junior associates appropriately. He noted that the current generation was intelligent, diligent, and job-hungry, with the capacity to offer a novel perspective to the table.

The usual defense for such low pay is that the first few years of a young associates career is a learning stage where the senior mentors them. I would request the senior members of the bar to shed this paternalistic approach. Todays youngsters are sharp, hardworking and hungry for work. Interact with them about their approach towards law. You will be spellbound by the fresh approach that young lawyers bring to the table.

LANGUAGE

He further stated that English is not our first language. We think in our mother tongue. However I implore all young lawyers who are facing difficulty in communicating in English to not be demotivated. I would also request judges to encourage young lawyers and not let language be an impediment for representation.

In addition, Chandrachud discussed the measures taken to translate decisions into official languages acknowledged by the Constitution. He emphasised that every effort was made to localise the justice delivery system and bring it closer to the general populace.

These translated judgments were freely accessible to everyone, which would assist even those attorneys who were otherwise unable to afford the hefty subscription costs of law publishers,- CJI added.

To ensure translation accuracy, Justice Chandrachud stated that he has directed that all High Courts assemble a committee of former district court judges to assess translation accuracy. He stated that the Tamil Nadu government might make it its purpose to interpret not just the decisions of the Supreme Court but also those of the High Courts into the local tongue.

Read all the Latest India News here
Covid-19 infections continued to witness a spike in India on Monday, with the country recording 1,805 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministrys latest data. With the addition of new cases, the active tally crossed the 10,000 mark.

Amid the rising cases, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will hold a meeting, via video conferencing, with States Health Secretaries and senior officers to review Covid-19 preparedness today evening.

A nationwide mock drill is also being planned for April 10-11 wherein health facilities from all districts are expected to participate. Details of the mock drill will be communicated in the meeting today.

Covid Cases Spike Across India: Heres The Cheatsheet

 1,805 New Covid Cases in India, Active Tally Over 10K: India logged 1,805 new coronavirus cases, registering a drop of 85 cases as compared to the previous day. With the addition of new cases, the active cases increased to 10,300, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

India on Sunday logged 1,890 new coronavirus cases, the highest in 149 days.

The daily positivity was recorded at 3.19 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.39 per cent.

The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, the ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,64,815, with 932 new recoveries.

According to the ministrys website, 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

38 New Covid Cases in UPs Lakhimpur Kheri: Thirty-eight fresh Covid cases were recorded in Uttar Pradeshs Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday. All the 38 cases  37 girls and a staff  were from the Kasturba school in Mitauli block where another student had tested positive on March 23, said Chief Medical Officer Dr Santosh Gupta.

With the fresh cases, the total active Covid cases in the district stands at 41, officials said.

Gupta said apart from 39 positive cases at the Kasturba school, two other people -one from Mitauli and another from Behjam block- have tested positive for the infection.

District Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh said all the persons including the students were healthy and there was no need to panic.

Delhi Reports 153 Covid Cases, Govt Hospitals Conduct Mock Drills: Delhi on Sunday reported 153 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours against 139 reported on the previous day, as per the government health bulletin. However, no Covid-19-related death has been reported in the same time span.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate of the city has risen to 9.13 per cent. The number of active cases stands at 528 out of which 340 patients are being treated in home isolation.

With 96 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries so far has gone to 19,81,680, while Delhis total caseload is 20,08,732 and the death toll in the city continue at 26,524.

With Covid cases slowly increasing in the national capital, Delhi government hospitals conducted mock drills to deal with a spike.

One More Death, 15 New Covid Cases in Himachal Pradesh: A 65-year-old woman succumbed to Covid in Himachal Pradeshs Kangra district, taking the total deaths due to the disease to 4,195 so far, officials said on Sunday.

As many as 15 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours while nine patients were cured, according to data of the state health and family welfare department.

Himachal has witnessed a spurt in Covid cases and the number of active Covid cases has increased from 133 to 415 in the past two weeks, they said.

The maximum 98 active cases are in Shimla, 95 in Mandi, 64 in Kangra, 61 in Solan, 32 in Hamirpur, 16 in Sirmaur,12 in Bilaspur,11 in Kullu, 10 in Chamba, nine in Kinnaur, four in Una and three in Lahaul and Spiti district, officials said.

397 New Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, No Death: Maharashtra reported 397 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, registering a drop of 40 cases as compared to the previous day.

The overall infection tally in the state reached 81,41,854. The fatality count remained unchanged at 1,48,435 as nobody succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours.

Mumbai city alone reported 123 new cases, followed by Thane city which logged 47 cases. Mumbai circle, comprising the city and its satellite townships, reported 212 cases, followed by 99 in Pune circle, 32 in Kolhapur circle, 16 in Nashik circle, 11 in Aurangabad circle, 10 in Nagpur circle, nine in Latur circle and eight in Akola circle, according to official data.

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The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea of K Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, for a stay on the summons issued by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy case.

Tagging the BRS MLCs plea, which stated that a woman cant be summoned for questioning before ED in office and her questioning should take place at her residence, with other similar petitions, a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi listed the matter for hearing after three weeks.

Kavithas plea was against the issuance of summons in a money laundering case arising out of the Delhi excise policy scam. She also sought protection from arrest in connection with the case.

On March 15, the top court agreed to hear her plea seeking protection from arrest and challenging the summons issued by the ED.

On March 11, the 44-year-old BRS leader deposed before the ED to record her statement and was summoned again on March 16 for questioning.

She was last quizzed for about 10 hours on March 21, which was her third day of deposition before the Enforcement Directorate.

The BRS leader has denied all allegations against her.

According to official sources, Kavitha, during her questioning by the ED, was confronted with the statements made by Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, who has been arrested in the case, apart from those of a few others allegedly involved in the case.

Kavithas statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Pillai was arrested by the ED earlier. He has moved a city court accusing the ED of forging his statements.

The ED had said Pillai represented the south group", an alleged liquor cartel linked to Kavitha and others that paid kickbacks amounting to about Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party to gain a larger share of the market in the national capital under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2020-21.

The south group", according to the ED, comprises Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from Ongole in Andhra Pradesh), his son Raghav Magunta, Kavitha and others.

The ED had also alleged in Pillais remand papers that he represented the benami investments" of Kavitha, who has also been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the case.

The ED has so far arrested 12 people in the case, including former Delhi deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia.

It has recorded the statement of Butchi Babu, a chartered accountant allegedly linked to Kavitha, where he said there was a political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and the deputy chief minister (Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair on March 19-20, 2021." Nair was arrested in the case by both ED and CBI. Butchi Babu has been arrested by CBI.

According to Butchi Babus statement, Nair was trying to impress Kavitha with what he could do in the (excise) policy".

Vijay Nair was acting on behalf of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia," the statement recorded by the ED said.

It is alleged that the Delhi governments excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered the case under the PMLA.

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Seven months after she was brought from her home country Namibia to India in one of the biggest inter-continental cheetah translocations, the female cat Sasha died on Monday.

The feline was part of the batch of eight cheetahs released into the Kuno National Park by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

In a statement, the government of Madhya Pradesh said the cat succumbed to a kidney infection.

According to the authorities, Sasha was found slightly torpid by the monitoring team on January 22. She was then examined by a team of three veterinarians who have been specially deputed to take care of the animals. One of the officials had also told News18, that the cat has a narrow recovery post her first bout of infection in January.

Her blood samples were taken, and she was diagnosed with a kidney ailment, which worsened over the next few weeks, read the statement.

The cat had some health issues even before she was translocated to India. On examination, we found that her blood sample last taken in Namibia also showed high levels of creatinine, which indicates an early kidney issue, the government informed.

Sasha was among the eight cheetahs who were brought from Namibia on September 17 in a 24-hour transcontinental journey in a jumbo jet especially modified for the purpose, followed by a 30-minute helicopter journey to Kuno.

The historic exercise was part of Indias ambition to restore the population of cheetahs in India almost seventy years after they went extinct. The animals though belong to a different sub-species than the Asiatic Cheetahs that the country once had.

Ever since they were translocated, the five female and three male cats have remained within the safe limits of the bomas (predator-proof enclosures) specially created for them in the national park. Earlier this month, all of them except Sasha were released into the wild.

In a statement, Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) said that the 5.5-year-old Sasha was found on a farm by some of the farm workers in late 2017. She was skinny and malnourished. The workers nursed her back to health. In January 2018, CCF staff learned about Sasha and moved her to the CCF Centre lands, which include a large, integrated, livestock model farm and wildlife reserve.

Sasha was living together with another female Savanahh cat in the big hunting boma at Kuno National Park awaiting release, whom she had befriended in Namibia.

Sadly, Sasha succumbed to renal failure. She was under the care of Project Cheetah veterinarians for a few months, so this was not unexpected. Kidney disease and renal failure are a problem for all cats, but this can be especially bad for cheetahs, which are by nature delicate creatures," said Dr Laurie Marker, Founder and Executive Director for Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).

As per park officials, the rest of the cheetahs including those brought from Africa last month have been doing well. However, there has not been any interaction between the cats from Namibia and South Africa yet.

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had earlier told the media in February that Sasha was an orphan who was rescued by the Cheetah Conservation Fund and was operated upon before she was brought to India.

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The convoy of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who was escorted by police to Prayagraj after briefly halting in in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on early Monday morning, asserted confidence and told reporters kahe ka dar (what fear), a day after he claimed threat to his life.

Atiq, the prime accused in an old kidnapping case of Umesh Pal, is being transported from Sabarmati jail, where he was imprisoned since 2019, to Prayagraj for the verdict, scheduled to be delivered on March 28. He will be produced before the court in Prayagraj in connection with the case

LIVE NOW | Atiq Ahmed News: Isolated Barrack, CCTVs Among Security Preps at Naini Jail Ahead of Gangsters Arrival

As the convoy halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district and Ahmed, wearing a white turban, got down from the police van to attend natures call, reporters asked him whether he was afraid, to which he replied by saying kahe ka dar (what fear) before police personnel whisked him away.

The statement came a day after Ahmed claimed he might be murdered and possibly face an encounter such as the case concerning gangster Vikas Dubey. Hatya, hatya (murder, murder), Ahmed had told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Subrat Pathak had said he would not be surprised if mafia Atiq Ahmeds vehicle overturns like that of gangster Vikas Dubey.

Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police shortly after a police SUV in which he was being brought to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh overturned under mysterious circumstances on a highway. Police claimed that he had tried to flee.

Earlier, the carcade, which started from Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, entered Madhya Pradesh from the Rajasthan border in the morning, a police official said.

It halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district at around 7 AM to enable Ahmed to attend natures call, said local police officer Manish Kumar Jadoun.

Another police official said Ahmeds convoy left Shivpuri district after a brief halt and entered Jhansi district of UP at around 9 AM.

The gangster is being taken to Prayagraj from Sabarmati central jail by the Uttar Pradesh police for a court case.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there following a Supreme Court after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police had said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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The government has started the process to build a two-lane bridge in Arunachal Pradesh close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) bordering China that will shorten the distance by 180 km for Armys heavy vehicles carrying defence equipment such as the howitzers.

The 386-metre-long bridge with new approach roads of almost 4.5 km will come up over the river Siang in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh within the next three years. The government has invited bids for the project worth Rs 199 crore on March 24.

This road bridge is proposed in order to provide better connectivity to heavy vehicles commuting through Yingkiong-Tuting route and to provide easy and quick access to army and paramilitary forces on the Indo-China border in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The proposed bridge connecting Yingkiong to Tuting will shorten the distance from 330 km to 150 km for heavy vehicles, a senior government official told News18.

There is an existing Gandhi Bridge across Siang River near the proposed site at Yingkiong town which was inaugurated four years ago and is Indias longest single lane steel cable bridge. But this bridge imposes height and width restrictions for freight and transport due to an existing width and loading restricted bridge spanning across Siang River used for communications.

The load and width restrictions are considered a major limitation on this stretch of the road network for the passage of oversize freight and Defence force equipment. Hence, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will build a new two-lane extra-dosed bridge across the Siang river. The project lies in extreme steep terrain.

The new bridge will also be a life line for local inhabitants of Yingkiong town and will connect the western region of Siang River to NH-513 which will be an alternative route to access the town.

Infra Boost Post Indo-Chinese Forces Clashes

Since the clashes with the Chinese forces in Tawang and Yangtze in Arunachal Pradesh since 2021 at the LAC, the government has been on an overdrive to ramp up its border infrastructure in the state. Defence minister Rajnath Singh in January visited the Siang district to inaugurate a 100-metre-long steel arch Siyom bridge in the state that would offer alternative connectivity to the LAC. The Siyom bridge is facilitating quicker movement of troops and heavy equipment like howitzers to Upper Siang, and the new proposed bridge over Siang will help further to take such equipment close to the LAC quicker.

News18 had reported on February 3 that India has started building a new 78-km-long strategic road from its easternmost village in Arunachal Pradesh right up to 4 km from the LAC, touching almost the crucial tri-junction of India, China, and Myanmar. The project will start from Dong, which lies at the meeting point of Lohit and Seti rivers in Arunachal Pradesh, ending at Jachep camp, which is located 4 km short of the LAC.

Arunachal Pradesh has seen skirmishes between the Indian and Chinese troops over the years. Last December, Rajnath Singh revealed that Chinese troops had tried to cross the LAC in Yangtze in Tawang sector to unilaterally change the status quo but were forced to retreat due to the timely intervention of Indian troops. In October 2021, too, a large Chinese patrol attempted to transgress the LAC at Yangtze, leading to a major face-off between the two sides.

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Indias oceanographers are gearing up to undertake their biggest-ever expedition into the Indian Ocean yet. Almost a year from now, the team will ready the countrys first prototype of the manned submersible to dive into the ocean to a depth of about 500 metres and return to the surface.

The actual target is 6,000 metres  the deepest point of the Indian Ocean. But before we attempt that, we have to demonstrate that we can safely go at least 500 meters beneath the sea. We are planning to do the first trial run by March 2024. A sphere-shaped capsule made of steel has been readied, M Ravichandran, Secretary to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, told News18 in an exclusive interview. The capsule has also undergone under-water testing in Bay of Bengal.

Indias oceanographers are gearing up to undertake their biggest-ever expedition into #IndianOcean to build country's first manned submersible which will take three persons 6,000 metres deep in water M Ravichandran, Secretary to Ministry of Earth Sciences, speaks to @Srish__T pic.twitter.com/9gMVE28Y5N  News18 (@CNNnews18) March 27, 2023

Scientists are eyeing a late 2025-26 launch for the final expedition which requires a manned submersible made up of Titanium alloy. Unlike steel, Titanium can withstand the increasing pressure at the bottom of the sea. The sphere will accommodate three persons armed with a suite of scientific sensors and tools to collect data and observations.

If India succeeds, it will become the sixth nation in the world to achieve the feat. Only five countries have successfully demonstrated the capability for deep-sea missions so far  Russia, France, Japan, China and the United States  he added.

Indias First Manned Submersible

It is almost like a human spacecraft but under the sea, says the top official, elucidating several challenges that scientists from over six institutes  including ISRO  are currently taking on to build Indias first-manned submersible. Unlike a submarine that can only go up to 300 metres, it will travel 6,000 metres deep.

The toughest task is to ensure the sphere withstands the high pressure in the sea. It also requires a life support system for the crew to breathe. Then, it also has to go down and come up when required. If its weight exceeds even one gram from whats required, it will not come up. So all measurements have to be very precise, he said, adding that the various crucial components are currently under development.

This includes underwater acoustic communications and emergency rescue systems which are critical before it goes for a final review and certification under global rules.

The manned submersible is currently being designed at Chennais National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in association with a team from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). With a diameter of about 2.1 meter, the Titanium Alloy Personnel Sphere can endure up to 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety. Planned at an overall cost of Rs. 4,077 crore for a period of five years starting 2021-22, the Deep Ocean Mission is already in its first phase.

Mining Precious Metals

Indias ambition to send its scientists into the deepest point of the Indian Ocean is driven by its plan to explore and mine over 300 MMT of valuable deposits of metals like copper, zinc, aluminium, and platinum hidden under the sea. The expedition will be a starting point for many autonomous and robotic underwater missions (AUVs and RUVs) in the near-future, equipped with an integrated mining system.

We have taken the permission to explore this area from the International Seabed Authority on a contract-basis. We have roughly inferred around 12 such test-mine sites in the mid-ocean ridge. Now we have to hunt these locations and estimate their resource potential. Each year, we want to identify 2-3 such vents. This year, we couldnt get the ship. Hopefully, by this time next year, we would identify 4-5 such sites out of total 12, said the top official.

India also plans to ready a state-of-the-art research vessel for deep ocean exploration under the Samudrayaan Project. We will use the ship for all deep sea exploration. The tender process is currently on, he added. The scientists also plan to use a remotely operable underwater vehicle to go into the sea area and collect data about the marine species available in countrys zone. The biodiversity mapping is crucial as part of the global commitment to save 30 per cent of oceans by 2030.

Bracing For Climate Change

With the sea levels rising by about 3mm globally, the threat of extreme weather events along the coastal areas has also increased. A crucial part of the Deep Ocean Mission is also to collect observations to study how the Indian sea coast is changing, and make accurate future projections of cyclones and storm water surges to safeguard coastal populations, said the top scientist.

Climate change is happening. There is no way we can escape it. But it is our duty to mitigate and adapt, and for that we need to urgently amp up our forecasting capabilities. We want to deploy more instruments at least 2 km beneath the sea surface to strengthen our climate advisory services, he added. Our focus is on improving our prediction in all time-scale. Next week, next month, next year and next decade, and a lot of those answers are hidden in the seas. 

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Fugitive Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his key aide Papalpreet Singh were spotted in the latest pictures that went viral on social media on Monday. Both appeared relaxed, with Amritpal Singh seen wearing a jacket, a maroon turban and sunglasses and holding a beverage can.

Papalpreet Singh, who also appears in the picture wearing a sweatshirt, is said to be Amritpal Singhs mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistans spy agency ISI. According to reports, the picture was taken a day after the police operation against the Khalistan sympathiser began on March 18.

In another image that emerged on social media, Amitpal and Papalpreet are pictured with their motorcycle on a van in Jugadu Rehde which is believed to be clicked on March 19 when they received help from the locals for a tyre puncture.

Amritpal allegedly changed multiple vehicles after abandoning his Mercedez car that was used during their escape from police in Jalandhar.

Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh were allegedly harboured by a woman, Baljit Kaur, at her home in Shahabad in Haryanas Kurukshetra district on March 19. Before that, the duo allegedly stayed at another woman, Balbir Kaurs residence in Patialas Hargobind Nagar on the same day for five to six hours.

On Saturday, CCTV camera footage purportedly showed Amritpal, dressed in a jacket and trousers and speaking on a mobile phone in Patiala. In the footage, the Waris Punjab De chief could also be seen holding a bag with a white cloth covering his face. Papalpreet could also be seen in the footage. In a second footage from the same spot, a sunglass-wearing Amritpal could be seen speaking on the phone while walking on the street.

Both the women were arrested for helping the duo.

Amritpal Singh has remained untraceable since a police crackdown against him and members of his Waris Punjab De began in Punjab. The radical preacher escaped the police crackdown in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances. He is believed to be possessing multiple passports with different identities.

He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempting to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

Amritpal Singh in Nepal?

Nepals Department of Immigration has put Singh on its surveillance list following a request from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Monday. The move came after it was suspected that he had entered Nepal and was in hiding.

According to a report by The Kathmandu Post newspaper, in a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal. Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it.

Kamal Prasad Pandey, the Information Officer at the Department confirmed the letter and said We have received a written note along with a copy of his passport from the (Indian) embassy suspecting that Amritpal Singh might have entered Nepal."

The Indian Embassy has sent the note asking the Department to put Singh, a member of a separatist group, on the surveillance list," he added.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area. Instruction has been given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on high alert for two days, My Republica newspaper said citing ministry sources.

Earlier in the day, Amritpal Singhs close associate Varinder Singh alias Fauji was nabbed by the Amritsar Rural police. Police said he was part of the private security set for the preacher, adding the National Security Act has been invoked against Varinder Singh and he was being sent to the Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, where some alleged Amritpal Singh associates are already being held under the NSA.

(With inputs from PTI)

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The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought details of leaves availed by jawans during 2022 to provide them the facility of living with their families for 100 days in a year.

According to an official communication, the MHA has said it is in the process of creating a software to digitise the deployment of jawans in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) so that they can facilitate each one to stay with their families for 100 days in a year.

The ministry has also asked forces to give details of the leave availed by jawans in three different formats. According to the MHA, they want the details divided in three parts  One is for those who have availed leaves for 75 days and above, second is those who got 60-74 days as leave and the last category is for jawans who got only 45-49 days with their family last year.

Sources said the reason behind collecting leave data is to streamline the deployment which will help forces make jawans stay with their families. All jawans will get leaves and deployment in areas where they can keep families. Paramilitary officials said earlier, the proposal was to give leaves but now it has changed to living with family. Officials claimed that few locations have no safe accomodation and some areas dont allow family.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee has already raised various issues with delays in the implementation of the project.

Sources said maximum jawans will come under the category of those availing 75+ leaves. They also said all forces have given the data to the ministry.

Interestingly, the government, instead of giving 100 days as leaves to all jawans, is now trying to make them live with their families for the same duration.

The parliamentary committee last year said that at present, 75 days of leaves are provided to the personnel who are posted in the field and there is a proposal to increase that to 100 days. In view of that, the ministry must speed up the rollout of the proposal at the earliest.

The parliamentary committee also told MHA to inform them about the steps taken regarding the same.

This is an ambitious project proposed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ease the lives of almost 10 lakh jawans involved in hectic, tough duties in inclement weather.

The CAPFs have high attrition rate and suicides due to work pressure are also a major concern. A draft report by the home ministry-appointed task force has pointed to humiliation, harassment and leave-related issues to be the main trigger points for suicides and fratricides in CAPF and Assam Rifles.

The draft report also said tough service conditions, criticism, humiliation at workplace, and access to weapons are among key reasons for deaths.

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Police inspector Daya Nayak, also known as Encounter specialist, has been transferred to the Mumbai police from the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), sources told CNN-News18 on Monday.

The Additional Director General (Establishment) of the Maharashtra police issued an order for the transfer of Nayak and seven other Inspectors. Among them, Dnyaneshwar Wagh and Daulat Salve were also transferred from the ATS to the Mumbai police.

A 1995-batch officer of the state cadre, Nayak was with the Maharashtra ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) in Mumbai and headed the elite forces unit based in suburban Juhu. Nayak, who has been a subject of controversy, has previously been suspended on disciplinary grounds.

Nayak was under suspension for nearly six-and-a-half years after the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested him in 2006 following complaints by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar that he owned assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and alleged underworld links.

In 2009, the then Director General of Police S S Virk denied permission to prosecute Nayak in the case with a remark that there were insufficient grounds and cleared him of all charges. The Supreme Court, in 2010, quashed all the charges against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

He was reinstated in service in June 2012 and posted in a local arms wing of the department. After a brief stint, he was transferred to the west region (Bandra to Andheri), considered a high-profile zone in the city.

He was then transferred to Nagpur in 2014, pending inquiries against him. However, he did not join duty there. Nayak had reportedly sent letters to both the state government and the DGP, stating that he was unable to travel to Nagpur due to concerns over his safety and the safety of his family, citing threats.

However, in 2015, he has suspended again for not reporting to Nagpur where he had been transferred a year before. The suspension order came from the then Maharashtra director general of police (DGP), Sanjeev Dayal.

Nayak was reinstated to police service by the state government in 2016.

In 2021, he was transferred to Maharashtras Gondia district. According to a transfer order issued by the state police headquarters, Nayak was attached to the caste certificate verification committee. He moved the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) challenging the transfer order.

A few days after the order, Nayak told the press that the MAT has stayed his transfer.

Encounter Specialist

Nayak is known to have killed more than 80 gangsters in encounters", including Vinod Matkar, Rafik Dabba, Sadik Kalia and three Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Societies and Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) often come up with strange rules and some of them violate individuals freedom. In a bizarre incident, a society in Bengaluru banned bachelors and spinsters, living as tenants, to have guests after 10 pm in their flats.

In its guidelines, the society located in the Kundanhalli Gate area in Bengaluru asked these tenants to get prior approval from the owner by email in a situation where the guest needs to stay overnight.

No guests are allowed to Bachelors and Spinsters flats post 10 pm. Guests are not allowed to stay overnight. If required, prior approval from Owner on email, Manager or Association office to be requested by submitting the guests ID proof and furnishing the stay duration and Guest entry on Mygate," read the societys notice posted on Reddit by a user.

The association imposed a Rs 1000 penalty or eviction from the society in case these rules are not followed.

Other rules include no loud music post 10 pm, no late night parties allowed and not to use the corridors and balconies for phone calls post 10 pm.

Users slammed the rules and expressed anger.

Its worse than hostels. Youre paying money to rent out a flat. Its your flat for the duration that youre renting as per the rantal agreements. Wholl come to your flat and what youll do in the balcony is purely dependent on you. Society rules are becoming rediculous these days it seems," said a user.

A second person added, The first part , with specific rules for bachelors is despicable. No calls in balconies or common area post 10 pm, seem like general rules and can be supported. Many people dont realize how loud they can be."

That is why i hate staying in societies! Stand alone 3-5 storied buildings are the best. The rent is also low compared to the inflated rents in these societies! This is pathetic!" said another user.

We are doomed. What part of Bangalore is this," added a person.

Nonsense, you live by your rules not owner since you actually own the place for the time you are there. Yes loud parties can be avoided, but rest is none of anyone elses business," added another person.

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Read more

Congress also joined the meeting.

Parliament remained paralysed for the third week on Monday, amid Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue. Within minutes of the commencement of proceedings of both Houses, Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm and Lok Sabha till 4 pm today, amid Opposition MPs protest. The Opposition also continued its protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from his Lok Sabha membership.

This is the third week of the second part of the Parliament session and till now parliament is witnessing a logjam as the Opposition is demanding JPC on the Adani issue and Treasury Benches were demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London alleging that he defamed the country on foreign soil.

The ruckus is expected to continue in Parliament on Monday as well after the disqualification of Rahul Gandhis Lok Sabha membership. The Rajya Sabha is planning to take up the budget for passage today, days after the Lok sabha did it without discussion.

The Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, earlier in August last year, had worn black clothes and staged a protest against the Centre against price rise, GST hike on essential items and unemployment. They had marched towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of their stir against the issues.

Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and staged protests in the Parliaments ongoing Budget Session.

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his Modi surname remark.

The decision came pertaining to his remark made in April 2019, where he had said how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka. The court approved Gandhis bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts.

After being convicted in the defamation case and subsequently disqualified from Lok Sabha, Gandhi, hit out BJP. While addressing a press conference, Gandhi said that he is not scared of going to prison and his disqualification from Parliament was aimed at distracting people from the Adani issue.

Moot question remains who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms? I will keep asking the question, he said.

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Shifting out of your parents home is seen as sign of growing up and independence.

When Rahul Gandhi was allotted 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow in 2004 when he became a Member of Parliament (MP) for the first time from Amethi, the buzz in the party was that he has shifted out of his mother Sonia Gandhis house  10, Janpath  to emerge as an independent power centre.

ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi Has 1 Month to Vacate 12, Tughlaq Lane Bungalow? What Next After Lok Sabha Disqualification

Over the years, 12, Tughlaq Lane has emerged as the second power centre to 10, Janpath. Party netas who longed and looked for solution began to arrive at the bungalow.

Many a times, meetings were held here rather than at 10, Janpath to solve issues. Like when the Bhupesh Baghel-TS Singh Deo tug-of-war reached its peak, or when Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot rivalry showed no signs of ebbing.

HOME WORK

This type 8 bungalow, which is the highest in its category, was given to Rahul Gandhi during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) era. A corner building in a quiet secluded Tughlaq lane, this house was chosen for its huge space and exclusivity. In fact, the entire house was done up by his sister Priyanka Vadra and is simple and basic. It has a gym and few offices that double up as Gandhis work space.

Only very close people and family have been allowed to enter his home, while most just meet in his office which is again basic. Journalists have little access, but when he meets them its in the sprawling lawns.

But many may have noticed pictures of netas he meets, as the space outside his home is the place for photo ops, the most recent being with Kamal Hassan after the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Gandhi had shifted to this home after a close door Griha Parvesh, which was attended by his immediate family -Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra and Robert Vadra. His close aides were also present.

STARTED SEARCH THE DAY HE WAS DISQUALIFIED

Now after 19 years, Gandhi will let go of this house, as per a notice sent to him by the Lok Sabha housing committee to vacate his official residence within a month.

Sources say Gandhi had begun to look for a house the day he was disqualified and is not going to ask for extra time. His sister Priyanka, too, was asked to vacate her Lodhi Estate bungalow as she was no longer SPG protected and now lives in Sujan Singh Park.

The notice to vacate after a month - to @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/Z2EGDDRDhJ pallavi ghosh (@_pallavighosh) March 27, 2023

Recently during an interaction, Gandhi had said he had no home and from childhood, since his family had suffered tragedies and political setback, he had to shift homes and never had anything permanent.

The circle is complete now.

ALSO READ | Oops, They Did It Again! Does Cong Plan to Pitch Rahul Gandhi As the Asli Challenger in 2024?

A new home will also mean a new political shelter and journey for him. And also, yet another new address for those within the party who still consider themselves close to their leader.

The party, meanwhile, will now make this into another issue against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the alacrity with which he has been asked to vacate.

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The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre, Gujarat government and others on a plea filed by Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven members of her family were killed during the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Bano has challenged the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the case who were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15 last year.

After issuing a notice to the Centre, the Gujarat government and the convicts, the top court posted the matter for hearing on April 18.

A bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna said there is a gamut of issues involved and it needs to hear the matter in detail and also directed the Gujarat government to be ready with the relevant files granting remission to the parties on the next date of the hearing.

During the hearing, the bench observed that it would not be overwhelmed by emotions in the case and would only go by the law.

On January 4, a bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the petition filed by Bano and other pleas. However, Justice Trivedi recused from hearing the case without citing any reason.

Bano had moved the apex court on November 30 last year challenging the premature release of 11 lifers by the state government, saying it has shaken the conscience of society.

Besides the plea challenging the release of the convicts, the gang-rape survivor had also filed a separate petition seeking a review of the apex courts May 13, 2022, order on a plea by a convict. The review plea was later dismissed in December last year.

Meanwhile, one of the convicts in the case was seen sharing a stage with Dahod BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor and his brother Sailesh Bhabhor, who is an MLA from Limkheda constituency on Sunday. As images of convict Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt on stage surfaced, they drew a sharp response from opposition leaders and others.

TMCs Mahua Moitra wrote on Twitter, Bilkis Banos Rapist Shares Stage With Gujarats BJP MP, MLA.

I want to see these monsters back in jail & the key thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out. I want India to reclaim her moral compass," she said.

NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, Convict in the Bilkis Bano rape case is seen sharing the stage with BJP Gujarat MP and MLA at a government function in Dahod."

CM of Gujarat Bhupendra Patel ji, BJP President J P Nadda ji and BJP, do you endorse this ? India surely needs to know," he said.

Convict in the #BilkisBano rape case is seen sharing the stage with @BJP4Gujarat MP and MLA at a government function in Dahod.CM of Gujarat @Bhupendrapbjp ji, #BJP President @JPNadda ji, and @BJP4India, do you endorse this ?India surely needs to know pic.twitter.com/5LJEg6GVFJ Clyde Crasto -   (@Clyde_Crasto) March 27, 2023

Bano, in her pending writ petition, has said the state government passed a mechanical order" completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

The en-masse premature release of the convicts in the much talked about case of Bilkis Bano has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country," she has said.

The present writ petition challenging the decision of the state/central government granting remission to all the 11 convicts and releasing them prematurely in one of the most gruesome crimes of extreme inhuman violence and brutality," it said.

The plea, which gave minute details of the crime, said Bano and her grown-up daughters were shell-shocked with this sudden development".

When the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated," it said.

Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court.

A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gang-rape of Bano and murder of seven members of her family.

Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15, last year, after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy.

(With PTI inputs)

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For the first time in 40 years of his criminal past, mafia-turned-jailed politician Atiq Ahmad could face life imprisonment for kidnapping Umesh Pal, a lawyer, who was a key witness to a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs murder in 2005. Follow Live Updates Here

A sessions court in Prayagraj will pronounce the judgment on March 28 in the kidnapping case of Umesh Pal who was killed last month allegedly by some gunmen including Atiqs son Asad.

Atiq had said on March 26 he feared he will be killed in an encounter like Vikas Dubey as he was being shifted to Prayagraj from Gujarats Sabarmati jail where he had been lodged since 2019.

Dubey was killed in an encounter on July 10, 2020, when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area, the police had said. He was booked after eight policemen were killed following an ambush in Bikru village in Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey on July 3, 2020.

It is quite unlikely that Atiq will be killed in an encounter like Vikas Dubeys as the Yogi Adityanath government, under pressure, could say in a state ruled by law, conviction of a hardened mafia can be a reality.

If Atiq gets life imprisonment, he would be permanent behind the bars. Unlike in the Vikas Dubey case, the Uttar Pradesh Police, this time, is not bringing any surrendered criminal, but a man who had been in the judicial custody.

Unlike Dubey, Atiq is being brought on the order from the court, which demands his safe arrival to Prayagraj, and contempt of court would be the last thing the police want.

Umesh Pals Kidnapping Case

BSP MLA Raju Pal was gunned down by Atiq Ahmads gang in Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj in 2005, which was witnessed by Umesh Pal along with five others who became witnesses in the case.

As Umesh Pal was set to depose against Atiq during the trial, he was kidnapped in 2006. Pal was then allegedly held up at Atiqs office in Karbala in Prayagraj and tortured so that he doesnt testify against Atiq and his brother Ashraf, who is currently lodged in Bareilly jail.

Following the intimidation, Umesh Pal turned hostile in the case. However, in 2007, when Mayawati became the chief minister, Umesh Pal filed an FIR for his kidnapping against Atiq, Ashraf and Atiqs nine other associates.

Umesh Pal had deposed against Atiq and others a few months ago in the same case. While he returning from the court hearing in the case on February 24, he was gunned down.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old man Arbaaz, wanted in the killing of Umesh Pal, was gunned down by the UP Police on February 28.

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Bhojpuri actress Akanksha Dubey allegedly died by suicide on Sunday, March 26. She was found dead in her hotel room in Varanasi where she was reportedly shooting for her upcoming film. Now the late actresss hairstylist revealed that she looked happy and had no stress a day before her death. She was 25 years old.

In a new interview with AajTak, Akankshas makeup artist Rahul and hairstylist Rekha More shared that the actress went to a party on March 25 in the evening. They revealed that she looked happy and was stress-free and added that Akanksha lived life like a lioness and took care of everyone she worked with.

When asked about what happened on the day of her death, her hairstylist shared that the actress wanted to get ready for her film, Laik Hoon Main Nalaik Nahin, at 7 am. It was when she did not leave the hotel room, a crew member was sent to see her. As the actress didnt open the door, a master key was used to open Akankshas room and thats when it was learnt that she had died by suicide.

The Sarnath police had reached the spot then and there and started their investigation. The body is still in postmortem and the police are interrogating the people associated with the unit of the film.

The actress made her debut with the film Meru Jung Mera Faisla. She was seen in Bhojpuri films such as Mujhse Shadi Karogi, Veeron Ke Veer and Fighter King among others. Akanksha was also known for her music videos. She was shooting for her upcoming film Nayak. Akanksha was a top model and actress in the Bhojpuri film industry who has given about 50-60 superhit music albums. She appeared with many stars including Samar Singh, Khesari Lal Yadav, Pawan Singh and Pradeep Pandey.

Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata)

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Innocent, a multifaceted personality in Kerala cultural arena for the last four decades, died on Sunday due to multi-organ failure and cardiac arrest. The legendary actor breathed his last at 10:30 pm in Kochi. He was 75. Innocent was a state award-winning actor with a presence in around 750 films and an acclaimed producer with five movies to his credit.

Innocent represented the Chalakkudy constituency in the 16th Lok Sabha as an independent backed by Left Democratic Front, trouncing Congress heavyweight PC Chacko, which he lost in 2019. He was the president of AMMA, (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists) for 18 years. Based on his memories, he has five books to credit and was also a columnist in magazines and newspapers.

Though he started as a film actor in 1972, the break came with the character of Mannar Mathai in Ramji Rao Speaking (1989) remade as Hera Pheri in Hindi (2000). It established him as a frontline star in Malayalam and became an integral part of Mollywood.

With an inspiring life story to his credit, Innocents formal education terminated in eighth grade as he could not cope with the school lessons. He moved to Davangere, Karnataka, to join his brothers matchbox factory, in the early 1970s. His role at the factory as the manager required frequent trips to Chennai, the seat of cinema, and this rekindled his love for acting. As his attachment for acting developed, the factory ran into massive losses. Debt-ridden, Innocent was forced to abandon his factory and return to his hometown to start a leather business and then a cycle renting business. However, all failed and as the last resort, he joined politics. Innocent was the Thrissur District Secretary of the Revolutionary Socialist Party during the 1970s. He became a councillor in the party ticket in 1979 at his native Irinjalakkuda Municipal council before getting active in films.

Soon, he attempted film production and also worked as a production executive. He started a film production company, Satru Combines, with producer David Kachappilly which produced four films in Malayalam including award-winning Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback, Ormakkayi and Vida Parayum Mumpe in the first half of the 1980s.

Innocent created a laugh riot with his roles in Kilukkam, Dr Pasupathi, Godfather, Vietnam Colony, Nadodikattu, Kabooliwaala, Mimics Parade, Gajakesariyogam, Mithunam, Manassinakkare, Thuruppugulan, Rasathanthram, Naran and Mahasamudram Pranchiyettan and the Saint and Kalyanaraman has excelled in character and villain roles such as Devasuram, Ravanaprabhu, Mazhavilkavadi, Keli, Kathodu Kathoram, Vesham, Pingami and Adwaitham.

His pairing with KPAC Lalitha was highly successful in movies such as Ponn Muttayidunna Tharavu, Sasneham, My Dear Muthachchan, Godfather and Manichitrathazhu. Innocents mannerisms and dialogue delivery and mannerisms are unique and he wildly caught the attention of the Malayalam audience. This made him almost a phenomenon in the Malayalam comedy scene, also making him a hot favourite for mimicry artists.

Born on 28 February 1948 to Vareeth Thekkethala and Margaret in Irinjalakuda, Travancore-Cochin, Innocent was the fifth child and third son of his parents, who had eight children.

A memoir on his combat with cancer, Cancer Wardile Chiri is one of the best sellers in Malayalam for its witty presentation of how he survived one of the most painful phases of his life with a positive outlook. As his wife Alice was diagnosed with cancer, he termed themselves as the cancer couple. The couple has a son, Sonnet.

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Time and again, Kajol has gifted her fans with films and characters that are cherished for a lifetime. Among them, her character Muskaan Thakur from the film Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya remains iconic to date. As the film clocks 25 years today, Kajol took a trip down memory lane to recollect the memories and penned a heartwarming note, which read, This film truly is all the 90s feels and more. Iconic music. Not to forget the straight hair, and how! Filled with all things feel good that made it work.#25yearsOfPyaarKiyaToDarnaKya.

Even though Kajol and Salman Khan have shared screen space in a couple of movies, their only best appearance together remains this 1998. The movie which also starred Arbaaz Khan was the quintessential love story between a rich boy and a not-so-rich girl and how the girls brother is a roadblock to their love.

Take a look at Kajols post:

The Vashu Bhagnani film was also the directorial debut of Sohail Khan and it went onto to create history with its iconic songs, memorable star cast and impressive storyline. It was the pioneer of romantic comedies in Bollywood. This film to date enjoys a massive fan base amongst the audiences and its chartbuster song O O Jaane Jaana still gets everybody shaking a leg at parties and festivals.

With songs like Tum Par Hum Hai Atke Yaara and Odh li Chunariya Tere Naam Ki and the ever iconic introduction of Salman Khan bare chested with a guitar and those unforgettable dance steps, Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya was a masala entertainer worth a watch even today.

Producer Vashu Bhagnani on the memorable occasion also shared, It still feels like yesterday when we shot the film. Its still fresh in our memory. Its heartening to see that Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya continues to entertain the audiences even after 25 years and is loved even by todays generations.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Kajol was last seen in Salaam Venky, where she portrayed the role of a single mother with a sick son. The movie was directed by the well-known South Indian actor and director Revathy and was released on December 9, last year.

Kajol will next be seen in the web series titled The Good Wife, which is an Indian adaptation of the popular American courtroom drama of the same name featuring Julianna Margulies as the lead character.

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Nawazuddin Siddiqui had reportedly informed the Bombay High Court that he would withdraw his habeas corpus petition against his estranged wife Aaliya, if he gets to meet his two children. Now in the recent turn of events, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has taken a step forward to settle his dispute with estranged wife Aaliya. The Heropanti 2 actor has drafted certain terms over which he and Aaliya would negotiate.

According to a report by ETimes, even though Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Aaliya Siddiqui are bound to take the settlement road, the actor has been maintaining his stance that he and Aaliya are divorced. The same will be scrutinized by Aaliyas lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui. He told the portal ETimes that while there is no chance of Aaliya going back to Nawazuddin, the two parents will ensure that they do whats best for their children. Rizwan revealed, No, Aaliya will NEVER go back to Nawaz, but they will certainly do the best for their two children together in a mature way. As far as the defamation suit filed by Mr. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the High Court is concerned, I can only say that we have not been served any copy of the same as yet, but in any event the suit was filed prior to the settlement proposed by Mr. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and therefore withdrawal of the same will automatically become an integral part of the settlement."

For the unversed, Siddiquis petition stated that his permission was not taken before his children were brought to India from Dubai. Nawazuddins divorce case with Aaliya Siddiqui has been making headlines for a long time now. The two have levelled several allegations against each other so far. Earlier, Aaliya claimed that Nawazuddin disowned their children and alleged that the actors mother Mehrunisa harassed her by not giving her access to the actors Mumbai home. Later, the actor also claimed that his estranged wife only want money, a charge denied by Aaliya.

Last month, the Bombay High Court also suggested Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his wife Aaliya to resolve their issues amicably regarding their children.

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Hrithik Roshan is considered the Greek God for his Adonis-like physique and his fans have loved him bare his body in films like War and Bang Bang! But it was not always the same for the superstar as told by his father Rakesh Roshan. The film-maker shared while attending a singing reality show that doctors had told him Hrithik Roshan wont be able to build his physique due to a health condition.

In a video clip shared by Sony, Rakesh Roshan recalled casting Hrithik Roshan for his film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. He revealed on the sets of Indian Idol, Mujhe kisine kaha ki isme koi naya ladka ho to acchha rahega, romantic film hogi. Hrithik bhi baedha hua tha, maine kaha Hrithik ko le lenge (someone told me to cast a new boy since it would be a romantic film. Hrithik was also there so I decided to cast him).

He recalled, He was very lean and thin, doctors told, aap kabhi apni physique nahi bana sakte, aap dance nahi kar sakte kyunki aapke inherent kujh problem hai spinal cord mein (doctors said Hrithik can never make his physique because of an inherent problem in the spinal cord). But he challenged everything, he started exercising with books and slowly, slowly with books he came to dumbbells and dumbbells se usne fir ye sab apni physique banayi (then he made his physique).

Hrithik Roshan had previously opened up about the same during a song launch event last year. He said, Before the release of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai my doctors had told me that my health condition is not so good that I can do action films and dance films. I took this diagnosis as a challenge and focused on my health and fitness. I learnt how to do my work to the best of my abilities and Im just happy to be here standing in front of youll today. It is nothing short of a miracle for me that in my 25th film, Im still doing action and Im still dancing and Im still being able to say my dialogues. I think the 21-year-old me, would be very proud of me, today."

Meanwhile, Hrithik Roshan is currently shooting for Siddharth Anands Fighter with Deepika Padukone. The actor was last seen in Vikram Vedha where he locked horns with Saif Ali Khan. There has also been a buzz about his superhero comeback with Krissh 4.

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RRR, starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR, continues to make news even after a year of its release. Earlier this month, the film, directed by SS Rajamouli, won an Oscar in Best Original Song category for Naatu Naatu at the 95th Academy Awards which took place in Los Angeles. However, the film courted controversy over its Oscar promotions after it was reported that SS Rajamouli apparently spent Rs 80 crores for RRRs campaigning in the US.

Now, Rajamoulis son SS Karthikeya has finally broken his silence over the rumours. We had plans to wrap up things in Rs 5 crores but we ended up spending Rs 8.5 crores for the campaign. Special screenings are arranged in a couple of cities of USA for RRR Karthikeya was quoted as saying by Telugu 360.com.

ALSO READ | SS Rajamouli, Ram Charan, Jr NTR Spent Rs 60 Lakh to Buy Tickets to Oscars? SS Karthikeya Reveals

ALSO READ | MM Keeravani Reveals Hes Down With Covid Hours Before Attending Ram Charans Birthday Bash

Rajamouli and RRR stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR had been promoting their magnum opus in the US over the past few months, from organising its screenings in various parts of the America to appearing on a variety of American talk shows and attending awards ceremonies.

As per a recent report in Siasat.com, Rajamouli had reportedly proposed RRR producer DVV Danayya, Ram Charan and Jr NTR share Rs 25 crore each for the Oscar promotions." However, Danayya reportedly refused Rajamoulis offer. The report also suggested that since Variance (American company) did all the liaisoning for RRR Oscar promotions, Danayya was sidelined" during the campaign. But Danayya refuted the rumours.

Meanwhile, during a press meet as a part of the promotion of Bangaruthalli, director Tammareddy Bharadwaja made a sensational comment about RRRs budget for its Oscar campaign. The director alleged that the film was made on a budget of Rs 600 crore. Now they (RRR team) have spent another Rs 80 crore for its Oscar promotions, therefore we can make eight to ten films out of its promotional budget itself! He had said.

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Salman Khans first film as a leading actor Maine Pyar Kiya was a huge hit and apart from launching Salmans career also provided the nation with a new crush, Bhagyashree. Bhagyashree, who played the lead role in Maine Pyar Kiya, became an overnight sensation and was touted to be the next big thing in the Hindi film industry. However, she surprised the nation when she quit acting after her very first film to marry her childhood sweetheart Himalaya Dassani.

However, her marriage with Himalaya did not come easy as her parents opposed the relationship. Bhagyashrees love story is the perfect example of how two people, when together, can overcome all the hurdles.

Bhagyashree was born on February 23, 1969, in a Marathi royal family. Her grandfather Chintamanrao Dhundirao Patwardhan was the last ruling monarch of the princely state of Sangli during the colonial era. His father had been the Raja of Sangli. In an interview with Humans of Bombay, Bhagyashree revealed how she met Himalaya. Referring to school memories, Bhagyashree said, We used to go to school together. He was the most mischievous person in the class and I was the class monitor. We used to fight all the time. The more we fought, the more it became clear that we could not live without each other. We never dated each other. He told me on the last day of school how he felt about me."

However, Bhagyashrees family were against the relationship. Both even broke up for the sake of the family. The actress said, We were in college, but hardly used to meet or talk on the phone. For my parents sake, we broke up and he went to study in the US while I signed Maine Pyar Kiya." However, she said that she was sure that their paths would cross again.

After the success of Maine Pyar Kiya, Bhagyashree tried to persuade her parents again about her love for the Himalayas but they declined. Finally, once Himalaya came back to India, Bhagyashree decided to elope with him. She called Himalaya and told him that she was leaving the Royal palace and if he loved her, he should come to pick her up in 15 minutes. The couple married in a temple in the presence of Himalayas parents, Salman Khan, Sooraj Barjatya and some close friends.

The couple has two children, a son Abhimany Dassani, who has acted in two films, and a daughter, Avantika Dassani.

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Sunil Grover has not only been a brilliant comic actor, he has also showcased his mettle by essaying amazing characters in films and shows like Amitabh Bachchan starrer Goodbye and Sunflower. While the actor is widely recognised now, Sunil Grover recollected about the days of struggle, revealing that he was replaced in a show without being informed in just a matter of three days.

Sunil Grover got candid about that incident during an interview with ETimes. The actor shared that he developed self-doubt because of it. He recalled, Ek show tha jisme main replace ho gaya tha 3 din mein hi aur mujhe bataya bhi nahi tha. Kisi aur se pata chala tha mujhe. I had immense self doubt, mujhe ni lagta tha ki main dobara ja paunga ya un logo ke saath shooting kar paunga. Toh main ek shell mein chala gaya tha almost one month ke liye. Then I thought may be I will not pursue it but then I dont know if it was some kind of stubbornness which made me say, chal koi nahiek baar aur try karte hai. (There was a show in which I got replaced within 3 days and they didnt even tell me. I got to know through someone else. I didnt feel that I could ever go back and work with the same people. I had gone in a shell for almost a month and I thought I will never pursue this. I dont know what kind of stubbornness made me want to try again.).

Sunil Grover also emphasized that one shouldnt judge someones caliber on the basis of social media engagement. He explained,"Main sabse request karta hun ki please dont judge yourself from kitne followers, kitne comments hain. Ye aapki self worth decide karega. Please dont do that. Maine kayi logo ko depression mein jaate hue dekha hai iss wajeh se. (I want to request everyone to never judge themselves based on the number of followers. Only your self worth can decide that. I have seen many people go into depression because of that.).

Meanwhile, the actor would be seen playing an important role in Atlees Jawan. The much-awaited film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi and Sanya Malhotra in the lead roles. It will also feature Sanjay Dutt in an adrenaline-pumping cameo.

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There are two possible outcomes resulting from Rahul Gandhis disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP. The first is that a higher court will stay the Surat Chief Judicial Magistrate Courts order convicting Rahul. That will lead to a legal process. If successful, Rahul can return to Parliament as the elected representative of Wayanad constituency in Kerala. That is provided the by-election to Wayanad has not already been held.

The second outcome is more grim. The higher judiciary rejects Rahuls appeal. Rahul will remain barred from Parliament. Worse, he will be barred from contesting elections for eight years under the Representation of the People Act (RPA)  two years in jail and six years of disqualification.

Ironically, Rahuls grandmother Indira Gandhis election to Parliament was declared null and void by the Allahabad High Court in 1975 for a minor technical malpractice during the 1971 Lok Sabha election against Raj Narain. She was barred from standing for election for six years.

Mrs Gandhi was then prime minister. She toyed with the idea of resigning but was dissuaded by ministers in her kitchen cabinet. Instead, she imposed a draconian Emergency for the next 21 months, jailing over one lakh Opposition leaders (including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Arun Jaitley), journalists (including Kuldip Nayar) and activists. She suspended the Constitution, subverted the Supreme Court and disallowed all habeas corpus petitions. A five-judge Supreme Court bench was formed to hear appeals to overturn Mrs Gandhis diktat on habeas corpus petitions.

The bench included the Chief Justice of India AN Ray and Justices HR Khanna, MH Beg, YV Chandrachud and PN Bhagwati.

Only Justice Khanna dissented with the five-bench majority verdict endorsing Mrs Gandhis diktat to disallow all habeas corpus petitions. According to one news report, Despite being the seniormost Supreme Court judge, Justice Khanna was superseded by Justice Beg as Chief Justice in 1977. Justice Khanna resigned the same day.

It was a moment of shame that the Supreme Court has yet to live down.

There obviously are key differences between the Indira Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi cases. Rahul is not prime minister. The Congress is not in power. Mrs Gandhi was disqualified as an MP by the Allahabad High Court for an electoral malpractice. Rahul was disqualified as an MP following the Chief Judicial Magistrates court order convicting him for two years in a criminal defamation case.

The BJP says Rahul insulted an entire OBC community, not three individuals which formed the core of the defamation case by a BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. This is what Rahul had said in Kolar, Karnataka while addressing a campaign rally in April 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha election: How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?

If, for example, an MP or MLA asks, How come all terrorists have common Muslim surnames, that too could lead to a criminal defamation case on similar grounds. If convicted with a sentence of two years or more, the offending lawmaker too would face immediate disqualification.

In September 2013, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA2 government had prepared an ordinance to overturn a Supreme Court order of July 2013 in the Lily Thomas vs. Union of India case. The apex court had struck down a 90-day grace period granted to lawmakers under the Representation of People Act, 1951 if they were convicted with a sentence of two years or more. The apex court order gave lawmakers sufficient time to secure a stay on the conviction.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on an official visit abroad when Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Ajay Maken, stormed into a Delhi Press Club meeting and said the ordinance was nonsense.

This is what he said about the ordinance his own government had prepared to give lawmakers relief from immediate disqualification: I tell you what my opinion on the ordinance is: That it is complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away.

Within days of his return from the United States, the Manmohan Singh-led government quietly withdrew the ordinance that 10 years later could have saved Rahul from immediate disqualification.

All, however, is not lost for the Congress or Rahul. The BJP will campaign on the issue of Rahul insulting OBCs. While exploring legal remedies, Rahul can play the role of martyr. Indians sympathise with those they believe have been wronged.

The other opportunity for the Congress is to now glue together a united Opposition front based on Rahuls victimisation by a BJP-influenced ecosystem. Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav  till now part of the anti-Congress third front  could make common cause.

Rahul is disqualified from Parliament  not from campaigning. In politics the most effective rallying point when you are in trouble is to appeal to voters emotions. Rahul may turn out to be a better election campaigner than parliamentarian.

If Rahuls disqualification from Parliament rallies the rest of the Opposition behind the Congress and enhances Rahuls appeal as a victim of an unfair system, the electoral needle could swing.

Rahul in Parliament, making gaffe after gaffe, was a better electoral asset for the BJP than a wronged Rahul seen by some as punished disproportionately for an abusive comment that deserved a reprimand but not two years in jail.

That could be the elixir of electoral rejuvenation Rahul was waiting for. It makes 2024 more challenging for all.

The writer is an editor, author and publisher. Views expressed are personal.

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On March 23, 2023, Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment in a criminal defamation case by the Surat District Court for his defamatory remark at a public rally, where he claimed that all Modis are thieves, thereby not only defaming PM Narendra Modi but all people with the Modi surname. All Modis are thieves was a statement made on April 13, 2019, during the run-up to Lok Sabha elections in 2019, in Kolar near Bengaluru, Karnataka. Moot point here is, Modis are Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and with his disparaging comment, Rahul Gandhi defamed an entire backward caste and community. Rahul is a habitual offender of reckless and irresponsible politics. He attracted automatic disqualification as a Member of Parliament (MP) under Section 8 of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951 read with Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution, after being convicted for two years of imprisonment with fine.

The disqualification notification issued by Lok Sabha secretariat, after the Surat Courts conviction, is just a reiteration of this legal position and compliance of the Court order in the matter. Hence Rahuls acolytes, who feel he has been wronged, are wrong. The disqualification is in line with standard procedures in such cases. The Lily Thomas case of 2013 set the precedent.

The Congress party has a history of holding the judicial process in contempt. In June 1975, the Allahabad High Court convicted a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for corrupt electoral malpractices under the Representation of Peoples Act. That leader was disqualified and was none other than Rahuls grandmother, Indira Gandhi. The Congress party responded to Indiras conviction with the biggest black spot on the Indian democracy, by imposing Emergency on June 25, 1975.

Today, Congress leaders are attacking the Surat District Court. Beyond this aggression, however, history will not repeat itself. Under PM Modi, democracy is much stronger than it has ever been as the masses love their leader who is totally dedicated to the welfare of the poor. In the words of Thirukural To speak ill of others is the mark of ignoble minds; for it only reveals a weakness in ones own character. Clearly, Rahul Gandhis mission was not Bharat Jodo, it was Bharat Todo. His actions are a testament to his vision of a Tukde-Tukde Bharat.

Rahul Gandhi constantly speaks derogatory things due to which he is facing many defamation cases. The first case of defamation against him was filed in 2014. This case is pending in Bhiwandi court of Maharashtra. A defamation case has been registered under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC. During a speech in Bhiwandi, Rahul Gandhi accused the Sangh (RSS) of killing Mahatma Gandhi. In 2016, a defamation case was registered against him in Guwahati, Assam under Sections 499 and 500. According to the complainant, Rahul had said that Sangh members did not allow him to enter the Barpeta Satra, a 16th century Vaishnava monastery in Assam. This matter is also pending in the court. In the year 2018, another case was registered against Rahul Gandhi in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. This case is pending in the court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate of Ranchi. A defamation case of Rs 20 crore has been registered against Rahul under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC, yet again. In this matter, an objection has been expressed to Rahuls statement, in which he said, Modi is a thief. In 2018, another criminal defamation case was filed against Rahul Gandhi in Maharashtra. This case is pending in Shivadi court, located in Mazgaon. The case was filed by a worker of the Sangh. Rahul is accused of linking the murder of Gauri Lankesh with the ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh. Sushil Modi had filed a case against Rahul Gandhi in Patna also, on the statement that all Modis are thieves.

The then Congress President Rahul Gandhi had unconditionally apologised to the Supreme Court on April 23, 2019, for the statement Chowkidar Chor Hai. In the two affidavits filed earlier in the contempt case, Rahul had only expressed regret. He was reprimanded by the court on this. After this, Rahuls lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi had orally apologised to the apex court. Along with this, time was sought to file a new affidavit. This clearly shows Rahuls misguided arrogance in more ways than one.

On September 20, 2018, Rahul Gandhi said in Dungarpur, Rajasthan Narendra Modi had said that I do not want to become the Prime Minister of the country, I want to become the chowkidar of the country. But today, a new voice is rising, Gali gali mein shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai. He kept hurling these abuses throughout the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In a press conference in Delhi on August 5, 2022, Rahul Gandhi compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Hitler and termed the Modi government as a dictatorial government. On February 6, 2020, Rahul Gandhi, while targeting PM Modi in an election rally, said In six months, people will start beating him (Modi) with sticks. He even called PM Modi Jebkatra (pick pocketer) on October 15, 2019.

PM Modi was hiding behind the blood of jawans, doing dalali of their sacrifice is what Rahul Gandhi said in Delhi on October 6, 2016, during Kisan Yatra. Sonia Gandhi called Narendra Modi a merchant of death. During a 2007 election campaign, ex-Congress President Sonia said in Gulbarga, Karnataka on February 1, 2014 I am sure you will not approve of people who sow seeds of poison, referring to Modi.

Priyanka Vadra compared PM Modi with Duryodhana, on May 7, 2019, in a rally organised in support of Kumari Selja, the Congress candidate from Ambala. Rahul Gandhi had made unrestrained remarks on the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj regarding the Lalit Modi controversy. Rahul Gandhis role in the JNU controversy in February 2016 where he stood in support of anti-national elements who raised slogans like Bharat tere tukde honge is embarrassing, to say the least. In October 2017, he made derogatory remarks about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and women and said that he never saw women wearing shorts in RSS shakhas. India is the rape capital of the world, said Rahul at a public rally in 2019, in Jharkhand, showcasing how his visceral hatred for PM Modi had turned him into a reckless, loose cannon, who would stop at nothing.

The Supreme Court of India, in its judgement dated July 10, 2013, while disposing the Lily Thomas v. Union of India case (along with Lok Prahari v. Union of India), ruled that any MP, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) or member of legislative council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years imprisonment, loses membership of the House with immediate effect. This was in contrast to the earlier position, wherein convicted members held on to their seats until they exhausted all judicial remedies in lower courts and the Supreme Court of India. On October 1, 2013, Rasheed Masood became the first MP to lose his membership of Parliament under the new guidelines, when he was sentenced to four years imprisonment for cheating, forgery and corruption.

Besides, there are a plethora of criminal defamation cases against Rahul, thanks to his deviously baseless remarks. Rahul Gandhi has also been in the eye of a storm for his anti-India remarks on foreign soil. Let us have a look at the times when he made such comments in foreign countries with zero remorse or regret.

During an interactive session at the Ideas for India conference in London in May 2022, he said the soul of India is under attack from the BJP and a soul without a voice means nothing and what has happened is that Indias voice has been crushed. Gandhi alleged that Indias voice had been crushed by the institutional framework of the country itself, which was becoming parasitical. So, the deep state, the CBI, the ED, is now chewing the Indian state and eating it, much like in Pakistan, he claimed. This is a clear instance where Rahul did not merely criticise the BJP, which is acceptable, but undermined the credibility of Indias democratic institutions, which is certainly not acceptable. How dare he compare Indias vibrant institutional framework with Pakistans ISI and deep state?

During an interaction with members of the Indian community in Malaysia in 2018, he took a needless swipe at PM Modis decision to demonetise high-value currency notes in 2016. Rahul said If I was Prime Minister and someone had given me a file with demonetisation written on it, I would have thrown it in the dustbin. That is how I would have rolled it out. I would have rolled it out in the dustbin, and out through the doors and into the junkyard. Because that is what I think should have been done with demonetisation. Why would and why should any Indian leader criticise the ruling government policy in such malignantly harsh terms on foreign soil? Is Rahul a loose cannon, looking for political relevance after leading his party into over 50 electoral defeats in over 54 small and big elections in the last nine years? Yes! But far from gaining any political relevance, he has sunk his already tired and jaded party further aground.

While speaking at a panel discussion at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, in March 2018, he said there was a general atmosphere of intimidation in India and the politics of dividing people was being played to win elections, once again showcasing his horrifying pettiness. While addressing a convention of NRIs in Bahrain in January 2018, his first foreign visit after taking over the reins of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi said The anger is visible in the streets and is rising rapidly. The government, on the other hand, is busy converting fear into hatred between communities in a clear sign of how this entitled dynast has used every opportunity offshore to belittle India, even at the cost of fomenting communal unrest. If anything, from the Bhagalpur and Hashimpura riots to the anti-Sikh pogrom in 1984, the Azad Maidan riots at Mumbai in 2012 and the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013, all these took place when the Congress was in power. Hence, Rahul would do well to look at his own backyard before making wild allegations at the ruling BJP, which has indeed tirelessly worked for all, minorities included.

Rahul Gandhi took jibes at the BJP and the Narendra Modi-led government as he spoke on the issue of India at 70 at the University of California, Berkeley, in the USA in September 2017. The idea of non-violence is under attack today, yet it is the only idea which can take humanity forward, he said. He further added, in a classic sign of ignorance, that the Modi government was paying attention only to the top 100 companies in India. But anyone with an iota of how the economy works, knows that all through Covid, the Modi government supported Indias MSME sector, including small and micro firms, by giving them collateral free loans under the emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS).

In the last seven years, there has been a constant refrain that democracy under the Modi government has been under siege. This is the biggest lie, peddled by a vested, leftist, international press and large sections of Indias Lutyens media, that survived for decades together on the Congress partys largesse. While nepotism and dynastic politics bereft of merit were the hallmark of the erstwhile Congress regimes, India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has institutionalised meritocracy and development-oriented politics, with India jumping 79 places from rank 142 to rank 63 in Ease of Doing Business (EODB) ranking between 2014 and 2020, in a survey of 190 countries. Similarly, India jumped 35 places to number 46 in 2021, from rank 81 in 2014, in the Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking, from a survey of 142 countries.

Before delving deeper into what PM Modi has done, it is essential to grasp how the Congress delegitimized the democratic spirit of the country, willfully and deliberately, with impunity and precision. The fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India are an integral part of Indias democratic ethos, with Article 19 of the Constitution guaranteeing the right to free speech and expression. Article 19(2) provides specific conditions under which the right to free speech can be restricted. These restrictions necessarily have to do with the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, morality or other areas pertaining to contempt of court, defamation or incitement of an offence. The moot point to be noted here is that the right to free speech and the right to dissent are not absolute. Every freedom comes with checks and balances and Article 19 is no exception. Hence, those who hide hate speech under the pretext of exercising their rights under Article 19 are simply trying to mislead and misinform. Modi has unarguably been the most viciously trolled leader and a virulent Opposition has repeatedly attacked him personally, when they failed to take him on electorally.

In the summer of 2014, by electing Modi, the people voted decisively for honesty over dynasty. Development over decay. Security over stagnation. Opportunities over obstacles. Vikas over vote-bank politics. Indians were tired of corruption, cronyism and nepotism. The Modi mandates of 2014 and 2019 were epoch-making, also because for the first time in the history of India, a non-dynastic party was blessed with a complete majority. The Modi government works with the spirit of India First instead of Family First, where minorities have as much say and as many opportunities as the Hindus, who are the majority and form almost 80 percent of the population. In fact, in some welfare schemes like PM Awaas Yojana, 15 percent is earmarked for minorities. Also, between 2014-2019, more than 3 crore scholarships were given to minorities, primarily Muslims and by 2024, an additional 5 crore scholarships would be handed out by the Modi government to minorities. Hence, the baseless charge that the Modi government is anti-Muslim, is just a lot of hogwash.

The Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975 made the nation a prison overnight. Even to express was to commit sin. The 42nd Amendment of 1976 put curbs on the courts and their powers relating to judicial review. It took a groundswell of public opinion to end the Emergency but the anti-constitutional mindset of those who imposed it, remained. The Congress has imposed Article 356 almost a hundred times, with Indira Gandhi herself doing so over 60 times. It was Indira Gandhi who called for a committed judiciary, which sought to make the courts more loyal to a family, than to the Constitution. This pursuit of a committed judiciary made the Congress overlook several respected judges, while appointing the Chief Justice of India.

Congress modus operandi was simple - reject, discredit and threaten. If a judicial verdict went against them, they rejected it, then they discredited the judge and thereafter, talked about bringing impeachment motions against the judges.

In a telling comment, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi called the Planning Commission led by Dr. Manmohan Singh, a bunch of jokers. This comment gives you a glimpse of how pathetically the Congress treated government institutions. The NAC, an extra Constitutional body, was created by Sonia Gandhi as a body parallel to the PMO. And then, Rahul Gandhi, the hypocrite, has the cheek to talk about institutions being crushed by PM Modi? Does the Modi government have a NAC? No!

Political parties are vibrant bodies that manifest diverse public opinion. At present, Congress top leadership is out on bail vis-a-vis major scams. There is a famous adage  If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. Clearly, the Modi government has always encouraged constructive criticism and dissent, which are the bedrocks of democracy. Equally, dissent is different from descent and Indias beleaguered Opposition needs to know that by descending into the depths of a polarising narrative, it can never hope to resurrect its dwindling fortunes. Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas is an abiding work ethic for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that is what makes his politics so unique and inclusive, in the true spirit of how the worlds largest democracy should run its course.

A nation can never prosper unless it reclaims its glorious past rooted in the richness and diversity of its traditions. And that is precisely what PM Modi has done. He has been unapologetic about who and what India is and rightfully so. India under Modi is not a pushover any longer on the global stage. India does not need to take lessons in inclusivity from Western theocracies or the likes of a William Dalrymple who are enslaved by their colonial mindsets. The nation exists from us, and we exist through the nation. This realisation is becoming the biggest strength of us Indians in the making of a new India, is a famous quote by PM Modi. Truer words have not been said, as India, the fifth largest economy globally in terms of nominal GDP, showcases to the world that growth and equity, transparency and cultural vibrancy are the essential pillars on which a Modi-fied India is powering ahead.

Sanju Verma is an Economist, National Spokesperson of the BJP and the Bestselling Author of The Modi Gambit. Views expressed are personal.

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Twenty-five years ago, the month of March played a significant role in the life of Sonia Gandhi as well as the Congress party. A politician among the politicians emerged, who played a foremost role in the grand old party, giving it back-to-back victories but saddling the Congress with perpetual dynasty or ownership of the party by the family.

A quarter of a century later, the significant events of March 1998 or a Constitutional coup have a particular relevance to the Congress party. While Sonia may have been a beneficiary of oust Sitaram Kesri campaign, the drive to remove an elected All India Congress Committee (AICC) president was orchestrated virtually by the partys whos who, notably Pranab Mukherjee, Jitendra Prasada, Sharad Pawar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Arjun Singh, AK Antony, Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot, Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, Manmohan Singh, Meira Kumar, Oscar Fernandes, Madhavsinh Solanki, JB Patnaik and Lalthanhawla. Most of these eminent Congress leaders died disillusioned with Sonia, while some of the living characters such as Azad and Pawar are no longer with the Congress.

The stage for Sonias entry was set after the Congress defeat in the 1996 general elections. In December 1997, Sonia indicated her willingness to play a more active role in politics. It was Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi who had supposedly helped their mother make up her mind. The family was convinced that it had to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which, they believed, was bent upon destroying whatever good had been achieved from the Nehru era to Rajivs rule. Contrary to popular belief, it was Rahuls persuasion that influenced Sonia more than Priyankas. Rahul had offered to quit his job in London as a consultant at Monitor Deloitte Group, to help her. This was a gesture that moved Sonia deeply.

On December 28, 1997, Sonia went public about her intention to join politics. The choice of the day  December 28  was not without significance. It was the 112th anniversary of the founding of the Indian National Congress. On January 11, 1998, Sonia addressed her first rally at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, where Rajiv was assassinated. Sonia went on to address 130-odd meetings during a back-breaking campaign but the outcome of the elections to the 12th Lok Sabha came as a shock. The partys final tally was only 142 seats. Her managers were quick to blame Congress president Kesri, who had not stepped out of his house, and said the party had failed to cash in on Sonias charisma because of organisational weaknesses. Sonia accepted the argument and agreed to take direct control of the party, insisting that Kesri step down gracefully and invite her to take over. But Chacha  as Kesri was called  was in no mood to oblige.

On March 9, 1998, Kesri announced his resignation but changed his mind within minutes. Kesri claimed he had merely stated his intention to step down, although all major newspapers had quoted him as saying he had resigned. Finally, senior Congress leaders forced him to step down.

On March 13, Prasada hosted a lunch where 13 of the 17 Congress Working Committee (CWC) members signed Kesris political death warrant. Ahmed Patel, Prasada, Mukherjee, R.K. Dhawan, Arjun, Azad, Sharad Pawar, Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, Antony, Manmohan, Meira Kumar, Oscar Fernandes and Madhavsinh Solanki signed the ultimatum to Kesri. J.B. Patnaik and Lalthanhawla later approved it. On March 14, 1998, Sonia formally assumed charge as party president. It would be the beginning of a new chapter for the girl from Orbassano who had once been vehemently opposed to her husband joining politics. The day was momentous as the Congress 24 Akbar Road headquarters turned a mute witness to a coup that saw the rather unsavoury exit of an elected Congress president and the appointment of Sonia as party chief.

Kesri, then in his 79th year, had arrived at the CWC meeting, convinced that a party president could not be forced out. He did not know that before the 11 am meeting, most CWC members had gathered at Pranab Mukherjees house to endorse two crucial statements. The first was an ultimatum asking Kesri to step down; the second, a resolution replacing him with Sonia. The moment Kesri stepped into the hall, he knew something was amiss. Loyalist Tariq Anwar was the only one who stood up to greet him. After Kesri sat down, Mukherjee began reading out a resolution thanking him for his services. The March 14 resolution mentioned Kesris March 9 announcement and said the confusion and state of uncertainty had brought organisational work to a standstill. A horrified Kesri shouted, Arre yeh kya keh rahe ho (What are you saying), but there was a smirk on the faces of his colleagues. Kesri raved against the unconstitutional meeting and stormed out, followed by loyalist Anwar. As he was getting into his car, he was heckled, and some Youth Congress workers even tried to pull down his dhoti. By the time Kesri exited 24 Akbar Road, the nameplate outside what used to be his room had already been replaced with a computer printout that read- Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

When Kesri reached his Purana Qila residence, he was in no mood for his favourite Pomeranian Ruchis joyous welcome. Eyewitnesses, however, recalled that the moment he kicked her, Kesri was overcome with remorse. The finest of biscuits  presented to Kesri during his tenure  were offered to the puzzled Ruchi.

Arriving journalists found the Congress veteran calmer. He bad-mouthed Mukherjee, Jitendra Prasada and Arjun Singh but the ingrained reverence for the family prevented him from attacking Sonia. Kesri later told this writer he was hoping for correction from Sonia after his ouster. When the new party chief arrived a few hours later to comfort him, Kesri rushed to greet her. Sonia sought Kesris blessings and guidance and the old man puffed up with pleasure. By 7 pm, he was singing paeans to the Nehru-Gandhis while promising to get even with Mukherjee, Prasada and Arjun Singh.

During the two-and-a-half-years more that he lived, Kesri would often say- Congress leadership tapte hue suraj ke saman hai. Bahut pas jaoge to jal jaoge aur bahut door rahoge to thand se mar jaoge (The Congress leadership is like the blazing sun. Get too close and you will be burnt, stay too far and you will freeze to death).

The freedom fighter and former Union minister died a disturbed and disillusioned man and never reconciled to his unceremonious ouster. There was much that he wanted to say but he suffered an asthma attack and then slipped into a coma. Incidentally, the euphoria over Sonias formal entry into the Congress in 1998 was so high that many leaders, including CWC members, felt that the party was within striking distance of power. The Assembly poll results in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi reinforced that belief. By December 1998, Sonia was ahead of even Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the choice for the prime minister in a survey conducted by India Today. The 2004 Lok Sabha verdict confirmed it too.

The writer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including 24 Akbar Road and Sonia: A Biography. Views expressed are personal.

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Of late, there is a growing perception that anti-state mechanisms  as they address themselves to the myriad forms of armed conflict would take over insurgent behaviour and take on a warlord mode. Such discernment has been growing after the manner in which insurgencies in Manipur and Nagaland have come into unholy agreements with the Myanmar army after the military takeover of February 1, 2021.

Most views of conflict against the state are the ones which are either state-engineered or the ones which have found their way into currency as a result of direct anti-state propaganda  attesting to the fact that almost all definitions of such manner of conflict are governed in a priori fashion. If the perception of such matters is to be examined with a measure of rigour, then it will have to be one which is a posteriori in outlook.

Most anti-state actors base their characters  or at least the ones which they seek to display  on theoretical elegance. Therefore, when an anti-state organization essays its birth, it will invariably take into account the sartorial nature of its exterior. Indeed, most such organisations  at least in the Indian sub-continent  have sought to decorate their cloaks with embellishments, which might have nothing to do with their inherent character.

Public posturing is perhaps the most important aspect of an anti-state appraisal  they are aimed at the people watching. To that end, most such mechanisms, whether they possess the cut and thrust of a revolutionary organisation or not, introduce themselves to their audience with a period of demonstration. Such periods are invariably followed up with phases of confrontation, retribution and consolidation.

However, showcasing apart, every anti-state actor, whether or not they possess an agenda which seeks to replace the existing state apparatus with another and thereby adopt praxis as an important coordinate, distinguishes itself by the methodology it adopts. Indeed, even its goal orientation may be so geared that ends (however ideologically suited) justify the means. It is only during the phase, which follows the period of consolidation, that the true character of a campaign can achieve proper registration. It was witnessed to be the case when the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), perhaps at the instance of the Peoples Republic of China, assassinated a Commanding Officer of the Assam Rifles along with his family in 2021.

A PIOOM survey of yesteryear lists Assam, Kashmir and Bihar in India among others as high intensity conflict (HIC). Although the survey has excluded Albania from the list of 17 HIC which have all been termed as insurgencies because it appears that their conflict in this period was one of the armed criminal gangs rather than politically motivated rebellion, the fact of the matter is that a proper study does not seem to have been made of the conflict situation in Assam.

Among contemporary insurgencies, conventional warfare where an insurgency possesses the manpower and range of weaponry to enable them to resort to full-scale conventional military operations if and when the opportunity arises is not as frequent as guerrilla warfare which has been characterised as hypermobile war. Indeed, writing about the guerrilla mode of warfareconflicts in the Northeast of India could well claim to be representing ones suchWilkinson writes: In the classic pattern, the guerrilla wages a hypermobile war. It is, one could say, the natural weapon of the strategically weaker side. Rather than risking the annihilation of his own forces in a full-scale battle with his more numerous and better-armed opponents, the guerrilla goes over to the tactical offensive, waging what Taber has called the war of the flea using methods, time and places of the guerrillas choice and constantly trying to benefit from the guerrillas major tactical advantagethe element of surprise.

Writing about Warlordism in Kashmir, Alexander Evans speaks of the transnational aspects, or what he terms the presence of guest militants and their state backers, as also about the failure of the state which has (as a result of a weaponising race between India and Pakistan) encouraged low-intensity conflict by their very nature, and that in areas with unrepresentative political institutions weak warlordism is a likely consequence.

Can a parallel for Kashmir be drawn with the Northeast? Is there a case by which the provenance of not only the Valley Based Insurgent Groups of Manipur but the ones in Central India (LWE) as well can be examined in the light of the above, especially in terms of what has been called the warlord authority?

The military leadership in Manipur has understood this imperative as has the higher headquarters in Rangapahar and Kolkata. A wargaming exercise would validate the mechanism for a finale. But it would be worth the while for New Delhi to institute a task force to study this phenomenon. The result could well herald interesting hues as the nation braces itself to face an election year in 2024.

Jaideep Saikia is a conflict theorist and bestselling author. Views expressed are personal.

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The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi was the decision of the court and not the government This was the first reaction from the BJP which has geared itself up for post-disqualification politics. The first step was distancing itself from the judgment, terming it a legal and constitutional decision.

The second step in that direction is to label it as the internal politics of Congress. Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur was quick to point out who would benefit in the party from Rahul Gandhis disqualification. Former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked where the battery of top Congress leaders was when the Surat court was to pronounce its judgment. Prasad said even in the case of Pawan Khera, the entire Congress was on its toes but the same was missing for Rahul Gandhi.

Thirdly, the BJP will start an all-India campaign to expose Rahul Gandhi as anti-OBC, stressing on the comments for which he was sentenced. From April 6, all OBC MPs, MLAs, and ministers of the BJP will fan out across the country to hold meetings against Rahul Gandhis anti-backward speech.

Law is Equal for All

The Congress has described the judgment as politically motivated and blamed the government and the BJP. However, the governments stand is that Rahul Gandhis membership of Parliament automatically ended after the courts decision.

The government cited the rule under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. This states that as soon as a Member of Parliament is convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, they shall be liable for disqualification and their Parliament membership will be cancelled.

Who Tore The Ordinance on Disqualification?

The Supreme Court in April 2013 held that MPs and MLAs convicted with a minimum two-year sentence will be immediately disqualified from the house without getting three months to appeal. Then, the ruling Congress government in the Centre hurriedly pushed an ordinance that sought to overturn the rule that disqualifies convicted MPs and MLAs.

At that time, Rahul Gandhi openly came out against his partys decision and called the move complete nonsense. In a stunning move at a press conference, he tore the ordinance and the Congress eventually scrapped it.

SC Upheld Defamation Law, Rejected Rahul, Kejriwal Plea

In 2016, the Supreme Court dismissed a batch of petitions against the constitutional validity of the defamation law under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code. The petitions were filed by Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Subramanian Swamy and others against the constitutional validity of the defamation law.

Even though Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal were parties, why are newspapers, Kejriwal or the Congress not mentioning this now? The petitioners had argued that the criminal defamation law was in conflict with the freedom of speech and expression. But the top court refused to buy the argument. The bench said defamation doesnt have any chilling effect on freedom of speech" and it is not necessary for all in the chorus to sing the same song.

Former PM Nehru Added Conditions Apply to Article 19(1)(a)

Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the first amendment in the Constitution in 1951 to curtail freedom of expression guaranteed in Article 19 (1)(a) by imposing reasonable restrictions on that freedom.

When A Congress Leader Hijacked a Plane for Indira Gandhi

On December 26, 1978, Indira Gandhi was released from jail. Six days prior to that, Congress workers had hijacked a plane to demand her release. Congress, instead of condemning the act which was a threat to national security, rewarded the hijackers with party tickets for the 1980 state assembly election.

Not Only Rahul, 200 Leaders Have Been Disqualified

So far in the countrys democratic history, 200 MPs and MLAs have been disqualified for various reasons. This is another reason why top government sources are questioning the song and dance by the Congress after Rahul Gandhis disqualification.

Opposition Statements Do Not Amount To Electoral Unity

The Congress party welcomed the statement of support from all opposition leaders and called for systematic" opposition unity. However, government sources claimed the statements do not amount to coming together in elections. There are dozens of factors and equations in an election and just giving a statement does not mean anything.

The emerging political scenario shows that the stage is set for the battle of 2024 and its clearly Prime Minister Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi.

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BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa was arrested near Kyathasandra toll plaza in Tumakuru in a bribery case on Monday after his bail application was rejected by the Karnataka High Court.

The Channagiri MLA had got bail after his son Prashanth Madal, who is the chief accounts officer of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, was arrested by the Lokayutka police on March 2 while allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 40 lakh on behalf of his father at the KSDL office.

Subsequent raids led to the detection of unaccounted cash of Rs 8.23 crore from Virupakshappas house, sources said.

We arrested him in Tumakuru when he (the MLA) was on the way to Bengaluru," Lokayukta Inspector General of Police A Subramanyeshwara Rao told PTI.

The High Court had reserved its judgment in the matter last week. The case pertains to the alleged demand and receipt of bribes for allotting contract for supplying chemicals to the state-run company. Subsequent raids by the Lokayukta unearthed cash to the tune of Rs 8.23 crore.

Justice K Natarajan rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the Channagiri MLA.

All About Madal Virupakshappa

Virupakshappa, a two-time MLA, began his political career with the Congress. He had joined the BJP ahead of the 2004 Assembly polls, but it wasnt until 2008 that he emerged victorious for the first time for the BJP.

Virupakshappa later followed BS Yediyurappa and joined his Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) party. After failing to secure a seat in the 2014 polls, he made a comeback in the BJP with Yediyurappa. He won the Channagiri seat in 2018 on a BJP ticket.

Virupakshappa reportedly has three sons: Madal Mallikarjun, Prashanth Madal and Raju Madal.

After battling heart-related disorders, Virupakshappa had decided to field his son Madal Mallikarjun from the constituency as a BJP nominee in the upcoming Assembly polls. Mallikarjun is also a member of the Davangere University Syndicate. He has reportedly addressed public grievances in the constituency on behalf of his father and has identified himself as the successor of his father.

Virupakshappa is also the chairman of the state-owned Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), which manufactures the famous soap brand Mysore Sandal Soap.

Following the arrest of his son Prashanth, he resigned from the post and alleged that there was a conspiracy being hatched against him and his family

In the FIR that has been registered, Virupakshappa is accused number one and his son is the second accused.

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The BJP on Monday slammed the Congress, asking it to do serious introspection" and ponder over what is acceptable in a political and legal system.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puris comments came amidst escalated agitation by the Congress over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha and the Adani issue.

They really deserve to do some serious introspection," Puri said when asked about the Congress observing black day on Monday, a day after their partys Satyagraha protests at the Rajghat.

You know the lines of propriety, what is acceptable in the political system, the legal system. He (Rahul Gandhi) has been convicted by a court. Then, there are automatic procedures," he said, alluding to Rahul Gandhis disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP after being convicted by a Surat court for his remark in 2019.

And, then to bring in this kind of melodramatics? I mean people of India will judge them for what they are," the minister added.

Puri also slammed the Gandhis for invoking Lord Ram and Savarkar in their arguments.

The other day he said I will not apologise because I am not Savarkar. Do you know the contribution of people like Savarkar ji?. You are getting, as I said, getting an **s to run a horses race," he told reporters in Parliament complex.

With Opposition MPs continuing with their protest in Parliament complex, BJP members also staged a counter protest over the alleged insult to Savarkar and OBC by Gandhi.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said Rahul Gandhi cannot be Veer Savarkar" even in his best dreams" as the freedom fighter never stayed abroad for months together neither he sought help from foreigners against his own country.

It requires strong determination and love for the country to become V D Savarkar, he added.

Rahul Gandhi very rightly said that he wasnt Savarkar," Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.

If Rahul actually wishes to know Savarkar, then he must go to the Andaman Jail and spend time there to realise who Savarkar actually was and the kind of sacrifices he made," he added.

Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy alleged that the Congress leader doesnt understand what he says. Gandhi has been disqualified as Lok Sabha MP following a courts verdict due to such speeches", he said.

What can we do when he still doesnt mend his ways," he added.

Raising the pitch against the BJP over Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Congress held protests across the country on Sunday, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday accusing the government of trying to silence" a martyrs son" for raising the voice of people.

Countering the BJPs charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted the OBCs with his remark for which he has been convicted in a criminal defamation case, Priyanka Gandhi had asked how a leader whose family has given its blood to nurture democracy" and who has walked thousands of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity could insult the country or a certain community.

She hit out at the BJP over the allegation of dynastic politics.

How much will you insult one person?" Priyanka said and asked if Lord Ram, who was sent into exile, was a parivaarwadi".

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said Gandhi was being attacked for asking questions about industrialist Gautam Adani, who she alleged was being protected by the entire ruling establishment.

Take me to jail but the truth is this countrys prime minister is a coward. He is hiding behind his power and (he) is arrogant. But this countrys tradition is that people reply to an arrogant king," Priyanka said.

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Dressed in black, several opposition leaders including those from Congress were seen protesting against Rahul Gandhis Lok Sabha disqualification, the Adani-Hindenburg report issue, among others, outside the Parliament on Monday morning.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge explained the symbolism behind wearing black clothes. He said, We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didnt bow."

#Congress MPs wear black as an act of protest against the centre, throw paper on Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.CNN-News18s @Elizasherine speaks to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram #RahulGandhiDisqualification | @GrihaAtul pic.twitter.com/op7lnOGF42  News18 (@CNNnews18) March 27, 2023

The protest took place near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex, and Congress MP Sonia Gandhi was also seen raising slogans against Centre. A huge Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with save democracy" written on them were seen in the hands of MPs, as they proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.

How has Adanis wealth multiplied so much in the last few years. When you are going to foreign countries how many times have you taken the industrialist with you. The PM has not been able to give answers to questions raised against Adani," Kharge told reporters at Vijay Chowk.

We want a JPC on the Adani issue. Why is the government not agreeing to this? Why are you scared of a JPC probe it means dal mein kuchh kala hai (something is wrong)," he said.

The opposition has been seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group. Kharge also raised the issue of Rahul Gandhis disqualification as MP after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case.

You want to defame Rahul Gandhi that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy," Kharge said.

Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from opposition protests, also joined the sit-in on Monday.

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Taking a swipe at Oppositions black protest in Parliament over disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday advised the party to do some serious introspection.

Hardeep Singh Puri also reacted to Rahul Gandhis recent Savarkar remark and said, You know the contribution of people like Savarkarji? As I said, you are getting an ass to run a horses race."

PARLIAMENT NEWS LIVE UPDATES

Kaha bhagwan Ram and kaha these guysThe other day he said I am not apologising because I am not Savarkar You know the contribution of people like Savarkarji? As I said, you are getting an ass to run a horses race," Hardeep Puri said.

WATCH HERE:

#WATCH | On Opposition's protest over disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says, "You are getting an ass to run a horse's raceThey really deserve to do some serious introspectionPeople of India would judge them for what they areFight pic.twitter.com/2Yjq3ybcWG ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarats Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said, My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone".

ALSO READ: One Doesnt Become Brave Shiv Sena Warns Rahul on Veer Savarkar, Says Wont Tolerate Insults

Hardeep Singh Puri further said that Congress really deserves to do some serious introspection. You know, lines of propriety, what is accepted in political discourse, legal system being convicted by a court and then there are automatic procedures. And to bring in these kind of melodramatics? I mean the people of India will judge them for what they are."

Democracy is about the executive, the legislature, the judiciary. Fight courts action in the court. And then you are invoking Mahabharat, Savarkarkya ho raha hai ye? [what is happening?]" Puri added.

Wearing black clothes, several opposition MPs on Monday took out a march from parliament to Vijay Chowk to protest against the government over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhis disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didn't bow: pic.twitter.com/HCBr1yDhsy ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

The protesters, including Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government.

Holding a huge Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.

(With PTI and ANI inputs)

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Shiv Sena has slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in its mouthpiece, Saamana, for making statements against Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar. The party reminded him that Savarkar fought against slavery and the British Rule, and it will not tolerate any insult to him.

The editorial said, Rahul Gandhi is repeatedly giving statements like my name is not Savarkar, but by giving such statements one doesnt become brave nor peoples trust over Savarkar will go.

The editorial is a clear indication by Uddhav Thackeray that despite Shiva Sena being part of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), it will not take such disparaging views on Veer Savarkar lying down.

Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP are part of MVA alliance in Maharashtra.

In the past too, when MVA was not formed, Shiv Sena had taken a stand against Rahul Gandhis statements for criticising Veer Savarkar and reminded him of the scarifies his family had made for the country.

What happened with Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case is injustice, but by insulting Savarkar, he cant win the battle of truth. Gandhi is born into a family who sacrificed their lives for the country and that is the truth but even Savarkar and his family has worked for the country, read Saamana.

The editorial also warned Congress and Rahul Gandhi that series of such statements against Savarkar will create problems for the party in Maharashtra.

The party also reminded Rahul Gandhi how the pages of ordinances, which he had torn, could have given security to the peoples representatives but now his parliamentary membership has also got cancelled.

Uddhav Thackeray at a rally in Malegaon on Sunday evening said though his party joined Congress Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi should avoid making such statements that will further cause tension between the parties.

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Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and partys national vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda has told News18 that the opposition unity front is the only tool to overpower the BJP in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha Polls.

The senior leader said regional parties, including SP, would play a pivotal role in forming the opposition front as he discussed the SPs roadmap which he said would eventually lead to BJPs defeat in 2024.

Nanda also discussed the main agenda discussed at length during the partys national executive meeting in Kolkata recently. He also made it clear that the party is not maintaining distance from Congress as it is there to support all those who are fighting against BJP.

At a time when our Constitution and democracy are at stake, an opposition unity front is perhaps the only tool to overpower BJP in the upcoming 2024 elections. In this fight against BJP, the regional parties  especially SP  will play a pivotal role in the days to come, Nanda told News18.

He said efforts are on to form the front with all parties that are fighting BJP in their own regions or states. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and others are all fighting BJP in their own way. The aim is to bring them together and form a front. I am sure the front will take shape in the days to come, said Nanda.

Referring to Uttar Pradeshs political scenario, Nanda said the SP was the strongest party in the countrys most populous state and would play a crucial role. We will win all 80 seats in UP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In 2012, when we came to power in UP, we bagged 21 per cent votes in totality whereas in 2022, SP succeeded in bagging a good chunk of votes. I am sure if the seats represented by SP and that by the alliance are handled well, the BJP will surely lose all 80 seats in UP, the senior leader said.

Nanda also shared the partys roadmap, which he said would lead to BJPs defeat in 2024. If we want to win, we have to work from the ground level. Hence, we have decided to strengthen the booth-level committees that lay the main foundation of victory. We will also rope in a woman member each from families and tell them about the achievements and development work carried out during SPs regime, he added.

He added that there is a need to make people aware of the BJPs fake claims and the same will be done in the days to come. We will tell them that not even a single promise from the BJPs election manifestos released in 2014, 2019 and 2022 elections has been fulfilled. I am sure people will understand the difference between fake and real, Nanda said.

Another important factor that would be kept in mind is keeping a tab on the discrepancies in voter list. We wont let the ruling party tamper with the voters list which happened in previous elections when names of voters, particularly who are the SPs vote bank, were removed. We will ensure such things wont happen in the days to come, he added.

SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav also held a press conference on Sunday in which he said national parties should support the regional parties in the fight against BJP.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a jibe at Congress over protest against the government saying it has become so demoralised that it has to take the support of black magic.

Wearing black clothes, several opposition MPs on Monday took out a march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk to protest against the government over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhis disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

Addressing a press conference, Union Minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal said Congress isnt letting the house run and is trying to mislead people by making statements.

Today Congress people came in black clothes into the House. Do they want to disrespect the law, were they justifying the remarks regarding OBCs or this protest was against SC? There have been 12 other cases as well of the members who were disqualified after the courts decision. His own party leader was asking Rahul Gandhi to apologise but he didnt do that due to his arrogance.

Attacking Congress further, Goyal said, Congress intentions are of insulting the OBC community, their mentality is against the OBC community. Rahul Gandhi has no right to consider himself above the law of the country Where do we see black clothes? Congress is so demoralised that now it has to take the support of black magic.

Earlier in the day, the protesters, including Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government.

Holding a huge Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.

How has Adanis wealth multiplied so much in the last few years? When you are going to foreign countries how many times have you taken the industrialist with you? The PM has not been able to give answers to questions raised against Adani," Kharge told reporters at Vijay Chowk.

We want a JPC on the Adani issue. Why is the government not agreeing to this? Why are you scared of a JPC probe it means dal mein kuchh kala hai (something is wrong)," he said.

The opposition has been seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of corporate fraud and stock price manipulations against the Adani Group.

Kharge also raised the issue of Rahul Gandhis disqualification as MP after a Surat court convicted and sentenced him in a 2019 criminal defamation case.

You want to defame Rahul Gandhi that is why you transferred the case to Gujarat even as the comments were made in Kolar in Karnataka. Today is a black day for democracy," Kharge said.

Kharge said opposition MPs were dressed in black as the prime minister is finishing" democracy.

Trinamool Congress, which has so far stayed away from opposition protests, joined the sit-in on Monday.

(With PTI inputs)

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CloudSEK researchers have discovered a malware campaign started by cybercriminals in mid-February using ChatGPTs popularity.

Within a month, it has already affected 13 Facebook accounts or pages, with over 500K followers, including one Indian page which had over 2 lakh followers. The team also revealed that the threat actors targeted YouTube and hijacked the existing accounts and they are following the same method for Facebook accounts and pages.

After taking over the Facebook pages, the cybercriminals modify the profile information section to make it look like an authentic ChatGPT page. The threat actors also changed the username ChatGPT OpenAI" and made the ChatGPT image the profile picture.

Using these compromised accounts, they also ran Facebook ads promoting the latest version of ChatGPT, GPT- V4", which, when downloaded, installs stealer malware on the victims device.

USING TRELLO, GOOGLE DRIVE

According to the findings, threat actors distributed malware via a variety of channels, including Trello boards, Google Drive and various individual websites embedded in Facebook ads. These ads are made to look authentic and contain all the information required to persuade unwary consumers that they are genuine. To give the scam more legitimacy, a password is included with the download URL.

CloudSEK told News18 that as of today, 9 out of 13 Facebook accounts/pages are still actively distributing malware using Facebook posts and ads.

The researchers also shared the link to the compromised Indian Facebook page and News18 found that it is still showing ChatGPTs logo and the profile name, which suggested that the page is neither flagged nor blocked.

ON FEB 13

However, as per the findings, the earliest example of such a hijacking occurred on February 13 this year and involved a page with more than 23K followers. Not only that, the researchers also noticed the threat actors have also targeted recently created accounts, some of which were only 0 days old.

The findings also emphasized how the majority of the hijacked accounts repeatedly used a certain video to draw in and keep their audience interested. This trend implies that the effort to spread malware through Facebook ads is most likely the work of a specific threat actor or a group.

STEALING INFO

The malware in circulation is capable of stealing sensitive information from the users device, such as personal details, system information, credit card details and so on. It also has replication capabilities, making it easier to spread across systems via removable media.

However, the researchers said that despite the fact that different people from separate countries created the original pages, the majority of the hijacked Facebook accounts were being controlled by cyber criminals from Vietnam, the Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan and Mexico.

Additionally, among these countries, threat actors from Vietnam and the Philippines exhibited the highest incidence of compromised accounts.

CloudSEK told News18 that those who are interested in OpenAIs services or want to use ChatGPT should visit the official ChatGPT website or the OpenAI website. According to them, as the ChatGPT is an online-based service, there is no need to download any software on your system. So be cautious of any downloadable software that claims to be ChatGPT.

Furthermore, it also advised not to disclose any personal information, such as mobile number, home address, or payment details, if the website looks suspicious. As per the researchers, users should verify the websites legitimacy before sharing any information.

Read all the Latest Tech News here
Microsoft is adding AI-generated stories" for some user searches on its Bing search engine, as it adds more GPT-driven features to its products.

According to the company, Bing will now craft AI-generated stories that provide you with multiple ways to consume bite-sized information through text, images, video, and audio".

Stories are perfect for visual and auditory learners, and they are available to all Bing users in English, French, Japanese, German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and Arabic," said Microsoft.

The stories are similar to the ones you will see on social media platforms like Instagram or Snapchat.

The company is also upgrading its Knowledge Cards that appear on the right-hand side of the Bing search results page.

These are designed to help users explore topics that interest them with facts, image-based timelines, polls, actions, and related topics.

Weve expanded the richness and breadth of knowledge cards supported by Bing using generative AI," said the company.

Additionally, the company has addressed some known issues with Bing chat, including making it easier for users to copy chat text from the Bing mobile app on iOS.

It is improving voice detection in the Bing mobile app so messages arent sent before users are done speaking.

We are fixing cases where Bing search queries would inadvertently trigger a chat with the same query when you scroll up," said the Microsoft team.

Read all the Latest Tech News here
Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus recently confirmed the launch of its two new Nord products in India. According to the company, the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G handset and OnePlus Nord Buds 2 TWS will be revealed on April 4 at OnePlus Larger than life launch event in the country.

The brand confirmed that OnePlus Nord Launch Event will be an online launch event on 4 April at 7:00 PM IST, 2023. Like the other OnePlus products, both OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G and OnePlus Nord Buds 2 will be up on sale via Amazon and the OnePlus website.

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G will come with a fresh new Pastel Lime colour and a two-circle camera layout. OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G also follows on from the success of its predecessors and will pack elevated key features into an affordable package, the company said.

The teaser video posted by OnePlus on their Twitter handle reveals the entire design of the phone. Also, the Nord Buds 2 is looking quite identical to its predecessor. OnePlus has also created a dedicated microsite for upcoming products. As per the microsite, OnePlus is offering early bird benefits for those buying the Nord CE 3 Lite.

OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite Specifications

According to a report from 91mobiles, OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 695 processor, which will enable 5G network support. The chipset will be supported by 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage. The smartphone will run Android 13-based OxygenOS 13 skin out of the box.

The phone is expected to feature a 120Hz refresh rate and an IPS LCD panel. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite is likely to pack a 5,000mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging. In terms of optics, the smartphone will have a 64MP primary sensor and a 16MP shooter on the front for selfies.

Read all the Latest Tech News here
California Democratic Party and House of Representative member Ro Khanna announced on Sunday that he will not be running for Senate next year.

The Indian-American will endorse fellow California House of Representative Barbara Lees campaign to replace retiring California Democratic Party senator Dianne Feinstein in the US Senate.

Dianne Feinstein has served as a US Senator from California since 1992 and is the oldest sitting senator.

Khanna revealed that he will be backing Lee during news broadcaster CNNs State of the Union programme. I have concluded that despite a lot of enthusiasm from Bernie folks, the best place, the most exciting place for me to serve as a progressive is in the House of Representatives, Khanna was quoted as saying by CNN.

A close ally of Vermonts independent senator Bernie Sanders, Khanna, praised Lee for being a strong anti-war senator and a unique voice while pointing out that, if elected, Lee would be filling up the role of being an African American woman in the current United States Senate.

Carol Moseley Braun was the first African-American woman elected to the Senate in 1993.

We dont have a single African American woman in the United States Senate. She would fill that role. Shell be the only candidate from Northern California and shes going to consolidate a lot of progressives. The other two are formidable candidates, but I think Barbara is going to be very, very strong, Khanna further added.

The other two candidates that Khanna was referring to are his colleagues from the Democratic Party and the House of Representatives Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, who are also running for Feinsteins Senate seat.

According to a report by Politico in January, Ro Khanna was considering a presidential run in 2028, but a challenge to Joe Biden in 2024 was also on the cards.

The reports surfaced after Khannas retained veteran Democrat officials and paid an Iowa firm. When the report was published he did not rule out running for Senate.

Barbara Lee has represented Californias 13th district in the House of Representatives since 1998 and is famous for being the only member of Congress to vote against authorization of military action after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Schiff represents Californias 28th district in the House and led the Houses impeachment inquiry against former US president Trump.

Katie Porter represents Californias 45th district in the House and is a former consumer protection attorney.

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China skipped participating in a G20 meeting held in Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday. The meeting was attended by over 100 international delegates, including the US.

The delegates also visited the local legislative assembly as part of the meeting. China doesnt recognise Indias sovereignty over Arunachala and claims the area as a part of South Tibet.

There is no delegation from China. Around 100 delegates, representing the G20 countries, besides Indian delegates, arrived in the capital city on Saturday for a two-day programme, a senior state official said, according to the Economic Times.

The report said that it is not yet known whether China lodged an official protest with India against the meeting. Beijing has so far been supportive of Indias G20 presidency.

The event in Arunachal Pradesh was part of the 200 meetings scheduled in over 50 major cities across India. The theme of the G20 meeting in Itanagar was Research, innovation initiative, gathering, and was organised by the state science and technology department, the report said.

Earlier this month Chinas foreign minister Qin Gang visited India for G20 foreign ministers meeting.

After assuming the G20 presidency last year, India said it will take the G20 to all corners of the country. The UN ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said the meetings will take place in all the 28 states and 8 Union Territories.

India will be hosting a G20 meeting on culture in Jammu and Kashmir in May, according to Times of India. However, Pakistan has been lobbying China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to stop India from hosting the meeting in Srinagar.

Islamabad sees any proposal for a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir as designed to seek international legitimacy and said last year that the member states should be fully cognisant of the imperatives of law and justice and reject it.

The Group of Twenty (G20) is an inter-governmental forum comprising Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

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The United States welcomes the decision on Monday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay a decision on divisive plans for a judicial overhaul until next month, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Netanyahu on Monday delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul until next month amid fears that the countrys worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.

We welcome this announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise. A compromise is precisely what we have been calling for. And we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible, Jean-Pierre said.

The United States remains concerned about the situation in Israel and President Joe Biden has shared his concerns about a proposed judicial overhaul directly with Netanyahu, the White House said on Monday.

We remain concerned by the recent developments, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, calling for compromise.

Kirby noted that Israel had been invited to a U.S.-organized Summit for Democracy later this week.

Kirby said Biden has been very forthright with Netanyahu about his concerns. Asked if Biden was worried that Israel would devolve into civil war, Kirby said he was not.

He said U.S. concerns about the judicial reform legislation were that it would fly in the face of the principle of having checks and balances in government.

All of that concern comes from  a place of respect and friendship and admiration for the Israeli people, for Israel as a country and for Israels democracy, Kirby said.

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Months of turmoil in Israel over controversial judicial reforms that have sparked massive anti-government protests deepened on Monday as unions declared a strike and flights were suspended.

As embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to address the nation about the crisis, AFP looks back at key moments.

- Jan. 4: reforms unveiled -

Israels Justice Minister Yariv Levin unveils plans to reform the judicial system which would give politicians more power over the courts.

The proposed measures include giving parliament the power to overrule some Supreme Court decisions, and the government a greater say in the appointment of judges.

Levin claims the courts power to strike down legislation is a danger" to democracy.

Critics accuse Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charge he denies, of trying to use the reforms to quash possible judgements against him.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid says the proposal endangers the entire legal system of the State of Israel".

- Jan. 7: first mass protests -

Thousands of people in Tel Aviv demonstrate against the reforms and other policies of Netanyahus administration, one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history.

Some protesters carry placards warning: Democracy in danger".

- Jan. 12: top judge speaks out -

Supreme Court president Esther Hayut in rare public remarks calls the reform package an unbridled attack on the legal system, as if it were an enemy".

- Jan. 21: demonstrations spread -

By the third week of Saturday protests, the numbers of demonstrators grow to the tens of thousands and spread from Tel Aviv to other cities, including Haifa and Jerusalem.

- Jan. 24: tech workers join in -

Hundreds of Israeli high-tech workers join the protests, claiming the governments controversial plans will hurt the flourishing sector  a cornerstone of Israels economy  by undermining the rule of law and pushing away investors.

- Feb. 12: presidents appeal -

President Isaac Herzog, who has a largely ceremonial role, warns Israel is on the verge of legal and social collapse" and urges Netanyahu not to introduce the reforms.

- Feb. 21: UN urges rethink -

Volker Turk, the United Nations human rights chief, urges Israel to pause the reforms, saying he is concerned that if passed, these changes risk weakening human rights protections for all."

Netanyahu denounces the appeal as an absurdity".

- Mar. 1: police crackdown -

Police in Tel Aviv use stun grenades, water cannon and officers on horseback to disperse protesters who attempt to block roads and railways in what organisers call a day of disruption".

Netanyahu accuses the demonstrators of crossing a red line" and says he would not tolerate anarchy".

- Mar. 6: fighter pilots protest -

Thirty-seven Israeli air force pilots announce boycott of military training in protest at the reforms.

- Mar. 15: German concern -

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expresses great concern" over the reforms during a visit by Netanyahu to Berlin, calling on the Israeli government to compromise.

- Mar. 19: Biden call -

US President Joe Biden in a call with Netanyahu also urges compromise".

He tells the Israeli leader that the judicial reforms must respect the democratic values that Biden calls a hallmark" of the US-Israeli relationship.

- Mar. 25: minister breaks ranks -

Israels Defence Minister Yoav Gallant breaks ranks with Netanyahu by calling to halt legislation.

He cites a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israels security" as the unrest spreads to security agencies.

An estimated 200,000 people demonstrate in Tel Aviv.

- Mar. 26: minister fired -

Back from a visit to London, Netanyahu fires Gallant.

The United States says it is deeply concerned" about the developments in Israel.

- Mar. 27: general strike -

Israels top trade union leader Arnon Bar-David declares a general strike.

President Herzog calls for the reform to be halted immediately".

Justice Minister Levin says he will accept any decision that Prime Minister Netanyahu makes".

Netanyahu is due to address the nation later on Monday.

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US President Joe Biden described the deadly school shooting at a Nashville school that killed six people as sick" and said gun violence is tearing the nations soul."

Its just sick," he said at the White House while speaking at Small Business Administrations Womens Business Summit Monday.

Biden called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban. Its ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of the nation," he said. We need to do more to protect our schools," he added.

On Monday, a 28-year-old woman killed three children and three staff at a private elementary school in Nashville Monday before being shot dead by police.

An active shooter event has taken place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, on Burton Hills Dr. The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead. Student reunification with parents is at Woodmont Baptist Church, 2100 Woodmont Blvd. pic.twitter.com/vO8p9cj3vx Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 27, 2023

Armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, the shooter entered the Christian Covenant School from a side door before opening fire, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron told a press conference.

The assailant is believed to be a former student at the school.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called on lawmakers to pass gun safety legislation in the wake of the Nashville school shooting.

How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system, or to require the safe storage of guns? We need to do something, she said during a press conference.

First Lady of the United States Jill Biden also expressed her dismay over the Nashville shooting incident. Another school shooting. I am truly without words  our children deserve better. We stand  all of us  with Nashville," she tweeted.

Another school shooting. I am truly without words  our children deserve better.We stand  all of us  with Nashville.  Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) March 27, 2023

School shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years.

Bidens calls for Congress to reinstate the national ban on assault rifles, which existed from 1994 to 2004, has run up against opposition from Republicans, who are staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP)

In 2023 there were 38,000 deaths by gunfire  excluding suicide  in the United States.

There have been 129 mass shootings  defined as incidents in which four or more people were shot or killed  so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

(With agency inputs)

Read all the Latest News here
Hong Kong police allowed activists to take out a small protest march under tight restrictions on Sunday. This is the first time since the implementation of the sweeping national security law in 2020 a protest has been allowed.

However, the demonstrators were told to wear numbered lanyards and barred from wearing masks. News agency Reuters reported that police gave a seven letter no-objection letter underlining the requirements and also monitored their march.

The news agency said that the protestors were marching against a proposed land reclamation and rubbish processing project.

The protest took place in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O, where the project is being built. They marched with banners and chanted slogans against the reclamation project.

The letter mentioned that only 100 participants can join the protest. We need to have a more free-spirited protest culture, 49-year-old James Ockenden, who was marching with his three children, was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

But this is all pre-arranged and numbered and it just destroys the culture and will put people off from coming for sure, Ockenden further said.

Hong Kong police on Sunday permitted a small protest march under tight restrictions in one of the first demonstrations to be approved since the lifting of covid restrictions and the enactment of a sweeping national security law in 2020. pic.twitter.com/JMb0wFXZIv Jessie Pang (@JessiePang0125) March 26, 2023

The Hong Kong Development Bureau, against whom the protest was aimed at, said their land reclamation project is aimed at supporting daily needs of the community.

It also said that right to freedom of expression will be respected by the organisation and studies will be conducted to look for possibilities of reducing the scale of the land reclamation.

The letter also directed protesters to refrain from violating national security laws, including seditious displays or speech.

The police warned against lawbreakers mixing with the protesters and disrupting public order or even engaging in illegal violence.

The organisers said at least 80 people joined Sundays protest.

Authorities have denied permission to hold a candlelight vigil on June 4 to commemorate the victims of Chinas Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 and have also declined applications for other protests.

Authorities have clamped down on freedoms and arrested scores of opposition politicians and activists after China imposed the national security law, enacted in June 2020.

The law was enacted to quell the protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019 despite Hong Kongs mini-constitution, the Basic Law, guaranteeing the right to peaceful assembly.

One protester told Reuters that she found the lanyards - a type of strap or cord with a hook for holding ID cards - not as a leash and acceptable and a means to facilitate crowd control.

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The Histadrut national labour union, Israels largest trade union on Monday said diplomats at Israeli missions around the world are also striking against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu governments plan to overhaul the judiciary.

A spokesperson for Israels Embassy in the United States confirmed the shutdown until further notice. Today (3/27), the Histadrut, Israels largest labor union, instructed all government employees to go on strike, including Israels diplomatic missions around the world. The Embassy of Israel will be closed today until further notice and no consular services will be provided," Elad Strohmayer said in a post on Twitter.

Today (3/27), the Histadrut, Israel's largest labor union, instructed all government employees to go on strike, including Israels diplomatic missions around the world. The Embassy of Israel will be closed today until further notice and no consular services will be provided. Elad Strohmayer (@EladStr) March 27, 2023

In India, the Israel embassy in New Delhi will remain shut and will provide no consular service as part following a call from the Histadrut for a strike.

According to Yaniv Levy, the spokesman for Histadrut, only emergency services are being provided by the missions. The strike has reportedly affected ambassadors and consuls-general.

Unverified reports in the local media, quoting sources in Netanyahus Likud party, have said that the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to freeze the Judicial blitz that has completely paralysed the nation with widespread strikes across all walks of life.

What are the Protests About?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government appeared to be pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul of a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments.

It also seeks to pass laws that would grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws. Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

However, the move is criticised saying the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest

Workers from across a range of fields went on strike Monday, in a bid to ramp up pressure on Prime Minister to scrap the overhaul plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday called on protesters to behave responsibly and refrain from violence", as citizens from across the country gather in Jerusalem to demonstrate against the governments controversial plan. The protest has gained support from workers in various sectors.

Netanyahus appeal came hours after President Isaac Herzog Monday appealed to him to immediately halt his controversial judicial overhaul, warning that the move has put the countrys security, economy and society under threat.

President Herzogs remarks came after thousands of protesters burst into the streets in anger over Prime Minister Netanyahus decision to sack his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing his judicial reforms.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the judicial overhaul poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state"

An unconfirmed Channel 12 report said that 600,000-700,000 Israelis were demonstrating late on Sunday across the country, with protests reported from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Myanmars head of the military government General Min Aung Hlaing said the junta will not back down and will continue fighting those opposing the military rule, no matter how high the costs are, the BBC said in a report.

Hlaings comments came during Myanmars annual military parade. The democratically elected government led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in a coup detat in 2021 and the ensuing civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and more than a million people have been displaced.

In a rare speech, General Hlaing said the junta will deal with armed resistance groups in a decisive manner and termed their actions acts of terror. He also sent a message to other countries who have condemned the coup and told them to join the military and help the military shape its own form of democracy.

The BBC pointed out that the parade was lavish and General Min Aung Hlaing was seen inspecting thousands of multi-coloured and impeccably-ordered troops in an open-top jeep, while millions of Myanmarese live in terrible economic hardship.

Hlaing also said that democracy will return to Myanmar and said the process will be gradual. He promised that power would be handed over to the winning party, the BBC said.

Myanmar remains isolated from the world due to the large number of sanctions placed on it and its officials but Russia and China are backing the junta regime. Though there were no international representatives, the attaches of China and Russia, attended the parade, the news agency said.

During the parade, the junta paraded Chinese and Russian aircraft and helicopters - Russian MI35 gunships.

A Chinese K-8 ground attack aircraft and the recently purchased FTC2000 jets which have been used to strike at insurgent camps were also paraded.

There were also multiple rocket launchers being paraded by the junta during the event in Naypyidaw.

General Hlaing blamed British imperialism and Japanese fascism and Aung San Suu Kyi for Myanmars troubles, ignoring the alleged attacks carried out by the junta on the dissidents.

The Nobel Peace prize laureate was accused of trying to fraudulently grab power and the elections, which she won, were also termed fraudulent by the junta leader.

Read all the Latest News here
Two people have been shot at a Gurdwara in Sacramento County in California in the United States on Monday in a crime seemingly related to personal rivalry.

Both the victims are said to be critical, according to a report in ANI.

The police have ruled out a hate crime and said that it was a shootout between two men who knew each other.

Two people shot at a Gurdwara in Sacramento County, California. The shooting is not related to a hate crime, it is a shootout between two men who knew each other," the Sacramento County Police said in a statement.

The Sacramento County Sheriffs Office says two people were shot at a Sikh temple in the Sacramento area. This happened during a huge celebration here today. pic.twitter.com/JLvOT6oPUI Lysee Mitri (@LyseeMitri) March 26, 2023

According to the police, a fistfight had broken out between two men on the temple premises, which escalated to a shooting.

They also said that both the victims have been hospitalized and are expected to survive. It is likely that one of the victims will be arrested, according to India Today.

The temple is located near Gerber Road, approximately five miles east of Highway 99.

Read all the Latest News here
The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.

Read all the Latest News here
A 28-year-old woman killed three children and three staff at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday before being shot dead by police, in the latest outburst of gun violence to shock the United States.

Armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, the shooter entered the Christian Covenant School from a side door before opening fire, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron told a press conference.

Officers were on the scene within about 15 minutes of receiving the first emergency call around 10:00 am (1500 GMT), engaging the shooter who returned fire before she was shot dead.

The young woman, identified by police as a 28-year-old from Nashville, fired multiple shots as she advanced through the school, Aaron said. There was no initial indication of a motive for the shooting.

We now know that there are three students who were fatally wounded, as well as three adults inside the school," Aaron said, specifying that the adults were among the 40-50 staff at the school.

We are working to identify those victims, including the shooter."

He said there were no other injuries.

All of the remaining students were able to be escorted out of the building with faculty and staff," Kendra Loney of the Nashville fire department said.

We were on scene to help them mitigate anyone from seeing exactly what else was going on," she said.

But we are sure that they heard the chaos that was surrounding this, so we do have mental health specialists and professionals that are at that reunification site for both the students and the families."

The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian institution with a little more than 200 students in preschool to roughly age 12.

School shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years, though female shooters are extremely rare.

The White House called the latest school shooting heartbreaking" and urged Republicans to back President Joe Bidens push for a ban on assault weapons commonly used in US mass shootings.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had been briefed on the heartbreaking news of another shooting of innocents" and she asked what Republicans were waiting for to step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban."

Several elected officials in the state of Tennessee likewise took to social media to express their shock.

Devastated and heartbroken about the tragic news at Covenant School," tweeted Senator Bill Hagerty.

Im grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their heroic actions."

Senator Marsha Blackburn thanked first responders and offered prayer for those affected."

Legislation tackling gun violence has met with deadlock in Washington despite the public uproar over high-profile massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people, including 20 children were killed.

Last year, a shooter in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 students and two teachers.

Read all the Latest News here
The United States is watching ongoing court cases of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, a US State Department Spokesperson said on Monday after the disqualification of Wayanad MP following conviction in a defamation case by a Surat court.

Respect for the rule of law and judicial independence is a cornerstone of any democracy, and were watching Mr. Gandhis case in Indian courts," State Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a press briefing in Washington.

Patel was responding to a question on the expulsion of the Congress leader from the Indian Parliament in the wake of the upcoming Summit for Democracy" this week.

Rahul Gandhi, a Member of Lok Sabha (MP) from Wayanad, Kerala, was disqualified on March 24 in the criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark.

He was disqualified a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a Surat court which also gave a two-year sentence to him.

The State Department Spokesperson said that the Biden administration engages with the Indian government on a shared commitment to democratic values, including of course freedom of expression.

The US engages with the government of India on our shared commitment to democratic values, including of course freedom of expression in our engagements with our Indian partners," he added.

We continue to highlight the importance of democratic principles and the protection of human rights including freedom of expression as a key to strengthening both our democracies," Vedant Patel said.

Opposition parties stepped up their offensive against the government and observed a black day for democracy on Monday, three days after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.

(With PTI inputs)

Read all the Latest India News here
Stopping the next pandemic from happening might rely on stopping tree lossand we're failing woefully on that front. In its deep dive into the subject, ProPublica goes down two paths: It takes a look at what happened in Meliandou, Guinea, in 2013 to cause the worst Ebola outbreak on record and where the village is at now. And it presents the results of an analysis that evaluates the risk of viral spillover from deforestation at various sites. The findings are grim. Of six epicenters of previous Ebola outbreaks that were evaluated, five experienced worsening tree loss, "raising their chances of facing the deadly virus again." Deforestation is problematic in that it puts humans and infected animalsparticularly bats and ratsin close proximity.

In Meliandou, ProPublica describes forest clearings that look like holes in Swiss cheese. The slopes erode easily and quickly lose nutrients, causing villagers to regularly cut down new swaths of forest to farm. Extinguishing the Ebola epidemic that jumped from a bat to a toddler named Emile to other Meliandou villagers to some 28,600 people ending up costing $3.6 billion. And yet no money has been spent on teaching the villagers farming methods that could mitigate their need to clear additional forest. Echoes of this can be seen in COVID-19 spending, with a global pandemic prevention fund opting to cover things like labs and disease surveillance in its initial round of funding rather than addressing deforestation. Reducing the risk of spillover wouldn't be cheap, but the economic and human cost of pandemics is much higher, ProPublica argues. (For much, much more, read the full story.)
Monday was set to be the day when Baidu, China's largest search engine operator, showcased its new "Ernie Bot" via livestream to the media and general public, focusing on how the AI-driven chatbot worked with a smart cloud product. The South China Morning Post reports there was an 11th-hour change, however, as the more public forum was replaced by a "closed-door communications meeting" with possible corporate clients, per a statement from the company. Baidu noted the format tweak was due to "strong demand" from 120,000 or so firms that want to test-drive the bot, reports Al Jazeera.

A session the media can attend will take place at a later date, the company added. Ernie Bot, a service akin to OpenAI's ChatGPT, saw its official rollout on March 16, with only a select few given the chance to put it through its paces. Al Jazeera notes reaction to Ernie's debut was "muted," and that Baidu's attempt to put Ernie up against ChatGPT has faced obstacles due to China's internet censorship. Bumps in the initial launch, led by Baidu CEO Robin Li, included Ernie seemingly not able to generate text when faced with an image. Tests by Reuters also found the bot produced factual errors and steered clear of political questions.

Videos from Monday's shuttered meeting were released afterward showing Ernie Bot "summarizing financial statements and producing PowerPoint presentations," as well as crafting travel itineraries, per Reuters. Investors seemingly weren't thrilled that the live demo for all was yanked at the last minute: Baidu shares plummeted by as much as 4.5% Monday morning. Baidu is the first China-based company to debut a ChatGPT-like technology, though rivals Alibaba, Huawei, and Tencent have similar projects in development. (Read more Baidu stories.)
What's going on in Oklahoma? Earlier this month, a police captain there arrested on suspicion of DUI asked, in vain, for the officer who'd pulled him over to turn off his bodycam. Now, another incident in which more cops from the Sooner State faced a similarly confrontational dilemma with a state lawmaker who insisted his arrest was unconstitutional. Per an arrest affidavit cited by the Oklahoman, Sgt. Timothy Brewer of the Oklahoma City Police Department says GOP Rep. Dean Davis was detained early Thursday in the city's Bricktown neighborhood, after Brewer and another officer noticed Davis and others still hanging out on the patio of a local bar shortly after the city's required 2am shutdown.

Per the affidavit, cops asked the lingering patrons at Skinny Slim's to leave, including one man who was told three times to ditch his drink and go home, per KFOR. That man, IDed as Davis, did finally put his drink down, per the arrest report, though he told Brewer, "You don't know how bad you messed up, [but] you will find out tomorrow." That's when Brewer says he told Davis to put his hands behind his back, at which point Davis was handcuffed and brought to Brewer's patrol vehicle. "You can't detain me," Davis says in bodycam footage released to the Washington Post (the Oklahoman also has video). "I can, and I am right now," Brewer replied.

Davis, who by then had become "argumentative," per the affidavit, next asked Brewer to pull a card out of his wallet and read what it said on the back. It read: "Senators and Representatives shall, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature." Davis insisted that because the state Legislature had kicked off its most recent session on Feb. 6, he couldn't be arrested; Brewer disagreed, noting Davis wasn't actually at the state Capitol working at the time. Davis, who claimed he had cola in his cup when he was arresteda claim backed up by another lawmaker he was with at the barwas charged with public drunkenness, a misdemeanor.

Later that day, he told colleagues on the state House floor he was sorry for "creating this unnecessary distraction," though he denied any wrongdoing. At a Friday presser, Gov. Kevin Stitt reacted to the arrest, noting to KFOR, "People sometimes make poor choices and ... they need to be held accountable." The outlet notes that Davis, who sits on the House's Alcohol, Tobacco, and Controlled Substances panel, pleaded no contest to DUI charges in 2019, an incident for which he was placed on probation. (Read more Oklahoma stories.)
The most well-known business entrepreneur in China appears to have ended a three-year exile from the country after he ran afoul of Beijing. Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group, resurfaced in China on Monday as he visited a school in Hangzhou, where his tech company is headquartered, reports the BBC. Ma appears to have been living abroad for the past three years, after his public criticism of Chinese bank regulators in a 2020 speech preceded a regulatory crackdown on private businessesespecially in the fintech sectorand massive fines on his company, per the Wall Street Journal.

Ma and the government appear to have mended fences, reports Reuters. New Premier Li Quiana asked him to return from Japan late last year to help shore up confidence in China's private sector, according to the outlet. Whether this tentative first step will make a difference is up in the air, says author Fraser Howie, viewed as an expert on Chinese business. "I can see how this sort of signals a relaxation but none of the laws and institutions set up to control the private sector have changed," he says. "The state won, Jack has lost control, power, wealth, and it's not coming back." (Read more Jack Ma stories.)
Prince Harry had his day in court on Monday, appearing unexpectedly at London's High Court in his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited that accuses the Daily Mail publisher of phone-tapping and invasion of privacy. As CNN reports, the Duke of Sussex is among several celebrities suing ANL, including Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley, Doreen Lawrence, David Furnish, and Elton John. The court is deciding in a preliminary hearing expected to last four days whether to allow the plaintiffs' suit to go forward.

Said their lawyer, per the BBC: "They are ... mortified to consider all their conversations, some of which were very personal indeed, were tapped, taped, packaged and consumed as a commercial product for journalists and unknown others to pick over." Harry previously successfully sued ANL in 2021 over false reports that he had turned his back on the British military. (Read more Prince Harry stories.)
This story has been updated with new developments. After unprecedented protests and strikes that paralyzed Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed his controversial plan to overhaul the nation's judicial system, reports Reuters. I will give a genuine opportunity for genuine dialogue, said Netanyahu. One way or another, we will bring about a reform that returns the balance that has been lost between branches of government. The plan will be delayed at least a month until the next parliamentary session.

Earlier, amid the protests, the prime minister publicly appealed for calm. "I call on all the demonstrators in Jerusalem, on the right and the left, to behave responsibly and not to act violently," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. "We are brothers."

The turmoil stems from the plans of Netanyahu and his governing partners to "neuter" the nation's Supreme Court, as Haaretz puts it. The plan would give parliament more control over the court in what critics say would be a dangerous dismantling of checks and balances. As the AP notes, the court's power would be curbed even as Netanyahu himself faces trials in three separate cases. And it would allow his government to push through its priorities, such as making it easier for settlers to seize territory in the West Bank, per the New York Times. Netanyahu's camp, meanwhile, sees the court as unduly activist and in need of reform.

On Monday, protesters took to the streets after Netanyahu fired his defense minister over the weekend for criticizing the judicial plan. Banks, schools, and ports shut down, flights were grounded, and the nation's largest labor union announced a nationwide strike, per the Wall Street Journal. After Netanyahu spoke, the union then called off the strike.

Netanyahu, long a skillful navigator of Israeli politics, appears to have lost his political touch, according to an analysis by Steve Hendrix in the Washington Post. "It really is a mystery," says columnist Anshel Pfeffer, author of a Netanyahu biography. "It seems almost impossible that this guy who is Israel's master tactician, political strategist, the maestro of presentation, how did he misread this so badly?"

(Read more Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)
An elementary school in Florida is taking criticism for pulling the Disney film Ruby Bridges out of circulation for its students. As the Tampa Bay Times reports, the movie tells the true story of how Ruby, a Black 6-year-old girl, set off a firestorm when she attended a previously all-white school in New Orleans in 1960. After the parent of a student at North Shore Elementary School in St. Petersburg complained that the film wasn't appropriate for second graders, district officials in Pinellas County decided to pull the film until a review panel can take a look.

The parent complained that scenes of white people shouting racial epithets sent the wrong message to children, and a group that represents the interests of Black children in Pinellas schools has questioned why the views of one parent should carry so much sway. "At the highest level of decision-making in the district, they have to have more sensitivity to the diversity of the community they serve, and not overreact because one white person objected to something," said Ric Davis, president of Concerned Organization for Quality Education for Black Students. The district hasn't set a review date.

Today, the real Ruby Bridges is an author and civil rights activist, and NPR interviewed her last year about her famous experience. Among other things, she recalls not quite understanding what was happening at the time. "I did not have a clue [about why people were yelling]," she said. "But I have to say, living in New Orleans all my life and even then, I was accustomed to Mardi Gras. And that's exactly what it looked like to me. White people, Black people all lined up together, shouting and waving their hands and throwing things. And so I actually thought we would see a parade." (Read more Florida stories.)
Pope Francis sure looked stylish over the weekend, with viral photos showing up on Twitter of him wearing a white puffer jacket. The problem is that the pontiff wore no such coat. The images were fakes, but they were high-quality fakes that fooled a lot of people.

The origins: As New Scientist explains, the images were generated by the artificial-intelligence tool Midjourney, which creates such images based on text prompts. They first surfaced on Reddit before migrating to Twitter over the weekend.

As New Scientist explains, the images were generated by the artificial-intelligence tool Midjourney, which creates such images based on text prompts. They first surfaced on Reddit before migrating to Twitter over the weekend. A milestone? "I think Balenciaga pope might be the first real mass-level AI misinformation case," observed internet culture expert Ryan Broderick on Twitter. "Kinda cool to watch tbh."

Turning point: Just how real did they look? At the Guardian, 35-year-old Joel Golby writes that he had thought he was immune to being fooled by fake photos that dupe much older people who are less tech savvy. These photos fooled him, however. "I suppose this is a turning point, then: the moment 'generation internet' finally got conned online," he writes.

Just how real did they look? At the Guardian, 35-year-old Joel Golby writes that he had thought he was immune to being fooled by fake photos that dupe much older people who are less tech savvy. These photos fooled him, however. "I suppose this is a turning point, then: the moment 'generation internet' finally got conned online," he writes. Get ready: One theme in coverage from all of the aboveas well as a CNN interview Monday morningis that everyone better get ready to see lots more AI deepfakes in the weeks, months, and years ahead, and particularly during the upcoming election. In fact, fake images of Donald Trump being arrested fooled some people last week, notes the Washington Post.

One theme in coverage from all of the aboveas well as a CNN interview Monday morningis that everyone better get ready to see lots more AI deepfakes in the weeks, months, and years ahead, and particularly during the upcoming election. In fact, fake images of Donald Trump being arrested fooled some people last week, notes the Washington Post. One hint: For now, one standard giveaway to AI-generated images of people is that if you zoom in on the hands, they look a little weird, notes Forbes. "Midjourney has tremendous difficulty generating hands, and this image of the Pope is no differenthowever, it seems like a safe bet that this wont be the case forever."

(Read more deepfakes stories.)
This story has been updated with new developments. Three children and three adults were killed in a school shooting Monday morning in Nashville, reports the Tennessean. A shooter identified by police as a 28-year-old Nashville woman also is dead. Police say the shooter entered the private Christian school with two assault rifles and a handgun and was shot dead after being "engaged by" officers at the scene. A spokesperson for Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed the fatalities after the shooting at the Covenant School about 10:30am. Police say the three adults were staffers at the school.

The school is described by the AP as a private Christian school for students from preschool to sixth grade. Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes the school, called the mass shooting an "unimaginable tragedy," per the AP. "I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there," Freeman said. "I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this." (Read more school shooting stories.)
"Enough is enough," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Monday's briefing, hours after three children and three staff members were killed in a mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. "How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system, or to require the safe storage of guns?" she said, per the Washington Post. "We need to do something." Police said the shooter, a 28-year-old woman armed with two assault rifles and a handgun, was shot dead by officers at the scene.

President Biden addressed the shooting during a small-business event at the White House, the New York Times reports. He called the shooting a "family's worst nightmare" and urged Congress to pass gun control measures. "The shooter in this situation reportedly had two assault weapons and a pistol," the president said. So I call on Congress, again, to pass my assault weapons ban. Its about time that we begin to make some progress." "Its ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation," Biden said of gun violence.

Jill Biden, speaking at a National League of Cities event in Washington, also condemned the Covenant School shooting, USA Today reports. "I am truly without words and our children deserve better," the first lady said. "We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer." (Read more mass shootings stories.)
The three students shot to death Monday at a private school in Nashville were all 9 years old, police saidtwo girls and a boy. Officials identified them as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, the Tennessean reports. The adult victims were Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61. Hill was a custodian, Koonce the Covenant School's headmaster, and Peak a substitute teacher, investigators said. In an afternoon press conference, Police Chief John Drake said, "I was literally moved to tears to see this and the kids as they were being ushered out of the building."

The six were killed by Audrey Hale, 28, a former student at the school, Drake said. Hale was killed by officers less than 15 minutes after the shooting began. Hale had no criminal history and obtained two of the three weapons used locally. In a search of a house later, police said they found a plan for the attack, including maps showing existing surveillance and points of entry, as well as a written screed. All entrances to the building were locked, per USA Today, and Hale got in by shooting a door. Police said Hale was a transgender man who used male pronouns, per the Tennessean. (Read more Nashville school shooting stories.)
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The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said yesterday it had written to Washingtons top diplomat condemning comments from Israels finance minister in which he denied the existence of a Palestinian people.

The GCC, in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, called on Washington to assume its responsibilities in responding to all measures and statements that target the Palestinian people.

The letter from the six-member GCCs foreign ministers also urged the US to play its role in reaching a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israels far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, speaking earlier this month, said the Palestinians did not exist as a people, comments that sparked outrage among Arab nations.

The US State Department said it found Smotrichs comments to not only be inaccurate but also deeply concerning and dangerous. Blinken, appearing before a Senate committee, reiterated that pushback last week, saying Smotrichs comments did not reflect US values.

Smotrich is part of veteran Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus hard-right government that took office in December. The GCC ministers also denounced earlier remarks by Smotrich calling for the Palestinian town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank to be wiped out after two Israelis were shot dead there by an alleged Hamas militant in February, remarks he later walked back.

Warning

In Ramallah, Palestinian sources have warned that Israel has no intention of de-escalating during Ramadan, following a weekend of attacks in the West Bank and incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque. Yesterday, four Israeli settlers threw flammable material at the house of Ahmed Awashreh in Sinjil north of Ramallah, a village repeatedly targeted by settlers from Givat Harel, Shilo and Maale Libouna.

It comes weeks after fierce settler attacks on Huwara, Burin, and Qaryut, south of Nablus, where dozens of homes and vehicles were burned. Awashra, 35, said he and his family of six had to flee for their lives and it was a miracle no one was killed. Palestinian leaders have warned of a repeat of the 2015 attack in Duma, south of Nablus, when settlers burned the house of the Dawabsha family.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com



Twenty students of the Philippine School Bahrain participated in the Newswriting Seminar-Workshop organised by the Ang Tanglaw, the official student publication of PSB.

The goal of the workshop was to increase the students knowledge of the wide range of campus journalism opportunities available to them.

It also aimed to help the students gain a better understanding of how journalism actually operates in the present times and in a campus setting. Award-winning journalist and former Daily Tribune Senior Sub-Editor Nanju Francisco was the resource speaker, while the moderators were Jennifer A. Torres and Kebin D. Gayados.

Filipino Writers Circle Founder Cecil V. Ancheta and Photojournalist Emmanuel Von Francisco also graced the event. During the two-hour workshop, Francisco discussed the principles and elements of news writing, Interviews, Pitching Stories, and Photo Lay-outing.

The participants were given knowledge about how to get ready for journalisms various platforms today including TV, radio, print, and digital, as well as mastering the craft of reporting, story-telling, and lay-outing.

It also helped to keep the participants up-to-date on the most recent trends, strategies, and guiding principles of journalistic writing. Additionally, it emphasized the right to have access to the knowledge, information, and data needed to support journalistic values. Im hoping that this workshop will assist participants to become better at writing in a journalistic manner that upholds one of journalisms core principles: truth and accuracy, Francisco said.

At the end of each topic, the students were given a test to find out what they had learned during the workshop. The highlight of the workshop was the recitation of the Journalists Code of Ethics by the participants. The Ang Tanglaw Organization and PSB management would like to thank everyone who made the Newswriting Seminar-Workshop a success.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Kuwait Finance House  Bahrain has officially launched its Apply-and-Win rewards campaign for auto-finance clients with cash prizes worth more than BHD 9,000 during the holy month of Ramadan.

The initiative welcomes all clients who get an authorized auto-finance facility for both new and used cars from Kuwait Finance House  Bahrain during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The Apply-and-Win campaign will be held in the Auto Finance Division located in Sitra Mall.

Commenting on this initiative, Hamed Mashal, Head of Retail Banking at KFH-Bahrain, said the initiative offers a chance to win various big cash prizes from a total prize pool of over BHD 9,000.

Customers will benefit from a flexible tenor of up to 7 years, zero down-payment, as well as competitive finance rates and low admin fees.

With Murabaha structure, KFH-Bahrain provides Sharia-compliant auto-finance to its clients.

KFH-Bahrain, is committed to enabling both individual and corporate customers the best auto-financing solutions when buying their next car.

The Bank offers clients the comfort and flexibility of paying for their vehicle financing in easy installments over an agreed upon duration up to seven years.
A group of Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers plans to compile a proposal next month urging the government to ban social networking services such as TikTok if they are used for disinformation campaigns, an LDP lawmaker said on Monday.

Many U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to ban the popular Chinese-owned social media app, alleging the app could be used for data collection, content censorship and harm to childrens mental health.

Nakayama, a senior member of a ruling party lawmakers group looking into ways to enhance Japans economic security, said that proposal will not be targeting at any particular platform.

A string of Western governments and institutions have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including the UK parliament, the Dutch and Belgian administrations and the New Zealand parliament.

In Japan, the use of TikTok and other social networking services (SNSs) are prohibited on government devices that handle confidential information. ...continue reading
, Mar 28 ( BBC News ) - A university student in Japan has dressed up as Volodymyr Zelensky for his graduation ceremony.

The man donned the Ukrainian president's iconic green long-sleeved top and matching trousers, and told Japanese network Yomiuri that he took three months to grow his beard.

His costume was part of the unique graduation ceremony of Kyoto City University of Arts, which allows students to wear whatever they want.

And they certainly make the most of it.

Over the years, the weird and wonderful tradition has seen everyone from Where's Wally to Pokmon and even Jesus Christ collect their diplomas at the university. ...continue reading
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BROOKFIELD  One firefighter has been transported to the hospital after crews battled a blaze at a home on Hollow Drive.

Andy Ellis, chief of the Brookfield Volunteer Fire Company, said a call came in at 1:20 p.m. Sunday about a fire on Hollow Drive for a structure fire on a three-story home.

"There were no injuries to civilians," he said. "We had one firefighter who was overcome with exhaustion and taken to Danbury Hospital for evaluation."

Ellis said the two-alarm fire required extensive mutual aid coverage, including assistance from the Water Witch Hose Company from New Milford, Danbury Fire Department, Stony Hill Fire Department from Bethel, Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company from Newtown and Newtown Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire Company. He said the Bridgewater Fire Department covered their firehouse while crews worked to put out the blaze.

"It was probably a dozen pieces of fire apparatus and like 40 firefighters," he said.

The fire was under control in about an hour, Ellis said, adding crews were on the scene for two-and-a-half hours. He said the damage to the house was extensive, and it is uninhabitable.

"The fire marshal is on scene investigating the cause," he said.

Ellis said the Red Cross has relocated two adults and two children who lived in the home.
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GENEVA (AP)  U.N.-backed human rights experts said Monday there is evidence that crimes against humanity have been committed against Libyans and migrants in chaos-stricken Libya, including women being forced into sexual slavery.

The investigators commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council also faulted the European Union for sending support to Libyan forces that they say contributed to crimes against migrants and Libyans, and called on EU authorities to review their policies toward Libya.

The findings come in an extensive new report, based on interviews with hundreds of people, including migrants and witnesses, that wraps up a fact-finding mission created nearly three years ago to investigate rights violations and abuses in the North African country. The mission shared its findings with the International Criminal Court.

Oil-rich but largely lawless Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants seeking a better quality of life in Europe. A ctivists have long decried horrible conditions faced by migrants who were trafficked and smuggled across the Mediterranean.

Spokespersons for the government in the capital of Tripoli, which works in western Libya, and the forces of a powerful commander that controls eastern and southern Libya, were not immediately available for comment.

The investigators found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity were committed against Libyans and migrants throughout Libya, said Mohamed Auajjar, the head of the fact-finding mission. Speaking in Arabic through a translator at a news conference in Geneva, he said his team unearthed "numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, torture, rape, enslavement, sexual enslavement and enforced disappearance.

The Libyan coast guard, which has received training and equipment from the EU, has worked in close coordination" with trafficking networks in Libya, the report said. The wide-scale exploitation of vulnerable, irregular migrants churned up significant revenue that spurred continued rights violations, it said.

The support given by the EU to the Libyan coast guard in terms of pull-backs, pushbacks, (and) interceptions led to violations of certain human rights," said investigator Chaloka Beyani. "You cant push back people to areas that are unsafe, and the Libyan waters are unsafe for the embarkation of migrants.

He said the European bloc and its member states weren't found to be responsible for war crimes, but "the support given has aided and abetted the commission of the crimes.

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told reporters Monday that the EU did not fund the Libyan coast guard nor any other entity in Libya, adding that the EU assistance was meant to improve their performance.

We are providing assistance to help them improve their performance when it comes to search and rescue, be it with vessels, be it with equipment, or previously training with a focus exactly on human rights, he said.

The investigators documented enslavement, rape  at times at gunpoint  and other sexual abuse against women and men, including by guards working both for state authorities and trafficking groups.

Investigators cited evidence of crimes against humanity in prisons in parts of eastern Libya controlled by forces of commander Khalifa Hifter, as well as in areas controlled by an umbrella group of militias led by Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, an infamous warlord known as Gheniwa in the capital, Tripoli.

The U.N. migration agency, in its latest report published in mid-March, tallied nearly 700,000 migrants with 42 nationalities in Libya as of the end of last year. The investigators said the situation of human rights has been getting worse.

The missions mandate is ending when the human rights situation in Libya is deteriorating, parallel State authorities are emerging, and the legislative, executive and security sector reforms needed to uphold the rule of law and unify the country are far from being realized, it said.

Libya was plunged into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed, and left the country divided between rival governments on the east and west. The United Nations has been struggling to try to shepherd the country toward new elections.

The International Criminal Court has an ongoing investigation in Libya that was originally called for by the U.N. Security Council during the upheaval that led to Gadhafis ouster. In November, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said his office had joined a coalition of nations investigating human trafficking in the country.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
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WINDSOR LOCKS  After a three-year break, transatlantic service has been restored at Bradley International Airport.

Aer Lingus resumed its route from Windsor Locks-based Bradley to Dublin, with a flight that departed Bradley at 6 p.m. Sunday. It was the Irish flag carriers first flight from Connecticuts flagship airport to the Irish capital since March 2020, when the route was suspended at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After more than two years its great to be back flying back to Hartford. Our daily flights, from and through Dublin, will bring travelers from Ireland, the U.K., and Europe into the center of Connecticut which is home to global businesses and recognized as the insurance capital of the world, Aer Lingus Chief Executive Offier Lynne Embleton said in a written statement.

Offering the only nonstop service between Bradley and a European city, Aer Lingus' route will operate daily through the end of October. The route also offers connections to 28 key European airports including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Rome and Vienna. The service is expected to operate annually, on a seasonal basis, until year-round demand is realized from the return of business travel, according to officials at Aer Lingus and the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), which owns and operates Bradley.

Aer Lingus and Bradley officials cited the benefit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance offered at Dublin Airport. As a result, they said that Bradley-bound passengers, will be able to complete all necessary U.S.-entry requirements in Dublin ahead of their departure.

The Bradley-Dublin route uses Airbus A321neo LR planes, which is Aer Lingus' most sustainable long-haul aircraft, said Aer Lingus and Bradley officials. The Airbus A321neo LR reduces fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 percent and decreases the noise footprint by nearly 50 percent compared with previous-generation aircraft, according to Aer Lingus and Bradley officials.

We are thrilled to have Aer Lingus back at Bradley International Airport, Kevin Dillon, the CAAs executive director, said in a statement. Their return strengthens our pandemic recovery and is key to our continued growth. Leading up to the return, we have already seen a lot of excitement from travelers, and we are extremely proud to once again offer easy and quick transatlantic access to Ireland and beyond.

Aer Lingus' Bradley-Dublin flights started in 2016, drawing about 15,500 passengers during the four months that it operated in that year, according to CAA data. The passenger total jumped to about 83,000 in both 2017 and 2018, and it then ticked up to approximately 85,000 in 2019.

Funding from the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) supports the route. If Aer Lingus revenues for the route fall short of pre-determined targets from April through October of 2023 and 2024, DECD would provide the company a maximum of about $1.37 million in grants, according to DECD officials. DECD declined to specify the amount of the target revenues, citing confidentiality reasons.

After missing revenue goals in earlier years, Aer Lingus has so far received a total of about $11.9 million in grants for revenue guarantees, according to DECD data.

Aer Lingus return follows the resumption last June of Air Canadas flights between Bradley and Toronto. Like Aer Lingus, Air Canada had suspended the route at the beginning of the pandemic. Air Canada has not yet resumed flights between Bradley and Montreal, another route that has been dormant during the pandemic.

In addition, Bradley has a new international route. Last December, Spirit Airlines launched flights between Bradley and Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Cancun is the other international destination with nonstop flights to and from Bradley. Delta, Frontier and JetBlue are the airlines that fly between Bradley and the popular destination on Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Bradley continues to expand its domestic service. Breeze Airways plans to launch in May nonstop routes from the airport to Fort Myers and Tampa in Florida and New Orleans, as well as a one-stop route to Los Angeles. Also last month, Spirit announced that it would start nonstop flights in June from Bradley to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The new routes have bolstered Bradleys recovery from the sharp decline in air travel in 2020. About 5.8 million passengers passed through Bradley in 2022, up about 25 percent from 2021  but still down 14 percent from 2019.
MILFORD  One person was seriously injured in a three-car crash early Saturday afternoon, police said.

Officers responded to the area of Bridgeport and Cleveland avenues around 12:55 p.m. Saturday, Milford police said. Investigators determined a 2017 Ram 1500 traveling west on Bridgeport Avenue crashed into a 2009 Hyundai Elantra when it attempted to turn left on to Cleveland Avenue, police said.

The Ram then struck a third car, a Hyundai Sonata stopped on Cleveland Avenue, according to police. The driver of the Elantra suffered serious injuries and was transported to Bridgeport Hospital, police said.

Police did not release more information about the person who was injured, but said the investigation remains ongoing.

Witnesses to the crash or anyone with information can contact PFC Dan Hemperly at 203-783-4792.
NEW HAVEN  A federal grand jury indicted six reputed gang members and associates last week for their roles in area homicides, violence and drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The six men were each charged with racketeering conspiracy as well as other offenses. They are reputed members and associates of the Exit 8 street gang, which is named after neighborhoods near the Interstate 91 exit in New Haven, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a news conference Monday.

The grand jury returned the indictment on Wednesday. Two of the defendants  Quaymar Suggs, 19, and Kiveon Hyman, 25  were arrested on Friday and ordered to be detained by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven. The other four defendants were already in custody. Tyjon Preston, 20, has been in state custody since May 2021, while the others  Jaedyn Rivera, 22; Samuel Douglas, 24; and Donell Allick, Jr., 24  have been detained in federal custody on previous charges, according to the U.S. Attorney.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the investigation was prompted by the ongoing gang war between Exit 8 and rival gangs in the Hill section, and other areas, of New Haven. The indictment alleges that members of the gang have committed at least two homicides and 10 attempted homicides since 2018.

The first attempted homicide occurred in June 2018 when Douglas and Hyman shot a member and associate of a rival gang, as well as another individual in the area, the U.S. Attorney said. In January and July 2019, gang members and associates, who weren't named, tried to kill people associated with a rival gang, the U.S. Attorney said.

In February 2020, an Exit 8 member who went by "Honcho" was killed on Quinnipiac Avenue, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. This prompted younger members of the gang to identify themselves with the word "Honcho," the U.S. Attorney said.

From April 27 to June 30, 2021, the gang's members and associates terrorized the city, the U.S. Attorney said. Suggs and others shot and killed a member and associate of a rival gang, while Preston, Rivera and others were responsible for seven additional shootings, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The U.S. Attorney's office said the second homicide occurred on Sept. 16, 2022, when Allick and others shot and killed an individual.

The members and associates also engaged in drug trafficking and celebrated their narcotics distribution and violence through social media, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The string of violence has "plagued" New Haven since 2018, Avery said Monday.

"Gun violence will not be tolerated," Avery said. "The negative impact of gun violence in our cities is immeasurable. No child should have to live in a community where gun violence is rampant, and no parent, child or other family member should have to live with the fear and trauma that such violence causes. That trauma is, needless to say, profound."

"Understand we have scores of investigative tools and sources of information available to us," Avery continued. "So, do not think you can engage in gun violence or gang activity and not be detected."

"If you are engaging in such violence, we will find you and bring you to justice," she warned.

The indictment charged each defendant with racketeering conspiracy. If convicted, Suggs and Allick, also known as "D-Nice," face up to 60 years in prison, while Rivera, also known as "Jae Honcho;" Preston, also known as "TJ;" Douglas, also known as "Blamm;" and Hyman, also known as "Tiny," face up to 20 years.

Rivera was also charged with attempted assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder in violation of the violent crimes in aid of racketeering statute, or VCAR; VCAR assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder; and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Preston was additionally charged with two counts of VCAR attempted assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder. Douglas was also charged with conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

In a news conference Monday, Avery said in New Haven and other cities in Connecticut, "A very small number of young men involved in gang activity are responsible for a large percentage of shootings and other mayhem that occur there."

History has shown that once authorities identify and successfully prosecute this small number of individuals, the shootings decrease, she said.

"Each of us would rather these young men had chosen a path that does not involve criminal prosecution," she said. "To anyone listening who has engaged in gang activity or violence, I say you have a way out of this lifestyle."

Avery added that her office sponsors programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods and reentry initiatives to help those engaged in gang violence or activity to seek help.

"If you don't put the guns down and stop the violence, we will know that you have chosen the wrong path," she said. "One that will inevitably include a trip to the federal courthouse."
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NEW HAVEN  More than 8,000 people killed. Hidden mass graves. Forced evacuations for thousands of women and children. Millions of displacements throughout the duration of war. Emotional trauma for survivors and witnesses.

A local professor is making sure those stories from the Bosnia genocide in the early 1990s arent erased from memory, working internationally and locally with survivors and organizations to commemorate the tragedy.

David Pettigrew, a philosophy professor, has been at the forefront of a successful push in Europe to create a law against denial and glorification of war criminals and an ongoing effort to build a memorial abroad for those affected by the massacre.

Locally, Pettigrew teaches Southern Connecticut State University students a genocide studies course, holds workshops for public school teachers about the topic and, most recently, joined the effort calling on the state to designate July 11 as Bosnian Genocide Remembrance Day.

We're facing not only lack of awareness, and especially in terms of the Holocaust and the Bosnian genocide, but a denial, he said. Its the clearest indicator that there could be a repetition of the atrocities.

Pettigrews activism and human rights journey dates back to his high school years during the Vietnam War and civil rights movement. But he said his interest in the Bosnian issues was sparked at the same place as many well-known writers and philosophers: the Cafe de Flore in Paris in 1999.

He recalled watching what happened in the news during the international aggression, when the NATO bombing of Kosovo began, but didnt really understand what was going on.



I was sort of motivated by not having the information, Pettigrew said. I'd say very much that moment in Paris in '99 caused me to dig deeper into the situation and start writing about it.

In 2013, Pettigrew developed a class for SCSU on genocide studies. According to the syllabus for "An Introduction to Holocaust and Genocide Studies: Stories of Resistance, Rescue, and Survival" course this semester, students learn about the Holocaust and the Bosnian, Armenian and Rwandan genocides.

As the earlier version of the class was in the philosophy department, Pettigrew said students talked about applying ethical theories to real-world ethical situations such as the genocides. For example, they explored and applied Kants idea of using people as a means to an end with the Bosnian incident.

Some of the students really were inspired by the story in Bosnia and we were doing research projects around that and that motivated me even more, Pettigrew said.

He also volunteers with the state to prepare public school teachers, including in New Haven and Hamden, to teach about the Bosnian genocide, the Holocaust and genocide denial, and Varian Fry, an American journalist known for rescuing refugees from the Nazi regime.

That work began in 2018 after Connecticut passed the Holocaust and Genocide Education and Awareness Act, requiring education on those topics in public schools.

He would hold workshops for people around the state along with Farmington-based group Voices of Hope and the state Department of Education, both in person and online at the university and at individual schools.

Pettigrew said because of the state mandate there must be a professional development to support it, and thats what he has been doing.

Asked about his approach in teaching something many might label as a difficult topic, Pettrigrew said he took an collaborative or dialogical approach while analyzing the cause of each genocide to talk about prevention.

I think I would say that it is rewarding to work with the dedicated history and social studies teachers who are seeking to implement the state mandate in their school, he said. We provide workshops to support the teachers and also provide the opportunity for a dialogue from which we all benefit. In other words, I also learn from the teachers.

Commemorating the genocide locally

State lawmakers proposed a bill that would assign days, weeks and months to remember different occasions. The bill, which passed out of the Joint Committee on Government Administration and Elections Wednesday, called for July 11 to be Bosnian Genocide Remembrance Day.

July 11 is the day on which the Srebrenica genocide is commemorated. The massacre in 1995 killed 8,372 Bosnian Muslims. It was the highest mass deaths in Europe since the second World War ended.

People whose bodies are found in the mass graves, they are still finding them and then identified through DNA analysis, Pettrigrew said.

Every year during the day, newly found genocide victims would be transported in coffins by trucks to be buried in the Srebrenica memorial cemetery. As Pettigrew has witnessed it, he said he used that experience to explain the scale of the death, as the number would otherwise be abstract.

As the coffins came down the line, one by one, we bore the weight of each life that was lost and the grief of each family, he said. We were bearing witness to the truth of the genocide as the victims finally come home to Srebrenica, to their final resting place, one by one.

About two-dozen Bosnian Americans showed up at the state Capitol earlier this month to speak in support of designating the day  some survivors and others who lost loved ones.

Alma Huric of Hartford said it was January 24, 1993, when the Serbs occupied her village of Poljak, where they killed 24 people including her mother.

She was killed inside her home, which was then set on fire with her body still inside, Huric said. She was 35 years old.

Then, her grandmother was shot later that night when she attempted to go back to the village to recover food. I lost my mother and grandmother within 24 hours in the most brutal way imaginable, she said.

When Huric fled the war, she said her father was killed and buried in the mass graves in Srebrenica in 1995. She said she shared her story as "a cautionary tale" for others so this wouldn't happen to anyone again.

For 19 years we did not know what happened to my father or where we could find his remains so we could properly bury him, Huric said. In 2013, we received a call letting us know that it was likely that our fathers remains had been discovered in a mass grave near the city of Zvornik.

Murat Efendic, a Rocky Hill resident who was born in Srebrenica, said his two brothers were killed during the war and that he was lucky to make it out alive.

The women and children were put on buses, while the men and young boys were killed execution-style, Efendic recalled. The few of us who made it out alive suffer from severe posttraumatic stress disorder. It took me a long time to be able to talk about what had happened.

For Munisa Suljic-Aly, a Wethersfield resident, she said she was 5 years old during the international conflict and her childhood filled with running and hiding from the bullets, bombs, guns, tanks.

The only source of protection that you have is the body of your mother, who acted as a shield as soon as we hear those noises and sounds, Suljic-Aly said. This is definitely a childhood I don't wish anyone ever has to experience.

Although the International Court of Justice, which is the known as the World Court within the United Nations, ruled that the massacre in Srebrenica was a genocide and found Serbia in violation of the Genocide Convention by failing to prevent it, it didnt find that Serbia was directly responsible for it.

In terms of raising awareness about Holocaust and genocides, I remember Elie Wiesels statement that to forget the victims is akin to killing them a second time, Pettigrew said. So there is a moral responsibility to remember and to prevent a reoccurrence of mass atrocity crimes.
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LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP)  More than 180 disoriented Rohingya Muslims, some of whom needed medical attention, arrived in the early morning in Indonesias northernmost province of Aceh, an official said Monday.

From the information we received, the boat took them and told them that they have arrived at their destination and left them at the beach, said Andy Rahmansyah, East Aceh police chief.

He said the authorities are still collecting more information and giving medical aid to some of the refugees.

Ali Hussein, one of the refugees, said the boat took them from Bangladesh before it fled and left them in the dark after the group disembarked to the beach.

It was difficult there. When we were gathered, we got offered a rate for the boat and we agreed to go to a far place, whether it is Indonesia or Malaysia, Hussein said.

The group of 184, including women and children, arrived by fishing boat at Kuala Matang Peulawi, a coastal area in Peureulak subdistrict in East Aceh.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh after an army-led crackdown in August 2017. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes.

Most of the refugees who left the camps by sea have attempted to reach Muslim-majority Malaysia, but many have ended up in Indonesia along the way.

More than 500 Rohingya landed in Aceh in 2022. The most recent group was in February, when 71 people landed at a beach in Aceh Besar district. In early January, 184 weak and hungry Rohingya refugees landed on Kuala Gigieng beach, also in Aceh Besar district.

___

Associated Press writer Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
A father and his six-year-old son were walking across a busy intersection when a turning pickup truck struck them.

When the motorist got out of the vehicle to check on the duo, the father stabbed the man in the abdomen.

Ryan Garrett, 46, of St. Catharines, pleaded guilty in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Monday to a charge of assault with weapon.

He is expected to be sentenced in June.

The bizarre incident occurred June 17, 2021, at about 7:30 p.m. on Scott Street West in St. Catharines.

Court was told the defendant and his son were walking east in the crosswalk at the intersection of Ontario Street when they were struck by the truck.

(The driver) exited the vehicle immediately, saying he was sorry and asking Mr. Garrett and his son if they were OK or if they needed medical attention, assistant Crown attorney Graeme Leach told the judge.

The defendant, who was tending to his injured son, yelled at the 32-year-old motorist and then stabbed the man in the abdomen.

The incident was captured on surveillance video and also observed by a number of people sitting on nearby restaurant patio.

After being stabbed, the driver walked toward the restaurant before collapsing.

The boy and his father sustained minor physical injuries and were transferred to hospital.

The driver was also transported to local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

The victim told police he was driving a vehicle he was unfamiliar with and maintained he did not see the father and son as the truck had a blind spot.

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VANCOUVER - A 32-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder following a fatal stabbing outside a Vancouver Starbucks.

Police say the stabbing happened Sunday after a brief altercation between two men outside the coffee shop in the citys downtown core.

Investigators say they dont believe the victim and suspect knew each other but the details of what led up to the stabbing are still under investigation.

Police say in a statement that a constable patrolling in the area was flagged down moments after the stabbing and arrested the suspect at the scene.

Other officers attempted to help the victim, who has been identified as 37-year-old Paul Stanley Schmidt, but he died after being rushed to hospital.

Thirty-two-year-old Inderdeep Singh Gosal is accused of second-degree murder.

Vancouver Police Sgt. Steve Addison says investigators are hoping to speak to people who saw what happened.

We believe this homicide was witnessed by dozens of bystanders, and there may be people with information who have not yet come forward, he says in a statement.

We particularly want to hear from anyone who was present in the moments before the stabbing, or anyone who has cellphone video of the incident.

Schmidts death is the citys sixth homicide of the year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

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For 10 days over the past two months, hearings in one of the most unprecedented youth cases in Ontarios history happened out of public view in a stifling courthouse on Jarvis Street.

Eight teen girls came and went from Courtroom 1E in the downtown courthouse, occupied most days, apart from lawyers, by their families and a small group of reporters.

Accused of killing homeless man Kenneth Lee late last year, the girls hearings have largely centred on their attempts to get bail  what have often been daylong ordeals. I spent enough time in the courthouse that most of the security guards recognized me and the other reporters covering the case, letting us out into the dark after the front doors had been locked for the night.

At the same time, a group of media outlets including the Star have been trying and often failing to gain access to court records in this case, denied even basic information in the maddening way thats typical of youth court.

Youd be right to wonder then, why, if I have spent all this time in court, has so little specific detail been written about this case? Why, for such a shocking case, does the public know virtually nothing about the charges, these girls and a pending trial?

The short answer: its illegal to tell you about much of what Ive seen and heard in court.

While it is frustrating to not be able to read about whats going on in a case of obvious public interest  its rare for girls to be charged with violent offences, let alone homicide  I can at least explain why these rules exist.

First, there is a publication ban under the Criminal Code preventing the Star and other outlets from publishing evidence heard at a bail hearing. The ban applies to most criminal bail hearings, not just youth ones. Theres good reason for that. These girls might end up in front of a jury that will hear their case at trial. And evidence presented at a bail hearing is held to a different standard than evidence at a trial. If this information was reported ahead of time, it may influence what future jurors think about the case. Its important to protect the fair trial rights of these girls, who are presumed innocent unless they are found guilty, and to ensure the public can have confidence in any decision a jury might make.

The second publication ban is under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which protects the identities of any young person charged with a crime. Theres good reason for that, too. The justice system in Canada recognizes that youth cant be held to the same standard as adults who commit the same offences. The principle of not identifying youth also upholds the idea that young people stand a greater chance at rehabilitation. Thats not to say a young person cant be found guilty and held responsible for their actions, but its a different system for a reason. Ideally, protecting the identities of youth gives them an opportunity for rehabilitation without a public criminal record hanging over them as they grow up.

The publication ban on the bail hearings will be lifted when the trial concludes, or the teens charges are dealt with another way. The protection on their identities under the YCJA is permanent. The identity of a young person may become publishable if they are sentenced as an adult  but that would only happen after the trial is over. (Only youth aged 14 and older can be sentenced as adults and the Attorney General must successfully apply to do this. Five of the eight girls in this case are aged 14 to 16. The three others are all 13.)

To be clear, I and the Star have the utmost respect for these principles and we take our role as court observers seriously. After all, in most cases, we are the only direct line from the courtroom to the public.

So, Ive been taking copious notes about what Im hearing with the hope of sharing as much as is in the public interest as soon as I can, in keeping with those rules as well as our journalism ethics.

The Star has also joined an application to get access to more information  not to breach those rules and publish things the law says we cant, but to have all the available context as we follow this case.

Part of the challenge of covering youth court is that records in those cases, including transcripts of any hearings we might miss, are strictly protected by the court. To access them, I have to apply to a judge and have legal counsel represent our position. We are not always successful, as was the case in our most recent application, which we are appealing.

Beyond our access to records, other restrictions can limit our ability to cover this and other cases.

For a time, court staff and the Ministry of the Attorney General wouldnt even tell us the case file number  each case has one to help with filing and other administrative needs, and knowing it would allow us to ask about, for example, upcoming court dates. Its a critical piece of information, especially when courts and the police dont share the names of young offenders with reporters. Thats different from adult cases where police often put out press releases with the charged persons name. The only realistic way to learn the name of an accused youth is to go to court, but if you dont know what the court date is it can be difficult to find out. I was relying on court staff to help me by essentially describing the case and hoping they are familiar and will search for it anyways. Thats when lawyers got involved and Im grateful for how supportive our in-house counsel Justin Manoryk and application counsel Ryder Gilliland have been.

Apart from that, the judge overseeing the girls bail hearings ruled that only people who have been pre-approved could attend the hearings held over the virtual-conferencing app Zoom, citing fears about recordings. That list wouldnt include reporters. That is in spite of the fact that the Courts of Justice Act allows journalists to make recordings for note-taking purposes, as long as the judge is notified, and our ongoing commitment to follow the rules around recordings, publication bans and YCJA protections.

That left us in a tree-falling-in-the-woods situation  if I couldnt get my butt in my usual back-corner seat at the Jarvis courthouse, I couldnt attend virtually and I couldnt get a transcript later, it would be like, to the public, the hearing never happened.

Its easy to see how our lack of access to basic information can get in the way of the public being informed.

Earlier this month, I tried to find out when the next court date would be in the case of a 14-year-old boy whom police alleged killed another teen in an execution at a Scarborough high school. After finally getting through to court staff by phone, I was told they couldnt search for the case without the accused boys first and last name.

I explained I was a reporter and that, by default, I didnt have access to that information. He told me there was nothing he could do.

I went to the Ministry of the Attorney Generals media spokesperson to help, which they eventually did. But Ive already missed several appearances in important youth cases because no one could tell me what the correct Zoom link was in time for the hearing.

Its been increasingly important to follow not only standout cases like the teen swarm, but also those that make up the steady rise in violent youth crimes  armed robberies, carjackings, and school shootings. Im trying to understand not only what is driving that violence, but also, how we can stop it.

Recently, I attended a hearing at the Court of Appeals where lawyers for one of the girls was challenging the decision to deny her bail. Even though I cant tell you right now about the details of that hearing  for the same reasons as all the others  I will share the decision with you when it is released.

No matter what, Ill keep tracking down every hearing date in this and other youth cases and taking my seat in any courtroom until this girls case is over and I can tell you more about it.

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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. Security Council on Monday declined a Russian request to investigate the blasts on the pipelines that move natural gas from Russia to Europe under the Baltic Sea.

Russia, China and Brazil voted in favor of the Russian request, but other Security Council members abstained or said another investigation was unnecessary.

For a resolution to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, it needs a minimum of nine yes votes in the 15-member council, and no veto by one of the permanent members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

The U.S. deputy ambassador, Robert Wood, said there was no need for a U.N. probe when investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany are proceeding in a comprehensive, transparent and impartial manner.

It was an attempt to discredit the work of ongoing national investigations and prejudice any conclusions they reached that do not comport to Russias predetermined and political narrative. It was not an attempt to seek the truth, he said.

The pipelines, known as Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, are majority-owned by Russias state-run energy giant Gazprom.

Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022. Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The explosions on both occurred on Sept. 26.

The investigations by European nations have yet to yield conclusive results, at least none made public.

Both pipelines bypass existing routes that go through Ukraine, meaning that Ukraine could lose income from transit fees and be unable to directly use the gas they carry. The Nord Stream pipelines were seen as an effort by Russia to gain further control over Europes energy supplies.

Some have said the blasts caused the worst release of methane in history.

The New York Times, The Washington Post and German media have published stories citing U.S. and other officials as saying there was evidence Ukraine, or at least Ukrainians, may have been responsible. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as sheer nonsense allegations that Ukrainians could have been behind the blasts and pointed the finger at the U.S.

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Skittles, strawberry Yoohoo and Walmart yogurt-dipped pretzels  what do these all have in common? They contain the controversial red dye No. 3 or titanium dioxide, which some California lawmakers are now waging war against.

A new bill could ban five chemicals prevalent in thousands of U.S. food items, including certain brands of fruit cups, sliced bread, fruit juice, cake mixes, trail mix and beyond.

Assembly Bill 418, introduced by Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, and Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, seeks to prohibit red dye No. 3 for good along with brominated vegetable oil, titanium dioxide, propylparaben and potassium bromate.

Red dye No. 3, a synthetic dye derived from petroleum, and titanium dioxide, which is a pigment often found in paint primer, are used for coloring food and the most prevalent of the five proposed banned additives. The proposal cites a range of studies linking these additives to increased cancer risk, adverse behavioral development in children and decline in reproductive health, among other ailments; some studies tested their effects on humans, others on lab animals.

The legislators say they hope the bill, if passed, will inspire change nationally. And it could force food manufacturers to reformulate the ingredients in their products.

Red dye No. 3 has been banned from cosmetics and select uses in the U.S. since 1990, but its still commonly found in food. All five of these additives have been banned from food use in the European Union.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is really behind the rest of the world in protecting consumers from unsafe and toxic food chemicals, said Gabriel. In a lot of ways, the chemical companies get to grade their own homework.

Chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern brought some celebrity wattage to a virtual news conference with lawmakers last week, where the bill was announced. Everyone in America should be confident the food we bring into our homes and serve our families is safe, Zimmern said, and I say that as a parent of a child myself. But as we know, thats not always the case.

A representative for the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates color additives in the U.S., said that the FDA routinely reviews new scientific information on the authorized uses of ingredients; if those are deemed unsafe, the FDA can rescind its own approvals, alert the public and aid in recall efforts. Industry groups have maintained that red dye No. 3 is safe at the levels that people normally consume it.

Gabriel stressed that the bill does not seek to ban products outright. Instead, Gabriel, Wicks and representatives for the bills co-sponsors  including nonprofits Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group  said they hope that it will spur companies to alter their ingredients if the bill becomes law. Many manufacturers have already done so for products sold in the E.U., such as Skittles.

Consumers today can order Skittles and other such items that dont contain red dye No. 3 from Europe. This is evidence that these five additives are unnecessary, said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president of government affairs.

As someone who worked for the food industry, the only reason that companies are fighting to preserve these chemicals is because its inconvenient to change their recipes, Faber said. Faber previously served as head of government affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Assn., now known as the Consumer Brands Assn.

The bill provides a period of time for companies to change their recipes for sale in the state; if signed into law, the new regulation would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2025.

According to the EWG, red dye No. 3 appears in nearly 3,000 food products; the nonprofits running tally of products containing the additive includes Pop Tarts frosted confetti cake bites, Sara Lee brownies with sprinkles and SuperValu gummy bears, among hundreds and hundreds of other items. Titanium dioxide helps to whiten foods such as Kroger fat-free half-and-half, Campbells Healthy Request chicken corn chowder and Little Debbie honey buns.

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OTTAWA - A judges erroneous direction that Canadian officials should secure the release of four men from detention in northeastern Syria amounts to a wholesale expansion of the law, a federal lawyer told an appeal hearing Monday.

Lawyer Anne Turley said the decision creates a new right to be returned to Canada, or even be rescued by Ottawa, when a citizen finds themselves in trouble abroad, despite no involvement of Canada in the foreign detention.

Turley made the argument while asking a Federal Court of Appeal panel to overturn a January ruling by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown.

The Court of Appeal reserved its decision until a later date at the conclusion of the one-day hearing Monday, indicating a judgment would come soon.

In his ruling, Brown said Ottawa should request repatriation of the men in Syrian prisons run by Kurdish forces as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents.

Brown ruled the men are also entitled to have a representative of the federal government travel to Syria to help facilitate their release once their captors agree to hand them over.

Federal lawyers argue Browns expansive approach overshoots the text, purpose and protected interests of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantee that citizens can enter Canada, and is inconsistent with established domestic and international law.

The government also contends in written arguments that the court usurped the role of the executive over matters of foreign policy and passports. The mandatory actions fail to respect the proper role of the executive and prevent it from making necessary, timely and individualized assessments within its expertise about a range of complex considerations.

The judges ruling has largely been put on hold while the appeal plays out. However, Ottawa must still get the process started by initiating contact with the Kurdish forces who are detaining the men in a region reclaimed from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The four men include Jack Letts, whose parents John Letts and Sally Lane have waged a vigorous campaign to pressure Canada to come to his aid.

Lawyer Barbara Jackman, who represents Letts, points out in a submission to the Court of Appeal that the four Canadian men have not been charged with any crime.

They have not had access to the necessities of life and have been subjected to degrading, cruel and unusual treatment during their nightmarish tenure in Syrian prisons, the filing says. Jack Letts told his family and the Canadian government that he was subjected to torture and contemplated ending his own life.

The identities of the three other Canadian men are not publicly known.

Their lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, says Browns ruling that Canada should take steps to facilitate repatriation of the men is a practical solution recognizing the Charter-entrenched right of entry.

Justice Browns decision is comprehensive and correct in law, Greenspons written submission to the Court of Appeal says.

In these rare circumstances, where Canadians are being arbitrarily detained in a foreign country and the federal government has been invited to take steps to facilitate their entry into Canada, the court correctly declared that Ottawa should take those steps, the filing adds.

Greenspon told the Court of Appeal on Monday that nobody is suggesting the Canadian government had anything to do with the fact the men are arbitrarily and indefinitely detained.

But he underscored that the government has the primary responsibility for the ability of its citizens to effectively exercise their mobility rights, meaning it is very complicit in the continuation of that detention.

Family members of the men, as well as several women and children, argued in the Federal Court proceedings that Global Affairs Canada must arrange for their return, saying that refusing to do so violates the Charter.

The government insisted that the Charter does not obligate it to repatriate the Canadians held in Syria.

However, Greenspon reached an agreement with the federal government in January to bring home six Canadian women and 13 children who had been part of the court action.

In his ruling, Brown said the Canadian men are not able to return home in part because their government seems never to have formally requested their repatriation.

They are not able to enjoy a truly meaningful exercise of their Charter right to enter Canada unless and until the federal government makes a formal request to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria on their behalf, he wrote.

Canada must make a formal request for their repatriation because otherwise the Court is asked to construe the Charter in an unreal world.

A new open letter from more than 100 members of Canadas legal community, including former federal justice minister Allan Rock, says the government must honour Browns ruling, consistent with Canadas domestic and international law obligations.

They also call on Canada address the underlying deficiencies in policies that have led to this deplorable situation, to prevent any future recurrence.

We urge this course of action both to address the grave human rights concerns in these pressing cases, and to convey a strong and much-needed message that Canada does indeed take its human rights obligations seriously in a world and at a time when those universal principles are increasingly undermined.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

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OTTAWA - Israeli diplomats in Canada are set to return to work on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caved to public pressure and announced a delay in his contentious plan to overhaul the countrys judiciary.

Israels embassy in Ottawa, as well as its consulates in Toronto and Montreal, were shuttered Monday after the countrys largest trade union, Histadrut, called on its 800,000 members to strike in protest of Netanyahus planned reforms.

In addition to closing Israeli diplomatic posts around the world, Histadrut called for members to also stop work in health care, transit, banking and other fields, which threatened to paralyze the economy and halt essential services.

Histadruts strike call came after Netanyahu fired Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against the plan. Gallants dismissal sparked spontaneous protests across the country.

Faced with an unprecedented wave of resistance, Netanyahu announced late Monday that he was delaying his plan to avoid civil war.

Immediately after Netanyahus statement, Histadrut said it would call off its general strike.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a time out for dialogue, Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address.

Striking a more conciliatory tone than in previous speeches, he said he was determined to pass a judicial reform but called for an attempt to achieve broad consensus.

Netanyahu gave no timeline for a compromise to be reached, but expressed hope that the nation would heal and that people would enjoy the upcoming Passover holiday.

The speech appeared to calm tensions, but it did not resolve the underlying strain behind the protests. Even before he spoke, the grassroots anti-government protest movement said a delay would not be enough.

The protests are in response to Netanyahus plan to give his governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. The government also wants to give Israels parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions.

The plan has been driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israels most right-wing government ever. Critics have accused Israels longest-serving prime minister of using the proposed changes to maintain his grip on power.

He denies wrongdoing, while the government has previously labeled protesters as anarchists out to topple democratically elected leaders.

Government officials say the plan will restore balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

Canada and other members of the international community have been watching closely as the reforms have plunged Israel into one of its most serious domestic crises.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Monday that she had raised Netanyahus proposed reform with her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen recently, and that Canada has issues with the proposed overhaul.

We continue to put pressure on Israel, to make it so that they drop their judicial reform, she said in French.

She later added in English: In a democracy, fundamental changes must be supported by a broad range of people, and we encourage Israeli leaders to find a path supported by the people.

Joly did not say whether Canada will impose sanctions or take other measures beyond diplomatic engagement and raising the issue in public.

Its important that people in the streets of Israel know that Canada hear them, she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

 With files from Dylan Robertson and The Associated Press.

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Health Minister Sylvia Jones is on the defensive after scaling back free eye tests for seniors and winding down a pandemic-era program that provided medicare services for the uninsured.

Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives unveiled the controversial changes Friday afternoon while most media attention was focused on U.S. President Joe Bidens official visit to Ottawa.

That left Jones under fire Monday, where she accused the opposition NDP of spreading false information online about the end of the Physician and Hospital Services for Uninsured Persons program, which was launched when COVID-19 struck in March 2020.

If there is one individual who chooses not to take their loved one to a hospital because they think theyre uninsured, then thats on the NDP to explain, she fumed.

This program was put in place when individuals could not travel in the province of Ontario at the beginning of the pandemic  when we had limitations on individuals who needed to be able to return to their home communities, the minister said.

I want to reinforce: We have 75 community health centres spread across Ontario that have funding models that ensure that they can provide necessary health services for individuals who, for any number of reasons, do not have an up-to-date OHIP card, said Jones.

We have temporary foreign workers who have programs provided by the federal government to ensure that they have health-care funding in the province of Ontario, she said.

Under the plan, hospitals and doctors were allowed to bill the government for medically necessary treatments provided to patients without OHIP coverage.

There is no change in the way that uninsured persons will receive care in the province of Ontario. The only change is how hospitals, community health and midwifery centres will be reimbursed for insuring and providing that care.

Despite Joness comments, the New Democrats refused to back down from claims the change might mean refugees wont receive health-care coverage.

This program existed for a reason  it exists because people were slipping through the cracks, said NDP Leader Marit Stiles.

There are many people, including refugees, who slipped through the cracks of the system all the time. The minister should be more concerned right now about how shes going to reverse this change and fix this problem than she is about whatever is on our website, said Stiles.

Jones also faced criticism for changing OHIP-covered annual eye tests for those 65 and up to offering free exams to all seniors every 18 months.

As well, seniors will be restricted to two free minor followup assessments with an optometrist every year; currently, theres no limit.

Thats the result of a new funding deal between the government and the Ontario Association of Optometrists.

I can see that any change can be something that needs (you) to have a conversation with your optometrist, but I also want to highlight that Ontario is not leading in these changes, she said.

In fact, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, both have  24-month access, so we have extended it for individuals  seniors with healthy eyes  to 18 months.

But Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said the Tories message coming out of last Thursdays $204.7-billion budget is clear.

Seniors eye care, youre on your own. Child struggling to get school, youre on your own, said Fraser.

Thats what this governments budget has been saying to families, he said.

Theres nothing in there that supports families in a way just to make life a little bit easier.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said that the Department of State Security should arrest Fani-Kayode, Director of New Media of the Bola Tinubu Campaign, over his inciting remarks.





Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant on Public Communications to Atiku, in a statement on Sunday, lauded British Envoy, Ben Llewellyn-Jones for listing Fani-Kayode and others making inciting comments.

On Sunday, Llewellyn-Jones reportedly condemned the comments made by Fani-Kayode, who is the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign councils director of new media.

The deputy high commissioner also restated the UK visa ban threat to those undermining democracy in the country, noting that about 10 persons were on the growing watchlist.

Commenting in a statement on Sunday, Shaibu said the Department of State Services (DSS) ought to invite Fani-Kayode as his rhetoric could set the country on fire.





Shaibu said Fani-Kayodes claim that he would make Nigeria ungovernable if Tinubu is not inaugurated as president on May 29 is infuriating and deserving of the attention of the DSS.

We acknowledge as timely, the statement of the DSS call on politicians not to overheat the polity but call on the security agency to arrest Fani-Kayode for not heeding the counsel of the DSS when he threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable, Shuaibu said.

The DSS rightly invited Fani-Kayode after he made false claims about Atiku planning a coup back in January and asked him to report daily. But for some reason, he has continued unhinged to spew hate.

Recently, he even justified the attacks and the profiling of the Igbo in the recently concluded fraudulent governorship election in Lagos State. He has also threatened to make the country ungovernable if Tinubu is not sworn-in.

I think its a good time to remind the DSS that Femi Fani-Kayode has returned to his old ways. Now, he is threatening fire and brimstone over a most contentious election, which Nigerians have refused to endorse or celebrate one full month after the collective disenfranchisement of the electorate.

Fani-Kayode is threatening that he and some other desperados will make Nigeria ungovernable if Tinubu is not inaugurated on May 29, 2023. It is time to take in Fani-Kayode so he doesnt inflame any further, the already combustible national angst.

Shaibu alleged that the police have continued to give Fani-Kayode cover and have been used many times to intimidate people as stated by his staff.

Yet, Fani-Kayode, who has not held any political office since 2007 when he was Aviation Minister, moves with a siren-blaring convoy, he said.

He should immediately be stripped of those security aides, uniformed or otherwise.

Shaibu called on Nigerians not to take Fani-Kayode seriously.
About 594 rehabilitated Boko Haram members have graduated from Federal Governments Operation Safe Corridors De-radicalisation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration camp in Malam Sidi, Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe State.





Speaking during the graduation ceremony, the camp Commandant, Col. Uche Nnabuihe, said, Fifteen clients hail from Adamawa, 495 from Borno, 16 from Yobe, 16 from Kano, three from Gombe, 13 from Kaduna, one from Kogi, 12 from Bauchi, five from Jigawa, five from Katsina, four from Kebbi, one from Nasarawa, one from Plateau, while two are from Zamfara states.





Nnabuihe said out of the 594 graduating repentant terrorists, 590 are Nigerians, while four others are foreigners; three Nigeriens, and one Chadian.





The camp commandant stated that 588 clients are Muslims, while six are Christians.





He explained that upon arrival, medical tests were conducted on them while their data were captured by the National Identity Management Commission.





Nnabuihe said, Today marks yet another milestone in the de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme for regular Batch Six 2002 and Special Batch 4 2002 clients that arrived the DRR camp between September 2022 and October 8, 2022, for the mandatory de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme. Upon arrival, the clients, totalling 594, were subjected to comprehensive physical and medical test by a combined team of medical experts from the DRR camp clinic and Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe. The medical tests were aimed at ascertaining the health status of the clients towards providing proper and adequate care during DRR training cycle.





Nnabuihe added that they were trained in skills for self-reliance after re-interpretation with their communities in this regard. Eighty-five clients trained as barbers, 81 clients trained in shoemaking, 158 clients chose welding as vocation of choice, while 213 clients selected tailoring, more so, 38 clients were trained in carpentry, while 28 learnt skills in laundry services. All the clients participated in the mandatory integrated farming, training activities which include agro, poultry and fish farming.





On his part, Coordinator, Operation Safe Corridor, Maj. Gen. Joseph Maina, decried the impact of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East region, noting that it had continued to impact negatively on the lives and livelihoods of the people and on development.





He said, Its on record that the activities of these groups have led to the displacement of over two million people internally and so many others driven into neighbouring countries as refugees.





Recognising the limits of pure military solution and the urgent need to end the untold suffering, the Federal Government introduced Operation Safe Corridor as a non-kinetic multi-agency approach in the support of military actions since 2015.





Meanwhile, a repentant Boko Haram member, Muhammad Abba, during the graduation ceremony, apologised to Nigerians for their atrocities on various communities in the country.





Abba said, We apologise for our various wrongs to our communities, and everyone sitting here. We extend our apology to all and sundry in the various communities that we come from; we are really very sorry and we are not going back to the very atrocities.





We have taken the oath of allegiance to our peaceful, loving country, Nigeria. We know the consequences of taking an oath with the Quran or with a Holy Bible.





If you betray your oath, Allah will not be happy with you. He will punish you, even if you escape the security of Nigeria, you cant escape Allah ; we are certain of this. We will be faithful, loyal, faithful to the allegiance and oath we have taken.








The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has taken a swipe at the Chairman of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, over the purported anti-Yoruba comment he made a few days ago.





While calling on the Ohanaeze Ndigbo to warn Iwuanyanwu to desist from making provocative statements against the Yorubas, the mainstream Yoruba group appealed to the people across the South-West to remain calm.





In a viral video trending on social media, the Igbo leader was seen calling Yorubas political rascals at a town hall meeting over the outcome of the just concluded general elections.





Afenifere, in a statement issued by its National Organising Secretary, Abagun Kole Omololu, said the foremost Yoruba had reach out the Ohanaeze Ndigbo if the comment by Iwuanyanwu reflects the position of the apex Igbo group on the issue.





We have since reviewed the video recording of the event and our leadership will be reaching out to the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to seek clarification on why Chief Iwuanyanwu made the comment and whether his view is a reflection of what Ohanaeze Ndigbo indeed think of the Yorubas.





We hereby call on Ohaneze to warn the Chief not to insult the Yoruba. We are a proud nation. We are a hospitable race. All these should not be interpreted to mean weakness. In fact, it is a sign of being civilized. Enough of the provocation, he said.
Some aggrieved women on Monday protested half unclad in front of the United States Embassy in Abuja over the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

The women, who are members of the Free Nigeria Movement, were at the US Embassy to report the alleged fraud that happened during the 2023 polls.





The protesters, who were armed with various placards, called on the US Government to place a visa ban on the instigators of violence during the poll.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC was declared winner of the February 25 presidential election by Independent National Electoral, INEC.





Tinubu was declared winner of the polls amid claims of electoral fraud and massive rigging at various places in the country.

His closest challengers, candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party have since petitioned the Election Tribunal to seek their separate redress.




Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike has said the suspension of the Peoples Democratic national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, was because members are angry that the party lost woefully during the February 25 and March 18 general elections.





He disclosed this on Monday in a Channels Television interview monitored by newsmen, saying he supported Ayus suspension.





According to him, the people rejected PDP because Ayu refused to resign from the partys chairmanship position.





It was reported that Ayu was suspended by his ward level in Benue State over anti-Party activities.





The governor of Rivers state added that Ayu traded PDPs victory at the polls for his interest.





It is only in this country that someone who has lost woefully during the general elections still wants to occupy the position of Chairmanship in PDP.





As a national chairman of the people, Ayu lost his ward, your local government; not only did he take a distant third, you(Ayu) also lost presidential and governorship elections.





I am in support of Ayus suspension in Benue.





If he left before the elections, they would have said his leaving was the reason PDP lost the election; thank God he presided over the colossal failure of the party during the general elections.





We cannot have the party in the hands of persons without any political contribution to the party, he stated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed April 15 for the conduct of supplementary governorship elections in Kebbi and Adamawa states.

INEC had declared the governorship elections of March 18 in both states as inconclusive.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Monday, the commission said supplementary polls for national and state assembly elections will also take place on April 15.

Arising from its meeting held today, the Independent National Electoral Commission has decided that all outstanding Governorship, National and State Assembly supplementary elections will take place on Saturday 15th April 2023, the statement reads.

The electoral commission said a detailed official statement will be released regarding the supplementary elections.

Before the election was declared inconclusive in Adamawa, Ahmadu Fintiri, the incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had won 13 LGAs, while Aisha Binani, gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had secured victory in seven.

In Kebbi, the poll was declared inconclusive because of massive vote cancellation and overvoting in 20 of the 21 LGAs in the state.

The returning officer said the total number of registered voters was 2,032,041 out of which the APC polled 388,258 and the PDP garnered 342,980, leaving a difference of 45,278.




A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, presided over by Justice Zainab Abubakar has remanded a journalist and publisher of an online medium, CrossRiverWatch, Agba Jalingo, at the Medium Security Custodial Center in Kuje, for allegedly publishing an article that was deemed insulting to Mrs Elizabeth Ayade.





Mrs Elizabeth Ayade is wife to the younger brother of the Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, whose administration, Jalingos Cross River Watch has been critical of.





Present in court during Jalingos arraignment was the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 general elections, Mr Omoyele Sowore, and other activists and members of the Nigerian Civil Society.





It was reported that two charges bordering on alleged false publication intended to cause annoyance, ill will and insult to the person of Mrs Ayade, wife to Mr Frank Ayade, were preferred on Mr Jalingo in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/565/2022.





He is alleged to have committed an offence punishable by Section 24 (1)b of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act 2015.





Mr Jalingo who was arraigned on Monday, March 27, pleaded not guilty to both charges.





The prosecution counsel, Fidelis Ogbobe, sought an adjournment for trial which the defense counsel, Baba Isa, did not oppose but pleaded that the matter be stood down as the lead counsel, Marshal Abubakar, was on his way.





However, Ogbobe opposed Isas application, citing Section 354 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which stipulates that when parties are called, the court shall proceed to hear the matter.





He argued that, The excuse is a calculated attempt to postpone the arraignment, and asked the court to not take the defence seriously.





Meanwhile, Isa pleaded that the sins of the counsel should not be visited on the defendant, in the interest of justice. However, Justice Abubakar indulged the prosecution counsel, and did not grant Isas application.





When Mr Marshall Abubakar appeared in court, Justice Abubakar noted that in her records, he was absent from court, this was as she also declined the defense request to move the motion for bail.





Justice Abubakar subsequently ordered that Jalingo be remanded at the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Center, and adjourned the matter until March 30, 2023, for the court to take the bail application of the defendant, and May 31, 2023 for trial.




Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says he will not join his colleagues to rubbish the integrity of Nigerian courts.

Speaking on Sunday in an interview with Channels Television, Falana said Nigerian courts are capable of delivering justice in election-related matters.

Recently, some politicians and legal practitioners have raised doubts about the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary to dispense justice in the presidential election petitions filed by the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the victory of Bola Tinubu, the president-elect.

There have also been calls for the proceedings of the tribunal to be televised.

Speaking on the development, the human rights advocate said he will not embark on the fallacy of generalisation by condemning the judiciary.

Im not going to join some of my colleagues who are rubbishing the court. I go to court on a daily basis. If I have a problem with any court or any judge for that matter, what Im required to do is to write a petition to the National Judicial Council, he said.

But I cannot for goodness sake embark on what I called a fallacy of generalisation to say Oh, Nigerian courts are bad, Nigerian judges will not dispense justice.

For me, once you prepare your case, I dont think there should be any cause for alarm. Elections have been annulled in Nigeria by our courts.

Our courts have ordered rerun elections. One of them, I think the case of Buhari and YarAdua; the president-elect then escaped narrowly. It was a decision of four to three justices of the supreme court the elections of 2007, the winner of the election, the late President Umaru Musa YarAdua, did say the election was highly flawed. In some of the states, not less than five elections were annulled and rerun elections were ordered.

Falana expressed his support for the calls to televise the tribunal proceedings, adding that it will enhance the credibility of the judiciary.

I have always campaigned for that. That is the trend in Africa  in Ghana and Kenya  the proceedings are televised because judges should have nothing to hide, he added.

Invite the media and members of the public. Once there is order in the court, everybody should be part of it because we were all part of the election.

So the decision of the court on the election should not be shrouded in secrecy. For that reason, I support the call by the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), that the proceedings should be televised. It is in the interest of our judges, and the public.
The Director, New Media sub-committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Femi Fani-Kayode on Sunday reacted to the visa ban comment made by the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ben Llewellyn-Jones.

It can be recalled that that Llewellyn-Jones during an interview with Nigeria Info FM on Sunday, faulted some politicians for making derogatory remarks.

Yes, lets be specific, there were some people, like Femi Fani-Kayode, what is he saying and why is he saying it? I dont understand. It is wrong from my perspective that he will speak on behalf of a party and that party does not distance itself from him and say stop doing that. It is wrong to say that, Llewellyn-Jones partly said.





Reacting to the aforesaid comment, Fani-Kayode urged the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria to keep his dirty nose out of our internal affairs.





These are my personal views and I am constrained to express them given the fact that one @benllewellynjo1, a misguided, mischievous and clearly unlettered Englander who does not know his place, threw away all caution and mentioned my name in his inglorious commentary.





I would advise this Ben, who I am told is the Deputy High Commissioner of the UK to Nigeria, to keep his dirty nose out of our internal affairs. Nigeria stopped being a British colony 63 years ago and we need no lessons from him on how to run our affairs or conduct our politics.





I know that his preferred candidate did not win the presidential election but that does not mean he should cross the line and take liberties with us here. I wonder who the hell he thinks he is? I am not one of those Nigerians that bows, shakes, shivers and trembles before the British or indeed any other foreigner.





And unlike most I do not need any validation or endorsement from him or his ilk and neither can I be intimidated by his veiled threat of a visa ban. Frankly I could not care less.





I would however take this opportunity to assure him that regardless of his views and desire to compel us to accept their godless so-called humanist and libertarian values and introduce evil practices and policies such as same-sex marriage in our country this will never be the case.









My aversion for sodmites remains as constant as the northern star and whether he likes it or not we will never allow a sodmite to be our President. Neither will we accept lessons in decency, etiquette, what to say or how to speak from a fading British civil servant and a man that represents a nation that has committed more atrocities than perhaps any other in the history of humanity.





I advise this little Englander to respect himself and remain a silent observer when it comes to the politics of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As a nation we are not a poodle of the British and we came of age 63 years ago.





He should be more concerned about the shrinking fortunes of a once Great Britain and the systemic racism, inherent injustice and insufferable arrogance that is entrenched in the British establishment and society than in the intra party politics of Nigeria.





He should also be more concerned with the efforts of his nation to bring us one step closer to WW3 given the unfolding events in Ukraine.








The Kebbi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the Collation/Returning Officer for the governorship election in the state, Professor Yusuf Saidu.





Kabiru Sani-Giant, the Chairman of APC Kebbi State Publicity Committee for the governorship campaign, while addressing newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Sunday, said the call was because of his alliance with a political party.





Sani-Giant said, As a matter of urgency, we call on the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, to remove the Kebbi State guber election collation/returning officer, Professor Yusuf Saidu, because of his sentiment and bias in discharging his official responsibility in the last gubernatorial election.





This will bring sanity to the re-run of the gubernatorial elections because the APC in the state isnt comfortable with the collation officer due to his alliance with other political parties.





Sani-Giant argued that Dr Nasir Idris, the APC governorship candidate, had already won the March 18 election with a wide margin.





According to him, Idris was supposed to be declared winner of the election, but the returning officer went ahead to declare it inconclusive.





I, therefore, urge INEC to immediately declare our candidate as the winner of the election so that the people of Kebbi State will have peace of mind and go about their normal business, he said.





It was reported that INEC recently declared the Kebbi Governorship election inconclusive.





INEC said the Governorship election was declared inconclusive because there were cancellations in 20 of the 21 Local Government Areas of Kebbi State, cutting across a number of Registration Areas (RAs) in different polling units.





According to him, when INEC aggregated the total number of collected PVCs in those polling units, it came to a total of 91,829.





However, the two leading political parties in the contest, APC and PDP polled 388,258 and 342,980 votes, respectively. The difference stands at 45,278, less than 91, 829 collected PVCs in the affected areas.




Gunmen, on Sunday, killed two police officers in Enugu north LGA of Enugu state.

Daniel Ndukwe, police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the attack in a statement shared on Monday.

He said the officers were on a routine stop and search duty when they were attacked by armed hoodlums operating in SUVs.

Many of the hoodlums escaped with varying degrees of fatal gunshot injuries in the ensuing gun duel, while two of the operatives, who sustained severe gunshot injuries, were moved to the hospital, where they were confirmed dead and their corpses deposited in the mortuary for preservation, the police spokesperson said.

Consequently, a manhunt of the assailants, which was immediately launched, resulted in the miscreants abandoning the black-coloured Mercedes Benz ML 350 4Matic Jeep they used for the operation along Enugu/Port-Harcourt Road, Enugu.

The vehicle, riddled with gunshots and blood stains, has been recovered. The recovery of the vehicle and the signs thereof corroborates preliminary investigation, which suggests that at least two of the hoodlums were neutralized.

Ndukwe added that tactical/operational operatives from the state command will sustain the ongoing manhunt operation to ensure the attackers at large are apprehended.
Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, has described his re-election as a divine intervention.

NAN reports that Makinde spoke at a thanksgiving service held at the Living Spring Chapel International, Aduloju, Ibadan, Oyo capital.

The governor was quoted as saying that he had prayed to God not to be reelected if he would not leave a good legacy.

Before now, I kept telling God that if I will not perform and leave a legacy that will move people from poverty to prosperity, then, I should not win the second term election, Makinde was quoted as saying.

But, everything went well and I can only say it happened by divine intervention.

So, I am standing on Gods altar to promise the people of Oyo state that I will even work harder to bring more benefits to the people.

He urged residents of the state not to entertain any fear about his performance in the second term.

The governor said his plans for the state had been captured in the Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development, 2023 to 2027.

He said his administration would keep tracking its efforts on a yearly basis to ensure that the plans are achievable.

Femi Emmanuel, the presiding pastor of the Living Spring Church, prayed for the success of the governor and his team.

Emmanuel noted that the victory recorded by Makinde was beyond the power of man.

He urged the governor to be concerned about leaving a good legacy in his second term in office.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, an Igbo socio-cultural association, says Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, its chairman, did not refer to the Yoruba race as political rascals.

Speaking in Anambra on Saturday at the event marking one year in the office of Chukwuma Soludo, governor of the state, Iwuanyanwu said those destroying Igbo properties in Lagos were political rascals.

Reacting to the development, Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political group, said it has called on the Ohanaeze to warn Iwuanyanwu not to insult the Yoruba race.

Afenifere said it has also reached out to Iwuanyanwu to seek clarification on why he made the comment and whether his view is a reflection of what Ohanaeze Ndigbo indeed thinks of the Yorubas.

However, in a statement on Sunday by Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze national publicity secretary, the group said its chairmans speech was twisted by insidious minds who wished to create a rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities.

I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and the Yoruba. Those who attacked Ndigbo in Lagos recently are rascals who should be arrested, NAN quoted Ogbonnia to have said.

This has mischievously been twisted to imply that Yoruba people are political rascals and that we will fight them. This is quite from the insidious minds of those who wish to create a rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities.

At no time in history, has there is often a tug of war between two major groups; mostly the good people with conscience on one hand and the devious insidious minds on the other.

Ogbonnia said Iwuanyanwu is a detribalized Nigerian who would never denigrate the Yoruba race.

So, as much as some mischief makers will twist the speech by Iwuanyanwu, the truth remains that he holds the Yorubas in a very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it, he said.

It is important to highlight that Chief Iwuanyanwu is a renowned patriotic detribalized Nigerian who has enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity, and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics.

Iwuanyanwu in all his private and public discussions has often commended the profound Yoruba cultural values, intellect, and hospitality. He applauds the cordial relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba, citing that several Igbo are integral parts of various Yoruba communities.




Abductors of six Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Officials, in Kogi State, have demanded for N50 million before they would release their kidnap victims.





Recall that some INEC staff were abducted in Obajana in the early hours of Sunday, 19th March 2023 during the Kogi State House of Assembly election.





The victims were said to be returning from Kupa North and South under Lokoja Local Government Area in Kogi State when they were attacked by armed hoodlums.





The Police Public Relation Officer, (PPRO) in Kogi State SP William Ovye Aya had in a statement issued to journalists concerning the incident said 96 persons were rescued by the Police, three were injured while two victims were yet to be accounted for.





Addressing a press conference on Monday on behalf of the kidnapped victims family in Lokoja, an Assistant Presiding Officer II, (APO II) in the March 18th Kogi House of Assembly election identified as Babalola Oluwatobi Peter said his sister, who is among those kidnapped, was still held in captivity.





Peter faulted the claim from the Nigeria Police Force that all the kidnapped victims have been rescued.





He mentioned those still in the hands of the kidnappers as Muhammed Maimunat, and Abdulrahman Raji, who are two serving Corps members.





INEC Ad-Hoc staff who are still in captivity according to Peter are Oyaniran Atinuke Ruth, Florence Shayo Ajayi, Opara Tina and Blessing.





Explaining how the ugly incident occurred on that day, Peter said We were actually coming from Kupa North and South for the Kogi State House of Assembly election. I worked in the North, so we left the North some minutes past six and we got to the South at 8:03pm, we were asked to move to Lokoja by our SPOs. I told them personally that we are not going, that they should allow us sleep, that by 4am the next day, we should pick up and go just like the way we did during the Presidential election.





But the SPO South said he wants to move. As an APO two, I cannot just tell them that no. All other Corp members told them to let us sleep over but they insisted no. But when they insisted, we had no option but to move. When we got to Obajana, the armed robbers attacked us. We had six vehicles, and our vehicles happen to be the second one.





The first vehicle was able to move while the second vehicle mistakenly hit the culvert and could not move again. But before we could know what was happening, the third vehicle hit us in the back. We have three Police Officers, only one was armed. When the armed robber attacked us, the armed Police officer instructed us to pull off our white and run for our dear lives. After everyone was running for their life, I discovered that I didnt see my sister Oyaniran Atinuke Ruth.





The incident happened between 1am-2am. Those people that were kidnapped were directly from our bus. We told the security agency including INEC that we are still looking for six people including my sister. They said we should not worry that we will find them. Up till now, nothing has been done. I was shocked when I read in some newspapers that the kidnapped victims have been rescued. Nothing of such. The kidnappers contacted us recently, demanding N50 million ransome.





The kidnappers keep calling us with different numbers. You cannot call them, but they can only call you. They even told us to send them a recharge card which we did just because we dont want them to hurt my sister and every other victim in their custody.





He, however, called on the Government and security to work towards the release of the abducted victims.





The husband of one of the kidnapped victims Olawafemi Olakanmi said he last spoke to his wife (Florence Shayo Ajayi) around 12am before the incident occurred. I have not slept since my wife was kidnapped on 19th March 2023. I only call on God to set my wife free he stated.





All efforts to speak with the Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) in Kogi State SP William Ovye Aya proved abortive as at the time of filing this report on Monday. He failed to pick calls or respond to text messages sent to his phone lines.




The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, has described his purported suspension by executive members of his Ward, Igyorov Ward of Gboko Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue state, as an exercise in futility.





Ayu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Simon Imobo-Tswam, in Abuja on Thursday, said he had not been suspended.





Ayu said his attention had been drawn to rumours that he had been suspended by the Executive Committee of his Ward.





We wish to state categorically and with all emphasis at our disposal thus, that The PDP National Chairman, Ayu, has not been suspended by his Ward. Some members of the Exco are only being teleguided by political gamblers to cause mischief and nothing more.





For starters, Article 57(7) of the PDP Constitution as Amended in 2017, expressly prohibits any organ of the party or executive committee of the party at the Ward or State Level from taking any disciplinary measure against any member of the partys National Executive Committee.





The purported suspension is, therefore, an exercise in futility as it derives its strength majorly from gross illiteracy, ignorance, gambling and desperation. It has only mischief, drama and propaganda value.





Ayu added that the so-called suspension letter was written by an illiterate and only given to the coerced members to sign somewhere in Makurdi.





This is why the original date is tippexed and 24 March imposed on it.





From what we know, the document itself is fraudulent as the signatures of the Ward Executives were forged or obtained under duress.





The chairman, his deputy and legal adviser didnt sign the letter. The 14th person on the list didnt sign too. In fact, the same applies for Nos. 5, 8 and 16.





At the time they were supposed to be in Makurdi, the others coerced, intimidated and induced members of the Exco; they were actually in their villages, going about their normal businesses.





Ayu said till now, about nine members of the executives were still being held hostage in a location in Makurdi for obvious reasons.





He added that, expectedly, their cell phones had been switched off, saying, it is instructive.





He advised the general public to ignore rumours to the heinous effect, saying, those behind the plot are only investing in expensive illusions.





Ayu was reported to have been suspended on Sunday by the ward executive for alleged anti-party activities, failure to pay his Annual Subscription Fees, and failure to vote during the just-concluded elections.





The suspension reports also alleged that: It was also discovered that most of his closest allies worked for the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and hence, the abysmal performance of the PDP in Igyorov Ward.





In view of the foregoing, we hereby pass a Vote of No Confidence on Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and suspend him as a member of our party with immediate effect. The suspension takes effect from 24 March 2023, the letter had said.
A group known as The Natives says no mandate was stolen and Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, won the presidential election.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Monday before a march to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Smart Edwards, leader of the group, said Nigerians must not allow a repeat of the June 12 experience.

Nigerians went to the poll on June 12, 1993, to elect a president. The late Moshood Abiola, popularly known as MKO and the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), was presumed to be the winner of the election that was widely judged as free and fair.

The election was later annulled by Ibrahim Babangida, a former military ruler.

Edwards said it was wrong for Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), to assert that the country does not have a president-elect.

We call on everybody, whether the young people who are hurt or the APC who are also hurt, or PDP who are hurt or LP, NNPP, and others, to allow peace to reign and be patriotic, Edwards said.

The elections are over, but the elections are still in court, please give Nigeria a chance to grow.

In Benue, the APC has a Reverend Father who won the election overwhelmingly against the incumbent, thats democracy. We saw Peter Obi win an election in Lagos state against the landlord, thats democracy.

We saw the Labour Party win an election in FCT Abuja, thats democracy. We saw an Okada man win an election in Kaduna state, thats democracy. We saw a woman almost win an election in Adamawa, but was declared inconclusive, thats democracy.

We believe that MKO Abiolas soul will rest in peace on the day Bola Ahmed Tinubu takes over from President Muhammadu Buhari. I am also appealing in the name of the Almighty God to all Nigerians to please give peace a chance. We can not continue to protest on the streets every day.

We will be marching to INEC headquarters to tell the commission that no mandate was stolen. Asiwaju won the election and it remained so. Only the tribunal and supreme court can change the decision of INEC.
Abdulaziz Yari, former governor of Zamfara state, has declared interest in running for the office of senate president.

Yari said the north-west zone deserves the senate presidency since the region produced the highest number of votes for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential election.

In the February 25 election, Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the APC, polled 2,652,235 votes in the north-west  the highest APC got in a geopolitical zone.

Yari is expected to represent Zamfara west senatorial district in the 10th national assembly.

Speaking in a video shared on Twitter by Imran Muhammad, an APC stalwart, the former Zamfara governor said: The election has come, gone and the same zone (north-west) demonstrated what they are doing and took the lead in terms of producing votes to our president-elect and party.

Despite the fact that some people were thinking about how to subvert it, we have done our best despite the challenges.

Now, we have president (Tinubu) from the south-west, we have the vice-president from the north-east and the north-west is waiting.

I believe if my zone decides to support me they are not supporting the wrong person. I believe they know my capacity right from party chairman, member of house of representatives and governor.

Yari will have to slug it out with the likes of Jibrin Barau, David Umahi, Orji Kalu, Ali Ndume and Godswill Akpabio for the number one seat in the senate.

In May 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested Yari over alleged fraud relating to the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

The former Zamfara governor was arrested in connection to the fraud allegations levelled against Ahmed Idris, the suspended accountant-general.
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has expressed the belief that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjos father might not be a Yoruba man.

Fani-Kayode said Obasanjos silence over a recent comment by Igbo businessman Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu that Yoruba people are political rascals, was an indication that the former presidents father was an Igbo man, not Yoruba.

Iwuanyanwu said Igbo people had invested so much in Nigeria and were not going to yield to the pressure of people asking them to leave.

Speaking in Awka, Anambra State, on Saturday, Iwuanyanwu berated Yoruba people.

However, Fani-Kayode said he was disappointed that Obasanjo was silent over Iwuanyanwus anti-Yoruba comments.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Fani-Kayode wrote: The fact that our revered leader and one of the fathers of our nation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, can sit there and say nothing when Emmanuel Iwanyanwu, who I have always respected, describes the entire Yoruba race as rascals that the Igbo will DEAL with tells me that the rumour that he is NOT a fully-fledged Yoruba man and that his father was an Igbo may well be true.

Whatever the case, this is not the OBJ I once knew, loved, defended and worked so hard for. Something has gone wrong. No one could have made a statement against ANY tribe in the presence of the old OBJ that we all knew and respected and got away with it.

Following the outcome of the presidential election, there was a face-off between Yorubas and Igbos in Lagos.

The fallout was due to the victory of the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in Lagos State.

Against the backdrop of Obis victory, Igbos were warned against voting during the governorship election in Lagos.
The Lagos State Government has reiterated that the ban on commercial motorcycles, popularly called okada in 10 Local Government Areas, LGAs, and 15 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, in the metropolis still persists.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, declared this during an unscheduled monitoring of some restricted areas within the state, where large numbers of okada riders had returned.





Reaffirming the State Governments ban on okada in the Local Government Areas which include; Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu, Mushin, Apapa, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Surulere and Eti-Osa.





These includes the Local Council Development Areas under them, which are; Ojodu, Onigbongbo, Lagos Island East, Yaba and Coker Aguda. With others at; Itire-Ikate, Eti-Osa West, Iru Victoria Island, Ikoyi-Obalende, Ikosi-Isheri, Agboyi-Ketu, Isolo, Ejigbo, Bariga and Odi-Olowo, the Transport Special Adviser urged both riders and passengers to keep off.





Giwa therefore, urged the general public to comply as both the riders and passengers are both liable to three years in prison if apprehended and prosecuted, with their motorcycles impounded and crushed in the public view, in line with the provision of Section 46, sub-section 1, 2 and 3 of the Transport Sector Reform Law (TSRL), 2018.





While soliciting for support on government policies by residents, the Special Adviser noted that despite the available existing interventions and viable alternatives provided for okada operators which were expected to cushion the effect of the ban on their livelihood, the recalcitrant riders have refused to take advantage of them.





Highlighting some of the viable alternatives made available for the operators by the State Government, Giwa stated that the; Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA; (vocational training), Ministry of Wealth Creations and Employment; internship programmes, Office of Civic Engagement, Office of Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, LSETF, (Loan for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises MSMEs), Lagos Economic Acceleration Programme LEAP) and the Ministry of Agriculture (Agric YES) are all trade support for the riders.





He also said the State Governments First and Last Mile Bus Transport Scheme, the BRT Scheme, the Lagos e-hailing taxi Scheme (LAGRIDE) and other sustainable modes of transportation were also part of interventions provided to minimize the inconveniences of the motoring public in executing their daily activities.





Giwa stressed, The position of the government on okada is very clear, there is no going back in order to consolidate on the achievements made so far in the decrease in an accident and crime rates as well as the return of sanity to the communities within the state.





He added that the Security formations who have been partnering with the State Government including the Nigeria Police Force, the Army, Navy and Air force are still on the ground to sustain enforcement on all the banned corridors, as well as the State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, and the Anti-Okada Squad.




The Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has said that the immediate past governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, has not congratulated him after his victory at the Appeal Court.





Adeleke who said he was open to working with the former governor said he had yet to hear from Oyetola.





The governor said this when he featured on Arise TV Morning Show on Monday.





Immediately after the news of the Appeal Court (judgement), I tried to reach out, I called him  the former Governor Oyetola  to let us forge ahead to move Osun forward, but up till now, he has not called me to congratulate me and Im still hoping that he will do that because we dont have any other state than Osun State here. So, Im ready, my hands are open, lets come together and move Osun State forward, Adeleke said.





When asked what he would like to say to Oyetola, Adeleke made a U-turn on reaching out to Oyetola, saying he never called the former governor.





Well let me correct it, I did not say I put a call to him, what I said is Im still expecting him to call me so that he can congratulate me, and if he wants to do otherwise and go ahead to the Supreme Court, he has the right to do that, the governor said.





He reiterated that he would like to work with Oyetola.





The governor also said he was not afraid of the Supreme Court, saying he had his people and God on his side.





It was reported that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, last Friday, set aside the tribunal judgment that nullified the election of Adeleke as governor of the state.





The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Lawal, held that the appeal lodged by Adeleke to challenge his sack by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal was meritorious.





The court also awarded a sum of N500,000 as a cost against the All Progressive Congress and its candidate, Oyetola.





During the ruling, the justice resolved that the preponderance of proof that there was over-voting in the elections rested on the petitioner.





The court also maintained that the party alleging non-compliance with the electoral act must prove its case without merely relying on the weakness of the other party.





Delivering judgment, Justice Mohammed Shaibu overruled the judgment of the governorship election tribunal that nullified the outcome of the July governorship polls.





The three-man panel revoked the tribunals order which directed that a Certificate of Return be withdrawn from Adeleke and issued to his predecessor and All Progressives Congress candidate, Oyetola.





The Court of Appeal set aside the tribunal judgement, affirming Adeleke as the authentic winner and governor of Osun State.




A statement on Monday by DSP Bright Edafe noted that the personnel acted in an unprofessional manner unbecoming of police officers.





The security agency said no one deserves to be treated in such a manner, assuring the public of its zero tolerance for victimisation of citizens.





Edafe called the officers conduct inexcusable and unpardonable, adding that rope is not a police accoutrement and should not be used by in whatever guise.





The PRO confirmed the erring officers, attached to Agbarho Division, have been identified and detained at the command headquarters.





Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Ali has directed that internal disciplinary action be initiated immediately, assurng the outcome of an orderly room trial will be made public.





The statement advised the public to report complaints or distress situation via 09155570008, 09155570007 and 08036684974.
Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, has maintained that politics should transcend partisanship and be free from tribal and religious affiliations.

Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, made the statement in a post via his verified Twitter handle on Saturday.

His statement followed the celebration of Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludos one year in office, which he attended.

Obi said he would continue to pray for Soludo.

He wrote, I was in Awka, Anambra State, today for the celebration of Gov. Chukwuma Charles Soludos one year in office. As a firm believer in building a better society, I maintain that politics should transcend partisanship and be free from tribal and religious affiliations.

We all must join hands to build a better society for all. I congratulate my very dear brother and Governor, Prof @CCSoludo, as he marks his first year in office. I will continue to pray for, and wish him well in office. May he succeed.




The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has urged Igbos residing in Lagos State to protect their lives and businesses threatened by thugs led by the former Lagos State National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, chairman Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo.





IPOBs spokesman, Emma Powerful, said threatening Igbos in Lagos State was a threat to the entire Biafra.





In a statement by Powerful, IPOB lamented the silence of Yoruba leaders over the attack on Igbos and their businesses in Lagos State.





Powerful insisted that the silence of Yoruba politicians over the attack on Igbos in Lagos State has shown that the age long bitterness cant be healed.





He insisted that the silence of Yoruba leaders was an indication that they agree with the plot to eject Igbos from Lagos State forcefully.





According to Powerful: The Indigenous People of Biafra led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu condemn the numerous abductions and attacks on Ndigbo, resident in Lagos by the notorious thugs and criminals led by MC Olomo.





In the interim, we encourage Ndigbo to form gallant groups to defend themselves from the tribal vagabonds and political thugs. Yoruba criminals and cultists recruited by the politicians are pushing the Igbos and expecting us to react and we must respond to them shortly.
David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state, has asked President-elect Bola Tinubu to include Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, in his administration.

Umahi said Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has a lot to offer to Tinubu who contested the presidential election on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform.

The Ebonyi governor spoke on Monday at an event hosted by Wike in Obio-Akpor LGA of Rivers.

Umahi said there is no way the story of the 2023 general election can be told without mentioning Wike.

I thank God Almighty who had enacted that Asiwaju(Tinubu) and (Kashim) Shettima will win, the senator-elect said.

Look at the process of God, Tinubu was courageous and Shettima. God, directly and indirectly, made Governor Wike very much available, and there is no way you can conclude about the success of the election without mentioning Governor Wike.

We will be asking Asiwaju and Shettima to please bring Governor Wike to the core administration of the federal government. He has a lot to offer.

He has a lot to offer for the unity of the country. It is not all about party now, it is about the unity of the country, it is how to move this country forward and reunite our people.

Umahi said any politician who hopes to win in Rivers state without Wike is joking.

Our people want performance, if you have performed as a governor, the people will stand with you, he said.

Tinubu polled 231,591 votes in Rivers state to defeat Atiku Abubakar, PDP standard bearer, and Peter Obi, flag bearer of the Labour Party (LP), in the presidential election.

While Obi polled 175,071 votes, Atiku scored 88,468.




Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, has called for continuous prayers for those in positions of authority in the country to enable them to succeed.





Hamzat made the appeal at the Annual Public Ramadan Lecture of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Lagos State Council, held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.





According to him, with prayers the leaders would be able to introduce policies that would impart positively on the citizens.





He noted that nobody would aspire for position of authority with the intention to fail and hence the need for prayers to prevent them from derailing.





Hamzat noted that the Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olus administration would fulfill all the election promises it made to the citizens of the state by working harder.





We will ensure that the citizenry get the dividends of democracy as the administration intends to focus more on education, infrastructure development, economy, among other issues.





We will make sure that everybody gets dividends of democracy which include peace because without peace we cannot do anything, he said.





Commenting on the level of moral decadence in the country, Hamzat tasked parents to take interest in the proper upbringing of their children and family units.





He said parents should be blamed for the increased level of vices witnessed in the nation, stressing that the family unit was the foundation of any society.
A man was indicted on attempted murder and other charges last week, more than two months after authorities say he randomly beat a 67-year-old woman with a brick tied in a T-shirt on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

Samuel Cooper, 43, of Philadelphia, was also indicted Thursday on two counts of aggravated assault and three weapons offenses, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office said Monday.

The assault took place Jan. 6 in the area of Iowa Avenue. Investigators said he didnt know the woman.
Authorities in Atlantic County have charged a South Jersey police officer with possession of child pornography.

Christopher Ortiz, 38, a veteran officer with the Vineland Police Department, is accused of uploading images of child sexual exploitation to a cloud service.

He was issued a summons for third-degree endangering the welfare of a child and released pending an April court date, according to court records.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force  a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies  contacted Atlantic County Prosecutors Office Detective Jason Salter on March 20 to report it was contacted by a company handling cloud-based storage for Verizon regarding a user allegedly uploading child porn, according to an affidavit of probable cause in the case.

The referral involved 76 files uploaded to the service and Verizon confirmed the phone number associated with the account was registered to Ortiz, who lives at an address in Estell Manor in Atlantic County, the investigator said.

A cellphone was seized as evidence, according to the affidavit.

Court records did not list an attorney for Ortiz as of Monday.

He has been suspended without pay, a Vineland official confirmed.

He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charge April 26 in Superior Court.

Ortiz graduated from the Vineland Police Academy in 2006 at age 21 and joined the city department, according to news accounts. He was promoted to sergeant in 2020.

His current salary is $112,564, according to state pension records.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
The trial for a man accused of stabbing his neighbor to death during a South Jersey brawl nearly three years ago is scheduled to begin later this week.

Zachary T. Latham, 20, is charged with second-degree reckless manslaughter, aggravated assault and weapons offenses in the May 4, 2020, killing of William T. Durham Sr. in the Vineland neighborhood where they both lived.

Durham, 51, a veteran corrections officer at South Woods State Prison in Cumberland County, died after a feud between Latham and the Durham family boiled over into a bloody confrontation that was caught on cellphone video recorded by Lathams wife, Sarah, according to court documents.

Much of their feud was documented on videos taken by the defendant after the families clashed over Latham allegedly speeding on the street they shared.

Latham began taunting and mocking the Durhams in a series of social media posts on TikTok, the videos showed.

The encounters culminated in a bloody showdown after the victims wife, Catherine, accused Latham of swerving his car toward her 17-year-old son as he rode his bike on the street, according to the Durham family.

As Latham drove home later that day with his wife and two friends in the vehicle, Durham Sr. pulled his pickup truck out of his own driveway to block his neighbors path, as seen on cellphone video of the incident shared with NJ Advance Media. Catherine Durham approached Latham with her cellphone recording the encounter as she confronted him about the incident with her son.

Lathams wife, Sarah, began recording, too, as a verbal dispute turned physical. Latham told Catherine Durham, Get out of my face, and swatted at her phone, making contact with the woman, according to prosecutors.

The defendant then drove to his nearby home and the Durhams followed.

William T. Durham Sr., a correctional officer at South Woods State Prison, was stabbed to death in a fight with a neighbor.

A video recorded by Lathams wife shows the Durhams two sons and their father arrive at the Latham residence.

Latham, who went inside his house, emerged armed with a stun gun and a knife, while the Durhams had no weapons, according to the video and court records.

Words were exchanged and one of the Durhams sons was about to throw a punch, according to the video, when Latham swung at him with the knife. Durham dodged the blade.

Lathams wife can be heard screaming on the video and the stun gun repeatedly crackled as Durham and his sons battled Latham and his two friends.

The defendant stabbed Durham Sr. in the back and left underarm, according to prosecutors. The underarm wound punctured a lung and he later died at a hospital.

Lawyers for the Durham family argued Latham lured Durham Sr. into the fatal confrontation in a bid for TikTok fame. The familys attorneys unsuccessfully sought a murder charge in the case.

Latham, who suffered a concussion in the brawl, claimed he acted in self-defense after the Durhams came onto his property.

Catherine Durham and the couples two sons were also charged in the incident.

She was charged with fourth-degree criminal trespass and simple assault from the fight, but her charges were later dismissed, according to court records.

Durhams sons were each charged with third-degree aggravated assault and fourth-degree criminal trespass. The older son, William T. Durham Jr., was admitted to the diversionary pre-trial intervention program on the charges. His brother was a juvenile at the time, so the outcome of his charges is not listed in public records and officials have not commented on the status of his case.

Latham was 18 at the time of the killing and lived with his grandparents. He was emancipated at age 17 and served as a private in the New Jersey Army National Guard from May 2019 until he was separated from the service several months after he was charged in September 2020, a Guard spokeswoman confirmed.

Following his pre-trial release from jail soon after the killing, Latham moved to Florida, but was arrested there after allegedly threatening someone with a pellet gun. He was released with an ankle monitor in that case, but surrendered to authorities after his New Jersey release was revoked in 2021.

Under terms of his release in New Jersey, he was barred from publicly commenting on case, but continued posting about it on social media, a judge determined.

Latham was extradited to New Jersey, where he has remained jailed while he awaits trial.

The public defender representing Latham accused others of harassing and threatening his client, getting him fired from his job in Florida and forming what amounted to modern-day lynch mobs against the defendant. The defense planned to seek a change of venue for the trial but recently withdrew that motion.

Opening arguments are scheduled for Thursday morning, officials said.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
A grand jury in New Mexico has indicted a former New Jersey resident on charges that he killed his estranged wife and two men two years ago.

Sean M. Lannon, 49, is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence in New Jersey for killing his childhood mentor in Gloucester County after allegedly killing four people in New Mexico.

Lannon, who moved from New Jersey to the Southwest with his wife, Jennifer, and their three kids several years ago for a job, is accused of shooting his wife to death in the rented house the couple shared in Grants, New Mexico, in January 2021.

He then allegedly killed acquaintances Jesten Mata and Matthew Miller in the same residence on separate occasions.

Richard Pugh, the public defender representing Lannon for his New Mexico charges, declined to comment on the indictment Monday morning.

Lannon allegedly stored the bodies of his estranged wife, Mata and Miller in crates, which he later moved 80 miles away to Albuquerque, where he is accused of killing a fourth victim, Randall Apostalon.

All four bodies were found in Apastalons pickup truck at an Albuquerque airport in March 2021. Authorities then learned Lannon had flown out from the airport to the East Coast with the couples kids a day earlier.

In New Mexico, Sean Lannon is accused of killing his estranged wife, Jennifer, as well as Jesten Mata (top, right), Matthew Miller (bottom, left) and Randall Apostalon.

He left the kids with family in South Jersey, then headed off on a trip that took him to the home of 66-year-old Michael Dabkowski in East Greenwich Township. Lannon admitted in court that he beat the man to death with a hammer on March 8, 2021. He pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge in that case and was sentenced in December.

Dabkowski met Lannon and his twin brother in the 1980s through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Lannon claimed after his arrest that Dabkowski molested him as a child and he went to the house to retrieve photos of the abuse, authorities said. No evidence was ever presented in court to support Lannons claims.

Lannon was arrested March 10 in St. Louis, apparently on his way back to New Mexico. He allegedly admitted to all five killings, according to investigators.

He described motives for each killing, according to prosecutors, but, as with Dabkowski, no evidence has been presented publicly to support his allegations related to the victims in New Mexico.

The indictment handed up Friday in Cibola County, New Mexico, lists 10 charges in all, including three counts of first-degree willful and deliberate murder and seven counts of tampering with evidence, according to court records.

The tampering charges include placing the victims bodies in crates, moving those crates out of the county, and hiding a firearm. Lannon is also accused of removing a mattress, carpeting and laundry room flooring from the site where the killings occurred in an effort to cover his actions.

Jennifer Lannons family expressed relief about the indictment.

We are glad to see some progress being made in the New Mexico case, her brother, Chris Whitman, said in a statement. Its been a long two years waiting for justice for Jennifer. It brings some type of relief that some more closure is in sight. Our hope is that justice is served for all victims.

The case involving Apostalons death is being handled by a separate district attorneys office and no indictment has been filed in that case.

In January, New Jersey officials served Lannon with an arrest warrant issued by New Mexico related to the Grants killings.

He remains in New Jersey Department of Corrections custody and its unclear if he will be transported to New Mexico to face his charges in that state.

Sean Lannon reads a statement during his December 2022 sentencing in the killing of Michael Dabkowski in New Jersey.Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance

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Two men are being sought by Kearny police after they tried to rob two gas stations in Kearny at gunpoint Sunday evening, authorities said.

The robbery attempts were foiled when the attendants at both stations fled after a handgun was brandished, Kearny police Capt. Tim Wagner said.

Police investigating the incidents  one reported at 5:52 p.m. at the Citgo gas station on Belgrove Drive and the other reported four minutes later at the Jersey Oil gas station on Passaic Avenue  found that the same Hyundai Elantra Sedan was used. The vehicle, which was reported stolen earlier that day, was recovered abandoned in the Weequahic section of Newark.

In the first incident, Police Officer Mathew Lopez responded to the Belgrove Drive station and was told two men pulled up to the pump and the driver handed the gas attendant a credit card for a fill-up, Wagner said. Before the attendant could dispense fuel, the backseat passenger pointed a handgun at him.

When the attendant fled the Hyundai sped off without obtaining any robbery proceeds, Wagner said. It was later determined that the credit card used by the driver was stolen from a woman in Elizabeth a half hour earlier.

Minutes later Police Officer Nicholas Funk was flagged down by an attendant at the Passaic Avenue station. Funk was told the two men pulled up to the gas pump, flashed a handgun and demanded money, Wagner said. The attendant ran and the vehicle sped off into Belleville without any proceeds of the robbery.

The incidents are being investigated by Kearny Detective Anthony Nunez. Anyone with information pertinent to the investigation is asked to contact Nunez at (201) 998-1313 ext. 2821 or at tips@kearnynjpd.org. Reference case numbers 23-13,136 and 23-13,140.
Metuchen Downtown Alliance has won Main Street Americas 2023 Great American Main Street Award, the alliance announced Monday.

It is an incredible honor to win the Great American Main Street Award, said alliance Executive Director Dawn Mackey. It is exciting that communities across the country will learn about the amazing work being done by an amazing, tireless group of volunteers in conjunction with the businesses, property owners and the borough.
Allen Fish got the call from the nursing home the day his 76-year-old mother, Audrey, had been taken to the emergency room.

They said your mother fell, he recalled. They told me it was just a scratch.

But when Fish rushed to the hospital, he found her injuries were far more serious than what he had been led to believe. She was terribly bruised. One of her eyes was bulging. And she was in a lot of pain.

Another resident had allegedly hit her with a cane.

I was in so much rage that night, he said.

Then he found out that Clara Sutowski, a 91-year-old resident on the very same dementia unit of the South Plainfield nursing home caring for his mother had been grievously hurt just two days earlier by a different resident known to have behavioral issues. Sutowski ultimately died from her injuries and her alleged assailant has since been charged with reckless manslaughter.

We didnt know about Miss Clara, Fish said sadly.

As the population ages, an increasing number of people with late-stage dementia are entering nursing homes, industry officials say. It is a wrenching decision that often comes when their behavior becomes too much for families to safely manage, according to Andrew Aronson, CEO of the Health Care Association of New Jersey.

With the increase of number of residents with dementia, though, resident-on-resident assaults in New Jersey nursing homes are on the rise, according to the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, which advocates for nursing home residents and their families.

Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, who heads the state agency, said 456 incidents were reported to her office in fiscal year 2022, up from 249 the previous fiscal year. Yet even that is an incomplete picture. Assault cases are usually self-reported by the long-term care facility. The ombudsman only gets copied on the ones that involve residents over 60. Her office has no way of knowing whether facilities are reporting these incidents as required unless it hears independently from residents or their families.

We have already opened 189 cases between October 1, 2022, and Feb. 28, she said. That compared to 159 for the same period of time in fiscal year 2022.

Its been an ongoing trend for years. A 2019 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that abuse cases in long-term care facilities nationwide doubled from 2013 through 2017. More often than not, perpetrators were typically staff and it was unclear how many involved resident-on-resident assaults. However, the study did not count actual cases and the number was just a statistical estimate. The GAO also questioned why there was not more complete data on nursing home abuse.

In fact, neither the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, nor the New Jersey Department of Health keeps count on how often resident-on-resident assaults occur in nursing homes, experts say  a fact acknowledged by officials for both agencies. They collect the data. They just dont add it up.

This is not being tracked, complained Eilon Caspi, a gerontologist and researcher at the University of Connecticuts Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy. And if you dont track it, it doesnt exist.

The data does not show up on federal nursing home report cards. Often, incidents of violence involve people whose mental acuity has been ravaged by dementia and may go unreported unless a family speaks out  or if someone dies. Yet Caspi, author of Understanding and Preventing Harmful Interactions Between Residents with Dementia, said regulators and Congress have made no move to demand such information.

Its a Pandoras Box, he said. One that no one wants to open.

On the federal level, CMS officials said incidents similar to those that occurred in South Plainfield are classified under a broad range of violations that are not specific to resident-on-resident assaults. Because of that, any search of federal data for citations of nursing home abuse could include a wide range of incidents beyond those perpetrated by aggressive residents, a department spokesman explained. That means any family trying to determine whether a facility had issues in the past protecting would have a difficult time digging up those records.

While nursing homes are required to report incidents of resident-on-resident abuse, the New Jersey Department of Healths data system cannot provide cumulative totals of complaints, a department spokeswoman said.

The data is all facility-specific and is accessed and reviewed prior to survey of the facility, said Nancy Kearney. When a resident-on-resident abuse situation is reported, the department investigates the situation to determine whether the facility failed to comply with any applicable rules or regulations. Any such deficiencies would be noted in a survey and/or subject to corrective or enforcement action.

They are alerted when such incidents occur at a nursing home and are aware of what has happened at any one facility. But like the CMS, they also do not keep track of the numbers statewide.

Hidden inside the federal reports

An examination by NJ Advance Media of federal deficiency reports citing New Jersey nursing homes for abuse uncovered a broad spectrum of complaints  some graphically recounting aggressive and out-of-control residents attacking other elderly residents.

At one Camden County nursing home, a resident with a history of aggression and multiple altercations with others who lived there was found by a physician to require long-term psychiatric placement, according to one 2021 report after attacking another resident who had to be transported a hospital to stitch a laceration above the left eyebrow. She had been smacked across the face while they were waiting for dinner in the activity room.

According to the report, the assailant at first denied the allegation and then claimed the woman had touched his or her food. There were no staff witnesses. Later, more punches were thrown in retaliation.

Another report that came to light in the analysis involved a certified nursing aide at a nursing home in Burlington County who responded to a call light at 7:45 in the morning in January 2021. When she pulled back a privacy curtain, she found a scene of violence. There was blood on a residents face, gown, pillow, and the wall. The aide asked the residents roommate what happened.

I did it! proclaimed the roommate, according to the incident report.

I immediately yelled for the nurse to come, the aide told investigators.

The resident who had been attacked had a swollen and bloody face and was unable to open his or her right eye. Health workers immediately called 911.

According to the report, the attacker had previously experienced episodes of verbal and physical agitation or aggression, calling staff stupid idiots. The report also documented instances of the individual pacing halls, physically intimidating staff, charging at staff, (and) verbal aggression related to cognitive impairment (and) sensory overload, and had refused to take medications prescribed by doctors at the facility.

A unit manager said when the individual declined the medications, there was nothing else done or no extra supervision provided. A nurse said she felt the resident was unsafe to be around others, and that he or she needed an inpatient psychiatric facility.

Administrators at a Bergen County nursing home reported several incidents involving physical assaults towards others by a resident with a history of aggressive behavior. Transferred to a hospital for psychological evaluations, the individual was ultimately returned to the facility before assaulting a nurse and hitting a police officer on the head with the footrest from his or her wheelchair.

The administrator revealed [that the resident] was very strong and once the resident got upset, there was no way the facility staff could control the resident, the report noted. The resident was arrested, but due to COVID-19, the police could not hold the resident.

In New Jersey, Facciarossa Brewer said her office has identified cases where some individuals who were admitted had needs that could not be met by the facility.

It is possible that long-term care facilities are accepting people they would otherwise screen out because they are seeking to increase their occupancy rates, suggested the states ombudsman.

Occupancy rates in nursing homes averaged about 84% of capacity before COVID, she said. However, that number dropped to under 70% during the worst of the pandemic and has not fully rebounded. Today, the occupancy rate in nursing homes is about 75%, she noted.

There is no doubt, she said, that the recent rash of serious injuries and deaths appear to be occurring in dementia units.

This is dangerous because those residents are particularly vulnerable, she said.

And with resident-to-resident incidents appearing to be on the rise across the board, the ombudsman added that one has to assume that chronic understaffing has something to do with this.

According to Aronson, the lobbyist for the long-term care industry, nursing homes that accept residents with late-stage dementia have been intentionally letting beds go unfilled. It not only helps the facility meet the state minimum staffing law for certified nursing aides, he explained, but it also enables the facility to provide better supervision for these medically complex patients.

Existing regulations require the expertise to provide the services, he said. No other place in the healthcare system has the expertise and capacity to treat this population.

An incurable disease

About 6.2 million U.S. adults aged 65 or older lived with dementia in 2021, including Alzheimers.

It is an incurable disease that causes brain failure, compromising a persons independence and identity, said Fred Kobylarz, a professor of Geriatrics at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. As the brain declines, it shrinks areas that control personality and mood, with paranoid thoughts often filling in the blanks.

Gary Small, Behavioral Health Physician-in-Chief for Hackensack Meridian Health, one of the largest hospital and medical provider chains in the state, described the progressive disease as one that can lead into full-blown psychosis. Those with dementia get paranoid and think others are out to get them.

Aggression may be triggered by a medical condition, such as a urinary tract infection or interactions between medications. Patients often experience more confusion, agitation and aggression in the late afternoon or evening, a symptom known as sundowning.

But aggression and agitation may just as likely be caused by the persons inability to communicate, said Amy Harris, a recreation therapist for NYU Langones Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias Family Support Program.

When aggression happens, its a need not being met, she said. A skin wound, a cold air in the room, something really unsettling for that person but they cannot express it.

Most people with advanced dementia live with their families. However, the toll the disease takes on both patients and caregivers is steep, as the person becomes totally dependent, Kobylarz observed. Eventually, many require long-term care in a nursing home.

Most people with dementia are not violent, according to Caspi, who noted that using terms like aggression implies incorrectly that people with dementia are acting intentionally to hurt others. Their actions are more reflexive, and a sign they are not getting the supervision and care they need to be safe.

Documenting and reporting data on resident-on-resident assaults would give the problem the attention it needs to hopefully prevent nursing home residents from hurting each other, he said.

In his book, he notes that when these elderly individuals who are living with a serious brain disease experience situational frustrations and fears in their day-to-day interactions with other residents, they are bound to react in ways aimed at protecting themselves from real or perceived threats and to affirm their personhood, identity and right to live with dignity.

In the vast majority of situations, residents with dementia are fighting with each other in an effort to preserve their dignity and protect their safety, he said.

Nursing home employees are supposed to be trained in methods to de-escalate when tempers flare, said Small of Hackensack Meridian Health.

Facilities must document when residents have a history of aggression and strike other residents, separating them from others before tensions erupt into an altercation, he said. Maybe the person needs an anti-anxiety drug or an antidepressant.

We try to use them over short periods of time because they have side effects that leave the person feeling like a zombie, he said.

Others, including Kobylarz, agreed that medicating people with dementia as a way of managing their behaviors is not an optimal solution  even with the staffing shortages endemic in nursing homes.

I know its challenging and with many patients it may not work. Non-pharmacological approaches should be tried first, he said. The last thing we want to do is medicate someone.

But while Aronson agrees that non-medicinal strategies should be tried first to prevent or quell violent outbursts, the nursing home industry official said such approaches may not work with someone in the later stages of dementia. He argued that it was time for federal regulators to recognize that medication plays an important role in keeping people safe and managing challenging behaviors.

A group representing pharmacists, long-term care providers and advocacy groups for the elderly known as Project PAUSE has asked CMS to stop grading nursing homes harshly in public surveys that use psychotropic drugs to manage people with late-stage dementia.

If we are considering proposals to improve care, I recommend that we listen to the experts, Aronson said.

Criminal charges

The alleged assault of Clara Sutowski in January on a dementia care unit at AristaCare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield occurred not long after a similar resident-on-resident assault in a Westfield nursing home when a 91-year-old man died two weeks earlier following an attack by his roommate.

Clara Sutowski was assaulted at AristaCare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield by another resident in January and died just a few days later in the hospital. She is seen in a 2020 photo provided by her family.

Nicole Kupko said her great aunt had been alone making her way down the hallway with the aid of a walker in the nursing homes memory care unit when she was allegedly knocked to the floor by Angel Bermontiz, 81, who she was told had been standing in his bedroom doorway. Kupko said he then allegedly beat her in the face and head.

Prosecutors say only that Bermontiz slapped Sutowski, causing her to fall and hit her head on the floor, according to complaint and affidavit of probable cause.

When police and EMTs responded to the scene, a roommate of Bermontiz complained of his past behavior, in comments caught on a police body camera. A staff members complained that Bermontiz threw a chair at me, adding, hes so strong.

Bermontiz, who was criminally charged, was removed that day from the nursing home and remains at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, according to prosecutors. He faces a hearing in April. His attorney, George Somers Jr. of Princeton, declined comment.

I dont like to talk about cases at all until theyre finished, he said.

The administrator of AristaCare at Cedar Oaks, Steven Share, declined specific comment on the alleged assaults of Sutowski and of Audrey Fish.

As I am sure you can appreciate, access to our residents private medical information is restricted by law and I cannot comment on any specific resident or former resident, he said.

But in general, he said: No two residents with dementia are the same, and every resident with dementia receives an individualized care plan that is specifically designed to meet his or her needs.

The South Plainfield Police Department in response to a public records request released several minutes of body cam video captured by officers responding to a 911 call to the nursing home. The video showed Bermontiz calling out and cursing in Spanish, but not struggling with caregivers or the EMTs as they quickly lifted him using the corners of the bedsheet and transferred him to the stretcher to be transported from the facility by ambulance.

According to a police report, the orders were to transport a resident who was being combative. The officer didnt find out about the assault until he arrived, according to the report. The officer found the man in bed, restrained by a male nurse.

In this police body cam photo, officers respond to an apparent attack by another resident of Clara Sutowski on the dementia unit of a South Plainfield nursing home, as EMTs take away the alleged assailant. Sutowski later died.South Plainfield Police Department

The scene at the nursing home showed nothing of what happened to Sutowski, or the extent of the injuries to her eye and face. Two members of the nursing home staff could be heard on the video saying they saw her and thought she was dying or dead.

Shes so sweet, I hope she is okay, said one.

Sutowski though suffered a brain bleed and a broken eye socket, according to medical records. Photos released by her family showed significant facial injuries. She died three days later at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick from complications from the blunt force trauma, according to medical and police reports her family also shared with NJ Advance Media.

It was not the first time that resident-on-resident assaults were reported at the facility.

Additional reports released by the South Plainfield police through a public records request noted a July 2021 altercation that led to a 911 call. In that episode, an elderly patient with dementia was upset by another resident because she allegedly touched her belongings, according to the report, and apparently tried strangling the victim with a wet towel.

There were no injuries sustained to the victim other than redness around the neck, said the investigating officer. The victim was in the day room taking part in an activity when I saw her. A precautionary X-ray had been ordered.

The alleged assailant in that incident was taken to the hospital for a psychological evaluation.

In January 2022, officers were again dispatched to the nursing home for a resident who had struck another individual with her fist and was being combative with nurses. The woman told police she did not recall hitting the other resident. Members of the staff reported that she suffered from severe dementia and her memory is almost nonexistent at times.

They were going to take good care of her

Two days after Clara Sutowski was left severely injured, Allen Fishs mother was allegedly attacked on the same floor at AristaCare by another resident, he said.

Audrey Fish raised a family, once sold life insurance, and tended bar on the side, and later took on the role of a caretaker for her grandchildren when her daughter passed away. As she grew older, however, dementia began to manifest itself about six to eight years ago.

Audrey Fish in a photo provided by her family.Photo courtesy of Sonja Holloway-Fish

Sonja Holloway-Fish, who is married to Allen, said they had been taking care of her mother-in-law at home, but moved her to the nursing facility as her condition grew worse.

She would wander and would get lost, Holloway-Fish said. We needed to get help.

They had selected AristaCare, she said, because of its ratings and the CMS Nursing Home Compare website after they had issues at another nursing home they felt was not equipped to care for her.

Yet Rodrick Fish, another son of Audrey, complained that the South Plainfield facility was understaffed most of the time.

We were told they were going to take good care of her, but it was not happening, he said. We want it to be known that they are not watched carefully. A lot of these places, theyre not concerned about the residents.

The state mandates one certified nursing aide to every eight residents on the daytime shift. In the most recent quarterly numbers compiled by the Department of Health, AristaCare had a ratio of 11.1 residents per aide, according to the facility reported data.

Share, the nursing homes administrator, responded that no general statement about staffing levels can possibly take into account the individual needs of each resident.

He said the states quarterly minimum staffing ratio numbers do not include the time spent and care provided by psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors, nurse practitioners, social workers, therapists, or other important staff. Quarterly minimum staffing ratio numbers do not provide the proper information to make a determination about staffing levels.

Last month, the Department of Health issued an enforcement order citing licensure violations in connection to Sutowskis death.

Health inspectors said the facility failed to ensure that residents were free from physical abuse, including a failure to supervise and monitor a resident who had prior aggressive behaviors which resulted in a resident-to-resident physical altercation. And the state also said the nursing homes administrator failed to protect those living there from resident-to resident physical abuse.

The department ordered AristaCare to retain a full-time consultant administrator and consultant director of nursing, citing significant deficiencies posing an immediate and serious treat of harm to residents.

The Fish family, in the meantime, says they are still looking for answers as to what occurred and why.

Its something that needs to be addressed and needs to be corrected, said Holloway-Fish.

Her mother-in-law, she added, has no idea what happened to her or why she hurts.

She doesnt remember it. Thats the only blessing, Holloway-Fish said. She has no memory.

__

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL.
When you open a bank account or a credit card, you need to show a government-issued ID.

If you want to change your address with the post office, you can go in person, where youre supposed to show identification, or you can do it online for a $1.10 fee with a credit or debit card.

That doesnt give consumers enough protection from the growing threat of change of address fraud, U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer said Monday at a press conference outside the Paramus post office.

Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., said the current system to verify address changes is far too lax. Its a complete scam. Its a real magnet and a hotbed of activity. Its widespread and its growing like a fungus.

We could take simple steps to fix it, Gottheimer said, standing with a victim of change of address fraud. This vital service must be corrected.

Change of address fraud happens when a con artist convinces the postal service to deliver your mail to a different address. When they receive your bank statements, credit card bills and other personal information, they can open accounts in your name and otherwise steal your identity.

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The postal services Office of the Inspector General in April 2022 cited 23,606 cases in 2021, up 167% from the year before.

Gottheimer said when his staff recently changed office locations in New Jersey, they werent asked to show identification in person when they made the address change.

I dont know how the U.S. Postal Service can possibly believe that they have sufficient protections in place with these sky-high cases of mail fraud, Gottheimer told NJ Advance Media before the press conference. Unfortunately, because of egregious inaction from the USPS, far too many Jersey residents are in the bullseye of fraudsters and hucksters.

It happened to an NJ Advance Media reporter last summer when someone changed her familys address with the postal service. The scammer quickly opened a new bank account in their name.

At the press conference, Paramus resident Alyse, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her privacy, said in 2018, she noticed she was getting less mail, but when she visited the post office multiple times to ask about it, she said she was told she had a new mail carrier and to be patient.

But about two weeks later, she started to get calls about unpaid bills  bills she should have received in the mail.

Thats when she realized all of her addresses, including for a car lease and a credit card, had been changed to an address in Philadelphia, something she said was finally confirmed by a postal supervisor who told her there were 11 change of address requests that day, all to the same address.

She said she never received a postcard from the postal service saying the address had been changed, a protection thats supposed to be in place.

Then the post office told her it would take two weeks to reverse the change of address, leaving more time for the con artists to receive her private mail.

That was a full-time job for almost two months (to correct the fraudulently changed addresses) and we thought we were doing okay, she said. A year and a half later, my ID was stolen again. They got into my bank accounts and created a license in my name with their picture. They started opening up credit cards.

She said she believes it all stems back to the postal fraud.

ASKING FOR MORE PROTECTIONS

In a bipartisan letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Gottheimer is calling for more protections. The letter asks for an update on what the postal service is doing to strengthen the authentication processes and add systems to protect consumers to prevent change of address fraud.

He is also pushing for the Postal Inspection Service, the postal services law enforcement arm, to do more to get to the bottom of unsolved cases of change of address and mail fraud.

Gottheimer said government-issued IDs should be required when someone changes an address online and that two-factor authentication should be part of the process. Plus, he said, consumers should be able to freeze their postal accounts to stop address changes in the same way consumers can freeze their credit reports to stop anyone from opening new credit lines. Today, someone must already be a victim to put a freeze on address changes with the postal service.

The circus at the US Postal Service has gone on long enough, Gottheimer said. Our families deserve answers, and they deserve to know that the Postal Service is doing everything they can to ensure their mail, credit cards, checks, bank info, tax returns, Social Security numbers, and life-saving medications are safe from thieves.

The April 2022 report from the Inspector General said the current change of address website had ineffective identity verification controls that allow bad actors to facilitate mail and identity theft. In response, the postal service said its protections were sufficient.

When someone changes their address online, they fill out a form and pay a $1.10 identity validation fee with a credit or debit card.

When you enter your credit card or debit card number and billing address, we can electronically verify your cards information with the issuing bank, the postal service website said.

Its unclear how or if the system can verify that the credit or debit card being used actually belongs to the person at the address in question.

The Postal Service previously didnt respond to specific questions from NJ Advance Media about how the online address change request uses a persons credit or debit card to verify their identity, but it said it makes every effort to safeguard against criminal activity as it relates to the mail.

To keep tabs on their mail, consumers can sign up for the U.S. Postal Services free Informed Delivery service, which sends a daily email with images of the mail they can expect to be delivered that day.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KPMueller.
Vincent Dransfield, who turns 109 years old on Tuesday, still drives his Hyundai every day to run errands and lives in the same Little Falls house he moved into in 1945.

The Passaic County native  who is possibly New Jerseys oldest resident  has simple advice for living an improbably long life.
Three days after a chemical spill in Pennsylvania sparked concerns over the water quality of the Delaware River, New Jersey officials said Monday testing shows no contamination or impact to the drinking water.

Sampling of the river at multiple locations and at drinking water intakes, process samples, and entry points to the distribution system thus far have all been non-detect for chemicals involved in the incident, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement.

More than 15 million people depend on the Delaware River basin for drinking, agricultural and industrial uses, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Over 975,000 residents in communities like Bristol, Philadelphia and Camden had their water threatened following the spill, according to the non-profit Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed.
By Jean Semelfort

On Friday, March 3, 2023, we witnessed the fatal result of the Paterson Police departments stubbornness to allow the appropriate professionals to assist Najee Seabrooks. Disheartened by the killing of community activist, father, brother, and beloved Patersonian, I could not help but wonder how the public would interpret the bodycam footage released by the NJ Attorney Generals office.
The youngest attorney general in New Jersey history just marked himself as one of the most courageous, with a decisive takeover of the police department in Paterson, effective now, from top to bottom, before more blood is spilled for no good reason.

Matt Platkin, one year into the job, gave at least some meaning to the death of Najee Seabrooks, the young man who was shot and killed during a psychotic breakdown in his home on March 3 by an aggressive SWAT team in body armor that wasnt interested in talking him down.

This wont bring Najee back but please mention his name, Liza Chowdhury, who runs the anti-violence network where Seabrooks worked, asked me. We felt powerless that day, but this shows our voice matters, that someone is listening, and that the Paterson police cant get away with the stuff theyve been getting away with for years.

The cases of police misbehavior in Paterson would fill a fat book, but heres a sampling to give you the basic idea. Last month, Platkin charged a Paterson officer with shooting a fleeing suspect in the back. Five members of the infamous robbery squad are in prison today after beating and robbing civilians during police stops as a routine. A pending lawsuit charges police with beating a mentally disturbed man to death in an ambulance. And a year ago, police dropped off another mentally disturbed man in a park, and no one has seen him since. Civilian complaints over police beatings are routine, as are their dismissals.

Platkin says he made this move because the locals had failed, and the state Constitution puts responsibility over policing directly in his hands. When it comes to crime, at least, New Jersey is anything but a home-rule state.

And hes right about this: The blame for this rogue department goes up and down the local chain of command.

Mayor Andre Sayegh insisted just a few days ago that he and his team had this under control, a delusional statement after five years of failing to do so. For him, this was all politics. He wants to run for Congress, and he doesnt want to fight police unions or admit to his failure.

Passaic Prosecutor Camelia Valdes, with direct authority over the police, is plainly incompetent. She defended a bad murder prosecution that was later overturned despite her obstructionism. She was told about the robbery squad but could not find enough evidence to file charges, leaving it to the FBI to save the day. And in this case, shes a hapless bystander, forcing Platkin to come in and clean up a mess that rightfully belongs to her. (She still has the support of Gov. Phil Murphy, for some reason, but is an acting prosecutor because she cant win confirmation in the Legislature for another term.)

Since the shooting of Seabrooks most civil rights advocates in New Jersey have pressed for federal intervention by the Department of Justice, a view shared by this papers editorial board. Thats based on the success of DOJ interventions with the State Police and Newark Police.

But Platkins move is preferable, in some ways. The DOJ takes years to investigate a department before moving in; it is still investigating the police in Minneapolis three years after George Floyds murder. And after the investigation, the DOJ takes more time to negotiate a consent decree, or to ask a judge to force reforms.

Platkin, turbo-charged by our state Constitution, is already taking control in Paterson, putting his own people in charge and imposing several meaty policy changes.

And unlike the DOJ, Platkin says that the state will pay for these reforms and increase funding as needed.

We can move quickly and stabilize the situation, he said in an interview after the announcement.

Before making his announcement just after noon at City Hall in Paterson, Platkin met with police officers and told them the news. I asked how they reacted.

I spoke to them from the heart, and I think the reaction was pretty positive, he said. There are a lot of good officers in Paterson who have not been given the support they need. Theyve had four chiefs in three years, without sufficient fiscal support, training, and leadership.

A lot of officers want their department to be something they can be proud of. And you know, their jobs are not easy when the public doesnt trust them. If people dont trust you, they will never tell you whats going on. And theyre working in a large and sometimes dangerous community.

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He announced policy changes that go directly to the mistakes police made in the Seabrooks standoff. The state will develop new protocols for dealing with people who have barricaded themselves. Police will team up with civilian mental health workers on this kind of call. And police will be trained to work constructively with violence intervention teams like the Paterson Healing Collective, run by Chowdhury, and several similar groups across the state.

This is a promising turn, not a piece of magic. We dont know yet how effective Platkins new team will be. We dont know if the local police and politicians will take this mission to heart. This decision was all Platkins and we dont know if the governor will back him with needed money and political support, especially if the police unions decide to resist.

Chowdhury wants Platkin to fire officers in the chain of command who were responsible for mishandling the Seabrooks standoff, a demand joined by the statewide coalition of violence intervention groups like hers. Will Platkin be able to answer the rage that years of police misconduct have created? It wont be easy, especially if the officers who shot Seabrooks are deemed justified.

But today, give it up for our 36-year-old attorney general. Confronting police misconduct takes guts. If you dont believe that, look at how our allegedly progressive Legislature has backed away from one reform after another.

Were grateful for this, Chowdhury says. Its a step in the right direction. Were going to watch and see. But well be working with him and making sure that Najee did not go down in vain.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 986-6951. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

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The state Office of the Attorney General has taken control of the Paterson Police Department following years of problems, including criminal charges against a dozen officers, millions in legal settlements and fierce criticism of police use of force in New Jerseys third-largest city.

There is a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in this city, Attorney General Matt Platkin said during a Monday afternoon press conference on the steps of Patersons public safety complex. That can not continue. It will change, starting now. Effective immediately, my office has assumed control of all law enforcement functions of the Paterson Police Department.

The move represented an operational takeover of one of the largest police departments in New Jersey, sidelining a police chief, Englebert Ribeiro, who was sworn in just three weeks ago.

Platkin appointed Isa M. Abbassi, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department currently serving as chief of strategic initiatives, to run the department starting in May.

Abbassi was tasked by the NYPD with efforts to build community relationships in Staten Island following the 2014 death of Eric Garner in police custody, Platkin said.

In the interim, New Jersey State Police Maj. Frederick Fife will oversee the 400 officers in the embattled department, Platkin said. Chief Ribeiro, who just took over at the beginning of March, was relieved of command, though he remains with the department, Platkin said.

The news was met with applause from community activists and the families of several men killed by police, who crowded outside the public safety building to hear the announcement but said afterward state officials would have to earn their trust.

Were not coming here and going to be gone in six weeks. Were here for the long haul, Platkin said. I dont care how long it takes. This is the state of New Jersey coming in to provide the support this community needs, to provide the resources that this community needs and to provide the leadership that this community needs. We will not leave until were done.

Platkin praised the rank-and-file of the department, the majority of whom do a difficult job honorably, he said.

14 Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin holds press conference regarding latest efforts to strengthen trust between Paterson Police Department and Paterson Community

Paterson police have had to contend with crime and bloodshed in the city of nearly 160,000 residents, where in recent weeks alone authorities have investigated the stabbing death of a young boy outside a city school and the shooting of a state trooper investigating a break-in attempt.

But the department has also seen its share of controversy and strife, and the status quo was not addressing it, the attorney general said.

When residents and officers are not supported, when the fragile trust between the two essential parts of our community are frayed or, as I believe to be the case here, decimated, then people are not safe, he said.

The departments internal affairs bureau was, until recently, under the control of the Passaic County Prosecutors Office for 17 months.

At least a dozen officers have been charged with corruption in recent years, part of an FBI probe into a group of officers known as the robbery squad who would shake down suspects and residents for money.

In Paterson, it has unfortunately become clear that there is a deep lack of trust between the police and the community they serve, Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.

This not only harms public safety, but it also makes it more difficult and dangerous for law enforcement officers to do their jobs, Murphy said. I am confident that the Attorney Generals actions will ensure needed reform and give police officers in Paterson the resources, support, and training they need to effectively build trust and serve their community.

Residents have repeatedly complained, and at times protested, the excessive use of force by police. Protestors took to the streets again this month after Najee Seabrooks, 31, an anti-violence activist was shot and killed March 3 during a lengthy standoff with police as he suffered a mental health crisis.

Seabrooks was a high-risk intervention specialist with the Paterson Healing Collective, a group that works to stem the tide of violence. His death cast in stark relief the national debate over police responses to people experiencing mental health crises, particularly Black men like him, who make up a disproportionate share of people killed by police.

The Attorney Generals Office is leading the investigation into the fatal shooting of Seabrooks, as the agency does with all fatal police use of force incidents.

In 2019, Jameek Lowery died two days after he sought help at police headquarters after he took too many Ecstasy pills. His death led to days of protests in the city and a lawsuit alleging excessive force.

Platkin also announced three initiatives his office would bring to Patersons police as part of the takeover:

Implementation of the ARRIVE Together mental health-law enforcement co-responder program in Paterson and Passaic County. The program, currently operating in Atlantic Cumberland and Union counties, pairs a crisis trained police officer with a mental health screener to respond to calls for mental and behavioral health issues.

Revision of the states use of force policy regarding barricaded people to provide protocols for involving mental health professionals.

Formation of a group to study and make policy recommendations for interactions between law enforcement and community-based violence intervention groups.

Its unusual, though not unprecedented, for the AG to take over an entire agency. In 2019, for example, the office took over the Union County Prosecutors Office in part to improve its oversight of the Elizabeth Police Department, whose civilian police director resigned amid claims he used slurs against staff.

Paterson residents and reform advocates said they were pleased with Mondays development, but wary after years of local, state and federal pledges of reform.

The city of Paterson and Passaic County prosecutor have taken no actions to end police violence and misconduct, said Zellie Thomas, an organizer with the Paterson chapter of Black Lives Matter. Any action is better than no action.

Corey Teague, another city activist, called the move a small step in the right direction. But we have more steps to take in order to even begin to restore trust in the police.

City officials were absent from the Attorney Generals announcement. Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale did not return a message seeking comment. In a statement, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said the city would cooperate with the takeover.

Given that resources were promised by the Attorney General, we look forward to working with the Attorney Generals Office once again, the mayor said, referring to the county prosecutors internal affairs probe, which was overseen by the AGs office.

Moreover, we are eager to review the Attorney Generals plan and timeline, as well as to share and build upon the reforms that we have already implemented. We will do everything we can to continue to improve our Police Department for the residents of Paterson.

Councilman Michael Jackson, who represents the citys First Ward, exchanged words with Platkin from the crowd, saying city officials had been left out of discussions of the state takeover.

Jackson, who has proposed a civilian review board to oversee the department, said he was skeptical the reforms Platkin laid out would be enforced effectively, given the history of outside oversight of the department.

To do this without even consulting or having some type of meeting with the community members ... to find out this way just shows that there is no real concern about the communitys concerns, he said. Its just, This is what were doing and thats it.

27 Paterson Vigil for Najee Seabrooks, Paterson, NJ

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S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @spsullivan.
A 73-year-old Passaic County woman was robbed Sunday afternoon by two men who broke into her house as she worked on an art project, bound her with duct tape and stole valuables, authorities said

The victim told police she was in her home on Linden Avenue in Clifton working on arts and crafts when two men dressed in black and wearing surgical masks entered.

She originally thought nothing of it and believed it to be a family member, Clifton police said in a statement.

Within seconds, however, the woman said she was accosted by the men, including one carrying a handgun, according to police.

One of the men threw the woman onto the floor and used duct tape she had for her project to tie her up and cover her mouth, police said.

The men ransacked the womans home and fled with an undetermined amount of valuables, leaving the victim bound on the floor, police said.

After the robbers left, the woman was able to remove the duct tape from her mouth and take her cellphone from her pants pocket and call police.

Responding officers found the woman lying on the living room floor bound with tape, police said.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Clifton police at 973-470-5908.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
An expected mass exodus from the New Jersey Legislature was formally set it motion Monday as the deadline arrived for Democrats and Republicans to file their candidacy for this years primary elections  while another, stunning development was finalized.

Republican state Sen. Ed Durr, the once-little-known truck driver who made national headlines with a shocking upset over then-Senate President Stephen Sweeney two years ago, will face a GOP primary challenge from his former running mate in South Jerseys battleground 3rd legislative district.
Marguerite Chandler traveled to Calcutta in 1981 as a representative of an international hunger organization. While there, the Somerset County resident met Mother Teresa, who told her she didnt have to travel to another continent to find hunger because it could be found in her own community.

The following year, Chandler founded the Food Bank Network of Somerset County with the help of two friends, starting it in a closet at her home in Somerville.

Over the next few years a branch opened in Bound Brook, established by volunteer Marie Scannell, who went on to become executive director, and then on into North Plainfield, South Bound Brook and Manville. In 1987, the food bank obtained space for food storage in the industrial park owned and managed by Chandler, MiddleBrook Crossroads in Bridgewater. That same year, Chandler stepped down from managing of the nonprofit.

Then, in 2021, the food bank moved to a larger and better equipped location at 7E Easy St. in Bridgewater. The new 10,000-square-foot space in Bridgewater includes warehouse space, offices and, perhaps most significantly, a market where clients can shop.

We realized we needed more space, but also needed a space where people could shop and get what they want. Its worked out wonderfully here, John Patten, vice president of the board of directors, said.

The environment is one where folks feel dignity, said Executive Director Steven Katz.

For in-school distribution, the food bank network provides children enrolled in the National School Lunch Program with additional meals and snacks to take home for the weekend. The program continues during summer breaks and currently serves some 800 elementary age children.

The nonprofit also offers clients personal care items, diapers and pet food, when it is asked for, Katz said, and during the holidays gift cards are distributed. Sometimes, new clothing is also available.

Chandler attended a recent open house at the Bridgewater facility; the event serving as an opportunity to welcome her back to the food bank that she founded and to honor Scannell for her longtime dedication. The market was renamed Maries Market and a plaque honoring Scannell and her husband was unveiled. Gordon White, president board of directors, said Scannells dedication was legendary.

The open house also served as an opportunity for the nonprofit to acknowledge volunteers and supporters from Sanofi; a team from the pharmaceutical company in Bridgewater funded a canopy that was recently erected at the entrance of the facility.

It troubled me from the start that clients had to stand outside in the elements, Katz said. I wanted an enclosure to protect them.

Katz said the folks at Sanofi stepped up. They were gonna make it a reality, they were going to pay for it, Katz said, adding the relationship between the food bank network and Sanofi is a model of what relationship between an organization like ours and an organization like theirs can be.

According to Katz, the nonprofit has some 200 volunteers, 30 or 40 who are on-site week in, week out. There are three full-time employees and two part-timers. Volunteers include a retired architect, school teacher and rocket scientist.

Ive been working on battling food insecurity on different fronts for many years and this place is fantastic, said Paula Simpkins, a corporate governance attorney who volunteers at the food bank network. Cash donations are very helpful. We come to know our clientele over time and can use money to buy what they want.

Chris Yen, a retired cost engineer in construction industry, said volunteering is a means of paying it forward.

LuAnn Fuschino-Metcalf has been volunteering for 38 years and today serves as the coordinator at the South Bound Brook location. Ill work whenever Im needed. Fuschino-Metcalf said of the clients, I get to know them. You see same families then take them under your wing.

She said she has seen a huge increase in the number of clients at the South Bound Brook location.

Katz, spent much of his life in public service overseas, with a 30-year career as an officer in the Army in both active duty and in the reserves. He retired as a colonel in 2011. Like Chandler before him, he said he realized there was a need to be met close to home.

Katz said there is also a significant food insecurity among veterans in Somerset County and helped open a food pantry at the Lyons VA Medical Center in January that served 53 clients on its first day, Katz said.

We have been seeing about 50 vets each day over the first three months, and that will probably grow - we may also look at adding a second day per month, Katz said.

The VA centers pantry is open from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the third Monday of each month in the Multi-Purpose Room of Building 143.

Across our network, we had over 25,000 client visits in 2022, and if anything, were seeing an increase so far this year, said Katz. The economy is driving the numbers and when bad stuff happens overseas, there is a ripple effect here.

The nonprofit, which receives no government funding, spends approximately $350,000 on food alone. About 80% of the networks inventory comes through donations, Katz said. Some comes from food drives held by civic groups. He noted one person puts five singles in cash in the mail every week.

Katz said it is important that organizations helping those in need communicate with one another. If we could work together to identify the needs, get everyone aligned on what needs are and avoid duplication of efforts, that would be the best way to serve those in need, he said.

On one hand, this is really awesome ... what is provided for people is tremendous, Chandler said. I was hoping wed be out of business, but theres more demand. In such a rich county ... its heartbreaking.

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When Anthony Volpe takes the field for the Yankees in Thursdays season opener against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium, he will officially make his MLB debut at the ripe age of 21 years, 336 days.

Not only will he complete the incredible story of achieving his childhood dream while growing up in Watchung, but he will do so while entering club history.

The heralded shortstop prospect will be the fifth-youngest player to make his MLB debut on Opening Day in Yankees franchise history, according to USA Todays Bob Nightengale.

The others:

1951 Mickey Mantle: 19 years, 179 days

1930 Ben Chapman: 21 years, 111 days

1962 Joe Pepitone: 21 years, 183 days

1932 Frankie Crosetti: 21 years 191 days

A longshot at the start of camp, Volpe beat out rookie Oswald Peraza and last years starter Isiah Kiner-Falefa in a shortstop competition that wasnt close.

It was down to Volpe vs. Peraza by the second week of March when Kiner-Falefa stopped playing shortstop to prep for a super utility role. From there, Volpe was a clear-cut winner.

Both made all the plays at shortstop, but Volpe was an offense force at the plate while Peraza struggled.

Volpe hit .314 in 17 games with six doubles, a triple, three homers, five RBI, eight walks, five steals and a 1.064 OPS. Peraza, 22, is a .190 hitter in 15 games after his 0-for-3 on Sunday.

(NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller contributed to this report.)

MORE MLB:

- How Anthony Volpe made his dream, New Jersey boy to Yankees shortstop, a reality

- Ex-Yankees prospect traded away: I havent looked back a whole lot

- Ex-Mets closer, dumped by 1 team, finds another quickly

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust.

Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.
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Two New Orleans restaurants are founding members of a new national collaborative aimed at bringing meals from destination restaurants to peoples doorsteps around the country.

Moveable Feast is a new company with founding roots in New Orleans. John Stubbs, co-owner of Jewel of the South, is a partner in the project. His restaurant, and Nina Comptons downtown restaurant Compere Lapin, are two of the 12 restaurants taking part.

All of the Moveable Feast restaurants have found acclaim, from Michelin stars to the James Beard awards for Compton and Jewel of the South bartender and partner Chris Hannah.

It is a lavishly pricey proposition, though the experience is meant to be more like a dinner party in a box, and a unique expression of a high-end restaurant, rather than a standard meal delivery service.

The meals arrive as a dinner for multiple people, starting with a meal for four and a price tag of $385. The portion number and the corresponding price rise in step from there for eight ($770) or 12 people ($1,155).

What customers get is a large, chilled box at the door, filled with a multitude of reusable metal and glass containers, holding the components to assemble each dish. Theres no cooking required, just heating through and combining, led by printed instructions and online videos.

Moveable Feast features one restaurant per month, opening reservations (i.e. taking orders) a month out. Compere Lapin is the first and has been shipping in April.

Roots in pandemic

In an age where food obsessives follow their favorite chefs online, watch them on TV and buy their cookbooks, Moveable Feast is pitched as a way to actually get a rendition of the cuisine from destination restaurants without having to travel.
A great seafood dish is never too hard to come by in New Orleans, and thats especially true in the spring when the crawfish and oyster seasons are at their heights. The weather this time of year also entices diners outdoors for the fleeting weeks of comfortable temperatures before the summer heat sets in.

Gambits Spring Dining Issue includes a variety of restaurants, from adventurous new restaurants to New Orleans classics serving Creole staples and local favorites that specialize in a good boil. These pages contain information on more than 130 restaurants in New Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes and the Northshore, with a highlight on seafood dishes and outdoor dining.

Listings are organized alphabetically and include information about the menu, hours of operation and service options. Enjoy! And remember to tip generously.

Dollar signs indicate the average prices of a dinner entree

$  $1-$10

$$  $11-$20

$$$  $21 and up

8 Fresh Food Assassin

1900 N. Claiborne Ave., (504) 224-2628; Instagram, @8freshfoodassassin

Chef Manny Januarys menu includes deep-fried hen, T-bone steak, salmon, lobster, fried ribs, crawfish nachos and char-grilled seafood-loaded oysters. For sides, there is potato salad, macaroni and cheese and more. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.- Sun. $$

14 Parishes

8227 Oak St., (504) 420-7433; 14parishes.com

Named for the 14 parishes of Jamaica, the restaurant serves dishes like curried goat, jerk shrimp and salmon fillet. Proteins are served with a choice of two sides such as macaroni and cheese, rice, mixed vegetables, cabbage, plantains and callaloo. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Fri.-Sat., dinner Tue.-Sat. and brunch Sun. $$$

Abita Brew Pub

72011 Holly St., Abita Springs, (985) 892-5837; abitabrewpub.com

Abita Brewings pub features Abita beers not sold in stores along with traditional bar snacks like fried pickles with ranch dipping sauce and onion rings. It also has a selection of burgers, salads, pastas and entrees. The Abita boudin quail is fried quail stuffed with boudin sausage and topped with blueberry glaze on andouille cornbread stuffing, served with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Sun, dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Addis NOLA

2514 Bayou Road, (504) 218-5321; addisnola.com

At its larger space on Bayou Road, Addis serves traditional Ethiopian dishes such as wots and tibs. The mar mitmita shrimp specialty is Gulf shrimp, tibs, honey and lemon zest. Reservations recommended. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Mon. $$

Afrodisiac

5363 Franklin Ave., (504) 302-2090; afrodisiacnola.com

The menu at the food truck turned Gentilly restaurant blends Creole- and Jamaican-inspired dishes. The curry shrimp plate features Gulf shrimp, potatoes and smoked sausage in curry, served over rice and peas and topped with fried catfish. It comes with a choice of two sides, like corn maque choux, sweet potato and plantain mash or smothered cabbage. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sat. $$

Almasgoof

5024 West Esplanade Ave., Metairie, (504) 308-3600; facebook.com/almasgoofrestaurant

The Iraqi restaurant serves sandwiches, manakish, shawarma and more. Its specialty is fish almasgoof, in which fish is split down the middle, marinated for three days and cooked near charcoal. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. $$$

Angelo Brocato

214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.com

For more than 100 years, Angelo Brocato has served house-made gelato in traditional and specialty flavors as well as cannoli, tiramisu, Italian fig or seed cookies, Italian biscotti, pastries and Italian ice. Granitas come in fruit flavors, including peach and satsuma. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

Annunciation

1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com

The Warehouse District restaurant serves contemporary Cajun and Creole dishes, including crispy oysters with spinach and brie, as well as twists on classic New Orleans cocktails. Soft-shell crab Monica is pasta with crawfish and crab. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Mon. $$$

August

301 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 299-9777; restaurantaugust.com

The contemporary menu includes has many Creole inspirations, as in red snapper Pontchartrain, which is served with shrimp, lump crabmeat, wild mushrooms and bearnaise. Reservations recommended. Dinner daily. $$$

Bacchanal

600 Poland Ave., (504) 948-9111; bacchanalwine.com

The Bywater wine shop and courtyard space has a bar and kitchen and offers cheese and charcuterie plates. The kitchen menu includes a daily selection of whole grilled fish, served with hazelnut brown butter, shoestring sweet potato and lemon. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Backatown Coffee Parlour

301 Basin St., Suite 1, (504) 372-4442; backatownnola.com

The coffee shop offers tea and espresso drinks, baked goods, a signature cake of the day, sandwiches and more. Salmon, capers and cream cheese are served on a toasted bagel with fresh greens. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $

Banana Blossom

500 9th St., Gretna, (504) 500-0997; 504bananablossom.com

Jimmy Chos West Bank restaurant serves both contemporary and traditional Thai dishes. Coconut shrimp and ginger rice comes with carrots, onions and a sweet chili sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties except Friday and Saturday nights. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Baroness on Baronne

339 Baronne St., (504) 522-8664; baronessnola.com

The menu at this craft cocktail lounge includes small plates, pizzas, charcuterie, lasagna and sandwiches. Crawfish, corn and pepper bisque is served with crackers. No reservations. Limited outdoor seating available. Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., late-night Fri.-Sat. $$

Barracuda

446 Pelican St., 504-766-7268; 3984 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 266-2961; eatbarracuda.com

The taco stand specializes in Mexican-inspired staples including quesadillas and fresh salsas. A fish taco features beer-battered Louisiana catfish, shredded cabbage, house-made crema, salsa macha and pomegranate. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $

Bayona

430 Dauphine St., (504) 525-4455; bayona.com

Susan Spicers French Quarter fine dining restaurant incorporates international flavors and seasonal produce. The menu changes daily and there are plenty of vegetarian and local seafood options. Signature dishes include sweet breads with lemon-caper or sherry-mustard butter. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Thu.-Sat., dinner Tue.-Sat. $$$

Bevis Seafood

236 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-7503; beviseafoodco.com

The Mid-City restaurant sells boiled and live crawfish, shrimp, crab and oysters. The Canebrake barbecued shrimp platter features head-on Gulf shrimp smothered in Canebreak beer sauce with toasted bread. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch daily, early dinner Fri.-Sat. $$

Big EZ Seafood

1632 Lafayette St., Gretna, (504) 272-0711; Big EZ Seafood and Oysters, 2121 25th St., Kenner, (504) 800-4188; Big EZ Seafood and Wings, 2245 Manhattan Blvd., (504) 324-6992, Harvey; bigezseafood.com

While the menu varies at each location, this casual local franchise specializes primarily in seafood. The Big Easy Basket includes a king crab leg, a snow crab cluster, a Dungeness crab cluster, a pound of shrimp, a lobster, three boiled eggs, potatoes, sausage and corn. Reservations accepted at Kenner location only. Delivery available. Gretna: Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. Kenner: Lunch and dinner daily. Harvey: Lunch Thu.-Tue., dinner Mon.-Tue., and Thu.-Sat. $$

The Blue Crab Restaurant & Oyster Bar

118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001, thebluecrabnorthshore.com; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898, thebluecrabnola.com

These restaurants serve fried, boiled and grilled seafood platters, po-boys and more. Penne pasta is tossed in a creamy sauce with baby spinach, herbs, Parmesan cheese and lump blue crabmeat. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Slidell: Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sun. New Orleans: Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$

Blue Oak BBQ

900 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 822-2583; blueoakbbq.com

The Mid-City spot serves brisket, pulled pork and more on barbecue plates and in sandwiches. A spicy chicken sandwich comes with fried chicken thighs, sweet and spicy glaze, pickles and white barbecue sauce served on a sesame seed bun. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Bourree

1510 S Carrollton Ave., (504) 510-4040; bourreenola.com

The Cajun smokehouse serves smoked wings, sandwiches and sides. New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp po-boy is prepared with lemon, green onions and butter. A vegetarian Buffalo cauliflower po-boy is filled with fried cauliflower florets dressed in wing sauce with blue cheese, pickles, celery, lettuce tomato and mayonnaise. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $

Bubs NOLA

4413 Banks St., (504) 581-8054; bubsnola.com

The Bub Burger includes two beef patties, American cheese, grilled onions, bread and butter pickles and signature sauce. The Playthrough is a sandwich with bacon, fried egg, tomato, American cheese and spicy mayonnaise. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$

Budsis Thai Restaurant

1760 N. Rampart St., (504) 381-4636; budsisthai.com

Chef Budsi serves classic Thai dishes and specialties from the Issan region of northern Thailand. There also is a bar serving specialty cocktails and Asian beers. The spicy somtam papaya salad is made with fermented fish sauce and crab and served with grilled pork should and sticky rice. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$

Bywater Brew Pub

3000 Royal St., (504) 766-8118; bywaterbrewpub.com

This microbrewery offers a full menu of Cajun and Vietnamese comfort food and other bar fare to complement its house-made beers. A tofu banh mi burger comes with fried marinated tofu, pickled carrots, onions, jalapeno, cilantro and basil sauce. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch Fri.-Sun., Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$

Cafe Carmo

527 Julia St., (504) 875-4132; cafecarmo.com

This colorful bistro serves a tropics-influenced menu. Tiradito fish is thinly sliced Peruvian-style raw fish topped with a yellow chili pepper sauce, yuzu and canchita. Reservations recommended. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Cafe Navarre

800 Navarre Ave, (504) 483-8828; cafenavarre.com

The cafe serves American dishes and New Orleans staples. A fried shrimp po-boy is served on French bread with mayo, lettuce and tomato and comes with fries. A breakfast grits bowl is topped with eggs cooked any style, bacon, avocado, tomato and cheddar. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Tue.-Fri. and brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

Cafe Negril

606 Frenchmen St., (504) 229-4236; cafenegrilnola.com

The Frenchmen Street music club offers appetizers, salads, tacos and sandwiches. The roast beef debris po-boy features smoked roast beef, mozzarella, gravy and onions on French bread. Reservations accepted. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch Fri.-Sun., dinner and late-night daily. $$

Cafe Normandie

The Higgins Hotel, 1000 Magazine St., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com

Cajun paella is prepared with saffron, crawfish, oyster, shrimp, soft-shell crab, clam, peas, andouille and a grilled lemon. Soft-shell crab and grits is a tempura-fried soft-shell crab with fried green tomato, fried grits and a hollandaise barbeque sauce. Reservations accepted. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$$

Cane & Table

1113 Decatur St., (504) 581-1112; caneandtablenola.com

The cocktail lounge and restaurant serves Coctel de Camarones, featuring Gulf shrimp with tomato, onion, avocado and cilantro, served with fried saltines. The Fish Rundown is cornmeal-fried Gulf drum with Louisiana crawfish, coconut curry and Jazzmen rice. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sun. and brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

Captain Sids Seafood

1700 Lake Ave., Metairie, (504) 831-2840; captainsids.com

The seafood market offers to-go boiled seafood including crawfish and crabs as well as a selection of soups, stews and sides. Potato salad is prepared with whole boiled skinned potatoes, mayonnaise, mustard and a house seasoning blend. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

Castnet Seafood

10826 Hayne Blvd., (504) 244-8446

The to-go restaurant serves po-boys and boiled and fried seasonal seafood. The shrimp po-boy features seasoned fried shrimp on Leidenheimer French bread and is dressed with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickle and hot sauce or ketchup. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and early dinner Tue-Sat. $$

Chapter IV

1301 Gravier St., (504) 766-7851; chapterivnola.com

Fish and grits includes fried farm-raised catfish with crawfish and andouille maque choux Creole grits. Barbecue shrimp are served in an Abita Amber and garlic pepper butter reduction. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Fri., brunch Sun. $$$

Clesis Restaurant and Catering

4323 Bienville St., (504) 909-0108; clesicatering.com

The family-run business offers in-season boils, like crab, crawfish and shrimp, prepared with signature seasoning. Boiled sides include sausage, mushrooms, corn, potato and garlic. Crawfish rangoons are creamy crawfish filling stuffed into a fried wonton and served with house-made red pepper jelly. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

Commanders Palace

1403 Washington Ave., (504) 899-8221; commanderspalace.com

At this historic Creole restaurant, the Redfish Haute Creole entree is a sea salt and lemon butter poached redfish served over a salad of spicy and bitter greens, bruleed shallots, confit fingerling potatoes, roasted root vegetables, bowfin caviar and Louisiana citrus. Reservations recommended. Lunch Thu.-Fri., dinner daily, brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

Compere Lapin

Old No. 77 Hotel, 535 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 599-2119; comperelapin.com

Caribbean influences run deep on chef Nina Comptons seasonally changing menu. Scialatielli is served with crawfish and Andouille sausage. Market fish comes with Jamaican brown stew and cilantro rice. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Dinner daily. $$$

The Country Club

634 Louisa St., (504) 945-0742; thecountryclubneworleans.com

Chef Chris Barbato serves contemporary Creole and Southern dishes at this Bywater hotspot. Grilled salmon is served with roasted cauliflower, pureed cauliflower and edible, dried flowers. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner daily, drag brunch Sat.- Sun. $$

Deanies Seafood

841 Iberville St., (504) 581-1316; 1713 Lake Ave., Metairie, (504) 831-4141; 2200 Magazine St. (504) 962-7760; deanies.com

The menu includes raw, char-broiled and barbecue oysters, soups and stews, seafood platters and dinners. The barbecue shrimp appetizer includes large, head-on Gulf shrimp sauteed in seasoned butter with French bread for dipping on the side. Bucktown Boil pizza is a white pie with shrimp, crawfish, crabmeat and mozzarella cheese. Reservations accepted at Magazine Street location. Delivery and outdoor seating available at some locations. Hours vary by location. $$

The Delachaise

3442 St. Charles Ave., (504) 895-0858; thedelachaise.com

The Uptown wine bar and bistro serves steamed Prince Edward Island mussels in a lime Thai chili Pino Grigio broth with a side of frites. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Fri.-Sun., dinner and late-night daily. $$

Devil Moon BBQ

1100 Girod St., (504) 788-0093; devilmoonbbq.com

The new barbecue spot offers brisket, pork spare ribs, pulled pork, house-made sausages and turkey breast on platters with sides such as coleslaw, potato salad, dirty rice and more. A chopped beef sandwich includes coleslaw, pickles and barbecue sauce on a potato roll and comes with a side. No reservations. Lunch Tue.-Sun. $$

Dickeys Barbeque Pit

Areawide; dickeys.com

The Texas barbecue chain offers pit-smoked wings, loaded baked potatoes, sandwiches and build-your-own plates. Smoked meat options include brisket, pork ribs, chicken, pulled pork, Kielbasa and jalapeno cheddar sausage. The brisket sandwich comes with a choice of chopped or sliced beef brisket dressed with pickles and the option to add extra toppings like cabbage, cheese and onions. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Dragonfly Cafe

530 Jackson Ave., (504) 544-9530; dragonflynola.com

Dragonfly is both a cafe and a social enterprise supporting adults with disabilities in the Greater New Orleans area. Arielles breakfast burrito comes with three eggs, house-made sausage, bacon, avocado and cheddar cheese all rolled in a whole wheat or spinach wrap served with a side of grits or fruit. Allesandros grilled veggie melt comes with spinach, squash, onions, peppers and mozzarella. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Sun. $$

El Cucuy

3507 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 897-5395; elcucuynola.com

The Mexican street food and tequila bar serves tacos, tortas, elote and more. The shrimp torta includes grilled Gulf shrimp, Guajillo salsa, fresh avocado, shredded lettuce, tomato, black bean puree and crema on a Mexican Bolillo bun. The Gulf fish taco is blackened redfish on a choice of flour or corn tortilla, served with pico de gallo, crema, shredded cabbage and fresh salsa. Reservations for large parties. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch Sat.-Sun and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

El Pavo Real

4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com

Pescado Vera Cruz is sauteed Gulf fish topped with a sauce of tomatoes, olives, onion and capers and served with steamed rice and string beans. The menu also includes tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, carnitas and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Elysian Bar

Hotel Peter and Paul, 2317 Burgundy St., (504) 356-6769; theelysianbar.com

The Marigny space serves coffee and pastries in the morning followed by brunch into the afternoon and dinner and cocktails in the evening. Snapper crudo is prepared with tomato, yuzu and pickled aji dulce. Roasted Gulf shrimp are served with Calabrian chili butter, oregano and bottarga breadcrumbs. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast, brunch and dinner daily. $$$

Empanola

3109 Magazine St., (504) 582-9378; 7321 Freret St., (504) 249-5977; empanolaempanadas.com

The selection of empanadas includes a crawfish etouffee option with Louisiana crawfish, onions, peppers and celery. The shrimp and cheese empanada is filled with Louisiana shrimp, green onions, havarti and mozzarella cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $

Empire State Delicatessen

Hancock Whitney Center, 447 St. Charles Ave., (504) 412-8326; empirestatedeli.com

New York meets New Orleans at this deli on the ground floor of the Hancock Whitney building. The daily menu of sandwiches features Boars Head cold cuts, salads and other deli favorites. The Cuban is made with Black Forest ham, melted Swiss cheese, deli pickles and Dijon honey mustard on toasted hero bread. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch Mon.-Fri. $$

Felipes Taqueria

301 N. Peters St., (504) 267-4406; 411-1 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 408-2626; 6215 S. Miro St., (504) 309-2776; felipestaqueria.com

Diners can custom order burritos, bowls, tacos and more with choices of meat or seafood, cheese, vegetable toppings, salsas, beans and rice. Tropical shrimp ceviche features Gulf shrimp and mango with salsa and guacamole over two tostadas. Outdoor seating available at some locations. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner hours vary by location. $$

Felixs Restaurant and Oyster Bar

739 Iberville St., (504) 522-4440; 2891 Highway 190, Mandeville, (985) 778-2176; 7400 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 304-4125; felixs.com

Felixs is well-known for its oyster bar, but it also serves fried and boiled seafood, pastas and po-boys. Buffalo oysters are fried and smothered in Buffalo sauce with blue cheese crumbles. No reservations. Outdoor seating available at Lakefront and Mandeville locations. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Frey Smoked Meat Co.

4141 Bienville St., Suite 110, (504) 488-7427; freysmokedmeat.com

The menu includes brisket, sausage, smoked chicken, St. Louis ribs, burgers, shakes and more, and theres a Friday fish fry special. The hot fried chicken sandwich comes with pepper jack cheese, honey mustard, pickled onion, pickles and lettuce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Froot Orleans

2438 Bell St., (504) 233-3346; frootorleans.com

The Royal Crunch combines sliced apples and bananas, vanilla almond granola and date caramel sauce. The menu has plenty of vegan and vegetarian items, including smoothies, salads, and fruit bowls as well as savory dishes like the mushroom Bella Burger. No reservations. Delivery available. Breakfast and lunch Tue.-Sun. $

Furys Restaurant

724 Martin Behrman Ave., Metairie, (504) 834-5646; furysrestaurant.com

New owners recently took over this Metairie staple, but the kitchen is still helmed by a member of the Fury family. The flounder Carrie is fried or broiled and topped with sauteed jumbo lump Louisiana crabmeat. The speckled trout can be grilled, broiled or fried and comes with crawfish etouffee served with rice, a salad and vegetable. No reservations. Lunch Mon.-Fri. and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

GW Fins

808 Bienville St. (504) 581-3467; gwfins.com

Fresh and local seafood is featured on a menu that changes based on the daily catch. The Scalibut is a dish of halibut and sea scallops with a royal red shrimp risotto, haricot verts and pea shoot butter. For an appetizer, fried oysters are tossed in a Vietnamese glaze and served with banh mi vegetables and toasted brioche. Reservations recommended. Dinner daily. $$$

Gabrielle

2441 Orleans Ave., (504) 603-2344; gabriellerestaurant.com

The menu includes New Orleans classics and seasonal specials. Seared striped bass fillet is served with jumbo lump crabmeat and preserved lemon aioli. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sat. $$$

Gallaghers Grill

509 S. Tyler St., Covington, (985) 892-9992; 527 Restaurant & Bar, 527 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville, (985) 778-2820; Pat Gallaghers Front Street, 2306 Front St., Slidell, (985) 326-8350; gallaghersgrill.com

Pat Gallaghers restaurants serve a selection of steaks, including a bone-in cowboy rib-eye, as well as local seafood and more. Grilled, marinated redfish is topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and smoked tomato salsa. Sides are served family style and include seafood mirliton dressing, creamed spinach, potato au gratin, Brussels sprouts and more. Hours vary by location. $$$

The Garage

810 Conti St.; thegaragemusicclub.com

The music club serves gumbo, red beans and rice, yaka mein, wings and po-boys. Theres also a fried chicken sandwich with chicken tenders dressed with mayo, lettuce and pickles and served with fries and dipping sauce. No reservations. Dinner Wed.-Sun. $$

Gattusos Neighborhood Restaurant, Bar & Catering

435 Huey P. Long Ave., Gretna, (504) 368-1114; gattusos.net

Gattusos menu of American dishes includes burgers, club sandwiches, wraps, salads, po-boys as well as daily specials. Blackened salmon is served on a spinach salad with blue cheese, red onions, pecans and raisins. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

The Half Shell on the Bayou

2517 Bayou Road, (504) 558-4403; halfshellonthebayou.com

Mark Johari Lawes 7th Ward restaurant serves oysters, Creole staples and seafood dishes, such as blackened red fish with sauteed asparagus and pan-seared trout topped with etouffee. Red beans and rice are served with a choice of fried chicken, grilled or fried pork chop or sausage. Reservations accepted. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch Sun. and dinner Wed.-Sun. $$

Herbsaint

701 St. Charles Ave., (504) 524-4114; herbsaint.com

Chef Donald Links Herbsaint offers daily specials that highlight fresh seafood and local produce. House-made spaghetti is served with guanciale and a fried-poached farm egg. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Mon.-Fri. and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$

Hieux Boil Seafood House

3340 Magazine St., (504) 309-4532; 4077 Tulane Ave., (504) 766-0478; boilseafoodhouse.com

The Feast includes a Maine lobster, a pound of crawfish, a pound of snow crab legs, a pound of shrimp, a pound of clams, a pound of mussels, two corn and two potatoes. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch Fri.-Sun. and dinner daily. $$

High Hat Cafe

4500 Freret St., (504) 754-1336; highhatcafe.com

Fried catfish is served with fries, coleslaw, hush puppies and house-made pickles. The shrimp remoulade wedge salad comes with a deviled egg and a tangy remoulade made with lemon, horseradish and red wine vinegar. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Fri.-Tue. $$

House of Blues

225 Decatur St., (504) 310-4961; houseofblues.com/neworleans

The music venues restaurant serves a menu of Southern dishes, burgers and salads. The Juicy Lucy burger includes provolone cheese, bacon, fried jalapenos, roasted tomatoes and mayo on a brioche bun. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sat. $$$

Island Paradise Restaurant & Grill

635 Kepler St., Gretna, (504) 227-5544; islandparadisenola.com

The menu of West Indian Creole dishes highlights Trinidad and Tobago. Crawfish fettuccine includes a creamy sauce over pasta and served with toasted French bread. Oxtail is stewed in a brown gravy and served with steamed cabbage and choice of side, such as jerk fries, rice and peas, plantains or roti. No reservations. Lunch Tue.-Sat., dinner Fri.-Sat. $$

J&J Seafood

632 Franklin St., Gretna, (504) 366-2219

Six brothers run this West Bank market, which is known for its seasonal boiled crawfish. The menu also includes catfish, boudin and boneless or bone-in chicken wings. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

Jewel of the South

1026 St. Louis St., (504) 265-8816; jewelnola.com

Roast pork belly is served with cannellini beans and trotter. There also is a selection of caviar, served with potato scallops, creme fraiche and chives, and the restaurant hosts caviar happy hour on Wednesday evenings with a menu of cocktails, champagne and wine curated by co-owner Chris Hannah. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$$

Jinx Bar & Grill

91 French Market Place, (504) 510-2797; jinxnola.com

The French Quarter restaurant and bar serves Louisiana and American dishes with creative names. The Large Marge is a pulled pork sandwich dressed with barbecue sauce, frizzled onions, pickles and coleslaw on a kaiser roll. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, late-night Thu.-Sat. $$

Juans Flying Burrito

515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com

The local taqueria serves burritos, quesadillas, nachos, salads and more. Blackened fish tacos come on four tortillas with spicy coleslaw, cilantro, salsa fresca and creamy cilantro dressing. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Juniors on Harrison

789 Harrison Ave., (504) 766-6902; juniorsonharrison.com

Blackened redfish is served with crispy potatoes, garlic asparagus, panna gratta crunch and green chili butter. On the brunch menu, Uncle Tonys Waffle comes with seasonal fruit, chantilly cream and pecans. Reservations accepted. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Justine

225 Chartres St., (504) 218-8533; justinenola.com

Justin and Mia Devilliers French Quarter restaurant serves a French menu with Southern touches. Pan-roasted fish is served with lump crabmeat, haricots verts, fried capers and lemon butter. For brunch, Gulf shrimp and grits come with field peas, smoked bacon, broken rice and fresh herbs. Reservations recommended. Dinner daily, brunch Fri.-Sun. $$$

Katies Restaurant & Bar

3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com

The Mid-City restaurants menu includes sandwiches, salads, pasta, steaks and more. The Atchafalaya pizza is a specialty pie with Tabasco marinara sauce, shrimp, oysters, crawfish, crab cakes, bell pepper and red onion. Reservations accepted for parties larger than seven. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Kenner Seafood

3140 Loyola Dr., Kenner, (504) 466-4701; kennerseafood.net

The seafood market and restaurant offers a selection of boiled seafood, po-boys and other Creole fare. Catfish can be ordered fried, grilled or blackened and is served with choice of two sides, such as coleslaw, steamed green beans, mashed potatoes or spicy Cajun potatoes. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Kingfish

337 Chartres St., (504) 598-5005; kingfishneworleans.com

The Blackened Hook and Line is the Gulf fish of the day prepared with New Orleans-style barbecue butter and served with a baked potato and seasonal vegetables. Reservations recommended. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

La Macarena Pupuseria & Latin Cafe

8120 Hampson St., (504) 862-5252; pupusasnola.com

The restaurant serves dishes from across Latin America, with a highlight on pupusas, and has a number of vegan and vegetarian options. Head-on jumbo shrimp are sauteed with garlic, parsley and spices and served with yellow rice and salad. Reservations accepted. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. Cash only. $$

Lamara Coffee & Kitchen

1300 N Broad St., (504) 920-9991; lamaracoffeeandkitchen.com

The menu includes vegetarian and vegan small plates, a smoothie bar and gluten-free baked goods. Rainbow Tostadas are two tostadas layered with black bean spread, guacamole, purple cabbage, golden beets, watermelon radish, local greens, cashew crema and pepitas on a baked corn tortilla. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

Las Delicias de Honduras

400 S. Broad St., (504) 354-8509

Baleadas is a flour tortilla folded over and stuffed with refried beans, Honduran cheese and sour cream along with additions, like eggs, avocado and other fillings. For lunch, camarones al ajillo is shrimp cooked in olive oil with a hearty serving of chopped garlic. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $

Le Chat Noir

715 St. Charles Ave., (504) 381-0045; lechatnoirnola.com

The restaurant in the CBD specializes in open-flame cooking and has a stand-up oyster bar. The King Salmon crudo is served with capers, gochujang and dill. Crab fat agnolotti is a pasta with oyster cream, scallops, oysters and prosciutto. Reservations accepted. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Legacy Kitchen Craft Tavern

700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com

The Tavern offers an eclectic menu of burgers, gumbo, sandwiches and entrees, and beignets are available all day. Shrimp Breaux Bridge Pasta features Louisiana shrimp and penne tossed with spicy cream sauce. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Legacy Kitchens TackleBox

817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com

The seafood restaurant offers raw and char-grilled oysters, a sampler with crawfish remoulade and boiled shrimp as well as roasted salmon and Gulf fish. There also are Southern dishes for non-seafood lovers, brunch service daily and beignets available all day. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Lil Dizzys Cafe

1500 Esplanade Ave., (504) 766-8687; lildizzyscafe.net

Owned by a third generation of the Baquet family, the restaurant is known for gumbo, fried chicken and other Creole favorites. The lineup of daily specials includes white or red beans and rice with hot sausage, and catfish Jourdain, topped with shrimp, crabmeat and lemon butter. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Mon.-Sat. $$

Lillys Cafe

1813 Magazine St., (504) 599-9999; Instagram, @lillyscafenola

The menu focuses on Vietnamese staples including pho, spring rolls, rice and vermicelli dishes. Lemon grass chicken, pork or tofu tops a bowl of rice noodles with lettuce, cucumber, carrots, peanuts, shallots and green onions with fish sauce on the side. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Lolas Restaurant

3312 Esplanade Ave., (504) 488-6946; lolasneworleans.com

The Bayou St. John neighborhood restaurant serves Spanish dishes with some local touches. Seafood paella is made with Arborio rice, calamari, fish, mussels, scallops, shrimp and vegetables and seasoned with garlic, saffron and herbs. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner daily. $$$

Luke

333 St. Charles Ave., (504) 378-2840; lukeneworleans.com

The restaurant offers an array of seafood, including raw oysters, tuna crudo, boiled Louisiana shrimp and Maine lobster. Pan-seared duck breast is served with dauphinoise potatoes, red wine-braised onions, citrus duck jus and soubise sauce. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Magazine Pizza

1068 Magazine St., (504) 568-0212; magazinepizza.com

This pizzeria serves signature and build-your-own pizzas, salads, calzones, wraps and more. The Vegan Lover pie has vegan cheese, zucchini, squash, black olives, mushrooms, onions, spinach, green bell pepper, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic and marinara. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$

Martin Wine Cellar

714 Elmeer Ave., Metairie, (504) 896-7300; 3827 Baronne St., (504) 899-7411; martinwine.com

A couple locations of the local wine and liquor store have delis offering sandwiches and salads, including vegetarian items and a kids menu. A smoked salmon BLT includes bacon, spinach, tomato and wasabi mayonnaise on sourdough bread. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

Melbas

1525 Elysian Fields Ave., (504) 267-7765; 3219 Tulane Ave., (504) 267-7765; melbas.com

Melbas serves po-boys all day, offering breakfast po-boys with eggs and bacon or sausage and a roster of local favorites, such as fried shrimp or fish, roast beef, hot sausage and more. The menus also include wings, platters of red beans and rice and shrimp and grits and more. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Open 24 hours daily. $$

Messinas Runway Cafe

New Orleans Lakefront Airport, 6001 Stars and Stripes Blvd., (504) 241-5300; messinasrunwaycafe.com

Located in the restored Art Deco terminal of the Lakefront Airport, the cafe serves burgers, salads and Creole favorites. Jimmy Wedell Pasta features shrimp, crawfish tails and crabmeat tossed with angel hair pasta in basil cream sauce. Reservations recommended for large parties. Breakfast and lunch Tue.-Sun. $$$

Middendorfs

1951 Oak Harbor Blvd., Slidell, (985) 771-7777; 30160 Highway 51, Manchac, (985) 386-6666; middendorfsrestaurant.com

Middendorfs is known for fried thin strips of catfish, served on a platter with coleslaw, fries and hushpuppies. The menu also includes stuffed crabs, boiled shrimp, baked oysters, crawfish cakes, gumbo and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sun. $$

Mikimoto Japanese Restaurant

3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com

The wide-ranging Japanese menu includes sushi, sashimi, udon noodles, teriyaki dishes, fried rice, tempura items, dumplings and more. The Hawaii 5-0 roll, which is tempura fried and has no rice, combines tuna, salmon, avocado, asparagus and wasabi, with eel sauce on top. Reservations accepted for large parties. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$

Miss Shirleys Chinese Restaurant

3009 Magazine St., (504) 354-2530; missshirleyschineserestaurant.com

Former Royal China owners Miss Shirley Lee and Tang Lee came out of retirement to open this Chinese restaurant offering many Chinese-American staples and Cantonese specialties. Cantonese-style steamed garlic shrimp is served with chopped black beans and broccoli. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. $$$

Mr. Eds Oyster Bar & Fish House

301 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 872-9975; 512 Bienville St., (504) 309-4848; 1327 St. Charles Ave., (504) 267-0169; 3117 21st St., Metairie, (504) 833-6310; mredsrestaurants.com

There are raw, char-broiled and baked oysters as well as an array of Gulf seafood dishes. A fried seafood platter includes shrimp, oysters and fish and a side such as potato salad, fries or jambalaya. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

MoPho

514 City Park Ave., (504) 482-6845; mophonola.com

The menu is based in Vietnamese cuisine, with various pho and rice and vermicelli bowls, but there are other Asian dishes as well. A fried chicken thigh vindaloo sandwich is topped with spicy Indian vindaloo sauce, MoPho mayo, house-made pickles and coconut ranch slaw on a sesame bun. Reservations accepted. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

Morrows

2438 St. Claude Ave., (504) 827-1519; facebook.com/morrowsnola

Cajun crawfish pasta features fried catfish over crawfish tossed with linguine in Cajun sauce. The menu also includes raw and char-grilled oysters, steaks, seafood platters, po-boys, salads and more. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

Moscas Restaurant

4137 Highway 90, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com

This family-style Italian restaurants signature dishes include baked oysters and chicken a la grande. Oysters Mosca is baked with Italian seasonings and breadcrumbs. Reservations recommended. Cash only. Dinner Wed.-Sat. $$

Mosquito Supper Club

3824 Dryades St., mosquitosupperclub.com

Chef Melissa Martin focuses on the Cajun cooking she grew up with and Louisiana seafood in her weekly tasting menus, which are served family style in multiple courses. Dishes might include raw oysters with mignonette, fried shrimp boulettes, shrimp and okra gumbo and stuffed crabs. Reservations required. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$

Mothers Restaurant

401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net

The menu includes all-day breakfast options, po-boys, salads and Creole favorites such as shrimp Creole, crawfish etouffee and jambalaya. A Ralph po-boy is filled with ham, roast beef, Swiss or American cheese, cabbage, pickles, mayonnaise and mustard. No reservations. Delivery available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

Mucho Mas

8201 Oak St., (504) 324-1616; muchomasnola.com

Chef-owner Julio Machados menu of Mexican fare includes a wide array of tacos, empanadas, quesadillas, queso fundido and more. Red snapper a la Talla is a whole fish served with red guajillo sauce, green sauce, onions, cilantro, rice, beans and blue corn tortillas. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

Mukbang

8312 Oak St., (504) 345-2695; mukbangseafoodnola.com

Mukbang focuses on Viet-Cajun style seafood boils, such as a shrimp, lobster or blue crab catch, including a potato, corn, sausage, an egg and a choice of garlic-butter, spicy Cajun or house Mukbang sauce. The menu also includes po-boys, fried seafood, blackened catfish, bulgogi fries and more. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$$

N7

1117 Montegut St.; n7nola.com

Traditional French cooking gets Japanese accents on a menu including sake-cured salmon tartine and frog legs fried karaage style. There also are pan-roasted mushrooms, grilled bok choy and steak tartare. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Fri.-Sat. $$

Neyows Creole Cafe

3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com

A seafood platter includes fried shrimp, oysters, fish, a stuffed cake and two sides, such as potato salad, carrot souffle, macaroni and cheese, french fries or garlic bread. The Creole menu also has file gumbo, crab claws, wings, fried chicken, ribs, New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp, pasta, po-boys and more. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch and early dinner Sun. $$

Nice Guys Nola

7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysnola.com

The creative menu ranges from loaded oysters served like nachos to steak, burgers, sandwiches, wings, fried chicken, quesadillas and more. Blackened salmon is served with crawfish mac and cheese featuring a blend of five cheeses and penne pasta. Delivery and outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch Tue.-Fri., dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sat.- Mon. $$

NOLA Crawfish King Seafood & Barbecue

5321 Franklin Ave., (504) 259-0828; crawfishking.com

This Gentilly spot focuses on seasonal boiled seafood and barbecue. On Fridays, a fish fry special includes two fried catfish fillets with two sides, such as crab boil potatoes, turkey necks, corn or sausage. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and early dinner daily. $$

Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro

720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com

The wine bar has cheese and charcuterie boards, shareable plates and a full menu. The Cajun Surf and Turf is a strip steak topped with crawfish tails and garlic butter and served with herb smashed potatoes and vegetables. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$

PJs Coffee

Areawide; pjscoffee.com

The coffeeshops spring specialty drinks include a strawberry rose white chocolate latte, honey macadamia cold brew and honey macadamia velvet ice. Many locations have bagels, breakfast sandwiches and pastries. No reservations. Outdoor seating available at some locations. Hours vary by location. $

Palm & Pine

308 N. Rampart St., (504) 814-6200; palmandpinenola.com

The menu features Mexican- and Caribbean-inspired dishes with local flavors. The Corner Store Crudo is yellowfin tuna, pineapple Big Shot nuoc cham, daikon, fresh herbs and shrimp chips. Reservations recommended. Limited outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Mon., late-night Fri.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$

Palace Cafe

605 Canal St., (504) 523-1661; palacecafe.com

The menu at this Dickie Brennan restaurant includes shrimp Tchefuncte, which is Gulf shrimp, Louisiana popcorn rice risotto and cremini mushrooms served with a Creole meuniere sauce. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

Pats Rest Awhile

2129 Lakeshore Drive, Mandeville, (985) 951-2173; patsrestawhile.com

The Northshore restaurant offers a menu of seafood, steaks, sandwiches and salads and a view of Lake Pontchartrain. Gulf fish amandine is served with crabmeat, toasted almonds, brown butter sauce and green beans. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Fri.-Sun., dinner Wed.-Sat. $$$

Peche Seafood Grill

800 Magazine St., (504) 522-1744; pecherestaurant.com

Chef Ryan Prewitt won a James Beard award for his takes on Gulf seafood, which incorporates Louisiana, South American and Spanish influences. Jumbo shrimp is served with coconut, greens and a rice cake. Reservations recommended. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$

PeeWees Crabcakes on the Go

4500 Old Gentilly Road, (504) 354-9884; peeweescrabcakes.godaddysites.com

A menu of seafood and Creole dishes includes char-broiled oysters and several types of crab cakes. The jumbo fried shrimp entree comes with remoulade and a choice of two sides, such as seafood rice, loaded baked potatoes and asparagus. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch daily, dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Pier 424 Seafood Market

424 Bourbon St., (504) 309-1574; pier424seafoodmarket.com

This French Quarter restaurant serves boiled seafood, fried seafood platters, po-boys and more. Stuffed Gulf shrimp are filled with crabmeat, topped with crawfish cream sauce and served with french fries. No reservations. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$$

Plume Algiers

1113 Teche St., (504) 381-4893; plumealgiers.com

This small casual cafe in Algiers Point serves a menu of regional Indian dishes with a rotating list of specials using local, seasonal ingredients. Fish Kabiraji is fried fish with cabbage slaw and kasundi (mustard sauce). Reservations recommended. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Poke Loa

Areawide; eatpokeloa.com

Diners can order signature bowls or build their own combinations of raw fish, greens, vegetables, rice, sauces and more. The Land & Sea Sesame Bowl includes Gulf shrimp, chicken, cucumbers, onions, teriyaki sauce, jalapenos, lemon miso aioli and sesame seeds over white rice. Agua frescas are made fresh in house. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Hours vary by location. $$

Poke-chan

2809 St. Claude Ave., (504) 571-5446; facebook.com/pokechannola

This poke spot features a build-your-own option as well as signature poke and cooked bowls. The Kinda Hawaiian is a bowl with wonton chips, tuna, ponzu sauce, sesame oil, sweet onions, wakame, seaweed salad, mangoes and macadamia nuts. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Rosalitas Backyard Tacos

3304 St. Claude Ave., (504) 354-2468; rosalitas-nola.com

The Bywater Mexican restaurant focuses on tacos and has nachos, tostadas, empanadas and more on the menu. Taco fillings include chorizo, pork belly, carne asada, fried fish or black beans and avocado in either corn or flour tortillas topped with cabbage slaw or cheese. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $

Saba

5757 Magazine St., (504) 324-7770; eatwithsaba.com

Chef Alon Shayas modern Israeli menus selection of small plates includes roasted broccoli served with chermoula, almonds and tahini, and hummus with toppings such as Brussels sprouts, spicy lamb ragu or Louisiana blue crab. Roasted fish is served with tahini, confit tomatoes and herbs. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Fri., dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

Saffron NOLA

4128 Magazine St., (504) 323-2626; saffronnola.com

The menu features contemporary Indian dishes made with local ingredients. Nariyal Gulf fish is served with korma sauce, pickled mango and curd rice. Reservations Accepted. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$$

Schaefers Seafood

1726 Lake Ave., Metairie, (504) 833-3973; facebook.com/schaefers.seafood

This Bucktown seafood market offers raw and cooked seafood and is known for hot boiled crawfish and shrimp. It also offers gumbo, stuffed crabs and more. No reservations. Lunch Wed.-Sun. $$

Scrambled

5433 Laurel St., (504) 427-2277; scramblednola.com

Chef and owner Steven Green gets creative with the breakfast menu at his new Uptown spot. The breakfast po-boy includes scrambled eggs and sausage served on French bread and dressed with arugula, tomato, pickles and Sriracha aioli. A vegetarian version uses vadouvan-spiced tofu and vegan sausage. No reservations. Limited outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

Seafood Sallys

8400 Oak St., (504) 766-8736; seafoodsallys.com

The casual seafood house serves seasonal dishes along with Gulf oysters. Boiled crawfish, Gulf shrimp and crabs are available and can be tossed in house-made chili butter. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$

Seithers Seafood

279 Hickory Ave., Harahan, (504) 738-1116; facebook.com/seithers.seafood

Seithers is known for hot boiled seafood including crawfish and crabs, but it also has a full menu of po-boys and seafood dishes. Delacroix nachos are house-made chips topped with blackened Gulf fish, boiled shrimp, salsa, avocado, spicy mayo and snow crab salad. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Fri., dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Sidecar Patio & Oyster Bar

1114 Constance St., (504) 381-5079; sidecarnola.com

The menu features around 15 types of oysters along with small plates, sandwiches and burgers. A fried catfish fillet is served with maison sauce, pickles, lettuce and tomato on a brioche bun from Dong Phuong. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Sat.-Sun., dinner Wed.-Sun. $$

Small Mart

2700 Chartres St., (504) 766-8740; smallmartcafe.com

The coffeeshop and cafe has bagel sandwiches in the morning and a vegan menu of bowls, sandwiches and salads in the afternoon. The pakora po-boy includes spiced chickpea-battered spinach and onion fritters served on French bread and dressed with house-made chutney, onion, cucumber and carrots. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch Tue.-Sun. $$

Station 6 Seafood & Oyster Bar

105 Metairie-Hammond Highway, Metairie, (504) 345-2936; station6nola.com

A new group of owners recently took over Station 6, but they are keeping the casual seafood restaurants menu. Seared pompano is served with curried brown butter, toasted cashews and roasted asparagus. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Fri.-Sat., dinner Tue.-Sat. $$$

Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar

4338 St. Charles Ave., (504) 293-3474; superiorseafoodnola.com

With a prominent corner spot, this seafood restaurant serves Gulf oysters, seafood dishes and Creole staples. Blackened catfish Napoleon is topped with crawfish etouffee and served with whipped potatoes and corn maque choux. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$

Suzies Soulhouse

1205 St. Charles Ave., Suite C, (504) 478-8006; suziessoulhouse.com

Chef Susan Cosses soul food catering company recently opened a restaurant for takeout lunch and dine-in dinner service. Catfish St. Charles is a grilled fillet topped with shrimp Creole sauce and served with seasoned rice. No reservations. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Tableau

616 St. Peter St., (504) 934-3463; tableaufrenchquarter.com

Dickie Brennans Jackson Square restaurant serves contemporary Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features house-made squid ink mafaldine pasta in seafood broth with clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Reservations accepted. Delivery and balcony seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$

Tavolino Pizza & Lounge

141 Delaronde St., (504) 605-3365; tavolinonola.com

The Algiers Point restaurant has signature thin-crust pies as well as salads, pepperoni chips, meatballs and more. The Behrman Hwy is a pie topped with pork belly, Vietnamese caramel, jalapeno, herbs, nuoc cham, carrots and radishes. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sat. $$

Theos Pizza

Areawide; theospizza.com

Along with specialty pies, the menu includes sandwiches, salads, chicken wings and breadsticks. The Jammers Original is a pie with tomato sauce, mozzarella and goat cheeses, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, onions and banana peppers. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Hours vary by location. $$

Titos Ceviche & Pisco

1433 St. Charles Ave., (504) 354-1342; 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com

The Peruvian restaurants menu includes several types of ceviche with shrimp, octopus and a variety of fish. The sudado de pescado is poached fish served with chicha de jora, onions, tomatoes and rice. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available at Magazine Street location. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. at Magazine location. $$$

Toups Meatery

845 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 252-4999; toupsmeatery.com

Chef Isaac Toups draws from his Cajun roots for a contemporary menu at his Mid-City restaurant. Confit chicken thighs are served with ham-braised greens and Dijon cream. Reservations accepted. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Lunch Mon.-Fri, dinner daily, brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

Undergrowth Coffee

4332 Magazine St., (504) 766-7772; undergrowthcoffee.com

The queer-owned and managed Uptown coffeeshop serves hot and iced espresso drinks, tea and other beverages and has a menu of vegetarian and vegan options. The Sunrise vegan burrito includes mung bean scramble, plant-based sausage crumbles, vegan cheddar, potatoes, pico and cashew creme fraiche. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

Up & Adam Eatz

3903 Canal St., (504) 708-7237; getupandadam.com

The Mid-City breakfast and brunch spot serves pancakes, waffles, omelets, sandwiches, shrimp and grits and more. The Tchoupitoulas omelet is a cheddar cheese omelet topped with crawfish, shrimp, peppers and onions and crabmeat cream sauce. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch Tue.-Sun. $$

Venezias Restaurant

134 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-7991; venezianeworleans.com

The Mid-City Italian eatery serves steaks, pastas and more. Cannelloni is baked with ground veal and spinach in both red and white sauces. Fish Cynthia is a fried fillet topped with shrimp, crawfish and dill cream sauce. It is served with pasta and red sauce. Reservations accepted. Lunch Sun., dinner Wed.-Mon. $$

Vyoones

412 Girod St., (504) 518-6007; vyoone.com

Vyoone Segue Lewis Warehouse District restaurant serves French and Creole-inspired dishes. Seafood pasta bouillabaisse includes house-made linguine in seafood stock with mussels, fish and shrimp. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

Who Dat Coffee Cafe

2401 Burgundy St., (504) 872-0360; facebook.com/whodatcoffeecafe

The cafe offers breakfast and lunch, coffee and espresso drinks and has a full bar. Da Crabby Bene features a grilled pistollette topped with crab cakes, poached eggs and Creole hollandaise. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $$

Willibys Catfish

4327 Paris Ave., (504) 354-9371; facebook.com/willibyscatfish0134

The catfish-farm serves fried fish plates and some Creole dishes. Platters are served with a choice of sides, such as mac and cheese, fries, peas and potato salad. No reservations. Delivery available. $

Wishing Town Bakery Cafe

802 Nashville Ave., (504) 533-9166; 3327 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 885-8272; wishingtown.com

The bakery and dim sum restaurants menu includes steamed buns, dumplings and noodle dishes as well as pastries and cakes. The spicy seafood soup noodle bowl includes shrimp, crab stick, celery, scallions, fried onions and stretched noodles in a creamy chicken broth base with Sichuan peppers, chili, sesame oil and soy sauce. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Uptown: Lunch and dinner daily. Metairie: Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Yakuza House

2740 Severn Ave., (504) 345-2031; yakuzahouse.com

The Metairie Japanese restaurant recently moved to a larger location but keeps its focus on handroll sushi. Temaki handroll options include blue crab with avocado and lemon, yellowtail and green onions, and barbecue eel with cucumber. There also are noodle dishes and rice bowls. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$

Zasu

127 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 267-3233; zasunola.com

Chef Sue Zemanicks contemporary menu includes sauteed red snapper served with butterbeans, turnips, French green beans, cherry tomatoes and spicy butter. Braised beef short ribs come with potato dumplings, rapini, tomato jam and horseradish gremolata. Reservations accepted. Dinner Mon. and Wed.-Sat. $$$

Zimmers Seafood

4915 St. Anthony Ave., (504) 282-7150; facebook.com/zimmersseafood

This family-owned counter-service spot offers po-boys and boiled seafood, including crabs, crawfish and shrimp. An order of boiled seafood comes with corn, potatoes, sausage and turkey necks. The sides include boudin balls, stuffed crabs, seafood gumbo and crawfish and spinach bread. No reservations. Lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sun. $$
Despite the one-two punch of the coronavirus pandemic and Hurricane Ida, Woodmere Elementary School in Harvey achieved what few other schools 
The crashed Baton Rouge Police Department helicopter and bodies of two officers were discovered Sunday morning by law enforcement only after a family member of one of the victims called to request a search roughly eight hours after the incident occurred, according to the West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.
A consultant hired by the Jefferson Parish School Board to review the district's infrastructure will give a presentation Monday night and is expected to recommend closing certain campuses ahead of the upcoming school year.

Meyer Engineers will present its findings at 6 p.m. during a special meeting at the board's Harvey headquarters, located at 501 Manhattan Blvd. The meeting will also be streamed on the board's website.

The potential school closures come as Jefferson Parish education officials grapple with a continued drop in students. Jefferson Parish public schools currently enroll around 47,400 students, down from more than 50,000 in 2019 and well below a peak of 70,000 in the 1970s.

Adjusting to those demographic changes, the board has moved aggressively in recent years to consolidate some schools and combine elementary and middle schools into pre-K through eighth grade campuses.

Many of those changes were guided by a 2018 report that said that the school system did a poor job of using the space it had. At one school, only 19% of the building was in use, while another school operated at 121% of capacity.

The Jefferson Parish School Board in February hired Meyer Engineers to update the 2018 report with new data and to hold community meetings across the district to gather public input.

The board must decide no later than its April 5 meeting which campuses to close ahead of the 2023-24 school year.

+2 How can Jefferson Parish schools adjust to fewer students? Some campuses could be closed. The last time the Jefferson Parish public school district took a comprehensive look at its buildings and infrastructure, a consultant conclude
Drilling rigs stacked at the Port of Iberia in 2016 reflect the impact an oil industry slump has had on the Louisiana's economy. Some of the impacts are felt in surveys of the state's economic performance over the last decade.
Guitarist Bobby Broom and his quartet played to a sold-out house at The Jazz Kitchen on March 25, 2023. His fans and I agree - it has been too long since his last appearance in Indy in 2018. Always one of the top guitarists in DownBeats annual poll, Broom has also played with so many of the jazz greats over the years that, living in Chicago, it seems we really should be able to see him more often.

The quartet this night featured Brooms latest recording, Keyed Up, released in late 2022, with Justin Dillard (piano), Kobie Watkins (drums), Dennis Carroll (bass), and Broom (guitar). The album pays homage to some of the great pianists and composers in jazz - and in featuring these great pianists of the past, the arrangements of this music were spectacular. Carroll and Watkins are long-time members of Broom's band, while Dillard is a recent addition.

Most of the setlist was dedicated to this new album, including Hallucinations by Bud Powell, a Mulgrew Miller tune, Second Thoughts, Blues on the Corner by McCoy Tyner, the familiar Misty by Erroll Garner, Quicksilver by Horace Silver and Soulful Bill by James Williams.

An addition to Brooms band, Justin Dillard, on piano, and Hammond, brings a new dimension and depth to the group. Playing on a few tunes with a portable Hammond on his lap, Dillard and the band also paid tribute to Cedar Walton with Fantasy in D (Ugestu) to the crowd's delight.

If you missed this fabulous group, Broom will be back in Indy soon  with two more engagements in town yet this year. Its been much too long - and a welcome return to Naptown for one of the finest bands around at one of the best venues in town.

All photographs 2023 Mark Sheldon

For more on Bobby, go here > http://www.bobbybroom.com

For more on what's happening at the Jazz Kitchen > https://thejazzkitchen.com

Bobby Broom Bobby Broom Long time bassist Dennis Carroll Bobby Broom Kobie Watkins, a Sonny Rolling Alumni Justin Dillard Bobby Broom Dennis Carroll Justin Dillard Bobby Broom Kobie Watkins Bobby Broom
LAPORTE  A 37-year-old Michigan City man faces a couple felony counts after a 6-year-old girl reported he had strangled her, causing her to soil herself and then sent her to school without a change of clothes, according to a charging document.

"It felt like I was dying," the girl reported, according to the charges.

Police said they were called out shortly after 6:30 p.m. March 2 to a local hospital where they learned the girl had arrived to school with soiled clothing, ate breakfast and then requested dry clothing.

The girl reportedly told the school nurse she did not want the accused, Brian Ramsey, whom she knows, to become more upset with her.

She said Ramsey had become upset with her earlier after she stepped on a towel used to clean up a cat mess, according to a charging document.

"Brian Ramsey grabbed her by the throat, applying pressure with one of his hands," police said.

When police questioned the girl's younger siblings, they reportedly confirmed the abuse. A doctor also found physical signs of strangulation and a bruise was found on the girl's left side, police said.

A case worker with the Indiana Department of Child Services reportedly told police the girl "stated the bruise was caused from falling off her bed (a) couple days ago," a court document says.

"It kinda hurted," the girl reportedly said of being strangled. "It looked like he was choking me and going to let me die."

The girl said she soiled herself while she was choked by Ramsey and that he had also choked her in the past, according to police.

She said a bruise was left on her when Ramsey spanked her "really hard," police said.

"Victim 1 said she saw Brian's face, and said he looked mad," a charging document says of the alleged strangulation.
CROWN POINT  The Lake County coroner's office has identified a 22-year-old man killed in a crash Tuesday night along Interstate 80 in Gary.

Quintin Mayo, of Mill Creek, Indiana, was pronounced dead at 8:18 p.m. Tuesday after suffering multiple injuries in the crash, the coroner said.

His death has been ruled by the coroner's office as an accident.

The crash in question occurred along the eastbound lanes of the highway between Clark and Burr Streets, officials said.

Multiple lanes of the busy highway were blocked in the wake of the crash.
CROWN POINT  Crown Point is moving forward with a $100 million project that would include the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility and would help homeowners in nearby unincorporated areas get off aging septic systems.

The project has been split into four phases. The first phase involves making improvements to the city's existing wastewater treatment plant and adding a regional interceptor that would connect unincorporated homes in the western part of the county to the facility. The second phase will be the installation of a downtown interceptor. During the third phase, new lift stations and force mains will be installed.

The lift stations and force mains will ultimately be connected to a new wastewater treatment plant, located at 121st Avenue and Iowa Street. Construction of the new treatment plant, the fourth phase of the project, is expected to be completed in 2027.

"It's not going to be done overnight. It's a multi-year project, but it's critical to present-day Crown Point and our future," Mayor Pete Land said during a March 22 Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.

Al Stong, president of Commonwealth Engineers Inc., said a preconstruction meeting for phase one of the project will be held April 5. Contractors may then issue a notice to proceed with construction, or if they need to wait for supplies, delay the work for up to 90 days.

The first phase will cost about $37 million. Crown Point is contributing $5 million and the State Revolving Fund Loan, or SRF, program is providing a $5 million matching grant. According to an interlocal agreement between Crown Point and Lake County, 359 users living in Center Township will be connected to Crown Points current wastewater system. The county will pay for the added users and for the west side interceptor, for a total contribution of about $5.2 million.

The added users live on the south and west side of Crown Point: in the Oakwood Hills, West Long, Oak Heights, Lawndale, Sleepy Hollow, Greenhill Ranches Annex 2 and West Point Acres subdivisions.

Crown Point is also taking out a $20 million low-interest loan with the SRF program. Stong said the remaining $1.8 million will come from funding the city uses to maintain wastewater infrastructure.

The new wastewater treatment facility will be located on about 30 acres of land, Stong said the plant will likely be expanded as the city continues to grow.

"You're (Crown Point) growing to the south and southeast, so you have two options: Either you are going to continue to transport flow all the way north, ... or you shave that flow off and you divert it to a new plant," Stong explained.

By adding 359 users, Stong said, the city is actually alleviating the financial burden that would have otherwise been placed on residents. The city's current plant "is getting to the point where it's fully loaded," Stong explained that if the city expanded the current facility without adding new users, rates may have gone up.

Additionally, Crown Point wastewater treatment facility users located outside city limits pay a 25% surcharge.

PHOTOS: St. Patrick's Day parade in Crown Point Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Crown Point's St. Patrick's Day parade Gallery HTML code
JERUSALEM  Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted "to avoid civil war" by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.

In his prime-time address, Netanyahu, who previously rejected calls to delay the legislation, took a more conciliatory tone than in recent speeches. He acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said he was hitting the pause button "to prevent a rift in the nation."

"When there's an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue," he said. He vowed to reach a "broad consensus" during the summer session of parliament, which begins April 30.

He spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the country's largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan.

Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies presented the overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israel's history.

The proposal plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs came out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy. Fighter pilots and military reservists threatened not to report for duty, and the country's currency, the shekel, tumbled in value.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nation's judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court's ability to review laws.

Netanyahu argued that the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges. His opponents say the package would damage the country's system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahu's allies. They also say that he has a conflict of interest as a criminal defendant.

Tens of thousands of people, largely secular, middle-class Israelis, have regularly joined mass protests against the plan.

Those demonstrations ramped up Sunday night after Netanyahu abruptly fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who urged the prime minister to put his plan on hold, citing concerns about damage to the Israeli military.

The firing sparked a spontaneous outburst of anger, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in just one hour.

Chanting "the country is on fire," they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Demonstrators continued Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners.

"This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship," said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. "I'm here for the fight to the end."

Israel's main trade union declared a general strike in what it said was the first time it carried out such an action over a political issue.

The chaos shut down much of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. Departing flights from the main international airport were grounded, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.

Large mall chains and universities closed their doors, and the union called for its 800,000 members to stop work in health care, transit, banking and other fields.

Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions, and local governments were expected to close preschools and cut other services. The main doctors union announced its members would also strike.

In a sign of easing tensions, the union said late Monday that it halted the strike in response to Netanyahu's delay.

The announcement appeared to buy the embattled Netanyahu several weeks of quiet. But it was far from clear whether the disputes could be resolved.

The country's figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, said pausing the legislative blitz was "the right thing."

"This is the time for frank, serious and responsible discussion that will lead urgently to calming spirits and lowering the flames," he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he was willing to hold a "genuine dialogue" under Herzog's sponsorship.

Israel's Palestinian citizens have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israel's democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The Biden administration, which has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government, welcomed the announcement as "an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Photos: Israelis protest proposed judicial changes
Nathaniel Lash and

April 11, 2023: This essay has been updated to reflect news developments.

Once again the United States is seared by screams, shots, blood and sirens, followed by politicians calls for thoughts and prayers. At least five people were killed and eight others were injured in a shooting at a bank in downtown Louisville, Ky., on Monday morning, police said. It leaves Americans asking once again: What can be done to break the political stalemate on gun policy so that we can save lives?

This essay originally was published in January after two mass shootings in California claimed 18 lives. But the issue remains tragically relevant, and it will continue to be until America adopts smarter policies for firearms. This toll from our guns  by our inaction, we make it our choice.

For decades, weve treated gun violence as a battle to be won rather than a problem to be solved  and this has gotten us worse than nowhere. In 2021 a record 48,000 Americans were killed by firearms, including suicides, homicides and accidents. So lets try to bypass the culture wars and try a harm-reduction model familiar from public health efforts to reduce deaths from other dangerous products such as cars and cigarettes.

Harm reduction for guns would start by acknowledging the blunt reality that were not going to eliminate guns any more than we have eliminated vehicles or tobacco, not in a country that already has more guns than people. We are destined to live in a sea of guns. And just as some kids will always sneak cigarettes or people will inevitably drive drunk, some criminals will get firearms  but one lesson learned is that if we cant eliminate a dangerous product, we can reduce the toll by regulating who gets access to it.
In the United States, the first woman to establish herself in a regular dental practice was Emeline Roberts Jones, who joined her husbands practice in 1859. She persuaded him to let her join by secretly working on extracted teeth and presenting him with a two-quart jar of teeth she had filled. She later set up her own office in New Haven, Conn.

Lucy Hobbs Taylor was the first American woman to earn a degree in dentistry, in 1866. People were amazed, one critic wrote, when they learned that a young girl had so far forgotten her womanhood as to want to study dentistry. She taught the skill to her husband, a Civil War veteran and railroad-car painter, and they opened a practice together in Lawrence, Kan.

The first professional dentist in America, Lindsay wrote in an essay, was Robert Woofendale, who in 1766 traveled from Britain to the colonies, where he made what she said was the first full set of false teeth ever seen in America.

Others, including the patriot Paul Revere, a silversmith, did dental work as a sideline.

On her first day at Edinburgh she met her future husband, Robert Lindsay, a faculty member. They married in 1905, when she was 34 and he was 40. He died in 1930.

Among the more notable professors she encountered in Edinburgh were William Bowman MacLeod, who was known for his study of the effects of bagpipe playing on the teeth; and Joseph Bell, whose gift for unexpected deductions led one of his students, Arthur Conan Doyle, to use him as the model for his fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes.
A business jet carrying a former White House official this month pitched up and down in midair, causing her death, after pilots turned off a system that stabilizes the plane, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.

The pilots noticed several warnings related to system failures of the aircrafts flight control as it traveled from Keene, N.H., to Leesburg, Va., on March 3, and they followed steps on a checklist, which advised them to turn off a switch that controls a stabilizer function in the aircraft, according to the report.

When the switch was turned off, it prompted the nose of the plane to swing upward, the report says. The plane then pointed down and jerked upward again in a roller-coaster-like motion before a pilot used both hands to regain control of it, the N.T.S.B. said.

As soon as the switch position was moved, the airplane abruptly pitched up, the report says. One of the pilots, in his account to investigators, estimated that the plane had oscillated up and down for a few seconds.
Mr. Drici explained that the brands needs for watchmaking knowledge had evolved in recent years. For example, we need qualified watchmaking operators on our assembly lines that we train through a two-year watchmaking training, he wrote. For our customer service department, we require experienced watchmakers who can perform acts of restoration, while we will look for highly qualified watchmakers for our Maison des Metiers dArt, a pioneering facility in the world of watchmaking opened in 2015 to preserve and develop artisanal crafts.

The demand for vintage and pre-owned watches also has fueled the shortage of qualified watchmakers to inspect, repair and certify watches. For this work, you cannot use operator technicians; you need people with a higher level of expertise, Mr. Kunz-Fernandez of WOSTEP said. The smart brands and companies are grabbing watchmakers with more knowledge so they can attain and grow in this sort of business.

Geographic location also may play a role in the work-force shortage. Some observers, for example, say that anyone with training in Geneva already has been hired by one of the many brands headquartered there.

Edouard Meylan, chief executive of H. Moser & Cie, said it could take his small independent company two years to find a qualified watchmaker to join its staff of 30 watchmakers and support personnel. But because there are so few brands in and around its base of Schaffhausen, on Switzerlands border with Germany, it has an advantage over watch brands in the countrys western, French-speaking regions, he said.

Because there is a shortage, watchmakers expect salaries that are out of this world, so it was very complicated for us as an independent brand, Mr. Meylan said in a video interview from town, also known as the home of IWC. But we worked with the school in Grenchen, and the last six or seven people we hired came from there, he said, referring to ZeitZentrum, one of the seven schools in the country. They are young and dynamic, and they all speak German.

As Mr. Meylan noted, the shortage of workers has led to higher pay rates in many locations. In Switzerland, for example, the average annual salary seems to be the equivalent of about $65,000, according to Mr. Kunz-Fernandez of WOSTEP.
How do you like your Sweeney Todd done?

Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the score, favored the musical thriller take: the one that focuses on gore and shock. Blood spouts everywhere when Sweeney, the demon barber of Fleet Street, slits the throats of his customers; when his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, grinds the corpses into meat pies, you wince at every crunch.

Also rather nice: the social critique version promoted by Harold Prince, the director of the original production in 1979. In that one, Sweeney, seen as a byproduct of the Industrial Revolution, isnt so much a villain as a victim. The greed of the overlord class, mimicked by the grasping Mrs. Lovett, is what makes mincemeat of the proletariat.

Or perhaps you prefer your Sweeney intimate, with razors so close you recoil. Or psychological and stripped to the bone, with barely a set and Mrs. Lovett on tuba.

If there are so many worthy Sweeney options, thats because the show isnt just one of the greatest American musicals but several. Sondheims score, a homage to the sinister soundtracks of Bernard Herrmann, cannibalizes the book (by Hugh Wheeler) and the books remoter sources (a 1970 play by Christopher Bond, a 19th-century penny dreadful) until only their bones remain. But in return you get arias so beautiful, and musical scenes so intricately layered, that every possible genre seems to be baked inside.
Bobbi Ercoline, who one morning during the Woodstock music festival rested her head on her boyfriends chest and in that drowsy moment became a symbol of 1960s hippiedom, died on March 18 at her home in Pine Bush, N.Y. She was 73.

Her Woodstock boyfriend and later her husband, Nick Ercoline, said the cause was leukemia.

About a half-million people attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, Aug. 15-18, in 1969, a cultural phenomenon that has endured in the popular imagination partly with the help of Woodstock, a 1970 documentary, and its album soundtrack, featuring Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Jefferson Airplane, Richie Havens and many more musicians.

Ms. Ercolines tender moment became the subject of a photograph chosen for the cover of the soundtrack album, a three-LP set that was once a familiar sight in record collections in dorm rooms and coffee houses throughout the country.

Behind a pair of big shades, clad in a multicolored garment and partly covered by a comfy pink-trimmed blanket wrapped around her boyfriend, she seemed to embody the flower-child spirit.
The novel is set circa 2030. In America, the authoritarian right has jettisoned democracy, surveillance drones sweep the sky, deportation officers in skull masks patrol the subways, Florida has been nearly wiped out by tsunamis, there is talk of cannibals and doomsday cults running amok and  whatever. This critic feels as if hes perpetually wandering, lately, through a mall bookstore called Dystopias R Us. The bookstore has locked its doors and will not let him out. Aiieeee!

Kalfars dystopia feels thirdhand. Happily, he has other things to work with. His heroine, Adela Slavikova, lives in a Czech village. On the novels first page, she learns she has not long, perhaps a year, to live. Her doctor, a great poet of the macabre, doesnt give her the option of denial. He is determined to tell her exactly how awful its going to be: crumbling bones, renal failure, death by brain bleed or fungal infection.

Not long after, Adela is drunk on box wine in her bathroom, sliding off the toilet, as one does, when a carp she is keeping in the tub begins to speak to her. Find your daughter, go, go now, it says. Idiot. Your destiny awaits in the New World.

Adela gave a daughter up for adoption at birth, and she decides to go to America  the world according to carp  to find her. Kalfars inventiveness rolls as if on wheels. Adela flies on an ultra-budget airline where the seats have no cushions, each passenger is limited to one cup of water and you have to pay in cash to use the toilet. In New York, at MoMA, she sees a life-size hologram of Vincent van Gogh pop up and chastise a boy for touching a painting.

Theres a slight tentativeness to Kalfars written English (he was born in the Czech Republic, and immigrated to the United States at 15) that endears his protagonists, and renders them believable. He makes a virtue of a limitation. He has a Kurt Vonnegut-like satirical touch, at his best, as well as Vonneguts interest in science. He also has an old-world melancholy, beneath the humor, that will put some readers in mind of writers like Mordecai Richler and Jerzy Kosinski.
Netanyahu backs off

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would delay his governments contentious plans to overhaul Israels judiciary, after days of massive street protests, counter-protests and strikes that halted some health services and blocked flights from leaving Israels main airport. Follow live updates.

Netanyahus reversal came after the head of a powerful far-right political party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he was open to postponing the vote, giving Netanyahu room to step back. His concession is an attempt to de-escalate the civil unrest, but he risks destabilizing the government. Many of his hard-right coalition partners had resisted any suggestion of a delayed vote.

When there is a possibility of preventing a civil war through dialogue, I, as the prime minister, take a time out for dialogue, Netanyahu said in a speech announcing the delay.

It was unclear whether the delay would calm the protests. Israels main labor union called off a general strike after the announcement, but one protest group said it would keep demonstrating until the proposal was shelved.
Federal regulators sued Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, and two of its senior executives on Monday, alleging that in wooing business from American investors, they had chosen to knowingly disregard laws governing certain U.S. financial markets.

In a suit filed in federal court in Chicago, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Binances founder, Changpeng Zhao, and its former chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, had worked together to attract trading customers who were based in the United States even though Binance did not have permission to operate in the country.

The regulators said Mr. Zhao and Mr. Lim had relied on an opaque web of corporate entities to direct business back to a central operation that Mr. Zhao controlled. They even helped U.S.-based crypto traders hide their real locations using shell companies, according to the C.F.T.C.

For years, Binance knew they were violating C.F.T.C. rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance, the agencys chairman, Rostin Behnam, said in a statement announcing the filing of the lawsuit. This should be a warning to anyone in the digital asset world that the C.F.T.C. will not tolerate willful avoidance of U.S. law.
TAIPEI, Taiwan  While growing up in Hong Kong, Cherry Tang accompanied her uncles to their familys ancestral gravesite each spring as they lugged a whole roasted suckling pig up a subtropical hillside.

The pig was placed in front of the tomb, alongside fruit and incense, and Ms. Tang helped relatives weed and clean as they waited for their ancestors spirits to dine on the offerings. Then, the family feasted. Her uncles chopped the pig into bite-size pieces to dip in hoisin sauce, and other relatives passed around small cartons of lemon tea.

For the annual spring holiday of Qingming, known as Tomb Sweeping Day in English, extended families gather to honor the departed, clean ancestors graves and feed their spirits in a Chinese folk practice that dates back 2,500 years. Celebrated on April 5 this year, it is observed by the Chinese and the Chinese diaspora throughout the world.
Ms. Swartz said that Mr. Broadwater was particularly glad that the states lawyers had not insisted that he sit for a deposition and revisit the events. That would be extremely difficult for Tony to go through, she said.

In a statement, Ms. James said the settlement was a critical step to deliver some semblance of justice to Mr. Broadwater.

Ms. Sebold was an 18-year-old freshman at Syracuse University when she was raped in a park near campus in 1981. She described the assault in raw detail in her 1999 memoir, Lucky, a precursor to her best-selling novel The Lovely Bones, which also involves the rape of a teenager. In the memoir, she used the fictitious name Gregory Madison for the man who had raped her.

As she wrote in Lucky, Ms. Sebold told campus security personnel about the attack immediately and then went to the police. After evidence was collected from a rape kit, she wrote, she described her attacker to the police, but the resulting composite sketch did not resemble him.

Mr. Broadwater was arrested five months later, after Ms. Sebold passed him on the street and contacted the police, saying she might have seen the man who had raped her.
For nearly three years, New Yorkers have been able to take advantage of a pandemic-era lifeline that provided people like Jocelyne Grandu, a retired French teacher who lives in Harlem, with an extra $80 each month in food stamp benefits.

But with that federal assistance ending this month, more than 30 million people across the country are expected to receive less help.

In New York City, more than 1.5 million people, or nearly one in five residents, could receive smaller food stamp benefits, according to nonprofit leaders  reflecting a loss of at least $160 million total in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits each month.

What were seeing is really a catastrophe for well over a million New Yorkers, said David G. Greenfield, executive director of Met Council, a prominent Jewish nonprofit that oversees 100 food pantries. Were hearing from our clients that theyre rationing things like medication, theyre not going to be able to pay their rent and they can no longer pay for things like child care.
MONTAUK, N.Y.  New Yorks Native American tribes fought bitterly with former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over his efforts to tax their tobacco sales and seize a sizable share of their gambling proceeds, and they blamed him for the deterioration of a stretch of interstate that slices through tribal lands.

So when Mr. Cuomo resigned in disgrace in 2021, tribal leaders found reason to hope for more amiable relations with his successor, Kathy Hochul, who was born and raised in western New York, not far from the states largest reservation. A less prickly chief executive held out promise for greater accommodation.

Instead, the tensions between the tribes and the governors office have only increased, with Ms. Hochul taking a series of actions that have left the tribal and state leaders as far apart as ever.

While seeking to finance a new stadium for the billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills, Ms. Hochul, in her words, started playing hardball with the Seneca Nation by freezing its bank accounts until it handed over more than $500 million in gambling revenues. The tribe contends it never owed the money, though federal courts have backed the states demands.
In the past several years, six Paterson officers have also been convicted of stealing cash and other items from residents who were searched illegally, in violation of federal civil rights laws.

The New Jersey Violence Intervention and Prevention Coalition, which includes the Healing Collective, said the states action was a crucial first step toward justice. But the group stressed the need for a criminal justice approach that included trained community members and that de-emphasized armed officers in full tactical gear.

Its an acknowledgment that there are deep-seated issues in Paterson, said Yannick Wood, director of criminal justice reform at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. But we have to see whats going to come of this. Theres issues of trust in the community.

Mr. Wood said the institute would continue to press for a Justice Department inquiry.

Major Frederick P. Fife of the New Jersey State Police, a former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, assumed operational control of the Paterson Police Department on Monday morning.

Mr. Platkin said that the states use of force policy would also be updated to provide guidance on how law enforcement officials should handle crises involving people barricaded alone behind locked doors. Arrive Together, a program that sends mental health professionals with officers when they respond to calls from people in emotional distress, will also be expanded to Paterson, he said.
The Manhattan grand jury weighing evidence about Donald J. Trumps role in a hush-money payment to a porn star heard testimony on Monday from a crucial witness, but there was no sign an indictment had been filed, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The witness, David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, also testified in January. Since the grand jury was impaneled early this year by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, it has heard from at least nine witnesses  including Mr. Pecker, who has now appeared twice  and is expected to vote on an indictment soon.

It is unclear whether the grand jury took any action on Monday, but one of the people with knowledge of the matter said it had not voted on an indictment. Grand juries operate in secret, leaving the timing of indictments something of a mystery.

Mr. Pecker was a key player in the hush-money episode. He and the tabloids top editor helped broker the deal between the porn star, Stormy Daniels, and Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trumps fixer at the time.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas signed a bill this month rolling back the states child labor protections, making it easier for employers to hire children under 16. Elsewhere, bills to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work in meatpacking plants and other dangerous jobs in Iowa as part of training programs and 16- and 17-year-olds to take jobs at construction sites in Minnesota are under consideration.

These enacted and potential rollbacks are happening just when the country is experiencing a surge of child labor violations on a scale and of a type that we hadnt heard about for many years. Laws in the United States prohibit certain very dangerous work for minors, but recent investigative reporting by The New York Times and Reuters has exposed migrant children as young as 12 working at car factories, meat processors and construction sites; household-name companies generally avoid liability through the use of sometimes sketchy subcontractors and staffing agencies.

Labor agency data released in February showed spikes in the number of children being employed illegally by companies. The U.S. Labor Department said last month that it had seen a 69 percent increase since 2018; it found that in the last fiscal year, 835 companies employed more than 3,800 children in violation of federal labor laws. Child labor violations include not only situations involving hazardous work, but also less shocking yet still deeply troubling cases by more typical employers of teens, with minors of varied demographics working schedules far longer and later than whats legally permissible. Chipotle Mexican Grill, for instance, has been accused of numerous violations: The company paid a total of more than $9 million as settlements for alleged child labor violations in Massachusetts and New Jersey in 2020 and 2022.

Whats going on here, and why is this happening now?

And when child labor violations come to light, especially horrifying ones, shouldnt elected officials strengthen laws and fund enforcement rather than allow more children to be exploited?
As crucial as these micro wetlands are to the immense biodiversity of the Southern Appalachians, ephemeral ponds enjoy no federal protections. Under current interpretations of the Clean Water Act, its their isolation from other waterways  the very quality that makes them so critical to amphibian reproduction  that puts them in danger. And thats just one example of why the conservancy concentrates much of its efforts on habitat conservation and restoration.

The news from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last week is absorbing all the headlines, and thats as it should be. When the planets premier climate scientists concur that we have less than 10 years to hold off a cataclysm, we desperately need to hear the urgency in their words.

We are facing nothing less than an existential crisis, and in that context the potential loss of a few amphibians in a few unprotected wetlands might not be the greatest source of grief in the world. These little vernal pools might seem expendable, hardly more than a storybook enchantment for children still enthralled to tales of princesses whose only reason to kiss a frog is to turn it back into a prince.

But the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are twinned and intertwined. The earth is a magnificent, breathing organism, and every species contributes to its survival. We might not always know exactly how they do that, but we know they exist as part of a balance that is slipping away. When we work to preserve frogs and salamanders  when we work to preserve any species  we are working to preserve life on earth as we know it.
In many ways, the fight over the future of the judiciary marks the culmination of the Americanization of Israeli society. A segment of Israeli society has always admired the United States and has striven to reimagine itself in its image. Over the past few decades, though, it hasnt been Americas grand traditions of democracy and multiculturalism that have infiltrated the psyche of many in the Jewish state but rather its less admirable attributes.

As in America, many on the Israeli right have stopped defining themselves based on policies and have resorted instead to nativism and resistance to democratic norms. The political wedge issues in Israel are no longer questions around Palestinian statehood but rather the independence of the courts, good governance and plain decency. Its no surprise, then, that the heirs of Israels earlier generation of conservatives can no longer find their place in the ruling Likud party. Theyve become Israeli versions of so-called RINOs, or Republicans in name only.

Without the demarcation of the ideological rivalries of the past, Israels political map is now defined mostly along identity lines, with the ultra-Orthodox, nationalist settlers and working-class Mizrahi voters on one side (the red Israel) and the wealthier, mostly Ashkenazi, educated class of the coastal Tel Aviv and Haifa regions on the other (the blue Israel). Despite the socioeconomic gaps between them, the main points of contention tend to revolve around matters of decorum, tradition and grievances.

An example of Israels echoes of the United States can be found in the changes to the socialist kibbutz movement that helped shape the countrys identity and fueled its growth, which has been all but overrun by privatization and rabid capitalism that has contributed to the country having among the highest rates of inequality among nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Israels collective and pioneering spirit has been ravaged by consumerism and commercialism.

Like America, Israel now finds itself hopelessly polarized along numerous societal fault lines: religious and secular, rural and urban, educated and not, traditional and progressive, hawks and doves. And, like the United States so often during the Trump years, those differences have spilled out into the streets. But for a small country in a tough neighborhood, one whose survival depends on an engaged citizenry and mandatory military service, the stakes in Israel are that much higher.
Its a familiar, dreaded scenario in many parts of Africa and Asia: An elephant shows up, wanders into farmers fields, and tramples and eats crops. Sometimes farmers fight back, and elephants are killed.

That series of events seemed likely to play out recently when a forest elephant bull emerged from the dense jungle surrounding Gbarnjala village in northwestern Liberia.

But this time, things went differently. The munching bull heard an angry buzzing sound. It froze mid-chew, then turned trunk and high-tailed it out of there.

The bull had heard the sound of a disturbed hive of bees  and like elephants all over the world, it had learned to avoid the insect sound at all costs. But in this case, no bees were actually present. He had triggered a BuzzBox, an audio technology that aims to keep elephants and people apart.
The concept of museum-worthy clothes is arguably as old as museums themselves. But only in modern history did blockbuster fashion exhibits really take off.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 2018 exhibition Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination drew some 1.6 million guests, according to the museum. Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design, an exhibition that opened in 1974, had about 780,000 visitors.

Matthew Yokobosky, the senior curator of fashion and material culture at the Brooklyn Museum, which over the past two years has staged exhibits on the designers Christian Dior, Thierry Mugler and Virgil Abloh, said the interest in seeing clothes on display has risen as the occasions for getting dressed up have diminished.

Preserving collections for posterity has not always been a priority in the fashion industry, which is focused heavily on the future (by the time that most brands spring clothes are released, they are already showing pieces for fall). I remember having a conversation with Valentino, Mr. Yokobosky recalled, referring to the Italian fashion designer who started his namesake label in 1960. He said, We werent thinking exhibition, we were trying to sell dresses.
Jonathan Nelson had lined up commitments for $2 million in new funding for his financial technology start-up, HF.Capital, from two investors last month. He was aiming for $2.5 million and thought securing the rest would be perfunctory.

Then 67 investors turned him down. In mid-March, his initial investors backed out, too.

Mr. Nelson was initially confused by the cold shoulder. But two days later, when Silicon Valley Bank, the most prominent bank for start-ups and venture capital firms, collapsed after tech investors and start-ups set off a bank run, it all made sense.

I was scratching my head, saying, Why did they just ghost? he said. Then the bank run happened, and I was like, Ah, theyre terrified.

The same realization is rippling through the start-up world in the wake of SVBs sudden failure. After a harrowing 2022, when the easy money for start-ups dried up, leading to slashed valuations, lowered ambitions and widespread layoffs, many hoped things would bounce back this year. But SVBs collapse has stoked even more anxiety and dread, which is beginning to manifest in start-up dealmaking throughout Silicon Valley.
Lets get this out of the way: The highlight of David Anzuelos new play, Dia y Noche, is a wild, riotously funny sex scene that brings Act 1 to, well, a climax. It involves a trio of teenagers, Martin, Danny and Edna, enacting an unconventional scenario punctuated by Edna yelling encouragements in a fake French accent as she writhes in ecstasy, looking feral and her eyes bulging.

Any show would have a hard time living up to this memorable sight, and unfortunately so does the LAByrinth Theater Company production Dia y Noche, which is currently at 59E59 Theaters in Manhattan. The play is ambitious and generous but also unwieldy  the overlong sum of individual moments that often feel rushed.

The show focuses on Danny (Freddy Acevedo) and Martin (Neil Tyrone Pritchard), who meet in their high school practice room in El Paso, Tex.  the first plays the guitar, the second the oboe. They form a bond that, despite Martins initial wishes, is not romantic but just as complex: an enduring friendship between oil-and-water boys.

We are in 1984, and Danny, who is from a lower-middle-class Chicano family, is cooler than cool  he likes Patti Smith and David Lynch, girls and theater. Martin, one of the few Black students at their school, is a shy, bumbling nerd who is more well-off. He is just coming out as gay and wants to major in computer science in college.
Gladys Kessler, a federal judge who in a historic ruling in 2006 found that the tobacco industry had violated civil racketeering laws for decades by repeatedly, and with enormous skill and sophistication deceiving the public about the health hazards of smoking, died on March 16 in Washington. She was 85.

The cause of death, in a hospital, was complications of pneumonia, her family said.

Judge Kessler  who also ruled on cases involving the force-feeding of a prisoner held in the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act  was appointed to Federal District Court by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

For more than a decade, Judge Kessler presided over United States v. Philip Morris, et al, which the Justice Department filed in 1999 against the major cigarette makers. After years of legal maneuvering and a nine-month trial, she issued a 1,653-page opinion in August 2006 that was significant for its stern judgments and its detailed history of industry efforts to mislead the public.

The defendants have marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal and with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted, she wrote.
PHARR, Texas  Inside a college classroom barely six miles from the United States border with Mexico, House Republicans this month orchestrated the made-for-TV moment they had traveled here for, getting a top immigration official to concede that the government has yet to stop migrants from crossing into the country without authorization.

No sir, Raul L. Ortiz, the U.S. Border Patrol chief, told G.O.P. members of the Homeland Security Committee when asked whether the government had operational control of the border.

The answer might seem obvious at a time when several tens of thousands of migrants are presenting themselves at the border each month, but to Republicans, who have made attacking the Biden administration on immigration a top priority  and impeaching Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, an ironclad vow  it was worth a 1,500-mile trip from Washington.

Republicans gloated about Mr. Ortizs statement, which was seemingly at odds with testimony Mr. Mayorkas gave to another congressional panel last year, and conservative media outlets played it on a loop. Though the government has long lacked a consistent definition of what makes the border secure, Representative Mark E. Green, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the panel, seized on the apparent discrepancy nonetheless, pledging on Fox News to interview every border sector chief to investigate whether or not Mayorkas lied.
SACRAMENTO  After being soaked by an onslaught of storms that have flooded towns, saturated fields and heaped the Sierra Nevada with a near-record snowpack, Californians are getting relief from a host of drought restrictions that were imposed last year during a historic dry spell.

Weve been waiting for this moment for some time, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, stepping out between atmospheric rivers to lift all but about 33 of the more than 80 emergency drought orders he issued since last spring.

But that doesnt mean California can stop thinking about conservation.

It would be nice to have a governor say the drought is over, he said, but climate change has complicated the question. Are we out of a drought? Mostly but not completely.

The past three years have been the driest in recorded history in California. Last spring, state water officials reported that Californias largest reservoirs were at half of their historical averages and that the snowpack was at just 14 percent of average. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the governments official drought-tracking service, more than 90 percent of the state was in severe or extreme drought.
WASHINGTON  President Biden on Monday signed an executive order restricting American government use of a class of powerful surveillance tools that have been abused by both autocracies and democracies around the world to spy on political dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.

The tools in question, known as commercial spyware, give governments the power to hack the mobile phones of private citizens, extracting data and tracking their movements. The global market for their use is booming, and some U.S. government agencies have studied or deployed the technology.

Commercial spyware, including Pegasus, made by the Israeli firm NSO Group, has also been used against American government officials overseas. On Monday, a senior administration official said that at least 50 U.S. government personnel in at least 10 countries had been hacked with spyware, a larger number than was previously known.

The executive order prohibits federal government departments and agencies from using commercial spyware that might be abused by foreign governments, could target Americans overseas or could pose security risks if installed on U.S. government networks. The order covers only spyware developed and sold by commercial entities, not tools built by American intelligence agencies.
Follow our live coverage of the 2023 Chicago mayoral runoff election.

CHICAGO  When Bobby L. Rush, the Black Panther turned congressman turned elder statesman of this citys South Side, stood last week to endorse Paul Vallas for mayor, the first question he confronted featured his own words.

How could a man who just two and a half years ago called Chicagos Fraternal Order of Police the most rabid, racist body of criminal lawlessness by police in the land stand behind Mr. Vallas, the candidate endorsed by that police union?

I have no patience for their leadership, whom I detest, Mr. Rush said, thronged by supporters with Mr. Vallas by his side. But, he added, I had my son killed by street violence. I cannot be antipolice.

In a city where organized labor remains a powerful symbolic and organizational force, two unions have loomed over the race for Chicago mayor, which ends with a fiercely contested runoff election on April 4: Chicagos Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police, which backs the more conservative Democrat in the race, Mr. Vallas, and the Chicago Teachers Union, which backs the Cook County commissioner Brandon Johnson, a C.T.U. member and former teacher.
On Monday, after a weekend free of fresh militia attacks and full of bad weather in eastern Syria that would have made targeting the insurgents more difficult, Biden administration officials said the military stood ready to respond to any new threats to U.S. personnel.

But they also seemed eager to move on, avoid escalating the back-and-forth strikes into a wider war with Iran and its proxies, and remain focused on the broader mission of helping root out the pockets of Islamic State fighters still carrying out guerrilla attacks in the region.

Were going to do what we need to do swiftly and boldly to protect our people and our facilities in Syria, John F. Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, told reporters on Monday. Were not going to be deterred from continuing to go after this network in Syria.

America still has more than 900 troops, and hundreds more contractors, in Syria, working with Kurdish fighters to make sure there is no resurgence of the Islamic State, which was ostensibly defeated in 2019 after five years of wreaking havoc across Iraq and Syria.

In the past year alone, Iranian-backed militias have launched dozens of attacks at or near bases where U.S. troops were present.
Mr. Trump remains the favorite to win his third Republican presidential nomination, according to polls. Mr. DeSantis, in those same surveys, is Mr. Trumps chief potential rival for the nomination.

The two men have increasingly jabbed at each other as they aim to win over Republican voters.

Last week, Mr. DeSantis jabbed at Mr. Trump in an interview with Piers Morgan that aired on Fox News in which he raised questions about the former presidents character, described Mr. Trumps attacks on him as background noise and drew distinctions between their leadership styles.

No daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board, Mr. DeSantis said of his own approach.

Mr. Trump responded on Saturday in Waco, Texas, at the first major rally of his 2024 presidential campaign, telling the crowd that Mr. DeSantis had begged him with tears in his eyes for an endorsement during the 2018 governors race in Florida.

I did rallies for Ron, massive rallies, and they were very successful, Mr. Trump said, adding: Two years later, the fake news is up there saying, Will you run? And he says, I have no comment. I say, Thats not supposed to happen.
Pinned

A Manhattan grand jury indicted Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nations first former president to face criminal charges.

On Thursday evening, after news of the charges had been widely reported, the district attorneys office confirmed that Mr. Trump had been indicted and that prosecutors had contacted Mr. Trumps attorney to coordinate his surrender to authorities in Manhattan.

Mr. Trump is likely to turn himself in on Tuesday, at which point the former president will be photographed and fingerprinted in the bowels of a New York State courthouse, with Secret Service agents in tow. He will then be arraigned, at which point the specific charges will be unsealed. Mr. Trump faces more than two dozen counts, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Trump has for decades avoided criminal charges despite persistent scrutiny and repeated investigations, creating an aura of legal invincibility that the indictment now threatens to puncture.

But unlike the investigations that arose from his time in the White House  which examined his strong-arm tactics on the international stage, his attempts to overturn the election and his summoning of a mob to the steps of the U.S. Capitol  this case is built around a tawdry episode that predates Mr. Trumps presidency. The reality star turned presidential candidate who shocked the political establishment by winning the White House now faces a reckoning for a hush-money payment that buried a sex scandal in the final days of the 2016 campaign.

In a statement, Mr. Trump lashed out at the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, a Democrat, and portrayed the case as the continuation of a politically motivated witch hunt against him.

This is political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history, Mr. Trump said in the statement, calling Mr. Bragg a disgrace and casting himself as a completely innocent person.

Image The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has been the target of Mr. Trumps venomous attacks. Credit... Anna Watts for The New York Times

Mr. Trump, who has consistently denied all wrongdoing, has already called on his followers to protest his arrest, in language reminiscent of his social media posts in the weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters. He has also denied any affair with the porn star, Stormy Daniels, who had been looking to sell her story of a tryst with Mr. Trump during the 2016 campaign.

President Trump did not commit any crime, Mr. Trumps lawyers, Susan R. Necheles and Joseph Tacopina, said in a statement. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.

The first sign that an indictment was imminent on Thursday came just before 2 in the afternoon, when the three lead prosecutors on the Trump investigation walked into the Lower Manhattan building where the grand jury was sitting. One of them carried a copy of the penal law, which was most likely used to read the criminal statutes to the grand jurors before they voted.

Image The team prosecuting Mr. Trump was led by Matthew Colangelo, center, and Susan Hoffinger, center left, as well as Chris Conroy. Credit... Dave Sanders for The New York Times

Nearly three hours later, the prosecutors walked into the court clerks office through a back door to begin the official process of filing the indictment, arriving about two minutes before the office closed for the day.

For weeks, the atmosphere outside the district attorneys office had resembled a circus, with television trucks and protesters surrounding the building. But the fervor had cooled by Thursday, and the outskirts of the office were emptier than they had been in weeks.

Mr. Bragg is the first prosecutor to indict Mr. Trump, but he might not be the last. Mr. Trumps actions surrounding his electoral defeat are now the focus of a separate federal investigation, and a Georgia prosecutor is in the final stages of an investigation into Mr. Trumps attempts to reverse the election results in that state.

But the Manhattan indictment, the product of a nearly five-year investigation, kicks off a volatile new phase in Mr. Trumps post-presidential life as he makes a third run for the White House. And it will throw the race for the Republican nomination  which he is leading in most polls  into uncharted territory.

Under normal circumstances, an indictment would deal a fatal blow to a presidential candidacy. But Mr. Trump is not a normal candidate. He has already said that he would not abandon the race if he were charged, and the case might even help him in the short term as he paints himself as a political martyr.

The indictment also raises the prospect of an explosive backlash from Mr. Trump, who often uses his legal woes to stoke the rage of die-hard supporters. Already, the former president has used bigoted language to attack Mr. Bragg, the first Black man to lead the district attorneys office, calling him a racist, an animal and a radical left prosecutor.

Image Mary Kelley, a supporter of Mr. Trump, on the bridge outside of Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thursday. Credit... Josh Ritchie for The New York Times

In the past, Mr. Trump has lashed out when feeling cornered, encouraging the violent attack on the Capitol as he contested the results of the 2020 presidential election. That assault on the seat of government demonstrated that Mr. Trumps most zealous followers were willing to resort to violence on his behalf as he sought to overturn the election results.

While the specific charges in the Manhattan case against the former president remain unknown, Mr. Braggs case centers on a $130,000 hush-money payment to Ms. Daniels.

Mr. Trumps longtime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, made the payment in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump later reimbursed him, signing monthly checks while serving as president.

Mr. Braggs prosecutors appear to have zeroed in on the way Mr. Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, handled the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen. In internal documents, Trump Organization employees falsely recorded the repayments as legal expenses, and the company invented a bogus retainer agreement with Mr. Cohen to justify them.

Mr. Cohen, who broke with Mr. Trump in 2018 and later testified before Congress as well as the grand jury that indicted Mr. Trump, has said that the former president knew about the phony legal expenses and retainer agreement.

In New York, it can be a crime to falsify business records, and Mr. Braggs office is likely to build the case around that charge, according to people with knowledge of the matter and outside legal experts.

But to charge falsifying business records as a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, Mr. Braggs prosecutors must show that Mr. Trumps intent to defraud included an effort to commit or conceal a second crime.

That second crime could be a violation of election law. Mr. Braggs prosecutors might argue that the payment to Ms. Daniels represented an illicit contribution to Mr. Trumps campaign: The money silenced Ms. Daniels, aiding his candidacy at a crucial time.

Campaign finance violations may seem like small potatoes next to possible charges for his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, but they also go to the heart of the integrity of the electoral process, said Jerry H. Goldfeder, a special counsel at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP and a recognized expert in New York state election law.

If Mr. Trump were ultimately convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of four years, though prison time would not be mandatory.

Yet a conviction is not a sure thing, and Mr. Braggs case might apply a legal theory that has yet to be evaluated by judges. A New York Times review of relevant cases and interviews with election law experts strongly suggest that New York State prosecutors have never before filed an election law case involving a federal campaign.

An untested case against any defendant, let alone a former president of the United States, carries the risk that a court could throw out or limit the charges.

Mr. Trump will not be the first person charged over the hush-money payment. In 2018, Mr. Cohen was federally prosecuted for the payment and pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations.

Image Michael D. Cohen, right, Mr. Trumps former fixer, will be a crucial witness against him. Credit... Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times

Mr. Cohen is likely to become Mr. Braggs star witness at trial. While his past crimes will make him a target for Mr. Trumps lawyers  who can be expected to attack the former fixers credibility at every turn  prosecutors will be likely to counter that Mr. Cohen lied on behalf of Mr. Trump, and that his story has been consistent for years.

In a statement, Mr. Cohen said he took solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former president.

His lawyer, Lanny J. Davis, said that Michael Cohen made the brave decision to speak truth to power and accept the consequences, and that he has done so ever since.

Mr. Cohen will not be the prosecutions only witness: David Pecker, a longtime ally of Mr. Trump and the former publisher of The National Enquirer, testified before the grand jury twice this year. He is likely to be able to corroborate important aspects of Mr. Cohens story, including that Mr. Trump wanted to bury embarrassing stories to protect his presidential campaign, not just his family, as his lawyers contend.

Soon after Mr. Trump began his campaign in 2015, he hosted Mr. Pecker for a meeting at Trump Tower, during which the publisher agreed to look out for stories that might damage Mr. Trumps candidacy.

One such story arose in the summer of 2016, when Karen McDougal, Playboys playmate of the year in 1998, said that she had had an affair with Mr. Trump. She reached a $150,000 agreement with the tabloid, which bought the rights to her story to suppress it, a practice known as catch and kill.

When Ms. Daniels tried to secure a similar arrangement, Mr. Pecker didnt take the deal. But he and the tabloids former top editor helped broker Mr. Cohens payment to Ms. Daniels.

Despite the potential legal obstacles, and questions about Mr. Cohens credibility, if the case does go to trial, the salacious details could sink Mr. Trump. While white-collar prosecutions are often dry and procedural, this one will likely have some built-in jury appeal: a defendant charged with a seedy crime in a city where he is loathed by many.

Any trial is months away. It will take time for Mr. Trumps lawyers to argue that the case should be thrown out. That timeline raises the extraordinary possibility of a trial unfolding in the thick of the 2024 presidential campaign.

The case would come before a jury more than five years after Mr. Cohens federal guilty plea prompted the district attorneys office to open an investigation into Mr. Trumps role in the hush-money saga. The inquiry began under Mr. Braggs predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who did not seek re-election.

Over the years, the investigation expanded to include whether Mr. Trump had lied about his net worth on annual financial statements. Although Mr. Vances prosecutors were marching toward an indictment of Mr. Trump for inflating his net worth, soon after Mr. Bragg took office, he developed concerns about proving the case.

But he continued to scrutinize Mr. Trump. And in January, a few months after his prosecutors began revisiting the potential hush-money case, Mr. Bragg impaneled the grand jury that has now indicted Mr. Trump.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in a First Amendment challenge to an unusual federal law that makes it a crime to encourage unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States.

Read literally, several justices suggested, the law would chill constitutionally protected speech.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked about a grandmother living in the United States without authorization. The grandmother tells her son shes worried about the burden shes putting on the family, the justice said. And the son says: Abuelita, you are never a burden to us. If you want to continue living here with us, your grandchildren love having you.

Justice Sotomayor asked whether the government could prosecute the son.

Brian H. Fletcher, a lawyer for the federal government defending the law, did not give a definitive answer. I think not, he said.

That frustrated Justice Sotomayor. Stop qualifying with think, because the minute you start qualifying with think, then youre rendering asunder the First Amendment, she said. People have to know what they can talk about.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether a disability rights activist may sue hotels for violating a federal disability law, despite having no intention of staying at the properties.

The activist, Deborah Laufer, combed through websites looking for violations of regulations under the law, the Americans With Disabilities Act, that require hotels to disclose information about their accessibility. According to court papers, Ms. Laufer, who lives in Florida, has filed more than 600 lawsuits across the nation over such infractions, typically seeking a declaration that the hotel had broken the law, an injunction ordering it to comply  and legal fees.

Among the companies she sued was Acheson Hotels, which operates the Coast Village Inn and Cottages in Wells, a small town on the southern coast of Maine. She said its website did not identify accessible rooms, provide an option for booking an accessible room or supply enough information to determine whether the rooms and features of the inn were accessible to her. (Ms. Laufer uses a wheelchair, and has impaired vision and limited use of her hands.)

The hotel moved to dismiss the case, saying that Ms. Laufer had not suffered the sort of direct and concrete injury that gave her standing to sue because she had no intention of visiting. The trial judge agreed.
Most assailants in mass shootings in the United States are male, according to the Violence Project, which maintains a national database of mass shootings dating to 1966.

In a data set of 172 public mass shootings, which the group defines as involving four or more victims killed, only four assailants were women or girls. In two cases, women acted alongside a man.

None of the shootings at K-12 schools in the nonprofits database involved a female shooter.

There was confusion about the gender identity of the assailant in Nashville. Kristin Mumford, a police spokeswoman, said the suspect was born female but listed male pronouns on a LinkedIn profile, which suggested that the suspect was a transgender man. That profile had been active in recent months, reacting to two posts about other peoples career updates.
A fire that broke out at a building complex in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday damaged a factory founded by Wilbur and Orville Wright, the brothers who were the first people to successfully fly an airplane.

The fire throws into doubt the future of the factory, where the brothers built planes starting in the 1910s. It became part of the National Park Services group of aviation-related sites in Dayton in 2009.

The factory is a monument not just to the brothers and their consequential invention, but also to the role of leading industrialists of the day in giving birth to the age of commercial aviation. The factory was built shortly after Wilbur Wright visited New York in 1909 and got buttonholed by the Vanderbilts, the Colliers, J.P. Morgan, folks like that, said Dean Alexander, who was the park service superintendent in Dayton when the site was added. The first thing they paid for was building that factory, Mr. Alexander said.

The Dayton Fire Department said that it is investigating the cause of the fire, which started at 2:28 a.m. Sunday and damaged the roof and interior of buildings in the complex. No one was injured, the department said.
In the neon lights of a recording studio, with skateboarders doing tricks a few feet away, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared alongside musicians in the West African nation of Ghana and pledged to set the American relationship with Africa on a new path, focused on collaboration rather than crises.

Ms. Harriss weeklong African tour, which got underway on Monday in Ghanas capital, Accra, is part of an effort to flip the script and demonstrate that the United States views African nations not as problems to be solved or pawns in a superpower contest with China and Russia, but as hubs of opportunity and creativity.

African ingenuity and innovation, I am certain, will shape the future of the world, she said at a news briefing earlier in the day.

Ms. Harris is the highest-ranking in a recent parade of officials from the Biden administration to visit the continent. She met with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, commending him for his democratic principles. Ms. Harris will later fly to Tanzania and Zambia, which she visited as a child more than 50 years ago to visit her Indian grandfather, who was stationed there as a public servant.
Paul Rusesabagina, the human rights activist, left Rwanda on Monday, more than 900 days after he was duped into re-entering the country, charged with terrorism and sentenced to 25 years in prison before being released after monthslong negotiations brokered by the United States.

Mr. Rusesabagina, 68, whose heroism during the Rwandan genocide was portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie Hotel Rwanda, flew out of the capital, Kigali, bound for the Qatari capital, Doha. He had arrived at the official Qatari residence in Kigali late Friday evening and stayed there for two days before departing.

I can confirm that Paul Rusesabagina has left Rwanda and is currently in Doha, John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said at a news conference on Monday. He will soon be making his way back to the United States.

The case had attracted sweeping global condemnation and strained the central African nations relationship with the United States. The release came more than two and a half years after the arrest of Mr. Rusesabagina, a former hotelier who was lauded for saving 1,268 people during the 1994 genocide, in which as many as one million people were killed during bloodshed that lasted 100 days.
TAIPEI, Taiwan  Taiwans former president, Ma Ying-jeou, landed in China on Monday in the first visit to the country by any sitting or former Taiwanese leader since Chinas civil war ended with the Nationalist government retreating to the island from the mainland in 1949.

Though the 12-day visit by Mr. Ma, who was president from 2008 to 2016, is unofficial, it is likely to be watched closely at home and abroad for clues on how Beijing might seek to influence Taiwan, its democratic neighbor, ahead of a presidential election in January. The timing of Mr. Mas trip is also noteworthy because he departed just days before Taiwans current leader, President Tsai Ing-wen, visits the United States, a trip that has been met with objections by China, which claims Taiwan as its territory.

The contrasting destinations highlight what each politicians party sees as its advantage. Ms. Tsai, of the Democratic Progressive Party, has strengthened U.S.-Taiwan ties during her eight years in office, while the Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, to which Mr. Ma belongs, bills itself as better able to deal with Beijing.
President Biden plans to visit Northern Ireland next month to mark the 25th anniversary of a landmark peace agreement there. But his trip is stirring concern in diplomatic circles because Mr. Biden will not meet King Charles III, which British and American officials said could be interpreted as a snub, given that he also plans to skip the kings coronation.

The White House has yet to confirm Mr. Bidens trip to commemorate the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. British and American diplomats with knowledge of the planning said Mr. Biden is scheduled to arrive in Belfast, the capital, on April 11, a week before the king and other leaders are scheduled to gather in the city.

Mr. Biden will spend a day and a half in Belfast, the officials said, before traveling to the Republic of Ireland for three days to explore his ancestral roots. He will be back in the United States before Charles, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other leaders, including former President Bill Clinton, are expected to gather in Belfast for a formal ceremony to mark the anniversary.

The presidents heavy emphasis on Ireland, plus the lack of a stop in London or a meeting with the king, has raised concerns among diplomats on both sides about the signal it sends one of Americas closest allies. While Charles remains above politics, he is the head of state, and his coronation is expected to draw a parade of world leaders.
Russian troops crossed the border in the pre-dawn and Russian special forces swooped into the Hostomel airport, the base for the Mriya, with a helicopter assault. In the ensuing battles over the airport, located just outside Kyiv, the plane was sprayed with shrapnel and caught fire.

Last week, alongside the companys announcement of progress on restoring the craft, police announced the arrest of several former executives of the Antonov company on suspicion of obstructing the work of the military in securing the Hostomel airport in the days before the invasion.

In a statement, prosecutors said the company had not allowed the Ukrainian National Guard to build defensive positions at the airport, for reasons that remain unclear, leading to the destruction of the Mriya. Mr. Vlasyk, the deputy director, said he could not comment on the investigation.

The airplane, of course, is not at the top of Ukraines long list of priorities for rebuilding after a year of the most destructive war in Europe since World War II. Hardly a city is left untouched by missile or artillery strikes, and millions of Ukrainians are displaced or living in towns without running water or electricity.
The United Nations chief nuclear energy official met on Monday with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss what he describes as increasingly dire fears about a battle-scarred nuclear plant on the front line of the war, ahead of his first visit to the plant in almost seven months.

The official, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Mr. Zelensky in the battered Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, about 35 miles northeast of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which invading Russian forces have held for more than a year.

The plant, on the Dnipro River, is the first in the world to be engulfed by a war zone, raising fears of a catastrophic release of radiation. Shelling and shooting have repeatedly damaged the plant and temporarily knocked out vital supporting equipment. And reports that Ukraine is planning a major counteroffensive to retake southern territory that includes the plant have heightened fears of a disastrous strike, whether accidental or intentional.

Mr. Grossi has issued a series of warnings about security at the Zaporizhzhia plant, denouncing international complacency and saying that one day luck will run out. The nuclear safety and security dangers are all too obvious, as is the necessity to act now to prevent an accident with potential radiological consequences to the health and the environment for people in Ukraine and beyond, he said in a statement this weekend.
To its critics, the Supreme Court is seen as the last bastion of the secular, centrist elite descended from European Jewry who dominated the state during its earliest decades. Religious Jews, particularly the ultra-Orthodox, perceive the court as an obstacle to their way of life.

The court has often opposed certain privileges and financial subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox. In particular, the court rejected a special dispensation that allowed ultra-Orthodox Jews an exemption from military service in favor of religious study, infuriating religious leaders. Right-wing Israelis who want to entrench Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank also see the court as an antagonist.

Who is protesting?

The opposition has mainly been driven by secular centrists who fear the overhaul will threaten their freedoms and way of life. But there is also a growing resistance and desire for dialogue and compromise from parts of the religious right who say the government has pushed too far and too fast.

Israels largest trade union, which had previously tried to stay out of the fray, called a general strike on Monday.

The heads of Israels leading universities collectively agreed to suspend all teaching on their campuses.

But perhaps the most consequential opposition to the process came from reservists, who play a significant role in Israels military capacity.
JERUSALEM  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he was delaying his governments campaign to exert greater control over the judiciary, backing off in the face of furious public protest that has plunged Israel into one of the deepest crises of its history.

In recent weeks, Mr. Netanyahu had been unyielding in his pursuit of the court overhaul, even as protests drawing hundreds of thousands have erupted across the country. On Sunday, he fired his defense minister for even suggesting that the plan be delayed.

But on Monday, with civil unrest at new heights, with work stoppages hitting hospitals, airports and schools, and with dissent growing in the military, he relented  if only for the moment.

When there is a possibility of preventing a civil war through dialogue, I, as the prime minister, take a timeout for dialogue, Mr. Netanyahu said in a speech announcing the postponement.
He was barred as a teenager from serving in the Israeli Army because he was considered too extremist. He admires a hard-line rabbi who wanted to strip Arab Israelis of their citizenship. Until recently, he hung a portrait in his home of Baruch Goldstein, who shot dead 29 Palestinians in a West Bank mosque in 1994.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a rising far-right lawmaker, had long occupied the fringes of Israeli politics and been widely vilified for his extreme views. But last year he became a major player in Benjamin Netanyahus bid to regain power and his party, Jewish Power, a key part of Mr. Netanyahus governing coalition.

On Monday, Mr. Ben-Gvirs influence was underscored by his initial opposition to  and then grudging blessing of  Mr. Netanyahus decision to delay, at least temporarily, the divisive judicial overhaul that had led to widespread protests.

While right-wing dominance of Israeli politics is not new, Mr. Ben-Gvirs rise illustrates how Mr. Netanyahus camp has become more extreme and religious.
Kevin: Yeah, its crazy out there  I feel like Ive got vertigo. Theres a natural inclination to be skeptical of tech trends. Wasnt crypto supposed to change everything? Werent we all just talking about the metaverse? But it feels different with A.I., in part because millions of users are already experiencing the benefits. Ive interviewed teachers, filmmakers and engineers who are using tools like ChatGPT every day. And it came out only four months ago!

Adam: How do you balance the excitement out there with caution about where this could go?

Cade: A.I. is not as powerful as it might seem. If you take a step back, you realize that these systems cant duplicate our common sense or reasoning in full. Remember the hype around self-driving cars: Were those cars impressive? Yes, remarkably so. Were they ready to replace human drivers? Not by a long shot.

Kevin: I suspect that tools like ChatGPT are actually more powerful than they seem. We havent yet discovered everything they can do. And, at the risk of getting too existential, Im not sure these models work so differently than our brains. Isnt a lot of human reasoning just recognizing patterns and predicting what comes next?

Cade: These systems mimic humans in some ways but not in others. They exhibit what we can rightly call intelligence. But as OpenAIs chief executive told me, this is an alien intelligence. So, yes, they will do things that surprise us. But they can also fool us into thinking they are more like us than they really are. They are both powerful and flawed.

Kevin: Sounds like some humans I know!
North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Thursday in its first missile test in more than two weeks, the South Korean military said.

The missile, which appeared to be intermediate or long range, was launched from near Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and flew 621 miles before falling in waters between North Korea and Japan, the South Korean military said.

As the missile hurtled to the east, Japan issued an alarm in its northern island of Hokkaido, urging residents to seek shelter. Japan later retracted the evacuation order, saying that the missile did not fly over Japan. The confusion highlighted the growing uneasiness among Japanese over the Norths frequent missile tests.

North Korea last launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile in October. The missile flew over northern Japan, triggering alarms and prompting people there to seek cover. North Korea has since launched several powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Photo illustration by Braulio Amado Talk Can the U.S. See the Truth About China?

Just like relationships between people, relationships between countries can all too easily be built on a foundation of unintentional misunderstandings, faulty assumptions and predigested truths. In her forthcoming, at times provocative and disquieting book, The New China Playbook, Keyu Jin, a professor at the London School of Economics and a board member at Credit Suisse, is trying to rework the foundation of what she sees as the Wests deeply flawed understanding of Chinas economy, its economic ambitions and its attitude toward global competition. And through that work, Jin wants to help improve the frosty relationship between the country and its presumed geo-political opponents. Were in an incredibly dangerous world right now, says Jin, who was born in Beijing and earned her Ph.D. in economics from Harvard and whose father, Jin Liqun, served as a vice minister of finance for China. Without more effort made to understand each others perspectives, peaceful coexistence may not be possible. (Jin joined the Credit Suisse board in 2022, not long after the bank was shaken by a series of scandals and losses. After this interview was conducted, the bank was sold to UBS, another Swiss bank. Through a spokes-person, Jin declined to comment on Credit Suisses situation.)

What do U.S. policymakers just not get about Chinas economy and the Communist Party leaderships thinking about competition with America? Chinas current economic challenge is to overcome its middle-income trap, something that the United States might not relate to. Its not all about displacing the United States as global hegemon, which would come with a huge amount of burdens and responsibilities. And I dont think China is ready or willing to do that. To see China solely as trying to displace the United States is only going to stoke more fears. The United States can come up with better policies regarding real national-security concerns, but the government is doing things that to us are so un-American, like reducing the number of visas issued or curbing investment in China and Chinese investment in America. That doesnt seem to be the spirit of collaboration. But understanding where China is coming from would be a step forward.

Keyu Jin at a conference in Munich in 2018. Gandalf Hammerbacher/Picture-Alliance

Do you see large-scale Chinese industrial espionage as inhibiting that understanding? There are thorny issues between the two countries, and the more they trade, the more issues there are. But we want to see China as dynamic. It has changed a great deal. China liked to take the shortcuts in the beginning. It wanted to become an innovator, and it wanted to become great. But there was not a complete legal framework or rules and laws in place. China changed so it could join the World Trade Organization. Interestingly enough, these so-called technology transfers, or the misappropriation you mentioned  lots of industry studies show that they dont work as effectively as they were supposed to. Instead, for example, in the electric-vehicle sector, where everybody started from the same place, China was able to leapfrog. Lots of companies say that even at the risk of technological misappropriation, China is too lucrative a market to pass over. They would rather take the risk.

It seems pretty apparent that President Xi Jinping is moving away from the United States and the European Union and toward other countries with politically similar systems, like Russia or Iran. But those countries are unlikely to be economic partners for China on the level of the U.S. or the E.U. What are the implications of that shift for Chinas longer-term economic growth? China has a slightly different world vision from the U.S. and maybe from Europe, which is coexistence of different political systems, different economic systems, a multipolar world  I think thats one of Chinas global agendas. Of course, intereconomically, there is much more trade. China still upholds this view of globalization, but geopolitics is making this increasingly difficult. So I would argue that at the same time it seeks this multipolar balance, it is slightly pushed to become closer to some of these countries that you mentioned.

But whats pushing China toward more closely aligning with Russia if not political affinity? To be very frank, its hard to say, Lets hold hands with Europe and the United States, after the increasing tension, the export controls, the view that somehow the United States wants to limit Chinas development and advancement in technology innovation. People believe that there was demonization of China early in the pandemic; there was aggressive rhetoric during Donald Trumps presidency. Its more difficult after that happens to say, OK, lets work on things like Russia and Ukraine. Russia  and Im not an expert on these issues  presents some security concerns for China. The Chinese people believe that a substantially weakened Russia might not be in the interest of China, because if there were the sense that the United States needed to seek out an opponent, China would be next. Not an easy answer there.

But to be honest, one of the things that I found most interesting  or perplexing  about your book was what felt like an elision of moral questions about how China operates. For example, you say theres room for a vibrant debate on Chinese social media. But China is consistently ranked near the bottom when it comes to media freedom. Or you write that the Chinese people are generally willing to trade security for freedom. Were the Uyghurs willing to make that trade? The book also doesnt mention the human rights questions raised by the hukou system and the way it treats rural residents. Im trying to understand your perspective on these issues, because to me they seem connected to economics. I appreciate these questions. One reason its probably not thoroughly addressed is because my book is about economics and political economy. I wanted to touch upon points where there were surveys and data. These other subjects require more expertise and more thorough research, which I havent done. For sure, theres much more control over media than in the past. I was pointing out in the book, though, that social media is used for two-way monitoring. There was a lot of criticism about government; there were protests last year over land seizures. These were not hidden. But the Chinese government does exhibit a great deal of paternalism. Officials think that a public narrative that is uncontrolled can lead to instability or more divisiveness. Im not saying that the people prefer it that way, but when theyre asked about a trade-off between security and freedom, surveys show a vast difference from, say, the average U.S. citizen. Then you touched upon the huge issues of the migrant workers, the minorities in China. There are hundreds of millions people who could be in a better position, but things are changing. These are enduring challenges. On the one hand, yes, theres more control, less liberty. On the other hand, there is an improving situation for people with more dire situations.

Jin (second from right) at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 2020. Greg Beadle/World Economic Forum

The treatment of the Uyghurs doesnt quite fit the framework of an improving situation. David, I understand. This particular subject is something where I have so little information and I dont know whats going on and theres so many different accounts. I prefer not to comment on this and be irresponsible. But it is open for visits now. I think people should go take a look, then make a judgment on their own. Its a complex situation. There are improvements, there are deteriorations, and we have to recognize that.

Do you feel inhibited in your ability to be critical of China? Im an economist at the end of the day, and the way Im trained, we like to say, OK, where is the evidence? Thats how I like to focus my analysis. Where there are policy mistakes, Id be more than happy to share my views. There are more courageous people and more experts who can do that. What Im trying to accomplish is using a different lens to focus on economic issues.

You mentioned the trade-offs that people are willing to make within different political systems, which you also write about in the book: Despite the limits China imposes on free-market forces, the absence of a free press, independent judicial system and the individual right to vote, we see there are other mechanisms in place to respond to the needs of its citizens and to address the threats posed by inequality. That despite is doing a lot of work. It reminds me of that line, Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln? I was trying to say that those are all things that we believe to be essential for sustained economic growth. I was saying that despite all that, China still performed well. I wasnt necessarily suggesting that the things you mentioned werent important. I was more framing it as the puzzle of Chinas economic growth. I was trying to say that those are all things that we believe to be essential for sustained economic growth. I was saying that despite all that, China still performed well. But I will say that the model that worked for China when it was building factories is not going to be the system that would work for innovation, where you need people to be able to get rich, where you need solid intellectual-property protection, where you have to have clear and transparent policies and rule of law. That worked in the last era. Doesnt necessarily work in the new era.

Lets turn the lens of your book around: What are the biggest blind spots the Chinese leadership has when it comes to understanding American policies toward the country? I think the Chinese leaders have this notion that the United States is doing everything it can to try to stop China from growing. Or they believe that whatever China does is not going to elicit more trust. So I think this blind spot is that the leadership is convinced that theres no way out of this. Im not sure that is the case. And then also, the United States thinks that China wants to displace it.

Doesnt it? No. China thinks that its economy should be the largest in the world, not because its rich but because its large: 1.4 billion people! But thats very different from overtaking the United States in terms of innovative power and military power and real economic power. I dont think anybody believes that is a realistic goal for China. Again, we have very different understandings of how we see each other.

What specific things, besides stopping industrial espionage, could China do to increase trust? Giving American companies, financial institutions, more opportunities to make money, opening up its various sectors more aggressively  that will allow more dialogue, more cooperation. Thats one thing. Second, its understandable for the United States to push back on some of the industrial espionage. But Chinas best technologies, the ones that are really successful right now, artificial intelligence or batteries or its payment system  all of that is based on domestic competition. The industrial espionage stems from a lack of appreciation from the start of intellectual property, and the United States, by pushing China to do more intellectual-property protection, is actually good for China. I think its on a substantial downward trend, this misappropriation of technologies, because its actually not good for Chinas own goals.

The next question is more of an epistemological one. The animating idea of your book is that people see the same situation from different perspectives. So when you hear my skepticism about things like Chinese labor policy or media freedom being treated benignly, do you hear it as my being stuck in a particular ideological paradigm? Or maybe that my thinking is itself an example of the misunderstandings that the book is trying to address? I totally understand, because the first time I came to the United States in 1997, my classmates were asking me about human rights in Tibet. In China, meanwhile, we were busy building and developing and reforming. The focal points have been different. Thats not to say that the economic means justify the unfortunate circumstances. But China is a country that has done the most economically for the most number of people in the shortest amount of time. If you look at the new generation, they are open-minded on a whole range of issues, so much more than their parents. They care about animal rights, worker rights, social inequity. That shift gives us hope that China will progress.

Opening illustration: Source photograph from Keyu Jin.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity from two conversations.

David Marchese is a staff writer for the magazine and writes the Talk column. He recently interviewed Emma Chamberlain about leaving YouTube, Walter Mosley about a dumber America and Cal Newport about a new way to work.
A patchwork of more than 1,000 miles of old and new levees is pockmarked with gaps. Where levees are intact, there is still a danger that more gashes will open. Many levees are reinforced mounds of silt and sand, while some are made of man-made material.
A Japanese civil servant in Osaka was recently forced to return 1.44 million yen ($11,000) of his salary after being found guilty of smoking during work hours more than 4,500 times in 14 years.

When people say smoking is an expensive vice, they are generally referring to the cost of cigarretes, but in cities like Osaka, smokers risk having important sums of money deducted from their salaries if caught smoking on the job. A director-level civil servant recently found this out the hard way after being hit with a fine of approximately $11,000 for thousands of cigarettes smoked during work hours for 14 years. The 61-year-old employee who was found to have smoked a total of 4,512 times in the past 14 and a half years while he was at work, the equivalent of 355 hours and 19 minutes spent not doing his job.

Photo: GRAS GRUN/Unsplash

The offender and two other colleagues from the Osaka Prefectural Government were originally investigated for smoking on the job in September of 2022, after their human resource office received anonymous complaints about their smoking habits. However, they did not heed warnings from their supervisors and lied about smoking in an interview.

The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported that the civil servant was found to be in violation of duty of devotion under the Local Public Service Act, and forced to return 1.44 million yen of his salary, in addition to a six-month 10 percent wage reduction penalty. A thorough investigation found that he had smoked a total of 4,512 times at work during the last 14 and a half years.

Osaka has some of the strictest smoking laws in the world. A ban on government premises such as offices and public schools was introduced over 2 decades ago, and government employees were banned from smoking during work hours in 2019.

Photo: geralt/Pixabay

Peoples reactions to the penalty have been generally sympathetic. Some argued that having to go off-site for a smoke would have meant wasting even more time, while others said that one can waste time at work by drinking tea, eating snacks or just chatting, but those are not punishable offenses, so neither should be smoking tobacco.

A similar case was reported in 2019, when a teacher was ordered to pay back one million yen in salary earnings after having been found guilty of taking around 3,400 illicit smoke breaks during work hours.
Kevin P. McVicker

Recently, Axios fired Ben Montgomery, a Florida-based journalist. His offense? He responded to an emailed press release from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Department of Education Press Office touting an event titled Exposing Diversity Education Scam in Higher Education with an email saying, This is propaganda, not a press release.

DeSantiss communications director tweeted a screenshot of the email.

Montgomery essentially called DeSantis a liar. Propaganda is, perhaps, the most loaded term to describe the dissemination of government information. Over the centuries propaganda has meant information that has strong emotional appeals to action with little supporting evidence. Mr. Montgomerys characterization was flip and unnecessary.

Critical Race Theory is one of the most controversial issues in the country. Any journalist who felt the governors office was trafficking in propaganda could have covered the event and asked questions.

The New York Post reported that Montgomery said that the email wasted his time and lacked context. He also said his daughters told him they were proud of him and thats all he needs.

This incident raises an issue that is becoming more common, of which there is little public discussion. Public relations professionals, especially those who advocate for conservative causes, receive reflexively dismissive messages, and occasionally profane responses.

Unfortunately, this behavior has become more common and even tolerated. Axios made the right call terminating Montgomery.

When journalists react with this sort of snap judgment regarding political pitches, it sends a signal that that outlet will not even pretend to give public relations professionals issue fair coverage. If one journalist expresses this opinion publicly, do other reporters? Do their editors?

Publicists have long known that journalists engage in newsroom chatter about pitches they receive. However, it used to stay in the newsroom.

If Mr. Montgomery, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, felt the information wasted his time, he had several options. He could have replied that he was unable to cover the event. Or he could have simply deleted the email.

His belief that the email lacked context is a cop-out. The media advisory promoted a roundtable with Gov. DeSantis on Critical Race Theory. Its goal was to get media to attend the event without giving the most newsworthy information. That would be released at the event.

The fact that his daughter approved is a self-serving justification. We all want our children to be proud of our professional actions, however, that hardly justifies reversing the time-honored norm of the exchange of information between publicists that results in news for an informed public.

The journalism website Poynter.org had a different take. Their story on the controversy suggests that only a minimum punishment was appropriate. The story also contends that media outlets should stand up for their journalists.

In this case, the journalist damaged his credibility and that of his employer. Communications professionals seek to build relationships with media outlets. When they are confronted with hostility and disdain, their ability to gain news coverage is hampered.

When the public learns of these exchanges, it confirms what many people believe is outright hostility toward conservative leaders and their issues. In addition, many journalists have become bolder about sharing their views on social media.

Poynter tried to give cover to Montgomery by saying Whats disturbing, in part, is that DeSantis has waged a battle against the media in Florida and as soon as one of its reporters gets into a mild dustup with the governors office, Axios fires him?

The writer tries to implicate Gov. DeSantis because he dares to spar with the press. It is a fact of history that no politician is ever completely satisfied with the news coverage he or she receives. They think they should receive more credit for their good deed and less blame for their missteps.

In fact there is an often necessary tension between officeholders and the press. However, it does not need to devolve into insults and jeering taunts. Journalists need to keep their personal views from sullying their credibility. Public relations professionals need to make certain their pitches meet standards of relevance and newsworthiness. And they must be prepared to call attention to abusive practices by the media.

***

Kevin P. McVicker is a partner in the public relations firm, Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs
ICR is named consumer public relations agency of record for Burger King U.S. The agency s scope of work will include strategic management and execution of consumer lifestyle media relations, partnerships and special events. Brand partnership marketing agency Conill will be working alongside ICR as culture and brand partnerships agency of record for Burger King U.S., with a focus on establishing stronger bonds with a diverse consumer base through a range of touchpoints, along with culturally relevant campaigns and partnerships. After a year of high-profile growth and change for Burger King in the U.S., we are excited to have ICR and Conill join our integrated agency team and for their expertise as we collectively champion our Guests and continue on our mission to Reclaim the Flame, said Burger King North America president Tom Curtis.

Montieth & Company is selected as agency of record by Personetics, which specializes in financial data-driven customer engagement. M&Co will work with the company to achieve its communications and PR objectives in North America and Europe through an integrated, flexible and efficient cross-border PR strategy and program. Personetics works with over 100 banks and credit unions serving 130 million customers in 32 global markets. We are excited to work with a rapidly growing company that is shaping the future of how financial institutions serve their customers, said M&Co CEO and global managing partner Montieth Illingworth.

Superjuice signs on as agency partner for Project Healthy Minds, a mental health non-profit for Gen Z and millennials, for 2023. The agency will help drive awareness around PHMs platform and assist with key initiatives, surrounding tentpole moments for mental health, including Mental Health Awareness Month in May and World Mental Health Day on October 10. Project Health Minds bills itself as the worlds first digital mental health marketplace, with the goal of making it easier for people to discover and choose the right mental health support.
A man who was caught with images of child abuse as gardai were investigating him for sexually assaulting a child in a clothing store has been handed a fully suspended prison sentence.

Gardai searched the home of Stephen Gregan (42) in June 2017 after receiving a complaint he had sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl while she was out shopping with friends.

Sixty-four images and 57 movie files of child sex abuse material were discovered after two hard drives and computer were seized and analysed.

The court heard that the images and movies depicted children aged between three and ten years old engaged in sexual activity or children up to 15 years old with their genital and anal area showing.

Gregan of Main Street, Tullamore, Co Offaly, previously of Grove Park, Rathmines, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of child pornography at his Dublin home on June 13, 2017.

The court heard that in October 2019 Gregan received a nine-month suspended sentence from Judge Martin Nolan after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault at Penneys, Dundrum Town Centre, on June 10, 2017.

Imposing sentence today, Judge Melanie Greally said if this charge had been dealt with at the same time as the sexual assault count, it would have resulted in a custodial sentence.

However Judge Greally said the court had to consider the length of time since the material was seized and if there would be undue harshness in imposing a custodial sentence at this point.

She said the steps taken by Gregan to rehabilitate himself, the lack of subsequent negative garda attention and the time lapsed since this offence was detected swing the balance against the immediate imposition of a custodial sentence.

Judge Greally handed Gregan an 18-month prison sentence, which she suspended for two years on strict conditions, including that he place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Gardai were investigating the allegation of sexual assault when they searched Gregan's Rathmines home and found the child abuse material. At an earlier sentence hearing, Gerardine Small SC, defending, said her client was in a dysfunctional relationship at the time and was suffering from depression.

Ms Small said her client had been attending counselling since the incident and had been placed on the sex offenders register. He continues to attend for treatment and is fully engaged in the therapeutic process.

Counsel said Gregans brother had written a letter for the court outlined what kind of state his brother was in at the time.

He is fully aware that this is not a victimless crime. He has done what he can in terms of rehabilitation, has not come to garda attention since and is a very changed man from the man he was in June 2017, Ms Small said.

She asked Judge Greally to accept the evidence that there was no question of distributing or sharing the images and that the images had been deleted.

A letter from Gregan was handed into the court today. Ms Small told the court that her client has family support and his wife was present in court.

Judge Greally noted that the DPP directed a summary indictment for this charge, but the District Court had quite rightly refused jurisdiction based on the severity of the material. Noting the quantity of the material seized, the judge said the aggravating factors include the nature of the material and that it includes children as young as three in some instances.

Judge Greally also noted the stigma and social isolation that follows a conviction of this type and that publicity is almost inevitable for this type of offence. She noted that this offence occurred six years ago and Grehan had had a number of adverse circumstances to confront.

Judge Greally said she took into consideration the mitigating factors including the remorse expressed by Grehan, his early guilty plea and the steps taken towards rehabilitation.

During the hearing in October 2019 Garda Jennifer Quinn told Philip Rahn BL, prosecuting, that on June 10, 2017 an 11-year-old girl was in the Penneys shop with her friends when Gregan pushed up against her and squeezed her bum.

Gda Quinn said the accused tried to make out that it was an accident, but the child noticed that the aisle was wide and he did not have to squeeze past her. She told her friend that the man had touched her, that she did not like it and she started crying.

In interview with gardai, Gregan initially claimed the touching had been accidental, but after breaking down and getting emotional he admitted it had been intentional. He claimed he was not attracted to children and just wanted help.

Obviously I am a normal nice guy with a chemical imbalance, Gregan told gardai. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan suspended a nine month sentence and ordered that he pay a sum of 5,000 over to the victim. He said this payment was a punishment and he said that the court would dispose of it if the victim does not want it.
The Fugees Pras Begins Trial For Conspiracy & Other Charges Jaelani Turner-Williams Jaelani Turner-Williams is a contributing news writer for Okayplayer with

On Monday, Pras Michel of The Fugees begins trial in Washington, D.C.; charges include conspiracy, witness tampering, and more.

Pras Michels delayed trial has begun in Washington, D.C. On Monday (March 27), The Fugees member faces charges including conspiracy, witness tampering and failing to register as an agent of China, per NPR. The 50-year-old artist is at the center of an elaborate case involving multi-billion dollar global finance and political conspiracy ties to foreign nationals; Malaysian billionaire Jho Low and Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui. If convicted, the Haitian-American artist could be convicted up to 22 years in prison.

As The Fugees have repeatedly gone defunct since their best-selling 1996 sophomore album The Score, Michel has since become a businessman and politician in his parents homeland of Haiti. Low, who allegedly associated with Michel while getting chummy with American presidents and celebrities, also obtained Malaysias $4.4 billion from a sovereign wealth fund (called 1Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB) for himself. Federal prosecutors claim that Michel received a hefty amount of profit to influence American politics.

The defendant, Prakazrel Michel, received over $100 million from Jho Low, a foreign fugitive responsible for one of the largest embezzlement schemes in history, to use backchannel influence to convince the then-President of the United States to drop a federal investigation into Low and to agree to the extrajudicial removal of a Chinese exile living in the United States, wrote prosecutors John Keller, Sean Mulryne and Nicole Lockhart.

Low, who is now believed to be living with his family in China, met Michel in New York Citys Meatpacking District in 2006, per Rolling Stone. The duo stayed in touch, and when Michel was invited to a 2012 dinner for $40,000 per person hosted by former President Barack Obama, Low allegedly sent $21 million from the Malaysian funds to the rapper and his financial adviser. In turn, Michel, using his own name, donated $1.1 million to Obamas campaign, also distributing $865,000 to rougly 20 straw donors. Low also has associations with Leonardo DiCaprio, having financed the actors 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

In 2019, Pras was given an indictment on four criminal counts for illegal contributions to the 2012 Obama reelection campaign. The rapper was also offered a plea deal, which he refused as it meant the feds would 74 million they seized from his bank accounts in 2018. Michels trial is expected to extend through April.

In his recent RS profile, Michel shared his reflections on politics.

I was one of those people who was just dabbling. I never thought I would be full time into politics, he said. I realized politics is not for me. The problem with politics is this: Its that the people within politics, theyre dirtier than the people who are not in politics.
Dravidian model rule in Tamilnadu achieved the top position in Gender Parity

Chennai

oi-Oneindia English Desk

Chennai: Tamilnadu tops in very many criteria nationally. But when India failed to achieve Gender Parity globally, Tamilnadu tops in this category nationally. This was proved in a national-level study by Mckinsey.

On International Women's day CM M.K.Stalin said, "The growth of the nation is in the hands of Women. While we are appreciating the women around us we are developing our nation simultaneously. As far as Tamilnadu is concerned, Women were treated highly respectably from the early Sangam period. We had so many women writers and poets even during ancient times. Kannagi dared to question the King of Madurai.

Poet Avvaiyar was brave enough to stop a war between two Tamil rulers. Gradually, women were sidelined due to multiple cultural invasions. Women were in need of a movement to revolutionise against the patriarchal society and the need for a Dravidian Movement arises".

Tamil women with Global recognition:

CM Stalin added, "Women are financially independent nowadays. Yet some of them think that they are weak mentally". India is struggling to attain Gender equality compared to other nations of the world. Recently the World Economic Forum released a detailed report on the 'Economical Gender Gap' for 2022. This report examined Gender parity in Economic, educational, health and political dimensions. India Ranks 135th position in Economic parity out of 146 countries. Whereas in health, India ranks 143 ahead of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The economic participation of women varies from state to state. In 2015 Mckinsey conducted a national-level study on gender inequality in workplaces. In the report, Tamilnadu and Kerala were placed in the top positions. The women workforce in Tamilnadu is 32% which is double that of the rest of the nation. In Tamilnadu women pursuing higher education is 49%. Whereas it is just 25% when compared to the rest of the nation. The 2019-2020 survey on Women's participation in the Industrial sector revealed that for every 100 Indian women there are 43 Tamil women employed in the Industrial sector. And most of the monthly wage working women were from the Coimbatore district.

Tamilnadu in Top Position:

In terms of Health, the 2029-20 5th Annual National Family welfare survey revealed some interesting data. When compared with the national average, Women in Tamilnadu were using contraception more and received antenatal care in a higher percentage. In the same way, Tamilnadu women are top in getting Institutional deliveries compared to other states of the country. Tamilnadu also has lower infant mortality and lower maternal mortality compared to other states.

This was only possible because of the constant steps taken by the Dravidian Parties who are in power continuously in Tamilnadu. Dravidian Movement is the pioneer in practising Gender equality in India. Social Justice, Equality and rationalism propagated by this Dravidian Movement really challenged the Patriarchy that existed in Tamilnadu.

Dravidian Leader Periyar said, "India cannot be an Independent country until it gives equal power to the women of the nation". The national survey mentioned that the Dravidian parties executed their welfare policies based on the ideology of Periyar in Tamilnadu. In 1967, the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, Annadurai from the DMK party supported widow remarriages and legalised self-respect marriages where there wasn't any need for priests to officiate.

Even after Annadurai's demise M. Karunanidhi continued the efforts of women empowerment in Tamilnadu from 1969. In 1975, the then CM M.Karunanidhi supported widow remarriages and provided compensation for widows in the state. The Hindu Succession Act of 1989 in Tamilnadu made sure that the daughters should be given equal rights in ancestral properties. At that time, Tamilnadu was the first and the only state to implement such an act in India.

Brilliant Women Welfare Schemes:

To improve the education level of women, the Muvalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar scheme in 1989, provided 5,000 for women who completed up to Class 8 while getting married. EVR Nagammaiyar Memorial free graduate education scheme for girls and Dr Muthulakshmi Maternity Benefit Scheme to financially support pregnant women were brilliant schemes for women executed by M.Karunanidhi.

When Karunanidhi provided TV units for every home as a freebie it became quite debatable all over the nation. But the 2009 Oxford University Press' Quarterly Journal of Economics stated that this freebie scheme of M.Karunanidhi actually helped in empowering women to act against domestic violence and to take a stand against bias over male children while increasing women's autonomy in households.

Achievements over 70 years of rule in Tamilnadu:

In the same way, the present Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, M.K.Stalin is still continuing the efforts to empower women in Tamilnadu. CM Stalin increased maternity leave for women from 9 months to 12 months. DMK's major goal is to improve the political participation of women in Tamilnadu. In urban local bodies, DMK ensured 50% of seats for women.

To encourage the independence of women, the Tamilnadu government is providing a free bus ride scheme which enables them to save 10-20% more in their monthly income. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Tamilnadu is higher than in the other states of the nation. To stop girls from getting married at an early stage, the Tamilnadu government is giving an incentive of 1,000 to government school girls who are getting enrolled in Government Colleges.

Consistent efforts of Dravidian rule in Tamilnadu empowered women in Tamilnadu more when compared to the rest of the nation.
Fact Check: Is this the image of Asad who was killed in UP encounter?

Fact Check: Has Antony Fauci been arrested by the US police?

Fact Check

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Recently images of former US president, Donald Trump had gone viral.

Now, pictures of Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have gone viral and is taking the internet by storm.

The images show, Fauci in various situations being carried by by force.

A tweet read, "Fauci arrested in New York. It looks like DUH winning Trump 2024."

In the Donald Trump images, we found that they had been digitally altered using Artificial Intelligence. The same is the case of Fauci's images as well.

Moreover such a high profile personality being arrested would have made big news. It would have been covered by every media organisation. However, we found no such information anywhere on the internet.

If one looks at Fauci's real image and the one on the viral one, there is a difference. It clearly can be made out that the image of Fauci has been created using Artificial Intelligence. If one looks that top left picture, the cop who is holding Fauci has five fingers. His thumb is also not visible and this indicates that the AI as a technology is still at its early stages and is constantly evolving.

The other image shows that the policewoman has a right hand which is wrongly attached to her left arm.

If you come across such images, just a take a bit of time and check closely. The AI generated images are always different, when compared to real ones.

Hence it is clear that the images that have gone viral are AI generated. In reality, Antony Fauci has not been arrested.

Antony Fauci is the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He has served in many positions for nearly 50 years and has acted as an advisor to the US president since Ronald Regan. Under Donald Trump, Fauci's advise was always contradicted. Trump's supporters believe that Fauci was tiring to undermine Trump's run for re-election.

Fact Check Claim Antony Fauci has been arrested by the US police Conclusion The images being shared are AI generated Rating False Raise your request for FACT CHECKING. Mail us at [email protected]

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 13:20 [IST]
Court must outlaw all rogue representatives

Feature

lekhaka-Jagdish N Singh

The hue and cry being raised by the Opposition parties in the country since a Surat court convicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and the office of Parliament subsequently disqualified him from House, makes little sense. If one thinks the judgement in a case is not fair, he can always approach the higher courts, and Gandhi has already done it.

Notwithstanding the constitutional claims about its all-inclusive nature, our justice system remains operationally elitist. Gandhi belongs to a class of the influential 'haves' in our country. For persons like him, an access to our higher judiciary is no issue. He can depute a battery of 'big' lawyers to plead his case.

One would, however, just expect our Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of all our legislators, at the Centre as well as in the States, against whom there have been serious criminal allegations. The court must order their speedy trial and outlaw them for ever, if they are found guilty.

Regrettably, during the last couple of years, the apex court gave out a set of directions, including asking the Centre to constitute a monitoring committee to evaluate the reasons for delay of investigation in cases involving MPs/MLAs. It also directed to equip the courts hearing such cases with necessary infrastructure for the conduct of their proceedings. But there has been little movement forward.

The delay in Rahul Gandhi filing an appeal is procedural

The situation has rather deteriorated over the years. According to an estimate, the number of criminal cases pending in subordinate courts against sitting and former lawmakers rose from 4,110 in December 2018 to 4,984 in December 2021. Of them, 1,651 were heinous criminal ones carrying a jail term of more than seven years, life imprisonment, or even death.

There is a near consensus across our non-partisan public spectrum that this grim scenario in our legislatures is absolutely detrimental to the development of our democracy. Founding fathers of our Constitution envisioned a system of governance by individuals or the groups thereof who have an enlightened sense of social-moral conscience.

Due to the presence of rogue elements in our law-making bodies, the kind of development that could have taken place in a normal situation has been evasive in the country.

The behavioural pattern of this group of politicians shows its deep inclination to feudal temperament and obsession with an economic lifestyle incomparably higher than that of the masses. They have little focus on evolving such policies and strategies as would foster the multi-faceted development of the masses - particularly women, oppressed social sections, farmers and other have-nots.

Such politicians do not have the slightest compunction in throwing to the wind the constitutional morality of secularism if their calculus to capture political power demands so. One can discern their mind in their distortion and misuse of our constitutional provisions for affirmative action/positive discrimination.

The spirit behind the founding fathers' idea of affirmative action was to integrate all our historically excluded social groups into the national mainstream by granting them reasonable preferences in the areas of education and employment. But the undesirable politicians frequently misuse this affirmative action idea by promising special benefits to certain groups along the lines of caste, creed, language and region. They also gang up with certain sectarian heads and local goons to reach out to their target groups.

The consensus goes that our independent judiciary is best suited today to take steps aimed at keeping all undesirable elements away from our political system and making democracy meaningful in the country. Little can be expected from the executive in this regard. The reports of the Goswami Committee (1990), the Vohra Committee (1993), the Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998), the Law Commission (1999), the Election Commission of India (2004) and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008) on electoral reforms have all just gathered dust.

Im not Savarkar, wont apologise: Rahul on disqualification

Recently, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud rightly described the basic structure of our Constitution as a great guide for our nation. He said, "The basic structure of our Constitution, like a North Star, guides and gives a certain direction to the interpreters and implementers of the Constitution when the path ahead is convoluted." Justice Chandrachud must walk the talk and bring to book all rogue elements in our legislatures. Their presence is not but a deterrent to the supremacy of our Constitution, one of the most fundamental features of its basic structure.

In a ruling in January 2017, a seven-judge Constitution Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur rightly warned that an appeal for votes on the basis of religion, caste, race, community or language would amount to a 'corrupt practice' and call for disqualification of the candidate. Justice Chandrachud could take effective steps to get all those politicians, who continue to indulge in such corrupt practices, disqualified for our legislatures.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
OPINION: India strikes back

Feature

lekhaka-Balbir Punj

The massive crack down by Punjab Police since Saturday last (March 18, 2023) on Khalistan secessionist elements led by Amritpal Singh (30), chief of "Waris Punjab De", in co-ordination with various central agencies and backing of Union government, comes as a silver lining in an otherwise dark political horizon where narrow political considerations, coupled with intra party internecine political wars, usually overshadow all other concerns, including the ones with grave security implications for the country.

However, in this case, India has hit back, as one man, on separatist forces which are seeking to push Punjab back to the dark days of 1980-90 - when terror ruled the State. During that difficult decade, all social, economic and political activities had come to a halt, as gangs of thugs, masquerading as soldiers of Khalistan, held the border State to ransom.

Massive manhunt is on to nab Amritpal Singh, once a clean shaved truck driver, now claiming to be a flag-bearer of Khalsa values and interests. As the details of his shady personal life are tumbling out, it's clear that he is a Jekyll and Hyde of our times.

Amritpal professed to be a Sikh preacher, with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a role model. But there is another side to his personality, far removed from values like austerity and simplicity, long associated with baptised Sikhs. The imposter on the run, loves all good things of life - with little regard for Sikh tenets, traditions, morality and law.

Where is Amritpal Singh trying to run? His route map to Pakistan

Apart from serious allegations of moral turpitude, Amrit Pal Singh is facing four criminal cases. The allegations against him include spreading communal disharmony, attempts to murder and attacking policemen, during the February 23 siege of a police station in Amritsar district by thousands of his supporters.

The sordid episode leaves several questions unanswered. What is Amritpal's source of strength? Who is behind him? Why did he suddenly drop his truck business in Dubai, parachute into India, get baptised as a Sikh again and managed to assume the leadership of an organisation, wedded to a divisive agenda, in such a short time?

It's clear, fugitive Amritpal, and the cause he professed to promote, Khalistan, had little support in Punjab. There were hardly protests against the police action in Punjab. But why were a number of demonstrations held in his support abroad, in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia? Were such protests not orchestrated? Doesn't all these developments indicate that the movement has no roots in the State, but is largely, controlled, funded and run by vested interests from abroad. Isn't Pakistan's ISI the usual suspect behind this mischief?

There was surely perfect understanding between BJP-run Central government and AAP-controlled Punjab in the planning and execution of this highly sensitive operation. The crackdown on Amritpal, and his supporters, was obviously planned weeks in advance, in perfect coordination by multiple agencies to avoid any collateral damage. It's obvious the operation was coordinated by New Delhi, and executed by the Punjab Police.

The RAW, IB and other agencies have been on Amritpal's heels for some time now. They gathered intelligence and passed it on to Punjab Police. It's evident that he is an ISI prop, dancing to the tune of his Pakistani handlers. The idea was to destabilise Punjab through ideological indoctrination and targeted violence.

In the beginning, the AAP government tried to avoid confrontation with the Sikh radicals, and in fact was accused of mollycoddling them. There was a general impression in the Punjab Police, that inaction was safer than action, which may lead to controversy and may not be backed by those in power. However, the State government soon realised the dangers inherent in such a short-sighted approach. The ambivalent attitude of the Punjab government towards Amritpal and his fellow gangsters in initial stages, emboldened them further.

The attack on Ajnala police station, Amritpal's statements propagating violence, taking up arms and threatening political leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, convinced the Centre and Punjab that any further delay in taking decisive action would result in situation going out of control.

That the apprehensions of the Centre weren't misplaced became clear from the recoveries made by Punjab Police during the recent crackdown. Searches and raids conducted by security agencies at hideouts connected with Amritpal revealed that he was trying to form a militia called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) and had imprinted the name of this nascent outfit on bulletproof jackets and rifles.

It is believed that crackdown plan idea emerged during the March 2, meeting between Shah and Mann, who was accompanied by Punjab Director-General of Police Gaurav Yadav. The Punjab DG held meetings separately with senior officials of Central agencies to map the operation.

Revoke passports of pro-Khalistan elements abroad, urges complaint with Delhi police

As a prelude to the operation, the Union Home Ministry sent 18 companies of Central armed paramilitary forces to Punjab in "aid of the State government during law-and-order activities". The decision to take key 'Waris Punjab De' members to Assam also underlined the fact that the Centre and the State were on the same page during this sensitive exercise.

Four persons - fund raiser Daljit Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh and "Pradhanmantri" Bajeka - flanked by a Punjab Police team were flown to Assam and are now lodged in Dibrugarh Central jail. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called the detainees being brought to Assam an example of "police to police cooperation".

The entire operation was a perfect teamwork, in which political biases and considerations took a back seat, with national security concerns overwhelming all other considerations. The Union Home Ministry first sounded out the Assam government on the plan, and then Punjab sent a formal request a day before the operation was launched.

However, one question - how did the Khalistani desperado manage to escape the police dragnet - remains unanswered. Did the Punjab Police slip somewhere? With Amritpal on the run, his reputation, as a fighter has taken a big hit. Coupled with the shady details of his personal life which are now in public domain, a fugitive Amritpal is seen as a small-time cheap little weasel by the Sikh masses.

Many respectable members of the proud Sikh community have questioned Amritpal's cowardly escape, which's in sharp contrast to the Sikh tradition of facing any threat squarely and meeting a challenge head-on. His decision to take the Guru Granth Sahib to Ajnala police station and use it as a shield, has been termed as a pusillanimous act, belittling the prestige of the pristine Sikh faith.

Both, Punjab and Sikh community are in serious difficulties. While common Sikhs, moulded in the divine identity given by the illustrious Guru traditions, are bogged down by mundane day to day problems, the leadership of the community is often hijacked by pretenders like Amritpal. Drawing from highly divisive narrative propagated by willy British as part of their 'divide and rule' stratagem, foreign funded likes of Amritpal, manage to gather traction among innocent Sikh masses.

India has been fighting against Khalistanis and its backer, Pakistan, successfully, but at a great cost. However, India has never taken head on the narrative that sustains the idea of Khalistan.

The British crafted narrative on Hindu-Sikh relations, is based on half-truths and white lies. The fight against Khalistan has to be two-fold - war against the Khalistanis, and also against the very narrative that inspires the idea of Khalistan. Please see "We are only fighting against Khalistanis but not against the idea of Khalistan" posted on this portal on March 7, 2023.

Punjab is the pride of India, its sword arm, for centuries. Once the top State in the country on most of the development indicators, Punjab has been on a downhill journey for decades. The border State faces drug menace and proliferation of criminal gangs. There a dangerous nexus between gangsters and Pakistan backed elements, working to destabilise the State in the name of Khalistan. Amritpal is just a tip of an iceberg, the problems facing the State-run fathoms deep.

(Mr. Balbir Punj is a Former Member of Parliament and a Columnist. He can be reached at: [email protected])

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
If you torture Sikh, you will be held accountable: Pro-Khalistan leader threatens Assam CM Sarma

Won't allow our national flag to be put down, EAM warns Khalistanis

Why Amritpal may have ended up dividing Sikhs rather than uniting them

Ahead of G20 meet, pro-Khalistan outfit makes threat calls

India

oi-PTI

A banned pro-Khalistan organisation has made threat calls to hundreds of people including journalists ahead of a crucial three-day G-20 meeting to be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar with an aim to "internationalise" the issue, officials said.

They said those who received the calls Sunday night heard pre-recorded messages by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, head of the organization 'Sikh for Justice', in which he said they will raise flags at airports, railway stations and other areas during the meeting days.

"Ramnagar is not a part of India and it will be made a part of Khalistan after Punjab is freed," Pannu said in the message, according to Uttarakhand Special Task Force's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Senthil Abudai Krishnaraj S.

The Chief Scientific Advisors' Roundtable (CSAR) of G-20 countries will be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar from March 28-30 with its focus on harnessing the benefits of traditional knowledge in healthcare.

Krishnaraj S said all the numbers from which such recorded calls were received are being traced.

The DIG said the Special Task Force is probing the matter. It seems that Pannu is trying to gain "publicity" on the Khalistan issue through the G-20 meeting.

However, the Uttarakhand police is fully prepared and "we will not allow the purpose of these separatists to be fulfilled", he said.

"There is a full security arrangement for the G-20 meeting. Our senior officers are keeping a watch there," he said.

Meanwhile, the police in Udhamsinghnagar district which has a sizeable Sikh population are on alert over the absconding Khalistan separatist preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates.

Following intelligence received from the Punjab Police and central agencies, the district police has tightened security especially in areas bordering Uttar Pradesh districts of Rampur, Pilibhit and Bareilly, and Nepal.

All government and private vehicles are being checked and religious places are also being monitored, officials said.

City Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Katyal said religious places near the international border are also being searched, and a special vigil is being kept on the people passing through the India-Nepal border. The police have also pasted posters of Amritpal and his associates at various places, and running a "verification campaign", he said.

The Punjab Police has alerted their Uttarakhand counterpart suspecting that absconding Amritpal Singh might have taken a shelter in Uttarakhand and might flee to Nepal.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the state police in Pithoragarh are also keeping a close watch in areas near the India-Nepal border, officials said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 21:00 [IST]
Did Amritpal surrender or he was arrested? Here's what Punjab IGP says

Amritpal Singh's associate and gunman Varinder Singh Johal arrested

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The Tarn Taran police on Monday arrested yet another gunman of 'Waris Punjab De' chief and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh. The gunman has been identified as Varinder Singh Johal. According to reports, Johal is also alleged to have been a trainer for the Anandpur Khalsa Force (AKF) operating in Punjab.

Earlier, Varinder Singh Johal was arrested by Tarn Taran police, for allegedly promoting and glorifying gun-culture.

Amritpal, who continues to elude the cops, was last spotted by CCTV cameras in Patiala even as Punjab Police's hunt for the Khalistani leader entered tenth day on Monday without a breakthrough. He has been on the run since March 18. Amritpal was said to be hiding at a relative's house there.

The CCTV footage reveals that he left for Kurukshetra in Haryana from Amritsar, and was headed for the national capital. It is being reported that he allegedly disembarked at a bus terminal in the guise of a monk yesterday.

Top Sikh body asks Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh to surrender before police

On the other hand, Joint operations are being made by teams of Delhi Police and Punjab police in Delhi and its borders' areas after receiving intelligence inputs about Amritpal seen at Delhi's ISBT bus terminal, they added.

Earlier on Sunday, the Punjab Police had arrested a man for sheltering Amritpal's gunman. The arrested man was identified as one Balwant Singh of Khanna. Although it was learnt that Balwant sheltered Amritpal's close aid Tajinder Singh Gill alias Gorkha Baba (42), the police have not found any links connecting him directly with the Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh.
Will Yeddy let son rise at risk of confronting Siddu ending their bonhomie?

Winning Karnataka is crucial for the BJP ahead of the 2024 elections

The surprise factor in BJPs Karnataka list & how Yeddy had his way

Stones pelted at Yediyurappas house: Prohibitory orders imposed

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The house of BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister, B S Yediyurappa has been attacked at his home town in Shikaripur, Shivamogga.

The members of the Banjara community who are protesting the issue relating to reservation pelted stones his house. The police were pressed into service to disperse the mob.

The Banjara community has been asking for internal reservation in the Schedule Tribe Community. The community was protesting the state government's decision to recommend the Centre to implement the A J Sadashiva Panel Commission's report on internal reservation among the SCs.

The protest turned violent in Shikaripur, when the police resorted to caning the agitators after they hurled stones at the residence of the former chief minister.

Assembly elections: Yediyurappa feels Rahuls Karnataka visit will help BJP

Superintendent of Police, G Mithun Kuman visited the house and took stock of the situation. The protesters burnt posters with images of Yediyurappa and Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai.

Following the incident, prohibitory orders have been imposed to prevent untoward incidents and restore peace.

The Banjara urged the government to drop the Justice SA J Sadashiva report recommending proportional represetaioc to the sub-castes among the Schedule Castes.

They termed this decision as unscientific. They also said that this is a ploy by vested interests to divide the Schedule Caste communities that were living together peacefully all these years. They said that the move by the government will mete out injustice to the Banjaras and the the recommendation must be withdrawn with immediate effect.

Reacting to the development, Karnataka Congress chief, D K Shivakumar said that the BJP is trying to divide all communities and is playing politics.
The surprise factor in BJPs Karnataka list & how Yeddy had his way

Banjaras misunderstood, says BS Yediyurappa after attack on his house

India

oi-Deepika S

Hours after members of Banjara's attacked his house, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa tried to play down the incident, saying that the community misunderstood the reservation bill.

Speaking to reporters, Yediyurappa said, "there is some confusion among Banjara community leaders, I will speak to the leaders and the chief minister as well so that if there are any grievances then those will be solved. I will talk to them in a day or two."

"I don't blame anyone or Congress for this incident. Banjara community helped me to become CM, whatever happened in Shikaripura is because of misconception," he added.

Agitating members of the Banjara community targeted Yediyurappa's house in Shikaripura town of this district and resorted to stone-pelting, injuring some policemen during a protest against the internal reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) announced by the state government.

Police used batons to disperse the large number of protesters, which included women. Some members of the Banjara community, who are also known as Lamani or Lambani, were injured.

The agitators gave vent to their anger, alleging that "less" reservation was given to the 'Scheduled Caste-Touchables', to which the Banjara community belongs.

The Karnataka cabinet had last week decided to introduce internal reservation amongst the SCs. After hiking reservation for the Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that 6 per cent reservation would be given to SC left sub-category, 5.5 per cent to SC right, 4.5 per cent to Touchables and one per cent to others.

The state government also wrote to the Centre recommending that the proposal be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.

The decision was taken on the basis of a report submitted by the Justice A.J. Sadashiva Inquiry Commission that had been constituted by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government in 2005 to look into the need for and means of sub-classifying Scheduled Caste reservations in Karnataka.
BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa arrested

India

oi-Prakash KL

Hours after the Karnataka High Court dismissed the bail application of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa in a bribery case relating to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL), the Karnataka Police has arrested him in Tumakuru on Monday evening.

A viral video showed the Lokayukta sleuths intercepting the MLA at the Kyathasandra Toll Gate in Tumakuru when was heading for Bengaluru.

Virupakshappa alighted from his car, after which the Lokayukta police took him with them in their vehicle. "We arrested him in Tumakuru when he (the MLA) was on the way to Bengaluru," Lokayukta Inspector General of Police A Subramanyeshwara Rao told PTI.

The HC had reserved its judgment in the matter last week. The case pertains to the alleged demand and receipt of bribes for allotting contract for supplying chemicals to the state-run company. Subsequent raids by the Lokayukta unearthed cash to the tune of Rs 8.23 crore.

Justice K Natarajan rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the Channagiri MLA. Virupakshappa, who was the chairman of KSDL, has been charged with demanding bribe through his son Prashanth Madal, a KAS officer.

A demand for Rs 81 lakh bribe to pass a bill was made and his son was caught in his office while accepting Rs 40 lakh out of it. Later, over Rs. 7 crore in cash was seized from Virupakshappa's residence.

Prashanth MV has already been arrested in the case on March 2. Four more arrests have been made by the Lokayukta police in the case since then. Virupakshappa has since resigned as the chairman of KSDL.

Virupakshappa Madal is the prime accused in the case. The HC had earlier granted interim anticipatory bail to Virupakshappa on a Rs five lakh personal bond which helped him escape arrest.

With the anticipatory bail plea rejected today, there is danger of his imminent arrest.

Madal faces charges under Section 7(A) and 7(B) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. While Prashanth Madal is the second accused in the case, Siddesh, Nicholas and Gangadhar are the other accused.
CAA orders probe into near mid-air collision incident

India

oi-Prakash KL

Days after an Air India and a Nepal Airlines planes nearly collided mid-air, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has ordered a probe into the incident, The Himalayan Times reported.

An internal three-member committee has been formed to oversee the investigation, the Information Officer of CAAN, Gyanendra Bhul said, according to the report.

Apart from suspending two ATC officers who were in charge at the time of the incident, the CAAN has instructed the country manager of Air India to ground the pilots involved in the incident until the final report of the investigation is released.

"Our preliminary findings suggest that the Air India aircraft flying to Kathmandu from Delhi was in a holding pattern in the airspace of Simara at an altitude of roughly 19,000 feet. Without prior communication with the ATC, the aircraft abruptly descended towards the NAC aircraft that was flying in from Kuala Lumpur and was at an altitude of 15,000 feet. The two aircraft came dangerously close to colliding, but the traffic collision avoidance system installed in the cockpit of the flight RA- NAC was activated, which helped prevent the mid-air collision," Bhul said.

"It is worth noting that the vertical separation between two aircraft should ideally be 1,000 feet, except in emergency situations. However, the separation between the two aircraft, in this case, was approximately only 300 feet, which prompted the ATC to intervene," he added, The Himalayan Times reported.

The CAAN has decided to ban the Air India pilots in the incidents and has written to DGCA-India, the CAAN announced.

An Air India flight nearly collided with a Nepal Airlines aircraft on Friday and the timely response by the pilots avoided a major tragedy.

The Air India and a Nepal Airlines aircraft came close to collision mid-air but the warning systems alerted the pilots, authorities said in Kathmandu on Sunday, according to a PTI report. While the Nepal Airlines was coming from Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu, the Air India plane was coming to Kathmandu from New Delhi.

"Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) of Tribhuvan International Airport involved in traffic conflict incident (between Air India and Nepal Airlines on 24th March 2023) have been removed from active control position until further notice," The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said on Twitter.

The Air India aircraft was descending from 19,000 ft while the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying at an altitude of 15,000 ft at the same location, CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula said.

After it was shown on the radar that the two aircraft were in proximity, the Nepal Airlines aircraft descended to 7,000 ft, the spokesperson said.

With inputs from PTI
Dalai names US-born Mongolian boy as Dhampa Rinpoche reincarnate

India

oi-Prakash KL

An eight-year-old boy born in the US has been named by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism. The ceremony was held in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, where 87-year-pld the Dalai Lama lives in exile, reported The Independent.

"We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today," Dalai Lama said during the ceremony. "His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara. One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious," he added.

The boy was pictured with the Dalai Lama during the ceremony. The faith's spiritual leader has been pictured with the eight-year-old boy taking part in a ceremony in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh - where the Dalai Lama, 87, lives in exile - recognising him as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, according to The Times.

Stop interfering in Dalai Lama's succession process: Japanese Buddhist Conference to China

Going by the report in the Mongolian media, the boy is one of a pair of twin boys named Aguidai and Achiltai Altannar. They are the sons of Altannar Chinchuluun and Monkhnasan Narmandakh, a university Mathematics professor and a national resources conglomerate executive, respectively.

The grandmother of the eight-year old Garamjav Tseden is a former member of the Mongolian Parliament.

The decision to name the boy as the reincarnation of the third most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism is expected to rub China the wrong way due to its animosity with the Dalai Lama.

Beijing had earlier claimed that it would recognise Buddhist leaders chosen by the government. The Chinese authorities had arrested the second most important Buddhist leader, Panchen Lama, in 1995 and replaced him with its own candidate.

China's efforts to destroy Buddhism won't succeed: Dalai Lama in India

Nonetheless, the development resulted in intense excitement among Buddhists, but people among the Buddhist community are expecting China to react the same way liked it responded in 1995.

The Dalai Lama has been living in India ever since he fled Tibet in 1959. The Tibetan government-in-exile operates from India and over 1,60,000 Tibetans live in the country.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 13:57 [IST]
Eyeing Rs 4,450 crore, YEIDA to offer OTS scheme for recovering dues

India

oi-Deepika S

The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) is going to launch a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme to recover Rs 4,450 crore in dues from 14 builders. Subject to clearance, the OTS scheme will pave the way for at least 10,000 registrations.

Out of the Rs 4,457 crore that YEIDA wants to collect, Rs 2,753 crore was for land premium, Rs 1,408 crore additional compensation for farmers and Rs 296 crore lease rent. If the scheme is comes into effect, it will help the builders save around Rs 1,000 crore in penal interest.

Moreover, the move will primarily felicitate the completion of projects, issuance of occupancy and completion certificates and execution of registries, which has created anxiety among thousands of homebuyers across NCR. Looking for different options to resolve the stalemate around builder-buyer issues, YEIDA has now planned to go ahead with the one-time payment scheme.

YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh said, "In a bid to clear dues from builders, we are planning a one-time payment scheme. But, before going forward with the plan, we will consult the developers. We want more and more builders to volunteer and pay. This will clear the hurdles around projects," he added.

Big defaulters on YEIDA's list include Supertech, SDS Infracon, Sunworld Infrastructure, Orris Developers, Logix, ATS Realty Green Bay Developers and the housing projects where registries of flats were stuck were in Sectors 22D, 22A and 26A.

Good news for daily commuters! YEIDA starts bus service to link villages near airport

In some of the housing projects, buyers have even been handed possession of their flats, but the process of registration is still pending due to the mounting dues that the developers. For long, builders' associations have been urging the Uttar Pradesh government to form a scheme similar to the one announced by the Haryana government to settle land dues.

In 2017, the Haryana government omitted 75% interest and took only 25% interest along with principal amount from realtors, thus helping developers to clear their dues.

Builders such as the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association (Credai) and the National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco) have appealed to the authorities that without such a settlement scheme, group housing projects will not be delivered or revived.

"It looks like the developers are not interested in clearing any dues. Even if the penal interest part is cut, I am afraid that many builders will pay the amount. The, what about the projects that are in insolvency? The YEIDA must focus on flat-wise registries so that the builders keep clearing the dues in phases." Kailash Chandra, president of Supertech Upcountry Buyers' Association, told TOI.
How JD(S), SDPI could breach Congress' Muslim vote-banks in Karnataka

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The upcoming elections in Karnataka are in the spotlight for the entire country. However, this election season, a slew of political parties, including Opposition Congress and the JD(S), are in one-upmanship mode in wooing minority voters.

The latest to go one step ahead of others is former Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) leader H D Kumaraswamy who said that if they are voted to power with a majority, his party will be open to have a Muslim chief ministerial candidate.

'If JD(S) comes to power independently in the coming election, there is an opportunity to make a member of the muslim community our chief minister,' said Kumaraswamy, as reported by local media. It is noteworthy to mention that C M Ibrahim who was once with the JD(S) and later joined grand Old party along with the Siddaramaiah team, has now turned back to the JD(S) to become its 'minority face'. This move will draw some Muslim votes towards the regional party and will hit the Congress.

He also proposed Dalit candidate or a woman for a Deputy chief minister post and said both the national parties have only looked at them as vote banks but never addressed any of their concerns.

In 2018 too, Kumaraswamy had tried winning Muslim votes by joining hands with minority leader and All India Majlis e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

KCR's Bharat Rashtra Samithi to back JDS in Karnataka Assembly elections

For the unversed, Muslims comprise around 13% of the population in Karnataka. Their support is decisive in some 60 seats where community votes tally 20% or more.

This time, the regional party has planned to field a big number of Muslim candidates in as many as 30 constituencies, the Times of India reported.

Meanwhile, the SDPI or Social Democratic Party of India, which is trying to become the voice of Muslims, had decided to field 100 candidates. SDPI is the political arm of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI), which the Modi government banned last September. And the party is confident of splitting the minority votes.

Since 2013, SDPI has been contesting the Assembly elections. Its vote share was 3.2 per cent in that year and rose to 10.5% in the 2018 Assembly elections. It won six wards in the urban local body elections in 2021. Thus, a section of Muslims is shifting to SDPI.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 18:28 [IST]
Three statues and a message from Karnataka BJP

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has visited Karnataka six times this year, with an eye on the upcoming elections.

During his second visit in three days, Shah unveiled the statues of Sardar Patel in Gorta, Bidar, Jagajyoti Basavanna and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda in Bengaluru.

The message from the BJP in the unveiling of these three statues is clear. The party is looking to reach out to several sections in the state. Both Basavanna and Kempe Gowda are the icons of Karnataka's two most dominant castes, the Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

In Karnataka, a litmus test for an Opposition minus the Congress

In Bidar, Shah referred to freedom of the district, which was achieved only after then Union Home Minister, Sardar Patel took a strong stand against the Nizam-ruled state of Hyderabad. Shah said Congress never speaks of the sacrifices made by the people of Gorta.

He said that for a karyakarta like him, it is an emotional moment to recognise the sacrifices of the people of Gorta. They were brutally killed by the cruel Nizam army for unfurling a two and half foot Tricolour, he said.

Today, a 20-foot statue of Sardar Patel Saab has been unveiled in recognition of the efforts made to remove the Nizam from Hyderabad and give freedom to Bidar, Shah added.

Shah also later unveiled the statue of 12 century social reformer Basavanna and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda. The bronze statues of Basavanna and Kempegowda were installed only last week. This is being seen as a move by the BJP to reach out to the dominant Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

Shah said that every legislator who enters the Vidhan Soudha will remember message of social justice and democracy that Jagadguru Basavanna preached. They will also remember the good governance and development that Kempegowda spoke of and practised, Shah added.

Amit Shah hoists 103-ft high tricolour in Bidar

Shah also sent out a message to the people to bring the BJP back to power. There was a slight shortage in your blessings the last time as you gave us only 104 seats. This time I appeal to you to bless us with a majority, Shah said.

He went on to add that the double-engine government led by Narendra Modi will make Karnataka number one. Karnataka does not need a party that is infested with in-fighting with leader vying for the CM's seat. The comment was an obvious dig at the Congress.
In Karnataka, a litmus test for an Opposition minus the Congress

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The K Chandrashekar Rao led, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has decided to back the Janata Dal (Secular) in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections.

A senior leader of the BRS told news agency PTI that they want to ensure that the JD(S) is successful in the elections.

With the backing of the BRS, the JS(S) wants to ensure that it does well in belts where the Telugu speaking people are strong. The JD(S) s looking to shrug its Vokkaliga only image and is reaching out to multiple communities to ensure that it gets more seats in the elections.

Elections in Karnataka are due by May 2023.

Congress introduced 4 per cent Muslim quota for "it's vote bank politics": Amit Shah in Karnataka

The JD(S) has also got the backing of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. She would be campaigning for the JD(S) during the elections.

While on one hand, the JD(S) is looking to expand its outreach in Karnataka, these developments should be seen in the context of the 2024 Parliamentary elections. The Opposition has been trying to regroup to defeat the BJP. However, the difference is that these parties have left the Congress out of its larger plan.

In the 2018 elections, while the BJP has emerged as the single largest party, it was the Congress and JD(S) which went on to form the government. The swearing-in-ceremony of H D Kumaraswamy was attended by almost al Opposition leaders including Congress supremo, Sonia Gandhi.

This time around the Congress has decided to go it alone and the other Opposition parties have left the party out of its larger plans. Not just in Karnataka, but the same can be seen in the national level as well. Most parties feel that if they need to take on a mighty BJP, they have to keep the Congress out of their scheme of things.

The experts say that the issue of Opposition unity has been back and forth. While all parties have stood united and are protesting the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case, it is highly doubtful if they would come together where the elections are concerned.

The Vokkaligas of Karnataka and their tryst with political history

In the previous West Bengal elections, the TMC had not contested in an alliance with the Congress. Even in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) had fought the battle on its own. The JD(S), which had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with the Congress too has decided to go it alone this time.

The results in the Karnataka assembly elections would be a test of how well the Opposition unity would work. It would also be interesting to see how the Opposition minus the Congress would work in the electoral scenario.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 10:38 [IST]
Atiq Ahmed about to reveal some secrets, that's why opposition got him killed: UP minister

'Kahe ka dar?' asks gangster Atiq Ahmed as his convoy enters UP

India

oi-PTI

The convoy of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed being escorted by the Uttar Pradesh police halted briefly in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on early Monday morning before entering Jhansi on its way to Prayagraj, a police official said.

As the convoy halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district and Ahmed, wearing a white turban, got down from the police van to attend nature's call, reporters asked him whether he was "afraid", to which he replied by saying "kahe ka dar" (what fear) before police personnel whisked him away.

Notably, after stepping out of Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, Ahmed expressed fear that he might be murdered.

Atiq Ahmed's convoy enters UP's Jhansi, brother Ashraf escorted to Prayagraj

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," Ahmed had told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel.

Earlier, the carcade, which started from Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, entered Madhya Pradesh from the Rajasthan border in the morning, a police official said.

"It halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district at around 7 AM to enable Ahmed to attend nature's call," said local police officer Manish Kumar Jadoun.

Another police official said Ahmed's convoy left Shivpuri district after a brief halt and entered Jhansi district of UP at around 9 AM.

The gangster is being taken to Prayagraj from Sabarmati central jail by the Uttar Pradesh police for a court case.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there following a Supreme Court after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

I know their programme, they want to kill me: Atiq Ahmed says before being taken to UP from Sabarmati jail

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police had said.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Subrat Pathak had said he would not be surprised if mafia Atiq Ahmed's vehicle overturns like that of gangster Vikas Dubey. Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police shortly after a police SUV in which he was being brought to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh overturned under mysterious circumstances on a highway. Police claimed that he had tried to flee.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 11:05 [IST]
Khalistan elements will spiral further out of control abroad: Intel

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The Khalistan menace is spiralling out of control, with several incidents being reported from across the globe.

While radical Sikh leader, Amritpal Singh continues to evade arrest, there have been incidents in which a journalist has been attached in the United States, by pro-Khalistanis.

India has often complained about certain foreign nations backing pro-Khalistan elements. Due to this issue, the diplomatic relations with Canada in particular have been uncomfortable.

Khalistan movement set to wane, with PM Modi rising it at the highest-level

India has a lodged a protest with both the US and UK over the vandalism of Indian missions and summoned Canadian High Commissioner, Cameron MacKay. The Indian foreign ministry has sought an explanation from the High Commissioner how pro-Khalistan how pro-Khalistan supporters were allowed to do this even in the presence of the police. The explanation was sought after Khalistani elements were seen breaching the security of of the Indian diplomatic mission.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that with the Punjab police upping the ante with the help of the central agencies, these elements would look to further their activities abroad.

The movement has been gaining traction due to proscribed outfits such as the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). These outfits put out propaganda material online, which in turn leads to the radicalisation of Sikhs in India, the official explained. The issue may have not gained much traction in Punjab, but it continues to be a thorn where the International community is concerned.

Another official said that such incidents abroad is likely to increase in the days to come. The fact that the police have managed to keep Amritpal on the run is frustrating these elements.

We are only fighting against Khalistanis but not against the idea of Khalistan

The worry however is the lack of action by the international community. They have very often cited freedom of speech and let these elements flourish. However what they do not realise that these elements are extremely violent by nature and they can create a law and order problem in those countries. The vandalism in Australia, disruption in the Canada, UK and US are all examples of how dangerous these elements are.

While India will be able to control the problem in Punjab, it would have to continue speaking with the International community to keep such elements under check.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 10:57 [IST]
Security tightened in Assam's Dibrugarh as Amritpal to be shifted to prison

Did Amritpal surrender or he was arrested? Here's what Punjab IGP says

Maroon turban, sunglasses and a can: Fresh Amritpal Singh photo surfaces

India

oi-Deepika S

A new picture of radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh has surfaced on social media even as the operation to nab the pro-Khalistani leader entered Day 10.

Amritpal has remained elusive since a Punjab Police crackdown against him and members of his 'Waris Punjab De' began on March 18.

In the picture, both men, sitting atop a truck looked relaxed; Amritpal Singh is seen holding a beverage can. Papalpreet is said to be Amritpal's mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

In the photo, Amritpal is seen wearing a jacket, a maroon turban and sunglasses. Amritpal is also seen holding a can. His companion, sitting beside him, is in a sweatshirt.

Papalpreet Singh, who appears in the picture, is said to be Amritpal Singh's mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

On March 21, the Punjab Police on Tuesday evening released a few pictures of 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh.

"There are several pictures of Amritpal Singh in different attires. We are releasing all of these pictures. I request you display them so that people can help us to arrest him in this case," said Punjab IGP Sukhchain Singh Gill.

On March 25, CCTV footage emerged purportedly showing Amritpal Singh talking on a mobile phone.

The preacher escaped the police dragnet in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.

He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

The Punjab Police on Sunday said it has released 197 people out of 353 till then taken into preventive custody on apprehension of breach of peace and disturbance of law and order.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 21:29 [IST]
SC orders release of UP Secys taken into custody in contempt case

SC must let legislature decide on same sex marriage, says lawyers' bodies

No stay on ED summons issued to BRS leader K Kavitha

India

oi-Prakash KL

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Telangana CM's daughter K Kavita's plea challenging the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the liquor policy case.

A bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi has also tagged her plea, which said that a woman can't be summoned for questioning before ED in office and that her questioning should take place at her residence, with other similar petitions, according to a report in The Times of India.

The matter has been posted for further hearing after three weeks.

On March 15, the top court agreed to hear her plea seeking protection from arrest and challenging the summons issued by the ED. On March 11, the 44-year-old BRS leader deposed before the ED to record her statement and was summoned again on March 16 for questioning.

She was last quizzed for about 10 hours on March 21, which was her third day of deposition before the Enforcement Directorate. However, the BRS leader has denied all allegations against her.

K Kavitha submits all phones as she walks in for 3rd round of ED questioning

The ED had confronted Kavitha with the statements by Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai, who has been arrested in the case, apart from those of a few others allegedly involved in the case, official sources had informed the PTI.

Her statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED has so far arrested 12 people in the case, including former Delhi deputy chief minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia.

It has recorded the statement of Butchi Babu, a chartered accountant allegedly linked to Kavitha, where he said "there was a political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and the deputy chief minister (Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair on March 19-20, 2021."

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.

Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader Kavitha appears before ED

The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered the case under the PMLA.
Not just Film City, a Film Institute too to come up along Yamuna Expressway

India

oi-Prakash KL

Aspiring actors and technicians in Uttar Pradesh will have a film institute to hone their skills in the coming days. It will come up along the Yamuna Expressway.

The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) is allotting 5.5 acre of land for setting up the film institute under the institutional category in Sector 22E. It has to be noted that the UP government has already allotted 1,000 acre for the Film City which will be just 6 km from the upcoming international airport in Jewar.

"One plot of over 5 acre has been reserved for the film training institute. With Film City in the vicinity, there is a need to have such a facility that can teach students video editing, documentary filmmaking and dubbing among other technical aspects. The plot will be allotted through e-auction," The Times of India quoted YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh as saying.

YEIDA introduces OTS policy

Meanwhile, YEIDA has extended the last date of application for investments in its film city from February 28 to March 31. "The extension was done on the request of prospective bidders," an official, who wished not to be quoted, told Moneycontrol.

According to CEO Singh, companies such as Sony has shown interest in the project which will come up in Sector 21. This is said to be a pet project of Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.

"We have floated a global tender for the film city. It is coming up in Sector 21 and we have received many queries from big guns like Sony, Fox, Universal," he told the website in an interview. He is hoping that some big companies will take part in the bidding process.

"Only when they apply will we be able to know because the tender system is such that you cannot know the name before opening the bids. So we are waiting for that, but we hope that some big companies will come," Singh said.

By 2024, the first phase of the project is expected to be ready while the final phase is expected to be over by 2029.

Eyeing Rs 4,450 crore, YEIDA to offer OTS scheme for recovering dues

The Film City offers a number of features, including pre- and post-production facilities, as well as film tourism. The project aims at creating a state-of-the-art film and media infrastructure that includes film studios, sound stages, post-production facilities, outdoor shooting locations and other supporting facilities such as hotels, restaurants and recreational areas.

It will also have space for creative media art production, music dubbing studios, editing studios, VFX studios, movie premiere arenas, film festival arenas, a film museum and a theme park. The project is expected to attract both domestic and international filmmakers and production houses, thereby boosting the growth of the Indian film and media industry.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 19:33 [IST]
Why the Nagaland assembly is set to be opposition free for the first time

Opposition to continue protest against govt in black clothes today

India

oi-Deepika S

Opposition parties will continue to stage protest wearing black clothes in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premise.

The decision was made during a dinner meet of Opposition parties at Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg, residence.

Opposition parties stepped up their offensive against the government and observed a "black day for democracy" on Monday, three days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.

Gandhi was disqualified from Parliament on March 24, a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a Surat court which also gave a two-year sentence to him. Dressed in black, opposition MPs created a ruckus in both Houses of Parliament and forced their adjournment.

They later staged a protest in the Parliament Complex and took out a march to the Vijay Chowk, raising slogans against the government over Gandhi's disqualification and on the Adani issue.

The BJP condemned the ruckus created by the Opposition in Parliament and accused the Congress of resorting to "low-level politics" in its bid to justify Gandhi's remarks against the OBC community.

Later in the evening, leaders of 18 opposition parties attended a strategy meeting at Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and discussed the way forward. Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were also present in the meeting.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said they did not attend the meeting in protest against Rahul Gandhi's "unacceptable" remarks against V D Savarkar.

Leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Bharat Rashtra Samithi attended the meeting, which was followed by a dinner.

Attacking the Congress, Union minister Piyush Goyal questioned the party MPs' behaviour as they turned up in Parliament wearing black clothes and created a ruckus in both Houses. "Look at the behaviour. For the first time in several years, they (Congress MPs) tore papers and threw those at the Chair. The speaker repeatedly says he wants to run the House and that he would give everybody a chance (to speak)," Goyal said.

He said the Congress and other opposition parties are indulging in indecent behaviour in Parliament, "leaving no other option for the Chair but to adjourn the proceedings". "The BJP vehemently condemns the efforts being made by their (Congress) leaders to insult the speaker and the chairman of the two Houses again and again," Goyal said, asking, "For how long will the Congress do this low-level politics?"

with PTI inputs
How Atiq's wife Shaista, daughter of a cop, went on to turn most-wanted?

Police vehicle carrying Atiq Ahmed almost turns turtle, hits cow

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

A vehicle with the convoy of the police shifting gangster Atiq Ahmed to Uttar Pradesh narrowly escaped overturning as it hit a cow as it passed through the Shivpuri area in Uttar Pradesh.

The convoy was en route to Prayagraj from Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad when the incident took place.

Report said that the cow died on the spot following the accident.

The convoy with Atiq Ahmed was passing through the Kharai checkpoint in Shivpuri, when a cow suddenly came in front. The collision was so intense that the cow died on the spot. The van almost flipped, following which the entire convoy paused for a short period of time before it proceeded to Prayagraj.

'Kahe ka dar?' asks gangster Atiq Ahmed as his convoy enters UP

The incident took place just a while after the convoy had stopped for a break.

Ahmed had remarked prior to undertaking the 1,200 kilometre journey in a police van that he was concerned about being killed by the UP police team in an encounter.

"I know their programme, they want to murder me," he had said.

Netizens were however amused and shared memes about a possible encounter of the gangster at the hands of the Uttar Pradesh police. Given that gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in a police encounter, after he had tried to escape police custody, social media users joked that the deceased has been waiting in anticipation of Atiq Ahmed in heaven.

Responding to the UP police's car turning turtle DGP Devendra Singh Chauhan said, "our cars don't turn turtle, the accused do. Ahmed will be produced before the court in the 2006 case."

Atiq Ahmed is expected to also be questioned in the Umesh Pal murder case.

Police convoy carrying Atiq Ahmed to reach Prayarag in evening

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Phulpur was lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there from his home state on the directions of the Supreme Court.

In April 2019, the Supreme Court had directed that Atiq Ahmed to be shifted to the high-security jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnap and assault of a real estate businessman, Mohit Jaiswal. He is named in over 100 cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, the police said.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 14:57 [IST]
SC orders release of UP Secys taken into custody in contempt case

SC must let legislature decide on same sex marriage, says lawyers' bodies

SC to hear Lakshadweep MPs plea on revoking status

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list a fresh petition filed by Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal seeking permission to attend the Lok Sabha after his conviction had been stayed.

The petition was filed by Faizal challenging the refusal of the Lok Sabha Secretariat to withdraw the decision to disqualify him, even his conviction had been stayed by the Kerala High Court.

The matter was mentioned by senior advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who sought urgent listing. He said that the Supreme Court has refused to stay the Kerala High Court's order which had suspended Faizal's conviction. Despite that the Lok Sabha Secretariat has not revoked his disqualification, Singhvi submitted.

Pawan Khera apologises for old 'tapasya' tweet after Rahul loses Lok Sabha seat

Even though the Supreme Court refused to stay the order of the High Court, which set aside the conviction, he has still not been reinstated in the House, Singhvi said.

He addd that the petition filed by the Lakshadweep Administration against the High Court's order is coming up before a Bench led by Justice K M Joseph on Tuesday.

The Chief Justice of India, before who the matter was mentioned, agreed to the list the petition on Tuesday.

On January 11 2023, a Sessions Court in Lakshwadweep convicted NCP MP, Faizal and three others to ten years imprisonment in an attempt to murder case, that took place in 2009. Following the conviction, Faizal was disqualified and the Election Commission of India announced by-polls.

On January 25, the conviction was suspended by the Kerala High Court.

While staying the conviction, the Kerala High Court had expressed concerns about the wasteful expenditure of a by-poll, especially when the term of the Lok Sabha is set to expire in one and half years. The court also took note of the fact that no dangerous weapons were found to have been used by the accused in the case. The wound certificates did not indicate any serious injuries, the Kerala High Court had noted.

'Appreciate it and thank PM Modi': Shatrughan Sinha on Rahul's disqualification

Following the suspension of the conviction, the Election Commission of India decided not to go ahead with the by-elections.

The Lakshadweep Administration had approached the Supreme Court challenging the order of the High Court. A Bench comprising Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagaratna refused to stay the order of the Kerala HC.
The delay in Rahul Gandhi filing an appeal is procedural

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi is yet to file an appeal in the defamation case, in which he was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail.

On Thursday, a Magistrate Court in Surat, Gujarat convicted him after it held him guilty of making defamatory comments. A defamation case had been filed against Rahul Gandhi for his remark, 'everyone with the Modi surname is a thug.'

"When someone of an MP level addresses common people, the intensity of crime increases. If he is given lesser punishment, it gives out a wrong message to society that anyone can say anything and get away with it without consequences. Hence, keeping in mind everything, the accused is given two years imprisonment and is asked to pay a fine," the court had observed in its judgment.

Pawan Khera apologises for old 'tapasya' tweet after Rahul loses Lok Sabha seat

Four days have gone by since the order was passed, but Rahul Gandhi is yet to file an appeal against his conviction.

Senior journalist, Pallavi Ghosh took to Twitter and said that the real reason why the appeal has not been filed is procedural.

"Sources on why Congress is yet to file an appeal n court on the conviction. Delay is procedural, order copy being translated from Gujarat which is taking time. Detailed response soon," she wrote on Twitter.

Sources on why congress has yet to file appeal in court on the conviction -  delay is procedural , order copy being translated from Gujarati which taking time.. detailed response soon  pallavi ghosh (@_pallavighosh) March 27, 2023

Many on Twitter found the delay amusing. 'Google translator would have given the gist. They didn't have a local lawyer till now,' asked one user.

Another asked, 'Congress can't translate instantly? Wow,' wrote another user. One more said that they wanted to milk the opportunity to use the victim card.

In a rare show of strength, TMC joins Rahul 'black shirt' protest

Following the order, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha. Under Section 8(3) of the Representation of People Act, any MP, MLA or MLC convicted for an offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of conviction.

This meant that the Congress leader stood disqualified from being an MP on March 23, the day the order was passed. Owing to the RP Act and his conviction of two years, Rahul Gandhi cannot contest an election for eight years unless his conviction is stayed or set aside by a higher court.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 14:49 [IST]
In a rare show of strength, TMC joins Rahul 'black shirt' protest

India

oi-Prakash KL

Taking a tactical U-turn, Trinamool Congress (TMC) attended a meeting of opposition parties convened by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge in his office in the Parliament building on Monday.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Congress Party in Rajya Sabha, had called the meeting to discuss floor coordination and chalk out a strategy for their fight in the House over issues like Adani row and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.

After refusing to come under the umbrella of a unified Opposition led by Congress for long, two TMC MPs participated in the meeting. The TMC, which has been maintaining a safe distance from Congress so far, was represented by its two MPs - Jawhar Sircar and Prasun Banerjee - in the meeting.

As the showdown in Parliament continues, like-minded parties met at the Kharge's office in the Parliament building. Leaders of DMK, SP, JDU, BRS, CPM, RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, RSP, AAP, JKNC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) were also present in the meeting.

The logjam continued in Parliament on Monday as the Opposition demands a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Adani issue while the Treasury Benches are demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his 'anti-India' speech in the UK.

TMC and SP joining the meeting has come as a surprise TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as well as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had said recently that they would maintain equal distance from BJP and Congress.

"We will maintain equal distance from the Congress and BJP... Mamata Banerjee will hold dialogues with parties that are capable of defeating BJP in their respective States. She will meet Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on March 23," Hindustan Times quoted TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay as saying.

"She will also meet leaders of other parties when she visits Delhi in the last week of March or early-April. Congress should not feel that they are the big boss of the Opposition front," he had added.

Congress welcomes TMC support

Speaking to the media, Kharge thanked the opposition parties, including the TMC, which have come out in support of Congress after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Member of Lok Sabha.
Why private doctors are opposing Rajasthans Right To Health Bill?

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

By Sanjeev Kumar Nayak

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is observing Monday as 'black day' in protest against the Right To Health Bill, 2022, passed in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly last week, after the incumbent Ashok Gehlot government outrightly rejected the demand of the private doctors to withdraw it.

After passage of the landmark Bill, Rajasthan became the first State to ensure the Right to Health under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Bill finally approved by the Assembly is quite different from the original one which was introduced in the House in September last year, though the basics remain unchanged.

After apprehensions were raised over some provisions of the Bill, it was referred to a select committee and many amendments were effected as per the recommendations of the committee as well as following many rounds of discussions with IMA and other stake-holders. But later, IMA and other private doctor's outfits demanded complete withdrawal of the Bill, hence the stand-off.

When Rahul Gandhi trashed a Bill to save convicted politicians

The provisions

The Bill has a total of 20 rights mentioned in it. Most importantly, it provides that every resident of Rajasthan will have the right to emergency treatment and care for an accidental emergency "without prepayment" of requisite fees or charges even in private hospitals and if the patient does not pay up, the "government will reimburse" them.

The Bill also has the provision for the right to have adequate relevant information about the nature and cause of illness. Moreover, it provides for a fine of up to Rs 10,000 for the first contravention of any provisions of the Bill and up to Rs 25,000 for the subsequent contraventions.

This way, the legislation is very pro-people in the sense that it makes access to healthcare a legal entitlement of every citizen and neither government nor private hospitals, not even private doctors, can refuse to render their services to a person seeking emergency treatment.

Why the opposition?

And this is precisely what making the private doctors and medical entities jittery about the Bill as they fear that it will make them "vulnerable". They are quite "uncomfortable" with many of the provisions of the Bill as they hurt their interest (read 'vested interest').

Stage set for theaterisation of military as govt introduces Bill in Lok Sabha

In most cases, it is seen that doctors force patients to buy medicines from in-house pharmacies or from a particular medical shop 'hinted' by them. They also ask their patients to get the tests recommended by them done from in-house or particular pathology laboratories and diagnostic centres. But under this Bill, patients have the right to choose where to procure the medicines or get a test done.

As for redressal of grievances, the Bill envisions the creation of district health authorities and a state health authority, which can inspect hospitals and clinics on the basis of the complaints received. These authorities will also formulate guidelines to implement the law and advise the government on treatment protocol too.

This provision comes as a major hindrance in the way the doctors and the hospitals are running their affairs as any violation will not only attract heavy penalties but also hit their reputation. These are the main reasons, among many others, why the private doctors are squirming over passage of the Bill and fighting tooth and nail to get it withdrawn.
YEIDA introduces OTS policy

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

In a major relief to plot allottees, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has brought a one-time settlement (OTS) policy for defaulting allottees of industrial, institutional, and residential plots in its area.

The policy was introduced in February 2021 to help recover dues from allottees who have defaulted on their payments for their plots. The scheme allows the allottees to settle their outstanding dues by paying a lump sum amount, which is lower than the actual amount due. It is applicable to allottees who have defaulted on payments for more than six months and are willing to settle their dues voluntarily.

Under the OTS policy, the YEIDA has waived off interest and penalties on the outstanding dues, which in some cases can be significant. The policy also provides an opportunity for defaulting allottees to regularize their plots and avoid cancellation of their allotment.

Eyeing Rs 4,450 crore, YEIDA to offer OTS scheme for recovering dues

The YEIDA has stated that the OTS policy is a one-time opportunity for defaulting allottees to clear their dues and avoid legal action by the authority. The policy is expected to help the YEIDA recover significant amounts of outstanding dues, which can be used for the development of the area and its infrastructure.

The CEO of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority said, "After we gave a presentation about the investment options available in areas around the Noida International Greenfield Airport project along the Yamuna Expressway, many businessmen signed memorandums of understanding totalling Rs 6,300 crore. We have invited businessmen interested in investing in Uttar Pradesh to visit the region and set up their businesses. We hope that the visit will help attract investors to this region."

YEIDA Chief Executive Arun Vir Singh, who is also the CEO of Noida International Airport Ltd (NIAL), said it received 2,593 applications and it will bring in revenues of Rs 416 crore. And by offering rebate over the compounded amount, the authority will pass on benefits amounting to Rs 350 crore to the plot owners.

Good news for daily commuters! YEIDA starts bus service to link villages near airport

Out of the 38,000 allottees who had taken units along the Yamuna Expressway, the scheme was introduced to cater to 32,000 allottees. The authority officials said that several industrial allottees and residential allottees, who could not be offered land due to legal issues, have been offered zero period benefits in the past, and did not avail the OTS scheme.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 19:28 [IST]
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2 people injured in a shooting incident at California Gurudwara; hate crime ruled out

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Two people were injured in a shooting at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California on Monday. However, Police ruled out any hate crime and said that it was a shootout between two men who knew each other.

As per the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, the shooting is not related to a hate crime, it is a shootout between two men who knew each other.

"Two people shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California. Both of the victims are in critical condition. The shooting is not related to a hate crime, it is a shootout between two men who knew each other," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. Both the victims are in a critical condition, it added.

According to the Sacramento County Department of Transportation, the Sacramento Sikh Society was hosting a Nagar Kirtan Parade that closed roads in the area from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The Sacramento County Sheriffs Office says two people were shot at a Sikh temple in the Sacramento area. This happened during a huge celebration here today. pic.twitter.com/JLvOT6oPUI  Lysee Mitri (@LyseeMitri) March 26, 2023

Earlier on August 25, 2022, two gunmen had opened fire during a morning prayer service, killing two people and injuring several others at a gurdwara in California.

The shooting was immediately condemned by leaders from all communities, including political leaders, religious leaders, and civil rights activists. The Sikh community in California and across the United States expressed shock and grief over the attack.

In the aftermath of the shooting, there have been calls for increased security at gurdwaras and other places of worship, as well as for greater efforts to combat hate and bigotry in our society.

The Sikh community has also emphasized the need for increased awareness and education about Sikhism and Sikh values, in order to promote greater understanding and tolerance.
Israel prez urges PM Netanyahu to halt judicial overhaul after widespread protest

International

oi-PTI

Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately halt his controversial judicial overhaul, warning that the move has put the country's security, economy and society under threat.

Herzog's remarks came after Prime Minister Netanyahu sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing his judicial reforms, sparking widespread street protests. The president also called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

"Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes. I appeal to the Prime Minister, members of the Government, and members of the Coalition: there are harsh and painful feelings. The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," Herzog said.

"Our security, economy, society - all are under threat. The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish People are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you," the ceremonial president in a statement.

"For the sake of the unity of the People of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately," he emphasised. He urged all the leaders in power to place country's citizens above all else.

"I appeal to the leaders of all Knesset factions, Coalition and Opposition alike, to place this country's citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay. Wake up now! This is not a political moment; this is a moment for leadership and responsibility," the president asserted.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel last night after Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Gallant after he said on Saturday evening that the judicial overhaul "poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state".

Irked by the televised speech given by Gallant, the Prime Minister's Office in a terse statement on Sunday evening said that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening (Sunday, 26 March 2023), to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant".

The announcement led to spontaneous unprecedented outburst of anger against the prime minister. An unconfirmed Channel 12 report said that 600,000-700,000 Israelis were demonstrating late on Sunday across the country, with protests reported from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest sparked by Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposals to shake up the judiciary by severely curbing the High Court of Justice's judicial review powers and the government's efforts to cement political control over the appointment of judges has met with resistance not only in the streets of the country but also abroad with thousands of Jewish diaspora members protesting during Netanyahu's visits to Italy, Germany and the UK.

The protests have alarmed business leaders, former security chiefs and drawn concern from Israel's close allies, including the United States. The country has also seen economic disruption with talk of "flight of capital" and hi-tech leaders and firms.

Arnon Bar-David, the head of Israel's largest labour federation Histadrut, on Monday announced a "historic" labour strike in an attempt to "stop the madness" of the government's controversial judicial overhaul.

"We are all worried about Israel's fate," Bar-David says. "Together we say, enough! We have lost our way - this is not about left or right. We can no longer polarise the nation," the union head was quoted as saying in The Times of Israel newspaper. Bar-David said the strike will begin as soon as on Monday if Prime Minister Netanyahu does not announce a halt to the judicial overhaul.

Israel's main airport Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday announced an immediate halt to all departing flights, minutes after the head of the Histadrut announces the "historic" labour strike. The National Student and Youth Council, representing high school and middle school students, declared a nationwide strike to start from Monday morning.

The council has called for "halting the [overhaul] legislation and starting negotiations immediately". There were unconfirmed reports in the Hebrew media that Netanyahu is expected to make an announcement this morning. He has been holding meetings with political allies for most of the night. There has been no formal confirmation on this.

As protests intensified accompanied by an unforeseen display of anger, some Likud ministers relented, beginning to show their willingness to compromise. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Protest organisers, mostly common people with no declared political affiliation, continued to push for further demonstrations on Monday. Political analysts see the development as a "grassroots movement" beyond the control of any political formation.

The opposition though has been fully supportive and participating in the protests. Legislation, which many argue is aimed at establishing executive's supremacy over judiciary, making it subservient to the government, is slated to come for the final readings this week in the Knesset.

With the government unrelenting and moving ahead with the "reforms", the protests have also been peaking and the country seems somewhat paralysed. Internal differences within Israeli society have also intensified recently with the country looking broadly divided in two large blocs over the question of judicial overhaul.

Though the current governing coalition has committed to several controversial legislation, the biggest debate revolves around its push to increase political control over the judiciary.

Three key proposals being discussed are a move to legislate an "override clause" by which the Knesset can reinstate any law invalidated by the Supreme Court, put judicial appointments under political control as opposed to the current hybrid political-professional-judicial appointments panel, and to split the role of the Attorney General as both the head of the state prosecution and the government's legal adviser.

Analysts feel that the controversial steps proposed emanate from the desire to protect Netanyahu, who is facing trial in three different cases, but altogether it serves the interest of all those included in the coalition in some way addressing each party's concerns.

Seen at the receiving end of international ire, including a rebuke from US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu has looked weak and perplexed but also hesitant to step back from the proposed "reforms" because of fear of backlash within his ruling Likud party.

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Story first published: Monday, March 27, 2023, 15:30 [IST]
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Tens of thousands of Israelis have shut down Tel Aviv in an escalation of protests against a controversial plan to overhaul the country's judiciary.
Some parts of Twitters source code _ the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs _ were leaked online. The social media company disclosed the leak in a legal filing on Sunday. According to the legal document filed with the U.S. District Court of Northern District of California, Twitter asked the platform GitHub to take down the code where it was posted. GitHub, an internet hosting service for software development, complied. Twitter also asked the court to identify the alleged infringer or infringers who posted Twitters source code on systems operated by GitHub without Twitters authorization. The news was first reported by the New York Times.
The grain export deal struck last July between Russia and Ukraine is due to expire on March 18. Food security experts and organizations say it is essential that the deal is renewed.
Press Release

March 27, 2023 Pia: we must do our best to provide competitive salaries for our healthcare personnel, close the gap in our need for more doctors, nurses, and other allied medical professionals Highlights of Senator Pia S. Cayetano's opening remarks at the public inquiry of the Senate Committee on SDGs, Innovation, and Futures Thinking (SDGIFT) Thank you for joining us today. This is the public hearing of the Committee on SDGs, Innovation, and Futures Thinking. It is now called to order. In today's hearing, we will discuss Senate Resolution No. 536, which I filed together with the Majority Floor Leader, Sen. Joel Villanueva. The title of the resolution is: Resolution urging the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation, and Futures Thinking to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the status of human resources for health in the Philippines. We have a list of resource persons here. And I will acknowledge them as I call on them to speak. And I'd just like to give a short opening statement. The Committee is hearing this because there are overlapping concerns here. This is not just a simple labor question. Obviously, we have a commitment to ensure or do our best so that we can keep improving the health systems in our country. And so that's SDG 3, Good Health and Wellbeing. And then there is SDG 8, on Decent Work and Economic Growth. We want our health workers and all those involved in the health sector to have decent work and that it contributes to economic growth. To be clear, our provision in the existing law, the [Universal Health Care] Act, states that, "RA 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act mandates that the Department of Health, together with other stakeholders shall ensure the formulation and implementation of a national health human resource master plan that will provide policy and strategies for the appropriate generation, recruitment, retraining, regulation, retention, and reassessment of health workforce based on population health needs, and to ensure continuity in the provision of health programs and services. All health professionals and healthcare workers shall be guaranteed permanent employment and competitive salaries." Let me stop there on that last phrase, "competitive salaries." It is a reality that our human health resources, from our doctors, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists, and many others, our scientists, are pretty much in demand all over the world. They are amazing at their jobs. They are well trained. And they have very bright futures in other countries. And, what we want to ensure here in the discussion is that we are mindful of their right to explore greener pastures, but we would really like the Philippines to be a pasture that they are also content and happy with. I think that is what our goal should really be. Libre naman lahat. Kahit naman ako, nung after college, nag-explore din naman akong mag-aral at magtrabaho sa ibang bansa. It's just a thing that I think young people want to do. But in my case, as a lawyer, as a future lawyer, nag-decide ako na my future is in the Philippines. Pero for health workers, maganda talaga ang future din nila, ang offer sa kanila sa ibang bansa. So this is what I'd like to start with. I know there will be lots of solutions. This is not just going to be the only hearing. There will be more hearings and technical working groups and consultations. There will be many solutions offered. And the Senate has done its part, Congress has done its part. We've heard different... of course the UHC Act itself is instrumental because it allowed... it provides a more, better career path in the sense that there is more funding for healthcare. So kahit ang mga doktor and other health professionals have earned a better living because of the laws that we've passed. From the Sin Tax Law, which requires that the proceeds go to the implementation of the UHC, and health facilities. Eh may doktor ka nga, wala naman siyang pagtatrabahuhan, wala namang health facilities, no? And also medical assistance. So we have laws that we've passed that will improve healthcare. Let me mention another law, Doktor Para sa Bayan, my co-sponsor in this resolution, Sen. Joel and I, both worked and continue to work on the passage of that law, and now on the implementation. But this is what I'd like to point out, when I say na "maraming possible solutions." So one solution, Doktor Para sa Bayan, precisely was to really encourage more students to take up the profession of becoming a medical doctor by having more schools available to them in different provinces, and by supporting these schools. Because gusto nga mag-doktor, ang layo naman sa kanila and congested na sa Metro Manila, wala nang chance na madagdagan pa yung capacity nila to absorb more students. So wala rin. So this law addresses that. But what I'd like to point out is something that some consider sensitive and difficult to discuss, but we have to have these difficult conversations. Asaan ba ang need? Do we need more doctors, more nurses, more of those to enter the allied professions? I humbly submit that we need all, we need all. Nagkataon lang na ang batas na napasa is Doktor Para sa Bayan. But in the budget, and I handled the budget of both education and health, we've included provisions that will support enrollments in these other allied professions. But that's what we need to discuss, kasi nasaan ba ang mga gaps? And ano bang profession ang kailangan natin i-tweak? Can we have the political will to change curriculums so that we can adapt to the need? So hindi na manggagaling sa akin. I will wait for it to come from the experts themselves. Kasi marami talaga akong narinig na solutions, including expanding the role of nurses na maging nurse practitioner, and so on and so forth. So let's explore that because at the end of the day, we need to choose the best solutions and we need to act now. So I will leave it at that. Let me just put on record that my colleague, Sen. Joel Villanueva, has his opening statement, which he said to insert in the record. But allow me to just highlight a few things: In July 2018, Sen. Joel co-sponsored the Universal Health Care for all Filipinos Act, and then this became RA 11223. And he emphasizes that currently, there is only one physician attending to the needs of an entire municipality with, say 20-30 barangays. So this is the sad reality that we are faced with. And as I mentioned, we passed the Doktor Para sa Bayan during the pandemic, with the desire to address that gap that we have. As of December 2021, the current ratio for doctors has improved to 3.7 per 10,000 population, compared to 2.6 at the time we were deliberating this. So let me just quote, " Thus, we cannot stress enough how important this hearing is largely because of the unprecedented nature of health emergencies and pandemics. We must devote all the time and efforts, and even the scarce resources that we can muster, because this issue is a matter of life and death." So I am inserting this entire speech of Sen. Joel Villanuebva into the record. So on that note, we can proceed with our hearing. And one last administrative detail. Many of you are familiar faces. But for those who are new, I have some rules. I'd like this to be interactive. So speak candidly. Huwag niyo na ho akong basahan ng speech kasi pwede naman akong magbasa kapag hindi na tayo magkasama. I would prefer that you highlight the key points in your speech so that I can focus on it another time. But while we are here, I want you to really just emphasize the key points that you would like us to be aware of. This hearing is online so the other senators will be able to watch it any other time. Also, although maiksi lang itong hearing because unfortunately, I have a very busy schedule today, when I have to cut it at 3 o'clock sharp, rest assured that there will be more time for interaction. And, I think that was it. As much as I want it to be as interactive as possible, and I will try to accommodate quick remarks to any statement, I may not be as interactive as I'd like it to be just given that today is really tight. But I wanted to be sure that we could start this very important discussion so that while we are not in session for the entire month of April, we can work on it and hopefully when we resume, baka may ma-sponsor na tayo. Okay? Alright. So let us start. And by the way, you are free to stand up anytime for a mobility break and hindi nga mahaba, but if you need to go to the CR, I am not strict about it. I will tell you who's next, so that makaka-ready kayo. Otherwise, feel free. And also we don't have PET bottles here, so we have supposedly... We are supposed to have a water dispenser. Can I just ask the page to ask who wants water so we can give them water pero no PET bottles please. So we are ready to start. As I said, I will mention those present as we go along... We do have an international expert with us so with your indulgence, everyone, I appreciate the technology that allows us to speak... to invite international experts. So let's call him, this is Professor Sohail Inayatullah, who has so kindly graced my hearings in the past. Professor Sohail is UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity. Sohail, you have the floor, please go ahead. Caption: Chairing the Senate inquiry on the state of the country's human resources for healthcare, Senator Pia S. Cayetano emphasized that aside from ensuring that there are enough doctors and nurses, the government must also work to fill the personnel gap for other allied medical professions.
The White House has urged Israel "to find a compromise as soon as possible" after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for objecting to judicial reforms, triggering widespread protests.
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Tens of thousands of protesters have flocked to Tel Aviv and cities across Israel to express their opposition to Prime Minister..
The workers threatened to paralyze the economy while protesting against the prime minister's plan to overhaul the judiciary.
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Residents of the small Russian town of Kireyevsk expressed shock and anger on Monday that an alleged Ukrainian drone had been downed over their houses, bringing down roofs and ceilings and putting their lives in danger.
Much has been written about the bravery and tenacity of the British Indian Army in the Mesopotamia Campaign (1914-18) and how its role was instrumental in the Allies defeating the Ottoman Empire in Mesopotamia.

Civilians from India also went to the region to aid in non-combatant roles such as the building of the Basra-Baghdad Railway.

The bulk of the people involved in the campaign were those from so-called martial races such as Punjabis, Pathans, Marathas and Rajputs, but those of us with roots in Kerala have been told stories of family members being involved in one of the World Wars. Unfortunately, its only those who families were already part of the economic and intellectual elite at the time of independence who have documented details of their relatives who were involved in history-making events. For families that started from scratch to survive economically, such stories were buried in the rush of life. Newspaper archives in the most unlikely places, though, bring forgotten facts back to life.

A Palakkad Iyer in Baghdad

The Malaya Tribune, a daily newspaper that existed between 1914 and 1951 and was published simultaneously in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang and Singapore, carried a small but interesting article with a May 6, 1918, Palghat dateline.

Headlined Indians in Mesopotamia, it is about a young man from Palakkad who was given an important posting in Baghdad (then spelt Bagdad). Intimation has been received here that Mr P U Narayana Iyer, B A of Palghat, has been appointed the first Commissioner of the District of Bagdad in the conquered province on a salary of Rs 750 a month, the paper said. For 1918 that was indeed a very good salary for what definitely would have been considered a hardship posting in a country that was ravaged by a war.

It is not clear what the paper meant when it said Iyer was a young man on this side of thirty. A graduate of the University of Madras, he was obviously fluent in English. From the time that Indian army units went to Basra and beyond, many civilians looking for opportunities also went to Mesopotamia. He was one of the earliest to volunteer in the non-combatant section of the Field Service in Mesopotamia and when the enemy country was brought under civil administration, he was taken on in the superior grade of service, the paper added.

Narayana Iyer was obviously a brave young man who shunned the customs and beliefs from within his community that he was forbidden from crossing the ocean. It must have been a matter of great pride for Iyers family that he received such an appointment after living in Mesopotamia during a World War. The fact that this made the news in Malaya surely meant that it was published in Indian newspapers at that time.

Unfortunately, there is absolutely no further information about Iyer in the public domain. The British Archives probably have more on the activities of this civil servant. Theres no clarity about what happened to documents from the post-World War 1 period in Baghdad, when the US and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003.

What is known about this period is the fact there were some in British-Indian colonial circles who toyed with the ludicrous idea of attaching parts of modern-day Iraq to British India and resettling Indians there as a mark of gratitude for supporting the war effort. Similarly absurd proposals were made (and rejected) even for parts of East Africa.

A revolt against British policies in Iraq began as early as 1920 and Iraqis resisted the British Administration that held sway over the country until independence in 1932.

In modern day Iraq, the role played by Indians in building the Basra-Baghdad railroad is celebrated and there is a genuine warmth for those Indians who lived in the country after the First World War. This was something that culminated into a good diplomatic relationship after both countries became independent. As for Narayana Iyer, one can only hope that his surviving family members or descendants come forward and help us piece the puzzle of his interesting and extraordinary life.

(The author is a multilingual writer, primarily based in Mumbai.)
Bhopal: Namibian cheetah Sasha died due to a kidney ailment on Monday, a top forest department official said. The big cat died after she was translocated along with seven other big cats to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) from the African country over six months ago.

The death of the more than four-and-a-half years old female feline is being seen as a setback to Project Cheetah, aimed at reviving the population of the world's fastest land animal in India, seven decades after they became extinct. Eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia in mid-September last year and housed in the KNP in Sheopur district.

Sasha died because of a kidney ailment which she was suffering from even before her translocation from Namibia, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF-Wildlife) JS Chauhan told PTI. "A monitoring team found Sasha lazy on March 22, following which they decided to take her to a quarantine enclosure for treatment," he said.

The wild animal's blood sample was collected the same day and examined. A wildlife expert armed with a portable ultrasound machine went inside the KNP to examine the ailing cheetah and it was found that Sasha's kidneys were infected, said Chauhan.

Later, senior Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientists and KNP management contacted the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Namibia, to know the treatment history of Sasha. They found that in her last blood sample, collected on August 15, 2022, (a month before being translocated to KNP), the animal's creatinine level was 400 (an indicator of poor kidney function), he said.

The high creatinine level clearly established that the feline was suffering from a kidney ailment even before she was translocated to the KNP, Chauhan said in a statement. Namibian wildlife experts and KNP veterinary doctors worked hard day and night to cure Sasha, but the animal did not survive, the forest official said. The seven other cheetahs are doing well. Among these seven, three male and a female were released in the park's open forest area and they are "totally healthy, active and hunting in a normal manner", the statement said.

Twelve cheetahs brought to the KNP from South Africa last month are at present housed in a quarantine enclosure and they are healthy and active, it added. The eight Namibian cheetahs - five female and three male - were released into their enclosures at the KNP on September 17 at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The last cheetah died in India in Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the fastest land animal was declared extinct in the country in 1952.

(With inputs from PTI)
Kathmandu: India on Monday has requested the Nepal government not to allow fugitive radical preacher and 'Waris Punjab De' leader Amritpal Singh, who is believed to be hiding in Nepal, to flee to a third country. The country has also sought his arrest if he attempts to escape using an Indian passport or any other fake passport, a media report said on Monday.

In a letter sent to the Department of Consular Services on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has requested the government agencies to arrest Singh if he tries to flee from Nepal, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

There was no immediate confirmation about the letter from the Indian mission here.

"Singh is currently hiding in Nepal," the paper said, citing a copy of the letter obtained by it.

"The esteemed ministry is requested to inform the Department of Immigration not to permit Amritpal Singh to travel through Nepal for any third country and arrest him if he attempts to escape from Nepal using Indian Passport or any other fake passport under intimation to this mission, it said.

The letter and Singh's personal details have been circulated to all the concerned agencies from hotels to airlines, the paper said, citing multiple sources.

Singh, who is said to be possessing multiple passports with different identities, has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him.

The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district. Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has directed all security agencies to be on high alert in the Nepal-India border area.

Citing ministry sources, My Republica newspaper said that the instruction was given at the request of Indian security officials and the Nepal-India border area has been kept on 'high alert' for two days. Quoting sources, the report said that police in plain clothes have stepped up vigilance in the border area as Singh could enter the country from Kapilvastu in Western Nepal.

(With inputs from PTI)
Who doesn't like Congresswoman Katie Porter and her whiteboards?

Ms Porter is a member of the US House of Representatives, from California's 47th district, and she's recently announced her intention to run for the Senate, taking aim at the seat that will be vacated by Diane Feinstein in 2024.

Her style of politics is a little different from what voters have been force-fed over the last few election cycles. A progressive without the bluster, so to speak. No shouting, no screaming, no dangerous nonsense. Just thoughtful, evidence-based arguments in the down-home tenor of a working single mom. Since announcing her campaign, Representative Porter has been sending out folksy emails every day or so, reminding voters who she is and what she stands for, and they read as if she were chatting with friends. In one, she offers to share recipes for home-cooked meals, including "grandma Doris's meatballs"; in another, she jokes about conversations she and her kids have over which pizza is better, hers or take away. Talk about a "kitchen debate." It's a smart approach, one that has appeal across the political spectrum, especially to those deep blue voters who dominate her state. Sympathy and solidarity with a personal touch.

The pitch is to present Ms Porter as a regular person, someone who not only understands the challenges of managing a family while living pay check to pay check, but who has the courage to legislate with those challenges in mind. Videos of her publicly humiliating high-minded corporate cheats are a master class in congressional oversight, whiteboard justice in real time, each one of them squirming, fumbling, fuming, dissembling, alternating between stupid and snarky, like frat boys who got caught cheating. It's not just good theater. Holding crooks and fraudsters accountable while keeping a close eye on the public purse are what the federal gov't ought to be doing. Or, as she writes in one of her emails, "standing up to the status quo and corporate special interests." It's the reason for having a federal gov't in the first place: to manage the country's affairs in such a way as to advance the health and well-being of all its citizens, not just a privileged few. Good for Ms Porter.

Then again, there's her record.

She is a reliable vote for the kinds of legislation one would expect: policing the police, helping veterans, supporting pregnant women, protecting whistle blowers, banning assault weapons, funding mental health facilities, taking care of the environment, and a host of initiatives advocating for human rights. But she also voted to expand NATO, a US-driven threat to Russian sovereignty and a potential trigger for war between nuclear powers, and she voted in favor of the US proxy war in Ukraine, an egregious act of lawlessness that has destabilized Eastern Europe. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians killed and their cities and homes destroyed because US elites want "regime change" in Moscow. It's inconceivable that anyone who truly believes in challenging corporate special interests could support this kind of insanity. Yet Representative Porter gave it her stamp of approval.

Equally troubling, she voted in favor of HR Resolution 246, a bill that effectively labels anyone who supports the "Boycott, Divest, Sanctions" (BDS) movement an anti-Semite. Does she really believe protests on behalf of Palestinian rights are somehow showing hatred toward Jewish people? Has she read the "Goldstone Report"? It was submitted to the UN in 2009 by a respected Jewish judge who concluded that the purpose of Israeli violence against Palestinians was to "punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population." That was fourteen years ago, before "Cast Lead" and "Protective Edge." Does Ms Porter know that both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have declared Israel an "apartheid state"? Has she read the reports? Mow the lawn? Carpet bombing? Anything?

Either the Congresswoman is unaware of the appalling conditions residents of Gaza and the West Bank are forced to live under, which seems unlikely, or she knows and has chosen not to include the information in her calculus, which is flat-out criminal. If she'd done the tiniest bit of research, she would have learned that Palestinians suffer state-sponsored "violence and terror" every single day, all day, nonstop. She might have even begun to understand why BDS was not only an appropriate response, but an ethical imperative.

Ms Porter's apparent willingness to do the bidding of elites doesn't stop there.

In a House Oversight Committee meeting on 7 February of this year, she scolded her GOP colleagues for their focus on Hunter Biden's laptop. She dismissed the entire affair as "a single story by a single outlet for a single day," a "free-for-all hellscape where anything goes." The wrath she normally directs at rat-bag CEOs was now being directed at her Republican colleagues for wasting time and energy on what she considered a non-story. Her message: we have serious business to do. Get over yourselves.

It was surprising, and disappointing, to hear her say this, as the comments sounded like they'd been taken directly out of the Democratic party's gaslight playbook. Every word she spoke is either misleading or false.

A single outlet? True enough, except the expose' on Hunter Biden's laptop was only carried by a single outlet because the Biden administration was actively working to censor it. A single day? Nope. The New York Post story was censored for a full "16 days," starting right before the 2020 presidential election. How's that for timing? And, yes, it might have been a single story, but it's a story whose contents resonate everywhere, and Ms Porter has to know this.

She has to know the information found on Hunter Biden's laptop implicates the current president of the US in high crimes and misdemeanors. The laptop contained emails detailing wide-spread corruption, shady connections and secret quid pro quos. They return us to Joe Biden's involvement in the disastrous military coup that brought Neo-Nazis to power in Ukraine. They return us to Joe Biden's threat to withhold funding earmarked for Ukraine if that country did not remove Viktor Shokin, the Prosecutor General who just happened to be investigating Biden's son. And finally, they return us to Hunter Biden himself, his cushy position at Burisma, his suspicious transactions with State Energy HK, and his selling access to his father. Corruption 101, practiced at the highest levels of the US gov't.

While we're on the subject, ignore the disinformation smokescreen fanned to a fury by establishment media. They're paid to mislead. So is the letter signed by more than 50 intelligence officers warning the laptop was part of a "Russian plot." These clowns were clever enough to admit there was no actual evidence of Russian involvement, but they catapulted the propaganda anyway. It's what they do. They lied about Iraq having WMDs, they lied about surveilling American citizens, they lied about civilian deaths under Obama's assassination program, and they lied about "Russia-gate." Don't believe a word they say. The laptop is authentic. Even the NY Times says so, albeit a bit late.

The question now is, where does that leave voters with regard to Representative Porter's Senate campaign? Is she a defender of democracy or just another player in the latest Democratic Party bait-and-switch? She wouldn't be the first.

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Bagel fans, rejoice.

One month after Portlands oldest Jewish deli closes, a new bagel shop will takes its place. And its one that locals might already know.

Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels  the same bagels Kornblatts already uses  plans to replace the 32-year-old Northwest Portland deli as soon as May 1, Henry Higgins owner Leah Orndoff told The Oregonian.

We can confirm Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels will open on 23rd in the Kornblatts Space, Orndoff said Tuesday. Kornblatts has been serving Henry Higgins boiled bagels for years and we are excited to carry on this tradition.

In addition to wholesale clients such as Kornblatts, Henry Higgins operates three bagel shops on Portlands east side.

As first reported by The Oregonian on Monday, Kornblatts plans to close at the end of the month after more than three decades in Northwest Portland. The deli, which opened in 1991 next to Escape From New York Pizza, helped bring a little New York flavor to Northwest 23rd Avenue.

Kornblatts current owners did not immediately respond to messages seeking more information about the closure.

Kornblatts plans to close at the end of the month. Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels hopes to take over the space, , 628 N.W. 23rd Ave., by May 1.

 Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

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The Florence museum housing Michelangelos Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honor her. Confusing art with pornography was ridiculous, Nardella said.

The board of the Tallahassee Classical School pressured Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of the David was shown to a sixth-grade art class. The school has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance about controversial topics being taught.

The incredulous Italian response highlighted how the U.S. culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy. Sundays front page of the Italian daily publication Corriere della Sera featured a cartoon by its leading satirist depicting David with his genitals covered by an image of Uncle Sam and the word Shame.

Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a 17 foot tall nude marble sculpture dating from 1504. The work, reflecting the height of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.

Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they werent notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.

Carrasquilla said in a phone interview Sunday that she is very honored by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.

I am totally, like, wow, Carasquilla said. Ive been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dellAccademia, where the David resides, expressed astonishment at the controversy.

To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, Hollberg said in a telephone interview.

She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the purity of the statue.

Tallahassee Classical is a charter school. While it is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, it operates almost entirely independently of the local school district and is sought out by parents seeking an alternative to the public school curriculum.

About 400 students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend the three-year-old institution, which is now on its third principal. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan frequently consulted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on educational issues.

Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classicals school board, has told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Carrasquillas ouster, it wasnt the only factor. He has declined to elaborate, while defending the decision.

Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture, Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.

Several parents and teachers plan to protest Carrasquillas exit at Monday nights school board meeting, but Carrasquilla said she isnt sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.

Theres been such controversy and such upheaval, she said. I would really have to consider, Is this truly what is best?

Marla Stone, head of humanities studies at the American Academy in Rome, said the Florida incident was another episode in escalating U.S. culture wars and questioned how the statue could be considered so controversial as to warrant a prior warning.

What we have here is a moral crusade against the body, sexuality, and gender expression and an ignorance of history, Stone said in an email. The incident is about fear, fear of beauty, of difference, and of the possibilities embedded in art.

Michelangelo Buonarroti sculpted the David between 1501-1504 after being commissioned by the Cathedral of Florence. The statue is the showpiece of the Accademia, and helps draw 1.7 million visitors each year to the museum.

It is incredibly sought-after by Americans who want to do selfies and enjoy the beauty of this statue, Director Hollberg said.

The museum, like many in Europe, is free for student groups. There was no indication that any trip would be subsidized by the city or museum.
Acidman is another Oregon-filmed movie about introverted characters who seem to have internally absorbed the damp, cloudy skies and dark, woodsy environment that surrounds them. Its a category that includes such standout works as Leave No Trace, quirky projects such as the Nicolas Cage vehicle Pig, and the low-key indie Lorelai.

As the latest entry in what you might call the Oregon Moody Overcast genre, Acidman is about Maggie (played by Dianna Agron, who TV viewers will remember from Glee), a woman who travels 2,000 miles to see her father, Lloyd (played by Thomas Haden Church, of Sideways and Spider-Man: No Way Home).

Lloyd is an eccentric who, for some reason, left his family years earlier, and is now residing in a humble home in the Oregon woods. Director Alex Lehmann, who co-wrote Acidman with Chris Dowling, clearly wants to embrace ambiguity, making us wonder why Lloyd decided to live as a recluse, accompanied only by his dog, in the wilderness.

For most of the film, its also not at all clear why Maggie, who appears to be a relatively normal young woman, has decided to come a long way to see a father who hasnt been in touch with her. Lloyd seems oddly accepting of the fact that Maggie has shown up, and she seems strangely OK with neither of them addressing the weirdness of the situation.

Adding to the weirdness is Lloyds obsession with UFOs. He has a habit of heading out in the middle of the night to try and make contact with the red lights he sometimes sees in the sky, and which hes convinced are signs of interplanetary life.

They knew, Lloyd tells Maggie, that he was listening, and he attempts to signal to the aliens using Morse code flashes.

At times, Lloyd seems to be simply set in his ways, but at other times, Maggie worries about her fathers tendency to slip into trances, where he stares into space and doesnt respond.

Why did Lloyd, who we find out had been an engineer, decide to live in this remote Oregon spot? Its a good place to be left alone, he tells Maggie.

As a character study, Acidman leaves us with more questions than insights, but the acting is affectingly understated, and the Oregon scenery helps create a haunting mood. Filmed in 2021, in locations including Azalea, in Douglas County, Acidman is slow-paced and at times frustratingly stingy with information. But its yet another reminder that rural Oregon is a beautiful place to hang out, even if youre just watching the night sky.

Acidman premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022; its also available in some theaters, and on demand at such sites as Apple TV, on Friday, March 31.

 Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

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Talk about the Winterhawks on our off-day thread.

An unexpected one this week. With 2 goals and 2 assists in 3 games, the Winterhawks Player of the Week for March 20 through March 26 is Josh Zakreski.

He now has points in 7 of his last 8 and 8 of his last 10. That was after recording points in only 13 of his previous 57 games.

He didnt have a point in 5 playoff games last season. That will need to change this time around.

Tuesday vs. Vancouver: 1 assist in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Giants.

Friday vs. Seattle: 1 goal in a 7-3 loss to the Thunderbirds.

Saturday at Seattle: 1 goal, 1 assist in a 3-1 win over the Thunderbirds.

Assists on his goals: Luke Schelter 1, Marcus Nguyen 1, Marek Alscher 1.

Goals he assisted on: Robbie Fromm-Delorme 1, Luke Schelter 1.

Discuss this and the Winterhawks in general.
Eight Oregonians have registered to participate in the 45th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which takes place March 31-April 2 in Stamford, Connecticut.

They say they enjoy clever puzzle constructions that build on themes, thinking forward and backward, and learning new information.

Here are some of the Oregonians expected to compete at the live event or online:

Will Stadtlander, 34, discovered crosswords by watching his grandfather Howard solve the New York Times puzzle each day.

His vision was limited and his arthritic hands made writing a challenge, but I would see the completed puzzles left on the kitchen table, letters inked neatly in each square, says Stadtlander, a data scientist for a healthcare nonprofit. I remember being floored at some of the answers that he, by then in his late 80s, was able to fill in. How does Grampa know what an Atari is?

Stadtlander, who moved to Northeast Portland four years ago, is attending the tournament for the first time. He will be with his brother, Charlie, who lives in Maryland and is competing for the third time.

Crosswords allow you to use trivia to learn more trivia, says Will Stadtlander. Ive been solving puzzles for years now, he says, and I still learn something new almost every time I work on one.

MORE ON CROSSWORDS A clue to solving crossword puzzles: Have fun, say Oregon experts

HERE IS OREGON: HereisOregon.com | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok

Stephanie Byrd of Portland, seen here with her husband, Preston, left, and New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz, right, will participate virtually in the 45th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.Stephanie Byrd

Stephanie Byrd, 45, started solving crosswords in high school after her parents gave her a subscription to the now defunct Games Magazine.

The graphic designer who lives in Southwest Portland has participated virtually in the annual tournament since 2021.

Solving crosswords is satisfying, something you can finish decisively with a sense of achievement, which is rare when youre a parent of young kids, she says. I am a calligrapher, so even the act of writing the letters in the boxes is enjoyable for me.

Jared Hager of Portland attended the 2019 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (seen here smiling with New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz) and plans to attend the 2023 competition.Jared Hager

Jared Hager of Northeast Portland started solving crossword puzzles when he was a teenager battling cancer. It was a nice distraction while in the hospital that kept my brain active, he says. And the competition against self to solve quicker and more consistently truly appeals to the value I place on self-improvement.

His father and maternal grandparents also enjoyed working puzzles.

Hager, 44, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney, will be at the 2023 competition, his second live tournament. He played virtually during the pandemic years. Im going in person because thats a huge part of the draw for me, he says. Being there with like-minded puzzleholics.

Brad Chase, 40, who splits his time between Northwest Portland and Gig Harbor, Washington, will participate virtually in the 45th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.Brad Chase

Brad Chase, 40, will participate for the first time in the tournament, and do so virtually. He dabbled in crosswords before, but now hes hooked. His latest streak of solving the daily New York Times puzzle  132 in a row  ended only because he went on vacation in March.

Theres definitely a sense that these puzzles sharpen my mind for work, and vice versa. When Im on fire at work, the crosswords come easy, says Chase, who works in crisis management and splits his time between Northwest Portland and Gig Harbor, Washington.

Virginia Downing, 70, of Southwest Portland, attended the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 2015 and 2017. She plans to be there this year.Virginia Downing

Virginia Downing, 70, of Southwest Portland has fond memories of her mother leaning back in an easy chair, sipping coffee and working a crossword puzzle for relaxation.

Downing says she succeeds because shes willing to take apart what she thought was correct and try again.

She retired after 30 years as a middle-school math teacher in 2014 and fulfilled a dream by attending the tournament in 2015 and 2017. She plans to be there this year.

She compares crosswords to music and says tournament champions have special skills. Some people read the notes, play the notes and music comes out, she says. But some people can just look at the music and play it as a whole. Its another world.

 Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman
For many businesses in todays world, customer service seems to have disappeared. I dont believe it is due to a labor shortage, either. It most likely has to do with profits, and it just isnt worth it for companies in todays competitive market to provide it.

In person and online, it simply does not exist anymore. If you do manage to find a customer service phone number, you are sent to a robot assistant who fields you through endless inappropriate options. Eventually you become so exasperated you desperately repeat Customer service! Customer service! and Robo says Goodbye!

Amazingly, at the end of the conversation, you are asked to participate in a brief customer survey that exasperates you even more. The very last straw is a strong arm sales pitch for goods or services from the very business that you are trying to get to respond.

I have experienced a year and a half of dropped calls on my mobile phone. I replaced the phone through Verizon, then switched to Xfinity, then replaced SIM cards, then contacted Apple, the phone manufacturer. A multitude of calls to the carriers and manufacturer have done nothing to resolve the dropped calls and my inability to call out. I have resorted to a burner cell phone.

My next question is - Is there an attorney out there who can put some pressure on these companies to resolve the problem? Who is ultimately responsible?

Valerie Duty, Portland

To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.
It is always hard to hear about the increasing number of people in the United States, particularly young people, losing their lives from drug overdoses, most of them related to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. According to the Oregon Health Authority, unintentional and undetermined drug overdose deaths in the state more than doubled between 2019 and 2021.

Mexico has been a great ally of the United States in the fight to combat this crisis. More than six tons of fentanyl have been seized over the last four years, avoiding hundreds of millions of potentially deadly doses. Due to this fight, hundreds of members of our Armed Forces have died, most of them killed by drug cartels using guns trafficked from the U.S. Today more than ever, cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. is of paramount importance in overcoming this huge threat to the public safety of our nations. In a time of global challenges, it is necessary to reinforce the collaboration between the agencies of both countries to combat common threats in every field. Working together against the fentanyl crisis will allow us to get better results and help reduce its impact on our societies.

The consulate of Mexico is committed in joining the efforts currently done by health, law enforcement and local community-based organizations, among others, in Oregon and Southwest Washington, playing an active role in raising awareness about the dangers of fentanyl, particularly among the Latino population. Lets keep working together against this social problem that affects our countries.

Carlos Quesnel

Quesnel has been the head of the Consulate of Mexico in Portland since October 2020.

To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.
Friday 24 March 2023 12:32pm

The kaitiaki of New Zealands longest trail hopes it will become the worlds first truly regenerative through-hike.



Matt Claridge.

Speaking at the Otago Tourism Policy Schools public lecture yesterday (Thursday 23 March 2023), Te Araroa Trust Executive Director Matt Claridge shared insights into the trusts new project, Te Araroa Whakahou  to renew, to restore and to rebuild.

Te Araroa is a 3000km trail that runs the length of Aotearoa, from Cape Reinga to Bluff, and takes, on average, about four months to complete.

Mr Claridge highlighted the Trusts plan to shift its focus from the trail  literally the track  to being more entwined with the walker, partners and environment.

The new project aims to connect iwi, local communities, walkers, and partners in a system-based approach to tourism conservation and walker education.

Its the ultimate outcome that every walker will leave Te Araroa a better place for future generations to enjoy.

We want a trail where walkers feel a sense of place and belonging.

After seeing thousands of people walk the trail but not knowing much about them or their plans, the Trust started developing a process to learn more about the walkers.

It wants to determine what the ideal number of walkers is, what infrastructure it needs to accommodate them, and how sustainable the trail is.

You dont create change without knowing what motivates people, what their values are and why do things.

With that understanding we can then move towards changing peoples attitudes, changing peoples behaviours.

The overall goal of Te Araroa Whakahou is to reduce the environmental impact of walkers, support growth in the ecosystem and wildlife, enhance the walker experience by providing better facilities and services, and raise the profile of the trail.

Mr Claridge also hopes to encourage walkers and trail partners to invest in a range of initiatives, like tree planting and predator trapping.

Maybe walkers will start getting involved in maintenance work on the trail, maybe theyll reset predator traps, maybe theyll be able to see where the trees they invested in are planted as they walk past them along the trail.

But actually, I think most importantly, well engage local iwi, trail communities and volunteers so that we take a broader view, and we deliver a far greater experience for those involved and connected to Te Araroa.

Discussions about whether the trail was fit for purpose started when the COVID19 pandemic closed New Zealands borders.

It gave trustees the opportunity to reflect on how they operated and, ultimately, decided it was time for a change.

Their goal now is for Te Araroa to become the worlds first regenerative through-trail.

We believe thats Kiwi, thats New Zealand, thats Aotearoa.

The fifth annual University of Otago Tourism Policy School is a two-day event bringing together industry leaders, policy-makers and prominent researchers to discuss key challenges in the New Zealand tourism industry.

This years theme is Tourism Policy: Are we fit for purpose?.

For more information, contact:

Wendy Pannett

The PR Department

Email wendy@prdept.co.nz

Jessica Wilson

Adviser Media Engagement

University of Otago

Mob +64 21 279 5016

Email jessica.wilson@otago.ac.nz
Friday 24 March 2023 12:47pm

Aotearoa will become a hot house by 2050 if it does not introduce additional climate policies, Tourism Industry Transformation Plan Environment Co-Chair Laurissa Cooney announced at the University of Otagos Tourism Policy School today.

Launching The Aotearoa Circles Tourism Climate Change Scenarios Report on the second day of the Policy School, Ms Cooney shared the three possible futures for the tourism sector based on the countrys climate action.



Laurissa Cooney.

The New Zealand tourism industry has a significant reliance on the natural environment, Ms Cooney says.

As we take flight again [following the COVID19 pandemic], the country can follow regenerative pathways to safeguard our clean and green reputation, while ensuring we adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The first scenario, called Hiahia  Net Zero 2050, limits the global warming to +1.5 degC by the end of the century through stringent climate policies and system change, societal shift in mindset, and innovation and investment.

It is ambitious, but can be done with bold action that includes implementing robust policy and pro-active systems change to drive down our emissions.

If we can do that, then international travel can be transformed and our tourism sector can become a world leader in a regenerative approach.

The second scenario, Pokanoa  Disorderly 2050, shows a disorderly transition with little policy action until after 2030 when strong, rapid action is needed to limit warming to 2 degC.

Physical and transition risks are higher, and tourism operating costs increase, Ms Cooney says.

The third scenario is Wharewera  Hothouse 2050.

The physical impacts of climate change would be severe, with irreversible changes like glacial melt and sea level rise.

There would be frequent damage and disruptions to transport, infrastructure, and food supply.

Severe weather events like the recent North Island floods and cyclones will be evermore frequent. No-one wants to be in the hothouse scenario.

All three scenarios demonstrate that everyone must collectively do everything they can to keep below +1.5 degC of warming, Ms Cooney says.

The scale of the challenges we face in the future will be determined by how quickly and proactively we respond now.

We need to commit to rapidly following regenerative pathways or we will see a catastrophic decline in our natural environment.

The fifth annual University of Otago Tourism Policy School is a two-day event bringing together industry leaders, policy makers and prominent researchers to discuss key challenges in the New Zealand tourism industry.

This years theme is Tourism Policy: Are we fit for purpose?.

Ms Cooney was the Co-Chair of The Aotearoa Circles Tourism Sector Climate Change Scenarios report released today.

For more information, contact:

Laurissa Cooney

Tourism ITP Co-Chair

Email laurissa@laurissacooney.com

Jessica Wilson

Adviser Media Engagement

University of Otago

Mob +64 21 279 5016

Email jessica.wilson@otago.ac.nz
Classes were canceled at Bay City Central High School for a second day after the discovery of another threatening note.

On the morning of Monday, March 27, a notice was sent to families by superintendent Stephen Bigelow for the Bay City Public Schools that the high school would be closed due to the recent discovery of another note that raised "concerns about the safety and security" of the school.

"We would like to emphasize that the safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our top priority," Bigelow said in the notice posted Monday to Facebook. "We have been working closely with local law enforcement and other relevant authorities to investigate the matter and ensure the necessary precautions are taken."

Central was also closed on Friday, March 24, due to a similar incident, according to the district. On Friday morning, a staff member discovered a threatening note on one of the entrance doors to the school, authorities for the Bay City Department of Public Safety stated. That note contained a threat to shoot up the school.

Authorities have not disclosed the nature of the second note found on Monday as of this writing.

Mondays closure also impacted after-school events. All school activities, including extracurricular events and after-school programs, were canceled for the day, according to the district.

"We understand that this may cause inconvenience for many families, and we apologize for the short notice," Bigelow said. He directed questions to the Central school administration.

Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call the Bay City Department of Public Safety at 989-892-8571 or the non-emergency number to Bay County Central Dispatch at 989-892-9551. To stay anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-422-JAIL (5245).
BALDWIN  Feeding America - West Michigan is hosting a fresh food distribution event March 28, followed by a pasta dinner and movie on March 29.

The food distribution events are held the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Starlite Pavilion, 15580 S. Star Lake Drive, from October through March, then at Grace Lutheran Church, 8636 S. M37, from April through September.

New recipient registration begins at 9 a.m. on March 28, with food distribution beginning at 11 a.m.

The pasta dinner and movie will be held at 5:30 p.m. on March 29, at Evergreen Covenant Church, 7396 S. Evergreen Road., Branch.

A $2 donation is suggested; kids eat free.

Pasta with sauce, salad, dinner rolls and dessert will be provided.

Dinner will be followed by a family-friendly movie. Popcorn and lemonade will be provided during the intermission.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Sunday, March 26

8:49 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 51-year-old Lee Township woman who had regarding questions about a civil issue with Facebook. The deputy referred the woman to consult with her attorney.

7:51 p.m. - A 41-year-old Jerome Township reported she was the victim of an assault. Deputies determined the incident occurred in Saginaw County. The Michigan State Police was requested and responded to handle the incident due to it occurring in Saginaw.

4:53 p.m. - A 27-year-old Larkin Township man was cited for driving an unregistered vehicle following a traffic stop in Larkin Township. This report will be forwarded to the prosecutor for review.

4:27p.m. - An unknown subject failed to pay for $43.09 worth of fuel from a Jerome Township business.

4 p.m. - A deputy and Michigan State Police was dispatched to a Larkin Township residence due to a dog falling through the ice and a 41-year-old man attempting to rescue it, putting himself in danger of falling through the ice. Prior to the deputy's arrival, the man had retreated to land and Larkin Township firefighters had removed the dog from the ice. The owner took the dog to the vet for further care.

2:03 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence for the report of a loose pit bull. Deputies contacted the dog owner, a 37-year-old woman. The woman was advised to keep her dog on her own property. No citation issued at this time.

Saturday, March 25

More Information Firefighters in Larkin Township help rescue a dog that fell through the ice, owner also tried to save the dog. See More Collapse

11:36 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Hope Township residence regarding a verbal argument between a 15-year-old girl and her 14-year-old boyfriend. The girl was later given a ride back to Gladwin by family and turned over to her mother. No assault.

11:45 p.m. - Deputies spoke to a 42-year-old woman and 49-year-old man regarding custody issues. Deputies advised both parties they would have to follow up with friend of the court for their custody issues.

9:05 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Greendale Township residence regarding a domestic assault that occurred when a 52-year-old woman and her 7-year-old grandson were assaulted by her 43-year-old boyfriend. The man left the residence prior to deputies arriving. A report was sent to the prosecutor for review.

8:54 p.m. - Deputies responded to a Greendale Township residence to speak with an intoxicated 41-year-old Greendale Township woman who had some concerns. Nothing criminal was found. The woman was picked up by her 42-year-old Isabella County sister who agreed to take her home with her for the night to mitigate some of her sister's concerns.

4:18 p.m. - Deputy dispatched to a possible larceny in Hope Township. A 73-year-old man reported that someone has been coming in his residence and switching out his property with similar property. At the time of the report there is no evidence indicating that any switching is taking place. Its believed the man suffers from a mental condition.

2:02 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to urgent care regarding a 90-year-old Larkin Township woman that was bitten by her own cat. The woman was issued an isolation notice.

1:13 p.m. - A 37-year-old woman pulled to the side of the road when her windshield wiper fell off while driving. Her vehicle became stuck in the snow near the ditch. A deputy was dispatched and provided traffic control while the vehicle was pulled back onto the road. No injuries.

3:11 a.m. - Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for a traffic violation. The driver, a 22-year-old woman from Davisburg, was found to have a suspended license. A citation was issued.

2:46 a.m. - Deputies were advised by a driver of three dogs in the roadway. The dogs were located and escorted off the roadway. Deputies located the 39-year-old owner who retrieved the dogs.

Friday, March 24

10:04 p.m. - A deputy came across a subject who ran out of gas in Lincoln Township. The deputy gave the 50-year-old man a ride to the gas station and back to his vehicle.

8:55 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a crash in Mount Haley Township. Deputies determined that the driver, a 30-year-old Mount Haley woman, was intoxicated which led to the crash. The woman was subsequently arrested and lodged at Midland County Jail.

6:30 p.m. - A 44-year-old man called 911 because his 31-year-old ex-partner came to his residence wanting their children. He did not want her at his residence and wanted the child exchange done across the street where they agreed it would happen at. Both parties were advised to contact friend of the court. The woman was advised not to go to the residence and to do the child exchange at the agreed upon location.

5:16 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 21-year-old Larkin Township man who reported that an unknown man advised him that he owed several thousands of dollars to a college in Florida, and he knew his social security number. The complainant was advised this incident was a scam and he was provided with contact information to the Federal Trade Commission and the Social Security Fraud Hotline. The complainant's identity had been stolen. The man wanted the incident documented and a report was completed.

4:13 p.m. - Police responded to an injury crash at Salzburg Road and Rockwell Drive.

2:42 p.m. - Deputy dispatched to a Lee Township residence regarding a verbal argument between a 62-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man regarding rent, damage to a trailer, money owed and a possible eviction in the works. All parties were advised to leave each other alone.

1:47 p.m. - A deputy met with a 59-year-old Greendale Township man at the law enforcement center who wanted to surrender a pistol for destruction. The deputy received the pistol and entered it into evidence to be destroyed.

11:40 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township business for a 32-year-old manager advised her employee, a 53-year-old Greendale Township woman, showed up to the store yelling at her because she was allegedly fired. There was a misunderstanding, and the employee didn't get fired. The issue was resolved.

10:51 a.m. - A deputy arrested a 49-year-old woman at her Lee Township residence on a felony drug warrant out of Midland's 75th District Court. The woman was transported to the Midland County Jail without incident.

7:26 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Warren Township business after three male employees were terminated and became disorderly. The men ultimately left shortly after being asked. There were no assaults or other issues. The employer let the subjects know they were not welcome back at the business. A deputy spoke with one of the men via telephone, a 40-year-old Lee Township man. The man was advised not to return. He said he would contact the other two men, who were family members, and let them know they weren't welcome back either.
Nearly 17,000 people have signed an online petition urging Midland County authorities to return a 6-year-old Weimaraner, Shadow, to his Sanford family despite a magistrate ruling against a similar motion on Thursday.

Next month, Shadow could be euthanized after Midland County filed a dangerous dog petition against the animal and its owners.

Su Das and her husband, Rajib Bora, moved to Sanford from Houston, Texas one year ago. Their dog, Shadow, is being held at the Midland County Animal Shelter following a January incident when Shadow reportedly bit a woman. He was surrendered to the animal shelter on Feb. 13.

The family is fighting to get their dog back.

Courtesy

Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks said authorities must act in the best interest of the community.

Photo provided Su Das

This is reportedly Shadows third dangerous dog act, causing the county to file a dangerous dog petition.

In July 2022, Brooks said two people accused Shadow of being aggressive toward their dogs. A woman was walking her dog when she said Shadow came off his property and acted aggressive toward her dog. That resulted in the woman falling to the ground.

A second incident involved someone walking Shadow in the same area a man was walking his dog. A fight ensured between the dogs and the man reportedly had to pin Shadow down to keep him from his dog, Brooks said.

Das was cited with two counts of a having a dangerous dog. She later was allowed to plead to one count of having a loose, unlicensed dog, which would have been discharged if there were no further incidents for a year. Das also agreed to put in an electric fence and license Shadow.

More Information A 6-year-old dog named Shadow is being held at animal control while his fate is determined. See More Collapse

Then, another incident happened in January.

Bora said he was walking Shadow on a leash on a trail in January. Two other dogs, which were unleashed, came toward them. Bora began moving away from the unleashed dogs, who followed him and Shadow. The dogs attacked Shadow, Bora said, and he was bitten by the unleashed dogs while trying to break up the melee. The woman who owned the unleashed dogs also tried to separate the animals. During the fight, Bora said Shadow slipped his collar and bit the woman.

Brooks said under Michigan law, dogs can be off-leash as long as they are under their owner's control.

Das said Animal Control came to their home to seize Shadow - but left the dog in their custody after hearing Bora's account of the altercation. An officer reportedly told the couple to keep Shadow quarantined for 10 days.

However, on Feb. 13, the couple was instructed to surrender Shadow to Animal Control.

Attorney Celeste Dunn filed a motion in the 75th District Court citing the dog was taken illegally in February. The motion was heard by magistrate Gerald Ladwig who denied the request to return Shadow to his family. A hearing is set for May 8 to reexamine the case.

The couple has visited Shadow at the shelter and said the staff is kind and loving.

Yet, they say Shadow isnt eating because hes in an unfamiliar situation and not with his family.

The couples daughter posted a TikTok about the situation, claiming unfair treatment. She also stated that her immigrant family is being treated unfairly in a predominately white community. She stated the white woman whose unleashed dogs fought with Shadow received no penalty after her father was bitten by her dogs.

Das is only concerned about one thing - Shadow's return to the family.

Its like Im missing part of myself, Das said. My baby is not here and I dont know what to do.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The Australian government took a major step toward implementing a key climate policy that would force chief greenhouse gas polluters to reduce emissions, with the minor Greens party pledging their support Monday.

The center-left Labor Party administration said the so-called Safeguard Mechanism reforms are essential to Australia reaching its target of reducing its emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The reforms would create a ceiling on the nations emissions and force Australias 215 biggest polluting facilities to reduce their emissions over time.

The Climate Council, a leading climate communicator, described the reforms as the first Australian legislation in a decade that would regulate greenhouse gas pollution.

With the support of the Greens 11 senators, the government only needs the backing of two unaligned or minor party senators to get the reforms through the upper chamber. Greens leader Adam Bandt said a hard cap on emissions would mean that half of the 116 new coal and gas projects proposed in Australia would not go ahead.

The amount of greenhouse gas emissions allowed under the cap has not been made public. The cap would be reduced over time as polluters scaled back their emissions.

The Greens, through the negotiations, has secured a big hit on oil and gas, Bandt told reporters as he confirmed his partys support for the reforms.

The legislation was passed Monday by the House of Representatives, where Labor holds a majority of seats.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Safeguard Mechanism is the vehicle to achieve our commitment for 43% reduction by 2030.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said that without the mechanism, Australia would only reduce its emissions by 35% by the end of the decade.

Today were a big step closer to passing the Safeguard Mechanism reforms through Parliament, Bowen said.

The reforms would reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 205 million metric tons (226 million U.S. tons) by 2030, equivalent to taking two-thirds of Australias cars off the road in the same time, Bowen said.

Big polluters would be able to buy carbon credits to help achieve their emission reduction targets. But polluters that use carbon credits to achieve more than 30% of their abatement would have to explain why they were not doing more to reduce their own emissions.

Opposition climate change and energy spokesperson Ted OBrien rejected the reforms, saying capping emissions would drive Australian industrial investment offshore to China and India.

This is not a plan to decarbonize the Australian economy but rather a plan to deindustrialize it, OBrien said.

The conservative opposition created the Safeguard Mechanism when it was in power in 2016. But the emission limits were so high that the 215 major polluters, which account for 30% of Australias emissions, were able to increase their emissions by 4%.

The previous government had set a less ambitious target of reducing Australias emissions by only 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030.

The Climate Council welcomed the Greens' deal with the government as a historic agreement.

This will be the Federal Parliaments first reform to genuinely cut pollution in a decade, Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said in a statement.

The Australia Institute, a left-wing policy think tank, was critical that the reforms would allow some new fossil fuel projects to proceed, though fewer than under the current mechanism.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokesperson Glenn Walker said the most important task for the Australian Parliament was to rule out new fossil fuel mines in favor of clean, future-proof industries.
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Unidentified attackers marched on the property of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday, looting and destroying valuables, the local media reported
Photo: (Photo : CHANDAN KHANNA / Getty Images)

Miami Beach enacts an emergency curfew for Spring Break 2023.

The declaration of a state of emergency and the imposition of a curfew by Miami Beach authorities during spring break began on Sunday evening.

This comes after two fatal shootings and chaotic crowds that police have had difficulty controlling.

The emergency curfew, set to begin at 11:59 P.M. and continue until 6 A.M., primarily affects South Beach, the most popular party location for tourists on spring break.

The two separate shootings on Friday night and early Sunday that left two people dead and the large and unruly crowds led to the decision.

Due to the recent incidents, the city has announced that an additional curfew will likely be implemented from Thursday through Monday, March 27.

The city commission plans to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss potential further restrictions next week.

Miami Beach enacts emergency curfew

According to CBS, in a video message, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber expressed concerns over the large crowds and numerous firearms that pose a threat that cannot be ignored.

Although the city has taken measures such as deploying many police officers and organizing various events to keep people engaged, Gelber emphasized that the city neither invites nor wishes for spring break.

The reason is that it is excessively noisy, chaotic, and hard to manage for law enforcement.

Starting Sunday evening, the curfew area in Miami Beach will include the Atlantic Ocean towards the east, Biscayne Bay towards the west, Government Cut towards the south, and 23 Street and Dade Boulevard in the north.

It is necessary for establishments located within the affected area to close well before the curfew so customers can avoid breaking the curfew.

Every night, commercial establishments must admit their final customers within a time frame that enables them to vacate the premises by 11:59 P.M.

According to Miami Beach officials, hotels are permitted to continue their business operations after the curfew as long as they only cater to hotel guests' needs.

Businesses, excluding hotels, will be allowed to continue operations outside the curfew area.

Restaurants will only be allowed to operate for deliveries, and individuals such as residents, emergency personnel, those going to and from work, and hotel guests will be exempt from the curfew.

However, certain routes will be blocked off, and hotel guests who are arriving may need to confirm their reservations.

Read Also: Scenic Fruit Company Recalls Frozen Organic Strawberries, Tropical Blend Over Possible Hepatitis a Link

The importance of parental guidance

With the recent chaos in Miami Beach, parents must keep a close eye on their children when traveling to avoid undesirable accidents.

If they have teenagers or young adult children traveling to Miami Beach, they should make them aware of the curfew and encourage vigilance against chaos.

Parents should educate their children on the potential dangers of attending rowdy parties and the importance of always staying in control.

They should also remind their children to stay within the curfew area and avoid areas with known high-risk situations.

Implementing the curfew in Miami Beach is necessary to maintain public safety and order during the spring break period.

According to NPR, this is not the first time the city has taken such action, as similar incidents of chaos and violence have occurred in previous years.

The authorities have continued to take steps aimed at calming the situation. As such, everyone needs to follow the curfew and other regulations put in place by city officials to avoid any undesirable incidents.

Parents must also take responsibility for their children, especially teenagers and young adults, by making them aware of the curfew and encouraging vigilance against chaos during their travels to Miami Beach or any other destination.

By doing so, parents can help to prevent undesirable accidents and keep their children safe while they enjoy their vacation.

Related Article: Florida Considers Restricting Human Sexuality Education to Grades 6-12
Photo: (Photo : Jeff Spicer / Getty Images)

Artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, is rapidly becoming a part of our daily lives, and it's not just about robots or self-driving cars.

The technology has been incorporated into educational tools, and as more schools continue to adopt it, parents need to be aware of its impact on their children's education.

ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It is a form of artificial intelligence that is designed to generate human-like text in response to prompts.

AI products, such as ChatGPT, have numerous potential applications, including chatbots, customer service, and language translation.

According to the New York Times, experts believe that exploring AI technology as a family can help children and parents better understand its pros and cons.

The worst thing parents can do is forbid their children from using these new systems, because they are here to stay.

Justine Cassell, a professor in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, recommends that parents assist their children in comprehending the advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence.

According to technology and education experts, it is best that parents and children experiment together and navigate technology side by side.

The best thing to do is to get to know the technology and its limitations. But by explaining a few basic concepts, parents can help their kids recognize its strengths and limitations.

How parents can help kids understand the proper use of AI

AI software like ChatGPT can be used for a variety of tasks, including answering questions, generating text, and engaging in conversation.

However, understanding the functioning of the technology powering AI can be challenging for children.

With that, here are a few recommendations for parents to help them navigate this new technology from the Artificial Intelligence Organization:

Talking to Children About AI

Children are naturally curious and want to understand the world around them, and AI is no exception. Parents should not shy away from discussing AI with their children, as it can accelerate their learning and education.

Experts suggest that families explore this technology together, thinking critically about its strengths and weaknesses. When parents give their children context and vocabulary to enable them to understand AI, they can talk about it freely and interact with it in their daily lives.

Integrating AI into our Daily Lives

AI is becoming ubiquitous, with devices like Amazon's Alexa and Google Home already in many households. Parents can take advantage of these devices by using them to help their children learn.

However, parents should be aware of the potential risks of AI in the home, such as cyberbullying, privacy, and security risks. Therefore, they should be proactive in setting up parental controls to protect their children.

Read Also: Our Top Picks: Favorite Educational Shows for Kids to Watch Guilt-free

Maintain an Ongoing Conversation

Parents need to create an open dialogue with their children about AI, including both its benefits and drawbacks. This will help children develop critical thinking skills and make informed decisions.

Parents should encourage their children to ask questions, and they should be willing to answer them honestly. By doing so, parents can ensure that their children understand the proper use of AI.

Use for Learning

AI can be used to enhance learning and improve education. Parents can leverage AI educational tools to help their children learn, but they should also be mindful of the limitations and risks involved with these tools.

Parents should monitor their children's use of AI educational tools and supplement them with other activities, such as reading books or playing games that don't involve technology.

Setting Up a Parental AI Toolkit

Parents can take advantage of parental control tools to ensure that their children are using AI technology safely.

These tools can help parents monitor their children's activity, set time limits, and restrict access to certain types of content. This is where privacy, safety, and content selection are things parents can exercise control over.

Additionally, parents can tweak the settings on devices like Alexa to restrict access to certain content or services.

In conclusion, AI technology is here to stay, and it's essential that parents help their children understand its proper use for learning.

By exploring AI together as a family, parents can help their children recognize its strengths and limitations, develop critical thinking skills, and make informed decisions.

Parents should embrace AI, but they should also be aware of the potential risks and take the necessary steps to protect their children.

Related Article: Setting Healthy Digital Limits: Top 5 Tips for Building Family Boundaries in Technology Use for 2023
Photo: (Photo : LOIC VENANCE / Getty Images)

Utah's recently enacted legislation restricting how minors use social media will not be "foolproof."

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently signed two bills that prevent children from using social media from 10:30 P.M. to 6:30 A.M. and require age verification to join social media.

The bills also offer the opportunity to sue companies on behalf of children who can claim social media harmed them.

The governor acknowledged that Utah's new social media laws for minors will not yet achieve foolproof enforcement for children.

Enforcement of Utah's new social media laws for minors

The Gazette reported that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox admitted that the new social media laws for minors in the state will not be "foolproof."

During an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Governor Cox acknowledged that the new social media laws for minors recently enacted in Utah would be very challenging.

He stated that while the state is working with social media companies, there will be enforcement issues.

The state government understands that these laws will have enforcement issues, especially when preventing young people from getting around the restrictions.

Cox admitted that kids are brilliantly smart, which could be a problem. With that, he further explained that they would go through a rulemaking process to determine how to implement and enforce the laws.

This approach can bring diverse perspectives and allow for more tailored solutions to issues specific to each state.

According to the Daily Wire, Governor Cox also highlighted the bill authored by Rep. Chris Stewart, which aims to raise the minimum age for social media use to 16.

He urged Congress to take a more active role in regulating social media to prevent harm and protect children.

Despite potential legal pushback from social media companies, Governor Cox believes other states will follow Utah's example in regulating social media.

He sees this as a positive step towards a federal-level agreement on preventing harm and protecting children online.

Read Also: ChatGPT: How Parents Can Help Kids Understand the Proper Use of AI for Learning

Clever kids can get around the 13 and up policy

Social media companies across the web generally adhere to a "13 and up" policy, meaning they ask users to confirm that they are at least 13 years old before enrolling to use the site.

But there are plenty of ways to get around the age requirement that clever kids have used for years.

For example, they can lie about their age or use their parents' accounts to access social media.

Parents can also create accounts for their children or monitor their kids' use of social media to ensure that they're not engaging in harmful behaviors.

According to the Times, Jennifer Grygiel, a communications professor at Syracuse University who researches social media, said these types of laws are imperfect and may not respect the rights of minors, but they may help build societal inertia and get these out-of-control companies to be better.

Grygiel added that it would be beneficial for companies to take stricter measures to enforce age restrictions. Nonetheless, considering the limitations, she stressed the need for a practical approach to the matter.

Related Article: Setting Healthy Digital Limits: Top 5 Tips for Building Family Boundaries in Technology Use for 2023
Photo: (Photo : SETH HERALD / Getty Images)

Tennessee's abortion ban has become controversial as lawmakers in several GOP-led states move to make abortion restrictions tougher.

Tennessee legislators aimed to introduce slight exceptions to the state's rigid abortion ban that mandates doctors to demonstrate in court that they were safeguarding a woman's life during an abortion.

However, a significant anti-abortion organization's intervention led the lawmakers to adopt a more stringent legal requirement that barely made any progress.

Anti-abortion groups plan to intensify their efforts post-Roe v. Wade

According to ABC, Kelsey Pritchard, a member of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America's state affairs staff, said that anti-abortion groups were motivated by the losses in the ballot measures, and they have been trying to communicate their message more powerfully.

She expressed that it was a realization of how much effort they needed to put in.

The Tennessee Legislature is now considering a watered-down proposal that removes the affirmative defense language but still doesn't provide access to abortions in the cases of lethal fetal anomalies and medically futile pregnancies.

The new exemption, physicians warned, would not do much to ease patients' concerns about the possibility of being prosecuted.

Democratic Senator London Lamar, who faced her own near-fatal pregnancy loss a few years ago, commented that the newly amended bill only permits abortion when a woman's life is in grave danger.

Mary Ziegler, a legal historian at the University of California, Davis School of Law, observed that pro-life organizations are preparing for a slow increase in opposition to abortion rights.

She added that as time passes after Roe v. Wade, people may become more receptive to increasingly restrictive bans.

Tennessee's current ban is one of the strictest, requiring doctors to prove in court that abortion was medically necessary rather than allowing exceptions for saving the woman's life.

As per Axios, the bill sponsor in the House, Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes, asserted that the amended bill guarantees that doctors can safeguard the lives of mothers and infants.

However, Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson opposed the bill, claiming that it fails to provide adequate protection to patients and physicians and still places them in the dilemma of navigating vague legal language while making critical healthcare decisions.

Read Also: Texas' Highly Restrictive Abortion Ban Leaves Mother To Carry Nonviable Pregnancy

The impact of Tennessee's abortion ban on women's health

The lack of exceptions for medically futile pregnancies and lethal fetal anomalies means that some women may be forced to terminate a pregnancy even if the fetus has a fatal diagnosis.

According to the Guardian, this can be devastating for families who must endure the emotional and physical toll of a pregnancy that they know will end in stillbirth or the death of their infant shortly after birth.

Doctors again have warned that the new exemption will do little to relieve worries about being prosecuted.

This could result in doctors hesitating to perform life-saving procedures, even if the woman's life is in danger.

In conclusion, Tennessee's stringent abortion ban reflects the nationwide trend of hardline restrictions on abortion following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Lawmakers in many states are digging in their heels, either to make abortion restrictions more challenging or to protect access to abortion for their constituents.

As anti-abortion groups anticipate a gradual erosion of support for abortion rights, it remains to be seen how far the trend toward hardline abortion restrictions will go.

The effects of these policies on women's health and reproductive rights will continue to be debated and discussed in the post-Roe v. Wade era.

Related Article: Lawsuit Against Texas Claims Abortion Bans Violate Women's Rights to Health, Equality
It's being report today that Apple's smartphone competitor OPPO is pulling out of key European markets. While the company is spinning the issue by stating that "The current smartphone industry is relatively not in an era of expansion, and our key markets will be adjusted and tilted periodically, but our focus on the European market is firm, and in the future we will also be accurate, Efficient investment in key markets.

The Chinese news site 36Kr further reports that the European market is known for its high sales costs. "Although the product can be sold, it does not make money, and the ROI is not high. (OPPO's European business) is bleeding." A person close to it said. For the European market, the attitude of the agent is: "I am not willing to accept it, because I will lose money. (Agents) will basically not invest again."

Yet in the very markets that OPPO is pulling out of due to economic conditions just happen to be in countries where they're facing patent litigation with Nokia who is suing them for patent infringement in Finland, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

The report further notes that in mid-2022, the Mannheim District Court in Germany ruled that OPPO infringed Nokia's patents and granted Nokia a cease and desist order against OPPO. OPPO and OnePlus devices were banned in Germany. In early August, the Munich court in Germany ruled that OPPO had infringed two technical patents of Nokia, and approved Nokia's request for a ban on OPPO and OnePlus.

Germany is the first major European country to issue a clear ban on OPPO. Unless it negotiates again with Nokia, reaches an agreement, pays high patent fees, or waits for a new ruling from the court, it will be difficult for OPPO to maintain its market in Germany. For more on this, read the full 36 Krypton report (Chinese).

Update: Oppo responded to the rumor that they had pulled out of key European markets and sent out news as presented in the image below. However, OPPO didn't reference the Court Order and ban in Germany and ongoing litigation that could affect OPPO sales in other European markets.
While, in terms of their form, Matthew 5:10 and 5:11-12 may seem at first glance to constitute two distinct beatitudes, its pretty obvious from their parallel, even synonymous, content that theyre really a single unit. The second portion doesnt contain a specific statement of reward because its simply a restatement of the first portion , which does name the reward:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Note, too that the reward for those who are persecuted and reviled for righteousness sake is the kingdom of heaven  precisely the same reward that was promised to the pure in heart in Matthew 5:3. Which is to say that the Beatitudes both begin and end with the promise of the kingdom of heaven, that the same promised blessing bookends all of them.

Note, as well, the significant words for righteousness sake and falsely and for my sake. It is all too easy to imagine that were being persecuted for our faith when weve actually earned criticism for our own misbehavior  whether it be pride or cliquishness or lack of charity, or whatever. If the evil being spoken of us is true, there is certainly no virtue in us for that. Merely being reviled isnt enough to earn one the kingdom of heaven. If ones poor behavior merits reviling, that is likely the reward that one will receive!

Its instructive to compare the equivalent passage in the Sermon at the Temple, as it is recorded in 3 Nephi 12:10-12 in the Book of Mormon. Ive marked the substantial differences from KJV Matthew 5:10-12 in italics (and indicated one omission within brackets):

And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my names sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute [you], and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

The only difference that I want to discuss here, though, is the replacement of for righteousness sake in Matthew 5:10 by for my names sake in 3 Nephi 12:10. Arguably, 3 Nephis text suggests that the name of Christ is a synonym for the concept of righteousness. This passage, in its 3 Nephi version, is thus more explicitly Christ-centered than is the corresponding passage in Matthew.

I find that potentially quite interesting. It reminds me of a paper given by the eminent New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl (1921-2008), who served, among other things, as the Lutheran bishop of Stockholm, Sweden, and as the dean of Harvard Divinity School. Entitled The Sermon on the Mount and Third Nephi, it was delivered at Brigham Young University as part of a symposium in the mid-1970s.

I quote from Professor Stendahl, who was, of course, writing as a Protestant scholar who, while very respectful, did not regard the Book of Mormon as genuine ancient scripture:

The most striking feature that I discern when I compare 3 Nephi with Matthew or with the three synoptic Gospels is the transposition into Johannine style. The Gospel of John, as you know, is famous for the fact that to a large extent it consists of revelatory speeches or revelatory discourses. Most analysts of the Gospel of John see in it two distinct types of material or sources. The signs, the seven signs, are often more miraculous than they are in the synoptics, so that the blind is born blind; the rescue of the disciples who were in the boat in storm being heightened by that strange saying, they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land . . . (John 6:21). Everything gets a little more miraculous. Another example is the healing of the centurions son. In the Gospel of John we are told that the healing occurred exactly at the time when Jesus said, Your son will live (John 4:53). It may be of interest to compare the synoptics and 3 Nephi on this point also. Perhaps also here 3 Nephi is akin to John. When God is at work you can never understate the case seems to be the theological principle at work to the greater glory of God. Be that as it may, the real analogy between the Johannine Jesus and the Jesus of 3 Nephi is found in the style of discourse. The message in both is that he is the Redeemer, the Savior, I Am: I am the life, I am the way, I am the seed that falls into the ground. Come unto me. Believe in me. In the synoptic tradition, however,of which the Sermon on the Mount is a partJesus does not speak about himself. He speaks about the kingdom. But in the Gospel of John every symbol, every image that occurs about the kingdom is transposed into an image for Jesus. Jesus tells stories about the shepherd and the sheep. But in John, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus tells stories about the seed of the kingdom. But in John, Jesus is the seed. And as I have shown, the tendency toward the centering around faith in Jesus is perhaps the most striking tendency we find when comparing Matthew and 3 Nephi. That is also the dominant note in John. Another feature we isolated was the transposition into revelatory speech style, which also is that of Johns, including the verily, verily and behold, beholdall part of the revelatory speech style. The emphasis on faith in Jesus is not a theme in the synoptics and especially not in the Sermon on the Mount. In the synoptic Gospels one believes in God and trusts in the coming of the kingdom. This transposition is in keeping with the whole image of Jesus ministry in 3 Nephi. It is not only a matter of the genre of revelatory speech. It is the very absorbing of Jesus into the image of a Redeemer and lifting him out of history into a more timeless space as the Revealed Revealer. Thus let me summarize my observations by saying that the image of Jesus in the whole of 3 Nephi, and even more in the portion giving the Sermon on the Mount, is that of a revealer, stressing faith in me rather than in what is right according to Gods will for his people and his creation.

In other words, from Professor Stendahls point of view, the Book of Mormon is actually hyper-Christian. Which is something to bear in mind when, as they often do, evangelical Protestant anti-Mormons declare the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a non-Christian cult.
In cooperation with Verdant Press and Eborn Books, the Interpreter Foundation has just published an unusual new book by Jeffrey Thayne and Nathan Richardson under the title of Temples of the Imagination: AI-Generated Temples, Human-Generated Insights. It holds special interest for me because, at one very youthful point, I briefly dreamed of being an architect. I had fallen in love with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and had been influenced by Ayn Rands novel The Fountainhead (not a coincidental pairing, as those who know a little bit about both will realize), and I particularly imagined myself designing spectacular temples. However, I soon abandoned the dream when I realized that Ive been blessed with absolutely no visual talent  something that, Ive noticed since then, hasnt stopped all aspiring architects from enjoying successful careers.

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This past Friday, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship published a review-essay on Daniel Becerra, Amy Easton-Flake, Nicholas J. Frederick, and Joseph M. Spencer, Book of Mormon Studies: An Introduction and Guide (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2022). Entitled Moving Beyond the Historicity Question, or a Manifesto for Future Book of Mormon Research, the review was written by Newell D. Wright. In case you missed it, I want to highlight a passage from it for you here:

This privileging of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies does not seem to be warranted by impact on the discipline of Book of Mormon studies, as measured by a citation analysis. Articles in Interpreter are likely to be cited twice as often as articles appearing in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. Using Harzings Publish or Perish software, I pulled all articles that have citation data from Google Scholar from 2012 to 2018 from the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies and compared them with articles about the Book of Mormon published in the Interpreter during the same period. Newer articles are cited less frequently than older articles, so I did not include anything newer than 2018. Also, older articles are cited more frequently, as they have been around longer, so I did not look at articles published before 2012. The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies published 35 articles of all types that were cited at least once during that time period, for a total of 91 citations, or 2.68 citations per article. Interpreter published 69 articles focusing on the Book of Mormon that were cited at least once during that time period, for a total of 391 citations, or an average of 5.75 citations per article  more than double the citation rate of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. I believe that the influence of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies will continue to wane, because it is now locked behind a paywall and is not freely available to the three target audiences described at the beginning of Book of Mormon Studies. This same analysis suggests a bright, impactful future for Interpreter. This blindness towards the Interpreter is one example of the authors unconscious bias.

I cite this not to criticize the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies but, rather, to point to the apparent impact and reach of Interpreter. Faithful students of the Book of Mormon who want to publish their work and who want it to reach a wide audience will (increasingly) want to consider submitting it to Interpreter for consideration. I dont guarantee publication, of course  we have a vigorous system of peer review in place and, anyway, not every submitted manuscript fits our mission even if its really well done  but please do think of this as an invitation. We dont care what academic credentials an author may or may not possess; we care only that submitted manuscripts be solid and of interest.

I also hope that potential donors, learning of the growing reach of the Interpreter Foundation, will want to join with us in this cause. (See Donating to The Interpreter Foundation.)

***

I encourage you to watch and, if possible, to share the new 2023 Easter video from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Because of Jesus, You Can Rise Above Anything  Easter 2023 | Rise There is also a new Easter-themed concert video from the Church in Europe: Celebrate Easter With Streamed Concert, New Videos. Also not to be overlooked: First Presidencys 2023 Easter Message: Saviors sacrifice gives hope for joy and peace, Church leaders write, inviting all to ponder the glorious promise of the Saviors Resurrection

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It has been good to be out of Israel for the past three days. We managed to avoid Tel Aviv proper during this most recent visit  thats where the largest recent demonstrations have been taking place  but we did see demonstrators at the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem.

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On the flight from Boston to Salt Lake City on Saturday morning, I overheard a youngish male voice behind me ask Who goes to Salt Lake City? Why would anybody go there? Whats there? Its in the middle of nowhere. An older female voice responded Its in the desert. Like Nevada.

A few years back, The Atlantic published a good article about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The Most American Religion: Perpetual outsiders, Mormons spent 200 years assimilating to a certain national idealonly to find their country in an identity crisis. What will the third century of the faith look like?

Among others, I was struck by this passage regarding the hit Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, a passage that strikes me as precisely right: But then I met a theater critic in New York who had recently seen the musical. He marveled at how the show got away with being so ruthless toward a minority religion without any meaningful backlash. I tried to cast this as a testament to Mormon niceness. But the critic was unconvinced. No, he replied. Its because your people have absolutely no cultural cachet.

How to develop cultural cachet? This is where a horde of faithful Latter-day Saint composers, playwrights, actors, novelists, artists, and thinkers would come in handy. Plus, we have a really interesting history to tell, with lots of drama. And our demographic center in the Great Basin West features a lot of spectacular terrain that should draw even more interest from tourists than it already does. But I doubt that achieving cultural cachet is a realizable goal for us. And we certainly shouldnt seek it directly, let alone with pathetic desperation. It would be very nice if we were to be more engaged with the wider culture, neither completely disregarded because of our seeming oddness nor having sold out by aping the Gentiles. And perhaps that day will come. However, even then our image as nice and polite, but prim, naive, weird, and intellectually dull  the likable simpletons of The Book of Mormon on Broadway and in London  will almost certainly continue with us, whether or not its really deserved.

Our continuing (though much lessened) isolation in Utah and surrounding areas means that relatively few Americans or others get to know us. And, since we dont dress distinctively (i.e., wearing hijabs or yarmulkes), people elsewhere may well not realize that their dentist, professor, carpenter, pharmacist, delivery man, nurse, attorney, plumber, kindergarten teacher, or accountant is a Latter-day Saint. Theyll only know us as the Other, Out There. Strange, foreign, and exotic while, at the same time, boring, stodgy, uninteresting, and to be avoided. (I regard Gary C. Lawrences How Americans View Mormonism as a really fine treatise on the topic indicated in its title, with some very practical and easy recommendations for Latter-day Saints.)
Recalling the Western Zen Master

Charlotte Joko Beck

Charlotte Joko Beck was born on this day, March 27th, in New Jersey, in 1917.

Sadly, I can say little more about her early life. She attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and spent some years as a pianist and piano teacher. She married. They had four children. After separating from her husband Charlotte worked at various things, including as a teacher, a secretary, and an administrative assistant at a university.

She became an early student of the Japanese Soto Zen missionary Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, also studying with the Sanbo Zen teacher Hakuun Yasutani & the Rinzai Roshi Soen Nakagawa.

I wrote about her in my history of Zen in North America, Zen Master Who? A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. What follows is enriched from the base of that article.

In 1965, when she was in her forties, Charlotte Beck attended a lecture at the First Unitarian Church of San Diego. The speaker was the Japanese master Taizan Maezumi. She was struck by the quality of his presentation and quickly became a formal student. She attended numerous intensive meditation retreats as well as developing a solid regular practice. She also sat many retreats led by visiting teachers including as I mentioned above, the roshis Yasutani and Soen Nakagawa.

For a number of years she would drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, two hours each way, every Saturday for dokusan with Maezumi. Every month she drove up for sesshin, first with Gerry Shishin Wick, and later with enough others to create a caravan. These included future White Plum teachers Jan Chozen Bays, Susan Myoyu Andersen, and Anne Seisen Saunders.

Older than the majority of Maezumi Roshis students, she needed to keep a job to support her children and herself. As soon as she could afford to retire she moved up to LA and into the Zen Center. While resident at the Zen Center of Los Angeles she worked as Maezumi Roshis secretary.

She passed the Mu koan with master Soen. And then proceeded through the formal Harada-Yasutani curriculum. I am unclear as to when precisely she ordained but she received dharma transmission, acknowledgement of her own mastery of the Zen way by Maezumi Roshi in 1978. She was his third dharma successor.

After receiving dharma transmission she returned to San Diego and in 1983, with the assistance of Elizabeth Hamilton established the Zen Center of San Diego.

Following revelations of Maezumis sexual encounters with several students and other problems, in 1983 she broke with her teacher. Joko then founded the Ordinary Mind Zen School centered at the San Diego Zen Center. Sanghas founded by her students were located in New York City, Oakland, California, Champaign, Illinois, Portland, Oregon, and Brisbane, Australia.

By the 1980s Joko was generally recognized as one of the major Zen teachers in North America. Sociologist and Buddhist scholar James Coleman counted her among the most influential women teachers in the West. Buddhist scholar Judith Simmer-Brown singled her out in Joko Becks emphasizing the practical quality of meditation practice, bringing Buddhism out of an abstract, conceptual realm into daily living.

Ordinary Mind was among the first Zen communities to consciously engage the emotional life and the shadows of the human mind as the stuff of Zen practice. Joko ceased using titles and stopped wearing her priests robes. Liturgical forms in those centers affiliated with her, for the most part, became increasingly minimal.

Writing of her teaching, Shishin Wick noted how Early on she realized that American Zen had to deal with emotional issues that Zen students could bypass on their cushions. Then when they left the zendo, these ignored issues emerged with a vengeance. Joko would say that without awareness our emotions would drag us around like a huge Great Dane, but once we were able to experience these ignored feelings without trying to avoid them, they might not go away, but they were more like a toy poodle yapping at us.

Her style emphasized the ordinariness of Zen. One of her Dharma heirs Elihu Genmyo Smith once wrote of a dharma talk she gave. I am fully present about 15-20% of the time. This frankness thrilled many, as it went against the idealized (and nearly unattainable) image that Zen teachers were always fully present.' Among her heirs Dr Barry Magid noted, To me Joko always stressed experiencing the absolute in the midst of the everyday. (S)taying with anger or anxiety wasnt so much a technique for dealing with emotion as a way of seeing emotion itself, resistance itself, as IT. Not as obstacles on the path to be worked through and removed, but the path itself.

Her teaching style was particularly interesting. While trained within a koan tradition she played down kensho, calling those experiences, large or small, small intimations. And of Dharma transmission itself she called it no big deal.

The scholar Matthew Cioleks Sanbo Kyodan: Harada-Yasutani School of Zen and its Teachers archive states Joko Beck named twelve successors. They are Ezra Bayda, Larry Jissan Christensen, Anna Christenson, Geoff Dawson, Elizabeth Hamilton, Greg Howard, Barry Magid, Gary Nafstad, Barbara Muso Penn, Diane Eshin Rizzetto, Elihu Genmyo Smith, and Peg Syverson. Several of her heirs have ceased teaching, a couple marked by scandals.

Several of her heirs have named their own successors. Barry Magid has five heirs, Pat Jikyo George, Marc Poirer, Claire Slemmer, Karen Terzano, and Andrew Tootell. Diane Rizzetto has named a single successor Dan Myoen Toshin Birnbaum. As has Elihu Genyo Smith, naming Ed Mushim Russel as an heir. Peg Syverson, who later also received dharma transmission in the San Francisco Zen lineage from Kosho McCall, has four successors, Todd Bankler, Joel Barna, Flint Sparks, and Laurie Winnette.

There were some controversies toward the end of her life, where she repudiated several of her heirs.

Her teachings were captured in three books, Everyday Zen: Love and Work (1989), Nothing Special: Living Zen (1993), and the posthumous Ordinary Wonder (2021). Everyday Zen is often counted among the more influential books from that first wave of North American Zen teachers.

Her heirs are among the most interesting and in some cases among the most important of our contemporary Zen teachers. Among them, I think Barry Magid is the most illustrative of her unique approach to Zen. A psychoanalyst in addition to being a Zen teacher, Dr Magids numerous articles, and especially his books Ordinary Mind: Exploring the Common Ground of Zen and Psychoanalysis (2002), Ending the Pursuit of Happiness (2008), and Nothing Is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koan (2013) have continued to transmit the deep imprint of Joko Becks approach to the fundamental matters of our lives and deaths.

Charlotte Joko Beck died on June 15th, 2011 in Prescott, Arizona. She was 94.

Many bows for one of our singular Zen founders
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward.

Once Bihar, known then as Magadh, was famous as a great centre of learning. It boasted one of the largest universities in the world in Nalanda District, housing more than 10,000 students and over 2,000 teachers and attracted students from such far away places as China and Mongolia. At present, with 47.53 percent, Bihar has the lowest literacy rate in the country.

Today Bihar has over 2.7 million children who do not go to school. In Bihar, 60 percent of children drop out of school at the primary level and around 75 percent at the middle level. The proportion is higher for girls. In 2002, Bihar had more than 190,000 vacancies for school teachers. The state has, on an average, 1 teacher per 84 pupils. The national average is 1 teacher per 40 pupils. In 2002-2003, UNICEF worked with the government to recruit and train 42,000 teachers. In 2005, UNICEF urged the government to begin teachers recruitment and training again. The government of Bihar is going to recruit 2.35 lakh teachers in the vacant seats in the schools of Bihar. It will bring teacher-pupil ratio to the national figure of 1:40. This would be the largest exercise, ever undertaken, in terms of numbers, and also a major breakthrough in regard to decentralization and devolution of powers to the Panchayati Raj institutions for management of school education as envisaged under 73rd and 74th amendment of the Constitution.

This is high time when one should focus on policies leading to quality teachers and teaching. Largest source of variation in student learning is attributable to differences in what students bring to school  their abilities and attitudes, and family and community background. Of those variables which are potentially open to policy influence, factors to do with teachers and teaching are the most important influences on student learning. It is difficult to predict who is going to be a good teacher just by considering the more measurable characteristics of teachers (e.g. qualifications, teaching experience, and indicators of academic ability and subject-matter knowledge). There are many important aspects of teacher quality that are not captured by the more measurable characteristics, such as:

 Ability to convey ideas in clear and convincing ways;

 To create effective learning environments for different types of students;

 To foster productive teacher-student relationships;

 To be enthusiastic and creative;

 To work effectively with colleagues and parents.

Policies for developing more effective teachers and teaching have intensified in recent years due to the profound economic and social changes underway and the imperatives for schools to provide the foundations for lifelong learning.

Some of the teacher and teaching related policies are suggested as follows. These policies have general relevance for teachers urban areas but take on special significance in rural and remote areas.

A. Teacher Recruitment

Improve selection into teacher education

 Information and counselling

 Assessment

 Early school experience

 Incentives for high potentials

 Put basic teacher salaries in periphery at parity with urban areas.

 Provide salary differentials and/or hardship pay for teaching in difficult areas.

 Develop programs to increase teachers social status and recognition

B. Developing Teachers Knowledge and Skills

1. Developing teacher profiles

Clear and concise standards of what teachers are expected to know and be able to do.

 reflect broad range of competencies.

 provide framework to guide and integrate initial

 teacher education, certification, induction and on-going professional development.

 should be evidence-based and reflect student learning objectives.

 should be built on active involvement by teaching profession.

2. Teacher education:

Provide more flexible forms of initial teacher education

 Modular, part-time, distance education

 Alternate routes for mid-career changers

Strengthen partnerships between teacher education institutions and schools

 Overt and deliberate partnerships

 Earlier and broader field experience

Subsidize teacher enrollment in courses for earning/upgrading credentials. Associate teacher education with credentials, pay raises, promotion, and job security. Empower and train school principals as instructional leaders/ supervisors. Use distance/ extension education programs so that teachers can upgrade credentials without too much disruption to family life.

3. Strengthening induction programmes

 Formalise induction programmes

 Qualify mentor teachers

 Provide sufficient resources for induction and reduced teaching obligation for mentors and beginning teachers

 Link successful completion of induction to certification

4. Integrating professional development throughout the teaching career

Provide incentives for lifelong learning of all teachers

 Entitle teachers to release time and/or financial support for professional development

 Create incentives: e.g., link professional development to teacher appraisal and career advancement

 Link individual teacher development with school improvement needs

5. Broaden the range of different professional development opportunities, e.g.

 Peer review and action research

 Mutual school visits

 Teacher and school networks

6. Provide more coherent framework for professional development, develop teachers learning communities

 Training, practice and feedback

 Follow-up rather than one shot events

 Teacher portfolios

C. Teacher Deployment

 Offer extra credit toward promotion for teaching in peripheral areas.

 Create organizational mechanisms to ensure that teachers recruited and trained for work in the periphery are indeed placed there.

 Provide special preparation for teaching in the periphery prior to teachers taking up assignments (including training in multigrade teaching and working under difficult conditions).

 Develop means of overcoming the image of social isolation.

 Develop strategies to support deployment of husband/wife teams.

 Offer subsidized housing as part of teaching contract.

 Cover moving costs to remote locations.

D. Teacher Retention

 Payment of overtime for extra work/preparation. Bonus for regular attendance. Bonus for student achievement.

 Improved management of automatic promotion systems (eliminate paperwork bottlenecks).

 Community contributions toward teacher welfare/earnings.

 Organize school clusters and/or working groups for peer support and group problem solving.

 Empower teachers as co-developers of school curriculum and in service education programs.

 Solicit community for teacher aids and guest instructors.

 Promote special recognition of teachers by community.

 Use decentralized systems of resource (e.g., textbooks) provision and distribution.

 Provide access to teacher education/ teacher upgrading courses (through distance or extension education).

 Make in-service teacher education relevant to teacher needs in the periphery.

 Involve teachers/teacher groups in the planning and implementation of their own in-service education.

 Maintain housing subsidies.

 Cover costs of occasional home visits for those not originating in school vicinity.

 Provide assistance for health care and education of family members.

 Scholarships for children and free books.

E. Providing Schools with More Responsibility for Teacher Personnel Development

Schools need to have more responsibility and accountability for working conditions, and development.

Pre-requisites:

 Developing school leaders skills in personnel management;

 Providing disadvantaged schools with greater resources;

 Monitoring the outcomes of a more decentralised approach;

 Creating independent appeals procedures to ensure fairness and protect teachers rights.

F. Evaluating and Rewarding Effective Teaching

There needs to be a stronger emphasis on teacher evaluation for improvement purposes. Opportunity for teachers work to be recognised and celebrated and help both teachers and schools to identify developmental needs.

Pre-requisites:

 Teacher appraisal to occur within a framework provided by profession-wide agreed statements of standards of professional performance;

 Evaluators need to be trained and evaluated themselves;

 Evaluation frameworks and tools need to be provided.

G. Providing More Opportunities for Career Diversification

Teaching would benefit from a career ladder based on skills, responsibilities and performance. There needs to be more opportunities for career diversity and mobility (between schools, between roles, and between teaching and other careers).

H. Teaching Needs to Become a Knowledge-rich Profession

Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich profession in which individuals continually develop, and have the incentives and opportunities to do so, research is integrated into practice, and schools become professional learning communities that encourage and draw on teachers development.

I. Improving Leadership and School Climate

A range of initiatives should be taken to strengthen leadership in schools:

 Improve training, selection and evaluation processes for school principals;

 Establish leadership teams in schools;

 School leaders to be trained and supported in conducting evaluations and linking them to school planning.

J. Improving Working Conditions

 School facilities

 Classroom facilities

 Number of students

 Age range of students

 Collegiality

There needs to be an explicit recognition of the wide variety of tasks that teaching actually entails. Well trained support and administrative staff can help to reduce the burden on teachers and free them to concentrate on the tasks of teaching and learning Better facilities at school for staff preparation and planning would help in building collegiality and in programme provision.

K. Redefining Management Roles

To raise the quality of teachers, teaching and learning at the school level, new school level management roles are evolving, and low-cost alternatives to current practice are need to be explored. The traditional role of head teachers focuses on routine administrative tasks. New functions may include instructional leadership; community liaison and mobilization; stimulating and monitoring innovations (e.g., multigrade classrooms, teacher assistants); generating, understanding, and utilizing information on interventions in progress; and responding to the emergence of new priorities.

L. Monitoring and Sustaining Quality Improvement

To help monitor and sustain continual improvements, there is need at all levels but particularly at the local level for both practical technology and, within contexts of decentralization, for participatory decision processes. Head teachers, in order to provide leadership and mobilize community support, should be able to assess the quality of their schools and utilize such information in local strategic planning.

Working toward the Future

To ensure a highly qualified supply of special education teachers in the future, policymakers should consider the following strategies:

1. Create programs to encourage experienced teachers to stay on beyond retirement, perhaps as part-time teachers or mentors;

2. Promote the use of less traditional methods of recruitment, such as the use of web sites or professional recruiters;

3. Examine State and local policies that affect paperwork burden to see if some requirements can be reduced, making the jobs of special education teachers more manageable;

4. Work with school districts and teachers preparation programs to provide more training in areas in which teachers feel their skills are weakest, that is, using technology in education, interpreting results of standardized tests, accommodating diverse students, learning needs, and using literature to address problems; and

5. Help school districts tailor continuing professional development to the needs of special education teachers and ensure that those programs use best practices, including time for teachers to implement what they have learned.

Bihars future depends on how well we educate our children. To provide every child with a class education we need to start sooner, set standards higher and provide opportunities to all. We need excellent teacher and teaching methodology. We need to restructure the school day and the school year. Money alone wont solve the problems facing our schools, but a policy of reforms without resources mocks the scope of our challenge.

Good Teachers are Costly, but Bad Teachers Cost More!

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The author is a research scholar at IIT Madras and can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Original publish date: Sept. 13, 2006
The closing lines of The Plague by Albert Camus's "the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city," just about sum up the attitude of a medicalised society which treats all of germs , pathogens , microbe , lonely, lost strands of RNA are its sworn enemies.

During the last couple of days, I have come across articles in respectable journals wherein the Covid-19 crisis is being termed as a man vs microbe thing. I too did it in a post in order to spite the scientific hubris of man.

Humans as we are, we cant but think in human ways. The us vs them binary is the commonest way of explaining our predicament, our need for enemy is explainable in terms of the essentialist definition of human - from Aristotle to Aquinas, from Hegel to Husserl - in opposition to the animal, where man is in possession of logos, spirit, subjectivity, etc. while the latter has none.

In his The New Ecological Order, Luce Ferry (I hasten to add 'deep ecology' is not my cup of tea) mentions a very interesting fact that pre-scientific man was fair to a fault: he put even troublesome beetles and leeches on trial, and the rats of Autun were issued summons, as late as in the 16th century. Francis Bacons injunction nature must be hounded into yielding her secrets, was duly picked by the new science of Newton and together with Descartes a perfect model of anthropocentrism was put in place in which all rights went to man and none to nature." Man invented an existence for himself, as the jewel of the crown of creation, as the master of all he surveyed.

But history of evolution of life forms suggests otherwise. Microbes have been here for as long we have the recorded history of earth while mammoths and mastodons, the dinosaurs and big reptiles, stellar sea cow and Tasmanian tigers stunning, successes in their own days have come, dominated the scene for a while, and then disappeared. But the viruses are sticking it out.

Would the viruses, lords and masters of the earth, for the last 4.5 billion years, be interested in picking up a fight against a species that is just a million years old, is essentially fragile and has been dangerously lurching from one threat of extinction to another, and sooner or later will do itself in, with or without much outside help?

Stephen J Gould says in Times Arrow: "What could be more comforting, what more convenient for human domination, than the traditional concept of a young earth, ruled by human will within days of its origin. How threatening, by contrast, the notion of an almost incomprehensible immensity, with human habitation restricted to a milli microsecond at the very end!"

Man and microbe, no matter how highly men think of themselves, live by the same rules; are governed by the same laws of natural selection. We are swimming in a sea of bacteria and such other life forms, which constitute a large part of the biomass. But frankly speaking most of these microscopic creatures have no interest in human beings, they mind their own business, many of them are in fact friendly, the ones which inhabit the root nodules of plants, the others that are furiously busy in our guts for our benefits.

Viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites from unicellular animalculae to 80-foot-long tapeworms take up residence inside animals, but were safe from these things. Mostly, these disease-causing agents stick to one host species. Migration from one to another is not an easy business. Many barriers stand between each of us and that previously unknown infection hosted by an unfamiliar animal. Breaking down of the barriers between animals and people, a zoonosis is a rare occurrence. Jarred Diamond in his Guns Germs and Steel has written an extended history, drawing upon a wide variety of geographical, ecological and historical sources from, of past 11  12 thousand years when man first domesticated animals.

That was also the beginning of zoonotic diseases. The human (Chinese?) taste for exotic meet of Bat and Pangolins and snakes led ultimately the coronavirus to jump from its original habitat in the bats to man. So the Covid-19 did not come with a belligerent intent to wipe out the human race, it was invited in, so to say. It is our hedonism that has brought us to such a pass. It is our essentialist concept, our attitude towards nature in which we tend to treat nature as our zoo, vault and park that is at the root cause of our trouble. We radically need to change our way of thinking followed by our way of living but what we are furiously seeking our redemption in a vaccine.

Wrong again. We can never match the ingenuity of the shape shifting virus. SARS1 came in 2004, it released in an updated cleverer version in 2019 and it will come again, and again, and again.

India Today magazine once referred to Manoje Nath, a 1973-batch IPS officer, as being fiercely independent, honest, and upright. Besides his numerous official reports on various issues exposing corruption in the bureaucracy in Bihar, Nath is also a writer extraordinaire expressing his thoughts on subjects ranging from science fiction to the effects of globalization. His sense of humor was evident through his extremely popular series named "Gulliver in Pataliputra" and "Modest Proposals" that were published in the local newspapers.
At a glance Expert's Rating Pros Solid performance and great battery life

Gorgeous, powerful OLED screen

A 1080p webcam with Windows Studio Effects

Good interaction with Galaxy device ecosystem and apps Cons Average keyboard, trackpad

Audio needs some tweaking Our Verdict Samsungs Galaxy Book3 Ultra is Samsungs excellent first entry into the content-creation PC space. This thin laptop packs power and battery life behind a superb screen though at a fairly high price.

Best Prices Today: Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra

Retailer Price $2399.99 View Deal

Samsungs Galaxy Book3 Ultra challenges all comers in content creation, a market Samsung hasnt previously addressed with its Book3 series. But this sleek 16-inch laptop with its stunning OLED screen combines both a 13th-gen Intel Core CPU and a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, giving you an entry point into the latest PC hardware.

Theres a lot to love here. Youre getting outstanding battery life, a lovely design, modern Thunderbolt 4 ports, and more. No, the GPU isnt what youll find in a true gaming notebook and the keyboard is a bit shallower than other productivity laptops. Youll be hard-pressed, however, to find a better notebook PC for content creation.

Looking for more content creator laptops? Check out our top picks on our roundup of the best laptops.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: What it offers, where it fits

Samsungs Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is one of a small family of new Book3 laptops that consists of the Book3 Ultra, the Book3 Pro clamshell, and the Book3 Pro 360 and Book3 360 two-in-one convertibles. (Weve reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 separately, and sister site TechAdvisor reviewed the Book3 Pro.) The Book3 Ultra is the new addition to the family, sporting an Nvidia RTX GeForce 4050 GPU inside a thicker frame that makes it suitable for content creation and light gaming. Its a market Samsung hasnt addressed with its earlier Galaxy Books.

Samsungs Galaxy Book3 Ultra ships with a single 16-inch display option, though youll have the choice of two performance configurations like the Core i7/RTX 4050 model that begins at $2,399.99, which we test here, and a Core i9/RTX 4070 version, starting at $2,999.99. The former option also offers 16GB of RAM, while the latter ships with 32GB. For either configuration, you can choose between 512GB and 1TB of SSD storage, though Samsung itself currently offers just a 1TB SSD option.

Samsungs Galaxy Book3 Ultra is a member of Intels Evo program, where Intel engineers help Samsung design the laptop. Mark Hachman / IDG

Keep in mind that theres a substantial difference between Nvidias RTX 4050 mobile GPU and the RTX 4070 mobile GPU, though Nvidia didnt go into too much detail when launching them. Nvidias RTX 4050 is the least powerful of the RTX 4000 GPU family. While the 4050 and the 4070 otherwise offer similar features, Nvidias specifications show that they differ considerably in both memory width and CUDA core count, which will affect gaming performance but may also reduce battery life significantly. As a content creation machine, though, the new capabilities of the GPUs video encoders are just as important.

Put another way, the Book3 Ultra isnt a gaming laptop, but a gaming-capable laptop. Content creation and consumption is its primary purpose.

Samsungs Galaxy Book3 Ultra combines both power and long battery life, all behind a beautiful OLED screen that youll be as eager to show off as to work upon.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Specifications

Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H/Core i9-13900H (Core i7 as tested)

Intel Core i7-13700H/Core i9-13900H (Core i7 as tested) Display: 16-inch non-touch (2,8801800), 120Hz AMOLED 2X, 400 nits, 120% DCI-P3 color volume

16-inch non-touch (2,8801800), 120Hz AMOLED 2X, 400 nits, 120% DCI-P3 color volume Memory: 16GB/32GB LPDDR5 (16GB as tested)

16GB/32GB LPDDR5 (16GB as tested) Storage: 512GB/1TB SSD plus expansion slot (1TB as tested)

512GB/1TB SSD plus expansion slot (1TB as tested) Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050/4070 Laptop GPU (RTX 4050 as tested)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050/4070 Laptop GPU (RTX 4050 as tested) Ports: 2 Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-A, HDMI 2.0, microSD, Headphone/Mic

2 Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-A, HDMI 2.0, microSD, Headphone/Mic Security: Fingerprint reader

Fingerprint reader Camera: 1080p (user-facing)

1080p (user-facing) Battery: 73.8Wh (rated) / 74.5Wh (actual)

73.8Wh (rated) / 74.5Wh (actual) Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+), 802.11 ax 22, Bluetooth 5.1

Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+), 802.11 ax 22, Bluetooth 5.1 Audio: AKG Quad Speaker (two 5W woofers, two 2W tweeters), Smart Amp, Dolby Atmos

AKG Quad Speaker (two 5W woofers, two 2W tweeters), Smart Amp, Dolby Atmos Operating system: Windows 11

Windows 11 Dimensions: 13.99 x 9.86 x 0.65in. (16.5mm)

13.99 x 9.86 x 0.65in. (16.5mm) Weight: 3.95lbs (rated)

3.95lbs (rated) Colors: Graphite

Graphite Price: beginning at $2,399

After recently reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, the additional weight and thickness that the Ultra offers is a bit of a shock. Like the other Book3 laptops, however, the aluminum chassis attracts fingerprints readily, which show up as smudges on the black Graphite surface. The Ultra doesnt feel especially thickjust more like a traditional laptop than Samsungs ultrathin Book lineup. At 14 inches wide and about four pounds, however, the weight is noticeable.

We said similar things about the Book3 Pro 360, with the caveat that the relatively tiny gallium nitrate (GaN) charger offset those concerns. Here, the charger adds to them, unfortunately. You probably have older devices that combine the power transformer and the plug into the same unit: wall warts. Here, theres a sizeable power brick (70mm x 75mm, or about three inches on a side) with a plug on one side of it, which can make plugging into the wall or even a power strip a little awkward, depending on the orientation. Samsung might rethink this with its next generation.

The charger does accomplish one thing, though, it powers up the Book3 Ultra quickly. Samsung claims that the Book3 will charge to 55 percent in 30 minutes. Thats true, provided that you leave the laptop closed and in a sleep state. When open, we recorded a charge of about 25 percent during the same time.

The Galaxy Book3 Ultra venting seems adequate, pulling air from underneath and pushing it out through the hinge vents. Mark Hachman / IDG

The Book3 Ultras lid opens up with just the crook of a finger, exposing the gorgeous AMOLED 2X screen inside that fills almost all of the available space; there are no chunky bezels on this device. The new AMOLED 2X OLED is a key selling point of the Book3 lineup and it applies here. OLEDs are simply gorgeous displays, with absolute jet blacks that underscore the terrific contrast ratio.

In the real world, you wont notice as much impact on day-to-day office work, with its multicolored images and light backgrounds. If you prefer dark mode, however, its a bonus. Movies, though, are where it really shines. Dark scenes appear truly dark, which adds an additional layer of visual fidelity to the experience.

Our colorimeter compares the standard OLED Mode color gamut (the default is an Auto setting) versus the AdobeRGB setting.

Samsung claims that the laptop produces 120 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which simply translates into brighter, more vivid colors, as well as being rated for VESA ClearMR and DisplayHDR TRUE BLACK 500 certified. The Pro 360 OLED display does feature dedicated modes for DCI-P3, AdobeRGB and sRGB, as well as an Auto mode that presumably optimizes itself for the application. Based on our colorimeter, the Book3 Ultra appears to accommodate the full range of the color gamuts we tested under.

Samsung also claims that the display reduces blue light by 78 percent while in dark mode versus its light mode, which we havent been able to verify. Its an interesting claim, though, because normally laptops reduce blue light while in light mode, skewing the display towards yellowish tinges. The Book3 Ultra does the latter, too. However, reducing the amount of light hitting your eyeball while in dark mode and lowering the amount of blue light certainly should appeal to migraine sufferers.

A pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports can be found on the left side of the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra. Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsungs new AMOLED 2X offers more than just visual improvements, though. Like the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, the Book3 Ultras display is a dynamic 120Hz. When needed, the display can dial down to a more conservative 60Hz when idling, saving power. When necessary the display can increase its refresh rate to 120Hz, offering smoother mousing and gameplay. Normally, this helps inking, too. However, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra does not ship with a touchscreen, or a pen. For that, theres the Book3 Pro 360 instead.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Chassis and ports

When we first opened up the Book3 and began setting it up, we noticed the distinct high-pitched tones that indicate coil whine, when the fans speed up to cool the laptop down. In fairness, however, we havent heard them since. Instead, the Book3 Ultra sucks in air through a small matrix of holes in the bottom of the chassis and pushes it out the back, though the hinge. The hiss it produces is noticeable though not overwhelming. Wed expect more noise, though, if you opt for the Core i9/RTX 4070 option instead.

On the left side of the Book3 Ultra are a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, which can be used to connect to a Thunderbolt dock, including for external storage or a pair of 4K displays. Failing that, the Book3 Ultra also offers a dedicated HDMI 2.0 port, which can project to a single external 4K monitor, as well. On the right side, Samsung includes a microSD slot and a legacy USB-A port for a mouse, plus a headphone jack.

On the right side of the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra youll find a standard USB-A port, a microSD slot, and a headphone jack. You can barely see the speaker on the underside, to the left, which fires out and down. Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung is a little less pushy than Microsoft in terms of encouraging you to connect your laptop to Samsungs network of apps, services, and devices, but the Book3 Ultra does ask for (but doesnt demand) a Samsung password when you set up the system. Doing so provides some benefits if you own other Samsung devices, and also enables some specific Samsung applications, which well talk about later.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Typing experience

Samsungs 1.6:1 display ratio allows for a roomy keyboard, with a narrow number pad to the right-hand sideif youre a right-handed person, that might just be a convenience. As a lefty, though, the number pad is the equivalent of the WASD keys right-handers use, so any laptop with gaming potential earns a plus in that regard. Given that Samsung offers 16-inch options across most of its Book3 line, I would assume that any device you buy in this family will have the same keyboard, and they all should be equally usable.

As I wrote in my Book3 Pro 360 review, Samsungs chiclet keyboards always make me wonder if theyll actually be usable, as their key travel is often shallower than Id like. While Im still not sure if Id prefer them for long-term use, theyre comfortable enough. Keyboards have become shallower over time, however, as manufacturers prefer to design thinner systems with less room for deep key travel. Thats not a trend I endorse, but Samsung at least has managed a compromise. There are three levels of backlighting.

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultras keyboard isnt terrific, but its surprisingly serviceable. Like the other members of the Galaxy Book3 family, the laptop features a massive touchpad. Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung again chooses to use a fingerprint reader, mounted inside the power button. Pushing it when the laptop is off or in standby allows you to power on and log in at the same time. While depth cameras can log you in quickly, they can become fooled by facial hair, wrinkles, or glasses. The Book3 lineup lacks depth cameras, using the fingerprint reader instead.

Fingerprint readers tend to be more consistent, but they can also become less accurate over time as the sensor becomes smudged. Theyre also sensitive to schmutz on your finger either during setup or authentication, as the Book3 Ultra was. Put another way, the fingerprint sensor worked acceptably during our time with the Book3, but this means little compared to the long term.

All of the new Book3 models seem to share an additional quirk. The gigantic touchpad at the bottom of the keyboard, which measures a massive 6 inches wide by about 4.25 inches deep. While you can tap upon its full breadth, the upper fifth or so isnt clickable. Even with such an enormous input device, theres still enough room for your palms on either side, though the touchpad is skewed toward the left-hand side. Taken together, the trackpad and keyboard are acceptable, though not outstanding.

Samsungs Galaxy Boo3 Ultra hides a fingerprint reader under the power button. Mark Hachman / IDG

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Audio

I made the mistake of reading TechAdvisors review of the Book3 Pro right before writing this section and I cant help but agree with Anyron Copemans take. The Book3 lineup excels at voice playback, whether in terms of music or the spoken word, and falls a bit short everywhere else. Out of the box, the Book3 Ultra and Pro 360 dont sound all that great, and require some tuning of the pre-installed Dolby Atmos app to arrive at an acceptable setting. (As far as I can tell, the Book 3 Pro 360 and the Book3 Ultra produce about the same audio quality.) Otherwise, the audio just sounds a bit distorted, though the volume level is excellent.

The Book3 Ultra uses a pair of downward facing speakers with discrete 5W woofers and 2W tweeters, sufficient to full the room with whatever youre playing back. None of the Book3 lineup provides poor audio; its just that some other laptops Ive heard do better. Again, some tweaking will resolve most issues, and theres a headphone jack, too.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Webcam

When Intel launched its 13th-gen Core chips, the company said that select laptops would include a Movidius AI chip inside of them to enable AI effects. To date, the signal for those effects has been the Windows Studio Effects suite, originally launched with the Surface Pro 9 (5G) and its Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm chip. (Arm has integrated AI functions; the current 13th-gen Core chips do not.)

The Book3 includes the AI-powered Studio Effects suite, which includes an on-device replica of the background blurring effects you can find in Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet. HDR effects dont do much. Youll be more impressed with the webcams ability to automatically pan and zoom, keeping you in frame. Indulge your vanity and turn on Face Effects, which can subtly remove the bags under your eyes from too many late nights.

Two pictures with the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultras webcam: one in a dimly lit room (left) and the other in more natural light.

Otherwise, the 1080p webcams on the upper end of the spectrum of laptop webcams, with good color balance but a slightly soft focus. Like the Pro 360, Samsung does use AI to help cancel noise in video calls, however, and does so very well via a pair of studio mics.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: The Galaxy ecosystem

Samsung developed a suite of its own apps to connect its Galaxy devices such as the Book lineup, Tab tablets, and, of course, its Galaxy phones. These apps supplement and in some cases replace the applications that Microsoft itself provides, like Link to Windows as a replacement for Phone Link. This set bonus may not justify buying a suite of Samsung devices by themselves. If you do, however, there are benefits, as our tests of the Book3 and the latest Samsung Galaxy phones indicated.

Remember Mouse without Borders? The handy Microsoft app allows you to move a mouse between computers, which is a nifty trick. Samsungs Multi Control app does the same thing, which is a little bizarremoving your mouse cursor from your laptop to your phone, and interacting with photos and files, even copying them or cutting and pastingis neat, and useful. Its essentially a return to the old sneakernet of just copying files from one device to another. (Yes, you can automatically upload them to the cloud and then re-download them, too, but theres an immediacy to Multi Control which is extremely convenient.) If you own a Galaxy Tab tablet, you can also use a Tab as a second screen via the Second Screen app, too.

In fact, most of the Samsung app ecosystem is all about moving and sharing files. Quick Share can send a file to another Galaxy device and Private Share can be used to securely encrypt and share files to other devicesa bit like sharing a file from the cloud with another user, complete with file permissions and an expiration date. One exception is Clip Studio Paint, which gets around the lack of a touchscreen and pen by allowing you to use a Galaxy Phone with an S Pen instead. All of these apps have their own niches.

Samsung also has an app called Expert RAW Auto Share, which automatically sends photos taken with a Galaxy S23 phone to a nearby Galaxy tablet. As Samsung explains, thats handy for editing RAW photos with Adobe Lightroomwhich Samsung provides a two-month trial of.

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Performance

Content-creation notebooks represent a small and evolving niche of PCs, somewhere midway between a traditional gaming notebook and a productivity machine. Microsoft set out to help create this niche with its Surface Laptop Studio, and more recently weve seen laptops like the Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 3D OLED (H7604 3D OLED), with a 120Hz OLED display all of its own. (We havent received that device for testing yet.)

Unlike a pure gaming notebook, the importance of the Nvidia 4-series GPU is put to a variety of tasks such as gaming, 3D content creation, photo and video editing, and encoding. Content creation typically means video encoding, and this notebook seizes upon two emerging trends. First, new video codecs like AV1, which provide smaller file sizes (and less bandwidth for streaming) at the cost of more severe hardware requirements. Secondly, popular encoding software packages like OBS Studio now support AV1, a codec that requires either an Nvidia GeForce 3-series or 4-series GPU. Encoding using the more aggressive codec on cutting-edge laptop hardware should save both time and disk space, both arguments in favor of buying this laptop.

Keep in mind, though, that youre certainly not going to see the surprisingly high battery life when using the Book3 Ultra for content creation, versus the video playback test that we use to measure battery life, or content consumption. Its at this point that youll see the Book3 echo some of the problems gaming notebooks havetheyre great when connected to their power cord, but their longevity can suffer when on battery and under load.

Incidentally, the Book3 Ultra is one of the few that we saw that did not suffer from thermal throttling, at least in terms of 3D performance. (Throttling can occur when the laptop slows down its CPU or GPU to maintain thermal limits, reducing performance for the sake of stability.) Performance dropped 11 percent when our CPU benchmark was looped for 10 straight minutes. However, when we looped the 3DMark benchmark for 20 straight runs, it passed the test, delivering 99.6 percent of the frame rate that it did in the beginning.

Anecdotally, the Book3 Ultra felt laggy when loading applications. But after checking the transfer rates, we changed our tune. Random reads and writes arent too shabby, but the sequential read and write speeds are outstanding.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Weve compared the $2,399 Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra to its stablemate, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, which we highlight in orange. We compare the Book3 Ultra to the mainstream $1,799 Surface Laptop 5 (15-inch) and Microsofts $2,699 content-creation laptop, the Surface Laptop Studio. To that we add the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14, a $1,449 mainstream OLED laptop. Our main focus, though, is seeking out comparably-sized laptops with discrete graphics. Those include the $1,765 Lenovo Slim 7 Pro X and the $1,599 Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED, another content-creation machine.

We round out our testing by adding three traditional gaming laptops, all of which could potentially replace the Book3 Ultra. The $1,049 MSI Katana GF66 12UD, the $3,825 Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16, a dual-screen laptop aimed at both content creation and gaming, and the MSI Titan GT 77 HX 13V, priced at a you could buy two Book3s for this $5,299.

We use four tests to measure performance: ULs PCMark10 and 3DMark; Cinebench R15, and Handbrake.

PCMark10 is an excellent metric of everyday performance, using actual apps that measure everything from office work, photo and video editing to CAD work. Normally, we expect a laptop to perform well here, but theres still room for separation from the pack. The H-class processor and discrete GPU help achieve this.

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra performs just fine as an everyday office PC, as expected. Mark Hachman / IDG

We use the Cinebench R15 benchmark as a metric for a quick burst of CPU performance, stressing all of its cores and threads. With six dual-threaded performance cores and eight single-threaded efficiency cores, the twenty threads chew through our test in a matter of moments. (We also test using the more sophisticated R20 benchmark, with the idea that well eventually transition to that metric.)

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra performs admirably in our COU test, outclassed only by the powerful 13th-gen HX CPU of the MSI Titan. Mark Hachman / IDG

Handbrake measures CPU performance as well, though over a prolonged period of time. We use the open-source app to transcode a movie into a format that could be used by a tablet. This real-world test demonstrates how well a laptop can perform under prolonged load. Since it accomplishes its task in just minutes, it also demonstrates the practical purposes of the app, too.

Not a terrific score for the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra, but serviceable. Mark Hachman / IDG

We use the 3DMark Time Spy test to measure 3D performance with an eye toward gaming, as the video-encoding capabilities arent put to the test. Theres a significant gap between the GeForce RTX 4050 and the remainder of the GeForce RTX 4-series GPUs though even the lowest rung on this ladder is high up.

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra isnt a gaming machine, but generally holds its own on the low end of the gaming PC market. Many of these PCs include discrete GPUs. Mark Hachman / IDG

We also tested two games, Forza Horizon 4 and Troy: A Total War Saga, to measure game performance. The Book3 excelled at the default resolution and Ultra settings. It rendered 70 frames per second in Forza, a terrific performance. In the Total War battle simulator, the laptop rendered almost 40 fps at Ultra settings as well.

A real strength of the Book3 Ultra, however, is delivering terrific battery life and fantastic performance. Yes, some of that can be felt on your back as you lug about the Book3s four pounds or so. Still, we often dont see all-day performance in a laptop.

Both games were run on Ultra settings at the native 28801800 resolution. Both were playable, at over 60 fps for Forza Horizon 4, and above 30 fps for the real-time strategy game Troy: A Total War Story. Lowering the resolution or visual quality will improve performance.

Keep in mind, though, that our video test only really measures how long the laptop can keep the display lit and CPU active; looping a 4K video doesnt really push the laptop hard, if at all. Our tests show that it lasts 786 minutes, or just over 13 hoursthats a full days work and then some. Looping a 3D benchmark over and over is a good measure of how long youll be able to play or do strenuous work on the laptops battery before it expires; there, the laptop only lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes.

That may sound like a huge difference, but its pretty typical for a gaming notebook and, under load, the H-series CPU and RTX 4050 GPU essentially act like a gaming laptop.

The Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra turns in quite an impressive score in terms of battery life. The OLED display may play a role here. Gaming laptops dont often worry too much abut battery, either. Mark Hachman / IDG

During the benchmark loop, though, the laptop shut off the fan about 50 loops in, dropping the frame rate from about 30 frames per second to 10 fps or sothen down to 3 fps a bit later. That was wholly unexpected. We asked Samsung for comment, but they hadnt yet responded after several days.

Still, theres quite a discrepancy between 13.1 hours of battery life while looping a video and just under two hours while playing a game. Plan accordingly!

Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra: Should you buy it?

With more variety in terms of display, processor, GPU, and features than perhaps ever before, its difficult to compare the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra to anything else currently on the market. The Book3 Ultra holds its own in terms of performance against everything but the MSI Katana, a budget gaming laptop thats comparable on paper but little else.

Samsung compares well in performance, with very little competition in battery lifeat least when it comes back to playing back video. And video looks great, too, on the Book3 Ultras OLED screen. The price certainly leans heavily toward the premium tier, though not too far out of reach for what the Book3 Ultra offers.

Based on what we know of the upcoming Asus Vivobook Pro 16X 3D OLED and last years VivoBook Pro 16X OLED, wed say the upcoming Asus Vivobook promises the stiffest challenge to the Book3 Ultra. But it hasnt arrived yet. Right now, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra is the content-creation notebook to beatand for the moment, nothing does.
The Director-General of the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), Dr. Michael Boakye -Yiadom, has indicated that quality education in a free Senior High School (SHS) system requires a holistic approach where teachers are teaching not just to get their learners to pass examinations and learners are also not learning just to pass examinations.



But rather, the education received must provide learners with the capabilities required to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful democratic societies and enhance individual well-being. He stated this in reference to the VVOB (a non-profit organisation contributing to quality education in developing countries) definition of quality education. He further added that SHS graduates should not struggle to identify their career paths to determine which post-secondary educational pathway they need to pursue for their future; academic advising must be strengthened to ensure flexible pathways for SHS graduates.



Dr. Boakye-Yiadom was speaking as a co-panellist on the topic, Ensuring Quality Education in a Free SHS System: The Dos and Donts, on the Issues Segment on ATL Fm in Cape Coast, dubbed SDG 4 Drive (a programme designed by IEPA to interrogate educational issues towards meeting SDG 4 in Ghana).



On the issues of curriculum content and its importance to quality education, the other co-panellist, Dr. Clara Araba Mills, a lecturer at IEPA, indicated that: As one of the Dos, the SHS curriculum offers a variety of courses to inform different pathways students may identify for further education and training, as required by the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).



The curriculum also caters for the core subjects of Mathematics, English language, and Science, among others, which generally provide the foundational/core skills needed to excel on a course or programme chosen for further education. Again, SDG 4 advocates for the constructivist approach to teaching and learning which recognises individualism and diversity, and thus, calls for different approaches to teaching to meet the diversity of learners needs.



On the ground, the data however indicates that the current average of teacher-learner ratio is 1:50 instead of the Ghana Education Services (GES) 1:35 standard. This makes it challenging for teachers to employ multiple methods and innovative ways to suit the needs of students. Regardless, Dr. Mills recommended that teachers would do well to employ different approaches to teaching to ensure that learning is productive and meets the quality standards for education.



Dr Mills further indicated that another gap related to the curriculum identified at the SHS level is the challenge of students transitioning into the tertiary system where some students have no clue with regards to pathways the SHS subjects combination offered at the tertiary level. This challenge she intimated, can be addressed through guidance and counselling at the SHS level. She pointed out that, unfortunately, guidance and counselling in schools have continued to be managed by just one individual who is too overwhelmed to combine the role with teaching. Guidance and Counselling Coordinators, usually do not have the space and time to meet students individually and offer directions.



Concluding the discussions on the SDG 4 Drive segment, Dr Boakye-Yiadom speaking on the gains of the free SHS System remarked that: The free SHS system has increased the numbers of students enrolment and graduations. This has ultimately improved equity and social justice. For instance, the 30% catchment area placement is making it possible for learners from certain rural and peri-urban schools to attend category A schools.



These gains must be sustained for the future, he emphasised and also stated that whether the free SHS system is going to continue to be free or semi-free, by whatever percentage, the model adapted going forward, must sustain the gains earned since 2017. We cannot go back to challenges with access, enrolment or equity irrespective of which political party or president is at the helm of educational policy implementation.



Instructively, the IEPA is committed to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 as well as the African Unions Agenda 2063 and the SDG 4 Drive on ATL Fm in Cape Coast is designed to promote, advocate and interrogate educational issues geared towards implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4 (UN SDG 4).

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Muscles had been flexed and positions entrenched thus an epic battle, albeit on parliamentary grounds was expected on Friday, 24th March.



The Minority had earler reiterated that they would reject all the ministerial nominees.



But after hours of sharp disagreements that even resulted in a brief suspension, Parliament has finally approved President Akufo-Addos six ministerial nominees, much to the shock and displeasure of the Minority.



When on Thursday debate on the report of the appointments committee was concluded, it was expected that voting must of necessity take place.



However, the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin suspended sitting because the MPs from both sides failed to reach a consensus.



The Majority was accused of purposely delaying voting on the appointees, because they lack the numbers to get the ministers-designate approved.



With sitting suspended to give the leadership of the two sides the opportunity to come to an agreement, the Majority asked that seating arrangements, ballot box placements and others be altered.



Confident they were of upsetting the cart so much so that the Minority insisted the vote should go on.



But at the end of the voting process, Adansi Asokwa MP, Hon Kobina Tahir Hammond was confirmed as Minister for Trade and Industry with 154 yes votes as against 116 NO votes, while Dr Stephen Amoah was approved as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry after polling 146 votes against 123 NO votes.



Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong was approved as the Minister of Food and Agriculture with 167 YES votes, and the Member of Parliament for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam, okayed as Minister of State at the Finance Ministry with 152 YES votes.



Stephen Asamoah Boateng is the new Minister for Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, while Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah heads to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as Minister of State, hsving garnered 149 YES votes.



Meanwhile, three members of Parliament missed out on the voting process.



The absentee MPs were; MP for Dome Kwabenya Sarah Adwoa Safo (NPP), James Gyakye Quayson MP for Assin North (NDC) and Basoah Phillip MP for Kumawu (NPP).

In a related development, NDC MP for North Tongu, Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa and NDC MP for Builsa South, Hon Clement Apaak were unforgiving in chastising the conduct of their colleagues after the outcome of the secret vote.



They minced no words in describing them as traitors, accusing them of greed and treachery.

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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Former President John Mahama has expressed his disappointment over what he described as "betrayal" from some NDC Members of Parliament.



This follows the approval of some Ministerial nominees.



Approval Of 6 Ministers



Parliament on Friday approved the appointment of six ministerial nominees through a secret vote.



Adansi Asokwa MP, Hon Kobina Tahir Hammond was confirmed as Minister for Trade and Industry with 154 yes votes as against 116 NO votes, while Dr Stephen Amoah was approved as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry after polling 146 votes against 123 NO votes.



Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong was approved as the Minister of Food and Agriculture with 167 YES votes. The Member of Parliament for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam, was okayed as Minister of State at the Finance Ministry with 152 YES votes.



Stephen Asamoah Boateng is the new Minister for Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, while Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah heads to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as Minister of State, having garnered 149 YES votes.



This result shocked the Minority to the roots with some accusing members of treachery and greed.



There is no knife that cuts so sharply and with such poisoned blade as treachery MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said.



Soul searching



Reacting to this, the former President has asked the MPs who "betrayed" their side to do "some serious soul searching"



"A couple of weeks ago, our NDC group in Parliament announced a principled position not to approve any new ministers until the President has taken steps to significantly reduce the size of his government.



"This position was supported by a broad section of Ghanaians and public advocacy groups.



"Unfortunately, Ghanaians were sorely disappointed yesterday when several members of the Minority for some parochial and personal interest voted against the principled position adopted by the party.



"I am also disappointed.



"Those responsible for this betrayal must do some serious soul searching and learn to place national interest over personal interest.



"Equally disappointing is the President's refusal to seize the opportunity to realign and downsize his bloated government when the NPP flagbearer hopefuls and the Chieftaincy minister resigned.



"Clearly in this time of crisis and excruciating hardships, President Akufo-Addo, his NPP administration and some of our MPs are out of tune with the mood of the Ghanaian people.



"I still believe, as I said in Ho recently, that in this time of crisis, government can still run efficiently with not more than 60 ministers.



"For our grassroots members and all Ghanaians who are disappointed by this insensitivity, I urge you not to despair.



"2024 offers us an opportunity to work hard to defeat this reckless government that seeks to destroy our democracy and the very livelihoods of Ghanaians- an opportunity for us to work and build the Ghana we all want from January 07, 2025," the NDC presidential hopeful wrote on his Facebook page.







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NDC Member of parliament for North Tongu constituency in the Volta region, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has taken to his social media platforms to pour his anger on his colleague NDC MPs who betrayed the party last Friday in parliament.



Read below his full post on Facebook.



The NDC Caucus in Parliament certainly owe the Ghanaian people an unqualified apology.



We are deeply sorry.



The traitors should have mustered courage and exhibited a modicum of sincerity during our numerous strategy sessions by informing us that they disagreed with our fundamental objection to President Akufo-Addos misguided penchant for an obscenely bloated government.



No one is convinced that these fifth columnists acted in good conscience, with honourable intentions, and in the national interest. If they did, why are they hiding in rat holes and afraid to publicly own up and defend their treachery.



The damage these Judases and Esaus have done to our partys brand and public trust in our caucus may take decades to repair.



As we struggle to rebuild public confidence in the NDC, may the treacherous elements be exposed and may the Good Lord forgive them their trespasses.



If we cannot be trusted in opposition when crumbs are at stake, how do we expect the Ghanaian people to send us into government where we shall be entrusted with all of Ghanas resources?



If privileged party elites conduct themselves in this manner at the top, what are we inviting our party agents at the branches to do on December 7, 2024 when they are tempted?



I must, however, salute the over 90 gallant NDC MPs who refused to bow to Baal and kept faith with the suffering masses.



It is worth pleading with Ghanaians to at least recognise that a clear majority of NDC MPs did not participate in this grand betrayal  that should offer some compensation and some genuine hope.



As heart wrenching as this episode has been, we fervently pray that the good people of Ghana and our loyal party members would not give up on us.



Please find a place in your hearts to forgive us; and watch us work extra hard like never before, and with the purest of integrity as we seek to regain your trust and save our dear country, particularly in this period of self-inflicted economic crisis.



May I conclude by soberly requesting all colleagues on both sides of the House to reflect on the epic happenings in the British House of Commons some four centuries ago which led to the historic dissolution speech of Oliver Cromwell on 20th April, 1653 as reproduced below:



It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.



Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barterd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?



Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defild this sacred place, and turnd the Lords temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressd, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.



In the name of God, go!



Approval of 6 Ministers



Parliament on Friday approved the appointment of six ministerial nominees through a secret vote.



Adansi Asokwa MP, Hon Kobina Tahir Hammond was confirmed as Minister for Trade and Industry with 154 yes votes as against 116 NO votes, while Dr Stephen Amoah was approved as Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry after polling 146 votes against 123 NO votes.



Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong was approved as the Minister of Food and Agriculture with 167 YES votes. The Member of Parliament for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam, was okayed as Minister of State at the Finance Ministry with 152 YES votes.



Stephen Asamoah Boateng is the new Minister for Religious and Chieftaincy Affairs, while Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah heads to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as Minister of State, having garnered 149 YES votes.

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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Upper Allen Township-based Select Medical is planning to build a new hospital in Orlando, Florida.

The company plans to build the new 63-bed specialty hospital, which will include critical illness recovery and inpatient rehabilitative care at 7450 Sand Lake Commons Blvd.

READ MORE: New inpatient rehabilitation hospital to open in Cumberland County

The hospital will serve patients recovering from chronic, medically-complex conditions and debilitating illnesses as well as injuries including stroke and other neurological disorders, brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation and other orthopedic conditions.

The new hospital is expected to open in late 2024.

We have seen a tremendous growing need for post-ICU and inpatient rehabilitative care across the Central Florida region, Tom Mullin, executive vice president of hospital operations at Select Medical, said in a news release.

Select Medical currently operates two critical illness recovery hospitals (licensed as long-term acute care) in Orlando as well as 11 additional critical illness recovery hospitals and three inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units throughout the state of Florida.

As of December 31, Select Medical had operations in 46 states and the District of Columbia including 103 critical illness recovery hospitals, 31 rehabilitation hospitals, 1,928 outpatient rehabilitation clinics and 540 Concentra occupational health centers.
A 10-year-old boy shot his brother in the chest in a Philadelphia home on Sunday, according to reports from 6ABC and NBC10.

Police told the news outlets they discovered the wounded child after 11 a.m. in a house along the 2600 block of North Hollywood Street in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city.

A 12-year-old child has just been shot by a 10-year-old sibling with a gun that was left unattended by an adult, Danielle Outlaw, the citys police commissioner said in a statement. Tragedies such as these have an impact on everyone, from the immediate family to the community, and everyone in between: siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, doctors, police officers, and neighbors.

The boy was taken to a hospital where he is in stable condition. The firearm was recovered by police. An investigation is ongoing.
Two nurses at a Dauphin County rehabilitation facility have been accused of neglecting a male patient who fell twice and died from unaddressed injuries, prosecutors said.

Deanna Hamilton, 64, of Dauphin, and Margaret S. Nies, 71, of Hummelstown, were nurses at the Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Harrisburg when a man in their care fell and was seriously hurt on Dec. 25, 2019, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office.

The man died from his injuries a month later, authorities said.
A Pennsylvania school district near the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical leak in Ohio has sued the company in federal court.

Blackhawk School District, which includes several communities just over the state line from the crash site in East Palestine, Ohio, filed the lawsuit on Thursday.

Pittsburgh radio station KDKA-AM reported that the district is claiming that students and staff members have suffered rashes, eye irritation and respiratory issues from the chemical spill and cloud created during a controlled burn of vinyl chloride.

Fearing an explosion that could launch shrapnel up to two miles, authorities decided to burn several railcars carrying vinyl chloride just days after the Feb. 3 derailment.

Vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen used in the production of plastics.

That controlled burn sent a dark cloud of ash and smoke wafting over the area, including into Beaver County communities near East Palestine, such as Darlington Township, Darlington borough and Chippewa Township, all of which are in Blackhawk.

Nearby residents have complained of skin and respiratory issues, headaches and nausea since the controlled burn. Consequently, Pennsylvania legislators have held multiple hearings concerning the accident and decision to burn the vinyl chloride.

The concern here is that these materials have potentially breached the air systems and potentially breached the water supply to the district, Jordan Shuber, a solicitor for Blackhawk told WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.

Blackhawks lawsuit, WTAE reported, says that the controlled burn sent a lethal cocktail of toxic chemicals onto the districts buildings, property, soil and water. According to Blackhawks website, the district has 17,000 residents and four buildings.

Shuber told WTAE that the district is seeking to force Norfolk Southern to pay for testing.

We want to make sure the filters are being looked at. We want to make sure the water supply is being looked at, Shuber said, and the districts concern is we want to make sure that the taxpayers arent the ones that are left holding the tab there.

The lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as money for future medical monitoring, reported WTAE, which said Norfolk Southern declined to comment.
GET MORE: Starting soon, Eat, Shop, Go is your free weekly report on food, restaurants, retail, and things to do around central Pa. Sign up at www.pennlive.com/newsletters.

The Southwest Airlines meltdown in December greatly affected flights nationwide.

This was evidenced by the dropping in on-time departures of domestic flights, which was certainly felt in one airport in Pennsylvania.

Axios Philadelphia reports how a little over 76 percent of domestic flights took off from Philadelphia International Airport in a punctual manner in December 2022.

This, as Axios Philadelphia notes (and as according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportations Bureau of Transportation Statistics) is a roughly 8.5 percent decrease when compared to November.

In fact, Axios Philadelphia continues to report that  on a national level  only 69.1 percent of flights left airports on time, below the industry standard range of 75 percent to 85 percent.

SFGATE details how Southwest Airlines unveiled a three-part tactical action plan just a couple of weeks ago meant to prevent these meltdown from happening in the future.

Estimated to come to a cost of about $1.3 billion for the airline, a company press release explains that this action plan will be executed at the same time as Southwests current Operational Modernization Plan which focuses on operational investments and organizational alignment to support Customers and Employees.

We understand the root causes that led to the holiday disruption, and were validating our internal review with the third-party assessment, says Southwest President and CEO, Bob Jordan. Now, we expect to mitigate the risk of an event of this magnitude ever happening again.
By Maddie Hanna, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia officials advised residents they may want to switch to bottled water Sunday afternoon to avoid ingesting chemicals spilled into a tributary of the Delaware River in Bucks County Friday night.

While no contaminants have been found in Philadelphias water system, we cannot be 100% certain there will not be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the entire afternoon, Mike Carroll, deputy managing director for the citys Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, said at a news conference Sunday morning.

The citys Water Department released a map for residents to look up whether they are potentially impacted. The map suggests that just about all of Northwest Philadelphia and all neighborhoods west of the Schuylkill are not impacted.

On Saturday, the Water Department said it had closed intakes at its Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant on the Delaware River, following Friday nights spill of more than 8,000 gallons of a latex-finishing solution into Otter Creek in Bristol Borough.

However, Carroll said Sunday that the drinking water plants intakes were opened between 12:15 a.m. and 5 a.m. to maintain minimal levels of water in the system to avoid any damage to our equipment, and to continue to supply water for essential needs, including fire safety.

He said there was no risk that contaminants would be present in the citys water system before about 2 p.m.

As a result of the potential for contamination, people may wish to not drink or cook with tap water this afternoon, he said.

Among the chemicals released into Otter Creek is butyl acrylate, which was one of the chemicals released in the East Palestine train derailment, Carroll said.

Carroll  who said the city would provide more information this afternoon  said the health risks associated with the chemicals were very low.

There are no acute effects associated with the low-level exposures of these contaminants that were seeing, he said. Our best information is that people who ingest water will not suffer any near-term symptoms or any acute medical conditions. And so we foresee no need to seek medical attention related to this event.

There is no concern related to skin exposure, so people should still feel comfortable bathing, Carroll said. He also said residents could safely wash dishes.
Two tigers were on the loose inside the Pine Mountain Animal Safari Sunday morning after a tornado warning in Troup County, Ga.

According to a report from The Washington Post, the Troup County Sheriffs Office said they received a report from the safari that a tiger was on the loose inside the park.

By 11 a.m. Sunday, the animal safari announced that two tigers were safe after being loose for a couple of hours.

Several animal enclosures were [breached], and two tigers briefly escaped. Both have now been found, tranquilized, and safely returned to a secure enclosure, the zoo posted on Facebook

Zac Steele, Troup Countys emergency management director, said the storm damaged the enclosures, which caused the tigers to escape.

One of the tigers stayed inside the enclosure, while another left but stayed near the area of the park, officials said.

The Wild Animal Safari announced it would be closed Sunday and that the drive-thru zoo had sustained damage from a tornado Saturday night.

We are working diligently to keep our team and animals safe and will update with more news as it is available, the post said.

The animal safari spans 300 acres and is home to 75 animal species, according to the Pine Mountain website. Visitors can drive through a 3-mile trail of free-roaming animals.

Pine Mountain is in middle Georgia, about 75 miles southwest of Atlanta.

READ MORE:

Central Pa. woman charged with hitting state police horse

Two wounded in Harrisburg shooting: police
UPDATE: Coroner IDs 81-year-old woman killed in central Pa. crash

An 81-year-old woman died after a Sunday afternoon crash in Lancaster County, police said.

The Delaware woman was driving a Mercedes sedan east on Locust Lane when the crash happened around 5:10 p.m., with a Mercedes SUV headed south on Eshelman Mill Road in West Lampeter Township, according to police.

Police said the 81-year-old was taken to Lancaster General Hospital Penn Medicine and pronounced dead. A passenger in the 81-year-olds car is hospitalized with unspecified injuries.

The driver of the SUV  a Willow Street woman  was treated at the scene for minor injuries, police said.

Police are asking anyone who saw the crash or has information to call West Lampeter police at 717-464-2421.

READ MORE: 2 injured in Harrisburg shootout: police

Death toll from chocolate factory explosion rises to 7
By Josie Byzek

My young nephew Antonio Martinez just enlisted with the Marines. If he keeps turning in his homework  always a struggle  he will report for basic training at the end of summer.

Tonys my unexpected blessing. He came to live with us in 2012 when his parents were unable to care for him, and in that time, hes become my number-one buddy. We hiked and camped and biked together, and I gifted him with his own kayak when he was 10, so we could play stick or snake together on the Susquehanna River.

But like all kids who experience neglect and trauma, his behaviors sometimes get in his way. When he returned to in-person school after COVID, he seemed to have forgotten how to sit in his seat and racked up detentions, so we enrolled him permanently in cyber school. And dont get me started on his friends! Lets just say they dont help each other be their best selves.

Still, I have never met anyone kinder than Tony. And outside of the classroom, hes both confident and competent  he fixes just about everything around the house and even bakes muffins and brownies. He just needed time for something to click in that overthinking head of his. We didnt expect it would be joining the Marines, but it suits him.

Heres what he wrote in an English class essay about his decision:

As soon as 2023 started, I realized how close I am to adulthood. Most of my friends werent doing much with their lives, and I was heading down the same road. A skinny 17-year-old skater boy who lives with his guardians in a small house in nowheresville Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 

Early in the morning on January 11, I went to Google and searched up my nearest recruiting office. I gave them a call and spoke to Staff Sergeant Padilla. I was frightened. I was invited to visit the recruiting office that same day so that we could discuss the potential career and educational opportunities that they have to offer. Once there, we spoke for hours.

Of course, we didnt hear about any of this until after hed made his decision. Next thing we knew, the Marines invaded our house! They look so young, these sharp-dressed, focused men.

Here comes that fear again, wrote Tony. Determined to leave my comfort zone, I have made major adjustments to help me reach my goals. Luckily, I am not alone in this journey. One of my old high school friends, Luis Nunez, is in the Marine Corps and happens to be stationed at that same office. Thanks to him, I have more motivation to do my work since I am in the same shoes that he was. I already feel stronger.

Our military branches are a cross-section of our nations demographics. No matter a young persons race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or social class, if theyre strong enough and committed enough, they can wear the uniform and progress equally with every other recruit.

Of course, it hasnt always been that way. When I was young and considering the reserves, I flunked my physical. I had mixed feelings about that. If I had passed, I would have had to lie about my relationship with my partner, and I wasnt sure I could do that. But that was a long, long time ago. Its different now. The respect and deference these young Marines have shown my partner and me demonstrate that times have changed for the better.

My father was a Marine. When he died in 1987, I inherited one of his dog tags that Ive held onto like a talisman ever since. Now it hangs on Tonys lanyard as he blazes his own trail forward.

When Tony raised his hand to take the Marine oath, he entered the American story as a defender of our freedoms  including those of his two partnered aunts who love and nurture him. We could not be prouder of his decision and the man he is becoming.

Josie Byzek is a wife, mother and longtime community leader who is a former member of the Susquehanna Township School Board of Directors.
Speeding up the processing time for getting a professional license in Pennsylvania is clearly on the minds of state senators.

Several said at Mondays Department of State budget hearing that is among the chief complaints they receive in their offices.

Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee grilled Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt and his staff about the departments plans for addressing that issue with the latest version of the Pennsylvania Licensing System and Gov. Josh Shapiros money-back guarantee on getting a license by a date certain.

Those along with a number of election-related topics were the focus of the two-and-a-half hour hearing. Here are some of the highlights.

About the licensing system: The new Pennsylvania Licensing System, or PALS as it is called, is expected to be up and running late next year. The $20 million system replaces one that began being rolled out in 2016 and almost immediately drew complaints.

Department officials said the new system will provide more transparency and be more user friendly than the existing one.

Among the deficiencies it will cure is when applicants apply for licensure [now], theyre not required to submit all of the documents upfront in their application, said Arion Claggett, acting commissioner of the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. With the new system, all the required documents will have to be submitted upfront which will result in a smoother processing time for applicants.

Governors money-back guarantee: The fourth executive order signed by the governor guarantees anyone applying for a state professional license, permit or certification will receive a response by a date certain or their application fee will be returned while their application is processed.

He gave state agencies to the end of April to report back their recommendations for how long it should take to process an application. Schmidt said his department cataloged more than 900 license and certifications it issues and is determining a recommended processing time now.

While its true the department depends on application fees to help cover its operating costs, Schmidt said meeting those deadlines is more about holding the department accountable.

You dont intend on returning any fees. You intend on being done on time? said Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Fayette County.

Thats correct, Schmidt replied. The governor in every conversation that Ive had with him has expressed how acutely important this is to him and is equally as important to our department that we reduce those wait times and process applications as expeditiously as possible.

Teleworking employees: Some senators made it clear they believe teleworking is contributing to the delays that their constituents encounter in getting their professional licenses from the department.

Do you believe  that the efficiency is hindered from them being at home? said Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe County. If it was improving, I dont think there would be as much of a concern about the remote work.

Schmidt said a quarter of the departments employees work in-person five days a week. The rest work at least half their time in the office. He said managers are responsible for making sure employees achieve the same benchmarks for processing applications regardless of whether they work in the office or remotely.

I believe theres only been two cases over the years where employees have been sort of sanctioned and have their telework cancelled as a result of not being able to sort of meet those benchmarks, Schmidt said.

He acknowledged it is challenging to manage employees working remotely but offering that option is necessary to compete for workers in a department that has dozens of vacancies.

On a separate note, Sch While Schmidt was reluctant to say how much more time counties should have to open mailed ballots and get them ready for tabulating, he favors allowing them to start sooner than 7 a.m. on Election Day as is currently allowed.int.

Push for precanvassing: While Schmidt was reluctant to say how much more time counties should have to open mailed ballots and get them ready for tabulating, he favors allowing them to precanvass sooner than 7 a.m. on Election Day, as is currently allowed. But he said county election officials should be the ones to say how much more time they need.

Speaking to the benefits, Schmidt said it not only would allow most results to be known on Election Night except in close races, but theres also an election integrity benefit allowing for mail-in ballot precanvassing.

Instead of having 100 clerks work eight-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, it would allow for the process to be stretched out to have them working in a more reasonable environment, both for them and for the observers on behalf of the [political] parties and behalf of the campaigns campaigns to sort of observe the process.

Further, he said, I think it reduces vulnerability to people losing confidence in our democratic process.

Questions about ERIC: Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson County, questioned the wisdom of Pennsylvania remaining as a member state of ERIC, or the Electronic Registration Information Center, a voter data-sharing effort among states aimed at protecting against voter fraud. He notes six Republican-led states have withdrawn from this multi-state organization.

Schmidt and Deputy Secretary for Elections and Notaries Jonathan Marks defended the states participation in ERIC, saying it allows for counties to ensure voter rolls are up to date. Dush called ERIC a sinking ship that allows sensitive voter information to be handed to a third-party. Schmidt said any personal identifiable information is encrypted before being sent to ERIC.

Dush said as more states depart ERIC, the value of ERICs cross-checking of voter data with other member states will lessen. Schmidt pointed out New Jersey recently joined ERIC, which he said will be helpful in ensuring the accuracy of voter roles in Philadelphia and the eastern part of the state.

Its a valuable tool to keep the voter rolls clean, Schmidt said.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
District of Lake Country  in this screenshot from a council video, Coun. Cara Reed argues to use policing reserve funds to reduce the tax burden on Lake Country homeowners, but her efforts are rebuffed by council.
Addamo Denied as Jesper8 Leaves Trail of Stars in Their Wake

March 27, 2023 Matthew Pitt Editor

March 26 saw online poker's biggest names take to the virtual felt, partly because PokerStars was running its $7.5 million guaranteed 17th Anniversary Edition of the Sunday Million. While the Sunday Million does not crown its champion until March 27, a bunch of high-stakes tournaments at PokerStars, PartyPoker, and 888poker did, including the ever-popular $5,200 Titans Event.

The Titans Event is a $5,200 buy-in affair that runs each Sunday at 7:15 p.m. BST. Tournaments with such a high buy-in tend to attract elite-level players like lightbulbs attract moths, and the Titans Event is no different.

Check out the Incredible PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar Register for your favourite online poker tournaments here! Click Here

This week's Titan Event drew in 85 entries, and saw a $425,000 prize pool created. Only the top 11 finishers won a slice of the pie, with Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker busting in 13th and "P0KERPR02.0" falling in 12th, popping the all-important money bubble. Of those superstars that cashed, "Sintoras" and "vincientvega" missed out on a seat at the final table.

Each of the nine finalists locked in more than $13,000 for their efforts, but there was a six-figure prize for the champion, so nobody wanted to pad their PokerStars bankrolls with the smaller amounts. Unfortunately, the very nature of tournament poker means there can only be one true winner, and the hopes and dreams of "Gogac sniper" were dashed when they bust in ninth for $13,391.

Astedt Has to Make Do With a Seventh-Place Finish

Niklas Astedt

Canada's "Stumpfed" joined the list of eliminated players after falling in eighth for $16,720, with Niklas "Lena900" Astedt collecting $21,635 after losing their chips and crashing out in seventh. Switzerland's "25264556" banked $27,995 for their sixth-place finish.

Any of the final five players would have made a worthy champion, each of them household names. The final five became four when Jans "Graftekkel" Arends found himself void of chips and in possession of $36,225 prize money instead. Samuel "uropan" Vousden was eliminated in fourth for $46,875 before Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo fell by the wayside in third, a finish worth $60,655.

Bonomo's untimely demise left Austria's "Jesper8" in the unenvious position of being heads-up with the UK-based Australian Michael "imluckbox" Addamo. Usually, Addamo takes down the event when he navigates his way to heads-up, but this was one of the rare occasions that this scenario did not occur. Addamo busted in second-place for $78,487, leaving a delighted Jesper8 to turn their $5,200 investment into a $101,560 score.

$5,200 Titans Event Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Jesper8 Austria $101,560 2 Michael "imluckbox" Addamo United Kingdom $78,487 3 Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo Canada $60,655 4 Samuel "uropan" Vousden Finland $46,875 5 Jans "Graftekkel" Arends Austria $36,225 6 25264556 Switzerland $27,995 7 Niklas "Lena900" Astedt Sweden $21,635 8 Stumpfed Canada $16,720 9 Gogac sniper Austria $13,391

Schemion Shines in the Sunday High Roller PKO

Ole Schemion

Ole "wizowizo" Schemion is no stranger to taking down major online poker tournaments. The accomplished German has won millions of dollars from this crazy game. On March 26, Schemion added $32,553 and another title to his already impressive resume after coming out on top in the $1,050 Sunday High Roller PKO.

Some 159 players bought in and created a $159,000 prize pool. Team PokerStars' Sam "SamSquid" Grafton made it into the money place but was the final table bubble boy, his tenth-place finish coming with a combined prize worth $5,540.

The final table, as you would expect from a $1,050 buy-in progressive knockout event, was stacked with supreme talent. However, the waters became less shark-infested with each subsequent elimination.

Smiljkovic Time at the Final Table Was Limited

Daniel Smiljkovic

Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic was the first of nine finalists to bow out, his demise in ninth resulting in a $4,827 payday. Mustapha "lasagnaaammm" Kanit, Rodrigo "seijistar" Seiji, and German star "Sintoras" followed Smilijkovic to the sidelines.

"janis1717" of the United Kingdom crashed and burned in fifth, Audrius "Stakelis24" Stakelis saw his tournament end in a fourth-place finish, before the Sunday High Roller PKO progressed to the heads-up stages when "CL0D0MIR0D" of San Marino, a country with a population of only 33,750, busted in third.

Heads-up pitted Schemion against Brazilian sensation Renan "Internett93o" Bruschi. After an intriguing one-on-one battle, Schemion came out on top, and got his hands on $32,553, resigning Breschi to a $23,022 consolation prize.

$1,050 Sunday High Roller PKO Final Table Results

Place Player Country Bounties Prize Total Prize 1 Ole "wizowizo" Schemion Austria $18,339 $14,214 $32,553 2 Renan "Internett93o" Breschi Brazil $8,808 $14,214 $23,022 3 CL0D0MIR0D San Marino $2,781 $9,595 $12,376 4 Audrius "Stakelis24" Stakelis Lithuania $3,390 $7,424 $10,814 5 janis1717 United Kingdom $875 $5,744 $6,619 6 Sintoras Germany $2,812 $4,444 $7,256 7 Rodrigo "seijistar" Seiji Brazil $1,468 $3,438 $4,906 8 Mustapha "lasagnaaammm" Kanit United Kingdom $1,593 $2,660 $4,253 9 Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic Austria $2,593 $2,234 $4,827

Other PokerStars Highlights From March 26

There were plenty of other big scores at PokerStars on March 26, not least an impressive $54,380 haul for "Marusia1980" after they triumphed in the $530 Bounty Builder. Elsewhere, there were sizeable prizes awarded to the likes of Joao "XxJoaoFeraxX" Otavio, Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha, and Czech grinder Vojta "vojta555cz" Skalak.

Tournament Entrants Prize Pool Champion Prize $530 Bounty Builder 692 $346,000 Marusia1980 $54,380* $109 Sunday Warm-Up 1,681 $168,100 viejojuan5 $25,525 $109 Bounty Builder 1,634 $163,400 ddonkat $23,936* $109 Sunday Fenomeno 1,544 $154,400 URMYLeNoR $21,512 $1,050 Sunday Supersonic 65 $66,030 13santoy13 $20,517 $109 Sunday Cooldown 1,635 $163,500 Joao "XxJoaoFeraxX" Otavio $19,005* $215 Sunday Supersonic 494 $101,151 Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha $17,932 $1,050 Sunday Cooldown 45 $45,000 Vojta "vojta555cz" Skalak $17,219* $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up High Roller 63 $63,000 aminolast $11,401

*includes bounty payments

Santerne Smashes the PartyPoker Grand

Seventy PartyPoker players contested The Grand this weekend, each paying $1,050 for the chance to become a poker champion. Only one player could claim the title, and it was Malta's Thomas Santerne that did exactly that.

Team PartyPoker's Jaime Staples was the unfortunate soul that burst the money bubble; Staples' tournament ended in a 14th place finish. The likes of Joachim Andersson and Ionnias Angelou Konstas finished in the money, but fell shy of a final table appearance.

Fernando Olimpio was the first of two Brazilians to be relieved of their stacks, crashing out in ninth for $2,890. Alex Kulev, Gabriel Baleeiro, and Jonathan Proudfoot soon followed Olimpio to the sidelines.

Fabrice Bigot finished third

Bulgarian grinder Boris Angelov could not progress deeper than fifth before Trevor Reardon's tournament came to a halt in fourth, a finish good for $6,382. Fabrice Bigot, who you may recall, won the recent WPT Prime Paris Main Event for 177,240, crashed by the wayside in third here, and banked $8,684.

Santerne locked horns with Swedish veteran Jerry Odeen for the title, and the Malta-based player got the job done. The victory came with the title of champion in addition to $18,806, while Odeen collected $12,344 after yet another deep run in a high-stakes online poker event.

The $1,050 Grand Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Thomas Santerne Malta $18,806 2 Jerry Odeen Sweden $12,344 3 Fabrice Bigot United Kingdom $8,684 4 Trevor Reardon United Kingdom $6,382 5 Boris Angelov Bulgaria $4,912 6 Jonathan Proudfoot Ireland $4,011 7 Gabriel Baleeiro Brazil $3,483 8 Alex Kulev Ireland $3,184 9 Fernando Olimpio Brazil $2,890

Other PartyPoker Highlights From March 26

Tournament Entrants Prize Pool Champion Prize Super $320 113 $33,900 ASAP JARDA $9,352* Super $530 63 $31,500 Unfollow $9,094* Super $55 1,311 $65,550 Onzie II $8,003* Super $215 147 $30,000 xXGlamBabeXx $6,778*

Farrugia_1 Pads Bankroll in The Festival Online at 888poker

The most exciting result from 888poker this weekend came courtesy of The Festival Online, and the $525 buy-in $40,000 guaranteed High Roller PKO specifically. It saw 92 players create a guarantee-busting $46,000 prize pool. Only the top 12 finishers won a slice of the main prize pool, but dozens more saw some return on their investment thanks to the bounties that were in play.

Everyone at the nine-handed final table won between $1,377 and $14,214, with bounty payments included. "SilenziO" was the final table's first casualty. The likes of "raisebot," "QdEqTeCalaz" and 888poker regular "wellyxx" followed SilenziO to the rail.

Montenegro's "Hvalavam" and "CushyPunt" busted, leaving only a trio of players in the hunt for the title, who became two after Swedish high-stakes guru "Perrymejsen" bowed out in third.

"Farrugia_1" and "GoodStoryDMG" fought it out for the title and the lion's share of the $46,000 prize pool. The battle went Farrugia_1's way, and the collected a total prize weighing in at $14,214, leaving the runner-up to console themselves with $6,276.

$40,000 The Festival Online High Roller PKO Final Table Results

Place Player Country Bounties Prize Total Prize 1 Farrugia_1 Malta $8,843 $5,370 $14,214 2 GoodStoryDMG Belarus $906 $5,370 $6,276 3 Perrymejsen Sweden $2,281 $3,036 $5,317 4 CushyPunt $1,515 $2,208 $3,723 5 Hvalavam Montenegro $1,156 $1,610 $2,766 6 wellyxx Finland $687 $1,207 $1,895 7 QdEqTeCalaz Brazil $562 $977 $1,540 8 raisebot Luxembourg $625 $805 $1,430 9 SilenziO $687 $690 $1,377

There's still plenty of time to get involved in The Festival Online's events because the series runs until April 13. The table below shows all of the upcoming events that you can get your teeth into.

Day Time (BST) Buy in Tour Name GTD Mon, Mar 27 14:00 $160 Texas PKO Day 1 Turbo - Mon, Mar 27 15:30 $160 Texas PKO Day 1 Turbo - Mon, Mar 27 17:00 $160 Texas PKO Day 1 Turbo - Mon, Mar 27 18:00 $160 Texas PKO Day 1 Hyper - Mon, Mar 27 20:00 - Texas PKO Day 2 $150,000 Tues, Mar 28 18:30 $55 PLO 6-Max $2,000 Tues, Mar 28 19:00 $22 Mystery Bounty $15,000 Tues, Mar 28 19:00 - Texas PKO 8-Max Final Table stream - Thurs, Mar 30 17:00 $109 Texas Super KO $12,000 Thurs, Mar 30 17:30 $22 Texas Low Roller $10,000 Sun, Apr 2 17:00 $11 Sunday Big Shot 11 $15,000 Sun, Apr 2 19:00 $109 Sunday Big Shot 109 $100,000 Sun, Apr 2 19:00 $22 PLO R&A Low Roller $3,000 Sun, Apr 2 19:30 $525 Sunday High Roller $40,000 Tue, Apr 4 18:30 $55 Mystery Bounty 6-Max $18,000 Tue, Apr 4 19:00 $22 Mini Mystery Bounty 6-Max $15,000 Thur, Apr 6 17:00 $109 PKO 8-Max $12,000 Thur, Apr 6 17:30 $22 Mini PKO 8-Max $10,000 Thur, Apr 6 19:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Thur, Apr 6 21:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Fri, Apr 7 17:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Fri, Apr 7 19:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Fri, Apr 7 21:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Sat, Apr 8 17:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Sat, Apr 8 19:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Sat, Apr 8 21:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Sun, Apr 9 15:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Sun, Apr 9 17:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Sun, Apr 9 17:00 $55 Micro Mystery Bounty Closing $5,000 Sun, Apr 9 19:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 - Sun, Apr 9 19:00 $22 Mini Mystery Bounty Closing $25,000 Sun, Apr 9 19:30 $525 High Roller PKO Closing $40,000 Sun, Apr 9 21:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Sun, Apr 9 22:30 $215 Main Event Day 1 Hyper - Mon, Apr 10 14:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Mon, Apr 10 15:30 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Mon, Apr 10 17:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Turbo - Mon, Apr 10 18:00 $215 Main Event Day 1 Hyper - Mon, Apr 10 20:00 - Main Event Day 2 (ITM) $200,000 Tue, Apr 11 19:00 - Main Event Final Table stream - Thur, Apr 13 19:30 $109 Afterparty $15,000
Over $100,000 Guaranteed in The Festival Online Series at 888poker Ontario

March 27, 2023 Matthew Pitt Editor

888poker Ontario is once again pulling out all the stops for its Ontario-based customers by bringing them The Festival Online Ontario Series, a festival of amazing poker events running from April 2-10 only at 888poker Ontario.

The Festival is a hugely popular live poker series that takes place around Europe and has an online edition currently running at 888poker's dotcom site. The Festival Online Ontario Series features events with buy-ins from $16.50 to $109, and combined guaranteed prize pools weighing in at more than $100,000.

Everything kicks off on April 2 with a trio of Opening Events that are designed to get The Festival Online Ontario Series off to a flying start. At 6:00 p.m. ET, there is a $16.50 buy-in $1,500 guaranteed Micro Opening Event, which is followed by the $109 buy-in $30,000 guaranteed Opening Event at 6:30 p.m. ET. A half-hour later, the Mini Opening Event costs $55 and guarantees $5,000 shuffles up and deals.

There are no events on April 3, but The Festival Online Ontario Series resumes on April 4 with a pair of Pot-Limit Omaha events. April 5 sees the first of several flights to the biggest tournament on the schedule: the $109 buy-in Mystery Bounty Main Event, and its whopping $40,000 guaranteed prize pool.

This is an advertisement

Mystery Bounty tournaments are all the rage. This one, in particular, should continue the trend of awarding massive prizes from its main prize pool and some bankroll-boosting mystery bounties. Earlier this month, 888poker Ontario grinder "SKnolimit" pulled out a $10,000 prize in the $100,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Festival Main Event!

Other events include a short-handed progressive knockout (PKO), $11 and $55 buy-in Mystery Bounty affair, and a couple of full-ring PKO tournaments.

Eligible iGames conducted and managed by iGO are only available to those physically present in the Province of Ontario. 888poker Ontario operates pursuant to an agreement with iGaming Ontario. For more information, visit the Ontario Players Homepage

The Festival Online Ontario Schedule

Date Time (ET) Tournament Buy-in Guarantee (CAD) Sun 2 Apr 6:00 p.m. The Festival online  Micro Opening Event $16.50 $1,500 6:30 p.m. The Festival Online  Opening Event $109 $30,000 7:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mini Opening Event $55 $5,000 Tue 4 Apr 7:00 p.m. The Festival Online  PLO Deepstack $55 $2,000 7:30 p.m. The Festival Online  Mini PLO Deepstack $11 $500 Wed 5 Apr 8:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 Thu 6 Apr 6:30 p.m. The Festival Online  Texas PKO 6-Max $109 $10,000 7:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mini Texas PKO 6-Max $22 $1,000 8:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 Fri 7 Apr 8:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 Sat 8 Apr 5:15 p.m. The Festival Online  Mini Mystery Bounty 11 $11 $1,500 7:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty 55 $55 $2,500 8:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 Sun 9 Apr 1:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mini PKO Closing Event $16.50 $1,500 2:30 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 5:00 p.m. The Festival Online  PKO Closing Event $55 $6,000 7:30 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 10:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 $109 $40,000 Mon 10 Apr 5:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 Turbo $109 $40,000 6:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 1 Turbo $109 $40,000 8:00 p.m. The Festival Online  Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 2 $40,000
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Rep. James Comer (R-KY) tried to defend his attempted obstruction of Alvin Braggs investigation, but CNNs Jake Tapper used facts to blow holes in his argument.

Clip of House Oversight Committee Chair Comer:

House Oversight Committee Chair Comer claims that the Manhattan investigation into Trump is actually a federal investigation, and when Jake Tapper asked him about Bragg investigating Trump for local and state criminal violations, Comer immediately changed the subject. pic.twitter.com/uFdoFkMdnK  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 26, 2023

Transcript via CNNs State Of The Union:



REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Well, what the DA is trying to say is what you just quoted. He said, stay out of local investigations.

The problem with that is, this is not a local investigation. This is a federal investigation. Hes investigating a presidential candidate, not to mention former president of the United States, for a federal election crime.

That has no business being litigated in a local district attorneys office.

And when he says hes not going to cooperate with Congress, unfortunately for Mr. Bragg, he doesnt have the luxury of determining whether or not he can comply with congressional requests, because he crossed over two levels of government from the local level to the federal level to try to prosecute something that, clearly, if there was a reason for prosecution, it should be done by the Department of Justice on the federal level.

TAPPER: Well, hes investigating, as I understand it, potential violations of state crimes.

COMER: Even at that, look, lets just be honest here.

I mean, this is about politics. This is a presidential candidate. When you look at what we believe the role of the Manhattan DA should be is to fight crime. I mean, thats one of the biggest issues in New York. We saw that in the midterm elections last November.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected many Democrat candidates because of the crime issue. We have a crime crisis in many of our cities. And were trying to do something about that in the House of Representatives. And one of the reasons we believe we have high crime rates in certain parts of America is because we have prosecutors that are soft on crime.

And we believe that our tax dollars  and thats where I come in with the House Oversight  we believe tax dollars would be better spent prosecuting local criminals. Thats what a DA is supposed to do.

TAPPER: Are you arguing that people who commit business crimes are not committing crimes?

COMER: Look, well, is this a business crime? Were talking about a federal election crime here, Jake. This is a federal election crime.

The Manhattan DA does not write federal electoral law.

COMER: Congress writes federal election law.

TAPPER: My understanding is that hes being investigated for falsifying business records. Its  there was a related prosecution. Michael Cohen went to prison. That was a federal investigation from the U.S. attorney during the Trump years.

But that U.S. attorney, Mr. Berman, prosecuted  and Mr. Khuzami  prosecuted Michael Cohen. He went to prison for the that, as well as related crimes. I dont remember hearing anything from you during that period. I guess he wasnt a candidate, but he had been working for Donald Trump.

Comer appears to be suggesting that state campaign finance laws dont apply to federal office candidates, which is on its face nonsensical, but presidential campaigns arent national elections. Presidential elections are a series of 50 state elections that are managed by each state.

Rep. Comer is suggesting that Trump is above state and local laws because he is running for president. However, if a presidential candidate violates a state law, they can be charged in that state. Trump is potentially facing criminal charges for violating Georgias election interference laws in 2020.

Comer ignored the fact that Trump claimed the hush money payment as a legal expense when it was not. Trump potentially committed fraud.

Jake Tapper was ready for Comer, and when he asked a very logical question about local prosecutors being able to investigate local crimes, Comer changed the subject and started talking about urban crime.

House Republicans know that they have no jurisdiction over local prosecutors, as their efforts are all about political pushback for Trump instead of upholding the rule of law.
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A survivor of the Highland Park, IL 4th of July parade mass shooting went to Nashville and ended up near the mass shooting at the private Christian school.

Video:

Highland Park, IL parade mass shooting survivor goes on vacation to Nashville and ends up near another mass shooting, "It's only in America. Can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation and find themselves in another involved like near another mass shooting." pic.twitter.com/wHUKjQe1vT  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 27, 2023

Ashby Beasley of Highland Park, IL said in an interview filmed by local media and shown on CNN:



I was actually in town just on vacation. But Im a mass shooting survivor. My son and I survived a mass shooting in Highland Park where there was a shooting at a parade that we were at. We ran for our lives, and this is just unacceptable. Its only in America. Can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation to visit another person that they have met through, you know, fighting for gun safety. And find themselves in another involved like near another mass shooting, like only you know what I mean?

Like only in America does this happen where we keep seeing this again and again and again? Only in America does her son survived a mass shooting and then you know, end up in a lockdown school because there is another mass shooting. This is an epidemic. Gun. Violence is an epidemic and it needs to be resolved. It needs to be addressed.

g>Subscribe To Our Newsletter:



Instead of addressing the problem, Republicans are having gun safety activists who have lost a child arrested at congressional hearings.

Gun safety advocates know that the vast majority of the nation agrees with them, but that real change that could save lives is being blocked by a few hundred Republicans in Congress. The United States is averaging nearly two mass shootings a day in 2023. This time the mass shooter was female, but it doesnt change the fact that innocent people are dying when they go to work, school, church, or to run errands on a daily basis.

Gun safety should have been addressed after Sandy Hook. It should have been addressed after Parkland, Gun safety should have been addressed after Buffalo, Highland Park, and Uvalde, and way too many other mass shootings to list.

If people in Tennessee were dying of a natural disaster would take action, but gun violence is not a priority for them. The mass shooting epidemic will not stop until the American people elect leaders committed to stopping it.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called President Biden a fool and demanded that his Secret Service protection be given up after the Nashville school shooting.

Greene tweeted her statement:

My prayers are with the victims and families at the Covenant School in Nashville. Another absolutely horrific needless tragedy. Children and school staff should always be protected the same way politicians, money, precious stones, and gold are protected, but even more so, by  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) March 27, 2023

Rep. Greenes solution to the nations epidemic of mass shootings is to give even more people easier access to guns. Greene attacked Biden for the existence of gun-free school zones because if there is one policy move that would definitely increase gun violence at schools it would be to end the gun-free school zone designation.

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How does taking away Bidens Secret Service protection prevent mass shootings?

It doesnt, but it does create a distraction to take away from the record that Greene and Republicans have of making it easier for mass shooters to kill more people through increasing the availability of deadly firearms to all.

Greenes call for removal of Bidens Secret Service protection doesnt address the real issue.

The level of hatred that Rep. Greene has for the President Of The United States is so immense that she was incapable of controlling herself, acting like an elected official, and putting the trauma of the families who lost loved ones first.

Uvalde showed that a good guy with a gun does not stop anything if law enforcement doesnt intercept the shooter. The shooting in Nashville was not even worse than it was because the police arrived very quickly and acted.

The NRA talking point about a good guy with a gun is not public policy. It is a marketing slogan for gun manufacturers.

Rep. Greenes comments emphasize the point that Republicans dont want to take policy steps that would lower the risk of mass shootings.

The GOP is more interested in using their version of the Second Amendment to turn out their voters in elections than saving lives by taking action on guns.
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The school shooter at the Nashville private Christian school where three adults and three children were killed was a female teen, according to police.



Update: : Police now believe that the shooter was a 28-year-old female former student.

Video:

The Nashville school shooter was a female in her teens armed with 2 assault rifles according to police, We know at this point that this shooter is a female. She appears to be in her teensWe know that she was armed with at least two assault type rifles and a handgun." pic.twitter.com/4dqiN3ySK6  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 27, 2023

Police announced at a briefing:



When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter a female who was firing. The officers engaged her she was fatally shot by responding police officers. There was a five-member team who was on that was on the second floor at that time to individuals from that five-member team opened fire on the shooter. We know at this point that this shooter is a female.

She appears to be in her teens, although her identification has not been confirmed at this juncture. We know that she was armed with at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun. We are efforting now to identify her. She entered the school through a side entrance. And traversed her way from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots.

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A female mass shooter is unusual, as school shooters are usually young men. The American people cant again be fooled into playing the NRA and Republican Partys game of pretending like this shooter was a bad apple lone wolf. The United States has a systemic mass shooting problem. The media will be drawn to the relative novelty of a female mass shooter, but the real issue is that six children and adults went to school in Nashville today and needlessly wont be coming home to their families.

There have now been 129 mass shootings in the United States so far in 2023. It is time for America to stop mass shooters.
By: AWNewYork/Shutterstock; Emily Ratajkowski, NYT Best-selling Author, Entrepreneur, and Model



Updated: 3/27/2022

If I had known the lengths Bitch Era Rata was about to go to I don't know if I would have raised my hand to write this article -- it's become such a saga, Stephanie Meyer should be taking notes.

While some flings I laugh off with nothing but a chuckle and an 'I'm-not-updating-the-article-again" -- see Eric Andre -- her most recent sighting with Harry Styles cut a little deeper. It's hard to watch someone else live out your dreams so... open-mouthedly?





Making out to Dope. So dope  https://t.co/sV3TOZp8d4

 John Legend (@johnlegend) March 26, 2023

But as with all romance -- especially pertaining to Harry Styles -- there's a lot below the surface. Like, a-lot-a-lot.

For loyal followers of DeuxMoi, you may remember blinds about EmRata joining a very *popular couple. And because this is a work computer and I don't want to keep typing out threesome, I'm just going to use 'throuple.' Calling it a blind is very generous as well since everyone guessed correctly that it was none other than Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde.

Just last summer, Olivia Wilde flew gal pal, Emily Ratajkowski to Paris and sat side-by-side at his show.

In November, Rata came to Wilde's defense amid Don't Worry Darling Gate, saying she's protective of women -- particularly "when you see the way that the whole world reacts to women, it's really hard not to want to go to an extreme side of it."

Wilde and Styles also split that month, only to then spark the salacious throuple rumors. DeuxMoi and several outlets report the throuple-ing was the night of the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, just this month.

Now that we've officially caught up to this Tokyo moment, it's hard not to ask pretty much every question under the sun. Is the throuple still throuple-ing? Is this staged? What kind of friendship do Rata and Wilde have to share such nice, nice things? But more importantly, is this the rowdiest Women's History Month ever?

________

I once wrote about how the world was not yet ready for Revenge Emily Ratajkowski. But that was three months ago. And I  and Emily  have changed. Im no longer fearful of a woman-scorned Emily Ratajkowski but of Bitch Era Ratajkowski.



During the three months since I initially jested that we should keep our eyes on Pete Davidson during Rata, post-divorce, it appears that no one kept their eyes on Davidson. His undefeated, unmatched, and frankly unbelievable streak of pulling continues even after he literally branded himself for Kim Kardashian. DeuxMoi has spoken, and Pete and Rata are together.

To which I say, of course. Have we forgotten her late-night appearance with Seth Meyers from over a year ago when she gushed about the Davidson effect? Where she defends him against Seth?!

I think youre being a little mean! Hes got the height. Obviously, women find him very attractive. She then continues on to say that its only men who simply dont understand what that guys got:

He seems super charming. Hes vulnerable. Hes lovely. His fingernail polish is awesome. He looks good. Hes great.

The devils in the details and these details have Davidson all over them.

But the Bitch Era is about far more than just men and ass-less chaps. Its about the ability to do it all without giving a f*ck.

Ratajkowski graces the November 22 covers of both Elle UK Magazine and Harpers Bazaar where she discusses everything from babies to politics to sexism and racism. These explosive pieces mark the end of Ratajkowski as a one-dimensional poster-girl plastered all over boys bedrooms. Here is a multi-faceted businesswoman and writer with something to say.



Her conversations continue in her recently released podcast, High Low, with a lineup  so far  including Alex Cooper from Call Her Daddy and Josh Safdies muse, Julia Fox.

I hate to be that person that says I told you so, but I was right to be fearful of Revenge Rata  she just calls it her Bitch Era.
Nick Hardy and Davis Riley birdied four of their final six holes to give both players their first PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic. The pair began the final round three shots back and closed with a 7-under 65 in alternate-shot play to finish with a tournament record total of 30-under 258 at TPC Louisiana. Riley made a 33-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-3 17th hole. Hardy and Riley were two shots better than Canadians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, who closed with a 63, tying the course record in alternate shot. Read moreRiley, Hardy capture first PGA Tour wins at Zurich Classic
A poll shows only about half of Democrats think President Joe Biden should run again in 2024, but a large majority say theyd be likely to support him if he became the nominee. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 26% of Americans overall want to see Biden run again  a slight recovery from the 22% who said that in January. Forty-seven percent of Democrats say they want him to run, also up slightly from only 37% who said that in January. Fifty-nine-year-old voter Jenipher Lagana says she likes the 80-year-old Biden but her problem with him running in 2024 is his age. Read moreBiden 2024 splits Dems but most would back him: AP-NORC poll
Students at the Medical College of Georgia found out where theyll be doing their residency programs.

Medical students across the U.S. opened their acceptance letters in unison when the clock struck noon on March 17, Match Day, and celebrated the transition from undergrad to post-grad medical education.

I feel happy, said Ana Maslesa, grinning. Grandma, too, was beaming ear to ear (My baby! Thats my baby!) and a friend came up to ask the pressing question: you got in?

The answer was yes. Maslesa will be doing her residency in psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina.

SRP Park, site of Match Day for MCG and hosted by Augusta University and the University of Georgia, was filled with the shouts and tears of students whove already put in hundreds of clinical hours and look ahead to three to seven years of more training.

Students applied for their programs in September and interviewed for them during the fall and winter. They learned Monday, March 13, whether  but not where  they were accepted.

That last bit of news, the where, is what lit up the faces at SRP Park.

You just never knew what was actually going to happen, said Varsha Chiruvella, who will do her residency in family medicine at Ohio State, her first choice. Even after the application process, you dont know if youre going to get an interview, you dont know if youre going to enjoy the interview, you dont know if theyre going to like you, if you're going to like them. Everything is so much uncertainty.

Chiruvella will be the second doctor in the family and the second to be selected for Ohio State  her sister, Megha, also did her residency there.

According to the National Residency Matching Program, this years Match was the largest in its 70-year history with 42,952 applicants trying for 42,375 residency positions. The program filled 37,690 of these positions.

This year also had an increase in the number of primary care positions filled.

The match program had offered nearly 575 more of these positions in 2023 to help address what it calls a serious and growing shortage of primary care physicians across the U.S.

The AU/UGA Medical Partnership formed in 2009, expanding research collaborations to better increase the number of physicians in the state of Georgia.

The state of Georgia ranks 38th in the nation for its ratio of physicians to population, according to 2021 data published by the Association of American Medical Colleges. South Carolina ranks 36th.

The state of Georgia has 236 active physicians for every 100,000 population, which is below the national rate of 286 per 100,000. In South Carolina, the rate is 237 per 100,000.

But the presence of the Medical College of Georgia, one of the nations oldest and largest public medical institutions, appears to have aided the Augusta area in physician supply, at least for primary care doctors.

County level data compiled in 2019 and published last year by the University of Wisconsins Population Health Institute show that Richmond County fares better than both the state of Georgia and the country for its physician to population ratio.

According to this data, Richmond County has one primary care physician for every 900 people. For Georgia, this ratio is one physician for every 1,490 people, and in the U.S. it is one for every 1,310.

The UWs Population Health Institute notes that access to care requires not only financial coverage, but also access to providers [] sufficient availability of primary care physicians is essential for preventive and primary care, and, when needed, referrals to appropriate specialty care.
One of South Carolina's largest technology firms has rejected a $3.78 billion buyout offer from its biggest investor, just five months after approving a plan to discourage unwanted suitors.

Daniel Island-based Blackbaud Inc. said March 27 that it declined Fridays offer from Clearlake Capital Group to buy the shares it doesnt already own for $71 each.

The company said its board of directors unanimously determined after a "comprehensive review" over the weekend that the offer "is highly opportunistic and significantly undervalues" the business.

"As such, the board determined that the Clearlake proposal is not an appropriate basis for engagement and is not in the best interest of stockholders," Blackbaud said.

The California-based investor said it would be willing to support a competing superior buyout offer as long as it maximizes the value for all stockholders.

The hedge fund said it had no further comment Monday.

Paul Meeks, a finance professor at The Citadel and a CNBC technology commentator, said he felt the bid is good news" for Blackbaud stockholders and that the offer "is more than full and fair."

Shares of "BLKB" had been trading around $57 last week. They jumped 12 percent to close at about $64 on Monday.

Blackbaud sells financial software and analytical services designed specifically to help donor-funded philanthropic organizations, such as private schools and large charities, raise money. It became a publicly traded company by listing its stock on the Nasdaq in 2004.

Meeks said he expects Blackbaud will "fight back hard," against Clearlake, which disclosed last year that it had raised its ownership stake to more than 18 percent. The firm also changed its status from a passive to active investor.

Afterward, Blackbaud adopted a shareholder rights plan, or "poison pill, that remains in effect until Oct. 2.

Under the plan, if Clearlake or any other investor owns more than 20 percent of the company, other Blackbaud investors would be entitled to buy shares at a reduced price, making an unsolicited buyout prohibitively expensive.

Meeks said the use of a poison pill typically entrenches management and usually is not well-received by investors

"They will come under a lot of pressure," Meeks said of Blackbaud executives and directors.

Blackbaud said its banking on what the board called "tangible momentum" in its business that "will drive enhanced value for stockholders." Last year, Blackbaud generated more than $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time.

"We continue to successfully execute our overall strategy and launched a number of key initiatives early this year that are already delivering results and support our overall objectives to manage the business efficiently and effectively, and drive profitability, increased revenue and cash flow," CEO Mike Gianoni said in a statement Monday.

Among other moves, Blackbaud cut 14 percent of its workforce over the past 15 months, or about 500 jobs in total, in an effort to reduce overhead expenses.

Earlier this month, the company agreed to pay a $3 million penalty after the Securities and Exchange Commission said the firm made misleading disclosures to shareholders about a 2020 data breach that affected more than 13,000 customers.
It may seem outrageous to pay $14 for a hot dog, but at Palace Hotel, the most expensive of wieners  the "Get Low-Country," comes oozing with flavorful house chili, touch-of-spice pimiento cheese and tangy Worcestershire cream, topped with crunchy potato sticks.

Or at least it did up until the neighborhood bar at 35 Hanover St., partly owned by "Southern Charm" star Shep Rose, closed its disco ball dreamland interior and boiled peanut-popping patio for good to be replaced by Recovery Room side project Lucky Luchador, an Irish-meets-Mexican-themed bar that has since moved in and taken over.

That wasn't the end for the Palace Hotel, however. The East Side institution vowed to relocate and reopen. Now, it has, at 525 Meeting St., and its famed "Get Low-Country" hot dog, plus most of the original menu, is back.

The new Palace Hotel maintained chef Joseph "Joe P" Singleton, who serves up carried-over menu items, from the "El Jefe Perro" with Mexican street corn and queso fresco to the vegetarian "Carrot Dog." He also makes drunken dive bar soaker-uppers such as the Thunderguards Sandwich, with a beef patty or fried chicken breast stacked with jalapeno bacon, and the gooey 3-Cheese Grilled Cheese, served with a pickle.

Now, he's also joined by executive chef Curt Hickens, who has formerly worked as a chef in Las Vegas and Miami. Hickens brought in new menu items, like the Lobster Corndog, starring hand-breaded fried lobster tails, lemon aioli and slaw.

"We wanted to add to the menu but keep the staples," said Palace Hotel part-owner Robbie Marty, who also has a stake in dance floor speakeasy The Commodore. "So many people go in excited to order an El Jefe, boiled peanuts and a High Life pony."

The bar's signature tiny beers sit stacked in their own fridge behind the counter. To their left, the old 35 Hanover door is propped up against the wall.

The plans are for this door to open up to an optic illusion that makes it seem as if you're gazing into the old location, with its dark wood booths and animal skull wall mounts, said another co-owner, Taylor Grant, who is largely behind the vision of the new space.

Those animal skulls make their way onto the new Palace's walls in ode, along with the former porch's pastel chairs, which are now pops of pink and yellow inside the much larger space, as well as seating for the expansive outdoor patio.

A signature striped wall and graffiti wall carry on throughout, in addition to neon touches, like pink and purple window smolders, a psychedelic display framing a funhouse mirror, a glowing pink flamingo statuette and color-changing uplights in the restroom that draw your attention to the jungle-themed wallpaper dotted with creeping tigers. That's not to mention the central disco ball casting glittering dots across the exposed wood beam ceilings.

All in all, though the spacious new locale is different from its cozy neighborhood predecessor, familiar touches and an overarching chill vibe carry the torch onward.

"What I hope people get out of the new space is obviously a feeling that connects them to the original Palace, but with a newer look," said Grant. "To still be a neighborhood bar but for all of Charleston's neighborhoods."

And keeping many of the staff members, like Joe P in the kitchen, certainly helps to tie the two places together. It's family, said Grant; that's what makes it the Palace Hotel.
GREENVILLE  The same pot of tourism tax dollars used to fund iconic Greenville projects including Falls Park and Unity Park could be applied to affordable housing if a bill working its way through the state Legislature becomes law.

Last year, the city brought in a combined $21.6 million in revenue through its local hospitality and accommodation taxes, and another $2.5 million from state accommodation tax revenue. Projections indicate those figures will be significantly higher this year. The local levies apply to tourist-related expenses in the city, including hotel room rentals and meals at restaurants.

As it stands now, state law strictly limits the use of that revenue to tourism  things like parks, cultural centers, infrastructure supporting those amenities, and marketing and promotion.

Those funding streams have been used to support some of Greenville's most prominent landmarks and have been growing as the city increasingly becomes a travel destination. Recently, they were used as a major funding source for the 60-acre Unity Park and will make up most of the city's $5.5 million contribution to a coming 10-story tower that will serve as the park's centerpiece.

But a bill unanimously approved in late March by the state Senate Finance Committee would broaden allowable uses for those public dollars to include affordable housing.

Greenville City Councilwoman Dorothy Dowe is a vocal supporter of the bill and has lobbied for it at the Statehouse. The change would provide the city a major new tool in addressing its significant affordable housing deficit and make it easier to retain the people who make a thriving tourism industry possible, she said  hotel and restaurant workers, but also police, medical staff and tradespeople.

"You can't pigeonhole tourism workforce to just hospitality workers, it goes so far beyond that," she said. "To their credit, the finance committee said, 'Let the municipalities decide how they define workforce and what that needs to look like.' "

Greenville Housing Fund CEO Bryan Brown said the new funding source would give municipalities significant flexibility. It could be used in a variety of ways, including developing new affordable units, preserving existing ones or subsidizing rent.

"The beauty of the bill is it really provides local control," he said. "All of our communities are different, and so Greenville can direct how these resources support workforce housing."

The revenue from those taxes is currently dedicated largely to operating expenses and paying down debt for capital projects.

But Mayor Knox White, who wrote a letter in support of the bill to the Legislature, said they provide enough revenue to dedicate a portion of it to affordable housing. And even a small percentage of the money the city brings in through tourism taxes could be leveraged to create a greater impact.

"If we had that tool, I could certainly see taking $2 million, which you could bond about $25 million from," he said.

The legislation has garnered bipartisan support in the Senate. It is sponsored by two Republicans  Tom Davis of Beaufort and Ross Turner of Greenville  and two Democrats  Darrell Jackson of Hopkins and John Scott of Columbia.

Still, the bill has a long road ahead. It will go before the full state Senate on March 28. If approved there, it would still need to be voted out of the state House of Representatives and signed into law by the governor.
ANDERSON  A new rooftop bar is opening this week in downtown Anderson, and it's one particularly familiar to regulars of downtown Greenville.

Up on the Roof, which will open at McDuffie and East Market Streets atop the new Market Street parking garage in downtown Anderson, will open its doors March 28.

The Anderson location will be the third for Sizzling Steak Concepts, the company that in 2016 created the first Up on the Roof concept atop the Embassy Suites in RiverPlace along the Reedy River. The group opened its second location in 2021 in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta.

Sizzling Steak Concepts is the largest Ruths Chris Steak House franchise group worldwide, according to the companys website, but the company created Up on the Roof as its own unique, independent brand. The company owns 11 Ruths Chris Steak Houses across Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina, but for now, it's more focused on growing the Up on the Roof brand.

I think that combination of a relaxed vibe but at the same time with a high-end upscale craft cocktail concept and really good food but nothing super fussy  I think that is becoming the direction that more diners are looking to go, said Stephanie Tobben, Up on the Roof's marketing and communications director.

The rooftop is central to setting the establishment apart.

We always make sure weve got great views, Tobben said. So, it sort of creates its own sort of fun environment.

The company chose Anderson after hearing from customers in Greenville that they were traveling from Clemson, Lake Hartwell and Anderson to enjoy the unique rooftop experience. But, Tobben said, company leaders were impressed with how the city is growing and how city leaders are planning for that growth.

Up on the Roof Anderson will be the only location that sits not atop a hotel or an office building, but atop a parking deck. The restaurant and bar will be the only retail space, situated on the seventh floor of the new parking garage on Market Street, behind the Home 2 Suites by Hilton.

The 5,000-square-foot space includes both an indoor and outdoor bar. The majority of the restaurant provides what Tobben describes as all-weather outdoor space with a covering, heaters and firepits making for comfortable year-round availability.

I think that people who live in Anderson are very proud of Anderson, Tobben said. And while they are part of the greater Upstate I think they are excited to have things that are unique to Anderson.

Menu-wise, guests can expect a similar food and beverage experience to that of Greenville and Alpharetta, Tobben said.

But the thing that sets each location apart is the atmosphere created by the views. Guests will be able to munch on lettuce wraps (with either chicken or ahi tuna), fried brussels sprouts with chili lime vinaigrette, lamb sliders and mussels in a coconut green curry broth and sip on an Eternal Spring cocktail (Hendricks gin, Lillet rose, butterfly pea flower tea, saffron syrup, apricot, lemon, rose water) while looking out over downtown Anderson.

Executive chef Eric McCollum will direct the culinary team in Anderson, while general manager Macy Taylor will guide the restaurants front-of-house operations. Taylor, an Anderson native, jumped at the chance to help bring the fun concept to life in her hometown.

Its like a little slice of heaven getting to do this right here in the town where I grew up, Taylor said.

In addition to creative food, Up on the Roof is known for its creative cocktails. The bar program includes seasonal cocktails, beer and wine, as well as signature bottled cocktails.

A highlight of the space is the Barrel Bar, which was built using repurposed Jack Daniels barrel staves.

Once open, Up on the Roof Anderson will serve dinner daily, along with weekend brunch and lunch on Thursday and Friday. The 3,000-square-foot restaurant is also available to host social and corporate events.

Reservations can be made here: https://resy.com/cities/grn/up-on-the-roof-anderson

For more information about UP on the Roof, visit www.eatUPdrinkUP.net
Press Release

March 27, 2023 'If may extra ka, donate ka din': Cayetano invites netizens to help those in need Empathy and generosity are good, and we should all try it sometimes. This was Senator Alan Peter Cayetano's lighthearted response to his online commenters who used one of his Facebook posts to take a dig at the lawmaker's Sampung Libong Pag-asa or 10K Ayuda legislative initiative. One of the commenters joked that people still have not forgotten about Cayetano's alleged campaign promise during the 2022 elections to provide P10,000 for every Filipino family - a mischaracterization of the senator's Sampung Libong Pag-asa initiative, which is based on successful economic stimulus programs implemented in other countries. The senator replied by saying that he too is waiting for the 10K Ayuda, which has become a byword for government financial assistance at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "That's why we're pushing it sa Senate! Government has already admitted that they have the money but they don't want to distribute it like Bayanihan 1," Cayetano said, referring to the first of two massive pandemic aid bills passed during his time as House Speaker. He added that while the Sampung Libong Pag-asa bill has yet to be tackled by the Senate plenary, he is already doing what he can to help people build thriving microenterprises by providing P10,000 in capital to beneficiaries of his Sampung Libong Pag-asa program. Cayetano also invited the commenter to pitch in and help however he can - similar to the senator's appeals to viewers of his Sampung Libong Pag-asa program on Facebook. "If may extra ka, try it, donate ka din sa mga nangangailangan," he quipped. Cayetano posted a selfie on his Facebook page on March 24, showing him with GMA Sparkle actress Shuvee Etrata. In the photo caption, the senator praised young people "who are humble, hardworking, kind, respectful, mindful and eager to learn." "Maraming comments and criticism about young people, about the next generation. Then you meet great examples of their generation," he said. "Let's learn from them. Huwag kaya tayo nega? Smile lang," he added.
New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry joins the Timrod Library on Sunday, May 7 to present her newest book, The Secret Book of Flora Lea. Patti will be in conversation with Jonathan Haupt, executive director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center. The event begins at 2 p.m. at th Read moreBestselling author visits Timrod Library
Henry Allan Harry Ironside was a Canadian-American Bible teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author who pastored Moody Church in Chicago from 1929 to 1948. It is said that Harry Ironside was one of the most prolific Christian writers of the 20th Century and published more than 100 b Read moreWill the return of Christ interfere with your plans?
COLUMBIA  Legislators could choose between a former GOP House lawmaker and the Senate's longtime chief budget adviser as South Carolina's next  and potentially last  elected comptroller.

The Legislature's joint assembly to fill Richard Eckstrom's post is likely weeks away. But the phone calls to line up his replacement began shortly after the comptroller general turned in his resignation last week amid mounting pressure over his office's $3.5 billion accounting error.

As it stands, the decision comes down to former state Rep. Kirkman Finlay, a Columbia Republican who narrowly lost his reelection bid in November, and Mike Shealy, the state Senate's budget director for nearly 22 years.

The unofficial vote-counting has already started.

"We'll know by end of the week whether we have a race," said Rep. Phil Lowe, R-Florence, who's supporting Finlay.

Ordinarily in legislative elections the House's candidate has the edge since they have the numbers: 124 House members versus 46 senators. And the House has previously chosen one of its own to fill a vacancy in a statewide office. It's not clear how legislators' alliances will split this time.

House Speaker Murrell Smith said he's backing Finlay.

"Mr. Finlay has spent many years as a public servant in numerous capacities, and it will be to the benefit of our state that he commits himself to public service once again," the Sumter Republican said. "I believe Mr. Finlay will be an ideal candidate and have no doubt he is uniquely qualified to the office of comptroller general."

Without naming names, Gov. Henry McMaster has indicated to his fellow Republicans he prefers someone else.

"In order to maintain the public's confidence, the General Assembly should look to someone non-political, with a professional background in finance or accounting who can provide a 'fresh set of eyes' to the position of comptroller general," McMaster said in a statement before Finlay publicly announced his candidacy.

Beyond the accounting duties of signing state employees' checks, closing the books on each fiscal year and reporting the balances  the job that got Eckstrom in trouble  the comptroller general sits on a powerful five-member board that oversees state finances and borrowing.

The other members include the governor, treasurer, and the Legislature's two budget-writing chairmen.

Lowe said the business skills of Finlay, whose ventures include owning a farm and several restaurants, would be useful on that board for helping to arrange economic development deals.

In an email announcing his candidacy, Finlay promised to restore trust to the office.

"I will work to ensure our state government functions in an efficient and effective manner," said Finlay, who was a member of the House budget-writing committee and previously served on Columbia City Council. He lost his bid for a sixth term to the state House by less than 2 percentage points.

Legislators of both parties in both chambers told The Post and Courier the role should be filled by someone who doesn't want any political office.

"We need somebody in the job focused on doing the job and not involved in politics," said Sen. Larry Grooms, who oversaw the panel that investigated the decadelong paperwork errors that Eckstrom only recently disclosed.

Grooms, a Berkeley County Republican, plans to nominate Shealy for the post. Shealy has agreed to do the job if he wins but won't publicly campaign for it, Grooms said.

"Thats the type person we want in there  a professional with a high-skill level," Grooms said.

Shealy, who started his state government career in 1982 as a revenue forecaster, left the Senate Finance Committee last fall to train agency leaders for the Department of Administration.

"He would quietly ensure accuracy in our states finances and thats what we want," Grooms continued. "We need a band director, not a noise maker."

He also believes Shealy is better suited to lead a transition doing away with the office and dispersing its duties.

Legislation in both chambers would ask voters in 2024 whether the governor should be tasked with appointing future comptrollers, taking the position off popular election ballots. Grooms supports going a step further in eliminating the job altogether, noting most states don't have a comptroller general.

When the state constitution was written in 1895, it made sense to have a chief accountant and treasurer who were seen as a check-and-balance system for the state's hand-written paper trail of finances. But the separate offices make little sense when everything's done electronically, Grooms said.

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, who has long supported removing the comptroller general from the ballot, said the job should be filled on an interim basis with a state employee with institutional knowledge, which could be Shealy or someone else.

The House's longest-serving member worries what else might be uncovered by Eckstrom's replacement.

"Im not interested in a consolation prize for someone who lost a race," said the Orangeburg Democrat, who sponsored legislation two weeks ago to let voters decide the office's fate. "We can't afford on-the-job training given the unknown."

The Legislature must pass a resolution setting the date for the joint assembly to elect Eckstrom's replacement, which likely won't be until late April.

Eckstrom's last official day is April 30. His exit comes after taking fire from lawmakers for a $3.5 billion overstatement of the state's finances connected to an accounting problem that went on for years.

Legislators use revenue projections by a separate fiscal office, not the comptroller general's report, so his office's errors did not cause a deficit. But the end-of-year reports did overstate the state's cash picture to Wall Street analysts.
COLUMBIA  Prosecutors and sheriffs from across South Carolina are calling on legislators to relinquish some of their power over the judicial branch to restore public trust in the system.

While the group did not advocate any particular bill at their March 27 press conference, Democrats and Republicans joined forces to collectively seek judicial reform, starting with the makeup of the Legislature's judicial screening committee.

The first step in changing how the Legislature picks judges must be ending lawyer-legislators' control over who sits on the bench, advocated 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, a Democrat who oversees prosecutions in Calhoun, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties.

"If anyone needed proof that public confidence is waning and that we need legislative action now, when did anyone think David Pascoe, Alan Wilson and 30 solicitors and sheriffs would get together and call for anything together?" said Pascoe, who has frequently been at odds with Wilson, the state's Republican attorney general.

"We can end the practice of giving a few legislative insiders the power of picking legislative candidates, which I firmly believe is the biggest problem we currently have in selecting judges," Pascoe said. "There are too many insider deals."

South Carolina is among just two states where the Legislature selects most judges.

The entire General Assembly votes on judges that are screened by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission. Six of the panel's 10 members, including the chairman and vice-chairman, are legislators who make a living as lawyers. The panel advances no more than three qualified candidates to the floor for a vote.

Most judicial races are settled long before the rest of the Legislature actually gets a chance to cast a ballot, as occurred during this year's highly scrutinized race to fill a state Supreme Court seat being vacated by an age-required retirement. The two female candidates backed out the same day the election officially started, leaving South Carolina as the only state in the nation with an all-male high court.

Standing beside Wilson, Pascoe called for two changes: Requiring the commission to advance the names of all qualified candidates, not just three, and letting the governor pick every commission member, with perhaps input from the South Carolina Bar and other groups.

None should be a legislator, he said.

He noted those are changes that can be handled by a simple majority of both chambers. They don't require amending the state constitution, as bigger overhauls would require, because the Legislature would still ultimately pick the judges through a floor vote.

Many in the group, including Wilson, said they do not support popular election of judges and the potential conflicts of interest that creates.

But no matter where individual members of the group fell on the spectrum of popular elections versus giving the governor full appointment powers, Wilson said, all agreed legislators should give the governor a much bigger role.

"It is the executive branch that's charged with upholding the rule of law," Wilson said, adding that solicitors and sheriffs are part of that branch of government. As it is, "were completely cut out of the process."

Wilson and Pascoe recognized the changes are unlikely this year, with just over a month left in the regular session. But they urged legislators to start the process to enable passage next year.

"We're in it for the long game," Wilson said.

Must-do next steps include changing how magistrates are elected, prosecutors told reporters after the news conference.

Technically, the governor appoints magistrates, but he actually has little to no say over their selection. Instead, those are chosen by the senators representing each county, and if the governor opts against reappointing their choice, the senators' pick can simply stay indefinitely without a new appointment.

Gov. Henry McMaster has also called on legislators to change how they pick judges, including in his State of the State address.

"Gov. McMaster is pleased at the growing momentum for reforming how judges, including magistrate judges, are selected," said his spokesman Brandon Charochak.
United Airlines' corporate communications office will be responding to Sen. Jesse Lujans letter penned to Sam Shinohara, UAL managing director of operations, about a new travel policy implemented in Hawaii thats causing concern with Guam passengers.

United is reviewing the letter and will respond directly to Sen. Lujan, airline representatives told The Guam Daily Post March 24, the day after Lujan announced he had sent the letter.

The vice chair of the legislative committee on air transportation and tourism asked Shinohara about a new travel policy that Guam passengers must now endure while traveling to the mainland through Honolulu.

As the managing director for United operations at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport, Im sure you understand how crucial it is for passenger transits to be streamlined, fluid and Guam-efficient. But with the current procedures in place, many of our people find themselves in stressful situations, both physically and mentally. As many constituents have mentioned to me, these new additional steps to passenger travels seem not only cumbersome but discriminatory as well, Lujan said.

'Discriminatory actions'

Lujan, when describing the new travel policy, wrote that Guam passengers in transit to the contiguous U.S. must claim their bags upon arrival, despite the island not being an international destination. Passengers then recheck bags after being processed through Customs and an agricultural agent before processing through Transportation Security Administration screening and catching their flight.

It's an inconvenience, but also discrimination, according to the senator.

These new protocols add to a list of discriminatory actions towards our people. But with our geostrategic importance, our rising significance to military operations in the Indo-Pacific, our high volume of enlistments to the armed forces itself, and the fact that we are U.S. citizens, we should not be treated this way, Lujan said.

The lawmaker clarified he is not blaming" United, but, rather, is seeking answers as to why" the new measures were put in place.

Who is responsible and what can be done to eliminate or mitigate the discriminatory and burdensome effects on Guam travelers? With many constituents raising questions, complaints and inquiring about the new procedures, I hope to receive an explanation for my questions. Why are supplementary steps added for Guam passengers to endure when transiting through Hawaii from Guam on the way to the U.S. mainland? Lujan asked.

GVB 'agrees' with Lujan

The Post reached out to the Guam Visitors Bureau, which keeps tabs on incoming and departing travelers, for comment regarding the letter, but GVB was not aware of the letter until a copy was provided to them by the Post.

After reviewing the letter, GVB acting president and CEO, Gerry Perez, said he agreed with Lujans characterization of the travel policy.

We agree that this change in policy is inconvenient for travelers coming from Guam and conversations need to be directed toward the airline carrier on why this decision was made, Perez said.

Guam International Airport Authority executive manager, John Quinata, also noted the negative response the policy has received from passengers.

Complaints where not addressed to the GIAA. It was more towards their process. I am not familiar of what organization made the decision to change the process, but it is definitely not passenger friendly, he said.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 22:30:28

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COLUMBUS, OH / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Access Point Technology, an industry leader in cybersecurity consulting, will be represented on stage at the Central Ohio ISSA Meeting on April 20, 2023 in Columbus by Chief Information Officer, Shawn Sines. He will deliver a talk on "The Passwordless Paradox," the second in his series on The Zero Trust Fallacy. The Central Ohio ISSA Chapter exists to inform, educate, and train its members and community on the latest trends, topics, and key issues in the information security space.This iteration of The Zero Trust Fallacy will dive into the risks and challenges with the rapid adaptation of passwordless technology. He further identifies practical considerations for organizations looking to transition to more modern authentication options. Highlights include the advantages of retiring passwords and alternative means of validating users to support the journey toward a zero-trust enabled future.Shawn Sines is a seasoned information security professional with diverse experience, both as a U.S. Marine and as an information security leader and architect across several industries. Equipped with over 25 years of experience, Shawn works with businesses to build and refine effective security program strategies, security architecture, and designing organization-oriented security solutions.Follow Shawn on LinkedInAbout Access Point TechnologyAccess Point Technology is a leading provider of cybersecurity consulting services. We help companies of all sizes manage their risk, compliance and security strategy by understanding their technology goals, issues, and vulnerabilities.With our 24/7 Security Concierge service, our consultants take a white-glove approach to security operations. While threat hunters scour your network for indicators of compromise, our best-in-class monitoring capabilities provide you with clear visibility of your security posture throughout the organization.Level up your security defenses today: https://www.accesspointconsulting.com/security-concierge Follow us: Cyber Threat Intelligence | LinkedInContact: intel@ accesspointconsulting.com Contact InformationMitchell PowellGrowth Specialistmpowell@ accesspointconsulting.com 6105412798SOURCE: Access Point Technology
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 15:39:17

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The Qui Tam Lawsuit, Which Resulted in One of the Largest Ever False Claims Act Settlements Against a Public Entity, Alleged the County Knowingly Committed Medicaid Fraud Over Many YearsPHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / The law firms Berger Montague and Kleiman/Rajaram announce that they have achieved a $28 million settlement in the qui tam litigation brought by whistleblower Judith Zissa, on behalf of the United States, alleging that Santa Barbara County, California and its Behavioral Wellness Agency (formerly known as the Santa Barbara County Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services) ("BWA") violated the federal False Claims Act by committing Medicaid fraud over the course of many years. This case was filed in 2014 and is captioned United States ex rel. Judith Zissa v. Santa Barbara County Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services, et al., Case No. 14-cv-06891-DMG (C.D. Cal).Although the federal government declined to intervene, Relator's counsel, Berger Montague and Kleiman/Rajaram, litigated the claims vigorously over the past eight years, defeating the defendants' motion to dismiss their amended complaint, and reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of documents to establish their client's case.Notably, the federal False Claims Act is one of the most powerful statutory tools for combating healthcare fraud. Under the False Claims Act, a relator not only litigates to recover funds for the government, but the relator is then entitled to a share of the government's recovery (up to 30%) as an award for blowing the whistle on the fraud and prosecuting a successful recovery. The settlement here, one of the largest ever achieved against any county, required Santa Barbara County and BWA to repay $21.4 million to the federal government, as well as $3 million to Relator Zissa for her retaliation claim and an additional $3.6 million to pay for her attorney's fees and costs. Of the federal government's recovery, Relator was awarded 28.5%, just under the maximum allowed.The suit alleged that Santa Barbara County and BWA knowingly committed Medicaid fraud, where they billed and were paid for claims that either should not have been paid or should have been paid less. Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California, is a program that is jointly funded by the federal and state governments but is administered by the states. Santa Barbara County and BWA had a contract with the State of California through the Medi-Cal program to provide services to Medicaid recipients in Santa Barbara County, many of whom are poor or disabled.Relator exposed two forms of alleged Medicaid fraud. The first was BWA's billing for services to patients who either had not received a medical assessment or did not have a valid treatment plan. Under the applicable laws and contract with the State, BWA was required to fully assess all patients and update their treatment plans at least annually to determine what services and treatment they should receive. By assessing and evaluating patients annually, providers like BWA can ensure that their patients are receiving the right kinds of treatment and are not receiving services that are ineffective or unnecessary. Ms. Zissa alleged that BWA knew of the unlawful billing because its own records showed a large percentage of its patients did not have assessments or valid treatment plans and were being provided services without those requisites. She also charged that BWA was able to prevent claims from being submitted to Medi-Cal for patients who lacked the requisite assessments and treatment plans, but chose not to enable a setting in its software that would have flagged unlawful claims, as doing so would have also stopped the flow of the resulting unlawful revenues.Another form of alleged Medicaid fraud revealed by Relator Zissa arose from BWA improperly billing for "medication support," which is one of the most expensive of the Medicaid services. Under the applicable regulations, medication support services required that providers had to directly communicate with the patient or their caregiver as to how and when to take medications or advise as to the side effects of a medication. Relator alleged that BWA allowed its staff to bill non-qualifying activities as medication support, including faxing in a patient's refills and other mundane acts that should have been billed as far less costly services."We are extremely proud of this excellent result for our client Judith Zissa and the United States government," said Sherrie Savett, Chair Emeritus and Executive Shareholder of Berger Montague, who represented Relator Zissa in this case. "This settlement of $28 million is one of the largest settlements ever under the False Claims Act against a public entity. Local governments, such as counties, cities, and their agencies, play an essential role in providing desperately needed services to our fellow citizens. When entities like Santa Barbara County abuse the trust they have been given to bilk the system of money they don't deserve, everyone, including patients within the system, suffers. We applaud the courage and tenacity of our client - who was illegally fired in retaliation by BWA when she tried to report internally the issues involved in this lawsuit - in bringing this wrongdoing to light." Ms. Savett was joined in the case by Lane Vines, William Ellerbe, and William Fedullo of Berger Montague, as well as Mark Kleiman and Pooja Rajaram of the Kleiman/Rajaram firm based in Los Angeles, California."County governments taking federal and state money have legal and moral obligations to spend taxpayer dollars properly. Public employees like Ms. Zissa have an important role to play in preventing and detecting efforts to defraud these vital programs," said Mark Kleiman, Managing Partner of Kleiman/Rajaram.Berger Montague PC is one of the leading plaintiffs' firms in the country, with deep experience and many successes in whistleblower and qui tam claims brought under the False Claims Act (including Medicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, grant fraud, and customs fraud) and under the IRS and SEC whistleblower programs. Berger Montague is also one of the leading practitioners nationwide in the areas of class actions involving securities fraud, antitrust violations, data breach, and privacy issues, and all varieties of consumer fraud. For more than 50 years, Berger Montague has helped its clients vindicate their rights and seek justice, recovering more than $36 billion in settlements and verdicts.Kleiman/Rajaram is a whistleblower law firm based in Los Angeles, California. To date, Kleiman/Rajaram has recovered over $800 million for federal and state taxpayers.SOURCE: Berger Montague
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 15:31:30

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / National plaintiffs law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP recommends that investors in Catalent, Inc. ("Catalent" or the "Company") who suffered losses from buying and selling Catalent securities (NYSE:CTLT) between August 30, 2021 and October 31, 2022 contact our securities fraud practice group immediately regarding the pending securities fraud class action against Catalent. The application deadline to be a lead plaintiff is April 25, 2023.Class Period: August 30, 2021 - October 31, 2022Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: April 25, 2023Case information: lieffcabraser.com/securities/catalent Contact us: Email or text investorinfo@ lchb.com or call 1-800-541-7358The securities class action alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Catalent and certain of its senior executives and directors made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (1) Catalent was overstating its revenues and demand for its COVID-19 manufacturing services; and (2) there were numerous operational and safety issues at Catalent's Bloomington plant that led the FDA to hold back 10 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine that were filled and packaged at the plant.Investors began to learn of defendants' fraud on August 29, 2022, when Catalent disclosed below-projection sales. On this news, Catalent's share price fell $7.42, or 7.4%, to close at $92.28 on August 30, 2022.On September 21, 2022, news reports revealed that the FDA had been aware of "potential safety concerns at the Catalent plant in late August" causing the agency to hold back "more than 10 million doses" of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. In response to this news, Catalent's share price fell $8.09, or 9.3%, across two trading days to close at $79.06 on September 22, 2022.On November 1, 2022, Catelent's quarterly report further revealed defendants' fraud by disclosing that the company's earnings had fallen to zero and downgrading Catalent's FY2023 revenue guidance by $300 million. In response to this news, Catalent's share price fell $20.83, or 31.7%, across two trading days to close at $44.90 on November 2, 2022.About Lieff CabraserLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, with over 120 attorneys in offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich, Germany, is an internationally-recognized law firm committed to advancing the rights of investors and promoting corporate responsibility. Recognized as a "Plaintiffs' Powerhouse" by Law360, Lieff Cabraser has litigated some of the most important civil cases in the United States, and has assisted clients in recovering over $127 billion in verdicts and settlements. For over 50 years, Lieff Cabraser has remained committed to ensuring access to justice for all.Source/ContactSharon LeeLieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP415 956-1000slee@ lchb.com SOURCE: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 21:00:42

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These agreements are the 13th, 14th, and 15th contracts or extensions to date in 2023 vs 28 in all of 2022News in SummaryIllinois primary care practice signs contract to deploy Connected Health platform to improve outcomes and attract new businessAn Ontario Family Health team extends remote patient monitoring (RPM) contractA Community Paramedic Service extends RPM program for an additional 12 monthsKITCHENER, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Cloud DX (TSXV:CDX)(OTC:CDXFF),a leading health data platform, announces a new US contract and two Canadian contract extensions, bringing this year's total agreements to date to 15, compared to 28 in all of 2022.Cloud DX welcomes an Illinois based primary care clinic as its next US clinic to implement an RPM program. The concierge clinic will offer Connected Health to improve outcomes and service for its existing clients and to attract a new client base. The practice, serving over 365 patients primarily seniors, estimates 50% will enroll in its Connected Health RPM program to manage chronic conditions including CHF, COPD, hypertension, and diabetes. The estimated value of the deployment is up to $170,000 CAD in the first full year.Cloud DX also signed extension contracts with two Ontario based health providers. After a successful initial deployment, an Ontario Family Health Team is extending its RPM contract for an additional 6 months to provide Connected Health services to palliative care patients. An Ontario Community Paramedic program for chronic care management is extending its Cloud DX RPM contract for another 12 months, with the potential to double the number of patients currently using Connected Health kits and services. Contract value for these deployment extensions is estimated to be up to $90,000 CAD over 12 months.These additional agreements follow Cloud DX's earlier announcement of the expansion of 5 existing Remote Patient Monitoring contracts, a 150% increase in YoY growth in contract extensions.Founder and CEO Robert Kaul stated "We continue to see demand for virtual care and remote monitoring increase in North America as healthcare providers seek to leverage our proven Connected Health technologies to improve care delivery, patient satisfaction, and reduce costs. Cloud DX is excited to see growth in the number of new contracts signed so far in 2023 as well as a significant number of contract extensions, which indicate that we are doing a good job making healthcare better for all our stakeholders." ABOUT CLOUD DXCloud DX is on a mission to make healthcare better for everyone. Clinics and hospitals across North America use our Connected Health data platform to incorporate remote and virtual technology in care delivery. Our remote monitoring solutions let care teams virtually monitor hundreds of patients; Patients take vital signs at home with intelligent medical devices which transmit the data to the care team's dashboard or EMR. Connected Health supports remote vital sign monitoring, behavioral medicine, telehealth, care pathways for chronic care, aging in place, palliative or perioperative hospital-at-home, and more. Our customers achieve better healthcare and patient outcomes, reduce hospitalizations and readmissions, lower care delivery costs, and grow patient panels, revenue, and more.Cloud DX is an exclusive partner to Medtronic Canada, Teladoc Health Canada, and Equitable Life of Canada. Cloud DX is the co-winner of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, 2022 Top Innovator by Canadian Business, a 2021 Edison Award winner, a Fast Company "World Changing Idea" finalist, and one of "Canada's Ten Most Prominent Telehealth Providers." For more information on Cloud DX (TSXV:CDX), visit www.CloudDX.com and follow @CloudDX on Twitter or LinkedIn.Cloud DX Investor Site https://ir.clouddx.com/overview/default.aspx Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Media ContactJanine ScottMarketing Lead888-543-0944Investor Relations ContactsCanadaJay Bedard647-881-8418USAGary Zwetchkenbaum516-455-7662IR@ CloudDX.com Forward Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect ", "is expected ", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward looking statements or information 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 the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. In particular, this news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the advancement of the Company's business and partnerships, the expected proceeds therefrom, regulatory approvals, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs, and intentions.SOURCE: Cloud DX Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 17:35:12

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The comprehensive research report provides genuine information of the Global Contraceptives Market. Its scope study expands from market situation to comparative pricing among the chief players, expense of the specific market areas and profits. It represents a comprehensive and in-brief analysis report of the prime competitor and the pricing statistics with a view to aid the beginners establish their place and survive in the market. Furthermore, it also focuses on the overall overview of the market for the upcoming period of 2023 to 2030. This has proved to be of a great help to the entrepreneurs. This in-detail market study is highly based on the information received from interviews with the leading executives, research and innovative resources.Key Players Profiled in the Contraceptives Market Report are as follows: Merck & Co Inc, Pfizer Inc, Abbvie Inc, Ansell Ltd, Bayer AG, Church & Dwight Co Inc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, The Cooper Companies Inc, Veru Inc, Mayer Laboratories IncDownload PDF Sample Copy of this Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=169529 The Global Contraceptives Market report inspects the financial standing of the leading companies, which includes gross profit, revenue generation, volume, sales revenue, individual growth rate and other financial ratios. It explains different verticals which are examined for a better understanding of the market clearly. The report is supported by significant economic facts. To present the data accurately, the study also makes use of effective graphical presentation techniques such as tables, charts, graphs, and pictures. The report further highlights recent trends, tools and technology platforms that contribute to enhance the performance of the companies.This report is a believable source for gaining the market research that will exponentially accelerate your business. Additionally, it presents new task SWOT examination, speculation attainability investigation, and venture return investigation. The research report thoroughly explains each and every aspect related to the Global Contraceptives Market, which facilitates the reports reader to study and evaluate the upcoming market trend and execute the analytical data to promote the business. The study has been conducted for 5 geographic regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Asia-Pacific.Contraceptives Market Segmentation:The Contraceptives market report has classified the market into segments including product type, and application. Every segment is evaluated based on share and growth rate. Besides, the analysts have studied the potential regions that may prove rewarding for the manufacturers in the coming years. The regional analysis includes reliable predictions on value and volume, thereby helping market players to gain deep insights into the overall industry.By Product TypeDrugsDevicesBy ApplicationHouseholdsClinicsHospitalsAsk for Discount on this Premium Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=169529 Reasons to buy this Report:We share detailed and exact information about the market forecast.Our reports have been examined by professional experts of the industry, which makes them beneficial for the company to maximize their return on investment.The analysis acknowledges that the sector players & key drivers of both conflicts and growth assess the impact of limitations as well as the opportunities on the sector.Data regarding the industry share by every item fragment, alongside their reasonable worth, have been served in the report.We provide statistic information, strategic and analysis tool results to provide a sophisticated landscape and target key market players. This will help the company to increase its efficiency.Our report helps readers decipher the current and future constraints of the market and optimal business strategies to enhance market development.Highlights of Contraceptives Market Report:All-inclusive evaluation of the parent market.Evolution of significant market aspects.Industry-wide investigation of market segments.Assessment of market value and volume in past, present, and forecast years.Evaluation of market share.Tactical approaches of market leaders.Lucrative strategies to help companies strengthen their position in the market.Global Contraceptives Market Report Summary:The report studies the contemporary market to forecast the growth prospects, challenges, opportunities, risks, threats, and the trends observed in the market that can either drive or restrain the growth rate of the industry. The market factors impacting the global sector also include provincial trade policies, international trade disputes, entry barriers, and other regulatory restrictions.Enquiry before Buying this premium Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=169529 About us:Report Consultant  A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies. Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Contact Us:Company: Report ConsultantContact Name : Rebecca ParkerEmail Id: sales@ reportconsultant.com Phone: +1 970-200-2429Address: Play house plaza 640 East Colorada Boulverad,Pasadena,CA,91101Website: www.reportconsultant.com
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 04:09:02

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RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2023 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP ( www.ktmc.com) informs investors that securities class action complaints have been filed against Credit Suisse Group AG ("Credit Suisse") (NYSE:CS). The complaints charge Credit Suisse with violations of the federal securities laws, including omissions and fraudulent misrepresentations relating to the company's business, operations, and prospects. As a result of Credit Suisse's materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Credit Suisse's investors have suffered significant losses.CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR CREDIT SUISSE LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/credit-suisse-group-ag?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=cs&mktm=r CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO? PLEASE CLICK HERELEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: MAY 8, 2023CLASS PERIOD: MARCH 10, 2022 THROUGH MARCH 20, 2023CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:Jonathan Naji, Esq. at (484) 270-1453 or via email at info@ ktmc.com Kessler Topaz is one of the world's foremost advocates in protecting the public against corporate fraud and other wrongdoing. Our securities fraud litigators are regularly recognized as leaders in the field individually and our firm is both feared and respected among the defense bar and the insurance bar. We are proud to have recovered billions of dollars for our clients and the classes of shareholders we represent.CREDIT SUISSE'S ALLEGED MISCONDUCTOn March 10, 2022, Credit Suisse filed with the SEC its 2021 annual report on a Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021. The 2021 annual report failed to identify any material weaknesses with Credit Suisse's internal controls.On December 1, 2022, Credit Suisse's Chairman, Axel P. Lehmann ("Lehmann") stated in an interview with Financial Times that customer outflows had not only "completely flattened out," but had, in fact, "partially reversed." The following day, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, Lehmann reiterated his previous statements, reassuring investors that as of November 11, 2022, customer outflows had "basically stopped." Following Lehmann's statements, Credit Suisse's American Depository Share ("ADS") price rose $0.29 per ADS, or 9.36%, to close at $3.38 per ADS on December 2, 2022.Then on February 9, 2023, Credit Suisse issued a press release announcing its 2022 financial results. The press release revealed that, contrary to Lehmann's prior statements, large customer outflows had continued through year-end 2022. Specifically, the press release reported customer outflows of 110.5 billion Swiss francs in the final three months of 2022, a figure which far exceeded market expectations. Following this news, Credit Suisse's ADS price fell $0.56 per ADS, or 15.64%, to close at $3.02 per ADS on February 9, 2023.On February 21, 2023, Reuters reported that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority was reviewing Lehmann's previous comments regarding customer outflows. Following this news, Credit Suisse's ADS price fell another $0.10 per ADS, or 3.31%, to close at $2.92 per ADS on February 21, 2023.Then on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Credit Suisse issued its annual 2022 report and revealed that it had identified "certain material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting" for the years 2021 and 2022. Additionally, on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the chairman of Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, which holds 9.88% of Credit Suisse, announced that it won't provide further financial support to Credit Suisse and that it would not buy more shares on regulatory grounds.Following this news, the price of Credit Suisse ADSs fell 13.94% to close at $2.16 per ADS on March 15, 2023.Finally, on March 20, 2023, Credit Suisse issued an announcement on Form 6-K of its merger agreement with Union Bank of Switzerland and that Union Bank of Switzerland would be the surviving entity upon closing of the merger transaction.Following this news, the price of Credit Suisse ADSs fell 52.99% to close at $0.9450 per ADS on March 20, 2023.WHAT CAN I DO?Credit Suisse investors may, no later than May 8, 2023, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff for the class, through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPor other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages Credit Suisse investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information. The first class action complaint against Credit Suisse, Calhoun v. Credit Suisse Group AG, et al. Case No. 23-cv-01297, is filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey before the Honorable Karen McGlashan Williams.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASEWHO 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, LLPKessler 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. The complaints were not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com CONTACT:Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPJonathan Naji, Esq.280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087(484) 270-1453info@ ktmc.com SOURCE: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 17:03:12

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Culture Cannabis Club arrives in Wildomar CA, bringing employment and community benefit opportunities to the Imperial Empire market.WILDOMAR, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Culture Cannabis Club, a cannabis dispensary chain founded in Southern California, is excited to announce the opening of its newest location in Riverside County, expanding their service reach to the city of Wildomar and the surrounding communities of Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, Canyon Lake, and Lake Elsinore. The new store, located at 33980 Mission Trail, will offer a wide variety of high-quality cannabis products, including flower, edibles, concentrates, and topicals, as well as a team of knowledgeable and friendly Cannabis Consultants to assist and educate customers."We are thrilled to bring the Culture Cannabis Club experience to the city of Wildomar," said Devon Julian, CEO of Culture Cannabis Club. "I am proud to offer more convenient access to the Southern Inland Empire community and easier access to my hometown San Diego." The new location will be open 7 days a week for in-store shopping and online pick up, featuring a wide selection of popular and unique strains, as well as a variety of edibles, concentrates, and topicals. In addition, the store will offer a rewards program for frequent customers and special deals and promotions throughout the year.Culture Wildomar opened its doors to the public on March 11th, but will be hosting their ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, March 30th at 10:00am with local city officials, followed by their official Grand Opening event on Saturday, April 1st, from 8:00am to 10:00pm. Patrons are encouraged to "arrive early on Saturday for a special hookup", shared one of the store's Cannabis Consultants with a smile and wink.About Culture Cannabis Club:Culture Cannabis Club is a leading cannabis dispensary chain with six locations across California. The company is committed to providing customers with high-quality cannabis products and a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable shopping experience. For more information, visit culturecannabisclub.com Contact InformationSara CochraneMarketing Manager(214) 406-7509SOURCE: Culture Cannabis Club
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 16:01:49

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Gerdau Graphene's New Poly-G E-07GM Polyethylene Masterbatch Delivers Unparalleled Durability And Cost-Savings For Plastic Packaging Films And Other Uses; New Plastic Films Are 25% Thinner And Reduce Plastic Waste By As Much As 40%SAO PAULO, BRAZIL / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Gerdau Graphene, the nanotechnology company pioneering advanced graphene-enhanced materials for industrial applications, announced that it has landed the first sales of its graphene-enhanced Poly-G PE-07GM polyethylene masterbatch. The additive is suitable for the production of films, profiles, and sheets formed through the extrusion processes. The new thermoplastic products created using Poly-G PE-07GM are proven to be stronger and offer greater overall performance while costing less to manufacture and producing significantly less waste across the value chain.Gerdau Graphene Poly-G PE-07GM Poly-G PE-07GM was piloted in a series of industrial applications within Gerdau's factories before commercialization, including as a film for construction nail packaging. Gerdau found that by using the new, 25% thinner graphene-enhanced plastic film, far fewer nails perforated the packaging. As a result, Gerdau reported a 39% reduction in the volume of discarded damaged packaging and a 7% increase in film productivity.The application of Poly-G PE-07GM increases the mechanical and thermal properties of polyethylene in addition to enhancing its processability and allowing the development of thinner final products. Benefits that can be achieved with the addition of graphene to polyethylene include:Improved gas barrier propertiesHigher UV resistanceHigher stiffness and tensile strengthReduction in the coefficient of friction (COF)Higher thermal stabilityHigher thermal and electric conductivityBetter processability"Thermoplastics such as polyethylene are critical to most commercial business operations around the world, particularly in retail, logistics, and industrial environments. Improving the material qualities of polyethylene has a meaningful impact on its sustainability in addition to cutting down on costs," said Alexandre Correa, CEO of Gerdau Graphene. "By adding specialized graphene additives to thermoplastic recipes, plastic producers can create stronger, more durable plastic products at lower cost and with far less virgin resin needed. Lower consumption of virgin resin means that less plastic becomes post-consumer waste, improving the overall sustainability of the final product developed. There are also downstream effects, including reductions in manufacturing waste, energy consumption, transportation, and more. And, circularly, we believe that soon plastics may be recycled into graphene and then reused." Gerdau Graphene Enters the Japanese MarketGerdau Graphene also announced today that it has formed a partnership with Sumitomo Corporation (hereinafter "SC"), a leading Fortune 500 global trading and business investment company with more than 70,000 group employees and a market cap about $22 billion, to import and distribute Poly-G PE-07GM masterbatches within the Japanese market."We are thrilled to announce our recent partnership with SC, a renowned trading house in Japan and partner to Gerdau in business ventures in Brazil, to export our masterbatches to the Japanese market. This collaboration represents a significant milestone for our company, as SC's history and reputation speak to the quality and value of our products," said Correa. "Opening the Japanese market is a strategic move for us, as it is known for its attention to high-quality materials and is a mature market in terms of industry expertise. We are confident that our masterbatches will be well-received by the Japanese market and we look forward to building a long-lasting relationship with SC and brand owners and convertors in Japan." "We are excited to partner with Gerdau Graphene to bring their high-quality graphene enhanced masterbatches to the Japanese market. We have been studying the graphene market for several years and are impressed with the R&D developments and speed to market executed by Gerdau Graphene so far. In the past years there has been a strong drive for sustainability in Japan, and we believe graphene additives will be a key material to support our local customers in bringing better products to the local market," said Naoyuki Tokunaga, GM of the Carbon Department at SC.Gerdau Graphene is currently developing graphene additives for virgin resins as well as post-industrial and post-consumer recycled plastics and polymers, including PP, PE, polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), PVC, and more. Every year, the United States produces about 8 million tons of PP and 23 million tons of PE. Reducing the amount of raw PP and PE needed to create final plastic products by 30% could save as much as 9.3 million tons of PP and PE plastic from being consumed and ultimately discarded.Graphene, considered to be the strongest material on Earth, is a one to ten atom-thick sheet of densely compacted carbon that can be modified for various uses and added to industrial materials. Since its discovery in 2004, Graphene's extraordinary chemical, physical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties have captivated the world and led to its inventors winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Graphene can be mixed with plastics, lending its incredible strength to the plastic matrix, and making the combined plastic material much stronger. In addition to improving physical and mechanical properties, graphene also increases barrier properties against liquids and gasses; protection from weathering, oxidation, and UV light; and an increase in electrical and thermal conductivity.About Gerdau GrapheneGerdau Graphene is a nanotech company focused on the production, development, and commercialization of graphene-enhanced products including polymers, paints and coatings, rubber, and more. Launched in 2021 by Gerdau, the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, through its Gerdau Next program, Gerdau Graphene enables businesses to harness the revolutionary properties of graphene to deliver industry-leading products. Gerdau Graphene is a Corporate Member of The Graphene Council. To learn more, please visit gerdaugraphene.com Follow Gerdau GrapheneLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/gerdau-graphene Twitter: @gerdaugrapheneFacebook: facebook.com/gerdaugraphenebr About SCSumitomo Corporation is a leading Fortune 500 global trading and business investment company with 111 locations in overseas countries/regions and 20 locations in Japan. It conducts commodity transactions in all industries utilizing worldwide networks, provides rela
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / The entire team at GoEasyCare is thrilled to be taking part in this year's Together We Care 2023 Conference, and they are honoured to be selected as an Unlocking Innovations Presenter for their Healthcare Workforce Management Software.Together We Care 2023 is a collaborative forum that joins the long-term care and retirement community sectors to help shape the future of seniors' care. It will take place in Toronto at the Toronto Congress Centre, from March 27-29th."We're looking forward to showing overworked professionals in the long-term care sector that they don't need to spend all of their time managing their Workforce Management Software. Over the last year, long-term care organizations have found themselves struggling to manage their strained workforce. Finding staff to work, managing time off and having to fill between 20-30% of their shifts every single day," said Paul Wright, President and CEO of GoEasyCare."Everybody at this event knows that Canada is facing a staffing crisis in healthcare, particularly long-term care. Most know that technology can help, but not everyone knows how it fits in. We're excited to show people how GoEasyCare can help." GoEasyCare's innovative workforce automation solution can help healthcare organizations save significant time and the work traditionally involved in filling shifts, managing schedules and staff requests. By automating these processes, organizations save 50% to 90% of the time associated with fielding sick calls, contacting replacements according to union rules, and adjusting schedules/payroll.GoEasyCare's powerful and adaptive solutions can completely automate this entire process:A given employee reports as sick through GoEasyCare and provides the required info.The system records that sick day and changes that shift to a sick code, visually represented with a different colour on the schedule.The employee's sick bank and payroll are automatically adjusted.The appropriate supervisors are notified, with no human intervention required.The system runs a complex rules engine to determine who can qualify to fill the shift, based on union rules, factoring in things like each candidate's seniority, location orientation, availability, full-time/part-time status, and recent schedule/overtime etc.With the list created, the system auto-calls, texts or emails each candidate who qualifies.An employee accepts the shift and they're added to the schedule with a full audit trail available.Schedules , Time Cards, Payroll, and all other systems, are updated automatically.GoEasyCare is already making a massive difference for healthcare organizations across Ontario right now."Before GoEasyCare, it took our scheduler 74 hours a month to do the schedules. And after GoEasyCare it took 24 hours," - Scheduling Manager at a healthcare agency in Southern Ontario.At the same time, Community Living -Grimsby, Lincoln and West Lincoln (CL-GLWL) slashed their scheduling costs by 75%, while also going from spending the equivalent of 10 days a month on scheduling tasks, to a mere 1.5 days a month.Anyone interested in seeing what the GoEasyCare solution can do for their organization is invited to stop by Booth 415 at Together We Care!-30-About GoEasyCareHealthcare organizations need tools that were built with specific healthcare challenges in mind.GoEasyCare's purpose-built Healthcare Workforce Management (hWFM) tool can help you save up to 90% of the time associated with fielding sick day calls, contacting replacements, and adjusting schedules/payroll.Our tool automates the entire process, from an employee calling in sick, to notifying the proper managers, to auto-calling candidates in the proper order according to union policies, to automatically updating your scheduling and payroll systems.GoEasyCare - Healthcare Workforce Management Made EasyAbout Together We Care 2023 ConferencePresented by the Ontario Long Term Care Association (OLTCA) and the Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA), The Together We Care Conference will be in-person!The opportunity to learn and collaborate together is something our members have been waiting for and we promise a stimulating experience. There is so much to catch up on, so much to share. A robust program is being designed with the industry's leading experts to reflect the lessons learned and best paths forward.GoEasy Care Media Inquiries:Paul WrightT: 866.393.3338 Ext. 523M: 905.830.7557E: paulw@ goeasycare.com SOURCE: GoEasyCare
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PHILADELPHIA, PA / March 27, 2023 / Berger Montague advises shareholders of Generac Holdings Inc. ("Generac") (NYSE:GNRC) about an investigation into Generac's Board of Directors for potential breaches of fiduciary duties to Generac and its shareholders.Shareholders of Generac may learn more about this investigation by contacting Berger Montague: Russell Paul at rpaul@ bm.net or (215) 875-4601, or Andrew Abramowitz at aabramowitz@ bm.net or (215) 875-3015, or visit: https://investigations.bergermontague.com/generac-holdings Generac is a Wisconsin-based producer of residential generators and backup power systems. In recent years, Generac expanded its business to include solar-based clean energy systems. Generac's solar offering, called the PWRcell, is a battery-based system that stores and manages electricity generated from solar panels. A critical part of the PWRcell system is the SnapRS rapid shutdown - a device meant to shut off the flow of electricity from solar panels to the rest of the system. Generac sells its PWRcell systems, including the SnapRS component, primarily through independent residential dealers, known as channel partners. Those channel partners, in turn, sell or rent the product to the end consumer, providing installation and continued maintenance services for the PWRcell systems.On August 1, 2022, the Company's single channel partner, Power Home Solar, LLC d/b/a Pink Energy ("Pink Energy"), sued Generac, alleging, among other things, that Generac had provided "defective" components. The Pink Energy Complaint criticized Generac's failure to recall the dangerous SnapRS unit in light of Pink Energy's urging that they do so-both for the sake of their business, and for the safety of their customers. Pink Energy also alleged that Generac did not disclose to Pink Energy that a firmware update, held out as a fix for the SnapRS issues, had known adverse effects and was shutting down entire PWRcell systems.Then, on October 19, 2022, Generac published preliminary earnings showing dismal financial results for the third quarter of 2022, and announced a $55 million pre-tax charge relating to its clean energy product warranties and expenses, citing a distributor that had filed for bankruptcy.Finally, on November 2, 2022, Generac released third quarter earnings and lowered guidance on sales by its solar energy business for the remainder of the year by approximately 40%. The lowered guidance was attributed to "the loss of a major customer during the quarter, along with the specific warranty-related issue"-i.e., the defective SnapRS component, which led to Pink Energy's bankruptcy.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Generac are encouraged to confidentially assist Berger Montague's investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under this program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to thirty percent (30%) of recoveries obtained by the SEC. For more information, contact us.Berger Montague, with offices in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, and San Diego, has been a pioneer in securities class action litigation since its founding in 1970. Berger Montague has represented individual and institutional investors for over five decades and serves as lead counsel in courts throughout the United States.Contacts:Russell Paul, ShareholderBerger Montague(215) 875-4601rpaul@ bm.net Andrew Abramowitz, Senior CounselBerger Montague(215) 875-3015aabramowitz@ bm.net SOURCE: Berger Montague
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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Bambuser AB (STO:BUSER)(FRA:5JL) The shareholders of Bambuser AB, reg.no . 556731-3126, (the "Company") are hereby given notice of the annual general meeting on Thursday, 27 April 2023 at 05:00 p.m. at Advokatfirman Delphi at Master Samuelsgatan 17 in Stockholm, Sweden. Registration for the annual general meeting will commence at 04:30 p.m.Participation at the meetingShareholders who wish to participate at the meeting must:both be listed as shareholder in the presentation of the register of shareholders prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB concerning the circumstances on Wednesday, 19 April 2023, andno later than Friday, 21 April 2023 have notified their attendance to the Company.Notification shall be made in writing to the Company at the address Bambuser AB, "AGM", Regeringsgatan 55, SE-111 56 Stockholm, Sweden or via e-mail to generalmeeting@ bambuser.com . Notification of attendance must include name, personal or corporate identification number, number of shares, address, telephone number and information about deputies, proxies and advisors. The maximum number of advisors is two.Nominee registered sharesShareholders who have their shares registered in the name of a nominee must, in order to exercise their voting rights at the meeting, register their shares in their own name through the nominee, so that the shareholder is registered in the register of shareholders kept by Euroclear Sweden AB on the record date on Wednesday, 19 April 2023. Such registration may be temporary (so-called voting rights registration). Shareholders who wish to register shares in their own name must, in accordance with the procedures of the respective nominee, request the nominee to carry out such voting rights registration. Voting rights registrations requested by the shareholder in such time that the registration has been made by the nominee no later than Friday, 21 April 2023 will be taken into account in the presentation of the register of shareholders.ProxiesShareholders represented by proxy shall issue a power of attorney in writing, signed and dated by the shareholder, for the proxy. If issued by a legal entity, the power of attorney shall be accompanied by a certificate of registration, or if such document does not exist, other corresponding documents attesting to the authority of the signatory. In order to facilitate the entry to the general meeting a copy of the power of attorney form (with documents attesting the authority of the signatory) should be sent via e-mail to generalmeeting@ bambuser.com , together with the notice of attendance. The power of attorney may not be issued earlier than five years before the meeting. A power of attorney form is available at the Company and on the Company's website, https://ir.bambuser.com/corporate-governance/general-meeting , and will be sent to shareholders who so requests and provide their postal or e-mail address.Proposed agenda1. Opening of the meeting and election of the chairman of the meeting2. Preparation and approval of the voting list3. Approval of the agenda4. Election of one or two persons to check the minutes5. Determination of whether the meeting has been duly convened6. Submission of the annual report and auditor's report and consolidated accounts and the auditor's report on the consolidated accounts7. Resolution ona) adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet,b) allocation of the Company's result in accordance with the adopted balance sheet, andc) discharge from liability for members of the board of directors and the CEO8. Determination of the number of board members and auditors9. Determination of remuneration to the board of directors and the auditor10. Election of board members and chairman of the board11. Election of auditor12. Resolution on amendment of the terms and conditions under LTI 202213. Resolution on authorization for the board of directors to resolve on issue of shares, warrants and/or convertibles14. Closing of the meetingResolutions proposed by the nomination committeeThe nomination committee, consisting of the chairman of the nomination committee Tomas Meerits (representing Vitruvian Partners (Pyramid Holdco S.A.R.L)), Frank Larsson (representing Handelsbanken Fonder AB), Jrgen Madsen Lindemann (representing Brightfolk A/S) and Joel Citron (representing himself and TAH Core Master Fund) has presented the following proposals for resolutions in relation to item 1 and 8-11 of the above proposed agenda.Item 1 - Election of the chairman of the meetingThe nomination committee proposes that advokat Mats Dahlberg from Advokatfirman Delphi is elected as chairman of the meeting or, in his absence, the person appointed by the nomination committee.Item 8 - Determination of the number of board members and auditorsThe board currently consists of seven (7) ordinary members without deputies. The nomination committee proposes that the board of directors, for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, shall consist of seven (7) ordinary members without deputies.The company currently has one (1) registered auditing firm as auditor. The nomination committee proposes that the company shall have one (1) registered auditing firm as auditor for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting.Item 9 - Determination of remuneration to the board of directors and the auditorThe nomination committee proposes that the remuneration to the board of directors shall be paid with a total of SEK 750,000 to be distributed as follows: SEK 250,000 each to the board members Jrgen Madsen Lindemann, Sonia Gardner and Iris Epple-Righi.Remuneration for work in the audit committee shall be SEK 75,000 to the chairman and SEK 50,000 to each of the other members of the committee. Remuneration for work in the remuneration committee shall be SEK 50,000 to the chairman and SEK 25,000 to each of the other members of the committee.The nomination committee proposes that remuneration to the company's auditor shall be paid in accordance with approved invoice.Item 10 - Election of board members and chairman of the boardThe nomination committee proposes that the annual general meeting, for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, shall re-elect the board members Joel Citron, Carl Kinell, Sonia Gardner, Jrgen Madsen Lindemann, Niclas Lindlof and Mark Lotke and resolve on new election of Iris Epple-Righi. Mikael Ahlstrom has declined re-election. %
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 17:40:47

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The Global Radiofrequency Ablation Devices Market Report by Report Consultant is a meticulously undertaken study. Experts with proven credentials and a high standing within the research fraternity have presented an in-depth analysis of the subject matter, bringing to bear their unparalleled domain knowledge and vast research experience. They offer some penetrating insights into the complex world of Radiofrequency Ablation Devices Market Industry. Their sweeping overview, comprehensive analyses, precise definitions, clear classifications, and expert opinions on applications, make this report nothing short of brilliant in its presentation and style.Download a PDF Sample Copy of this Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=169532 Key Players Influencing the Radiofrequency Ablation Devices Market: Halyard Health, Inc., Stryker Corporation, St. Jude Medical, Inc., Medtronic PLC, Boston Scientific Corporation, C. R. Bard, Inc., AngioDynamics, Inc., Hologic, Inc., AtriCure, Inc., Johnson and JohnsonThe documented report aims to offer an organized and methodical strategy for important aspects that have affected the market in recent years and future market opportunities that companies can trust. It gives readers clear market research for better judgment and better decision making on whether or not to invest. The report provides an analysis and overview of the future dynamics with an in-depth analysis of the most important players that are likely to contribute to the growth of the global Radiofrequency Ablation Devices market during the forecast period.The market report also provides a correct assessment of the company strategies and business models that companies implement to stay in the market and lead. Some of the most important steps companies are taking are mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and collaborations to expand their regional and global reach. In addition, the players are also launching a new range of products to enrich their portfolio by using the latest technology and implementing them in their company.The report is updated with the impact of the currently unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has dynamically affected the key segments of the market and has changed the growth pattern and demands in the Radiofrequency Ablation Devices Market. The report covers extensive analysis of these changes and provides an accurate forecast estimation of the market growth after the impact of the pandemic.Radiofrequency Ablation Devices Market Segmentation:By Product TypeDevicesDisposablesBy ApplicationPain managementOncologyCardiologyThe report has classified the market into segments including product type, and application. Every segment is evaluated based on share and growth rate. Besides, the analysts have studied the potential regions that may prove rewarding for the manufacturers in the coming years. The regional analysis includes reliable predictions on value and volume, thereby helping market players to gain deep insights into the overall industry.Ask for Discount on this Premium Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=169532 The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides an overview and forecast of the global Radiofrequency Ablation Devices market based on the type and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2030 for overall Radiofrequency Ablation Devices market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America. The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers the analysis and forecast globally along with the current trends and opportunities prevailing in the region.Why the Radiofrequency Ablation Devices Market Report is Beneficial?The Radiofrequency Ablation Devices report is compiled with a thorough and dynamic research methodology.The report offers a complete picture of the competitive scenario of Radiofrequency Ablation Devices market.It comprises vast amount of information about the latest technology and product developments in the Radiofrequency Ablation Devices industry.The extensive range of analyses associates with the impact of these improvements on the future of Radiofrequency Ablation Devices industry growth.The Radiofrequency Ablation Devices report has combined the required essential historical data and analysis in the comprehensive research report.The insights in the Radiofrequency Ablation Devices report can be easily understood and contains a graphical representation of the figures in the form of bar graphs, statistics, and pie charts, etc.If You Have Any Query/Inquiry, Ask Our Expert: https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=169532 Major Highlights of the Report:All-inclusive evaluation of the parent market.Evolution of significant market aspects.Industry-wide investigation of market segments.Assessment of market value and volume in past, present, and forecast years.Evaluation of market share.Tactical approaches of market leaders.Lucrative strategies to help companies strengthen their position in the market.About us:Report Consultant  A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies. Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Contact Us:Company: Report ConsultantContact Name : Rebecca ParkerEmail Id: sales@ reportconsultant.com Phone: +1 970-200-2429Address: Play house plaza 640 East Colorada Boulverad,Pasadena,CA,91101Website: www.reportconsultant.com
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RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2023 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP( www.ktmc.com) informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been against Norfolk Southern Corporation ("Norfolk Southern") (NYSE:NSC). The action charges Norfolk Southern with violations of the federal securities laws, including omissions and fraudulent misrepresentations relating to the company's business, operations, and prospects. As a result of Norfolk Southern's materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Norfolk Southern's investors have suffered significant losses.CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR NORFOLK SOUTHERN LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/norfolk-southern-corporation?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=nsc&mktm=r CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO? PLEASE CLICK HERELEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE:MAY 15, 2023CLASS PERIOD: OCTOBER 28, 2020 THROUGH MARCH 3, 2023CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:Jonathan Naji, Esq. at (484) 270-1453 or via email at info@ ktmc.com Kessler Topaz is one of the world's foremost advocates in protecting the public against corporate fraud and other wrongdoing. Our securities fraud litigators are regularly recognized as leaders in the field individually and our firm is both feared and respected among the defense bar and the insurance bar. We are proud to have recovered billions of dollars for our clients and the classes of shareholders we represent.NORFOLK SOUTHERN'S ALLEGED MISCONDUCTFor several years leading up to the beginning of the Class Period, Norfolk Southern took a number of measures which put profits and executive compensation over safety. For example, in October 2018, Norfolk Southern adopted "Precision Scheduled Railroading" or "PSR" which was purportedly aimed at producing better service at a lower cost. In actuality, the company sought to increase revenues by cutting operating costs including reducing staff, running fewer, heavier, faster trains and optimizing the company's networks in order to increase efficiency. Norfolk Southern also began tying executive compensation to achieving PSR goals. For example, in 2021, multiple Norfolk Southern executives received millions of dollars in cash bonuses for reducing costs by achieving "record performance for train length and weight." Industry critics have warned that this type of compensation system incentivizes executives to cut costs at the expense of safety and also leads to longer and more dangerous trains which "have greater damage done, greater, larger pileups, fires and so on." At the same time, Norfolk Southern and its lobbyists played a key role in defeating an Obama-era safety rule that was used following a number of oil train accidents, including the "ECP Brake Rule" which was ultimately repealed in 2018.On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern Railway Company general merchandise freight train derailed 38 railcars in East Palestine, Ohio, leaving behind what the Associated Press called "a mangled and charred mass of boxcars and flames." The derailed equipment included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited, fueling fires that damaged an additional 12 non-derailed railcars.On February 6, 2023, responders engaged in a controlled detonation and burn of the vinyl chloride, spewing massive volumes of chemicals into the vicinity. The chemicals released from the derailment entered the air and water of the surrounding residential areas, the closest of which were only 1,000 feet from the site of the accident. Following this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock fell on February 6, 2023 - down $5.66 per share from its closing price on Friday, February 3, 2023.Then, on February 8, 2023, after lifting a previously issued evacuation order, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated that Norfolk Southern was "the one[] who created the problem. It's their liability. They're the ones who ought to pay for it." Following their return, numerous residents reported hazardous air quality and other health and environmental concerns. Following this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock fell on February 9, 2023, closing at $238.98 per share - down $7.64 per share from its closing price of $246.62 per share on February 8, 2023.Thereafter, Norfolk Southern's stock price continued to drop in response to several other reports and public officials who spoke out about Norfolk Southern's liability for all of the harm and damage it had caused.On March 4, 2023, another Norfolk Southern freight train derailed near Springfield, Ohio. Two days later, on March 6, 2023, Norfolk Southern announced a 6-part plan to improve operational safety. Following this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock fell again on March 6 and March 7, 2023, closing at $215.18 per share - down $13.21 per share from its closing price of $228.39 on Friday, March 3, 2023.WHAT CAN I DO?Norfolk Southern investors may, no later than May 15, 2023, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff for the class, through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPor other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPencourages Norfolk Southern investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information. The class action complaint against Norfolk Southern, captioned Bucks County Employees Retirement System v. Norfolk Southern Corporation, et al. and docketed under 23-cv-0982, is filed in the United States District Court for Southern District of Ohio (Eastern Division) before the Honorable Michael H. Watson.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASEWHO 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, LLPKessler 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
PR-Inside.com: 2023-03-27 17:36:21

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The recent report titled as Global Spinal Cord Stimulation Market published by Report Consultant is a focused study encompassing the market segmentation primarily based on type and application. The report investigates the key drivers leading to the growth of the Spinal Cord Stimulation market during the forecast period and analyzes the factors that may hinder the market growth in the future. Besides, the report highlights the potential opportunities for the market players and future trends of the market by a logical and calculative study of the past and current market scenario. An in-depth study of these numerous components is essential as all these aspects need to blend-in seamlessly for businesses to achieve success in this industry.Major Market Players Profiled in the Spinal Cord Stimulation Market Report include: BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION, MEDTRONIC PLC, NEVRO CORP., ST. JUDE MEDICAL, GREATBATCH, STIMWAVEGet a Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of this Report at: https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=169530 The Spinal Cord Stimulation Market report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions and classifications. The market analysis is provided for the international markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis and key regions development status. The study gives an intricate examination of its applications including a detailed cost evaluation analysis of products that are available in the worldwide market with regards to existing manufacturer profit margins. It helps figure out the primary driving forces of the market in significant end-use organizations around the world. It likewise constitutes a broad investigation of the restraints on the market, business sector structure and the business pattern of the Spinal Cord Stimulation market. Meetings and interviews with the leading market participants have been used in order to present primary information regarding the market.Trusted current state analysis tools, such as Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis are employed in the report to assess the Spinal Cord Stimulation market data to deploy a complete overview of the market. Furthermore, this report gives a complete review of the magnitude and application scope of the market around the world. A detailed overview of the purchasing criteria and difficulties confronted in the Spinal Cord Stimulation business sector is also elaborated in this report.Ask for Discount on this Premium Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=169530 Market Segmentation:By Product TypeDegenerative Disk Disease (DDD)Failed Back Syndrome (FBS)Multiple Back OperationsUnsuccessful Disk SurgeryComplex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)Arachnoiditis or Lumbar Adhesive ArachnoiditisBy ApplicationHospitalsAmbulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs)Geographic Coverage:The report on the Spinal Cord Stimulation market provides a detailed country-level cross-sectional analysis across various regions around the globe. The report contains detailed market size and forecast for 5 geographic regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa.Reasons to buy this Report:Our reports have been examined by professional experts of the industry, which makes them beneficial for the company to maximize their return on investment.The analysis acknowledges that the sector players & key drivers of both conflicts and growth assess the impact of limitations as well as the opportunities on the sector.Data regarding the industry share by every item fragment, alongside their reasonable worth, have been served in the report.We provide statistic information, strategic and analysis tool results to provide a sophisticated landscape and target key market players. This will help the company to increase its efficiency.Our report helps readers decipher the current and future constraints of the market and optimal business strategies to enhance market development.Enquiry Before Buying this Premium Report: https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=169530 Questions Answered in this Report:Which regions will continue to remain the most profitable regional markets for Spinal Cord Stimulation market players?Which factors will induce a change in the demand for Spinal Cord Stimulation during the assessment period?How will changing trends impact the Spinal Cord Stimulation market?How can market players capture the low-hanging opportunities in the Spinal Cord Stimulation market in developed regions?Which companies are leading the Spinal Cord Stimulation market?What are the winning strategies of stakeholders in the Spinal Cord Stimulation market to upscale their position in this landscape?About us:Report Consultant  A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies. Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Contact Us:Company: Report ConsultantContact Name : Rebecca ParkerEmail Id: sales@ reportconsultant.com Phone: +1 970-200-2429Address: Play house plaza 640 East Colorada Boulverad,Pasadena,CA,91101Website: www.reportconsultant.com
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NASHVILLE, TN / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / With the future of manufacturing focused on Robotics, Autonomous & Electric Mobility, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Factory of the Future thousands of manufacturing professionals and engineers will attend the 1st Annual ASSEMBLY Show South taking place next week at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN. The trade show and conference, produced by BNP Media's ASSEMBLY Magazine, will take place Tuesday, April 4 to Thursday, April 6, 2023. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with hundreds of exhibiting companies, attend dozens of educational sessions on the show floor, interactive workshops and network at several special events. To register, click here."We look forward to bringing hundreds of vendors to the booming Southeast manufacturing industry region to meet with thousands of manufacturing professionals next week in Nashville. The event will offer attendees access to the newest technologies, products and services in an expansive exhibit hall and access to dozens of educational sessions and workshops," said Bill DeYoe, Publisher, ASSEMBLY Magazine, producers of the event. "We thank the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry/Tennessee Automotive Manufacturers Association (TAMA) as well as the Nashville Chamber of Commerce for supporting our event which is focused exclusively on assembly. Manufacturing professionals in the region will have a chance to interact with the latest equipment and technology and increase their knowledge on assembly technology from leading subject matter experts." Highlights of the event, include:Keynote Presentation: Kenneth Engel, Senior Vice president of Global Supply Chain, North America, Schneider Electric will explore supply chain resilience and risk management strategies in the wake of numerous shortages plaguing manufacturers during his keynote presentation on Rethinking the Supply Chain.The keynote will take place on Wednesday, April 5 at 9:00 am.Pre Conference Workshops: On Tuesday, April 4th four pre-conference workshops will be offered in partnership with the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services; Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA); and the editorial staff of ASSEMBLY Magazine. Topics include A Lean Journey to I4.0; Reliability in Electronics: Encapsulation Techniques & Low-Pressure Molding; Automated Assembly: Custom Systems, Cobots, Parts Feeding, Industry 4.0 & More; and Vehicle Electrification and US Manufacturing: Building The EV While We Drive it. For more information about the workshops and to register, click here. There will be a welcome reception following the workshops, giving attendees a chance to network with the vendors the night before the trade show floor opens.Exhibit Hall: The sold-out trade show floor, which will be open on Wednesday, April 5 and Thursday, April 6 and will feature 150+ leading vendors with working machinery and live demonstrations for attendees to interact with, including Gold Sponsor Promess; Silver Sponsors https://pr.report/FPsUSL9QDesoutter Industrial Tools and Bosch Rexroth; and Bronze Sponsors Schmidt Technology, Tutelar Technologies, and Weiss North America. These companies will feature emerging trends and technologies related to assembly equipment and products including solutions for autonomous & electric mobility, robotics, automated assembly, fastening tools, pressing & riveting, and Industry 4.0. For access to the floor plan, click hereLearning Theater Presentations: On the show floor on Wednesday, April 5 and Thursday April 6, the Learning Theater will feature multiple presentations offering a unique opportunity for attendees to dive deep into important topics such as automated assembly, industry 4.0, robotic precision and much more. On Thursday, the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services will offer a free half day showcase on Collaborative Robots Technology. Subject matter experts from Epson Robots, Bosch Rexroth Corp, JR Automation, Rhino Tool House, Starline and the Manufacturers' Agents National Association (MANA) will educate manufacturing professionals.Valuable Networking Opportunities: The opening night Welcome Reception will take place on Tuesday, April 4 from 4:30 - 6:00 pm. On Wednesday, April 5 there will be a Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall from 4:30 - 6:30 pm. Plus, on Thursday, April 6 from 9:00 - 10:00am the Best in Show Award winners will be announced at the Morning Mingle & Breakfast right on the show floor.Best in Show Awards. More than 150 exhibitors will display the latest manufacturing products and services including fasteners, power tools, adhesives, dispensing equipment, conveyors, robots, software and, of course, automated assembly systems. The editors of ASSEMBLY Magazine have chosen ten innovative assembly line products for the event's "Best in Show" contest. Attendees will be invited to vote for the best product throughout exhibit hall hours on Wednesday, April 5. The winners will be announced on Thursday, April 6, at 9:30 a.m.For access to the list of attending companies, click here and to register, click here. To see who is exhibiting, click here to access the 2023 floor plan and view a full exhibitor list. The ASSEMBLY Show South taking place on April 4-6, 2023 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN and The ASSEMBLY Show taking place on October 24-26, 2023 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL are sponsored by ASSEMBLY ( www.assemblymag.com) the leading brand covering the processes, technologies, and strategies for assembling discrete parts into finished products. ASSEMBLY offers an integrated portfolio of products including the industry's leading trade show. The trade show and conference are produced by BNP Media, one of the country's leading business-to-business media companies serving industry professionals across 60+ industries through magazines, custom media, e-newsletters, webinars, events, and market research. For more information, visit www.bnpmedia.com # # #For Further Information, Contact:Amy Riemer, Media Relations Representative978-502-4895 (cell)amy@ riemercommunications.com SOURCE: Assembly Show South
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Did you lose money on investments in Tupperware Brands? If so, please visit Tupperware Brands Corporation Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@ bernlieb.com to discuss your rights.NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Bernstein Liebhard LLP announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the securities of Tupperware Brands Corporation ("Tupperware" or the "Company") (NYSE:TUP) between March 10, 2021 and March 16, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida and alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.Tupperware purports to be a leading global consumer products company that designs innovative, functional, and environmentally responsible products. Worldwide, the Company purports to engage in the marketing, manufacture, and sale of design-centric preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home through the Tupperware brand name. The Company primarily uses a direct selling business model to distribute and market products.Plaintiff alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants allegedly made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Tupperware did not disclose its serious issues with internal controls; (2) Tupperware's financial statements, from its 2020 Annual Report to the present, included misstatements, particularly relating to the Company's accounting for income taxes; and (3) as a result, Tupperware would need to restate its previously filed financial statements for certain periods.On March 1, 2023, before the market opened, the Company announced that it had identified misstatements in prior annual and unaudited interim periods, including misstatements related to the Company's historical accounting for income taxes.On this news, Tupperware's stock fell 14.88% to close at $3.49 per share on March 1, 2023.Then, on March 16, 2023, after the market closed, the Company filed with the SEC a Late Filing Notice on Form NT 10-K, reporting that it was unable to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.On this news, the price of Tupperware's stock declined by $0.19 cents a share, or 7.7%, to close at $2.27 per share on March 17, 2023.If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 19, 2023. 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 doesn't 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 Tupperware securities, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit Tupperware Brands Corporation Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact 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 Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years.ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2023 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 AlloccoBernstein Liebhard LLP(212) 951-2030pallocco@ bernlieb.com SOURCE: Bernstein Liebhard LLP745789
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Funding will help company scale micropixel printing solutions in Waterloo RegionWATERLOO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / In a joint announcement today, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and InvestOntario awarded VueReal Inc. CAD$10.5M in government support to scale its micropixel fabrication and printing solutions.With this funding, the federal and provincial governments are seizing an opportunity to support a $40-million project that will create 75 additional full-time permanent jobs in Waterloo Region, Ontario. By the end of the project VueReal expects to employ 105 employees in Waterloo Region.VueReal has developed a new manufacturing solution for semiconductor applications. The cutting-edge technology allows for more environmentally friendly manufacturing of displays and sensors, while significantly lowering power consumption in electronic systems. Not only that, but VueReal's solutions enable futuristic applications that will revolutionize industries such as healthcare, autonomy, automotive, and more.The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said, "We congratulate all the cleantech entrepreneurs, including VueReal, who are turning vision into reality with help from SDTC investments. The Government of Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with these groundbreaking companies as they drive innovation, make their mark as international leaders in clean technology and propel us onward to a cleaner Canada and a net-zero carbon emissions world." The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Member of Parliament for Waterloo said, "The Government of Canada is proud to support innovative clean technology companies, like VueReal, that are working to transform our world and solve some of our most pressing challenges. When we invest in clean technology, we are investing in a stronger economy and a more sustainable future. Congratulations to the team at VueReal on receiving this support today." Leah Lawrence, President and CEO, Sustainable Development Technology Canada said, "Anyone who has used a smartphone outside on a sunny day will appreciate the innovation that VueReal is creating. Their microLED technology will not only make screens brighter but will use less energy and create less waste in their production process. SDTC is proud to support VueReal as they develop prototypes for use in automotive display panels and beyond." The Honourable Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade said, "VueReal's investment is a vote of confidence in Ontario's world-class workforce and advanced manufacturing sector. We're building Ontario by working closely with companies like VueReal to create more opportunities for workers today and for generations to come. Thank you VueReal for choosing Ontario." "Invest Ontario is proud to support a homegrown Canadian company that has innovated world-class microLED technology right here in Waterloo, Ontario," said Trevor Dauphinee, CEO of Invest Ontario. "Our focus is to strengthen the manufacturing supply chain and accelerate financial supports to companies like VueReal that can drive rapid growth and compete in a hyper-competitive market." Dr. Reza Chaji, CEO of VueReal, said, "Canada's great universities, including the University of Waterloo, combined with government research funds, make Waterloo Region a prime location for developing cutting-edge and sustainable technologies. VueReal has leveraged this ecosystem to develop its microSolid printing technologies, which enable the creation of smart surfaces for next-generation displays and sensor applications." Moreover, Chaji said, "This collaboration between VueReal, SDTC, and Invest Ontario on a project worth approximately 40 million CAD highlights the potential to scale these technologies into full-scale production in the Waterloo Region and Ontario. These innovative technologies have a significant role in generating employment opportunities in today's modern economy and hold strategic importance for multiple industries, such as consumer electronics, healthcare, medical, security, automotive, aerospace, and more. We are proud to produce these advanced technologies and products in Waterloo, ON." About VueRealVueReal, a semiconductor and cleantech company, has developed microSolid Printing platform, enabling the efficient, practical, and scalable production microLED/microSensor applications. This platform extends the use of microLED/microSensors to automotive, aerospace, smartwatch, smartphone, TV, IT, medical, and more. VueReal has established strong partnerships with leading industry players to commercialize its solutions.VueReal also offers customized display manufacturing services for niche and mainstream markets, leveraging its state-of-the-art facilities and multidisciplinary research team. VueReal has used its platform to develop and commercialize microLED displays for different applications in North America.About SDTCSustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) helps Canadian companies develop and deploy competitive, clean technology solutions, to help solve some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges: climate change, clean air, clean water and clean soil. By taking a cross-Canada approach, from seed to scale, and in partnership with the best peers and experts, SDTC is the global benchmark for sustainable development innovation programming.About Invest OntarioInvest Ontario is a board-led provincial agency mandated to attract and secure business investments that create jobs, generate returns to the province and support the sustainable growth and competitiveness of Ontario's life sciences, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.Contact InformationReza ChajiCEOinfo@ vuereal.com SOURCE: VueReal Inc.
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Yieldstreet acknowledges that there are a number of different ways to define the term "hot" when discussing real estate markets. It usually refers to demand so high that buyers are offering thousands of dollars over asking prices just to get their feet in doors. However, this could be problematic for real estate investment, as opportunities to acquire desirable properties at reasonable prices are few. For this list of the five hottest US real estate markets in 2023, Yieldstreet has focused on the fundamentals - healthy demand, adequate supply and reasonable prices.Raleigh, North Carolina: Three major medical centers, low unemployment rates, and the largest research park in the United States contribute generously to the city's thriving economy and job market. While the cost of living is slightly above the national average, Raleigh remains more affordable than most cities in the nation. Home values are appreciating, which bodes well for investors looking to build equity and rental incomes.Durham, North Carolina: One of the fastest growing cities in the United States, Durham's well-educated populace makes it an attractive market for real estate investment. Duke University attracts throngs of students in need of housing each year. Durham also hosts an abundance of healthcare related companies whose combined annual payrolls average $1.5B. Even better, the city's cost of living is roughly 23% below the national average.Denver, Colorado: The relatively low unemployment rate, owing to its sizable aerospace and biotech sectors make Denver attractive to young people seeking stable careers. In fact, the city's employment to population ratio is among the highest in the country. Salaries are good, the cost of living is reasonable, and properties are reasonably priced. A magnet for millennials, Denver is also experiencing strong population growth.Phoenix, Arizona: With a cost of living slightly more affordable than the national average, Phoenix hosts the headquarters of four Fortune 500 companies. The city has also positioned itself to be especially attractive to entrepreneurs and startups with its Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation. The unemployment rate in Phoenix is also lower than the national average, with plenty of opportunities in finance and insurance.Colorado Springs, Colorado: Affordable home prices with an easy commute to Denver is why investors should consider Colorado Springs. The state's second largest city routinely ranks among the places in the U.S with the cleanest air and the finest school systems. A hub for outdoor recreation, the city is also attractive to tourists. Additionally, Colorado Springs hosts several military installations, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, which presents many opportunities for investors monitoring the alternative investment trend of real estate.About YieldstreetYieldstreet, a leading private market investing platform, helps investors diversify their portfolios with clarity and confidence. Investors gain access to curated and highly-vetted opportunities across 10 alternative asset classes including real estate, private credit, art, legal finance, private equity, and more.Contact InformationSeba KoshyAccount Managerseba@ mashmarketing.digital SOURCE: Yieldstreet
Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Billionaire businessman and the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group, Tony Elumelu, clocked 60 last week and celebrated the milestone with entrepreneurs making an impact in communities across Africa.

As part of activities held to celebrate him, a symposium was held in the Tony Elumelu Amphitheatre, UBA House, Marina, Lagos. Dubbed 60 for 60, the event had friends, family members as well as 60 beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.

The entrepreneurs acknowledged the impacts of the TEF funding on their businesses and projects, noting that the support enabled them to expand, create additional direct and indirect jobs, and impact lives for the growth of communities across Africa.

The event also had present and past executives of UBA and Heirs Holdings, Mr Elumelus family-owned investment company committed to improving lives and transforming Africa through long-term investments.

Lynda Kimeu, a Kenya entrepreneur, spoke about her Dial a Pad project and how the Elumelu Foundation helped to breathe life into the idea with capital and other logistics support.

We had nothing until we got funding from Tony Elumelu foundation, she said.

The entrepreneur explained that the project, which had earlier impacted about 35,000 people, received additional funding support and now touch the lives of about 105,000 people.

In his remarks, Sadiq Badamosi from Benin Republic explained that his company, So Clean, has improved sales through the $5,000 funding he received from the Tony Elumelu Foundation programme. Mr Badamosi, who explained that he got into the TEF programme after several attempts, explained how the funding support and networking opportunities gained from the TEF programme has impacted his dry cleaning business in Benin Republic. At the end of his presentation, the entrepreneur also presented another proposal for possible collaboration with the foundation.

In her goodwill message, Ama Harris, a TEF Alumnae from Liberia, explained how she has been able to provide education for underserved communities with the support of the TEF initiative.

With the funding from TEF, we were able to digitalise education in Liberia and trained over 5000 children, employed over 20 teachers, she said.

Today is your birthday, and out of curiosity, we have come to see the man who parts with his hard earned hundreds of millions to support us without asking for anything in return, not even our votes.

On his part, Seun Adekunle said Mr Elumelu has succeeded in creating shared values and impact lives across the continent and beyond. This, he noted, is evident in the deluge of tributes and congratulatory messages he received from leaders around the world.

Mr Elumelu was joined at the event by his wife, Awele, and one of their daughters, Oge, who both spoke glowingly about the businessmans love and support for his family.

Mrs Elumelu noted that the UBA chair always wanted to celebrate his birthday with those closest to him, the entrepreneurs impacting African communities and creating opportunities. She expressed gratitude to past executives of UBA, adding that the symposium was a perfect way to celebrate his birthday.

Mr Eluemelus daughter, Oge, described him as an amazing man, noting that she is excited about the entrepreneurial success stories of beneficiaries of the TEF initiative.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation was launched in 2010 while TEF Entrepreneurship Programme was launched in 2015. The foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to 18,000 young African women and men who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Mr Elumelu is regarded as one of Africas leading investors and philanthropists. He is founder and chairman of Heirs Holdings, and also the chairman of UBA, which operates in 20 countries across Africa, United Kingdom, France, UAE and United States.

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Reader survey As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Click here to take it.

Nigeria has missed some opportunities in its business and economic policies but a rethink could salvage the country, the outgoing US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, says.

She noted that a rethink was important to attract more investors, both domestic and foreign into the country.

There is huge interest from American companies in Nigeria, a very robust American business chamber but all investors, whether they are Nigerians operating in this environment or foreigners looking for engagement, seek stability and predictability; that ease with which one can move money in and out, these are all factors that colour the business environment in Nigeria and I think that there is some work to be done to make it more attractive, Ms Leonard said in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES.

She further cited the fuel subsidy which she described as ruinously expensive, noting that those funds could have alternate uses in things like health, education and infrastructure.

In the interview, Ms Leonard also spoke about her time as ambassador to Nigeria, the culture and the 2023 elections. The interview was limited to questions about Nigeria-US relations.

Excerpts

PT: Is the US walking back on the statement made by the State Department and comments made in your op-ed that the 2023 elections did not meet the expectations of Nigerians

Ms Leonard: Actually, I think that both of those expressions are complementary. You know there were clearly some technical and logistical challenges from INEC and that disappointed people and we totally understand those frustrations.

That said, there was a process that occurred and some people are unhappy about that result, some people are celebrating that result. But at the end of the day, there are well-established legal channels through which to bring those concerns and we are very pleased that both Mr Obi and Mr Atiku have committed themselves to that and also that the president-elect has welcomed their right to do so.

Yes, there were some disappointments in some of the elements of execution and we understand that that caused frustrations but still there is a process moving forward and we look forward to watching Nigerians engage in it.

PT: One addition to that question will be the comment made by a US senator asking the US president not to be too fast in congratulating a flawed process

Ms Leonard: I cannot speak for the senator in that vein. However, you know there is a well-established process here for going through challenges that people may wish to pose and we certainly encourage all Nigerians to take full advantage of those.

PT: Last October, you raised an alarm on insecurity and an impending terrorist attack here in Nigeria, especially in the FCT. The Nigerian government at the time was on the opposite side and questions were raised on if there were no intelligence sharing between both governments. I would like you to help Nigerians understand what happened there.

Ms Leonard: Absolutely. Well, first of all, the United States government just does not make announcements in a vacuum. We have an enduring relationship and an ongoing relationship with the government of Nigeria that includes security cooperation, which is quite robust, and that cooperation also includes raising shared concerns together.

I would say that, actually, there are a couple of pretty public statements by Nigerian government officials about steps that they were taking to address concerns about security in Abuja and I think we really have to congratulate Nigerias various security services for really stepping up attention to keep Abuja safe and we are always going to be a committed partner in that regard. And you have seen that we were able actually to bring all of our families back because we believe quite strongly that there is indeed safety and security in Abuja.

PT: You are categorically saying intelligence was shared?

Ms Leonard: Obviously I am not going to get into the discussions of private conversations with the government of Nigeria but yes, we are partners and we speak about many things.

PT: You are very much aware of the Japa syndrome in Nigeria which characterises young Nigerians, especially, leaving the country in their numbers in search of greener pastures. I conducted a survey last year which showed that the US is in the top three destinations for young Nigerian young people. How does this fit into the narrative of helping Nigeria develop itself and also making sure that migration is not a result of a lack of development thereof?

Ms Leonard: You know we are in a global and interconnected world. For one thing, it is actually a point of pride for the United States that many Nigerians seek to study in the US. I think that they are the largest source of students from Africa and the 10th largest foreign student presence in the United States and I think thats a really great thing.

Here at the embassy, our job is about making connections between Nigerians and Americans and many of these connections are regardless of venue, if you will. We try to bring together the various business communities to figure out shared opportunities. We do a lot of very deliberate work for cross-pollination in the creative sectors things like filmmaker education and working hard to have Nigerian and US educational institutions cross-pollinate. You know we have Fulbright scholars who come and study here. We work hard to think about trade between the two. So we focus on bringing the US and Nigeria together, regardless of venue. Obviously, neither we nor the government of Nigeria control the decisions of individual Nigerians.

I would say that there are in fact some US exchange programmes that very explicitly have a component of requiring a return to Nigeria. For example, until you have been back in your home country for a certain period of time, you are ineligible for another US visa. I think that from my perspective I would celebrate the sort of intellectual collaboration that comes from travels between the two countries.

The Nigerian diaspora in the United States is a very vibrant and well-educated community and that has probably advantages as well as disadvantages. I think it is one of the most heartening things I see when I see young US-educated Nigerians who are here doing fabulous stuff in technology and in the creative sector and I think it is a question of people recognising that there are opportunities in bringing the two countries together.

PT: How can Nigeria and the US better partner to see that what the vibrant Nigerian community is doing in the US is replicated here in Nigeria?

Ms Leonard: I think that there are a lot of people who self-consciously reach out to to get to the diaspora populations and I think that that is something that I have heard several of the candidates speak about  about drawing on the talent that is in the United States as they craft a new administration and I think that that is a wonderful avenue for doing so.

PT: You spoke about creating a conducive environment which brings me to the question of trade. The trade numbers I dare to say can be better between both countries. How do we make those figures better?

Ms Leonard: I would say that I think it is very true that Nigeria has perhaps missed some opportunities in its own business environment and its economic policies that maybe could use a rethink. For example, you know domestically the huge amount of money that is spent on the fuel subsidy is ruinously expensive and those are funds that could be having alternate uses in things like health and education and infrastructure.

Also, if you decide that you want to diversify your economy and diversify agriculture, that is great. But sometimes if it comes in the form of import bans, that has the unintended effect of raising food prices for consumers. I think that in a new administration, it is a good moment to sort of look at what Nigeria is doing and think about what helps or hinders private sector growth.

There is huge interest from American companies in Nigeria, a very robust American business chamber. But all investors, whether they are Nigerians operating in this environment or foreigners looking for engagement, seek stability and predictability; that ease with which one can move money in and out. These are all factors that colour the business environment in Nigeria and I think that there is some work to be done to make it more attractive.

It (Nigeria) is inherently attractive because of just the size of the market. I mean no one wants to be outside of Nigeria because it is just too tempting a place but I think that it could be made easier for people.

PT: Two questions that are quite similar; how would you describe the US-Nigeria relation and how can we improve that relationship?

Ms Leonard: Well, a 60-year relationship, whether it is government to government or people to people, we are always looking for ways to develop it further and make it better.

To think about how we make it better, it is a question of looking at where we intervene and then what is the next step that we need to do. You know that we are really big here on PEPFAR, the presidents programme for aid relief, and we have put something like 1.7 million people on treatment. We have invested billions of dollars and now the step ahead is since we are very close to epidemic control, how do we go about finding those last people? What is the strategy that you need to find the people that you have not already managed to come across? That is a big thing there.

We of course spent over $140 million on COVID, both contact testing and tracing in the early days, and helping to support the provision of 100 million vaccines over the last year in Nigeria. Its a great accomplishment but the next step is how do we make it better. How do we take these activities in HIV and in COVID and figure out how to make them a better part or a more predictable part of the core of health systems and health systems delivery? It is a really important point. Last year we gave $350 million of humanitarian assistance in the northeast and northwest, in areas of health and sanitation, food and shelter. So that is great but then, how do we transform that into a sustainable future for everyone? That is something that is worthy of reflection.

Think about cultural preservation  the Smithsonian and a couple of other institutions just sent back 29 bronzes and it is wonderful to have them home. Now we need to collaborate. How should those be curated? How can they be used as a mechanism to bring museums and citizens and artists together to examine a wonderful cultural heritage?

The students, as you mentioned, OK! Great. I told you I am proud that they are the largest source of students in the United States from Africa. But I would say a new step forward that many people would appreciate is continued efforts by us on how to reduce those wait times for visa interviews.

Security cooperation, wonderful. We have a robust partnership, including for example the recent sale of the A29 Super Tucanos. And so, as we move forward and think about other platforms, how do we reinforce effectiveness and precision and make sure that citizens are kept safe?

Nigeria at the African Leaders Summit signed the Artemis Accords, which is all about space. So moving forward, how do we organise responsible civilian space exploration?

Climate crisis, the United States government gave funding in response to the flooding, both for shelter and emergency assistance. So moving forward, how do we figure out how to balance climate concerns and address them with the importance of Nigerians own power needs, access to electricity, for example?

So my time is coming to a close here but on all of these things, I will be watching to see how that evolution continues.

PT: Describe the relationship between the US and Nigeria. A lot of people say it is like the hand-me-down shop kind of relationship. I would like you to perhaps use five words to describe the relationship.

Ms Leonard: I would say that it is robust; it is entrepreneurial Can I use phrases? It always seeks to improve itself, it goes to the core needs of Nigerias population and areas of mutual interest. I think it is in terrific shape. But as I just outlined at great length, there are always ways that we can make it better.

I think at the African Leaders Summit, you saw that President Buhari was one of the few presidents who participated in a one-to-one meeting and there has been a steady parade of US high-ranking officials coming to Nigeria; we had Secretary Blinken here, both virtually at the end of the pandemic and then in person in November 2021, the people from the Power Africa, our special envoy for climate change John Kerry, all have visited here. It is a relationship that is marked by great opportunity and I think that we are very busy working to meet that opportunity, to meet the promise, if you will, of the African Leaders Summit, to engage as steadfast and reliable and proactive partners.

PT: Let us get more personal and talk about you in Nigeria. Before arriving in Nigeria, I am sure you have heard a couple of stories about what Nigeria looks like and this is not peculiar to Nigeria. Africa has a lot of stories that may be true and untrue and you definitely have had your own share of it. What was it for you before arriving?

Ms Leonard: Actually, this is kind of a fun story. So the first time I came to Nigeria was when I was a first tour junior officer next door in Cameroon and I came to Lagos and frankly, I felt like a country bumpkin in the big city, Because here is this amazing metropolis. and then it took a while for me to come back again. I came back as West Africa director in 2011, just before the elections and Abuja was still a new and sort of artificial capital and I was like, Oh my goodness! And I came back then again when I was Ambassador to the African Union for a conference in Lagos on the African continental free trade area. And so, it just was a reminder of the centrality of Nigeria in any big international continental decision.

While I was here for that, this is the fun part of this story, I was at a reception at the Consul Generals residence, which of course in the day was the ambassadors residence, as it was when I came from Cameroon in 1989 maybe. It was the first place that I ever went to a reception in an ambassadors residence and I was terrified. You know, what do I do? What is next? What is my role? And so when I went to a reception during the AfCFTA conference at the residence, at some point the consul-general was getting around to introduce me. When they got to formal remarks, I was nowhere to be found because I had gone outside on the patio to take a phone call from the head of personnel at the State Department asking if I would agree to be put forward as ambassador to Nigeria.

So the place where I was as a terrified junior officer in 1989 was the same place where I learned that I was going to become ambassador to Nigeria. The rest of the evening was quite difficult because, of course, between being told that you are the candidate and becoming the ambassador is a very long road. And so there were all these fabulous Nigerian and American business people inside at this reception and I could tell none of them my stunning news but it all came to fruition and I actually got to tell that story to that group of people.

PT: You must have heard negative stories too around Nigeria before you chose to visit.

Ms Leonard: You can say negative things about every place. But when I came here I see that Nigeria has grown over these years and Nigeria addresses a lot of challenges. But the thing that does not change about Nigeria is its just warm and welcoming and vibrant people. It is totally a constant across all my visits and my various interactions with this country.

PT: End of posting, end of tour. We would like to know what you have enjoyed most through your stay here.

Ms Leonard: It is so hard to pick. Well, you know you do not want to forget the fabulous culture, listening to Asa and unforgettably at a pre-Headies concert that we had at the residence in Lagos, and getting hauled up on the stage by John Doe to dance in the middle of the concert, so much that I actually went to Atlanta for the Headies.

Great food. You know everybody loves their Suya and their jollof rice. And I am a big fan of pepper soup; I really like a lot of spice so I will bring that with me. Fashion; I have not done it today but I have always enjoyed adding some Ankara or Adire fabrics to my professional wardrobe.

Art: at my residence, I have a wonderful collection of works by African-American and Nigerian-American and Nigerian artists. And I am going home with some Nigerian arts, two from Nikki Davies, Victor Ekpuk, Osi Audu, so my permanent residence in the United States will be well adorned by the highlights of African arts.

PT: If you were asked to give an appraisal of the Nigerian state, what would be your assessment?

Ms Leonard: As I said, I think it is a place that has perhaps missed some economic opportunities in the way it has organised itself. But it is also a source of inspiration and encouragement that you realise that there are solutions to these problems.

I think also less looking at the Nigerian state, what I like people to take away from the events of the last few weeks is that despite all the disappointments and frustrations, something very special happened in these elections. You know it was not only about two parties or somebody is really gonna win. Nobodys outcome was assured, 20 states flipped parties. It was not a given that governors got their Senate seats and so people showed that they are willing to look for alternatives. And the people who aspire to lead this country need to hear that call that people would like to see options, people would like to see their government doing its best to support them and I hope that Nigerians take that hopefulness along with some of the disappointment and frustrations that they have experienced in recent weeks.

PT: We hope you come back to visit Nigeria.

Ms Leonard: I bet you I will. I will tell you that it was not the only reason I specialised in African Studies but a big part is that I come from a very cold place and I do not like the winter. so I think you will see me back in Africa again before you know it. Probably between the months of December and March in particular.

Editors note: Questions asked in this interview were limited to US-Nigeria relations as Mary Beth Leonard, US ambassador to Nigeria, marks the end of her posting/tour.

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The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has issued an order attaching funds standing to the credit of Oyo State Government and its agencies in four banks.

The order of attachment implies that the government will not be able to withdraw money from the accounts if the withdrawal will reduce the balance in them to an amount below the N3.4 billion attached by the court.

The judge, A. O. Ebong, issued in a ruling on a motion ex-parte for garnishee order nisi filed by the illegally sacked ex-chairmen and ex-councillors of the local government areas of the state. The applicants are led by Bashorun Majeed, Bosun Ajuwon and Idris Okusesi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected banks are First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank and Zenith Bank.

Mr Ebong ordered the banks to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute.

The ruling on the motion marked: FCT/HC/BW/M/238/2023, was delivered by the judge on 2 March but NAN only saw a certified true copy (CTC) or the order on Sunday in Abuja.

The funds, according to court filings, are to settle the outstanding balance of N3.4 billion from the judgment debt owed the former local government chairmen and councillors sacked on 29 May 2019 before the end of their tenure by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.

The garnishee proceeding, initiated for the chairmen and councillors by their lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is in execution of a judgement they got against the governor and six others from the Supreme Court on 7 May 2021.

The ruling reads: A garnishee order nisi is hereby granted to attach the judgment debtors accounts with garnishees Nos. 1 to 4 in the motion ex-parte, for the purpose of settling the judgment debt outstanding in the sum of N3,374,889,425.60 as awarded by the Supreme Court and conceded by the judgement debtors in Exhibit 11 attached to the applicants motion.

The court directed the four banks to file affidavits and attend court on the next adjourned date to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute.

A copy of this order nisi shall be served on the judgment debtors as required by law, the court added, and adjourned the case till 4 April for continuation of hearing.

It was gathered that the judgment creditors have since effected service of copies of the order on the judgment debtors as ordered by the court.

Listed as judgement debtors along with the Oyo State Governor are the states Attorney General, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Accountant General, the House of Assembly, its Speaker and the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC).

Background

The ex-chairmen and ex-councillors were elected for a three-year tenure in the election conducted by OYSIEC on 12 March 2018, prior the inauguration of Governor Makinde on 29 May 2019.

Upon learning that Mr Makinde had planned to sacked them, the former chairmen and former councillors filed a suit at the High Court of Oyo State to challenge the constitutionality of Sections 11 and 12 of the Oyo State Local Government Law 2001, which empowered the governor and the House of Assembly to dissolve local government executives in the state.

In its judgment on 6 May 2019 the Oyo State High Court declared Sections 11 and 12 of the states Local Government Law 2001 as unconstitutional, on the grounds that it violated Section 7(1) of the Constitution.

Despite the subsistence of the judgement, Mr Makinde went on to dissolve the local government executives and legislature across the state on 29 May 2019 subsequently appealed the judgment.

The Court of Appeal, in its judgment on 15 July2020 set aside the judgement of the High Court. The former chairmen and former councillors appealed at the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court condemns LG dissolution

On 7 May 2021, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun granted the appeal marked: SC/CV/556/2020 and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal.

The court, which awarded a cost of N20 million against Mr Makinde, ordered that the ex-chairmen and ex-councillors, who were unlawfully sacked by the governor, be paid their salaries and allowances from 29 May 2019 to 11 May 2021 when their tenure ought to have expired.

Ejembi Eko, a member of the Supreme Court panel who read the lead judgement, came down hard on Mr Makinde. He said Mr Makinde acted arbitrarily and undemocratically.

It is unthinkable that a democratically elected governor would embark on these unwholesome undemocratic tendencies. These tendencies no doubt endanger democracy and the rule of law, Mr Ejembi now retired from the Supreme Court bench said.

He added: They (state governors) disdainfully disregard and disrupt democratically elected Local Government Councils and appoint their lackeys as caretaker committees to run affairs of Local Governments.

(NAN)

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After the death of President Idriss Deby in April 2021, Chad started a transition process in which interim authorities committed to reconciliation and peace. But slow progress and an increased focus on military and security cooperation with external actors cast doubt on whether this commitment is genuine. It also hampers the possibility of ending the militarys dominance  a feature in Chad since the first military coup in 1975.

The initial 18-month transition period was extended to 24 months following the Inclusive and Sovereign National Dialogue (DNIS) in October 2022. Reconciliation remains incomplete and precarious, despite the DNIS and the Doha agreement between the transitional government and rebel movements signed in August 2022.

The government is responsible for the national reconciliation roadmap and has appointed a minister to oversee its implementation. But other actions contradict this commitment, notably the heavy repression of protesters in October last year and authorities belligerent tone in justifying the crackdown.

The 2023 national budget, which was meant to prioritise implementation of the DNIS, shows a more than 20 per cent increase in defence and security allocations. Human resources for this sector are set to expand by 245 per cent. This contrasts starkly with the 18 per cent decrease in provisions for education. Though allocations to productive sectors including infrastructure also went up, social sectors such as education and health did not.

Chads government has largely focused on the needs of the security services, particularly the military, and has signed numerous security cooperation agreements in the Middle East. Since the start of 2023, its foreign diplomacy has been dominated by defence and security issues. In January, the country signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia on cooperation, including defence, training, material and technical support. In Israel, where Chad opened an embassy in February, similar help was discussed.

The country does face various security threats, with rebellions and armed gangs along the northern Libyan and Sudanese borders. At the same time, Boko Haram remains active in the west, especially in the Lac province. This is compounded by persistent talk of a new rebellion brewing in the south, with the Central African Republics northern area as its base. There are also rumours that the government faces a possible coup by Chadian rebels supported by the Wagner private military company.

Despite these issues, Chads military investments are disproportionately high and show its inability to break from a military-dominated focus. Political actors capacity to violently impose themselves or sideline their opponents remains a primary means of gaining and staying in power. This governance culture could seriously undermine the reconciliation agenda and lowers the prospects of a return to civilian constitutional rule.

The concord between the political groups that supported the transition in the first phase is gradually crumbling. At the same time, early opponents positions are hardening, with some evoking prospects as radical as self-determination. Apart from the SantEdigio communitys efforts to bring the rebel movements who didnt sign the Doha agreement into the process, attempts at rapprochement between the authorities and opposition political parties seem to have stalled.

An independent framework for monitoring and evaluating the DNIS resolutions and recommendations and a steering committee to track its implementation were set up in December 2022. The framework is led by the Secretary-General of the Presidency Gali Ngothe Gatta, and the steering committee by the transitional Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo.

In January, a national commission in charge of organising the constitutional referendum and an ad hoc committee for drafting the constitution was set up. However, their composition, inclusiveness and neutrality have been questioned even by those who actively supported the transition and the DNIS.

The current dynamics are reminiscent of Chad in the early 1990s. Despite a solid national conference and roadmap for a peaceful and open political future, the country slid back to a high-handed regime, with many rebellions and a massive investment of its oil revenues in the military. As a result, social and infrastructural projects remained on hold.

In this second phase of the transition, theres a danger that the emphasis on defence, the lack of vigorous political debate, and the hardening of political positions will keep the country military-focused.

The need for stability after Debys sudden death was used to justify the support of international actors for a military-led transition. But efforts now need to be reoriented towards national reconciliation. All parties  the transitional authorities, political actors and rebels in discussion with SantEgidio  share the responsibility for breaking this cycle through more nuanced and moderate positions.

The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the African Union (AU) have been key to the transition from the start. Through its commission of inquiry into the October 2022 demonstrations and repression, ECCAS could ease tensions by clarifying what happened. The AU, through its Peace and Security Council and special envoy on Chad, should set up a mediation mission to calm tensions and find common ground.

These initiatives are vital for a more open and inclusive process that prevents Chad from returning to square one.

Remadji Hoinathy, Senior Researcher, Central Africa and Great Lakes, Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

Research for this article was funded by Irish Aid and the Bosch Foundation.

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

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The crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new dimension as the Benue State High Court in Makurdi has ordered the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, to stop parading himself as the chairman of the party.

The judge, W. I Kpochi, on Monday, issued an interim injunction restraining Mr Ayu from parading himself as the national chair of the PDP.

The judge issued the order following an ex parte application by a member of the party in Benue State, Terhide Utaan.

Being an ex parte hearing, both Mr Ayu and the PDP joined as respondents to the application and were neither present nor represented by their lawyers in court.

The court order came barely 24 hours after the executive committee of the party at Mr Ayus ward  Igyorov Ward in Benue State suspended him.

The order subsists pending the hearing and determination of the motion.

READ ALSO:

An order of interim injunction restraining the 1st defendant Senator Dr Iyorchia Ayu from parading himself as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) having lost membership of the party, pending the hearing and determination of Motion on Notice already filed, the order reads.

Mondays court order brings back the memory of how Mr Ayus predecessor, Uche Secondus, was forced out of the PDP after he was suspended by the ward and restrained by a court order.

Since May last year, Mr Ayu has been hanging on to his job despite opposition from high-profile members of the party.

Five of the partys governors, namely Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Mr Ortom demanded his removal as a condition to back Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP.

On 25 February, the party was defeated at the presidential poll, and even Mr Ayu lost his state to the ruling party, APC, and came third behind the Labour Party.

Earlier, Mr Ayu rejected his suspension by the ward Excos, saying they lack the powers to suspend him.

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A serial fake traffic officer, Omotutu Bamidele, has been arrested by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) in the Ikoyi area of the state.

The agencys spokesperson, Adebayo Taofiq, in a statement on Sunday said the suspect was arrested at Olu Holloway Road in the Alfred Rewane area of Ikoyi.

He was caught by the agencys monitoring/surveillance team led by a zonal head, Ashafa Moyosore, in response to complaints from two motorists.

The 55-year-old suspect confessed to have been impersonating a reflective jacket as a LASTMA officer and extorting money from motorists, particularly private car owners and drivers in highbrow areas across the state.

Investigation conducted revealed that the arrested suspect had been extorting huge sums of money from motorists for various traffic offences ranging from seatbelt, obstructions, illegal overtaking and one-way at different locations around Lagos Island, the statement reads.

The agencys boss, Bolaji Oreagba, said it is disheartening getting complaints from road users, particularly motorists on activities of these unscrupulous elements impersonating and extorting money from them

Mr Oreagba urged the general public to be wary of fake traffic officers stating that the agency operates a cashless policy as any violators apprehended are charged to the court with a Referral Notice issued to them.

Let me warn the motoring public to desist from inducing traffic officers in any form (money) as both the giver and taker are liable before the law, he was quoted as saying.

The general manager, however, warned other impersonators disguising themselves as LASTMA personnel to immediately desist from such illegal acts as more surveillance personnel have been strategically deployed to hunt for them.

Confession

The suspect, who confirmed to be living with his younger brother inside one of the army barracks in Lagos, confessed to having operated around Ikoyi, Obalende, Apongbon Bridge, Iporin, and Olowu areas apprehending both commercial and private cars for various traffic infractions including driving against traffic.

According to the statement, Mr Omotutu said he hailed from Atijere Town in Ondo State, adding that he and his colleagues make an average of N35,000 from extortions daily.

Any motorists, particularly private car owners I caught dropping someone at any undesignated bus stop paid between N15,000 to N20,000 while those caught for driving against traffic (One-way) paid a minimum of N35,000, the suspect was quoted as saying.

Victims

Mr Taofiq said one Adewusi Adebola (a complainant) confirmed that the suspect apprehended him for obstruction on 6 March, around Spac bus stop by Awolowo Road, Ikoyi and collected N20,000 from him for dropping his colleagues.

ALSO READ: Fake LASTMA officer sentenced to jail

Honestly speaking I had written a series of negative stories about activities of LASTMA on social media, particularly on Twitter since the ugly incidents happened until I was called by LASTMA management that the man I reported that extorted money from me was a fake traffic officer and that he has been arrested Mr Adebola was quoted as saying following the arrest of the suspect.

Also, one Obinna Kingsley complained via one of the LASTMA social media handles (Twitter) that he was forced to transfer N50,000 to the arrested suspect (Omotutu Bamidele) for obstruction on Awolowo Road by Obalende Bridge towards Tafawa Balewa Square.

However, Akerele Kehinde, the agencys head of the legal department, said the suspect will be charged in court on Monday.

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The police in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, said they have begun a manhunt for gunmen who attacked and killed two police officers at a checkpoint in the state.

The police spokesperson in the state, Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday night.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the gunmen opened fire on the officers who were manning the checkpoint, killing two of them.

The incident happened on Sunday at about 11:27 a.m. along Kenyatta Market Road, near the Main gate of the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus in Enugu North Local Government Area of the state.

Police speak

Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, said the gunmen were many and operated in SUV vehicles during the attack.

The police operatives engaged the hoodlums in a shoot-out during the attack, the police spokesperson said.

Many of the hoodlums escaped with varying degrees of fatal gunshot injuries in the ensuing gun duel, while two of the operatives, who sustained severe gunshot injuries, were moved to the hospital, where they were confirmed dead and their corpses deposited in the mortuary for preservation, he said.

Consequently, manhunt of the assailants, which was immediately launched, resulted in the miscreants abandoning the black-coloured Mercedes Benz ML 350 4Matic Jeep they used for the operation along Enugu/Port-Harcourt Road, Enugu, Mr Ndukwe added.

The police spokesperson said the vehicle  riddled with gunshots and blood stains  had been recovered.

He added that the recovery of the Mercedes Benz ML 350 4Matic SUV and the blood stains as well as bullet holes on the recovered vehicle corroborate preliminary investigation that at least two of the gunmen were killed during the shoot-out.

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Ahmed Ammani, has ordered tactical operatives of the police in the state to track down the hoodlums, Mr Ndukwe said.

Mr Ammani warned that anything short of fishing out and bringing the assailants to book, to assuage the unfortunate loss of the two operatives, will not be accepted.

The police commissioner urged residents of the state to assist the police with useful information that will aid the speedy arrest of the suspects.

He called on the residents and owners of medical facilities in particular, to report to the police any persons  dead or alive  seen with gunshot injuries in their neighbourhood.

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the late Chief of General Staff, Oladipo Diya, as a patriot who showed deep love and commitment to Nigeria during and after his service to the military and the nation.

The vice president in a statement he personally signed on Monday in Abuja expressed grief over the death of the retired army general.

I received with sadness the news of the passing of Diya, the former Chief of General Staff and number two official in the administration of the Federal Military Government of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

Diya was not only a distinguished Nigerian patriot, and an illustrious son of Odogbolu in Ogun, he was also a statesman who showed deep love and commitment to our country even after his illustrious service to the nation.

Gen. Diya, GCON, LLB, BL, PSC, FSS, mni, was a forthright, brilliant officer and a devoted family man, he added.

READ ALSO:

Mr Osinbajo said that Mr Diyas death was a loss to the people of Ogun and Nigeria.

He prayed to God to comfort the family, friends, associates and the people of Ogun State.

May his memory always be blessed, he said.

Mr Diya, a retired lieutenant general, died on Sunday at the age of 78.

(NAN)

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Five months after launching a digital platform for the confirmation of results, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has suspended manual confirmation of West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) from 1999 till date.

All individuals, institutions or organisations requesting confirmation of any WAEC result from 1999 can now only do so through the digital portal, the examination body said.

A statement issued by the Acting Head, Public Affairs Department, Moyosola Adesina, noted that efforts are also underway for the platform to accommodate results from 1980.

Nigeria is pleased to inform institutions, organisations, agencies, embassies, high commissions, and the general public that the Council will no longer provide manual confirmation or stamping of certificates of candidates who sat the WASSCE from 1999 till date, as the Council has launched the WAEC Digital Certificate Platform for a seamless and timely mode of availing stakeholders of their candidates certificates, parts of the statement read.

In addition, efforts are underway to expand the platform to accommodate candidates from 1980 and updates will be provided to the public as they become available.

WAEC said the digital certificate platform allows candidates to access, download, and share their original WAEC certificates. Institutions and organisations can also promptly and securely confirm the certificates of candidates.

WAEC Digital Portal

In October 2022, the examination body launched a digital platform where candidates can also recover burnt, lost, and damaged certificates online.

WAECs Head of National Office for Nigeria, Patrick Areghan, said it will cost N7,500 for new and old candidates to assess the platform, N3,500 to share and N5,000 for certificate confirmation.

He said the development of the portal was to ensure seamless and swift confirmation of results as well as to eliminate fraud and send fakers out of the market.

Accessing portal

The WAEC DIgital Certificate Platform can be accessed online through www.waec.org and the mobile version can be downloaded on the Android and IOS app stores.

For further inquiries, please contact us at support@waec.org and well be happy to assist you, the statement added.

We implore stakeholders and the general public to utilize the digital certificate platform developed to ease the bottlenecks associated with the manual access and confirmation system.

We kindly request that institutions, organizations, agencies, embassies, high commissions, etc, provide email addresses for the digital sharing, receiving, and verification of certificates. Furthermore, all concerned should please update their portals to accommodate the sharing of the WAEC certificate.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe

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The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has expressed shock over the death of the former Chief of General Staff, Oladipo Diya.

Mr Diya, a retired lieutenant general, who served as the Chief of General Staff to the late head of state, Sani Abacha, died on Sunday at the age of 79.

Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), conveyed FECs condolences in a statement issued by Willie Bassey, Director of Information, Office of the SGF on Sunday in Abuja.

According to Mr Mustapha, the Federal Executive Council received with shock the death of Oladipo Diya.

Mr Mustapha said Mr Diya was a seasoned military officer with admirable administrative capabilities in the various functions he served the country.

He also described the late Mr Diya as a notable statesman who made invaluable contributions to nation-building.

FEC condoles with the government and people of Ogun State, his family and friends, and prays to God to grant the soul of the deceased eternal rest, Mr Mustapha said.

Mr Diya was born on 3 April 1944 in Odogbolu, Ogun.

He was the military governor of Ogun State from January 1984 to August 1985.

(NAN)

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A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has issued an order attaching funds standing to the credit of the Oyo State Government and its agencies in four banks.

Justice A. O. Ebong issued the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte for garnishee order filed by the ex-chairpersons and councillors led by Bashorun Majeed, Bosun Ajuwon and Idris Okusesi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the affected banks are First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank and Zenith Bank.

Justice Ebong ordered the banks to show cause why the order should not be made absolute.

The ruling on the motion marked: FCT/HC/BW/M/238/2023, was delivered by the judge on March 2 and a certified true copy (CTC) was sighted on Sunday in Abuja.

The funds, according to court filings, are to settle the outstanding balance of N3,374,889,425.60 from the judgment debt owed some former local government chairpersons and councillors sacked on 29 May 29 2019 before the end of their tenure by Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State.

The garnishee proceeding, initiated for the chairpersons and councillors by their lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi, is in the execution of a judgment they got against the governor and six others from the Supreme Court on 7 May 2021.

The ruling reads: A garnishee order nisi is hereby granted to attach the judgment debtors accounts with garnishees Nos. 1 to 4 in the motion ex-parte, for the purpose of settling the judgment debt outstanding in the sum of N3,374,889,425.60 as awarded by the Supreme Court and conceded by the judgment debtors in Exhibit 11 attached to the applicants motion.

The garnishees (1st to 4th) shall file affidavits and attend court on the next adjourned date to show cause why the order nisi should not be made absolute.

A copy of this order nisi shall be served on the judgment debtors as required by law. This matter is hereby adjourned to the 4/4/2023 for continuation.

It was gathered that the judgment creditors have since effected service of copies of the order on the judgment debtors as ordered by the court.

Listed as judgment debtors with the Oyo State Governor is the states Attorney General, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Accountant General, the House of Assembly, its Speaker and the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC).

The ex-chairpersons and councillors were elected in the election conducted by OYSIEC on 12 March 2018 for a three-year term.

Upon learning that Mr Makinde, who took office on 29 May 2019 had planned to sack them, they sued before the High Court of Oyo State to challenge the constitutionality of Sections 11 and 12 of the Oyo State Local Government Law 2001, which empowered the governor and the House of Assembly to dissolve LG executives in the state.

In its judgment on 6 May 2019, the Oyo State High Court declared Sections 11 and 12 of the states Local Government Law 2001 as unconstitutional, on the grounds that it violated Section 7(1) of the Constitution.

Despite the subsistence of the judgment, Mr Makinde sacked the chairpersons and councillors on 29 May 2019 and subsequently appealed the judgment.

The Court of Appeal, in its judgment on 15 July 2020 set aside the judgment of the High Court, a decision the affected officials appealed at the Supreme Court.

In its judgment on 7 May 2021, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, allowed the appeal marked: SC/CV/556/2020 and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal.

The court, which awarded a cost of N20 million against Mr Makinde, ordered that the ex-chairpersons and councillors, who were unlawfully sacked by the governor, be paid their salaries and allowances from 29 May 2019 to 11 May 2021 when their tenure ought to have expired.

In the lead judgment by Justice Ejembi Eko, the Supreme Court came down hard on Mr Makinde, who it found, acted arbitrarily and undemocratic.

Justice Eko said: I will not conclude this appeal without commenting on the disturbing ugly face of impunity displayed by the Governor of Oyo State (1st respondent herein) on 29th May, 2019, tantamounting to executive lawlessness, outrightly and vehemently condemned by this court in the case of the Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu.

He noted that, even before appealing the High Court judgment, Mr Makinde on 29 May 2019 issued imperial directives dissolving all democratically elected local Government Councils in Oyo State in spite of the subsisting judgment of Oyo State High Court in the suit No. 1/347/2017.

Series of applications were filed by the judgment creditors, the present appellants, to restrain, particularly the 1st respondent (the Governor), from embarking on the self-help designed to contemptuously frustrate the judgment of the High Court.

He was not dissuaded. He proceeded in his imperial omnipotency to continue in his untrammelled, albeit invidious contemptuous, disregard of subsisting judgment of the High Court.

It is unthinkable that a democratically elected governor would embark on these unwholesome undemocratic tendencies. These tendencies no doubt endanger democracy and the rule of law.

It is almost becoming universal phenomena that the democratically elected Governors have constituted themselves into a specie most dangerous to democracy in this country.

They disdainfully disregard and disrupt democratically elected Local Government Councils and appoint their lackeys as caretaker committees to run affairs of Local Governments, Justice Eko said.

(NAN)

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Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a Nigerian politician and entrepreneur, spoke on Saturday, 25 March, in Awka during an event to mark Charles Soludos one year in office as the Governor of Anambra State.

Below is a transcript of Mr Iwuanyanwus remarks.

Ndigbo Ekelenu o o!

Ndigbo Ekelenu o o!!

Ehem, please, I will crave your indulgence to please permit me to sit down. Most of you, especially those who are older, they know that I have some injuries while serving our people. I cant stand for too long. Thank you very much.

I must express my profound thanksgiving and gratitude to my dear friend, Charles Soludo, who invited me to be chairman of this very special event. 365 days in office of Professor Charles Soludo.

Charles Soludo is a very proud son of Igboland given to Igbo people from Anambra State. Charles Soludo has done excellently in academics. His record in University of Nigeria is very clear. He has shown excellence in service to Ndigbo. He was the chairman, Planning and Strategy of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The first chairman, Planning and Strategy (of Ohanaeze Ndigbo) was Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu. Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu handed over to me. Then, I handed over to Prof. Soludo. That is a man who was the governor of the Central Bank (of Nigeria). And when he was governor of the Central Bank, I am sure our president, our Baba, our beloved (Olusegun) Obasanjo will tell better. We never had problems with currency. He did very well. And he made all of us very proud.

Let me tell you, Anambra people. When voted for him to be governor, there was jubilation, not only here in Anambra, but all over Igboland. Many years ago, he was in the PDP. Then, I was a member of the Board of Trustees. I was representing the South-east in the national caucus. The person who put me to be member of the Board of Trustees was President Obasanjo. He gave me that opportunity. I came and campaigned for him (Soludo) that time. But you know politics in Nigeria. And I told him Gods time is the best. Eventually, when he won, I was very very happy. We are celebrating (his) 365 days in office, but Anambra people, I want to let you know that in a larger sense, this is a Thanksgiving Day for Anambra. Anambra people should be very proud and very grateful to God. God has blessed Anambra people. Anambra is the cradle of Igbo development in education, Igbo development in industry and in other areas.

You will recollect in 1857, when the white missionaries landed in River Niger, then they started from there and spread and Anambra State became the educational centre. Onitsha, for example, has produced more leaders in Nigeria because Onitsha had so many secondary schools at that time than any place in this country.

Awka here, in the Anglican Communion, my parents were Anglican Church missionaries, they were teachers. We regard Awka as a hallowed ground, because most of our parents studied at Saint Pauls or Saint Marks College, Awka. So, Anambra has been a cradle of all the great things that happened to us over here. So, when you celebrate this, you have to be grateful to God.

And of course, God has blessed Anambra. You look at great leaders  Nnamdi Azikiwe, you look at my boss, Ikemba Ojukwu, who was my boss, and he loved me so much. I am glad the wife is here. You look at people like Alex Ekwueme, you look at people like many leaders all from Anambra State. So, Anambra is a place that is blessed.

And in industry, a man like Arthur Eze, he is a very rare person. He has a wonderful mind.

Arthur Eze struggled on his own to make wealth. He has distributed it to people. We are very proud of him. It is only here in Anambra. Arthur Eze is giving to people all over the country. There are so many things, I cant continue going one by one. He has given me the opportunity, too, to meet some of my friends. People like the Chairman of South-east Manufacturers Association (of Nigeria), thats Adaku Chukwudozie. She is here. And many people (like) the governor of Cross River, who love us so much.

But I want to take the liberty of this to thank our leader, Obasanjo. Obasanjo is one of the greatest leaders Nigeria has ever produced. I saw Obasanjo on the television in his alma mater running like a school boy, at the age of 82. Hes getting to 90. And I gave thanks to God.

Obasanjo has come first in many things. He was the first person to hand over government to a civilian administration. And you remember that time, he didnt hand it over to somebody from his side. Obasanjo was the first person to come back and became a president. Obasanjo showed love to every part of this country. When the story is told and history is written, that period of Obasanjos rule will be regarded as a golden era in the history of Nigeria.

My first contact with Obasanjo was in 1970 when we (Biafrans) surrendered (to Nigerian authorities during the Nigerian civil war). Obasanjo was the person who actually made the war to end peacefully. He is a man of history. God has destined him. Without people like Obasanjo and (Yakubu) Gowon, it would have been a different story because Biafra was not ready to surrender, the war would have continued. We were not ready to surrender even if they were bringing the whole weapons all over the world because we were convinced we were not well treated. This is a very great man.

And recently, I want to tell you, Your Excellency, your position on national issues, we appreciate it. We in Ohanaeze, we appreciate it. I am speaking to you as the chairman of the Council of Elders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. We appreciate you and we support you and we are very proud of you.

Now, I saw the traders association coming here from Lagos. I want to let our people in Lagos to know that on Wednesday, I called a meeting of Ohanaeze Council of Elders World Wide and we x-rayed the events in Lagos. And I want to tell you that people attended the branches in America, in Canada, Europe, in London and Nigeria, we have resolved and I want those from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos. We have resolved that never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any innocent person. All of us are going to fight the person. We are going to fight the person. Never again.

We are in Nigeria and we have invested in Nigeria. Our investments are so much. We are not going to take the question of people telling us to go. We are not going anywhere. And I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and Yorubas. The Yorubas are they are just political rascals and we are going to handle them. The elders have directed the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, (Okey) Emuchay, to set up the commission of enquiry to find out things destroyed. People are going to pay.

Meanwhile, I want to say, I thank you for this opportunity. I am very grateful and I want you to give Soludo support. Give him support so that he will continue to concentrate on his job and do more.

Thank you very much.

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A Lagos-based law firm, Lawflex, has asked the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to prosecute the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 25 February election, Peter Obi, for failing to declare the assets he stashed in tax havens while serving as a state governor.

In the letter written on Thursday, signed by Olukoya Ogungbeje and received by the CBB the same day, the firm said its purpose is to bring to the CCBs notice an investigation on the issue done by PREMIUM TIMES.

The PREMIUM TIMES 2021 investigation provides details of Mr Obis investments in some notorious tax havens which he did not disclose in his mandatory CCB filings before and after leaving office as governor of Anambra State.

The businesses were set up and operated overseas, including in notorious tax and secrecy havens in ways that breach Nigerian laws.

Other prominent Nigerians involved in similar offshore dealings include the former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah; the acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko; former governor of Osun, Gboyega Oyetola and his Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu. They have all denied any wrongdoing.

The law firm said that Mr Obi flouted the code of conduct for Nigerian public officials and urged the CCB to act appropriately by arraigning the former governor before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for contravention of the Code of Conduct for Nigerian Public Officers as spelt out in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, (As Amended).

Violation

Mr Peter Obi failed to declare his offshore holdings and their associated assets. As a governor, he also continued to operate and maintain foreign accounts including with Lloyds in the UK.

The former governor admitted that he did not declare these companies and the funds and properties they hold in his asset declaration filings with the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Nigerian government agency that deals with the issues of corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office by public servants.

He said he was unaware that the law expected him to declare assets or companies he jointly owns with his family members or anyone else.

After becoming the governor, he continued to be a director of Next International (UK) Limited for 14 months.

Ultimatum

Mr Ogungbeje urged the CCB to immediately investigate the violation and invite Mr Obi for questioning.

The lawyer warned that if the CCB refuses to take constitutional action within 30 days, his firm would seek a judicial review by way of an Order of Mandamus in a court of competent jurisdiction in a bid to compel performance of public duty.

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Amnesty Internationals Annual Report for 2022 highlights double standards throughout the world on human rights and the failure of the international community to unite around consistently applied human rights and universal values to protect rights.

highlights double standards throughout the world on human rights and the failure of the international community to unite around consistently applied human rights and universal values to protect rights. Womens rights as well as the freedom to protest are threatened as states fail to protect and respect rights at home.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 75, Amnesty International insists that a rules-based international system must be founded on human rights and applied to everyone, everywhere.

Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 generated a global energy and food crisis, which hit Africa hard, and sought to further disrupt weak multilateral and regional systems meant to protect human rights on the continent. It also laid bare the inconsistent responses to crises around the world. While Western states as well as some African states reacted forcefully to the Kremlins aggression in Ukraine, they were muted in response to grave violations being committed in African countries including Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali and Mozambique, Amnesty International said as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world.

Amnesty International Report 2022/23: The State of the Worlds Human Rights found double standards and inadequate responses to human rights abuses fuelled impunity and instability. It also showed that recovery efforts from the Covid-19 pandemic were hindered by conflicts, economic shocks arising from Russias invasion of Ukraine, and extreme weather conditions, exacerbated by climate change. Consequently, the rights of millions of people to food, health and an adequate standard of living were seriously undermined across the African continent.

The report also highlights the failure of global and regional institutions, including the UN Security Council and African Union, to respond adequately to crimes committed under international law in countries like China, Myanmar and Yemen, as well as on the African continent, including in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and South Sudan.

While the international communitys attention shifted to Ukraine, Africa continued to suffer from the scourge of conflict, which continued to cause suffering and mass displacements of people in countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique and South Sudan, said Samira Daoud, Amnesty Internationals Director for West and Central Africa.

Africa was already facing a long, slow recovery from Covid-19 but the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine has resulted in a spike in global oil prices, which has driven the cost of commodities higher, making it difficult for ordinary people to afford food and basic necessities. Many people are barely surviving in fragile economies such as Zimbabwe, Liberia and South Sudan and this has compromised peoples socio-economic rights.

Shameless failure of leadership paves way for further abuses

Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered one of Europes worst humanitarian and human rights emergencies in recent history, exposing what has been a reality for many in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Mozambique, and the Sahel, and the terrible failure of leadership to resolve these conflicts.

Despite widespread conflict across West, Central, East and Southern Africa, limited progress was made towards ensuring victims rights to truth, justice, reparation and accountability for grave violations and abuses of human rights that may amount to crimes under international law.

In 2022, the African Union celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding and establishment. It was a year in which the continental body was expected to double down on its responses to crises and the fight against impunity; to rededicate itself to its ambitious goal of silencing the guns and ridding the continent of the scourge of conflict by 2030. Instead, the African Unions response to grave violations and abuses of human rights committed in conflicts across the region was either absent or timid at best.

In South Sudan, victims of crimes under international law continued to wait, for the seventh year in a row, for the African Union to decisively act and establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. 2022 marked seven years since a peace agreement mandated the African Union to establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan and nine years since the country descended into conflict.

In Ethiopia, the African Union successfully mediated the signing of a peace agreement in response to the two-year brutal conflict in the northern region. However, it remained eerily silent as the Ethiopian government continued to discredit and deny access to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights Commission of Inquiry on the Situation in the Tigray Region. At the same time, the peace agreement mediated by the African Union overlooked rampant impunity in the country and failed to offer a clear roadmap on how to ensure accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

While the African Union mediation efforts resulted in the cessation of hostilities agreements in countries such as Ethiopia, many other conflicts continued largely unabated. Emboldened by a lack of attention or decisive action from the African Union and the United Nations, armed groups and government forces alike continued to target civilians in conflicts around the continent, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

In Burkina Faso, armed groups, the Islamic State in the Sahel (ISS) and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), targeted towns and cities, killing people in attacks and violating humanitarian law. In Djibo town, more than 300,000 residents were affected when GSIM destroyed water infrastructure. At least 80 people, mostly civilians, were killed when ISS fighters attacked Seytenga town in June 2022, reportedly going from house to house killing men.

In Mali, members of the GSIM attacked three villages in Bankass Cercle, killing at least 130 people in May 2022. In Moura town, several dozen people were summarily executed by Malian soldiers and their allies in March. The same forces killed 50 civilians in Hombori in April 2022.

In Cameroon, armed separatist groups in the Northwest and Southwest regions targeted people, healthcare facilities and schools. Armed groups in the Far North region similarly raided villages, killing and abducting dozens of civilians. In the Central African Republic, at least 100 civilians were killed by armed groups and government forces between February and March 2022.

Attacks on civilians also intensified in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where armed groups killed more than 1,800 civilians. In Nord-Kivu, fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes. Data collected by the UN showed that at least 250 internally displaced people were killed during the year as a result of deliberate attacks against their camps in the east, with 180 killed in Ituri alone.

In Mozambique, an armed group calling itself Al-Shabaab committed war crimes by beheading civilians, abducting women and girls, and looting and burning villages in the north of the country. On 21 May 2022, they attacked Chicomo, Nguida and Nova Zambezia villages in the Macomia district and burned houses, ransacked crops, beheaded 10 people and abducted women and girls.

Longstanding impunity for human rights violations from Burkina Faso to Central African Republic, Ethiopia to Sudan and Mozambique to Cameroon has added fuel to the fire of conflicts and human rights violations in Africa. Both state and non-state actors cannot continue to violate human rights and international humanitarian law with impunity. There must be consequences for human rights violations, said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty Internationals Director for East and Southern Africa.

Parties to armed conflicts must protect civilians by ending deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and indiscriminate attacks. They must also facilitate the safe and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance for populations at risk.

Ruthless repression of dissent across the world

In 2022, authorities across the world deployed various tactics to silence peaceful dissent. In Africa, journalists, human rights defenders and political opposition also faced repression including in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

Crackdowns on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly intensified as authorities used national security or Covid-19 as a pretext to ban, suppress or violently disperse protests. In Guinea, judicial proceedings have been launched against activists for protesting against transitional authorities, which have imposed a total ban on demonstrations since May.

The deaths of scores of protesters were reported and attributed to excessive use of force by security forces in Chad, DRC, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan, among other countries.

In many countries, political opponents, activists, bloggers, journalists and human rights defenders were or remained arbitrarily detained in 2022 simply for exercising their freedom of expression. In Cameroon, more than 100 people from the Anglophone regions or supporters of the main opposition party are detained for expressing their opinion. In Zimbabwe, senior opposition leader Job Sikhala remains in detention after he was arrested in June 2022, even though he has not been convicted of any crime.

Media outlets were suspended or subjected to heavy fines, including in Mali, Togo and Senegal for disseminating or publishing information critical of the regimes.

Technology was weaponized against many, to silence, prevent public assembly or disinform.

In response to growing threats to the right to protest, Amnesty International launched a global campaign in 2022 to confront states intensifying efforts to erode the fundamental right to freedom of peaceful assembly. As part of this campaign, the organization calls for the adoption of a Torture-Free Trade Treaty banning the production and trade of inherently abusive law enforcement equipment and controlling the trade in law enforcement equipment often used for torture or other ill-treatment.

Women bear brunt as states fail to protect and respect rights

Repression of dissent and inconsistent approaches to human rights also had a stark impact on womens rights.

Pregnant girls continued to be excluded from schools in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. Gender-based violence remained prevalent across the region. In South Africa, murders of women increased by 10.3%, with 989 women killed between July and September 2022, while sexual offences and rape increased by 11% and 10.8%, respectively.

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In many countries including Guinea, victims of rape continued to experience failures in the prevention of and a lack of protection from such crimes. They often suffered from poor access to medical care, sexual and reproductive health services, psychological support, and legal and social support.

But there were some positive developments as well. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child found that Tanzanias exclusion policy against pregnant girls in schools violated the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and recommended that the policy be reviewed.

In Zimbabwe, legislation outlawing early and child marriage was introduced.

In Sierra Leone, 800 children, including pregnant girls and girls who had dropped out of school because of pregnancy were reintegrated into schools.

Global action against threats to humanity woefully inadequate

The Russian invasion of Ukraine interrupted wheat supplies that many African countries depend on. Rising fuel costs, another consequence of the war in Europe, caused considerable spikes in food prices which hit the most marginalized groups the hardest.

Food insecurity worsened due to conflict and drought in several African countries, leaving many people facing acute hunger including in Angola, Burkina Faso, CAR, Chad, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. In Angola, food insecurity in the Cunene, Huila and Namibe provinces was among the worst in the world and in some of these areas, adults and children resorted to eating stalks of grass to survive.

Dysfunctional international institutions need fixing

It is vital that international institutions and systems that are meant to protect our rights are strengthened rather than undermined. The first step is for UN and African human rights mechanisms and systems, including the African Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, to be fully supported and funded, so that accountability and investigations can be pursued, and justice delivered.

Amnesty International is also calling for the UNs key decision-making body, the Security Council, to be reformed to give a voice to countries and situations which have been traditionally ignored, especially in the global south.

The international system needs serious reform to reflect the realities of today. We cannot allow the permanent members of the UN Security Council to continue wielding their veto power and abusing their privileges unchecked. The lack of transparency and efficiency in the Councils decision-making process leaves the entire system wide open to manipulation, abuse and dysfunction, Said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty Internationals Secretary General.

But while self-serving governments fail to put our human rights first, the human rights movement shows we can still draw inspiration and hope from the people these states should have protected.

In South Sudan, Magai Matiop Ngong was released from prison, having been sentenced to death at the age of 15 in 2017. His release came after thousands of people around the world petitioned the authorities for his freedom.

It is easy to feel hopeless in the face of atrocities and abuses but throughout the last year, people have shown we are not powerless, said Agnes Callamard.

Millions of people who have been systematically oppressed by patriarchy and racism took to the streets to demand a better tomorrow. They did so in previous years and they did so again in 2022. This should remind those in power that we will never be mere bystanders when they assault our dignity, equality and freedom.

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The Katsina State governor-elect, Dikko Radda, has said he would not want to be addressed as His Excellency after his inauguration as governor on 29 May.

He said he would rather be addressed simply as Mr Governor or Mallam Dikko Radda and not His Excellency until after he leaves power.

Mr Radda, who was elected governor on 18 March, stated this on Saturday during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.

He was elected governor on 18 March on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He polled 859,892 votes to defeat Yakubu Lado of the PDP, who got 486,620 votes.

I dont like the word Excellency because one can only be called an Excellency after the administration has ended. At that time people will determine whether I am Excellent or not. So I think its better for people to call me Mr Governor than to call me His Excellency. I will prefer that and that will not put my head somewhere.

I want to be as normal as anybody because I dont want that thing (Excellency) to get into my head. That is why I dont want the word Excellency attached to my name now but I will prefer if people can call me Mr Governor or my name Mallam Dikko Radda, he said.

Mr Radda joins other governors that opted not to use His Excellency as prefix.

In 2019, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State also dropped the prefix after he became governor.

A former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, who was in power between 2010 and 2018, used Ogbeni while incumbent Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, often used Arakunrin , a Yoruba word for Mister.

Security is priority

Speaking on his agenda for the state, Mr Radda said security will be the top priority of his administration. He noted that no development can take place without security.

Our focus area is insecurity. We Want to tackle the issue of security in Katsina State. This is our major area of concern, he said.

Katsina State is one of the states most affected by banditry in the country. Over the past couple of years, bandits operating in the area have killed several and even engaged in mass adoption for ransom.

PREMIUM TIMES in an editorial scored the current administration low in the fight against banditry in North-west, especially in Katsina State.

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The former Chief Executive Officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said he will work with state house of assembly to build a similar agency will SMEDAN to address unemployment in the state.

He said the agency will be domiciled in the office of the governor.

I want to also establish an agency like SMEDAN which will be under the office of the governor so that I can handle it seriously and ensure that it is effective down to the people. And then we also want to look at the internally generated revenue.

We dont want a situation whereby the state will continue to rely on the federal allocation for its activities. We also want to look at the internally generated revenue (IGR) and land reforms.

We want to review our land and also review our master plan so that we can have a state of our dream, a capital of our dream, and this is the policy direction of our administration, Mr Radda said.

On the controversial withdrawal of the corruption case against former Governor Ibrahim Shema ahead of the election, he said he was not aware of the details.

I am not in a position to answer that question because I was not in government (and) I am not in government. I will be in government by May 29, I dont know the details of that. I have read it on the pages of the newspaper. I am not a party to it, he said.

Last month, the Katsina State government withdrew the N11 billion corruption case against Mr Shema. There are indications the decision to withdraw the case against Mr Shema is part of a political arrangement in the state.

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The embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, has kicked against his suspension from the party, saying it violated its constitution.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the suspension of the national chairman by the executive committee of the PDP in Igyorov Ward, Gboko, Benue State.

Mr Ayu, in a statement issued on Monday by his media aide, Simon Imobo-Tswam, said the letter issued by the ward executive is against Article 57(7) of the PDP Constitution as Amended in 2017.

Article 57(7) of the PDP Constitution as Amended in 2017 expressly prohibits any organ of the party or executive committee of the party at the Ward or State Level from taking any disciplinary measure against any member of the partys National Executive Committee.

The purported suspension is, therefore, an exercise in futility as it derives its strength majorly from gross illiteracy, ignorance, gambling and desperation. It has only mischief, drama and propaganda value, the statement read in part.

The PDP chairman alleged that the suspension letter contained signatures obtained by coercion and forgery.

From what we know, the document itself is fraudulent as the signatures of the Ward Executives were forged or obtained under duress. The chairman, his deputy and his legal adviser didnt sign. The 14th person on the list didnt sign too. She was at NKST Ambighir for the Holy Communion, he said.

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He added: The general public is hereby advised to ignore rumours to this heinous effect. Those behind the plot are only investing in expensive illusions.

Mr Ayus suspension came barely three days after the PDP national working committee (NWC) he heads referred the state governor, Samuel Ortom, to the partys disciplinary committee for investigation over alleged anti-party activities.

Same treatment for other party leaders

Suspension of a National Chairman of a political party is not new in Nigerias polity. Adams Oshiomhole, a former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was removed from the party after his ward suspended him.

Mr Ayus predecessor, Uche Secondus, also got similar treatment.

Background

Mr Ayu is presiding over a fragmented party since the 2022 presidential primary of the party that produced Atiku Abubakar.

Five of the partys governors, namely Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Mr Ortom demanded his removal as a condition to back Atiku.

The party went into the general election without resolving the differences.

In the past couple of weeks, the National Working Committee of the party, led by Mr Ayu, has embarked on disciplinary action against several people in open rebellion against the party.

Some prominent members like former Senate President, Pius Anyim, former Ekiti governor, Ayo Fayose, former Katsina governor, Ibrahim Shema, Dennis Ityavyar from Benue State and Aslam Aliyu from Zamfara State were suspended for alleged anti-party activities.

Mr Ortom was referred to the disciplinary committee for further investigation for alleged anti-party activities.

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The Nigeria Police Force arrested a total of 781 alleged electoral offenders across the country during the just concluded elections.

Nigeria held presidential and national assembly elections on 25 February while gubernatorial and state assembly elections were held on 18 March this year.

The Inspector General of Police, Alkali Usman, made the disclosure Monday afternoon during a meeting with Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs), Commissioners of Police (CPs) and other Tactical Commanders in Abuja.

The meeting, according to the force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, was to evaluate police performances during the elections.

Mr Adejobi said Mr Usman has directed state commands to submit case files of the electoral offenders to the force Electoral Offences Desk at the police headquarters.

Mr Adejobi said 145 infractions were reported during the presidential and national assembly election leading to the arrest of 203 suspects. He said the police arrested 578 offenders during the gubernatorial and state assembly elections from 304 infractions.

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He said the suspects would be prosecuted expeditiously and transparently.

He equally assured of effective collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to expeditiously and transparently prosecute the 781 electoral offenders apprehended from a total of 489 major electoral infractions across the nation, as all Commands were tasked with submitting casefiles centrally at the Electoral Offences Desk, Office of the IGP, Force Headquarters, Abuja, for coordinated processing to INEC Legal Section, he said.

While commending the senior police officers, Mr Alkali called on them to rejig their strategies towards ensuring a stable post-election nation.

The IGP seized the opportunity to commend the Senior Police Officers and Commanders and other ranks for their resilience, sacrifices, and professionalism which ensured the containment of the pockets of election security breaches across the country during the electioneering process and enhanced the overall credibility of the elections in line with the police reform initiatives of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, charged the Strategic Police Managers to readjust strategies and operations towards ensuring a stable post-election security order and refocus policing attention on routine law enforcement duties.

He similarly, and firmly, admonished all political actors and their supporters to submit to democratic norms, peaceful means, and legal procedures in advancing their interests as the Police and other security agencies shall not tolerate the resort to incitement or any act designed to threaten our national security, Mr Adejobi said in the statement.
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To mark his 71st birthday, President-elect Bola Tinubu has directed that special prayers and thanksgiving service be held on Wednesday 29 March instead of the yearly birthday colloquium.

The special prayers will be held in Lagos and other parts of the country according to a statement by Mr Tinubus spokesperson, Tunde Rahman, on Monday.

The statement indicated that for the main event in Lagos, special prayers will be offered at the Central Mosque in each of the five divisions in the state including the Central Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja.

During the prayer sessions, special prayers will be offered for the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria.

The statement also said President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife, Aisha Buhari, Mr Tinubu and his wife, Oluremi, Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima and his wife Nana Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, other state governors as well as members of National and State Houses of Assembly will be among those who will receive the prayers.

According to an announcement by the organisers of the prayer sessions issued by Akeem Kosoko, an Imam, the session at Alausa Central Mosque will begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and will include the delivery of sermons and reading from the Holy Quran.

This year will be the third in recent times the birthday colloquium will not hold in deference to developments in the country.

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In 2020, the 12th edition of the colloquium marking Mr Tinubus 68th birthday was put off to empathise with those who lost their lives or were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

And last year, the birthday symposium was also called off by the President-elect at the venue of the event when news emerged of the terror attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train in which several persons died and others were abducted.

The Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos venue of the event, was already filled with dignitaries to celebrate the birthday when Mr Tinubu took to the podium to announce the cancellation of the event.

The former governor of Lagos State had said at the time that it would not be proper for him as a statesman to be celebrating when such a tragedy had befallen the nation.

For me to be here celebrating, dancing and enjoying myself, does not speak of me as a senior citizen of this country. I asked that the cleric should rather engage in prayers. This event should not be holding, Mr Tinubu had said on the occasion.

This year, the president-elect said the date, which falls within the holy month of Ramadan, should be dedicated to prayers and seeking Gods guidance for him and the country as he prepares to take the reins of leadership.

Mr Tinubu was declared the winner of the 25 February presidential election in March. He defeated 17 other candidates, including Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).

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A High Court in Gombe has stopped the state government and the police from arresting the publisher of Daylight Reporters, Dahiru Hassan  Kera, who was declared a persona non grata by the government.

The Daylight Reporters is an online news medium in Gombe and the publisher has written a series of articles against the Gombe state government and the governor, Inuwa Yahaya.

In his ruling on the case with suit no: GM/145M/2022, the judge, H.H Kerang, said the invitation and threats to arrest the publisher are a breach of the publishers fundamental rights.

He said the publisher has not committed any offence.

The continued invitation and intimidation of the Applicant by the Officers/Agents of the 1st Respondent is likely an infringement of his Fundamental Rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The publication by the Applicant of 22 May 2021 based on the facts stated therein is not pregnant with any criminal offence whatsoever as to warrant the involvement of the 1-4 Respondents or any other police officer whatsoever.

The Respondents are hereby perpetually restrained by themselves, agents, officers, servants, and/or privies acting on their behalf, from harassing, restricting the movement or freedom of expression, the press and violation of any of his Fundamental Rights as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in relating to the case in this application, the judge said.

READ ALSO: INEC declares Yobe South senatorial election inconclusive

In his comment after the judgement, Mr Hassan  Kera said the threat to arrest him was undemocratic and a breach of fundamental human rights as provided by the constitution.

Its unfortunate that democratic government is engaging in arbitrary arrest and detention of its critics including journalists and social media influencers. This is an undemocratic and clear breach of human rights as provided in the constitution, he said.

The state governor had declared the publisher a persona non grata in the state after he published a series of reports criticising the governor.

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Millions of Igbos reside in and have their businesses in Lagos and we should preach love, peace and unity between our people and not resort to calling each other names or indulge in racial profiling or stereotyping We choose to overlook what Chief Iwanyanwu has said this time and look the other way but it must NEVER happen again.

The fact that our reverred leader and one of the fathers of our nation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, can sit there and say nothing when Chief (Dr) Emmanuel Iwanyanwu, an elder statesman who I have always respected, describes the entire Yoruba race as rascals that the Igbo will DEAL with tells me that the rumour that he is NOT a fully-fledged Yoruba man and that his father was an Igbo, may well be true.

Whatever the case is, this is not the OBJ I once knew, loved, defended and worked so hard for. Something has gone wrong.

No one could have made a statement against ANY tribe in the presence of the old OBJ that we all knew and respected and gotten away with it. He would have gotten up and told them off.

As for Iwanyanwu, I will not respond to him or to all those who were at that event and who collectively rubbished our people, because they are my in-laws and because my four sons are half-Igbo.

There is nothing Iwanyawau can say that will make me turn against the Igbo because I have blood and family ties with them and I will continue to love them, despite this outrageous provocation.

Apart from that, there are millions of Igbos who do not share Iwanyanwus views and who have shown nothing but the greatest respect for the Yoruba race and our Northern brothers and allies.

Amongst them are dear friends and brothers like John Nwodo, Orji Uzor Kalu, Chimaroke Nnamani, Ifeanyi Ugwainyi, David Umahi, Hope Uzodinma, Innocent Chukwuma, Emeka Offor, and so many others.

Iwanyanwu does not represent them when he calls us rascals and neither does he represent the wives of Seyi Makinde, Rotimi Akeredolu, Ademola Adeleke, Gbadebo Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour, David Adedeji Adeleke (AKA Davido) and mine, who all happen to be Igbo.

What I will say though is that those Igbos who think like Iwanyanwu need to be careful and appreciate the fact that those so-called Yoruba rascals have shown the Igbo race more love, respect, admiration, fraternity, solidarity and courtesy over the last 63 years than ANY other tribe in Nigeria and millions of Yoruba men have Igbo wives.

Again many Yoruba leaders stood with and supported Peter Obi in his ill-fated quest to become president of Nigeria, including Pa Ayo Adebanjo, OBJ, Afenifere, Akin Oshuntokun, Gbadebo Chinedu Rhodes-Vivour, Babatunde Gbadamosi and so many others. I wonder if they are rascals too?

We extended our hand for a handshake across the Niger a few years back and we built bridges with the East.

Chief Iwanyanwu, Ohaneze and Afenifere were at that conference and so was I.

As a matter of fact, we all made resounding and inspiring speeches seeking for a closer relationship and greater collaboration between our people.

It was a wonderful occasion and a great experience.

We were in full solidarity with the Igbo then and lamented the injustices they had been subjected to over the years.

I even went as far as to declare that Nigeria owes the Igbo an apology for the genocide they were subjected to during the civil war and the pogroms before the war. I maintain that position till today and so do many other Yorubas.

The only thing we asked for in return was a little respect and for them not to describe Lagos as a no mans land. This is a very emotional issue for us. The assertion that Lagos is not part of Yorubaland is deeply offensive and insulting to us.

We also chose to support Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a proud son of the Yoruba, for the Presidency.

These two things have caused a handful of misguided Igbos to now display hatred towards us, to insult us at every turn, to unleash their youth against us in the media space and to describe us as rascals.

With those words and that attitude, the bridge between our two people may soon be broken and the handshake across the Niger may soon be withdrawn.

That would be a tragedy of monumental proportions and a negation of all we stand for. We must not let it happen.

We must be restrained and careful not to destroy the love and trust we have built over the years.

The Yoruba are not a people who can easily be insulted and we do not take such things lightly.

We are kind, welcoming, accomodating, civilised, generous, cosmopolitan, liberal and open-hearted to a fault.

We are also slow to anger but irresistible in battle.

We have long memories and when we choose to take a stand and fight, it goes from generation to generation.

I pray Chief Iwanyanwu and those who share his views can cultivate the prescence of mind and courage to have a rethink before it is too late.

Millions of Igbos reside in and have their businesses in Lagos and we should preach love, peace and unity between our people and not resort to calling each other names or indulge in racial profiling or stereotyping.

We choose to overlook what Chief Iwanyanwu has said this time and look the other way but it must NEVER happen again.

A word is enough for the wise.

Femi Fani-Kayode is the Director of Special Media Projects, Special Media Operations and New Media of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.

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You have been deceived by those who tell you that because of your personal needs, everything you do for God and for others must be paid for. I am not saying that we must not be paid for our professional services within an occupational context. I am speaking about the gospel here; the preaching of the gospel. We have reduced the gospel to a caricature. According to Leonard Ravenhill, for the early Apostles, it is after they have PRAYED that places are shaken. For our generation, it is after we have PAID that places are taken.

Nothing robs the church of power and influence like the love of money.

Financial challenge or family need is not a justification for monetising the gospel. There are many things to do to legally earn income to take care of your needs without burdening the body of Christ. I must not be expensive for God to afford! You really dont have any idea of how much some of us suffered while growing up in Christ. Those were days we would stay inside mosquito infested places to pray all night. There was no social media. No mobile phone. No money. There was no job to do.

How did my generation serve God without monetising our efforts, despite our problems? We were madly in love with God! And God blessed us so much. There is not one single friend of mine with whom we served God in the 80s and 90s so sacrificially who is not a high flier today. God is ever faithful. Sadly, you can hardly find anyone to do anything again for free. It is a completely monetised Christian generation!

Due to lack of funds, I would sometimes walk kilometres to keep a praise and worship appointment as a keyboardist/bass guitar player, and I would be the first to arrive there, to set up and clean up the place. We were fighting to serve God. In the midst of intense financial crises, we were burning with zeal for God. And the hand of the Lord came upon us. God began to bless the works of our hands. We were getting international scholarships. We were passing our examinations in flying colours. Today, some of the people we did all of these together are now Vice Presidents and Directors of global corporations. Some are world class researchers. Some are pioneering great ministries, winning souls for Christ. I meet with some of them in Europe and America, and sometimes I feel like crying when I see how God has blessed and rewarded them for their years of faithful service. Some are in Africa, and are breaking so much grounds for God. Please note: I do not mean to say that faithfulness to God will automatically turn you into a billionaire or to a rich man, but you will be blessed. You will and can never end up as a failure in life. God will take care of you! Take this to the bank.

How much money will anyone pay me in the 1980s and 1990s for serving God, compared with what God has done for me and through me today? Let us go back to true stewardship. Let us lay a new foundation of faithfulness and commitment for the coming generation. No cultural changes or societal pressure can invalidate the scriptures, a faithful man will always abound with blessings (Proverbs 28:20), whether that faithful man is a pastor or an engineer or a nurse.

But this generation has been deceived. You have been deceived by those who tell you that because of your personal needs, everything you do for God and for others must be paid for. Note the key words, everything and anything. I am not saying that we must not be paid for our professional services within an occupational context. I am speaking about the gospel here; the preaching of the gospel. We have reduced the gospel to a caricature. According to Leonard Ravenhill, for the early Apostles, it is after they have PRAYED that places are shaken. For our generation, it is after we have PAID that places are taken. Consequently, each generation continues to hand over the baton of monetised gospel to the next, effectively killing the passion for genuine and heart-felt service to God and humanity, from generation to generation.

How much money will anyone pay me in the 1980s and 1990s for serving God, compared with what God has done for me and through me today? Let us go back to true stewardship. Let us lay a new foundation of faithfulness and commitment for the coming generation. No cultural changes or societal pressure can invalidate the scriptures, a faithful man will always abound with blessings (Proverbs 28:20), whether that faithful man is a pastor or an engineer or a nurse. Your calling in life is immaterial. You will be blessed if you are faithful, not if you are transactional. The earthly work of a lot of Christians will be burnt off on the day of judgement because most of what they did on earth were rooted in the love of money. May your work on earth not be wasted in eternity.

Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist, and minister of the word, writes from Canada and can be reached through ayoakerele2012@gmail.com.

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As a reader of PREMIUM TIMES, your opinion matters. Please take our survey to help us better understand the values and preferences of our readers. Your feedback will give us valuable insights into how we can tailor the different types of content we offer to meet your needs. The survey should only take about 6-8 minutes to complete.

Click here to take it.
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for one who boastfully invites us to go academic, he failed to do even the merest literature review and remind himself that the matter of specifying the manner of attaining nationwide acceptability of a presidential candidate envisioned by Section 134 of the constitution had plagued our politics before 25th February If he had undertaken that academic exercise, he would have been properly advised that the literal rule of interpretation does not preclude the courts from inquiring into what the precise meaning of a statutory provision is and, also, that it is not the only rule of interpretation.

It has to be hoped that in one sober moment, after his cringeworthy performance on Channels Television propounding what may be called the theory of non-interpretation of the constitution, Mr Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed would recoil from his own performance. That he would be embarrassed by the realisation that the species of argument he displayed in his effort to persuade President Muhammadu Buhari not to handover to President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the 29th of May, and to dissuade the learned justices of the Supreme Court from interpreting the constitution at his and his principals Labour Party suit, fall well below what may be expected of a first-year student of rhetoric. Maybe not a first-year student of Baze University, founded by him, if the sort of intellectual reasoning he so fatuously exhibited is the driving spirit of academic pursuits thereat. One of the factors that endeared the Peter Obi/Baba-Ahmed ticket to a section of our educated compatriots, especially the youths  despite the carpet-bagger and piratical manner of their overnight ditching of the Peoples Democratic Party where their heart and soul belong to snatch the presidential ticket of the Labour Party without any previous connection to workers and progressive causes  is that they seemed to be intellectually curious and Datti-Ahmed, founder of a university, was the deeper thinker of the duo. Considering that he sought to replace the erudite Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a law don, one wonders what the out-going vice president thinks of his would-be successors astonishing claim, made without any iota of doubt, as if relating dogma, that Section 134 of the Constitution comes already interpreted in support of a view that must surely produce the very sort of absurdity that no parliament nor court of law would countenance.

I watched with utter disbelief as Baba-Ahmed spoke in apocalyptic terms on national television, claiming that if Tinubu, elected by the majority of the votes across the country, were to be sworn-in as president, that would be as good as swearing-in the Nigerian Army and that this democracy is going to end on the 29th of May, 2023. The reason for this unfounded claim? That it would amount to swearing-in people that have not satisfied the requirement (to be president and vice-president). I was not alone in my disbelief. His interviewer, Seun Okinbalonye of Channels Televisions Politics Today, could barely conceal his surprise and sought to nudge him unto the path of sobriety. In vain as Baba-Ahmed, spewing those sure signs of intellectual bravado  please write it, quote me on it, Im very happy to say it, you know my name, dont stop me, I know what Im saying  went on with his puffery. No, sir, with due respect, you dont know what you are saying! His interviewer did manage to get him to admit that he was only propounding his own interpretation, but not to make him self-aware enough to refrain from insisting that however extreme his view might be, he is happy saying it on national TV, and that it is the correct interpretation. By his own authority, then, only Baba-Ahmeds interpretation is the correct one and no other citizen may hold a contrary view. The irony is that he is in court at all, even when issuing this warning: CJN, your Lordship, do not partake in unconstitutionality.

Can a judge, and the chief justice of Nigeria no less, interpreting the fundamental law of the country, by any means, be held to be carrying out an unconstitutional act? Apparently, according to Baba-Ahmed, as he dug himself deeper in the fallacious hole by issuing another diktat: the constitution says each of, that is 24, after that and, and you come and tell me that go and get an interpretation? This is an interpreted document. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is an interpreted document. He then invited us to get academic and presented the only scenario when learned justices can be allowed to interpret the already interpreted constitution: if a candidate wins one hundred percent of the states and the opponent challenges the result by claiming that the constitution prescribes two-thirds of the states, only then their Lordships can say no, we hereby interpret it to mean this! No need to bore you further with this specious intellectualism but he fares no better with matters of fact. Baba Ahmed claims that the election was rigged, though his Labour Partys six million-plus votes were not rigged. So confused, or may be just insincere, while affecting the false air of a calm and objective intellectual, it was in that interview that he tied himself up in knots, claiming both to have faith in the courts and to have no faith in the courts, admitting that the election held (because his partys votes were lawful and not rigged) yet that the election did not hold! He sought to explain away his damning inconsistency on the ground that election is made up of four things: the voting of lawful citizens exercising their civic responsibilitiestransmission of the results according to the guidelines and the electoral act, then collation according to the Electoral Act itself, and then declaration according to the constitution. Who knew!

Yet, the only person showing utter disregard, indeed, contempt, for democracy is Baba-Ahmed himself, staking everything on the three-letter word and in Section 134(1) and (2) of the constitution: A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, . . . (a) he has the majority of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (my italics).

Baba-Ahmeds incoherence, his illogicality, alone make it ordinarily unnecessary to join issues with him. Regrettably, however, the power of incendiary propaganda such as his is not in their merit or truth value but in their appeal to the raw emotions of those who, having lost an election, cannot bring themselves to accept the crushing pain of defeat. And would cling to any claim, however false or even incredulous, to nurture their grief and trauma as having been caused by the great injustice done to them, in this case rigging (which does not apply to their victories). We have seen what lethal danger this attitude of never accepting defeat and then delegitimising the electoral body and the courts (except when the results favour them) poses to democracy in Donald Trumps America. Without a shred of evidence and with over sixty cases he filed to challenge President Bidens election dismissed by the courts, Trump still stirred up a mob to invade the Capitol, the US parliament, in a bid to stop the inauguration of the duly elected candidate. Baba-Ahmeds clever likening of Tinubus swearing-in to bringing back the Nigeria Army to power is a barely disguised call for a coup if he and Peter Obi are not declared the winner of the 25th February election and installed instead of Tinubu-Shettima. And the tenuous ground for this rascality is the self-important notion of taking a risk to save Nigeria in the face of the impending violation of the constitution after the electoral law and all other laws and promises have been violated (again, not with respect to the votes that his party won).

Yet, the only person showing utter disregard, indeed, contempt, for democracy is Baba-Ahmed himself, staking everything on the three-letter word and in Section 134(1) and (2) of the constitution: A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, . . . (a) he has the majority of votes cast at the election; and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (my italics). Baba-Ahmed believes it to be indubitable that the word and can only be read conjunctively, never disjunctively, hence his chest-pounding bravado. What he does not understand but which even a sophomore at law (hopefully at his own university) can tell him is that in statutory interpretation, the matter is not so plain. Thus, and may be read as disjunctive, where the literal interpretation would lead to absurdity, as I will show presently. Moreover, for one who boastfully invites us to go academic, he failed to do even the merest literature review and remind himself that the matter of specifying the manner of attaining nationwide acceptability of a presidential candidate envisioned by Section 134 of the constitution had plagued our politics before 25th February. And that this was the crux of the matter in the twelve two-thirds dilemma faced by the courts in the famous 1979 case of Awolowo v Shagari. If he had undertaken that academic exercise, he would have been properly advised that the literal rule of interpretation does not preclude the courts from inquiring into what the precise meaning of a statutory provision is and, also, that it is not the only rule of interpretation. Indeed, he would have known that no document ever comes ALREADY INTERPRETED or that, even if so, there would still be the problem of differing understandings of what that so-called interpretation is, and so a need for further interpretation. Expectedly, the differing opinions would not be only among ordinary citizens but also among learned justices, as the lawyers representing opposing litigants. Consequently, where the plain meaning of the word(s) would lead to an ambiguity or, worse, absurdity, the courts would resort to other interpretive principles to more properly discern the intention of parliament which, as a rule, cannot be contrary to public policy, equity or good conscience. These other principles are encapsulated in the Mischief Rule and the Golden Rule.

Now, the intention of parliament in Section 134 of the Constitution is clear: that a presidential candidate be accepted across all of Nigeria, thereby minimising ethno-religious cleavages and promoting national unity. The question that arises is whether the framers of the 1999 constitution intended that the Federal Capital Territory be not merely deemed as a state but, in addition, that it be elevated to the status of a super-state higher and above each of the thirty-six states by rights. In other words, can the FCT, which is only deemed, that is assumed, to be a state have been intended by the constitution to enjoy a status not granted to any of the true states properly constituted? For this is the inevitable conclusion and ABSURDITY that the literal construction parroted by Baba-Ahmed would lead to. I submit that it can only have been intended that for the purposes of determining if a candidate has satisfied the requirement of that section, a quarter of the votes in the FCT be deemed as if cast in a proper state. Thus, if a candidate met the requirement in twenty-three states and also in the FCT, then such a candidate would have done so in twenty-four states. Admittedly, in ordinary usage, the word and is conjunctive. But even if read conjunctively, then the candidate would be required to score at least two-thirds of the votes in thirty-seven states, the FCT being deemed a state, but not necessarily that he or she must also meet that requirement in the FCT itself. Put another way, the threshold would then have to be crossed in 24.66 states or 25 states to the nearest decimal, though with FCT not being fully a state, I would vote in favour of twenty-four if need be.

I have claimed that Baba-Ahmeds rigid insistence on the literal rule to require a quarter of the votes in the FCT itself is to confer on that territory a special status not intended by the constitution, one that makes it a super-state, where it is not even a state. Reading and as disjunctive cures not only this absurdity but also the added ridiculousness of a presidential candidate winning  to use Baba-Ahmeds own example  one hundred percent of the votes in all thirty-six states but less than twenty-five percent in the FCT

Situations can exist, such as now, however, which would make it necessary to read that word as disjunctive in order to better carry out the intention of the legislature. This is the well-established attitude of the courts in the interpretation of statutes and documents, where the words, however plain on the literal level, are nevertheless ambiguous in meaning. And it is not only and that may then be read disjunctively but also the two-letter disjunctive or which may be read conjunctively, as was stated by the Supreme Court in the 1974 case of Ndoma-Egba v Chukwuogor & Ors: In ordinary usage, the word or is disjunctive and and is conjunctive. But it is conceded that there are situations which would make it necessary to read and in place of or and vice versa. This may occur in order to carry out the intention of the legislature.

And still on the intention of parliament  in this case, the framers of the 1999 constitution  Justice Andrews Obaseki restated the necessity of departing from the literal rule forty-three years ago in the Awolowo v Shagari case earlier mentioned as follows: The rule of construction of Acts of Parliament is that they should be construed according to the intent of the Parliament which passed the Act. If the words of the Statute are in themselves precise and unambiguous then no more can be necessary than to expound those words in the natural and ordinary sense. The words themselves alone, do in such a case, best declare the intention of the lawgiver. But if any doubt arises from the terms employed by the legislature, it has always been held a safe means of collecting the intention to call in aid the ground and cause of making the statute. Adopting the prevailing common law reasoning of the English courts, the Supreme Court went further to lay out the rationale for adopting the Golden Rule to cure any ambiguity or absurdity that may result from a rigid application of the literal rule, thus: [T]he golden rule, allows for a departure from the literal rule when the application of the statutory words in the ordinary sense would be repugnant to or inconsistent with some other provisions in the statute or even when it would lead to what the court considers to be an absurdity. The usual consequence of applying the golden rule is that words, which are in the statute, are ignored or words, which are not there, are read in.

I have claimed that Baba-Ahmeds rigid insistence on the literal rule to require a quarter of the votes in the FCT itself is to confer on that territory a special status not intended by the constitution, one that makes it a super-state, where it is not even a state. Reading and as disjunctive cures not only this absurdity but also the added ridiculousness of a presidential candidate winning  to use Baba-Ahmeds own example  one hundred percent of the votes in all thirty-six states but less than twenty-five percent in the FCT and yet not satisfying the constitutional requirement to be sworn-in as a widely accepted and duly elected president! Baba-Ahmed may fancy himself as the most courageous Nigerian alive today, out to save Nigerias fledgling democracy from imminent death just by the swearing-in of a duly elected president. He may have been as courageous in 1993-1999 when we had no democracy to speak of, when we were under brutal military dictatorships, but I have yet to see any account of the bloody and protracted struggle for democracy of that time in which his name is mentioned (though I would be happy to know of his contributions). On the contrary, Tinubus contributions are well known, having also been driven into exile on account of his participation in that struggle. It is not clear to me that Baba-Ahmeds new-found messianic streak is not a product of his disappointment at losing the presidential ticket alongside his principal, Peter Obi, and the false sense of being the masses heroes for so selfishly switching from their beloved PDP where Obi had first sought nomination to the Labour Party, despite rejecting the workers minimum demands in their manifesto. If Baba-Ahmed truly loves the constitution and democracy as he claims, then he should desist from appointing himself the chief interpreter of the constitution, of any law, and never purport to warn the Chief Justice of Nigeria against performing his constitutional duties. Ah, the insufferable temerity to do so, even when he has invoked the jurisdiction of the judiciary headed by the CJN! No, sir, the constitution is NOT already interpreted (by you for all citizens, for all times) and Section 134 will be interpreted by the justices. It is their constitutional duty to do so. And far from ending our democracy, the swearing-in of a true hero of democracy if the courts affirm his victory, as they will, can only strengthen democracy and the rule of law in our dear nation.

Ogaga Ifowodo, lawyer, poet, scholar and activist is a member of APCs presidential, Delta State gubernatorial and Delta South senatorial campaign councils. He wrote from Warri.

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FBS has ended its Ultimate Trading Birthday promotion with a raffle of great prizes. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, premium gadgets, and other prizes have found their owners. FBS and its clients celebrated the trading community successfully, and here are the promos outcomes and the raffles results.

FBS Ultimate Trading Birthday

Following the yearly tradition, FBS, a worldwide licensed broker, launched the promotion due to its 14th birthday. Traders of all types were invited to celebrate the FBS community and win guaranteed gifts in the promo, plus try their luck in the raffle with the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class as a main prize.

The FBS Ultimate Trading Birthday promo lasted from 9 February to 9 March. During this period, over 100,000 participants joined the promo. For the first five (5) tickets, each trader won one of the guaranteed gifts offered within the raffle, including money prizes, VIP analytics, and a personal consultation from an FBS expert. The latter would help newbies find an effective trading strategy, while pros would get ideas and insights on building a new strategy or improving an existing one.

But the promos end didnt mean the party was over for the participants because the big raffle followed then.

The raffle of big prizes

On 17 March, FBS raffled off the Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, the premium gadgets, including MacBook Air, iPad Pro, iPhone 14 Pro, AirPods 3, Samsung Galaxy Tab S6, and other prizes among its traders who joined the promo.

The winner of the main prize, Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class, is a client from Malaysia with a winning ticket number 790194. Traders from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Japan, Nigeria, and more countries were also added to the winners list. They have won luxurious gadgets like phones, laptops, earphones, and more. FBS will deliver all prizes to the winners as soon as they are prepared.

To find the full list of the winners, visit the FBS website.

The raffle livestream was hosted by Andreas Thalassinos, a famous trading expert. Audiences appreciate Andreas knowledge and charisma, while brokers from around the world respect him as a trading professional.

FBS chose Andreas as one of the most trusted world-class trading experts to host a raffle where traders of all levels of experience have an equal chance of winning. Plus, receiving a prize from a top expert was an inspiring complement to the prize itself.

Everyone curious can watch the video to check how the raffle went using the link. Plus, if you want to try yourself and also win gifts, you can check other FBS promotions. The broker will launch a new charity promotion very soon.

About FBS

FBS is an international brand present in over 150 countries. Independent companies united by the FBS brand are devoted to their clients and offer them opportunities to trade Margin FX and CFDs.

FBS Markets Inc.  license IFSC/000102/310

Tradestone Ltd.  CySEC license number 331/17, FCA temporary permit 808276

Intelligent Financial Markets Pty Ltd  ASIC Licence number 426359

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Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel and former governor Victor Attah were among the dignitaries who paid tributes to a Second Republic parliamentarian, Okokon Etuk, at a funeral service held in Uyo on Saturday.

Mr Etuk, who served for two terms as a parliamentarian in the old Cross River State in 1979, died on 22 November 2022. He was 85.

The remains of the late octogenarian was laid to rest at his residence, in Uyo Village, Uyo Local Government Area of the state

As a Second Republic politician, Mr Etuks involvement in politics spanned decades. He had also served as councilor for two terms and later chairman of Uyo Local Government Area between 1970 and 1979.

There was a surge in the activities at Ibom Plaza  a business and relaxation hub  opposite the late Mr Etuks residence as thousands of visitors thronged the house to honour the former political leader of Uyo.

About 300 metres away, the African Church, St. Stephens Cathedral where the funeral service took place was filled with politicians, entrepreneurs and relatives who came to pay their last respect to the man, described as a philanthropist and an honest politician by many.

Mr Etuk, before he was elected as a lawmaker in the old Cross River State, had served as councilor in Uyo for two terms in 1970 and in 1979, and later became the chairman of Uyo where he served briefly before being elected a State lawmaker.

According to his biography, Mr Etuk was a successful politician and entrepreneur whose company  EMCO  has several affiliates including transportation and farming businesses.

Tributes

Governor Emmanuel in his speech at the funeral, urged the family to emulate Mr Etuks legacy whom he said had impacted lives across national boundaries while he was alive.

As he goes home to be with the Lord today. I urge you to keep his legacies alive by upholding and celebrating all that he stood for while he was alive, Mr Emmanuel said.

The governor was represented at the ceremony by the State Commissioner of Environment and Solid Minerals, Charles Udo.

Mr Attah in his tribute recalled that the last time he worshipped at the church was when the late Mr Etuk had a thanksgiving.

The former governor said he was so happy about the way his former classmates promoted the church and described him as a man who lived an honourable and faithful life, urging his family to emulate his legacies.

Also speaking, an elder in the church, Idonesit Ekpanya, described the late Mr Etuk as a man of integrity which according to him was why he served as the treasurer of the Uyo Diocese for 21 years.

Mr Ekpanya said the church has lost an adviser and appealed to family members to keep alive the legacies of their departed father.

Earlier in his homily, the emeritus Primate of The African Church, Emmanuel Udofia said late Mr Etuk was humble, accommodating and God fearing.

Mr Udofia told the congregation that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God but those who are born again and dwell in the spirit.

But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God, Mr Udofia said, citing John 1:12 in the Bible.

The governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Akwa Ibom State, John Akpanudoedehe were among the dignitaries who attended the funeral service.

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Gunmen have killed two personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Imo State, Nigerias south-east.

The gunmen also killed two staff members of the telecommunication giant, MTN, during the attack in the area.

The incident occurred on Monday at Ekelsu Market, Obiangwu, a community in the Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of the state.

Sources from the community told PREMIUM TIMES that the NSCDC personnel were in their vehicle heading to an undisclosed location when they were ambushed and killed by the gunmen.

A resident of the community, who asked not to be named, said a combined team of security agencies, mainly police and military personnel, had arrived in the community, apparently to avert a breakdown of law and order.

Some soldiers were even evacuating the bodies of the NSCDC members, he said.

The two slain personnel have been identified as Sixtus Onwusuruke and Simon Simon, who were assistant superintendent 2 and corps assistant 1 of the NSCDC, respectively.

When contacted on Monday evening, the spokesperson of the NSCDC in Imo State, Chimeziri Lowell, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Lowell, a chief superintendent of the NSCDC, said the personnel were on routine patrol monitoring critical national assets when they were ambushed and killed by the attackers.

The two others killed were officials of MTN. You know the NSCDC team was monitoring the MTN mast. So, the civilians (MTN officials) were among them, he said.

Another NSCDC official in the state, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper that the gunmen took away arms belonging to the slain officials after killing them.

We believe that the gunmen were clearly targeting the arms to use it for criminal activities, the official said.

Worsening insecurity

Like other states in Nigerias south-east, security has deteriorated in Imo State with frequent attacks by armed persons.

The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria

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EVANSTON, Ill., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 160 Driving Academy's branch location in St. Louis, Missouri hosted a 5 Year Anniversary Event to celebrate five years of success and helping change and improve the lives of its inspiring students.

The 5 Year Anniversary Event for the St. Louis location occurred on Tuesday, March 21st from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

160 Driving Academy St. Louis Leadership Team Celebrates their 5 Year Anniversary Event.

Commemorating the event, Steve Gold, CEO of 160 Driving Academy, remarked "Over the past five years we have created 1,600 truck driving jobs in and around the St Louis area. We are excited to continue to be part of the St. Louis community and help individuals who are unemployed and underemployed enter the trucking industry in four short weeks. We appreciate all our local employer, industry and agency partnerships and look forward to continuing to build on these excellent relationships."

The St. Louis Branch is located at 1151 S Kingshighway Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63110.

Overview of 160 Driving Academy CDL Training Programs in St. Louis:

Starting salaries for 160 Driving Academy graduates (on average) start at $65,000 /annual, with tremendous growth potential.

/annual, with tremendous growth potential. Commercial Truck Driving is one of today's fastest growing career paths. Estimates predict 300,000 new jobs for CDL Holders.

Technologically Driven: Our unique and data-driven programs focus deeply on driver safety and personalized analytics to provide our students with individual feedback and top of the line instruction via our proprietary App.

Lifelong Career Support: We offer continuous job placement opportunities through our subsidiary company, Truckers Network the premier job posting and hiring platform in the trucking industry.

About 160 Driving Academy

160 Driving Academy is the nation's largest commercial driving school. As the fastest growing vocational school in the country, in 2023 alone, the Company will train over 35,000 students on how to safely operate a semi-truck across its 130-school system. 160 Driving Academy is licensed and operates in 43 states and each school is certified and licensed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Entry Level Driver Training Program. The 160 Driving Academy is integrated with over 400 Workforce offices nationwide to create jobs for unemployed and underemployed workers.

The 160 Driving Academy supplies the largest employers in the nation with an unparalleled level of recruiting, high-quality training, safety effectiveness, and driver analytics. Many of these employers have trusted the Company to provide the majority of their driving workforce.

160 Driving Academy's sister companies, Truckers Network, and the 160 Driver Score provide the most advanced job placement and compliance scoring capabilities in the industry.

SOURCE 160 Driving Academy
MILPITAS, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Semiconductor manufacturers worldwide are forecast to increase 300mm fab capacity to an all-time high of 9.6 million wafers per month (wpm) in 2026, SEMI announced today in its 300mm Fab Outlook to 2026 report. After strong growth in 2021 and 2022, the 300mm capacity expansion is expected to slow this year due to soft demand for memory and logic devices.

Total 300mm Fab Capacity

"While the pace of the global 300mm fab capacity expansion is moderating, the industry remains squarely focused on growing capacity to meet robust secular demand for semiconductors," said Ajit Manocha, SEMI President and CEO. "The foundry*, memory and power sectors will be major drivers of the new record capacity increase expected in 2026."

Chipmakers expected to increase 300mm fab capacity during the 2022 to 2026 forecast period to meet growth in demand include GlobalFoundries, Hua Hong Semiconductor, Infineon, Intel, Kioxia, Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix, SMIC, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, TSMC and UMC. The companies are planning 82 new facilities and lines to start operations from 2023 to 2026.

Regional Outlooks

Due to U.S. export controls, China will continue to focus government investments on mature technology to lead in 300mm front-end fab capacity, increasing its global share from 22% in 2022 to 25% in 2026, reaching 2.4 million wafers per month, the SEMI 300mm Fab Outlook to 2026 shows.

Korea's worldwide 300mm fab capacity share is expected to slip from 25% to 23% from 2022 to 2026 on weak demand in the memory market. Taiwan is on track to retain third place despite a slight dip in share from 22% to 21% during the same period, while Japan's share of worldwide 300mm fab capacity is also expected to edge down, from 13% last year to 12% in 2026, as competition with other regions increases.

Powered by strong demand in the automotive segment and government investment, the Americas and Europe & Mideast are expected to see 300mm fab capacity share growth from 2022 to 2026. The Americas' global share is forecast to rise 0.2% to nearly 9% by 2026, while Europe & Mideast is projected to increase its capacity share from 6% to 7% and Southeast Asia is expected to maintain its 4% share of 300mm front-end fab capacity during the same period.

Projected Capacity Growth Rates by Sector

The SEMI 300mm Fab Outlook to 2026 shows analog and power leading other sectors in capacity growth at a 30% CAGR from 2022 to 2026, followed by foundry at 12%, opto at 6% and memory at 4%.

The latest update of the SEMI 300mm Fab Outlook To 2026, published on March 14, 2023, lists 366 facilities and lines  258 in operation and 108 planned for the future.

Download a sample of the SEMI 300mm Fab Outlook report.

For details about SEMI reports on other semiconductor sectors, visit SEMI Market Data or contact the SEMI Market Intelligence Team (MIT) at [email protected] .

*Foundry segment includes micro and logic devices

About SEMI

SEMI connects more than 2,500 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance electronics design and manufacturing technology and business. SEMI members are responsible for the innovations in materials, design, equipment, software, devices, and services that enable more innovative, faster, powerful, and affordable electronic products. Electronic System Design Alliance (ESD Alliance), FlexTech, the Fab Owners Alliance (FOA), the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), and SOI Consortium are SEMI Strategic Technology Communities. Visit www.semi.org , contact one of our worldwide offices and connect with SEMI on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more.

Association Contacts

Michael Hall/SEMI

Phone: 1.408.943.7988

Email: [email protected]

Christian G. Dieseldorff/SEMI US

Phone: 1.408.943.7940

Email: [email protected]

Chih-Wen Liu/SEMI Taiwan

Phone: 886.932.309.

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE SEMI
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 46 new mining licenses during January 2023, including 31 exploration licenses, 14 building materials quarry licenses, and an excess mineral ores license, according to the report of the Ministry's National Center for Industrial and Mining Information.

(PRNewsfoto/Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources)

According to the report the amount of active mining licenses in the sector by the end of January 2023 amounted to 2,230. Taking the lead are quarry licenses for building materials with 1,331 licenses, followed by 647 exploration licenses, 178 small mine exploitation license, 42 reconnaissance licenses, and 32 mineral ores licenses.

Of the total active mining licenses, the largest number have been awarded to projects within the province of Riyadh with a total of 507 licenses, followed by 418 licenses in the Makkah region, 369 licenses in the eastern region, 242 licenses in the Madinah region, and 191 licenses in the Asir region. Other regions to have been granted licenses include Tabuk (139), Qassim (102), Hail (68), Jazan (65), Najran (45), Al-Baha region (37), the Northern Borders (25), and Al-Jouf (22).

Saudi Arabia's Mining Investment Law offers six types of mining licenses, ranging from a two-year, five year and twenty-year mineral exploration license to a license to quarry building materials for up to 10 years. The law also includes exploration licenses for minerals of two categories (A) and (B), with license periods ranging from 20 to 30 years.

The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources aims to develop the mining sector in line with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and the National Industry Development and Logistics Program, with the goal of making mining the third pillar of the national industry. With mineral resources estimated to be worth around 5 trillion riyals, there is great potential for the sector to contribute significantly to the country's economy.

For more information on the Kingdom's mining licensing procedures, visit mim.gov.sa.

Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2041110/mining_key_Infographic.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2032760/3957209/Ministry_of_Industry_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP, AARP Colorado, the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the Land Title Association of Colorado (LTAC) applaud the Colorado legislature for passing Senate Bill 77, which will protect homeowners from the predatory practice of filing of unfair real estate fee agreements in property records, known as Non-Title Record Agreements for Personal Service (NTRAPS).

"NTRAPS are a predatory practice, and the Colorado legislature has put an end to these schemes that impact homeowners' ability to sell or finance property," said ALTA Vice President of Government Affairs Elizabeth Blosser.

"Our homes are often the most important investment we will make, and this legislation is an important safeguard to better ensure our investment is protected," said AARP Colorado State Director Sara Schueneman.

NTRAPS have been recorded in property records since 2018. The practice preys upon homeowners, offering small cash incentives in exchange for decades-long contracts for the exclusive rights to sell the property. Submitting NTRAPS for inclusion in property records characterized as liens, covenants, encumbrances or security interests in exchange for money creates impediments and increases the cost and complexity of transferring or financing real estate in the future.

Senate Bill 77 follows the objective of similar bills introduced across the country to provide a remedy for existing NTRAPS while also discouraging these types of unfair practices impacting homeowners.

"This bill came into fruition thanks to the collaborative efforts of many of our industry partners, including the Colorado Association of Realtors, and we are pleased the state legislature has recognized that this abusive and anti-consumer activity has no place in Colorado," said LTAC President Leo Hebert.

The new law will:

Make NTRAPS unenforceable against property.

Restrict the recording of NTRAPS in property records.

ALTA and AARP have promoted model legislation to address NTRAPS nationally. "The Colorado bill follows the advocacy efforts we have undertaken in collaboration with ALTA in other states, and we expectand are hopingto support similar legislative solutions in other states to protect homeowners from predatory housing practices," AARP Government Affairs Director Samar Jha said.

Senate Bill 77 will head to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' desk in the coming days, and once signed will go into effect 90 days following the final adjournment of the 2023 General Assembly. Colorado is the second state to pass NTRAPS legislation this year. Similar bills have also passed in Utah and most recently North Dakota.

About ALTA

The American Land Title Association, founded in 1907, is a national trade association representing more than 6,500 title insurance companies, title and settlement agents, independent abstracters, title searchers and real estate attorneys. ALTA members conduct title searches, examinations, closings and issue title insurance that protects real property owners and mortgage lenders against losses from defects in titles.

Contact: Megan Hernandez

Office: 202-261-0315

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE American Land Title Association
PARIS and MILAN , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

EDIT-B: First-in-class CE-marked blood test differentiating bipolar disorder from depression

An estimated 2.3% of the European population is affected by bipolar disorder (BD) [1] , a largely underestimated figure, since an average of 8-10 years passes between the appearance of symptoms and diagnosis [2]

, a largely underestimated figure, since an average of 8-10 years passes between the appearance of symptoms and diagnosis To date, the diagnosis of BD is based on a psychiatric clinical examination of the patient, made by a psychiatrist.

BD is so difficult to diagnose because it is often confused with depression. Misdiagnosed patients may receive inappropriate treatment, which may even worsen their health condition.

To significantly reduce this diagnosis wondering, ALCEDIAG and SYNLAB are announcing, on the occasion of the 31st EPA congress, the availability of EDIT-B, the world's first CE-marked in-vitro blood test designed to differentiate BD from depression.

EDIT-B: a reliable, validated and rapid biological response to reduce the diagnostic delay and address an unmet medical need.

ALCEDIAG and SYNLAB are making EDIT-B , based on RNA editing and AI, available to specialized healthcare professionals and their patients in Europe.

Clinically validated in two clinical studies[3] on independent cohorts and CE IVD[4] marked, it offers remarkable performance with sensitivity and specificity above 80%. Its objective is to help practitioners make a quicker diagnosis; reducing the diagnostic delay to a few days; patient care being consequently dramatically improved and patient management optimized.

"When the brain malfunctions, it sends signals just as a sick liver would. These signals, or biomarkers, can then be captured by a blood test, based on RNA editing, allowing for a faster diagnosis. The introduction of biology into psychiatry is a revolution", comments Dr. Dinah Weissmann, co-founder and Scientific Director of ALCEDIAG.

"We are very proud to be part of the EDIT-B project, which will give an answer to so many patients who must face such a difficult patient journey before being diagnosed. The availability of this test will really be a game-changer in the psychiatric area", states Giovanni Gianolli, CEO of SYNLAB Italy.

EDIT-B complements the existing clinical scales. Technically, it measures the RNA editing of specific markers in patients' blood. ALCEDIAG which developed the test and ensured its regulatory compliance, uses state-of-the-art Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology coupled with proprietary algorithms using artificial intelligence (AI).

EDIT-B is now available in Italy. It will be soon available in France and Switzerland during 2023 and gradually in other countries (SYNLAB is present 26 countries in Europe).

Press Contact ALCEDIAG

AZAPHARM(Paris)

Merryl Marcout

[email protected]

Press contact SYNLAB

HAVAS PR (Milan)

Giovanna Giacalone

[email protected]

About ALCEDIAG

ALCEDIAG is an innovative diagnostics company, focused on mental health, leveraging advanced molecular biology and artificial intelligence to discover and clinically validate the use of new proprietary biomarkers based on RNA editing. ALCEDIAG is a subsidiary of ALCEN, French industrial group with a strong focus on innovation to address societal challenges.

About SYNLAB

SYNLAB strives daily to put people and their health at the center, through responsibility, reliability and innovation, and has introduced in Italy a new "integrated" approach to medical prevention and health care in accordance with the highest European quality standards. Its aim is offering customers a solid and reliable basis for taking the best possible therapeutic decisions.

[1] Merikangas KR & al. Prevalence and correlates of bipolar spectrum disorder in the world mental health survey initiative. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2011;68(3):241- 51.

[2] HAS. June 2014

[3] Salvetat & al. A game changer for bipolar disorder diagnosis using RNA editing-based biomarkers. Transl.Psychiatry (2022) 12:182

[4] Directive 98-79-CE

Video - https://youtu.be/VkI_vlZnhuc

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040841/ALCEDIAG_and_SYNLAB_Logo.jpg

SOURCE ALCEDIAG; SYNLAB
Four new majors and minors in Software Engineering, Data Science, Industrial Design and Public Humanities provide deep knowledge and essential workplace skills

MEADVILLE, Pa., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allegheny College, one of the nation's oldest and most innovative four-year colleges where multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold, has announced four new programs designed to expand its academic offerings in areas tied to prospective student interests and where there are workforce needs for innovation and talent cultivation. The new majors and minors in Software Engineering, Data Science, Industrial Design, Public Humanities will be fully implemented fall 2023 and are part of a plan to reframe liberal arts education to prepare students for jobs of the future.

After a review of prospective student interests and the career paths of recent alumni, Allegheny College faculty recommended and authorized these new programs. The new majors and minors provide a depth of knowledge and expertise within the liberal arts approach to teach analysis, communications, problem-solving and collaboration across subjects. Provost Angela Haddad, Ph.D. approved the creation of additional courses and the staffing plan.

The depth of Allegheny College's new programs is unique among liberal arts colleges. Tweet this

Allegheny College's four new programs are:

Software Engineering Major and Minor expands on the College's strong track record in emerging technologies to enable students to take a more active role in economic development. The program focuses on the knowledge and skills that teams and individuals need to develop and maintain large-scale software systems. Students apply engineering principles and industry-standard software tools to design, implement, test, release and enhance software for real-world customers.





expands on the College's strong track record in emerging technologies to enable students to take a more active role in economic development. The program focuses on the knowledge and skills that teams and individuals need to develop and maintain large-scale software systems. Students apply engineering principles and industry-standard software tools to design, implement, test, release and enhance software for real-world customers. Data Science Major and Minor, builds on the offering from the College's informatics program, focusing on the study of integrated principles and methods to analyze complex big data for decision making, prediction, modeling and data management. Students examine social and human contexts and ethical implications of how data are collected, analyzed and utilized in diverse areas.





builds on the offering from the College's informatics program, focusing on the study of integrated principles and methods to analyze complex big data for decision making, prediction, modeling and data management. Students examine social and human contexts and ethical implications of how data are collected, analyzed and utilized in diverse areas. Industrial Design Major complements the College's Art, Science and Innovation programs. In this major not typically offered at an undergraduate level in a liberal arts context, students work at the intersection of art, design and practical problem-solving to produce innovative products that engage with emerging technological and cultural trends to develop design solutions. Technologies explored include robotics, artificial intelligence, modeling software and production techniques such as 3D printing and CNC machining.





complements the College's Art, Science and Innovation programs. In this major not typically offered at an undergraduate level in a liberal arts context, students work at the intersection of art, design and practical problem-solving to produce innovative products that engage with emerging technological and cultural trends to develop design solutions. Technologies explored include robotics, artificial intelligence, modeling software and production techniques such as 3D printing and CNC machining. Public Humanities Major and Minor takes an intersectional approach unique for the undergraduate level, to educate students for a life, not just a job. This major and minor responds to student interest in the humanities and engages diverse audiences in dynamic conversations about democracy, art, history, technology, well-being, sustainability, sovereignty, cultural heritage and social change. Students pursuing the Public Humanities prepare for careers in non-profit organizations, social activism, digital content creation, urban design, museums, archives, library science, public arts administration, historic preservation and national park services.

"These new programs individually and collectively highlight our distinctive interdisciplinary approach to the liberal arts and emerging technologies," said President Ron Cole, Ph.D. "While many colleges and universities have been only cutting courses, programs and services, we are determined to focus on making Allegheny College more compelling to Gen Z students and today's employers by connecting student interests with the demands of the 21st century marketplace."

The depth of Allegheny College's new programs is unique among liberal arts colleges. At colleges specializing in computer science, design or technology, the complementary benefits of liberal arts skills that employers seek -- problem solving, multi perspective thinking, communications and collaboration -- are often missing. These new programs firmly position Allegheny College as leading the way among liberal arts colleges in STEM programs and defining multidisciplinary technology education into the future in its cohort, where courses are often more applied and utilitarian in content. At colleges specializing in computer science and technology, the complementary benefits of liberal arts training that employers seek -- problem solving, multi perspective thinking, communications and collaboration are often missing.

About Allegheny College

Allegheny College, founded in 1815, is one of the nation's oldest and most innovative four-year colleges where multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold. It is one of the few colleges in the United States with a unique requirement to choose both a major and minor for graduation, to provide students with a cross-disciplinary path in the sciences and humanities for educational depth and intellectual growth. Located in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Allegheny College is one of 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope's "Colleges That Change Lives." In its 2022 rankings, U.S. News & World Report recognized Allegheny College in its Top 25 Best in Undergraduate Teaching and The Most Innovative National Liberal Arts Colleges.

Media Contact

Ivy Cohen

Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications

(212) 399-0026

[email protected]

SOURCE Allegheny College
STAMFORD, Conn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AmCap, Incorporated, a vertically integrated private equity real estate firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of First Colony Center, a 98,179 square-foot, high volume grocery-anchored, shopping center in the Washington, DC suburb of California, MD. The addition of First Colony brings AmCap's Washington, DC area presence to five grocery-anchored centers We are excited to acquire First Colony and add another Giant Grocery Store to our portfolio," said Jake Bisenius, President and CIO of AmCap. "In addition to having high-performing junior anchor tenants including Michaels and Advance Auto Parts, First Colony is shadow anchored by Target, Lowe's and BJ Wholesale Club, who help drive foot-traffic to the center.

AmCap

Located in an affluent and well educated suburb of Washington, D.C., First Colony is located on the main retail corridor in St Mary's County, the fastest growing county in Maryland. The center is less than 5 miles from Naval Air Station Patuxent River which employs over 17,000 civilian and active military. First Colony benefits from a well-positioned location along the highly trafficked Three Notch Road (Route 235).

AmCap's D.C. area portfolio also includes Manokeek Village Center in Accokeek, MD, Arbutus Shopping Center in Arbutus, MD, Montgomery Village Plaza in Gaithersburg, MD and Ashbrook Commons in Ashburn VA. Jake Bisenius said, "First Colony continues AmCap's mission of acquiring well-located properties with tenants that are essential businesses that serve daily needs, are internet resistant and are established members of their respective communities. The AmCap team is excited to be a part of the St. Mary's County community and we look forward to working with Giant and other local stakeholders to ensure the continued success at this location."

First Colony is the third acquisition purchased through a joint venture with Encore Enterprises. Mr. Bisenius continued, "With its high-quality tenant roster and desirable location, First Colony offered us an ideal opportunity to continue to expand our footprint in the area. We look forward to driving improvements within the portfolio to realize the full potential of the properties for the benefit of the tenants and residents, and to provide stable cash flows for our partners."

For leasing opportunity inquires at First Colony and/or throughout AmCap's portfolio, please reach out to our leasing team at [email protected].

About AmCap

Founded in 1979, AmCap is a vertically integrated private equity real estate firm that invests in grocery-anchored and necessity retail properties nationwide, managing over $1 billion of assets on behalf of leading institutional and retail investors. AmCap's 40+ year history gives it unique insight into the drivers of value creation in all facets of the necessity retail property industry. For more information, please visit www.amcap.com.

Media Contact:

Alice Catalano

203-327-2001

[email protected]

SOURCE AmCap
LUXEMBOURG, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A. will host its First Quarter 2023 earnings call on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

A results release will be posted to our website at midday BST (07:00 EDT) on April 27, 2023, at https://www.ardaghmetalpackaging.com/investors

An investor webcast and conference call will be held at 14:00 BST (9:00 EDT) on April 27, 2023. A full replay of the presentation will also be available at the same link shortly after the conclusion of the live presentation.

Webcast https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1606643&tp_key=ceef72e355

Dial in*:

International: +44 (0)330 165 4027

US/Canada: +1 800-239-9838

Conference code: 6230856

*It is not necessary to dial into the audio conference unless you are unable to join the webcast.

Additional dial-in numbers are at this link, or simply click Participant Access Information (globalmeet.com) and enter your details to be connected. The link is active 15 minutes prior to the start time.

About Ardagh Metal Packaging

Ardagh Metal Packaging (AMP) is a leading global supplier of infinitely recyclable, sustainable, metal beverage cans and ends to brand owners. A subsidiary of sustainable packaging business Ardagh Group, AMP is a leading industry player across Europe and the Americas with innovative production capabilities. AMP operates 24 production facilities in nine countries, employing more than 6,300 employees and had sales of $4.7 billion in 2022.

SOURCE Ardagh Metal Packaging S.A.
GREEN BAY, Wis., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) today announced it will release first quarter 2023 financial results on Thursday, April 20, 2023, after market close. The Company will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) on the same day.

Interested parties can access the live webcast of the call through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, http://investor.associatedbank.com. Parties may also dial into the call at 877-407-8037 (domestic) or 201-689-8037 (international) and request the Associated Banc-Corp first quarter 2023 earnings call. The financial tables and an accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company's website just prior to the call. An audio archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately fifteen minutes after the call is over.

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $39 billion and is the largest bank holding company based in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and loan production offices in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "project," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

Investor Contact: Ben McCarville

Vice President | Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059 | [email protected]

Media Contact: Jennifer Kaminski

Vice President | Public Relations Senior Manager

920-491-7576 | [email protected]

SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp
HOUSTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Student creativity will reach new heights as Axiom Space Ax-2 Pilot, John Shoffner hosts The International Space Art and Poetry Contest live from the International Space Station this Spring.

See your art and poetry LIVE from the International Space Station Tweet this Astronaut John Shoffner inspires global art and poetry contest

Shoffner is a life-long space enthusiast. At 8-years-old, he formed a young astronauts club with his friends in his hometown of Middlesboro, Kentucky. While space was his first passion, it didn't make for a widely accepted career, so he took a more traditional route. Despite finding success in the fiber optic telecommunications industry, John's wild ambition to become an astronaut never escaped him. In fact, he held onto a painting he created at 10 years old of an astronaut floating in space.

Little did he know that painting would later accompany him to the ISS and inspire a global art contest. Now, John is asking students ages 5-18, "What would it look like if we lived in space?" With the help of a teacher or guardian, participants are encouraged to submit their most creative drawings, paintings, or poetry to www.spaceartcontest.com .

Submissions will be categorized by age divisions (5-8, 9-13, 14-18) and by genre (visual art and poetry). Students from around the world will have the chance to showcase vivid color and curiosity as they take us on a journey into space as they envision it. Two representatives from each age division, one art and one poetry, will receive special recognition LIVE from the ISS on Axiom's Ax-2 mission.

The contest is hosted in collaboration with Crayola Experience, Limitless Space Institute and MIT Space Exploration Initiative, and will be judged by Peggy Whitson (NASA Icon and Ax-2 Commander), Kaci Heins (Limitless Space Institute Education Director), Monique Lorden (Visual Artist and Poet), Ariel Ekblaw (Director, MIT Space Exploration Initiative), and John Shoffner (Ax-2 Pilot and Project Visionary). Submissions are open now and close on April 17.

John's story is one that proves dreams never fade and creativity knows no limits. For more information, visit www.spaceartcontest.com

CONTACT: Nicole Swickle, [email protected]

SOURCE The International Space Art and Poetry Contest
Baseus is spotlighting the PowerCombo & Bowie series for 2023.

SHENZHEN, China, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Baseus, the leading consumer electronics brand is spotlighting its PowerCombo and Bowie series along with its top-ranked power banks.

Baseus is a consumer electronics brand founded in 2011 bearing in mind "Simple for More", creating seamlessly practical and aesthetic products for young tech enthusiasts. The brand provides digital power strips, TWS earbuds, PD power banks, USB C hubs, fast chargers, and more consumer electronics. It integrates design, research and development, production and sales.

Whether you value minimalism or cutting-edge features, there is a Baseus product that evokes your style.

Baseus PowerCombo

PowerCombo power strips are presumably the next-gen charging solution, combining charger and power strip. It's an all-in-one energy center built with multiple smart protections to keep devices safe all the way, featuring AC outlets, USB-C plus USB-A ports as well as PD charging cable fitted in one pack to charge and power devices  overall redefining its kinds.

Baseus offers digital power strips in both low and high power output versions to meet specific needs of every user. The low output versions are designed to charge essential devices for daily use, whereas the high output ones provide more fast charging ports to accommodate multiple hungrier devices.

Baseus Bowie

Bluetooth earbuds titled "Bowie" are relatively competitive with fine-tuned features such as providing upscaled sound quality thanks to the larger driver coils enhancing the sound, the bass and trebles. Earbuds' ANC noise canceling goes up to -48dB which meet the highest standard while certain are powered with Baseus' spatial audio technology developed based on professional study delivering an unparalleled in-depth listening experience, and shaped to fit snug and secure allowing users to get the most out of their investment.

Baseus Power Bank

Baseus power banks come in a range of capacity from 5,000 to 30,000mAh and a power output going up to 100W to suit different needs. There are 3 major lineups where Amblight series focuses on larger capacity and various ports, Adaman series aiming on fast charging and metal casing for better heat dissipation, and the Blade series more about thin form factor yet powerful providing 100W high output ideal to have for charging your laptop on the go.

Products under these series names are already available, and Baseus is about to introduce newcomers this year. To learn more about Baseus, you are welcome to visit www.baseus.com.

Media contact:

Name: Roy Liao

Phone: +1 213-512-7063

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Baseus Technology (HK) Co., Ltd
BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Xcelom Limited, a subsidiary of Berry Genomics, has recently signed a cooperation agreement with Ajlan & Bros Medical Company, an Ajlan & Bros Holding subsidiary, to establish a joint venture that will support Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030."

The joint venture will focus on genetic testing in the field of reproductive health and carry out in-depth collaboration on a series of projects that leverage Berry Genomics' advanced technology.

Gene technology empowers new markets

The partnership between (Xcelom Limited) and (Ajlan & Bros Medical Company) marks a major step in Berry Genomics' overseas strategy.

As part of the collaboration, the two parties will fully integrate their technology, scientific research, as well as industrial and strategic resources. The joint venture will introduce DNA-based noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and other genetic testing products to the Saudi Arabian and Middle Eastern markets, provide accurate diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases and improve the quality of local medical services. The two parties will also launch projects such as the creation of local genetic testing laboratories in the future.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia launched "Vision 2030," a strategic framework whose initiatives include the transformation of the country's health sector, such as by expanding the coverage of medical services, improving its quality and efficiency, employing digitization and smart devices and more, creating clear and substantial market potential.

Ajlan Mohammed Alajlan, Deputy Group CEO of Ajlan & Bros Holding, said: "We are very much looking forward to the collaboration with Berry Genomics and bringing China's advanced disease detection and R&D capabilities to Saudi Arabia. We value Berry Genomics' technology and R&D capabilities in professional fields such as gene sequencing and clinical applications. The partnership between the two parties reflects our positive response towards and our implementation of the medical innovation plans included in 'Vision 2030.' We look forward to seeing this joint venture spur the development of the Saudi pharmaceutical and health industries and improve the lives of the Saudi people."

Gao Yang, Chairman and General Manager of Berry Genomics, said: "The establishment of a partnership with a company as strong and capable as Ajlan & Bros Holding is only the first step. Entering overseas markets will encourage us to continue to refine our products and services to suit different groups of people as well as meet a wider range of clinical needs. We hope to safeguard the health of more people around the world with high-quality genetic testing products."

About Berry Genomics

Berry Genomics has been listed on A-share market in China since 2017 under the stock code:000710. Berry Genomics is a leading company in clinical genomics and life science in China. It is dedicated to research, development and commercialization of genetic test technologies in clinical applications.

Berry Genomics aims to assist accurate diagnosis of diseases throughout the full human life circle, and to improve human health.As a company with strong R&D capability, Berry Genomics pioneered the first NGS-based genetic test, NIPT,in China back in 2010. The company currently provides NGS-based tests for many genetic diseases and cancers from preconception to adulthood.

Berry Genomics is also leading in the use of Third-Generation Sequencing technology in both clinical field and scientific study. Now it has commercialized several products to screen mono genetic diseases in China.

Berry Genomics has around 1500 employees dedicating to developing products and providing services for over 7000 organizations and facilities home and abroad, including hospitals, research institutions,universities and corporations.

About Ajlan & Bros Holding

Ajlan & Bros Holding (hereafter referred to as "the Group"), owned by the Alajlan family, is a global diversified conglomerate with multi-channel business sectors covering technology, financial services, manufacturing, healthcare provision, education, gaming, metal & mining, hospitality & tourism, logistics, etc. The Group employs over 15,000 staff in more than 25 countries and regions, across 75 companies. The Alajlan family, one of the most well-known family businesses in the Middle East, ranks top 10 in Saudi Arabia in 2022 Forbes' 'Top 100 Arab Family Businesses'.

The Alajlan family created its investment portfolio in China 35 years ago. With 4 office established in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong since 2017. As the largest Saudi private sector conglomerate in China, with strong capital and financing capabilities, the Group uses its capital to make strong diversified investments, provide abundant local market resources and forge deep government relations.

Currently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in the process of economic strategic transformations and upgrades. As the gateway to the MENA region, the Group hopes to make the best use of its resources to become a leader in industries that are aligned with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, committed to seeking qualified cooperation and building strong and long-term relationships with Chinese counterparties, to jointly seize the opportunities in the Kingdom and mutually benefit from the development.

SOURCE Berry Genomics
TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Black Swan Graphene Inc. ("Black Swan") (TSXV: SWAN) (OTCQB: BSWGF) (Frankfurt: R96) and Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd. ("NERD") are pleased to announce a strategic partnership being embedded in a fully integrated supply chain which will include Arup Group Limited ("Arup"), a multinational engineering consultancy headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with 18,000 experts working across 140 countries.

Black Swan Graphene and Nationwide Engineering Announce Strategic Partnership, Part of an Integrated Supply Chain, to Accelerate the Adoption of Graphene-enhanced Concrete Globally (CNW Group/Black Swan Graphene)

At the core of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, is the completion of an equity swap where each company will own approximately five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares of the other (the "Equity Swap"), and the execution of a supply agreement between the two companies (the "Supply Agreement") under which NERD will be sourcing its graphene requirements from Black Swan.

Concurrently with the creation of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, Arup is expected to enter into a partnership with NERD, pursuant to which it is expected to gain ownership of 4.2% of the outstanding shares of NERD. The partnerships between Black Swan and NERD, and between NERD and Arup, are intended to enhance expertise and create an integrated supply chain aimed at accelerating the adoption of graphene-enhanced concrete globally.

NERD, a spin-out company from Nationwide Engineering Group, has developed a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete, ConcreteneTM ("Concretene"), which can significantly increase the strength of the material in mix designs, allowing for cement reduction and lowering of carbon footprint on construction projects. This is important for the global construction industry, from which cement manufacture currently accounts for approximately 8% of global CO 2 emissions. Imminent legislative requirements for decarbonisation mean the sector must act rapidly to ensure sustainability. Concretene is a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that has demonstrated the ability to reduce CO 2 emissions by approximately 30%, driven mainly by a significant reduction in the volume of concrete required to achieve equivalent performances. A meaningful reduction, if not an elimination, of rebar requirements, combined with a longer life cycle of the concrete, represent additional cost saving opportunities for the industry. The product has been developed in partnership with The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre ("GEIC").

NERD is rapidly advancing the adoption of Concretene in conjunction with the GEIC and is in advanced evaluation stage for projects with partners such as Heathrow and Manchester Airports, Network Rail, National Highways, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in the United Kingdom.

Black Swan is a producer of low cost and high-performance graphene powders, derived from graphite, ideally suited for the concrete industry. Black Swan's graphene technology was originally developed by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. and advanced internally until the launch of Black Swan in 2021. Black Swan has indicated its intention to significantly increase its graphene production including in the graphite production facility of Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NYSE: NMG) (TSXV: NOU) currently in operation in Quebec, Canada, aiming to create an integrated facility from graphite ore in the ground to graphene finished products.

NERD and Arup Partnership

Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup Group Limited, a globally recognised design and engineering firm has been building, in partnership with the NERD, expertise and know-how on the use of graphene-enhanced concrete in buildings and infrastructure. The agreement with Arup, through Ove Arup Ventures Ltd., provides 4.2% equity in NERD in exchange for collaboration and expertise towards global roll-out of the technology. Details of Arup's extensive global portfolio, which includes the Samuel de Champlain Bridge in Montreal, Canada, may be found at: www.arup.com/projects.

Simon Marcotte, Chief Executive Officer of Black Swan Graphene, commented: "The partnerships announced today are poised to have far-reaching implications for the global concrete industry. By leveraging the exceptional performance of the NERD process and Arup's expertise, reach and leadership, this integrated supply chain can provide a turnkey solution and revolutionize the concrete industry on a global scale. Considering that concrete is the second most utilized material on Earth, surpassed only by water, it is difficult to imagine a more exciting opportunity. I am very optimistic about the impact of this collaboration and its potential to catalyze sustainable and innovative practices in the industry."

Rob Hibberd, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Engineering Research & Development, commented: "We are delighted to formalise these partnerships with Black Swan and Arup as part of NERD and we look forward to combining our skillsets to deliver Concretene to the construction industry in our drive to reduce global CO 2 emissions. This is further enhanced by our unique long-term research collaboration with the University of Manchester to further understand the complex world of nanomaterial technology. We see Concretene as the first product of many that this partnership will develop, with progress in paints, polymers and asphalt already in advanced stages as well."

Matt Lovell, Director at Arup, commented: "Continued innovation in the production of concrete can drive the construction industry's journey towards net zero carbon emissions. Supporting that transformative change with our NERD partnership furthers Arup's goal of shaping a better, more sustainable world. We look forward to using our commercial know-how and deep expertise in the built environment to help NERD's innovators realise the full potential of Concretene."

Equity Swap

Under the Equity Swap, NERD will issue to Black Swan 7,177 seed preferred shares (the "NERD Shares"), ranking senior to all other shares in the share capital of NERD, at a deemed price per share of 220 for an aggregate deemed subscription price of approximately 1.58 million or approximately CAD$2.65M (the "Subscription Amount") and representing a 5.0% ownership stake in NERD on a post-money, fully diluted basis. Black Swan will pay for the NERD Shares by way of issuance of 16,371,504 common shares in the capital of Black Swan (the "Black Swan Shares"), representing a 5.0% ownership stake in Black Swan on a fully diluted basis. The Black Swan Shares shall be subject to a hold period of four months under Canadian securities laws and a 36-month lock-up undertaking. The issuance of the Black Swan Shares is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V").

Supply Agreement

Under the Supply Agreement, Black Swan will have the right, and not the obligation, to supply NERD with bulk graphene and NERD will, subject to certain terms of the agreement including pricing mechanism and technical requirements as needed by NERD, purchase bulk graphene from Black Swan in accordance with its needs (the "Right to Supply") and the framework of the Supply Agreement, which includes purchase orders, delivery, shipment, and risk management protocols, as well as potential product development and R&D collaboration.

Concretene Technology and Performance

By using the unique properties of nanomaterial graphene, an atomically thin form of carbon, Concretene offers significant benefits in compressive, tensile and flexural strength, as well as faster curing times, less microcracking and reduced permeability to water and salts. This enables comparable or greater performance to be achieved in concrete design mixes while using less cement. The technology has been developed to deliver a product that is frictionless at the point of use, requiring no additional equipment or training and, most crucially of all, can be scaled at a viable cost to industry.

Graphene is exceedingly strong, light and flexible and is the most conductive material of both electricity and heat ever discovered. It is also hydrophobic by nature, which means getting it to mix, interact and disperse in a water-based material such as concrete is highly complex. Graphene has an immense relative surface area, up to 2500 m2 in just one (1) gram of material, which acts as a mechanical support and as an active surface for the chemical reaction that takes place as cement paste crystallises into its permanent solid state.

High-magnification study of the finished material shows differing arrangements of crystallisation between standard and graphene-enhanced concretes, with a less porous microstructure evident in the latter. However, making effective graphene-enhanced concrete is technically challenging as, if allowed, graphene agglomerates back into clumps of graphite and loses its strength-giving properties.

Not only does Concretene have the ability to disperse evenly in large volumes of concrete, but it also demonstrates stability in solution for storage and transport. Several years of optimization work have been necessary to achieve these unique performances.

Until recently, producing graphene at a scale large enough for it to be used in real-world applications has proven challenging. But with graphene suppliers such as Black Swan able to produce material in industrial volumes, graphene is becoming a realistic option for commercial scale in construction.

Corporate Matters

Paradigm Capital is acting as an advisor for Black Swan Graphene Inc. for the transaction announced today. While no cash consideration is payable to Paradigm Capital, upon closing of the transaction, Black Swan will grant Paradigm Capital an aggregate of 1,600,000 compensation warrants with an exercise price of $0.15 which will be exercisable for a period of three (3) years from the Closing Date, but not earlier than 18 months following the Closing Date.

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg ("Davies") served as legal counsel to Black Swan Graphene Inc., and Withers LLP served as legal counsel to Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd. for the transaction.

About Black Swan Graphene Inc.

Black Swan is focused on the large-scale production and commercialization of patented high-performance and low-cost graphene products aimed at several industrial sectors, including concrete, polymers, Li-ion batteries, and others, which are expected to require large volumes of graphene. Black Swan aims to leverage the low cost and green hydroelectricity of the province of Quebec as well as the proximity of the eventual graphite production sites of the province in order to establish a fully integrated supply chain, reduce overall costs, and accelerate the deployment of graphene usage. Black Swan's graphene processing technology was developed by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd ("Thomas Swan") over the last decade. Thomas Swan is a United Kingdom-based global chemicals manufacturer, with a century-long track record and has been at the forefront of graphene innovation.

For more information, please visit: www.blackswangraphene.com

About Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd.

Nationwide Engineering Research & Development (NERD) is a standalone R&D firm spun out from UK construction group Nationwide Engineering in 2022 by co-founders and award-winning chartered civil engineers Rob Hibberd and Alex McDermott in order to focus on bringing Concretene, and ultimately a further suite of sustainable building technologies, to market. In December 2022, NERD announced a fundraise of 8,000,000 from LocalGlobe  EMEA's most successful investor in unicorns at SEED stage1  for work towards full commercialisation of the technology. These funds have allowed NERD to take Tier 1 membership of The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, a 60m state-of-the-art facility dedicated to prototyping nanomaterial technologies. NERD is also committing to a multi-million-pound sponsorship of a Chair of Construction Materials to ensure the University  and the collaboration on Concretene  remains at the forefront of understanding in this highly complex area of advanced material science.

For more information, please visit: www.nationwideengineering.co.uk

___________ 1 According to Dealroom Investor Ranking; www.dealroom.co

About Arup Group Limited

Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of designers, consultants and experts working globally. Founded to be humane and excellent, we collaborate with our clients and partners, using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world.

For more information, please visit: www.arup.com

Black Swan Graphene Inc. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Simon Marcotte, CFA, President & Chief Executive Officer

Nationwide Research and Development Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Rob Hibberd, Chief Executive Officer

Arup Group Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Matt Lovell, Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information". Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to the success or failure of the partnerships between Black Swan and NERD and NERD and ARUP to deliver the expected results, including the creation of a global chain of supply for graphene enhanced concrete, risks related to Black Swan's holding of the NERD Shares, including the risks related to holding shares of a start-up and related to the lack of liquidity thereof, risks related to the development of graphene enhanced concrete and other graphene enhanced components, risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with the industry; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of a scoping and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future results will not be consistent with Black Swan's expectations; risks related to commodity prices fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to Black Swan's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Black Swan's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Black Swan does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from Black Swan's expectations or projections.

SOURCE Black Swan Graphene
Councilman Mark Squilla Agrees to Introduce Legislation for a Ban

PHILADELPHIA, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Philadelphia is in line to be the first U.S. city to roll out electric carriages and do away with horses once and for all. Eric Lerner, Chief Operating Officer of Brady Hunter Foundation, and Josh Fox, Executive Director of Brady Hunter Foundation have offered to provide Philadelphia with electric carriages from creator Alphonso Hernandez Olmo, with a promise from City Councilman Mark Squilla to introduce legislation for a ban this year.

Revolution Philadelphia, a nonprofit animal rights organization, and Brady Hunter Foundation, met with Councilman Squilla on March 24 to discuss the ongoing problem and proposed an electric carriage prototype for Philadelphia that is already underway. The first carriages to arrive in Philadelphia will be in memory of Ryder, the New York carriage horse that collapsed in Midtown Manhattan last summer.

"All species are created equal. I am so happy to find that the suffering will end for horses in Philadelphia," said Josh Fox. "I helped establish the Brady Hunter Foundation to end animal cruelty and protect wildlife, including the removal of horse-drawn carriages across the country. We're excited to work with Councilman Squilla and the Revolution Philadelphia team to introduce this bill and privately finance the removal of horse-drawn carriages."

"This endeavor is a win-win for Philadelphia. It shows you can retire the horses while also reviving economic opportunities for horse carriage workers," added Eric Lerner. "Electric carriages, like what we are bringing to Philadelphia, will put out to pasture the cruel mistreatment of animals that has gone on for far too long."

"We are very excited to see history made with Philly being the first major US city to do this. Animal-free tourism is the future and we are thrilled to see Philly leading the way. A win for the horses in Philadelphia is a win for horses everywhere," added Tiffany Stair, Revolution Philadelphia.

"With this transition from cruelty to compassion, we anticipate legislation in the near future that will ban horse-drawn carriages for good. Our goal is to never allow horses to be exploited by pulling carriages in Philadelphia again," concluded Stephanie Curson, Revolution Philadelphia.

More information on the electric carriages created by Alphonso Hernandez Olmo is available online at https://compassionatetourism.org/

About Revolution Philadelphia

Revolution Philadelphia a nonprofit, grassroots, animal rights organization founded by women. Revolution Philadelphia was founded by Mansi Bhagwate, an Occupational Therapist and Tiffany Stair, a Registered Nurse. Our goal is to make positive changes in the lives of animals by way of legislation and creating public awareness about animal rights issues.

About Brady Hunter Foundation

The Brady Hunter Foundation is a 501(c)(3) founded by philanthropists and animal lovers to end animal cruelty and build sanctuaries globally to protect wildlife.

For Revolution Philadelphia

Tiffany Stair

610-209-9039

[email protected]

Stephanie Curson

610-715-9676

[email protected]

For Brady Hunter Foundation

Andrew Jennings

973-791-3391

[email protected]

SOURCE Revolution Philadelphia
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Executive Home Care, one of the nation's leading in-home care providers, is participating in Careers In Aging Week by raising awareness about the growing demand for senior home healthcare and the franchise opportunity available.

Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65, and with life expectancies on the rise, this demographic will represent over 20% of our population by 2050. AARP's recent Home And Communities Preferences Survey states 77 percent of older adults want to remain in their homes as they age.

According to Executive Home Care Brand President Kevin Porter, now is a great time to become part of the thriving home healthcare industry. "The aging population is increasing the demand for in-home care services," he explained. "As a result, there's never been a better time to consider a career in senior care and become a part of the Executive Home Care family."

Porter noted that as a respected home healthcare brand, Executive Home Care offers a unique franchise opportunity for those looking to enter the senior care industry. "As a proven business model with valuable revenue streams, extensive training and support, and a commitment to providing exceptional care, Executive Home Care is the ideal choice for individuals looking to make a positive impact in their community," he added.

Senen Cabalfin and Jeff Wolf, both Executive Home Care franchisees, share their reasons for choosing the franchise opportunity.

"As an operating room nurse, I found that the continuity of care was lacking compared to what I experienced in home care, says Cabalfin. "The personal interactions and the ability to build lasting relationships were what I valued most, which led me to transition to the home care specialty. This passion for providing personalized care is what inspired me to become an Executive Home Care franchisee."

"I always wanted a career where I could help others," adds Wolf. "With my Executive Home Care franchise, I quickly became an important and valuable resource in my community, delivering expert senior care that makes the real difference."

Executive Home Care is part of the Evive Brands family providing exceptional support and services to families and communities across the nation. With various discounts and financing options available, qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit https://executivehomecare.com/.

Contact: Rhonda Grundemann, 602-739-8810 [email protected]

SOURCE Executive Home Care
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, announced Monday she will retire from the agency at the end of April. Lueders' current deputy and astronaut, Ken Bowersox, will become the new head of Space Operations, effective Monday, May 1.

Pictured left to right; NASA's Kathryn Lueders and Ken Bowersox. Credits: NASA

"Kathy is a tremendous public servant and a trailblazer, not only serving as the first woman to head space operations for NASA and the first woman to manage our human spaceflight program, but also championing a new way of doing business in low Earth orbit. The public-private commercial model Kathy and her team helped pioneer will return humanity to the Moon and prepare us for our next giant leap: the first crewed missions to Mars," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Ken has been instrumental to advancing NASA's goals and missions in low-Earth orbit and beyond, and I know Space Operations will be in good hands under his leadership."

During her 31 years with the agency, Lueders provided strategic guidance for NASA's human exploration of space, as well as operations that allow the agency to launch science missions to learn about Earth and the universe. Her efforts have helped NASA foster significant change in how it partners with American industry to support and expand research aboard the International Space Station  with crewed and cargo transportation to and from the station.

Lueders started her NASA career at the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she was the Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control Systems Depot manager. She quickly demonstrated her engineering expertise, leading her through positions in the International Space Station Program and eventually to serve as manager of the Commercial Crew Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before joining NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Her many honors include several NASA achievement awards, the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, and the Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, she is a 2022 National Academy of Engineering member, a 2020 SpaceNews Government Leader of the Year, an inductee to the 2021 Space and Satellite Hall of Fame, and recipient of the 2021 American Astronomical Society Spaceflight Achievement Award, 2020 Woman in Aerospace Leadership Award, 2022 Space Pioneer Award by the National Space Society, and IAASS' 2019 Leonardo da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.

Upon Lueders' retirement, Bowersox will take lead for the mission directorate. His operations experience includes being acting associate administrator of the former Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, will allow NASA to build on its success in human space exploration.

As an astronaut, Bowersox flew five orbital missions for NASA, including two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. He served as commander of the sixth expedition at the space station. Following his station mission, Bowersox served as the director of flight operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. He also has experience from working with American industry and serving on the NASA Advisory Council as chair of the Human Exploration and Operations Committee.

"Kathy and Ken have both dedicated their life's work to NASA and our nation. I wish Kathy well during her retirement. We know countless individuals at NASA  as well as members of the Artemis Generation  will be inspired by Kathy's service and countless contributions," Nelson said.

Learn more about Bowersox's experience in his biography online:

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/heo/bowersox-bio.html

SOURCE NASA
CHICAGO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Chatbot Market size is valued at USD 3.02 Billion in 2022 and is projected to be USD 24.58 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21.58% from 2023 to 2030, as per a recent report published by Cognitive Market Research. As per Cognitive Market Research analysis, Chatbot Market is growing exponentially as companies are profitably investing in the market. For instance, Google has launched Bard AI Chatbot to compete with ChatGPT.

Major findings during the study of the Chatbot Market:

Chatbots are commonly used for the improvement of IT service management experience. In the business sector, a chatbot is used in the customer contact process to manage all the conversations with the customers

Software component dominates the chatbot market as the software allows incorporation of natural language processors along with cloud-based deployment and AI facility. Chatbot software is highly adopted by all the industrial verticals owing to the limitless benefits offered by this conversational software in both business and customer sectors

Cloud segment held a significant revenue share in the chatbot market, and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the growing demand for cloud-based services across the globe. It has a huge capacity for storing information about user preferences. This helps it to provide customized solutions

In terms of connectivity, the mobile application is accounting highest market share in 2022. This can be attributed to the large number of people using mobile phones. It has been estimated that more than two-thirds of the global population uses a mobile phone. Thus, chatbots through mobile applications can reach to a large number of people serving industries, like banking, retail, e-commerce, and others

Chatbot through social media will also show a significant rise in the coming years as chatbots are been installed in various social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and others with the help of AI

Based on application, the retail and e-commerce segment dominate the market with a significant share. This can be attributed to the high inclination towards online shopping platforms. As more and more people rely on e-commerce websites, retailers are doing their best to satisfy their customers. Hence, distributors are using chatbots that allows providing customers with 24/7 support and the ability to report queries from an interface on a company website, mobile app, or from any social media accounts like Facebook or WhatsApp

North America held the highest revenue market share in the chatbot market owing to the presence of large enterprises in the U.S. Further, advancement in technologies, such as VR, AI, machine learning, and 5G, stimulates the adoption of chatbots in this region

held the highest revenue market share in the chatbot market owing to the presence of large enterprises in the U.S. Further, advancement in technologies, such as VR, AI, machine learning, and 5G, stimulates the adoption of chatbots in this region APAC is showing the highest growth rate owing to the rising awareness and usage of digital platforms. The population of China , followed by Japan and India , are becoming more and more comfortable with technologies which enhance the market for a chatbot in these countries

Read Full Market Analysis Chatbot: by Component (Software and Services); by Deployment (On-Premise, and Cloud); by Connectivity (Mobile Applications, Social Media, and Others); by Organization (Large Enterprises and SMEs); by Industrial Verticals (BFSI, Retail, and E-commerce, Hospitality, Healthcare, Telecommunication, and Others); by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East, and Africa) Global Industry Analysis, COVID-19 Impact, and Industry Forecast, 2018-2030

Chatbot Industry Statistics 2022:

Global Chatbot Market 2022 Global Revenue (USD Billion) 3.02 CAGR  (2023-2030) 21.6 % Software Component Share 71.3 % Cloud Deployment Share 63.2 % Mobile Application Share 43.1 % Large Enterprises Share 67.5 % Retail and E-Commerce Share 31.3 % North America Chatbot Market Share 34.2 %

What are the Growth, Drivers, and Restraint for the Chatbot Market?

Driver:

High integration of chatbot in various industrial verticals:

Chatbot usage is rising exponentially in both the business sector and the consumer market. It is an instant messaging app that creates natural conversations between businesses and customers. The demand for chatbots has increased in recent years due to the rising inclination of people towards online shopping. In online shopping platforms, the sales team uses chatbots to answer non-complex product questions, which helps improve customer satisfaction and convenience. For instance, Google has introduced BARD, which is an AI-powered chatbot. It aims to enhance productivity, creativity, and curiosity while addressing potential biases and misinformation. Initially, the company has made it available in the US and UK and plans to expand to more countries and languages.

Moreover, the world is moving rapidly towards digitalization. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has turned into a digital world. Hence, the healthcare industry, like all other industries has started using chatbots aggressively, which helps connect patients with hospitalists for general diagnosis and treatment. It also allows scheduling appointments with physicians without needing to travel to the hospital.

Chatbots have been connected through websites, mobile applications, along with social media platforms which further drives the growth of market. As AI implementation in chatbots is rising, it is revolutionizing the business processes in multiple industries. AI-powered chatbots thus have no limits for their usage in various sectors, including BFSI, telecommunication, e-commerce, and others accrediting the growth market across the world.

Restraint:

Drawbacks regarding the full understanding of natural language:

To ensure that the chatbot is providing correct and relevant information to the customers, it must be updated with the right information. However, people in today widely used short forms out of their habit for speedy responses. Such kinds of slang or misspellings are frequently misunderstood by these chatbots. Hence, the inability to understand this kind of natural language may hamper the growth of the chatbot market.

However, the rising use of cloud services by various enterprises will help chatbots retrieve huge amounts of data from the cloud, which will enhance the understanding of natural language and further stimulate the growth of the chatbot market. For instance, Meta is working on the availability of AI persona on WhatsApp and Messenger.

Check the Full Report, including Global, Regional, and Country Level Analysis:

https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com/chatbot-market-report

How COVID-19 Impacted the Chatbot Market?

The advent of COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the lives of people across the globe by changing the way of work, shop, and learn. Every sector has been impacted due to the sudden outbreak of the pandemic. Lockdowns were announced, and many customer service centers were closed. Disruption in the supply chain occurred, and online services failed to handle additional volumes effectively. Hence, to manage this chaos effectively, companies started investing in new technologies to provide additional support and allow workers to adapt to work-from-home setups.

Lockdown during 2020, embraced the digital world like never before. Thus, the digital literacy rate during the pandemic increased exponentially resulting in stimulation of chatbot use. Retail businesses increased the use of chatbots during COVID-19 to fulfill consumer needs and give retailers a competitive edge in the market. Thus, outbreak of COVID-19 had a positive impact on the chatbot market.

Chatbot Market Report Scope

Chatbot Market  Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018  2030)

Software

Services

Chatbot Market  Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018  2030)

On-Premise

Cloud

Chatbot Market  Connectivity Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018  2030)

Websites

Social Media

Others

Chatbot Market- Organization Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018  2030)

Large Enterprises

SME's

Chatbot Market- Industrial Verticals Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018  2030)

BFSI

Retail and E-commerce

Hospitality

Healthcare

Telecommunication

Others

Chatbot Market  Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018  2030)

North America (U.S., Canada , Mexico )

(U.S., , ) Europe ( Germany , France , UK, Italy , Spain , Russia , Rest of Europe )

( , , UK, , , , Rest of ) Asia Pacific ( China , Japan , India , South Korea , Australia , Southeast Asia , Rest of APAC)

( , , , , , , Rest of APAC) Latin America ( Brazil , Argentina , Columbia , Rest of Latin America )

( , , , Rest of ) Middle East & Africa (GCC, Saudi Arabia , Turkey , Egypt , Rest of MEA)

List of Key Players in the Chatbot Market

Creative Virtual Ltd.

IBM Corporation

Next IT Corp.

Inbenta Technologies Inc.

Botsify Inc.

Acuvate

Microsoft

Google

Relinns Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

eGain Corporation

Aivo

Others

Related Reports on Chatbot Market:

Global Artificial Intelligence Market is projected to hit USD 1,583.14 Billion by 2030

The artificial intelligence market is expected to reach USD 1,583.14 Billion by 2030 growing at a CAGR of 36.54%. AI to solve problems, syndicates computer science and robust datasets. It also uses machine learning and deep learning sub-fields that create expert systems based on inputs. Revolution in the digital world and high penetration of digital technologies across the globe has increased the demand for AI. wide array of industries, including BFSI, healthcare, retail, and automotive, among others use AI to run their businesses. These factors are attributed to the growth of the Artificial Intelligence Market.

Global E-commerce Market is expected to reach USD 28.63 Trillion by 2030

The global e-commerce market is expected to reach USD 28.63 Trillion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 14.45%. E-commerce is a convenient way of buying and selling goods and services through online platforms. It has been studied that approximately 36% of U.S. consumers are now buying goods online, which was only 29% in 2019. Hence, companies are also rushing to meet digital demand and expanding their portfolio to meet customer demand after increased digital sales. Furthermore, COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to eCommerce everywhere.

Other Related Reports:

Global 5G Services Market to reach $389.56 Billion by 2030, growing at an impressive CAGR of 26.43%

to reach by 2030, growing at an impressive CAGR of Global Machine Learning Market to hit $214.56 Billion by 2030, growing at an impressive CAGR of 39.64%

to hit by 2030, growing at an impressive CAGR of Global Cloud Services Market to hit USD 1,624.01 Billion by 2030 growing at a CAGR of 15.45%

Explore Other Cognitive Market Research's Internet & Communication Industry Report

About Cognitive Market Research

Cognitive Market Research has evolved as one of the leading market research and consulting firms providing services across multiple domains. Our team of researchers gathers and analyzes data about customers, competitors, distributors, and other market actors and forces operating across the value chain. As a market research company, we gather information about the target market and end-use industries to verify the complete journey of the product or service in the global market. It helps our readers understand the demand and viability of their product/service and how it might perform in the real world and help them to build business strategies accordingly.

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

Blog: What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Porter's Five Forces in a Business?

How Businesses Use Porter's Five Forces Analysis to Create Business Strategy?

How to Contact Us:

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Global Sales Manager

Cognitive Market Research

Phone: USA: (+1) +1 312-376-8303 | Europe and UK: (+44) 20-8144-9523

Asia Pacific: (+852) 81930785 | India: (+91) 983-496-8611

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.cognitivemarketresearch.com

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Research Methodology

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SOURCE Cognitive Market Research
CNB provided a senior secured term loan facility and other extensions of credit for four New York-based community solar projects which make up part of OYA's 9 Gigawatt project pipeline

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - OYA Renewables ("OYA"), a leading energy transition solutions platform, today announced that it has secured backing from City National Bank (CNB), a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada  with a US$27.1 million long-term loan facility. In addition to this, OYA also received funding from Greenprint, the tax equity investor for the four projects, due to the projects reaching the Substantial Completion milestone.

"City National Bank has a smart and experienced team, and a progressive approach to project finance within clean energy," said Manish Nayar, Chairman and Founder of OYA Renewables. "As our community solar project pipeline continues to see significant growth within New York State and beyond, having robust financial backing from CNB allows us to focus our attention squarely on efficient and effective project execution. We look forward to working with the CNB team into the future as we seek new and increasingly diversified ways to advance the transition to clean energy."

The funds from CNB and Greenprint were used to complete the term conversion of the four projects.

Robinson Road in Jefferson County *

6.7 Megawatt defined conditions (MWdc) solar farm expected to generate approximately 10,490,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 7,400 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,400 households annually.

State Route 122 in Franklin County *

6.8 MWdc solar farm expected to generate approximately 10,330,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 7,300 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,400 households annually.

Pulaski in Oswego County *

4.6 MWdc solar farm expected to generate approximately 7,626,197 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 5,400 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,000 households annually.

Wayside in Jefferson County *

6.7 MWdc solar farm expected to generate approximately 10,647,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 7,500 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,400 households annually.

*Numbers are approximate and can fluctuate through the life of the project

"City National is proud to support OYA Renewables' community solar project pipeline across New York," said Craig Robb, Managing Director, Power Project Finance, City National Bank. "We will continue to help provide financing and other services to our clients and communities as they invest in sustainable energy infrastructure for future generations."

OYA has five additional New York community solar projects expected to reach commercial operation by mid-2023, adding to its pipeline that already exceeds 600 Megawatts in the State.

Community Solar

Community solar programs allow businesses, public agencies, and households to access the benefits of solar power through subscribing to a portion of a solar farm that's ideally situated to generate electricity. By subscribing to the program, community members receive credits and savings of up to 10% on their electric bill every month from their portion of the solar that's generated. Power produced from the community solar development is fed directly back to the electric grid and energy is delivered to customers through their regular electricity provider.

About OYA Renewables

OYA Renewables is leading the renewable energy transition with an exceptional track record as a top ten community solar developer. Founded in 2009, OYA has developed over 1,440 MWDC and has a pipeline of 9 GW of distributed and utility-scale solar projects across North America. Focused on the expansion of renewable energy and the integration of other clean technologies, the Company is committed to delivering long-term clean energy solutions to clients supporting their renewable energy objectives and providing access to clean energy for underserved communities. OYA has been certified by both the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council and the New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council as a diverse supplier. It has a highly engaged, seasoned and diverse workforce, with offices located in Toronto and Boston.

For more information, please visit: https://oyarenewables.com

About City National Bank

With $95.9 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 69 branches, including 22 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami*. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $88.2 billion in client investment assets.

City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the world's leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 17 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 27 other countries.

For more information about City National, visit the company's website at cnb.com.

*City National Bank does business in Miami and the state of Florida as CN Bank.

SOURCE OYA Renewables
Forward Enterprise Recognized for Exceptional Innovation

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forward Networks announced today that TMC , a global, integrated media company, has awarded Forward Enterprise a 2023 Product of the Year Award, presented by Cloud Computing Magazine.

Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large enterprise networks are managed, offering a "single source of truth" for network, cloud, and security engineering teams across all major networking hardware vendors and cloud providers. Using a proprietary mathematical model, Forward Enterprise provides unprecedented vendor-agnostic visibility into the security posture, network topology, and behavior of the world's largest networks  resulting in more secure and reliable networks with reduced outages. Forward Enterprise's secure, agentless collection method gathers current device and state information and creates a "digital twin" of the network that enables network operators to verify intent, predict network behavior, and prevent outages.

"Forward is dedicated to delivering innovative digital twin technology that provides our customers invaluable insights into their network behavior," said David Erickson, CEO and co-founder, Forward Networks. "We achieved 139% year-over-year growth last year and raised $50M in Series D funding in January. Recognition such as this Product of the Year Award and growth in customer acquisitions affirm that our software delivers extraordinary value to our customers."

Forward Enterprise uses a mathematical model to build a digital twin of the entire hybrid, multi-cloud network. The digital twin provides networking and security professionals unparalleled insight into the network and its vulnerabilities to help organizations manage their attack surface, mitigate vulnerabilities, and ensure enforcement of their security policy.

"Congratulations to Forward Networks for being honored with a Cloud Computing Product of the Year Award," said Rich Tehrani , CEO, TMC. "Forward Enterprise is truly an innovative product and is amongst the best solutions available within the past twelve months that facilitates business-transforming cloud computing and communications. I look forward to continued excellence from Forward Networks in 2023 and beyond."

About Forward Networks

Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed. Forward's advanced software delivers a digital twin of the network, enabling network operators to ensure that the network is secure, reliable, and agile. The platform supports devices from all major networking vendors and cloud operators, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Forward Networks was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D. graduates and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Investors include MSD Partners, Goldman Sachs, Andreessen Horowitz, Threshold Ventures, Section 32, Omega Venture Partners, and A. Capital. For more information, visit www.forwardnetworks.com .

About Cloud Computing Magazine

Cloud Computing magazine is the industry's definitive source for all things cloud - from public, community, hybrid and private cloud to security and business continuity, and everything in between. This quarterly magazine published by TMC assesses the most important developments in cloud computing not only as they relate to IT, but to the business landscape as a whole.

About TMC

Through education, industry news, live events and social influence, global buyers rely on TMC's content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. As a result, leading technology vendors turn to TMC for unparalleled branding, thought leadership and lead generation opportunities. Our in-person and online events deliver unmatched visibility and sales prospects for all participants. Through our custom lead generation programs, we provide clients with an ongoing stream of leads that turn into sales opportunities and build databases. Additionally, we bolster brand reputations with the millions of impressions from display advertising on our news sites and newsletters. Making TMC a 360-degree marketing solution, we offer comprehensive event and road show management services and custom content creation with expertly ghost-crafted blogs, press releases, articles and marketing collateral to help with SEO, branding, and overall marketing efforts. For more information about TMC and to learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals, please visit www.tmcnet.com and follow us on Facebook , LinkedIn and Twitter , @tmcnet .

Forward Networks Contacts:

Dustin Rausa, Guyer Group

[email protected]

Dawn Slusher, Forward Networks

[email protected]

TMC Contact:

Michelle Connolly

Senior Marketing Manager

203-852-6800, ext. 170

[email protected]

SOURCE Forward Networks, Inc.
CHICAGO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Cloud Native Applications Market size is estimated at USD 5.9 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 17.0 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 23.7% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets.

Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=53431081

Platforms segment to hold the largest market size during the forecast period

A cloud native application is made of discrete, reusable components called microservices that can be integrated into any cloud environment. Microservices serve as building blocks and are frequently packaged in containers. Microservices work together to form an application as a whole, but each can be independently scaled, continuously improved, and rapidly iterated via automation and orchestration processes. Each microservice's flexibility contributes to the agility and continuous improvement of cloud-native applications. Cloud native is a method of developing and running applications that takes advantage of the benefits of the cloud computing delivery model. Companies that build and operate applications using a cloud native architecture bring new ideas to market faster and respond to customer demands more quickly. While public cloud has changed the way people think about infrastructure investment in almost every industry, cloud-like delivery isn't limited to public environments. Cloud native development is appropriate for both public and private clouds; it is about how applications are created and deployed rather than where they are created and deployed. More importantly, the ability to provide developers with on-demand access to computing power as well as modern data and application services is critical. Cloud native development combines DevOps, continuous delivery, microservices, and containers. A cloud-native platform is built, optimized, and run entirely in the cloud. Cloud-based tools are fast and scalable because the platform is built in the cloud. This technology provides reliable functionality, seamless interconnectivity, and enhanced business continuity. Cloud-native systems are built entirely in the cloud and provide developers with new and advanced deployment tools for the rapid evolution of the enterprise's overall architecture. They simplify the design and administration of complex infrastructure. Cloud hosting technology refers to cloud technologies that provide cloud processing and storage. The service provider manages the cloud-based infrastructure, software, and tools. The cost is variable and dependent on the user's requirements.

Healthcare & life sciences vertical to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period

By accelerating the digital transformation, healthcare companies are adapting and innovating faster than ever before to improve their healthcare services. This technology is gaining traction, allowing for better care delivery while also improving financial and operational outcomes. Cloud-native helps healthcare by easing onboarding and reducing the use of internal resources. Healthcare organizations that are already using cloud services and migrating to cloud-native platforms will find the process easier because the majority of the hardware and software requirements will be met. Because such cloud-native technology is flexible and scalable, healthcare ideas and plans can be easily brought to market and respond to customer needs more quickly. Connected devices continuously transmit data, and the amount of unstructured and structured data generated by the healthcare industry is massive. A single platform system for data collection, preservation, access, and compilation is now required, and health professionals are increasingly aware of the need for such systems. The use of cloud computing in healthcare allows for real-time data analysis, which improves accessibility and workflows, resulting in more proactive healthcare. When migrating from legacy systems to cloud platforms, privacy and security are of the utmost importance. Cloud-native platforms are an excellent solution to these issues. The use of cloud-native platforms can shift the emphasis away from the software, hardware, and infrastructure burden. It protects against data breaches and security breaches while also ensuring compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (GDPR).

Request Sample Pages @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=53431081

North America is projected to have the largest market size during the forecast period

North America is expected to have the largest market size in the CNA market, and the trend is expected to continue till 2028. With the new Cloud Native and Orchestration Center in North America, Ericsson is doubling down on cloud native. Cloud native is a modern approach to developing and running software applications that takes advantage of cloud computing's flexibility, scalability, and resilience. Ericsson has launched the new Cloud Native and Orchestration Center with a focus on North America, where operators are at the forefront of the cloud native transformation. Ericsson's new center, which brings together more than 100 experts from across the US and Canada, will use this expertise to design, develop, implement, and support the life cycle management of cloud native solutions for customers worldwide. All network functions are migrating to cloud native platforms, from cloud native 5G core to cloud/virtualized RAN, and North America is at the forefront of this telco cloud native transformation. This new Cloud Native and Orchestration Center in North America will assist them with challenges such as platform and application life cycle management, migration, and automation, all of which are more complex for telco solutions. The Cloud Native and Orchestration Center is a virtual collaboration of Ericsson employees in Plano, Texas, as well as other locations across Canada and the US. Ericsson's Software Delivery Unit will also assist the team, as will Ericsson D-15 Labs in Silicon Valley. Services are critical in the cloud storage market because they support clients both before and after they adopt cloud storage solutions. Service providers assist their clients with various phases such as designing, establishing, maintaining, and updating CNA solutions.

Market Players

Some prominent players across all service types profiled in the Cloud Native Applications Market study include Amazon (US), Google (US), IBM (US), Infosys (India), LTI Mindtree (India), Microsoft (US), Oracle (US), Red Hat (US), SAP (Germany), VMware (US), Alibaba Cloud (Singapore), Apexon (US), Citrix (US), Cloudhelix (Sussex), and Cognizant (US).

Browse Adjacent Markets: Software and Services Market Research Reports & Consulting

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Content Services Platforms Market - Global Forecast to 2027

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DUBLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "COPD and Asthma Devices Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global COPD and asthma devices market size reached US$ 43.4 Billion in 2022. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 60.4 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.66% during 2022-2028.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory disease that leads to obstructed airflow from the lungs. Its early symptoms include shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, chronic cough with or without mucus, frequent cold, and throat soreness.

On the other hand, asthma, also known as bronchial asthma, is a respiratory disorder that affects the airways in the lungs. Its symptoms are shortness of breath, chest tightness, trouble sleeping, and coughing or wheezing attacks. These respiratory diseases are treated using various devices that help deliver inhaled medication. COPD and asthma devices, also known as pulmonary drug delivery devices, are used as permanent treatment or rescue therapy for respiratory diseases. As a result, they are gaining immense traction across the globe.



COPD and Asthma Devices Market Trends:



The growing global geriatric population, which is highly susceptible to chronic respiratory disorders, represents one of the key factors positively influencing the market. In addition, rising occurrences of respiratory diseases caused due to the rising smoking of cigarettes are increasing the sales of COPD and asthma devices.

Apart from this, the increasing expenditure on healthcare and continuous automation in the healthcare industry are contributing to the market growth.

The widespread adoption of advanced medical solutions is offering lucrative growth opportunities to manufacturers across the globe. At present, healthcare practitioners and pulmonary diseases specialists are preferring a combination of a drug and a device on account of their fast and effective outcome.

Furthermore, the expansion of chemical industries is resulting in the rising environmental pollution level and breathing problems, which, in turn, is driving the market. Additionally, the introduction of portable drug delivery devices is propelling the market growth.



Key Market Segmentation:



Breakup by Product:

Inhalers

Drug Powdered Inhalers (DPIs)



Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs)



Soft Mist Inhalers

Nebulizers

Compressor Nebulizers



Ultrasonic Nebulizers



Mesh Nebulizers

Breakup by Indication:

Asthma

COPD

Breakup by Distribution Channel:

Retail Pharmacies

Hospitals

Online Pharmacies

Breakup by Region:

North America

United States



Canada

Asia-Pacific

China



Japan



India



South Korea



Australia



Indonesia



Others

Europe

Germany



France



United Kingdom



Italy



Spain



Russia



Others

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Others

Middle East and Africa



Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction



5 Global COPD and Asthma Devices Market



6 Market Breakup by Product



7 Market Breakup by Indication



8 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel



9 Market Breakup by Region



10 SWOT Analysis



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape



Companies Mentioned

Adherium Limited

Aristopharma Ltd.

AstraZeneca PLC

Baxter International Inc.

Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH

Cohero Health Inc.

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Omron Corporation

Pari Respiratory Equipment Inc.

Recipharm AB

Verona Pharma plc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ayfkrk

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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.

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SOURCE Research and Markets
TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Cora Therapeutics, a Toronto based life sciences start up, is pleased to announce the company has raised $1M in Seed funding. This support represents the closure of the second round of seed funding and was led by NYC based Irongate Capital Advisors. A total of $1.8M of seed funding has been raised to date by Cora Therapeutics.

Led by Dr. Kieran Murphy, Cora Therapeutics, is dedicated to delivering innovative research-based solutions for whole body health. Cora Therapeutics has developed DNA HALO, a powerful formulation of antioxidants protecting both cellular and mitochondrial DNA from nuclear and medical radiation. It is a patented blend of ingredients from natural sources, compliant with strict U.S. and Canadian regulatory bodies. The formulation has been optimized for over a decade within leading institutions and currently has 4 issued patents globally. 6 clinical papers have been published in peer reviewed journals validating the work driven out of collaborations with Dalhousie University, University of Toronto, and McMaster University.

Cora Therapeutics will use the funds to fuel the launch of DNA HALO in North America. They will be targeting, medical professionals, medical imaging patients, air travel professionals, frequent fliers, military personnel, and the health-conscious public.

Dr. Kieran Murphy commented, "We have demonstrated the efficacy of DNA HALO in protecting DNA from radiation induced injuries. It is now time for us to commercialize! We are thrilled to have closed this round and we are grateful for the support of all our investors. Irongate's investment validates our mission and is essential for our next stage of growth. We are truly excited to bring this revolutionary product to the market."

Hamlet Yousef, Managing Partner from Irongate noted, "Our mission is to direct capital to the highest-performing investments in the advanced technology arena, with a specific focus on dual-use innovations. We are excited about the broad applications for DNA HALO in the medical, consumer and military communities. We believe DNA Halo can help address the issues noted in a recent Pentagon study highlighting the increased risk of cancer among aviators and astronauts. We are excited to partner with Dr. Murphy and the team at Cora Therapeutics to help military professionals, the medical community, and beyond."

About Cora Therapeutics:

Cora Therapeutics is dedicated to delivering innovative research-based solutions for whole body health. It has developed DNA HALO, an advanced antioxidant formulation developed by physicians and supported by extensive scientific data. DNA HALO helps to prevent cell damage from free radicals due to oxidative stress.

Learn more about Cora Therapeutics at www.coratherapeutics.com and DNA HALO at www.haloantioxidant.com

About Irongate Capital Advisors:

At Irongate Capital Advisors, our mission is to direct capital to the highest-performing investments in the advanced technology arena, with a specific focus on dual-use innovations in aerospace, defense & intelligence, and national security. We believe these segments are poised to achieve significant growth by meeting known requirements in the operational landscape, and by serving complementary demand in the civilian economy.

Learn more about Irongate Capital Advisors at www.irongatevc.com

SOURCE Cora Therapeutics
AMSTERDAM, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Laboratories (NYSE: "CLB") will broadcast its first quarter 2023 conference call over the Internet at 7:30 a.m. CDT / 2:30 p.m. CEST on April 27, 2023.

Larry Bruno, Chairman and CEO, Chris Hill, CFO, and Gwen Gresham, SVP Corporate Development and Investor Relations, will discuss financial and operational results. An earnings press release will be issued after market close on April 26th and may be accessed through the Company's website at www.corelab.com.

To participate in the live webcast, simply log on to www.corelab.com at least fifteen minutes prior to the start of the call. For those who are not available to listen to the live webcast, a Podcast will be available immediately following the conference call and a replay will be available on Core's website shortly after the call which will remain on the site for 10 days.

To listen to the conference call via telephone, please contact Lena Brennan at [email protected] for the dial-in number.

Core Laboratories N.V. (www.corelab.com) is a leading provider of proprietary and patented reservoir description and production enhancement services and products used to optimize petroleum reservoir performance. The Company has over 70 offices in more than 50 countries and is located in every major oil-producing province in the world.

SOURCE Core Laboratories N.V.
The site will support CSL's growing R&D portfolio, accelerating the development of next-generation mRNA technology for vaccines

WALTHAM, Mass., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global biotechnology leader CSL (ASX: CSL; USOTC:CSLLY) today celebrated the official opening of the company's new state-of-the-art research and development (R&D) center in Waltham, Massachusetts. The custom-built facility is approximately 140,000 square feet with 54,000 square feet of lab space, including the first biosafety level 3 laboratory (BSL-3) in Waltham. The site will serve as CSL's central hub for current and future vaccine design.

CSL Opens New, State-of-the-Art Vaccine Research and Development Facility in Waltham, Massachusetts CSL Opens New, State-of-the-Art Vaccine Research and Development Facility in Waltham, Massachusetts

"CSL's growing R&D presence in Waltham is the latest example of our investment in our future  which includes advancing our growing capabilities in disruptive technologies like next-generation mRNA," said Jon Edelman, Senior Vice President of the CSL Vaccines Innovation Unit. "At this site, we aim to develop the vaccines that will help protect the public in the decades ahead and facilitate collaboration with local partners to drive our next wave of innovation."

CSL's global Research and Development organization has more than 2,000 employees in ten countries around the world, contributing to a robust and promising pipeline of novel therapeutic candidates. In addition to Waltham, Massachusetts, the company has an R&D presence in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Pasadena, California; Melbourne, Australia; Bern, Switzerland; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Marburg, Germany  helping to create an integrated global organization that can conveniently collaborate with institutions everywhere and offer access to professional development opportunities and enhancing external innovation.

"The Waltham site's location and our investment in this world-class facility will provide our talented people with the ideal environment to deliver the breakthroughs that CSL aims to achieve," said Ethan Settembre, Ph.D., Vice President, Research, CSL Vaccines Innovation Unit and site head for this facility. "We are also excited that this location provides an opportunity for our scientists to collaborate closely with industry and academic partners, allowing greater access to ongoing innovation and talent."

Please visit the career section of our website for the latest openings:

https://www.csl.com/careers.

About CSL

CSL (ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY) is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of lifesaving medicines, including those that treat haemophilia and immune deficiencies, vaccines to prevent influenza, and therapies in iron deficiency, dialysis and nephrology. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies.

Today, CSL  including our three businesses, CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor  provides lifesaving products to patients in more than 100 countries and employs 32,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit CSLBehring.com/Vita and follow us on Twitter.com/CSL.

For more information about CSL, visit www.CSL.com.

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Australia:

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Jimmy Baker

Mobile: +61 450 909 211

Email: [email protected]

CSL, All Rights Reserved  2023

SOURCE CSL
Small business support nonprofit Ladies Who Launch will host free event in Denver, Colorado to help women and non-binary entrepreneurs understand how to approach financing options.

DENVER, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, March 29 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Ladies Who Launch , a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free education and resources to women and nonbinary small business owners and entrepreneurs, will host a free Pathways to Capital event at Empower Field at Mile High | United Club Level - East Lounge to help small business owners understand best practice approaches to navigate financing options.

Panels at the Pathways to Capital will feature entrepreneurs, financing experts and community leaders who will discuss how they have prepared for and leveraged capital to scale their businesses, and what options are available to them  from loans to venture capital. Speakers at the event include successful Colorado-based entrepreneurs like Lorena Cantarovici, Founder & CEO of Maria Empanada, and Lee Mayer, CEO of Havenly, who will share their entrepreneurial journeys and how they have successfully managed their business's cash flows and explored different financing options.

"One of the biggest barriers to small business owners is access to and understanding capital," Jennifer Warren, Executive Director of Ladies Who Launch, said. "That's why we're hosting Pathways to Capital, to help women and non-binary entrepreneurs in Colorado better understand how to prepare and successfully secure financing when and where they need it. We know the system isn't built for women and non-binary business owners and the journey is lonely. We're here to create community and make the path forward easier and more clear."

Panels will discuss managing your cash flow to avoid pitfalls and scale, exploring capital before you need it and finding funding resources in your backyard here in Colorado. Panelists like Frances Padilla, District Director for the Colorado District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration and Founding Partner & Managing Director, Danielle Shoots, New Community Transformation Fund, will join entrepreneurs on panels to help demystify small business financing options.

The full list of panels and speakers for the Pathways to Capital event on March 29 is available at: https://www.ladieswholaunch.org/pathways-denver

The Ladies Who Launch Pathways to Capital event is made possible with generous support from partners including Ann Taylor, The Home Depot, Amazon, United Airlines and more.

About Ladies Who Launch:

Ladies Who Launch is a nonprofit organization that celebrates, elevates, and empowers women and non-binary small business owners and entrepreneurs to scale and sustain the businesses of their dreams.

We provide free, practical, easy-to-access resources to help grow successful businesses. Through education, funding, and networking opportunities, we are creating close-knit, supportive, and inclusive entrepreneurial communities all over the world.

SOURCE Ladies Who Launch
TSX.V: DME

U.S. OTC: DMEHF

Frankfurt: QM01

VANCOUVER, BC, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY CORP. (the "Company") (TSXV: DME) (OTC: DMEHF) (Frankfurt: QM01) From the President of the Company.

Desert Mountain Energy Corp.'s ("DME" or the "Company") has is pleased to announce the approval by its Board of Directors effective today of the adoption of an advance notice policy (the "Policy") that requires advance notice to the Company in circumstances where nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors are made by shareholders of the Company other than pursuant to: (i) a requisition of a meeting made pursuant to the provisions of the B.C. Business Corporations Act (the "Act"), or (ii) a shareholder proposal made pursuant to the provisions of the Act.

Among other things, the Policy fixes a deadline by which holders of record of common shares of the Company must submit director nominations to the Company prior to any annual or special meeting of shareholders and sets forth the information that a shareholder must include in the notice to the Company for the notice to be in proper written form. In the case of an annual meeting of shareholders, notice to the Company must be made not less than 30 nor more than 65 days prior to the date of the annual meeting; provided, however, that if the annual meeting is to be held on a date that is less than 50 days after the date on which the first public announcement of the date of the annual meeting was made, notice may be made no later than the close of business on the 10th day following such public announcement. In accordance with the terms of the Advance Notice Policy, the Advance Notice Policy will be put to shareholders of the Company for approval at next year's annual general meeting. If the Advance Notice Policy is not confirmed at that time by ordinary resolution of shareholders, then the Advance Notice Policy will terminate and be of no further force and effect following the termination of that meeting.

The Advance Notice Policy is in full force and effect as of the date it was approved. A copy of the Advance Notice Policy is also available on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

About Desert Mountain Energy

Desert Mountain Energy Corp. is a publicly traded exploration and resource company focused on the discovery and development of rare earth gas fields in the US. The Company is primarily looking for elements deemed critical to the green energy and high technology industries. We seek safe harbor

"Robert Rohlfing"

Robert Rohlfing

Chairman & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements made in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forwardlooking statements and information herein include but are not limited to statements regarding the Company's anticipated performance in the future, planned exploration activities, receipt of positive results from drilling, the completion of further drilling and exploration work, and the timing and results of various activities, including the ability of its facilities to operate at capacity and to produce Helium in commercial quantities.

Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company and its operations to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, changes in national and local governments, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and the United States; financial risks due to helium prices, operating or technical difficulties in exploration and development activities; risks and hazards and the speculative nature of resource exploration and related development; risks in obtaining necessary licenses and permits, and challenges to the Company's title to properties.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the continued operation of the Company's exploration operations, no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company does not intend to, and does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.

SOURCE Desert Mountain Energy Corp.
SHANGHAI, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DFRobot, a world-leading STEM education solution provider, will showcase its IoT-enabled 'Smart City' Solution at Bett 2023. This solution is blending 'Smart City' design with IoT technology to show students and teachers how to monitor and instruct 'Smart City' intelligent systems by combining the knowledge and skills from programming, hardware control, data acquisition, and IoT platform, helping to promote IoT education in schools.

DFRobot's IoT-enabled Smart City Solution

In the 'Smart City' Solution, camera and agricultural sensors installed in the Farm can observe the growth of plants in real time. The Housing Area measures temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide conditions. The Lark Weather Station enables students to understand the atmospheric motion state through wind speed, direction, temperature, humidity, and pressure. Water Quality Sensors such as pH and TDS are installed in the lake to facilitate timely understanding of water quality and the living environment of fish. Unihiker can set up an IoT server and interact with other micro-controllers through wireless local networks. All of the data collected are shown on the monitoring screen made with Mind+ Dashboard in different forms such as line chart and bar chart.

At the forefront of programming, robotics, and AI EdTech, DFRobot also displays BOSON kits and projects from non-coding to coding with micro: bit like BOSON Earthquake Challenge. This project will show visitors how to make an earthquake shake table using BOSON kit to simulate earthquakes at different frequencies.

Using the Maqueen Plus and Maqueen Mechanics  AI-enabled robotics kits  visitors will see how the products work in an exciting 'Intelligent Transportation' display. This will demonstrate automatically tracking the line through gray-scale sensors. With a Huskylens, AI Machine Vision Sensor, it can also recognize colors, objects and perform corresponding actions.

Ricky Ye, CEO of DFRobot, said: "We are incredibly excited about our offering this year at Bett  from innovative products to creative displays. The event is going to be packed full of engaging learning experiences. Our products are designed to inspire and motivate young minds to explore the fascinating realms of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We believe our dynamic and innovative products do just that, offering students and teachers an exciting world of coding, programming and AI."

Pop by Stand NP31B to speak with any of the DFRobot team to know more and advise on which resources would be the best fit for your school.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040879/DFRobot_s_IoT_enabled__Smart_City__Solution.jpg

SOURCE DFRobot
TUCSON, Ariz., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Opportunities for doctors to get together and share their views have become rare, partly because of the rise of managed care and the decline of independently owned practices. Additionally, many medical society meetings were cancelled or became virtual because of COVID and have not resumed. The Tucson Medical News Discussion Group, comprised of physicians and nonphysicians who were members of a society's public health committee until it was disbanded, continues to meet to discuss health-related issues of general interest. The group is now posting summaries and inviting participation, states Doctors for Disaster Preparedness (DDP) president Jane M. Orient, M.D.

Recent postings concern "turbo cancer," actuarial reports of excess deaths, flying objects, depopulation trends, and effects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and mitigation measures. They can be found on https://www.ddponline.org under the "press releases" tab and on Facebook. Comments may be submitted on the DDP website, or can be entered and shared on Facebook.

Older postings can be seen on facebook.com; search for "medical news discussion." Besides COVID, topics include marijuana, obesity, PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Strep), vitamin A deficiency, drug shortages, and changes in medical practice.

"Confining physicians' and patients' information sources to official pronouncements stifles innovation and obstructs recognition of developing problems," states Dr. Orient. "First-hand contact with persons in the real world, and open discussion, are critical for our health and safety."

Doctors for Disaster Preparedness provides information to help save lives in the event of natural or man-made disasters.

Contact: Jane M. Orient, M.D., (520) 323-3110, [email protected]

SOURCE Doctors for Disaster Preparedness
BERLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From 27 March to 2 April 2023, Dreame Technology launches Spring Cleaning Promotion campaign on selected products for customers in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Customers can get the following at favorable prices:

L10s Ultra

Dreame Technology Launches Spring Cleaning Promotion Campaign

An all-round cleaning experience: hands-free

From collecting dust to wet and dry mopping, the L10s Ultra provides a comprehensive cleaning experience; completely hands-free! That, too, without compromising on power with an incredible 5300Pa of suction power behind this small, agile robot cleaner.

Automatically detects carpets

Worried about carpets getting in the way? Don't be. The L10s Ultra has a special carpet-detection system that raises the mops when triggered, allowing it to get on top of carpets without people's intervention.

Long-lasting 2.5-litre clean water tank

Additionally, the L10s Ultra demonstrates great endurance and longevity when it comes to mopping hard-wood floors with a generous 2.5-litre, automatically refillable clean water tank coupled with two rotary mops offering dual-action, targeted mopping to tackle even the most stubborn of stains.

Self-cleaning system for greater convenience

Finally, customers don't have to worry about cleaning out the L10s Ultra, thanks to a built-in automatic cleaning system, which allows the mops to self-wash and rinse with a spinning function before drying with hot air.

H12 Pro

Edge-to-edge cleaning design

The H12 Pro is every householder's dream when it comes to mopping every nook and cranny. With an improved edge-to-edge high-speed rotating brush, the H12 Pro can easily tackle hard-to-reach areas, from skirting boards to inaccessible corners.

Self-drying system keeps mops nice and fresh

And once customers are done cleaning, simply dock the H12 Pro with the wiping function turned on, triggering approximately 55 degrees of hot air, which dries the brush to prevent mildew and that unpleasant "damp" smell.

Long-lasting cleaning session

A 6-way 4000mAh battery gives more than half an hour's worth of cleaning. Add to that a 900ml clean water tank and customers will be able to go longer without interruptions.

Cleaning made easy

The H12 Pro takes the stress out of cleaning homes with powerful scrubbing and robust suction, eliminating dirt, dust, debris, hair, spills and more. A high-speed brushless motor wipes the floor 520 times a minute, quickly removing mess without a fuss. The brush roller also draws on power from the motor, helping it to glide across surfaces with relative ease.

D10s Plus

Specially built for pet hair

This versatile whole-home cleaning robot is the perfect solution for large families with pets. Packed with 5000Pa of suction power, the bristle-free rubber brush digs deep into carpets to capture underlying dust, picks dirt off hard floors and has a special function to disentangle hair for a thorough, hassle-free clean.

The cleaning is in good hands

A 5200mAh battery allows for 280 minutes of continuous cleaning. And customers don't have to worry about recharging either. When the battery is low, the D10s Plus will navigate its way to the dock, charge and pick up where it left off with the cleaning.

Also, the D10s Plus automatically empties its contents into a generous 4-litre dust bag, giving a solid 65 days of worry-free cleaning.

Smarter cleaning

The D10s uses advanced LDS mapping to capture the layout of your home, helping it to easily navigate rooms, obstacles and more for a bespoke cleaning. Using Artificial Intelligence, the LDS will also recommend cleaning solutions tailored to your specific household and won't need to reorient itself to your home thanks to fast-mapping.

Purchase information

To take advantage of the promotion, visit respective stores to find out more:

Dreame Germany store

Dreame France store

Dreame Italy store

Dreame Spain store

About Dreame Technology

Established in 2017, Dreame Technology is an innovative consumer product company that focuses on smart home appliances with the vision to empower lives through technology. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For more information please visit: https://global.dreametech.com/.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040689/1920X900__2.jpg

SOURCE Dreame Technology
STOCKHOLM, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Electrolux Group is three years ahead of plan. In 2018, the company was amongst the first 100 companies to set its global science-based climate target and is now one of the first to meet it. This is just one of the highlights from the Electrolux Group Sustainability Report 2022.

Electrolux Group has reduced its absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions (direct and indirect in operations) by 82% compared to 2015  going beyond its 2025 target of 80%. Scope 3 emissions (when products are in use) also decreased by over 25% compared to 2015, which is in line with the company's 25% reduction target by 2025. This means the company has reached its 2025 science-based target three years ahead of plan.

"We were among the first 100 companies to set a global ambitious climate target  and now we are among the very first companies to meet it. As a leader in sustainability, we have a responsibility to show what is possible and this result does just that," says Jonas Samuelson, Electrolux Group CEO.

"Our work doesn't stop here. We're already in the process of getting our new science-based target approved while we continuously work toward being a more sustainable company through our operations, products and how we enable consumers to live more sustainably," adds Vanessa Butani, Electrolux Group VP Sustainability.

"By setting a bold science-based target companies show their commitment to do their part in keeping global warming below 1.5C in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. Achieving its first ambitious science-based target, Electrolux Group is a great example of an organization working to make our economy fit for people and planet," says Maxfield Weiss, Executive Director CDP Europe, partner within The Science Based Targets initiative.

Sustainability Report 2022 highlights in brief



Better company

* 98% of electricity used in global operations comes from renewable sources.

* 124,000 people engaged by the Electrolux Food Foundation on sustainable eating since 2016.

* 35% of ocean cargo transported with more sustainable fuels.

Better solutions

* The Group's most energy and water efficient products accounted for 24% of total units sold and 39% of gross profit.

* 70% recycled plastic in the inner liners of the Group's new built-in refrigerators.

* 4,000 components tested for chemical compliance.

Better living

* Fridge with Cooling 360 and ColdSense make ingredients last longer and help reduce food waste.

* Millions reached through a global campaign to encourage more sustainable laundry habits.

* First vacuum cleaner without paint to reduce chemical use, energy and material impact.

Further highlights

Innovation drives sustainable products

One sustainability breakthrough was a built-in refrigerator range that includes a new Ecometer to help consumers make more energy efficient choices and inner liners that are made from 70% recycled plastic. In laundry products, new front-load washers save an average of over 450 liters of water per year compared with a top-load washer.

Almost 98% of manufacturing waste recycled or recovered

By the end of 2022, 55% of Electrolux Group factories were certified to its "Zero Waste to Landfill" program  toward the objective to third-party certify all sites by 2025. The goal of the Zero Waste to Landfill program is to recycle and recover more than 99% of the total waste generated by all the company's manufacturing sites around the world by 2025.

Inspiring kids across the globe on more sustainable eating

In 2022, the Electrolux Food Foundation launched a toolkit to give teachers the tools to educate kids about sustainable eating. So far 88,000 children globally have become a Food Hero  to promote a more sustainable world. The Food Heroes toolkit is freely available for anyone to download from www.replate.com.

Download the full and short versions of the report here:

Electrolux Group Sustainability Report 2022  PDF download

Electrolux Group Sustainability in Brief 2022  PDF download

About the Science Based Targets initiative

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science. It is focused on accelerating companies across the world to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050.

The initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments. The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting, offers resources and guidance to reduce barriers to adoption, and independently assesses and approves companies' targets.

For further information, please contact Electrolux Press Hotline, +46 8 657 65 07.

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/1853/3740949/1942329.pdf Electrolux Group Sustainability Report 2022_pressrelease https://mb.cision.com/Public/1853/3740949/8a9553b9ba09ec38.pdf Electrolux Group Sustainability Report 2022 https://mb.cision.com/Public/1853/3740949/881b31a02ba62f0e.pdf Electrolux Group Sustainability Report 2022 in Brief https://news.cision.com/electrolux-group/i/cover-sustainability-report-2022,c3160117 Cover Sustainability Report 2022 https://news.cision.com/electrolux-group/i/vanessa-butani-vp-sustainability,c3160118 Vanessa Butani VP Sustainability

SOURCE Electrolux Group
Majority say the rise of remote work and screen time are having a negative impact on their eyes, demanding a larger focus on vision care

SAN CARLOS, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey conducted by The Harris Poll for XP Health finds that employees value vision care as much as dental, but many are confused about how to take advantage of it -- even when they have vision benefits. According to the research, vision benefits and vision health are seen as valuable or very valuable by most, similar to overall physical health care.

The survey of 1,009 full-time employed adults in the U.S., aged 25+, who are eligible to receive vision benefits from their employer was conducted online between February 3-13, 2023 by The Harris Poll. It was commissioned by XP Health, a company dedicated to democratizing vision care with a digital-first vision benefits platform, to explore key experiences, challenges, and desires for vision care among U.S. adults.

"Despite 75 percent of employees considering vision benefits as very important, only 42 percent are VERY satisfied, which is the standard we want our sector to achieve" Tweet this

Across America, the vast majority of employed adults see the clear value of vision benefits, with 94 percent saying they are valuable, including 60 percent finding them to be very valuable. In fact, 82 percent say vision benefits are equally important as general medical insurance. Moreover, they find vision health (75 percent very important) on par with dental (77 percent), and ahead of annual preventative screenings (69 percent), mental (66 percent), and dermatology (36 percent).

The survey also revealed that employees raise pervasive concerns over cost, the biggest barrier to taking care of vision, both for those with and without benefits. Out-of-pocket costs were cited as the most common factor preventing employees from taking care of their vision (30 percent), and despite all the money spent on premiums the majority feel like they end up paying a lot out-of-pocket for their vision care needs (55 percent). Further, 64 percent of glasses wearers agree with the statement: "I often leave my appointments with sticker shock with how much my glasses cost."

"Despite 75 percent of employees considering vision benefits as very important, only 42 percent are VERY satisfied, which is the standard we want our sector to achieve," said Antonio Moraes, CEO, and co-founder of XP Health. "That means millions of employees who deserve benefits they can rave about are not getting them, and it presents an opportunity and a responsibility for both providers and human resources professionals to help alleviate confusion and reduce costs to help employees access the highest quality care. With the emergence of remote work and eight-hour workdays in front of screens, the days when vision care was a simple 'check the box benefit' are gone."

Also of note, according to 86 percent of employees, vision benefits are an important part of their health care budget, and 68 percent say they are not likely to sacrifice their vision care due to economic uncertainty.

The survey points to gaps between how people value vision care and what they are getting. It appears that clear and accessible information from employers about what the benefits exist and how/when to access benefits might help encourage enrollment and usage. More than two-in-five (43 percent) of employed adults with vision benefits have some difficulty understanding what's covered, and the majority (59 percent) wish their employer provided more helpful information. More than a quarter (28 percent) say the biggest reason they don't always use benefits to cover vision care costs is lack of clarity on what is and isn't covered. Another 36 percent say clearer information about their coverage could prompt more people to enroll in vision benefits.

"The message is clear people value their vision but are often stymied by confusion about what their benefits cover," added Moraes. "The lack of clarity about what benefits exist and how and/or when to access them is keeping many from taking advantage of their vision care benefits. And with many consumers concerned with eyecare costs in challenging economic times, it's imperative that benefits are not left on the table."

"This survey shows there are meaningful opportunities for vision care benefits providers to improve the experience for their customers," said Shantel Suniga, principal & manager, program operations, Sequoia. "When it comes to vision care, employees rank it as important as dental care. Yet, when it comes to navigating their vision benefits, they struggle to understand and utilize their full potential. Clearly, there is an opportunity to do better."

Other Survey Findings Reveal the Impact of Increased Remote Work

In another interesting survey finding, the rise of remote work has exacerbated problems for American eyes. For most employed adults, screen time both overall (50 percent) and related to remote work (58 percent) has sharply increased over the past three years, and the majority (78 percent screen time; 63 percent remote work) believe this is having a negative impact on their vision. The majority of remote workers (70 percent) have experienced some physical symptoms of deteriorating eye health, such as headaches (40 percent) or eye irritation (40 percent) and neckaches (38 percent) and recognize that remote work demands focus and a greater importance on taking care of vision. Most say their eyes feel tired after logging off (57 percent) and sometimes they just have to take a break during the day to give their eyes a break from screens (83 percent).

But despite this, the majority (52 percent) aren't more likely to take any extra steps to seek out eye care. Additionally, most don't feel their employer has provided support related to employees' vision care since working remotely (55 percent). While a majority feel their employer cares about their vision needs (62 percent), over half wish their employers would do more to support remote workers' vision needs specifically (52 percent).

"These survey findings will help us understand the challenges remote and hybrid employees are facing and do our part as employers to ensure we address their vision benefits needs," said Jill Purcell, head of dental and vision product management at Guardian Life. "We need to quickly identify ways we can upgrade employee tools, experiences, and vision care to optimize employee wellness."

To read the full white paper click here .

Methodology:

The findings are based on a survey conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of XP Health among 1,009 U.S. full-time employed adults, aged 25+, who are eligible to receive vision benefits from their employer. The survey was conducted between February 3-13, 2023. Data are weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Full survey methodology can be found in XP Health State of Vision Health 2023 white paper.

About XP Health

XP Health democratizes access to high-quality, delightful experiences in vision care that double coverage and reduce costs. It is a digital-first vision platform focused on eye exams and eyewear that uses customer-centric design and technology to create a better member experience and improve access. XP Health was founded to combat the often confusing, expensive, and frustrating experiences common with vision care and vision insurance. XP Health was named to Fast Company's 2021 list of "The World's Most Innovative Companies," and over the past year has expanded from 30 to 1500+ customers, including DocuSign, Navistar, Chegg, Sequoia Consulting, and strategic partner Guardian Life Insurance. To learn more visit xphealth.co .

About The Harris Poll

The Harris Poll is one of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., tracking public opinion, motivations, and social sentiment since 1963, and is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas: building 21st century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and guidance to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com .

Media Contact

Ivy Cohen

Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications

(212) 399-0026

[email protected]

SOURCE XP Health
WICHITA, Kan., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Emprise Bank announced today that Whitney Woyke has joined its leadership team as Executive Vice President  Innovation & Strategy and Banking Services.

Whitney Woyke has joined Emprise Bank to lead innovation and strategy efforts, including growth of BaaS offering, Emprise Embedded.

As a top performing senior leader in the BaaS industry with more than 25 years of banking experience, Woyke brings tremendous knowledge and a proven record of driving innovation and business growth. The first 18 years of her career were spent at U.S. Bank in a number of roles in retail banking and payments. For the last eight years, Woyke served in several senior leadership roles at Pathward where she was most recently the Division President for Banking-as-a-Service.

In her role at Emprise, Woyke will lead the strategy and growth of Emprise Embedded, the Banking-as-a-Service offering the bank launched in 2022. Additionally, she will manage several departments including Technology, Marketing, Predictive Analytics and Digital Banking, as well as being responsible for working with the executive team to drive the overall strategy of the bank.

"Whitney's reputation as a demonstrated leader in the BaaS space is recognized industrywide," said Emprise Bank Chairman and CEO Matt Michaelis. "This is a vital role for our company as we continue to push past the boundaries of traditional financial services, and Whitney has the expertise to keep us aligned and moving forward to achieve our strategic objectives. She is also a genuine, people-first leader and our entire team is beyond thrilled for her to join us."

Among her many professional accomplishments, Woyke has been invited to speak at several industry conferences and has been featured on the Innovative Payments Association Podcast to discuss trends in Digital Banking. She is proud to have been a founding member of the Pathward DEI Steering Committee responsible for creating and continuously improving a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment. In 2022, she was recognized in American Banker's Most Influential Women in Payments and she is a current nominee for the Women in Payments Distinguished Payments Professional award.

Woyke is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington. She currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and will travel to Wichita regularly to be in person with her team.

About Emprise Bank (emprisebank.com)

Emprise Bank is a customer-focused, tech-forward financial institution that champions its customers' ambitions through a mission of empowering people to thrive. With innovative financial solutions backed by an exceptional team and vibrant culture, Emprise serves more than 20 communities in the Midwest. Emprise offers a broad range of leading products and services including personal, business, and embedded banking. Based in Wichita, Kansas, Emprise Bank is FDIC insured with total assets exceeding $2.3 billion.

SOURCE Emprise Bank
ATLANTA, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kim, the no-code, SaaS, patent-protected document generation, assembly, and workflow automation platform, announced that it has been backed by Atlanta based Engage VC, the collaborative innovative and corporate venture platform with the largest strategic grouping of major corporations.

Engage provides capital and mentorship to innovative and market leading technology companies. It brings together category-leading corporations that have joined forces to support companies building the future of enterprise and establish the Southeast as a leading innovation hub. Kim joins the Engage Enterprise Go-to-Market program which is designed to streamline the process for companies to work with the most influential corporations in the world.

Engage is backed by 14 industry-leading enterprises and Georgia Tech. Engage partners include Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia Tech, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot, Honeywell, Inspire Brands, Intercontinental Exchange, Invesco, Invest Georgia, Tech Square Ventures, UPS, and Wellstar.

"We are thrilled to bring Kim into our program," said Bill Nussey, Engage's Partner. "Kim's technology not only streamlines and automates tedious and manual document flows that bog down legal, HR and other corporate departments, but they have also made the product so easy and fast to adopt that any user or department can be up in running in hours."

Karl Chapman, CEO Kim, said, "Working through the selection process with the Engage team was hard, fun and rewarding. We would have benefited from it even if we had not agreed on a deal. Kim has achieved many milestones since it was formed, but in a few years, when we look back, I think we will recognize this as one of the most significant. This step helps us support our existing customers, win new customers and continue driving our technology forward."

For further information, please contact Becky Roberts: [email protected]

About Engage

Engage is a first-of-its-kind collaborative corporate venture and innovation platform to give growing businesses what they need most  access to customers and markets. Georgia Tech and Tech Square Ventures, provide tools, portfolio support and resources to companies on the platform. Engage is headquartered in Georgia Tech's Technology Square. www.engage.vc

About Kim

Kim is a no-code, SaaS, patent-protected document generation, assembly and workflow automation tool. Kim's Enterprise solution is proven with Fortune 500 organizations in legal, compliance, contract management, company secretarial, office productivity and other functions. www.kimdocument.com

SOURCE Kim Technologies
NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Enlightened is excited to announce the launch of a brand new product line, Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars. These bars come in two rich and creamy flavors: Caramel Brownie and Mint & Cookies.

Enlightened expands its portfolio with frozen Greek yogurt bars in two decadent flavors, Caramel Brownie and Mint & Cookies.

Enlightened's new bars are made with premium Greek yogurt to deliver the perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess, while offering all the nutritional benefits of Greek yogurt. Not only are they delicious, but they are also the lowest sugar Greek yogurt bars on the market, with only 80 calories and 3g of added sugar per bar. With prebiotic and probiotic benefits and 5g of protein per serving, these bars are an ideal nutritious treat.

"Our customers have been asking us for years to deliver a Greek yogurt version of our ice cream bars," said Enlightened founder and CEO Michael Shoretz. "We worked hard to create a product that not only tastes great but also offers a healthier alternative to traditional ice cream bars."

These Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars are an excellent option for anyone looking for a satisfying snack or dessert that will fit into their lifestyle. Enlightened is known for its innovative, lower-sugar treats, including ice cream pints, bars, and desserts. Each product is crafted with high-quality ingredients and are designed to meet the needs of health-conscious consumers who don't want to sacrifice flavor for nutrition.

Enlightened's Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars (Box of 4, MSRP $6.99) are available in Sprouts Farmers Market, Harris-Teeter, ShopRite, Ingles, Smart & Final and more.

About Enlightened

Enlightened is the first and largest brand within Beyond Better Foods, a New York City-based company founded by Forbes Under 30 alum Michael Shoretz in 2012. A pioneer in the low-sugar dessert category, Enlightened was one of the first light ice creams on the market. The brand is widely distributed in US retailers, such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods Market, Shoprite, Publix and Walmart. Enlightened is recognized for producing innovative feel-good desserts, including the Keto Collection in 2019; Fruit Infusions, low-carb Cheesecakes, keto-friendly Dough Bites in 2020; and Ready-to-Bake Cookies in 2021. Shoretz founded Beyond Better Foods from inspiration from his personal training clients' desire for healthy alternatives to their favorite sweet, salty, spicy and savory treats. Beyond Better Foods now includes Enlightened and Bada Bean Bada Boom.

For more information on Enlightened, visit eatenlightened.com .

SOURCE Enlightened Ice Cream
DUBLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Europe Medical Display Market, By Device (Mobile, Desktop, All-in-one Products), By Panel Size, By Display Colour, By Display Technology, By End User, By Resolution, By Application, By Country, Forecast & Opportunities, 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Europe medical display market is expected to witness a significant CAGR during the forecast period, 2024-2028

Rise in number of pathological and radiology labs along with the growing adoption of extensive technological advancements are expected to bolster the growth of the Europe medical display market in the coming years.

Furthermore, growing demand for various diagnostic procedures such as medical resonance imaging, ultrasound and X-ray coupled with surge in minimally invasive treatments are anticipated to provide huge growth opportunities for Europe medical display market through 2028.



Additionally, people aged over 65 and above are highly prone to various chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, among others, are expected to propel the growth of the market. The increasing adoption of hybrid operating rooms in European hospitals and clinics is supporting the growth of Europe medical display market. Also, the growing requirement for detailed view of ultrasound outputs by medical professionals is leading to spike in demand for medical display systems.



Europe medical display market is categorized into device, panel size, display colour, display technology, end user, resolution, application, company, and country. Based on panel size, the market can be split into under-22.9-inch panels, 23.0-26.9-inch panels, 27.0-41.9-inch panels and above-42-inch panels.

Among them, 27.0-41.9-inch panel segment is expected to witness high CAGR during the forecast period owing to their suitability for wide range of applications including surgical procedures and diagnostics.



Based on resolution, Europe medical display market is segmented into up to 2 MP, 2.1-4 MP, 4.1-8 MP and above 8 MP. Among them, the 2.1-4MP segment is anticipated to dominate the market through 2028 as it is suitable for multiple applications and has decent configuration.



The market players are investing on new product launches to enhance their product portfolio. They are also undergoing other growth strategies such as mergers & acquisitions and collaborations.



Objective of the Study:

To analyze and estimate the market size of Europe medical display market from 2018 to 2021.

medical display market from 2018 to 2021. To estimate and forecast the market size of Europe medical display market from 2022 to 2028 and growth rate until 2028.

medical display market from 2022 to 2028 and growth rate until 2028. to classify and forecast Europe medical display market based on device, panel size, display colour, display technology, end user, resolution, application, company and country.

medical display market based on device, panel size, display colour, display technology, end user, resolution, application, company and country. To identify dominant country or segment in the Europe medical display market.

medical display market. To identify drivers and challenges for Europe medical display market.

medical display market. To examine competitive developments such as expansions, mergers & acquisitions, etc., in Europe medical display market.

medical display market. To conduct pricing analysis for Europe medical display market.

medical display market. To identify and analyze the profile of leading players operating in Europe medical display market.

medical display market. To identify key sustainable strategies adopted by market players in Europe medical display market.

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in Europe medical display market.

Axiomtek Co., Ltd.

Barco N.V.

STERIS plc.

Eizo Corp

Foreseeson GmbH

Hisense Medical Equipment Co., Ltd.

COJE Co. Ltd.

Nanjing Jusha Commercial & Trading Co, Ltd.

Shenzhen Beacon Display Technology Co., Ltd.

LG Display Co., Ltd.

Report Scope:



Europe Medical Display Market, By Device:

Mobile

Desktop

All-in-one Products

Europe Medical Display Market, By Panel Size:

Under-22.9-inch Panels

23.0-26.9-inch Panels

27.0-41.9-inch Panels

Above-42-inch Panels

Europe Medical Display Market, By Display Colour:

Colour Display

Monochrome Display

Europe Medical Display Market, By Display Technology:

LED

TFT-LCD

CRT

PM-LCD

PMOLED

AMOLED

Europe Medical Display Market, By End User:

Hospitals

Diagnostic Centres

Community Healthcare

Europe Medical Display Market, By Resolution:

Up to 2 MP

2.1-4 MP

4.1-8 MP

Above 8 MP

Europe Medical Display Market, By Application:

Digital Pathology

Multi-modality

Surgical

Radiology

Mammography

Others

Europe Medical Display Market, By Country:

Italy

France

United Kingdom

Germany

Spain

Belgium

Netherlands

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/d0rhz0

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
VERONA, Wis., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Everlight Solar is proud to announce that Comparably, a leading workplace culture platform, has awarded them the Best Company Outlook Award. This prestigious award recognizes organizations that exhibit exceptional leadership, culture, and values.

Everlight Solar is proud to announce that work culture site Comparably has awarded them the Best Company Outlook Award. Tweet this Everlight Solar is grateful to receive the Best Company Outlook Award, which celebrates their bright future as the Midwest's fastest-growing solar company.

Comparably collected anonymous ratings from current employees to determine the winner of the Best Company Outlook award. Employees were asked to rate their confidence in the company's future success and whether they would recommend working there to others. Over a 12-month period, Everlight Solar's staff provided glowing reviews of their workplace.

This is the eighth award that Everlight Solar has received from Comparably, having previously been recognized for leadership, diversity, and overall culture. These awards are a testament to the company's unwavering commitment to cultivating a positive workplace culture and driving innovation in the solar industry.

As the fastest-growing solar company in the Midwest, Everlight Solar is dedicated to providing high-quality solar solutions to customers across eight states. At Everlight Solar, employees are empowered to thrive both professionally and personally, with opportunities for career development and a supportive work environment. Their commitment to diversity and inclusion ensures that everyone's unique perspectives and talents are valued and respected.

"We are thrilled to receive the Best Company Outlook Award from Comparably," said Will Creech, President and CEO of Everlight Solar. "Our staff is at the heart of everything we do, and this award is a testament to their hard work and dedication to our mission of creating a more sustainable future for all."

About Everlight Solar

Everlight Solar is the fastest-growing solar company in the Midwest, with operations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. To learn more about open jobs or about going solar for your own home, visit www.everlightsolar.com.

SOURCE Everlight Solar
LONDON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fresha, the leading marketplace platform for beauty and wellness, has cemented its global standing by debuting on the a16z Top 100 Global Marketplaces list.

Securing the 59th spot, Fresha outperforms competitors in the global hair, beauty, and wellness market, reinforcing its position as the world's top-ranking and fastest-growing marketplace platform.

Fresha ranked as top 100 global marketplaces

The California-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz compiles the Marketplace100, assessing companies based on comprehensive marketplace activity scores. These criteria include annual gross merchandise volume (GMV) from Bloomberg, app performance data from Apptopia, and SimilarWeb.





Fresha's founder and CEO, William Zeqiri, attributes the company's ranking to its substantial global impact and market leadership. "This milestone demonstrates our partners' adoption of our technology to manage their businesses and emphasizes Fresha's customer-centric approach, which perfectly aligns with consumers' preferences for discovering, booking, and paying for beauty and wellness appointments with local businesses."

Fresha's customer-focused philosophy, competitive edge, and product quality have propelled its success. The platform enables businesses to streamline their operations, promote their services, implement marketing campaigns, sell products online, and safeguard against no-shows and last-minute cancellations. The platform offers merchants a comprehensive suite of tools for seamless business operations, including appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer records management, marketing automation, loyalty programs, beauty product inventory, and team management. Fresha's consumer marketplace bolsters partner businesses' revenue potential by leveraging the consumer marketplace, online bookings, automated marketing through mobile apps, and advanced integrations with major tech brands such as Instagram, Facebook, and Google.

Fresha has built an extensive network of approximately 90,000 merchant venues worldwide, predominantly located in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Customers book tens of millions of appointments on the platform each month, processing over $10 billion in annual gross merchandise volume (GMV). Supported by New York-based equity firm General Atlantic and other investors like global beauty entrepreneur Huda Kattan, Fresha's valuation surpasses $640 million valuation with its Series C investment round in 2022.

SOURCE Fresha
Press Release

March 27, 2023 Pimentel questions timing of Cha-cha, raises inclusion of foreign ownership of land in Cha-cha Aside from questioning the timing of the proposed economic Charter change (Cha-cha), Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III also thumbed down what he called a rider provision in the so-called economic Cha-cha that will allow foreigners to own land in the Philippines. "Although they call it economic provisions, there is one rider that it's not necessarily connected to economic provisions. They want to open up land ownership to foreigners. Why is it there?" Pimentel said in an interview with ANC on Monday. Pimentel said the rider provision will only add to controversy and resistance from the public. "I think this will result in more opposition to the call for the Cha-cha right now. Bakit nasisingit yang land ownership na iyan," Pimentel said. In a separate statement, Pimentel, a former Senate President and 1990 bar topnotcher, said Section 7 of Article XII of the Constitution states that "Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain." Pimentel warned that Cha-cha will get rid of this constitutional provision, saying that "land ownership is sacred and a very personal issue to many Filipinos." Pimentel, a stalwart and chairman of the original PDP Laban, said his party has long been advocating for Cha-cha to change the country's system of governance from presidential to federalism. However, his party acknowledges that the time is not yet ripe for the Philippines to shift to federalism. "Mahirap ang buhay ngayon. We have domestic problems. The world has gotten so complicated, not only in trading but also in the politics of the world, especially these geo-political issues. Cha-cha will really eat up our time. This will refocus our attention from more pressing issues," Pimentel said. The Senate's chief fiscalizer said proponents of Cha-cha should not blame the Constitution for the rising poverty and decline in foreign direct investments. "The poverty that we see all around us was not caused by the Constitution. This has been caused by unfair policies," Pimentel said, saying the inefficiency of the country's justice system and the high cost of energy are what are keeping foreign investors away. "What is important is, number one, our energy cost. Number two, our justice system. Our system must be efficient and trustworthy," Pimentel stressed as he echoed the issues raised by the business sector about the high electricity rates in the Philippines as compared with other Southeast Asian countries. Citing the statement made by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Pimentel said that electricity rates for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors in the Philippines have been significantly higher from between 25% to as high as 87% than its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) neighbors, namely Malaysia (87.5%), Indonesia (87.5%), Vietnam (50%) and Thailand (36%). Answering a hypothetical question about whether he would vote for Cha-cha if and when the plenary decides, Pimentel said he would vote for constitutional assembly (con-ass) as a mode. "If we are serious in amending the Constitution, the most practical manner would be con-ass," Pimentel said, but he emphasized that the Senate and the House of Representatives should be voting separately.
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. A young couple from Uganda was left devastated when their 18 months old baby girl was diagnosed with SCD, aka sick cell anemia, a typically inherited blood disease that may cause multiple health problems.

Nora was 18 months old when we realized that shes having trouble standing, Agnes Achan, the childs mother, told ARMENPRESS at the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia. She was having bouts of fever and cough. We took her for a Malaria test and doctors prescribed antibiotics. But it was getting worse. She lost weight beyond recognition."

After many visits to various doctors, Nora was diagnosed with SCD. Her parents consulted with various hospitals around the world after choosing to travel to Armenia in October of 2022 for their childs treatment.

This was their first ever visit to the country.

Today we dont even want to go back, though we didnt know anything about your country a few months ago, Agnes Achan said.

After a successful course of treatment, Nora, now 5, is full of energy, healthy, and is jumping around playfully all day long.

I am very grateful to this hospital and the City of Smile charitable foundation, which really brought back my babys smile. I am grateful to all the doctors and the department of psychological support, Achan added, noting that the doctors were providing 24/7 assistance.

I advise all my countrymen in Uganda to come here to this Armenian hospital if they require treatment. The doctors here are very caring, they love children and are very attentive.

The child was treated using allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Noras 3-year-old brother was the donor. He and their father have already returned to Uganda.

The procedure is rather expensive around the world, but it is much cheaper in Armenia. The hospital gets support from City of Smile, the DMKS German organization and the Italian Cure2Children international foundation.

Children from Cameroon and Nigeria have also received allogeneic stem cell transplantation in the hospital.

Nelly Margaryan
SEOUL, South Korea, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan has announced that STRADVISION , an automotive industry pioneer in deep learning-based vision perception technology, has won the Frost & Sullivan 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) perception software industry.

STRADVISION has won the Frost & Sullivan 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) perception software industry.

During the rigorous analytical award process, Frost & Sullivan evaluated multiple nominees in each category before determining the final award recipient. The process involves a detailed evaluation of best practices criteria across two dimensions for each nominated company. The firm found that STRADVISION excels in many criteria in the ADAS and AD perception space, including technology leverage and business impact.

"STRADVISION's commitment to innovation and creativity enables it to develop optimized solutions that meet client needs and market demands," said Deexeta Mohankumar, Research Analyst for Frost & Sullivan. "In addition, its core SVNet technology allows it to stay ahead of the competition by adopting advanced learning algorithms that deliver high efficiency and modularity. Demonstrating performance effectiveness with SoC-specific software architecture, STRADVISION has distinguished itself as a technology provider that can run deep learning-based vision perception features on leading SoC platforms. In contrast, most competitors still rely on ML-based solutions, which require large data sets, time, and resources to improve accuracy."

"We're pleased to see that our industry-leading approach to innovation is being widely recognized by such prestigious institutions as Frost & Sullivan," STRADVISION USA CEO Sunny Lee said. "We will continue to push for an integrated future for vision and artificial intelligence technology in consumers' everyday lives by providing our customers with best-in-class software for safer assisted and autonomous driving."

Frost & Sullivan's research on the global autonomous passenger vehicle market in 2022 indicates that the total addressable market for L1 to L4 autonomous vehicles will reach 74.54 million units by 2028, with 59% of the vehicles equipped with an L2 and above ADAS/AD software stack. This presents a vast opportunity for ADAS/AD perception technology developers such as STRADVISION. The ADAS/AD solutions based on STRADVISION's SVNet technology are available in more than 50 vehicle models of 13 OEMs, accounting for over 550,000 consumer vehicles in global markets.

Frost & Sullivan's full summary on the award and their selection of STRADVISION can be found HERE .

The Frost & Sullivan recognition came after a busy year for STRADVISION in 2022, including significant workforce growth of 69.2% YoY for the company, both in North America and globally. The company achieved Series C funding of $88 million ($129 million cumulative funding to date), and its recent rebranding and evolved company vision will extend the implementation of its innovative computer vision software to industries beyond automotive. Additional 2022 and early 2023 milestones include SVNet software implementation for Texas Instruments' TDA4 automotive processor, the successful completion of proof-of-concept (PoC) and production projects for more mass production with global OEMs and Tier-1 companies, and STRADVISION's SVNet software being once again selected as the 'Best-in-Class Software for Perception Systems' during the 2022 AutoSens Awards in Brussels, Belgium.

About STRADVISION

Founded in 2014, STRADVISION is an automotive industry pioneer in artificial intelligence-based vision perception technology for ADAS. The company is accelerating the advent of fully autonomous vehicles by making ADAS features available at a fraction of the market cost compared with competitors. STRADVISION's SVNet is being deployed on various vehicle models in partnership with OEMs; can powers ADAS and autonomous vehicles worldwide; and is serviced by over 300 employees in Seoul, San Jose, Detroit, Tokyo, Shanghai, Friedrichshafen, and Dusseldorf. STRADVISION has been honored with Frost & Sullivan's 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award, the Gold Award at the 2021 and 2022 AutoSens Awards for Best-in-Class Software for Perception Systems, and the 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Technology ACES Award in Autonomy (software category). In addition, STRADVISION's software is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems and ISO 26262 for Automotive Functional Safety.

SOURCE StradVision
FUZHOU, China, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the promotional video of Fuzhou of Fujian Province, titled "What You Did Not Know about Fuzhou -- Cultural Tourism Economy", was released through overseas social media accounts including "Oriental.Paris", "Discover Fujian" and "Discover Fuzhou". With the classical and fashionable elements, the beauty of the mountains and the sea, the profound culture and the smart and convenient service, the city invites tourists from all over the world to visit Fuzhou, feel it and fall in love with it, according to the Publicity Department of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee.

More and more young people meet in Fuzhou, a city of fortune, to enjoy a poetic life and share their dreams.

The video shows the "going green" and the beauty of Fuzhou, a modern metropolis. Its blue seashore, waterways of Min River, and recreational hot springs are diverse and integrated attractions. The Heart of the Min River, the Cultural Town of Naval Industry History, and the Three Treasures of Fuzhou City are blossoming in synergy. The Maritime Silk Road International Tourism Festival and the World Heritage Conference are making great strides in their endeavors, fully showcasing the international style of Fuzhou and enlarging the circle of friends. The 5G, big data, cloud computing and precise cultural tourism services have improved the convenience and sense of happiness of tourists. Local music IP, high-quality literary works of the Min School and other wonderful original content are orchestrated for stage, attracting more and more young people to meet in Fuzhou, the city of fortune, to enjoy a poetic life and share their dreams.

In recent years, Fuzhou has refined its top-level design, incorporated the whole-area eco-tourism development concept into the overall economic and social development of the city, incessantly promoted the integrated development of "tourism +" and "+ tourism", actively expanded the integrated development path of cultural and tourism for high-quality development.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=439290

Caption: More and more young people meet in Fuzhou, a city of fortune, to enjoy a poetic life and share their dreams.

SOURCE The Publicity Department of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee
SUZHOU, China, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GCL System Integration Technology Co., Ltd. ("GCL SI" or "the Company") (Shenzhen:002506), a leading photovoltaics (PV) company in China, has announced the unveiling of its latest solar innovations, the N-type TOPCon and BIPV (GCL SPV) module, which debuted at PV EXPO 2023, Japan's largest show for the PV industry that was held at Tokyo Big Sight from March 15th to 17th. At the booth, GCL SI introduced to visitors from around the world how its new range of offerings integrated with cutting-edge solar technology are catalyzing the development of the PV industry and helping Japan accelerate toward its decarbonization targets.

"At GCL SI, we take pride in being a leading innovator in the field of renewable energy, constantly pushing the boundaries of the PV industry with our diverse range of state-of-the-art solutions. Over the past few years, we have had the privilege of showcasing our products at PV EXPO, which has allowed us to introduce our technological breakthroughs to facilitate global energy transition. After navigating through the tumultuous times of the pandemic, we are thrilled to come back to the exhibition hall of Asia's premier trade show for the solar sector once again and reconnect with old and new friends alike. This time, we are excited to bring our latest products, including the TOPCon and BIPV (GCL SPV) module, which represent our unwavering commitment to driving sustainable technology forward," said Thomas Zhang, President of GCL SI.

TOPCon Solar Module

As the solar industry is embracing N-type modules for their advantages, GCL SI has been ramping up its research and development efforts to produce new-generation products that meet the demands of a rapidly evolving market. Featuring an exceptional conversion efficiency of over 22.5%, GCL SI's N-type TOPCon is a bifacial monocrystalline module designed to deliver superior reliability and performance while reducing LID and LeTID.

This year, the Company has unveiled a plan for a manufacturing base in China dedicated to producing 20GW high-efficiency TOPCon solar cells, which will be equipped with top-notch automated production equipment, as well as digitized and smart facilities that scale up both the R&D and production capabilities of GCL SI in developing high-efficiency PV cells.

With a new manufacturing base, GCL SI has also formulated a clear product roadmap and mass-production plan for its N-type TOPCon solar modules that are both cost-effective and high-performing. The base also serves as a springboard from which GCL SI aims to further sharpen its synergistic competitive edge in the upstream industrial chain and cement its leadership in the development of the latest generation of PV technology.

BIPV Solar Module

The building-integrated photovoltaic products (BIPVs) are seen as a low-carbon and sustainable solution for achieving carbon neutrality. Architects are increasingly gravitating toward BIPVs as a low-cost, green solution that can generate long-term economic benefits for investors while offering a customized aesthetic that complements any architectural style. At the event, GCL SI showcased its BIPV module, a bifacial solar module crafted to offer stand-setting safety and longevity that deliver industry-leading reliability and performance.

BIPV comes with a 12-year product warranty, and a 25-30-year linear power output warranty, and has achieved an A-Ranking in the non-combustibility test of fireproof components of building materials. Additionally, it features over-temperature protection and excellent water resistance, ensuring optimal performance in any weather condition. The system's simplified structure reduces expenses for replacing parts, with automatic cleaning functionality minimizing the maintenance efforts for users.

"The creation of these two products injects new momentum into our company's innovation as we seek new solutions to empower the world to achieve net-zero carbon goals. Looking forward, we will continue to strengthen our R&D capacities, expanding our global presence to make our premium, high-performance solar products more accessible to users worldwide," said Thomas Zhang.

SOURCE GCLSI
BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At around 11 am on March 23, 2013, all eyes were on the podium at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations as the world attentively awaited an important speech that was to be delivered.

It was Xi Jinping's first important speech during his first overseas trip after he was elected as the Chinese president. The speech was highly anticipated and drew worldwide attention.

"It is a world where countries are linked with and dependent on one another at a level never seen before. Mankind, by living in the global village in the same era and on the same Earth where history and reality meet, has increasingly emerged as a community of common destiny in which everyone has in himself a little bit of others," he said.

This major concept of human beings having "a community with a shared future for mankind" proposed by Xi soon grabbed international headlines and was quickly spread to all parts of the world through extensive media reports.

In what seems like an instant, one decade has passed since the momentous speech, and the decade has been marked by numerous and significant changes.

As the world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, the historical trend of peace, development, and win-win cooperation has gathered an unstoppable momentum. The prevailing trends of global multipolarity, economic globalization, and greater democracy in international relations are irreversible. Meanwhile, the world is being confronted with complex and intertwined traditional and nontraditional security challenges with damaging hegemonic acts, domination and bullying. There is a long and tortuous way to go for the global economic recovery. Countries around the world are deeply concerned and eager to find a lasting solution to mounting crises through cooperation.

The world has gained a more profound understanding that peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefits make the world vibrant while bullying, division, conflict, and confrontation only lead nations into strife and chaos.

The world today is also full of uncertainty. Human beings must overcome the fog of hegemonism, the prevailing Cold War mentality, the employment of zero-sum game tactics, the notion of the inherent superiority of certain civilizations, and other forms of interference, and veer away from this turbulent course of history as soon as possible. The concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" proposed by Xi is the ideological beacon charting this course.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once said the UN is willing to join China in promoting world peace and development, and in realizing the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

A vision to future

Truth can only be made clearer through the test of time. The great value of the concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" has been repeatedly validated over the last decade because of its insight into reality and a forward-looking vision for the future.

Only with insight can we see the times clearly.

Xi noted that we should expand our global vision and develop keen insights into human development and progress trends, respond to the general concerns of people from all countries, and play our part in resolving the common issues facing humankind.

Historically, the world has never been more connected than it is now, and human beings have never been more interdependent than they are today. If the Suez Canal is blocked, Europeans will run out of coffee to have with their breakfast; a severe rainstorm in Southeast Asia will increase the prices of computer hard drives in Latin America; thousands of parts for an airplane are manufactured by companies in dozens of countries; when an earthquake hits a country, news and pictures of the natural disaster can spread all over the world in a few minutes; and now the novel coronavirus disease has forced the entire world to fight together.

As we are all members of the global village and we belong to a community with a shared future for mankind, it is impossible to solve problems arising from such interconnectivity by severing links. All human beings must be seen as one in order to find the right way to deal with such problems.

A vision is the key to the future.

Xi has repeatedly used a "ship" as a metaphor to portray the future of mankind, when he virtually addressed the 2022 World Economic Forum, stating that "facts have shown, once again, that amid the raging torrents of a global crisis, countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats, but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges."

In the last decade, the world has experienced dramatic changes and the road has been fraught with difficulties. Against this backdrop, the vision of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" is becoming more forward-looking when we consider how mankind has worked together to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, when the UN Climate Change Conference achieves positive outcomes, and when the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) creates many "national landmarks," "livelihood projects" and "monument of cooperation."

As Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club, said in 2020, "Coronavirus [disease] is a global crisis that no country is immune from. It has proved that building a community with a shared future for mankind is the only right choice to win the battle."

History has proved once again that nearsightedness leads nowhere and selfish interests lead only to bad results. "Building a community with a shared future for mankind" is the only way to overcome the rapids in the treacherous waters of history.

World of great harmony

Throughout the ages, people at home and abroad have shared their yearning for a better world. The idea of "a community with a shared future for mankind" continues to resonate because its approach emphasizes "commonality."

Pursuing the concept of "Datong," or "a world of great harmony," is the main aim.

"We should jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and work together to build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity," Xi said in relation to the vision of an ideal world. This is a clear blueprint for a community with a shared future for mankind, and a contemporary version of the ideal of "great harmony" for mankind.

Over the last decade, Xi has visited more than 70 countries on the five continents during his more than 40 overseas trips, hosted and attended a series of important multilateral diplomatic activities, proposed the BRI, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, and promote a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation, all of which have enriched the vision of "a community with a shared future for mankind" and created specific ways to achieve the said vision.

This has offered China's solution to the changing world, times, and history, and gained broad international consensus.

"It's mankind's common ideal to build a world in which there are no disputes, every country enjoys development, and every person lives happily," Yasuo Fukuda, former Japanese prime minister, said at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in April 2018. "To realize this ideal, political leaders in the world need to show great foresight, point out the development direction, and make their best efforts to turn the vision into a reality," he said.

"China's initiative to build a community with a shared future for mankind is based on such a vision and it is hoped that all countries will join hands to realize the goal," he noted.

Facing together is an effective way to solve problems.

In China's eyes, to truly pursue world peace, we need dialogue and consultation, and to truly benefit the global population, we should build a shared future.

As Xi said, prejudice, discrimination, hatred, and war can only cause disaster and suffering, while mutual respect, equality, peaceful development, and common prosperity represent the right path to be taken.

Over the last decade, the universal values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom have gained increasing popularity. Building an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity has become an increasingly common pursuit for more and more countries.

The international community clearly realizes that there is no such a thing as a superior state, nor a one-size-fits-all model of national governance, nor an international order dominated by a single country. A united world  not a divided one  that is peaceful and not volatile is what serves the common interests of mankind.

The initiative of building a global community with a shared future was initiated by China, but promoted by all.

The concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" proposed by Xi is extremely important, Pakistani President Arif Alvi said on March 15, 2023, adding that only by working together can countries around the world address the challenges they face, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and poverty.

China, under the leadership of Xi, has established a better image in the world and is leading the world in a good direction, Alvi said.

Beneficial global thoughts

The charm of thought often reflects one's great personality. The idea of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" has gained increasing popularity among the people because it reflects Xi's spirit as the leader of a major country and a world-class leader with the aim to benefit the world while deeply caring for its people.

This spirit offers great wisdom for the benefit of the world.

"All countries should rise above differences such as nationality, culture, and ideology, to build a community with a shared future for mankind and jointly build our shared planet," Xi has said on numerous occasions internationally while extending a sincere invitation to the rest of the world. "All countries are welcome to board the train of China's development," "Our aim is to turn the Chinese market into a market for the world, a market shared by all, and a market accessible to all," "Development is real only when all countries develop together," he said.

The facts speak for themselves. The BRI has become a quality international public goods jointly built by all parties and shared by the world.

The China-Europe freight train line, so far, runs more than 65,000 trains, making it an "iron caravan" connecting Asia and Europe. The China-Laos railway can transform Laos from a landlocked country into a land-linked hub that connects the wider region. The Chinese-built Peljesac Bridge in Croatia fulfilled the Croatian people's dream of connecting their northern and southern territories.

This sentiment also encapsulates the Chinese's leader's "people first" philosophy.

Even when China was poor, it tightened its belt to help its African brothers build this [Tazara Railway] railway, Xi said when he held talks with visiting Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Beijing on November 3, 2022. "Now that China is more developed, it is better placed to act on the principle of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith, to help our African friends achieve common development, and to build a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era," he noted.

From the Tazara Railway to Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, and Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), from the China-Cambodia Friendship Poverty Alleviation Demonstration Village Project to the provision of 1,000 training quotas for poverty alleviation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to various countries, sincerity and real actions all bear witness to China's initial sincerity in seeking development with the world.

"Most of the world has said this is really how we want to move forward... China and its development, and its willingness to share that development has created a new opportunity for the world," said William Jones, Washington bureau chief of the US publication Executive Intelligence Review.

China's success story of poverty alleviation has given "a different direction to history," Jones said.

By relying on independence, putting people and their lives first, peaceful development, openness, inclusiveness, and solidarity, instead of war, colonialism, and plunder, the Chinese people have blazed a new path to modernization.

The Chinese path to modernization has inspired many other countries, especially developing ones, to figure out a new path to modernization. The Chinese people hope and believe that as more countries in the world embark on the path to modernization, the dream of a community with a shared future for mankind will come true eventually.

Right path serves common interests

The world belongs to people from all countries, and the future of the world must be in the hands of all people. Why has the concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" profoundly influenced the world? Because it encourages openness, goodwill, and innovation to achieve common goals.

This right path best serves the common interests of the vast majority of people in the world.

Xi stressed that to have a community with a shared future for mankind is not to replace one system or civilization with another. Instead, it is about countries with different social systems, ideologies, histories, cultures, and levels of development coming together for shared interests, shared rights, and shared responsibilities in global affairs, and creating the greatest synergy for building a better world.

In the last decade, the concept has brought joy along the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR thanks to faster and smoother travel instead of the cries of the refugee camp; it has brought about the opening of new factories in industrial parks around the world; it has transformed certain land-locked countries into land-linked hubs."

Martin Jacques, a senior fellow of politics and international studies at Cambridge University, said that China has carried out unprecedented work at home and abroad, and offered "a new possibility" to the world.

This right path encourages active participation.

In the last 10 years, the concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" has been written into the resolutions or declarations of the United Nations, BRICS, and other international organizations many times over: At the bilateral level, China has resonated with many countries in the face of complicated global issues; at the regional level, the building of several communities with a shared future has enjoyed steady promotion; at the global level, communities of global development, human security, human health, and human and natural life, communities with a shared future in cyberspace, a community with a shared future in nuclear security, and a community with a shared future in the ocean have emerged.

The Global Development Initiative proposed by Xi has received positive responses and support from more than 100 countries and international organizations, including the United Nations, and about 70 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative.

Recent Saudi Arabia-Iran talks in Beijing had achieved important outcomes, which are a testament to the successful practice of the Global Security Initiative, which has been praised and supported by more than 70 countries, and was unanimously welcomed by the international community.

Xi introduced the Global Civilization Initiative at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting on March 15, 2023, which was warmly endorsed by the participants and resonated widely with the international community.

The BRI has transformed from a blueprint proposed one decade ago to a reality today, turning into effective development for countries and tangible benefits for countless people. So far, it has seen the participation of more than three-quarters of the world's, attracting trillion dollars of investment, forming more than 3,000 cooperation projects, creating 420,000 jobs for countries along the BRI route, and lifting tens of millions of people out of poverty.

It has been a decade since the concept of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" was proposed. The world has seen the power of ideas and heard the echoes of history - only when destiny is shared will the world have a brighter future.

People want to live comfortable lives, to have friends and wine in every place they go, to have a happier future for their children that's better than they have today. No one wants to survive in uncertainty, poverty, and backwardness, to grow up in a land shrouded in hostility and intimidation.

"Building a community with a shared future for mankind is an exciting goal, and it requires efforts from generation after generation," Xi addressed the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 18, 2017.

How can we take responsibility for our children and give them a better future?

The world's tomorrow depends on our decisions today. We believe that as long as we uphold goodwill and communicate sincerely, even the biggest conflicts can be resolved and even the thickest ice can be broken. We look forward to realizing harmonious coexistence and win-win cooperation among countries, passing on the flame of peace from generation to generation.

Chinese people are ready to cooperate with the people of the world, to always be on the right side of history and on the side of the progress of human civilization, and to walk hand in hand on the path to peace and development.

SOURCE Global Times
VANCOUVER, BC, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Gold Royalty Corp. ("Gold Royalty" or the "Company") (NYSE: GROY) is pleased to announce the filing of its operating and financial results for the three-month transition period ended December 31, 2022. As previously announced, the Company has changed its fiscal year end to December 31 to better align with the reporting cycle of its peers. All amounts expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

David Garofalo, Chairman and CEO of Gold Royalty, commented, "Gold Royalty's portfolio of long-life, high-quality assets saw several significant advancements in the first quarter of 2023. The organic growth within our portfolio is coming to fruition, fueling increased revenue and cash flow as key development stage royalties enter production over the coming years. Odyssey is ramping up production in 2023; Cote is on track to commence production in 2024; and Ren continues to grow as a key high-grade extension of the Goldstrike Mine. With a strong balance sheet and access to capital, we enter 2023 well-positioned to deliver long-term shareholder value through our significant organic growth profile."

Highlights for the three months ended December 31, 2022, include:

Total Revenue and Option Proceeds of $1.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2022 , an 11% increase from the three months ended December 31, 2021 . "Total Revenue and Option Proceeds is a non-IFRS Measure. See " Non-IFRS Measures ".

for the three months ended , an 11% increase from the three months ended . "Total Revenue and Option Proceeds is a non-IFRS Measure. See " ". With approximately $35 million in available liquidity, inclusive of a $15 million accordion feature in its credit facility (available subject to certain additional conditions), the Company is positioned well for further growth.

in available liquidity, inclusive of a accordion feature in its credit facility (available subject to certain additional conditions), the Company is positioned well for further growth. The Company forecasts between $5.5 million and $6.5 million in Total Revenues and Option Proceeds in 2023.

and in Total Revenues and Option Proceeds in 2023. Gold Royalty now holds 216 royalties with a focus on the top ranked mining jurisdictions in the Americas (Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2021 Investment Attractiveness Index).

Gold Royalty declared its fifth consecutive quarterly dividend in 2022, yielding over 1.8% at current share prices.

The following table sets forth selected financial information for the three-month transition period ended December 31, 2022 and the three months ended December 31, 2021, respectively:







Three months ended







December

31, 2022



December

31, 2021

(in thousands of dollars, except per share amounts)



($)



($)

Total revenue



582



533

Net loss



(2,204)



(6,841)

Net loss per share, basic and diluted



(0.02)



(0.06)

Dividends declared per share



0.01





Non-IFRS and Other Measures













Total Revenue and Option Proceeds*



1,131



1,018

Adjusted Net Loss*



(3,373)



(3,540)

Adjusted Net Loss Per Share, basic and diluted*



(0.02)



(0.03)

Total Gold Equivalent Ounces



336



297

Cash flow used in operating activities, excluding changes in non-cash working capital*



(2,315)



(5,894)

Adjusted Cash flow used in operating activities, excluding changes in non-cash working capital and transaction related expenses*



(2,200)



(1,836)



* See Non-IFRS Measures below.



For further detailed information, please refer to the Company's audited financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, for the three months ended December 31, 2022, copies of which are available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.

Outlook

Gold Royalty expects to receive $5.5 million and $6.5 million in Total Revenues and Option Proceeds in 2023 based on the production guidance published to date by the operators of the properties underlying the Company's existing royalties and a forecasted gold price ranging from $1,700 per ounce to $2,000 per ounce and expected payments on optioned properties. The Company expects to incur $7.0 million to $8.0 million in recurring cash operating expenses in 2023, a midpoint decrease of 30% compared to fiscal 2022. Gold Royalty is poised to generate net free cash flow in 2024 when a number of its growth projects ramp up in production, including the long-life cornerstone mines at Cote and Odyssey.

The foregoing projected outlook constitutes forward-looking information and is intended to provide information about management's current expectations for the Company's 2023 fiscal year. Although considered reasonable as of the date hereof, such outlook and the underlying assumptions may prove to be inaccurate. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially from the Company's expectations as set forth herein. See "Forward-Looking Statements".

In preparing the above outlook, the Company assumed, among other things, that the operators of the projects underlying royalties will meet expected production milestones and forecasts for the applicable period and that operators of optioned properties will elect to make all expected option payments over the period. This section includes forward-looking statements. See "Forward-Looking Statements".

Portfolio Update

Odyssey Project (3.0% NSR royalty over the northern portion of the project): On February 16, 2023 , Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico Eagle") disclosed that the Canadian Malartic mine and the Odyssey mine will now form the Canadian Malartic Complex . Initial production from the underground Odyssey mine commenced in March 2023 , with production ramping up through the remainder of the year. Infill drilling continues to expand and upgrade mineral resources. 102,000 metres of exploration drilling is planned for 2023 at Odyssey with four key objectives: conversion of resources to higher confidence at East Gouldie; testing the extents of East Gouldie; converting extensions of the Odyssey South deposit; and further exploration of additional internal zones at Odyssey.

(3.0% NSR royalty over the northern portion of the project): On , Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico Eagle") disclosed that the Canadian Malartic mine and the Odyssey mine will now form the Canadian . Initial production from the underground Odyssey mine commenced in , with production ramping up through the remainder of the year. Infill drilling continues to expand and upgrade mineral resources. 102,000 metres of exploration drilling is planned for 2023 at Odyssey with four key objectives: conversion of resources to higher confidence at East Gouldie; testing the extents of East Gouldie; converting extensions of the Odyssey South deposit; and further exploration of additional internal zones at Odyssey. Cote Gold Project (0.75% NSR royalty over the southern portion of the project): On February 16, 2023 , IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD") disclosed that, as of December 31, 2022 , the Cote Gold project was estimated to be approximately 73% complete. It further disclosed that IAMGOLD believes that the aggregate proceeds from the sale of its interest in the Rosebel mine, the anticipated proceeds from the sale of the Bambouk assets and funds to be provided by Sumitomo under the joint venture for the mine will meet the estimated remaining funding requirements for the completion of construction at the Cote Gold Project based on the current schedule and estimate. IAMGOLD further stated that the Cote Gold project is expected to commence production in early 2024 when it is expected to become Canada's third largest gold mine by production.

(0.75% NSR royalty over the southern portion of the project): On , IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD") disclosed that, as of , the Cote Gold project was estimated to be approximately 73% complete. It further disclosed that IAMGOLD believes that the aggregate proceeds from the sale of its interest in the Rosebel mine, the anticipated proceeds from the sale of the Bambouk assets and funds to be provided by Sumitomo under the joint venture for the mine will meet the estimated remaining funding requirements for the completion of construction at the Cote Gold Project based on the current schedule and estimate. IAMGOLD further stated that the Cote Gold project is expected to commence production in early 2024 when it is expected to become third largest gold mine by production. Ren Project (1.5% NSR royalty and 3.5% NPI): On February 15, 2023 , Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") announced its 2022 results, including updates on the Carlin Complex and updated resource estimates for Ren as at December 31, 2022 . At Ren, indicated mineral resources increased to 62 koz of gold (0.17 Mt at 11.04 g/t) and inferred resources increased to 1,600 koz of gold (7.4 Mt at 6.6 g/t), an increase in inferred ounces of roughly 33% compared to the 2021 maiden mineral resource estimate for the project. Barrick expects further exploration success and resource growth at Ren in 2023.

(1.5% NSR royalty and 3.5% NPI): On , Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") announced its 2022 results, including updates on the Carlin Complex and updated resource estimates for Ren as at . At Ren, indicated mineral resources increased to 62 koz of gold (0.17 Mt at 11.04 g/t) and inferred resources increased to 1,600 koz of gold (7.4 Mt at 6.6 g/t), an increase in inferred ounces of roughly 33% compared to the 2021 maiden mineral resource estimate for the project. Barrick expects further exploration success and resource growth at Ren in 2023. Fenelon Gold Project (2.0% NSR royalty over the majority of the project): On January 17, 2023 Wallbridge Mining Company Limited ("Wallbridge") announced an updated mineral resource estimate with an effective date of March 3, 2023 for the Fenelon Gold project that outlined indicated resources of 2,370 koz of gold (21.7 Mt at 3.40 g/t) and inferred resources are 1,720 of gold (18.5 Mt at 2.89 g/t). The updated mineral resource estimate is expected to form the foundation for Wallbridge's upcoming preliminary economic assessment of Fenelon, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023.

(2.0% NSR royalty over the majority of the project): On Wallbridge Mining Company Limited ("Wallbridge") announced an updated mineral resource estimate with an effective date of for the Fenelon Gold project that outlined indicated resources of 2,370 koz of gold (21.7 Mt at 3.40 g/t) and inferred resources are 1,720 of gold (18.5 Mt at 2.89 g/t). The updated mineral resource estimate is expected to form the foundation for Wallbridge's upcoming preliminary economic assessment of Fenelon, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023. Granite Creek Mine Project (10.0% NPI): On March 14, 2023 , i-80 provided an update and recap of progress at the Granite Creek Mine Project during the 2022. Multiple underground levels have been developed, especially on the Ogee Zone, and i-80 continued to extend the decline to depth, with the goal of initiating access to the new South Pacific Zone located immediately below and to the north of the underground mine workings. i-80 targets to complete underground drilling and bring the newly discovered South Pacific Zone into the Granite Creek mine plan in 2023. In the upper parts of the mine, high-grade gold mineralization was being defined in the Otto, Adam Peak and Range Front horizons, while from the lower levels drilling was focused on defining mineralization in the Ogee Zone that is expected to be the primary zone in the near future.

(10.0% NPI): On , i-80 provided an update and recap of progress at the Granite Creek Mine Project during the 2022. Multiple underground levels have been developed, especially on the Ogee Zone, and i-80 continued to extend the decline to depth, with the goal of initiating access to the new South Pacific Zone located immediately below and to the north of the underground mine workings. i-80 targets to complete underground drilling and bring the newly discovered South Pacific Zone into the Granite Creek mine plan in 2023. In the upper parts of the mine, high-grade gold mineralization was being defined in the Otto, and Range Front horizons, while from the lower levels drilling was focused on defining mineralization in the Ogee Zone that is expected to be the primary zone in the near future. Jerritt Canyon Mine (0.5% NSR royalty & PTR): On March 20, 2023 First Majestic announced it is taking action to reduce overall costs by reducing investments, temporarily suspending all mining activities and reducing its workforce at Jerritt Canyon effective immediately. During the suspension, First Majestic intends to process approximately 45,000 tonnes of aboveground stockpiles through the plant. Exploration activities are expected to also continue throughout 2023 with several additional plans for optimization of the asset. As a result of the suspension, First Majestic's previous production and cost guidance for Jerritt Canyon can no longer be relied upon. First Majestic's revised consolidated production and cost guidance, including capital investments, are expected to be published in July. Gold Royalty notes that Jerritt Canyon accounts for less than 2% of its portfolio net asset value based on consensus estimates.

Investor Webcast

An investor webcast will be held on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 starting at 11:00 am ET (8:00 am PT) to discuss these results. Management will be providing an update to interested stakeholders on the Company's quarterly results including key recent catalysts that have been announced on the assets underlying the Company's royalties. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session where participants will be able to ask any questions they may have of management.

To register for the investor webcast, please click the link below: https://www.bigmarker.com/vid-conferences/GoldRoyalty-Mar-2023-Results-Webcast

About Gold Royalty Corp.

Gold Royalty Corp. is a gold-focused royalty company offering creative financing solutions to the metals and mining industry. Its mission is to invest in high-quality, sustainable, and responsible mining operations to build a diversified portfolio of precious metals royalty and streaming interests that generate superior long-term returns for our shareholders. Gold Royalty's diversified portfolio currently consists primarily of net smelter return royalties on gold properties located in the Americas.

Qualified Persons

Alastair Still, P.Geo., Director of Technical Services of the Company, is a "qualified person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of Canadian Securities Administrators and has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release.

Non-IFRS Measures

We have included, in this news release, certain performance measures that do not have standardized meanings prescribed under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), including: (i) Total Revenue and Option Proceeds, which is determined by adding proceeds from option agreements to revenue; (ii) Adjusted Net Loss, which is determined by deducting transaction-related expenses, share of loss and dilution gain in associate, impairment, changes in fair value of derivative liabilities and short-term investments, gain on loan modification, foreign exchange gain/(loss) and other income from net income (loss); (iii) Adjusted Net Loss Per Share, which is determined by dividing Adjusted Net Loss by the weighted average number of common shares for the applicable period; (iv) cash flows from operating activities, excluding changes in non-cash working capital, which is determined by excluding the impact of changes in non-cash working capital items to or from cash used in operating activities; (v) cash flows from operating activities, excluding changes in non-cash working capital and transaction related expenses, which is determined by deducting transaction-related expenses from cash flows from operating activities, excluding changes in non-cash working capital; and (vi) Gold Equivalent Ounces, which are determined by dividing revenue by the average gold price for the applicable period. Each of these are non-IFRS measures. The presentation of such non-IFRS measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Company presents such measures as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance in comparison to other royalty companies in the precious metals mining industry. Readers are advised that other companies may calculate such measures differently. The presentation of these non-IFRS measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. For additional information, including a numerical reconciliation of such non-IFRS measures, readers should refer to the section titled "Non-IFRS Measures" in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the three months ended December 31, 2022, which is incorporated by reference herein and available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

Notice to Investors

Disclosure relating to properties in which Gold Royalty holds royalty or other interests is based on information publicly disclosed by the owners or operators of such properties. The Company generally has limited or no access to the properties underlying its interests and is largely dependent on the disclosure of the operators of its interests and other publicly available information. The Company generally has limited or no ability to verify such information. Although the Company does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third-party information is complete or accurate.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain of the information contained in this news release constitutes 'forward-looking information' and 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws ("forward-looking statements"), including but not limited to statements regarding: estimated future Total Revenues and Option Proceeds; expectations regarding the development of the projects underlying the Company's royalty interests; expectations regarding the Company's growth and statements regarding the Company's plans and strategies. Such statements can be generally identified by the use of terms such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "believe", "plans", "anticipate" or similar terms. Forward-looking statements are based upon certain assumptions and other important factors, including assumptions of management regarding the accuracy of the disclosure of the operators of the projects underlying the Company's projects, their ability to achieve disclosed plans and targets, macroeconomic conditions, commodity prices, and the Company's ability to finance future growth and acquisitions. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, among others, any inability to any inability of the operators of the properties underlying the Company's royalty interests to execute proposed plans for such properties or to achieved planned development and production estimates and goals, risks related to the operators of the projects in which the Company holds interests, including the successful continuation of operations at such projects by those operators, risks related to exploration, development, permitting, infrastructure, operating or technical difficulties on any such projects, the influence of macroeconomic developments, the ability of the Company to carry out its growth plans and other factors set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended September 30, 2022 and its other publicly filed documents under its profiles at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Gold Royalty Corp.
ST. LOUIS, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, announced that Michael J. Tierney has been named Vice President - Strategic Accounts, effective May 1, 2023.

Tierney joined Graybar in 2011 and has more than 34 years of industry experience. He currently serves as Senior National Sales Manager in Graybar's Strategic Accounts organization, with responsibility for the industrial sales team. Prior to his current role, he led Graybar's electric utility business across the eastern United States.

"We congratulate Michael on his promotion," said Graybar's Senior Vice President - Sales, David G. Maxwell. "With his extensive experience and proven track record of results, Michael is highly respected within our company and throughout the industry. I am confident that he will provide strong leadership to sustain growth and deliver exceptional service to our strategic account customers."

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of more than 300 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network, automate and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.

Media Contact:

Tim Sommer

(314) 578-7672

[email protected]

SOURCE Graybar
Controlled Environment Farms can improve access to affordable, high-quality and nutritious food

Leading researcher said vertical farming may take over approximately 50% of the leafy green markets in the U.S.

CORONA, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Container Technologies, Inc. (Ticker: ACTX), announced that GrowPods  its brand of innovative controlled environment farms  may play an important role in feeding the world, which is predicted to explode to almost 10 billion people in about one generation.

Wilbur-Ellis, a global leader in agriculture technology and products, said that Controlled Environment Agriculture will play an important role in future farming by improving access to affordable, high-quality, and nutritious produce. "Its potential to offer consumers and supply chain stakeholders resilient, sustainable, local produce is becoming increasingly valuable in the face of rising input costs and environmental variability."

What is Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)?

CEA includes indoor and vertical farming practices such as hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics that create sustainable, optimized growing conditions while protecting crops from pests and diseases.

CEA encompasses a variety of systems that deliver tangible environmental and production benefits growers can realize quickly after adoption.

Foresight News reports this new breed of modern farming is looking to completely revolutionize the way in which we produce food, moving away from the soil and open spaces of the countryside and into the abandoned buildings and tight spaces of the city.

The Urgent Need for CEA

The United Nations reports that global population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, which will require a 70% increase from current levels of global food production.

In this context, Controlled Environment Agriculture has emerged as a potential solution due to its ability to produce high yields in small spaces using little water and no soil.

For certain crops vertical farms can provide from 10 to 20 times the yield per acre compared to open-field crops, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Furthermore, in places such as deserts or high-population urban areas where traditional open-field farming is not practical, vertical farms can provide crop production year round, which multiplies the productivity of the farmed surface by a factor of between four and six, depending on the crop.

Furthermore, there are CO2 reduction benefits tied to the fact that with localized production there is no need for long distance transportation or certain kinds of farm machinery.

Another major advantage of vertical farming is the efficiency that can be gained from automation. Software, robotics and data science allows for unprecedented accuracy in controlling water use, temperature, lighting, and humidity.

The Future

Dr. Kai-Shu Ling, a research plant pathologist, said in an interview with the US Department of Agriculture that although vertical farming is an emerging technology it has huge potential for growth.

"I believe that it's possible that vertical farming can take over approximately 50% of leafy green markets in the U.S. and portions of small fruit and tomato markets in 10 years," he said.

GrowPods are designed and manufactured in America, and can be used by individuals and businesses looking to grow the finest quality hemp, vegetables, and leafy greens.

For information on GrowPods, call ACTX at: (951) 381-2555 or visit: www.AdvancedContainerTechnologies.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of U.S. Securities Acts. Forward-Looking Statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results can differ. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. ACTX undertakes no duty to update information in this release except as required.

SOURCE Advanced Container Technologies, Inc.
SANTIAGO, Chile, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Guacolda Energia SpA (f/k/a Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A., the "Company") announces today the expiration of the early tender period, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 24, 2023 (the "Original Early Tender Time"), of its previously announced tender offer to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offer") its 4.560% Senior Notes due 2025 (CUSIP Nos. 29244U AF5 / P3711H AF6; ISINs US29244UAF57 / USP3711HAF66) (the "Notes"). In addition, the Company announces that it has extended the Early Tender Time (except for the purpose of proration as described below) through March 31, 2023, so the deadline for Holders that tender their Notes to receive the "Total Consideration" of U.S.$450.00, which includes an "Early Tender Premium" of U.S.$50.00, per U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes will now be at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 31, 2023 (the "Amended Early Tender Time"). The terms and conditions of the Tender Offer are described in the offer to purchase, dated March 13, 2023 (as it may be amended or supplemented hereby and from time to time, the "Offer to Purchase"). Terms used in this announcement and not otherwise defined have the meanings assigned to them in the Offer to Purchase.

On March 13, 2023, the Company commenced the Tender Offer for an aggregate purchase price up to U.S.$80,000,000, excluding Accrued Interest (as defined below) and any additional amounts as set forth in the Offer to Purchase (such purchase price, subject to increase by the Company, the "Aggregate Maximum Purchase Price").

According to information received from D.F. King & Co., Inc. ("D.F. King"), the Tender and Information Agent for the Tender Offer, as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 24, 2023, the Company had received valid tenders of Notes representing an aggregate principal amount equal to U.S.$129,282,000. Since the Total Consideration payable to Holders who validly Notes prior to the Original Early Tender Time will not exceed the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Price, the Notes validly tendered by such Holders will not be subject to proration pursuant to the terms of the Offer To Purchase, in the event such Note are accepted for purchase upon satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to the Tender Offer. If proration of the Notes validly tendered after the Original Early Tender Time is required, the Company will determine the final proration factor as soon as practicable after the Expiration Date; provided that Notes tendered before the Amended Early Tender Time will be accepted for purchase in priority to other Notes tendered after the Amended Early Tender Time.

Subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to the Tender Offer, all Notes tendered on or before the Original Early Tender Time are expected to be accepted for purchase in priority to other Notes tendered after the Original Early Tender Time.

Except as described above, the terms of the Tender Offer remain unchanged, including, without limitation, the Withdrawal Deadline and the Expiration Date, each as defined in the Offer to Purchase. Holders who have previously validly tendered (and not withdrawn) their Notes will not need to re-tender their Notes to be eligible to receive the Total Consideration. In addition, Holders will receive accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on such Notes from the last interest payment date with respect to those Notes to, but not including, the final settlement date ("Accrued Interest"), and any additional amounts as set forth in the Offer to Purchase.

In accordance with the terms of the Tender Offer, the Withdrawal Deadline expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on March 24, 2023. As a result, except as may be required by applicable law, Notes already tendered in the Tender Offer and Notes that may be tendered on or prior to the Expiration Date cannot be withdrawn. The Expiration Date of the Tender Offer remains 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 11, 2023, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Company in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law. No tenders will be valid if submitted after the Expiration Date. Subject to applicable law, the Company may further amend, modify or terminate the Tender Offer at any time.

Subject to the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Price and proration, the Company intends to purchase any remaining Notes that have been validly tendered, accepted for purchase in the Tender Offer and not validly withdrawn promptly following the Expiration Date, subject to all conditions to the Tender Offer having been either satisfied or waived by the Company. The final settlement date is expected to occur on the second business day following the Expiration Date.

Acceptance of tenders of the Notes may be subject to proration if the aggregate purchase price of Notes validly tendered would cause the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Price to be exceeded. If proration of the tendered Notes is required, the Company will determine the final proration factor as soon as practicable after the Expiration Date, as applicable. Any Notes that are tendered and accepted in the Tender Offer will be retired and canceled.

Notwithstanding any other provision of the Tender Offer, the Company's obligation to accept for purchase, and to pay for, any Notes validly tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer, is conditioned upon satisfaction of the General Conditions (as defined in the Offer to Purchase) and the satisfaction of the Secured Financing Condition (as defined in the Offer to Purchase). The General Conditions to the Tender Offer and the Secured Financing Condition are for the sole benefit of the Company and may be asserted by the Company, regardless of the circumstances giving rise to any such condition (including any action or inaction by the Company). The Company reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to waive any and all conditions of the Tender Offer, at or prior to the Expiration Date. The Tender Offer is not subject to a minimum aggregate principal amount of Notes being tendered.

The Company reserves the right, subject to applicable law, to (a) extend the Expiration Date to a later date and time as announced by the Company; (b) increase the Aggregate Maximum Purchase Price; (c) waive or modify in whole or in part any and all conditions to the Tender Offer; (d) delay the acceptance for purchase of any Notes or delay the purchase of any Notes; or (e) otherwise modify or terminate the Tender Offer. In the event that the Tender Offer is terminated or otherwise not completed, the Total Consideration or Tender Offer Consideration, as the case may be, relating to the Notes, will not be paid or become payable to Holders of such Notes, without regard to whether such Holders have validly tendered their Notes (in which case, such tendered Notes will be promptly returned to Holders). The Company will publicly announce any extension, amendment or termination in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase. There can be no assurance that the Company will exercise its right to extend, terminate or amend the Tender Offer.

In the event that the Company modifies the Tender Offer Consideration, the Early Tender Premium, or the Total Consideration, and there are fewer than 10 business days remaining from and including the date of the announcement of such modification to the Expiration Date, the Company will extend the Expiration Date so that at least 10 business days remain until the Expiration Date with respect to the Tender Offer.

BofA Securities, Inc. is the Dealer Manager in the Tender Offer. Persons with questions regarding the Tender Offer should contact BofA Securities, Inc. at 800-292-0070 (toll free) or 646-855-8988 (collect). Requests for the Offer to Purchase should be directed to D.F. King at 866-207-2239.

This press release is for informational purposes only and must be read in conjunction with the Offer to Purchase. This announcement and the Offer to Purchase contain important information which must be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Tender Offer. If any Holder of Notes is in any doubt as to the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own legal, tax, accounting and financial advice, including as to any tax, accounting, financial and legal consequences, immediately from its stockbroker, bank manager, attorney, accountant or other independent financial or legal adviser. Any individual or company whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee or intermediary must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Tender Offer. None of the Company, its board of directors, its officers, the dealer manager, the depositary, the information and tender agent, the trustee with respect to the Notes, or any person who controls, or is a director, officer, employee or agent of such persons, or any affiliate of such persons, makes any recommendation that Holders tender or refrain from tendering all or any portion of the principal amount of their Notes, and no one has been authorized by any of them to make such a recommendation. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender their Notes and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.

This press release is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to purchase with respect to any Notes or any other securities. The Tender Offer is being made solely pursuant to the terms of the Offer to Purchase. The Tender Offer is not being made to Holders of Notes in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. The Offer to Purchase does not constitute an offer to purchase in Chile or to any resident of Chile, except as permitted by applicable Chilean law.

Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, nor have any such documents been filed with or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country. No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer to Purchase or any related documents, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are not based on historical facts and are not assurances of future results. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and estimates about future events and financial trends, which affect or may affect the Company's businesses and results of operations. The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect" and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to forward-looking statements about the planned Tender Offer. Although the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, these statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties and are made in light of information currently available to the Company. Estimates and forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and the Company's future results may differ materially from those expressed in these estimates and forward- looking statements.

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and you should not place reliance on any forward-looking statement contained in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or for any other reason.

SOURCE Guacolda Energia SpA
JEFF LESHUK JOINS AS CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER

"For a sense of what is thriving in Chicago, it is worth visiting the offices of Hazel Technologies"

 THE ECONOMIST

CHICAGO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Matthew Walker, Chairman of the Board for Hazel Technologies, Inc., today announced Parker Booth as the company's new Chief Executive Officer. Booth was elevated from his previous position as Hazel's Chief Operating Officer, where he had served since 2019. Walker also announced Jeff Leshuk as Hazel's new Chief Revenue Officer, reporting to Booth. Together, Booth and Leshuk possess a deep level of experience growing and scaling businesses across the fresh produce, postharvest packaging, and AgTech industries. Hazel's previous CEO and co-founder, Aidan Mouat, remains in an advisory capacity.

"We are confident in Parker's leadership. Under his vision and guidance, he can help move Hazel beyond the start-up phase to one that's rooted in real global expansion, adoption, and execution. The path Parker is plotting for Hazel is an exciting one; we're all looking forward to seeing it come to life over the next few years," commented Walker, a Managing Director at S2G Ventures.

Also commenting on the recent appointments is Kevin Murphy, Hazel Board Member and former CEO/President of Driscoll's, "Parker has a long history in the produce business from various perspectives  container shipping, shelf-life extension and value-added products with companies of varying sizes. This deep experience has been instrumental in his success as the COO and will be invaluable as he takes on the CEO role at Hazel. It all adds up to Parker being the right leader to build on Hazel's success and shepherd the company through this next phase of international expansion."

Booth, who also serves as a Hazel Technologies Board Member, brings a heightened focus to the "global" aspect of the company's mission: to develop and deliver innovative products that reduce food waste in the worldwide fresh food supply chain. With extensive experience in deploying various shelf-life extension technologies in agricultural markets around the world, Booth's passion lies in scale  driving uptake, operationalizing growth plans, and maximizing access by breaking down market barriers. Booth demonstrated this strength while serving as Hazel's COO, where he oversaw its international market expansion, which included the development of critical production and distribution partnerships. In 2022, Booth led the IP acquisition of a complementary technology that has since become instrumental in revenue growth in the N. America, LATAM, and EMEA regions for Hazel. Inspired more than ever by Hazel's cause and its range of technologies that support it, Booth believes that the team at Hazel has uniquely positioned the company to have an outsized impact on the world's fresh foods supply chain.

"In eight years, a breakthrough idea hatched at Northwestern University has become an impactful sustainability solution for many of the world's biggest food companies," explained Booth. "And while it's easy to marvel at Hazel's success to date, the company has only scratched the surface of its opportunities globally. We have a strong, experienced senior leadership team to help lead Hazel to even greater heights. We at Hazel are motivated by our collective desire to help reduce food waste in the global supply chains, and this makes it an exciting time at Hazel."

Reinforcing Booth's promotion, Hazel's Board Chair has appointed Chicago native, Jeff Leshuk, as the company's new CRO. Leshuk comes to Hazel after running his own highly successful consulting firm, Strategic Fresh, LLC, which provided strategy, marketing, and business development services to early-stage and large multinationals in the food science and postharvest technology industries. Concurrent with his consulting practice, Leshuk co-founded Carrisan Technologies. Funded by the USDA and NSF, Carrisan was commercializing an environmentally safe antimicrobial product. Prior to those roles, Leshuk was part of the leadership team at Sensitech, a provider of cold chain visibility services. Serving a variety of roles, Leshuk helped guide Sensitech from scrappy start-up to a successful exit. Sensitech was acquired by United Technologies Corporation in 2006 and experienced further growth after the acquisition. Like Booth, Leshuk began his career driving global growth at Fresh Express and Transfresh.

"Unlike many competing solutions in the marketplace, Hazel's drop-in solution is built for global food supply chains as they currently exist. It requires no additional capital investment, technology, or training," explained Leshuk. "These critical advantages pave the way for rapid expansion. In many ways, they've already completed the hardest part. Our challenge now is to scale  great news for the planet, as we continue our mission to battle global food waste."

Founded in 2015, Hazel Technologies, Inc. has been one of the fastest-growing companies in the shelf-life extension category, due to its breakthrough innovations and integration into supply chains. Working with 15 different crop varieties and over 400 of the world's largest food producers, Hazel's products will have protected nearly 5 billion pounds of fresh produce by the end of 2023, preventing more than 400 million pounds from going to waste.

About Hazel Technologies, Inc.

Hazel Technologies is an early growth stage company that develops new solutions to extend the quality shelf life of fresh produce and reduce food waste throughout the global supply chains. Selected as a Finalist for Fast Company's World Changing Ideas and winner of "Best Sustainable Packaging" at the 2020 World Food Innovation Awards, the company's proven patent-pending technologies have been tested by top academic research programs. Hazel has raised over $97M in private funding from many investors sharing our sustainability mission of reducing food waste, including S2G, Temasek, Aliment Capital, Rhapsody Venture Partners, and Pangaea Ventures. For more information, visit www.hazeltechnologies.com.

Mark Ballard

Harmonica / Hazel Technologies

646-391-0453

[email protected]

SOURCE Hazel Technologies, Inc.
NORWALK, Conn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heartwood Partners LLC is pleased to announce the acquisition of NativeSeed Group (the "Company") from Victor Schaff, a pioneer of the native seed industry. Mr. Schaff founded S&S Seeds nearly 50-years ago and grew the business organically and via acquisition. The management team that was assembled by Mr. Schaff will continue to lead the Company.

NativeSeed Group is a perfect fit for Heartwood Partners' focus and experience investing in the agriculture sector. Tweet this NativeSeed Group

Headquartered in Carpinteria, CA, NativeSeed Group (www.NativeSeedGroup.com) is a provider of native seeds and erosion control products used in land reclamation and conservation, as well as various construction, commercial, and consumer applications. The Company goes to market under various brands, including Granite Seed, S&S Seeds and Pacific Coast Seed, among others, each of which provides native seeds to a diverse group of landowners, energy companies, state & federal agencies, environmental engineers, and contractors, with a particularly strong presence throughout the Western U.S. Additional brands such as Kamprath Seed and Bruce Seed serve the agriculture market with cover crop seed blends to assist in pollination and soil health. The Company's Nature's Seed brand sells flower, turf, hunting, and grazing seed blends to homeowners, hobby farmers, and smaller rural landowners throughout the United States. Please visit the NativeSeed Group website for more information on the Company's brands and their solutions.

NativeSeed Group utilizes a vertically integrated sourcing and production platform comprised of farming, wildland collection, and procurement of native grass, wildflower, and shrub seeds. Farming of seed occurs on four strategically located farms across the Western U.S., including the Bruce Seed Farm in Montana, L&H Seed Farm in Washington, Hedgerow Farms in northern California, and S&S Seed Farm in southern California.

Rob Wendell, NativeSeed Group's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are extremely excited to partner with the Heartwood team given their experience investing in agriculture-related businesses and strong track record in growing niche businesses. We believe that Heartwood's operational expertise and industry experience will be key in refining and executing our strategic growth plan."

"We are excited to partner with NativeSeed Group and its management team. The Company has developed a highly differentiated, vertically integrated platform to provide solutions for its customers to help establish native plant communities that are appropriate for their local geographies and climates. Native plant communities are hearty, more draught tolerant, promote diverse habitats, and help restore lands damaged by development or natural disasters," said James Sidwa, Partner at Heartwood Partners. He further added, "NativeSeed Group is a perfect fit with our focus and experience investing in the agriculture sector and companies with strong ESG foundations as well as our approach towards growth through investment in people, processes, and add-on acquisitions. We intend to drive future growth by leveraging the Company's strong market position to expand existing and new geographies and customer-types both organically and through strategic add-on acquisitions."

Heartwood Partners (www.HeartwoodPartners.com), located in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a middle market private equity firm founded in 1982. Heartwood is differentiated by a unique lower-leverage, distribution-yielding approach to private equity designed to create equity partnerships with continuing management. We currently manage over $1.7 billion in investments and commitments and its principals have invested in more than 100 platform and add-on acquisitions. Presently, Heartwood is investing from Heartwood Partners Fund IV, LP which is focused primarily on family and management-owned manufacturers, value-added distributors, food, chemical, consumer products and business service companies.

NativeSeed Group (www.NativeSeedGroup.com) The NativeSeed Group is the only truly vertically integrated native seed company in North America with over 4,000 irrigated farm acres, the industry's most comprehensive wild-land seed collection operation and complete seed cleaning and conditioning facilities. NativeSeed offers a wide range of seed and erosion control solutions to suit any project need from large government projects to small-scale landscaping applications. During the nearly 50-years in business, no company provides their customers with a breadth and depth inventory, consultative expertise, and unparalleled just-in-time capabilities.

CONTACT:

Name: Michelle Ryan

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 203-625-0770

SOURCE Heartwood Partners
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. On March 27 political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Czech Republic took place in Yerevan. The Armenian delegation was headed by Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Czech delegation was headed by Jaroslav Kurfurst, Director General for European Affairs of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign ministry said in a readout.

During the consultations, the interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues related to the Armenian-Czech bilateral agenda. The parties emphasised with satisfaction the high level of the existing political dialogue and the necessity to maintain it. Touching upon the perspectives of economic cooperation, the sides expressed their willingness to undertake steps towards expanding the business ties. The cooperation in the cultural, educational and scientific fields was also discussed.

The parties referred to the expanded Armenia-EU partnership as well as discussed the possibilities of mutual support within the international organisations.

The delegations exchanged views on a number of issues of regional and international agenda of mutual interest.

Deputy Minister Hovhannisyan briefed the interlocutor on the deteriorating humanitarian situation as a result of the ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor and Armenias commitment and efforts to establish peace in the region. The importance of the decision made on February 22 by the International Court of Justice was emphasised, according to which, Azerbaijan should take all necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor.

Following the consultations, Jaroslav Kurfurst was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan. The interlocutors touched upon the bilateral political dialogue between the Republic of Armenia and the Czech Republic, as well as issues of the Armenia-EU partnership, including the deployment of the EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia. They exchanged views on recent regional developments. Foreign Minister Mirzoyan emphasised that despite the ongoing negotiations on the treaty of establishment of peaceful relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the latters provocations and aggressive rhetoric do not contribute to the efforts aimed at establishing stability in the region.
DUBLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028: Segmented by Product (Disposable v/s Monitors), By Type, By End User, By Region, and Competition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Hemodynamic Monitoring System Market is anticipated to witness impressive growth during the forecast period.

This can be ascribed to the growing developments in hemodynamic monitoring systems, and growth enhancement in the research of hemodynamic monitoring systems across the globe.

United States dominated the global hemodynamic monitoring market on account of the growing demand for minimally invasive surgeries with low costs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Additionally, the increasing prevalence of arthritis, diabetes-like diseases, and other medical conditions like obesity, and vascular diseases, and increasing demand for minimally invasive and non-invasive surgical treatments are the major factors driving the growth of the market over the years.

Additionally, growing awareness about hemodynamic monitoring systems and procedural benefits provided by monitoring systems for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases is further boosting the market growth during the forecast period. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), listed as the underlying cause of death, accounted for 874,613 deaths in the United States in 2019.



Technological advancements



According to recent research, it has been observed that the increasing demand for non-invasive technologies is rapidly growing over conventionally accepted invasive technology in present years.

These monitoring systems help to diagnose pain and reduce the risk of blood-borne infections in patients. Similarly, these systems are easy to use and can be operated by a nurse without the supervision of a doctor or any specialist. Due to its advantages, these systems can be simultaneously monitored in different patients which lower the cost of staff and treatment expenditure.

Additionally, the growing usage of hemodynamic monitoring for CVP, hemodynamic monitoring non-invasive systems, hemodynamic monitoring invasive systems, hemodynamic monitoring during CPB, hemodynamic monitoring transducers, hemodynamic monitoring transducers, hemodynamic monitoring cardiogenic shocks, hemodynamic monitoring echocardiography, hemodynamic monitoring flotrac, hemodynamic monitoring in heart failure, haemorrhage, arterial line, etc are expected to create a lucrative growth during the forecast period.

Similarly, the expansion of the hemodynamic monitoring systems market and devices market are boosting the market growth rate during the forecast period. In March 2021, Philips introduced its interventional hemodynamic system featuring a patient monitor- IntelliVue X3 to provide advanced hemodynamic (blood flow) measurements and improve patient focus during image-guided procedures.



Growing Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases



Advanced hemodynamic monitoring methods can enhance the monitoring systems of cardiac patients during post-operative care and anaesthesia - repetitive measurements for the detection of hemodynamic abnormalities and their causes.

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the major chronic diseases across the world. Coronary heart syndrome, cerebrovascular diseases, rheumatic heart diseases, and other illnesses are among them blood vessel disorders known as CVDs. According to WHO, 32% of all deaths across the globe i.e., 17.9 million people die due to CVD every year.

Furthermore, the increasing burden of CVDs triggers the increased adoption of hemodynamic monitoring systems during the forecast period. 96 million people aged 18 years or older have prediabetes in the United States and Nearly 1.9 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including about 244,000 children and adolescents.



Recent Development



One such minimally/non-invasive Hemodynamic Monitor is made by renowned UK-based manufacturer LiDCO, the LiDCOrapid, with minimally invasive monitoring via the standard radial arterial line and one cost-effective disposable.



In February 2022, Caretaker Medical received the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to add four new parameters on its next-generation VitalStream wireless 'beat-by-beat' blood pressure and hemodynamic monitoring platform, to include stroke volume, cardiac output, left ventricular ejection time, and heart rate variability.



In July 2022, Retia Medical received Series B funding of $15 million led by Fresenius Medical Care Ventures to expand its commercial team and accelerate the development and commercialization of its Argos Hemodynamic Monitor.

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

Pulsion Medical Systems Se.

Lidco Group.

Deltex Medical Group PLC.

ICU Medical Inc.

Cnsystems Medizintechnik GmbH.

Caretaker Medical.

Osypka Medical GmbH.

Cheetah Medical.

NI Medical.

Uscom

Report Scope:



Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Product:

Disposable

Monitors

Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Type:

Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

Minimally Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

Non-invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems

Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By End Users:

Hospitals

Clinics

Ambulatory Care Centers

Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

France

Germany

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Asia Pacific

China

India

Japan

South Korea

Australia

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Middle East & Africa

& South Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/on5qjm

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SOURCE Research and Markets
AUSTIN, Minn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, announced today that Ray Young, former vice chairman and chief financial officer of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, and Mike Zechmeister, chief financial officer of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., have been elected to the Hormel Foods Board of Directors, effective March 27, 2023.

"We are very excited to have Ray and Mike join our board," said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods.

Ray Young Mike Zechmeister

"With extensive financial and operational experience with some of the most well-known companies in the world, Ray brings excellent global experience in multiple industries to our board," Snee added. "Mike has spent several years overseeing the financial performance for companies in the food industry and his background will be a key strategic asset. Both Ray and Mike will be great additions to our exceptional team of directors and I look forward to working with them."

Young will join the Audit and Governance Committees of the Hormel Foods Board of Directors.

Zechmeister will join the Audit and Compensation Committees of the Hormel Foods Board of Directors.

Young

Young served as vice chairman of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM), a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world's premier agricultural origination and processing company, until his retirement at the end of 2022. Previously, Young was ADM's chief financial officer from December 2010 to April 2022. Prior to ADM, he lived and worked on four continents, serving in various senior executive roles at General Motors Company from 1986 to 2010, including as its president of the Mercosur Region of South America from 2004-2007, its chief financial officer from 2008-2009 and as vice president of International Operations, based in China, in 2010. Young has served on the board of directors of the International Paper Company since 2014 and also serves on the board of the American Cancer Society Illinois Division.

Young graduated with a Master of Business Administration from the Booth School of University of Chicago and Bachelor of Arts from the Ivey School of Western University,

Zechmeister

Zechmeister brings nearly three decades of finance experience to his role as chief financial officer of C.H. Robinson. Before joining Robinson, he was chief financial officer at United Natural Foods, Inc., (UNFI). Prior to joining UNFI, Zechmeister spent 25 years at General Mills where he held a variety of finance leadership roles including vice president of finance for the Pillsbury Division, vice president of finance for U.S. Retail Sales, and treasurer. He serves on the board of directors for the Children's Theatre Company and the board of advisors for Carlson School of Management.

Zechmeister is a Minnesota native and holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a Master of Business Administration in Strategy, Marketing and Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

ABOUT HORMEL FOODS  Inspired People. Inspired Food.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters, SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, WHOLLY, Hormel Black Label, Columbus, Jennie-O and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list by 3BL Media 13 times, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement  Inspired People. Inspired Food.  to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.

Contact:

507-437-5345

[email protected]

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation
The sharp increase in CAPEX projects moving into the implementation phase is a major driver for the LV switchgear market, says Frost & Sullivan

MUMBAI, India, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Indian low-voltage (LV) switchgear market made a strong recovery in CY2021 due to the pent-up demand from COVID-19 and an average 15% increase in the LV switchgear price. Frost & Sullivan's recent report, Indian LV Switchgear Market Analysis CY2022CY2027, finds that the industry maintained similar growth momentum in CY2022 due to an increase in investments across key end-user segments such as industries, infrastructure, utilities, commercial, and residential. The investment boost is largely due to ongoing government schemes, such as "Make in India," "Affordable Housing," and "Digital India."

LV Switchgear

As per Frost & Sullivan's report, the LV switchgear market, which was approximately INR 12,000 Crores in CY2022, is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 5% over the next five years.

For further information on this analysis, please visit: https://frost.ly/60o

Shoeb Momin, Senior Consultant, Energy & Environment, Frost & Sullivan, said, "The LV switchgear in India is increasingly turning intelligent or smart, which allows for predictive maintenance. This helps gain process visibility, provides real-time data, and considerably reduces failures and downtime. What has also come to the fore is that innovation in LV switchgear is primarily in terms of aesthetics and enhanced features (e.g., improving serviceability) rather than a drastic technological change in product."

Some of the notable insights are:

Infrastructure development:

The Indian government has invested heavily in infrastructure development, including constructing new or augmenting existing airports, metro stations, and electricity distribution networks. This is expected to drive growth in the LV switchgear market.

Renewable energy:

India makes significant investments in renewable energy, including wind and solar power. This is expected to drive demand for LV switchgear, as renewable energy projects require specialized switchgear.

Industrial expansion:

India is experiencing significant industrial expansion, particularly in manufacturing and construction. This drives demand for LV switchgear, as these industries require reliable electrical systems.

Implementation of safety mandates:

Implementing key safety mandates across multiple key states drives demand for a select type of LV switchgear products.

Digitalization:

Digitalization of LV switchgear is also an important trend with strong business potential. Energy-intensive industries, such as steel, cement, paper, etc., are exploring the implementation of digital switchgears for better visibility of the processes, which can lead to energy conservation measures.

Indian LV Switchgear Market Outlook CY2022CY2027 is the latest addition to Frost & Sullivan's Energy & Environment research and analyses available through the Frost & Sullivan Leadership Council, which helps organizations identify a continuous flow of growth opportunities to succeed in an unpredictable future.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over six decades, Frost & Sullivan has helped build sustainable growth strategies for Fortune 1000 companies, governments, and investors. We apply actionable insights to navigate economic changes, identify disruptive technologies, and formulate new business models to create a stream of innovative growth opportunities that drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Indian LV Switchgear Analysis CY2022CY2027

Contact:

Aishwarya Nair

Corporate Communications

E: [email protected]

https://www.frost.com/

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
New public-private partnership will deliver data-driven digital platform to help independent news media become financially self-sufficient

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Internews, Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new public-private partnership to develop a Media Viability Accelerator to help independent news outlets become more financially sustainable. The announcement, made in advance of the 2023 Summit for Democracy, illustrates a shared commitment among government, business and civil society to shore up democracy's fourth estate.

"Media around the globe face a dual threat: repression and bankruptcy," said Jeanne Bourgault, president and CEO of Internews, a nonprofit that supports independent media in 100 countries. "Thousands of media outlets have closed around the world in the past decade due to disruption of traditional media business models. In service of democracy, the Media Viability Accelerator will help reverse that trend by assisting media to survive and become more competitive."

The Media Viability Accelerator is a web-based platform that will help news media become more financially sustainable by accessing solutions and market insights to inform effective business strategies. Participating media outlets will, free of charge, learn from a community of peers, access a multilingual tool that visualizes media performance data, and receive actionable daily alerts based on thousands of market and media sources. Media outlets, businesses, governments and nonprofits interested in participating can sign up.

"Independent journalism is essential to a healthy and vibrant democracy, but technology has unfortunately eroded traditional ad-based business models," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's vice chair and president. "Our hope is that this AI-powered data aggregation and visualization tool will offer media outlets the kind of market intelligence they need to be financially successful."

In a three-way memorandum of understanding that underlies the partnership:

USAID agreed to support the development and growth of the Media Viability Accelerator platform, and set and monitor high-level objectives for the project.

Microsoft will contribute expertise in data analysis, visualization dashboards, cloud services and AI and agreed to provide in-kind technical support to develop and sustain the Media Viability Accelerator platform.

Internews, in concert with other media development organizations, agreed to register up to 500 media outlet users within six months, with a focus on media from low-resource countries and emerging democracies.

Other organizations supporting the effort include Free Press Unlimited, Global Forum for Media Development, IREX, SembraMedia and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.https://www.trust.org/

"Independent media is both a public good and a private enterprise, but it has faced significant financial headwinds of late," said Samantha Power, USAID administrator. "The U.S. government will use every tool at our disposal to support independent media, including by drawing on the expertise of our partners in the private sector. The Media Viability Accelerator is a model public-private partnership that will help keep independent media outlets around the world financially sustainable so they can continue their vital work."

About Internews

Internews is a nonprofit that supports independent media in 100 countries. Internews trains journalists and digital rights practitioners, tackles disinformation, and offers business expertise to help media outlets thrive financially. For 40 years, it has helped partners reach millions of people with trustworthy information that saves lives, improves livelihoods, and holds institutions accountable.

About USAID

On behalf of the American people, the U.S. Agency for International Development promotes and demonstrates democratic values abroad, and advances a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. In support of America's foreign policy, USAID leads the U.S. Government's international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

SOURCE Microsoft Corporation
NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SFERRA, the luxury Italian home lifestyle brand, opens its first dedicated retail location, SFERRA Townhouse, in NYC today. The Townhouse is located in New York City's Flatiron District at 11 East 20th Street. The property and its location hold significant meaning for the brand as SFERRA's founder, Gennaro Sferra, established his NYC home in a similar style townhouse just a mile away on Charles Street.

SFERRA, the luxury Italian home lifestyle brand, opens first flagship, the Townhouse, today at 11 East 20th Street, NYC Tweet this The first floor interior of SFERRA's NYC flagship store, The Townhouse, 11 East 20th Street, New York, NY. Opening March 27, 2023. Photo credit: Genevieve Garruppo The facade of SFERRA's NYC flagship store, The Townhouse, 11 East 20th Street, New York, NY. Photo credit: Genevieve Garruppo

The 2,600 sq ft SFERRA Townhouse space, built in the Italianate style in 1853, showcases all of SFERRA's home categories under one roof for the first time. SFERRA customers and interior designers can explore and experience the high-quality construction and materials of SFERRA bedding, down, bath, loungewear, top of table, rug, decorative accessories, and gift collections.

The SFERRA Townhouse is an experiential retail setting, showcasing the brand's collections throughout an elevated and comfortable New York City home. The space also houses a dedicated studio for interior designers to host clients or work independently. "We are excited to open our first retail space in New York's vibrant Flatiron neighborhood. The new SFERRA Townhouse offers both our customers and the design community access to the entire world of SFERRA in a beautiful home setting. It's a unique opportunity to experience the craftsmanship, luxury, and timeless design that are synonymous with SFERRA," said Michelle Klein, SFERRA's President and CEO. SFERRA worked with Studio Monteleone & Associates on the design of the Townhouse. The firm previously partnered with the brand on the SFERRA shop at Harrod's in London and had a thorough understanding of the vision for the first standalone retail location. The goal was to showcase the essence of the brand's Italian history, expert craftsmanship, and the New York City energy that has inspired SFERRA's collections for over 130 years. "It was important to reach the right balance for the expression of SFERRA, while celebrating the historical significance of the existing architecture of the townhouse. The inserted design and materials are a canvas to exhibit the products that furnish the SFERRA Lifestyle, with an evenness between the historic space and what our client's consider home today," said SM&A's Founder, Lisa Monteleone.

About Sferra:

SFERRA was established in NYC in 1891 by founder, Gennaro Sferra, in dedication to fine linen craftsmanship and innovation. SFERRA has evolved to encompass every luxury for the home, utilizing time-honored artistry, with its history grounded in more than three centuries of family-owned textile mills in the Alpine foothills of northern Italy. Most recently, the brand has expanded its categories to include rugs, mattresses, accessories for the table, home decor, loungewear and gifts. SFERRA is found in major department stores, more than 700 luxury specialty home stores throughout North America and in some of the world's most prestigious boutique hotels and resorts. The full SFERRA collection can also be purchased at SFERRA.com.

SOURCE SFERRA Fine Linens, LLC
BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- JA Solar recently welcomed a delegation from Samsung C&T Corporation -Engineering & Construction Group (hereinafter "Samsung C&T") to its Beijing headquarters and its manufacturing base in Hefei, Anhui Province to seek for deepening ties and cooperation between the two companies.

Samsung C&T delegation visited JA Solar's manufacturing base in Anhui Province

Yang Aiqing, Rotating President of JA Solar, extended a warm welcome to Juyoul Kim, Vice President of Samsung C&T's Procurement Team, and his delegation. Yang Aiqing and Juyoul Kim commented that, as the two companies have established and strengthened cooperation in developing PV projects, both parties look forward to further strengthening cooperation to promote the application of solar PV and help achieve the goal of carbon neutrality on a global scale, in the wave of carbon reduction for the wellbeing of all mankind.

Samsung C&T is engaged in residential, office, industrial building and infrastructure construction, including the world's tallest 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and notable civil projects such as the Mersey Gateway in the United Kingdom, the Riyadh Metro in Saudi Arabia. Previously, JA Solar has partnered with Samsung C&T, including the 875MW PV project in Qatar Industrial City and the 88MW PV project in Mangilao, Guam. Among them, the 875MW PV project in Qatar will be the largest PV plant in Qatar when completed, for which JA Solar is supplying more than 1.6 million DeepBlue 3.0 modules. The project is expected launch into operation in 2024 and will play an important role in improving the local energy structure and promoting sustainable economic, social, and environmental development in the region.

SOURCE JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.
The Pavilion of Canada on JD Worldwide is supported by the Canadian Embassy to China , featuring the country's distinctive culture and premium imported products

To date, nearly 50 countries have opened national pavilion online stores on JD.com

Cross-border ecommerce with JD's supply chain solutions presents vast opportunities for brands across the globe to explore the Chinese market

BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 25, JD Worldwide, the cross-border e-commerce arm of JD.com, introduced the "Pavilion of Canada", an online flagship store on its platform supported by the Embassy of Canada in Beijing. The Pavilion presents a selection of premium Canadian imports to Chinese consumers, all with the convenience of JD's unparalleled delivery and customer services.

This Pavilion features a lineup of renowned brands, such as INNISKILLIN, Natural Factors, Nova Sea Atlantic, PURNATUR, SunRype, and Zoie&Zane, offering a curated collection of signature products including ice wine, maple syrup, honey, snacks, nutrition, and beauty and wellness products.

"With this new Pavilion for cross-border e-commerce, I hope that we can bring more and more Canadian brands to China, and share more of what Canada has to offer," said Jean-Christian Brillant, Minister (Commercial) , Embassy of Canada to China.

"We are delighted to join hands with exceptional Canadian brands and introduce their top products to Chinese consumers as their consumption demand continues to evolve. The Pavilion will serve as an accelerator for emerging brands, providing them with a platform to establish visibility and earn the trust of local consumers," said Luke Liu, General Manager of business development department, JD Worldwide.

JD.com pioneered the "National Pavilion" concept in 2014, envisioning a world-expo-inspired online shopping platform that grants Chinese consumers access to authentic and premium products from around the globe, sorted by country and region. To date, the program has successfully attracted 46 countries to open flagship stores on JD.com, backed by endorsements from their respective embassies or trade associations. This unique model offers customers a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, enabling them to discover each country's local specialties and distinctive cultures through a diverse range of products, from electronics and fashion to beauty, food, pet goods, and more.

The Canada Pavilion will operate through cross-border e-commerce, allowing merchants to enter the Chinese market without a local presence and enjoy tax benefits and streamlined customs procedures.

JD's integrated cross-border supply chain enables brands to minimize product hand-changes in the sales process, and utilize JD's nationwide logistics infrastructure, including cold chain delivery, to ensure that imported products reach consumers' doorsteps fresh and at competitive prices. For example, live lobsters harvested from Halifax, Nova Scotia can be delivered to Chinese shoppers within just 17 hours via JD's cross-border e-commerce platform.

According to China's 2022 Customs' data, the country's import and export cross-border e-commerce activity surged nearly tenfold over the past five years, with imports increasing by 4.9 percent YoY to RMB 560 million yuan. This growth highlighted cross-border e-commerce's pivotal role in trade development, and in meeting the increasingly diverse demands of Chinese consumers.

JD's sales data reveals that consumers living in first and second-tier cities remain the primary purchasers of imported products, while a growing appetite in lower-tier markets is emerging, fueled by the convenience offered by China's sophisticated e-commerce logistics and increasing supply chain efficiency. These factors create a wealth of growth opportunities for brands across the globe to explore and capitalize on.

SOURCE JD.com
Former Global Head of Sustainable Investing Solutions at Goldman Sachs Joins as Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions

SEATTLE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Finance, a corporate strategy and climate investing firm, today announced the appointment of Jen Sullo as Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions. In this role, Jen will be responsible for delivering investment innovation and driving the Firm's continued growth trajectory. Jen will be a partner and sit on the Earth Finance Executive Committee and leadership team.

Goldman Sachs' Jen Sullo joins Earth Finance as Managing Director of Asset Management & Investing Solutions Tweet this Jen Sullo joins corporate strategy and climate investing firm Earth Finance as Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions. Jen was formerly Goldman Sachs Global Head of Sustainable Investing Solutions.

Ms. Sullo, 38, joins Earth Finance from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she was responsible for defining and executing global sustainable strategy, product development and partnerships.

"Jen's career has been dedicated to partnering with investors to develop and incorporate broad sustainability and climate-focused solutions into their portfolios," said Bryan Weeks, CEO of Earth Finance. "Her leadership is unparalleled, and she deeply understands the market opportunity presented by the transition to a low-carbon economy over the next 30 years."

In her work at Goldman Sachs, Jen collaborated cross-divisionally on global sustainable strategy including climate diagnostics and scenario modeling, net zero initiatives, and thematic investment opportunities. She developed broad sustainable investing education for internal and external stakeholders and provided strategic advice to global investors on various topics including decarbonization target setting, benchmarking, regulatory considerations, implementation pathways, and broad Environmental Social Governance (ESG) integration. Jen joined Goldman Sachs with the Rocaton Investment Advisors acquisition in 2019, where she was a Managing Director and ESG Practice Lead. At Rocaton, Jen partnered across institutional and wealth channels to create sustainable solutions for corporate plans, insurance reserves, E+F portfolios, and various financial intermediary platforms. Prior to Rocaton, Jen held positions at J.P. Morgan Corporate & Investment Bank, ING Investment Management and GE Asset Management.

Jen joins Earth Finance's three founding partners - institutional investment executive Bryan Weeks, former Washington State Senator Reuven Carlyle, and climate strategy expert Garrett Kephart - and a growing team of climate focused professionals.

"The team at Earth Finance understands that investors should consider the effects of climate change within their investments  both from a risk and an opportunity perspective," said Jen Sullo. "I am energized to be working with a team of experts who are dedicated to solutions that help clients achieve their investment goals and, simultaneously, their ambitious climate goals."

About Earth Finance

Earth Finance is a corporate strategy and climate investing firm embracing the intersection of finance, policy and science to accelerate a low-carbon economy. For more information visit www.earthfinance.com or engage on LinkedIn .

SOURCE Earth Finance, Inc.
NEA Jazz Master and GRAMMY Award-Winning Saxophonist KENNY GARRETT has 7 GRAMMY Nominations for "Best Instrumental Jazz Album"  winning the GRAMMY Award in 2009 for 'Five Piece Band Live'. Garrett brings his Acclaimed Quartet to Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Thursday April 27 at 7:30 P.M. Tickets for the KENNY GARRETT QUARTET at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club., as well as the current list of 2023 shows, can be found on Ticketmaster.com and Jimmy's Online Event Calendar at: http://www.jimmysoncongress.com/events.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Features NEA Jazz Master, GRAMMY Award-Winner & 8x-GRAMMY Award Nominated Saxophonist and Composer KENNY GARRETT and his Acclaimed Quartet on Thursday April 27 at 7:30 P.M. Kenny Garrett won the 2022 Downbeat Magazine Critic's Poll for "Alto Saxophonist of the Year" and his album, Sounds from the Ancestors, was awarded the 2021 Jazz Journalist Association "Album of the Year."

"One of the most admired alto saxophonists in jazz after Charlie Parker"

 NEW YORK TIMES

"Kenny Garrett is one of the most respected and frequently imitated saxophonists in the jazz world" Tweet this NEA Jazz Master and GRAMMY Award-Winning Saxophonist KENNY GARRETT performs at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Thursday April 27 at 7:30 P.M. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.com and at www.jimmysoncongress.com.

"Kenny Garrett is one of the most respected and frequently imitated saxophonists in the jazz world"

 ALL ABOUT JAZZ

"An extraordinary performance"

 DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE (2021 Album Review of 'Sounds from the Ancestors')

NEA Jazz Master and GRAMMY Award-Winning Saxophonist and Composer KENNY GARRETT's illustrious career includes hallmark stints with Miles Davis, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as a heralded career as a solo artist that began more than 30 years ago.

Garret has recorded 5 albums with Miles Davis, 3 albums with Chick Corea, 3 albums with Freddie Hubbard, 2 albums with Donald Byrd, 2 albums with Roy Haynes, 6 albums with Marcus Miller, as well as albums with Christian McBride, Terrence Blanchard, Sting, Q-Tip, John Scofield, and countless others. Garret has also released 17 acclaimed albums as a Leader or Co-Leader with 12 of those albums reaching the Top 20 on Billboard's Jazz Album Chart.

Garrett is easily recognized as one of modern jazz's brightest and most influential living masters and he shows no signs of resting on his laurels as he continues to receive critical acclaim for his current work. Kenny Garrett's latest release, Sounds from the Ancestors (2021), is a multi-faceted album which was named one of the Top 50 albums of 2021 by NPR and was selected as the 2021 Jazz Journalist Association "Album of the Year". "Ultimately, 'Sounds from the Ancestors' amounts to another major work from Garrett; it easily stands with his  and the year's  finest albums," stated AllMusic in their album review.

Garrett, 61, who has been a vital force in jazz since his teens, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as an NEA Jazz Master (Class of 2023). This is often described as the nation's highest honor for jazz. According to longstanding custom, the new class will be honored in a gala NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert, to be held on April 1, 2023. The concert, presented in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC will be free to attend with a reservation, and webcast live at NPR.org and arts.gov.

Kenny Garrett has garnered worldwide critical recognition for his versatility in Jazz, Blues, and R&B contexts. In 1987, Garrett began working with Miles Davis, becoming a member of Davis' working groupa collaboration that lasted for five years. Garrett recorded and performed in concert with Davis until his passing in 1991. Additionally, Garrett holds an honorary doctorate in music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

KENNY GARRETT Tickets & Current Schedule of Shows

Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club's 2023 Schedule of Shows now includes 6 NEA Jazz Masters, 34 GRAMMY Award-Winning Artists, 27 Blues Music Award-Winners, and a comprehensive list of talented musicians with 250+ GRAMMY Award Nominations amongst them. Tickets for the KENNY GARRETT QUARTET at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Thursday April 27 at 7:30 P.M., as well as the current list of 2023 shows, can be found on Ticketmaster and Jimmy's Online Event Calendar at: http://www.jimmysoncongress.com/events.

ABOUT JIMMY'S JAZZ & BLUES CLUB

The mission of Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club is to provide guests a one-of-a-kind, world-class experience featuring serious jazz and blues music served with exceptional cuisine. Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club features a spectacular and visually breathtaking environment engineered to deliver the highest quality acoustics while utilizing state-of-the-art production, sound and lighting technologies. Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club is located within a beautifully restored 1905 building at 135 Congress Street in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For more information visit www.jimmysoncongress.com or follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/JimmysJazzBlues and on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjazzblues/. Sign-up for Jimmy's Email Newsletter to stay informed on Upcoming Shows, New Artist Announcements, Promotional Offers, Ticket On-Sale Dates, Special Performances, and Jimmy's Sunday Jazz Brunch.

PRIVATE EVENTS AT JIMMY'S

An architecturally breathtaking center of arts and culture in the heart of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club offers a rare and spectacular venue to host important corporate functions, weddings, intimate or large-scale social gatherings, private parties, and memorable celebrations. The team at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club put heart and soul into creating a stunning full-service event space with new state-of-the-art production, sound & lighting technologies delivered with outstanding next-level culinary experiences. Our high-touch approach with professional and experienced event staff ensures that everything is tailored to exceed your expectations. To start a conversation about hosting your event at Jimmy's Jazz and Blues Club, please call us at 888-603-5299, or fill out Jimmy's Private Event Request Form.

Website:

http://www.jimmysoncongress.com

Contact:

Suzanne Bresette

[email protected]

888-603-JAZZ

SOURCE Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club
TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

BOSTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock Retirement, a company of Manulife Investment Management, announced today that Wayne Park has been appointed the head of its U.S. retirement plan and recordkeeping business with accountability for all aspects of the business including sales, relationship management, product, strategy, marketing, operations, and technology. Mr. Park joins the firm as CEO, U.S. Retirement, and will be based in Boston.

Manulife Investment Management is a global retirement leader and operates across a diverse footprint of markets with a strong presence in Asia, Canada, and in the U.S. With more than $332 billion in retirement assets under management and administration, the company supports over 260,000 retirement plans and serves over 8.7 million individual participants who rely on its retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help them prepare and save for their retirement.

Mr. Park most recently served as president of American Century Services, Inc. for American Century Investments, Inc., responsible for direct-to-consumer and retirement plan businesses as well as an operations group supporting all client markets and channels. Prior to that, he had been head of individual investors for T. Rowe Price Group, leading a business line that helped individual investors reach investment, college and retirement goals. Previously, Mr. Park had worked for the Vanguard Group as principal in its institutional retirement plan business.

He replaces Sue Reibel who retired from the position and her nearly 30-year career at Manulife on December 31, 2022. Mr. Park joins the global retirement leadership team and reports to Aimee DeCamillo, head of global retirement, Manulife Investment Management.

"We are happy to have found a leader of Wayne's caliber who brings incredible hands-on experience to the CEO role across multiple dimensions," said Ms. DeCamillo. "As we looked to the future of how to help provide secure retirements for our participants, we saw a combination of both leadership and intuition in participant needs and operational experience that will help to ensure success in the direction, evolution, and growth of our U.S. Retirement business."

"I look forward to leading the John Hancock Retirement business and to continuing the legacy of its commitment to working with financial professionals, TPAs and plan sponsors to achieve the best retirement outcomes for participants," said Mr. Park. "I am excited to join the global retirement leadership team and help the U.S. organization contribute to Manulife Investment Management's growing global retirement business."

About John Hancock Retirement

John Hancock Retirement is the U.S. retirement business of Manulife Investment Management. For more than 50 years, we've helped people plan and invest for retirement; today, we're one of the largest full-service providers in the United States.1 We take a hands-on consultative approach based on the idea that no two plansand no two plan participantsare exactly alike. We partner with plan sponsors, advisors, and third-party administrators to ensure that every plan is personal to the participant and delivers proven results.

As of December 31, 2022, John Hancock serviced over 55,000 retirement plans with over 3.2 million participants and over $187 billion in AUMA.2

1 "PLANSPONSOR 2022 Defined Contribution Recordkeeping Survey 2022 Asset International, Inc.," PLANSPONSOR, 2022. 2 As of Dec 31, 2022, John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA) supported 50,882 plans, 1,586,569 participants, and $89,537,417,404.05 in AUMA. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York supported 2,679 plans, 77,845 participants, and $ 5,128,624,337.04 in AUMA. John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC supported 1,879 plans, 1,633,777 participants, and $92,836,605,881.23 in AUMA. Participant Counts reflect all active participants with a balance. Approximate unaudited figures for John Hancock, provided on a U.S. statutory basis.



About Manulife Investment Management

Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 19 geographies. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC provides administrative and/or recordkeeping services to sponsors or administrators of retirement plans through an open-architecture platform. John Hancock Trust Company LLC provides trust and custodial services to such plans. Group annuity contracts and recordkeeping agreements are issued by John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), Boston, MA (not licensed in NY), and John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Valhalla, NY. Product features and availability may differ by state. All entities do business under certain instances using the John Hancock brand name. Each entity makes available a platform of investment alternatives to sponsors or administrators of retirement plans without regard to the individualized needs of any plan. Unless otherwise specifically stated in writing, each entity does not, and is not undertaking to, provide impartial investment advice or give advice in a fiduciary capacity. Securities are offered through John Hancock Distributors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC.

SOURCE John Hancock Retirement
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS. French Ambassador to Turkey Herve Magro was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for rewarding members of Kurdish organizations in the French Senate, whom Ankara considers terrorists, ARMENPRESS reports, TASS informed, referring to its source at the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

At the Turkish MFA the French Ambassador was told that Turkey does not accept and strongly condemns the awarding of members of the "People's Defense Units" Syrian-Kurdish formations in the French Senate.
BOSTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Goulston & Storrs, an Am Law 200 firm, is pleased to announce that Kelly Aylward has joined its Boston office as a director in the firm's Private Client & Trust Group. She brings more than 18 years of experience in sophisticated estate planning and tax law to the firm. Prior to joining Goulston & Storrs, she was a principal at a boutique trusts and estate law firm in Boston.

Kelly Aylward has joined Goulston & Storrs' Boston office as a director in the firms Private Client & Trust Group. She brings more than 18 years of experience in sophisticated estate planning and tax law to the firm. (PRNewsfoto/Goulston & Storrs PC)

Aylward focuses her practice on designing and implementing customized estate, asset protection, business, and charitable plans for high-net-worth individuals, families, and businesses that want to protect and transfer wealth for future generations. She also administers trusts and estates for her clients. With a master's degree in taxation in addition to her law degree, Aylward is particularly experienced in complex tax issues, including managing income tax exposure, implementing tax efficient gift and generation-skipping strategies, and tax reporting requirements for foreign financial assets.

"We are very excited to have Kelly join our world-class Private Client & Trust Group. We have one of the largest and most established practices in the region, and we are always looking to add industry leaders to our team," said Martin Fantozzi, Co-Managing Director of Goulston & Storrs. "Kelly's broad expertise in complicated trust, estate, and tax planning matters will be invaluable to our clients and our firm."

"I am thrilled to be joining this incredible group of trusts and estate lawyers. Goulston & Storrs operates at the top of the market for the work I do, and I look forward to being part of the firm's well-known collegial and collaborative culture," said Aylward. "This is a very special place to practice law, and it is a perfect fit for my clients, my experience, and the opportunities I want to develop in the future."

Aylward is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a member of the organization's Asset Protection Committee, where she serves as Chair of the Sub-Committee on Attorney Liability Exposure. She has held numerous leadership roles with the Boston Estate Planning Council, including serving as President (2020) and on the Board of Directors. She is also a founding member, past President, and former Board member of the Greater Boston Fiduciary Law American Inn of Court. She is active in many other organizations, including the Boston Bar Association, Trusts & Estates Section, Boston Probate and Estate Planning Forum, The Boston Foundation, the Professional Women's Collaborative, and the Trusts and Estates Consortium among others, where she has chaired various committees over the years.

She received her LLM from Boston University School of Law in 2006, her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2004, and her B.F.A. from the University of Missouri  Columbia in 1998.

About Goulston & Storrs

Collaboration is not just a pillar of our strategy; it is the key to our competitive advantage and approach to clients, community, and each other. At Goulston & Storrs, we practice law with excellence and integrity. We are a place where mutual respect and collaboration drive open discussion, transparency, creativity and optimal results for our clients. We are committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where sophisticated business is conducted with genuine camaraderie. To learn more about us, visit www.goulstonstorrs.com.

Contact:

Leigh Herzog Amy Blumenthal Goulston & Storrs PC Blumenthal & Associates PR (617) 574-2259 (617) 879-1511 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Goulston & Storrs PC
MEXICO CITY, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KIO, I Squared Capital's Data Center and Digital Infrastructure platform for Latin America, announced today the signing of an agreement for the acquisition of a new Data Center Campus in Colombia. With the new KIO BOG1, located in Bogota, Colombia becomes KIO's sixth country of operations, fifth in the Americas and first in South America.

The facility has 5,000 sqm of construction and two data halls with more than 2,000 sqm of white space and a power capacity of 6 MW for colocation services. The project has additional land to build a second data center with similar characteristics, resulting in a potential capacity of up to 12 MW for the campus. This data center campus has a high availability design and construction, certified by the Uptime Institute at TIER III level.

Colombia is a very attractive market due to its size, scale and substantial growth in data and IT consumption which resulted in a shortfall of data center capacity and strong expected absorption rates going forward. Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, is its most populous city with more than nine million inhabitants and is the main industrial and financial hub in the country. The new facility, KIO BOG1, is located in one of most interconnected industrial complexes in the country with more than 14 network operators. The fully permitted facility provides KIO's customers with unmatched time to market access in a supply constrained market while the site's additional capacity and network connectivity offers visibility and access to future growth.

"For KIO it is highly strategic to continue expanding in LATAM and we have chosen Colombia because we are convinced of the economic potential and the growing demand for our services in this great country. We are working very well with our investment partners, I Squared Capital, in the execution of our expansion plans," said Santiago Suinaga, KIO Data Centers CEO.

About KIO

KIO is a Data Center & Digital Infrastructure platform with more than 20 years of experience in Colocation and IT services. KIO has 13 core data centers with 26 Megawatts of IT power capacity distributed in Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala, The Dominican Republic, and Spain.

The more than a thousand clients that have trusted KIO are part of a wide digital ecosystem with diverse sectors and industries including Hyperscale, Clouds & IT, Telecom, Banking & Finance, Media & Content, Public Sector, Retail, among others. KIO enhances interconnection and data exchange within the hosted ecosystem inside their multiple data centers offering numerous advantages on system performance, scalability and cost efficiency in a high availability environment designed to operate mission critical systems.

About I Squared Capital

I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure manager with over $36 billion in assets under management focused on investing in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Headquartered in Miami, the firm has more than 215 professionals across its offices in Miami, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Taipei, and Sydney. I Squared Capital has invested in a diverse portfolio of 72 companies in 59 countries across the utilities, energy, digital infrastructure, transport, environmental infrastructure, and social infrastructure sectors, with over 27,000 employees and providing essential services to millions of people around the world.

KIO contact for public relations:

Karla Caudillo Gonzalez

[email protected]

Gerson Hernandez Mecalco

[email protected]

SOURCE KIO
New technology provides enhanced intelligence for access control that extends battery life up to 16 months while also operating on existing WIFI networks.

DENVER, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovation is challenging and can provide a significant competitive advantage. That's precisely how KoreLock, Inc. differentiates its IoT Smart Lock technology business. KoreLock has a utility patent for controlling a lock's WIFI radio on and off state, delivering advanced intelligence and power savings previously unavailable in the market.

KoreLock's utility patent controls a lock's WIFI radio on/off state, delivering advanced intelligence and power savings. Tweet this The KoreLock technology platform is delivered via a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) uniquely designed to meet a lock manufacturers needs. The KoreLock module is a plug-and-play smart lock on a chip with full-featured firmware, Wi-Fi for cloud connectivity, and Bluetooth for local control. KoreLock modules can be installed in door lock hardware, existing edge controllers, readers, keypads, electric strikes, maglocks, intercoms, and other devices with no new wiring.

"KoreLock's patented intelligent heartbeat feature is critical to lengthening the battery life in locking devices  lowering ownership costs by leveraging an existing WiFi network and significantly reducing the frequency of battery replacement," states Rob Goff, patent inventor, and KoreLock Co-Founder / VP Product. "No other WIFI-enabled lock has this level of sophisticated intelligence or power longevity."

KoreLock's IoT Smart Lock patent encompasses a method for operating WIFI-connected access control with a system of dynamic wake-up schedules for a wireless transceiver. These schedules control the frequency and what prompts the wireless transceiver to 'sleep' or 'wake up' to transmit or receive information. This intelligence saves significant energy when the WIFI is not in use.

"Because WIFI is an energy hog that consumes battery life, having the ability to cycle the status on and off for access control only when needed delivers significant cost savings. And going direct to WIFI eliminates the need for additional equipment, specifically gateways," adds Goff.

The KoreLock technology platform is delivered via a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) uniquely designed to meet a lock manufacturer's needs. The KoreLock module is a plug-and-play smart lock on a chip with full-featured firmware, Wi-Fi for cloud connectivity, and Bluetooth for local control. KoreLock modules can be installed in door lock hardware, existing edge controllers, readers, keypads, electric strikes, maglocks, intercoms, and other devices with no new wiring.

KoreLock has engaged leading industry players, like Barcodes, UniKey, PDQ Manufacturing, and others. These partners have applied KoreLock's patent-protected power-saving technology to create new cloud-connected locking devices for commercial and residential uses.

KoreLock provides industry-leading, end-to-end IoT Smart Lock enablement to lock manufacturers, alternative locking mechanisms, and software platforms. The KoreLock technology offers advanced security features, such as remote access control, activity monitoring, and real-time alerts, making it an ideal solution for commercial and residential locks.

About KoreLock

KoreLock, Inc. is an IoT Smart Lock technology company that provides turnkey Smart Lock solutions that enable lock manufacturers and access control providers to build and sell connected locking devices. KoreLock's Smart Lock solutions are embedded in over 50,000 locking devices worldwide. The company is based in Denver, Colorado.

Contact:

Grant Walter

CEO and President, KoreLock, Inc.

[email protected]

303.681.5785

SOURCE KoreLock, Inc.
DALLAS, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Comerica Bank Women's Business Symposium returns to Southern California, helping women in business Learn, Connect, Grow & Celebrate their potential. The popular business networking event will be held on Thursday, April 13, from 10 am  3 pm PT at the Balboa Bay Resort.

The Comerica Bank Women's Business Symposium returns to Southern California on Thursday, April 13 with featured guest Marlee Matlin, Academy Award-winning actress and devoted social activist.

Entering its 17th year, the Comerica Bank Women's Business Symposium brings together women business owners, executives and professionals at all levels from across Southern California to "Power Up Your Potential" through inspiring speakers, connecting them with business leaders and discovering opportunities to help them grow personally and professionally.

Moderator Eva Saha will lead a conversation with featured guest Marlee Matlin, Academy Award-winning actress and devoted social activist.

Emceeing the Comerica Bank Women's Business Symposium is celebrity chef, syndicated radio host and cookbook author Jamie Gwen. Joining Gwen on stage is a powerful lineup of speakers that include:

Cassandra Worthy : Worthy is the world's leading expert on Change Enthusiasm. She is lighting the world on fire with her refreshingly unique take on not just 'managing' but growing through change. Through her training firm Change Enthusiasm Global, she is sharing this revolutionary approach for not only embracing change but using it to propel you to heights you never imagined with thousands all over the world.

This year's event opens with Conversations at Comerica, a moderated panel discussion led by Chris Schauble, co-anchor of KTLA 5 Morning News, featuring three extraordinary change-makers who lead as women founders and executives, including:

Stephenie Goddard , CEO of Glidewell Dental, the world's most innovative dental laboratory. Goddard is an executive leader with multidisciplinary experience in organizational development, business strategy, change management, customer experience, and digital transformation.

, CEO of Glidewell Dental, the world's most innovative dental laboratory. Goddard is an executive leader with multidisciplinary experience in organizational development, business strategy, change management, customer experience, and digital transformation. Kiesha Nix , VP of Charitable Affairs, Los Angeles Lakers and Executive Director, Lakers Youth Foundation. Nix oversees and directs programming and funding priorities for the charitable arm of the Los Angeles Lakers.

, VP of Charitable Affairs, Los Angeles Lakers and Executive Director, Lakers Youth Foundation. Nix oversees and directs programming and funding priorities for the charitable arm of the Los Angeles Lakers. Clara Paye , CEO and founder of UNiTE. Paye's mission is to build a bigger, more inclusive wellness table  one where everyone is invited to have a seat. UNiTE launched in March 2020 with a line of protein bars in culturally inclusive flavors and is currently one of the fastest growing companies in the protein bar space.

To register, or for more information, visit http://events.comerica.com/wbssocal2023. A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Girls Inc. of Orange County.

The Comerica Bank Women's Business Symposium is proud to provide women business owners, executives, and professionals the opportunity to Learn, Connect, Grow & Celebrate. Since its inception, the program has successfully engaged thousands of attendees across Comerica's markets with a variety of speakers and conversations.

About Comerica

Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Bank, The Retail Bank and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. Founded over 173 years ago in Detroit, Michigan, Comerica's reach now spans across the country with markets in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas, in addition to select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $85.4 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022.



SOURCE Comerica Bank
Connected digital home gives consumers a place to consolidate and control their health data while accessing and connecting care resources.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lee Health is pleased to announce they have chosen b.well as their partner to deliver a more unified consumer experience and lay the groundwork for the future of healthcare delivery. Through a unique offering known under the working title of Lee HealthPass, Lee Health is accelerating digital transformation as it creates a more personalized care experience, by bringing together a patient's disparate health information and experiences into a single interface. b.well's Connected Health platform powers HealthPass, which is expected to launch in the Summer of 2023.

As a healthcare provider continually seeking to innovate how care is delivered to their communities, Lee Health recognizes the important role technology plays in enabling experiences that improve patient outcomes and deliver high-quality, patient-centered care. The partnership with b.well, a proven leader in the healthcare technology space, will help Lee Health provide patients with a more holistic experience that helps them take a more active and informed role in their healthcare by providing them with a comprehensive and user-friendly tool.

Rick Schooler, Chief Information Officer at Lee Health said, "After a diligent market search, we selected b.well for their unique platform-based approach, their personalization capabilities, and their ability to solve back-end challenges that are barriers to patients taking ownership of their health care. In addition, we are impressed by the power of b.well's platform, its deep integrations with our existing core systems, and its ability to pull interoperable data from outside our systems. This gives us a complete picture of our patient's personal needs and a unique point of view that allows us to adapt digital solutions and partnerships to offer a greater value back to our patients and care team."

"Lee Health is employing digital technology to drive a new era in healthcare where patients are empowered, clinicians are better informed, and the delivery of care is more efficient and effective," said Lisa Martinez, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Lee Health. "The creation of Lee HealthPass, powered by b.well's Connected Health platform, places us at the forefront of this transformation and delivers on our aim of being the health system of choice in southwest Florida."

Kristen Valdes, Founder and CEO of b.well, said, "We are thrilled to partner with Lee Health on their plans to reimagine the way that healthcare can be delivered to consumers in this new digital world of hybrid care delivery. Our unique approach to interoperability and real-time personalized connectivity to consumers and their families is a perfect pairing for Lee Health's passion for all-inclusive and accessible care. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Lee Health and ushering in the future of healthcare together."

Lee Health and b.well will showcase their groundbreaking new collaboration at the upcoming ViVE national conference in Nashville, TN, from March 26-29, 2023. Attendees can meet with Lee Health and b.well leaders at booth #1902 to discover how the application leverages cutting-edge technology to unify the patient experience in a new world of hybrid care. This conference provides an opportunity for the most innovative healthcare leaders and technology companies to discuss the latest trends and strategies in healthcare.

About Lee Health

Since the opening of the first hospital in 1916, Lee Health has been a health care leader in Southwest Florida, constantly evolving to meet the needs of the community. A non-profit, integrated health care services organization, Lee Health is committed to the well-being of every individual served, focused on healthy living and maintaining good health. Health care services are conveniently located throughout the community in four acute care hospitals, two specialty hospitals, outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers, primary care and specialty physician practices and other services across the continuum of care. Learn more at www.LeeHealth.org .

About b.well

b.well Connected Health delivers a highly configurable platform for healthcare organizations. Designed to either be uniquely branded, or embedded into an existing digital application, b.well enables consumers to effortlessly manage their entire family's healthcare journey within one unified experience. By providing a single launching point for access of services, accelerating the shift to value-based care, and reinforcing the expansion into hybrid care models, b.well equips clients with the right foundation to excel in the evolving landscape of healthcare delivery. The company's distinctive, consumer-centric platform strategy sets it apart in the market, addressing data fragmentation challenges and inspiring trust and long-lasting loyalty between clients and the families they serve. Visit https://www.icanbwell.com/ and @icanbwell on Twitter to learn more.

SOURCE b.well Connected Health
BOSTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lovepop has created 50 million magical moments!

Founded in 2014 by Naval Architects Wombi Rose and John Wise, Lovepop is on a mission to create one billion magical moments and today announced their progress against the goal.

Lovepop the world's leading designer of cards and engineered gifts announces creating 50 million magical moments. Tweet this Lovepop Founders Wombi Rose and John Wise

"When we set out on this mission, one billion seemed like such a huge number! But we've proven we can do it and we will. I could not be more thankful for our amazing customers and team for believing in the mission and being on this journey with us," said Wombi Rose, CEO.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, Lovepop is partnering with Cards for Hospitalized Kids, a charitable organization that provides handmade cards to children who are hospitalized. During the week of March 25th thru March 31st at midnight EST, for every order made on Lovepop.com, Lovepop will donate a card to kids who need it the most.

"There is absolutely no better way to celebrate this occasion than to make more magical moments for these children and to elevate this organization who serves this community every single day," said John Wise, President.

About Cards for Hospitalized Kids

Cards for Hospitalized Kids (CFHK) is a charitable organization that spreads hope, joy and magic to hospitalized kids across America through uplifting, handmade cards. CFHK distributes cards to Children's Hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses across the country spreading strength & smiles to as many hospitalized kids as possible. Since their inception, over 500,000 kids in hospitals in all 50 states have received cards and they believe this is just the beginning!

About Lovepop

Lovepop is on a mission to create one billion magical moments. Following an appearance on Shark Tank in 2015, and investment by Kevin O'Leary, Lovepop has helped its customers create 50,000,000 magical moments to date. Founded by naval architects John Wise and Wombi Rose, Lovepop combines art and engineering to design cards engineered to create connection. Whether you're celebrating a holiday, an important milestone, or an everyday moment, Lovepop's thousands of unique designs make it easy to share love with meaning, creativity, and fun. For more information visit lovepop.com.

SOURCE Lovepop
QUEENSTOWN, Md., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development, two of Maryland's largest affordable rental housing developers, will host a groundbreaking ceremony at the second and third phases of Slippery Hill in Queenstown, Maryland on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

Rendering of Slippery II and Senior

The new construction includes two additional phases to the existing first phase. The first of the new phases will provide mixed-income, mixed-use residential apartment homes. The third phase will provide senior living apartments. The property is financed through a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) investment from Hudson Housing Capital and Bank of America  who is also providing the permanent debt financing, as well as loans from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Secretary Jake Day will speak and is expected to discuss how the State of Maryland and DHCD are addressing the affordable housing crisis facing the state. "There is a critical need for affordable housing in communities across Maryland, and the expansion of the Village at Slippery Hill will help address that need in Queen Anne's County," said Secretary Day. "Every housing unit that is financed and gets to the point of being built is a demonstrated commitment to the Maryland family that otherwise may not have a safe, secure roof over their head - if any roof at all. State resources have helped support all phases of Slippery Hill's development, and this groundbreaking celebrates the fact that strong, effective, public-private partnerships are the quickest way to address the housing crisis facing our state."

The co-developers, Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development, have developed many similar projects across Maryland and are proud of Slippery Hill's promise to provide affordable housing to its residents and serve as a long-term community asset to Queenstown and the surrounding area.

"Green Street Housing and TM Development are excited to have partnered on another high-quality affordable rental community in Maryland. We're proud to be Maryland-based developers, utilizing Maryland-based contractors and consultants to build housing for Marylanders," said Dave Layfield, Principal of Green Street Housing.

The event will be held at Village at Slippery Hill, 210 Fallen Horse Circle, Queenstown, MD at 11:00AM on March 29, 2023. Refreshments will be provided. Parking is available on site.

About Slippery Hill Phase II and Senior

Slippery Hill, Phase II will be a 66-unit affordable rental apartment community. This second phase of development will be a five-story building that will serve families, offering a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartment homes.

Slippery Hill Senior will be a 54-unit affordable rental apartment community. This third phase of development will be a five-story, elevator building that will serve seniors, offering a mix of one and two-bedroom apartment homes.

About Green Street Housing

Green Street Housing is a Maryland-based affordable housing developer whose principals have many years of development experience and over $1.0 billion in closed transactions in the region. Green Street Housing takes great pride in its green-building practices which include Energy Star building practices and on-site solar energy production at all its Maryland affordable apartment communities. Learn more at www.greenstreethousing.com .

About TM Associates Development

TM Associates' history of successes includes new construction and rehabilitation projects. They have enjoyed trusted partnerships with many for-profit and non-profit organizations and continue to work alongside those who share their dedication to the development and preservation of affordable housing communities. They have gained invaluable experience mastering complex projects and have been repeatedly recognized for their green-building efforts.

Contact: Ray Perdue

Phone: 443-614-3233

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Green Street Housing
CHICAGO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The mHealth solutions industry is expected to experience significant growth in the near future. The industry is expected to see an increase in the use of mobile devices and services for health-related activities, such as monitoring patients' vital signs and collecting data for analysis. Additionally, the development of mHealth solutions is expected to be driven by the need for more cost-effective, patient-centered, and personalized healthcare. The adoption of mHealth solutions is expected to be driven by the need to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and increase access to healthcare services. Furthermore, developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics are expected to further enhance the capabilities of mHealth solutions.

mHealth Solutions Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $119.5 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $395.0 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 27.0% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Growth in this market is driven by the opportunities offered by the emerging markets in healthcare and government mandates & support for mHealth Solutions. However, IT infrastructural constraints in developing countries and resistance from traditional healthcare providers are expected to restrain the growth of this market to a certain extent.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "mHealth Solutions Market"

336 - Tables

46 - Figures

346 - Pages

mHealth Solutions Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $119.5 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $395.0 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 27.0% Market Size Available for 20212028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product & Services, End user, and region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Growing adoption of mHealth solutions in other mobile platforms Key Market Drivers Growing penetration of 4G & 5G networks to ensure uninterrupted healthcare

The Health Apps segment accounted for the largest share in the mHealth solutions market, by mHealth Apps.

The mHealth solutions market, by mHealth Apps, is segmented into Healthcare Apps and Medical Apps. In 2022, the Healthcare Apps segment accounted for the largest market share. Healthcare apps are mostly used for continuously self-monitoring vital signs and communicating with physicians for related services. Other major application areas include fitness/wellness and disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Free healthcare apps dominate device-linked and paid healthcare applications in the market. Free access to most smartphone apps is a major factor restraining the market growth for paid apps

By products, the vital signs monitoring segment registered the highest growth in the connected medical devices market during the forecast period

The connected medical devices segment is categorized into vital signs monitoring devices, peak flow meters, neurological monitoring devices, sleep apnea monitors, multiparameter trackers, fetal monitoring devices, and others. The vital signs monitoring devices is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This is mainly due to the growing adoption of digital healthcare solutions for monitoring vital signs and the increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases; the high prevalence of diabetes; and the rising number of patients suffering from asthma, hypertension, and hypotension.

By services, the remote monitoring services segment accounted for the largest share in the mhealth solutions market by service.

In 2022, Remote patient monitoring services accounted for the largest share by services market. The rising global adoption of smartphones, high-speed network availability, and the demand for remote patient monitoring and consultation are key to the market growth. Other factors driving the market growth are the rising global prevalence of chronic diseases, emerging applications of mHealth services, and increasing demand for patient-centric healthcare delivery. The Affordable Care Act and similar legislations raising federal support for mHealth services form a key market driver in the US.

Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit the highest growth during the forecast period

The APAC market is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Factors such as a large patient population, especially in China and India, growing per capita income, rising prevalence of chronic disorders, increasing per capita income, higher adoption of smartphones, and the presence of advanced connectivity and networks in these countries are driving the growth of the APAC mHealth Solutions market.

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mHealth Solutions Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Increasing penetration of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile platforms Increasing utilization of connected devices and mHealth apps to manage chronic diseases Cost containment in healthcare delivery Growing penetration of 4G & 5G networks to ensure uninterrupted healthcare Rising focus on patient-centric healthcare delivery Increasing demand for home healthcare services

Restraints:

Lack of standards & regulations and insufficient reimbursement Resistance from traditional healthcare providers & limited guidance from physicians

Opportunities:

Growing adoption of mHealth solutions in other mobile platforms

Challenges:

Authenticity and reliability Patent protection for mHealth devices and apps Lack of data security and concerns regarding data theft and healthcare fraud

Key Market Players:

Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Medtronic plc (Ireland), Johnson & Johnson (US), OMRON Healthcare Co., Ltd. (Japan), Cerner Corporation (US), Apple, Inc. (US), AliveCor, Inc. (US), AirStrip Technologies (US), athenahealth, Inc. (US), iHealth Lab Inc. (US), AT&T Inc. (US), AgaMatrix, Inc. (US), Cisco Systems, Inc. (US), Fitbit Inc. (US), OSP Labs (US), SoftServe (US), Garmin, Ltd. (US), Dexcom, Inc. (US), Tunstall Healthcare (UK), Teladoc Health, Inc. (US), ZTE Corporation (China), and My mHealth Limited (UK) are the major players in this market. These companies are majorly focusing on the strategies such as acquisitions, product launches, agreements, collaborations, partnerships, and expansions in order to remain competitive and further increase their share in the market.

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Recent Developments:

In February 2023 Vodafone (UK) partnered with Charite Berlin , Leipzig University Hospital ( Berlin ).The collaboration with Charite Berlin (one of Europe's largest university hospitals), Leipzig University Hospital, and 16 other leading research and medical experts across Germany enabled Vodafone to explore future medical applications using 6G.

Vodafone (UK) partnered with Charite , Leipzig University Hospital ( ).The collaboration with Charite (one of largest university hospitals), Leipzig University Hospital, and 16 other leading research and medical experts across enabled Vodafone to explore future medical applications using 6G. In January 2023 Koninklijke Philips ( Netherlands ) partnered with Masimo (US). The partnership aimed to augment patient monitoring capabilities in home telehealth applications with the Masimo W1 advanced health-tracking watch.

Koninklijke Philips ( ) partnered with Masimo (US). The partnership aimed to augment patient monitoring capabilities in home telehealth applications with the Masimo W1 advanced health-tracking watch. In January 2023 , Garmin (US) launched Instinct Crossover in India , which delivers Garmin's full suite of wellness features, including Sleep Score and Advanced Sleep Monitoring, and Health Monitoring activities.

mHealth Solutions Market Advantages:

Improved Patient Outcomes: mHealth solutions can help patients make informed decisions about their health and provide them with better access to medical resources. This can lead to better health outcomes for patients.

Cost Savings: mHealth solutions can help reduce the overall cost of health care by reducing the need for expensive visits to the doctor or hospital. This can be especially beneficial for those with limited health care budgets.

Improved Accessibility: mHealth solutions can make it easier for patients to access health care services, even in remote locations. This can help reduce the disparities in health care access that exist in certain parts of the world.

Increased Efficiency: mHealth solutions can help streamline the delivery of health care services, reducing paperwork and increasing efficiency. This can help reduce wait times for patients and increase overall satisfaction levels.

Enhanced Care: mHealth solutions can provide a more personalized approach to health care services, as they can provide tailored recommendations to individual patients based on their data. This can help create better health outcomes.

mHealth Solutions Market - Report Highlights:

Summary of changes

Emerging industry trends have been elaborated on in the industry insights chapter.

The competitive landscape chapter has been updated with the market evaluation matrix and an evaluation matrix for start-ups. The competitive landscape also includes the market ranking analysis, revenue analysis of top market players, R&D expenditure analysis, and competitive scenario of the global market.

Updated Financial Information/Product Portfolios of Players:

The new edition of the report provides updated financial information until 2021/2022 for each listed company in a single diagram (instead of multiple tables). This will easily help analyze the present status of profiled companies in terms of their financial strength, profitability, key revenue-generating regions/countries, business segment focus in terms of the highest revenue-generating segments, and R&D investments.

Updated Market Developments of Profiled Players:

Recent developments are important to understand the market trends and growth strategies players adopt. The current edition of this report provides updated developments of profiled players from January 2020 to February 2023 , indicating the continuation of the previous version. Product launches and partnerships were the principal growth strategies adopted by market players during this period.

Related Reports:

Healthcare IT Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Vaccine Adjuvants Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Veterinary Vaccines Market - Global Forecasts to 2025

eHealth Market - Global Forecasts to 2025

Healthcare Education Market - Global Forecasts to 2025

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The Fleet Electrification Referral Program will connect customers with best-in-class operators that specialize in end-to-end electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions.

CINCINNATI, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mike Albert Fleet Solutions, one of the leading mobility companies in the country, has announced a new Fleet Electrification Referral Program designed to pair customers considering electrifying their fleets with best-in-class charge point providers. The program, which includes new partnerships with ChargePoint, Blink Charging Co., and Enel X Way, will help fleet managers quickly and seamlessly navigate the logistics of electrification, including charging infrastructure, navigating government incentives, financing, and ongoing support.

"Fleet electrification is far more complicated than deciding what EVs best suit the needs of your business," says Chris Knosp, Director of Fleet Electrification at Mike Albert Fleet Solutions. "Before making the leap, fleet managers need to think through charging infrastructure, driver reimbursement, software upgrades, and more. Our new Fleet Electrification Referral Program will help simplify the process, pairing customers with the industry's best charge point providers for support and expertise from start to finish."

"Our Fleet Electrification Referral Program will pair customers with the industry's best charge point providers." Tweet this

Each of Mike Albert's electrification partners was chosen for its stellar reputation within the EV space, as well as its commitment to the next-level customer support the company's customers have come to expect.

ChargePoint is a leading electric vehicle charging network with over 225,000 active ports under management. To date, more than 158 million charging sessions have been delivered, with drivers plugging into the ChargePoint network on average every second. Customers will have access to the ChargePoint portfolio of fleet solutions, including scalable, integrated AC and DC charging hardware, fleet-specific software that provides charge management, and telematics intelligence configurable to each customer's operations.

"Through this agreement with Mike Albert Fleet Solutions, more fleets will have access to ChargePoint hardware, software, and services that deliver lower total cost of ownership to fleet managers," said Rich Mohr, Vice President, Fleet, at ChargePoint. "Together, we're delivering integrated, seamless solutions for fleets as they shift to electric vehicles."

Blink Charging has deployed nearly 59,000 charging ports across 25 countries.

"We are excited to have been selected by Mike Albert as one of its go-to electrification partners. We look forward to providing their clients with a broad range of products, services, and innovative solutions, as well as the flexible business models that allow us to work with host locations and design a program that fits each specific location's needs," said Amy Dobrikova, VP of Fleet Services for Blink Charging. "We want to help businesses make the transition to electrification as seamless as possible, and we're dedicated to the needs of each unique client."

Enel X Way is focused on developing flexible charging technologies and solutions that improve the customer experience and enable the electrification of transport for consumers, businesses, cities, and public administrations. Enel X Way operates in 16 countries and manages nearly 430,000 charging ports worldwide and around 160,000 in North America, both directly and through roaming agreements or joint ventures.

"Mike Albert is one of the leading names in fleet management in the U.S., and we're pleased to play a part in their electrification program," said Chris Baker, Head of Enel X Way North America. "We're looking forward to making their customers' transition to electric fleets simple and efficient."

The Fleet Electrification Referral Program is available for all current Mike Albert clients. For more information about fleet electrification, please visit www.MikeAlbert.com .

About Mike Albert Fleet Solutions

Mike Albert made its initial, groundbreaking mark on the fleet industry in 1957 when it became one of the very first companies to lease vehicles to fleets. At Mike Albert today, their in-depth fleet knowledge and data analysis, paired with exemplary client service, have positioned them as a national top ten fleet management company, with 25,000 vehicles under contract across the US and parts of Canada and Puerto Rico.

Mike Albert serves organizations with fleets of 15 vehicles or more, across a wide range of industries. They work closely with clients, analyzing the specifics of their Fleet DNA to match them with the ideal vehicles, leasing, and fleet management and technology services. Mike Albert fleet experts apply their proprietary Fleet Science to develop strategies for clients that minimize their fleet's total cost of ownership; elevate their customer loyalty and brand image; and achieve their business and sustainability goals.

In addition to facilitating the acquisition, leasing, upfitting, and remarketing of fleet vehicles, Mike Albert provides an array of services that enable clients to maximize vehicle and driver safety, efficiency, and compliance, while streamlining fleet administration. These services include: Overdrive fleet admin portal and driver app, Albert IQ vehicle and driver monitoring platform, telematics, maintenance management, fuel management, DOT compliance, toll management, safety and collision management, vehicle registration renewals, and Advantage day-to-day fleet and driver management.

For more information, visit www.mikealbert.com.

SOURCE Mike Albert Fleet Solutions
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Following is a statement from Eileen O'Reilly, President of the National Press Club, and Gil Klein, President of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, on the attack Saturday against Indian journalist Lalit K. Jha of the Press Trust of India, as he was covering a protest at the Indian Embassy on Saturday.

"We are dismayed that Lalit, a senior correspondent for PTI was harassed, abused and eventually struck in the side of the head by a stick swung by Khalistan protestors outside the Indian Embassy. By all reports the Secret Service did a great job, stepping in and warning the protestors and calling for more officers to secure the perimeter so journalists including Lalit could continue to report safely. In recent days, there have been similar protests at Indian consulates in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Bundles of stout sticks are brought in and used to threaten and intimidate journalists and others during the protests. Journalism is a dangerous business and without some quick work by the Secret Service, Lalit might have been more seriously injured.

We urge those who protest around Embassies and Consulates to follow the U.S. laws related to Press Freedom at all times and we commend the Secret Service and local police for acting quickly to ensure the safety of Lalit and other reporters working there.

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. With nearly 3,000 members the Club is a leading voice for press freedom worldwide.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press and equips journaliats with the skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. The NPCJI is the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club.

Contact: Bill McCarren for the National Press Club, 202-662-7534

SOURCE National Press Club
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on Belarus on Sunday not to deploy Russian nuclear weapons on its territory, saying that it could face new sanctions if it does so.

March 27, 2023, 13:02 EU calls on Belarus not to deploy Russia nuclear weapons on its territory

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 27 , ARTSAKHPRESS: "Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions," Borrell wrote on Twitter.
Education Business Achieved Record-high Revenue

HONG KONG, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon" or the "Company"; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, today announced its financial results for fiscal year 2022. NetDragon's management team will hold a conference call and webcast at 10:00am Hong Kong time on March 28, 2023, to discuss the results and recent business developments.

Dr. Dejian Liu, Chairman of NetDragon, commented: "In 2022, we delivered a resilient performance with 11.8% revenue growth in a year of both opportunities and challenges. Our education business achieved record-high revenue of RMB4.3 billion with 34.2% YoY growth, as we continued to build on our global market leadership position with our commitment to providing educators the ability to transform learning and collaboration. In June 2022, we introduced our all-new ActivPanel 9 that deliver the most robust, seamless and secured user experience yet for teachers and students. During the year, we also took steps to expand our strategic partnerships and M&A initiatives to tap into concrete software monetization opportunities that will unleash the value of our global channel reach, as well as our largest installed base in the overseas market."

"We are also excited to have announced that in June 2022, we entered into a strategic partnership with Merlyn Mind, a leader in education AI technology. We are currently building on this partnership to develop an artificial intelligence enabled interactive panel for classrooms, which we plan on launching in our next panel release. We believe this will be a one-of-a-kind product that will elevate our competitive position to a new level."

"The gaming industry in China went through unprecedented challenges throughout 2022 as a result of a slowdown of the domestic economy due to the Covid-19 impact. However, a clearly defined go-to-market strategy and our unique gaming IP portfolio helped us to weather the storm. Although revenue of the gaming segment decreased by 5.8% YoY, such revenue performance outperformed the market[1] as we remained laser focus on execution with operational excellence. Our overseas games continued to deliver exceptional performance with a YoY overseas revenue growth of 6.5%. We also substantially strengthened our R&D capability by adding over 300 R&D headcounts during the year, hence putting ourselves in a much stronger position to expand our pipeline of new games."

"Last but not least, we continued to put shareholders' capital return as a high priority. We are pleased to announce that the Board has approved our final dividend proposal of HK$0.40 per ordinary share. Total dividends for the year (including special interim dividend declared in August 2022) amounted to HKD1.30 per ordinary share, representing approximately 73.0% of the total profit attributable to the owners for the year."

Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Highlights

Revenue was RMB7.9 billion , representing an 11.8% increase YoY.

, representing an 11.8% increase YoY. Revenue from the gaming business was RMB3.4 billion , representing 43.6% of the Company's total revenue and a 5.8% decrease YoY.

, representing 43.6% of the Company's total revenue and a 5.8% decrease YoY. Revenue from the education business was RMB4.3 billion , representing 55.1% of the Company's total revenue and a 34.2% increase YoY.

, representing 55.1% of the Company's total revenue and a 34.2% increase YoY. Gross profit was RMB4.3 billion , representing a 4.6% decrease YoY.

, representing a 4.6% decrease YoY. Core segmental profit [2] from the gaming business was RMB1.8 billion , representing a 14.1% decrease YoY.

from the gaming business was , representing a 14.1% decrease YoY. Core segmental loss [2] from the education business was RMB299 million , representing a 27.4% improvement YoY.

from the education business was , representing a 27.4% improvement YoY. EBITDA was RMB1.5 billion , representing a 20.7% decrease YoY.

, representing a 20.7% decrease YoY. Operating profit was RMB1.2 billion , representing a 17.0% decrease YoY.

, representing a 17.0% decrease YoY. Non-GAAP operating profit [3] was RMB1.3 billion , representing a 12.7% decrease YoY.

was , representing a 12.7% decrease YoY. Profit attributable to owners of the Company was RMB834 million , representing a 21.5% decrease YoY.

, representing a 21.5% decrease YoY. Non-GAAP profit attributable to owners of the Company [3] was RMB1.3 billion , representing a 2.2% decrease YoY.

was , representing a 2.2% decrease YoY. Operating cashflow was RMB1.1 billion , representing a 4.2% increase YoY.

, representing a 4.2% increase YoY. The Company declared a final dividend of HKD0.40 per ordinary share (2021: HKD0.40 per ordinary share), subject to approval at the coming annual general meeting.

Segmental Financial Highlights



FY2022 FY2021 Variance (RMB million) Gaming Education Gaming Education Gaming Education Revenue 3,430 4,336 3,642 3,231 -5.8 % 34.2 % Gross Profit 3,280 1,007 3,474 995 -5.6 % 1.2 % Gross Margin 95.6 % 23.2 % 95.4 % 30.8 % 0.2 ppts -7.6 ppts Core Segmental

Profit (Loss) 1,821 (299) 2,120 (412) -14.1 % -27.4 % Segmental Operating

Expenses[4]











- Research and

development (768) (446) (658) (501) 16.7 % -11.0 % - Selling and

marketing (398) (532) (419) (530) -5.0 % 0.4 % - Administrative (292) (387) (318) (351) -8.2 % 10.3 %

[1] Market revenue down 10.3% YoY, according to the China Game Industry Group Committee ("CGIGC") & Gamma Data , Jan 13 th, 2023 [2] Core segmental profit (loss) figures are derived from the Company's reported segmental profit (loss) figures (presented in accordance with Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard ("HKFRS") 8) but exclude non-core/operating, non-recurring or unallocated items including government grants, intercompany finance costs, impairment loss (net of reversal), impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories, goodwill and interest in an associate, fair value change and exchange difference on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss ("FVTPL"), fair value change and exchange difference on derivative financial instruments, interest expense and exchange difference on convertible and exchangeable bonds, write off of intangible assets and redundancy payment. [3] To supplement the consolidated results of the Company prepared in accordance with HKFRSs, the use of non-GAAP measures is provided solely to enhance the overall understanding of the Company's current financial performance. The non-GAAP measures are not expressly permitted measures under HKFRSs and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures for other companies. The non-GAAP measures of the Company exclude share-based payments expense, amortization of intangible assets arising on acquisitions of subsidiaries, impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories, goodwill and interest in an associate, fair value change on financial assets at FVTPL, fair value change on derivative financial instruments, finance costs, interest income on pledged bank deposits and exchange difference on financial assets at FVTPL, bank borrowings, convertible and exchangeable bonds and derivative financial instruments. [4] Segmental operating expenses exclude unallocated expenses/income such as depreciation, amortization and exchange difference that have been grouped into SG&A categories on the Company's reported consolidated financial statements, but cannot be allocated to specific business segments for purpose of calculating the segmental profit (loss) figures in accordance with HKFRS 8.

Education Business

Revenue from education business reached a record high of RMB 4.3 billion, representing a YoY increase of 34.2%, and accounting for approximately 55.1% of total revenue. Our flagship edtech subsidiary Promethean continued to outperform the market[5] and maintain its global ex-China #1 market leadership position[6] in terms of shipment volume. Total shipments of interactive flat panels reached a record-high of over 253,000 units, a YoY increase of 37.5%, as we delivered strong performance across all major markets, ranking #1 in market share in nine of our top ten markets, including the U.S., the U.K., Italy and Australia. In addition to expanding penetration of its hardware installed base, Promethean continues to leverage its unique position of being the classroom edtech hub by stepping up efforts in pursuing strategic partnership and M&A opportunities with an aim to tap into concrete software monetization opportunities. The Company announced in December the acquisition of Explain Everything, a leading digital whiteboard platform for creating engaging lessons, activities, and interactive presentations. Through this strategic acquisition, Promethean is expected to add to its product portfolio a revenue-generating application tool that addresses one of the most common use cases of its customers. This acquisition will also support the development of new and better solutions that would address teaching, learning, and collaboration needs.

Our gross margin was impacted by various geopolitical and macro challenges during the year, more specifically with respect to tariffs and a lower GBP and Euro relative to USD. On an ex-tariff and forex-neutral basis, Promethean achieved an adjusted gross margin of 30.3%, which is a 2.4 ppt reduction from 32.7% in 2021 that is largely caused by the sell down of our existing ActivPanel 7 inventory since the launch of ActivPanel 9 in June, and a slightly higher unit material cost for ActivPanel 9 relative to the older model. It should also be noted that the new ActivPanel 9 had an Average Selling Price (ASP) that was 17.0% higher than the ASP of the existing ActivPanel 7 during the year, thanks to its positioning as a next-generation product that includes new features with enhanced simplicity, connectivity, security, adaptability and longevity.

We are also actively expanding our country model with a pipeline of countries in emerging markets. In Egypt, the Company secured an order of 94,000 Promethean panels from the Ministry of Education in the first quarter of 2022. In Thailand, the Company's paid pilot program entered its second phase with an expectation to enter commercial rollout later this year. In China, the Company continued to build on its partnership with the National Center for Education Technology, a unit directly under the Ministry of Education, in building and providing technical support for the National K-12 Smart Education Platform for primary and secondary schools. Such platform was launched in March 2022 with a huge success, amassing over 77 million registered users and 23 billion page views as of March 23, 2023. The monthly active users surpassed 10 million for every month after the launch.

We continued to enhance the cost structure of the education business during the year. Overall core segmental loss of the business for the year narrowed by 27.4% YoY to RMB299 million. Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased by 11.3 ppts YoY, driven by effective cost control initiatives that will also lead to higher operating leverage going forward. Furthermore, despite 11.0% YoY reduction in full year R&D expense, the Company managed to step up its R&D effort in the second half of the year with an aim to expand its offerings into multiple new products due for launch in 2023, designed to broaden its penetration of the market and to bring user experience to a new level.

In 2022, market penetration of interactive flat panels reached a new high of 21%[7] of global K12 classrooms, which in our view represents a critical scale that will enable future scaling of value-added subscription/SaaS-based applications. Looking forward, we believe that we are well-positioned to capture this future revenue stream, thanks to our market leadership in interactive flat panels and our installed base of 1.9 million classrooms. To that end, we announced in June 2022 that Promethean has entered in a strategic partnership with Merlyn Mind, the leader in education AI technology with classroom applications. We are currently building on this partnership to develop an artificial intelligence enabled interactive panel for classrooms, which we plan on launching in our next panel release. We believe the product will be one-of-a-kind product that will not only strengthen our competitive position in classroom technology, but also put us in a position to become a category dominant leader in a new product category.

[5] Our market share of global ex China K12 IFPD shipment volume is 23.7% this year vs 23.0% last year, according to the Futuresource Consulting < Q4 2022 World interactive Display Report>, Mar 2023 [6] We rank the first in global ex China K12 IFPD market, according to the Futuresource Consulting < Q4 2022 World interactive Display Report>, Mar 2023 [7] According to the Futuresource Consulting < Q4 2022 World interactive Display Report>, Mar 2023

Gaming Business

A slowdown of the domestic economy in China due to the Covid-19 impact has resulted in a revenue YoY decrease of 5.8% to RMB3.4 billion in 2022 for our gaming business. Mobile gaming revenue remained steady at RMB577 million, representing a modest decrease of 0.2% YoY, outperforming a domestic mobile game market decline of 14.4%[8] YoY in 2022. Eudemons Pocket Version continued to deliver strong performance and achieved record-high gross billings, representing a YoY growth of 6.2%, largely a result of the change to a ROI-driven user acquisition strategy, as well as effective content and gameplay updates throughout the year. Our mobile gaming portfolio under the Eudemons IP on a combined basis achieved a steady revenue growth of 3.6% YoY. Meanwhile, PC gaming revenue was RMB2.8 billion, representing a 6.9% YoY decrease as we saw short-term impact from Covid-related economic slowdown on spending of our core players during the year in the domestic market. Despite the challenges, we stepped up our effort in making enhancements to the in-game spending mechanisms for our flagship game Eudemons Online to optimize our payers' base, resulting in a 28.4% YoY increase in APA for this game. Enhanced playability on the mobile platform also significantly drove user engagement and stickiness, leading to increase of DAU and ACU of Eudemons Online cross-platform version by 26.1% and 36.4% YoY, respectively.

Our overseas gaming business continued to deliver strong performance with revenue of RMB540 million, a YoY increase of 6.5%, a growth rate that outperformed the market[9]. Overseas gaming revenue as a percentage of total gaming revenue also increased consecutively for 5 years to 15.7% in 2022. Our Conquer IP was the main driver for the growth in 2022 with 48.5% overseas revenue increase YoY to RMB188 million, with the growth mainly driven by solid execution along with easing pandemic controls and market recovery in the Middle East. Meanwhile, we continued to replicate our successful business model in Egypt to new markets including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, the Philippines, the U.S. and Canada. New language versions were launched in Filipino, Turkish and Russian during the year. We also continued to make progress in expanding the overseas market presence of our Heroes Evolved IP. In July, the Company launched the Vietnamese pocket version under the Heroes Evolved IP, labelled Loan Chien Mobile, hailed by local gaming media as the new giant of Vietnamese e-sports. In August, the Company signed an exclusive licensing agreement with a renowned global publisher for AAA games to co-launch Under Oath in major international markets starting in Japan in 2023. Neopets: Faerie's Hope, the Company's first match-three game, was launched in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany and France in December 2022, which saw its next-day retention rate and three-day retention rate in the top 5-10% of titles in the same genre. Our flagship metaverse Web 3.0 game Neopets Metaverse also hit another major milestone in January 2023 by completing a US$4 million financing round with participation from industry leaders including Polygon Ventures, Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund, Hashkey Capital and IDG Capital. Neopets Metaverse is expected to launch its initial metaverse offering (IMO) later this year.

Our plan in 2023 will be to significantly expand our pipeline of new games, in conjunction with driving revenue growth for our existing games. During 2022, we stepped up our investment in R&D to put ourselves in a stronger position to capitalize on the market rebound anticipated for 2023, as we saw our gaming R&D expense increased by 16.7% YoY to RMB768 million, accounting for 22.4% of gaming revenue. Our R&D headcounts increased by over 300 in 2022, hence significantly strengthening our development competencies and resulting in an increase of both the quality and quantity of our pipeline of new games. We are expecting a total of 5 new games under the Eudemons IP to be launched in 2023 and 2024, the first of which is Eudemons Mobile II, which was successfully launched in March 2023. We also have new games in the pipeline under our Under Oath and Heroes Evolved IP, as well as new IPs to be announced. Last but not least, we expect to actively explore acquisition opportunities in order to further expand our market reach and core competencies.

[8] According to the China Game Industry Group Committee ("CGIGC") & Gamma Data , Jan 13th, 2023 [9] The revenue of Chinese game development companies in the overseas market decreased by 3.7% YoY, according to the China Game Industry Group Committee ("CGIGC") & Gamma Data , Jan 13th, 2023

Management Conference Call and Webcast

NetDragon's management team will hold a conference call and webcast at 10:00 am Hong Kong time on March 28, 2023 (or 10:00 pm, Eastern Time on March 27, 2023) to discuss the results and recent business developments.

Details of the live conference call are as follows:

International +852 2112 1888 Mainland China 4008 428 338 HK (China) +852 2112 1888 US +1 866 226 1406 UK 0800 032 2849 Passcode 9143528#

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of NetDragon's website at http://ir.nd.com.cn/en/category/webcast. Participants should visit the website 10 minutes prior to the call, then click on the icon titled "2022 Annual Results Conference Call and Webcast" and follow the registration instructions.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities, with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China's first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles, including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved, Conquer Online and Under Oath. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management's vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring true integrated blended learning solutions to every school around the world.

For investor enquiries, please contact:

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited

Maggie Zhou

Senior Director of Investor Relations

Tel+852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825

Email[email protected]

Websiteir.netdragon.com

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME







FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022





























2022

2021









RMB million

RMB million







Revenue 7,866

7,036







Cost of revenue (3,551)

(2,513)























Gross profit 4,315

4,523







Other income and gains 223

224







Impairment loss under expected credit loss model, (14)

(8)







net of reversal







Selling and marketing expenses (945)

(956)







Administrative expenses (975)

(956)







Research and development costs (1,224)

(1,160)







Other expenses and losses (213)

(266)







Share of results of associates and joint ventures (17)

(16)







Operating profit 1,150

1,385







Interest income on pledged bank deposits -

1







Exchange (loss) gain on financial assets at fair value through

profit or loss, bank borrowings, convertible and

exchangeable bonds and derivative financial instruments (73)

19







Fair value change on financial assets at fair value

through profit or loss (33)

20







Fair value change on derivative financial instruments 15

(3)







Finance costs (219)

(186)























Profit before taxation 840

1,236







Taxation (76)

(253)























Profit for the year 764

983







































Other comprehensive income (expense) for the year,













net of income tax













Item that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:













Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign

operations 47

(25)







Item that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:













Fair value change on equity instruments at fair value through

other comprehensive income (2)

(2)







Other comprehensive income (expense) for the year 45

(27)







Total comprehensive income for the year 809

956







































Profit (loss) for the year attributable to:













- Owners of the Company 834

1,062







- Non-controlling interests (70)

(79)









764

983























Total comprehensive income (expense) for the year

attributable to:













- Owners of the Company 879

1,036







- Non-controlling interests (70)

(80)









809

956

























RMB cents

RMB cents







Earnings per share













- Basic 154.15

191.67







- Diluted 154.14

191.58









CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AT 31 DECEMBER 2022









2022

2021

RMB million

RMB million Non-current assets





Property, plant and equipment 1,936

1,940 Deposits made for acquisition of property, plant and equipment 5

5 Right-of-use assets 380

428 Investment properties 59

77 Goodwill 287

217 Intangible assets 739

772 Interests in associates and joint ventures 34

50 Equity instruments at fair value through other comprehensive

income 56

8 Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 404

266 Loan receivables 8

8 Other receivables, prepayments and deposits 89

38 Deferred tax assets 347

135

4,344

3,944 Current assets





Properties under development 343

317 Properties for sale 303

205 Inventories 807

685 Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 84

2 Loan receivables 4

22 Trade receivables 654

832 Other receivables, prepayments and deposits 549

494 Amounts due from joint ventures 5

3 Tax recoverable 29

25 Restricted bank balance and pledged bank deposits 1

9 Bank deposits with original maturity over three months 207

630 Cash and cash equivalents 3,701

3,717

6,687

6,941















Current liabilities



Trade and other payables 1,513

1,455 Contract liabilities 406

357 Lease liabilities 67

64 Provisions 94

89 Derivative financial instruments 31

43 Bank borrowings 737

403 Convertible and exchangeable bonds 16

15 Tax payable 100

128

2,964

2,554 Net current assets 3,723

4,387 Total assets less current liabilities 8,067

8,331







Non-current liabilities





Other payables 19

11 Lease liabilities 50

95 Bank borrowings 2

- Convertible and exchangeable bonds 1,317

1,070 Convertible preferred shares -

- Deferred tax liabilities 80

80

1,468

1,256 Net assets 6,599

7,075







Capital and reserves





Share capital 40

40 Share premium and reserves 6,859

7,275 Equity attributable to owners of the Company 6,899

7,315 Non-controlling interests (300)

(240)

6,599

7,075









UNAUDITED RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS









2022

2021

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

RMB million

RMB million Operating profit 1,150

1,385 Add:





Share-based payments expense 6

14 Amortization of intangible assets arising on acquisitions

of subsidiaries 56

64 Impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories and

goodwill 103

21 Impairment of interest in an associate -

23 Non-GAAP operating profit 1,315

1,507







Profit attributable to owners of the Company 834

1,062 Add:





Share-based payments expense 6

14 Amortization of intangible assets arising on acquisitions

of subsidiaries 43

49 Impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories and

goodwill 100

12 Impairment of interest in an associate -

20 Finance costs 199

168 Fair value (gain) loss on derivative financial instruments (15)

3 Fair value loss (gain) on financial assets at fair value

through profit or loss 32

(21) Exchange loss (gain) on financial assets at fair value

through profit or loss, bank borrowings, convertible and

exchangeable bonds and derivative financial instruments 63

(16) Interest income on pledged bank deposits -

(1) Non-GAAP profit attributable to owners of the Company 1,262

1,290

SOURCE NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Voters across the U.S. agree that permitting reform and domestic critical mineral production are essential to America's clean energy future.

WASHINGTON , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) President Heather Reams today unveiled results from a CRES Forum national survey conducted by Moore Information Group, which found Republican and Independent voters overwhelmingly support an all-of-the-above energy approach that includes many policies championed by House Republicans in H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, such as permitting and regulatory reform, securing America's critical mineral supply chain, improving energy infrastructure, and responsible development of U.S. energy resources.

"As the Lower Energy Costs Act is being debated on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives this week, the findings of our poll could not be timelier," said CRES President Heather Reams. "Republican and Independent voters are aligned with many of the conservative, commonsense policies included in H.R. 1 to unlock our domestic resources, let America build to expand clean energy projects and lower energy costs, and empower the United States to capitalize on our global carbon advantage and help mitigate the impacts of climate change."

"Our CRES Forum poll shows overwhelming support for provisions that increase American energy production, reduce global emissions, and support the U.S. economywhich is exactly what H.R. 1 will do," Reams continued. "From making it easier to permit and build clean energy projects to increasing extraction and processing of critical minerals, CRES is proud to champion these key policiesbacked by Republicans and Independents across the countrythat will strengthen American energy security and leadership."

Republicans and Independents Nationwide Support Provisions in H.R. 1:

83% support an "all of the above" energy approach, which includes sources such as nuclear and natural gas as well as renewable energy sources like wind, solar and hydropower.

87% support making it easier to develop the American minerals and resources necessary for clean energy production in the U.S. and our allies.

80% favor speeding up government review of energy infrastructure project applications to build more in America faster.

77% want to streamline permitting and remove regulatory barriers to make it easier extract and process the critical minerals in the United States .

85% say developing America's natural gas supplies is critical to our national security and the planet is better off with more energy being produced in the U.S. because the lifecycle emissions of American natural gas is 41% lower than that of Russia .

79% support exporting more American-made natural gas to meet demand, while reducing global emissions.

Find the poll results from Moore Information Group here.

Methodology:

The CRES Forum survey was conducted March 8-9, 2023, by Moore Information Group. A total of 1,000 online interviews were conducted among a nationwide representative sample of self-identifying Republican and Independent voters. The potential sampling error is plus or minus 3% at the 95% confidence level.

SOURCE Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Harvard School of Dental Medicine, sponsored by the Delta Dental Institute, and published in JAMA Health Forum, finds that expanding the dental workforce in Oral Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) would reduce the risk of dental caries among children in underserved areas, improve care, and cut costs.

New Research from Harvard School of Dental Medicine Finds Oral Health Workforce Expansion Improves Health Outcomes in Underserved Communities

Lead researcher Dr. Sung En Choi, SM, PhD, studied the cost-effectiveness of expanding the dental workforce in underserved areas through the NHSC to evaluate the potential impact of having more dental practitioners providing care in those communities.

"Our analysis suggests that expanding the dental workforce through the NHSC would reduce the burden of dental caries among children in underserved areas and address disparities in the social and economic determinants of oral health," said author Dr. Choi, instructor in Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

The NHSC is a federally-funded program through the Health Resources and Services Administration that offers scholarship and loan programs to medical and dental students who commit to serving in HPSAs after completing their education and training. Currently, nearly 20,000 medical and dental clinicians serve at NHSC-approved sites in urban, rural, and tribal communities.

There are approximately 65.8 million U.S. residents living in HPSAs  dental HPSAs are defined by the ratio of dental professionals to the population with high needs, where dental care is in short supply. More than 10,600 dental practitioners are needed to adequately supply the over 6,300 communities considered as HPSAs.

"Having served in the NHSC on a Native American reservation, I know first-hand the difference an oral health professional can make in the overall health of those in underserved communities. The findings from this research will be instrumental as a framework for expanding the oral health workforce in a way that improves oral health and is cost effective," said Joseph Dill, DDS, MBA, and Head of Dental Science at the Delta Dental Institute.

Recently, the Delta Dental Institute launched a new campaign, Driving Greater Diversity in the Oral Health Workforce, to help increase the number of oral health professionals from historically underrepresented groups. A key component of this campaign is producing actionable solutions through data-driven research, and these findings demonstrate concrete ways for the oral health workforce to be expanded and to improve health outcomes.

This research is a part of the Delta Dental Institute's previously announced oral health research awards focused on creating more equitable access to care and reducing health disparities. Learn more about the research awards here.

About the Delta Dental Institute

The Delta Dental Institute is dedicated to advancing oral health for all Americans in partnership with Delta Dental companies and dedicated partners across the country. With expertise rooted in Delta Dental's rich history of oral health leadership, we engage in and support oral health research, community outreach, and advocacy, striving to ensure that everyone understands the importance of oral health to overall health and has access to the care they need. Visit deltadentalinstitute.com for more information.

About the Harvard School of Dental Medicine

Located in the heart of Boston's Longwood Medical Area, Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) ranks as one of the preeminent schools of dental medicine in the country. HSDM educates clinicians, educators, researchers, and leaders in the profession; boasts core strengths in musculoskeletal-disease research and epidemiological research; and offers students public health opportunities in local communities and across the globe.

HSDM is the only school at Harvard that offers direct patient care, with the Harvard Dental Center welcoming more than 25,000 patients for over 57,000 dental visits every year. In a unique educational model that integrates oral health with systemic health, HSDM pre-doctoral students (DMD) study clinical medicine with Harvard medical students and then pursue additional years of intensive, interdisciplinary clinical science education at HSDM and affiliated sites. Advanced graduate students, who work toward a doctor of medical sciences (DMSc) or master of medical sciences (MMSc) degree and/or a specialty certificate, also draw upon the richness of the educational facilities and research institutes of the broader Harvard community and Greater Boston area. HSDM graduates make their mark in prevention, discovery, and practice as they work to improve the health and well-being of local and global populations.

SOURCE Delta Dental Institute
The First EdTech Platform To Put The Power of Generative AI in The Hands Of Teachers Results In More Than 875% User Increase

NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Within a month of its official launch, edtech startup Pressto has seen unprecedented growth. The first-to-market generative AI for teachers is a classroom ready platform that has yielded over 1,300 teachers and 5,000 student sign-ups - totaling an 875% overall user increase - from more than 700 schools across the country.

"Based on our years of research, we know that both the desire to find alternative tools to motivate writing, as well as the need to remain ahead of students when it comes to AI in the classroom is essential, so we are not surprised that teachers are quickly embracing Pressto and our user numbers are growing at such a rapid pace," says Pressto Founder and CEO, Daniel Stedman. "There hasn't been a disruptor in writing in decades until now, and Pressto has found a way to implement this new wave of AI technology to help educators with writing instruction."

Pressto's unique capabilities and innovative approach resulted in early accolades for the beta version, including an honorable mention in the Education Category of Fast Company's 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards. The platform has continued to push the boundaries of innovation and has since transformed into the first platform to put AI in the hands of teachers, empowering them with tools and knowledge needed to utilize AI confidently and effectively in their classrooms.

The all-new AI Assignment Assistant generates customized writing prompts on any topic or subject, at any grade level and in any curriculum within seconds. These prompts are then linked to structured writing experiences, helping teachers enhance their students' writing and critical thinking skills by empowering them with scaffolds, such as writing blocks, different writing styles, signal words, and important words and phrases. Great for differentiated learning styles, Pressto enables teachers with the ability to address the needs of all their students and align any subject to an individual's particular interests.

"We've seen students who once struggled to put their thoughts into words start to confidently express themselves through writing. We've seen students who lacked the motivation to write become passionate about the craft. And we've seen students who never thought they could excel in writing exceed their own expectations, which has been one of the most incredible and truly rewarding experiences since we launched in late January," adds Stedman.

The newest version of Pressto integrates with Google Classroom and will continue to be offered for free for the 2022/2023 school year. Many of the current schools signed up in Pressto are located throughout 49 US states, Canada, the UK, India, and New Zealand. To learn more about Pressto, please visit www.pressto.ai .

ABOUT PRESSTO AI

Pressto AI was founded in 2021 by Daniel Stedman, the co-founder of Brooklyn Magazine and Northside Media. Pressto develops proprietary educational technology that is designed to transform the way writing is taught and learned in the digital classroom. Pressto provides an environment that makes writing fun and purposeful for students and time-saving and easier for teachers. Pressto's Junior Journalist Program provides students with real-world, project-based learning opportunities in conjunction with local Mayor's offices, and the platform was acknowledged as an honorable mention in the Education Category of Fast Company's 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards. To learn more, visit www.pressto.ai.

SOURCE Pressto
MELVILLE, N.Y., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) continues to expand in Texas as we announce our newest partnership with Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, part of Methodist Healthcare, to provide anesthesia services beginning June 1, 2023.

NAPA will be recruiting 16 clinicians and implementing a Physician/CRNA care team model to deliver anesthesia services at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan in San Antonio, Texas. The 378-bed hospital features 12 operating suites, 16 NICU beds, and a dedicated women's pavilion.

NAPA is the largest single-specialty anesthesia and pain management company in the U.S., with nearly 6,000 clinicians providing anesthesia at hundreds of hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and office-based locations across 21 states.

"We are very excited to partner with NAPA," Greg Seiler, Chief Executive Officer at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, said. "We know this collaboration will aid us in maintaining our high standards of patient care thanks to NAPA's expertise and reliable anesthesia services."

Chris Duperier, MD, MBA, NAPA's Regional Vice President for the Western U.S. Region, said, "NAPA is thrilled to be moving into the San Antonio market and working with Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan. We are proud to partner with the hospital and provide dependable and trusted anesthesia clinicians who can keep cases on track for their surgeons and patients. From our quality programs and our robust recruiting engine to our commitment to patient experience and surgeon satisfaction, NAPA is that collaborative and accountable partner."

About NAPA

As a clinician-led organization, North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) is redefining healthcare, delivering unsurpassed excellence to its partners and patients every day. NAPA has grown to become the nation's leading single-specialty anesthesia and pain management company. Our nearly 6,000 clinicians serve more than 2 million patients annually at nearly 450 healthcare facilities in 21 states. Please visit NAPAanesthesia.com for more information.

About Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan

Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan is a 378-bed hospital that provides a complete range of healthcare services to residents of downtown San Antonio and the surrounding area, including Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, and Olmos Park. The campus includes a free-standing Women's Pavilion, the only free-standing facility in downtown San Antonio completely dedicated to the health of women and their newborn babies. In 2022, Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan posted its 12th consecutive "A" Grade for Patient Safety and its 6th designation as a "Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality" by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

SOURCE NAPA Management Services Corporation
Kisqali plus endocrine therapy (ET) significantly reduced the risk of disease recurrence compared to standard ET alone in the adjuvant setting1

NATALEE is the first and only positive Phase III study of a CDK4/6 inhibitor demonstrating consistent benefit in a broad population of patients with stage II and III HR+/HER2- early breast cancer (EBC) at risk of recurrence, including those with no nodal involvement

Approximately 30-60% of people with HR+/HER2- stage II and III EBC treated with ET only remain at risk of breast cancer recurrence2

NATALEE results will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and submitted to regulatory authorities worldwide

EAST HANOVER, N.J., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis today announced positive topline results from an interim analysis of NATALEE, a Phase III trial evaluating Kisqali (ribociclib) plus endocrine therapy (ET) in a broad population of patients with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-) early breast cancer (EBC) at risk of recurrence1. The Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended stopping the trial early as the primary endpoint of invasive disease-free survival (iDFS) has been met. Kisqali plus ET significantly reduced the risk of disease recurrence, compared to standard adjuvant ET alone, with consistent benefit in patients with stage II and stage III EBC regardless of nodal involvement1.

"While most patients are diagnosed and treated early with the aim to cure breast cancer, the risk of cancer returning, often as metastatic disease, peaks within three years after diagnosis, but never goes away completely," said Dennis J. Slamon, MD, Director of Clinical/Translational Research, University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chairman and Executive Director of Translational Research In Oncology (TRIO) and NATALEE trial lead investigator. "There is a critical need for new, well-tolerated options that keep patients cancer-free without disrupting quality of life. The NATALEE trial, where ribociclib was given for three years plus ET, was designed with these unmet needs in mind, and it is extremely encouraging that this study met its primary endpoint."

Per the NATALEE study protocol, patient follow-up will continue to evaluate long-term outcomes, including overall survival1.

"The positive topline results from NATALEE represent a major milestone in our ambition to expand the benefits of Kisqali to patients with earlier stages of breast cancer, building on the heritage of this effective treatment in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer," said Shreeram Aradhye, M.D., President, Global Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. "These data have the potential to be paradigm-shifting for patients at risk of recurrence, including those with no nodal involvement, who have limited well-tolerated options to prevent recurrence. Our teams are working on submissions to health authorities around the world with the hope to bring Kisqali to many more patients diagnosed with breast cancer."

These findings build on the legacy of Kisqali in metastatic breast cancer (MBC), where it has consistently demonstrated overall survival benefit while preserving or improving quality of life across three Phase III trials3-14. Updates to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for breast cancer, released in January 2023, recommend ribociclib (Kisqali) as the only Category 1 preferred CDK4/6 inhibitor for first-line treatment of patients with HR+/HER2- MBC when combined with an aromatase inhibitor (AI)15.

About NATALEE

NATALEE is a global Phase III multi-center, randomized, open-label trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Kisqali with ET as adjuvant treatment versus ET alone in patients with HR+/HER2- EBC, being conducted in collaboration with Translational Research In Oncology (TRIO)1. The primary endpoint of NATALEE is iDFS as defined by the Standardized Definitions for Efficacy End Points (STEEP) criteria; secondary endpoints include safety, quality of life, and overall survival, among others. iDFS is a composite endpoint in EBC adjuvant trials, which incorporates locoregional relapse, ipsilateral and contralateral invasive breast cancer, distant recurrence, and types of new cancer events or death from any cause. Approximately 5,100 adult patients with HR+/HER2- EBC across 20 countries were randomized in the trial, including patients with tumor stages IIA (select patients), IIB or III, regardless of nodal involvement. NATALEE explored a lower starting dose (400 mg) of Kisqali than the dose approved for treatment in MBC (600 mg) with the goal to minimize disruptions to patient quality of life without compromising efficacy1.

About Early Breast Cancer

More than 90% of patients diagnosed with breast cancer have EBC2,16. Approximately 30-60% of people with HR+/HER2- stage II and III EBC treated with ET only remain at risk of breast cancer recurrence2. The risk of recurrence peaks within the first three years after initial diagnosis and continues over decades2. For many of these patients, there are currently no targeted therapeutic options outside of the standard chemotherapy and ET17.

About Kisqali (ribociclib)

Kisqali has consistently demonstrated overall survival benefit while preserving or improving quality of life across three Phase III trials3-14. Updates to the NCCN Guidelines for breast cancer, released in January 2023, recommend ribociclib (Kisqali) as the only Category 1 preferred CDK4/6 inhibitor for first-line treatment of patients with HR+/HER2- MBC when combined with an AI15. Additionally, Kisqali has the highest rating of any CDK4/6 inhibitor on the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale, achieving a score of five out of five for first-line premenopausal patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer18. Further, Kisqali in combination with either letrozole or fulvestrant has uniquely, among other CDK4/6 inhibitors, received a score of four out of five for postmenopausal patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer treated in the first line19.

Kisqali has been approved in 99 countries worldwide, including by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Commission. In the U.S., Kisqali is approved for the treatment of adult patients with HR+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with an AI as initial ET or fulvestrant as initial ET or following disease progression on ET in postmenopausal women or in men. In the EU, Kisqali is approved for the treatment of women with HR+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with either an AI or fulvestrant as initial ET or following disease progression. In pre- or perimenopausal women, the ET should be combined with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist14.

Novartis is committed to continuing to study Kisqali in breast cancer. Novartis is collaborating with SOLTI, which is leading the HARMONIA study to test whether Kisqali changes tumor biology to enable a better response to ET compared to Ibrance* (palbociclib) for patients with metastatic HR+/HER2-, HER2-enriched subtype20, and with the Akershus University Hospital in Norway on the NEOLETRIB trial, a neoadjuvant Phase II trial studying the effects of Kisqali in HR+/HER2- EBC to discover the potentially unique underlying mechanism of action21. Novartis also plans to build on the findings from NATALEE with ADJUVANT WIDER, an open-label Phase IIIb trial evaluating Kisqali plus ET in a population of HR+/HER2- patients with stage II and III EBC that is closer to a real-world population.

Kisqali was developed by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) under a research collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals.

Please see full Prescribing Information for Kisqali, available at www.Kisqali.com .

Indications

KISQALI (ribociclib) is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2) breast cancer that has gotten worse or has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic), in combination with:

an aromatase inhibitor as the first endocrine-based therapy; or

fulvestrant as the first endocrine-based therapy or following disease progression on endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women or in men.

It is not known if KISQALI is safe and effective in children.

Important Safety Information

What is the most important information I should know about KISQALI?

KISQALI may cause serious side effects, including:

Lung problems. KISQALI may cause severe or life-threatening inflammation of the lungs during treatment that may lead to death. Tell your health care provider right away if you have any new or worsening symptoms, including:

trouble breathing or shortness of breath

cough with or without mucus

chest pain

Severe skin reactions. Tell your health care provider or get medical help right away if you get severe rash or rash that keeps getting worse; reddened skin; flu-like symptoms; skin pain/burning; blistering of the lips, eyes, or mouth; or blisters on the skin or skin peeling, with or without fever.

Heart rhythm problems (QT prolongation). KISQALI can cause a heart problem known as QT prolongation. This condition can cause an abnormal heartbeat and may lead to death. Your health care provider should check your heart and do blood tests before and during treatment with KISQALI. Tell your health care provider right away if you have a change in your heartbeat (a fast or irregular heartbeat), or if you feel dizzy or faint.

Liver problems (hepatobiliary toxicity). KISQALI can cause serious liver problems. Your health care provider should do blood tests to check your liver before and during treatment with KISQALI. Tell your health care provider right away if you get any of the following signs and symptoms of liver problems:

yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

dark or brown (tea-colored) urine

feeling very tired

loss of appetite

pain on the right side of your stomach area (abdomen)

bleeding or bruising more easily than normal

Low white blood cell counts (neutropenia). Low white blood cell counts are very common during treatment with KISQALI and may result in infections that may be severe. Your health care provider should check your white blood cell counts before and during treatment with KISQALI. Tell your health care provider right away if you have signs and symptoms of low white blood cell counts or infections such as fever and chills.

Your health care provider may tell you to decrease your dose, temporarily stop, or completely stop taking KISQALI if you develop certain serious side effects during treatment with KISQALI.

What should I tell my health care provider before taking KISQALI?

Before you take KISQALI, tell your health care provider if you:

have any heart problems, including heart failure, irregular heartbeats, and QT prolongation

have ever had a heart attack

have a slow heartbeat (bradycardia)

have problems with the amount of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, or magnesium in your blood

have fever, chills, or any other signs or symptoms of infection

have liver problems

have any other medical conditions

are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant. KISQALI can harm your unborn baby

If you are able to become pregnant, your health care provider should do a pregnancy test before you start treatment with KISQALI.



Females who are able to become pregnant and who take KISQALI should use effective birth control during treatment and for at least 3 weeks after the last dose of KISQALI.



Talk to your health care provider about birth control methods that may be right for you during this time.



If you become pregnant or think you are pregnant, tell your health care provider right away.

are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if KISQALI passes into your breast milk. Do not breastfeed during treatment with KISQALI and for at least 3 weeks after the last dose of KISQALI

Tell your health care provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. KISQALI and other medicines may affect each other, causing side effects. Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show your health care provider or pharmacist when you get a new medicine.

What should I avoid while taking KISQALI?

Avoid eating grapefruit and avoid drinking grapefruit juice during treatment with KISQALI since these may increase the amount of KISQALI in your blood.

The most common side effects of KISQALI include:

decreased white blood cell counts

decreased red blood cell counts

abnormal liver function tests

infections

nausea

increased kidney function test

tiredness

decreased platelet counts

diarrhea

vomiting

headache

constipation

hair loss

cough

rash

back pain

low blood sugar level

KISQALI may cause fertility problems if you are male and take KISQALI. This may affect your ability to father a child. Talk to your health care provider if this is a concern for you.

Tell your health care provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of KISQALI. For more information, ask your health care provider or pharmacist. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see accompanying full Prescribing Information including Patient Information.

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "may," "could," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Located in East Hanover, NJ Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation  an affiliate of Novartis  is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. We deliver high-value medicines that alleviate society's greatest disease burdens through technology leadership in R&D and novel access approaches. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis employs nearly 14,500 people in the United States. For more information, please visit https://www.novartis.us

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For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected].

References

Novartis Data on File. Novartis Pharmaceuticals: 2022. Pan, H, Gray, R, Braybrooke, J, et al. 20-year risks of breast-cancer recurrence after stopping endocrine therapy at 5 years. N Engl J Med. Nov 2017 ;377(19):1836-1846. 10.1056/NEJMoa1701830 Iqbal J, Ginsburg O, Rochon PA, Sun P, Narod SA. Differences in breast cancer stage at diagnosis and cancer-specific survival by race and ethnicity in the United States [published correction appears in JAMA. 2015 Jun 9 ;313(22):2287]. JAMA. 2015;313(2):165-173. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.17322 Yardley DA, Yap YS, et al. Pooled exploratory analysis of survival in patients (pts) with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer (ABC) and visceral metastases (mets) treated with ribociclib (RIB) + endocrine therapy (ET) in the MONALEESA (ML) trials. Poster presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress. September 9-13, 2022 . Paris, France . Neven P, Fasching PA, et al. Updated overall survival (OS) results from the first-line (1L) population in the Phase III MONALEESA-3 trial of postmenopausal patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer (ABC) treated with ribociclib (RIB) + fulvestrant (FUL). Mini oral presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Breast Cancer Congress. May 4, 2022 . Patis, France . Hortobagyi GN, Stemmer SM, Burris HA, et al. Overall Survival with Ribociclib plus Letrozole in Advanced Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2022;386(10):942-950. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2114663 Hortobagyi, et al. Overall survival (OS) results from the phase III MONALEESA (ML)-2 trial of postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HR+/HER2) advanced breast cancer (ABC) treated with endocrine therapy (ET)  ribociclib. Proffered paper presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress, September 16-21, 2021 . Lugano, Switzerland. Im S-A, Lu Y-S, Bardia A, et al. Overall survival with ribociclib plus endocrine therapy in breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2019;381(4):307-316. doi:10.1056/nejmoa1903765 Slamon DJ, Neven P, Chia S, et al. Overall Survival with Ribociclib plus Fulvestrant in Advanced Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020;382(6):514-524. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1911149 Slamon, DJ, Neven P, Chia S, et al. Overall survival (OS) results of the Phase III MONALEESA-3 trial of postmenopausal patients (pts) with hormone receptorpositive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor 2negative (HER2) advanced breast cancer (ABC) treated with fulvestrant (FUL)  ribociclib (RIB). Presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress, September 29, 2019 , Barcelona, Spain . Slamon D, Neven P, Chia S, et al. Updated overall survival (OS) results from the Phase III MONALEESA-3 trial of postmenopausal patients (pts) with HR+/HER2 advanced breast cancer (ABC) treated with fulvestrant (FUL)  ribociclib (RIB. Presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, June 5, 2021 . Chicago , USA . Tripathy D, Im S-A, Colleoni M, et al. Updated overall survival (OS) results from the phase III MONALEESA-7 trial of pre- or perimenopausal patients with HR+/HER2 advanced breast cancer (ABC) treated with endocrine therapy (ET)  ribociclib. Presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 9, 2020 . Texas, USA . Yardley, D, Nusch A, Yap YS, et al. Overall survival (OS) in patients (pts) with advanced breast cancer (ABC) with visceral metastases (mets), including those with liver mets, treated with ribociclib (RIB) plus endocrine therapy (ET) in the MONALEESA (ML) -3 and -7 trials. Presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. June 2020 . Chicago , USA . O'Shaughnessy J, Stemmer SM, Burris HA, et al. Overall survival subgroup analysis by metastatic site from the Phase III MONALEESA-2 study of first-line ribociclib + letrozole in postmenopausal patients with HR+/HER2 advanced breast cancer. Presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 7-10, 2021 . Texas, USA . Kisqali (ribociclib) Prescribing Information. NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) - Breast Cancer. NCCN Guidelines. https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/breast.pdf. Published March 2023 . Accessed March 7, 2023 . American Cancer Society. Treatment of breast cancer stages I-III. Revised April 12, 2022 . Accessed on September 15, 2022 .https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/treatment/treatment-of-breast-cancer-by-stage/treatment-of-breast-cancer-stages-i-iii.html European Society for Medical Oncology  Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale Scorecard. https://www.esmo.org/guidelines/esmo-mcbs/esmo-mcbs-scorecards/scorecard-158-1. Published April 20, 2020 . Updated August 21, 2020 . Accessed September 9, 2020 . European Society for Medical Oncology  Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale Scorecard. https://www.esmo.org/guidelines/esmo-mcbs/esmo-mcbs-scorecards/scorecard-9-1. Published March 29, 2022 . Accessed April 1, 2022 . Ribociclib vs. palbociclib in patients with advanced breast cancer within the HER2-enriched intrinsic subtype (HARMONIA). Identifier NCT05207709. Revised April 4, 2022 . Accessed on February 6 , 2022. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05207709 Novartis and Vestre Viken Hospital Trust (2022, April 1  2024, December 1 ). Neoadjuvant Treatment of Locally-advanced Breast Cancer Patients With Ribociclib and Letrozole (NEOLETRIB). Identifier NCT05163106. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05163106

*Ibrance is a registered trademark of Pfizer, Inc.

# # #

Novartis Media Relations E-mail: [email protected]



North America Julie Masow +1 862 579 8456





Michael Meo Mary Carmichael Marlena Abdinoor +1 862 274 5414 +1 862 200 8344 +1 617 335 9525





Novartis Investor Relations E-mail: [email protected]



North America Sloan Simpson +1 862 778 5052

























SOURCE Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
SAN DIEGO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announced that it has filed a class action lawsuit seeking to represent purchasers of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) common stock between October 28, 2020 and March 3, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Captioned Bucks County Employees Retirement System v. Norfolk Southern Corporation, No. 23-cv-00982 (S.D. Ohio), the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit charges Norfolk Southern as well as certain of Norfolk Southern's top executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit, please provide your information here:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-norfolk-southern-corporation-class-action-lawsuit-nsc-html

You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Lead plaintiff motions for the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than May 15, 2023.

CASE ALLEGATIONS: Norfolk Southern is a rail transportation company that implemented a strategy known as "Precision Scheduled Railroading" ("PSR"), which is associated with hyper-efficient operational changes designed to increase revenues and decrease costs. Operational changes typically include reductions in staff; longer, heavier trains that can stretch up to miles in length; and tighter schedules.

The Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Norfolk Southern's PSR, including its use of longer, heavier trains staffed by fewer personnel, had led to Norfolk Southern suffering increased train derailments and a materially increased risk of future derailments; (ii) Norfolk Southern's PSR was part of a culture of increased risk-taking at the expense of reasonable safety precautions due to Norfolk Southern's near-term focus solely on profits; (iii) Norfolk Southern's PSR rendered Norfolk Southern more vulnerable to train derailments and train derailments with potentially more severe human, financial, legal, and environmental consequences; (iv) Norfolk Southern's capital spending and replacement programs were designed to prioritize profits over Norfolk Southern's ability to provide safe, efficient, and reliable rail transportation services; (v) Norfolk Southern's lobbying efforts had undermined Norfolk Southern's ability to provide safe, efficient, and reliable rail transportation services; (vi) Norfolk Southern's commitment to reducing operating expenses as part of its PSR goals undermined worker safety and Norfolk Southern's purported "commitment to an injury-free workplace" because Norfolk Southern's PSR plan prioritized reducing expenses through fewer personnel, longer trains, and less spending on safety training, technology, and equipment such as hot bearing wayside detectors (a/k/a "hotboxes") and acoustic sensors; (vii) Norfolk Southern's rail services were, as a result of its adoption of PSR principles, more susceptible to accidents that could cause serious economic and bodily harm to Norfolk Southern, its workers, its customers, third parties, and the environment; and (viii) Norfolk Southern had failed to put in place responsive practices and procedures to minimize the threat to communities in the event that these communities suffered the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous and toxic materials.

On February 3, 2023, eastbound Norfolk Southern Railway Company general merchandise freight train 32N derailed 38 railcars in East Palestine, Ohio, leaving behind what the Associated Press called "a mangled and charred mass of boxcars and flames." The derailed equipment included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited, fueling fires that damaged an additional 12 non-derailed railcars.

On February 6, 2023, responders engaged in a controlled detonation and burn of the vinyl chloride, spewing massive volumes of chemicals into the vicinity. The chemicals released from the derailment entered the air and water of the surrounding residential areas, the closest of which were only 1,000 feet from the site of the accident. On this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock fell.

Then, on February 8, 2023, after lifting a previously issued evacuation order, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine stated that Norfolk Southern was "the one[] who created the problem. It's their liability. They're the ones who ought to pay for it." Following their return, numerous residents reported hazardous air quality and other health and environmental concerns. On this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock again fell.

Thereafter, on February 13, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that it had concluded that Norfolk Southern may be responsible for the cleanup costs of the derailment site or the costs incurred by the EPA for area cleanup. On this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock once again fell.

Next, on February 15, 2023, reports emerged that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was considering taking legal action against Norfolk Southern over the derailment. On this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock again fell.

Finally, on March 6, 2023, Norfolk Southern announced a 6-part plan to improve operational safety that included, among other things, adding about 200 temperature sensors along its tracks where existing sensors are at least 15 miles apart, reviewing the temperature levels that set off alarms for train crews, and adding more acoustic sensors that analyze vibrations for potential problems. On this news, the price of Norfolk Southern stock fell, further damaging investors.

The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud. You can view a copy of the complaint by clicking here.

THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Norfolk Southern common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the Norfolk Southern class action lawsuit.

ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller is one of the world's leading complex class action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud cases. The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering more than $1.75 billion for investors in 2022  the third year in a row Robbins Geller tops the list. And in those three years alone, Robbins Geller recovered nearly $5.3 billion for investors, more than double the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs' firm. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world, and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever  $7.2 billion  in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information:

https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities-fraud.html

Attorney advertising.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.

Contact:

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP

655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101

J.C. Sanchez, 800-449-4900

[email protected]

SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
DUBAI, UAE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Extrapolate, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Market is expected to grow significantly over the forthcoming years. The market size is predicted to increase from USD 509.8 million in 2022 to USD 769.27 million by 2032 at a CAGR of 4.2%.

The organic Rankine cycle converts low to medium-temperature heat sources into electricity. This technology is particularly well-suited for geothermal and biomass applications, as well as waste heat recovery and solar thermal power generation. The growing interest in renewable energy and the need for sustainable power generation solutions have driven the development and implementation of ORC systems worldwide.

In 2016, the global installed capacity of the ORC system in the global organic Rankine cycle market was 2,701 MW, distributed across 705 power plant projects and consisting of 1,754 individual ORC units, which is expected to surpass 4,500 MWel, with over 2,000 power plants in operation by the end of 2023. The increase in capacity will primarily be driven by new projects being planned or commissioned, as well as the expansion of existing facilities.

Get a Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.extrapolate.com/sample/energy-and-power/organic-rankine-market/87401

In the geothermal sector, countries with significant geothermal resources, such as Indonesia, Mexico, and Kenya, are also exploring and investing in ORC technology to harness their geothermal potential. These countries are expected to increase their installed ORC capacity in the coming years considerably. Apart from this, countries with a strong focus on bioenergy and waste-to-energy projects, like Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom, also invest in ORC systems to utilize biomass resources more efficiently. This trend is expected to continue as biomass becomes a viable renewable energy source.

Growing Environmental Concerns to Facilitate ORC Demand

The organic Rankine cycle market has grown significantly due to mounting environmental concerns worldwide. The concerns over the depletion of fossil fuel resources and their negative impact on the environment have resulted in an increased demand for renewable energy sources, such as ORC systems. One of the key drivers of the ORC market is the longer lifespan of these systems and their cost-effectiveness in operation and maintenance.

According to our research, the installed capacity of ORC systems has been on the rise, with approximately 1800 power stations having such systems installed, totaling over 3,815 MWel as of 2022. Furthermore, 75 more plants were planned for construction or operation, adding 526.8 MWel of capacity in the same year.

The growth in the organic Rankine cycle market is also driven by a favorable legislative environment and financial incentives that promote the deployment of renewable energy. Governments worldwide offer various financial incentives, including feed-in tariffs, subsidies, and tax breaks, to encourage investments in renewable energy sources, such as ORC systems. These measures have further helped boost the ORC market's growth, and it is expected to continue in the future.

Inquire Before Buying This Report: https://www.extrapolate.com/enquire/energy-and-power/organic-rankine-market/87401

Geothermal Segment to Retain Market Dominance

Geothermal power plants remain the dominant force in the global organic Rankine market, accounting for a whopping 72.6% of all built capacity in 2022. This is primarily due to the impressive megawatt capacity of geothermal projects, enabling this segment to maintain its supremacy.

While other renewable sources, such as solar thermal, waste heat recovery, and biomass, have yet to utilize the same capacity as geothermal power fully, there is growing recognition of their potential in the global organic Rankine cycle market. However, geothermal projects generally boast a capacity greater than 10 MW, placing them in a league of their own in size and scale. On the other hand, the average capacity of ORC-based plants ranges from 1 to 2 MW.

Geothermal energy is an established technology that offers baseload electricity with a high capacity factor in the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, and Aotearoa New Zealand. Geothermal power facilities in these nations provide 97 TWh of electricity per year.

Biomass Segment to Experience Growth with Rising Consumption of Forest-Based Fuel

The use of biomass as a feedstock for ORC has steadily increased. Currently, it represents over 10% of ORC installations, making it an essential contributor to the industry's growth. In fact, the biomass segment is expected to experience the fastest growth during the forecast period.

Europe has been leading charge in the organic Rankine cycle market regarding biomass inclusion in ORC systems, with a significant portion of the wood used for bioenergy in the EU being stem wood. According to the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, coppice wood, small stem thinning wood, and harvested stems of low quality that cannot be used in sawmills or pulp and paper products account for most of the stem wood used. Additionally, treetops, branches, and other residues comprise 17% of the wood used for bioenergy in the EU. These findings highlight the potential for utilizing various biomass sources in ORC systems, which can improve the industry's sustainability and provide an opportunity for more efficient use of natural resources.

Purchase this Premium Research Report: https://www.extrapolate.com/complete-checkout-buyal/87401

Presence of Geothermal Sources Across North America to Propel Regional Organic Rankine Cycle Market

The US has emerged as the leading contributor to the North American market due to its significant potential for geothermal energy plants and favorable government policies supporting geothermal energy development. Despite the emergence of new competitors, established players such as Air Squared Inc. have helped maintain the US market's supremacy.

In fact, the US market currently accounts for approximately 53% of the global revenue generated by the ORC industry. This dominance can be attributed to the country's abundant geothermal resources and the development of advanced ORC technology that can efficiently harness this energy source. With the continued growth of the geothermal energy sector and increasing interest in sustainable energy solutions, the US is expected to remain a key player in the ORC market for the foreseeable future.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy estimates, the continental US has over 100 GW of geothermal electric capacity, which is likely 40 times more geothermal power than is already installed and represents nearly 10% of existing U.S. electrical capacity.

As per our research, many businesses buy renewable energy as part of their environmental initiatives. As of April 2022 , The Procter & Gamble Company, Microsoft, Google, T-Mobile, Intel, and Microsoft were the top five consumers of renewable energy in North America . Our analysts believe these factors will likely encourage residential consumers to use geothermal energy.

Browse the Complete Report Here: https://www.extrapolate.com/energy-and-power/organic-rankine-market/87401

Competitive Landscape of the Global Organic Rankine Cycle Market

The global organic rankine cycle industry is highly competitive, with several key players operating in the market. These players focus on expanding their product portfolio, collaborating with each other, strengthening their distribution channels, and enhancing their geographic reach to increase their market share.

In March 2023 , the European Innovation Fund approved Eavor's cutting-edge geothermal initiative for a generous 91.6 million grant.

, the European Innovation Fund approved Eavor's cutting-edge geothermal initiative for a generous 91.6 million grant. In September 2022 , ElectraTherm Inc. and Transitional Energy agreed to collaborate on converting waste heat to power within the oil and gas sector, as evidenced by a signed Letter of Intent between the two entities. This relationship expands on their prior cooperation in Nevada's geothermal energy harvesting.

Some of the prominent players in the organic Rankine cycle market:

ABB

Air Squared, Inc.

CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Durr Group

ENOGIA

Enertime

EXERGY INTERNATIONAL SRL

GENERAL ELECTRIC

Opcon Energy Systems

ORCAN ENERGY AG

Ormat

Turboden S.p.A.

Browse Complete TOC: https://www.extrapolate.com/toc/energy-and-power/organic-rankine-market/87401

Key Points from TOC:

Chapter 1. Executive Summary

Chapter 2. Research Methodology

Chapter 3. Market Outlook

Chapter 4. COVID-19 Impact on Organic Rankine Cycle Market

Chapter 5. Global Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Application, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 6. Global Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Geography, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 7. North America Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 8. Europe Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 9. Asia Pacific Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 10. Middle East & Africa Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 11. South America Organic Rankine Cycle Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 12. Competitive Landscape

Chapter 13. Key Vendor Analysis

Chapter 14. Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 15. Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 16. Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 17. Future Outlook of the Market

About Us:

Extrapolate is a Global Market Research, Advisory, and Consulting firm that works closely with Industry experts from various industries to bring the latest and most accurate research reports.

In an era of breakneck change and a low tolerance for missed or misread opportunities, businesses need astute guidance to shape markets - not merely respond to them. Extrapolate helps clients develop market perspectives that drive success.

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SOURCE Extrapolate
Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative pays record prizes for threat discoveries at historic event

VANCOUVER, BC, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global cybersecurity leader Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704) has announced the winners of its spring Pwn2Own competition held in Vancouver and sponsored by the Zero Day Initiative. Participants discovered 27 unique zero-day vulnerabilities, helping vendors enhance the security of their products and earning the contests a total of $1,035,000 as well as a Tesla Model 3.

To learn more about Pwn2Own Vancouver 2023 and recap highlights of the event, visit zerodayinitiative.com/blog.

Participants discovered 27 unique zero-day vulnerabilities, helping vendors enhance the security of their products. Tweet this Synacktiv won $530,000 and a Tesla Model 3. The team was represented by Eloi Benoist-Vanderbeken, David Berard, Vincent Dehors, Tanguy Dubroca, Thomas Bouzerar, and Thomas Imbert.

"Connected technologies drive our vehicles and power the hybrid workplace, so the more novel vulnerabilities we can find in them, the better," said Brian Gorenc, vice president of threat research at Trend Micro. "Once again Pwn2Own has shown that, as much as we pay out in prize money, the real-world benefits to companies and their customers are worth much more. Congratulations to the team at Synacktiv for their months of hard work leading up to this event."

Researchers from Synacktiv achieved critical successes against Tesla, including a historic attempt that used a heap overflow and an OOB write to exploit Tesla - Infotainment Unconfined Root and earned them the first-ever Tier 2 award at a Pwn2Own competition. The team also executed a successful TOCTOU exploit against Tesla - Gateway.

Other highlights:

STAR Labs executed a 2-bug chain against Microsoft SharePoint for $100,000

Team Viettel used a 2-bug chain against Microsoft Teams for $75,000

AbdulAziz Hariri demonstrated a 6-bug chain against Adobe Reader for $50,000

demonstrated a 6-bug chain against Adobe Reader for Windows 11, macOS, and Ubuntu were all exploited during the competition

The overall Master of Pwn winner was Synacktiv with 53 points, winning $530,000 and a Tesla Model 3 as well as a $25,000 winner's bonus. Synacktiv was represented by Eloi Benoist-Vanderbeken, David Berard, Vincent Dehors, Tanguy Dubroca, Thomas Bouzerar, and Thomas Imbert. The top five contestants were:

Synacktiv  $530,000 STAR Labs  $195,000 Team Viettel  $115,000 Qrious Security  $55,000 AbdulAziz Hariri  $50,000

Now in its 16th year, Pwn2Own was held at the Sheraton Wall Center in Vancouver during the CanSecWest conference on March 22-24. The next Pwn2Own competition will take place in Toronto in October.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro's cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defense techniques optimized for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.TrendMicro.com.

SOURCE Trend Micro Incorporated
PHILADELPHIA, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) President and CEO Jay S. Feldstein, DO, was recently named by City & State PA as one of Pennsylvania's 100 most influential leaders in health care. He was previously named to City & State PA's list of most influential leaders in higher education. This is the second year he has been recognized as one of the Commonwealth's top leaders in both categories.

The rankings are developed annually by City & State PA, a multimedia news agency covering Pennsylvania's state and local political scene, and highlight the state's key decision-makers and other influential leaders. Dr. Feldstein earned inclusion in each list for his leadership of PCOM through multiple large-scale strategic partnerships designed to expand residency and training opportunities, most notably with Temple Health and Redeemer Health on the acquisition of Chestnut Hill Hospital in January 2023. He is also recognized for his commitment to establishing a bold vision for PCOM's future and his prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the college. In late 2022, Dr. Feldstein was also named to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's transition advisory committee on health and human services.

Health Care Power 100

Dr. Feldstein's inclusion in a who's who of the state's top health care leaders is a testament to his steady leadership and strategic vision for the college. Under his leadership, PCOM was part of a joint acquisition of Chestnut Hill Hospital and a regional consortium to support St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, a pediatric acute care hospital in North Philadelphia and a critical community resource. The St. Christopher's partnership also established an academic affiliation agreement to provide PCOM DO and physician assistant studies students with clinical training opportunities in pediatrics in addition to maintaining PCOM residency partnerships. Dr. Feldstein has also prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of the College and recently established a Community Wellness Initiative.

Higher Education Power 100

The higher education leaders among whom Dr. Feldstein is named have "helped their institutions not just survive but thrive," City & State PA said in their publication of the Higher Education Power 100 list. These leaders "demonstrate on a daily basis why Pennsylvania continues to be a national locus for higher education," the publication wrote. Dr. Feldstein is noted, among other things, for his leadership of PCOM, which was part of an alliance with Temple Health and Redeemer Health that acquired Chestnut Hill Hospital. This cooperative relationship helped preserve an important hospital that has served its community for more than 100 years and strengthened access to important healthcare services.

About Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Founded in 1899, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a "whole person" approach to caretreating people, not just symptoms. PCOM operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy and school psychology, and graduate degrees in biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, mental health counseling, organizational development and leadership, physician assistant studies, school psychology, and public health management and administration. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.

SOURCE Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Sweden FM wants to cancel Armenian Genocide commemorative events to please Turkeys Erdogan

April 21, 2023 16:23

Amid stalled NATO accession talksand in an apparent effort to avoid upsetting Turkey more than it already hasthe Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by Tobias Billstrom (M), is said to have exerted pressure on the Swedish-Armenian friendship group in the Riksdagthe Swedish parliament, asking senior government officials in private to cancel this years annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, The European Conservative reported.
Results from on-site test with Satelles and VIP demonstration in Italy exceed expectations for complementary technology to GNSS in Europe

RESTON, Va., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Satelles, Inc. (www.satelles.com), innovative provider of highly secure satellite-based time and location services, today announces the outstanding performance of Satellite Time and Location (STL) in a broad evaluation of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS). Satelles was one of six companies  and the only U.S.-based firm  awarded a competitive contract by DEFIS in October 2021 to participate in a demonstration and study of alternative PNT technologies at the EC's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy.

As stated by the EC, the aim of this project was to "analyse the technologies which could deliver positioning and/or timing information independently from GNSS, to be effective backup in the event of GNSS disruption, and if possible, to be able to provide PNT in the environments where GNSS cannot be delivered." The JRC conducted their tests of STL in late 2021 and early 2022 and subsequently arranged a demonstration day for all test participants in May 2022 that was attended by EC government officials and other dignitaries with backgrounds in PNT, metrology, and critical infrastructure.

In the final report just released to the public, the EC details its conclusions from the demonstration, with STL  a globally available alternative PNT service from low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites  exceeding expectations for the EC's top-level performance requirements. In the months following the EC demonstrations, Satelles has continued to optimize the STL technology, achieving results as low as 26 nanoseconds at 1 sigma.

Outdoor Static Timing Test. The JRC studied STL while operating in the absence of a signal from Global Network Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the U.S.-operated Global Positioning System (GPS) or the European Union-managed Galileo system, for progressively longer periods of 1, 14, and 100 days. Using a traditional exterior roof-mounted antenna, STL achieved remarkable accuracy relative to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) across all test intervals with 100% availability and exceptional timing stability. For the 100-day test, STL produced an incredible frequency stability (Allan deviation) of 2.28E-13  all while operating with 100% availability for the duration of the test.

Indoor Static Timing Test. JRC testing also included two scenarios with a small indoor antenna located in the center of the ground floor of a large building at the JRC facility. In both placements (with the antenna on top of a filing cabinet and inside the filing cabinet for a separate trial), STL again achieved 100% availability and superior accuracy relative to UTC. During the demonstration day event, STL provided reliable service even when the indoor antenna and receiver were placed in a JRC bunker with concrete walls one meter thick and sealed by a heavy steel door.

Static Positioning Tests. JRC engineers evaluated STL's positioning capabilities using the same outdoor and indoor fixed antenna configurations as the timing tests. Operating for 100 days  which far surpassed the EC's 7-day and 24-hour periods for outdoor and indoor testing, respectively  and with 100% availability, STL delivered horizontal positioning accuracy (95%) of 26.6 meters and vertical positioning accuracy (95%) of 16.8 meters. These values were significantly better than the EC's requirement, which called for PNT technologies to be accurate to within 100 meters at the 95th percentile.

Thoroughly Simple Operation. STL receivers demonstrated true plug-and-play operation, with on-site calibration neither required nor applied in advance of any testing, including the 100-day test. It took less than 10 minutes to set up the equipment and under one minute to output an accurate position and time with an indoor antenna, proving how easy it is for end users to get started with STL.

The European Commission's assessment of STL follows an announcement in March 2022 about two key reports from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that highlight the suitability of STL as a source of resilient time for applications such as 5G wireless networks and electrical grids. The U.S. Department of Transportation also described the exemplary performance of STL in its 2021 report on complementary PNT and GPS backup technologies.

"Our enterprise customers have known for years that STL is a solution they can depend on as a primary source of timing for applications with performance or operational requirements not met by GPS/GNSS, such as 5G wireless network deployments where other timing solutions do not operate indoors or cannot provide the required level of accuracy. These and other users also need STL as a backup to protect GPS/GNSS-dependent systems and platforms from the impacts of a service disruption," said Christina Riley, Vice President and General Manager, Commercial Enterprise Solutions at Satelles. "The incredible performance of STL in the absence of GNSS signals during the EC study confirms that STL is a reliable timing source rather than merely a time transfer method."

Visit www.satelles.com/ECstudy for additional information about STL's performance in the European Commission study on alternative PNT technologies.

About Satelles

Satelles provides secure time and location signals from low Earth orbit (LEO) that are resilient to regional outages of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Available anywhere on the planet, the STL (Satellite Time and Location) service delivers assured positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) via a satellite broadcast signal that is stronger and more secure than GPS/GNSS, and it offers the stability, reliability, and trust required by commercial enterprises and government entities across a range of critical infrastructure applications.

Satelles Media Contact

Kirk Vespestad

Satelles, Inc.

[email protected]

+1 (703) 282-1800

Corporate Website: https://www.satelles.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/satellesinc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/satelles/

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE Satelles, Inc.
Streamline Your Small Businesses Success: Discover Customised Quotes from Top Providers with Quotehunt.co.uk's Effortless Platform

LONDON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Quotehunt.co.uk, the groundbreaking B2B comparison site, is excited to announce its relaunch with a fresh, user-friendly design that has captured the attention of small businesses across the UK. The platform continues to revolutionize the way small businesses connect with leading suppliers for their unique needs, simplifying the process of comparing essential office services and business products. Quotehunt.co.uk's revamped experience caters to a wide range of services, such as card machines, phone systems, EPOS systems, vehicle tracking, franking machines, photocopiers, and more.

Small businesses throughout the UK have embraced Quotehunt.co.uk's cutting-edge technology, which effortlessly connects them with top suppliers and provides customised quotes. This service has led to an increasing number of businesses benefiting from the platform's comprehensive suppliers and services.

The founder of Quotehunt recognized that numerous businesses still struggle to find the ideal supplier for everyday office products. Through their research, they discovered that while most businesses eventually address these needs, the process often involves significant time and stress for small business owners focused on their core operations. Quotehunt.co.uk understands that small business owners prioritize running their businesses and may have limited time to spend on supplier selection. As a result, they sometimes hastily opt for products or services that do not fully meet their requirements or come at higher costs than necessary.

"Our platform simplifies the process of receiving customised quotes from leading providers, enabling business owners to focus on what they do best  running their companies. We are delighted by the positive response we've received from businesses across the UK and remain committed to empowering them with tailored solutions and expert insights," said Kwaku Antwi, Founder of Quotehunt.co.uk.

The widespread adoption of Quotehunt.co.uk is further supported by its Small Business Blog, offering valuable advice and insights to businesses in various industries. Covering a broad range of topics, from productivity tips to technology selection guides, the blog is a great resource for business owners seeking to stay informed about the latest industry trends and best practices.

To join the growing number of UK small businesses embracing the transformative power of Quotehunt.co.uk, visit https://www.quotehunt.co.uk today.

About Quotehunt.co.uk

Quotehunt.co.uk is a cutting-edge B2B comparison site that streamlines UK businesses' search for top suppliers. The revamped platform delivers a seamless experience, connecting users with tailored quotes for essential services and products, including card machine providers, phone systems, EPOS systems, vehicle tracking, franking machines, photocopiers, and more.

Contact:

Kwaku Antwi

***@quotehunt.co.uk

Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/12957046

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Quotehunt.co.uk
AMSTERDAM, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Red Schiphol Campaign (www.redschiphol.nl) has launched in response to the Rutte government's decision to limit the number of flights taking off and landing at Schiphol Airport to 440,000 per year (the '440 decision').

The campaign will unite businesses, community activists and trade bodies who are opposed to the decision to limit the number of flight movements at Schiphol and wish to see the decision reversed

"Schiphol Airport is a national asset that helps the Netherlands to punch above its weight in terms of global business connectivity. The airport directly employs over 2,000 people and supports many more jobs throughout the wider economy. In 2019, IATA predicted that if Dutch air travel was weakened, a worrying 84,000 jobs could be lost in the future[1]" said George Chichester, Red Schiphol Campaign Manager.

He added: "Climate change is the most important challenge of this decade, with potentially serious consequences for both current and future generations. However, limiting the number of flights at Schiphol will simply divert the same planes to other hub airports such as Heathrow and Charles De Gaulle; doing nothing to bring down global emissions from aviation."

Reducing the number of flights at Schiphol will also increase competition for the remaining flight slots, leading to an increase in ticket prices. These costs will disproportionately affect ordinary Dutch families, who are already struggling as a result of high energy prices and the cost of living. Rich travellers will be able to shoulder these costs, but ordinary families will have to cut back on travel.

Schiphol's role as a global transport hub helps to support thousands of jobs and businesses in the Netherlands. Prior to the pandemic, the aviation industry contributed 22 billion to the country's GDP and in 2019 Amsterdam was the third-best internationally connected city in Europe.

Red Schiphol encourages any Dutch businesses or citizens who are concerned by the '440 decision' to join the campaign and sign our petition calling on the government to change its position: https://petities.nl/petitions/red-schiphol-verwerp-de-440-beslissing?locale=nl

We also welcome any citizens, businesses, or community groups who want to get involved to contact the campaign via [email protected].

Note to Editors:

The Red Schiphol Campaign is coordinated by SABI Strategy Group.

[1] https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pressroom-archive/2019-press-releases/2019-11-20-01/

SOURCE Red Schiphol
CORAL GABLES, Fla. and MIAMI, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RE/MAX 360 Real Estate, a leading real estate brokerage firm, has been awarded for exceeding 200 million in sales volume in commercial and residential sales by RE/MAX LLC. This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team at RE/MAX 360, led by two CCIM designated members, Agustin Duarte, CCIM, and Billy Planes, CCIM.

RE/MAX 360 Real Estate in Coral Gables, FL a leading real estate brokerage firm, has been awarded for exceeding 200 million in sales volume in commercial and residential sales by RE/MAX corporate.

The CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) designation is prestigious in the real estate industry. It is awarded to professionals who have completed extensive coursework and demonstrated high expertise in commercial real estate. With two CCIM-designated members at the helm, RE/MAX 360 has a deep understanding of the commercial real estate market and is well-equipped to help clients navigate the complexities of buying and selling commercial properties.

One thing that sets RE/MAX 360 apart from other real estate firms is their commitment to building long-term relationships with their clients. They understand that buying or selling a property is a significant decision, and they take the time to understand their client's needs and goals. By providing value at every real estate life cycle stage, from initial consultation to closing, RE/MAX 360 has built a reputation as a trustworthy and reliable partner for their clients.

In addition to their expertise in commercial real estate, RE/MAX 360 also has a strong track record in residential sales. So whether clients are looking to buy or sell a home, they can trust the team at RE/MAX 360 to provide expert guidance and support throughout the entire process.

The award for exceeding 200 million in sales volume is a major milestone for RE/MAX 360. In addition, it is a testament to their commitment to excellence and dedication to providing exceptional service to their clients. As they continue to grow and expand their business, they remain committed to building long-term relationships with their clients and providing you with value at every stage of the real estate life cycle.

Whether you are looking to buy, sell, or lease commercial or residential properties, our team has the expertise and experience to assist you with your goals. Contact RE/MAX 360 Real Estate Coral Gables at 305-602-0360 or email to [email protected].

REMAX 360 Real Estate, Coral Gables, commercial real estate, residential real estate, Billy Planes, Agustin Duarte

SOURCE RE/MAX 360 Real Estate
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In direct partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and United States Space Force (USSF), the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) today announced funding to support the second cycle of the University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO). USRA administers UCRO to link the USSF and AFRL with academia to improve collaboration efforts between institutions of higher education and contribute to the advancement of meaningful scientific research. Importantly, UCRO also provides undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellows with authentic research opportunities intended to increase interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This cycle of UCRO will support the facilitation of joint applied research focused on transformational space domain technology breakthroughs and developments that will lead to the advancement of capabilities that can be transitioned and integrated into current and future USSF and other U.S. Government space capabilities. A notice of intent describing the UCRO opportunity and anticipated request for proposal (RFP) release is now accessible via https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/.

The research focus areas will include Beyond Geostationary Earth Orbit (xGEO) Operations and Space Domain Awareness (SDA), and will encompass technologies needed to ensure safe, continued, and enhanced capability across all space areas (including moons and planets) for U.S. military and civil operations. Specific technology areas of interest to the xGEO/SDA topic are sensing technologies, astrodynamics, and training/outreach/education. According to the notice of intent, while many of these technologies are applicable to other orbital regimes or even other domains, priority will be given to proposals specifically addressing challenges related to space object tracking in xGEO.

According to Dr. Amanda Smith-Hackler, USRA Director of Education and UCRO Principal Investigator, "The research to be conducted specific to xGEO/SDA is critical to mitigating future risks and advancing the mission of both the United States Space Force and Air Force Research Laboratory. This opportunity will accelerate scientific and technical research while cultivating a new generation of young STEM professionals."

For more information: https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep/ucro-2-0/

About the University Research Consortium Opportunity

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) established the University Consortium Research Opportunity (UCRO) to engage students and postdoctoral fellows in space-based research and development to increase the number and diversity of future space professionals. This is a new approach to leverage university research and advancement to solve critical USSF and AFRL technical problems. It allows the opportunity to build capacity for space research and innovation at institutes of higher education, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other designated Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The USSF and the UCRO seek to fund university teams committed to developing new and novel solutions to research problems.

About USRA

Founded in 1969, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology, and engineering. USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities and conducts other major research and educational programs. It engages the university community and employs in-house scientific leadership, innovative research and development, and project management expertise. More information about USRA is available at https://www.usra.edu.

PR Contact:

Suraiya Farukhi, Ph.D.

Universities Space Research Association

[email protected] 443-812-6945 (Cell)

SOURCE Universities Space Research Association
With a two-year revenue growth of 104 percent, RII ranks No. 101 on Inc. magazine's list

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Research Innovations, Inc. (RII) has been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Mid-Atlantic region. RII is No. 101 on the annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic list, the ranking of the fastest-growing private companies based in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Mid-Atlantic economy's most dynamic segmentits independent small businesses.

"Our growth has been driven by our fusion of operational expertise with flexible and capable technology, resulting in innovative solutions for our customers that address their real-world operational challenges," said Doug Greenlaw, Chief Growth Officer at RII. "RII is proud to be recognized by Inc. and as we continue to hire top talent in our industry, we look forward to making continued impactful contributions to the future of joint and multi-domain Command and Control."

The companies on this list show a remarkable rate of growth across all industries in the Mid-Atlantic region. In 2021 alone, these private companies added 14,439 jobs and $2.66 billion to the Mid-Atlantic region's economy. Companies based in the Richmond, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C. areas had the highest growth rates overall.

Results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Mid-Atlantic can be found at inc.com/regionals/mid-atlantic .

"This year's Inc. 5000 Regional winners represent one of the most exceptional and exciting lists of America's off-the-charts growth companies. They're disruptors and job creators, and all delivered an outsize impact on the economy. Remember their names and follow their lead. These are the companies you'll be hearing about for years to come," said Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. magazine.

About Research Innovations, Inc.

With offices in Alexandria, VA, Melbourne, FL, San Antonio, TX, and St. Petersburg, FL, as well as staff embedded with key customers globally, RII supports critical defense, intelligence, and cyber customers across the U.S. Government and select international customers. RII is a leader in Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) efforts with its cutting-edge solutions, rapidly delivering transformative technology to customers and end-users to achieve its core purpose of "Creating RIIdiculously Awesome solutions that make the world safer." Visit www.researchinnovations.com for more information and to view RII's open positions.

About Inc. Media

The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent.

The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com .

SOURCE Research Innovations, Inc.
Award-winning federal BD and strategy executive to guide growth for the fast-growing cybersecurity firm

RESTON, Va., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Electrosoft Services, Inc., an award-winning federal IT and professional services firm specializing in cybersecurity, today announced it has appointed Wes Postol as senior vice president of business development. Postol, a retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer, is an award-winning growth executive with over 30 years of experience in driving federal cybersecurity strategy and development. He will lead all BD activities, advancing the company's defense and civilian cybersecurity strategic initiatives.

"Wes is a cybersecurity solutions visionary with a keen ability to build and lead high-performing teams," said Dr. Sarbari Gupta, CEO of Electrosoft. "He is already a friend of Electrosoft, and I'm delighted to have him join our executive leadership team."

Throughout his career, Postol earned respect not just for his technical skills and operational/business acumen but also as a leader of people. He is known for mentoring the younger workforce and building teams that excel.

Postol joins Electrosoft from Foxhole, where he served as vice president/chief growth officer and oversaw double-digit growth for the last three years. While at Foxhole, Postol joined Electrosoft as an industry expert for its "Enterprise Security Operations: Needs, Challenges, and Opportunities!" virtual summit in May 2022. Previously, he served in leadership roles at Lockheed Martin, Geocent (now Sev1Tech) and SAIC, among others.

In his 22-year U.S. Army career, Postol achieved the rank of Chief Warrant Officer. He earned a bachelor's degree in information systems from the University of Maryland University College and an MBA from Webster University.

About Electrosoft

Electrosoft delivers comprehensive technology-based solutions and services that propel mission success for federal government customers. Specializing in cybersecurity, Electrosoft supports civilian and defense organizations in advancing cybersecurity postures, modernizing technology ecosystems and adopting agile approaches to improve operational efficiency and security. Recognized for deep domain knowledge and mature management practices, the company is rated at Maturity Level 3 for CMMI-DEV and CMMI-SVC and is certified under ISO 9001, ISO 20000-1 and ISO 27001. The rapidly growing 8(a), economically disadvantaged, women-owned small business (EDWOSB) and WOSB is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Learn more at www.electrosoft-inc.com.

Press Contact

Jeanne Zepp

[email protected]

SOURCE Electrosoft Services, Inc.
The Maryville, Tenn.-based public relations agency commemorates a decade serving the skilled trades, franchising, B2B technology and manufacturing industries

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ripley PR, an elite, global public relations agency specializing in home service and construction trades, franchising, B2B technology, and manufacturing, marks its 10th anniversary in business by celebrating a decade of providing strategic public relations solutions to its clients.

The Maryville, Tennessee-based PR agency was founded in 2013 by CEO Heather Ripley after she decided it was time to leverage her experience and success in marketing and PR to create a world-class agency in her own back yard.

Ripley PR commemorates a decade of providing public relations services for the skilled trades, franchising, B2B technology and manufacturing industries.

"This anniversary not only marks a milestone in Ripley PR's professional existence but commemorates the date when I decided to follow my dreams," Ripley said. "We've seen great achievements and growth throughout the years thanks to the fantastic team we have in place. We are proud of our journey and hope to continue to provide success to our clients for many years to come."

Ripley started that journey as an assistant buyer for a national department store before catching the communications bug. She spent the next decade managing PR and marketing campaigns for a variety of companies, including Clockwork Home Services and its three franchise brands, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Mister Sparky. It was at that organization that Ripley first learned how impactful public relations could be to the home service industry.

She continued to work for other organizations throughout the Southeast until 2013 when she decided to open her own public relations agency in her hometown of Maryville. Beginning with zero clients, Ripley got to work building a PR firm that would help businesses grow to the next level and achieve their dreams.

Ripley PR is now the No. 1 home service PR agency in the country and is rising to top 10 lists in its other specialty industries. The agency was named to the Forbes list of America's Best PR Agencies for 2021, made Entrepreneur's Best PR Agencies for Franchise five years in a row and is the second largest PR agency in the Knoxville, Tennessee market. The agency offers strategic communications for its clients, including brand awareness campaigns, crisis management, media relations and social media strategies.

Ripley PR is a proud member of the International Public Relations Exchange (IPREX), a global network of independent public relations and communications agencies. IPREX allows PR agency professionals to exchange ideas and specialized expertise to become a better client resource.

In 2021, Ripley released "Next Level Now: PR Secrets to Drive Explosive Growth for Your Home Service Business" through Advantage/Forbes Books as a way to help home service business owners understand how PR can help them improve their brand awareness. She was also nominated as a finalist for the 2020 Blount County ATHENA Awards and was named to the 2021 PHC News' Top 10 Women in Plumbing Heating Cooling and Piping.

Ripley is also a regular contributing writer for a variety of trade publications such as Entrepreneur, For Construction Pros and Franchising USA. She has also been a guest on dozens of industry podcasts such as the Business Savvy podcast, Home Service Success, Power Women of the Trades and PHCPPros: Off the Cuff.

To learn more about Ripley PR, visit https://www.ripleypr.com or call (865) 977-1973.

About Ripley PR



Ripley PR is an elite, global B2B public relations agency specializing in home service and building trades, B2B, manufacturing and franchising. Ripley PR was recently recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best PR Agencies for 2021 and has made Entrepreneur Magazine's annual list of Best PR Agencies for Franchise for the past five years. Offering a full range of strategic communication services, including crisis management, media relations and social media strategies, Ripley PR uses a blend of strategic business acumen and creative public relations branding to tell compelling stories and deliver measurable results. Ripley PR is a partner in IPREX, the $508 million network of more than 1,100 communication professionals in more than 100 markets globally. For more information, visit www.ripleypr.com or call 865-977-1973.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Ripley PR
KRAKOW, Poland, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Selvita S.A. (WSE: SLV), one of the largest contract research organizations (CRO) in Europe, announced today completion of the construction of its new headquarters in Krakow, Poland. The newly built Selvita Research Centre is expected to strengthen Selvita's ability to provide top-notch research services in the field of drug discovery. This facility constitutes a key element of Selvita's Development Strategy for 2022-2025, putting a great emphasis on Company's further organic growth. The completion of the construction marks a significant milestone in Selvita's development journey.

Selvita plans to move part of its drug discovery activities to the new site, which is located in close proximity to the current company's facilities. Following the move, Selvita will be able to expand its operations also in drug development and analytical testing in the research space made available at its hitherto location.

Almost 4,000 m2 of the new laboratory space has been designed to meet the highest industry standards and latest regulations, providing a safe and efficient environment, fostering scientific innovation. At the core of the new Selvita facility is a wide range of drug discovery laboratories, including medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, in vitro biology, ADME/DMPK, and in vivo pharmacology. Equipped with cutting-edge technology platforms and state-of-the-art equipment, the company is able to offer an even more comprehensive range of services, covering all stages of drug discovery, from target validation to clinical candidate selection. Within the broad scope of services executed in the new building, Selvita will continue developing its in vivo platform dedicated to oncology and immunooncology, which is a great addition to its long-term expertise in these therapeutic areas. With a capacity to accommodate around 250 scientists, the investment represents a deep confidence in the company's future development.

"We're incredibly excited to provide our scientists with this brand-new laboratory space," said Dr. Miroslawa Zydron, Chief Operating Officer at Selvita. "At Selvita, we understand that access to the state-of-the-art infrastructure and scientific technology platforms is crucial for the continued organic growth of a reliable and vibrant research organization aiming at scientific excellence. To guarantee this, we invested in construction of our own facility, ensuring that the labs we move into will be fully adapted to our needs and will contribute to the success of our partners' projects.

What is also important, we built this facility in Krakow, where our scientific journey began and where our largest employee base is located. This investment emphasizes our dedication to push the boundaries of scientific research and our commitment to provide customers with top-tier service and quality. We will also continue our efforts to develop further new scientific platforms in the area of drug discovery and strengthen our portfolio of services," added Dr. Zydron.

The funding for the construction and equipment of the Selvita Research Centre has been co-financed from EU funds by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, under the Smart Growth Operational Program, aligning with the Strategy for Responsible Development.

Selvita currently operates in several locations, with over 6,000 m2 of research facilities located in Krakow (JCI) and Poznan, Poland, as well as an additional over 8,000 m2 in Zagreb, Croatia.

About Selvita [SLV]

Selvita is one of the largest preclinical contract research organizations in Europe, driven by a clear mission: to offer a comprehensive scope of services bridging the gap between early drug discovery and the clinical stage of drug development.

Selvita provides comprehensive solutions supporting Clients and their drug discovery projects, across a broad range of therapeutic areas, specializing in infectious diseases, inflammation, fibrosis, and oncology. The Company offers a range of stand-alone or fully integrated drug discovery and development solutions spanning the entire value chain from early drug discovery to preclinical development. On top of that Selvita also offers analytical support of drug development and contract testing studies.

Selvita, established in 2007, operates globally with almost 900 highly qualified employees, of which over 40% hold a PhD degree. The Company's research sites are in Krakow (HQ), Poznan, Poland, and Zagreb, Croatia. The international offices are located in Cambridge, MA, and San Francisco Bay Area, in the U.S., as well as in Cambridge, UK.

Ardigen, a bioinformatics company harnessing advanced Artificial Intelligence methods for novel precision medicine, is part of Selvita Group portfolio of companies. The company employs over 160 professionals.

Selvita is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE: SLV).

For more information, please see www.selvita.com.

Contact:

Natalia Baranowska | Selvita

+48 784 069 418

[email protected]

SOURCE Selvita S.A.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn , the world's #1 online boot camp for digital economy skills training, hosted its 8th convocation with Purdue University to felicitate over 1200 learners for completing their professional certification across various programs. Gracing the event with their presence were Professor Bart Collins, Purdue University, as the Chief Guest and Mr. Kashyap Dalal, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Simplilearn.

The convocation ceremony was held to felicitate the meritorious students on their accomplishments. It was a joint felicitation by Purdue University and Simplilearn congratulating learners on completing the various professional certification programs in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning , Business Analysis, Data Science , Digital Marketing , Digital Supply Chain Management , Digital Transformation , Data Analytics and Data Engineering . The convocation ceremony was filled with enthusiastic, energetic, and excited students.

Congratulating the learners, Mr. Kashyap Dalal, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Simplilearn, said, "Extremely pleased to be among a group of meritorious students who are focused, sincere and committed to their goals. We are pleased to be a part of their learning journey and to be able to celebrate with them the successful completion of various professional certificate programs. We have partnered with Purdue University to bring together programs that are industry relevant and will give aspirants the extra edge required to be successful in this competitive industry. On behalf of the entire Simplilearn family, I wish the students the best of luck in their future endeavors."

Addressing the post-graduates at the ceremony, Professor Bart Collins, Purdue University, said, "Every quarter, Purdue University and Simplilearn come together to congratulate students who have completed their programs in various fields. It gives us immense pride to celebrate the success of these brilliant minds and to have such meritorious students as our alumni. Sincerity is the key to growth; therefore, I would ask all graduates today to continue consistently learning in their respective fields. I hope you all achieve greater heights in your professions in the coming years."

Learner Testimonials:

Ralph Selvaraj, a learner from AI and Machine Learning program, stated, "The professional certificate program in AI&ML has been a great channel for me to be introduced to the concepts of AI&ML, a trending and evolving subject in the recent past. The program's course structure, delivery, pedagogy and faculty make this a complete package for anyone who would like to dive deep into this field technically and functionally. This program has been a great enabler for me to have informed conversations about AI&ML and has also helped me come up with use cases for the same in my line of work."



Munesh J Lamba, a learner from Digital Marketing program, told the audience, "It was a great experience being part of this Digital Marketing program with Purdue University in partnership with Simplilearn. I got the chance to sharpen my skills in Digital Marketing while becoming proficient with tools such as SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, and Social Media Management. The instructors were very knowledgeable and offered great insights on the topic. This course was exceptional for providing in-depth information and experience in a way that provided a holistic view of SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, and Social Media Management."

This is the 8th convocation ceremony hosted by Simplilearn and Purdue University. Simplilearn will host a graduation ceremony with IIT Roorkee in June 2023 and Caltech University in May 2023.

About Simplilearn

Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, California, and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the world's #1 online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training. Simplilearn offers access to world-class work-ready training to individuals and businesses worldwide. The Bootcamps are designed and delivered with world-renowned universities, top corporations, and leading industry bodies via live online classes featuring top industry practitioners, sought-after trainers, and global leaders. From college students and early career professionals to managers, executives, small businesses, and big corporations, Simplilearn's role-based, skill-focused, industry-recognized, and globally relevant training programs are ideal upskilling solutions for diverse career or/and business goals.

For more information, please visit www.simplilearn.com/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100016/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Simplilearn Solutions Private Limited
On March 27, around 9 AM, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces tried to advance in the direction of one of the heights adjacent to the Stepanakert-Lisagor soil road, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Artsakh Republic informs.

March 27, 2023, 11:51 Azerbaijani Armed Forces tried to advance in the direction of one of the heights adjacent to the Stepanakert-Lisagor soil road

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 27 , ARTSAKHPRESS: Due to the preventive actions of the servicemen of the Artsakh Republic Armed Forces on combat duty in the mentioned area, the advance attempt of the Azerbaijani unit was stopped.
Shane Smith, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods, said, "I'm excited to welcome Jay and Tennille to their new roles. Jay's human resources leadership in the manufacturing industry is unparalleled, and Tennille's continued work to elevate Smithfield's culture of legal and regulatory compliance has been exemplary. I look forward to their contributions to enhancing Smithfield's high-performance culture and legal and regulatory compliance aligned with our business strategy."

Isham "Jay" Bennett, Chief Human Resources Officer

Bennett, a senior human resources leader in manufacturing operations, will serve as Smithfield's chief human resources officer, reporting to the president and chief executive officer. In this newly created role, Bennett is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive talent strategy that further aligns Smithfield's business plan with its human resources function, and will lead the company's recruiting, retention, training and development, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Prior to joining Smithfield, Bennett served as vice president of human resources for Lockheed Martin Corporation's $16 billion Rotary and Mission Systems business, and as vice president of human resources for Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company. He previously served as vice president of human resources for Rolls-Royce plc, where he developed and executed people strategy for the 2 billion global defense aerospace business and held prior senior leadership positions with United Technologies Corporation and General Motors. Bennett holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from DePauw University and a Juris Doctor from Indiana University School of Law.

Tennille Checkovich, General Counsel

Checkovich, a 20-year veteran of litigation and risk mitigation, has been promoted to general counsel, reporting to Mike Flemming, Smithfield's chief legal officer. She joined Smithfield in 2020 and most recently served as the company's deputy general counsel for litigation. In her new role as general counsel, Checkovich is responsible for managing all litigation involving the company, overseeing risk mitigation efforts related to a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues and assisting the chief legal officer with management of the legal team.

Prior to joining Smithfield, Checkovich was an equity partner at McGuireWoods LLP in its business and securities litigation department. She previously served as an attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York, handling securities litigation and white-collar defense issues for Fortune 100 public companies.

Checkovich holds a Bachelor of Arts with Highest Distinction in economics from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor from Yale University School of Law. She is a member of the board of directors of the Legal Aid Justice Center, which promotes racial, social and economic justice, and is secretary and a board member for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Checkovich received three awards in 2022 from the Virginia Access to Justice Commission, a project of the Virginia Supreme Court, for her pro bono work.

About Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a U.S. food company that provides more than 60,000 jobs in seven countries and partners with thousands of American farmers. As one of the world's leading vertically integrated protein companies, we are dedicated to producing "Good food. Responsibly." to feed a growing world population. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including our industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in our U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions 30% across our entire U.S. value chain by 2030. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community outreach programs in all 50 U.S. states. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield, Eckrich, Gwaltney and Nathan's Famous, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

SOURCE Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Results show a greater than 60% increase in bid win rate when Ad Management and Ad Exchange used together

BOULDER, Colo., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sovrn , a publisher technology platform that helps content creators remain independent and thrive on the open web, today announced that all customers using its Ad Management and Exchange products bundled together will have the advantage of the industry's first zero take rate. Beginning on April 3, publishers using Ad Management and Exchange products bundled together will simply pay a usage-based fee.

According to a recent study by ISBA , only 65 percent of advertiser dollars make it back to the end publisher. Sovrn has created a direct path between a publisher and the more than 55 demand-side partners on the Sovrn Exchange. This immediately increases the revenue for its Ad Management customers. A direct zero take-rate path between publisher and demand ensures a more competitive auction by requiring other bidders, including Google's AdX, to increase their prices in order to remain competitive.

"Most SSPs charge a 10 to 20 percent revenue share for connecting publishers like Salon to DSPs," said Justin Wohl, Salon's Chief Revenue Officer. "In bundling its Ad Management service with its Exchange, Sovrn is directly increasing revenue for publishers, improving profitability that can be pumped back into operating and growing our digital media businesses."

Starting in December 2022, Sovrn tested the savings and revenue impact of a bundled Ad Management and Ad Exchange solution with 20 publishers. The test revealed that marketers allocated more spend to the publisher via the more efficient direct-to-publisher Sovrn Exchange path.

Sovrn's Ad Management product includes complete ad operations software plus a highly skilled, dedicated team of programmatic advertising specialists to help publishers do more with less. The software runs a unified page-level auction, offering individual auctions for each ad placement on the page. This improves advertising yield by utilizing bid responses more efficiently, thus requiring fewer bid responses and a more direct path.

Sovrn's Ad Exchange delivers advertising revenue to publishers using private marketplaces and enhanced CPMs through the open market. Connections to the biggest and best advertising demand gives publishers access to a wide variety of buyers, from The Trade Desk to niche ad agencies.

"We are working to eliminate the 'adtech tax' so that more of the marketer's dollar finds its way into the publisher's pocket." said Walter Knapp, Sovrn CEO.

About Sovrn

Sovrn provides products and services to thousands of online publishers to help them understand, operate and grow their business. Sovrn is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, with offices in New York, San Diego, London and Lugano, Italy.

With thousands of customers deploying advertising, affiliate marketing, and data products across more than 80,000 websites, Sovrn reaches 500 million active consumers across more than 40 billion page views every day. Sovrn has been a leader in online publisher technology since its founding and has been recognized by IAB, JICWEBS, and TAG for its role in combating fraud and promoting pro-transparency initiatives. Sovrn is dedicated to helping content creators do more of what they love, and less of what they don't. www.sovrn.com

SOURCE Sovrn Holdings, Inc.
Artist-owned cooperative leads the industry in supporting artists, paying the highest rates, and promoting authentic, inclusive and diverse stock media.

VICTORIA, BC, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Stocksy , the royalty-free stock media cooperative specializing in diverse and authentic media, today celebrates ten years in business. Founded by veterans of the stock media industry in 2013, Stocksy is an artist-owned cooperative that disrupts the traditional stock media model by paying artists the highest rates in the industry while delivering high quality photography, video, and illustrations at competitive prices. To celebrate the milestone, Stocksy reflects on ten years of creativity in Stock media with a special 10-day campaign. Visit the campaign page .

"What we see in media matters. It reflects what we value as a society. We need the media industry to change and we're proud to be a catalyst in that change. It's phenomenal to be a connector brand that helps both our clients and our artists tell stories and reflect the real world"," says Christina Minshull, Head of Marketing & Design at Stocksy.

Global clientele supported by global contributors

Stocksy licenses premium stock photos, videos, and illustrations to a global clientele serving more than 50% of Fortune 500 companies to date including companies like Meta . As an artist-owned cooperative of 2,000 members in over 80 countries, we're on a mission to change the face of visual media with a commitment to ethically and sustainably paying creators for their work.

"We've grown in exciting ways, not only through expanding and diversifying our membership, but also in evolving the vibrance, substance, and depth of our collection," says Jen Grantham , Head of Content. "We've grown from representing 40 countries to over 80; representing more female, non-binary, and BIPOC artists, all who are co-owners of our business due to our Co-op model."

About Stocksy

Stocksy is a royalty-free stock photo ,video and illustration cooperative specializing in conceptual and authentic imagery that reflects the modern world. Guided by our brand values , we commit to providing an equitable platform that empowers and supports the creative class' pursuit of meaningful work. Created as a multi-stakeholder platform cooperative, we pay the highest royalties in the industry, with 50%-75% of all licenses going to our global membership.

SOURCE Stocksy United
VANCOUVER, BC, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV: SR) (the "Company" or "Strategic") announces that it has filed on SEDAR its Filing Statement prepared in connection with its proposed acquisition of BlackRock Metals Inc., as first announced on December 13, 2022.

The Filing Statement, prepared in accordance with TSXV Form 3D2, and dated March 27, 2023 summarizes the proposed transactions involving BlackRock Metals Inc.; provides an overview of BlackRock and its business; summarizes the National Instrument 43-101 technical report for the Feasibility Study pertaining to BlackRock's project in Quebec, Canada; and sets out details of management, use of available funds, capital structure and related matters as will pertain to Strategic upon closing the acquisition. Readers are encouraged to review the Filing Statement in its entirety.

Closing of the acquisition and related matters is expected to occur on or about March 31, 2023.

About Strategic Resources

Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV:SR) is a Vancouver, Canada-based mineral exploration and development company focused on vanadium projects in Finland. The Company is primarily focused on its flagship Mustavaara vanadium-iron-titanium project in Finland. The Company is currently in the process of closing the acquisition of BlackRock Metals Inc.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://strategic-res.com/. To follow future news releases, please sign up at https://strategic-res.com/contact/.

Follow us on: Twitter or Linkedin.

STRATEGIC RESOURCES INC.

Signed: "Scott Hicks"

Scott Hicks, CEO

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 Strategic Resources Inc.
DALLAS, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tailwater Capital announced today its partnership with The Foundation for the Women's Energy Network (WEN Foundation) to provide two scholarships for the 2023-24 academic school year. The scholarships will offer financial assistance to women studying for their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in preparation for careers in energy or STEM-related fields.

"We are thrilled to partner with the WEN Foundation for the second year to help build the next generation of energy finance and business leaders," said Jill McMillan, Managing Director of Communications and Public Affairs for Tailwater Capital. "Tailwater is committed to promoting diversity within our company, as we know it contributes to the creation of a stronger business. Our ongoing efforts to foster career and leadership development for women in the industry reflect our organization's commitment to our values, and we are proud to see those principles in action."

Tailwater Capital and WEN Foundation to provide two scholarships for the 2023-24 academic school year. Tweet this

The WEN Foundation provides scholarships to develop current and future leaders in order to extend the mission of the Women's Energy Network (WEN), a global organization aiming to educate, attract, retain and develop professionals who work across the energy value chain. WEN has a long history of promoting and engaging in educational, charitable and STEM programming to enrich the lives of its members and the communities in which they operate.

For more information or to apply for the scholarships, Apply - Scholarship Lifecycle Manager (grantinterface.com).

About Tailwater Capital

Dallas-based Tailwater Capital is an energy and growth infrastructure private equity firm with a well-established track record of working constructively with proven management teams to deliver value-added solutions. Tailwater has raised more than $3.8 billion in committed capital since inception and the team has executed more than 100 transactions representing over $23 billion in value. For more information, please visit www.tailwatercapital.com

CONTACT: Lacey Boone, [email protected]

SOURCE Tailwater Capital
Major commitments include support of LISC and CONVERGENCE Philadelphia

CHERRY HILL, N.J., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, today announced two new program relationships supporting key housing and home ownership initiatives in Philadelphia, including a $2.5 million financial commitment to Local Initiatives Support Corporation's (LISC) Non-profit Preservation Initiative and a new relationship with CONVERGENCE Philadelphia. This investment further illustrates TD's focus on deepening its support of communities of color across Philadelphia.

"TD has roots in metro Philadelphia and with that comes the responsibility to serve all communities here," said Rob Curley, Regional President, Metro Pennsylvania and New Jersey for TD Bank. "By making tangible increases in resources and economic opportunities in Philadelphia, diverse and underserved individuals and families can realize their full potential and have the same financial security as their neighbors."

TD Bank worked with local National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) members and Philadelphia community leaders to identify impactful initiatives that support areas of greatest need in the city, including mortgage origination, sustained support of non-profits and preserving the availability of affordable rental housing.

"These relationships reinforce TD's commitment to enriching the lives of our colleagues, customers and communities, and represent some of the best thinking when it comes to creating more equity in housing and lending for Black and Hispanic communities," said Shelley Sylva, Head of U.S. Corporate Citizenship, TD Bank. "We're excited to work together to drive meaningful change in housing accessibility and sustainability right here in Philadelphia."

The Bank's commitment includes:

Non-Profit Preservation Initiative (LISC Philadelphia): LISC's housing strategy aims to maintain neighborhood assets and promote growth while protecting long-term residents' and community members' needs for affordable and equitable housing options. TD's contribution of $2.5 million over two years to the Non-Profit Preservation Initiative will assist LISC's work with non-profit building owners to preserve and protect 650 publicly assisted affordable housing rental units in neighborhoods across the city, with a priority focus in West Philadelphia and Eastern North Philadelphia.

"We are grateful for TD Bank's bold commitment to the preservation of affordable rental housing in Philadelphia," said Andrew Frishkoff, Executive Director of LISC Philadelphia. "The city has 4,800 non-profit-owned affordable rental units that need significant public and private reinvestment during the next 15 years for essential renovations and long-term affordability. TD's investment will ensure that we can preserve the first 650 units while developing a multi-faceted strategy to help residents in all of the at-risk buildings to remain in safe, quality and affordable housing."

CONVERGENCE Philadelphia: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) recently launched CONVERGENCE Philadelphia, its third city-based pilot program to promote and increase minority homeownership. CONVERGENCE Philadelphia joins initiatives underway in Memphis, Tennessee, and Columbus, Ohio, to identify and address homeownership barriers for Black and Hispanic individuals.

CONVERGENCE Philadelphia will be led by MBA and three cornerstone partners, including TD Bank. The multiyear commitment will involve the collaboration of a local network of housing leaders, community advocates, and industry stakeholders to strengthen existing programs and develop new long-term, sustainable solutions to help close the home ownership gap for Blacks and Hispanics in the city.

The announcement comes on the heels of TD's recent Community Benefits Plan, which includes $50 million of lending, investment, philanthropy and other impact across 22 states and Washington, D.C., following the close of the bank's merger with First Horizon Bank. For additional information regarding TD Bank's larger community benefits plan, please visit: https://stories.td.com/us/en/article/td-bank-community-benefits-plan.

The support of LISC and CONVERGENCE is aligned to the TD Ready Commitment, the Bank's longstanding commitment to creating a more inclusive and sustainable future. As part of this work, TD is targeting $775 million by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow  Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health.

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing over 9.9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,100 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Auto Finance, a division of TD Bank, N.A., offers vehicle financing and dealer commercial services. TD Bank and its subsidiaries also offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.td.com/us . Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US and www.twitter.com/TDNews_US .

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com/us .

About the TD Ready Commitment

TD has a long-standing commitment to enriching the lives of its customers, colleagues and communities. As part of its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, TD is targeting CDN $1 billion (U.S. $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow  Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Through the TD Ready Commitment, TD aspires to link its business, philanthropy and human capital to help people feel more confident - not just about their finances, but also in their ability to achieve their personal goals in a changing world. For further information, visit www.td.com/tdreadycommitment.

SOURCE TD Bank
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tech It Forward , the Israeli innovation hub and partner of Cartier Women's Initiative (CWI), hosted the first CWI Impact event in Israel. The event brought together women impact entrepreneurs, experienced professionals, and investors for a morning of networking, pitching, and collaboration.

Moderated by Shoshanna Solomon, a journalist and tech speaker who has covered the Israeli economic scene for over 30 years, the event kicked off with introductions by Jessica Rosner and Jennifer Elias, founders of Tech It Forward, and Wingee Sampaio, the Cartier Women's global program director, and Maeva Mendy, Community engagement manager.

Founders of Tech It Forward, Jessica Rosner and Jennifer Elias, shared their excitement about the partnership, saying, "We have been working with Cartier Women's Initiative for a year now, and we are happy to drive change together and help the women impact community here in Israel. We are already seeing the benefits from their program, with women impact entrepreneurs reaching out to us, asking questions, and seeking support to be part of the next batch. The existence of this amazing program helps women in impact feel important, heard, and drives their ventures forward."

The Cartier Women's Initiative team was led by Wingee Sampaio, the global program director, and Maeva Mendy, Community engagement manager. Wingee shared the guiding principles of CWI's mission, saying that "women can be extraordinary social change agents and that businesses can be leveraged as a force for good." She added that CWI believes in creating opportunities for everyone, saying that "Talent is universal, but opportunities are not."

After the introduction of the CWI program and their collaboration with Tech It Forward, five startups pitched their innovative ideas. Anydish , Michal Kahan, the VP of business development, talked about AI-based personalized menus, MeNow presented by CEO and co-founder Hilla Arbel, uses AI and chemoinformatics to predict the effect of cosmetics on users' skin. Galsbio presented by Hilla Shaviv, CEO, developed a vaginal device for health screening and monitoring, Fabumin , a plant-based egg substitute presented by Adi Yehezkely, and Pika , a maker of reusable, sustainable cloth diapers, was presented by co-founder Maytal Amir. A panel of high-level and specialized experts, including Sandrine Monstma, Managing Director at Bridges Israel, Anna Moshe, Cecile Blilious, Head of Impact and Sustainability at Pitango, Dalia Black founder and CEO of Weave Impact, and Keren Primor-Cohen, CEO of Ramot, Tel Aviv University Technology Transfer, gave their feedback.

The event also included a first-of-its-kind Reciprocity Ring Workshop in Israel, an interactive and patented networking workshop that encourages people to "give and take." Participants shared their resources, skills, and connections with the community, contributing to each other's success.

Anna Moshe, Partner at Pearl Cohen, who hosted the event, joked while quoting Madeleine Albright, saying, "there is a special place in hell for women not helping other women!". She emphasized the importance of women helping each other and how it has always been crucial to her.

Tech It Forward and CWI's collaboration in Israel aims to continue providing women impact entrepreneurs with the support, resources, and opportunities to succeed. "We are honored to have had the opportunity to bring the Cartier Women's Initiative team to Israel for the first time and to work alongside them in supporting women impact entrepreneurs. The event was a tremendous success, providing a platform for innovative startups to pitch their ideas and connect with experienced professionals in the industry'', Jessica Rosner concluded.

SOURCE Tech It Forward
SAN ANTONIO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Naushad Zafar, MD, is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Life Member for his contributions to the field of Nephrology and Internal Medicine.

Dr. Zafar earned an MBBS degree from the JENA Sindh Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan in 1986. He relocated to the United States where he settled in New York. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine (1990-1993) and a Nephrology and Critical Care Fellowship (1993-1996) at SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn, NY.

Naushad Zafar MD

According to Dr. Zafar, he treats patients with a wide variety of issues, including chronic kidney diseases, renal hypertension, lupus nephritis, glomerular and vascular disorders, proteinuria and hematuria, fluid and electrolyte disorders, kidney stones, diabetic nephropathy, in-center and at-home dialysis, pre- and post-kidney transplant care, and vascular access screening and management. He is the Medical Director of three clinics and ensures that every patient has access to specialized nephrology care. He recommends patients make lifestyle changes, along with diagnosing and treating, prescribing medications and other options as they become necessary for the patient. He notes that he tries to help patients treat their kidney issues before the patient requires surgery or invasive measures. The facility is known for treating patients with diabetic and non-diabetic kidney disease and renal transplants.

Dr. Zafar asserts that he works closely with his patients and has more than three decades of experience in the medical field. He has been working for Texas Kidney Care for ten years with a talented team of highly-trained doctors. He notes that he is "dedicated to going the extra mile to make my patients feel comfortable and fully taken care of." Texas Kidney Care has three locations, in Lytle, Hondo, and San Antonio.

Dr. Zafar is board-certified in Nephrology and Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and is licensed to practice in the state of Texas. According to Dr. Zafar, the ABIM passes doctors who uphold rigorous standards and display clinical judgment, skills, and attitudes essential for delivering excellent patient care.

Among Dr. Zafar's many awards, he has been recognized as the 2020 San Antonio Top Doctor Award recipient; Castle Connolly Regional Top Doctors: 1st Edition since 2016; and San Antonio Magazine 2020. In his free time, he enjoys volunteering at local free clinics for the underserved. He speaks English and Spanish.

The doctor is associated with the American Society of Nephrology; the Texas Medical Society; and the Bear County Medical Society. He is associated with several hospitals, including the Methodist Hospital; Medina Regional Hospital; Children's Hospital of San Antonio; Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant; St. Luke's Baptist Hospital; CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital  Medical Center; CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital  New Braunfels; CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital-Beeville; and Kindred Hospital.

Dr. Zafar would like to dedicate this honor to his mentor and professor during this residency and Fellowship, Hugh Carrol, MD.

For more information, please visit www.texaskidneycare.com.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
ZHENGZHOU, China, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the morning of March 27, the Organizing Committee of Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in his Native Place held a press conference in Beijing, announcing that the Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in his Native Place will be held on April 22, 2023 in Xinzheng, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. Online and overseas memorial ceremonies will be held at the same time.

Press conference site of Memorial Ceremony of to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place (PRNewsfoto/Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place) Press conference site of Memorial Ceremony of to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place (PRNewsfoto/Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place)

The theme of the Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in his Native Place in the year of Guimao (2023) was "Peace, Concord and Harmony with the Same Root, the Same Ancestor and the Same Origin". The agenda of the ceremony included nine items recognized as national intangible cultural heritage projects announced by the State Council of China: gun salute in the grand era, dedication of flower baskets, offering incense with cleansed hands, worshipping rituals, reading of the worship texts, singing the chant, worshipping with music and dance, praying for the blessing of China, and harmony between heaven and earth. At that time, the CCTV-4 of China Media Group, Phoenix Satellite Television and key network platforms at home and abroad carried out the live global broadcast.

This year is the first full opening of the park of Huang Di's native place after planning and upgrading. The broadcasting of memorial ceremony will be the first time to present a panoramic view of the construction of the scenic area of Huang Di's native place, which is a major highlight of the ceremony that is different from previous years. Before the start of the nine agendas of memorial ceremony, there will be a simple, rustic and solemn park opening ceremony in front of the Root-searching Gate of Huang Di's native place, highlighting our reverence for our humanistic founder - Huang Di.

Since the launch of online ancestral memorial ceremony in 2020, the global Chinese have made paying homage to Xuanyuan through the Internet an important feature of the ancestral worship ceremony of Huang Di's native place. The online ancestral memorial ceremony despite of differences in geography and time has not only drawn much interactive participation, but also attract more and more young people to pay attention to and participate in the ancestral memorial ceremony.

This year, the online ancestral memorial ceremony has been comprehensively upgraded according to the requirements of the Grand Ceremony, combining with new technologies.

The online ancestral memorial platform standardizes the rituals and etiquette, maintains consistency between online and offline ancestral worship, strives to expand on contextualization, immersion, visualization and interaction, amplifying the effect of network communication and stimulating the powerful synergy of global Chinese praying for China.

The platform aims to build "a national important site in the inheritance and innovation base of Chinese historical civilization", "a place for the children of Yanhuang to find their roots, a place for pilgrimage of Chinese culture, a place for experience of Chinese civilization, and a place for practice of Chinese national education". The demonstration of the cultural brand is based on the theme of "Tour in HenanReading China", highlighting the charm of "root" and "soul" of the culture of Huang Di, our humanistic founder. At the technical level, it uses technologies such as metaverse and XR (mixed reality) to launch XR light show, AI virtual technology videos, cultural IP, SVG special effects, interactive games and other products to integrate multi-dimensional communication as well as enhance the attractiveness and influence of the ceremony.

Contact: Zhang Yi

Tel.: 0086-371-67182663

E-mail: [email protected]

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2041271/Ancestor_Huang_Di_Memorial_Picture.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2041272/Ancestor_Huang_Di_Memorial_Picture.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2041274/Memorial_Ceremony_to_Ancestor_Huang_Di_in_His_Native_Place_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Memorial Ceremony to Ancestor Huang Di in His Native Place
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Peter Ticktin today announced plans to launch a different kind of APP called Ticktin Tok designed to bring some comic relief to a legal system he believes sometimes strains too hard for political purposes.

Unlike Tik Tok for kids and some say Chinese snoopers too, Ticktin Tok will feature short video skits from subjects or victims of the whims, intolerances and commandments of some politicized legal authorities like ones currently bearing down on Ticktin's buddy Donald Trump.

"While there's Tik Tok for youngsters, soon there'll be a Tickin Tok, www.ticktintok.com, for grownups needing some comic relief from legal authorities breathing down their necks primarily for political purposes," said Ticktin, a senior partner of The Ticktin Law Group here.

"The APP will be designed to also provide greater insights into the true meaning of justice in a free and open country as often fun and satire can be effective learning tools or at least will provide some comic relief from political outliers," said Ticktin.

"Ticktin Tok will not make fun of our legal system as we all need to respect the law," said Ticktin.

"It will focus instead on just the occasional excesses of prosecutors like the ones in New York City currently hounding the former President."

Ticktin Tok will be especially effective when it comes to shining light on false accusations about Trump as Ticktin feels some so-called law enforcers risk inciting disrespect for the law and maybe even civil unrest in how they're using, or misusing, their legal authority and power for political purposes as Ticktin will explain in upcoming talks on Ticktin Tok.

Few know the law and limits of free speech as well as Ticktin, said the APP creator Tom Madden, CEO of TransMedia Group, the PR firm representing Ticktin and his law firm.

"Ticktin is one of the most dedicated and informed lawyers in the country. He's also an attorney who pulls no punches when it comes to fighting for what's right, fair and legal under our Constitution," said Madden.

For high school, Ticktin attended New York Military Academy serving under fellow cadet Trump who was his commanding officer.

This was a significant leadership development time in their lives when they were both 17, which Ticktin wrote about in his book "What Makes Trump Tick," said Madden.

Media contact: Adrienne Mazzone 561-908-1683; [email protected].

SOURCE The Ticktin Law Group
On the one hand, Azerbaijan invites the Artsakh authorities to Azerbaijani capital Baku for a dialogue, on the other hand, on the same day, carries out a military attack on the intercommunal road. This is not just cynicism; this is the open position of the Azerbaijani authorities, which means that they need Artsakh without its ethnic population.

March 27, 2023, 16:15 The Created Situation is Worrisome. Clear and Drastic Steps of Russian peacekeeping Troops Needed. Military Expert

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 27 , ARTSAKHPRESS:Military expert Vladimir Harutyunyan told "Artsakhpress" and added that the created situation is very worrying, and to relieve it, clear and drastic steps of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Artsakh are needed.

"Azerbaijani side has been spreading the false thesis that Armenians are transporting weapons from Armenia to Artsakh accompanied by the Russian peacekeepers. There was no response, no retort from the Russian side, which resulted in the attacks on the Stepanakert-Lisagor intercommunal road, including the tragic case of the three policemen killed and one injured while performing their duty.

Unfortunately, this process continues and may reach more dangerous levels," said the military expert.

According to the military expert, the destructive and aggressive behavior consistently shown by official Baku should be immediately prevented; otherwise new provocations will be inevitable, directed against both the Artsakh and Russian sides.

"Notifying the peacekeepers after the incidents may be important in terms of protocol, but today we actually have a situation where new dangers are visible and clear actions are required to prevent them.

Therefore, there is no logical explanation to wait for them to be recorded and then react, especially since peacekeepers are usually unable to eliminate the consequences of Azerbaijani violations and return them to their starting positions," said Vladimir Harutyunyan.
TiE Silicon Valley Celebrates and Announces TiEcon 2023, the World's Largest Entrepreneurship Conference

Technology Visionary John Chambers, Founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, to deliver Grand Keynote with Scott Thurm, Senior Editor at The Information. TiEcon returns to in-person after 3 years of being virtual, drawing in nearly 100,000 attendees from 100 countries over the years.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TiE Silicon Valley , a not-for-profit dedicated to fostering global entrepreneurship, has announced their in-person TiEcon 2023, which will take place on May 3-5. TiEcon 2023, the world's largest technology-anchored entrepreneurship conference, showcases thought leaders and brings together innovators, corporate business decision makers, next-gen entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and technology firms to inspire and advance entrepreneurship.

"It gives me great pleasure to return to the TiEcon stage and address a global audience of innovators..." -John Chambers Tweet this John Chambers is the founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures

Ranked among the top 10 conferences worldwide for ideas and entrepreneurship, TiEcon has attracted thousands of entrepreneurs and professionals. TiEcon 2023 will focus on the hottest areas of innovation: artificial intelligence & machine learning, cloud technologies, crypto, cybersecurity, healthcare, supply chain, semiconductors, manufacturing, and more.

The opening grand keynote speaker on May 4 will be John Chambers, a highly accomplished and honored global technology legend.

Chambers is the founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, which focuses on helping disruptive startups from around the world build and scale. Chambers is also the Chairman of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and was most recently appointed Global Ambassador of the French Tech by President Emmanuel Macron of France.

In addition to investing in and mentoring in startups, Chambers promotes entrepreneurship, gender equality, and accelerating overall new business creation in the pursuit of the creation of startup states, startup nations, and a prosperous startup world. He believes that startups will be the core driver of economic growth and job creation in the Digital Age.

Prior to founding JC2 Ventures, Chambers spent 25+ years with Cisco, where he served as CEO, Chairman, and Executive Chairman. During his time there, Chambers helped grow the company from $70 million to $47 billion. He currently holds the title of Chairman Emeritus with the organization.

Chambers has received numerous awards for his leadership, including being named the number two "Best-Performing CEOs in the World" in 2015 from Harvard Business Review and receiving the Edison Achievement Award for Innovation. Chambers was also awarded the Outstanding Civil Service Medal by the U.S. Army, as well as France's National Defense Gold Medal, the only foreign business leader to ever receive the award in its 35-year history. Most recently, Chambers was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards recognized by the Government of India, for his contributions to the trade and tech industries in India.

Chambers was also named one of Barron's "World's Best CEOs", Chief Executive Magazine's "CEO of the Year", Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People," 20/20's "Best Boss in America", one of BusinessWeek's "Top 25 Executives Worldwide", the Business Council's "Award for Corporate Leadership," "Best Investor Relations by a CEO" from Investor Relations Magazine three times, and the 2012 Bower Award for Business Leadership from the Franklin Institute.

Chambers has worked closely with government leaders around the world, including nine U.S. Secretaries of State. Chambers also served two American presidents during his career.

"I attended and spoke at TiEcon back in 2001 and since then, TiE has continued to be a champion of change and growth, as it has been for the past 31 years. It gives me great pleasure to return to the TiEcon stage and address a global audience of innovators and changemakers who are here to dream, believe, and achieve what's possible." -John Chambers

"We are beyond excited to have John Chambers, an iconic leader, to inspire our global audience attending TiEcon 2023."  Anita Manwani, President, TiE Silicon Valley

"I am deeply honored to welcome and host John Chambers to the grand stage in an intimate conversation with Scott Thurm, Senior Editor at The Information." - Vish Mishra, Council of Trustees and Former President, TiE Silicon Valley

For more information, please visit www.tiecon.org

About TiE Silicon Valley

Founded in 1992 by entrepreneurs and executives of South Asian origin in Silicon Valley, TiE is a not-for-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship globally. TiE strives to inspire entrepreneurs through mentoring, networking, educating, incubating, and funding programs and activities. TiE events bring together the entrepreneurial community to learn from leaders, as well as each other. Besides social values, the economic value enabled through TiE entrepreneurial endeavors is estimated to exceed over $500B globally.

#TiEcon2023 #Entrepreneurship #Technology #JohnChambers

SOURCE TiE Silicon Valley
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tim Clark has been appointed CEO and president of Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc.

Clark is a senior vice president and executive officer of Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. He had been president of Hitachi Astemo Europe, based in Munich, Germany. He succeeds Paul Carroll who recently was named global account manager for Hitachi America, Ltd.

Clark also had served as vice president of sales and marketing for Hitachi Automotive Systems in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and previously was general manager in charge of international sales for Hitachi Automotive Systems based in Tokyo.

Prior to joining Hitachi in 2003, he was general manager of Unisia North America and also had held executive positions at Nissan North America and with Mazda in Japan.

Fluent in Japanese, he holds a bachelor's degree in Japanese Studies from Brigham Young University.

Hitachi Astemo Americas has more than 20 manufacturing plants, research-and-development centers and sales offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Hitachi Astemo, its parent company, was created in 2021 by the merger of Hitachi Automotive Systems with three former Honda affiliates: Nissin Kogyo, Keihin and Showa.

About Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Hitachi Astemo is a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Hitachi Astemo is a technology company that develops, manufactures, sells, and services automotive and transportation components as well as industrial machinery and systems. For more information, visit the company's website at https://www.hitachiastemo.com/en/

About Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc.

Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc. manufactures and markets engine management, electric powertrain and integrated vehicle controls for major automotive manufacturers worldwide, adhering to ISO/TS:16949:2009 industry standards. Additional information about Hitachi Astemo Americas is available at https://am.hitachiastemo.com/.

SOURCE Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.
CALGARY, AB, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - TransAlta Corporation. ("TransAlta" or the "Company") (TSX: TA) (NYSE: TAC) announced today that it has entered into an automatic share purchase plan ("ASPP") with a broker in order to facilitate repurchases of TransAlta's common shares (the "Common Shares") under its previously announced normal course issuer bid ("NCIB").

The Company previously announced that it had received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") to purchase up to 14,000,000 of its Common Shares, representing approximately 5.2% of the Company's currently issued and outstanding Common Shares, during the 12-month period that commenced May 31, 2022 and terminates May 30, 2023. Purchases under the NCIB may be made through open market transactions on the TSX and any alternative Canadian trading platforms on which the Common Shares are traded, based on the prevailing market price. Since the beginning of the NCIB on May 31, 2022, the Corporation has purchased 5,518,000 Common Shares at a weighted average price per Common Share of $11.85 for an aggregate value of $65,401,768. Purchases under the current plan include 2,575,700 Common Shares purchased in 2023 at a weighted average price per Common Share of $11.18 for an aggregate value of $28,802,633.

The Company believes that the prevailing price for the Common Shares may not, from time to time, reflect the underlying value of the Common Shares and that the purchase of Common Shares pursuant to the NCIB may be an attractive and appropriate use of available funds relative to other alternatives. The ASPP will facilitate purchases under the NCIB as it will allow for purchases of Common Shares to be made at times when the Company would ordinarily not be permitted to make purchases, whether due to regulatory restriction or customary self-imposed blackout periods. TransAlta is committed to enhancing shareholder returns through appropriate capital allocation such as a share buyback and its quarterly dividend, which are underpinned by the Company's strong free cash flow position.

Under the ASPP, the Company's broker may purchase Common Shares from the effective date of the ASPP until the end of the NCIB. The ASPP will facilitate purchases of Common Shares under the NCIB by authorizing the Company's broker to make purchases at its sole discretion based on parameters set by the Company in accordance with TSX rules, applicable law and the terms of the ASPP. Outside of periods that the Company is restricted from purchasing Common Shares pursuant to insider trading rules or its own internal trading blackout policies, Common Shares may also be purchased based on management's discretion, in compliance with TSX rules and applicable law.

All purchases of Common Shares made under the ASPP will be included in determining the number of Common Shares purchased under the NCIB. Any Common Shares purchased by the Company pursuant to the NCIB will be cancelled. The Company is not currently restricted from purchasing Common Shares pursuant to any insider trading rules or its own internal trading blackout policies. The ASPP has been pre-cleared by the TSX and will be effective on or before April, 1, 2023.

The ASPP will terminate on the earliest of the date on which: (a) the maximum purchase limits under the ASPP are reached; (ii) the NCIB expires; or (iii) the Company terminates the ASPP in accordance with its terms.

About TransAlta Corporation:

TransAlta owns, operates and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States and Australia with a focus on long-term shareholder value. TransAlta provides municipalities, medium and large industries, businesses and utility customers with clean, affordable, energy efficient and reliable power. Today, TransAlta is one of Canada's largest producers of wind power and Alberta's largest producer of hydro-electric power. For over 111 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud member of the communities where we operate and where our employees work and live. TransAlta aligns its corporate goals with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and its climate change strategy with CDP (formerly Climate Disclosure Project) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. TransAlta has achieved a 68 per cent reduction in GHG emissions or 22 million tonnes since 2015 and has received scores of A- from CDP and A from MSCI.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-looking Information:

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "may" or "will", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly, and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information relating to TransAlta's intentions with respect to the NCIB and ASPP and the purchase of Common Shares thereunder, including any enhancement to shareholder returns. These statements are based on TransAlta's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the assumptions were made. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause such differences include: legislative or regulatory developments; any significant changes to Common Share price or trading volume; continued availability of capital and financing; changes to general economic, market or business conditions; business opportunities that become available to, or are pursued by TransAlta; and other risk factors contained in the Company's annual information form and management's discussion and analysis. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, which reflect TransAlta's expectations only as of the date of this news release. TransAlta disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Note: All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

SOURCE TransAlta Corporation
NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Turnbridge, one of the nation's leading mental and behavioral health treatment providers for adolescents and emerging adults, launches an adolescent intensive outpatient care program for young people and families in Fairfield County and surrounding communities.

Turnbridge team members are joined by First Selectwoman of Westport, Jennifer Tooker, Director of Human Services for the Town of Westport, Elaine Allen Daignault, MA, NCC, Director of Youth Services for the Town of Westport, Kevin Godburn, Director of Trumbull Partnership Against Underage Drinking (TPAUD), Melissa McGarry, and Fairfield Police Lieutenant Michael Paris, to commemorate the opening of the Turnbridge Adolescent After-School Intensive Outpatient Program. (PRNewsfoto/Turnbridge)

The need for specialized treatment for adolescents is dire. A February CDC report reveals continued declines in adolescent mental health, with girls and LGB+ teens most adversely affected. To help address the worsening need, Turnbridge, which has been providing innovative, individualized treatment through its Connecticut-based facilities for twenty years, introduces an adolescent intensive outpatient after-school program at its Westport, Connecticut, location.

Adolescents and teens are experiencing record levels of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and other mental health and substance use problems. Yet, a lack of specialized care prevents many from getting timely, appropriate treatment. The new Turnbridge eight-week intensive outpatient program for Fairfield County teens 14 to 17 provides comprehensive treatment while allowing clients to continue attending school. Programming includes individual and group therapy and evidence-based treatment modalities like DBT, CBT, and mindfulness-based approaches. The program is in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Optum, meaning the cost of treatment is sometimes completely covered for families insured by these plans.

A March 22 ribbon-cutting event celebrating the opening of the new program was attended by Fairfield County officials who are stakeholders ensuring access to effective treatment for residents.

Turnbridge Executive Vice President Jamie Hazelton's remarks highlight that the program is designed to make it easier for area young people to engage in high-quality intensive treatment while staying in school. "Mental health and substance use conditions are prevalent in our community and nationwide. Too often, receiving the high level of comprehensive therapies needed to effectively treat these conditions and help young people access the full range of resources they need means missing school. We have designed this adolescent IOP schedule to make it easier for families to bring children to treatment after the school day is completed. Being able to attend school can reduce the unnecessary stress of worrying about missing schoolwork and falling behind. While school can be stressful for some of our clients, it can also provide a normalizing routine and be a positive and supportive environment that aids in overall mental health and wellness. This comprehensive program looks at each child and family individually and creates treatment plans that address specific needs using a wide range of therapies and implemented by expert clinicians."

Jennifer Tooker, First Selectwoman of Westport, is a long-time champion of adolescent health and wellness and identifies it as one of her administration's top five priorities. Tooker is also responsible for launching Westport Together, whose mission is to promote the positive development of children. "Mental health conditions and substance misuse are serious health problems affecting young people and families in our community and around the country. A high-quality treatment program close to home that allows children to continue attending school  where they can also receive supportive services  is an important resource for families in Westport and surrounding communities. It is important for children and young adults experiencing mental health issues to know that help is available and that by getting effective care, they can go on to achieve their goals and aspirations. Turnbridge is a program committed to removing behavioral health disorders as barriers to young people leading their chosen lives, and we're very pleased they are making this after-school treatment program available," says Tooker.

Turnbridge is honored to have the support of the community leaders who attended this event and helped celebrate the launch of its adolescent intensive outpatient program, which makes vital behavioral healthcare accessible to adolescents and families throughout Fairfield County. Learn more about the Turnbridge after-school IOP program at turnbridge.com or by calling 877-581-1793.

Media Contact:

Jamie Hazelton

Turnbridge Executive Vice President

203-937-2309 x114

SOURCE Turnbridge
T20 continues to expand its portfolio to enable transition to cleaner energy generation

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty20 Energy, an integrated international energy provider enabling decarbonization and energy transition solutions through innovative technologies, today announced the acquisition of Petra Energy Holding Sarl, owner of the Traunstein Geothermal Energy Project, located in the Traunstein district of Bavaria, Germany. Specific details of the transaction have not been announced. The acquisition of the project was completed on December 30, 2022.

The image shows the expected drill paths for the two production and two re-injection wells. Thermal fluid is extracted using inline submerged pumps and reinjected with no fluid loss using above ground pumps. Target production sites and reinjection sites are carefully selected to minimize interaction and maintain reservoir temperature and pressure.

Petra Energy GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petra Energy Holding Sarl, to be rebranded as Bayern Renewables GmbH to better reflect its mission, will complete the development of the Traunstein Geothermal Project. The Project is anticipated to provide both district heating supply and electrical power generation to meet local needs for clean, reliable and sustainable energy. Geothermal energy is highly regarded in Germany as one of a number of renewable energy generation sources.

Early-stage modeling indicates the estimated capacity of the project is 20MWt of heating and 13MWe of power generation, helping to offset some of Germany's current energy shortages which has caused the reactivation of a number of coal-powered electrical generation plants. The Traunstein Geothermal Project is an important step forward in continuing the transition to cleaner energy generation in Germany.

Geoff Lawrence, chief executive officer of Twenty20 Energy, said, "We are pleased to add the Traunstein Geothermal Energy Project to our diversified mix of energy projects. We identify opportunities to deploy cleaner energy technologies to address specific, targeted needs in a financially viable manner. Geothermal is a perfect fit in our strategy to provide environmentally friendly and renewable energy options that safely and reliably serve the regions in which we operate. Our solutions integrate the latest technologies while balancing financial and environmental imperatives, delivering energy where it is needed to support economic and social development mandates. We are excited with the opportunities ahead."

Twenty20 Energy intends to expand the Traunstein Geothermal Project to include the headquarters of Bayern Renewables GmbH to house the engineers, project managers and other professionals required to deliver on the Company's mission: the development of tailored, reliable, and economically viable solutions to enable the transition to cleaner energy. The Company expects that the headquarters will be its centre of excellence for expansion into other parts of Germany and Europe.

About Twenty20 Energy

Twenty20 Energy delivers innovative energy solutions that enable clients, partners, and stakeholders to accelerate the transition to a cleaner energy future. From concept development to operations and maintenance, Twenty20 Energy provides engineering, project execution and asset management through long term operations and management solutions, coupled with the capacity to provide funding or participate in shared project ownership. Uniquely positioned in the energy landscape, Twenty20 Energy has a global reach with local sensitivity, developing projects that deliver cleaner energy while empowering economic growth for today and beyond.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as "may, "will, "intend," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate" or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the initial public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the registration statement filed with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

Contact:

Joe Diaz

Lytham Partners, LLC

(602) 889-9700

[email protected]

SOURCE Twenty20 Energy
WEST CHESTER, Pa., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Venerable is pleased to announce the promotions of two Finance colleagues, Richard Gelfand and Scott Horenziak.

Gelfand, a newly named Vice President, is also the company's Deputy Controller, and has been with Venerable since the organization's inception. He is primarily focused on external financial reporting, audits and examinations, accounting operations, financial systems and controls, and accounting policy. Additionally, Gelfand supports new strategic initiatives and serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer and a registered representative of Directed Services, LLC, Venerable's principal underwriter and distributor of Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company's variable contracts. He has nearly 15 years' experience with Venerable's predecessor companies and several years of public accounting experience. Gelfand is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Pennsylvania, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Temple University, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from LaSalle University.

Venerable is pleased to announce the promotions of two Finance colleagues, Richard Gelfand and Scott Horenziak. Tweet this

Horenziak, promoted to Vice President Financial Analysis, has been with Venerable and its predecessor companies since 2010. In his role, he leads the firm's investment accounting and expense management functions and provides accounting support for the company's strategic initiatives. Horenziak previously served in roles supporting financial planning, analysis, and reporting for the annuity and mutual fund business lines at Voya Financial, as well as business process analysis and improvement, acquisition integration, and risk analytics at Wells Fargo and General Electric. He began his career as an engineer, having obtained a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from The University of Illinois. Horenziak also holds a Master of Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University.

SVP and Controller, Greg Smith, said "Rich and Scott are highly valued for their leadership at Venerable as they help lead critical functions at our organization. Their ability to consistently deliver quality results, address business challenges with meaningful solutions, and support their business partners are a model for their teams and colleagues."

About Venerable

Venerable is a privately held company with business operations based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Des Moines, Iowa, and New York, NY. Venerable owns and manages legacy variable annuity business acquired from other entities. Created by an investor group led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC, Crestview Partners, Reverence Capital Partners, and Athene Holdings, Ltd., Venerable is a business with well-established, strategic investors, experienced in successfully building and growing insurance businesses with patient, long-term capital. For more information, please visit www.venerable.com.

Contact:

Allison Proud

Corporate Communications

610-249-9730

SOURCE Venerable
Webcast and conference call on April 28 at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET)

SEATTLE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) will release first quarter 2023 results on Thursday, April 27, after the market closes. The company will then hold a live webcast and conference call the following day, on Friday, April 28, at 7 a.m. Pacific (10 a.m. Eastern), to discuss the results.

To access the news release, live webcast and presentation online, visit the Investor Relations section on www.weyerhaeuser.com.

To join the conference call from within North America, dial 877-407-0792 (access code: 13734907) at least 15 minutes prior to the call. Those calling from outside North America should dial 201-689-8263 (access code: 13734907). Replays will be available for two weeks at 844-512-2921 (access code: 13734907) from within North America, and at 412-317-6671 (access code: 13734907) from outside North America.

ABOUT WEYERHAEUSER

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. We own or control approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manage additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. We manage these timberlands on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards. We are also one of the largest manufacturers of wood products in North America. Our company is a real estate investment trust. In 2022, we generated $10.2 billion in net sales and employed approximately 9,200 people who serve customers worldwide. Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WY. Learn more at www.weyerhaeuser.com.

For more information contact:

Analysts - Andy Taylor, 206-539-3907

Media  Nancy Thompson, 919-861-0342

SOURCE Weyerhaeuser Company
PARIS, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Woolpert has opened an office in Paris to expand support for Google Maps Platform customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Woolpert Senior Account Executive Eric Le Monnier will manage the Paris office, working in concert with Mark Williams, who manages Woolpert's Google-focused office in London.

Woolpert has opened a Google-focused office in Paris.

Woolpert began providing Google Maps Platform services to EMEA customers in June 2022, after nearly a decade of delivering award-winning Google Maps and Google Cloud services throughout the United States. In August, Woolpert established its Digital Innovations division to support its Google partnership.

Over the last year, Woolpert's EMEA focus has been on providing mobility services and technical support, which is reinforced by its geospatial expertise. The international firm collects mapping data and imagery around the world, develops and patents geospatial technologies, and owns and operates a fleet of aircraft, vessels, and sensors.

"We work in a global marketplace, but there will always be immense value in providing that local presence, so we can truly understand the needs of our customers," Le Monnier said. "We are one of the few Google partners who can sell the new mobility and last-mile delivery services, and we have been approved for retail, transport, and logistics through the Google Cloud Partner Program. Our team is excited to work more closely with our customers in France and to continue to provide support to over 100 countries in EMEA."

This week, Woolpert will be at the Leaders in Logistics Summit in London, where Williams will present with VanOnGo Sales Director Denys Lanovskyi to illustrate how Woolpert helped enhance VanOnGo's Last Mile Delivery Platform with the integration of Google Maps.

About Woolpert

Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private, and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is a top 100 ENR Global Design firm, earned six straight Great Place to Work certifications, and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity, and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been America's fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. Woolpert has over 2,000 employees and more than 60 offices on five continents. For more information, visit woolpert.com and innovations.woolpert.com.

Media contact: Jill Kelley; 937-531-1258, [email protected]

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SOURCE Woolpert
The business of Buddhism takes centre stage in Seoul, South Korea this week as tens of thousands of people from all over the world flock to one of Asias most unique expos that promotes the development of Buddhist cultural industries.

Hosted by the Jogye Order, the 2023 Seoul International Buddhism Expo will be held from March 30th to April 2nd at the Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention Center (SETEC).

India will be the guest country for the Expo to mark the 50th anniversary of Korea-India diplomatic relations.

Organisers said this year's Seoul International Buddhism Expo has various programs, including a robust online schedule of events, in celebration of its 10th anniversary.

Visitors can expect to see a wide variety of Buddhist cultural products as the Expo will feature 420 booths and services from 330 businesses.

Indias Buddhist history, culture and rituals will be featured at 20 booths and a media-arts exhibition. There will also be a live commerce platform to support small business owners and exhibitions featuring Nepalese Buddhism and cultural products from temples across South Korea.

Running alongside the Expo are the Seoul Relax Week programs which can be found online at www.relaxweek.kr. The Seoul Relax Week aims to provide opportunities for citizens and visitors to cultivate healthy mindfulness in their daily lives.

Other highlights include a special program that will discuss the restoration of the Yeolamgok Rock-carved Buddha" and other Buddhist cultural assets.

The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, South Koreas largest Buddhist order, had in January announced plans to restore the 1,300-year-old rock-carved statue of the Buddha that is believed to have been toppled in an earthquake some 600 years ago.

The five-meter, 80-tonne stone sculpture was discovered in 2007 lying face down, its nose just five centimeters from a rock face, but with its features otherwise undamaged.

The Buddha [statue has] spent a thousand years lying face down, to bear the sufferings of the people, Venerable Jinwoo, president of the Jogye Order, said during a press conference in Seoul.

Erecting the Buddha means raising up ourselves, and this will become a holy Buddhist service that restores the nature in all of us, he said according to a report in The Korea Herald.

The Jogye Order, the key sponsor and organizer of this 10th annual event, represents the largest segment of South Koreas Buddhist population, administering about 1,900 active temples with more than 13,000 monks and nuns who lead seven million followers nationwide.

The Seoul International Buddhist Expo began in 2013 with 159 companies and 231 booths attracting about 50,000 visitors. Last year close to 200,000 people attended the event.

Seoul International Buddhist Expo co-chair and CEO of Buddhist Newspaper Ven. Sam-jo said the organisers are planning to gather all the resources of Korean Buddhism in one place in order to become Asias Buddhist hub and become a platform that bridges Asia and the rest of the world.

Ajung Kim, a Vancouver-based filmmaker, said the Expo and the Seoul Relax Week programs

showcase the diversity of the Buddhism industry.

In these times of uncertainty and heavy dependence on technology, it is essential to reflect on the role of religion, tradition, culture, and spirituality have to play in our daily lives, said Kim, who is part of the organising committee.

We are expecting to meet tens of thousands of international visitors virtually and in person this year," she said.
Musician Nick Cave has had some harsh words for the idea of AI being used to create music in place of humans, calling the idea a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human.
There are rescue organizations for just about all the living and breathing organisms you can think of, from Save the Frogs foundations to sn
Poe on kidnapping of a Filipino-Chinese businessman

We laud the arrest of the suspects in the kidnapping of a Filipino-Chinese businessman.

But ideally we shouldn't even have to pay ransom money just to get back our loved ones, friends, and family who are victimized by these kidnappings.

Bolder steps are needed to suppress kidnap-for-ransom groups which have grown more brazen, and reportedly aided by rogue or AWOL military or police.

We await decisive actions on the operation of POGOs which we repeatedly said has ushered in criminality, including kidnappings.

Authorities must stop kidnapping in its tracks and put the culprits behind bars. Our people deserve to live in a society free from fear and harm.
The King is carrying out a major shake-up of the monarchy which ultimately means that more members of the royal family will have to fund and fend for themselves, the Evening Standard understands.

The eviction of Prince Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage in Windsor will be just the start of his plans to slim it down and modernise, according to sources. Subsidised rents for royals  even for some working royals  will be eradicated over time, with the King expecting them to finance their own homes and cut their cloth over the next five years, it is understood.

(PA)

The news came as the Kings visit to France was delayed after extensive rioting on Thursday night. Senior figures have told the Standard that after the period of transition following the coronation, the King, assisted by Queen Camilla, will move to tackle inefficiencies in what is being viewed as a largely overstaffed and outdated system.

Vice-Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the Household, and the Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens, responsible for finance, will execute the shake-up of what is described as a top-heavy royal household. Camilla has been overseeing the fine detail of the Kings plan to ensure that after the coronation the royal household will be run the Clarence House way.

One senior figure said: It is not about cuts, it is about getting the best value for money from those on the payroll. Sometimes less is more.

Another source added: The King is not some sort of housing association for distant relatives. Harry and Meghan were given use of Frogmore Cottage, a five-bedroom mansion on the Windsor estate in 2018, by the late Queen.

Frogmore Cottage (PA Archive)

But they spent just six months there before moving to North America and they were issued with an eviction notice from Buckingham Palace days after Harrys memoir Spare  in which he made a series of claims against the royal family  hit the shelves in January.

However, the couples loss of the cottage, their only British home, is said to be just the tip of the iceberg.

Story continues

It is understood Charles is keen to reduce the number of royals with a financial dependence on the crown, especially if they do not have an active role to play. He wants funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, the portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the King, and the sovereign grant that covers the cost of royal travel on official engagements, to be spent more effectively. He also wants to pay his staff competitive salaries and pensions so that he gets the best people for the jobs.

There will be staff cutbacks. That has already started. The buzz phrase is value for money, said the source.

Several members of the extended royal family have enjoyed subsidised palace accommodation, with some having apartments that are being used by their children as London pads.

The source said: Over time, that is going to change. Properties will be let at commercial rates going forward and to people outside the family. Where it is in a palace environment they will of course be security vetted.

Privately, the Kings senior staff have made it clear to members of the extended family that if they cannot afford where they are living, they should cut their cloth. A lot of practices that have evolved during the last reign will be changing. The King is not heartless or reckless, but if the family members are not part of the core family and not working for the crown, it is fair for them to house themselves and fund themselves, a senior figure said.

(Getty Images)

The Kings focus, key figures say, is on making the monarchy fit for purpose over the next five years. He is working closely with his son and heir, the Prince of Wales, to achieve this.

One insider said: The staffing has been on the top-heavy side. That has built up over time, with advisers to advisers and so on. Thats all going to stop. The boss wants effective people in effective positions doing effective jobs being paid appropriately. The senior source added: Much of what was in place doesnt make economic sense and will be changed during the new reign.
Khartoum, March 27 : Sudan has launched a workshop to push for the reorganisation of irregular forces into a unified national military, as part of the political process agreed in a key deal last year for the country's transition to civilian rule.

Launched on Sunday at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum with the attendance of Sudanese military stakeholders as well as representatives of the United Nations and the African Union, the workshop is the last one established under the requirement of the political framework agreement.

In December 2022, Sudanese civilian and the military leaders reached the agreement to end the country's political impasse and institute a two-year transitional civilian authority, Xinhua news agency reported.

The workshop discussed completing security arrangements for the armed movements, former rebel groups that were granted legal status in 2020 under the Juba Agreement for Peace in Sudan, integrating fighters of the armed movements and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces into the Sudanese Armed Forces, and forming implementation mechanisms.

"The security and military reform is a long and complex process that cannot be overcome easily, and it is a purely Sudanese process whose foundations were laid by the Sudanese," Chairman of Sudan's Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Sudanese army Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said while addressing the workshop.

He added that the Sudanese armed forces will be under the command of any civilian government elected by the people.

"Reaching a unified army is our goal, and we are proceeding on that with conviction and according to the agreed technical matters," said Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who also attended the event.

Members from Sudanese regular forces, armed movements, political fractions, veterans, as well as representatives of the UN tripartite mechanism and the African Union, are among the workshop's participants.
Lakhimpur Kheri : , March 27 (IANS) Thirty-eight girl students of the Kasturba residential school in Mitauli block of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district have tested positive for Covid-19 infection, a district health official said.

Lakhimpur Kheri Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Santosh Gupta, said that one staff member was also found Covid-positive during a contact tracing exercise on Sunday after which the entire campus has been turned into a quarantine centre by the Health department.

This is the highest number of new Covid cases reported in a district in a day this year.

Gupta, who rushed a medical team to the Kasturba school, said samples of all 92 contact cases of the school had been sent for testing. The report of 38 among them was positive. Most of those tested positive were asymptomatic, he added.

"All students and staff had been advised seven-day quarantine on campus and provided medicine kits. Condition of all students, barring two who have cold, is fine," the CMO said.

Those found Covid-positive had been kept in a separate wing in the school campus, he added.

A mother and child wing in Motipur has been asked to keep 20 beds ready for any medical need among the students and staff in the campus.

"I personally spoke to students and assures them of all help. We are keeping watch on the health condition," said Gupta. An ambulance had also been stationed at the Kasturba school in case of any emergency, he added.

With this, the number of active Covid cases had risen to 41 since March 23, he said.

On March 23, a girl student of Kasturba residential school in Mitauli block had tested positive for Covid-19. Then, an elderly person of Behjam block and another person of Mitauli block also tested positive in the last couple of days.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mahendra Bahadur Singh, said all precautionary measures, including providing medical kit, sanitisation etc, had been ensured. He said there was no need to panic and urged people to strictly observe Covid-19 protocol.
New York, March 27 : An Indian-American, who was arrested and charged in July 2022, has pleaded guilty to 13 counts arising from his participation in a scheme to commit insider trading based on material, non-public information (MNPI) that he misappropriated from his employer.

Amit Bhardwaj, 49, the former Chief Information Security Officer at Lumentum Holdings Inc, traded on the misappropriated MNPI himself and tipped his associates with this same information so that they could place profitable trades in Lumentum's acquisition targets, a Department of Justice said in a statement.

"Not only did Bhardwaj betray his company and cheat the securities markets, but when confronted by the FBI, he also schemed to conceal his illicit behaviour and obstruct the investigation," US Attorney Damian Williams said.

Bhardwaj, of San Ramon in California, pled guilty to seven counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud -- each of which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, and four counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud -- each of which carries a maximum term of five years in prison.

According to court documents, Bhardwaj learned that Lumentum was considering acquiring Coherent, Inc in December 2020, after which he purchased Coherent stock and call options, and tipped three associates -- his friend Dhirenkumar Patel, another friend, and one of his close family relatives -- these individuals all traded in Coherent securities as a result.

Patel agreed to pay Bhardwaj 50 per cent of the profits that he earned by trading in Coherent based on the MNPI provided by Bhardwaj. When Coherent's stock price increased substantially following the announcement of the Lumentum acquisition, Bhardwaj, and his accomplices, closed their positions in Coherent securities and collectively profited by nearly $900,000.

In October 2021, Bhardwaj learned that Lumentum was engaged in confidential discussions with Neophotonics Corporation about a potential acquisition. He provided this information to Srinivasa Kakkera, Abbas Saeedi, and Ramesh Chitor, who traded in Neophotonics securities as a result.

Chitor and Bhardwaj agreed to split the profits equally.When Neophotonics' stock price increased substantially following the announcement of the Lumentum acquisition in November 2021, the three closed their positions in Neophotonics securities and made collectively nearly $4.3 million in realised and unrealised profits.

According to the allegations in the indictment and statements made in public court proceedings, Bhardwaj drove to the homes of certain of his co-conspirators to encourage them not to tell the federal authorities the truth about their insider trading scheme, thus obstructing an FBI investigation into their conduct.

Bhardwaj is scheduled to be sentenced by District Judge Gregory H. Woods on July 11, 2023.
Ottawa, March 27 : As Khalistani activists in Canada have grabbed headlines after the Amritpal Singh incident in Punjab, many fear that the pro-Khalistani sentiment is rising in the country.

"What did the promptness of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, MP Sonia Sidhu, and others in tweeting about the Punjab situation after Amritpal Singh's incident and ban on Internet services, say? It was done at the behest of radical votebanks," says a Brampton Sikh entrepreneur, requesting anonymity.

He says the majority is silent because of fear of reprisal.

"Nobody opens their mouth against the Khalistanis who enjoy political patronage. Any leader who says anything against them is banned from entering gurdwaras and joining Vaisakhi parades," he says.

"When events such as the arrest of Amritpal Singh happen, Khalistan supporters bombard the offices of mayors, MPs, MPPs and ministers with messages, forcing them to issue hasty statements or tweet," says an Indo-Canadian restaurant owner in Toronto.

The restaurant owner claims that Khalistanis are luring and using new students from Punjab to further their agenda.

They brainwash these students while helping them with jobs, accommodation and food, he says.

"The students are being roped in for Khalistani demonstrations. In return for helping these students, the radicals ask the parents of these students in Punjab to help pro-Khalistan activists in the state," says the Toronto restaurant owner.

Ritesh Malik, national convener of the Canada-India Foundation which has been targeted by radicals as being pro-RSS, blames the political appeasement for the rise of anti-Indian sentiment in Canada.

"Politicians must stop playing identity politics. A criminal is a criminal -- not a Sikh or a Hindu or a Muslim. By supporting these elements, ministers and MPs are playing dangerous games and harming Canada which needs India more than ever now," says Malik.

Brampton Punjabi journalist Balraj Deol also blames the Indian government for emboldening Khalistanis by deleting their names from the black lists.

"The Modi government started this process in 2015 to win over the Khalistanis, but it was done without any thought. This action disheartened many moderates here who opposed the radicals. Today, we see the consequences of the Indian action," he says.
Lucknow, March 27 : A youth has been detained for allegedly stalking a 19-year-old NEET aspirant girl and hanging around her building in Mahanagar.

The youth was detained late Sunday night after the girl's father lodged a complaint against him with the police.

In his complaint, the father of the girl said she was preparing for the competitive exam from an institute in the area.

"The accused, named Dharmendra Sahu, developed a fancy for her and proposed to her. He used to force her to marry her and live with her despite her rebuking him on several occasions in the past," the father alleged.

It was alleged that Dharmendra forcibly secured the girl's number and mobile number of other members in her family. He used to call on the mobile number and was abusive to the victim and her family members.

The accused threatened the girl to kill her and spoil her career.

"He used to hang around the building where my daughter resides. He used to boast of his links and claimed that no one could harm him because of his links. He also had threatened to kill my daughter if she complained to the police," the girl's father alleged.

SHO, Aliganj, Nagesh Upadhyay said that the accused has been detained and will be sent to jail. "We have registered a case under the charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation," he stated.
Brasilia, March 27 : Three people were killed and two others injured during a shooting at a nightclub in Sao Carlos, a city in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, local police said.

The incident took place after aman, who was thrown out of the club for being drunk, returned with a gun and opened fire on the crowd, Xinhua news agency quoted the police as saying on Sunday.

Two men died instantly and two others were hospitalised with injuries.

The 36-year-old assailant was shot dead by two police officers who were on duty in the area, local Police Commissioner Gilberto Aquino said.

After being expelled from the club, the attacker, wearing a helmet, returned to the party by car and began shooting, according to Aquino.

The party was a fundraiser for health centres in the state.
Austin, Texas : Rory McIlroy holed a vital birdie putt at the 18th to win a thrilling quarter-final clash against Xander Schauffele to book his place in the last four of the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

McIlroy had to call on all match play experience to come through two extremely close matches on Saturday. He first held off Lucas Herbert in the last 16 before facing a very different challenge against Schauffele.

The 33-year-old never trailed against Herbert but was unable to relax, with the Australian staying in touch with his opponent throughout the contest before the Northern Irishman overcame a late scare to close out a two-hole victory.

But it was a completely different story against Schauffele, as McIlroy did not lead until his clutch putt from around 12 feet on the 18th green earned him a memorable one-hole win.

World Number Three McIlroy, who made 17 birdies across his two matches on day four, will meet Cameron Young in the semis at Austin Country Club after he held off a stunning fightback attempt to beat debutant Kurt Kitayama by one hole.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler came from behind to beat Jason Day 2&1, while Sam Burns saw off Mackenzie Hughes 3&2 in their quarter-final.

The World Number One found himself three down in the early stages before winning three holes without reply to level things up after 12 holes.

He then won the 13th and 14th to go 2UP before almost making an ace at the 17th, with a birdie there clinching his tenth consecutive match win at this event.

McIlroy said, "I putted well all day. I felt yesterday against Keegan (Bradley) I found something or I got a feel, and then putted really well this morning against Lucas, and then continued that this afternoon.

"I think winning the Match Play is always a massive accomplishment because of what you have to go through. It's seven rounds and - especially this week, I feel like a lot of my matches have been really, really close, so to be able to pull them out when I've needed to has been very gratifying." Scheffler added, "Glad to be moving on. Both the guys I played with today got off to really good starts - actually, no, I got off to a good start this morning, but Jason (Day) got off to a really good start this afternoon and put behind pretty quickly there. I think I was three down through seven, but he made a mistake on eight and then I birdied nine and it was kind of a match from there on out, and I had a really good back nine. When you get three down, that's what you've got to do. Very proud of that effort there on the back nine and my finish."
ALBANY  New Yorks move to raise the age of criminal responsibility has fueled gun crimes while resulting in minimal accountability for youngsters who terrorize communities through gang activity and lawlessness, several prosecutors and lawmakers have charged.

Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, R-Niagara Falls, a former city court judge, said during a news conference last week that flaws in the Raise the Age legislation passed in 2017 could have been prevented had input been gathered from prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges.

Morinello said the state failed to provide county governments with sufficient resources to develop residential placement options for youths charged with crimes and beef up probation services needed to monitor adolescent offenders returning to communities.

When a Buffalo youth facility reaches capacity, Morinello said, Lockport officials have had to ferry a youth in custody to nearly as far away as New YorK City, a distance of several hundred miles.

I feel strongly that we need to sit down with open minds and analyze what the purpose of Raise the Age was, with a view towards achieving better results, the assemblyman said.

Also supporting amendments to Raise the Age was Albany County District Attorney David Soares, a Democrat.

If we all agree that young people are sometimes error prone due to their stage of development, we should also agree that oversight, guidance and sometimes punishment, are appropriate to ensure course-correction, Soares said. He contended the law has directly resulted in additional violence in New York communities.

A package of bills backed by the Assembly GOP conference would:

Require that a violent felony offense committed by an adolescent be handled in what is known as youth-part criminal court, unless all parties consent to dealing with it in family court.

Amend the Criminal Procedure Law and Family Court Act in a way that allows judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers to ensure judges, prosecutors and defense counsels can access arrest and delinquency records.

Require victims of crimes committed by an adolescent be notified of the outcome of the case.

State data gleaned by Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, shows that in 2021 only 8% of 16- and 17-year-old defendants charged with violent felonies received a felony conviction, and less than half of those receiving a felony conviction were sentenced to more than one year of confinement.

Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-Schoharie, said the proposed amendments will create greater accountability and lead to more young defendants being prosecuted in the youth part of Superior Court. Using Family Court to adjudicate violent crimes has prevented authorities from accessing information needed to safeguard communities, he said.

The package was also supported by Delaware County Acting District Attorney Shawn Smith.

A former New York City police officer, Assemblyman Michael Reilly, R-Staten Island, called the Raise the Age law insane and misguided, citing one case involving a 16-year-old boy who was found to be in possession of a handgun on four separate occasions within a span of nine months.

The only time he was arrested was because he shot himself, Reilly said. The current law, he said, has empowered youth to commit crimes while providing an indeed.com  an online employment recruitment site  for gang leaders out to lure youngsters into their fold because consequences are minimal if they get caught with firearms.

Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-Horicon, also spoke about the matter with fellow lawmakers and prosecutors at a news conference on Thursday.

Raise the Age is a direct contributor to New Yorks increase in crime and a complete dismissal of public safety. Under this law, people who have committed felonies are treated as first-time offenders endlessly, which only affirms the criminals behavior to continue as no real consequences are given. New York should be setting up kids for success, not a life of repeat crime, which Raise the Age encourages, Simpson said in a news release.

Citing data from the Department of Criminal Justice Services, Simpson said in 2021, only 9% of adolescent offenders who were arrested for a felony received a felony conviction. Those include 112 arrested for homicide; 80 arrested for sex offenses; 587 arrested for firearms/dangerous weapon offenses; 691 arrested for robbery and 213 for burglary; and 20 arrested for making a terroristic threat.

The fact that you can get away with committing such heinous crimes in this state is not acceptable, Simpson said. The lack of accountability that Raise the Age authorizes is not good for the community, the police force or first responders, and, in fact, makes it easier to exploit adolescents to be used as pawns for criminal activity because they have immunity. Its time to amend this law and bring safety back to our communities and for the victims of these crimes.

State responds

The Hochul administration has signaled it is working with counties to expand placement options for adolescent offenders.

Addressing the placement concerns, Suzanne Miles-Gustave, acting commissioner of the Office of Children and Family Services, told lawmakers last month that the pandemic put a stop to much of our progress with respect to Raise the Age implementation.

She also pointed out that detention is a local obligation.

Citing plans submitted by counties working with her agency, Miles-Gustave projected New York will have an additional 150 beds in detention facilities over the next two to three years

We do work with counties daily, she said,  We provide 24/7 support to counties, to sheriffs, to find beds where they dont exist sometimes.
Mumbai, March 27 : A 22-year-old youth was killed when a major fire raged through a hardware shop at the dead of the night in Andheri, the BMC Disaster Control said here on Monday.

The blaze was reported around 2.15 a.m. from Rajshree Electric & Hardware stores near the Saki Naka Metro station, and five fire engines were rushed to the spot.

The flames remained confined within the 200-sq ft congested shop's electrical fittings and wiring, and it also had two lofts with more goods stored there.

Though locals claimed that at least two to three persons, reportedly workers, were trapped, the Fire Brigade later recovered the body of Rakesh Gupta.

The officials said that due to the intensity of the blaze the two lofts were fully gutted and crashed down blocking the entry for the rescue teams.

Accordingly, the fire brigade deployed a bulldozer to break down the front portions of the shop and gain access to douse the flames or save others reportedly trapped inside.

The cause of the fire is not clear and it is also not known whether the double-lofts built inside the shop were authorised or not.
Mysuru : , March 27 (IANS) Karnataka Police have arrested a man for assaulting his wife for not giving birth to a male child in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysuru district, an official said on Monday.

According to police, the incident had been reported from Sonahalli village near H.D. Kote town. The arrested person is identified as Chandru. Police explain that Chandru married Shivamma and they had two daughters.

Chandru was not happy with this and tortured Shivamma for not giving birth to male child. Chandru's parents Rame Gowda and Kempamma also supported him and they also tortured Shivamma.

The elders of the family tried to convince Chandru and her parents about not insisting on male child and stop torturing Shivamma. Chandru, not bothering about anything, started assaulting his wife.

Unable to take the torture, Shivamma has filed complaint against her husband in H.D. Kote police station. The in-laws have disappeared fearing arrest. The police have taken up further investigation.
Kolkata, March 27 : In a late-night operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) recovered smuggled gold worth Rs 1.5 crore from Siliguri, the prime township in West Bengal's Darjeeling district.

Three persons have been arrested. They were identified as Shree Baiju, Murarilal Soni and Sonpal Saini.

While Soni is a resident of Rajasthan, Saini and Baiju hail from Mathura.

The estimated market value of the seized gold biscuits is to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore, a DRI source claimed.

It is learnt that the DRI sleuths were tipped off by their sources that a huge consignment of smuggled gold biscuits had been brought to Siliguri from Dubai and was supposed to be taken to different destinations in Uttar Pradesh.

Based on the information received from their sources, a team of team DRI sleuths on Sunday night intercepted a four-wheeler from an important crossing leading to the Bagdogra Airport in the outskirts of Siliguri.

Sources said that from a special and hidden chamber within the vehicle, the DRI sleuths recovered 23 gold biscuits each weighing 166 grams.

The three persons travelling by the four-wheeler were detained and interrogated and in face of integration neither they could furnish any valid document for possessing that huge gold nor initially they could say anything definite about their source.

Finally in face of interrogation the three confessed that they procured gold smuggled from Dubai from one Rajkumar Agarwal, a resident of Siliguri and was supposed to take them to Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh.

The police on Monday morning raided the residence of Agarwal, though he was absconding by then.

Unaccounted cash worth Rs 24.50 lakhs were also recovered from his residence.

On Monday, the three persons arrested by DRI were presented at a district court in Siliguri where they were remanded to police custody for a period of 14 days.
New Delhi, March 27 : A pause. And he says when it comes to writing on Kashmir, there is an emotional quotient involved. That is not just due to the fact that he was born there but also that the Pandit community, which has contributed immensely in diverse spheres, was forced to leave the Valley and become a migrant in its own country.

Author Sandeep Bamzai's latest book, 'Gilded Cage: Years that Made and Unmade Kashmir' (Rupa) chronicles the time from the emergence of Sheikh Abdullah in Kashmir's politics up to his arrest to the disillusionment of the Kashmiri masses from their leadership. From Jinnah's obsession with Kashmir to Sheikh Abdullah's hatred for Jinnah, from Jawaharlal Nehru's comprehension of the Valley being a shop window for his brand of secular politics to Maharaja Hari Singh's streak of remaining independent in the face of both India and Pakistan, this book covers the vital years that defined Kashmir's accession to India.

The author, whose latest is the third part of the trilogy after 'Bonfire of Kashmiriyat' and 'PRINCESTAN: How Nehru, Patel and Mountbatten Made India', tells IANS that he feels a certain compulsion to write the Valley's real story as superficiality seems to have become the norm and many people are just not interested in delving deep into history.

"Frankly, as a nation, we have not documented our own independence and freedom struggle adequately, precisely why I have been stressing the need for a Freedom Archives for long. There are many unsung heroes of the freedom struggle and those who ascertained integration of different states and Kashmir's accession to India, including V.P. Menon, K.N. Bamzai, and Dwarka Nath Kachru. It is important that the real story is uncovered, something that pushes me to write." A non-fiction, 'Gilded Cage' that speaks of exhaustive research reads like a thriller, something which makes it accessible even to non-history buffs. Bamzai, a student of economics who did not study history formally calls himself an 'amateur historian' who has developed a fascination for modern history.

"I guess curiosity as a journalist is probably acting as a catalyst, but I have immersed myself and done a deep dive into history. When it comes to research, even if you have papers, documents, letters, and multiple memoirs or whatever written by several of the people who have been mentioned in this book -- to connect the dots and create a narrative out of that is an extremely difficult process," adds the Editor-in-Chief, MD, and CEO of Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).

While writing 'Gilded Cage', the author looks at the key dramatis personae of the time who were involved in Kashmir between 1931 and 1953 and splits them into two parts -- protagonists and antagonists. In the narrative, there are some dark figures and nationalist personalities. "I have tried to build a narrative in the push and pull of the protagonists and antagonists. The other thing, much different from my other two books in the trilogy is the conscious tighter narrative and fiction-like flow. I have written a story building on the tent poles with the papers and the documents that were given to me." Talk to him about the contemporary situation in Kashmir, and Bamzai says the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A has been a seminal measure ascertaining integration and mobility. "And it was done so effectively that one must give complete credit to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister for that." He, however, feels that unless peace is restored in the Valley, it would be unfair to expect Pandits to return to their homeland. "You cannot build a ghetto for them on the left or right side of the Jhelum. The community would never back that. It has been 30 years and people have moved on, built their lives again from scratch... The Pandits being targetted in lone wolf attacks in the Valley are soft targets, who being economically backward could not move out of there. The message coming out of Kashmir is: 'You can come here as a tourist, but not live and work there if you are a non-Muslim. We will kill you. And that is exactly what is happening," says this Kalinga Book award (Princestan') winner.

The author, who has worked in major media houses in senior positions for more than 40 years now admits that both Indian and international media have failed to acknowledge the true forced migration of Pandits from the Valley. Stressing that nobody really cares, he says while many people are making a huge hue and cry about the film 'The Kashmir Files, it is the only time that the truth has been revealed. "Even today, as we speak, there are camps outside Jammu where economically backward Kashmiri Pandits continue to live in hell. Honestly, everybody seems to have just washed their hands off this community, maybe that is the reason I keep revisiting this theme." In favour of early elections in the Valley, he feels that the same can be expected in 2023, soon after the snow melts, maybe as early as May or probably with the ones in Karnataka. Adding that various parties are already preparing for them, he adds, "There is Farooq Abdullah on one side, one cannot say if the Congress will be with NC or not. There is BJP on the other side and Ghulam Nabi Azad is the X factor. An elected government in Kashmir is extremely important. And I must add that Manoj Sinha, the Lt. Governor there has spearheaded serious developmental work, recognized even by the locals. The kind of investments coming to the Valley will result in major employment, something that will be instrumental in weaning the young away from the gun." Ask him if he plans to write fiction with the Valley's backdrop and he says that though he was born there, he has lived his entire life outside. Bamzai is, however, contemplating writing the next part of the book which will focus on the years between 1953 to 1965. "I may also write another one 1965 from 1971 when the Indira- Sheikh accord was signed," says the author whose immediate next project is a pictorial history of Kashmir commissioned by Roli Books.

Talking about his process, which starts with extensive research, he says what is crucial is connecting the dots from diverse research sources, including important papers handed over to him by his family. "Post the research, and while the writing is being done, the chapters need to be set right and so do the characters they hold. The narrative must hold the reader with a strong grip. All this is interconnected and nothing works in isolation," says Bamzai, insisting he is still a journalist first, and will always remain a news junkie.
Jaipur, March 27 : In a special campaign launched by the Rajasthan Police in Jaipur and Kota and Churu 2,051 miscreants have been arrested.

The operation was launched on the direction of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday and involved 8,000 policemen.

Director General of Police Umesh Mishra said that 8,000 police personnel participated in the special operation in Jaipur and Kota range and Churu district and 2051 miscreants were detained.

"A special campaign was conducted under the leadership of ADG Crime Dinesh N.M. During the proceedings, Kota and Jaipur Range IG reviewed the proceedings by sitting in the control room. Superintendents of Police of Jaipur and Kota range and Churu district led the proceedings while staying in the field," he said.

Additional Director General of Police Crime Dinesh N.M. said that Kota city police arrested 224 miscreants during the raids in 112 hideouts. The Kota rural police raided 160 places and arrested 121 miscreants,; Bundi police raided 234 places and arrested 281 miscreants; Baran police raided 221 places and arrested 129 miscreants, and the Jhalawar police raided 270 places and arrested 226 miscreants. And 984 accused were arrested and raided at 997 places in the total Kota range.

Under the campaign in Jaipur range, on Sunday, Jaipur Rural Police arrested 56 criminals, Sikar police 176, Bhiwadi police 287, Dausa police 337, Jhunjhunu police three and Alwar police arrested 129.

In this special operation, 110 youths were arrested for following the criminals on social media. In the action, arms and ammunition, 13 vials of Korex, 9.06 grams of smack, 312 liters of liquor and Rs 93,655 in gambling money were recovered.

As part of action, 30 teams of 300 policemen were constituted by the Churu police. After raiding 70 places, 80 miscreants were arrested and 28 were detained. In this action, 11 vehicles have also been seized by registering 11 cases under the NDPS Four Arms Act.

It needs to be mentioned here that the Rajasthan government has been drawing flak from opposition for rising crime rate.
New Delhi, March 27 : Congress MPs wore black clothes to Parliament on Monday in protest against Rahul Gandhi's expulsion from the Lok Sabha.

Besides the Congress MPs, there were some other opposition leaders who also chose to wear black.

Meanwhile, opposition members attended a meeting called by the Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in his chamber earlier in the day and deliberated on a joint strategy in the House.

The Congress MPs have moved an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification and in the Rajya Sabha opposition MPs have moved suspension of business notice in Hindenburg issue and misuse of probe agencies against political leaders.

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday moved an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha which said: "That this House do suspend Zero Hour and other businesses of the day to discuss the disqualification of Shri Rahul Gandhi.

Image Source: IANS News

"The disqualification of Shri Rahul Gandhi from the membership of the House was a hasty and erroneous decision and not in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution of India.

"Article 102 (1) (e) of the Constitution provides that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.

Image Source: IANS News

"Article 103(1) provides that the decision as to the disqualification of members lies with the President of India. Further, Article 103(2) lays down that a decision on disqualification by the President must be preceded by mandatory consultation with the Election Commission of India."

-- Syndicated from IANS
Jaipur, March 27 : Rajasthan Police have detained 11 youths for pelting stones at the Hindu Ranbheri bike rally which was being taken out in Jaipur Rural on Sunday, officials said on Monday.

Miscreants pelted stones at the Hindu Ranbheri bike rally in Jaipur Rural area due to which tension seemed to appear on the spot. The police deployed for the security of the rally failed to control the situation immediately. Soon, a large police force was called and the miscreants were chased away. Police have arrested more than 11 youths.

Police officials said some miscreants pelted stones during a rally in Tala village of Raisar area of Jamvaramgarh on the occasion of Hindu New Year. Additional force has been deployed in the area. At the moment, situation is under control, the officials added.

The Hindu Ranbheri bike rally started from Khel Maidan Chandwaji at around 10.15 a.m. on Sunday and passed through different areas. However, around 3 p.m., some miscreants pelted stones near Tala Johra of Raiser police station area. A case has been registered at Raiser police station on behalf of Sadhuram Jat present in the rally.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan BJP has protested the incident.

BJP MLA and party spokesperson Ramlal Sharma attacked the Congress government over the communal incidents in Jaipur.

He said, "There was a sudden attack on the saffron rally by people of a particular community which pelted stones after which the police arrested 11 people. Out of those 11 people, there are many people who are suspicious and are not residents of the village or even from nearby villages. This indicates that this attack has been done in a planned way by the people of the particular community. Bharatiya Janata Party demands action as this is not the first incident in Rajasthan, such incidents have happened at many places in the state due to the promotion of appeasement politics after the Congress government came to power." "Police need to take strict action to curb these incidents and if strict action is not taken then it is difficult to curb these incidents. That's why the government should take action against the culprits soon. Police are trying to register cases against innocent people, if police register cases against innocent people in this way, then Bharatiya Janata Party is not going to keep quiet," he added.
New Delhi, March 27 : SUN Mobility on Monday said it has entered into a collaboration with Zomato to power 50,000 electric 2-wheelers across the country over the next 24 months.

The EV company, which will utilise its battery swap solutions for the last-mile deliveries, said the collaboration has been confirmed in Delhi with an initial fleet deployment.

"By deploying 50,000 electric two-wheelers in Zomato's fleet, we are reducing our carbon footprint by 5,000 MT/month and contributing to a cleaner environment," said Anant Badjatya, CEO, SUN Mobility.

The move is aligned with Zomato's commitment to "The Climate Group's EV100 initiative that implies 100 per cent EV adoption by 2030" and is also in line with SUN Mobility's mission to electrify last-mile deliveries in India.

"Our associations in the past and now with SUN Mobility to swap batteries will accelerate the transition to EV-based deliveries, further helping us keep our promise of a sustainable Zomato," said Mohit Sardana, COO, Food Delivery.

The swappable battery technology will enable the last-mile delivery partners to easily and quickly swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones at SUN Mobility Swap Points.

This will reduce the downtime for recharging, increase the efficiency of the last-mile delivery operations and contribute to a cleaner environment by reducing emissions, said the companies.

Founded in 2017, SUN Mobility is a joint venture between SUN Group and Maini Group.

SUN Mobility has deployed 358 Swap Points in 18 cities to date, powering over 80 million kms and over 4.2 million swaps in the country so far.
Islamabad, March 27 : Following the arrest of Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, chief of Pakistani political outfit Haq Do Tehreek (HDT), in January, the situation in Gwadar has been calm so far. But after the lifting of section 144 in the town, protests against the Maulanas arrest have simmered again.

A demonstration by Burqa-clad women on Sunday raised the voice for Maulana Hidayat's release, Dawn reported.

Maasi Zainab is the female face of the Gwadar agitation that has grabbed the nation's attention for over a year.

According to Zainab, the HDT chief was put behind bars for no reason.

"He is being punished for speaking out against the injustice meted out to the people of Gwadar," Zainab said while speaking to Dawn in this town's Mullah Band area, near the deep sea port.

"Our fishermen were not being allowed to go out to the sea due to security considerations. Families had to go without a square meal for days together.

"But after the protests led by Maulana Hidayat, the authorities provided a little relief to fishermen. Now we are able to make ends meet." According to Zaini, as she is commonly known, the Maulana has given a voice to the inhabitants of Gwadar, who were largely ignored by the authorities while charting out an uplift plan for this port town, Dawn reported.

Another vocal woman here is Zargul Baloch, a member of the HDT. She was one of the leading organisers behind the women's march.

While speaking to Dawn, she laments that the state does not bother to meet the citizens' basic needs like water, electricity, education and health.

"The most alarming development for us has been illegal trawling as it wipes out entire fish stocks, leaving nothing for our fishermen. Maulana Hidayatur Rehman has given some hope to us.

"But since he is in jail for giving voice to our grievances, the people of Gwadar, women included, have come out in his support." Hundreds of women, led by HDT leader Hussain Wadela and Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, took part in the rally.

The marchers passed through the major streets of Gwadar, including the Marine Drive, near the beach.

They also highlighted other issues, e.g. the matter of the missing, Dawn reported.
Guwahati, March 27 : Assam Police have seized drugs worth Rs 30 crore in Karimganj district, officials said on Monday, adding that three persons were arrested in connection.

According to the police, the huge cache of drugs was seized on Sunday night when a vehicle coming from Mizoram and moving towards Tripura was apprehended.

More than 3 kg of narcotic substances were recovered.

Partha Pratim Das, Superintendent of Police, Karimganj District, said: "Looking into the earlier cases and preliminary investigation into the current case, drugs were tried to smuggle to Bangladesh." The driver, Shafik Miya, and helper, Ramnath Goala, were arrested by the police.

Another person identified as Wabidullah was also arrested for having a connection to drug peddling.

"We got a secret tip that drugs were being peddled in a vehicle. We intercepted it and found that the vehicle's oil tanker was divided into two parts. At least 220 soap cases containing yaba tablets and 2.9kg of heroin were recovered from the vehicle," Das added.
The official ban on self-serve gas in Jersey began in 1949 with the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act, citing safety concerns like fire hazards. But like a lot of things New Jersey, there's really a more sinister reason for the ban that's worthy of a Tony Soprano storyline.

According to a 2019 story by journalist Paul Mulshine, the legislation supposedly arose as a tactic to fix gas prices and stop an enterprising business owner from undercutting his competitors. In 1949, Irving Reingold opened a 24-pump gas station on Route 17 in Hackensack. He offered gas at 18.9 cents a gallon when others were selling for 21.9 cents. The only requirement was that his customers had to pump it themselves.

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The idea was a hit with his customers, and they lined up for blocks, according to Mulshine. His competitors? Not so much. When shooting up his gas station didn't deter Reingold, thanks to bullet-proof glass, (apparently, he was expecting a negative reaction), the rival owners turned to the law for a solution. They persuaded the state to pass a resolution outlawing self-serve gas, which quickly passed, and Reingold was out of the gas business and consumers returned to paying higher gas prices.
Canberra, March 27 : Australian flag carrier Qantas has resumed direct flights between Melbourne and Tokyo for the first time in more than three years, after the Covid-19 pandemic grounded the route.

In a statement, Qantas said that as the first airline to provide non-stop flights between Melbourne International Airport and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, the year-round flights will operate four days per week on an Airbus A330 aircraft, reports Xinhua news agency.

The new service is expected to save passengers nearly two hours of travel to downtown Tokyo compared with the pre-pandemic route to Narita Airport.

"We're pleased we can now offer our customers much easier access to Tokyo city centre and the world's third-largest economy from three major east coast Australian cities," said Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David.

"Our Customers in Victoria have been looking forward to the return of this route, with flights launching in time for travellers to enjoy the Cherry Blossom season in Japan. Corporate travellers can also now save time on their airport commute by flying into or out of Haneda." With existing routes from Sydney and Brisbane to Haneda International Airport, the airline is now offering customers over 420,000 seats between Australia and Japan annually, as well as the option of double daily flights to Tokyo.
Washington, March 27 : The death toll from an explosion and fire at a chocolate factory in West Reading in the US state of Pennsylvania, has increased to seven, authorities said.

"All seven presumptive missing have been found," West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said in a statement issued late Sunday night.

None of the victims will be named until authorities are certain that their families have been contacted, Xinhua news agency quoted Kaag as saying.

The incident was reported at the R.M. Palmer Company, at about 5 p.m. on March 24.

Ten people were sent to the hospital.

Kaag said that there will be three buildings condemned around the site out of precaution as the investigation continues.

Richard M. Palmer Sr. founded the company in 1948 selling a handful of chocolates, including bunnies, NBC News reported.

R.M. Palmer Company now employs 850 people and sells more than 500 seasonal products, according to the company's website.
New Delhi, March 27 : A man in Delhi's Krishna Nagar area was rescued 20 minutes after he was kidnapped, a senior police official said on Monday, adding that two accused persons have been arrested.

The police received a call at 4.33 p.m. on Sunday regarding the abduction of Deepak, a 30-year-old resident of Pandit Park area, from a house by two persons in a car.

"The phone number of the victim was obtained, and based on location, a raid was conducted at the Kaanch Restaurant, Jhilmil Industrial Area. The victim was rescued within 20 minutes. He was asked to give a complaint which he did not and CCTV footage of the house was analysed," said a senior police official.

"A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Krishna Nagar police station and the duo accused identified as Paritosh Gupta (30), a resident of New Govindpura and Love (29), a resident of Bihari Colony were arrested," said the official.
Kolkata, March 27 : A man has been arrested for killing his neighbour's minor daughter as a "human sacrifice" for getting his own child.

The seven-year old girl's body was recovered from the residence of the accused at Tiljala in South Kolkata on late Sunday night following which he was arrested. The body, stuffed inside a jute sack, bore several fatal injury marks, including on her head.

Aloke Kumar, hailing from Bihar, used to stay in Kolkata to earn his livelihood. During interrogation, Kumar confessed to having sacrificed the child on the direction of a 'tantrik', who told him that the sacrifice of a minor girl will get him a child.

"The tantrik is also based out of Bihar and a team of our officials will on Monday leave for Bihar to track and arrest him," said a senior official of the city police.

The accused had confessed to police that his wife had suffered three miscarriages following which he contacted the tantrik who advised him to adopt the minor girl sacrifice route.

According to the girl's parents, she was sent to dump the garbage at the nearby garbage- bin on Sunday morning and since then she went missing. The police were informed and the cops doubted that the girl or her body might have been hidden in one of the adjacent residences.

A search operation was launched in all the residences in the locality and finally the body was recovered from Aloke Kumar house late Sunday night. The accused was arrested thereafter.

The local people got agitated over the development and staged a protest in front of the local Tiljala Police Station demanding that the accused be handed over to them.

The police had to resort to lathicharge to bring the situation under control.
Mumbai, March 27 : TV actors Neil Bhatt and Aishwarya Sharma, who are seen playing the role of DCP Virat Chavan and Paakhi in the show, 'Ghum Hain Kisikey Pyaar Meiin', celebrated the completion of 800 episodes of their show.

Recalling the journey, they shared their working experience with the entire team of the fictional drama.

Neil said: "I am feeling very grateful and humbled about our show reaching a milestone of 800 episodes. It's a celebration of hard work. There's still a very long way to go and this is very encouraging. My team and I are going to work even harder to make sure we keep seeing such milestones."

The show is going through several twist and the story that started with three lead characters Sai Joshi, played by Ayesha Singh, Paakhi, portrayed by Aishwarya, and Virat, played by Neil, has been through several twists and now with the entry of Harshad Arora as Satya Adhikari in the life of Sai has brought a new turn in the entire story.

Sharing her excitement, Aishwarya said: "It feels like we are shooting our first episode and now it's 800, never ever imagined that I could be part of a successful show which has given me a lot, be it in reel or real life which become a turning point in my career. It has been a great journey, I have learnt a lot as an actor and am still learning. 'Ghum Hain Kisikey Pyaar Meiin' and Pakhi will remain with me forever, always will be close to my heart, I really feel blessed and yes hearty congratulations to all our fandoms too."

'Ghum Hain Kisikey Pyaar Meiin' airs on Star Plus.

-- Syndicated from IANS
Guwahati, March 27 : Assam Congress has refused to meet the Election Commission (EC) team that has been touring the state to take stock of the situation regarding the ongoing delimitation exercise of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies.

Bhupen Borah, the president of Assam Pradesh Congress, told reporters here on Monday that he had earlier informed the Chief Election Commissioner about several loopholes in the delimitation exercise in the state. However, the EC did not respond to that despite several reminders.

He said, "I met the CEC, Rajiv Kumar, on March 4 in Delhi and submitted a memorandum regarding the flaws in the ongoing delimitation exercise. He promised a written response. We sent multiple follow-up reminders after the meeting, but they have not responded as of now." The Congress leader has also questioned the time allotted to political parties for keeping their views on delimitation.

"Eleven political parties were allowed a cumulative time of 3 hours to meet the EC team, which means each one of us had hardly more than 15-20 minutes to express our views," Borah said.

According to the Assam Congress chief, due to these reasons, his party has decided to boycott the all-party meeting with the EC team. However, he claimed that the Congress is not against the delimitation exercise.

"We are not against the delimitation, but the EC must address our concerns. It has been decided that until we get a written response to our earlier memorandum, we will not meet the EC team," Borah added.

The full team of the Election Commission arrived in Guwahati on Sunday evening to meet all stakeholders regarding the delimitation. Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, and other ECI officials would know the ground reality and expectations of the stakeholders and the general public regarding the ongoing delimitation exercise.

During this visit, the Commission will interact with political parties, public representatives, members of civil society, and social organisations regarding delimitation exercise.

They will also meet officials of the state administration, including the Deputy Commissioners of all districts in the state.
Hyderabad, March 27 : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana Police probing the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper leak case on Monday continued interrogating four of the accused.

Pulidindi Praveen Kumar, Rajashekar Reddy, Lavdyavath Dhakya and Rajeshwar Nayak were brought to the SIT office from CCS office for questioning for the second day.

A city court had on Saturday sent the four accused to police custody for three days. The SIT officials had grilled the accused on Sunday to extract information about the role of other accused.

This is the second time that SIT has taken the accused into custody. They were also grilled earlier after the court had sent them to police custody for six days.

The SIT, which has already arrested 13 accused, is likely to take some more suspects into custody to widen the scope of investigation.

Praveen Kumar and Rajashekar Reddy, both employees of TSPSC and key accused in the case, were the first to be arrested.

Praveen, who worked as an assistant section officer at TSPSC and Rajashekar Reddy, a network admin at TSPSC, had allegedly stolen question papers of some exams from a computer in the confidential section of the Commission and sold it to other accused.

Along with Praveen and Rajasehkar, police arrested Praveen's friend Renuka, a teacher and her husband Lavdyavath Dhakya, who took the papers and sold it to others with the help of Kethavath Srinivas, a police constable from Medchal. Kethavath Rajeshwar, Kethavath Neelesh Nayak, Kethavath Rajender Nayak and Pathlavath Gopal Nayak were also arrested on March 13.

Three more accused Shameem, Damera Ramesh Kumar and N. Suresh were arrested on March 23.

Shameem and Rames are employees of TSPSC while Suresh is a former outsourcing employee.

The trio had allegedly scored over 100 marks in Group-I Prelims held in October last year after procuring question papers from the main accused. The SIT has sought custody of three accused for six days.

Prashant Reddy, brother-in-law of Rajashekar Reddy, was arrested on March 25. Prashant Reddy, a contract employee under the rural employment scheme at MPDO office in Nawabpet mandal in Mahabubnagar district, is among those suspected to have illegally accessed the Group-I preliminary paper. Prashant along with three others are suspected to have spent Rs 15 lakh to procure the paper.

The SIT is also questioning all candidates of the Group-I preliminary exam who scored 100 and above marks out of a total of 150 marks.
Chennai, March 27 : Congress MLAs arrived at the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday wearing black shirts to protest senior leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

Leader of the Tamil Nadu Congress Legislative Party, K. Selvaperunthugai led the MLAs and held placards outside the House.

Assembly Speaker M. Appavu denied permission to the legislators to carry their placards inside the House.

The Congress has 18 legislators in the Tamil Nadu Assembly and of these, 11 reached the house wearing black clothes.

The newly-elected Erode East MLA E.V.K.S. Elangovan is absent from the House after being hospitalised for Covid-19.

Selvaperunthugai told IANS that the legislators would conduct an all-night protest dharna against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

However, Appavu has denied permission for the dharna within the Assembly premises and sources told IANS that the legislators will now conduct the sit-in protest outside the Assembly.
Chandigarh, March 27 : With the harvesting of wheat about to start, standing wheat crop was damaged after unseasonal rains accompanying strong winds lashed Punjab and Haryana last week. However, the Chief Ministers of the two states have promised compensation for the crop loss.

"The strong winds and rain have damaged our wheat crop. The government should immediately order girdawri (harvest inspection) and offer compensation to farmers," said Gurdev Singh, a farmer in Moga district of Punjab.

Punjab produces about 130 lakh tonnes wheat, while in Haryana it is over 85 lakh tonnes.

Fearing widespread crop loss, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a 25 per cent upward revision in the compensation for the crop loss.

The Chief Minister, who conducted a whirlwind tour of villages in Moga, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda and Patiala to assess the damage, said on Sunday in case the loss is more than 75 per cent then the state government will compensate the farmers with Rs 15,000 per acre.

Likewise, he said, if the loss was between 33 and 75 per cent then the farmers will get a compensation worth Rs 6,750 per acre.

Similarly, Mann said the labourers will get 10 per cent as compensation so that they do not face any problem in life, adding Rs 95,100 will be paid as compensation to full house damage whereas Rs 5,200 will be given for minor damage to houses.

The Chief Minister further said in order to safeguard the interests of the farmers from nature's fury, the government will soon introduce a crop insurance scheme for the food growers of the country.

He said earlier the crop insurance scheme announced by the Union government had remained confined to the papers only but this scheme will give real succor to the farmers.

On the other hand, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the farmers would get full compensation for crop loss by May after assessing the damage due to the unseasonal rains and hailstorms.

He said the work of agirdawari' would be completed in 15 days and compensation would be given to all the farmers in a transparent manner.

He said the government has given compensation of Rs 1,300 crore to the farmers.

It is mandatory for the farmers to fill the details of their losses on the e-Fasal Kshatipurti portal.

"Apart from this, those farmers who cannot fill the assessment of losses on the portal themselves can get it filled by visiting the Common Service Centre. Its expenses will be borne by the government," Khattar added.

He said the farmers who get crop insurance are paid by the company and the farmers who do not get insurance will be given compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre by the government.
Bengakuru, March 27 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha activist Praveen Kumar Nettaru has seized an office of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Sullia town of Dakshina Kannada district, sources said on Monday.

According to sources, the PFI office in Sullia was used for carrying out terrorist activities. The office was located on the first floor of Tahira complex on Aletti Road in Gandhinagar.

The copy of seizure has been sent to the owner of the property, District Commissioner, Superintendent of Police of Dakshina Kannada district. The order maintains that the property should not be leased or rented out. Directions have been given against shifting any property from the office or taking up renovation work.

Sources explained that the conspiracy to murder Praveen Kumar Nettaru was hatched in the office. Praveen was hacked to death by assailants in their third attempt.

The NIA sleuths had submitted a charge sheet against 20 persons with the Special NIA court in Bengaluru. The charge sheet contains 1,500 pages and statements of 240 witnesses.

NIA had earlier sealed the Mittur Freedom Community Hall in Idukki village near Bantwal town in connection with murder case in February.

Praveen was hacked to death at the height of the hijab and halal crisis in the state on July 26, 2022. The incident had taken place in Bellare near Sullia in Dakshina Kannada district.

The Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) had announced a ticket for Shafi Bellare, an accused in the Nettare murder to contest in the upcoming Assembly election in Karnataka. The development raised a debate in the state.

Shafi Bellare is presently lodged in prison in connection with the murder. He was arrested by the NIA and is currently in its custody.
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.

FAW Groups Hongqi kicks off pre-sale of Hongqi H6 sedan

On Mar. 26, FAW Groups premium auto brand Hongqi officially began the presale of the Hongqi H6 sedan model, which is scheduled to hit the market on Apr. 18 at the Auto China 2023. The model features a presale price range of 194,800 yuan to 241,800 yuan.

Photo credit: Hongqi

Chery New Energy lowers prices of three new energy vehicle models

Chery New Energy recently dropped the prices of three new energy vehicle (NEV) models, namely, the Chery QQ Ice Cream, the Chery eQ1 (Little Ant), and the Chery Wujie Pro with the maximum discount reaching 9,000 yuan.

NIO announces commitment to join SBTi

On Mar. 25th, NIO announced its commitment to join the Science Base Targets initiative (SBTi), and to plan and set science-based carbon reduction targets within the next two years.

Photo credit: NIO

Chinas homemade passenger vehicle retail sales likely to jump 25.8% YoY in Mar. 2023: CPCA

China's domestic passenger vehicle ("PV") retail sales are anticipated to reach 1.59 million units in Mar. 2023, which should jump 27.5% from the previous month and also grow 25.8% from the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association ("CPCA").

Hesai Technology to build global software R&D headquarters in Chongqing city

Chinese LiDAR maker Hesai Technology on March 26 inked an investment agreement with the local authorities of Chongqing Economic and Technological Development Zone for its global software R&D headquarters.

ECARX introduces multiple automotive computing platforms

Geely-backed automotive intelligence solution developer ECARX on March 24 unveiled four major solutions, the Antora smart cockpit computing platform, the Cloudpeak cross-domain system capability base, the Makalu next-generation smart cockpit computing platform, and the Super Brain central computing platform for automobiles.

Bosch breaks ground on R&D, manufacturing base for NEV core components, automated driving in Suzhou city

Bosch Automotive Products Suzhou Co. Ltd. (Bosch Suzhou), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bosch, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new energy vehicle core components and automated driving technology R&D and manufacturing base in Suzhou Industrial Park, according to a post Bosch released on Mar. 25 via its WeChat account.

Bosch to promote local development, commercialization of fuel cells in Wuxi city

On March 25, Bosch and the Management Committee of Wuxi National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement to further promote the localization and commercialization of Bosch's hydrogen fuel cells and electrification products dedicated to commercial vehicles (CVs), according to a post on Boschs WeChat account.

Xiaomis car-making team expands to 2,300 members, first car to roll off line in H1 2024

Xiaomi Group revealed that it spent 3.1 billion yuan ($486 million) on innovative businesses in 2022, including smart electric vehicles. The automotive related team at Xiaomi now has about 2,300 members.

QCraft introduces urban NOA solution in Shanghai

Chinese autonomous driving solution developer QCraft released the industry's first urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) solution based on a single Journey 5 chip from Horizon Robotics, which optimizes hardware performance through extensive architecture and performance optimization.
New York, March 27 : Former US President Donald Trump seemed little fazed by the possible indictment on the lower Manhattan Tax Evasion case following Attorney General Letitia James prosecution even as the city and rest of the US has gone on high alert expecting disturbance from supporters.

Trump is quite calm and has repeatedly insisted, especially Saturday night, that he was not upset by expected criminal charges that might arise from the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into his role in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels as he returned from a campaign rally in Waco, Texas.

Trump's responses to questions suggested possible potential damage to his image, media reports said, he came across as someone angry that his good vibrations with his "Make America Great Again" base in Texas could be interrupted by the reality of a possible indictment as soon as this week.

He claimed in a recorded interview with reporters aboard his Trump Force One plane that he was unafraid about the investigation even as he attacked the case and attacked media reporting about the case.

"I'm not frustrated by it. It's a fake investigation. We did nothing wrong... I told you that," the former Pesident said before proceeding to lash out at the NBC News reporter on the plane who asked if he was frustrated.

"This is fake news, and NBC is one of the worst. Don't ask me any more questions." Trump admitted he had actually no insight into the investigations. "I have no idea what's going to happen. They've already dropped the case, from what I understand." Trump went on to attack the investigation insisting the case is over even as he asserted it was fake though not supported by any concrete evidence.

"If anything ever happened with the case, it's a fake case. This is a fake case. They have absolutely nothing. They have it in reverse. They should indict Michael Cohen for all the lies that he told," he was quoted by the British newspaper Independent. as he referred to the attorney who allegedly made the hush money payment .

"They may not do that, but that's what should be happening.

The case is about the sum of $130,000 that Trump reportedly paid to Daniels through Cohen in the final days of the 2016 campaign.

Trump later allegedly reimbursed Cohen with $35,000 checks using his personal funds, put down in account books as legal expenses. Cohen later pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal crimes.

However, it's still vague what charges the district attorney Alvin Bragg might seek against Trump, though some members of his legal team believe the most likely scenario involves a base charge of falsifying business records coupled with potential tax fraud because Trump would not have paid taxes on the payments.

The remarks from Trump on the flight came during an interview with four reporters. The Guardian claimed it obtained the recording after the reporter, confirmed to travel with the former president, was erased off the manifest the day before the trip over recent reporting that the campaign disliked.

The former President was buoyed from a 2024 campaign perspective, noting how he had moved ahead in recent polls amid news of an expected indictment and the Republican base's clamoring to his defence.

"We've had the best polls we've ever had," Trump said.

Using a derisive nickname for Florida governor and expected 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis, Trump said: "Ron DeSanctimonious is crashing. They're already looking for somebody to take his place."
New York, March 27 : Indian-origin Sikh Manmeet Colon has been sworn in as first assistant police chief of Connecticut's New Haven city, becoming the department's first Indian-American and second female assistant chief of colour to rise to the top position.

The Board of Police Commissioners in New Haven unanimously approved the appointment of Colon, 37, who was previously a lieutenant in the internal affairs office, The New Haven Independent reported.

Mumbai-born Colon moved with her family to Queens when she was 11, and studied criminal justice at the University of New Haven.

Colon hoped that her status as the department's first Indian-American assistant chief inspires others from similar backgrounds to pursue careers in law enforcement.

"I come from a Sikh family. I speak Punjabi. I'm very proud of my heritage," Colon was quoted as saying in The New Haven Independent.

"More important is the mission and the values of the department. To me, it's all about being fair and impartial. My background, my morals, my family values and traditions a I feel like I bring a lot to the table. I'm glad there's a space for me at the table," she added.

Colon's daughter pinned the new assistant chief badge on her mother's uniform, as Mayor Justin Elicker then administered the oath of office earlier this month.

"A trailblazer, AC Colon is the 2nd woman of colour & the 1st of Indian descent to serve in the position in the history of the NHPD - and I'm confident she will continue to serve our city w/honor & distinction in this new role," Elicker tweeted.

In her tenure with the New Haven Police Department (NHPD), Colon has worked in patrol, as a detective in the special victims unit, as a sergeant supervising the robbery and burglary unit, as a lieutenant and district manager for Newhallville and Dixwell, and most recently as the head of the Internal Affairs division.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson, who had recommended Colon, hoped that the Indian-American's appointment will inspire more women to join the New Haven Police Department, which is currently 17 per cent female.

"This is a great day for the City of New Haven, and also for the Indian community and women of colour in the city and state; another glass ceiling has been broken," Police Commission Chair Evelise Ribeiro said.
Mumbai, March 27 : Music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman feels the play 'Disco Dancer - The Musical', which will have its grand premiere on April 14 in Mumbai will redefine contemporary Indian theatre.

On World Theatre Day, music composers Salim and Sulaiman Merchant discuss the play which they believe will redefine contemporary Indian theatre after regaling audiences in London's West End Theatre, in back-to-back sold-out shows.

The Saregama Live production will now take the Indian audiences of all generations back to the unforgettable music, clap-worthy dialogues, and foot-taping choreography of the '80s.

Salim said: "On World Theatre Day, it is an honour to talk about an immersive live experience like 'Disco Dancer - The Musical'. To begin with, it was an absolute privilege to reimagine songs like, 'Goron Ki Na Kalon Ki..', 'Yaad Aa Raha Hai', 'Jimmy Jimmy' and the title song. And incredible to see the musicals smashing success in London."

"Now of course, we are looking forward to celebrating the legacy of Mithun da, Bappi da, and B Subhash on an unprecedented, never-seen-before scale, in India. Saregama Live and our director and writer have done a wonderful job of doing justice to a film that even in the 80's was a 100-crore hit. If we had not been able to share this experience with audiences back home, something would have felt incomplete."

Sulaiman says, the show will transport everyone to the 80's era.

He added: "The score of 'Disco Dancer' is timeless and perfect and we just reimagined the music to fit it in the format of a live musical without tampering with its nostalgia factor. We have composed two original songs as well. We can assure you that the musical will be an experience of a lifetime."

Salim agrees and says, "There will be live singing, dancing, stunning choreography, and everything that you remember fondly about the film including Mithun da's iconic moves!"

'Disco Dancer - The Musical' has been brought to India by Saregama and Suniel Shetty and presented by Royal Challenge. It will premiere at the NSCI dome in Mumbai.

-- Syndicated from IANS
London, March 27 : Women are more likely to experience long-term anxiety after cardiac arrest than men, finds a study.

The study, presented at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2023, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), revealed that more than 40 per cent of women report anxiety four months after a cardiac arrest compared with 23 per cent of men.

Cardiac arrest causes one in five deaths in industrialised countries. The heart unexpectedly stops pumping blood around the body and if flow is not restored quickly, the individual passes out and dies within 10 to 20 minutes.

Less than 10 per cent of people who have a cardiac arrest survive to hospital discharge.

Anxiety and depression are frequent after critical illness and are strongly associated with reduced quality of life in patients and relatives.

"Cardiac arrest occurs with little or no warning and it's common to feel anxious and low afterwards," said Dr. Jesper Kjaergaard of Rigshospitalet-Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.

"After the initial shock and confusion, patients and their families have an abrupt change in their way of life, with medical investigations to determine the cause of cardiac arrest and in some cases diagnosis of a condition requiring treatment. This may add to the stress and anxiety.

"Our study indicates that women are more affected psychologically and could be targeted for extra support," Kjaergaard said.

Between 2016 and 2021, the study enrolled 245 patients who had a cardiac arrest in the community and were admitted to hospital in a coma.

Psychological symptoms were assessed during a four-month follow up appointment.

Depression and anxiety scores were found significantly higher in women (3.3 and 6.1, respectively), compared to men (2.6 and 4.5, respectively).

Women also had significantly higher levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared with men (median score 33 vs. 26, respectively).

In both men and women, anxiety was significantly correlated to PTSD symptoms.

"The findings confirm our experience in clinical practice that the psychological effects of cardiac arrest persist for months. Anxiety was frequent, particularly in women," Kjaergaard said.

"Our results highlight the need for long-term follow up of cardiac arrest survivors to identify and treat mental health issues. Patients should be encouraged to tell their healthcare professional about anxiety, depression and stress related to cardiac arrest."
Hanoi, March 27 : Vietnam expects its retail sales to expand by 2.5 times to around $350 billion by 2025, local media reported on Monday, citing the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The Vietnamese retail market, currently worth $142 billion, has an untapped potential due to economic and population growth, reports Xinhua news agency.

Vietnam's population is going to reach 100 million soon in April, marking it as the 15th most populous country in the world.

A population of 100 million would mean a sizable domestic market, and possibilities to attract more foreign direct investment, said the UN Population Fund.

Over the next decade, 36 million more may join Vietnam's consumer class who spend at least $11 a day, according to a 2021 report by consulting group McKinsey, noting that the Southeast Asian nation's consumer class would grow rapidly from 10 per cent of the population in 2000 to 75 per cent by 2030.

Vietnam's total goods retail sales and consumer service revenues increased 19.8 per cent year on year to approximately 5,679.9 trillion Vietnamese dong ($239 billion) in 2022, higher than an official target of just 8 per cent and the previous year's growth of 10.15 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office.

HSBC analysts saw multinational corporations in Asia looking for ways to make new investments in both retail and manufacturing sectors in Vietnam including semiconductors, electronics, mobile components, plastic, renewable energy, and logistics industries.

Thai retail conglomerate Central Group has recently announced an additional investment of $1.45 billion to expand its selling platform in Vietnam.

The retailer sees its operations in the country making the largest contribution of about 22 per cent of the group's total sales, said its country chief executive.

Vietnam's economic growth is backed by public investment, exports, domestic consumption and foreign direct investment.

Companies with investments from foreign firms account for about 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the country's total exports and 25 per cent of domestic investment, according to government data.

Vietnam's economy grew 8.02 per cent last year, exceeding the average of 7.1 per cent from 2016 to 2019, mainly due to a rebound in domestic consumption following Covid-19 and solid performance in export-oriented manufacturing, said the World Bank.
Chennai, March 27 : The Tamil Nadu Congress MLAs on Monday staged a walkout from the state Legislative Assembly after Speaker M. Appavu expunged some remarks of party's floor leader K. Selvaperunthagai.

The CLP leader had raised the issue of the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Notably, the Congress leader was disqualified by the Parliament Legislative secretariat after he was sentenced to two years imprisonment by a magistrate court in Surat. The disqualification will prevent Rahul Gandhi from contesting elections for six years till he gets a relief from the higher courts.

K. Selvaperuthungai, while speaking to media persons, stated that the decision of the Speaker to expunge his remarks were worrying and that the Congress MLAs walked out of the House in protest.

The BJP legislature party leader Nainar Nagendran told media persons that it was unnecessary for the Congress to raise the issue in the Assembly.

This morning, the Congress MLAs reached the House in black attire as a mark of protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament.

They were also supposed to sit in the House throughout Monday night but the Assembly Speaker denied them permission. The MLAs will now be sitting outside the House throughout the night in protest to the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.
New Delhi, March 27 : Delhi Police on Monday detained Indian Youth Congress (IYC) protesters while they were climbing barricades in a bid to march ahead from the Jantar Mantar, an official said.

The IYC members were protesting against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Parliament.

The protesters were carrying flags of the IYC, and placards saying "Satyameva Jayate" while demanding justice for Rahul Gandhi.

According to the police, some protesters were detained and fake notes of Rs 2,000 carried as a symbol of demonstration were also seized.

"The detained protesters were taken to Mandir Marg police station in police buses," an official said.
New Delhi, March 27 : Amid the opposition's demand of a JPC probe in the Adani issue, the Rajya Sabha passed the Finance Bill and The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2023 on Monday.

The Bill was "considered and returned" from the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill was earlier passed by the Lok Sabha last week amid the opposition sloganeering.

The Bill aims to authorise the payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

Both the Bills were returned to the Lok Sabha without discussion and the House was adjourned for the day.

The Finance Bill 2023-24, which was passed in the Lok Sabha through voice vote on Friday, has as many as 75 amendments, some key ones include a hike in securities transaction tax (STT) on options by 23.5 per cent and futures by 25 per cent.

This will lead to those trading in futures and options (F&O) paying higher STT.

In a way, the move is likely to discourage F&O traders, as the government aims to tax them more since turnover is high in such transactions.

Also the Finance Bill has effected an amendment, stripping debt mutual funds of long-term benefits.

According to the amendment, debt mutual funds have been stripped of the long-term tax benefit, if they invest less than 35 per cent of their assets in equities.

Such mutual funds will attract short-term capital gains tax.
Hyderabad, March 27 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Monday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the remarks he made in Karnataka on Sunday about 'Hyderabad liberation day'.

Rama Rao reminded Shah that September 17 was celebrated by the Telangana government officially as national integration day since Hyderabad state was integrated into the Indian Union on the same day in 1948.

KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, tweeted that Shah's blatant misrepresentation is indeed unbecoming of the stature of a Union Home Minister.

"Some news clips of the same for your reference," wrote KTR along with the posts of some newspaper clippings about celebration of the National Integration Day.

"To those who ask why can't we call it Liberation Day; Why do we celebrate 15th August as Independence Day and not as Liberation Day? What should matter is respectful commemoration of the sacrifices & struggles against oppressors; be it the British or Nizam," KTR tweeted. "Stop being a prisoner of the past. Become the Architect of your Future," he added.

During his visit to Karnataka's Bidar district on Sunday, Amit Shah targeted the BRS government of Telangana for 'hesitating' to celebrate Hyderabad liberation day.

The Union MinisterAinaugurated the Gorata Martyrs' Memorial and a memorial of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Gorata.

Shah highlighted the sacrifice of people in Gorata village who were allegedly killed by Razakars of Nizam, the ruler of Hyderabad State, for hosting a 2.5-ft tall Tricolour. Shah said now, a 103-ft tall Tricolour has been hoisted on the same land.

The Union Home Minister also targeted the Congress party for what he calls vote bank politics. He alleged that the party never commemorated the martyrs of Independence and Hyderabad liberation.
San Francisco, March 27 : As Apple is expected to unveil its Mixed Reality (MR) headset in a few months, some employees have expressed doubts about whether the device would make sense for the company.

According to The New York Times, citing sources, some employees have left the project due to their doubts, while others remain sceptical of the headset's success, especially at a price of $3,000.

Some employees have been fired due to the headset's lack of progress, including its use of Apple's Siri voice assistant.

Moreover, the report suggests that there has been some internal turmoil about the future of the mixed reality headset as some internal sceptics have questioned if the new device is a solution in search of a problem.

Unlike the iPod, which put digital songs in your pocket, and the iPhone, which combined a music player with a phone, the headsets haven't been driven by clarity, the report said.

Further, doubts from both employees and Apple executives have some employees wondering whether the headset's release will be delayed.

However, it does not appear that this will happen, as a June launch is still on the table, with "headset manufacturing underway" for the planned reveal in just a few months, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Apple's second-generation AR (Augmented Reality)/MR (Mixed Reality) headset will feature two high-end and low-end models, which will likely launch in 2025.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese tech giant Xiaomi announced on March 24 in its 2022 earnings report including latest updates on its automaking business.

Photo credit: Xiaomi

According to the company's 2022 full-year performance report, Xiaomi generated a total revenue of 280 billion yuan ($44 billion) in 2022, with adjusted net profit of 8.5 billion yuan ($1.3 billion). The report also revealed that the company spent 3.1 billion yuan ($486 million) on innovative businesses, including smart electric vehicles. The automotive related team at Xiaomi now has about 2,300 members.

In February 2023, Xiaomi applied to register several graphic and text trademarks, including "MODENAT", "XIAOMI MODENA", and "MIMODENA", according to data from Chinese corporate database Tianyancha. These trademarks are said to be related to Xiaomis first production vehicle model.

In terms of car manufacturing, Xiaomi has built its own base in Beijing's Yizhuang area, with plans to build a complete vehicle factory with an annual output of 300,000 cars in two phases, with each phase having a capacity of 150,000 cars.

In September 2022, Xiaomi's prototype car rolled off the production line as scheduled, and winter testing of the car began at the end of December 2022.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Supreme Court on Monday sought the reply from BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa on a plea of the Karnataka Lokayukta challenging anticipatory bail granted to him by the high court. The MLA is accused in the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents (KSDL) contract scam.

A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued the notice to the BJP legislator. On March 14, the apex court had agreed to take up the Lokayukta's plea against the Karnataka High Court order in the case.

Earlier this month, the Lokayukta police arrested BJP MLA's son Prashanth Madal, who is the chief accounts officer of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, while allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 40 lakh on behalf of his father at the KSDL office. Virupakashappa resigned as the chairperson of KSDL following his son's arrest.

The high court granted the anticipatory bail to the MLA after hearing his petition and directed him to appear before the investigating officer in the case within 48 hours of receiving the order copy. The high court also directed Virupakshappa not to tamper with the evidence while on bail.
Mumbai, March 27 : In a loud wake-up call, a new survey has claimed that 61 per cent of Mumbaikars feel dozy at work and nearly 35 of them believe they suffer from the dreaded insomnia.

The Great Indian Sleep Scorecard (GISS), conducted by the sleep solutions provider Wakefit.co, attempted to decipher sleep patterns and trends among Indians.

Though Mumbai is known as 'the city that never sleeps' the survey found that 70 per cent of the people here retired only after 11 p.m. -- way past the ideal bed time of 10 p.m.

"Despite going to bed closer to midnight, 29 per cent of the city population was up between 7-8 a.m. and 49 per cent of the people did not feel refreshed on waking up," noted the eye-popper report.

Interestingly, the GISS-2022 had found that 53 per cent Mumbaikars felt sleepy at work which has now shot up to 61 per cent (2023) -- but women outnumber (67 per cent) men (56) on this front.

There is also a steep rise of 34 per cent of Mumbaikars who complained of 'feeling tired and exhausted' after wakeing up in the morning this year compared with 2022.

"The high sleep debt is one of the top causes of excessive daytime sleepiness, leading to the likelihood of people nodding off at work. Though maintaining a bedroom environment that is conducive to sleep is key, the report indicated that 43 per cent of Mumbaikars felt their bedroom ambience has been impacting their sleep," the survey said.

Mumbai medico, Dr. Himanshu Shah said that "sleep disorders are now a very major complaint among all patients coming with any ailments", mostly arising out of fear and tensions of the future for self and family.

Prominent nature therapist and acupuncture expert Dr. Mayie (Shubhangi) Deshmukh said that sleep problems have gone up drastically in the past three years and particularly post-pandemic era due to 'the fear factor and the stress overload' among the people.

The late nights of Mumbaikars are attributed to digital scrolling as it's a proven fact that switching off from digital devices like mobiles, laptops, tablets, televisions, etc., at least an hour before bedtime is optimal for healthy sleep.

Unfortunately, a whopping 37 per cent of "Mumbaikars remain awake till late in the night browsing through social media, while 88 per cent admitted using their phones till just before bedtime", and 90 per cent woke up at least once-twice in the night -- breaking their sleep.

Dr. Shah said that "insufficient or lack of sound sleep" affects the person's health, his productivity in personal and professional life and indirectly impacts the national productivity.

The report also exposed how 31 per cent of Mumbaikars "woke up in the night to worry about their future", and another key factor haunting nearly 35 per cent of the people is they have fallen prey to 'insomnia'.

The GISS-2023 discovered that a prevalent practice for 37 per cent of Mumbaikars was to "to sleep in places other than their beds", contributing to their abject sleeping problems, as a dedicated sleep space is central to building a positive sleep habit and therefore empowering greater sleep affinity.

Dr. Deshmukh said that earlier, there were just 8-10 patients a month with all types of sleep disorders, which has now tripled to nearly 25-30.

"I treat them without medicine... Only with acupuncture and 'panchakarma' the treatment cycle lasts between 2-4 weeks, and a little more for absolute chronic patients," Dr. Deshmukh told IANS.

The sleep issues have become glaring now "as almost all patients ask whether it's due to the vaccination" and Dr. Deshmukh urged the government to seriously look into this aspect on priority before the situation deteriorates.

For GISS-2023, over 10,000 people were surveyed from March 2022-February 2023, across cities, age groups, demographics and has collected around 210,000 responses in the past six years, said Wakefit.co (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 27 : Corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) was initiated in the cases of DHFL, ABG Shipyard and Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL), and resolution plans were approved in cases of DHFL and BPSL, with amount realisable to creditors of Rs 37,167 crore and Rs 19,895 crore, respectively.

Various mechanisms are available for recovery, which include, inter alia, filing of a suit in civil courts or in Debts Recovery Tribunals, action under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, filing of cases for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) in the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, said a written reply by the Finance Ministry in Lok Sabha on Monday.

"As per the inputs received from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, CIRP was initiated in the cases of DHFL, ABG Shipyard and Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL), and resolution plans were approved in cases of DHFL and BPSL, with amount realisable to creditors of Rs. 37,167 crore and Rs. 19,895 crore respectively," said the reply.

Further, liquidation order was passed in case of ABG Shipyard, and more than Rs.1,000 crore has been realised by the liquidator from sale of assets.

The Reserve Bank of India has informed that no fraud pertaining to H-Tech Auto has been reported by any bank, informed the Ministry.

Further, the Central Bureau of Investigation has informed that charge sheets have been filed by it in the cases of DHFL, ABG Shipyard and BPSL.

Besides that, the Directorate of Enforcement has apprised that proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 10,232.43 crore have been attached and six persons have been arrested in these cases, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, added the reply.
Phnom Penh, March 27 : Cambodia and Malaysia on Monday vowed to further promote their bilateral relations and cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, energy, agriculture, education, and labour among others for mutual benefits.

The commitment was made during a meeting between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and his visiting Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We discussed cooperation in various areas, highly valued our bilateral relations, and vowed to further enhance bilateral cooperation in all areas including trade, investment, tourism, energy, connectivity and people-to-people contact," Hun Sen said in a joint press conference after the meeting.

"We encouraged both sides to continue exchanging high-level visits more often and at all levels to build closer friendship, to further increase mutual trust and to expand the broader scope of bilateral cooperation," he added.

According to the Cambodian leader, the trade volume between the two ASEAN member countries was valued at $620 million in 2022, up 24 per cent from $500 million in 2021.

At the press conference, Anwar said regional and international issues such as the Myanmar situation, the Ukraine-Russia war, and the Korean Peninsula, among others, had been discussed, saying that both sides had "similar views" on these issues.

He also thanked Cambodia for helping 287 Malaysians who had been victims of job scams in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister promised to encourage Malaysian companies to buy milled rice and cashew nuts from Cambodia.

At the end of the meeting, the two premiers witnessed the signing of two memorandums of understanding regarding the recruitment, employment and repatriation of Cambodian workers in the domestic sector and in the formal sector.

Anwar arrived in Phnom Penh on Monday morning for a day-long official visit at Hun Sen's invitation.
Mumbai, March 27 : TV and film actor Sanjeev Jotangia, who is known for working in 'Jayeshbhai Jordaar', 'Batla House' and 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', has been roped in to play an important role in the show 'Sapnon Ki Chhalaang'. He shared his experience of joining the show and also talked about his role.

Speaking about why he agreed to take on this role, Sanjeev shared: "'Sapnon Ki Chhalaang' is made to appeal to the mindset of the current generation, who are confident and determined, while also being morally conscious of themselves. This coming-of-age drama brings to light the journey of every girl who took the leap of faith to move to a new city to pursue her dreams. A father's number one concern is to keep his precious daughter safe and from this concern stems the hesitancy to send your daughter away."

"However, I believe it is important to enable your child to live their dream and with this show, we hope parents learn to have faith in their upbringing and believe in their daughter's ambition as well. It's a moving and relatable character, hence I connected to it instantly and I knew this was something I wanted to take up."

Talking about his character, he added: "My character Radhe Shyam is a small-town business owner, a proud father who applauds his daughter's achievements. While he has faith in Radhika's potential, he disagrees with the idea of her taking up a job in Mumbai because of his conservative ideologies and as a protective father, he is worried about his daughter's wellbeing. 'Sapnon Ki Chhalaang' is a beautiful story that will surely strike the right chord with its heart warming and compelling narrative."

-- Syndicated from IANS
New Delhi, March 27 : The Delhi High court on Monday directed Delhi Police to form a Joint Task Force (JTF) with Uttar Pradesh Police to keep a tab on and to stop the illegal sand mining in Yamuna river in the Alipur area.

The plea was filed by one Ravinder alleging illegal sand mining in the river.

The concerned Deputy Commissioner of police (DCP) was directed by a single-judge of Justice Pratibha M. Singh to coordinate with the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ghaziabad and constitute the JTF.

Showing concern over rampant illegal sand mining in the river, Justice Singh also called for a further status report.

The status report, which was filed by the authorities was stated unsatisfactory by the court.

The report had stated that some portion of the area is in Delhi and some in Uttar Pradesh and that on March 14, tractor and trolly were seized by the authorities.

The judge, however, passed the direction for the constitution of the JTF.

The court also said that the picket shall also be posted to make sure that no illegal mining takes place.

The judge also expressed displeasure over the environmental damage that is caused due to sand mining while noting that it is engaging dumpers and earth excavators.

Taking note of the deed between the District Magistrate of Ghaziabad and one security agency permitting excavators and JCB machines, the court directed that an order copy be sent to SSP Ghaziabad for intimation.

The court has listed the matter for next hearing in July.
Mumbai, March 27 : At least two youths were killed in their sleep when a massive fire raged through an electrical and hardware shop at the dead of the night in Andheri, the BMC Disaster Control said here on Monday.

The blaze was reported around 2.15 a.m. from Rajshree Electric & Hardware stores near the Saki Naka Metro station, and five fire engines and water tankers were rushed to the spot, with police supervising the operations.

The flames remained confined within the 200-sq ft congested shop's electrical fittings and wiring, but the shop also had two lofts with more goods stored there.

Locals claimed that there could be at least two to three persons, reportedly workers, still trapped inside, but the Fire Brigade have recovered two bodies.

They are identified as Rakesh Gupta, 22, and Ganesh Devashi, 23, said the BMC Disaster Control.

The officials said that due to the intensity of the blaze the two lofts were fully gutted and crashed down to the lower level, blocking the entry for the rescue teams.

Accordingly, the Fire Brigade deployed a bulldozer to break down the front portions of the shop and gained access to douse the flames and also retrieved the bodies of the two youths who perished in the tragedy.

The cause of the fire -- which was finally extinguished after nearly nine hours, is not clear and it's also unknown whether the double-lofts built inside the shop, which hampered the fire-fighting efforts, were authorised or not.
Chandigarh, March 27 : As the hunt of 'Waris Punjab De' chief and fugitive pro-Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh is still on, the separatist leader's close aide and gunman, who is an ex-serviceman, was arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in the Ajnala violence case.

The accused, Varinder Singh, belonged to Patti subdivision of Tarn Taran district in Punjab. Following the invocation of the National Security Act (NSA), he was sent to Assam's Dibrugarh jail.

Amritsar Senior Superintendent of Police Satinder Singh said the accused was one of the gunmen of Amritpal Singh.

Earlier, police had cancelled Johal's arm licence. He retired as a jawan from the Indian Army.

Amritpal Singh has been evading arrest, changing his location and looks multiple times, since March 18 when the police launched a massive crackdown to arrest him.
Shimla, March 27 : Former union minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Monday called on Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at his official residence Oak Over and discussed various issues.

The Chief Minister honoured Sharma with a Himachali cap and a shawl.

Interacting with the media, the Chief Minister said Rahul Gandhi's fearless campaigning to save democracy was a hitch to the Union government and the decision of his disqualification from Lok Sabha has been attempted to suppress his voice.

He said Rahul Gandhi had started Bharat Jodo Yatra to raise awareness of the misdeeds of the Centre. He said people would give befitting reply to the BJP in the coming elections in the country.

Sukhu urged all Opposition parties to unite to save the democracy.

On the occasion, Anand Sharma said Rahul Gandhi has every right to speak in Parliament, but the Centre had targetted him under a conspiracy.

Expressing his faith in the judiciary, Sharma said the decision of the lower court would not last in the higher court and the Congress would fight a political and legal battle against it.
Bengaluru, March 27 : Karnataka Police have arrested two students from Bengaluru and are grilling them for violating security during the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said on Monday.

The arrested persons are identified as Imran and Zibran, both students from Bengaluru and residents of Neelasandra. The incident took place on Sunday late night when Shah was reaching HAL Airport to take return flight to New Delhi after participating in the core committee meeting at the party headquarters in Bengaluru.

The accused students had violated rules and travelled along with convoy of Amit Shah from Safina Plaza to Manipal Centre after entering the stretch of the road suddenly from nowhere. The bikers had continued to ride even as police men tried to stop them for 300 meters.

The police stopped them at the Manipal Centre and took one of them into custody. Another managed to escape but the police arrested him later.

Police sources explained that the students had come in one way and panicked after seeing the policemen. The preliminary investigations have suggested that both students do not have any criminal background or intent. However, taking no chances, the police have taken up a probe.

Bharatinagar Police have registered a case in this regard against students under IPC Sections 353 for obstructing the duty of a government official and 279 for rash and negligent driving.

An incident of security breach was also reported during the roadshow of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday in Davanagere district of Karnataka. The incident took place when Modi was brought in an open vehicle from the helipad.

Earlier on January 14, Kunal Dhongadi, a boy, had breached security to garland the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later he had stated that PM Modi is god in Hubballi. "He is not an ordinary human being. I am his fan and want to meet him," he had said.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On Mar. 22, Great Wall Motor (GWM) announced the official integration of its two new energy vehicle (NEV) brands, ORA and SAR.

The Jijialong (Mecha Dragon), the first luxury battery electric vehicle (BEV) model under SAR, has now joined the ORA community and will be displayed on the ORA App with a dedicated section coming online at the same time.

In December last year, GWM announced a reorganization of its brand structure, merging the management teams of the ORA and SAR brands, as well as the WEY and TANK brands. Upon the structure adjustment, Wen Fei, who previously only served as CEO of SAR brand, has assumed the role of CEO for both SAR and ORA.

SAR Jijialong; photo credit: GWM

GWM expects to strengthen its overall operating efficiency and comprehensive competitiveness in the BEV field through the synergy effect of the dual-brand operation.

Prior to the brand restructuring, GWM had six brands, namely, HAVAL, GWM Pickup, WEY, TANK, ORA, and SAR, of which the latter two are dedicated to BEVs.

ORA last year ceased the production of two lower-priced BEV models, the Black Cat and the White Cat, due to the cost pressure. Currently, it has such models as the Good Cat, the Ballet Cat, and the Lightning Cat, available for sale, covering a price range of 150,000 yuan to 250,000 yuan.

As GWM's second BEV-dedicated brand, SAR unveiled the Jijialong mid-to-large coupe at the Auto Guangzhou 2021, with a price of 488,000 yuan for the limited-edition.
New Delhi, March 27 : Unlike many other hip-hop artistes rapper Dino James, who tasted success through his songs such as 'Girlfriend', 'Yaadein', 'Hancock', 'Maa' and 'Woh', does not feel the need to have a stage name as he says he's already got a cool name.

Talking to IANS about why he does not have a stage name, the 31-year-old rapper had the best reply.

"I thought I got a cool name already because Dino James can be a stage name but it's my real name and it sounds cool. Also sounds like a rapper," he said.

Dino comes from a humble Malayalam background. His father Jimmy James worked as an electrician. The rapper hails from a village in Madhya Pradesh.

Was his family supporting his decision of making music for a living? "No, they had no clue what exactly I was doing. I was in Bombay and I was trying to do everything. So you have to prove it to the world. They're no different," said the rapper, who has often taken inspiration from his life experiences for his songs such as 'Unstoppable', 'Yaadein' and 'Maa'.

"I release 1 song then two three. So when people started accepting it, people started listening to it. I'm from a Mallu family, so they don't understand English. So they are like, he's happy and he's not doing anything bad and they are very much happy with that," added the rapper, whose debut album 'D' came out in 2022.

Now that he has made it big, Dino enjoys a big fan following. He currently has a whopping 1 million followers on Instagram. His latest track 'Woh' with rappers Bashah and Ikka has garnered over 27 million views since its release three months ago.

Realism, Dino feels is the reason why his music touches so many hearts.

He said: "I think I was very real. I'm still very real in whatever I write, so I did not do hip hop just for the sake of doing Hip-Hop or because it's cool or it's in right now. I did it because of the pure reason why hip-hop originated." "They said that I wanted to talk, that I wanted to speak, that I know the way to express how I'm feeling to the world. That reflected to the listener and they heard it and they said that what is happening with us is also happening with him and it feels good to listen." Even though the pot is hot for hip-hop in the country, Dino feels there is still more scope for the genre in the country.

"We haven't reached the ceiling yet. There is so much scope left and things left. There's so much creativity left, people are aware about hip, but there's so many things left that we can do," he said on a positive note.

And social media is helping.

When asked how has social media affected the rap scene in India, pat came the reply from Dino: "In a huge way because there were no labels actually trying to help rappers when I did it, actually, I did it all on my own." "I did not get any backing. I did all my things through my channel on social media. So the positive side of social media is that you can genuinely spread your craft and reach somewhere." Dino was seen performing in Bhubaneswar for Seagram's Royal Stag presents Royal Stag Boombox, a first-of-its-kind musical experience.

Talking about how performing at an event like this or a music festival helps in creating awareness about a music genre or an artist, he said: "It's a scale and if we actually do it, we cannot have this kind of production. We cannot have this kind of setup, to reach out to people." "When a brand believes and collaborates with you, it has that kind of a power to broadcast your songs to a different stage also So its a plus point. It is always helpful to have a power behind this."
March 27 : After unveiling an explosive teaser, the makers of Pan India film, Jeet unveils the title track of the movie, titled Widda.

Bengali star Jeet dropped the first single on his social media profile.

The high energy anthem is crooned by Divya Kumar, composed by Aneek Dhar, penned by Panchhi Jalonvi and the song is choreographed by Imran Sardhariya.

Widda, the title track is loaded with stylized action, hot girls and anti-hero Chengiz played by Jeet.

Chengiz will be the first Bengali film to release in Bengali and Hindi simultaneously. The film is set against the in Kolkata underworld from 1970s to mid-1990s, helmed by Rajesh Ganguly, the film also stars Rohit Roy, Shataf Figar, Susmita Chatterjee and more.

Produced by Jeet, Gopal Madnani and Amit Jumrani, and jointly presented by Jeetz Filmworks in association with AA Films, the film opens in cinema halls on Eid, 21 April 2023.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Lok Sabha was on Monday adjourned for the day amid noisy protests by the Congress-led opposition seeking a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe in the Adani issue, even as the house approved the Finance Bill 2023 as amended by Rajya Sabha.

The amendment recommended in the Finance Bill 2023 by the upper house was related to the figure on percentage hike in the securities transaction tax (STT) on options trading.

Instead of a 0.05 per cent hike as erroneously mentioned earlier, the hike was rectified to 0.0625 per cent on options trading.

The government had said on March 24 that it was a typographical error and the rectification will be done in accordance with the extent procedure of the government.

Meanwhile as soon as the lower house reconvened at 4 pm, Congress MPs along with DMK and Left members, rushed to the well of the house, shouting slogans seeking probe in the Adani issue.

Wearing black clothes, Congress DMK and Left members waved black scarves and placards while shouting slogans at the Chair, where Rama Devi was seated.

Trinamool Congress members, who joined the opposition's protests after staying away for a few days, were seen standing near their benches, wearing black scarves around their faces and arms.

NCP, JD-U and BSP members were also seen standing near their seats.

Amid the ruckus, Rama Devi allowed laying of papers and after the Finance Bill with the above-mentioned amendment was passed by voice vote, she adjourned the house till Tuesday.
Puducherry, March 27 : A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary, Senthil Kumar, has been hacked to death at Villianur in Puducherry by some unknown assailants following which the police have constituted four special teams to nab the killers, the police said on Monday.

Senthil Kumar was close to BJP leader and Puducherry Home Minister, A. Namassivayam.

The police said that the incident took place at around 9 p.m. on Sunday when the BJP functionary was waiting near a tea stall.

Police said that a group of assailants who reached the spot on seven motorcycles hacked Senthil Kumar to death.

According to eyewitnesses, the assailants also hurled two country bombs at Senthil Kumar, following which smoke engulfed the area and they hacked him to death.

The gruesome murder occurred near a bakery adjacent to Kannaki Government High School.

Tension prevailed in Villianur area with a large number of BJP supporters reaching the spot of crime.

A heavy contingent of police is camping in the area.

Senthil Kumar was also into real estate and many other businesses apart from looking after the BJP's party-related matters in Mangalam constituency.

A senior police officer said that real estate-related rivalry is suspected to be the motive behind the murder.

Meanwhile, the opposition DMK raised the issue in the Assembly and demanded immediate action against the local inspector.

Opposition leader R. Siva said that the police had failed to act even after Senthil Kumar had lodged a complaint earlier claiming threats to his life.

The Opposition leader also said that the killing of a ruling party functionary in public was "a clear understanding of the prevailing law and order situation in the union territory of Puducherry".

While police said that four teams are constituted to nab the culprits, some reports suggested that the assailants are planning to surrender in a Tiruchi court.
Dharamsala, March 27 : Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has named an eight-year-old US-born Mongolian boy as the reincarnation of a spiritual leader.

He has been recognised as the reincarnation of the third most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche.

The elderly spiritual leader was pictured with the boy during a ceremony recognising him as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche. The ceremony took place earlier this month in Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama (87) lives in exile.

"We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today," the Dalai Lama said during the ceremony which was attended by 5,000 monks and nuns, 600 Mongolians and other members.

Pointing to the small boy sitting to his left, the Dalai Lama told the gathering, "We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today. His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara. One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious." As the session came to a close on that day, the Dalai Lama met briefly with a significant contingent of Mongolians who are the patrons of this teaching.

"Tantra spread widely in Tibet. With regard to Chakrasamvara, the Ghantapada and Luipa traditions were popular, but this Krishnacharya lineage was quite rare. I received it from Tagdrag Rinpoche and have long felt a close affinity for the practice.

"Chakrasamvara is classified as a mother tantra. It belongs to the highest yoga tantras. While Guhyasamaja emphasises the illusory body, Chakrasamvara focuses on the clear light. However, if you make the illusory body your primary practice, the clear light also arises.

"As I said, I feel a close affinity to the Krishnacharya tradition. I have received the empowerment and undertaken the requisite retreat. This may seem somewhat boastful, but I also feel I have some connection with the great Mahasiddha Krishnacharya.

"This empowerment requires the preliminary practices that we'll do today. I've done the self-generation and visualised myself as Chakrasamvara." The crowd dispersed and the view in every direction was filled with the upstanding stems of kusha grass the initiates held in their hands, said a post on the official website of the Dalai Lama.
London, March 27 : The long-feared "population bomb" may not go off, according to the authors of a new report that estimates that human numbers will peak lower and sooner than previously forecast, media reported.

The study, commissioned by the Club of Rome, projects that on current trends the world population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century, then decline rapidly. The peak could come earlier still if governments take progressive steps to raise average incomes and education levels.

The new forecasts are good news for the global environment. Once the demographic bulge is overcome, pressure on nature and the climate should start to ease, along with associated social and political tensions, The Guardian reported.

But the authors caution that falling birth rates alone will not solve the planet's environmental problems, which are already serious at the 8 billion level and are primarily caused by the excess consumption of a wealthy minority.

Declining populations can also create new problems, such as a shrinking workforce and greater stress on healthcare associated with an ageing society, as countries like Japan and South Korea are finding, The Guardian reported.

One of the authors of the report, Ben Callegari, said the findings were cause for optimism - but there was a catch. "This gives us evidence to believe the population bomb won't go off, but we still face significant challenges from an environmental perspective. We need a lot of effort to address the current development paradigm of overconsumption and overproduction, which are bigger problems than population." Previous studies have painted a grimmer picture. Last year, the UN estimated the world population would hit 9.7 billion by the middle of the century and continue to rise for several decades afterwards, The Guardian reported.
Kochi, March 27 : The Kerala High Court on Monday sought the response of its Registrar General on a plea seeking directions to refrain from listing cases of advocate Prerith Philip Joseph before his mother and sitting judge, Justice Mary Joseph.

The court issued notice on the plea moved by advocate Yeshwanth Shenoy and posted the matter for further hearing next week.

In his plea, Shenoy claimed that advocate Joseph often visits the chamber of his mother despite specific orders of the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court restraining advocates from visiting any judge's chambers.

Shenoy submitted that Justice Joseph is bound by the Code of Judicial Ethics as contained in the "Restatement of Values of Judicial Life", adopted by the Supreme Court.

Incidentally this is not the first time that Shenoy is filing a petition against Justice Joseph.

In the first week of February, Shenoy had appeared before Justice Joseph in a case and later she wrote to the Bar Council of Kerala (BCK) alleging misconduct by Shenoy in the court.

Thereafter on February 14, the BCK issued a show cause notice to Shenoy.

Subsequently, Shenoy filed a petition challenging the show cause notice issued to him by the BCK and alleged that documents were being leaked from the High Court Registry to the media.

On March 7, the court, while hearing the said plea, directed its Registry to preserve the video recording of the court proceedings.

Also on February 27, Shenoy had filed another petition challenging the curtailment of the list of cases before Justice Joseph to around 20 cases, when most judges have over 100 cases listed before them each day.

On March 3, the court decided to hear Shenoy's plea on the matter first of maintainability.

Around the same time, it had also initiated criminal contempt of court case against Shenoy and also appointed senior advocate V.P. Seemandini to assist the court in conduct of the proceedings against Shenoy as per Rule 15 of the Contempt of Courts (High Court of Kerala) Rules, 1971.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said that they recently carried out search operations at three places in Bhubaneswar and one at Berhampur against Keshari Estates Pvt Ltd and its directors.

The searched premises include two residential premises belonging to the directors at Bhubaneswar and one office premises each in Bhubaneswar and Berhampur.

"During these searches, gold jewellery weighing more than 1.5 kg worth around Rs 1 crore, forming part of proceeds of crime, have been duly seized from the residential premises of a director at Bhubaneswar. Voluminous incriminating documents related to the case have also been seized during these operations," said the ED.

The ED initiated investigation under PMLA in 2021 on the basis of the FIR registered by the EOW of Odisha against Keshari Estates Pvt Ltd (KEPL) and its directors for defrauding and cheating the gullible investors with criminal intention while alluring to sell them houses.

"KEPL faltered on repayment and cheated the buyers to the tune of Rs 5,91,54,545 which was misappropriated by the directors," the official said.

Further investigation into the matter is in progress.
New Delhi, March 27 : Telugu star Nani, who was seen in 'Jersey', 'Majnu', 'Eega', among others, shared his shooting experience for his upcoming film, 'Dasara', directed by debutant Srikanth Odela.

While interacting with the media in the Capital, he informed: "Shooting for this film was really tough as it is made in the backdrop of the Singareni coal mines near Godavarikhani in Telangana, there was coal dust and doing the shoot in the midst of that was tough. The dust created congestion in my chest. I couldn't sleep properly but now when the movie is complete it seems like everything was worth it." "During the shoot we used to suffer but after the pack up and after looking at the outcome things seemed perfect. Yes, I must say one thing there was no fun situation at all during the shoot," he added.

He also shared that to get into the skin of the character at times he drank alcohol. "Whenever the director wanted the eyes to look red, I tried real alcohol," he added.

'Dasara' is an action adventure film written and directed by Srikanth Odela. It stars Nani and Keerthy Suresh.
Kolkata, March 27 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam in West Bengal has directed the inspector-in-charge (IC) of Suri police station in Birbhum district, S.K. Mohammad Ali, not to leave Delhi without prior permission from the central probe agency.

After being questioned for around eight hours at ED's headquarters in Delhi on March 25, Ali was summoned for questioning again on Monday. ED sources said he has been called for a second round of questioning because a lot of contradictions were found in his statements during the first round on March 25.

When ED had summoned Ali to Delhi for questioning, he was asked to be present with all related documents pertaining to his bank accounts and property details. According to sources, the probe agency has come across some properties worth hefty amounts in the names of some of Ali's close relatives.

"He is being questioned about the source of funds for purchasing the high-value properties," an ED associate said.

Earlier this month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a parallel probe into the multi-crore cattle-smuggling scam, had also questioned Ali in this connection at the agency's Nizam Palace office in Kolkata.

The ED has also summoned Kripamoy Nandi, the superintendent of Asansol Special Correctional Home in West Burdwan district, to the agency's headquarters in Delhi on April 5.

Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal, one of the prime accused in the case, was housed at the correctional home after his arrest in August 2022 till the time he was taken to the national capital by the ED earlier this month.
MONTREALF.U.T.A. Sentai Squad, the Adult Time series presented in association with 3D futanari animation studio, AgentRedGirl, on Monday announced the release of Episode Four, Old Wounds."

Reluctant heroine Mika Mara never wanted this: in a futuristic city, the flame-haired fighter, recruited by a secret government agencyheaded by the mysterious Chairwoman Leblancis tasked with saving the world from the deadly She-hemoths by climbing into the cockpit of Sakura Da Fighting Ultimate Tactical Armor (F.U.T.A.)as a specially-equipped futanari pilot.

In Old Wounds," Mika is forced to fight the She-hemoths alone, despite imploring the only other futanari fighter on the planet, Yui Shizuku, to join her in combat. Mika takes on She-hemoth Hotaru, but its a losing battle. Good thing Yui had a change of heart, as she swoops in to save the day with a F.U.T.A. of her own

Adult Times 2021 partnership deal with AgentRedGirl and its futanari-themed content featuring female-presenting futa characters with both female and male genitalia has proven to be a hit with the streaming platforms subscribers, many of whom had never heard of this genre of animated erotica before.
New Delhi, March 27 : Union Minister Piyush Goyal, at a press conference on Monday, alleged that the Congress party is not letting Parliament run and is also misleading the people through its statements.

Goyal said that the "Grand Old Party" is not letting Parliament run and is trying to mislead the people. The Congress MPs are holding "Black Shirt" protests against Rahul Gandhi's controversial disqualification from the Lok Sabha. He also questioned whether the Congress wanted to disrespect the law.

He stated, "Congress' intentions are of insulting the OBC community, their mentality is against the OBC community. Rahul Gandhi has no right to consider himself above the law of the land." Goyal added that Rahul Gandhi didn't apologise due to his arrogance. He said, "There have been 12 other cases of members who were disqualified after the court's decision. His own party leader was asking Rahul Gandhi to apologise but he didn't do that due to his arrogance." He asked where do we see black clothes? The Congress is so demoralised that now it has to take the support of black magic.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a petition filed by 2002 Gujarat riots victim Bilkis Bano against the premature release of 11 persons convicted of her gang-rape and murder of her family members, calling the offence "horrendous".

A bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna observed that before hearing the plea, the court would like to know what is the gamut of issues, which would aid in knowing the framework within which the issues have to be considered.

Advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Bilkis Bano, submitted that the state (Maharashtra), where the trial was held should decide on the remission of the convicts, and not the state where offence was committed.

During the hearing in the matter, the bench orally observed that the offence was "horrendous".

Advocate Vrinda Grover, representing one of the petitioners, contended that the trial judge said no remission should be granted and also the CBI said that remission should not be given, yet they were released.

As the judges queried how many years each accused had spent in jail, counsel, representing one of the convicts, said over 15 years and 14 years is the requirement for consideration under Gujarat government remission policy. However, it was contested by a counsel, representing one of the petitioners.

Grover also informed the court, while on parole, another case of molestation of a woman was filed against one of the convicts and this was completely ignored while granting remission.

A contention was made during the hearing in the matter that all the petitions against the release of 11 convicts were "emotional pleas". However, the bench said it is only on the law and has nothing to do with emotions. Noting that the crime against Bilkis Bano and her family was horrendous one, the bench made it clear that the matter will be decided on the basis of law.

After hearing detailed submissions, the top court scheduled the matter for further hearing on April 18.

Justice Joseph observed that the court has many murder cases before it, where convicts are languishing in jails for remission without years and queried if is this a case where standards have been applied uniformly as in other cases? The bench directed the parties involved in the matter to complete the pleadings by the next date of hearing and also asked the state government to be ready with the relevant files connected with granting remission to the convicts on the next date of hearing.

In the plea, Bilkis Bano said: "The premature release of all the convicts came as a shock not only to the petitioner, to her grown up daughters, to her family, but also to the society at large, nationally and internationally, and the society across segments had shown their anger, disappointment, distrust and protest to the clemency shown by the Government by releasing criminals like the 11 convicts of the case." Terming the release order mechanical, the plea contended that the premature release of the convicts in much talked about case of Bilkis Bano, has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in several agitations across the country.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15 last year.

A batch of the petitions have been filed against the release of 11 convicts, including the one filed by Bilkis Bano. The other petitions were filed by CPI-M leader Subhashini Ali, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, National Federation of Indian Women, Meeran Chadha Borwankar and others, Asma Shafique Shaikh and others. The top court has issued notice on all the pleas filed in the matter.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Centre and other respondents to file a reply, in six weeks, to a plea seeking the adoption of an "Indian holistic integrated medicinal approach" rather than a "colonial segregated way" of allopathy, ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy in order to secure the right to health.

Filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta issued notice while counsel for Ministry of AYUSH, advocate Kirtiman Singh submitted that they have filed their affidavit in the matter.

Taking note of the fact that out of all the respondents, only the Ministry of AYUSH has filed its reply in the matter, the bench directed them to file it in the allotted time and listed the matter for the next hearing on July 25.

The Centre had earlier informed the court that the matter in issue had been referred to the NITI Aayog and is pending consideration.

In order to support the PIL, the Patanjali Research Institute had, in September 2022, filed an intervention application seeking their impleadment in the matter.

To secure the right to health, the plea also seeks to implement a holistic integrated common syllabus and common curriculum of allopathy, ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy for all medical colleges.

The petitioner has submitted that in spite of huge investments, the current healthcare system of India is not able to meet its standards and benefit the Indian population to fight against acute and chronic diseases.

"Health care delivery in India is classified under three categories primary, secondary, and tertiary care. All three levels need to work cohesively to help deliver healthcare on all four pillars," he said.

"The healthcare system of India, Sub-Centers and Primary Health Centers subsidise in the primary level of HCS; Community Health Centre contribute to a secondary level of HCS; although hospitals and medical colleges are considered in the tertiary level of HCS. Population Norms for Rural Health Care Infrastructure are as given on the next page," he has submitted.

The petitioner has further submitted that the suggested holistic integrated medicinal approach will favour the financially deprived section of the Indian population as this approach will be pocket friendly with high reach and will be able to cover such a huge dense population of the country.

"In order to establish an integrated medicinal system, the Government has already made certain amendments to enable these provisions to become a part of health care policies. But so far adopted strategies are not sufficient to provide an adequate platform for an integrated medicinal approach. Therefore, it is mandatory to make appropriate amendments to legalise the status of the integrated medicinal system," read the plea.
London, March 27 : The chair of the Saudi National Bank (SNB) has resigned for "personal reasons", less than two weeks after his comments spurred investor panic over Credit Suisse that ended in an emergency takeover by its larger Swiss rival, UBS, according to a media report.

The Saudi National Bank (SNB), which was Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, announced on Monday that it has "accepted" Ammar al-Khudairy's resignation, and that he would be immediately replaced by its chief executive, The Guardian reported.

The bank gave little detail regarding the swift replacement, only saying that al-Khudairy was stepping down "due to personal reasons", according to a statement released to the Saudi stock exchange.

Al-Khudairy's exit came less than two weeks after he told journalists that SNB had ruled out providing any further funding for Credit Suisse because of additional regulations that would kick in if its stake in the Swiss lender - then at 9.9 per cent - went above 10 per cent, The Guardian reported.

Despite also assuring that the 166-year-old Swiss lender was "a very strong bank" and was unlikely to need more cash, the damage had been done.

Al-Khudairy's comments spooked investors, who sent Credit Suisse shares plunging to record lows amid fears that SNB's reluctance could limit emergency funding for the already-embattled lender, The Guardian reported.

The Swiss authorities were forced to step in, originally offering a 50 billion Swiss franc (45 billion pound) line of credit, and eventually orchestrating an emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by its larger domestic rival UBS that was confirmed only four days after al-Khudairy's comments, The Guardian reported.

The swift action by Swiss regulators were part of efforts to curb further panic over the state of the global financial system, which started after US tech lender Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, and triggered government intervention earlier this month.
Amaravati, March 27 : Andhra Pradesh Police on Monday claimed to have cracked the mystery behind the murder of an Animal Husbandry Department official in Kadapa district with the arrest of three men, including an employee in the same department.

The body of Kadapa Animal Husbandry Deputy Director Chinna Acchanna, 58, was found at Guvvalacheruvu Ghat in Ramapuram Mandal of Annamayya district on March 24, about 12 days after he went missing.

The murder of a Dalit official in the Chief Minister's home district had triggered a row with opposition parties and some Dalit groups staging protests.

A special panel of Kadapa and Annamayya district police cracked the case.

Kadapa's Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anburajan on Monday told reporters that Subhash Chandrabose, working in the same department as assistant surgeon, committed the crime with the help of two others.

According to police, Chandrabose had differences with Acchanna over some departmental issues and had developed a grouse after the latter had removed him from the Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMC), stopped his salary, and later surrendered his post to the government.

Police also arrested Chenna Krishna and Balaji Nayak in the murder case.

The SP revealed that Chandrabose, along with two others, hatched the murder plot at a lodge in Porumamilla.

On March 12, when Acchanna was returning from prayers at a church, the accused kidnapped him and took him to Guvvalacheruvu Ghat in a car. They later murdered him near the Ghat. The assailants threw Acchanna's mobile phone on a hill at another place.

The SP said the police cracked the case with the help of phone call data of the accused. The police investigations were on to know if any other person is involved.

The murder of the Dalit officials had sparked outrage.

Leaders of the Left parties, Jana Sena, Lok Satta and BSP and BC leaders had staged a protest in front of the Animal Husbandry Department office demanding authorities to speed up the enquiry and set up a committee headed by a sitting judge.

They alleged that the apathy of authorities led to the death of the Dalit employee. They further alleged that although Acchanna's son complained to the police on March 12, the police didn't take any action.

On March 12, Achanna's son Klinter Chakraborty filed a complaint with the Kadapa One Town Police. He had also named a few colleagues of Acchanna for harassing him and passing casteist remarks.

Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) leader Manda Krishna Madiga demanded a probe by a sitting judge. He alleged that police took no action on the complaint by Achanna's family for 12 days. He said the police booked a case only after his body was found. He warned that if any attempt was made to shield the culprit, MPRS will launch a state-wide protest.
Agartala, March 27 : Congress and CPI-M legislators on Monday staged a protest in Tripura Assembly over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha following his conviction by a court in a defamation case.

The MLAs of both Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) displayed placards to voice their protest over the action against the former INC president.

The opposition legislators, however, did not disrupt the proceedings of the House.

Congress MLA Gopal Chandra Roy attended the house in black attire as a mark of protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

Tripura unit Congress president Birajit Sinha, one of the three Congress MLAs, said that to protect democracy and protest against injustice, "we are continuing our protest inside and outside the Assembly".

"Rahul Gandhi's voice was suppressed by the BJP government and he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha before being disqualified. The people of this country would not accept the murder of democracy in India," Sinha, a former Tripura Minister, told the media.

Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership was terminated on March 24, a day after he was convicted by a Gujarat court.

The defamation case was against him over his 'Modi surname' remark in 2019 in Karnataka.
Hyderabad, March 27 : A day after "rejoining" the Congress, former MP of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Dharmapuri Srinivas on Monday denied it and clarified that it was his son Dharmapuri Sanjay who joined the Congress.

In a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Srinivas said that he had accompanied his son to Gandhi Bhavan, the state party headquarters.

"By offering me party kanduva, some leaders claimed that I too have joined the Congress. If it is believed that I joined the Congress party, I am hereby resigning," wrote Srinivas, whose other son D. Arvind is the BJP MP from Nizamabad.

The former minister requested the Congress party not to drag him into any controversy and clarified that he was staying away from politics due to his age.

Srinivas named his wife D. Vijayalaxmi as the witness. She also issued a separate statement requesting Congress not to use Srinivas for politics.

Stating that he suffered a brain stroke in the past, she claimed that due to yesterday's pressure, he suffered fits last night.

"I am requesting Congress leaders with folded hands not to come this side again. At this age when he is not keeping good health, allow him to live peacefully," she wrote.

Srinivas had visited Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday and it was claimed that he re-joined the Congress after nine years.

Srinivas was leading the Congress in undivided Andhra Pradesh when it returned to power in 2004. He twice headed Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) and also served as a minister in Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy cabinet.

Srinivas had switched loyalties to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) after it formed the first government in newly-carved out Telangana state in 2014. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had rewarded him with the post of special advisor to the government and later made him Rajya Sabha member in 2016.

However, on the eve of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the senior leader from Nizamabad faced allegations of anti-party activities. It was alleged that he promoted his son Arvind who joined the BJP.

Since then Srinivas was staying away from active politics.
New Delhi, March 27 : With Lt Governor V.K. Saxena on Monday cleared the training of Delhi civil servants at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), some middle and senior level officers will go for residential training at IIMs-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata for training as a part of "Vision@2047" and "Mission2023".

These training programmes will be in addition to the training under the 'Karmyogi Bharat' and envisage training decision makers in the contemporarily relevant spheres like public-private partnership, change management, leadership, and decision science.

The Training Department of Union Territory Civil Services (UTCS) had moved this proposal of collaboration with the IIMs after suggestions for comprehensive training were made by the Lt. Governor.

As of now under the 'Karmyogi Bharat', training programmes on different topics are available on iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training) platform and it offers the courses in an online mode like Dakshta course - leave rules, noting and drafting, office procedure, GeM and RTI, Karmyogi Prarambh- Code of Conduct for Government employees, stress management, effective communication, MS-word, MS-excel etc., Karmyogi Prarambh for newly appointed Dy. Secretary/Director dealing with formulation of public policy, basics of e-governance and Digital India etc among others.

The last such program for 24 DANICS officers on 'Management Development' at IIM-Ahmedabad was conducted in 2011-12 and thereafter for 30 officers in 2012-13.
Mumbai, March 27 : A Mumbai Sessions Court on Monday granted bail to fashionista Aniksha Jaisinghani who was arrested in connection with the alleged threats, bribe and blackmail case lodged by Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

While Aniksha was nabbed from Thane on March 16, her fugitive bookie father Anil Jaisinghani and a cousin uncle Nirmal Jaisinghani were arrested from Gujarat on March 20 after a long chase by the Mumbai Police.

Additional Sessions Judge D.D. Almale remanded the Jaisinghani cousins to 14 days' judicial custody, rejecting the police plea to extend their remand by another five days.

Following Amruta Fadnavis' sensational complaint of Feb. 20 which was also raised in the Maharashtra Assembly, the Mumbai Police investigated and then swooped on the father-daughter-uncle separately in Thane and Gujarat.

They have been slapped with charges like conspiracy, extortion, threats, and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Described as tech and Internet savvy, Anil Jaisinghani, who had been absconding for over five years, has over a dozen cases pending against him in different states, even as the Madhya Pradesh Police has moved an application seeking his custody in some cases filed there.
New Delhi, March 27 : Delhi Police have arrested five persons, including two juveniles, after busting a Mewat-based gang of sextortionist which indulged in blackmailing and extorting money from people, especially the elderly, by threatening to upload their objectionable pictures/videos online.

The accused have been identified as Rahul Khan (26), Arman (21) and Azad (41), all residents of Rajasthan, apart from two juveniles.

According to the police, a 67-year-old man had filed a complaint with the cyber police station in Shahdara district wherein he alleged that on March 18, he had received a WhatsApp video call from an unknown number in which a girl was performing some obscene act.

"After some time, the complainant started receiving extortion calls. Someone introduced himself as the SHO of the cyber police station and tried to extort money by saying that if the complainant does not transfer the money, he would circulate the complainant's nude video on social media," said Rohit Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara.

Under pressure, the victim had transferred a total of Rs 13,70,000 to the cheater's bank account, the DCP said.

During investigation, the police collected all the relevant information, including the call detail records and WhatsApp chat details.

"All the bank details and phone numbers of the cheaters were analysed, following which raids were conducted at Bharatpur and Alwar in Rajasthan from where three adults and two juveniles were apprehended," the DCP said.

On interrogation, it was revealed that the gang used to make WhatsApp video calls or Messenger calls to the victims and start playing obscene videos of girls using a second mobile phone and provoke the victims to do the same.

The accused then recorded the calls along with taking screen shots. To commit the crime, the accused purchased SIM cards and cellphones from West Bengal and managed the fraud bank accounts with the help of other co-accused persons.

"To threaten the victims, the accused introduced themselves as 'Vikram Rathore', SHO, cyber police station, and 'Sanjay' from YouTube. They mainly used to target elderly people as many of them were reluctant to lodge complaints in such a matter," the DCP said.

The police have also traced money trail of more than Rs 40 lakh from the frozen accounts the accused. More than 20 victims were also traced who had transferred money into these accounts.

"A total of 24 videos were found from the phones recovered from the accused. Rahul, the mastermind, used to pose as Sanjay from YouTube, while Azad used to introduce himself as SHO Vikram Rathore," the officer said.
Back in July 2021, HBO premiered six-part docuseries 100 Foot Wave. That series covered a decade of big-wave surfing in Nazare, Portugal, and how Garrett McNamaras quest to surf giant waves there led to highs, lows, records, injuries, and a whole transformation of the town and its surfing scene. But it was clear there was more to be told even after those six episodes, and HBO announced a renewal for the series that August.

The subsequent popular and critical acclaim the show has received (including Emmy nominations for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program; they won the latter category) has further added to the anticipation for Season 2. And its been a while coming. But on Monday, HBO announced a premiere date for the second season: Sunday, April 16. The first episode will air on linear HBO at 8 p.m. ET/PT that day, with five further episodes following at that time over the next five Sundays. The series will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Heres a newly-released trailer for its second season:

That trailer has some elements that will be familiar to those who watched the first season (massive waves, injuries and water searches), but it also shows off how much Nazare has changed. This was a pretty quiet town at the start of the first season, and it was mostly just the surfers and their support teams out around these waves, with the main observation of them coming from director Chris Smith and his film crew.

That was changing with the prominent big wave competition featured near the end of the first season , though. And Nazares surfing has now clearly transformed even further, with the trailer showing off giant crowds watching the surfing from the lighthouse area that was mostly just used by surfer-associated spotter teams early on. Theres a line in there of Theres 30,000 people on the cliff. And it should be interesting to see how the change to that whole surfing scene shows up in this second season. There are going to be plenty of other interesting angles too, though, as this second season covers the 2020-21 and 2021-22 big wave seasons (October-March), and there are pandemic impacts and more to consider with those years too. Heres more on what to expect in this sophomore season from a release:

100 FOOT WAVE returns to Nazare, Portugal  with stops in Hawaii and California  for a heart-pounding and adrenaline-filled second season following big wave legend Garrett McNamara, his world-class surfing peers, and some surprising newcomers as they continue to push the boundaries of their sport and the limits of their minds and bodies. As much a story of personal relationships, longing, fear, and love, the series spans the 20/21 and 21/22 big wave seasons which began with the uncertainties of life under COVID-19 and ended with some of the largest swells of the surfers careers. The one constant for these extreme athletes is contending with the highs and lows of their perilous and unpredictable lifestyle in which every big wave has the potential to write a dramatic new chapter in their personal stories. With a mix of intimate interviews, verite scenes and personal archive, as well as stunning aerial, water-based and underwater footage from the Emmy-winning cinematography team, the series captures a world unlike any other. A decade after McNamara conquered his first record-breaking wave in 2011, the small coastal town of Nazare, with its dramatic cliffs and epic offshore breaks, continues to attract the best big wave surfers in the world, who rely on the powerful but indifferent ocean to help them realize their dreams while avoiding mortal injury. McNamara, expecting the birth of his third child with wife Nicole  which proves to be its own unexpected challenge  embraces a new direction in his career while still heeding the pull of the ocean. The season reunites us with the charismatic surfers weve come to know from season one, including Andrew Cotty Cotton, Justine Dupont, and CJ Macias, and introduces us to dynamic new players, such as local teenager Tony Laureano who tries to break into the upper echelons of the sport. United in their passion to push past near-death experiences and self-doubt in pursuit of the elusive transcendence, the surfers feel at the height of their achievement.

Back in August 2021, I called the first season of 100 Foot Wave the best sports documentary series Ive seen in some time, and I havent seen a better one since. So theres a lot of anticipation here for the second season. If its anything like the first, it will be a great watch for those particularly interested in surfing or other outdoor sports, but also a great watch for those who like good stories regardless of sport. And those interested in checking it out can catch the first season on HBO Max now before this April 16 debut of the new one.

[HBO on YouTube]
New Delhi, March 27 : The Supreme Court on Monday permitted the Uttar Pradesh government to issue notification for holding the urban local body polls after considering that a dedicated commission constituted to examine the issue of OBC reservation has submitted its final report.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, noted that the Uttar Pradesh government has issued a notification for UP Backward Classes Commission, on the basis of the court's previous order.

The bench, also comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, said the tenure of the commission was six months, it was to complete its task by March 31, 2023, while noting that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted before it that the report has been submitted on March 9.

The bench noted that the notification for local body elections is in motion and will be issued in two days.

Disposing of the matter, the apex court clarified that the directions in its order are not to be used as precedent.

The apex court, in January this year, had stayed the Allahabad High Court's direction to the Uttar Pradesh Election Commission to go ahead with the urban local body elections without giving reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The Uttar Pradesh government had then contended before the court that it has already set up a dedicated commission to collect data for representation of the OBCs.

In December last year, the high court had passed the order on pleas challenging the preparation of the OBC reservation draft without following the triple test formula prescribed by the Supreme Court.

The top court, May last year, had referred to the constitution bench decision in 'K Krishna Murthy (Dr) and Ors v Union of India & Anr' (2010), to hold that "triple test conditions" have to be fulfilled before providing reservations for the OBCs.

Earlier in March this year, Justice (retired) Ram Avtar Singh, who led the commission, and four other members -- retired IAS officers Chob Singh Verma, Mahendra Kumar, and former additional law advisers Santosh Kumar Vishwakarma and Brajesh Kumar Soni -- met the Chief Minister at his official residence and handed over the report in presence of Urban Development Minister A K Sharma and officials of the Urban Development Department.
New Delhi, March 27 : Amid reports of hoarding of tur dal stocks, the government has set up a committee to monitor the stock held by entities such as importers, millers, stockists, traders etc in close coordination with the state governments.

The panel has been set up under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare, sources said.

The announcement of a committee to monitor stock disclosure is aimed at dealing with hoarders and unscrupulous speculators in the market and to keep the prices under control, official sources added.

The government is also closely watching the stock position of other pulses in the domestic market to take necessary preemptive measures in the event of unwarranted price rise in the coming months, they said.

The government had issued an advisory to states on August 12, 2022 to enforce stock disclosure in respect of tur under the Essential Commodities Act 1955.
Dehradun, March 27 : Ahead of the three-day G20 meeting in Ramnagar, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has received pre-recorded threat calls from Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, chief of the banned organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).

The pre-recorded audio was also sent to mediapersons and government officials on Sunday.

In the message, allegedly sent by spoofed numbers, the SFJ president threatened to raise Khalistani flags during the G20 meeting claiming that Ramnagar is a part of Khalistan and not India.

Pannu also warned Dhami against taking action against people of his organisation in the state.

"If any case is filed against the people of my organisation in Uttarakhand, then the Chief Minister will be responsible for it," the pre-recorded call said.

Earlier this month, the SFJ chief also made similar calls regarding the G20 conference held in Amritsar on March 15.

Director General of Police (DGP) Uttarakhand Ashok Kumar said that he has issued instructions to get it probed by the state Special Task Force (STF) immediately and the STF has started tracing all these numbers.

This is not the first time that such messages of Pannu have gone viral. In the past also people have been getting calls like this.

According to police officials, the SFJ has no base in Uttarakhand.

Pannu lives in America and practices law in New York. He is considered to be the face of Sikhs for Justice.

Pannu has been involved in a number of terrorist activities. He tried to organise "Referendum 2020" two years ago, in which he appealed to Sikhs around the world to vote in support of Khalistan and he has been provoking the youth to support Khalistan.

Pannu was declared a terrorist under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) in July 2020.
New Delhi, March 27 : INOX Air Products (INOXAP), Indias largest manufacturer of industrial and medical gas, has announced that it has been awarded a prestigious contract for setting up its sixth air separation unit (ASU) at the Hazira unit of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) - a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the worlds leading steelmakers.

The ASU will have the capacity to produce 1000 tonnes per day of Gaseous Oxygen and 1000 tonnes per day of Gaseous Nitrogen, besides other liquid medical and industrial gases. The ASU in Gujarat will be commissioned within a time span of 23 months.

INOXAP's currently operational five ASUs at the AM/NS India's Hazira facility make it India's largest onsite industrial gas complex with a combined capacity to produce 9000 TPD of industrial gases. The commissioning of the sixth ASU would scale up the combined capacity of the industrial gas complex to 11,100 TPD.

Speaking about the development, Siddharth Jain, Director, INOX Air Products, said, "The contract for setting up the sixth ASU at AM/NS India's Hazira facility is a unique distinction accorded to us, recognising our reliability, commitment and consistency in delivering high-quality product and services. It is indeed a matter of immense pride for us to be an integral part of AM/NS India's growth plans.

"We are buoyed with the prospect of further scaling up the capacity of India's largest onsite industrial gas complex. We are committed to ensure that our capex plan fructifies in a productive manner, and stays on course to deliver upon its objective of augmenting the growth of India's infrastructure and manufacturing sectors and push our country closer to its vision of a $5 trillion economy within the next few fiscals." Wim Van Gerven, Director and Vice President (Operations), AM/NS India, said "We are pleased to partner with INOX Air Products on further expansion of India's largest onsite industrial gas production complex. This project will play an important role in supporting AM/NS India's ongoing steel manufacturing expansion programme at Hazira, aided by our mission to create Smarter Steels for Brighter Futures. This initiative will also strengthen our commitment to contribute to India's growth story." INOXAP's long-term, onsite gas supply partnership with AM/NS India began in 2005, when the erstwhile Essar Steel awarded a contract for a 885 TPD Cryogenic ASU on BOO basis.

This relationship achieved newer heights when INOXAP was chosen as a preferred partner to outsource the majority of its captive ASUs, resulting in INOXAP acquiring all three ASU assets of 1,700 TPD capacity each from Essar Steel in 2015 and entered into a long-term contract for supply of all industrial gases on a BOO basis.

In 2022, INOXAP gave the partnership a new dimension of speed and precision by commissioning the fifth ASU at the Hazira site in a record time, creating new global benchmark in the industrial gas industry.

INOXAP has been servicing the needs of the Indian steel industry for close to five decades now. As an integrated industrial gas supplier, INOXAP offers efficient solutions, including application technology in areas like BF Enrichment, EAF O2 Lancing, Ladle Furnace Pre-Heating (Oxy- Fuel Burners), RHF Enrichment, Argon Oxygen De-carburization, Oxy-Fuel Assisted Melting and Molten Metal Blanketing (MMB) in Induction Furnace, and supplies of industrial gases for the same, either through on-site ASUs or through bulk supplies from its 47 plants across the country.
Kolkata, March 27 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to take initiative in protecting the democratic rights for the sake of the people of the country, especially those hailing from financially weaker backgrounds.

"My humble request to the President of the country is to ensure protection of democratic rights for the sake of the poor and all in the country. Please protect our country from any kind of disaster. Our roots lie in unity in diversity," she said while addressing a Citizens' Convention to felicitate the President at Netaji Indoor Stadium here.

This is Murmu's first trip to West Bengal since she was elected President last year. On a two-day trip to the state, she will be attending the annual convocation of Visva Bharati University in Birbhum district on Tuesday, and is scheduled to go back to New Delhi on Tuesday night only.

On the occasion, Benerjee addressed the President as a "Golden Lady". In her speech, she also referred to the rich heritage of West Bengal in the area of culture and social reforms. "The freedom movement and the process of social reforms in the country started from Bengal only," she said.

In her speech the President was also all praise for the Chief Minister. "The Chief Minister has the rare quality of considering everyone as close to her and her own relations. I thank her for that. I am overwhelmed," Murmu said.

She was all praises about the richness of Bengali as a language. "I find the Bengali language extremely sweet. When I listen to this language, I feel that I am near my own village. Such is the fragrance and sweetness of this language," she said.

The BJP, however, decided to boycott this programme. According to them, when Murmu contested as the President last year, it was the Trinamool, who floated a candidate against her and hence felicitating her now was nothing but a show-off.
New Delhi, March 27 : There are a total of 44 operational airports in the country which do not have night landing facilities for civil operations, the Rajya Sabha was told on Monday.

These airports include Shimla, Kushinagar, Darbhanga, Deoghar, Bilaspur and many others.

The provision of night landing facility, which is purely based on the demand and operational requirements of the airlines, is a continuous process and is undertaken by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other airport operators from time to time depending on the availability of land, commercial viability, socio-economic considerations, traffic demand and willingness of airlines to operate to/from such airports etc., said a written reply by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday in Rajya Sabha.

The Central government has granted 'in-principle' approval to set up 21 Greenfield airports in the country.

Out of these, Mopa (Goa), Noida (Jewar), Navi Mumbai, and Dholera will also act as additional airports to the existing airports.

As a second airport to Chennai, the state government of Tamil Nadu has submitted an application to Ministry of Civil Aviation for grant of 'Site-Clearance' for development of a new Greenfield airport at Parandur, Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu and the proposal is under examination by Airports Authority of India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD), said another reply by the Ministry on Monday.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had received an application for 'Site-Clearance' for the development of a new Greenfield airport at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

However, in December 2022, the Uttarakhand government requested to keep their application in abeyance, as expansion of existing Pantnagar airport is being alternatively considered, said the reply.
Tirupati, March 27 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 crore on India's richest religious trust, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) for violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

TTD chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy said on Monday that the RBI has imposed the penalty for not adhering to FCRA norms while depositing foreign currency dropped by devotees in 'Hundi' into the bank accounts.

He said the TTD's FCRA license lapsed in 2018 and since this has not been renewed yet, the TTD board is facing problems in depositing foreign currency in its bank accounts.

Subba Reddy also revealed that the TTD has paid the RBI penalty of Rs 3 crore in two installments. The TTD has also requested RBI to renew the FCRA license.

The TTD chairman said the TTD currently has foreign currency amounting to Rs 30 crore. The foreign currency was dropped by devotees anonymously in 'Hundi' at Tirumala temple.

The TTD manages the affairs of Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala, considered as the world's richest Hindu temple, and some other shrines in different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Subba Reddy reviewed the arrangements made at Tirumala for the summer season.

The TTD also decided to issue Divya Darshan tokens from April 1 for the devotees who walk up to the hill shrine.

Every day, 10,000 tokens will be issued per day for pilgrims using Alipiri walkway. Another 5,000 tokens will be issued for those reaching the temple through the Tirumala steps route.

Subba Reddy said during summer break, recommendation letters will be reduced. The TTD also decided to tighten the rules in the matter of allotment of rooms in Tirumala.

The TTD chairman said that with the introduction of face recognition technology, accommodation will be provided to devotees in a transparent manner.

Last week, the TTD announced that it has passed a Rs 4,411 crore budget for 2023-24, a big jump of 43 per cent over the previous year.

The budget for 2023-24 is said to be the highest since the TTD's inception in 1933.

The big increase in budget size was attributed to the phenomenal rise in Hundi collections or devotees' offerings at the ancient temple.

For the current year, the lion's share of revenues totalling Rs 1,591 crore are anticipated from Hundi and other capital receipts. Similarly, interest receipts are expected to generate Rs 990 crore, while Rs 500 crore is expected to be realised from laddu and other 'prasadam' sales.
New Delhi, March 27 : With the arrest of four people after multiple raids in Bihar, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, the Delhi Police on Monday claimed to have busted a syndicate of auto-lifters active in the national capital.

A Delhi Police official said that police have also recovered 12 luxury cars and a bike, three country-made pistols, 345 keys of various car models among others from the possession of the accused.

The accused Sunil, a resident of Haryana's Jhajjar, and Manjeet, a resident of Delhi's Najafgarh were the auto thieves and they used to hand over stolen cars to receivers, Amjad Raja Khan, a resident of Bihar's East Champaran district and Naklum Bisai, a resident of Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district.

According to police, on March 9, a police team was present in the area of Bharthal when an information was received that auto thief Sunil, who is previously involved in several theft cases, is present with his associate near DDA Flats, Sector-26 in Dwarka in a stolen car.

A raid was conducted and at the instance of the informer, Sunil and Manjeet were apprehended along with a car by the team.

"During frisking, two loaded sophisticated pistols with 10 bullets were recovered from their possession. On verification, the car they were in was found to be stolen from Safdarjung Enclave area," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Dwarka, M. Harsha Vardhan, said.

On interrogation, the duo disclosed their involvements in various luxury car theft incidents of Delhi and its surrounding areas.

"As per their disclosure, five stolen luxury cars have also been recovered. During investigation, a search of their rented room was conducted and a huge quantity (345) keys of various model cars, key making machine, jammer to disconnect the GPS system, and three walkie-talkies sets were also recovered. Expensive programming machines were also recovered," said the DCP.

On their instance, police teams also conducted raids at East Champaran and Khan was also arrested, with a sophisticated pistol along with four bullets and a stolen car being recovered from him.

During interrogation, he disclosed that to earn easy money, he took several stolen cars from Sunil and sold them to Bisai in Arunachal.

"Accordingly, the team reached Khonsa, Arunachal Pradesh and Bisai was also apprehended. After sustained interrogation, three cars were recovered from his possession," said the DCP.

On interrogation, he disclosed that he runs a travel agency, and came in contact with Khan during this.

"He induced him to purchase the stolen vehicles at a low rate to use in the travel agency. Accordingly, he gave the demand of the cars with colour and model to Khan and took four stolen luxury cars from him," the DCP added.
Mumbai, March 27 : Amid the ongoing row between the Congress and its ally Shiv Sena-UBT over the "insults" to 'Swatantryaveer' Vinayak D. Savarkar, Maharashtra's Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday jumped in by announcing processions across the state.

He said that 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatras' shall be held in Maharashtra and also changed his social media accounts by replacing his profile pictures with that of Savarkar.

The war between Congress-Sena-UBT suddenly erupted again after Thackeray raised objections to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks two days ago and said such "insults" to the "deity" of Maharashtra would not be tolerated, and party MP Sanjay Raut endorsed the comments.

Hoping to upstage Thackeray, Shinde on Monday slammed Gandhi and said he would hold Savarkar processions in the state, which would also double as a show of strength ahead of the upcoming civic elections.

"I strongly condemn Rahul Gandhi's statements on Veer Savarkar.. It was because of his contribution that India got freedom. He had spent many years in the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Isles. Rahul Gandhi should go and stay there for one day," said Shinde sharply.

Referring to Thackeray's criticism of Gandhi, Shinde asked whether he had the guts to thrash the Congress leader with shoes, just as the late Balasaheb Thackeray had done with another Congressman Mani Shankar Aiyar.

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis added that the 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' shall be held in every district to highlight his contributions and also protest against those who heap insults on him.

Congress Chief spokesperson Atul Londhe flayed Shinde's declaration of the 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' and said he was merely reading from the script prepared by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal also entered the fracas by saying that Savarkar is a much-revered figure in the state and such statements must be avoided.

Congress President Nana Patole reiterated that the Congress' stance on the Savarkar issue is clear from the beginning.

"However, it is the BJP which is trying to split the Maha Vikas Aghadi, but they will never succeed in their designs. The MVA shall always be united," said Patole.

Meanwhile, Patole and Raut said on Monday that they are soon planning a meeting or telephonic interaction between Thackeray-Gandhi to smoothen out the thorny issue that threatens the fragile MVA alliance, though senior leaders on both sides rule out any such possibility.
Amaravati, March 27 : Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, on Monday expressed surprise as to why either the Centre or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) not taking it seriously when the state's total debt burden has crossed a whooping Rs 12.50 lakh crore.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former Finance Minister said that the state has "totally collapsed" after Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has become the Chief Minister and the people have never witnessed such a dire situation.

"Still, why neither the Centre nor the RBI is taking the situation seriously," he asked.

Ramakrishnudu told reporters that the YSRCP government not only created problems for the people of the state but also crippled the whole economy. He remarked that Jagan has the credit of pushing the economy to the lowest level.

Expressing serious concern that every individual carries Rs 5.5 lakh debt on his or her head now, he said that by March 2024, the outstanding debts will go up further.

Despite all this, the RBI is according permissions to the state to borrow more funds and the people in the coming days will be facing a massive burden of Rs 15,000 crore in the shape of revision of RTC and power charges and to meet the daily needs, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu maintained.

Though the state government has been claiming that thousands of crores are being spent for welfare schemes, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says that the funds are not reaching completely to the beneficiaries, he pointed out.

By that time the YSRCP Government completes its five-year term, the funds spent on the welfare schemes alone will reach Rs 2.70 lakh crore, he said adding that the financial imbalances are increasing by the day. The CAG has clearly mentioned in its report that Rs 48,000 crore has been misused in the 2019-20 fiscal while there are no accounts for Rs one lakh crore in the financial year of 2020-21, he stated.

The CAG also mentioned in its report for 2021-22 that accounts for 1,18,000 crore have not been shown, Yanamala said and asked what the state government is doing with these funds without giving the details of the accounts. This clearly indicates that these funds worth lakhs of crores are being diverted, the former Finance Minister said and expressed concern that in the coming days the interest on these loans itself will be in lakhs of crores per annum.

Ramakrishnudu asked as to why salaries in lakhs of rupees are being paid for the advisors. "What additional qualifications do they have," he questioned and said that the public money should not be paid as salaries for political advisors. All this is causing a huge burden on the exchequer, he said and asked how volunteers can be appointed with public funds.

He also felt that the Central funds too are being diverted and expressed surprise that the Centre is not questioning this. The Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House felt an immediate need for the Centre to interfere and the RBI too should initiate proper steps to correct the situation.
Bengaluru, March 27 : In a major setback to Karnataka's ruling BJP ahead of polls, the Lokayukta sleuths have arrested party MLA from Channagiri constituency Madal Virupakshappa on Monday evening in connection with a bribe for tender scandal.

The Karnataka High Court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the Virupakshappa, and the BJP MLA, who was participating in a public function, then disappeared.

The Lokayukta sleuths had gone to his residence in Channagiri to arrest him. However, he tried to escape to Bengaluru and the sleuths took him into custody midway, sources said.

Lokayukta sources said that the accused BJP MLA was taken into custody at the tollgate near Kyatsandra in Tumakuru district. A team of six DSPs and inspectors had taken part in the operation.

The MLA's son Prashath Madal was caught red-handed while allegedly receiving Rs 40 lakh bribe towards allotment of procurement of raw materials to the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KSDL), a public sector unit, where the MLA was the Chairman. His son was allegedly receiving bribes on behalf of his father.

The authorities had seized Rs 8.12 crore, and 1.6 kg of gold from the residences of MLA and his son, who was arrested.

Meanwhile, the Advocates' Association, Bengaluru had objected to the immediate posting of the interim anticipatory bail application of Virupakshappa and expressed serious concern.

In a letter to the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, its President Vivek Subba Reddy stated that the usual practice in the High Court of Karnataka is that new matters like anticipatory bail take several days and weeks for posting.

But, VIP matters are entertained overnight. This practice would lead to the common man losing faith in the judicial system. It is of utmost importance that a MLA also should be treated as a common man, the letter said.

The celebrations by his supporters after he obtained bail on March 9 was also criticised.
Bhopal, March 27 : A female cheetah, Shasha, who was brought to India in the first batch of eight Namibian big cats and was relocated to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park was reported dead on Monday. As per the officials the big cat died due to renal infection.

As per the earlier statements by wildlife officials, Shasha was suffering from renal infection, and a team of wildlife doctors and experts was treating her. The officials had earlier stated that her condition was improving.

Shasha was among the three cheetahs who were not released into the wild till earlier this March. Shasha was in a quarantine Boma and was about to shift into a soft predator-free enclosure. She was being provided buffalo meat due to weakness, a senior forest official told IANS.

Although official sources confirmed the death of the cheetah, state government officials were yet make any statement on this matter.

"Shasha took her last breath while doctors were treating her today (Monday) afternoon. It is said that she died due to renal infection, however, the autopsy will reveal the real cause of death," a senior forest official told IANS requesting not to be named.

Meanwhile, reports suggested that the veterinarians found symptoms of dehydration and renal infection in Shasha.

Shasha was among those Namibian cheetahs who were translocated to India on September 17 at Kuno National Park.

A total of 12 cheetahs (8 from Namibia and 4 from South Africa) were released in two phases in the world's first such project. The demise of five-year-old Shasha came as a major jolt to India's dream project.
New York, March 27 : US researchers have fabricated the first wearable sensor designed to detect and monitor muscle atrophy, faced particularly by astronauts.

A condition involving the loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, muscle atrophy can happen for a variety of reasons, but is typically a side-effect of degenerative disease, ageing or muscle disuse.

While physicians currently rely on MRI to assess whether a patient's muscle size and volume have deteriorated, frequent testing can be time-consuming and costly. However, the new study published in the journal 'IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering' suggests that an electromagnetic sensor made out of conductive 'e-threads' could be used as an alternative to frequent monitoring using MRI.

The team at The Ohio State University fabricated 3D-printed limb moulds and filled them with ground beef to simulate the calf tissue of an average-sized human subject. Their findings showed that they were able to demonstrate the sensor, resembling a blood pressure cuff, could measure small-scale volume changes in overall limb size, and monitor muscle loss of up to 51 per cent.

Astronauts on short spaceflights can experience up to a 20 per cent loss in muscle mass and bone density.

"Our sensor is something that an astronaut on a long mission or a patient at home could use to keep track of their health without the help of a medical professional," said lead author of the study, Allyanna Rice, a graduate fellow in electrical and computer engineering at The Ohio State University.

"Ideally, our proposed sensor could be used by healthcare providers to more personally implement treatment plans for patients and to create less of a burden on the patient themselves," Rice said.

The team designed the device to work by employing two coils, one that transmits and one that receives, as well as a conductor made out of e-threads that run along the fabric in a distinct zig-zag pattern.

Though the wearable is still years away from implementation, the study notes that the next major leap would most likely be to connect the device to a mobile app, one that could be used to record and deliver health information directly to healthcare providers.

And to improve life for future patients both on Earth and in space, Rice is looking forward to combining the sensor with other kinds of devices for detecting and monitoring health issues, such as a tool for detecting bone loss.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the banks should give a personal hearing to borrowers before classifying their account as fraudulent, in accordance with the RBI's Master Circular of July 1, 2016, noting that the action of classifying an account as fraud not only affects the business and goodwill of the borrower, but also the right to reputation.

The apex court accepted the contention that the action of the banks of classifying an account as "fraud" is stigmatic and further added that the "bar from raising finances could be fatal for the borrower leading to its 'civil death' in addition to the infraction of their rights under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution".

A bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said the apex court has consistently held that an opportunity of hearing ought to be provided before a person is blacklisted.

It noted that classification of a borrower's account as fraud has the effect of preventing the borrower from accessing institutional finance for the purpose of business and it also entails significant civil consequences as it jeopardises the future of the business of the borrower.

The bench stressed that the principles of natural justice necessitate giving an opportunity of a hearing before debarring the borrower from accessing institutional finance under Clause 8.12.1 of the master directions on frauds. "The action of classifying an account as fraud not only affects the business and goodwill of the borrower, but also the right to reputation," it observed.

However, the court clarified that no opportunity of being heard is required before lodging an FIR.

In a 59-page judgment, Chief Justice Chandrachud, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said: "Principles of fair play require that borrower ought to be given an opportunity of being heard before classifying the account as fraud in accordance with the procedure laid down under the Master Directions on Frauds." The RBI and lender banks submitted that the requirement of natural justice is already fulfilled under the master directions on frauds as the borrower is allowed to participate during the preparation of the forensic audit report.

The top court refused to entertain appeals filed by both the RBI and the SBI-led consortium of lenders and upheld the Telangana High Court's December 10, 2020 judgment which directed lenders to include principles of natural justice into the RBI's 'Master Direction on Frauds - Classification and Reporting by Commercial banks and select FIs' so as to afford opportunity to the affected party/person to present their case.

The bench said: "The principles of natural justice demand that the borrowers must be served a notice, given an opportunity to explain the conclusions of the forensic audit report, and be allowed to represent by the banks/JLF (joint lenders' forum) before their account is classified as fraud under the Master Directions on Frauds. In addition, the decision classifying the borrower's account as fraudulent must be made by a reasoned order." The RBI and the lenders further argued that giving such an opportunity to the borrower before classifying and reporting loan frauds could defeat the very purpose of the 2016 circular, which is early detection of fraud and prompt reporting.

The borrowers' counsel submitted that penal provisions under Clause 8.12 of the master directions on frauds are also applicable to the promoters, directors, and other whole-time directors. Once a bank account is classified as fraudulent, it carries significant consequences according to the Master Directions on Frauds such as filing of a complaint with the CBI and debarment of the promoters and directors from accessing institutional finance, the borrowers' submitted.

The top court accepted borrowers' submission that the action of the banks of classifying an account as 'fraud' is stigmatic, akin to blacklisting the borrower, which affects their right to reputation and there is a direct impact on the fundamental rights of the individuals concerned, as a consequence of the classification of an account as fraud.

The bench said: "Classification of the borrower's account as fraud under the Master Directions on Frauds virtually leads to a credit freeze for the borrower, who is debarred from raising finance from financial markets and capital markets. The bar from raising finances could be fatal for the borrower leading to its 'civil death' in addition to the infraction of their rights under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution."
Kolkata, March 27 : A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday expressed anguish over the 'unsatisfactory' report by the Kolkata Police commissioner on the arrest of HC counsel and Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi earlier this month for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

To recall, while questioning the manner in which Bagchi was arrested during the wee hours of the day, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had on March 15 directed police commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal to seek a report from Burtolla police station, whose cops had arrested Bagchi, and submit the report to the high court within four weeks.

On Monday, the report was submitted to the single-judge bench following which Justice Mantha expressed his anguish over its contents.

Observing that the report is not acceptable, Justice Mantha said the police action has been justified in the report.

"But all should know what had actually happened on that day. From this report, question can be raised whether the police commissioner encouraged his forces to act in an improper manner," Justice Mantha said.

At the same time, he also said that the practice of making derogatory comments against each other is not acceptable.

He asked the state government to file an affidavit on this count by April 12. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on April 20. Till that time, further police action against Bagchi may continue.

After the bypoll results for the Sagardighi Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district was announced on March 2, in which Left-backed Congress candidate Baryon Biswas trounced Trinamool Congress nominee Debasish Bandopadhyay by nearly 23,000 votes, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had launched a scathing attack against state Congress President and veteran party MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, referring to his daughter's suicide in 2006.

On March 3, Bagchi had held a press conference wherein he referred to a book written by former IAS officer Deepak Kumar Ghosh, which reportedly has some references about the personal life of the Chief Minister.

Bagchi had said that since Banerjee has started making personal attacks by referring to the suicide of Chowdhury's daughter, he would now counter them by circulating soft copies of Ghosh's book through WhatsApp. Thereafter the police raided his residence and arrested him.

The arrest had evoked strong criticism from different corners, including from within the Trinamool Congress.
New Delhi, March 27 : To encourage mass production in the defence manufacturing sector, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on a technology transfer policy under which the technology of successfully tested products are being transferred to Indian industries for mass production by signing a licensing agreement.

Till now, the DRDO has signed 670 agrrements with industries under this policy, Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt, said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Accoding to the Ministry of Defence, DRDO undertakes design and development of products for use by the Indian armed forces. After successful product trial and evaluation, the technology of the same is transferred to the Indian industries for mass production by signing a licensing agreement for transfer of technology. The current DRDO policy for transfer of technology came into force on August 19, 2019.

Bhatt said in his reply that DRDO transfers both defence and dual use technologies to private companies. As per the licensing agreement for transfer of technology signed between the DRDO and the industry, the recipient industry is bound not to transfer or sublicence the technology obtained from the DRDO to any party without prior written approval of the DRDO.

Moreover, the licensing agreement bounds the industry to take all necessary measures to ensure that the technology is not passed on, disclosed, or given access to, except to their directors, officers and employees and their subcontractors to whom it is necessary to pass on, disclose or give access to, for the purpose of execution or manufacture of the product under the said licensing agreement.
Bhopal, March 27 : Vyapam "whistleblower" Dr Anand Rai, who was posted as a medical officer at Hukumchand hospital in Indore, was dismissed from service on Monday, the Madhya Pradesh government announced on Monday.

A notice issued by the state Health Department stated that Dr Rai was dismissed for not complying with official orders, being regularly absent from duty, and also portraying a "bad image" of the state government's welfare schemes.

The notification said that he has been dismissed under provisions of the MP Civil Services Act.

It said that he to inspect four health care facilities - civil dispensary (Residency, Indore), Hukumchand Hospital (Indore), P.C. Sethi Hospital (Indore) and civil dispensary (Vrindavan Colony, Indore) - on March 29 and March 30, but did not go for inspection thought his attendance was marked in attendance register.

"It was found that he reported for duty for only 18 days from February 15 to March 15, 2022. Casual leave forms were also not submitted for remaining 6 days," the notification said.

It said that Rai had submitted casual leave application on March 29, 2022. The civil surgeon at Hukumchand Hospital asked him to appear before a special medical board on the same day between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., but he did not turn up.

He was also accused making comments on social media, which dented the image of government welfare schemes, as per the notification.

Rai had been courting controversy with his statements against the state government. A recent episode occured last week when he has posted a message on his social media account mentioning that ex-BJP MLA Ranjna Baghel will support JAYS in the next Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

However, after Baghel objected his claim and warned of lodging an FIR against him, he had apologised for his comment.
Patna, March 27 : In a bizarre case of negligence at the Shahid Khudiram Bose jail in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, prison authorities in November last year released another person with the same name as the one whose release was ordered by the court.

While police managed to nab the wrongfully released person and sent him back to jail on Sunday, the state police's Prison Cell has suspended an Assistant Jail Superintendent for negligence.

The police said that the entire incident happened due to the names of both the inmates being the same.

The incident occurred on November 20, 2022 when after a Muzaffarpur court had given an order to release Guddu Kumar, son of Ramdev Sahani of Shankar Patti village under Meenapur police station but the jail authorities had released another Guddu Kumar, son of Dhaneshwar Rai, and a resident of same village.

When the parents of the Guddu Kumar who was to be released learnt about the development, they approached the jail authorities but to no avail, and then wrote letters to the higher authorities.

When the matter comes into the knowledge of senior officials, they have asked for clarification from Jail Superintendent Brajesh Kumar, who initiated an inquiry into the matter and found the negligence of Assistant Superintendent-cum-entry incharge Priyanka.

In his report, he mentioned that Priyanka, without matching the name and address, released the other Guddu Kumar.

Based on the report of the Jail Superintendent, the Prison Cell suspended Priyanka.
New Delhi, March 27 : The leaders of the Opposition parties attended a meeting convened by the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday evening wherein it was decided to continue with the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations of fraud and stock manipulation levelled against the Adani Group.

Sonia Gandhi and disqualified Congress MP Rahul Gandhi were present at the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of Congress, DMK, Nationalist Congress Party, JD-U, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Left parties, AAP, MDMK, Trinamool Congress, RSP, RJD, National Conference, IUML, VCK, Samajwadi Party and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

The opposition leaders collectively decided to press for the JPC demand and continue with its protest in the Parliament.

After the meeting, Kharge said, "To save one man, Modi ji is trampling the interests of 140 crore people. To protect PM's 'Param Mitr', the BJP stalls the Parliament that discusses people's issues. If no wrong was committed, why is the government shying away from Opposition's demand of a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee?" The Congress is organising a major show with 35 press conferences in two days to highlight the Adani issue.

Meanwhile, after his disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case, Rahul Gandhi was on Monday asked to vacate his official bungalow on Tughlak Lane in Delhi's Lutyen's zone. As per rules, Rahul Gandhi has to vacate the house within 30 days.
Chandigarh, March 27 : The family of late actor and activist, Deep Sidhu, has sought an investigation into the antecedents of fugitive Khalistani radical Amritpal Singh, "who was not liked by Deep Sidhu".

Investigation by the Punjab Police revealed that the late actor blocked his mobile number.

Mandeep Sidhu, the Ludhiana-based advocate brother of Deep Sidhu, said Amritpal Singh's appointment as head of 'Waris Punjab De', which was founded by his brother, was illegal.

"An impression is being given that our family is a party to the decision to appoint Amritpal Singh as the head. This is not true. In fact, Deep never talked about Amritpal and seemed he disliked him. He had blocked Amritpal's phone for 15 days in January and February," he said.

He said screenshots of the blocked number have been shared on social media. "My brother's phone is with me. I have the evidence," he said.

"Deep had founded Waris Punjab De after much research. It has been hijacked. We need an inquiry into the issue." Amritpal Singh, against whom the National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked and a non-bailable warrant issued, has been on the run despite the massive manhunt launched to nab him since March 18. The self-styled preacher, who returned from Dubai last year, tied the knot with Kirandeep Kaur in a simple ceremony in February.

A police team, comprising women officers, questioned her in her husband's native place for nearly an hour in connection with alleged foreign funding for the activities of Amritpal Singh.

Official sources told IANS that the police have also scanned bank accounts of Amritpal Singh, his wife, and parents to trace sources of funds.

The motorcycle on which Amritpal Singh fled has been found by the police. The police have also seized the Mercedes car in which Amritpal Singh fled after the crackdown.
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Chongqing's Shapingba district on Friday. Voters in the district reelected deputies to grassroots people's congresses. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The essence of Chinese-style democracy is to respect and safeguard human rights, experts said on Sunday.

Its purpose is to realize common prosperity for the large Chinese population, achieve coordinated development of material gains and civilization and people and nature, and pursue peaceful development, said Chen Youwu, dean of Guangdong University of Technology's School of Law.

The leadership of the Communist Party of China is another important characteristic of Chinese-style democracy, which is implemented in a whole-process way that differs from Western-style democracy, Chen said at a forum hosted by Central South University's Human Rights Center.

The core of Chinese-style democracy is to let people make the decisions. All the power of the country belongs to the people, and the happiness of the people is the biggest human right, he said.

Lu Guangjin, deputy head of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, said that similar to many other countries, Chinese people won democracy after fighting for it relentlessly, and they attach great importance to it. However, it should also be remembered that due to the corruption and incompetence of the ruling class in early modern China, Chinese people did not enjoy democracy.

The CPC liberated Chinese people from oppression and exploitation and enabled them to make their own decisions and win political and human rights, he said.

Each country has its own style of democracy, and the standard to evaluate a country's democracy is whether it has safeguarded the people's interests and is supported by the people, he said.

Chinese-style democracy, which has some characteristics in common with democracies in other countries, is unique because it is socialist, people-centered, whole-process and still under development, he said.

There are profound historical and social reasons for China to embark on a democratic path different from Western ones. To easily overlook Chinese-style democracy is unwise, and history has proved that imposing one country's democratic style on another cannot lead to democracy, he added.

He Zhipeng, dean of Jilin University's School of Law, said democracy is only one type of governance model.

Moreover, democracy is a type of human right, and its implementation might influence other rights, he said.

Western-style democracy is based on voting, capitalism and partisan rivalry, while the ideal Chinese-style democracy features whole-process participation and consultation of different political parties, and aims to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, he added.

Chang Jian, director of Nankai University's Research Center on Human Rights, said democracy also has its shortcomings, as there are all kinds of people who have different voices. So in order to realize democracy, compromises need to be made and such policies can sometimes be the worst ones.

In order to overcome the shortcomings, Western countries have chosen elections and parliament to reach consensus, while China focuses on the Party's lead and lets the Party coordinate different opinions, he said.

China's whole-process people's democracy means democracy in elections, policymaking, grassroots-level governance and enterprise management as well as democracy in international relations, he added.
Washington, March 27 : Several students at a school in US' Tennessee state were injured in a shooting attack on Monday before the perpetrator was shot dead by the police, reports said.

The attack was reported from the Covenant School in Nashville, a private Christian school for students in pre-school to sixth grade, when the students are roughly 11 or 12 years old, the BBC reported.

The Nashville Fire Department, in a tweet, said that there are "multiple patients" from an incident at a local school, and the area remains "an active scene".

Nashville police said they had "engaged" the shooter, who is now dead.

According to its website, the school has approximately 200 students.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Supreme Court on Monday ordered release of a death row convict after finding that he was a minor, aged 12 years and six months, when he committed the gruesome" murders of five women and two children at Pune in 1994.

A bench of Justices K.M. Joseph, Aniruddha Bose and Hrishikesh Roy said: "He shall be set free forthwith from the correctional home in which he remains imprisoned, as he has suffered imprisonment for more than 28 years, having regard to the provisions of Section 18 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015." The accused, after several attempts, filed an application in October 2018 before the apex court seeking a declaration that he was a juvenile at the time of the offence. The court then ordered an inquiry by the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Pune in 2019. The judge gave a finding that the applicant was of 12 years and six months at the time of offence on August 24, 1994.

Noting that the offence was no doubt gruesome in nature, the bench said it will go by the date of birth contained in the school admission register. "The other factor which has crossed our mind is as to whether a boy of 12 years could commit such a gruesome crime. But though this factor shocks us, we cannot apply speculation of this nature to cloud our adjudication process," it noted.

The top court observed that it possessed no knowledge of child psychology or criminology to take into account this factor while examining the report of the inquiring judge.

The bench said that at the time of commission of offence, he was 12 years and 6 months, therefore he was a child/juvenile on the date of commission of offence and the death penalty, handed down to him by a trial court, and upheld by the high court and also the apex court, cannot be sustained.

The bench noted that the age of the applicant as revealed in the ossification test keeps the age of the applicant as claimed by him, within the range specified in the inquiry report by a district court judge.

Addressing contentions against the judge's report sustaining the applicant's claim for juvenility, the bench said it cannot indulge in any guesswork to doubt the entry in the school register and added that no evidence has been led to contradict the basis of the age of the applicant reflected in the document. "The certificate of date of birth as evidence of age having been provided in the statute itself, we shall go by that," it said.

Accepting the inquiry report, the bench said he cannot be subjected to capital punishment and added: "In view of this finding, the order sentencing him to death passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune in Sessions Case and subsequently confirmed by the High Court and by this Court would stand invalidated by operation of law." In the 68-page judgment, the top court noted that the state government did not come up with any such compelling evidence which would render documents in connection with the age of the accused to be unreliable or false.
New Delhi, March 27 : The Special Cell of Delhi Police has solved a blind extortion case within three days of the incident and arrested two members of the gang.

DCP of Special Cell (South Western Range), Ingit Pratap Singh, said the accused, who have been identified as Dinesh Kumar Sah and Kishore, had demanded Rs 50 lakh extortion money from a businessman named Bahadur Singh Rawat.

Kishore, a resident of Mangolpuri, had suggested Dinesh to use the name of gangster Neeraj Bawana who also belongs to the same area.

Initially, a case was lodged at the Khayala police station in this regard. But Keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, the investigation of the case was transferred to the Special Cell.

"We examined the CCTV footages of the area and identified the Scooty being used by the accused. Thereafter, the ownership of the vehicle was checked and the same was found to be registered in the name of Dinesh Kumar Sah. A search for the Scooty and its owner was initiated with the help of human resources and technical surveillance, and finally the vehicle was traced," the DCP said.

Following his arrest after a raid, Kishore revealed that the Scooty belonged to Dinesh who was the mastermind behind the crime. Thereafter, Dinesh was apprehended from Peeragarhi.

"After lengthy interrogation and analysis of call detail records, it was been revealed that the complainant is the owner of an MCB manufacturing firm, Elixir Engineering & Electrical Industries. Dinesh is also in the same business running 'SAH Enterprises'.

"Around 10 years ago, Dinesh used to work in complainant Bahadur Singh Rawat's firm as a labourer and later he left the job over petty issues. Thereafter, Dinesh started the same business. However, he suffered huge losses, whereas Bahadur's business flourished. Due to enmity and greed, Dinesh conspired with his labourer Kishore to extort money from Bahadur," the officer said.
Bhopal, March 27 : A number of contractual health workers voicing concern over their future and pressing the government to regularise their jobs staged a protest outside the bungalow of Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Prabhuram Choudhary here on Monday.

One of the protesting workers said they should be given permanent appointments as they have been serving the people for more than a decade.

The protesters also sought a change in the rules in the new group 5 recruitment by Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB).

Another protester said those health workers who have been working for 10 to 15 years need to be adjusted (for positions) without any exams as the posts in the department are vacant.

"This is not the first time contractual healthcare workers are raising their voices to get attention to their demand. We did not receive anything except a bunch of assurances from the government. It has been 15 to 20 years, but no relief has been given to the contractual employees and no adjustments were made. The BJP government had implemented a policy on June 5, 2018 but we did not receive the benefit of that too," Contractual Employees Union State Executive President, Jitendra Singh Bhadauria said.

He further stated that healthcare workers who helped others receive Ayushman cards for others are, however, not eligible for these cards.

"We are not even eligible for BPL (Below Poverty Line) cards... we are not eligible for insurance. So, we request the minister to accept our demand so that we can return to our workplace and serve the public," he added.

The opposition Congress has also extended its support to protesting healthcare workers, saying the government should resolve the issue.

"The Madhya Pradesh government should issue amendments to the rules of recruitment examination of healthcare workers without delay. The future of 7,000 contractual health workers of Madhya Pradesh is at stake because of the advertisement issued for the recruitment examination," said former chief minister and state Congress unit chief Kamal Nath.
Patna, March 27 : An FIR has been filed against three teachers, including the head mistress, of a government school in Bihar's West Champaran district for brutally assaulting a Class 5 student who was five minutes late in coming back, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred in a government upper middle class school located at Shankar Yadav Tola village in the district on March 23.

The victim's parents filed an application with Bagaha SDM and Bathwaria police station and the matter is under investigation.

As per the complaint lodged in Bathwaria police station, the victim claimed that he had taken permission to go to the toilet and head mistress Sharita Devi granted him 5 minutes for the purpose. The student returned to the student in 10 minutes which made Sharita Devi angry and she allegedly beat him.

When the student argued with her, two other teachers Krishna Kumar and Dharmendra Kumar took him into a class room and brutally assaulted him after closing the door.

The victim revealed his ordeal to his parents on Thursday. The parents along with other villagers immediately went to the school where they found him weeping inside the school premises.

The parents immediately went to Bathwaria police station and lodged a written complaint against three teachers. The victim's father claimed that he had some dispute with Sharita Devi and she had beaten his son in anger.

"After the medical examination and statements of other students, we have registered an FIR against three teachers and further investigation is underway," said Amit Kumar, SHO of Bathwaria police station.
Jersualem, March 27 : Faced with mounting protests, including by at least one minister, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced that his government will delay his controversial justice bill to the next parliamentary session.

The delay comes from a will to reach a broad consensus, he said in a TV address to the country, the BBC reported.

As protests raged and calls were made for a general strike, halting flights from Tel Aviv and led to McDonald's shutting, Netanyahu had called on the protesters on all sides "to behave responsibly and refrain from violence".

A little earlier, a key party in the governing coalition - the far right Jewish Power party - said it has agreed to back a delay to the legislation, if it is submitted in the next session of Israel's parliament.

In his address, Netanyahu said that there are currently two camps in Israel, and the country "does not need" this tension to go on.

He said some people are rejecting military service, "which is in itself a big crime".

This came as the Israel Army called on soldiers to continue to carry out their duty and act responsibly amid social divisions over the government's plans to overhaul the judiciary.

There were reports that several people had refused to turn up for their spell of mandatory military service.

Netanyahu also said that his government will never accept a civil war, and they are facing "a crisis that is a real threat to national unity".

Netanyahu said he strived to find a solution as the country was at a "dangerous cross road".

He alleged an "extremist minority" was ready to divide the nation and that the crisis obliges everyone to act responsibly.
Washington, March 27 : Three students and three adults were killed and several others injured in a gun attack at a school in US' Tennessee state on Monday before the woman perpetrator was shot dead by the police, reports said.

The attack was reported from the Covenant School in Nashville, a private Christian school for students in pre-school to sixth grade, when the students are roughly 11 or 12 years old, the BBC reported.

Local media, citing sources at the local Vanderbilt University Medical Center, reported that three children were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead.

Nashville police said they had "engaged" the shooter, who is now dead.

Later, Nashville police said in a briefing that six people have been killed - three children and three adults - and there are no additional victims. No additional details were provided.

The shooter was a female, the police said, and believed to be in her teens. Her name has not been released. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun, they said.

The police said that they first received reports of an active shooter at 10.13 a.m. (local time, 8.43 p.m. IST), engaged with the shooter in a "lobby-like area" on the school's second floor and managed to neutralise her by 10.27 a.m. local time.

According to its website, the school has approximately 200 students.
Chennai, March 27 : The Tamil Nadu have stepped up surveillance after receiving inputs from Central agencies and the state intelligence wing on the possibility of certain foreign groups smuggling drugs into the state through the sea route.

The police are on alert near the Ramanathapuram area as there were specific inputs that this route would be used by certain international groups affiliated to former LTTE associates.

The Chennai police have unearthed a major drug network a few days ago. Methamphetamine valued at Rs 9 crore was seized. Two persons, Rajkumar (35) and Chandrashekar (42) were arrested.

Sources in the police told IANS that the duo during questioning had provided information about more such gangs active in the state, and that the drugs were reaching Tamil Nadu through the coastal route.

It may be recalled that the Central intelligence agencies had earlier given inputs on the certain former cadres of the now defunct LTTE trying to revive the organisation and raising funds for it.

The Tamil Nadu police have stepped up surveillance on the sea to prevent any boats reaching the coasts of Ramanathapuram or Nagapattinam during late hours.
Itanagar, March 28 : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday said that his state and Assam are "progressing steadfastly" towards resolving the decades-old border row between the two neighbouring northeastern states for lasting peace.

He said that this is happening after signing of the Namsai Declaration.

In a tweet, he said: "Following signing of the Namsai Declaration, we are progressing steadfastly in settling border issues with Assam for enduring peace. Held a meeting with Regional Committees of Lower Dibang Valley, East Siang, Kamle, Papumpare and Lower Siang districts to review the progress." With the protracted boundary matter pending with the country's apex court since long, the Namsai Declaration was signed by the governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, in presence of Khandu and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma on July 15 last year to amicably resolve their border disputes.

Moreover, the two states decided to restrict the 'disputed villages' to 86 instead of the previous 123.

Arunachal Pradesh and Assam share an 804.1-km-long inter-state border. Assam has also been continuing its parleys to resolve the inter-state border disputes with Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram.
Washington, March 28 : Three children and three staff members were killed in a shooting in a school in the US' Tennessee state on Monday morning.

The shooter -- described as a teenaged girl by authorities -- was "engaged" by law enforcement officers and killed. She was carrying two "assault-type rifles and a handgun", as per police.

The shooting took place in a private Christian school in Nashville that runs from preschool through to the sixth grade.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the school shooting.

The police got the first calls sometime past 10 am Central Time. "The police department response was swift," police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.

"They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers." There was no official word on the shooter's motivation.

School shootings have become tragically commonplace in the US. Just a few days ago, a 17-year-old was fatally shot after he had shot and wounded two members of the administrative staff of a Denver school.

Sandy Hook Promise, an organization founded and run by family members of the victims of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut, called gun violence and school shootings "a uniquely American epidemic".

Mass shootings, incidents with four or more victims, are even more common. Easy access to deadly weapons is to be blamed chiefly, but gun law reforms have been slow and bitterly contested by a powerful gun lobby.
Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Protection of Georgia Zurab Azarashvili met with Joachim Stamp, Special Commissioner of the German Federal Government on Migration Issues.According to the Ministry of Health, the parties discussed issues of labor migration, migrants' rights and circular labor migration."At the meeting, the importance of labor migration regulation in Georgia and the implementation of planned changes in the law in this direction were emphasized.According to Azarashvili, the implementation of the planned changes will help legal labor migration, reduce cases of illegal labor migration, establish an effective system of state monitoring of the activities of individuals and legal entities related to labor arrangements outside Georgia and encourage their legal activities.On his part, Stamp informed Azarashvili about the goals and future plans of the German side in the direction of migration policy.The special commissioner for migration issues of the German federal government expressed his support for the ongoing reforms in Georgia and his readiness to further deepen the cooperation," the ministry's statement reads.US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, told reporters that the freedom of the media is important for the development of democracy. According to her, it is of more importance especially recently, when the media space is 'narrowing'.Degnan was asked a question about the statement made by President Zourabichvili, regarding Nika Gvaramia's pardon, where Zourabichvili noted that she would say "whatever will be and how it will be".As Kelly Degnan said, this decision is for the president to make completely."Media freedom is important for the development of democracy, especially in the recent period, when we see that the media space is narrowing. Therefore, the existence of an independent, free media is very important so that the population has access to accurate information that is not presented in only one direction. We will always focus on viable, strong media because this is especially important in the process of building democracy," said Degnan.
A six-week abortion ban that may become Nebraska law worries the states pre-eminent doctors organization, which fears doctors could risk felony charges if they violate it  even though criminal charges arent explicitly in the bill.

Some Nebraska doctors worry that the potential criminal charges, and the ban itself, will cause a chilling effect for doctors and endanger their pregnant patients.

Were all going to be thinking in the back of our minds: Is this OK? Is my patient sick enough? Does this qualify as a medical emergency? said Melissa Mathes, an OB-GYN in Omaha, mentioning an exception in the bill meant to save pregnant women from death or major physical impairment. And theres going to be pauses in care where we have to either get a second opinion or go to our ethics board  in our particular institutions or hospitals.

But there's going to be a delay in a patient's care, and sometimes that delay  a couple of hours or a day can be truly detrimental and potentially deadly for patients.

The bill would ban most abortions after embryonic cardiac activity is detected, roughly six weeks. Thats before many people find out theyre pregnant. It would likely make the vast majority of legal abortions currently performed in Nebraska illegal.

LB626 previously appeared likely to get the 33 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. But on March 15, Republican Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston introduced an amendment that threw his support of the six-week ban  and its passage  into question.

Riepes amendment would instead change current law, which outlaws abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization, to 12 weeks  or about 14 weeks gestational age.

Support for the six-week ban from roughly two-thirds of the states 49 senators may not align with Nebraskans feelings on the issue. A recent poll from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute found 54% of Nebraskans felt abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

Senators who oppose the bill raised legal concerns surrounding LB626 early during this legislative session.

The bill includes penalties like a doctor losing their medical license. But criminal consequences, while not mentioned in the legislation, also cant be ruled out, a legal expert said.

Whether it actually criminalizes this or not is a different question from whether this creates legal risk or not, and it certainly appears to be creating legal risk, said Mailyn Fidler, a criminal law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincolns College of Law.

One question is rooted in statute  part of a law passed in 1977. Its language is simple: The performing of an abortion by using anything other than accepted medical procedures is a Class IV felony.

The definition for accepted medical procedure was later removed from state law.

This years bill has some lawmakers and doctors wondering: Does this new bill define an accepted medical procedure? And, if it does, does violating it amount to a felony?

You are essentially establishing new elements to the crime and exposing doctors to that criminal penalty, said Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, an attorney and registered Democrat.

Another attorney and Democrat, Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, worried that others involved during an abortion  even a scheduler or nurse  might be legally liable.

It's ambiguous at best, Dungan said. ... And frankly, I guess that ambiguity is what causes me concern. Ambiguity oftentimes breeds fear, and fear can prevent people from acting.

Bills often explicitly include language stating that an existing law doesnt apply to the new legislation, Cavanaugh said. This bill doesnt. A court, then, could assume the Legislature knew about the existing law and intended it to be applied in this new context, he said.

The sponsor of the bill, Republican Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, dismissed the concern and said the bills opponents are desperate to find arguments against it.

LB626 has no criminal penalties, she said. The idea that it would somehow trigger an old criminal statute passed in 1977 thats meant to stop unprofessional and unsanitary procedures, and which has never been used to prosecute anyone, is absurd.

Sen. Julie Slama, Republican from Dunbar and a paralegal who graduated law school last year, said in floor debate that the bill doesnt have any civil or criminal penalties attached to it.

Albrecht said she believes doctors will be able to practice much as they do now.

If they've read this bill  and asked questions about it  they shouldn't feel a need to be concerned, she said.

During its public hearing in the Health and Human Services Committee, five doctors, including one from Texas, testified in favor of the bill. Twenty-two Nebraska doctors and medical students testified against it, often arguing it will harm patient care.

Doctors have also shared concerns about potential criminal charges with the Nebraska Medical Association, the state organization that represents doctors of all types.

The worry: Existing criminal penalties could apply to perceived violations of LB626, said NMA President Daniel Rosenquist, a doctor in Columbus. The NMA sought legal input on the bill.

The question is whether it is really, truly protective or not, Rosenquist said. And thats for a judge to decide. Thats the problem.

Fidler, the law professor who has been critical of LB626, thinks its a stretch that violating it would be a felony. But, she said, Were living in an age of stretches.

I think, you know, legal counsel would be right to be concerned about that, she said. But its a risk. I dont think its clear that this bill defines a medical procedure.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers declined comment on the bill, saying he wouldnt weigh in unless a state senator requested an AG opinion on legislation.

The current 20-week post-fertilization ban says that doctors who violate it are guilty of a felony. Riepes amendment does not appear to change that aspect of current law.

Even the threat of criminal charges would be detrimental to patient care, Rosenquist testified.

A recent NPR report documented a chilling effect in Texas: Fear there is powerful enough that doctors avoid saying the word abortion while speaking in code with their patients.

Five Texas women who were allegedly denied abortions during medical crises announced a lawsuit last week.

Idaho has a total abortion ban, but affirmative defenses in court for rape, incest and saving a pregnant persons life. The Idaho Capital Sun reports that doctors have left the state since that bans passage  and that a hospital recently stopped offering obstetrical care altogether.

The Nebraska six-week ban bill includes language meant to exempt situations like medical emergencies, rape and incest. But doctors here are voicing concerns around those exceptions.

Jennifer Griffin, OB-GYN and medical director of Nebraska Medicines Olson Center for Womens Health, provided examples she said wouldnt fall under that exception  including a patient whose water breaks early in pregnancy, in which case the chance of continuing the pregnancy to viability is very low while the womans at risk of serious complications.

That was the case for one of the plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuit, who went septic before the hospital agreed to induce labor.

At Nebraska Medicine, we do not provide elective termination of pregnancy, Griffin said. Our position on LB626 should not be interpreted to reflect a position on abortion. But we have very grave concerns about ways in which this legislation will delay and diminish care available to our patients.

Not every Nebraska doctor is worried about the bills potential passage.

Sean Kenney, an OB-GYN and maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Lincoln, testified in favor of the bill and also mentioned pregnant women with ruptured membranes.

LB626 would not compromise the physicians ability, to care for these women, he said. We will do whatever it takesto provide lifesaving care.

Albrecht, too, doesnt buy the concerns around a chilling effect. She said she talked to doctors and an NMA lobbyist before the session and believes she addressed those worries.

But Mathes said that shes already experiencing the effects of the proposed six-week abortion ban  even though it isnt law. Some pharmacies have stopped filling prescriptions for misoprostol, Mathes said, a medication that can be used for abortion.

Mathes prescribes misoprostol for miscarriages.

I cant imagine being told your pregnancy doesnt have a heartbeat then being hassled at the pharmacy, she said. It feels dirty. It feels wrong.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

Meet the Nebraska state senators making laws in 2023
Nairobi, March 28 : The streets of Kenya's capital Nairobi remained deserted and most businesses shut as anti-government protests entered the second week.

While the police managed to mute the protests in the capital, confining them to pockets of the city where the opposition has strongholds, most citizens and traders kept off the streets on Monday for fear of violence, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the Kibera slum in Nairobi, one of the areas where Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition led by opposition leader Raila Odinga has a huge support base, tens of youths clashed with anti-riot police officers. The officers teargassed the youths who pelted them with stones and lit bonfires in violent confrontations as they sought to block them from reaching the Nairobi central business district.

Similar scenarios were reported in Mathare and Kawangware slums, other strongholds of Odinga, which last week were a hotbed of violent anti-government protests.

Odinga and fellow Azimio leader Kalonzo Musyoka showed up in Kawangware to lead the protests. As their convoy snaked through the settlement, police lobbed teargas at them and the protestors, sparking a clash as the leaders were driven away.

"Kenyans are saying no to oppression," Odinga tweeted later as he urged his supporters to soldier on with the fight. More protests were also witnessed in the lakeside city of Kisumu as well as Migori on the border of Kenya and Tanzania.

In the two areas, the political bastions of Odinga, youths engaged the police in running battles and pelted them with stones as business in the towns was disrupted for the second straight week.

In Nairobi's city center, though deserted, the streets were largely peaceful as police kept vigil to ensure no opposition supporters made way into the central business district. It all started early Monday morning when police erected roadblocks on all roads leading into the city center to bar protestors.

On Mombasa Road which links the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa, dozens of police officers manned a roadblock Monday morning. The officers stopped all passenger vehicles ferrying commuters into the city center and inspected them to flash out protestors.

Unlike Odinga, other leaders who supported the protests remained quiet in their hideouts for fear of arrest.

On Sunday, Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome outlawed the demonstrations and vowed to arrest any leader, including Odinga, who will be on the streets. "Whichever level you are in society, whichever status you are, I have enough land cruisers to put you behind bars. Whoever I will arrest tomorrow, you will go to jail and stay there forever," Koome said.

The protests, however, took a nasty turn on Monday after businesses associated with former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga were attacked by goons and vandalized. The two have been accused by ruling party stalwarts of sponsoring the anti-protests.

Dozens of unknown people raided a Kenyatta family-owned farm dubbed Northlands City in Ruiru on the outskirts of Nairobi. The group of youths armed with power saws and machetes felled a number of trees and stole an unknown number of sheep. The raid was said to have been organized by pro-government operatives, some of who tweeted Monday morning about the farm.

Similarly, Odinga's East Africa Spectre International Ltd, which deals in gas cylinders, was attacked and vandalized by goons. The police did not comment on the attacks but said later they were investigating the attack.

Odinga, who narrowly lost the 2022's presidential election to William Ruto has declared the planned protests until the government addresses the high cost of living and electoral injustice. Odinga has said it was of utmost importance that the government reins in the high cost of living for the benefit of ordinary citizens.

Food prices have increased in Kenya due to a prolonged drought that has cut production and global disruption in the supply of commodities like maize and wheat. A decline of the Kenyan shilling against major international currencies has further exacerbated the situation for Kenya as imports become too costly.
I am so excited and honored to receive this focused award, said Keener. Im glad our teams were able to make such an impact for our clients that they nominated me, and I hope we can continue to make a positive effect on client supply chains.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive, the only publication covering the entire global supply chain, named Steve Keener, Partner and Co-Founder of River Rock Advisors, as one of the winners of the 2023 Pros to Know award.

The annual Pros to Know award recognizes outstanding executives whose accomplishments offer a roadmap for other leaders looking to leverage supply chains for competitive advantage.

This years list is filled with supply chain professionals whose achievements and success stories have helped move the needle in the supply chain. They promote safety, sustainability and workforce development. They work toward helping heal the supply chain. Theyre actually in the supply chain, says Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics. We received close to 400 nominations this year, the highest number of nominations ever for this award. Its proof that todays supply chain professionals are doing great things for the supply chain. They embody what a true leader should be. And, without their initiatives, programs and collaborative efforts, todays supply chains would be in worse shape.

I am so excited and honored to receive this focused award, said Keener. Im glad our teams were able to make such an impact for our clients that they nominated me, and I hope we can continue to make a positive effect on client supply chains.

Keener has been in the consulting industry for over 30 years with a focus on supply chain consulting, private equity, professional services, and process improvement. View the full list of 2023 Pros to Know winners here. The overall winner will be announced live at ProMat in Chicago. Go to http://www.SDCExec.com/awards to learn more about upcoming Supply & Demand Chain Executive awards.

About Supply & Demand Chain Executive

Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the only supply chain publication covering the entire global supply chain, focusing on trucking, warehousing, packaging, procurement, risk management, professional development and more. Supply & Demand Chain Executive and sister publication Food Logistics are also home to L.I.N.K. and L.I.N.K. Educate podcast channels, L.I.N.K. Live, SCN Summit, SupplyChainLearningCenter.com, Women in Supply Chain Forum and more. Go to http://www.SDCExec.com to learn more.

About River Rock Advisors

River Rock Advisors is a leading value chain management firm that partners with manufacturing and distribution organizations worldwide to develop and implement solutions with a specific focus on cross-functional whitespace challenges. Its analytical approach considers industry- and process-specific metrics to help client leadership teams make data-driven decisions and navigate change effectively.

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We protect the people and property that matter most. Learn more about our world-class UL Listed, TMA Five Diamond monitoring centers located in NJ and TX. Already one of the first to offer customers the ability to cancel alarms via text, Affiliated Monitoring has advanced the industry again with this update"

Affiliated Monitoring, the leading provider of live agent alarm monitoring services and technology, has announced important updates for two product suites. AlertMessage, an alarm notification service designed to help alarm dealers and their customers reduce false alarms, and Portal+, a new suite of enhancements to Affiliateds Partner Portal, simplifying day-to-day business operations.

AlertMessage

Its well-known in the industry that over 95% of intrusion alarm activations are false and less than 20% of phone calls from alarm monitoring centers are answered by customers. The previous version of AlertMessage, launched in 2016 and the recipient of the TMA/SSI Monitoring Technology Marvel Award, aimed to address these challenges by enabling customers to cancel alarms without having to speak to a monitoring center specialist. The original version, which featured a text message containing a link to a web application, quickly became industry standard for alarm monitoring centers.

With the increasing power of chatbots, Affiliated saw the opportunity to enhance the AlertMessage customer experience. Now when an alarm is received by the monitoring center, all eligible emergency contacts will receive a text from AlertMessage which will intelligently engage them via an interactive chatbot allowing them to quickly direct the monitoring center. This set of enhancements also increases adoption by removing concerns some customers have about opening unfamiliar links in a text message. 

Already one of the first to offer customers the ability to cancel alarms via text, Affiliated Monitoring has advanced the industry again with this update to AlertMessage, stated Daniel Oppenheim, CEO, Affiliated Monitoring. In a mobile-first world where customers can conduct business via text, like verifying suspicious charges with banks or engaging with a companys customer service department, we understood the high value of developing the same capability when responding to alarm activations.

With the new version of AlertMessage, customers can now quickly cancel an alarm activation or request emergency services entirely over text, which allows for 75% faster response times on verified alarms, and dramatically fewer dispatches on false alarms. This is a goal shared by monitoring centers, alarm dealers and their customers and the new AlertMessage helps everyone achieve it.

For more information, watch this short video on YouTube, AlertMessage: Reduce False Alarms Entirely via SMS.

Portal+

Affiliated has also introduced Portal+, a new suite of premium enhancements to its award-winning partner web portal. For our dealers who rely on the Affiliated Partner Portal on a daily basis to set up and manage their customers alarm systems, Portal+ allows them to do more for their business and back-office communication, said Mike Zydor, Managing Director, Affiliated Monitoring. Affiliated dealers that lack a dedicated CRM can now benefit from the features of Portal+ without the need to invest in separate, expensive CRM software. Portal+ helps dealers employees work smarter and faster by reducing the need to switch between multiple software platforms. Portal+ launched with two exclusive features with more in development for 2023.

With the largest software engineering team in the industry, Affiliated Monitoring continues to innovate across its entire service offering.

Visit Affiliated Monitoring on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook

Visit Affiliated Monitoring, Booth #23051, at ISC West, the leading security industry trade show in the U.S. ISC West starts March 28th through March 31st at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas.

For more information, contact Affiliated Monitoring at sales@affiliated.com, 800.296.9000

About Affiliated Monitoring

Affiliated Monitoring is one of the largest and most innovative providers of security, fire, health and IoT professional monitoring services in North America. From world-class redundant monitoring centers in Texas and New Jersey, Affiliated's award-winning, talented monitoring agents and technology platform power the growth engines of thousands of companies. For more information visit https://www.affiliated.com/
CorSpice Launches New LIL' HEAT LIL' SWEET Premium Spice Blend CorSpice founder and military veteran Bill Domenz describes his new blend LIL' SWEET LIL' SWEET as honey infused with a slight after-kick; think birthday candle hot, not heat-of-a-thousand-suns hot."

Cheeky premium spice blend company CorSpice LLC just launched their eighth new premium spice blend: LIL HEAT LIL SWEET. Spice sommelier (some might say savant) and CorSpice founder and military veteran Bill Domenz describes his new blend as honey infused with a slight after-kick; think birthday candle hot, not heat-of-a-thousand-suns hot. LIL HEAT LIL SWEET intersects sweet with savory -- a flavor profile crafted to complement meats, seafood, poultry, and vegetables. This new spice blend is designed to enhance all sauces, dips, hors doeuvres and even popcorn. The 5.0-ounce bottle retails for $16.75 with a one-year shelf life.

CorSpice users appreciate that CorSpice products are safe for loved ones with diabetes, celiac disease, kidney disease, heart disease, or estrogen-avoidance diseases can use these spices without a worry. CorSpice premium plends are the Spice Heroes of Zeros, created with zero of the following ingredients:

 Zero MSG

 Zero GMOs

 Zero Sugar

 Zero Gluten

 Zero Calories

 Zero Soy

 Near-Zero Sodium

 Zero Additives or Preservatives

In 1989, enlisted Marine Bill Domenz was stationed in South Korea when he first discovered his bizarre gift for blending flavors. It was his signature MREs mashup  a curious blend that mimicked his moms homemade chili -- that had his fellow troops lining up outside of his tent for seconds. When Domenz returned stateside and pursued his civilian career in IT, his passion for new flavor formulations never waned. His family and friends kept returning their empty spice jars for refills of his magic blends. During the pandemic lockdown, Domenz and his wife Amber decided to launch CorSpice LLC with his legacy blend, Private Pork, which remains a fan favorite to this day.

With every jar and bottle sold, Domenz gives a portion of his profits to K9s FOR VETERANS NFP, which helps first responders, military veterans and active-duty military suffering with PTSD (which Domenz was recently diagnosed with) to receive trained service dogs at no cost to them. The funds cover food and veterinarian fees for the lifetime of each dog. Since 2020, CorSpice has donated more than $20,000 -- enough to pay for two trained service dogs, which were recently awarded to two military veterans.

For more information, images, and media product samples, please contact their publicist Denise Dorman at denise@writebrainmedia.com or visit CorSpice.com.

About CorSpice LLC

Owned and operated by military veteran Bill Domenz with his wife Amber (Edwards) Domenz, CorSpice LLC launched in August 2020 for two reasons: to exploit Bills spice sommelier talents, and to form a business where Domenz could give back to first responders, active-duty military, and military veterans with every bottle he sold. To date, the company offers eight premium spice blends and two hot sauces. They have four new spice blends formulated to go to market in Q2 2023.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Denise Dorman, Media Relations Director

WriteBrain Media, LLC

Mobile 24/7: (630) 215-LOBE (5623)

denise@writebrainmedia
Ideal Option, a national leader in evidence-based outpatient treatment for addiction to fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, alcohol and polysubstance, is now welcoming new patients in Russellville. The new clinic, located at 902 W Main St, will provide primarily buprenorphine-based medication-assisted treatment with an onsite addiction medicine specialist.

While opioid prescribing and heroin use is on the decrease, overdose deaths continue to increase in Arkansas, largely due to the prevalence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply.

According to a press release published by the Pope County Sheriffs Office in January of this year, authorities seized approximately 19,500 fentanyl pills at a traffic stop conducted within the city limits of Russellville.

Agents believed at the time of the seizure there was no intent to traffic this drug to other states, but that it would be sold locally in the Pope County area, the release stated.

Fentanyl is regularly mixed with other illicit drugs to make them more addictive, often without the user knowing. Polysubstance use disorder is therefore now the most common diagnosis at Ideal Option. According to their Annual Patient Outcomes Report for Arkansas, in 2022, over half of all Ideal Option patients tested positive for more than one substance at enrollment, and 24% tested positive for three or more substances.

The report does offer hope however, by showing how effective medication-assisted treatment is for reducing substance use. For patients who remained in treatment with Ideal Option during 2022, lab testing shows:



94% less fentanyl use

87% less total opioid use

96% less heroin use

77% less methamphetamine use

90% less cocaine use

The new clinic in Russellville is Ideal Options seventh location in Arkansas and is opening at a time of desperate need for expanded access to evidence-based treatment from experienced providers. Ideal Option has been specializing in addiction medicine using buprenorphine-based medications such as Suboxone for 11 years and currently operates 88 clinics in 11 states.

According to the Pope County Opioid Dashboard published by Arkansas Take Back, there are only three medication-assisted treatment providers located here," said Aaron Bunch, community outreach coordinator for Ideal Option. "I am excited for the opportunity to form partnerships in Russellville and make a positive impact by bringing in additional resources to treat the residents of this wonderful community.

The new Ideal Option clinic in Russellville is open Monday  Thursday, 7:30 a.m.  6 p.m. and is located at 902 W Main St, Russellville, AR 72801.

Most forms of insurance are accepted, including Medicare and Medicaid, and patients can typically get started on treatment for fentanyl, heroin, alcohol or other substances within 1-3 business days.

Patients can make an appointment by calling 1.877.522.1275 or visiting http://www.idealoption.com.

About Ideal Option

Headquartered in Kennewick, Washington, Ideal Option was founded in 2012 and has since helped more than 65,000 patients through a network of 88 office-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinics across 11 states. With a mission to serve under-served communities, Ideal Option accepts most forms of insurance including Medicaid and Medicare. Financial assistance and payment plans are also available.

Ideal Option's team of medical providers carry certifications in Addiction and Emergency Medicine, Internal, and Family Medicine, among other specialties. The company also employs social workers, caseworkers, counselors, and mental health practitioners. This holistic approach helps drive positive outcomes, including family stability, stable housing, improved overall health, and reduced rates of recidivism.

In all the communities it serves, Ideal Option collaborates with existing stakeholders and providers to improve the continuum of care. This approach includes partnerships with emergency rooms and county jail systems, where individuals with substance use disorder often appear, as well as collaborating with numerous support agencies and municipal programs addressing social needs such as housing, mental health, and nutrition support.
Inman Innovators recognizes new companies and visionaries driving the future of the real estate industry by turning their big ideas into reality.

Inman, the leading news source for real estate agents, brokers, executives and technology leaders, today opened nominations for the 2023 Inman Innovator Awards. Since 1998, the Inman Innovator Awards have honored companies, individuals and new technology that increases productivity, efficiency and transparency for consumers and real estate professionals alike. Inman Innovators include entrepreneurs pushing the old ways aside, data scientists discovering new ways to examine behavior, marketers reimagining how to showcase properties, agents reinventing how to communicate with clients, companies building advanced technologies and brokerages and teams creating groundbreaking business models.

There is no award in real estate with the history or prestige of the Inman Innovators, said Emily Paquette, Inman chief executive officer. Its in Inmans DNA to celebrate the entrepreneurs and creators who are pushing our industry forward, and were excited to be doing it again this year.

Past winners of Innovator of the Year have included Zillows Rich Barton, Divvy Homes Adena Hefetz and @properties Thad Wong. While finalists and winners are chosen at the sole discretion of the Inman editorial team, all members of the real estate community can submit nominees for work done since July 2022 in the following categories:



Innovator (individual or individuals)

Company

Agent or team

Brokerage

Technology

Video/podcast

MLS, Association or Industry Organization

Marketing or Branding Campaign

Nominations close June 1, 2022. The winners will be celebrated at Inman Connect Las Vegas, August 8-10, 2023 at the ARIA Resort.Questions about Inmans real estate awards programs can be directed to awards@inman.com.

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About Inman Awards

Inman Awards recognizes outstanding accomplishments across the residential real estate industry with six distinctive categories. Each award shines a spotlight on the most deserving companies and individuals in the real estate industry, as well as in specialties including mortgage and finance, marketing, and proptech.

About Inman Events

Inman Events are built for the entire residential real estate ecosystem and for every player in that ecosystem to share ideas and connect. Agents, brokers, executives, tech and finance professionals, entrepreneurs and investors, and more gather to learn, network, and forge essential relationships.

About Inman

Inman is the leading news source for real estate agents, brokers, executives and technology leaders who gain useful advice on the industrys top stories, trends and developments that help them grow their businesses and stay ahead of the competition. With an audience of over one million professionals, Inmans pages and stages are where the industry goes to find the most innovative ideas and new business models, through our website, newsletters, events, awards, education, research, and subscriptions. Follow Inman on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
We are honored by this industry recognition, as it reinforces the critical role that AI and intelligent automation play in workforce management.

Legion Technologies, an innovator in workforce management (WFM), today announced its continued momentum with two new accolades for its workforce management platform. The companys recent award wins include receiving an Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award from the Business Intelligence Group, and being named to CB Insights Retail Tech 100 list.

The Legion WFM platform has been named a winner in the Automated Planning and Scheduling category in the Business Groups Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program, which recognizes the organizations, products, and people who bring Artificial Intelligence (AI) to life and apply it to solve real problems.

We are so proud to name Legion Technologies as a winner in our inaugural Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program, said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group. It was clear to our judges that Legion was using AI to improve the lives of their customers and employees. Congratulations to the entire team!

Legion was also named in CB Insights annual list of the 100 most promising private retail tech companies in the world, in the Hourly Employee Tools and Management category.

Legions pioneering WFM platform uses AI to improve and automate planning and scheduling. This enables companies with a large hourly workforce to optimize their labor efficiency while also helping to create a better experience for their hourly employees, said Sanish Mondkar, CEO and founder, Legion Technologies. We are honored by this industry recognition, as it reinforces the critical role that AI and intelligent automation play in workforce management.

Legion Technologies workforce management platform maximizes labor efficiency and employee engagement simultaneously through the power of intelligent automation. The companys data-driven WFM approach produces highly accurate demand forecasts, automatically optimizes schedules, and provides actionable insights so employers can control labor costs, increase productivity, and minimize compliance risk.

The Legion WFM platform transforms the employee experience through schedule empowerment, early access to earned wages, performance and rewards tailored to the needs of the hourly employee, and modern, clock-aware communications. This functionality enables employers to continuously attract and retain hourly employees while minimizing compliance risk.

To learn more about the award-winning Legion WFM platform, visit legion.co.

About Legion Technologies

Legion Technologies delivers the industrys most innovative workforce management platform. It enables businesses to maximize labor efficiency and employee engagement simultaneously. The Legion WFM platform is intelligent, automated, and employee-centric. Its proven to deliver 13x ROI through schedule optimization, reduced attrition, increased productivity, and increased operational efficiency. Legion delivers cutting-edge technology in an easy-to-use platform and mobile app that employees love. Backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Stripes, First Round Capital, XYZ Ventures, Webb Investment Network, Workday Ventures, and NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Legion is recognized by Inc. as one of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America. For more information, visit https://legion.co and follow us on LinkedIn.
Mission-based project development company Tradewater received the ACR Innovation Award for their leadership in co-developing the greenhouse gas registrys methodology for International ODS (ozone depleting substances) destruction.

Tradewater was honored for their strategic innovation to collect CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) refrigerants in developing countries, as well as enabling the export of these controlled gases across borders for destruction to countries with compliant facilities.

The Montreal Protocol, a landmark agreement which banned the production and consumption of potent CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) gases, did not include an end-of-life mandate to collect and destroy these gases. As a result, the equivalent of billions of metric tons of COe in the form of CFC refrigerant gases are at risk of leaking into the atmosphere through degrading equipment or stockpiled in rusting tanks around the world without an appropriate solution.

Given that these gases have a disproportionately large impact on the warming of the planet, a solution is long overdue. Tradewater has a small team, with about 40 employees around the world, focused on scalable strategies for collecting, controlling, and destroying potent greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases.

The 2023 Innovation Award recognized innovations within the ACR methodology to make carbon financing more accessible for purposes of costly and complicated, yet critical, ODS collection and destruction. This methodology achieves two important things:



It allows for the collection of CFCs from the abovementioned stockpiles in developing countries, most of which dont have the ability to facilitate destruction within their borders.

It enables the export of these CFCs across borders for destruction to countries with safe and effective destruction facilities that meet the requirements of the Montreal Protocol.

ODS collection and destruction is challenging work, but absolutely critical in preventing catastrophic climate change, said Tim Brown, co-founder and CEO at Tradewater. This recognition, and this partnership with the ACR Registry, validates that the path we have chosen will generate significant climate benefits. The International ODS Destruction Methodology will be instrumental in providing access to carbon financing destruction efforts globally and at scale.

This week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a report which stated, Continued greenhouse gas emissions will lead to increasing global warming, with the best estimate of reaching 1.5C in the near term in considered scenarios and modelled pathways. Every increment of global warming will intensify multiple and concurrent hazards (high confidence).

This is why Tradewater strongly advocates for climate solutions that make a real, measurable, permanent, and immediate impact in the fight against catastrophic climate change. These new methodologies ensure that ACR Registry and the industry continue to innovate to address the global stockpiles of dangerous CFC and HCFC gases, which is critical if we are to reach the 1.5C target.

Tradewater has used the new ACR Registry methodology to successfully develop projects in Honduras and Thailand, and have projects underway in several other countries, including Chile and Saudi Arabia, as well.

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Tradewater is a mission-based B Corp that creates, develops, and implements high-value projects which permanently prevent the worlds most potent greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases from being released into the atmosphere. Learn more at tradewater.us and tradewaterglobal.com.
Nine out of 13 insurance carriers we track will not write a policy unless you have MFA. Same with CMMC 2.0  and a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) won't be accepted if you don't have the basics such as MFA, antivirus, and security awareness training. - Foster Charles, Founder & CEO, Charles IT

The Department of Defense (DoD) announced the new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, CMMC 2.0, in November 2021. The change came after it was determined that the original CMMC 1.0 model was too cumbersome and confusing for contractors. The intent, however, remains the same: to ensure that the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) contractors have the appropriate measures and procedures to protect sensitive information, including controlled unclassified information (CUI) and federal contract information (FCI).

Whats important to understand is that CMMC 2.0 is actually nothing new. The requirements are based on The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-171 and are directly aligned with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), which has been required for some time now.

What matters is how strictly you are implementing these best practices for IT security, as the new regulations will be firmly enforced in 2023. To be successful, contractors must change their approach to compliance or risk losing out on lucrative contracts or incurring hefty fines.

High-Level Changes in CMMC 2.0

CMMC 1.0 aimed to aggregate various security requirements into a single compliance standard for the federal government. While the intention was good, the rules were very complicated. CMMC 2.0 is a simplification of CMMC 1.0  making it much easier for DIB contractors to achieve compliance in order to improve federal defense security.

Level one requires a self-assessment of 17 best practices similar to NIST's cybersecurity framework (CSF). Level two aligns with NIST SP 800-171 and requires certification from a CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). Lastly, DIB contractors that handle top-secret information must achieve level three compliance based on NIST 800-172.

CMMC 2.0 removes requirements not included in NIST SP 800-171 to make achieving and enforcing compliance more practical. It also covers DIB subcontractors to ensure security across the entire supply chain as more malicious actors target smaller companies that contract with industry giants (e.g., Lockheed Martin). "Hackers may get just one piece of CUI from one supplier. But if they stack a bunch of them together, they can get a rather complete picture  this is how secrets are leaked. CMMC 2.0 is about securing state secrets," Charles says.

Cyber warfare is the latest concern, and for good reasons. For example, threat actors can launch a cyberattack on infrastructure (e.g., the Colonial Pipeline attack), then take advantage of the extended downtime to launch a more devastating physical attack  which could grind the entire nation to a halt.

What's the key takeaway of these changes, and what do you need to know when updating your processes?

A key objective of CMMC 2.0 is to bring clarity and remove complexity. For instance, it requires a third-party certification every three years (instead of an annual assessment) for levels two and three compliance.

Moreover, the procedures are easier to understand, so your focus can be on getting your security posture up to date.

How CMMC 2.0 Benefits DIB Contractors

CMMC 2.0 enables better protection of CUI to prevent data leaks and espionage. It strengthens national security and helps protect against supply chain or state-sponsored attacks. However, understand that it also benefits DIB contractors in their operations: "The manufacturing industry is very far behind in IT and security. Companies still run many processes manually, which is very insecure. Their poor IT security hygiene often leads to costly ransomware and other attacks. CMMC 2.0 forces these contractors to establish good business habits that are ultimately good for their organizations," Charles says.

The thought of yet another regulation may be intimidating. The good news is that half of CMMC 2.0 is already in NIST SP 800-171  detailing cybersecurity practices that DIB contractors should already be following, e.g., using antivirus software, implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA), and mapping and labeling all CUI.

Critically, companies can't even get cybersecurity insurance coverage without implementing many of the measures outlined in CMMC 2.0. Nine out of 13 insurance carriers we track will not write a policy unless you have MFA. Same with CMMC 2.0  and a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) won't be accepted if you don't have the basics such as MFA, antivirus, and security awareness training," Charles says.

CMMC 2.0 is a necessary step forward for the entire defense industry to get up to speed from the technology perspective.

Why Changing Your Approach Is Key

As mentioned, the most common misconception about CMMC 2.0 is that it's a new compliance standard when, in fact, its not.

The other crucial misconception is that many contractors assume they can wait until the CMMC 2.0 ruling is approved before taking action. Many contractors underestimate how much time it will take to evaluate their security posture, implement remediation actions, and get their third-party assessment. Some also misjudge how technically behind their systems and processes are and the investment required to achieve compliance. Its also essential to remember that meeting these standards requires coordination with vendors, which may take time to complete. "Many contractors overlook the complexity of their supply chains and the number of third-party vendors they use. For example, you may discover that a few suppliers still use Windows 7 and refuse to upgrade. So you could find yourself in a pickle if your vendors aren't compliant, and you have to wait for them to upgrade their technology, Charles says.

There are also issues with cloud compliance, Charles points out. Many contractors also don't realize that they can't process CUI on any cloud  your platform must sit on a Fedramp medium or Fedramp high cloud. For example, instead of Office 365, you must use Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud High (GCC High).

How to Prepare for CMMC 2.0

Start preparing as soon as you can if you haven't already and expect the process to take a year or two. CMMC 2.0 will likely go into effect in 2023, and as soon as it does, it will appear on all contracts within 60 days. You can't afford to wait till the last minute.

In other words, contractors will benefit from a sense of urgency. "Achieving compliance in one go can be a major shock to an organization and its day-to-day business processes. I recommend conducting an assessment and designing a multi-year roadmap, Charles says. This plan should answer questions such as: What machines/hardware do you need to replace? Which third-party vendors require upgrades? Do they have plans to do so in the next three years?"

Submitting a system security plan (SSP) is essential to CMMC 2.0 compliance. The SSP is also an essential document that a managed service provider (MSP) can use to assist your company with compliance. The scoresheet outlines CMMC's security requirements and helps you gain an overview of the upgrades you need. The first thing I usually ask is, do you know your SSP score?, Charles says. Other companies may not be as far along. In that case, Charles IT can conduct a gap or risk assessment for our clients as a first step to writing an SSP and a plan of action and milestones (POA&M). We call it a gap assessment. We need to know how deep the water is, and then we'll pinpoint it and help them write an SSP, Charles advises.

If you have a relatively mature security posture and follow the latest cybersecurity best practices, achieving CMMC 2.0 compliance should take around six to nine months. If not, you could be looking at an 18-month timeline. Again, don't wait until a contract is on the table  get started now to avoid losing businesses.
Drinkmate, a leader in the home beverage carbonation market, today announced that the Drinkmate OmniFizz will be debuting on QVC in March. The Drinkmate OmniFizz home beverage carbonator is the most versatile carbonator that adds sparkle to any beverage with a press of a button.

The Drinkmate OmniFizz was recently recognized by The New York Times as The Best Soda Maker. According to the editorial team, Of the 26 soda makers weve tested over the years, the Drinkmate OmniFizz stands out for its stellar seltzer, simple carbonation process, and ability to carbonate more than just water.

Drinkmate OmniFizz carbonated beverage makers sparkle any beverage from juice, tea, lemonade, coffee, and even beer, wine, and cocktails. Drinkmate OmniFizz is scheduled to debut on QVC with four appearances from March 26 through April 1, 2023. Drinkmate OmniFizz will also be available for purchase on QVC.com.

The Drinkmate OmniFizz is available in four stylish colors including red, black, white, and arctic blue. For additional information, please visit Drinkmate.

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About Drinkmate

Drinkmates mission is to allow consumers to get creative in discovering new beverages, drink healthier and have fun while reducing plastic bottle waste. Its proprietary technology allows the consumer to carbonate any kind of beverage safely and quickly. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the company serves as the global headquarters for the Drinkmate brand with operations in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

For more information, please visit Drinkmate.
Students from area high schools spent time on Friday morning learning about careers and higher education at the Connect the Dots event at Southeast Community College.

University of Nebraska Extension Educator Jacie Milius said the purpose of the event was to involve students in connecting the career they want with the education they will need.

Some of the careers in the simulation need education and some of them do not, she said. Its designed to help them explore different careers and the path to that career.

The students all received an education card which is a luck of the draw card that would have had a description with their education level.

Milius said they use that description to move throughout the four simulations.

We want them to understand how their education impacts how they get to the job that they want, she said.

Southeast Community College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Doane University, and Concordia University were all represented at the event. The military and several different community organizations were also present at the event representing a job cluster.

The object is that the student finds a career by the end of each round.

About a 133 freshman and sophomore students participated from ESU 5 schools including Tri County, Meridean, Deschler, Thayer Central and Southern.

Daphne Smith of Meridean High School and Jenna Woitalewicz of Deschler High School worked together during a simulation to learn more about careers. Both students were freshman.

Were learning about careers and how to get them, Woitalewicz said.

Were focusing on the arts, Smith said. Careers that involve a camera really.

Tri County freshman Samantha Heidemann said this was very helpful.

I want to be a lawyer, so I got the education that I needed in this round, she said.

Southern students Noah Troxel and Joshua Upton worked as a team to work through the simulation.

It helps us have a better understanding of what college has a better program for the job we want, Troxel said.

Thayer Central students Peyton Fangmeier and Reagan Theis worked on a career in education as their focus.

Ive learned more about college and what to do with my life, Fangmeier said.

Employers and military representatives from the community talked with youth throughout the morning about their chosen career.
Recently, over 350 people gathered to celebrate the topping out of the new D West Pier at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). Staff from Houston Airports, Fentress Architects and consultants, Austin-Gilbane Joint-Venture, and the subcontractors participated in the beam ceremony and an appreciation lunch. When the project is complete, the international carrier gate capacity will increase to 18 as part of the MLIT Program. This new state-of-art facility will highlight IAH as a premier global gateway.

The topping out event was a big success for not only the Austin-Gilbane joint venture team but for the Houston aviation community as a whole, said Russ Gyvel, Senior Project Manager. We are delighted to reach this significant milestone in the project and are looking ahead to the finish line in what promises to be a grand addition to H-Towns travel hub.

As part of an ongoing project, Gilbane Building Company and their joint venture partner, Austin Commercial, are giving one of the busiest airports in the United States a significant expansion and refurbishment to maintain its momentum as an international hub.

Our joint venture leverages the expertise of many individuals from both our companies which is the foundation for executing this complex project, all while coordinating numerous daily operational, security, and safety protocols involved in working within an active airport, said James Springer, Execution Advisor and Project Executive.

The project is a part of the Houston Airport Systems (HAS) International Terminal Redevelopment Program (ITRP), the most extensive capital improvement program undertaken in the history of HAS. The project scope includes a new pier to accommodate six wide-body international airplanes and a new sterile corridor to funnel passengers to the Federal Inspection Services Facility, part of the ITRP undertaking. This new D West Pier and concourse will include modern finishes, expansive ceilings, a unique exterior curtainwall/glass wall feature, expanded concessions, and other support facilities. The project also includes refurbishing the existing Terminal D departures areas, including mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems, and a new interior aesthetic upgrade to the associated gates and seating areas for passengers. The project commenced in 2020 with the demolition of the C North concourse (originally built in 1980) and will be substantially completed at the end of 2023.

About Gilbane Building Company

Gilbane provides a full slate of construction and facilities-related services  from preconstruction planning and integrated consulting capabilities to comprehensive construction management, general contracting, design-build, and facility management services  for clients across various markets. Founded in 1870 and still a privately held, family-owned company, Gilbane has more than 45 office locations worldwide. With an increased demand for private, institutional, and public projects, Gilbane remains a trusted partner in providing construction services for our Texas clients. Since 1981, we have developed a reputation for quality service and client satisfaction. Our team is dedicated to providing an exceptional client experience, prioritizing safety, creating high-quality design solutions, and delivering projects on time and within budget. For more information, visit http://www.gilbaneco.com.

About Houston Airport System

The Houston Airport System provides a safe and dynamic air services network that fosters economic vitality for the transportation industry and facilitates a strong level of global connectivity for diverse and growing population living throughout the greater Houston region.
An upcoming segment of Advancements with Ted Danson will focus on how innovations in technology are providing lenders with the opportunity to increase returns, while supporting growth in underserved countries.

Advancements will explore the topic of financial disparity as it examines one of the single biggest financial obstacles today  the fact that only a fraction of the global economy can access and repay huge loans. Viewers will learn how developments in financial technology are helping to break the gap in commercial and industrial lending.

Audiences will learn how the microloan platform; Positiviti Lending, is helping business owners and individuals to find the necessary capital needed to grow their businesses in Kenya. Experts will explain how meeting the rising need for microloans is helping entrepreneurs build businesses and create jobs in local communities.

We understand that underserved consumers don't always have the same access to financial services as those who have higher incomes. That's why our mission is to make sure everyone in Kenya has an equal chance at accessing credit and other financial resources. We want everyone to be able to enjoy the same level of trust, care, and security when it comes to their finances, said Micah Asay, CEO of Positiviti Lending.

In addition, the show will explore how Positiviti provides everyday lenders with the opportunity to get increased returns on their hard-earned money, while supporting the growth of underserved countries.

We look forward to exploring how microlending is helping people achieve long-term financial goals, said Ed Sullivan, senior producer for the Advancements series.

About Positiviti:

Positivi Lending is a mobile technology and data company committed to financial inclusion in Kenya. Millions of underserved people have borrowed through the mobile application, which provides instant credit scoring, lending, and other personalized financial services in Kenya. Positiviti Lending is headquartered in Fresno, CA with additional offices in Naroibi and Kisumu.

For more information, visit http://www.positivitilending.com.

About Advancements and DMG Productions:

Advancements is an information-based educational television series that explores recent developments taking place across several industries and economies. Shining a light on important issues and topics impacting society today, the series features the cutting-edge improvements, state-of-the-art technologies, and innovative solutions responsible for shaping, molding, and transforming our world.

Backed by experts in various fields, DMG Productions is dedicated to education and advancement, and to consistently producing commercial-free, educational programming for viewers and networks.

For more information, please visit http://www.AdvancementsTV.com or call 866-496-4065.


Earlier this March, organizations in the small business finance industry gathered at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, for the third annual Funders Forum and Brokers Expo 2023. This event is the first conference organized for the small business finance industry by the small business finance industry, according to the expos sponsor, Revenue Based Finance Coalition (RBFC).

Everest Business Funding, a Revenue Based Finance firm, was one of the expos sponsors, stating it was another smashing year.

The event was an outstanding success with over 600 attendees, compared to the first conference held in Washington DC in 2019 with 120 attendees, said Everest Business Funding.

After the first conference took place in 2019, the following years events were canceled due to the global pandemic. This years expo was comprised of about 60% funders, 30% brokers, and 10% service providers. Registration started on March 8th, followed by the Welcome Reception that lasted about two hours at the hotels poolside bar..

The next day, March 9th, was a full day of events starting with a breakfast that kicked off morning events, including panel discussions on sector topics such as the state of the industry and litigation in the industry. After lunch, attendees had the opportunity to listen to political keynote speaker Congressman Andy Barr and keynote speaker Daymond John. Other topics of discussion included technology, fraud, and data security in the industry as well as financing for the industry.

The last day of the Funders Forum and Brokers Expo 2023 on March 10th started with a later breakfast leading to a half-day of events. Subjects about the small business finance industry included how to thrive during and after the recession, how to position the industry politically for the future, emerging legal issues impacting small business finance, and legal updates. Attendees observed industry keynote speaker Jim Granat and political keynote speaker Congressman Byron Donalds.

Everest Business Funding believes that the Funders Forum and Brokers Expo will resume scaling in the direction it has been while continuing to enhance, change, and grow the small business finance industry. Registration is already open for Funders Forum and Brokers Expo 2024. Signing up for next years event now grants attendees access to its super early bird rate. With the objective to be more than just a conference, the Funders Forum and Brokers Expo 2024 will be an experience to remember.

For more information about the Funders Forum and Brokers Expo, or to check out Everest Business Fundings services, head over to https://www.everestbusinessfunding.com/.

About Everest Business Funding

Everest Business Funding is a small business owners trusted partner. They support entrepreneurs by providing them with working capital to expand their business and operations. The entire application, approval, and funding process is completed in record time. When you need cash for equipment, staff, renovations, inventory, marketing, or anything else, Everest Business Funding can help.
Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the arrival of James Beach as a partner in the firms Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups in San Francisco. Beach brings to Morrison Foerster significant experience representing private equity funds and their portfolio companies in complex U.S. and cross border transactions. His addition highlights the continued expansion of Morrison Foersters global and U.S. private equity capabilities in recent years. Beach is the fifth lateral partner to join the firms Private Equity M&A practice since 2020, following the additions of Mitchell Presser, Omar Pringle, and Aly El Hamamsy in New York, and Steven Tran in Singapore in January.

Beachs practice focuses on representing private equity funds and their portfolio companies in complex U.S. and cross border transactions, including leveraged buyouts of private and public targets, divestitures, and growth equity investments. He also advises private equity-owned and public companies in all stages of their life cycle. He has a particular focus on the tech sector, including enterprise software, data and security and hardware, as well as strong experience with logistics, manufacturing, and consumer products.

James is a high-caliber attorney who knows private equity inside and out. We are thrilled to welcome him to MoFo. Having worked closely with him in the past, I am confident he will be a great fit for MoFo and leverage his sophisticated legal skills, business acumen, and collaborative spirit to continue to grow our private equity offering on the West Coast, said Patrick Huard, global co-chair of Morrison Foersters Private Equity practice. His arrival also underscores the firms continued investment in its Private Equity M&A capabilities to meet growing client needs in key geographic locations.

I was drawn to Morrison Foersters exceptional private equity and M&A capabilities, tech sector leadership, and its global platform, said Beach. I look forward to leveraging my private equity and M&A experience and relationships to further grow the firms private equity and technology M&A practice in the Bay Area. I am also excited to work with my new colleagues and reconnect with former colleagues across the firms global offices to craft practical solutions for our clients in connection with their most sophisticated transactions.

Beach joins Morrison Foerster from the San Francisco office of a private equity and M&A-focused boutique law firm, where he was a partner. Before that, he was a partner in the private equity and M&A group of another leading global firm in the Bay Area. Beach earned his B.A. in philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he received a Regents Scholarship. He holds an M.A. in political science from the University of California, Riverside, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Beach is admitted to practice in California.

About Morrison Foerster

Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of Morrison Foersters presence in Asia. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firms commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster was recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyers 2021 and 2022 A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment. For more information, visit http://www.mofo.com.
Lynelle K. Bosworth, a shareholder in global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLPs Albany office, was named to City & States 2023 Above & Beyond list.

City & States annual Above & Beyond awards recognize an outstanding group of women, including civil rights leaders, candidates for elected office, and groundbreaking innovators, according to the publication.

Bosworth, a member of the firms Government Law & Policy Practice, led Greenberg Traurigs Pro Bono efforts representing the Joyful Heart Foundation in the passage of a law implementing a statewide electronic tracking system for sexual assault kits. Actress Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, founded the organization to advocate on behalf of survivors after learning staggering statistics about sexual assault. The implementation of the tracking system will provide sexual assault survivors with certainty regarding the processing of their kit.

In addition to Bosworths pro bono work, she advises clients on matters regarding health care, renewable energy, environmental, transportation, finance, racing and gaming regulatory and policy matters. Additionally, she provides legal counsel to health insurers, HMOs, and other health care clients in regulatory compliance matters, business negotiations, and corporate transactions.

Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Bosworth served as counsel for the Health Committee of the New York State Assembly where she advised the Assembly Speaker and the Health Committee Chair on budgetary and policy priorities regarding Medicaid, public health, and the Affordable Care Act.

About Greenberg Traurigs Government Law & Policy Practice: Greenberg Traurigs Government Law & Policy Practice combines the capabilities of its Federal Practice in Washington D.C. with its state and local practices across the country. The firms national team of governmental affairs professionals and attorneys spans major political and commercial capitals throughout the United States, including: Albany, Austin, Denver, New York City, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Tallahassee, and Washington, D.C. Most recently, Greenberg Traurigs Government Law & Policy team was Top Listed for Government Relations in Best Lawyers in Americas 2018 edition. The team was also named Law Firm of the Year for Government Relations by the U.S. News-Best Lawyers 2014 edition of "Best Law Firms." The practice also received the most first-tier Government Relations rankings in the U.S.

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2650 attorneys in 44 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI Highly Recommended Law Firm for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 250. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPAs Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com.
Our new refreshed website and logo is a testament to our forward-thinking approach to marketing & public relations and helping our clients achieve their business goals, states Monique Merhige, President at Infusion Direct Marketing

Infusion Direct Marketing, Inc., a leading public relations firm in the security industry, today announced it has recently launched a new website along with an expanded portfolio of marketing and technology services. Over the past 16 years, Infusion Direct has made a huge impact on the security industry by handling public relations and media planning for a wide variety of nationwide clients with an international footprint ranging from high profile security manufacturers to security system integrators.

The refreshed website offers an intuitive design, easy navigation, and informative content that reflects the company's commitment to providing excellent services to its clients. The expanded portfolio of marketing and technology services includes a range of solutions that cater to the specific needs of the security industry, which includes digital marketing, social media management, and website design & development. The expansion was made possible by forging a strategic partnership with one of the top tech & digital marketing agencies in Florida, YESHUA GROUP.

Im proud to join forces with Infusion Direct and be part of the companys expansion of offering additional technology & marketing services to security clients nationwide, states Angel Moncada, President at YESHUA GROUP. We are well aware of the exceptional track record Infusion has partnering with industry leading technology manufacturers over the years and excited to be part of the team. Infusion Direct continues to stand out from the typical public relations firms out there and offers clients an expertise in the security industry that is second to none. We are equally as proud to join forces with one of the premier tech & digital marketing agencies in Florida, which has allowed us to expand our client offerings, states Monique Merhige, President at Infusion Direct. Our new refreshed website and logo is a testament to our forward-thinking approach to marketing & public relations and helping our clients achieve their business goals.

To schedule a meeting at the ISC West trade show in Vegas March 29th or 30th, contact Monique Merhige at 772-380-4845 or info@infusiondirect.com. For further information, visit the new website at http://www.infusiondirect.com.

About Infusion Direct Marketing, Inc.

Infusion Direct Marketing, Inc. is a public relations consultancy firm specializing in the security industry and is a proud member of the Security Industry Association (SIA). For over 16 years, Infusion has worked with high profile security companies to increase brand awareness and create demand with targeted public relations and strategic marketing programs. The company works with high profile security manufacturers and integrators such as Hanwha Vision America, Milestone Systems, Allegion, Idesco Corporation, and IPVideo Corporation. Infusion Direct continues to raise the bar on quality content creation, public relations, and media planning services. Infused with a smarter approach to marketing; Infusion Direct offers unparalleled industry expertise that has helped clients transform their public relations efforts into actionable, measurable results. For further information, please visit http://www.infusiondirect.com or call 772-380-4845.

About YESHUA GROUP LLC

YESHUA GROUP LLC is a Florida-based tech and marketing agency that offers a wide range of services to help businesses succeed in the digital age. Our team of experts specializes in cutting-edge technologies and innovative marketing strategies that drive growth and engagement for our clients. With a commitment to excellence and a passion for results, we work tirelessly to deliver customized solutions that meet the unique needs of each and every client. For further information, visit http://www.yeshuagroup.com.

PR Contact:

Monique Merhige, President

Infusion Direct Marketing, Inc.

772-380-4845

monique@infusiondirect.com


PathFactory logo Together, Inverta and PathFactory are transforming the industry; making it easier to bring a B2B marketer's innovative vision & strategy to life through an automated, intuitive platform delivering better experiences, qualified leads, and more revenue."

PathFactory, the leading B2B Content Intelligence platform, today announced a new partnership with Inverta, a top B2B marketing consulting firm. This partnership will enable B2B-focused businesses to deliver personalized content experiences that engage their audiences and drive better results, while also helping to drive relevance and revenue. Through intuitive customer journeys, stronger lead scoring segmentation, and deep analytics, this partnership will revolutionize how B2B companies deliver bespoke content to their buyers from end-to-end using the best technology and tools.

In the current market, impersonal email campaigns and webinar invites arent driving as much value as they used to. B2B revenue teams understand that their buyers want personalized and relevant content experiences, yet this is difficult to provide without the right tech stack, said Dev Ganesan, CEO and President of PathFactory. PathFactory is thrilled to partner with Inverta, a company that has a clear understanding of the shifting B2B ecosystem and deep expertise in this space. We are excited to combine Inverta's knowledge with our content intelligence platform to create new solutions that help businesses succeed.

As part of the partnership, Inverta will leverage PathFactorys content intelligence platform to deliver personalized content experiences for their clients. This will enable businesses to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time, resulting in better engagement, increased revenue, and improved customer loyalty.

By extending the power of personalized experiences made possible by PathFactory, we work with clients to operationalize and optimize that personalization across messaging, content and the overall experience with a client's brand., said Kathy Macchi, Executive Vice President of Innovation at Inverta. Together, Inverta and PathFactory are transforming the industry; making it easier to bring a B2B marketer's innovative vision & strategy to life through an automated, intuitive platform delivering better experiences, qualified leads, and more revenue.

The partnership between PathFactory and Inverta represents a major step forward for businesses looking to leverage the latest in content marketing technology and strategies. Together, these two companies are poised to deliver innovative marketing solutions that help businesses succeed in todays competitive landscape.

PathFactorys content intelligence platform is currently being used by several enterprise and mid-market customers, including Adobe, Cisco, and Anthology.

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About PathFactory:

Leading enterprise and mid-market B2B companies use PathFactory to accelerate nurture, improve win rates, and understand content performance by delivering intelligent content experiences across the buyers journey. Using insights and automation to connect people with content, PathFactory removes friction for B2B buyers.

PathFactory was recently recognized by Deloitte as one of North Americas Technology Fast 500 and Canadas Technology Fast 50 companies. It was also named the winner of Oracle CXs inaugural visionary ISV partner of the year 2020, 2022 Top-Rated Content Marketing Software by TrustRadius, a 2022 Content Experience Leader by G2, and a 2019 Cool Vendor in Technology Marketing by Gartner. Learn more about PathFactorys B2B Content Intelligence platform and the companies that use it at PathFactory.com.

About Inverta:

Inverta is a B2B marketing firm that guides business leaders through the changing landscape of modern marketing with an approach thats both practical and innovative. Our consultants are experienced marketing leaders and technologists with expertise in organizational alignment, demand creation planning and programs, account-based marketing, content strategy, and marketing operations. Invertas approach meets the needs of the modern marketing organization by delivering four things: Executive level advisory, senior, strategy-first consulting across marketing disciplines, comprehensive execution plans that leverage the latest in marketing technology, and a curated team of specialists who can roll-up their sleeves and get things done. Together, we make good strategy happen.
This years LOUDER honorees and speakers are Monica Mitchell, Senior Vice President of the Wells Fargo Foundation, and Brown Advisory, accepted by Michael Hankin, President & CEO. "284,000 adults in Baltimore City and County have a mental health conditionthats the equivalent of four full Baltimore Ravens stadiums."

NAMI Metropolitan Baltimores mental health awareness event, LOUDER, will be held on Tuesday, April 18th, at 5:30 p.m. at the Penguin Room at Whitehall Mill. The event will recognize and celebrate the individuals and companies committed to reducing mental health stigma in Baltimore through NAMI Metropolitan Baltimores

#IWillListen campaign.

At the VIP Soiree, NAMI will honor local leaders who elevate the conversation around mental health in the workplace and the Greater Baltimore community with the NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore LOUDER Achievement Award. This years honorees and speakers are Monica Mitchell, Senior Vice President of the Wells Fargo Foundation, and Brown Advisory, accepted by Michael Hankin, President & CEO. We will also recognize Towson University for its outstanding commitment to bringing NAMI Metro Baltimores #IWillListen mental health program to its students since the inception of the program in 2016. Dr. Vernon Hurte, Vice President for Student Affairs at Towson University, will accept the award.

284,000 adults in Baltimore City and County have a mental health conditionthats the equivalent of four full Baltimore Ravens stadiums, said Kerry Graves, Executive Director of NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore. LOUDER, like many of our other initiatives, allows us to help eradicate the stigma around mental health while also celebrating Baltimore companies and leaders who champion our values day in and day out.

Towson University will also be honored for its demonstration of creativity and innovation in addressing the mental health needs of its students with the NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore #IWillListen Student Impact Award. During #IWillListen 2022, Towson University reached 1,165 students through 7 events, including therapy dog visits, a mental health, art, and music student showcase, a stigma-burning bonfire, and other wellness events to help start the conversation around mental health.

The money raised from LOUDER will support the work of NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore and its mission to improve the lives of local individuals living with mental health conditions, their families, and their communities through education, support, and advocacy. Donations will allow the organization to expand and provide critical support groups, classes, and mental health programming free of charge to the Baltimore community.

Mental illness is personal to my family and me. I am so grateful for this opportunity to join NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore, to let our friends, family, and neighbors know that if you are struggling, there is a community who cares, Monica Mitchell said. NAMI is doing important work in our community  meeting people where they are, breaking down stigma, and connecting them to critical resources. Im honored to lend my voice to their mission.

NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore is proud to have the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Brown Advisory, Morgan Stanley, and Sheppard Pratt as LOUDERs Premier Sponsors and media partners Bloomtopia and Baltimore Magazine. For more information about NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore, the LOUDER event, or to purchase tickets, please visit our website.

About NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nations largest grassroots mental health organization. NAMI is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals living with mental health conditions, their families, and communities through education, support, and advocacy. NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore is a NAMI affiliate serving Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Our staff, board, and dedicated volunteers work together to raise awareness and provide essential support programs. For 40 years, we have established ourselves as the local voice on mental illness. NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore piloted many of NAMIs Signature education programs here in Baltimore. Today, we continue to develop innovative resources and community education tools that improve the lives of people affected by mental illness and their families. We have grown to serve more than 14,000 individuals and family members annually. For more information on NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore, visit http://www.namibaltimore.org.


Author Carolyn V. Webb has released her second publication, aimed at helping the Christian community heal and grow. Churched and Broken: Through the Eyes of a Child, focuses on Christian believers who Webb describes as having worn masks for years, to hide the pain of spiritual brokenness.

The book follows the story of Nita, as she revisits her childhood to find the cause of her brokenness. She embarks on a personal journey to learn the root of her trauma and discover when she began to mask to camouflage her pain.

Brokenness is so prevalent in the lives of believers, Webb said. This book offers a safe place where we can reveal, discuss, and make the necessary adjustments.

Webb believes that spiritual brokenness is a result of being betrayed by those who claim to love people, from family members or church members, or simply being overwhelmed by life.

Brokenness consists of many facets, Webb said. One aspect of brokenness involves an introspective look at ourselves; to look at those hidden offenses towards ourselves. This allows us to uncover how we hurt others and ourselves with our emotions, thoughts, posture, and decisions. God uses brokenness to restore us.

While Churched and Broken follows the fictional story of Nina, it is largely based on real life events and experiences. Webb believes that everyone, from Christians to non-religious readers, can relate and learn from Ninas story.

Churched and Broken: Through the Eyes of a Child

By Carolyn V. Webb

ISBN: 9781664286252 (softcover); 9781664286245 (hardcover); 9781664286238 (electronic)

Available at Westbow Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author

Carolyn V. Webb is retired and is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She utilizes writing, journaling, and publishing to evangelize. She has previously published Tithing Removes the Curse of Poverty. To learn more, please visit https://www.churchedandbroken.com/.

General Inquiries:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Ashley Fletcher

afletcher@lavidge.com
New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), a leading provider of innovative and transformative services across the state, announced today that the New Jersey Department of Human Services (NJDHS) Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) and New Jersey Health Information Network (NJHIN) have been granted Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicaid Enterprise System (MES) certification. A long-standing facilitator of many statewide healthcare initiatives, NJDHS has been a key partner with NJHIN in driving interoperability across New Jersey and ensuring healthy outcomes for more than 2.2 million Medicaid beneficiaries. NJHIN is the State Designated Entity to advance interoperable Health Information Technology (HIT) services to support health information exchange and is the only network that facilitates the electronic exchange of protected health information across the entire state of New Jersey. This new certification is a testament to the long-standing vision and goals shared by NJDHS and NJHIN and will allow the organizations to continue their crucial roles in connecting patients and providers to critical healthcare data, enabling substance use disorder and long-term care facilities, and supporting New Jerseys underserved populations through a variety of public health initiatives.

This is a huge accomplishment for our teams and helps to further validate the importance of our work in the state of New Jersey and in the U.S., said Jennifer DAngelo, NJII Healthcare Division Senior Vice President & General Manager. It is an important milestone on the journey to achieving our mission of revolutionizing the healthcare industry and creating a healthier, more connected population. New Jersey now counts itself among states who have received MES Outcomes Based Certification (OBC) for Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), and were proud that New Jersey joins the ranks of these states leading the charge in better serving vulnerable groups.

DAngelo and her team achieved the certification following a rigorous two-year process. It qualifies NJII the potential to receive Medicaid cost allocated federal matching dollars to continue funding for the Health Information Network and ensure that services and operations continue. This achievement closely follows the recent HITRUST Risk-based, 2-year certification for NJIIs key implemented systems. The HITRUST status is an elite security credential that denotes adherence to regulatory and data-sharing mandates and best practices.

The NJHIN, developed and managed by NJIIs Healthcare Division on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) and in partnership with NJDHS, enables the electronic exchange of patient health information among trusted data sources across the state of New Jersey. This includes providing services such as a Master Person Index (MPI), Admission, Discharge and Transfer (ADT) alerts, Active Care Relationship Service (ACRS), and Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA), all of which better equip providers to enable safer, more effective care to New Jersey citizens, including Medicare beneficiaries and vulnerable populations.

Currently, all New Jersey hospitals, long-term care, assisted living and Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)s are connected and contributing to NJHIN. The organization has enrolled more than 36,000 providers to date, and securely houses and manages more than 14 million patient records in its Master Patient Index. To learn more about NJIII and NJHIN services, visit http://www.njii.com/njhin.

About NJII

The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), an NJIT corporation, was founded in 2014 and helps turn ideas into workable solutions across four divisions: healthcare, strategic partnerships and entrepreneurship, defense and homeland security, and professional and corporate education. NJII combines the vast resources of NJIT, strong and far-reaching industry and government relationships, and proven methods for building industry-centric ecosystems to help drive innovation and deliver solutions that make a direct impact on the economy and the health and welfare of its participants.
Yellowstone County high school seniors will soon get the chance to meet with future employers at the 2023 Lets Get to Work Career Fair. The event is being put on by Billings Public Schools and will take place Tuesday Mar. 28th at the MetraPark Montana Pavilion.

The fair looks to have representatives from about 100 employers and will be open to seniors attending BPS high schools along with those from Central, Lockwood, Laurel and Huntley Project high schools.

Cost to attend is free and lunch will be provided to all attendees.

During the day, four slates of students will be coming and going for about an hour each session. They will have an opportunity to meet with local, regional, and national employers. Employers attending the job fair may be looking to fill jobs immediately.

Others are there to meet the next generation of workforce and share some perspective on choosing a fulfilling career path. The event is designed by Billings Public Schools and community stakeholders to support graduating seniors in creating their own unique career pathways and futures.

Billings Public Schools Career Outreach Director Bo Bruinsma said the fair will introduce seniors to everything from part-time and full-time jobs to industry representatives explaining career paths that may include college degrees or trade schools.

It really runs the gamut of all kinds of employers, he said.

The career fair started during the 2018-19 schoolyear to provide an alternative to BPS senior students during class time when juniors are taking the ACT test and sophomores are taking the pre-ACT. As the years went by, the district soon became involved in putting on the event and more businesses and neighboring districts have joined over the years.

Bruinsma said some booths have hired as many as five students who attended the fair in previous years.

This is an exciting opportunity, Bruinsma said. Whether youre a student just looking for a summer job or looking how to get into a field, it really is the perfect event for them and our businesses.
ONEIL is honored to be a part of Team Cambridge in this most important work to ensure United States national security and that of our international allies. ~ Mr. Bruce Joiner, Sr. Director of USAF and Strategic Programs

ONeil & Associates, Inc. (ONEIL) is proud to announce its support for Cambridge International Systems, Inc., its prime contract partner, on a multiple award competitive contract led by the United States Air Force (USAF). The contract has a planned ceiling of approximately $960M and is expected to consist of multiple task orders during the planned period of performance through March 14, 2032.

Under the Counter-Narcotics and Global Threats Operations, Logistics, and Training Support program, ONEIL will provide training content development and administration services as a component of the Cambridge team. The program aims to support Department of Defense (DoD) agencies and its allies in identifying and controlling various global threats, including human trafficking, illegal drugs, organized crime, terrorism, and associated financial networks. Mr. Bruce Joiner, Sr. Director of USAF and Strategic Programs said, ONEIL is honored to be a part of Team Cambridge in this most important work to ensure United States national security and that of our international allies.

The contract, which was awarded on March 15, 2023, is a follow-on to a previous and highly successful contract that consisted of 23 awards with a $975M ceiling. The Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, contracting activity manages the contract.

About ONEIL

For 75 years, ONEIL has been the most trusted resource for product support solutions to valuable equipment manufacturers. Our mission is to make equipment safer to use, faster to repair and easier to maintain. We make complex information easier to understand and apply to create a better user experience and improve business advantage for the Department of Defense, aerospace and commercial industries. Our essential work extends the life of valuable, mission-critical equipment and improves the human experience.

For more information about ONEIL solutions, visit http://www.oneil.com, or follow us on LinkedIn.
Paul demonstrated to me that brokers are not just for the big guys, they are just as critical for mid to small size dealerships.

Performance Brokerage Services, North Americas highest volume dealership brokerage firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Thief River Ford in Thief River Falls, Minnesota from Steve Lillestol to Jason Jalbert.

Thief River Ford has been servicing Thief River Falls and the greater North Minnesota area since 1930.

Unlike many dealers, President, Steve Lillestol did not come from a family with experience in the automotive industry. After graduating college, he took a job as a finance manager at Hansen Ford and decided that his ultimate goal was to purchase an auto dealership. Lillestol eventually reached his goal when he purchased Tunberg Motor Company in 2002 and renamed the dealership Thief River Ford.

At the time, Tunberg Motor Company had a humble gravel lot and primarily sold used vehicles. Shortly after his acquisition, Lillestol heavily invested in the facade and financial infrastructure of the dealership. Lillestol paved the gravel lot, modernized the interior, re-negotiated hourly warranty repair rates with Ford, and grew his team to accommodate new business.

Lillestols dedication and hard work have paid off. For more than two decades, Thief River Ford has been a fixture in the local community and surrounding areas. Thief River Ford is well known for friendly service and has a repeat customer base thats made the small but mighty dealership a reliable success over the past 21 years.

Following the sale, Lillestol commented, A huge shout out of thanks to Paul Kechnie and Performance Brokerage Services for their professionalism selling Thief River Ford in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. If I had tried doing this on my own, I would have messed it up terribly. Paul guided me throughout the whole process. He established a fair selling price, found a qualified buyer, and kept the whole transaction confidential. Paul was a great liaison between myself and the buyer, staying upbeat when things got difficult. He was always available for questions no matter how trivial. Paul demonstrated to me that brokers are not just for the big guys, they are just as critical for mid to small size dealerships. Thank you again to Paul and the Performance Brokerage Services team for helping me transition to my next chapter in life.

Over the last 5 years, Performance Brokerage Services has advised on the sale of over 300 dealerships, making it the highest volume dealership brokerage firm in North America. In 2022, the company consummated 92 transactions, marking a record-breaking year. Paul Kechnie, the exclusive agent for this transaction and Texas & Midwest Senior Partner for Performance Brokerage Services commented, It was a true pleasure helping Steve Lillestol find the right buyer for Thief River Ford. We are grateful that Steve entrusted Performance Brokerage Services to assist with this important life decision and we appreciated Steves professionalism throughout the process. I wish him nothing but the best in all his future endeavors.

Thief River Ford will transition ownership to Jason Jalbert, who also owns and operates Ford of Park Rapids in Minnesota.

Jalbert stated, Many thanks to Paul for his invaluable assistance and guidance during our recent acquisition. His expertise, attention to detail, and ability to navigate the complexities of the transaction were exceptional. I am grateful for his patience, professionalism, and dedication, and I look forward to working with Performance Brokerage Services again in the future.

The dealership will remain at its current location at 802 Third Street West, Thief River Falls in Minnesota.

About Performance Brokerage Services

Performance Brokerage Services, Inc. is North Americas highest volume dealership brokerage firm, specializing in buy-sell activity for automotive, RV, commercial truck, powersports, and equipment dealerships.

With over 25 years of experience, 700 dealerships sold, and a 90% closing rate, the companys reputation is unmatched and governed by the utmost ethical conduct and integrity.

The company offers a unique approach by providing complimentary estimates of value with no upfront fees or retainer, no reimbursement of costs, and paid a success fee only after the transaction closes.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, and supported by 9 regional offices in Utah, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey, Alberta and Ontario, clients benefit from national exposure with local representation.

As trusted and respected experts in the field, the company utilizes an extensive network of industry related attorneys, accountants, hundreds of registered buyers, and longstanding relationships with various vehicle manufacturers.

For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com.
Building and maintaining a deep bench of cybersecurity experts is pivotal to our company's mission of providing clients with outstanding services.

Risk3sixty, an Atlanta-based cybersecurity technology and consulting firm, has announced the promotion of Tim Palmer to Chief Operating Officer and the recruitment of industry veteran Tara Vagalatos as Vice President of Growth. The company has also recognized the exceptional contributions of two veteran employees, Chris Donaldson and Sawyer Miller, by promoting them to director level positions, respectively.

Risk3sixty's decision to expand its leadership team signals the company's commitment to maintaining its clients' highest levels of security, privacy, and compliance during explosive growth. CEO and Co-founder Christian Hyatt explained, "Building and maintaining a deep bench of cybersecurity experts is pivotal to our company's mission of providing clients with outstanding services. By promoting Tim Palmer, Chris Donaldson and Sawyer Miller as well as adding Tara Vagalatos as Vice President of Growth, we are demonstrating the depth of our commitment to strategic growth as our catalyst for continued success."

As Chief Operating Officer, Tim Palmer leads risk3sixty's operations and business functions, ensuring that the company maintains its services and software quality as it manages heightened market demand. He oversees complex corporate functions, such as internal daily operations and finance. Palmer, a native of Missouri, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and served in the U.S. Army as a Field Officer. After seven years of service, he transitioned and received his MBA. from Washington University in St. Louis. Palmer was formerly risk3sixty's Director of Operations.

Tara Vagalatos joins the company as Vice President of Growth, focusing on helping risk3sixty scale its Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) cybersecurity operations, services, and software offerings to stay ahead of the rapidly changing cybersecurity landscape. She has a Master of Science in information systems management with a specialization in cloud architecture and deployment and previously built and led teams that delivered on high-visibility, strategic enterprise initiatives in cloud security and compliance, cloud governance, and cloud cost optimization for Citrix Systems, Inc.

Hyatt emphasized that the company's commitment to recognizing and rewarding outstanding service is a key aspect of its success. "As we recognize the ongoing contributions that two veteran employees have made to our company, we are proud to announce that Chris Donaldson has been promoted to Director of PCI and vCISO, and Sawyer Miller is assuming the duties of Director of ISO and SOC."

About risk3sixty

risk3sixty, an Atlanta-based cyber security technology and consulting firm, works with high-growth technology firms to help leadership build, manage and certify security, privacy and compliance programs that underpin public and stakeholder trust while enabling business goals. These efforts are propelled by the companys cybersecurity playbook and expert leadership paired with the powerful security, privacy and compliance platform, Phalanx GRC. The firm has a proven track record of helping accomplish these missions for unicorns, high-value clients that have a valuation of $1 Billion. To learn more, visit https://risk3sixty.com. To learn more about the Phalanx GRC platform, visit https://phalanxgrc.com.


As the global energy transition accelerates, many of the evolving market requirements map perfectly to Sundynes core strengths. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that our resources are properly aligned to capitalize on current and emerging opportunities.

Sundyne, a global leader in the design and manufacture of mission critical pumps and compressors, today announced that Khaled (Kal) Al-Labadi has joined the company as Vice President of Product Line Management. In this role, Kal will lead Sundynes Product Line Managers to accelerate growth and help to meet the evolving needs of Sundynes customers.

Kal comes to Sundyne from Cognex Corporation, where he served as director of product marketing for their Electronics Solutions business. Prior to Cognex, Kal held several sales and marketing leadership roles for Fortive Corp's (formerly Danaher) fluid sensing and motion control businesses. Kal has also held several operations leadership roles for Eaton's Power Transmission and Distribution businesses.

Throughout his career, Kal has developed expertise in product & market development, business transformation, operations & supply chain management and lean/Six Sigma. Kal earned an MBA from the University of Connecticut, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University, and he has completed numerous educational programs at Harvard Business School.

As the global energy transition accelerates, many of the evolving market requirements map perfectly to Sundynes core strengths, said Kal Al-Labadi. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that our resources are properly aligned to capitalize on current and emerging opportunities.

Sundynes products are well respected in their core markets, and many of our long-standing customers in the energy, chemical, industrial and renewable sectors are embracing innovation at an increasing rate, said Sundynes CEO Mary Zappone. Kal brings an important skill set to our product teams that will help us accelerate growth and meet the evolving needs of our customers.

Kal will work from Sundynes global headquarters in Arvada Colorado, and he will report directly to Sundynes CEO Mary Zappone.

About Sundyne:

Headquartered in Arvada, Colorado with operations and presence in Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Japan and China, Sundyne is a global manufacturer of precision-engineered, highly reliable, safe and efficient centrifugal pumps and compressors for use in chemical, petrochemical, hydrocarbon, bio-fuels, hydrogen, pharmaceutical, power generation and industrial applications. Sundyne is the world leader in delivering low-flow, high-head integrally geared centrifugal pumps and compressors, safe and leakage-free sealless magnetic drive centrifugal pumps and diaphragm compressors. Sundyne pumps and compressors are available in API, ANSI/ASME, ISO, and other industry compliant designs. To learn more about the Sundyne family of precision-engineered pumps and compressors, please visit http://www.sundyne.com.


Recently, Sunset World Group revealed that it will begin to support another charitable cause by donating non-perishable food such as canned goods, rice, pasta, beans, oil, lentils, etc. on a monthly basis to the Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe located in the Colosio neighborhood of Playa del Carmen. For more than ten years, this Parish has offered a community diner where it serves around 80 meals a day to low-income people.

So, this cause joins the Renovarse Foundation's Sacando Espuma campaign, which Sunset World Group has supported since January 2023. It is worth mentioning that with this campaign, the Renovarse Foundation encourages large hotel chains to donate partially used bars of soap for processing to create new bars of soap. Once ready, the Foundation donates them to communities that do not have easy access to hygiene products.

In addition, since 1992 Sunset World Group has constantly supported the Golden Years Club for the Elderly by donating linens, furniture, materials for construction and maintenance. Thhis Club has been an important support for family life in Cancun, giving elderly people a sense of utility and belonging.

Sunset World Group has always been actively involved with Quintana Roos society, supporting many social causes, said Martha Richardson, Corporate Director of Operations for Sunset World Group. Our work begins at home with our employees who are constantly trained in social and environmental practices, creating habits that they take to their communities through examples that last, she pointed out.

Sunset World Group is a Mexican family business founded by some of the pioneers of Cancun who helped turn it into the most sought-after tourist destination worldwide. Sunset World Group has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and a sincere passion for environmental conservation, which is why it implemented an Energy Efficiency Program by substituting supply technologies in its six hotels in Cancun and The Riviera Maya. In addition, as of February 2020, all Sunset World hotels are supplied with clean and renewable energy produced at Mexican wind farms and geothermal plants, which has considerably reduced the company's carbon footprint. The activity and gastronomy programs in all six hotels were recently updated and expanded for the enjoyment of all family members, since Sunset World Group always focuses on providing the best vacation experiences for its members and guests. https://www.sunsetworldresorts.com
Enclomiphene is truly a game changer for my male patients. The oral capsules are taken 3-6 times per week at home, with minimal, if any side effects, says Dr. David Mahjoubi.

Dr. David Mahjoubi of the IV Healing Spa specializes in IV vitamin infusions, IV ketamine infusions, mens sexual wellness and peptide therapy for health optimization. For male patients, one of the biggest concerns with aging is an eventual decline in testicular function, and, as a result, lower serum testosterone levels. The symptoms caused by clinically low testosterone levels include erectile dysfunction, low libido, osteoporosis, increased fat mass and decreased muscle mass, which can significantly reduce the quality of life. Enclomiphene is a unique formulation, possessing rapid action and moderate potency to treat male hypogonadism, also known as testosterone deficiency, which is a failure of the testes to produce the male sex hormone testosterone, sperm, or both. Men don't necessarily have to have hypogonadism for this to work, as the medication can also help men with normal testosterone levels suffering from low libido or those who simply want to feel optimized. Unlike testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), enclomiphene doesn't shut down testosterone production, it increases testosterone by stimulating hormones and does not impact a man's fertility. In fact, it can increase sperm count and help with pregnancy rates for couples that are struggling. Enclomiphene therapy can also help bodybuilders with increased strength and muscle mass without the side effects of TRT. It may not increase testosterone as much as TRT, but at the same time, the medication does not have the side effects, such as increased aggression, low sperm count and erectile dysfunction. For those interested in enclomiphene, an in-person appointment is not required with Dr. Mahjoubi. Patients simply fill out an online medical health questionnaire that is reviewed by the doctor, and the medication is sent directly to the patient.

Enclomiphene is truly a game changer for my male patients. The oral capsules are taken 3-6 times per week at home, with minimal, if any side effects, says Dr. David Mahjoubi.

More about Dr. David Mahjoubi:

David Mahjoubi, M.D. is a board-certified anesthesiologist. He earned his medical degree from The Chicago Medical School and completed his residency training at the University of Southern California (USC) and Los Angeles County Medical Center. Dr. Mahjoubi became interested in natural ways to stay optimized early in his career and currently offers methods that are backed by research to stay mentally and physically healthy. For more information, please visit http://www.IVHealingSpa.com, or call/text (310) 526-4138.


Youth attending Salesian schools and youth centers in Timor-Leste had access to better nutrition thanks to a partnership between Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and Rise Against Hunger, an international relief organization that provides food and life-changing aid to the worlds most vulnerable.

In the second half of 2022, Rise Against Hunger provided funding to the Don Bosco Foundation so that locally sourced food could be bought and distributed to Salesian schools and centers.

A Salesian missionary with the Don Bosco Foundation noted, The distribution enabled many beneficiaries to improve their health, which in turn supports them in their studies and extracurricular activities, as a way to prepare them for a good future. The schools, technical and vocational training centers, orphanages, and youth centers allow hundreds to finish their elementary and junior high school to advance to senior and university studies.

One of the organizations that received the food was the Don Bosco Halicou Orphanage in Maliana, which consists of seven villages. The area is known as an important agriculture sector, especially rice production, and the population is heavily dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Don Bosco Halicou was established to help orphans and people living in extreme poverty. The Don Bosco Foundation has created academic opportunities for youth and sheltered thousands of orphans. Today, Don Bosco Halicou runs the orphanage, a junior high school, and a vocational school with more than 100 students enrolled.

One recipient at the orphanage was Bosco da Consceicao Dos Santos, age 6. Dos Santos was born to a young mother who could not care for him. Due to financial problems, his grandparents could not care for him either. Dos Santos was brought to the Don Bosco Halicou Orphanage. Soon after he arrived, it was discovered that his mother passed away due to poor health. He never knew his father.

Dos Santos is in his second year of kindergarten. He is active and has received good grades in school. The food support has helped his health and focus on his studies. It has also provided him the energy to engage with his peers.

Salesian missionaries and Salesian sisters living and working in Timor-Leste operate educational programs, three orphanages for poor and homeless youth, and a medical clinic. In the wake of the devastating civil war that claimed countless lives, decimated entire communities, and resulted in living conditions that are among the worst in the world, the Salesian community has been providing programs to help residents rebuild. Efforts are focused on helping poor youth through education and providing new opportunities for the future.

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About Salesian Missions USA

Salesian Missions is headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, and is part of the Don Bosco Networka worldwide federation of Salesian NGOs. The mission of the U.S.-based nonprofit Catholic organization is to raise funds for international programs that serve youth and families in poor communities around the globe. The Salesian missionaries are made up of priests, brothers, and sisters, as well as laypeopleall dedicated to caring for poor children throughout the world in more than 130 countries and helping young people become self-sufficient by learning a trade that will help them gain employment. To date, more than 3 million youth have received services funded by Salesian Missions. These services and programs are provided to children regardless of race or religion. For more information, go to SalesianMissions.org.

Contact:

Laura Perillo

media@salesianmissions.org

908-406-3413 (text messages OK)

Twitter: @MissionNewswire

Newswire: MissionNewswire.org

Press room: SalesianMissions.org/press
The Air Justice website will address environmental health disparities in the neighborhoods around the Rubbertown area of Louisville, Ky. (Photo: Dantana Smith/Cultivating Perceptions) The Air Justice website decodes the science and health effects of air pollution, uncovers the history of environmental injustice ..., amplifies residents stories related to air pollution, and directs residents to resources for reporting odors and pushing for increased air quality regulation.

Members of the public soon will be able to access a new website aimed at improving environmental health equity in Louisville.

Supported by the University of Louisville, the Humana Foundation and the Health Equity Innovation Hub, the Air Justice website, http://www.airjusticelou.org, debuts at noon, March 28.

More than 50 UofL students have worked on the project since 2021 with a coalition that includes professors, community leaders and activists. The team conducted nearly 2,000 surveys around the Rubbertown area and also held workshops with residents to determine residents informational needs.

Rubbertown was named for the tire and synthetic rubber plants built there during World War II. Air quality in the area has suffered as a result. In west and southwest Louisville, the areas that border Rubbertown, residents are predominantly Black and other people of color, most of whom also experience poverty.

The Air Justice team considers air quality an environmental health equity issue, one that has a lot to do with literacy or with how information about air quality is distributed in the city, said Megan Poole, UofL assistant professor of English, College of Arts & Sciences. The Air Justice website decodes the science and health effects of air pollution, uncovers the history of environmental injustice in West Louisville, amplifies residents stories related to air pollution, and directs residents to resources for reporting odors and pushing for increased air quality regulation.

In addition to Poole and the students, the Environmental Health Literacy Coalition includes:



Shavonnie Carthens, assistant professor of law, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law;

Keisha Dorsey, who formerly represented Louisville Metro Council District 3, an area bordering Rubbertown, and is now deputy chief of staff to Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, and

the grassroots activist group Rubbertown Emergency Action (REACT).

Human health risks associated with the chemicals released in the Rubbertown area are over 10,000 times higher than the industry average.

Even more pronounced is the inequity of this health issue, Poole said. Over 60% of residents identify as minority, over 50% identify as Black, and over 52% experience poverty.

This website launch is only the beginning of Air Justices health equity work. This website is a communal work in progress, Carthens said. The project aims to co-create health equity solutions alongside residents and local communities.

Air Justice also launched on Instagram (@airjusticelou) and Facebook (Air Justice Louisville) to begin engaging community members prior to the public launch of the website.

The project has received over $350,000 through support from The Gheens Foundation, UofL Health Equity Innovation Hub and the Humana Foundation.

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About the University of Louisville

Founded in 1798 as one of the nations first city-owned, public universities, the University of Louisville (UofL) is a vital ecosystem that creates thriving futures for students, our community and society. As one of only 79 universities in the United States to earn recognition by the Carnegie Foundation as both a Research 1 and a Community Engaged university, we impact lives in areas of student success and research and innovation, while our dynamic connection with our local and global communities provides unparalleled opportunities for students and citizens both. The university serves as an engine that powers Metro Louisville and the commonwealth and as a classroom for UofLs more than 23,000 students, who benefit from partnerships with top employers and a wide range of community service opportunities.


Inart historian Adam Jasienski examines the history, meaning, and cultural significance of a crucial image type in the early modern Hispanic world: the sacred portrait.

Across early modern Spain and Latin America, people prayed to portraits. They prayed to true effigies of saints, to simple portraits that were repainted as devotional objects, and even to images of living sitters depicted as holy figures. Jasienski places these difficult-to-classify image types within their historical context. He shows that rather than being harbingers of secular modernity and autonomous selfhood, portraits were privileged sites for mediating an individuals relationship to the divine. Using Inquisition records, hagiographies, art-theoretical treatises, poems, and plays, Jasienski convincingly demonstrates that portraiture was at the very center of broader debates about the status of images in Spain and its colonies.

Highly original and persuasive, Praying to Portraits profoundly revises our understanding of early modern portraiture. It will intrigue art historians across geographical boundaries, and it will also find an audience among scholars of architecture, history, and religion in the early modern Hispanic world.
On October 24, 1588, Paolo Barbieri murdered his wife, Isabella

, stabbing her to death with his sword. Later, Paolo would claim to have acted in a fit of madnessbut was he criminally insane or merely pretending to be? In this riveting book, Monica Calabritto addresses this controversy by reconstructing Paolos life, prosecution, and medical diagnoses.

Caccianemici

Skillfully combining archival documents unearthed throughout Italy, Calabritto brings to light the case of one person and his family as insanity ravaged their financial security, honor, and reputation. The very notion of insanity is as much on trial in Paolos case as the defendant himself. A case study in the diagnosis of insanity in the early modern era, Barbieris story reveals discrepancies between medical and legal definitions of a persons mental state at the time of a crime. Murder and Madness on Trial bridges the micro-historical dimensions of Paolos murder case and the macro-historical perspectives on medical and legal evidence used to identify intermittent madness.

A tragic and gripping tale, Murder and Madness on Trial allows readers to look through a glass darkly at early modern violence, madness, criminal justice, medical and legal expertise, and the construction and circulation of news. This erudite and engaging book will appeal to early modern historians and true crime fans alike.
Little Big Horn College received nearly $2 million for a Crow cultural center and is seeking community input on the building design, programming and activities.

The Little Big Horn College Center of Apsaalooke Culture & History is expected to preserve and promote Crow culture, language and history while inspiring pride in Indigenous identity.

While the tribal college received funding from the Economic Development Administration for the planning and design phases of the project, the institution continues to raise money for the actual construction of the center.

The college is holding several public meetings this week to collect community feedback. Details are listed below.

Tuesday, March 28 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Senior Center in Pryor

Wednesday, March 29 from noon to 2 p.m. in the log culture building at Little Big Horn College for elders with lunch provided. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the same building for tribal college students, faculty and staff with refreshments and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for community members with a meal provided.

Thursday, March 30 at the Senior Center on the hill in Lodge Grass from noon to 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Tim Bernardis at tim@lbhc.edu or 406-638-3113.
From 1914 to 1918, religious believers and hopeful skeptics tried to find meaning and purpose behind divinely willed destruction.is a history of lived religion across national boundaries, religious affiliations, and class during World War I, utilizing an expansive record of primary sources.

Joseph F. Byrnes takes readers on a tour of the battlefields of France, listening to the words of German, French, and English soldiers; going behind the lines to hear from the men and women who provided pastoral and medical care; and reviewing the religious writings of priests, bishops, ministers, and rabbis as they tried to make sense of it all. The story begins with citizens at home as they responded to the obligation to make war and then focuses on the God-talk and nation-talk that soldiers used to express their foundational religious experiences. Byrness study attends to the words of average men who struggled to articulate their religious sentiments, alongside the generals Helmuth von Moltke, Ferdinand Foch, and Douglas Haig and the soldier theologians Franz Rosenzweig, Paul Tillich, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy. In doing so, he shows how religious and battle experience are intertwined and showcases the wide range of spiritual responses that emerged across boundaries.

Going beyond the typical constraints of studies focused either on one nation or one confessional affiliation, Byrness international and interfaith approach breaks new ground. It will appeal to scholars and students of modern European history, religious history, and the history of war.
Leo Strauss famously asserted that the fundamental, defining debate within Western civilization is that between Jerusalem and Athens, piety and philosophy, the Bible and Plato. And yet, surprisingly, Strauss never published any of his thoughts on Platos dialogue on piety, the

This volume presents, for the first time, Strausss 1948 notebook on the dialogue, written in preparation for a class at the New School for Social Research. Featuring close analysis and line-by-line commentary, the notebook opens a window onto a philosophic mind in action, as Strauss asks questions of the classic text, jots down observations and formulations, and analyzes very specific terms and arguments but also steps back, reviews the overall movement of the dialogue, and reconsiders previous conclusions. Beyond the notebook, the volume also brings together all the known materials that lay out Strausss thoughts on the Euthyphro. This includes newly transcribed and edited public lectures, illuminating appendixes, critical essays by volume editors Hannes Kerber and Svetozar Y. Minkov and scholar Wayne Ambler, an account of Strausss public lecture, and a new English translation of Platos Euthyphro by Seth Benardete, a classicist and one of Strausss students.

Engaging and inspiring, Leo Strauss on Platos Euthyphro is a vital resource for scholars and students of political theory, readers interested in the intersection of philosophy and religion, and a must-have for anyone who studies Strauss.
PTI Fact Check: AI-generated photo of Putin bowing to Jinping peddled as real on social media with false claims

New Delhi, Mar 25 (Abhinav Gupta / Pratyush Ranjan PTI Fact Check): A Twitter user shared a photo purportedly showing Russian President Vladimir Putin bowing to Chinese President Xi Jinping. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the image was fake, created using advanced artificial intelligence technology. It was shared in social media posts with false claims.

The photo went viral on social media amid Jinpings three-day state visit to Moscow from Mar 20-23. The meeting between Putin and Jinping grabbed the global eyeballs due to the current geopolitical scenario and the Russia-Ukraine War.

Claim

A Twitter user with a verified handle shared a photo that purportedly showed Russian President Vladimir Putin kneeling before Chinese President Xi Jinping. The user claimed it was from the recent meeting between the two leaders in Moscow on Mar 20.

PUTIN XI MEETING. Putin attempting to persuade Xi, read the post shared on Mar 20, which has garnered over 770K views, along with nearly 6000 likes and more than 1000 retweets.

Here is the link and archive link to the tweet, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Investigation

Starting the investigation, the Desk conducted a Google Reverse Image Search on the photo shared in the Twitter post. The search results led to another Twitter post carrying the same picture with a similar claim.

Here is the link and archive link to the tweet. Below is a screenshot of the post:

The Desk also came across a Twitter post by Next TV, which included a 24-second video clip of Putin and Jinping greeting each other ahead of the meeting.

Here is the link to the Mar 20 Twitter post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The Desk compared the viral photo with the videos visuals and found some contrast differences in chairs and the room where the meeting occurred. Also, Jinping can be seen wearing a blue suit in the viral photo, while the video shared by the news channel shows him wearing a black suit.

Below is a combination image comparing the photo with the visuals of the video:

On closely watching the viral photo, the Desk noticed the following irregularities that hinted towards the possibility of it being a fake image:

The ears of both the persons in the photo  claimed by Putin and Jinping  look strangely deformed and not matching. Below is a screenshot highlighting the same:

The person standing behind was seen holding his hands, which look deformed. Below is a screenshot showing the same:

The eyes and nose of the person standing (claimed to be Jinping) look deformed, and the head size does not match the proportion of the rest of the body. Below is a screenshot highlighting the same:

All these are considered strong indications of an image being fake or created through AI-powered tools.

In the next part of the investigation, the Desk scanned the Google Reverse Image Search results for the viral photo and came across a Twitter post by Amanda Florian, a tech journalist.

Florian posted the same photo on Mar 21, claiming an AI program generated it. In a thread of several tweets, Florian explained the entire investigation process to conclude that the image was created using an AI-powered tool.

Check the Twitter thread here.

Below are the key points she highlighted in her investigation:

She first pointed out the genuine photos from the meeting, which showed a completely different background and set of chairs at the meeting between Putin and Jinping.

Here is the link to the tweet and below is a screenshot:

An AI image detector by Hugging Face, a French tech company, pointed out that the image was artificial.

The blurriness and irregularity of the nose of the person standing, as discussed in the investigation above.

Here is the link to the tweet, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The Desk then conducted a customised Google search with the keyword Putin Jinping Meeting March 2023. The search results led to a Mar 20 CNN article titled Chinas Xi stresses close ties with dear friend Putin during his first visit to Russia since Ukraine invasion.

Here is the link to the article, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The article included the same video as shared by Nexta TV in its tweet.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that an AI-created photo of Putin kneeling before Jinping was shared as accurate on social media.

Claim

Photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin kneeling before Chinese President Xi Jinping during the latters recent visit to Moscow.

Fact

An AI-generated photo was shared on social media as real with false claims.

Conclusion

Several social media users shared a photo which purportedly showed Russian President Vladimir Putin kneeling before Chinese President Xi Jinping during the latters visit to Moscow. The Desk found in its investigation that a fake photo was created through AI-powered tools and shared on social media with false claims.

You can contact PTI Fact Check on WhatsApp Number +91-8130503759 and share any claim or social media post you think is essential to fact-check and want us to verify.
The Bismarck Airport is encouraging travelers to arrive early for flights due to new technology being installed at the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

Meanwhile, passenger numbers at airports in North Dakota's largest cities including Bismarck remain healthy as the spring travel season begins.

A recent AAA survey found that nearly one-fourth of state residents plan a spring break vacation.

Bismarck scanners

The TSA is installing three checkpoint CT scanners that provide 3D imaging. The project began last week and is scheduled to wrap up April 6.

Along with providing critical explosives detection capabilities, this new technology improves the ability for our TSA officers to determine whether an item inside a carry-on bag is a possible threat, North Dakota TSA Federal Security Director David Durgan said.

Some checkpoint lanes might be closed during the installation. During times of high passenger volume, long lines and delays are possible.

Travelers are asked to arrive at the airport 90 minutes before their flight and to keep prohibited items out of their carry-on bags to help ensure efficient screening.

Boardings up

Passenger boardings at North Dakota's eight commercial service airports in February totaled 88,152, a 9% increase from February 2022, according to the state Aeronautics Commission. Year-to-date boardings in the state are running nearly 17% ahead of last year.

Bismarck's February increase was 5.4%, Dickinson's was 19.3% and Williston's was 41.1%. The increase at Hector International in Fargo -- the state's largest airport -- was 13.6%.

Total boardings at the airports in those cities and in Grand Forks, Minot, Devils Lake and Jamestown slipped back below prepandemic levels after rising above them in January, but Commission Executive Director Kyle Wanner remained encouraged.

Air service activity levels throughout North Dakota remains very healthy as spring break travel is in full swing, he said. Recently, this has also translated into near full parking lots at some of our commercial service airports throughout the state.

March is one of the busiest times of the year for air travel in North Dakota as residents go about their spring break plans, according to the commission. Wanner encouraged travelers to plan ahead and arrive early.
Curating a classroom library today can be a literal challenge. Case in point: the growing number of states that are not only banning, restricting, and reviewing titles in their public and school libraries, but also in classroom libraries. In Florida and other states, classroom teachers are at risk of incurring hefty fines and possible jail time if they dont comply with the new classroom library state mandates. We spoke with three teachers, including one in Northeast Florida, about the ways they curate their classroom libraries to enhance curriculum, to supplement their school libraries collections, and to change their students lives one book at a time.

Andrea (last name not listed due to safety concerns) from Northeast Florida is a fifth-grade language arts and social studies teacher in a district where teachers classroom libraries are under a microscope. In addition, the districts media specialists are spending countless hours inventorying teachers classroom collections to make sure the shelves do not include books under question.

Recently, there were two titles under scrutiny in Andreas grade level. They were a former Sunshine State Young Reader Award Winner, Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes, and a title in the Who Was biography series: Who Was Michael Jackson? They have since been put back on the shelves.

While Andrea says that removing these titles did not harm her students per se, those in the districts upper grades wont be so lucky. It will ultimately hurt kids in middle and high school, Andrea said. They should be able to find books that resonate with them, and that help them with whatever they may be dealing with in their lives.

Andrea wonders why Floridas governor is questioning teachers authority and expertise in choosing books for their classroom libraries and students. Im not sure why he has chosen teachers as an outlet for everything, Andrea said. Id like to know, what did a teacher ever do to him?

But Andrea feels that if there is any question whether a child should read a particular title that it should be a parenting decision, not a school district or state one. If you dont want your children reading a book, thats fine. But you cant tell other kidsor a whole state of kidsthat they cant read something.

She believes a greater threat to students is internet access, which parents should focus their attention on. We shouldnt be banning books, if were not blocking the internet and social media, Andrea said. Kids are more likely to find questionable content online than they are in books.

Protests and legal challenges aside, Andrea must do what she believes is right for her students ELA needs. She runs her classroom library much like a regular library, mindfully choosing books at different levels and genres.

I like to pick a variety of levels from second to fifth grade and some sixth to seventh grade books for all levels of reading, Andrea said. She also chooses a wide variety of categories including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and others. I make sure to have favorite books that I have read and other kids have loved, so I can recommend titles if/when students are struggling to locate something.

With her inventoried shelves of books alphabetically organized by author with color-coded labels, two-week due dates, and rotating student librarians to keep books circulating, her students can get closer to finding the book that will change everything. My systemespecially the student librarians and due datesprevents a book from dying in a kids cubby, and no one else getting to read it, Andrea said.

Her hopes are that with the books they choose along with the ones they read in her novel studies and book clubs, her kids will become life-long readers. Were trying to help them become thinkersby thinking about what they readand this will translate to their writing, too. Andrea said. I love working with kids at this level. They can debate, do all kinds of projects, and are developing higher thinking skills.

Willeena Booker loves books and reading so much that she traded in her health educator position (she traveled throughout the Philadelphia School District teaching health programs at schools) to get her teaching certificate to teach first grade. But that wasnt always the case. I didnt love reading as a kid, and struggled with it until I was in sixth grade, Booker said. Part of it was that I had no connection to books that I read because I didnt see myself, my family, people who looked like me, or diverse cultures or groups.

Fortunately for Bookers first graders at Hallowell Elementary School in Horsham, Pa., shes not letting history repeat itself. Today, she teaches them to readand to love readingwith a carefully curated classroom library overflowing with diverse books. I must choose books that are representative of my diverse students, Booker said, to support the concepts of mirrors, windows, and sliding doors to allow my students to see themselvesand to affirm others.

She does this by discovering new ways to find, evaluate, and integrate inclusive books into her classroom library and her curriculum. One of the ways she accomplishes this is through on-going professional development via virtual workshops at the Teachers College at Columbia University. Theyre perfect for busy teachers schedules, Booker said. I do two or three of these a yearand I devour their lists of diverse books and the lessons that show how to bring them into my classroom to affirm different groups, voices, and stories. Then I make sure to order these books!

In addition, Booker lists the benefits of being a member of the National Council of Teachers of English for her curriculum and classroom library. Shes an avid reader of its publications and regularly attends its meetings and conferences. We share the same mission, Booker said. Its to promote literacy in the classroom. Her active participation in NCTE affirms what she believes about using diverse books, allows her to stay current on literacy and language learning, and helps her to thoughtfully choose books for her classroom library, read alouds, and instruction.

Booker also firmly believes that being active on social media is essential for curating her classroom library. Believe it or not, social mediaespecially Twitteris a very important tool, Booker said. I enjoy seeing educators posts and authors tweets about upcoming books. I make notes about whats coming out and when.

These online connections have led to relationships with authorsand finding books of theirs that elevate her teaching and her students learning to a whole new level. With one book, Luli and the Language of Tea, that I learned about from its author, Andrea Wang, I was inspired to reach out to my local nature center and invite them to come talk to my class about plants associated with tea. I served the kids different teas with these plantslike mint, Booker said, and I was able to expand a plant lesson. The kids really liked it.

Booker is committed to bringing more diverse authors into her school to increase the chance that students may also see themselves as authors. She also loves sharing her own writing and published poetry with her kids and her deep passion for reading.

Im so much more in love with reading now as an adult because of all I went throughand what Im reading with my students, Booker said. Because of this, Im even more motivated to have diverse books represented in my classroom library.

Nadya Abu-Rish is a Palestinian American third grade Advanced Academic Program teacher at Beech Tree Elementary School in Falls Church, Va. Like Booker, as a child she didnt feel connected to the books she read because she never saw herself in them. It wasnt until she took a childrens literature class in college that she fell in love with books for children and wanted to be surrounded by them. Today, she works to share this love of books with her students.

One way she is spreading book love and literary connections is by carefully curating her classroom library. Each year, I make sure I have a diverse selection of booksand I mean diverse in many different ways, Abu-Rish said. This includes books with characters of different cultures, ability levels, socio-economic statuses, and more.

These titles also include many different characters and journeys, including kids living with allergies, dealing with economic struggles, and coming from blended families. It is important to Abu-Rish that all of her students see themselves in the books in their classroom library, their class books clubs, and daily read alouds.

A recent read aloud was Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party by Saadia Faruqi. The characters a third grader from Pakistan whose family doesnt have as much money as her neighbors, Abu-Rish said, and she wants to have a lavish birthday party. Right now, were at a part where shes trying to convince her parents, and they are not going for it. Its so relatable to all kids.

Abu-Rishs passion for getting just the right books into the right hands extends outside her classroom doors to impact her students and others, too. As a teacher advisor for Scholastic Inc., she participates in virtual roundtables to offer her opinions on website content and marketing flyers to help the publisher reach teachers where they are at. She is also an active board member with R.E.A.D., a nonprofit for readers in need.

R.E.A.D.s vision is to empower families to foster empathy, curiosity, and confidence in young children through encouraging the joy of reading together every day, Abu Rish said. They want to get books into kids hands from birth, and provide books to families and hospitals.

Her work with R.E.A.D. also provides book donations for her classroom and alerts her to new diverse books to get for her library. It also affirms the importance of reading to her students every dayand giving them time to read and an ample supply of books from which to choose. Kids are often too busy completing assignments to read anything for pleasure, Abu-Rish said. So its important to give them time to read books of their own choosing, and to allow them to read whatever they want, as long as they as reading.

On top of her outreach, book research, and attendance at area book conferences and festivals to stay on top of childrens books, Abu-Rish also reaches out to fellow teachers, librarians, and authors via social media for book recommendations to refine and increase her students book choices.

Choice allows my students to develop their palette of what kinds of books they want to read and what new genres of books they might explore, Abu-Rish said. And these books will allow them to make connections that otherwise they might not have made.
The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation.
U.S. and Canada officials have finalized an agreement to temporarily expand operating hours at three of 10 ports of entry on the border in North Dakota.

Operating hours at the Maida, Northgate and Sherwood ports of entry will be temporarily expanded by two hours at night, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. rather than 5 p.m. A port in Porthill, Idaho, also will expand hours.

North Dakota U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Gov. Doug Burgum last year pushed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to restore port of entry hours of service to levels that existed before the coronavirus pandemic. Customs said longer opening hours couldn't be justified because of a shrinking volume of traffic at the crossings. North Dakota officials argued that reduced hours put in place in April 2020 hurt the state's economy, unnecessarily restricted cross-border activity and contributed to supply chain issues.

Customs last September agreed to the expanded hours pending agreement from the Canada Border Services Agency. Customs on Monday announced a finalized agreement. The expanded hours will start April 1 and be in effect for four months.

"Traffic volumes in North Dakota and Idaho remain approximately 39% below their 2019 levels. At the conclusion of the temporary expansion of hours, CBP will conduct an analysis on traffic flow including an hourly breakdown, overall volume, and types of conveyances that crossed the border," Custom said in a statement.

Hoeven in a statement said "Its past time that they moved this temporary expansion of hours forward. CBP and the CBSA reaching agreement on making this temporary extension at Maida, Northgate and Sherwood is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done."

Cramer called for ports to "fully transition to prepandemic hours of operation in order to accommodate travel and trade with Canada."
RCMP and military connections

The RCMP has a proud military heritage. This page discusses the RCMP 's participation in the North-West Rebellion (1885), the South African War (1899-1902), the First World War (1914-1918), the Second World War (1939-1945) and United Nations missions (1989 to present).

North-West Rebellion, 1885 The Northwest Rebellion begins at the Battle of Duck Lake (March 26, 1885) The railway's arrival brought more and more settlers into the country. The Metis and native peoples along the North Saskatchewan River became concerned about the loss of their land and way of life. Government surveyors were re-mapping the land and threatening the Metis with eviction. The Metis hoped to obtain title to their traditional river front lots. However, when they petitioned Ottawa, their grievances went unheeded by an apparently indifferent government. Consequently, they decided to take the law into their own hands. At the invitation of Metis leader Gabriel Dumont, Louis Riel returned from his self-imposed exile in Montana to take up the Metis' land fight with the federal government. Early in 1885, a provisional Metis government was set up, headed by Riel, with Dumont Commander-in-Chief of the Metis force. Big Bear's Crees supported the Metis cause. The Blackfoot, however, remained aloof from the conspiracy. Crowfoot, their chief, believed that the cause would fail, and in any case he and his people were reluctant to side with their traditional enemies, the Cree. On March 13, 1885, a report from Battleford stated that a rebellion was likely to break out at any moment and the Cree would join the Metis. The northern detachments had to be reinforced. Commissioner Irvine received orders to proceed northward from Regina with all available men. Accompanied by four officers, 86 non-commissioned officers and men, and 66 horses, he made a forced march in bitter weather. Adroitly slipping past the insurgent outposts, the column reached Prince Albert, where they learned that looting had already begun and attacks on Prince Albert and Fort Carlton were imminent. Hostilities broke out before they reached Fort Carlton. On March 26, a severe clash took place near Duck Lake between 56 Mounted Policemen, 43 Prince Albert Volunteers, and a large body of Metis and Indians. Outnumbered by more than three to one, the Police-Volunteer force managed to retreat. Twelve of the 99 man force were killed in the action. Duck Lake was an important psychological victory for the rebels, but one skirmish does not win the war. Hundreds of militia were on their way from Eastern Canada over the newly completed railway and within a few days an army had been assembled under Major-General F.D. Middleton's command. It moved forward to crush the rebels. In the military campaign which followed, the North-West Mounted Police played an important role. On May 12, 1885, after a series of indecisive engagements, the rebels were finally defeated at Batoche.

South African War, 1899-1902 The South African War marked the first time that Canadian troops were officially dispatched for service overseas. War between Britain and two small republics in South Africa, Transvaal and the Orange Free State, erupted in 1899. Tensions had been mounting in the area for decades and were met with imperialist fervor throughout the British Empire. The North-West Mounted Police was able to raise more trained mounted men than the regular army. Many Members and ex-Members of the Force were recruited at North-West Mounted Police posts and made up approximately 40% of the newly raised Canadian Mounted Rifles. This unit was highly effective overseas and earned a reputation for aggressive scouting. Also, in 1900 Lord Strathcona, the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, raised a regiment at his own expense called Strathcona's Horse. This regiment, even though it was technically a part of the British Army, was raised in Western Canada and its commanding officer was Supt. Sam Steele. Due to the fact that this unit was raised in Western Canada many of its members were ex-Members of the North-West Mounted Police. One member of the Strathconas was Sergeant Arthur Richardson, who served with the before and after the South African War. Sergeant Richardson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Wolve Spruit on July 5, 1900. In all, 256 officers and men were granted leave from the North-West Mounted Police in order to serve in South Africa during the war. The majority of them had returned to active police duty in Canada by 1901 but some, including Sam Steele, stayed behind in South Africa to assist the newly formed South African Constabulary. Created in August 1900 and lead by Major-General Robert Baden-Powell, famous leader of the besieged garrison at Mafeking, the South African Constabulary was a para-military force which was created to police the conquered Boer republics.

First World War, 1914-1918 Royal North-West Mounted Police 'B' Squadron on parade, Vladivostok Siberia (1919) Canada entered the First World War on August 4, 1914 when Great Britain declared war on Germany. At the time, many Canadians could not even locate Sarajevo on a map but they were still eager to do their part for their country. Members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police were no exception. Some members had previous military service with the British Army and were eager to return to their units before they were deployed for service on continental Europe. Commissioner A.B. Perry was also keen to have the Royal North-West Mounted Police participate in the conflict the same way that the North-West Mounted Police had served with distinction during the North West Rebellion (1885) and the South African War (1899-1902). Unfortunately, the government wanted the Royal North-West Mounted Police to stay in Canada and to provide essential wartime duties for homeland security including the registration of enemy aliens, border and railway protection. This was not something that was embraced by the members of the Force, many of which joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force once their time expired. One example is Michael O'Leary (Regimental Number 5685) who left the Royal North-West Mounted Police on September 22, 1914 after thirteen months of service to rejoin the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards as an Imperial Reservist. He would be awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valour in the Commonwealth, for his actions at Cuinchy, France on February 1, 1915. Due to this attrition of trained Members to the Canadian Expeditionary Force and British Units as well as to complete tasks on the home front Commissioner Perry was ordered to hire an additional 500 Members after the outbreak of war in August. By 1911 there were over half a million people in Canada who were of either German or Austro-Hungarian origin. This represents 14% of the Canadian population of 7 million people taken from the 1911 census, a substantial part of the population. To make matters more worrying, after the outbreak of war the Austro-Hungarian Consul in Montreal warned German and Austrian residents in Canada that their former nations did not recognize Canadian naturalization and that they still had a responsibility to serve the countries of their birth. Over 173,000 people of German or Austrian origin lived in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Policing these provinces would require a large increase of personnel in order to maintain law and order, register enemy aliens and prevent any sabotage of supplies being sent east to help with the war effort. The Royal North-West Mounted Police would also be helping out the fledgling Alberta Provincial Police (established in 1912) and Saskatchewan Provincial Police (established in 1911) with their detachment duties in cities and small towns across the two provinces. On April 6, 1918, after Commissioner Perry threatened to resign from the Royal North-West Mounted Police, the government relented and permitted members of the Force to volunteer for overseas service to reinforce the Canadian Cavalry Brigade which was serving on the Western Front. This was enabled by many factors including the good conduct of enemy aliens living in Western Canada and the fact that the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917 thus bringing their own homeland security legislation into action south of the border. A cavalry draft was held between April 18 and May 13 with 495 recruits being brought into the Force for the purpose of serving overseas with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. On May 15, 1918 the Royal North-West Mounted Police transferred 12 officers and 726 Non-Commissioned Officers and constables to the Canadian Expeditionary Force as "A" Squadron Royal North-West Mounted Police under the command of Supt. George Leslie Jennings (O.147). "A" Squadron Royal North-West Mounted Police saw action in France and Belgium serving as dispatch riders on the front lines, performing with distinction at the battle of Mons in 1918. A second squadron was raised between August 17 and September 9 for service in Siberia as a result of the Russian Revolution and the fact that the Bolshevik Soviet signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. This squadron would be part of the allied support for those who opposed the Bolsheviks. On October 1, 1918 190 men were transferred to the Canadian Expeditionary Force as "B" Squadron Royal North-West Mounted Police under Major George Stanley Worsley (O.123) which was sent to Vladivostok in order to provide guard duties on the Trans-Siberian railway. Two Members received awards for gallantry while serving in Siberia: James Edward Margetts (Regimental Number 7373) and Philip Sheridan Bossard (Regimental Number 7398). Four members died during their service with the two Royal North-West Mounted Police Squadrons during the First World War: Everett Kirkpatrick (Regimental Number 6886), Vernon Ward (Regimental Number 7171), William Alexander Pearson (Regimental Number 7273) and William John Henderson (Regimental Number 7501).

Second World War, 1939-1945 Lance Corporal D.G. Stackhouse at Campobasso, Italy, No. 1 Provost Company of the RCMP , Second World War (1944) When Canada declared war on Nazi Germany on 10 September 1939, the Commissioner of the RCMP , Stuart Taylor Wood, had already offered men to form a Provost Company. In August, when war appeared inevitable, he contacted the Department of National Defence with his plan for a Mounted Police contribution to the war effort. His offer was accepted. Commissioner Wood felt strongly that the RCMP should be represented in Canada's armed forces. He was familiar with Mounted Police history and the contributions made to previous conflicts. He was also cognizant of the fact that a large number of serving members would be anxious to serve their country in military uniform; this was his dilemma. Commissioner Wood was well aware that the government was reluctant to release the Mounted Police from their regular and wartime duties, much like the situation during the First World War. In his mind, it was important that the RCMP , as Canada's national police service, maintain its critical role on the home front as well as contributing to the country's fighting forces. Action was swift. By mid-September, No. 1 Provost Company was at full strength (about 115 men all ranks) and in training at N Division, Rockcliffe. It was a logical decision to offer a Provost Company, policemen doing police work. However, the RCMP contributed to the war effort in other ways. In September 1939, the Marine Services Section of the RCMP consisted of some 200 experienced seamen and 30 vessels. These were placed at the disposal of the Department of National Defence. In a similar fashion, the RCMP Aviation Section, with 10 members and three de Haviland aircraft, were transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was a signal contribution to the war effort. The members who transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force served as members of those forces and not as Mounted Policemen. It was the men of the Provost Company who carried the traditions and insignia of the RCMP to the war in Europe. In December 1939, No. 1 Provost Company departed from Ottawa for Halifax, Nova Scotia and from there to Greenock, Scotland and finally, to Aldershot, England. Just like other units of the First Canadian Division, members of the Provost Company remained in Britain for the next three and a half years, tediously waiting to face the enemy, although some members took part in the ill-fated Dieppe raid in August 1942. The Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and mainland Italy six weeks later marked the beginning of a vicious struggle against German forces. No. 1 Provost Company, as part of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, took part in this historic Allied effort to knock Italy out of the war and to drive the Germans from the country. A number of policing duties were assumed by Provost Company members, including accepting and detaining prisoners of war, serving as military police and investigators when called upon to do so, but their most important task during operations was traffic control. The fighting effectiveness of the Army depended on the ability to move and re-locate men and materiel as required. Provost Company personnel were responsible for ensuring that men, vehicles and equipment moved efficiently along well-marked routes, and that convoys were directed to their proper destination, especially critical in large movements. Roads in Italy  narrow, poorly maintained and often destroyed  were particularly challenging, but No. 1 Provost Company proved equal to the task and in doing their work, made a major contribution to Allied success. No. 1 Provost Company was not spared. The RCMP Honour Roll of members who have been killed in the line of duty since the inception of the Mounted Police in 1873 includes the names of fifteen who gave their lives in the Second World War. The Provost Corps lost eleven members, including three who died on 28 December 1943 as German forces pulled out of Ortona. About mid-morning an enemy air attack took the life of Lance Corporal Gordon Bondurant. Later that same day, at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Lieutenant Cecil Ray, a member of the RCMP, with Sergeant Terence Watts, and 9 other ranks, were sent into Ortona to establish anti-looting and traffic patrols. Enemy shell fire killed Watts and Lance Corporal Edison Cameron and severely wounded Lance Corporals David Moon and Reginald Rance; Moon succumbed to his wounds, Rance recovered and survived the war to resume service with the RCMP in 1945. It was sad day for No. 1 Provost Company and the RCMP . Members Bondurant, Watts, Cameron and Moon are buried at the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery near Ortona. In May 1944, the war claimed three more RCMP members of the Provost Corps in Italy. On the 15, Lance Corporal Kenneth d'Albenas was killed when his jeep was destroyed by a mine. One week later, Corporal John Nelson was killed by shellfire and on the 31, Corporal Donald Stackhouse was killed by a mine while on motorcycle duty. These three members are buried at Cassino War Cemetery. With the end of hostilities in the spring of 1945, members of the RCMP could look back at a significant contribution to the war effort. Two hundred and thirteen members volunteered to serve in the Provost Corps, sixty attained commissioned rank and served as officers in other Provost Companies. Of the 209 members of the Marine Services in September 1939, 155 volunteered to serve with the Royal Canadian Navy, 1 with the Army and 26 with the Royal Canadian Air Force. The remainder, 27, were not accepted on account of age. Likewise, nine of ten members of the Aviation Section joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. On the Home Front, the work of the RCMP increased significantly. In addition to the enforcement of existing federal statutes, new wartime duties were extensive and included the following: civil security and intelligence; prevention of sabotage; and protection of public utilities and safeguarding transportation, lines of communication and industries of vital importance to the war effort. RCMP members were also responsible for the safety of public persons and government buildings, the organization of air raid precautions and the enforcement of wartime legislation such as the Defence of Canada Regulations. Enemy aliens were investigated and registered, prisoners of war documented, and war industry workers fingerprinted for security reasons. It was an enormous undertaking and to meet these new war demands, approximately 1600 ex-members were re-engaged to serve as Special Constables. Yet, it was the men of Provost Corps who carried RCMP traditions and insignia into battle and following the war, their contribution was recognized with permission to add "Europe, 1939-1945" to the Force Guidon. This is, however, a reflection on all those who volunteered to serve their country from the ranks of the RCMP and to those who gave their lives, their names will forever be inscribed on the RCMP Honour Roll.

United Nations Missions, 1989 to present In 1989 Commissioner Norman Inkster agreed to provide civil police monitors to ensure law & order during the first democratic elections in Namibia (South-West Africa). A 100 Member contingent led by Chief Superintendent Larry R. Proke was in Namibia from October 19, 1989 until April 11, 1990 in order to monitor the South West African Police and to attend to polling stations. This was the first time that the RCMP participated on a United Nations mission (United Nations Transition Assistance Group). The RCMP has been involved in many international peace operations since.
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Price: $ 168 Seller State of Residence: Arkansas Type: Homesite, Lot Property Address: Clover Circle Zip/Postal Code: 72513 Zoning: Residential City: Ash Flat State/Province: Arkansas Location: 725**, Ash Flat, Arkansas

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Avengers star Jeremy Renner is recuperating from an accident sustained at his Lake Tahoe home in January and provided an update to let his fans know how it was coming along.

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Renner was shown navigating a treadmill on Sunday -- likely an anti-gravity treadmill which aids in recovery to lower limbs -- which helped him 'walk' as he's said he broke more than 30 bones in his accident. He tells a man in the video that the treadmill is like "having a cane."

"And you're totally doing the walking motion," the man responds.

Renner answers, "But with 40% of my weight."

While at his Nevada residence in January, Renner was operating a 14,000+ pound snow-clearing machine called a PistenBully when he lost control of it and it rolled over him. He was severely injured and had multiple surgeries before he was able to return home.

Renner, 52, is now recuperating and receiving physical therapy. The action star, who plays Hawkeye in the Avengers movies, is also starring in the Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount+. He posted a look inside his recovery on social media.

"I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will," he posted on Twitter.

Rennervations, his Disney+ reality show, debuts on April 12. On the four-episode series, Renner, along with Anil Kapoor, former Hurt Locker and MCU co-star Anthony Mackie, Vanessa Hudgens and Encanto's Sebastian Yatra, travel to four different locations to retrofit decommissioned government vehicles into ones that can help a community.

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"I've been on this journey for many years, and I started in my community by building vehicles for people in need, Renner said in a press release. "But a few years ago, I thought: How can I plus this up and create a bigger impact on a whole community? And that's what this show does. This is one of my biggest passions and it's a driving force in my recovery, and I can't wait for the world to see it."
Charity Lawson / Instagram

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/27/2023



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Charity Lawson has revealed her non-negotiables when it comes to dating on the show's twentieth season."I feel like, for me, I definitely am looking for someone who is a compassionate person -- so someone who is extremely kind and treats others well," Charity shared on Good Morning America shortly after ABC formally announced her as the new star."I think that's something I value and I have in myself, so I also want that in my partner."The 26-year-old child and family therapist from Columbus, GA, continued, "But also, I love to laugh and have a good time. So a sense of humor, I think that's huge. So anyone who can come out with a good joke or two is a winner."began filming last week, according to Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone, and is set to premiere Monday, June 26 at 9PM ET/PT on ABC.Charity called starring as the Bachelorette for its 2023 season "an indescribable feeling." She will be the third Black Bachelorette to ever lead the franchise after Season 13's Rachel Lindsay and Season 18's Michelle Young "I am so honored, so excited. I still feel like I'm dreaming and I'm still processing what those feelings are like," Charity shared of her casting. "But I'm definitely so excited about what's to come."Carbone tweeted last week that Charity taped her first group date on March 23.Charity admitted filming right after her stint on The Bachelor "will be challenging" for her -- but she's apparently up to the task."I think for me, I am very open with my emotions, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. So I feel like, if anything, it's going to be easier," Charity explained."But it does come with its challenges, and I don't know what that will be like, but I plan on staying just as open."Charity said she pitched to producers that she'd love to travel to Greece, although she doesn't "have much say" in the production side of things."I'm open to anything, I think, with the right person. I think any date would be fun," Charity said. "Things I'm not open to would be [sitting] in a cage and swimming with sharks. That is a 'no,' not happening. But anything else, I am ready for!"Charity was officially announced as 's Season 20 star during The Bachelor: The Women Tell All special, which aired earlier this month."I can't wait to show little girls that look like me being in a position like this. It's awesome. I know I'm going to make a lot of people proud. I'm the next Bachelorette!" Charity said at The Women Tell All taping in late February.ABC then teased the identities of 29 potential bachelors , ages 24 through 38, who hoped to compete for Charity's heart in a since-deleted March 18 post on 's official Facebook page.But the network has yet to formally announce Charity's lineup of bachelors.Rumors of Charity's casting began swirling in early March. She finished Zach Shallcross ' The Bachelor season, which wraps March 27, in fourth place following her hometown date."She knows what she wants. She is so confident, she's so sweet and, you know, she has a great heart," Zach recently told Us Weekly of Charity."She's someone from the very beginning that -- I don't know what exactly it was -- but [she] was just trustworthy. She was someone that I asked to, like, get her take on things and while there was some drama in the house early, she was always someone that I believed in [and] I trusted it too.""She's a very trustworthy person," he added, "and I think she [will] absolutely kill it as Bachelorette."Many The Bachelor fans had been rooting for Charity to be the franchise's next leading lady, including alums Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young Charity was nominated for The Bachelor's cast last year.She opened up on the show about how she had been cheated on, multiple times, in her past long-term relationship, which left her feeling embarrassed and unable to fully trust her own decisions.Charity, however, has clearly come a long way in the healing process since then and is ready to find her man Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
he dog area of the Athens-Clarke County Animal Services Adoption Center is under precautionary quarantine until April 5 after the detection of canine parvovirus, according to a press release from Athens-Clarke County government.

The quarantine began on March 22 after a dead dog was found with a slight presence of canine parvovirus, also known as CPV or parvo. Parvo is a highly contagious virus that affects dogs and is most often seen in puppies who are too young to be vaccinated and other unvaccinated dogs. The infected dog was vaccinated as part of standard intake procedure, the release said.
The Hinduja group is learnt to have backtracked from making a minimum Rs 8,950-crore offer for Reliance Capital (RCap)  a deal that it had belatedly put forth in December, after Torrent Investments emerged as the highest bidder for the bankrupt firm in the challenge process.

Photograph: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

The Hindujas latest move has put Indian lenders, with an exposure of Rs 24,000 crore, in a spot as it was the formers revised offer that led to a call for a second auction and litigation by Torrent, which had placed a bid of Rs 8,649 crore in the first auction.

Torrent has moved the Supreme Court and plans to wait for the apex court verdict before participating in any fresh auction.

A banking source said there was an informal meeting of a few lenders of Reliance Capital with the bidders  the Torrent group and the Hinduja group on Friday when the latter changed its stand.

The meeting of RCaps committee of creditors (CoC) is scheduled for Monday.

During the meeting (on Friday), the Hinduja group backtracked from its stand and informed that its bid in the previous round should be considered as Rs 8,110 crore (made during the challenge process), instead of its revised offer of Rs 8,950 crore.

"The Hindujas had submitted the offer after Torrent was declared as the highest bidder in the Challenge Mechanism," said a person close to the development.

With this, the lenders are faced with the possibility of significant losses in interest cost due to the delay on account of the toppling bid.

Neither the Hinduja group nor Torrent commented.

The valuation of the company fell after the Union Budget removed tax exemption on insurance policies with a premium over Rs 5 lakh.

The valuation of all life insurance companies are down since the Budget presentation.

Reliance Capital owns a 51 per cent stake in Reliance Nippon Life Insurance and a 100 per cent stake in Reliance General Insurance.

The Supreme Court has issued notices to all parties in the appeal filed by Torrent and will hear the matter in August.

In the meanwhile, it has allowed the lenders to conduct a second Challenge Mechanism (base price set at Rs 9,500 crore set by the CoC) or conduct negotiations, which will be subject to its final order in the appeal filed by Torrent.

This also means that the lenders cannot hand over the company to any bidder until the apex court passes a judgment in the RCap matter; none of the bidders is interested amid this uncertainty, said the source.

With this, the RCap resolution process has almost stalled and has delayed the resolution, which started in November 2021.

If a second auction is conducted, it will also be fraught with the same challenge of a toppling bid being submitted by the losing bidder after the auction.

Hence, the lenders will have to come out with a fool-proof solution to give certainty to bidders and revive interest in the resolution process, the source said.

The lenders to RCap had earlier submitted before the NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) that the CoC is being prevented from discovering the best price in the corporate insolvency resolution process and the NCLT acted more than its jurisdiction at a stage where even signed plans were not placed before the CoC for consideration. In its written submission before NCLAT, Vistra ITCL (India)  RCaps secured lender  said: The NCLT has usurped the jurisdiction of the CoC by holding that the CoC has to vote on the Rs 8,640-crore plan of Torrent and the Rs 8,110-crore plan of IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL), part of the Hinduja group, and that CoC has no jurisdiction to negotiate even on the figures.
Anti-Congress regional parties may have felt the possible impact of Rahul's South-North yatra, pending a second East-West padayatra, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi at a press conference at Congress headquarters in New Delhi, March 25, 2023. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

It may not mean much, but on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha member following a Surat court verdict in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's native Gujarat, all Opposition parties are on the same page in criticising as never before the Bharatiya Janata Party ruling the Centre.

On the politico-legal side, the Rahul case may have given a new impetus to state governments fast-tracking pending and new criminal cases of the kind against the Opposition legislators, and get them disqualified as MLAs or MLCs.

In turn, this could lead to a proverbial situation in which an-eye-for-an-eye could turn them all blind, and even before the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Whatever BJP spokespersons may say in their political defence, the legality of the Surat court verdict and the inevitability of the Lok Sabha notification on Rahul's disqualification, they cannot influence street opinion that the party may have taken the threat seriously after his nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra, especially in North India.

More than the by-election that may become due in Rahul's Wayanad constituency in Kerala, which the Election Commission may be prompt in scheduling, his possible imprisonment may deny his party a campaign face ahead of the coming assembly elections in Karnataka, where the ruling BJP's chances are not said to be too bright, owing to corruption charges, yes, and other aspects of inevitable anti-incumbency.

If this is the purported reason for Rahul's effective disqualification for eight long years and from campaigning for all elections, including the Lok Sabha polls and a host of assembly polls, earlier and later, as Congress cadres (wherever they are left), then that raises questions about the BJP's past branding of him as 'Pappu'.

Almost every other BJP leader from top to bottom and their IT wing has defamed every Nehru-Gandhi, and there may be courts in the country that could find substance if a criminal defamation petition is moved now, even with retrospective effect in some cases.

IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi at the press conference at Congress headquarters in New Delhi, March 25, 2023. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

It is true that in the Lily Thomas case (2005), the Supreme Court had rendered ineffective relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act that protected convicted persons with a jail term exceeding two years, to continue as a legislator until the final disposal of their appeals (first in the sessions court, then the high court, and all the way up to the Supreme Court, which under Indian conditions could take years, if not decades).

Where it is a three-year jail term, even the appeal plea has to be filed in the high court, but it also cuts down one stage, that of the sessions court, in the process.

But even before Lily Thomas, the Supreme Court had held that the acceptance of AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa's nominations to contest the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 2001 (from four constituencies, all of which she won, and which did not make any difference to the law), pending her conviction in the TANSI land deal case was ab initio void.

The Supreme Court held that the bail sanctioned by the Madras high court applied only to the sentence part, and the conviction remained unaltered until the final disposal of the case.

It is another matter that the Supreme Court itself later acquitted Jayalalithaa in the case, based on an unprecedented 'plea-bargain', after her defence team made the unique offer to return government property that too caused without any consideration.

Eyebrows were further caused to be raised as this offer was made only in the closing arguments, which gave the respondents no scope to contest the submissions or argue their part.

Even Lily Thomas did not seem to have made any adversarial reference to what seemed to be a patent anomaly, especially when acquittal based on property-surrender for Jaya was never ever followed in such other cases.

Yet, all of it means that even if the higher courts grant Rahul Gandhi bail in the Surat case, it would not remove the conviction part.

Hence, the Lok Sabha notification declaring his seat vacant is in order though the haste could not be explained, as if the Indian system was cued to fast-track all matters.

IMAGE: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge interacts with party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the Sankalp Satyagraha, against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a member of Parliament, at Rajghat, March 26, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Even in Jaya's case, where she had to bow out as chief minister and O Panneerselvam stepped in, in the first of three occasions, the state assembly secretariat issued the notification only after they as also the Election Commission were suitably embarrassed after what the political Opposition dubbed as 'motivated delay'.

But a lot will depend on how the sessions court in Surat, or the Gujarat high court and/or the Supreme Court view the matter.

Is the Supreme Court especially going to abide by precedents, or is it going to reopen and review the very question of granting time for convicted legislators to continue in office until the final disposal of the case?

While past verdicts were pro-active from the perspective of promoting cleanliness in public life, it also denies the individual his or her right to continue as the elected representative of the people who had voted them in.

Jayalalithaa's case is again a pointer. What if after the Supreme Court had acquitted her in the TANSI case (as different from the later-day disproportionate assets case), she did not have a member willing to vacate his seat voluntarily for her to contest, win and re-enter the assembly, under totally different circumstances than earlier?

As may be recalled, Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK's S Thanga Tamizh Selvan quit his Andipatti seat for her to contest, win and re-enter the assembly and return as chief minister in 2022.

Who can guarantee Rahul Gandhi such an opportunity if the Election Commission fills up the Wayanad vacancy through a by-election now, and he is acquitted on appeal, say for instance, before the Lok Sabha poll next year?

Could it mean that on a possible plea from his side or by a voter in Wayanad, the Supreme Court could direct the Election Commission to hold the Wayanad vacancy in abeyance until the final disposal of the criminal matter?

Can the relevant court then direct the Lok Sabha secretariat to withdraw the vacancy notification that it has issued now?

Or, should the secretariat keep altering the status of the notification, pending Election Commission scheduling the poll, if the sessions court and/or the high court reverses the Surat verdict?

IMAGE: Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and other Congress leaders protest against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a member of Parliament at Rajghat, March 26, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Politically, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav joining the Opposition bandwagon to condemn Rahul's overnight disqualification does not mean that they would automatically join a joint/common platform to take on the BJP and the Modi leadership, in particular, in electoral terms.

Even the 14-party Supreme Court petition, alleging misuse of the CBI, IT and ED, does not have the Congress as a signatory.

Possibly, some of the regional parties did not want it, and possibly the Congress decided a strong political message should go out than insisting on its participation.

It can, after all, file a separate petition for being heard in the case, when the Supreme Court takes up the matter on April 5.

Incidentally, the DMK, an ally of the Congress, is not a 'victim' of the Centre's financial crime investigation units, and yet the party is a signatory to the petition.

The joint condemnation of Rahul's disqualification -- some have criticised even the court case -- may be a reflection on the public mood in their respective states that has forced these anti-Congress regional parties to react in the way they did, based on the understanding that the BJP may feel vulnerable after all.

They too might have felt the possible impact of Rahul's South-North yatra, pending a second East-West padayatra, and may have felt that Rahul, if not the Congress without him, could become central to all anti-BJP politics in the year-long run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

There is something that Mamata may recall from her younger days in the parent Congress party, but Kerjiwal and Akhilesh may have got to know only from hearsay. But as a young RSS pracharak and the Jan Sangh's student leader in native Gujarat, Modi may recall the way public pressure forced multiple Opposition parties to float the Navnirman Andolan against the ruling Congress, with 140 out of 168 MLAs, culminating in an ageing Morarji Desai staging an indefinite fast and forcing then prime minister Indira Gandhi's government to dissolve the state assembly and order snap polls that the ruling party lost.

That was in 1975. On the same day, June 12, the Allahabad high court unseated Indira Gandhi as MP from Rae Bareli.

Less than a fortnight later, on the night of June 25, the Congress-led Centre promulgated a state of Emergency (even before then President Fakruddin Ali Ahmed had affixed his signature and seal).

That was again after the Opposition had joined hands to demand Indira Gandhi's resignation, at the historic Ramlila ground rally hours earlier.

The unity continued until after the end of the Emergency in 1977, and the conduct of the delayed Lok Sabha polls, which the public mood forced the Opposition to contest together -- and win together, under a new name and title, the Janata Party.

The rest, as they say, is history. It's the story of the infighting in and downfall of the Janata Party and the return, in 1980, of the Congress under Indira Gandhi.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Delhi high court was informed on Monday that more than 200 children working as child labourers in Delhi have been rescued since January and further raids are underway.

IMAGE: Volunteers participate in a rally organised to eliminate child labour, in Bhubaneswar, June 7, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Datta granted four weeks to the Delhi government counsel to file a further status report in the matter and listed it for hearing on May 4.

The high court was hearing a plea by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, which filed a petition in the aftermath of a fire that killed over 40 people, including several minors, at a factory in the Anaj Mandi area in New Delhi in December 2019.

The NGO had sought a direction to the authorities to inquire into the angle of trafficking and child labour.

Advocate Prabhsahay Kaur, representing the NGO, said during the hearing that there had been "unprecedented success" in rescuing child labourers from various units here since January 11 when the last order was passed for constitution of committees in each district.

She said the government rescued more than 200 children and of the 183 complaints filed by the NGO, the authorities had taken action in most of them.

The Delhi government's counsel told the court that in pursuance of an earlier order, a status report had been filed in the matter and added that the process of conducting raids was still going on.

In its status report, the Delhi government said 45 people were killed and 17 injured in the December 8, 2019, fire.

It informed that a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each was given to the victim's next of kin in all the 45 cases. In the case of the 17 injured, Rs 1 lakh each was given to 13 people. Four people could only be traced only now and they are being paid the amount.

"In accordance with the directions of the court, in all revenue districts, district task force on child labour has been constituted and is functioning under the chairmanship of (the) district magistrate with members from the labour department, women and child development department, police department, education department, health department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

"Regular meetings of DTF are held. NGOs working in this field including the petitioner are also invited in these meetings," the report said.

It further said the list of 183 locations identified by the petitioner was shared with the DTFs, which started action on the locations.

The joint labour commissioners or deputy labour commissioners have sent their report of action taken in this regard.

The report said the action of search or inspection or rescue shall be completed in next two weeks.

The high court, which earlier directed that minors found working in units be rescued and rehabilitated, had said children who ought to have been studying in schools were forced to work at these places that were unhygienic and inhabitable and where accidents were waiting to happen.

It was stated by the NGO that many such units were still operational in the Anaj Mandi, Sadar Bazar and Nabi Karim areas and while the fire tragedy occurred on December 8, 2019, the compensation had not been disbursed yet despite more than three years having been passed.

The high court, in its January 11 order, had said it was "extremely disturbing" that the government was taking a lackadaisical approach and showing extreme insensitivity in the case that had resulted in the deaths of 45 people, including 12 children aged between 12 and 18.

The Delhi police, in its status report of January 10, had informed that of the 45 deceased, nine were minors -- the youngest being 12 years old -- and six children suffered injuries.

It had said the factory where the fire broke out was illegally storing and using highly inflammable material without safety precautions and said that the deaths occurred due to burn injuries or suffocation and after an investigation, a charge sheet for commission of offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act had been filed against the accused persons, including the building's owner and manager.

The petitioner had moved the court alleging that the child labourers were employed at the factory where the fire broke out on December 8, 2019.

It was also claimed that most of the children hailed from Bihar from where they were brought here by traffickers to work in the factories.

The plea contended that the minors were "tutored and coerced" by the traffickers to say they were 19 years old and only visiting the factory if caught by the authorities.

The NGO has also alleged that employment of child labour at the factory was with the knowledge of state authorities who were "attempting to cover it up".

It also claimed in its plea that child labour was employed all over Delhi under the noses of the state authorities and, thus, sought directions to the authorities to carry out a time-bound comprehensive survey of child and bonded labour in the national capital and carry out rescue operations in pending complaints regarding the employment of children.

It has also sought directions to the authorities concerned to "rehabilitate, compensate and recover minimum wages of the child labour at the Anaj Mandi establishments" and to seal establishments, units or factories where child labour is found.
This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up or thumbs down on the issues from the past week.

Up

An effort to develop the Missouri riverfront through Bismarck could take years and cost tens of millions of dollars, but it's an idea worth considering. The Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, AGL architects and city of Bismarck are working on the project. Architect Jake Axtman says the river is a great asset, but its potential hasn't been fully embraced. The project put together by the group emerged over a year's time, with input from dozens of stakeholder groups. It would develop the 19-mile stretch of riverfront from the Misty Waters development to the north, to near the Apple Creek Bottom south of the city. It would include a festival grounds, an amphitheater and a hotel. There's still a lot of work to be done, and a lot of money to be found. But the idea is intriguing, and worthy of exploration.

Down

Former North Dakota Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp is being linked to banking regulation changes in 2018 that are now being blamed for contributing to the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The collapses prompted a federal rescue and have stoked anxiety about a broader banking contagion. Republicans that wanted to roll back regulations in 2018 needed the support of moderate Democrats such as Heitkamp. She vocally supported the changes, was invited to the bill signing ceremony with President Donald Trump, and was commended by the grassroots conservative group funded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers for taking a stand against her party. An Associated Press analysis of public lobbying disclosures shows that Heitkamp became the top Senate recipient of money from the banking industry during the 2018 campaign season. Heitkamp in an interview with AP pushed back against suggestions that the legislation was directly responsible for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. But she acknowledged that there was an open question about whether new rules put in place by the Federal Reserve after the measure was signed into law could have played a role.

Up

North Dakota House members were right to overwhelmingly reject an effort to remove public notices from newspapers. Senate Bill 2143 would have exempted insurance companies from publishing abstracts in local newspapers and instead only required them on the North Dakota Insurance Commissioner's website. Citizens who participated in an independent survey administered by the North Dakota Newspaper Association said they prefer reading legal notices in newspapers rather than government websites. The public is best served by keeping public notices in an independent source.

Down

North Dakota lawmakers have advanced restrictions to the process for citizens to amend the state constitution, putting the proposal one step closer to appearing on the November 2024 general election ballot. Supporters say it would help insulate North Dakota from changes pushed by out-of-state influences. But it would also greatly restrict the power of North Dakota residents. And it's possible that voters also could have another measure on the same ballot -- one that would water down the term limits voters approved last year for legislators. Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, might have put it best when he said, "I don't think it's going to make anybody happy."
A new picture of Amritpal Singh with his key aide Papalpreet Singh surfaced Monday on social media as another close associate of the radical preacher was detained under the stringent National Security Act.

IMAGE: A new photograph of 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh with his aide Papalpreet Singh has surfaced on social media. Photograph: Twitter

Amritpal Singh has remained untraceable since a police crackdown against him and members of his Waris Punjab De' began in Punjab on March 18.

Officials said the picture was taken a day after the police operation against the Khalistan sympathiser began. Both men looked relaxed; Amritpal Singh is seen holding a beverage can.

In another development, Amritpal's Singh's close associate Varinder Singh alias Fauji was nabbed by the Amritsar Rural police.

He was part of the private security set for the preacher, police said.

A senior police official said the NSA has been invoked against Varinder Singh and he was being sent to the Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, where some alleged Amritpal Singh associates are already being held under the NSA.

Papalpreet Singh, who appears in the picture, is said to be Amritpal Singh's mentor. He was allegedly in contact with Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

In the photo, Amritpal Singh is seen wearing a jacket, a maroon turban and sunglasses. His companion, sitting beside him, is in a sweatshirt.

The police operation began about three weeks after Amritpal Singh and his supporters stormed into the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested man. Six police personnel were injured.

Amritpal Singh and Papalpreet Singh were allegedly harboured by a woman at her home in Shahabad in Haryana's Kurukshetra district on March 19, police had earlier said.

On March 25, CCTV footage emerged purportedly showing Amritpal Singh talking on a mobile phone.

The preacher escaped the police dragnet in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching vehicles and changing appearances.

He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.

The Punjab Police on Sunday said it has released 197 people out of 353 till then taken into preventive custody on apprehension of breach of peace and disturbance of law and order.

*****

Amritpal aide brought to Dibrugarh jail

One more associate of radical preacher Amritpal Singh was brought to Assam on Monday and lodged at the Dibrugarh Central Jail where seven others like him are already there, an official said.

Varinder Singh, suspected to be the bodyguard of the fugitive Amritpal, was arrested a few days ago in Punjab.

He was brought to Dibrugarh by air and escorted to the jail amid tight security led by the Superintendent of Police Shwetank Mishra, the official said.

A multi-tier security arrangement has been made at the jail since March 19, when four members of the Waris Punjab De (WPD) were taken here in the first batch.
Agitating members of the Banjara community on Monday allegedly targeted Bharatiya Janata Party strongman BS Yediyurappa's house in Shikaripura town of this district and resorted to stone-pelting, injuring some policemen during a protest against the internal reservation for the Scheduled Castes announced by the state government.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being greeted by former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa (right) at a function, in Shivamogga, February 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been imposed in the town.

The police used batons to disperse the large number of protesters, which included women. Some members of the Banjara community, who are also known as Lamani or Lambani, were injured.

The police were taken by surprise as the agitators, most of them youths, swarmed near Yediyurappa's house and started hurling stones, damaging window glasses.

Sensing the situation going out of control, additional forces were summoned to the area..

The agitators gave vent to their anger, alleging that "less" reservation was given to the 'Scheduled Caste-Touchables', to which the Banjara community belongs.

The Karnataka cabinet had last week decided to introduce internal reservation amongst the SCs.

After hiking reservation for the Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that 6 per cent reservation would be given to SC left sub-category, 5.5 per cent to SC right, 4.5 per cent to Touchables and one per cent to others.

The state government also wrote to the Centre recommending that the proposal be included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.
Two bike-borne students sparked security scare as they tried to enter a Bengaluru road when the Union Home Minister Amit Shah's convoy was passing through it on Sunday night following which they were detained.

IMAGE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses the gathering at the unveiling of the statues of Lord Basaveshwara and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, in Bengaluru on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Bheemashankar Guled said when Shah's convoy was moving on the Cubbon Road at about 10.45 pm, they entered it from the Safina Plaza end.

'When a police constable tried to stop them, they rammed their two-wheeler into him and tried to flee. The deployed policemen caught one of them. However, the other one escaped from the spot,' he said.

The police later arrested the second one based on the interrogation with the detained youth.

A case under Section 353 (obstructing police from discharging duties) and 279 (rash and negligent driving) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against them.

Yes, in one way it was a security lapse but these people did not know about the VVIP movement.

They injured our policeman. Hence, we are initiating appropriate action against them, Guled said.

Noting that the students did not have any other motive or ill-intention, he said he would prefer not to call it a security breach.

He said they did not have any criminal background, adding that the bike belonged to their family.
Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Monday claimed that he was not invited to President Droupadi Murmu's civic reception on Monday evening.

IMAGE: President Droupadi Murmu being received by West Bengal Governor Dr C V Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee upon her arrival in Kolkata, March 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The ruling Trinamool Congress dubbed the charge as "baseless" and accused the BJP leaders of boycotting the President's programme despite being invited.

The state government organised the programme for Murmu at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, where Governor CV Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in attendance.

Adhikari, who is currently in New Delhi tweeted: Those who queued up to vote against her (Murmu) would take the centre stage & hog the limelight at the felicitation event! Those who queued up to vote in her favour are snubbed by the WB Govt & aren't invited!

The TMC, however, claimed several top leaders of the opposition party, including Adhikari, state president Sukanta Majumdar, and BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh have been invited to the programme.

The ruling party shared purported images of the receipts of the invitation cards for the President's civic reception sent to Majumdar and Ghosh. The signature and seal of the state BJP's office secretary, along with the date, were there in it.

The ruling party also tweeted another image of the receipt of the same invitation card sent to Adhikari. It has a signature but no seal or date.

Alleging that the BJP leaders are liars and they have NO RESPECT for people belonging to the Santhali community, the TMC tweeted: Were these lies approved by you, @AmitShah".

The Mamata Banerjee-led party also claimed that BJP leaders stooped to a new low.

"Despite being invited to the event scheduled at Netaji Indoor Stadium, they have chosen to boycott it. When it comes to petty politics, @BJP4India does not even spare the Hon'ble President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu. Shameful," the TMC said in another Twitter post.

Murmu arrived in Kolkata on Monday for a two-day visit to West Bengal. This is her first tour to the state after being elected the President.
China on Monday declined to react to reports that its officials skipped a "confidential" G20 meeting held in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as part of the mainland.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo

When asked about reports that China has abstained from the meeting held on Sunday at Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing in Beijing, "I am not aware of what you said".

"I have to check it with my colleagues," she said.

The question and her reply did not figure in the official transcript of the media briefing posted on the Chinese foreign ministry website hours later.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet.

India firmly rejects China's claims and asserts that the state is an integral part of the country.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang visited New Delhi earlier this month to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Qin also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on March 2.

The meeting was the first between Jaishankar and Qin after the latter became the Chinese foreign minister in December.
The political discourse hit a new low on Monday with Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri making disparaging remarks targeting Rahul Gandhi and the Congress paying him back in the same coin, saying such comments "reveal the character" of new entrants to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

IMAGE: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Photograph: ANI Photo

The BJP and the Congress also traded barbs as proceedings in Parliament remained stalled on Monday.

The second leg of the budget session, which started on March 13, is headed for a near washout after the BJP and the opposition parties continued to spar over a host of issues such as Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the UK, Adani row and Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha.

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on Hindutva idealogue VD Savarkar, Puri told reporters in Parliament, "the other day he said I will not apologise because I am not Savarkar. Do you know the contribution of people like Savarkar ji?... You are, as I said, getting an **s to run a horse's race."

Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and Supriya Shrinate reacted with anger to the comment.

"New entrants to the BJP especially those who become Cabinet ministers often make outrageous statements to strengthen their new loyalties. Such statements reveal their own character," party general secretary Ramesh said on Twitter.

"Ye poori sachchai hai," he added in Hindi.

Puri joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January 2014.

Lashing out at Puri for his remarks, Congress spokesperson Shrinate said the "one appointment that Mr Modi got right -- was making the gasbag Hardeep Puri Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Meanwhile, congratulations Mr Hardeep Puri -- Rs. 2 credited into your account for the day!"

Ramesh also responded with another disparaging comment.

Congress' media department head Pawan Khera asked Puri to look inwards.

"You people have coloured an ... and made it into a zebra, now its color has started coming off," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Asked about the agitation by the Congress which is observing black day' on Monday, Puri told reporters, "they really need to do some serious introspection.

"You know the lines of propriety, what is acceptable in their political system, the legal system. He (Gandhi) has been convicted by a court. Then, there are automatic procedures," he said.

"And then to bring in this kind of melodramatics? I mean people of India will judge them for what they are," the minister added.

The heated exchange over Puri's comments added to the drama on Monday as several Opposition MPs wore black clothes to Parliament to protest what they alleged was an "attack on democracy" by the government.

Opposition members in Lok Sabha stormed the Well wearing black clothes and two Congress MPs T N Pratapan and Hibi Eden hurled papers towards the Chair, leading to the adjournment of proceedings earlier in the day.

The BJP condemned the opposition ruckus in Parliament and accused the Congress of resorting to a "low level of politics" in its bid to justify Rahul Gandhi's remarks against the OBC society.

Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Piyush Goyal also questioned the Congress members' behaviour as they turned up at Parliament, wearing black dresses and created a ruckus in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

"Look at the behaviour...They (Congress members) tore papers and threw them at the Chair. Speaker repeatedly says he wants to run the house and he would give everybody a chance (to speak)," the BJP leader said.

"In Rajya Sabha, Congress and other parties are resorting to indecent behaviour leaving no other option for the Chair but to adjourn the proceedings," he said.
A court in New Delhi on Monday rejected the bail plea of Shahrukh Pathan, who had allegedly pointed a gun at a Delhi police head constable during the 2020 riots in the national capital.

IMAGE: Shahrukh Pathan brandishes a pistol during violent clashes at Jaffrabad in Northeast Delhi in February 2020. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

Additional sessions judge Amitabh Rawat was hearing Pathan's bail plea, which was moved in October last year but not pressed on his request for considering it after the main eyewitnesses in the case were examined.

It was taken up for hearing after Pathan moved an application last month for pressing the bail plea "in view of the threats" faced by him in prison.

"This court does not see any reason at all to grant bail to the applicant or accused. Accordingly, the bail application ... stands dismissed," the judge said.

He noted that Pathan's bail plea was earlier dismissed both by the present court and the Delhi high court and the court had also framed charges against him and others for various offences under the Indian Penal Code, including rioting and attempt to murder, and under the provisions of the Arms Act.

None of the accused had challenged the order on the charges passed in December 2021 and the grounds raised in the bail plea, such as the alleged discrepancies in the statements of witnesses or interviews, were dealt with in detail in the earlier orders on bail and charges, the court said.

It said from the perusal of the entire case file, it was apparent that after the framing of the charges, there was no delay in the trial on account of the prosecution's fault.

It was primarily because of reasons, such as the co-accused persons "purposefully absenting themselves on court dates", accused Kaleem Ahmed pleading guilty during the trial and charges being framed against one of the accused, Babu Wasim, who was arrested subsequently, the court pointed out.

"It has to be noted that the date has always been given as per the choice of the counsel for the accused who, despite the court asking for short dates, had insisted by showing his diary to contend that he does not have dates and that the date be given as per his diary," the court added.

Rejecting Pathan's arguments about "threats from jail officials", the court said the entire flood of applications regarding the same did not inspire confidence and the allegations of harassment and torture were "prima facie" for obtaining bail.

Taking note of Pathan's behaviour in the jail as seen in the CCTV footage of two separate incidents of January 30 and February 10, along with the recovery of a mobile phone from the accused inside the prison, the court said his conduct was "completely unsatisfactory".

It noted that according to the footage of January 30, Pathan had left the video-conferencing room of the Tihar Jail and voluntarily entered a cell for two-and-a-half hours without informing the authorities and was seen "mingling and having lunch with co-inmates, including gangsters".

On being traced, Pathan was given a punishment ticket by the jail superintendent and after coming out of the official's room, he voluntarily met two convicts, including a death-row convict in the Red Fort bomb blast case, and after talking to them for a while, gestured towards an assistant superintendent, who then slapped him.

"The entire demeanour of the accused ... during the time when he was in the cell with other inmates and having lunch with them or when he was walking towards the jail superintendent's room or outside shows his casual and comfortable approach and does not show any harassment or sign of threat," the court said.

It said Pathan made aggressive gestures towards the assistant superintendent and it appeared that he was trying to provoke the prison officials.

"This obviously does not justify the assistant superintendent ... slapping him since being a public servant and in charge, he has to act in a more restrained way and take the aggressive and malafide conduct of the accused or undertrial in his stride," the court added.

Taking note of Pathan's conduct on February 10 as seen in the CCTV footage played in the court, the judge said the accused was allegedly again found outside his high-risk ward, where he mingled with "three other hardened prisoners or criminals", and "from the shadow", he could be seen intentionally beating up an undertrial prisoner and then bandaging him.

The undertrial prisoner made a complaint to the jail inspecting judge the next day that he and Pathan were badly beaten up, tortured and harassed by the jail superintendent, the court said.

"It was only on the production of this CCTV footage in the court that the said application was not pursued," the court said, adding, "In all the footage shown, the accused can be seen constantly arguing with the jail staff."

It further said after the incident, Pathan was shifted from the high-risk prisoners' ward to the special prisoners' ward (a high-risk ward with round-the-clock camera surveillance) and the accused's counsel had moved an application seeking directions to transfer his client back to the earlier ward as he faced threats from gangsters and other prisoners.

"However, when it was highlighted that despite being a high-risk prisoner, the accused was voluntarily violating the rules himself by mingling with convicts and gangsters, the counsel for the accused suggested that it was the fault of the jail authorities and not so much of the accused's fault," the court said.

The Jafrabad police station had filed a chargesheet against Pathan and others.
In a startling remark, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has termed ousted prime minister Imran Khan 'enemy' of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz saying he has taken the country's politics to a point where either "he (Imran) will get murdered or us".

IMAGE: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Photograph: @ImranKhanPTI/Twitter

The remarks of the PML-N senior leader, who is very close to former premier Nawaz Sharif, sparked an outcry among the political circles especially Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Khan, after surviving a gun attack on him during a rally in Wazirabad, Punjab in November last year, named Rana Sanaullah behind the assassination attempt on him.

Khan, 70, also mentioned the names of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a senior ISI officer in an application for FIR for their role in the murder plot.

In an interview to a couple of private TV channels on Sunday, Sanaullah said: Either Imran Khan or us will get murdered. He has now taken the country's politics to a point where only one of the two can remain -- PTI or PMLN."

"PMLN's entire existence is in jeopardy and we will go to any extent against him to settle a score with him. Khan has turned politics into enmity. Khan is now our enemy and he will be treated like that," Sanaullah declared.

Asked if such remarks could result in anarchy in Pakistan, the minister said: Anarchy already prevails in Pakistan.

Reacting strongly to Sanaullah's statement, PTI leader and former federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry said: "This is a direct life threat to Khan from the PMLN coalition government."

Is Sanaullah running a gang or government? The Supreme Court had rightly declared Sharifs-led PMLN a Sicilian mafia and his statement is evidence of it," he said.

The PTI has also urged the SC to take notice of this as it is an open threat to Khan's life.

If anyone has any doubts about Sanaullah's murderous intent towards Khan. This is a direct threat given by the cabal of crooks' interior minister. The judiciary should take note, PTI senior leader and former minister Shireen Mazari said in a tweet.

The PTI said it has never witnessed in the past that a ruling party openly declared eliminating a popular leader of Pakistan.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP recently, and said that the Congress leader should fight the "court's action in the court" instead of speaking against Veer Savarkar.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference at the AICC headquarters, in New Delhi on March 25, 2023. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

"You are getting an ass to run a horse's race...They really deserve to do some serious introspection. People of India would judge them for what they are. Fight Court's action in the Court, you are invoking Mahabharat and Savarkar," Puri said.

On Friday, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remark.

After his disqualification, Rahul that Savarkar was an "apologist" of the British colonisers and that he would never express any regret for criticising the BJP-led government.

"My name in not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi. Gandhis don't apologise to anyone," Rahul had said during a press conference in New Delhi.

He further stated that he is not scared of going to prison and that his disqualification from Parliament was aimed at distracting people from the Adani issue.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur too attacked the Congress leader saying that he can never be Veer Savarkar even in his "best dreams" as it required strong determination and love for the country.

"Dear Shri Gandhi, you can never be SAVARKAR even in your best dreams because being Savarkar requires strong determination, love for Bharat, selflessness and commitment," the senior BJP leader said on Twitter on Sunday.

Rahul Gandhi can never be Savarkar even by a long shot because the freedom fighter neither travelled abroad for six months of the year nor sought help from foreigners against his country, Thakur said.

"He went to Britain to launch a movement to free Mother India from the chains of slavery," the information and broadcasting minister said and added that it is time to "expose lie master Rahul Gandhi for his non-stop nonsense against Veer Savarkar ji".

Thakur also posted on Twitter a letter written by former prime minister Indira Gandhi on the occasion of the birth centenary of Savarkar.

"Veer Savarkar's daring defiance of the British government has its own important place in the annals of our freedom movement. I wish success to the plans to celebrate the birth centenary of this remarkable son of India," Indira Gandhi had written in her letter dated May 20, 1980.

Thakur said the central government had released a documentary on Savarkar during the tenure of Indira Gandhi as prime minister to "acknowledge his valour, sacrifice, and selfless service to the nation".

The minister also shared excerpts from "Bhagat Singh's Jail Notebook" in which the revolutionary freedom fighter had made notes from books authored by Savarkar.

Even the Congress at its Kakinada Session in 1923 had passed resolutions supporting Savarkar, the BJP leader said. He said Indira Gandhi had even issued a postal stamp to acknowledge the contribution of Savarkar to the freedom movement.

"Just imagine, a person whose grandmother had honoured the great personality Veer Savarkar and none of the great men of that era have spoken ill about him. By saying all these things Rahul Gandhi is not insulting Savarkar but his grandmother, Netaji Bose, Bhagat Singh and even (Mahatma) Gandhiji," Thakur said.
Probably Elsie amma turned in her grave at what happened to Rahul Gandhi, although he has no clue that she is no more. Way back in 2019, when his name was announced as candidate for Wayanad by the Congress, she was thrust under the limelight for a while -- her wish to see Rahul Gandhi was fulfilled by Congress's PR team under the media glare then.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference at the AICC headquarters, in New Delhi on Saturday, March 25, 2023. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

This reporter attempted to track down Elsie amma to see what she feels about the disqualification only to learn that she passed away six months ago.

Meanwhile, a very lively 99-year old Matthew was spotted cackling, trying to contain it by covering his mouth with his palm.

He gave up after a while and asked: "Will you find enough people to carry these?"

He was referring to the stacked kerosene-soaked cloth bound around bamboo sticks, to be used as torches, at the district Congress committee office at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Sunday evening. On the third day after Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Wayanad seat, Youth Congress was organising a night march.

Mattthew, who stays nearby, had dropped by to watch.

Yes, he is a Congress sympathiser who had his share of protests -- he narrated with glee how he threw stones at a police station long, long ago during one. But he was not convinced that people in Wayanad are invested so much that they would come on a day so sacrosanct that most locals refuse to work even if you pay them twice the wage.

To make things worse, on the other end of the district, at Mananthavady, was Wayanad's most famous all-night festival being organised by Valliyoorkkavu temple, the annual 14-day arattu festival. There's also the Ramadan fasting.

Matthew has a point: If you stop people on the street in any part of Wayanad, and ask what you think of the disqualification, more often than not, people express outrage. But then they get on with their lives, implicitly understanding that the battle is being fought elsewhere.

This sentiment was also expressed by Sreeja, a municipal Councillor for Indian Union Muslim League and daughter-in-law of Elsie amma.

Sreeja expressed confidence that Rahul Gandhi's conviction will be dismissed in higher courts and that he will win the next election from Wayanad, with an even bigger margin.

"Most women in my colony and my ward really like Rahul Gandhi," she added. Then she moved on to talk about her more pressing worry -- the impending water shortage, an annual summer occurrence in her colony.

Back at the Congress office too, life went on.

Before heading to the protest, the members were treated to an iftaar. In fact, district panchayat president Samshad Marakkar had earlier cited the ongoing Ramadan fasting as one of the reasons why things were low-key in Wayanad.

Right after his release on Saturday -- he was arrested for blocking the national highway -- Kalpetta MLA T Siddique was seen at the local masjid offering Ramadan namaz.

When confronted with low-key efforts' he went on to list the events being organised by Wayanad Congress to "uphold democracy and fight against the tyranny of the Modi government."

But the evening events planned for rural areas on Saturday as well Youth Congress' national president B V Srinivas's visit to Kalpetta for the night march on Sunday were cancelled.

Although on Sunday night, Congress proved Matthew wrong: all those sticks came handy as nearly 400 Congress workers marched through Kalpetta town waving them in the air, a lot later than announced owing to Ramadan.
In this weeks Computer Weekly, with the UK government becoming the latest administration to ban TikTok, we ask whether the controversial social media app is really a security threat to enterprises. Technology guru Bruce Schneier tells us about the need to take back control of AI and the personal data it relies on. And we look at how firms are trying  and failing  to make AI work for online content moderation. Read the issue now.

Vendor: TechTarget ComputerWeekly.com Posted: Mar 27, 2023 Published: Mar 28, 2023 Format: PDF Type: Ezine
As he stepped out of Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad and was being taken to Prayagraj by Uttar Pradesh police, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed on Sunday expressed fear that he might be murdered.

IMAGE: Prayagraj Police with jailed-mafia Atiq Ahmed outside Sabarmati Central Jail as he is being shifted to Prayagraj. Photograph: PTI Photo

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," Ahmed told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel .

When some reporters asked him if he feared for his life, the former Samajwadi Party MP said, "Mujhe inka programme maloom hai...Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their programme...They want to murder me)."

He also said that his appearance in a Prayagraj court was a just pretext for the police to kill him.

"Court ke kandhe pe rakh ke maarna chahte hain (They want to kill me under the pretext of court appearance)," he said as he was taken towards the van.

A team of the Uttar Pradesh police reached the Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad city in the morning to take him to Prayajrag where he will be produced before a court on March 28 when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused.

The police team left the premises with Ahmed amid tight security around 6 pm after completing the necessary formalities.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati central jail in June 2019 following a Supreme Court after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

After Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 killing of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two security guards were killed in the brazen shooting on February 24, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had, while speaking in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, vowed to destroy the mafia.

Two of the accused were shot dead in separate encounters by police on February 27 and March 6.

On March 1, Ahmed moved the Supreme Court, claiming there is a genuine and perceptible threat to his and his family members' lives and referred to the statement made by Adityanath.

He said the Uttar Pradesh Police in all likelihood will seek his transit remand and also police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period.

The matter was listed for urgent mention on March 17 but the hearing was adjourned after Ahmed's counsel sought time to file some additional documents.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Subrat Pathak had said he would not be surprised if mafia Atiq Ahmed's vehicle overturns like that of gangster Vikas Dubey.

Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police shortly after a police SUV in which he was being brought to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh overturned under mysterious circumstances on a highway. Police claimed that he had tried to flee.

On Sunday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said at what time a vehicle has been "overturned" and by whom can be found through satellite imagery.

"The CM must have told them that the vehicle will be overturned at this place... I had said earlier also. You can take help from Google and America, every second is mapped it will be known how the vehicle overturned

"It will be there in the satellite. This record will be there, it will not go anywhere. Even after 3-4 years. These are all documented. Do not commit such a mistake," he told reporters in Lucknow when asked about the remarks of BJP leaders on Ahmed.

UP's Co-operative Affairs Minister JPS Rathore said if a criminal creates a ruckus in the vehicle it may overturn.

"If the criminal comes under police (custody), then he should peacefully sit in the vehicle so that it could safely reach the jail. If he tries to create a ruckus (woh agar hai-tauba machaayega) and thinks of jumping out of the vehicle, then the vehicle may overturn," he said.

Gangster Vikas Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 a week after eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets shortly after midnight on July 3.
India has logged 1,805 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases have surpassed the 10,000-mark after 134 days, according to Union health ministry data updated on Monday.

IMAGE: Healthcare workers inspect the working of the medical equipment at the COVID-19 ward of Safdarjung Hospital during the mock drill in New Delhi. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 3.19 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.39 per cent.

The active cases have increased to 10,300, the data updated at 8 am stated. On Sunday, the health ministry had put the count of active cases at 9,433.

The death toll has increased to 5,30,837 with six deaths, one each reported by Chandigarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in a span of 24 hours, and two reconciled by Kerala.

The total tally of Covid cases is 4.47 crore (4,47,05,952), the data stated.

The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, according to the health ministry's website.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,64,815, the data stated. The case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent.

According to the ministry's website, 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide Covid vaccination drive.
Ahead of a much-anticipated announcement to freeze his plan for a judicial overhaul, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday urged protesters "to behave responsibly and refrain from violence" as Israelis from all over the country started descending into Jerusalem and workers from a range of sectors joined a protest movement against the government's contentious plan.

IMAGE: Women dressed as handmaidens from The Handmaid's Tale attend a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defence minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

Netanyahu's appeal came hours after President Isaac Herzog on Monday appealed to him to immediately halt his controversial judicial overhaul, warning that the move has put the country's security, economy and society under threat.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, in his first public statement since widespread demonstrations erupted in reaction to his sacking of the defence minister, has urged protesters, from the left and right, "to behave responsibly and refrain from violence."

As Israelis from all over the country started descending into Jerusalem, Netanyahu in a tweet appeared to address fears of violent clashes this evening between opponents and supporters of the government's judicial overhaul plan.

"All of us are brothers and sisters," Netanyahu stressed in his tweet.

Unverified reports in the local media, quoting sources in Netanyahu's Likud party, have said that the prime minister is going to freeze the judicial blitz that has completely paralysed the nation with widespread strikes across all walks of life.

The far-right coalition member party Otzma Yehudit said Prime Minister Netanyahu will delay the process for discussions on the planned judicial overhaul until next month.

In a statement on Monday, the party said legislation would be pushed to the next session of parliament, which starts in early May, to "pass the reform through dialogue".

IMAGE: Fire burns as people attend a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defence minister, Tel Aviv, Israel, March 27, 2023. Photograph: Nir Elias/Reuters

President Herzog's appeal to Netanyahu came after the prime minister sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing his judicial reforms, sparking widespread street protests. The president also called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

"Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes. I appeal to the prime minister, members of the government, and members of the coalition: there are harsh and painful feelings. The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," Herzog said.

"Our security, economy, society -- all are under threat. The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish People are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you," the ceremonial president in a statement.

"For the sake of the unity of the People of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately," he emphasised.

He urged all the leaders in power to place the country's citizens above all else.

"I appeal to the leaders of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to place this country's citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay. Wake up now! This is not a political moment; this is a moment for leadership and responsibility," the president asserted.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Sunday night after Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Gallant after he said on Saturday that the judicial overhaul "poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the State".

Irked by the televised speech given by Gallant, the prime minister's office in a terse statement Sunday evening said, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening (Sunday, 26 March 2023), to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant".

The announcement led to a spontaneous and unprecedented outburst of anger against the country's longest-serving prime minister.

An unconfirmed Channel 12 report said that 600,000-700,000 Israelis were demonstrating late on Sunday across the country, with protests reported from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest sparked by Justice Minister Yariv Levin's proposals to shake up the judiciary by severely curbing the High Court of Justice's judicial review powers and the government's efforts to cement political control over the appointment of judges has met with resistance not only in the streets of the country but also abroad with thousands of Jewish diaspora members protesting during Netanyahu's visits to Italy, Germany and the UK.

IMAGE: Protesters hold flags during a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defence minister, Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

The protests have alarmed business leaders, former security chiefs and drawn concern from Israel's close allies, including the United States.

The country has also seen economic disruption with talk of a "flight of capital" and hi-tech leaders and firms.

Arnon Bar-David, the head of Israel's largest labour federation Histadrut, Monday announced a "historic" labour strike in an attempt to "stop the madness" of the government's controversial judicial overhaul.

"We are all worried about Israel's fate, Bar-David said. Together we say, enough! We have lost our way -- this is not about left or right. We can no longer polarise the nation, the union head was quoted as saying in The Times of Israel newspaper.

Israel's main airport Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday announced an immediate halt to all departing flights, minutes after the head of the Histadrut announced the historic labour strike.

The Histadrut also instructed all government employees to go on strike, including in all of Israel's diplomatic missions around the world, the paper reported.

Citing a spokesperson for Israel's embassy in the United States, it confirmed that the mission has shut down until further notice.

The National Student and Youth Council, representing the high school and middle school students, declared a nationwide strike to start on Monday morning.

The council has called for "halting the [overhaul] legislation and starting negotiations immediately.

Two protesters entered the Knesset building and shouted at Education Minister Yoav Kisch that he should resign. They were quickly bundled away by security guards.

As protests intensified accompanied by an unforeseen display of anger, some Likud ministers relented, beginning to show their willingness to compromise.

Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Protest organisers, mostly common people with no declared political affiliation, continued to push for further demonstrations on Monday.

Political analysts see the development as a "grassroots movement" beyond the control of any political formation. The opposition though has been fully supportive and participating in the protests.

Legislation, which many argue is aimed at establishing executive supremacy over the judiciary, making it subservient to the government, is slated to come for the final readings this week in the Knesset.

Seen at the receiving end of international ire, including a rebuke from US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu has looked weak and perplexed but also hesitant to step back from the proposed "reforms" because of fear of backlash within his ruling Likud party.
The convoy of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed being escorted by the Uttar Pradesh police halted briefly in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh on early Monday morning before entering Jhansi on its way to Prayagraj, a police official said.

IMAGE: Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed being taken to Uttar Pradesh from Ahmedabad's Sabarmati jail. Photograph: ANI Photo

As the convoy halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district and Ahmed, wearing a white turban, got down from the police van to attend nature's call, reporters asked him whether he was "afraid", to which he replied by saying "kahe ka dar" (what fear) before police personnel whisked him away.

Notably, after stepping out of Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, Ahmed expressed fear that he might be murdered.

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," Ahmed had told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel.

Earlier, the calvacade, which started from Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, entered Madhya Pradesh from the Rajasthan border in the morning, a police official said.

"It halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district at around 7 AM to enable Ahmed to attend nature's call," said local police officer Manish Kumar Jadoun.

Another police official said Ahmed's convoy left Shivpuri district after a brief halt and entered Jhansi district of UP at around 9 AM.

The gangster is being taken to Prayagraj from Sabarmati central jail by the Uttar Pradesh police for a court case.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there following a Supreme Court after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police had said.

Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MP Subrat Pathak had said he would not be surprised if mafia Atiq Ahmed's vehicle overturns like that of gangster Vikas Dubey.

Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police shortly after a police SUV in which he was being brought to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh overturned under mysterious circumstances on a highway. Police claimed that he had tried to flee.
The Lokayukta police arrested Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Madal Virupakshappa hours after the Karnataka high court dismissed his bail petition in a bribery case relating to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited on Monday.

IMAGE: The Lokayukta police arrest BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa from near Kyathasandra toll plaza in Tumakuru, Karnataka, March 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A viral video showed the Lokayukta sleuths intercepting the MLA at the Kyathasandra toll gate in Tumakuru when was heading for Bengaluru.

Sources said Virupakshappa alighted from his car, after which the Lokayukta police took him with them in their vehicle.

"We arrested him in Tumakuru when he (the MLA) was on the way to Bengaluru," Lokayukta inspector general of police A Subramanyeshwara Rao told PTI.

The BJP MLA is the main accused in the bribery scam in KSDL.

The case relates to the alleged demand and receipt of bribes for payment of bills by the state government company to contractors who supplied chemicals to it.

The HC had reserved its judgment on the issue last Friday.

Justice K Natarajan in his judgment cancelled the interim anticipatory bail granted earlier on March 7 and said, "Though this Court granted the interim anticipatory bail until disposal of the case, because there was no material found in FIR at that time, but now, there is sufficient evidence to show the involvement of the petitioner in the commission of offence as per the case diary of the police and statement under Section 164 of Cr.P.C."

The Court also said that Virupakshappa's custody was necessary. "Therefore, the custody of the petitioner is imminent for the Lokayukta police to interrogate him in the matter.

Therefore, at this stage, this Court feels that the interim anticipatory bail, requires to be cancelled as the petitioner-accused No.1 has not properly co-operated with the investigation officer," the Court said.

It noted the statement of the managing director of KSDL Mahesh which indicted Virupakshappa.

"There were WhatsApp messages and telephone instructions given by this petitioner to one said Mahesh, the Managing Director of KSDL, which clearly reveals, that at the instance of this petitioner-accused No.1 and on behalf of the petitioner-accused No.1, accused No.2 (Prashanth Madal) almost acted on for tender process, procurement process and demand and acceptance of the alleged bribe amount, pertaining to KSDL," the court pointed out.

The court also noted the recovery of cash from the MLA and said his custodial interrogation was necessary.

"The statement of the family members of petitioner-accused No.1 has been recorded by the investigation officer and the amount has been seized from the bedroom of this petitioner. The investigation officer was not able to collect the call records, WhatsApp messages from the mobile of the petitioner. Therefore, the matter requires detailed investigation and without the custodial interrogation, it is not possible for the police to collect the proper evidence against the petitioner."

Rejecting the anticipatory bail plea, the HC said, "If the petitioner is on bail, there is every possibility of apprehension by the witnesses and they may not come forward to give evidence or statement against him without fear."

Virupakshappa had allegedly demanded bribes and his son Prashanth, a KAS officer, was allegedly collecting it on his behalf.

A demand for Rs 81 lakh bribe to pass a bill was made and his son was caught while accepting Rs 40 lakh out of it. Later, over Rs seven crore in cash was seized from Virupakshappa's residence.

Prashanth was arrested in the case on March 2. Four more arrests have been made by the Lokayukta police in the case since then. Virupakshappa has since resigned as the chairman of KSDL.

The MLA faces charges under Section 7(A) and 7(B) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

While Prashanth is the second accused in the case, Siddesh, Nicholas and Gangadhar are the other accused.

The complaint to the Lokayukta against Virupakshappa was given by Shreyas Kashyap, a partner in Ms Chemixil Corporation.

It is alleged that the MLA demanded bribes to release the payment pending to the company for supply of chemicals to KSDL.

Prashanth was arrested in a private office on Kumara Park Crescent Road while accepting the bribe allegedly on behalf of his father.
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf were brought to the Naini jail in Prayagraj, after long road journeys from two separate prisons amid allegations that the former Samjwadi Party legislator would be killed in an encounter on the way.

IMAGE: Police vehicle carrying gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed reaching Naini central Jail in Prayagraj from Gujarat's Sabarmati jail, March 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

They will be produced in a court in Prayagraj on Tuesday in connection with the 2006 kidnapping of Umesh Pal, a witness in the Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal murder case, who was killed last month in an attack allegedly orchestrated by the two. The verdict is also likely to be pronounced during the day

The police cavalcade which brought Atiq Ahmed from the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad around 5.30 pm was followed by cars carrying TV crews, his sister Ayesha Noori and lawyers.

According to eyewitnesses, the cow got up after a while and went away.

Tendua police station in-charge Manish Kumar Jadoun said Atiq Ahmed was travelling in the vehicle that hit the cow.

For Ahmed, the 1,200 km from the Gujarat jail took about 24 hours. Ashraf was brought from the Bareilly Central Jail, and his convoy reached an hour-and-a-half after Ahmed entered the jail.

The brothers are also accused of being involved in a conspiracy, while they were both in prison, to kill Umesh Pal, a witness in the Raju Pal murder in 2005.

On February 23, the witness and two policemen assigned to protect Umesh Pal were gunned down in Prayagraj.

The Prayagraj police cavalcade, escorting Ahmed, started off from the Gujarat prison at about 6 pm Sunday in the road journey through parts of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and finally Uttar Pradesh.

As he stepped out of the Ahmedabad jail to begin the road trip, the reporters hurled questions about his fears. "I know their programme... They want to murder me."

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," he said.

Asked a similar question when the convoy stopped briefly for a toilet break on the way, he said, "Kahe ka dar (what's there to be afraid of?)"

Ahmed's sister Ayesha Noori expressed similar fears.

"There is an apprehension of an encounter. He is not a criminal. The cases against him are in court and he should not be termed a criminal," she said.

Vehicles of television crews, his wife and lawyers followed as the police vehicles set off from the Sabarmati Jail. Ahmed and a group of policemen were in a van padlocked from the outside.

The van carrying Ahmed hit a cow in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri. The mishap was reminiscent of a 2020 incident when a UP Police team was accompanying gangster Vikas Dubey from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Kanpur.

According to the police version, Dubey made an escape bid after the vehicle carrying him overturned and was shot dead in the shootout that followed. It was suggested by police then that the vehicle overturned while trying to avoid cattle on the road.

Huge police force was deployed at the main entrance of the Naini central jail, and entry of outsiders was stopped. A senior official of the Naini central jail said that Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf will be kept separately in high-security barracks.

They have been brought to Prayagraj in compliance with the court's orders, Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said.

Speaking in assembly in February-end, Adityanath had lashed out at the Samajwadi Party for garlanding Atiq Ahmed and had furiously made "mitti me mila denge" (will destroy) comment.

After the killing of BSP MLA Raju Pal on January 25, 2005, Umesh Pal, then a zila panchayat member, had told police he was a witness to the murder.

Umesh alleged that when he refused to retract and buckle under pressure from Atiq Ahmed, he was kidnapped at gunpoint on February 28, 2006. The FIR was registered on July 5, 2007 against Atiq, his brother Ashraf and four unidentified persons. The chargesheet mentioned 11 accused persons.

Atiq Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat in June 2019 following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

Ashraf, lodged in the Bareilly District Jail since July 2020, was brought to the Naini Central Jail on Monday evening amid tight security arrangements, officials said.

A police team accompanying him left Bareilly for Prayagraj on Monday morning.

Ahmed was allegedly involved in the killing of Raju Pal, who was shot dead in 2005. Umesh Pal, a key witness in the former BSP MLA's murder case, was gunned down outside his Prayagraj residence on February 24.

On a complaint from Umesh Pal's wife Jaya, a case was lodged at the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj against Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

Jaya Pal alleged that her husband was the prime witness in the Raju Pal murder case. Ahmed and his aides allegedly abducted him in 2006 and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour. Umesh Pal had got a police complaint registered in this regard and the case was going on.

The FIR also alleged that a conspiracy was hatched by Ahmed, Ashraf and Parveen to kill Umesh Pal and his security guard Sandeep Nishad and the attack on them was carried out by the former MP's sons and aides.

Two men allegedly linked to Umesh Pal's killing -- Arbaaz and Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman -- were killed in police encounters on February 27 and March 6 respectively.

On March 13, the Uttar Pradesh Police had increased the reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including former MP Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, in the Umesh Pal murder case from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
A banned pro-Khalistan organisation has made threat calls to hundreds of people, including journalists, ahead of a crucial three-day G-20 meeting to be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar with an aim to "internationalise" the issue, officials said.

IMAGE: Pro-Khalistan supporters staged a protest outside the Indian embassy in Washington, DC, March 25, 2023. Photograph: Screengrab from a video posted by @lalitkjha on Twitter

They said those who received the calls Sunday night heard pre-recorded messages by Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, head of the organisation 'Sikhs for Justice', in which he said they will raise flags at airports, railway stations and other areas during the meeting days.

"Ramnagar is not a part of India and it will be made a part of Khalistan after Punjab is freed," Pannu said in the message, according to Uttarakhand Special Task Force's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Senthil Abudai Krishnaraj S.

The Chief Scientific Advisors' Roundtable (CSAR) of G-20 countries will be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar from March 28-30 with its focus on harnessing the benefits of traditional knowledge in healthcare.

Krishnaraj S said all the numbers from which such recorded calls were received are being traced.

The DIG said the Special Task Force is probing the matter. It seems that Pannu is trying to gain publicity on the Khalistan issue through the G-20 meeting.

However, the Uttarakhand police is fully prepared and "we will not allow the purpose of these separatists to be fulfilled", he said.

"There is a full security arrangement for the G-20 meeting. Our senior officers are keeping a watch there," he said.

Meanwhile, the police in Udhamsinghnagar district which has a sizeable Sikh population are on alert over the absconding Khalistan separatist preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates.

Following intelligence received from the Punjab Police and central agencies, the district police has tightened security especially in areas bordering Uttar Pradesh districts of Rampur, Pilibhit and Bareilly, and Nepal.

All government and private vehicles are being checked and religious places are also being monitored, officials said.

City Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Katyal said religious places near the international border are also being searched, and a special vigil is being kept on the people passing through the India-Nepal border. The police have also pasted posters of Amritpal and his associates at various places, and running a "verification campaign", he said.

The Punjab police has alerted their Uttarakhand counterpart suspecting that absconding Amritpal Singh might have taken a shelter in Uttarakhand and might flee to Nepal.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the state police in Pithoragarh are also keeping a close watch in areas near the India-Nepal border, officials said.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the release of a man, who was awarded the death penalty for killing five women and two children in Pune in 1994, after it found that he was a juvenile when the offence was committed.

IMAGE: The Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices KM Joseph, Aniruddha Bose and Hrishikesh Roy said that the court is accepting the report of the Inquiring Judge, who had inquired into the claim of juvenility of convict Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary.

"We declare that the date of birth of the applicant as reflected in the certificate issued by the Rajkiya Adarsh Uccha Madhyamik Vidyalaya of district Bikaner dated January 30, 2019...as '12', is to be accepted for determining his age at the time of commission of the offence of which he has been convicted," it said.

The bench said that going by that certificate, his age at the time of commission of offence was 12 years and 6 months and "thus, he was a child/juvenile on the date of commission of offence for which he has been convicted, in terms of the provisions of the 2015 (Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. This shall be deemed to be the true age of Niranaram, who was tried and convicted as Narayan".

It said that since he has already served more than three years of incarceration and under the law as it prevailed at the time of commission of offence as also under the 2015 Act, he cannot be subjected to capital punishment.

"In view of this finding, the order sentencing him to death passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune, and subsequently confirmed by the High Court and by this Court would stand invalidated by operation of law. He shall be set free forthwith from the correctional home in which he remains imprisoned, as he has suffered imprisonment for more than 28 years, having regard to the provisions of Section 18 of the 2015 Act," the top court said.

The bench said that the court agrees with the observations in its earlier verdicts that a casual or cavalier approach should not be taken in determining the age of the accused or convict on his plea of juvenility, but a decision against determination of juvenility ought not to be taken solely for the reason that offence involved is heinous or grave.

"The degree or dimension of the offence ought not to direct approach of the Court in its inquiry into juvenility of an accused (in this case a convict)," the bench said.

It added that once the applicant has discharged his onus, in support of his claim of juvenility by producing the date of birth certificate from the school, the State had to come up with any compelling contradictory evidence to show that the recordal of his date of birth in the admission register was false.

"The State, in this case, has not come up with any such compelling evidence which would render such certificate to be unreliable or false. The State and the complainant have sought to disprove the applicant's case on the basis of materials disclosed by him only, apart from the electoral roll," the bench said.

It said that the court cannot indulge in any guesswork to doubt the entry in the school register and no evidence has been led to contradict the basis of the age of the applicant reflected in the aforesaid document.

"The certificate of date of birth as evidence of age having been provided in the statute itself, we shall go by that. The other factor which has crossed our mind is as to whether a boy of 12 years could commit such a gruesome crime. But though this factor shocks us, we cannot apply speculation of this nature to cloud our adjudication process. We possess no knowledge of child psychology or criminology to take into account this factor while examining the report of the Inquiring Judge. Moreover, the age of the applicant revealed in the ossification test keeps the age of the applicant as claimed by him, within the range specified in the report," the bench said.

It said that the said ossification test was conducted in 2005, and his age was determined in the range of 22 to 40 years.

"If we take 22 years as his age in 2005, then his year of birth would haven been 1983. That would broadly correspond to the date of birth contained in the admission register," it said.

The apex court had on January 29, 2019, referred the application of Chaudhary raising the claim of juvenility to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Pune, to decide the juvenility under provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

The top court had directed the district judge, Pune to submit the report within six weeks.

The case, which has traversed up and down the ladder of judiciary for more than two decades, was re-opened after a Constitution bench in 2014 held that review of death penalty cases will be heard in open court by not less than three-judges.

On August 24, 1994, five women, including a pregnant woman, and two kids aged below three years were killed in a flat in Kothrud, a sub-urban town of Pune.

Three persons were arrested on September 5, 1994, for the gruesome crime and were charged under various sections of IPC.

One of the persons arrested later turned an approver in the case and based on his testimony apart from other evidences, two of them were convicted and sentenced to death on February 19, 1998, by the Pune court.

On July 22, 1999, the Bombay high court upheld the trial court order and confirmed the death sentence.

The apex court dismissed the appeals of the two convicts in the case and upheld the death sentence on September 5, 2000. The top court also dismissed the review petitions on November 24, 2000.

In August 2015, the then President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy petitions of both the convicts, including Chaudhary.

Chaudhary moved the apex court in 2016, seeking re-opening of his review petition.

In 2018, he moved an application claiming that he was a juvenile at the time of commission of offence and cannot be awarded death sentence.
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea of the Tamil Nadu government against a Madras high court order allowing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to hold marches in the state.

IMAGE: RSS volunteers take part in path sanchalan on the occasion of Gudi Padwa festival, in Nagpur, March 22, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal reserved the verdict, after state government counsel Mukul Rohatgi argued there cannot be an absolute right to hold marches just as there cannot be an absolute ban on taking out such processions.

During the hearing, he submitted, "Can there be a vested right to hold processions, wherever an organisation wants? State government has allowed RSS to take out marches in particular routes, while directing the organisation to hold such marches indoors in other areas. It was done to maintain public order and tranquillity".

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the RSS, said the right to assemble peacefully without arms under Article 19(1)(b) cannot be curtailed in the absence of a very strong ground.

He questioned the ban imposed by the government on the RSS to carry out marches in some areas on the ground that the Popular Front of India was also recently banned.

"Not a single incident of violence was reported from the areas, where these marches were carried out," Jethmalani said, adding that members of the RSS were attacked where they were sitting peacefully.

"The fact that a banned, terrorist outfit continued to attack members of the organisation with impunity is a matter of grave concern. It is embarrassing, especially when the state government should be cracking down on the PFI and allied organisations even more stringently. But, either they cannot control this, or they don't want to control this, because their sympathies are with the PFI," he said.

Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, also appearing for the RSS, submitted that the right of any group to peacefully assemble and to march cannot be curtailed unless there are well-founded reasons for escalations of hostilities.

The bench, after hearing the arguments, said it will pass an order on the plea of the state government.

On March 17, the top court had deferred the hearing on the plea of the state government challenging the High Court order after it was told that the state had filed a fresh appeal challenging the original order, dated September 22, 2022, that directed the Tamil Nadu Police to consider the RSS representation and grant permission to conduct the programmes without conditions.

On March 3, the Tamil Nadu government had told the top court that it is not completely opposed to allowing the RSS' route marches and public meetings across the state on March 5 but cited intelligence reports to say these cannot be held in every street or locality.

The state government sought some time to come up with a list of routes for the march.

Rohatgi had earlier told the court that the state will try to work out a solution and decide the routes it wanted the processions to take by then.

Counsel for the RSS has submitted that the state has allowed similar events by organisations like the 'Dalit Panthers' but the RSS was being singled out for harsh treatment.

The RSS, he has said, was allowed to conduct marches in six districts which it did. However, it has been asked to hold the event in enclosed spaces in 42 places.

The state government, in its earlier plea before the top court, said the route march will pose a law and order problem and sought a stay on the high court order.

Setting aside the order passed on November 4, 2022 by a single judge bench which had imposed conditions on the proposed state-wide route marches asking the RSS to hold the events indoor or in enclosed space, a division bench had restored the order dated September 22, 2022 which directed the Tamil Nadu police to consider the RSS' representation and grant permission to conduct the programmes without conditions.

Accordingly, it had directed the RSS to approach the state authorities with three different dates of their choice for the purpose of holding the route march/peaceful procession and the state authorities were asked to grant permission to them on one of the chosen dates.

Also, the RSS was asked to ensure strict discipline and make sure there is no provocation or incitement on their part during the marches.

Challenging the single judge order, the RSS had sought a direction to the authorities to permit their members to hold the procession wearing their uniform throughout the state.

The organisation had earlier sought permission for the route march to commemorate the 75th year of Independence, the birth centenary of Bharat Ratna B R Ambedkar and Vijayadasami festival on October 2, 2022.
The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday Nationalist Congress Party leader Mohammed Faizal's plea against the Lok Sabha Secretariat for not withdrawing a notification disqualifying him as an MP upon his conviction and 10-year sentence that was later stayed by the Kerala high court.

IMAGE: Former NCP MP Mohammed Faizal speaking in Lok Sabha on March 28, 2022. Photograph: Sansad TV

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the former Lakshadweep parliamentarian, that the person has not been reinstated as an MP despite his conviction and sentence being stayed by the high court.

Singhvi said the appeal of the Union Territory against the high court order is coming up for hearing before another apex court bench on Tuesday.

"Tag this with the SLP (of Lakshadweep)," said the bench.

The Lok Sabha was 'prompt to disqualify Faizal as an MP immediately after he was convicted and sentenced by a local court in January this year, but his membership has not been restored yet despite the high court staying the conviction', Singhvi, appearing for the NCP leader, said.

Faizal stood disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from January 11, the date of his conviction in an attempt to murder case by a sessions court in Kavaratti, according to a notification issued on January 13 by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

In his petition filed in the apex court through advocate K R Sasiprabhu, Faizal said the Lok Sabha Secretariat failed to withdraw the notification despite the fact that his conviction was stayed by the high court on January 25.

'The petitioner is constrained to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of this court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, against the unlawful inaction on the part of the respondent, secretary general of the Lok Sabha Secretariat in not withdrawing the notification dated January 13, 2023, whereby the petitioner was disqualified from his membership of Parliament from the Lakshadweep parliamentary constituency,' the plea said.

It claimed that the respondent's inaction is in the 'teeth of the settled law' that disqualification incurred by a member of Parliament (MP) under Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, ceases to operate if the conviction is stayed by an appellate court under section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

'It is pertinent to note that the Election Commission, by taking note of the correct legal position, recalled the by-election press note dated January 18, 2023,' it said.

The plea said the Lok Sabha Secretariat has not revoked the disqualification notification despite various representations and Faizal was denied participation in the Budget Session of Parliament as well as the ongoing session.

The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 31 and its first part ended on February 13.

Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha reconvened after a recess on March 13 and the second part of the session is underway.

The trial court had on January 11 convicted and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment in the case.

Later, the high court stayed the conviction and the sentence imposed upon Faizal, who filed an appeal against the trial court verdict.

In January, the Union Territory (UT) of Lakshadweep moved the apex court challenging the January 25 order of the high court which had suspended his conviction and sentence till the disposal of the appeal before it.

On February 20, the top court had issued notice to Faizal and others on the plea filed by Lakshadweep.
I first met this patient, K, on Feb. 16, 2023 in North Virginia Mental Hospital, and I have been visiting her for about 4 weeks until she was discharged and sent back to jail.

That day I arrived at the mental hospital at 10:00 am, but I did not meet K until about 11:30 am, because she was still sleeping. Also, a nurse was sitting in a chair at the door of her room to watch her sleeping, since she was not allowed to be left alone without supervision under any circumstances. It is one of the most serious measures used by the hospital for the most unstable patients to prevent them from hurting themselves or other patients.

K is a young Chinese girl, only 25-years-old. She was tall and buxom with straight black hair over her shoulder. She is not obese or overweight, but full-figured, with a prominent breast and butt. Although her figure is not slim enough for the taste of Chinese, it will be considered attractively curvaceous in America. However, her face is somehow big and flat, and her eyes are narrow, and I cannot say that she has a beautiful face.

I talked to her a little that day. Although she could answer my question well, her response was very slow. Later, another interpreter , who met K before, told me that K did not talk to any person and just looked at the painting on the wall when she first saw her. Therefore, her willingness to talk to me is a remarkable progress.

The next day when I saw K, she already did not need supervision during sleep. Later, I found that her English is very good, and she has no problem communicating with other patients and the staff as well as taking part in group activities. I only need to explain some medical terms to her. She also mentioned that she did not need an interpreter, but her treatment team thought the presence of an interpreter, who understands her culture background, ameliorate her anxiety and improve her wellbeing, so they still kept requiring interpreting services for her during her stay in the mental hospital.

The unit she was in is dreadful. Many patients in her unit have hallucination and/or delusion, and displayed significantly disturbing and abnormal behavior. For example, one patient kept talking loudly to himself for hours in his room, and another one kept yelling about no-related issues in group activities. When many irritable and unstable patients are put together, conflict is almost unavoidable, and all kinds of incidents happen all the time. I have witnessed at least two fighting between patients during my visit to the unit. One day, a terrible patient in a wheelchair intentionally pooped in common space, and made the hallways in the unit fetid for a while. In another incident, a patient lay down on the floor in the common room and pretended to lose his conscience for more than an hour, because he did not get the result he wanted from the treatment meeting earlier that day.

Since K is the only young woman in this unit, she got many positive as well as negative attention from other patients. I have seen at least one male patient who was frivolous and rude toward her. Also, because of this, she asked to transfer to another unit during the last week of her stay in the mental hospital.

In spite of some unpleasant patients, most staff treated her well. For example, at least two of the therapists gave her books to read, and she told me more than once that all the staff here are very nice, and she liked Virginia the most among all the states she has been to.

When I first met her, she was always tired and spent a lot of time sleeping. For at least two weeks, I never saw her up before 11:30 am, and sometimes, she was tired during the afternoon group activity, and went back to her room to sleep. Additionally, her response was slow and did not talk much. She made good progress over the time, and she said the medicine prescribed to her now made her happy. I saw that toward the end of her stay, she was more active, and for the last two days of her stay, we talked all the time of my stay. Therefore, I have the chance to know many of her life stories.

She was born in 1998 in Harbin. Her father is from the countryside of Northeast China, and has a college degree. Her mother, only graduating from high school, is from Harbin, whose half older sister and her husband were the founder and owner of a pharmaceutical company in Harbin. Both of her parents worked in this company, but her father worked for more than ten years, whereas her mother only worked for a couple of years. Ke indicated that her parents depended a lot on her aunt for money.

She lived in Harbin with her parents until she was 8 years old (2006), then her family lived in Beijing for 5 years (2013), and she was enrolled in a private school, because her parents lacked Beijing residency. Then they moved to Shenzhen in 2013, where she went to a private international high school. After graduating from this high school in 2016, when she was only 16-years-old, she was admitted by Oxford University in London to study mathematics. At that time, she already had a much younger brother, and both her parents had not been working for a while. According to K, her father traded Chinese stock every day, and her family mainly lived on the rental income from several investment properties they had in several cities in China.

Going to Oxford was a great achievement for a Chinese girl like her, however, she only studied there for one and half years. When I asked about the reason why she failed at Oxford, she said she did not focus on studying then because she was with a boyfriend. After failing at college, she became a stripper and danced at an adult club. She said that since she had not been 18-year-old yet, she used a fake ID, which was caught by English Police. Then one of her colleagues told her America is better than England, so she applied for a visiting visa using her own passport and came to the USA in 2018. Thus, she only worked in England for half a year.

The first city she lived in America was New York City. She was just 18 years old, and an exotic dancer living in ChinaTown. There she met a guy named John, who is a US marshal. She had been with John for 2-3 years, but they never talked about marriage. John said marrying an undocumented immigrant will cost his job as US marshal and he loved his job, so he could not marry K. But I thought this was just an excuse.

Shortly after breaking up with John, she got another boyfriend, Richard. Then she was 21-years-old, but Richard, a court clerk and her neighbor, was already 42 years old. K said after she and Richard had been together for about 1 year, she took him to meet her aunt (her mothers rich older sister) in Seattle. K said at that time, her parents and her brother already moved to Hong Kong in order for her brother to be educated there instead of in Mainland China. Also, according to K, her parents may not have legal status in Hong Kong. Since her parents could not come to the USA, and her aunt who has already immigrated to Canada and lived in Ottawa, came to Seattle to meet Richard.

The meeting was not conciliating. Although her aunt did not openly oppose their marriage, she seemed not like Richard. It was understandable, because this man was so much older than her niece. She gave K $5000 for her dental treatment (she needed to retract her wisdom teeth then), and asked to meet Richards family. Somehow, this no-unreasonable-request led to the breakup between K and Richard.

K said she became upset and sad because of this breakup, so she went to Hawaii to relax. In Hawaii, she found a job other than being a stripper. She worked as an assistant for an old female architect, where she met her next boyfriend, Peter. Peter, only one year older than K, also traveled to Hawaii for pleasure, and he worked for the same architect for a month. After they fell in love, Peter took K back to Idaho, where he worked as a lab technician in a small chemical company. She got pregnant there, but had abortion at 6 weeks.

She got abortion because she had not decided to marry Peter. Peter was a laid-back guy, and had no clear plan with his life and career. His salary at that time was $14/hour equaling about $28,000/ year, which was not enough to support their life. Because of concerns for finance and future life, she had the abortion. But after the abortion, she became depressed, and it was 2021 and she was 23.

She said because of her depression, she turned to a psychic and tried to find out about her future, who took $58000 from her, and gave her no answer. Now, she realized she was swindled and thought about suing this psychic, but it is almost impossible to get her money back.

Somehow, around that time, she had a one night stand with a guy from California. Afterwards, she felt she was in love with this guy, and followed him to San Francisco in the hope of developing a relationship with this guy. But this guy was not interested, and she had an incident of attempted suicide, which she denies now. She said she just turned on the gas in the kitchen, and somehow the flame was distinguished, and it was not her intention to commit suicide. It looked like her neighbor called the police, and the police sent her to a mental hospital, where she stayed for one week. This was Jan. 2022.

In March, 2022, she was hospitalized in a mental institution for the second time in Hawaii. She bought a small ice store on her first visit to Hawaii, and hired some local staff to take care of this business. She always said that this business had good profit, but she said since she was no longer in Hawaii, her staff stole money from her. Therefore, she went back to Hawaii to deal with it. Somehow, she felt depressed in Hawaii, and checked herself in a local mental facility, stayed for one week, and checked herself out.

In Hawaii, she had another scheme to get her legal status. She said she paid $2,000 to a guy named Kevin to marry her, so that she could get legal status through her fake marriage. Kevin is in his thirties, and a mixture of Hawaii aboriginal people, Chinese, and Ireland. He was a waiter, and only reported $26,000/year in his tax return. Later, she broke up with Kevin and filed for marriage annihilation, but she got a learners permit in Hawaii, which was her first legal ID in the US.

In December 2022, she moved to Virginia, which was arranged by her aunt. Her aunt is a Christian, and she has a Christian friend living in Virginia near DC, who has an extra room in her house. Her aunt paid two-week-rent for her, and she flew out of Hawaii, and lived with her aunts friend for three weeks. Three weeks later, she moved to a free shelter for human traffic victims, because she could not afford the rent. She stayed in the shelter for two weeks, and was forced to leave because she was bullied by other residents in the shelter.

With no place to go, she knocked on the door of her previous residency, her aunts friends house. But the owner never let her in, and told her she was no longer welcome here, and they called the police. Police came, and warned her that she needed to leave, and cannot go near this house. However, she still came back to the house after a while, and this time she was arrested for trespassing after being forbidden, although she had never entered the house.

She was put to jail for two weeks, and then transferred to the mental hospital because of her abnormal behavior. When she first came to the hospital, she looked deeply depressed as I described before. She made good progress in the hospital, and was discharged about 4 weeks later. So she was transferred back to jail a few days before her court day.

I attended one of her treatment meetings in the hospital, and found out she was with Schizoaffective Disorder, which means schizophrenia combined with bipolar disorder. She also recalled in this meeting that she had taken multiple Psychedelic Drugs, including LSD, ketamine and magic mushrooms. But she insisted that she has never been addicted to any drugs, and she also reported that her current medicine made her happy.

Because she was charged with trespassing and needed to attend the court, she was required by the court to take part in a competent group meeting, where social workers taught about the court systems, defendants rights et al. Only when the patients with mental diseases pass the competent interview, they can be tried. K attended all the competent sections, and passed the competent interview smoothly. In this interview, the attending psychiatrist told her that since her only charge was trespassing, and she already stayed in the jail and the hospital for several weeks, even if the judge ruled her guilty, her stay in the jail and hospital should have already covered her possible sentence. Thus, she would be released at her court day.

However, I think her situation and future are still very gloomy. First, nobody can take care of her in the USA. When I asked her if she could ask anybody to give her a ride when she was released from the jail, she said no. Her treatment teams said they could arrange a phone call with her mother in Hong Kong for her. But she had never gotten this phone call until she was discharged from the hospital. Although she made great progress, her mental status is still very fragile and she desperately needed a stable and safe environment to recuperate. Since this is already her third hospitalization in mental institutes, it is unrealistic to expect a complete recovery without recurrence in a short time.

I think the best way for her is to go back to her parents if they are willing and able to take care of her. However, she said she talked to her parents about going back to China before, but they wanted her to get legal status in the US first. But, I am sure if they have fully recognized her situation, then they should know this expectation is not practical.

I can see this goal about legal status gave her a lot of stress. In the hospital, she talked a lot about how to get legal status, including claiming she is a human traffic victim or applying for asylum. She even called her first boyfriend, John, in the hospital. Because he answered her phone calls twice, she was very excited, and thought he was still in love with her and they could be together again even though he was married and has a son. However, later John stopped picking up her phone.

She also called Kevin, and found out that he had not signed and sent out the annihilation document, so they were still married. She said Kevin still wanted to help her to get the legal status, however, his income is not enough to sponsor a wife to get a green card. To solve this problem, she said she would like to pay somebody to be her sponsor, so that she can get legal status through this fake marriage. However, she doesn't love Kevin, and will not live with him. She said that she wanted to go back to New York City and resume her career as a stripper.

She also mentioned she has not been sleeping alone since she was 18 years old, and she is not used to sleeping alone, so she wanted to get another boyfriend as soon as she was released. I felt she was in an extremely vulnerable mental situation, and was easily taken advantage of, it was almost impossible to find a beneficial relationship in her situation. An unscrupulous relationship now will only hurt her later.

All in all, although K will be released soon, I am worried that without any supporting system, her mental status will deteriorate sometime after her release. It is very sad to see this young, smart girl ruining her life like this. Although her current desperate situation was mainly caused by her several bad decisions, her parents should share the responsibility because they sent their teenage girl to a foreign country without any supporting system, and pushed their already very stressed and lonely daughter to fulfill an onerous task of obtaining legal status in America.

I feel sorry for her. May God help her.
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to April 10 the hearing on the Telangana government's plea seeking directions to the state governor to clear 10 bills that have been passed by the assembly but are awaiting gubernatorial assent.

IMAGE: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan being welcomed by state Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao at the joint session of legislative assembly and legislative council on the first day of the state Budget session, in Hyderabad, February 3, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala was told by solicitor general Tushar Mehta that he had some discussion with the governor on the issue and would make a statement on the next date of hearing.

"Mr. Solicitor General, you can have a word with the governor and make a statement on the next date of hearing. List the matter on April 10," the bench said.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the Telangana government, said that in Madhya Pradesh, the governor grants assent to bills within seven days while in Gujarat, bills are cleared within a month.

"Why is it being delayed in Telangana. I seek the intervention of the Solicitor General and he can advise the governor. What is the point in doing all this? Why can't the court insist that the governor cannot sit like this on the bills? There is no communication at all. Two constitution bench judgements are there which say that the governor has to abide by the aid and advice of the council of ministers. It sends the wrong message," he said.

Mehta said that there are certain communications but he would not like to elaborate further.

"I will take further instructions and make a statement on the next date of hearing," he said.

Dave said that it should be recorded in the order as people of the state are waiting for these bills to be cleared.

The bench, however, did not record anything in the order and simply adjourned the matter for further hearing on April 10.

On March 20, the top court sought the Centre's response on the plea filed by the state government.

It had clarified that the court will not issue notice to the office of governor but would like to see the reply of the Union of India on the state government's plea.

On March 14, the top court agreed to hear a petition filed by the Telangana government seeking directions to the state governor to clear 10 pending bills passed by legislative assembly but are awaiting gubernatorial assent.

The apex court had agreed to hear the plea, after Dave mentioned it for urgent listing, saying several bills of public importance are stuck.

The state government has said in its petition it is constrained to move the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution in view of a "constitutional impasse" created on account of refusal of the governor to act on several bills passed by the state legislature.

It said Article 200 of the Constitution empowers the governor to either give assent to a bill passed by the state assembly or to withhold the assent or reserve the bill for consideration of the President.

"This power has to be exercised as soon as possible," it said.

The state government said several bills passed by the assembly, including the Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) Amendment Bill, 2022 and Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill, 2022, are awaiting Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan's nod.

Soundararajan, a former chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu, is locked in a running feud with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government in Telangana.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Monday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's attack on freedom fighter V D Savarkar will lead to ebbing of sympathy he has gained due to his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference, at AICC headquarters, in New Delhi on Saturday. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

An editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana said the truth, which Gandhi is fighting for today, will not win by making defamatory statements against Savarkar.

At a rally on Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray said he considers Savarkar as his 'idol', and asked Gandhi to refrain from 'insulting' him.

Thackeray said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties -- Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party -- was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

'By making defamatory statements against Savarkar, the sympathy gained by Rahul Gandhi will start ebbing. This will, for sure, put the Maharashtra Congress in a uncomfortable position," the editorial said.

Gandhi's remarks that he is not Savarkar to apologise will not affect the faith of the people in the Hindutva ideologue, it added.

Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the editorial said a dictator is always scared and that he first starts controlling the judiciary and parliament and destroys the opposition.

This is precisely called slavery, the editorial said.

It said Savarkar pledged to fight such slavery at the age of 12 and Gandhi should take a similar oath.

Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP on March 24 after a court in Surat in Gujarat sentenced him to two years in jail in a defamation case.
Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande on Monday said transgressions remain the potential trigger for escalations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and asserted India has adequate reserves and was prepared to deal with any contingency.

IMAGE: Army Chief General Manoj Pande speaks at the 2nd strategic dialogue on 'Rise of China and its Implications for the World', in Pune, March 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

He said China has accrued significant capacities for force mobilisation, application, and sustenance of military operations and maintained the long-pending boundary issue can not be divorced from bilateral relations between the two Asian giants.

General Pande said Chinese attempts to carry out transgressions across the LAC in violations of past agreements/protocols remain a matter of concern for India, but the Army's preparedness remains of a high order, comments coming in the backdrop of the border standoff in eastern Ladakh that started in May 2020.

He was speaking at the 2nd Strategic Dialogue on 'Rise of China and its Implications for the World', organised by the Savitribai Phule Pune University and the New Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.

"I think the most important aspect of our operational environment remains our legacy challenges of the unsettled and disputed borders. Pockets of dispute and contested claims to the territory continue to exist due to differing perceptions of the alignment of the Line of Actual Control. Transgressions remain the potential trigger for escalations," the Chief of Army Staff cautioned.

Hence, Sino-Indian border management requires close monitoring as infirmities can lead to a wider conflict, General Pande said.

"As we all knew we have agreements/protocols -- (signed in) 1993, 1996, 2005, and 2013 -- in the military domain to maintain peace and tranquillity on the LAC. Of concerns remain the violations of these by China -- with their attempt to carry out -- transgressions across the LAC," he said.

The decades-old boundary issue can not be divorced from bilateral relations, General Pande asserted and went on to quote External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who had said, "for (India-China) ties to return to the positive trajectory and remain sustainable - they must be based on three mutual sensitivity, respect, and interest."

New Delhi has repeatedly maintained that its ties with Beijing cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

General Pande said engagement mechanisms exist at political, diplomatic, and military levels between the two countries which are optimally utilized to ensure stability along the LAC.

Talks are continuing under these establishment mechanisms, he said.

"China has accrued significant capacities for force mobilization, application, and sustenance of military operations. It has built infrastructure of military significance -- be it roads, airfields, helipads, and so on," the Army chief added.

He said the Indian Army's strategic orientation and long-term capability development have been with a focus on the northern border.

"We have carried out the required rebalancing of the forces to affect the desired response on the northern border," General Pande said.

The Army chief insisted India has adequate reserves and was prepared to deal with any contingency.

"Our preparedness remains of a high order and troops continued to deal with PLA (China's People's Liberation Army) in a firm, resolute, and measured manner while ensuring the sanctity of our claims," he asserted.

General Pande stated that the Indian Army has ramped up its efforts to fructify the operationally critical logistical requirements, especially roads in the forward areas.

The Indian Army is working in synergy with all agencies in the forward areas to upgrade infrastructure, he added.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore and Hitesh Harisinghani visits Anand Nagar Colony, a scenic hilltop in Mumbai's northern suburb of Malad, that was reduced to soot and ash after a fire in one of the houses spread from the bottom to the top of the hillock, causing several cylinder blasts reducing thousands of slums to ashes and rendering homeless its residents.

Photographs and videos: Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Ashammma, Bhimappa and their granddaughter amid the rubble that was their home before the evening of March 13, 2023 when a series of cylinder blasts reduced a 3,000-people slum colony to ashes.

It was sometime between 4.50 pm and 5 pm on March 13 and Ashamma Pausheli, a resident of Anand Nagar, a slum settlement located atop a scenic hillock at Malad's Kurar village, was busy with her routine household work.

Suddenly, she heard children shouting 'Fire, fire'.

She could easily make out the cries were coming from just outside her home -- a ramshackle makeshift structure that had loosely mounted bricks for walls and plastic tarpaulins for the roof.

No sooner did she rush out of her home she could see smoke billowing out of her neighbour's home -- another ramshackle structure just like Ashamma's.

Before the combustible plastic and the fire that was greedily consuming it could engulf her home in flames -- and later to ashes and soot -- Ashamma grabbed her son's two children and her husband -- an ailing Bhimappa, the proud owner of the structure he called home for almost 30 years -- and took them to safety.

If it were not for Ashamma's instincts and quick response, her two grandchildren, Bhimappa and she herself would have been quickly devoured by the fire, which completely charred anywhere between 1,024 to 2,970 huts (the police panchnama recorded 1,024 hutments as completely burnt, while Rajesh Mane, a resident of Anand Nagar states he has a list of 2,970 dwelling units atop the hillock and, according to him, more than 90 per cent of them were completely burnt).

"I saw the flames entering inside my homes and ran for my life," says Ashamma, who claims the first instance of fire was witnessed by her at her neighbour's house.

When Ashamma was running away to safety with her family she did not realise that within two hours the entire hillock would turn into an inferno fed by exploding cylinders and winds blowing up the hillock.

Her home is at the base of the foothill separated by a well-built concrete wall -- a sort of 'boundary' between her slum colony and the pucca houses -- Satbir Yadav Chawl -- that dot the other side of the wall, which fortunately, did not face any brunt of the fire or the exploding cylinders.

"I don't know what happened later that evening," recalls Ashamma recalling the tragic events even as she and her grandchildren clear the ash and soot from the floor where their home stood just about a week ago.

While the fire and wind -- the two elements of nature that has helped spawn humanity and its progress -- did play their role in destroying lives and homes of these people, it were the exploding cylinders -- the metallic cooking gas containers called batlas in local lingo -- that wreaked absolute devastation.

It must be around 4.55 pm when I stepped out of my home to comb my hair," says Asha Anant More, whose home is located almost at the middle of the hillock, overlooking Ashamma's home below and a few concrete towers and a small hill beyond.

"I was aghast to see the fire engulfing the tree below (near Ashamma's home). And suddenly it began raining fire and metal in all directions," says More describing how the fire caused cylinder blasts due to which pieces of fire-covered-metals were flung upwards.

Unbelievably, the fire balls flying out from exploding cylinders were thrown only in the upward direction; these correspondents saw no signs of damage atop the asbestos covered roofs or signs of fire in the pucca houses of Satbir Yadav Chawl separated from Ashamma's home by just a small wall.

"The skies were cloudy that evening. I prayed desperately for rains (the meteorology department did forecast rains during that period; it rained, however, on the intervening night of March 20 and 21 when these correspondents visited the slum colony further adding miseries to the lives of the people who were trying to salvage whatever they could from their charred homes amid smell of burnt metals) but it just rained fire and hell on us," says More, who resides in one of the very few concrete houses surrounded by a sea of tarpaulin homes.

Only the black walls are standing now. The cylinder blast just blew away the cement sheets," adds More, pointing towards the sky from inside her home.

Heaps of clothes and whatever else her family could save were stacked neatly inside a small plastic drum just under the place where her kitchen once stood.

It is not difficult to miss the charred remains of motorcycles; their owners posing gallantly in front of their prized possessions...

It is not difficult to miss the soot-covered, leafless trees under whose green canopies the residents of this slum colony would gather for silly chats or heated debates...

It is not difficult to miss people rebuilding their homes, one bamboo by another under the benign gaze of a leafless, burnt-down tree...

It is not difficult to miss people talking about loss of their material possessions...

It is not difficult to miss people staring blankly, helplessly at their shattered lives and homes...

It is not difficult to miss people going about their humdrum lives... filling water, which thankfully, has been available 24x7 after the cylinder blasts...

It is not difficult to miss people scouring the earth of their homes in search of metal scraps, even nails that could be sold as scrap ("jo 10-20 rupaye mil jaye wohi sahi," says this lady who was picking up nails from the earth using a metal prong)

It is not difficult to miss the concrete wall, the so-called 'boundary', the lonely, burnt, black tree overlooking the pucca houses, unable to sway with the gay winds as if standing in solidarity with those whose lives have been shattered...

It is not difficult to miss the cylinder-wallah (the person who home delivers cylinders), and the lady seeking to find some business selling buckets...

And, it is not difficult to miss this cute fellow coolly supervising the goings on...

***

And then there is Rajesh Vishwanath Mane, a conservancy contract worker employed with the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation. He is the epitome of a metaphor encompassing the spirit of all those who call themselves the children of lesser god but who exhibit the human spirit that overcomes all sorrows and tragedies.

In his early 30s, Rajesh greets us outside the Hanuman temple -- midway between More's and Ashamma's home -- with an easy, unarming smile.

"Arre media wale aa gaye (look, the media people are here)," he announces to his friends who are idling away their time at the temple, often a place where the youth hang around.

"Let's show them around," says a friend of his, who we later discover is a relative of Ashamma (seen in a white kurta in the video).

Amid the rubble and ruin, their personal losses, amid living and sleeping under the temple's roof for more than seven days now (these reporters visited Appa Pada on March 21), despite their frustrations and tribulations, the two avid youngsters are offering to help the "media-people".

Rajesh, a typical young man brimming with confidence is garrulous as he leads the "media people" to the house of the only casualty -- one Ashnappa, who worked as a mason and hailed from Yadgir in Karnataka's Gulbarga district -- of the numerous cylinder blasts that rocked the Anand Nagar settlement to dust and ash.

Rajesh -- just for the record -- also hails from Karnataka's Bidar, speaks Marathi, unlike Ashnappa who spoke Kannadiga. In fact, most of the residents of the Anand Nagar colony -- a mix of Marathi and Kannadiga speaking people -- hail from Karnataka.

When the fire broke out on March 13 and cylinders flew across the evening sky and fell upon their homes, residents of Anand Nagar -- without bothering about who hailed from Bidar and who hailed from Gulbarga -- were helping each other run to safety, helping each other take away as many batlas away from fire's way.

Lest, this be misconstrued as a political comment a disclaimer is in place that mentioning the roots of residents of the Anand Nagar colony has got nothing to do with the politicians from Maharashtra and Karnataka fighting over language, borders and other survival-threatening issues.

"Jaloon khaakh jhala sagala (everything is burnt to ashes); aapan kaay karu shakto? (there is nothing much we can do)," says Rajesh standing in front of his house and pointing towards Ashnappa's house who stayed in front of his house near the foothill of the hillock.

"We are wise enough to know that no help will be forthcoming. We know how much we matter (to the politicians)," says Rajesh when asked if any help has been forthcoming from political parties.

"They come only before the elections promising us the moon. They vanish once the results are out," says Bhimappa wryly even as he and his family contemplate about way to rebuild their home and his granddaughter helps Ashamma clear the ground off the dark memories of March 13.
'When Fadnavis takes our help, it was sabka saath.'

'But when we support his rival, the latter is branded as appeasing Muslims.'

IMAGE: Faizee Thakur offers support to Uddhav Thackeray.

Devendra Fadnavis's statement against Urdu banners in Malegaon welcoming Uddhav Thackeray to the power-loom city in Maharashtra, where the Sena chief held a rally on Sunday, March 26, 2023, evening, drew sharp comments from Muslims in Mumbai and Malegaon.

News agency ANI reported the Maharashtra deputy CM as having said on Sunday: 'We are not against any religion, Urdu is also a language and we are not against it. We only oppose those who are trying to please others like they (Uddhav faction) are doing. Uddhav Thackeray will have to answer this (sic) to Balasaheb Thackeray sometime.'

"Isn't it natural to use the language of the minority where the minority lives?" asks Irfan Patel, former district president of the Shiv Sena in Malegaon. "The area where the posters have been put up is a Muslim area, Urdu is their mother tongue," he adds, asking, "Can a party rule a state by leaving out one section of society?"

The posters and banners have been put up by the Uddhav faction of the Sena, in which, according to Patel, there are 4,500 Muslim members.

For the first time, say Malegaon's old-timers, autorickshaws fitted with loudspeakers were roaming through the Muslim section of the city, calling them for a Shiv Sena rally. And though the timing of the rally clashed with the timing for iftaar, the breaking the Ramzan fast, Muslims turned up in large numbers for a Sena rally held in an area dominated by Hindus.

"The Uddhav Thackeray government did a lot for us," says Patel. "Be it in scholarships, or through the Maulana Azad Minorities Financial Development Corporation, or for problems regarding kabrastans, they were very responsive."

It is Fadnavis however, who Malegaon's Muslims thank for the successful completion of a project very close to their heart. Ironically, that's Malegaon's spanking new Urdu Ghar.

Senior journalist Aleem Faizee, who runs the news Web site ummid.com, reveals that though the Urdu Ghar project was conceived of by the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government, it took shape only after the Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena alliance took over in 2014, with Fadnavis as CM.

When the project was held up due to lack of funds, the then Congress MLA from Malegaon Asif Shaikh (now with the NCP), requested the government for help and received generous aid from then education and cultural affairs minister Vinod Tawde.

"It didn't suit Fadnavis to polarise voters then," laughs Faizee. "It does now."

In fact, Fadnavis had taken the help of Muslim groups in the 2014 assembly election. Says Faquir Thakur, president of the Marathi Muslim Sewa Sangh, a confederation of Marathi-speaking Muslim groups in Maharashtra, "Not only did we campaign for Fadnavis' candidates in the 2014 assembly elections, he also asked us to get our community's support for his candidates in the municipal elections held in the subsequent years in Sambhaji Nagar, Kolhapur and Latur. We also put up banners in his favour, in both Marathi and Urdu. Whom was the BJP trying to please then?"

The BJP had even included three of the Sangh's demands in its 2014 manifesto for Maharashtra. These were: Publication of the Action Taken Report on the Mahmoodur Rahman Committee set up in 2008 by the Congress-NCP government to inquire into the status of Muslims in Maharashtra; handing over the running of the government-run Ismail Yusuf College in Jogeshwari, north west Mumbai, to a Muslim trust; and removal of encroachments from wakf land.

Work on the last demand had started under the supervision of then minister for minority development and wakf Eknath Khadse. However, after Khadse resigned in 2016, communication between the Sangh and the state government became progressively difficult.

In 2018, the Sangh decided not to support the BJP any longer.

Last year, after the Sena split in June and the Eknath Shinde-Fadnavis government took over, the Sangh decided to support Uddhav Thackeray.

"When we met Uddhav Thackeray in October last to pledge support to him, he predicted that the BJP will accuse him of having betrayed Hindutva by accepting our support," addS Thakur. "That's exactly what the BJP did. When Fadnavis takes our help, it was sabka saath. But when we support his rival, the latter is branded as appeasing Muslims."

Incidentally, it was a journalist who drew the attention of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis to the Malegaon Urdu posters. At a press conference on Sunday addressed by the CM and Deputy CM, Shinde was asked to comment on the poster in which Uddhav Thackeray is addressed as 'Aali Janaab'.

After taking some time to understand what the phrase meant, Shinde said: 'They must be hesitating even to describe Balasaheb Thackeray as Hindu Hruday Samrat. They have no right to talk about Hindutva.'

In response, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve posted a picture of an Urdu poster which featured Eknath Shinde prominently, and advised: 'Janab Eknath Shinde yeh bhi dekh lo (Look at this too).'

IMAGE: An invitation to Devendra Fadnavis when he was Maharashtra's chief minister.

Interestingly, when he was CM, Fadnavis himself had been addressed as 'Janab Devendra Fadnavis Sahab' on an invitation card printed by the BJP's Mumbai Minority Morcha. The card also mentioned other BJP leaders: 'Janab Adv Ashish Shelar Sahab, Janab Vinod Tawde Sahab, Janab Gopal Shetty, Janab Dr Kirit Somaiya and Mohtarma Poonam Mahajan.'

"It's the politics of convenience," says Faizee. "People have seen through it."
Our fraud columnist writes: "Bills (not his real name) computer froze and a pop-up message from 'Microsoft' told him that his computer was hacked and provided a phone number to call. His computer had been hacked and frozen; there was evidence of foreign involvement. Bill was in a condition con artists call 'The Ether,' a heightened state of anxiety when emotion takes over while logic and reason are set aside."
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

A shower is possible early. Cloudy. Low 43F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A shower is possible early. Cloudy. Low 43F. Winds light and variable.
33rd Annual 'Just Pray NO!' to Drugs Worldwide Weekend of Prayer

NEWS PROVIDED BY

"Just Pray NO!" Ltd.

March 27, 2023

CLEARWATER, Fla., March 27, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- The weekend of April 15th  16th, 2023 has been designated as the 33rd Annual "Just Pray NO!" to drugs Worldwide Weekend of Prayer and Fasting for the addicted and their families.

Since April 7th, 1991 "Just Pray NO!" has united Christians around the world in intercessory prayer on behalf of those bound by alcoholism, drug addiction and life controlling compulsions.

America's drug overdose and death epidemic continues to worsen. The epidemic affects every state and now is driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, often in combination or in adulterated forms. More than 107,000 deaths were reported in the United States between January 2021 to January 2022.

Nitazenes are yet another dangerous class of drugs now on the market: The opioid 40X stronger than fentanyl.

There's a new drug in town -- and it has deadly consequences. Xylazine -- otherwise known as "tranq," "tranq dope" and "zombie drug"  is wreaking havoc in major cities across the country with its devastating effects: It can literally rot the user's skin.

Addiction in America is an ever-increasing national crisis!

"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." --James 5:16

Not only is substance abuse America's number one health problem, the devastation of alcoholism and other drug addiction has impacted families and communities worldwide. Substance abuse has been directly linked to violence and sexual immorality and is a major source of income for organized crime and terrorist activities.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." --Ephesians 6:12

Make a formal commitment to join with believers in Christ from around the globe this coming April. Put on the full armor of God and fervently pray in spirit and in truth. We are seeking to enlist millions of prayer warriors from around the world to join us in battle!

"We are not only praying for the release of those bound by substance abuse but also for people to be delivered from pornography, gambling, obesity and smoking," said Steven Sherman, "Just Pray NO!" founder." We seek individuals and groups which are willing to commit to pray weekly on behalf of the addicted and their families, and then join with multitudes of other committed Christians from around the world in prayer and fasting April 15th  16th, 2023."

If you believe that God is calling you to intercede for the addicted, please contact us. To find help for addiction through prayer and Christian ministries log on to our web site: http://justprayno.org. To learn how groups can participate in our annual prayer event, click on "Information on the Annual Worldwide Weekend of Prayer" or email: justprayno@aol.com.

For a personal interview with "Just Pray NO!" Founder and Author Steven L. Sherman, in the U.S.A. call: (727) 647-6467 or email: justprayno@aol.com

SOURCE "Just Pray NO!" Ltd.

CONTACT: Steven L. Sherman, 727-647-6467, justprayno@aol.com
We would like to buy wood pellets. 200-250 eur per ton incl. VAT.

We are looking for a seller as much close to Bulgaria as possible - companies from Hungary, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Greece are welcome to offer.

Looking forward to your offers.
We recently had the pleasure of hosting a visit from Dr Borna Izadpanah, Lecturer in Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading, together with his students, to look at some of the incredibly diverse materials in our collections. Here Borna highlights some of the items we looked at which not only provide a source of inspiration but also act as a brief history of the development of Arabic script typography.



Borna Izadpanah, his students and Asian and African Collections staff. Photo credit Hidetaka Yamasaki



My aim in this session was to highlight the stylistic and linguistic diversity in the Arabic script world through a selection of manuscripts and publications from different periods and regions. My notes below aim to summarise significant aspects of individual items contextualising them from a historical and stylistic perspective.





The handwritten script



Quran. Iran or Iraq, 11th or 12th century (Or.6573, ff. 3v-4r)



Starting with manuscripts, the earliest displayed item was Or.6573, an 11th or 12th century Quran written on paper with a commentary in Persian. It demonstrates the effective use of two writing systems to create a dynamic and well-defined text hierarchy. The Quranic verses are highlighted in the Qarmatian style of eastern Kufic script, and the more compact Persian commentary is composed in a consistent and  even today a perfectly legible  naskh hand.



The beginning of Surat Maryam, with the 'mysterious letters' framed on the left-hand page. Quran, Daghistan, ca. 19th century (Or. 16058, ff. 274v-275r)



This 19th-century Daghistani Quran in several different naskh styles represents a creative approach to manuscript production. It displays a remarkable level of artistic impressions using bold and intertwined text compositions and a particular use of colours and ornaments.



The opening to Majnun va Layla by Amir Khusraw. Copied by Sultan Ali Mashhadi. Herat? 1506 (IO Islamic 383, ff.1v-2r)



This copy of the well-known romance of Layla and Majnun by the 13th-14th century poet Amir Khusraw contains exquisite illuminations and specimens of nastaliq script by one of its greatest masters, the King of Calligraphers (Sultan al-Khattatin), Sultan Ali Mashhadi who worked in Herat and Mashhad in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. This is a luxurious rather than a reading copy which was designed to impress through uncompromising illuminations and outstanding penmanship.



A volume containing three works on calligraphy by the early 16th century poet Majnun ibn Mahmud al-Rafiqi. 17th century (Add MS 26139, ff. 36v-37r)



In this treatise on the rules of the six-pen calligraphic styles (aqlam-i shishganah) and Persian penmanship, a more casual nastaliq hand and minimal decorations produce a good reading copy. The marginal sketches illustrating the writing styles and letterform characteristics are of particular interest.



Sabab-i taqviyat al-tahsilva najat-i tasni al-vaqt, by Muhammad al-Bulghari. Kazan?, 19th century (Or. 11042)



This 19th-century Chagatai-Persian-Arabic glossary was intended to assist Bulgarian, i.e. Tartar, students traveling to Bukhara to learn the arts of rhetoric and translation in Arabic and Persian. It displays a complex text arrangement in those languages composed in a regional flavour of the nastaliq style and demonstrates the effective use of rubrication to distinguish terms in different languages. Also, note that the marginal commentaries are easily identifiable with their diagonal configuration.



Risalat hukum kanun, the Malay code of laws. Singapore, 1821 (Add MS 12397, f 1v)



This 19th-century Malay Risalat hukum kanun in the fluid and beautifully composed jawi script represents a fine example of one of Southeast Asia's regional flavours of modified Arabic script.





Some examples of Arabic script printing



Kitab salat al-sawa'i. Fan 1514 (Or.70.aa.11)



We move from written forms of the Arabic script to early printed forms with movable metal type. Exploring exquisite examples of writing styles is helpful to better situate the printed forms in Arabic incunables, beginning with the earliest printed Arabic book with movable metal type Kitab salat al-sawai with its crude and highly irregular characters.



Alphabetum Arabicum. Rome, 1592 (T 6547)



A highpoint of 16th-century Arabic type-making is displayed in the publications of the Medici Oriental Press, where the renowned French punchcutter Robert Granjon produced various fonts of Arabic type based on the hand of the Director of the Medici Press, Giovanni Battista Raimondi. Alphabetum Arabic is a specimen of the Medici Presss Arabic types and a testament to Granjons refined skills.



Liber psalmorum Davidis Regis. Rome, 1614 (306.46.A.18)



Another highlight of early Arabic type-making in Europe is the Liber psalmorum Davidis regis which uses the somewhat hybrid naskh/thuluth type of Francois Savary de Breves. This type and the Arabic types of the Medici Press were later used to print Arabic text in Egypt when the first Arabic presses were established during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in 17981801.



Fables de Loqman surnomme Le Sage. Cairo, 1799 (306.40.A.26)



Fables de Loqman is an example of the latter types used to print Arabic texts in Egypt.



Flora and fauna of Hispaniola including mermen and their pearls. Tarih ul-Hind ul-Garbi ul-musemma bi-Hadis-i Nev, by Mehmet Ibn Hasan el-Su'udi. Istanbul, 1730 (Or.80.b.11)



The Tarih ul-Hind ul-Garbi (History of the Western Indies) is one of the most famous publications of the printing press of Ibrahim Muteferrika in Istanbul and contains several interesting woodblock illustrations. Credited as the first Muslim printer, Muteferrika produced an Ottoman naskh type, setting a new standard in Arabic script type-making.



Cedid atlas tercumesi compiled by Mahmud Raif Efendi. Istanbul, 1804 (14999.h.2)



The Cedid atlas tercumesi is a benchmark of Ottoman printing and typography. It is printed with superbly engraved and detailed copperplate maps and the Ottoman naskh type of the Ottoman/Armenian punchcutter Bogos Arabyan. The latter was the most widely used type of the 19th-century Istanbul printing establishments and one of the most successful and well-executed Ottoman naskh types.



Hikayat Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munsyi. Singapore, 1849 (ORB.30/445)



One of the most important chapters in the history of Arabic script printing was the introduction of lithography which allowed the faithful reproduction of written forms. Lithography became the preferred form of printing in several languages, including Malay language in jawi script, of which the Hikayat Abdullah with its chromolithograph illuminations is a fine specimen.



Divan-i Mashrab. Tashkent, 1900 (ORB.30/8207)



Another lithographic publication on view was the Divan-i Mashrab in Chagatai, a fine specimen of printing from Central Asia in tightly composed nastaliq style. Interestingly, the title page of this publication shows European motifs and ornaments resembling letterpress publications, giving a feel of the two printing techniques on the same page.



Birjan cal mynyn aqin saranin aytusqani. Kazan', 1912 (ITA.1986.a.1043) and Qazaq maqaldary by Meyram Ersay Isqaq Balasy. Kazan', 1914 (ITA.1986.a.1062)



These early 20th-century Central Asian Kazakh and Kyrgyz/Kazakh publications in modified Arabic script with movable type were the most recent items on display. In contrast to the Divan-i Mashrab, these impressions clearly show the transformation of the highly developed written forms to abstracted and simplified formats of mechanical text compositions.

Borna Izadpanah, Lecturer in Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading





Further reading

Nemeth, Titus (ed)., Arabic Typography: History and Practice. Salenstein: Niggli, 2022
In Wyoming, a judge used a wildly popular amendment to the State's constitution to temporarily block a ban on women's access to health care. The amendment passed a decade ago, was drafted in response to Republicans' dire hating of Obamacare.

Sounds like the judge was also pretty incredulous about the claim prescribing medication isn't health care.

Jezebel:
Police in Kenya are on high alert ahead of a second round of anti-government protests organised by the opposition that have been declared illegal by the government.

Police chief Japheth Koome insists that Mondays protests are illegal but opposition leader Raila Odinga says Kenyans have a right to demonstrate.

The opposition is protesting against the rising cost of living and calling for President William Ruto's resignation saying he wasn't validly elected in last year's election.

More than a dozen civil society groups have in a joint statement expressed concern over police declaring Monday's protests illegal and urged authorities to uphold people's constitutional right to peaceful demonstrations.

Ruto over the weekend urged Odinga to face him directly and stop terrorising the country.

Odinga last week said the protests would be held twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.

Odingas plan in last weeks protests was to march to the presidents offices at State House but police erected barriers to prevent public access and motorists were directed to alternative routes.

Ruto is currently out of the country visiting Germany.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua shared photos of himself at his office early Monday morning and urged Kenyans to report to work.

Nairobi's central business district remained calm but most businesses were closed on Monday morning due to the uncertainty over demonstrations and if there would be violence.

There was a heavy police presence within the capital and surrounding neighborhoods on Monday. Police have dispersed crowds that gathered in Kibera and Mathare, poor areas of Nairobi.

Local media have been warned against broadcasting Mondays protests. The Communication Authority of Kenya said the airing of last weeks demonstrations caused panic, incited the public and threatened peace.

The High Court, however, ruled that the authoritys notice was unconstitutional and upheld media freedom in response to a petition filed by a civil society group, a journalists union and the Law Society.

In 2018, Kenya's main television stations were taken off air for one week by the regulator after airing Odingas mock swearing in ceremony where he claimed to be the peoples president. Odinga had rejected the 2017 election results and organized anti-government protests.

Police last week threatened to take action against those pictured hurling stones at officers.

They released photos of people who they said were wanted for crimes committed during the protests but were called out by local media outlets for using old photos and others that were taken during protests in Burundi.
A team of American archeologists affiliated with the New York University uncovered more than 2,000 mummified ram heads which belong to the Ptolemaic era. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities shared the visuals of the discovery by the American archeologists on Twitter. In the tweet posted on Sunday, the ministry stated that the archeologists from New York University were working in the area of the temple of King Rameses II in Abydos where they uncovered the ancient relics. In addition to this, the archeologists also discovered relics of a huge building from the Sixth Dynasty.

According to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, the discovery is important since it unveiled important details in the history of the Temple of King Ramses II in Abydos, Egypt Independent reported. The historically significant temple is located in Sohag, Upper Egypt. Waziri also stated that the discovery will also contribute greatly to understanding more about the location of the temple and the life it witnessed. "The American archaeological mission of New York University, working in the area of the temple of King Rameses II in Abydos, uncovered more than 2,000 mummified #rams' heads from the Ptolemaic era, in addition to a huge building from the Sixth Dynasty. #Egypt #discovery," the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a tweet.

The American archaeological mission of New York University, working in the area of the temple of King Rameses II in Abydos, uncovered more than 2,000 mummified #rams' heads from the Ptolemaic era, in addition to a huge building from the Sixth Dynasty.#Egypt #discovery pic.twitter.com/H3pxy3pjbq  Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (@TourismandAntiq) March 26, 2023

The Archeologists uncovered a number of mummified animals

Waziri also stated that the American archeologists also uncovered a number of mummified animals that were unearthed next to the rams. The animals included ewes, dogs, wild goats, cows, deer, and mongooses which were discovered in the northern area of the temple, Egypt Independent reported. As per the archeologists, the discovery will also contribute to understanding the activities and architecture of the Old Kingdom in Abydos. The head of the Central Department of Upper Egypt Antiquities at the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mohamed Abdel-Badi stated that the discovery also succeeded in discovering the northern wall surrounding the temple.
European Council President Charles Michel on Monday pledged to continue supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression for as long as necessary, adding that EU leaders will massively ramp up ammunition production to send to the war-torn country.

Michel met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, where the two leaders discussed EU support for Ukraine, security issues in neighboring Moldova, and Romania's bid to join Europes ID check-free travel zone, also known as the Schengen area.

We are again stepping up our military support, Michel told a news conference. Last week, we agreed to urgently deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. We will massively ramp up our production capacity.

Last week, EU foreign and defense ministers approved a plan for a fast-track purchasing procedure for direct negotiations with industrial providers of ammunition in Europe, and plan to send one million rounds to Ukraine within the next 12 months. But not all EU members want to partake in getting ammunition to Ukraine.

President Iohannis said this is not the time for hesitation in maintaining unity and solidarity with Ukraine as the war grinds on, adding that support must be maintained and strengthened on all levels.

The two leaders also discussed the unfolding situation in EU-membership candidate Moldova that has faced a protracted series of crises since Moscow launched its war in neighboring Ukraine.

Michel said Russia and its allies have stepped up efforts to destabilize Moldova by weaponizing energy, conducting cyber-attacks, staging protests, and other subversive activities.

Michel will on Tuesday travel to Moldova where he will meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean, in the capital Chisinau.

Despite Romania joining NATO in 2004, and the EU three years later, it was told last year along with Bulgaria that it must wait longer to participate in the Schengen zone  the worlds largest free travel zone  amid some countries migration concerns.

Michel expressed his full support for Romania's bid to join the Schengen area.
Hungary has raised concerns over the Finnish and Swedish politicians "habit" of criticising its democracy as "really unacceptable." Yet, following "reassurance" that these issues won't continue, the Hungarian parliament is prepared to vote on Finland's NATO membership. On the other hand, there are no plans for a vote on Sweden's bid, Sputnik reported.

Politicians in Hungary anticipate that Sweden won't criticise Budapest in a way that they deem to be unjustified. Balazs Orban, chief of staff to the Hungarian Prime Minister, has stated that a proclamation to this effect is necessary for Hungarian MPs to accept Sweden's application to join NATO.

"Continually questioning the state of democracy in Hungary," says Orban

"Some Hungarian MPs don't feel comfortable because they have witnessed in recent years certain members of the Swedish government making a habit of continually questioning the state of democracy in Hungary. They keep insulting Hungarian voters and MPs, and, through them, the whole of Hungary," Orban told Hungarian media.

He emphasised that Stockholm should treat Hungary with the same deference as Budapest does with Sweden's internal political matters. Finland's membership in NATO will likely be put to a vote in the Hungarian parliament today. In contrast, there are no plans for a vote on the Swedish offer.

According to Balazs Orban, Finland and Hungary share a "unique historical friendship," and both countries are sure that any issues will be resolved. "It seems that we have managed to get reassurance from the Finns that these problems will not persist, but in case of Sweden there is a different situation," he added.

"Extremely intolerable," says Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister of Hungary

Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister of Hungary, stated just last week that the West's criticism of Hungary's democratic and cultural concerns makes cooperation difficult, particularly when it comes to NATO expansion.

Szijjarto said, "You know, it's extremely intolerable when politicians from Finland and Sweden challenge the democratic nature of our political system." He added that it was difficult to forecast when Sweden would be admitted.

After the start of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden abandoned their long-standing non-alignment stance and jointly applied to join NATO. While all 30 countries of the bloc must agree before they can be fully accepted, they have so far had difficulty doing so because Hungary and Turkey have opposed accepting them.

Budapest and Ankara have declared their readiness to accept the Finnish offer exclusively, not the Swedish one, following a protracted debate and a relentless charm effort from both Nordic nations. In light of the current Quran-burning protests in Sweden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated earlier this year that Stockholm could not rely on Ankara's support for its NATO application.

Hungary, which shares a border with Ukraine, has taken a different stance from the EU in regards to the situation in Ukraine. Budapest has made energy agreements with Moscow and stopped the export of armaments from its territory to Kiev.
Pakistan's erstwhile Premier Imran Khan shared his two cents on how to put an end to the women's rights violations taking place in Afghanistan at the hands of the Taliban. According to Khan, the only way to do so is to grant the group more recognition, rather than pushing it further into isolation.

"If you isolate them [Taliban], what influence are you going to have on them? If you mainstream and let them have a state, then talk about human rights. Right now, you push them on isolation; their money is frozen, so why would they listen to anyone?," he rhetorically asked.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief expressed his strange stance during an interview with British broadcaster Channel 4. With a wishful thinking, he suggested that the international community must acknowledge the Taliban and offer it a platform, which could result in some kind of compliance.

"My advice is to get them involved, give them a stake in the international community so that when you tell them to have girls educated, they will listen to you; right now, they are not," he added. The former PM's comments come as the Taliban tightens its grip on women's rights in Afghanistan with stringent bans on education, among other things. But this isn't the first time that Khan has recommended the global recognition of the group.

Imran Khan sees 'no other alternative' to Taliban's rule

Last year during his prime ministerial term, Khan said that there is "no other alternative to Taliban in Afghanistan", so the "only option the world has right now is to engage with the Taliban for things to move forward". In a conversation with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, the PTI chief emphasised that Taliban must be recognised for the sake of Afghanistan and more importantly, the world.

"Afghanistan is on the verge of experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis considering the circumstances, is there any other alternative to the Taliban in Afghanistan? No, there isn't," he said, adding that " turning the Taliban away would only lead to chaos in the country".
As dates reflect and refract memories even before and after the arrival of an anniversary, or the knowledge of the memory, I want to remind us about the history of political prisoners in the United Statesspecifically, Dhoruba Bin Wahad, and ask what you may know about the 20th-century history of using prisons to silence political dissent against the status quo.

On March 15, 1990, Dhoruba Bin Wahad was released after serving nineteen years on federal and state charges targeting his political activities in pursuing Black liberation. Bin Wahad's release was the first person in a series of high-profile cases from the 1970s concerning political activists to be released due to the illegal activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Counter Intelligence Program known as COINTELPRO. Bin Wahad was one of the hundreds of political activists and revolutionaries targeted by COINTELPRO operations that included collusion and collaboration with local law enforcement, as was the case with the assassination of Chicago Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton.

To the court on Thursday, March 15, 1990, Bin Wahad began his statement, "For every waking hour for the last 19 years, I have had to live with the inhuman consequences of the governments Counterintelligence Program which targeted the African-American community. The mean-spirited and racist Manhattan District Attorney's office* has done everything in its power to keep me in prison for the rest of my life. They have suborned perjury, destroyed evidence, suppressed statements which would have undermined their prosecution, shrewdly manipulated the biases of the judiciary, vilified me in the media and kept all these actions from the public for 19 years. It is abundantly clear that had there existed a death penalty, the Manhattan District Attorney would have framed me and buried their misconduct with my body. White middle America would not have batted an eye."

You can read bin Wahad's complete statement at his 1990 hearing here.

The reversal of the original conviction by the New York Supreme Court was upheld despite Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau's appeal that a lower court rejected. Bin Wahad won two civil lawsuits against the FBI and the NYPD and moved to Ghana to continue his work around Pan-African liberation. Two projects directed his time in Accra before returning to NYC, where he lives today: the Campaign to Free Black and New African Political Prisoners and the Institute for the Development of Pan-African policy in Ghana.

In 2017, the FBI invented a new category to target, Black Identity Extremists, despite their own internal findings that white supremacist and nationalist terrorists are the most vicious threat to democracy.

For more on the targeting of political movements to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" them, check out Still Black, Still Strong: Survivors of the U.S. War Against Black Revolutionaries, featuring interviews with Dhoruba bin Wahad, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Assata Shakur.

For an interview with Bin Wahad by Jared A. Ball from Black Power Media, click here.

"Black Power Media (BPM) is a Black-radical independent media project: We seek to challenge the narrative about Black politics and the Black condition. Renegade Culture [podcast], The RemiX Morning Show, and future programming will deliver the news and information our community and others need to break through today's mainstream propaganda machine."

The book Black Against Empire is a valuable and eye-opening historical monograph, the "first comprehensive overview and analysis of the history and politics of the Black Panther Party."

For a stunning documentary film by Lee Lew-Lee about the Black Panther Party, check outAll Power To The People.

Click here for a documentary focusing on Fred Hampton Jr., the Illinois Chapters of the BPP, and his assassination by a joint federal and local COINTELPRO operation.

Freedom Archives has produced this overview of the illegal FBI program targeting the anti-war movement, the Chicano movement, and the American Indian Movement, COINTELPRO 101.

Christopher Finan's "From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act traces the fight for free speech from the turn of the nineteenth century through the War on Terror."
As Myanmars military put on an annual show of strength Monday, its top leader told its assembled ranks they need to take decisive action against those fighting army rule of the country.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing spoke at a military parade on Armed Forces Day. At sunrise, members of all service branches marched in mass formations onto a huge parade ground in the capital, Naypyitaw, backed by armored vehicles, missiles and artillery as well as fighter jets and helicopters flying overhead.

Myanmars military has been accused of indiscriminate killings of civilians as it engages in major offensives to suppress the armed resistance opposed to its takeover of the government two years ago. Min Aung Hlaing in his speech said those who condemned his military government demonstrated indifference to the violence committed by its opponents.

Armed Forces Day marks the anniversary of the start of a 1945 uprising of a ragtag army against occupying Japanese forces. The country then called Burma attained independence from colonial power Britain in 1948 and has been ruled by a succession of military governments for most of the years since.

On Feb. 1, 2021, the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyis elected government, prompting peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with bloody violence. The escalation of the violence since then has been characterized by U.N. experts and others as a civil war.

The opposition to military rule is led by a self-styled National Unity Government, or NUG, which was established by elected lawmakers who were denied their seats by the army and stakes a claim to being the countrys legitimate administration.

Its armed wing, the loosely organized Peoples Defense Forces, or PDF, along with their armed ethnic minority allies, regularly strike military columns, bases and outposts. At the same time, the army and air force are hitting villages with artillery and air strikes, often causing civilian casualties and credibly being accused of other brutal human rights abuses. Their offenses have displaced more than a million people, causing a humanitarian crisis.

The terror acts of the NUG and its lackey so-called PDFs are needed to be tackled for good and all," Min Aung Hlaing said in his speech. "The (military) and the government also need to take action against this terrorist group, trying to devastate the country and killing the people.

His government has declared major resistance organizations to be terrorist groups, and anyone associated with them is subject to harsh punishment.

While Min Aung Hlaing said the actions of his military were necessary to achieve peace, his government is keen to dismiss allegations of human rights abuses by pointing at violence carried out by its opponents.

After security forces arrested, tortured and killed activists in the cities, urban guerrilla groups responded with bombing and assassinations of targets linked to the military. On Friday, a veteran corporate lawyer accused of being a military crony was shot dead in the country's biggest city, Yangon.

There were scattered protests reported against the army's celebration.

Independent online media reported that bomb explosions took place in at least three areas of the countrys biggest city, Yangon on Monday morning.

Yangon Revolution Force, a pro-democracy activist group, announced it had protested Armed Forces Day by performing a ritual at a Buddhist pagoda placing a curse on Min Aung Hlaing. The militarys leaders, like many other people in Myanmar, are known to be highly superstitious.

In the Sagaing region in the northwest, a stronghold of armed resistance, people held small protests against Armed Forces Day.
More than 180 disoriented Rohingya Muslims, some of whom needed medical attention, arrived in the early morning in Indonesias northernmost province of Aceh, an official said Monday.

From the information we received, the boat took them and told them that they have arrived at their destination and left them at the beach, said Andy Rahmansyah, East Aceh police chief.

He said the authorities are still collecting more information and giving medical aid to some of the refugees.

Ali Hussein, one of the refugees, said the boat took them from Bangladesh before it fled and left them in the dark after the group disembarked to the beach.

It was difficult there. When we were gathered, we got offered a rate for the boat and we agreed to go to a far place, whether it is Indonesia or Malaysia, Hussein said.

The group of 184, including women and children, arrived by fishing boat at Kuala Matang Peulawi, a coastal area in Peureulak subdistrict in East Aceh.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh after an army-led crackdown in August 2017. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of Rohingya homes.

Most of the refugees who left the camps by sea have attempted to reach Muslim-majority Malaysia, but many have ended up in Indonesia along the way.

More than 500 Rohingya landed in Aceh in 2022. The most recent group was in February, when 71 people landed at a beach in Aceh Besar district. In early January, 184 weak and hungry Rohingya refugees landed on Kuala Gigieng beach, also in Aceh Besar district.
Bulgaria has supplied an estimated worth five billion levs [or 2.5 billion euro] weapons to Kyiv in just 164 days, Bulgarias former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said in a statement on Sunday, Tass reported, citing his interview with BTV television channel. "We saw in economic reports that the cities of Sopot and Kazanlak have been operating to their full capacity and I think they have earned five billion [levs] over 164 days," Petkov stressed. Furthermore, he noted that such a major weapons supply happened despite the fact that there has been no direct export to Ukraine from Sofia.

'In solidary with Ukraine along with the European partners': Bulgarian ex-PM

Most of Ukraine's defence needs were fulfilled through the American and British governments, the ex-prime minister noted. "It is very important that we have been in solidary with Ukraine along with the European partners and have been working together with them," he added. "United Europe is showing its strength today and I dont want my country to defend the aggressor," the former premier stressed. He was commenting on Bulgarian President Rumen Radevs statement that Sofia wasn't involved in any international deal on arms supply to Kyiv.

Last year, the Bulgarian Parliament passed a resolution with the majority to send munitions and bolster humanitarian, financial and military-technical assistance to the war-torn neighbouring Ukraine. the Bulgarian government had also announced that its military will repair damaged Ukrainian equipment in Bulgaria as Kyiv's forces continue to repel the invasion of their territory. 'We Continue the Change' proposed the draft resolution, which was approved by a vote of 200-16 with one abstention, Bulgarian News Agency (BNA) reported.

'We Continue the Change', is an electoral alliance in Bulgaria led by a former caretaker Economy and a Finance Minister. It formed a coalition government in Bulgaria in December 2021. The resolution to send military assistance to Kyiv was majorly backed by the four parties of the Bulgarian government coalition. The former ruling GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) also backed the bill. Only the Nationalist Vazrazhdane Partry (NVP) voted against the resolution. Bulgaria also pledged to back Ukraine's energy needs by strengthening cooperation to make provisions for electricity and natural gas.
Nepal and the United States military are getting ready to hold three-day bilateral talks in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Krishna Prasad Bhandari was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. Officials from the two ally countries, who established diplomatic relations in 1948, meet at the highest diplomatic levels to discuss issues pertaining to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) coordination and implementation; trade, security and defence cooperation.

Nepal refused to participate in the American State Partnership Program (SPP) in June last year. US Army had insisted that the south Asian country ink the SPP, which would enhance the military assistance under the programme. Nepal, however, refused to sign the programme. Nepal Army had also requested the sky trucks from the US Army as well as the US-made Bell helicopters. Nepal had also earlier said that it might buy two MI-17 helicopters from Russia.

Last year they [Nepal and US] discussed confirming priorities and exploring new opportunities for further collaboration, leading to improved efficiency through greater information sharing in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, a statement published by the US read, according to The Kathmandu Post.

Land Forces' talks to begin from March 27-29

Land Forces' talks between Nepal and the US will begin from March 27 to 29 in Kathmandu. Nepal Army was given permission to go ahead with the bilateral dialogue with the US Army after a cabinet meeting on Monday. If executed, this would be the fourth such meeting between US and Nepal armies to bolster the defence and military cooperation. An estimated one-and-a-half dozen officials from both the nationsNepal and the US will participate in the upcoming talks that will focus on the expansion of the Nepali peacekeepers, bolstering the humanitarian assistance and disaster response, force professionalisation and enhancing the experience and coordination between armies of the two countries, according to Brigadier Gen Bhandari.

At the crucial meeting, a Nepali major general and his American counterpart who will reportedly lead the talks will discuss key regional issues such as disaster response, relief, and preparedness, US assistance for Nepal Army personnel deployment and various peacekeeping missions. US Army will discuss supplying military hardware to the Nepal Army.
Mas visit comes as his opposition Kuomintang chooses rapprochement with Beijing despite rejecting Chinese rule.

Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou waves upon arriving at the Shanghai airport on March 27, 2023.

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, whose opposition Kuomintang espouses closer ties with China, began a visit there on Monday with a call for peace, as incumbent Tsai Ing-wens Democratic Progressive Party accused Ma of endorsing Beijings territorial claim on the island.

Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to China for exchanges, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so peace can come even faster and sooner to us here, Ma, 73, who served as president from 2008-2016, told reporters before boarding the plane.

Mas departure from Taiwans Taoyuan International Airport was marked by protests from both sides of the political spectrum, with one group holding up a banner accusing him of humiliating Taiwan by kowtowing to Beijing, and another group singing communist revolutionary songs in praise of his trip.

Mas departure comes amid heightened tensions between Taiwan and China that has seen the Peoples Liberation Army stage military incursions and large-scale exercises around the island since Tsai's government rejected Beijing's call for unification.

President Tsai called on the international community in 2018 to avoid a policy of appeasement of Beijing, saying that the Chinese Communist Party's claim on Taiwan is a threat to global stability. Tsai is scheduled to embark on a high-profile visit to the United States and Central America on Wednesday.

Taiwan still bears the official name of the 1911 Republic of China after Kuomintang forces occupied the island at the end of World War II, by which time it had formed part of Japanese territory for more than half a century.

Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the 73-year-old Peoples Republic of China, and its 23 million people have scant wish to give up their sovereignty or democratic way of life to be ruled by China, according to multiple public opinion polls in recent years.

Pro-Taiwan independence activists protest outside the Taoyuan international airport on March 27, 2023, ahead of former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeous departure to China for a visit. Credit: AFP





We should be more united ... but its regrettable that the KMT stands with the Chinese communists and ex-president Ma disregards public disapproval to visit China at this moment, Tsais Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement on Mas visit.

A Kuomintang delegation met with Politburo standing committee member and party ideologue Wang Huning last month, and gained the strong impression that Beijing is trying to steer relations back toward peaceful unification rather than toward a military confrontation that could involve the United States, according to two senior party sources.

If the other side wants to calm things down, given all of the problems we are facing with Russia, the United States, the pandemic, the economy, unemployment and all of that, then of course we want to calm things down too, one source told Radio Free Asia.

The Kuomintang isnt the government, so it cant sell Taiwan out.

But were not fools

The delegation was also given access to municipal leaders in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, and called upon to give their opinions in the keynote meeting with Wang Huning that focused mostly on the economy, the party sources said.

Nobody talked about dogma in the meeting  they were all talking about the economy," one source said. "This was a trip that was about making friends.

Nobody mentioned unification through force and nobody mentioned any timetable, they said. Peaceful unification was mentioned, but with no sense of urgency.

There is definitely a channel of communication now between the Kuomintang and [China], said one of the senior sources.

The source added: We have to have this contact today, but were not fools, and we know they have plans for us. Im not naive  I only know that we dont have that many options.

Beijing has denied requests for state-to-state diplomatic talks from Taiwan, as Tsai has insisted on being treated as the leader of a sovereign nation rather than a province of China.

Ma was met at the airport on arrival by Chen Yuanfeng, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Communist Party Central Committee, amid unconfirmed media reports that Politburo standing committee member Ding Xuexiang also went to the airport, which would indicate a far higher-ranking form of protocol than implied by Chen alone.

Taiwan independence activist Chen Chun-han said Ma had violated the will of the people.

His actions are very worrying for the worlds democracies that want to support Taiwan, Chen said. Everyone wants to support us, but it turns out we have a group of people in this country who flirt with the Chinese Communist Party regime.

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou speaks to the media before at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan on March 27, 2023 before leaving for China. Credit: Associated Press





Our status is being belittled

A pro-China group dressed in red and bedecked with the five-star red flag of China held up a banner that read: Spring has come, the flowers are in bloom, and Ying-jeou is going to make offerings to his ancestors [showing that] we are all part of the same family.

Ku Hsi-chun, who leads a Chinese patriotic association in Taiwan, said Mas trip would benefit people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, while a man who gave only the surname Li said he had traveled all the way from the central city of Taichung to protest Mas trip.

I worry that Taiwan is being sold out, he told reporters at the airport.

A resident surnamed Tsai said she trusted Ma  a consummate and veteran politician with a background in Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council  to do the right thing, while an office worker surnamed Chou said the visit was unlikely to affect things one way or the other.

Theyre not going to stand down all those missiles just because he went [to China], he said. Its so they can lie and claim they communicated [with Taiwan], but it would be better if they dealt with our government on an equal footing.

He said Chinese state media had only referred to Ma as an ordinary citizen, rather than giving him the title of President or former president, to which he should be entitled.

Our status is being belittled by [China], and so is President Mas status, Chou said. It seems as if ... he's being used.

One of the students who accompanied Ma, Chou Yong-chin, said more contact could only be a good thing.

Communication is a must, he said, but added that it was not convenient to comment on political matters.

Activists in favor of unifying China and Taiwan show their support outside Taoyuan International Airport on March 27, 2023 ahead of former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeous departure to China. Credit: AFP





Were not going to submit

Another student, Chiu Tai-ta, said Ma also insists on Taiwans national sovereignty as the 1911 Republic of China, and that the Kuomintang would never cave in to its old enemy, the Chinese communists.

I dont think our young people will be manipulated into returning to the motherland, Chiu said. Taiwan, the Republic of China, is our red line, and were not going to submit to communist rule.

Chen Wen-chia, a senior consultant at Taiwans National Policy Research Institute, said the trip was colluding with Chinas attempts to downgrade Taiwans status.

Its obvious that President Ma is being treated in a low-key manner ... which downplays us as a part of China, Chen said. They didnt mention that Ma was a former president, because if they did that, that would be treating Taiwan like a country.

Beijing has been stepping up its campaign to isolate Taiwan diplomatically since Tsai was elected in 2016. Taiwan now has formal relations with only a handful of countries, including Belize, Nauru and the Vatican, with Honduras switching its diplomatic recognition to Beijing at the weekend.

Tsai announced an end to diplomatic relations with Honduras in a statement on Sunday.

These past few years, China has persistently used any and all means to suppress Taiwans international participation, intensify its military intimidations against Taiwan, and disrupt[ing] regional peace and stability, Tsai said.

But she added: We will not engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China.

They cannot erode the Taiwanese peoples staunch commitment to freedom and democracy or our determination to engage wholeheartedly with the world, Tsai said.

Taiwanese marine corps personnel take down Taiwans national flag from the roof of Taiwans Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on March 26, 2023. Credit: AFP





The Taiwanese foreign ministry said 82 years of bilateral friendship and cooperation had been dismissed by the Castro government.

Taiwan remains unbowed & continues to work as a force for good in the world, the ministry said via its official Twitter account.

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said his government will not succumb to pressure and intimidation from Beijing.

We will uphold the values of freedom and democracy, Wu said. Honduras move comes after Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica all switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in recent years.

Chinas foreign ministry said Beijing stands ready to enhance friendly cooperation with Honduras in various fields to the benefit of our two countries and peoples.

Analysts said the timing of Honduras decision could be linked to the fact that Tsai is gearing up for a 10-day trip to the Americas on March 29 with stopovers in New York and Los Angeles.

When then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, Beijing embarked on several days of military exercises, including live-fire missile launches, around Taiwan.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Matt Reed.
The move is effectively a real-name system for demonstrations, putting protesters at risk of reprisals.

Protesters wear numbered lanyards around their necks as they march within a cordon to protest against a land reclamation and waste transfer station project in Hong Kong on March 26, 2023.

Participants in the first public protest in Hong Kong since a draconian national security law took effect were forced to wear badges and walk within a police cordon last weekend.

A few dozen people protesting a proposed land reclamation project and garbage processing facility marched in the eastern district of Tseung Kwan O on Sunday, wearing numbered lanyards and walking within a security ribbon in a manner reminiscent of an elementary school outing.

The protest was the first to go ahead since the ruling Chinese Communist Party imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in July 2020, ushering in a citywide crackdown on public dissent and peaceful opposition that has seen dozens of former opposition lawmakers and pro-democracy activists stand trial for subversion for holding a primary election.

But protesters said the restrictions imposed on them weren't acceptable.

To be honest, a lot of people including myself feel that wearing numbered lanyards and walking inside a security tape is actually pretty humiliating, political activist and former Democratic Party member Cyrus Chan told Radio Free Asia at the protest.

A lot of us have years of experience as marshals in the [formerly annual] July 1 demonstrations and the [now-banned] Tiananmen massacre vigils, he said. Ive never seen anything like this before.

We feel as if we are living in a whole new world, Chan said. As to whether thats a brave and beautiful new Hong Kong in which we are free, or one in which we are subject to all manner of restrictions, I hope the government will consider this question.

Protesters had to wear these numbered lanyards during their march in Hong Kong on March 26, 2023. Credit: AFP





Dragged around like livestock

Police earlier gave permission  via a letter of no objection  for a womens rights march in honor of International Womens Day, but organizers later canceled the event amid threats from police that they would arrest key activists.

Sundays protest also received a letter of no objection after organizers applied for permission to hold a march of up to 300 people, but with a number of conditions attached, including individually numbered lanyards for each participant and a cordon preventing anyone from joining the protest if they hadn't been there from the start.

Some lawbreakers may mix into the public meeting and procession to disrupt public order or even engage in illegal violence, the police letter said by way of explanation.

Participants were also told they couldnt wear masks or cover their faces.

I really dont like wearing a number, being numbered, one participant told Radio Free Asia. It really places limits on the spontaneity of the event, and makes people wary of taking part.

We were dragged around inside this cordon the whole time like livestock, they said. It was really strange.

Former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, now living in Australia, said the mask bans first emerged as part of emergency measures taken to curb the 2019 protest movement, which had massive popular support for its resistance to the erosion of Hong Kongs promised freedoms, and its demand for fully democratic elections.

Protesters walk within a cordon line wearing number tags during a rally in Hong Kong on March 26, 2023. Credit: Associated Press





Color revolution fears

Beijing has dismissed the protest movement as the work of hostile foreign forces who were trying to foment a color revolution in Hong Kong through successive waves of mass protests in recent years. The government last week ordered the takedown of a digital artwork bearing some of the protesters names.

There was a lot of opposition [to the mask ban] back then, Hui said. Yet they are still using this law three years later, which tells us that the Hong Kong government hasnt learned any lessons [from the 2019 protest movement].

Hui said the new system is similar to real-name requirements typically used to track peoples activities in mainland China, and will likely put participants at greater risk of official reprisals.

The Hong Kong government will definitely be retaliating against participants, he said. They may or may not prosecute them, or they could investigate them, or confiscate their travel documents.

Thats the sort of thing people have been accustomed to seeing in Hong Kong over the past three years, Hui said, adding that the freedoms of association, assembly and expression enshrined in the city's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, now exist in name only.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Party said the whole point of a protest is to allow for the airing of public opinion, so the number of participants shouldnt be limited.

The government-run Independent Police Complaints Council said the conditions placed on protesters were understandable, and said not every demonstration would necessarily be subject to the same restrictions in future.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Matt Reed.
Some towns are creating paper flowers to make up for a shortage of real ones.

Workers decorate a street by a gate to the inner complex of the walled city of Pyongyang, in preparation for the anniversary of the birth of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung.

To celebrate the April 15 birthday of North Koreas founder Kim Il Sung, authorities have ordered cities and towns to decorate the streets with flowers for the first time in three years, two sources in the country told Radio Free Asia.

The holiday is a big deal in North Korea, where it is known as the Day of the Sun. Together with the Day of the Shining Star, the Feb. 16 birthday of his son, Kim Jong Il, the holiday perpetuates the personality cult surrounding the Kim family, which has ruled the country for three generations.

Normally, the capital of Pyongyang and other major cities are decorated with flowers and new propaganda paintings and slogans are splashed across the cities ahead of the Day of the Sun, but that stopped about three years ago in most places due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authorities want to bring the flowers back this year, even in rural towns and villages, a company official from Pochon county in the northern province of Ryanggang told RFAs Korean Service Wednesday on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

It seems like an attempt to change the mood in the province, which has gone sour due to ongoing food shortages and a lack of daily necessities, the source said.

North Koreas food situation was already dire prior to the pandemic but it got worse when authorities shut down the Sino-Korean border and suspended all trade for more than two years. Although rail freight between the northeast Asian neighbors has resumed, North Korea has not yet fully recovered.

Flowers play an important role in the Days of the Sun and Shining Star because both of the late leaders have flower species named after them, a strain of orchid named Kimilsungia, and a strain of begonia named Kimjongilia, although it wasnt clear if this years decoration orders called for either species.

People walk in the street decorated with colorful flowers on the occasion of the 110th birth anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, April 15, 2022. Credit: Associated Press





Paper flowers to make up for shortfall

To adorn the streets of Pochon county with flowers, the landscaping management office has had to get creative, making paper flowers to make up for a shortfall of real ones, the source said.

They are growing as many fresh flowers as possible to decorate the center of the town and supplement them with paper flowers if they dont have enough, said the source.

The landscaping management office operates a small vinyl greenhouse but it is difficult to keep the temperature constant, so they have not been able to grow many flowers.

The greenhouses temperature is maintained by firewood brought in by employees from the mountainside, it hasnt been working well.

The office therefore distributed five flower pots to each employee who lives in decent conditions to grow the flowers in their homes, the source said.

Chongjin scramble

In Chongjin, one of the countrys largest cities, authorities are scrambling to grow flowers fast enough.

They havent had to prepare flowers for the Day of the Sun in three years, and the order took them by surprise, a resident there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

This year the Central Committee issued instructions to decorate the roads with flowers to create a festive atmosphere, so the landscaping management office of each district of the city, as well as the citys flower office are struggling to prepare fresh flowers, the second source said.

Keeping the right temperature inside the greenhouse is key to growing flowers quickly so that they can be ready for April 15th, the second source said. Currently, landscaping management offices and flower offices are spending money that they barely have to buy firewood from the market to maintain the temperature.

This could turn out to be problematic down the road, as the central government has not told the local office that they would finance their firewood purchases, the second source said.

Most residents could care less about the festivities or the flowers, the second source said.

[They] are busy making a living every day have no time to appreciate or think about flowers, he said. The authorities order to set the holiday atmosphere with flower decorations for the Day of the Sun is just a makeshift measure to try to end the dark atmosphere caused by hardships in life.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Without fuel, the junta-led airstrikes on civilians would have been impossible, civil society groups say.

The United States Treasury Department has announced additional sanctions on Myanmar to prevent supplies of jet fuel from reaching the military in response to airstrikes on populated areas and other atrocities.

The sanctions came just days before Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday.

The announcement on Friday targeted two individuals, Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe, and six companies including Asia Sun Trading Co. Ltd., which purchased jet fuel for the juntas air force; Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Co. Ltd., which transports jet fuel to military bases; and Asia Sun Group, the key operator in the jet fuel supply chain.

The statement said that since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup that overthrew the countrys democratically elected government, the junta continually targeted the people of Myanmar with atrocities and violence, including airstrikes in late 2022 in Let Yet Kone village in central Myanmar that hit a school with children and teachers inside, and another in Kachin state that targeted a music concert and killed 80 people.

According to a March 3 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, junta-led airstrikes more than doubled from 125 in 2021 to 301 in 2022.

Those airstrikes would have been impossible without access to fuel supplies, according to reports from civil society organizations, Fridays announcement said.

Burmas military regime continues to inflict pain and suffering on its own people, said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to the people of Burma, and will continue to deny the military the materiel it uses to commit these atrocities.

Helicopters and other aircraft are displayed at the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Myanmars air force, Dec. 15, 2022. on diamond Jubilee celebration of the Military Air Force. Credit: Myanmar military

The announcement named Tun Min Latt as the key individual in procuring fuel supplies for the military, saying he was a close associate of the juntas leader Sr. Gen Min Aung Hlaing. Through his companies, he engaged in business to import military arms and equipment with U.S. sanctioned Chinese arms firm NORINCO, the announcement said.

The United States continues to promote accountability for the Burmese military regimes assault on the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma, said U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in a separate statement. The regime continues to inflict pain and suffering on the people of Burma.

The additional sanctions by the U.S. aligned with actions taken by Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union, Blinken said.

Cutting bloodlines

I am very thankful to the United States for these sanctions, Nay Phone Lat, the spokesperson for Myanmars shadow National Unity Government, told Radio Free Asias Burmese Service. I know that sanctions are usually done one step after another. Its like cutting the bloodlines of the military junta one after another.

He said that the shadow government was trying to cut each route of support for the junta, including jet fuel, one after another.

[The juntas] capability of suppressing and killing innocent civilians will be lessened, he said.

Banyar, the director of the Karenni Human Rights Group, which was among 516 civil organizations that made a request in December to the United Kingdom to take immediate action to prevent British companies from transporting or selling jet fuel to the Myanmar military junta, told RFA that the U.S. sanctions would have many impacts.

If you look at the patterns, the number one thing is that taking action against these companies that provide services to the junta directly discredits the military junta, he said. And the sanctioned companies are also punished in some ways. We can say that this is also a way to pressure other companies to not support the military junta.

But Myanmar has been sanctioned before to little effect, said Thein Tun Oo, executive director of Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers.

No matter what sanctions are imposed, there will not be any major impact on Myanmar as it has learned how to survive through sanctions. There may be a little percentage of economic slowdown but thats about it, he said.

The military has many options when it comes to buying jet fuel, said Thein Tun Oo.

We are not buying from just one source that they have just sanctioned, we can buy from all other sources. Jet fuel is produced from not just one place, he said. If we want it from countries in affiliation with the United States, we may have problems but the United States is not the only country that produces jet fuel, so there is no problem for the Myanmar military.

The military could look to China, Thailand, India or Russia for jet fuel if necessary, political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA.

The sanctions imposed against the Myanmar military are little more than an expression of opinion, in my point of view, as they cannot actually restrict the junta effectively from getting what it needs, said Than Soe Naing. The reason is that the three neighboring countries and Russia can still supply the junta with the jet fuel from many other routes.

Ze Thu Aung, a former Air Force captain who left the military to join an armed resistance movement after the coup, told RFA that U.S. sanctions are not enough to stop the junta.

Whatever sanctions [Washington] imposes, the military junta can still survive as it is still in control of its major businesses such as the jade, oil and natural gas industries, he said. They have enormous funds left. They have Russia backing them as well. China is supporting them to some extent, too.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Matt Reed.


In DeSantisland, not only can teachers and principals be fired for acknowledging the existence of racism or LGBTQ, they can also be canned for teaching a lesson on the world's most revered artist, Michelangelo. But after a Florida charter school forced a principal to resign for exposing 6th graders to the world's most famous sculpture, "David"  for being "pornographic"  an Italian mayor chastised the school while honoring the principal with an invitation to Florence, where the marble masterpiece is located.

"A Florida teacher was forced to quit for showing students photos of Michelangelo's David. Mistaking art for pornography is just ridiculous," said Florence mayor Dario Nardella (see tweet below).

"I will personally invite the teacher to Florence to give her recognition on behalf of the city. Art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect," the mayor said.

Meanwhile, the director of the Galleria dell'Accademia, where David is housed, pointed out the sheer ignorance of DeSantis-style rhetoric. "To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art," said Cecilie Hollberg, according to The Hill.

From The Hill:

Tallahassee Classical School principal Hope Carrasquilla resigned after the school board reportedly told her to step down or be fired. One parent had complained that the material shown to the sixth-grade art class was pornographic, and two others said they wanted to be notified of the lesson beforehand. Carrasquilla told the Associated Press that she is "very honored" by the invitation to Italy. The Florence museum housing the statue has also invited parents and students from the charter school to visit amid shock among Italians over the U.S. controversy.
But observers say the military has already done its worst, with little to show for it.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmars junta, inspects officers during a parade to commemorate Myanmars 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw, on Monday, March 27, 2023.

Myanmars junta chief Min Aung Hlaing marked the 78th anniversary of the countrys Armed Forces Day on Monday with a vow to take decisive action against the militarys opposition, prompting derision from observers who dismissed what they said were empty threats.

Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Naypyidaw, Min Aung Hlaing called the shadow National Unity Government, anti-junta Peoples Defense Force paramilitary groups, and armed ethnic organizations terrorists who seek to destroy the nation, vowing to eradicate them.

The Tatmadaw is going to work to ensure the safety and security of the socio-economic lives of the people and to achieve full stability and rule of law throughout the nation, he said, using the official name of the countrys military.

In doing so, we are going to take decisive action against the NUG and terrorist organizations and the [ethnic armies] who are helping them.

Min Aung Hlaing spoke at a massive parade ground flanked by the towering golden statues of three kings who founded Myanmars key dynasties. The ceremony was replete with a color guard on horseback, thousands of marching soldiers shouldering rifles with bayonets, tanks, and mobile missile launchers.

Amid the fanfare, it was difficult to tell that the parade ground had come under attack only a day earlier by the PDF, which hit the site with four 107mm rockets.

While the junta has yet to issue any statement about the rocket attack, security was notably tightened on Monday, with double the number of troops posted at Naypyidaws entrances and crowded marketplaces.

As the festivities were held, opposition groups protested military rule in several cities, including the commercial capital Yangon.

Clockwise from top left: A military display takes part in the parade celebrating Myanmar's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on Monday, March 27, 2023; soldiers march during the parade; a soldier sits drives a tank during the parade; and Chinese military officers attend the ceremony. Credit [clockwise from top left]: AFP, Associated Press, Associated Press, AFP

Nan Lin of the University Students Union Alumni Force in Yangon told RFA that the junta was using Armed Forces Day to display its strength to its opponents, but said his impression was much different than it was two years ago, just weeks after the military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup detat.

On Armed Forces Day in 2021, the junta violently suppressed and fired on protesters across the country, killing more than 100 civilians, according to data collected by Thailands Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Their military demonstration two years ago was intended to show the international community how powerful they were and how much they were in control of the country, he said.

But this year, I see that the military parade on Tatmadaw Day is just a failing attempt to show the military and its sympathizers  as well as the people and the international community  that they still hold onto power.

Following the coup, the military launched an ambitious offensive to subdue its opposition throughout the country. The offensive quickly devolved into a scorched earth campaign, with junta troops regularly looting villages, torching homes, and torturing and killing civilians.

But more than two years later, the military has made little headway, while the armed opposition has increasingly adapted and made significant gains, despite being outmatched in equipment, training, and manpower.

Empty threats

Ethnic armed groups and PDF groups shrugged off Min Aung Hlaings threats on Monday, telling RFA that there is little the military can do that it hasnt already tried.

Khu Hteh Bu, the spokesperson of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the political wing of the Karenni Army, said the military has been arresting and torturing Myanmars ethnic minorities for decades with no result.

We think that the more threateningly they talk to us, the more they reveal the pain and loss they have suffered because of us, he said.

They are using all their strength to crush us. But since the people neither support them nor give up rebelling against them, they are just creating their own sordid destiny.

Former Major Cpt. Ngwe Soe, who defected from the military and is now the spokesman for the Naypyidaw PDF, called Min Aung Hlaings threats hollow.

This is just his foolish stance to never back down until his last breath, but it will never be possible to crush us like he said, Ngwe Soe said. The revolutionary forces  such as the NUG, the PDF and the [ethnic armies] have made significant progress in the two years since the military coup.

National Unity Government Ministers Office spokesman Nay Phone Latt said the military is already throwing everything it has at the armed resistance, with little to show for it.

The NUG, the PDFs and the ethnic forces are well prepared for their attacks, he said.

Seven elderly villagers killed

Armed Forces Day came as at least seven elderly residents burned to death in fires set by junta troops during a raid on Sone Kone village in Sagaing regions Budalin township over the weekend.

A resident of Sone Kone told RFA that a military column of more than 50 troops descended on the village at around 8 a.m. on Saturday and began setting structures alight, trapping the six elderly women and one elderly man inside.

Their family members left them at home as they were too old to run or move quickly, said the resident who, like other sources interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal.

Since the elderly people who were left in their homes during previous raids were spared, the younger villagers just ran for their lives, leaving the victims behind in their homes, thinking that [the soldiers] would not harm the elderly. When the burnings began, there was nothing they could do to save them.

Myanmar junta forces destroyed 175 of the 300 homes in Sone Kone village, Budalin township, Sagaing region on Saturday, Mar. 25, 2023. Seven elderly people were killed in the attack. Credit: Citizen journalist

The women killed in the fires were Tin Ei, 80; Daw Pyae, 81; Than Myint, 58; Kyi Aung, 70; Daw Khway, 84; and Khin Myint, 84. Kyee Myint, a 70-year-old man, also perished in the flames.

The resident said that by the time the troops left three hours later, some 175 of Sone Kones 300 homes had been razed.

A second resident of Sone Kone told RFA that his home and all of his belongings were destroyed in the arson.

Since many other villagers houses were also burned down, we are facing a lot of difficulties here, including a lack of food and shelter, he said.

Those whose houses were burned are now taking shelter in nearby villages, residents said.

Possible revenge attack

The Budalin Township Information Team told RFA that Saturdays attack came a day after anti-junta Peoples Defense Force paramilitaries ambushed junta troops with a landmine in the vicinity of Sone Kone, leaving several soldiers injured. The timing of the two incidents suggest that the military raided Sone Kone as revenge for the ambush.

A member of the Budalin PDF said his group attacks junta troops in every possible situation in a bid to prevent village raids, but that sometimes conditions do not allow for them to face the military head on.

There are some villages such as [Sone Kone] that we are not in position to protect and the people there suffered, he said. If our captain tells us that we cannot defend a certain place, we have to follow orders. We have to avoid [direct] contact with the military [to avoid heavy casualties].

Villagers try to put out whats left of the fires set by Myanmar junta troops in Sone Kone village, Budalin township, Sagaing region on Saturday, Mar. 25, 2023. Credit: Citizen journalist

The junta had yet to issue an announcement about the incident at Sone Kone as of the time of publishing. Calls by RFA to Aye Hlaing, the juntas social affairs minister and spokesman for Sagaing region, went unanswered Monday.

Around 200 junta troops in two columns are currently carrying out clearing operations of the eastern and southern villages of Budalin township, residents said.

Data for Myanmar, which compiles data on the militarys use of arson, said that between the coup and the end of February, junta troops had burned a total of 60,459 civilian homes across the country. Of these, 47,778 were located in Sagaing.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), junta troops have killed at least 3,166 civilians and arrested nearly 21,000 others since the coup, mostly during peaceful anti-junta protests.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.
When Phan Kim Khanh, a former member of President Barack Obamas Young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative, was serving a six-year sentence in Vietnam, he didnt fathom that guards would force him to work six hours a day without compensation.

Authorities in the communist one-party state arrested Khanh, now 30, in 2017 for running two independent online magazines in Vietnam.

After the press freedom and anti-corruption campaigner was released on March 21, he told Radio Free Asia that prison guards told him and other inmates that they had to work without pay, threatening punishment if they refused.

The prison guards forced us to work for more than six hours a day from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., he said. Our work was usually weaving rattan or bamboo products, but without any protective gear.

The handmade products appeared to be headed for export to European Union countries, though the guards never mentioned payments for the prisoners, Khanh said.

Vietnamese law stipulates that inmates should receive some compensation for labor they perform in jail.

The guards punished inmates who refused to work or worked passively by not letting them see their relatives or receive items from their families. They also didnt consider them for review for reduced sentences, Khanh said.

Even when political prisoners agreed to work without compensation, but still refused to admit guilt for the crimes they were charged with, authorities did not consider reducing their sentences, he said.

A court in Thai Nguyen province, north of Hanoi, sentenced Khanh to six years in prison and four years of probation for violating Article 88 of Vietnams Penal Code, which prohibits conducting propaganda against the state. The crime is considered a national security offense and carries a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.

Vietnamese authorities have used the article widely to punish human rights defenders, independent journalists and writers  and others who have peacefully exercised their human rights  by making it a crime for them to express an opinion or to question government policy, according to human rights advocates.

In February, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said Khanhs arrest was arbitrary and that Vietnam violated many basic rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, two treaties to which the country is a signatory.

Young leaders initiative

Authorities arrested Khanh months before he was to graduate from Thai Nguyen University, where he was chairman of the students association of the international relations department.

Khanh also was a popular master of ceremonies for events at the university and a member of Young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative.

Obama launched the program in 2013 for emerging leaders in Southeast Asia to strengthen partnerships with them, build their skills as effective civic, economic and nongovernmental leaders in the region, and encourage them to collaborate with others to solve regional and global challenges.

The programs more than 100,000 members participated in educational and professional exchanges in the United States and attended skills-building workshops in Southeast Asia.

Around the same time, Khanh established and operated the independent newspapers Tham Nhung, or Corruption, and Tuan Viet Nam, or Vietnam Weekly, both of which dealt with political issues in the country, including rampant corruption by its leaders.

Khanh, who served his sentence at Ba Sao Prison in Ha Nam province, south of Hanoi, said inmates there suffered from breathing the polluted air from nearby garbage incineration, though guards ignored their complaints.

The inmates also received only basic health checks at the prison clinic and that those with serious diseases who required specific treatment sometimes would not be approved for treatment at outside hospitals.

The guards would allow Khanh, who is Roman Catholic, to read the Bible his family sent him only once a week in the prison library.

Just that, he told RFA. Other rights such as priests visits or get-togethers by some of the faithful were not allowed.

Khanh also said prisoner-of-conscience Le Thanh Tung, who is serving time in the same prison for calling for democracy in Vietnam, has come down with a stomach ailment after going on a hunger strike on March 19, though the authorities will not allow him to be treated at a hospital.

Tung, a former soldier and freelance journalist also known as Le Ai Quoc, previously had been convicted under Article 88 for his association with a banned coalition of political groups advocating democratic reform in the communist state.



Authorities released Tung in June 2015, but arrested him again that December. A year later, he was sentenced to a 12-year term for activities aimed at overthrowing the peoples administration under Article 79 of the Penal Code.

In a related development on Monday, Human Rights Watch called on Vietnam to drop all charges against land rights activist Truong Van Dung, 65, who will stand trial Tuesday in Hanoi, for criticizing the government.

Police arrested Truong in May 2022 on charges of conducting propaganda against the state under Article 88. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Truong Van Dung is the latest in a long line of human rights defenders silenced by the Vietnamese government for protesting against human rights violations and advocating for reforms, Phil Robertson, the organizations deputy Asia director, said in a statement.

Democratic governments forging closer ties with Vietnam need to speak out publicly and forcefully in his support and call on Vietnam to release all political prisoners and take genuine steps toward reform.

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.
Chinese ship and Vietnamese ship came dangerously close to each other inside Vietnams exclusive economic zone.

A Chinese coast guard ship and a Vietnamese fisheries patrol boat apparently had a tense encounter during the weekend in the South China Sea, coming as close as 10 meters to each other, according to data from Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking website.

The data, based on the ships automatic identification system (AIS) signals, shows that the China Coast Guard ship, CCG5205, and Vietnams Kiem Ngu 278 came crazy close to one another at around 7 a.m. on Sunday local time (midnight UTC), said a researcher based in California.

As of Monday afternoon (local time), the CCG5205 was operating in Malaysias exclusive economic zone after it left Vietnam waters where the Kiem Ngu 278 had been pursuing the considerably larger Chinese ship since March 24, tracking data showed.

At one point the two ships were less than 10 meters (32.8 feet) apart, according to Ray Powell, the Project Myoushu (South China Sea) lead at Stanford University, who first spotted the incident at sea.

The Vietnamese ship was pretty bold given the difference in size  the Chinese ship is twice the size of the Vietnamese ship, Powell said.

It must have been a very tense engagement.

The incident occurred some 50 nautical miles (92.6 kilometers) south of Vanguard Bank, a known South China Sea flashpoint between Vietnam and China.

About 90 minutes later, the Chinese ship left Vietnams exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where it had been since Friday evening.

An EEZ gives a state exclusive access to the natural resources in the waters and in the seabed.

Ship-tracking data shows Vietnams Kiem Ngu 278 was closely following the Chinese coast guard vessel CCG5205. [Marine Traffic]

Last month, the same China Coast Guard ship was accused of approaching about 150 yards (137 meters) from a Philippine Coast Guard ship and pointing a laser at the crew, causing temporary blindness to them.

On Feb. 6, the Philippine Coast Guard said that the Chinese ship had directed a military-grade laser light twice at the BRP Malapascua, which was on its way to deliver food and supplies to the troops stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

Manila lodged a diplomatic protest and the U.S. State Department issued a statement supporting our Philippine allies.

Beijing rejected the allegation, saying the Philippine ship had intruded into the waters off the Spratly Islands without Chinese permission and the Chinese coast guard ship had acted in a professional and restrained way.

Too close for comfort

In the Sunday encounter, Marine Traffics past track showed the Chinese CCG5205 and the Vietnamese Kiem Ngu 278 were so close that they could have collided.

Ten meters between ships is really too close for comfort, said Collin Koh, a Singapore-based regional maritime analyst.

Depending on the sea state, the risk of collision is fairly high, Koh told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

A retired Vietnamese Navy senior officer, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the two ships must have narrowly escaped a collision because they were sailing in opposite directions and at a very slow speed.

If they were heading to the same direction a collision would have not been avoidable as the distance is too close and too dangerous, he said.

Chinese ships had deliberately rammed Vietnamese patrol ships in the past, he added, but not in recent years.

The CCG5205 left Sanya, in Hainan island, for the current mission on March 11 and entered Vietnams EEZ the first time on March 12.

It then moved to the overlapping area between claimant states in the South China Sea and Malaysias EEZ before entering Vietnams EEZ again on March 21 for a couple hours and for the third time on March 24 when the Kiem Ngu 278 chased it.

At around midnight UTC on March 26, Vietnams Kiem Ngu 278 and Chinas CCG5205 were dangerously close. [Marine Traffic]

The Kiem Ngu 278, officially named Vietnamese Fisheries Resources Surveillance ship KN-278, is homeported in Vung Tau, south of Ho Chi Minh City.

It left base on March 13 and had been following the Chinese vessel closely since.

In July 2021, the Kiem Ngu 278 was following another Chinese coast guard ship, the CCG5202, which Vietnam accused of harassing its gas-exploration activities.

Six parties hold claims to parts of the South China Sea and its natural resources but Chinas claim is the biggest and Beijing has been trying to hinder other countries oil and gas activities in the waters inside its self-claimed nine-dash line.

A 2,600-ton Chinese survey vessel, the Haiyang Dizhi Si Hao, had lingered inside Vietnams EEZ from March 9 until March 25, when it switched off its AIS, according to data from Marine Traffic.

Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Military spending worldwide rose 3.7 percent in 2022 to a record $2.24 trillion, with Central and Western Europe experiencing the largest year-on-year increase since the Cold War and Ukraine boosting its outlays to unprecedented levels as it battled to repel Russian forces that invaded its territory early in the year.

The United States, Russia, and China remained the largest individual spenders, accounting for 56 percent of the global total of military spending, according to inflation-adjusted data published on April 24 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The report said military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a heightened threat from Russia strongly influenced spending by many other states, as did tensions in East Asia.

"The continuous rise in global military expenditure in recent years is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world," said Nan Tian, senior researcher with SIPRIs Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.

"States are bolstering military strength in response to a deteriorating security environment, which they do not foresee improving in the near future," he added.

Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year in what Moscow calls a "special military operation." The invasion has since caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides with Ukraine, backed heavily -- both financially and militarily -- by allies in Europe, North America, and other parts of the world, putting up a far stiffer resistance than Moscow appears to have expected.

SIPRI estimated that Russian military spending increased 9.2 percent in 2022, to around $86.4 billion, equivalent to 4.1 percent of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP). That's up from 3.7 percent of GDP in 2021.

"The difference between Russia's budgetary plans and its actual military spending in 2022 suggests the invasion of Ukraine has cost Russia far more than it anticipated," said Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.

Ukraine's military spending reached $44 billion in 2022 -- a whopping increase of 640 percent, with the report calling it the "highest single-year increase in a country's military expenditure ever recorded in SIPRI data."

"As a result of the increase and the war-related damage to Ukraine's economy...military spending as a share of GDP shot up to 34 percent of GDP in 2022, from 3.2 percent in 2021."

By contrast, the United States, by far the world's largest military spender, spent $877 billion in 2022, up 0.7 percent adjusted for inflation -- representing 39 percent of total global military spending and triple that of China, the second-largest spender.

Expenditures by Central and Western European states reached $345 billion in 2022 -- surpassing in real terms the 1989 level, just as the Cold War was ending.

"The invasion of Ukraine had an immediate impact on military spending decisions in Central and Western Europe," said Diego Lopes da Silva, a SIPRI senior researcher. "This included multiyear plans to boost spending from several governments."

He said that "we can reasonably expect" military expenditures in the region to keep rising in upcoming years.

Finland, which recently became the 31st member of NATO, led the rise with a 36 percent increase in military spending, followed by Lithuania (up 27 percent); Sweden, which is seeking NATO membership (up 12 percent); and Poland (up 11 percent).

"While the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 certainly affected military spending decisions in 2022, concerns about Russian aggression have been building for much longer," said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a SIPRI researcher.

"Many former Eastern bloc states have more than doubled their military spending since 2014, the year when Russia annexed Crimea."



SIPRI said all percentage changes are expressed in real terms at constant 2021 prices.
In an attempt to boost Iran's flagging population growth, the government approved a controversial law in 2021 that further tightened restrictions on medical abortions and banned the free distribution of contraceptives.

Now, officials have expressed alarm about the number of illegal abortions being carried out in the country, suggesting government restrictions have pushed more women to terminate unwanted pregnancies outside the public health-care system.

Women who seek an abortion in Iran often rely on the black market to obtain abortion pills that can be counterfeit or expired and ineffective. They also use underground abortion services by doctors and midwives that sometimes operate in unhygienic conditions.

Government officials have said that each year between 300,000 to 600,000 abortions, most of them illegal, are performed in the country.

A midwife in Tehran, who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said illegal abortions appear to have increased "significantly." The midwife says health workers now estimate that there could be as many as 1 million abortions each year.

"We used to provide people with free contraceptives that would help prevent unwanted pregnancies," the midwife said, adding that poorer Iranians were the most affected. "Now, women from poorer [backgrounds] are forced to seek unsafe abortions by using pills they buy on the black market that could lead to health complications and put their lives at risk."

The midwife warns that the authorities appear to be determined to boost the country's birthrate "at any cost," a move that "will only lead to an increase in unsafe abortions."

'Disastrous' Figures

Soleiman Heidari, a Health Ministry official, said on April 18 that up to 80 percent of abortions in Iran were performed illegally. He did not say if the number of illegal abortions was increasing but added that some estimates, if accurate, were "disastrous."

Earlier in the week, Iran's ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi said the number of abortions in the country was "worrying," without giving figures. He also called for "violators" to be punished.

Officials have said that medical staff found guilty of carrying out illegal abortions will face a ban on practicing medicine. Tehran Governor Mohsen Mansuri last year called for the authorities to crack down on centers that help women terminate their unwanted pregnancies.

Health Ministry spokesman Pedram Pakayin said on April 19 that the ministry was taking steps to deal with "intentional abortions," including collecting abortion pills from the market.

Dropping Birthrate

Mansoureh Shojaee, a prominent women's rights activist and researcher, told RFE/RL that the law restricting medical abortions was a violation of women's right to maintain autonomy over their bodies.

"The issue of bodily rights and autonomy has been highlighted by the protest movement," she said, referring to the nationwide antiestablishment demonstrations that erupted after the September death of a young woman soon after she was arrested for violating the hijab law. The main slogan of the protesters was "Women, life, and freedom."

"These rights include the hijab but also issues dealing with fertility, including the right to prevent pregnancy," Shojaee said. "Women should be able to decide if they want to become pregnant, if they want children, and the number of children they want."

Shojaee adds that the state's restrictions on medical abortions and contraceptives have put the life of Iranian women at risk.

Previously, abortions could be legally performed during the first four months of pregnancy if three doctors agreed that a pregnancy threatened a woman's life, or the fetus had severe physical or mental disabilities that could produce extreme hardship for the mother.

But under the "rejuvenation of the population and support of the family" law passed in November 2021, abortion cases are now be decided by a panel that includes a judge and two medical professionals.

Rights groups and health experts warn that the law restricts women's access to medical abortions, leads to unwanted pregnancies and the birth of children with congenital defects, and increases the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.

In recent years, a growing number of Iranian women have chosen to have fewer or no children -- mainly due to economic woes, changing gender norms, the growth of girls' education, and family planning programs.

That trend has seen Iran's population growth rate drop from more than 4 percent in the 1980s to 1.29 percent in 2020, according to the World Bank, a development that has alarmed Iran's clerical establishment.
Police detained three Kazakh activists in Almaty on March 27 after they demonstrated near the Chinese consulate to demand the release of their relatives from Chinas Xinjiang Province.

Activists Akikat Kaliolla, Nurzat Yermekbay, and Zauatkhan Tursyn were taken to the police department of the Medeu district, according to another activist, Baibolat Kunbolatuly, son of Tursyn. They were held at the police department for several hours and released without charge, Kunbolatuly told RFE/RL.

There was no comment from authorities, and calls by RFE/RL to the police department were not answered.

Kaliolla published a video on Facebook purporting to show the demonstrators and police officers following behind them.

One of the demonstrators, Almakhan Myrzan, held a photograph of her brother, religious researcher Baqytkhan Myrzan, who died earlier this month in custody in a penitentiary in Xinjiang.

Myrzan sharply condemned the authorities for her brother's death, which she confirmed to RFE/RL on March 9. He had been sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2018 for performing an Islamic ritual at a religious event.

She also said that authorities in Xinjiang had ignored demands by Myrzan's relatives in China and Kazakhstan to release him due to a medical condition.

Almakhan Myrzan has been among dozens of people who for more than two years have been picketing the Chinese Embassy in Astana and the consulate in Almaty to demand the release of relatives held in correctional facilities in China.

China has been accused of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities over the existence of mass detention camps in Xinjiang Province. The crackdown has seen Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Xinjiang's other indigenous ethnic groups sent to the camps.

Beijing denies the facilities are internment camps, saying its actions are aimed at combating terrorism, but people who have fled the province say people from the ethnic groups are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities officially referred to as reeducation camps.

The demonstration and detentions in Almaty took place as Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met in Astana with Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party secretary in Xinjiang.

Toqaev hailed the "eternal friendship" with Beijing as he welcomed the "deepening all-round cooperation with China," Kazakhstan's presidency said.

China is among key investors in the oil-rich country, which is home to a large Uyghur diaspora, while around 1.5 million ethnic Kazakhs live in Xinjiang.

Ma said Kazakhstan was a "priority area" of mutual cooperation.

"In general, China's cooperation with Kazakhstan is carried out through Xinjiang," Ma added.

Ma's visit to Astana, which was not widely reported, took place 10 days after the Kazakh ambassador to China, Shakhrat Nuryshev, made a trip to Xinjiang and met with Ma.

Kazakh authorities refrain from openly criticizing the policies of China, one of their main creditors. They have responded to the demands of ethnic Kazakhs for the release of their relatives by saying that what is happening in China is an internal affair of the country, and have said the applications of separated family members are considered "through diplomatic channels."

With reporting by AFP
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Polls have closed following a paltry turnout in extraordinary local elections in four municipalities in northern Kosovo with ethnic Serb majorities where local mayors resigned in November 2022 to protest a cross-border dispute over vehicle registrations.

The Central Election Commission late on April 23 said that preliminary results indicated that the Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party of Prime Minister Albin Kurti,had won the mayoral races in North Mitrovica and Leposavic, while the opposition Democratic Party had taken races in Zvecan and Zubin Potok.

Turnout, as expected, was low as the dominant Kosovar Serb party, Srpska Lista (Serbian List), which enjoys the support of neighboring Serbia's government, announced it was boycotting the votes.

There are around 45,000 voters eligible to elect new mayors in North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvecan, and Zubin Potok, along with municipal assemblies in Zvecan and Leposavic.

After polls closed, election officials said just 1,567 people had voted -- representing a turnout of 3.5 percent of eligible citizens.

RFE/RL correspondents reported that the only ballots that were being cast were submitted in places with ethnic Albanian residents.

Milan Radoicic, vice president of Serbian List, said following the vote that "those who think that with 1 or 2 percent of the vote, they can lead the municipalities in the north, I have to say that the Serbian people will never allow them to do that."

A former chairwoman of Kosovo's Central Election Commission, Valdete Daka, told RFE/RL that so long as proper procedures were being followed, the tiny number of votes would likely result in mayoral seats being filled but not necessarily an end to the local problems.

Daka said the "nonappearance in the elections" was essentially "conveying a message to the government of Kosovo that they won't accept the leaders who emerge from these elections."

"With this nonappearance in the elections, the Serbs are conveying a message to the government of Kosovo that they will not accept the leaders who emerge from these elections," Daka said.

All of the areas voting maintain close ties with Belgrade.

Fifteen years after the mostly ethnic Albanian former province declared independence from Serbia, Belgrade continues to oppose recognition of Kosovo's independence.

Many ethnic Serbs in Kosovo continue to lean heavily on support from Serbia and nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic.

The Serbian List party has demanded the formation of an Association of Serbian Municipalities, as Kosovo's government pledged to the international community a decade ago, and the withdrawal of special units of the Kosovo Police from north of country.

A total of 10 candidates were competing for the mayorships, only one of whom -- independent candidate Sladjana Pantovic in Zvecan -- is an ethnic Serb. Pantovic was the rare exception among Serbs, turning out to vote at around 8 a.m.

Pantovic received just five votes, or 2.6 percent.

Another ethnic Serb candidate, Aleksandar Jablanovic from the Party of Kosovo Serbs, withdrew from the race in Leposavic three days ago, saying there were not "adequate conditions" for voting.

All of the remaining candidates were ethnic Albanians from the Mitrovica Civic Initiative, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and Kurti's Self-Determination movement.

Kosovo's Central Election Commission had to organize alternative polling stations for the April 23 voting because the schools that normally host the voting in northern Kosovo operate within the so-called parallel system run by Serbia's leadership.

Ethnic Serbs compose some 1-2 percent of Kosovo's population of around 2 million people.

Kurti this week accused Belgrade of intimidating Serbs from the north to discourage them from participating in the elections.

Vucic alleged on April 22 that Kosovar authorities were effectively staging "an occupation" of the north after the elections.

The four northern municipalities have been without mayors since November, when Serbs largely loyal to Belgrade resigned from their jobs over the Kosovar government's threatened imposition of a requirement for all vehicles to be registered locally.

The voting took place at 19 polling stations, 12 of which were organized by Kosovar authorities in the final days before the vote.

Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani and the partly recognized country's Central Election Commission urged citizens in the north to exercise their right to vote.

The international community has also expressed regret at the Serbs' boycott and urged all sides to exercise restraint.

Following the election, the U.S. Embassy in Pristina said, "We recognize Kosovan election officials' efforts to make polling places available to citizens wishing to exercise their right to vote, while minimizing potential points of tension."

"We likewise express our appreciation for the professionalism of the Kosovo Police, EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), and KFOR in ensuring a secure environment for the elections."

Kosovo remains blocked from many multinational organizations due to Serbian and Russian opposition to recognition, although there were recently signs of a possible breakthrough under EU-mediated talks.

The European Parliament on April 18 approved a decision on visa liberalization that will allow citizens of Kosovo to travel to most European countries without a visa by January 2024 at the latest. It is the last Western Balkan country to achieve such status.

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier told RFE/RL's Balkan Service on April 21 that citizens in the north of Kosovo and all political parties "have a responsibility to respect the democratic process, recognizing that they all had the opportunity to register and participate."
Lyudmyla Subotinas son Andriy was among the Ukrainian soldiers killed in the defense of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol last March. Two days before he died, he had married a fellow soldier who was taken prisoner by Russia. Subotina has been on a campaign get her widowed daughter-in-law freed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit to frontline positions in the region of Zaporizhzhya, where he also met with UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to discuss the protection of Europe's largest nuclear power station as fighting rages with invading Russian forces across the eastern flank of the country.

Zelenskiy told the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 27 that it was not possible to restore safety at the plant with Russia still in control of the facility.

"Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant and adjacent territory, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure," Zelenskiy told Grossi, according to a statement from the president's office.

The president also drew Grossi's attention to the constant pressure that power plant personnel are under from Russian forces, the statement said.

There has been no comment from the IAEA on Grossi's meeting with Zelenskiy, but Grossi tweeted earlier that the meeting was to discuss safety issues around the nuclear plant, which is held by Russian forces and has been forced to switch to emergency diesel generators on several occasions after fighting nearby knocked out power lines.

"I met with Zelenskiy today in Zaporizhzhya City & had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraine's nuclear facilities," he said.

Grossi said he would be visiting the plant "to assess first-hand the #nuclear safety & security situation at the facility."

Zelenskiy's office said in an earlier statement that the president on March 27 spoke with troops "in frontline positions" in the Zaporizhzhya region and presented them with state awards, while also being apprised of the "operational situation in the relevant areas of the front, the provision of ammunition and equipment."

Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued unabated in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military said, with the Russians keeping up the pressure on the ruined city of Bakhmut, the focal point of Moscow's offensive in the east, and also increasingly targeting Avdiyivka, another city in Donetsk.

Two civilians were killed and 29 injured in Russian shelling of the city of Slovyansk, local officials said.

Zelenskiy released a video of the shelling in Slovyansk on his Telegram channel, describing the attack as "terrorism."

Ukrainian forces repelled more than 60 Russian attacks in Bakhmut and its surroundings, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said in its daily report, as the invading forces continued to indiscriminately bombard both military and infrastructure targets, causing damage and casualties among civilians.

"The probability of missile and air strikes on the entire territory of Ukraine remains high, as the enemy uses terror tactics," the General Staff said, adding that Russian attacks mainly targeted Avdiyivka, Lyman, Kupyansk, and Maryinka.

Russia has repeatedly denied it has targeted civilian infrastructure since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 even as residential and cultural buildings across the country have been constantly hit during the war.

The situation in Bakhmut remains "continually difficult," the commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said during a visit to the front line on March 27, according to the Defense Ministry.

IN PHOTOS: Following months of brutal assaults spearheaded by Russia's Wagner mercenary troops, Ukraine's military claims to have stabilized the beleaguered eastern city of Bakhmut.

The current fighting in and around Bakhmut has reached "the most intense phase," Syrskiy said, adding, "The enemy has suffered significant losses in human resources, weapons, and military equipment but continues to conduct offensive operations."

Ukrainian military officials say Russian forces are appearing to also be turning their focus on Avdiyivka, less than 100 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut, where incessant Russian shelling has shut down all public services and municipal workers have been evacuated from the city. Only about 2,000 civilians have been left out of a prewar population of some 30,000.

Avdiyivka is some 20 kilometers northeast of Donetsk, the city that has been under Russian-backed forces' occupation since 2014.



Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city's military administration, said on Telegram on March 26 that Avdiyivka has been turned into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies" by intensive Russian shelling.



The latest fighting came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany has delivered promised Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

"Yes, we delivered Leopard tanks as we announced," Scholz told a press conference in Rotterdam when asked to confirm a news report that Germany had delivered 18 of the advanced Leopards.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, John Stewart described the state of the United States government:

Our country is held together by hundreds of really talented legislative aides. Their bosses, many times, are wind-up dolls It's held together by these legislative aides that are relentlessly trying to do the right thing. And by the thousands of grassroots activists that are trying to get access, and they're blocked by a moat of lobbyists, and moneyed interests, that prevent the people in that building, from doing the work, that best benefits all the people outside of that building. And that's the process.
The Save Ukraine Foundation has brought 17 Ukrainian children home who had been taken by Russian authorities to annexed Crimea. Their parents had been persuaded by occupying forces in the Kherson region to send their children to a summer camp in Crimea to escape the war. The children said the Russian forces made them sing the Russian anthem, burned the Ukrainian flag, and beat them if they voiced support for Ukraine.
Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. To subscribe, click here.

I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on two major issues: the deal struck between Serbia and Kosovo, and how the EU is stepping up nonlethal military support for Georgia and Moldova.

Brief #1: Will The Serbia-Kosovo Deal Really Be Implemented?

What You Need To Know: Late on March 18, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced a deal had been struck between Serbia and Kosovo after a full day of talks in Ohrid, North Macedonia. What the two parties in fact had agreed on was an annex, which was meant to spell out the sequences and timetables of the implementation of an agreement struck between Belgrade and Pristina on February 27.

While the February deal did not entail Serbian recognition of Kosovo as an independent state, it did suggest ways of tackling some of the many obstacles that have dogged relations between Kosovo and Serbia ever since the former's declaration of independence in 2008.

In particular, the February deal calls for the mutual recognition of documents and national symbols, such passports, diplomas, license plates, and customs stamps. The two parties would also exchange permanent missions, not block each other's path to the EU, and Belgrade pledged not to object to Kosovo's membership in any international organization. In exchange for this, the branch of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo would have its status formalized.

The February deal also gives backing to the creation of a Serb-majority association of municipalities in Kosovo without mentioning this association by name. Instead, the text just noted the setting up of "an appropriate level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and ability for service provision in specific areas, including the possibility for financial support by Serbia and a direct communication channel for the Serbian community to the Government of Kosovo."

Deep Background: In many ways, the agreement and the accompanying annex, if implemented fully, could form an important building block toward full normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, providing in effect de facto recognition of Kosovo, if not de jure, and push both countries closer toward their stated goals of EU membership.

There are, however, three broad issues here:

Firstly, neither the annex nor the agreement is signed, which cast doubts about its real validity. Secondly, there isn't much of a sequencing spelled out in the annex beyond the need for Kosovo to start working on the Serb-majority association of municipalities "immediately." And thirdly, there isn't much of a threat for either side if things remain unimplemented. As one diplomat dryly remarked to me after the announcement that a deal had been made: "The carrots aren't particularly tasty, and the sticks aren't hard enough."

Drilling Down

The issue of whether a signature is needed or not will continue to dog this process. Serbian President Alexander Vucic clearly spelled out that he won't sign any documents and dashed the hopes that initially did exist in Brussels that the deal would be signed at last week's EU summit with all EU leaders in attendance.

The initial Brussels agreement, the first one struck by the parties back in 2013, was also not signed but at least it was initialed by both sides. Speaking to RFE/RL after the meeting, the EU's chief negotiator, Miroslav Lajcak, said that any speculation about whether the deal is or isn't valid is "meaningless" and claimed that the document is official and binding through the announcement made by Borrell in Ohrid.

Lajcak also admitted that it was only possible to agree on 12 points in the annex but that there were a further six that they couldn't reach consensus on. As mentioned above, it is stated that Pristina should start working on the creation of the Serbian association of municipalities immediately, but there is nothing concrete on when, for example, the mutual recognition of passports or exchanges of missions should happen.

Will Pristina really jump first without any guarantees that Belgrade will take any reciprocal steps? Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti can credit his rise to the pinnacle of Kosovar politics for having been against the creation of any entities based on ethnicity within the country, often citing the need to avoid political blockages similar to those seen in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The chief negotiators of both sides are due in Brussels for talks starting on April 3. This should offer the first indication if the deal is, indeed, workable. All eyes will also be on how Serbia behaves internationally in the coming months. The agreement notes that Belgrade pledges not to object to Kosovo's membership in any international organizations. The first likely test of this will be the run-up to the Council of Europe summit in Iceland in mid-May -- an organization that Kosovo for a long time has sought membership in and that Serbia so far has resisted.

The main issue will, however, remain how to cajole the two sides to start implementation. The annex calls for the creation of a joint monitoring committee, chaired by the EU, within 30 days. But there is nothing about what power this committee will have or who will sit on it. The annex also notes that "any failure to honor their obligations from the agreement, this annex, or the past dialogue agreements may have direct negative consequences for their respective EU accession processes and the financial aid they receive from the EU."

This may sound tough, but it isn't. Kosovo is not even recognized as an independent state by the EU and probably won't be anytime soon. It is behind every single European country wanting to join the club. Serbia's EU accession talks have ground to a halt due to its failure to align with Brussels politically over the war in Ukraine. So, neither of them is poised to join the club in the upcoming years, and the EU has so far also proved to be reluctant in cutting EU cash to the countries of the Western Balkans for fear of losing out to China and Russia in the region.

Brief #2: EU Stepping Up Military Aid To Georgia And Moldova

What You Need To Know: While the EU has been busy providing Ukraine with weapons to the tune of 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) -- a sum that will increase by a further 2 billion euros in the coming months -- the bloc is also quietly preparing to aid Moldova and Georgia militarily, even though the sums, compared to what is given to Ukraine, are rather modest and the aid to both so far is of the nonlethal variety.

According to diplomats familiar with the discussion who aren't authorized to speak on the record, the proposed assistance measures for both Tbilisi and Chisinau come amid worries within the bloc of Russia's destabilizing efforts against both countries. They also insist that the attempt by the EU to get more involved is natural, as both countries applied to join the bloc last year, with Moldova becoming an EU candidate country together with Ukraine in June and Georgia a potential candidate.

Finally, it is also noted that while not competing with NATO -- which the EU still regards as the main security supplier on the continent -- the bloc is trying to become more of a player in terms of security throughout the European continent.

Deep Background: Last week, representatives of the 27 EU member states started discussing the concept notes produced by the EU's diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service (EEAS), on how the bloc can assist the two countries. The idea is to give a green light in the coming weeks and that the projects envisaged in both papers will be implemented within the next three years.

Seen by RFE/RL, both concept notes state that the purpose of the aid is to enhance Georgia and Moldova's "operational effectiveness, accelerate compliance with EU standards and interoperability, and thereby better protect civilians in crises and emergencies."

The money should come from the European Peace Facility (EPF), the same off-EU budget vehicle that Brussels now is using to supply arms to Ukraine and that doesn't require unanimity, as member states are allowed to "constructively abstain" -- meaning that they can wave a proposal through but not actively vote for it. Both Georgia and Moldova received funds from the EPF before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, but in much smaller quantities meant to finance smaller projects.

Drilling Down

The proposal for Moldova is worth up to 40 million euros, with the biggest focus on getting the country ground-based mobile long-range surveillance radar, which will be provided by the Estonian Center for Defense Investments (ECDI). The radar purchase is significant as Russia in recent months has fired missiles through Moldovan airspace to hit targets in Ukraine.

Other items that the EU pledges to provide include communication equipment, IT hardware and software, buses, forklifts, and pickup trucks. While clearly not providing lethal equipment that might be desired by Chisinau, EU officials I have spoken to believe that the investment will boost the Moldovan military, which last year had a budget of 85 million euros.

In the Georgian plan, worth 30 million euros, modern trailers and trucks are also on the agenda -- just as with Moldova -- but here there is an increased emphasis on heavy equipment transporters and cranes. The EU will also provide vehicles that will support the mobility of the Georgian defense forces' field artillery communication systems.

Other investments include a medical treatment facility (MTF) with updated equipment, which will complement the already existing couple of MTFs that the EU so far has funded, as well as equipment for Georgia's new Cyber Security Bureau.

Unlike Moldova, which is military neutral, Georgia is a NATO aspirant country, meaning that the military alliance has indicated as far back as 2008 that the country one day can join the alliance. While no indication that a NATO invite is forthcoming for Tbilisi anytime soon, NATO and its member states have invested heavily in the country's military in recent years.

Starting in 2014 and enhanced last year at NATO's Madrid Summit, the main instrument of military support for the South Caucasus republic remains the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP) to which up to 20 countries, including the United States, have contributed with know-how, equipment, and cash in 13 various areas, including air defense, maritime security, strategic communications, cyberdefense, and intelligence-sharing, often via the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center that was established in 2015 to improve the capacity of the country's army.

Looking Ahead

On March 27, the Hungarian parliament will finally vote in favor of Finland's NATO accession protocol after several delays in recent months. The Turkish parliament also had an initial discussion about ratifying Helsinki's bid last week, and it is now expected that they, too, will ratify before the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections slated for May 14. This also means that Finland in all likelihood will join the alliance before Sweden, as neither Hungary nor Turkey has signaled that they are ready to green light Stockholm's bid yet. It is, however, expected that Sweden could join the club in the run-up to or at NATO's summit in Vilnius in July.

On March 28, the EU's energy ministers meet in Brussels. One of the decisions they will take is to prolong the voluntary goal to reduce gas usage in the bloc by 15 percent until March 2024. The current proposal ends at the end of the month and was enacted last summer as the EU faced soaring energy prices due to Russia cutting most westward gas flows. Despite being criticized at the time for not being binding, gas consumption in the 27 EU member states fell by nearly 20 percent between August 2022 and January 2023 due to the mild winter and various energy-saving measures. The goal of the EU is to have gas storages filled to 90 percent by November to get through the next winter.

That's all for this week. Feel free to reach out to me on any of these issues on Twitter @RikardJozwiak or on e-mail at jozwiakr@rferl.org.



Until next time,



Rikard Jozwiak

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here.
The Netherlands' Donorkind Foundationis suing Jonathan Jacob Meijer, 41, for donating too much sperm. Meijer is reportedly the biological father of 550 children. Dutch sperm clinic guidelines put a cap of 25 children to 12 different women "to prevent inbreeding, incest or psychological problems for donor children," according to Yahoo! News:

The civil case is being brought with a Dutch mother of one of Mr Meijer's children, who has been named only as Eva and had the child in 2018.

'If I had known he had already fathered more than 100 children I would never have chosen him,' she said.

'If I think about the consequences this could have for my child I am sick to my stomach.'[]

Mr Meijer, 41, a musician from The Hague, is on a Dutch donation blacklist but has continued to donate abroad, including in Denmark and Ukraine, Donorkind said.

The 41-year-old has also approached prospective parents looking for home insemination online and on social media and shown no signs of changing his behaviour, the foundation said.
Everyone should have guns except people Tucker Carlson doesn't want to have guns. Surprised? Probably not.

Carlson, upon hearing of trans people learning to use firearms to defend themselves, imagined a universe where a great army of people who just want to be themselves takes to the sky, and rolls tanks, to ensure their rights. The Grand Army of Inclusion?

Daily Beast:

In the next breath, Carlson planted in his audience's minds a scenario in which transgender people are armed not only with guns, but with F-35 fighter planes and tanks. "You have to kind of wonder, like, what's the limit to this?" he asked. "So if trans people are in fear for their lives, and [if] every region of the country including New Englandis crawling with Nazis now, why wouldn't we be arming them as we are, say, Ukraine's trans army? And there are famously trans people in Ukraine; they are very, very proud of that. So why stop with AR-15s? I mean, why not F-35s or tanks?" Carlson wondered. (The NPR story about those in the group called Rainbow Reload made no mention of any government body providing them with guns.) Nevertheless, Carlson concluded: "We're as for guns as you could possibly be, but this seems like an incitement."

This reminds me of the time the Black Panthers open carried in Sacramento to earn California some of the nation's earliest laws around gun control.

Remember:
CONTEMPORARY cooks, creative cuisines and classic, centuries-old Rockingham pottery... the recipe for this exhibition is something of a departure from Clifton Park Museums bread and butter.

The renowned, lavish and intricate tableware produced in Rotherham provided one of the most spectacular ways of serving food in the 19th century.

But the many pieces used in Dishes of Rotherham have not been touched by anything edible for about 200 years  if they were in fact used at the time.

The exhibition has involved ten cooks learning about the pottery, which was produced in a factory at Swinton, and deciding on a dish to cook and serve on a piece of Rockingham.

Simon Grennan, the visual artist who pitched the idea to the museum, said: Rockingham is quite famous if youre into a bit of English china, which I am.

I got invited to the museum in connection with another show, and I could tell the team were quite forward-looking.

It was clear they wanted the museum to be more than just high art or local history, and I liked that.

My whole career as an artist has been about getting folks to do things they wouldnt normally do.

Tessa Chynoweth, collections and exhibitions manager at the museum, said the post-Covid era had brought a new approach to temporary showcases in the upstairs gallery.

She added: The reason is to look in much more depth at particular aspects of Rotherham's story, or different bits of our collection. It allows us to do more of a deep dive into the stories that were wanting to tell, and were looking to be a bit more creative about the way that we explore those stories.

She added: We at Clifton Park Museum are really proud to have one of the largest public collections of Rockingham in the world.

Weve done really exciting, innovative exhibitions in the past but, to be frank, we were looking at new ways to make the collection relevant for audiences today.

Simon came to us and said he wanted to get cooks from around Rotherham to visit the museum, find out about the Rockingham collection and go away and cook a dish inspired by what we have here. Then they would cook it and dish it up onto the collection itself.

Tessa said the team was on board with the idea  but admitted it was a scary prospect.

She added: We are obviously used to putting on workshops and exhibitions within the walls of the museum, and we have processes, risk assessments and training.

We do that less well going out into the world. But with this, we went to the cooks houses, community centres, places of worship, a tiny cafe in the town centre which seats 14 people. It pushed us out of our comfort zone.

The other thing which sent me into a spin was that we had to put food onto the collection.

Theres no food and drink in the museum because crumbs and things on the floor are more likely to attract pests, which will damage our collections and buildings.

Also, we know there are properties in food and drink which can damage the collection items. Just as if you spill a curry or a coffee on you, the stain might not come out.

Its our responsibility as museum professionals to look after the pieces in our care not only today but for generations to come. We are custodians of Rotherhams history.

We are never, ever allowed food or drink in here. Thats not just visitors, thats for staff. Theres no food or drink in our collections store. So this was totally different to the way we are used to working.

About 100 pieces of Rockingham were selected from the museums collection. The ten cooks  found through various ways including at Rotherham Show  were invited along to choose.

Some didnt mind; they just said they needed a bowl or a platter. Others were much more specific about their requirements  with the museum even buying in a piece for one of the meals.

Simon said: Heres a collection of old, valuable china, and some of it is quite rare. When it was new, it was fancy but it was used, washed and dried and put away for next time.

When I pitched the idea to the museum, they got it immediately. They understood it.

Then it became a question of actually doing it: getting Mariams chicken biryani onto a fruit compote from 200 years ago without damaging it.

The secret behind dishing up on Rockingham to take photos for the exhibition was that the food never actually touched the tableware.

Plastic sheets were cut to the exact size of the meals and each individual piece of food was carefully moved onto this divider, then arranged.

It meant moving individual grains of rice with tweezers. It meant putting on liquids with a pipette  drip by drip!

Food photographer Sally Robinson said: The Rockingham pieces had to be protected at all times.

I worked closely with the museum staff to style the food.

They were responsible for making sure the Rockingham was protected from the food, and I was responsible for making the food look as good as possible, and we had to work together to achieve this  a real team effort.

We shot in many different spaces and each location provided its own challenges. However, this was great for finding meaningful props we could use in the images.

We borrowed so many interesting fabrics and kitchen implements for the photos, and they really helped to tell the story of the dish.

This project was a truly collaborative effort, thoroughly enjoyable, and Im really proud of the final images we produced as a team.

The result is a showcase of meals celebrating cooking traditions including British, Pakistani, Sudanese, Guinean, Ukrainian, Czech, Yemeni and Chinese.

Tessa said: For me, the photographs demonstrate the joy and beauty not only of the Rockingham but the food and the stories associated with them.

The photos are beautiful and the exhibition has been well-received. People who have visited have been saying its made them feel hungry and happy.

There is also the joy that its brought to everyone whos been involved. It was quite mad, us going into peoples homes, but everyone was so generous and so hospitable. It meant so much to them that this collection was coming into their homes.

To me, it felt like we were saying that their stories and lived experiences were as important to us as the Rockingham collection.

* The Dishes of Rotherham exhibition is open until June 18.

* Wednesday, April 12, 11am to noon and noon to 1pm  Cup & Saucer Stories: A free workshop with Simon, for kids aged six to 11 to design paper cups and saucers.

* Sunday, April 16, between 11am and 3pm  Dishes in the Walker Kitchen: Join some of the cooks involved in the exhibition as they cook up their meals. Exact timings to be confirmed.

And we got to eat some delicious food, which was a bonus.
A CHILD rape survivor has successfully sued her abuser for 425,000 in damages.

The woman, who must be referred to legally as Liz, was awarded the settlement by the High Court in a legal ruling she hopes could pave the way for other survivors.

I hope weve opened the floodgates to something that could lead to a lot of perpetrators of grooming and CSE losing their assets and paying for the crimes they have committed, she said.

The survivor took civil legal action against her abuser Asghar Bostan (52), who was was jailed for nine years at Sheffield Crown Court in 2018.

Last Wednesdays High Court judgement followed a test case application by solicitors representing the Rotherham survivor.

I thought Id take a chance with it  and Ive done it, the woman said.

Its not about the money.

Its opened the floodgates for survivors and hopefully it will be a deterrent for those who are still committing these crimes and show that they wont get away with it.

The court was asked for  and approved  an order freezing Bostans assets.

He has been ordered to pay 425,934.09 or face enforcement action.

"Liz" said her solicitor Robin Tilbrook had been very supportive and driven by passion for her cause.

She said she now intended to lobby for grooming case defendants assets to be considered at the time of prosecution.

I think it should be mandatory when grooming gang members are in court that the judge looks at what assets theyve got, she said.

Some of these assets may have come from selling children in grooming gangs.

The civil action was supported by peers Lord Vinson and Lord Pearson who joined campaign group Hearts of Oak in raising funds.
A ROTHERHAM man has been arrested by detectives investigating an arson attack on a Sheffield house.

A property was set alight on Wordsworth Avenue in the Parson Cross area of the city at about 9pm last Tuesday.

South Yorkshire Police said on Monday that a 29-year-old man from Rotherham had been arrested on suspicion of arson endangering life.

He and a 31-year-old Sheffield man held on Thursday have been released on bail with conditions as enquiries continue.

Four people  including girls aged six and 17  were injured in the fire, which police believe to have been a targeted incident.

A force spokesperson said: Enquiries remain ongoing and officers are still keen to speak to people who were in the area that evening as we continue to build a complete picture of what happened.

As well as witnesses to the incident itself, we are keen to speak to those who have CCTV footage which may have captured the lead up to or aftermath of the arson.

We are also keen to speak to anybody who was driving down Wordsworth Avenue at the time who might have dashcam footage from their vehicle that captured anything that might help us.

Call 101 quoting incident 1041 of March 21, or visit the polices online portal at www.southyorks.police.uk/contact-us/report-something.

Footage can be emailed to enquiries@southyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111 or crimestoppers-uk.org.
(rapaport.com) - Luxury brands are having a moment, but a new Apple product is providing tough competition for the cheaper segment. Luxury timepieces with export prices above CHF 3,000 ($3,200) were the best-performing watch segment in January, according to data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Watches over $10,000 are even in more demand, Swiss watch industry insiders added. The news is less positive for cheaper watches. Barring unexpected events, this robust growth in luxury watches is expected to continue through the rest of the year. Meanwhile, for the pre-owned market, the incredible surge caused by speculative buyers and sellers is gone. Major pre-owned watch dealers are cutting staff and lowering prices to face this new reality.
Amritpal Singh's New Selfie with Papalpreet Surfaced

Amritpal and Papalpreet Seem to be sitting on the Highway

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police has reached Nepal to arrest 'Waris Punjab De Chief' Amritpal Singh. Delhi Police and Central Intelligence Wing is supporting Punjab police in the hunt operation. Meanwhile, the selfie of Amritpal Singh and his partner Papalpreet Singh has been surfaced.

After escaping, for the first time, Amritpal's full face is clearly visible in the picture. He can be seen in short beard look, wearing a maroon colored turban. Along with this, Amritpal is seen holding an energy drink in his hand. Amritpal and Papalpreet are wearing warm clothes. Both seem to be sitting on the highway.

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Notably, The police have arrested Amritpal Singh's close gunman Virender Johal Today. The NSA (National Security Act) has been imposed on him. Reports said that he has been sent to Dibrugarh Jail in Assam. So far, 8 accused have been sent to Dibrugarh Jail in connection with the case. Amritpal Singh's second gunman 'Gorkha Baba' is being interrogated. After the Punjab Police, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Intelligence Bureau (IB) will question him. The police have recovered important documents related to the creation of Khalistan from his phone.
Oklahoma State Representative Dean Davis didn't understand why his high societal ranking didn't prevent him from being arrested for public intoxication last week. Davis seemed to believe that his status as a lawmaker granted him immunity from the arrest, but the police officers were unimpressed. In a video capturing the incident (with audio starting at the 30-second mark), we see Davis being handcuffed and challenging the officers, asking them if they were "really doing this."

The officer, who had already given Davis "ample opportunity" to leave a closed bar after being asked multiple times by the bartender to leave, calmly replied, "No sir, you are doing this." When Davis asked the officer to read a card in his wallet and call the sergeant, the officer revealed that he was, in fact, a sergeant. The card stated that Davis should not be arrested in the legislature or while going to or coming from the legislature. The officer informed Davis that he was not in the legislature, a point that Davis disputed.

Throughout the video, Davis repeatedly called out to an unseen individual named TJ, much to the annoyance of one of the officers, who eventually says, "I don't answer to TJ."

Despite his protests, Davis is arrested, and the video ends with him insisting, "You can't detain me."

From The Oklahoman:

A bartender told the accompanying police lieutenant that she told the men to leave the patio several times because the bar was closed, according to Brewer's report. The witness said the group kept saying they were representatives. During body camera footage and patrol car footage from the arrest, Davis also demanded Brewer call his superiors. "Your (Fraternal Order of Police) officer and your supervisor need to be called now," Davis said while in the back of the patrol car. "Do you understand that?" Mark Nelson, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, issued a statement Saturday in support of Brewer, saying he "acted professionally the entire time." "The detention and arrest of Rep. Davis were completely justified," Nelson's statement read. "Bricktown has been a source of violent crimes frequently influenced by alcohol. In an effort to curb crime and make Bricktown a friendly destination for families and tourists, strict enforcement of the law has been standard practice.

Based on his prior arrest record, it appears as though Davis is fond of alcohol, arguing with police, claiming privilege, and calling TJ for help:

In August 2019, Davis was arrested by Broken Arrow police for driving while intoxicated, speeding, and obstructing an officer. After being arrested, Davis called Representative T. J. Marti of Broken Arrow for bail and also called several other Republican representatives, expressing his confidence that the district attorney would drop charges once he spoke with them. The charges were later deferred, allowing him to plead no contest in exchange for 6 months probation.
Gurmesh Singh Sidhu & Charishma Kaliyanda

The Labor Party has returned to power after 12 years

SYDNEY: The Labor Party has won the state parliament elections of New South Wales in Australia. It is the most populous state in Australia. Along with this, the Labor Party has returned to power after 12 years. Two Indian MPs have been elected in these elections.

Punjab-origin Gurmesh Singh Sidhu has won the election from the National Party of Australia for the second time from the Coffs Harbor seat of the Punjabi-populated town of Woolgoolga, while Charishma Kalianda has won the election from the Australian Labor Party for the first time from the Liverpool constituency in Sydney.

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Notably, Gurmesh Singh Sidhu is one of the leading growers of blue berry. On the other hand, Charishma Kalianda, who belongs to Bengaluru, works in the IT sector. In the New South Wales elections, the Labor Party has defeated the ruling Liberal-National coalition.

Labour leader Chris Minns will be the premier of the state. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has congratulated Chris Minns on the victory of the Labor Party in the state election and described him as a popular, honest and fair leader of the people.
The Government of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have agreed on a set of commitments that will help de escalate tensions in the Middle East.

The two sides reaffirmed their joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3 to 6 months.

This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units in Palestinian territory for 4 months, and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months.

At a five-party meeting held in Egypt's Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. political and security senior officials discussed ways and means to de-escalate tensions on the ground between Palestinians and Israelis, in order to pave a way forward towards the peaceful settlement between the two hostile entities.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to advancing security, stability and peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and recognized the necessity of de escalation on the ground, the prevention of further violence, as well as of pursuing confidence building measures, enhancing mutual trust, creating political horizon, and addressing outstanding issues through direct dialogue.

The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to all previous agreements between them, including the legal right of the Palestinian National Authority to carry out the security responsibilities in the West Bank.

The two sides agreed to develop a mechanism to curb and counter violence, incitement, and inflammatory statements and actions.

They reaffirmed the commitment to all previous agreements between them, and agreed to address all outstanding issues through direct dialogue.

A mechanism will be established to take necessary steps to improve the economic conditions of the Palestinian people, and to significantly enhance the fiscal situation of the Palestinian National Authority.

The two sides made a commitment of upholding the historic status quo at the Holy Sites in Jerusalem.

They emphasized the necessity of both Israelis and Palestinians to prevent any actions that would disrupt the sanctity of these sites, especially as the upcoming Holy Month of Ramadan coincides with Easter and Passover this year.

The meeting was organized under the mediation of Egypt.

A follow-up meeting will be held in Sharm El Sheikh in April.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and welcomed the meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. He reinforced the need for all sides to take urgent, collaborative steps to enhance security coordination, condemn all acts of terrorism, and maintain the viability of a two-state solution, the White House said.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Monday's pre-market trading (as of 07.45 A.M. ET).

In the Green

Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. (PSTX) is up over 46% at $5.90.

New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB) is up over 28% at $8.38.

PacWest Bancorp (PACW) is up over 14% at $10.65.

Kineta, Inc. (KA) is up over 14% at $3.69.

VOC Energy Trust (VOC) is up over 13% at $7.99.

BIT Mining Limited (BTCM) is up over 12% at $2.47.

MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR) is up over 6% at $285.00.

In the Red

CVRx, Inc. (CVRX) is down over 19% at $7.97.

First Republic Bank (FRC) is down over 18% at $18.70.

PDD Holdings Inc. (PDD) is down over 13% at $79.80.

1st Source Corporation (SRCE) is down over 9% at $40.85.

Cool Company Ltd (CLCO) is down over 8% at $11.90.

uCloudlink Group Inc. (UCL) is down over 8% at $3.31.

CXApp Inc. (CXAI) is down over 7% at $2.47.

Genius Group Limited (GNS) is down over 7% at $2.30.

Enzo Biochem, Inc. (ENZ) is down over 6% at $2.10.

XPeng Inc. (XPEV) is down over 5% at $8.32.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Euro area trade deficit narrowed at the start of the year as the pace of fall in imports exceeded the decline in exports, official data revealed Monday.

The deficit on trade in goods decreased to a seasonally adjusted EUR 11.3 billion in January from EUR 13.4 billion in December, Eurostat reported.



The monthly fall in exports slowed to 1.1 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December. Likewise, imports dropped at a slower pace of 1.8 percent after easing 2.9 percent a month ago.

However, the non-adjusted trade deficit increased to EUR 30.6 billion in January from EUR 30.2 billion in the same period last year due to higher cost of imported energy.

Exports logged a double-digit annual growth of 11.0 percent. That was faster than the 9.0 percent increase in the previous month. Similarly, the rise in imports improved to 9.7 percent from 8.9 percent.

Data showed that the EU trade deficit with Russia and China declined from the last year. At the same time, the surplus on trade in goods with both the US and the UK decreased in January.

In the whole year of 2022, exports of goods climbed 18.0 percent and imports grew 37.7 percent from the last year.

As a result, the euro area registered a deficit of EUR 333.5 billion compared with a surplus of EUR 105.3 billion in January to December 2021.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or FDIC announced an agreement, underwhich First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., affiliated to First Citizens BancShares, Inc., will buy all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N. A. out of FDIC receivership.

The FDIC has been Silicon Valley Bank's receiver after it was collapsed and closed by the New York State Department of Financial Services or NYDFS in mid March following significant deposit outflows. Following this, the FDIC had transferred the bank's all deposits, and substantially all assets to newly created, full-service FDIC-operated 'bridge bank', Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A.

The FDIC now said it estimates the cost of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank to its Deposit Insurance Fund or DIF to be around $20 billion. The exact cost will be determined when the FDIC terminates the receivership.

First Citizens Bank said it has agreed with FDIC to purchase out of FDIC receivership substantially all loans and certain other assets, and assume all customer deposits and certain other liabilities of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank. The transaction is structured as a whole bank purchase with loss share coverage. First Citizens said it was selected to complete the deal through a competitive bidding process.

On Monday, March 27, the 17 legacy Silicon Valley Bridge Bank branches will begin operating as Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank.

There will be no immediate change to customers' current accounts, and they will be able to continue to access their accounts as they do at present.

The FDIC stated that customers of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank should continue to use their current branch until they receive notice from First Citizens Bank that systems conversions have been completed to allow full-service banking at all of its other branch locations.

Further, depositors of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank will automatically become depositors of First-Citizens Bank & Trust. All deposits assumed by First Citizens Bank will continue to be insured by the FDIC up to the insurance limit.

As of March 10, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank had around $167 billion in total assets and about $119 billion in total deposits.

The latest transaction included the purchase of about $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank assets at a discount of $16.5 billion. Around $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain in the receivership for disposition by the FDIC.

In addition, the FDIC received equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares common stock with a potential value of up to $500 million.

In its statement, First Citizens Bank said it will assume Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A. assets of $110 billion, deposits of $56 billion and loans of $72 billion, based on latest information provided by the FDIC. First Citizens Bank will additionally receive an available line of credit from the FDIC for contingent liquidity purposes.

In addition, the FDIC and First Citizens Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on the commercial loans it purchased of the former Silicon Valley Bridge Bank. The FDIC as receiver and First Citizens Bank will share in the losses and potential recoveries on the loans covered by the loss-share agreement.

Meanwhile, First Citizens Bank will not acquire any of the assets, common stock, preferred stock, debt or assume any other obligations of SVB Financial Group, the former holding company of Silicon Valley Bank.

Frank Holding, Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens, said, "This transaction leverages our solid foundation to add significant scale, geographic diversity, compelling digital capabilities and most importantly, meaningful solutions for customers throughout their lifecycle.... This transaction also will accelerate our expansion in California and introduce wealth capabilities in the Northeast."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (BCLI) announced the FDA will hold an Advisory Committee Meeting to discuss the company's Biologics License Application for NurOwn for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. BrainStorm requested that the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research utilize the FDA's File Over Protest procedure and has filed an amendment to the BLA.

Stacy Lindborg, BrainStorm's Co-CEO said: "Securing an ADCOM represents an important step towards our goal of making NurOwn broadly available to individuals living with ALS who are in urgent need of new, effective therapies. We look forward to a robust scientific discussion."

For More Such Health News, visit rttnews.com.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Higher Canadian and U.S. futures, and firm crude oil prices point to a positive start for the Canadian market on Monday.

News about an agreement for the takeover of the assets of failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped ease fears of a global banking crisis.

First Citizens BancShares has entered into a loss-share transaction for all deposits and loans of the SVB, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said in a statement.

Remarks by U.S. Fed officials that there is no indication that financial stress is worsening also contribute to the positive sentiment in the .

The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Friday, recovering well after an early setback. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed well off its worst levels of the day, eventually closing up 41.57 points or 0.2% at 19,501.49.

Asian shares ended mixed on Monday as banking worries swirled and Chinese industrial profit data disappointed. A cautious undertone prevailed after Deutsche Bank shares fell heavily on Friday on the lender's surging cost of default cover.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz offered reassurances about the bank, helping offer some respite to investors worried about the spillover effect of monetary policy shifts.

European shares are up firmly in positive territory Monday afternoon follwing an agreement for the takeover of the assets of failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) easing fears of a global banking crisis.

Meanwhile, the German Ifo climate index improved to 93.3 in March versus 90.9 expected despite the turbulence at some international banks, a survey showed.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.88 or 1.27% at $70.14 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $27.80 or 1.4% at $1,956.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.144 or 0.62% at $23.195 an ounce.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
UK retailers expect sales volume to return to growth next month for the first time since last September, survey data from the Confederation of British Industry showed on Monday.

The retail sales balance fell slightly to 1 percent in March from 2 percent in February, the latest Distributive Trends Survey showed. Nonetheless, the balance was better than economists' forecast of -6 percent.

A net 9 percent forecast sales to rise in April, marking the first positive growth expectations since September 2022.

About net 12 percent of respondents judged sales to be good for this time of the year compared to 6 percent in February. A net 13 percent expect sales to exceed seasonal norms next month.

The survey also showed that internet sales continued to fall at a firm pace in March. A net 26 percent of retailers said sales declined in March, but less than the 30 percent in February.

"It's encouraging that activity in the retail sector showed signs of stabilising after a challenging winter," CBI Principal Economist Martin Sartorius said.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Professor Debra Roberts

At its graduation ceremony on 31 March 2023, Rhodes University will confer a degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) on Professor Debra Roberts, who heads the Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit in eThekwini Municipality.

Prof Roberts is also the Co-Chair of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the Sixth Assessment cycle (AR6).

She is a global authority on urban biodiversity, climate change and resilience issues that maintains an H-index of over 40 despite being a full-time local government practitioner. She has won numerous awards for her ground-breaking work and leadership in Durban.

Prof Roberts established the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department of eThekwini Municipality, which she led from 1994 to 2016. She is well known for her work in designing the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System and the development of Durbans Municipal Climate Protection Programme which focused on issues of climate change adaptation.

In 2013, she was appointed as the citys first Chief Resilience Officer and led the development of the citys first resilience strategy and related implementation plan.

On a national level, Prof Roberts was a climate change negotiator for South Africa under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change until 2015, drawing strongly from her local experiences in the eThekwini Municipality in her global policy work.

Prof Roberts is a globally respected scientific expert on climate change adaptation. She was a Lead Author of Chapter 8 (Urban Areas) and a Contributing Author to Chapter 12 (Africa) of the Working Group II contribution to the IPCCs Fifth Assessment Report.

She was elected as Co-Chair of Working Group II for the IPCCs Sixth Assessment cycle in 2015, the first time in the history of the IPCC that there has been a South African Co-Chair and the first woman from Africa to hold such a position. In this role she has successfully co-led the preparation of all the Working Group II products in the AR6 cycle. This has included three Special Reports and the Working Group II main assessment report. She is also a member of the Core Writing Team and Scientific Steering Committee for the AR6 Synthesis Report.

She has sat on various international bodies focused on urban issues and climate change. Prof Roberts was a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Group on Sustainable Cities involved in mobilising support for the creation of a city-focused Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11). She was also a member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Secretary Generals 2019 Climate Summit; an advisor to the Global Commission on Adaptation - under the leadership of Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva, and is member of the UCLG-UBUNTU Advisory Group providing advice to the international Presidency of UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments).

Prof Roberts has received numerous honours for her work, including Honorary Professorship at the University of KwaZulu Natal (her alma mater) and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Twente (Netherlands) and the University of Cape Town.

In 2014, the AfriCAN Climate Consortium awarded her their AfriCAN Climate Research Award. She was the 2016 Barbara Ward Lecturer of the International Institute for Environment and Development. In 2019 she was listed public servant organisation Apolitical as one of the 100 most influential people in climate change policy in the world.

Prof Roberts is well respected for her brand of leadership, which focuses on collaboration and mentorship  especially of young women scientist-practitioners. Many of her protegees have become leaders in their own right, and have pursued further studies  including at Rhodes University.

It is a tremendous honour to receive this recognition from Rhodes University. Not only for myself, but also for all the practitioner-scientists working in the worlds cities using science every day to make a difference in peoples lives and helping to create a more just and sustainable planet, she said.

Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sizwe Mabizela highlighted Professor Roberts immense national and international contributions to climate change issues in cities as deserving of an honorary doctorate. She is recognised and celebrated as a global authority on urban ecosystem-based adaptations. I am delighted that the Rhodes University community has seen it fit to honour your many and significant contributions, said Professor Mabizela.

Source: Communications
A year after expressing a desire to have flexibility to have more time with his wife and three young children, WIVB-TV (Channel 4) chief meteorologist Todd Santos has signed a new three-year contract that gives him a better work-life balance.

Santos, who has been at the station for almost a decade, was even willing to give up his title as chief meteorologist last year, but it never came to that. He has been in that role since 2016.

In his new deal, he will be working from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. as the weather anchor on the noon, 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts.

The noon and 6 p.m. newscasts are new assignments for Santos.

Meteorologist Mike Cejka, who works the extensive Wake Up! morning program, had been doing the noon.

Alan Pergament: WIVB's Todd Santos joins emerging trend of broadcasters looking for work-life balance I love Buffalo, I do not want to move, and I have no intention of going anywhere else but Channel 4, said Santos, a Rhode Island native.

Meteorologists Mike Doyle and Jordyn Jenna, who both joined the station in 2021, had been alternating on the 6 p.m. newscast. They now will work the newscasts on sister station WNLO-TV (CW23) at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., and the 11 p.m. newscast on WIVB.

When he asked for more flexibility a year ago, Santos, a Rhode Island native, said he loved Buffalo and had no intention of going anywhere but Channel 4.

I obviously adore Buffalo, he said in 2022. The heart of this city is real and pure. I fit in here as well as where I grew up. This is my way of trying to evolve the role.

His status at the station had come into question a year ago after WIVB posted a job opening for chief meteorologist. Santos then began working reduced hours on a part-time schedule.

Santos, whose three children are ages 8, 6 and 2, signed a new contract Friday that brings him back to full-time with a better work-life balance.

It is a huge improvement for somebody in my position with young kids, Santos said. That's actually the biggest piece of this. My hours will be 11 in the morning to 7 p.m. most days. I'll still do fill-ins, I'll still have storm coverage days. But the biggest thing was to be able to actually see my kids and it has worked out. I'm very happy about that.

Channel 4 General Manager Joe Abouzeid, who arrived less than a year ago, also is happy about Santos new deal.

Were excited to have Todd Santos back full-time as our chief meteorologist, Abouzeid said before going into promo mode. His experience and expertise are a big part of what makes our weather team the best in Buffalo.

The three-year deal gives Santos  and the station  security.

That's actually one of the pieces that I'm most happy about," Santos said. "Because in this business, as you well know, if you don't have something concrete, at any point things can change on a whim or whatever it is. In this case, it kind of shows a clear plan forward and a commitment on both sides. I'm very excited about that.

His new hours also give the newscasts from 5 p.m. through 6:30 p.m. more continuity, since he will be a constant presence with co-anchors Jacquie Walker and Don Postles. Walker confused some people on Twitter on Friday when she posted that Santos was beginning a new role as chief meteorologist on several newscasts.

Santos said he was never actually dethroned as chief meteorologist after his hours were reduced.

It was never taken away from me, Santos said of the title. We had management changes, and I think new management wanted to kind of iron things out and say, like, who's in charge of what? Who is leading our weather department? And, of course, I suppose I had a sort of a built-in sort of audition when we had the November snowstorm and the December blizzard and a few other events that really made them realize, oh, yeah, we have some serious weather here.

He understood Walkers excitement in posting the confusing tweet.

Weve all worked really well together. Don, Jacquie and I have very good chemistry, especially Jacquie and I  She can say anything and I understand where she's going with it and we're good like that. This means less of a revolving door for her that I'll be there every night for the 5 p.m., 5:30 and 6 newscasts and we'll be able to get to do our old thing together. Thats particularly exciting for her, and Im excited for it, as well.

Santos added he also plans to do special projects.

Were going to try and do some more stuff with climate and building on our digital platform and stuff like that. And I think this is stuff that they used to try to leave to somebody who's new, but that doesn't make any sense because they don't know the area and I actually have a good handle of what's going on here.
Professor Helen Rees

At its graduation ceremony on Friday, 31 March 2023, Rhodes University will confer a degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) (honoris causa) on Executive Director at Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute Professor Helen Rees.

Prof Rees is internationally recognised as an award-winning global health practitioner who has dedicated her professional career to improving public health in Africa, with a focus on vaccine-preventable diseases, HIV and sexual and reproductive health.

She is the Executive Director at Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI), the largest Academic Research Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, which she founded nearly 30 years ago. Wits RHI has over 2500 staff and a national, regional, and global footprint and is a World Health Organisation (WHO) and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Collaborating Centre.

Professor Rees is a Personal Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Wits University, and she received her Medical Degree and Masters in Social and Political Sciences from Newhall College (now Murray Edwards College), Cambridge University, where she is an Honorary Fellow. She is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Clinical Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Professor Rees completed the Senior Executive Programme for Southern Africa at Harvard Business School. She is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the African Local Initiative for Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE) Consortium, a Wits University flagship programme.

During apartheid, Professor Rees was a human rights and health activist. She received the South African National Order of the Baobab in 2015 for her contribution to the health sector in general and to maternal and child health specifically. Most recently, Harvard Public Health named Professor Rees a 'standout voice' in African public health. Professor Rees received an Honorary Doctorate of Science (Medicine) from the University of London in 2020 (conferred in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), awarded to 'persons of eminence and distinction'.

Professor Rees is the Board Chairperson of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), a position she has held since its inception in 2018. She Chairs the World Health Organisation's AFRO Region Immunization Technical Advisory Group and the WHO's International Health Regulation Polio Emergency Committee. She is a member of the WHO IHR Emergency Committee on COVID-19, the WHO Expert Committee on COVID-19 vaccines, and WHO's Scientific and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards. She Co-Chairs the WHO SAGE Working Group on Ebola Vaccines.

Professor Rees has extensive knowledge of the regulatory-ethical interface, having been a member of the South African Ministerial Research Ethics Committee and is a co-author of South Africa's first Good Clinical Practice and Research Ethics Guidelines.

Her involvement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation Board, numerous WHO and National Department of Health and South African COVID-19 Expert Committees have ensured that the benefits of vaccines in treating and eradicating disease remain at the forefront of medical care. She joined the many regional, and global voices calling for equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics and is a keen advocate for increasing research capacity in LMICs and the African region.

Her scholarly output record is impressive, with over 250 scientific academic publications, over 400 invited plenary and keynote addresses and contributing to the organisation of over 100 international and national conferences.

Professor Rees was highly active in the South African COVID-19 response, for which she received the South African Ministerial COVID-19 Special Award in the Platinum Category at the National Batho Pele Excellence Awards last year. In the same year, she also received the French Presidential award, Officier de l'Ordre national du Merite (Officer of the French National Order of Merit), in recognition of an outstanding medical career focused on sexual and reproductive health.

In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II made her an Officer of the British Empire for her contribution to global health.

Other honours bestowed on Professor Rees include the 2014 Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship, given to a leading scholar with a sustained record of outstanding research and intellectual achievement at the highest level. In 2012, the South African Medical Association honoured Prof Rees with a Lifetime Achievement Award for exceptional contribution to the South African health sector.

In 2015, she was awarded the South African National Science and Technology Foundations' Lifetime Achievement Award.

Professor Rees was the first person to receive the South African Department of Science and Technology's 'Distinguished Scientist Award for outstanding contribution to the improvement of the Quality of Life of Women' (2006).

She was awarded the Wits University Vice-Chancellor's Research Award in 2012, the University's highest research recognition. She received the University's Faculty of Health Sciences recognition for dedication and achievement in research in 2013.

In 2002 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to women and children's rights by Amanitare, a pan-African NGO that supports the rights of African women and children.

Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sizwe Mabizela stated, "Professor Helen Rees' commendable contributions to science, global health, medicine and human rights make her worthy of this honorary doctorate. I am delighted that the Rhodes University community has seen it fit to honour you in this way.

According to Prof Rees, this recognition is unexpected but truly wonderful. "The work that has been recognised for this award, including medicines regulation and COVID-19, was not part of a grand career path but were instead opportunities offered to me which built my expertise and gave me great personal satisfaction," she said.

Source: Communications
A sole 2.5L turbo petrol option with 290 bhp and 420 Nm, coupled with an AWD system might be the sole powertrain option on offer with 2024 Hyundai Sonata

Before the launch of Genesis luxury brand in 2015, Sonata used to be the companys flagship sedan. Sonata is currently in its 8th iteration, launched in 2020. Three years after, Hyundai has given it an update that is much more than a simple facelift. 2024 Hyundai Sonata and its N Line variant have made global debut with a radical new design that resembles India-spec Verna with their front fascia.

2024 Hyundai Sonata  New Design Language, More than a facelift

Radical new changes are not only limited to exteriors of 2024 Hyundai Sonata but carry over to its interiors as well. Official pictures of 2024 Sonata are out, while a full-fledged debut is likely to happen at Seoul Mobility Show from March 30th to April 9, 2023. North American market debut will take place at New York International Auto Show on April 9th.

For starters, this is a facelift of outgoing 8th-generation model and not 9th gen model. Outgoing 8th gen Sonata stayed true to 6th and 7th-generation models, while upcoming facelift is completely radical. N line model takes the bar up with sporty alloys, a quad exhaust tip, a rear diffuser and more.

Sonata had a distinct chrome element that engulfed its headlights running into its bonnet shut line, lower window beltline, upper window line and merge into its A-pillar. It is consistently present on 6th, 7th and pre-facelift 8th generation models, and is now ditched in favour of a meaner front profile with headlights positioned below its wide LED light bars.

If this face is ringing a bell in you, youre bang on the money as it looks similar to the recently launched India-spec Verna. Side profile is vastly reminiscent of outgoing pre-facelift Sonata. It has curvaceous lines, complemented by a brand new alloy wheel design.

At the rear, we now have Hyundais recent H element tail light with a connecting light bar, similar to Verna. Actual brake lights seem to be inspired by pixelated design language from Ioniq 5. On the inside, 2024 Hyundai Sonata comes closer to a Genesis in terms of fit and finish and overall sense of luxury.

Specs & Features

Dashboard design is now revised to include two angled 12.3 horizontal displays : One for infotainment and the other for instrumentation. There is a third gloss black plastic element beside instrument cluster which can be a camera to monitor driver fatigue. Or it can be a projector to display a holographic personal assistant.

Gear selector is now mounted behind a 3-spoke steering wheel. It adheres to Hyundais recent design trends with four dots replacing Hyundai badging on steering wheel. There is a Bose-branded stereo system as well.

A sole 2.5L turbo petrol powertrain is likely to be on offer with 2024 Hyundai Sonata. This engine is good for 290 bhp of power and 421 Nm of torque. There is a 1.6L turbo engine option with outgoing model too. Going by rumour mills, this engine might be discontinued. For the first time in Sonatas lifespan, Hyundai is offering AWD as well, which was recently spied.
WEST READING, Pa. (AP)  All seven bodies have been recovered from the site of a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, officials said.

West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said in a statement Sunday night that none of the victims will be named until officials are certain that all families have been contacted.

Please understand that this is a devastating loss, but we are truly grateful to bring closure to the families involved in the upcoming days, Kaag said.

West Reading Borough Chief of Police Wayne Holben said at a press briefing just after 9 p.m. that rescue workers had found the bodies earlier in the evening and that they are believed to be the remaining two individuals who were listed as missing earlier in the day. Their identities will be confirmed by the Berks County Coroners Office, he said.

One of the victims was found around 6:50 p.m. and the other around 8:20 p.m., Holben said. The deaths brought the total number killed to seven in the blast that occurred just before 5 p.m. Friday.

Earlier, Kaag confirmed to The Associated Press that the fifth body was found Sunday morning by first responders.

Holben said the body of a fourth victim was found under debris early Sunday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.

Rescue crews had been using heat imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Crews were using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull debris from the site, Holben said.

Three buildings around the site will be condemned as a precaution, Kaag said.

This does not mean they are slated for demolition or uninhabitable, she said. Simply that there will still be work happening around them as we proceed and they will need to be looked at further by structural engineers.

Officials said they had no update on the condition of a woman pulled alive from the rubble early Saturday. Kaag said she had apparently been on the second floor and was found in a hopeful circumstance, calling out to rescuers despite her injuries after a dog located her.

Officials also reported no updates on the conditions of those taken to hospitals. Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition respectively and the others had been discharged.

R.M. Palmer said in a statement Saturday that everyone at the company was devastated" and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were down.

Kaag, a volunteer firefighter herself, said rescue crews had been working 12- to 16-hour shifts and were so dedicated to continuing the search that you have to pull them away at this point" to swap out and get some rest.

Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the site Saturday and vowed support from the state.

Kaag said some residents have reported damage to windows from the blast, and she asked people to take a walk around your house and report any damage.
The mayor of Poway is proposing the city build granny flats at its own expense in the backyards of willing property owners as part of a novel way to address the regions affordable housing crisis.

Mayor Steve Vaus says the program, dubbed HOMES (Homes On My Extra Space), could become a model for other cities seeking to boost their housing stock to serve low-income renters and homeowners.

He is suggesting the city, one of the wealthier communities in San Diego County, begin with five to 10 units as a pilot project. Its an idea, Vaus said, that could potentially expand Poways affordable housing options at a greatly-reduced cost without compromising the character of our neighborhoods.

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Critics, however, questioned whether the idea was feasible, whether it was a good use of taxpayer money and whether it would create a NIMBY backlash. Others said building a few granny flats was just a gimmick to dodge meaningful ways of increasing affordable housing.

While I appreciate their trying to increase supply, the idea you can subsidize your way out of this mess is ridiculous, Chris Thornberg, founder of Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles economics consulting company. The City of Poway, the state of California, doesnt have enough money to fix this. Putting a few granny flats in backyards isnt going to cut it. Its too little.

Under the proposal to be considered tonight by the Poway City Council, the city would build and pay for the accessory dwelling units in the backyards of property owners who agree to rent them for a specific term, probably in the 10-12 year range.

A nonprofit would act as the property manager for the units, screening qualified, low-income tenants and collecting rents.

The rental income would be split three ways -- with the property owner getting a third, the nonprofit management company getting a third, and the city getting the rest.

At the end of the 10- to 12-year period, the granny flat would be owned by the private property owner without additional costs or obligations.

Vaus said he has been told such granny flats  each the size of a studio or one-bedroom apartment under 1,000 square feet -- could be built for less than $100,000.

Granny flats are being encouraged by the state now, just in terms of general housing, and I thought, why dont we build some ourselves and use them for affordable housing, Vaus said Monday.

Early reaction on social network sites raised a variety of objections.

Joe St Lucas, a close observer of Poway politics and government, said he was bothered that taxpayer money would be given to homeowners to build an addition. So not only will the homeowner get rent from the unit for 10-12 years, but (they) then get a $100K addition for FREE!!! he wrote on the South and North Poway Votes Facebook page.

Others said the proposal seems to favor wealthy Poway residents who have plots large enough to support a granny flat.

According to the website statisticalatlas.com, Poway has the highest median household income of all cities in San Diego County, except for the coastal municipalities of Del Mar, Encinitas and Solana Beach, at just under $99,000.

The median price of a home in Poway was $770,000 as of December 2018, according to CoreLogic, an analytical property data firm, which is higher than most cities but for the same coastal communities.

Poways wealth is concentrated in the northern half of the city where many expensive estate-like homes line well-manicured streets. Those properties are where the granny flats would most likely be built simply because the properties are large enough to support them.

The regulations allow them pretty much anywhere, with setbacks, but I would think it would be more appealing to folks with a little more space, Vaus said.

City Manager Tina White said the idea is very, very unique.

Its going to generate more questions than answers for the other council members and the public, she said.

Poway has a number of affordable housing projects in the city with another on the way and a second in the planning stages. Right now, the city claims 692 units citywide, White said.

But traditionally, there has always been detractors of affordable home projects, which have always been built in the southern part of the city.

Thornberg laughed at the granny flat concept. He said a few granny flats dont even come close to meeting the housing needs of the state and the San Diego area.

As opposed to trying to pay poor people to live in backyards, why dont you go and look at land use  and allow the development and building of apartments and increase the housing stock? Thornberg said.

He said many cities are finding themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock, he said, is the state which is finally saying enough is enough and starting to sue people, and the hard place is the citys own NIMBY issues. A lot are trying desperately to find something they can lob out there that make it look like theyre doing something without really doing something.

Other social media chatter questions who would want a granny flat with low-income housing in their backyards, and even if they did, how would their neighbors react?

Poway City Councilman John Mullin said he was intrigued by the idea, but doesnt know how to feel about it yet. I applaud (Vaus) creative thinking and I think its at least worth looking into, Mullin said.

There are some that say its a good idea to spread the creation of affordable housing throughout the city, but I can see a number of reasons  well, its going to take some investigating.

The largest owner-operator of affordable housing units in Poway is Community Housing Works, which owns six affordable housing projects in the city. Its CEO, Susan Reynolds, said she thinks Vaus idea to take this next step to encourage granny flat construction for affordable housing is a great start.

I think asking that question is a very powerful beginning and the mayor has a very creative way of how to approach it, she said.

Granny flats or mother-in-law units are small, stand-alone housing structures built next to existing larger homes that have their own bathrooms and cooking areas.

The county of San Diego, the City of San Diego and several local cities, have relaxed regulations to encourage granny flats. Recently, Encinitas took action to encourage more granny flat construction by agreeing to waive building fees for accessory dwelling projects and to reduce building setback limits so the flat can be placed close to the edge of a property line to increase open area in the middle of the property.

Last month, the county Board of Supervisors voted to spend $11 million on a five-year trial program to waive fees to encourage granny flats construction in the unincorporated parts of the county. The program immediately waives building permit fees, on-site wastewater fees and development impact fees, which include transportation fees to add roads and infrastructure, fees to build parks, and drainage fees, for homeowners who want to build granny flats.

The cities of San Diego and Oceanside also loosened regulations on accessory dwelling units in 2018.

None, however, take the additional step, as Poway is considering, of having the governmental agency build the structures.

The council will discuss the issue tonight at a meeting that begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 13325 Civic Center Drive, Poway.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Charles Cam Miller sees the scar on his chest every day and remembers how, when he was 9, a bullet from Brenda Spencers .22 rifle pierced him from back to front.

He vividly recalls the sight of Principal Burton Wragg and head custodian Michael Suchar lying bleeding in front of Cleveland Elementary School in the San Carlos neighborhood.



For the record: A previous version of this story failed to mention that custodian Michael Suchar, who was fatally shot, was survived by a son in addition to a wife, who was mentioned in the article. The Union-Tribune regrets the error.

And Miller has never forgotten the horror he felt when he lay in an ambulance next to an inert Suchar and, as the ambulance rounded a curve, the custodian rolled on top of him, face to face.

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It was 40 years ago, on Jan. 29, 1979.

Spencer, then 16, armed with the rifle and scope her father gave her for Christmas, started picking off students heading to the elementary school directly across the street from her Lake Atlin Avenue home. Miller was one of her victims.

She fired 36 rounds. Eleven hit their mark  eight children and three adults. Wragg and Suchar died; the others, including San Diego police Officer Robert Robb, survived their wounds.

Spencer fired at the school for about 20 minutes and famously told a reporter who reached her by phone that she was shooting because I just dont like Mondays I did this because its a way to cheer up the day.

The flippant phrase inspired a hit single, I Dont Like Mondays, by Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats.

Her former defense attorney said the Patrick Henry High School student suffered from a broken home, an abusive father, drug use and hostility toward authorities and society in general.

Her standoff with SWAT lasted more than six hours. Officers found around 200 rounds of unspent ammunition in the house.

Spencer, who was charged in court as an adult, pleaded guilty in 1980 to two counts of murder. She was sentenced to concurrent terms of 25 years to life in prison. Nine counts of attempted murder were dismissed.

Now 56 years old, she remains in the California Institution for Women in Corona. After being denied parole several times, she is eligible for another hearing in 2021.

Hers wasnt the first school mass shooting in the nation, but at that time it was among the few in which more than two or three people died or were wounded. Two of the worst before the Spencer shootings  in 1966 at the University of Texas, where a gunman killed 17 people and wounded 31, and in 1976 at Cal State Fullerton, where seven were killed and two were wounded  involved adult male shooters.

As with any mass shooting, Spencers sniper assault on the elementary school changed the lives of the widows, the wounded, their families and a community. It might have even changed the nation.

She hurt so many people and had so much to do with starting a deadly trend in America, said Richard Sachs, a San Diego County deputy district attorney tasked with formally opposing parole for Spencer on several occasions.

Since 1979, the United States and other nations have seen a dramatic rise in the frequency of mass shootings and the casualty list.

A University of Southern California professor who has studied school shootings agreed that, while they can no longer considered new, they tend to cast a wider, more significant effect on society through widespread news reporting and posts on social media sites.

That shooting probably affected every person on that campus, Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social work and education, said of the San Carlos shooting. It has a very strong ripple effect; even if youre not hit by a bullet, that stays with you forever. Its like the ripple in a pond that goes through generations and a community.

The community may eventually have a hard time remembering the 1979 shooting. The school was sold and leveled, and new housing was built on the 9-acre site. A KB developer sign notes homes available starting at $700,000.

The developer installed a memorial, now at the corner of Lake Atlin and Lake Angela streets, to Wragg and Suchar. It includes a memorial paid for by people in the community.

KB homes were built on the former site of Cleveland Elementary School in San Carlos (Karen Kucher/San Diego Union-Tribune)

One ripple outward from the shootings sent fear through a third generation in the Wragg family.

The principals widow, Kathe Wragg, and daughter Penny made sure the parole board heard their opposition to releasing Spencer from prison. Both have since died, and two surviving sons dont like to speak publicly about it, family members said.

But Haley Wragg, who at age 26 wasnt alive when Spencer killed her grandfather, learned as a child to fear her release from prison.

I know there was a lot of turmoil in the family every time Brenda was up for parole, she said in a recent interview. I was so young I didnt really understand it. I felt really scared  like shed come after me. I felt like letting this person out of her cage would harm my family members even more.

Her cousin Valerie Stahl said she grew up not knowing much about Spencer until she hit college and Googled the incident. Stahl said her mother, Penny Wragg, never got the right help dealing with the murder of her father at the school.

Now I think its better to talk about it, Stahl said.

Haley Wragg said she decided to break the family silence by telling her grandfathers story on a video for Safe Kids, Inc., which develops school safety curricula and guides for parents.

My grandfather and the janitor threw themselves at the kids that were being shot at that morning, to save their lives, and in the process, lost their own, she said. I may not have grown up with a grandpa, but many children grew up to have their own families.

One of those children was Miller, who believes Spencer targeted him that morning because he was wearing a down vest in her favorite color: blue. Other children in down coats were targeted, too, and Spencer later was quoted as saying she enjoyed seeing feathers fly as she shot them.

Miller recalls that his mother had just dropped him off, about 8:30 a.m., and he saw the principal and custodian lying in the parking lot near some bushes. He felt a sharp pain and blacked out for a moment, then a neighbor girl helped him toward the school building. He and other wounded children were hustled to the auditorium to await an ambulance.

I lay in the cafeteria it seemed like forever, with a bullet entry wound in his back and a chest exit would, Miller said.

Meanwhile, San Diego police had raced to the school on reports of gunfire, children shot, then an officer wounded. Patrol Officer Ted Kasinak halted a garbage truck driver headed into the shooting scene and commandeered the truck. He drove it into the parking lot to serve as a shield while officers and school staff removed the wounded.

Right away a volley of shots started, then it stopped, Kasinak said. He took cover behind the truck as SWAT officers surrounded the Spencer house.

Officer Robb, wounded in the neck by a round from Spencer, was huddled behind a tree with other officers, Kasinak recalled. Robb was awarded a medal of valor for rushing forward to try to save those who had been shot.

SWAT Officer Jim McGinley said he took up a sniper position on a neighbors roof, his rifle trained on the Spencer back door. SWAT Officer Marty Duitz aimed his rifle at the front door, from the safety of a school room. They said they had a green light to kill Spencer if they had an opportunity.

But Officer Paul Olson, primary negotiator, talked to Spencer on and off by phone for hours, urging her to throw out her gun and surrender. He promised that a Burger King Whopper would be waiting for her.

Now 72, Olson has kept his report notes from that day. He said Spencer told him things like having shot a rabbit in the back of its head from 25 yards. She said the school victims looked like a herd of cows for gathering around the wounded, making them easy pickings.

Spencer came out of her house about 2:30 p.m., laying her .22 rifle and a pellet rifle on the ground, then boxes of ammunition. Kasinak and Officer Patty Bernathy drove the teen to the homicide unit for questioning.

Suchar, the custodian who died after being shot was survived by his wife and a son. Mike Guerrero, a financial accountant with National School District, worked for Suchar as a part-time janitor while studying at San Diego State University.

He said Suchar and the principal didnt get along all that well, but that day when Wragg was felled in the parking lot, Suchar didnt hesitate to run out and try to help.

All I can think was, his military training kicked in. Its your comrade and you assist him, Guerrero said. He noted that Suchar had been in the Seabees, a Navy construction battalion, during World War II and emerged with no battle wounds.

San Diego police officers Patty Bernathy and Ted Kasniak escort Brenda Spencer to homicide investigators after the shootings at Cleveland Elementary School in 1979. (Barry Fitsimmons/San Diego Union-Tribune)

Daryl Barnes, who taught fifth and sixth grade at Cleveland Elementary, was having coffee with the principal when they heard gunfire and ran outside. Barnes was narrowly missed by bullets as he dragged several children indoors.

Twenty-two years later, his son, Dan Barnes, also a teacher, found himself a target of Granite Hills High School shooter Jason Hoffman. Hoffman fired at him, but missed. Dan Barnes is now principal at Grossmont High School.

Daryl Barnes retired from teaching in 2001 and died in 2016. His widow, Karen Barnes, said her husband always believed that the Lord had protected him from Spencer during the shooting.

He always remembered that day, Barnes said. He always talked about that blood stain on the principals shirt.

Mary Rintoul remembers, too. She was Mary Clark then, aged 9, when she was shot through her lower torso and didnt know it. A quick pain subsided as she was rushed into the cafeteria, to safety. Other children lay bleeding on the stage.

I remember that fear; you dont know whats going on. We didnt understand why she was shooting at us, Rintoul said.

Police escorted them to buses to be united with parents at Pershing Middle School. Her mother discovered the bullet hole through her jacket zipper and in her side.

Rintoul suffered nightmares and got counseling. Her older brother helped her over a fear of guns by taking her out shooting jackrabbits when she was 11. She said she learned the gun wasnt the danger, but the person firing it.

Whenever I hear of school shootings, Im bothered because I know what those children are facing, Rintoul said. I stopped following Brendas parole hearings 25 years ago. I realized shed never have a realistic answer of why she did it.

Spencers former attorney, Michael McGlinn, who has represented juvenile offenders for decades, believes his former client didnt know what she was doing and no longer poses a threat to society. He was not hired to represent Spencer at her parole hearings.

She wrote him a letter in 2015, thanking him for his criminal defense work and noting, what I did was horrible so I dont really complain about the amount of time Ive done.

McGlinn believes Spencers accounts that her divorced father, Wallace Spencer, sexually abused her and that under his influence she began dressing as a boy and learned to hunt and shoot with him. Her father went on to marry Spencers 17-year-old Juvenile Hall cellmate but they later divorced. He died at age 87 in 2016.

The morning of the shooting, McGlinn said, Spencer drank alcohol and took her epilepsy medicine, Tegretol. When he saw her days later in Juvenile Hall, she was ashen, zombie-like in appearance, the lawyer said. After she came out of her zombie state (in prison) I didnt perceive her as a danger. And I dont today.

Sachs, the deputy district attorney who supervises the lifer unit to track the parole hearings of major offenders, disagrees with McGlinn. He noted that Spencer shot people 150 feet away with deadly accuracy, not as one under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

At her 2016 parole eligibility hearing, she cried frequently demonstrating emotional instability, Sachs said.

She claimed she wasnt trying to kill anybody, she was just shooting, he said. What she did was so awful, shooting at children. We feel a life sentence is only fair for someone guilty of all those things.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @pdrepard
Premier of the State Council Li Qiang will attend the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 and deliver a keynote speech at the forums invitation in Hainan on March 30.

Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysias Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Cote dIvoire Patrick Achi and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva will attend the annual conference at the forums invitation.

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysias Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will pay an official visit to China on the margins of the annual conference.

CCTV: Could you share Chinas expectations for the visit by leaders of Singapore, Malaysia and Spain? How do you see the current relations between China and these three countries?

Mao Ning: Leaders of the three countries will travel to Beijing after attending the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in Hainan. The Chinese leadership will meet with and hold talks with them respectively for an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral ties and international and regional issues of mutual interest.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is one of the foreign leaders that have paid the most visits to China. He made his last visit to China four years ago. China and Singapore are each others friendly neighbors and important cooperation partners. Our practical cooperation is a pacesetter in the region. We hope to take this visit as an opportunity to elevate and upgrade bilateral ties and steer cooperation towards even higher quality.

This will be Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahims first visit to China in his current capacity. Malaysia is an important developing country and emerging economy in the region. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership and next year we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties. We hope this visit will promote new progress in bilateral relations as our two countries work together towards a community with a shared future.

For Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, this will be his first visit to China. Spain is Chinas important partner in the EU. This year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Spain diplomatic relations. We hope this visit will be an opportunity to blueprint the future development of bilateral relations and bring our comprehensive strategic partnership to a new height.

Xinhua News Agency: You just made an announcement about the leaders who will attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023. Do you have any expectations for the meeting this year?

Mao Ning: The Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 will be held in Boao, Hainan from March 28 to 31 with its opening ceremony to be held on March 30.

The international and regional environment for development is undergoing complex changes. The theme of this years annual conference An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges, reflects the shared aspiration of the international community for peace, cooperation and development. As the host country, China hopes that the forum will provide participants with an international platform for exchanges to discuss how to advance peace, development and win-win cooperation and contribute insights to enhancing global governance and the well-being of people around the world.

Reuters: China has established diplomatic relations with Honduras. So Honduras previously asked Taiwan for $2.5 billion in financial aid. Will China give Honduras this amount that it previously requested from Taiwan?

Mao Ning: Establishing diplomatic ties with China is a political decision made by Honduras on the basis of the one-China principle and based on no preconditions. China highly appreciates the decision of Honduras. Diplomatic relations are not a bargaining chip. Over the past few years, when Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Nicaragua established or restored diplomatic relations with China, there were no preconditions whatsoever, neither were there any for Honduras.

Now that we have established diplomatic ties with Honduras, China will, on the basis of the one-China principle, act in the spirit of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and common development, actively promote the mutually-beneficial cooperation in various fields with Honduras, and contribute to its economic and social development and the well-being of the local people.

It is widely known that the DPP authorities are an expert of using dollar diplomacy. We would like to make this clear to the DPP authorities that Taiwan independence and dollar diplomacy have no future and any attempt to go against the trend of history will end in failure.

RIA Novosti: Russian President Putin said earlier that Russia and Belarus had agreed on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Does the Chinese foreign ministry have any comment?

Mao Ning: In January last year, the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states released a joint statement, in which they affirmed that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought and stressed the importance of the avoidance of war between nuclear-weapon states and the reduction of strategic risks. Under the current circumstances, all sides need to focus on making diplomatic efforts towards a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and work together for deescalation.

Asahi TV: A Japanese man was detained in Beijing last week. The Japanese side, Japanese nationals living in China in particular, are closely following this. Can you tell us the reason for his detention and his current conditions?

Mao Ning: It is learned that earlier this month, relevant Chinese authorities adopted compulsory measures in accordance with the criminal procedure law against a Japanese citizen for case examination. This Japanese citizen is suspected of engaging in espionage activities and violating the Criminal Law of the Peoples Republic of China and the Counterespionage Law of the Peoples Republic of China. In accordance with relevant stipulations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-Japan Consular Agreement, the Chinese side has notified the Japanese Embassy in China. I need to stress that China is a country governed by law. All foreigners living in and traveling to China must observe Chinese laws and those who violate the law and commit crimes will be held legally accountable. There have been similar cases involving Japanese citizens in recent years and the Japanese side needs to do more to ask their citizens not to engage in such activities.

NHK: A follow-up on the Japanese citizen detained. The Chinese side often talks about abiding by Chinese laws, but in similar cases, authorities do not disclose relevant information. Foreigners in China find it frustrating. In this case, what exactly are the offenses and what laws are broken? There is also criticism about Chinas investment environment among some companies. Since China has been stressing market openness and the need to attract foreign investment, a reliable business environment would be particularly important for China now. Whats your comment?

Mao Ning: I have shared the information I have with you. Let me stress that businesses and individuals need to abide by the law in their host countries, which is expected in all countries in the world. China is a country under the rule of law. The case concerned will be handled in accordance with the law and the lawful rights and interests of the people concerned will be protected accordingly. The rule of law is also an integral part of a sound business environment.

The Paper: According to reports, in response to the joint statement by the heads of state of China and Russia which expressed serious concern over the planned discharge into the ocean of the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura said to the press after a Cabinet meeting on March 24 that the phrase radioactive contaminated water reflects a factual error and that the Japanese side will continue to release science-based information in a patient and meticulous way. Do you have any comment?

Mao Ning: In the spirit of science and out of a sense of responsibility for our peoples health and the global marine environment and public interests, China has expressed concerns repeatedly over Japans unilateral decision to discharge into the ocean the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Japan has been claiming that ALPS-treated nuclear-contaminated water is safe and harmless and that it opposes calling the water nuclear-contaminated. The fact, however, is that the water contains over 60 radionuclides, many of which cannot be treated effectively with existing technologies. Some long-lived radionuclides may spread with ocean currents and form a bioconcentration effect, which will multiply the total amount of radionuclides in the environment, causing unpredictable hazards to the marine environment and human health. The discharge will last as long as 30 years or even longer. The maturity and effectiveness of ALPS has not been evaluated or certified by a third party. There is no precedent to the handling of such a large amount of nuclear-contaminated water with such complex components, and whether ALPS will remain effective in the long run remains a question. According to data released by Japan earlier this month, nearly 70% of ALPS-treated nuclear-contaminated water failed to meet the standards. Moreover, relevant data were provided by TEPCO, which has been tampering with or covering up the data. How can the world be assured that the treated water is as safe as Japan claims?

What Japan needs to do now is to take seriously the legitimate concerns of the international community, faithfully perform its international obligations, and handle the nuclear-contaminated water in the safest and most prudent way, including fully studying alternatives to ocean discharge. Japan also needs to fully subject itself to international oversight, and avoid, to the maximum extent possible, imposing unpredictable risks on the international community. Japan must not seek to whitewash its ocean discharge decision and must not start discharging the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean before reaching a consensus through full consultation with neighboring countries and other stakeholders as well as relevant international agencies.

Reuters: US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said yesterday that the House will bring forward legislation involving TikTok. Whats your comment?

Mao Ning: Weve stated our position on multiple occasions. The US side has provided no evidence or proof that TikTok threatens US national security, yet it has repeatedly suppressed and attacked the company based on the presumption of guilt. A professional issue should be addressed in a professional way. Keeping others down will not make oneself stronger. The US should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing foreign companies and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies investing and operating in the US.

Kyodo News: Also about the detained Japanese citizen. The Japanese side is calling for the release of the citizen as soon as possible and the government said that the consular access has not been realized yet. Whats Chinas comment? Is the Beijing bureau for national security among the competent authorities you referred to?

Mao Ning: The law will decide whether he can be released. China is a country governed by law. The case will be handled in accordance with the law. We will handle the matters concerning consular access in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the China-Japan Consular Agreement. By competent authorities, I was referring to the national security authorities.

Shenzhen TV: According to reports, Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina said that the Honduran government assured that they will not leave students who are studying in Taiwan with Taiwanese scholarships helpless, and a way to help them will be sought from China following the establishment of diplomatic ties. So will China allow these Honduran students to continue their study in the mainland?

Mao Ning: China cares deeply about Honduran students in Taiwan. The mainland is ready to receive every one of them if they wish to come to study in the mainland, which will become their new home. The establishment of diplomatic relations will serve as our new starting point, as we set out to broaden cultural, people-to-people and educational exchanges and cooperation and bring our peoples closer to each other with Honduras.

AFP: Former leader of the Taiwan region Ma Ying-jeou started a historic visit to the mainland today. Can the foreign ministry confirm that he will meet with senior officials? Do you have any comment on this visit?

Mao Ning: This is not a question about diplomacy. Id like to refer you to the competent authorities.

CGTN: March 25 is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Would you like to share your thoughts on the occasion?

Mao Ning: Transatlantic slave trade is one of the darkest chapters in human history. According to relevant data, more than 15 million people fell victim to the historical tragedy. In December 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution designating March 25 as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It was a step to acknowledge the four-century-long transatlantic slave trade and its lasting consequences felt throughout the world and to strive to eliminate the legacy of slavery including racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.

To eliminate all forms of racism and to ensure the dignity and equal rights of all human beings is to act on the spirit of the UN Charter and to deliver international fairness and justice. We regret to see that today, the elimination of the negative impact of slavery and slave trade remains an uphill battle. Racism, racial discrimination and inequality are still ingrained in some countries. Some Western countries resort to illegal military intervention, unilateral coercive measures and democratic transformation in other countries in an attempt to grab new markets, plunder resources and exploit the workforce. Various neo-colonial and hegemonic acts like this seriously violate the human rights of people in developing countries.

The shadow of colonialism and slavery still looms over the US society. According to the website of Mapping Police Violence, African Americans are 2.78 times more likely than white Americans to be killed by police from 2013 to 2022. Cries of despair like I cant breathe have been echoing again and again in the US.

Forgetting history means betraying it. The US should think about how it should fulfill its international human rights obligations, address domestic systemic racism and racist discrimination, end impunity, stop interfering in other countries internal affairs and stop causing instability overseas.

Reuters: On the visit of Ghanas finance minister. Ghanas finance ministry said last week that it expected to secure financing assurances from China very soon. Do you have any response?

Mao Ning: Id like to refer you to the competent authorities.

NBC: Regarding President Putins decision on tactical nuclear weapons, do you think that will complicate Chinas peace plan for Ukraine? In general, anyway, how can any peace plan make progress if major powers like the US and China are not even discussing this? Is there any possibility that in the reported next conversation between Chinese and US leaders, this issue will be touched on?

Mao Ning: Chinas position on this issue is well articulated in Chinas Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis. On the issue of Ukraine, we have advocated a political settlement of the crisis and promoted talks for peace. China has been in communication with all sides and will continue to play a constructive role in our own way to help deescalate the situation. We hope that the US will also act responsibly to create the necessary environment and conditions for peace talks between the parties concerned, rather than add fuel to the fire.

China Review News: The American Institute in Taiwan said that while Honduras severing of ties was a sovereign decision, China often makes promises in exchange for diplomatic recognition that ultimately remain unfulfilled. They added that We strongly encourage all countries to expand engagement with Taiwan and to continue to stand on the side of democracy, good governance, transparency, and adherence to the rule of law. Do you have any comment?

Mao Ning: To quote a line from a Chinese poem, Despite the incessant cry of apes from the banks, the swift boat has already sailed through thousands of hills.

MASTV: On March 24, US President Biden released a joint statement with Prime Minister Trudeau while visiting Canada, in which they acknowledged the serious long-term challenge to the international order posed by China and stated that while they will cooperate with China in areas of mutual interest, such as on climate change, they remain committed to ensuring their ability to compete effectively with China on a level playing field. They also reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. Whats Chinas response?

Mao Ning: China is firmly against the unwarranted attacks and smears against China by the US and Canada.

China is committed to peace and development, advocates openness and inclusiveness and practices win-win cooperation. China has always been a force for world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order. In contrast, the US and Canada cling to the Cold War mentality, advance group politics and stoke bloc confrontation. It is plainly visible to the international community who is right and who is wrong. The US and Canada should reflect on what they have done rather than misrepresent the facts and shift the blame onto China.

We often hear these countries talking about upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a certain country, yet when it comes to issues concerning Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, these countries have openly applied double standards, which shows their hypocrisy. The Taiwan question is Chinas internal affair and bears on Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity. The US and Canada are in no position to point fingers.

NBC: A US House committee held a hearing on a report called Genocide in Xinjiang. Would China be willing to invite a US congressional delegation, for example, to visit Xinjiang and see for themselves whats happening there?

Mao Ning: The allegation of genocide in Xinjiang is a lie that stemmed from anti-China elements and has already been exposed by facts. Todays Xinjiang enjoys social stability and economic prosperity. People there live a peaceful and happy life, and their human rights, regardless of their ethnic background, are under full protection. The door to Xinjiang is always open. People of all countries with no prejudice are welcome to visit Xinjiang and see the place with their own eyes. We believe that facts are the best way to debunk these lies and disinformation.

AFP: Last Monday, Chinese authorities shut down the Beijing office of Mintz Group, a US corporate due diligence firm, and detained its five local staff. Do you have any update on that?

Mao Ning: Based on what we have learned from relevant authorities, the company is suspected of illegal business operations. Further investigation is underway.
The signs, both handmade and professional, left no doubt about the political views of those who attended the WNY Women's March on Sunday that began in front of Buffalo City Hall.

Weak men fear strong women

Hands off my rights

We demand a real right to choose!

Birth control free and unrestricted!

Down with the patriarchy, racism and capitalism

The issues covered by speakers at the event, sponsored by the WNY Peace Center, included abortion rights, the plight of women in war-torn countries, and environmental sustainability and climate change.

But as much as it was about policy and politics, the annual event served as a balm for activists who were looking to rejuvenate their spirits after the long and isolating Buffalo winter.

"The idea that in March, which is a tough month for some people, we come outside," said Talia Rodriguez, a coordinator of the march. "Almost like welcoming the spring with some hope."

Four years ago, the women's march in Buffalo sparked something in Rodriguez, 33, who has since gone on to help organize and promote the event.

"It gave me the confidence to go into a room or in a situation where I don't know what exactly I'm going to say and speak from my heart," she said. "It was amazing."

Activism and social justice are a family tradition for the Buffalo native.

"My grandma marched with Martin Luther King. My Dad was at the 'I Have a Dream' speech. But nothing feels like democracy more than today. Putting out my flag and grabbing my sign  I feel really proud," she said.

Progress celebrated

Susan Wilke, 73, came to support younger women like Rodriguez.

Im doing it just for solidarity because of the next generation of women," Wilke said. "Im a baby boomer. During my working life, I did encounter certain types of discrimination."

Wilke, of North Tonawanda, was just finishing school when the women's liberation movement took hold in America.

Wilke said she signed up for mechanical drawing class in high school but was dropped from the class when a boy said he wanted the spot. She later went to college and studied drafting, computer-aided design and engineering.

She and a friend had to accept lower wages than men in order to be hired, she said, when she took a job doing concrete gradation testing, which involved sifting 20 pounds of crushed stone and sand as part of the concrete-mixing process.

It was very dirty," she said. "Youd go to a concrete batch, and there were all guys there, and youd have to use the mens room. And they were very nice guys. They swore all the time, but that was OK."

As she marched from Niagara Square to the Central Library with a sign made of poster board and wood, Wilke glanced down at the sidewalk and instantly recognized its composition.

"This is gravel and it looks like they sandblasted it a little bit," she said. "And this is made from No. 1 aggregate. Its like crushed stone."

Wilke said she was "grateful" to be able to make her way in a male-dominated profession, and she's glad that barriers in the workplace continue to come down.

Its getting better," she said. "A lot of women have gotten into medical professions. Like I go to the dentist, and its all women dentists."

Inspiration and heckling

Sarah Grubbs, 27, said she comes to the annual march "just to be inspired, really."

She said she was most interested in learning about how climate change affects women, who she said still face obstacles despite progress on equality and workplace conditions.

"The big things that come to mind are just violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, and just being able to protect women when they get into situations like that," Grubbs said.

As she spoke, a man driving through the traffic circle in front of City Hall rolled down his window, read the signs held by some supporting abortion rights and shouted "baby killers."

The heckling was soon drowned out by chants of "women's rights are human rights."

Deidra EmEl, executive director of the WNY Peace Center, then led marchers into the Central Library and introduced more than a dozen women who gave short speeches about causes that affect women.

Despite the signage that criticized the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, EmEl said this year's theme involved women who suffer across the globe.

"Its not just about us," she said. "Theres so many women around the world, whether its Iran or Afghanistan or Ethiopia, or different places around the world, that are facing discrimination and the right to just be a human being in your country, that are dealing with the effects of war, whether its rape, hunger (or) lack of shelter for them and their children."

"When men make war," she said, "we suffer the consequences."
Volcanic relics scattered throughout the Australian landscape are a map of the northward movement of the continent over a 'hotspot' inside the Earth, during the last 35 million years.

University of Queensland researchers Dr Tamini Tapu, Associate Professor Teresa Ubide and Professor Paulo Vasconcelos discovered how these relics reveal the inner structure of the Australian volcanoes became increasingly complex as the hotspot's magma output decreased.

Dr Al-Tamini Tapu, whose PhD project at UQ's School of Earth and Environmental Sciences formed the basis of this study, said the hotspot was incredibly strong in its early stages, generating some of eastern Australia's most beloved natural attractions.

"These large volcanoes were active for up to seven million years," Dr Tapu said.

"The volcanoes formed as the continent moved over a stationary hotspot inside the planet, melting the land above it so magma could ooze upward.

"This left a treasure trove of volcanic landmarks in its wake, forming the longest chain of continental 'hotspot' volcanoes on Earth -along Australia's eastern side.

"As you cast your eye along this massive chain, you'll find Queensland volcanoes such as the Glass House Mountains and Tweed Volcano, which are 'shield volcanoes' visited by countless locals and tourists every year."

Enormous, long-lived lava outpourings in Tweed volcano may have weakened the hotspot, and caused the younger volcanoes to the south to become smaller and shorter-lived.

"This indicates the changes caused as the continent shifted over the weakening hotspot," Dr Tapu said.

Associate Professor Teresa Ubide said that, as the magma production waned, the volcanoes became internally more complicated, erupting lavas full of complex crystals.

"These little heroes hold the secrets of how the volcano works inside and tell us that the late Australian volcanoes were full of magma pockets, or reservoirs," Dr Ubide said.

"As these cooled down and became more viscous, it became more difficult to generate eruptions, which may have been more explosive.

"We found that the arrival of new, hotter, and gas-rich magma acts like a shaken bottle of fizzy drink, causing a build-up of pressure in the magma, and, eventually, an eruption."

Dr Ubide said Australia's extinct 'hotspot volcanoes' provide a unique laboratory for researchers to investigate processes leading to volcanic eruptions across the globe.

"The effect of erosion over tens of millions of years allows us to access complete sequences of lava that can be difficult to access in more recent volcanoes," she said.

"It then makes it possible to reconstruct the inner structure of the volcanoes, sort of like opening a doll's house, which gives us a much better understanding of hotspot activity globally.

"This is particularly important, given there are many active hotspots on Earth, including in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and in other continents, such as the United States' Yellowstone volcano.

"Volcanoes in these areas produce large volumes of lava and have an important role in the evolution of our planet and atmosphere -- so having a real-world 'doll's house' to play around in and observe variations with time and magma supply is very helpful.

"Our study shows the fundamental role of the strength of heat anomalies inside the Earth in the evolution of our planet and its landscape over millions of years.

"Reconstruction of these extinct volcanoes can help to better understand active continental hotspot volcanoes globally."
Black women and others with curly or kinky hair encounter a vast and confusing array of haircare options. Advice on the best products to use for a certain type of hair is often contradictory, and the results can be highly variable. Now, scientists are bringing order to this chaos by identifying properties such as the number of curls or coils in a given length of hair that could eventually help users pick the perfect product and achieve consistent results.

The researchers will present their findings today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

"As an African American, I was born with very curly, seemingly unmanageable hair, and other ethnicities can possess similar hair properties," says Michelle Gaines, Ph.D., the project's principal investigator. Gaines used to rely on chemical relaxers to straighten her tresses but stopped when she became pregnant. She was then confronted with an overwhelming variety of products available to style and care for natural hair. Limited guidance about the best options for her particular hair type, and conflicting advice from friends, YouTube videos and other resources, didn't help the situation.

Clearly, Gaines says, there is a major knowledge gap that needs to be closed, so she has set out to fill it. "As a polymer chemist and materials scientist, I thought it would be great to start a project where I could study the nuances of my hair, because I felt like it wasn't very well understood," she says.

Most prior research on properties was done on wavy or straight strands from white or Asian people, according to Gaines, who is at Spelman College, a historically Black college for women. Less is known about what has traditionally been called "African" hair, she says, though researchers at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town in South Africa have published some findings.

L'Oreal, as well as celebrity hair stylist Andre Walker and others, have developed systems to classify different types of hair. Walker's system ranges from straight to kinky, a category including tight coils and zig-zag strands with angular bends. Although some people believe all of these classification methods convey a preference for a smoother and straighter appearance -- a bias with historic links to the preferential treatment of enslaved people who had straighter hair and lighter skin -- they're intended to help users choose the most suitable haircare products. Gaines felt these systems worked well for straight and wavy hair but lacked the nuance to distinguish the many varieties of curly and kinky hair.

Gaines wanted to see if she could identify differences in properties other than curl shape and tightness, and then use those differences to develop a more precise and quantitative classification system. Undergraduates at Spelman eagerly lined up to help. Gaines and her student, Imani Page, are collaborating with Alfred Crosby, Ph.D., and Gregory Grason, Ph.D., at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; their expertise includes material property characterization and modeling of complex materials and soft matter.

The team measured the mechanical properties of wavy, curly and kinky hairs with a texture analyzer and a dynamic mechanical analyzer. These instruments measure force, stress and other parameters as a strand is first uncurled and then stretched until it breaks.

Among other findings, the team recently reported results for the "stretch ratio," a new parameter they developed to quantify and compare the force required to uncurl a strand until it's straight. That ratio was found to be negligible for straight hair (since it can't be uncurled), about 0.8 for wavy, 1.1 for kinky and 1.4 for curly. This measurement could therefore be used as an indicator of the initial curliness of a sample, providing a quantifiable way to distinguish between these types.

The team also measured geometric properties, such as the diameter, cross section and 3D shape of strands, using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a camera. In addition, the researchers developed new parameters, including the number of complete waves, curls or coils -- known as contours -- that they measured on 3-cm lengths of hair. They found that wavy hair has less than one full contour in that length, curly has about two, and kinky/coily has approximately three or more. The results suggest that people will be able to classify their own hair by counting contours, Gaines says.

In the latest work, Gaines has begun examining the layer that protects the surface of each hair fiber. Known as the cuticle, it consists of flat cells that overlap each other, like roof shingles. Cuticles have a natural tendency to open and close reversibly when exposed to water, shampoo and conditioner. However, excessive acid and moisture retention can cause permanent damage to the cuticles, causing them to remain irreversibly lifted, thus exposing the inner cortex of the hair fiber. Irreversibly lifted cuticles, and cuticles that easily open and close, make the strand more porous, which causes more moisture absorption. Gaines' preliminary findings show the cuticle layers are larger and spaced further apart in wavy hair than in curly and coily hair. Also, the cuticle edges are smoother in wavy hair. These findings could help the researchers explain why curly and coily locks dry out faster than wavy and straight tresses. Ultimately, Gaines hopes, the team's findings will identify the best parameters for developers to design and for consumers to select the most suitable products for each of the wondrously varied categories of hair.

The researchers acknowledge support from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
A federal judge last week sentenced a former City Honors teacher to 14 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Peter Hingston, 63, of Amherst, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography in June 2021.

In addition to prison time, Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford also sentenced Hingston to 15 years of supervised release after his incarceration, prosecutors said in a news release.

Hingston had been scheduled to be sentenced in July, but sentencing was delayed after the court received "new information," including a message from a person who identified herself as a victim of Hingston.

Last year, prosecutors sought a term of 17 1/2 to 20 years.

Police responded to City Honors in June 2019 after Hingston was accused of taking inappropriate photos of female students. Investigators found photos of minor victims on a camera and videos of other minor victims on an external hard drive, according to prosecutors.

Hingston taught in Buffalo Public Schools for 28 years, starting in 1992.
On March 23, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Aaron Cain McKnight with orchestrating three separate fraudulent investment schemes through which he allegedly stole more than $8.4 million from at least 28 investors. The SEC also charged a lawyer, his law firm, a promoter, and McKnight's sister with aiding and abetting aspects of the schemes.

According to the SEC's complaint, between March 2018 and September 2021, McKnight ran three schemes that, while separate, followed a similar pattern. In each scheme, McKnight allegedly portrayed himself as an experienced professional controlling financial services firms, through which he offered investment opportunities that promised extraordinary returns but that, in reality, did not exist. Using his fabricated credentials, he allegedly raised funds from numerous investors only to then use the investors' money for non-investment purposes, including personal expenses, operation of his outside business, and/or Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors.

The SEC further alleges that lawyer Kenneth Miller and his law firm, Frost & Miller, LLP ("F&M"), substantially assisted McKnight's first scheme by receiving and immediately distributing over $2 million of investor funds at McKnight's direction. According to the SEC, Miller and F&M provided this assistance despite not having a clear understanding of why the funds were sent to F&M, who the funds had come from or were going to, or what function the investors expected F&M to serve.

The SEC's complaint, filed in Texas federal court, charges McKnight and two entities he employed in one of the schemes, BPM Global Investments, LLC ("BPM Global") and BPM Asset Management, LLC ("BPMAM"), with violating various antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint also charges Sherry Rebekka Sims, Harmony Brooke McKnight, Miller, and F&M with aiding and abetting certain of these violations, and names Timothy Neher and his company, Accelerated Venture Partners, LLC, as relief defendants. Additionally, the complaint charges McKnight and Harmony McKnight as control persons under Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act for the violations of BPM Global and BPMAM. The SEC's complaint seeks permanent injunctions, including conduct-based injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil penalties, and officer and director bars.

Without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations, Sims consented to a bifurcated settlement, agreeing to the entry of a final judgment that, among other things, permanently enjoins her from violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and from soliciting, or issuing guarantees in connection with, the purchase or sale of securities. Civil penalties will be determined by the court at a later date upon motion of the Commission.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Jason Anthony and Michael Flanagan, and was supervised by Paul Pashkoff and Melissa Hodgman. The SEC's litigation will be led by Anna Area and supervised by David Nasse.

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued investor alerts on the red flags of investment fraud. Additional information is available on Investor.gov.
Patrick Pleul/TNS 2021

Elon Musk warned employees in an email Friday that Twitter is in a precarious financial position and that the value of the company has fallen by more than half since he bought it in October, according to the New York Times.

Musk said in the email, which was reviewed by the Times, that the social media company he purchased for $44 billion is now worth about $20 billion. He said radical changes, such as mass layoffs and cost cutting, are necessary to avoid bankruptcy.
A contentious legal fight between one of the most prominent restaurants in San Franciscos Chinatown neighborhood and its landlord thats been simmering for two years has recently boiled over, resulting in an eviction threat.

China Live, the massive food hall located at 644 Broadway, was served in January with an unlawful detainer, or an eviction notice, which was first reported by the San Francisco Business Times. The owner of the building, 644 Broadway, LLC, which is managed by Cypress Properties Group, LLC, claims China Live owes $4.2 million in back rent. 644 Broadway alleged China Live maliciously diverted federal pandemic assistance meant for paying rent to other uses, according to the lawsuit.

However, a lawyer for 644 Broadway filed to dismiss the case in March, according to legal records. Attorney Terry Mollica said his client voluntarily dismissed the eviction threat but declined to state why. There was no settlement, and he said we are still trying to get the tenant to pay the rent.

China Live owner George Chen insisted the restaurant is not closing. Cindy Machado, senior property manager for Cypress Properties Group, declined to comment.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

The elaborate, 30,000-square-foot Chinatown restaurant was first to take legal action in 2021. The business sued its landlord, claiming it launched a campaign to shut down China Live.

China Live sued the building owner for breach of contract after restructuring its lease due to the business disruption of the pandemic. China Live claimed 644 Broadway overcharged for square footage and failed to address maintenance issues, according to the lawsuit. In 2021, the restaurant filed a police report after feeling threatened by a letter from 644 Broadway demanding China Live pay rent within five days or face going to jail for up to 20 years.

The restaurant also claimed 644 Broadway damaged its plans to open China Live outposts in Las Vegas, Chicago and New York City and its ability to bring on new investors. The suit asked for $25 million in estimated damages and claimed that deals for new China Live locations came to a standstill after owners learned about their dispute in San Francisco.

The breach of contract lawsuit is ongoing.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

China Live opened in 2017 to much anticipation, with a fine-dining restaurant, bar and market. Chen is now planning to open another multistory food hall at the Louvre in Paris.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

China Live is the latest example of a high-profile eviction threat in the Bay Area restaurant industry, and could be an indication of a long-term consequence of the pandemic. Stone Brewing Co.s Napa taproom and brewery closed in 2021 after a months-long rent dispute. Now-closed San Francisco bar Hard Water was hit with an eviction notice last spring over an alleged $400,000 in unpaid rent.

Laurie Thomas, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, said its disturbing to hear of an eviction notice, especially as local restaurants remain in a perilous state due to increasing costs, slowing sales and lingering effects of the pandemic. San Francisco restaurants closed at twice the rate they opened in 2022, she said.

Hearing things like this, she said of the China Live dispute, underscores the restaurant industry in San Francisco for multiple reasons is not out of the woods yet.

This story has been updated to include a comment from 644 Broadway attorney Terry Mollica.
I thought San Francisco and its glorious alternative, unclassifiable culture was over.

We started to lose it in the early 2000s when the young began to go to their phones for entertainment, and we subsequently lost many live music and dance clubs and independent cinemas.

Then Halloween became boring with endless copycat nurses, devils and purple Costco wigs.

Then I thought it was completely lost when COVID wiped out any last vestiges of the past and the city shuttered up.

But Saturday while biking to a gallery in the South of Market, I spied a gentleman wearing what can best be described as a wolf gas mask (with a matching furry costume) standing on the corner reading a book.

Then in the Haight-Ashbury, I saw three absolutely buck-naked gentlemen standing at a coffee shop drinking their lattes  without any socks, or sock, anywhere.

I thought San Francisco was over. I was sorely mistaken.

Mark Knego, San Francisco

Water policy kills fishery

Our hearts ache for the tribal and commercial fishing families that are facing losses of food, culture and income from the states closure of salmon fishing this year.

The climate crisis and drought have exacerbated the situation, but this is the direct and predicted result of decisions by Gov. Gavin Newson and the federal government to prioritize export crops over people. They upheld Trump administration water plans that prioritized agriculture over the environment, killing the majority of our young salmon three years running.

The health and social impact on our communities cannot be overstated. Suicides, poverty, drug use and the loss of hope will rise.

Our government has repeatedly failed to meet its obligations to protect our fisheries, leaving businesses and communities behind.

The rivers and salmon are not the only things that the government is killing.

Regina Chichizola, executive director, Save California Salmon

Wars consequences

Weve just passed the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war, although it may be better described as the invasion of Iraq. It raises questions about the decisions the U.S. has made to choose the violence of war.

There are Vietnam and Iraq, both ill-advised decisions to make war and invade another nation for ideological reasons, which are often political rather than principled. And now our money and weapons support Ukraine. Of course, Vladimir Putins invasion is wrong, horrible and viewed correctly as a war crime. However, is our support helpful in bringing about peace, and are we pushing hard enough for peace talks?

Again, can we believe the rhetoric that its a battle between the forces of democracy vs. autocracy? Does that obscure other more hidden agendas of the U.S.?

And does this inclination of the U.S. toward the use of violence filter down to our children and send the message that violence solves problems? Does that account for so many school shootings and mass murders? Can we think more about this?

Peter Klein, Menlo Park

Marin open to housing

Regarding A huge housing project is getting built next to San Quentin. Heres what it could look like (Real Estate, SFChronicle.com, March 16): The Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously supports the proposed Oak Hill housing development.

This project will provide 250 affordable homes, 135 of which will be an opportunity for some of our teachers, school staff and county workforce to live near their jobs and be part of the communities they serve.

On March 7, our board voted to form a Joint Powers Authority with the Marin County Office of Education for the construction and operation of this development and to create a new avenue for adding more housing.

I feel fortunate that some of the first new homes that will be built in Marin County under our new housing element are in my district, and along with my board colleagues, look forward to future projects. We are grateful to the state for taking steps to use its land in this way and wholeheartedly embrace such positive solutions to the housing problem that affects everyone in Marin County and the Bay Area.

Dennis Rodoni, District Four supervisor, Marin County
Californias U.S. Senate race just completed its own version of the Iowa caucuses here in the East Bay. It took place at Rossmoor, the 10,000-resident retirement community in Walnut Creek  specifically, the 1,200-member Democrats of Rossmoor club, the self-described largest Democratic club in the universe.

We cant verify whether theres a larger club on Saturn, but Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee wouldnt have made the pilgrimage to Golden Rain Road if the Rossmoorians rings werent worth kissing.

Just like Iowa, Rossmoor is a place each candidate dutifully visited early in the campaign, where they tested their stump speeches, fielded tough questions and posed for selfies afterward. Both destinations are full of active voters who follow the issues with a microscope, want to talk to the candidates up close, can be a little cranky and are mostly white.

Over the 2020 and 2022 election campaigns, the clubs leaders say members sent 24 million text messages in support of Democrats across the country and hand-wrote 75,000 letters to voters nationwide.

Determining the winner of the Rossmoor primary is next to impossible. There was no voting  not even the BS kind done in Iowa. The club wont endorse a candidate in the March 5 primary, but will for the November general election.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

Nevertheless, you can get a sense of how the race is shaping up based on club members reactions and what the candidates said during their stops.

Schiff drew the biggest audience, with 500 people filling a larger room while roughly 40 were turned away, said Katha Hartley, the clubs former president who now chairs the speakers committee. The audience whooped when he took shots at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and Donald Trump.

Porter, who appeared first, drew a standing-room-only audience of 375 in a smaller space at Rossmoor, with some turned away at the door, too. The tighter quarters amped up the energy in the room. Lee drew 225 people that were supportive, but not as loud as the other two.

Hartley said Lees crowd might have been smaller because many Rossmoorians used to live in Oakland and are more familiar with Lee, who has represented the East Bay for more than three decades in the state Legislature and the House.

Many were less knowledgeable of Porter, of Irvine and Schiff, of Burbank. Plus, pointed out Hartley and others, Schiff and Porter pack a bit of cable TV star power through their ubiquitous MSNBC appearances.

None of the candidates has directly attacked another yet. But none was above throwing a little shade, particularly when asked how they differed from their opponents.

Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

Porter said we need someone who is prepared to fight the battles of tomorrow, to stand up to special interests and to do Congress in a way that connects with ordinary people, too many of whom are disillusioned about whether people who are elected will be fighting for that.

Translation: Fight the battles of tomorrow is a genteel nod at the age difference between Porter, 49, and Lee, 76, and Schiff, 62, both of whom have spent two decades in Congress. Pledging to stand up to special interests is a dig at Schiff, who has a history of corporate political action committee campaign contributions, which includes donations from Big Pharma, health care and big banks.

Schiff said what distinguishes me is that in each of these fights that were talking about  that have been central to the preservation of our democracy, that have been strengthening an economy and making it work for everyone  Ive been in the leadership of these fights.

Translation: In the leadership is a reference to Porter, who just began her third term in the House. Porter may excel at creating viral moments through her grilling of CEOs at congressional hearings, the inference goes, but Schiff was the person leading the Trump impeachment.

Lee said, the Senate needs a perspective at this time that isnt there. They needed a lens on issues as who I am as an African American woman with my experiences that speak to the issues of so many people  Black, people of color, white, LGBTQ-plus. Can you imagine how much stronger this country would be If it had had Black women in the Senate?

Translation: There are enough straight white guys in the Senate. While Porter introduced herself as a minivan-driving mom of three lightly supervised children, Lee spoke about her history as a single mom on public assistance, and her harrowing experience of going to Mexico as a 15-year-old to have an abortion when it was illegal both there and in the U.S.  a lived experience that is hers alone in this race.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Their stump speeches differed, too.

Porter promised to focus on oversight, something she hopes will appeal to a broad cross-section of voters.

Doing real, strong oversight means telling some of the most powerful people in America to do better, to do better by families, Porter said. Because far too often what is happening in our government today is just not good enough.

Schiff was far more relaxed and funny than when he is breaking down legal developments on cable news. He promised to campaign on three existential issues: our democracy, our economy and our planet.

Lee somberly promised to be a fighter for Californians whose voices are largely unheard.

People need somebody to see them and to fight for them. You dont hear poverty being discussed (in the Senate, or) income inequality. You dont hear much debate in the Senate about people who are struggling, who are vulnerable to the climate crisis. So I want to fill that gap.

Each candidate also got to road-test their zingers. Porter did so by casting herself as a Washington outsider.

If (Washington) had a slogan, or motto, it would be something like this: Solving yesterday's problems tomorrow  maybe. And part of what animates my running for the Senate is dissatisfaction with that. We need to be solving tomorrow's problems today, Porter said.

Schiff included several shots at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, who tossed him off of the House Intelligence Committee that he had chaired. Schiff, a fan of the cult classic movie The Big Lebowski, said, during the (GOP) speakership fight, when (Florida GOP Rep.) Matt Gaetz was tearing into Kevin McCarthy, one of my staff sent me a line from The Big Lebowski as applied to Matt Gaetz. And the line was, Youre not wrong. Youre just an asshole. 

Lee isnt known for her zingers. But she did offer this when asked about President Biden approving an oil drilling project in Alaska.

Somebody said I voted with the president 100% of the time, Lee said. I have  but not on this one. I totally disagree. The room erupted in cheers. (Technically, Lee has voted with Biden 99% of the time, according to fivethirtyeight.com.)

Each had their fans.

I used to live in Seal Beach (Orange County), and Katie Porter is the real deal, Terri Snyder said after Porters event.

After listening to Schiff, Drue Kramer said she supported him because of his leadership and his insight  and then he gets on TV and talks about it. Hes courageous.

Gabrielle Miller, said she was leaning toward Lee because of her strong stance against unnecessary wars and for the poor. So I'm very pro-Barbara. Although I have to say if one of the other two wins, well, California will still be a winner.
Despite a daunting crisis on the citys streets, San Francisco has struggled to spend hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for homelessness over the past several years, largely due to chronic understaffing, red tape and additional hurdles caused by the pandemic, according to new data obtained by The Chronicle.

Many city departments expect some level of underspending every year, but the issue is particularly acute within the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), given the exponential growth of its budget, the gravity of the crisis its tasked with addressing and the avalanche of people who need the help. The leftover money highlights a perplexing reality: San Francisco has a hard time spending all the money it has to address its most vexing problem.

If the money is there, we need to get it out the door, said Debbi Lerman, director of the Human Services Network, which represents many of the citys nonprofits. Weve got a lot of people on the streets.

HSH routinely ends the year with about $30 million-$40 million  or an average of 16%  left in its annual general fund budget, according to data shared with The Chronicle. The bulk of that remaining money supports contracts that continue into the next year, while a smaller portion is returned to the general fund.

City data also shows that less than a third of the $700 million collected from a business tax earmarked exclusively for homeless housing, shelter and mental health services has been spent since the money became available in 2020, although spending has ramped up in the last year. HSH manages 75% of that fund, while the Department of Public Health is responsible for the rest.

Meanwhile, federal data shows that San Francisco has returned at least $25 million for homelessness-related efforts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development since 2016.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2022

The underspending can be attributed to a confluence of factors: First, a national staffing shortage has led to a 30% vacancy rate within HSH, which has limited the agencys ability to fulfill its core functions and launch new programs. HSH said high staffing shortages and turnover within nonprofits that it contracts with also make it difficult to scale its programs and spend all its annual funds.

The pandemic thrust HSH into a massive scramble to open more than 2,000 shelter-in-place hotel rooms and a new emergency shelter program, which was mostly paid for with federal funds. Adding to the complexity, HSH said, is the difficulty of funding and opening new housing and shelter in a high-cost and dense city like San Francisco.

Meanwhile, fed-up residents remain frustrated over the visibility of the crisis on the citys streets, despite that San Francisco saw a 15% reduction in unsheltered homelessness over the last three years, a period when most of the state saw an increase.

In all, the chronic underspending shows how addressing homelessness requires more than just HSHs $600 million-plus annual budget, but also proper staffing and better accountability for how the money is spent.

More than anything, this demonstrates how large the issue is compared to the resources that were providing, said Sam Moss, the director of Mission Housing. We talk ad nauseam of how big the budget is, but we rarely discuss how little of that budget goes to the human capacity that is required to oversee and run the department.

SFNext is Chronicle coverage devoted to the city's most vexing problems. To become involved: Send feedback, ideas and suggestions to sfnext@SFChronicle.com

The bulk of the underspending is due to the nonprofits that HSH contracts with to provide frontline services, such as running shelters and housing, according to the data. Representatives of several nonprofit providers who spoke to The Chronicle said its maddening when a contract expires with excess funds. They attribute the problem to stringent rules on how money can be spent, delays in receiving money from HSH, and a national staffing shortage that has left funding for salaries unused.

For Maj. Matt Madsen, a divisional secretary for the Salvation Army in San Francisco, it was frustrating when one of his contracts for Railton Place, a 110-bed transitional and permanent-housing apartment complex, ended in 2020 with nearly $1 million left unspent. The main reason behind the leftover funds, he said, was an issue that currently plagues many housing programs: empty rooms.

Salvation Army, like other housing nonprofits, is reliant on the city to make referrals to fill vacant units. Without enough referrals from the city, the nonprofit cant spend the money allotted for clients it could serve. While the number of vacancies in his programs have decreased, he said, they are still an issue among other housing nonprofits citywide.

Its wasted time, Madsen said. If we have empty beds, we want to fill them.

Other examples include Episcopal Community Services  one of the citys largest homeless housing providers  which was unable to spend more than $2.2 million, or 29%, of a shelter contract that ended in 2020, due to a delayed start and early end to the program during the pandemic.

Caritas Management Corp. could not spend $1.3 million, or 43%, of a contract for a permanent supportive housing hotel because it couldnt fill rooms.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

A relatively new city agency, HSH has seen its budget grow from $224 million in 2016 when it was created to $636 million in the current fiscal year. The increase is largely attributed to Proposition C, a 2018 business tax that raises $300 million a year for homeless services.

To be sure, though, HSH has also spent a record amount of money over the past few years and has significantly expanded the system with the infusion of cash from Prop. C.

Under Mayor London Breed, HSH has also bought several new permanent supportive housing buildings, amounting to hundreds of new units available for formerly homeless people. Meanwhile, the city has expanded its number of shelter beds and the mayor is increasing salaries for case managers to improve recruitment and retention.

Still, Shireen McSpadden, director of the department, said at a hearing last week that the city would need to spend an additional $1 billion over the next three years to end unsheltered homelessness. At the same time, she said that was not feasible given the current staffing shortages and the departments struggles to spend the funding it now has.

The underspending issue existed before Prop. C funds started to flow in 2020. The problem was flagged in an audit that year by the Budget and Legislative Analysts Office, which showed the department had a 26% staff vacancy rate, high turnover and insufficient contract oversight.

Today, HSHs staff vacancy rate has increased to 30%, McSpadden said.

Looming budget cuts may make the departments budget woes even tougher. To help close a projected $728 million citywide budget shortfall over the next two years, Breed has directed each department to propose cuts of 8%. HSH has said the reduction will likely restrict its ability to address the crisis on the streets and expand critical programs.

We have huge, huge challenges with getting the things done that we need, whether its actually executing contracts, whether its monitoring, whether its just getting things out the door, McSpadden said at the hearing.

While unspent HSH funds often just roll over into the next fiscal year, federal dollars generally dont. San Francisco has returned at least $25 million of unspent federal grants for housing and other services to HUD since 2016.

San Francisco is not the only jurisdiction struggling with spending the entirety of its HUD funds. According to an October 2022 report from its Office of the Inspector General, HUD recaptured nearly $257 million from grantees that had not fully spent its funds due to a shortage of affordable housing as well as other challenges.

Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for HSH, said when the department was created in 2016, it inherited HUD contracts from other departments that had a history of underspending. She noted that HSH has improved its level of spending in the past few years, which she attributes to collaboration and consultation with HUD.

In some cases, Cohen said, the department has been able to move excess dollars from one program into another to ensure that the HUD money is fully used. With this tactic, the city was able to fund a new, 89-unit permanent supportive housing building called the Post Hotel.

For homeless mothers like Laketha Pierce, though, the reasons behind the citys underspending for homeless services dont matter. Getting help does.

Pierce said the city had approved her for a housing unit in December but she has yet to get a placement. As an organizer for the Coalition on Homelessness, shes aware of the citys vast resources, such as housing vouchers and vacant permanent supportive housing units.

Yet she cant seem to get any help of her own.

I understand they have to make sure the funds are distributed appropriately and make sure they get to the right people, said Pierce, who said she has been paying out of pocket to stay in a hotel with her two sons. But I dont care about the policies and the barriers. Im homeless and need a place to stay tonight.

Chronicle staff writer Nami Sumida contributed to this report.










A former City Honors School teacher pleaded guilty to two counts of child pornography Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said 62-year-old Peter Hingston of Amherst faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each count when he is sentenced on Oct. 21.

On June 17, 2019, Buffalo police officers were called to City Honors, where Hingston worked as a middle school technology teacher, in response to allegations he was taking inappropriate photographs of female students with a GoPro camera. A search of the camera yielded sexually explicit images involving minors who were under Hingston's custody, care and supervisory control.

The defendants behavior in this case is the stuff of which parents nightmares are made, said U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy. Our schools are supposed to be safe havens where our childrens minds are nurtured. The defendants effort to exploit his students for his own gratification warrants federal prosecution and the significant sentencing exposure occasioned by todays guilty pleas.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced the states most infamous death row will be shuttered, transforming San Quentin State Prison into a restorative justice facility over the next few years.

The $20 million plan will change the prison's name to the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, and Newsom said by 2025, a panel of civilian experts, former inmates and crime victims will help advise on the facility's changes. "We want to be the preeminent restorative justice facility in the world  that's the goal," Newsom said March 17.

As part of the shift, the more than 500 inmates who currently live on San Quentins death row will be moved to various prisons throughout the state. Newsom imposed an indefinite moratorium on the death penalty in 2019; prisoners sentenced to death are not eligible for parole.

Its not yet clear what the timeline is for their moves, but some of Californias most notorious killers will likely be relocated over the next few years:

Cary Stayner

Perhaps the strangest serial killer in modern California history, Cary Stayner, 61, has a backstory like no other. In 1972, when Cary was 11, his younger brother Steven was kidnapped by a sexual predator. For years, the family was held in suspended animation, not sure if he was dead or alive. Incredibly, Steven escaped with another boy the man had kidnapped. Cary, then 17, was reportedly jealous of his brothers overnight fame.

AP Photo/The Modesto Bee, Ted Benson, File

While his brother was a hero, Cary grew up to be a monster. He got a job as a handyman at a Yosemite-area motel and there brutally murdered two women and two teen girls over the course of a few months in 1999. His car linked him to the crimes, and he was arrested later that year; in 2002, he was convicted and sentenced to death.

Wesley Shermantine

One half of the serial killer pair dubbed the Speed Freak Killers, only Wesley Shermantine is still serving his sentence. Shermantine and Loren Herzog grew up together in Linden, San Joaquin County, and, as adults, shared the addiction to methamphetamine that would give them their moniker. Throughout the mid-1980s until 1999, the pair came into contact with more than a dozen people who would end up missing.

One victim, 25-year-old Cyndi Vanderheiden, was a daughter of the man who owned Herzog and Shermantines local watering hole. Investigators came to suspect the pair in her disappearance, and her blood was found in a search of Shermantines car. Once in custody, investigators realized they had a much bigger case on their hands: More victims were found in a well in Linden. Its believed they killed more than 20 people.

Herzog killed himself in prison in 2012. Shermantine is now 57.

Charles Ng

Another half of a serial killer duo, Charles Ng met his partner in crime while fleeing the Marines in 1980 after allegedly stealing weapons from a military base. Leonard Lake was a fellow gun enthusiast who shared Ngs violent fantasies. The pair retreated to a cabin in Wilseyville in the Sierra foothills, where they began working on their dungeon. From 1983 until 1985, the pair kidnapped an unknown number of victims  some believe it may be dozens  so Lake and Ng could rape and torture women.

Ng was busted for shoplifting at a hardware store in South San Francisco in 1985, leading authorities to the Wilseyville cabin. When Lake was taken into custody, he swallowed a cyanide pill hed hidden in his clothes, killing himself. Ng was convicted in 1999 of 11 murders. He is now 62.

Joseph Naso

One of the oldest men on Californias Death Row, Naso was in his late 70s when he was arrested for murder in 2011. A petty criminal, Naso was visited by law enforcement when he skipped out on his probation in 2010; at his Reno home, they found a journal with the names of 10 women and 10 locations. They linked Naso to a series of sexually motivated murders throughout the Bay Area in the late 1970s through early 1990s.

Marin Independent Journal via Getty Images

He was sentenced to death in 2013. Naso has also been suspected in the Rochester Alphabet murders; many of his California victims, like those in Rochester, N.Y., had the same first and last initial. DNA from California and New York crime scenes, however, were reportedly not a match.

Robert Maury

Better known as the Tipster Killer, Robert Maury, 65, killed at least three women in Shasta County in the 1980s. After each of the murders, Maury called in tips to the Secret Witness hotline to lead police to the bodies and collect a reward. After one such call, police trailed Maury to a motorcycle shop where he bought himself a new bike with his reward money.

Maury was busted in 1987 and, despite his insistence that he was merely an unlucky citizen who kept stumbling onto crime scenes, was found guilty at trial.

Randy Kraft

Randy Kraft, 78, may be one of Californias most prolific serial killers. When he was arrested, detectives found a list of 61 coded names that appeared to correlate to at least 61 victims.

Kraft began a decade-long rape and murder spree in 1971 after he was kicked out of the Air Force for being gay. Despite being investigated repeatedly over the years in connection to the rape and killings of multiple men, police didnt charge Kraft until a dead man was found in his car in 1983. Its believed he used drugs or alcohol to incapacitate his victims, many members of the armed forces, before raping and killing them.

Orange County Register via Getty Images

Dozens of possible victims listed in Krafts scorecard have not been matched to homicides or missing persons cases. There has also been speculation that Kraft may have had an accomplice for some of the murders. He was sentenced to death in 1989 and has never admitted to any of the crimes.

Richard Allen Davis

If you dont know Richard Allen Davis name, you likely know his most famous victims: Polly Klaas. In 1993, Davis broke into the Petaluma home where the 12-year-old was having a sleepover and abducted Polly. Despite being stopped by sheriffs deputies the night of her abduction after someone called in his suspicious vehicle parked on their rural property, Pollys body was not found until several months later.

AP

When it was discovered Davis had a history of violent crimes, there was public outrage that he was paroled so quickly prior to Pollys killing. Pollys case was a major driver in California passing its three-strikes law in 1994.

Davis, now 68, has been on death row since 1996.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO  Elon Musk said Twitter is now worth about $20 billion, according to an email he sent the companys employees Friday, a significant drop from the $44 billion that he paid to buy the social network in October.

The email, which was viewed by The New York Times, was sent to employees to announce a stock compensation program. In it, Musk warned workers that Twitter remained in a precarious financial position and, at one point, had been four months away from running out of money. He said radical changes at the company, including mass layoffs and cost cutting, were necessary to avoid bankruptcy and streamline operations.
AP

NEW YORK (AP)  Two first-time hosts  Quinta Brunson and Ana de Armas  will make their Saturday Night Live debuts in April.

Brunson, creator and star of ABC's Abbott Elementary comedy, will be host of this Saturday's show, NBC announced on Monday. Lil Yachty, whose latest disc debuted at the top of Billboard's rock and alternative charts, is the musical guest.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Administrators at a Wisconsin elementary school stopped a first-grade class from performing a Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton duet promoting LGBTQ acceptance because the song "could be perceived as controversial."

Students at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha had prepared a rendition of Rainbowland" for their spring concert, but school officials struck the song from the lineup last week. Parents in the district say the decision was made because the song encourages LGBTQ acceptance and references rainbows.

Superintendent James Sebert, who did not immediately return a call on Monday, confirmed to Fox6 that administrators had removed Rainbowland from the first-grade concert because it might not be appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students." He also cited a school board policy against raising controversial issues in classrooms.

Sebert has previously prohibited rainbows and pride flags from being displayed in Waukesha classrooms and suspended the school districts equity and diversity work in 2021.

Let's all dig down deep inside, brush the judgment and fear aside, the song from Cyrus' 2017 album Younger Now goes. "Living in a Rainbowland, where you and I go hand in hand. Oh, Id be lying if I said this was fine, all the hurt and the hate going on here.

First-grade teacher Melissa Tempel said she chose the song because its message seemed universal and sweet. The class concert's theme was The World and included other songs such as Here Comes the Sun," by The Beatles and What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong.

"My students were just devastated. They really liked this song and we had already begun singing it, Tempel said Monday.

Administrators also initially banned the song Rainbow Connection from The Muppets but later reversed that decision, according to Tempel.

Parents have been angered by the song's removal, Tempel said. But she was more concerned about what the ban and other district policies against expressing LGBTQ support meant for students.

These confusing messages about rainbows are ultimately creating a culture that seems unsafe towards queer people, she said.

Spokespersons for Parton and Cyrus did not immediately respond to emails on Monday asking the artists' thoughts on the ban.

Wisconsin school boards races, including in Waukesha, have become increasingly partisan in recent years. Republicans saw big gains across the state's school board races in 2022 and have used the positions to challenge policies from rules about transgender kids to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Harm Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Venhuizen on Twitter.
PHILADELPHIA  Jayme Banks worried last summer  at the end of a school year that was tough for nearly everyone, with students coming off a year of pandemic-forced virtual classes, in a city traumatized by gun violence  that kids' mental health was fragile.

"I was just thinking: 'How do I know the kids are OK? How do I know that they have resources?'" said Banks, the Philadelphia School District's deputy chief of prevention, intervention, and trauma.

So when the opportunity to use a state grant to offer district high schoolers a free, digital mental health platform providing 24-hour access to therapeutic content, counseling, moderated forums, and other resources, Banks said she and other district officials were eager to sign on.

"We really look at this as strengthening our continuum of support for students, and allowing them to really know their options," Banks said. "We want to give them as many opportunities as possible."

Kooth, which operates via smartphone or other device, is not meant to replace in-person supports in school or at home, officials said. Students still have access to counselors, city behavioral health workers, and other mental health professionals  though educators here say there are not enough of those workers to meet student need: Currently, 18,000 students at 139 district schools receive individual support and group services by counselors in schools. In addition, the district offers students free access to the Philly HopeLine, a telephone hotline staffed by local mental health professionals.

Still, some parents are worried about the potential implications of an online wellness platform.

Vince Feldman's two children, who attend Central High and Masterman, won't be among the ranks of Philadelphia students who use Kooth, which he called "a black box to parents." He objects to the service on multiple levels.

"It's targeting a generation that's really in trouble with mental health. The phones, they already take credit for breaking social skills, lowering self-esteem, and certainly increasing anxiety. I don't think more digital mediation is the solution when we already know the phones are the problem," said Feldman, who thinks schools need more counselors to offer one-on-one support.

Also, said Feldman, "you need to be cautious with anything that ... collects your information, particularly your child's information. I think there's a lot of red flags  I see a parade of them."

Kooth launched in Philadelphia in February, but the company has a 22-year history in the United Kingdom, where it partners with the National Health Service to provide digital mental health and wellness services. Kooth inked a $3 million deal with Pennsylvania to provide services to up to 30 districts across the commonwealth, but Philadelphia is its largest U.S. school system to date.

The state is picking up Philadelphia's $1.8 million tab for Kooth's services through the 2024-25 school year; eventually, it hopes to offer the service to all sixth through eighth graders, as well.

Kooth, district officials said in announcing the platform to parents this year, "is a safe and confidential community where students can access professional counseling, peer-to-peer support and vital self-help tools like goal-setting resources, advice and opinion pieces, and written personal experiences from peers and experts."

Students utilizing Kooth might listen to a podcast on mindfulness or link to a TikTok video on self-care. For students who opt for counseling, all sessions occur via text, either in drop-ins or scheduled sessions; no video options are available. All Kooth clinicians are Pennsylvania-certified, master's-level professionals, officials said.

Though Kooth knows users' identities, they receive an alias, and schools and parents do not have access to what they post or share with counselors if they opt for counseling.

Mental health professionals monitor and moderate all content on any Kooth platform, Banks said, and alert schools if anything concerning is posted or shared with them.

"We do not routinely share information relating to chat sessions, as we know that this can prevent young people from talking to us, which can therefore increase risk, rather than reduce it; however, we will always ensure that the relevant services/adults are alerted when significant safeguarding or risk concerns are identified," Kooth officials said in a frequently asked questions section on its website.

A Philadelphia student advisory board helped weigh in on Kooth, and ultimately gave its blessing, Banks said; going forward, the group will continue to provide feedback, as well as make peers aware of the resource.

"There are times when a child is going through things and maybe it's something they're not ready to talk to their [school] counselor about," said Banks.

The aim, said Kevin Winters, general manager of Kooth US, is to "flip the script in terms of the model of mental health care; we want to move to the model of early identification and prevention. This is based on choice, not prescription. We go directly into the schools and provide as much broad-scale access as we can."

While face-to-face therapy is effective for many young people, Kooth offers easy access to mental health services without barriers, Winters said.

Across all Pennsylvania districts where Kooth has been rolled out, Winters said, about 25% of eligible students are taking advantage of the platform.

Central student Jeron Williams II knows that Kooth is an option, but would prefer working with a single therapist face-to-face or via video chat.

"I don't think it's something most of my classmates would seek out," said Williams. "And I would worry, what's being done with all our data?"

Kooth officials said students' data are kept confidential.

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North Beach, San Franciscos Little Italy, defies our urge to define it.

For starters, there is no beach in North Beach. It's most famous sight, Coit Tower, is technically a part of the tiny Telegraph Hill neighborhood. Columbus Avenue, North Beach's main drag, edges up against San Francisco's Chinatown  the two neighborhoods most clearly overlap where Broadway meets Columbus. Once the heart of Californias Beat movement in the 1960s, North Beach still holds onto its beatnik, boho vibe while also playing host to a thriving bar and nightclub scene. That's especially true on Grant Avenue and Broadway on the northeast side of Columbus, where the neighborhood abuts the Financial District.

Even without a cable car line running through the neighborhood, North Beach feels like classic San Francisco, its parks, sights, restaurants and history an important part of the citys sense of itself.

A slice of North Beach's renegade history

To get a feel for North Beach, head over to Caffe Trieste, the oldest coffee house in San Francisco and a favorite haunt of Beat poets. Story goes that Francis Ford Coppola wrote much of "The Godfather" in Cafe Trieste; today, writers of all sorts still frequent the spot to pen their work. The cafe's expertly-pulled espresso make for a fine cappuccino to enjoy at one of the inlaid, mosaic tables inside. Or sit at a table out front, where you can watch the world go by or listen to one of the bands playing in front of the cafes next door annex on Saturday afternoons.

No trip to North Beach is complete without a visit to City Lights Bookstore. Established in the early 1950s by Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, the shop became a beacon of "unrestrained intellectual curiosity," a home for the vibrant Beatnik community. It remains fiercely independent to the present day. The creaky, uneven floor and weird step-ups are just part of the stores charm. History aside, its impressive selection of books makes it well worth a stop.

Across the street from City Lights, The Beat Museum pays tribute to the Beat movement with memorabilia, books and a video documentary. The museum honors Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, Charles Bukowski and William S. Burroughs, among others, who gave voice to a renegade spirit and a tolerance for individual expression that reverberates throughout San Francisco to this day.

The neighborhood is chock-a-block with bars and clubs, too, where poetry readings and jazz bands share space with chess players and late-night dance fiends. Monroe, Comstock Saloon, Vesuvio Cafe and the bar at Tosca Cafe are classics hangouts, while 15 Romolo and EcoTerreno Wines & Vineyards skew more modern.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Joltin' Joe's North Beach

Native son and famous New York Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio famously married Marilyn Monroe in 1954 at San Francisco City Hall, but the couple came to North Beach's Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church to snap wedding photos. (DiMaggio married his first wife, Dorothy Arnold, inside the church in 1939.) The church, located on the north side of Washington Square Park, is famously featured in many of the Dirty Harry movies, which starred Clint Eastwood, while DiMaggio is memorialized in a playground that carries his name just a few blocks away.

An oasis of green amidst the North Beach bustle, Washington Square Park is a great spot to people-watch, do some tai chi or enjoy a gelato from Gelato Classico on the corner of the park at Stockton and Union. If you are walking to North Beach from nearby Coit Tower, your path will likely take you right to the park.

Venture over to the nearby Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill

One of the steeper hills in San Francisco, Telegraph Hill is as famous for the Gold Rush-era communication network that once existed here as for the white, fluted tower at its pinnacle. Huff up the short hill to take a gander at the murals inside Coit Tower, painted to depict California life during the 1930s. From the observation deck, accessible by staircase or the cranky elevator, the 360-degree views of San Francisco and the bay are spectacular.

Visit a North Beach pizza establishment

It's not possible to talk about North Beach without talking about its restaurants. Let's start with the neighborhood's most revered pizza establishments.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

Across the street from Washington Square Park, Tonys Pizza Napoletana is where owner/chef Tony Gemignani, who won the Best Pizza Margherita at the World Pizza Cup in Naples, slings Napoletana, New York, California and many other styles of 'za. For purists, pizza cooking temperatures are mentioned on the menu; eaters also rave about the double-roasted garlic bread and meatballs.

On the other side of North Beach, closer to the Financial District, Tommaso's often has a line out the door for pizza aficionados waiting for a chance to sit in its cozy dining room and enjoy what some say is a pizza closer to New York than Naples in style. Their margherita is a must for first timers, but regulars stick with the pizza topped with clams and garlic. Geographically in-between Tommasos and Tonys, Il Casaro Pizzeria & Mozzarella Bar hews to the Neapolitan tradition. The cute, red pizza oven is especially visible from one of the counter seats. Be sure to save room for the Nutella and banana pizza for dessert.

Other must-try North Beach restaurants

North Beach is beloved for its classic Italian restaurants, cafes and delis, and there's no shortage of great spots to enjoy a bowl of cioppino, San Francisco's famous seafood stew or a plate of beef carpaccio with Parmesan.

Luisas Restaurant & Wine Bar is well-regarded for its Neapolitan-style pizza, fresh pastas and tiramisu. An icon of the North Beach dining scene, Tosca Cafe goes all in on vibe with deep red leather banquettes, a mahogany bar, red damask wallpaper and red chairs. No matter what seat you choose, the go-to order is the Tuscan fried chicken. A replica of the Sistine Chapels ceiling is just part of the charm at Mona Lisa, where the restaurant's namesake hangs in portraiture throughout the warmly lit space. The expansive menu includes many variations of pasta and risotto.

Yelp/John K.

Marios Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe is a favorite with locals who drop in for a breakfast coffee and croissant, come back at lunch for a focaccia panini and stay for a game of foosball. Molinari Delicatessen, which is over 100 years old, is as famous for its to-go house made ravioli as well as its well-proportioned sandwiches and ample gelato selection. Mosaics and pictures jostling for wall space make Caffe Sport a feast for the eyes. The Sicilian-style pastas and cioppino keep the regulars coming back for a meal at one of the large, wooden bench-style booths.

Expanding the lens beyond Italian flavors, the Spanish-inflected menu at Red Window offers a perfectly-paired Gilda Martini with garlicky chicken wings served with pimenton ranch sauce. Wine bar Bodega is best known for its well-considered wine list and smaller meals like sweet potato tacos and chicken nuggets. Hilda and Jesse, a Michelin Bib Gourmand winner, offers a prix fixe "adventure" dinner menu, but its best known for the low ABV cocktails and for "Pancakes Without Boundaries," which can be an add-on at dinner or ordered on their own at the restaurant's famous brunch.

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at kristina.moy@hearst.com.
China Live and its landlord are engaged in a longstanding, multimillion-dollar dispute that spans numerous lawsuits, according to a report by the San Francisco Business Times.

The threat of eviction looms over the large food hall at 644 Broadway in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood  though recent developments may have staved off a more immediate exit.

As first reported by the San Francisco Business Times, in January, 644 Broadway LLC  managed by Cypress Properties Group  sued China Live, alleging the restaurant owes $4.2 million in back rent dating back to October 2021. As part of its unlawful detainer suit, 644 Broadway LLC alleged that China Live received millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program loans but did not use those loans "for the specific purpose of assisting with the payment of rent."

Just two months later, on March 17, the eviction suit was "voluntarily" dismissed by 644 Broadway LLC, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. An attorney for 644 Broadway LLC told the Chronicle that we are still trying to get the tenant to pay the rent," and there's been no settlement. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) The same attorney told the Business Times that 644 Broadway LLC reserves the right to serve China Live with another eviction notice in the future.

The eviction suit isn't the first legal dispute between the restaurant and the landlord. China Live is the plaintiff of an ongoing case against 644 Broadway LLC that dates back to 2021. In that lawsuit, China Live accused 644 Broadway LLC of a breach of contract, neglecting significant maintenance issues, and overcharging for rent based on the amount of building space that's actually usable. China Live acknowledged receiving Paycheck Protection Program loans but stated that the loans were used to pay back employees and outstanding invoices and that 644 Broadway LLC had no right to make the restaurant use the loans for rent.

China Live is seeking $25 million in damages in its breach of contract suit. A China Live spokesperson told the Business Times and the Chronicle that China Live does not intend to close its flagship location.
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Gov. Kathy Hochuls budget for the coming fiscal year includes annual tuition increases of up to 3% a year for five years for the states SUNY schools  and up to 6% more for the four large university centers in Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany and Binghamton.

The so-called differential tuition plan would provide a predictable funding source for the future as the university centers  especially the two flagships, the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University  pursue Hochuls goal to increase their role as national research hubs.

UB was disappointed to see that neither the state Senate or Assembly included differential tuition in the One House bills they are bringing to the table for the budget negotiation process. Now, UB, the other university centers and SUNY Chancellor John King are urging legislators to incorporate it as a critical element for their future success.

I think this is a nuance of the governors budget proposal thats gotten less attention, but is highly important for helping our university centers stay competitive with the best research universities in the country, King said.

UB President Satish Tripathi said the tuition differential would be a modest increase for students who do not need financial aid, but a huge boon to UBs future as a flagship school seeking to be a Top 25 public research university.

State of the University: UB flagship on track to meet $1B research goal UB President Satish K. Tripathi said the university is on track to meet its goals to achieve $1 billion in research funding and become a Top 25 public research university and achieve carbon neutrality ahead of its 2030 target.

Flagship universities are a lot more expensive to run because we have more top researchers on our faculty. We are building infrastructure needed to increase our research, and that research brings revenue to the local economy and creates an ecosystem for new innovations, new startups and for existing companies to stay in the region, Tripathi said.

Hochuls proposed increase of up to 9% a year for the university centers would only apply to the 47% of UB students who do not qualify for financial aid, he said.

Tripathi said the investment would ultimately benefit students with more research, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities and also encourage graduates to pursue careers in New York State.

Flagships and university centers around the Northeast typically have different tuition caps than other state schools, so this is a recognized practice, Tripathi said. According to SUNY, about 90 of the nations 144 research institutions benefit from differential tuition.

And even after five years of differential tuition increase, if it continues that long, we would still be the lowest flagship institution in the Northeast, Tripathi said of UB.

Hochul initially proposed the tuition differential in 2022, when she named UB and Stony Brook the two flagships of the SUNY system and pledged to make SUNY the best and most equitable statewide system of higher education in the country.

At the same time, she challenged both flagships to increase the federal research grants they bring in to $1 billion each by 2030. To help make that happen, Hochul has been investing in capital projects and research infrastructure, including $100 million in state aid to help both UB and Stony Brook construct new engineering buildings to meet growing demand for their programs in flourishing STEM fields.

UB also has embarked on a historic hiring initiative to recruit 200 tenure-track faculty in the next two years to advance its research and diversity goals.

New York is pouring money into UB engineering. Will it drive WNY tech? A major expansion at UB's engineering school  a $102 million project  could have a major impact on the Buffalo Niagara economy and UB itself.

For us to double our research funding and attract top faculty, this (tuition plan) is critical, Tripathi said.

SUNY Chancellor John King said tuition increases would not affect the 53% of full-time students who attend SUNY schools tuition-free thanks to the state Tuition Assistance Program, Pell grants and the Excelsior Scholarships.

This plan is designed in a way that those 53% of students would not see any cost change, King said. Its important to protect our low-income students and their ability to attend college, and the governors plan does that.

King said SUNYs university centers bring $1.5 billion in research activity to the state each year, and we have opportunities to attain even more in fields like artificial intelligence, renewable energy, engineering and health care, all of which are key areas of UB research.

He said he thinks theres a good chance legislators can be persuaded that differential tuition is a good idea for SUNY.

Our conversations with legislators have reflected an understandable concern about keeping college affordable, he said, but also an openness to thinking about how to fund our university centers as research institutions and see them lead in leveraging federal research money that will fuel economic development.

This article has been updated to reflect that the four SUNY university centers would be allowed to increase their tuition by up to 9% a year under the governors differential tuition plan. The original article stated that cap as 6% based on inaccurate information presented by the University at Buffalo.
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BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP)  The family of a toddler who was fatally shot by a police officer during a standoff last year between her father and law enforcement has filed a federal lawsuit over her death.

Kansas authorities have said that 2-year-old Clesslyn Crawford was shot by a Joplin, Missouri, police officer during a confrontation March 26, 2022, in Baxter Springs.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed legislation to provide free school meals to all students regardless of family income, as New Mexico and several other states look to fill the gap left by lapsed federal pandemic-era benefit programs and address the strain to family budgets caused by food prices.

The bill cleared the Legislature during the recent 60-day session, with lawmakers setting aside more than $22 million in the state budget to help pay for the program. Additional money will be used to improve school kitchens so healthier meals can be prepared.

When we feed our children, were feeding our future  these investments today will yield benefits tomorrow through generations of healthier New Mexicans, the Democratic governor said in a statement issued after she celebrated with dozens of elementary school students.

California and Maine have made universal meals permanent, legislation to do so is advancing in Vermont, and Nevada pitched in $75 million to extend free school meals for this school year. In Colorado, voters approved a ballot measure last fall giving school districts the opportunity to offer free lunches.

Nationally, debts for unpaid school meals have been rising, indicating the need to continue providing free meals to ensure students are able to concentrate in the classroom. A recent report issued by the Food Research & Action Center showed participation in school breakfast and lunch programs was higher during the last school year than that of pre-pandemic levels.

About 67%  or 309,000 New Mexico students  are eligible to receive free and reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program, according to the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Signing of the legislation could impact nearly 70,000 students who normally would have had to pay for school meals, with department officials expecting a 5% to 10% increase in participation in districts that operate national school lunch programs.

Lujan Grisham included the proposal in her State of the State address, saying that wherever kids are, there ought to be a kitchen working to keep them healthy, strong and ready to learn.

Still, some say more money will be needed to bankroll the effort over time. This year, New Mexico was awash in new revenue due in part to a financial windfall from oil production.

Legislative analysts have estimated that providing meals at no costs to students at participating schools could total between $27 million and $40 million in recurring funding from the state's general fund.

Advocacy groups see universal free school meals as the next step in New Mexico's march toward combating historically high food insecurity rates in a state that has long struggled with generational poverty. Other recent efforts include legislation in 2020 that eliminated student co-pays for reduced-price school meals and a 2017 measure that made New Mexico the first state in the U.S. to ensure children cant be humiliated by school meal debts.

The new law aims to boost the amount of food that comes from local growers through farm-to-table grants. Currently, about 168 farmers, ranchers and food businesses sell locally produced products to schools in 19 of the state's 33 counties.

Supporters also hope the new law will lead to less food waste by requiring kindergarten through sixth grade students to have more time to sit down and eat, and by collecting unused food for use by food pantries, students and other charitable organizations.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Gov. Tony Evers has directed that flags to be flown at half-staff in the state Tuesday to honor a Wisconsin soldier who died in World War II and whose remains were recently identified.

Evers' order directs that U.S. flags and Wisconsin state flags be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset Tuesday to honor U.S. Army Private First Class William LaVerne Sonny Simon.
The international wildlife body CITES called Monday on 184 member countries to stop trade with Mexico for products linked to sensitive species, such as orchids, cactuses and skins from crocodiles and snakes.

The group said the decision came in response to Mexicos failure to protect the vaquita marina, a small porpoise that is the worlds most endangered marine mammal. The trade ban will not affect commercial seafood species like fish or shrimp, though some groups are pushing for such broader bans.

Mexico has been slow to stop illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China. The nets used to catch totaba also trap and drown vaquitas as by-catch.

Studies estimate there may be as few as eight vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place they exist. The shy, elusive porpoises can neither be held nor bred in captivity.

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, signed by 184 countries; it regulates trade and protection for protected species. Trade is permitted in some protected species, like crocodiles harvested for use in shoes or handbags, but such trade is closely regulated.

CITES said in a statement that it communicates to parties the recommendation to suspend all commercial trade in specimens of CITES-listed species with Mexico.

Zak Smith, director of Global Biodiversity Conservation at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that Mexico is rightly facing the consequences of its failure to control illegal fishing that is causing the vaquitas extinction.

For decades, the international community has been urging, imploring, and begging Mexico to meet its legal obligations, Smith wrote. Broad sanctions are appropriate and should stay in place until Mexico demonstrates results.

Mexicos Foreign Relations Department said in a statement that the ruling constituted an unequal treatment of our country, because it did not take into account the many and exhaustive actions that have been taken.

Mexico recently submitted a revised protection plan to CITES, after the body rejected an earlier version. Mexicos plan lists establishing alternative fishing techniques to gillnet fishing as one its top priorities. But in reality, the governments protection efforts have been uneven, at best, and face often violent opposition from local fishermen.

The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez has largely declined to spend money to compensate fishermen for staying out of the vaquita refuge and to stop using gillnets.

The government has also sunk concrete blocks with hooks to snare illegal nets in a portion of the Gulf where the vaquitas have been seen.

The activist group Sea Shepherd, which has joined the Mexican Navy in patrols to deter the fishermen and to help destroy gillnets, says the efforts have reduced the gillnet fishing. But with so few vaquitas remaining, that may not be enough.

Moreover, experts say the Mexican government has not spent the money needed to train and compensate fishermen for using alternate fishing techniques such as nets or lines that wont trap vaquitas.
BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP)  It could be months before the Vermont Medical Examiner determines the cause and manner of death of a man found dead in a Bennington police holding cell after he had been arrested on drug charges, state police said.

There is no indication Bennington police used physical force on the Darrell Jones, 33, who was found dead on Thursday afternoon, less than an hour after he had been placed in a holding cell, the state police said regarding its preliminary investigation.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Boaz Atzili, American University School of International Service

(THE CONVERSATION) Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.

The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts.

That threat has not passed unnoticed. Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv during the first weeks of January 2023 against the governments proposed reform policies. Smaller demonstrations took place in other cities, and organizers promise to keep the heat on.

Perhaps the most important front in the battle is the Israeli Supreme Court. On Jan. 12, court President Esther Hayut gave a highly uncharacteristic public speech in which she warned that the Netanyahu governments proposed reforms are meant to be a mortal wound to the independence of the judiciary, and to turn it into a silent institution.

The clash came to a head when, on Jan. 18, the justices ruled 10-1 against the appointment of Aryeh Deri as a senior minister in Netanyahus Cabinet because of what the court said was his backlog of criminal convictions. Deri, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, served time in jail, and the judges ruling said that he should not be in the government. The ruling means that Netanyahu will either face a coalition crisis or else find a way to circumvent the courts ruling, which will place the government above the law.

The conflict between the Supreme Court and Netanyahus government illustrates one of the four ways that Israels democratic institutions, customs and practices are endangered by the new government. Here are those threats, based on policies and legislation that have been proposed or are already in process.

1. Hostility to freedom of speech and dissent

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been working for years to consolidate his grip on Israeli media. The new government plans to accelerate the privatization of media in the hands of friendly interests and brand as anti-Israeli and treasonous media outlets its leaders deem hostile. The signs of this delegitimization are already here.

Even before the newly appointed minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took office, the police briefly arrested and interrogated journalist Israel Frey after he posted a controversial tweet hinting that the Israeli military may be a legitimate target of Palestinian attacks. The police claimed the tweet incited terrorism, and the arrest showed journalists who favor an open and free press that they might face retaliation.

Ben-Gvir, the head of the Jewish Power party and now overseer of the police, was convicted in the past for supporting Jewish terrorism and for racist incitement against Israels Arab minority. In his inauguration speech on Jan. 1, the new minister branded Jewish anarchists  a code he often uses for leftists and human rights organizations  as threats that needed to be dealt with.

2. Diminishing equal rights

The Netanyahu government appears poised to allow discrimination against the LGBTQ community and women, thus undermining equality before the law, an important democratic principle.

Incoming National Missions Minister Orit Strock said in an interview in late December, If a doctor is asked to give any type of treatment to someone that violates his religious faith, if there is another doctor who can do it, then you cant force them to provide treatment.

Netanyahu condemned Strock and other coalition members who stated that gay people could be denied service by businesses if serving them contradicts the business owners religious beliefs. Yet, journalists report that Likud and other coalition partners agreed in writing to amend the law against discrimination to allow exactly such a policy.

During early coalition negotiations, ultra-Orthodox parties demanded new legislation that would allow gender-based segregation in public spaces and events. Netanyahu has reportedly agreed, which means these laws are expected to pass the Knesset. Segregation in educational spheres, public transportation and public events is often translated into exclusion of women and weakening of womens voices, and hence contradicts basic democratic principles such as freedom and equality.

3. West Bank annexation and apartheid

The new governments intention to de facto annex the West Bank will turn hollow Israels claims of being the only democracy in the Middle East.

In a Dec. 28 tweet, Netanyahu announced that his governments guidelines will include the principle that the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel, including the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967 and populated by a Palestinian majority.

These guidelines, combined with new nominations of far right politician Bezalel Smotrich as the minister responsible for Jewish settlements and Ben-Gvir as the minister in charge of the border police, could provide justification for annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Based on much of the rhetoric of right-wing leaders such as Smotrich, Palestinian residents of these lands will have neither equal rights nor voting rights. This means apartheid, not democracy.

4. Erasing the separation of powers

In the Israeli system, the executive and legislative branches are always controlled by the same coalition. The courts are the only institution that can check the power of the ruling parties and uphold the countrys Basic Laws, which provide rights in the absence of a formal constitution.

But the new government wants to erase this separation of power and explicitly aims at weakening the courts. On Jan. 4, after less than a week in his role, new Minister of Justice Yariv Levin announced the governments plan for a radical judicial reform, which will include the override clause. That clause will allow a simple majority in the Knesset to re-enact any law struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

This would, in effect, remove all barriers placed upon the power of the majority. The coalition could legislate policies that are not only unconstitutional, but which clearly contradict ideas of human rights and equality that are enshrined in Israels Declaration of Independence.

The governments plan also includes reforms that would allow the coalition to control nomination of judges. In a small country that does not have a strong constitution and in which there is no separation of power between the executive and legislature, this move, again, would weaken the authority of the court and make judges beholden to politicians.

These so-called reforms threaten to destroy the entire constitutional structure of the State of Israel, said Yair Lapid, head of the opposition and former prime minister.

The danger of Netanyahus woes

All of these threats to Israeli democracy are more likely to materialize because of Netanyahus current personal problems.

Netanyahu is an experienced politician who in the past managed to quell the most extreme elements of his coalition partners, and his own Likud party, by paying them lip service while being more cautious on actual policies.

Many analysts do not believe this time will be the same.

The prime minister is facing corruption and fraud trials in three separate cases and is focused on protecting himself through whatever legislative and executive power he can muster. Netanyahu is beholden to his coalition for this task, which makes him vulnerable to their ultra-Orthodox agenda and demands for laws to perpetuate Jewish supremacy.

Any one of these changes present a serious democratic erosion. Together, they pose a clear danger to the existence of Israeli democracy.

Israel will continue to have elections in the future, but its an open question whether these will still be free and fair. With no judicial oversight, with constant disregard of human rights, with annexation of Palestinian lands and the disenfranchising of their people, and with a media that normalizes all of these processes, the answer is probably no.

As in Turkey, Hungary or even Russia, Israel could become a democracy in form only, devoid of all the ideas and institutions that underpin a government that is actually of the people and by the people.

This story has been updated to reflect the Israeli Supreme Courts recent actions regarding the Netanyahu government.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/israels-netanyahu-facing-off-against-the-supreme-court-and-proposing-to-limit-judicial-independence-and-3-other-threats-to-israeli-democracy-197096.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a U.S. Army sergeant charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an armed protester in Texas in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.

Sgt. Daniel Perry was working for a ride-sharing company in July 2020 when he turned onto a street and into a large crowd of demonstrators in downtown Austin.

Perrys attorneys said he acted in self defense when he shot and killed Garrett Foster, 28, after protestors banged on his car. Foster pointed a weapon at Perry, the sergeant's attorneys say, and Perry fired from inside his vehicle.

Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Austin, was indicted in Foster's death on charges of murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and deadly conduct, a misdemeanor, in 2021. The trial comes after attempts from Perrys team to throw out the case over the past year.

Clint Broden, who represents Perry, confirmed that jury selection began but did not comment further on the case.

In video that was streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters begin screaming and scattering. Police can then be seen tending to someone lying in the street.

When Foster was killed, demonstrators in Austin and beyond had been marching in the streets for weeks following the police killing of George Floyd. Floyd died May 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against the Black mans neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed, repeatedly said he couldnt breathe.

Floyd's killing was recorded on video by a bystander and sparked worldwide protests as part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice.
New Jersey's attorney general said Monday that his office has taken control of the police department in the state's third-largest city, Paterson, less than a month after officers there fatally shot a well-known crisis intervention worker during a tense standoff.

Attorney General Matt Platkin said at a news conference that his office had assumed control of all police functions without delay, including the division that investigates internal police matters. His announcement didn't mention the shooting of 31-year-old Najee Seabrooks directly, but it reflected activists' concerns about how the department was being run.

There is a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in this city, he said to brief cheers and calls of Thank you from the audience. Something has to change, and it will change starting now. Earlier this morning, I exercised my authority as attorney general and superseded the Paterson Police Department.

Platkin said the takeover amounted to a pledge to residents and officers that the state is committed to safety in the city.

During a phone interview later Monday, Platkin said it wasn't a single case that led to his office's takeover of the Paterson Police Department.

This is not a step I take lightly. Its something Ive been considering for a while. Its been a series of misconduct ... a complete breakdown of trust, he said.

Isa Abbassi, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department currently serving as the chief of strategic initiatives there, will take charge of Paterson's police department in May, Platkin said. He said his office quietly conducted a nationwide search and settled on Abbassi.

In the meantime, a New Jersey State Police officer will serve as the department's interim head.

Pat Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemens Benevolent Association, which is the union that represents Paterson's police officers, said in a statement that the vast majority of those officers are doing an extraordinary job under very difficult, trying circumstances.

Besides the takeover, Platkin said hes implementing some other changes. They include a program that pairs a police officer with a mental health screener in an unmarked vehicle to respond to 911 calls about mental or behavioral health issues.

He also said the state will revamp its protocols statewide for dealing with people who have barricaded themselves in a room or building  as Seabrooks had done for more than five hours before he was killed. Platkin also formed a working group to study and make recommendations on interactions between police officers and violence intervention officers.

The standoff started about 8 a.m. on March 3 when police were called to Seabrooks brothers apartment where he had been holed up in the bathroom. Seabrooks, who was a crisis intervention worker and mentor with the nonprofit Paterson Healing Collective, had called 911 at least seven times and told dispatchers that people were threatening him and he needed immediate help.

Police arrived soon after and talked to him through the door, offering to get him water and calling him love in one instance. But the tension increased when he told police he was armed with a pocket rocket gun and a knife.

Police shot Seabrooks when he emerged from the bathroom with a knife, according to the attorney generals office.

His death shook his co-workers, who were at the scene and texting with him, said Liza Chowdhury, Seabrooks boss at the Paterson Healing Collective. She said Seabrooks had been texting with colleagues, asking to see them, but that police blocked the co-workers from entering the apartment.

Chowdhury said Monday that she appreciated Platkins decision, but she also called on him to fire the officers involved in the shooting.

In the weeks since his death, anti-violence advocates organized a vigil calling for a number of reforms, including the creation of a civilian review board. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice has called on the Justice Department to investigate the citys police department, and the ACLU of New Jersey said the shooting shows the need to invest in non-law enforcement responses to mental health calls.

It isn't clear how long the takeover will last. Platkin said he's in for the long haul.

Platkin didnt specify what behavior led to the takeover, but his office has been involved in a handful of investigations in the city of more than 150,000 that's roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of New York.

In February, Platkin announced an aggravated assault charge against a Paterson officer who he said shot a fleeing unarmed man. In December, a grand jury declined to indict Paterson police officers involved in the death of a man they restrained two months earlier.

The U.S. Department of Justice has the power to sue police departments where there has been an established pattern of illegal behavior, corruption or unconstitutional policing practices, and issue legally binding consent decrees to require changes in those practices. It recently issued a report that will lead to a consent decree in Louisville, Kentucky, and it put the police department in New Jersey's biggest city, Newark, under federal supervision.

State actions against local departments are less common because of local control is often stipulated in state constitutions.

Paterson's police department is the largest to be taken over by the state in recent years, but it isn't the only one. Among the others are the 11-officer department in Lavallette, as well as three others in Union County.

___

Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer contributed to this article.
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CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP)  The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of a 28-year-old Black man who died after he was pinned to the floor by seven sheriff's deputies and several others while he was being admitted to a mental hospital in Virginia.

Sharpton's National Action Network, a civil rights organization, announced plans for the funeral of Irvo Otieno on Wednesday at the First Baptist Church in Chesterfield, Virginia, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) south of Richmond.
New York States watchdog has appropriately set his sights on an educational spending category that bears scrutiny. A recent report from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli details a troubling situation: The states fourth grade math and reading scores show losses double the national average a full three years after the pandemic began. Too many students are still struggling.

This depressing news prompted the comptrollers call to action urging districts to spend government money as intended to help students make up for academic losses.

DiNapolis report points to significant student performance decline in 2022 from 2019, according to recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). New Yorks average score remained steady for eighth grade reading but declined in eighth grade math (down six points). Just as concerning, over this time, New Yorks losses in fourth grade math and reading scores were double the national average and exceeded 45 other states in math and 38 other states in reading.

The average decline for fourth grade math scores (10 points), according to the report, was so severe that McKinsey & Company estimated this learning loss to be the equivalent of nearly an entire school year.

Such a poor showing heightens the need to spend state and federal funding directly aimed at improving outcomes. This funding has been ample.

More than $15 billion in emergency education aid flowed from the federal government during the pandemic, with $14 billion from three rounds of elementary and secondary school relief fund (ESSER) assistance. This aid was aimed at elementary and secondary schools and must be used by September 2024. DiNapolis Covid-19 Relief Program Tracker showed that through Jan. 31, New Yorks school districts have spent roughly 40% of ESSER funds.

There is still time to get the funds spent, but the clock is ticking.

In March 2021, the federal government enacted the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and, as comptrollers report states, along with it the most significant round of education funding (ESSER III), which distributed $9 billion to New York. The ARPA funding require states to submit a plan for how ESSER III funds would be used to safely re-open schools and recover from the pandemic and New Yorks ARPA plan was approved in August 2021. Thats the good news. New York school districts have provided reports on how they were spending their ESSER III funds and each districts approved spending plan is publicly available.

DiNapoli has urged the state Education Department to continue to provide school districts with guidance on best practices for spending of funds and encouraged school districts to ensure funds are being used for evidence-based practices for students most in need.

Michael Cornell, superintendent of Hamburg Schools and President of the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association, stated that the New York State Education Department has been a good partner with respect to challenges coming out of Covid-19. For example, New York has helped districts reduce barriers in licensing teachers from other states and expediting licensure for teachers once they accumulate credentials  in addition to allowing teachers to teach on internship certificates.

But the superintendent cautions that New York is a large, diverse state with 700-plus school districts with unique needs, challenges and strengths, and when it comes to spending these funds, one size does not fit all. It is not just about increasing reading or math scores, but social-emotional impacts of the pandemic were at least, if not more, significant than the academic impact. Many school districts have correctly allocated some money to youth mental health or are working to establish a family support center.

The reasons a child does not learn are varied and complex and those needs must be kept in mind. The comptroller is doing his job in sending districts a reminder that they are on the clock in using critical education funds, but it will be up to the districts to make sure the spending is targeting complex needs that go beyond scores.

  

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.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahoma's top prosecutor and attorneys for death row inmate Richard Glossip both asked a court on Monday to once again delay Glossip's upcoming execution while his attorneys seek to have his conviction overturned.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond and one of Glossip's attorneys, Warren Gotcher, filed a joint motion for a stay of execution with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. They ask that the execution, currently set for May 18, be delayed until at least August 2024 so that the court can consider a separate motion from Glossip's attorneys for an evidentiary hearing they suggest could prove his innocence.

Shortly after Drummond took office in January, he made available to Glossip's defense team a box of material that Drummond's predecessor, John O'Connor, had not permitted them to view. O'Connor had designated the materials, consisting largely of prosecutor's notes in the case, as work product, according to the filing.

Glossip's defense attorneys maintain that evidence included in those notes point to his innocence and have asked the court for an evidentiary hearing and to reverse his conviction and sentence.

Had these items from Box 8 been disclosed before trial as the state was constitutionally obligated to do, there is a reasonable probability that the result of the trial would have been different, Glossip's attorneys argue in their application for post-conviction relief.

Messages seeking comment from Glossip's attorneys were not immediately returned Monday.

Drummond's office has not taken a position on Glossip's application for relief, but agreed to the motion for a stay of execution. Drummond has also ordered an independent inquiry into Glossip's case that has not yet been completed.

Among the evidence Glossip's attorneys say should have been turned over to his defense are notes related to the mental health and drug use of Justin Sneed, who admitted robbing and killing motel owner Barry Van Treese, but claims he did so only after Glossip agreed to pay him $10,000. Sneed, who received a sentence of life in prison, was a key witness in the case against Glossip.

Glossip's attorneys suggest other details from witness statements that conflicted with the state's evidence also was never disclosed to them.

Glossip, now 60, has long maintained his innocence in the 1997 murder-for-hire killing. His case attracted international attention after actress Susan Sarandon  who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejeans fight to save a man on Louisianas death row in the 1995 movie Dead Man Walking  took up his cause in real life. Prejean herself has served as Glossips spiritual adviser and frequently visited him in prison.

An independent investigation conducted last year by Houston law firm Reed Smith raised new questions about Glossip's guilt. The firms report did not find any definitive proof of Glossips innocence, but raised concerns about lost or destroyed evidence and a detective asking leading questions to Sneed to implicate Glossip in the slaying.

Glossip has been scheduled to be executed three separate times, only to be spared shortly before the sentence was set to be carried out. He was just hours from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they had received the wrong lethal drug, a mix-up that helped prompt a nearly seven-year moratorium on the death penalty in Oklahoma.

___

Follow Sean Murphy: @apseanmurphy
A woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver Sunday evening, San Jose police said on Twitter at 7:36 p.m. Sunday.

The collision happened around 6:50 p.m. in the area of Blossom Hill Road and Leigh Ave. Police are investigating and didn't release information on the vehicle. Officers attempted to render life-saving aid, but the bicyclist was pronounced deceased on scene.

The California Highway Patrol said on its website at 8:51 p.m. there was a fatal vehicle accident on northbound Highway 113 east of Vacaville.

San Jose police said in a tweet at 4:02 p.m. Sunday they are investigating a stabbing that occurred in the area of Almaden Expressway and Highway 85.

Officers located a victim suffering from at least one stab wound. The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Pleasant Hill police arrested two people Saturday afternoon at a local hotel they say had nearly a pound of methamphetamine, a firearm, and a large amount of cash.

Officers served a warrant at the hotel room related to a residential burglary in Pleasant Hill. They arrested the suspect without incident.

Police also arrested another person in the hotel room who had felony warrants and was on probation.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said Sunday afternoon the Bay Area should expect frost and temperatures near freezing Monday morning, with the next rainstorm arriving late Monday.

Descending temperatures Sunday night into Monday morning could be hazardous to unsheltered people, the NWS said. Monday's rain will move southward through the middle third of the week, with rain coming in bands.

The heaviest rain is expected on Tuesday with strong gusts of wind. After brief breaks, the next banded rain will come through the Bay Area on Wednesday and Thursday.

The NWS said unsettled weather could keep light rain in the forecast next weekend.

UC Berkeley police said on Twitter at 10:14 p.m. Sunday that a man chased a child around 7:30 p.m. in the area of Gooding Way and Ohlone Village, in University Village in Albany.

The 9-year-old was walking home from a friend's house when an older man began chasing the child, who was able to elude the man, police said.

The suspect was described as a white male, average build, approximately six feet tall. He was described as "middle aged," wearing a fedora style hat, blue or green shirt, and black pants. The suspect left the area in an "older" black, two-door car.

Walnut Creek police arrested a Stockton man on Saturday for allegedly trying to burglarize a Crescent Drive home and illegally possessing a gun in his car.

Police said they were called just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday to a possible residential burglary in progress on Crescent Drive, involving a man wearing a mask and gloves.

A witness said the man, later identified as 18-year-old Isaiah Taylor, climb over the victim's fence and into the backyard. After a short period, Taylor allegedly exited the backyard and left the area in a blue Chevy sedan.

Officers arrested Taylor on suspicion of attempted residential burglary, possession of a loaded firearm in public, possession of a concealed firearm in public, and possession of burglary tools.

Taylor was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The National Weather Service forecast for Monday for the greater San Francisco Bay Area calls for frost in the early morning hours in the North Bay, East Bay Hills, Santa Cruz Mountains and interior Monterey County. A frost advisory is in effect through 9 a.m. before giving way to mostly sunny skies around the Bay Area with highs in the upper 50s.

Monday night's forecast calls for rain likely after 11 p.m. Rain is forecast to continue throughout most of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Copyright  2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2023 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Chinas global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the worlds most powerful communist country.

An investigation by The Associated Press has found that China and its U.S.-based advocates spent years building relationships with the states officials and lawmakers. Those efforts have paid dividends at home and abroad, the AP found: Lawmakers delayed legislation Beijing didnt like, nixed resolutions that conveyed displeasure with its actions and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese governments image.

Its work in Utah is emblematic of a broader effort by Beijing to secure allies at the local level as its relations with the U.S. and its Western allies have turned acrimonious. U.S. officials say local leaders are at risk of being manipulated by China and have deemed the influence campaign a threat to national security.

Beijings success in Utah shows how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

Utah is an important foothold, he said. If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.

Security experts say that Chinas campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Beijings campaign in Utah has raised concerns among state and federal lawmakers and drawn the attention of the Justice Department.

A state legislator told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a resolution in 2020 expressing solidarity with China early in the coronavirus pandemic. A Utah professor who has advocated for closer ties between Washington and Beijing told the AP hes been questioned by the FBI twice. The FBI declined to comment.

'DECEPTIVE AND COERCIVE'

Beijings interest in locally focused influence campaigns is not a secret. Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, said during a trip to the U.S. in 2015 that without successful cooperation at the sub-national level it would be very difficult to achieve practical results for cooperation at the national level.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.

It is not unusual for countries, including the U.S., to engage in local diplomacy. U.S. officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the U.S. intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaigns in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center in July warned state and local officials about deceptive and coercive Chinese influence operations. And FBI Director Christopher Wray last year accused China of seeking to cultivate talent earlyoften state and local officialsto ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijings agenda.

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

Those concerns have arisen amid escalating disputes between the U.S. and China over trade, human rights, the future of Taiwan and Chinas tacit support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Tensions worsened last month when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered and shot down in U.S. airspace.

LEGISLATIVE AND PR VICTORIES

U.S. officials have provided scant details about which states and localities the Chinese government has targeted. The AP focused its investigation on Utah because China appears to have cultivated a significant number of allies in the state and its advocates are well-known to lawmakers.

Relying on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records requests, the AP found China won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

China-friendly lawmakers, for example, delayed action for a year to ban Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes at state universities, according to the legislations sponsor. The Chinese language and cultural programs have been described by U.S. national security officials as propaganda instruments. The University of Utah and Southern Utah University closed their institutes by last year.

In 2020, China scored an image-boosting coup when Xi sent a note to a class of Utah fourth-graders thanking them for cards theyd sent wishing him a happy Chinese New Year. He encouraged them to become young ambassadors for Sino-American friendship.

Emails obtained by the AP show the Chinese Embassy and the students Chinese teacher coordinated the letter exchange, which resulted in heavy coverage by state-controlled media in China.

A Chinese state media outlet reported the Utah students jubilantly exclaimed: Grandpa Xi really wrote back to me. Hes so cool! Portraying Chinas most authoritarian leader in decades as a kindly grandfather is a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

Xi's letter garnered positive attention in Utah, too. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldnt help but think how amazing it was that the Chinese leader took the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xis letter was so kind and so personal.

Dakota Cary, a China expert at the security firm Krebs Stamos Group, said in making such comments Utah lawmakers are essentially acting as mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party and legitimizing their ideas and narratives.

Statements like these are exactly what Chinas goal is for influence campaigns, he said.

SPY AGENCY INTEREST

Chinas interest in Utah is not limited to its officials and advocates who are engaged in diplomacy, trade and education. U.S. officials have noted that Chinas civilian spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), has shown an interest in Utah, court records show.

In January, former graduate student Ji Chaoqun was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to spying for China. The Chicago student told an undercover agent hed been tasked by his spy handlers to meet people, some American friends." He was baptized at a Latter-day Saints church and told the undercover agent he'd been going to Utah more often lately before his arrest, according to his Facebook page and court records.

Ron Hansen, a former U.S. intelligence official from Utah, pleaded guilty to trying to sell classified information to China. Hansen said China's spy service had tasked him with assessing various U.S. politicians views towards China. The FBI found the names of Utah elected officials among sensitive files he stored on his laptop, court records show. Hansen was sentenced in 2019 to serve 10 years in federal prison.

Hansen was well known in Utah political circles and helped organize the first ever annual U.S.-China National Governors Forum, which was held in 2011 in Salt Lake City, according to court records and interviews. The U.S. State Department canceled the forums in 2020 due to concerns about Chinese influence efforts.

UTAH IS NOT LIKE WASHINGTON D.C.

The AP found groups of up to 25 Utah lawmakers routinely took trips to China every other year since 2007. Lawmakers have partially used campaign donations to pay for the trade missions and cultural exchanges, while relying on China and host organizations to pay for other expenses.

On the trips, theyve forged relationships with government officials and were quoted in Chinese state-owned media in ways that support Beijings agenda.

Utah is not like Washington D.C., then Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on Beijing over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.

In an interview last month with the AP, Hughes said the trips to China made him bullish about the country and prospects of improving trade. However, he said he now believes the visits were pretexts for Chinese officials to influence him and other lawmakers.

Its a trip not worth taking, Hughes said.

Utah doesnt require public officials to report in detail their foreign travel or personal finances, so its difficult to determine lawmakers' financial ties to China. Some of Utahs most pro-China legislators, however, have China-related personal business connections.

Sen. Curt Bramble told Courthouse News Service last year that his role as a part-time legislator and as a business consultant sometimes overlap and that he had clients in China  a dozen at times  some of them on legislative tours, some on consulting.

In an interview with AP, Bramble said none of his clients are based in China; they only do business there. He declined to name them.

Bramble, a Republican who represents a conservative district, also rejected fears of undue Chinese influence in Utah.

Chinas not going anywhere. Chinas going to be a world force. Theyre going to be a player for the foreseeable future and trying to understand what that implies for the United States or for the state of Utah and get a concept of that seems to be a valuable endeavor, he said.

TIES FORGED BY TWO UTAH RESIDENTS

Many of the Utah-China ties have been forged by two state residents with links to the Chinese government or to organizations that experts say are alleged front groups for China, including its civilian spy agency, the AP found.

The two men advocated for and against resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favor with Beijing, according to emails and interviews.

In reviewing the APs findings, legal experts said the mens connections with Chinese officials suggest that they should register with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA. The law generally requires anyone who works on behalf of a foreign entity to influence lawmakers or public perception, but its scope is the subject of significant debate and enforcement has been uneven.

If I were representing either of these individuals, I would have significant concerns about FARA exposure, said Joshua Ian Rosenstein, an attorney who handles such matters.

One of the men, Taowen Le, has championed China to religious and political leaders in Utah for decades. Le, a Chinese citizen, moved to Utah in the 1980s and has been a professor of information technology at Weber State University since 1998. Le converted in 1990 to the Mormon faith.

From 2003 through 2017, Le had another job -- as a paid representative of Chinas Liaoning provincial government. Provincial governments are largely controlled by Beijing and Liaoning has had a longstanding sister relationship with Utah.

Les advocacy continued after he said he left Liaonings payroll, emails and interviews show. He has frequently forwarded messages from Chinese government officials to Utah lawmakers and helped the Chinese Embassy set up meetings with state officials.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with Chinas ambassador to the U.S., Le sent the governor a personal plea to take the meeting.

I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together. You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.

State Senate President Stuart Adams turned to Le when Utah was scrambling to obtain large quantities of drugs that Adams thought could be used as potential treatment against the coronavirus in early 2020, emails and interviews show.

Le, who belongs to the same congregation as Adams, said in an email to another lawmaker that he was able to get the Chinese Embassy to assign two staffers to work tirelessly on the request until it was fulfilled.

RELIGIOUS SALES PITCH

A hallmark of Les approach is to utilize his religion in his pitches to lawmakers. He quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his emails, text messages and letters, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the churchs president-prophet, has made about China.

Chinese officials have tried to cultivate friendly ties with the church. When visiting Utah, China's diplomats and officials often meet top church members as well as lawmakers, emails and other records show.

Expanding to China has been a top goal for the church, which plays a heavy role in Utah politics and the state's overall identity. Many of the states residents lived abroad as missionaries, and several of Utahs public schools have robust K-12 Chinese immersion programs.

While the church has historically been an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Le sought to stop Utah lawmakers from supporting religious figures or groups discriminated against by the Chinese government.

When a Utah lawmaker sponsored a resolution in 2021 condemning Chinas well-documented and brutal crackdown of its minority Muslim Uighurs, Le chastised the legislator in text messages and compared unflattering media coverage of the Chinese government to that of the churchs founder, Joseph Smith Jr.

Pray to God and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit as you ponder about these issues instead of solely relying on those biased media reports, Le said.

The resolution failed that year and a similar one introduced in January did not receive a hearing.

CHINA'S ADVANTAGES

Le has served as a board member of the China Overseas Friendship Association, which has ties to the United Front Work Department -- a Chinese Communist Party organization the U.S. government says engages in covert and malign foreign influence operations.

A United Front publication profiled Le in 2020 after he attended a meeting in Beijing of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious advisory body controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

I deeply feel the advantages of Chinas system, Le told the publication.

Le told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI in 2007 and 2018 about his Chinese government ties. He said his advocacy has always been self-directed.

I dont consider myself a lobbyist because Im not a lobbyist. Im just someone who cherishes the relationship between the U.S. and China, Le said in an interview in his Weber State office.

Adams, the Senate president, said he feels otherwise.

I do believe hes lobbying, Adams said. He advocates very hard on China.

LAWMAKER'S SON TURNED CHINA ADVOCATE

Another Utah resident whom lawmakers said regularly has advocated better relations with China was Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

Emails and other records show Stephenson advised the Utah Senate president on how to make a good impression with a Chinese ambassador and assisted a Chinese province in its unsuccessful efforts to build a ceramics museum in Utah.

Stephenson has promoted China in Utah for several years and has boasted of being well connected with government officials there.

Ive heard more than once from the mouths of Chinese government officials that China is prioritizing their relationship with Utah, Stephenson told lawmakers at a committee hearing. That testimony came shortly after Stephenson accompanied Republican state Sen. Jake Anderegg on a trip to Shanghai and Beijing that included meetings with officials at Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few months after that trip, Stephenson provided Anderegg with the draft language for a pro-China resolution the state senator introduced in 2020 expressing solidarity with China during the pandemic, Anderegg told the AP.

The resolution passed with near unanimous approval.

A Chinese diplomats efforts to win passage of a similar resolution in Wisconsin failed, with the states Senate president publicly blasting it as a piece of propaganda.

Anderegg told the AP that he was interviewed by FBI agents seeking information about the Utah resolutions origins.

It seemed rather innocuous to me, Anderegg said of his resolution. But maybe it wasnt.

Stephenson said the FBI has not contacted him and no Chinese government official played a role in the resolution.

TIES TO ALLEGED FRONT GROUPS

Stephenson has links to Chinese groups allegedly active in covert foreign influence operations, documents show.

He is a partner in the Shanghai-based consulting firm Economic Bridge International. The companys chief executive, William Wang, is a Chinese citizen and council member of the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development, according to an online biography. The group is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Partys United Front.

Stephenson, also once worked for the China Academy of Painting, which has been used by Chinas Ministry of State Security as a front for meeting and covertly influencing elites and officials abroad, according to Alex Joske, the author of the recently published book Spies and Lies: How Chinas Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World.

Stephenson said he worked only briefly  without pay  for the China Academy of Painting. He added he did not witness any spy agency involvement.

WORK ALIGNED WITH CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S DESIRES

Stephenson said hes never taken any action at the direction of the Chinese government and never accepted compensation from it.

I work to promote Utahs economy, to help American companies succeed in China, and to encourage healthy people-to-people and commercial ties, Stephenson said.

His work sometimes aligned with what Chinese government officials were seeking and in ways experts say likely helped the Chinese Communist Party's messaging.

Stephenson urged Utahs elected officials to make videos to air on Shanghai television to boost the spirits of that citys residents early in 2020 as they battled COVID-19, according to emails obtained by AP.

You cannot buy this type of positive publicity for Utah in China, Stephenson said in an email pitching the videos.

The request originated with the Shanghai government, according to Stephensons email, and came as officials in China were scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his repeated warnings about the disease's dangers.

Many lawmakers recorded videos reading sample scripts Stephenson provided, and a compilation of those videos was uploaded to a Chinese social media website. The compilation ends with dozens of lawmakers in unison shouting jiayou!- a Chinese expression of encouragement -- on the Utah House and Senate floors.

___

Suderman reported from Washington. AP writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this story.

Contact APs global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Another Pakistani court on Monday ruled in defense of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, granting him protection from arrest as lawsuits mounted against him. Police have charged the ousted premier with incitement to violence in several cases when his followers clashed with security forces this month.

The latest reprieve for Khan comes as a political crisis roils Pakistan, pitting the former cricket star turned Islamist politician against the government of his successor, Shahbaz Sharif, and spilling into violence in the streets.
PHOENIX (AP)  A vow by Arizona's governor not to proceed with any executions amid lingering questions about the rights of death row prisoners appears to have paused a scheduled execution next week, even though it hasn't officially been called off.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs won a key battle recently when the Arizona Supreme Court concluded a state law didn't require her to proceed with the planned April 6 execution of Aaron Gunches, even though his execution date wasn't canceled.

Hobbs has vowed no prisoners will be executed until theres confidence that the state isnt violating constitutional rights when enforcing the death penalty.

Gunches was scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 2002 killing of Ted Price, who was his girlfriend's ex-husband. He had pleaded guilty to a murder charge in the shooting death near Mesa, Arizona.

Prices sister, Karen Price, had tried unsuccessfully to get the court to order Hobbs to carry out the execution. Price then asked for a stay of execution. In making that seemingly contradictory move, Karen Prices attorney expressed concern that the state was going let the court order authorizing Gunches execution expire before factual issues in Karen Prices litigation could be resolved.

The governors office said Monday that it isnt expecting the execution to be carried out next week. As we explained in our prior statements and legal filings, the state does not expect to be in a position to carry out an execution by April 6, the governor's office said in a statement. Hobbs had previously appointed a retired federal magistrate judge to examine Arizona's procurement of lethal injection drugs and other death penalty protocols due to the states history of mismanaging executions.

Colleen Clase, an attorney for Karen Price, didnt immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

The governor has made very clear the state is not prepared to go forward with the scheduled execution, said Dale Baich, a former federal public defender who teaches death penalty law at Arizona State University. I would expect that it would not take place (next week). Lawyers for Hobbs have said the state lacks staff with expertise to carry out an execution, was unable to find an IV team to carry out the lethal injection and doesnt- currently have a contract for a pharmacist to compound the pentobarbital needed for an execution. They also said a top corrections leadership position thats critical to planning executions remains unfilled. Some requirements for carrying out executions under the states death penalty protocol have not been met in Gunches case.

The corrections department said the warrant of execution issued by the state Supreme Court wasnt read to Gunches. And Gunches wasnt moved to a special death watch cell where he would be monitored around the clock and remain until his execution.

In a statement Monday, the agency said that its death penalty protocols have been paused as we conduct our systemic review of the execution process and complete the necessary steps to demonstrate efficacy and competency in the established protocols.

Arizona, which currently has 110 prisoners on death row, carried out three executions last year. That followed a nearly eight-year hiatus brought on by criticism that a 2014 execution was botched and because of difficulties obtaining execution drugs. Since then, the state has been criticized for taking too long to insert an IV for lethal injection into a condemned prisoners body and for denying the Arizona Republic permission to witness the three executions.

Gunches, who is not a lawyer, represented himself in November when he asked the Supreme Court to issue his execution warrant so that  he said  justice could be served and the victims families could get closure. In his last month in office, Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the court for a warrant to execute Gunches.

But Gunches then withdrew his request in early January, and newly elected Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes later asked for the warrant to be withdrawn.

The state Supreme Court rejected Mayes request, saying that it must grant an execution warrant if certain appellate proceedings have concluded and that those requirements were met in Gunches case.

Gunches switched courses again, saying now that he wants to be executed and asked to be transferred to Texas, where, he wrote, inmates can still get their sentences carried out. Arizonas high court denied the transfer.
BOSTON (AP)  Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Monday that she will seek a third term in 2024.

Warren, a prominent voice for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and a failed 2020 presidential contender, said she's running for reelection to end corruption in Washington, make the economy work for the middle class and protect democracy.

I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the rich and powerful and against everyone else. I won because Massachusetts voters know it, too. And now Im running for Senate again because theres a lot more weve got to do, Warren said in a campaign video released Monday.

Warren, 73, had more than $2.3 million in her campaign account at the end of 2022, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Warren first won election to the seat in 2012, defeating incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who was elected to fill out the term of Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died in 2009.

With the win, the then-Harvard Law School professor became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts.

In 2018, Warren won a second term, easily defeating Republican candidate Geoff Diehl, before quickly setting her sights on the presidency.

While popular among some Democratic voters for her blunt rhetoric, Warren was unable to break away from the party's pack of contenders and dropped out after failing to win any of the states that voted on Super Tuesday, including coming in third in the Democratic primary in her home state.

During the campaign against Brown and again during her bid for the presidency, Warren was dogged by past claims of Native American heritage and her inability to provide documentation of that ancestry.

That led then-President Donald Trump to go after her early in the presidential campaign, derisively labeling her Pocahontas." Warren had said she learned of her family ties to Cherokee and Delaware tribes from stories told by her parents.

After the 2020 loss, Warren continued her focus on the financial sector.

Warren recently joined California Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat, to push a proposal to repeal a 2018 rollback of certain aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act, enacted after the financial crisis a decade earlier.

The bill, part of discussions in Congress following the recent abrupt failure of two banks, is unlikely to advance.

In her campaign video, Warren ticked off a series of priorities from passing a wealth tax and putting stricter rules on banks to making child care more affordable, protecting coastal communities and building what she called a 21st century transportation system across all of Massachusetts."

It's unclear who might challenge Warren for the Senate seat. Many Democrats appeared to be waiting until Warren or fellow Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, also a Democrat, decided not to seek reelection. Markey in 2020 fended off a primary challenge from then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy.

The state's Republican Party is trying to rebuild after losing the governor's office last year when Republican Gov. Charlie Baker opted not to seek a third term and Democrat Maura Healey handily defeated GOP candidate Geoff Diehl.

Warren already has the backing of many high-profile Massachusetts Democrats including U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Markey.

Warren serves on several congressional committees including the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Armed Services.
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BRUSSELS (AP)  Finland is set to join NATO on Tuesday, days after Turkey ratified the Nordic countrys membership and set it on track to become the 31st member of the world's biggest military alliance.

All NATO members must vote unanimously to admit a new country into the alliance.

This is an historic week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels Monday, on the eve of a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers. The move, he said, will make Finland safer and our alliance stronger.

The addition of Finland, which shares a 1,340 kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia, will more than double the size of NATOs border with Russia.

Only a few technical steps procedures remain before Finland can join NATO's ranks:

ACCEPTANCE LETTERS

Turkey will on Tuesday hand its acceptance letter for Finland's accession to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The United States is the depositary, or safekeeper, of NATO under the alliances 1949 founding treaty.

SIGNATURES

Stoltenberg will then invite Finland to present Blinken with its own acceptance document, signed by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto authorized Haavisto to sign the document.

FULL MEMBERSHIP

Once Finlands membership acceptance document is handed over, the country will officially become a NATO member. A flag raising ceremony will be held at 1330 GMT (1530 CET) in Brussels on Tuesday.

FINLAND-SWEDEN

Finland and neighboring Sweden jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022. The countries, which have close cultural, economic and political ties, planned to enter the alliance simultaneously.

Swedens bid, however, has stalled due to opposition from Turkey, whose president has said his country won't ratify membership before its disputes with Stockholm are resolved. The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations.

Hungarys parliament also has yet to ratify Swedens accession to NATO, and it remains unclear when it will do so. Stoltenberg said Monday that he hopes Sweden will join in coming months, before U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet in Lithuania in July.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  A well-known Kentucky Republican on Monday blasted the GOP's push for transgender legislation, calling it a bad look for the party of Abraham Lincoln in a radio ad coming days before lawmakers could vote to override the Democratic governor's veto of the bill.

Former longtime GOP state lawmaker Bob Heleringer evoked Lincoln's memory and words in lashing out against the Republican measure. A companion radio ad features Trey Grayson, a former Republican secretary of state in Kentucky. The Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization in Kentucky, paid for the commercials, which are airing statewide.

It's part of an uphill effort by the bill's opponents to try to fend off an override of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of the measure aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths. The bill would ban access to gender-affirming health care and restrict the bathrooms they can use. It also would allow teachers to refuse to refer to transgender students by the pronouns they use.

The bill easily passed with veto-proof margins in the legislature  where Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers. Lawmakers are set to reconvene Wednesday for the final two days of this years session, when they could vote to push aside Beshear's veto. Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer said Monday that the ads would not slow the bill's momentum among legislators.

The supporters say they are trying to protect children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments they might regret as adults. Research shows such regret is rare.

The Family Foundation, a faith-based organization in Kentucky, is urging lawmakers to override the veto. It said Beshear put radical sexual ideology above protecting Kentucky children from harm.

Heleringer pushed back against his party's efforts throughout the session. In one of the new ads, he asks if the GOP worked for years to gain legislative majorities in Kentucky "just to wage an all-out war against defenseless transgender children? Wow, what a bad look for the party of Abraham Lincoln.

In the ad featuring Grayson, the ex-statewide official says he cant believe lawmakers are working in the final days to take rights away from Kentucky parents by pushing the transgender bill.

They want to overrule parents and doctors when it comes to care for transgender kids, he said in urging Kentuckians to contact their lawmakers to speak out against the bill.

It's similar to the arguments made by the governor, who says the bill tears away the freedom of parents to make critical and difficult medical decisions for their children.

The legislation in Kentucky is part of a national movement, with Republican state lawmakers approving extensive measures that restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people this year, from bills targeting transgender athletes and drag performers to measures limiting gender-affirming care.

The Kentucky measure would ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. It would outlaw gender reassignment surgery for anyone under 18, as well as the use of puberty blockers and hormones, and inpatient and outpatient gender-affirming hospital services.

Doctors would have to set a timeline to detransition children already taking puberty blockers or undergoing hormone therapy. They could continue offering care as they taper a youngsters treatments, if removing them from the treatment immediately could harm the child.

Transgender medical treatments have long been available in the United States and are endorsed by major medical associations.

The bill would not allow schools to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity with students of any age. It would require school districts to devise bathroom policies that, at a minimum, would not allow transgender children to use the bathroom aligned with their gender identities. It also would require schools to notify parents when lessons related to human sexuality are going to be taught.

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, said featuring well-known Republicans in the ads was intentional for us to show the support on both sides of the aisle, which we know exists in opposing the bill. Both Heleringer and Grayson have lobbied on behalf of issues important to the Fairness Campaign, he said.

Thayer took issue with the strategy, saying it crosses a line.

They have a First Amendment right to say whatever they want, but its extremely rare for registered lobbyists to appear in an advertising campaign, Thayer said.
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ATLANTA (AP)  A Georgia judge on Monday ordered the Fulton County district attorneys office to respond to a motion by former President Donald Trump to throw out a report by a special grand jury that investigated attempts to interfere in the states 2020 presidential election.

The motion by Trumps legal team also seeks to toss out all testimony from the inquiry and to bar Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis to respond by May 1 and to let him know whether an in-person hearing is needed to resolve any issues. A spokesperson for Willis said her office would reply through its court filings.

The filing is an effort by Trump to escape one of the multiple legal challenges he faces, including a state inquiry in New York into hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president as well as a pair of U.S. Justice Department criminal investigations. One examines his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. The other examines Trumps possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate.

Willis began her investigation shortly after the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that conversation, the then-president suggested that Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, could find the exact number of votes needed to overturn Trumps narrow election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.

The special grand jury heard from about 75 witnesses and considered other evidence before issuing a report that includes recommendations for Willis on criminal charges. McBurney released the reports introduction and conclusion, as well as a section in which the grand jurors expressed concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath, but the rest of the report has remained under wraps so far.

Willis said in a January hearing that decisions on indictments were imminent.

The challenge by Trump's legal team, filed last Monday, also contended that McBurney misinterpreted Georgia law and erred by not disqualifying Willis from the entire probe when he ruled in July that Willis could not pursue charges against Burt Jones, now Georgia's lieutenant governor.

Trump's lawyers asked for another judge besides McBurney to hear the challenge. He did not acknowledge that push in Monday's brief order.

The lawyers also faulted Willis for granting repeated news interviews, citing a list of 39 media appearances and saying her comments cast a shadow of bias over her office and the entire investigation."

Trump's lawyers similarly argued that interviews that the foreperson and other grand jurors have given should disqualify the case.
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BANGKOK (AP)  As Myanmars military put on an annual show of strength Monday, its top leader told its assembled ranks they need to take decisive action against those fighting army rule of the country.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing spoke at a military parade on Armed Forces Day. At sunrise, members of all service branches marched in mass formations onto a huge parade ground in the capital, Naypyitaw, backed by armored vehicles, missiles and artillery as well as fighter jets and helicopters flying overhead.

Myanmars military has been accused of indiscriminate killings of civilians as it engages in major offensives to suppress the armed resistance opposed to its takeover of the government two years ago. Min Aung Hlaing in his speech said those who condemned his military government demonstrated indifference to the violence committed by its opponents.

Armed Forces Day marks the anniversary of the start of a 1945 uprising of a ragtag army against occupying Japanese forces. The country then called Burma attained independence from colonial power Britain in 1948 and has been ruled by a succession of military governments for most of the years since.

On Feb. 1, 2021, the army ousted Aung San Suu Kyis elected government, prompting peaceful protests that security forces suppressed with bloody violence. The escalation of the violence since then has been characterized by U.N. experts and others as a civil war.

The opposition to military rule is led by a self-styled National Unity Government, or NUG, which was established by elected lawmakers who were denied their seats by the army and stakes a claim to being the countrys legitimate administration.

Its armed wing, the loosely organized Peoples Defense Forces, or PDF, along with their armed ethnic minority allies, regularly strike military columns, bases and outposts. At the same time, the army and air force are hitting villages with artillery and air strikes, often causing civilian casualties and credibly being accused of other brutal human rights abuses. Their offenses have displaced more than a million people, causing a humanitarian crisis.

The terror acts of the NUG and its lackey so-called PDFs are needed to be tackled for good and all," Min Aung Hlaing said in his speech. "The (military) and the government also need to take action against this terrorist group, trying to devastate the country and killing the people.

His government has declared major resistance organizations to be terrorist groups, and anyone associated with them is subject to harsh punishment.

While Min Aung Hlaing said the actions of his military were necessary to achieve peace, his government is keen to dismiss allegations of human rights abuses by pointing at violence carried out by its opponents.

After security forces arrested, tortured and killed activists in the cities, urban guerrilla groups responded with bombing and assassinations of targets linked to the military. On Friday, a veteran corporate lawyer accused of being a military crony was shot dead in the country's biggest city, Yangon.

There were scattered protests reported against the army's celebration.

Independent online media reported that bomb explosions took place in at least three areas of the countrys biggest city, Yangon on Monday morning.

Yangon Revolution Force, a pro-democracy activist group, announced it had protested Armed Forces Day by performing a ritual at a Buddhist pagoda placing a curse on Min Aung Hlaing. The militarys leaders, like many other people in Myanmar, are known to be highly superstitious.

In the Sagaing region in the northwest, a stronghold of armed resistance, people held small protests against Armed Forces Day.

___

Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
News / National

by Simbarashe Sithole

People of Mazowe North constituency feel betrayed by their Member of Parliament Campion Mugweni who has failed to make a single contribution in Parliament for five years.The electorate told Mugweni at a meeting in Mvurwi that they sent him to Parliament to speak on their behalf and not to add numbers."We are shocked that our MP cannot even make a single contribution in Parliament one wonders if we have a representative in Parliament, I am sure we can verify this fact by checking the parliamentary hansard. Not even a single contribution from the MP can be located" Gift Dzobo said.Sekai Nyamasoka said, "The duty of an MP is to speak but we are not happy with you honourable you are dumb in Parliament why?"Mugweni begged for another term saying he was learning."I know you feel let down but please give me another term because the first term you gave me l was learning politics," he said.Other people said they could not send him to Parliament to learn instead they want a person who is able to represent them in the house of Assembly."Surely we cannot send an MP to Parliament to learn we want a representative who if it pleases the President can be appointed a Minister," Joice Madombwe said.However, Mugweni is fighting hard to get another term despite him missing in his constituency for a long time only to resurface for the ZANU PF primaries.
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South Dakota's House failed Monday to override Gov. Kristi Noem's recent veto of a bill that would have created government regulations for the use of cryptocurrency in the state.

The bill had passed smoothly throughout the legislature, and Noem's veto of last week was upheld on a 37-30 vote.

Proponents had argued the bill would have centralized different cryptocurrency systems through one government oversight commission, boosting transparency. But opponents saw the proposed regulations as a tool for potential government surveillance and overreach, saying they wanted more time to see how such legislation fares in other states.

Six other states have passed the Uniform Commercial Code's update, which requires tangible records of cryptocurrency exchanges so that they can be considered money. National commercial standards aim to regulate digital currency exchanges by adding transaction records, but Noem said such a step would take away from South Dakotans market freedoms.

It would be imprudent to create regulations governing something that does not yet exist. More importantly, South Dakota should not open the door to a potential future overreach by the federal government, Noem said in a statement last week in vetoing the bill.

As similar bills emerge in other state legislatures, Republican counterparts like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota have expressed concerns about possible government surveillance akin to China's heavy-handed oversight of its markets. The suspicions over regulation of a Central Bank Digital Currency come a year after President Joe Biden's executive order to explore a federal bank-owned digital currency. Biden's step triggered a burst of misinformation, including claims it would create a cashless society.

Bill proponents argued that those who believe the government would replace cryptocurrency companies with a federal system are mistaken, and that the bill simply would have bridged federal government and digital currencies, which are not currently recognized as money.

The bill's sponsor, House Republican Hugh Bartels, said he expects most of the country will pass such code updates amid the rise of various forms of cryptocurrency.

The misconception is that this bill is authorizing central bank digital currency, Bartels said. Its just setting up a way to do business with it.

The first most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, launched more than a decade ago. While fundamentally digital money, cryptocurrencies are not backed by any government institution.

___

This story has been corrected to show the House vote was 37-30, not 36-30.
Patrick Semansky/AP

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court won't hear a civil rights case brought by the parents of a teenager who was naked and unarmed when he was fatally shot by an Oklahoma police officer in 2019.

The high court on Monday rejected without comment the lawsuit bought by the parents of Isaiah Lewis. Police have said that the 17-year-old was shot after he broke into a home in Edmond and attacked two officers. They have said that a stun gun had no effect on him.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued Monday by President Joe Biden.

The order responds to growing U.S. and global concerns about programs that can capture text messages and other cellphone data. Some programs  so-called zero-click exploits  can infect a phone without the user clicking on a malicious link.

Governments around the world  including the U.S.  are known to collect large amounts of data for intelligence and law enforcement purposes, including communications from their own citizens. The proliferation of commercial spyware has made powerful tools newly available to smaller countries, but also created what researchers and human-rights activists warn are opportunities for abuse and repression.

The White House released the executive order in advance of its second summit for democracy this week. The order demonstrates the United States' leadership in, and commitment to, advancing technology for democracy, including by countering the misuse of commercial spyware and other surveillance technology, the White House said in a statement.

Bidens order, billed as a prohibition on using commercial spyware that poses risks to national security, allows for some exceptions.

The order will require the head of any U.S. agency using commercial programs to certify that the program doesnt pose a significant counterintelligence or other security risk, a senior administration official said.

Among the factors that will be used to determine the level of security risk is if a foreign actor has used the program to monitor U.S. citizens without legal authorization or surveil human rights activists and other dissidents.

It is intended to be a high bar but also includes remedial steps that can be taken ... in which a company may argue that their tool has not been misused, said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under White House ground rules.

The White House will not publish a list of banned programs as part of the executive order, the official said.

John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab who has long studied spyware, credited the Biden administration for trying to set new global standards for the industry.

Most spyware companies see selling to the U.S. as their eventual exit path," Scott-Railton said. The issue is the U.S. until now hasn't really wielded its purchasing power to push the industry to do better.

Congress last year required U.S. intelligence agencies to investigate foreign use of spyware and gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the power to ban any agency from using commercial programs.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a committee hearing last year that commercial spyware posed a very serious threat to our democracy and to democracies around the world. He said Monday the new order should be followed by other democracies taking steps against spyware.

It's a very powerful statement and a good tool, but alone it won't do the trick," he said.

Perhaps the best known example of spyware, the Pegasus software from Israel's NSO Group, was used to target more than 1,000 people across 50 countries, according to security researchers and a July 2021 global media investigation, citing a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers. The U.S. has already placed export limits on NSO Group, restricting the company's access to U.S. components and technology.

Officials would not say if U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies currently use any commercial spyware. The FBI last year confirmed it had purchased NSO Groups Pegasus tool for product testing and evaluation only, and not for operational purposes or to support any investigation.

White House officials said Monday they believe 50 devices used by U.S. government employees, across 10 countries, had been compromised or targeted by commercial spyware.

Despite NSO's assertions that the program is supposed to be used to counter terrorism and crime, researchers found the numbers of more than 180 journalists, 600 politicians and government officials, and 85 human rights activists.

Pegasus use was most commonly linked to Mexico and countries in the Middle East. Amnesty International has alleged Pegasus was installed on the phone of Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee just four days before the journalist was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. NSO has denied the allegation that its software was used in connection with Khashoggi's murder.

The family of Paul Rusesabagina, credited with saving more than 1,200 lives during the Rwandan genocide, a story depicted in the movie Hotel Rwanda, has also alleged it was targeted by spyware. Rusesabagina was lured back to Rwanda under false pretenses and jailed on terrorism charges before his release last week. Rwanda has denied using commercial spyware.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)  People who were sexually abused as children in Washington state may soon be able to bring lawsuits against the state, schools or other institutions for failing to stop the abuse, no matter when it happened.

House Bill 1618 would remove time limits that have stymied lawsuits by some people who frequently do not fully confront childhood trauma until years later, The Seattle Times reported.

The bill has passed the state House on an 82-14 vote and cleared a Senate committee last week.

Washingtons current statute of limitations requires victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits within three years of when the abuse occurred, or three years from when they discovered harms it caused, such as depression, addiction or suicidality.

The bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Darya Farivar, D-Seattle, told the newspaper she's heard story after story of survivors trying to access the justice system to hold people accountable, to be able to move on with their lives, and they cant do that.

"This is a really meaningful way to address that, Farivar said.

At a March 21 public hearing, supporters of the bill  including survivors, experts and plaintiff attorneys  urged lawmakers to remove the time barrier.

The move to end the civil statute of limitations follows the state Legislatures action in 2019 to eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions of child sex abuse.

While HB 1618 received overwhelming support in public testimony, some warned it could unleash a costly barrage of lawsuits.

Tyna Ek, general counsel for the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool, said in New York, thousands of lawsuits were filed after the state in 2019 opened a new window for survivors to sue over childhood sexual abuse.

Ek suggested at the hearing that lawmakers instead consider establishing a victim compensation fund.

If you are going to open the floodgates against public entities, like schools,  do it in a way where you set up a mechanism and you fund it, she said.

Washington states Department of Children, Youth and Families is already facing 222 lawsuits over alleged abuse in foster care and other settings. The Attorney Generals Office estimates an additional 50 lawsuits per year will be filed against the department if HB 1618 is passed, according to a fiscal analysis of the bill.

Backers of the bill say such costs are the price of justice, arguing the financial and emotional burden for abuse has long been carried by survivors.

At the end of the day, its about accountability. It is about holding ourselves accountable when we think about our state agencies, Farivar said.
BERLIN (AP)  Two police officers were injured Monday in scuffles that broke out when protesters tried to break through a police cordon during a demonstration against a meeting of oil and gas companies in Vienna.

Police detained 143 people and resorted to using pepper spray to break up the demonstration.
HONG KONG (AP)  Alibaba founder Jack Ma has resurfaced in China after months of overseas travel, visiting a school Monday in the city where his company is headquartered and discussed topics such as artificial intelligence.

Ma founded e-commerce firm Alibaba in the 1990s and was once Chinas richest man. He has kept a low profile with few public appearances since Nov. 2020, when he had publicly criticized China's regulators and financial systems during a speech in Shanghai.

Shortly afterward, authorities put the brakes on the initial public offering of Alibabas financial affiliate Ant Group, which had been set to raise $34.5 billion in what would have been the worlds largest share offering at the time. Alibaba was later investigated and fined $2.8 billion for breaching antitrust rules as Chinese authorities cracked down on the once-freewheeling technology industry.

In the past year, Ma has been travelling, with reports of sightings in Europe, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong. His itinerary has been closely watched as a barometer of Beijings attitude towards private businesses.

On Monday, Ma visited the Yungu School in Hangzhou, in eastern China, that was established by Ma and other partners of Alibaba, according to a WeChat post by the school. Ma discussed technologies such as the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, and spoke of his passion for learning.

Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese government has been seeking to raise confidence in the private sector after regulatory crackdowns, on technology, education, online gaming and financial companies, and harsh COVID-19 restrictions slowed the economy.

Earlier this month, Chinas newly-appointed premier, Li Qiang, sought to reassure entrepreneurs and investors by saying the government would provide unswerving support for the private sector. The commitment to this was unequivocal and steadfast, he said.

Ma stepped down as Alibaba chairman in 2019, saying he hoped to focus on philanthropy. In January, he ceded control of Ant, the financial technology firm, amid a revamp of its shareholding structure.

The same month, a top Chinese central bank official said that the c rackdown on the internet industry was basically over.
AP

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)  At least 20 people were killed when a packed bus hit a bridge, overturned and burst into flames in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Monday, Saudi state media reported.

Al-Ekhbariya TV said 29 other people were injured in the crash and aired footage showing the charred remains of the bus. It said the crash occurred when the vehicle's brakes failed in southwestern Asir province bordering Yemen.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  Burkina Faso's military junta has suspended French broadcaster, France 24, for interviewing a top jihadi rebel, a government spokesman announced Monday.

The broadcasting of France 24's programs will be blocked throughout Burkina Faso because of an interview the outlet did with the leader of an al-Qaida aligned group, Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a statement.

It is with regret that the government discovered two weeks ago an interview with the chief of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb on France 24, part of the France Medias Monde group. Without contesting the freedom of the channel's editorial choices, the government nevertheless questions the ethics that govern the professional practice of journalism on France 24, he said.

By describing the views of the head of the rebel group, France 24 had acted as a communication agency for the jihadis and gave them space to legitimize their actions, he said.

On March 6, France 24 discussed on air, the exclusive interview it had conducted with Algerian Abu Obeida Youssef al-Aanabi, the leader of AQIM, an umbrella group of Islamic extremist groups operating in the Sahel region, the vast, semi-arid expanse below the Sahara Desert. However, France 24 decided not to broadcast it, Wassim Nasr, the journalist who did the interview told The Associated Press.

In the interview, which took one year to arrange, the only mention of Burkina Faso was to challenge the al-Qaida chief about taking responsibility for an attack in the town of Solhan in the Sahel region that killed at least 160 people in June 2021, said Nasr.

We try to talk to all parties. This is what journalism is about," he said.

Jihadi fighters linked al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have been waging a violent insurgency in Burkina Faso for seven years, that's killed thousands and displaced nearly 2 million people. The violence has destabilized and divided the once peaceful West African country leading to two coups last year. Since the second coup when Capt. Ibrahim Traore seized power in September, civic freedoms have shrunk, say rights groups and residents.

The decision by Burkina Faso's junta not to allow the broadcasts of France 24 comes less than four months after the government suspended French broadcaster Radio France Internationale for having relayed an intimidation message attributed to a terrorist, according to a statement from the junta.

Earlier this month, Mathieu Pellerin, the Sahel consultant for the International Crisis Group, was arrested and detained for two days by authorities and questioned about his work, said Murithi Mutiga, the groups Africa program director. It was the first time one of the groups specialists had been detained in Burkina Faso in a decade of working there, he said.

In December the government expelled the top U.N. official in the country and weeks later ordered France to recall its ambassador.

The suspension of France 24 shows how far authorities in Burkina Faso can go in clearly violating freedom of information and the right of the countrys people to access news freely," said Sadibou Marong, head of the sub-Saharan Africa office for Reporters Without Borders.

The security crisis in Burkina Faso should not be used as an excuse to prevent journalists from covering the crisis in a responsible and independent manner, he said. "We call on the authorities to reconsider their decision in the name of the publics right to pluralistic reporting.
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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  European Council President Charles Michel on Monday pledged to continue supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression for as long as necessary, adding that EU leaders will massively ramp up ammunition production to send to the war-torn country.

Michel met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, where the two leaders discussed EU support for Ukraine, security issues in neighboring Moldova, and Romania's bid to join Europes ID check-free travel zone, also known as the Schengen area.

We are again stepping up our military support, Michel told a news conference. Last week, we agreed to urgently deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. We will massively ramp up our production capacity.

Last week, EU foreign and defense ministers approved a plan for a fast-track purchasing procedure for direct negotiations with industrial providers of ammunition in Europe, and plan to send one million rounds to Ukraine within the next 12 months. But not all EU members want to partake in getting ammunition to Ukraine.

President Iohannis said this is not the time for hesitation in maintaining unity and solidarity with Ukraine as the war grinds on, adding that support must be maintained and strengthened on all levels.

The two leaders also discussed the unfolding situation in EU-membership candidate Moldova that has faced a protracted series of crises since Moscow launched its war in neighboring Ukraine.

Michel said Russia and its allies have stepped up efforts to destabilize Moldova by weaponizing energy, conducting cyber-attacks, staging protests, and other subversive activities.

Michel will on Tuesday travel to Moldova where he will meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean, in the capital Chisinau.

Despite Romania joining NATO in 2004, and the EU three years later, it was told last year along with Bulgaria that it must wait longer to participate in the Schengen zone  the worlds largest free travel zone  amid some countries migration concerns.

Michel expressed his full support for Romania's bid to join the Schengen area.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

FORMER Zinara chief executive officer, Saston Muzenda, has been convicted of violating tender procedures and awarded an undeserving security company to offer its services at the expense of two other firms that had been awarded the job.Muzenda was convicted after trial which was heard before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Feresi Chakanyuka charged with criminal abuse of office as a public officer.He was found guilty of allowing an Ex-Combatants Security company to provide its services to ZINARA when the board had already given Modern Security and Real Star Security companies the same job.Muzenda is expected back in court tomorrow for his mitigation submissions.In her judgment, Mrs Chakanyuka said there was no justification for Muzenda to award the tender to Ex-Combatants when the board had already contracted Modern Security and Real Star.The court also noted in its judgment that Muzenda defied the board's directive of finding another way to deal with Ex-Combatants, since he was directed to deal with it amicably.
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Nairobi, Kenya (AP)  Thousands of anti-government protesters marched on the streets of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Monday despite the government's declaration that the protests are illegal.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga joined protesters on the western side of the capital where his convoy attracted thousands of supporters and he addressed them at various stops calling for electoral justice and reduced prices for food items.

Police used a water cannon and teargas to disperse supporters. Police chief Japheth Koome insists that the protests are illegal but Odinga says Kenyans have a right to demonstrate.

Odinga and his party, Azimio la UmojaOne Kenya Coalition, are leading the protests against the rising cost of living and calling for President William Ruto's resignation saying he wasn't validly elected in last year's election.

The protests occurred last week and Odinga has urged his followers to take to the streets twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.

More than a dozen civil society groups have in a joint statement expressed concern over police declaring Monday's protests illegal and urged authorities to uphold people's constitutional right to peaceful demonstrations.

Ruto over the weekend urged Odinga to face him directly and stop terrorizing the country.

Odingas plan in last weeks protests was to march to the presidents offices at State House but police erected barriers to prevent public access and motorists were directed to alternative routes.

Ruto is currently out of the country visiting Germany.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua shared photos of himself at his office early Monday morning and urged Kenyans to report to work.

Nairobi's central business district remained calm but most businesses were closed on Monday morning due to the uncertainty over demonstrations and if there would be violence.

There were reports of some violence directed at Odinga and his supporters. Some people raided a farm in the outskirts of the capital owned by the family of the former president Uhuru Kenyatta, cutting trees and taking away sheep, according to local media reports. The former president supported Odinga in 2022 elections.

Odinga's gas cylinder manufacturing business near the central business district was pelted with stones.

There was a heavy police presence within the capital and surrounding neighborhoods on Monday. Police have dispersed crowds that gathered in Kibera and Mathare, poor areas of Nairobi.

A resident on Kibera, Emily Atieno, told the Associated Press she would continue to protest until the price of cooking flour is reduced. Another protester Mario Omari said protests would continue until Ruto resigns from office.

Local media have been warned against broadcasting Mondays protests. The Communication Authority of Kenya said the airing of last weeks demonstrations caused panic, incited the public and threatened peace.

The High Court, however, ruled that the authoritys notice was unconstitutional and upheld media freedom in response to a petition filed by a civil society group, a journalists union and the Law Society.

In 2018, Kenya's main television stations were taken off air for one week by the regulator after airing Odingas mock swearing in ceremony where he claimed to be the peoples president. Odinga had rejected the 2017 election results and organized anti-government protests.

Police last week threatened to take action against those pictured hurling stones at officers.

They released photos of people who they said were wanted for crimes committed during the protests but were called out by local media outlets for using old photos and others that were taken during protests in Burundi.
BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanons caretaker prime minister reversed an unpopular decision made by his office to delay the start of daylight saving time by a month, saying Monday the Cabinet decided to implement the change in two days.

Najib Mikatis comments came after the governments initial decision earlier this month was widely criticized around the country with many, including the countrys largest church, saying they will not abide by the decision.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) 

Officials from Poland and the European Union on Monday discussed artillery munitions manufacturing as part of a new, 2 billion euro ($2.2 billion) program to supply Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces and to replenish Europes dwindling stocks.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton visited DEZAMET S.A. munition plant in Nowa Deba, in southeast Poland, accompanied by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.

The visit came just days after Brussels announced a program to reimburse countries offering artillery ammunition to Ukraine from a 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) fund. The program also aims to spend an equal amount on increasing production in 11 countries with such manufacturing capacity.

Breton said the EU is determined to quickly do what is needed in light of a conflict that's expected to drag on. He also encouraged other EU countries to transfer ammunition to Ukraine as soon as possible.

Morawiecki said munitions are what's most urgent needed by Ukraine's armed forces with Kyiv slated to receive a million rounds later this year.

He said Ukraine uses up to 6,000 artillery shells daily as opposed to Russian forces which use 50,000 rounds of various types of ammunition per day.

The officials said Europe needs to urgently increase its ammunition output and urged EU member states to transfer their existing stocks to Ukraine.

The visit came as Russian forces continued to shell areas in Ukraine's partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, killing and injuring civilians.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Prosecutors in northern Poland said Monday a foreign national suspected of spying for Russia will remain in custody for three months until an investigation is completed.

Prosecutors in Gdansk responsible for military matters said the foreigner, whose identity has not been released, admitted to having passed sensitive information to Russian intelligence.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  A suicide bomber struck Monday near the foreign ministry in Kabul, killing at least six people and wounding several, according to officials. It was the second time this year that there has been an attack near the ministry.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing but the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has increased attacks since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021. IS has targeted Taliban officials and patrols, as well as members of the countrys minority Shiites.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkey's foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador to strongly condemn the French senate's decision to host Syrian Kurdish groups that Ankara considers to be terrorists, the Turkish state-run news agency reported Monday.

Pierre Laurent, vice-president of the French Senate, announced on Twitter Saturday that he hosted a delegation from northeast Syria last week to discuss the situation in the region. Media reports said the senate awarded medals to members of the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, and its womens branch, the Kurdish Womens Protection Units, in recognition of their fight against the extremist Islamic State group in Syria.
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LONDON (AP)  The British government pushed its contentious migration bill forward in Parliament on Monday, despite a call from Europes top human rights organization for lawmakers to block the legislation.

The Illegal Migration Bill would bar asylum claims by anyone who reaches the U.K. by unauthorized means, and compel the government to detain and then deport them to their home country or a safe third country. They would be banned from ever reentering the U.K.

As the House of Commons held the first of two days of debate on the legislation, the 46-nation Council of Europe said the bills provisions create clear and direct tension with well-established and fundamental human rights standards.

It is essential that parliamentarians prevent legislation that is incompatible with the United Kingdoms international obligations being passed, the councils human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, said in a letter to British lawmakers.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted the legislation did not breach Britains international obligations.

This is a tough piece of legislation, the likes of which we havent seen, he said. Its important that it is effective, which it will be. It is also important that we abide by our international obligations. This is a country and a government that does follow the law.

Britain receives fewer asylum-seekers than some European nations such as Italy, Germany or France. But thousands of migrants from around the world travel to northern France each year in hopes of reaching the U.K., drawn by family ties, the English language or the perceived ease of getting a job.

Most attempt the journey in dinghies and other small craft now that authorities have clamped down on other routes such as stowing away on buses or trucks. More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain by boat in 2022, up from 28,000 in 2021 and 8,500 in 2020.

The government says the new law, once approved by Parliament, will deter migrants and hobble smuggling gangs who send desperate people on hazardous journeys across one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes.

But charities and refugee groups say it is unethical, unworkably and likely illegal. The United Nations refugee agency said the law would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and amount to an asylum ban.

The government is facing competing calls from legislators to toughen up and water down the bill.

Legislators from the right wing of the governing Conservative Party want the government to go even further and act to prevent the European Court of Human Rights from blocking deportations. More liberal Tories are urging the government to accompany the bill with new safe, legal routes for asylum-seekers to reach the U.K.
A school board meeting for the Roseville Joint Union High School District in the Sacramento area was cut short last week after a man with ties to the Proud Boys made incendiary remarks that sent the audience into a furor.

Several people showed up to Thursday's board of trustees meeting to discuss the district's decision to part ways with The Landing Spot, a ministry of the Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ that serves as a nonreligious support group for LGBTQ kids and their parents in Placer County. The district announced its decision to parents shortly after Project Veritas, a far-right activist group, released an interview with a church pastor who oversees The Landing Spot in a video that was allegedly recorded in secret and heavily edited.

Shortly after Thursday's meeting was called to order, the board opened the public comment section. Several attendees voiced their support for The Landing Spot, chastising the board and the district for a decision they said will harm LGBTQ students. Then, resident Jeffrey Perrine rose to speak.

"The LGBT cult is taking over everything in this state, you understand? It's good to see someone with a backbone," he said. "I knew there was something good about Roseville and Placer County that Sacramento is lacking."

Perrine was expelled from the Sacramento County Republican Party in 2021 over his affiliation with the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the U.S. His remarks at Thursday's meeting  in which he echoed the homophobic trope that the LGBTQ community is full of "pedophile groomers"  were met with jeers from the audience. As board President Pete Constant tried to quell audience members, Perrine used his left hand to flash the crowd with the "OK" symbol, a gesture that's recently become affiliated with white nationalists and other hate groups.

The tension boiled over when Perrine mentioned Casey Tinnin, the pastor at the Loomis Basin Congregational UCC who was allegedly recorded without his permission by Project Veritas. Perrine said he had been protesting outside Tinnin's house in Citrus Heights the night before and planned to go again after the meeting. Members of the audience continued shouting while others simply walked out, and after several attempts to regain control of the crowd, Constant adjourned the meeting.



The Roseville Joint Union High School District did not respond to a request for comment from SFGATE in time for publication.

Perrine apparently made good on his promise to protest outside Tinnin's house Thursday night and was arrested by police. Citrus Heights Police Sgt. Anthony Boehle told SFGATE that officers discovered Perrine outside Tinnin's house around 9:30 p.m. Boehle said that Perrine had been "yelling profanities" through a bullhorn, according to neighbors present. Boehle said Perrine was arrested for disturbing the peace but was not booked into jail. Boehle said he did not have information as to why Perrine wasn't booked.

According to the Loomis Basin Congregational UCC, Tinnin scheduled a meeting earlier this month with two people he believed to be the parents of a transgender child. The church said it was a ruse and that the two people were actually members of Project Veritas. The church said one of them recorded their conversation with Tinnin without his consent  an act that is not legal in California  and the video of their conversation was released in an article published on March 19.

In the video  which the church says is highly edited in a way that takes Tinnin's remarks out of context  Tinnin can be seen saying that parents would be upset if they knew their LGBTQ children were coming to him for support. He also seems to say that it's "critical" to talk to children about their sexual identity when they're young and says his "standard procedure" is to call Child Protective Services on parents who purposefully misgender their kids.

Project Veritas' decision to target Tinnin was likely born out of The Landing Spot's request to hold a youth drag show at Roseville High School. In an interview with KCRA-TV earlier this month, Tinnin said the district initially approved the group's request but then later reversed its position. Tinnin said The Landing Spot held similar events in 2020 and 2022 but not at the school.

A call to Tinnin's voicemail at the church went unanswered, but a statement about the video is posted on the church's website. Church leaders say they're standing behind Tinnin and are exploring legal action against Project Veritas.

"The claims made by this far-right group are outlandish and would-be laughable, except we are seeing unprecedented threats of violence and anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country. These attacks are fueled by hate, and meant to dehumanize and discredit LGBTQ people," the statement said. "We know that we are all beloved children of God. We will continue to support LGBTQ youth and their families through our programs and ministry and we will not be intimidated by this discredited group and their disgusting tactics."
The Internet Archive is a unique resource on the web.

Operating out of a stately building in San Francisco's Richmond neighborhood at the corner of Clement Street and Funston Avenue, the nonprofit is best known for its archival search engine the Wayback Machine, which allows users to reference older versions of webpages that have been deleted or edited. The Internet Archive also serves as an expansive free digital library, compiling videos and e-books that anyone can check out for free, which in recent years has drawn the legal ire of the publishing industry. Friday, a judge ruled in favor of the publishers.

Historically, the Internet Archive attempted to dodge copyright laws by owning a physical copy of every book it offers, each of which it scans itself. Pre-pandemic, it only lent out one version at a time. But when physical libraries temporarily shuttered, the Internet Archive allowed multiple copies of books to be borrowed in what it referred to as the National Emergency Library. Reuters reports that the site lends 70,000 e-books every day, and 3.6 million of the books uploaded to the site are protected by copyright.

The publishing houses of Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House objected to the practice, citing copyright violation and the negative effect it would have on their authors. The Internet Archive, on the other hand, defended itself on the grounds of "fair use" and objected to the licensing models that limit the number of copies of e-books that are distributed through traditional libraries.

In a mid-2022 interview with SFGATE, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle equated the lawsuit to digital book burning.

Theyre looking for a digital book burning of millions of books, Kahle said. During the heyday of Germany in the 20th century, they destroyed 25,000 books. We have a new scale thats being demanded. Thats what theyre after, tens of millions of dollars in damages.

However, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl disagreed with Kahle. In the latest ruling in Hachette v. Internet Archive, Koeltl ruled that the doctrine of fair use does not protect the Internet Archive from legal action, since its practices are not considered "transformative," one of the primary tenets of fair use.

The publishers celebrated the judge's ruling as a win for "creative markets in a global society." In response, the Internet Archive has announced it plans to appeal the ruling, and a statement from Kahle called it "a blow for libraries, readers, and authors."
Salesforce has already laid off more than 7,000 workers this year. Now, more cuts may be on the way.

The San Francisco corporate tech titans chief operating officer, Brian Millham, told Bloomberg in an interview published Friday that Salesforce could cut jobs again, pending a review of the business by the consulting firm Bain & Company. The company has been under pressure from activist investors to improve its profitability.

Salesforces first layoff round of the year came in January, a blow for the thousands of workers who lost their jobs and a crack in the companys kindly, familial image. CEO Marc Benioff took responsibility for the cuts and blamed overhiring during the pandemic. He stood by the move in a recent interview.

Its unclear when new cuts might happen, or how broadly they would hit the companys workforce. Salesforce declined SFGATEs request for comment. Bain, which Millham said is reviewing the business but has yet to provide recommendations, reportedly advised Metas leadership when the social media giant cut 11,000 employees last November.

Millham said Salesforce has also been looking at other ways to cut costs, including using third-party salespeople, reducing the sellers assigned to each deal and focusing employees on monthly sales targets. He added that the firm is pushing employees to go into the office more.

From the very beginning this was a performance-oriented culture, Millham told Bloomberg, noting that he wanted company culture to balance wellness and performance. We may have drifted a bit from that during the pandemic as we took care of our employees and made sure everyone was staying healthy.

Activist investors swarmed the company early this year, following high-profile executive departures and reports of slowed revenue growth. Salesforce, San Franciscos largest private employer, pulled in $31.4 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year, versus $26.5 billion the year prior.

But the customer management software firm got a breather with a better-than-expected earnings report in early March. The company also announced share buybacks, which help placate investors. The firm has also cut down its real estate footprint to save money.

We feel pretty good about what weve been able to deliver so far, Millham told Bloomberg, but added, its not a job thats done by any stretch.

On Monday, Salesforce announced that Elliott Management, a high-profile activist investment firm famous for detaining an Argentine naval vessel in a fight over unpaid debt, would give up its bid to place a friendly director on Salesforces board.

The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Elliotts presence was unnerving employees. One employee apparently asked ChatGPT to speculate about the effect the investor might have on Salesforce culture.

If Elliott Management pressures Salesforce to cut costs and focus solely on short-term financial gains, it could mean layoffs, reduced benefits, and a shift away from the Ohana culture, the chatbot responded. The response was posted in a company Slack channel.

Benioff reportedly replied, Maybe ask GPT a different question, and suggested, What can salesforces employees, its Ohana, do to amplify its amazing culture regardless of any outside adversity.

Hear of anything happening at Salesforce or another tech company? Contact tech reporter Stephen Council securely at stephen.council@sfgate.com or on Signal at 628-204-5452.
The new season makes space for new creative dynamics across the industry, bringing exciting promotions and newly created positions. Read on for BOHs monthly roundup of arrivals and departures in design, manufacturing, media and more.

To the Trade

Dallas-based design group Perennials and Sutherland announced Christian Leard as chief executive officer. Leard comes to Perennials and Sutherland from a role as president of Levolora custom window treatment brand owned by Hunter Douglaswith a background in sales and marketing. Leards current focus is on growth and operations, but he will likely be tasked with preparing the company for an eventual sale. As part of the transition, Ann Sutherland has shifted to chief creative director, while co-founder David Sutherland will remain on in a senior advisory role.

Martinsville, Virginiabased Hooker Furnishings announced Becky Weber as the executive director of M, the companys new modern lifestyle furniture brand. Weber has more than 30 years of experience with Crate & Barrel in a variety of sales, merchandising and product development roles, most recently serving as the divisional merchandise manager responsible for product development of furniture and decor. In her new role, Weber will develop a modern assortment to add to the companys product portfolio.

New Jerseybased tile and stone producer Artistic Tile appointed Tom Harty to a newly created position as technical director. With more than two decades of experience in sales, management and technical operations within the natural stone and tile industry, Harty previously worked at New Yorkbased building materials wholesaler Stone Source for 24 years as the director of procurement. In his new role, Harty will utilize his background in material handling, procurement and quality control assurance to strengthen Artistic Tiles brand operations and positioning.

Austin-based building products brand Kova welcomed Gray Dougherty as director of architecture. Dougherty brings more than a decade of architectural experience to his new role, previously serving as the principal of his own California-based firm Dougherty + Dougherty Architects for eight years before working at architecture firm Genslers San Francisco studio as the studio director and senior associate. In his new role, Doughterty will lead Kovas Connect team to collaboratively identify, develop and deliver products.

Chicago-based fine art auction house and firm Hindman announced Caroline Baker Smith as senior director of trusts, estates and private clients in its New York office. Smith has over a decade of auction industry experience, most recently serving as the vice president of business development and manager of trusts, estates and appraisals at luxury British auction house Christies. In her new role, Smith will work with the appraisals division, the companys four additional salesrooms and New York managing director Gemma Sudlow to expand the firms presence throughout the Northeast.

Multifunctional furnishings company Resource Furniture promoted seven employees across multiple departments, expanding its internal leadership team. With over 13 years at Resource Furniture, Challie Stillman will serve as the vice president of marketing and brand strategy, where she will home in on brand awareness and customer experience, and continue to oversee the marketing department, public relations efforts and showroom design. Christine Salzer, who has evolved from sales consultant to executive leadership over the course of 12 years, will be the vice president of sales, overseeing all showroom managers and sales teams to increase revenue and growth opportunities. Pat Pujols will serve as vice president of finance and operations, utilizing her seven years of experience with the company to manage both the finance and operations departments. Additional promotions include Pieter Depreeuw as director of project management and technical services, Samantha Cunningham to director of operations and Massimo Zambon as controller. Resource Furniture also welcomed Brian Ricci as director of people and culture, a newly created role that oversees hiring, onboarding, internal communication structures, conducting employee surveys and planning team-building events.

Wallpaper company Thibaut announced Alexandra OHare as chief marketing officer. An industry veteran, OHare brings over a decade of experience in the design industry to her new role, most recently serving as the vice president of marketing and interior design for Hooker Furnishings. Before her career at Hooker, she served in global account and brand management roles for Bernhardt and Baker Furniture, overseeing product development, showroom merchandising, life-cycle management and focused launch plans. In her new role, OHare will lead Thibauts marketing, creative and design teams.

Design & Architecture

Houston-based firm Benjamin Johnston Design promoted Paola Neri to director of interiors and Greg Roffino to director. Neri spent her early career in her hometown in Cochabamba, Bolivia, working in residential, hospitality and landscape design, and got her masters of interior design in Florence, Italy, before moving to the United States. She has been with Benjamin Johnston Design since 2017, and Neri will lead a team of interior designers and collaborate with her architecture colleagues in her new role. Roffino brings over a decade of experience in residential design to his new role, previously working with architecture and planning firms like Houston-based Curtis & Windham. As director of Benjamin Johnston Design, Roffino will continue to oversee a wide range of projects spanning construction, renovation and historical preservation, while leading a team of designers and associates.

Houston-based interior design firm Nina Magon Studio opened a location in San Francisco, announcing Paulina Gomez as assistant operations manager and senior designer of the new studio. Gomez previously served as an account executive at advertising company BC Mexico in Monterrey, Mexico, before training under interior designer Nina Magon for five years. In her new role, Gomez will lead the design and operations team in the Bay Area.

Maryland-based design firm Jamie Merida Interiors welcomed Sophie Pyle Zeigler as its new marketing and PR coordinator. With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, Zeigler most recently ran her own Washington, D.C.based marketing firm Rose Media for 10 years, working with clients like home furnishings store Kellogg Collection, online furniture wholesaler Uttermost and furniture manufacturer Sarreid.

Hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates promoted Yulia Bekar to associate at the Los Angeles studio. With a decade of experience at HBA, Bekars project history includes hotels, resorts and luxury residential developments across the U.S. and internationally. In her new role, she will oversee a projects life cycle, cultivating long-term relationships and ensuring design integrity.

Architecture and planning firm Gensler announced Emily Cones-Browne as public relations and communications leader for the New York office. Cones-Browne brings previous experience in PR to her new role, most recently as global public relations officer at Brooklyn-based architecture and planning firm Bjarke Ingels Group and as associate communications director for UpSpring PR. Her background also includes roles with Clodagh Design and several Australian publications, such as Art Collector, Luxury Travel Magazine and Art Edit.

Minneapolis-based architecture and design firm Nelson Worldwide appointed two new senior project managers: Karen Pelzer for hospitality and Aaron Nacey for civic, community, justice and education. Pelzer led and managed design teams for over a decade at Daroff Design and Loews Hotels, and helped develop the hospitality design curriculum at Drexel University, teaching restaurant design and full-service boutique hotel design courses. In her new role, Pelzer will guide and support the hospitality team. Nacey has more than 25 years of experience in architecture, engineering, construction and business, most recently co-founding Axiom Architecture firm and serving as the senior project manager. In his new role, Nacey will collaborate with the client, design and contracting teams to navigate project scopes, schedules and budgets from ideation to implementation.

International architecture and design firm MG2 promoted three employees to principal in the Seattle office: Roy Hague, Amy Hart and Mitch Pride. With over 20 years in the profession, Hague will serve as the principal of the program design studio, focusing on designing creative prototypes for established and emerging markets, including the electric vehicle and e-commerce sectors. Hart will be the principal of client programs with a focus on Costco Business Centers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, bringing over 15 years of experience. Prides portfolio includes projects like Tommy Bahama, Hush Puppies and Brilliant Earth, and he will serve as the principal of consumer experiences, responsible for turning retail concepts into solutions.

Boston- and New Yorkbased architecture and planning firm SGA announced Lauren Gauthier as director of architecture for the academic team. Gauthier brings more than 10 years of architecture and design experience to her new role, previously working at architecture firms on academic projects including Snell Experiential Library at Northeastern University, Sterling Chemistry Lab at Yale University, and Middlesex Schools theater and performing arts center.

Event production company Emerald promoted Keisha Byrd to brand leader of Boutique Design New York and Rachel Long to brand leader of HD Expo + Conference. For the past nine years, Byrd has led Boutique Designs branded conferences and events as part of BDNYs inaugural team, playing an essential role in overseeing and planning the Hospitality Design and Boutique Design portfolios of media and networking events. Long spent 25 years with HD as an editor and on the HD Expo + Conference launch team, and has served as the vice president of content of the design group since 2019. In their new roles, Byrd and Long will oversee the day-to-day operations for their respective brands and produce events.

Media & PR

International publishing company Rizzoli announced the retirement of Pam Sommers, the executive director of publicity. After previously serving as publicity manager at publishing brand Taschen, Sommers was with Rizzoli for more than 20 years, handing national publicity campaigns for about 50 lead titles a year and managing a staff responsible for almost 240 books a year, which were distributed in Italian, French and English. Sommers served as the executive director of publicity since 2002, and will travel and do freelance publicity during her retirement. Jessica Napp will serve as the new director of publicity and has been with the company for almost 16 years, most recently serving as the associate director of publicity for the past eleven years. Napp oversaw and executed the publicity campaigns for the New York Times best-selling books Selfish by Kim Kardashian, The Bobs Burgers Burger Book and Americas Great Hiking Trails.

California-based architecture and design publication Dwell announced Samantha Weiss-Hills as managing commerce editor, Liz Buxton as commerce content director, Julia Stevens as style editor and Kenya Foy as senior staff writer. Weiss-Hills and Buxton will continue to oversee Dominos growing shopping vertical, and Stevens will continue to serve as Dominos style editor. Foy will focus exclusively on Dwell, while Stevens will oversee Dwells market pages.

Retail & Manufacturing

Luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. named Lauren Santo Domingo as its first-ever artistic director for the home category. The co-founder and chief brand officer of luxury fashion platform Moda Operandi, Santo Domingo started working in partnership with Tiffanys homeware design and production team in an advisory role in fall 2020, building on her experience developing Moda Operandis home category and private label Moda Domus. Her first collection for Tiffany will debut in April in conjunction with the brands Fifth Avenue flagship renovation reveal.

Minnesota-based furniture retailer Room & Board Business Interiors hired Ben Stich as national business sales manager. For the past 17 years, Stich led regional, national and North American sales efforts in the commercial furniture industry at companies like Nevers Industry and PS Furniture, and most recently, he helped with business development at MyResourceLibrary, a digital library serving the commercial contract interiors market. In his new role, Stich will formulate strategies for growth that maximize the customer experience and strengthen Room & Board BIs commercial capabilities.

Wholesale paver manufacturer Aspire Pavers welcomed Jennifer Cella as a technical sales representative. Cella has 10 years of experience in the building and construction industry, previously working for building materials company GAF and medical equipment manufacturers Acumed and Stryker. In her new role, Cella will focus on delivering high-impact service to customers and building significant client relationships.

Italian appliance manufacturer Smeg appointed Rod Gower to general manager of its U.S. operations. An appliance industry veteran, Gower brings more than two decades of experience, previously serving as the operations and business development manager at Samsung Electronics America, and most recently as the senior regional sales manager and director of business development at LG Electronics. In his new role, Gower will be responsible for building and growing the domestic appliance categories in the United States.

Samsung Electronics America promoted Scott Davies to senior director of marketing for Dacor luxury appliances. Davies has years of marketing strategy and project management experience, previously working at New Zealandbased appliances company Fisher & Paykel for 20 years as a brand marketing manager and director of strategy, most recently serving as the director of marketing for Dacor for three years. In his new role, Davies will oversee all branding efforts by building strategies and campaigns for awareness growth, with a focus on evolving the companys digital footprint.

North Carolinabased fabric company Glen Raven promoted Blake Collins to director of technical services. In this role, Collins leads the Sunbrella Care Team, helping customers understand and maintain their Sunbrella products. Collins and his team will soon move to a new facility with a dedicated Sunbrella Care Team space in Anderson, South Carolina, where they will focus on furthering the companys industry-leading customer service through live one-on-one communications.

North Carolinabased furniture manufacturer Chelsea House announced Mark Ross as creative director. Ross joins Chelsea House after a 32-year career at New Yorkbased gift and home decor wholesaler Twos Company, where he served as the vice president of design. In his new role, Ross will oversee the design and development of all Chelsea House products, working with the companys product designers and manufacturers, while also managing the design of the brands showrooms in High Point and Atlanta.

Brooklyn-based lighting design studio In Common With welcomed two new staff members. Brin Reinhardt joined the team as sales director, bringing over two decades of sales experience in the high-end design industry, previously managing sales and showroom operations for David Weeks Studio, Moroso and Design Within Reach. In her new role, she will lead trade and wholesale channels, overseeing domestic and international growth for the brand. Caroline Kable also joined the team, serving as director of production. With seven years of experience in the furniture and lighting industries and a background in fabrication, Kable previously managed production with Studio Endo and Matter Made, and will help streamline production, operations and logistics in her new role.

Industry Organizations

The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame elected a new board of directors for 2023. Karen McNeill was appointed board president; Scott Eckman will serve as first vice president; Steve Rusing will assume the role of second vice president; and Satya Tiwari was appointed secretary-treasurer. Caroline Hipple will continue to serve on the executive committee as board chairman. New directors include Hunt Broyhill, Tammy Nagem, Laurie Tokarz and Melinda Whittington, and board members reelected to serve another three-year term are Gat Caperton, Randy Coconis and Tyson Hagale.

Harvard Graduate School of Design announced Grace La as the new chair of the department of architecture. La is a professor of architecture at the GSD and principal of La Dallman, an architecture firm she co-founded in 1999 with a portfolio including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukees Hillel Student Center and Milwaukees Kilbourn Tower. La is the second woman to be named chair of the department of architecture, and in 2013 she became the first Korean American to be tenured at the GSD.

International Market Centers hired Mark Crowther as chief digital officer. Crowther brings over 25 years of experience to IMC, previously working as a digital design leader at IT consulting services company IBM, and most recently serving as the global head of business development for Amazon local advertising. In his new role, Crowther will report to chairman and CEO of IMC Bob Maricich and serve as a member of IMCs Executive Leadership Team.

Homepage image: Josefmicic/Adobe Stock
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to investigate a Delta Air Lines flight where a passenger allegedly opened an emergency exit door.

On Saturday, March 25, at approximately 10:40 a.m., Delta flight 1714 from Los Angeles International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was delayed after a passenger deployed an emergency exit slide while the aircraft was stationary and jumped down onto the ramp, the FAA told SFGATE in a statement.

The aircraft was preparing for takeoff when the unruly passenger jumped from the aircraft, officials said. Delta staff on the ground detained the passenger before he was arrested by law enforcement, Delta told SFGATE in a statement.

Gillian Sheldon, a passenger on the flight, told NBC News that a flight attendant told the agitated passenger to return to his seat before he ran to grab the flight door.

"She said, 'You cannot open the door,' and grabbed him, and within two seconds he opened the door," Sheldon said.

Other passengers told FOX 11 that the man rushed from the back of the plane to the front and asked, What do I do now? before he opened the emergency exit door and slid down the deployed emergency slide.

The flight was delayed almost four hours, according to FlightAware.

"Customers were reaccommodated on a new aircraft, and we apologize for the inconvenience and delay in their travel plans," Delta said.
This week in Get a Room, SFGATE's roundup of news on hotels and accommodations around San Francisco, we chat with Greg Flynn, whose company Flynn Properties is one of the new owners of the stately Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill. The plan is to reopen by 2025 and return the hotel to its lavish roots for noble guests.

Later, we break down the findings in the 2022 tourism report from the San Francisco Travel Association  more good than bad  and then introduce a new boutique hotel opening in Union Square. To round out, we pop by a legacy hotel whose owners were celebrating its 50th year with swanky jazz and decorative desserts.

Huntington Hotel checks back in

You cant manufacture a legacy, but you can certainly purchase it.

Following nearly three years of dormancy, the Huntington Hotel is revived.

Flynn Properties, a local luxury resort and hotel owner, partnered with the hotel management company Highgate to acquire the Nob Hill icon this month. The sale price has not been released, but SFGATE was told it was less than the $56.2 million mortgage the hotels previous owner, Woodridge Capital, owed to Deutsche Bank.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

Shuttered since the onset of the pandemic, the 135-room hotel, along with its adjoining restaurant The Big 4 and spa, suffered a tumultuous financial period marred by a loan default and a tax lien against the property.

The building remains an icon in the San Francisco skyline, as the rooftop sign bearing its name remains a lasting (and impossible to replicate) icon.

You could never in a million years get that sign like that today. And the hotel comes with it, Greg Flynn, founder and CEO of Flynn Properties, told SFGATE. But it needs polish. Its a piece of art in the San Francisco skyline.

Courtesy of Ron Henggeler Courtesy of Ron Henggeler Courtesy of Ron Henggeler A stained-glass window inside the Huntington Hotel. The large suites and Big 4 restaurant are expected to return to their lavish roots under new ownership. (Courtesy of Ron Henggeler)

The new owners plan to invest millions to reshape the Huntington as the epitome of a luxury hotel  returning it to its roots as a host for royalty and starlets.

The good news is that we have an asset: It has the largest average room size in the city by a wide margin, Flynn said. It has a high suite mix, architectural appeal and, of course, the views. It has the bones and location to fulfill our vision. We dont need to build anything; its perfect already.

Highgate is already in discussions with Unite Here Local 2 to return its union workforce, and theres a commitment to restore the Big 4 restaurant and spa to their beloved glory.

Flynn characterized the Huntington Hotel as an own-forever investment and said this project hits close to home. The native San Franciscan drives past the hotel on his commute to his office downtown and fondly recalled his meals and beverages at the Big 4.

The experience is what people want back, he said. What we need to do is not screw it up.

The plan is to reopen the hotel in 26 months, and if that comes to fruition, Memorial Day 2025 cocktails at the Big 4 are in order.

Annual SF tourism temp check

The good news is that people are coming to San Francisco and leaving with largely positive feedback. A presentation from Destination Analysts at the San Francisco Travel Association's annual conference this month offered a glimpse into the citys reputation.

AFP Contributor/AFP via Getty Images

In a "visitor intercept survey" offered to 2,376 SF tourists last year, Destination Analysts found that 92% of respondents would revisit the city, and their impressions of San Francisco were largely positive.

In terms of activities the respondents did while visiting, shopping remains in the lead. Apparently, visitors interest in our parks has more than doubled compared with previous surveys, whereas interest in dining has dipped. The negative feedback for the city  dirty, expensive and not what it used to be  is par for the course and likely reflects how a resident would respond to such a survey.

The bottom line is San Francisco remains a top destination in the country for visitors, but its still not at the volume we saw prior to 2020.

The SF Travel Association released its annual data for local tourism last week, and the narrative remains the same: Were moving in the right direction but at a brisk pace.

According to the SF Travel Association, 21.9 million visitors came to San Francisco in 2022. Its a 29% increase from 2021, and with that boost came tourism spending more than doubling to $7.4 billion.

These are promising statistics, yet perspectives become weary when compared with 2019, a year when San Francisco had a record 26.2 million visitors and $9.6 billion in visitor spending.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

Our local tourism industry is wringing its hands as it espouses optimism for the year to come. Chinese tourism is accelerating a return; San Francisco recently broke into the list of top 10 destinations for Chinese travelers. And a consortium of local hotel associations announced they're embarking on a hiring spree ahead of summer.

Unite Here Local 2, the union representing hotel employees, told SFGATE that about 70% of its members are back at work, and the rest remain furloughed  mostly workers in hotel food and beverage operations.

We think this is due to a combo of lagging hotel occupancy as group and international travel continue to recover, as well as hotels' efforts to boost profits by reducing guest services and jobs, wrote Ted Waechter, a spokesperson for the union, in an email. Restaurants are often the last part of a hotel to reopen, and some hotels are replacing full-service dining with limited service or grab-and-go, while others are reducing restaurants' hours of operation.

Union Squares Villa Florence Hotel is now The Barnes

If you attempt to visit the website for the Villa Florence Hotel, the once Italian-inspired hotel kitty-corner to Union Square, youre immediately directed to a page for The Barnes.

Courtesy of The Barnes

The boutique hotel is the latest iteration of accommodation to occupy the eight-story corner spot thats been part of Union Square for over a century, starting with the Hotel Manx, which opened in the wake of the 1906 earthquake.

The slim, pillared sign protruding from the quoin now displays The Barnes, but that appears to be the sole change for the outside of the neoclassical structure. Inside, however, owners the Roxborough Group, LLC and AWH Partners designed each room with accents of sharp color  such as a blue denim sofa in the suites living room or pop art on the wall  to pop alongside a charcoal carpet.

Courtesy of The Barnes

The Barnes takes its name from the nearby Dewey Monument in Union Square, which features the Goddess of Victory statue atop the pillar (modeled after none other than the famed SF socialite Alma de Bretteville Spreckels). As the barnes is Old English for young warrior, the hotel aims to reflect the youthful vigor of a city in everlasting motion.

Along Powell Street, where chimes from trollies enter through open windows, The Barnes brings a clean slate to a legacy corner of Union Square.

InterContinental Mark Hopkins toasts a golden anniversary

Scaling 19 floors in a matter of seconds, the elevator opens into the foyer where squadron bottles of wishful booze are forever enshrined as a reminder that each drink could be the last, so dont waste it on water  or vodka.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE Outside the InterContinental Mark Hopkins hotel; a cabinet by the elevators holds liquor bottles and letters remembering war heroes. (Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE)

Sentimentalism was in the mood on a Wednesday at sundown in March as the InterContinental Mark Hopkins celebrated 50 years in San Francisco.

The British resort chains first North American property was the Mark Hopkins, and the ink dried on the contract in March 1973. To commemorate half a century of hosting San Francisco visitors and locals alike, the sky bar was abuzz with jazz from a well-dressed trio and plates of hors d'oeuvres. There was a fortunate break in the weather, which provided sharper views of the southern rim of the bay, with mountains topped in snow.

Courtesy of InterContinental Mark Hopkins Courtesy of InterContinental Mark Hopkins Courtesy of InterContinental Mark Hopkins The InterContinental Mark Hopkins celebrated 50 years in San Francisco with decorative cookies and live music in March 2023. (Courtesy of the The InterContinental Mark Hopkins)

Among the announcements for the hotel are the return of concierge and room service for breakfast and dinner (luxuries suspended at the start of the pandemic) and an extensive renovation of the Peacock Court ballroom, its elegant event space. The ballrooms redesign honors the Gilded Age, when namesake Mark Hopkins built a 40-room Victorian fairy castle on the site, which was reduced to rubble in the 1906 earthquake. Today, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins remains a beacon on Nob Hill.

The magnificence of the hotels soaring edifice was reimagined in sugar and frosting and printed on celebratory cookies that were passed to each attendee of the soiree. More decorative than delicious, at least one cookie was pocketed for later as the elevator, packed with gentry, slid between floors to the lobby below.
Here we go again.

A low-pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska is forecast to impact the San Francisco Bay Area from Monday through Wednesday, bringing more rain and wind to a region that was battered by a storm less than a week ago. This system is expected to reach peak intensity over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the California-Oregon border before drifting south along the California coast and passing by the Bay Area.

The storm is expected to bring less severe impacts to the region than the last area of low pressure that passed directly over San Francisco, said Rick Canepa, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service expanded the Monday-Tuesday wind advisory to include the North Bay, East Bay and eastern Santa Clara hills in addition to the coastal areas. The advisory is in effect Monday night through Tuesday afternoon, with peak gusts expected to be up to 40 to 50 mph. Winds are expected to begin developing in the North Bay at about 11 p.m. Monday before spreading across the Bay Area. The strongest winds are forecast late tonight into Tuesday afternoon.

"It's going be half as windy as it was in the last storm in general," local meteorologist Jan Null with Golden Gate Weather Services told SFGATE. "There will be some spots that will see winds that are just as strong, but generally it will be less windy. The real problem is the soils are still saturated. We will still see some trees coming down."

Weather models were in agreement Monday morning that the first rains will arrive in the North Bay at about 8 p.m. this evening. Rain is expected to spread gradually into the greater Bay Area, likely reaching San Francisco at about midnight, before pushing into Monterey County on Tuesday morning. The rainy weather will likely persist into Tuesday and Wednesday.

As this cold front pushes across Bay Area, rain rates are likely to range from 0.1 to 0.3 inch per hour, but they could jump up to 0.5 inch per hour intermittently, the weather service said.

"We could see rises on creaks, streams and rivers, but not significant rises to warning levels," Canepa said. "We could see some brief flooding in urban areas."

The weather service is predicting that between Monday and Wednesday, most of the Bay Area, including San Francisco, will see 1 to 1.5 inches of rain, while the North Bay could pick up 1 to 4 inches in the coastal mountains, and the Santa Cruz Mountains could see 2 to 3 inches.

Cold air moved into the Bay Area behind the last system, and the corridor of northwest winds has been open ever since, Canepa said. "It has been pretty much almost continuous cold," he said.

With these chilly conditions in place, the Bay Area's mountain peaks are forecast to be frosted in snow. Snow levels could initially be as low as 2,500 feet Monday night, but are expected to rise to 4,000 to 6,000 feet by early Tuesday morning as the cold front will bring in "a little bit of warmth," Canepa said.

The East Bay hills could pick up 1 to 1.5 inches of snow, and the Mayacamas Mountains (near the Napa and Sonoma county borders with Lake County) could see 3 to 6 inches.

There's a slight chance for thunderstorms Tuesday, and a slightly higher chance Wednesday when the low-pressure system skirts the Bay Area, Canepa said. "It looks like the system will be just over our coastal waters on Wednesday," he said.
German business sentiment unexpectedly improved again in March, according to a survey released on Monday by the Ifo Institute.

The business climate index rose to 93.3 from 91.1 in February, coming in above consensus expectations of 91.0. This marked the fifth monthly increase in a row.

Meanwhile, the expectations gauge ticked up to 91.2 from 88.4 and the current situation index printed at 95.4 in March, up from 93.9 the month before.

The manufacturing index shot up to 6.6 in March from 1.5 in February, while the service sector gauge improved to 8.9 from 1.3. The index for trade ticked up to -10.0 from -10.6, while the construction gauge came in at -17.9, up from -19.0.

Ifo Institute president Clemens Fuest said: "Sentiment improved considerably, especially in key areas of manufacturing such as the automotive, chemical, electrical and electronics, and machinery and equipment industries."

Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics, said: "The fifth successive monthly increase in the Ifo business climate index in March suggests that Germany is still benefitting from falling energy prices and easing supply problems and has yet to feel the full effects of tightening monetary conditions.

"A recession may be averted in Q1 but we suspect the economy will contract again later this year."
Shares in Genel Energy fell on Monday, after the oil producer confirmed that a key pipeline had been suspended.

The London-listed firm said it had been informed by the Kurdistan Pipeline Company that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline had been shut-in, on the request of the Turkish authorities.

Genel noted that, based on statements made by both the Federal Iraq Ministry of Oil and Kurdistan Regional Government, it expected the suspension to be temporary, and that it was continuing to produce oil into storage facilities.

The stock still fell sharply on the update, however, and by 1000 BST the shares had lost 9% at 107.2p.

The suspension follows a ruling by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerces International Court of Arbitration last week, which found favour of Iraq in the country's long-running dispute with Turkey.

Iraq considers Kurdish oil exports - which flow from the semi-autonomous region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan - illegal, and the two countries have been locked in dispute over the 1973 pipeline agreement for the last nine years.

Following the ruling, Genel said the Iraq Ministry of Oil had agreed to discuss the mechanisms of exporting Iraqi oil through Ceyhan with the relevant Kurdistan authorities. Kurdistan prime minister Masrour Barzani, meanwhile, also confirmed "recent understandings with Baghdad, and said a delegation had visited the city "to build on the goodwill of our discussions".
The bank had already announced last year that it was planning to exit Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

Under the agreement, the Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking (CCIB), and Consumer, Private & Business Banking (CPBB) businesses of Standard Chartered in Jordan will be migrated to AJIB. In addition, all of Standard Chartered Bank Jordans employees will be transferred to AJIB.

AJIB said in a statement on Sunday that the two banks will work closely in the coming months "to provide a seamless transition for its clients and staff".

Sunil Kaushal, the regional chief executive office of Standard Chartered Bank in Africa & the Middle East, said the sale is aligned with the banks global strategy "to deliver efficiencies, reduce complexity, and redirect resources within the AME region to those areas with the greatest potential to drive scale, grow and better support clients".

"Our agreement with AJIB will allow us to accelerate our strategy and leverage on their record of previous acquisitions to meet the financial needs of our clients. We will work closely with AJIB to service the needs of our global clients in Jordan. While we will be selling our local business, we will continue to facilitate and be a bridge for international capital flows into Jordan," Kaushal said.
The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economy faces risks to its financial stability because of the turbulence in the banking sector.Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the Washington-based lender of last resort, said rising interest rates had put pressure on debts, leading to stresses in leading economies, including among lenders.  Guardian

The cost of HS2s revised and postponed London Euston terminus has almost doubled to 4.8bn since 2020, according to the the public spending watchdog, with millions wasted on botched decisions. The government announced last month that work on the high-speed lines central London station would be paused. But the National Audit Office warned on Monday that the move would lead to additional costs and potentially higher costs overall.  Guardian

Fiscal drag will pull 55,000 working parents into Jeremy Hunts childcare tax trap over the next five years, analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows. The number of parents who will find it harder to go back to work or will be incentivised to keep their salaries low will swell by 71pc, in a process known as fiscal drag.  Telegraph

The worlds second-biggest fund manager has signalled its confidence in Britain with plans to open its second UK office, a move that will create 100 jobs. Vanguard, which manages $7.5 trillion (6 trillion) globally, is to announce plans for a new office in Manchester, according to City sources. The US fund manager will lease 14,000 square feet in the Landmark development in St Peters Square.  Telegraph

The Dubai-owned company that admitted it had broken employment law by dismissing 800 British crew at P&O Ferries last March and replacing them with cheap foreign labour has been awarded a multimillion-pound windfall under Rishi Sunaks freeports scheme, in what unions condemned as an appalling decision.  The Times

The head of the main City regulator at the time of the last financial crisis has spoken out in the controversy surrounding the recent wipeout of $17 billion of Credit Suisse bonds and criticised the supervision of the bank. Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who was chairman of the Financial Services Authority from 2008 until it was abolished in 2013, told The Times that the Swiss authorities had done an odd thing by putting Credit Suisses shareholders before some of its bondholders in the rescue of the lender.  The Times
The demand for artillery rounds, like those manufactured by Nammo, has increased because of the war in Ukraine. AP Photo/Libkos

An arms manufacturer said that TikTok's data center is using all the electricity in the region.

As a result, the company said that it cannot keep up with the surging demand for artillery rounds.

The CEO told the FT that the company's growth is being "challenged by the storage of cat videos."

A Norwegian arms manufacturer said that a TikTok data center is eating all the electricity in the region, meaning that the company cannot keep up with the surging global demand for ammunition.

Experts are increasingly commenting on the massive demands of big tech companies, and how energy usage by their data centers is causing issues for other industries.

"We are concerned because we see our future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos," Morten Brandtzg, the CEO of Nammo, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Brandtzg said that the demand for artillery rounds was 15 times higher than normal  a trend driven by the war in Ukraine, which has featured heavy artillery use.

Ukraine, for instance, would like to increase its daily usage of rounds from 6,000 to 65,000, he said.

Insider couldn't immediately establish whether Nammo shells are being used in Ukraine  its customer base, as described in a 2021 annual report, is overwhelmingly EU and NATO states, which have been making mass donations to Ukraine since Russia invaded.

However, in the area of Norway where Nammo operates, its defense work gets no priority over any other users of electricity.

Power is provided on a first-come, first-served basis, according to Elvia, the energy provider in the Raufoss region of Norway  an area around 120km north of Oslo.

The energy company told the FT that it has no spare capacity for Nammo to hike its output as it has already been promised to TikTok. A spokesperson told the FT that if Nammo does order more capacity, it will "take time" before that can be achieved because the network needs to be "strengthened."

Brandtzg said that he had considered whether it was a coincidence that Chinese-owned TikTok was impeding the expansion of an arms company.

Story continues

"I will not rule out that it's not by pure coincidence that this activity is close to a defence company," he said. "I can't rule it out."

Insider has reached out to TikTok for comment.

"Critical industry must have access to energy," said Brandtzg. "I don't think it's one-off, I think it's a trend for the future."

TikTok and other tech giants have faced criticism for their energy use. Back in July, a report from the FT found that the electricity use of large companies  including Microsoft, Oracle, LG, Huawei, Amazon, and Dell  was making it harder to build more homes in London. Due to the electricity grid running out of capacity, the report stated that the capital could face a ban on new housing projects until 2035.

An earlier report from 2019 by EirGrid, Ireland's electrical grid operator, found similar conclusions for Ireland, which is a popular base for global companies' European data centers.

It found that data centers can often require the "same amount of energy as a large town," and could account for "29% of electricity demand in Ireland by 2028."

TikTok's presence in Norway is unlikely to diminish, given the company's recent announcement that it wants to achieve carbon net-zero by 2030.

The country has a surplus of renewable energy  mostly hydropower  and is a popular destination for data centers due to cold temperatures which reduce the requirement to use power to cool down the computers.

TikTok also has plans to build what it says will be the largest data center campus in Norway by November 2023.

Read the original article on Business Insider
As the US invests billions in local semiconductor manufacturing to end its dependence on China, the bonhomie between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin can be seen as an effort by Beijing to somehow negotiate on raw materials needed in semiconductor manufacturing. Russia and Ukraine are significant producers of two key materials used in semiconductor manufacturing - neon and palladium. Ukraine represents about 70 to 80 percent of the global supply of neon, while Russia produces about 35 to 45 percent of the world's palladium supply.

For many years, chip manufacturing has been consolidated in Southeast Asia and China. However, in recent days, India and the US have come closer to establishing a semiconductor supply chain and innovation partnership under the framework of the India-US Commercial Dialogue. China, which is the leader in chip manufacturing, is wary of the changing dynamics and is keen to explore new avenues to continue holding its leadership position in the global semiconductor industry. The China-Russia summit, according to experts, can be one such attempt to control the raw material supply to nations that align with the US Chips Act and are investing hugely in the country.

Washington's Chips and Science Act and its requirements for companies receiving incentives are likely to put South Korean chipmakers' ability to navigate business uncertainties and balance between the US and China to the test. The Biden administration has announced conditions for subsidies under the $53 billion act, designed to revitalize the American chip industry, secure supply chains and keep China's technology advances in check. According to Global Times, South Korea's semiconductors export to China, its largest trade partner, almost halved in January, impacted by the US' stepped-up chip war against China.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that South Korea's exports in January fell 16.6 per cent year-on-year to $46.3 billion. Chip sales, the country's top export item, plunged 44.5 percent to $4.8 billion. However, Chinese experts said South Korean chipmakers can't afford to lose the massive Chinese market. The South Korean ministry has said it will continue to closely consult with the US government to relay South Korean chipmakers' concerns and positions on the issue. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the world's two largest memory chip makers, have significant semiconductor manufacturing operations in China, with Samsung producing some 40 per cent of its NAND flash and SK hynix manufacturing about half of its global DRAM chips in China.

In the US, Samsung is building a $17 billion chip facility in Taylor, Texas, and SK hynix has said it planned to select a site for a semiconductor packaging plant there in the first half.

However, being squeezed between the intensifying US-China tech rivalry is nothing new for the two chipmakers, according to Yonhap news agency. Last October, Washington announced a set of measures that restrict exports of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to companies in China. The sweeping export curbs, among other things, demand companies receive a license for equipment exports to Chinese firms that make advanced chips, such as DRAM chips that are 18 nanometers (nm) and below, NAND flash chips with 128 layers or more, and logic chips 14 nm and below.

The two firms then received a one-year waiver from the US government through close consultation and discussion with Washington. India, which is a close ally of Russia, has also embarked upon a semiconductor manufacturing journey and wishes to become a global chip hub. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Electronics, Railways and Telecom, said this month that the government is focused on strengthening the semiconductor industry for India. "We are talking to all stakeholders in the semiconductor industry. It's a new industry and an uphill task, but we are committed to do what is needed," he said while addressing the CII Partnership Summit.

"We should see a vibrant semiconductor industry in the next three to four years," the minister added. The Indian government has approved Rs 76,000 crore ($10 billion) to attract investments in the field of semiconductors and display manufacturing. Vedanta and Foxconn recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat government to invest Rs 1,54,000 crore in setting up India's first semiconductor and display manufacturing plant.

As India and the US double down on local semiconductor manufacturing, the municipal government of Guangzhou in China has invested 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) to establish funds that will help spur activities involving semiconductors. With the recent supply chain issues in the chip market due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and now a China-Russia summit, India needs to play its diplomatic cards well in order to become a global chip manufacturing hub.
Being the only one and proven for creating Luxurious homes that reflect Personality & Lifestyle.

A phenomenal rise in just 3 years of establishment, their commitment to quality, innovation & client satisfaction has led to their success.

TanviInglay and RohanInglay, who lead 'The Star Estate', have undoubtedly made a name for themselves in the interior design industry in a relatively short period of time. Surprisingly, within just three years of launching their company, they have successfully completed more than 75 interior projects in Mumbai and Pune. Their impressive portfolio and commitment to quality have earned them space in Times Now and Official Humans of Bombay.

Interestingly, Rohan, after completing his Bachelor's in Interior Design from India, headed to Toronto, Canada to pursue his Master's in Business Management. He worked for many well-known brands, like Gucci, Dior, Cartier and Dolce &Gabbana, but was not impressed with the job mindset, wanting to establish his own identity through entrepreneurship. This led to his return, and he started his interior design firm shortly thereafter.

'The Star Estate' is a full-service interior design firm that specializes in creating luxury homes and spaces that reflect their clients' unique styles and tastes. From conceptualization to execution, Tanvi and Rohan's experienced team work closely with clients to understand their vision and create personalized solutions that meet their needs and exceed their expectations.

The company's success can be attributed to the husband-wife duo's focus on attention to detail. "We believe that a home should be a reflection of its owner's personality and lifestyle, and we take great pride in creating spaces that are not only beautiful but also functional and comfortable," says Tanvi. Their team has created unique designs that have incorporated a mix of modern and traditional elements, which has resulted in sophisticated yet comfortable living spaces that have truly reflected their client's style and personality.

In addition to their Interior Design services, Tanvi and Rohan also have launched 'The Taro Tales', where they create content related to travel, lifestyle, relationships and fun which has gained a massive social media following in a very short span. Despite their rapid growth and success, Tanvi and Rohan remain grounded and focused on their vision for the future. Their goal is to achieve 10,000+ premium homes through 'The Star Estate' and continue to inspire and create beautiful spaces for their clients.

They've completed & showcased more than 50 projects on social media, with a splendid 40000+ followers on their Instagram page.

Do follow them on Instagram @thestarestate.in and @thetarotales.
Mining mogul Anil Agarwal is assessing a stake sale in Vedanta as a last resort option and is analysing the possibility of selling less than 5 percent of the company, Source reported. Agarwal is analysing the possibility of divesting a less than 5% stake in the Mumbai listed company, the report said. A 5% stake is worth about $630 million. A stake sale in Vedanta is a last resort for the billionaire and will only be considered if other fundraising options fail, the report added.

Any talks of stake sale in Vedanta Ltd. is untrue and baseless, a representative for the companies said in response to a News query. A report stated that Vedanta Resources has appointed US financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald to syndicate loans to raise up to $2 billion to service its short term debt maturities.

As per an exchange filing , the Rajasthan based miner Hindustan Zinc is set to pay an interim dividend of 26 rupees per share. Key beneficiaries will be Agarwals Vedanta Ltd., which owns about 65% of Hindustan Zinc, and the Indian government which holds around 30%. London based Vedanta Resources Ltd. is the ultimate holding company.

The additional inflow would bring some relief to Agarwal, who has been forced to rely more on dividends after the Indian government opposed his plan to sell the groups international zinc operations to Hindustan Zinc for about $3 billion.

Rating agency Moodys recently downgraded its rating on Vedanta Resources CFR to CAA1, with outlook remaining negative. The downgrades reflect increasing refinancing risk surrounding holding companys large debt maturities.

In order to comfort investor concern over the companys liquidity and ability to repay upcoming obligations, Vedanta Resources has already slashed its net debt by $2 billion this year half of its three year planned reduction commitment, it said. VRL recently repaid $250 million in loans that the company took from Barclays Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, according to regulatory filings.

The company had previously said it has enough means to meet debt repayment liabilities in the coming quarters as it looked to assuage investor concerns around its financial position. Last month, VRL had said it is in the advanced stage of finalisation to tie up USD 1.75 billion through a combination of syndicate loan and bilateral bank facilities.

The company had said it has prepaid all its debt that was due for repayment till March 2023, deleveraging by USD 2 billion in the past 11 months. Further, it is confident of meeting its liquidity requirements for the quarter ending .

Agarwal constructed his fortunes on a series of ambitious acquisitions In 2001, he bought control of then government owned Bharat Aluminium Co. in one of the first tests of Indias efforts to offload state holdings. He followed that up with the purchase of another government entity, Hindustan Zinc. He successfully bid for what was Indias largest iron ore producer Sesa Goa Ltd. in 2007 and for Cairn India, despite having no oil and gas experience.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A conditional adult-use recreational weed dispensary will be opening in Schenectady, the first in the Capital Region and sixth in the state, on April 1.

The dispensary, Upstate Canna Co., located at 1613 Union St., will be owned and operated by an experienced local entrepreneur named Don Andrews.

Andrews has owned and operated retail storefronts specializing in smoking, vaping and cannabinoid hemp (e.g. CBD products) and accessories for 10 years in Schenectady and Scotia.

I am honored to be the first dispensary in the Capital Region to open their doors to the public and provide high quality, laboratory tested New York produced adult-use cannabis products, Andrews said. Thank you to the OCM and Governor Hochul for rolling out this program  they have done an outstanding job and have been great to work with. We are very excited to be a part of the foundation of the growing cannabis community and industry in New York State.

Hochul was proud to announce the newest addition to the states growing list of recreational adult-use weed dispensaries, furthering New Yorks goal to build an equity-based cannabis market.

Were building an equitable adult-use cannabis market that provides a safer product for New Yorkers, while offsetting the harms caused by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition, the governor said. With this latest dispensary opening  the first in the Capital Region  we continue to advance our nation-leading industry and will continue to work towards achieving the aggressive goals embodied in the New York Cannabis Law.

Upstate Canna Co. will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 1. Regular operating hours Monday through Friday will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

According to a post on their Facebook page, Upstate Canna Co. will post its menu on March 30, giving potential customers an idea of what to expect on April 1.

RETAIL LICENSES IN NY

New York State, through the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and the Cannabis Control Board, set very specific requirements dictating who the first Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses would be awarded to.

The first CAURD licenses will only be awarded to equity-entrepreneurs with a prior cannabis-related criminal offense who also have a background owning and operating a small business.

The CAURD licenses are a major part of the states Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which ensures the first legal adult-use retail dispensaries will be operated by individuals who have been the most impacted by the prohibition on weed.

Initially, OCM said it would issue 150 CAURD licenses, before announcing in March it would issue double that amount  300 licenses.

There are currently five CAURDs open in New York:

STATEN ISLANDS FIRST RECREATIONAL DISPENSARY COMING SOON

Staten Islands first legal adult-use recreational weed dispensary is expected to be open by Memorial Day.

Mohamed Elgaly, the owner of Case 420, which will be located at 3022 Veterans Rd. West in Charleston, attended a Community Board 3 meeting last week to answer local community members as well as the boards questions about the business.

Elgaly was not required to attend the community board meeting, however, said he wanted to introduce himself to South Shore residents and be available for questions. He also filled out a questionnaire from board members, who said his answers were comprehensive and in compliance with all requirements under the law.

The dispensary will provide 25 good paying jobs and the jobs will be given to Staten Islanders, said Elgaly. Case 420 has already received its Certificate of Occupancy, however, although it says 79 people will be allowed in the dispensary at once, Elgaly said only 10 customers will be permitted inside at one time.

More information about cannabis, both recreational and medical, can be found on OCMs website: https://cannabis.ny.gov/.

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FOLLOW GIAVANNI ALVES ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
EDITORS NOTE: This is second story spotlighting the life and tragic loss of Melissa Veltidi, whose troubling death occurred while she was being cared for at Amethyst House, Staten Islands only womens sober living facility.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A mother to a young daughter and beloved free spirit, 27-year-old Melissa Veltidi lived and died at Amethyst House, New York Citys only sober living home for women, at a time when the facility was wracked with alleged mismanagement and neglect.

But whether Veltidis death could have been prevented, and exactly how a young woman in recovery ended up with a lethal combination of prescribed drugs and over-the-counter medicines in her system, remains a mystery that continues to devastate those who survive her.

We still dont really know what happened with my daughter, said her mother, Anita Newell of Haverstraw in Rockland County, about her youngest child.

Veltidi, also of Haverstraw, was found unconscious in her room at Amethyst House and died at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton on July 22, 2021, after years of struggling with drug addiction, an eating disorder and other manifestations of mental health issues, her mother said.

Amethyst House, then located in Port Richmond, has since shuttered amidst the controversy that enveloped it during Veltidis time there  closing in February 2022  and Camelot of Staten Island is in the process of opening another sober womens facility.

But although an investigation by the New York state Justice Center substantiated at least some of the allegations against the now-closed facility, the details of the findings are shrouded in secrecy, and the family remains in the dark due to a lack of transparency from the state, and those that housed and treated Veltidi.

Without the answers and accountability that Veltidis death demands, the family fears that steps will not be taken to prevent future tragedies of this kind.

Melissa Veltidi, 27, of Haverstraw in Rockland County was found unconscious at Amethyst House on Staten Island and died at a hospital on July 22, 2021. (Courtesy of Anita Newell)

DAUGHTERS FINAL HOURS

All of Newells hopes and dreams for her daughter were shattered in July 2021.

The policeman called me and told me that Melissa was found unresponsive in an attic, Newell recalled. Then they said they brought her back to life, and she went to the hospital.

A doctor called to inform Newell that her daughter was near death so Newell traveled as fast as she was able via car from Rockland County, arriving minutes before her daughter died.

No parent should experience the death of a child, Newell said.

Compounding Newells grief is anger that her daughter was allegedly alone when she collapsed at Amethyst House.

Multiple sources, all former employees of Amethyst House, told the Advance/SILive.com Newells room was in the attic where she was alone.

Due to the sensitive topic of the article, multiple sources asked to remain anonymous. The sources involvement with Amethyst House has been verified by the Advance/SILive.com.

Newell contends that Amethyst House administration didnt reach out to her during or after her daughters fatal medical emergency.

When Newell went to collect Veltidis possessions at Amethyst House, she said the staff offered snippets of information about her daughters final days.

Newell said she was told by Amethyst House staff members that her daughter complained of having diarrhea and did not attend scheduled activities on the day before she died. The next morning, when Veltidi didnt leave her room, someone went to wake her and found her unresponsive, said Newell.

Multiple former employees and residents of Amethyst House told the Advance/SILive.com that Veltidi said she was feeling unwell the day before she was found unresponsive, and was throwing up and complained of having diarrhea. They said she had been feeling ill for at least 24 hours before being found unresponsive, and was in the attic alone when she was discovered.

Melissa died in the bedroom on the third floor all by herself. It never should have happened, said a former Amethyst House employee.

The source remembered Newell coming to Amethyst House following her daughters death.

When [Vetildis] mom came to Amethyst House after her death, [former executive director Angela DeSanno] wouldnt even speak with her; didnt say anything to her about what happened, didnt take her up to her room, nothing. It was so awful. We told her everything that we knew, but [DeSanno] was the executive director; it should have come from her, one source said.

Other sources confirmed that staff members were the ones who shared Vetildis last known moments with Newell.

MEDICAL EXAMINER REVEALS CAUSE OF DEATH

The cause of death for Veltidi was drug intoxication involving buprenorphine, gabapentin, diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine and cetirizine, according to the city Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Buprenorphine is commonly used to reduce cravings for people addicted to opioids, known as Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). Gabapentin, an anti-seizure medication, frequently is applied off-label to treat alcoholism and other substance-use disorders. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine, hydroxyzine relives itch and cetirizine controls symptoms of hay fever.

The autopsy report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner states Veltidi had elevated levels of prescription medications.

Newell told the Advance/SILive.com she knew her daughter was prescribed gabapentin and buprenorphine by a doctor, and was taking diphenhydramine -- also known as Benadryl -- in addition to cetirizine for allergies and sinus problems.

She said shes been working to get power of attorney over Veltidis medical records since she died to find out what doctors were prescribing, as well as what medications and how much she was supposed to be taking daily.

The manner of death is undetermined, according to the autopsy report, which raises more questions than answers, says Newell.

Kris Veltidi questioned whether the drugs that her 27-year-old sister was taking were properly monitored.

When asked if and how the New York state Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) monitors a clients medication while they are at a facility overseen by OASAS, spokesman Evan Frost told the Advance/SILive.com that monitoring requirements vary depending on the type of facility.

Community residential programs, like Amethyst House, are required to coordinate client care with any prescribing entities. In many of these cases, individuals receive services from an outside provider, which may be responsible for prescribing medication or providing other medical services to that individual, Frost said.

The apparent gaps in oversight make it unclear whether Veltidis prescriptions and medicine use were being safely tracked, and her family continues to hit roadblocks in their search for answers.

It was a six-month or longer process where I was just nonstop going back and forth with the medical examiner trying to figure out the situation, said another sister, Jacqueline Zebrowski.

So for a family that has been through hell and back with this situation, to then have zero answers to why my little sister, my mothers youngest daughter, has passed away is heartbreaking, she added.

AN INVESTIGATION

Christine Buttigieg, a spokeswoman for the New York State Justice Center, previously confirmed to the Advance/SILive.com that the Justice Center conducted an administrative investigation into Amethyst House over allegations of missing medication, erratic behavior from the executive director DeSanno, and the death of Veltidi, but declined to provide full details of the findings.

But in a recording obtained by the Advance/SILive.com, DeSanno was captured admitting that at least one of the medications in Veltidis system, gabapentin, had gone missing from the facility -- and that DeSanno had intentionally withheld that information from the former board. However, it is not known whether the gabapentin referred to by DeSanno in the recording had any connection to Veltidi or her death.

According to a letter sent by the Justice Center to one of the Amethyst House employees that was obtained by the Advance/SILive.com, the investigation substantiates the allegations of the missing medication.

The investigation revealed the subject failed to adhere to policies, protocols, and/or regulations which impacted the service recipients medication regimen, the Justice Centers letter said. This allegation has been SUBSTANTIATED as Category 3 Neglect pursuant to Social Services Law 493(4)(c).

According to the Social Services Law, substantiated reports of abuse or neglect are categorized into at least one of four categories depending on the substantiated claim and its severity.

Category 1 is serious physical abuse, sexual abuse or other serious conduct by custodians; Category 2 is conduct in which the custodian seriously endangers the health, safety or welfare of a service recipient by committing an act of abuse or neglect; and Category 3 is abuse or neglect by custodians that is not otherwise described in categories one and two, according to the state.

An investigation into staff and resident allegations of mismanagement under DeSanno led to Amethyst Houses closure in February 2022 and the resignation of DeSanno, according to the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). However, DeSanno claims she retired voluntarily.

Everyone knew. All the staff knew, the clients knew; I was talking to the clients about this -- that I was going to retire, my daughter had a baby and she needed to go back to work. Was it close to the time [of the investigation]? Absolutely. There is no doubt, DeSanno said.

Melissa Veltidi of Haverstraw in Rockland County died at age 27 on July 22, 2021, after becoming unconscious at Amethyst House on Staten Island. This is one of her baby photos. (Courtesy of Anita Newell)

MOTHER QUESTIONS POLICIES AT AMETHYST HOUSE

Based on her daughters experience, Newell said she believes that Amethyst House did not provide transitional support so residents could maintain their sobriety and lead healthy, productive lives after they left the facility.

I didnt see any transitioning being done, Newell said, adding that her daughter wasnt working while living at Amethyst House, attended few classes and seemed to be merely biding her time.

They were allowed to be on the streets at lot; they were always going out, Newell said.

She said her daughter often mentioned she was filling her days with recreational activities, such as walking to a store or lounging on the beach. There was a lot of idle time, which is not very good for somebody whos an addict, Newell said.

Multiple sources told the Advance/SILive.com that at one time Amethyst House residents were taken on day trips and re-taught necessary life skills -- like doing laundry, making appointments, food shopping and money budgeting -- that would help them transition out of the sober-living facility. But at the time Veltidi and other residents were living there they were not being taught any transitional skills, and were left to themselves more often than not, Newell alleged.

Five sources the Advance/SILive.com spoke to all confirmed the residents were no longer being taught day-to-day life skills and there was a lack of scheduled recreational activities.

The coronavirus pandemic made it hard..., but even before that DeSanno was not scheduling any activities for the girls and reintegration skills were not being taught, said one former employee who worked at Amethyst House for several years.

Former employees told the Advance/SILive.com that in years prior, with previous executive directors, women were rarely home because of the activities and classes scheduled for them throughout the day. They were really being set up for a strong future and a life without drugs. That wasnt happening anymore, and it was a real shame, said another former employee.

BARRIERS TO LONG-TERM SOBRIETY

Based on her daughters many unsatisfactory attempts to gain sustained sobriety, Newell believes that mental-health and drug-rehabilitation facilities should be revamped and restructured to be held accountable and provide proof their treatments actually work.

I just dont see a lot of recovery, and thats a shame, Newell said, adding that she believes lack of adequate insurance coverage is a major barrier to achieving long-term sobriety.

Insurance often only covers short in-patient stays of a month or less.

You have somebody so addicted and theyre putting them back out on the street at 28 days, she said, Its just not enough. Its awful.

Melissa Veltidi of Haverstraw in Rockland County was about 4 years old when this photo was taken. (Courtesy of Anita Newell)

Newell believes that addiction is a disease that is decimating children and young adults nationwide.

You may see the word addiction and read this with judgment, but I implore you to see that addiction is a disease, one that is currently claiming an entire generation of young people from all backgrounds, Veltidis obituary said. Melissas family is large and loving and had done everything in their power to help her survive the fight, but even with the support of her family, friends and access to resources, she still lost a 10 year war she had been battling inside herself.

Our grief is unimaginable, but we take solace knowing that Melissa is now finally free from the addiction that plagued the majority of her adult life. Her memory will forever be a part of us and her daughter will know Melissas never-ending love, strength and kindness. Melissas love for her daughter was infinite, and now so is Melissas spirit, said the obituary.

In addition to her mother and daughter, Veltidi is survived by her father, Alan (Janis); and sisters, Jacqueline Zebrowski (Kevin) and Kristi Veltidi (Antonio).

An attorney representing Newell declined to comment at this time.

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Unions representing more than three million workers are urging the federal government to drop its challenge of a proposed class action lawsuit brought by Black federal public servants alleging racial discrimination in the federal public service.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada told a joint news conference Monday the federal government doesn't have grounds to continue its court challenge.

"Now is the time for the federal government to step up and do the right thing," said Larry Rousseau, executive vice president of the Canadian Labour Congress, the country's largest labour organization.

The proposed lawsuit  launched in 2020  alleges Black public servants have endured decades of systemic racism and discrimination. The lawsuit alleges that since the 1970s, roughly 30,000 Black employees have lost out on opportunities and benefits afforded to others because of their race.

It seeks $2.5 billion in compensation for economic hardships and a mental health plan for employees' pain and trauma. Plaintiffs also want a plan to diversify the federal labour pool.

The need for the federal government to withdraw its challenge became more urgent, the unions argue, after it concluded recently that the Canadian Human Rights Commission had discriminated against its Black and racialized employees.

The Canadian government's human resources arm, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBCS), came to that conclusion after nine employees filed a policy grievance through their unions in October 2020.

Their grievance alleged that "Black and racialized employees at the CHRC (Canadian Human Rights Commission) face systemic anti-Black racism, sexism and systemic discrimination."

"This ruling by the government confirms that workers cannot turn to the commission for redress, and it is harming its workers," said Nicholas Marcus Thompson, the executive director of the Black Class Action Secretariat.

Story continues

"As a matter of fact, its workers have told Canadians not to turn to the commission because it is a toxic workplace. And their race-based complaint is likely to be rejected."

A group of current and former commission employees who spoke to CBC News said they'd noticed all-white investigative teams at the Canadian Human Rights Commission were dismissing complaints from Black and other racialized Canadians at a higher rate.

WATCH: Numbers show high dismissal rate for race-based complaints

Numbers the commission provided to the CBC back up the argument that the commission has a high dismissal rate for human rights complaints based on race.

CBC has requested interviews with the CHRC's executive director Ian Fine and interim chief commissioner Charlotte-Anne Malischewski. The commission has declined those requests because it says the matter is in mediation. CBC also reached out to Justice Minister David Lametti's office for comment.

Grievance process won't address the problem: unions

At Monday's press conference, the unions acknowledged that the labour grievance and appeals process isn't the place for Black civil servants to seek justice.

The union heads said the process can't settle claims for Black employees who have left the public service. The grievance system also can't address claims about stalled career paths, they said.

David Thurton/ CBC

One union head added that the body that adjudicates grievances, the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, could take five to six years to make a decision.

The board also offers solutions to individual complaints  it can't address systemic discrimination affecting the entire public service, said Jennifer Carr, the national president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

"That's why the class action is important because it's going to force the government to do those systemic changes that we can't get through any other means," Carr said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The animal sedative xylazine, known under the street monikers of tranq dope, the zombie drug and sleep-cut, is widely circulating in New York and has linked to multiple deaths, said Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The New York Post reported Schumer called for increased federal funding to combat the proliferation of the drug, which is present in Syracuse, Albany, Rochester and the Greater New York City area.

This new drug is a nightmare, he said during a press conference Sunday. Xylazine is dangerous it is deadly. It is here. We have to fight and fund.

Schumer called for the Drug Enforcement Agency to utilize a team to support federal and local law enforcement efforts to address xylazines spread.

Federal regulators issued an alert late last year warning health professionals to be on alert for xylazine. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said in late December it was tracking the use and effects of the drug.

Xylazine has life-threatening side effects similar to the ones typically observed with opioid use, making it difficult to distinguish between the two. However, because the drug is not an opioid, the overdose-reversal treatment naloxone is not known to be effective in cases involving xylazine.

As a result, people who overdose on a fentanyl-xylazine combination may then remain in a sedated state even after receiving naloxone, complicating local efforts to combat the drug.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended health care professionals continue to administer naloxone when apparent opioid overdoses occur but to consider xylazine exposure if patients are not responding, adding that severe, necrotic skin ulcerations are a tell-tale sign of repeated injection of the drug.
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Retail billionaire and Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew is confident the business can weather the consumer spending fallout from future rate hikes, as the $4 billion company rewarded shareholders with a bumper interim dividend and revealed global expansion plans.

Premier, which owns and operates brands such as Peter Alexander, Smiggle, Just Jeans and Portmans, on Monday posted $174.3 million in first-half profits, with Lew signalling the retailers discipline and diversified approach to the market should reap a strong performance despite growing pressure on household budgets.

Premier Investments CEO Richard Murray and chairman Solomon Lew. Credit: Eamon Gallagher

Were not negative on our business. Our business is strong, we manage our business very well, our stocks are in line, were a very well managed, very financial company, Lew told this masthead. Obviously, the results speak for themselves.

Premier posted a 4.6 per cent rise in earnings before interest and tax to $221.8 million for the first half of the 2023 financial year. Its half-year profits represent a 6.5 per cent increase on the same six months last year.
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Sponsored Eating outNaked Wines Splashes of success: Food and wine talent leaving their mark Advertorial for Naked Wines Freya Herring March 27, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

In a world where the best known wineries churn out enormous volumes of wine each year, there is a place too, for the smaller producers. These are the folk who labour tirelessly to produce smaller volumes of interesting wines  often from planting vines through to bottling. Smaller winemakers produce a large variety of high quality wines to be enjoyed. iStock Many smaller winemakers sell their wares through companies like Naked Wines, who champion the joys and surprises that only a smaller winemaker can produce, supporting them to be creative forces rather than mass-producers. Its a unique model that links wine lovers directly with local, independent winemakers and eliminates the need for a middleman. As a result, Naked Wines shoppers enjoy a better way to wine, accessing quality wines at lower prices. Meet four of these winemaking teams, and their fearless leaders, crafting wines you need to know about now. Two Pairs Kate Day and Nina Stocker Our story: both Kathryns; both winemakers; married to identical twins, says Kate Day (Kathryn) of Two Pairs Wines. Day met Katherine Stocker (known as Nina) while they were studying winemaking at Adelaide University, but wine had long been an interest. My family always entertained with food and wine, and travel to wine regions was a huge part of our upbringing, says Day, who grew up beachside in Sydneys Cronulla. Stocker, however, was raised in the Alps. I grew up in Switzerland where my parents helped out on weekends on a local vineyard, she says.

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In an interesting twist, Stocker met her now-husband John, at Days wedding. He was the brother of the groom  and his identical twin. The union cemented the named of their label  Two Pairs. Alongside their own individual wine consulting businesses, Stocker and Day run Two Pairs together, producing wine from grapes sourced from across Australia, like Shiraz from Central Victoria and Grenache from McLaren Vale. Nina & Kate of wine label Two Pairs. Naked Wines Ben Riggs of Abundance Like Day and Stocker, Ben Riggs grew up with an appreciation for wine. My family always drank wine with meals, he says. I loved trying wine, particularly the off-dry German wines we frequently had at home.

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He went on to be mentored by the likes of Murray Tyrrel and Brian Croser, becoming the Chief Winemaker at Wirra Wirra winery in McLaren Vale, before setting up shop on his own  because with this level of experience, why wouldnt he? Now known affectionately in the industry as Mr McLaren Vale, what this man doesnt know about the regions wine isnt worth knowing. Ben Riggs of Abundance. Naked Wines Tim Smith of Tim Smith Wines Tim Smith didnt think hed become a winemaker. For a working-class boy like me from the Western suburbs of Adelaide, Im not sure anybody saw this career coming myself included! he says. In fact, for most of his career he lived the rock and roll lifestyle of a lighting technician roadie for a host of major Aussie bands. A change saw him working at a local winery, eventually going solo through the support of Naked Wines. He now produces a Shiraz, Mataro and GSM through his own winery for Naked, and has pocketed himself a barrage of awards. Tim Smith of Tim Smith Wines. Naked Wines

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Altschwager and Kenneally Wines Swanand Gus Altschwager, and Mark and Emma Kenneally A couple of couples making extraordinary wine, from more than a couple of locations. Whats very cool about us is that we are four friends from Australia and New Zealand making wines in three different regions, says Swan Altschwager, who runs the label with husband Gus, and friends Mark and Emma Kenneally. Before we started with Naked Wines in 2014 we were all working for someone else  large companies, making wines that were big blends with no soul, explains Gus. Going Naked gave us the opportunity to make our own wine for the first time  it was our liberation! Swan and Gus Altschwager, and Mark and Emma Kenneally of Altschwager and Kenneally Wines. Naked Wines Over 65 of the top Australian and New Zealand winemakers are on board with Naked Wines and more than 100,000 customers have voted with their feet  farewelling big business and instead, supporting local, independent winemakers. For Aussies that love their wine, Naked Wines is a meaningful way to make a difference to hardworking, rural winemakers. Theyve been swamped by an industry thats overtaken their passion with a dogged focus on bottom line and mass production. Along the way, hand-crafted quality became an unneeded by-product, which is not what wine creation is about. Celebrate the change - over a very good glass of the wine you can help make happen  at nakedwines.com.au

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Carefully, deliberately, he starts snipping the flesh with scissors, working his way around the fins, cutting carefully alongside the spine. Tableside knifework is one of the great restaurant experiences: I love a bit of silver service. But this is different. This flounder needs no filleting. It has no bones. It isnt, in fact, a fish at all.

Restaurant manager Steven Dong approaches the table with a large pair of scissors. Wait, he says. Im going to fillet it for you. He stands over the large, flat platter before us and gently, deftly pushes vegetables off a flounder bathed in coconut gravy.

6 / 6 Whole Thai-style fish, made from tofu with a seaweed skin, is filleted expertly at the table.

Im at Vegie Mum, a 21-year-old BYO restaurant in a charmingly old-fashioned strip of eastern suburban shops. The concept is Chinese fusion vegetarian cuisine, built around a long menu of mock meat dishes. In general, Im not a fan of fake flesh. Why not just eat vegetables?

But theres a grand tradition of make-believe in Chinese cuisine, largely attributable to Buddhist communities who eschewed meat but still wanted to honour guests with prestigious dishes such as pork, duck and seafood. Before Beyond Burgers were the merest twinkle in a lab technicians eye, monks were making mock duck so realistic you could just about hear it quack.

Still, if you eat meat, youd only bother with this if it was tasty as well as clever. At Vegie Mum, everything is made from scratch by chefs whove trained in meat cooking: the flavours are bold, the textures stand up and you can taste the joy in everything.

That fish is made from beancurd skin wrapped in seaweed, set in a fish-shaped mould, then deep-fried to make the seaweed skin crispy. Its served like Thai tom kha gai, the coconut cream sauce fragrant with lemongrass and galangal.

Pork ribs are made with mushroom stalks, blended, seasoned then shaped into little sausages. Theyre skewered and glazed in a Shanghai-style sweet-and-sour sauce, pungent with black vinegar. I dont know how, but the mushroom meat is succulent and toothsome, layered as though with real pork fat.
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Tips & adviceMeal prep Say goodbye to dry chicken breasts with these four fail-proof tips Do your chicken breasts always end up tough and dry? Try these ideas for juicy, succulent results. Becky Krystal March 27, 2023 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

The email that arrived in my inbox last month laid out a common problem. For me, cooking chicken breasts is tricky because they are less forgiving than cooking dark meat  cook them too long and they are dry and dont cook them enough and they are rubbery. Similar to what I recently wrote about how to not mess up a nice piece of fish,the key to properly cooked chicken breasts is, well, not overcooking them. Crumbed chicken with herb and garlic butter pasta. Jeremy Simons EASY Crumbed chicken with herb and garlic butter pasta

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Cooking meat covers a spectrum of textures, colours, flavours and, of course, temperatures. As you go higher in temperature, the proteins shrink, moisture is pushed out and the meat turns stiff and dry. All those things are especially unpleasant, and easy to do, with chicken breasts. The margin of error is much lower than with chicken thighs and other dark meat, which can be juicier at higher temperatures. Especially when cooking chicken in a skillet, the answer is to aim for a more uniform thickness. Regardless of the cut or cooking method, the Australian Food Safety Information Council recommends all poultry be cooked to an internal temperature of 75C to reduce the likelihood of food-borne illness. (If you cook meat, you should definitely have a food thermometer!) This doesnt always sit well with culinary professionals. Before I go into my tips, youll notice I left out two common suggestions. One is brining. To me, brining puts a damper on one of the benefits of choosing chicken breasts: how quickly they cook. Plus, brining can result in a spongy texture, thanks to the way the salt makes breasts hang on to so much moisture.

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Marinades are another technique Im skipping here. Marinades do not necessarily tenderise meat or keep it juicy. They are more of a surface treatment that add exterior flavour at best or, at worst, turn the chicken unappetisingly mushy if its too acidic and applied too long. Im not saying you shouldnt do these, but neither is more effective than just not overcooking chicken breasts. Here are my tips for avoiding that fate. Bone-in chicken works best for Katrina Meyninks creamy tomato one-pot. Katrina Meynink 1. Use bone-in breasts The hollow or honeycomb structure of bones allow them to act like an insulator, Harold McGee says in On Food and Cooking. Bone-in breasts have that built-in insurance policy against overcooking. They also are generally sold with the skin on, which forms a barrier that can prevent the meat from losing as much moisture.

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Bonus: Bone-in breasts can be cheaper than boneless, skinless breasts. EASY Creamy tomato one-pot chicken RecipeTins chicken with creamy mushroom sauce recipe calls for butterflied breasts. RecipeTin Eats 2. Make the chicken thinner One of the hardest things about boneless breasts is how uneven they are, with one wide, thick side that tapers into a thinner, narrower end. By the time the thick end finally cooks through, the thin one is overdone, or if you try not to overcook the thin side, the thick side can be underdone.

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Especially when cooking chicken in a skillet, the answer is to aim for a more uniform thickness, so that the pieces cook more evenly and in less time. Thinner breasts or cutlets are less likely to dry out, as they wont spend as much time in the pan. A simple option is to pound the chicken until it is  to 1 centimetres thick, using a meat mallet/pounder, heavy skillet or even a hammer. This is best done between parchment paper or plastic wrap. You can also butterfly the breasts (so they open like a book) or cut them completely in half into thinner cutlets, but I find with these strategies you can still get a paper-thin end prone to overcooking. Over at Americas Test Kitchen, Mari Levine offers a clever suggestion: Split the breasts into three, instead of two, cutlets. Cut the breast in half crosswise so you separate the thicker and thinner ends. Then cut the thicker half into half again, horizontally. Finally, pound all three pieces to an even thickness. RecipeTin Eats x Good Food: Chicken with creamy mushroom sauce

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Neil Perrys chicken Kiev with garlic butter. William Meppem 3. Bread or batter the chicken Breading and batters on meat dont work by necessarily sealing in moisture while frying, McGee says. Instead, they serve more as insulation, protecting the meat from the heat of the oil. The surface of the coating dries out, guaranteeing that lovely crisp texture and further shielding the meat. It also helps that oil is less efficient than metal or water at transferring heat to the meat, so that it gives the cook a reasonable window of time in which to stop the cooking while the meat is still moist, McGee says. Neil Perry's chicken Kiev with garlic butter Neil Perrys poached chicken and silken tofu salad. William Meppem

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4. Poach the chicken As with fish, chicken breasts benefit from the gentle heat of poaching. As my former Washington Post colleague Jane Touzalin explained, Poaching is a method of cooking food gently in liquid thats generally kept below a boil. Her suggestion: Place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a pan in a single layer, cover with a few inches of liquid (water, broth, etc), add flavourings (spices, salt, herbs, soy sauce, etc), then bring the liquid just barely to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat so the liquid simmers. Start checking the meat after about 10 minutes. The chicken should be barely opaque in the centre. Take the pan off the heat, put a lid on it and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. There should be no pink in the centre, and you can confirm the temp with a thermometer. Neil Perry's chicken and silken tofu salad The Washington Post Also read Never cook dry chicken breast again with Skye McAlpines five-ingredient pollo alla pizzaiola.

Why chicken thighs and quarters are the best poultry cuts you can buy (and how to cook them)

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I would love to wake up from this and have things the way they were. Health experts have been calling for new financial incentives to speed up the discharge of patients from hospitals when they are ready to leave. Xavier Edwards in the ICU with his great aunt, Sandy. The Victorian Healthcare Association, which represents public health services, said some people were spending up to two years in hospitals unnecessarily. The trend, which is known as exit block, creates delays for those who need a hospital bed and leads to overcrowding in emergency departments and ambulance ramping.

It is also expensive for taxpayers, with one day of hospital care costing up to 10 times more than community-based care, such as aged care, according to the association. Loading In the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, Flinders University professor Tarun Bastiampillai, Victorian Healthcare Association deputy chief executive Juan Paolo Legaspi and Council on the Ageings Ben Rogers said Australia should learn from Britain, where local authorities must reimburse hospitals when a patients discharge is delayed due to issues with social services. The move that has sped up discharges. Legaspi said: We need our governments to come together and sort this out. Hospitals are doing their best to treat people efficiently so they can cut waiting times, but you cant send people out the door if they need to move on to a rehabilitation facility or supported accommodation or aged care and theres nothing in place for them.

Like many Australians, Jase cant afford to buy a home. The single father of three rents a house but it cant be modified with ramps, widened hallways and doorways, and accessible bathrooms. The not-for-profit Summer Foundation, which helps people stuck in hospital due to housing barriers, has identified a house in Echuca that could be modified for Xavier. This could either be bought by the Department of Housing and leased to the family or enrolled as specialist disability accommodation for the NDIS to fund. It has put these proposals to both agencies and is awaiting a response. Jases frequent trips to Melbourne keep him away from his younger son, who is 12, and his eldest son, who is autistic and lives in supported disability care in Echuca. His youngest has had to move in with his grandma. It is terrible; it hurts me to leave them, he said.

But he is amazed by Xaviers resilience. It blows me away how he handles it, he said. He is still the same cheeky kid  he just cant move three-quarters of his body. Loading Xavier is frustrated by the situation. Its annoying, he said. This is all Ive known for almost a year. I want to see my friends. When Jase returns to Echuca, Xaviers great aunt, Sandy, drives from Bendigo in central Victoria to Melbourne to take his spot on the hospital couch and spends the next three days and nights with Xavier. My auntie has put her life on hold for 12 months, Jase said. There is nothing I can do to thank her.

A Department of Housing spokeswoman said it was prioritising the familys request for accommodation and working with several parties to find a suitable home for them as soon as possible to expedite his discharge from hospital. She said the government had invested $39 million this financial year towards the Pathways to Home program to help people with a disability facing discharge barriers. As part of the program, 115 people with a disability have moved out of hospital. An NDIA spokeswoman said the agency was working with Xaviers family and the Victorian government to secure appropriate accommodation as quickly as possible. Ensuring the safe and timely discharge of NDIS participants from hospital when medically ready is a high priority for the government, disability ministers and the NDIA, she said. Most NDIS recipients are discharged to their own home following a stint in hospital, but about 17 per cent require specialist disability accommodation.
Demystifying the DoDs Cybersecurity Mandate

Everything Your Organization Needs to Know About CMMC Compliance

In 2021, the U.S. government spent nearly $19 billion on cybersecuritywith almost half of that funding allocated for the Department of Defense (DoD). That spending is meant to protect government agencies from costly, and potentially dangerous, data breaches. But when protected data leaves the secure enclave of the federal government and is shared with researchers, partner institutions, and other third-party vendors, it introduces brand new risks. The DoD hopes to solve this problem with its new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.

In September 2020, the DoD announced the first iteration of the CMMC framework, which requires any organization any organization that works closely with the DoD (and similar government agencies) to enhance its cybersecurity protocols. However, although the CMMC framework is a step in the right direction regarding cyber safety, it can be difficult for organizations to determine what they need to do to become compliant. Thats why in this e-book, were sharing everything you need to know to get your organization CMMC-ready, from basic background information to tips to build a DoD-approved platform in the cloud.
The Geelong womans husband said he never got to say goodbye ... we paid $35,000 for my wife to die, the inquiry heard. Charlie Teo arrives at a disciplinary hearing in Sydney on Monday. Credit: Nick Moir The Geelong man estimated their consultation with Teo was about 40 minutes and that his wife was crying during the consultation with Teo. His evidence was that Teo said, What the f--- are you crying about? Im here to fix you, you should be happy. Teo told them, If you dont have the surgery by Tuesday, youll be f---ing dead by Friday. He never mentioned to my wife that you might not come out of this, the husband said. Teo has previously suggested to the media that the husband must have been hoodwinked or coerced into making a complaint. I cant imagine he would have done this off his own bat, said Teo, who went on to accuse the medical establishment of hating him and saying pretty malevolent things about me.

The three expert witnesses have said that Teos operation on the Geelong woman had resulted in the largest removal of brain matter they had ever seen. Teo took out most of the right frontal lobe, removing normal brain tissue and leaving behind a significant amount of the tumour. A month after the operation, the daughter recalled an extraordinary conversation she had with Teo. She said that she wanted to know why Teo had performed the operation on her mother. Teo replied, Youre asking the wrong f---ing question, and that what she should have been asking was would he do the operation again. I take full responsibility. It was my hand, my technique, my doing that she didnt wake up. My point is, I made an error, a surgical error. I went too far and I damaged this lady. No one is disputing that. Charlie Teo, neurosurgeon She said Teo answered his own question saying f---ing oath, I would [do the operation again]. You should be grateful that Ive given you and your family extra f---ing time. Her mother died six days later, on March 30, 2019.

Teo denied he said these things. The committee also heard that a previously missing MRI scan, taken after a disastrous operation on a woman from Perth, has been found. It shows Teo had crossed onto the other side of his patients brain during the operation in October 2018. When Teo appeared before the disciplinary hearing in February, the committee asked to see the post-operative MRI, but the four-person committee was informed the scan was missing. Teos barrister Matthew Hutchings told the committee they had looked but could not find it. The scan has since been found after the HCCC issued a subpoena for it from Prince of Wales Hospital. The committee heard on Monday that Teo had repeatedly asserted at an earlier hearing and in his witness statement that his surgery had not crossed the midline of the brain.

Richardson pointed out that on numerous occasions Teo failed to mention that the scan showed he had crossed into the other side of the brain. Teo and Griffiths depart after his disciplinary hearing. Credit: Wolter Peeters Under cross-examination, Teo refused to acknowledge that this is what had occurred. Instead, he said repeatedly that he had followed the tumour. I will say it again, I stuck to the tumour margins which crossed the midline. When it was again put to him that he had definitely gone across the midline, Teo became angry. You dont make accidents in surgery! Its not an accident. Richardson then asked if that meant he had not meant to resect that part of the brain, to which the neurosurgeon replied that it was very difficult to tell where the tumour finished.

I take full responsibility. It was my hand, my technique, my doing that she didnt wake up. My point is, I made an error, a surgical error. I went too far and I damaged this lady. No one is disputing that. Loading The husband of the Perth woman has previously told the hearing that his late wife had been diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumour that invades the nearby brain tissue. Despite their Perth neurosurgeon telling them that surgery would be futile and of no benefit whatsoever, Teo told the couple he could give the woman an extra 12 or 18 months. Instead, she did not wake up. Her husband took notes of the October 2018 consultation with Teo, including that there was a 5 per cent risk of death and a 50 per cent risk of minor complications, such as a wonky eye and tingling down one side.
A former SAS soldier accused of murdering an Afghan man in a war crime has been granted a temporary court order preventing his name being published, after his lawyer argued he could be targeted in custody by Islamic extremists and their sympathisers.

The man was arrested a week ago, three years after the ABCs Four Corners aired footage allegedly showing him gunning down a man in a wheat field during a deployment to Afghanistan in 2012.

A soldier, who cannot be named, has been charged with a war crime after he allegedly gunned down an Afghan man in a wheat field in 2012.

He became the first Australian soldier or veteran to be charged with a war crime.

On Monday, defence barrister Phillip Boulten, SC, applied in Downing Centre Local Court for his client to be released on bail, suggesting the man has known since at least 2020 that he was likely to be charged and made no attempt to flee.
New driverless metro trains will run for the first time along an $18.5 billion line under Sydney Harbour and the CBD next month as part of critical testing despite concerns from firefighters about access for emergency staff to the rail tunnels.

Sydney Metro, the state agency responsible for the new line, has secretly slated April 21 for the start of on-track dynamic train testing between Chatswood in Sydneys north and Sydenham in the south, which is the main section of the new City and Southwest line.

One of the twin tunnels on the Metro City and Southwest line. Credit: Brook Mitchell

The first stage of testing will involve computer-driven trains, which are in storage near Rouse Hill in Sydneys north-west, travelling at up to 25km/h through the mega projects twin rail tunnels. In the months that follow, the trains will be tested at speeds of up to 100km/h.

The start of train testing, which has been a closely guarded secret, comes amid jostling behind closed doors between Sydney Metro and firefighters over access procedures for emergency personnel to the twin 15.5-kilometre rail tunnels.
Obamas land in Sydney

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Alisha Campbell loves the name of her school because it sparks conversations about its meaning.

Barrawang Primary School is a new school with large numbers of students with disabilities. Campbell said the name  a Woi-wurrung word of the Wurundjeri people meaning magpie  is a great fit.

Principal Alisha Campbell at Barrawang Primary School in Wollert. Credit: Jason South

Everything is about aiming really high, the principal said. And so for us, that magpie vision is them raising us up to be the best that we can be and reaching the heights of the magpie.

Barrawang Primary, in Wollert, is also a taste of the future. From 2025, all new Victorian state schools and campuses will have a First Nations language name.
When two detectives in suits knocked on Marys* door, she thought the officers were religious preachers, there to spread the gospel.

Instead, they were there to tell her they were reopening a four-decades-old investigation into her sexual assault and wanted to make a public appeal for information in a last-ditch attempt to find her attacker.

Mary was sexually assaulted on the banks of the Yarra River more than 40 years ago. Credit: Darrian Traynor

Victoria Polices historical investigations unit is investigating sexual assault cases that took place in the 1980s and 1990s but have since gone cold.

Marys is one of several cases within the forces freezer list: a log of unsolved sexual assault cases from that period for which forensic evidence was collected and stored but could not be tested due to the constraints of DNA technology at the time.
The Victorian infrastructure adviser wants to abolish the first home owners grant and stamp duty, which it says are contributing to buyers being priced out of Melbournes inner and middle suburbs and pushed to poorly serviced new-build estates on the city outskirts.

Infrastructure Victoria warns the first home owners grant is not helping buyers and is being used to line the pockets of developers in greenfield suburbs on Melbournes fringe.

Jasmine Pansino and Adam Moretto at their rental home in Lalor. They recently signed a contract to build a home on Melbournes outskirts in Donnybrook. Credit: Eddie Jim

It also wants the government to remove stamp duty concessions, whereby duty is not payable on homes below $600,000 and reduced for homes below $750,000, and to ultimately abolish stamp duty, replacing it with a broad- based land tax.

Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Jonathan Spear said while removal of the first home buyers grant would be controversial, the scheme did not improve housing affordability, as developers already accounted for the funds.
The chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission said the Victorian governments failure to provide crucial documents to the inquiry into state injustices against Indigenous people demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the truth-telling process.

Lawyers for the state government on Monday apologised to the commission for failing to comply with orders to produce evidence relating to the criminal and child protection systems and their impact on Indigenous people.

Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Eleanor Bourke. Credit: Joe Armao

The missed deadline meant senior bureaucrats who were scheduled to front the commission this week will have to wait to give evidence. Yoorrook is an inquiry into the impact of colonisation and the past and ongoing injustices against First Nations people.

After the governments lawyers sought more time to provide the evidence, commission chair Eleanor Bourke said the states response to Yoorrooks request showed a lack of understanding, and compromised the commissions ability to produce its interim and final reports on time.
A childcare in Perths south has been fined $14,000 after a child in their care suffered severe burns on their foot after playing on hot ground with no shoes in near-40 degree heat.

On February 18, the 18-month-old child was playing in the outdoor play space at Cuddles Early Learning, along Warrington Road in Byford, with no shoes or socks on in the heat of the day at 1pm.

The childcare service has been fined thousands of dollars after failing to stop a child receiving second-degree burns. Credit: Peter Braig

They suffered second-degree burns on the ball of their foot.

Bureau of Meteorology data at the time showed the ultraviolet radiation index at 10.1  deemed very high  and the maximum temperature for the Byford area was 39 degrees.
Proving the adage that small countries can produce big ideas, during a visit to Australia Samoas prime minister last week gave us this one  that Australia and New Zealand should work with Pacific islands nations to create a European Union-style bloc.

It is a vision for a long-term project, a Pacific Union. Samoas Fiame Naomi Mataafa describes the Pacific islands as the worlds greatest concentration of microstates, including her own country, population 200,000.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong (right) with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa in June 2022.

But she also quotes the Pacific writer Epeli Hauofa: We should not be defined by the smallness of our islands but in the greatness of our oceans. By that measure, the microstates represent major interests.

Their total land and sea territories and exclusive economic zones cover more than 30 million square kilometres, a fifth of the Earths surface, an area bigger than Russia, China and the US combined. Encompassing major fisheries, trade routes and undersea resources, the Pacific Islands also call themselves the Blue Continent.
digital journey. Since its inception, the companys suite of IT Consulting & Outsourcing services in the areas of Enterprise Web & Mobile Solutions, Enterprise We chat Solutions, AR/ VR/MR, Digital Marketing, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and IoT have earned massive recognition, thus making it stand among the most sought-after service providers in the country.As a Digital Service Provider, we aim to provide a 360-degree solution to our clients. The convergence of AI and ML and IoT in Mobile and Web Applications is on the rise. IoT solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are creating revolutions across industries. Towards envisioning a re-configured future, we provide development and consulting services on Vision Analytics, Text Analytics, Chat Bots Development, RPA, IoT wearable APPs development, Beacon APPs development, IoT Firmware and Hardware Development and Deep Learning, shares Kiki Li, CoFounder.Being an early adopter of change, Axiussoftware stands true to its core values of building trust & relationships with its stakeholders, driving positivity, respecting all individuals equally and being responsible for society altogether. As a result, the company has been able to distinguish itself from its competitors by functioning on three differential factors Flexible & Agile, Delivering As We Promised and Our Experienced & Dynamic Team.From having just three employees and a small office during inception, today, Axiussoftware has now forayed globally and has offices in India (Kolkata), China (Beijing & Tianjin) and Singapore as well. Owing to such fine practices in place and the strong reputation it has garnered, the company today has served customers across 15+ countries, and some of its elite clientele include Wipro, Publicis Sapient, ebaotech, Tsinghua University (China), Keystone Academy, Wiseasy Group (China), Vruumz Digital (Africa), Kargocard, and One world cover to name a few.When asked about their companys future roadmap, the co-founders said, We want to transform into a product oriented company as well, and are working on products for healthcare and education industries that are to be launched in the days ahead. Given our stronghold in the market, we are confident of achieving double-digit YoY growth in the coming years as well. Additionally, we have plans to open an office in the US in the current year and another office in South China in the next five years.
Legalise Cannabis is confident of winning its first seat in the NSW upper house, after early counting suggests it outpolled the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers and rivalled One Nation in its popularity among voters.

Almost 25 per cent of the Legislative Council vote had been counted by late Monday, but the make-up of the chamber will not be confirmed for several weeks, until preferences are counted and votes are exhausted.

Jeremy Buckingham is the lead candidate on the Legalise Cannabis partys upper house ticket. Credit: Brook Mitchell

Early numbers suggested Labor could pick up eight spots, the Coalition six, and the Greens two, although the parties remained hopeful of more.

One Nation attracted just over 5 per cent of the vote in a slight swing against the party, suggesting it would pick up at least one spot. That would give the party three upper house seats, one more than in the last parliament.
It was only a week ago that John Pesutto insisted there wasnt really any alternative to expelling Moira Deeming from the Liberal Party parliamentary room and nothing was going to change his mind.

According to Pesutto, any question of an association, even indirectly, with Nazis, white supremacists, eco-fascists or whatever else is so odious in 2023  as it should be  that I cant see a way back.

John Pesutto faces the media on Monday after the party room meeting. Credit: Darrian Traynor

But there was a way back.

Conveniently, it was found during a bathroom break in a two-hour party-room meeting when it started to look like Pesuttos motion didnt have much support.
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Australia of joining a new global axis with the United States and NATO that he said bears resemblance to the World War II alliance between Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and imperial Japan.

In the interview on Russian TV channel Rossiya-24 on Sunday night, Putin named Australia, New Zealand and South Korea as being in line to join a global NATO and referenced a defence agreement signed by Britain and Japan earlier this year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow last week. Credit: AP

What is the United States doing? They are creating more and more alliances. That is why Western analysts ... are talking about the West starting to build a new axis similar to the one created in the 1930s by the fascist regimes of Germany and Italy and militarist Japan, he said.

Putin also insisted, days after hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Kremlin, that Russia and China are not creating a military alliance, saying the co-operation between their armed forces is transparent.
PHILIPSBURG:--- In the budget meeting behind us, I recommended to Minister Samuel that he gets in on the talks regarding what comes after the comma. This is the statement from the Dutch government following their apology for the Transatlantic slave trade in December 2022.

While there has been much to do about the apology, the MP stated over the weekend that it is, what it is.

More important than wrangling with an already-issued statement, is paying keen attention to what comes next.

How genuine are the expressions by the Dutch government of wanting to undo the blemishes of the slave trade? How genuine are the expressions of wanting to right the wrong and how genuine is the Dutch governments stated commitment to repair the Kingdom structure?

In the opinion of MP Wescot, while many of the foregoing questions are unlikely to be answered soon, St. Maarten needs to get ahead of the curve and be ready for whatever the outcome of the questions is stated above. This window of opportunity, if it is such, is not as big as some would like to believe.

In this context, I advised the minister of culture, Drs. Samuel to look closely at, and commission a plan for the restoration of Fort Amsterdam. After all, the fort remains a stark reminder of the occupation of St. Maarten by European imperialists.

The 200 million to be made available in a fund for measures aimed at raising awareness, fostering engagement and addressing the present-day effects of slavery is but a starting point.

While this fund regards the entire kingdom and Suriname and is therefore but a drop in the bucket, we need to consider tangible and visual objects as well. I believe Fort Amsterdam is such a remembrance and needs to be restored so its story is never forgotten.

To get such an idea on the table, we need to be clear and resolute in our own objectives, first and foremost. In fact, this clear and resolute approach needs to be evident from every approach we make, MP Wescot continued.

The government of St. Maarten, unfortunately, does not present that resolve, in my opinion.

We continue to make much of the call for debt relief/cancelation, knowing full well that just putting this out there to say you did it, only puts it further out of reach. What is your plan, government?

We need a paradigm shift in our negotiations with the Dutch government and I am convinced that we need to do that now and write our own narrative for what comes after the comma.
NETHERLANDS/PHILIPSBURG:--- During the week of March 21, 2023, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI, Egbert J Doran, attended the Water Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Conference, hosted by the kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of Tajikistan, featured an opening and closing ceremony, six plenary meetings, and five multi-stakeholder interactive dialogues. It also featured a number of high-level special events and side events organized by Member States, the UN system, and other stakeholders, including Sint Maarten, Curacao, and Aruba.

According to a report from the United Nations Water Committee, water is an essential part of life and is inextricably linked to the three pillars of sustainable development as it integrates social, cultural, economic, and political values. It is crosscutting and supports the achievement of many SDGs through close linkages with climate, energy, cities, the environment, food security, poverty, gender equality, and health, amongst others. With climate change profoundly affecting our economies, societies, and environment, water is indeed the biggest deal breaker to achieving the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

For Sint Maarten, the impacts of the climate crisis are most acutely expressed through water. Through the destructive force of water - during storm events and flooding of increasing intensity, and through uncertainties of future sea-level rise, said Minister Doran. As a small island developing state (SIDS), we simply lack the institutional capacity to advance a holistic and integrated adaptation agenda on our own. Especially with the increasing need to redirect limited funds and resources to recovery and reconstruction following more frequent and intense disasters. Therefore, we welcome the development of a similar program to support the adaptation agendas of SIDS, to increase our resilience and adaptive capacity. A program that will also realistically consider the institutional capacity limitations faced by SIDS, and most importantly, a program that will be centered around action."

"Neighboring islands such as Saba and Sint Eustatius are no strangers to water shortages. Recently, the French side of the island looked to us for help with their water shortage issues," Doran continued. "Failure to prepare now for the issues that lie ahead could prove disastrous for generations to come. This is why it is important for us to protect our waterways, ponds, and coastal areas locally. The running of septic water onto roads is one example of how we contribute to local water issues. While the government takes the lead, it is ultimately up to every citizen to do their part to conserve, protect and respect the sanctity of water."

The Ministry of VROMI is dedicated to the improvement of water resources and provide for the residents of Sint Maarten, and seeks the best way forward for generations to come.
WEST READING, Pa.  A fifth body has been recovered from the site of a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania and two remained unaccounted for Sunday.

West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag said in an email to the Associated Press that the fifth body was found Sunday morning by first responders and confirmed dead by the by the Berks County Coroner's Office. The coroner was unable to confirm the identity of that person, Kaag said.

West Reading Borough Chief of Police Wayne Holben confirmed the body of a fourth victim was found under debris early Sunday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Holben asked for continued prayers from the community and vowed that rescuers and officials "will not rest until every single person affected by this tragedy has been accounted for" from the blast that occurred just before 5 p.m. Friday.

Rescue crews have been using heat imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Crews were now using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull debris from the site, Holben said.

Borough Fire Chief Chad Moyer said Saturday night that the chance of finding survivors was "decreasing rapidly" due to the explosion's force and the amount of time that had passed. Kaag said officials were "still hopeful to at least get some answers and get some recoveries so that people have that reassurance and that closure."

"We're just trying to hold out as much hope as we can to get the right answers, to get quality answers, to get information to those that are affected and then let it go over to the investigation," Kaag said.

Officials said they had no update on the condition of a woman pulled alive from the rubble early Saturday. Kaag said she had apparently been on the second floor and was found in a "hopeful circumstance," calling out to rescuers despite her injuries after a dog located her.

Officials also reported no updates on the conditions of those taken to hospitals. Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition respectively and the others had been discharged.

R.M. Palmer said in a statement Saturday afternoon that everyone at the company was "devastated" and it was reaching out to employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were down.

Kaag, a volunteer firefighter herself, said rescue crews had been working 12- to 16-hour shifts and were so dedicated to continuing the search that "you have to pull them away at this point" to swap out and get some rest.

Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the site Saturday and vowed support from the state.

Kaag said some residents have reported damage to windows from the blast, and she asked people to "take a walk around your house" and report any damage.

State and local fire investigators are continuing to examine the scene to try to determine the cause of the blast.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

WEST READING, Pa.  A fourth person was confirmed dead and three people remained unaccounted for Sunday afternoon, two days after a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory shook a small town in Pennsylvania.

West Reading Borough Chief of Police Wayne Holben confirmed the body of a fourth victim was found under debris early Sunday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading.

Holben asked for continued prayers from the community and vowed that rescuers and officials will not rest until every single person affected by this tragedy has been accounted for from the blast that occurred just before 5 p.m. Friday.

Rescue crews have been using heat imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Crews were now using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully pull debris from the site, Holben said.

One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight Saturday.

Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday  hours after the blast that erupted just before 5 p.m. Friday at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in the borough of West Reading, about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

Borough Fire Chief Chad Moyer said three people remained missing as emergency personnel continue searching for victims and state and local fire investigators examine the scene to determine a cause.

Due to the violence of the explosion and the amount of time that has passed, the chance of finding survivors is decreasing rapidly, Moyer said. However, please be assured that our primary goal is accounting for all missing individuals and reuniting them with their loved ones.

Holben earlier said the rescue of one person from the rubble provides hope that others still may be found. Rescue workers were continuing a thorough search using specialized equipment and techniques. Officials said dogs and imaging equipment were being used to look for signs of life during the careful removal of debris.

The blast destroyed one building and damaged a neighboring building. Roadways near the site will be closed until Monday at 8 a.m., Holben said.

Its pretty leveled, Mayor Samantha Kaag said of the explosion site. The building in the front, with the church and the apartments, the explosion was so big that it moved that building four feet forward.

Reading Hospital said Saturday afternoon it had received 10 patients, of which one was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital and another to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. Two were admitted to Reading Hospital in good and fair condition, respectively, and the others had been discharged, officials said.

A UGI Utilities spokesperson said crews were brought in after damage from the blast led to the release of gas that was helping to feed the fire.

We did not receive any calls regarding a gas leak or gas order prior to the incident. But we are cooperating with the investigation and part of that will be to check all our facilities in the vicinity, UGI spokesperson Joseph Swope said Saturday.

R.M. Palmer said in a statement late Saturday that everyone at the company was devastated by the tragic events and focused on supporting our employees and their families.

We have lost close friends and colleagues, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all who have been impacted, the company said, expressing gratitude to the extraordinary efforts of first responders and the support of the Reading community, which has been home to our business for more than 70 years.

R.M. Palmer said it was anxious to get in touch with its employees and their families. But its email, phones and other communication systems were down, and it was relying on first responders and disaster recovery organizations to provide information to affected families. The company said it would be providing additional information and making contact with employees, impacted families, and the community as soon as possible.

Kaag said people were asked to move back about a block in each direction, but no evacuations were ordered. She had issued an emergency declaration only to allow more resources for first responders. Borough manager Dean Murray said some residents were displaced from the damaged apartment building.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, who visited the site Saturday along with the emergency management agency director, vowed any and all commonwealth resources needed to support ongoing recovery efforts - in addition to the extensive assets that have already been deployed.

A team of structural engineers and K-9s from a state urban search and rescue task force had been assisting since last night, and additional personnel arrived Saturday, he said. A state police fire marshal was also assisting in the investigation, he said.

Philip Wert, vice president of the West Reading council, said the building had been constructed in the late 1950s or early 1960s, and officials had to access our archive to pull the blueprints last night, in order to get a better layout of the building and the mechanicals and the utilities, where things are.

The silver lining in all this is someone was found alive, someone was found alive that was in rubble, not knowing whether they were going to live or die, and fortunately we found that person and theyve got a second chance, and hopefully fingers crossed were going to find more, he said.

Frank Gonzalez stood on a hill overlooking the blast site, watching the rubble being cleared. He said his sister, Diana Cedeno, was working at the plant at the time of the blast and was among the missing.

Its not good. Its just stressful waiting, not knowing, he said, expressing frustration at what he perceived as a lack of communication from authorities about the search. We keep reaching out, bugging, keeping her name alive just in case she is in there and says her name.

He said his sister has two adult children, including a son who is deployed overseas. She has a side job decorating for parties and has also been studying for ministry at her church, he said.

Gonzalez said his son and nephew had also worked at the plant, but that his son had quit a few months ago because he said he didnt like the smell of the gas that was in there. His son and nephew had complained about the smell to plant supervisors, who told them, Its all right. We got it. Its being handled. Dont worry about it, he said.

Frank DeJesus said his stepdaughter, Arelis Rivera Santiago, a Palmer employee, was working in the building next door at the time of the blast. The ceiling caved, and she had to crawl under machinery to make it out, he said. DeJesus said he rushed to the scene to find her shaking and crying hysterically, and she was still too shaken to speak about what had happened.

Plant employees, including his stepdaughter, had complained about smelling gas throughout the day Friday, DeJesus said.

Everyone complained about smelling gas, and they kept making them work, he said. The supervisors told them it was nothing. It was being taken care of.

A message was sent earlier to R.M. Palmer seeking comment about the blast.

Doug Olexy was home from work and checking email when the blast shook his house, rattling windows and making the walls vibrate.

It sounded like a bomb went off, he recalled Saturday. I mean, all of our houses shook. Ive never heard as loud of an explosion in my life.

He and his neighbors ran out onto the street immediately afterward and were met by thick black smoke. At first, Olexy thought it was a train derailment because there are tracks nearby. Then he learned it was the Palmer plant, which he called a West Reading institution.

Everybody knows Palmer chocolate, he said.

R.M. Palmers website says it has been making chocolate novelties since 1948 and now has 850 employees at its West Reading headquarters. Its Facebook page includes entries earlier this month advertising Easter treats such as chocolate bunnies and the newest milk chocolate hollow in its bunny family as one with jelly beans inside. The company is by no means the regions best-known chocolate manufacturer, however, with Hershey less than an hour to the west.

Scenes from the chocolate factory explosion in Reading
Europe's JUICE spacecraft will be the first satellite to orbit a moon other than Earth's own, Jupiter's Ganymede.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons: Europa, Callisto and Ganymede.

A single orbital spacecraft with no lander, JUICE will orbit Ganymede, the solar system's largest moon, becoming the first probe to orbit a planetary moon other than Earth's.

JUICE successfully launched on April 14, 2023, at 8:14 a.m. EDT (1214 GMT) from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. But be patient, it will take nearly eight years to reach the largest planet in the solar system .

Related: Europe's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer is unlikely to find life. Here's why.

The spacecraft will orbit the gas giant at the same time as NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which will examine the habitability of another Jupiter moon, Europa . Approximately four years after its arrival at the Jupiter system, JUICE will move into orbit around the gas giant's largest moon, Ganymede , to conduct the most extensive exploration of this body, which is larger than the solar system's smallest planet, Mercury .

Why do we need JUICE?

Only two spacecraft have orbited Jupiter: the Galileo probe , which studied the gas giant between 1995 and 2003, and Juno , which has been circling the planet since 2016.

The Galileo mission found evidence that oceans of liquid water might exist underneath the ice crust of three of the four main Jovian moons: Europa, Ganymede and possibly Callisto . The mission also found that Ganymede has its own magnetic field  the only known moon to possess one  and that storms in Jupiter's atmosphere can be larger than Earth .

Juno, now in the extended part of its mission, revealed many more details about these storms and found that the planet's atmospheric weather layer extends beyond its visible clouds. The mission also discovered that a core of dilute heavy metals might hide within the mostly gaseous Jupiter.

Still, many questions about Jupiter and its moons remain unanswered, especially those regarding the potential of some of those bodies to host life. Together, JUICE and Europa Clipper are set to deepen our understanding of the Jupiter system and perhaps pave the way for a future mission to land on Europa.

Related: Jupiter missions: Past, present and future

Scientists don't know for sure whether Ganymede has a subsurface ocean. Juice will likely find the answer. (Image credit: ESA/ ATG MediaLab)

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When will JUICE reach Jupiter?

JUICE's journey to Jupiter will take seven and a half years and involve three returns to Earth, where the spacecraft will receive gravity assists from our planet to adjust JUICE's trajectory. The spacecraft will also perform one such maneuver at Venus .

The spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter in December 2031 and will spend three years orbiting the planet and making close flybys of three of its main moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The probe will then move into orbit around the largest moon, Ganymede.

What will JUICE do?

Because NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will already be orbiting Jupiter when JUICE arrives, making regular dives as close as a few dozen miles from Europa's surface, JUICE will focus mostly on Ganymede and the strange, less-explored Callisto.

JUICE will make only two flybys of Europa, coming within 250 miles (400 kilometers) of the moon's ice-covered surface during these excursions, according to ESA's JUICE launch kit (opens in new tab). Europa orbits Jupiter at a distance of 417,000 miles (671,000 km), nearly double the moon-Earth distance. However, considering Jupiter's extreme size and powerful magnetic field, any spacecraft would survive only a few months, at best, if it were to stay that close to the planet. NASA's Europa Clipper also will follow the flyby approach to exploring this moon, making only brief visits to study the icy moon and surrounding environment.

JUICE will perform 21 flybys of the most distant of the four main moons, Callisto, getting as close as 120 miles (200 km) from its surface. Orbiting nearly 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) from Jupiter, Callisto is a very different world than the lively Europa, which is believed to have water plumes squirting through its ice crust. At about the size of Mercury, Callisto is the second largest of Jupiter's moons, and has a crater-riddled surface that scientists think is the oldest in the solar system. Scientists are unsure whether Callisto has a subsurface ocean like those of Europa and Ganymede, and JUICE is very likely to answer this question.

Before entering orbit around Ganymede, JUICE will perform 12 flybys of the moon, coming within 250 miles of the magnetically active body, according to the ESA launchkit. Ganymede lives between the orbits of Europa and Callisto, 665,000 miles (1.07 million km) from Jupiter, and scientists think the giant moon is much less likely than Europa to host life. There is, however, a small chance that JUICE may find a surprise.

Although NASA's Europa Clipper will already be studying the potentially life-bearing Europa by the time when Juice arrives, the European mission also hopes to contribute to our understanding of the mysterious body. (Image credit: ESA/ATG MediaLab)

What will JUICE teach us about Jupiter's moons?

JUICE will carry 10 scientific instruments that, together with a similar package on Europa Clipper, will help scientists analyze Jupiter's moons and their potential to host life.

Among JUICE's instruments are cameras, sensors for analyzing the chemical composition of the moons' ice crusts and their surrounding environments, magnetometers, and radar that will create detailed maps of the moons' surfaces and, for the first time, peer beneath them.

Scientists hope that these measurements will confirm the presence of oceans beneath the moons' icy crusts. The notion that these moons harbor massive water bodies that could potentially host life came from the Galileo mission, which measured odd disturbances in the magnetic field around Jupiter. Scientists attributed these anomalies to the motion of liquid inside Europa and Ganymede, Olivier Witasse, a JUICE project scientist at ESA, told Space.com.

"The moon, which carries a salty ocean, is embedded into the big magnetic field of Jupiter, and that disturbs the magnetic field around the moon," Witasse said. "If you are able to measure variations of the magnetic field around the icy moon, you can attribute that to the presence of subsurface liquid which is maybe 200 kilometers [120 miles ] underneath the crust."

With JUICE, scientists will use an additional technique to prove that these obscured oceans exist. By making regular measurements of the surfaces of Ganymede and Callisto with laser altimeters, JUICE will reveal how the shapes of these moons change over time as the moons move through Jupiter's enormous gravitational field. The moons experience gravitational pulls and kicks that trigger tides that are much more pronounced than those on Earth. How pronounced these tides are depends on what the moons are made of.

"The moons are changing shape over time due to the gravity of Jupiter," Witasse said. "The elevation of the surface changes with time, and we can detect this. The amount of elevation depends on what's inside the moon. If the icy crust is floating above liquid, the tides will be much bigger than if everything inside the moon is solid."

Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and some of the world's most powerful ground-based telescopes provided more evidence for the presence of liquid water oceans on Europa and Ganymede, and even detected water vapor in Europa's atmosphere .

But there are still many unanswered questions about those hidden water bodies. Scientists have only a limited idea of the size of these oceans, Witasse said. They don't know exactly how deep the oceans are, how thick their ice crusts are, or how much water the oceans hold.

Scientists are less certain that Callisto has an underground ocean, but JUICE will likely answer this question. The most removed from Jupiter of the four main moons, Callisto is a strange world that astronomers think may have the solar system's oldest surface. The moon is believed to be completely inactive and features an enormous collection of craters holding a record of its entire history. JUICE's high-resolution cameras and sensitive instruments will help scientists explore not only the story of Callisto but with it that of the entire solar system.

"Callisto formed 4 billion years ago when Jupiter formed," Witasse said. "And the image of Callisto we see is from the time that it was born. In contrast, Europa is a very active surface, which is only 50 million years old and is resurfacing all the time."

In the case of Ganymede, JUICE's main target, scientists hope the mission will help them better understand why the moon has its own magnetic field, which has not been seen in any other moon in the solar system.

The crater-riddled Callisto is the least explore of the three Jovian moons that JUICE will study. (Image credit: ESA/ATG MediaLab)

What will JUICE teach us about Jupiter?

NASA's Juno mission mapped Jupiter's atmosphere and its powerful storms in great detail. Still, there is plenty more to learn about this thick shroud of hydrogen and helium. JUICE's submillimeter wave sounder will allow scientists to measure wind speeds and temperatures in the gas giant's atmosphere and provide new information about its weather and climate patterns. JUICE's spectrometers will be able to detect chemical compounds in some parts of the planet's atmosphere with better accuracy than what was previously possible, Witasse said.

ESA hopes data from JUICE will help scientists understand what maintains the visible light and dark bands in Jupiter's atmosphere, which are known to differ in opacity and spread from the equator toward the poles. The probe will also study processes in the planet's middle and upper atmosphere, which extends beyond the visible clouds.

By collecting data about Jupiter and three of its moons, JUICE will enable scientists to analyze the entire Jupiter system, which can serve as a miniature model of a star system.

"By studying it, we can learn more about how the solar system and exoplanetary systems work, how planets form, and how life can emerge under different conditions," ESA said in a statement (opens in new tab).

The JUICE spacecraft is fitted with 914 square feet of solar panels to generate enough energy in the frigid environment far away from the sun. (Image credit: Airbus)

Will JUICE find life on Jupiter's moons?

JUICE is not expected to find life on any of Jupiter's moons, although its instruments might be able to detect molecules that could be signs of life under the moons' surfaces. JUICE will spend most of its time studying Ganymede, which is less likely to host life than Europa is.

There are several reasons life is more probable on Europa than on Ganymede: It's closer to Jupiter, it's more active and it has similarities to Earth.

"Europa is closer to Jupiter; there is more gravitational attraction from Jupiter, so the tides are much larger," Witasse said. "There is more heating inside the moon; the moon is much more active than Ganymede. And when you search for life, it's better to search in active places. Also, the ocean on Europa is in contact with a rocky substrate, which means it's quite similar to what we have on Earth and there might be some interesting reactions and hydrothermal activity going on, just like at the bottom of Earth's oceans."

In fact, scientists are so confident that there is no life on Ganymede that the JUICE spacecraft will crash into the moon at the end of the mission to avoid slamming into Europa and contaminating it with Earth microbes.

What are the major technical challenges of the JUICE mission?

The environment around Jupiter is not easy to operate in; the planet's powerful magnetic field accelerates charged particles in its vicinity and creates intense radiation that quickly degrades spacecraft electronics, and the closer to the planet, the more powerful the radiation. Therefore, JUICE has to be fitted with elaborate radiation shields that protect its sensitive instruments.

As Jupiter is more than five times farther from the sun than Earth is, the JUICE spacecraft will receive far less sunlight than satellites orbiting our planet. To generate enough electricity to power the spacecraft, JUICE's solar panels have to be enormous  914 square feet (85 square meters), with each wing shaped like a cross.

"It took a lot of time to find the right solar panel cells," Witasse said. "They need to work at low temperatures in a high-radiation environment and be able to give enough power. So that was a big, big challenge."

JUICE will have to withstand frigid conditions; temperatures in Jupiter's orbit drop to minus 382 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 230 degrees Celsius). During its journey to the planet, however, JUICE also will have brief exposure to extreme heat during a flyby at Venus, where temperatures reach a scorching 482 F (250 C).

Q&A: Olivier Witasse, ESA JUICE project scientist

Olivier Witasse JUICE mission project scientist at the European Space Agency Olivier Witasse is a planetary scientist at ESA and project scientist of the JUICE mission. Previously, he served as a project scientist for the agency's Mars Express mission. He also worked on the Venus Express and Cassini Huygens missions.

What information are you looking forward to the most from the JUICE mission? I am really looking forward to the broad interdisciplinary science that we will do with JUICE. We don't go to Jupiter every two years. It's maybe once in a lifetime for ESA, so we wanted to make the best mission ever. We will touch many topics: the interior of the moons, Jupiter's atmosphere, Jupiter's magnetic field. But obviously, the big question is, do Europa, Ganymede and Callisto have an ocean? Any answer will be interesting. It will be interesting to understand how the presence of water changes with the distance from Jupiter, because that can have implications for our understanding of the presence of water in the solar system. And liquid water, as we know, is the main prerequisite for life as we know it.



What quality images will JUICE be able to obtain? Our cameras will be able to get images of the icy moons with an excellent resolution: less than 10 meters [33 feet] per pixel. We will have global coverage  particularly of Ganymede, and hopefully, Callisto. I'd say that of these two moons, JUICE will take the best images ever. For Jupiter, we will not have such close images as Juno, for example, because we will orbit much farther away. And Europa Clipper will take much better images of Europa than JUICE; that's for sure.

JUICE is expected to crash into Ganymede at the end of its mission. But what if JUICE finds that there might be life on this Jovian moon? The mission was designed in view of the current status of planetary protection. We have to follow the rules of what we call planetary protection. So, while at Europa, we cannot land; we cannot impact on. Ganymede is not the same category of bodies in terms of astrobiology and planetary protection. If we find some hint of life  and I doubt we will  then we might have to rethink the approach. But in any case, we have already shown that we can land on Ganymede or crash on Ganymede without contaminating the ocean. That was already studied, documented and published. Because the ocean is believed to be relatively deep inside the moon, if we impact with JUICE on the surface, we won't contaminate it, because it is maybe 100 kilometers [60 miles] underneath the surface.

Additional resources

For more information about the JUICE mission explore the ESA Science JUICE mission page. (opens in new tab) ESA has more information about the main science questions the mission aims to address and you can also read about the top five mysteries JUICE will solve. The mission launch kit (opens in new tab) provides further information about the mission.

Bibliography

ESA Science, JUICE, accessed on March 23, 2023

https://sci.esa.int/web/juice (opens in new tab)

ESA, JUICE, accessed on March 23, 2023

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice (opens in new tab)

ESA Multimedia, JUICE Launch Kit, accessed on March 23, 2023

https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/science/Juice-LaunchKit.pdf (opens in new tab)
A brush fire straddling the York and Cumberland county line drew firefighters from throughout the area on Monday.

The blaze, which was near the White Rock Acres neighborhood, was brought under control by midafternoon, Monroe Fire Company reported via tweet.

ABC27 News reported that the fire damaged approximately 10 acres.

According to York County Public Information Officer Ted Czech, the first call came in around 11:30 a.m., ABC27 reported. An initial investigation found a homeowner near the first block of Cold Springs Road was burning a pile of brush that got out of control and spread in the wooded area.

In addition to Monroe, firefighters from Citizens, New Kingstown, Upper Allen and Lower Allen were among those responding. Water was also dropped on the fire from the air.

Monroe Fire Company sent a Tweet at 12:40 p.m. to use caution in the area of Kuhn Road as units respond to the fire. York County dispatchers said the call for the fire came in at 11:33 a.m. at the intersection of Chain Saw Road and Green House Road in Franklin Township.

No evacuations were ordered in the wooded neighborhood on the South Mountain, although smoke drifted through the development.

Firefighters were on scene taking equipment up a utility break off of Kuhn Road near Oak Hill Drive in White Rock Acres. The fire reportedly was on the Dillsburg side of the mountain and firefighters were attempting to approach it from that area and from Kuhn Road and Maxelle Lane.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink.com

At 2:15 p.m., Monroe Fire Company sent a Tweet saying the spread of the brush fire in the area of White Rock Acres is under control.

The fire company said no evacuations are indicated and people should continue to use caution as units continue to work in the area of Kuhn Road.

UPDATE: The spread of the fire in the area of White Rock Acres (Kuhn Road) is under control. No evacuations are indicated. Please continue to use caution as units continue to work in the area. @ccpa_dps911 @PSPTroopHPIO @cvpublicsafety  Monroe Fire Company (@MonroeFireCo25) March 27, 2023

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

Firefighters from Monroe, Citizens, New Kingstown, Upper Allen and Lower Allen fire companies are responding to a mountain brush fire on South Mountain near White Rock Acres in Monroe Township Monday afternoon.

Monroe Fire Company sent a Tweet at 12:40 p.m. to use caution in the area of Kuhn Road as units respond to the fire. York County dispatchers said the call for the fire came in at 11:33 a.m. at the intersection of Chain Saw Road and Green House Road in Franklin Township.

Firefighters were on scene taking equipment up a utility break off of Kuhn Road near Oak Hill Drive in White Rock Acres. The fire reportedly was on the Dillsburg side of the mountain and firefighters were attempting to approach it from both sides.
Vatican to send Pope's message of hope into orbit



Vatican City, March 27 (AFP) Mar 27, 2023



A message of faith and hope first delivered by Pope Francis in the middle of the 2020 coronavirus lockdown will be sent into space, the Vatican announced Monday.

The speech of the pontiff praying alone in an empty St Peter's Square have been turned into a "nanobook" measuring less than two millimetres wide, which will be launched into orbit on June 10.

It will travel around the Earth on a purpose-built satellite at an altitude of about 525 kilometres, dispatched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The "Spei Satelles" (Satellites of Hope in Latin) project -- whose cost and funding has not been revealed -- is being coordinated by the Italian Space Agency in conjunction with various Italian institutions.

Agency president Giorgio Saccoccia said the Vatican had asked for "a solution that would allow the Holy Father's words of hope to cross the earth's borders and reach from space the greatest possible number of women and men on our troubled planet".

On March 27, 2020, the pope urged followers who felt "afraid and lost" in the face of what was then a terrifying new virus to have faith.

The project is not the pontiff's first encounter with space -- in 2017, he held a video call with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where he asked them about "man's place in the universe".

Six years earlier, his predecessor Benedict XVI also rang the ISS.




The latest episode of Chicago PD was a directorial debut for Jesse Lee Soffer! And while he killed it behind the camera, on the other side of it, we got to see (again) who Hank Voight is, and who he will always be.

I want the record to show that I adore Jesse Lee Soffer and I will forever be a fan of Jay Halstead. Soffer is a shining star of talent in front of the camera and last week, we got a glimpse of what he can do when hes the one calling the shots behind it. He knows this show inside and out, probably better than most after more than ten years on the job as Halstead. But as talented as he is in those facets of the industry, he is not the one writing the story, merely just telling it through a lens, and the story last week is a hard pill to swallow as its every bit about Hank Voight.

Voight has always been the rough and tumble, no nonsense, ask questions later (if at all) kind of cop. And that was fun and badass in the beginning and towards the middle of the series. But now, its exhausting and frustrating. As the years have gone by, things and people and rules have changed, policing has changed  more so, gotten worse  but Voight hasnt. He has stayed stagnant, stubborn in his ways, unwilling to change because only his way can be the right way. But it cant be like that anymore, and it shouldnt be. At this point, Im running out of ways to convey just how awful of a character I think he is and how worse hes become, but nonetheless, lets dive into it a little more.

As the episode kicks off, we see Arturo Morales, who we were first introduced to in episode 10x13, The Ghost in You. He is on trial for the murder of ASA Nina Chapmans material witness and past love interest, Tom Villar. While in court, Voight notices the odd behavior of a juror and calls in Hailey Upton for backup. They confront the juror at his home and discover his wife has been kidnapped at the order of Morales to leverage a not guilty vote in his favor, and ultimately get him off of a murder charge.

As things unfold, we once again see a back and forth struggle between right and wrong, one that we arent strangers to when it comes to Hank Voight. He has built, and maintained, a reputation for doing things his own way, regardless of whether its the right way, and even if those around him try to reign him in from doing something he cant walk back from.

Hailey Upton is no stranger to the morality struggle either when it comes to Voight and his reckless behavior. She knows the kind of man her Sergeant is and the kind of man he will never be, and wants to do the right thing. She wants to call it in, report the abducted wife and roll in the crime lab, do things by the book, but Voight is quick to shut her down. Her softspoken, We cant not call it in, and the look of absolute disappointment reflected in her eyes is one that isnt unfamiliar if youve been paying attention and reading between the lines over the years. Hell, even over the last fifteen episodes. She looks so...

. Out of options, not sure what to do next, and you cant blame her. Voights rinse and repeat cowboy act is the very reason why her husband is gone. He is the reason why so many have lost their lives, why Hailey and the rest of the team have been in boiling hot water one too many times, and here he is doing the very same thing again with no qualms about it.

To him, it doesnt really matter what happens or who is hurt or what damage is done in the process of him going off half-cocked as long as he gets the result he wants. Voight is the same man hes always been from day one and he will never change. Regardless of who is caught in the crosshairs or who is left to clean up the mess.

This time is no different, even as both Hailey and Kevin try to be the voice of reason, but Voight wont hear any of it. He makes one bad call after the other, takes advantage of a sick man, and once again, does the worst things under the guise of having the best intentions, even if that means breaking the law. He is not a good man, and its time everyone starts to call it like it is.

Yes, they find the jurors wife, Julia, and shes gonna be okay all things considered, and Morales is found guilty, but at what cost and after how many more laws have been broken? Voight has always prided himself on being a Chicago police officer. A man who loves his city. And that would be an honorable trait for anyone else and under normal circumstances, but this is Hank Voight were talking about and there are rarely normal circumstances when hes involved. He may bring justice, but more often than not, its because hes acting as a formidable vigilante, not as an honorable police officer.

Chapman said it best at the end of the episode when she was speaking to Voight. About how he doesnt think about what kind of man he is, but that he should. He wont though. He wont think about it, and he most definitely wont be changing his ways anytime soon no matter how much he desperately needs to.













Things Worth Noting:

- Hailey being Voights new second-in-command has me more than worried. I need her so far away from that man.

- Upwater partnered up together is the silver lining of this episode.

- The little look Hailey and Kevin shared when Voight told them to move in tells you everything you need to know about how poor his decision making is.

- You should, and I cannot stress this enough, NEVER trust Hank Voight.

- Every time I see that wedding ring on Haileys finger, my heart swells.

- Voight using an innocent man who has cancer as leverage when his wife died from cancer is wrong on so many levels. So. Damn. Wrong.

- If you want trust, earn it with the truth. Chapman, truer words have never been spoken, but Im afraid theyre falling on deaf ears.

- I did what I had to do. Nah, you did what you wanted to do, Voight. Theres a difference.

Chicago PD airs on Wednesdays on NBC.
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What are your thoughts on Star Trek: Picard episode 6 "The Bounty"? Share them in the comments below.

The plot most assuredly thickens in The Bounty, the sixth installment ins third season. This episode is filled with a multitude of good news/bad news moments. For example, thecast has all finally appeared; the bad news is they are in more danger than ever due to the discovery of the source of the sophisticated AI security system that protects Daystrom station and the real bounty the Changelings stole during their incursion there.Good news, Worf (Michael Dorn) and Raffi (Michelle Hurd) have made their way to the Titan to rejoin old friends. However, its not quite the reunion Raffi and Seven (Jeri Ryan) were expecting, and they have to work quickly to get to Daystrom to help find out what the Changelingss plan is, since that plan will be enacted during the Federations Frontier Days celebration. More of the warrior comes out in Worf as he is anxious to not only thwart their efforts but also to honor Ros (Michelle Forbes) sacrifice.The good news is that they have the key that will help them break into Daystrom; the bad news is that the Federation discovers the Titan in orbit, so they have to abandon the away team of Raffi, Worf, and Riker to go in search of help. A nice shout-out to the futureproject, which will be headlined by recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh.That help comes in the return of one Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) and his engineer daughter, Alandra (played by Burtons real-life daughter, Mica Burton). The bad news is that even though father and daughters are reunited, there is still tension between Geordi and his younger daughter, Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut). LaForge now runs the Starfleet Museum, the final resting place for every starship in the Federation. In a nice scene, Seven gives Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) a short history lesson on the star ships docked there, including the Voyager, Kirks original starship NCC-1701. However, Jack seems most interested in the Klingon Bird of Prey that was recovered from the waters off San Francisco, where it disappeared during thefilm. It seems the ship had been discovered after the ships cloaking device malfunctioned.However, Jack seems most interested in the Klingon Bird of Prey that was recovered from the waters off San Francisco, where it disappeared during thefilm. It seems the ship had been discovered after the ships cloaking device malfunctioned. Jack is still reeling from the news that he has inherited his fathers fatal neurological disease. He bounces back somewhat, showing hes truly his fathers son, when in an act of what could be considered good news by recruiting the LaForge sisters to help him steal the cloaking device and install it on the Titan. In a way, these children are trying to make their fathers proud of them with this blatant act of ship-saving defiance.Back on Daystrom, the away team is navigating their way to the core of the AI system to access the stations manifest to discover what the Changelings had really stolen. An encounter with an old adversary from Next Generations past, Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis) leads Riker and the team to the source of the AI security system The show once again beautifully incorporates the shows rich history into the complex story it is weaving, kudos to using clips from those original episodes and also convincing original actor, Daniel Davis into reprising his fan favorite Moriarty role.Once at the core of the AI, Riker, Worf, and Riker are stunned to find that Starleet has been keeping a big secret. The good news is Data (Brent Spiner) is back; the bad news, they discover when they return to the Titan with Data in tow, is that this is a new, synthetic version of Data that contains the personalities of all the versions of the android. This is sure to create quite the conundrum when he is reactivated back on the Titan because they never know which version of Data they will be dealing with. Yes, Lal, B-4, Doctor Soong, and the original Data are all there, but so is the villainous Lore. Spiner will have a field day switching from the various personalities at the drop of the hat. Picard and the others will never know if they can truly trust him.Another piece of good news is that Will and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) are reunited. The bad news is that they are both prisoners of Vadic (Amanda Plummer), who is not beyond torture to find Jean-Luc and Jack Crusher. With Sirtis on-screen arrival late in the episode, the return of the entirecore cast is complete.The gangs all here now is definitely good news; the bad news is they only have four episodes left in this season to discover why the Changelings stole the human body of Jean-Luc Picard that was stored at Daystrom and how that is part of the most dangerous threat to the Federation. They must thwart the Changelings plans while rescuing Riker and Troi and restoring Picard and his friends good names and reputations all before Founders Day. Then maybe by the end of this season, they can finally get around to setting up a much-deserved spin-off for Seven, Raffi, Shaw, and the Titan.
Doctors often use urine tests to make sure patients taking medication for opioid addiction are sticking with treatment. A new study suggests they may be missing some cheaters.

Nearly 8% of these patients sometimes spike their urine by adding their treatment medicine, buprenorphine, to the samples. Such spiking may go unnoticed by doctors who use rapid tests instead of more sophisticated lab tests that can reveal whos cheating.

These patients are at particularly high risk for opioid overdose, as they are not receiving the protective effects of buprenorphine, said Dr. Jarratt Pytell of University of Colorado School of Medicine, who led the study published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry.

About 2.4 million U.S. adults are prescribed this gold standard medication for opioid addiction. It works by preventing craving and is often paired with counseling and other support. With overdose deaths climbing, Congress recently made it easier for more doctors to prescribe buprenorphine, which is sold under the brand name Suboxone.

In the study, researchers looked at more than 500,000 urine test results from Millennium Health, a large laboratory. The tests had been ordered by doctors from 2017 through April 2022.

Less than 2% of samples  from 7.6% of patients  had evidence that patients directly added buprenorphine to the urine specimen. Spiking was indicated by a low amount of a substance produced as buprenorphine breaks down in the liver.

Suspicious specimens were more likely to be collected in primary care doctors offices than in specialty treatment clinics. And patients with evidence of spiked samples were more likely to test positive for heroin or fentanyl use.

Doctors shouldnt cut off patients who cheat, Pytell said. That could lead to overdose. Instead, a suspicious result should prompt a frank discussion and possibly a higher level of care. Doctors should discuss whether patients are struggling with inadequate housing, mental health issues or financial strain.

When patients tamper with their urine specimen it often indicates that they are unstable in their recovery and they could use more help, said study co-author Brendan Saloner of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Unfortunately, many patients are punished either by their program or by some legal authority, and they therefore have reasons why they may want to mask that they are not taking their buprenorphine as prescribed.

Dr. Kim Dougan, a primary care doctor in the Seattle area, has treated hundreds of patients with buprenorphine.

People not only get their life back, they get their jobs back, they get their families back, Dougan said. Her new patients take a weekly urine test that is sent to a lab. Long-term, stable patients do an annual test.

If lab results look suspicious, she brings it up with the patient, but doesnt punish or judge.

My job is to say, Whats going on here? Dougan said. Being open and nonjudgmental is important.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Kansas highest court signaled Monday that it still considers access to abortion a fundamental right under the state constitution, as an attorney for the state argued that a decisive statewide vote last year affirming abortion rights doesn't matter."

The state Supreme Court is considering exactly how far the Republican-controlled Legislature can go in restricting abortion under a 2019 decision protecting abortion rights. The justices heard arguments from attorneys for Kansas and abortion providers in two lawsuits but isn't likely to rule for months.

One lawsuit challenges a 2015 law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure, and the other challenges a 2011 law that regulates abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. Legal challenges have blocked both laws from being enforced.

The U.S. Supreme Court declared in June 2022 that the U.S. Constitution doesn't protect abortion rights and that states can ban abortion, but the Kansas court had ruled in 2019 that access to abortion is protected as a matter of bodily autonomy under the state constitution. That led the Legislature to put a proposed amendment on last August's ballot asking voters whether to lift that constitutional protection, which would have allowed lawmakers to greatly restrict or ban abortion. Voters soundly rejected the measure.

But Kansas Solicitor General Tony Powell, representing the state, told the court that last year's vote doesn't matter and shouldn't factor into its decisions on the two lawsuits, arguing that voters might not have wanted abortion banned but still favor reasonable restrictions. He said the justices should let the people work it out through their elected representatives.

Powell told reporters afterward: The court is in the best position to remedy any mistakes that it made.

Five of the six justices present for the arguments expressed skepticism while questioning Powell, who at one point said, Im doing the best I can.

We had a vote in August, and it was pretty overwhelming, Justice Dan Biles told him. Thats the elephant in the room.

The justices did ask Alice Wang, a Center for Reproductive Rights attorney representing the abortion providers, whether preserving life was a compelling state interest. She said that question was before the state Supreme Court when it ruled in 2019.

This court declined to recognize any compelling interest," Wang said.

Kansas allows most abortions until the 22nd week of pregnancy, attracting patients from other states with bans, most notably Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Abortion rights opponents fear that Kansas courts will overturn many of the restrictions imposed over the past 30 years.

The state is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn its 2019 decision, but the two cases also give the court the chance to narrow that ruling's scope by upholding either or both laws.

Many Republicans had expected Kansas voters to approve the proposed state constitutional change in August, and Powell acknowledged that he was boxed in by the state's failure to challenge much of the evidence presented by abortion providers to the trial court judge.

Powell repeatedly argued that the justices also ought to consider federal court decisions or even decisions from other states courts.

I think the court should have its blinders off, he said.

Among Republican-leaning states, Kansas is an outlier in preserving abortion access, in part because the state's abortion opponents preferred making year-by-year incremental changes prior to last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

However, the state still forces patients to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion, requires minors to get parental consent, spells out what patients must be told in writing beforehand and even mandates that the information for patients be printed in 12-point Times New Roman type.

Three members of the court's 6-1 majority retired after the 2019 decision, but their replacements all were appointed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, a strong abortion rights supporter. One of the new justices, K.J. Wall, recused himself from the cases, so six justices will decide them. The court did not give a reason for Wall's action.

The 2019 ruling came in the early stages of the lawsuit over the ban on the second-trimester procedure. The justices kept the law on hold but sent the case back to the trial court to examine the ban further. A trial judge said the law could not stand.

The law deals with a certain type of dilation and evacuation, or D&E, procedure. According to state health department statistics, about 500 D&E procedures are done in Kansas each year, accounting for 6% of the state's total abortions. About 90% of the state's abortions occur in the first trimester.

A D&E procedure ban would force providers to use alternative methods that the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights advocate, has said are riskier for the patient and more expensive. Biles hit on that argument repeatedly during Monday's hearing.

Abortion providers saw the law requiring them to comply with stricter regulations than other types than of doctors as an attempt to regulate them out of business. Before it was set to take effect in July 2011, it appeared briefly that no Kansas provider would be able to comply, though a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood clinic ultimately did. A trial court judge ruled that the state had no justification for rules applying only to abortion providers, and the state appealed.

Those behind the clinic regulation law argued that it would make clinics safer for women seeking abortions. Several justices were skeptical that the state has a compelling reason to treat abortion clinics differently than other health care providers.

The state's argument for banning the second-trimester procedure was summed up in how they wrote the law. It specifically would prohibit doctors from using forceps or similar instruments on a live fetus to remove it from the womb in pieces. Such instruments are used in some D&E abortions.

Although Powell derided the specific method as heinous, Biles told him that there is no evidence in the record that it is worse for the fetus than the alternatives.

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/apjdhanna
Stamford received a $25k grant to commission a mural that will be displayed on the side of the new train station parking garage, which means this mural will be the first (and potentially only) thing people learn about Stamford when they get here. Now the hard part: what is it going to be?

Ive written at length about my critique of Stamfords lack of culture, but I think there is a real opportunity for this mural project to be the bedrock of the citys defined identity. If for no other reason than avoiding an embarrassingly hollow piece of art.

The Board of Finance stipulated the mural cannot be divisive or controversial, which is good direction. When you live in a community with so little going on, the natural inclination is to hire someone who will make an impression. For example, when the town of Dover, N.J., hired a television show for their mural it resulted in a piece that simply read Dover Sucks.

On the other hand, when the only parameters given to art is it cant make too much of an impression then you quickly veer toward something you might see in a hotel lobby rather than at the center of a citys identity. This is how you get a slogan such as Innovating Since 1641, which I dont think anyone in the city can tell you what that means but it doesnt stop them from plastering it on every municipal sign.

Stamfords slogan is a good place to start when researching Stamfords identity. Our city has gone through a number of slogans. The most recent is the commonly derided The City That Works. It was introduced in 1996 and its original meaning was meant to reflect Stamfords status as a working class city. This was unique for our region because all our neighboring towns are mostly affluent communities serviced by workers living in Stamford.

Stamford has changed a lot since then and the working class community isnt as prominent. Now the city that works is only used by irate residents as a perceived rhetorical slam-dunk when complaining about their road not being paved. More like the city that doesnt work! Its very clever.

Stamford has had other nicknames  such as Lock City when Yale & Towne Manufacturing was a prominent employer  but none of them have lasted as the city has changed.

So, what is the lasting characteristic of Stamford? I would say it is our persistent independence from trends  both regionally and culturally. We have a culture of going our own way.

Stamford is unique in the region, because we continue to house workers for the neighboring towns. Even if the working class picture is different today than it was in the 1990s, its still true that Stamford is the most affordable community compared to our neighbors. On a literal level, Stamford has more affordable housing inventory than all our neighbors combined (this remains true even if you include Norwalk). We do things that need to get done even if no one else is doing it.

Stamford is unique in the state, because our successes and challenges are different from all the other power brokers in Connecticut. To paraphrase one of my former employers, the cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, and Waterbury all have similar problems. Stagnant growth, high crime and school funding problems. These four communities get all their representatives to lobby for the same thing and they often get it. Stamford doesnt typically get support from the state and its likely going to stay that way. We have to do things on our own.

This independence is reflected in our political leaders. Mayor Dannel Malloy gained a reputation for his single-minded ferocity. Mayor Michael Pavia was a political outsider  as was Bobby Valentine, who unsuccessfully sought the office in 2021. Mayor David Martin was endorsed by the local Democratic party over William Tong specifically because Martin wasnt friendly with the Hartford political sphere. Martin was no ones rubber stamp, wrote the representatives who endorsed him in 2013. Even when Martin had two successful terms, the local party endorsed his opponent  who is now Mayor Caroline Simmons. This town doesnt care who your friends are, it cares about what you can do for Stamford.

If you talk to people born and raised in Stamford and tell them how this place could be better if we did things like other cities  they genuinely do not care. What other communities such as Norwalk, New York, or anywhere else in New England do has no impact on Stamford locals. Stamford does things its own way.

Thats the direction I would provide the artist for this mural. They can certainly capture all the surface-level aesthetics of Stamford. The diversity of the community (specifically the origins of the Italian, Irish, and Polish in the city), the numerous green spaces across town, the waterfront properties, the historical working class demographic, and the various industries that have come and gone through Stamford. Thats all fine, but thats not really Stamford. The thing that ties this place together is the persistent independence to do things our own way.

Either that or take one of those James Daugherty murals and pin it up there.

Arthur Augustyn is a Stamford resident, marketing professional, and freelance writer. He previously served as director of communications in Mayor David Martin's administration and deputy campaign manager for Mayor Caroline Simmons's 2021 mayoral campaign.
Connecticut has joined a coalition of 21 states with populations totaling 165,000,000 that have agreed to protect the reproductive rights of women at a time when they are being limited by conservative Republicans throughout the United States.

In Hartford late Monday morning, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said that her 20 counterparts, including legislative leaders and top state elected officials, have formed a new Reproductive Freedom Coalition in attempt to assure access to health care that has been threatened by last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturning the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade abortion-rights law.

Im proud that Connecticut has historically been a national leader in the fight for reproductive justice," Bysiewicz said in a statement, noting the 1965 decision in Griswold v. Connecticut that overturned the state's ban on birth control, and the 1990 state law codifying abortion rights.

"But we cannot stand alone," Bysiewicz said. "Each of our states has individually advocated for impactful and innovative legislation to protect and expand access to womens health care, and this coalition will work together to share best practices, and fight together against those wishing to restrict access to essential care, she said. This is an important moment. Overturning Roe vs. Wade was only the beginning, and as we await a decision from a federal court in Texas targeting the most commonly used method of abortion care, the need for states to stand firm with our patients and providers is clear.

Last year, the General Assembly approved legislation to create a so-called safe harbor in Connecticut for women seeking reproductive health care and abortions from outside the state.

Other states joining the group include Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

The group plans to share model legislation, executive orders and ways to shield health care providers from out-of-state prosecution from Republican-run states that have threatened legal action against women who seek abortions and medical professionals who offer treatment.

In each state, this network will work as a united front to share model legislation and executive orders, methods protecting health care providers from prosecution, ways to maximize federal funds for reproductive health care, and means of support for manufacturers of abortion medication and contraception as they face legal uncertainty.

Massachusetts has a deep and proud history of standing up for reproductive freedom - from passing the Roe Act to enshrine abortion rights for our residents to standing up for the Buffer Zone Law to protect patients seeking care, said Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll in a joint statement. I have been proud throughout my career to implement policies that expand and protect access to health care including abortion services, provide comprehensive sex education to our youth, and ensure access to menstrual products and birth control."

We are stronger together and we are sending an unequivocal message that we will continue to protect the right to abortion healthcare, said New York Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado. Despite deadly restrictions to reproductive services across the country, there will continue to be states that rigorously defend the right to choose. New York is proud to be one of those states and were proud to work in partnership with others to protect abortion rights.

"Just a few years ago, Rhode Island finally enshrined our right to choose in state law after a hard-fought battle led by multiple generations of activists. We won't let extremists turn back the clock and take those freedoms away," said Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos. "I'm proud to fight for reproductive choice in every corner of America, whether as part of a national movement with other lieutenant governors or here at home with the passage of Rhode Island's Equality in Abortion Coverage Act."
Nina Gilliam, Caledonia business owner, will share Serving a Community  The Village of Caledonia, The Customers, and the Employees as the special feature at the upcoming Womens Connection taking place from 9:15-11 a.m., Tuesday, April 11 in the Farmington Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, at the junction of Columbia and Cayce streets.

A retired Estee Lauder executive and marketing events trainer for 35 years, Gilliam and her husband of 40 years moved to Caledonia in 1998, and 20 years ago, became owner of the Old Mercantile. Although she couldnt have children, Gilliam feels the Lord has blessed her with thousands of children in her life.

Aprils guest speaker, Ann Stauffer, was born in Illinois but spent most of her adult life in Missouri. A former award-winning elementary teacher and workshop presenter, as well as a wife and mother of three adult children and seven grandchildren, Stauffer and her husband also enjoy traveling worldwide.

Her presentation, "Joy In The Midst Of A Storm," will seek to answer the question, What do you do when you find yourself in a family storm, a financial storm, or a health storm?

Reservations and cancellations are required for the $10 catered brunch. Call Barb at 573-747-3854 or Mary at 858-900-4008.
T he Duke of Sussex has made a surprise return to the UK for the first time since the late Queens funeral  but is not expected to meet with the King or the Prince of Wales.

His trip  for a High Court hearing in London in his claim against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering  will be seen as demonstrating the strength of his determination over the legal action.

Just weeks ago, Harry laid bare his troubled relationship with his father the King and brother the Prince of Wales in his controversial autobiography Spare.

The King was due to be away on Monday on the first official state visit of his reign, but the trip to France was cancelled due to rioting over pension reforms, meaning Charles is now in the UK at the same time as Harry for the first time in six months.

But Buckingham Palace said the King was not in Windsor or London and would be leaving for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday morning.

Harry is also unlikely to be meeting up with William.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are not currently in Windsor because of the youngsters school Easter holidays.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been asked to vacate their UK home Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, in a move sanctioned by the King, meaning Harry could spend some of his time packing up any remaining possessions.

The duke is also taking legal action against the Home Office over security arrangements when he is in the UK, raising questions about his own security provisions during this visit.

It has not been confirmed yet whether Harry and Meghan will be at the Kings coronation in less than six weeks time.

Palace staff have reportedly been told to factor the Sussexes into the arrangements.

The couple, who have begun using titles for their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have not said if they will attend the May 6 ceremony, which falls on Archies fourth birthday.
A provisional trial date has been set for a man accused of murdering a pedestrian.

Police were called to Leigham Manor Drive in the Devon city at about 8.55pm on March 21 following reports of a collision involving a car and a pedestrian.

The pedestrian, David Kelly, 42, from Plymouth, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Luke Dann, 36, also from the city, appeared before Plymouth Crown Court on Monday charged with murder.

His hearing, before Judge Simon Carr, was held in chambers  meaning members of the public and media could not attend.

Following the case, the court confirmed that a plea and case management hearing had been listed for April 24.

A provisional trial date of September 4 has also been set, a spokesman said.

Dann, who did not enter a plea to the charge against him, was remanded into custody until the next hearing in his case.
T wo rival sex therapists are fighting a 2 million court battle over claims that one hijacked the others online business profile to steal clients.

Siobhain Crosbie, who charges up to 200 a session to treat sexual dysfunction and transgender difficulties, has accused former friend and protege Caroline Ley of sabotage after they fell out in December 2011. She says her business mysteriously nosedived, and later discovered that online inquires for her counselling service via Google were being diverted to Ms Leys business.

Ms Crosbie, 55, is suing her rival at the High Court for 1.42 million plus 456,109 in interest, claiming she has been the victim of cyber fraud.

But Ms Ley, 51, a psychosexual therapist who specialises in sex addiction, says the mixed-up business details were accidental and a quirk of Googles algorithm. She is counter-suing Ms Crosbie for libel and harassment, claiming she has faced a carpet-bombing campaign of slurs to blacken her name on social media.

The court heard Ms Ley studied and worked under Ms Crosbie at her practice, APS Psychotherapy and Counselling in South Woodford, east London, before leaving to set up her own business in nearby Buckhurst Hill.

The women met on holiday in 2005 and became friends and colleagues, with Ms Ley renting a counselling space from Ms Crosbie in 2010 and 2011. Ms Leys barrister, Gervase de Wilde, said they parted ways at the end of 2011. Ms Crosbie told the court she then noticed a drop in inquires for her services. Her clerical supervisor reported that the phone hadnt been ringing for three months, and during her financial woes she cut the number of rooms she was renting from three to one, the court heard. At some point in March 2016, she discovered that if you clicked onto the phone number on her web listing, this connected to a phone number controlled by Ms Ley, said Janaka Siriwardena, representing Ms Crosbie.

Also, clicking on the directions icon led a web visitor to directions to Ms Leys (business) address. In March 2016, Ms Crosbie complained to Ms Ley that she had deliberately directed potential visitors to her own business and as a result, that Ms Crosbie had suffered a loss.

Ms Crosbie also discovered that a listing for her business on psychotherapy.co.uk coincidentally again led to Ms Leys business.

Except Ms Crosbie did not consider this to be coincidental, but both acts were carried out deliberately as a means of passing off Ms Leys business as being similar or associated with Ms Crosbie. Further, logos and photos associated with Ms Crosbies listing were found on Ms Leys listings.

The court heard Ms Ley blamed Googles merged listing process for the mix-up, potentially caused by the two womens businesses at one time operating from the same address.

Mr de Wilde said Ms Crosbie complained of cyber fraud to the police and embarked on a four-year social media campaign against her rival. It is hard to conceive of any complaint against a former colleague based on a business dispute, no matter how well-founded, could justify the terms in which Ms Crosbie made her allegations of wrongdoing. These encompassed criminality, fraud, dishonesty, tax evasion. Ms Ley is claiming substantial damages over the alleged harassment and libel  allegations Ms Crosbie denies.

Mr Justice Julian Knowles will deliver his ruling at a later date.
L ondon schools will be faced with an 85 million energy bill when government support runs out at the end of this month as the cost of living crisis continues to bite, a new analysis shows.

It comes amid calls for more help for schools to deal with rising bills. One London headteacher who is expecting his energy bills to quadruple said: Weve cut everything we can  what else is there to cut?

Schools energy bills are capped under the energy bill relief scheme, but it is due to end this month and be replaced with a less generous discount scheme.

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats found that the average London primary school will see support cut by 55.62 per pupil per year, while for secondary schools the figure is 80.42 per pupil per year. Schools will have to pay these additional costs from their budgets.

Simon Hawley, head of Stanley Primary School in Teddington, said: Our school is looking at an increase in our electricity bills from 19,000 to 85,000, which is just unsustainable.

He added that the school had resorted to asking parents for help in areas such as buying IT equipment, despite the cost of living crisis.

Lib Dem calculations based on Department for Education data on schools energy usage, suggests that London primary schools would face a total cut in support of 39.4 million per year, and secondary schools would see a 45.8 million cut per year. The party has criticised the Chancellor for failing to use the Budget to continue the existing energy bill relief scheme.
T he Government has launched an investigation into an oil spill in Poole Harbour after MPs raised concerns for sensitive nature reserves and the impact of local fisheries.

Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC), which regulates activities in the harbour, said a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco, under Owers Bay, on Sunday.

Approximately 200 barrels of reservoir fluid were released after the leak occurred at the Wytch Farm oil field.

Perenco said a small amount of reservoir fluid (consisting of 85% water and 15% oil) escaped from its pipeline.

Sightings of oil in Poole Harbour following the pipeline spill are down by 60-70% as a clean-up plan has been put in place to protect the areas wildlife and habitats.

But the public is still being advised to avoid going into the water or using the beaches despite the oil appearing to begin to disperse.

In an urgent question in the Commons, Richard Drax, Conservative MP for South Dorset, said the spill was potentially catastrophic but added he had received assurances that it is not as serious as first thought.

He told MPs the impact on the marine environment is unknown and asked the Government to ensure that it is paramount the regulator carries out a full investigation into why the leak occurred.

He said he wanted the Government to seek assurances from Perenco that the rest of their network is being properly maintained and checked, we do not want this to happen ever again.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow told the Commons: Investigations are currently under way to determine the reason for the fault and to make sure that similar incidents are not repeated.

This has been designated as a tier two incident. If it were to escalate to a tier one, the (Maritime and Coastguard Agency) would lead the response however, we consider that unlikely due to the rapid response and deployment of the oil mitigation plan.

She said: The current situation appears to be stable, with the continuing focus of the strategic co-ordination group to gather further data to assess the environmental implications and to continue to progress a clean-up operation.

Conservative Sir Robert Syms (Poole) also raised questions over maintenance and compensation for fishermen if the leak led to problems for their catches and Ms Pow replied that she would be in contact with the fisheries minister.

PHC carried out a survey of the harbour on Monday morning involving 100 people, helicopters and drones.

It said it was working with local authorities to monitor and clean up the spill using the Shoreline Clean-up and Assessment Technique (Scat).

The authority warned against bathing in the area and said anyone feeling unwell should contact their GP.

It stated: It is unlikely that there will be any long-term health effects from short exposures (eg days).

According to Poole Tourism, Poole is Europes largest natural harbour and a site of nature conservation, with many international protections in place.

The harbour is also a Ramsar site which recognises wetlands of international importance, particularly for wildfowl, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).

Franck Dy, Perenco UKs Wytch Farm general manager, said: Any spill is an extremely serious matter and a full investigation will be launched to ascertain what happened in Poole Harbour.

It is important to stress that the situation is under control, with the discharge of fluids having been stopped and the spill is being contained.

Philip Broadhead, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, told BBC Radio 4: I am clearly angry and disappointed, this is the second-largest natural harbour, award-winning beaches, very delicate ecosystem. The natural reaction is to be very worried.

While we don't know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole Harbour raises particular concerns

Environment groups have expressed anger and concern at the risk posed by oil facilities on the UK coast, particularly close to protected wildlife sites.

A small protest was held on Monday afternoon with demonstrators unfurling a banner stating end fossil filth.

Richard Hill, from the Marine Conservation Society, said: I am shocked and saddened to see yet another oil spill in UK waters. We need better protection for sensitive sites such as Poole harbour.

Dr Malcolm Hudson, associate professor in environmental science at the University of Southampton, said the spill was potentially a serious environmental incident.

He said: While we dont know the full extent of the leak yet, a spill in Poole Harbour raises particular concerns. Its a very large enclosed bay  and so pollutants may not be flushed out quickly by the tides.
A teenage boy is fighting for life after being struck by a vehicle in south London.

The victim, aged 13, was taken to hospital after being struck near Stockwell Station at 7.45am on Monday.

His condition has been described as critical by police.

Stockwell Road has been closed as paramedics treat the victim.

Vauxhall MP Florence Eshalomi tweeted: Deeply concerned about the serious crash that happened on Clapham Road this morning in which a pedestrian was badly injured.

The road remains closed between South Lambeth Rd & Stockwell Rd.

Please avoid the area for now. Contact police if you have any information.

A Met Police spokesman said the London Ambulance Service and Londons Air Ambulance attended the scene.

The boys next of kin have been informed.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: We were called to reports of a road traffic collision involving a car and a pedestrian at the junction between Stockwell Road and the A203, SW8.

We sent an ambulance crew and an incident response officer to the scene. We also dispatched Londons Air Ambulance.

We treated a child at the scene and took them to a major trauma centre as a priority.
Great Mines Health Center CEO Gregory Roeback was the guest speaker at the Farmington Regional Chambers monthly Business and Community Luncheon held recently at Centene Center.

Roeback began his presentation by explaining that Great Mines is named for the region's mining history and is a federally-qualified health center (FQHC).

There are 1,403 FQHCs nationally, and there's 28 in the state of Missouri, he said. We provide comprehensive outpatient services, including medical, dental, mental health, substance abuse, chiropractic, radiology, pediatric, and women's health services, amongst other services.

In 2022, we were proud to have provided 23,920 medical visits, 12,129 dental visits, 6,419 behavioral health visits, and 2,328 substance abuse treatment visits in Washington and St. Francois counties. GMHC and other recognized FQHCs are private, non-governmental, not 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.

According to Roeback, Great Mines is a place of hope for the people they serve.

We are not a last hope, but rather a place that instills hope, he said. We provide care to everyone, including those with private insurance, those covered by Medicaid and Medicare, and those without insurance. Great Mines and other FQHCs apply annually for funding to allow us to serve patients without insurance, based on household size and household income, and this funding is not guaranteed.

Roeback explained that Great Mines funding is based on annual federal annual appropriations and very strict adherence to health center quality performance measures.

This program was started during the [President Lyndon B.] Johnson Administration, so it's not new, he said. Having received bipartisan support for over 50 years, this FQHC system has proven truly to be affordable quality health care for everyone. In both of the counties we serve, we have many wonderful health care partners, including the school districts where we provide in-school behavioral health services; with the ambulance districts where we have partnered with community paramedics in both counties to provide in-home visits to our patients who have transportation barriers or other social determinants of health barriers; and link patients to GMHC providers as indicated for consultation or virtual appointments via telehealth.

With our wonderful healthcare partners, BJC Parkland, BJC Behavioral Health, and Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health  where we collectively coordinate services and resources to avoid duplication of efforts  we also collectively and historically support joint or individual grant efforts offering letters of support and other supports.

Roeback noted that Great Mines Health Center recently received a federal grant that resulted in a formal partnership with Mineral Area College, where GMHC is providing tuition assistance to students attending the college who are seeking degrees in the health professions, in the hope that they will enter the regions health care workforce.

Great Mines is making a move in the near future to make room for further expansion.

You've maybe seen the sign across from Rural King, across from Auffenberg [Chevrolet], along the highway, with a sign that reads, future home of Great Mines Health Center. We currently do have a small operation behind Belgrade [Bank], off Karsch, which is now a five-lane highway. So you can't really get to us anymore.

We have medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health services, but we plan on expanding to there. We're working with Brockmiller [Construction], that you're all familiar with, and we hope to be in operation as soon as 2025, hopefully in the summer.
F leabags Phoebe Waller-Bridge helped her close pal Elizabeth Day launch a book about friendship last night.

On stage at the Southbank, the pair told how they met on a trip to Las Vegas in 2014 organised by the British American Project, and have been close ever since. Waller-Bridge has used scenes inspired by Days life in Fleabag. Journalist Day called herself a recovering friendaholic who was addicted to the adrenaline hit of meeting someone new. Citing Cicero, she said she now advocates a trial period of friendship, just like in dating.

Waller-Bridge said she doesnt connect with friends on social media, calling it madness which fetishises the idea of how many friends, how many likes, how many followers. Is that why shes so successful?

Kwasi proud of his experience

Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng leaves 11 Downing Street last year (PA) / PA Wire

Kwasi Kwarteng isnt ashamed of his disastrous month as chancellor last year. Lured into a fake job interview by pressure group Led By Donkeys, Kwarteng boasted: Of my generation in the UK, there are very few people whove had the breadth of experience Ive had across business and politics at the highest level. There are probably two or three people. Is his pal Liz Truss among them?

New award honours Peter Brook

Peter Brook has died at the age of 97 / AFP via Getty Images

Legendary theatre director Peter Brook, who died last year, is getting an award in his name. At its theatre awards next month, the Critics Circle will give a new prize to a venue that best honours his pared-back style. Brooks old friend Blanche Marvin, who helped come up with the idea, says they will judge by his maxim: It is what you put into an empty space that makes theatre.

Gilbert and George salute the King

Artist couple Gilbert and George will open their new permanent exhibition centre in Shoreditch on Saturday, and have included a nice tribute to the King. Their G&G entrance gates feature a golden CIIIR cypher. It stands for Charles III Rex, and is one of the first to appear since the start of the new reign. Theyd planned to salute the Queen, but changed the design last year.

Pooh musical fans out in force

Londoners Diary 27th March 2023 1 / 5 Londoners Diary 27th March 2023 "Disney's Winnie The Pooh" Gala Performance - VIP Arrivals Anneka Rice Dave Benett "Disney's Winnie The Pooh" Gala Performance - VIP Arrivals Vanessa Feltz Dave Benett "Disney's Winnie The Pooh" Gala Performance - VIP Arrivals Sam Branson Dave Benett Emma Corrin and dog Spencer Emma Corrin and dog Spencer Emma Corrin / INSTAGRAM

Fans of A.A. Milnes Winnie the Pooh were at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith last night to see a new musical based on the bear. Guests included TV presenters Anneka Rice and Vanessa Feltz, and Sam Branson. At home, Emma Corrin posed with her dog Spencer, whose name is inspired by Diana, their character in The Crown.
O scar Pistorius has been denied parole 10 years after he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He was jailed in 2014 for the murder of his girlfriend, and became automatically eligible for parole after serving half of his 13-year sentence.

Following a hearing on Friday, prison authorities said Pistorius was been denied parole because he has not served a minimum detention period.

But who is Oscar Pistorius and what are the details of his crime?

Who is Oscar Pistorius?

Oscar Pistorius, 36, is a former professional athlete from South Africa. He was born with a congenital defect, meaning he had to have both feet amputated as an infant.

He went on to compete in sprinting events, becoming a Paralympic champion, before competing in non-disabled sports events, like the Olympics.

Between 2010 and 2012, he appeared on a number of reality TV shows, including the Italian versions of Celebrity Survivor and Dancing with the Stars.

In 2013, he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, claiming to mistake her for an intruder.

What did Oscar Pistorius do?

The Paralympian was jailed after he was found guilty of the murder of Steenkamp. He shot her four times through his bathroom door in the early hours of Valentines Day in 2013. At the trial Pistorius, now 36, claimed that he shot at his girlfriend with a pistol because he believed she was an intruder.

He was initially found guilty of culpable homicide  an offence comparable to manslaughter in the UK  but prosecutors appealed and he was then found guilty of her murder.

Pistorius was then sentenced to six years in jail for her murder, causing prosecutors to again appeal against what they called a shockingly light punishment.

South Africas Supreme Court of Appeal then more than doubled his sentence in 2017 to 13 years and five months imprisonment.

Is Oscar Pistorius still in jail?

At the moment, yes. Under South African law, prisoners are eligible to apply for parole as soon as they have served half their given term. Pistorius hit the threshold and launched his application, which was heard on March 31.

But he was denied parole because he has not served a minimum detention period, authorities in South Africa said following his hearing.

Oscar Pistorius Trial - In pictures 1 / 41 Oscar Pistorius Trial - In pictures Oscar Pistorius arrives outside the court in Pretoria, South Africa on 21 October 2014 AP Oscar Pistorius' prosthetics lie on the floor as he walks on his amputated legs during argument in mitigation of sentence by his defense attorney Barry Roux in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa AP South African Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius holds his sister Aimee Pistorius (3rd R) as he leaves the High Court in Pretoria on 6 July 2016 AFP/Getty Images South African Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves the High Court in Pretoria on 6 July 2016 after beeing sentenced to six years in jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp AFP/Getty Images Oscar Pistorius gives his first media interview after the killing of Reeva Steenkamp ITV Oscar Pistorius reaches out to Barry Steenkamp during the third day of Oscar's hearing for a resentence at Pretoria High Court on 15 June 2016 Getty Images South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius leaves the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on 18 April 2016 Reuters Judge Thokozile Masipa reads her sentence of South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius on day six of sentencing procedures at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa on 21 October 2014 EPA Oscar Pistorius cries in the dock in Pretoria during his trial on 11 September 2014 AP Oscar Pistorius competes in the Men's 200m during the London 2012 Paralympic Games Oscar Pistorius leaves court in Pretoria on 7 July 2014 AP June Steenkamp with her husband Barry, parents of Reevaa Steenkamp, look on as South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius enters a court in Pretoria on 8 August 2014 Reuters South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock during his ongoing murder trial, in Pretoria on 12 May 2014 AFP/Getty Images Oscar Pistorius arrives at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa on 10 April 2014 AP South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves court after breaking down in the dock during his ongoing murder trial, Pretoria, South Africa on 08 April 2014 EPA Oscar Pistorius Trial South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius speaks with a member of his legal team ahead of his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on 6 March 2014 AFP/Getty Images Oscar Pistorius Trial CCTV footage of Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp flirting and kissing, just days before he killed her Oscar Pistorius Trial Oscar Pistorius covers his head with his hands and a notebook as he listens to forensic evidence during his trial in court on 13 March 2014 AP Oscar Pistorius Trial A policeman demonstrates the effect of hitting a bathroom door with a cricket bat on 12 March 2014 Reuters Oscar Pistorius Trial Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock ahead of the second day of the trial on 4 March 2014 Reuters Oscar Pistorius Trial Shot three times: Reeva Steenkamp Oscar Pistorius Trial Reeva Steenkamp, 29 Oscar Pistorius Trial Oscar Pistorius escorted out of the high court after the first day of his trial in Pretoria, South Africa on 3 March 2014 AP Oscar Pistorius Trial Relatives of Oscar Pistorius wait inside the high court prior to the start of his trial in Pretoria, South Africa on 3 March 2014 AP Oscar Pistorius Trial June Steenkamp, the mother of as Reeva Steenkamp, arrives at the high court for the start of the trial of Oscar Pistorius in Pretoria, South Africa on 3 March 2014 AP Oscar Pistorius Trial South Africa's Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius hides his face in his hands in the court room during his hearing on charge of murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day on 15 February 2013 AFP/Getty Images Oscar Pistorius Trial Oscar Pistorius enters the dock before court proceedings at the in his first formal appearance since his release on bail Reuters Oscar Pistorius Trial Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves the Boschkop police station, east of Pretoria Oscar Pistorius Trial South Africa's Oscar Pistorius gives the thumbs up sign after finishing his men's 400m heats at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium Reuters Oscar Pistorius Trial South Africa's Oscar Pistorius crosses the line with his arms raised as he wins gold in the Men's 400m T44 Final in the Olympic Stadium Getty Images Oscar Pistorius at his house in Pretoria in February 2012

When will Oscar Pistorius be released?

A statement from South Africas Department of Correctional Services said Pistorius would be considered for parole again in August 2024 and would not be released now because he did not complete the minimum Detention Period as ruled by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The parole system is the same as the UK, where a board of experts hear witness testimonies from the prisoner, as well as the victims, and hear from the prison about prisoners behaviour and whether they remain a danger to the public.

What do Reeva Steenkamps parents think of the parole hearing?

Reeva Steenkamps parents, June and Barry, in the court room at Pretoria high court / Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images

Reeva Steenkamps parents do not want her killer released and have said they believe he should spend the rest of his life behind bars. But the couple had no power to block the parole hearing, which took place on March 31.

Reevas mother, June Steenkamp, attended the hearing on Friday to deliver written and oral statements to the parole board which explained the effect Reevas murder has had on their lives.

In an interview with the MailOnline, the couple said they had previously forgiven Pistorius, but changed their mind when he refused to admit he meant to kill their daughter.

Reeva Steenkamp seen in Port Elizabeth, South Africa / Mike Holmes / The Herald/ Getty Images

Unless he comes clean, they dont feel that he is rehabilitated, the familys lawyer, Tania Koen, told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre prison where the hearing took place.

While Barry Steenkamp said to the MailOnline: I told Oscar directly that he had shot my daughter deliberately and he denied it. He stuck to his story that he thought it was an intruder. After all these years, we are still waiting for him to admit he did it in anger. That is all we wanted.

If he told me the truth, he would have been a free man by now and I would have let the law take its course over his parole. But I was wasting my time. He is a murderer. He should remain in jail.
 Nuisance beggars and disruptive council house tenants will be targeted as part of a government crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

The Prime Minister on Monday announced fresh powers for police and local authorities to address those deemed to be causing the public distress.

Officers and council workers will be given the tools to direct people causing a nuisance on the street, including by obstructing shop doorways or begging at cash machines, to health and social services.

This could include helping them to find accommodation or assistance with mental health or substance misuse issues, Levelling Up department officials said.

Local authorities and landlords will also get greater powers to evict tenants who are persistently disrespectful and disruptive to their neighbours under the plans.

The Government said it is exploring a three strikes and youre out eviction process for council homes, meaning residents who commit three proven instances of anti-social behaviour will face eviction and then be put to the back of the social housing queue.

Landlords who own private rented accommodation will be given more powers to evict unruly tenants within two weeks rather than giving two months notice, under the plans.

All private tenancy agreements will have to include clauses specifically banning anti-social behaviour, the Government said.

Drug debris and paraphernalia left behind by users will be cleared by authorities, the Department of Levelling Up pledged, in an effort to tidy up Britains high streets and make them safer.

Part of the plan also includes making it an offence for criminal gangs to organise begging networks to make them extra cash.

The Government said the networks are often used to facilitate illegal activities.

Mr Sunak also confirmed a laughing gas ban plan on Monday. Nitrous Oxide will be made a Class C substance later this year.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for a zero-tolerance approach as he launched the new proposals in Essex.

This is not OK, he said, announcing the Conservatives plan to tackle anti-social behaviour.

It is not the type of country that we are and that is why it is important we do something about it.

Other measures include:

- A reporting tool for the public to log anti-social behaviour and receive updates on any action to tackle it.

- Increased fines for graffiti and littering, rising to up to 500, and up to 1,000 for fly-tipping.

- Reopening empty shops by giving councils new powers to quickly take control and sell off empty buildings.

- Setting up an anti-social behaviour taskforce jointly led by the Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove.

On addressing homelessness, ministers said they remained committed to repealing the antiquated Vagrancy Act which was passed in the early 19th century.

The legislation made it a crime to sleep rough or beg in England and Wales.

Ministers have said nobody should be criminalised for not having somewhere to live and the Government consulted last year on how to replace the Act.

It will also include piloting increased police patrols in trouble spots, banning the sale of laughing gas to the public and making it easier for landlords to evict noisy and disruptive tenants.

Labours Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the plan is too weak, too little and too late.

She added: "Over the last 13 years the Conservatives have decimated neighbourhood policing and youth services and weakened antisocial behaviour powers so they are barely used.

"There are still 10,000 fewer neighbourhood police and PCSOs on our streets than there were seven years ago.

"A few hotspot pilots is nowhere near enough to turn that around. We need guaranteed neighbourhood patrols and action in all areas or this is just yet more empty rhetoric.

"Labour will put 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat to keep our communities safe.
A sh Regan has lost to rival candidate Humza Yousaf in the race to become the next Scottish National Party (SNP) leader today (March 27).

SNP members picked from Ms Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes at the ballot box. In the final vote, Ms Regan was the candidate who received the least number of first preferences, and so Mr Yousaf and Ms Forbes went on to the final ballot.

Ms Regan is best known as a prominent SNP rebel after she resigned from her ministerial position in protest at the Scottish governments gender reform plans.

The member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Eastern, 48, pledged to reinvigorate the SNP if she won the leadership race, promising more power to party members.

The 48-year-old had also wanted members to be able to change their votes if they had changed their mind but the idea was rejected by the partys president, Mike Russell.

She would try to connect with party members who want more focus on the campaign for Scottish independence, with controversial gender recognition reform plans to be dropped.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry came out in support of Ms Regans candidacy, saying she has shown courage and leadership in standing against the gender reforms.

But what is her background? Heres all you need to know.

Start in politics

Ms Regan attended primary school in Scotland before moving to Cumbria. She went on to work in marketing and PR at various firms after studying international relations at Keele University. She later earned a diploma in public relations at the London School of Public Relations in 2007, and a MSc in development management at the Open University.

Her first foray into politics came when she became the head of campaigns and advocacy at the Common Weal  a pro-independence think tank in Scotland.

She went on to become prominent in the Women for Independence (WfI) movement, joining its national committee in January 2014, and actively campaigned for Yes Scotland.

Entering Holyrood

Ms Regan joined the SNP after the public rejected Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum. She was selected as the partys candidate for the Edinburgh Eastern constituency before the 2016 Holyrood elections, replacing the incumbent SNP member Kenny MacAskill.

Her victory was high profile as she defeated Kezia Dugdale, who was Scottish Labour leader at the time. She took 47.3 per cent of the vote share, compared with Ms Dugdales 33 per cent.

Ministerial role

Ms Regans first two years in the Scottish Parliament were spent on the backbenches. She served as parliamentary liaison officer to the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs. She also sat on the economy, jobs and fair work committee and Holyroods finance and constitution committee.

In November 2017, she was moved from the economy committee to the health and sport committee, where she was appointed deputy convener. But following Nicola Sturgeons Cabinet reshuffle in June 2018, Ms Regan became the minister for community safety, succeeding Annabelle Ewing.

She was re-elected in the 2021 elections, increasing her vote share by more than 8,000. Ms Regan continued as community safety minister until 2022, when she resigned over the Scottish Governments Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act.

SNP rebel

In April 2019, she was one of 15 SNP politicians who signed a public letter urging ministers to delay the gender recognition act (GRA). This makes it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender.

A leaked exchanged between Ms Regan and fellow MSPs Gillian Martin and Ruth Maguire emerged later that month, expressing frustration at Ms Sturgeon.

She resigned from her ministerial role as the bill passed in principle in Holyrood, saying her conscience would not allow her to support the plans. She was one of nine SNP rebels against the reforms  seven voted against and two abstained.

The relationship between Ms Regan and Ms Sturgeon became a talking point after her resignation. Ms Sturgeon claiming the ex-minister did not approach her about her concerns  a claim vehemently denied by Ms Regan.

Who were the other SNP leadership contenders?

Kate Forbes was the early frontrunner but the finance secretary came under fire in the first week of campaigning after saying she would have voted against gay marriage had she been an MSP at the time the bill was passed. I would have voted, as a matter of conscience, along the lines of mainstream teaching in most major religions that marriage is between a man and a woman, she said.

Humza Yousaf, the health and social care secretary began his campaign by vowing to re-energise the independence campaign in the best interests of our nation. Mr Yousaf is set to become the first ever person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post.

He did not attack Ms Forbes over her views but said: I've made my views very clear. I think my track record on equality issues speaks loud and clear.

A report in the Scotsman on Sunday gave the odds of winning the race as 2/7 for Mr Yousef, 11/4 for Ms Forbes and 33/1 for Ms Regan.
U kraine is ready to send its pilots to be trained in using Western fighter jets, the chairman of the war-torn nations parliament said, after Ukrainian soldiers completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in the UK.

Ruslan Stefanchuk said that once his country gets the wings, it can attain joint victory for Ukraine and the world, in language echoing that of Volodymyr Zelenskys rousing speech to Parliament last month.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly asked Western countries for warplanes in the struggle against Russias invasion.

We are ready for more intense training of Ukrainian servicemen

Britain will be training Ukrainian pilots on Nato-standard jets but allies have been reluctant to release the modern warplanes.

Addressing a group of MPs and peers in Speakers House on Monday, Mr Stefanchuk said through a translator: We are ready for more intense training of Ukrainian servicemen.

Were ready to send our pilots to be trained in fighter jets.

Mr Stefanchuk thanked Britain for sharing its knowledge, experience in skills, after UK military officials spent several weeks instructing Ukrainian soldiers how to operate and fight with the Challenger 2 tanks.

He also thanked the UK for its decision to send 14 of the tanks and paving the way for other nations to follow suit.

Today is the time for Britain to become a leader to also open the door to use aircraft and long-range rockets, he said.

The head of Ukraines parliament urged the UK to back Ukraines Nato application because it is already a de-facto part of the alliance and protecting Europe from Russian aggression.

He called for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate Moscows war crimes so that Russia is recognised as a terrorist country.

We want to use all the legal mechanisms to make sure Russia is defeated legally, held accountable for all the crimes they commit in Ukraine, he said, adding that the crimes are not real if they are not prosecuted.

He asked the UK to recognise the 1933 Holodomor man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine as genocide, saying it is connected to todays crimes.

Mr Stefanchuk said his visit is important so parliamentarians can hear from the horses mouth what is happening on the ground, countering Russian propaganda which is a weapon similar to that used on the battlefield.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle welcomed his Ukrainian counterpart to Westminster, telling him: Our Parliament is your Parliament.

Ukrainian politicians play a vital role in serving their people and telling the world the reality of war, Sir Lindsay said.

We are a friend that will listen, we are a friend that will support and continue to support.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said members of Kyivs armed forces, who had travelled to Britain shortly after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in January the delivery of tanks, have now completed their training.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Ukrainian soldiers return to their homeland better equipped, but to no less danger.

The MoD described the Challenger 2 vehicles as a step change in capability for Ukraines armed forces, saying the machines would offer them some of the most modern and sophisticated gunnery systems in the world.

The Ukrainian troops will return with the Western tanks in time for a reported spring counter-offensive by Kyiv that is said to be in the works.

With the US supplying Abrams tanks, and Germany and other European allies providing Leopard 2 tanks, any strike on Russian lines is expected to involve the Western tanks manned by Kyivs forces.
S ir Keir Starmer will on Tuesday deliver the final blow to Jeremy Corbyns chances of standing for Labour at the next general election warning if he is a candidate it risk hitting Labours chances of victory.

At a meeting of the partys ruling body, Sir Keir will put forward a motion saying it will not endorse Islington North MP Mr Corbyn as a candidate at the next election.

Ahead of the meeting of the National Executive Committee, a senior Labour source said: Keir Starmer has made clear that Jeremy Corbyn wont be a Labour candidate at the next general election.

The Labour Party now is unrecognisable from the one that lost in 2019. Tuesdays vote will confirm this and ensure we can focus on our five missions to build a better Britain.

But Mr Corbyn hit back shortly after lunchtime on Monday.

In a statement he accused Sir Keir of breaking his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundations of our Party.

He added: I have been elected as the Labour MP for Islington North on 10 consecutive occasions since 1983. I am proud to represent a community that supports vulnerable people, joins workers on the picket line and fights for transformative change.

This latest move represents a leadership increasingly unwilling to offer solutions that meet the scale of the crises facing us all. As the government plunges millions into poverty and demonises refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.

I joined the Labour Party when I was 16 years old because, like millions of others, I believed in a redistribution of wealth and power. Our message is clear: we are not going anywhere. Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.

Getty Images

But even if the Islington North Labour party backed Mr Corbyn to be its candidate, the selection would still need the endorsement of the NEC.

The motion argues that to maximise the Labours prospects of winning the next general election and to avoid any detrimental impact on the Labour Partys standing with the electorate in the country as a whole , the partys interests are not well served by Mr Corbyn running as a Labour Party candidate.

It adds:  Accordingly, this meeting resolves that Mr Corbyn will not be endorsed by the NEC as a candidate on behalf of the Labour Party at the next general election.

The partys General Secretary will write to Mr Corbyn immediately after this meeting to advise him of the ruling bodys decision, according to the motion which is expected by be agreed.

Mr Corbyn would still be a Labour member and retain rights to attend party meetings, with voting rights under its rule book remaining unchanged.

Labour has until recently been enjoying a lead of 15 to 20, or even more, in the polls.

But a few surveys are now suggesting that the Tories may be clawing back some ground under Rishi Sunaks premiership, which have raised hopes among some Conservative MPs that they could still win the next election.

Labour has a huge task of achieving a victory after its historic defeat in 2019.

However, its hopes have been boosted by Nicola Sturgeon quitting as leader of the Scottish National Party, with the expectation that her successor will not be such a formidable political operator as her.

Labour is now eyeing winning possibly 20 or more seats in Scotland, which would make it easier from it to gain a Commons majority rather than having to rely far more on victories across the so-called former Red Wall in the North of England, Midlands, and down to Wales.
K ate Forbes, who lost out to rival candidate Humza Yousaf in the Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership contest, is to leave the Scottish government.

The finance secretary was offered a move to rural affairs by the new First Minister but rejected this.

The position was widely seen as a demotion.

Results announced at midday on Monday, March 27 revealed that Mr Yousaf had won 52 per cent of the final vote against Ms Forbes 48 per cent.

Tweeting after the news broke, Ms Forbes did not confirm the job offer or rejection, instead saying Mr Yousaf had her full support as he governs well [and] furthers the case for independence.

She added: I have full confidence he will appoint a talented Cabinet and Ministerial team, able to meet the challenges facing the country.

SNP members had their pick of a trio of candidates to replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader  Ash Regan, Mr Yousaf, and Ms Forbes.

Ms Forbes last week told The Herald she feels this contest was probably the one opportunity for her to secure the role, although she said she would support the party whatever the outcome.

She initially risked destroying her leadership campaign on the day it was launched by saying she was against gay marriage. Ms Forbes made the declaration as she announced her candidacy to replace Ms Sturgeon, and said she would have opposed the equal marriage law passed by Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in 2014.

Ms Forbes was not an MSP at the time the legislation passed through Holyrood.

I would have voted, as a matter of conscience, along the lines of mainstream teaching in most major religions that marriage is between a man and a woman, the devout Christian and member of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland told the Scotsman newspaper. But I would have respected and defended the democratic choice that was made. It is legal right now and I am a servant of democracy, I am not a dictator.

She added to Channel 4 News: Marriage is between a man and a woman, that is what I practise, but I will not row back on rights that already exist in Scotland.

So is Kate Forbes? Here is all you need to know.

Personal life

Ms Forbes was born in Dingwall in the north of Scotland and spent her childhood in Glasgow and India. Her parents travelled to the latter as missionaries when she was a baby.

She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in history in 2011, before graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a master's degree in emigration and diaspora history.

She became a chartered accountant in 2013 after working for two years for her local MSP, Dave Thompson. Ms Forbes then worked for Barclays for two and a half years.

She married her husband, Alasdair MacLennan, in 2021 and is on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child, Naomi, in August.

Of her staunch religious beliefs, she told the BBCs Nick Robinson last year: To be straight, I believe in the person of Jesus Christ. I believe that he died for me, he saved me, and that my calling is to serve and to love him and to serve and love my neighbours with all my heart and soul and mind and strength.

Her rise through Parliament

Ms Forbes was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016 as MSP for Skye, Lochaber, and Badenoch.

As a backbencher from 2016 to 2018, she served on the Scottish Parliaments environment, climate change, and land reform committee; the standards, procedures, and public appointments committee; the health and sport committee; and the rural economy and connectivity committee.

Ms Forbes delivered the Scottish governments budget in 2020 just hours after her predecessor Derek Mackay quit  the first woman to do so. She has served as Cabinet secretary for finance and the economy for three years.

The results of a poll carried out by Ipsos Scotland for Channel 4 News that was published in the Scotsman on March 9 found almost one in three respondents (32 per cent) thought Ms Forbes would be the best first minister of the three candidates. Meanwhile, 24 per cent chose Mr Yousaf and eight per cent were in favour of Ms Regan. Younger people tended to favour Mr Yousaf but over-55s leaned towards Ms Forbes.

Leadership competition

Aged only 32, Ms Forbes would have been the youngest ever SNP leader if she had won the leadership contest.

She annnounced in February 2023 her decision to enter the race with a tweet that said: I am today launching my bid to become Scotlands next first minister, with the vision, experience, and competence to inspire voters across Scotland.

The current culture and external affairs secretary, Angus Robertson, was tipped as the early favourite to be the new Scottish leader. However, he ruled himself out of the race, saying that taking on the huge commitment wasnt right for him and his family of two very young children.

Mr Yousaf was appointed to his role as health secretary in May 2021 and was the youngest MSP elected to the Scottish Parliament at the age of 26. Mr Yousaf is the first person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post of Scotlands First Minister.
T he tight result in the SNP leadership race has vindicated the warning that continuity wont cut it, candidate Kate Forbes said.

Ms Forbes narrowly missed out to Health Secretary Humza Yousaf in their fight for the top job, taking 48% of the vote in the second round of ballots.

Speaking to journalists immediately after the result was announced, Ms Forbes said she would back the likely first minister  who faces a vote of MSPs on Tuesday to usher him into Bute House.

Addressing how close the contest was, Ms Forbes said: It demonstrates, I think, the message of continuity not cutting it is actually a really critical message and all of us need to build on the SNPs excellent track record over 16 years of listening, of serving and of maintaining the trust of the Scottish people, building on that track record.

If we are to continue to win elections, we need to continue to listen and maintain trust.

The Finance Secretary, who caused controversy when she said in the early days of the campaign she would not have voted in favour of equal marriage legislation, insisted the comment had no impact on the outcome.

I think it was important that in this contest there was a real diversity of candidates and the members have made their views known and I think that in any contest you need to have space for robust, frank exchange because if you dont then ultimately you arent able to have that battle for ideas that ultimately improves decision-making, she said.

I certainly will be supporting him, backing him, because as he said, the SNP is a family, were a team, theres a lot of work to be getting on with to deliver for the people of Scotland, not least with the cost-of-living crisis, reforming public services and making the case for independence.

Mr Yousafs pledge to meet with his fellow leadership rivals was an important indication of the way he wants to govern, Ms Forbes said.

She added: I certainly will be working with him in order to progress plans to serve the people of Scotland.

The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP  currently on maternity leave until April  refused to say if she had any regrets regarding her campaign, saying: The SNP members have had a real choice when it comes to candidates and Ive said throughout the contest that I am a democrat, so I absolutely respect the decision that members have made.

But its been an opportunity, too, to really battle through ideas about the way forward for the SNP  if you cant have that in a contest, then I think its a poor contest.

Ms Forbes rejected the assertion the party was divided  despite the close vote  describing it as united as one, standing together to serve Scotland, but she added: Unity is not uniformity.

Asked if she could serve in Mr Yousafs cabinet, the Finance Secretary said: Humza has won, so its for Humza to appoint his cabinet and I, like any other MSP, look forward to supporting him in any way possible.
A crackdown on laughing gas could be extremely helpful in preventing the huge clean up associated with its use at London festivals, a London council said on Monday.

Five tonnes of nitrous oxide cannisters were collected after Notting Hill Carnival last year and waste crews described the unprecedented volume as mind-blowing.

Kensington and Chelsea council said the excessive number of metal cases make what is already Europes largest street clean-up more difficult because they must be collected separately as there is a risk they could explode if compacted.

A spokesman told the Standard it could be extremely helpful if there are new powers but the town hall would need to look at the detail.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed a ban on the sale of nitrous oxide, known as NOS, during a visit to Chelmsford, Essex on Monday morning.

He said the Government would tackle the scourge of drugs as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

From left: Community support officer Sonja Viner, police sergeant Sophie Chesters, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Suella Braverman and police sergeant Matt Collins during a visit to a community centre in Chelmsford, Essex / PA Wire

The possession or sale of nitrous oxide for consumption is already an offence under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016.

NOS will be labelled a class C drug, punishable by up to two years in prison and unlimited fines for possession and supply, plans published on Monday show.

The Home Office said the new rules, which the Government plans to introduce before the end of the year, will strengthen the existing laws and make it easier to prosecute those who supply the drug.

However the UKs drug advisory panel has said NOS should not be subjected to extra controls and suggested harsher crackdowns could be disproportionate to the level of harm associated with the drug.

Policing minister Chris Philp defended the Governments plans against the advice of official advisers.

He told Times Radio that they were taking action because use of nitrous oxide was becoming extremely widespread.

There is some emerging evidence of physical medical harm. There have been some reports recently of paralysis being caused by large-scale use, he said.

And of course it does fuel this antisocial behaviour problem where people, typically younger people, congregate, sometimes in large groups, and consume nitrous oxide and then discard the canisters which sometimes adds to a sense of menace or unease for other members of the public who may be using a park or some public place.
Authorities in Washington County were alerted to a reported robbery at a Potosi business Tuesday night. Officials said an investigation is still underway and asked that anyone with information about the reported theft contact police.

The Potosi Police Department said Wednesday in a social media post that at approximately 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, law enforcement officers were dispatched to Potosi Dairy Queen in reference to a robbery that had reportedly occurred.

It was reported that a female employee was leaving the restaurant with a bank deposit bag and was approached in the parking lot by a male subject demanding the bank bag.

The employee reportedly dropped the bank bag. The man then allegedly took the bag along with the womans keys and cell phone. The employee told police she believed the male subject was armed with a handgun.

Police said the suspect was reported to have fled on foot toward Napa Auto Parts nearby. The womans phone and keys were reportedly recovered by officers close to the scene.

Potosi officers, along with Washington County Sheriffs Office deputies, canvassed the area but reportedly did not find the man or the bank bag.

The employee described the male as having a slender build, medium height, and wearing a gray Senior shirt and a ski mask.

Potosi Police Chief Michael Gum said the man had not been located as of Thursday afternoon. The police chief said his department would provide further updates on the investigation as they become available.

Anyone with information regarding the reported crime is encouraged to contact the Potosi Police Department at 573-438-5468.
T he Government has only been able to get 8% of levelling-up funds out of the door, Labour has claimed.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove would not be drawn on accusations that more than 90% of the promised 4.8 billion regeneration cash had not yet been spent.

A Labour freedom of information request seen by the PA news agency suggested the total spend of the levelling-up fund was 392 million by the end of February, approximately 8% of the full amount.

Two rounds of the 4.8 billion fund have so far been released, worth 1.7 billion and 2.1 billion respectively, with cash allocated towards regeneration projects across the UK.

A third round of funding is expected to be announced later this year.

In just one day, his Government spent three times more on a tax cut for the richest 1% than they have managed to spend on the whole of the North of England in well over a year

In the House of Commons, shadow communities secretary Lisa Nandy said: I have here a document that reveals that even on his flagship levelling-up policy, he has only been able to get 8% of his funds out of the door.

Referring to Mr Goves appearances on weekend politics programmes during which he announced the Governments plans to ban laughing gas, she added: He is good at getting press releases out the door, why not our money?

Mr Gove did not respond directly to the claims, but said: In the Budget just the other week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible for making sure that tens of millions of pounds were spent.

We heard during the course of questions from members across this House who have received support, who have had projects delivered, who have seen change delivered.

This is a Government impactful, effective and focused, and on the other side, I am afraid, all we here is the cackle of impotence.

Ms Nandy hit back by claiming plans in the Budget to scrap the lifetime pensions allowance limit disproportionately favoured the wealthy.

She told MPs: Im glad he mentioned the Budget because in just one day, his Government spent three times more on a tax cut for the richest 1% than they have managed to spend on the whole of the North of England in well over a year.

Doesnt this just sum this Government up? They can get their act together when it comes to the 1%, but when it comes to investment in our town centres, local transport, decent housing, even on delivering on a single one of the levelling-up missions, why is it that the rest of us always just have to wait?

Mr Gove responded that the Government had adopted a Labour proposal suggested by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, adding: Inconsistency, thy name is Labour.

Labours freedom of information request had asked the Government how much money allocated through the fund had been spent.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities responded that 224 million had been spent by January 18, rising to 392 million by February 22.

Elsewhere in the debate, Mr Gove said the Government would make a statement this week on how it plans to continue funding organisations in Northern Ireland which used to receive EU cash.

Simon Hoare, Conservative chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs committee, told MPs some groups had huge problems to their budget as a result of the cliff edge end to funding.

The Communities Secretary replied: He has been vigilant on behalf of communities in Northern Ireland and we will be making a statement later this week, and the minister for levelling up and I will be doing everything we can in order to ensure continuity of funding for these services.
N icola Sturgeons successor has been left to pick up the pieces of the First Ministers woeful record, Scottish Labour has said.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urged the next SNP leader to address the Scottish Governments overflowing in-tray.

That includes a focus on the NHS, with one in seven, 772,887 people, Scots on a waiting list for treatment, according to Public Health Scotland data.

From our flagging economy to the crisis in our NHS, 15 years of SNP failure has left the next first minister with an overflowing in-tray

And he said a focus on the cost-of-living crisis and the economy must be a key priority, alongside reducing poverty, after new statistics revealed 24% are in poverty, no improvement on data from 2017 to 2020.

The candidates, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former minister Ash Regan, will find out on Monday if they will be the next SNP leader.

Mr Sarwar said: Nicola has left her successor to pick up the pieces of her woeful record.

From our flagging economy to the crisis in our NHS, 15 years of SNP failure has left the next first minister with an overflowing in-tray.

Poverty is stuck at shamefully high levels and the attainment gap is growing.

Everyone agrees that the same old mediocrity, continuity and incompetence wont cut it  but no one in this dire race has shown theyre up to the job.

Scotland is crying out for change, but a new SNP first minister isnt going to be enough.

He went on to say only his party were the only option for a real alternative.

Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: These candidates are vying to be the last nationalist first minister of Scotland.

The SNP are taking people for granted.

He said the leadership campaign has been four weeks of bickering, adding that the SNP are tired and out of ideas.

Health, the climate, and the cost-of-living have barely featured as three out of touch candidates debate how best to break up the UK.

Its why the SNP are haemorrhaging fair minded, reasonable voters, who arent fussed about the constitution.

Despite her undoubted talents, Nicola Sturgeon left our health service and education in a worse position than she found them because she was fixated on breaking up the UK.

Frankly none of her successors possess her abilities.

Its time for change.

The pro-Brexit, pro-cuts Labour Party has become a pale imitation of the Tories. By imposing Brexit and backing Tory austerity cuts, it is causing long-term damage to our economy, cementing poverty, and offering no meaningful change at all

An SNP spokesperson said: The SNP government will continue to focus on the priorities of people in Scotland  including tackling the Tory cost-of-living crisis, improving public services and strengthening the economy.

Under the SNP, we have record health funding, Scotlands A&Es are the best performing in the UK and not a single day has been lost to strikes.

Family finances have been boosted with the Scottish Child Payment and the transformational expansion of free, high-quality childcare, allowing more people, particularly mums, to get a job.

And from birth to adulthood, children benefit from the baby box, new school buildings, higher teacher numbers, and more kids from poor backgrounds going to university than ever before.

In contrast, the pro-Brexit, pro-cuts Labour Party has become a pale imitation of the Tories. By imposing Brexit and backing Tory austerity cuts, it is causing long-term damage to our economy, cementing poverty, and offering no meaningful change at all.
H umza Yousaf has been elected the new leader of the SNP.

He is set to become become Scotlands youngest first minister and also the first ever person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post.

Scottish health secretary Mr Yousaf, 37, had been vying with Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former community safety minister Ash Regan to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the party in the SNPs first leadership contest for almost 20 years.

After a sometimes fiery and divisive race, he was announced on Monday afternoon as the winner of a ballot among SNP members, meaning he will succeed Nicola Sturgeon as the partys new leader.

Assuming he receives the nomination of the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, he will become Scotlands sixth permanent First Minister.

Humza Yousaf (centre) with fellow candidates Ash Regan (left) and Kate Forbes (right) at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, after Mr Yousaf was announced as the new Scottish National Party leader / PA

Mr Yousaf said: It is hard for me to find the words to describe just how honoured I am to be entrusted by our membership of the SNP to be the partys next leader and to be on the cusp of being our countrys next first minister.

He paid tribute to Ms Forbes and Ms Regan, adding: Its felt weve seen each other more than our respective families.

You both have put in an incredible shift and I know that collectively we will work hard as part of Team SNP.

He said it is now time for the SNP to come together and deliver independence.

Leadership elections, by their very nature, can be bruising, he said. However, in the SNP we are a family.

Over the last five weeks we may have been competitors or supporters of different candidates.

We are no longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate. We are one team.

We will be the team, we will be the generation, that delivers independence for Scotland.

He added: I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be standing here as leader of the SNP. A party I joined almost 20 years and that I love so dearly.

Mr Yousaf paid tribute to the late Labour leader John Smith in his victory speech and said it was the greatest honour and privilege of my life to be the next first minister, should Parliament decide to elect him.

The SNPs national secretary Lorna Finn announced that turnout in the partys leadership election was 70 per cent.

The result was announced at the BT Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon.

For first preferences in the STV system, Mr Yousaf took 24,336 (48 per cent), Ms Forbes took 20,559 (40per cent) and Ms Regan took 5,599 (11 per cent) of the vote.

When second preferences were distributed in the second stage, Mr Yousaf took 26,032 (52 per cent) and Ms Forbes took 23,890 (48 per cent).

Viewed as the continuity candidate, Mr Yousaf had greater levels of public support from SNP parliamentarians at both Holyrood and Westminster than the other candidates, with high-profile backers including outgoing Deputy First Minister John Swinney, and new SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

Mr Yousaf was first elected in 2011 as a regional MSP for Glasgow and was appointed a junior minister the following year, becoming Justice Secretary in 2018.

Ms Sturgeon, who was Scotlands longest-serving first minister, announced last month she was stepping down after more than eight years in the job.

The outgoing Scottish First Minister congratulated Mr Yousaf on his victory in the race to succeed her.

Ms Sturgeon tweeted: I pay tribute to all 3 candidates for @theSNP leadership for rising to the challenge.

Most of all I congratulate @HumzaYousaf and wish him every success.

He will be an outstanding leader & First Minister and I could not be prouder to have him succeed me.

Mr Yousafs election has been hailed as fantastic in representing a multicultural and diverse society.

The Tell Mama group, which works on tackling anti-Muslim hatred, tweeted: Fantastic to see politicians in leading roles representing our multicultural and diverse society in the UK and Scotland. Congratulations @HumzaYousaf elected leader of the SNP.
H umza Yousaf has won the SNP leadership contest, and is set to replace outgoing party leader Nicola Sturgeon as Scotlands first minister.

Speaking earlier, Mr Yousaf said: It is hard for me to find the words to describe just how honoured I am to be entrusted by our membership of the SNP to be the partys next leader and to be on the cusp of being our countrys next first minister.

SNP members chose from a trio of candidates - Mr Yousaf, Ash Regan, and Kate Forbes - at the ballot box today (Monday, March 27) with votes closing at midday marking the end of a fiery five-week contest.

Mr Yousaf emerged as the frontrunner in the early stages of the race to become the next First Minister of Scotland to replace Nicola Sturgeon, against rival candidates Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.

He has vowed to drop his legal challenge of the blocking of gender reforms if Scotlands top law official said the government would lose.

Mr Yousaf has previously been steadfast in his support for fighting the UK Government in court over the Section 35 order issued in January to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill but made the u-turn this week.

He has vowed to re-energise the independence campaign in the best interests of our nation.

He has disagreed with proposals put forward by Ms Regan which suggested voters be allowed to change votes if they have changed their minds.

Mr Yousaf is seen as a continuity candidate. In announcing his bid on February 20, Mr Yousaf talked up his long experience in government at his campaign launch in Clydebank, on the outskirts of Glasgow.

What is his background?

Mr Yousaf has served as justice secretary, transport minister, and international development minister. He became the first Muslim to be appointed to the Scottish government in 2012.

He will break fresh political ground by becoming Scotlands first First Minister from an ethnic-minority background.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf speaking to the media at the launch of his campaign to become the next First Minister of Scotland / Andrew Milligan / PA Wire

His father, who is from Pakistan, and his mother, from Kenya, moved to the UK in the 1960s.

At a press conference in February, he said his late grandfather came to Scotland from a small town in Pakistan in 1962 with barely a word of English.

I dont imagine in his wildest dreams that his grandson would one day be running to be First Minister of Scotland, Mr Yousaf added.

He said it speaks to us as a nation that anyone, regardless of race, can aim for the highest office in our country and not be judged by the colour of their skin.

Scotland, he said, should be proud that a grandson of an immigrant can seek to become the next first minister.

Mr Yousaf was privately educated at Hutchesons Grammar School in Glasgow and he went on to study politics at the University of Glasgow, graduating with an MA in 2007. He undertook a lot of charity work in his youth. After being elected in 2011 as a Glasgow region MSP, he took his oath to the Queen in English and in Urdu.

He did the same when re-elected in 2016, wearing both a kilt and sherwani (a long-sleeved outer coat worn by men in South Asia) to reflect his Scottish and Pakistani heritage.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf with his daughter Amal in February 2023 / Andrew Milligan / PA Wire

Scrutiny for Scotlands NHS performance

But while he has pointed to a decade of top ministerial roles, his record running Scotlands NHS has come under intense scrutiny, with Mr Yousaf facing criticism for long waiting times and for urging the public to think twice before calling 999 in September 2021.

Mr Yousafs political career began when he became an office manager for the SNP's Bashir Ahmad, the first MSP from an Asian and Muslim background.

Following Mr Ahmad's death in 2009, Mr Yousaf went on to work for other MSPs, including Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

On the SNPs fight for independence, Mr Yousaf said he believed in it with every fibre of his being.

But he added that, despite being a close ally of Ms Sturgeon, he had some concerns about the outgoing First Ministers plan to use the upcoming general election, likely to be called next year, as a de facto second referendum to break away from the rest of the UK.

He said: Im not as wedded to it as the First Minister.

Asked when a second referendum might be held, he added: Im not going to put a timetable on it. I want independence tomorrow if we can have it, and that goes almost without saying.
T he actor Jonathan Majors was detained on Saturday in New York City over accusations of strangulation, assault and harassment, authorities have said.

In a statement made public on Sunday, Majors lawyer said that there is proof showing that his client is totally innocent.

Just after 11am on Saturday, police responded to a 911 call made from a flat in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood.

The victim informed police she was assaulted, a spokesperson for the NYPD said. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.

A representative for Majors has denied any wrongdoing by the actor, who was released later on Saturday.

But who is Majors and what is he known for?

Who is Jonathan Majors?

Majors is an actor who recently starred in Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.

The 33-year-old rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

Born in Santa Barbara County, California, Majors spent his early years living with his mother, who is a pastor, his older sister and younger brother on the Vandenberg military base, as his father was in the US Air Force.

In 2020, Majors said Our father, who loved us dearly, just kind of disappeared one day  and he resurfaced 17 years later. Majors has since reconnected with his father.

The family moved around various cities in Texas, including Dallas, Georgetown and Cedar Hill. He attended Cedar Hill High School and graduated from Duncanville High School in 2008.

He eventually found a place for himself in the world of theatre, which he became involved with after watching Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight. He said he felt Heath Ledgers performance as the Joker resembled the criminals with moralistic dualities he grew up, who showed him the complexities of good and evil. He decided to become an actor so he could inspire others in the way that Ledger had inspired him.

Majors studied for his bachelors degree at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and later attended the Yale School of Drama; he graduated with an MFA degree in 2016.

More recent films include Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall and last years release Devotion.

He also stars in the recent Sundance Film Festival entry Magazine Dreams, which Searchlight Pictures is to release in December.
M inisters will ban the sale and possession of what is known as laughing gas as part of a bid to tackle antisocial behaviour.

The Guardian reports that Rishi Sunak will ignore independent advice and ban laughing gas in UK under new drug-misuse laws that mean people found with nitrous oxide gas in public could be prosecuted.

Levelling-Up Home Secretary Michael Gove announced the ban, saying plans will stop community areas such as parks being turned into drug-taking arenas.

Previously, the Independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said a total ban on the gas should not be implemented as it would be disproportionate with the level of harm associated with nitrous oxide. It said such control could create significant burdens for legitimate uses of the substance.

After cannabis, laughing gas is the most commonly used drug among 16- to 24-year-olds in England.

The substance can also be used as pain relief during dental treatment or childbirth.

There are concerns about health problems caused by its usage, with cases where it has been linked to nerve damage, paralysis, or death.

Current legislation bans the knowing or reckless supply of nitrous oxide for inhalation but there have been calls for a ban on all direct consumer sales as part of a tightening up of the law on the commonly used drug.

In a 2019-20 Crime Survey for England and Wales, almost nine per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds said theyd taken nitrous oxide in the past year, a rise of 6.1 per cent from 2012-13, the Guardian reported.

Heres everything you need to know about nitrous oxide.

What is nitrous oxide?

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as nos, laughing gas, or nitrous, is a colourless, non-flammable gas that, at room temperature, has a slightly sweet smell and taste.

It has significant medical uses, specifically in dentistry and surgery, for its anesthetic and pain-reducing qualities.

Its colloquial name, laughing gas, is due to the euphoric effects it has upon inhaling.

There is no doubt that we have seen an increase of cases

The drug was discovered by chemist Joseph Priestley in 1772, and has subsequently been the subject of myriad experiments and cartoons, and became a useful tool in medical settings to treat severe pain.

It also inactivates the vitamin B12, which can lead to neurological problems, as, B12 is crucial in the production of myelin, which is the fatty sheath around nerves in your body, explains Dr Trevor Pickersgill, a consultant neurologist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

When B12 is inactivated by nitrous oxide, the myelin is no longer kept in good repair, which can cause spinal-cord damage, which can be irreversible if untreated, Pickersgill said.

What are the effects of nitrous oxide and is it safe?

Inhaling nitrous oxide can be fatal if you dont get enough oxygen, which is known as hypoxia, explains the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.

There have been more deaths annually related to nitrous oxide in the past eight years, compared to the 12 years before that. The highest annual numbers of registered deaths due to nitrous oxide were eight in 2016 and 2019. However, these declined to three in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics in 2022.

According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, its short-term impacts include:

euphoria

numbness

sedation

giddiness

uncontrolled laughter

unco-ordinated movements

blurred vision

confusion

dizziness and / or light-headedness

sweating

feeling unusually tired or weak

sudden death

Prolonged exposure to nitrous oxide can cause:

memory loss

vitamin B12 depletion (long-term depletion causes brain and nerve damage)

ringing or buzzing in the ears

incontinence

numbness in the hands or feet

limb spasms

potential birth defects (if consumed during pregnancy)

weakened immune system

disruption to reproductive systems

depression

psychological dependence

psychosis

Is nitrous oxide illegal?

At present, no, but it is expected that will soon change in the coming weeks. Current legislation bans the knowing or reckless supply of nitrous oxide for inhalation but campaigners say it is a grey area and the law needs to be toughened up.

Nitrous oxide canisters litter streets and playgrounds / Kirsty OConnor / PA Wire

How long does nitrous oxide stay in your system?

Talk To Frank says the length of effects and how long the drug stays in your system depends on how much youve taken, your size, and what other drugs you may have taken.

A spokesman said: Nitrous oxide is often taken in combination with other drugs. So its effects can be unpredictable, as it depends on what other drugs are being taken with it.

It is a short-acting drug, which can lead people to frequently re-dose and end up using more than they intended.

Why are ministers planning to ban the sale of nitrous oxide?

Last year, doctors and police issued a warning over a rise in cases of nerve damage linked to the use of nitrous oxide.

Experts have revealed that, as the use of the drug has increased, so too have cases of spinal-cord and nerve damage, including paralysis.

Speaking to the Guardian last year, Dr Nikos Evangelou, an academic neurologist at the University of Nottingham, said: There is no doubt that we have seen an increase of cases, as this was almost unknown last year and now [we] see cases weekly.

Nitrous oxide canisters can be legally obtained and, according to research, notifications of acute poisoning increased from three in 2011 to 32 in 2020.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cited the problem in a speech at the beginning of the year on antisocial behaviour. He said that nitrous oxide in childrens playgrounds makes life miserable for so many.

When could the ban be announced?

It has been reported that a total ban could be announced as soon as next week.

Joe reports that the Government will ban both the sale and the possession of nitrous oxide on Monday (March 27), with Suella Braverman set to announce new anti-social behaviour legislation.
P rince Harry has drawn his brother Prince William into his legal war with the media and says he was horrified to discover they had been illegally targeted by private investigators for the Mail on Sunday.

The Duke of Sussex is suing Associated Newspapers Limited alongside celebrities including Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley, and Sadie Frost, as well as Baroness Doreen Lawrence, accusing the media group of unlawful newsgathering dating as far back as 1993.

The media group  which publises the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday  denies any unlawful activity, calling the allegations against it preposterous smears.

But Harry, who is at the High Court for the first stage of the legal battle, insists journalists, editorial executives, and private investigators are responsible for phone hacking, blagging private information, bugging calls, and even a burglary to obtain confidential material.

In court documents released for the first time on Monday, the Duke claims his brother William was among the targets for a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for both Mail newspapers in 2005 and 2006.

In his statement of claim, Harry says Mulcaire  through former News of the World executive Greg Miskiw  provided unlawfully or illegally obtained information and offered a menu of illegal services to an employee of the Mail on Sunday.

Mr Mulcaire and Mr Miskiw targeted a number of individuals who they knew were of considerable interest and value to the Mail on Sunday, routinely monitoring and carrying out unlawful acts in relation to them for potential stories.

This included Hugh Grant, Jude Law, HRH Prince William, Sir Simon Hughes MP and Elizabeth Hurley.

REUTERS

Harry also highlights the alleged activities of another private investigator, Gavin Burrows, claiming he was commissioned by the Mail on Sunday between 2000 and 2007 and was asked to target a number of high-profile individuals such as Hugh Grant, Carole Middleton (for private information about Prince William and her daughter, Kate), Elizabeth Hurley, Ken Livingstone (whilst Mayor of London) Peter Mandelson (the Labour peer and former Secretary of State), Brian Paddick (former Deputy Assistant MPS Commissioner) and Simon Bates (the former BBC Radio 1 DJ).

Harry says he was shocked and appalled to learn of unlawful activities at ANL, adding that he is concerned and upset by the fact that despite its stated values of representing the interests of British people, characterising itself as a beacon of truth and integrity, in fact it was committing these insidious and illegal Acts, and even lying and continuing to cover up the same so that they would not be publicly exposed.

The Duke says he lost friends as a result of media intrusion, suffered from suspicion and paranoia as he struggled to understand where leaks had come from, and he added the Mails alleged activities are a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997.

Harry says he was largely deprived of important aspects of his teenage years.

In her statement, Baroness Lawrence, who attended the hearing, says she feels anger, shock and upset at allegedly being targeted by the Daily Mail, a publication which campaigned strongly for justice for her murdered son Stephen.

The Prince of Wales has been drawn into Prince Harrys legal battle / PA

She finds it hard to believe the level of duplicity and manipulation that was clearly at play, knowing now as she does that the Daily Mails outward support for her fight to bring Stephens killers to justice was hollow, and worse, entirely false.

(She) now sees that the Daily Mails true interests were about self-promotion and using her and her sons murder as a means to generate exclusive headlines, sell newspapers, and to profit.

She added that she cannot think of any act or conduct lower than stealing and exploiting information from a mother who buried her son for this reason.

She feels used and violated, and like she has been taken for a fool.

Baroness Lawrence claims she will never know the true extent of the alleged unlawful activity, and has been left wondering whether trusting the Daily Mail as she did caused her to have delayed or have failed her murdered son.

She asks herself whether more individuals could have been arrested, whether earlier investigations might have been more successful, and whether she could have got justice.

REUTERS

Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish  another of the claimants  are in court to hear the first day of a four-day hearing in front of Mr Justice Nicklin.

ANL is seeking for material to be struck out of the legal battle as it was allegedly obtained through the Leveson Inquiry.

The newspaper publisher  which denies all wrongdoing  insists that material was handed over to assist the inquiry, and is subject to strict restrictions on how it can be otherwise used. It is also arguing that the legal claims have been brought too late, after time limits for civil claims have expired.

In their statements, the claimants have accused Daily Mail executives of not telling the truth to the Leveson inquiry into press standard when denying illegal activities at the publications.

In his statement, Harry says he and his friends and associates were targeted with phone hacking, blagged medical records, and phone tapping.

He says his friend, Guy Pelly, had a hardwire tap placed on to his phone, and his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy was also among the targets during their relationship.

The Unlawful Acts were carried out on Associateds behalf by a large number of different private investigators, many of whom are now well-known for carrying out the same unlawful activities for other newspaper groups such as News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers, the legal documents continue.

Mail on Sunday executives are also accused in the claimants case of commissioning a break-in at a businessmans private premises in the early 1990s in order to obtain documents relating to his defence to SFO proceedings.

According to court documents, Sir Elton says his medical information was unlawfully obtained and he claims the Mail on Sunday got hold of details of a party being planned by Prince Harry and Prince William to follow a memorial concert for Princess Diana.

Harry has identified stories involving his relationship with Ms Davy, as well as his and Prince Williams statement over images of their dying mother.

Former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes is also part of the legal claim.

The hearing in front of Mr Justice Nicklin continues.
I sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have introduced a number of judicial reforms, which limit the ways in which a sitting Prime Minister can be declared unfit for office. They also give the government decisive control over the committee that appoints judges.

The decision was made amid Mr Netanyahus trial on corruption charges, which he denies. Many believe the reforms were made because of his wish to protect himself and his political position. However, Netanyahu says he is introducing the changes to stop the courts from overreaching their powers.

He fired the countrys Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after he urged the PM to pause the reforms in the face of growing civil unrest.

In reaction to all of these decisions, the countrys largest union group, representing more than 700,000 workers across health, transportation, and banking, has gone on strike. And other sectors, like the largest doctors union, have started talking about taking industrial action, too.

The countrys president, Isaac Herzog, has gone on Twitter asking the PM and the government to halt the legislation. In one tweet he said: We have seen very difficult scenes tonight. I appeal to the prime minister, the members of the government, and members of the coalition: all the nation is surrounded by concerns. Security, economy, society, all under threat. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you; the eyes of all Jews are on you; the eyes of the world are on you.

He also shared: For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately This is not a moment of politics, this is a moment of leadership and responsibility.

As the worlds eye remains on PM Netanyahus next moves, you might be wondering what the rules around removing a prime minister in the UK are. Here is everything we know.

What are the prime minister removal rules in the UK?

In the UK, a prime minister can be removed in a few ways.

Firstly, a PMs own party can hold a confidence vote and, if the results show that party members no longer have confidence in their leader, the PM would be removed.

Similarly, a confidence vote held among all lawmakers in Parliament could see a PM lose office.

Another way in which a PM can be forced out in the UK is via their Cabinet. If a prime ministers senior ministers start making a point by resigning, it has historically caused them to step down, as we saw recently with Boris Johnson.
U p to 60 British children are living in overcrowded and violent conditions in the notorious Al-Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria, a War Child report has revealed.

The children are thought to be among around 62,000 people, mainly women and children, detained in the camps with their rights at daily risk since the fall of the Islamic State in 2019.

War Child, a non-government organisation protecting rights of children in conflict, is urging the UK Government to repatriate all British children along with their parents or guardians without further delay as the number of exploited children rises.

To date, the UK is known to have repatriated just 10 children - nine of whom were unaccompanied orphans.

War Child pointed to other European countries, such as Germany, who has returned children and their parents stating that the children are in no way responsible for their circumstances. It repatriated 23 children and eight of their mothers from Roj camp in October 2021.

It said in contrast, the dominant discourse in the UK remains one of blame, in which children are punished for the actions of their parents, and where their return is made virtually impossible by the governments refusal to repatriate mothers or caregivers, and/or by stripping them of their citizenship.

It comes after Shamima Begum, who fled east London as a teenager in 2015 to join the IS, lost her battle to retain her British citizenship in the Supreme Court earlier this year.

Ms Begum, who lives in the Roj camp, was stripped of her British citizenship in February 2019 after announcing her desire to return to the UK with her child.

Now aged 23, Ms Begum argued that she is stateless and not a threat to the UK. Her lawyers said at a hearing last year that she was recruited, transported, transferred, harboured and received in Syria for sexual exploitation and marriage to an adult male.

Shamima Begum / PA

The report highlighted the poor living conditions at the camps including extreme overcrowding, limited access to healthcare and education, and the risk of diseases spreading rapidly.

Violence is also rife, and increasing amidst rising tensions in the camps, the report said, while adding that 74 children reportedly died in Al Hol, eight of whom were murdered, in 2021.

Many of the children at the camps in northeast Syria were either born there, brought to the region by their parents, or were trafficked, the report said.

In 2020, there were 8,595 verified cases of children under 18 years of age who were used by an armed group, like the IS, in any capacity, such as fighters, cooks or for sexual purposes. It was the highest ever number recorded by the UN in a single year.

More than 6,300 of these cases were verified in 2021.

This is despite the extensive international legal framework banning the involvement of children in armed conflict.

The increase has been attributed to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its affects on military recruitment and childrens education, and increasingly complex conflict environments.

In its report, published on Monday, War Child said: Young adults who were recruited by IS as children should be recognised, first and foremost, as victims of crimes under international law, and provided with specialised age- and gender-appropriate support for their return, rehabilitation and reintegration.

This should include reinstatement of citizenship where it has been withdrawn.
S trikes at Heathrow are set to disrupt travel around King Charles IIIs coronation in May.

People travelling to London for the coronation on May 6 have been warned that they will face inevitable disruption and delays as security officers prepare to walk out.

However, Heathrow Airport insistd that services will run smoothly during the fresh wave of strikes.

The strikes at Heathrow are scheduled for May 4-6, 9-10 and 25-27. The Kings coronation will take place on May 6 and a bank holiday to celebrate the event will take place on May 8.

What should I do if my flight is delayed?

Airlines ought to give you food and drink during the most severe delays / PA Wire

According to the Citizens Advice website, if your flight is delayed for long enough, your airline has to give you:

food and drink;

access to phone calls and emails;

accommodation if youre delayed overnight - and journeys between the airport and the hotel.

How long the delay has to be depends on the distance of the flight and the countries it is flying between. You can check the flight distance on the WebFlyer website.

The airline might give you vouchers to get these things at the airport. Ask someone who works for the airline if youre not offered any help.

If they dont give you help at the airport, keep receipts for expenses and try to claim from the airline later. Airlines only pay for reasonable expenses - you are unlikely to get money back for alcohol, expensive meals or luxury hotels.

Am I entitled to compensation if my flight is delayed?

Passengers at Pisa airport whose Easyjet flight was cancelled / Neil Rylance

If your flight is delayed by more than three hours and it is the airlines fault, youre entitled to compensation from the airline.

Youre unlikely to get compensation if the delay was caused by something outside of the airlines control, like bad weather or a security risk.

Youre entitled to a set amount of compensation depending on both:

the distance of your flight - check your flight distance on the WebFlyer website

the length of the delay  how late you are getting to your destination

What should I do if my flight is cancelled?

If your flight is cancelled you have the right to a full refund or an alternative flight / PA Wire

In the event that your flight is cancelled, the compensation that youre due is different. Here are your options.

You have the legal right to either:

a full refund - including other flights from the airline that you wont use in the same booking such as onward or return flights

a replacement flight to get you to your destination

if youre part-way through a journey and you dont want a replacement flight, you also have a right to a flight back to the airport you originally departed from.

Ask for a refund or replacement at the airport if you can. If not, you can claim from the airline later.

You also have a legal right to:

help with costs  if the cancellation delays you two or more hours

compensation - if youd be delayed two or more hours by the replacement flight offered and you were given less than two weeks notice

If my flight is cancelled can I get compensation?

People whose flights are cancelled should be able to get compensation / PA Archive

If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to compensation legally if the cancellation is the airlines responsibility.

You also qualify if:

the replacement flight delays your arrival by two or more hours;

your flight was cancelled less than 14 days before departure.

The amount of compensation youre entitled to depends on:

when the flight was cancelled;

the distance of the flight  check the flight distance on the Web Flyer website;

the departure and arrival times of the rescheduled flight.

For your full rights, visit the Citizens Advice Website.
T he museum that hosts Michelangelos David has invited parents and students from a Florida school to visit after complaints about a lesson that featured the statue forced the principal to resign.

The board of the Tallahassee Classical School pressured Principal Hope Carrasquilla to resign last week after an image of the Renaissance masterpiece was shown to a sixth-grade (ages 11-12) art class.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honour her and said that confusing art with pornography was ridiculous.

The Florida school has a policy requiring parents to be notified in advance about controversial topics being taught.

Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about a lesson including a photo of the David, a 5-meter tall (17 foot) nude marble sculpture dating from 1504. The work, reflecting the height of the Italian Renaissance, depicts the Biblical David going to fight Goliath armed only with his faith in God.

Carrasquilla has said two parents complained because they werent notified in advance that a nude would be shown, while a third called the iconic statue pornographic.

Carrasquilla said in a phone interview to the Associated Press on Sunday that she is very honored by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.

I am totally, like, wow, Carasquilla said. Ive been to Florence before and have seen the David up close and in person, but I would love to go and be a guest of the mayor.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dellAccademia, where the David resides, expressed astonishment at the controversy.

The nude statue is considered a Renaissance masterpiece / Getty Images

To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, Hollberg said in a telephone interview.

She invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the purity of the statue.

Tallahassee Classical School has roughly 400 students from kindergarten through the 12th grade and has had three principals in three years.

Barney Bishop, chairman of Tallahassee Classicals school board, told reporters that while the photo of the statue played a part in Carrasquilla leaving her post, it wasnt the only factor. He has declined to elaborate, while defending the decision.

Parents are entitled to know anytime their child is being taught a controversial topic and picture, Bishop said in an interview with Slate online magazine.

Several parents and teachers plan to protest Carrasquillas exit at Monday nights school board meeting, but Carrasquilla said she isnt sure she would take the job back even if it were offered.

Theres been such controversy and such upheaval, she said. I would really have to consider, Is this truly what is best?.
B ritons travelling to France have been warned to avoid demonstrations wherever possible as hundreds of thousands of workers were set to go out on a national strike on Tuesday.

The advice, published by the Foreign Office, also highlighted the threat of protests turning violent.

It states: Since mid-March there have been spontaneous protests in central Paris and elsewhere in France.

Protests are likely to take place and could occur with little notice. Some protests have turned violent. The protests may lead to disruptions to road travel.

There is also ongoing strike action affecting multiple sectors including transport networks.

Coordinated strike action and large-scale demonstrations are next planned for Tuesday 28 March. Industrial action may start the evening before the strike day and run for several days.

It adds: If youre due to travel to or within France, check the website of your chosen operator for the latest information before you set off.

Avoid demonstrations wherever possible and follow the advice of the local authorities.

Unions have called for a tenth national day of strikes and protests on Tuesday against Emmanuel Macrons new pension law that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Walk-outs were expected in Paris and towns and cities across the country.

Some of the recent demonstrations have turned violent, with dozens of police officers injured and scores of arrests.

In the capital, the Louvre Museum has closed to the public after its staff took part in the wave of French protest strikes.

Dozens of Louvre employees blocked the entrance, prompting the museum to announce it would be temporarily closed.

The demonstrators waved banners and flags in front of the Louvres famed pyramid, where Mr Macron had celebrated his presidential victory in 2017.

The action came on the eve of Tuesdays planned action and as Mr Macron holds a meeting with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to discuss the crisis.

So drastically has Mr Macron lost the initiative that he was forced to indefinitely postpone a planned state visit to France this week by King Charles III.

Germany, not France, will now get the honour of being the first overseas ally to host Charles as monarch.

The Royal visit was cancelled amid fears that a state banquet for the King at the Palace of Versailles could have been targeted by protestors.
F lights out of Israels main international airport have been grounded amid surging protests over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Departing flights out of Ben Gurion Airport were grounded in protest, affecting thousands of travellers on Monday.

It comes as the countrys largest trade union group, which represents more than 700,000 workers in health, transit and banking, among many other fields, has launched strike action that could slow parts of Israels economy.

Other sectors are following suit, with local governments, which manage pre-schools and other essential services, as well as a main doctors union announcing they would walk out.

Its unclear if the strikes would cause Mr Netanyahu to halt the overhaul. He was expected to make an announcement on Monday morning but has reportedly suspended it amid the chaos.

Israels Ken broadcaster is reporting that he told coalition heads he will pause the overhaul, which includes a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments.

His coalition government survived a no-confidence motion filed by the opposition in protest at its judicial overhaul plan on Monday morning.

Just hours earlier Israels president urged Mr Netanyahu to come to his senses and immediately stop a contentious overhaul of the judiciary.

Isaac Herzogs plea follows a night of raucous protests where tens of thousands of demonstrators lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway after Mr Netanyahus sacking of the defence minister.

Three months after it took power as one of the most right-wing governments in the countrys history, Yoav Gallants removal has plunged Mr Netanyahus national-religious coalition into crisis, during a deepening security emergency in the occupied West Bank. Protests have been raging for weeks.

Israel protests over Benjamin Netanyahus judicial overhaul plan | March 2023 1 / 18 Israel protests over Benjamin Netanyahus judicial overhaul plan | March 2023 AFP via Getty Images AP REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS AP AFP via Getty Images REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS REUTERS

Mr Herzog called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

Deep concern surrounds the entire nation, he wrote on Twitter.

Security, the economy, society - all are threatened. The eyes of all the people of Israel are on you.

The eyes of the entire Jewish people are on you. The eyes of the whole world are on you.

I appeal to the heads of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to put the citizens of the country above all else, and to act responsibly and courageously without further delay.

Come to your senses now! This is not a political moment, this is a moment for leadership and responsibility.

The warning from the head of state, who is supposed to stand above politics and whose function is largely ceremonial, underlined the alarm the divisions opened up by the proposals has caused.

The judicial overhaul has sparked one of Israels gravest domestic crises, drawing widespread opposition from business leaders, legal officials and even the countrys military.

Protest in Tel Aviv / AP

An uneasy calm returned to the countrys streets after a night of protests blocked Te Avivs major throughway as well as others throughout the country.

Mr Netanyahus dismissal of Mr Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies will forge ahead this week with the overhaul plan.

Mr Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

The government still appeared to be pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments.

It also seeks to pass laws that would would grant parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

Mr Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition.

Mr Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has so far vowed to continue with the project and a central part of the overhaul package, a bill that would tighten political control over judicial appointments, is due to be ratified in parliament this week.

As well as drawing opposition from the business establishment, the project has caused alarm among Israels allies.

The United States said it was deeply concerned by Sundays events and saw an urgent need for compromise, while repeating calls to safeguard democratic values.

Mr Netanyahus visit to Downing Street in London on Friday was overshadowed by protests in the capital.

Demonstrators protest on Whitehall ahead of a visit by Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 1 / 16 Demonstrators protest on Whitehall ahead of a visit by Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu REUTERS PA Getty Images AFP via Getty Images PA AFP via Getty Images PA AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images PA

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Mr Netanyahu for talks, including on Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine and Irans nuclear ambitions.

As he arrived at No 10, Mr Netanyahu was greeted by shouts of shame from pro-democracy protesters demonstrating against the judicial overhaul.

After the talks, the Prime Ministers spokesman said: The Prime Minister stressed the importance of upholding the democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in the proposed judicial reforms in Israel.
P rotesters have vowed to continue demonstrations in Israel despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delaying plans for controversial judicial reform.

Activists urged Mr Netanyahu to drop the legislation entirely following the largest mass demonstrations in the country for decades.

On Monday, Mr Netanyahu bowed to the discontent by announcing a delay in the plan and saying that he wanted to avoid civil war by seeking a compromise with political opponents during the next several weeks.

From a will to prevent the rift in the nation, I have decided to delay the second and third reading in order to reach a broad consensus, he said in a TV address.

The plans would enable parliament to override Supreme Court decisions and hold control over judicial appointments, though critics labelled the move a threat to democracy. Mr Netanyahu is currently on trial on corruption charges.

The crisis reached a fever pitch on Sunday night when Mr Netanyahu sacked his defence minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the reforms. It prompted Israels president Isaac Herzog to urge Mr Netanyahu to halt the legislation, saying it posed a threat to the countrys security, economy and society.

The firing sparked a spontaneous outburst of anger, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in just one hour.

Chanting "the country is on fire," they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Shikma Bressler, one of the main protest leaders, said Mr Netanyahu was trying to weaken the demonstrations by announcing the delay.

The statements of the prime minister and his extremist partners are an admission of their intention to bring the dictatorship laws back to the table in the next parliamentary session, harming the economy and the security of the country.

She added: As long as the legislation continues and is not shelved, we will be on the streets.

Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy.
A female shooter armed with two "assault-style" rifles and a pistol shot dead three adults and three nine-year-old children at a private school in Nashville, authorities said.

Emergency services were called to The Covenant School in the US city following reports of an "active shooter event" on Monday morning.

The gunwoman, 28, from Nashville, died after being shot by police.

Authorities were working to identify her and whether she had a connection to the church school.

The victims were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

President Joe Biden called on Congress again to pass his assault weapons ban in the wake of the shooting.

"It's heartbreaking, a family's worst nightmare," he said.

Children from The Covenant School are led to safety / AP

The tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. At 10.13am on police received the initial call about an active shooter at the Presbyterian school, which teachers about 200 students aged three to 11.

Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news briefing.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10.27 am, Aaron said.

He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

Other students walked to safety, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

President Joe Biden speaks about the school shooting in Nashville / AP

The school, founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, is located in the Green Hill neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, situated close to the cities top universities.

Jozen Reodica heard the police sirens blaring from outside her office building nearby. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos.

"I thought I would just see this on TV," she told the Associated Press. "And right now, it's real."

The killings come as communities around the US reel from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Mayor John Cooper wrote on Twitter. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.
T he Russian Navy is believed to have operated a mini-submarine at the Nord Stream gas pipelines days before the explosions, according to German reports.

Citing security sources, publication t-online suggest a unit of the Russian navy is said to have operated like a ghost without transmitting location data and placed explosive devices at the pipeline.

It suggests there may have been suspicious activity detected in the area in the days leading up to the attack on two gas pipes on September 26 last year, which destroyed pipes that sent natural gas from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Previous theories about the explosion have included that the US or a pro-Ukrainian groupwas behind the Nord Stream sabotage.

But t-online claims that a submarine support ship may have been involved, and had on board a deep-submergence rescue vehicle which had gripper arms that can move cargo weighing up to 50 kilograms underwater.

Explosive charges could have been attached to the pipelines using the mini-submarine, experts suspect.

"It would make absolute sense to use something like the AS-26 for such an attack," Danish corvette captain and military analyst Johannes Riber told t-online.

That would be the most plausible explanation so far for what happened to the Nord Stream pipeline."

The mini-submarine is usually part of the Russian Navys Baltic Fleet but publicly available satellite imagery seen by t-online shows that it left the port on September 21, along with two other ships suspected to be involved in the operation.

The US and Nato have called the September 26 attacks an act of sabotage, while Russia has blamed the West and called for an independent probe. Neither has provided evidence.
U nicef Goodwill Ambassador and British actor Orlando Bloom met with President Volodymyr Zelensky to promote the organisations humanitarian work in Ukraine.

During the meeting, Mr Bloom said he was impressed by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians. Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky welcomed the work of Unicef, saying the safety of children and their development remains a priority of his government.

Mr Bloom also visited a childrens centre and bomb shelters in Kyiv where, he said, the mental anguish was palpable.

To see the children, to see in their eyes, the anxiety... and yet the strength of the Ukrainian people is something that is really awe-inspiring, Mr Bloom told Mr Zelensky during a sit-down meeting in one of the presidents safe rooms.

Its so horrific whats going on.

PA

I would have never expected the war to have escalated throughout the country since I was there, Bloom later said on Instagram.

But today, I was fortunate to hear childrens laughter at a Unicef-supported Spilno centre, a safe, warm, and nurturing space for children to play, learn and receive psychosocial support.

The Spilno centres, spread throughout Ukraine, offer support for displaced children and their families, with more than half a million children and their caregivers having visited one in the past year, according to Unicef.

PA

After praising Mr Zelenskys leadership, Mr Bloom left him with a gift from his Buddhist mentor  a message of encouragement previously delivered to UK children  as well as a message from his own mother:

Your defeat would be the defeat of hope, hence you must win, he told the president.

At least 465 children have been killed since the Russian invasion 13 months ago, according to Ukraines Prosecutor Generals Office.

He knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the worlds efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war, Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address after meeting the Hollywood star.

Mr Bloom said it was his first trip to Ukraine since 2016.
U krainian forces can break through Russian defences in counter-offensives in coming months, military experts said on Monday.

The Institute for the Study of War also stressed that Vladimir Putins efforts to freeze Ukraine and Europe into surrendering over the winter came to nothing despite waves of drone and missile attacks on infrastructure including power plants.

Key parts of his spring offensive had also been deeply unimpressive, with his regular forces and his private army, the Wagner Group mercenaries, still struggling to seize the eastern town of Bakhmut.

The ISW, a Washington-based think tank, said: There is reason to expect that Ukrainian forces can make gains through counter-offensives.

Ukraine has launched two major counter-offensive operations in this war, not counting the voluntary withdrawal of Russian forces from around Kyiv.

Both were successful in retaking large areas, first in Kharkiv and then in western Kherson.

It added: Various analysts have expressed various opinions about whether Ukrainian forces can penetrate prepared Russian defensive positions and raised other concerns about the prospects for Ukrainian successes.

It remains the case, however, that whereas Russian force have demonstrated that they cannot make significant gains at this stage of the war, Ukrainian forces have yet to fail in such an attempt.

But the ISW stresseed that despite his forces setbacks on the battlelfield, it was far from clear that Putin ever will accept these military realities.

It added: A negotiated settlement may therefore be unattainable because Putin will not accept the reality that he cannot actually conquer Ukraine.

The continuing of Russian offensive operations around Bakhmut and Avdiivka, as well as along the Luhansk and western Donetsk front lines, is a further indicator that Putin remains committed to victory in a protracted war whose outcome is determined in large part by military realities on the ground.

The think tank argued that the Russian presidents continued offensive operations, despite very heavy losses and rather than preparing to fight Ukrainian counter-offensives, amounts to strategic malfeasance.

With his refusal to accept the realities on the ground, the ISW added: Ukraine and the West will have to create military realities that permit a cessation of hostilities on terms that they can effectively impose on Putin in that case.

Russian shelling forced a nearly full shutdown of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, just 90 km (56 miles) southwest of besieged Bakhmut in the Donetsk province, the top regional official said on Sunday.

I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies, said Vitaliy Barabash.

Russian shelling targeted two high-rise buildings in Avdiivka, 10 km (six miles) from the northern outskirts of the city of Donetsk that has been under Moscows control since 2014.

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka could become a second Bakhmut - which has been reduced to rubble in fierce fighting that both sides have called a meat grinder.

Russia is pressing on with its assault on Bakhmut, while Ukrainian forces repelled more than 60 attacks in the past 24 hours across the eastern front, some in the direction of Avdiivka, Ukraines general staff said on Monday.

Bakhmut is a major target for Russia as it tries to fully capture Ukraines industrialised Donbas region. Russian commanders had expressed confidence it would fall soon but such claims have tailed off amid heavy fighting.

Russias defence ministry said its forces had struck military targets in the regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, causing significant Ukrainian casualties.

The ministry also said it had downed a Ukrainian drone south of Moscow on Sunday, adding three people were injured and apartment blocks were damaged in the drone attack.
South Koreas military called the missile a grave provocation and said it was on high alert.

Japans government alert system warned residents that the missile could fall on or close to Hokkaido, but the alert was later retracted.

South Koreas defence ministry said that the missile could have been a solid-fuel missile, which can be launched with almost no warning or preparation time.

Which countries have nuclear weapons?

Five countries that have admitted to having nuclear weapons are China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US. They are known as the five Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nuclear-weapon States, or P5.

However, other countries have conducted nuclear weapons tests in recent years.

In 1998, India conducted nuclear bomb tests, and Pakistan did likewise in response.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear weapons tests. Although the country has not tested nuclear weapons since 2017, in June, Sung Kim, US special representative to North Korea, warned that North Korea could conduct a seventh nuclear test at any time.

Here is what we know about the P5.

China

China first began developing a nuclear weapons programme in 1954 under former president Mao Zedong.

Since then, the international community has debated the size of the Chinese nuclear force. Because of strict secrecy, it is difficult to determine this.

In November 2022, a US Pentagon report revealed that Chinas stockpile of nuclear warheads had surpassed 400 in a fraction of the time previously estimated. The report predicted that the country could have some 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 if it continues to expand its stockpile at the current pace.

China also conducted 135 ballistic missile tests in 2021, the report said. This is more than the rest of the world combined (excluding ballistic missiles used in the war in Ukraine).

This is an accelerating trend, said a senior defense department official. We see that with the buildout of the silo fields, the creation of a nuclear triad, what theyre doing with their sea bases and air components as well as the silos and their land mobile forces.

France

France first tested a nuclear weapon in 1960, eight years after the UK. Since the end of the Cold War, France has scaled back its nuclear arsenal by 50 per cent. This has involved a reduction in both its overall holdings but also the withdrawal of several weapons systems, including its land-based ballistic-missile capability.

France is the only nuclear weapon state to have dismantled, in its entirety, a ground-launched nuclear capability.

Frances nuclear stockpile is currently fewer than 300 warheads. These are capable of being launched by combat aircraft and submarines, operating on a continuous at-sea basis. Both components have been modernised over the past decade.

Russia

The Soviet Unions 1991 collapse made Russia the inheritor of the vast majority of the USSRs weapons of mass destruction. Although Russia has substantially reduced its stockpiles from Cold War peaks, it still controls one of the worlds largest and deadliest nuclear forces.

Russia has historically participated in numerous bilateral arms control treaties and initiatives with the US. These bilateral initiatives helped to reduce the Russian arsenal substantially from its Soviet-era peak of about 40,000 warheads.

Moscow currently has 5,977 nuclear warheads in its inventory, according to the Federation of American Scientists. It has long had the capability to strike a target anywhere in the world. It has the worlds largest stockpile of non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons.

On February 21, 2023, Putin suspended Russia's participation in the New START nuclear arms-reduction treaty with the US. He said that Russia would not allow the US and Nato to inspect its nuclear facilities. The treaty calls for halving the number of strategic-missile launchers.

A nuclear-powered submarine at Faslane, Scotland / James Glossop / The Times / PA

UK

The UK has been a nuclear weapon state since 1952.

Since the end of the Cold War, the UK has taken several disarmament steps in support of the NPT. It has withdrawn all other nuclear weapons systems except for its submarine-launched Trident system.

Currently, the UK has 225 nuclear warheads and four ballistic-missile submarines. It has maintained a continuous arsenal of nuclear weapons since 1969. The UK is engaged in several modernisation projects related to its continuous at-sea deterrent.

Under the 2021 Integrated Review, the cap on the UKs nuclear stockpile will increase to no more than 260 warheads. This is a 40 per cent increase on previous commitments.

US

The US first began developing nuclear weapons during the Second World War under the order of President Franklin Roosevelt. This was motivated by the fear that the US was engaged in a race with Nazi Germany to develop such a weapon.

It is the only country to have ever utilised nuclear weapons. In August 1945, the US detonated a uranium-gun design bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing approximately 70,000 people. Three days later, the Americans attacked Nagasaki using a plutonium implosion-design bomb. This destroyed 60 per cent of the city and killed approximately 35,000 people.

After the end of the Cold War and the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, the US nuclear programme was heavily curtailed, halting nuclear testing.

On October 5, 2021, the US State Department issued a declassification announcement indicating that the total number of US active and inactive warheads was 3,750 as of September 2020. The stockpile figures do not include retired warheads and those awaiting dismantlement.

What is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)?

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to pursue negotiations in good faith on disarmament measures.

The treaty has three pillars. The first obliges the five states to pursue negotiations in good faith on disarmament measures. The second makes sure that states that do not have nuclear weapons do not acquire them.

The third pillar promotes co-operation between states to share the benefits of peaceful uses of nuclear technology, whilst making sure the technology cannot be used for weapons.
L ondon has been somewhat overlooked this year as the 2023 UK and Ireland Michelin Guide was announced today. Out of 20 newly crowned one-starred restaurants only four were awarded in London, however Brett Graham of The Ledbury and Alex Dilling at the Cafe Royal were each awarded two stars.

Alex Dilling at the Cafe Royal awarded two Michelin stars / Justin DeSouza

Despite a lot of positive openings in the past 12 months and considerable build-up, London was awarded just four new one-Michelin-star restaurants. These were Cycene, headed by Theo Clench  which took over the formerly Michelin-starred site Maos  St Barts, the sister restaurant to the well-regarded Fenn and Nest; Taku the omakase Japanese restaurant in Mayfair from chef Takuya Watanabe; and Luca, the Italian sister restaurant of the already two-starred Clove Club.

It was a positive night for the south-west of England, though, which saw new Green Stars for Le Gavroche alumnus, London-born chef Dan Cox at his restaurant Crocadon, while Culture in Falmouth was rewarded for its sustainability. Elsewhere in the South West, Acleaf was awarded one Michelin star as was Gidleigh Park, which regained the star it lost in 2019.

Chantelle Nicholsons Apricity awarded a Green star / Lisa Tse

It was a good night for London-based Chantelle Nicholson, whose latest restaurant Apricity followed in the footsteps of her last venture Tredwells, receiving a Michelin Green Star for its work on sustainability. Michelin noted of the Green Star winners: while each of these restaurants has its own unique approach and initiatives, they all share a common ambition to put eco-responsibility at the heart of their operation.

London fared well in the drinks awards on the night. Of the two nods, the sommelier award recipient was Tara Ozols, head sommelier at the one-starred SoLa in Londons Soho and, for the first time, an award recognising achievement in cocktails was presented to head bartender at Mayfairs Park Chinois: Makis Kazakis.

Edinburgh also achieved in the awards. The Scottish capital had two newly crowned one-star restaurants: Timberyard and Heron, Michelin noting of the former: [Timberyard] has found the ideal chef for its kitchen  the food is restrained yet perfectly balanced and satisfying.

Brett Graham wins back two Michelin stars at The Ledbury / Nigel Howard

The two-star category only saw three new additions to the guide for the UK and Ireland, two of which were in London. Brett Graham returned to the guide, reclaiming two stars, an achievement hed hoped to win back since re-opening The Ledbury in 2022. He closed the popular fine-dining Notting Hill restaurant at the start of the pandemic and, now reinstated as a two-star, the restaurant further solidifies the affluent W11 neighbourhood as one of the most exciting places to eat in the capital.

Elsewhere, Alex Dilling did as many expected and received a well-deserved gong for his eponymous restaurant; Alex Dilling at the Cafe Royal. The intimate 34-cover restaurant focuses on the highest of high-end luxury and offers a 10-course menu at 175 per person (for now). The guide said of the restaurant: Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal goes straight into the Guide with two Michelin stars, thanks to the exceptionally accomplished cooking of this most talented of chefs.

The ceremony was perhaps not as star-studded as many had hoped, and some close watchers of Michelin may feel a number of London restaurants were perhaps overlooked for a star, with only four of the previously announced 20 Bib Gourmands awarded in the capital.

The new additions to the London Green Star, Bib Gourmands and Michelin Stars can be found here

The full list of London one, two and three starred restaurants can be found here
I n case anyone had forgotten that the original (and perhaps ultimate) purpose of the Michelin guide is to sell tyres to motorists driving to restaurants, this years unveiling of the new stars for Great Britain and Ireland was held at Silverstone racetrack. It didnt feel quite like the victory lap for the first physical star presentation since before the pandemic, a fact alluded to when host Amanda Stretton  a champion racing driver herself  beckoned any standing guests to the empty chairs by the stage, like a train conductor announcing available seats in a quiet carriage.

It is easy to be cynical about an awards ceremony with its roots in encouraging car travel  perhaps the least appropriate theme for eco-obsessed 2023, but one nonetheless driven home by the constant references to journeys. We are epicurean explorers the opening voiceover solemnly intoned, establishing Michelins mission to celebrate travel, gastronomy and sustainability: those are the journeys at the heart of the Michelin guide.

One Michelin star is an important milestone, Stretton told an audience of chefs eager to know just how many stars they had clocked up. Makis Kazakis of Park Chinois, the Mayfair restaurant that is the winner of this years Cocktail Award, described his job as trying to create an experience, a journey. Legendary maitre d Diego Masciaga, presenting the Service Award, said that waiters are not just there to serve but to give a beautiful journey.

And yet for all the corporate gloss, the ceremonys opening spectacle of the chefs who won stars in the previous years of online-only events  20 restaurants in 2021, 25 in 2022  did provide the genuinely moving sight on stage of the deservedly proud faces behind the famous restaurant names, overjoyed to have reached the summit of their profession.

For Londoners, however, the Michelin journey might seem more remote than ever. Of the 23 new stars, only six are in the capital: four new one stars, two new two stars and, as in the rest of Great Britain and Ireland, no new three stars. With chefs Brett Graham and Alex Dilling having received two stars in the past, this years ceremony lacked the headline-making thrill of awarding Helene Darroze and Clare Smyth three stars each in 2021.

One person unable to make the journey was the Michelin Guides international director, Gwendal Poullennec, who appeared on a live video from Paris. One couldnt help but wonder whether he was trapped in a French roadblock. Vaut le detour, and all that.

New two star restaurants

Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal / Justin DeSouza

Michelin defines two star restaurants as those with excellent cooking, worth a detour.

Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal Dilling was the executive chef of two-Michelin-starred The Greenhouse in Mayfair, a high-profile casualty of the pandemic. At his first self-titled restaurant, the chef proposes two tasting menus  one merely luxurious (155), the other off-the-scale indulgent (195)  touting the likes of kaluga caviar with a fine de claire oyster, served to 34 diners cocooned in sybaritic luxury. 68 Regent Street, W1B 4DY, alexdilling.com

The Ledbury The safest of bets from the Michelin inspectors, Brett Graham held two stars at the first incarnation of The Ledbury before shuttering the Notting Hill dining room during the pandemic. The new-look restaurant has been loosened-up according to the strictures of fine dining  more relaxed, but still formal  while the cooking remains as technically accomplished as ever, with luxury ingredients very much in evidence to justify the steep prices. 127 Ledbury Road, W11 2AQ, theledbury.com

New one star restaurants

Restaurant St Barts / Steven Joyce

Michelin defines one star restaurants as those offering very good cooking in its category.

Cycene Open less than six months, Theo Clench  former exec chef of Akoko  prepares a 10-course menu for 16 guests. It feels like the most deluxe dinner party imaginable. 9 Chance Street, E2 7JB, bluemountain.school

Luca An Italian spin-off from two Michelin-starred The Clove Club, Luca excels with handmade pasta made onsite. Parmesan fries, beautiful interiors and knockout Negronis in the bar are further reasons to visit. 88 St John Street, EC1M 4EH , luca.restaurant

Restaurant St Barts Few newcomers have arrived as ambitiously as St Barts, where the 15-course tasting menu focused on foraged British ingredients must be paid for in advance (140). Fans aver that its worth every penny. 63 Bartholomew Close, EC1A 7BG, restaurant-stbarts.co.uk

Taku This new Mayfair chefs counter made headlines in the year of a cost-of-living crisis serving a 280 omakase menu. With chef Takuya Watanabe crafting each course in front of diners, it is, at least, easy to see where ones money is going, before tasting some supreme ingredients. 36 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JE, takumayfair.com

Bib Gourmands and Green stars

Plaza Khao Gaeng / Supplied

The Bibs are generally considered Michelins second-highest award, though the guide itself doesnt make that distinction. Bib Gourmands are defined as restaurants which offer good quality, good value cooking. Generally, Bibs are the sort of places that one can afford to eat at regularly, and be assured therell always be a good meal. The new Bibs this year are: Evernight, Ham, The Pelican, Plaza Khao Gaeng.

The new Green stars are awarded to restaurants making particular efforts to be sustainable and minimise their environmental impact. Of the four new Green stars announced this year, only one comes from London: Apricity.

@mrbenmccormack
G rimes has revealed that she and ex Elon Musk have changed their daughters name to a single symbol.

The 35-year-old Canadian musician  real name Claire Elise Boucher  shares two children with Twitters billionaire owner after welcoming son X  A-XII in May 2020 and daughter Exa Dark Siderl in December 2021.

The Oblivion hit-maker raised eyebrows when announcing the unique monikers of both her children and appears to have had a change of heart over her youngests.

Taking to Twitter recently, she shared that she had changed her daughters name to Y, however, if shed had her way, it would have been ?

Shes Y now, or Why? or just ? (But the government wont recognize that). curiosity, the eternal question... and such. she wrote on the micro-blogging site.

She also shared a rare picture of the adorable 15-month-old in which little Y was dressed in a red onesie with blonde spiky hair, with Grimes also wearing a similar outfit as she said her daughter was channelling Goku  a character from Japanese anime programme Dragon Ball Z.

She added: (Normally we post her for her privacy but shes fairly unrecognizable here since shes channeling Goku or smthn) [sic]/

Y was born via surrogate in December 2021, which Grimes accidentally revealed in a Vanity Fair profile after the writer heard the babys cries in the background.

Grimes previously told how her eldest child calls her by her first name Claire instead of mummy after admitting that she doesnt identify with the word mother.

Being a mother feels weird to say for some reason. I dont, like, identify with that word which is also really weird because X, he says Claire but he doesnt say, like, mama, she told Vogue.

Adding: Im like, how are you?... Like, maybe he can like, sense my distaste for the word mother, she said, adding, Which I dont even know why I have a distaste for cause I like, respect it, I just, I dont, I cant identify with it weirdly.
S trictly Come Dancing head judge Shirley Ballas has announced that she is branching out into the world of crime fiction and will release her first book later this year.

The Queen of Latin Ballroom, 62, has drawn on what she knows for her first release, titled Murder on the Dance Floor and co-written with award-winning author Sheila McClure.

Described as a delicious crime caper, a press release teases: Behind the sequins and the sparkle, when it comes to international dancing competitions, danger is afoot and sometimes death-drops are literally just that.

When a promising young performer is murdered during the opening tango of Blackpools (in)famous Dance Festival, Lily Richmond, dance legend, teacher and one-time world champion, partners with her former student and private detective, Susie Cooper, to unravel the rumours from the rumbas and reveal the murderers identity before the bodies start to pile up.

Due to be published by HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins UK, on October 12, this is not a one-off passion project  Ballas has so far committed to writing two books in what is being called The Sequin Mysteries.

Ballas said: My industry, the world of competitive ballroom, is full of intrigue and passion. Pouring a lifetime of experience into a cosy crime series is the perfect twist to my career. Working with Emily, Sheila, and the rest of the team at HQ has been a delight. I simply cant wait for readers to get their hands on these books!

Editorial Director at HQ, Emily Kitchin, added: HQ has been bedazzled by The Sequin Mysteries. No one is better placed than Shirley to give readers a delicious sneak peek into what really goes on in the world of dance, where conspiracy, passion and love affairs abound. Murder on the Dance Floor is quite simply fabulous, packed with glamour, glitter, larger-than-life characters, drama and danger not to mention lashings of hairspray.

HQ is thrilled to be publishing this fantastic series, and Im so excited for readers to meet dance-detective duo Lily Richmond and Susie Cooper.

The news comes after reports that Ballas may never return to BBC dance competition Strictly after online trolls made her life hell during last years series.

Shirley Ballas refused to confirm or deny whether she would be stepping back from Strictly Come Dancing after being the victim of online trolls / PA Media

Ballas  who replaced Len Goodman as head judge in 2017  told the Mirror that she had felt at an all-time low after finding herself repeatedly receiving online abuse from people who didnt agree with her judging critique.

While she refused to confirm or deny whether she would be stepping away from the panel, she said it was one step at a time.
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A study by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, claims around 80 per cent of US workers could see their jobs impacted by the artificial intelligence chatbot.

Public relations specialists, writers, authors, mathematicians, and journalists were some of the professionals most at risk.

An expert is warning the proposed ban of nitrous oxide in the UK could lead to an illicit unregulated nitrous oxide market.

University College London Professor Sunjeev Kamboj tells Tech & Science Daily the ban could lead to mixed substances being sold as nitrous oxide through an illegal market.

A report by the New York Times suggests some staff at Apple have raised doubts about their forthcoming virtual and augmented reality headset.

Its reported that some employees have defected from the project because of their doubts about its potential, and leaders at Apple have questioned the products prospects.

The UKs own competitor to Elon Musks satellite firm Starlink has completed its space project to launch 618 satellites into orbit.

London-based firm OneWeb now has the second-most satellites flying in orbit, and can deliver a broadband connection to anywhere on earth.

And the rest:

Study finds the bodies of people with mental illness are biologically older than their actual age, Twitter claims parts of its source code has been leaked online, Twitter users set to lose their blue ticks from April, and how other peoples body odour can help treat social anxiety.

Listen above, and find us on your Spotify Daily Drive or wherever you stream your podcasts.
M icrosoft has ended a long-standing introductory offer to its all-you-can-play Game Pass service.

Since it first appeared in summer 2017, Microsoft has tried to tempt new subscribers by offering them their first month for 1, rather than the regular price of either 7.99 (PC or Xbox) or 10.99 (both with extras).

As you would expect, players would then be on the hook for a higher subscription cost if they failed to cancel before the next billing date, but it was still a very appealing offer. Given Microsofts first-party titles appear on the service on day one, gamers could simply take out a 1 trial and race through the latest game, rather than paying 69.99 for a copy.

We have stopped our previous introductory offer for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass and are evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed in a statement.

Its not clear why Microsoft has ended the deal now, though its worth noting that its arch rival, Sony, no longer offers a free seven-day trial of its rival PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium services, either. Other non-gaming streaming services have abandoned similar offerings, too.

If youre desperate for a free gaming fix, Amazons cloud-based Luna service launched in the UK last week , and its Plus service still offers a seven-day trial.

For those keen on joining Game Pass on the cheap, a long-standing trick for discount subscriptions still appears to exist, too.

How to get Xbox Game Pass for less

Weve outlined the full details of how to get Game Pass Ultimate for cheap elsewhere, but heres the quick explanation.

Away from Game Pass, Microsoft has another subscription service called Xbox Live Gold. Its a far more basic offering, providing two free games per month and enabling multiplayer. But that makes it considerably cheaper  you can currently get it for 37.99 per year rather than the 95.88 or 131.88 you would pay with a rolling month-by-month Game Pass subscription.

But heres the clever bit. As Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (the 131.88 option) includes the perks of Xbox Live Gold as part of the service, Microsoft will simply convert pre-paid months of the latter to the former. In other words, you can get up to three years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for 124.96 rather than 395.64.

A word of warning before we outline the steps, this could stop working at any time. If you want additional peace of mind before parting with your cash, check this Reddit thread first  the comments, sorted by newest, will confirm when it was last working.

Heres how to do it:

Make sure you dont currently have an Xbox Game Pass subscription active, or this wont work. Cancel your subscription and let it expire before proceeding. Pre-purchase as much Xbox Live Gold as you can afford up to a maximum of three years. CD Keys currently sells codes for 37.99 per year . Add these to your Microsoft account (you can do this from your computer to save you the pain of typing them in via a gamepad). Subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate for 10.99 via the Microsoft site or the Xbox dashboard. Voila: your existing Xbox Live Gold subscription will be magically upgraded to the more expensive and vastly better version at no extra cost.

Just be sure to turn off recurring billing on your Microsoft account page. That will mean you wont start paying full price at the end of your reduced Xbox Live Gold time.


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Staples Canada is looking to fill more than 800 full-time and part-time positions after announcing a multi-year exclusive agreement with Bell.

Job openings will include retail, fulfilment centre, contact centre, sales team, business-to-business sales, print and tech production centre, drivers, and corporate office positions, according to a statement.

The partnership between Staples Canada and Bell also means that Staples will sell Bell, Virgin Plus and Lucky Mobile wireless and wireline services in its stores.

Starting this spring, Staples said customers can shop for Bell, Virgin Plus and Lucky Mobile products and services at in-store kiosks within Staples locations, staffed by Staples sales associates.

Mobility services will be available in 300 Staples locations nationwide, with Bell and Virgin Plus internet, TV and home phone services available in the majority of Staples locations within Bell's wireline footprint.

All open roles will be posted at careers.staples.ca with in-person and virtual interviews available.

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The Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center, widely known as CATEC, will be getting a new name after the Charlottesville school division completes its takeover of the school.

The school will be renamed the Charlottesville Area Technical Education Center once the transition is complete next year, Charlottesville City Schools said in an announcement on Friday that emphasized the city is working together with Albemarle County to ensure a smooth transition for the 50-year-old institution.

CATEC was founded in 1973 as a jointly owned and operated facility between Charlottesville and Albemarle, providing technical education to adults 16 years and older in such subjects as automobile technology, cosmetology and masonry, among others.

The city school division announced last month that it would be taking ownership of CATEC by July 1, 2024, completing a takeover that Albemarle County Public Schools tried and failed to accomplish late last year.

Charlottesville school officials said the $5.3 million decision to buy Albemarles stake in CATEC was the result of Albemarle first attempting to purchase the citys stake in the school in October 2022.

In making that offer, the county dissolved the agreement between the two school divisions, which in turn allowed the city school division to launch a takeover bid of its own. Charlottesville City Schools had 60 days to decide whether to accept Albemarles offer or purchase the countys stake in CATEC, according to an offer letter obtained by The Daily Progress.

Charlottesville Superintendent Royal Gurley and Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Haas have been meeting regularly as they work through the details of the CATEC deal, according to Charlottesville City Schools. And Charlottesville and Albemarle school officials have both said the transition process is going smoothly so far.

Charlottesville City Schools and Albemarle County Public Schools are proactively working together to ensure that the Charlottesville-Albemarle Career and Technical Education Center (CATEC) continues to thrive once it transitions to the sole ownership of the city school division in July 2024, the city school division said in its Friday announcement.

As part of that announcement, Charlottesville City Schools also highlighted the efforts of six working groups helping the school divisions with the transition:

1. Accounting and finances, which includes the financial structure and systems as well as student slots and tuition models.

2. Human resources and personnel, which includes transitioning to new systems for staff time-keeping and attendance systems, as well as bringing employees into Charlottesville City Schools benefits systems.

3. Programming and partnerships, which includes the continuity of current programming and maintaining relationships with community partners.

4. Infrastructure and facilities, which includes aligning the CATEC facilities protocols and building systems with Charlottesvilles practices around security and maintenance.

5. Technology, which is working on the incorporation of the CATEC information technology network into current Charlottesville systems and building out email and other staff accounts for CATEC employees.

6. Miscellaneous tasks, such as liaising with the Virginia Department of Education about the transition.

Some early outcomes of the groups work have been the name change as well as a decision to have any new employees hired by CATEC in the 2023-24 school year be immediately made Charlottesville City Schools employees to avoid a back-to-back transition for these new staff members, the city school division said.

Questions remain, however, regarding CATECs budget and student body.

Today, the two school divisions split the costs of maintaining the facility.

Albemarle County, which has more students at CATEC, pays a proportionately larger amount to fund the school. Charlottesville City Schools contributed $613,638 to CATECs operating budget for the 2021-22 school year. Albemarle gave CATEC roughly $1.98 million for the same period.

Whether the county school division makes further contributions to fund CATEC depends on if it has students at the technical school, and county school officials told The Daily Progress that they dont have an answer for that just yet.

City school officials said they are also still discussing just how county students might be involved in CATEC in the future.

The offer the county presented to the city in December allowed city students to attend CATEC for free for three years. For seven years after that, city students who wanted to attend CATEC would have paid discounted tuition, according to county officials.

According to admissions information on CATECs website today, out-of-district students will pay $2,000 in tuition next school year.

CATEC Director Stephanie Carter plans to maintain ongoing conversations with staff at both school divisions and will be making reports to both school boards, according to Charlottesville City Schools.

In addition, Gurley is expected to offer an update on the transition to Charlottesville City Council at its April 17 meeting.
A man wanted by police for allegedly removing his court-ordered monitoring device has been arrested.

Niagara Regional Police had been searching for the suspect since Friday.

The 28-year-old man was arrested Sunday after police attended at a house on St. Clair Avenue in Niagara Falls. He was arrested without incident.

According to police, the suspect had previously been charged with several offences including assault with a weapon. He was ordered by the courts to wear a monitoring device on his ankle.

Police were alerted Friday that the device had been removed.

Also on Friday, Ontario Provincial Police attempted to stop a van driven by a 27-year-old Thorold woman in Innisfil.

Three children  aged 10, seven and three  were in the vehicle and police believed the wanted man was also a passenger. The vehicle did not stop for authorities, and police did not engage in a pursuit.

The suspect now faces additional charges of mischief under $5,000, and three counts of failure to comply with a release order.

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Thirty minutes into his address to Parliament on Friday, Joe Biden was talking about the values shared by the United States and Canada, when he turned to one of those values, a commitment to gender equality. He was proud, he said, to note a historic achievement: both countries cabinets are 50 per cent women, 50 per cent men.

As the Liberals rose in applause, joined by most of the Conservatives female MPs, the president stole a glance to his left, at a block of male Tories, who remained rooted to their seats like tree stumps in a storm. Even if you dont agree, guys, Id stand up, he said. Slowly, sheepishly, they rose, to a chorus of good natured laughter.

It was a small moment  one of several that helped make Bidens 27 hours in Ottawa (an official working visit) a spectacular success. From the moment on Thursday evening when Justin and Sophie welcomed Joe and Jill with hugs on the steps of Rideau Cottage and invited them in for dinner with the three Trudeau children, the visit took on the comfortable feel of a family gathering. Family became a theme the president and Prime Minister kept returning to.

It was my friend, Joe and my pal, Justin  staunchest of allies, best of friends and more: the leaders of two nations sharing one vision and the leadership of the worlds liberal democracies in their struggle against aggressive authoritarian regimes  whether Russia in Ukraine, China in the Pacific or Iran in the Middle East, or the covert activity of those regimes as they try to undermine democratic institutions in North America and beyond.

Trudeau has three practical reasons for being delighted with the visit.

First, Bidens agreement to amend the Safe Third Country Act gets the prime minister out of a losing political fight with the government of Quebec over the tens of thousands of undocumented refugees who have been pouring into the province through the unofficial crossing at Roxham Road. With Roxham closed, refugee claimants are being sent to regular border crossings.

Second, the president made it clear he shares Trudeaus approach to a green economy. The two countries, he promised, would share the benefits of an integrated North American green economy: thousands of good-paying new jobs in such endeavours as the assembly of electric vehicles and the production of next-generation semiconductors.

The two leaders enthusiasm for a green economy was a contrast to the weary cynicism of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre whose party cannot agree whether climate change is real, and who believes Canada should increase oil production, and denounces the carbon tax as a job-killer that he will scrap when he is prime minister. He seemed out of place, a relic of the 1950s who had fallen, backward, out of a time machine.

Third, the visit gave Trudeau an opportunity to regain control of his agenda and priorities. Day after day, he had been hammered by the opposition about allegations of Chinese interference in the federal elections of 2019 and 2021. What had he known? When had he known it? Why hadnt he done something about it?

It was a brilliant stroke to bring the two Michaels  Spavor and Kovrig  to Ottawa as honoured guests. Their presence in Members Gallery set the stage for Biden and Trudeau to describe how, by working closely together, they had negotiated the release of the two Canadians after 1,020 days of harsh imprisonment.

The two Michaels moment signalled a shift from the problems of today to the promise of a green future as articulated by the best buddies. To be enjoyed while it lasts.

Cambridge resident Geoffrey Stevens is an author and former Ottawa columnist and managing editor of the Globe and Mail and Macleans. He welcomes comments at geoffstevens40@gmail.com

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OTTAWA - Japan is lifting the last of its restrictions against Canadian beef, 20 years after BSE, often called mad cow disease, devastated this countrys cattle industry.

The federal government says Japan is reopening its doors to processed beef and beef patties from Canada.

The move puts an end to the market access barriers Japan put in place in 2003, after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was discovered in Alberta.

While Japan initially shut its border to all Canadian beef, it has been lifting restrictions in stages over the years, most recently with its 2019 decision to begin accepting Canadian beef from cattle older than 30 months of age.

The federal government says Japan is now Canadas second-largest market for beef, with exports worth $518 million in 2022.

Around 40 countries closed their borders to Canadian beef during the height of the 2003 BSE crisis, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for the industry.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

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CHILLIWACK, B.C. - Mounties in British Columbia are asking for the publics help after a shooting left two people injured in Chilliwack.

They say police responded to multiple reports of a disturbance followed by gun shots at the entrance to the citys Rotary Trail park on Saturday night.

The RCMP say that police arrived and found two victims with multiple gun shot wounds.

They say officers immediately provided first aid until Emergency Health Services arrived and transported the victims to hospital.

Though the investigation is in its early stages, police believe the incident was targeted and may be linked to the ongoing gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.

The RCMP is asking anyone with information about a white Dodge Ram pickup truck seen travelling in the area around the time of the shooting to come forward.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2023.

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CHARLOTTETOWN - Prince Edward Islands Progressive Conservative leader was put on the defensive on issues such as health care and climate change but didnt take the bait in the only televised leaders debate ahead of the April 3 provincial election.

Instead, incumbent Premier Dennis King responded to his opponents attacks Monday night by reminding them of his collaborative spirit, and at times, even complimenting them.

I think Ive demonstrated over four years that I really dont care where the good ideas are coming from, King said to criticism from Liberal Party Leader Sharon Cameron, who accused him of dumping his partys platform late in the campaign.

I dont stand here and try to boast that the (Progressive Conservative) plan is the only plan ... there are some wonderful ideas in the other three party platforms, King added.

Meanwhile, Peter Bevan-Baker  the only Green Party official Opposition leader in the country  was on the attack most of the night, accusing Kings government of being untrustworthy and of failing Islanders on health care.

But he had almost as many criticisms for the Liberal leader, suggesting that many of the Islands problems are a legacy of not just the Progressive Conservatives but the Liberal party when it was leading the province.

Lets remember the health-care system that we are labouring under, that health-care workers are struggling with, was created by the Liberal and Tory governments, Bevan-Baker said, adding that about 30,000 Islanders are waiting for a family doctor.

Dennis King has had four years to reverse that . Lets remember who created the problems in the first place: its the old parties.

Don Desserud, a political science expert based in P.E.I., said the leaders were well behaved and no one spoke over each other, adding that the evening ended with hugs. Desserud said King had a statesmanlike demeanour, while Bevan-Baker seemed to be the debater who thought he had the most to lose.

Bevan-Baker recognizes that the criticism against him is that hes not a strong Opposition leader. I think thats unfair, but thats how politics works, Desserud said.

Bevan-Baker may have targeted Cameron often because she is running in the same district as him  New Haven-Rocky Point.

Cameron, meanwhile, focused her criticism against King, who she said got an extra $50 million for health care from the federal government and instead of returning to the province and planning how to spend it, came back to plan an election.

Political analysts have said trends show that Greens may lose seats in the election while the Tories may win a bigger majority. At dissolution, the Progressive Conservatives held 15 seats, the Greens had eight and the Liberals held four in the 27-seat legislature.

The person who impressed Desserud most was the New Democratic Partys Michelle Neill, he said. Shes the unknown factor. I thought she did a very incredible job. I thought she handled herself very, very well.

Neill stood out when she addressed residents fears that the provinces health-care system was moving slowly into a private model.

We want to ensure that all public funds that come from the federal and provincial governments that are earmarked for health care, are put right to the front lines to invest in our health-care workers, Neill said.

On the problems facing the health system, King said, there isnt just one magic button that we could push to fix health care.

Bevan-Baker had some of his most stinging critiques against King during the climate change portion of the debate. The Green leader said Kings government has failed Islanders by not calling a public inquiry after post-tropical storm Fiona damaged the province in late September.

He said King did a dreadful job of taking care of residents  some of whom were without power for weeks after the storm  adding that severe weather will continue to wreak havoc on the province because of climate change and the Island must become more resilient.

King said reviews are needed following every catastrophic event but stopped short of agreeing to a public inquiry.

I know throughout since the days of Fiona and our response  theres been very, very comprehensive work done at the standing committee level. Theyve asked a lot of difficult questions. Were learning a lot more. We need to learn from all of this. We have committed to doing a review, we will do that. We will learn from it.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

 By Hina Alam in Fredericton.

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Mass shooters have killed hundreds of people throughout U.S. history in realms like stores, theaters and workplaces, but it is in schools and colleges where the carnage reverberates perhaps most keenly  places filled with children of tender ages, older students aspiring to new heights and the teachers planting the seeds of knowledge, their journeys all cut short.

If a mass shooting is defined as resulting in the death of four or more people, not including the perpetrator, 175 people have died in 15 such events connected to U.S. schools and colleges  from 1999s Columbine High School massacre to Mondays shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. Thats according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University, in addition to other AP reporting:

THE COVENANT SCHOOL, March 2023, 6 dead

A 28-year-old female shooter wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville. The suspect also died after being shot by police.

ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, May 2022, 21 dead

An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults, officials said. Law enforcement killed the attacker.

OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL, November 2021, 4 dead

A sophomore student is accused of killing four people and wounding others at his school in Oxford, Michigan, near Detroit. His parents are charged with involuntary manslaughter; authorities say they failed to secure a gun and ignored the mental health needs of their son before the shootings.

SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL, May 2018, 10 dead

A shooter opened fire at a Houston-area high school, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. The 17-year-old suspect has been charged with murder.

MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, February 2018, 17 dead

An attack left 14 students and three staff members dead at the school in Parkland, Florida, and injured many others. The shooter was sentenced to life without parole.

UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, October 2015, 9 dead

A man killed nine people at the school in Roseburg, Oregon, and wounded nine others, then killed himself.

MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK HIGH SCHOOL, October 2014, 4 dead

A 15-year-old used text messages to draw several cousins and friends to his cafeteria table at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state. He fatally shot four of them before killing himself.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, May 2014, 6 dead

A 22-year-old college student frustrated over sexual rejections fatally stabbed or shot six students near the school in Isla Vista, California, and injured several others before he killed himself.

SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, December 2012, 27 dead

A 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, then went to the nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first graders and six educators. He took his own life.

OIKOS UNIVERSITY, April 2012, 7 dead

A former nursing student fatally shot seven people at the small private college in East Oakland, California. He died in prison in 2019.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, February 2008, 5 dead

A 27-year-old former student shot and killed five people and wounded more than 20 others at the school in DeKalb, Illinois, before killing himself.

RELATED STORIES Three children and three adults gunned down at grade school in Nashville

VIRGINIA TECH, April 2007, 32 dead

A 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, in April 2007; more than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then killed himself.

WEST NICKEL MINES AMISH SCHOOL, October 2006, 5 dead

A 32-year-old man entered an Amish schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, dismissed the boys, bound the girls, and fatally shot five of them before killing himself. Five others were wounded.

RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005, 9 dead

A 16-year-old student killed his grandfather and the mans companion at their Minnesota home, then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.

COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, April 1999, 13 dead

Two students killed 12 of their peers and one teacher at the school in Littleton, Colorado, and injured many others before killing themselves.

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The announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus appears to be another attempt to raise the stakes in the conflict in Ukraine.

It follows Putins warnings that Moscow is ready to use all available means, to fend off attacks on Russian territory, a reference to its nuclear arsenal.

A look at Putins statement and its implications:

HOW DID PUTIN EXPLAIN HIS MOVE?

Putin said President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has long urged Moscow to station its nuclear weapons in his country, which has close military ties with Russia and was a staging ground for the invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia already has helped modernize Belarusian warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons  something that Belarus authoritarian leader has repeatedly mentioned.

In remarks broadcast Saturday, Putin said the immediate trigger for the deployment of Russias tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was Britains decision to provide Ukraine with armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium. Putin toned down his language after first falsely claiming that such rounds have nuclear components, but he insisted they pose an additional danger to the civilian population and could contaminate the environment.

Putin also said that by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia will be doing what the United States has done for decades by putting its nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. He alleged the Russian move doesnt violate an international treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear weapons, even though Moscow has argued before that the U.S. has breached the pact by deploying them on the territory of its NATO allies.

Putins move contrasted with a statement he and Chinese President Xi Jinping issued after their talks in the Kremlin last week, which spoke against nuclear powers deploying atomic weapons outside their territories, in an apparent jab at the United States.

WHAT ARE TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and a much lower yield than nuclear warheads fitted to long-range strategic missiles that are capable of obliterating whole cities.

Unlike the strategic weapons, which have been subject to arms control agreements between Moscow and Washington, the tactical weapons never have been limited by any such pacts, and Russia hasnt released their numbers or any other specifics related to them.

The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which include bombs that can be carried by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.

While strategic nuclear weapons are fitted to land- or submarine-based intercontinental ballistic missiles that are constantly ready for launch, tactical nuclear weapons are stored at a few tightly guarded storage facilities in Russia, and it takes time to deliver them to combat units.

Some Russian hawks long have urged the Kremlin to send a warning to the West by moving some tactical nuclear weapons closer to the aircraft and missiles intended to deliver them.

WHAT EXACTLY WILL RUSSIA DO?

Putin said Russia already has helped upgrade 10 Belarusian aircraft to allow them to carry nuclear weapons and their crews will start training to use them from April 3. He noted Russia also has given Belarus the Iskander short-range missile systems that can be fitted with conventional or nuclear warheads.

He said the construction of storage facilities for nuclear weapons in Belarus will be completed by July 1. He didnt say how many nuclear weapons will be stationed there or when they will be deployed.

Putin emphasized that Russia will retain control over any nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus, just like the U.S. controls its tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of its NATO allies.

If Moscow sends nuclear weapons to Belarus, it will mark their first deployment outside Russian borders since the early 1990s. Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan inherited massive nuclear arsenals after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but agreed to ship them to Russia in the following years.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES BEHIND PUTINS MOVE?

With his latest statement, Putin again is dangling the nuclear threat to signal Moscows readiness to escalate the war in Ukraine.

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It would also extend Russias capability to target several NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe.

The move comes as Kyiv is poised for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory occupied by Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russias Security Council, warned last week that attempts by Ukraine to reclaim control over Crimea was a threat to the very existence of the Russian state, something that warrants a nuclear response under the countrys security doctrine. Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Every day of supplying Western weapons to Ukraine makes the nuclear apocalypse closer, Medvedev said.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Putins goal is to discourage Ukraines Western allies from providing Kyiv with more weapons ahead of any counteroffensive.

Putin is using nuclear blackmail in a bid to influence the situation on the battlefield and force Western partners to reduce supplies of weapons and equipment under the threat of nuclear escalation, Zhdanov said. The Belarusian nuclear balcony will be looming over not only Ukraine, but Europe as well, creating a constant threat, raising tensions and rattling the nerves of Ukrainians and their Western partners.

WHAT ARE UKRAINE AND THE WEST SAYING?

Ukraine has responded to Putins move by calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. A U.N. spokesman referred questions on the issue to the Security Council, which had announced no meeting on it by Monday afternoon.

The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that U.S. officials havent seen any movement of any tactical nuclear weapons or anything of that kind since Putins announcement on Belarus. He has said Washington has seen nothing to prompt a change in its strategic deterrent posture.

NATO rejects Putins claim that Russia only is doing what the U.S. has done for decades, saying the Western allies act with full respect of their international commitments.

Russias nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said, adding that the alliance hasnt yet seen any change in Russias nuclear posture.

Lithuania, which borders Belarus, described Putins statement as yet another attempt by two unpredictable dictatorial regimes to threaten their neighbors and the entire European continent, calling them desperate moves by Putin and Lukashenko to create another wave of tension and destabilization in Europe.

Russias Foreign Ministry responded to Western criticism by pointing out Washington and its allies had ignored repeated Russian calls for the withdrawal of U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe. The ministry reaffirmed Moscows right to take the necessary additional steps to ensure security of Russia and its allies.

___

Aamer Madhani in Washington and Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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TAOYUAN, Taiwan (AP)  Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou departed for a tour of China on Monday, in what he called an attempt to reduce tensions a day after Taiwan lost one of its few remaining diplomatic partners to China.

The ex-president is visiting in a private capacity, bringing a delegation of academics and college students for exchanges, as well as members of his family, but the trip is loaded with political meaning.

Mas policies brought Taiwan and Beijing to their closest relationship ever, but his exit from office was overshadowed by massive protests against a trade deal with the mainland and his successor has focused on bolstering ties with the U.S. and defending the autonomy of the democratically governed island that China claims as part of its own territory.

Current President Tsai Ing-wen is expected to launch a 10-day diplomatic tour of her own Wednesday, ostensibly to visit the islands remaining allies in Latin America. She will stop in the U.S., Taiwans biggest unofficial partner and supplier of arms.

Mas visit comes amid rising tensions. Beijing has stepped up pressure against Taiwan in recent years, poaching its diplomatic allies while also sending military fighter jets flying towards the island on a near daily basis. On Sunday, Honduras established diplomatic relations with China, leaving Taiwan with only 13 countries that recognize it as a sovereign state.

Ma, a member of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang), will land in Shanghai before starting his visit in nearby Nanjing. He is expected to tour the mainland from March 27 to April 7, stopping in Wuhan and Changsha, as well as other cities. He is bringing college students from Taiwan to meet with fellow students from Shanghais Fudan University and Changshas Hunan University.

Ma has framed the visit as a bid to lower the tensions in cross-strait relations through people to people exchange. I hope through the enthusiasm of the youth and their interactions to improve the cross-strait mood, so bring peace faster, and earlier, he said to reporters ahead of his departure on Monday afternoon. He said it would be his first time to visit China.

His trip has not drawn much controversy in Taiwan, where the public is used to seeing Kuomingtang politicians visit China. However, it has been criticized by some political opponents and activists.

A former mainland student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen square protests called on Ma to cancel his trip. If you have even a strand of affection for Taiwan ... you should announce the cancellation of your trip, said Wang Dan, a Chinese dissident who previously lived in Taiwan, on his Facebook page.

A handful of protesters from a pro-independence group held a demonstration at the departures area at Taoyuan airport before Mas departure. Ma Ying-jeou is humiliating our nation and forfeiting its sovereignty, they shouted before police carried them out. You are a stinky beggar.

On the other side, a small group of people from the pro-unification camp also came to the airport to show their support. Cross-strait relations are like flowers blossoming in spring and both sides are a family, they shouted.

The trip is also a chance for him to honor his ancestors, ahead of Tomb Sweeping Day on April 5. During the festival, which is celebrated in Taiwan and China among other countries, families visit ancestral graves to maintain the burial grounds and remember the dead.

Ma will not go to Beijing, but may meet with Chinese officials.

Ma met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015, while he was still in office. The meeting was the first between the leaders of the two sides since Taiwan split from mainland China in 1949 during the Chinese civil war, but was considered more symbolic than substantive.

In 2016, the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won national elections and Beijing cut off contact with Taiwans government, citing Tsais refusal to endorse the idea that Taiwan and China are one country.

___

Wu reported from Taipei.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Residents of Greenland have switched to daylight saving time and moved their clocks one hour forward this weekend for the very last time.

Unlike most of Europe, Greenlanders will leave their clocks untouched come autumn when daylight saving time ends. While Europe and the U.S. debates whether to stick to the twice-yearly practice, Greenland - a vast Danish semi-independent territory in the Arctic - has resolved to perennially remain only three hours behind Copenhagen and most other European countries instead of four.

Greenlands parliament, Inatsisartut, voted to stick to daylight saving time year-round on Nov. 24 last year. Officials say it will give Greenlanders another hour of daylight in the afternoons and more time to do business with Europe and farther afield.

The shift of time zone marks an exciting new beginning, an equal connection to North America and Europe, and an opportunity to slow down in a fast-paced world, Visit Greenland, the local governments tourism office said in a statement.

Geographically, sparsely populated Greenland belongs to the North American continent but geopolitically, it is in Europe.

Greenland is part the Danish Realm and its southernmost tip is more than 3,200 kilometers (nearly 2,000 miles) west of Copenhagen.

Its 56,000 people mainly Inuit, indigenous people who chiefly live on the west coast in small towns and hamlets or remote coastal settlements.

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BOSTON (AP)  Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Monday that she will seek a third term in 2024.

Warren, a prominent voice for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and a failed 2020 presidential contender, said shes running for reelection to end corruption in Washington, make the economy work for the middle class and protect democracy.

I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the rich and powerful and against everyone else. I won because Massachusetts voters know it, too. And now Im running for Senate again because theres a lot more weve got to do, Warren said in a campaign video released Monday.

Warren, 73, had more than $2.3 million in her campaign account at the end of 2022, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Warren first won election to the seat in 2012, defeating incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who was elected to fill out the term of Democratic U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died in 2009.

With the win, the then-Harvard Law School professor became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts.

In 2018, Warren won a second term, easily defeating Republican candidate Geoff Diehl, before quickly setting her sights on the presidency.

While popular among some Democratic voters for her blunt rhetoric, Warren was unable to break away from the partys pack of contenders and dropped out after failing to win any of the states that voted on Super Tuesday, including coming in third in the Democratic primary in her home state.

During the campaign against Brown and again during her bid for the presidency, Warren was dogged by past claims of Native American heritage and her inability to provide documentation of that ancestry.

That led then-President Donald Trump to go after her early in the presidential campaign, derisively labeling her Pocahontas." Warren had said she learned of her family ties to Cherokee and Delaware tribes from stories told by her parents.

After the 2020 loss, Warren continued her focus on the financial sector.

Warren recently joined California Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat, to push a proposal to repeal a 2018 rollback of certain aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act, enacted after the financial crisis a decade earlier.

The bill, part of discussions in Congress following the recent abrupt failure of two banks, is unlikely to advance.

In her campaign video, Warren ticked off a series of priorities from passing a wealth tax and putting stricter rules on banks to making child care more affordable, protecting coastal communities and building what she called a 21st century transportation system across all of Massachusetts.

Its unclear who might challenge Warren for the Senate seat. Many Democrats appeared to be waiting until Warren or fellow Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, also a Democrat, decided not to seek reelection. Markey in 2020 fended off a primary challenge from then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy.

The states Republican Party is trying to rebuild after losing the governors office last year when Republican Gov. Charlie Baker opted not to seek a third term and Democrat Maura Healey handily defeated GOP candidate Geoff Diehl.

Warren already has the backing of many high-profile Massachusetts Democrats including U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Markey.

Warren serves on several congressional committees including the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Armed Services.

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The rise in popularity of ChatGPT, DALL-E and other programs has raised serious questions over the challenges and opportunities posed by generative artificial intelligence for learning.

And the University of Virginia plans to be a part of that conversation.

Starting Monday, the UVa Generative AI in Teaching & Learning Task Force will host a series of virtual town hall discussions aimed at deepening the communitys understanding of generative AI, providing insights into how AI tools are evolving and inspiring fresh ideas about harnessing AI to improve student learning.

Six online town hall meeting and questionnaires will be held from Monday through April 14.

The planned meetings are as follows:

Arts and Sciences (Natural Sciences) Online Town Hall: 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday.

Architecture, Batten, Education and Human Development, & Nursing Online Town Hall: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wednesday.

Engineering and Applied Sciences & Data Science Online Town Hall: 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., April 10.

Arts and Sciences (Social Sciences) Online Town Hall: 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., April 11.

Arts and Sciences (Arts & Humanities) & Professional and Continuing Education Online Town Hall: 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., April 12.

Darden, Law, & McIntire Online Town Hall: 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., April 14.

Faculty and students may attend any session. Participants are asked to register for each session on the task force website. Each session is limited to 300 participants, but the task force said it will consider offering additional sessions if there is high demand.

The seven-member Generative AI in Teaching & Learning Task Force was formed at the direction of Ian Baucom, UVas executive vice president and provost.

Generative artificial intelligence has arrived and many of us are experimenting with tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, Baucom said in a letter to faculty announcing the task force. Faculty and graduate instructors are eager to learn how this technology might be harnessed to enhance instruction and how to best ensure that students use these tools appropriately.

At Baucoms direction, Brie Gertler, the vice provost for academic affairs, formed the task force with Natasha Heny, an associate professor in the School of Education and Human Development, and Andrew Pennock, an associate professor in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Heny and Pennock serve as co-chairs on the force.

Other members of the task force include Gabrielle Bray, a fourth-year student who chairs the Honor Committee; T. Kenny Fountain, an associate professor of English and director of Writing Across the Curriculum in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; Briana Morrison, an associate professor of computer science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science; Reza Mousavi, an assistant professor of commerce in the McIntire School of Commerce; and Michael Palmer, director of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Both faculty and students are invited to these online town halls, Heny told the universitys media outlet UVA Today. We will provide some information and then ask them critical questions that get them to engage, and they will record their responses in a form we will use as a source of data.

We want to learn how students and faculty are actually using this technology in courses, Pennock added. We hear anecdotal evidence from the faculty members who are closest to us, but we really want to understand how our students using it to study as well as to complete assignments. Theres a real opportunity for faculty to make their classes better, to be able to get more work done in the same amount of time.
ATLANTA (AP)  A Georgia judge on Monday ordered the Fulton County district attorneys office to respond to a motion by former President Donald Trump to throw out a report by a special grand jury that investigated attempts to interfere in the states 2020 presidential election.

The motion by Trumps legal team also seeks to toss out all testimony from the inquiry and to bar Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis to respond by May 1 and to let him know whether an in-person hearing is needed to resolve any issues. A spokesperson for Willis said her office would reply through its court filings.

The filing is an effort by Trump to escape one of the multiple legal challenges he faces, including a state inquiry in New York into hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president as well as a pair of U.S. Justice Department criminal investigations. One examines his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. The other examines Trumps possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate.

Willis began her investigation shortly after the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that conversation, the then-president suggested that Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, could find the exact number of votes needed to overturn Trumps narrow election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.

The special grand jury heard from about 75 witnesses and considered other evidence before issuing a report that includes recommendations for Willis on criminal charges. McBurney released the reports introduction and conclusion, as well as a section in which the grand jurors expressed concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath, but the rest of the report has remained under wraps so far.

Willis said in a January hearing that decisions on indictments were imminent.

The challenge by Trumps legal team, filed last Monday, also contended that McBurney misinterpreted Georgia law and erred by not disqualifying Willis from the entire probe when he ruled in July that Willis could not pursue charges against Burt Jones, now Georgias lieutenant governor.

Trumps lawyers asked for another judge besides McBurney to hear the challenge. He did not acknowledge that push in Mondays brief order.

The lawyers also faulted Willis for granting repeated news interviews, citing a list of 39 media appearances and saying her comments cast a shadow of bias over her office and the entire investigation.

Trumps lawyers similarly argued that interviews that the foreperson and other grand jurors have given should disqualify the case.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  Joe James, a Black man, was asleep under a tree when he was grabbed, beaten and then arrested for the murder of a white man in Springfield, Illinois.

Before he was put on trial and later executed, a white mob seeking vengeance for the crime James was accused of committing took out its hate and anger on other Black people in the state capital.

The 1908 race riot left Black-owned businesses and homes looted and burned. At least two other Black men were lynched weeks before an all-white jury convened in the aftermath of the violence found James guilty, according to legal teams petitioning for a pardon 114 years after the fact. Their argument: The jury was racially prejudiced and James did not receive a fair trial.

The riot and its aftermath fueled the formation a year later of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

James factual innocence is not the focus of this petition, because the passage of time and the destruction of evidence have made it impossible to prove conclusively that James was innocent, said Steve Drizin, co-director of Northwestern Universitys Pritzker School of Laws Center on Wrongful Convictions.

The Center on Wrongful Convictions and Northeastern University School of Laws Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project in Boston filed a petition for executive clemency this month. They are to go before the review board from next month.

The review board then could make a recommendation for pardon to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. If successful, the posthumous action would be the third such pardon in Illinois over the past decade and follow recent ones elsewhere in the U.S.

James was accused of entering Clergy Ballards home in July 1908 when Ballards 16-year-old daughter woke to find a man sitting on her bed. Reports from that time state that Ballard caught the man outside the house and was stabbed or cut to death during a struggle.

James was arrested hours later and locked in the county jail where the following month he was joined by another Black man, George Richardson, who was accused of sexually assaulting a white woman.

Threats from white residents to both men prompted authorities to move them to a jail outside Sangamon County. Incensed, the white mob took out its judgment on the towns Black residents.

At least eight white people were killed in the violence and more than 100 were injured, mostly by members of the state militia or each other, according to the petition, which cited news articles from that period. Its not known how many Black people were injured and killed.

The first business burned by the white mob was a restaurant whose white owner used his car to help move James and Richardson from the Sangamon County Jail. An eatery owned by a Black woman, Kadejia Berkley, now stands at the site of that restaurant.

James appeared before a Sangamon County jury after a judge refused to move the trial to another county. He was convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence, attorneys seeking the pardon said in a release.

On Oct. 23, 1908, just over two months after the riot, James was hanged at the Sangamon County jail. White rioters were acquitted for their roles in the lynching and destruction.

Throughout history, we have seen white juries not only convict and execute Black men and women on scant evidence, but acquit whites who murder Black people in the face of overwhelming evidence of guilt, said Margaret Burnham, founding director of Northeasterns Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project. This double standard operated in Springfield in 1908, infecting Springfields criminal justice system and depriving James of a fair trial.

In 2020, the site of the riot near downtown Springfield was added to the National Park Services African American Civil Rights Network.

Granting the posthumous pardon will not break new ground, the petition said.

In 2014, then-Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn pardoned three white abolitionists convicted of helping runaway slaves in the 1840s. Five years later, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner pardoned Grover Thompson, a Black man who was wrongfully convicted of murdering a white woman in 1981.

One of the more prominent exoneration cases involves nine Black men wrongly accused of raping two white women in 1931 in Alabama. The Scottsboro Boys were convicted by all-white juries. All but the youngest defendant was sentenced to death. Five of the convictions were overturned in 1937 after one of the alleged victims recanted her story. Each man was ultimately freed. Clarence Norris, the last known surviving defendant, was pardoned in 1976 by Alabamas governor. The rest received posthumous pardons in 2013.

Such pardons mean the world to relatives of those wrongly accused and convicted, said Osceola Perdue, niece of Alexander McClay Williams, a Black 16-year-old who was convicted in 1931 by an all-white jury and executed in the slaying of a white matron of a boys school in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Williams signed murder confessions but later recanted. Charges against him were dismissed last June after the Delaware County district attorneys office said there was no direct evidence implicating Williams to the slaying and no eyewitnesses.

It was so sad to know he was only 16 and they didnt care as long as they convicted someone, Perdue told The Associated Press. He was a Black kid. They convicted a kid they knew did not do this.

Perdue, 56, said her father first told her about his brothers tragic story when she was 8 years old.

My grandmother, as I found out later, never thought he did it, Perdue said. My grandmother went to her deathbed knowing that her child went to the electric chair.

Williams sister, Susie Carter, described his pardon as uplifting.

It really meant a lot to me, Carter, 93, of Chester, Pennsylvania, said Wednesday. All these years, you think maybe he did do it because he confessed. It wasnt something you were proud of. My mother would say my brother didnt kill that woman.

My brothers blood must have cried out from the ground, she said. That state murdered my brother.

______

Williams is a member of APs Race & Ethnicity team. He reported from West Bloomfield, Michigan.

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Its easy to be a democracy doomsayer these days.

The hard part is deciding what the biggest peril is. Otherwise, the hand-wringing becomes pointless finger-wagging.

Consider these three pillars as we ponder how to shore up the foundations of Canadian democracy.

Information: In the battle between disinformation and information, are social media platforms destabilizing us with conspiracy theories? What about the mass media that demoralize us daily with sometimes wild tales of foreign interference?

Trust: In the contest between trust and distrust, can we reassure citizens that democratic elections are worthy, however imperfect? Or will we amplify the most dispiriting memes, domestic and foreign, that our elections are rigged and our politicians corrupted?

Inequality: In the fight for fairness, will the clamour for affordability trump inequality?

At the recent DemocracyXChange Summit, I moderated a panel of three big thinkers who set the table for a broader debate by activists and academics at the event: What is to be done?

Democracy is about choosing  making an informed decision not just about rival ideologies, but competing ecosystems that threaten our own system.

Mia Gaviola explained how disinformation took root in her native Philippines and is now infecting all democracies. A longtime collaborator with the Manila-based journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, she argued that misinformation has multiplied because social media technology moves at warp speed.

The problem is the new breed of information gatekeepers, which are algorithms, she told the audience. Algorithms and policies implemented by social media platforms play a critical role in shaping where we place our attention, the values by which we define ourselves.

While mainstream media are still the main sources of news for Canadians, the pandemic opened up new vectors  not only for viruses, but viral news that upended reality, she added. Conspiracies are us  even in Canada.

I reminded the audience of an Abacus Data poll last year that found one in three Canadians believe Microsoft founder Bill Gates is monitoring people with microchips implanted in COVID-19 vaccines, or they think its possible, or theyre just not sure but cant rule it out.

Faulty information rapidly erodes faith in our institutions  and trust is core to democracy, said longtime public servant Matthew Mendelsohn. Trust is what allows people to move beyond family ties to clans, tribes, and finally nation states that work together and govern themselves across regions that span thousands of kilometres and millions of people.

It is foundational. But fragile.

Authoritarians are targeting our belief in the integrity of our democratic institutions, and our trust in one another  this is clearly part of the authoritarian strategy.

Mendelsohn pointed out that trust doesnt mean uncritical belief. You can trust someone as a good-faith politician or journalist who gets it wrong, as opposed to a person of bad faith who wilfully deceives and corrupts.

He used me as an example.

I dont know Martin that well, but I trust Martin, he argued. (Full disclosure: weve both been visiting professors at Toronto Metropolitan University and, it turns out, attended the same Montreal high school, but didnt cross paths until a few years ago.) Sometimes I disagree with Martin, but I dont think he is writing as an agent of a hidden interest, or a foreign power.

He is like the other panellists, and like the other people in this room, and I hope me: A good-faith actor who sometimes makes mistakes and with whom we can disagree, with whom we can dialogue.

Thats a point worth bearing in mind amid our ideological politics and polarizing battles. We can hold opposing views while sharing similar democratic beliefs.

Beyond misinformation and mistrust, however, the enduring fault line in Canada is inequality, according to economist Armine Yalnizyan (who also writes a fortnightly column in the Stars business section).

The search for economic and social justice, and reducing inequality, is at the core of our democratic project, she said.

The inequities are increasingly entrenched because workers and activists lack clout  and focus: The workforce is extremely atomized, we dont have strong unions, we dont have a strong collective voice. We are much more into identity politics than we are into class politics.

Yalnizyan argued that Canadians are competing in the Olympics of victimization  Im worse off than you are; youre worse off; well look at me, Im even worse off; and that process of not finding common ground and common things to fight for makes it very difficult to gain advantage.

Like the other panellists, Yalnizyan stressed the need for reliable rules and institutions  but argued they need shaking up. With overseas supply chains fraying, the old globalization is dead, to be replaced by a fragile new globalization based on co-operation on climate change and other shared threats.

All that said, I wonder if voter preoccupations  with both identity and affordability  have upended the collective fight for fairness: Affordability is the new inequality, which means politicians spend more time talking up tax cuts, and less time guarding against cuts to social programs.

Todays pocketbook politics, starting in America but increasingly in Canada, is less transformational and more transactional than ever. Just ask Premier Doug Ford.

That, too, is democracy. If you dont like it, you need to make it better.

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Ontario is taking a big piece of the action in the film and television industry  racking up another record-breaking year for productions, raking in more than $3 billion for the economy.

The sector is doing so well that it has attracted the attention of Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, who is reportedly prepared to invest in a new film studio in Markham  which, if completed, could be the largest film and TV production facility in the country.

The film and television production industries continue to thrive, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Neil Lumsden said in the legislature on Monday, noting 2022 was the best year ever  hard to believe, but that goes to show you what a great industry it is.

It is thriving  its over $3 billion back into the economy. Thats 46,000 jobs.

Domestic film and television production increased by 25 per cent, and confidence isnt just within Ontario, its from outside of Ontario as well, Lumsden said. There is a  massive production studio being built  1.2 million square feet  in Markham, Ontario. Its being done by a gentleman who grew up in Canada and who is a star in the film industry: Ryan Reynolds. His company is building this. There are more than just a few people who have confidence in Ontario and what were doing.

Justin Cutler, Ontarios film commissioner at Ontario Creates, told the Star that production levels remained strong the entire year and he was thrilled to see the final 2022 numbers.

Its our first time exceeding $3 billion as a jurisdiction, he said, noting Ontario is now one of the leaders in the sector around the globe. Weve built a strong international reputation with producers worldwide, and thats based on the competitive financial incentives that we offer  a vast infrastructure for studios, production support services, our highly skilled labour, and also the film commission services and the locations that were able to offer producers.

In a statement, Reynolds  the star of Deadpool  called it mind-boggling and humbling to be a part of developing a new film production hub, reports Variety.

Im excited to expand our storytelling capabilities in new directions and to bring more production work to Ontario, Reynolds said in the statement.

A spokesperson for the City of Markham said in an email that it continues to focus on attracting film, TV and digital media investment. There have been preliminary discussions with various proponents expressing interest in developing facilities in the City of Markham. To date there has been no formal development submission. The City of Markham looks forward to receiving a development application as we prioritize the approval of these major investments.

In 2022, the province hosted 419 productions  which, in turn, generated $3.15 billion in production spending for the economy  including popular Amazon Prime superhero show The Boys, as well as the Academy Award-winning movie Women Talking, directed by Canadian Sarah Polley and based on the novel by Manitoba-born writer Miriam Toews.

Exterior and interior scenes in Women Talking were shot on a farm in Pickering, and interior hayloft scenes in a Toronto studio.

The vast majority of people working on that movie were Ontarians, Cutler said.

The province has also seen a boom in romance movies shot here, which in part helped fuel the 2022 numbers  which bested the $2.88 billion record set in 2021.

Mississippi Mills, near Ottawa, has been nicknamed Hollywood of the North given the number of productions shot there in recent years, and in particular the Hallmark/romance genre. Northern Ontario is also seeing a jump in productions, including Sudbury-shot series Shoresy and Letterkenny.

Ontario PC MPP Brian Riddell (Cambridge) noted in the legislature Monday that The Handmaids Tale  the series based on Canadian author Margaret Atwoods novel  has become his ridings unofficial claim to fame on the small screen. While viewers greatly enjoy this show as it wraps up its final season, local businesses in my community greatly benefited from the production and the work completed here.

Tax credits have helped give the film and TV sector a boost, and in the 2023 budget, the province extended tax credits for online productions and is looking to require productions that benefit from such incentives to include the province in end credits.

NDP culture critic Jill Andrew said while shes always happy to see film and TV supported  they are great economic contributors  Its excellent news, but film and TV are not the only forms of art that we want to acknowledge and celebrate in Ontario and that more funding is needed for the Ontario Arts Council and others.

Unlike other areas of the arts and tourism sectors, film and television productions thrived during COVID-19, as more people sought out streamed content they could watch from home during repeated lockdowns, a trend that has continued.

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Approximately 171,100 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, with more than 43,000 means of transport, carried out, on Sunday, the control formalities, both on their way to enter and exit the country, through the border crossing points nationwide, informs the General Inspectorate of the Border Police (IGPF).

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday, 84,607 people entered Romania, of whom 8,311 were Ukrainian citizens.

According to their respective areas of jurisdiction, the crossing points and the "green border," the police found, on Sunday, 54 illegal acts (23 offences and 31 contraventions) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens, told Agerpres.

The goods seized for confiscation were worth more than RON 243,500.

The amount of contravention fines applied amounted to approximately RON 18,400.

On Sunday, 10 foreign citizens who did not meet the conditions stipulated by the law were not allowed to enter the country, and 12 Romanian citizens were also not allowed to leave for various legal reasons.
The union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania seems to be the safest and shortest way for the citizens across the Prut to be safe with the entire European Union, Romanian MEP Eugen Tomac emphasized on Monday, in a message posted on his Facebook page on the occasion of the celebration on March 27 of the Day of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, told Agerpres.

"The union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania, carried out in observance of the international law and the Helsinki agreement, seems to be the safest and shortest way for the citizens across the Prut to be safe with the entire European Union," says Tomac.

"The day of March 27, 1918, is one of the most significant in the history of the Romanian people. Then, after 106 years of tsarist occupation, Bessarabia returned to its natural borders, being the first Romanian province to unite with Romania," emphasizes the Romanian MEP, recalling that this holiday was established at his proposal by law 36/2017.

"Currently, more than 50pct of the population of the Republic of Moldova also holds Romanian citizenship. And the proximity to Romania has become a necessity and an option that no one has the right to question," he claims, at the same time evoking that the Parliament in Chisinau has recently approved the complete elimination of the phrase "Moldovan language" and its replacement with the Romanian language both in the Constitution and in all the laws of the Republic of Moldova adopted in the past 30 years.

Eugen Tomac believes that the union scenario should not be missing from the table both in Bucharest and Brussels, as long as Moscow does not miss any opportunity to express its claims towards the Republic of Moldova, according to the message published on his Facebook page.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, on Monday stated that, in what concerns the Bystroe issue, the Ministry acted "permanently and promptly" according to its powers, noting that some voices said that the Ministry was not firm enough with Ukraine, which is "false," as "Romania's external image was attacked by Russian propaganda" to block support for Ukraine.

"In the Bystroye case, the MAE acted permanently and promptly according to its powers, including in the last two months, since the first signals about the dredging appeared, even if not all the steps were public. I repeat, until the information appeared publicly in February, the MAE was not informed by Ukraine or by the relevant authorities that the Ukrainian side was dredging Chilia and Bystroye. We did not receive confirmations in this regard even afterwards. The MAE informed the European Commission on February 16, but also previously, including in 2022, that Romania does not agree with the inclusion of the Chilia and Bystroye arms in the TEN-T. I was in constant dialogue with my counterpart, Kuleba, directly on February 18, in Munich, February 23-24, in New York, and I have been in permanent contact these past couple of days as well. On every occasion, the MAW asked the Ukrainian side, including in writing, to immediately stop, to refrain from carrying out any deep dredging. Moreover, the Ukrainian side did stop any kind of dredging," Aurescu told the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, at the Government Question Time.

He also said that it is important to wait "calmly" for the data of the measurements, which must be interpreted, and afterwards environmental values are needed, noting that a conclusion will then be drawn.

The M also mentioned that the external image of Romania was attacked by Russian propaganda.

"Some voices said that the MAE was not firm enough with Ukraine. It's false, in fact Romania's external image was attacked by the Russian propaganda, which tried to use the Bystroye case to block Romania's support for Ukraine (. ..) We permanently defend Romania's interests in all files and it is in the direct interest of Romania and Romanians to support Ukraine with everything we can to win this war. Supporting Ukraine means more security for Romania. It is not in Romania's interest that Russia reach at the mouths of the Danube," Aurescu also said. AGERPRES
MEP Dacian Ciolos, former European Commissioner for Agriculture and Sustainable Development, asked, on Monday, Agriculture Minister Petre Daea to provide information regarding the payment of subsidies for organic agriculture and agri-environmental measures, while claiming that all these are currently blocked.

"Subsidy payments from European funds for ecological agriculture and agro-environmental measures are still blocked. Although their payment should have started last year, people did not receive the money they are entitled to. The same happens with the aids meant for those who were affected by last year's drought. The process started late and suffered from some wrong calculations, which means time lost and farmers left for almost a year without the money they should have received," Ciolos wrote on Facebook.

Ciolos emphasized that every day that passes without the subsidies reaching the farmers makes the Romanian agricultural sector "even more vulnerable." According to him, every day that Petre Daea remains at the head of the Ministry of Agriculture is "another day in which Romanian farmers are pushed towards bankruptcy." AGERPRES
Romania will be "where duty and the voice of blood call it" and will continue to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and PSD (Social Democratic Party) leader Marcel Ciolacu stated on Monday.

Marcel Ciolacu is currently visiting the Republic of Moldova, where he participated, in the locality of Ialoveni, in the ceremony occasioned by the unveiling of the busts of historical personalities Alexandru Marghiloman and Ion Inculet.

"Alexandru Marghiloman and Ion Inculet are two of the architects of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania 105 years ago, two great politicians, two Romanian patriots, and when I say this I cannot help but think with emotion that, today, 100 years later, Buzau, which was the home town of Marghiloman, and Ialoveni, which was the home town of Inculet, are twinned towns. (...) On March 27, 1918, Alexandru Marghiloman told this to the Council of the Country in Chisinau: 'When the danger appeared that threatened our integrity, Romania rushed to help to guarantee the independence and indivisibility of this country.' Today, 105 years later, we are here and allow me to tell you clearly and plainly that nothing has changed. Romania still sees it as its duty to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova," stated Ciolacu, on the said occasion.

"I am glad to see that the Republic of Moldova is taking decisive and firm steps every day and every hour in the direction of Romania, that is, in the direction of a space of Western civilization and security," added Ciolacu.

Marcel Ciolacu also mentioned that the return of the Romanian language as an official language in the Republic of Moldova is "not only a victory for Romanianism, but a necessary act of courage."

He also said that the things that truly unite Romania and the Republic of Moldova are of a symbolic nature.

"Of course, material aid is important, electricity, gas and financial support, but the things that truly unite us are those of a symbolic nature, and with every bridge you build with Romania you will raise an even bigger wall in front of Russia. I say this because from our forefathers, Alexandru Marghiloman and Ion Inculet, we learned an extremely important lesson, namely that it does not matter which bank of the Prut you are born when your heart is that of a Romanian. I'm from Buzau, but I'm Romanian, you are from Bessarabia, but you are Romanians, and together we defend our land, nation and history," Ciolacu said. AGERPRES
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, is traveling to Romania on Monday, on which occasion he will be welcomed at the Cotroceni Palace by president Klaus Iohannis, the Presidential Administration informs.

The two high dignitaries will have one-on-one and official talks, told Agerpres.

At the end of them, they will have a joint press statement.

President Iohannis participated, last week, Thursday and Friday, in Brussels, in the spring meeting of the European Council and in the extended Euro Summit.
Daniel Neman Daniel Neman is a retail business writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Daniel Neman 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

The COVID pandemic was a bad time for salad bars.

Shielded only by a sneeze guard, subject to being touched by peoples germ-covered hands, salad bars were avoided, quite literally, like the plague.

As a corollary, the COVID pandemic was a bad time for companies that make salad bars.

At the height of COVID, November 2020, Picadeli, a new-concept salad-bar company founded in Sweden, opened an offshoot company in the United States.

The company was already a hit in Europe, with more than 2,000 locations in grocery stores across seven countries. In the United States, they are now found in Albertsons and a couple of other chains.

Last week, Picadeli began installing salad bars in 22 Schnucks markets in the St. Louis region, Columbia and Illinois. The rollout should be completed by June.

The salad bars represent a new level of process and technology  artificial intelligence is involved  though the differences will be noticed more by the stores than the customers.

Traditional salad bars are traditionally very hard to operate, said Picadeli U.S. Chief Executive Officer Patrik Hellstrand. They are labor-intensive, requiring 50 to 60 employee hours per week. The Picadeli version only requires 15 hours, he said.

Standard salad bars have people in the back, washing, chopping and preparing food. When a pan of, say, shredded cheese needs to be replaced, a worker has to bring it from a refrigerated storage section of the store to the salad bar.

The new version has smaller pans of already prepared items in refrigerated cabinets underneath the salad bar itself. All a worker has to do is open the cabinet, get a pan of the cheese and remove the plastic top.

The smaller pans mean the food has less of a chance to spoil before it is replaced, Hellstrand said. Spoilage and waste are major problems with salad bars.

The items Picadeli stocks on its salad bars  including hummus, falafel, tuna and more usual fare  generally stay fresh a week to 12 or 14 days after production, he said. Thats shorter than the average salad bar.

Because we are able to turn the food really quickly, we are able to serve much higher quality food, Hellstrand said.

The new version addresses another source of spoilage as well. Typically, refrigeration units just under the pans risk freezing some of the more delicate items on the bottom of the pan while the open-air design encourages the top items to dry out.

The Picadeli version has a cold wall behind the pans that extends above them, which Hellstrand said helps to circulate the air and keep a consistent, crisp temperature for all the produce. A see-through plastic cover, which must be raised to gain access to the food, also maintains the temperature and humidity for the food.

One of the more intriguing innovations involves artificial intelligence. As each new tray of produce is removed from the cabinet, it is scanned into a computer, which keeps track of how much of each item  whole hard-boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices and the like  is used, and how fast.

It uses an algorithm to calculate or forecast the amount of food it will use for each store, he said. It learns from the behavior of the bar. It tries to predict behavior based on past usage.

Being able to fill the specific needs of each store also cuts down on spoilage and waste.

But the biggest advantage of the system is the ease with which each pan is refilled. Seventy percent of a typical salad bars sales are made in the two hours around lunch. The traditional salad bar requires several people preparing food during that period to keep up with demand.

With this new version, the food is already ready to go. It just takes a minute to take it out of the cabinet, scan it and drop it in its place.

Employees in the store have more time to do other things, Hellstrand said.
ST. LOUIS  The owner of the troubled Railway Exchange Building, a centerpiece of downtown St. Louis architecture, is moving to shore up security after a series of break-ins, including one that led to the death of a fire department search-and-rescue dog earlier this month.

The owner of a security company that patrolled the building said the situation had become nearly untenable: Thieves were stealing copper, drug use in the building was commonplace, and criminal suspects were hiding inside. Amos Harris, a representative of owner Hudson Holdings of Florida, said the company was under pressure from City Hall and its lender to beef up security.

The illegal salvage crews would break in and that would become an entrance for the homeless, Harris said in a text. Stopping this required substantially more funding and the lender turned to Hudson, the owner, to fund these costs.

City Hall and historic preservationists both agree that the Railway Exchange Building, at 615 Olive Street, is a jewel worth saving  but its been years since the vacant, 21-story, 1.2 million-square-foot building that occupies an entire block has shined. Its continued deterioration threatens not just the viability of the historic property but the lives of those inside the building.

Built in 1914, it served as the headquarters of Famous-Barr parent May Department Stores before Macys acquired the company in 2005. Thousands shopped there every year, and generations of St. Louisans had admired the retailers extensive tinseled model train displays during the winter holidays before Macys left. The property has sat vacant for nearly a decade.

Harris had for years managed the property for Hudson. Harris quit in mid-December after not being paid. Hudson's ownership group, led by Andrew "Avi" Greenbaum, who also does business under Triple Double Real Estate, rehired Harris after city officials condemned the building in January.

Security officers were at the property Friday morning as city crews worked to demolish the pedestrian bridge connecting the Railway Exchange with its nearby parking garage.

Nick Desideri, a spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, said the owner will be billed for the demolition, adding that city officials remain in communication with the owner. Desideri declined to comment on the nature of the discussions.

That bridge had been one of several entry ways for thieves, homeless people and trespassers to get into the building, said Kenneth Knackstedt, regional manager for Citizens Guard Security, a firm that has recently patrolled the properties.

Knackstedt said Triple Double Real Estate hired his company in January, after the city condemned the property. His company had found numerous unsecured entrances into the building  including one that led to a man falling seven stories down an elevator shaft, Knackstedt said. He said he had repeatedly asked the owner to pay for repairs. His security officers removed up to 40 people a day when they first started, he said, but conditions had markedly improved by early March to where as few as one or two people were trespassing onto the properties daily.

But Knackstedt said he struggled to reach Greenbaum, even after a St. Louis Fire Department search-and-rescue dog was killed searching the building on March 3.

Greenbaum did not answer his phone or respond to a text message on Friday requesting comment.

Then, on Friday, Knackstedt said Harris employee fired his company. Knackstedt said hes owed $45,000 in unpaid services as well as a $60,000 severance fee. He said he is hoping to work out a settlement with Triple Double.

Harris said Triple Double was unsatisfied with Knackstedts firm. He said on Friday the owner has now employed a new firm, 3AM Security.

Hudson bought the Railway Exchange and its parking garage in 2017 and planned a $300 million mixed-use development. But a water main rupture dumped millions of gallons of water and tons of sludge in the basement, destroying infrastructure and prompting a lawsuit that is still ongoing.

Greenbaums company also is involved in litigation with several lien-holders, including New York-based Gamma Real Estate Capital, which lent Hudson $19.7 million to acquire the building. The litigation and unpaid bonds from a different redevelopment attempt are furthering hampering any renovation.

Editor's note: The story has been updated to clarify the ownership of the Railway Exchange Building.

Photos: The Railway Exchange, once home to Famous-Barr and Macy's in downtown St. Louis Peeling paint on a Railway Exchange Building former entrance in Dec. 2021 Plane flies past the Railway Exchange in 1928 Workers polish the old Famous-Barr signs on Macy's in 2006 Macy's prepares for grand opening in 2006 Downtown Macy's Closes in August 2013 Sisters and long-time shoppers at downtown Famous-Barr in 2005 Book cover of "Famous-Barr, St. Louis Shopping At Its Finest" Famous-Barr downtown pedestrian bridge constructed in 1962 Look Back at Famous-Barr window train display in 1952 St. Louis drops out of the top 20 metropolitan areas in the country in March 2022 City condemns Railway Exchange Building in Jan. 2023 City condemns Railway Exchange Building in Jan. 2023 City condemns Railway Exchange Building in Jan. 2023 Grafitti covers former Railway Exchage pedestrian bridge in March 2022 as St. Louis population dips below 300,000 Grafitti and regional advertising adorn the Railway Exchange windows in March 2022 as St. Louis population dips below 300,000 The Railway Exchange Building in Dec. 2021 Former Railway Exchange pedestrian bridge seen in Oct. 2021 WashU students photographing and studying the Railway Exchange in 2014 Buying the remains as downtown Macy's closes in August 2013 A shopper recounts memories as Macy's to close downtown store in 2013 Railway Exchange seen in May 2013 after Macy's announces store closure plans Macy's announces plans to close downtown location in May 2013 May Company announces layoffs in Sept. 2005 Famous-Barr sold to May Company in 2005 Shoppers ride the Famous-Barr escalator in Jan. 2003 A Famous Barr window draws some lookers in 1981 Shoppers look at a Christmas window in 1980 Shoppers look at a Famous Barr window in 1974 Model trains draw shoppers Famous-Barr windows in 1974 St. Louisans gather around department store TV for news of JFK assassination in 1963 Couple takes in Famous-Barr Christmas windows in 1939 Kids pose on a horse with Santa at Famous-Barr in 1933
Piasa Park in Alton, which includes a giant Piasa Bird mural painted on a limestone cliff, will get a makeover and new visitor center in the hopes to attract more visitors to the region.

The Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau plans to put the project out for bids this summer with a goal of spring 2025 as a completion date.

The bureau will present details and renderings to the Alton Riverfront Commission at Alton City Hall at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The public is welcome to attend and give feedback.

It received a $10 million Illinois Capital Bill Grant to redevelop and enhance the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway in Alton and Hartford. This is part of that work. The park is along Highway 100 about a mile north of downtown Alton.

The bureau manages the 33-mile scenic byway that runs from Hartford to Pere Marquette State Park. The park would include a new 4,500 square foot Byway Discovery Center, which will become the new Alton Visitor Center.

Inside, there will be exhibit space, a gift shop, lecture space and restrooms. It will have green design elements like solar panels on the roof, and its entryway will reflect the sweeping lines of the Clark Bridge, and the stone facade reflecting the limestone bluffs.

The redesigned park will include landscaping, water retention ponds, lighting, outdoor gathering spots, interpretive panels and kiosks, and parking with space for buses.

We are committed to moving this project forward without delay and have it serve as a key milestone in our overall byway activation timeline, tourism bureau president Cory Jobe said in a statement. This is just the beginning.

The Piasa Bird has been painted on the bluffs for at least 25 years. Its a replica of a drawing that French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet spotted on the bluffs in 1673. Marquette wrote in his diary that the bird had a beard like a tiger and a face like a man. According to legend, the bird ate dozens of Illini tribe members, swooping down and snagging them with its talons, before warriors killed it.

Design and engineering firms working on the redevelopment project include SMS Engineers of Alton, Henderson Associates Architects of Edwardsville, Kennedy Hutson Associates Architects of Monticello, Illinois, and the Hitchcock Design Group of Naperville, Illinois.
Dr Pepper Peeps marshmallows: Weve never seen those in an Easter basket before.

Peeps Brand partnered with the iconic Texas soda company to formulate a marshmallow meant to mimic the flavors of Dr Pepper. The secret soda recipe was not shared, a spokesperson for Dr Pepper confirms.

A Peeps partnership was natural for parent company Keurig Dr Pepper, because last year, they jointly released Original Donut Shop Coffee flavored Peeps marshmallows, modeled after a flavor of K-cup pods created by Keurig.

Plus, Peeps likes to deliver the unexpected, a spokesperson for the company says.

Other Peeps flavors in 2023 include Sparkly Wild Berry, cotton candy, Hot Tamales, Party Cake and sour watermelon. Peeps parent company Just Born Quality Confections also owns Hot Tamales, Mike & Ike and Goldenbergs Peanut Chews.

Another Peeps newcomer this year is kettle corn-flavored marshmallow chicks, available only at Kroger.

This years sweets are bursting with PEEPSONALITY, a press release says. We have to agree.

The new Dr Pepper Peeps will be sold exclusively at Walmart nationwide and are expected to go on sale after Valentines Day, a Walmart spokesperson confirms. (We looked at two Walmarts in Dallas this week, hoping to provide you with some tasting notes, but the Dr Pepper Peeps werent on shelves yet.)

Each Dr Pepper Chick is gluten-free, fat-free and fewer than 30 calories, according to a company statement. A 10-count package costs $1.36.
Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

To little surprise, voting on the partisan lightning-rod bill known as the Parents Bill of Rights Act split decidedly along political party lines as the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed the measure on Friday by a 213-208 vote.

That national voting pattern found no exceptions in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Voting in favor of the measure were the six Republican members of the U.S. House who represent portions of STL: Missouri members Ann Wagner, Jason Smith and Blaine Luetkemeyer; and Mike Bost and Mary Miller of Illinois.

Casting opposing ballots were Democrats Cori Bush of St. Louis and Nikki Budzinski of Springfield.

The bills backers contend that the legislation would include requiring education officials to provide parents with lists of books and other curriculum materials, online budgetary information and alerts about incidents of violence at their childs school. Schools also would have to notify parents if their child uses a different name or pronoun at school.

Opponents of the measure have called the bill a gimmick that does nothing but repeat rights that parents already possess and also suggest that the legislation could lead to book bans.

The bill now moves to the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate, which is not expected to take action on the bill.
Children injured or killed by gunfire in the St. Louis area in 2023

Below is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch coverage of children who have been injured or killed by gunfire across the St. Louis metropolitan area in 2023. The children are 17 years old or younger.

Through April 13, reporters have covered at least 18 shootings involving children; nine were fatal.

These are not all the homicides involving children. For more details on local homicides, check the homicide tracker.
The Seychelles Meteorological Authority (SMA) has signed an agreement with the country's two largest telecommunication companies with the aim of bringing faster disaster risk alerts to the public.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed last week by Vincent Amelie, the chief executive of SMA, along with the directors of operators Airtel Seychelles and Cable & Wireless Seychelles during a workshop to coincide with World Meteorological Day (which commemorates the coming into force on 23 March 1950 of the Convention establishing the World Meteorological Organization).

According to the Seychelles News Agency, Amelie explained that, until recently, SMA relied mostly on media houses to send out these alerts but found that the most effective way to reach the public is through sending SMSs to their mobile phones. With this agreement, he suggested, it should be possible to ensure that in the coming years everyone in Seychelles will be covered through the SMS early warning system.

He added that although warnings cannot stop floods or other disasters, they can save lives by warning people early of any impending dangers.

Several presentations on the importance of having such a system in place were held prior to the signing. It included the definitions of each of the three warnings that SMA will use: yellow, amber and red alerts.

In his presentation, Amelie also spoke of the challenges SMA faces in accurately forecasting the weather, which is presumably another reason for adopting the most effective early warning system possible.
UPDATED with comments from school superintendent

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Mo.  A woman was killed Thursday when a teenage driver pulled in front of the woman's car as school was letting out in Cadet, Missouri, authorities said.

Beth A. Rutledge, 45, of Richwoods, Missouri, died at the scene of the crash about 3 p.m. Thursday, said Washington County Coroner Steve Hatfield.

The crash was in front of the Kingston High School, at 10047 Diamond Road.

A 16-year-old girl leaving the school property tried to make a left turn onto Highway 21 and pulled into the path of Rutledge's car, which was traveling north on the highway, the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

The girl suffered serious injuries and was taken to Mercy Hospital South. The patrol did not release the girl's name. Patrol Cpl. Dallas Thompson said he didn't know if the girl was cited in the crash for failure to yield to oncoming traffic.

Thompson said there was no flashing light there and no one was directing traffic Thursday when school was letting out.

Kingston district superintendent Lee Ann Wallace said on the district's Facebook page that "many students witnessed the tragedy." The school brought in counselors the next day to help staff and students.

Thompson said the rural highway in front of the school has a curve and a speed limit of 55 mph.

"We're always worried about crashes there," Thompson said in an interview. "School had just let out ... there is a lot of traffic that time of day.

"They have been discussing making that a school crossing area and school zone, to get (the speed limit) lowered in that area, or maybe add some flashing lights," Thompson said.

Wallace, the school superintendent, said she is going to ask the Missouri of Transportation to send a traffic control specialist to look at the entrance to the school for ways to make it safer.

"My hope is they will put a stop light in that location," Wallace told the Post-Dispatch in an email.

Wallace said the high school principal stands in a grassy area at the edge of the student parking area.

"We have no way to safely direct traffic once they exit the student parking area and pull to the entrance/exit of the school," Wallace said. "There is a good line of site in both directions, but that does not help at our busiest times of the day. There are so many variables to leaving campus that can attribute to an accident occurring."

Rutledge was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Cavalier. The patrol said she was not wearing a seat belt. The girl was driving a 2007 Ford Fusion, and she was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.
Police walk down an alley behind the 2700 block of Arsenal Street past a series of evidence markers denoting rifle bullet casings and blood drops on the pavement as they investigate a double shooting on Monday, March 27, 2023. A woman was pronounced dead at the scene and a man was transported to the hospital. A car, pictured to the right, with more than a dozen bullet holes in it could be seen parked behind a home in the 3000 block of Iowa Avenue, the alley for the 2700 block of Arsenal Street intersects Iowa Avenue. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
High employee turnover has plagued Missouris Department of Social Services for years.

The departments staffing woes have contributed to a range of problems  from foster children languishing in state care for longer than they should be to disabled residents waiting months to receive federal food benefits to investigators unable to keep up with child abuse and neglect complaints.

Gov. Mike Parson dispatched one of his top lieutenants  his former deputy chief of staff, Robert Knodell  to the agency in 2021 to address the long list of challenges, top among them employee morale and retention. In a November presentation to the governors cabinet, Knodell zeroed in on one retention measure he believes has proven especially promising.

The Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging group that the department formed in 2020.

According to Knodells presentation slides during the cabinet meeting, obtained by The Independent through a Sunshine Law request, more than 400 employees had participated in the focus groups as of November. Those who participated, Knodell said, were much less likely to leave their jobs.

Turnover for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging focus group participants is LESS THAN HALF the Department-wide turnover rate, one slide emphasized.

But the program, which one department employee called groundbreaking, now faces a new challenge: The GOPs escalating war against woke government.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft tweeted that a job posting for a diversity, inclusion and belonging leader within the Missouri Department of Natural Resources was an example of left-wing indoctrination in the workplace and the wrong use of taxpayer dollars.

Its time to end woke in government, Ashcroft wrote.

Republican lawmakers have chimed in this month as well.

State Rep. Bishop Davidson, R-Republic, went on Facebook to decry inclusion meetings within the Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development for lacking transparency. State Rep. Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, advanced a bill out of committee last week that would prohibit public universities from soliciting diversity, equity or inclusion (DEI) statements when hiring.

And the GOP criticism is having an impact. The University of Missouri System announced Friday that its four campuses are scrapping the mention of DEI statements in their job posts, in response to Richeys bill.

State department leaders are desperately trying to fill thousands of vacant positions in areas such as mental health, social services, corrections and education. These are also the departments that house Missouris largest minority workforce, and some agency leaders have found that making these workers feel welcomed in a white-dominated state government actually helps retain them.

Yet hearing the GOP rhetoric against these efforts is discouraging to minority workers, said Natashia Pickens, president of Local 6355 of the Communications Workers of America.

The union represents Knodells employees in the social services agency, as well as those with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Its put a lot of fear in workers, Pickens said. Theyre like, If they get rid of these programs, theyre not going to keep Black people. Theyre not going to keep LGBTQ people.

Not only do the inclusion programs help workers feel welcomed, Pickens said, but they also give them visibility for promotions  something she said minority employees statewide have long struggled to land.

Ending the programs will further the delays in connecting the states most vulnerable populations with food, health care and other services, she said. And while she believes pay increases will help ease staffing shortages, the anti-DEI rhetoric could counteract that.

Killing those programs is not going to help with retention, Pickens said. And what thats going to do is put more work on the backs of the workers that do remain.

A right to belong





A supervisor in DSS Family Support Division told The Independent in an interview that the focus group has been important to creating a sense of belonging among her team of 55 workers. She participated in the program but asked not to be identified publicly for fear of political attacks for her involvement.

I am sad that people want to politicize it, said the woman who identifies as white and lives in a Republican-leaning county. I dont care what side of the aisle anyone sits on, we should all have the right to feel like we belong.

Especially through the pandemic, she said she completely believes that it is helping DSS with retention because employees feel like they can be heard.

In these focus groups, weve had people share everything from a fear of coming back into the office to maybe other things that theyve gone through, she said. And to know that your peers are feeling similar, I think thats a big help for staff.

She said the group emphasizes belonging.

Nobody is telling you to change your beliefs, she said. No ones trying to push their beliefs on you. Its just about making everybody feel theyre a part of the group. And we all have a right to be different.

The effort also helps her team understand the perspectives and needs of their diverse clients as well, she said.

Despite pushback from Republican elected officials, Knodell said in a statement to The Independent that the department is committed to the initiative.

The department has also adopted training on diversity, inclusion, and belonging  over 3,000 employees completed portions of the curriculum in fiscal 2022, per Knodells presentation  as well as adopting a heritage calendar highlighting focus area of belonging and inclusion, and a day of remembrance to mark staff lost since 2020.

Groupthink, strategic missteps and bloated bureaucracy are the results of organizations that fail to inclusively consider needs of customers and staff, Knodell said, or misuse initiatives to advance an ideological agenda.

Pickens said shes confused about what Republican leaders mean when they use the term woke in relation to these efforts.

I have no idea what they mean by it, she said.

Ban on DEI statements





The Houses special committee on government accountability recently approved a bill that seeks to bar public universities from giving preferential treatment based on DEI statements.

Richey, the bill sponsor, said he consulted the Cicero Institute, a Texas-based conservative think tank, when crafting the bill. But his definition of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is his own, he said.

The bill defines it as any administrative, ideological, or programmatic effort or perspective that requires applicants to promote or support the idea that disparities are necessarily tied to oppression, involves collective guilt ideologies, and emphasizes the importance of activism and structural reforms based upon intersectional, divisive, or political identities.

Richey said no one is against diversity, but accused DEI initiatives of being politically charged.

We all understand that the terms individually of diversity, equity, and inclusion can mean a whole host of things depending on the context  most of which none of us in this room would have a problem with, he said last week. However, when you put them together programmatically, and the way in which they have been in our current landscape, thats when you begin to see ideology taking over that is very divisive.

Last week, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development responded to an anonymous letter released by someone claiming to be a department employee complaining about that voluntary diversity meetings for staff members werent recorded and were part of the woke agenda.

The letter was posted online by Davidson, who echoed a similar sentiment as Richey, saying the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, together are politically charged and politically motivated.

The department responded to Davidson in a letter, stating that the discussions and best practices shared in diversity sessions help better position team members to meet those needs of hard-to-reach populations.

To reach marginalized populations, a better understanding of the hardships and barriers they may experience is imperative, Leroy Wade, interim commissioner of the higher education and workforce department, said in a letter to Davidson.

Davidson could not be reached for comment.

Not time to throw in the towel

Diversity officers are not new to Missouri government.

The states Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) has been around since 1994 to recruit and retain a diverse workforce.

Diversity drives innovation, Chris Moreland, spokesman for the Office of Administration, the agency that oversees the OEO, said in a statement to The Independent. All team members should feel that their contributions and opinions are valued. In turn, by striving to foster an environment where our team members feel respected and valued, the state can attract and retain top talent in our workforce.

The office produces reports on its minority workforce annually, and there has been a slight decrease since 2020. The Kansas City Star reported last week that many state agencies are far less racially and ethnically diverse than the state as a whole.

Its a pattern that the OEO has documented for the past two decades, since the office began its annual reports. Those reports also show that Missouri has only met its minority participation goal for state contracts four times in the last 30 years.

And while the state has long struggled to move the needle on increasing workforce diversity, Pickens says now is definitely not the time to throw in the towel.

Before the pandemic, work was hard, Pickens said. But since the pandemic, the job responsibilities have changed. The way we do the work has changed. Its a very different environment.

The programs are helping the workers come together to cope with the difficult past few years of the pandemic and become stronger, she said.

Anything that will help boost morale and make folks feel good about coming into work, Pickens said, I dont think is a waste of taxpayer money.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said diversity and inclusion are coming under GOP attacks as the next phase of a constant and shifting culture war waged purely for political gain.

After scoring points by targeting transgender kids with legislation taking away access to gender-affirming care, Rizzo said, Republicans appear ready for a new boogeyman.

Theyve already moved on to the diversity stuff, he said. You can already see, its coming from Washington and theyre starting to target diversity positions in government or even in business. The fear mongering doesnt stop.

The Independents Jason Hancock contributed to this report.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.
JEFFERSON CITY  A year after stripping it from a package of taxpayer-paid incentives for Missouris agriculture industry, a controversial rural tax credit program is back before the Legislature.

A House panel Monday heard testimony on the proposed Missouri Rural Workforce Development Act, which is designed to give investors tax credits for investing in rural businesses in the state.

Were really looking to get money into rural parts of the state that have been left behind, said Rep. Kurtis Gregory, a Marshall Republican who is sponsoring the $25 million proposal.

Efforts to approve the program stalled in 2021 and again last year amid concerns that the program could benefit a major Missouri property developer.

And, on Monday, Democratic lawmakers continued to raise questions about the plan based on cost overruns in a similar program in Georgia.

A state audit in Georgia found the rural investment program would take at least 72 years for a return on the investment, leading to charges that it is an expensive boondoggle that lines the pockets of developers.

Rep. Patty Lewis, D-Kansas City, questioned the $25 million price tag.

That is super-concerning to me, Lewis said.

She also said the qualifications required for potential participants appear to have been written to favor particular companies.

It sounds like its tax credits for the wealthy companies, Lewis said.

Among the companies involved in the Georgia program is JES Holdings, led by Jeffrey E. Smith, a Columbia developer who is a major player in the states low-income housing tax credit program. His firm also has offices in Georgia.

A subsidiary of JES, known as Affordable Equity Partners, is represented in the Capitol by lobbyist John Bardgett and three members of his firm.

Bardgett also represents the St. Louis Cardinals, Anheuser-Busch and a host of industry trade groups.

St. Louis-based Advantage Capital Partners also is pushing for the program.

Rep. Michael Burton, D-Affton, said hed prefer the tax credits going to help more mom and pop businesses than companies with fewer than 250 workers.

Under the proposed program, participation would be limited to a narrow number of firms. For example, investors would have to had put at least $100 million in small communities across the country, including $30 million in Missouri.

The bill requires 70% of investments to be made in rural small businesses with 250 or fewer employees.

To me, this seems to be for the big boys, Burton said. And, he added, This does kind of mess with the free market.

Advantage representative Alex Stepanek said the high threshold is designed to ensure the programs will get off to a fast start, allowing the state to see a return on its investment.

These are companies that have the financial wherewithal, Gregory said.

Sam Licklider, lobbyist for the Missouri Realtors Association, said the program could help renew hollowed out parts of the state.

Its tough to expand in small town Missouri, Licklider said. We look for anything that will give opportunities to rural Missouri.

Im all for giving Missouri an edge when we can, Rep. Willard Haley, R-Eldon, told fellow members of the House Rural Community Development Committee.

Last year, the legislation was removed from a larger package of tax credits for wood energy, meat processing, ethanol, biodiesel and a loan program for family farms after the potential costs raised eyebrows among lawmakers.

The tax credit system in Missouri has long been controversial.

During his short tenure, former Gov. Eric Greitens moved to kill hundreds of millions of dollars in the states tax credit programs, saying they only benefit banks, investors and lobbyists.

Greitens later blamed the industry for helping to orchestrate his ouster in 2018.

It took three years for the states low-income housing tax credit program to restart under Gov. Mike Parson.

The legislation is House Bill 959.
ST. LOUIS  Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Monday that the city is suing Hyundai and Kia in federal court over a defect in their late-model vehicles tied to thousands of car thefts here and across the country.

Flanked by police Chief Robert Tracy and City Counselor Sheena Hamilton, Jones said the South Korean carmakers failure to install common anti-theft technology in their cars has created a crisis hurting residents and taxing city resources.

St. Louisans should not be forced to bear the cost of their negligence, Jones said.

The announcement follows a wild summer that saw the numbers of stolen Kias and Hyundais skyrocket here and across the country after a TikTok video showing how to break into the cars with a screwdriver and a USB charging cable went viral. The method took advantage of the South Korean companies decision to not install engine immobilizers, an electric anti-theft security device, in their cars. And it apparently worked.

Thefts of Kias and Hyundais jumped 1,350% last year in the city, from 273 to 3,958. The same was true in St. Louis County, where a jump from 140 to 1,621 marked a 1,057% increase.

Police have also tied the stolen cars to violent crimes, including shootings and deadly hit-and-runs, as well as damage to city property, including fire hydrants, street signs and traffic signals.

A copy of the lawsuit says the city is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 as well as attorneys fees and punitive damages. The city is working on the case with Dowd Bennett, a prominent Clayton law firm where Hamilton worked before she took her current job. Car owners and other cities, including San Diego, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Seattle, have also filed similar suits in recent months.

The city first threatened its lawsuit in August, a month when Kias and Hyundais made up three-quarters of all stolen cars.

Kia and Hyundais defective vehicles have caused a public safety crisis in the city, endangering the health, safety, and peace of all those who live, work or visit the city, Hamilton, the city counselor, wrote then. Your companies bear the responsibility to mitigate the public nuisance your negligence has created for the city and its residents.

Kia and Hyundai brushed off the threat, arguing that they were not federally required to install engine immobilizers in their products. Both companies also pointed out they were providing free steering wheel locks to local police departments.

Still, the thefts kept coming. By mid-October, the city said it had surpassed its 2021 stolen vehicle total by 1,200. And owners of the cars were struggling to stay insured. Behemoths Progressive and State Farm declined to open new policies on Kias and Hyundais, and drivers with existing plans got stuck paying increasingly high premiums.

Late last year, the car manufacturers announced a free software upgrade for some late-model vehicles aimed at deterring thefts. But the city brushed off the move then, and Jones said Monday that neither company had made a serious effort to work with her administration.

Officials did not take questions on anything related to the lawsuit Monday. A spokesman said that was because the matter involved litigation.
March 15 marked the anniversary of terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 51 people were killed. The date is now observed by the United Nations as an international observance of combating Islamophobia.

Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. In some contexts, it is a fear of Muslims as violent in a quest for geopolitical power.

The U.N. Human Rights Councils special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief stated in 2021, Widespread negative representations of Islam, fear of Muslims generally (not just Muslim extremists and terrorists) and the security and counter-terrorism policies have served to perpetuate, validate and normalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards Muslim individuals and communities.

Discussion or even mention of presence of discrimination makes people uncomfortable and may lead to the denial of existence of such behaviors among majority. Prejudice is universal; minorities harbor it too. It may have many forms: gender, ethnicity, faith, socioeconomic status, political and ideological differences. I believe only way to deal with this is to address it openly.

I came to America over 42 years ago with my own concepts of America and West. Over next few months, most of the misconceptions were shattered as I had made those impressions based on media and others notions in Pakistan.

Initially I noticed that understanding of Islam was limited, and misperceptions prevailed. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks changed everything.

Over years, I witnessed misunderstanding and hostility towards Islam and Muslims. I have also seen the support against these hostilities. I was chairperson of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis in 2001. We received threatening calls at the foundation on 9/11, and we had to close the school at the foundation and ask law enforcement for protection.

Three days later I received a frantic call at work from my daughter. She had received a threatening call at our home. Police could not trace the call, but our sense of security was splintered. The same day many friends from different faiths were joining us at the mosque to show their solidarity with Muslims. I was teary eyed when I saw that overwhelming support. Friends offered to stay at the mosque for our security, reiterated that violent acts of the few dont represent tenants of Islam. I could see that we would face prejudice for a long time, but at the same time there will be friends to support and stand with us.

I remember Sen. John McCains response to an attendee at a campaign rally during the 2008 presidential campaign. The attendee stated, I cant trust Obama. I have read about him, and hes not, um, hes an Arab, was No, maam, hes a decent family man [and] citizen that just I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. I welcomed the correction, but it left the impression that Arabs are not decent people. It was very hurtful to millions of Arab Muslims.

In 2012, an arsonist burned a mosque in Joplin to the ground. Another mosque in Cape Girardeau was burned in 2020. I saw the camera footage of the perpetrator breaking the windows, walking calmly, spreading the lighter fluid and then starting the blaze. It was the face of hatred, someone who had no consternation about burning a place of worship on the first day of the fasting month of Ramadan, which we are currently observing.

President Donald Trump banned entry from seven Muslim majority countries. I was listening to the speech and chalked it up to political rhetoric. What hurt me the most was the crowds cheering, a reminder that Islamophobia was still present.

Younger Muslims, especially the second and third generation migrants, face bullying, emotional trauma and confusion when where-are-you-from questions arise.

I have made a conscious effort not to assign words like discrimination, hatred or Islamophobia to any negativity I experience. More than likely, these are normal human interactions where negativity or hurdles can take place. At the same time, clear acts of hatred such as those cited above remind me that our work is still cut out for us.

Muslims have a responsibility to educate about Islam, and communities at large have the responsibility to reach out and learn. Talking to each other and asking difficult questions can shatter many myths and misconceptions.

Communities thrive when every member feels equal and respected. America has always taken the difficult steps toward this goal and has been a shining example for the world, and I believe will continue to do so.

Ghazala Hayat, MD, chairs of public affairs committee of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis and also is a member of Board Of Interfaith Partnership.
When the Legislature and Gov. Mike Parson last year slashed Missouri's personal income tax rates even as the state continued to underfund education, health care, infrastructure and more, it looked like the height of misgovernance. But now the Missouri House has outdone itself, passing a measure to slash the corporate tax rate as well, with an eye toward eliminating it completely. It would ultimately cost the state more than $1 billion a year.

Kansas has already tested the two-dimensional economic theory driving this recklessness: that lower taxes automatically bring jobs, replacing the lost revenue with economic growth. What is now known as "The Kansas Experiment" is synonymous with fiscal disaster.

It's not as if Missouri's current 4% flat tax for corporations is unusually high by national standards. It's tied (with Oklahoma) for 43rd in the country. Remove the six states that have no income tax at all, and the 4% rate is second to the bottom.

Yet the House this week approved a measure to slash that rate in half, to 2%, starting next year, then eliminate the tax altogether by 2027, contingent on revenue goals. The measure would also accelerate and deepen the gradual cuts in personal income tax approved last year, ultimately cutting the original top rate of 5.4% down to 4.05%. If fully implemented by FY2028, the entire measure would, according to the Legislature's own research division, result in about $1.175 billion annually in lower state revenue.

The sponsor, state Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-Noel, argues that the measure "really is just limiting the growth of government." The argument makes no sense. Voting against a tax hike would be limiting the growth of government. Voting for deep cuts is the reduction of government at a time when the state isn't providing adequate public services with even its current revenue.

The argument that slashing corporate tax rates will bring new businesses swarming into the state doesn't take into account how neglect of crucial government services lowers the quality of life here, making it less attractive to business. Missouri's teachers remain among the lowest-paid in the country, directly affecting the quality of public education. Its child-abuse caseworkers, mental health workers and state hospitals are chronically understaffed. The state's roads and highways are a national embarrassment.

Kansas went down this crumbling road a decade ago in what then-Gov. Sam Brownback called a "real live experiment" with trickle-down economics, instituting radical tax cuts and waiting for the economic surge they would surely bring. By 2018, the state's finances were in shambles, its education system was deeply cut and failing, and even legislative Republicans rebelled to end Brownback's catastrophic experiment.

The one thing proponents of The Kansas Experiment could say in their defense was that it had never been tried before. Missouri has no such excuse. The state Senate must block this madness.
JEFFERSON CITY  The University of Missouri System is scrapping the use of diversity statements in its hiring practices, replacing them with standardized language that leaders can send to prospective employees.

The new practice comes as Republican Missouri lawmakers consider legislation that would ban public colleges from asking job candidates questions about diversity and race.

UM System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi drafted the new language in an email sent Friday to some faculty members and department chairs at the system's four campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis and Rolla.

Choi, in the letter, said the new policy was intended to address concerns that the university was requiring job applicants to fill out "loyalty oaths" or "litmus tests." Both phrases have been adopted by Republican lawmakers to criticize the diversity statements.

Instead of using Diversity, Equity and Inclusion statements, university leaders will now send a "values commitment" to job applicants, the email said.

The commitment would read: "We value the uniqueness of every individual and strive to ensure each person's success. Contributions from individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives promote intellectual pluralism and enable us to achieve the excellence that we seek in learning, research and engagement. This commitment makes our university a better place to work, learn and innovate.

"In your application materials, please discuss your experiences and expertise that support these values and enrich our missions of teaching, research and engagement."

Choi said the university did not use diversity statements in its hiring practices, but pointed to some job postings that "contained information that may give some readers the impression that such a request was inferred." Choi's email also said the system would not longer use a diversity faculty hiring rubric that was created in 2018.

For example, a job posting for an MU visiting assistant professor of sociology requires applicants to submit a DEI statement "addressing contributions to diversity and inclusivity through teaching and service."

Christian Basi, an MU spokesperson, said the university regularly reviews its hiring practices "and upon a recent review, felt that we needed some consistency as it relates to this topic."

The policy affects the entire UM System and is effective immediately, he said.

The move from the university comes one week after Mizzou employees and students told The Star that they worried banning diversity statements would further threaten efforts to attract and retain diverse candidates.

While MU has made efforts to add more diverse faculty members, progress has been slow. As of 2022, Black employees make up a dismal 3.7% of the university's ranked professional faculty compared to 67.5% white.
SALT LAKE CITY  Children and teens in Utah would lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don't have parental consent and face other restrictions under a first-in-the nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive platforms.

Two laws signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and6:30 a.m., require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and open the door to lawsuits on behalf of children claiming social media harmed them. Collectively, they seek to prevent children from being lured to apps by addictive features and from having ads promoted to them.

The companies are expected to sue before the laws take effect in March 2024.

The crusade against social media in Utah's Republic an super majority Legislature is the latest reflection of how politicians' perceptions of technology companies has changed, including among typically pro-business Republicans.

Tech giants including Facebook and Google enjoyed unbridled growth for over a decade, but amid concerns over user privacy, hate speech, misinformation and harmful effects on teens' mental health, lawmakers made Big Tech attacks a rallying cry on the campaign trail and began trying to rein them in once in office. Utah's laws were signed the same day TikTok's CEO testified before Congress about, among other things, the platform's effects on teenagers' mental health.

But legislation stalled on the federal level, pushing states to step in.

Lawmakers in red states including Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana and blue states including New Jersey are advancing similar proposals. California enacted a law last year requiring tech companies to put kids' safety first by barring them from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally.

The new Utah laws also require that parents be given access to their child's accounts. They outline rules for people who want to sue over harms they claim the apps cause. If implemented, lawsuits against social media companies involving kids under 16 will shift the burden of proof and require social media companies to show their products weren't harmful  not the other way around.

Social media companies could have to design new features to comply with parts of the laws that prohibit promoting ads to minors and showing them in search results. Tech companies including TikTok, Snapchat and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, make most of their money by targeting advertising to their users.

The wave of legislation and its focus on age verification garnered pushback from technology companies as well as digital privacy groups known for blasting their data collection practices.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation earlier this month demanded Cox veto the Utah legislation, saying time limits and age verification would infringe on teens' rights to free speech and privacy. Verifying users' age would empower social media platforms with more data, they said.

If the laws are implemented, the digital privacy advocacy group said, "the majority of young Utahns will find themselves effectively locked out of much of the web."

Tech industry lobbyists decried the laws as unconstitutional, saying they infringe on people's right to exercise the First Amendment online.

"Utah will soon require online services to collect sensitive information about teens and families, not only to verify ages, but to verify parental relationships, like government-issued IDs and birth certificates, putting their private data at risk of breach," said Nicole Saad Bembridge, an associate director at Net Choice, a tech lobby group.
Six of Somalias operators have enabled voice interconnection between their services.

A voice interconnection agreement signed in December 2022 was implemented last month, and TeleGeography reports that the functionality is now complete. The National Communications Authority expects the move to boost competition and deliver advantages to consumers, including lower tariffs and increased coverage.

The deal is the culmination of a series of agreements signed by the six operators across the last two years. Somalia has previously attempted to introduce interconnection deals in 2000 and 2014, with several operators signing agreements, although an absence of established regulatory frameworks has thwarted these attempts. The NCA itself was created in 2018 after a new communications law was passed.

The NCAs GM Mustafa Yasin said: We hope this time round it will be successful because we have the tools, such as a communications law that mandates interconnection, regulations, guidelines, and regulatory authority that has the oversight mandate.
NATO nations have been studying operations in Ukraine to extract useful lessons for defending themselves in a future war. One important vulnerability was the ease with which airbases and the aircraft there can be destroyed by short-range ballistic missiles. Russia started the war with a large stockpile of these difficult-to-intercept missiles. Ukrainians quickly developed weapons and techniques for intercepting aircraft and cruise missiles, but Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) had no ready solution. When the Russians used their ballistic missiles against Ukrainian targets, the target got hit. European NATOs BMD plan was to have European air forces, reinforced by American warplanes and specialist support aircraft, quickly win air superiority against Russian airpower and air defenses and then smash Russian short-range ballistic missiles on the ground.

The Russian air force proved as inept as ever in Ukraine, but the Russians had their ballistic missiles. Ukraine had dispersed their aircraft to many temporary locations and this limited the damage done by the ballistic missiles. Ukrainian air defenses were able to make it difficult for Russian aircraft to operate and survive. European countries looked at their own air defenses and airbase vulnerability and realized they had problems. Since the 1990s European nations in general have spent a lot less on military capabilities. Currently, the Russian threat has been much diminished by the Ukrainian military and Western economic sanctions. The Russians make it clear that they will never give up on eventually absorbing neighbors who were once part of the Soviet Union. That list includes several post-1991 NATO members. That means the Russians will try again eventually. That gives European military planners and time to prepare for such an attack and reorganize to protect themselves from a surprise attack. It turned out that some non-NATO European nations had already taken precautions. These included air bases built into mountains and plenty of dispersed air fields. These were often little more than straight portions of highways where the air force had practiced shutting off ground traffic and converting that stretch of road into a temporary air strip.

European nations have to fix the many problems they created and tolerated after 1991. This included sloppy personnel standards and poor training and maintenance practices. A combat-ready military costs money and leaders who will make sure things get done. Ukraine was a wake-up call that may soon be forgotten. One way to avoid that is to undertake long term projects, like building the hardened bases using tunnels dug into mountains. There are plenty of examples currently and in the recent past showing how this is done.

For example, in 2019 Sweden reactivated its once secret Musko underground naval base. Built into the mountainous island of Musko, just south of the capital (Stockholm), the facility was never a secret to locals. Construction of the base began in 1950 and took 19 years to complete. Musko is connected to the mainland by a tunnel and a series of bridges between smaller islands. Parts of the base were usable in the 1960s before construction, which involved drilling, blasting and removing 1.5 million tons of rock, was completed. In addition to three docks for surface ships and submarines, there are also 20 kilometers of roads as well as numerous work, storage and living areas.

In 2004, after 35 years of use, ships were moved from Musko to other bases and the underground facility was largely closed. Some parts of Musko remained in use and details of the base were no longer top secret. But in 2019 the navy decided to revive the use of the entire base. While some ships are based there now, Musko mainly serves as the main headquarters for the Swedish Navy. There are several road exits from the complex and plenty of office space inside. All of this was maintained during the decade the navy halted its use as a major navy base.

Several other nations have, in the 20th century, built major underground military facilities. Switzerland, for example, has an airbase at Meiringen that is partially underground. While the main airstrip is outside the mountain, along a river, there are hangers and taxiways for aircraft built into the mountain. The Meiringen base began operations in 1941 and housed fighter aircraft vital for the defeat of any invading force. For a while, after World War II Meiringen was used mainly as an underground ammunition storage facility. In the 1960s more tunnels were dug for use as aircraft hangers and the base now serves F-18 and F-5 fighters. These aircraft can move directly into the main airstrip cavern wherein an emergency arrestor gear can be deployed to halt the aircraft if there is a problem during landing.

World War II saw extensive use of underground facilities. During the 1930s the French built the Maginot Line along their German border. This was largely a series of tunnels and underground bases with aboveground cupolas for various weapons. The Germans built many underground structures during the war, including a large one for manufacturing their V-2 ballistic missiles. After World War II and the Korean War 1950-53) North Korea began building numerous underground facilities. What got this going was the extensive and effective use of American airpower against the North Koreans and their Chinese allies during the war.

Currently, there are believed to be over 8,000 underground facilities in North Korea, including recently built ones for work on and storage of nuclear weapons. North Korea has also dug tunnels under the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) which forms its border with South Korea. Some of the tunnels that extended into South Korea were discovered and destroyed but South Korea believes there are still about twenty of them that extend into the five kilometer wide DMZ. These tunnels can accommodate up to 30,000 troops as well as vehicles and enable the troops to quickly exit near or in the DMZ if there were another war.

North Korea has built many smaller naval bases into mountains along the coast for small boats and mini-subs. Most of these tunnels are less than a kilometer long but in wartime would provide shelter for small subs and boats carrying commandos. Most of the underground facilities (at least half) are for artillery and rocket launchers and are built close to the DMZ. In wartime, artillery and rocket launchers can emerge from tunnels, fire, and then withdraw back into the tunnels to avoid air attack or, for the rocket launchers, to reload. Many of these artillery tunnels are built on the reverse (facing north) slope of hills and mountains near the DMZ. Some of the heavier guns and rocket launchers are on rails and behind steel doors. The launchers or guns slide out on the rails, fire, then slide back in and the door is shut to avoid damage from air attacks. Many of these artillery tunnels are meant for bombarding South Koreas largest city and capital, Seoul which is 50 kilometers south of the DMZ. Since the 1960s Seoul has expanded enormously and some of the suburbs are a lot closer to the DMZ.

There are also about 200 underground factories and weapons storage/repair sites. Most of these are near the Chinese border. The most recently built facilities, also near the Chinese border, are for the nuclear weapons program and assembling and launching larger ballistic missiles. There are also about ten underground living/working facilities around the North Korean capital Pyongyang. This includes at least 40 kilometers of underground roads and extremely well protected bunkers for the most senior leaders.

During World War II the Japanese built more and more underground facilities on Pacific islands with the most extensive system built under the island of Iwo Jima. American marines suffered 26,000 casualties, including 6,800 dead, during five weeks of fighting to take Iwo Jima. Most of the 21,000 Japanese troops manning these fortifications fought to the death and only 216 were taken prisoner. The Japanese were observed building similar facilities on their home islands to oppose a planned 1946 invasion. It was estimated that the invading allied forces would suffer over half a million casualties dealing with these fortifications. The only alternative was to completely blockade and bomb the home islands for another year, which would have left several million Japanese dead and many more starving. The alternative was the two atomic bombs dropped in mid-1945, which compelled the Japanese to do the (to them) unthinkable and surrender.

The development of smart bombs in the late 20th century provided another way to deal with these fortifications. These bombs and missiles can be dropped in large quantities outside the range of air defenses and destroy or disable most of these facilities. The U.S. and South Korean air forces have invested in a lot of smart bombs for just that sort of attack. Many of these bombs are penetrators that burrow through many meters of earth and concrete before exploding. These are used against the largest and most important underground facilities. The Americans and South Koreans have trained to do this on a large scale in the event of a war and the North Koreans are faced with a countermeasure they never anticipated or prepared for. The underground facilities have other vulnerabilities. Many of the underground factories near the Chinese border depend on hydroelectric dams and generators for power. Take these out and the facilities quickly become useless.

Iran also relies a lot on underground facilities for building weapons and for their ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Iran and North Korea have cooperated on the design and construction of these facilities and the Iranians dont have any solution for the smart bomb attacks either.

Over a decade ago China built underground hangars for aircraft at an airport outside the city of Le Dong, on the southern island of Hainan (near Vietnam). There is also a submarine base that has underground docking facilities for nuclear and diesel-electric subs, created by tunneling into coastal hills. The underground facilities not only protect the boats from air or sea based attack, but enable maintenance and modifications to be done in secret. Same deal with the airport tunnels, which are also visible to anyone passing by on the ground. But there's nothing as compelling as pictures.
The Russian military has suffered, and continues to suffer, heavy losses in Ukraine but is still planning on how to rebuild and expand. Planners ran into a major problem upon discovering that, somehow, wartime losses and emigration had greatly reduced the number of men able to serve in the military. Another problem is the cost of this rebuilding. Russia hasnt got the cash to pay for recruiting, equipping and training the new troops. The Russian plan calls for a force containing 600,000 volunteer (contract career) soldiers and several hundred thousand conscripts.

This latest and greatest new plan ignores past experience with contract soldiers. These men were willing to serve in a peacetime force that would defend the motherland. Invading a neighbor and running into very hostile and lethal locals was unexpected and unacceptable. Many of the contract soldiers who survived the initial weeks of the invasion quit the military, with many justifying this on the ground that their contracts had been violated. This was technically illegal but there were so many departing contract soldiers that the government just let them go. The government planners seem to have forgotten this but many of the military-age men they plan to recruit remember and are not interested. The government response to this is chiefly more attempts to deceive potential recruits into signing up.

The number of military age men coming of age is falling rapidly because of a low birth rate. There are also long-used methods to avoid conscription or otherwise being forced into the military. These techniques were developed two centuries ago when the Russian monarchy first introduced conscription. Families would try to hide their military age men, simply leave the country, or bribe conscription officials. The proportions of each varied over time  leaving the country was not possible during most of the communist period, while bribery rose in the 1990s and really took off after the first Chechen war (1994). The government got new soldiers any way they could and life went on. 21st Century Russian recruiters have tried to adapt but the young men and their families are not cooperating.

Long before the Ukraine invasion disaster, Russia was struggling with the task of rebuilding the military after the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991. Russia needed soldiers and they became increasingly hard to obtain since the 1980s and that got worse after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Having tried just about everything else, Russia sought Russian-speaking foreigners from former Soviet republics that had become independent. Foreign recruits had to meet the psychological and physical standards, and especially if they had needed skills, good jobs are available. Not many Russian-speaking foreigners were interested.

This inability to attract new recruits, even with conscription, put the government in an embarrassing situation because promises were made on this issue and not kept. Not once but multiple times. Some of the solutions make the problem worse. For example, in 2012 the government assured the public that conscription would end by 2020 and be replaced with better paid and trained volunteers (contract soldiers). That did not happen because of a shortage of volunteers and money to pay them. To make matters worse the number of eligible conscripts continues (as expected) to shrink. This also puts at risk plans to also create a large reserve force.

The decline in available conscripts could be seen in the official number of conscripts expected for the semi-annual draft. Russian conscription still operates like the original 19th century version when it was easier to take the conscripts twice a year. The late 2017 draft expected to obtain 134,000 conscripts, compared to 152,000 in late 2016. Only 147,000 were available for the early 2017 draft and the decline continued into the 2020s. It was obvious that conscription could not be eliminated until the mid-2020s at the earliest and even that was seen as too optimistic because the military, under pressure to meet the quota, takes a larger number of young men who are unfit for service and leaves it to the units that receive these men to sort that out. That can be made to work in peacetime but if there is any combat it quickly leads to disaster. All industrialized nations (including China) now suffer from the problem of too many potential recruits being overweight, out of shape or illegal drug users.

In 2015 the conscript problem became a major domestic scandal because the government violated the law by sending conscripts into eastern Ukraine, where there was some combat. At first the government insisted that the law allowed conscripts to go if they were volunteers and signed a consent form. But families complained that a growing number of conscripts were sent in who had not volunteered and that they were sent to a combat zone that the government insisted contained no Russian troops. Some commanders were found to be using deception to get conscripts to volunteer and sign a document attesting to that, so they could be sent into Donbas (eastern Ukraine), which is not a declared war. Apparently some conscripts, caught up in the nationalist NATO is conspiring against us propaganda the government has been pumping out with increasing frequency and intensity, really did sign the document willingly. They were also encouraged by the much higher pay offered for those serving in a combat zone. But as often happens in the military, some volunteers were acting under duress or were deceived when told signing the contract was a formality to justify the extra money for some special training exercises inside Russia. Some of these volunteers later figured out where they really were and deserted inside Ukraine and shared details of their experiences with Ukrainians and others outside Russia.

This sort of thing was officially denied and denounced by the Russian government via the government controlled mass media. But the Internet is another thing and there were a growing number of Russians who called out their government for lying about what is going on in Ukraine and for forcing conscripts into combat zones. Some of those conscripts were sent back to their families in sealed coffins with the explanation that it was because of a training accident. Other soldiers who served with some of the dead soldiers, especially those who were also conscripts, provided more accurate and embarrassing, to the Russian government, versions of what went on.

Meanwhile, despite resistance from Russian traditionalists in and outside the military, Russia moved ahead after 2012 to establish a Western style military reserve system, composed of troops who are fully trained to begin with, who would regularly refresh that training, and be capable of being quickly mobilized and operating as effectively as active duty troops. This was a big departure from over a century of using less well trained reservists. The new system was supposed to be operational by 2016 and look similar to the reserve system currently used in the United States and other Western nations. The Russian plan did not work out as expected.

Rebuilding their reserve system was an attempt to revive the Russian secret army that long drove foreign intelligence analysts nuts because it was difficult to ascertain just how good these reserve troops were. During the Cold War it was known that the first Soviet secret army, composed of former conscripts (reservists with no training after discharge), was not as good as the Soviet leadership believed but good enough to halt, just barely, the 1941 German invasion. After the Cold War ended in 1991, and a lot of secrets were briefly available from the wreckage of the Soviet Union, it was discovered that the Cold War era secret army was more of a shambles than the pre-1941 one. In the 21st century the Russians are determined to do it right. The only problem now is the falling price of oil. Sales of oil are a major part of the national economy and the falling oil price plus Ukraine-related financial sanctions means there was less money for military programs. The reserve program was a victim of this.

The old Russian cadre/conscript/reserve system looked impressive on paper but was a mess when actually used. Traditionalists in the Russian military still believe the old system is better than trying to import Western ideas. Yet the recent experience with the traditional reserve system says otherwise. For example, at the end of the Cold War, Russia had over 150 combat divisions in its army. But only a third of these were at full strength in peacetime, the rest were reserve divisions. The Russians planned to mobilize over two million men to fill out their reserve divisions in wartime. In peacetime the reserve divisions and their equipment were maintained by a skeleton crew of active duty soldiers.

In theory, this mass reserve system could work and its use against German invaders in 1941 was the best example of that. But it rarely worked well for Russia. In 1914 the Germans demonstrated to their disbelieving opponents that reserves could be as effective in wartime as regulars. The Germans did this by requiring their reserves to train regularly, much like the current American system. Russia could not afford this, although attempts were made to do some training. Most Russian reservists were assigned to a unit they had never seen and never would see unless they were called up. Despite the disastrous performance of their reserves in 1914 and 1941, when Russia called up reservists for their invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 they were forced to quickly withdraw them and bring in regulars. The reservists just weren't effective.

Before 1991, Russia maintained an additional fifty divisions on paper, to be raised in wartime from reserves and obsolete equipment held in storage. These units, with troops in their thirties and forties using equipment as old as themselves, were known to be no match for an equal number of active divisions. But such "mobilization" divisions can make a difference, if you believe that quantity has a quality all its own. Now that Russia has sold, scrapped, worn out, lost in combat, or mislaid over 100,000 Cold War era armored vehicles and other equipment, bringing back the old reserve system is not only difficult, but probably more expensive than adopting a Western model. In fact, given the cost of modern equipment and the economic problems, as in not enough cash for any government endeavors, by 2000 reviving the old reserve system was impossible.

The pre-1991 Russian system kept track of every veteran until the age of fifty. That was their reserve manpower, and about all they did was keep track of current mail addresses. Many nations still use the same general concept for their reserves. Unable to afford the expense of regular reserve training, the usual source of men with current experience are those discharged in the last few years. Russia has been using conscription since the 19th century and during the Cold War there was a constant supply of recently discharged men for the reserves. That reduced Russia's reserve to a million men times the number of years you want to go back- say two to five million men. This was a major flaw in the Russian system, as it has been found that soldiers lose most of their military skills within a month of leaving active service. It takes several months to get these skills back. If troops are sent into combat before they have been retrained, their units will do very poorly against a better trained opponent. This was demonstrated in Ukraine during 2022 and 2023.

The Russian system, based on the one developed in 19th century Germany, was suitable for a nation lacking great wealth. It was cheap, because it had to be. During the Cold War a Russian reservist could not be called up for more than ninety days a year unless a national emergency was declared. This was not done out of any regard for the reservist but in recognition of the labor shortage and economic disruptions that would be created. Most reservists were never called up.

An example of the problems inherent in this system could be seen in the Russian mobilization against Poland in 1980. In areas adjacent to Poland Russia had 57 divisions. At least 40 would be needed to guarantee a quick conquest of an increasingly uncooperative Poland. Of the 57 available divisions, only 28 were fully manned and 24 of those were active units already assigned to East Germany and Czechoslovakia. These were for dealing with a NATO invasion or local rebellion in those two countries. Because of possible unrest in Eastern Europe, or interference from NATO countries, the divisions in East Germany and Czechoslovakia were left alone. This forced the use of 36 reserve divisions and bringing most of them in from other areas. Over half a million men would have to be called up. This would have a noticeable effect on the local economy, as over 50 million man days would be lost. In addition, there would be the expense of maintaining the troops and the loss of civilian trucks taken by the army for activated reserve divisions. This strain on the local economy was one of the critical, but not mentioned, factors causing Russia to demobilize and not attempt to pacify Poland by invading. Local officials were also not cooperating because they were not going to be reimbursed by the central government for what the local governments spend on this. Russia made it appear that they were being diplomatic but they were faced with causing enormous economic disruption in Russia areas adjacent to Poland, and that could have led to unrest in Russia itself.

Economic disruption is not the only problem Russian-style mobilization armies face. These armies rely heavily on conscripts, to the extent that 75 percent of their manpower were conscripts serving for two or three years. Most of the noncommissioned officers were conscripts of dubious quality. Russian officers are all volunteers and graduates of military academies or civilian universities. These officers also perform many of the supervisory tasks normally assigned to NCOs in Western armed forces. Supervision, management and leadership of Soviet troops was inadequate in peacetime and became even more inept when millions of reservists were mobilized. The mobilized army was about 85 percent conscript, with the rate going over 90 percent in a third of the divisions. If history is any guide, this third of the Russian Army was probably less than half as effective as the top third.

The solution to these quality problems is training. Most Western armies train their reserves, or attempt to. Training is critical because an effective soldier is very much a technician. The effective maintenance and use of weapons and military equipment is possible only with constant practice. Reserves that do not regularly practice require one or more months to regain their skills. Personnel with prior military service are easier to whip into shape for combat because of their familiarity with military routine. Because of their prior service, reserve troops have demonstrated an ability to function in a military environment. However, one should not place too much reliance on prior military experience. Unless these troops maintain good physical conditioning and some knowledge of their military skill, they are not a great deal better than raw civilian recruits.

The old Russian reserve system provided large numbers of troops but very low effectiveness. The Russians were aware of this, being diligent students of past experience. Their solution was to prepare for a short war, short enough so their deficiencies would not catch up with them. This was not to say that Russia could not win a long war. They were victorious during World War II, but at a cost of 30 million dead (18 percent of the population) and a ruined economy. Many of those losses were the result of sending newly mobilized, and so effectively untrained, reservists out to face German combat veterans. Russia made this same short war mistake in 2022 when they invaded Ukraine. Against the invaders, defending Ukrainians had an advantage because they were defending their country and were not only more motivated, but were better trained and led than most of the Russian invaders because they had adopted Western training methods including effective NCOs. NATO countries sent Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, ammunition and equipment each month of the war. Most of Russias peacetime combat forces have by now been destroyed by heavy personnel and equipment losses.

Times have changed. Nuclear weapons make it unlikely that anyone would try to mount a major invasion of Russia. Inside Russia trained reservists would be useful for a local rebellion or natural disaster. This is how they have successfully been used in the United States and other Western nations. Russia wants some of that and believed it would be able to afford to build such a force in the 2020s. Heavy losses in Ukraine have set back those plans by a decade or more after the Ukraine War ends.
HANGZHOU, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / The Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) program last week brought together representatives of its partner educational institutions worldwide in a hybrid conference, reaffirming its commitment to driving digital economy education globally. The first GDT event of its kind since the pandemic outbreak, the conference showcased the latest learnings and achievements of the GDT program in promoting academic exchanges and talent incubation for global digital transformation and inclusive development, while also shining a spotlight on outstanding institutions, lecturers and students in the program's network.

Open to universities and learning institutions all over the world, GDT is a flagship training program under the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative pioneered by Alibaba Group, which strives to create equitable access to cross-border trade opportunities for youth, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and women globally. It is also part of Alibaba's talent incubation endeavor to promote inclusive development in the digital economy.

By providing educational institutions with teacher training and networking opportunities, the GDT program helps incubate the institutions' own qualified trainers who are capable of nurturing the next generation of digital talent in their respective markets, based on a curriculum framework that covers various components of the digital economy such as New Retail, smart logistics, digital marketing, and start-up investment and financing. Its training courses leverage learnings from the development of China's digital economy and taps into resources and best practices in the Alibaba Ecosystem. GDT also supports institutions in its network with student training and examination platforms as well as student certification.

"Human capital is key to more pervasive digitalization across industries. The Alibaba GDT program allows educational practitioners around the world to apply the underlying logic of Alibaba's time-tested business models to their communities' business landscape, in a way that will complement and augment local digital transformation initiatives," said James Song, Secretary General of Alibaba's Globalization Office and Secretary General of eWTP.

"In the past five years, the GDT initiative has cultivated 1,400 teachers and tens of thousands of students from 30 universities and training institutions around the world. We are encouraged by the local digital transformation that has arisen out of the GDT program, and hope to continue working closely with more aspirational partners to move the needle in grooming young talent for the flourishing digital economy worldwide," added Song.

During the event, GDT signed agreements with INTI International University & Colleges from Malaysia and NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd from Singapore, signifying an extension of GDT and the two organizations' collaboration on local digital talent development.

The event also featured an award presentation ceremony which recognized excellent institutional partners, lecturers and students who have exemplified innovation and inclusiveness in their participation in the GDT program.

One of the institutional partners recognized was Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) from Malaysia, which won two awards for its academic excellence and social impact. Since becoming a GDT partner in 2017 - the first in Malaysia, UTAR has seen over 100 of its lecturers receiving GDT certification and close to 3,900 students benefiting from its GDT-based training. To further apply their digital knowledge from logistics to marketing acquired from the GDT program, a group of teachers and students from UTAR launched a New Village e-commerce community project named "We Care, We Act," in which the students have identified and facilitated the online sales of over 30 local products - ranging from chicken biscuits to soy sauce - supplied by small and medium-sized companies across four Malaysian states. The initiative allows the New Village delicacies, originally available only offline, to reach consumers nationwide and even abroad.

In the coming year, the GDT program is expected to train 400 college teachers who will, in turn, cultivate 10,000 local students worldwide. It will also continue to explore collaboration with government and educational institutions across the region to incubate digital talent as well as help revitalize the rural economy - tapping on its experience of establishing eight Digital Villages in Mexico with local schools to bring the inclusiveness of Taobao Villages[1] in China to a wider part of the world. In the near future, the GDT program is expected to resume offline training and events to optimize trainees' learning experience.

Since its inception in 2017, the Alibaba GDT program has been introduced in Asia, Latin America, Africa as well as Oceania. Currently, the global reach of the program spans Asia-Pacific countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia; Latin American countries including Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia; African countries including Rwanda, Tunisia and Ethiopia; and Kazakhstan in Central Asia.

About Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) Program

Alibaba's GDT program is a flagship training program under the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative pioneered by Alibaba Group and is part of Alibaba's mission to make it easy to do business anywhere. By tapping into the resources and best practices from the Alibaba Ecosystem worldwide, the initiative aims to share the positive impact of the new business paradigm of the digital economy and promote inclusive development to inspire and empower youth globally. The program's global network, known as the Alibaba GDT Network, is open to universities and educational institutions wanting to incorporate digital economy curriculum in the education and training system and develop young entrepreneurs and digital talent. For more information about the Alibaba GDT Network, please visit https://gdt.alibaba.com/

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Alibaba Reaffirms Commitment to Driving Digital Economy Education Worldwid.pdf

[1] In China, a Taobao Village is a cluster of rural e-tailers within an administrative village where residents got started in e-commerce spontaneously primarily with the use of Alibaba's digital retail platform Taobao.

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Edison International

Energized by Edison

For Southern California Edison's business and residential customers in the agriculture-rich Central Valley, the future has arrived. That's SCE's message at the World Ag Expo, the largest agriculture trade show bringing together more than 100,000 people from across the globe to learn about emerging trends and technologies in the farm industry and beyond.

SCE has been a sponsor and exhibitor at the expo in Tulare for more than 30 years. In addition to daily electric safety demonstrations by linemen, SCE is helping visitors visualize how to integrate clean energy into their daily lives.

"The World Ag Expo provides SCE an opportunity to continue to engage our agriculture and Central Valley customers with our programs and services to enable clean power solutions through electrification and related opportunities for increasing operational efficiencies and a cleaner energy future," said Mike Bushey, director of SCE's Business Customer Division.

Visitors to the SCE booth will find themselves walking into an imagined "smart home," equipped with an induction cooktop, smart thermostat, electric heat pump water heater, a battery storage system and an EV parked in the garage. The smart home display simulates how residents can implement electric technology in their homes now and what it will be like in a decade or more. Switching to energy-efficient home systems can put people on a path to sustainability, leading to cost savings over time.

"Space and water heating systems are the two largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in residential buildings," said Jose Buendia, senior manager of SCE's Building Electrification Program Operations. "One of the benefits of electric appliances is that they can be programmed to operate during off-peak hours. This means customers can take advantage of our more favorable Time-of-Use rates, and those who install electric heat pumps can receive an additional electric baseline allowance on their monthly bill."

Building electrification isn't simply a matter of adopting the most innovative technology, it's about the resiliency that is critical to achieving the state's zero-carbon emissions goal of 2045. To get there, SCE's Pathway 2045 blueprint estimates that 30% of residential and commercial space and water heaters need to be electric by 2030 and 70% by 2045. With the first major milestone seven years away, California can no longer afford to delay decarbonization, and everyone's participation is needed now more than ever.

"Something's afoot - climate change is real, and we feel the impacts through wildfires, driven by high winds, and there's more extreme weather everywhere," Buendia said. "The state and many others have identified electrification as the most cost-effective way to mitigate the impacts of climate change. There are also many health benefits and opportunities for customers to save money as we move in this direction."

For visitors to the World Ag Expo mulling how they can participate in electrification, or anyone interested in decarbonization, SCE's Energy Education Centers host free online classes. Together, Californians can power a clean energy future starting now.

To register for SCE's online classes about the benefits of electrification, visit on.sce.com/electrification. Learn more about electric technologies and their benefits by visiting sce.com/cleanenergy.

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / International Paper Company

International Paper values the contributions of businesses that are owned by individuals of diverse backgrounds in order to deliver the best products, with the greatest value, to an increasingly diverse marketplace. At International Paper, supplier diversity extends well beyond our commitment to being a good corporate citizen. We fully understand that a diverse supplier base must be an integral part of our supply chain. Our engagement with value-driven and diverse suppliers creates job opportunities, fosters success in local communities and ensures that our suppliers reflect our customer base and values.

In 2021, we purchased more than $930 million in supplies from more than 3,600 small, minorityowned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.

We continue to expand our presence and role at industry-related business conferences, opening the door to generate opportunities that are more visible for diverse business owners. We also target partnerships with national, regional and local business development organizations, such as the Mid-South Minority Business Council and Women's Business Enterprise National Council, to help us identify new qualified diverse suppliers, expand our support of customers' diversity effort, and champion our commitment to serve diverse communities.

The total economic impact of our 2021 purchases from small and diverse suppliers equaled $1.6 billion in contributions to the U.S. economy and more than 9,600 jobs supported, generating $469 million in wages.

For more information on International Paper's workforce diversity, visit the Index.

About International Paper

International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a leading global supplier of renewable fiber-based products. We produce corrugated packaging products that protect and promote goods, and enable worldwide commerce, and pulp for diapers, tissue and other personal care products that promote health and wellness. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 38,000 colleagues globally. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2021 were $19.4 billion. See how we're building a better future for people, the planet, and our company at internationalpaper.com/Vision-2030.

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Spokesperson: International Paper Company

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/international-paper-company

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: International Paper Company

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AUSTIN, MN / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Team members from Hormel Foods Corporation, (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, attended the 2023 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif., to showcase the latest innovations and trends in natural and sustainable food within its broad product portfolio.

The Justin's and Applegate brand teams highlighted the latest innovations and new products for attendees to enjoy.

The Applegate Naturals Do Good Dog", the first retail hot dog made with regenerative agriculture was featured along with ApplegateOrganics Uncured Genoa Salami Bites. Justin's Super Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Super Dark Chocolate Espresso Almond Butter Cup delighted attendees with their amazing taste and quality.

"We were delighted to return to Expo West and the incredible response to our Super Dark Nut Butter Cups," said Penny Andino, vice president of marketing at Justin's. "It was clear that buyers and consumers are now seeking brands that can provide real, simple and clean ingredients more than ever. With 5 grams of real sugar per cup, Justin's Super Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup stood out for delivering on taste without compromising on quality and they are certificated USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance Cocoa, and Non-GMO Project Verified."

Hormel Foods global impact and innovation team members attended the conference's climate day, where over 50 environmental and sustainability experts presented on topics such as regenerative agriculture, traceable supply chain and sustainable trends in the food industry, as well as the remainder of the event.

Expo West is an opportunity for the food and beverage industry to understand trends within the sustainable and natural space.

"Expo West is an incredibly rich opportunity for us to understand leading edge trends in product and packaging," said Ashley Krautkramer-Gonya, senior innovation manager at Planters. "It's also a great opportunity for us to connect with potential partners who can help us capitalize on trends in a way that enriches our business and product portfolio."

Through its robust 20 By 30 Challenge goals, Hormel Foods and its brands have several initiatives in place to address sustainability and corporate citizenship in the food industry, including:

Investments and implementation in sustainable agricultural production, specifically within regenerative agriculture, soil health and farmer equity.

Continue our clean-label initiative and efforts to reduce added sugars and sodium in our products, and increase desirable ingredients to nourish a diverse population.

Match 100% of our energy with renewable sourcing.

Focus on packaging sustainability efforts through research, innovation, on-package communications and optimizing package weight and shipping efficiencies.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Hormel Foods Corporation on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Hormel Foods Corporation

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/hormel-foods-corporation

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Hormel Foods Corporation

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SASKATOON, Saskatchewan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) announced today that Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has issued revised reassessments for the 2007 through 2013 tax years that will result in the company being refunded a total of approximately $300 million, consisting of $89 million in cash and $211 million in letters of credit, which we previously remitted to the Government of Canada based on prior reassessments CRA had issued in our long-standing tax dispute. Timing of the refund is yet to be determined.

A series of court decisions that were completely and unequivocally in Camecos favour for the 2003, 2005 and 2006 tax years determined that the income earned by Camecos foreign subsidiary from the sale of non-Canadian produced uranium was not taxable in Canada. In accordance with these decisions, CRA has issued reassessments reducing the proposed transfer pricing adjustment from $5.12 billion to $3.25 billion, resulting in a reduction of $1.87 billion in income taxable in Canada compared to the previous reassessments issued to Cameco for the 2007 through 2013 tax years. These revisions to income result in the refund of approximately $300 million described above.

While the pending return of $300 million in cash and security to Cameco is positive and certainly warranted, our broader tax dispute with CRA remains ongoing. CRA continues to hold a further $480 million, consisting of $206 million in cash and $274 million in letters of credit, that Cameco has remitted or secured to date, tying up a significant portion of our financial capacity.

The remaining transfer pricing adjustment of $3.25 billion for the 2007 to 2013 tax years relates to the sale of Canadian produced uranium by the foreign subsidiary. Cameco maintains that the clear and decisive court rulings already rendered in this dispute likewise apply to these amounts, and that CRA should fully reverse the remining transfer pricing adjustments for these years, return the full amount of cash and security being held, and bring this matter to an end once and for all.

In October 2021, due to a lack of significant progress on our points of contention, Cameco filed a notice of appeal with the Tax Court of Canada for the years 2007 through 2013. We are asking the Tax Court to order the complete reversal of CRAs transfer pricing adjustments for those years and the return of the remainder of our cash and letters of credit, with costs. In October 2022, we filed an appeal with the Tax Court for the years 2014 and 2015, and recently filed a notice of objection for 2016. The process to resolve these disputes continues.

Cameco will not be in a position to determine the definitive outcome of this dispute for any tax year other than 2003 through 2006 until such time as all reassessments have been issued advancing CRAs arguments and final resolution is reached for that particular year. CRA may also advance alternative reassessment methodologies for any tax year other than 2003 through 2006.

Profile

Cameco is one of the largest global providers of the uranium fuel needed to energize a clean-air world. Our competitive position is based on our controlling ownership of the worlds largest high-grade reserves and low-cost operations. Utilities around the world rely on our nuclear fuel products to generate safe, reliable, carbon-free nuclear power. Our shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Our head office is in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This news release includes statements and information about our expectations for the future, which we refer to as forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on our current views, which can change significantly, and actual results and events may be significantly different from what we currently expect. Examples of forward-looking information in this news release include our expectation that we will be refunded cash and letters of credit in the amount of approximately $300 million in accordance with the revised reassessments issued by CRA for the 2007 through 2013 tax years; our position that CRA should fully reverse the remaining transfer pricing adjustments for those years and return the full amount of cash and security being held; the fact that we will not be in a position to determine the definitive outcome of the dispute for any tax year other than 2003 through 2006 until all reassessments have been issued by CRA; and the possibility that CRA may also advance alternative reassessment methodologies for any tax year other than 2003 through 2006. Material risks that could lead to different results include the possibility that we do not in fact receive the full amount, or any portion, of the expected refund of cash and letters of credit from CRA, or that those refunds are not made within a reasonable period of time; the risk that our position regarding remaining transfer pricing adjustments for the 2007 through 2013 tax years may not prevail, or that CRA may advance alternative reassessment methodologies that are adverse to us; and the risk that a definitive outcome of our dispute with CRA for all tax years may not be determined for some time. In presenting this forward-looking information, we have made assumptions which may prove incorrect about payment of the full expected refund of cash and letters of credit by CRA, and the correctness of our position regarding remaining transfer pricing adjustments. Forward-looking information is designed to help you understand managements current views of our near-term and longer-term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes. We will not necessarily update this information unless we are required to by securities laws.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230326005071/en/

Investor inquiries:

Rachelle Girard

306-956-6403

[email protected]

Media inquiries:

Veronica Baker

306-385-5541

[email protected]

Source: Cameco
PARIS LA DEFENSE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

The combined shareholders meeting of Elior Group (Paris: ELIOR)  whose shares are listed on Euronext Paris - will take place on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at Maison de lAmerique latine, 217 boulevard Saint-Germain, 75007 Paris.

At this Meeting, Elior Group's shareholders will be in particular solicited to approve the acquisition of Derichebourg Multiservices, in order to create a new leader in contract catering and multiservices. The agenda of the Meeting also includes draft resolutions to renew the governance of the Group.

The statutory notice of meeting (in French only) was published in Frances official legal journal (BALO) on March 13, 2023.

In addition, in accordance with applicable regulations, the statutory notice of meeting and the notice of meeting (which includes the agenda, the proposed resolutions and information on how to participate in and vote at the Meeting, the Contribution Agreement and the Contribution Appraisers reports) are available for consultation since March 27, 2023, on the Companys website at www.eliorgroup.com, under Investors/ Annual Shareholders Meeting.

The information on total number of voting rights and shares in the capital on the date of the statutory notice of meeting is available on the Companys website at the above-mentioned address, from todays date.

All the documents and information relating to the combined shareholders meeting are made available to shareholders at the Companys head office at 9-11 allee de lArche  92032 Paris La Defense Cedex, France, in accordance with applicable regulations.

Subject to the limits and timeframes provided for by applicable laws and regulations, shareholders may ask that these documents be sent directly to them by submitting a written request to Uptevia  Assemblee Generale  Les Grands Moulins de Pantin - 9, rue du Debarcadere  93761 Pantin Cedex - France.

About Elior Group

Founded in 1991, Elior Group has grown into one of the world's leading operators in contract catering and support services and has become a benchmark player in the Business & Industry, Education, Health & Welfare and Leisure markets. With strong positions in five countries, the Group generated 4.45 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022. Our 97,000 employees feed over 3 million people on a daily basis in 20,250 restaurants on three continents and offer services on 2,400 sites in France. Innovation and social responsibility are at the core of our business model. Elior Group has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2004, reaching the GC Advanced Level in 2015.

For further information please visit our website at http://www.eliorgroup.com or follow us on Twitter (@Elior_Group)

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005245/en/

Elior Group

Source: Elior Group
Hercules Advisers New Venture Growth Stage Private Credit Lending Program Will Support the Venture and Growth Stage Companies Impacted by Recent Market Events

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) (Hercules Capital or the Company) today announced that Hercules Adviser LLC (Hercules Adviser), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hercules Capital, announced it has established a new institutional private credit lending program. The new private credit lending program was established to support the venture and growth stage companies that are being impacted by the recent market events across the venture and growth stage lending ecosystem.

Hercules Capital and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hercules Adviser, currently manage over $3.6 billion of assets under management. Prior to the creation of this new private credit lending program, Hercules Adviser manages two existing private funds with committed capital and leverage in excess of $1.0 billion.

We are very pleased to announce that Hercules Adviser has successfully established this new institutional private credit lending program, stated Scott Bluestein, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Hercules Capital. As the largest and leading non-bank venture and growth stage lender, we are well-positioned to leverage our scale and our deep and long-standing relationships in the venture capital ecosystem, to provide the capital from this new private credit lending program to help companies navigate the challenges from the recent market events. Over the course of the last 18 years, we have successfully committed over $16 billion of capital to venture and institutionally backed growth companies. We are committed to working closely with the many strong and financially sound companies in our ecosystem that now more than ever, need a financing partner with a strong and liquid balance sheet who can be supportive over time. Venture and growth stage technology and life sciences companies have been responsible for countless innovations that have changed the world for the better and we look forward to continuing to work with these companies over the years to come.

Bluestein added, We are thankful for the additional commitment from Davidson Kempner Capital Management, the anchor for this new private credit lending program and a strong partner across the Hercules Capital Private Credit Fund business.

About Hercules Capital, Inc.

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) is the leading and largest specialty finance company focused on providing senior secured venture growth loans to high-growth, innovative venture capital-backed companies in a broad variety of technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology industries. Since inception (December 2003), Hercules Capital has committed more than $16 billion to over 600 companies and is the lender of choice for entrepreneurs and venture capital firms seeking growth capital financing. Companies interested in learning more about financing opportunities should contact [email protected], or call 650.289.3060.

Hercules Capital, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hercules Adviser LLC (Hercules Adviser), also maintains an asset management business through which it manages investments for external parties (Adviser Funds). Hercules Adviser is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Hercules Capitals common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol HTGC. In addition, Hercules has one retail bond issuance of 6.25% Notes due 2033 (NYSE: HCXY).

About Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP

Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP is a global investment management firm with more than 39 years of experience and a focus on fundamental investing with a multi-strategy approach. Davidson Kempner has more than $38 billion in assets under management and over 500 employees across seven offices: New York, Philadelphia, London, Dublin, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Mumbai. Additional information is available at: www.davidsonkempner.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We may use words such as anticipates, believes, expects, intends, will, should, may and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and should not be relied upon in making any investment decision. Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations. While we cannot identify all such risks and uncertainties, we urge you to read the risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and other materials that we publicly file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements made in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Hercules assumes no obligation to update any such statements in the future.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005292/en/

Michael Hara

Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

Hercules Capital, Inc.

(650) 433-5578

[email protected]

Source: Hercules Capital, Inc.
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- NetBrain Technologies, Inc. - the leader in no-code network automation for the worlds most recognized enterprises, has been recognized by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, with their prestigious 5-star rating in its 2023 Partner Program Guide. NetBrain has been adopted by more than 2500 customers worldwide and delivers the majority of its solutions through partners. In January, NetBrain launched its significantly updated channel partner program, designed to be even more lucrative for those consultative partners that bring network automation to their clients.

The annual CRN program guide offers essential information to solution providers as they explore technology manufacturers partner programs to find the vendors that will best support the business needs of their clients. The 5-star rating is awarded to the companies that go above and beyond in their commitment to nurturing strong, profitable, successful partnerships. And with the IT industry actively re-tooling its goals and processes to be more responsive to the economics of business transformation and scale, its the perfect time for partners to introduce NetBrain to their clients and demonstrate what no-code network automation can do for them and show them how to transform their operational plans.

For the channel partner community, a critical factor when selecting new vendors to partner with is having the breadth and depth of the partner programs these companies offer. Strong elements such as financial incentives, sales and marketing assistance, training and certification, technical support and more can set a vendor apart and play a key role in boosting partners long-term growth. NetBrains recently announced program upgrade has all of these desirable attributes and goes much farther by providing a unique solution with little competition, and an undersubscribed channel partner roster.

In the 2023 CRN Partner Program Guide, vendors were evaluated 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.

We have always been a channel-centric company, with the majority of our revenue coming through the partner channel. CRNs recent award demonstrates that our approach to partnering works, and the partners who engage with our no-code network automation solutions are rewarded for doing so, says Alex Alvarez, channel chief at NetBrain. We carefully listen to our partners and have crafted the perfect partner program to meet their needs from start to finish. We help grow their own pipeline and create new revenue streams by empowering them with values offered only by NetBrain. Best of all, all their clients need our network automation technology.

In todays world, the need for innovation is greater than ever, said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. Solution providers seek vendors that can keep pace with their developing business and evolving client needs. CRNs 2023 Partner Program Guide delivers deep insight into the strengths of each program, spotlighting the vendors dedicated to supporting their partner community and pushing positive change throughout the IT channel.

The 2023 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2023 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG.

About NetBrain Technologies, Inc.

Founded in 2004, NetBrain is the market leader for NetOps automation, providing network engineers with dynamic visibility across their hybrid networks and low-code/no-code automation for key tasks across IT workflows. Today, more than 2,500 of the worlds largest enterprises and managed service providers use NetBrain to automate network documentation, accelerate troubleshooting, and strengthen network securitywhile integrating with a rich ecosystem of partners. NetBrain is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with locations in London, United Kingdom; Munich, Germany; Toronto, Canada; and Beijing, China. For more information, please visit www.netbrain.com.

NetBrain, NetworkBrain, and the NetBrain logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetBrain Technologies.

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.

 2023 The Channel Company LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

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The Channel Company Contact:

Natalie Lewis

The Channel Company

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Austin Williams

Voxus PR for NetBrain

[email protected]

Source: NetBrain Technologies, Inc.
Recent announcements in Africa have yet again underlined the growth of payment technology across the continent, with major names in the digital payments space announcing significant agreements in Egypt and Tanzania.

Amazon Payment Services has been named the official payment service provider for operat Etisalat Egypt by e&. Banque Misr, a major name in banking in Egypt and North Africa, is the online payments acquirer.

Through this collaboration, say the partners, Amazon Payment Services brings a reliable, safe, and simple checkout experience for Etisalat by e& Egypt customers paying for invoices across billing, subscription, and device purchases on its digital payment platform. Etisalat Egypt by e& customers will also have the option of paying by instalments, thanks to Amazon Payment Services links with 10 banks in Egypt, including Banque Misr.

In Tanzania meanwhile, operator Tigo Tanzania, payment service provider Selcom and Mastercard have announced a strategic partnership that will enabling convenient online payments globally through the Tigo Mastercard virtual service via Selcoms card-as-a-service (CaaS) platform.

This partnership will empower Tigo Pesa customers to transact on global payments platforms and benefit from Mastercards technology, which, say the partners, will enable new digital commerce opportunities for consumers and merchants, through simple and secure payment experiences.

The launch of the virtual card will ensure Tigos ability to provide its customers access to products and services  previously a preserve of physical credit card holders  while diversifying its mobile money portfolio.

The partnership will also result in a wide range of cutting-edge digital payment solutions being introduced in Tanzania, will connect Tigo customers in Tanzania to a global online marketplace across multiple digital payment use cases, and will provide access to Mastercards global network of merchants.
PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Propeller, a management consultancy for leading organizations in technology, retail, energy and utilities, healthcare, and the public sector, is proud to announce national certification as a Womens Business Enterprise by the Womens Business Enterprise Council  Pacific, a regional certifying partner of the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

At Propeller, were proud to be a majority-women firm serving a client base primarily composed of women in a sector thats traditionally masculine, said Propeller co-founder and CEO Amy Weeden. I am honored that Propeller has joined the esteemed group of women-owned businesses with WBENC certification and excited about the opportunities it provides to work with organizations that value diversity as strongly as we do.

The WBENC certification is the most widely recognized and respected national certification for women-owned businesses in the country. The meticulous standard for certification involves an in-depth review of the business and a site inspection process designed to confirm the business is at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by a woman or women.

With certification, Propeller joins a nationwide network of support, including targeted business opportunities, growth-enabling education and development programs, and networking and mentorship with thousands of other women entrepreneurs. WBENC also brings increased visibility in corporate and government supply chains, as organizations frequently turn to WBENC-certified businesses for suppliers and contractors as part of their commitments to fostering diversity.

The certifications emphasis on innovation through diversity is reflective of many of Propellers core values, centered on committing to people, embracing diversity, and uplifting communities. Propeller was co-founded by Amy Weeden in 2012 with a vision to build a culturally exceptional, client- and community-focused business consulting firm. Under Amys leadership, Propeller has received recognition for its work environment, including Best Workplace designations from Fortune and Great Place to Work. Additionally, Amy has been named a CEO of the Year and Propeller has been a Fastest-Growing Private Company and Most-Admired Company by the Portland Business Journal.

To learn more about Propeller, please visit https://propeller.com/.

About Propeller:

Propeller is a management consulting firm that helps businesses thrive in change by delivering impact-driven solutions that build momentum. Propeller consultants work alongside client teams to deliver customized frameworks and tools that solve problems and drive change. Propeller has specialized expertise across people and change, experience design, data and analytics, and technology transformation. Since its founding in 2012, Propeller has received industry awards including Fortune Magazines Best Medium Workplace and Portland Business Journals Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Propeller has offices in Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; San Jose, California; Denver, Colorado; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit https://propeller.com/.

About WBENC:

Founded in 1997, WBENC is the nations leader in womens business development and the leading third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women, with more than 17,000 certified Womens Business Enterprises, 14 national Regional Partner Organizations, and more than 350 Corporate Members. More than 1,000 corporations representing Americas most prestigious brands as well as many states, cities, and other entities accept WBENC Certification. For more information, visit www.wbenc.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005067/en/

Jillian Tongate

[email protected]

701-720-3789

Source: Propeller
The Company is the largest producer of radio occultation and has provided data to NOAA since 2016

VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (Spire or the Company), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the National Oceanographic and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) to compete for orders under a $59 million ceiling. The award is part of NOAAs Commercial Weather Data Program's Radio Occultation Data Buy II. The contract commenced on March 27, 2023 and will run until March 26, 2028.

Spire will provide NOAA with near-real-time RO data that consists of vertical profiles of atmospheric measurements, including pressure, humidity and temperature across all points of the globe, as well as ionospheric measurements. The data will be used for NOAAs operational weather forecasts, space weather models and climate research, among other applications.

Spire is the largest producer of RO data, powered by its fully deployed constellation of more than 100 satellites, and offers a vast portfolio of current weather, historical weather data, and weather forecast solutions. The Company is currently capable of providing 20,000 RO profiles per day and could achieve up to 100,000 profiles per day in as little as 18-24 months.

Better predicting weather patterns and understanding our climate is one of the most important challenges  and opportunities  of our time, said Chuck Cash, Vice President of Federal Sales, Spire. Our long-standing relationship with NOAA demonstrates the value of assimilating commercial satellite data into weather models to improve forecasts. Armed with more accurate forecasts, we as a society are able to better prepare for and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather to protect our property, environment, and most importantly, lives.

Spire was awarded a total of four NOAA contracts in FY22, valued at $23.6 million, and has provided data to the agency since 2016.

About Spire Global, Inc.

Spire (NYSE: SPIR) is a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, offering access to unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth from the ultimate vantage point so that organizations can make decisions with confidence, accuracy, and speed. Spire uses one of the worlds largest multipurpose satellite constellations to source hard to acquire, valuable data and enriches it with predictive solutions. Spire then provides this data as a subscription to organizations around the world so they can improve business operations, decrease their environmental footprint, deploy resources for growth and competitive advantage, and mitigate risk. Spire gives commercial and government organizations the competitive advantage they seek to innovate and solve some of the worlds toughest problems with insights from space. Spire has eight offices across the U.S., Canada, UK, Luxembourg and Singapore. To learn more, visit www.spire.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005180/en/

Kristina Spychalski

Director of Communications

[email protected]

Benjamin Hackman

Head of Investor Relations

[email protected]

Source: Spire Global, Inc.
Second venture fund since spin out from GSK brings SR One total under management to over $1.5 billion

SR One will use this capital to continue supporting emerging biotechnology companies with the potential to translate innovative science into the next generation of novel medicines

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SR One, a transatlantic life sciences investment firm, today announced the close of its second fund (Fund II) at over $600 million, substantially exceeding its target of $500 million. Fund II is the second fund since SR One spun out from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2020 to form a fully independent investment firm. The diverse investor base of existing and new limited partners includes endowments, foundations, pharmaceutical companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices.

We received an incredible response to the fund and are grateful to our limited partners for their continued support and confidence in our team, said Simeon George, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, SR One. SR One's model is built upon active collaboration and our ability to roll up our sleeves and help build value through multiple inflection points. We seek to partner with entrepreneurs building elite biotechnology companies, and we look forward to the potential development of new medicines for patients that Fund II may help bring to the market.

With Fund II, SR One will continue to invest in biotechnology companies that have the potential to address significant gaps in the current treatment landscape. SR Ones investment strategy focuses on providing financial and direct operational support to help its portfolio companies advance programs through value-generating inflection points.

We have built a team of seasoned investors and venture partners who I believe are well positioned to continue SR Ones history of productive investment, said Rajeev Dadoo, PhD, Managing Partner, SR One. With Fund II, we hope to continue to apply our tried and tested partnership model in an effort to benefit the companies in which we invest and, ultimately, the patients and families that they serve.

Kirkland & Ellis acted as counsel to SR One for the fundraise.

About SR One

SR One is a transatlantic biotechnology venture capital firm, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, that collaborates with entrepreneurs and investment partners in an effort to build elite biotechnology companies. The Companys mission is to translate innovative technologies and scientific discoveries into next-generation medicines with the potential to benefit patients with significant unmet medical needs. SR One leadership has worked together to build and invest in biotechnology companies for more than a decade. Working alongside the investment team, SR Ones venture partners bring deep operational experience to help company creation initiatives and support portfolio companies with financing and corporate strategies. Since the spin out from GSK in 2020, SR One has raised over $1 billion and founded and/or invested in over 20 companies. SR One has offices in Redwood City, CA, and Philadelphia, PA, in the US and London in the UK. For more information, connect at www.srone.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005032/en/

Media:

Christy Curran

Sam Brown Inc.

[email protected]

C: +1 615-414-8668

Source: SR One
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The annual meeting of shareholders of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), including remarks by management regarding the Company, will be available live via webcast at www.disney.com/investors beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET/ 10:00 a.m. PT on April 3, 2023. The webcast presentation will be archived.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005657/en/

Alexia Quadrani

Investor Relations

(818) 560-4490

David Jefferson

Corporate Communications

(818) 560-4832

Source: The Walt Disney Company
Aerojet Rocketdyne has been awarded a new contract by Lockheed Martin to produce additional solid rocket motors and Divert and Attitude Control Systems (DACS) for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system for the Missile Defense Agency. The contract includes interceptor propulsion for U.S. government lots 13/14 as well as Foreign Military Sales. THAAD is one of the nations primary defenses against short, medium and intermediate-range missiles.

For more than two decades, Aerojet Rocketdyne has powered THAAD, a missile defense system that protects our nation, our military service members and our allies, said Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. Precision in everything we do is paramount, and we continue our longstanding focus on producing the highest quality products for our customers in support of our nations critical defense needs.

A land-based element of the Missile Defense Agencys Missile Defense system, built by Lockheed Martin, the THAAD weapon system shields deployed U.S. and allied forces and critical infrastructure from missile attacks. The combat-proven system has a 100% success rate in intercept tests16 intercepts in 16 testssince production began.

The THAAD solid rocket boost motor is manufactured at Aerojet Rocketdynes Advanced Manufacturing Facility in Huntsville, Alabama and at the companys Solid Rocket Motor Center of Excellence in Camden, Arkansas. The DACS, a highly-responsive thruster system that keeps THAADs kinetic kill vehicle on target during the latter stages of an intercept, is manufactured in the companys Los Angeles, California facility.
According to a report by CnEVPost over the weekend, Chinese electric vehicle maker, Nio (NYSE: NIO) has entered into a strategic partnership with one-piece die-casting parts supplier Wencan Group.

According to the report, the two companies will collaborate on supply, low carbon, digitalization, and globalization to achieve supply support around NIO's Hefei plants. Wencan and NIO will collaborate in depth on lightweight research and development of integrated die-casting structural parts for the body and new material applications.

Wencan will also use its global presence to provide full support to NIO's international business and to provide full support to the electric vehicle company's global R&D and product validation, while NIO promotes Wencan's casting business to its partners and explores cooperation in other business areas.

Wencan is one of China's best-known suppliers of integrated die-casting parts and a core supplier of structural body parts to NIO, according to the team led by Cui Yan, an analyst at local brokerage firm Huaxi Securities. Wencan's parts are used in NIO's entire lineup of models, and the average value of its parts used per NIO vehicle is more than RMB 3,000, Cui's team said in a March 17 research note.

Shares of NIO are down 1.33% in mid-day trading on Monday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]
Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) announced today that the company was awarded a $16 million firm-fixed-price contract by the U.S. Army for collection, processing, and dissemination of high-fidelity signature data. This contract has a five-year period of performance and is new work for the firm.

Parsons has delivered actionable solutions to the Department of Defense and federal agencies for more than 40 years, said James Lackey, senior vice president for Parsons Mission Solutions sector. As connectivity evolves, geopolitical conditions shift, and near-peer threats loom, our innovation and agility are bolstering readiness to help our nation confront rapidly evolving security challenges in the all-domain battlespace.

Parsons provides tailored intelligence solutions that accelerate mission success across the all-domain environment, as well as resources to solve complex security matters that enable rapid response to existing and emerging, non-traditional threats.

To learn more about Parsons leading defense capabilities, please visit parsons.com/defense/.
LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff has ordered Los Angeles County to rescind the Centennial projects 2019 approvals pending correction of a small number of inadequacies the Court identified in the projects original environmental impact report. The ruling comes after nearly four years of litigation over the Countys approval of Centennial.

Tejon Ranch Co. is considering options to reinstate project approvals, such as working with Los Angeles County to complete the additional environmental analysis required by the Courts ruling.

While we are disappointed in the Courts ruling, we remain committed to Centennials ultimate development, said Hugh F. McMahon, Tejon Ranch Co.s executive vice president of real estate. Tejon Ranch has a legacy of environmental stewardship, as well as using its land to meet major needs in California. More than ever, the state desperately needs the 19,333 housing units Centennial will provide, including the nearly 3,500 affordable units.

The community of more than 19,300 homes, including 3,480 affordable housing units, and 10.1 million square feet of commercial and industrial space, is planned for an area of northwest Los Angeles County identified in the Antelope Valley Areawide Plan (AVAP) as an Economic Opportunity Area with appropriate zoning and land use designations allowing for residential and commercial real estate development. One of the litigants in the Centennial case, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), unsuccessfully fought to overturn Los Angeles Countys approval of the AVAP, with its legal challenge being denied by both the Superior and Appellate Court

Background

The May 2019 final approval of Centennial by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was the subject of two separate legal challenges filed under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

In the first legal challenge, all claimed deficiencies in the lawsuit collectively argued by CBD and the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) were rejected as having no legal merit in the Courts April 2021 ruling. More than a dozen claims in a second, separate lawsuit brought by the environmental organization Climate Resolve (CR), were also rejected by Judge Beckloff in April 2021, including various claims that the EIR did not sufficiently analyze project greenhouse gas impacts. The Court also ruled that the County had appropriately analyzed project wildfire impacts such as fire safety design mandates and fire response measures. However, the Court did agree with two of Climate Resolves minor arguments: the County's description of the state's cap-and-trade regulatory program was not clear, and the County should have analyzed the risk of offsite fire ignitions separately from the County's otherwise adequate evaluation and mitigation of wildfire risks.

The CR lawsuit was later dismissed with prejudice in December of 2021, following a settlement agreement between Tejon Ranch and CR. The settlement resulted in the Centennial project further reducing its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to become a "Net Zero GHG community. The settlement also established an unprecedented community fire safety grant program to assist nearby communities in fire prevention and management. The agreement sets a new standard for environmental sustainability in a residential community and establishes a new higher standard for a Net Zero GHG community.

Although CBD/CNPS did not prevail in any of their arguments against the project, Judge Beckloff later decided in February 2022 to grant CBD prevailing party status on the two claims on which Climate Resolved prevailed. The Company now has the option of appealing the Courts February 2022 decision, in addition to appealing the Courts March 24, 2023 judgment.

Ruling

The Courts judgment requires the County to rescind all County approvals for the Centennial project pending further CEQA compliance, which may include further environmental analysis of the projects GHG and offsite fire risk impacts. Any further environmental review of the Centennial project would assume implementation of the CR settlement terms  net zero GHG and funding for community wildfire protection measures  which already address the two deficiencies identified by the Court.

The Centennial/Climate Resolve Settlement Agreement includes the following measures and features, which will be considered part of the Centennial project:

Net Zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG)Emissions: The community commits to net zero GHG emissions by reducing to zero all emissions through significant on-site and off-site commitments. A large component prioritizes disadvantaged communities, followed by other projects within Los Angeles County, and other parts of southern and central California.

Electric Vehicle Advancement: Advance the EV future through commitments to install almost 30,000 chargers within and outside the community. Provide incentives to support the purchase of 10,500 electric vehicles.

Elimination of natural gas for residential use and most commercial uses at Centennial.

Wildfire Prevention: Funding for on-site and off-site fire protection and prevention measures, including fire-resilient design, planning, and vegetation management with benefits to neighboring communities.

Unrivaled Transparency: Provide annual public reports and create an independent non-profit established to monitor compliance and implementation of the agreement which is empowered to enforce compliance and require arbitration in the case of disputes.

CONTACT:

Barry Zoeller, Senior VP of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations

[email protected] (661) 663-4212

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding our commitments under the Settlement Agreement and certain aspects of our real estate operations. In some cases, these statements are identifiable through use of words such as commit and will. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance, are subject to assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievement implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and important factors include, but are not limited to, the impacts of COVID-19 and the actions taken by governments, businesses, and individuals in response to it, success in obtaining various governmental approvals and entitlements for land development activities, and the risks described in the section entitled Risk Factors in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC.

Source: Tejon Ranch Co
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - The Business Advisory Implementation and Development Services (BAIDS) team, which is part of the Black Entrepreneur Program, is pleased to announce that it will be providing customized support and resources to Black-owned businesses in Calgary. This marks the fourth city that the outreach program has visited this year, with previous stops in Yellowknife, St John, and Vancouver.

"BAIDS is committed to supporting Black entrepreneurs across Canada, and we are pleased to bring our expertise to Calgary," said Frances Delsol, VP of Partnerships, Outreach and Procurement. "We understand that entrepreneurship can be challenging, especially for those who lack access to resources and expertise. That's why we are here to provide personalized support and advice to help Black-owned businesses in Calgary thrive."

The BAIDS outreach program offers a range of services, including general advisory, marketing, business plans, tax and legal services. The team works with businesses to develop customized plans that meet their specific needs and goals.

"Our mission is to empower Black-owned businesses and professionals, and our outreach program is a critical part of that effort," said Nadine Spencer, CEO of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA), which is an ecosystem partner of the Black Entrepreneur Program program. "We believe that by providing tailored support and resources to entrepreneurs, we can help build a stronger, more resilient Black business community in Calgary and across Canada."

To connect with the BAIDS team and receive personalized support, there will be an outreach on March 27th where the team will be visiting local businesses in the community. Additionally, a hands-on workshop will be held on March 28th at 5pm at the Investor Lounge at Platform Innovation Centre located at 407 9th Ave SE. Interested participants should contact [email protected] to register.

About BAIDS:

Business Advisory Implementation and Development Services (BAIDS) is a personalized program designed to uplift and empower Black-owned businesses that may lack the resources and expertise to execute critical professional functions. The program is part of the Black Entrepreneur Program, which provides resources, training, and support to Black entrepreneurs across Canada.

About the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA):

Founded in 1983, the BBPA is a charitable organization whose mission is to advance Canada's Black community by facilitating the delivery of programs that support business and professional excellence, higher education, and economic development. Along with the BBPA National Scholarships, the BBPA presents the Annual Harry Jerome Awards, the National Black Business Convention (NBBPC), and workshops and programs at the BBPA Centre of Excellence.

For more information on the BAIDS program and BBPA's work to support Black entrepreneurs, please visit the BBPA website at www.bbpa.org.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Nadine Spencer

[email protected]

416-315 0697

-30-

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/160018
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - QC Copper and Gold Inc. (TSXV: QCCU) (OTCQB: QCCUF) ("QC Copper" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement offering of QC Copper (the "Offered Shares") at a price of $0.14 per Offering Share, for gross proceeds of up to $1,600,000 (the "Private Placement"). This financing with is expected to be exclusive to strategic institutional Quebec funds who are long-term shareholders.

QC Copper intends to complete the Private Placement using available prospectus exemptions under securities laws, including the accredited investor exemption. The closing of the Private Placement may be completed in one or more tranches. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for exploration and development of QC Copper's Opemiska Copper Project in Chapais, Qubec and for general working capital purposes.

It is not anticipated that any new insiders will be created, nor that any change of control will occur, as a result of the Private Placement. Any participation by insiders of QC Copper in the Private Placement will be on the same terms as arm's-length investors. There is no minimum aggregate subscription amount for the Private Placement, but the completion of the Private Placement is subject to all regulatory approvals, including TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. Depending on market conditions, the gross proceeds of the Private Placement could be increased or decreased. All securities issued in connection with the Private Placement will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of closing.

QC Copper and Gold Inc.

Stephen Stewart, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 416.644.1567

Email: [email protected]

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in relation to: the Private Placement, including, the magnitude of the Private Placement, the potential closing date of the Private Placement, the potential use of proceeds of the Private Placement, including potential exploration and development of the Opemiska Copper Project, the potential exemptions used for the Private Placement and any potential finder's fee paid on the Private Placement. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information reflects the Company's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the current share price of the Company's common shares; TSXV acceptance and market acceptance of the Private Placement; the Company's current and initial understanding and analysis of its projects; the Company's general and administrative costs remaining constant; market acceptance of the Company's business model, goals and approach; the availability of potential acquisitions and prices acceptable to the Company; and the feasibility and reasonableness of conducting exploration on and developing any of the Company's projects. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: there is no certainty that the ongoing work programs will result in significant or successful exploration and development of the Company's properties; uncertainty as to the actual results of exploration and development or operational activities; uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing on acceptable terms; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; the Company may not be able to comply with its ongoing obligations regarding its properties; the early stage development of the Company and its projects; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; capital market conditions and market prices for securities, junior market securities and mining exploration company securities; commodity prices; the actual results of current exploration and development or operational activities; competition; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; accidents and other risks inherent in the mining industry; lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation or income tax legislation, affecting the Company; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. A description of additional risk factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in the Company's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159918
TORONTO , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Black Swan Graphene Inc. ("Black Swan") (TSXV: SWAN) (OTCQB: BSWGF) (Frankfurt: R96) and Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd. ("NERD") are pleased to announce a strategic partnership being embedded in a fully integrated supply chain which will include Arup Group Limited ("Arup"), a multinational engineering consultancy headquartered in London, United Kingdom , with 18,000 experts working across 140 countries.

At the core of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, is the completion of an equity swap where each company will own approximately five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares of the other (the "Equity Swap"), and the execution of a supply agreement between the two companies (the "Supply Agreement") under which NERD will be sourcing its graphene requirements from Black Swan.

Concurrently with the creation of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, Arup is expected to enter into a partnership with NERD, pursuant to which it is expected to gain ownership of 4.2% of the outstanding shares of NERD. The partnerships between Black Swan and NERD, and between NERD and Arup, are intended to enhance expertise and create an integrated supply chain aimed at accelerating the adoption of graphene-enhanced concrete globally.

NERD, a spin-out company from Nationwide Engineering Group , has developed a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete, ConcreteneTM ("Concretene"), which can significantly increase the strength of the material in mix designs, allowing for cement reduction and lowering of carbon footprint on construction projects. This is important for the global construction industry, from which cement manufacture currently accounts for approximately 8% of global CO 2 emissions. Imminent legislative requirements for decarbonisation mean the sector must act rapidly to ensure sustainability. Concretene is a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that has demonstrated the ability to reduce CO 2 emissions by approximately 30%, driven mainly by a significant reduction in the volume of concrete required to achieve equivalent performances. A meaningful reduction, if not an elimination, of rebar requirements, combined with a longer life cycle of the concrete, represent additional cost saving opportunities for the industry. The product has been developed in partnership with The University of Manchester 's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre ("GEIC").

NERD is rapidly advancing the adoption of Concretene in conjunction with the GEIC and is in advanced evaluation stage for projects with partners such as Heathrow and Manchester Airports, Network Rail, National Highways, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in the United Kingdom .

Black Swan is a producer of low cost and high-performance graphene powders, derived from graphite, ideally suited for the concrete industry. Black Swan's graphene technology was originally developed by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. and advanced internally until the launch of Black Swan in 2021. Black Swan has indicated its intention to significantly increase its graphene production including in the graphite production facility of Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NYSE: NMG) (TSXV: NOU) currently in operation in Quebec, Canada , aiming to create an integrated facility from graphite ore in the ground to graphene finished products.

NERD and Arup Partnership

Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup Group Limited , a globally recognised design and engineering firm has been building, in partnership with the NERD, expertise and know-how on the use of graphene-enhanced concrete in buildings and infrastructure. The agreement with Arup, through Ove Arup Ventures Ltd ., provides 4.2% equity in NERD in exchange for collaboration and expertise towards global roll-out of the technology. Details of Arup's extensive global portfolio, which includes the Samuel de Champlain Bridge in Montreal, Canada , may be found at: www.arup.com/projects.

Simon Marcotte , Chief Executive Officer of Black Swan Graphene , commented: "The partnerships announced today are poised to have far-reaching implications for the global concrete industry. By leveraging the exceptional performance of the NERD process and Arup's expertise, reach and leadership, this integrated supply chain can provide a turnkey solution and revolutionize the concrete industry on a global scale. Considering that concrete is the second most utilized material on Earth, surpassed only by water, it is difficult to imagine a more exciting opportunity. I am very optimistic about the impact of this collaboration and its potential to catalyze sustainable and innovative practices in the industry."

Rob Hibberd , Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Engineering Research & Development , commented: "We are delighted to formalise these partnerships with Black Swan and Arup as part of NERD and we look forward to combining our skillsets to deliver Concretene to the construction industry in our drive to reduce global CO 2 emissions. This is further enhanced by our unique long-term research collaboration with the University of Manchester to further understand the complex world of nanomaterial technology. We see Concretene as the first product of many that this partnership will develop, with progress in paints, polymers and asphalt already in advanced stages as well."

Matt Lovell , Director at Arup, commented: "Continued innovation in the production of concrete can drive the construction industry's journey towards net zero carbon emissions. Supporting that transformative change with our NERD partnership furthers Arup's goal of shaping a better, more sustainable world. We look forward to using our commercial know-how and deep expertise in the built environment to help NERD's innovators realise the full potential of Concretene."

Equity Swap

Under the Equity Swap, NERD will issue to Black Swan 7,177 seed preferred shares (the "NERD Shares"), ranking senior to all other shares in the share capital of NERD, at a deemed price per share of 220 for an aggregate deemed subscription price of approximately 1.58 million or approximately CAD$2.65M (the "Subscription Amount") and representing a 5.0% ownership stake in NERD on a post-money, fully diluted basis. Black Swan will pay for the NERD Shares by way of issuance of 16,371,504 common shares in the capital of Black Swan (the "Black Swan Shares"), representing a 5.0% ownership stake in Black Swan on a fully diluted basis. The Black Swan Shares shall be subject to a hold period of four months under Canadian securities laws and a 36-month lock-up undertaking. The issuance of the Black Swan Shares is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V").

Supply Agreement

Under the Supply Agreement, Black Swan will have the right, and not the obligation, to supply NERD with bulk graphene and NERD will, subject to certain terms of the agreement including pricing mechanism and technical requirements as needed by NERD, purchase bulk graphene from Black Swan in accordance with its needs (the "Right to Supply") and the framework of the Supply Agreement, which includes purchase orders, delivery, shipment, and risk management protocols, as well as potential product development and R&D collaboration.

Concretene Technology and Performance

By using the unique properties of nanomaterial graphene, an atomically thin form of carbon, Concretene offers significant benefits in compressive, tensile and flexural strength, as well as faster curing times, less microcracking and reduced permeability to water and salts. This enables comparable or greater performance to be achieved in concrete design mixes while using less cement. The technology has been developed to deliver a product that is frictionless at the point of use, requiring no additional equipment or training and, most crucially of all, can be scaled at a viable cost to industry.

Graphene is exceedingly strong, light and flexible and is the most conductive material of both electricity and heat ever discovered. It is also hydrophobic by nature, which means getting it to mix, interact and disperse in a water-based material such as concrete is highly complex. Graphene has an immense relative surface area, up to 2500 m2 in just one (1) gram of material, which acts as a mechanical support and as an active surface for the chemical reaction that takes place as cement paste crystallises into its permanent solid state.

High-magnification study of the finished material shows differing arrangements of crystallisation between standard and graphene-enhanced concretes, with a less porous microstructure evident in the latter. However, making effective graphene-enhanced concrete is technically challenging as, if allowed, graphene agglomerates back into clumps of graphite and loses its strength-giving properties.

Not only does Concretene have the ability to disperse evenly in large volumes of concrete, but it also demonstrates stability in solution for storage and transport. Several years of optimization work have been necessary to achieve these unique performances.

Until recently, producing graphene at a scale large enough for it to be used in real-world applications has proven challenging. But with graphene suppliers such as Black Swan able to produce material in industrial volumes, graphene is becoming a realistic option for commercial scale in construction.

Corporate Matters

Paradigm Capital is acting as an advisor for Black Swan Graphene Inc. for the transaction announced today. While no cash consideration is payable to Paradigm Capital , upon closing of the transaction, Black Swan will grant Paradigm Capital an aggregate of 1,600,000 compensation warrants with an exercise price of $0.15 which will be exercisable for a period of three (3) years from the Closing Date, but not earlier than 18 months following the Closing Date.

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg ("Davies") served as legal counsel to Black Swan Graphene Inc. , and Withers LLP served as legal counsel to Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd. for the transaction.

About Black Swan Graphene Inc.

Black Swan is focused on the large-scale production and commercialization of patented high-performance and low-cost graphene products aimed at several industrial sectors, including concrete, polymers, Li-ion batteries, and others, which are expected to require large volumes of graphene. Black Swan aims to leverage the low cost and green hydroelectricity of the province of Quebec as well as the proximity of the eventual graphite production sites of the province in order to establish a fully integrated supply chain, reduce overall costs, and accelerate the deployment of graphene usage. Black Swan's graphene processing technology was developed by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd ("Thomas Swan") over the last decade. Thomas Swan is a United Kingdom -based global chemicals manufacturer, with a century-long track record and has been at the forefront of graphene innovation.

For more information, please visit: www.blackswangraphene.com

About Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd.

Nationwide Engineering Research & Development (NERD) is a standalone R&D firm spun out from UK construction group Nationwide Engineering in 2022 by co-founders and award-winning chartered civil engineers Rob Hibberd and Alex McDermott in order to focus on bringing Concretene, and ultimately a further suite of sustainable building technologies, to market. In December 2022 , NERD announced a fundraise of 8,000,000 from LocalGlobe  EMEA's most successful investor in unicorns at SEED stage1  for work towards full commercialisation of the technology. These funds have allowed NERD to take Tier 1 membership of The University of Manchester 's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, a 60m state-of-the-art facility dedicated to prototyping nanomaterial technologies. NERD is also committing to a multi-million-pound sponsorship of a Chair of Construction Materials to ensure the University  and the collaboration on Concretene  remains at the forefront of understanding in this highly complex area of advanced material science.

For more information, please visit: www.nationwideengineering.co.uk

___________ 1 According to Dealroom Investor Ranking; www.dealroom.co

About Arup Group Limited

Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of designers, consultants and experts working globally. Founded to be humane and excellent, we collaborate with our clients and partners, using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world.

For more information, please visit: www.arup.com

Black Swan Graphene Inc. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Simon Marcotte , CFA, President & Chief Executive Officer

Nationwide Research and Development Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Rob Hibberd , Chief Executive Officer

Arup Group Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Matt Lovell , Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange ) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information". Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to the success or failure of the partnerships between Black Swan and NERD and NERD and ARUP to deliver the expected results, including the creation of a global chain of supply for graphene enhanced concrete, risks related to Black Swan's holding of the NERD Shares, including the risks related to holding shares of a start-up and related to the lack of liquidity thereof, risks related to the development of graphene enhanced concrete and other graphene enhanced components, risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with the industry; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of a scoping and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future results will not be consistent with Black Swan's expectations; risks related to commodity prices fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to Black Swan's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Black Swan's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Black Swan does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from Black Swan's expectations or projections.

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Median Rent Payment Growth in Sun Belt Cities, such as Phoenix and Tampa , Outpaced Western and Northeastern Cities by more than 20 percentage points

NEW YORK , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America Institute released new analysis today which examines the increase in housing costs across the United States . BofA internal data shows that median rent payments were up 8% year-over-year (YoY) and median mortgage payments were up 7% YoY for BofA customers in February, but there are meaningful variations by geography. Metropolitan areas in the Sun Belt like Phoenix and Tampa saw rent costs increase by as much as a staggering 26% and 23% YoY respectively, both of which are at a record high pace despite the Fed action aimed at taming price increases. Cities outside of the Sun Belt , like San Francisco , saw more muted growth, as low as 2.5% YoY. Mortgage payments saw a similar regional divide, with metropolitan areas like Tampa , Orlando and Atlanta seeing the biggest rise, while Chicago , Washington, D.C. and Boston see only modest gains.



Median rent

payment growth Median mortgage

payment growth Phoenix 26 % 10 % Tampa 23 % 15 % Orlando 23 % 13 % Charlotte 21 % 10 % Austin 21 % 14 % Atlanta 20 % 13 % Dallas 18 % 12 % Miami 16 % 15 % New York 9 % 9 % Boston 8 % 8 % Seattle 7 % 12 % Chicago 7 % 7 % Los Angeles 6 % 9 % San Francisco 2.5 % 10 % Source: Bank of America Internal Data . Data represents

%YoY six-month moving average as of Feb. 2023

Economists at the Institute offer four possible reasons for the regional divide:

Domestic migration trends between states since the beginning of the pandemic saw people moving to Arizona , Florida and Texas , while leaving California and Illinois Sun Belt markets offer more affordable housing, even after the surge in home prices and rents Job creation in the Sun Belt markets outpaced other markets and exceeded the national average since the start of the pandemic The creation of higher-paid jobs such as those in technology and finance, which saw higher growth in the Sun Belt , puts upward pressure on the local housing market

"People across the Unites States continue to feel the squeeze from higher housing costs but the impact is uneven between regions," said Anna Zhou , economist for Bank of America Institute . "Ultimately, population and employment growth are two main factors driving a region's housing market, and this may be why we are seeing an over 20% YoY increase in rents in many Sun Belt cities."

Read the full analysis and methodology

About Bank of America Institute

Bank of America Institute is dedicated to uncovering powerful insights that move business and society forward. Established in 2022, the Institute is a think tank that draws on data and analyses from across the bank and the world to provide timely and original perspectives on the economy, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), and global transformation. The Institute leverages the depth and breadth of the bank's proprietary data, from 67 million consumer and small business clients, 56 million verified digital users, $4 .2T in total payments in 2022 and $1 .4T in consumer and wealth management deposits. From this robust data set, the Institute provides a unique perspective on the health of the economy. It also elevates thought leadership from throughout the bank that addresses long-term trends and shares these findings with the general public.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States , serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 16,000 ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States , its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange .

Reporters may contact:

Melissa Anchan , Bank of America

Phone: 1.646.532.9241

[email protected]

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Education Business Achieved Record-high Revenue

HONG KONG , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon" or the "Company"; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, today announced its financial results for fiscal year 2022. NetDragon's management team will hold a conference call and webcast at 10:00am Hong Kong time on March 28, 2023 , to discuss the results and recent business developments.

Dr. Dejian Liu , Chairman of NetDragon, commented: "In 2022, we delivered a resilient performance with 11.8% revenue growth in a year of both opportunities and challenges. Our education business achieved record-high revenue of RMB4.3 billion with 34.2% YoY growth, as we continued to build on our global market leadership position with our commitment to providing educators the ability to transform learning and collaboration. In June 2022 , we introduced our all-new ActivPanel 9 that deliver the most robust, seamless and secured user experience yet for teachers and students. During the year, we also took steps to expand our strategic partnerships and M&A initiatives to tap into concrete software monetization opportunities that will unleash the value of our global channel reach, as well as our largest installed base in the overseas market."

"We are also excited to have announced that in June 2022 , we entered into a strategic partnership with Merlyn Mind, a leader in education AI technology. We are currently building on this partnership to develop an artificial intelligence enabled interactive panel for classrooms, which we plan on launching in our next panel release. We believe this will be a one-of-a-kind product that will elevate our competitive position to a new level."

"The gaming industry in China went through unprecedented challenges throughout 2022 as a result of a slowdown of the domestic economy due to the Covid-19 impact. However, a clearly defined go-to-market strategy and our unique gaming IP portfolio helped us to weather the storm. Although revenue of the gaming segment decreased by 5.8% YoY, such revenue performance outperformed the market[1] as we remained laser focus on execution with operational excellence. Our overseas games continued to deliver exceptional performance with a YoY overseas revenue growth of 6.5%. We also substantially strengthened our R&D capability by adding over 300 R&D headcounts during the year, hence putting ourselves in a much stronger position to expand our pipeline of new games."

"Last but not least, we continued to put shareholders' capital return as a high priority. We are pleased to announce that the Board has approved our final dividend proposal of HK$0.40 per ordinary share. Total dividends for the year (including special interim dividend declared in August 2022 ) amounted to HKD1.30 per ordinary share, representing approximately 73.0% of the total profit attributable to the owners for the year."

Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Highlights

Revenue was RMB7.9 billion , representing an 11.8% increase YoY.

, representing an 11.8% increase YoY. Revenue from the gaming business was RMB3.4 billion , representing 43.6% of the Company's total revenue and a 5.8% decrease YoY.

, representing 43.6% of the Company's total revenue and a 5.8% decrease YoY. Revenue from the education business was RMB4.3 billion , representing 55.1% of the Company's total revenue and a 34.2% increase YoY.

, representing 55.1% of the Company's total revenue and a 34.2% increase YoY. Gross profit was RMB4.3 billion , representing a 4.6% decrease YoY.

, representing a 4.6% decrease YoY. Core segmental profit [2] from the gaming business was RMB1.8 billion , representing a 14.1% decrease YoY.

from the gaming business was , representing a 14.1% decrease YoY. Core segmental loss [2] from the education business was RMB299 million , representing a 27.4% improvement YoY.

from the education business was , representing a 27.4% improvement YoY. EBITDA was RMB1.5 billion , representing a 20.7% decrease YoY.

, representing a 20.7% decrease YoY. Operating profit was RMB1.2 billion , representing a 17.0% decrease YoY.

, representing a 17.0% decrease YoY. Non-GAAP operating profit [3] was RMB1.3 billion , representing a 12.7% decrease YoY.

was , representing a 12.7% decrease YoY. Profit attributable to owners of the Company was RMB834 million , representing a 21.5% decrease YoY.

, representing a 21.5% decrease YoY. Non-GAAP profit attributable to owners of the Company [3] was RMB1.3 billion , representing a 2.2% decrease YoY.

was , representing a 2.2% decrease YoY. Operating cashflow was RMB1.1 billion , representing a 4.2% increase YoY.

, representing a 4.2% increase YoY. The Company declared a final dividend of HKD0.40 per ordinary share (2021: HKD0.40 per ordinary share), subject to approval at the coming annual general meeting.

Segmental Financial Highlights



FY2022 FY2021 Variance (RMB million) Gaming Education Gaming Education Gaming Education Revenue 3,430 4,336 3,642 3,231 -5.8 % 34.2 % Gross Profit 3,280 1,007 3,474 995 -5.6 % 1.2 % Gross Margin 95.6 % 23.2 % 95.4 % 30.8 % 0.2 ppts -7.6 ppts Core Segmental

Profit (Loss) 1,821 (299) 2,120 (412) -14.1 % -27.4 % Segmental Operating

Expenses[4]











- Research and

development (768) (446) (658) (501) 16.7 % -11.0 % - Selling and

marketing (398) (532) (419) (530) -5.0 % 0.4 % - Administrative (292) (387) (318) (351) -8.2 % 10.3 %

[1]Market revenue down 10.3% YoY, according to the China Game Industry Group Committee ("CGIGC") & Gamma Data , Jan 13 th, 2023 [2]Core segmental profit (loss) figures are derived from the Company's reported segmental profit (loss) figures (presented in accordance with Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standard ("HKFRS") 8) but exclude non-core/operating, non-recurring or unallocated items including government grants, intercompany finance costs, impairment loss (net of reversal), impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories, goodwill and interest in an associate, fair value change and exchange difference on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss ("FVTPL"), fair value change and exchange difference on derivative financial instruments, interest expense and exchange difference on convertible and exchangeable bonds, write off of intangible assets and redundancy payment. [3]To supplement the consolidated results of the Company prepared in accordance with HKFRSs, the use of non-GAAP measures is provided solely to enhance the overall understanding of the Company's current financial performance. The non-GAAP measures are not expressly permitted measures under HKFRSs and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures for other companies. The non-GAAP measures of the Company exclude share-based payments expense, amortization of intangible assets arising on acquisitions of subsidiaries, impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories, goodwill and interest in an associate, fair value change on financial assets at FVTPL, fair value change on derivative financial instruments, finance costs, interest income on pledged bank deposits and exchange difference on financial assets at FVTPL, bank borrowings, convertible and exchangeable bonds and derivative financial instruments. [4]Segmental operating expenses exclude unallocated expenses/income such as depreciation, amortization and exchange difference that have been grouped into SG&A categories on the Company's reported consolidated financial statements, but cannot be allocated to specific business segments for purpose of calculating the segmental profit (loss) figures in accordance with HKFRS 8.

Education Business

Revenue from education business reached a record high of RMB 4.3 billion , representing a YoY increase of 34.2%, and accounting for approximately 55.1% of total revenue. Our flagship edtech subsidiary Promethean continued to outperform the market[5] and maintain its global ex- China #1 market leadership position[6] in terms of shipment volume. Total shipments of interactive flat panels reached a record-high of over 253,000 units, a YoY increase of 37.5%, as we delivered strong performance across all major markets, ranking #1 in market share in nine of our top ten markets, including the U.S. , the U.K. , Italy and Australia . In addition to expanding penetration of its hardware installed base, Promethean continues to leverage its unique position of being the classroom edtech hub by stepping up efforts in pursuing strategic partnership and M&A opportunities with an aim to tap into concrete software monetization opportunities. The Company announced in December the acquisition of Explain Everything, a leading digital whiteboard platform for creating engaging lessons, activities, and interactive presentations. Through this strategic acquisition, Promethean is expected to add to its product portfolio a revenue-generating application tool that addresses one of the most common use cases of its customers. This acquisition will also support the development of new and better solutions that would address teaching, learning, and collaboration needs.

Our gross margin was impacted by various geopolitical and macro challenges during the year, more specifically with respect to tariffs and a lower GBP and Euro relative to USD. On an ex-tariff and forex-neutral basis, Promethean achieved an adjusted gross margin of 30.3%, which is a 2.4 ppt reduction from 32.7% in 2021 that is largely caused by the sell down of our existing ActivPanel 7 inventory since the launch of ActivPanel 9 in June, and a slightly higher unit material cost for ActivPanel 9 relative to the older model. It should also be noted that the new ActivPanel 9 had an Average Selling Price (ASP) that was 17.0% higher than the ASP of the existing ActivPanel 7 during the year, thanks to its positioning as a next-generation product that includes new features with enhanced simplicity, connectivity, security, adaptability and longevity.

We are also actively expanding our country model with a pipeline of countries in emerging markets. In Egypt , the Company secured an order of 94,000 Promethean panels from the Ministry of Education in the first quarter of 2022. In Thailand , the Company's paid pilot program entered its second phase with an expectation to enter commercial rollout later this year. In China , the Company continued to build on its partnership with the National Center for Education Technology , a unit directly under the Ministry of Education , in building and providing technical support for the National K-12 Smart Education Platform for primary and secondary schools. Such platform was launched in March 2022 with a huge success, amassing over 77 million registered users and 23 billion page views as of March 23, 2023 . The monthly active users surpassed 10 million for every month after the launch.

We continued to enhance the cost structure of the education business during the year. Overall core segmental loss of the business for the year narrowed by 27.4% YoY to RMB299 million . Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased by 11.3 ppts YoY, driven by effective cost control initiatives that will also lead to higher operating leverage going forward. Furthermore, despite 11.0% YoY reduction in full year R&D expense, the Company managed to step up its R&D effort in the second half of the year with an aim to expand its offerings into multiple new products due for launch in 2023, designed to broaden its penetration of the market and to bring user experience to a new level.

In 2022, market penetration of interactive flat panels reached a new high of 21%[7] of global K12 classrooms, which in our view represents a critical scale that will enable future scaling of value-added subscription/SaaS-based applications. Looking forward, we believe that we are well-positioned to capture this future revenue stream, thanks to our market leadership in interactive flat panels and our installed base of 1.9 million classrooms. To that end, we announced in June 2022 that Promethean has entered in a strategic partnership with Merlyn Mind, the leader in education AI technology with classroom applications. We are currently building on this partnership to develop an artificial intelligence enabled interactive panel for classrooms, which we plan on launching in our next panel release. We believe the product will be one-of-a-kind product that will not only strengthen our competitive position in classroom technology, but also put us in a position to become a category dominant leader in a new product category.

[5] Our market share of global ex China K12 IFPD shipment volume is 23.7% this year vs 23.0% last year, according to the Futuresource Consulting , Mar 2023 [6] We rank the first in global ex China K12 IFPD market, according to the Futuresource Consulting , Mar 2023 [7]According to the Futuresource Consulting , Mar 2023

Gaming Business

A slowdown of the domestic economy in China due to the Covid-19 impact has resulted in a revenue YoY decrease of 5.8% to RMB3.4 billion in 2022 for our gaming business. Mobile gaming revenue remained steady at RMB577 million , representing a modest decrease of 0.2% YoY, outperforming a domestic mobile game market decline of 14.4%[8] YoY in 2022. Eudemons Pocket Version continued to deliver strong performance and achieved record-high gross billings, representing a YoY growth of 6.2%, largely a result of the change to a ROI-driven user acquisition strategy, as well as effective content and gameplay updates throughout the year. Our mobile gaming portfolio under the Eudemons IP on a combined basis achieved a steady revenue growth of 3.6% YoY. Meanwhile, PC gaming revenue was RMB2.8 billion , representing a 6.9% YoY decrease as we saw short-term impact from Covid-related economic slowdown on spending of our core players during the year in the domestic market. Despite the challenges, we stepped up our effort in making enhancements to the in-game spending mechanisms for our flagship game Eudemons Online to optimize our payers' base, resulting in a 28.4% YoY increase in APA for this game. Enhanced playability on the mobile platform also significantly drove user engagement and stickiness, leading to increase of DAU and ACU of Eudemons Online cross-platform version by 26.1% and 36.4% YoY, respectively.

Our overseas gaming business continued to deliver strong performance with revenue of RMB540 million , a YoY increase of 6.5%, a growth rate that outperformed the market[9]. Overseas gaming revenue as a percentage of total gaming revenue also increased consecutively for 5 years to 15.7% in 2022. Our Conquer IP was the main driver for the growth in 2022 with 48.5% overseas revenue increase YoY to RMB188 million , with the growth mainly driven by solid execution along with easing pandemic controls and market recovery in the Middle East . Meanwhile, we continued to replicate our successful business model in Egypt to new markets including Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Morocco , the Philippines , the U.S. and Canada . New language versions were launched in Filipino, Turkish and Russian during the year. We also continued to make progress in expanding the overseas market presence of our Heroes Evolved IP. In July, the Company launched the Vietnamese pocket version under the Heroes Evolved IP, labelled Loan Chien Mobile, hailed by local gaming media as the new giant of Vietnamese e-sports. In August, the Company signed an exclusive licensing agreement with a renowned global publisher for AAA games to co-launch Under Oath in major international markets starting in Japan in 2023. Neopets : Faerie's Hope, the Company's first match-three game, was launched in the U.S. , Canada , the U.K. , Germany and France in December 2022 , which saw its next-day retention rate and three-day retention rate in the top 5-10% of titles in the same genre. Our flagship metaverse Web 3.0 game Neopets Metaverse also hit another major milestone in January 2023 by completing a US$4 million financing round with participation from industry leaders including Polygon Ventures , Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund , Hashkey Capital and IDG Capital . Neopets Metaverse is expected to launch its initial metaverse offering (IMO) later this year.

Our plan in 2023 will be to significantly expand our pipeline of new games, in conjunction with driving revenue growth for our existing games. During 2022, we stepped up our investment in R&D to put ourselves in a stronger position to capitalize on the market rebound anticipated for 2023, as we saw our gaming R&D expense increased by 16.7% YoY to RMB768 million , accounting for 22.4% of gaming revenue. Our R&D headcounts increased by over 300 in 2022, hence significantly strengthening our development competencies and resulting in an increase of both the quality and quantity of our pipeline of new games. We are expecting a total of 5 new games under the Eudemons IP to be launched in 2023 and 2024, the first of which is Eudemons Mobile II, which was successfully launched in March 2023 . We also have new games in the pipeline under our Under Oath and Heroes Evolved IP, as well as new IPs to be announced. Last but not least, we expect to actively explore acquisition opportunities in order to further expand our market reach and core competencies.

[8]According to the China Game Industry Group Committee ("CGIGC") & Gamma Data , Jan 13th, 2023 [9]The revenue of Chinese game development companies in the overseas market decreased by 3.7% YoY, according to the China Game Industry Group Committee ("CGIGC") & Gamma Data , Jan 13th, 2023

Management Conference Call and Webcast

NetDragon's management team will hold a conference call and webcast at 10:00 am Hong Kong time on March 28, 2023 (or 10:00 pm, Eastern Time on March 27, 2023 ) to discuss the results and recent business developments.

Details of the live conference call are as follows:

International +852 2112 1888 Mainland China 4008 428 338 HK ( China ) +852 2112 1888 US +1 866 226 1406 UK 0800 032 2849 Passcode 9143528#

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of NetDragon's website at http://ir.nd.com.cn/en/category/webcast. Participants should visit the website 10 minutes prior to the call, then click on the icon titled "2022 Annual Results Conference Call and Webcast" and follow the registration instructions.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities, with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China's first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles, including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved, Conquer Online and Under Oath. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management's vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring true integrated blended learning solutions to every school around the world.

For investor enquiries, please contact:

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited

Maggie Zhou

Senior Director of Investor Relations

Tel+852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825

Email[email protected]

Websiteir.netdragon.com

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME







FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022





























2022

2021









RMB million

RMB million







Revenue 7,866

7,036







Cost of revenue (3,551)

(2,513)























Gross profit 4,315

4,523







Other income and gains 223

224







Impairment loss under expected credit loss model, (14)

(8)







net of reversal







Selling and marketing expenses (945)

(956)







Administrative expenses (975)

(956)







Research and development costs (1,224)

(1,160)







Other expenses and losses (213)

(266)







Share of results of associates and joint ventures (17)

(16)







Operating profit 1,150

1,385







Interest income on pledged bank deposits -

1







Exchange (loss) gain on financial assets at fair value through

profit or loss, bank borrowings, convertible and

exchangeable bonds and derivative financial instruments (73)

19







Fair value change on financial assets at fair value

through profit or loss (33)

20







Fair value change on derivative financial instruments 15

(3)







Finance costs (219)

(186)























Profit before taxation 840

1,236







Taxation (76)

(253)























Profit for the year 764

983







































Other comprehensive income (expense) for the year,













net of income tax













Item that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:













Exchange differences arising on translation of foreign

operations 47

(25)







Item that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:













Fair value change on equity instruments at fair value through

other comprehensive income (2)

(2)







Other comprehensive income (expense) for the year 45

(27)







Total comprehensive income for the year 809

956







































Profit (loss) for the year attributable to:













- Owners of the Company 834

1,062







- Non-controlling interests (70)

(79)









764

983























Total comprehensive income (expense) for the year

attributable to:













- Owners of the Company 879

1,036







- Non-controlling interests (70)

(80)









809

956

























RMB cents

RMB cents







Earnings per share













- Basic 154.15

191.67







- Diluted 154.14

191.58









CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AT 31 DECEMBER 2022









2022

2021

RMB million

RMB million Non-current assets





Property, plant and equipment 1,936

1,940 Deposits made for acquisition of property, plant and equipment 5

5 Right-of-use assets 380

428 Investment properties 59

77 Goodwill 287

217 Intangible assets 739

772 Interests in associates and joint ventures 34

50 Equity instruments at fair value through other comprehensive

income 56

8 Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 404

266 Loan receivables 8

8 Other receivables, prepayments and deposits 89

38 Deferred tax assets 347

135

4,344

3,944 Current assets





Properties under development 343

317 Properties for sale 303

205 Inventories 807

685 Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 84

2 Loan receivables 4

22 Trade receivables 654

832 Other receivables, prepayments and deposits 549

494 Amounts due from joint ventures 5

3 Tax recoverable 29

25 Restricted bank balance and pledged bank deposits 1

9 Bank deposits with original maturity over three months 207

630 Cash and cash equivalents 3,701

3,717

6,687

6,941















Current liabilities



Trade and other payables 1,513

1,455 Contract liabilities 406

357 Lease liabilities 67

64 Provisions 94

89 Derivative financial instruments 31

43 Bank borrowings 737

403 Convertible and exchangeable bonds 16

15 Tax payable 100

128

2,964

2,554 Net current assets 3,723

4,387 Total assets less current liabilities 8,067

8,331







Non-current liabilities





Other payables 19

11 Lease liabilities 50

95 Bank borrowings 2

- Convertible and exchangeable bonds 1,317

1,070 Convertible preferred shares -

- Deferred tax liabilities 80

80

1,468

1,256 Net assets 6,599

7,075







Capital and reserves





Share capital 40

40 Share premium and reserves 6,859

7,275 Equity attributable to owners of the Company 6,899

7,315 Non-controlling interests (300)

(240)

6,599

7,075









UNAUDITED RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS









2022

2021

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

RMB million

RMB million Operating profit 1,150

1,385 Add:





Share-based payments expense 6

14 Amortization of intangible assets arising on acquisitions

of subsidiaries 56

64 Impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories and

goodwill 103

21 Impairment of interest in an associate -

23 Non-GAAP operating profit 1,315

1,507







Profit attributable to owners of the Company 834

1,062 Add:





Share-based payments expense 6

14 Amortization of intangible assets arising on acquisitions

of subsidiaries 43

49 Impairment loss of intangible assets, inventories and

goodwill 100

12 Impairment of interest in an associate -

20 Finance costs 199

168 Fair value (gain) loss on derivative financial instruments (15)

3 Fair value loss (gain) on financial assets at fair value

through profit or loss 32

(21) Exchange loss (gain) on financial assets at fair value

through profit or loss, bank borrowings, convertible and

exchangeable bonds and derivative financial instruments 63

(16) Interest income on pledged bank deposits -

(1) Non-GAAP profit attributable to owners of the Company 1,262

1,290

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VANCOUVER, Wash. , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle , Dr. Lauren Roles is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Provider for her contributions as an Internist.

Dr. Roles earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington . She received a medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver and completed a residency in internal medicine at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California . The doctor then finished a fellowship in geriatric medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland .

Dr. Roles is a dual board-certified internist at Vancouver Clinic in Vancouver, Washington . According to Dr. Roles , she focuses on enabling people to identify and reach their health goals so that they can do everything they want to do. She has special training in helping older adults with complicated health problems and enjoys being able to create tailored plans for each individual, considering their unique conditions, concerns, and hopes. She notes that she believes that the key to practicing medicine well is to listen to the needs of patients.

Dr. Roles is also board-certified in geriatric medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). According to the doctor, the ABIM is a physician-led non-profit independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world. Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention diagnosis and treatment of adult diseases. She asserts that physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists and manage and prevent common and complex diseases by providing comprehensive care and promoting overall well-being.

Dr. Roles is associated with the American College of Physicians , The American Geriatric Society , and the Oregon Geriatric Society .

In her spare time, Dr. Roles enjoys reading a good science fiction or fantasy novel. She also enjoys her golden doodle, Samwise, named after The Lord of the Rings character, and her cat, Na'Vi, who is named for the blue people from Avatar. Dr. Roles is also fascinated by evolutionary biology and is building her own tiny collection of dinosaur fossils. One day she hopes to participate in a real dig.

The doctor would like to thank her parents, Royal and Diane Roles , for all their support. She would like to dedicate this honor to her mentor and high school biology teacher, Mr. Deopke.

For more information, please visit her website at www.tvc.org.

Contact: Katherine Green , 516-825-5634, [email protected]

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LLANTRISANT, Wales , March 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Mint , official maker of UK coins, has today launched the final 1oz coin in its Harry Potter collection celebrating 25 years since the publication of J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with a coin featuring the enchanting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry .

The Royal Mint's Harry Potter collection is one of a small number that saw a change of portrait during the series. The first two coins in the collection featured the portrait of Her Late Majesty, with the final two coins feature the official portrait of King Charles III . A change of portrait during the series is a rare occasion, making this set of coins highly collectable. The launch of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 1oz, marks the conclusion of this unique collection of coins.

The Harry Potter coin collection has already received a popular response globally, with collectors and Harry Potter enthusiasts across 86 countries having bought at least one coin in the range. The Royal Mint has seen a strong response from younger families and millennials (28%) purchasing coins in the Harry Potter collection directly from the Mint, linking with those who grew up reading the series of books and finding nostalgia with each coin in the series.

Rebecca Morgan , Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint said, "We have thoroughly enjoyed celebrating 25 years since the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first released with a unique coin collection. Today, we conclude this very special and popular coin collection, with a coin featuring the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry . It felt fitting to have the final coin in this collection feature Hogwarts School , the place where Harry Potter became one of the greatest wizards of all time. This collection of coins has received a popular response among 'Potterheads' across the globe, who have found nostalgia with each coin in the series."

The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry collectable 1oz coin is part of a larger Harry Potter collection featuring the wizard himself Harry Potter , the Hogwarts Express and Professor Albus Dumbledore on their own individual coin.

Combining traditional minting techniques with technology, The Royal Mint's craftspeople have faithfully reproduced Jim Kay's illustrations in colour for the first time on official UK coins. Many of the coins in the range also feature an enchanting 'latent feature' which rotates in the light to reveal a lightning bolt and the number '25' to mark the anniversary year*. An advanced picosecond laser was used by The Royal Mint to imprint the intricate design onto coin making tools to ensure accuracy, and create an additional, special effect to further enhance the coin's design.

Available on a range of denominations including a 1oz, all four coins have been modelled by Ffion Gwillim at The Royal Mint , which feature the work of Jim Kay , the artist who created the first fully illustrated edition of this Harry Potter story.

The coin series has been created in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing, The Blair Partnership and Warner Bros, Consumer Products . The final coin in the collection featuring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is available to purchase from The Royal Mint's website with customers able to secure all four coins at once: Harry Potter | The Royal Mint

*This excludes the  Oz denomination due to the limited size of the surface

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2039938/The_Royal_Mint_1.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1492158/Royal_Mint_Logo.jpg

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FILE PHOTO: A person holds a smartphone as Tik Tok logo is displayed behind in this picture illustration taken November 7, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Miho Uranaka

TOKYO (Reuters) -A group of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers plans to compile a proposal next month urging the government to ban social networking services such as TikTok if they are used for disinformation campaigns, an LDP lawmaker said on Monday.

Many U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to ban the popular Chinese-owned social media app, alleging the app could be used for data collection, content censorship and harm to children's mental health.

"If it's verified that an app has been intentionally used by a certain party of a certain country for their influence operations with malice ..., promptly halting the service should be considered," Norihiro Nakayama told Reuters in an interview.

"Making it clear that operations can be halted will help keep app operators in check as it means TikTok's 17 million users (in Japan), for example, will lose their access. It will also lead to sense of security for users," Nakayama said.

Nakayama, a senior member of a ruling party lawmakers' group looking into ways to enhance Japan's economic security, said that proposal will not be targeting at any particular platform.

A string of Western governments and institutions have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including the UK parliament, the Dutch and Belgian administrations and the New Zealand parliament.

In Japan, the use of TikTok and other social networking services (SNSs) are prohibited on government devices that handle confidential information.

Nakayama said further restrictions should be considered only after looking into their data-handling and other operations.

"I believe we first need to make it possible for people outside to firmly grasp how data is being handled whenever concerns are raised," Nakayama said.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Miho Uranaka, Editing by Louise Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama)
DAYTON, Ohio (Tribune News Service)  Nearly two years after it was initially filed, the city of Daytons $300 million lawsuit against Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Department of Defense over so-called forever chemicals sits in legal limbo, blended with thousands of similar lawsuits under a single federal court master docket.

It was unilaterally transferred to a federal court in South Carolina over a year ago under a statute called multi-district litigation, said Stephen Neal Haughey, a Cincinnati attorney representing Dayton in the suit. It was consolidated with probably 10,000 PFAS cases that are down there.

It literally got yanked out, he added. We never got a chance to even prove our case.

The suit finds itself indefinitely stayed, as Haughey put it  a precarious position given that newly proposed federal PFAS standards for drinking water make the citys need for new water treatment funding dollars more urgent, he contends.

The city of Dayton formally filed a drinking water contamination lawsuit against Wright-Patterson and the DOD in early May 2021.

The suit, initially filed in Cincinnatis federal court, accused the base and the DOD of failing to stop water containing a group of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances  or PFAS  from flowing into the citys Mad River wellfield. The wellfield is one of several Dayton uses to supply drinking water to more than 400,000 residents in Dayton and Montgomery County.

At the time of the filing, Wright-Patt and defense officials denied the citys allegations, saying they had followed federal guidelines and were taking an aggressive approach against the chemicals. By the citys own admission, the base noted at the time, Daytons water was safe to drink.

Since the filing, the base has embarked on $26.5 million project to cleanse the chemicals from the ground.

In January, the base said an Army contractor built a 420-foot-long trench near a hazardous materials storage site on the base in an effort to intercept impacted groundwater. A downgradient-collection basin is meant to catch affected surface water so it can be treated before its discharged near the Dayton drinking water wellfield, the base also said in January.

The citys lawsuit sought damages from $10 million to $300 million.

Rose Riley, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the service does not comment on ongoing litigation. A spokeswoman for the 88th Air Base Wing, the unit responsible for security and infrastructure at Wright-Patterson, likewise declined to comment.

Questions were also sent to city of Dayton deputy law director John Musto.

I dont know when we will ever have a chance to prosecute our claims and seek relief for the contamination, Haughey said in a recent interview. The city is working aggressively to try to find sources of funding at other levels to try to deal with the problem while we sit down there 9,000-plus other complaints in Columbia, S.C.

The citys lawsuit was placed with thousands of cases brought by individual plaintiffs, state governments and municipalities like Dayton.

A Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation determined that the cases filed involved common questions of law and fact such that centralization of the cases was appropriate, a notice on the South Carolina courts web site says. Weighing a number of factors, the Judicial Panel selected the District of South Carolina as the forum for this litigation.

Judge Richard Gergel oversees discovery and pretrial issues.

Of the thousands of cases, only 28 are complaints against military bases, Haughey said. Most are lawsuits against the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals, such as DuPoint, 3M and others.

Were not even a lawsuit against the manufacturers, Haughey said. Were going right after the source of contamination.

In December, 3M Co. said it will end the production of goods with PFAS chemicals by the end of 2025.

Dayton is not alone in the Miami Valley with its lawsuit. Fairborn and Bellbrook have sued 3M and others, alleging PFAS contamination or potential contamination of community water sources.

In mid-March, the Biden administration said it is proposing the first national drinking water standard for six PFAS chemicals. The EPA is proposing to regulate PFOA and PFOS at a level where the chemicals can be reliably measured at 4 parts per trillion.

Its difficult to say what the future holds for the lawsuit.

Obviously, the city needs funding to install treatment, Haughey said. The U.S. EPA has issued proposed drinking water standards last week (on March 14) that are so low that the city will absolutely need to install treatment to remove PFAS down to the level proposed by the U.S. EPA.

We want funding, the attorney added. We dont care how we get it  through litigation, through negotiation, through state and federal funding bills. Thats what the city wants. They dont want to sue anybody if they (the city) can find funding.

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AUSTIN, Texas  Jury selection began Monday for the trial of an Army sergeant charged with murder in the death of an Air Force veteran who he said he shot in self-defense during a Black Lives Matter protest nearly three years ago.

Sgt. Daniel Perry, 35, was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, and had a second job working for a rideshare company when he encountered protesters in downtown Austin at about 9:51 p.m. on July 25, 2020. Garrett Foster was among the protesters and legally carrying an AK-47-type assault rifle, according to the Austin Police Department. Perry told police that he saw Foster point the weapon at him, so he fired his own gun five times, killing Foster, 28.

Perry is also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and deadly conduct, according to the Travis County District Attorneys Office.

The encounter, which was recorded by other people at the scene and posted online, lasted seconds. Perry drove his vehicle from Fourth Street onto Congress Avenue, which was partially barricaded with orange cones. Protesters began to surround his vehicle and strike the outside.

Foster can be seen approaching the driver-side window with his rifle held in front of him, then gunshots erupt and the crowd scatters. Police said a third person on the scene, who was also carrying a weapon, fired at Perrys vehicle as he drove away.

Multiple people called 911, including Perry, who said he had shot someone who pointed a rifle at him. He was instructed to pull over and wait for police, which he did, according to a news release issued by Austin police two days after the shooting.

Perry was interviewed and released that night, police said.

Nearly one year later a Travis County grand jury indicted Perry for murder, District Attorney Jose Garza said during a July 1, 2021, news conference. Prosecutors presented more than 150 evidence exhibits and testimony from 22 witnesses, he said.

Our heart goes out to all those impacted by this immeasurable loss, in particular Mr. Foster's family and friends, Garza said. We take our responsibility to present all of the evidence in any given case to a grand jury very seriously and in this case, in particular, we've presented an extensive collection of evidence for the grand jury's consideration.

Doug OConnell, a retired Army colonel and defense attorney for Perry, said Fosters death is a tragedy but the soldier is being prosecuted for what is clearly a case of legal self-defense.

Just because you have the right to carry an assault rifle around downtown Austin, it doesnt mean its a good idea. And if you point the rifle at someone, youre responsible for everything that happens next," OConnell said. Daniel is anxious to testify and tell his side of the story. Whether he actually takes the stand will depend on the quality of the governments evidence.

Perry has since been reassigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the Army said.

Foster enlisted in the Air Force as a refueler and bomber aircraft maintainer in June 2011, according to the Air Force Personnel Center. He separated as an airman first class assigned to Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in May 2013.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile Sunday, its seventh day of launches so far this year, according to the Souths Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The missile was launched at 11 a.m. from North Pyongan province and flew eastward nearly 500 miles before splashing down in the East Sea, or Sea of Japan, the Joint Chiefs said in a message to reporters.

The launch is a serious provocation that harms peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as the international community, the message said.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced in a statement Sunday said that the launch did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies.

North Korea has fired nine ballistic missiles so far this year. The communist regime last launched a long-range ballistic missile on Thursday, hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol flew to Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida. It was the two countries first summit since 2011, according to the Joint Chiefs.

The Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday that the projectile fired two days earlier was an intercontinental ballistic missile. It was launched to exercise strict control over the enemies who are driving the tension and confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, the report said.

Yoon, who has sought to mend diplomatic ties with Japan after decades of historical differences , said in a statement Friday that he hoped to work with Tokyo for a brighter bilateral relationship for future generations.

Yoon and Kishida agreed to coordinate their military intelligence to better respond to North Koreas weapon tests, the South Korean leader told reporters after the summit.

Sundays launch happened as U.S. and South Korean forces conduct their largest joint military exercise in five years. Pyongyang views the Freedom Shield drills as a rehearsal of an invasion and has threatened to flex its own military power.

The 11-day exercise kicked off Monday and is defensive in nature, according to U.S. and South Korean military officials. South Koreas Ministry of National Defense said it will be held without interruption despite potential provocations from the North.

A U.S. B-1B Lancer flew over the Korean Peninsula as part of Freedom Shield, the Souths defense ministry announced roughly three hours after Sundays launch. The bomber was escorted by U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons and South Korean F-35A Lightning IIs, according to a news release.

An American bomber last appeared in South Korea on March 6, when an Air Force B-52H Stratofortress flew alongside South Korean fighters in a show of force to respond to North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile threats, the ministry said in a statement at the time.

U.S. and Japanese guided-missile destroyers carried out a separate missile-defense exercise in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, U.S. Forces Japan said in a news release that day. The USS Milius and JS Atago demonstrated the countries shared values and resolve to hold the line against those who challenge regional stability, according to the release.
SEOUL, South Korea (Tribune News Service)  South Korea plans to hold its largest-ever live-fire drills with the U.S. in a move certain to anger North Korea, which has ramped up its provocations to new levels in response to recent military exercises.

The joint drills, which will involve mobilizing high-tech military equipment, are planned for June as part of a program to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance between South Korea and the U.S., South Koreas defense ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The program is designed to showcase the ability of the two nations to materialize peace through strength via action, amid stern security situations arising from North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, the statement said.

South Korea and the U.S. this week are winding down one of their largest joint training drills in years. North Korea has responded with threats to turn the Pacific Ocean into a firing range and shot off weapons that included a missile designed to strike the U.S. with a nuclear bomb, new missiles to hit U.S. military bases in South Korea and a test of a mock nuclear warhead affixed to a missile.

The joint drills had been scaled down or halted under former President Donald Trump, who was hoping the move would facilitate his nuclear negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Those talks led to no concrete steps to wind down Kims nuclear arsenal, which only grew larger as the talks sputtered.

The live-fire drills are also expected to draw attention from neighboring countries, including China. The countrys Foreign Ministry has said Beijing has been watching the situation on the Korean Peninsula with concern  and blamed the U.S. for stoking tensions.

North Korea, which has fired 13 ballistic missiles since Feb. 18, has for years called joint drills a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war. The US and South Korea in January announced plans to step up the scale of their joint military exercises. Japan, which North Korea regards as mortal enemy, has also joined some of the drills in recent months.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol went to Japan last week for a summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to repair ties and improve security cooperation between the two countries  a move aligning with the Biden administrations strategy in the region for countering security threats from the likes of North Korea and China.

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KINMEN, Taiwan  Growing up on the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, Chen Yang-hu's parents told him about the time a bomb from China's People's Liberation Army hit their family eatery, killing a soldier as he was tucking into a bowl of noodles. Recalling the story, Chen mimes how the projectile filled with propaganda leaflets ripped into the soldier's midsection so that his "whole stomach came out."

These days Chen, now 49 and sporting closely cropped hair with just a hint of gray, is not worried about being disemboweled during lunch. He is one of eight local politicians lobbying for Kinmen to be turned into a "permanent demilitarized zone" as part of a broader plan to ease tensions and bolster trade between the Staten Island-size landmass and China.

"Why not let Kinmen to be an experiment for peace?" asked Chen, who is an independent councilor.

The Chinese city of Xiamen is just four miles across the water from the main Kinmen island  so close a Taiwanese soldier was able to swim to China this month  while Taipei is 204 miles away. And China, with 60 times Taiwan's population, represents a much more lucrative market.

Kinmen has been at the center of the cross-strait standoff since 1949, when the Nationalists established a rearguard here after effectively losing the civil war against the Chinese Communist Party. Over the next four decades, troops used Kinmen as a base to hold off the Communists. To this day, it remains a stronghold of the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, although the party now favors closer relations with Beijing.

The Kinmen politicians' "demilitarized zone" proposal last month was met with a mixture of silence, dismissal and suspicion by Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party, which is wary of Chinese influence operations in the outlying islands.

But Chinese state-controlled media seized upon the idea as evidence of progress toward the Communist Party's preferred "resolution to the Taiwan question"  that the 23 million people of the self-governing island democracy submit to its rule without fighting.

Could Kinmen, one state-run outlet asked, become a "trial zone" for "peaceful reunification" to be realized?

From his earliest days as a young official, Xi Jinping has been directly involved in Communist Party work to bring Taiwan, which it views as Chinese territory, under its control. That project has always combined displays of military might with rewards for Taiwanese seen as furthering China's goal of unification.

Now Xi is China's strongest leader in decades, and he has intensified both tactics. He continues to talk about wanting a nonmilitary settlement to differences with Taipei, even as the Chinese military has been practicing encircling Taiwan during drills, and CIA intelligence suggests the People's Liberation Army has been ordered to be ready for a full-scale assault on Taiwan by 2027.

Although Kinmen's proximity to China gives it a view that is not reflective of Taiwanese politics as a whole, the discussion here shows how China could use its economic might to advance its long-standing campaign to win over pockets of Taiwanese society.

It is a campaign that is expected to become more fervent leading up to Taiwan's presidential election in January, when the Kuomintang will be trying to unseat the DPP, and could intensify after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen visits the United States this week. Beijing opposes any interactions between senior Taiwanese and American officials and may respond with another round of military saber-rattling.

But drinking tea in a corrugated iron-walled hut on a quiet country road, Chen brushed aside fears that a buffer zone will undermine democracy on Kinmen, claiming that the proposal  which included support for a bridge to Xiamen and the establishment of a special economic zone with China  was nonpolitical.

For those skeptical of Beijing's motives, the proposal risks undermining Taiwan's hard-won democratic freedoms. Critics have accused its backers of political maneuvering or even acting at China's behest.

Chen denies both charges. The intent was "simple," he insisted: to prevent future bloodshed.

When Xi was the Communist Party boss in Fuzhou city, the capital of China's Fujian province, he learned to how to dangle closer economic, personal and transport linkages while also using escalating military threats as a backstop against Taiwan declaring formal independence.

In 1996, Xi called for stronger national defense that "can overcome hardships no matter how great," according to one article in the official Fujian Daily newspaper, now yellow with age and stored in an archive maintained by Taiwan's Ministry of Justice.

On the same page, another article relayed Xi's remarks about the need to attract Taiwanese investment for large projects in Fujian.

The dual approach Xi took then  speaking softly about being one big family while brandishing an ever-larger stick  continues.

China "continues to warn that if its red lines are crossed, there is the possibility that it will have to use force," said Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "It's essentially trying to put the onus on other countries, both the United States and Taiwan."

Although Xi has adopted more strident nationalist rhetoric about the need to defend Chinese sovereignty, he has never fundamentally changed China's proposal for Taiwan, which is the same "one country, two systems" formula created during the handover of Hong Kong from British colonial rule.

A messy conflict in the Taiwan Strait would have "huge blowback on Xi Jinping's position at home and potentially even call into question the legitimacy of Chinese Communist Party rule, as well as setting back Xi Jinping's highest priority, which is the achievement of national rejuvenation," Glaser said.

Some fear that Xi wants taking control of Taiwan to be the centerpiece of his personal legacy, but that view is contested. He tends to only speak about China's "complete unification" in relation to a long-term goal of "national rejuvenation" by the middle of the 21st century  a project he inherited from his predecessors.

Glaser interprets this as a choice to kick the can down the road, leaving the final decision up to his eventual successor. "Xi is not going to be China's leader in 2049," she said of the 69-year-old.

On Kinmen, there is some evidence that Xi's promises of economic largesse can weaken Taiwan's resolve to remain separate from China. From the island's northeastern tip, tourists watch through binoculars as dredging ships reclaim land for a new Chinese airport set to open in 2025, promising quick access to international travel for Kinmen residents.

One symbolic example comes from the island's most important industry. Kaoliang liquor, a clear sorghum-based spirit, was first made in the 1950s as a way for soldiers to keep up morale as they repelled Communist attacks.

Despite the company's anti-Communist history  it still sells bottles commemorating Chiang Kai-shek, the controversial Nationalist who led the retreat to Taiwan  the idea of fending off China is far from the minds of executives today.

They are keen to increase sales of Taiwan's most famous hard liquor to buyers in China, where the drink is known as baijiu. China briefly suspended imports of the spirit, alongside more than 100 Taiwanese beverages, late last year after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited.

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc.'s vice president Yu Hong-lin, sitting at the company's sprawling production facilities, a thimble of the clear spirit on the table beside him, said the company needed to put business first.

"Frankly speaking, the market in Taiwan is almost fully saturated," he said. "The largest market for Chinese baijiu is still in mainland China.  So of course that is our goal."

While Taipei may focus on trying to understand the intention and political consequence of interacting with Beijing, the residents of Kinmen merely want the economic benefits of greater connectivity, said Lu Cheng-Fung, an associate professor at National Quemoy University on Kinmen. "Local people are very pragmatic," he said.

But business and politics are often intertwined, as is the case with the demilitarized zone proposal, which would require a high-level agreement between Beijing and Taipei to become reality. "It's unlikely this could be a truly feasible policy direction," Lu said, but he added that the idea of trying to ease tensions "will definitely be politically attractive."

That appeal could become a part of broader positioning by Taiwan's two major parties ahead of the presidential election in January. The Kuomintang has already begun to present itself as the party of peace while framing the DPP as being liable to provoke China.

Yet, even in Kinmen not everyone is sold on the buffer zone proposal.

"You can't decide whether someone will attack you," said Tung Sen Po, an independent councilor who has spoken out against stronger ties with China. "Should they consider it necessary to launch a war, then they will take you if they want to. That's the cruel fact of the matter."
Polands military has recognized and honored four members of the Illinois National Guard for training Polish troops to use American weapons amid the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.

Officials said the four Guard members taught Polish troops how to use Javelin anti-tank weapons and trained them in sniper operations and emergency medical procedures for a few weeks in 2022. Capt. Drew Weaver, Sgt. Elizabeth Hernandez, Sgt. Albert Herda and Sgt. 1st Class Paul Herrick all received the Polish Army Medal (bronze) on Saturday at the Illinois Army National Guards training center in Marseilles, Ill.

They received the medals from Col. Edward Chyla, commander of the Polish Territorial Defense Force Training Center.

The Illinois National Guard said the training that the U.S. soldiers provided will benefit Ukrainians defending their homeland against Russian forces on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Many of the Polish trainers have helped train Ukrainian soldiers as they fight off the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the National Guard said in a statement Monday.

U.S. troops were sent to NATO ally Poland, which borders Ukraine, last year after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February.

Since Russias invasion, the United States has given more than $32 billion in military aid to Ukraine for tools, vehicles and weapons, including M1 Abrams tanks, armored personnel carriers, Javelin anti-tank systems and a Patriot air-defense system.

Weaver is the commander of A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment and was the sniper officer in charge of the training team last year. In civilian life, he is an Illinois State Police trooper.

Hernandez, an EMT in civilian life, is a senior medic for the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment and helped train Polish troops in mass casualty response and emergency medical care. Herda, a medic for the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, helped Hernandez in the medical training.

Herrick is a full-time readiness noncommissioned officer in the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment and reconnaissance platoon sergeant who assisted Polish troops with infantry training.

The Polish Army Medal recognizes outstanding service by foreign civilians and military personnel in helping Polands army. The medal is awarded in three grades: gold, silver and bronze. The same medal was given to Army Maj. Gen. William Enyart, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, in 2011. His was gold.
The Islamabad High Court on Monday granted PTI Chairman Imran Khan interim bail in seven cases registered against him following clashes at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) on March 18.

In petitions filed in the IHC today, the PTI chief sought interim bail in seven cases registered against him at Golra, Bara Kahu, Ramna, Khanna, and CTD police stations.

The cases are related to violence outside the Federal Judicial Complex on March 18  where Imran had appeared in the Toshakhana case.

A two-member IHC division bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, heard the former premiers petition.

The pleas, filed through Barrister Salman Safdar, stated that Imran would suffer irreparable loss if he was arrested.

Furthermore, being head of the single largest political party, there is an apprehension that his political adversaries and opponents would be able to further their nefarious designs and political ambitions if pre-arrest bail is not granted to the petitioner, they added.

A video on PTIs official Twitter showed the PTI chairman entering the court premises as a huge contingent of the Islamabad police surrounded his vehicle.

When asked by a reporter during an unofficial talk with the media upon his arrival about Interior Minister Rana Sanaullahs recent remarks about Imran, the former premier replied, My wish is that both (Imran and Rana Sanaullah) remain but if he is saying that then I will just say that he wont remain.

For politicians, the doors for talks remain open. Those who have been playing by collaborating with the umpire, what would they know about a level-playing field, he added.

Ahead of the hearing, PTI leader Shireen Mazari claimed that Imrans photographer Imran G and three other civilians were taken into custody by the police while they were on the way to the IHC.

These 4 unarmed civilians, one of whom is our official photographer, were with Imran Khan car on way to IHC & were arrested without having committed any crime & now apparently taken to Ramna police station. Then we are targeted for criticising the ICT police! she tweeted.
Qabil Ashirov

Azerbaijans foreign trade turnover decreased by $800m or 10 percent, amounting to $7.1bn in January-February 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, Azernews reports, citing the State Customs Committee.

Legal entities and individual entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan conducted trade operations with partners in 155 countries. During the reporting period, Azerbaijan's export dropped by 25 percent amounting to $4.5bn.

As usual, the bulk of Azerbaijans export made up of oil and gas, and this sharp decrease relates to the volatility of global gas markets. Azerbaijans natural gas export decreased by 5 times totaling $502m in January-February 2023. However, Azerbaijans oil export increased by 13 percent, amounting $3.3bn.

The import of Azerbaijan grew $678m, or by 35 percent, up $1.4bn. Overall, the country's foreign trade turnover resulted in a surplus of $1.9bn.

Furthermore, during the reporting period, exports of non-oil and gas products increased by 41 percent and amounted to $651m. Electricity with $227m, fruit and vegetables with $80m, Plastics and products made of plastics with $76m, chemical products with $54m, and cotton with $23m stand out among non-oil-and-gas exports.

Italy accounted for 19.47 percent of Azerbaijan's total trade turnover, Turkiye for 12.49 percent, Russia for 10.62 percent, China 5.9 percent and Germany 5.28 percent.

The top five countries importing Azerbaijani products are Italy with 29.26 percent of exports, Turkiye with 12.25 percent and Israel with 7.34 percent, Spain with 6.14 percent, and Germany with 5.65 percent.

Azerbaijan's top importers are Russia with 21.34 percent, China with 14.33, Turkiye with 12.88, France with 7.65 percent and Germany with 4.66 percent.

In terms of non-oil and gas products exports, the most export volume accounts for Turkiye (42.05 percent), Russia (21.14 percent), Georgia (9.93 percent), Kazakhstan (2.98 percent), and Switzerland (2.92 percent).




In reaction to the questions raised by two Supreme Court judges regarding the powers of the chief justice earlier today, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President and Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz has said the judgement is reflective of her partys narrative regarding bench-fixing.

If the constitution of the [Supreme Court] bench is not fair, then how will the decision be considered fair? she said while presiding over a meeting of PML-N spokespersons Monday.

In an unusual development in the top court, two judges from the five-member larger bench  hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafs petition over the postponement of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa  raised questions over the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), saying the apex court cannot be dependent on the solitary decision of one man, the Chief Justice.

In a 27-page detailed ruling, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail pointed out that it is important to revisit the power of one-man show enjoyed by the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan".

The development came minutes after the countrys top court served notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan, adjourning the hearing on the Imran Khan-led partys petition which challenged the ECPs orders to put off Punjab Assembly elections till October 8.

Maryam, the scion of the Sharif family's political dynasty, asked her partys members to expose Imran Khans facilitators in the judiciary with full force.

Her directives were endorsed in the partys statement which read: Unfair, vindictive decisions and testimonies against Nawaz Sharif decided to be brought before the public.

According to a statement issued by the PML-N, all the "facts about Imran Khan and his facilitators should be brought before the public.

Comparing the judiciarys treatment of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to that of the PTI chairman, Maryam said: Violation of the Constitution and law will be exposed in Nawaz Sharifs case. Evidence of injustice with Nawaz Sharif is now surfacing.

The partys chief organiser added that the scales of justice should have been equal if justice exists.

Addressing her partys spokespersons, the PML-N stalwart said that the PTI chief had become Pakistans past and it "is now time to think about the countrys future".

Imran Khan wants to divert public attention from his corruption cases, she said, highlighting that there are irrefutable pieces of evidence against Khan in various cases including those involving foreign funding, Toshakhana, and his alleged daughter Tyrion White.

Taking a jibe at the former ruling party for its time in power, the PML-N stalwart said that the economy was destroyed and people became poor in the last four years.

Out of the one million jobs in the last four years, the people did not get a single job. Out of the 5 million homes, not a single one was given to the people, she said slamming the previous Khan-led government.

Slamming the PTI chiefs 10-point agenda, which he presented during his partys power show at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, Maryam said: This is not a 10-point agenda, 10 lies have been uttered.

Khan, in his speech in Lahore, presented a roadmap for the betterment of Pakistan which included overseas investment, enabling exporters, tourism, minerals, and agriculture, boosting small and medium industries, restructuring big corporations, expanding the tax net, ensuring rule of law and initiating humanitarian programmes.
Drug addict Leech asked for 10,000 to carry out the killings and Kennedy handed over 8,000, which he got from friends and family who were unaware of his intentions.

This is the thug who a Dublin man solicited to murder two Canadian women after his wife befriended them online while playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Alan Leech (38), from Loftus Hall Apartments, Hazelbrook Square, Churchtown, Dublin, was hired by jealous husband Bryan Kennedy to kill the Canadian couple after he was angry because his wife was leaving him and they were supporting the move.

Drug addict Leech asked for 10,000 to carry out the killings and Kennedy handed over 8,000, which he got from friends and family who were unaware of his intentions.

While Leech is not believed to have planned to carry through on the plot, he began blackmailing and threatening Kennedy and his family after demanding the other 2,000 to carry out the killings.

Kennedy told the Sunday World ahead of his own sentencing that he was terrified of Leech after the would-be hitman started threatening him and said he picked the wrong person when he hired him for the double hit.

Bryan Kennedy

Leech appeared in court this week where he pleaded guilty to demanding the 2,000 with menace from Kennedys ex-wife on dates between January 6, 2020 to February 11, 2020.

He had initially been charged with a number of other offences, including threats to kill or cause serious harm to Kennedy, but they are no longer being pursued following his guilty plea.

The case was adjourned until April 19 for sentencing.

Scorned husband Kennedy, who believed Leech would carry out the double murder, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to soliciting the would-be assassin to murder the Canadian couple between October 2019 and January 2020.

He will begin his sentence next month as arrangements had to be put in place to organise supports for his ex-wife and children, as he was their primary carer despite the marriage breaking up.

Kennedy knew Leech as their kids went to the same school and confided in him that he was having relationship difficulties.

At the end of the day it was just heartbreak. You get the worst news possible and you just start thinking crazy, Kennedy told the Sunday World.

He wrongly believed his problems would be solved if he got Leech to murder Canadian couple Stephanie Poirier and Clara Houde-Brunette who had met his wife online.

Target Stephanie Poirier spoke about her ordeal

Stephanie previously told the Sunday World that she and her wife, Clara, got to know Kennedys wife on social media in 2019 and they became good friends.

They would chat online and play Dungeons and Dragons. Kennedys wife revealed to them how her relationship wasnt working and she wanted to end it.

I did whatever any good friend would do and said if youre not happy in your relationship you should leave, Stephanie said.

Stephanies friendship with Kennedys wife continued and they often had intimate conversations.

We thought everything was private but it turned out Bryan had kept log-in information on his phone for his wifes accounts. He had been reading all her messages as it happened in real time.

She said Kennedy saw intimate pictures that she and Bryans wife had shared and this incensed him.

While Kennedy claimed his wife told him she was moving to Canada to live with the couple, Stephanie said that wasnt true.

We said, do you want to visit Canada and get away for a week? We have an extra spare room. Bryan got really cold and angry with her and that made it a very sour household.

By January 2020, Kennedy had already paid over 8,000 to Leech, who was pressuring him for the rest of the money

On January 6, the pressure became too much for Kennedy that he fled the country without telling anyone where he was going.

He didnt even pick up the kids from school. He just messaged his ex-wife and said go get the kids and he was gone. He was in the wind and we didnt know why. He just ran away one day, Stephanie said.

While he was away, Leech called to Kennedys home and threatened Kennedys wife.

Stephanie said: It came out bit by bit that he ran away because there was a man threatening him and the man started threatening my friend, saying awful things.

Alan Leech leaving the Central Criminal Courts   Gary Ashe

At that point things started to piece together mostly through [Leech}. He would yell things at the door and during one of the confrontations he yelled something about how Bryan had tried to hire him to kill us. That was the end of January and that was the first we heard of the plot.

Stephanie said while she could understand if Kennedy confided in Leech about how he didnt like the fact his wife was friends with the Canadian couple, but to hire him to kill them was crazy.

Its one thing to go to someone who is sympathetic and say, Ive been having relationship issues, its another thing when that person says hey, do you want me to off them for you and you say yeah heres 8,000.

Now that Leech has pleaded guilty, we can also reveal that Kennedy told the Sunday Worldabout how the plan to hire a hitman backfired.

You just start thinking crazy and you pick the wrong person [Leech], you probably know his name. He didnt just threaten me. He threatened my ex-wife and kids. Im just glad the guards [became involved].

Asked if he was terrified of Leech himself, he said: Oh yeah. Especially with that man if he has priors and stuff.

Kennedy also told us he wasnt looking forward to the prospect of being jailed himself.

I dont think anyone enjoys jail. Especially being a family man, being a carer who does stuff day-to-day  being taken away from that.

While Kennedy has now split from his ex-wife, who suffers from a degenerative bone disease, he continued to be her primary carer and look after their children even after he was convicted of the hitman plot.

His ex-wife accompanied him to court for his sentencing hearing and said no matter what supports were put in place for their family they could not replace the level of care given by Kennedy.

aggravating

Judge Caroline Biggs postponed the sentence until April to allow time for Tusla to put in place supports for his ex-wife and kids.

She said while it was preferable that Kennedy cared for the kids, it was on his head that he chose to break the law and he must bear responsibility for that.

She said an aggravating factor was that Kennedy was warned it was a dangerous road to go down and that he took time to think about it but still went ahead.

Stephanie previously told the Sunday World that the plot left both her and her partner as well as Kennedys family terrified and he brought that on all of them.

All three of us have not slept well for the past three years and I think Bryans ex-wife and her kids are suffering the worst.

His ex-wife stayed awake for a week straight when she found out about it. She was so terrified of a man pounding down their door and all that stuff.

He [Kennedy] brought that down on his own family. In a sense that is a karma. He tried to hire a hitman and it blew up in his face so spectacularly. On some level it feels karmic but the impact its having on his wife and kids is heartbreaking.

Leech was previously jailed for 18 months for stealing 118,000 worth of electronics from a security company where his father worked for 30 years and Leech also worked.

He pleaded guilty to 27 counts of stealing LCD TVs, digital cameras, PlayStations and Xbox equipment from Brute Force Security, at Sandyford Industrial Estate, between February 20 and June 6, 2008.

Leech said in court he had a chronic cocaine habit and stole the items to pay off a drug debt.

Leechs father, who was completely unaware of the thefts, offered to resign from his job after finding out what his son did. He also paid off the remaining 3,000 owed to drug dealers.

At the sentencing hearing, Leechs mother told the judge she had not noticed any changes in her son because, she said: We have never, ever dealt with drugs in our family circle.
He had two debit cards belonging to other people and told gardai he found them on a bus and had tried to use them in the shop.

A HOTEL waiter who shoplifted perfume and designer clothes was finding it hard to make ends meet because of the rising cost of living, a court has heard.

Octavian Varvari had never been in trouble before and his moral compass went completely askew on the day, his defence said. Judge Bryan Smyth said there was a certain amount of planning behind the offences but told the accused he will be spared a conviction if he brings 525 to court.

Varvari (26), of Ashfield Lawn, Huntstown, pleaded guilty to theft charges.

Dublin District Court heard that last January 10, he stole 540 worth of perfume from Arnotts Henry Street.

Designer clothes worth 1,500 were found on him after his arrest and he admitted he also stole them.

He had two debit cards belonging to other people and told gardai he found them on a bus and had tried to use them in the shop. He also had snips that he used to cut security tags from the clothes.

Varvari, from Romania, had no previous convictions.

He was working in hospitality and doing quite well but he found the cost of living difficult and it was more and more stressful trying to make ends meet, his solicitor Philip Hannon said.

He had no issues with alcohol or drugs and did not know what came over him on the day. Finding the debit cards sowed the seeds of the idea in his head to do what he did.

He realised he had no excuse and was very embarrassed and ashamed. Mr Hannon said what happened was an opportunistic one-off and he asked the court for leniency.
Derek McNamara was described in court by a senior garda at his 2006 trial as a central figure in Limericks underworld

Supporters of murder victim Martin ODonoghue are furious his seriously-ill killer is free from custody after 17 years behind bars.

Derek McNamaras recent release from Limerick Prison was raised with politicians and prison officials, according to Sunday World sources.

It comes the week after Logan Jackson  serving life for the murder of Kevin Sheehy  was transferred to a UK prison against the Sheehy familys wishes.

McNamara  who was described in court by a senior garda at his 2006 trial as a central figure in Limericks underworld  signed himself out of hospital after being released from prison, sources said.

Derek McNamara in 2006

Word of his release was welcomed by some of McNamaras supporters on social media when the news became public.

One man wrote: Good to have him back with his family where he belongs, innocent man from beginning every1 [sic] knows that, at least he will die with his family now not in limerick prison.

Photos of McNamara wrapped up warmly and wearing a woolly hat posing with relatives were also posted on social media.

He had been sentenced to life in 2006 at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of Martin ODonoghue (35) in August 2004.

The father-of-four died after he was stabbed outside a bar known as The Pub on Broad Street in Limerick city.

After the guilty verdict was returned the court was told that McNamara had 22 previous convictions and the father-of-six was described as a central figure in Limericks criminal underworld.

He is one of the most significant figures in criminality in this city, said a senior garda officer, adding that the murder was not connected to the Limerick gang feud and was not drugs related.

Sunday World sources say the decision was made to allow McNamaras temporary release last week as a result of his deteriorating health.

In an emotional victim impact statement at the trial, a sister of Mr ODonoghue told how her familys lives had been torn apart since her brothers violent death.

He was the life and soul of our family, a great son, father, partner and uncle, she said.

We cant understand why my brother lost his life so violently as he was such a happy-go-lucky man who would never fight with anyone.

It was the States case that although McNamara had not carried out the physical act of stabbing Mr ODonoghue, he was guilty of the murder.

Gardai later found the knife that was used in a hedge and a bloodstained hoodie that had been worn by the man who carried out the stabbing.

A bin also had the accuseds blood on it, which would allow the jury to decide that he was part of the common design, the court heard.

Relatives of Mr ODonoghue wept when video footage of the victim being pushed around was shown in court.

McNamara later failed in an appeal against the conviction in which it was claimed the judge should have discharged the jury when pictures showing him in custody and chains were shown on RTE.

The appeal was dismissed on the grounds the jury was properly charged.
A garda spokesperson confirmed that investigations are ongoing

Gardai arrested a man at Dublin Airport yesterday after discovering almost 550,000 worth of cannabis inside his luggage.

The man, aged in his 60s, was stopped by Revenue Customs officers after he arrived at the airport at around 5pm on Sunday, 26 March.

The Revenue personnel conducted a search of his luggage and 1found approximately 27kg of suspected cannabis with an estimated value of 540,000.

He was arrested and taken to a Garda Station in North County Dublin, where he is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

A garda spokesperson confirmed that investigations are ongoing.

They said: Gardai have arrested a man, following a seizure of drugs by Revenue Customs Service at Dublin Airport yesterday evening, Sunday 26th March, 2023.

At approximately 5pm, a man who arrived in Dublin Airport was stopped by Revenue Customs personnel and a search of his luggage was conducted.

During the course of the search approximately 27kg of suspected cannabis was found. The value of drugs seized is estimated at 540,000 (analysis pending).

The man, aged in his 60s, was arrested and taken to a Garda Station in North County Dublin, where he is currently detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.

Investigations are ongoing.
John Doolan (49) from Cockhill, Kilcummin in Co Kerry got a year in prison after being convicted of assault and sexual assault.

John Doolan pictured on his way out of Tralee Court House on Tuesday, March 7.

A prostitute who was assaulted by a Co Kerry farmer advertised sex-for-sale services for two years after the attack.

The sordid case highlights how hundreds of vulnerable women are left to fend for themselves by ruthless pimps and sex trafficking gangs who control the business in Ireland.

John Doolan got a one-year jail sentence for two separate assaults after contacting the women for sex but then began looking for discount or sex acts that had not been offered.

One of the women, who was assaulted at her apartment in Tralee in March 2020, said in her victim impact statement that she no longer works alone following the attack.

I know working as a sex worker is dangerous, but you never think it will happen to you, she said.

The woman attacked in Tralee worked using the name Hot Summer and her profile was advertised on the Escorts Ireland website set up by convicted pimp Peter McCormick.

Information still available online shows how despite the attack, Hot Summer continued moving around the country in Thurles, Clonmel, Sligo and Dublin in the middle of the Covid lockdown.

Her profile on the website is similar to hundreds of others, including those trafficked to Ireland or lured here by bogus promises of legitimate jobs.

Earlier this month, 49-year-old Doolan from Cockhill, Kilcummin in Co Kerry, got a year in prison after being convicted of assault and sexual assault.

Gardai arrived at the home he shares with his 74-year-old mother after tracing the blue Opel Astra they share to the house.

During interviews with gardai from the National Garda Protective Services Bureau, Doolan denied claims by the women that he had touched them inappropriately or assaulted them.

John Doolan pictured on his way out of Tralee Court House on Tuesday, March 7.

One of the women known as Victoria on her online profile, told the court Doolan grabbed her by the arms and pushed her on to a bed after she refused to give him oral sex without a condom or to have sex without a condom.

She also said he had touched her breasts, vagina and bottom without consent at her Killarney apartment May 2020.

He asked me for a blowjob without a condom. I said no. He was angry. He asked for sex without a condom too. I said nothing without a condom.

In my advertisement I say that I dont do service without a condom. He knows that, she told the court in her evidence.

She said they agreed on a price of 80 for a half-hours service, with a condom. She said this agreement was made on the phone.

Doolan told gardai when the allegations had been put to him: That is not John Doolan, he doesnt do things like that.

Doolan also denied allegations made by the other woman in Tralee and said he had asked for his money back in this case.

I went to have an intimate encounter with her, he said, adding that he would have known the price before he arrived. The woman was known as Hot Summer online, the court heard.

He said he had seen a TS, a man with long hair in the apartment, and he didnt want to be in an apartment with a man and a lady.

Doolan said he believed a pimp was in the nearby apartment watching him, and he wanted to leave.

The victim of the Killarney attack said she had given up sex work after the assault due to fear and said she suffers panic attacks as a result of the assault.

Doolans defence counsel said his client, who had pleaded not guilty to the assaults, accepted the jurys verdict and was remorseful for his actions.
Protestors prevented a bus carrying asylum seekers from entering the gates at Columb Barracks in Mullingar just after 1pm on Friday.

Interim Minister for Justice Simon Harris has said that anti-asylum seekers attempts to physically block international protection applicants from entering accommodation in Co Westmeath on Friday was an effort to intimidate.

Protestors prevented a bus carrying asylum seekers from entering the gates at Columb Barracks in Mullingar just after 1pm on Friday. An earlier bus had been able to enter without any problems.

A number of garda units attended the scene at Columb Barracks later that evening at around 9pm, which led to a garda being assaulted and a man in his 20s being arrested for public order offences.

The crowd dispersed from the area after 1.30am but have since returned, RTE reports.

Minister Simon Harris said today that these protestors dont speak for the masses and dont have a right to suggest that they are speaking on behalf of this country.

Protestors demonstrating outside Columb Barracks in Mullingar on Friday

When you see the largest humanitarian crisis that any of us, regardless of age, have never lived through, a war back on the continent of Europe, of course that causes real challenges in terms of how we will respond, he said.

But people in this country want us to respond compassionately and they also want to know that theres a balanced, robust rules-based system in place, and were doing both.

So yes, people have a right to democratically protest but they certainly dont have a right to suggest that they are speaking on behalf of this country.

Minister Harris added that he is extraordinarily grateful to the gardai for the job that they do in policing what can often be difficult situations.

Protestors demonstrating outside Columb Barracks in Mullingar on Friday

I have huge confidence in their ability to properly assess a situation and decide how best to police it, taking all factors into account.

I have said time and time again, I believe very strongly, theres a right to protest in a democratic society. Some of what we see isnt protest though. Some of what we see is an effort to intimidate. I thought the scenes in Mullingar were very much in that space.

The barracks, which closed in 2012, are intended to be used as temporary accommodation for some 120 asylum seekers, with 15 tents being erected inside the grounds.

A number of protests  including Fridays - have taken place by various groups opposed to the plan since it was announced in February by the Department of Integration.

The 25-acre site, in the centre of the town, is now used by up to 30 community groups.

In a statement on Friday, the Department of Integration said it was aware of an ongoing incident at Columb Barracks, and is liaising with An Garda Siochana.

"Over the past year, communities across Ireland have demonstrated great solidarity and welcome to those who have come here seeking refuge," the statement said.

"The Department strongly condemns any attempt to promote division and hostility."
Jack Tyro (Chch) and Mia Waite (Aus) claimed the premier longboard divisions at the Ray White Duke Festival of Surfing completed at New Brighton Beach, Christchurch.

They were joined by Tao Mouldey (Mnt) and Chloe Groube (Pau) who won the premier junior divisions at the event on Sunday.

Christchurch turned it on for the final day of the event with the best conditions of the three days, clean 1.0m waves and offshore winds all morning before the afternoon sea breezes moved in during the afternoon just before the event wrapped up.

Tyro beat defending event champion Zen Wallis (Piha) in the final after making a blistering start with a 7.83 ride as the hooter sounded.

Wallis fought back with two of his own top rides to temporarily take the lead but with five minutes to go, Tyro got another 6.37 point ride to seal the win.

I honestly couldnt hear the scores much with all the wind at the end but I was really stoked with my first wave, the waves were average in the end after being so good this morning, says Tyro.

It is so sick surfing with those guys, every heat with them is so good, we are good friends in and out of the water and they all shred so hard, I never go into heats like that thinking it is easy, you know you have to surf your best to win those heats, added Tyro of the final and his opponents.

Hugh Ritchie (Chch) finished third in the final ahead of Archie Whithear (Chch) in fourth.

Australian Mia Waite impressed all weekend throwing down big scores in her heats and in the final today, while a little more subdued, Waite posted a 9.50 heat total.

Waite arrived in New Zealand early for the Single Fin Mingle event taking place next weekend and decided to include the Ray White Duke Festival of Surfing while here.

I had so much fun, the waves were so much fun this morning, says Waite.

There will be a few of us over here for the Single Fin Mingle next week, so I am happy to get a few heats completed this weekend and win this event against the Kiwis. But you know what longboarding events are like, to be honest, we all did well with the conditions at the end of the day and I enjoyed surfing with the local surfers in the final.

Waite finished ahead of Donna Henderson (Chch) in second place with Estella Hungerford in third and double finalists Annelise Coberger (Chch) in fourth.

Jason Lawn (Chch) cleaned up the Over 45 Mens Longboard Division ahead of Grant Cochrane (Chch) but Cochrane got the win in the Over 60 Mens Longboard Division with a big win while Dave Poynter (Chch) edged out Ron Carter (Chch) in the Over 70 Mens Longboard Division.

Annelise Coberger (Chch) got the win in the Over 40 Womens Longboard Division Final ahead of Donna Henderson (Chch).

The junior divisions enjoyed the last of the clean conditions that lasted up until midday.

There was just over one point separating all four surfers in the Under 18 Boys' Division Final but it was Tao Mouldey (Mnt) that went on to his second win of the day.

The surfing was exceptional in the final with some of the most innovative surfing seen this season. Mouldey edged out Kalani Louis (Tara) by 0.14 points in the final 11.87 to 11.73.

Taranaki surfer Spencer Rowson was only just behind on 11.40 points with Kaikouras Tyler Perry finishing on 10.74 points.

Chloe Groube (Pau) made it three wins for the family in the Under 18 Girls Division in a tight final. Groube took on the punchy shorebreak and was rewarded for her committed forehand bangers that netted her 8.90 points for the win.

India Kennings (WGM) finished in second place after opting to surf out the back, but she couldnt match Groubes commitment and finished on 8.70 points ahead of Leia Millar (Piha) in third and Anna Brock (Mnt) in fourth.

Tao Mouldey picked up the first of his two wins for the day in the Under 16 Boys Division.

The four finalists started out the back but waves were few and far between with the result coming down to strategy between the shorebreak option and the waves out the back.

Mouldey was quick to pick up his scoring wave and a healthy lead before sitting on Alexis Owen (Dun) to hold on to the win in the dying stages of the final, the scores coming in 12.10 to 10.80.

Taj Millar Dal Bosco (WGM) picked up his first finals berth this season with a third in the final ahead of fourth placed Theo Morse (Rag).

Lola Groubes Under 16 Girls Division win came about thanks to a massive two turn combo on her forehand.

A score of 5.83 was awarded for the wave for a 10.33 point combined heat total.

Leia Millar finished in second place in the final and couldnt find the right peeling wave as the tide went out making the conditions challenging.

Alani Morse (Rag) finished in third place ahead of Poppy Entwistle (Chch) in fourth.

Zen Mouldey (Mnt) claimed his first national win in the Under 14 Boys Division finishing on top of a tough battle with his three South Island opponents.

Mouldey surfed to an 11.20 point heat total in the final and held off Jack Higgins (Dun) for the win, Higgins coming up just short on one of his last attempts to slip past Mouldey, and he finished on 10.66 points.

Kaikouras Sonny Lyons finished in third place ahead of Kobe Colman (Chch) in fourth.

Lola Groube (Pau) picked up the first of her two wins in the Under 14 Girls Division before going on to win the Under 16 Girls' Division.

In the Under 14s, Groube started strongly racking up a 13.50 point heat total that her opponents could not peg back.

Raglans Alani Morse pushed hard to finish in second place while a late 6.13 point ride from Kyra Wallis (Piha) was enough to secure her a comfortable third placing ahead of Georgia Macefield (Chch) in fourth place.

Jacob Seipp (Chch) narrowly defeated Kalani Summerton (Dun) to win the Under 12 Boys' Division while Zara Owen (Dun) stormed to a win in the Under 12 Girls' Division with Havana Myers finishing in second place.

Full results from all divisions can be viewed at https://liveheats.com/events/109674.






ENTERPRISEThe community is invited to attend the quarterly meeting of the Fort Rucker-Wiregrass Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) on Tuesday, April 11, where United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence Maj. Gen. Michael McCurry will be the guest speaker.

The event, held one day after the renaming the Home of Army Aviation to Fort Novosel, begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Enterprise Civic Center. We are delighted that Enterprise is one of the Wiregrass cities to host an AUSA luncheon each year, and we are especially honored to have Maj. Gen. McCurry as our speaker, Mayor William E. Cooper said. Certainly, we want to give Maj. Gen. McCurry a great Enterprise welcome and hear what he has to say about the challenges facing todays Army. Its just as important for our community to attend this meeting in great numbers to show our patriotic spirit, our steadfast commitment to maintaining the Armys strength, and to ensuring a great quality of life for our soldiers and their families.

Fort Rucker-Wiregrass AUSA Chapter President Doug Wynn said anyone who believes in a strong national defense with special concern for the Army wont want to miss this event. Come and hear Maj. Gen. McCurry, and if youre not already a member of AUSA, we invite you to learn more and join us in supporting our great local installation and the Army as a whole, Wynn said. McCurrys speech will be his first public address in Enterprise since assuming command of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker in July 2022.

The son and son-in-law of Army aviators, McCurry has a lifelong connection to Army Aviation, and has said his command assignment at Fort Rucker was somewhat of a homecoming. His wife, Sadie, is an Enterprise native and graduate of Enterprise High School.

The luncheon will provide an opportunity to not only hear from McCurry but to meet and network with soldiers who are serving our community and our country. Because AUSA is an advocate for these soldiers, Cooper and Wynn reminded that soldiers are always considered the special guests at AUSA gatherings.

Businesses and organizations who purchase tables for April 11 are encouraged to fill them with representatives but are also welcome to offer any open seats to soldiers for the opportunity to meet them and express appreciation for their service.

Tickets, which include a catered lunch, are $20 per person or $160 for a table of eight. Reservations can be made by contacting Tanya Hatley at tanyahatley@gmail.com or (931) 980-3963 by Wednesday, April 5. If any seats at your table will be empty, please inform her so that available seating can be designated for soldiers.
A man who did a U-turn approaching a police checkpoint after drinking three glasses of wine and blew positive on a breathalyser has successfully appealed his conviction, saying he was denied a blood test and that the officer wanted to finish his shift as he was hungry.

Following an appeal, Md Zakaria Wahed, 48, had his drink-driving conviction and sentence quashed in the High Court of New Zealand this month.

In a judgment dated March 6 and released March 23, Justice Palmer agreed that there had been a miscarriage of justice in Waheds trial in the Tauranga District Court in April last year.

At that trial, Wahed had been found guilty of driving with excess breath alcohol, over the 400-microgram limit, under s 56 of the Land Transport Act 1998.

He was disqualified from driving for six months and fined $600.

In the trial, the court heard that Wahed had made a U-turn approaching a police alcohol breath testing checkpoint in Papamoa, Tauranga in May 2021. He admitted to having drunk three glasses of red wine with dinner, three hours beforehand.

He failed a breath test and was taken to the booze bus for an evidential breath test. That test showed he had 493 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, over the 400-microgram legal limit for driving.

After a positive evidential breath test exceeding 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, a person has the right, within 10 minutes, to elect to have a blood test.

Wahed adamantly maintained that he wanted a blood test, for an accurate recording of his blood-alcohol level, but said that was declined because the officer, Constable Hannah, was hungry and wanted to go home.

Constable Hannah said that there was no request for blood.

In the appeal, police counsel argued that there were questions posed about the allegation the Constable was tired and hungry, but the matter was not put to Constable Hannah simply and there was no reason to put weight on that evidence. Police council reaffirmed that Wahed did not request a blood test within the 10-minute timeframe.

Waheds counsel argued that Wahed had difficulties in English and had asked a question about a blood test which should have been understood as a request.

In considering the appeal, Justice Palmer said that the freewheeling nature of the questioning at trial, and the difficulty in understanding Mr Waheds somewhat elliptical responses, would have made it difficult for the trial judge to evaluate the evidence during the trial.

In analysing a transcript of events, Justice Palmer concluded that Wahed was fixated on getting a blood test, and had made an early request for one accompanying the officer to the booze bus, but that he clearly did not understand the purpose of the 10-minute period. As far as he was concerned, he was waiting for his blood test.

Justice Palmer chose to quash the conviction and sentence rather than ordering a retrial.

While drink-driving is serious, the alleged offending here was relatively minor and occurred 21 months ago. There is a lengthy backlog of matters in the District Court to deal with. It is not in the interests of justice to order a retrial.

The judge also said Wahed needs to be more careful about drinking and driving.

-Annemarie Quill/Stuff.
Buddhist meditation: a day at the Kadampa temple Alhaurin el Grande has become a well-known centre among worldwide followers of this branch of the religion

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It is dawn in Alhaurin el Grande. In Camino de la Fuente del Perro, a rural area less than ten minutes from the town centre, daily prayers begin at 7.30am in one of the most unusual parts of this residential development: a Buddhist temple which stands out among the small houses and olive groves due to its height. Inside, residents practise the teachings of Buddha before the working day begins at 9am, the time when they all do something for the community.

At the temple, they are welcomed by Guen Kelsang Chokga, a Kadampa Buddhist nun and resident teacher at the temple, who is also the spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition for Spain and Portugal.

This branch, which adapts the teachings of Buddha to contemporary society, began in Spain 25 years ago. Now, Malaga has become world famous for this modern branch of Buddhism and the temple in Alhaurin el Grande is the largest of this faith in Europe.

Beyond the religion, it aims to be a space which is open to everyone who wants to explore meditation more deeply and free their mind from the stresses of everyday life. They can go as a visitor, volunteer, habitual resident or a student on a weekend course.

"We place the emphasis on meditation, on listening to the teachings and putting them into practice, and we want to be open to the public. You don't have to believe in it, simply try it, and if it works for you then use it," says Guen Kelsang Chokga, who started studying the teachings of Buddha in 1998.

Beside the spacious temple, which is very light due to the dome made of glass windows, stand three small buildings with the names of Buddha's pure lands: Potala, Tushita and Keajra. This area is the epicentre of life in the community, and is where the residents and visitors stay.

Salvador Salas

"At present about 20 of us are living here. There is a very good atmosphere and we all help out," says Stephanie, who runs the temple in Alhaurin and has lived there since 2014.

The community work begins at 9am and takes place in the different areas of the retreat. An image of the founding master of the tradition presides over the altar of the temple, where the teachings of Buddha are also located, with the books which are used daily in the meditations and offering bowls.

Mateo is in charge of tidying these and keeping them clean, and it is one of his favourite tasks within the community.

"In 2016 I started to study the tradition in Barcelona. Last year my partner and I came to a festival at this temple and we loved it, so now we are continuing our study programme here," says this former entrepreneur in the export sector who decided to change his life because its frantic pace was hard to cope with. "I was doing well, but I needed to stop. This life brings you a great deal of peace and tranquility," he explains.

Mateo is one of the habitual residents, those who do contribute something financially to the community. But another way of living this experience in the Alhaurin temple is to be a volunteer like Marina, 26, who is Argentinian. We talked to her in the 'cafe of peace', the cafeteria at the centre.

"I have come for a week. I'm not a Buddhist and I don't know much about it, but I heard about this temple at a meditation centre in Malaga and wanted to come and see what it was like. It has been a really good experience," she said.

Volunteers

Volunteers who come for a week work six hours a day. Outside working hours they can participate in the classes and meditation sessions organised by the centre, and they have two days off a week to explore the area or to rest.

About 11.30am it is time for a coffee break in the private dining room. All the residents and volunteers meet there as part of their coexistence experience.

"We chat and get to know each other better, for about 15 minutes," says Miguel, who returns to the kitchen once the break is over. He was an officer in the Local Police force in Granada and decided to change his life by taking a sabbatical which would enable him to live in the Buddhist centre in Alhaurin.

"I heard about this place a few years ago at a meditation centre in Granada. I felt I needed a new path in life; my work was really stressful. I started coming here to Malaga sometimes, and then an opportunity came up for me to stay. I enjoy cooking," he says.

These days there are 1,300 centres around the world where people can study and practise modern Kadampa Buddhism in the local language. Most are centres for study and meditation.

There are also six 'temples for world peace', based on the sacred mandala of Buddha Heruka, including this one in Alhaurin el Grande.

There are open days on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, including a guided tour and free meditation class.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A man accused of shooting and killing a 24-year-old man in Armory Square last year pleaded guilty to murder Monday in Syracuse.

Brandon Rolfe, 23, opened fire on a group he encountered in the 300 block of South Clinton Street in the early morning hours of April 16, 2022. The gunfire wounded four people and killed Akok Lual, 24.

Rolfe faces is expected to be sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Luals brother was among those shot. Also wounded were Garang Amyek, 25; Acuil Ater, 24; Shyquan Derby, 24; and Lual Lual, 21.

When the judge read out the indictment Akok Luals mother Mary Lual burst into tears from the audience. She hung her head and cried while Rolfe pleaded to his multiple charges. Outside the courthouse, she collapsed on the stairs to a church across the street from the courthouse and continued to cry.

Akok Lual was born in Sudan. He, along with his parents, Mary and Peter Lual, and his brother Lual Lual, left Sudan and lived in a refugee camp in Egypt. The family came to Syracuse, bought a home, and the family grew to eight.

Related article: Family fled violence of Sudans civil war only to have sons gunned down in Armory Square

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said the shooting may have come from a previous altercation.

A stabbing happened inside a room at the Hampton Inn & Suites on Buckley Road Jan. 31, 2021, according to the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office. The victim had left the building before police arrived on the scene.

No arrests were made in that stabbing because deputies never found anyone who would cooperate, the DA said.

But Lual was one of the people documented at the hotel stabbing scene, Fitzpatrick confirmed. Its unclear if Lual was a suspect in the stabbing, or if he was the intended target of the Armory Square shooting.

Rolfe was charged with second-degree murder with an expected sentence of 25 to life said Judge Marry Anne Doherty. He was also charged with four counts of second-degree attempted murder that each carry sentences of five years, she said. The attempted murder charges run concurrently so his total sentence is 30 years to life, with five years post-release supervision, she said.

Rolfe is expected to be sentenced May 4 at 2 p.m., Doherty said.

Balloons and candles serve as a memorial to Akok Lual, 24, who was shot and killed in Armory Square on Saturday, April 16, 2022. (Rylee Kirk | Rkirk@syracuse.com)

Related articles on Syracuse.com

Syracuse man arrested for Armory Square shooting that left one man dead, 4 injured, DAs office says

Police officers 30 feet away from brazen and deadly shooting in Armory Square, mayor says

Police release name of 24-year-old man killed in Armory Square shooting

Shots, screams, partiers run: Witnesses describe Armory Square shooting

Man dead, 4 other people hurt in shooting in Syracuses popular Armory Square

DA: Armory Square murder may be payback for stabbing inside Liverpool-area hotel

Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.
North Syracuse, N.Y.  North Syracuses longest serving, active firefighter has died 2 1/2 months after he suffered a heart attack at the scene of a house fire in the village.

Firefighter Peter Dromms, a 55-year veteran of the North Syracuse Fire Department, died Saturday. He was 77.

Dromms had surgery after his heart attack, was released from the hospital, but quickly returned a day or two later due to complications, North Syracuse Fire Chief Pat Brennan said.

Shortly before midnight on Jan. 13, Dromms was helping with exterior operations, staging lights and moving fans, trying to help get fresh air into a house on fire in the 600 block of Chestnut Street, the chief said.

Dromms walked over to a fellow firefighter and a former EMT, and said he wasnt feeling well, the chief said. He appeared pale and sweaty, he said.

Firefighters alerted NAVAC ambulance crews who were already on the scene because initially it was thought an elderly person might be inside.

Dromms was having a heart attack, Brennan said.

NAVAC transported Dromms to St. Josephs Hospital Health Center in Syracuse.

Dromms had surgery and eventually went home, but was quickly readmitted to the hospital after complications, Brennan said.

Dromms, who seemed to be doing better, called the chief Friday afternoon from the hospital.

The day before he died, he called me from the hospital to thank me for taking care of his wife, Brennan said. We talked about some fire department stuff. It was a good conversation...

Less than 24 hours later, Dromms was pronounced dead.

We never, ever expected this, Brennan said after leaving Dromms home Sunday evening. He had no heart condition. This was the first time he experienced anything like this. He passed his physical (last April).

After Dromms had a heart attack, fellow North Syracuse volunteer firefighters stepped up since they knew he was his wifes primary caregiver, Brennan said. They set up Meals on Wheels so Dromms wife had good meals and they took her to the store because she doesnt drive; others shoveled their driveway when it snowed, the chief said.

To us, its no big deal, but when he was in the hospital, he appreciated someone was looking out for his family, Brennan said. Its a family affair.

Dromms graduated from North Syracuse High School in 1963 and served in the Vietnam War with the U.S. Navy, according to his obituary. He later worked for Verizon, retiring after 36 years.

He joined the North Syracuse Fire Department on Nov. 7, 1967.

He served as the departments volunteer fire chief, as well as the North Syracuse Firefighters Associations president, treasurer and other positions throughout the years. He also was qualified to drive every piece of apparatus and responded frequently, Brennan said.

On his last call this winter, Dromms was driving what Brennan described as one of the most sophisticated pieces of apparatus we have in the organization. Truck 1 has a 100-foot ladder, the chief said.

Sometimes fire departments struggle with manpower for nighttime alarms, Brennan said.

But Dromms not only responded to calls in North Syracuse, he also volunteered at the Old Forge Fire Department where he had a camp and visited each summer, his chief said.

Im telling you, he was a rock, Brennan said. For 77 years old, he had the drive and ambition of an 18-year-old.

Dromms is survived by his wife, Gail, and daughters, Jennifer and Patricia. He will be laid to rest with military honors Friday at North Syracuse Cemetery.

***

Peter Dromms obituary

***

In this file photo from 1998, North Syracuse's then mayor, Jim Hotchkiss, (right) thanks Pete Dromms (center) and Paul Linnertz, of the North Syracuse Volunteer Fire Department, for their help with the Labor Day storm clean up. Photo by BRENDA STEVER, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER 1998.

Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook
Syracuse, N.Y.  Hundreds of people were crowded around Washington Square Park on Syracuses North Side on a hot July night in 2020.

Then four young men approached the crowd and opened fire, spraying 44 bullets into the party.

Draquan McDonald, 24, was killed. Others, including a 54-year-old woman, were injured.

The destruction caused by those bullets went beyond the bodies they hit, cutting through five families:

When McDonalds sister heard of his death, she had a heart attack. His father suffered a stroke a month later. He can no longer walk. The four men who fired the shots are all serving long prison terms.

The toll: six lives ruined, five families scarred forever, and a community constantly afraid for its safety.

If we do not try something new, this bleeding will continue, said Pablo Uribe, a Bloomberg Harvard City Fellow who has studied Syracuses gun violence problem. The ripples of destruction created by the shooting that killed McDonald is part of a report Uribe wrote on the toll of Syracuses violence.

Uribe and Lateef Johnson-Kinsey, head of the Syracuse mayors Office to Reduce Gun Violence, talked to nearly 100 people in the city and beyond to come up with the 75-page assessment of the citys violence. The report examines the roots and scope of the citys bloodshed, and lays the groundwork for a new solution: Syracuse Safer Streets.

The starting point for the violence is clear to the planners: Its the 15 gangs whove created a patchwork of territories in the citys poorest, most violent neighborhoods over the past two decades.

Gang Territory Map: The map below shows the territories of the citys 15 different gangs. Courtesy of city of Syracuse. (To see the key, click on the image)

But the thing those gangs are fighting about is surprising, even to Uribe, who has helped some of the most violent cities in the world tackle gun violence.

In Colombia, where is he from, it all comes back to drugs and money. That is not Syracuses problem, Uribe said.

Here, it is personal conflicts and decades-old beefs between young men raised in neighborhoods where violence and generational poverty are relentless. Gunshots are part of daily life.

And, despite previous efforts, the violence has been escalating:

More than 400 people have been murdered in Syracuse in the past 20 years. Homicides increased 26%, and the number of assaults has gone up nearly 50% since 2017, according to the citys report.

What is happening here is endless cycles of retaliation. These kids hate each other for things that happened when they werent even born, Uribe said.

Syracuse Safer Streets would tackle that inability to deal with conflict before things exploded, Uribe said.

Mayor Ben Walsh is asking the citys Common Council to approve spending $1 million for a pilot of the program. The money would come from the citys $123 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding.

Its unclear whether the plan has enough council support to pass. At a recent meeting, councilors asked pointed questions. One, Pat Hogan, said he would not support the plan because it includes paying stipends to gang members who participate in the program.

Syracuse Safer Streets would start with 50 people from 18-24 years old who are at the highest risk of being involved in shootings. The program includes months of therapy, education, job training and conflict resolution. Johnson-Kinsey said they are working with Syracuse police and many of the agencies that have already been working on the problem, like the Street Addiction Institute, to identify the best candidates.

The program is optional and will not be a condition of any court agreement with a defendant. Johnson-Kinsey said that anyone in the program who is arrested or gets in trouble with the police will be kicked out.

One of the main components of Syracuse Safer Streets is to use credible messengers for street outreach and mentoring. These are often people who have been in gangs and prison and are now working with youth to try to break the cycle they were once caught in, Johnson-Kinsey said.

He was that kid. So he knows how to communicate with that kid, Johnson-Kinsey said.

Homicide Density Map: The map below shows where homicides have occurred between 2009 and 2022. The darker the color, the higher the density. Courtesy of city of Syracuse.

The city had already selected the agencies it would use, but the mayors office decided to open the process to proposals from any group in response to concerns from the Common Council. The original plan included hiring the Street Addiction Institute, the Good Life Foundation, OGs Against Gun Violence, The Salvation Army, Project Heal and CNY Works.

The part of the proposal that drew the most resistance was the plan to pay participants stipends of $100 a week.

Joe Moran, head of the Syracuse Police Benevolent Association, said his group opposes paying gang members. He said educational and job training opportunities are fine, but paying stipends is a line they will not cross.

A stipend for documented gang bangers is wildly outrageous to me, he said.

Hogan, the councilor who opposed the spending, said he could not get behind paying kids who are connected to gangs when other kids have to get jobs and stay out of trouble in order to make money.

Uribe, who has analyzed data from several similar programs across the nation, said they were only successful when they included stipends. Syracuses proposed payment is lower than most of the other programs. Rochester is paying participants in Advance Peace $1,000 a month.

The program in Rochester began too recently to offer insight into whether the approach is working. But other cities that used Advance Peace found significant success.

Advance Peace reduced gun violence 29% in high-crime areas in Sacramento, and 66% in Richmond, Calif., according to Syracuses report and Advance Peace.

Hasan Stephens Good Life Foundation hopes to do some of the work in Syracuse if the funding gets approved. He said he has already seen how investing in troubled youth pays off.

His organization has run a summer program for three years that offers teens an opportunity to get job and entrepreneurship training. It pays teens a stipend. Stephens said for the past three years, none of the students involved in that program have been arrested while the program was going on.

He was disappointed that the idea of paying a stipend generated so much controversy.

We will spend money to lock them up, but not invest money into them, Stephens said.

Mary Salibrici has seen a lot of attempts to reduce violence in her 47 years on the citys North Side. But instead of progress, she said the violence, especially with guns, has continued to escalate.

Police used to say, Youve got violence over here, but you dont have gun violence,  she said. They dont say that anymore.

Salibrici, a retired college professor active in the Butternut Street neighborhood, said the Syracuse Safer Streets proposal just might help where other programs have come up short.

She thinks it makes sense to pay the participants of the program. Its a bridge to a job or another opportunity that will improve their lives and the community. And it provides an incentive to those at the heart of the citys gun culture to be trained in stopping conflicts before they become violent.

It doesnt just get to the symptoms, Salibrici said. It gets at the root cause.

Uribe said the therapy part of Syracuses proposed program has shown success elsewhere, and the money is key to getting gang members to participate in sessions.

In other cities, therapy cut re-offense rates between 25% and 50%. Conflict management with gang members has also been successful in other cities, Uribe said. Thats when credible messengers help identify conflicts between different gang members and then work with them and their caseworkers to talk through the disagreement before someone gets shot. That method has been used in places like Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia with success ranging from 30% to 60% reduction in gun violence.

Johnson-Kinsey said groups that will be hired as part of Syracuse Safer Streets are already doing this work.

Late last year, a credible messenger heard that one youth he was working with had shown another youth a gun on social media and made a threat. They planned to shoot each other later in the day, Johnson-Kinsey said. But the credible messenger got involved and convinced the teens not to go through with their plans.

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said that part of changing the citys cycle of violence is remembering that the problem isnt so simple. More than half of the people who live in Syracuses high-crime neighborhoods knew 10 people who were shot to death, according to a survey done in 2017.

Kids are growing up steeped in trauma, she said. That doesnt mean everyone chooses a gun to solve their problems.

But its not surprising that they do. How can we introduce another way? she said.

Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people and public affairs in Central New York. Contact her anytime email | Twitter| Facebook | 315-470-2246.
Ellen Moynihan and Leonard Greene, New York Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK -- Forty-four good boys and girls arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport on Thursday on the last leg of a rescue journey from China.

After a grueling 19-hour flight with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, the pups were cleared by a vet and the U.S. Department of Agriculture on what was National Puppy Day, a day to raise awareness about pet adoptions and the plight of puppies.

The Malamutes, Labradors and Pomeranians were taken out of their crates to eat, go outside and even listen to music scientifically engineered to appeal to dogs.

I started playing all the music as everyone got settled in and there was a good amount of silence once it started. said Kiera Mejia of The Ark, the Animal Reception Center at JFK.

Then, one by one, the dogs emerged to be greeted, in some cases by their new owners.

Weve been waiting a long time, said Mark Goldstein, 59, who drove from Brambleton, Va., that morning to take home Blossom the miniature poodle.

She was in a bus or a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse, said Goldstein, who works in healthcare. She is going to be the most loved and spoiled little dog.

The adoptions came courtesy of No Dogs Left Behind, an animal rights group that rescues dogs from slaughterhouses, dog traffickers and dog meat trucks in East Asia. Founder Jeffrey Beri, a New York native, has gone all over the world with his crew of volunteers, pulling pooches out of danger in places like China.

Beri says the dogs are bred for food, but sometimes stolen from their owners, with their leashes cut in backyards.

Today is a very emotional day, he said. These are covert missions that are taking place. We are getting closer every day to ending the dog meat trade. We have activists and volunteers from all over. We have an underground army.

They also have the cutest pups this side of the Westminster Dog Show. Just ask Amy Carrico, 48, of Syracuse, who was waiting for Rudy, a 2-year-old poodle.

Carrico already has three other poodles from China that were rescued by Beris group.

They need it and we can, so we do, Carrico said, explaining her motivation to help. I work three days a week. My husband works from home. So he will get lots of attention.

Thirteen of the tail waggers caught connecting flights to Los Angeles, Miami, Utah and Texas, and a few without foster or permanent homes were headed to a sanctuary No Dogs Left Behind recently opened in Canton, N.Y.

The lucky dogs were targeted for rescue by Beri and No Dogs Left Behind, with the adoptees signing up to take them home over the summer. The organization has also done rescue work in Ukraine since it came under invasion.

I really wanted to foster and I applied to like five places, said Ann-Marie Roach, 31, of Jersey City, who was adopting a dog related to a pooch she had already gotten from the rescue group.

For us it was really just the mission and the horrifying aspect of the meat trade, and that its still happening in this day and age.

2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A sign reading March Moon Madness, in celebration of their popular half-moon cookies, sits above the site where a vehicle crashed into an Oneida County establishment.

On Friday, March 24, an SUV crashed into the front window of Holland Farms Bakery and Deli in Yorkville, New York.

According to the Rome Sentinel, the driver, 81-year-old Lorna Perry hit the gas on her SUV instead of the brake when pulling into a parking spot at the front of the store.

An SUV crashed into Holland Farms Bakery & Deli on March 24, causing damage to the front of the store. Yorkville Police Department | Provided photo

The crash smashed the front windows in, caused damage to the wall, and knocked over some shelves inside of the bakery, reported News Channel 2.

Neither Perry, nor the employees or customers inside the store were injured in the crash.

Holland Farms boarded up the windows and plans to stay open until they can be replaced.

An SUV crashed into Holland Farms Bakery & Deli on March 24, causing damage to the front of the store. Yorkville Police Department | Provided photo

The bakery is located in a Utica suburb, but this family-owned shop got its start on a dairy farm in Oriskany. Starting with door-to-door milk delivery in 1928, it expanded to the full dairy bar and bakery in 1955.

Holland Farms posted a photo of the crash to their Facebook page and wrote: Never a dull moment around the Farm!
Syracuse, N.Y.  Some of the citys poorest neighborhoods will soon have free broadband service. City lawmakers today approved a $3.5 million plan to build a new city-owned wireless network.

The city will use federal stimulus money to provide service in 10 Census tracts on the south, southwest and near west sides of the city. Income-qualified residents in those areas should have access to 100-megabit broadband service by the end of summer, said Jennifer Tifft, director of strategic initiatives.

The city hired Community Broadband Networks FLX to build and operate the network. The Geneva-based company provides Internet service in the Finger Lakes region and beyond.

The network will use fixed wireless technology. Each customer will receive a router or other equipment to receive the signal from the citys transmitters, which will be located mainly atop city buildings or on utility poles, Tifft said.

To qualify for free service, a household can earn up to 200% of the federal poverty level. Thats about $29,000 for a single person, $39,000 for a couple, or $60,000 for a family of four.

Read more:

Syracuse to bring free broadband to poor city neighborhoods
Its getting close to the end of the fiscal year, which can only mean one thing: its almost time to file your tax return. And were here with more information to assist you and your business in every way we can.

While most businesses may use a registered tax professional to file their tax returns, we know that some people (particularly sole traders) prefer to do it themselves. So, if you try it yourself, we recommend checking out the ATO guide to assist you.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released a small business tax time toolkit to assist small businesses and tax advisors in correctly completing their income tax returns.

ATO Assistant Commissioner Andrew Watson reminded small businesses to include all income, including earnings from side hustles. Almost half of the 1.9 million sole traders also have non-business income, like salary and wages or income from investments, so make sure to double-check youve included it all before you lodge. Dont fall into the trap of leaving out non-business income thinking we wont notice.

Small businesses should include all income in their income tax return, including cash, coupons, EFTPOS, online, credit or debit card transactions, and income from platforms such as PayPal, WeChat or Alipay.

What to include in your businesss assessable income

Include the following in your assessable income calculation:

All gross income (before tax) from your regular business activities, including internet sales, sales income (cash and electronic), and foreign income

The gross income does not include the goods and services tax (GST).

All other business revenue that is not generated by your regular business activities, such as changes in the value of trading shares, capital gains, isolated profit-making transactions, and cash rewards for your company

Suppose your business receives cash payments for goods or services, in the form of all your cash earnings, income earned through coupons, vouchers or gift cards, income your business deposited into a mortgage or personal credit card or bank interest, dividends, franking credits. In that case, you must declare them as assessable income.

What to exclude from your businesss assessable income

For income tax reasons, not all payments you receive are taxable. You do not have to include an amount in your tax return if it is not assessable income.

The following are not assessable: betting and winning at gambling (unless you operate a betting or gambling business). Earnings from a hobby, gifts, or inheritance GST you have collected non-assessable non-exempt government grants, prizes and awards unrelated to your business money you have borrowed.

The ATO also reminded small businesses (including sole traders) in the building and construction, courier, cleaning, information technology, road freight, security, and investigation or surveillance industries that payment information is provided to the ATO through the taxable payments reporting system.

For sole traders, this will be available as pre-fill in your tax returns, whether you are using a registered tax agent or doing it yourself. Just remember, its important to cross-check your records against the payment information pre-filled by the ATO before lodging to ensure it is complete and accurate, Mr Watson said.

The ATO has also reminded businesses that most government payments or financial support received due to COVID-19 must be included as taxable income. In contrast, some others are exempt and should not be included. The ATO has detailed information listing how all support payments should be treated on its website.

Deductions

On deductions, Mr Watson reminded businesses to only claim what they are entitled to and that their business structure affects their entitlements and obligations. How sole traders, partnerships, trusts, and companies claim deductions are often different.

There are three golden rules for what the ATO accepts as a valid business deduction:

Click here to know about the weird and wacky things you can claim on your tax return.

The expense must have been for your business, not for private use

If the expense is for a mix of business and personal service, you can only claim the portion that is used for your business

Dont forget, eligible businesses can claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of the cost of an asset in the year the asset is first used or installed ready for use, Mr Watson said.

If your home has been your main place of business (for example, if you relocated your base of operation from an office to your home because of COVID-19), you can claim deductions for the portion of expenses related to running your business.

It may be tempting to over-claim a deduction for your business, but its not worth the risk. Make sure you are eligible, only claim the business portion of expenses, and keep complete and accurate records to provide appropriate evidence for any deductions you plan to claim.

Lodgement deadlines

Mr Watson reminded small businesses who lodge their tax returns that they must lodge by 31 October. But if you have a registered tax agent, you will have more time to prepare and lodge. Ensure you are on the books with your tax agent before 31 October, so we know you are not planning to lodge your return.

Disclaimer: Dynamic Business does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This article has been prepared for informational purposes only by our contributor and should not be relied on solely for tax, legal, or accounting purposes. You are strongly encouraged to consult your advisors to determine how the information may relate to you or the specifics of your business.

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The Rev. Michael Heath, of Fayetteville, is a licensed mental health counselor and a United Church of Christ minister.

This month marks three years since Covid-19 exploded in America and began devastating the world. Sadly, over this period trust in our public health officials and government agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control, has plunged.

Recently, CNNs political analyst, Michael Smerconish asked public health expert Leana Wen about the growing mistrust of science and public health policies. Her remarks deserve our attention.

She noted that, although she supports the CDCs Covid recommendations, she felt the agency mistakenly failed to educate the public about the tentative nature of its recommendations. She explained that the public needed to be better prepared with more realistic expectations concerning how science proceeds when encountering a new virus.

Agencies should have spent more time educating the public about the evolving nature of the scientific method, she said. She felt that news releases did not sufficiently explain why recommendations made on one day could change on the next if new data was received.

The fundamentally anxious nature of human psychology is also an important factor. When overwhelmed with an ambiguous threat, some folks are unable to tolerate uncertainty and become mistrustful of authorities by whom they feel let down or betrayed.

This dilemma is rooted in the basic structure of the human brain. Neurologically, a perceived threat shuts off access to the human/reasonable part of our brain (the cortex) and leaves us with only the primitive fight (anger) or flight (shutdown) reactions of the limbic system.

Left uncalmed, the brain reacts with anger, which often expresses itself as blame. Thus, traumatized folks are vulnerable to believing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories because they clarify the uncertainty/chaos and assign responsibility for crisis.

For many, outlandish but certain conspiracy theories were more appealing than the tentative and uncertain scientific findings.

A recent example of blaming is found in conservative reaction to the latest FBI assessment that Covid-19 is the result of a laboratory leak in China. Wen points out the crucial distinction that conservatives and the right-wing media overlooked in their I told you so rants is the notion of intentionality.

The best current evidence suggests that the leak was an accident and not a deliberate attempt to create biological weapon, as the right has claimed.

Mistrust is a crucial factor of irrational limbic-logic which ascribes malevolent and ulterior motives to unexpected developments. For example, some attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci for lying to the American people when, in fact, he was presenting new scientific data that required a revision of previous statements. Unfortunately, paranoia assumes that changing information implies intentional deception.

To be fair, Wen pointed out that the political left also has a part in lowering public trust. She herself was the target of progressive attacks when she modified her position on masking and vaccinations. Many progressives were unable to hear the disappointing data about the efficacy of masking and vaccination in preventing transmission or the reality of natural immunity.

Most significantly, Wen stressed the importance of understanding the limits of science guiding public policy. She notes that following the science does not automatically determine the best public health policy. This is because every public policy has consequences that cut different ways, depending on where one sits.

For example, from a public health standpoint, remote learning was helpful to suppress the transmission of Covid-19. However, we have learned that this decision caused emotional and learning problems for some children.

The same was true for impact of closing businesses. Balancing health and economic interests/consequences is not a simple task and can only be decided by the difficult political process. In the future, more attention needs to be paid to way policy decisions are communicated to the public. The complexity of the process needs to be better explained, i.e. how difficult it is to prioritize and balance conflicting concerns and outcomes that result from a single government action.

Hopefully, we can learn from the mistakes that were made dealing with this pandemic. Going forward, we must find a way to reduce the polarization and lower the temperature in the room so that reasonable discussion can take place.

People need to feel heard when they are panicked and no solutions are immediately available. One way to calm things and reduce animosity is for the administration to acknowledge the fears of the opposition. It is important to discuss and address their concerns without agreeing with their irrational conclusions or conspiracy theories. Likewise, progressive must accept that there are legitimate but sometimes conflicting values and concerns that need to be resolved. That is what the art of politics is all about.

We have seen in recent elections that voters overwhelmingly defeated candidates who promoted false conspiracies. Although the threat to reason exists for many, there are enough Americans who have the maturity and mental stability to experience hardship and tragedy rationally without falling prey to paranoid schemes.

Likewise, although there are unscrupulous politicians who pander to and exploit fear, I trust that the rational majority will elect reasonable representatives. We need leaders who have the strength to craft reasonable, science-informed public health policies to deal with lifes challenges.

I believe that rational government will prevail and trust for science and our government will be restored.

Related: House GOP launches probe into Covid-19 origins with letter to Fauci
By Brendan J. Lyons | Times Union, Albany

Albany, N.Y.  State Attorney General Letitia James has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed against her and her office in December by a woman whose sexual harassment allegations against the attorney generals former chief of staff were substantiated by an outside investigation.

A motion filed on behalf of James and her office in state Supreme Court contends the womans forcible kissing allegations against Ibrahim Khan, who had been the attorney generals longtime chief of staff and confidant, centered on an incident that took place outside a Brooklyn bar during a 2021 political fundraiser that had nothing to do with the attorney general or her office.

The woman, Sofia Quintanar, had previously worked as a deputy press secretary for James office beginning in 2020. She left that job in July 2021, about four months before she said Khan kissed her against her will while they were talking at the fundraiser. Her lawsuit seeks to hold the attorney general and her office liable for employment discrimination and civil rights violations based on Khans alleged conduct. The civil complaint also accuses Khan, who is a defendant in the case, of interfering with her effort to get a job with James reelection campaign about 10 months after the incident.

The complaint does not allege that (the attorney generals office) or James knew about Khans alleged conduct towards (Quintanar), much less condoned or participated in it, the motion filed by James attorneys states. Nor does the complaint allege that either was aware of or played any role in considering (Quintanars) indirect and unofficial application to the campaign.

James is being represented in the case by Davis Polk & Wardwell, a Manhattan law firm that was hired by the state Assembly in March 2021 to lead the Judiciary Committees impeachment investigation of sexual harassment allegations against former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The attorney generals dismissal motion argues that once the office became aware of Quintanars allegations against Khan, an investigation was immediately launched and it led to Khans resignation.

But in December, Quintanar told the New York Times that the attorney generals office had initially withheld any information about the matter while allowing Khan to resign with his reputation intact.

Quintanar also told the paper that she believed the attorney generals office did not handle her complaint with the same vigor as seen in its pursuit of sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo two years ago. That investigation of Cuomo, which concluded with a searing public report concluding he was a serial sexual harasser, prompted his resignation in August 2021.

But in Khans case, the attorney generals office initially declined to confirm the investigation had been conducted or that Khan was accused of misconduct.

Attorneys for Quintanar allege that during the incident Khan placed his hand on her shoulder and forcibly kissed her, shoving his tongue down her throat. They said she pushed him away with both hands, reminding him about his marriage and kids and asking what he was doing.

Mr. Khan ignored Ms. Quintanars objection and, once again, moved forward to forcibly kiss Ms. Quintanar, who had to step back to avoid him, the attorneys with the firm Wigdor LLP said in a statement posted on their website three months ago. Upset and afraid, Ms. Quintanar went back inside, hoping she would be safe inside the crowded venue. But Mr. Khan persisted, sitting next to Ms. Quintanar, trying to whisper in her ear and following her around.

Quintanar subsequently learned that Khan had previously been accused of sexual misconduct allegations and that people who knew him described him to her as sketchy.

While Mr. Khan was suspended in October ... pending an investigation into the assaults, the attorney generals office went to great lengths to protect Mr. Khan, deflecting press reports by calling the truthful allegations against Mr. Khan rumors and misleading reporters as to the reasons for Mr. Khans absence, Quintanars attorneys said in the December public statement. Most remarkably, the attorney generals office permitted Mr. Khan to resign and claim that he was naturally leaving the office after the attorney generals first term for a job in the private sector.

Last year, the attorney generals office had initially declined to respond to questions from the Times Union and other news outlets about the sexual harassment investigation of Khan. The office also would not confirm at the time that Khan, 39, had been ordered to work remotely since early October, when he was directed to refrain from socializing with any (attorney generals) staff, or anyone in any capacity affiliated with the (attorney general).

James office has not said whether the outside investigation of Quintanars allegations revealed whether other women had accused Khan of sexual harassment or, if there were more incidents, whether they involved co-workers or individuals with whom he was interacting outside the office.

Khan issued a statement three months ago claiming his departure from the attorney generals office was unrelated to the investigation which, nevertheless, found no official workplace misconduct. Im proud of all we have achieved over these past four years in serving New Yorkers.

James issued a statement that month defending her offices handling of the allegations. The attorney general retained an outside law firm, Littler Mendelson, to conduct the probe.

My office treated this matter as aggressively as every other matter that has come before our office, she said. Within 24 hours, our office took disciplinary action and put Ibrahim Khan under restrictions, and within 72 hours, we engaged an outside law firm that began an impartial and exhaustive review of the allegations.

Documents released by the attorney generals office  three days after the allegations were first reported by the New York Times  included an Oct. 3 email informing Khan that he was the subject of an investigation regarding certain information and allegations related to outside activities (that) were provided to the office, (and) that may implicate executive orders.

The (attorney general) intends Littlers investigation of the incident, along with any conclusions and recommendations issued, to be subject to the attorney-client privilege, the firms engagement letter states. To that end, the (attorney general) agrees to safeguard all written communications regarding the investigation by labeling them privileged and confidential. The (attorney general) also agrees to limit its circulation of any communications regarding the investigation to persons who have a need to know of those communications in order to perform their duties.

In response to a Freedom of Information Law request filed earlier this year by the Times Union, the attorney generals office claimed it had no additional records, including any reports, correspondence or other documents related to the law firms investigation of Khan.

___

(c)2023 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com
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Australia is set to address gender pay gaps by requiring large employers to publicly disclose their gender pay gaps by 2024 through a new bill.

The Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 was approved by the Senate last week and is now being considered by the House of Representatives.

It aims to increase transparency and drive action towards closing the gender pay gap by mandating public disclosure of pay gaps for employers with 100 or more workers.

What are the proposed changes to the bill?

The proposed Bill aims to expand the reporting requirement for organisations with more than 100 employees to disclose their gender pay gap (GPG) data to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 is set to be amended so that the WGEA will have to publish the gender pay gap information of relevant employers for each reporting period.

This data is calculated as the difference between the average weekly full-time earnings of women and men, expressed as a percentage of mens earnings.

The term minimum standards will be renamed as gender equality standards and relevant employers will be required to provide executive summary and industry benchmark reports to all members of their governing body.

Additionally, gender equality indicators will now include sexual harassment, harassment on the ground of sex or discrimination. The Director of the WGEA will be renamed as the Chief Executive Officer, and there will be a technical amendment to the definition of reporting period.

The Bill also suggests that GPG data will be publicly available on the WGEA website for the first time. This change follows amendments made in October through the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill, which aimed to increase pay transparency and prohibit pay secrecy clauses.

What are the present rules in Australia?

In Australia, employers must answer a questionnaire about four gender equality indicators, including gender pay gaps. Large employers with over 500 employees must have a policy or strategy for at least one indicator, such as gender pay equity objectives. Employers must also report on employee gender, status, occupation, manager category, and salaries.

They must also give workplace management statistics on employee movement. A public report shows questionnaire responses and data, but not remuneration details.

For an overview of how to complete and submit your report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, please watch this information video:

When to report

The WGEA Portal opens every year on April 1 for reporting, and companies have two months to submit their reports, with a deadline of May 31. Reports cover the previous 12 months, starting from April 1 of the previous year and ending on March 31 of the current year.

The Questionnaire and Workforce Management Statistics cover the entire reporting period, while the Workplace Profile is completed by choosing a specific date within that period.

Who is included in the 100-employee headcount?

When determining if you need to report, you must count all the full-time, part-time, casual, and temporary employees. Each individual employee should be counted rather than using full-time equivalent calculations. However, independent contractors and employees of a labour-hire or recruitment organisation who are assigned to work in your organisation should be excluded from the headcount.

How to report

The process of reporting involves several steps:

If your organisation hasnt registered, go to the WGEA Portal and click Register. Log in to the WGEA Portal using the Australian Government Digital Identity System. If your organisation still needs to get a digital identity, apply for one at https://www.digitalidentity.gov.au/. Check that your organisation and contact details are updated on the Portal before starting. Choose the program you want to report for and open it on the Portal homepage or under the Programs tab. Confirm that all your details are correct before starting the questionnaire. Complete the Reporting Questionnaire online about your organisations gender equality policies, strategies, and actions. Fill in the Workforce Management Statistics Excel worksheet to provide information on your employee movements during the reporting period. Each ABN requires its own separate upload. Fill in the Workplace Profile Excel worksheet to provide information on workforce composition, salaries, and remuneration. Choose between a Unit level file or an STP file. Resolve any potential issues (data anomalies) with your uploaded files that are identified after the automatic data check. Correct and re-upload the files if necessary. Generate your report documents, which include the Questionnaire, Workforce management statistics table, Workplace Profile table (composition data), Workplace Profile table (salary/remuneration averages), and Reporting Overview. Have your CEO or equivalent review and approve your report documents. Complete the Declarations & Consents section of the Portal and click Submit. You must confirm that your CEO has approved the submission and that your report does not contain any personal information. Download, share and analyse your report, and comply with the notifications and access requirements. Later in the year, Industry Benchmark Reports will become available for download, comparing your gender pay gaps by industry against de-identified peers.

Australias gender pay gap remains stagnant at 22.8% in 2022, with women earning, on average, A$26,596 ($17,279) less than men. The country is ranked 43rd on the Global Gender Pay Gap Index, which is led by Iceland, Finland, Norway, and New Zealand. According to the International Labour Organization, women are paid about 20% less than men worldwide.

Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, said global experience shows transparency encourages organisations to take action to close the gender pay gap in their workplace.

On average, women working full-time can expect to earn 14.1% less than men per week in their pay packets, Minister Gallagher said.

The gender pay gap is also holding our economy back with $51.8 billion a year lost when it comes to womens pay.

On current projections it will take another 26 years to close the gender pay gap.

Women have waited long enough for the pay gap to close  lets not wait another quarter of a century. The bill will also reduce red tape for businesses, making reporting easier.

This reform was recommended by the 2021 Review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Sankar Senior - BHPian



Join Date: May 2005 Location: Around the sun Posts: 5,673 Thanked: 8,504 Times

Not worth it! where all three are manufactured locally , and is also a place where pickups are more mainstream than India; Top end Hilux is the cheapest of the three IMV platform vehicles.







Hilux is not worth it at the prices its being sold here. I looked this up last year when they launched it without announcing the price and made a booking. When Toyota announced the price I knew they are trying to sell a lifestyle rather than a 4x4 pickup. Isuzu VCross launch prices was the correct pricing of a 4x4 pickup looking at the input cost and the segment, not their current pricing which has the lifestyle cost added to the product cost. Hilux is overpriced for what it is. In Thailand where they sell Hilux, Crysta and Fortuner side by side, and also Thailand is one of the countries, and is also a place where pickups are more mainstream than India; Top end Hilux is the cheapest of the three IMV platform vehicles.Hilux is not worth it at the prices its being sold here. I looked this up last year when they launched it without announcing the price and made a booking. When Toyota announced the price I knew they are trying to sell a lifestyle rather than a 4x4 pickup. Isuzu VCross launch prices was the correct pricing of a 4x4 pickup looking at the input cost and the segment, not their current pricing which has the lifestyle cost added to the product cost. Last edited by Sankar : 26th March 2023 at 12:30 .
The issue of cyberbullying has gained significant attention in recent years due to the widespread use of the internet and social media platforms in particular.

Cyberbullying is classically defined as the use of electronic communication to bully, harass, or intimidate another person. It can have severe consequences for the victims mental health and well-being  and is sometimes even fatal.

Fortunately, software tools are now available to help combat cyberbullying, and one of the most popular is Bark.

What Is Bark?

Bark is a software tool that uses advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor and analyze the digital activity of children and teenagers. It is designed to help parents and guardians keep their children safe from online predators and cyberbullying. Once installed, the app can be used to manage and monitor their childrens Apple iOS and Google Android devices.

Bark monitors a wide range of digital platforms, including social media, text messaging, and email, and it can alert parents and guardians to potential issues before they become serious problems.

How Does Bark Work?

Bark uses advanced machine learning algorithms to analyze the content of digital messages and identify potential threats. The software can analyze text, images, and videos and recognize patterns that may indicate cyberbullying, threats of violence, or other dangerous behaviors.

When Bark detects a potential issue, it sends an alert to the childs parent or guardian and a summary of the content that triggered the alert. The software can also provide guidance on how to handle the situation and suggest resources for further support.

Given the massive popularity of smartphones and tablets, the cold-turkey approach of banning children from using digital devices is generally unsuccessful. Resentment is often a consequence  not to mention that many children will use their ingenuity to get their hands on a digital device.

The genius of Barks approach is that it allows children to continue to use their digital devices  particularly smartphones. Parental monitoring of a smartphone encourages children to act responsibly, earn trust, and alert parents to potential cyberbullying-related problems before tragedy strikes.

Bark Features

Bark has many features designed to help parents and guardians monitor their childrens digital activity and protect them from online dangers. Some of the most notable features include:

Monitoring multiple digital platforms: Bark monitors a wide range of digital platforms, including social media, text messaging, and email. This aspect means that parents and guardians can keep an eye on their childs activity across multiple platforms without having to log into each platform separately.

Bark monitors a wide range of digital platforms, including social media, text messaging, and email. This aspect means that parents and guardians can keep an eye on their childs activity across multiple platforms without having to log into each platform separately. Customizable alerts: Parents and guardians can customize the types of alerts they receive from Bark based on their childs age and the types of content they want to monitor. For example, they can set alerts for cyberbullying, sexting, or violent threats.

Parents and guardians can customize the types of alerts they receive from Bark based on their childs age and the types of content they want to monitor. For example, they can set alerts for cyberbullying, sexting, or violent threats. Intelligent analysis: Bark uses advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze the content of digital messages and identify potential issues. The software can recognize patterns and identify potentially dangerous situations before they escalate.

Bark uses advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze the content of digital messages and identify potential issues. The software can recognize patterns and identify potentially dangerous situations before they escalate. Support for multiple devices: Bark can be installed on numerous devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops, making it easy to monitor a childs digital activity across all their devices.

Bark can be installed on numerous devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops, making it easy to monitor a childs digital activity across all their devices. Easy to use: Bark is easy to set up and use, with a simple interface that allows parents and guardians to view their childs digital activity and receive alerts.

Bark Benefits

Bark offers several benefits for parents and guardians concerned about their childrens online safety.

First and foremost, Bark facilitates the early detection of potential issues. Bark can identify potential issues before they become serious problems, allowing parents and guardians to intervene early and prevent harm.

Secondly, Bark provides a helpful degree of peace of mind to parents who wish to keep an eye on their children inside and outside the home. This comfort manifests itself in the knowledge that parents, caregivers, or guardians are taking steps to protect their children from online dangers.

In addition, Barks solution provides customizable alerts that allow parents and guardians to personalize the types of alerts they receive, so they can focus on the specific types of content that concern them. This capability is crucial as individual children have different maturity levels, and it allows parents to personalize the kind of content that kids get access to. The consequence is the opportunity to build a more substantial degree of trust between parent and child.

Since children often have access to multiple connected devices, Bark can be installed on numerous products, so parents and guardians can monitor their childs activity across all their devices. Its also helpful that Bark is easy to set up and use, with a simple interface that allows parents and guardians to monitor their childs digital activity and receive alerts. In other words, even technology-challenged parents can use Bark without a sharp learning curve.

Partnership With Calix

Last year, Calix announced a strategic partnership with Bark. Calix is one of the leading global providers of cloud and software platforms, systems, and services that broadband service providers (BSP) use to deliver a unified access network and the smart home of tomorrow.

The Bark partnership is telling as it underscores Calixs mutual concern about cyberbullying, as it is the typical form of harassment faced by teens and tweens. Calix has smartly added Bark to its growing system of premium system offerings in its Calix Revenue EDGE Suites that BSPs can offer to broadband subscribers.

Via this partnership, Calix and Bark allow even the smallest BSPs, who often dont have the resources to implement capabilities like Bark by itself, to enlarge their value proposition to the communities they operate in. The result is that BSPs are empowered to help families protect children at home, school, and virtually anywhere in the world.

In a recent SmartTechCheck podcast, I had the opportunity to speak with Barks Global CMO, Titania Jordan, and Megan Powell, Calixs Director of Product Marketing, where we discussed the companys partnership and commitment to tackle cyberbullying.

Closing Thoughts

Cyberbullying is a serious issue that can have significant consequences for children and teenagers. Fortunately, software tools like Bark are now available to help parents and guardians take on this problem proactively and robustly.

The rise of the smartphone and its popularity with children has created unprecedented challenges for parents. Bark reports that its solution has already covered 6.5 million children, detected a staggering 1.1 million severe self-harm situations, and 3 million severe bullying circumstances.

Calix has a long and impressive history with BSPs to ensure that childrens online presence is safer. In fact, Calix was one of the first companies to provide parental controls to BSPs in 2019 via its ExperienceIQ offering.

The Calix/Bark/BSP dynamics business implications also deserve mention. Calixs DNA is characterized by its ability to allow BSPs to manage, deploy, market, and operate these types of premium services in a resource-friendly manner. The Bark element amplifies Calixs value proposition with BSPs because it accelerates time-to-market with wholly integrated turnkey solutions.

Cyberbullying may be a 21st-century problem that may never go away entirely. Still, Bark and its partnership with Calix is a decisive step in the right direction that can help dramatically mitigate this problem.

Sadly, families are confronted with numerous digital dangers that threaten their children on a 24/7 basis. By combining forces, Calix and Bark have raised the bar  and expectation  on what responsible technology companies can and should do to protect our childrens lives.
Skype allows users to communicate with peers by voice using a microphone, video by using a webcam, and instant messaging over the Internet. Phone calls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged via a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features, including file transfer, and videoconferencing.

Microsoft and Facebook Account Integration

Sign up and sign-in is easier than ever. You can now sign into Skype using your Microsoft or Facebook account - there's no need to create a new Skype account. This makes it even easier to connect with friends on Skype without having to set up another account.

IM friends on Messenger

Now you can instant message your Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com contacts via Skype all in one place. If you use a Microsoft account today, merging your accounts is easy - just sign in to Skype with your Microsoft account.

Calling with Messenger friends is coming soon

We're working on polishing a feature which will enable audio and video calls to Windows Live Messenger customers using Skype desktop clients. The feature will be available in coming weeks.

Skype localized to six more languages

We are excited to support our growing community around the world with new localized versions of Skype in Thai, Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian, Catalan and Slovak, bringing the total languages Skype supports to 38.

Visual user interface refresh

We have refreshed and flattened the Skype UI with a simpler and less cluttered look. We have updated the look of the instant messaging and SMS areas as well.

Removal of online user count

We have removed the online user counter at the bottom of your Skype Contacts list to unclutter the UI and make more space for your friends within the contacts list.

Display previously created profile pictures

When you change your profile picture, we will now show you all of your previous Skype profile pictures so you don't have to look through old files if you want to use a previous image.

Improved telemetry

We are constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of our product. To that end we are adding additional "opt-in" telemetry reports for users who choose this option: "Tools>> Options>>Advanced>>Tick "Help improve Skype..." The reports may contain your Skype ID and or Microsoft Account ID but we will not use it to identify or contact you.

Improved chat experience

For the last year we've dedicated a lot of time to refresh the chat experience in Skype. We've brought more improvements to the desktop. Photos in your new Skype for Windows and Mac apps show up as you'd expect, beautifully displayed for your instant viewing. On Windows, there's more spacing between contacts and chats, as well as message previews for unread chats, making it even easier to follow conversations.

Chat and call simultaneously with one click

People love multi-tasking. Many of you already exchange IMs while on a live call today. With the new side-by-side design, you can effortlessly multi-task on a voice or video call. On Mac, it only takes one click. Share messages, photos or files for a more active conversation together, without ever leaving your call.

Free group video calls

Skype loves bringing groups together---so, last but not least, the free group video calls we previously announced work better than ever on the redesigned Skype for Mac and Windows.

What's New
Once the bugs have been ironed out, the features are released as stable, and once every few weeks the streams are all refreshed. You can follow all three if you want, but please note that you shouldn't entrust valuable data to anything other than the released stable stream.

What's New
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

A hot potato: Nvidia's history with cryptocurrency has been colorful, to say the least. The company has made billions of dollars thanks to the popularity of its graphics cards for cryptomining, but it said in a recent interview that crypto does not "bring anything useful for society."

Speaking to The Guardian, Nvidia Chief Technology Officer Micheal Kagan said that the processing power of the company's GPUs should be used for tasks more worthwhile than mining crypto, such as powering AI-based technologies like ChatGPT.

"All this crypto stuff, it needed parallel processing, and [Nvidia] is the best, so people just programmed it to use for this purpose. They bought a lot of stuff, and then eventually it collapsed, because it doesn't bring anything useful for society. AI does," Kagan told the Guardian.

"With ChatGPT, everybody can now create his own machine, his own program: you just tell it what to do, and it will. And if it doesn't work the way you want it to, you tell it 'I want something different'."

Kagan compared cryptocurrency to high-frequency trading, an industry that brought a lot of business for Mellanox, the supplier of networking products that he co-founded and was acquired by Nvidia in 2020.

"We were heavily involved in algo trading: people on Wall Street were buying our stuff to save a few nanoseconds on the wire, the banks were doing crazy things like pulling the fibers under the Hudson taut to make them a little bit shorter, to save a few nanoseconds between their datacentre and the stock exchange," he said.

"I never believed that [crypto] is something that will do something good for humanity. You know, people do crazy things, but they buy your stuff, you sell them stuff. But you don't redirect the company to support whatever it is."

It's somewhat ironic to hear Nvidia's CTO criticizing crypto in the style of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. So many Nvidia products were sold for mining that it caused the company's share price to plummet following the 2018 crypto crash. But it turned out that Nvidia failed to disclose exactly how much of its revenue was coming from miners, leading to a $5.5 million SEC fine last year.

Allegations that team green reported $1 billion in crypto revenue as gaming revenue in 2017-2018 also led to a billion-dollar lawsuit against Nvidia, which was dismissed due to lack of evidence in 2021.

Nvidia tried to distance itself from crytpomining in 2021 when it launched Lite Hash Rate (LHR) versions of most of its RTX 3000 lineup, but it accidentally published a beta driver for the RTX 3060 that removed the limiter. The rest were bypassed within a year. This came during the last crypto-boom that, combined with the pandemic/chip shortage, resulted in graphics cards selling at two or even three times their MSRP.

Nvidia's praise of ChatGPT is no surprise. OpenAI trained ChatGPT on a supercomputer Microsoft built from tens of thousands of Nvidia A100 GPUs. The Redmond giant announced a new array utilizing Nvidia's newer H100 GPUs earlier this month.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

In brief: Are you excited about Apple's upcoming $3,000 mixed-reality headset? Probably not, and according to a new report, neither are some of Cupertino's employees, who believe the company's debut in this area will prove an expensive flop.

Reports that Apple is working on an MR headset have been around for years, but it's claimed that the device will finally be unveiled at this year's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), usually held at the start of June, ahead of its release before the end of 2023.

According to a report by The New York Times, there are concerns within Apple that the headset will be a major flop, with some questioning whether the device is a solution in search of a problem.

Not surprisingly, that roughly $3,000 price, three times more than the high-end Valve Index, is a major cause of concern. Eight Apple workers who spoke to the publication said they were also worried about the headset's utility and its unproven market.

Some employees have left the project because they doubt its potential, while others have been fired due to a lack of progress on certain features, including Siri integration. Even Apple leaders have reservations about the headset, writes the NYT.

The report confirms that the headset looks like ski goggles and features a carbon fiber frame, has a hip pack containing the battery, uses an outward camera to capture the world, and comes with two 4K displays. Users can turn a "reality dial" on the device to increase or decrease real-time video pass-through from the world around them.

A presentation video was shown to 100 Apple executives at a corporate retreat five years ago. It showed a man in a London taxi wearing the headset while calling his wife at home in San Francisco, allowing the couple to share the sights together. The execs were reportedly excited by the headset's potential when it came to business applications such as videoconferencing, but that excitement has turned to skepticism for many. However, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes that the headset was showcased to 100 execs again at the Steve Jobs Theater last week. He believes it will launch with several issues and have little media coverage.

Apple expects its mixed-reality push to take years to pay off, following a similar playbook as its smartwatch, @markgurman reports in this week's Power On https://t.co/vUR0MFvkws --- Bloomberg (@business) March 26, 2023

Apple also wants to aim its headset at artists, designers, and engineers, who will be able to draw and edit in 3D space. And although it is designed more for businesses and enterprises, it will also double as a high-resolution television with custom-made video content from Hollywood filmmakers such as Jon Favreau.

The headset is expected to be unveiled in June, though some employees believe Apple could delay the launch in light of the shaky global economy.
Its hard to imagine Australia without its diverse population and rich cultural community that is so enmeshed in our everyday lives.

The 2016 census identified more than 300 ancestries throughout the country, with one-third of the population having been born overseas and more than one-fifth speaking a language other than English at home.

This melting pot of cultures, religions, and ethnicities is one of our greatest assets, not only enriching our way of life but also providing greater opportunities for the way we do business, too.

As we continue to push for greater diversity in business, its more important than ever that we focus on building a harmonious culture that benefits the social and economic well-being of a workplace.

Foster a curious, open-minded workplace culture

If diversity is important to your business, it needs to be important to your employees. A truly diverse workplace is full of people who are willing to learn about ways of life other than their own. The truth is that many people can avoid conversations on race, religion, and culture out of fear of ignorance, but these conversations are often the catalyst for true understanding and appreciation between your employees.

A great way to foster a sense of curiosity, respect, and appreciation amongst your team is by acknowledging the culturally diverse holidays and celebrations recognised by your employees. This will give everyone the chance to learn more about how your business values its community of rich cultural backgrounds and will ensure each employees personal beliefs are given the space to be understood and included.

Not only will this enrich your workplace culture by helping employees to foster a greater sense of connection, but it will contribute to even greater business outcomes by helping them to feel engaged and appreciated for their hard work.

Nurture growth from within

Whether unconscious or not, racial and gender bias in the workplace results in minorities disproportionately working in positions that have less opportunity to grow. In many cases, this contributes to a pay gap that reinforces harmful stereotypes and limits the potential of culturally diverse people.

A prime example of this can be seen in Deloittes 2017 ethnicity pay gap report, which showed that the median hourly pay gap for its black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employees was 8.7% and its mean ethnicity pay gap was 12.9%. Deloitte reported that the primary reason for the gap was due to a significantly low proportion of its BAME employees holding senior positions within the company.

For companies like Deloitte  where culturally diverse employees make up a significant portion of the workforce but are hindered by fewer opportunities to progress  promoting from within is the best place to start. This approach allows you to identify employees who have demonstrated qualities youd like to see in more senior positions and nurture them to reach their full potential.

After implementing this method for many years now at SMARTECH, Ive seen first-hand how promoting from within can enrich a business. Our commitment to nurturing existing employees saw 23 internal promotions in 2022 and has contributed to more than 57% of our employees remaining at the company for more than five years. Giving your employees a chance to upskill and grow  regardless of where they currently sit in the business  is invaluable to the creation of a harmonious culture.

When employees feel like their potential is seen and valued, they are more likely to remain engaged and invested long-term. Not only will this allow you to give people of all genders, ages, and ethnicities chances to progress further, but it will provide opportunities to nurture employees who truly reflect the goals and values of your business.

Encourage diverse perspectives

One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to workplace diversity is that its purely an optics issue. In a time where inclusivity is often used as a buzzword, many businesses dont see just how beneficial a diverse team can be to their long-term growth and success. Research suggests that there are ten key benefits that truly diverse companies enjoy, including faster problem-solving, better decision-making, better reputation, increased profits and improved employee turnover. In particular, diverse and inclusive companies were 1.7 times more likely to establish themselves as innovation leaders within their market.

The explanation for how diversity can facilitate all these benefits is simple: diverse perspectives lead to more ideas and more opportunities for unique skills to be unlocked and utilised. A business that encourages its employees to use their individual skills, backgrounds, and cultural experiences to inform the way they work will always come out on top because it allows you to unlock the full potential of your workforce.

More than a token gesture or a marketing buzzword, diversity offers just as much to Australian businesses as it does to the millions of culturally diverse people who work in them.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

What just happened? Between chip-related export controls and tensions over Taiwan, relations between the US and China are at a nadir, but that hasn't stopped many top tech executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, from singing the country's praises at the 2023 China Development Forum.

Cook was one of the more than 50 chief senior executives and government officials from around the world to attend the government-organized event in Beijing, the first since its suspension due to the Covid outbreak. The Wall Street Journal reports that Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon was also an attendee, as were execs from Samsung, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Mercedes-Benz, Shell, and many more.

China remains a major market for Apple. Despite iPhone sales being down from the prior year, overall sales from China made up $23.9 billion of Apple's revenue last quarter. "Innovation is developing rapidly in China and I believe it will further accelerate," Cook was quoted by The Paper news outlet. "Apple and China [...] grew together and so this has been a symbiotic kind of relationship."

Cook also announced that Apple was increasing its donations to the China Development Research Foundation to $14.5 million, half of which will fund digital technology education in underdeveloped areas of China.

"We are honored to deepen our understanding of Chinese education, support for careers and create opportunities for young learners in rural areas," Cook reportedly said.

With the Covid disruptions and rising tensions with the US, Apple has been trying to lessen its reliance on China for years - the country accounted for 95.3% of Cupertino's global manufacturing operations in 2021. The pandemic saw Apple move some iPhone manufacturing to India in 2022, the same year that the controversial Covid restrictions caused walkouts at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant, resulting in a shortfall of iPhone 14 units.

Cook also used his speech to talk about education and the need for young people to learn programming and critical thinking skills. The Apple boss visited Apple stores in the country during his stay, much to the delight of Chinese social media.

Apple has a history of appearing to kowtow to the Chinese government, having previously removed thousands of games, apps, and VPNs from its App Store at the behest of local officials. It also purged a protest app and the Quartz news app during the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests.

A report in 2021 claimed Cook signed a secret $275 billion investment deal with China to help Apple succeed in the country.
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

WTF?! TikTok often makes headlines over claims that its user data is shared with the Chinese government, but it seems the company is also having an unintended (or possibly intended) impact on one of Europe's largest ammunition manufacturers.

Nammo, an ammo manufacturer co-owned by the Norwegian government and a Finnish state-controlled defense company, cannot meet the increasing demand for its artillery rounds because a local data center, whose primary customer is TikTok, is using all the electricity in the region, preventing a planned expansion of Nammo's factory.

"We are concerned because we see our future growth is challenged by the storage of cat videos," Morten Brandtzg, Nammo chief executive, told the Financial Times.

Brandtzg said demand for the company's artillery shells has surged to 15 times higher than usual, a result of the war in Ukraine. He said the country wants to increase the daily number of rounds it uses from 6,000 to 65,000 as it fights Russian forces.

Elvia, the local energy company, said that the network had no spare capacity as it works on a first-come, first-served basis and had promised it to the data center. Brandtzg believes governments should prioritize electricity for certain industries. "Critical industry must have access to energy," he said. "I don't think it's a one-off, I think it's a trend for the future."

The fact that China has never publicly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and leader Xi Jinping recently met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow to cement the two countries' relationship has raised questions over whether this was unintentional on TikTok's part.

"I will not rule out that it's not by pure coincidence that this activity is close to a defense company," Brandtzg said. "I can't rule it out."

There are plans for more TikTok data centers in Norway as the nation offers cheap electricity and a cold climate for keeping cooling costs down. It plans to build what will be the largest data center campus in Norway, with a capacity of up to 150MW, by November 2023. The facility (above) will be fully powered by renewable energy, primarily from hydropower.

It's been a difficult month for TikTok in the US. The White House threw its support behind a Senate bill that would enable the country to ban TikTok, something the Biden administration has threatened to do if ByteDance doesn't sell it to someone outside of China.

Masthead: NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Editor's take: Android is a hot mess. Google should make it truly open source. This would relieve them of a major antitrust vulnerability and infuse a massive amount of energy to the project.

We have been writing a lot about Qualcomm lately, lamenting its lackluster growth prospects. As we noted, the heart of their problem is that they are (probably) losing Apple as a customer, and at the same time Apple seems unstoppable, gaining share seemingly everywhere.

Put differently, Qualcomm's problem is Android.

Android is not in good shape. After 16 years on the market, Android remains heavily fragmented. This requires developers to build hundreds of versions of their app, and consumers face a bewildering array of user interfaces. Developers are deeply frustrated by this.

Editor's Note:

Guest author Jonathan Goldberg is the founder of D2D Advisory, a multi-functional consulting firm. Jonathan has developed growth strategies and alliances for companies in the mobile, networking, gaming, and software industries.

We know many software developers who insist on using an Android phone out of principle, but their green message bubbles stand out as exceptions. Consumers, especially young consumers (a.k.a. customers of the future) prefer iOS by wide margins. The result is that iOS users monetize for app developers much, much better than Android users, causing many to eschew the platform altogether.

For handset makers, the problems are painful. They are stuck in a situation where they have little leeway to differentiate on top of a free operating system, and many of their attempts to do so just add to the fragmentation problem. One of the only levers left to them is to cut prices, with ASPs (application service providers) shrinking in most markets. And while they are attempting to launch higher priced phones, with $2,000 models on the way, these are expensive to build and unlikely to sell enough to shift market share figures by much. And so Apple continues to suck up the vast majority of the sector's profits.

Most importantly, Android's owner, Google, seems deeply ambivalent about their OS. They have made no real effort to fix the root problems - especially around fragmentation, security and privacy. They are not exactly doing nothing. They have invented a lot of tools to make writing code for Android apps, and the web, easier. But this is Google we are talking about, and they sometimes seem to have the attention span of a toddler who probably needs a Ritalin prescription.

Android version distribution chart

For many years, they even seemed to be building an alternative OS, Fuschia, but that seems to have ended with their recent jobs cuts. And let's not forget their Chrome operating system which is fairly successful in cheap laptops, but also could use some focused attention. Google knows they need Android, and ... well, that really seems to be it. Too important to abandon, not important enough to really focus on and fix.

The rest of the world sees the problem but either lacks the ability to build a real alternative or has resigned themselves to tinkering around the edges. We recently spoke to a major ecosystem stakeholder looking for a way forward but the only options they had identified looked either futile (get all the handset vendors to work together) or just more tinkering around the edges.

We think there is an easy solution to all of this. A glaringly obvious one, written in giant blue letters with a neon purple outline. Google should make Android truly open source. Not the half measure Android Open Source Project (AOSP) they have today, but completely spun off into its own foundation, or ceded to the fine folks at the Linux Foundation.

Obviously this might cause some anxiety at Google. Android was created to prevent them from getting shut out of the mobile search market. So they have to be worried that losing control of Android would cause that to happen. But we think that is an outdated model.

Google could still cut deals with the handset makers to keep Google as the Android default search engine, just as they do with Apple. This would be expensive, but not as expensive as the billions they pay Apple every year. The handset makers would still want to license Google Apps (the G-Suite, Mail, Maps, etc.) and Google would not lose their ability to influence the code.

Google could also worry that every Android licensee would create their own version of the OS confounding users. Oh wait, we have that already.

Every major open source project relies heavily on corporates contributing significant engineering time. Linux was built with a very large time contribution from Intel. Google could easily emulate this model. Google could also worry that every Android licensee would create their own version of the OS confounding users. Oh wait, we have that already.

Google would also rightly worry that changing privacy policies (not least Apple's App Tracking Transparency) make internal traffic much more strategic to company's dependent on advertising. While this is a legitimate concern, we imagine Google could take steps to ensure their needs are met on this front. Most importantly, by relinquishing control of Android, Google could remove a very large antitrust vulnerability. Scan the many regulatory cases against Google and Android is at the heart of many of them.

An open source Android would likely enjoy a massive infusion of energy and resources from the rest of the ecosystem. The handset makers and chip suppliers would all have a large incentive to contribute to the project. Maintaining an OS is expensive, even for a company of Google's size. Why not defray those costs to some of the other highly-motivated members of the Android Foundation. Done well, this could also lead to significant improvements in many of the technical issues, fragmentation and security at the top.

This seems the best, if not only, way to save Android. Both, improving its codebase and keeping any one company from dominating it. No doubt, Google would only take this step with immense trepidation, but at this point we see few other options and many, many reasons to adopt it.

Do you think Android needs saving? Yes No

Masthead credit: majamaki
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PSA: Android users with apps from Pinduoduo should strongly consider uninstalling them, especially if they got those apps from outside the Google Play store. Recent reports indicate the company's apps contain malicious code that creates backdoors and downloads additional software without the user's consent.

Google recently suspended e-commerce giant Pinduoduo's official Play store app and warned users that several of the company's other apps contain malware. Pinduoduo's main Google Play store app (and the Apple App Store's, for that matter) is likely harmless, but Google said versions from other distribution channels are dangerous.

Third-party reports say Pinduoduo's apps try to install widgets on affected devices, prevent users from uninstalling apps, track installed app usage stats, access WiFi information, and pull location data. From now on, attempting to install these apps will trigger Google Play Protect---Google's anti-malware suite for Android. Security researchers reported that Pinduoduo exploited Android vulnerability CVE-2023-20963, which Google patched earlier this month. The malware might be an effort to inflate the company's user numbers artificially.

Google detected the malware on the Samsung, Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi app stores. Although users in western countries can rely on protection from Google's review process, the Play store isn't available in Pinduoduo's native China. The company vehemently denied accusations from Google and security researchers, pointing out other apps suspended from Google Play around the same time.

Because Pinduoduo is a Chinese company with around 800 million users, it's easy to see its suspension by American giant Google as anti-China fearmongering, especially in light of Congress' threat to ban TikTok. However, the earliest reports accusing Pinduoduo of spreading malware came from Chinese security researchers. A later analysis from cybersecurity company Lookout appears to validate the initial findings.

Earlier this month, Google's security team warned users about 18 zero-day exploits in popular Android devices, including the company's Pixel 6 and 7 phones. Google is working to harden its platform by baking security into the Android firmware.

This security situation is one of the problems possibly arising from Android's severe level of fragmentation, which could be causing plenty of other issues for software developers and hardware manufacturers supporting the platform.
United States House of Representatives has decided to move forward with the legislation regarding the TikTok ban bill, in order for the company to address worries related to national securities in the platform.

(Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Moving Forward

After Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew testified before congress last Thursday, The Hill reported that the US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy stated that lawmakers would move forward with the proposed TikTok ban bill to address national security concerns from authorities.

During the hearing, McCarthy described Chew as dishonest regarding his statements about whether China has access to TikTok user data . "The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party," he added.

The legislation was initiated by lawmakers over the past few months, This would prohibit downloading and use of TikTok accounts in the United States. But as per the speaker, he would only support a nationwide ban on TikTok if there will be a bipartisan concern with lawmakers on risks from the internet.

A bipartisan concern is what is happening on TikTok, not only to its fans but also to all data of Americans. He stated there will be many ramifications regarding this, which will make the mass come together and work and see what the product comes out when it gets done.

The speaker also added that the Trump administration was right all along about its previous concerns regarding TikTok, noting that the circumstances today might be different if the previous administration handled this case.

Also Read: Unbelievable Highlights From TikTok Congress Hearing-Beating up on Big Tech?

ByteDance sold its stake in TikTok to a company based in the United States. Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC believes that the platform should not be banned but instead push more for strict data and privacy laws.

TikTok Ban in the US

Reuters reported that TikTok has been experiencing increasing calls to ban the platform or even to bipartisan legislation to give President Joe Biden's office legal authority to avoid a ban. As of the moment, several states in the country have already banned the app installed on devices owned by the government.

Chew appeared before a United States House Committee for almost five hours last March 23rd. He was believed "grilled" regarding national security and other concerns from the application that powers its manpower for the app to grow. He was naked if the app has spied on Americans with a request from the Chinese government.

Due to this, TikTok has decided to delete the US user data from its servers before 2023 ends, as confirmed by its CEO last Thursday.

Related Article: TikTok, CEO Gets Grilled in Congress Hearing About App's Ban In the US; COO Claims 'Xenophobia'

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Twitter experienced a leak for some of its source code, according to a filing sent through a copyright infringement notice to GitHub. The company is trying to identify the ones who are responsible for this leak and those people who downloaded the code.

(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 28: The Twitter logo is posted on the exterior of Twitter headquarters on October 28, 2022 in San Francisco, California Elon Musk closed the deal to purchase social media platform Twitter for $44 billion and has already fired several top executives.

Leaked Source Code

Some parts of Twitter's source code have been leaked online, which is one of the most important codes in order for the social networking site to function. Bloomberg reported that a copyright infringement notice was sent to GitHub, with a request to remove the leaked source code.

GitHub is an online collaboration platform for software developers where several codes are posted. As of now, the code has been removed but the company remains to be worried about how long the code had been leaked online. The report states that it appears to have been public for at least months now.

Due to the limited information, Twitter asked the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in a way to help the company, along with GitHub to identify the suspect behind this leakage. Fortunately, GitHub complied and resolved the issue that might harm the company more.

Global Village Space reported that this leak comes after Twitter Chief Elon Musk tweeted that he was one of the people who suggested making Twitter's code public for this month. He said that he would make the could public by the end of March.

The leaker appeared by the name "FreeSpeechEnthusiast", which was used to reference Musk who has referred to himself as a free speech absolutist.

Twitter's Struggles

The executives were informed late regarding the source code leak, as per the investigation. One major concern for this is that released code includes security vulnerabilities that could give attackers or hackers an idea of the means to extract user data or take down the whole site.

This problem also adds to the challenges currently changing by Musk with Twitter. Especially that companies in the tech industry often view this type of code as a closely held secret and do encourage to not tell it to competitors to avoid unfair advantage or reveal vulnerabilities.

Also Read: Twitter Blue's Relaunch Makes Millions-Was It Not Enough?

Despite them being very protective, New York Times reported that tech companies still become a common target for opportunists, hackers, and others. This leak also affected the company which led to structural and financial challenges. Musk has been struggling to cut costs but also try out new things like new features and previously banned users from this company.

Aside from this, Twitter lately experiences several outages. Meanwhile, the advertisers were the main source of revenue for the company. Emsisoft Threat Analyst described Anetra's public posting of Twitter's code. "It does make it a little bit easier and speedier to probe for vulnerabilities," he said.

Related Article: Twitter's Worth Now Less Than Half! Will Its $20 Billion Valuation Decrease More?

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Workers from Apple were having doubts about the anticipated mixed-reality headset that will launch months from now. According to some, this device is still not ready to launch while others exited the project because of their concerns and skepticism.

(Photo : Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

TOWSON, MARYLAND - JUNE 20: Customers shop at The Apple Store at the Towson Town Center mall, the first of the company's retail locations in the U.S. where workers voted over the weekend to unionize, on June 20, 2022 in Towson, Maryland.

Questioning the Mixed-Reality Headset

Anonymous employees at Apple expressed their doubts about the upcoming headset of the company. Based on a report from 9To5Mac, the company failed to rally all of its employees behind as some of them already left or failed to continue with the production due to its quality at a high price point of $3,000.

While the unveiling is getting close, the company did or did not confirm whether the headset will be announced yet as they focused on the baby first. Regardless of this, it is expected to reveal the headset at the Worldwide Developer Conference this upcoming June.

Compared to previous devices, the mixed-reality headset is not so much impactful as iPod's ability to put digital songs in people's small pockets and the integration of iPhones and iPods into one. Aside from this factor, the headset has not been driven by the same clarity.

The Verge reported that the potential reason for the employees' uncertainty and skepticism might come from several departures from the product design team, including Jony Ive in 2019, Evans Hankey in 2022, Mike Rockwell, and more.

Employees were also shocked that Apple might still continue the launch and rather not postpone it. Postponement for the launching seems like this will not happen, however, a June launch is still in the go.

Apple's Mixed Reality Headset

As per rumors, the product will be branded as Apple Reality Pro with a $4,000 gift check. New York Times reported that the mixed-reality headset features a lot of things like enabling augmented reality video conferencing and meetings.

This device is also believed to edit in a creative tool where they can edit images and videos in a 3D space. Lastly, you can watch TV cinema at Apple partnering with Hollywood creators. Apple is expecting this to sell one million units in its year, as it is expected to be so appealing to businesses than the general public.

Apple's Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook stated, "You'll wonder how you lived your life without augmented reality, just like today you wonder: How did people like me grow up without the internet?"

Also Read: DEA Uses AirTag, Tracks Suspicious Package Across US-Here's What Happened

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman stated that while all of these digits are unimaginable, he believed that Apple is working on a more affordable version of the headset as soon be next year.

Several tech platforms have also joined the movement to build a virtual reality business, including Meta's Facebook. Since 2020, the platform sold 20 million of its $400 Quest 2. Those are all affordable due to some of them being defective.

Related Article: Apple's AR/VR Headset is Coming as Tim Cook Pushes for Launch Despite Design Team's Objection

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple has demonstrated its mixed-reality headset but is exclusive and closed to its top 100 executives only, held last week at the Steve Jobs Theater over at their headquarters in Cupertino, California. This closed-door event allegedly gave the executives a preview of what the AR/VR headset development is at, with reportedly a promising development now.

As per the report, some executives from Apple have been given the chance to preview this wearable device since 2018, and saw small little information only regarding the device, as it is a secret project from the company.

Apple Demonstrated the Mixed-Reality Headset to Executives

(Photo : Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Last week, Apple demonstrated its highly-anticipated mixed-reality headset to executives, according to the latest Power On Newsletter by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

According to the insider, the mixed-reality headset saw a significant reception at the closed-door event, with it exciting the executives for its alleged launch this year.

One particularly impressive feature of the mixed-reality headset is its ability to seamlessly blend virtual and real-world elements. For example, users can see and interact with virtual objects overlaid on top of the real-world environment, creating a truly immersive experience.

MacRumors noted that the price of the new AR/VR Headset would be around $3,000, but Gurman also claimed that it would face several potential problems coming with it. The device would lack an app dedicated to it, an external battery for its power needs, and would launch with limited media content.

Read Also: Apple Delays AR/VR Headset Launch, Speculators Claim it Will Arrive on WWDC 2023

Report: Apple Demos the AR/VR Headset since 2018

The company has been doing this demo since 2018 to preview the wearable device, with the previous demos not being that much clear in its details and features says Gurman.

Apple has been working on the mixed-reality headset for several years, and it is widely seen as the company's next major product release. While the exact release date and pricing details have not yet been announced, insiders suggest that the device could hit the market as early as this WWDC.

Apple's Mixed-Reality Headset Venture

The mixed-reality headset is expected to compete with other wearable devices in the market, such as the Oculus Quest 2, Samsung's new XR project, and other companies with the same tech. However, analysts believe that Apple's reputation for high-quality design and user experience could give it a significant advantage in the market.

Apple's mixed-reality headset is just one of several new products that it has been working on, to deliver a new experience to the world with virtual and augmented reality features. The company is also rumored to be developing a self-driving car, as well as new iterations of its popular iPhone and iPad devices.

The demonstration of Apple's mixed-reality headset has generated a great deal of excitement among its executives, but the report did not mention its confirmed release date by WWDC 2023. While the exact details of the device remain shrouded in secrecy, it is clear that Apple is once again pushing the boundaries of what it offers to the public.

Related Article: Apple Employees Express Skepticism on Launching Its Mixed-Reality Headset

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An American archaeological team affiliated with New York University has made a significant discovery in the area of the Temple of King Ramses II in Abydos.

They uncovered over 2,000 mummified rams' heads from the Ptolemaic era and a large building from the Sixth Dynasty. The discovery was announced by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Temple of King Ramesses II

Dr. Waziri emphasized the importance of the discovery, which provides valuable insight into the history of the Temple of King Ramesses II in Abydos and the surrounding area.

The temple has significant archaeological and historical importance, contributing to knowledge of the site and the life it witnessed for over two thousand years, from the Sixth Dynasty to the Ptolemaic era.

The mission also found several mummified animals, including ewes, dogs, wild goats, cows, deer, and mongooses, in one of the newly discovered storage rooms inside the northern area of the temple.

The mission's leader, Dr. Sameh Iskandar, suggests that the numerous mummified rams may have been utilized as votive offerings during the Ptolemaic era's unheard-of worship of rams in Abydos.

It could also mean that King Ramesses II was highly regarded in Abydos and that this veneration persisted a thousand years after his passing.

The enormous structure was found to be from the Sixth Dynasty and has a distinctive architectural layout with around five meters wide walls.

Read Also: French Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Roman-era Monumental Complex from the 2nd-3rd Century AD

A Glimpse of the Old Kingdom

Dr. Iskandar noted that the building's discovery will contribute significantly to rethinking the activities and architecture of the Old Kingdom in Abydos and the nature and shape of the place and activities that were taking place before Ramesses II established his temple.

The team also succeeded in exposing some of the northern walls around the temple and its appurtenances, according to Professor Mohamed Abdel-Badi, head of the Central Department of Upper Egypt Antiquities at the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

This calls for changing what has been entrenched in the minds of scholars and researchers about the shape of the temple of King Ramses II and what was described and drawn for it.

It has been circulated among scholars and researchers since its discovery over 150 years ago.

The team also found parts of statues, parts of papyri, remains of ancient trees, clothes, and leather shoes.

The mission will carry out more excavations there in order to understand the history of the location and to examine and document the data obtained from the current excavation season.

The discovery is anticipated to significantly advance the existing knowledge on the location and the life that existed there from the Sixth Dynasty to the Ptolemaic period.

Related Article: Archaeologists Find an Extremely Rare 1,300-year-old Gold and Gemstone Necklace From a Medieval Woman in England

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Microblogging website Twitter has filed a case against Microsoft-owned platform GitHub, an internet hosting service for software development, for leaking parts of the social media platforms source code.

As soon as the Elon Musk-owned company was made aware of the leak on Friday, Twitter issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request to GitHub, which was compiled by GitHub, and the code was pulled down the same day.

The legal document filed on Sunday with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California said that various excerpts of Twitters source code used to run the company online were posted on GitHub.

Further, the social media giant has asked the court to order GitHub to identify who was behind the account which leaked the code-named FreeSpeechEnthusiast, as well as any other individuals who downloaded it.

While it is unclear how long the leaked code was available online, it is believed to have been public for at least several months, reveals the Times report.

Twitter began an investigation into the leak and executives believe that whoever published the code left the San Francisco-based company in late 2022, i.e. when Elon Musk took over the microblogging site as its new owner and CEO. However, the leak was only recently discovered by the Twitter execs, two people briefed on the investigation told the Times.

One concern tied to the leaked source code includes security vulnerabilities that could give cybercriminals the opportunity to hack or steal user data or take down the social media network.

GitHub does not generally comment on decisions to remove content. However, in the interest of transparency, we publicly share every DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] takedown request, a GitHub spokesperson told the BBC.

Ever since Musk took over Twitter in late 2022, the company has faced challenges, be it slashing the workforce by more than a third or facing an exodus of advertisers from the platform.

Musk bought the social media company for $44 billion in October 2022; however, recently the Tesla chief suggested in a memo to the social media companys staff that it is now valued at less than $20 billion.
Containers seen at Cat Lai Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen

Vietnams exports to Russia fell by nearly 60% year-on-year to US$205 million in the first two months of this year.

Iron and steel, footwear and electronics exports almost came to a halt while those of agriculture produce like rice, vegetables and seafood fell by 20-50%, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Russia.

Rubber, garment and coffee were the only items whose exports increased.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is said to be the main cause as sanctions on Russia limit its trade with other countries, including Vietnam.

Major shipping firms and airlines have stopped their Russia operations, and so Vietnamese business have trouble sending goods to the country.

Bilateral trade fell by nearly 62% to $402 million.

The trade office said Russian businesses are increasingly interested in establishing trade partnership with their Vietnamese counterparts, and the number of Russian companies participating in Vietnams fairs and exhibitions is rising.

Many Russian retailers want to sell agricultural products, clothes and footwear from Vietnam, it added.
"No country can ignore China's status and role as a major country in terms of economy, finance and trade," Attorney General Manuel Diaz said.

On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Ministers Eduardo Reina (Honduras) and Qin Gang (China) participated in a ceremony in Beijing whereby both countries restored diplomatic relations.

Rodolfo Pastor de Maria, the secretary of the Honduran presidency, said that it was a great honor to witness the establishment of bilateral ties, which would open an important door of opportunity for Honduras and help the country diversify its international relations.

The establishment of China-Honduras diplomatic relations is an independent and courageous historic decision, and no country can ignore China's status and role as a major country in terms of economy, finance and trade, Attorney General Manuel Diaz said.

China's economy has achieved solid growth, and products made in China have been shipped to the world, Education Minister Daniel Sponda said, adding that the establishment of diplomatic ties with China is conducive his country's development of digital skills in education.

Honduras leftist President Xiomara Castro has officially recognized China.



Now only 12 UN member states have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan separatists. (These have a combined population of less than 39 million, or 0.49% of the planet)https://t.co/P9MNLJWPGR  Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) March 26, 2023

Customs Administration Director Fausto Calix said that Honduras has made the decision as a sovereign country and it must be respected by the international community and China, as a major country in the world, will bring great opportunities to the development of Honduras.

Armando Vidal, who has been in the tourism industry for over 20 years, is ready to welcome Chinese tourists to visit the local scenic splendours and hospitable Hondurans.

Armando Enamorado, former president of the Metropolitan University of Honduras, voiced hope that the establishment of diplomatic ties will bring more Chinese technological achievements to his country so that Honduras can better leverage China's digital technology and other experiences to enhance the competitiveness of local students.
Immigration officers in Indonesia's popular resort island of Bali have deported two Polish tourists for flouting the ban during the Nyepi celebration, or Day of Silence, last week.

Karol Grabinski, 39, and Barbara Karina Walczak, 24, were found pitching up a tent on a gazebo at Purnama Beach and enjoying their meals on March 22 as Balinese celebrated Nyepi, a public holiday in Indonesia when no one is allowed to stay outside or be in a public area.

When local police patrolled the area, they ordered the two to return to their hotel, telling them it was Nyepi celebration in Bali, Jakarta Post reported.

However, the duo argued with the police telling them that they did not have money to pay for a hotel as they had a limited budget for their vacation in Bali.

Police then detained them and handed them over to immigration officers for questioning.

The two came to Indonesia with visas on arrival and their residence permits were valid until March 29.

Bali has been stepping up law enforcement regarding foreigners, even banning them from riding motorcycles following a string of deadly accidents.
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North Korea fires ballistic missile: Seoul



Seoul, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2023



North Korea fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile Monday, South Korea's military said, the latest in its flurry of weapons tests in recent weeks.

"North Korea fires an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

Japan's defence ministry also said "a suspected ballistic missile has been fired", with its coast guard saying the weapon was believed to have already fallen.

The launch comes as Seoul and Washington are carrying out a joint amphibious landing exercise, just days after wrapping up their largest combined military drills in five years Thursday.

Pyongyang views all such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and on Friday claimed the recent drills, dubbed Freedom Shield, were practice for "occupying" North Korea.

Pyongyang carried out military drills of its own in response, including test-firing a new nuclear-capable underwater drone and conducting its second intercontinental ballistic missile launch this year.

Analysts previously said North Korea would likely use the drills as an excuse to carry out more missile launches and perhaps even a nuclear test

North Korea's state media said Friday the "underwater nuclear attack drone" drill, which was personally overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, was staged "to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis".

The weapon's mission is to "stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami ... to destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports of the enemy," the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The agency also said Pyongyang had fired strategic cruise missiles "tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead" on Wednesday.



- 'Irreversible' nuclear power -



Analysts questioned North Korea's claims, saying that they were not the same as a credible demonstration of capability.

But they added that Pyongyang was moving on from simply stockpiling nuclear warheads and attempting to advance and diversify launch mediums.

After a record-breaking year of weapons tests and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have ramped up security cooperation.

It has also pushed South Korea and Japan to mend fences over historical disputes and try to boost security cooperation.

North Korea last year declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear power and Kim recently called for an "exponential" increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons.

Kim also ordered the North Korean military this month to intensify drills to prepare for a "real war".
The United States was the first country to recognize Kazakhstans independence in December of 1991. Ever since, the United States has been firmly committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Kazakhstan  and countries across the region. On his recent visit to attend the C5+1 Ministerial in Astana, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the United States unwavering support for Kazakhstan to freely determine its future.

Secretary Blinken reiterated his endorsement for the full implementation of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayevs reform agenda announced last March.

We look forward to seeing the additional concrete steps Kazakhstan will take to realize that agenda: expanding public participation in the political process, increasing government accountability, curbing corruption, introducing presidential term limits, and protecting human rights, he said. Those reforms are an important reason why foreign investors, including those from the United States, are increasingly turning to Kazakhstan. American businesses were among the first to invest here, injecting more than $50 billion into the Kazakh economy going back to 1991.

Kazakhstan continues to be a valued partner in reducing the spread of nuclear weapons by dismantling Soviet-era missiles; contributing to peacekeeping operations from Lebanon to Mali; exploring the galaxy through space cooperation; and repatriating and rehabilitating more than 600 foreign terrorist fighters and their families.

The United States has demonstrated its commitment to the economic growth and development of Central Asia. Since June 2022, the United States committed $16.5 million toward food security in the region. The United States also set up the Economic Resilience Initiative for Central Asia, which provided $25 million to expand regional trade routes, establish new export markets, attract and leverage greater private sector investment, and provide people with practical skills for the modern job market.

During his visit, Secretary Blinken announced further assistance for the region:

Im announcing an additional $25 million for that initiative, a total of $50 million to build up the regional economy, and especially to make sure that people have the skills they need to succeed in this global economy. To further empower and connect the people of Central Asia, were launching an effort to increase English language proficiency for more than 1,000 young professionals in government and across civil society.

The United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are committed to continuing to advance shared economic, energy, environmental, and security goals.
AOL co-founder Steve Case, now CEO of Revolution, will be discussing his new book "Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places are Building the New American Dream" with Walter Isaacson at the upcoming New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. The event will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday in Gallier Hall.
Apples headset is considered a bellwether for virtual and augmented reality. For more than a decade, tech leaders have been hyping it as the next wave of computing after the smartphone. Apple CEO Tim Cook told university students last year that in the near future youll wonder how you lived your life without augmented reality, just like today you wonder: How did people like me grow up without the internet? But the road to deliver augmented reality has been littered with failures, false starts and disappointments, from Google Glass to Magic Leap and from Microsofts HoloLens to Metas Quest Pro. Apple is considered a potential saviour because of its success combining new hardware and software to create revolutionary devices. Still, the challenges are daunting. An artists rendering of a potential Apple headset. Credit: Ian Zelbo Meta, Facebooks parent company, has ploughed billions of dollars into trying to build a virtual reality business. The experience has been humbling. It has sold about 20 million of its $US400 Quest 2 headsets since 2020 and recently cut the price of the Quest Pro, its premium device, to $US1000 from $US1500 amid lacklustre sales. By comparison, Apple sells more than 200 million iPhones annually with an average selling price of more than $US800.

Unlike the iPhone, which incorporated many existing technologies, virtual reality is requiring Apple and others to design new chips and wearable displays, said Matthew Ball, author of The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionise Everything, The difficulty of the problem has been far greater than anyone expected, he added. Apple is expected to pitch its device as something different from those that Mark Zuckerbergs Meta has introduced. Uncertainty about the potential of Apples project has led some people who have worked on it to speculate that the company could delay its release, especially in light of the shaky economy, these people said. The company has postponed other new products in the past, including AirTags, the coin-size location tracking devices, which Apple withheld for more than a year as it addressed privacy issues. But at this point, headset manufacturing is underway for a planned reveal in June, the people said. Apple is projected to ship fewer than 500,000 headsets in a year, according to Counterpoint Research, a market research firm. By comparison, the company was expected to ship about 40 million Apple Watches after its debut. The modest expectations for the headset speak to the challenges in a category where sales declined 12 per cent last year to $US1.1 billion, according to NPD Group, a market research firm. Seeking to define a nascent market is an aberration for Apple.

Apple is always pretty good at coming into a market when the market is already established and changing that market, said Carolina Milanesi, a consumer tech analyst for the research firm Creative Strategies. This is not the case for Apple VR and XR. Theres still a lot of learning. Loading Some internal sceptics have questioned if the new device is a solution in search of a problem. Unlike the iPod, which put digital songs in peoples pockets, and the iPhone, which combined the abilities of a music player and a phone, the headset hasnt been driven by the same clarity, these people said. The product is being birthed during a period of limbo. This year, Ives successor overseeing industrial design, Evans Hankey, departed. With designs leadership in flux, Mike Rockwell, an engineer, has been leading development of the device. The headset looks like ski goggles. It features a carbon fibre frame, a hip pack with battery support, outward cameras to capture the real world and two 4K displays that can render everything from applications to movies, two of the people said. Users can turn a reality dial on the device to increase or decrease real-time video from the world around them.

The New York Times has previously reported on some features, as have Bloomberg and The Information. The headset is expected to cost about $US3,000 three of the people said. And it is considered a bridge to a future product, such as augmented reality glasses, that would have broader appeal but require technical breakthroughs. Former Apple chief designer Jony Ive (left) with Apple CEO Tim Cook. Credit: Bloomberg Because the headset wont fit over glasses, the company has plans to sell prescription lenses for the displays to people who dont wear contacts, a person familiar with the plan said. During the devices development, Apple has focused on making it excel for videoconferencing and spending time with others as avatars in a virtual world. The company has called the devices signature application copresence, a word designed to capture the experience of sharing a real or virtual space with someone in another place. It is akin to what Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks founder, calls the metaverse.

The device will double as a tool for artists, designers and engineers, tracking them as they draw freely in space in image-editing applications and tracking hand gestures for the editing of virtual reality films. Lastly, it will function as a high-resolution TV with custom-made video content from Hollywood filmmakers such as Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man. Its not very Apple-like. But Apple is a very, very different company. Apple is expected to pitch its device as something different from those that Meta has introduced. During an interview last year with the Dutch publication Bright, Cook said he avoided using the term metaverse because it was foreign to the average person. The headsets price and applications suggest that it will appeal more to businesses such as design firms than to many of the 1 billion iPhone owners. Apple has enriched itself by selling expensive smartphones but always balanced price with utility. Ball, the author of The Metaverse, compared the companys strategy with this device to Teslas strategy with the Roadster, its initial $US100,000 electric vehicle. Eventually, Tesla followed it with lower-priced cars with broader appeal.
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The stylishly revamped Saint Hotel has the potential to be St Kildas saving grace, with five venues to open over two soaring levels punctuated by an atrium.

A year of work and a budget of between $3 million and $4 million has ripped a nightclub and South-East Asian restaurant out of the hotel and replaced them with a steakhouse powered by a Josper grill and an upscale front bar plus two upstairs bars to open soon, as well as a street-level bottle shop coming later with 12 bar stools.

Saint Bar greets guests before they explore the rest of the venues spaces. Sharyn Cairns

The megavenue, licensed for 430 people, joins other recent St Kilda arrivals Rufio on Carlisle Street and Loti on the foreshore, and the reopening of Cafe Di Stasio, somewhat stemming the areas hospitality losses, including Andrew McConnells Supernormal Canteen. Could this be St Kildas year?

Saint Hotel general manager Mrinal Beekarry and executive chef Gary Lai, both formerly of The Atlantic, say the pubs 1915 heritage was a major drawcard for them to join the project, led by James D. Field and his father James M. Field, both in the construction business.
Since Labor under Anthony Albanese returned to office, there has been a noticeable thaw , though the formal launch of the recent AUKUS defence agreement means relations with our largest two-way trading partner remain delicately poised.

Xis increasingly assertive approach to foreign policy led to relations between Beijing and Canberra tilting noticeably to the fear side of Abbotts formula. Trade and diplomatic relations reached a nadir during the Morrison government, when key Australian exports were put in a deep freeze.

At that point Xi Jinping had led China for just two years and Daniel Andrews was two weeks away from the election that made him premier. In the years since, Xi and Andrews have each grown in political stature, dwarfing their rivals on the very different stages of China and Victoria.

When then-prime minister Tony Abbott was asked in November 2014 by his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, to explain the drivers of Australias China policy, he answered fear and greed.

This weekends news that Andrews was bound for China on a four-day trip has put him at the centre of this minefield, with opposition figures at state and federal level warning that the Premier needs to stay in his lane and avoid secret deals. He has responded by pointing to the Prime Ministers enthusiasm for the visit as another step towards repairing relations.

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Ever since Gough Whitlam went to the Peoples Republic as federal opposition leader in 1971, Australian leaders making such a journey have been under intense scrutiny over what they might say and how their actions might be interpreted here and by our allies abroad.

At a time when Canada, Britain and the United States are all embroiled in debates over Chinese influence, Andrews cannot afford to be dismissive of questions around Victorias stance. While he may be right to say that it is not a premiers place to discuss the plight of the Uyghurs with Chinese officials, it is to be hoped that the recent confusion over Spring Streets approach to the use of the TikTok app is not part of a pattern at a time when clarity of communication is needed.

China is also Victorias largest trading partner, and even the state opposition was keen not to sound an anti-business note. But when shadow trade minister David Southwick talked about the need for transparency, he hit upon a problem that is of the premiers own making.
A radical plan to overhaul the tax system for housing, open up Melbournes middle suburbs and stop rampant population growth on the citys outer fringe has been proposed by Victorias peak infrastructure body.

In a major new report, Infrastructure Victoria has called for fast-tracked planning approvals for townhouses, relaxed zoning to permit more low-rise apartments and the abolishment of stamp duty and first-home-buyers subsidies to increase housing options and affordability.

Goce Damjanoski with three-year-old son Luka in Kalkallo, in Melbournes outer north. Credit: Jason South

The agencys report, released on Tuesday, says 1.3 million new homes need to be built in Melbourne to meet the projections that the citys population will swell from 5 million people to more than 8 million over the next 30 years.

But there will be mounting financial and social costs if that growth remains concentrated in the citys outer-fringe greenfield areas, where tracts of farmland have been carved up for detached houses.
The Greens have cut a deal to deliver their crucial support for Labors signature climate policy, the safeguard mechanism, after the government agreed to a change that will force the emissions from the nations 215 biggest carbon polluters to decline into the future.

After weeks of negotiations with Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Greens leader Adam Bandt negotiated a significant amendment to impose a hard cap on the emissions of the big polluters with a requirement for them to fall over time.

Greens leader Adam Bandt announcing he had struck a deal with the government to pass the climate legislation. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The safeguard mechanism is due to kick in on July 1, but the minor partys support was needed in the Senate to legislate the bill after the opposition ruled out supporting it.

The safeguard mechanism will impose binding caps on Australias 215 biggest polluters  including coal mines, gas plants, smelters and manufacturers  to force them to reduce their carbon footprint by a cumulative 205 million tonnes by the end of the decade. They can do this by buying carbon credits generated by projects such as tree planting or they can switch old fossil fuel technology to cleaner systems powered by renewable energy.
The closed-door trial of Russian pro-democracy activist and human rights defender Vladimir Kara-Murza began in Moscow on March 13. Russian authorities have brought three politically motivated charges against Kara-Murza in relation to statements he made opposing Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. If convicted, he faces decades in prison.

The United States has called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022 and has been held in detention ever since. He was accused of disseminating fake news about the Russian army and was subsequently labelled a foreign agent. Additional charges, including treason and cooperation with an undesirable organization, have been added to the list of his so-called crimes.

A top advisor to slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, Kara-Murza has courageously defended human rights in Russia and has been repeatedly targeted by Russian authorities for repression. He suffered severe poisonings in 2015 and 2017, which he believes were directly related to his political activities.

In early March, the United States imposed sanctions on six Russian nationals for their involvement in serious human right abuses against Kara-Murza.

The Department of the Treasury designated three: Andrei Andreevich Zadachin, a Special Investigator assigned to the Chief Investigative Directorate, who ordered that a criminal case be initiated against Kara-Murza based on his expression of anti-war views; Elena Anatolievna Lenskaya, a judge who oversaw Kara-Murzas pretrial detention hearing and ordered he be held in pretrial detention; and Danil Yurievich Mikheev, who served as an expert witness for the Russian government on the case against Kara-Murza.

In a complementary action, the State Department announced visa restrictions against Lenskaya and Zadachin, making them and their immediate families ineligible for entry into the United States.

In addition, the State Department sanctioned Russian government officials Oleg Mikhailovich Sviridenko, Diana Igorevna Mishchenko, and Illya Pavlovich Kozlov. Sviridenko is the Russian Deputy Minister of Justice who oversees the prosecution of criminal cases, including Kara-Murzas; Mischenko is the judge who issued the initial ruling approving Kara-Murzas arrest and sentenced him to 15 days in jail. And Kozlov is the judge who denied Kara-Murzas appeal of Mischenkos administrative arrest ruling.

In a written statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken again called for Kara-Murzas immediate and unconditional release, emphasizing that the United States is committed to ensuring that Vladimir Putins attempts to silence critics will not succeed in suppressing the truth about his brutal war of choice against Ukraine, which continues to cause unconscionable death, abuse, and destruction.
2023 Honda HR-V 5DR AWD EX-L - Review by David Colman +VIDEO

Well Proportioned, Handsome, and Sooo Good Looking







"What a lovely color!" Those were my wife's first words when she saw the "Nordic Forest" paint job Honda had applied (for an extra $395) to our $30,590 test car. I had already had some fun with this color prior to receiving the HR-V. My cousin, visiting for Thanksgiving, wanted to know how to spot 'my' car in a parking lot where we had agreed to meet. I told him to look for the Nordic Forest Honda, to which he replied, "Where do they come up with these names?" So I told him to read Tom Wolfe 's Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamlined Baby.

For 2023, however, Honda didn't rename the HR-V. They just changed out the whole car for something completely new, but kept the name the same. First sold in 2016, the original HR-V was based on the now discontinued Fit platform. The redesigned 2023 HR-V springs from the latest 11th generation Honda Civic. Replacing the prior HR-V's 1.8 liter, 141hp engine is a Civic-based 2.0 liter inline 4 making 158hp and 138lb.-ft. of torque. This new engine adds 17hp and 11lb.ft. of torque to the equation.

Three different front-wheel drive models are available, starting with the LX ($23,650) the Sport ($25,650), and the EX-L ($27,450). Honda also offers these three grades with all-wheel drive for an extra $1,500 each. Like all versions of the HR-V, our AWD EX-L harnessed engine output with a CVT transmission which was not equipped with paddle shifts or manual override via a floor-mounted sport stick. Although the gearbox detents carry on "S" setting, this choice is earmarked for Snow (not Sport) operation.

Although the redesigned shell of the latest HR-V certainly conveys a racier appearance than that of its predecessor, the new model's hard numbers for acceleration will not have you heading off to the local drag strip. The 2023 HR-V AWD will reach 60 MPH from a standing start in just under 10 seconds, and post a standing start quarter-mile run in 17.3 seconds at 85mph. The old HR-V posted a power-to-weight ratio of 21.59lb/hp while the new one slightly improves the bottom line to 20.84lb/hp.

The exceptional handling responsiveness of the new HR-V very nearly compensates for its power shortfall. The improvement begins with the sturdier structure the HR-V inherits from the Civic platform. Taking full advantage of that enhanced stiffness is an all-new independent front and rear suspension layout featuring MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link independent rear layout. Honda incorporated low friction bushings to improve both ride comfort and handling responsiveness. The AWD HR-V we tested rode on rather striking 5-spoke alloys (17x6.5J) shod with Hankook Kinergy GT (215/60R17) all-season rubber. Slightly wider 18x7J rims are available to improve both looks and grip at the expense of ride comfort loss.

The most notable improvement Honda has achieved with its second generation HR-V is the interior remodel. All versions offer a 7-inch color LCD instrument layout, with a 7-inch color touchscreen standard on LX and Sport models. The EX-L we drove replaces the smaller touchscreen with a 9-inch unit that is easy to read, facile to operate, and equipped with a physical volume knob, large icons, and hard buttons for Home and Back functions. Honda has come a long way since the first HR-V in meeting driver requirements for painless digital operation. The company also earns high accolades for the upmarket look of the new cockpit. The EX-L's front seats are good looking, and even better to spend time in. The driver's seat has plenty of bolstering and lower body support, with electric controlled functions for backrest inclination and fore/aft travel. The passenger's front seat handles the same chores with manual controls. Both seats are heated.

Honda has done an exceptionally good job of resurrecting the original HR-V with a beguiling new shape, an all-new interior, and a sweet suite of digital information screens that eliminate confusion and promote a Zen calm while driving. The icing on that new multi-layer cake is you can't spend more than $30,590 to get the HR-V AWD EX-L which is the pick of the litter.

2023 HONDA HR-V 5DR AWD EX-L



ENGINE: 2.0 Liter inline 4 Cylinder, DOHC, 16-valve, aluminum block and head

HORSEPOWER: 158hp@6800

TORQUE: 138lb.-ft.@4200rpm

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 25MPG City/30MPG Highway

PRICE AS TESTED: $30,590

HYPES: Well Proportioned and Handsome

GRIPES: Hybrid Punch Would Be Nice

STAR RATING: 9 Stars out of 10
2023 Toyota bZ4X Electric Only - Review by Larry Nutson

Toyota bz4x Specs (PDF)

2023 Toyota bZ4X News Archive

2023 Toyota bZ4X Review By Larry Nutson

By Larry Nutson

Executive Editor and Bureau Chief

Chicago Bureau

THE AUTO CHANNEL

Whats in a name? Beyond Zero gives us the bZ in the model name of Toyotas first fully-electric vehicle. And of course, zero emission new vehicles are what the world needs going forward to be carbon neutral.

Toyota bZ is a new vehicle series; a sub-brand that will encompass a range of seven new vehicles. The first is bZ4X. A compact 5-passenger crossover utility vehicle that is built on a new e-TNGA vehicle architecture uniquely designed for battery-electric vehicles.

With a 112.2 inch wheelbase and an overall length of 184.6 inches, the bZ4X is well suited for the urban landscapenot too big and not too small. For reference, it is 3.7 inches longer than the RAV4. The battery pack is part of the floor structure located between the front and rear axles. Both front-wheel and all-wheel drive models are available.

Front-drive models use a 150-kW (201-hp) electric motor mounted between the front wheels with a 71.4 kWh battery pack under the floor. All-wheel drive models have two 80-kW motors, one up front and one in the rear, for a total of 160-kW (214-hp). A 72.8 kWh battery pack provides the power. By the way, the battery is covered by an 8-year/100,000 miles warranty.

Two trim levels are available, XLE and Limited. EPA classifies the bZ4X as a small SUV. EPA estimated driving range is 252 miles for the XLE FWD, 228 miles for the XLE AWD, 242 miles for the Limited FWD, and 222 miles for the Limited AWD. Drive system and tire size affect range. DC charging maximum input is 150 kW (FWD) and 100 kW (AWD). This is an important fact since it dictates how quickly the battery pack can be charged using a direct current fast charger.

Toyota has updated its Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 and the bZ4X is equipped with a long list of collision warning, collision intervention, and driving control assistance features. Theres 8.1 inches of ground clearance for that occasional overlanding camping excursion. All your gear has a place in the 27.7 cu.ft. cargo area behind the rear seat.

According to the Automotive Towing Guide, the bZ4X can tow up to 1,500 pounds, when properly equipped. The bZ4X has a towing capacity that is on par with other all-wheel drive electric SUVs such as the Tesla Model X, Audi e-tron, and Jaguar I-Pace. The bZ4Xs towing capacity will be able to handle a small trailer.

Keep in mind when you add weight to a vehicle, such as a full load of passengers, lots of cargo, or towing a trailer, the driving range goes down and fuel consumption goes up, be it gasoline or electric.

Battery power has given vehicle designers a bit of freedom since there is no combustion engine that needs air flow and cooling. The bZ4X is sleek and aerodynamic. Its a bit of head-turner with no front grille and a lower roofline.

For my recent drive experience with the bZ4X I drove a beautiful Supersonic Red XLE model with front-wheel drive with a base price of $42,000.

Interestingly, the standard XLE color is black. But for $425 additional you can choose from Wind Chill Pearl, Supersonic Red, Elemental Silver Metallic, or Heavy Metal. The same color choices hold for the Limited model that also gets a black two-tone roof. Brings to mind the Ford Model-T that was offered in any color you want as long as its black.

Seats on the XLE are covered in a cloth and leatherette combination. The Limiteds seats are all leatherette. The cabin is quite wide for the vehicle size and provides a good amount of room. The top-mount Multi-Information Display, the gauge cluster that is, sits on top of the dashboard. I had to get comfortable with its placement due to my seat and steering wheel position. I like to sit low and the steering wheel upper rim blocked the lower portion of the gauge cluster. I quickly adapted.

Theres no glove compartment (glove?) for things like the owners manual and vehicle registration papers. Theres an the open-sided storage area underneath the center console that fills the bill. Theres lots of piano-black parts throughout the vehicle. They look good when kept clean!

Dynamically the bZ4X is refined and comfortable. Battery electric vehicles are heavy. Toyota did a nice job on ride comfort and overall handling. Electric motors develop instantaneous torque providing quick acceleration. Toyota estimates 0-60 acceleration time of 7.1 seconds for FWD and 6.5 seconds for AWD. This is plenty quick for the average driver.

Regenerative braking uses the inertia of the vehicle while coasting to put charge back in the battery. It reduces the frequency the brake pedal must be depressed, helping to reduce the driving task. I use regen braking all the time while driving the stop-and-go streets around my home in Chicago.

Battery vehicles require a focus on features that help optimize energy-saving and cruising range for year-round driving. In addition to aerodynamic design choices and body weight reduction efforts, systems and equipment are needed to reduce energy consumption, especially power used for heating in cold climates. The bZ4X has a heat pump system for both heating and air-conditioning, available seat and steering wheel heaters and available front-seat radiant foot-and-leg heater.

The basic idea is to dress for the weather conditions and heat your body and not the entire interior cabin. For example, with a 34 degF ambient temperature, when I switched the heater on the driving range displayed on the instrument cluster dropped from 257 miles to 188 miles---thats a 27% drop.

The bZ4X driving range is decent. However your needs for your typical driving pattern must be considered in determining if a BEV is right for you. Charging is all important. Personally, I recommend the installation of a Level 2 charger at your residence. Its key to a good ownership experience. If you live in a cold climate it is best to be able to garage a BEV.

New bZ4X owners can include a ChargePoint home charging system into the cost of their new vehicle purchase or lease, as they will have the option to purchase a ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 charger from participating Toyota dealerships or directly from ChargePoint online.

I mentioned the XLW FWD priced at $42,000. XLE AWD is $46,700, Limited FWD is $44,080 and Limited AWD is $48,780. Shipping charge is an additional $1,215.

More information on the bZ4X can be found at www.toyota.com. It joins an extensive lineup of Toyota electrified vehicles that, in total, accounted for about a quarter of Toyotas total sales volume in the U.S. last year. These include hydrogen fuel cell electrics, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and now battery electric vehicles.

The future is electric. Happy motoring!

 2023 Larry Nutson, the Chicago Car Guy
Ford to Build Next Electric Truck "Project T3" at BlueOval City; BlueOval Learning Will Prepare Nearly 6,000 for Jobs

BlueOval City, Fords all-new mega-campus in West Tennessee, is taking shape and preparing to build Fords next-gen electric truck, code named Project T3, in 2025

Designed to be radically efficient and carbon neutral, the truck plant on the site will be capable of producing 500,000 electric trucks a year at full production

Ford calls Project T3 a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize Americas truck by combining a century of truck know-how with world-class electric vehicle, software and aerodynamics talent

Ford begins massive BlueOval Learning training program  K-12 STEM programs, post-secondary education partnerships and technical training  to fill 6,000 new jobs

Ford and its partners have contributed more than $20 million to Tennessee communities since announcing BlueOval City in 2021

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STANTON, Tenn., March 24, 2023  Ford, the No. 2 EV brand in the U.S. in 2022, is on track with construction at BlueOval City mega-campus and poised to usher in a new era of American innovation and manufacturing.

The electric vehicle and battery manufacturing campus in West Tennessee begins production in 2025, and will be home to Fords second-generation electric truck, code named Project T3, and will be capable of producing 500,000 EV trucks a year at full production.

BlueOval City is the blueprint for Fords electric future around the world, said Bill Ford, Fords executive chair. We will build revolutionary electric vehicles at an advanced manufacturing site that works in harmony with the planet, aligning business growth and innovation with environmental progress.

Ford and partner SK On are investing $5.6 billion in the campus and creating approximately 6,000 new jobs. Ford has launched a comprehensive education and training effort called BlueOval Learning to prepare future employees.

BlueOval City is designed to be Fords first carbon neutral vehicle manufacturing and battery campus as Ford works to power all Ford plants globally with renewable and carbon-free electricity by 2035.

Project T3 is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revolutionize Americas truck. We are melding 100 years of Ford truck know-how with world-class electric vehicle, software and aerodynamics talent. It will be a platform for endless innovation and capability, said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO.

PJ ORourke once described American pickups as ?a back porch with an engine attached. Well, this new truck is going to be like the Millennium Falcon  with a back porch attached, he said. The manufacturing process will be equally breakthrough, with radical simplicity, cost efficiency and quality technology that will make BlueOval City the modern-day equivalent of Henry Fords Rouge factory. A factory of the future that people from all over the world will want to tour.

BlueOval City also is a key part of Fords plan to scale EV production and make them more accessible to customers; the company is targeting a production run rate of 2 million EVs annually across the globe by late 2026.

Project T3 and a New Industrial Era

With its F-150 Lightning, Ford already has shifted peoples expectations about the capability, driving enjoyment and productivity EV pickups can deliver. Fords Project T3 aims to further grow and reinvent the Ford truck franchise.

Ford is developing its second-generation EV truck in tandem with the all-new assembly plant, resulting in efficiencies never before possible  such as a 30 percent smaller general assembly footprint than traditional plants while delivering higher production capacity.

Meanwhile, Project T3 team members are ensuring they deliver the capability and innovation customers expect from Ford trucks with a fraction of the complexity from previous truck programs.

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Project T3 is short for Trust The Truck  a code name that stuck after the development team made it their rallying cry. The teams single guiding principle has been to create a truck people can trust in the digital age  one thats fully updatable, constantly improving, and supports towing, hauling, exportable power and endless new innovations owners will want.

The assembly plant will use carbon-free electricity from the day it opens. For the first time in 120 years, Ford also is using recovered energy from the sites utility infrastructure and geothermal system to provide carbon-free heat for the assembly plant  saving about 300 million cubic feet of natural gas typically needed each year to heat similarly sized vehicle assembly plants.

The campus new utility system will save 50 million gallons of water each year by reducing evaporation from the sites cooling towers. Plus, the zero-waste-to-landfill site is designed to use no fresh water for its assembly processes. Ford also intends to develop a holistic stormwater management system separate from the water table to help protect the local environment.

The 3,600-acre campus also has a fully integrated BlueOval SK battery manufacturing site. On-site, the team will build battery cells and arrays and assemble battery packs that will be delivered just across the site into the assembly plant, in less than 30 minutes.

In addition, BlueOval City is developing an on-site supplier park and will have an upfit center capable of adding in dozens of Ford trucks most popular features  including robotically installed spray-in bedliners and integrated tool boxes before the pickups are released to dealers and customers.

To help reduce traffic congestion and emissions, the campus also has an on-site Lowes store supplying building materials, two construction equipment rental companies and three concrete batch plants.

Building Tomorrows Workforce

To prepare individuals for new jobs at BlueOval City, Ford is introducing BlueOval Learning to empower future workers to build an EV future in America. This talent development program will strengthen skills, provide teacher support and increase work-based learning experiences. Key elements include:

Building STEM curricula: Ford will support K-12 schools and universities to expand existing STEM-related curricula and infrastructure

Ford will support K-12 schools and universities to expand existing STEM-related curricula and infrastructure Bringing advanced manufacturing to local schools: Ford will provide mechatronics training equipment and program development in Haywood, Tipton and Lauderdale counties

Ford will provide mechatronics training equipment and program development in Haywood, Tipton and Lauderdale counties Kick-starting careers in high school: Ford will help to expand certifications and dual-enrollment opportunities for students

Ford will help to expand certifications and dual-enrollment opportunities for students Experiential learning: Ford will partner with colleges and universities to develop work-based learning such as co-ops and internships

Ford will partner with colleges and universities to develop work-based learning such as co-ops and internships Premier training in advanced technologies: Ford will collaborate with higher education institutions to provide training on advanced manufacturing, EVs and battery manufacturing

Ford will collaborate with higher education institutions to provide training on advanced manufacturing, EVs and battery manufacturing BlueOval City TCAT: This state-of-the-art training center, a $40 million investment by the State of Tennessee and created with the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology, will be a hub for education resources and best-in-class training programs

For more about employment at BlueOval City, visit https://corporate.ford.com/operations/blue-oval-city/tennessee.html.

Expanding Community Support

Ford is working to ensure local touches are included in BlueOval Citys design  including crops and art.

Ford EV designers, marketers and land development leaders are collaborating with the University of Memphis Department of Art to create a student-led art installation to serve as a landmark for BlueOval City. The piece  which is the focus of a University sculpture art course  will be installed this summer.

Native Tennessee grasses will be planted on about 500 acres to support local wildlife and select local farmers also are invited to continue planting and harvesting crops on 380 acres of the site, saved for future expansion as EV adoption grows.

Plus, Ford Motor Company Fund is leading a capital grants program to strengthen local communities infrastructure in West Tennessee. Local non-profits and municipalities in the area have been selected as grant recipients, receiving a total of nearly $1.2 million to help build capacity and infrastructure to better serve the communitys needs for generations to come.

The Ford Fund capital grant winners by county:

Haywood County: Brownsville Haywood Fire Department, Douglass Community, The Town of Stanton, Haywood County Ambulance Authority

Brownsville Haywood Fire Department, Douglass Community, The Town of Stanton, Haywood County Ambulance Authority Madison County: Boys & Girls Club of Jackson, Exchange Club  Carl Perkins

Boys & Girls Club of Jackson, Exchange Club  Carl Perkins Lauderdale County: Gates Volunteer Fire Department, Lauderdale County Council of Arts, Tennessee State Parks Conservancy

Gates Volunteer Fire Department, Lauderdale County Council of Arts, Tennessee State Parks Conservancy Shelby County: Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South, Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute, Code Crew, Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital

Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South, Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute, Code Crew, Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital Tipton County: Tipton County Government, Mason Fire Auxiliary

Tipton County Government, Mason Fire Auxiliary Fayette County: Fayette Cares Inc., Fayette County Citizens for Progress

We are thrilled to announce the winners of our capital grants program in West Tennessee, said Mary Culler, Ford Motor Company Fund president. Investing in local nonprofit organizations and municipalities is one powerful way we can help ensure communities grow stronger from our presence in the region. Together we can create new opportunities to thrive  not just for today, but for generations to come.

Ford, Ford Motor Company Fund and partners have now invested more than $20 million in Tennessee communities to advance economic and educational opportunities, preserve legacy institutions and protect the environment in West Tennessee and across the state.
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...
Wyoming will receive another $25.9 million from the federal Abandoned Mine Land program to support ongoing cleanup efforts, the Interior Department announced Thursday.

The latest round of funding is Wyomings share of the fee paid by coal producers and redistributed among mining states and tribes. It comes just under two months after the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement gave the state $9.6 million toward mine land reclamation, authorized by the 2021 infrastructure law.

Federal officials plan to dole out $126.5 million to 24 states and two tribes in the current round of funding, the agency said. The largest share will go to Wyoming, followed by Pennsylvania, with $21.8 million, and West Virginia, with $15.6 million.

In total, the Abandoned Mine Land program has granted roughly $8 billion to states and tribes since it began in 1977.

This years grants will continue to ensure our state and Tribal partners have the resources needed to continue their decades of successful reclamation work on our nations abandoned mine land sites, Glenda Owens, the agencys deputy director, said in a statement.

Congress has modified the Abandoned Mine Land program several times over its nearly 50-year life. Most recently, in the Infrastructure Law, Congress lowered the fee on coal mines, which has historically been used to fund reclamation, and injected an additional $11.3 billion into the program to be given to states over 15 years.

Before the start of the Abandoned Mine Land program, many more mines were opened and then deserted in Eastern states, like Pennsylvania and West Virginia, compared with Wyoming. As a result, those states will be given the bulk of the extra infrastructure law funding.

But because mines in Wyoming, the countrys top coal supplier, pay more into the program than any other state, a significant share of the 22.4-cent-per-ton surface mining fee is returned to Wyoming.

(Underground mines are typically charged 9.6 cents per ton for non-lignite coal and 6.4 cents per ton for lignite. Prior to the infrastructure laws passage, surface mines paid 28 cents per ton.)

Wyoming received almost $33 million from the Abandoned Mine Land program between July 2021 and June 2022, according to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

The state agency  which has been delegated the authority to use some program funds for non-coal projects  said it spent the money remediating over 63 acres of sinking mine lands, reducing almost a quarter-mile of exposed overburden and closing a half-acre of open pit, among other measures.
Laman Ismayilova

March 27 is annually marked as World Theater Day globally. Initiated by the International Theater Institute in 1961, this significant day is to draw attention to the significance of the theater art.

The Azerbaijani theater art is ancient with a rich history. Well-known as the founder of the Azerbaijani dramaturgy, Mirza Fatali Axundov played a key role in the transformation of folk theater into a professional one.

The theater art in Azerbaijan was established in the 1870s at the initiative of prominent playwright Mirza Fatali Axundov.

On March 10, 1873, the Baku Real School performed the comedy "Adventures of the Lankaran Khanate Vizier" by Mirza Fatali Axundov, which became the first dramatic work played on the stage of the national theater.

Eminent cultural and public figures, like Hasan bay Zardabi, Najaf bay Vazirov, Jalil Mammadguluzada, Jafar Jabbarli, Ilyas Afandiyev, Huseyn Arablinski, and many others played an invaluable role in the formation and development of the Azerbaijani theater.

Today, Azerbaijani theater art is taking a new turn in the art world. The State Program "Azerbaijani Theater in 2009-2019", approved by the presidential decree in 2009, is being successfully implemented across the country.

Over the past years, the national theaters have successfully toured countries, like the USA, Turkiye, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Estonia, Bulgaria, etc.

March 10 is traditionally celebrated as National Theater Day in Azerbaijan.

Many theater festivals and cultural events are being held across the country to demonstrate the importance of theater art in the country's cultural life.




ELKO  Elko County Commissioners are promoting a newly modified bill called the Elko County Common Sense Lands Act by seeking support from other counties for congressional action on the bill that would ease any Nevada countys acquisition of pieces of federal land.

If we get all 17 counties to support the bill, it has a better chance to get through Congress, said Chairman Rex Steninger on March 15, at which time commissioners voted to send letters to the counties seeking support.

He said the lands bill is not wholesale transfers of federal land, and any transfers must meet conditions laid out in the bill.

Commissioners acted on the lands bill after hearing from former Commissioner Demar Dahl, who said it is a continuation of the Sagebrush Rebellion born in the 1970s and more recent efforts aimed at the federal government, which holds nearly 90% of land in Nevada.

The idea is that Elko County leads the charge, he said, telling commissioners there is a good chance to get an appropriation of this Legislature, if counties support it.

Dahl said the bill allows counties to obtain land from the federal government at no cost, with land transfers made directly to counties that nominate land they need.

This time the bill only applies to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, leaving out the U.S. Forest Service, Dahl said. While Commissioner Wilde Brough said he was a little miffed that the USFS was left out, he supported the new effort.

Commissioners first approved Elko Countys Common Sense Lands Bill on July 15, 2020, and sent letters then to the counties, but this updated version is a request to continue to support the effort of the Nevada Lands Council to address land issues in Nevada.

A draft of the 2023 letter to be sent to counties states that specifically, this bill transfers selected land directly to the counties without consideration, and says that transferring the land to the counties directly should remove any argument that the state doesnt want more land.

Also, this bill stipulates that no land transferred to the counties can be sold unless approved for sale by the various wildlife groups. It also limited transfers to only BLM land. And finally, this bill makes no provisions for wilderness or Wilderness Study Areas, leaving those decisions for future legislation, Steninger says in the draft letter.

He also reminds counties that the Nevada Lands Task Force, comprised of one county commissioner from each county, met monthly for a year to study various aspects of a wholesale lands transfer to the state and determined the transfer could benefit the state significantly.

Steninger wrote that the task force voted unanimously to recommend pursuing the transfer and state Sen. Pete Goicochea introduced SJR 1 in 2015 calling for the transfer. The bill passed the state Senate and Assembly, and Gov. Brian Sandoval signed it.

The bill was introduced in Congress by Rep. Mark Amodei as H.R. 1484. The idea of a transfer to local control has widespread, grassroots support, Steninger writes, adding that the House bill made significant progress before dying with the 2016 congressional session.

H.R. 1484 directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Interior to convey, in phases and without consideration, to the state of Nevada all interest of the United States in federal lands owned, managed, or controlled by the federal government through the USDA or Interior for the purpose of permitting the state to use them to support select beneficiaries, according to the summary.

The initial conveyance would have been for 7.2 million acres.

Exceptions were made for components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, National Parks, the national wildlife system and federally recognized Indian reservations and lands.

The Nevada Legislature later voted to rescind the SJR 1 lands bill that led to H.R. 1484.

Steninger says in the letter that while various individual county bills currently before Congress have done well, we fear they will die with the end of this session. We would like all of us to unite behind a single bill and see if we can push it through with our collective efforts.

The proposed bill says that Nevadas lack of control of its public land violates the Equal Sovereignty Principle and the paucity of state land and privately controlled land in Nevada severely constrains the size and diversity of Nevadas economy since the federal land cannot be taxed.

The bill also states that the Secretary of the Interior shall convey, without consideration, to the counties of origin all right, title and interest of the United States in and to identified federal lands for the purpose of permitting the counties to use the conveyed lands to support select beneficiaries.

Additionally, the bill says that in regard to the checkerboard lands along the railroad corridor, running generally east to west along Interstate 80 in northern Nevada, Congress demands that the public be provided access to public lands landlocked by private holdings.
Marcos Caldeira, a Brazilian who has lived in east China's coastal city of Xiamen for 10 years, said that he has good expectations for his business in China, a place he takes as his second hometown.

Caldeira's business focuses on stone trade between China and Brazil.

Thanks to a favorable business environment, his company has become one of the largest stone exporters to the Brazilian market.

In Xiamen, Caldeira has found not only business opportunities, but also a happy life.

Click here to watch the video.
(FYI: if you didn't know, those photos aren't actually of Porirua. The hashtag #fiction is under the TikTok, but not everyone noticed that and a whooole lotta people fell for it. Just to be clear - Porirua ain't built like that, this TikTok is having a laugh).
67% HongKong University Subjects Plunge in Global Rankings; Foreign Schools Put Off Cooperation Amid National Security Law

The picture shows Luk Yew Hall at the University of Hong Kong on Feb. 18, 2023. (Bill Cox /The Epoch Times)

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), an internationally renowned higher education information agency, published its 2023 World University Discipline Rankings annual report. The global rankings consist of 15,700 subjects at 1,594 universities and educational agencies worldwide.

Over 60 percent of the overall subjects of Hong Kong universities have fallen in the latest rankings. QS announces that Hong Kong has the worst decline, with 178 subjects among nine institutions and a deduction of 20 subjects compared to 2022.

QS points out that Hong Kong has the most significant drop among regions that offer five subjects or more worldwide.

Its report concludes the rankings of 15,700 subjects offered globally at 1,594 universities.

QS is a global student recruitment organization for the education sector, partnering with thousands of higher education institutions, universities, and businesses worldwide for their goals.

QS calls the rabbit hole Hong Kong dug for itself a struggle. The educational agency warns Hong Kong to prioritize its international corporation.

Wong Wai-Kwok, a Hong Kong scholar of politics and current affairs, believes the quick plummet in the ranking is due to the pandemic and Hong Kongs political situation under the National Security Law.

Wong also believes foreign educational institutions find Hong Kong less enticing when considering collaboration due to the political crisis.

Hong Kong Is No Longer the Top

Compared to 2022, 14 subject rankings of Hong Kong colleges and universities rose, while 120 plunged and 41 remained unchanged.

Of the 27 academic fields, only three ranked higher, while the rest tumbled.

The massive decline of 60 percent of Hong Kong colleges and universities results from poor research performance.

Over 60 percent of the academic subject ranking fell because of research performance.

Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong is the highest-ranking domain in all Hong Kong subjects. Despite that, its ranking dropped, and it sat in third place instead of number two in the world in 2022.

The trend of dipped rankings is also seen in social policy and administration for the University of Hong Kong, dropping two spots to the 10th since 2022.

QS explains the declines are mainly due to the poorer performance in the reputation and research citation indexes among employers.

On March 23, Wong Wai-kwok, an independent scholar of cultural research and political science in Hong Kong, shared his analysis with The Epoch Times. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the research activities and data collection of colleges and universities. Colleges and universities research for lab experiments.

Over 60 percent of the academic subject ranking fell because of poorer research performance.

The lift on pandemic restrictions in Hong Kong came slower than the other countries. It might have delayed research progress and the publishing schedule, resulting in lower scores.

Its International Research Network score is also lower than the global average. The rankings are judged based on five indicators, including academic reputation, which comes from 75,000 survey responses from graduate employers worldwide, research citations of papers, the number and influence of research published by scholars, and the international research network.

The ranking results of 2023 include 15,700 subjects offered by 1,594 universities around the world.

The score in the technician and international experiment network section among other academies is 42.9, below the global average of 49.9.

All Eggs In One Chinese Basket

Senior Vice President of Quacquarelli Symonds, Ben Sowter, said Hong Kongs latest ranking showed an intensifying global competition. Hence, Hong Kong educational organizations should prioritize high-impact research production.

Sowler continued that it would be vital for Hong Kong institutions to remain outward-looking in their research agenda and prioritize international collaboration.

Regarding colleges and universities in Hong Kong, Sowter said they gambled their entire focus on mainland China. Varsities such as the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Science and Technology branched out their businesses and campuses in China.

On the contrary, the citys colleges did not seem too bothered with establishing joint partnerships with foreign universities.

Hong Kong Working with the CCP Is A Turn Off

To a certain extent, collaborating with mainland Chinese universities is why Hong Kong scores terribly in establishing cooperative partnerships with foreign institutes. Wong said whether overseas universities would continue to consider Hong Kong enticing and as a potential partner would be a critical issue.

QS mentioned Hong Kong should prioritize and aim its focus at collaborating with colleges in the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe. Wong recalled.

The former politics professor suspected that overseas institutions were probably taken back because of the political situation in Hong Kong, or were concerned about high tech joint projects being taken advantage of by the Chinese government.

Or, the foreign institutions or their governments want no collaboration with the Chinese and Hong Kong institutions at all. They might question if the changes in the political environment would also influence the reality of working with international institutions.

Something Money Cannot Buy

In addition, Sowter cited that the 63.2 billion HKD allocated to local universities for 2022 to 2025 by the Hong Kong government might have prevented this years subject ranking decline to a certain extent.

Professor Wong believed the funding was only one of the many factors to strengthen Hong Kongs competitiveness.

The critical thing is: in the past, Hong Kong or its scholars studying abroad never had an issue establishing collective rapport with foreign institutions as an international city.

However, the professor said that since implementing the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020, foreign countries led by the United States might have started to target Hong Kong while containing the Chinese Communist Party.

Wong concluded his analysis, At this point, even if there is plenty of money, it may not be enough to address or resolve the issues  when it comes to partnering with foreign institutions, because of the unstable factors in the political situation in Hong Kong.

Cap: Based on the annual report of the 2023 World University Discipline Rankings, published by Quacquarelli Symonds, an international higher education information agency, over 60 percent of the overall subject ranking of Hong Kong institutions has plunged. QS describes the result as struggle.
A Red Wave Sweeps Australia

Labor leader and Premier elect Chris Minns during the NSW Labor reception in Sydney, Australia, on March 25, 2023. Labor won the election and will form a majority government after Premier Dominic Perrottet conceded defeat. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Commentary

The comprehensive electoral wipe-out of the centre-right in Australia appears to continue unabated with the defeat of the ruling Liberal-National government in the largest state, New South Wales (NSW) over the weekend.

Its 5.5 million voters (Australia has about 17.3 million voters in all) delivered their verdict in a forceful manner with an approximate six percent swing.

In Australia, red is the colour of the left-leaning Labor Party, the complete opposite of the United States.

Following on from the strong losses sustained by the centre-right Liberal-Nationals in Australias other electoral contests in recent times the question needs to be asked, Why?

The losses in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and federally have seen what appears to be an unstoppable juggernaut roll through NSW as well. Time will tell whether the people of Queensland and Tasmania deliver a similar verdict.

Election commentary is always fraught as the multiplicity of factors at play are enormous.

There are factors within the control of certain elements like endorsement timetables, getting candidates out in the field, fundraising, and the performance of the current crop of parliamentarians and their policy platform.

Scandals, ministerial resignations, and inopportune retirements by incumbents who want to go out undefeated also play a part.

Economic factors, infrastructure issues, cost of living and housing affordability weigh heavily on the electorates collective mind.

However, a trend in Australia seems to be the lemming-like approach of parliamentary parties of the centre-right and their leaders pursuing a left-lite agenda with trendy, woke overtones which are anathema to their base and rejected by the swinging voter as cynical and unconvincing.

Centre-Right Parties Masquerading as the Left

In Western Australia, we had a hapless opposition trying out green the left-leaning government with a promise to close down coal power even earlier than the government was suggesting.

Coming from a centre-right party it was rightly viewed as cynical and indicative of a mindset not based on principle or practicalities. The defeat was extensive. Deservedly so.

Premier of Western Australia Mark McGowan speaks during the Labor Party election campaign launch at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, on May 1, 2022. (Paul Kane/Getty Images)

South Australia saw its centre-right government defeated despite tripping over itself to present itself as left as left-wing can.

Victoria saw its centre-right opposition without principle or backbone suffer further humiliation at the hands of an extreme left-wing government ridden with scandal.

Its unwillingness to take the fight up to the states Labor governmentfocusing more on expelling members of its conservative winggifted an otherwise unimpressive government a completely undeserved extra term of government. The Andrews government saw a 6.2 percent swing against it in 2022 and won just 36.66 percent of the primary vote.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews delivers his victory speech at the Labour election party in his seat of Mulgrave in Melbourne, Australia on Nov. 26, 2022. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Similarly on the federal level, the centre-right government having won the unwinnable election in 2019 on a policy platform of no CO2 targets, no increased funding for the biased left-wing national broadcaster, and religious freedomset about setting itself a CO2 target, increasing funding to the national broadcaster, and failing to deliver religious freedom.

Meanwhile, the power brokers and political players scratch their heads and wonder why.

Unfortunately, the same recipe for defeat was studiously followed by the NSW government led by an exceptionally talented and gifted premier who was ham-strung by a majority in his party room requiring him to engage in political acrobatics and pursuing policies which he had previously eschewed.

Surprising to some, the result was the same.

Upholding Conservative Values the Key to Victory

The lesson from this quintella of defeats is for the centre-right forces in Australia to re-group and pursue the principles on which their party was founded.

Principles of smaller government, greater personal freedoms in the areas of free speech, and freedom of religion.

Support for the entrepreneurial spirit of small business combined with promoting reward for effort.

Encouraging self-help in areas of health insurance and education freeing up the taxpayer dollar for those in genuine need.

Upholding our national pride by flying the Australian flag as the all-encompassing symbol uniting all Australians rather than those which seek to divide and promote identity politics.

An unambiguous policy stand on these issues as well as embracing the family as the best social services system, mental health provider, and safe haven when functioning properly.

It seems this recipe has worked for political leaders in other parts of the world with Italys Giorgia Meloni and Americas Ron DeSantis springing to mind.

They unashamedly took on the woke and left with sound conservative stances on a range of issues and gained the support from the people.

Commitment and sincerity are vital qualities for political success. Australians in particular have a good instinct in detecting insincerity. Recently theyve been calling it out.

In politics, there can be honourable losses and dishonourable wins. The worst outcome is a dishonourable loss where leaders have sold their political souls and heritage in a desperate and misguided bid to win and lose anyway.

The time for reflection after five decisive losses following the same recipe must surely be over for the centre-right of politics in Australia. A quick look to Europe or Florida might just provide the answer.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Anti-Social Behaviour Crackdown Targets Include Bad Tenants and Harmful Beggars

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on March 22, 2023. (Victoria Jones/PA Media)

Rules will be changed to make it easier to evict disruptive tenants and ban organised or harmful begging, the UK government announced on Monday as part of its crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

Police in England and Wales will be given power to do more drug tests. Laughing gas will also be banned to put an end to intimidating groups of young people littering local parks with empty cannisters.

Those who fly-tip or graffiti will face higher fines and be forced to repair damages they cause within as little as 48 hours of being caught in an immediate justice approach.

Launching the new Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote that its simply unacceptable to live in fear of intimidation from their neighbours or gangs terrorising their streets.

Sunak said anti-social behaviour ruins communities and vowed to stamp it out.

Under the new plan (pdf), organised begging, which is often facilitated by criminal gangs to obtain cash for illicit activity, will be banned, along with begging incidents that cause nuisance, distress, or blight; such as begging by a cashpoint, in a shop doorway, on public transport, or approaching people on the street or in their cars.

Police and local authorities will also gain powers to address rough sleeping and other street activity where it is causing a public nuisance, such as by obstruction of doorways and pavements, clear tents and other things that can blight an area, and move the individuals involved on and into support schemes they are eligible for where possible.

The new powers will replace the powers in the Vagrancy Act, which criminalised rough sleeping and is set to be repealed following the passing of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act last year.

The government also said it has committed almost 1 billion in funding to help end rough sleeping, including in housing and rehabilitation programmes.

A homeless man sleeps in the doorway of a theatre near Leicester Square in London on Dec. 16, 2017. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Two pilot programmes, Hotspot Policing and Immediate Justice, will be launched in a total of 16 areas in England and Wales and scaled up in 2024.

In ten areas where anti-social behaviour is most prevalent, including West Midlands, South Yorkshire, Essex, Lancashire, South Wales, and Staffordshire, there will be increased police presence and other uniformed authority figures, such as wardens, in problem areas, including on public transport.

An immediate justice approach will also be piloted in those areas, where offenders will be forced to pick up litter, wash police cars, or clean up graffiti within as little as 48 hours of being caught.

Nottinghamshire, Merseyside, Sussex, Dorset, Northamptonshire, and West Yorkshire will be trialling the immediate justice approach.

Northumbria, Cleveland, Derbyshire, and Durham will pilot both programmes.

Meanwhile, the maximum on-the-spot fines will be increased to 1,000 for fly-tipping and 500 for litter and graffiti.

Graffiti and shutters cover abandoned homes on an estate at Gildas Avenue in Kings Norton in Birmingham, England, on May 8, 2019. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

A new digital tool will also be launched for the public to report anti-social behaviour and hold the police and other agencies to account.

Possessing nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, will be banned, the plan said.

Police will also be given powers to test suspected criminals in police custody for a wider range of drugs, including ecstasy and methamphetamine, and to test offenders linked to crimes like violence against women and girls, serious violence, and anti-social behaviour.

The government is also seeking to halve the notice period for a private landlord to evict tenants who are persistently disruptive.

Earlier this month, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said although additional measures are needed to tackle the non-legitimate supply of laughing gas and educate people about the risks of misusing it, its not proportionate to ban the gas.

Asked about the laughing gas ban on Monday, Sunaks official spokesman said the prime minister believes its right to ban the use of nitrous oxide because it can ruin a neighbourhood, can make people feel unsafe.

Nitrous oxide, on an individual level, is now the third most used drug amongst young people. It has psychoactive effects, the ACMD themselves reported links between it and drug driving, littering, and neurological harms, he said.

The spokesman also denied charities accusation that the crackdown on begging amounts to bringing back the Vagrancy Act, saying its absolutely not the case.

I mean, no one should be criminalised for simply having nowhere to live. Thats why weve repealed the Vagrancy Act, which was passed in 1824, he said. adding that government is investing billions to prevent people from ending up on the streets in the first place.

What we are doing is giving forces and local councils the tools theyve made clear they need to ensure vulnerable individuals on the streets can get the support they deserve, whether thats accommodation, mental health support, or substance misuse services, and at the same time deal with individuals whose behaviour is intimidating or maybe linked to criminal gangs, he said.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed the governments anti-social behaviour crackdown was too weak, too little, and too late, and accused the Conservative government of decimating neighbourhood policing.

This is a Conservative government that has weakened anti-social behaviour powers, 10 years ago brought in new powers that were so useless they were barely even used, including the community trigger and getting rid of powers of arrest, even though they were warned not to, she said.

Some of the measures in here we support, largely because we have long called for them. On hotspot policing we called for, on faster community payback we called for. We support stronger powers of arrest and a ban on nitrous oxide, she added.
Betty Eadie went into the hospital for surgery, frightened that she was going to die on the operating table and go straight to hell. Shed grew up hearing that God didnt want people like her, and started to believe it.

She started bleeding during the operation, but the surgeons were able to stop it, and everything seemed fine.

But in her bed in the recovery room, Eadie started to feel a sense of foreboding. After calling her husband, she was comforted and decided to try to sleep.

Then she woke up at around 9:30 p.m. and felt her body shutting down.

I felt myself dying, she said. Its very distinct, its very different. Its your body shutting down.

It began to shut down from my feet up, and I could feel my legs dying, and by the time death reached up to my shoulders, I could feel this feeling inside, a movement, a shuddering of my heart. And then that was it, I was gone, she said.

And then there was a pop. I came out of my body.

Looking for God

Eadie grew up in the 40s, where Native American children were placed in boarding schools for education and cultural integration, and as a result had a Catholic boarding school education.

I was only 4, she said. And all I knew, coming from that, was I was taken from my parents.

Eadie described herself as extremely timid, and unable to stand up for herself. But she had a younger sister she was protective of, and if someone picked on her, Eadie would be the first one there.

And these were fistfights, she said. I had four older brothers and they taught me how to fight like a man.

When I was 15, I married the boy next door just to get away from my environment, she said. They had four children, but one daughter passed when she was only 3 months old. Afterward, the marriage fell apart and they divorced, and Eadie later remarried.

In all this time, Eadie did not have any particular religious beliefs, and even had a hard time believing in God.

I just didnt trust that there could be a God that would condemn the Indian people, or any people, to hell because of their race, she said. Yet that was what I was taught in boarding schools. I was part Native American and part Irish, and they said I was the worst of the lot. At 4.

I wanted to believe in God. I tried to find himin myself, out there, wherever God is, she said.

After Eadie remarried, she had three more children, and the doctors said she would have health issues down the line. At age 31, she had to get a hysterectomy, and the operation resulted in what Eadie would later learn was a near-death experience.

Out of Body

After Eadie popped out of her body, she felt herself rise up to the recovery room ceiling, and when she looked down, she could see her own body.

Now, I had worked in hospitals before, when I was studying to become a nurse. I know what a dead person looks like, Eadie said.

She went closer to get a better look, and thoughts ran through her mind about the fact that she was dead and her children and husband didnt know, and I just became very frightened at that moment.

But as each moment passed, and they passed very quickly, its like waking up from amnesia.

It was like Betty Eadies life had been a dream, and she had suddenly woken from a long sleep to a bright and beautiful morning, feeling more alive and awake than ever.

Awareness in the body, in the brain and the mind, is nothing like the vividness, the total awareness that just exists outside of the body. It is just amazing, she said. And as each moment passed I became more aware of my spiritual self, my spirit body, and my spirit knowledge.

Three ancient men in brown robes with golden belts appeared by Eadies bedside.

And they told me that they had always known me, through the eternities, Eadie said. I remember thinking, I know what an eternity is, but what is eternities? And they said they had known me through eternities, and they had loved me and I had loved them, and that they were my ministering angels.

And they said, you have died, but you have died prematurely,' she said.

Eadie now knew she had passed, but she wanted to see her children and husband one more time, so thats what she decided to do. She saw a window and decided to fly through it, though the moment she decided to leave the hospital room she had already arrived where her family was.

She remembered her husband promising to put the children to bed, so when she saw they were still running all over the place at a quarter to 10 while he sat in his chair reading the newspaper, she couldnt help getting angry. But she knew they were fine. Her husband would later be shocked at her accurate description of the scene.

Once Eadie had the certainty that her family was alright, she felt drawn back to my body.

Soon after I got back, there was a sound, at first it was the most beautiful sound: tinkling bells, chimes, she said. It was like an energy that was preparing me to go with it.

And then Eadie felt herself traveling through a black space, so devoid of color and light that one could put their hand in front of their face and see nothing. When she was a child, she was punished by being shut in a dark, small space, so Eadie had been somewhat claustrophobic. But she felt no fear here.

In this space, if I had gone no further, I would have wanted to stay there for the rest of my life. There was no condemnation, Eadie said. I was awakening to something that was more fantastic and marvelous than our minds can even imagine. And I felt it. And the love, it was like bathed in liquid love in this dark space, going through a healing of some sort, and I surely did need a lot of that.

Eadie basked in the sense of love and healing until she saw a pinpoint of light appear.

I felt that the light was looking for me, and I was looking up at it, and it just wandered until it spotted me, she said. And then it broadened, to fill me in that light, and drew me up into the light.

She continued to travel, now through light, which became more brilliant as she neared what seemed to be her destination.

Eadie saw ahead of her a shadowy forum, with golden light beneath it, and a vast whiteness beyond it.

A white we cant even imagine here on this earth, she said.

And in that white light, which she felt was many times brighter than the sun, she saw the image of a man.

And as I got closer, I knew exactly who he was, she said. Not that I knew him in my youth so much. I wanted to know God, I wanted to know the Creator, I wanted that, but it just didnt exist in my mind.

I felt like I would be the furthest from Gods mind to give this experience to! she said. I knew that he was Jesus. I knew he was Jesus because, out of my physical form who didnt know him  in the spirit world, my mind is expanding to remember everything I had always known.

Why Did I Have to Go There?

Eadie wanted to know why she would be asked to live a life where she was Indian-Irish, taken away from her parents to a horrible boarding school, and had a poor miserable life.

I thought, Why did I have to go there? and he said, because you selected that. You as a spirit being in heaven had grown to such wisdom that you wanted that challenge, that you were strong enough to endure that,' she said. And he said that everything you learn there, everything you draw to yourself is a learning curve that will grow your spirit, so that when you return here, you will be greater than you were before you went there.

Even angels did not select to come to earth, Eadie learned. Each one of us took on the challenges that we knew we needed to have in order to grow and to acquire the greater attributes like God. Were here to acquire his attributes, like love is number one, forgiveness, all these things.

In order to get to that point of learning what its like to love, or what its like to forgive, you go through all these challenges, she said. Its how we learn to deal with that that we grow our spirit more like He is.

Eadie was then taken to what she understood to be different parts of heaven so that she could better understand why.

I saw spirits preparing to be born on the earth, and it was interesting how they were selecting their parents. Maybe just the mother or maybe just the father sometimes. Sometimes they were already a pair, she said. They selected them! Because, as it was explained to me, they would have not only the physical DNA, meaning the appearance of their parents, but they would have the ancestral memories, because cells have memories, every experience that we have on earth is encoded in our cells.

She saw reincarnation, but not as we think it to be.

There have been some people that have been sent back here as teachers, maybe some as students, but not everyone is reincarnated, she said. Sometimes what one thinks is reincarnation is one waking up to ancestral memories that have been passed down, she said.

Its amazing, when you look at Gods perfect blueprint and his plan, she said. She saw technologies that did not yet exist in the world, that were prepared in that other realm and would later be given to humankind as inspiration. My mind was bubbling over.

The closer we can become to God, and accepting our challenges and also our blessings, we can be inspired if were ready, she said. I was joyous. I was taken to the many worlds God created. I wish I could have held onto the memories of each one.

It is just unbelievable the volume of information that you can have when youre up there, and it could be given to you in just seconds, she said. And its not just information.

There was much Eadie knew she was not allowed to remember and speak of, but also one thing she knew she was called on to share.

Above All Else

Eadie was told that she would return.

People coming back from near-death experiences are challenged to share precisely what we heard or saw there, she said. Most people who have a near-death experience say how hard it is to describe the indescribable, she added, but with each one adding their own perspective, others come to understand. Eadie has since written as much of what she can find the words to describe in her book Embraced by the Light.

We all have a mission to serve, she said. Every soul is deserving.

We cannot judge the height and breadth of any individual as far as being the greater spirit among us. And Jesus proved that by being one of the lowliest men on earth, and yet he is the highest in heaven, she said.

And that is what Jesus said to me when he returned me back to earth. He said, above all else, love one another, she said. And if you can do that, all else will be fine.

Next year, itll be 50 years since Eadie had her near-death experience. And it is still as vivd to me today as it was back then, she said.

I know upon my return, that I was given an extra dose of human-ness, she said. While before she was very shy and timid, even if she was angry inside, afterward, she was drawn to connecting with others.

I noticed was a change in my thoughts and my demeanor, my attitudes about different things, said Eadie. I became stronger and firmer in my belief. I was more solid in my thoughts, my feeling, my speech, everything.

Eadie learned there would come a time when the world would be in danger of destruction, but also that there were worlds such as the heaven she had seen with beings who were there to protect the world.

I saw the world and I saw how prayers are important, essential as a matter of fact, she said. She feels the time of turmoil has come, as she can see the suffering in children who are committing suicide before age 10, and she hopes the messages from those who have touched heaven can still find their way to mens ears.

I know hardships, she said. I know when a child dies, I know when your parents die.

I understand, she said. Jesus told me that my hard times, everything I had to go through, see we earn our intelligence, our structure, we earn it by getting through our challenges, no matter what it is.

With reporting by NTD News.
Tourism products of Zhangjiajie were introduced at the promotion meeting. (Photo: sggp.org.vn)

The event was attended by 50 tourism businesses of Vietnam and China.

According to tourism businesses, Zhangjiajie is a world-famous destination, with about 3000 exotic peaks and 800 poetic rivers. Some famous movies such as Avatar and Journey to the West were set here, making Zhangjiajie even more famous.

In addition, Phoenix Ancient Town (also in Hunan province), is a familiar destination for tourists. Before the COVID-19 epidemic, Zhangjiajie city - Phoenix Ancient Town tour was quite attractive for tourists to visit and have fun.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Wang Tao, Vice Chairman of the Zhangjiajie City Peoples Committee, said that tourism is a bridge for strengthening cultural exchange and friendship between the two countries. Tourism cooperation is one of the important fields of cooperation between China and Vietnam, contributing to promoting bilateral relations.

Mr. Wang Tao expects that, after this promotion, there will be more two-way delegations to travel, reactivating the smokeless industry of Zhangjiajie in particular and China in general.

Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, emphasized that tourism contributes from 10 to 12% of the citys GRDP. China has always been considered a key tourist market for Ho Chi Minh City in particular and Vietnam in general.

Statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism show that China is always among the top 3 international tourist markets to Ho Chi Minh City, with more than 1.2 million visitors in 2019.

In 2022, the Government of Vietnam set out policies to restore the economy, including the tourism industry. For Chinese tourists, since the beginning of 2023, Ho Chi Minh City has welcomed about 49,000 Chinese tourists./.
Biden Administration Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Pressuring Big Tech to Censor Users

President Joe Biden speaks during an event at the White House in Washington on March 27, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

President Joe Bidens administration has been hit with a class-action lawsuit over how the president and other top officials pressured Big Tech to censor users.

Lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his group Childrens Health Defense, and Louisiana resident Connie Sampognaro brought the suit in U.S. court in Louisiana against Biden and top officials like Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House assistant Rob Flaherty.

The pressure the officials and their agencies brought to bear against Twitter and other Big Tech companies to crack down on alleged mis- and disinformation, including targeting Kennedy personally, violates the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment, according to the new suit.

It is well established that the government violates the Constitution if it uses coercive threats to induce private parties to censor protected speech or if it engages in collusive joint action with private parties to violate the First Amendment, the suit states.

The legal action rests in part on evidence that has been uncovered by litigation in the same court brought by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri.

That lawsuit has produced documents from the government and Big Tech companies showing repeated efforts by U.S. officials to get the companies to take action against users.

The efforts paid off, with companies regularly telling officials they were working on restricting information. That included any content that purportedly discouraged vaccines even when the content was true, one Facebook employee told the White House. In some cases, though, the government itself provided misinformation that was cited to take action against users, the documents show.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Humanity Against Censorship rally in front of Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. on May 19, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

The censorship efforts are responsible even now for the online suppression of facts and opinions about the COVID vaccines that might lead people to become hesitant about COVID vaccine mandates  depriving Americans of information and opinion on matters of the highest public importance, the new suit states.

Kennedy was named as a top spreader of mis- and disinformation by an outside group, whose analysis was promoted by then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki from the White House. Kennedy was later banned from multiple platforms, including Instagram. Kennedy provides news analyses to followers and relies on facts and opinions for the analyses, the suit states. The bans and censorship prevented Kennedy from knowing the number and seriousness of first-hand accounts of vaccine injuries and reporting that information to his followers, it says.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said, Censorship reflects a societys lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. It also violates the constitution, Kennedy said in a statement. The collaboration between the White House and health and intelligence agency bureaucrats to silence criticism of presidential policies is an assault on the most fundamental foundation stone of American Democracy.

If Government can censor its critics, there is no atrocity it cannot commit. The public has been deprived of truthful, life-and-death information over the last three years; this lawsuit aims to have government censorship end, as it must, because it is unlawful under our constitution, added Mary Holland, president and general counsel for Childrens Health Defense, which says its aim is to end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable and establish safeguards to prevent future harm.

The suit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee who is also overseeing the other case. Doughty recently rejected the government attempt to dismiss that action.

The Census Bureau, State Department, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and the FBI declined to comment. Other defendants, including the White House and the Department of Justice, did not respond to requests for comments.

The administration has argued before that its pressure on Big Tech companies does not plausibly amount to coercion, even in cases where heightened rhetoric, like when Biden said that failing to take action was killing people, was used.
Biden Executive Order Prohibits Government Use of Commercial Spyware

Devices from at least 50 U.S. government employees in 10 countries on multiple continents are confirmed or suspected to have been targeted by commercial spyware, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on March 27.

That number could even be higher, the senior official added.

In response to the growing threat the technology presents, President Joe Biden on March 27 signed an executive order that prohibits U.S. federal agencies from using commercially developed spyware that poses risks to national security and threats of foreign actors to allow human rights abuses around the world, according to a White House statement.

The mandate will apply to all federal agencies and departments, including defense, intelligence, and law enforcement.

An Israeli woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing the Israeli NSO group, in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Aug. 28, 2016. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

We are very concerned about the threat of digital authoritarianism and practices around the world, but we are also very cognizant that the misuse of technology can occur in any state, the senior official said in a call with reporters. So, we are taking steps to make sure that the way that we would like technology to be used is aligned with human rights and democratic principles all around the world.

The White House said that Bidens order will serve as a cornerstone U.S. initiative when the second Summit for Democracy is held on March 2930. Biden will co-host the event with the leaders of Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Morea, and Zambia.

Additional similar initiatives will be announced at the summit, the official said.

Concern Over Government Abuses

Bidens order demonstrates the United States leadership in, and commitment to, advancing technology for democracy, including by countering the misuse of commercial spyware and other surveillance technology, the White House statement noted.

The mandate will also serve as a foundation to deepen international cooperation to promote responsible use of surveillance technology, counter the proliferation and misuse of such technology, and spur industry reform.

For years, human rights advocates and security researchers have voiced caution about risks created by commercial spyware developed in the private sector and mostly sold to governments and nation-states.

The surveillance technology exploits undisclosed defects in iPhone and Android software and steals a persons call logs, contacts, messages, photos, and real-time location data.

Governments have claimed they use spyware to investigate crimes, but critics claim the technology has been implemented to target people who are critical of their officials and policies.

The order does not list any commercial spyware company by name. Israel-based NSO Group has received criticism for its Pegasus spyware. The technology can hack phones, steal information, record calls, and turn on cameras among other functions. In most cases, the user is not aware.

The iPhones of several U.S. Embassy employees in Uganda were hacked by Pegasus spyware in 2021.

FBI Use of Pegasus Scrutinized

In December 2021, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers that the agency had bought a Pegasus license for research and development, to be able to figure out how bad guys could use it, for example.

FBI documents disclosed after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the bureau by The New York Times indicate that in 2020 and 2021, agency officials pushed to use the Pegasus hacking tools in criminal investigations.

In 2021, the NSO Group was one of four firms added to the U.S. Department of Commerces entity list for engaging in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.

The Commerce Department reported in a statement that the NSO Group and Candiru, which is also an Israeli company, were added to the entity list based on evidence that these entities developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.

These tools have also enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression, which is the practice of authoritarian governments targeting dissidents, journalists, and activists outside of their sovereign borders to silence dissent, the statement continued.

Two more firmsPositive Technologies from Russia and Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE LTD from Singaporewere also placed on the entity list at that time, which essentially blacklists the companies.

On March 27, the White House added that a growing number of foreign governments around the world have deployed this technology to facilitate repression and enable human rights abuses, including to intimidate political opponents and curb dissent, limit freedom of expression, and monitor and target activists and journalists.

Misuse of these powerful surveillance tools has not been limited to authoritarian regimes, the statement continued. Democratic governments also have confronted revelations that actors within their systems have used commercial spyware to target their citizens without proper legal authorization, safeguards, and oversight.
President Joe Biden hosts the Small Business Associations (SBA) Womens Business Summit at the White House at 2:30 p.m. ET on March 27.
Bidens FAA Nominee Withdraws After Debate Over His Qualifications

Phillip A. Washington speaks at a nomination hearing with the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 1, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Phillip Washington, who was President Joe Bidens choice to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), withdrew his name from consideration over the weekend amid questions from lawmakers about his level of aviation experience.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg referenced Washingtons decision to withdraw from consideration in a March 25 Twitter post:

The FAA needs a confirmed Administrator, and Phil Washingtons transportation & military experience made him an excellent nominee. The partisan attacks and procedural obstruction he has faced are undeserved, but I respect his decision to withdraw and am grateful for his service.

The FAA has been without a Senate-confirmed commissioner since Steven Dickson left office at the end of March 2022; Billy Nolen has been serving as acting FAA administrator.

Washingtons withdrawal may hamper the administrations efforts to address the airline system following several narrowly avoided collisions in recent weeks. In addition, the FAAs Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system also experienced an outage in January that led to thousands of commercial flights being grounded across the United States.

GOP Lawmakers Urged Biden to Withdraw Nomination

While Washington is the current CEO of Denver International Airport, he isnt a trained pilot. During the Senate confirmation process, Republican lawmakers made note of Washingtons lack of direct flight experience.

During one hearing on March 1, Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) quizzed Washington on a number of existing aviation regulations. Budd said that he asked Washington seven questions on aviation policy, but that the Biden nominee was unable to answer any of them.

What are the operational limitations of a pilot flying under BasicMed, Budd asked at one point.

Well some of the restrictions I think would be high blood pressure, Washington said in response.

Its more like how many passengers per airplane, how many pounds in different categories and what altitude you can fly under, soand then the amount of knots, its under 250 knots, so it does not have anything to do with blood pressure, said Budd, who has a pilots license.

As Budd continued his line of questioning about various flight regulations, Washington said, Senator, Im not a pilot, but I would lean on our career employees and our safety folks within the FAA.

Budd organized a letter (pdf) on March 16 calling on Biden to withdraw Washingtons name from consideration for the FAA leadership role. Thirteen other Republican lawmakers who have pilots licenses and other formal aviation experience also signed the letter.

As pilots who have collectively logged tens of thousands of flight hours, including for some of us in the military, we write to urge you to withdraw the nomination of Phillip Washington to serve as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, the lawmakers wrote. While Mr. Washington honorably served our nation in the Army, he did not serve in an aviation unit. He is not a pilot, has zero aviation safety experience, and is entirely unqualified to lead the federal agency responsible for keeping the flying public safe.

The FAA cannot afford to be led by someone who needs on-the-job training, the lawmakers added.

Duckworth, Past FAA Administrators Defend Nominee

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who flew Black Hawk helicopters for the U.S. Army and who lost both of her legs after her helicopter was shot down in Iraq in 2004, published a statement of support for Washington the day after Budds letter to Biden.

As Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation, and as a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who flew combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Im proud to support the nomination of Phil Washington to be the next Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Duckworth wrote.

Duckworth noted that she had secured a commitment from Washington to maintain the 1,500-hour flight-time rule for individuals before they can serve as commercial airline pilots.

Mr. Washington has promised to defend critical aviation safety standardsand withstand pressure from industry special interests to cut corners and water down pilot requirements, such as cutting the 1,500-hour rule, Duckworths statement reads. Simply put, Mr. Washington possesses the experience and leadership expertise to strengthen the FAA to meet the complex challenges facing our civil aviation system. Former FAA Administrators Michael Huerta and Jane Garveyand former Acting Administrator Linda Daschlealso defended Washingtons nomination. While aviation experience is important, this is not limited to flying airplanes, Huerta, Garvey, and Daschle wrote in a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. None of us were pilotsin fact only two of the last five confirmed Administrators have been pilots. Yet, each of us had transportation, technology, and aviation-related backgrounds that prepared us for our jobs. The former administrators said Washingtons experience running an airport would provide a useful basis for the position of FAA administrator. Running an airport involves overseeing large-scale infrastructure projects and managing business operations. But, to be clear, the safety mission is at the top of the daily agenda for every airport, the former administrators wrote. Washingtons office at Denver International Airport didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times sister media outlet NTD for comment. Key Vote Was Delayed Washington withdrew from consideration for the FAA role just days after the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation delayed a vote to move his nomination out of the committee and toward a full Senate floor vote. While Republican lawmakers openly opposed Washingtons nomination, Democrats could have advanced Washingtons nomination out of the committee with the full support of all 13 Democrat members and the committees sole independent member, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. An Axios report that cited people familiar with the matter claimed that Sinema had prompted the decision to delay the committee vote last week. The independent senator has primarily caucused with the Democratic majority in the Senate, but repeatedly broke ranks with Democrats before changing her political affiliation to independent in December 2022. Duckworth told Politico that the committee vote was postponed due to one person, but didnt identify the individual. Sinemas office didnt respond by press time to a request by NTD for comment.

From NTD News
Bolsonaro to Return to Brazil on March 30, His Party Says

Jair Bolsonaro, former President of Brazil, arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on March 4, 2023. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will return to Brazil on March 30, his party confirmed via social media on Friday, following more than three months of visit to the United States after losing his reelection bid.

Bolsonaros return to Brazil is eagerly awaited by his conservative Liberal Party (PL), which became the largest in the Brazilian Congress after the election last October.

Our national president, Valdemar Costa Neto, confirms to everyone that Jair Bolsonaro will return to Brazil on March 30. Bolsonaro will disembark in Brasilia at 7:30 a.m., the Liberal Party said on social media.

Bolsonaro traveled to the United States on Dec. 30, just two days before the inauguration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, skipping the traditional ritual of passing the presidential sash to his successor.

Costa Neto has said he expects Bolsonaro to become the leader of the right-wing opposition to leftist President Lula and lead his party into municipal elections next year, where the PL hopes to triple the number of its mayors across Brazil.

Bolsonaro was losing his political capital by staying in Florida and should come back to lead the 58 million Brazilians who voted for him in an election narrowly won by Lula, Costa Neto had suggested.

An effective opposition could lay the ground for a right-wing comeback in the 2026 presidential election, PL officials have told Reuters.
Bragg Says Unprecedented House GOP Probe Serves Only to Hinder Prosecutors

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks at a press conference after the sentencing hearing of the Trump Organization at the New York Supreme Court in New York on Jan. 13, 2023. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg denied congressional Republicans claims of political bias over the weekend, accusing the lawmakers of undermining his offices investigation of former President Donald Trump.

We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence, Bragg said in a March 25 statement posted to his Twitter account. It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations.

This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt, and undermine legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors, he added. As always, we will continue to follow the facts and be guided by the rule of law in everything we do.

The investigation in question surrounds a $130,000 hush money payment Trumps former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, weeks before the presidential election. Daniels, whose legal name is Steffanie Clifford, has alleged she was paid to keep quiet about a supposed affair she had with Trump. Cohen then billed Trump to reimburse him.

Bragg is said to be pursuing a felony charge of falsifying business records, which requires their falsification to be done in connection with another crimein this case, the violation of federal campaign finance laws. Legal scholars have questioned whether that argument holds water, and newly surfaced evidence suggests that Trump may not have reimbursed Cohen at all.

Meanwhile, Republicans have charged that the investigation is merely an attempt to keep Trump, their partys leading 2024 presidential candidate, from returning to the White House.

Congressional Inquiry

Braggs Saturday comments came in response to the second letter he received from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), and House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), whose previous requests for documents and testimony relating to the probe were dismissed by Braggs office as lacking a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry.

In their Saturday letter, the congressmen disputed that claim, holding that Braggs investigation involved substantial federal interests.

The information sought by the Committees will allow us to assess the extent to which your reported effort to indict a former President and current declared candidate for that office is politically motivated and whether Congress should therefore draft legislative reforms to, among other things, protect former and current Presidents from politically motivated prosecutions, they wrote.

Further noting that Braggs offices offer to submit a letter detailing its use of federal funds did not sufficiently satisfy the breadth of their requests, the congressmen continued, Accordingly, we reiterate the requests in our March 20 letter and ask that you comply in full as soon as possible but no later than March 31, 2023.

Prosecution or Persecution?

The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence in the case is expected to reconvene on Monday, March 27.

Trump, for his part, maintains that he was never romantically involved with Stormy Daniels, despite her claims to the contrary, and that he has not broken any laws.

The investigation, he holds, is just another chapter in Democrats ongoing witch hunt against him.

Commenting on the matter Monday on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: Can you imagine? I am leading the opposition within the Republican Party by 30 plus, and Biden by 6 plus, and everyone is waiting to hear from a local George Soros backed D.A., who has watched Violent Crime in Manhattan soar to Record Highs, as to whether or not he is going to criminally indict me for NO CRIME.
Canada and US Signed Deal to Close Roxham Road a Year Before Announcement: Document

U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive for a joint press conference at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in Ottawa on March 24, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite Canada and the United States announcing changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement on March 24 during U.S. President Joe Bidens trip to Ottawa, the details of those changes were initialed nearly a year ago, according to U.S. government documents.

As of March 25, asylum-seekers at unofficial border-crossing points between the two countries will be turned back. This comes after years of illegal immigrants making unsanctioned crossings at places such as Roxham Road, a border entry between New York state and Quebec, in order to make asylum claims in Canada.

During Bidens visit to Ottawa on March 23 and 24, changes were announced to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), a bilateral treaty that came into effect in 2004. The treaty requires that asylum-seekers make their asylum claim in the first country they arrive in.

The agreement previously only made it illegal to make a claim at official border crossings, which left a loophole for migrants at any place that was not an official crossing between the United States and Canada. But under the announced changes, it is no longer possiblewith certain exceptionsto use any point along the 9,000-kilometre border to make a refugee claim.

The changes to the STCA, known as the Additional Protocol of 2022, means that as of March 25, migrants trying to get into Canada through Roxham Road will be arrested and sent to an official border crossing. In announcing the update, Canada said it will allow 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere to apply for entry into the country on a humanitarian basis.

According to a document from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Additional Protocol of 2022 was agreed to by the two countries nearly one year ago. The document said that Immigration Minister Sean Fraser signed the agreement in Ottawa on March 29, 2022, while Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas signed it in Washington on April 15, 2022.

Immigration Department spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald said that while the Additional Protocol was signed back in 2022, changing the terms of a bilateral agreement is complex, and neither Canada nor the U.S. could amend it unilaterally.

Along with the time and due diligence required for the negotiations to reach an agreement-in-principle, both Canada and the U.S. needed to make operational and regulatory changes, as well as undertake the necessary processes of amending international agreements  all in a coordinated manner, he said.

When asked about the issue at a joint press conference with Biden on March 24, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that both governments had known for a while they couldnt just close Roxham Road and hope that this would resolve the issue, because migrants would merely find other places to cross the border.

Trudeau said both Canada and the United States knew that applying the STCA to the entire border was the solution, but added that it takes complex processes to manage our borders, and thats taken a few months to get all that in place so we could move forward with this announcement.

We have protected the integrity of our system and we continue to protect and live up to our obligations in terms of asylum-seekers, but also were are continuing to be open to regular migration, he said.
China, Russia Aligning in Joint Struggle Against the US: Expert

US response must be 'much more aggressive and much more targeted'

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping enter a hall during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (Alexey Maishev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Communist China is aligning itself with Russia as part of an ideological struggle to overcome the United States and dismantle the rules-based international order, according to experts.

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinpings recent visit to Moscow has underscored the regimes attempts to deepen ties with Vladimir Putins Russia and to undermine international order, several experts said during a March 27 discussion at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.

What we should get out of this latest visit is a true understanding of the fact that China intends to deepen its relationship with Russia and has done so in many ways over the last year, said David Shullman, Senior Director of the Atlantic Councils Global China Hub.

The expectation that Xi Jinping was going to come to Moscow and that his goal was going to be to somehow actually create peace and solve the [Ukraine] conflict was a bit of a misnomer.

Shullman said that the CCP under Xis rulership worked tirelessly to establish itself as Russias most important strategic partner, even as Russia engaged in its attempted conquest of Ukraine.

To that end, Shullman said, the regime had tossed aside its alleged commitment to regional stability and order to better carry out a joint struggle against the United States.

That joint struggle, Shullman added, is ultimately intended to replace the existing rules-based international order with a vision of a new global order and a revisionist approach to international institutions.

Indeed, Xi and Putin made just such a vision explicit last week.

China, Russia Seek to Replace US with Multipolar World Order

Xi met with Putin last week in Moscow, where the two leaders openly pledged to reshape the international order to their interests. Putin said that China and Russia would create a more just multipolar world order to replace the rules of the current international order.

Xi and Putin first declared a no limits partnership in February 2022, weeks before Russia launched its attempted conquest of Ukraine. That partnership has deepened significantly since.

Michael Schuman, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council said the regime was developing its foreign policy to reflect a new, more aggressive ambition to displace the United States completely.

What you see happening in the China-Russia relationship is part of a much, much broader picture of where China is going in the world and where Chinese foreign policy is going to bring that about, Schuman said.

The Biden administration has to start seeing this relationship between China and Russia for what it really is, which is an attempt by the worlds two greatest authoritarian states to actively try to change the world order.

To that end, Schuman said that the risk of escalation and conflict was growing because of the nature of the antagonism between the United States and the CCP. The competition is no longer about just trade or technology issues, he said, but increasingly about the very ideas of what makes for a just world.

With the transformation of the growing competition between the United States and CCP into a conflict of ideas, Schuman said, the United States would need to be much more aggressive in asserting the primacy of democratic societies against authoritarian ones.

Only through assertiveness, he stated, could the Biden administration set an adequate example for the nations of the world, and convince them not to abandon the current world order for a new, authoritarian one.

This is taking the increasing confrontation with China to a very different level, Schuman said.

Because of that, the response of the United States has to be much more aggressive and much more targeted at selling the U.S. agenda, selling the benefits of the current world order, the importance of the rules-based world order.
Contract Confirms US Government Received $400 Million From Major COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturer

The U.S. government received hundreds of millions of dollars from vaccine manufacturer Moderna, according to a newly disclosed contract.

Moderna agreed to pay the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to license spike protein technology that the company used in its COVID-19 vaccine, according to the contract.

For years, Moderna resisted acknowledging the work by government researchers on the spike protein but relented in late 2021. Moderna announced the contract during an earnings call on Feb. 23.

Moderna stated that it provided a catch-up payment of $400 million to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the NIH, under the agreement.

The newly disclosed contract states that Moderna would pay the NIH a noncreditable, nonrefundable royalty in the amount of Four Hundred Million dollars.

Portions that would confirm Modernas statement that the company would pay low single digit royalties on future sales of its COVID-19 vaccines are redacted.

The 34-page contract, which The Epoch Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, has key sections regarding future royalties redacted.

One section starts, The licensee agrees to pay to the NIAID earned royalties on net sales  as follows. But the rest of the section is redacted.

The NIH cited as the reason for the redactions an exemption to the act that enables agencies to withhold trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.

They redacted the royalties, even though there have been press releases about the royalties, James Love, director of the nonprofit Knowledge Ecology International, told The Epoch Times via email. Its common but [expletive] to redact royalties on a negotiated license on a government patent.

Unredacted information in the contract confirmed that Moderna had agreed to pay the NIH royalties before the agreement took effect in late 2022, as well as a minimum annual royalty, earned royalties, and benchmark royalties.

The contract was signed on Dec. 14, 2022, by Michael Mowatt, director of the Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Office at NIAID, and Shannon Klinger, chief legal officer at Moderna.

The payments would include a royalty within 60 days of government officials providing a reasonable detailed written statement and request for an amount equivalent to a pro rata share of the unreimbursed patent expenses previously paid by the NIAID.

Moderna has made nearly $37 billion from its COVID-19 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has forecast $5 billion in revenue from the vaccines in 2023. Moderna and Pfizer both received enormous government contracts for their vaccines, which helped in development and manufacturing.

Shares Ownership

The NIH shares ownership of the spike protein technology with researchers at Scripps Research Institute and Dartmouth Universitys Geisel School of Medicine. Both are named as partners in the contract.

Although its unclear from the contract what specific revenue the partners will receive from Moderna, Dartmouth stated previously that it would make money through the agreement.

Dartmouth stated that it plans to use the revenue to strengthen the institutions research and education enterprise and advancing work that has the potential to save millions of lives and improve global health.

We are excited about how these funds will amplify this important mission at Geisel and for how it will support our training programs for the next generation of biomedical researchers, Duane Compton, dean of Geisel, said in a statement.

Scripps didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

The NIH received up to $2 billion in royalties from 34 drug contracts between 1991 and 2019, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The office recommended that NIH be more transparent about the licensing.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 22, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Moderna CEO

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, whose net worth has skyrocketed during the pandemic, said in a recent appearance before Congress that Moderna created the spike protein technology in question but that the company abandoned the patent because of disagreements with the NIH.

What our team did is develop the mRNA molecule. What the NIH did, which was a great confirmation, is they designed the same protein that our team did in parallel. The design of the mRNA vaccine was done by our team. This is our technology, Bancel said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked, The NIH considers themselves coauthors of the vaccine. Do you disagree?

Our team has been working on that discussion for quite a while. We have agreed to disagree. The team is following USIPO [United States Intellectual Property Organization], which is very important, and what we have done to close the matter is we actually have decided to abandon that patent, Bancel said. We have abandoned that patent, the NIH is aware of it, and we are moving on because we cannot agree on what happened. The mRNA molecule was designed by the Moderna team. It is our technology.

Bancel was also asked by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) whether it creates a conflict of interest for government employees involved with vaccines to be making money off of them.

Its for the U.S. government to say how that money should be spent, Bancel said. Pressed on the matter, he said, This is for the government to decide.
Cornyn, Padilla Disagree on Need to Change US Refugee Policy in Senate Hearing

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) agree on a considerable portion of the official U.S. policy on refugees and resettlement, including that the procedure is rigorous and includes strong oversight of the applications of those seeking to be approved to stay in the country as refugees.

But the senators disagreed on changes to U.S. refugee policy in their introductory remarks at a Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing on March 22.

Padilla, who serves as the chair of the subcommittee, sees a need to modify the nations refugee laws and believes that the United States needs to play a bigger role in refugee resettlement.

Cornyn, the ranking member, views United States refugee law as working and not requiring major changeseven amidst the immigration crisis on the southern border and with the United States having problems tracking and apprehending those who have made it into the country illegally. He also contends that other countries need to do more to shoulder the responsibility of offering safe haven to refugees.

Opening Statements

Its our goal to have a productive discussion on the historic success of Americas refugee program, and what we can and should be doing to bolster the program going into the future, said Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, in his opening statement.

Padilla described how refugees are a vital and fundamental component of America. He also mentioned how Democrats and Republicans have worked effectively together in the area of refugee law and policy.

He said that under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. refugee program was curtailed sharply, and while the Biden administration has made strides to return it to previous strength, more needs to be done.

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) speaks in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The modern U.S. refugee program began with the Immigration and Nationality Act [enacted in 1952] and the Refugee Act of 1980, which together established a permanent basis for refugees to be resettled each year, said Padilla. In the 1980s and 1990s, the number of refugees admitted into the United States on an annual basis never really fell below 61,000, and in fact reached its highest level of 207,000 in 1980.

In recent years, that number has fluctuated between 56,000 and 85,000, he said.

Padilla cited how those numbers headed precipitously downward in the Trump administration, with fewer than 12,000 refugees being resettled in his final year in office.

Cornyn heralded the nations commitment to refugees, and brought up work he had done about two years ago with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.),chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to hold a hearing in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety about how the United States could use its refugee policy to aid and back Hong Kong in its move toward democracy.

Cornyn added that he joined with several senators from both parties to advise the secretary of state to grant priority refugee status to the Uyghurs, a Chinese ethnic minoritymost of whom are Muslimpersecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.

Cornyn said there are about 1 million Uyghurs being held in concentration camps in China.

America should continue its tradition of welcoming refugees and resettling those fleeing oppression. President Ronald Reagan in his first year in office stated, More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage, in our capacity to welcome those from other lands,' Cornyn said. He went on, however, to say, No free and prosperous nation by itself can accommodate all those who seek a better life or flee persecution. We must share this responsibility with other countries.'
The launching ceremony of Earth Hour 2023 in Vietnam

Since the nation first joined the campaign in 2009, the average annual power output saved in the one hour was estimated at about 400,000 kWh. Last year, the figure was 309,000 kWh, reported VNA.

Responding to this years edition themed "Save electricity - Become a habit", myriad activities took place nationwide on the day with the participation of people from all walks of life.

In Hanoi, the response event was organised by the municipal Department of Industry and Trade at the August Revolution Square. The capital turned off public decorations, billboards, and unnecessary electrical equipment, notably at renowned downtown destinations such as areas around the Hoan Kiem Lake, and the Hanoi Opera House.

Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU)s chapter in Ho Chi Minh City joined the EVNs HCM City Power Corporation to run a turning-off-the-light event, which was broadcast live and gathered close to 500 young volunteers.

In the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, an event, co-organised by the municipal chapters of the HCYU and EVN power corporation, called for peoples response to the campaign and protection of the environment. On the occasion, 1,300 trees were planted in addition to other energy saving activities. The municipal chapters of the two agencies in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre also mounted a programme to spread the message of "Save electricity - Become a habit".

In the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, hundreds of locals joined the local response activity that aimed to save power and promoted efforts for a future without plastic waste./.
Crypto Platform Binance Sued by CFTC Over Secret Plot to Evade US Laws

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing crypto platform Binance and several top executives, alleging that they offered unregistered crypto futures and other derivatives for trading in the United States in violation of U.S. laws and devised a secret plot to help customers evade restrictions.

Binance stands accused of running a cryptocurrency derivatives-trading operation in the United States without properly registering it, in violation of CFTC regulations and the Commodity Exchange Act, according to the complaint (pdf) filed on March 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Changpeng Zhao, co-founder and CEO of Binance, and Samuel Lim, the companys former chief compliance officer, are also named in the lawsuit. It accuses them of falsely claiming to be restricting Americans from using the platform while in reality they were using a calculated, phased approach to increase Binances presence in the United States.

On the surface, we cannot be seen to have U.S. users, but in reality we should get them through other creative means, Lim allegedly said in a chat with a Binance employee, according to the complaint.

The CFTC said in a statement that Zhao, who was allegedly responsible for all major strategic decisions at the crypto platform, devised a secret plot to instruct U.S.-based VIP customers to evade Binances compliance controls and instructed Binance staff to communicate about compliance evasion in a way that facilitated the automatic destruction of evidence.

A Binance spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the filing is unexpected and disappointing and that the company has made significant investments over the past two years to ensure we do not have U.S. users active on our platform.

The best path forward is to protect our users and to collaborate with regulators to develop a clear, thoughtful regulatory regime, the spokesperson added.

Zhao took to Twitter after the lawsuit was announced and posted the number 4, which, according to a previous message of his, refers to ignore FUD, fake news, attacks, etc. FUD stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

More Details

The CFTC is also accusing the platform of establishing a complex network of companies meant to hide the true scope and nature of its operations.

Binances reliance on a maze of corporate entities to operate the Binance platform is deliberate; it is designed to obscure the ownership, control, and location of the Binance platform, the complaint reads.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of intentional violations of U.S. law, including helping customers dodge compliance controls in a bid to maximize corporate profits.

Binance and its officers, employees, and agents have instructed U.S. customers to use virtual private networks (VPNs) to obscure their location; and allowed customers that had not submitted proof of their identity and location to continue to trade on the platform long after announcing such conduct was prohibited, the complaint reads.

It also accuses the defendants of having directed VIP customers with the ultimate beneficial owners, key employees who control trading decisions, trading algorithms, and other assets all located in the United States to open Binance accounts under the name of newly incorporated shell companies to evade Binances compliance controls.

The CFTC and other federal agencies have been investigating Binance for years, with the CFTC alleging that the platform offered and executed cryptocurrency derivatives transactions to and from U.S.-based individuals in violation of U.S. laws since at least 2019.

For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. This should be a warning to anyone in the digital asset world that the CFTC will not tolerate willful avoidance of U.S. law, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said in a statement.

In a different statement, CFTC Chief Counsel Gretchen Lowe called Binances actions willful evasion of U.S. laws, accusing the companys compliance efforts of being a sham.

Todays enforcement action reflects that the CFTC and its Enforcement Division will pursue those digital asset platforms and individuals who flout and actively attempt to circumvent CFTC regulatory requirements, she said.

This article has been updated with comments from a Binance spokesperson.
Daniel Andrews Announces Surprise Visit to China

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews delivers his victory speech at the Labour election party in his seat of Mulgrave in Melbourne, Australia on Nov. 26, 2022. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will be the first state leader to visit China, ahead of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Andrews will leave on March 27 and visit Beijing, as well as the provinces of Jiangsu and Sichuan, before returning to Melbourne on April 1. He will meet with Chinese education officials and Australias ambassador to China.

This is the seventh trip to China undertaken by the Labor premier and no media contingent has been invited.

The premier garnered international attention for signing two Belt and Road Initiative agreements with Beijing and being slow to condemn the Chinese Communist Party for the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.

The then-Morrison government would eventually step in to terminate the agreementsafter passing specific laws to deal with the issueciting concerns around Australias national interest.

Incredibly Important: Premier Andrews

Premier Andrews told reporters on March 26 that China was Victorias largest trade partner.

China is incredibly important. Our two-way trade in 2022, with all those COVID shocks, was still in excess of $40 billion. This is our largest and most significant trading partner, he said.

Weve got about 42,000 Chinese students enrolled in Victorian higher education settingsthose students are a really significant part of our Victorian economy. Close to $14 billion worth of economic activity can be traced back to our international education sector.

This is not the first trip that Ive made to China, and it wont be the last.

In response to questions about the cancellation of the BRI, Andrews said that matter [is] in the past, this trip is about the future.

Im sure that infrastructure, both infrastructure needs in China and some of our challenges and needs here, may well be talked about, he said. This is the infrastructure capital of our nation so no doubt theyll be interested.

The BRI has been blamed for roping in developing countries into debt-trap diplomacy arrangements that see Beijing gain control over vital infrastructure once partner governments default on loans (often offered by the CCP).

The BRI is also viewed as a trojan horse for Chinese leader Xi Jinpings plan for global hegemony.

Wheres the Transparency? Opposition Says

But Deputy opposition leader David Southwick said the premiers China trip lacked transparency.

There are a number of questions that certainly need to be asked, firstly, to understand what is the benefit of this trip to Victoria and to Victorians.

What will Daniel Andrews be doing when hes over there, and why has he been so secretive about this particular trip? Southwick told reporters.

Meanwhile, Michael Shoebridge, director of Strategic Analysis Australia, said it was good news to see the premier at least coordinating with Prime Minister Albanese before his trip.

But there is still a high risk that Beijing sees Andrews as a useful and uncritical pro-China voice in Australias domestic debate that they can use to drive wedges in countrys national approach to China, he told The Epoch Times.

How Premier Andrews and the federal government manage this risk will be shown by Andrews openness about his visit, and by Canberra not simply boasting the idea of a return of large numbers of Chinese tourists and students.

Victorian Senator Ralph Babet said Andrews had no business going to China.

Especially now as China postures for war and we enter the AUKUS agreement. Leave international relations to the federal government. Not even the prime minister has been to China, he wrote on Twitter.

The Scramble Back to China Begins

The Victorian premiers official visit beats out West Australian Labor Premier Mark McGowan, who has been open about his willingness to visit China after border closures were lifted.

China is the largest export market for the states mining industry.

In March, McGowan announced plans to visit China in April to discuss direct flights from Perth to Guangzhou.

It obviously needs approval from the Chinese authorities, he told reporters.

Thats the planreinstating direct flights and making sure that the relationship, particularly in relation to our major export industries, remains strong.

McGowan said he had been briefed by the federal Defence Minister Richard Marles and senior officials.

Following Andrewss announcement, the federal government also revealed that Assistant Trade Minister Tim Ayres would be visiting China for the Boao Forum for Asia dialogue while leading a business delegation including mining billionaire Andrew Forrest and Treasury Wine Estates CEO Tim Ford.

Ayress visit follows that of Foreign Minister Penny Wong to Beijing in December and a virtual meeting with Trade Minister Don Farrell last month.

Since the federal Labor government won office in May 2022, the focus of Canberra and Beijing has been on normalising bilateral relations.

The previous Liberal-National Coalition governments were responsible for a range of initiatives aimed at pushing back against the Chinese Communist Party, including rolling out foreign interference laws, cancelling Huaweis participation in its 5G network, calling for a global investigation into COVID-19s origins, and implementing AUKUS.

The current federal Labor government is now trying to walk the tightrope between protecting Australias national interest and building trade relations with Beijing.
Data of 14 Million Customers Stolen in Cyber Attack

A general view of indoor diners at a restaurant on Chapel Street in Melbourne, Australia on Oct. 22, 2021. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

The hack of Australian finance firm, Latitude Financial, is worse than initially thought.

In mid-March, the consumer finance provider estimated around 328,000 customers had their data stolen by hackers, now that number has ballooned to over 14 million, according to an investor statement.

Latitude Group confirmed on March 27 that 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand drivers licence numbers were stolen, of which 3.2 million (around 40 percent) were provided in the last 10 years.

Another 6.1 million records dating back to 2005 were stolen including names, addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birthof which 5.7 million (around 94 percent) were provided before 2013.

The company revealed 53,000 passport numbers had also been lost in the data hack, and less than 100 had their monthly financial statements taken as well.

Latitude said it would reimburse customers that have to replace their stolen documentation.

We recognise that todays announcement will be a distressing development for many of our customers and we apologise unreservedly, the company said in the update.

We are writing to all customers, past customers and applicants whose information was compromised outlining details of the information stolen and our plans for remediation.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Cyber Security Centre are investigating the incident.

Latitude has called on concerned customers to contact its call centres which are open between 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Latitude Will Wear the Consequences, Expert Says

On March 16, the Melbourne-based companyone of the biggest non-banking lenders in the countrycalled for a halt to trading while saying the incident had been isolated.

Latitude said the hackers obtained employee login credentials and were able to steal personal information via two service providers or contractors.

The attack is the latest in a series of cyberattacks targeting major Australian firms, including Optus (the second-largest telecommunications provider), Medibank (the largest private insurer), Woolworths MyDeal, and the Australian Department of Defence.

Rob Nicholls, associate professor at the University of New South Wales, said the major challenge for Latitude going forward would be winning back the confidence of consumers.

Weve seen Telstra and Vodafone take on a significant number of customers in the last quarter, primarily as a result of the breach of Optus, he previously told The Epoch Times. And that is a loss of trust. It becomes even more critical for a business thats providing financial services.

Nicholls also said that the fact an external service provider was responsible for losing the data did not abrogate Latitude from its responsibilities. A service provider could be the data host or credit reference provider used by Latitude.

The fact that Latitude has taken customer informationentrusted to Latitudes usewithout ensuring those service providers have adequate cybersecurity is entirely problematic, he said.

He pointed to the 2022 court case, ASIC v RI Advice Group Pty Ltd, that found financial service providers may be personally liable if a contractor has inadequate cybersecurity.

Nicholls also said too many businesses were quick to say sophisticated actors were behind cyberattacks.

Even when the cyberattack isnt terribly sophisticated, they claim there are state actors behind it, he said.

When there are high-value targets, like financial services that keep the information, or businesses that might be persuaded to pay a ransom for their own data set. You dont need a state actor involved.
DEI Director Ousted for Questioning Woke Policies

Dr. Tabia Lee, who was employed as director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) by De Anza College in California in August 2021, was laid off by the tenure review committee on March 7.

District Chancellor Judy Miner stated that the reason for laying off Lee was that Lee was unable to cooperate with coworkers and staff and appeared unwilling to accept constructive criticism, according to SK POP.

Lee told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times, I was labeled, and I was bullied and harassed just for doing the job that I was hired to do.

She said she was called by one of the staff members white speaking, white splaining and supporting white supremacy.

Disagreements like this were instant, Lee said.

This happened within two weeks after Lee started the role as director.

Lee said that she grew up in Lodi, California, with neo-Nazis or KKK members around, and that she knows exactly what actual white supremacists are.

As a black woman, no ones ever in my life told me that Im a white supremacist, Lee said. And the way that landed on me, I felt very bad.

Lee could not help but think, Who would call me a white supremacist? And where does that come from? Whats it rooted in?

In an essay published on Feb. 28 in the Journal of Free Black Thought on Substack, Lee wrote: Under the banner of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, in many learning environments a neo-reconstructionist race(ist) orthodoxy has emerged that actively works to suppress and exclude alternative frameworks, methods, ways and means for dealing with American educations race(ist) problem.

Just days after the essay was published, the tenure review committee voted not to re-employ Lee as a contract employee for the next academic year.

When she worked together with staff members in the Office of Equity, Social Justice & Multicultural Education, Lee felt she was the odd person out, because I wasnt thinking that way.

After being described as supporting white supremacy, Lee noticed that a slide kept being put up over and over again. A low-resolution image of the slide provided by Lee showed a graph that lists 15 behaviors and characteristics deemed to be white supremacy culture.

It had things like being on time, being objective, the written word, all of these other characteristics that you generally would associate with being successful or being in the academic world, or that I had seen as that but they were calling it white supremacy culture, Lee said.

When Lee tried to put together different race ideologies and present them to students in early 2023, it made the tenure review committee angry, according to Lee.

Lee wanted the students to look at their curriculum through those lenses and identify what philosophies are at work, but the review committee said she was leading people to danger, Lee said. She said her presentation was deemed deeply offensive once again.

Another thing that she said was deemed offensive was that she compared anti-racist activist Ibram X. Kendis work with the theory of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) in a Venn diagram, and she guided students to see the differences and similarities between them.

Lee said that she said to panels during the interview process for the DEI director position, I try to create spaces of dialogue, of inquiry, where we can all learn from each other, where even if we have different political or social ideas, we can come together and identify points of commonality.

Dr. Tabia Lee. (Courtesy of Tabia Lee)

The Event With Alicia Garza

Lee also described in detail how she was accused of being disrespectful to Black Lives Matter cofounder Alicia Garza.

In October 2021, Lee was involved with an event that was held online on Zoom with Garza.

Before I came, the college had purchased, like, hundreds of copies of Alicia Garzas book, The Purpose of Power, and the whole campus read the bookteachers, students, staff, everyone could get a copy if [they] would like a copy. So when I came, one of the first tasks that my tenure review committee gave me was to organize a fireside chat with Miss Garza.

Lee organized hundreds of students to participate in the event and prepare questions for it, all in less than two weeks. Even though she was new to the school, did not know many staff, and had never met the students, she reached out to everyone and organized a group for the event.

She mainly reached out to students who had read Garzas book.

So luckily, and thankfully, my colleagues sent me students. And then I started meeting with them, and we developed questions. They were very excited, said Lee.

She described how the students were eager to ask questions of Garza, and after they came up with many questions, they ranked them in order of importance by voting on them.

However, the day before the event, Lees supervising dean told her that according to Garzas staff the students could only ask questions that were approved by Garzas management and were written down and prepared.

Lee asked her dean for the speaking engagement contract. She was told a contract was not available, but the students just could not ask questions outside the approved ones.

So I took it back to the students. They were heartbroken. They said, So basically, youre asking us, youre telling us that were going to go and do this list that youre giving us, and now we cant ask any of our questions, she said.

Lee tried to soften the blow to her students by telling them there is an image Garzas team needs to protect and they would not want some inappropriate comment to go viral on the internet, but it did not work. The students said they would not be at the event under such circumstances, and they all planned to pull out of the event.

After some discussion, Lee and her students came up with a strategy designed to please both sides. The students would ask the prepared questions, and then they would add follow-up questions that were off the script.

And they were good questions. They were not disrespectful or anything strange or anything like that. They were just genuine questions that students had, like, What inspired you to write the book? Things of that nature. It was very neutral; it was nothing troublesome.

We had the event. It was wonderful. If you were on the outside, watching those hundreds of people there, it looked great; it flowed well; the students did amazing. But what they did was they asked their questions as follow-ups, she said.

During the event, Garza looked upset and at some point turned off her camera during the off-script questions, Lee said. At that time, Lee typed to the students, telling them to go back to the scripted questions.

It was very respectful. It was very good. But [Garza] was visibly uncomfortable. And so that was then parlayed into me disrespecting her, according to one of my tenure review members, Lee said.

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Lee finally obtained the speaking engagement contract between Garza and De Anza College.

Thats how I found out how much she was paid, which was an exorbitant amount for a Zoom chat, especially a performance of prescriptive questions. And then I found out that there was nothing in there that said that the questions the students made could not be asked. It wasnt in the contract, said Lee.

She said one of the main attackers on her work through the tenure process was an evaluator who invited her informally to join a socialist network. Lee said she didnt express an interest in joining the network.

I am surprised and disappointed at how much they were able to subvert what is supposed to be a fair, transparent, and constructive evaluative process, she said.

Lee said she hasnt yet ruled out taking legal action against De Anza College.
Democrats Ask Pentagon to Protect Abortion for Service Members, Citing National Security

Senate Democrats on March 27 asked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to protect abortion for U.S. military service members.

In a March 27 letter written by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and co-signed by most of the Senate Democrat caucus, Democrats suggested that women in the military having access to abortion was a matter of national security (pdf).

In 2022, the Supreme Court struck down the decades-long precedent of Roe v. Wade, which placed federal restrictions on states rights to regulate and ban abortion. In the case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution provided no right to abortion, and consequently returned the issue to the states for adjudication.

Subsequently, many state laws placing limits on abortion went into effect immediately, as many states had passed abortion laws in preparation for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Democrats immediately protested the decision, which its critics portrayed as a step back for womens rights.

However, the partys federal options to respond to the decision are limited in view of Senate rules that make passing federal legislation difficult.

As Pentagon chief, Austin has made some moves to maintain abortion access.

In two directivesone issued in October 2022, the other in February 2023Austin has offered pregnant women in the military federal assistance to travel, fund transportation, and take time off to travel out of state for an abortion.

In their letter to Austin, Democrats expressed strong support for these policies.

It is imperative that the Department of Defense (DOD) continue to take action to protect the rights of service members and their families to access abortion care, the letter states, citing ongoing legal challenges to the second most popular abortion drug. The Federal Drug Administrations authorization of the drug in question, mifepristone, is the subject of a pending federal lawsuit.

Shaheen suggested that women in the military accessing abortions is crucial to U.S. national security.

Citing estimates that show that 40 percent of female service members have limited access to abortion, Shaheen wrote: When service members are assigned to duty stations either domestically or overseas, their placement is determined by the needs of the U.S. military. Women service members, who make up approximately 17% of active duty military, have no say in where they are stationed, even if their duty station is in a state that severely limits or restricts access to abortion or other critical reproductive health services.

It is unacceptable that service members or their dependents should face limited or no access to abortion care simply because of where they are stationed as part of their service to the United States, Shaheen added.

Shaheen suggested that opposition to abortion suggests that the United States does not trust those who serve in uniform  to make their own decisions about their health care and families.

Shaheen contended that the Dobbs decision also plays a role in the U.S. militarys ongoing recruitment issues.

Recruiting and retention will only be made more challenging as states continue to ban or restrict access to abortion services, sending a message that certain service members autonomy and ability to get the health care they need does not matter, and putting into place additional barriers and undue burdens for service members and their families.

Concluding the letter, Democrats called on the DOD to continue Austins policy of maximizing access to abortion for women in the military.

However, Shaheen said even Austins policies still fall short: The Department must also consider the numerous barriers that service members still face in accessing abortion care under its new policy, including stigma and discrimination, out-of-pocket costs, delayed wait times, and the volatility of abortion access from state to state as legislatures move to enact abortion bans.

Several prominent Democrats, including a litany of Democrats who portray themselves as moderates, signed the letter, including Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Notably absent from the letters signatories is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), who during the last Congress helped Republicans block a bill that would have codified and greatly expanded the Roe precedent into U.S. law. The letter was also unsigned by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a self-described pro-life Democrat; however, Casey has voted with his party on most abortion issues brought to the Senate.
Deutsche Bank Shares Rebound as Stress on Banking Sector Eases

Deutsche Bank shares rebounded on March 27 after plummeting by as much as 16 percent on Friday, suggesting investors may be feeling slightly more optimistic about the current state of the European banking industry.

Shares of Germanys largest bank were up 6.3 percent as of 15:04 p.m. in Frankfurt, while other European banking stocks, including Commerzbank AG, Barclays Plc, and Banco Santander SA also saw gains.

The Euro STOXX banks index was also up 1.6 percent, and the pan European STOXX 600 was up 1.2 percent as of Monday afternoon.

After tumbling by as much as 16 percent on Friday, Deutsche Bank shares closed 8.5 percent lower when the cost of its five-year credit default swaps (CDS), a type of default insurance for bondholders to protect against potential defaults, rose above 220 basis points, up from 142 basis points earlier in the week.

The increase prompted concerns among investors that the German banking giant could be the next institution to be hit with difficulties after Credit Suisses near failure and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in the United States, although there did not appear to be a specific problem with Deutsche Bank itself.

Amid the decline in the banking giants shares, German chancellor Olaf Scholz sought to dismiss market concerns during a summit in Brussels, telling reporters that the bank has fundamentally modernized and reorganized its business and is a very profitable bank.

There is no reason to be concerned about it, Scholz added when quizzed over whether the lender would become the next Credit Suisse.

Scholz later added, The capital adequacy of European banks is robust, thanks to the work [weve put in] over the past few years and also thanks to the efforts of the banks themselves, according to a translation by the Financial Times.

Silicon Valley Bank Finds Buyer

Elsewhere, on Sunday, U.S. regulators announced that First Citizens Bank is buying the loans and deposits of failed SVB after entering into a purchase and assumption agreement.

According to a statement issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Raleigh, North Carolina-based bank will buy around $72 billion of SVB assets at a discount of $16.5 billion. Around $90 billion in SVB assets will remain in receivership with the FDIC, which received around $500 million in First Citizens stock.

The 17 former branches of SVB will open as First Citizens Bank & Trust Company on March 27, 2023, the FDIC said.

Overall, the deal is expected to cost the FDIC around $20 billion, although the exact cost will be determined once the FDIC terminates the receivership.

The recovery could reflect investors having a few days to reassess and decide things arent as bad as they seemed, Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics, told the Financial Times of Mondays rise in European stocks. There were all sorts of stories at the weekend saying Deutsche Bank is nowhere near as risky [as Credit Suisse], but its too early to tell and we have to see how things shake out.

As well as a rise in euro stocks on Monday, spreads on five-year senior credit default swaps also dropped to 198.6 basis points after reaching as high as 226.9 basis points on Friday, Bloomberg reported, no doubt bringing further relief after Fridays frenzy.

Elsewhere, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group, said that Fridays panic over Deutsche Bank may have been misplaced, but noted that the storm may not be over just yet.

The steady drain of deposits from banks means a slow motion problem is in the making, and could result in a contraction in lending that brings on a recession, Beauchamp told Reuters. This is the bigger risk than the hunt last week for the next domino to fall in the global banking system, he added.
Diverse Coalition of Groups Backs Infrastructure Permitting Reforms

A diverse coalition of American organizations has signed a letter organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commercethe leading business lobbying organization in the United Statesurging reforms to the infrastructure permitting process.

Today, the single biggest obstacle to building the infrastructure of the future is a broken permitting system, reads the letter, which was published on Monday. That is why the undersigned list of diverse groups across the country and economy is calling on Congress to Permit America to Build by enacting meaningful, durable legislation to modernize Americas permitting processes before the end of the summer.

The letter touts potential benefits from a streamlined permitting process, such as more reliable energy production with reduced emissions; the ability to move people and goods more efficiently with improved highways, bridges, and transit systems; and the opportunity to strengthen U.S. national security by expanding the domestic sourcing of raw materials to build critical technologies.

But America cannot accomplish any of this if the outdated, inefficient, and unpredictable permitting process is not improved, the letter continues.

The coalition calls on lawmakers in Congress to take action by the end of the summer to begin reforming the infrastructure permitting process.

Fossil Fuel and Clean Energy Organizations Back Reforms

The letter was signed by several organizations involved in the fossil fuel industry, such as the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute, American Petroleum Institute, American Public Gas Association, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America, among others. The letter was also signed by organizations promoting clean energy solutions, such as the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Citizens Climate Lobby, and the American Clean Power Association.

The letters signatories also appear to cross party affiliations. The letter was signed by the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, a politically conservative environmental conservation advocacy group called ConservAmerica, and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

We are pleased to see support for modernizing our permitting process from across the ideological spectrum, and a recognition that the current system is broken, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Coalition letter reads. We know there are differing perspectives in Congress on how best to address current challenges. Our organizations will not agree on every issue. We are committed, however, to working with Congress to find solutions and pass meaningful and durable legislation.

Among the areas of common ground for the signatories are establishing a greater degree of predictability around infrastructure project reviews, more transparency in permitting milestones, and greater efforts to inform and take input from stakeholders on new infrastructure projects.

The Permitting Reform Debate in Congress

While the Chamber of Commerce coalition letter touted its bipartisan and diverse industry appeal, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have opposed permitting reforms.

On Sept. 12, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) introduced the Simplify Timelines and Assure Regulatory Transparency (START) Act, with the stated goal to provide regulatory certainty to states, expedite permitting and review processes, codify substantive environmental regulatory reforms, and expedite permitting of the critically important Mountain Valley Pipeline. Capitos legislation garnered the support of 46 Republican co-sponsors but stalled out, never going before a committee or receiving a vote after its Senate introduction.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also proposed adding permitting reform language to a Continuing Resolution Congress passed in October. Manchin said his proposed language garnered the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Democratic President Joe Biden, but faced opposition from far-left Senators like Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Senate Republicans.

Manchin attempted to add similar permitting reform language as an amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but the effort failed in a 47-47 votefalling short of the 60 votes needed to pass. Manchins revised permitting reform language included multiple adjustments to address items Republicans did not support in Manchins September permitting reform effort.

Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) voted for Manchins bill language. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) voted against the measure, as did Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also tweeted in opposition to Manchins proposed permitting reform, calling it a #DirtyDeal.

This would gut bedrock environmental regulations and fast track fossil fuel projects. I refuse to allow our residents in frontline communities to continue to be sacrificed for the fossil fuel industrys endless greed, Tlaib tweeted.

Despite the earlier setbacks to their respective permitting reform efforts, Manchin and Capito joined together on a new bipartisan bill to address permitting issues.

NTD News reached out to Capito and Manchins offices for comment on the U.S. Chamber of Commerces coalition letter supporting permitting reform efforts. Neither office responded before this article was published.

NTD News also contacted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but the organization did not immediately respond.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed the Lower Energy Costs Act, which was proposed by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). Scalise has said the bill aims to increase domestic energy production and reform the permitting process for all industries.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Scalises bill would advance important policies to improve the permitting process, ensure strong domestic energy production, protect energy exports and increase production and processing of our own critical minerals.

From NTD News
Driver Found Shot Dead at End of High-Speed Chase in Los Angeles IDd

LOS ANGELESAuthorities are piecing together clues after a motorist was found shot dead with a handgun on his lap March 25 at the end of a high-speed freeway chase and crash in East Hollywood.

Roberto Iglesias III was a 20-year-old resident of South Gate, according to the coroners office. An autopsy was pending.

Officers on a routine patrol driving northbound on the Hollywood (101) Freeway just south of Cesar Chavez Avenue saw a black Infiniti speed pass them about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, triggering a pursuit, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The suspects vehicle continued speeding northbound and exited on Melrose.

The pursuit traversed several city streets and our officers briefly lost sight of the Infiniti, the highway patrol said. At approximately 3:32 a.m., they discovered the Infiniti had collided with several parked vehicles on Melrose Avenue, west of Commonwealth Avenue.

A passenger from the car was seen fleeing the location on foot as officers were approaching the crash. He was later apprehended. The officers then came upon the motorist, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head and had a gun on his lap, officials said.

Passenger Angel Anthony Aguiniga, 20, of Lynwood, was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest.

The patrol agency urged anyone with information about the chase or the shooting to call them at 323-644-9550. Tipsters can also contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or through their website.
Dueling US-China Economies

Brain drain and capital flight from China and its allies could shift quickly

Employees make chips at a factory of Jiejie Semiconductor Company in Nantong, in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, on March 17, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

Chinas arbitrary imprisonment of top business leaders is a self-defeating weakness that can be exploited by the United States and our allies globally.

This strategic failure by Beijing, and all communist societies, is replicated by its allies, including Russia and Venezuela. It could be a fleeting and lucrative window of opportunity for democracies in an era of globalization, which facilitates capital flight and could help the reindustrialization of advanced democracies. But the opportunity could fade just as quickly and arguably already has.

Chinas Chip Slip

On March 23, Beijing released Chen Datong, a leading computer chip investor who spent eight months in detention just as China sought to sanction-proof its tech industry with domestically-manufactured semiconductors.

Chens $1.5 billion company, Hua Capital, has invested in over 150 semiconductor companies in China. It was at the forefront of Beijings efforts to jump-start its domestic chip production, according to the Financial Times.

Hua was among the many recipients of $47 billion in subsidies from the Chinese regime to end reliance on foreign chip design and fab facilities. However, the massive seed funding failed to yield any major breakthroughs.

Workers are seen inside the production chain at a semiconductor manufacturing factory in Beijing on May 14, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)

Over a dozen semiconductor officials and executives were arrested as a result. Their detention hurt Chinas technology development not just due to the removal of Chen, but from the chilling effect it had on other technology investors and developers, including domestically and from abroad.

Brain Drain From Russia

Also that week, Russian President Vladimir Putins ally, Dmitry Medvedev, threatened to arrest Russian weapons producers if they didnt work faster, according to The Wall Street Journal.

It wouldnt be the first time that executives were arrested in Russia.

Moscow arrested its wealthiest man, oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in 2003 after he founded Open Russia to build upon civil society in the country. Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in a labor camp before exile in Switzerland and then the United Kingdom. There he expanded upon his activities with other prominent Russians, including advocacy for Putins removal and the countrys democratization.

In an interview with Khodorkovsky last month, he noted that sanctions on Russia have an effect long term, but targeting Russias skilled labor force would yield yet higher returns.

Western countries could recruit Russian engineers, for example, and make it very easy for them to immigrate, he said. The loss of such people is much more painful for Putin than economic sanctions. These skilled workers would then assist the West, noted Khodorkovsky.

Such migration could also hit the Chinese Communist Party, which depends on many military technology and design imports from Russia.

Venezuela: Suing for Compensation

Venezuela, part of a group of rogue nations that have turned toward Beijing and Moscow after suffering sanctions by the United States and European Union, also arrests corporate executives in a manner that decreases business confidence in the country.

In 2017, Tomeu Vadell and six other executives of the Houston-based Citgo oil company were lured to Venezuela and arrested in a conference room by masked security agents. The arrest occurred in Caracas at the offices of Citgos Venezuelan parent company, PDVSA.

The arrests were arbitrary, and the trial, for embezzlement, was tainted by irregularities. Caracas finally released Vadell and the others last year. Now after years of bad press for Venezuela due to the extended prison sentences, Vadell is suing Citgo for $100 million. He alleges Citgo sacrificed him and failed to provide sufficient resources, including reimbursement for legal expenses.

Eastern Versus Western Strategy

The strategy of threatening and imprisoning business leaders will drive local businesses, and other businesses internationally, to capital flight from Venezuela, China, and Russia, and investment in the United States, Europe, Japan, and other leading democratic societies with rule of law that respects market principles and the freedom of the individual.

The East, Russia included, and its allies like Venezuela and Iran, are clearly following a self-destructive strategy with respect to business, which drives investment abroad. Democracies and markets appear to have a kinship that authoritarian countries less frequently enjoy.

This relationship of democracy to markets arguably extends back to the shift from a medieval economy prior to the 14th century to a capitalist economy in the 15th century and after. The preference of businesses for market democracies in part explains the growth of democracy since.

Contemporary democracies can still take advantage of the dynamic when seeking to weaken the worlds most dangerous dictators and their satraps in North Korea, Iran, Syria, Burma (Myanmar), and Venezuela.

A full-court press by democratic diplomats to encourage brain drain and capital flight from China and Russia, democracies chief global adversaries, through attractive investment conditions in democratic countries is a winning low-risk strategy.

But the strategy may not work forever, at which point businesses could migrate back to China and its allies.

According to an official in Beijing who discussed the situation of Chen, for example, The dire situation of the U.S.-China technology war has forced Beijing to decide to release him as soon as possible.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Newly Approved Lobbying Rules Will Legalize Bribery, Say Canadian Citizen Groups

Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Belanger speaks during an interview in her office in Ottawa on June 12, 2018. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Changes are coming to Canadas lobbying rules, and a coalition of citizen groups says they will legalize bribery by allowing for favour-trading between lobbyists and politicians. The House ethics committee has approved a proposed revision of the Lobbyists Code of Conduct by and large, only making a few recommendations for changes.

Its shameful that the Liberal, Conservative, and Bloc MPs on the ethics committee have decided  to support changes that will gut key ethical lobbying rules, said Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, in a release on March 27.

Democracy Watch is joined by 26 citizen groups and more than 30 lawyers and professors in opposition to the changes proposed by Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Belanger.

They criticize the sponsored travel junkets allowed by the rules. They say the proposed new rules will also allow people to do important campaign work for a politician, then lobby that same politician shortly thereafter. They say the sense of obligation gives that lobbyist an unfair advantage.

Cooling-Off Period

Belanger has said that she seeks to change the Lobbyists Code of Conduct because it needs to be clarified to make it more enforceable. For example, the current code says there should be a cooling-off period between political activity in support of a politician and then lobbying that politician. It doesnt say how long, only a specified period.

There is no definition of political activity, or what is meant by a specified period, Manon Dion, a spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner, told The Epoch Times via email. Belangers new code seeks to define political activity and set specific time periods.

A set of guidelines published by her office does this, but they arent codified in law. They currently say the cooling-off period for higher-risk political activities should be a period equivalent to a full election cycle, or four years.

High-risk activities refer to those that create a sense of obligation on the part of the person benefiting from them, such as serving as campaign chair or soliciting donations for someone who is or becomes a public office holder.

Conacher criticizes Belanger for taking a step back, making the cooling-off period only one or two years in her revised version of the code.

Somebody helps you get elected, raises a whole bunch of money for youwhen do you ever stop owing them? You owe them forever. Its just ridiculous to say that it magically disappears after one to two years, Conacher said in an interview with The Epoch Times in February, when the ethics committee began hearing testimony from stakeholders on the issue.

The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, in its March 20 letter of approval to Belanger, did not recommend lengthening the cooling-off period.

The letter noted Democracy Watchs concern that under Belangers revised code, a registered lobbyist could, in theory, fundraise large amounts of money for an official and lobby that official at the same time. Thats because fundraising itself isnt prohibited, only full-time and nearly full-time political work for or frequent and interactive interactions with that official.

The committee suggested updating the definition of political work to include any significant fundraising.

In a March 3 letter to the committee, Belanger noted that rule 7 in her code prevents this. [Rule 7] expressly applies to circumstances outside the scope of the other rules of the Code and prevents registered lobbyists from lobbying officials who could reasonably be seen to have a sense of obligation toward them, she said.

The commissioner was hesitant to impose a longer cooling-off period, Dion said, because of concern that limiting peoples political activity too much would be in violation of charter rights.

Charter Rights

The updated rule was carefully crafted to achieve its objective of restricting lobbying where a sense of obligation could reasonably be seen to exist and to provide the greatest clarity for lobbyists, all while complying with the Charter, Dion said.

Lawyers who have joined Democracy Watchs coalition against the code changes contest this claim. The claim is based on a legal opinion given to the commissioners office by one law firm. The office has declined to share details related to that opinion, in light of the importance of client-solicitor privilege, Dion said.

A March 6 letter signed by 11 lawyers and 21 law and political science professors says Supreme Court of Canada rulings have made clear that reasonable limits on charter rights are allowed in order to protect government and policy-making integrity.

It is an entirely reasonable limit to prohibit a person who does anything significant to help a politician or political party from lobbying the politician, party leader and top party officials for 4 years. That prohibition ensures that lobbyists dont lobby people they have helpedwhich helps ensure ethical lobbying and protects the integrity of government and policy-making, the letter said.

Gifts and Hospitality

Another point of contention in the revised code is a limit on how much lobbyists can spend on gifts and hospitality for public officials.

Belanger proposed a limit of $80 per year. She had originally said $30 per year, but raised it after lobbying groups opposed it during the public comment period.

Lobbying groups continued to oppose this limit in their testimony to the ethics committee in February, saying it is difficult to tell how much an official consumes at a banquet, for example, and to keep track of the worth for each person.

The ethics committee suggested changing the limit to $200. It suggested adding language to allow for certain types of gifts beyond the limit, such as sponsored travel or gifts of reasonable value given as expressions of cultural tradition. It gave moccasins as an example of a cultural gift that might cost more than the $80 limit.

The Committee agrees that sponsored travel, where it serves a legitimate purpose, should be exempted from the application of the low-value limit and the annual limit, it wrote.

Democracy Watch said in its March 27 release, The Committee wants a loophole so lobbyists can continue to give sponsored travel junket trips to MPs and their family members and associates.

The group said that more than 20,000 voters signed on to its petition or its letter-writing campaign to stop the changes, and that it will file a lawsuit challenging the changes if they go through.
The recent release of the US State Department's 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices has sparked criticism from several countries, including Mexico, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The Mexican President, Lopez Obrador, dismissed the report as "worthless" and "violative of international law," while Vietnamese and Cambodian officials accused the US of bias and double standards.

The annual human rights report, which the US government has been producing since the 1970s, is intended to promote democracy and human rights worldwide. It is compiled by the State Department based on intelligence gathered by US embassies worldwide, as well as reports from NGOs, the media, and other sources. The report provides a detailed assessment of the human rights records of each country, including any significant developments or challenges over the past year, and makes recommendations for improving the human rights situation.

However, the coverage and level of detail in the report often depend on the US's relationship with the country or region in question. The report may be more focused on human rights issues in countries that are US rivals or have tense relations with the US, while highlighting positive progress and developments in US allies or partner countries, such as NATO members. Many countries criticize this approach as a form of hegemony, arguing that the motivation behind the report is more about US geopolitical advantage than genuine concern for the rights and freedoms of people worldwide.

The US is aware of this criticism, but it continues to pursue its human rights diplomacy. In a leaked memo to the media in 2017, senior State Department official Brian Hook argued that the US should use human rights, democracy, and freedom as tools to pressure and compete with its enemies.

The deeper reason for US human rights diplomacy may be traced to its core guiding principle of exceptionalism. Exceptionalism is the guiding principle that shapes the US's national identity and foreign policy. It is a "moral superiority" that believes the US is a "City upon a Hill" built by the "chosen people" (Puritan colonizers). This "moral superiority" became closely linked to the US's rapid economic and military power in the 19th century. In 1823, US President James Monroe introduced the Monroe Doctrine, which claimed that the US had a "special responsibility" to regulate affairs in the Western Hemisphere (primarily referring to the Americas). In the 20th century, US exceptionalism continued to evolve in response to global changes. In the aftermath of World War II, the US saw itself as the leader of the free world and the defender of democracy against totalitarianism.

US human rights diplomacy is part of this exceptionalist tradition, which seeks to promote democracy and human rights as universal values. However, its selective approach has made it vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy and double standards. The US's pursuit of human rights diplomacy is driven not only by a desire to promote these values but also by a belief in its own moral superiority and geopolitical interests. As such, it is important for the US to acknowledge the criticisms of its approach and strive for greater consistency and objectivity in its human rights reporting.

(Contributed by Tian Li, assistant researcher at the Human Right Research Center of Shandong University)

Editor: WXL
EU Threatens More Sanctions If Russia Stations Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, on March 25, 2023. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The European Union is threatening more sanctions on Russia if it stations tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on March 25 that his government would move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, in a clear warning to Ukraine and allied Western nations as they continue to provide military and financial support to Kyiv.

The blocs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, warned Belarus about allowing Russian tactical nuclear weapons to be placed in its territory.

Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would mean an irresponsible escalation & threat to European security. Belarus can still stop it, it is their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions, Borrell said in a Twitter post on March 26.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu condemned the Kremlins move, calling it dangerous and irresponsible.

Moving the weapons to a storage facility in Belarus raises the stakes in the Ukrainian conflict, by placing them closer to the combat zone and the borders of NATO.

Ukrainian service members next an infantry fighting vehicle near the frontline town of Bakhmut, amid Russias attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2023. (Yan Dobronosov/Reuters)

Putin Protests UK-Supplied Depleted Uranium

Putin said that the move was triggered by the UKs decision to provide Ukraine with depleted uranium armor piercing shells, which are widely considered to be toxic.

He said the trigger was the statement by the British deputy minister of defene that they are going to supply depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, this is somehow related to nuclear technology.

Those weapons are harmful not just for combatants, but also for the people living in those territories and for the environment, he said in a previous statement.

Putin argued that the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is no different than the United States storing nukes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, and Turkey.

There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States have been doing this for decades. They have long ago deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries, NATO countries, in Europe, in six states.

We are going to do the same thing.

Tactical nuclear weapons are short range and primarily intended for use on the battlefield. They a low yield compared with the more powerful nuclear warheads, which are carried by long range missiles.

The Russian president claimed that the decision does not violate existing nuclear non-proliferation agreements.

I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, we have already helped our Belarusian colleagues and equip their aircraft, aircraft of the Belarusian Air Force. Ten aircraft are ready for use of this type weapon, said Putin.

It would be the first time since 1996 that the Russians have based nuclear weapons outside of their borders.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there were once nuclear weapons within the borders of Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, but they have since been returned to Russia.

Russia plans to maintain complete control over the nuclear weapons it sends to Belarus and will complete the storage facilities built to house them by July 1, Putin said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, attend a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Pentagon in Washington on March 15, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

Biden Administration Monitoring Situation

Putin did not reveal how many nuclear weapons would be left in Belarus, which borders Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, which are members of NATO.

The Pentagon believes that Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, including bombs that can be carried by tactical aircraft, along with warheads for short range missiles and artillery rounds.

We have not seen any indication that hes made good on this pledge, or moved any nuclear weapons around, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CBS Face the Nation.

The Biden administration said it would monitor the implications of Putins decision, but so far there has been no indication that the Russians have started to move nuclear weapons across their borders.

We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

We remain committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.

Meanwhile, Kyiv called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council on March 26 to address the move, as Ukraines Security Council Secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, accused the Kremlin of taking Belarus as a nuclear hostage and said it was taking a step towards the internal destabilization of the country.

The Russian president also accused the West of building a new axis similar to that of the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War Two, and denied that his country was building a military alliance with China.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Nashville School Shooter Identified by Officials as 28-Year-Old Former Student

MNPD said three children and three staff members were killed

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a deadly shooting at their school on March 27, 2023. (Jonathan Mattise/AP Photo)

Three children and three adult staff members at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, were fatally shot on March 27 after a 28-year-old former student at the school opened fire inside the building, officials said.

The assailant, who was killed by police, was Nashville resident Audrey Elizabeth Hale, officials said. However, Police Chief John Drake said Hale did identify as transgender, during a press conference on March 27.

Drake said investigations are ongoing at a residence on Brightwood Avenue.

Were also determined there were maps drawn of the school in detail of surveillance, entry-points, etc., Drake said. We know and believe that entry was gained through shooting through one of the doors.

He added that Hale was a former student at the school but didnt know when that occurred.

Drake said the assailant was someone that had multiple rounds of ammunition, prepared for a confrontation with law enforcement, and prepared to do more harm than was actually done.

Police are working through a manifesto as well as a map drawn out with plans for the shooting. He said theory to the shooting might be released later.

Calls about the shooting occurred around 10:13 a.m. local time and MNPD alongside Metro Nashville Fire Department (Metro Fire) responded to the scene immediately, according to officials from both agencies.

Officers entered the first story of the school, began clearing it, they heard shots coming from the second level and immediately went to the gunfire, MPND spokesman Don Aaron said at a news conference. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers.

The officers had engaged the shooter by 10:27 a.m., roughly 14 minutes after the first call came in.

Aaron said the assailant had gained entry through a side entrance and had two assault-type rifles as well as a handgun, while Drake said the suspect had a map of how this was all going to take place.

Aaron said that on a typical day, there would be about 209 students in the building and approximately 40 to 50 staff members.

Kendra Loney, a spokesperson with Metro Fire, said crews are dispatched to active shooter situations for medical support and rescue task force response to go in alongside MNDP. She said fire department members went in as soon as it was safe to do so and attempted to provide life-saving efforts for survivors.

Our crews were able to be on scene to pull out those that had viable signs of life, those that were still showing the option to be saved, Loney said. We did make transport of three individuals, three children, and two adults that were taken from the scene.

She added that one police officer suffered a hand injury, but no additional first responders were injured in the response.

Faculty and students were escorted out of the building to a nearby reunification center. Loney said that mental health professionals were on-scene for students, staff, and families affected by the shooting.

There wasnt a School Resource Officer from MNPD present at the school, Aaron said, since it is a church that operates a private school.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation didnt respond by press time to a request for comment; the agency said on Twitter that it was assisting in the situation.
Glimmer of Hope in Fight to Reverse Spinal Injuries

Dylan Alcott of Australia plays a backhand in his Quad Wheelchair singles quarterfinals match against Niels Vink of the Netherlands during day seven of the 2022 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 23, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Ten years ago Sam Bloom fell off a balcony during a family holiday in Thailand and became a paraplegic, but she still considers herself lucky.

The Sydney mother of three can move her arms, and she is determined to help people with even more severe injuries to one day be able to use their upper bodies.

Im still lucky as I still have full use of my arms and hands. I cant even imagine not being able to hug my kids; it would be absolutely devastating, Bloom told AAP.

Id do anything just to be the old me again, but you cant go back in time. Its gotten a bit easier, but I still struggle and think I always will until a cure is found.

The Bloom familys incredible journey of recovery, with the help of an injured magpie chick they named Penguin, was documented in the book Penguin Bloom and then turned into a feature film starring Naomi Watts.

Bloom has been told her condition is irreversible and she will never walk again, but her dream of people with spinal injuries being able to recover some function is becoming closer to reality.

Neurosurgeon and Monash University associate professor Tony Goldschlager said the science relating to spinal injuries was advancing, and researchers were starting to see results.

A big breakthrough came in early 2022, when a study published in Nature Medicine showed that paralysed patients were able to walk again after targeted electrical stimulation. Other small trials around the world have also shown promising results.

The attitude has changed, I think 10 years ago we were much less optimistic. This has all just come so far, Dr Goldschlager said.

Bloom and her husband Cameron are backing Australian research to explore whether quadriplegics can regain some movement in their hands and arms.

They have donated $100,000 in royalties from the book and contributions from the public to fund clinical trials through Project Spark, a collaboration between Neuroscience Research Australia, SpinalCure Australia and Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.

The experimental therapy, called neurostimulation, works by tapping into the remaining pathways between the brain and body.

The results of the research will be made publicly available, so other experts can build on the findings.

Its giving hope to people like Alex Richter, who became quadriplegic at the age of 16 after a mountain bike accident.

With just a little more movement in my arms, I would be much less reliant on my family and carers, he said.

Not being able to move is just the tip of the iceberg for those with serious spinal injuries, according to SpinalCure Australia executive director Duncan Wallace.

He became quadriplegic after being hit by a drunk driver 30 years ago and is pleased new technology could address other issues people with spinal injuries face, including loss of bladder control and unstable blood pressure.

When I had my injury and like everyone sinceI was told youll never walk again, Wallace said.

Now, I really dont think a person injured today should be told thatparticularly at a time when the research is making such great strides.

Bloom is hopeful life will be different for people who suffer spinal cord injuries in the future.

I really believe they will find a cure. I think you just need to give some people not false hope, but just hope, so they have something to live for, she said.
GOP Senators Introduce Resolution to Reverse Bidens Student Debt Cancellation Program

U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and 36 of their Republican colleagues have introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn President Joe Bidens student loan cancellation program.

The senators claim in their March 27 announcement of the legislation that the policy violates the limits of Bidens executive authority under the Constitution and circumvents the authority of Congress.

President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt, and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans, said Cassidy, according to a press release about the resolution.

It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes.

According to the lawmakers, the plan seeks to transfer up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower onto taxpayers, costing an estimated $400 billion.

The resolution would also end the pause on student loan payments, which has been extended six times under the Biden administration, costing taxpayers $5 billion a month. The pause is set to expire in August of 2023 and will have cost Americans a total of $195 billion by then.

On March 17, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) classified Bidens student loan policy as a rule, making it eligible to be overturned under the CRA.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) introduced the companion CRA resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.

President Bidens so-called student loan forgiveness programs do not make the debt go away, but merely transfer the costs from student loan borrowers onto taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, said Good, according to the press release.

Congress should stop these unilateral actions, and I am proud to lead the fight in the House to hold President Biden accountable for his reckless, unfair, and unlawful student loan proposal. I hope all my colleagues will join me and support this effort.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown on whether the student loan cancellation program violates President Bidens executive authority under the Constitution. A decision is expected this summer.

Cassidy joined Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and 41 other senators in sending an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in early February, contesting the Biden administrations student debt cancellation program. He also joined Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in introducing the Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act, which seeks to end Bidens current student loan pause.

Cassidy also criticized Bidens income-driven repayment (IDR) rule, which he claims would result in a majority of bachelors degree holders not having to repay their loans and would cost taxpayers an estimated $230 billion.
Cannabis is a widely used psychoactive drug worldwide, and its popularity is growing: The U.S. market for recreational cannabis sales could surpass $72 billion by 2023.

As of early 2023, 21 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational use for people age 21 and up, while 39 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized it for medical use.

The growing wave of legalization and the dramatic increase in cannabis potency over the past two decades have raised concerns among scientists and public health experts about the potential health effects of cannabis use during pregnancy and other vulnerable periods of development, such as the teen years.

I am a developmental neuroscientist specializing in studying whats known as the endocannabinoid system. This is an evolutionarily ancient system found in humans and other vertebrates that produces natural cannabinoids such as THC and CBD.

Cannabis and its constituents interact with the bodys endocannabinoid system to produce their effects. THC and CBD are the most commonly known cannabis extracts and can be synthesized in a lab. My lab also studies the risks versus potential therapeutic value of cannabis and cannabinoids.

People often assume theres no risk when using cannabis or cannabinoids during vulnerable periods of life, but theyre basing that on little to no data. Our research and that of others suggests that cannabis use during pregnancy and adolescence can present myriad health risks the public should be aware of.

Cannabis Use During Pregnancy

More and more pregnant people are using cannabis today compared with a decade ago, with some studies showing that nearly one in four pregnant adolescents report that they use cannabis.

Many cannabis-using people may have not known they were pregnant and stopped using when they found out. Others report using cannabis for its touted ability to ease pregnancy-related symptoms, like nausea and anxiety. However, studies do not yet confirm those health claims. Whats more, the potential harms are often downplayed by pro-cannabis marketing and messaging by dispensaries, advocacy groups, and even midwives or doulas.

In addition, physicians and other health care providers often are not knowledgeable enough or dont feel well equipped to discuss the potential risks and benefits of cannabis with their patients, including during pregnancy.

While research shows that most people who are pregnant perceive little to no risk in using cannabis during pregnancy, the data show there is clear cause for concern. Indeed, a growing number of studies link prenatal cannabis exposure to greater risk of preterm birth, lower birth weight, and psychiatric and behavioral problems in children. These include, for example, difficulties with attention, thought, social problems, anxiety, and depression.

Cannabis and the Developing Brain

When cannabis is inhaled, consumed orally, or taken in through other routes, it can easily cross through the placenta and deposit in the fetal brain, disrupting brain development.

A recent study from my lab, led by medical student Mohammed Faraj, found that cannabis use during pregnancy can shape the developing brain in ways that are detectable even a decade later.

We used data from the National Institutes of Health Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which is the largest long-term study of brain development and child and adolescent health in the United States. It has followed more than 10,000 children and their families from age 9-10 over a 10-year period.

Through that analysis, we linked prenatal cannabis exposure to alterations in functional brain networks in 9- and 10-year-old children. In particular, prenatal cannabis exposure appeared to disrupt the communication between brain networks involved in attentional control, which may explain why children who were exposed to cannabis in utero may develop difficulties with attention or other behavioral issues or mental disorders as they develop.

While alcohol abuse has steadily declined among adolescents since 2000 in the United States, cannabis use shows the opposite pattern: It increased by 245% during that same period.

Data reported in 2022 from the Monitoring the Future survey of over 50,000 students in the United States found that nearly one-third of 12th-grade students reported using cannabis in the past year, including cannabis vaping. Yet only about one in four 12th-grade students perceive great harm in using cannabis regularly. This suggests that many teens use cannabis, but very few consider it to have potential negative effects.

Cannabis Use During Adolescence

Research shows that the adolescent brain is primed to engage in high-risk behaviors such as experimenting with cannabis and other substances. Unfortunately, owing to ongoing brain development, the adolescent brain is also particularly susceptible to the effects of cannabis and other substances. Indeed, many neuroscientists now agree that the brain continues to develop well into the second and even third decade of life.

In line with this vulnerability, research shows that, relative to those who did not use cannabis during adolescence, those who started using it during adolescence are at increased risk of developing depression, suicidal ideation, psychosis, and reductions in IQ during adolescence and adulthood. Neuroimaging studies also show residual effects of adolescent cannabis use on brain functioning, even later during adulthood.

Reading Beyond the Label

Despite common misconceptions that cannabis is all-natural and safe to use during pregnancy or adolescence, the data suggests there are real risks. In fact, in 2019, the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory against the use of cannabis during pregnancy and adolescence, stating that no amount  is known to be safe.

Cannabis may be harmful to the developing brain because it disrupts the developing endocannabinoid system, which plays a critical role in shaping brain development from conception and into adulthood. This includes neural circuits involved in learning, memory, decision-making, and emotion regulation.

While much of this research has focused on cannabis use, there is also other research that comes to similar conclusions for THC and CBD in other forms. In fact, although CBD is widely available as an unregulated supplement, we researchers know almost nothing about its effects on the developing brain. Of note, these harms apply not only to smoking, but also to ingesting, vaping, or other ways of consuming cannabis or its extracts.

In my view, its important that consumers know these risks and recognize that not everything claimed on a label is backed by science. So before you pick up that edible or vape pen for stress, anxiety, or sleep or pain control, its important to talk to a health care provider about potential risksespecially if you are or could be pregnant or are a teen or young adult.

Hilary A. Marusak, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
For many Americans, a morning coffee is as habitual as brushing their teeth. You know the routine: Leave the house at 8:00 a.m., pick up your favorite caffeinated beverage at the coffee shop at 8:15, and get to work by 8:30.

Coffee and tea help us get through the MondayFriday grind.

But according to recent research, when we drink hot coffee or tea from disposable paper cups, were ingesting thousands of health-damaging microplastics.

Though one might not think a paper cup would contain plastic, almost all paper dishware uses microplastics as a sealant.

Two separate studies showed that when hot liquid is poured into paper cups, microplastics leach from the coating into the hot liquid, thereby turning a cup of coffee or tea into a microplastic slurry.

In one study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, researchers discovered that consuming hot liquid from a standard 12-ounce paper cup results in the ingestion of roughly 88,000 microplastic particles, if not more.

After a year of drinking just one cup of coffee or tea from a paper cup daily, the total amount of microplastic particles consumed would be over 32 million.

When heated to between 185 and 194 degrees Fahrenheit, paper cups were shown to release thousands of microplastics into the liquid. For reference, most lattes are served at around 160 degrees while brewed coffee is served at 190 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Researchers in another study also discovered that paper cups do not appear to release fewer microplastic particles than plastic cups.

As they concluded in the study published in Science of the Total Environment, microplastic debris released from the cups as a type of exposure source to humans should be cause for grave concern.

The impact of microplastics on the health of ocean ecosystems has rightfully seen widespread media coverage but the immediate threat microplastics pose to human health, particularly hormone and reproductive health, remains dangerously under-acknowledged.

Hormones and Microplastics

Having balanced hormone levels is requisite for reproduction in both men and women. This balance is becoming increasingly lost as countless chemicals interfere with natural hormone productionmicroplastics being a top offender.

The chemicals found in plastics are ones that can mimic the shape of a hormone, Dr. Ivone Mirpuri, a clinician specializing in pathology and endocrinology, told The Epoch Times. They travel to the receptor on our cells instead of real hormones, which either enhances the effect of a hormone, or blocks it.

She said, Either way, it triggers abnormal processes and wreaks havoc on the way the endocrine system works, with worrying consequences.

Numerous studies have shown that microplastics alter testosterone and estrogen in men and women.

A study reviewing the research on microplastics and their threat to male reproduction published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2021, the authors warn that the possible reproductive health risks of microplastics should not be ignored.

In one study on mice, chronic exposure to polystyrene, a microplastic used in numerous household products, reduced testosterone levels and stimulated abnormal spermatogenesis in male mice.

Mirpuri believes the ubiquitousness of microplastics is contributing to the startling rise of infertility. Because many endocrine-disrupting chemicals like microplastics act similarly to estrogen, we see lots of problems in the reproductive system, she said.

Disappointed but Not Surprised

While the results of paper coffee cups leaching microplastics are shocking to many, Dr. Susanne Brander, a researcher who specializes in microplastics, was not surprised by the studies outcomes. In an interview with The Epoch Times, she pointed out, Many peopleincluding very well-educated scientistsdo not realize that most paper products contain different kinds of plastics that end up in the food we eat and liquids we drink.

Brander said there is still much to learn regarding microplastics and their potential role in the progression of various diseases. We, unfortunately, do not know how much microplastics might be harming our health, she said.

There are nearly a thousand studies that show microplastics are disrupting aquatic life and a PubMed search reveals just over 1,400 papers discussing microplastics influence on human health, but data is still limited.

There are reports that microplastics alter the gut microbiome, can promote cardiovascular disease, and may play a role in neurodegenerative diseases. But as Brander explained, there isnt sufficient evidence to show a causative relationship between these diseases and microplastics.

This, she says, gives the plastic industry leeway to keep producing millions of tons of plastic each year with little opposition. Its an innocent-until-proven-guilty kind of situation, she said.

Anecdotal Evidence Is Mounting

Though the academic research isnt yet extensive, some doctors have seen the effects of microplastic toxicity in their practice.

Dr. Matt Angove, a naturopathic health care provider, had a male patient who was extraordinarily fit and ate healthier than 99 percent of the population, Angove said in an interview with The Epoch Times. The patient was an exemplar of healthy living but had a lethargic libido and wanted to start testosterone replacement therapy.

The patients lab results indicated his testosterone markers werent significantly low, though they werent optimal. What was striking was the male patients estrogen levels. Estradiol, the primary form of estrogen, should be around 25 to 35 pg/ml in healthy men. This patients estradiol was at 99 pg/ml.

Knowing that numerous chemicals mimic biological estrogen, Angove assessed whether this patient had chronic exposure to such chemicals and realized that the patients life was flooded with microplastic exposure.

Every day, this patient drank six plastic bottles of water, ate his lunch out of plastic Tupperware, and consumed multiple cups of coffee from plastic-coated paper cups, Angove said.

Angove speculated that the patients microplastic exposure was elevating his estrogen. He, therefore, advised the patient to minimize his microplastic exposure through a few simple changes.The patient switched to a stainless steel water bottle and coffee thermos, and replaced his plastic Tupperware with glassware, Angove said.

With no other lifestyle or pharmaceutical interventions, within three months the patients estradiol fell from 99 down to 29 pg/ml while his total testosterone rose from 471 to 668 ng/dl. Angove said that the patients symptoms were relieved and he felt better than ever.

Cases like this are becoming more frequent, said Angove.

Across my practice, Im witnessing an increase in reproductive issues in both men and women.

Its quite evident that microplastics and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals are facilitating these issues.

Dr. Angoves experience aligns with recent evidence showing that male sperm counts have declined 50 percent in the past 50 years. This shocking drop parallels the timeline of plastics sudden prevalence in our lives, though some researchers say the prolific use of another endocrine disruptor, the herbicide glyphosate, is also a factor.

In 1950, worldwide plastic production reached at least two million tons. In 2021, plastic production soared to over 390 million tons.

Angove says there are other factors that also contribute to the fertility crisis.

Its a multifaceted issue that includes toxins like microplastics, but also our lifestyle choices like eating processed foods and spending more time on screens instead of the outdoors, he said.

Reduce Microplastic Exposure

From the air we breathe to the water we drink, it has become an impossible feat to avoid microplastics altogether. Even so, we can reduce our microplastic exposure by thousandsif not millionsof particles if we choose to forgo paper cups.

Instead of drinking your favorite tea or coffee from a disposable cup, consider using a stainless steel thermos or a ceramic mug. This simple switch might be the catalyst that restores your health and fertility.
According to a 2015 article published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, children of modern Jews are more frequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder than those of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arabs.

The study, which was led by Dr. Raanan Raz, who was at the Harvard School of Public Health at the time, analyzed data collected on more than 2,400,000 children from the Israeli National Insurance Institute.

Raz and an international team of scientists suggested that a lack of awareness in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community could account for the discrepancy.

Since ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel refrain from modern life, as they put it, they would be less likely to seek out a modern doctor to make an autism diagnosis.

Raz and his colleagues also proposed that ultra-Orthodox Jews (UOJ) simply dont want people to know they have children with autism.

Traditionally, mental disorders in these populations may be stigmatized and, especially in the UOJ population, might also negatively affect other family members arranged marriage processes, the scientists wrote.

Underreporting Doesnt Explain It

Dr. Mitchel Shertz is a pediatric neurologist and director of Child Development & Pediatric Neurology at Meuhedet in North Israel. He has looked closely at the autism rates in Israel.

According to his research, the average rate of autism among the ultra-Orthodox is 1.5 cases per 1,000 children; among Arab children, its 3 cases per 1,000; among secular and modern Jews in Israel, its 5.5 to 9 cases per 1,000. This means that modern Jews may have nearly six times the number of children with autism as very religious Jews.

But, according to Shertz and other experts, the gap isnt due entirely to either underreporting or underdiagnosis.

Now we understand that the rarity of autism among the ultra-Orthodox and Arabs is a key factor in lowering autism frequency in Israel, Shertz told a reporter at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in 2014.

How can something be causing autism in the modern Jewish community without affecting ultra-Orthodox Jewish and Arab communities?

Environmental Exposure as the Cause

Razs team pointed out that an environmental factor that could be causing autism among modern Jews would have to relate to exposures experienced separately, and with distinct temporal patterns, by the different groups.

William Parker, a scientist who spent almost 30 years doing research at Duke University, has combed the scientific literature to try to understand why secular Jews have higher rates of autism.

Parker said that he believes that its related to differences in circumcisions in each community.

It isnt the circumcision itself, Parker said, but the way its done that may be causing brain damage among modern, more secular Jews. Why? Because modern Jews almost always give their newborns acetaminophen, which is the main ingredient in Tylenol.

In Israel, Tylenol is called Acamol or Dexemol. The active ingredient is paracetamol, which is the word used for acetaminophen throughout Europe as well.

Acetaminophen is likely a causative factor in the rise in autism among children, especially boys. During traditional circumcisions, ultra-Orthodox Jews usually dont use Tylenol.

Instead, they often use wine or other alcohol. For example, in some cases, the baby is given a rag soaked in vodka to suck on during the circumcision.

You only need to know two facts to understand the observations, Parker said. First, our published research has shown that exposure to acetaminophen very early in life can cause autism in susceptible children. Second, modern Jews but not ultra-Orthodox, tend to use acetaminophen during circumcision.

Many Jews, both modern and ultra-Orthodox, usually use a bit of alcohol to help babies get past the pain of circumcision during traditional circumcision ceremonies. Unfortunately, alcohol is also one of the factors known to make people more sensitive to adverse reactions to acetaminophen.

What about Arabs living in Israel and elsewhere? The age of circumcision among Muslim families varies, depending on the culture, region, and family. For many, the ceremony involves an elaborate rite of passage into manhood, for which pain medication isnt appropriate. And many, if not most, Arabic families living in Israel dont circumcise newborns. Instead, they wait until the boy is about 13 years old. At this age, a childs brain is much more developed and much less vulnerable to environmental assaults.

Finally, alcohol, which amplifies the negative effects of acetaminophen, is also forbidden in Islamic cultures and not given to children as medicine.

Circumcision Raises Autism Rates

In 2015, Danish scientists found that circumcision was associated with a two-fold increase in the prevalence of an infantile autism diagnosis.

2013 research published in the journal Environmental Health also found an association between autism and circumcision.

But Parker said that the reasons for the connection arent widely appreciated.

We have been looking at this issue since 2016, and evidence is overwhelming that use of acetaminophen for anything early in life, whether it be vaccination or circumcision, is going to lead to autism in a subset of babies and small children, Parker insisted.

How Could Baby Tylenol Cause Autism?

Parker explains that the babys liver is part of the problem.

The liver is the organ that normally detoxifies drugs.

The best available evidence tells us that the most vulnerable time for acetaminophen-induced brain injury is immediately after birth, when the babys liver suddenly becomes independent from the mothers liver, he said. The babys liver is only meant to process breastmilk, not drugs such as acetaminophen.

Parkers team has concluded that the risk of acetaminophen-induced autism is much greater after birth than during pregnancy.

Parker pointed to a 2008 case-controlled study that showed that adverse reactions to vaccines were associated with autism, but only if acetaminophen was used, not ibuprofen.

There is such a large volume of circumstantial evidence that we can be certain, without any reasonable doubt, about acetaminophen causing many if not most cases of autism, Parker said. Each bit of evidence by itself is concerning but not conclusive. However, up to 20 different lines of evidence have tipped the scales for us.

Acetaminophen Plus Oxidative Stress Causes Autism

But if acetaminophen really causes autism, given the popularity of the drug for babies and children, why dont more people have autism?

Most babies, even newborns, can handle some level of drug exposure, Parker said. The problem comes when too much oxidative stress builds up, which occurs in some, but not all, babies. Oxidative stress plus acetaminophen are key ingredients in the development of many, if not most, cases of autism. They must both be present, or autism will not result.

Oxidative stress is a metabolic condition that hinders drug metabolism. It can be caused by a wide range of factors, including genetics (babies who are homozygous for MTHFR mutations, for example, are at higher risk), exposure to a variety of environmental toxins (such as alcohol used during circumcision), and other medical conditions.

Its difficult to predict which babies and children are going to have enough oxidative stress to put them at real risk from acetaminophen, Parker said.

For Parker, who has published three peer-reviewed papers showing the connection between autism and early exposure to acetaminophen, and his research team, the observation that modern Jews have more children with autism than Orthodox Jews isnt surprising. Its expected.

Dr. Raanan Raz at Harvard got it exactly correct, Parker said. It is an environmental factor that is individually experienced but depends on religion. He nailed it, although he didnt mention acetaminophen by name.

Never Give a Baby Tylenol

According to a 1994 study published in the journal Pediatrics, acetaminophen doesnt work well for pain associated with circumcision. So the solution for modern Jews, according to Parker, is simple: Dont use it.

Some Jewish parents are choosing to forgo the procedure. While Im not qualified to offer an opinion with regard to analgesia in neonates following circumcision, I can say that some Jewish people are rethinking the necessity of circumcision altogether, said Rebecca Wald, executive director of Bruchim, a nonprofit that advocates for the open inclusion of Jews who choose not to practice infant circumcision.

It just makes sense to avoid injuring and traumatizing a newborn, Wald continued. We dont fully understand how this impacts the developing brain, but it cant be good. Efforts to ameliorate the pain are well-intended but also have potential downsides.

Other Jews, like the ultra-Orthodox, forgo all conventional pain medication and use comfort measures such as breastfeeding instead of analgesics. And still others choose to use a different pain medication, such as baby aspirin, instead.

But the bigger picture is perhaps a little more complex.

The people of this planet have almost universally embraced acetaminophen as a safe drug, Parker said. Theyre wrong. But changing that perception appears to be an uphill battle. Were hoping to reach a tipping point soon. But when? Our research has shown that the drug was never shown to be safe for brain development, and we have nearly 20 lines of evidence which have absolutely convinced us that the drug causes manyif not mostcases of autism. But the practice hasnt changed yet.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
Hongkongers Hold First Protest in Years Under Strict Rules

HONG KONGDozens of people on Sunday joined Hong Kongs first authorized protest since the lifting of major COVID-19 restrictions under unprecedentedly strict rules, including wearing a numbered badge around their necks.

The rules set out by the police, who cited security reasons, came as the financial hub was promoting its return to normalcy after years of anti-virus controls and political turmoil.

During the pandemic, protests were rare due to COVID-19 restrictions. In addition, many activists have been silenced or jailed after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a draconian national security law following massive protests in 2019. Critics say the citys freedom of assembly that was promised Hong Kong when it returned to China from Britain in 1997 has been eroded.

Sundays demonstration against the proposed reclamation and construction of rubbish-processing facilities was the first police-approved march of its kind after the city scrapped its mask mandate and social distancing limits.

But organizers had to comply with police requirements such as taking measures to ensure the number of participants would not exceed the expected turnout of 100 people and asking for proof of a reasonable excuse from protesters who wore masks during the event. At the height of the 2019 anti-CCP movement, Hong Kongs government invoked emergency powers to ban masks from public gatherings so it can identify protesters who officials accused of illegal acts.

On Sunday, about 80 people expressed their opposition to the plans in Tseung Kwan O, a residential and industrial area, the organizer said. They had to walk in a cordoned-off moving line in the rain amid heavy police presence.

Police accompany protesters walking within a cordon line wearing number tags during a rally in Hong Kong on March 26, 2023. (Louise Delmotte/AP Photo)

Protester Jack Wong said he would prefer not to wear the badge printed with a number. Police said earlier the requirement aims to prevent lawbreakers from joining the march.

But if it is a requirement, what can I say? I prefer not to comment further. You know what I mean, he said.

In granting its approval, police also requested that organizers ensure there would not be any acts that might endanger national security, including displaying anything seditious.

Cyrus Chan, one of the march organizers, said demonstrators had communicated with police on their promotional materials and slogans. Officers earlier had told him that participants should not wear all-black outfits, he said. Protesters commonly wore black during the 2019 protests.

Its definitely strict, Chan said. We hope this is just an individual case. We hope to show them that Hong Kong society has the ability to have peaceful marches and they do not need to set that many conditions to restrict us.

Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Women Workers Association planned a march to call for labor and womens rights but canceled it at the last moment without specifying why.

Days later, the association said on its Facebook page that police had invited it for further meetings after granting it the approval and that it had tried its best to amend the agreement. But it still could not launch the protest as it had wished, it wrote at that time.

A pro-democracy group separately said national security police had warned four of its members not to participate in the associations march.
Is Elon Musks Growing Global Influence a Dilemma for the White House?

Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, on March 22, 2022. (Patrick Pleul/Pool via Reuters)

When Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, he expanded his reach to five companies, spanning multiple industries, whose intersection with the government put the tech mogul and his growing global influence on the White House radar.

Musk has made it his mission to cure what he calls the woke mind virus. To some, his purchase of Twitter several months ago was just what the doctor ordered.

$44 Billion was not the cost of Twitter. It was the cost of restoring Free Speech,' the Twitter account DogeDesigner posted last week.

Some things are priceless, Musk tweeted.

Not long after Musk took over, he reinstated several banned accountsincluding former President Donald Trumpand unlocked a trove of internal Twitter communications known as the Twitter Files, which shed light on the depth of the companys censorship and bias against conservative voices.

But while many on the right side of the political spectrum have praised Musks moves since taking over Twitter, others have expressed reservations.

President Joe Biden reacted with concern to news of Musks purchase of Twitter and subsequent moves to slash jobs, which slimmed the companys content moderation team.

What are we all worried about? Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world, Biden said at a Democratic fundraiser in Illinois several days after the Twitter buyout deal came to fruition.

Theres no editors anymore in America, he added. How do we expect kids to be able to understand what is at stake?

U.S. President Biden discusses his efforts to reduce gun violence at The Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley, in Monterey Park, Calif. on Mar. 14, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Irina Tsukerman, a national security lawyer and geopolitical analyst, told The Epoch Times that some worry that Musks commitment to free speech is too absolute and that indiscriminate treatment of foreign accounts on Twitter threatens U.S. interests.

He has failed to shut down outright genocidal and provocative discourse by actors adversarial to the U.S., such as Irans Ayatollah Khamenei, various IRGC functionaries, the Taliban, and Russia-linked accounts, she said in an emailed statement.

There is also a concern about lack of interest and monitoring of extremist discourse in foreign languages such as Arabic, Farsi, and Chinese, Tsukerman added.

Biden was asked in November whether he thought Musk was a threat to U.S. national security and if the participation of a Saudi Arabia-linked investor in the purchase of Twitter should be investigated.

Elon Musks cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at, Biden said at a Nov. 9, 2022, press conference.

Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriateIm not suggesting that. Im suggesting its worth being looked at. But thats all Ill say, he added. The Epoch Times has contacted Twitter and the White House for comment.

Not a Right Wing Takeover

Some critics have raised concerns that increased freedom to troll came with more freedom of speech on Twitter.

Current and former Twitter employees reportedly told BBC reporter Marianna Spring that features meant to protect Twitter users from harassment and trolling were proving hard to maintain.

The investigation made clear Twitter was never perfect. But it had exposed how hate is thriving under Twitters new owner, Spring wrote. Current and former Twitter employees told me nobody is taking care of features designed to protect users from hate and harm.

Musk reacted to Springs article by suggesting on Twitter that such concerns were overblown.

Sorry for turning Twitter from nurturing paradise into a place that has  trolls, Musk wrote.

Musk has acknowledged that free and open communication risks being offensive, but the trade-off is worth it.

Worth noting that the left is not being censored either, Musk said in a follow-up comment. This is not a right wing takeover, but rather a centrist takeover.

Whatever the nature of the takeover, Musk has pledged to allow more free speech on the platform while vowing to prevent it from becoming a free-for-all hellscape.

Tsukerman said that Musks selective reinstatement of banned accounts undermines the case that Twitter is a neutral marketplace for exchanging ideas.

Musk seems to have given preferences to celebrity accounts and voices that reflect his own preferred brand of politics, she said, adding that some accounts of Americans critical of U.S. foreign or domestic policies were never reinstated.

Knowingly allowing foreign propagandists to conduct operations utilizing this platform damages the credibility of American companies and makes it more difficult for U.S. law enforcement and security agencies to guard U.S. interests, Tsukerman said.

Meanwhile, at the end of January, Twitter Safety said it has been proactively reinstating previously banned accounts and that anyone whose account remains suspended can appeal the ban, which will be re-evaluated under less stringent criteria.

Going forward, we will take less severe actions, such as limiting the reach of policy-violating Tweets or asking you to remove Tweets before you can continue using your account. Account suspension will be reserved for severe or ongoing, repeat violations of our policies, Twitter Safety said in a post.

At the same time, Twitter Safety said it hadnt reinstated accounts where there was illegal activity or when there was no recent appeal to have the account ban lifted.

Meanwhile, the reach of hate speech on Twitter has declined more than expected under Musk, according to a recent independent assessment by Sprinklr.

Sprinklrs AI-powered model found that the reach of hate speech on Twitter is even lower than our own model quantified, Twitter Safety said in a tweet earlier this month.

The Sprinklr analysis found that hate speech on Twitter gets fewer impressions per tweet than non-toxic slur tweets.
Israeli Government Delays Judicial Overhaul Bill Amid Mass Protests

Israelis protest during a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023. (Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters)

JERUSALEMIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 27 delayed a decision on bitterly contested plans for a judicial overhaul to next month amid concern that Israels worst national crisis in years could fracture his coalition or escalate into violence.

It isnt known whether the bills delay, amid a wave of protests, will satisfy either side or cool a crisis that the army chief on March 27 said made this hour different to any before.

Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir agreed to the delay in exchange for a commitment to submit the legislation in the next session of parliament.

Opponents of the plan to tighten parliaments control over judicial processes say its a threat to democracy and have mobilized huge protests against it. Supporters of the legislation have promised counterdemonstrations.

Flights from Ben Gurion International Airport were grounded, and seaports, banks, hospitals, and medical services were also set to stop work as the head of the national labor union Histadrut called for a general strike to stop the judicial overhaul from going ahead.

We have not known such days of external threats coalescing, while a storm is brewing at home, Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on March 27.

Netanyahu, who called on Twitter for both sides to avoid violence, was trying to hold together his nationalist-religious coalition after his decision on March 26 to fire the defense chief, who opposed the legislation, prompted mass overnight protests.

While the government says the overhaul is needed to rein in activist judges and set a proper balance between the elected government and the judiciary, opponents see it as an undermining of legal checks and balances and a threat to Israels democracy.

Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have said that the overhaul must go ahead, highlighting the tensions within Netanyahus coalition. Smotrich urged backers to join a protest.

We will not let them steal our voice and our country, he said.

However, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who has been leading the process, said that as a member of Netanyahus Likud party, he would respect whatever decision the prime minister reaches.

A situation in which everyone does as they wish is liable to bring about the instant fall of the government and collapse of Likud, he said in a statement.

As the Netanyahu government survived a no-confidence vote in the Knesset, tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, many waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become an emblem of the protests.

Night of Protests

The judicial legislation has ignited some of the biggest street demonstrations in Israels history and drawn a rare intervention by the head of state.

For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately, President Isaac Herzog wrote on Twitter.

Netanyahu, himself on trial on corruption charges that he denies, has promised to ensure that civil rights are protected but hasnt backed down from the central thrust of the reforms.

However, the stark warning by Herzog, whose function is largely ceremonial and supposed to stand above politics, underlined the alarm caused by the proposals, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and allow parliament to overrule the Supreme Court.

It followed a dramatic night of protests in cities across Israel following Netanyahus announcement that he had decided to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the plans. Gallant urged the government to halt its plans, warning that the deep split it has opened up in Israeli society is affecting the military and threatening national security.

The crisis comes as Israels security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter celebration.

Over the past year, Israeli defense forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the West Bank. In response to Palestinian attackers, Israels military has killed more than 250 Palestinian fighters and, unfortunately, civilians in anti-terror operations. More than 40 Israelis and foreigners also have been killed by crossfire during the operations.

By Maayan Lubell
People walk past a damaged building in Mariupol, Feb. 18, 2023. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

- The United States, the true initiator of the Ukraine crisis, has been fueling tensions between Russia and Ukraine by providing military assistance to the latter, and has been reaping huge profits from the conflict.

- China, in contrast, always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, the United States has churned out fallacies to discredit China on a range of related issues and mislead the international community.

In fact, the United States, the true initiator of this crisis, has been fueling tensions between Russia and Ukraine by providing military assistance to the latter, and has been reaping huge profits from the conflict. China, in contrast, always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

U.S. slanders are listed below with an account of facts to restore truths and offer a holistic perspective on the issue.

This photo taken on Aug. 23, 2022 shows the demolition site of a damaged building in Mariupol. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

FALLACY 1: Citing comments of some senior U.S. officials or reports from Western intelligence agencies, some U.S. media accused China of having prior knowledge of Russia's "special military operation" against Ukraine.

TRUTH: China has repeatedly refuted the claims that China knew about, acquiesced to or tacitly supported Russia's military action, which are purely disinformation intended to shift blame to and sling mud at China.

There were more than 6,000 Chinese citizens in Ukraine and China is the biggest trading partner of both Ukraine and Russia, as well as the largest importer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. A conflict between Russia and Ukraine does no good for China. China would have tried its best to prevent the conflict had it known about it in advance.

On the other hand, Russia is a sovereign country that independently weighs, decides and implements its foreign policy based on its own strategy and interests. There is no need to seek China's consent beforehand.

It is worth mentioning that the China-Russia relationship features non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party. It differs from the practices of the United States and several other Western countries that stick to the Cold War mentality of drawing ideological lines and adopting a friend-or-foe dichotomy, forming so-called "alliances" and "cliques," and pursuing bloc politics that create confrontation and division.

This photo taken on Feb. 3, 2023 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

FALLACY 2: The United States accused China of amplifying Kremlin's "propaganda and conspiracy theories" about Ukraine, spreading "false information" including that "the United States is conducting bio-military activities in Ukraine," "the United States and NATO caused the Ukraine crisis" and "the United States, especially the military-industrial complex, is the biggest beneficiary of the Ukraine crisis."

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue is above board, objective and fair. Relevant reports by the Chinese media were all based on facts.

First, on U.S. bio-military activities in Ukraine, the Agreement Between the Department of Defense of the United States of America and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Concerning Cooperation in the Area of Prevention of Proliferation of Technology, Pathogens and Expertise that could be Used in the Development of Biological Weapons signed by the two countries on Aug. 29, 2005, clearly stipulates that the U.S. Department of Defense representatives shall have the right to participate in all related activities at facilities in Ukraine; all dangerous pathogens in Ukraine shall be stored at designated laboratories; Ukraine shall share with the U.S. data generated by the relevant surveillance network, transfer to the U.S. side requested copies of dangerous pathogen strains, and withhold information designated by the U.S. side as "sensitive" from public disclosure.

In November 2021, the United States admitted that it had 26 biolabs in Ukraine in its working document submitted to the meeting of the State Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention. According to a fact sheet released by the U.S. Department of Defense in March 2022, the United States was supporting 46 facilities in Ukraine.

On March 8, 2022, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland admitted at a Senate hearing that "Ukraine has biological research facilities, which, in fact, we are now quite concerned Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach."

U.S. media also criticized that the U.S. government lied about the secret biological laboratories in Ukraine and concealed the real purpose of supporting these laboratories from the public.

According to public information, the United States has conducted more bio-military activities than any other country in the world. It is also the only country that has used biological and chemical weapons in multiple wars, and the only country that opposes the establishment of a multilateral verification mechanism for the Biological Weapons Convention, a public stand held by the United States for more than two decades.

Second, the United States and NATO caused the Ukraine crisis. In 1990, then U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, during his meeting with leaders of the Soviet Union, promised clearly that NATO would move "not one inch eastward."

A document disclosed by the National Archives of the United Kingdom showed that the U.S. representative had promised in negotiations back then that NATO should not expand to the east either formally or unofficially.

However, under the domination of the United States, NATO has expanded eastward five times since 1999, increased its membership from 16 to 30, and advanced more than 1,000 km eastward right up to Russian borders, creating a C-shaped encirclement of the Black Sea.

Russia has for years proposed dialogue with the United States on a new European security architecture, only to be ignored by the U.S. side. In 2021, Russia offered to negotiate and sign a security guarantees agreement with NATO, but was stonewalled by the United States and NATO.

The United States and NATO, while fully aware of Russia's security concerns, strengthened military assistance to Ukraine and helped it train military personnel. According to U.S. media reports, former U.S. officials said that the United States has provided a large amount of advanced military training for Ukrainian elite troops and special operation forces. Since 2015, the CIA has conducted a series of intensive military training in Ukraine involving guns, land navigation and camouflage techniques. The program, which began under President Barack Obama, was expanded under President Donald Trump and further enlarged under the Joe Biden administration.

John Mearsheimer, a U.S. political scientist, pointed out that "the West bears primary responsibility for what is happening today." He said, "Here I'm talking about the West, we took a stick, and we poke the bear in the eye ... and that bear is probably going to fight back, and that's exactly what's happening here."

Former U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said in an interview if Biden simply promised not to include Ukraine into NATO, the current Russia-Ukraine conflict would have been prevented.

Third, the U.S. military industrial complex has indeed raked in huge profits since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. Since tensions surrounding Ukraine started to rise in October 2021, share prices of U.S. military giants have kept shooting up. James Taiclet, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, said that competition between major powers would bring more business to the company.

The total value of State Department-authorized government-to-government foreign military sales was 51.9 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal 2022, up 49.1 percent from the previous fiscal year's 34.8 billion dollars, according to data released by the Department of State, which attributed the increase mainly to U.S. military support for Ukraine during the latter's conflict with Russia.

The United States has also used the Ukraine crisis to push its allies to impose tough economic sanctions and even an energy embargo on Russia. U.S. energy companies cashed in on the crisis and sold to Europe a large amount of oil and gas at a high price.

According to Kpler, a data and analytics firm, the EU imported 38.86 million tons of LNG in 2022 from the United States, which accounted for roughly 41 percent of the EU's total LNG imports and increased by 23.59 million tons compared with 2021, a year-on-year rise of 154 percent.

The United States became the world's largest LNG exporter in the first half of 2022, up 12 percent from the second half of 2021, largely driven by surging demand in Europe, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in October 2022, criticized the U.S. practice of enjoying low energy prices at home while exporting at record high prices to reap super profits from the geopolitical conflict. Speaking to American and Norwegian entrepreneurs, he said, "You supply us with energy and gas, but one thing that can't go on for too long is us paying four times more than the price you sell to your industry."

People inspect the aftermath of shelling of the city market in Donetsk, Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Victor/Xinhua)

FALLACY 3: The United States accused China of not condemning or sanctioning Russia, falsely claimed that China has no intention to participate in any form of diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine issue, slandered China's strategy as unconstructive and attempted to portray China as being irresponsible.

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue has been objective and just. China always stands on the side of peace and has played a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the crisis. Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined four principles, called for joint efforts in four areas and shared three observations on Ukraine. He noted perceptively that conflicts and wars produce no winner; there is no simple solution to a complex issue; and confrontation between major countries must be avoided. This points the right way forward for the deescalation of tensions and political settlement of the crisis.

On Feb. 18, 2023, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, answered a question concerning China's stance at the 59th Munich Security Conference. He said the Ukraine crisis is not what China would like to see, and China is also concerned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be escalated and protracted.

China is not a party directly involved, but does not choose to be a bystander or add fuel to the fire, and still less exploits the crisis, Wang said, noting that everything China has been doing on the Ukraine issue is to facilitate peace talks.

The United States is the one who started the Ukraine crisis and the biggest factor fueling it, and has kept sending heavy and assault weapons to Ukraine, which has only prolonged and intensified the conflict. The international community is fully aware who is calling for dialogue and striving for peace, and who is fanning the flames and stoking confrontation.

FALLACY 4: The United States has repeatedly accused China of providing "non-lethal assistance" to Russia through Chinese-funded enterprises, and claimed that China began to consider providing "lethal assistance" to Russia.

TRUTH: The so-called intelligence by the United States is nothing more than groundless rumors and slander. U.S. officials themselves have acknowledged that there is no indication that China has decided to supply Russia with weapons, but meanwhile they said they believe the possibility still exists.

The China-Russia relationship is built on the basis of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries, which is within the sovereign right of any two independent states. China engages in normal economic and trade cooperation with all countries, including Russia, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. China-Russia cooperation is completely above board. It serves the purpose of delivering benefits to both peoples and promoting global growth. It shall be free from disruption or coercion from any third party.

China always handles export of military items in a prudent and responsible manner and regulates export of dual-use articles in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. At the same time, China is consistently opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction with neither basis in international law nor United Nations Security Council mandate. China's consistent position and practice stand in sharp contrast with the acts of the U.S. that applies double standards on arms sales and keep adding fuel to the fire on the Ukraine crisis.

By the end of February 2023, the United States had provided Ukraine with over 32 billion U.S. dollars worth of military aid, including large quantities of advanced armament. The United States has been pouring weapons into one side of the conflict, thus prolonging the fight and making peace elusive, while spreading disinformation that China would supply weapons to Russia and sanctioning Chinese companies under that pretext. This is out-and-out hegemonism and double standard, and absolute hypocrisy.

Protesters gather during the anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., the United States, March 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

FALLACY 5: The United States claims it is now facing two global powers -- China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities, and both intending to fundamentally change the current "rules-based order," and it is concerned because China and Russia share a vision. The United States has also repeatedly accused China of posing the "most serious long-term challenge" to the international order.

TRUTH: China always pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature and adheres to the military strategic guideline of active defense. Since its founding, the People's Republic of China has never invaded other countries, never engaged in proxy wars, never sought spheres of influence, nor participated in any military bloc confrontation.

The growth of China's military strength is a growth of the force for peace in the world. China has been committed to the UN-centered international system and the international order underpinned by international law. China has been upholding true multilateralism, working for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, and making global governance more just and equitable.

When it comes to China-Russia relationship, the two countries always follow the path of partnership over alliance and dialogue over confrontation, and grow a new type of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. The way China and Russia develop the strategic partnership of coordination will benefit the two peoples and the world at large. It is entirely different from what certain countries have been doing, including holding on to the Cold War mentality, ganging up with other countries, forming cliques and stoking bloc confrontation, and engaging in hegemonic, domineering and bullying practices.

The United States has wantonly accused China of attempting to change the "rules-based international order," but it is actualy worried that the U.S. "hegemonic order" is affected, and that the "rules of the gang" set up and packaged by the United States as international rules to contain and suppress other countries are challenged and rejected.

The United States is the No.1 warmonger in the world. It was not at war for only 16 years throughout its 240-plus years of history and accounted for about 80 percent of all post-World War II (WWII) armed conflicts.

The United States is also the No.1 violator of sovereignty and interferer in the internal affairs of other countries. According to reports, since the end of WWII, it has sought to subvert more than 50 foreign governments, grossly interfered in elections in at least 30 countries and attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders.

The country is also the No.1 source of antagonism and bloc confrontation. The U.S.-led NATO is responsible for wars on Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that killed more than 900,000 people and created 37 million refugees. It has also made the Eurasia continent a less stable place. The impact of U.S.-initiated QUAD and AUKUS on Asia-Pacific security and stability also calls for vigilance.

Protesters gather during the anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., the United States, March 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

FALLACY 6: The United States has applied the principle of sovereignty selectively. It has repeatedly hyped up the fallacy that "China bears responsibility" by falsely claiming that "China's position on the Ukraine issue contradicts China's long-standing principle of respecting state sovereignty and territorial integrity" and that "China has the obligation to urge Russia to make concessions on the Ukraine issue."

TRUTH: China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and stays unchanged. China's remarks are in line with its position that regional hotspot issues should be resolved through dialogue and consultation. China always upholds objectivity and fairness, stands for peace and justice, decides its position based on the merits of the matter concerned, and believes that all countries should settle international disputes in a peaceful way in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

The first article of China's position on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis is about respecting the sovereignty of all countries: "Universally recognized international law, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, must be strictly observed. The sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld. All countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community. All parties should jointly uphold the basic norms governing international relations and defend international fairness and justice. Equal and uniform application of international law should be promoted, while double standards must be rejected."

The United States says there's desire for peace to prevail, yet it has waged wars and stoked confrontation around the world. The United States says it's important to respect and uphold the international order, yet it has slapped massive unilateral illegal sanctions and put its domestic laws above the international law. The United States says competition must be fair, yet it has been cracking down on foreign companies by using all kinds of state apparatus and defying international trade rules. It is clear who should bear the responsibility for obstructing world peace and development. 

Editor: JYZ
Kari Lake Says Shes Seriously Considering Another Run for Office After Looking at Polls

Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake speaks to supporters during her election night event at The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Nov. 8, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake said she is seriously considering running for Senate in Arizona after seeing the polling results.

When commentator Charlie Kirk asked about a possible Senate run, Lake said she is still focusing on her election-related lawsuit. Last week, the Arizona state Supreme Court took up portions of her suit.

I dont know politically what I will do next. I never had any desire to get into politics, and the people of Arizona recruited me to run for governor, and we have led an amazing movement of We The People, Lake said in response.

It is something I will seriously consider, added Lake, a former local news anchor President Donald Trump endorsed. Ive looked at a lot of polling, probably five polls showing that I can not only win handily in a primary, but I can go on to win the entire race for Senate.

The Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) is up for grabs in 2024. Sinema, a former Democrat who became an independent last year, will also face a challenge from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) after he declares his candidacy for the Senate next year.

In her interview with Kirk, Lake sharply criticized Gallego and Sinema, accusing both of capitulating to the far left. Lake suggested that polling shows she would perform well against either in a three-way race, although it needs to be clarified if Sinema is running for reelection yet.

Earlier this year, a spokesperson for Lake told news outlets that she met with members of the Senate Republican team in Washington. However, few details about the meeting have been provided. Meanwhile, Lake has insisted that she continue pursuing her election lawsuit, alleging enough errors and irregularities during the Nov. 8 gubernatorial race to cost her the election.

The Arizona Supreme Court last week threw out most of Lakes case but also ruled that a lower court was wrong to dismiss some of her teams claims about the signature verification process in Maricopa County. After a two-day trial in late December, a Maricopa County judge rejected Lakes initial election lawsuit. The Court of Appeals tossed it in February before she appealed to the states highest court.

Contrary to the ruling of the trial court and the Court of Appeals opinion, this signature verification challenge is to the application of the policies, not to the policies themselves, the Arizona Supreme Court wrote. Therefore, it was erroneous to dismiss this claim under the doctrine of laches because Lake could not have brought this challenge before the election, it added.

Last week, Lake told Just the News that the court ruling is a victory for conservatives concerned about election fraud and other irregularitiesnamely after the 2020 presidential race. Weve been trying for three years to get our foot in the door on one of these election cases, and Ive always said we have the greatest election case ever, and the doors been pushed open, she remarked.

But Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer told The Epoch Times after last weeks court decision that they are expecting to win, citing previous election challenges that were successful in court.

Since the 2020 general election, Maricopa County has won over 20 lawsuits challenging the fairness, accuracy, legality, and impartiality of its election administration, Richer said. This case will be no different and will simply add another mark to Lakes impressively long losing streak.

Election data shows that Lake lost to Hobbs, a Democrat, by about 17,000 votes during the midterms. Katie Hobbs was sworn in as governor in early January.

The Supreme Court rejected Lakes claim of intermingled ballots, saying that the record does not reflect that 35,563 unaccounted ballots were added to the total count. The high court indicated it would deliberate on March 21 and decide whether to accept the review. In its March 22 order, it denied review of six out of seven points included in Lakes appeal.

It is ordered denying review of issues one through five and seven, reads the opinion written by Chief Justice Robert Brutinel. The Court of Appeals aptly resolved these issues, most of which were the subject of evidentiary proceedings in the trial court. He said that Lakes challenges are insufficient.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
Monumental Government Negligence: Former Envoy on Liberal MP Discussing 2 Michaels With Chinese Consulate

(LR) Federal candidate Adam Vaughan, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and provincial candidate Han Dong celebrate with supporters while taking part in a rally during a campaign stop in Toronto on May 22, 2014. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

Former Liberal MP Han Dong should have faced serious consequences for discussing the case of imprisoned Canadians with the Chinese Consulate without informing the government, says a former Canadian ambassador to China.

Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus on March 22, hours after a Global News report citing national security sources alleged that he advised a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 to hold off on releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

The report alleges that Dong said their release would benefit the opposing Conservative Party. Dong denies the allegations and has announced that he is suing Global News for its reporting.

The two Canadians, dubbed the two Michaels, had been detained in China for over two years by that time, in what was regarded as retaliation by Beijing over Canadas arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request in December 2018.

Dong confirmed to Global News that he had raised the issue of Kovrig and Spavor with Chinese consul-general Han Tao at the time but that he demanded their immediate release rather than advising against it.

David Mulroney, who was Canadas ambassador to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) between 2009 and 2012, argues that Dongs contact with the Chinese Consulate at all during the crisis is questionable and unusual.

What seems indisputable in the Han Dong affair is that, in the midst of the Meng/2 Michaels crisis, a [government] MP discussed the case with a senior PRC diplomat without ever informing the foreign minister. Or anyone. And that he felt this was okay and somehow his responsibility, Mulroney said on social media on March 24.

A normal [government], in a crisis of this magnitude, would ride herd on MPs, staffers, officials, shutting down all unauthorized communications with China. Nobody would be allowed to freelance. Failure to comply would have swift, serious consequences.

Mulroney says this raises issues of incompetence on the part of the government.

So the most charitable explanation involves monumental government negligence and incompetence in a time of crisis. And a [government] M.P. who was allowed to believe his responsibilities included maintaining private communications with a state hostile to Canada, he said.

Finally, even when informed, the [government] believed that no action or public disclosure was required. Until it was reported in the media. Again, thats the most charitable explanation.

Review of Dongs Statements on Two Michaels

Dong now sits as an Independent MP representing Torontos Don Valley North riding.

In his resignation speech in the House on March 22, Dong referred to the issue of Kovrig and Spavor, saying that he worked hard and advocated for their interests as a parliamentarian.

What has been reported is false, he said.

A review by Global News of Dongs statements in the House on China-related issues since he was elected in 2019 found no remarks from him in relation to the two Canadians plight prior to March 2023. The Epoch Times also reviewed open-source parliamentary records of Dongs remarks in Parliament and found that he made no mention of the two Canadians before his March 22 speech.

Dong has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Epoch Times.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on March 22 that he accepts Dongs decision to leave the Liberal caucus, but he sidestepped reporters questions about the allegations against the MP.

Kovrig and Spavor were released in September 2021 after spending more than 1,000 days imprisoned in China. Their release came shortly after Meng reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the United States and was freed.
London Metals Exchange Hit by Another Nickel Scam

A sign for the London Metal Exchange (LME) on a wall by the new Ring, the open trading floor of the LME following its relocation in central London, on Feb. 18, 2016. (Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)

News Analysis

The London Metal Exchange (LME) on March 17 revealed that the bags of nickel stored in its licensed warehouse contained stones. The LME is supposedly the most trusted and secure minerals trading platform; however, it has had its share of trouble with nickel.

The LME announced that nine nickel shipments found in one of its licensed warehouses did not meet the standards, so the warrants were invalidated, and deliveries could not be made under their contract.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the warehouse is located in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and is owned by local logistics company Access World Group. The two-ton bags did not contain nickel; instead, it was stones.

Bloomberg revealed that JPMorgan Chase owned the nickel contracts and that the bank had purchased them several years ago when the goods were already in the Access World Groups Rotterdam warehouse.

It is unclear whether the bags came without nickel or were stolen afterward. Access World Group had not responded to The Epoch Times request for comment by press time, while JPMorgan Chase said it had the warrants and all the necessary certifications at the time of purchase.

The bags were supposed to contain 54 tons of nickel, which is about $1.3 million at current market value. The direct impact on the metals market is limited. However, it has dealt a significant blow to the reputation of the LME.

The LME is the worlds largest industrial metals trading center. The global metals industry trades futures and options through the LME to hedge against adverse price fluctuations. The LMEs website states that it usually trades more than 40 times the worlds metal output. With a history of 146 years, the LMEs positions are regarded as the highest standard in the world and are considered close to cash equivalents. As a result, LME contracts have always been regarded as the safest.

LME does not own or operate warehouses. It only authorizes other companies to store metals on behalf of warrant holders and to issue warrants through agents for deliveries. In other words, the LSE simply transfers ownership of the warrants digitally and must rely on the warehousing companies to ensure the markets integrity.

Following the nickel scam, the LME requested all licensed warehouse operators to weigh the metal before it was warehoused, and it required reinspection of the nickel already warehoused. The LME pushed back the Asian trading session for nickel contracts by one week from March 20 to 27.

This incident follows a fake nickel incident that occurred last month. On Feb. 9, Trafigura Group, a French metals trading giant based in Singapore, issued a statement saying it had discovered systematic fraud in its purchased containers of nickel. They were inspected and found to contain no nickel at all. Trafigura estimated a maximum loss of potentially $577 million.

Those back-to-back incidents involved theft and substitution. However, Trafigura stated there appears to be no connection between the two events.

The Nickel Shorting War

There are 14 types of metals traded on the LME, but only nickel faces trouble. Last year, the LME had a demon nickel incident, and the nickel shorting war is ongoing.

In early March last year, the LMEs nickel futures contracts were abnormally volatile, and within three working days, nickel prices soared from less than $30,000 per ton to more than $100,000 per ton, sending shockwaves through the market.

The London Metal Exchange suspended nickel trading because of the Tsingshan (THG) nickel incident, the first time since 1985 that the LME has suspended trading in metal, in London, on March 8, 2022. The graph shows the one-day rise and fall of nickel prices on the London Stock Exchange. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

At that time, Chinas Tsingshan Holding Group, one of the worlds top 500 companies, was holding a large short position, rumored to be nearly 200,000 tons. Tsingshan either had to close its position with cash or take deliveries soon. However, the nickel produced by Tsingshan was not the high-purity electrolytic nickel required by the LME. So Tsingshan may have paid $8 billion in cash to close out its position.

At a time of crisis for Tsingshan, on March 8 last year, the LME broke a 100-year record by halting nickel futures trading and, a few hours later, canceled all nickel contracts traded in London. This rare move by the LME drove down the prices of various commodity futures.

The LME urgently adopted a series of emergency measures and reopened nickel trading on March 16. After the reopening, the bulls started to withdraw their capital, and the price of nickel fell for four consecutive days. In that process, a large number of traders were trapped.

The suspension of trading on the LME eased the crisis for Tsingshan. However, the suspension caused the market to lose its benchmark, bringing the physical industry chain to a near standstill. At the same time, the LME incurred a series of claims against it. For example, the U.S. hedge fund, Elliott Management, argued that the LMEs decision to cancel nickel trading on March 8 last year was illegal and filed a claim in June. This claim alone amounted to $456 million.

Those nickel incidents shattered the LMEs century-old reputation. In terms of the LMEs background, many people may be unaware that although the LME was founded in the United Kingdom, it was acquired by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in 2012 for a whopping 1.388 billion (about $1.7 billion). The HKEXs largest shareholder is the government of Hong Kong, which is under communist China. This means that the real boss behind the LME is the Chinese Communist Party.

Reporter Ellen Wan contributed to this article.
Major Media Fall for Fake Wuhan Raccoon Dog Story

Commentary

Recent reports from major media organizations claim that new evidence points to raccoon dogs at the Wuhan Seafood Market as the origin of COVID-19. The story was first reported by The Atlantic, which claimed that the raccoon dog discovery was the strongest evidence yet that an animal started the pandemic. The New York Times scrambled to put out a same-day story of their own, titled New Data Links Pandemics Origins to Raccoon Dogs at Wuhan Market.

Science Magazine, the media outlet that helped Dr. Anthony Fauci seed the natural origin narrative for COVID-19s emergence, also put out an urgent same-day news story, claiming that Unearthed genetic sequences from China market may point to animal origin of COVID-19.

The problem with the reporting is that the raccoon dog narrative was entirely made up out of thin air and the media organizations that reported it knew that to be the case. There was no new evidence. Additionally, the scientists involved in pushing the story were known to be close associates of Fauci and have a history of pushing false narratives.

The raccoon dog story is closely linked to a private teleconference that Fauci organized on Feb. 1, 2020, during which the elevating of the natural origin narrative and suppression of the lab leak theory for COVID-19s emergence was discussed. It was at that teleconference that Fauci commissioned a paper from four scientists who were in attendance: Kristian Andersen, Edward Holmes, Robert Garry, and Andrew Rambaut.

The group, which is now also behind the raccoon dog story, immediately set about writing the fraudulent Proximal Origin paper as a cudgel that Fauci could use against anyone who deigned to question the natural origin narrative. In fact, when President Donald Trump questioned the narrative at an April 17, 2020, White House news conference, Fauci invoked the Proximal Origin paper without acknowledging his role in creating it. Fauci even pretended to not know who the authors of the paper were.

The problem for Fauci and the Proximal Origin authors was that their narrative was entirely contrived, which meant that the group had to make up a plausible-sounding story. The story that they came up with was that pangolins were responsible for the outbreak. Pangolins are scaly, anteater-type mammals that have been known to be used in traditional Chinese medicine. Theres no evidence that pangolins played any role in the pandemic, nor that they were sold at the Wuhan Seafood Market, where Faucis group wanted to place the origin of the pandemic. In addition, all animals at the market tested negative for COVID-19.

Notwithstanding these problems, Faucis group initially hung on to its pangolin narrative. Then, in the summer of 2022, the group co-published another paper, this time raising the possibility that raccoon dogs were responsible for the pandemic. As evidence, the group included a photo of raccoon dogs that a member of the group, Edward Holmes, had allegedly taken at the Wuhan Seafood Market in 2014. The group didnt explain how the presence of raccoon dogs in 2014 led to an outbreak six years later. Notwithstanding, the idea that raccoon dogs might have been responsible was seeded.

Then, earlier this month, in what superficially appears to have been a huge coincidence, Florence Debarre, a French scientist whos associated with Faucis group and is known for pushing the natural origin narrative on Twitter, suddenly discovered raccoon dog DNA in a data sample uploaded by Chinese scientists who were themselves studying the Wuhan Seafood Market.

Debarre told The Atlantic that she came across this data by almost pure happenstance when she spotted the sequences pinging onto the server late last Thursday night with no warning or fanfare.

Incredibly, the data that Debarre had apparently stumbled upon included raccoon dog DNA, which, even more incredibly, came from Stall 29, the same spot where Holmes had snapped the photo of raccoon dogs nearly a decade earlier.

Debarre quickly teamed up with Faucis group of scientists to promote the raccoon dog narrative. Notably, the same four scientistsAndersen, Holmes, Garry, and Rambautwho led Faucis Feb 1, 2020, secret teleconference and who also led the Proximal Origin effort, are now leading the raccoon dog story.

That story is that raccoon dogs were likely responsible for the pandemic. The only evidence for their claim, obtained from the mysterious data set Debarre so fortuitously found online, is that raccoon dog DNA was found at the market, along with DNA from many other animals, DNA from humans, and RNA from COVID-19. However, none of these claims are new. Further, even if the claims are correct, theyre completely meaningless. We already knew that humans, animals, and COVID-19 were at the market. Theres no suggestion that any raccoon dogs were infected because, as mentioned before, all animals at the market tested negative for COVID-19.

Its as if Faucis group discovered that water is wet. Notwithstanding the frivolous nature of their supposed discovery, the group used multiple taxpayer grants to fund their latest efforts.

Corporate media apparently didnt see any problem with this narrative, nor with the sources for the story. The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Science Magazine all published the story without any substantiation, other than the say-so of a group of conflicted scientists who they knew were deeply involved with Faucis origin cover-up, as well as having previously pushed the fake pangolin story.

None of the media outlets mentioned any conflicts of interest, nor the history of false claims from their sources.

However, perhaps surprisingly, this time Faucis group didnt have it all their own way. The Atlantic, which first broke the false story, was widely lampooned for its laughable animal DNA found at animal market narrative. Even the World Health Organization was skeptical of the groups claims and called for the data to be released.

This put Faucis group under pressure to produce something more than mere verbal claims. They finally put out a quasi-paper last week. In a highly unusual move, they didnt publish a preprint, which is the normal way that science papers first get published while they await peer review. Instead, they posted their report on Zenodo, which is an open repository where any scientist can post their material.

Astonishingly, the authors conceded that they wont even try to get their quasi-paper published in a journal. Again, this is highly unusual in science circles and serves as a testament to how little confidence they have in their own statements.

Through a statement that accompanied the quasi-paper, we also found out how Faucis group obtained the raccoon dog data. That story is a scandal in itself.

Early last year, a group of Chinese scientists published a preprint that showed that the pandemic didnt start at the Wuhan Seafood Market. They say that, instead, the market was the likely location of a human-to-human superspreader event. This is the opposite of Faucis groups narrative.

The Chinese paper has been held up in peer review for more than a year and, as part of that process, the Chinese scientists were asked to upload their data into a repository called GISAID, the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data, for verification.

It was on GISAID, supposedly by sheer coincidence, that Debarre claims to have found the raccoon dog data, which she then immediately shared with Faucis group. The public hasnt seen that data, and it isnt known with certainty what it says. However, based on the Chinese preprint from last year, the data presumably show that COVID-19, humans, and animals were at the market but that no animals were infected.

Under GISAID rules, the repository is meant as a forum to share data for purposes such as verification. It isnt allowed to scoop data uploaders. In other words, users cant publish their own papers based on other peoples data while those other people are still waiting for their own publications to be approved.

Yet thats exactly what Faucis scientists did, presumably because they wanted to preemptively shape the narrative in the opposite direction from what the Chinese paper is likely going to say. Its also possible that Debarre or someone in Faucis Proximal Origin group was tipped off to the fact that the Chinese scientist had been asked to upload the data.

As a consequence of their actions, GISAID immediately banned Faucis group from the platform. This is highly unusual, tantamount to a student being banned from the school library. After much protesting, the group has now been allowed back temporarily while GISAID completes its investigation.

These new revelations also allow us to understand not only why the data appeared on GISAID in the first place but why it was taken down. Contrary to The New York Times inference that the Chinese scientists were trying to hide something, the truth is that the Chinese scientists had been unethically scooped and had no choice but to take down their data, which was being misused.

As to why the Chinese scientists are pointing the blame away from the Wuhan Seafood Market, it has been the Chinese line for some time that the virus didnt come out of the market. Chinese officials have instead offered explanations such as imported frozen food and have even tried to pin the blame on U.S. labs, such as the U.S. Armys Fort Detrick.

And as for the corporate media, they still havent issued any corrections.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Legislators in the Minnesota Senate presented a bill written to restore the doctor-patient relationship corroded by the socialization of medicine, the hazards of which were brought into focus with the COVID-19 pandemic.

During COVID, people gave up a lot of freedom, state Sen. Jim Abeler told The Epoch Times.

The freedom to assemble, to go to church, to remain unvaccinated, and to choose ones own health care, were all forfeited under the guise of helping their fellow man, Abeler said.

This is very concerning to me, Abeler said. The bill is an effort to maybe unwind some of that.

Senate Bill 2388 aims to establish the rights of hospitalized patients to receive treatment from their own physicians.

The bill was written from model legislation proposed by the Minnesota-headquartered Citizens Council for Health and Freedom, co-founded by Twila Brase.

Twila Brase, 2023 (Courtesy of Twila Brase)

Brase, a nurse, is also the founder of The Wedge of Health Freedom and author of Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth about Electronic Health Records.

Brase told The Epoch Times that though the restrictive hospital protocols enacted during the pandemic brought the issue to light, the problem has existed for much longer.

Many hospitalized patients discover too late that their hospital will not allow their trusted physician or other health care practitioners to direct their care, Brase said. Although the lack of access to care from the patients preferred practitioner became more visible to the public during COVID, it didnt start there.

The Emergency of the Health Maintenance Organization

Brase details where this process began in her 2001 article, Blame Congress for HMOs. She charts howafter the 1965 enactment of Medicare and Medicaidliterally overnight, on July 1, 1966, millions of Americans lost all financial responsibility for their health decisions.

According to Brase, the propagation of HMOs (health maintenance organizations), stemmed from a financial crisis caused by the launch of Medicare and Medicaid.

Offering free care led to predictable results, Brase writes in her article. Because Congress placed no restrictions on benefits and removed all sense of cost-consciousness, health-care use and medical costs skyrocketed.

Those in favor of universal coverage used the financial crisis to advocate for HMOs, which Brase called a more corporate version of socialized medicine under which individual control over health care decisions was weakened.

The HMO system was a step closer to a national health care system, Brase said, or what the public would decades later often call the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which mandated health plansthe new name for the HMOfor almost everyone.

The intent behind the HMO Actsigned into law by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1973was to merge the delivery and financing of care into one entity, which Brase said creates a conflict of interest.

There is now an interest in decreasing the amount of care to the patient so that the entity can keep more money for itself, Brase said.

As patients have since discovered, Brase said in her article, the HMO was not much of a Christmas present or an insurance product, adding that though it promised coverage, it frequently denied access.

As a result of public anger with HMOs, Congress introduced the Patients Bill of Rights Act of 1998.

Though it never became law, the terminology began to change. Instead of HMO, the term health plan emerged, Brase said.

We still have HMOs today, but you dont hear them being called that, she said. They are called health plans, and if you look into the statutes themselves, they will talk about how health plans and HMOs are prepaid health care, which isnt actually insurance.

Hospitals Turned Conglomerates Overseen by Hospitalists

President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated everyone to have a qualified health plan, she explained.

The ACA also created Accountable Care Organizations, as part of the new Medicare Shared Savings Program, which she said essentially turns the hospital into a conglomerate thats in conflict of interest with patients.

The hospital has become like an umbrella and under it are either the contracted, owned, or employed physicians and clinics, Brase said. By virtue of that, if the whole conglomerate can save the government money, [the Accountable Care Organization] can get part of the savings back from the government, which tends to go to the hospital.

The hospitals began to hire hospitalists and tell physiciansparticularly family practice doctors and interniststhey couldnt admit patients or direct patient care at the hospital, Brase said.

Hospitalists are typically the only ones allowed to make a majority of the decisions about what happens in the hospital because that will allow the hospital to save money and gain a share of those savings back, Brase said. Ultimately these doctors work for the hospital, their employer, not the patient.

Likely as a result of the ACAs shared saving program, many hospitalists around the country have canceled hospital privileges for independent doctorsthose who are not employed by the hospitalthus eliminating the doctors right to take care of their patients whove been hospitalized, she said.

Many hospitalized patients might have been saved during the pandemic if they had been allowed to choose their own doctor, Brase said.

Patients often requested physicians who were willing to treat outside of the government standard-of-care box by prescribing early treatment drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, as opposed to pushing late-treatment drugs like remdesivir and mechanical ventilation that too often led to organ failure and death.

Their requests were often denied, Brase said.

If this bill were law, it would give patients that freedom to request their own doctor, and it would require the hospital to allow them to come and direct the patients care without hospital privileges being required, she said.

US President Barack Obama speaks at Temple Emanu-El November 6, 2013 in Dallas, Texas. Obama spoke about the Affordable Care Act amid technical problems which have hurt the rollout of the healthcare marketplace. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

The Electronic Health Record

For too long, health care has been leveraged based on what the hospital is willing to pay for and using only protocols allowed by the electronic health record (EHR).

The whole move here is to use the electronic health record as what controls everything that happens in the hospital, she said.

The EHR to which doctors must adhere has created an overabundance of problems detailed more in the article, Death By 1,000 Clicks: Where Electronic Health Records Went Wrong, which found that alarming reports of patient deaths, serious injuries and near missesthousands of themtied to software glitches, user errors and other flaws have piled up, largely unseen, in various government-funded and private repositories.

In addition, the EHRs have led to burnout resulting from the cognitive burden of the endless clicking and searching that eats into the time the doctor could be spending with the patient.

The mission of medicine has been overtaken by the business of health care, Brase said. Patients and doctors have become widgets in this system.

A Solution: The Wedge of Health Freedom

In 2016, Brase launched The Wedge of Health Freedom to provide a zone of deregulation for health care providers who wish to escape the business and return to practicing medicine.

Doctors, clinics, surgical centers, dentists, and other health care facilities that wish to join the network engage in a voluntary collaborative venture between third-party free practiceswho have no insurance or government contractsand the Citizens Council for Health and Freedom.

To be added to The Wedges map of providers, health care facilities must offer transparent, affordable pricing; a cash-based system of payment; a protected patient-doctor relationship; the freedom to choose; patient inclusivity; and true patient privacy.

In addition, a health care provider must not engage in government reporting or allow outside interference from third parties, according to The Wedges list of principles for practitioners.

We just added more than 20 practices in the last week from all over the country, so thats exciting for us, Brase said.

The intent of moving toward this new framework is to resurrect the private practice, Brase said.

Instead of going to a doctor who will follow a standardized protocol automated by the EHR, patients need doctors who will treat them as individuals.

Doctors need their freedom to practice and use their own critical thinking to come up with ideas that might not even be protocol yet, Brase said.

Brase said most patients dont realize how difficult it has been for health care workers who have reported to her feeling as if theyve been put on a dehumanizing conveyer belt while striving to navigate through the labyrinth of paperwork just to treat a patient.

If patients realized how bad it was for the doctors, theyd realize how bad it was for them, Brase said, because whatever happens to the doctors will define what happens to the patient.
Mississippi Governor Warns More Severe Weather Could Hit State After Deadly Tornadoes

The remains of a crushed house and cars in Rolling Fork, Miss., on March 25, 2023, after a tornado touched down in the area. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves has warned that more severe storms could be on the way after recent tornadoes left dozens of people dead.

Speaking at a press conference in the hard-hit town of Rolling Fork on March 27, Reeves said, What weve seen, much like the storm that occurred here Friday night, is in the 2436 hours that are leading up to this afternoon, it appears that the risks seem to be getting worse and worse, not better.

Reeves added that there were significant risks to anyone living south of Interstate 55.

And when you stand here and see this, what feels like a beautiful weather day in Mississippi, please be aware and please know: if you are south of I-55 in Mississippi today, there are significant risks. We are prepared, he said.

Despite further possible storms on the horizon, the governor said that the state is prepared for further potential severe weather and that officials are monitoring the situation very closely.

Multiple tornadoes ripped through the states of Mississippi and Alabama starting on Friday, uprooting trees, destroying buildings, and overturning vehicles.

At least 25 people were killed in Mississippi and dozens more are injured, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).

Power Outages Ongoing

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing. The fatalities are reported in Sharkey, Humphreys, Carroll, and Monroe counties, MEMA said. In a separate update on Twitter, the agency said that four people previously reported missing had since been found.

Meanwhile, one person, identified as a 67-year-old man, was killed in neighboring Alabama when he became trapped under a trailer that flipped during the storms, the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency confirmed to local news outlet AL.com.

Approximately 22,313 customers are currently without power in Mississippi and 12,452 are without power in Alabama, according to PowerOutage.us. Hundreds of residents have also been displaced.

Based on initial data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating on the Enhanced Fujita scalesuggesting winds of up to 200 mphthe National Weather Service office in Jackson said late Saturday, adding that it had traveled approximately 59 miles, beginning in Issaquena County and ending in Holmes County.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden on Sunday issued a major disaster declaration in Mississippi granting supplement State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the tornadoes, according to a White House statement.

FEMA Aiding in Recovery Efforts

Also on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell visited the devastated areas of the state where they vowed that the two agencies would stay there for as long as needed to aid in both the response and recovery efforts.

FEMA is here. We remain committed to the people of Mississippi, Criswell said during a news conference in Rolling Fork. We will be here for you now, we will be with you next week, we will be here long after these cameras are gone to make sure we are assisting you with all your recovery needs.

FEMA has deployed Disaster Survivor Assistance teams, an Incident Management Assistance Team, and several other staff to the state emergency operations center and affected areas, according to a release.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a high-risk outlook for excessive rainfall in Alabama and Georgia through Monday morning, including parts of Atlanta, and warns of potential flash flooding.

Tornado watches were also posted across parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana overnight Sunday.

In a forecast discussion issued on March 27, NWS said storms will likely be ongoing Monday morning near the boundary across portions of central Alabama and Georgia. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to continue in the coming days across Mississippi.
More Dangerous Than Ever: Experts Warn Americans Against Going to Mexico to Buy Cheap Pharmacy Drugs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized approximately 47,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, 186,000 blue fentanyl pills, and 6.5 pounds of meth hidden in a floor compartment of a vehicle at the Nogales port of entry on the southern border with Mexico on Sept. 3, 2022. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

A recent study by the University of California (UCLA) concluded that many drugs from Mexican pharmacies are laced with fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. U.S. tourists are often the buyers of these pills, which include counterfeit replicas of Oxycodone, Percocet, and Adderall.

The UCLA-led study reported that two out of three (68 percent) pharmacies in four cities in northern Mexico had at least one controlled substance for sale without requiring a prescription. Prescriptions were also offered in bottles or individual pills.

Eleven pharmacies contain counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, heroin, and/or methamphetamine. Of 45 pill samples, UCLA Health reported, nine sold as Adderall contained methamphetamine, eight sold as Oxycodone had fentanyl, and three sold as Oxycodone contained heroin.

The Epoch Times spoke to Derek Maltz, a former head of the Special Operations Division (SOD) of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As the study suggested, he said, One of the reasons why Mexican pharmacies attract buyers from America is because you dont need a prescription, and theyre inexpensive.

He further explained, Some people think they cant afford medicine here, and others cant afford medical procedures. As a result, many go to Mexico to make their drug purchases or get their procedures done at a more affordable rate.

The trend of medical tourismAmericans traveling to Mexico for medical care because its cheaperis now more dangerous than ever, he said.

The UCLA study pointed out that a person could be led into thinking theyre receiving pharmaceutical-grade pills but could be receiving fake pills, Maltz said. And this is more dangerous than I have the words to express, he added.

What if these pills make it into the medical offices where youre having a procedure and are seeking pain relief?

Maltz offered this warning: You get what you pay for. With that in mind, he said, Rather than going to Mexico for inexpensive drugs or medical procedures, it would be smarter to spend a little extra money on this side of the border.

Now, more than ever, dealing with a Mexican pharmacy is a terrible decision because it could kill you.

Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.

Deadly Doses

Jaime Puerta, president of the advocacy group Victims of Illicit Drugs, is alarmed by the growing number of deaths attributed to fentanyl. Up to 67 percent of drug overdoses or drug poisonings of over 100,000 people can involve synthetic opioids like fentanyl. He then told The Epoch Times about losing his 16-year-old son, Daniel, to fentanyl in 2020.

While he agreed with Maltz, he also added that a lot of kids are going down to Mexico for spring break, and while they are down there, they could visit the local pharmacy to buy what they think is the Mexican equivalent to a drug theyre familiar with, but they could actually be buying a poison.

While they could be trying to self-medicate a psychological issue or even a physical injury, Puerta said, Its not a gamble any kid should be taking.

Adding to the comment about psychological issues, Maltz said, Theres a growing trend of depression and anxiety, especially in younger kids. This is one of many reasons teens could be turning to pills to relieve some of the stress and anxiety theyre feeling, he said. And before you know it, theyre addicted to the meds theyre choosing to take. These can include Adderall, Xanax, Oxycontin, Percocet, and other opioids or pain medications.

Coconuts filled with fentanyl seized by Mexican authorities in Puerto Libertad, Mexico, on Dec. 1, 2022, in a still from a video. (Prosecutor Generals Office of Mexico via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Theres a great demand for these pills because kids want to feel better, Maltz said. But what they dont know is that many of these kinds of pills that are being made in Mexico are illicitly made in clandestine labs, he said.

A never-ending amount of these pills are being made with deadly fentanyl, so these kids who purchase them are essentially being deceived to death.

Youre taking your chances by purchasing a pill off the street, and now, you might be taking the same chance by purchasing from a pharmacy in Mexico, Maltz said.

While you think you might be getting Adderall or Xanax or Percocet, you might actually be getting a deadly dose of fentanyl.

Out of Control

According to Puerta, Mexico does not have a stringent chain supply watchdog like we do here in the United States. Medications that are being sold from pharmacies are not always pharmaceutical-grade medicines, and the cartels are contributing to this problem, he said.

The supply chain for these pharmacies [has] clearly been infiltrated now that cartel-made pills have been discovered inside of them, he said.

Considering how many Americans have died from fentanyl, Puerta said, I am very disappointed that according to the UCLA study, the U.S. State Department has not been transparent for several years about the problem of counterfeit pills in Mexican pharmacies.

Im sure many Americans who have lost their family members or loved ones due to fake prescription pills in Mexico would have liked to have known about the problem, Puerta said.

If the State Department had this information several years ago, then theyve abdicated their responsibility in warning the American public of the dangersand someone should be held accountable, he said. Someone has been complicit in the deaths of Americans.

In the United States alone, Maltz said, fentanyl has become a game changer. Tens of thousands of people have been poisoned by drugs containing fentanyl. Weve never had anything like this in the history of the country, where so many Americans have died, Maltz said.

Whether its on the streets of America or in some of these Mexican pharmacies, its all about driving addiction and driving profits, Maltz said. And lets be clear, he added, the pharmacies are getting these drugs directly from cartels.

The profit on illicit drugs is amazing, he said. Like the cartels, some of these pharmacies are attracting customers and making money with no concern about the health impacts and number of deaths they could be causing.

For the cartels, Pharmacies are just another way to distribute them in the country of Mexico, he said.

Fentanyl is scary, said Maltz. Its out of control, and its everywhere.
More Than 94,000 Prepayment Meters Forcibly Installed in UK Homes Last Year

Energy suppliers forcibly installed more than 94,000 prepayment meters in UK homes last year without customer consent, the government has revealed.

As part of the governments clampdown on mistreatment of vulnerable customers, Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday named the suppliers that are the most overzealous in the use of these meters.

According to the government, the highest number of prepayment meters force-fitted last year were from British Gas, Scottish Power, and OVO Energy, making up 70 percent of all forced installations with a total of 66,187 devices fitted under warrant.

Of these, Scottish Power tops the list as the worst offender when taking into account their customer base, force fitting over 24,300 in their customers homes in 2022.

Shapps said the figures give a clear and horrifying picture of just how widespread the forced installation of prepayment meters had become.

He said, Prepayment meters are right for some people, so I do not want to ban them outright, but I do have concerns that companies have not been treating their customers fairly, over an already difficult winter during which the government has tried to help families by paying around half the energy bill of the average household.

The Cabinet minister said he was pleased that suppliers have made their actions public and agreed to put a stop to forcing prepayment on to vulnerable customers for good.

But he said this cannot happen again and repeated his call for any mistreatment of customers to be rectified.

RSecretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps arrives for a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, London, on March 15, 2023. (Jordan Pettitt/PA Media)

Mistreatment

Hundreds of thousands of customers have been switched over to more costly prepayment meters, often unwillingly and without the offer of support, after failing to keep up with rising energy payments.

Some have found their smart meters switched to prepayment mode remotely while others have been confronted at their door by teams sent by energy companiesarmed with magistrates court warrantsto physically make the change.

According to a report by The Times of London on Feb. 1, some British Gas customersincluding some who were disabled or mentally illhad pay-as-you-go meters forcibly installed in their homes.

Following the report, Shapps described the forced prepay installations as outrageous and energy minister Graham Stuart asked the energy giant to urgently outline redress for mistreated customers.

Britains energy regulator Ofgem subsequently ordered all energy providers to suspend prepayment meter installations until a new code of practice is agreed by energy companies.

Ofgem is reviewing the use of prepayment meters and companies have been instructed to investigate and offer redress such as compensation to customers where the meters were wrongly installed and regulations not followed.

Shapps said he will be watching the review closely so customers get the support they needand those vulnerable consumers who have wrongly suffered forced installations get the justice they deserve in the form of redress.

Amanda Solloway, minister for energy, consumers, and affordability, said: We will not stand for the mistreatment of vulnerable customers who have been forced on to prepayment meters. I welcome the move from Ofgem to make it easier for customers to report cases but this cant be a one off, and suppliers must now offer redress to those they have wronged.

Unpaid Debts

Following the row, Lord Justice Edis issued directions for magistrates courts to stop all warrants that allow companies to force-fit the meters.

Prior to that, suppliers were allowed to apply to courts for a warrant to enter the home of a customer who has not been paying their bills and has not engaged with their supplier.

Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley said on Feb. 22 that the rules and regulations are clear that force-fitting prepayment meters should only be done as a last resort and only where it is safe and practicable to do so.

A British Gas spokesman said at the time: We only install prepayment meters under warrant as a last resort after all other options have been exhausted. This takes many months where there are multiple efforts to engage with a customer and the majority of the time, we can find a solution such as access to our support funds or payment plansweve helped over 650,000 customers with their energy bills in the past year.

The industry body Energy UK pointed to the reason why energy providers have been using prepayment meters.

If users who consistently fail to pay are not moved to prepayment meters, the unpaid debts would result in higher energy bills for other customers.

Energy UK was quoted by the BBC as saying, The industry has already been talking to Ofgem and the government about how best we can support the most vulnerable customers going forward, including the role a social tariff could potentially play, which needs to be part of the discussion around the use of prepayment meters.

Lily Zhou and PA Media contributed to this report.
Moscow-Backed Talks Between Turkey, Syria Set to Resume Following Pause

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during their meeting in Sochi on May 17, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP/Getty Images)

Moves to restore ties between Turkey and Syriaafter 12 years of bitter hostilityappear to be back on track following a weekslong hiatus.

The reconciliation process, encouraged by Moscow, was temporarily suspended last month after both countries were rocked by devastating earthquakes.

The next round of Moscow-hosted talks between Turkish and Syrian officials are likely to be held next month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on March 27.

Were getting ready [to host the meeting], Bogdanov told Russias TASS news agency.

People walk past collapsed buildings following a devastating earthquake in the town of Jinderis, Syria, on Feb. 9, 2023. (Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo)

He added that Russian mediation efforts aimed at normalizing SyrianTurkish relations, which he described as an important strategic goal.

NATO member Turkey severed ties with Damascus in 2011. Since then, it has supported armed groups in Syria devoted to President Bashar al-Assads overthrow. Moscow, by contrast, is a staunch supporter of Assad and his government. Since 2015, Russia has maintained forces in Syria at Assads invitation.

Amid longstanding differences over Syria, Turkey maintains good relations with Russia, with which it shares extensive trade ties and a lengthy maritime border.

In December 2022, Moscow hosted landmark talks between the defense ministers of Turkey and Syria, the first meeting between high-ranking officials of those nations in more than a decade.

Quakes Kill Tens of Thousands

The meeting was meant to proceed with a discussion between foreign ministers, to be followed in turn by a summit between Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But the momentum toward full-blown rapprochement was blunted on Feb. 6, when Turkey and Syria were rocked by back-to-back earthquakes. The quakes left 50,000 people dead in Turkey and thousands more dead in northern Syria and resulted in widespread damage.

Now that the dust has settled, preparations appear to be underway for a fresh round of Moscow-hosted Turkey-Syria talks.

On March 15, Assad visited Moscow, where he met with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. During the visit, Assad restated his willingness to hold talks with Turkey as long as they served the interests of the Syrian people and led to concrete results.

On March 25, Erdogan held a phone call with Putin during which the two leaders stressed the need to follow through with the normalization process, according to a statement released by Erdogans office.

Notably, future talks will likely include Iranian representatives as well. Like Moscow, Tehran staunchly supports Damascus and maintains forces in Syria.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters prepare for battle against ISIS militants in Raqqa, northeast Syria, on June 22, 2017. (Hussein Malla/AP Photo)

During a visit to Ankara this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian voiced his countrys desire to see a thaw in relations between Syria and Turkey.

At a joint news conference with Amirabdollahian, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tehran is prepared to help iron out differences of opinion between Ankara and Damascus.

Washington, meanwhile, remains firmly opposed to reconciliationby anyonewith Assad, describing the latter as a brutal dictator.

The United States also has a military presence in Syria, especially in the countrys northeast, where it arms and supports the Kurdish YPG militant group.

An offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the YPG is viewed as a terrorist group by both Damascus and Ankara.

Washington says it must keep a military presence in Syria to prevent the resurgence of the ISIS terrorist group, which was largely destroyedorganizationally at leastin 2019.

US Forces Under Fire

Recent days have seen mounting tension between Iran and U.S. forces in Syria, who are said to number roughly 900 troops.

On March 23, a U.S. base in northeastern Syria was attacked by an aerial drone, which U.S. defense officials claimed was of Iranian origin. According to the Pentagon, a military contractor was killed and several service members were injured.

The United States responded by striking targets in eastern Syria associated with Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Defense Department said in a statement.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later said the U.S. strikes had killed 19 people, including Syrian troops, militiamen, and foreignpresumably Iranianfighters.

On March 25, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani condemned the U.S. strikes as terrorist attacks, claiming that civilians also were killed.

Denying Irans involvement in the purported drone strike, he accused Washington of using the threat posed by the terrorist group ISIS as a pretext for keeping U.S. troops in Syria.

The U.S. claim that it is present in Syria to fight ISIS, in whose creation it played a substantive role, is a pretext for continuing its occupation and plundering Syrias natural resources, Kanaani was quoted as saying by Irans Fars news agency.

Following the strikes, U.S. President Joe Biden vowed that the United States would act forcefully to protect its military forces in Syria.
Netanyahu Sacks Defence Minister as Military Reservists Threaten Refusal to Serve Over Judicial Reform Bill

Protesters block a road and hold national flags during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023. (AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sacked Defense Minister Yoav Gallant amid another round of protests against a proposed overhaul of the judicial system, a day after Gallant broke ranks with the government and urged in favor of a temporary halt for compromise talks.

At a key moment in the passage of the legislation, Gallant warned on Saturday that the reforms risked a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state.

A day earlier, 200 reservist pilots and 100 doctors in the military reserves had told Gallant they would refuse to serve if the government passes the reforms.

At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price, Gallant said in his televised address.

Netanyahus government is poised to ratify a central part of the Supreme Court overhaul packagea bill that proponents like Israels justice minister say is needed to rein in activist judges and restore the proper balance between an elected government and the judiciary.

The Supreme Courts chief justice, Israels attorney general, and Israeli opposition leaders oppose the move. They say the changes risk being conducive to corruption and reduce judicial independencethreatening Israeli democracy.

Read More Dershowitz Warns Against Reducing Independence of Israeli Supreme Court

In the current system, the justices of the court, which has been criticized by some for left-wing activism, choose their own successors.

The bill is expected to be brought for ratification this week in the Knesset, where Netanyahu and his allies control 64 out of 120 seats.

Some of Netanyahus coalition partners called for Gallant to be sacked for his comments on Saturday while others backed him.

Netanyahu made the decision to sack Gallant on Sunday night. He said that he had also heard from others in the military who support the reforms, who threatened refusal of their service unless the legislation was passed.

The prime minister warned against entertaining such threats.

Surrendering to [IDF] refusal is a terrible danger to the State of Israel, Netanyahu told reporters at a briefing in London, local media reported. It wont stop with just one side, it will move from side to side.

In announcing Gallants dismissal, Netanyahus office did not name a replacement nor give any other details. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided this evening to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, it said.

12 Weeks of Protests

The reforms to the Supreme Court were first announced on Jan. 4 by Justice Minister Yariv Levin when Netanyahu took office three months ago. Levin, along with other critics of the high court, say the unelected judges have too much power.

At the time, Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges that he denies, said the proposals have the intent to restore balance between the three branches of government and would be implemented with careful consideration while hearing all of the positions.

In response, opponents to the reforms have organized regular protests for the past 12 weeks against the bill aimed at giving the executive more say in the appointment of judges.

Read More Thousands in Israel Hold Protests Against Government Plans to Overhaul Judicial System

Responding to the pressure, at least three Likud ministers have said publicly that they would support halting the legislation if Netanyahu decided to do so, and that it is time for the government to reevaluate the strategy. Levin and his allies have said they remain committed to the reforms.

Earlier this month, President Isaac Herzog, the head of state, who is supposed to remain above politics, warned that the country faced disaster unless a broader consensus could be reached on how to overhaul the judiciary.

Defense Minister Cites Internal Pressure

Gallant on Saturday became the most senior member of Netanyahus right-wing Likud party to say he would not support the judicial overhaul, saying the protests, which have included growing numbers of military reservists, were also affecting regular forces and undermining national security.

Shortly after his sacking, Gallant, 64, wrote on Twitter: The state of Israels security has always been and will always be my lifes mission.

Opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz responded to the sacking in a joint statement, State security cannot be a card in the political game. Netanyahu crossed a red line tonight.

They called on members of Netanyahus Likud party not to have a hand in the crushing of national security.

Read More Israelis Go to the Polls for the Fifth Time in 4 Years

The head of the Histadrut labour federation, the umbrella organisation for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said he was astonished by Gallants removal and promised a dramatic announcement on Monday.

Israels research universities announced they would stop holding classes due to the legislative push, calling for its immediate freeze. Overseas, Israels consul-general in New York said he was resigning over the dismissal.

It was not immediately clear whether the protests will impact the governments tactics, and if and when the vote will proceed. The head of the parliamentary committee deciding on the legislation said discussions would continue on Monday.

Week of Paralysis Planned

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets late at night across the country on Saturday in ahead of the planned Week of Paralysis protests as the government drew nearer to passing its bill.

In recent weeks, senior Finance Ministry officials have warned of the economic impacts of the protests, and business leaders have sounded the alarm for their companies future.

On Saturday, upon news of Gallants dismissal, Crowds gathered outside Netanyahus home in Jerusalem, at one point breaching a security cordon.

Police used water cannons to push them back.

Protesters clash with the police during a rally against the Israeli governments judicial reform in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 27, 2023. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, where hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since the beginning of the year, protesters lighted a large bonfire on a main highway.

The crisis comes as Israels security establishment has been bracing for potential violence in the coming weeks as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan overlaps with the Jewish Passover and the Christian Easter celebration.

Over the past year, Israeli defense forces have been conducting nearly daily raids in the West Bank. In response to Palestinian attackers, Israeli officers have killed more than 250 Palestinian fighters and unfortunately, civilians, in anti-terror operations. More than 40 Israelis and foreigners have also been killed by crossfire during the operations.

Reuters contributed to this report.
NANJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A screening event featuring works by renowned Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini opened Friday in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The event will last until Sunday and screen seven of Pasolini's films shot in the 1960s, including Accattone, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Mamma Roma, and Oedipus Rex.

A themed exhibition, an Italian-style coffee market, and other activities will also be held over the weekend to immerse the visitors in Italian arts and cultures.

The event is supported by the Jiangnan Branch of the China Film Archive (CFA) and the Italian Embassy in China. It is also the first event since the launch of the CFA Jiangnan Branch earlier this month.

Located in Suzhou, the new CFA branch will focus on developing cultural products, cultivating talent, and organizing art film screenings in the future.

Editor: WXL
New Zealand Teetering Between China and Western Allies

New Zealand Concludes First Ministerial Visit to Beijing in Years

New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta speaks during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on Oct. 4, 2022. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta concluded the first ministerial visit to China since COVID began, noting the Chinese regimes human rights abuses and inviting her Chinese counterpart to visit New Zealand.

Our discussions were wide-ranging, covering all aspects of our bilateral relationship, she said.

We look forward to the resumption of a range of in-person high-level discussions and officials dialogues, including on foreign affairs, climate change, human rights, the Pacific, and trade, which provide a valuable platform for engagement.

Mahuta also brought up the human rights abuses in Chinas Xinjiang region, erosion of rights and freedom in Hong Kong, expressed concerns over increasing tension in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, and reiterated New Zealands condemnation of Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Aotearoa New Zealand would be concerned by any provision of lethal aid in support of Russias illegal war, she said.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese regime highly values its relationship with New Zealand.

Mahuta is reported to have told Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang that New Zealand attached great importance to Beijings influence, is firmly committed to the one-China policy, and expected to strengthen high-level interactions.

Qin said China and New Zealand had set an example for friendly relations between countries with different social systems, histories, and cultures.

During her visit, Mahuta also met with Qins predecessor, Wang Yi, who said that China appreciated New Zealands objective and friendly view and positive policy toward China.

Mahuta told Radio New Zealand that a range of issues are at play in the dialogue beyond trade and the economy, including being able to have conversations on issues we dont agree on.

Thats why we take seriously the way in which we look after the relationship with China, she said.

This visit may open the door to further ministerial visits to Beijing, including by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

China is New Zealands largest trading partner, with New Zealand upgrading its free trade agreement with China in 2022. This included providing tariff-free access for 99 percent of New Zealands $4 billion (US$2.5 billion) wood and paper trade.

Allies Move In Response to Rising Indo-Pacific Tensions As New Zealand Stays Still

Mahutas visit to Beijing comes as New Zealands traditional allies increase military cooperation in response to Chinas increasing aggression in the region.

On March 13, Australia signed a $368 billion (US$260 billion) nuclear submarine deal with the United Kingdom and the United States.

Since the announcement of the AUKUS pact in September 2021, New Zealand has remained ambiguous on its stance towards the alliance.

At the time, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern noted that she was pleased to see the increased engagement of the UK and the U.S. in the region but noted that New Zealands nuclear-free policy meant Australias future subs would not be allowed into its waters.

The New Zealand government has not provided additional comment on its position since the details of the nuclear sub-deal were announced.

NZ Opposition Critical of AUKUS

However, the oppositions foreign affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee has been critical of the deal, claiming it would make New Zealand less safe.

What I dont like is the concept that we just seem to be dividing the world, he told AAP, criticising the way Western countries painted the Chinese regime as the enemy.

Brownlee has a history of agreeing with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda, including calling human rights abuses in Xinjiang an internal terrorism problem and echoing the party line that the CCP lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty.

Former Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark, who served from 1999 to 2008, also said on Twitter that New Zealands interests do not lie in being associated with AUKUS; association would be damaging to independent foreign policy.

New Zealand First party leader Winston Peters said Clark was talking bulldust, noting that the AUKUS agreement shouldnt be over analysed.

He added that Brownlees argument was an astonishing statement to make.

The reality is, as proven to be so true in so many cases in history, the best deterrence from attacks is the threat that the attack is going to be a failure, he told AAP.

Peters said AUKUS highlighted the need for New Zealand to increase its own military investment.

According to the World Bank, in 2022, New Zealands military expenditure was estimated at around 1.37 percent of GDP, which pales compared to AUKUS nations.
No Advisory Body is Going to Close the Gap: Lidia Thorpe

Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe addresses the media and crowd in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov. 15, 2022. (Photo by Tamati Smith/Getty Images)

The federal governments next steps towards a First Nations Voice to Parliament and Constitutional Recognition have been criticised by Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, who said that no advisory body is going to deliver the real-world action Indigenous Australians need.

Thorpe, who is a Gunai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung mother and grandmother, said that Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses comment that Australia cant keep doing the same thing was strange given that is what the Labor government was doing.

Here we are with yet another advisory body to make this government feel better about the ongoing colonisation of this country and the genocide being perpetrated against our people, she said.

High-paid, hand-picked members of the governments campaign continue to advocate for a powerless body they will call the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, whilst our communities voices are being ignored all around the country.

Our people are the most incarcerated on the planet. We are the poorest, our life expectancy is shorter than every other person in this country, suicide continues to rattle our communities, and the government is still stealing our children.

The comments from Thorpe come after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed last week the exact wording of the upcoming referendum on whether to change the countrys Constitution.

Voters will be asked: A proposed law to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?

The change will involve adding these phrases to the Constitution:

There shall be a body to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the executive government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

The Parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have the power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.

An introductory phrase is also proposed: In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia.

Thorpe Concerned Voice Goes Against Traditional Indigenous Structures

Thorpe, who famously quit the Greens Party to become the first Blak Sovereign Movement representative in the Parliament, said she was concerned that the representatives chosen by the Labor government had endorsed a body that has no real substance for First Nations people, no veto rights or decision-making power, and makes no immediate impact to saving the lives of First Nations people today.

She also said that it went against traditional governing structures practised in the Indigenous communities.

The PM and this group talk about showing respect to First Nations people while their campaign continues to disrespect the voices that have rejected constitutional recognition and have called for self-determination and Treaty for generations, she said.

High-paid, hand-picked members of the governments campaign continue to advocate for a powerless body they will call the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, whilst our communities voices are being ignored all around the country.

It might sound lovely and may make people feel good, but this proposed Voice goes against the governance structures that have existed in our communities since time immemorial. It moves our Elders further away from decision-making roles which goes against our cultural protocols.

High Court Challenges Potential Side Effect of The Voice

Meanwhile, Indigenous Country Liberal Party Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said she was very concerned that the current provision that allows The Voice to make representations to the executive government, which she argued could enable the representatives to High Court challenges, Sky News Australia reported.

If they do not agree with what the executive has to say or what they want to legislate, there is no guarantee that they will not take this to the High Court to challenge, Senator Price said in Canberra on Thursday.

Not even a cabinet minister has the right to make a challenge in the High Court about decisions that they dont agree with.

If you think theyre not going to challenge the government of the day, the executive, within the high court  this will then put a strain on the rest of the nation for decisions being made for all Australians.

This Voice proposal, the question going forward and the fact that it refers to the executive is very dangerous. This is a warning to Australians to really understand whats going on here, she added.
No Change to US Nuclear Posture Following Russias Pledge to Arm Belarus: State Department

An inert Minuteman III missile in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., on June 25, 2014. (Charlie Riedel/AP Photo)

The United States will not adjust its nuclear posture following an announcement by Russia that it will place tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said over the weekend that Belarus could house Russian tactical nuclear weapons by the beginning of summer.

The Biden administration says that Russia is not seriously considering the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, however, and will not adjust its own nuclear posture as such.

We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel during a March 27 press briefing.

No country is threatening Russia or threatening President Putin, Patel added.

Belarus, which is immediately west of Russia and north of Ukraine, previously allowed Russian forces to amass and attack Ukraine from within its borders. Likewise, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has vowed to join Russia in its war if it is the target of aggression from Ukraine or the West.

Putins announcement means that Russia could place nuclear weapons immediately adjacent to Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, despite Putins repeated claims that he was invading Ukraine to prevent Western nuclear arms from being deployed adjacent to Russia.

Such a move would also increase the ease with which the Kremlin could escalate its war against Ukraine.

Patel noted that, despite Putins rhetoric, no other nation had ever threatened the use of nuclear arms over the ongoing war in Ukraine, nor sought to escalate the conflict.

Candidly, this announcement is one that we condemn, Patel said. This is the latest example of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric that we have seen from Russia.

No other country is inflicting such damage on arms control, nor seeking to undermine strategic stability in Europe. No other country has raised the prospect of potential nuclear use in connection with this conflict.

Patel added that the United States and its NATO allies would implement severe consequence on Russia should it initiate nuclear conflict, and said the Biden administration continues to have a number of tools at our disposal to hold the Russian Federation accountable.

To that end, Patel repeated the belief of President Joe Biden that the world was facing a suite of challenges to democratic governance, and link Russias aggression to a push against law and order.

Were currently at an inflection point when it comes to the future of democracy, both in the United States and globally, Patel said.
North Korea Fires Missiles as Provocation Continues Over Military Drills

U.S. Army soldiers wait to board their CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, on March 19, 2023. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on March 27 as part of announcing its displeasure over the U.S.South Korea joint military drills in the peninsula.

North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile, the Prime Ministers Office of Japan posted on Twitter, with a list of the prime ministers instructions. 1. Dedicate maximum effort to gather & analyze information, & provide the public speedy & adequate information. 2. Ensure the safety of aircraft, vessels, & other assets. 3. Take all possible measures for precaution, incl. readiness for contingencies.

The two missiles were fired toward the northeast from near the west coast of North Korea at 7 a.m. local time, Japans Ministry of Defense stated. Its presumed that the missiles fell outside Japans exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. In addition, it is possible that the ballistic missile flew on an irregular trajectory, and the analysis is still ongoing, according to the statement.

The first missile was launched at about 7:47 a.m. local time and flew about 370 kilometers (230 miles) at a maximum altitude of about 50 kilometers (31 miles), with the second missile following 10 minutes later. No damage was reported.

This was the seventh missile test in a series of launches by the North Korean regime as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on March 27.

The test missile launch comes a week after the United States and South Korean troops began their Ssangyong exercise in the Korean peninsula. The naval drill will include more than 30 ships and 70 aircraft from both nations, along with nearly 50 amphibious assault vessels, Stars and Stripes reported.

We will keep a close eye on North Koreas various activities and maintain firm readiness posture based on the capability to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations, South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said, noting that it would continue military drills with the United States as planned.

The South Korean government has condemned the provocation as violating U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Maritime Exercises

A guided missile cruiser and two destroyers accompanied the USS Nimitz for the air defense exercises. The drills are taking place near Jeju Island, and the strike group is expected to arrive at the South Korean mainland port of Busan on March 28.

Considering North Koreas escalating nuclear and missile threats, the exercises are seeking to enhance joint operational capabilities between the two nations while demonstrating American commitment to defend South Korea, including with usage of nuclear options, said Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, according to The Associated Press.

The United States has deployable strategic assets at the ready on every day, said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group Eleven. We can continue to deploy those assets and we will.

The United States and South Korea recently concluded their biggest springtime exercises in years, which included live-fire field exercises as well as simulations. However, the allies continued the drills in the face of North Koreas stance in the region.

Pyongyang launched missiles when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group visited the region for joint exercises in September 2022. So far this year, the communist regime has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions in an attempt to threaten the world powers to remove crippling sanctions and accept its nuclear status.

In 2022, North Korea launched a record 70 missiles as part of weapons testing.

While the allies have claimed defense purposes for the drills, the regime has condemned them as invasion rehearsals.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Nashville Police announced on March 27 they responded to a shooting at a private Christian school, as officials confirmed three children and three adults died. The shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was killed by responding officers. According to local authorities, Hale identifies as transgender.

The grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump is reportedly back in session hearing evidence. This comes after Trumps first presidential campaign rally of the year, which took place over the weekend.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed voting on a bill that would reform Israels judicial system after tens of thousands of people filled the streets of Jerusalem in protest of the change.
Video Chapters:

0:00 Intro

3:00 NY case against Trump begins to crumble

11:30 Trump being framed for calling for new insurrection

11:30 The public perception battle

25:00 DA Bragg faces legal pressure

42:00 Trump arrest attempt backfired

54:00 Trump using potential arrest as campaign platform

1:00:00 Potential arrest is election interference?

1:10:00 United Nations owns the science

1:16:00 US government wants to bailout Moderna

The New York case against Donald Trump is beginning to crumble.

A Grand Jury weighing the case heard testimony from former federal prosecutor Robert Costello on Monday. It was alleged that the evidence has dramatically changed the case. Afterwards, District Attorney Alvin Bragg canceled a follow-up hearing without initially stating a reason.

Now, DA Bragg is accusing former President Donald Trump of spreading rumors about his pending arrest. Trump, meanwhile, is using the pending charges as a campaign platform for his 2024 presidential run, with a focus on the weaponization of government and politicized prosecutions.

In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, well discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.
Passenger at LAX Detained For Allegedly Triggering Emergency Slide

A United Airlines Boeing 737 takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles on June 16, 2022. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELESA passenger aboard a Delta flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Seattle was detained Saturday for allegedly opening an emergency exit door aboard the plane and causing the emergency slide to be activated.

The action happened at approximately 10 a.m. Saturday, as the airplane pushed away from the gate. Los Angeles Airport Police detained the passenger for further investigation, according to Los Angeles Police Capt. Karla Rodriguez.

Due to the circumstances, FBI has been notified, Rodriguez said. The aircraft was returned to a gate and passengers are in the process of being deplaned in order to be transported in another aircraft so that they can continue with their flight plans.

She added that no arrests were made but the subject was transported to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.
Chef Shares Tips on How to Feed a Family of 5 for Less in Break Bread on a Budget
3 Children, 3 Adults Dead in Tennessee Christian School Shooting: Officials

Police identify female former student, 28, as the shooter

Officers at an active shooter event that took place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. (Metro Nashville Police Department via AP)

Nashville Police announced on Monday they responded to a shooting at a private elementary school and preschool as officials confirmed three children and three adults died.

Officials identified the child victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, saying they are all aged 9. The adult victims were identified Cynthia Peak, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; and Mike Hill, age 61; according to a post on Twitter.

Police Chief John Drake told reporters that the shooter was identified as Audrey Hale and that she identified as transgender, yes, when asked about whether she had. At one point she was a student at that school, he added hours after the shooting. But unsure what year  but thats what Ive been told so far.

Social media profiles of the alleged shooter show that Hale used he/him pronouns. A LinkedIn profile said that Hale had a freelance illustration and graphic design business and had previously attended Nossi College of Art in Tennessee.

We now know that there are three students who were fatally wounded as well as three adults inside the school. We are working to identify those victims. Including the shooter, a total of seven persons were killed as a result of this mornings incident at the school, police spokesman Don Aaron said. Three students who were shot are deceased. Three staff members who were shot are deceased, he continued to say.

Initially, officials did not know who she is, Aaron told reporters at a press conference. Later, the Nashville Metro Police Department wrote on social media that the suspect was identified as a 28-year-old Nashville woman, but no name was provided.

At one point she was a student at that school, Nashville police Chief John Drake told reporters later on Monday. There was a vehicle nearby that gave us a clue to who she was.

The suspect had two rifles and a handgun, Aaron said. He did not provide more details about the weapons.

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a deadly shooting at their school on March 27, 2023. (Jonathan Mattise/AP Photo)

The tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police received the initial call about an active shooter at 10:13 a.m.

Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, Aaron said. Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10:27 a.m., Aaron said. He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

The Covenant Schools victims were pronounced dead at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. One officer had a hand wound from cut glass.

According to its website, Covenant School is a Christian school for pre-K through sixth grade. Local media reported that the school ran an active shooter training program last year.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed that its agents are responding to the scene of the school shooting. It said that there is no current threat to public safety at this time.

Response

A number of elected officials reacted to the shooting on Monday. Republican Gov. Bill Lee told news outlets that he was closely monitoring the situation, while Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman, whose district includes The Covenant School, called Mondays shooting an unimaginable tragedy.

In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting, Mayor John Cooper said on Twitter. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.

Chuck and I are heartbroken to hear about the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. My office is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, and we stand ready to assist. Thank you to the first responders working on site. Please join us in prayer for those affected, said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in a statement.

The House Democratic Caucus is praying for the children and their families who were shooting victims at the Covenant School. Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons says, Our thoughts are with the families of the entire school community and surrounding neighborhood,' the House Democratic Caucus also said in a statement.

The White House confirmed in a statement that President Joe Biden was briefed about the shooting. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden will now attempt to get Congress to pass another assault weapons ban in the wake of the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A premature baby who was so tiny that he looked like a little doll has defied the odds to celebrate his second birthdayafter spending 144 days in the hospital.

Cole Rosenburg turned two years old on March 19, and he weighed just one pound and 10 ounces when born 16 weeks early in 2021.

He was so small at birth, the doctors told his parents, Hayley, 33, and Nick Rosenburg, 33, that their baby was unlikely to survive. Cole spent nearly five months in UC San Diego medical center, San Diego, battling a brain bleed and learning to breathe independently before he was able to come home.

The little warrior was so small he was dwarfed by the little octopus toy that he now towers over.

In Nov. 2022, Cole was diagnosed with spastic triplastic cerebral palsy, which limits movement due to muscle stiffness and spasms. Coles parents are hopeful he will continue to make progress as he is able to eat, sit up by himself with support and roll over.

Hayley, who owns a hair salon, said: It was crazyhe looked like a Barbie doll. Cole was requiring a lot of oxygen and they discovered a brain bleed. Now hes extremely behind.

He can barely sit by himself and cant stand or crawl. But hes doing things they said he wouldnt do. Were hopeful that hell keep progressing. Hes amazing. I cant imagine my life without him.

The couple were over the moon when they learned that Hayley was pregnant with Cole in October 2020. Just four months prior, they had lost a son, Connor, when he was four days old, from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a condition in which an infants brain doesnt receive adequate blood flow for a period of time.

We were just excited, not nervous, she said.

Hayley started bleeding when she was three months along, but doctors couldnt see anything wrong and kept a close eye on her for the rest of her pregnancy. But on March 16, 2021, at 23 weeks and three days, Hayley woke up and knew she was in labor. I was having contractions, she said.

Hayley was rushed to the hospital where it was confirmed she was in labor. Doctors gave her steroid shots and medication to slow her labor and she was told she could deliver anytime from the next day to 16 weeks. While in the hospital, Hayley tested positive for COVID despite no symptoms, and her husband, Nick, wasnt able to be with her. Two days later, on March 19, 2021, Hayley started having contractions again, and the doctors had to do a C-section.

After her epidural failed, Hayley had to be put under general anesthetic for the birth and had no idea if her little boy had survived when she came around.

I woke up and I didnt know what had happened. I asked a nurse, is my baby alive? She didnt know at first, but she found out and told me, hes alive and your husband is with him, Hayley said.

Hayley wasnt able to see Cole until he was three days old as she was still testing positive for COVID. But when Cole took a turn for the worst, Hayley was able to meet him for the first time.

He was the smallest thing I had seen, she said. Nick had seen him already, so he wasnt in so much shock. At that point, we didnt know all the possibilities of life-long problems.

Doctors told Coles parents they had discovered a grade four brain bleed and that they had no hope for him. Cole battled chronic lung disease before having his first brain shunt in May 2021.

He had to have the shunt replaced two times before he was old enough to have a ventriculoperitoneal shunta tube that helps drain fluid from the brain.

Cole was also diagnosed with an eye diseaseretinopathy of prematurityand Hayley wasnt sure if he would be able to see her.

We didnt know what it would be like when we left the hospital, she said. I didnt know if he would be blind, but fortunately he can see us.

After 144 days in the hospital, Cole came home on oxygen on Aug. 10, 2021a month after his due date on July 9, 2021. He is now a happy little boy but is behind on his milestones and cant stand, crawl or walk.

Cole was officially diagnosed with spastic triplastic cerebral palsy in November 2022 and is now undergoing treatment to help his muscle tightness. And Hayley and Nick are hopeful.

Hayley said, Hes the happiest little thing ever. Hes never upset or cries. Were hopeful for the future.

The couple welcomed Coles little brother, Ryan, now five months old, on Oct. 19, 2022, weighing seven pounds 11 ounces.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/newsletter
This aerial photo taken on March 20, 2023 shows newly unearthed remains of city gate and walls in Diaoyu City scenic area in Hechuan District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Diaoyu literally means fishing in English. And the Diaoyu City, an ancient fortress in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, was built in the latter part of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

In recent years, the local authority has improved the infrastructure, conducted exhibitions and added other visiting contents at the scenic area, so that tourists can both view the archaeological excavation site and experience the archaeological culture while touring. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

People visit Diaoyu City scenic area in Hechuan District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 20, 2023. Diaoyu literally means fishing in English. And the Diaoyu City, an ancient fortress in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, was built in the latter part of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

In recent years, the local authority has improved the infrastructure, conducted exhibitions and added other visiting contents at the scenic area, so that tourists can both view the archaeological excavation site and experience the archaeological culture while touring. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

People visit Diaoyu City scenic area in Hechuan District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 20, 2023. Diaoyu literally means fishing in English. And the Diaoyu City, an ancient fortress in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, was built in the latter part of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

In recent years, the local authority has improved the infrastructure, conducted exhibitions and added other visiting contents at the scenic area, so that tourists can both view the archaeological excavation site and experience the archaeological culture while touring. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

This photo taken on March 20, 2023 shows a relics park under construction in Diaoyu City scenic area in Hechuan District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Diaoyu literally means fishing in English. And the Diaoyu City, an ancient fortress in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, was built in the latter part of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279).

In recent years, the local authority has improved the infrastructure, conducted exhibitions and added other visiting contents at the scenic area, so that tourists can both view the archaeological excavation site and experience the archaeological culture while touring. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

Editor: WXY
Reports About Closed COVID-19 Mass Quarantine Centers Attract International Attention

Many empty buildings in China after zero-COVID policy was dropped

Workers building a makeshift hospital that will be used for COVID-19 patients in China's southwestern city of Chongqing on Nov. 22, 2022. (CNS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Chinese communist regimes draconian zero-COVID policy has caused a substantial secondary disaster. Since the regime suddenly lifted all the COVID-19 control measures in December 2022, the future of the mass quarantine centers that cost tens of billions of dollars to build has attracted wide attention.

Satellite images show that many centralized quarantine facilities, known as mobile cabin hospitals, despite not having medical treatment capabilityjust for quarantinehave been abandoned across China, as reported by international media outlet Al Jazeera on March 23.

In February, social media posts and viral videos indicated that the largest COVID-19 quarantine center in Shandong Province had been demolished. The authorities quickly deleted other related reports. Some netizens posted photos and videos of the ruins of the quarantine center, causing public lament about the colossal waste of taxpayers money.

According to an official announcement, the 12th to 21st phases of the national debt plan of Shandong Province in 2022 were to invest 23 billion yuan (about $3.35 billion) in the construction of 119 quarantine centers that would provide 200,000 beds.

On Nov. 30, 2022, the second and third phases of the 150,000-square-meter Jinan quarantine center were completed. It had 8,000 beds and could accommodate 11,000 people in quarantine. However, on Dec. 7, 2022, the Chinese regime suddenly abandoned the zero-COVID policy. This largest quarantine center in Shandong Province, which the local government went into debt to build, was demolished just two months after it was completed.

Tens of Billions Spent on COVID in 2022

In late February, authorities in 22 provinces publicized their 2022 fiscal expenditures. The total cost of COVID-19 control in 22 provinces was 421.9 billion yuan (about $61.4 billion), including building quarantine centers, PCR testing, and paying pandemic control personnel.

The three provinces that spent the most on COVID-19 measures were Guangdong, Henan, and Zhejiang, at 71.14 billion yuan (about $10.36 billion), 48.93 billion yuan (about $7.12 billion), and 43.51 billion yuan ($6.3 billion), respectively. Thirteen other provinces and cities spent more than 10 billion yuan (about $1.46 billion) on COVID-19 control last year.

Since the Chinese regime abandoned its zero-COVID policy, tens of thousands of mass quarantine centers and countless PCR testing stations disappeared seemingly overnight. Some of the smaller PCR testing booths were auctioned off online, and some were repurposed. Many abandoned large quarantine centers remain empty.

For example, the temporary PCR testing room in front of the Suzhou Railway Station has been turned into a lunch room for the police. A nearby PCR testing site has become a job-search information station.

Employees set up a makeshift hospital that will be used for COVID-19 patients in Guangzhou, in Chinas eastern Guangdong Province, on April 11, 2022. (AFP) / China OUT)

The Epoch Times recently obtained an internal document issued by the COVID-19 joint prevention and control team of the regimes State Council on Dec. 16, 2022, titled Notice on Continuing to Keep the Number and Scale of Quarantine Centers and Nucleic Acid Sampling Points (Comprehensive Issue of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism [2022] No.135) (No.: 12212317). It states that the country shall not arbitrarily cancel or close the quarantine centers and COVID-19 PCR testing sites, and shall not dismantle the quarantine centers.

Regarding the future of the empty quarantine centers throughout China, Arendse Huld, an editor at the business-intelligence website and magazine China Briefing, told Al Jazeera that authorities may find it challenging to make the quarantine centers economically viable if converted to other uses, which could include hotels, office buildings, shopfronts, warehouses, expo centers, and even parking lots.

These facilities were not made to be permanent, and so it seems unlikely that they will really have much longevity, Huld said.
Rich Chinese Face Dwindling Immigration Choices as Europes Golden Visa Era Ends

The European Unions golden visas have been closed or tightened one after another, with the wealthy Chinese most affected. At the same time, however, Russia and some African countries are now offering golden visas.

Starting March 16, the Portuguese government stopped issuing golden visas. Announcing the decision last month, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the move was to combat speculation in property prices.

Among the golden visas of many European countries, Portugals golden visa is the most cost-effective. In addition to the 500,000-euro (about $540,000) home purchase threshold, one can become a naturalized citizen on a golden visa for five years and only needs to stay 35 days during that period.

Since its launch in 2012, the scheme has attracted nearly 6.8 billion euros ($7.3 billion) of investment, most of it into the property sector, according to Portugals Foreigners and Border Services.

Two days before Portugal announced its decision to suspend its golden visas, the Irish government shut down its Immigrant Investor Program without warning. Irelands Justice Minister Simon Harris abruptly announced on Feb. 14 that applications would no longer be accepted the next day.

Under the Irish governments scheme, which was also introduced in 2012, applicants are required to have a personal wealth of at least 2 million euros (about $2.14 million) and to make a partial charitable donation of the necessary amount. Nearly 1.252 billion euros (about $1.34 billion) of investments have been approved under the scheme since it was set up, according to Irelands Department of Justice.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris at a press conference at Farmleigh House after the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference, in Dublin, on Jan. 19, 2023. The Justice Minister announced the scrapping of Irelands golden visa scheme. (Getty Images) In addition, Latvias coalition government decided on March 28, 2022, to end its golden visa scheme, which allowed foreigners to obtain residence permits by buying expensive apartments and villas. On Feb. 17, 2022, the British government announced the immediate closure of its T1 investment immigration channel in the United Kingdom. Six European countriesPortugal, Ireland, Latvia, the UK, Greece, and Spainhave attracted more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in investment through golden visas by the end of 2021, according to Irelands Immigration Investment Program. Four of these six countries have already abolished golden visas, while Greece and Spain are currently changing their policies. Greece has already announced it will raise the threshold for golden visas from 250,000 euros (about $270,000) to 500,000 euros (about $540,000) in some areas from May. Mas Pais, the left-wing party in Spain, introduced a bill in mid-February that would abolish the practice of obtaining a residence permit by buying only property worth more than 500,000 (about $540,000). Golden Visa Era Comes to an End The golden visa is a type of investor immigration program in which wealthy individuals obtain residence permits or citizenship by investing in real estate, starting a business, or making capital investments. After the European debt crisis in late 2009, many European countries introduced golden visas to attract investment. After obtaining an EU passport, the holder can travel freely within the Schengen zone, live and work in all EU member countries, as well as enjoy health care and tax benefits within the countrys jurisdiction. However, as the visa has gained popularity, controversy has followed. With its heavy emphasis on investment and often lax background checks on applicants, golden visa programs pose security risks and provide an advantage for money laundering, tax evasion, corruption, the financing of terrorism, and infiltration by organized crime. Jiang Semniao, 18, a golden visa holder, poses holding his awards and diplomas in central Athens on Oct. 31, 2019. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)
Schumer Warns of Skin-Rotting Zombie Drug Gaining Popularity in New York

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks briefly to reporters after a meeting with President Joe Biden at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 2, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned his constituents in New York about a new drug that he says could cause peoples skin to rot.

We all know what a scourge fentanyl has been across the New York areaNew York City, Long Island, all the suburbsbut now were seeing a new even worse type of drug being mixed with fentanyl, Schumer said during a press conference in Manhattan on Sunday.

Schumer warned this new drug, called xylazine, is being mixed in with other addictive street drugs like heroin and could be a nightmare for its users.

Its a deadly, skin-rotting zombie drug that evil drug dealers are now mixing with fentanyl, with heroin, and with other drugs, Schumer continued. And its already bringing a horrific wave of death and overdose to upstate New York, and its on its way to New York City and Long Island where weve already seen it begin to rear its ugly head.

What Is Xylazine?

Xylazine is a non-opioid pharmaceutical sedative and pain reliever often used in veterinary settings. Xylazine has also been used outside of veterinary medicine as a recreational drug either by itself or as a cutting agent in other drug substances like heroin and fentanyl.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the repeated use of xylazine is also associated with skin ulcers, abscesses, and related complications. These skin conditions can devolve further into necrosis, the death of skin and organ tissue.

Xylazine also poses a unique risk for overdose deaths.

The drug naloxone has become a popular means of reducing the effects of opioid overdoses from heroin and fentanyl. However, naloxone is ineffective against xylazine, which is not an opioid.

Because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone does not address the impact of xylazine on breathing, NIDA said in a fact sheet on the growing use of xylazine. Because of this, experts are concerned that a growing prevalence of xylazine in the illicit opioid supply may render naloxone less effective for some overdoses.

Alarm Growing Over Drug

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned of the rising prevalence of xylazine in drug mixtures in a new safety advisory last week.

Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier, said DEA administrator Anne Milgram. DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 States. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.

According to the DEA, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States. The DEA also said these cartels are sourcing much of these chemical compounds from China.

[Xylazine is] coming into the country through China and often through Mexico, Schumer said. And so even these drug dealers have started peddling this drug because it mimics opioids.

Schumer also raised the prospect of xylazine spilling over from legitimate veterinary pharmaceutical use into the illicit drug trade. The senator called for the DEA to send a diversion control team to determine how the drug may be permeating from legitimate veterinary use to the illegal trade.

Last week, New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan told the city council that officers uncovered more than 44 pounds of fentanyl cut with xylazine during a police raid against a money laundering suspect in Queens, the New York Post reported.

Xylazine has become particularly prevalent in the illicit drug scene in the northeast portion of the United States. According to NIDA, xylazine was detected in 26 percent of overdose deaths in Pennsylvania in 2020, compared to just 2 percent of overdose deaths across the state in 2015. Xylazine was detected in 19 percent of all drug overdose deaths in Maryland in 2021 and 10 percent of overdose deaths in Connecticut in 2020.

From NTD News
Scuba Diver Reported Missing in Laguna Beach Dies in Hospital

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.A scuba diver reported missing off Shaws Cove Beach in Laguna Beach March 25 was located in the ocean and rushed to a hospital, where he died.

Lifeguards were dispatched at 12:32 p.m. to the beach to search for the 46-year-old man, Marine Safety Captain Kai Bond said. They located him about 100 yards offshore after an extensive search.

Lifeguards rescued the victim at 1:33 p.m. and provided lifesaving measures with paramedics from the Laguna Beach Fire Department, Bond said. The victim was transported to Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach and pronounced deceased at the hospital at approximately 2:30 p.m.

The divers name was withheld until relatives could be notified, he said.
MISSISSAUGA, CanadaKaterina and Nazar Bylen, who both work in the financial industry, had seen Shen Yun Performing Arts once before the pandemic. With the New York-based dance companys return to Mississauga, the couple wanted to attend again, this time with their daughter, who also dances.

Its really spiritual, so it really helps, especially with everything going on in the worldit brings out a very powerful message to younger generations as well, said Mrs. Bylen at the Living Arts Centre after the March 26 matinee.

The show brings out a lot of good values, traditional values, added Mr. Bylen. It is very important right now in the society to come back to these values. Seems like we are losing them, right?

Shen Yun is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance company and has a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. The ancient Chinese believed their culture was a gift from the heavens, and society revolved around the concept of harmony between heaven, earth, and humankind, as explained on Shen Yuns website.

The Bylens felt Shen Yuns performance put people in touch with something fundamental to humanity.

There are a lot of distractions that are going on in the society that pulls us away from it, right? And they touched it, said Mr. Bylen.

Its like a reminder for people, and I am very glad to see that such mainstream show is based on that because that is the core message, we have to go within, we have to remember the good qualities, the compassion, the focus on those things, not the anger, fear, hatred, but the goodness within ourselves. That we are here called for, eventually we find it within ourselves, thats our calling in this world.

Mrs. Bylen was happy younger generations were seeing Shen Yun and have a reference point of what they saw in the performance to compare against what they see out in the world. She felt the performance would give them a lasting, positive message.

I have goosebumps, she said, explaining that I feel this is when something truth is coming out, thats how my body reacts to truth.

You have the sensation in your body, but I can feel it inside if you feel right in your heart, she said. This is a seed that you plant it therein their understandingthis is what she [my daughter] felt. She felt the connection, she was so into it, she loves Shen Yun.

Mr. Bylen was also glad to see Shen Yun was an effort carried forth by young people.

I am sure a lot of people walking away, its touched their hearts, he said. Its a little seed that is planted in people, especially here in Western society, a lot of them are disconnected from their inner culture. I think its great, its amazing, definitelywe will be back again.

I feel there is somethingthat something has been actually touched inside of me, he said. A goodness  it resonates with the goodness that we have within us. What the artists demonstrated, if you are in touch of your inner self, you can instantly feel the connection. Then what happens is that every little person feels that vibration inside of them, they go to their work, they go to their homes, it starts to spread, thats how it works.

We need that right now in the society, he said.

Reporting by Dongyu Teng.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Supreme Court Leaves Trumps Steel Import Tariffs Intact

The Supreme Court decided on March 27 to not take up an industry challenge to steel import tariffs that then-President Donald Trump imposed in 2018 on U.S. national security grounds.

President Joe Biden has left the tariffs, which Trump said were needed to ensure robust levels of domestic steel production, largely intact. The Biden administration had urged the court to reject the challenge.

The tariffs went into effect on March 1, 2018. A 25 percent tariff on imported steel from most countries was imposed, along with a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.

When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win, Trump wrote on Twitter the next day.

Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, dont trade anymorewe win big. Its easy!

Trump cited Section 232 of the Trade Act of 1962, which permits the president to impose restrictions on the importation of goods deemed essential to national security. He said at the time that the tariffs were needed to bolster the production of airplanes, ships, and military materials with U.S. steel. The tariffs created tension with some U.S. allies, although some countries were exempted from the policy.

The Supreme Court turned away the petition in USP Holdings Inc. v. United States, court file 22-565, in an unsigned order. The court didnt explain its decision. No justices dissented from the order.

In April 2017, then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross commenced an investigation to determine whether steel was being imported under such circumstances as to threaten or impair national security, according to the petition (pdf) filed with the Supreme Court.

Ross found in a 2018 report that domestic steel production is important for national security applications and that steel imports were on track to account for more than 30 percent of domestic consumption. He also determined that excessive quantities of imports has the effect of weakening the internal economy of the United States, threatening to impair the national security.

Companies that rely on imported steel sued the federal government in the U.S. Court of International Trade, arguing that Rosss report violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it was arbitrary and capricious.

The trade court found in 2021 that the report couldnt be challenged in the courts because it didnt constitute a final agency action.

Later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit differed from the trade court and found that the Ross report was, in fact, a final agency action. However, the appeals court held that the findings of the report couldnt be challenged under administrative law and that the tariffs didnt violate federal law.

A year ago, the Supreme Court also turned away a challenge to Trumps steel tariffs as they applied to Turkish imports in Transpacific Steel LLC v. United States, court file 21-721.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the new ruling.

Unfortunately, we dont have anything else to add here at this time, Terrence Clark of the departments Office of Public Affairs said in an email.

USP Holdings attorney Lewis Evart Leibowitz didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Kansas Congressional Map

Exterior shot of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington on March 22, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 27 rejected a challenge to a redrawn congressional map for Kansas.

The Supreme Court did not release a tally of which justices, if any, would have heard the challenge to a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court. Four justices must approve the type of challenge made, a writ of certiorari, for it to be heard.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other parties brought the challenge in 2022, claiming that the redrawn map was racially discriminatory.

The top courts rejection is a win for Kansas, which urged the court not to hear the case, arguing it did not involve any federal questions. Even if it did, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled correctly when it overturned a lower court ruling against the map.

The parties did not respond to requests for comment.

The Kansas legislature redrew the congressional map following the 2020 Census. Changes included splitting Wyandotte County, which includes Kansas City, into two districts. Legislators said the changes were made due to the increase in population, while opponents charged racial motivations.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed the map, but Republicans overrode the veto in the state chambers. Kobach is a Republican.

Other Rulings

Kansas District Judge Bill Klapper, in April 2022, ruled that the redrawn map violated voters rights.

Klapper said legislators internationally and effectively diluted minority votes with the new map, violating the Kansas Constitution. He cited in part how Jowei Chen, a political science professor at the University of Michigan and a plaintiff expert, analyzed the map and concluded it was an intentional, partisan gerrymander. The judge also noted the map did not receive support from Democrat lawmakers.

The Kansas Supreme Court overturned Klappers ruling.

The record demonstrates that plaintiffs did not ask the district court to apply the correct applicable legal tests to their race-based claims and that the lower court, in turn, did not apply the legal tests, the court said. Klapper did not make the requisite fact-findings to satisfy either legal test applicable to plaintiffs race-based equal protection claims.

According to the state Supreme Court, plaintiffs claiming racial gerrymandering must prove that race was the predominant factor motivating legislators new map. A claim of minority vote dilution must be backed by several showings, including proof that the group is politically cohesive.

Challengers

In their challenge to the Kansas Supreme Court decision, the American Civil Liberties Union and other petitioners asserted that the courts decision wrongly interpreted state constitutional guarantees of equal protection, which are coextensive with the U.S. Constitutions Fourteenth Amendment.

Under this conception of the Fourteenth Amendment, where minority voters are fewer in number or more dispersed, states have carte blanche to intentionally discriminate against them in drawing districtseven if the legislature announced that it acted specifically to disadvantage minority voters, they said. This intolerable rule would apply across most of the country, given the relatively small number of areas with sufficiently numerous and concentrated minority populations.

Kobach said the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction to review a state matter but that even if it could check it, justices should not reverse the decision.

As the Kansas Supreme Court explained, a vote dilution claim under Equal Protection Clause requires a showing of both discriminatory intent and discriminatory effect. The Kansas Supreme Court chose to adhere to this same standard when applying the equal protection guarantees found in the Kansas Constitution and determined that Petitioners had not satisfied it, Kobach said. That decision is correct andeven assuming it raises a Fourteenth Amendment questionfully consistent with this Courts precedents.
Taiwan Accuses China of Interfering in Relations With Argentina

Taiwan wants inclusive ties with Argentina that would allow the Latin American country to engage with both Beijing and Taiwan, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has refused to allow this, a Taiwanese official said.

Taiwanese Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Yui told Spanish news site Infobae on March 21 that Taiwan was unable to establish an embassy in Argentina owing to the CCPs interference.

We do not intend to drive the Peoples Republic of China [PRC] out of Argentina. If we can live together in Argentina, that would be fine. But Chinas stance is not like that, unfortunately. They are exclusive, he said.

Yui said that Taiwan is keen to cooperate with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico in terms of economy, culture, science, and technology, but such cooperation conflicts with relations with Beijing, which aims to isolate Taiwan.

Honduras is the latest country to sever ties with Taiwan in favor of establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing, leaving Taiwan with only 13 formal allies, with Paraguay and Guatemala as its only remaining Latin America partners.

Yui said the CCP has made false promises to lure Taiwans former allies into switching allegiances to Beijing, citing Beijings stalled projects in Nicaragua and El Salvador, including the $50 billion Nicaragua Grand Canal project.

For China, its interest in these countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan is to get Taiwan out of their countries. Its like a chessboard, and these countries are the pieces that they are playing. Once they remove that tile from the board, they are no longer interested, he said.

Taiwan established the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Buenos Aires despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties with Argentina.

Miguel Tsao Li-jey, Taiwans former representative to Argentina, said last year that bilateral trade between Taiwan and Argentina increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

Firstly, Argentina and Taiwans economies are complementary: agriculture and livestock on one hand, and technology on the otherwhich includes computer science, medicine, and semiconductors, among other outstanding industries, Tsao said.

CCPs Influence in Latin America

In February 2022, Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding with the CCP to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijings flagship infrastructure development scheme that U.S. officials have denounced as a debt trap for smaller nations.

Analyst Fernando Menendez told The Epoch Times that when it comes to creating partnerships in the region, China has an obvious advantage because of the sheer size of its investments.

The goal of Latin American countries, ultimately, is to industrialize. China came along and helped make that happen, he said.

Beijing invested a total of $83 billion in Latin America from 2005 to 2020, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The CCP also increased lending to Latin American nations.

As of 2020, the China Development Bank and the China Export-Import Bank granted 94 loans amounting to $137 billion, the majority of which went to Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, and Argentina.

Analyst Evan Ellis said Chinas funding of authoritarian populism close to U.S. borders creates a significant threat. Second to that is the possibility of an increased presence of other U.S. rivals growing their presence in the region, such as Russia and Iran.

Argentina Supports One China Principle

Taiwan has been a self-governing democracy since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949, but the CCP views Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with mainland China by any means necessary.

When then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last July, Argentinas Ambassador to China, Sabiuo Vaca Narvaja, voiced his support for Beijing, which staged large-scale military drills surrounding Taiwan to retaliate against Pelosis visit.

Vaca Narvaja said that Argentina supports the principle of One China and the concept of territorial integrity in the same way that Beijing backs Argentinas sovereignty claim in the Falkland Islands, a disputed archipelago in the South Atlantic.

He compared Beijings claim over Taiwan to Argentinas long-standing dispute with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, saying that UKs negotiations refusal [was] offensive not only to our government but to the entire people of Argentina.

We are sure that this visit has been a provocation for China and a problem for the entire international community. That is why we want to condemn this visit and join the voices of Latin America, but also of the United Nations, he told reporters.

Autumn Spredemann contributed to this report.
The Dragon Consumes the Bear in Its Quest for World Domination

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (Sergei Karpukhin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

The recent visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to his friend forever in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, marks a new phase in Xis efforts to create a new world order dominated by authoritarian regimes.

The ostensible reason for the visit was to promote Chinas peace plan for the war in Ukraine, but the outcome of the visit reveals the true intention.

Coming just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) announcement that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Putin on charges of having deported Ukrainian children to Russia, Xis visit was succour for the embattled Russian leader.

In fact, the Chinese regime again rejected the international rule of law, with foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin claiming that the ICC should take an objective position, interpret and apply international law in good faith, and not use double standards.

The visit to Russia supported Xis three objectives: to unite against a common enemy, the United States; to advance his stated ambition to replace democracy as the global norm; and to establish Chinese hegemony, especially in the Indo-Pacific.

After hiding his attitude to the Ukraine conflict, recent events indicate the true intentions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The so-called Chinese peace plan was never a real proposal for peace.

Chinese soldiers arrive to the Grodekovo railway station to participate in war games drills in Grodekovo, Primorsky Krai, Russia, in a still from video released on Aug. 29, 2022. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

True peace requires respect for human life and the promotion of human dignity and freedom, values rejected by both Russia and China.

The CCP cannot condemn the invasion without undermining its own aspirations to claim Taiwan. Nor can it allow sympathy for Ukraine to take hold in China.

Leaked directions to the Chinese media last year included instructions not to post anything unfavourable to Russia and favourable to the West and to use censorship to filter comments.

China has to back Russia up with emotional and moral support while refraining from treading on the toes of the United States and European Union because in the future, China will need Russias support when dealing with America to resolve the Taiwan issue once and for all, the instructions said.

If Putin was to fail, Xis own aspirations would be dented.

Turning Russia Into a Vassal State

Not only has Xi failed to condemn Putins unlawful invasion, but he has also provided both rhetorical and material support, his visit being the most obvious example.

The sale of gas to China helps to prop up the Russian economy and is critical for Chinas prosperity. Equipment that has dual civilian/military use, such as drones and rifles, is being supplied to Russia and utilised in the war. Russia is believed to be relying also on Chinese satellites and other equipment in the conflict.

Xi also used the visit to sponsor an alternative international forum, the CCPs High-Level Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting of New Global Civilisation Initiative [GCI]. This is to counter the United States Summit for Democracy and advance his stated global totalitarian agenda.

Xi told Putin that change is coming and that they were driving it together.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping enter a hall during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (Alexey Maishev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

An increasingly desperate Putin was grateful for Xis endorsement, but the meeting revealed his weaknesses. Russia is increasingly economically dependent on China, a position that Xi will exploit to reduce prices.

His ultimate aim, despite the political rhetoric about their no limits partnership, is for Russia to become a vassal state. Better still, for China to eventually govern the resource-rich Siberia and the countrys eastern seaboard, north of Vladivostok, enabling greater pressure on Japan and the United States.

Perhaps the most bizarre comment was Xis endorsement of Putin in next years Russian presidential elections. There was no hint of irony that Russia at least pretends to hold elections!

While Xi was visiting Putin, another important meeting was also taking place, namely between the Japanese and Indian leaders.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasised the importance of free, open skies and seas in the Indo-Pacific and reiterated the importance of the international rule of law.

He has spoken of four pillars for the region: maintaining peace, dealing with new global issues in cooperation with Indo-Pacific countries, achieving global connectivity through various platforms, and ensuring the safety of the open seas and skies.

The meeting came as other nations, such as the Philippines, stressed the importance of cooperation with like-minded democratic nations.

The Xi-Putin meeting reinforces the need for democratic nations to support the international rules-based order against might is right totalitarianism.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Decades of Lead-Up to Iraq Invasion

A crowd of demonstrators tear down the Iran Party's sign from the front of the headquarters in Tehran on Aug. 19, 1953, during the pre-Shah riot that swept through the capital and ousted Persian Prime Minister Mossadegh and his government. (AP Photo)

Commentary

Twenty years ago last week, American aircraft bombarded Baghdad, starting the United States nine-year misadventure in Iraq.

Vice President Dick Cheney predicted that Americans would be greeted as liberators. This came true, but only briefly. Iraqi citizenshaving endured decades of suffering under Saddam Hussein and his vicious, kleptocratic relatives and croniescheered when in just three weeks Americans routed Saddams army and defeated his Baathist government. Saddam had favored Iraqs Sunni minority and kept Iraq subdued but stable. Many recall Saddams statue in Firdos Square being toppled over, and the Iraqis rushing to strike the prone figure with the soles of their shoes, a humiliating affront in Arab culture.

Perspectives have changed dramatically in two decades. Nearly all Iraqis and Americans now judge the invasion as the opening act in an epic tragedy. Once Saddams iron fist was gone, Iraqi society crumbled. The fractious Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurdsrestrained by Saddams dictatorial rule from turning on each otherdevolved into internecine violence as kidnapping, torture, mass murder, and car bombs became commonplace. Al-Qaedas Iraqi franchise tried to replace Saddam and led the Sunni side against Shiites in a sectarian civil war from 2006 to 2008. And then, in a phantasmagoric twist, ISISthe Islamic State of Iraq and Syriametastasized in 2004 in response to the U.S. invasion. ISIS conquered one-third of Iraq, including the second-largest city of Mosul. ISIS ethnically cleansed Christians and Yazidis, awarded women as chattel prizes to its fighters, and video-recorded its cinematic medieval executions, which it showcased on social media.

Following the Obama administrations half-hearted mismanagement, beginning in 2017, President Donald Trumps merciless aerial strikes rid the worldat least temporarilyof the ISIS cancer. Yet Iraq remains in disarray. Its today a client state of its erstwhile adversary and Americas most determined enemy, the Islamic Republic of Iranindeed, when the U.S. assassinated Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Commander Qasem Soleimani for orchestrating the killing of hundreds of U.S. soldiers, he was not in Iran, but in Iraq. Now Iran has re-established diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, an ominous development for the United States and its allies.

Americans regret the lack of any long-term plan for Iraqs governance once Saddam was removed. They rue going to war on the discredited premises that Saddam aided al-Qaeda in planning 9/11 and that he possessed weapons of mass destruction. Although chemical weapons were found in Iraq, it was the alleged nuclear threat posed by Saddam that the United States had cited as its casus belli. However, focusing only on the errors and omissions of U.S. decisions from 2001 to 2003 misses the more important point. Americas ill-advised entry into Iraq was just one more episode in an ongoing series of foreign policy mistakes in the Middle East from the 1950s to the 1990s. These appear to many Americans as stand-alone events, separate and discrete, unconnected to one another. But in the fullness of time, Americans starry-eyed idealism and failure to learn from mistakes built upon one another, culminating in the catastrophe of 2003s Operation Shock and Awe in Iraq.

The story of the United States and Iraqs troubled entanglement actually begins decades ago in another country: Iran. Since 1941, Iran was ruled by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, a pro-Western and pro-American leader who allowed British and American companies to extract Iranian oil and receive the lions share of revenues. Angered by this foreign meddling, the Iranians in 1951 elected Mohammed Mossadegh, an avowed socialist, to serve as prime minister. Unlike previous prime ministers who deferred to the Shah, Mossadegh nationalized foreign oil companies, effectively kicking Westerners out of Iran.

The United States and Britain resented Mossadeghs policies and feared that Mossadegh was insufficiently reliable and likely to accommodate the Soviet Union. In 1953, the CIA and MI6 overthrew Mossadegh and reinstalled the Shah as leader of the country.

However, in the mid-1970s, the Shah faced growing opposition at homefirst from urban professionals peacefully seeking reform, then Shiite fundamentalists who hoped for an Ayatollah-governed theocracy, and finally the rural poor who chafed at the Pahlavi dynastys extravagance and his allowing American corporations to operate in Iran.

Although the United States had forcibly installed the Shah in 1953, President Jimmy Carter displayed waning confidence in the Shah. Visiting Tehran on New Years Eve 1977, Carter had praised the Shahs regime as an island of stability in one of the most troubled areas of the world. Less than a year later, in a press conference in December 1978, Carter hedged his support for the Shah, proclaiming, We personally prefer that the Shah maintain a major role, but that is a decision for the Iranian people to make.

The Shahs position deteriorated rapidly over the following weeks. Faced with the imminent disintegration of all civil order, the Shah departed for Egypt in January 1979, and within two weeks, the Shahs long-exiled critic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, returned to Iran and took over the country. This gave the Shahs old nemesis, Saddam Hussein, an opportunity.

In 1980, Saddams army attacked Iran, intending to seize Iranian oil. Saddam also wanted to prevent the Shiite Iranians from rousing the two-thirds of Iraqis who were Shiite against Saddams Sunni-led government. Saddam thought that he would easily defeat Iran, which he viewed as destabilized after its 1979 revolution.

The IranIraq War lasted until August 1988, ending in a stalemate. Saddams regime was financially depleted by this war, and in 19891990, he appealed to his Sunni Arab brethren in OPEC to raise oil prices in order to allow him to regain some of the money he had spent fighting Iran. OPEC was unmoved by his pleas, and refused to increase oil prices. Saddam gazed covetously upon tiny, neighboring Kuwaits rich oil fields, which could give him more leverage with OPEC and rapidly put more money in his coffers. On Aug. 2, 1990, Saddams army invaded and plundered Kuwait.

President George H.W. Bush mobilized the United States along with 34 other allied countries, including Saudi Arabia, to launch Operation Desert Shield to contain Iraq, and then Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait. Although the liberation of Kuwait was hailed worldwide as a victory because it succeeded at pushing Saddams army back into Iraq, it had unforeseen disastrous consequences. Only two years later, in February 1993, a bomb detonated in a stolen van in the underground garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six and wounding more than 1,000, but leaving the Twin Towers intact. Eight and a half years later came the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which accomplished the goaltotal destruction of the two buildings and a deep scar on the American psychethat the 1993 bombing had failed to achieve.

When Osama bin Laden stepped forward on camera to claim al-Qaedas responsibility for 9/11, his announcement cited three grievances: (1) Israels mistreatment of the Palestinians; (2) the U.N.s harsh economic sanctions on Iraq, which hurt and killed Iraqi children; and (3) the ongoing presence of American armed forces in Saudi Arabia, which in his opinion, defiled the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina. Bin Ladens causes (2) and (3) were direct consequences of the 1991 warthe United States imposed an embargo on Iraqi goods to punish Saddam for his invasion and, even after the First Gulf War ended, the United States left American troops in Saudi Arabia near and around the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, invigorating bin Ladens desire to terrorize the United States in retaliation.

The unfortunate chain of events: the 1991 war was the consequence of Iraqs invasion of Kuwait in 1990; Iraqs invasion of Kuwait was the consequence of the IranIraq War of 19801988; the Iran-Iraq war was the consequence of the Shah having being deposed in Iran in 1979; and the Shah having been deposed is a consequence of his being forcibly installed by the CIA and MI6, against the will of the Iranian people, in 1953.

Its at least a strong possibility that if the Shah had remained in power in Iran, or had he not been installed in 1953 at all, none of those events that followed would have occurred in the way that they did, and perhaps not at all.

Those who dont know history look at the world as a child does, with gentle intentions but with naivete and only a simplistic understanding, if any at all. In the fullness of time, seemingly winding and converging paths intersect. We cannot escape our mistakes.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina attend a signing ceremony of a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations after their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing on Sunday on the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The communique was signed by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina after they held talks.

According to the communique, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Honduras, in keeping with the interests and desires of the two peoples, have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, effective from the date of signature of this communique.

The two governments agree to develop friendly relations between the two countries on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, the communique said.

The Government of the Republic of Honduras recognizes that there is but one China in the world, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, the communique added.

The Government of the Republic of Honduras shall sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan as of this day and undertakes that it shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China appreciates this position of the Government of the Republic of Honduras, the communique said.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Sunday made remarks on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras.

"There is but one China in the world and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. These are indisputable facts grounded in history and law," the spokesperson said.

The one-China principle is recognized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, and is a prevailing consensus of the international community and a universally recognized norm governing international relations, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson noted that Honduras is an important country in Central America.

The Government of Honduras chooses to stand with 181 countries in the world, recognize and undertake to adhere to the one-China principle, sever the so-called "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and undertake that Honduras shall no longer develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan, the spokesperson said.

"This is the right choice that is in line with the prevailing trend and supported by the people. China highly appreciates that," the spokesperson added.

By following the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China stands ready to enhance friendly cooperation with Honduras in various fields to the benefit of our two countries and peoples, the spokesperson said.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina attend a joint press conference in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2023. China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing on Sunday on the establishment of diplomatic relations. The communique was signed by Qin Gang and Eduardo Reina after they held talks. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina shake hands after signing a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations in Beijing, capital of China, March 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

Editor: WXY
The Mystery of the Magic Anti-Trump Puzzle

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York on March 23, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

Im beginning to think that the best way to understand the never-ending series of legal cases against Donald Trump is to see it as a gigantic communal jigsaw puzzle.

The ending image is clever: Seen from one perspective, it shows the former president behind bars.

Seen from another perspective, however, it shows a composite image of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama superimposed on the White House, which is superimposed on a collage of images of the headquarters of the FBI, the IRS, the Department of Homeland Security, and half-a-dozen other agencies of the deep state.

The great, the hitherto insuperable, difficulty is finding the interlocking few pieces that make the images snap into place.

If the agents of the state and their megaphones of the press have hitherto been unsuccessful in completing the puzzle, it hasnt been for lack of trying.

The long years of the Russia collusion hoax were an extended effort to findor forgethe missing pieces.

So were the twin impeachments handed down against Trump.

The raid at Mar-a-Lago last summer was an effort to find that holy grail but once again it failed.

Now, as we approach the 2024 election season, everything has sped up.

Elsewhere, Ive said that the promiscuous campaign against Trump was like a modern-day bill of attainder.

Such dubious legal devices were all the rage in Tudor England, but they were also out of favor for those who championed the rule of law.

Why? Because bills of attainder attaint specific people not because of what theyve done but because of who they are.

Impartiality is an essential component of the rule of law.

Singling out specific individuals not because theyve done something wrong but because of their identity, because of who they are, is inimical to the rule of law.

This is how it is with Trump.

Last week, Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney, was rumored to be on the verge of indicting Trump forfor what?

The rationale was that in coming to a financial nondisclosure arrangement with Stormy Daniels, nee Stephanie Clifford, Trump had allegedly been party to bookkeeping fraud, a misdemeanor.

Bragg expended enormous effort to figure out a way to elevate that to a felony.

So far, his efforts have been for naught.

Maybe Bragg will continue to pursue the charge, but as of this writing, it seems to be dead in the water, killed by the near-universal ridicule and contempt lavished upon it by almost as many Democrats as Republicans.

Something similar can be said about the case building in Georgia against Trump, the one ostensibly about Trumps efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

That, too, appears to be going nowhere, so the great game mavens have largely moved on to their next gambit: an obstruction charge to be filed against Trump in connection with his possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

That case was complicated because not so long after Trumps property was raided and his possession of the documents was reported, President Joe Biden was discovered to have classified documents in his garage, his house, and his former office.

Then, former Vice President Mike Pence was discovered to have classified documents.

For a moment, it seemed that possession of classified documents was the new fashion accessory, something you wouldnt think of leaving home without.

At first, that complicated the plans of the prosecutors.

If everybody named was going to come bearing secret docs, how were authorities to uncover the magic missing piece that would put Trump out of the way or at least out of the picture?

That didnt work either, so as of March 26, the die-cutters are at work trying out a charge of obstruction.

True, Biden and Pence had classified documents in their possession, but that was completely different.

Why? Because neither of them is Trump.

For the past six years, the minions of the regime, not only the officers themselves but also their attendant scribes and Pharisees, have been searching high and low for the magic puzzle piece that, hammered into place, would finally put paid to Trump.

It hasnt worked yet.

But their unstinting, vicious, though faintly comical efforts, remind us all that Trump was right when, in his speech in Waco, Texas, on March 25, he said, Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Reading Divide

Commentary

A story appeared recently in The New Yorker carrying the funereal title The End of the English Major. It got a lot of attention, and it isnt an easy take for people who are committed to literary culture, who think that a society without a population of active literary readers is an unhealthy one. Those of us whove warned for two decades that the humanities were dyingand were ridiculed for saying soderive no pleasure in being proven right.

The numbers are clear, though, the abandonment of literary majors on campus is decisive. What used to be a central part of higher education in the United States is now a marginal one. Languages and literatures once drew more than 10 percent of the undergraduate majors who completed their formation. Now, they fall below 3 percent.

The drop in college numbers matches the drop in book reading of any kind in the general population. Last July, WordsRated published the results of a survey of reading habits that revealed more than half of American adults (52 percent) hadnt finished a single book in the preceding 12 months.

The survey didnt specify what kind of book, what length or publication date, or genre. A short romance novel would have counted as much as a classic, a celebrity bio as much as a political tell-all. All that mattered was the habit, the act of opening a book and staying with it until the end, even if it took three weeks of seven-minute sessions before the task was done.

The habit is declining, no question, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. More than one-fifth of Americans (22 percent) hadnt read any book in the preceding three years, and it doesnt look like the share of non-readers will shrink in the coming years. The rates varied widely by age, which is why the future looks dim.

Simply put, the younger you are, the less book reading you do. Millennials and Gen Z-ers do about half as much of the activity as older Americans do, even though more of the latter attended (or now attend) college than the former. The higher educational achievement hasnt translated into better intellectual dispositions. As boomers die off, U.S. society heads ever further into a non-bookish condition.

Now, when you bring this decline up in conversation or in print, many academics and intellectuals, often of a libertarian bent, shrug, and snortnot at the disappearance of books from the leisure lives of the young, but at the anxiety over it. Whats the big deal? they ask.

Youths are reading on screens all the time, processing more words than ever before. Lets not fetishize the book, they say. There are other things to read, and besides, theyre all just texts, and anything that is legible qualifies, messages and emails as much as The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. To make too much of the loss of books is to be too 19th-century, or stuck in a pre-Digital Age time zone, or just plain old-fashioned or fuddy-duddy.

Thats the canny talk one hears, and theres no answer to this blase reply. It isnt an argument, its an attitude, and the attitude is decadent. When you hear it, you should pay no attention to the content, only to the feeble conviction of the one making it. In what does he believe? Not much of anything, not strongly so. He goes with the flow, with cultural fashions, assuming that any rigid stand on prevailing types of personal habit and private taste only demonstrates, precisely, rigidity, an inability to change and evolve.

To them, social change is always a case of progress, of innovation. Open societies never go backward, only forward, and criticism of that forward progress merely marks a reactionary temper, not a salient protest. One must always be welcoming to the new, even to the radical.

On this score, however, on the significance of book reading, the test of value lies in the results. Let me say this to parents: Ignore the ones who show no concern. Theyre wrong, and their influence is bad for your children. Their knowing, relaxed posture models the opposite of what you want to see your kids do, that is, curl up with a book, toss the phone, and spend a quiet hour in another universe, the printed page, slowly working through a story, a memoir, a study of old cars or rock musicians or space travel, far from the junk of TikTok.

To be sure, the image looks quaint at this late date, 20 years after the advent of MySpace, uncool and isolating. But the mentality that forms in your children after 10 years of reading with you and five years on their own will outperform the mentality of the un-booked kids on the most important intellectual measures of knowledge, thoughtfulness, memory, and vocabulary. That gap isnt negligible.

We have, in fact, another inequality in our country to add to the others: book people and non-book people, those who do long-form print reading and those who read snippets and chats, messages and captions, memes and logos and ads on screens. The latter are less college-ready and less ready for many workplaces, too, not just elite ones but for basic clerical and service spaces as well. They havent the full equipment for responsible American citizenship, either, we may add, which requires of people some knowledge of Constitutional rights and major events in U.S. history.

In other words, I tell parents, as our nation slides ever further into cultural chaos, as young Americans suffer the consequences of a polity breaking up and breaking down, you do your children a far-reaching blessing when you cultivate the book habit for them and with them. Its a bulwark against the vicissitudes of 21st-century reality. Online friends come and go, the news changes every day, people move around and switch jobs and postpone settling down. Books are a ground, a fixture, a meaning that abides for them throughout it all.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Thousands of Officers March in Funeral Procession for Two Edmonton Police Constables Killed on Duty

Police march along side the hearses during the procession for Edmonton Police Service constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan in Edmonton, March 27, 2023. The officers were killed in the line of duty on March 16, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Jason Franson)

EDMONTONThousands of somber Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers in blue dress uniforms marched in rows of eight along the downtown streets of Edmonton today, accompanying the bodies of Constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan, who were killed in the line of duty earlier this month.

The two-and-a-half kilometre procession was part of the regimental funeral being held on March 27 for the two officers. It began at the Alberta legislature grounds just before noon and made its way to Rogers Place, with an estimated 45 fire, police, emergency services, and military communities from across the country taking part, with thousands of participants marching in tight unison.

Access to Rogers Place for the funeral was limited to family, special guests, EPS members, and supporters from within law enforcement, emergency services, and military communities. The public was invited to pay their respects along the procession route and attend a live stream of the funeral being played on screens in the Ice District Plaza.

Spectators lined the procession route as bagpipes and drums played. Fire trucks parked along the streets, with multiple road closures for the event, as Edmonton fire crews stood at attention to pay their respects. A long line of RCMP in red dress uniforms and brown, knee-high boots participated in the march, as did a large contingent of Calgary police officers and other police forces.

Photos of Jordan and Ryan were displayed on the large electronic screens outside Rogers Place, as the hearse carrying the constables entered through the east dock of the underground parkade.

Air 1, the EPSs front-line support helicopter, flew overhead, with police, fire, and military from a reported 35 regions across the country participating in the procession.

The funeral is expected to include tributes from Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee, Edmonton Police Association president Curtis Hoople, and Alberta Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani, along with eulogies for both Jordan and Ryan.

The officers caskets will be brought onto the stage and draped with a Canadian flag. Later in the service, the police chief will fold the flags and present them to the slain officers families.

Ryan, 30, and Jordan, 35, were shot killed by a 16-year-old teenage male, on a routine call about a domestic disturbance on March 16. The teenager also seriously wounded his mother before killing himself.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Toxic Wastewater From East Palestine Train Derailment to Be Taken to Baltimore

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo/File)

Toxic wastewater from the site of the February derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is set to be transported to Baltimore, Maryland, where it will be treated and discharged, according to officials.

In a March 25 statement, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, said Clean Harbors Environmental Services has contracted with Norfolk Southern Railway to accept, treat, and discharge the wastewater collected from rainwater, collected water, and stream water above and below the cleanup site of the derailment.

The toxic wastewater would be treated at the city-run Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Dundalk, according to the company.

The facility is one of a number of facilities in locations around the country selected to process this material, Scott said. Both the City and the County teams have been in touch with the Governors office as well as with the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency].

Scott noted that officials have assured his office that the facility is able to efficiently process the wastewater, but the mayor said that local teams have been asked to do their due diligence to be certain that there is no risk to the health and safety [of] our residents and our environment.

Concerns Over Hazardous Chemicals

Additionally, we are seeking a legal opinion from the Attorney Generals Office regarding the Citys requirement to discharge the waste from the Norfolk Southern Railroad derailment, Scott said.

According to a March 22 letter (pdf) to the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Clean Harbors determined that the site in Baltimore is an optimal wastewater treatment site for the wastewater collected from the derailment site.

Clean Harbors said it will begin to receive the wastewater as soon as it has been granted approval and that it expects to handle an initial load of 675,000 gallons that will arrive by train.

The Feb. 3 derailment of the Norfolk Southern-operated freight train led to a spill of toxic chemicals. A controlled release of the chemicals onboard, which included vinyl chloride, ethylhexyl acrylate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, and butyl acrylate, was conducted three days later. The controlled release also sent phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air.

Since then, residents have raised concerns over the long-term impacts on their health.

The proposed treatment scheme will be carbon adsorption using 412 mesh reagglomerated carbon followed by inorganic metals removal as needed, Clean Harbors stated in its letter. The primary constituent of concern is vinyl chloride.

States Move to Block Toxic Waste Shipments

Multiple states, including Oklahoma, have attempted to block the transportation of toxic waste from the Ohio derailment to storage sites across the nation, but in a letter to state officials earlier this month, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said there was no reason for a block, adding that states have limited power to impose one.

This is impermissible and this is unacceptable, Regan said of the proposed bans, The Associated Press reported.

Some of the contaminated waste has already been sent to Indiana and will be transported to Michigan and Texas in the near future.

According to a March 23 update from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, approximately 7.9 million gallons of liquid wastewater have been removed from East Palestine so far.

Scotts announcement comes after the Back River plant in Dundalk exploded last week, ripping holes through three walls and sparking a fire. Its unclear exactly what caused the explosion, but city officials said the incident hasnt impacted the facilitys waste disposal capabilities.

Speaking at a press conference on March 24, Scott said the plant was in good standing. However, he again expressed concerns regarding the waste from the East Palestine derailment being sent to the facility.

[We] have grave concerns about the waste from this derailment coming into our facilities and being discharged into our system, he said.

The mayor added that additional testing will need to be performed before any of the treated wastewater is discharged into the public system.
Train Carrying Hazardous Materials Falls Off Tracks, Sends Dozens of Cars Toppling: Officials

A 70-car train carrying hazardous materials derailed in North Dakota, officials said Monday.

The train derailed at around 1 a.m. on Monday about 2 miles from Wyndmere in Richland County, sheriffs officials told local media outlets. No deaths or injuries were reported, officials said.

Of the 70 cars, some 31 derailed off the tracks, officials said. Some of the cars were reportedly leaking petroleum products used to make asphalt, officials told Valley News Live, while adding that there is no danger to the public.

Richland County Sheriffs officials told Valley News Live that several streets in Wyndmere will be shut down for cleanup and is expected to last between seven and 10 days. Reports indicate that the train was operated by Canadian Pacific.

Wyndmere is located in the southeast portion of North Dakota, around 50 miles from both the Minnesota and South Dakota borders. Both Wyndmere and Richland counties are sparsely populated, with Richland having a population of about 16,000 and Wyndmere having 400.

The incident marks the latest derailment in recent weeks after the highly publicized railroad disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, in February. In that incident, dozens of cars derailed before officials were forced to release hazardous chemicals and evacuations of East Palestine residents.

On Sunday, meanwhile, officials said that several Canadian Pacific train cars derailed in a Chicago-area suburb. Neither car was carrying hazardous materials, authorities told a local Fox News affiliate.

Days before that, five freight CSX train cars derailed in Massachusetts. No hazardous materials or injuries were reported, officials told Fox News.

There were no reported injuries to the crew, no hazardous materials involved, no leaks or spills of any freight and no impacts to the environment, a spokesperson from CSX told the broadcaster. CSX personnel are responding as the incident occurred on a line jointly owned with Norfolk Southern. We are working closely with local first responders to assess the situation and develop a recovery plan.

Over the weekend, officials confirmed that toxic water from East Palestine may be sent to Baltimore County, Maryland, drawing pushback from local officials. On March 24, Baltimore County executive John Olszewski and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced that hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated water would be processed at the Back River Wastewater Treatment plant in Dundalk.

Both the county executive and I have grave concerns about the waste from this derailment coming into our facilities and being discharged into our system, Scott said at a news conference. As such, we will exercise additional caution and due diligence and ask for additional testing before authorizing the discharge of any treated water from this event to the public wastewater collection system and the Back River treatment plant.

The Epoch Times has contacted Canadian Pacific for comment.
Trump Responds to Speculation That DeSantis Could Be His 2024 Running Mate

President Donald Trump introduces Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a homecoming campaign rally at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., on Nov. 26, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump over the weekend responded to speculation that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could be a potential 2024 running mate amid an escalating war of words between the two.

During a Newsmax interview on Saturday, the 45th president was asked about whether he considered the Republican governor to be his vice president.

No, I never thought of it, Trump said in response. We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party  it would be a very unlikely alliance.

Look, I appointed him. He was failing badly in the polls  and I endorsed him, Trump said as he reiterated his comment that his backing of DeSantis enabled him to become Floridas governor in 2018. He went from a very small number to a very high number, he added.

Trump suggested that he boosted DeSantiss primary bid with his endorsement and later, helped him defeat Democrat Andrew Gillum during the 2018 midterms. DeSantis defeated Gillum by a narrow margin.

But in November 2022, DeSantis easily won reelection by about 19 points over former Gov. Charlie Crist, a Democrat. In the meantime, DeSantis has raised his national profile among Republicans after ending COVID-19-related mandates and lockdowns earlier than some other governors.

If you look at his record, he cant win, Trump said, referring to DeSantiss voting while he was a U.S. House representative. Ron was a disciple of Paul Ryan, and Paul Ryan was a loser in many ways, Trump said, referring to the former GOP vice presidential candidate and House speaker.

Trump said that I dont like saying this about another Republican, but he [has] to get the word out about DeSantis. Everyone thought he did great on COVID  but if you look at the list, Trump said, he did poorly on COVID.

Since the November midterms, Trump has increasingly ramped up his attacks on DeSantis, sometimes referring to the governor as Ron DeSanctimonious. Early on Monday, the former president came up with another nicknamecalling DeSantis Ron Dukakis, in reference Michael Dukakis, the former Democrat Massachusetts governor who ran for president in 1988 before he was crushed by Republican George H.W. Bush by more than 300 electoral votes.

Republican presidential candidates from left, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and John Kasich take the stage for the Republican presidential debate in Cleveland on Aug. 6, 2015. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

DeSantis has not officially entered the 2024 race, but both he and Trump have emerged as Republican favorites. Outside of Trump, the other two major Republicans to have declared their candidacies are former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Meanwhile, a hypothetical poll shows that DeSantis is leading Trump in Iowa and is tied with the former president in New Hampshire, two key primary states. One poll provided to left-wing news outlet Axios found that 45 percent of Iowa respondents would vote for the Florida governor while 37 percent would vote for Trump. Both received 39 percent in New Hampshire.

DeSantis Responds

DeSantis was also asked by a Newsmax anchor last week whether he would join a Trump 2024 presidential ticket. The governor demurred.

I think I am probably more of an executive guy. I think that you want to be able to do things, DeSantis said. Thats part of the reason I got into this job, is because we have action. Were able to make things happen, and I think thats probably what Im best suited for.

It came as the governor made what appeared to be the first critical comment of Trump after he was asked about the former president being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in response to an alleged hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, in 2016.

I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair, DeSantis told reporters. I just, I cant speak to that.When asked about blocking Trumps extradition, he said, I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA, making a reference to billionaire donor George Soross having given campaign cash to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is investigating Trump.

Trump earlier this month announced he would be arrested last Tuesday. Both his lawyer and a spokesperson said that he was reacting to anonymously sourced news reports about his looming indictment.
TV-MA | 2h 22min | Documentary, U.S. History | 22 March 2023 (USA)

Thirty years ago, first the United States and then the rest of the world watched in guarded fascination for the outcome of a 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian Compound in Mt. Carmel, some 20 or so miles northeast of Waco, Texas.

Inside the compound was David Koresh, a guy who not only believed himself to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ but was able to convince well over 100 followers of the same.

Outside were throngs of ATF and FBI agents, with each agency providing conflicting information to a hostage negotiating team that nervously relayed this to a rightfully suspicious Koresh.

One of the survivors of the Branch Davidian conflagration is Cathy Schroeder who is interviewed in Waco: American Apocalypse. (Netflix) Kathy Schroeder in Waco: American Apocalypse. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix  2023

All Parties Armed to the Teeth

As there have already been five features or TV films on this subject, you might ask yourself if another is really necessary, and the answer is yes. Two of those efforts are dramatizations and the remaining three are documentaries, all produced within seven years after the event; hardly enough time for objective, clear-eyed analysis.

For the new Netflix docuseries Waco: American Apocalypse director Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer) has a distinct advantage over of all other productions, thanks mostly to the gifts of passing years, sober reflection, balanced rearview mirror observation, far superior technical tools, and (most importantly) recent interviews with those present at the time.

The three Davidian interviewees include Heather Jones, Kathy Schroeder, and David Thibodeau, who was one of the few to flee the compound after it had caught fire. The final child to be released during the siege, the now late-30s Jones is shown going through a gamut of emotions as she listens to a recording of the final conversation with her father, a USPS employee (also Koreshs brother-in-law) who, through pure dumb luck, was tipped off by authorities prior to the initial raid.

Law enforcement storming the Branch Davidian compound in Waco: American Apocalypse. (Netflix)

Of these three, Schroeder is the most interesting, but not always in a good way. Still believing that Koresh was the Messiah, her story regarding her turning her three children (and later herself) over to the authorities is the glaring example of law enforcement and the negotiating team purposefully speaking with forked tongues.

After the children were released, Schroeders ex-husband (who had joint custody) swooped in and whisked away their two eldest. Preying on her vulnerability by questioning her dedication as a mother, Schroeder was coerced into leaving under the guise of reuniting with her youngest boy. This did happen but was short-lived as she was taken into custody on the same day and charged with a litany of crimes that she, in all likelihood, didnt commit.

Towards the end of the siege, the FBI employed agitation techniques in an effort to hasten surrender, something the negotiators strongly protested. This included blasting disquieting sound effects, tortured animal noises, and the like at 130 decibels around the clock.

In the early morning of the final day (April 19), the FBI announced over loudspeakers that (incendiary) tear gas canisters would be placed inside the compound, while repeating over and over the line this is not an assault which, of course, it was.

Not long after, tanks began tearing down the walls of the building in the hopes of forcing those inside to flee, which never happened. The same can be said for multiple fires which started at the same time in different parts of the structure. It was never made clear who or what started the fires, and Russell was wise not to make his own conclusions and instead left it up to the viewer to determine culpability.

The Branch Davidian compound in flames in Waco: American Apocalypse. (Netflix)

Did Koresh Break the Law?

Was Koresh a delusional provocateur? Theres little doubt he was, but thats not illegal. Is it illegal for Texas residents to possess multiple firearms? No, and that includes .50 caliber rifles that can pierce tanks. Is it illegal to own hand grenades and machine guns? Yes, but there was no evidence of either being found in the rubble after the fires had subsided.

Koresh was also suspected of sexual child abuse; however, there is no credible or sustainable testimony to support those claims. Koresh did freely admit to fathering children with multiple of-age women (while only being legally married to one) which, while distasteful, amoral, and reckless, is still not illegal.

The highest praise that can be lavished upon any documentary is its success in presenting opposing views without any appearance of bias, and Waco does so in spades.

Amendments Under Siege

Presented in three episodes, Waco reveals many facts buried for decades by law enforcement and the government regarding the justification of the siege in the first place. What is put on display here should deeply trouble every American that subscribes to the U.S. Constitution.

The first, second, and fourth amendments all came under attack during the late winter of 1993 in Waco and, like 82 Davidians (including 28 children), none of those rights survived.

In my opinion, the scariest take away from this horrific event was how it could have easily been avoided and, worse, how the collective rights of law-abiding U.S. citizens under the Constitution in 2023 are still being threatened.

Director Tiller Russell uses superior technical tools, and recent interviews with those present at the time in Waco: American Apocalypse. (Netflix)

Waco: American Apocalypse

Docuseries

Director: Tiller Russell

Running Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes

MPAA Rating: TV-MA

Release Date: March 22, 2023

Rating: 4 out of 5
US in Competition of Coalitions Against China and Russia, Seeks to Counter Threats in Africa, Middle East

A file photo showing an explosion in the Syrian city of Kobani during a reported suicide car bomb attack by the ISIS terrorists on Oct. 20, 2014. (Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images)

Delays to the funding of U.S. aid and military activities in Africa and the Middle East could significantly boost the threat of attacks on American interests, a senior Defense Department official and two regional commanders told a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee on March 23.

Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) commander Gen. Michael Langley all agreed that Chinas and Russias increasing influence in those areas, as well as Irans nuclear ambitions, require a more comprehensive, more focused response from Washington.

Kurilla also said terrorist organizations, primarily ISIS and al-Qaeda, have the capabilities to launch an enabled attack against U.S. or Western interests abroad within six months.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the committees chairman, set the tone for the hearing when he referred to Chinas recent peacemaker role that resulted in a normalizing of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

International relations experts say the agreement between Riyadh and Tehran could transform the Middle East by ending the current ArabIranian divide while aligning the region with the regime in Beijing.

Chinas brokerage provided a lifeline to Iran at a very dangerous time, Rogers said. The Ayatollah continues to fund and equip terrorists targeting American troops; hes providing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin with advanced weapons to perpetrate the brutal invasion of Ukraine, and his regime is aggressively pursuing nuclear weapons. We absolutely cannot allow that to happen.

He said President Joe Bidens decision to unilaterally and unconditionally withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan undermined national security.

It has left a security vacuum with the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and ISIS filling that vacuum. The assessment is that some of these terrorists could attack the U.S. within as little as six months, Rogers said.

I remain very concerned that we are no longer in a position to detect an imminent attack and stop it. Thats because the presidents so-called Over the Horizon counterterrorism strategy is a farce.

Without reliable partners on the ground and nearby facilities to launch assets, our ability to strike these terrorists is severely limited. We cannot allow for blind spots, especially in [Africa and the Middle East].

Rogers said the lack of adequate resources for U.S. troops in Africa has led to a worsening security situation, especially in the west, where terrorist havens are expanding.

He and other committee members expressed concern about the presence of Russias Wagner Group mercenaries in Africa, where it was propping up illegitimate regimes such as the one in Mali.

Weve seen the coups and the violence and the chaos that has followed, said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the panels ranking Democrat member.

Certainly, we continue to have the challenge of the violent extremist organizations operating there, but Russia and Chinas presence is making that worse.

He called for a greater American understanding of the reasons why more countries in Africa and the Middle East are working more closely with Beijing and Moscow.

There are things they see to their individual countrys advantage. Its not enough for the U.S. to show up and say, Were better than them; you have to be with us. We have to understand in great detail why these countries are working with China and Russia, Smith said.

What is being offered by China and Russia that we arent offering? How can we effectively counter that  to make sure China and Russia dont begin to have dominant control in those parts of the world?

He said he was particularly concerned about al-Shabaab in Somalia, which continues to be the most well-organized and effective arm of al-Qaeda. President Trumps unilateral decision in the dying days of his administration to simply pull out of Somalia without any sort of plan to follow up also had consequences.

Wallander said her department would continue to work with partners in Africa and the Middle East to disrupt terrorist activities.

We will continue to stand with our partners and allies to win what we view as the competition of coalitions that is becoming increasingly critical to our common security, she said.

The U.S. advantage in achieving objectives such as denying Iran a nuclear weapon is in its ability to work alongside capable partners in coalitions, Wallander noted.

While others seek to strategically compete, there is no combat-credible, willing alternative prepared to share cutting-edge capabilities and invest vital national resources in support of regional security and defense of others within the rules-based international order, she said.

Washington cant afford to overlook Africas geopolitical importance to U.S. national security, according to Wallander.

Many of the worlds most pressing challenges and global solutions will emanate from this continent as it continues to grow in political and economic power, she said.

But Wallander said Africas extraordinary potential remained threatened by political instability, democratic backsliding, transnational threats, and the entrenched and growing presence of extremist groups.

In East Africa, we remain steadfast in our support of regional initiatives to combat the threat from al-Shabaab in Somalia, she told the committee.

In West Africa, we remain focused on countering ISIS and JNIM [militant Islamist coalition Jamaat Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen] by investing in and supporting our security partners.

The security situation continues to deteriorate in the Sahel and coastal West Africa. Growing threats presented by VEOs [Violent Extremist Organizations], governance challenges, and lack of development opportunities have exacerbated conflicts in the region.

Wallander said recent changes of government in key African nations challenge U.S. military assistance, as well as access and influence to help counter advances by malign actors, namely Russia and China.

The PRC [Peoples Republic of China] is the only country with the intent and, increasingly, the capability to fundamentally reshape the rules-based international order, she said. Africa is key to U.S. strategy to prevent the PRC from achieving its objectives.

China has built an extensive military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, barely six miles from a U.S. base. The regime also has announced that it wants to build a spaceport there, as well as a naval base off the coast of West Africa, to give its warships access to the Atlantic.

Langley expressed concerns about the strategic implications of those developments and noted that if they were to come to fruition, China could establish a platform for power projection.

That changes Americas strategic calculus going forward, he said.

To prevent that scenario, Langley argued that Washington had to use all means at its disposal to ensure the U.S. was African nations partner of choice.

In my travels across the continent, I know that our partners dont want to be militarized in a strategic sense, he said.

Langley warned that threats that had once been contained on the African continent are transforming into global dangers.

Terrorism, poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and mass migration shatter African lives. They sow the seeds of violent extremism and Russian exploitation, he said.

Russias Wagner mercenaries turn chaos into cash and destabilize entire regions across the African continent. It cuts at American interests worldwide.

Langley said terrorist organizations, including ISIS and al-Qaeda, are growing in strength in Africa and pose a direct and immediate threat to U.S. lives.

Solutions to these colossal problems must be a shared burden, he said.

African nations need to be at the helm of concerted international efforts to produce sustainable outcomes. Assisting African nations in achieving their goals while advancing American interests can only be accomplished through a synchronized whole-of-government strategy.

Langleys message was that Africa needed military aid and training, as well as development aid.

We call it the 3D approach: The toolkit of diplomacy, development, and defense, he said. But one tool does not succeed without the whole kit. So I will advocate for State Department and USAID partners to receive the resources they need to succeed.

Kurilla told the committee that Iran remains the primary destabilizing element in the Middle East, fueled by its strengthening alliances with China and Russia.

Weve seen rapid advances in Iranian military capability over time. The Iran of 2023 is not the Iran of 1983 [when CENTCOM was formed]. Iran today is exponentially more militarily capable than it was even five years ago, he said.

Today, Iran possesses the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East, with thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles. Iran also maintains the largest and most capable UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) force.

Irans vast and deeply resourced proxy forces spread instability throughout the region and threaten our regional partners.

Kurilla noted that Tehran continues to enrich uranium far above what was needed for commercial use.

Iran can enrich uranium faster than it could even two years ago. An Iran with a nuclear weapon would change the Middle East overnight and forever, he said.

Kurilla says his troops will continue to fight ISIS in the region, although hes particularly concerned about the situation in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, ISIS (in Khorasan province) seeks to expand its ranks and develop the capability to inspire, enable or direct attacks in the region and beyond, with the groups ultimate goal to attack the U.S. homeland, he said.

Amid these challenges, the strategic competition is deeply manifest in the Middle East, according to Kurilla.

The PRC aggressively expands its informational, military, and economic instruments of national power across the region, and now Beijing seeks to establish its diplomatic influence, he said.

He pointed out that China is dependent on the Middle East for more than half of its imported crude oil and more than a third of its natural gas. However, its moving far beyond energy investments to encompass physical and telecommunications infrastructure that advances its Belt and Road [BRI] initiatives.

Nineteen of 21 CENTCOM countries have signed a BRI agreement with China, he said. We are in a race to integrate with our partners before China can penetrate the region.

Kurilla also warned that Russia is attempting to expand its influence in Syria, seeking a permanent basing there and undermining our efforts towards stability and security.

Putin seeks a foothold of influence in the central states, leveraging  a perceived decline in U.S. engagement to challenge our influence in this area of the world, he said.

Kurilla said the Middle East holds the greatest risk of derailing the national defense strategy with a flashpoint international incident that may demand a response using unplanned resources or attention.

CENTCOM is cultivating deep, abiding partnerships that can serve as a hedge against threats in the region while deterring Iran from its most destructive behavior, he said.

China views our partners as merely customers and clients, Kurilla said.

To prevent future attacks on U.S. targets, he told the committee that CENTCOM requires additional resources to increase intelligence collection efforts in Afghanistan.

However, theres a concern that the House wont approve defense authorization measures in a timely manner, Rogers said.

Langley and Kurilla responded that funding delays would affect their forces readiness to respond to threats.

The violent extremist organizations, and the layered threat of the PRC, also Wagners actions, increase risk, Langley said. A delayed budget will hamper our efforts to address these challenges.
US Urges Israeli Leaders to Find Compromise Amid Political Turmoil

The U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson expressed deep concern over the recent developments in Israel in the wake of protests following the firing of the countrys defense minister and proposed changes to its judicial system.

In a statement released by the White House on March 26, Watson encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to find a compromise in the face of the intense frustration on the part of the Israeli people.

We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible, Watson said. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens.

The spokesperson highlighted the importance of democratic values in the America-Israel relationship.

As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

She emphasized the Biden administrations support for checks and balances found in a Democratic system saying, fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.

Watson ended her statement by reiterating the United Statess backing for the nation saying, U.S. support for Israels security and democracy remains ironclad.

Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on March 26, amid further protests over a proposed change of the court system, a day after Gallant defied the administration and advocated for a temporary halt to compromise discussions.

At a critical juncture in the legislations approval, Gallant warned that the amendments posed a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state.

A day earlier, Gallant was informed by 200 reservist pilots and 100 medics in the military reserves that they would refuse to serve if the government passed the reforms.

At this time, for the sake of our country, I am willing to take any risk and pay any price, Gallant said in his televised address.

Netanyahus administration is set to ratify a critical feature of the Supreme Court reform packagea plan that supporters, including Israels justice minister, argue is required to rein in activist justices and restore the appropriate balance between an elected government and the judiciary.

In the current system the judges of the Supreme Court, who have been chastised for their left-wing activity, select their own successors.

The top judge of the Supreme Court, Israels attorney general, and Israeli opposition leaders all reject the proposal.

According to them, the amendments risk encouraging corruption and reducing judicial independence, endangering Israeli democracy.

Melanie Sun contributed to this report.
US Welcomes Pause in Israeli Judicial Reform Plan: White House

Demonstrators come out in support of Israel's nationalist coalition government and its plans for a judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem, on March 27, 2023. (Ammar Awad/REUTERS)

The United States welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus announcement on March 27 that Israel will halt its attempt at judicial reform until the next legislative session, which will be after Passover.

In Israel, Passover starts on April 5 and ends on April 12 (April 13 outside of Israel).

We welcome this announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during the press briefing.

Compromise is precisely what we have been calling for. And we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible.

We believe that it is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens.

Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support. And so thats what were going to continue to call for.

Jean-Pierres words came just moments after Netanyahu announced the suspension of his efforts to change Israels judiciary.

I am taking a timeout in the legislation of the judicial reform, he said.

In order to prevent a rift in our people, I have decided to suspend the vote on the second and third reading of the legislation in the current Knesset session, in order to try and reach an understanding on the legislation during the next Knesset session.

Netanyahu pledged to bring a reform that will restore the balance between the different branches of government while strengthening civil liberties.

Massive protests were happening in Israel in response to the proposed changes and after Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who voiced opposition to the reform efforts, on March 26.

The United States expressed concern about the protests.

As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been and must remain a hallmark of the U.S.Israel relationship, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a March 26 statement.

We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens. U.S. support for Israels security and democracy remains ironclad.

Israels proposed judicial reform would allow the government to appoint judges and for the Knesset, Israels parliament, to overturn Supreme Court decisions.

Netanyahu has been criticized for attempting the reform in order to shield himself from legal liability as hes under indictment in multiple corruption scandals.

The State Department echoed the White Houses reaction.

The departments principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, denied allegations that the Biden administration has been funding the protests through a nongovernmental organization called The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, calling them completely and demonstrably false.

Israels embassy in Washington has reopened, according to its spokesperson, Elad Strohmayer.
Laman Ismayilova

The Grammy Award winner Mikhail Pletnev will give a concert at Heydar Aliyev Center on May 16.

The world-famous pianist, composer and conductor Mikhail is one of the most influential musicians of modern day, Azernews reports.

Despite becoming a laureate of the International Youth Piano Competition in Paris at the age of 16, Mikhail Pletnev has become known to a wide musical audience since 1978, when he was the winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

With famous orchestras from Europe and America, the musician has performed solo concerts in different countries.

He is also among the musicians offering the world's best interpretations of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's works.

In 1980, Pletnev made his debut as a conductor. In 1990, the pianist established the first independent orchestra in Russian history.

Under his baton, the Russian National Orchestra entered the list of the most prestigious musical groups in the world.

In Baku, Grammy Award winner will share the same stage with Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra, to be conducted by Honored Artist Fuad Ibrahimov.

The two-part concert will include music pieces by Sergey Rachmaninoff, whose 150th birthday is celebrated this year worldwide.

Mikhail Pletnev's concert at Heydar Aliyev Center promises to be an unforgettable event for fans of classical music!
The metallurgical industry will recover only after the ports are unblocked  the opening of sea ports not only for grain, but also for steel exports, could bring Ukraine up to $600 million in foreign currency proceeds every month, according to the Metinvest mining and metallurgical group.

The commercial director of Metinvest, Dmytro Nikolayenko, said in a column for Forbes, that in fact, the plants are also operating at less than one third of total capacity on Ukrainian-controlled territory. In particular, in December 2022, the Kamet Steel and Zaporizhstal mills were operating at 25% and 33% of their pre-war levels respectively.

One of the main reasons for this drop in production can be found in issues with sales due to blocked seaborne exports. Before the full-scale war, steelmakers were shipping 80% of Ukraine's steel to foreign countries. Some 70% of Ukraine's steel products used to be exported through seaports, but with the outbreak of full-scale war they remain blocked to most exporters, except those from the agricultural sector.

"Of course, steelmakers are looking for alternative ways to ship their products abroad and use railway and river port capacity. However, due to a significant increase in railroad tariffs (up to 140% for ore, coal and coke, and up to 70%for ferrous metals) and additional costs for the delivery of products to EU ports, the cost of logistics has grown by four to six-fold," Nikolayenko said.

He added that as a result, in 2022, Ukraine's revenues from the exports of ferrous metals decreased 67.5% compared to 2021, to $4.533 billion. However, under current conditions, even this result is a great achievement.

As Nikolayenko said, it is worth noting that the mining and metals industry is one of the leading sectors of the economy.

On the eve of the war, in 2021, the mining and metals sector accounted for 33% of Ukraine's total exports, worth $22 billion, with the industry accounting for 10% of GDP. Accordingly, the drop in the metallurgical production and exports is leading to a significant loss, with the country's GDP in 2022 falling by almost a third.

"However, the good news is that the metallurgical industry has the potential to recover quickly if, in addition to the existing grain export corridor, it succeeds in opening the ports for the export of mining and metals goods. This will strengthen the economic power of the state, as it will generate around $600 million in export revenues per month and save hundreds of thousands of jobs," the top manager said.

Therefore, Metinvest Group, on behalf of the entire industry, calls on the authorities, diplomats and international partners of Ukraine to make every effort to open the sea to Ukrainian steel, which to the world has already become a symbol of Ukrainian resilience and the country's unbreakable spirit, the commercial director of the holding said.

Metinvest is a vertically integrated group of mining and metallurgical enterprises. Its enterprises are located in Ukraine  in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as in European countries.

The main shareholders of the holding are the SCM group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage it.
Virginia Governors New Education Appointees Walking Into Controversy

Hundreds rallied to protest against Loudoun County Public Schools adopting the Virginia Department of Education's 2021 transgender student model policies outside the Loudoun County Public Schools administration building in Ashburn, Va., on Sept. 28, 2021. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently announced replacements for the state superintendent of public instruction and for a vacant seat on the Board of Education.

Youngkins appointee for the superintendent of public instruction is Lisa Coons, the former chief academic officer for Tennessee who helped overhaul that states English Language Arts programs. The position was formerly held by Jillian Balow, who resigned in March after serving in the position for about one year.

Coons is set to start on April 17 and will be asked to handle a series of controversies.

Dr. Coons proven leadership will serve Virginias students, families, and teachers well and help make Virginias education system best-in-class, Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera said in a statement. She has demonstrated success in addressing learning loss, creating and implementing evidence-based literacy policy and practices, and building strong partnerships with teachers, communities, school and division leaders, and parents.

Youngkin also appointed Dale Sturdifen to replace Suparna Dutta, the governors previous appointee to the Board of Education.

Sturdifen ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2019 and for the Republican nomination to replace the late U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin in a 2023 special election. Hes also a former chair of the Mecklenburg County School Board and former special agent with the Virginia State Police.

Critical Race Theory

Dutta was ousted by Democrats in the Virginia Senate because she spoke highly of the U.S. Constitution. Balow and Dutta had been accused of aligning with white supremacy because of their support for Virginias revised social studies history standards, which removed critical race theory (CRT) from the curriculum.

Suparna Dutta (back, 4th R) and Jillian Balow (front, 1st R) with the Virginia Board of Education in 2023. (Courtesy of Suparna Dutta)

Progressive groups throughout the state have been voicing their opposition to the new social studies standards, especially in regard to slavery in America and how it should be taught. They have accused the Youngkin administration of promoting white supremacy with the standards.

Since taking office, Youngkins Department of Education has been working to undo many policies and practices that are seen as indoctrination by parents or that weaken the parents role in their childs education.

A major part of the governors campaign platform was his promises to give parents their rights back with regard to public school education and prohibit the use of inherently divisive concepts, including the CRT-based curriculum, in K12 education (pdf).

Youngkin has criticized the focus on equity and has called for raising academic standards for all students. In response, Balow ended most equity initiatives launched by former Democrat Gov. Ralph Northams administration.

Besides handling the ongoing review of Virginias social science standards and CRT curriculum controversy, Coons will also be asked to handle controversies over gender and sexuality issues is in the classroom.

Parental Rights

Parents have voiced opposition to schools making important decisions for their families and elected Youngkin because he said he would focus on transparency and parental rights.

In February, the Virginia House of Delegates narrowly passed a bill that would have empowered Virginia parents to have knowledge of any change to their childs gender identity in school and be the final authority to decide how to handle this issue.

The bill, called Sages Law, was struck down by Democrats in the state Senate, and the debate on the issue continues.

After Balows resignation, the Virginia Education Association (VEA) said that it would like her replacement to be someone with classroom experience and personal knowledge of the Virginia education system.

People hold up signs during a rally against critical race theory being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Va., on June 12, 2021. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

In a statement following Coons appointment, the VEA lamented that Youngkin did not appoint someone from Virginia.

While we look forward to showing Dr. Coons the excellent work Virginias public school educators are already doing, we are deeply disappointed that yet another out-of-state official with a political agenda has been promoted over a proven state education leader, the VEA said in a March 23 statement.

According to the Department of Education, before being appointed in Virginia, Coons worked as an executive officer of division priority schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools and executive director of instructional leadership at the Tennessee Department of Education.

The governor has set a bold academic agenda that puts students first and empowers families to help set priorities for their children. We have an opportunity in Virginia to be the countrys best state for education, and well achieve that vision through partnerships with families, educators, and school division leaders, Coons said in a statement.

Goochland County Superintendent Jeremy Raley will join Coons as the Virginia Department of Educations new chief of staff.

Guidera said they are both centered on high expectations and multiple pathways for every student, strong knowledge and experience in the commonwealth, and proven leadership.
SPARTANBURG, S.C.Mark Mangolas, global growth, strategy, and innovation account manager at Rubrik, Inc,. and his wife Kathi Mangolas were in awe of the impressive talent and beauty of Shen Yun Performing Arts at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium on March 25.

I wasnt expecting it to be this enjoyable, but it was really enjoyable, Mr. Mangolas said. So much talent, really good!

Impressed by the fluidity of Shen Yuns dancers, Mr. Mangolas said the performers were so perfect they appeared beyond what could be real.

That fluid-kind of artistic motion  usually, you cant see live he said, Its usually something you see thats maybe doctored  with some computer imaging or with some cinematography. But seeing it live, its very impressive!

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the worlds premier classical Chinese dance company. Along with folk dances and solo performances, the production depicts story-based pieces that tell tales from ancient times in China to the modern-day.

Since 2006, Shen Yun has performed at top theatres worldwide with a mission to revive Chinas 5,000-year-old traditional culture. Drawing upon ancient Chinas Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian philosophies, Shen Yun says its performances bring to its audiences China before communism.

Reflecting on the story depicting the persecution of Falun Dafaa meditation practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and toleranceby the Chinese communist party, Mr. Mangolas said, In this country now, we need it more than ever.

Watching someone go through a communist regime and what it was before and perhaps where some things are headed  it touches home for me quite a bit, he said. Its good, really inspiring.

We need to get either back to where the traditional values were or move them forward, he added.

This was the first time the couple had seen Shen Yun and Mr. Mangolas said it would not be their last.

One of the most talented group of people Ive seen, he said. Well be back!

Reporting by Yawen Hung and Jennifer Schneider.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
WeChat: The CCPs Ultimate Tool to Control Chinese Americans

The logo of Chinese instant messaging platform WeChat is shown on a mobile device in Shanghai, China, on March 12, 2014. (Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)

While the world is awakening to the threat of TikTok, WeChat is another Chinese social media platform that is infiltrating and monitoring a huge population of Chinese people overseas.

Lydia Liu is a Chinese American who found herself becoming a victim of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) censorship through WeChat, a Chinese-owned social media video-sharing app.

She founded the MoshangUSA account as a source of news and commentary about life in America for Chinese Americans. She had been careful about the CCPs so-called red line, and the official account she registered on WeChat only covered issues related to America.

When WeChat banned her official account, she felt the CCP had deprived her of her rights as an American to speak freely about American affairs. The CCPs long arm has stretched way too far, she told The Epoch Times on March 21.

A Complex of Social Control

WeChats application covers almost every aspect of Chinese daily life online, with features from text messaging and video conferencing to making calls, paying bills, making bookings, sharing photos and videos online, and disseminating news. However, the app is not exactly a haven for free speech or political debate.

Zhang Junjie, a history major at Mt. San Antonio College in California, is a WeChat user. He said that the app is the only way for him to communicate with people inside China. Because they cannot use foreign software such as Facebook and Line, so I can only use WeChat, he told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on March 20.

By excluding foreign players such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and PayPal from the Chinese market, the CCP has exploited WeChata complex amalgamation of the above-mentioned apps featuresas a powerful tool for social control. The app dictates what users see, what they say, and even their purchasing power in the Chinese-speaking world.

Zhong Shan, a Silicon Valley engineer, said that technically, WeChat is a highly capable tool for controlling information. After conducting his own tests, he said that WeChats monitoring may have covered all the keywords in the past 12 years. That is to say, WeChat has blocked all adverse keywords associated with Chinese societal events since 2010.

WeChat tracks, analyzes, and censors users, as well as handing data over to the communist regime. This is because it is regulated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with algorithms tweaked to advance the Partys anti-American narrative. It censors any information to the contrary, and spreads the CCPs ideology globallyand injects it directly into the lives of overseas Chinese, in particular.

A man walks past an advertisement for the WeChat social media platform, which is owned by Tencent Holdings, at Hong Kong International Airport on Aug. 21, 2017. (Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty Images)

CCPs Global Censorship System

The WeChat multi-functional social media app had more than 1.3 billion monthly active users as of the end of 2022. That implies that most Chinese peoples families, relatives, friends, and co-workers are all users.

Many overseas Chinesestudents, immigrants, and first-generation overseas Chineserely on the China-based WeChat as their source of information, as well as to stay in touch with their friends and family in China.

In a 2018 survey on how much influence the regime wields on the Mandarin-speaking community in Australia, 60 percent of survey participants identified WeChat as their primary source of news and information. Only 21 percent sourced news directly from media outlets own websites.

Zhong Shan said that there are relatively few overseas Chinese who are truly tech-savvy, highly educated, and skilled in English. He said, In my Chinese-speaking circles, English is not the tool for accessing information for the majority of them. They cant live without WeChats official account. Theres also a high proportion of mainlanders in Taiwan using WeChat.

WeChat has established a Chinese information ecosystem for Beijings propaganda and censorship machine to gain a foothold in the overseas Chinese community. Inexorably, many overseas Chinese have formed viewpoints similar to the regimes proffered view, and many WeChat users are likely to unconsciously exercise self-censorship to avoid the wrath of the apps censorship and surveillance capabilities.

Zhang Junjie is all too familiar with WeChats censorship. He said anyone who expresses or shares opinions on Chinese politics or other hot topicssuch as Chinas social issueswill experience it. Especially for those who are in current affairs groups with a large number of participants, Zhang said.

WeChat adopted a One App, Two Systems policy that allows the company to treat its domestic and international users differently, as indicated by research carried out in 2016 by the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

However, since the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition movement, overseas users have experienced similar censorship, as well as account shut-down policies just like those suffered by mainland users.

A 2019 report showed how Chinas Communist Party exerts its influence to censor people in the United States through WeChat.

According to technology website The Verge, Bin Xie, an information security analyst at Texas Childrens Hospital, had his account shut down after he wrote The pro-China candidates totally lost in reference to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

Zhang Junjie echoed the experience reported by Bin Xie. He said, During Hong Kongs democratic movement in 2019, WeChat went wild with its censorship. I was banned three times: first it was for my opposition to the Chinese Foreign Ministrys remarks, while the second and third were due to my sharing of sensitive content.

His sharing of the White Paper movement in Shanghai was censored by the Apps message filtering technology, and no one could see it. He also shared a short film about the movement, but the film was gone from his account in an hour.

Zhang tried several times to share a video of how Hu Jintao was removed during the CCPs 20th national meeting, but none of his contacts could see it. You can see that WeChat censorship is very strict on the content of this video, said Zhang.

MoshangUSA founder Lydia Liu also had her public account shut down in October 2022, when WeChat disabled hundreds of thousands of accounts during the Sitong Bridge protest, which took place in Beijing in October, 2022. She said, I neither liked nor commented, but my account was also blocked that day.

Protesters march against Chinas censorship of the internet in Pasadena, California, in this file photo. (Jose Gil/Shutterstock)

WeChats Dual Censorship

The most common way WeChat censors overseas users is to hide their content without their knowledge. The users do not know their content has been censored unless they test it themselves.

Aaron Chang, a Chinese student at Sydney University in Australia, said that hes experienced how his friends inside China wont be able to see his sensitive comments until a few days laterafter the sensitive content is removed. However, I have been able to see the content myself, he said.

Zhang Junjie explained that WeChats sensorship is very specific and accurate. His friends inside China sometimes wont see his comment, while those with an overseas account can still see his comment. That shows that the censorship of the chat group has been specifically aimed at domestic users, he said.

Lydia Liu said it is a kind of shadow banning, meaning that in theory, foreign users can see the posts, but domestic users cannot. However, Liu said she no longer sees any difference in WeChats censorship of Chinese users abroad compared to that imposed on its users within China.

Mr. Chen is a WeChat user in San Francisco. He described the censorship as even more insidious than simply deleting posts. When the posts are deleted, well seek different ways of expression, he said. But this invisible practice has stopped us from making adjustments and made our efforts completely useless.

When the CCP imposed its lockdowns during the pandemic, Chen was in China. His post describing the inhumane lockdown was blocked from his friends WeChat accounts, and he was the only one who could see it. He tried to take a screenshot of the word document, but it was blocked again. He then took a picture of a handwritten message, but it still didnt work.

After he returned to the United States, he found himself on WeChats monitoring list. He can no longer send out any comments on politicsnot even using humor or innuendo.

WeChat has become an information firewall that only allows a unidirectional information flow. It gives domestically censored information free access to the outside world, but blocks outside information from coming in. In this sense, it facilitates the CCPs censorship of the world.

Anti-American Algorithm

Lydia Liu had her first post blocked during the last Olympics Games. WeChat disabled her account for two weeks because of her comment about the U.S. team winning more gold medals than the Chinese.

Another of her articlesencouraging others not to panic about the COVID-19 pandemicsaw her account blocked for six months.

Her self-censorship did not stop WeChat from disqualifying dozens of her articles before publishing, with some 40-plus articles now deleted. Even the comments area was censored.

Her accounts have experienced extensive online harassment and attacks.

Lius experience with her public account has convinced her that WeChat not only restricts any and all adverse comment about the CCP, but also targets advocates of freedom and democracy.

She realized that from 2020, WeChat would ban any accountand often for quite inexplicable reasons.

According to her observation, WeChat would eliminate accounts with very little commentary on the CCP, perhaps at a rate of 5 percent, before gradually expanding its effect. The censorship goes from personal accounts, to groups accounts, and WeChat official accounts, she said.

As for the surviving WeChat official accounts, online trolls would often interfere with the account by posting nasty comments. Liu said that as an individual, its hard to fight alone against the CCPs massive human and material resources invested in this information warfare against Chinese Americans.

A Chinese blogger who goes by the handle Thisistheway also said that WeChat permanently closed his account recently. This was because an article he wrote about the Chinese spy balloon in February explained that the American F-22 had fired just one Sidewinder at the balloon, rather than what the CCPs nationalist cyber-propaganda machine had claimed were three missiles.

A previous article of his titled, Start from ping pong, End with balloon, described the U.S.-China relationship and how it has evolved such that even a stray balloon cant be tolerated. The article didnt make it through WeChats content filtering.

Thisistheway is fully aware of the sensitivity of that article, he explained. But he said he never knew that even the number of missiles could not be discussed.

Although WeChat will censor or disparage content that is to the advantage of the United States, negative posts about life in the United States go viral every day, including articles claiming that the United States treats Chinese people as second-class citizens, that white people always discriminate against Chinese people, that gun violence in the United States is out of control, etc.

Zhang Junjie gave some examples. He said that WeChat would surely delete any comment in favor of America, such as how the American police would treat a mother carrying a child compared to how the Chinese police would, or the difference in air quality between the United States and China.

Regarding how WeChat has taken advantage of free expression in the West to exert its ideological infiltration, Lydia Liu wrote on Twitter that WeChat should be fined and regulated in the United States. WeChat needs to pay Chinese Americans reparations for vicious community invasion and mentally enslaving us for the interests of China.

Song Tang and Yi Ru contributed to this report.
White House Suggests Assault Weapons Ban After Mass Shooting at Nashville School

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 3, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

The White House responded to the deadly mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school on Monday by saying that House lawmakers need to pass a ban on certain types of semiautomatic weapons.

President Joe Biden wants Congress to act because enough is enough, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban?

Jean-Pierre added that schools should be safe spaces for our kids to grow and learn and for our educators to teach, adding that the president was briefed about the incident. Authorities in Nashville said that a 28-year-old female shooter shot and killed three children and three adults, although more details about the incident are not yet clear.

The president has been briefed on the situation, and our team is in contact with [Department of Justice] and local officials about what is known so far, she said. We want to express the presidents appreciation for the first responders and prayers for all the families affected by this shooting.

While we dont know yet, all the details in this latest tragic shooting, we know that too often our schools and communities are being devastated by gun violence, Jean-Pierre also told reporters.

Biden will address the mass shooting during an event on Monday afternoon, she added. In the briefing, she also praised Bidens recent executive orders on gun control as well as a piece of legislation that he signed last year in the wake of another school shooting in Texas.

Jean-Pierre added that the president taken more action than any president in history on gun safety from nearly two dozen actions, including the executive order he just signed last month  to the bipartisan Safer Communities Act legislation he signed into law after the tragedies in Uvalde and Buffalo. 

Specifically, Biden will again call for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, while eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers, she said.

Authorities in Nashville said that the woman was armed with what they described as assault-type rifles and a handgun. They did not provide further details about the weapons or the suspect.

When the Safer Communities Act was being proposed last year, some House Republican lawmakers said that it was an attempt to dissolve Americans Second Amendment rights.

I think America is looking for people who will come out and explain to the people, remind them what the foundation of the Second Amendment is, why it exists, why were free substantially because of it, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) said last year. I believe that produces victories in the election far more than chasing the last vote.

Officers at an active shooter event that took place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. (Metro Nashville Police Department via AP)

Around the same time, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that shootings and similar events are a mirror forcing us to ask hard questions, demanding that we see where our culture is failing, while noting that the rate of gun ownership hasnt changed dramatically in recent years despite more mass shootings. We must not react to evil and tragedy by abandoning the Constitution or infringing on the rights of our law-abiding citizens, he said last year, echoing a common refrain of Republicans and conservatives about gun control.

A poll released last November, meanwhile, found that Americans support for more gun control laws has dropped since last summer. That poll, from Gallup, found that 57 percent of Americans believe that laws covering the selling of firearms should be more strict, down from 66 percent who believed so in June 2022.

Shooting Details

The unnamed female shooter died after being shot by police following the violence at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. Police said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville, after initially saying she appeared to be in her teens.

Authorities were working to identify her and whether she had a connection to the school.

Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news briefing.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10:27 a.m., Aaron said. He said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
White House Vows to Veto House Republicans Pro-Fossil Fuel Energy Package

Gas prices are displayed on a sign at a gas station in Chicago on Feb. 22, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The White House is threatening to veto the House Republicans pro-fossil-fuel legislative package that defies President Joe Bidens progressive climate-focused agenda.

The 175-page bill, known as the Lower Energy Costs Act and given the symbolic priority of H.R. 1, is heading to a vote later this week.

The package includes measures that would, among many other things, streamline the environmental review process for energy infrastructure projects, require more onshore oil lease sales, give greater access to public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling, and ban foreign companies with a known record of human rights violations from mining on federal lands.

In a statement released on Monday, the White House confirmed that Biden will kill the bill if it ever makes it to his desk.

H.R. 1 would take us backward. Therefore, if presented to the President in its current form, he would veto it, the White House said in the statement.

Specifically, the White House claimed that the proposed energy package would enrich oil and gas companies at the expense of public health and the environment.

H.R. 1 would double the cost of energy efficiency upgrades that families need to reduce household bills and would repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will cut energy costs and boost economic development in rural and urban communities across the country, the White House argued, referring to the plan to set aside $20 billion in funding for so-called green banks and $7 billion to subsidize efforts by state and local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in low-income areas.

Republicans have been fighting to repeal the $27 billion initiative since its announcement in February. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, called it an example of the reckless spending provisions included in the Democrats partisan rush-to-green reconciliation package.

The White House also took issue with the proposed changes to some key environmental laws, which Democrat-led states have cited to block fossil fuel infrastructure like gas pipelines and coal export terminals.

H.R. 1 would also empower big companies to skirt the Clean Air Act by lifting pollution control requirements, weaken emissions requirements and worker protection for refineries using toxic chemicals, modify requirements under the bipartisan Toxic Substances Control Act for determining the safety of chemicals used in the energy sector, and repeal $1.5 billion in investments focused on curbing methane leaks that harm surrounding communities, the statement continued.

Over the past few months, the package has moved forward rapidly through the House Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. It is expected to pass the Republican-controlled House, but is unlikely to survive the Senate, where Democrats maintain a slim 5149 majority.

Its a non-starter in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said earlier this month, calling the bill a partisan, dead-on-arrival and unserious proposal.

The only way we will pass a genuine energy package this Congress is through bipartisan cooperation, Schumer said. Im glad that there are good faith talks underway right now between both parties in both houses to figure out what sort of permitting deal is possible.
5 Covid positive cases surface in twin city





Staff Reporter

DURG,

After a long time, 5 infected patients suffering from COVID have been found in Durg district. Due to getting such a large number of patients together, there has been a stir in the district health department. The affected patients are from Borsibhatha, Sector 10 Bhilai, Millpara, Raipur Naka Durg and Village Nankatthi area.

After detecting 5 Covid positive patients through RTPCR test in the district, on the instructions of the Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. JP Meshram, District Nodal Officer IDSP Dr CBS Banjare along with District Epidemiologist Ritika Sonwani and the team of Health Department conducted a survey in the area of infected patients.

In which there are one child, three women and one man in the age group of 7 to 70 years. All are residents of different areas of Durg district like MillPara, Sector-10 Bhilai, Raipur Naka Durg, Village Nankatti and Borsibhatha, out of which the positive patient from Sector-10 has travel history to Delhi and other persons have no travel history. Presently all the above patients are taking medical treatment in home isolation.

Availability of medicines to the patients has been ensured. Primary contact of all the patients was done, from which it was found that they do not have any Covid related symptoms. Samples of patients infected with the said covid have being sent to AIIMS Raipur for genomic sequencing.
BMC Mayor, IIT Dir discuss water management, solar plant





Staff Reporter

BHILAI,

Mayor of Bhilai Municipal Corporation, Neeraj Pal met with the Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bhilai) Rajeev Prakash and discussed various issues including solid waste management, water management and solar plant. The faculties of IIT Bhilai were also present in the meeting and they presented bouquet and shawl to Bhilai Mayor. As per information, waste water management, water supply, solid waste management, pollution and solar plant etc. were discussed in detail in this meeting. It has been agreed in the meeting that the students of IIT Bhilai will work on this. In the meeting, the topic of survey is being discussed using the modern technology Lidar method. Lidar is a better survey method, in which work is done through drones. It is known in a single glance, with which planning to work on the area in which the survey has been done.

Permission has been sought from the administration for Lidar survey, and BMC has also taken steps in this direction.

Now the students of Bhilai IIT will extend contribution in projects regarding waste water, pollution, solid waste management and solar plant etc. This was the first meeting of Bhilai Mayor, Neeraj Pal with the executive of IIT Bhilai which proved successful. The Mayor had a long discussion on various issues for the betterment of Bhilai. Soon the people of Bhilai will get to see the optimistic result of the agreement made on the discussion and work will be done on the concept of a clean and beautiful city
Cong organises Sankalp Satyagraha across India to protest Rahuls disqualification





NEW DELHI,

CONGRESS workers across the country on Sunday organised Sankalp Satyagraha to protest against disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, with party President Mallikarjun Kharge lashing out at the ruling BJP and asking why it is pained if fugitives such as Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi are criticised.

While in Delhi, the police denied permission to the Congress to hold its protest programme at Rajghat, the police in Gujarat detained several party functionaries for holding the stir. In the national capital, the Congress put up a stage outside Mahatma Gandhis memorial for its day-long protest programme after the permission was denied. In her address at the protest programme, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi said a martyred Prime Ministers son, who walked thousands of kilometres for national unity, can never insult the country. She was referring to her father and late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated in 1991. Priyanka Gandhi said the time had come to raise voice against an arrogant Government as barring Rahul Gandhi from contesting elections does not bode well for the country and its democracy. My familys blood has nurtured democracy in this country. We are ready to do anything for this countrys democracy. Great leaders of the Congress laid the foundation of democracy in this country. If they think they can scare us, they are wrong. We will not be scared, she said. The Congress leader alleged that Rahul Gandhi was disqualified for questioning the Prime Minister on industrialist Gautam Adani, and said people will give a befitting reply to those behind the action.
Gadkaris contribution is always for nation-building: Dr Mashelkar





Staff Reporter

Science must solve, technology must transfer, and innovation must impact. With this vision, Union Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari is working for nation building, said Padma Vibhushan Dr Raghunath Mashelkar during a programme here on Sunday evening. Dr Mashelkar was the chief guest of the felicitation function conducted by Vanarai Foundation at Persistent Systems, IT Park. In the programme, Gadkari was honoured with Mohan Dharia Rashtranirman Puraskar at the hands of Dr Mashelkar. Gadkaris contribution in nation-building is remarkable and this felicitation is to recognise and appreciate his efforts, said Dr Mashelkar.

Gadkari is the perfect example of a global political leadership. His vision of sustainable development is globally acclaimed and his work on road infrastructure development is helping our country in every field, said the chief guest.

Gadkari, in his speech, thanked Vanarai Foundation for the award. He said, Receiving this award is a matter of pride for me as it is in memory of Padma Vibhushan Dr Mohan Dharia. Talking about Dharias wasteland development report, Gadkari said, Wasteland conservation is need of the hour. Dharias report on wasteland conservation should be published in a book form. Gadkari said, Sustainable development is the key to success in modern world. Without environment, the development will not sustain and in modern world, development is equally important.

Advocating bamboo farming for economic growth, the Union Minister said, Bamboo farming is a best alternative for the economic progress of farmers of Maharashtra. With very less investment, farmers can earn profit through bamboo farming. Similarly, making of ethanol from sugarcane will be another profit-earning source for farmers in the State. Meanwhile, use of ethanol will help to reduce the dependency on fossil fuel, said Gadkari.

In the beginning, Bal Kulkarni welcomed the guests. In the programme, Gadkari was honoured with a cash prize of Rs one lakh, shawl, shreeful and a memento at the hands of the guests. Other guests were also felicitated during the event. Dr Girish Gandhi gave the introductory remarks and Shriniwas Patil, former Governor of Sikkim presided over the programme. Dr Vedprakash Mishra, Chancellor, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad was the guest of honour of the event. Dr Pinak Dande, Sagar Dharia, Anantrao Gharad and Ajay Mann also shared the dais. A large number of dignitaries were present during the event. Nilesh Khandekar, Secretary, Vanarai Foundation proposed a vote of thanks.
Imran holds rally at Minar-i-Pakistan despite threats





By M Zulqernain

LAHORE,

PAKISTANS ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan held a massive rally here on Sunday and presented his partys 10-point roadmap for the cash-strapped countrys economic recovery, including sops for the diaspora. Khan, who is facing threats to his life, addressed the rally from a bullet-proof glass. A large number of women also gathered at the historic park. Addressing the public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan in the early hours of Sunday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman challenged the countrys ruling party to put forward a plan to rescue Pakistan from the many crises it finds itself mired in.

I challenge that the incumbent rulers dont have the ability or the intention [to save the country], he said. Khan, 70, said he would happily step aside if the establishment tells him they have a plan. I know what the programme isthere is no programme, he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. Announcing the 10-point programme, Khan said that overseas Pakistanis will be motivated to invest in Pakistan to attract foreign direct investments to avoid going to the IMF again and again. We will facilitate all those who would export and bring dollars into the country, he added.

Pakistan, which is in dire need of funds as it battles a wrenching economic crisis, has received economic assistance from the IMF in the past. The country is in discussions with global lender to resume its loan programme. Khan asserted that the country needs to take difficult decisions to improve its tax collections and exports. A major surgery is needed to put our house in order. Overseas Pakistanis will bring their dollars to the country provided they are given incentives, he said, adding that only 2.5 million Pakistanis out of 220 million pay taxes. There is a need to increase the tax base to achieve progress, he said and also proposed giving loans to young people to start businesses and reviving the mortgage scheme.
Canadian project SURGe to provide expert support to Ministry of Restoration of Ukraine

The Support Ukraine's Reforms for Governance (SURGe) project, funded by the Government of Canada, will provide expert support to the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine on recovery, regional development and decentralization issues.

According to the press service of the ministry, the corresponding memorandum of cooperation was signed by Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Restoration Oleksandr Kubrakov and Director of SURGe Tawnia Sanford Ammar.

According to the report, the project will begin work in the five regions most affected by the Russian invasion.

SURGe experts will work with the ministry to create a new effective model for regional development, and will also help establish Community Reform Support Offices. The project will also support investment management and monitoring of their use, digitalization, corruption prevention, and spatial planning reform.

SURGe is an international technical assistance project implemented by Alinea International and funded by the Canadian government.
Khalistan supporters try to incite violence, hold protests at Indian Embassy in Washington





WASHINGTON,

A GROUP of Khalistan supporters held a protest in front of the Indian Embassy here and tried to incite violence and even threatened the countrys envoy, but timely intervention by law enforcement agencies prevented them from vandalising the property.

The protesters also verbally intimidated and physically assaulted the PTI journalist covering the event on Saturday.

Separatist Sikhs hurled abusive language and openly threatened Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Sandhu was not in the embassy at the time of the protest. In their speeches, most of the protesters were seen trying to incite violence not only in India but here as well, including physical damage to the Indian Embassy property.

Some of the speakers were seen inciting fellow protesters to indulge in violence and break the windows and glasses of the building across the road.
Mobilise legal brains to stay Rahuls conviction





THE DAY after, and the day befores anger hadnt ebbed. Everybody had something to comment about Congress leader Rahul Gandhis disqualification. And none of them had full knowledge of the law that resulted in Rahul Gandhis disqualification. American politicians, like Ro Khanna, who tweeted his anger, could be excused, but what about Indian Members of Parliament like Shashi Tharoor, who endorsed the ignorance of foreigners and gloated at the foreign criticism directed at the Modi Government? The Thiruvananthapuram MP tweeted a set of headlines from foreign publications, and didnt quite question the explanations given to the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi by many of these foreign publications. On Friday, Mr. Modis allies moved to finish the job: Officials disqualified Mr. Gandhi from his seat in Parliament The move came before he had any chance to appeal, wrote the NYT. Shashi Tharoor and many of his peers in the Indian National Congress should ask themselves why Rahul Gandhi had to walk into the lions den in Surat when he was not quite aware of what he would find in there? If seasoned politicians had little idea of why conviction and minimum sentence of two years invited immediate disqualification, why did the Congress bigwigs, many of them celebrity barristers, not advise Rahul Gandhi to tender an apology and be done with it?

Nobody in the Congress had the guts to warn Rahul Gandhi of the consequences. The Congress at least should have known of what could be waiting in Surat, certainly not an acquittal, and a warm send off! Was Rahul aware that conviction and minimum 2-year sentence would result in automatic disqualification? Then again, Rahul Gandhi must have remembered the apology he had tendered in the Supreme Court and the ridicule that came his way. Once bitten, twice shy. As it is, the BJP is already spreading the narrative that the Congress deliberately set up Rahul for martyrdom; that prominent Congress leaders had their own reasons to resent Rahul Gandhi, and had enough of him; his ignorance and his arrogance; perhaps, his stranglehold on decision-making, et cetera, et cetera.

Top lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, who is no longer with the Congress and once had his house plastered with tomatoes because of the G-23 initiative, said the defamation case against Rahul Gandhi was bizarre, and wondered what was Surat doing for something that happened in Kolar, Karnataka? Kolar deals in gold, Surat cuts diamonds! I wonder why the matter was filed in Surat, Sibal asked. There must be an expectation from the political party that maybe they will get a good verdict. Well, that they got. A verdict to their liking. A case on the same issue had come up in the Patna High Court in 2019, which granted bail to Rahul Gandhi. Maybe, the Congress expected a Patna-like verdict will save the day for the party and Rahul Gandhi. Well, overconfidence is not a virtue. Rahul Gandhi was like the lamb led to the slaughterhouse in Surat!

It is impossible that none of the legal-eagles in the Congress had even a passing thought of the likelihood of an adverse verdict and Rahul Gandhis response to an offer of compromise. I&B Minister Anurag Thakur likened Rahul Gandhi to a loose cannon. The court asked Rahul Gandhi if he would offer an apology; but no, Rahul wouldnt get into that rabbit-hole; Rahul Gandhi has stiffness in the knees and wouldnt bend. As things stand, the Congress and Rahul Gandhi can battle it out. But along with that, the conviction and sentence should be appealed ASAP. Everybody, friend and foe, are questioning the inexplicable delay, why? And from henceforth Rahul Gandhi should free himself from the influence of Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Supriya Srinate, the last one the partys spokesperson and social media incharge.

There is a good chance that a higher court will overturn both conviction, and the 2-year sentence. But, the speed at which things happened in the last 72-hours, it can be assumed that from this low, things can only go the opposite direction, i.e., high! That said, the allegation that this was a conspiracy cannot be discounted. There is turmoil in Wayanad at the disqualification of our MP; and the electorate is out in the streets venting their frustration and anger. A by-election can go only in the Congress partys favour, which shows that the sole purpose of coaxing the

circumstances for a disqualification was to get Rahul Gandhi out of the way for he stood in the way of Saving Private Adani!
RTMNU comes closer to distance education





Vikas Vaidya

Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) has decided to revisit the proposal of Distance Education. RTMNU, like a few other universities, had once thought of opening a Centre for Distance Education (CDE). A panel had even submitted the proposal to the then Vice-Chancellor Dr Vilas Sapkal, but the project never took off.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Subhash Chaudhari has decided to take up the project. Dr Chaudhari told The Hitavada, After taking charge, I studied certain projects which were floated in the past, but never reached their destination. The Centre for Distance Education (CDE) was one of those. The University Grants Commission (UGC) had certain restrictions which had put the launch of CDE on backburner. Now, the Government has relaxed those rules. We are working to start CDE as soon as possible. We will form a new committee to prepare a format to start CDE. Dr P Sivaswaroop, Regional Director of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), has offered his full co-operation to RTMNU to start the CDE, sources informed.

There are students who are unable to continue their education due to several reasons. If such students wish to pursue their education with traditional universities, the facility of distance education is not available with many universities.

A committee formed by RTMNU in this regard has prepared proposals about courses that were to be designed and the subjects to be incorporated. However, the old bodies were dissolved, and the proposals remained untouched. The nod to run online and distance learning courses at higher educational institutions will have a larger impact on the society, as those who are unable to attend classes can avail the facility and raise their academic profiles.
EDWARDSVILLE  Both the city's police department and fire department have resolutions on Tuesday's public safety committee agenda.

The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. in city hall, at 118 Hillsboro Ave.

First up is a measure to authorize the execution of the Illinois Telecommunicator Emergency Response Task Force (IL-TERT) Intergovernmental Agreement to join the task force. IL-TERT exists to serve 911 centers with mutual aid if needed.

IL-TERT can also assist in state-declared emergencies at the request of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA). Madison County is located within IL-TERT Region 8.

Current Region 8 members include:

Bethalto police

Clinton County Sheriff's Office

Greenville Police Department/Bond County 911

Jersey County Sheriff's Office

Madison County Sheriff's Office

MECOMM  O'Fallon police

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office

St Clair County (CENCOM)

Wood River police

There are currently:

53 active members

Nine associate members

More than 220 trained and deployable telecommunicators in Illinois

Fire grant

Meanwhile, the fire department is asking for approval of its own resolution: to allow it to apply for the 2022 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant to add three positions.

Per the department's web page, there are currently 33 employees.

SAFER was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, "front line" firefighters available in their communities.

The SAFER Grant Program is comprised of two categories:
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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023 08:52 28 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b05340754 4 Inforial MSME,Modalku Free

With the vision of advancing the economy of Southeast Asia, Modalku has distributed up to Rp 41.2 trillion (US$2.7 million) in funding for MSMEs in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. As of the first quarter of the year, they have distributed additional capital to more than five million MSMEs in Southeast Asia.

This is in line with the core of Modalkus business, which is a platform that provide business funding to develop the business of SME entrepreneurs. Modalku recognize that one of the biggest obstacles for starting a business is the lack of additional capital. With their program, they aim to make it easier for people to be able to elevate their business development.

Additional capital is usually sources from accumulated profit that is obtained every month, which is proven to be an effective method for micro businesses. However, it is not the same case for small and medium-scaled companies, as the market is more competitive compared to micro businesses. Business development that takes too long will not only make a business stagnate, but also unable to compete. Which is why Modalku is offering a solution for SME owners to be able to decrease the threat to their business.

. (./.)

Modalku offers a variety of services without the need to put down collateral, and continues to serve owners through their credit facilities. Their invoice financing service is suitable for those whose business is already a legal entity, such as a PT or CV. With this service, owners are able to make invoices a productive source of funding, and are able to rotate it for various purposes, such as smoothing cash flow, increasing production capacity, increasing stock, and more. By accessing this service, owners are eligible to get an up to Rp 2 billion (US$130 thousand) funding amount, flexible tenor of up to 90 days, and the choice of a repayment with bullet repayment system or full repayment at maturity.

Another product that has been aforementioned is the term loan, for those who want to get fast funds for their business needs. These funds can be used to expedite cash flow, increase distribution, cover promotion costs, and increase stock items. Automatically, these steps will increase a business turnover significantly. The product also came with a few advantages; this includes a business credit of up to Rp 1 billion (US$65 thousand), tenor of up to a year, and a repayment with an installment system every month. However, the repayment does include interest. Modalku does assure owners though that the credit payment obligations will not interfere with financial cash flow. More information click here.

An example of satisfied customers is Hary Setiawan, owner of CV Mitra Utama, who has successfully developed his Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) business through additional capital through Modalku. The same could be said for Meika Merianas story; owner of Lentera Camping outdoor equipment retail business, she managed to increase the number of her shops because she took business capital funding offered by Modalku.

Topics : MSME Modalku
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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023 21:20 27 91bd6e1d1220161ebde1a4c1fa0d4a55 4 Inforial Schneider-Electric,Schneider-Indonesia Free

On March 24, Gwenaelle Avice-Huet, Schneider Electrics global chief strategy and sustainability officer, paid a visit to the companys two primary facilities in West Java: its Center of Excellence in Cimahi and Smart Factory in Cikarang.

An industry leader in the field of energy management and industry automation, Schneider Electric is a French multinational company that focuses on empowering all parties to make the best use of energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability.

This most recent visit serves as a reaffirmation of Schneiders continuous effort toward sustainability and green industry, while also signposting its focus on Indonesia as Schneiders center of production and services for Southeast Asia region and other part of the world.

Schneiders Smart Factory in Cikarang highlights the companys optimized digitalization, net-zero emission sustainability systems, biodiversity focus and local community empowerment programs.

The factory also utilizes renewable energy through the use of solar panels that generate up to 228 megawatt hours (MWh) per year, resulting in a reduction of around 181 tons of carbon emissions per year, equivalent to planting approximately 900 trees each year.

Rudy Granet, the factorys plant director, elaborated on the importance of its sustainability efforts, noting that more than 20 percent of the factorys monthly energy consumption came from on-grid solar energy, significantly reducing the use of conventional energy and carbon footprint.

With our current trend, we are optimistic that by 2025 we can reach 100 percent renewable energy utilization, he said.

Schneiders Smart Factory in Cikarang is a pragmatic example of Green Heroes for Life (GHFL), a sustainability initiative to develop a community that is aware of energy efficiency, renewable energy, automation and digitalization.

So far, Schneiders branches in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have applied this initiative, with plans to expand the campaign to other countries outside of Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Schneiders Center of Excellence of Electricity, Automation and Renewable Energy (COE EARE) in Cimahi is the manifestation of a collaboration between Frances Ministry of Education, Indonesias Education and Culture Ministry and Schneider Electric.

Established in 2017, the COE EARE is a state-of-the-art facility that provides advanced training and research in the field of renewable energy, automation, and electricity. The initiative equips vocational school students and teachers with the right skillsets so that they are better equipped to join the workforce along with training prospective workers effectively.

As of December 2022, the COE has trained more than 24,800 vocational schools students and 277 teachers, and collaborated with over 144 vocational schools across Indonesia.

As an equally imperative sustainability effort, the COE is a long-term investment that cuts down on the training period for new employees because, through the program, Schneider can hire from a pre-trained pool of talent across the country.

More importantly, the COE initiative leaves a positive impact on local communities, upskilling Indonesian citizens with knowledge of electrical hardware and automation software, making them more desirable as prospective workers for any company in the industry.

To explain the importance of the COE initiative and its future plans for expansion, Avice-Huet said Schneider Electric was committed to advancing the field of renewable energy and sustainability, and a visit to the Center of Excellence was a way to demonstrate commitment to this mission.

We have been running this initiative here for five years now, and we strongly want to keep going. Our goal is to reach over 180 vocational schools in Indonesia and to educate over 1 million youths around the world by 2025.

Closing the visit, she also emphasized the importance of Schneider Electric's global commitment to accelerating progress on sustainability and a more equitable future through the impact company model.

The impact company model has two main parts: to do well to do good and to do good to do well. This means that Schneider aims to achieve a net-zero and a more equitable future with all stakeholders, whether that be large or small companies in Indonesia.

"As an impact company, we make a unique difference through innovation, sustainability and social responsibility. And we are truly grateful for the operating model that has been carried out so far," Avice-Huet concluded.
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Linkedin Divya Karyza (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023

The withdrawal of United States chemical company Air Products from all downstream coal projects in Indonesia could spell the end of the governments plans to develop the sector, analysts say.

Prior to its exit, Air Products had been working on gasification projects, one to convert coal into dimethyl ether (DME) and another to convert it into ethanol.

The former initiative involved state-owned mining firm PT Bukit Asam (PTBA) and state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina, while the latter involved PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) and PT Arutmin Indonesia, both subsidiaries of PT Bumi Resources, jointly controlled by the Bakrie Group and Salim.

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Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as part of his regular visit to Ukraine.

"I met President Zelenskyy today in Zaporizhia City and had a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhia NPP and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the IAEA to Ukraine's nuclear facilities," Grossi tweeted on Monday.

According to his reports, Grossi and Zelenskyy visited the Dnipro hydroelectric power station in Zaporizhia, where the head of the IAEA was shown the destruction caused by the strikes of Russian troops.

At the same time, Grossi emphasized that the Dnipro HPP is an integral part of the system that ensures the nuclear safety of ZNPP.

As reported, Grossi this week announced a visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant "to personally assess the nuclear safety situation at the facility." This will be his second visit to ZNPP during the occupation. Earlier, Grossi said he had stopped talks with Ukraine and Russia on establishing a security zone around the ZNPP, pointing out that "it would be extremely difficult to carry out the verification process - more than one mile from the demilitarized zone, the territory would be extremely militarized."
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023

Emirates, the worlds largest operator of Airbus A380 super jumbo jets, announced on Friday that it would deploy its signature double-decker aircraft to Bali on the first A380-operated route to Indonesia starting on June 1.

Emirates A380 offers a two-class cabin consisting of 58 lie-flat Business Class seats and 557 generously pitched Economy class seats, the United Arab Emirates flag carrier said in a statement.

The airline said the super jumbo jet would replace one of two daily flights to Balis I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport currently operated by Boeing 777-300ERs with a two-class cabin configuration.

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Linkedin Amanda Karina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023 21:28 27 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b0534cc23 4 Economy SDGs,sustainability,Asia-Pacific Free

The Indonesian Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions And Transmigration, Abdul Halim Iskandar, was among the panelists invited to the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) 2023 held on Monday in Bangkok, Thailand.

Organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the 10th edition of the annual forum ran from March 27 to 30 and was themed Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels in Asia and the Pacific.

The first day included a side event focusing on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, titled Glocalization: Catalyzing Local Implementation of Global Goals in Asia and the Pacific.

Also present at the event were Germelina Singson-Goulart from the Philippine City League, Norliza Hashim and Azmizam Abdul Rashid from Urbanice Malaysia, India Dechrai of Monash Sustainable Development and Fernando Ortiz-Moya from the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.

SDGs Desa [Village SDGs] can offer optimism, as this expounds a strategy to accelerate the SDG goals of Asia-Pacific countries, Halim said in his opening speech.

The minister added that the APFSD presented a key to unlock Indonesias expansion through a multiangular perspective on how to accelerate local implementation of the SDGs.

Halim said he believed in prioritizing Indonesias vision through a local lens, as this would enable the country to ground the SDGs at the village level through the SDGs Desa initiative.

Villages have two strategic advantages in Indonesia, he continued. On the one hand, the scope of village administrations has great relevance, covering 91 percent of the lowest level of government in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the remaining nine percent are located in urban areas.

Halim said the second advantage of Indonesian villages was their vast population, and cited the Indeks Pembangunan Desa 2021 (Village Development Index 2021), which recorded 214 million rural residents across the archipelago.

The Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs reported that 71 percent of [village] residents have a personal identity card and live in the area where they were registered, and only 29 percent live in urban areas, he added.

As the lowest level of government, village administrations were thus able to interact directly with the people, while for village residents, local officials served as their closest government representatives.

The minister thus aimed to accelerate village development by implemented 17 goals under the SDGs Desa initiative, which had now been supplemented with a new, 18th goal.

By 2022, the government had disbursed Rp 68 trillion (US$4.5 million) through the village fund, or 58 percent of the Rp 118 trillion allocated for the assistance scheme, which focused on achieving the goals of the SDGs Desa program. It is expected that, with the additional support of village revenues and expenditures, the SDGs Desa goals will be achieved by 2030 and will bring positive benefits to all villages and their residents.

The SDGs Desa program has been armed with data on population figures, households and areas that need developmental support. The public can access this information online on the websites of district, city and provincial administrations, as well as those of the central government.

The SDGs Desa program is centered on the aim of reformulating the development of villages in Indonesia and empowering local communities to participate in decision-making for the purpose of exploring and capitalizing on local potentials to elevate standards of living, based on the philosophy that building a nation takes a village.

This article was published in collaboration with Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Paris, France  Mon, March 27, 2023 09:45 27 91bd6e1d1220161ebde1a4c1fa03a2ea 2 Science & Tech asteroid,NASA,moon,Earth,astrophysics Free

A large asteroid will safely zoom between Earth and the Moon on Saturday, a once-in-a-decade event that will be used as a training exercise for planetary defence efforts, according to the European Space Agency.

The asteroid, named 2023 DZ2, is estimated to be 40 to 70 metres (130 to 230 feet) wide, roughly the size of the Parthenon, and big enough to wipe out a large city if it hit our planet.

At 19:49 GMT on Saturday it will come within a third of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, said Richard Moissl, the head of the ESA's planetary defence office.

Though that is "very close", there is nothing to worry about, he told AFP.

Small asteroids fly past every day, but one of this size coming so close to Earth only happens around once every 10 years, he added.

The asteroid will pass 175,000 kilometres (109,000 miles) from Earth at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,400 miles per hour). The moon is roughly 385,000 kilometres away.

An observatory in La Palma, one of Spain's Canary Islands, first spotted the asteroid on February 27.

Last week, the UN-endorsed International Asteroid Warning Network decided it would take advantage of the close look, carrying out a "rapid characterisation" of 2023 DZ2, Moissl said.

That means astronomers around the world will analyse the asteroid with a range of instruments such as spectrometers and radars.

The goal is to find out just how much we can learn about such an asteroid in only a week, Moissl said.

It will also serve as training for how the network "would react to a threat" possibly heading our way in the future, he added.

'Scientifically interesting'

Moissl said preliminary data suggests 2023 DZ2 is "a scientifically interesting object", indicating it could be a somewhat unusual type of asteroid. But he added that more data was needed to determine the asteroid's composition.

The asteroid will again swing past Earth in 2026, but poses no threat of impact for at least the next 100 years -- which is how far out its trajectory has been calculated.

Earlier this month a similarly sized asteroid, 2023 DW, was briefly given a one-in-432 chance of hitting Earth on Valentine's Day 2046.

But further calculations ruled out any chance of an impact, which is what normally happens with newly discovered asteroids. Moissl said 2023 DW was now expected to miss Earth by some 4.3 million kilometres.

Even if such an asteroid was determined to be heading our way, Earth is no longer defenceless.

Last year, NASA's DART spacecraft deliberately slammed into the pyramid-sized asteroid Dimorphos, significantly knocking it off course in the first such test of our planetary defences.

Topics : asteroid NASA moon Earth astrophysics
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Linkedin Alfons Luna (AFP) Tabara, Spain  Mon, March 27, 2023

Walking through the charred remains of the forested hillsides of Sierra de la Culebra that were devastated by Spain's worst wildfire last year, Pablo Martin Pinto is blunt.

"We are moving from the era of big forest fires to mega forest fires in Spain," says this wildfire expert from Valladolid University, warning that such vast blazes were "here to stay".

Last year, Spain suffered nearly 500 wildfires that devastated huge swathes of land, with experts warning that such California-style blazes were likely to increase.

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Linkedin Front Row (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023 11:05 27 d5259e4d93052b0e76bee70b05343813 4 Front Row Papua,raja-ampat Free

The greens in economy, technology and products must be encouraged to strengthen Indonesias competency in the face of the global market.

At the beginning of March, The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported the increasing rate of carbon emissions throughout 2022, showcasing 0.9 percent. This led the energy production to produce greenhouse gas emissions with the reach of 36.8 gigatons.

Meanwhile, carbon dioxide emissions from coal increased 1.6 percent in the last year.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) conveyed on various occasions how energy transformation towards new and renewable energy must begin.

In conjunction with Present Jokowis agenda in developing the solar power generation sector, SoHo (Solar House) which is a non-profit organization, has set foot in the land of Papu with the purpose of prospering the potential of local resources by using solar panels.

Five sets of solar panels were placed in Kampung Swanderek and the Raja Ampat regency to indicate one of their many efforts of developing the green industry, to support the Indonesian Government transition program rising towards the Net Zero Emission by 2060.

On a more impressive note, the establishment of solar panels in Kampung Sawandarek was initiated by a student from Jakarta, Arnold Surjaputra. On Monday, the young man was able to shed more light behind his purpose.

I did not only establish the solar panel in Kampung Sawandarek to ensure an optimal development of natural resources within the tourist attractionsbut to also provide the local community with the joy of having electric facilities, Arnold begins.

According to Arnold, the use of solar panels reaffirms the production of green energy in Indonesia, which is parallel with the governments program regarding the transformation of renewable energy.

There are various benefits. The local community could receive electricity through this panel, which creates a friendly environmentfor tourism as well. International tourists who come here can carry out their daily activities with great optimization from the power source of the sun, noted the sixteen-year-old student.

Caretaker Head of Kampung Sawandarek, Kristian Sauyai welcomed these installations of panels with a sense of warmth.

Kristian says that Arnolds installation of solar energy grants the local community with happiness, as it equips them with ease when pursuing their daily activities.

Meanwhile, Stanley Rahman who is the head of community empowerment at the Raja Ampat regency expressed his gratitude upon SoHo for their initiative in progressing Papua through their concept of green energy.

Arnolds inner purpose behind making SoHo is conscientious and rather heartfelt. The point is the extent of how much the younger generation cares about Indonesia through the use of solar energy,  said Arnold in his closing statement.

Arnolds empathy elicits his hope of inspiring the younger generation to utilize green energy, in promoting an abundance of care for the Indonesian community.
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Linkedin Reuters Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023

More than 180 Rohingya Muslims landed in Aceh province on Monday, officials said, the latest among hundreds who have fled by boat from desperate conditions in Myanmar and in camps in Bangladesh.

The United Nations refugee agency has said 2022 may have been one of the deadliest years at sea in almost a decade for the Rohingya, a persecuted religious and ethnic minority in Myanmar.

A spokesperson for the local police, Kamil, confirmed by phone that 184 Rohingya had arrived in East Aceh district and were "all in healthy condition".

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Linkedin Tenggara Strategics (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27, 2023 07:00 28 91bd6e1d1220161ebde1a4c1fa01009b 4 Academia the-brief Free

The competition ahead of the 2024 elections is heating up as Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the biggest party in the ruling coalition, and President Joko Jokowi Widodo met on March 18 at the State Palace to discuss food sovereignty, foreign policy and the 2024 elections. Speculations are rife that the PDI-P may consider pairing election frontrunners Ganjar Pranowo and Prabowo Subianto, which could lower the chances of a runoff election.

Ganjar, the outgoing Central Java governor, and Prabowo, the defense minister and chairman of the Gerindra Party, were touted as a prospective presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair after both were seen accompanying Jokowi during his visit to Kebumen regency, Central Java, earlier this month.

Although the power to nominate candidates rests in the hands of Megawati, it is believed that Jokowi will give his blessing to a prospective successor determined to carry on the legacy of his administration, such as the relocation of the countrys capital to East Kalimantan. While the initial phase of this megaproject is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, which is already beyond the end of Jokowis term, the Nusantara capital may only be completely developed within 10-15 years time. Jokowi reportedly sees both Ganjar and Prabowo as figures who could fill his shoes and see this project through to its completion.

The two names were also reportedly mentioned when Jokowi met with Megawati at the State Palace last week. Everyone is now buzzing about the possibility that the PDI-P will finally announce its candidate for the upcoming election. PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto, who was also present at the meeting, only confirmed that the two figures met as party cadres and discussed prospective alliances and presidential candidates of the PDI-P.

Amid these talks, however, there is some discord over who would run for the countrys highest office and the second-highest office, respectively. Gerindras deputy chief patron, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, who is also Prabowos younger brother, welcomed the political arrangement but noted that Prabowo would press forward with his presidential bid and that Ganjar would act as his running mate.

On the other hand, Hasto reiterated that the PDI-P, Indonesias largest political party, would be nominating one of its own cadres as a presidential candidate, as per Megawatis instructions.

Whats more

If Prabowo and Ganjar end up joining hands, the 2024 presidential election would likely be a two-horse race against former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan. Anies has secured the support of the NasDem Party and the opposition parties, namely the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), who have formed an electoral alliance known as the Coalition for Change. Such a development would effectively turn the election into a competition between a government-backing camp versus an opposition camp, according to Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) politics and social change head Arya Fernandes.

Arya added that a Prabowo-Ganjar pairing also stood a good chance of winning given that they both attract voters from different demographic and geographic segments of the public.

Whether a Prabowo-Ganjar pairing will materialize or not is still debatable considering their respective parties are currently still at odds. For one, the Gerindra Party has already teamed up with the National Awakening Party (PKB) and will not be able to make any unilateral decisions. PKB deputy chairman Jazilul Fawaid was quick to state that Prabowo and PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar are still in talks over the alliances nominations. With both Gerindra and the PDI-P keen on nominating their own members for the countrys top job, it seems unlikely that either would back down on their demands.

At the very least, President Jokowi and Megawatis meeting has signaled that the PDI-P will announce its candidate within the next few months and doing so would give the ruling party more time to familiarize its nominee to the public. Moreover, according to National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) political expert Siti Zuhro, the PDI-Ps next move would likely influence the existing political constellations, especially if the party does decide to nominate two figures with the highest electability ratings thus far.

The electoral alliances that have already been formed are not set in stone. National Mandate Party (PAN) expert council chairman Dradjad Wibowo even admitted that there was still a chance for his party to side with the PDI-P, despite already being part of the Golkar-led United Indonesia Coalition (KIB). However, the other members of the alliance, Golkar and the United Development Party (PPP), are still exploring their options as well.

What weve heard

A source from the PDI-P revealed that Megawati had left a long message through Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung asking to meet the President. However, it was difficult to arrange the meeting due to Jokowis busy schedule. The meeting only took place on March 17, which attended also by Hasto and Pramono. But it took a while to request this audience, said the source.

This meeting specifically discussed the 2024 elections, including the Central Jakarta District Courts decision in favor of the Prima Party. The decision ordered the General Elections Commission (KPU) to postpone the 2024 elections to July 2025. Megawati wanted to know whether the decision was part of the governments plan to postpone the election or not. According to this source, Jokowi admitted that he did not know anything about the courts decision.

During that encounter, Jokowi and Megawati also discussed the PDI-Ps presidential candidate. Megawati asked all parties, including Jokowi, to wait for her decision and announcement. Within the PDI-P, Ganjar and House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani were the most likely nominees for president. Megawati asked Jokowi to wait for her decision, said a source from the State Palace.

With regards to the PDI-P nominating Ganjar as its presidential candidate, a senior PDI-P official said that those in Megawatis inner circle all supported Ganjar. According to this source, Ganjars chances are very high. However, Megawati has not yet communicated this choice to other parties. Puan had been asked to no longer build alliances but just to increase the partys electability, the source said.

Disclaimer

This content is provided by Tenggara Strategics in collaboration with The Jakarta Post to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on Indonesias political and business landscape. Access our latest edition to read the articles listed below:

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Linkedin Editorial board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, March 28, 2023 02:52 27 91bd6e1d1220161ebde1a4c1fa110fb0 1 Editorial credit-card,Joko-Widodo,Russia,sanctions,payment-system,bank-indonesia Free

It took Bank Indonesia (BI) less than a week to follow up on the Presidents warning about Indonesias dependence on foreign credit card networks.

The central bank said on March 18 that it had been discussing with local businesses on developing a domestic network, and that progress was at 90 percent.

Just two days later, BI spokesman Erwin Haryono told CNBC Indonesia that the new network would be launched in April, noting that Indonesia was following Japan and China in developing a domestic settlement network.

BI has been working for years on building domestic payment infrastructure in the hope of bringing down fees by settling transactions locally, rather than via foreign providers.

Recent global developments have obviously lent the issue a sense of urgency in exposing the risk of foreign-controlled systems being turned against users.

Indonesia has seen firsthand how this can play out. Last March, several Russian tourists were stranded in Bali with no way to pay for meals or accommodation, or even get a flight home, due to Western sanctions that locked out Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has pointed to the United States economic sanctions against Russia as a case in point, noting that Visa and Mastercard could be a problem.

Hence, in addition to making the economic case for settling credit card transactions domestically, the President and BI are also keenly aware of the strategic case.

Given that sanctions are expressly deployed in economic warfare, it is clear that payment systems can be weaponized by the countries or companies that control them.

The President is right to stress the need for an independent credit card network, even though there is no specific threat against Indonesia on the horizon.

This is analogous to Indonesia having a standing army, even though there is no specific threat of an attack on the country. It is worth noting that Jokowi, in the very same speech, urged the police and military to procure goods and weapons from local rather than foreign manufacturers.

Still, there is the risk of so-called secondary sanctions imposed against third countries that engage in trade with a primary target of sanctions. Indonesias free and active foreign policy doctrine requires the government to eliminate the countrys vulnerability to such risk.

In a world increasingly divided between two economic blocs, one led by China and the other by the US, there are obvious risks to any country relying too heavily on either camp, as well as obvious benefits to countries that navigate cleverly between them.

In Indonesias case, for instance, it is prudent to keep its options open to buying oil from Russia and to be prepared for a scenario where, say, Washington demands Jakarta to stop supplying raw materials to certain Chinese firms or face sanctions.

When a country has problems with other world powers, our dependence on [foreign] payment systems is terrible, the BI spokesman was quoted as saying.

Whether a domestic credit card network will be effective in achieving this is another matter. And one may also ask: Who still uses credit cards anyway in the age of fintech?

It is just a small fraction of the population in Indonesia, where low credit card usage makes for appealing growth opportunities. But this also means that singling out credit cards alone does not do much in boosting national security.

Indeed, Jokowi urged general independence in payment systems, not just credit cards, and it is fair to assume that despite naming them, he was not taking particular aim at Visa and Mastercard.

Pushing the US-based networks out would be foolish, given their crucial role in tourism, but having alternatives up and running to eliminate any payment systems being vulnerable to abuse for political reasons would be wise.
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Linkedin Mangadar Situmorang (The Jakarta Post) -  Mon, March 27 2023

The release of New Zealand national Phillips Mehrtens has yet to occur. Whether the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) gets its way or the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police get involved, President Joko Jokowi Widodo insisted during his recent visit to Papua that the Susi Air pilots safety was a top priority.

It has been more than a month since Mehrtens was taken hostage by armed Papuan separatists operating under Egianus Kagoya. Without any clues about the pilots release, the rebels political leverage is coming to the fore with a set of demands: (a) that Australia and New Zealand bring the case of Papuan statehood to the United Nations Security Council, (b) that the UN to mediate talks between Jakarta and Papua; (c) that the International Criminal Court launches an investigation into Indonesias role in rights abuses in Papua and (d), the most ambitious, that Papuan independence from Indonesia be recognized.

The demands are seemingly the tail end of colonial and post-colonial conflicts. Borrowing Edward Rices concept of wars of the third kind (1999), the conflict in Papua is a conflict in which a community seeks to create its own state in a war of national liberation that involves resistance against domination, exclusion, persecution or dispossession of lands and resources by a post-colonial state.

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Linkedin Benoit Petit (The Jakarta Post) Agence France-Presse/Sainte-Soline, France  Mon, March 27 2023

French police again clashed with protesters on Saturday as campaigners in the southwest sought to stop the construction of giant water-storage facilities, the latest flashpoint as social tensions erupt nationwide.

The violent scenes at Sainte-Soline came after days of unrest over President Emmanuel Macron's pensions reform, which forced the cancellation of a visit by King Charles III of the United Kingdom.

The protest movement against the pension reform has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second mandate, with police and protesters clashing daily in Paris and other cities over the past week.

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The ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdenny sent 150,000 tonnes of agricultural products to Asian countries as part of the grain initiative on Monday, the Ministry of Restoration reported on Monday.

"In particular, the bulk carrier ASL Ileana with 54,600 tonnes of wheat for Bangladesh," the ministry said.

The ministry said that Bangladesh remains a key consumer of Ukrainian wheat: since the start of the grain initiative, the country has received more than 710,000 tonnes of wheat from Ukraine.

"These volumes could be higher if the Russians did not purposefully slow down the inspection of ships in Turkey," the ministry stressed.

According to the Ministry of Restoration, an average of six inspections are carried out per day both at the entrance to the ports and at the exit, or half of the approved plan. In the Bosphorus, 94 vessels are waiting for their turn to be inspected by the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC).

In total, since August 1, some 848 ships have left the ports of Greater Odesa, exporting 25.9 million tonnes of Ukrainian food to the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa.
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Linkedin Ludovic Ehret and Amber Wang (The Jakarta Post) Agence France-Presse/Beijing  Mon, March 27 2023

China and Honduras began formal diplomatic relations on Sunday, with Taiwan accusing Beijing of using "coercion and intimidation" to lure away its few remaining allies.

China's announcement of the move came shortly after Tegucigalpa said it had officially severed ties with Taipei.

"The two governments have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level", effective immediately, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

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Linkedin Timour Azhari (The Jakarta Post) Reuters/Beirut  Mon, March 27 2023

Lebanon woke up in two time zones on Sunday amid an escalating dispute between political and religious authorities over a decision to extend winter time for a month.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati decided on Thursday to roll clocks forward an hour on April 20, instead of entering daylight savings time on the last weekend of March as is usually the case in Lebanon, Europe and other regions.

Mikati, a Sunni Muslim, announced the decision after a meeting with Shia parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who repeatedly insisted on the change, according to a video of the meeting published by Lebanese outlet Megaphone.

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Linkedin David Ljunggren (The Jakarta Post) Reuters  Mon, March 27 2023

Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine and escalating a standoff with the West.

Although not unexpected, and while Putin said the move would not violate nuclear non-proliferation promises, it is one of the Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago.

The United States, the world's other nuclear superpower, has reacted cautiously to Putin's statement, with a senior administration official saying there were no signs Moscow planned to use its nuclear weapons.

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Linkedin Daniel Lawler and Julien Dury (The Jakarta Post) Agence France-Presse/Paris  Mon, March 27 2023

New evidence that raccoon dogs were at the Chinese market where COVID-19 is suspected to have first infected humans has reignited debate over the origin of the pandemic.

The researchers who unexpectedly stumbled over the genetic data say that it supports but cannot definitively prove the theory that the virus originated in animals, possibly first jumping over to humans at a market in the city of Wuhan.

The issue has proved divisive for the scientific community and even different government agencies in the United States, with some maintaining that the virus likely leaked from a Wuhan lab, a claim that China has angrily denied.

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Linkedin A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27 2023

While lauding the government for supporting the majority of recommendations on improving Indonesias human rights provided during the fourth cycle of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a coalition of local rights groups has also criticized the government for not following through on the most pressing recommendations.

The UPR is a peer review mechanism that applies to all 193 United Nations member states and is managed under the UN Human Rights Council.

The Civil Society Coalition for UPR Reporting, which includes Amnesty International Indonesia, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), SAFEnet, the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus and LGBT rights group Arus Pelangi, has expressed disappointment over the governments selectiveness over the recommendations it received.

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Linkedin Hashem Osseiran (The Jakarta Post) Agence France-Presse/Dubai  Mon, March 27 2023

Eight years after launching its military campaign in Yemen, Saudi Arabia wants to extricate itself from the conflict, despite slim hopes of lasting peace, to focus on ambitious projects at home.

The oil-rich monarchy gave a signal this month by announcing plans to resume ties with Iran, which backs Yemen's Huthi rebels against the Saudi-supported government in a proxy war.

But as Saudi Arabia instigates sweeping social and economic changes as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "Vision 2030" reform, it "is seeking to shift its approach in Yemen from a military strategy to a soft security and political one", said Ahmed Nagi, from the International Crisis Group.

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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27 2023

Business enterprises have been bombarded with numerous sustainability standards globally, with the importance and prevalence of different areas varying from one sector to another. Indonesian companies, notably those engaged in the exploitation of natural resources, are familiar with the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability.

There is also the requirement called corporate social responsibility, which is stipulated in the Indonesian 2007 Companies Law. The European Union will soon impose regulations on deforestation as part of environmental sustainability. The Indonesian government enforces its own sustainability principles in oil palm development.

The essence of all these principles of sustainability basically refers to good corporate governance (GCG), which over the past few years has largely been developed at a global advanced-market level into a more comprehensive set of the principles of environmental, social and governance (ESG).

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Linkedin AFP Washington, United States  Mon, March 27, 2023 08:54 28 91bd6e1d1220161ebde1a4c1fa02aaa5 2 Americas democracy,summit,meeting,China,Russia,Saudi-Arabia,Joe-Biden,Turkey Free

The United States on Tuesday opens its second Summit for Democracy with its eyes firmly on the rest of the world, seeking a united front against authoritarianism as Russia attacks Ukraine and as China launches a diplomatic offensive.

President Joe Biden took office pledging to champion democracy, and in his first year made good with the inaugural summit, which sought to reaffirm US leadership after his predecessor Donald Trump eroded democratic norms and the attack on the Capitol.

This time round, in a nod to concerns that the first edition was too much about US navel-gazing, Biden has tapped co-hosts on each continent -- the presidents of Zambia, Costa Rica and South Korea and prime minister of The Netherlands.

In total he has invited 121 leaders for the three-day, mostly virtual summit -- eight more than in 2021.

The summit comes as threats to democracy evolve "from what was seen as an important issue, albeit sort of a slow-moving threat, to one that is now both important and extremely urgent," said Marti Flacks, director of the human rights initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The sessions will bring in civil society representatives for discussions on a range of challenges to democracy including surveillance technology, which the United States sees as a growing threat as China makes rapid technological advances.

"In the absence of pending congressional action in that space, it is important that the administration is engaging bilaterally with other countries and also with companies on voluntary actions that can be taken in the interim," Flacks said.

Shunning Turkey, Hungary

The summit will open Tuesday with a virtual conversation on peace in Ukraine featuring President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Not only the message but the setting will be a striking contrast from the first summit where Zelensky, now a wartime leader in military fatigues, was clean-shaven and wearing a crisp black suit.

While Biden has kept his campaign pledge on the democracy summit, he has disappointed some human rights activists by easing his earlier vows to shun autocratic leaders.

Biden last year visited both Saudi Arabia, acknowledging the kingdom's role in oil markets, and Egypt, the host of a climate summit and US partner in regional security, and has increasingly worked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Ukraine.

None of those three countries are being invited to the summit, a backhanded criticism especially of Erdogan, who faces reelection on May 14 after two decades in power in which he is accused of creeping authoritarianism.

Uniquely among European Union states, Biden is not inviting Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a fourth term last year but has been accused of deviating from liberal values by clamping down on the press, denouncing non-European refugees and speaking favorably of Moscow.

US partners shunned for the summit include Singapore, whose elections are generally considered free but which limits free assembly and regulates media, and Bangladesh, where hundreds have been arrested under the Digital Security Act.

The State Department declined to discuss criteria for inclusion.

"However, we reiterate that for the summit we aim to be inclusive and representative of a regionally and socioeconomically diverse slate of countries," a State Department spokesperson said.

"We are not seeking to define which countries are and aren't democracies."

Growing US partner India, billed as the world's largest democracy, is on the attendance list days after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament, the latest step under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has alarmed rights groups.

India's neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan, where Imran Khan was last year ousted as prime minister and later charged, is also on the list.

More Africans invited

Of the countries that received invitations after being kept away in 2021, five are in Africa including Tanzania, where President Samia Suluhu Hassan has promised to restore competitive politics, and Ivory Coast, where tensions have eased since 2021 elections passed off calmly, as well as The Gambia, Mauritania and Mozambique.

In Latin America, Biden is for the first time inviting Honduras, which won praise for authorities' improved conduct of 2021 elections, despite persistent violence and its recent dumping of Taiwan ties for China.

The summit comes as the United States focuses on Africa, where China and Russia have both been making inroads.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel during the week to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia -- whose president, Hakainde Hichilema, has been held up by Washington as a model on democracy and will hold his own events as a summit co-host.

Freedom House, the US-backed research group, in its latest annual report saw an overall deterioration in global democracy but also a growing number of bright spots.

Katie LaRoque, the group's coordinator for the summit, said that while a single meeting would not in itself be decisive, the gathering gives an opportunity.

Democracies can "coordinate policy changes that can contain rampant authoritarian aggression," she said.
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Linkedin Reuters Taipei, Taiwan  Mon, March 27, 2023 13:45 27 5fceed71997e5776a1634d25dc359cd0 2 Asia and Pacific US,China,geopolitics,Foxconn,Apple,Taiwan,democracy,iPhone Free

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of major Apple Inc supplier Foxconn, will visit the United States this week, his office said on Monday, as he considers another run for Taiwan's presidency.

Gou will leave for the United States on Monday evening for a 12-day visit his office called a "journey of scientific and technological economic development" and will also speak at the Washington think-tank, the Brookings Institution.

"Not only the United States, but also other major democratic allies have been gradually paying attention to security issues in the Asia-Pacific region," his office said in a statement.

"The potential risks of regional conflicts highlight Taiwan's key role in the global cooperation system."

Gou will also visit the University of Maryland to talk about artificial intelligence, as well as Harvard Medical School, it added, but did not say if he would meet any US officials while in the country.

Taiwanese presidential candidates traditionally go to the United States before elections given Washington's oversized role in ensuring Taiwan's security in the face of China's military threats to the island Beijing views as Chinese territory.

Gou has extensive business interests in China and is known for his close ties with Beijing leaders.

Gou, who stepped down as Foxconn chief in 2019, had originally made a presidential bid that year, but dropped out after losing the nomination for Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang, or KMT.

While Gou has said he is considering another run for the January 2024 presidential election, the KMT has yet to choose its presidential candidate.

KMT Chairman Eric Chu, asked on Saturday whether Gou would be included in the party's nomination process, did not give a definitive answer, but said Gou was an "important part of the blue camp", referring to the party's colours.

Chu and New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih are the current front-runners to be chosen as the KMT candidate.

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party has already chosen Vice President William Lai as its 2024 candidate, as President Tsai Ing-wen cannot run again after two terms in office.

Topics : US China geopolitics Foxconn Apple Taiwan democracy iPhone
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Linkedin Reuters Moscow, Russia  Mon, March 27, 2023 09:55 27 91bd6e1d1220161ebde1a4c1fa03c142 2 Europe Nuclear,Vladimir-Putin,Russia,Belarus,Ukraine-war,NATO,US Free

NATO slammed Vladimir Putin for "dangerous" nuclear rhetoric after the Russian president announced plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while Russian forces intensified shelling of the frontline Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.

Putin likened his Belarus plan on Saturday to the US stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.

The move, while not unexpected, is one of Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals yet and a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine, which has called for a meeting of the UN Security Council in response.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Sunday.

"NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own."

Putin's non-proliferation pledge and his description of US weapons deployment overseas were way off the mark, she added.

"Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments," she said in a statement. "Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments."

Ukraine's security chief, Oleksiy Danilov, said Russia's plan would destabilise Belarus, which he said had been taken "hostage" by Moscow.

Others too joined the chorus of condemnation on Sunday, with Lithuania saying it would call for new sanctions against Moscow and Minsk, while EU policy chief Josep Borrell urged Belarus not to host the weapons and threatened further sanctions.

Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Minsk allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory as a staging point for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

Experts said Russia's move was significant since it had until now been proud that unlike the United States, it did not deploy nuclear weapons outside its borders. It may be the first time since the mid-1990s that it has done so.

The US, also a nuclear superpower, played down concerns about Russia's planned nuclear deployment.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said he regarded Russia's plan as designed to intimidate the West.

"I think this is sabre-rattling on the part of Putin basically to try to frighten," McCaul told the Fox News Sunday programme. "These tactical nukes are disturbing."

Tactical nuclear weapons refer to those used for specific gains on a battlefield rather than those with the capacity to wipe out cities. It is unclear how many such weapons Russia has, given it is an area still shrouded in Cold War secrecy.

Putin on Sunday asserted that Western powers are building a new "axis" similar to the partnership between Germany and Japan during World War Two.

This was a reprisal of a theme he has used in his portrayal of the war - that Moscow is fighting a Ukraine in the grip of supposed Nazis, abetted by Western powers menacing Russia.

Ukraine rejects those parallels as spurious pretexts for a war of imperial conquest.

Putin also denied Russia was creating a military alliance with China. The United States has said that it fears China could arm Russia, something China denies.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed confidence that the graduation of officers from universities this year will strengthen the state.

"The training of our officers of the National Guard, the Navy, and our army ended last week. From Kharkiv to Vinnytsia, Lviv region, from Kyiv to Odesa. The National Academy of the National Guard, the Kyiv Institute of the National Guard, the Odessa Maritime Academy, and the National Ground Forces Academy completed a special training course for junior lieutenants," he said in a video address on Saturday, March 25.

"I believe this year's graduation will increase the glory of Ukraine and strengthen all of us  the entire state," Zelenskyy said.
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Linkedin Reuters Hanoi, Vietnam  Mon, March 27, 2023

A Vietnamese ship monitored a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Saturday in a Russian-operated gas field in Vietnam's South China Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ), data show - the latest Chinese patrol in a pattern stretching more than a year.

Chinese coast guard ships have sailed directly into energy exploration blocks operated or owned by Russian firms in Vietnam's EEZ about 40 times since January 2022, according to vessel-tracking data from Vietnamese research organisation South China Sea Chronicle Initiative (SCSCI), an independent non-profit.

China considers the area part of its expansive territorial claim in the South China Sea marked by a "nine-dash line," a boundary the Permanent Court of Arbitration found in 2016 to have no legal basis. It has built artificial islands and airfields on some reefs and islets in the sea to widespread concern in the region and in the United States.

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Morgan Bassichis returns to Abrons on March 31st with their show, A Crowded Field. Photo by Maria Baranova.

Here are a few fun things to do this week:

Listen to one of todays most interesting soloists on Japans national instrument, the Koto. Marking the debut of her new album Metamorphosis, Yumi Kurosawa brings her trio to Joes Pub on Thursday, March 30 at 7:00pm for a celebratory performance with special guests.

Join writers Rebecca Faulkner, Hanna Griff-Sleven, and Amy Stein-Milford at the Museum at Eldridge Street for a reception, reading, and discussion about each of their recent works, Poetry, Memoir, and the Art of Remembering on Thursday, March 30 at 6:30pm.

Check out Morgan Bassichis latest show, A Crowded Field, at Abrons Arts Center, which opens on Friday, March 31 at 8:00pm. The show completes a trilogy of performance projects that use humor and music to explore Jewish radicalism. For this one, Bassichis performs a crash course in the uses and abuses of the Jewish holidays.

Visit ICP Late Night ($5) for a special screening of the film Forest for the Trees, followed by a Directors Q&A with ICP alum Rita Leistner, on Thursday, April 6 at 6:30pm. The documentary is a five-year multi-media project following a diverse community of tree planters who find common cause, self-knowledge, and meaning in their arduous, solitary work toiling to restore Canadas forests.

Check out our Lower East Side Events Calendar for more neighborhood activities and add yours HERE.
StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of American Shared Hospital Services (NYSEAMERICAN:AMS  Get Rating) in a note issued to investors on Saturday. The firm set a hold rating on the stock.

American Shared Hospital Services Stock Up 1.8 %

AMS stock opened at $2.87 on Friday. American Shared Hospital Services has a 52-week low of $2.18 and a 52-week high of $3.75. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $3.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 3.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.66 million, a P/E ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.86.

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Institutional Trading of American Shared Hospital Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Shared Hospital Services in the 4th quarter valued at $470,000. Canton Hathaway LLC increased its position in shares of American Shared Hospital Services by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 20,000 shares of the companys stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in American Shared Hospital Services by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 26,000 shares of the companys stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 6,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of American Shared Hospital Services by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 158,681 shares of the companys stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 5,899 shares during the last quarter. 13.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Shared Hospital Services Company Profile

American Shared Hospital Services engages in leasing radiosurgery and radiation therapy equipment to healthcare providers. Its equipment includes Gamma Knife, PBRT, and IGRT. The Gamma Knife radiosurgery equipment is a non-invasive treatment for malignant and benign brain tumors, vascular malformations and trigeminal neuralgia.

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Sisecam Resources (NYSE:SIRE  Get Rating) and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM  Get Rating) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Sisecam Resources and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chiles net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Sisecam Resources 8.79% 17.56% 10.55% Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile 36.47% 95.37% 40.22%

Risk and Volatility

Sisecam Resources has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Sisecam Resources 0 0 0 0 N/A Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile 1 1 3 0 2.40

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Sisecam Resources and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a consensus price target of $95.60, suggesting a potential upside of 18.08%. Given Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chiles higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile is more favorable than Sisecam Resources.

Dividends

Sisecam Resources pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile pays an annual dividend of $7.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. Sisecam Resources pays out 63.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile pays out 56.5% 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. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

5.7% of Sisecam Resources shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.4% of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sisecam Resources and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chiles top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Sisecam Resources $720.10 million 0.69 $63.30 million $3.13 8.03 Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile $10.71 billion 2.16 $3.91 billion $13.68 5.92

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has higher revenue and earnings than Sisecam Resources. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sisecam Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile beats Sisecam Resources on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sisecam Resources

(Get Rating)

Sisecam Resources LP engages in the production and sale of natural soda ash. The company was founded on April 22, 2013 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile

(Get Rating)

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA engages in the production and distribution of fertilizers, potassium nitrate, iodine, and lithium chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Specialty Plant Nutrients, Iodine and Derivatives, Lithium and Derivatives, Industrial Chemicals, Potassium, and Other Products and Services. The Specialty Plant Nutrients segment produces potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, and specialty blends. The Iodine and Derivatives segment manufactures iodine and iodine derivatives, which are used in a wide range of medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications. The Lithium and Derivatives segment covers lithium carbonate for electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives. The Industrial Chemicals segment comprises industrial chemicals including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and boric acid. The Potassium segment produces potassium chloride and potassium sulfate. The Other Products and Services s

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StockNews.com cut shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Banco Santander-Chile from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $19.00.

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Banco Santander-Chile Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BSAC opened at $16.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.86 and a 200-day moving average of $15.69. The firm has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.70. Banco Santander-Chile has a twelve month low of $13.37 and a twelve month high of $22.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Banco Santander-Chile ( NYSE:BSAC Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The bank reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $527.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.05 million. Banco Santander-Chile had a net margin of 18.02% and a return on equity of 19.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 1,552.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,267,896 shares of the banks stock valued at $99,284,000 after purchasing an additional 5,888,617 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,049,345 shares of the banks stock valued at $48,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,662 shares in the last quarter. INCA Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. INCA Investments LLC now owns 1,781,000 shares of the banks stock valued at $40,233,000 after purchasing an additional 595,421 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,782,526 shares of the banks stock valued at $38,983,000 after purchasing an additional 527,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,510,000. Institutional investors own 9.76% of the companys stock.

About Banco Santander-Chile

(Get Rating)

Banco Santander Chile SA engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services. It operates through the following segments: Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Other. The Retail banking segment offers consumer loans, credit cards, automobile loans, commercial loans, foreign exchange, mortgage loans, debit cards, checking accounts, savings products, mutual funds, stock brokerage, and insurance brokerage.

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Euro Manganese Inc. (OTCMKTS:EUMNF  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 64,900 shares, an increase of 789.0% from the February 28th total of 7,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 62,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Euro Manganese Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of OTCMKTS:EUMNF traded down $0.00 during trading on Monday, hitting $0.16. 49,000 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,080. Euro Manganese has a fifty-two week low of $0.15 and a fifty-two week high of $0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $0.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.21.

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About Euro Manganese

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Further Reading

Euro Manganese Inc engages in the evaluation, exploration, and development of mineral assets. Its principal property is the 100% owned Chvaletice manganese project, which is involved in the re-processing of a manganese deposit hosted in historic mine tailings located to the east of Prague, the Czech Republic.

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Jefferies Financial Group restated their buy rating on shares of Inchcape (LON:INCH  Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a GBX 1,290 ($15.84) price target on the stock.

INCH has been the topic of several other research reports. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 1,085 ($13.32) price target on shares of Inchcape in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 1,131 ($13.89) price target on shares of Inchcape in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Inchcape presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of GBX 1,067.20 ($13.11).

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Inchcape Stock Performance

INCH opened at GBX 730 ($8.96) on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 151.58. Inchcape has a 12-month low of GBX 640.10 ($7.86) and a 12-month high of GBX 941 ($11.56). The company has a market cap of 3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,106.06, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29. The companys 50 day moving average is GBX 899.74 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 827.29.

Inchcape Increases Dividend

Inchcape Company Profile

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be issued a GBX 21.30 ($0.26) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This is an increase from Inchcapes previous dividend of $7.50. Inchcapes payout ratio is 3,636.36%.

(Get Rating)

Inchcape plc operates as an automotive distributor and retailer. The company engages in the distribution, sales, and marketing of new and used cars, and parts. It also provides aftersales service and body shop repairs; and finance and insurance products and services. The company operates in the Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Lenovo Group (OTCMKTS:LNVGY  Get Rating) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

Lenovo Group Stock Performance

Shares of LNVGY stock opened at $22.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.35. Lenovo Group has a one year low of $13.51 and a one year high of $23.51.

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Lenovo Group Company Profile

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Lenovo Group Limited, an investment holding company, develops, manufactures, and markets technology products and services. It operates through Intelligent Devices Group, Infrastructure Solutions Group, and Solutions and Services Group segments. The company offers commercial and consumer personal computers, as well as servers and workstations; and a family of mobile Internet devices, including tablets and smartphones.

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StockNews.com lowered shares of Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH  Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Molina Healthcare from $307.00 to $282.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. Bank of America upgraded Molina Healthcare from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $388.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on Molina Healthcare from $395.00 to $347.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Thursday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $356.36.

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Molina Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MOH opened at $267.72 on Thursday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $287.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $318.30. The firm has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.66. Molina Healthcare has a 52 week low of $249.78 and a 52 week high of $374.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

Molina Healthcare ( NYSE:MOH Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $8.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.87 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 36.05% and a net margin of 2.48%. Molina Healthcares revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Molina Healthcare will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current year.

In other Molina Healthcare news, Director Daniel Cooperman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.77, for a total value of $1,383,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,944 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,368,350.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Molina Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MOH. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 64.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 92 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.25% of the companys stock.

Molina Healthcare Company Profile

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Molina Healthcare, Inc engages in the provision of health care services. It operates through the following segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, and Other. The company was founded by C. David Molina in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, CA.

Further Reading

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom and the UNICEF team  an organization engaged in humanitarian support and protection of children.

"Orlando Bloom has been working meaningfully in this direction for a long time. He has already been to Ukraine, in our Donbas, even before the full-scale war. And he knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war," he said in a video address on Sunday, March 26.

"We discussed the issue of rebuilding our country, our school infrastructure. I appreciate this help. We agreed that our teams should work on several issues. In particular, this is the issue of the return of our children who were forcibly taken to Russia, this is the creation of bomb shelters for our children. And the third is the technical support of distance education in those areas and regions where it is impossible to study offline due to relevant threats," Zelenskyy said.

As reported by the UNICEF Ukraine press service, British actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Bloom has arrived in Ukraine to visit Spilno (Together) children's center, where children can play, learn and receive psychological support.

"I arrived in Ukraine today for my first trip back since 2016. I would have never expected the war to have escalated throughout the country since I was there. But today I was fortunate to hear children's laughter at a UNICEF supported Spilno center, a safe, warm and nurturing space for children to play, learn and receive psychosocial support," Bloom said on his Instagram.

He said the word "spilno" means "together" in Ukrainian and there are over 180 of these centers here.

"The one I visited today was built deep down in the metro to ensure their safety. For a few hours every day, parents can drop off their young children and give them a sense of normalcy to play games and just be kids. There was also lots of art supplies and craft materials, which allows them to creatively express themselves, away from the pressures of growing up in a war zone. Children in Ukraine need their childhoods back. Watch this space for more on my visit," Bloom said.
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Pearson (LON:PSON  Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a GBX 1,140 ($14.00) price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an overweight rating and issued a GBX 1,230 ($15.10) target price on shares of Pearson in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Citigroup reissued a buy rating on shares of Pearson in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of GBX 1,015 ($12.46).

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Pearson Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of LON PSON opened at GBX 813 ($9.98) on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.99, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.91. Pearson has a 52 week low of GBX 680 ($8.35) and a 52 week high of GBX 1,006.29 ($12.36). The stock has a market capitalization of 5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 2,463.64, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.27. The stocks fifty day moving average is GBX 896.17 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 916.74.

Pearson Increases Dividend

About Pearson

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 23rd will be issued a dividend of GBX 14.90 ($0.18) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 23rd. This represents a yield of 1.62%. This is an increase from Pearsons previous dividend of $6.60. Pearsons dividend payout ratio is 6,363.64%.

(Get Rating)

Pearson plc provides educational courseware, assessments, and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, other European countries, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Assessment & Qualifications, Virtual Learning, English Language Learning, Higher Education, and Workforce Skills.

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Rosenblatt Securities assumed coverage on shares of RingCentral (NYSE:RNG  Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $35.00 target price on the software makers stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on RNG. Wedbush started coverage on RingCentral in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. They set a neutral rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on RingCentral from $40.00 to $55.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on RingCentral from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on RingCentral from $71.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on RingCentral from $75.00 to $62.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $59.70.

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RingCentral Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of RingCentral stock opened at $26.86 on Thursday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $36.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.85. RingCentral has a 52 week low of $26.47 and a 52 week high of $128.28. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 0.95.

Insider Activity at RingCentral

RingCentral ( NYSE:RNG Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The software maker reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.13). RingCentral had a negative return on equity of 765.97% and a negative net margin of 44.22%. The firm had revenue of $524.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $528.41 million. On average, equities analysts expect that RingCentral will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, CAO Vaibhav Agarwal sold 2,614 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.36, for a total value of $102,887.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 99,065 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,899,198.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO John H. Marlow sold 835 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.96, for a total value of $29,191.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 193,661 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,770,388.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Vaibhav Agarwal sold 2,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.36, for a total value of $102,887.04. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 99,065 shares in the company, valued at $3,899,198.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,140 shares of company stock valued at $487,445 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.49% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RingCentral

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in RingCentral by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 121,753 shares of the software makers stock worth $4,865,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in RingCentral by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,253 shares of the software makers stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Richelieu Gestion PLC lifted its stake in RingCentral by 348.7% in the 3rd quarter. Richelieu Gestion PLC now owns 1,400 shares of the software makers stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in RingCentral in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in RingCentral by 207.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,190,800 shares of the software makers stock worth $114,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478,400 shares in the last quarter. 88.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About RingCentral

(Get Rating)

RingCentral, Inc engages in the provision of global enterprise cloud communications and collaboration solutions. The firms solutions provide a single user identity across multiple locations and devices, including smartphones, tablets, PCs and desk phones, and allows for communication across multiple modes, including high-definition voice, video, SMS, messaging and collaboration, conferencing, online meetings and fax.

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Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 1,795 shares during the period. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,940 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at $734,000. S.C. Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. S.C. Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 256.5% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $5,958,000 after buying an additional 59,580 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. 75.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

BMY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. They set an overweight rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, March 6th. They set a hold rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Atlantic Securities raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $79.69.

Insider Activity

Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

In other news, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total transaction of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares in the company, valued at $17,625,163.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . In related news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $835,258.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,043 shares in the company, valued at $1,721,081.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total value of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,625,163.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Company insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

NYSE:BMY traded up $1.00 on Monday, reaching $68.68. 1,728,591 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,255,636. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.90. The firm has a market cap of $144.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.46. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $81.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $11.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.20 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 13.71%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is 77.29%.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Get Rating)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating).

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Today, just like a year ago, one cannot mentally be far from war, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in a video address on Sunday, March 26.

"Today there was a meeting with the military  a special military meeting, a special circle of participants. I also held meetings with the security sector, with intelligence. Defense, reinforcement of our protection - both from external threats and from internal threats. We're preparing respective steps. Constantly, invariably, maximum attention is paid to the situation on the frontline. To the brutal battles that take the lives of our people every day and require constant mobilization of our state and society every day," he said.

According to the president, "it is wrong, it is unfair, when our warriors who come from the front have the feeling that for many in the rear, the war is allegedly already over. For those who are not just far from the Donetsk region or Nikopol, from Saltivka, from the border areas of Sumy region, from Zaporizhia... But who are mentally far from the trenches, from the daily pain of Ukrainians."

"Now, just as it was a year ago, one cannot be mentally far from the war, although thanks to our soldiers, real hostilities are taking place geographically far from many. Now, just as it was a year ago, it is important that as many Ukrainians as possible help the defense of the state, help the accumulation of world support for our victory," he said.

Zelenskyy appealed to the Ukrainians to "support our warriors whenever possible." "Don't forget about volunteers fundraising campaigns and join when you can. It is very important for everyone who has informational influence to participate in informational work. This applies not only to journalists. This applies to everyone who can spread the truth about aggression," the president said.
Susan Tung, the owner of the former Hanoi House on Hunter Street has, like many in the restaurant business, seen some severe ups and downs over the last three years. But also like many, Susan has bounced back with the recent opening of her new restaurant, Naka Japanese.

Located at 213 Hunter St. W., Naka Japanese serves ramen and fried chicken, fresh oysters, vegetarian options, delicious appetizers, as well as cocktails and beer. Hanoi House continues to operate from its location at 1440 Lansdowne St. More details are at Nakajapanese.com.

Spray-Net

Jason Rutherford started his own Spray-Net franchise a couple of years ago.

Spray Net is a unique system that customizes the paint to your specific surface. Jason recently introduced another innovative spray-on coating for shingles that acts as a powerful adhesive that glues and locks the granules on your shingles firmly in place and prolongs the life of your shingles with a breathable waterproof seal. For details visit spray-net.com or call Jason at 705-957-8813.

Dance Nouveau

Dance Nouveau owner Lindsay Storms describes herself as an old soul in a new studim. Operating out of Beverly Browns Studio 505 at 505 Sherbrooke St, Dance Nouveau offers jazz, ballet, contemporary and modern, CANdance, intro to dance and more.

Lindsay combines her own extensive experience with an equally qualified group of instructors, including Beverley Brown-Chislett, Leah Wakelin, Nicole Quinlan and Amy Strizic. For complete details visit dance-nouveau.com.

Countdown Creative

Lucas Graham utilized the Starter Company program to plan and launch his own specialized digital agency here in Peterborough.

Countdown Creative specializes in Not For Profit organizations and sustainable small businesses, offering web design and development, email marketing, social media management, and content writing and blogging. If you havent yet incorporated a robust digital strategy into your non-profit or small business, check out countdowncreative.agency.

To submit your business news, send an email to stoosnews@nexicom.net or call 705-748-9771 ext. 202. Please note, Stuart Harrison does not test any of the products mentioned, or endorse any of the businesses mentioned in The Business Beat.

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We have more gun violence now and more guns than weve ever had before.

In his first decade of policing, Kawartha Lakes Police Sgt. Brendan Johnston says his shift recovered maybe a single handgun.

Now its constant. You go back a couple years ago and in three months, we had three shootings in Lindsay. We had a shooting last year in March right across the street from Central Senior Public School, he notes, adding that the guns are coming with the drugs, largely from the GTA and bringing a new level of danger not only to police officers, but everybody in the community.

While the U.S. is often noted for their extreme levels of gun violence, Johnston says Canada is catching up.

You dont want to get complacent thats for sure, you want to be on your toes, he says, adding that 14 police officers have been murdered in the line of duty, primarily with firearms, in the last three years in Canada, five in 2022 alone.

Johnston leads Kawartha Lakes Police Services C Platoon, including constables Nick Seguin, Matt Self, Rob Clancy, Nolan Dunn and Erica Babb, who were honoured as a group with the services Exemplary Service Award for their outstanding work getting firearms off the streets.

Like many communities across Ontario, Kawartha Lakes has been affected by substance use disorders and, in particular, the opioid epidemic. The illegal drug trade has a devastating impact on vulnerable populations, but the prevalence of violence and firearms associated with drug trafficking also poses a significant threat to public safety.

Police are often intervening in unpredictable situations with an unknown element of risk, explained master of ceremonies Insp. Tom Hickey during an award ceremony, the first for the service in three years, at the Lindsay branch of the Royal Canadian Legion March 23.

In one particular six-month stretch in 2022, team members conducted a trio of investigations that not only led to the seizure of illegal handguns, but also illicit drugs and other property.

The officers seized a loaded 9mm handgun, a loaded .38 calibre revolver and loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun, all prohibited firearms, while conducting shoplifting, domestic and drug investigations respectively in addition to large amounts of marijuana, crystal meth, fentanyl and cocaine. The related charges for all three investigations remain before the courts.

Its nice to get the award for sure and to get the acknowledgement that were doing a good job. Its very rewarding when you can make a difference and taking guns off the street is making a difference, Johnston said after the ceremony, noting that while it is oftentimes difficult to trace back the history of guns seized, his platoon works hard to incorporate multi-jurisdictional information on the movement of drugs and firearms to maximize their effectiveness.

Among the numerous other officers honoured for their work keeping the community safer was Const. Mike Broderick who was given an Exemplary Service Award posthumously for his work getting a loaded, semi-automatic 9mm handgun off the streets during an investigation of an uncooperative driver he identified during a RIDE program in December of 2019.

In addition to the firearm, Broderick helped seize crack cocaine, a prohibited knife, a second magazine for the handgun and more than $4,000 in cash. A total of more than 30 firearm and drug-related charges were laid against the two people in the vehicle, including the male driver who pleaded guilty to a number of charges and was sentenced to 13 months in jail, on top of almost three years in pre-sentence custody.

What started as a minor traffic stop, culminated in the removal of a dangerous and illegal firearm, as well as the apprehension of two offenders, noted Hickey at the ceremony, adding Brodericks leadership and investigative diligence.

Const. Paul McGovern was also honoured with an Exemplary Service Award. He conducted a traffic stop while on general patrol in the summer of 2020 which turned up a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun, cocaine, fentanyl and a bulletproof Kevlar vest. He arrested three people, one of which attempted to flee on foot. The three accused are facing numerous drug and firearm-related charges which are still before the courts.

All too often were seeing handguns and illegal firearms associated with the drug trade. Some of the tremendous investigative work that it took to uncover that activity, apprehend those people and put them before the courts was really tremendous work. Im so proud as a chief to see that type of work being done and its an opportunity to recognize them, Chief Mark Mitchell concluded after the ceremony, noting the importance of celebrating the vital work local officers do in the name of public safety.

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Two particular thoughts hit 22-year-old Jenna Dakin as she drove to school this past Feb. 2. The first was her surprise that Canadians put so much stock in the annual tradition of Groundhog Day. The second was her shock that she didnt even know that was a thing.

I was just so confused, says Dakin, happy she can laugh about it now. I was like, we base our winter on that? Its so funny now. Its been 15 months since the seemingly healthy Trent University student suffered an unexpected and debilitating stroke that initially left her unconscious, unable to walk, and with only limited speech. It also left her with partial memory loss of common, everyday things like Groundhog Day traditions. When she first saw a key after the stroke, she didnt know what it was.

The Groundhog Day incident was just another reminder that her recovery is still ongoing. Shes back at school studying psychology, shes driving again, and shes making remarkable strides  both figuratively and literally.

I'm doing well  I'm doing really well ... Just getting back into the swing of things. I've started my Masters and my recovery has been amazing.

Much of that recovery was learning to overcome obvious physical limitations brought on by the stroke, but there were mental obstacles as well. And as part of that process, shes written a book  21 Cups  about her experiences and recovery since the stroke incident.

If it can give people in my life insight into what it's like to be in my mind and have no memories and go through this experience, I think that's really cool. I often struggle with my words to explain what it's like. And I think my book is a way to kind of show a piece of what my life is like now. If my story can help someone, then thats great.

Dakins story began just weeks before Christmas 2021 when she collapsed at home after a dinner out with friends. She relied on them to overcome some key memory gaps.

They filled me in that I went home, and everything was fine, and I was with my roommates, my boyfriend, she told This Week.

We were just in the front hall of our house chatting and I sat down on the stairs to take my shoes off. And then I just stopped engaging in the conversation.

They told her she had slumped over and was mumbling incoherently. Only five minutes from the hospital, her friends quickly took her to the emergency room.

The next thing she remembered was lying in a hospital bed surrounded by many masked faces that she couldnt understand. Doctors told her it was a strokelike incident.

Over the following months, she needed to relearn how to talk, work through a stutter, work with strategies to find her words and avoid saying the wrong ones, and push through the embarrassment of not knowing simple objects, such as the key. Shed end up spending more than a month in hospital.

As she worked through rehab, Dakin grew close to some of her caregivers, and it was one of them who suggested she share her stories beyond her immediate circle of friends and family.

Someone on my support team told me I should do it because my stories are really inspirational, she recalls.

At first, I didn't believe them. I just kind of think of myself as a normal gal. She says she had her dreams about her studies, about her recovery, about her future, and they were her focus. But then, something changed that.

To me, it was never a question of whether I would walk again. It was just get up and walk. Like figure it out. But then I went through some rough times.

Obviously, this played a big impact on my mental health, and I actually ended up having one of my friends  they told me basically that they didn't know how to speak to me anymore because of my brain injury. And it really, really affected me. They sent someone else to come and tell me about it  It really upset me.

Initially, she struggled with those emotions, then she found an outlet.

I kind of said screw it, and I sat down and wrote. One night I wrote up my feelings and the next thing I knew I had a good number of pages. And I was like, wow, I feel so much better. Like, that's amazing. So, then I was like, well, maybe these people aren't wrong, and I should write.

I just started writing as kind of a therapeutic method. And the next thing I know I have half a book and I'm, well, I feel like I should just make this a thing.

She connected with a publisher who fell in love with the idea, and it just took off from there.

21 cups is my recovery, my story, and my new life of recreating myself, she says. I wrote this book to share my story, to feel heard, to seek help, and to possibly help others in the world whether similar or not.

You can learn more about Dakins road to recovery on her website  21cups.com  and there is a link on the site to order the book.

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The forests, wetlands and ground and surface water in the Otonabee Region Conservation Authoritys watershed are in fair to excellent health, according to a report card released last week by the agency, but climate change continues to affect all four in some way.

In general, Otonabee Conservation can confirm that climate change introduces stressors on our watershed including drought, flooding, disease, invasive species, and more frequent extreme weather events, Meredith Carter, Otonabee Conservations manager of watershed management programs, told The Examiner.

A recent significant incident was the derecho storm last May which impacted local forest conditions after thousands of trees were damaged or destroyed, she said.

As the watershed environment is comprised of many interconnected systems, changes in one system may have unanticipated or more severe impacts on another, Carter said.

Otonabee Conservation released its report card on World Water Day on Wednesday, along with 36 other conservation authority reports across Ontario. They are delivered every five years.

March 22 is World Water Day and one of the reasons we celebrate it is to bring attention to how important it is to protect our natural resources, Carter stated in a press release.

We rely on surface and groundwater sources for drinking water, forests and wetlands for habitat and natural infrastructure, all of which support healthy communities.

Local surface water, which is found in lakes, rivers, creeks, streams and wetlands, contributes to human health, wildlife habitat and the economy, according to the report card. Its quality was rated as fair to excellent in the report.

Forest conditions received the same grades.

Groundwater quality met Ontario and Canadian standards at all six wells monitored in the Otonabee River watershed where about 35 per cent of residents are dependent on groundwater for their drinking water.

Wetland cover in the region is at 11 per cent and meets Environment Canadas recommendation of 10 per cent.

The report says there are more than 60 provincially significant wetlands in the watershed, covering an area of more than 17,000 hectares, and consisting of bogs, marshes, swamps and fens.

Five distinct physiographic regions make up the Otonabee watershed. At the southern boundary, the region starts at the Oak Ridges Moraine and Rice Lake. It then transitions from an area dominated by agriculture to the rocky, forested lands of the Canadian Shield at the northern boundary, interspersed with drumlins, watercourses and wetlands.

BB Brendan Burke is a staff reporter at the Examiner, based in Peterborough. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.

Otonabee Conservation 2023 watershed report card View document on Scribd

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Several Peterborough Police officers attended the regimental funeral for slain Edmonton Police officers Const. Travis Jordan and Const. Brett Ryan, held at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Monday

The two officers were fatally shot by a 16-year-old boy while responding to a domestic violence call on March 16.

The flags at the Water Street city police station were lowered to half-mast after the recent death of former mayor Jack Doris and were being kept at half-mast until Monday night in honour of the Edmonton officers.

The Peterborough Police Service is saddened to learn of the deaths of two Edmonton police officers while responding to a call for service this morning, Peterborough Police stated on social media on March 16. Our deepest condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.

City police say people can offer condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the officers through an email account, lineofduty@edmontonpolice.ca, set up by the Edmonton Police.

Peterborough Police officers also attended the funeral of Const. Shaelyn Yang in Richmond, B.C. on Nov. 2. Yang was killed in the line of duty on Oct. 18.

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The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were able to stabilize the situation near the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk region, but fighting there continues, albeit with less intensity, Spokesman for the AFU Eastern Group of Forces Serhiy Cherevaty said.

"We are confident in our abilities, there is coherence, there is an algorithm, there is an understanding of our capabilities, an understanding of what needs to be done. This is stabilization," Cherevaty said on the air of a national telethon on Sunday, March 26.

"Yesterday there were 18 assaults on the entire Bakhmut frontline, today there were 17. Before that, there were from 35 to 50 or more. However, this requires more detailed verification, analysis. Perhaps the enemy is maneuvering with their reserves, reconnaissance of forces. While he is firing the same dense in Bakhmut direction some 268 shelling was in total, some 94 shelling only of the town of Bakhmut, 17 clashes, 13 ones near the town," Cherevaty said.

According to the Eastern Group spokesman, during the day in Bakhmut direction, the Russian military lost a tank, an airborne combat vehicle, an infantry fighting vehicle, a Gvozdika (Carnation) self-propelled artillery vehicle, two drones, a company command and observation post and ten field ammunition depots.

Cherevaty said that in Lyman-Kupiansk direction, the Russian army has activated artillery in the past few weeks, so shelling does not stop there. "Over the past 24 hours, the invaders have dealt 370 strikes from cannon and rocket artillery. There were ten clashes, the enemy lost a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, an airborne combat vehicle and, most importantly, the 92nd brigade destroyed an expensive electronic warfare station this morning," Cherevaty said.

He also noted the difference in the actions of the enemy army in Kupiansk-Lyman direction. According to him, they work more professionally in this direction, the battles resemble a classic war with a lot of equipment, regular troops operate there. Therefore, the loss of the enemy is less. So, over the past day, the losses of the Russian Army in Kupiansk-Lyman direction amounted to 60 killed and about 100 wounded, while in Bakhmut, during the period of work of the Wagner mercenaries there, 100 killed was a common occurrence.

Cherevaty also commented on Western intelligence reports that the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine has "bogged down." "We didn't let the enemy break through our defense anywhere. We didn't let him achieve any significant success in a strategic offensive operation. Therefore, we can probably agree with this statement," Cherevaty said.
NEW YORK (AP)  The actor Jonathan Majors was arrested Saturday in New York on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, authorities said. On Sunday, an attorney for Majors said theres evidence that he is entirely innocent.

New York City police said that Majors, star of the recently released Creed III and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, was involved in a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman. Police responded around 11 a.m. Saturday to a 911 call inside an apartment in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea.

The victim informed police she was assaulted, a spokesperson for the NYPD said in a statement. Officers placed the 33-year-old male into custody without incident. The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.

A representative for Majors denied any wrongdoing by the actor.

He has done nothing wrong, the representative said in an email to the AP on Saturday. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.

On Sunday, an attorney for Majors, Priya Chaudhry, came out more forcefully, saying Majors is provably the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows and blamed the incident on the woman having an emotional crisis.

Chaudhry said there was evidence clearing Majors, including video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.

An email seeking additional comment from the NYPD based on Chaudhrys assertions was not immediately returned Sunday.

Majors was arraigned Sunday on a complaint involving misdemeanour charges for assault and aggravated harassment, the Manhattan District Attorneys Office said. A judge ordered Majors released on his own recognizance on Saturday night with a limited order of protection. He was scheduled to appear in court on May 8.

In the meantime, the U.S. army suspended its TV ad campaign featuring Majors that was intended to target younger audiences. The Army Enterprise Marketing Office said in a statement Sunday that the U.S. army is deeply concerned by the allegations surrounding his arrest.

While Mr. Majors is innocent until proven guilty, prudence dictates that we pull our ads until the investigation into these allegations is complete, the office said in a statement.

Majors is one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood. After breaking through in 2019s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Majors has starred in Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall and last years Devotion. He also stars in the recent Sundance Film Festival entry Magazine Dreams, which Searchlight Pictures is to release in December.

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Well, that wasnt on our March 2023 bingo card: Prince Harry popping up back in the U.K., cheerily greeting journalists on his way into a London courtroom, along with Elton John.

Once you understand why Harrys heading to court, it becomes clearer why hed be displaying such glee while entering the most exalted halls of justice in Britain, the U.K.s high court.

Harry, you see, is suing his arch-nemesis The Daily Mail, via its parent company, Associated Newspapers Ltd. Specifically, he is accusing the newspaper group of unlawful information gathering, gross breaches of privacy and abhorrent criminal activity.

For the non-legal scholars amongst us, this essentially translates to: Harry is claiming that one of the U.K.s largest media organizations was up to some shady tricks to get juicy stories about him. These alleged tactics, which the case claims were committed by 73 journalists and editors over several decades, include hiring private detectives to plant listening devices in homes and cars, paying people to listen in on private phone calls, bribing the police for sensitive information, calling up hospitals and doctors and using impersonation to get private health details, and illicitly accessing bank accounts and credit reports.

Associated Newspapers Ltd. has denied these allegations, calling them preposterous smears. (It has also attempted to conceal the staffers identities by invoking the Human Rights Act  a piece of legislation its editorial pages argued against.)

If youve read Harrys memoir, Spare, this may all sound familiar. In one passage, he writes about finding out that a tracking device had been placed on his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davys car, presumably to help photographers get lucrative shots of her.

Its not the first time the royals have taken on a tabloid for phone hacking. At trial in 2014, it was revealed that The News of the World had hacked Kate Middletons phone 155 times, Prince Williams 35 times and Harrys nine times. The paper used the info gleaned from listening to voice messages in order to write exclusive stories about the royals.

What makes this lawsuit different, however, is that Harry has joined forces with a raft of other famous folk including Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost to take on the papers together, all making similar allegations. And Harrys attendance in person today  reportedly he sat quietly in the back, taking notes in a black notebook  intensified the spotlight on what was already likely to be a highly publicized circus, especially since this was just a pretrial hearing. (Its likely to go to trial in May, the week after the Coronation.)

The fact that Harry flew in from California for this  amid his legal wrangling over his security in the U.K., ongoing negotiations about his and his familys role in the Coronation, and the risk of but isnt he an eco-warrior? barbs that will be thrown his way for frequent flying  is a clear statement about how passionate the prince is about this battle against the medias unethical tactics. Its a subject hes spoken about repeatedly: A significant chunk of the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, for example, focused on the hate campaign the couple claim was launched against Meghan by some sections of the U.K. media. And in an interview with ITV in January, Harry claimed that certain royals (specifically, his stepmother, Camilla) co-operate with these outlets in order to score positive coverage at the expense of negative stories about others, likening it to getting bed with the Devil.

This isnt Harrys first lawsuit against a tabloid. In fact, hes currently involved in a separate lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd., in which he is claiming defamation over a story that said he tried to cover up the fact he was in a legal fight with the U.K. government over his security when hes in England. (That lawsuit against the government, by the way, is also on its way to the High Court.) Harrys wife, Meghan, recently won her own three-year-long lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Ltd., over their breach of her privacy when they published a personal letter between her and her father, Thomas Markle.

Of course, Harrys rare U.K. visit has inevitably spun up more coverage around his family, and the endless soap opera that is their relationship with the wider royal clan. This morning, stories ran about how likely it is that Harry will see his father or brother on his first trip back to the U.K. post-memoir; when asked for comment, Buckingham Palace said Charles isnt in Windsor or London, and is getting ready for a state visit to Germany on Wednesday. (William, for his part, is apparently otherwise engaged on school holidays with his kids and Kate.)

Harry knows were going to be talking about him  the coverage over his contested attendance at the Coronation and eviction from Frogmore by Charles prove this point  and seems to be trying to direct the conversation toward something he cares about, and maybe, just maybe, quiet the often untruthful, frequently cruel narratives that have clearly tormented him all his life. As he told 60 Minutes earlier this year, the aggressive hounding by the media is the reason he fled the U.K.  and, he believes, is at the epicentre of so many problems across the U.K.

Harrys presence in court today says this is personal, and that he is prepared to sacrifice his own privacy and trade on the same star power that made him the medias target in the first place to make his point. Harrys once recounted that Charles told him trying to take on the media is a suicide mission, and his defiant, oddly cheerful appearance at the courthouse does have the air of someone whos quite happy to risk it all to slay the beast, or as he has called the tabloids, the dragons in Game of Thrones.

This may turn out to be a landmark case in British media. After all, the last time the royals took on phone hackers it led to the closure of one of the countrys most popular tabloids, the News of the World.

And the trial hasnt even started yet! Stay tuned.

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CALGARYNeighbours rushed to help after a quiet street in Calgary was rocked by an explosion that obliterated a small bungalow and seriously injured at least 10 people Monday morning.

It was mostly adult men who seemed to live in the house, many of whom suffered severe burns to their faces and arms in the resulting fire, neighbours said.

Six people were in life-threatening condition and four others had received serious injuries, said Adam Loria, a spokesman for Calgary Emergency Medical Services. Loria said there were no children involved.

The explosion in the neighbourhood of Marlborough in the citys northeast flung shingles, wood and pink chunks of insulation into trees and onto roofs in all directions. It left a gap in the row of tidy bungalows hours later, as firefighters combed the still smoking remains. The homes on either side of the explosion were left with burn marks and broken windows. The blast happened just before 9 a.m., on a morning when spring temperatures had dipped back down below zero and the city was dusted in fresh snow.

Several neighbours spoke of a blast so loud they thought a car had hit a house or that a bomb had gone off. Many rushed into the street, where black smoke billowed into the sky.

Lorna Lammers was sitting at her kitchen table three blocks away she heard a kaboom, she says. I thought something like a vehicle or something had run into my house.

Another neighbour, Lee McIntyre, was alerted to the blast when several pictures fell off the wall of his home.

He said he ran across the street in a bathrobe with his roommate, who tried to pull one man out of the debris while McIntyre tried to break through the door of the house next door  which was also on fire  to get a woman out.

A lot of the neighbours were out here trying to help out as much as they can, bringing blankets, bringing water and everything else just trying to help everyone else.

One neighbour, who declined to give her name, said she tried to help a man who wasnt able to walk further than the middle of the street.

He was burned ... his head, his arms, his hands, feet and legs, everything, she said.

One man had gotten outside in just his boxers. Many werent able to speak, she said.

One of them asked if we got everyone out, and I was like, I dont know.

Ryan Richardson, who also lives nearby, says his parents live across the alleyway from the house that exploded. When he heard the news he tried to call his mom, who didnt pick up.

I actually got a little worried because my mom didnt answer right away, he said. When he finally reached her, he said, she told him that several of the people whod escaped out the back of the house had taken shelter in their garage before being taken to hospital. He said his parents had tried to help as much as they could, but were worried about putting anything on the men because of the extent of their burns.

Firefighters and police officers were on scene trying to determine the cause of the blast. The Calgary Fire Department said that the force of the explosion created a large debris field and several fires. Many of the injured were believed to have been inside the home when it blew up and were sent to various hospitals in the city, the department said.

Battalion Chief Paul Frederick said Monday afternoon that crews were still on scene putting out hot spots but hadnt yet been able to search the basement.

We believe everyone is accounted for, he said.

Power to the area was shut down and workers were trying to clamp the natural gas line. Fire and police were also on scene trying to determine the cause of the blast.

Bobbie Puttick, who lives eight houses down from the explosion, said it happened after he left for work, but his children were home at the time.

They felt the house rock and they came out and took a video right away, he said. From talking to the rest of my neighbors, every house on the block got rocked.

With files from The Canadian Press

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REGINA - The Saskatchewan government is hoping to bolster critical mineral exploration after announcing a strategy Monday that aims to attract investment and double production by 2030.

The plan would see the province expand a tax credit program and provide millions more dollars in grants to companies.

The federal government has promoted critical minerals as being essential for moving toward a greener and more digitally focused economy. Producing more of them at home would also help avoid supply-chain disruptions, given China is the main producer, Ottawa has said.

Critical minerals include lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc and rare earth elements. They are used for batteries, solar panels, computer chips and electrical transmission lines.

The worlds moving to where batteries are going to have a bigger impact on all our lives. Critical minerals are incredibly important, Energy Minister Jim Reiter said. The time is now.

The Saskatchewan Party government plans to expand the mineral exploration tax credit to 30 per cent from 10 per cent. Its available to residents who want to invest in exploration activities by purchasing eligible flow-through shares.

The government said it also plans to inject an additional $3.25 million annually though a grant program that offers financial assistance to companies looking to explore base metals, precious metals or diamonds in a specified region.

In the push to become a rare earth elements hub, the province previously announced $71 million to construct a processing facility that would turn minerals to metals.

Pam Schwann, president of the Saskatchewan Mining Association, welcomed the efforts.

They position Saskatchewan to be one of the leading Canadian mineral jurisdictions and will be effective in incentivizing additional investment into Saskatchewan, she said in a news release.

Bob Halliday, president of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said developing critical minerals would help the country move to electrification and reduce emissions.

However, Halliday said its important the minerals are developed responsibly and that regulations be in place beforehand.

Governments should have their ducks in a row ahead of the development coming along, so companies can operate in a no-surprises kind of mode, he said.

Finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said the province should work with Ottawa on regulations so that we dont slow walk this.

We should be punching above our weight and supplying the world with what it needs on this front, he said. Things like environmental assessments are very important, but we need to make sure that were doing that in a timely way that allows that investment to be secured and those projects to be advanced.

As part of the strategy, Saskatchewan is to review how it permits exploration activities.

Reiter said this is meant to enhance transparency and reduce wait times, while ensuring environmental concerns are addressed.

We want to make sure red tape is not getting in the way of delays, but we also want to make sure that, from an environmental point of view, that nothing is shortchanged, he said.

The strategy also wants to increase understanding and awareness within northern First Nations and Metis communities about the mineral exploration industry.

The province said it wants to grow Indigenous participation in critical mineral development, noting a previously announced loan-guarantee program for Indigenous communities looking to invest in natural resources.

Reiter said Indigenous communities will typically be engaged when companies begin exploration.

Saskatchewans strategy follows a critical mineral plan outlined by the federal government in early December. Ottawas plan suggests regulatory decisions should be sped up if Canada wants to become a global leader.

Along with critical minerals, Saskatchewans strategy aims to grow resources already well developed, like uranium and potash.

The province says interest in uranium has increased since Russias invasion of Ukraine last year led to supply-chain concerns. Potential moves to nuclear power have also led to increased interest in uranium.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Chinas global influence campaign has been surprisingly robust and successful in Utah, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.

The worlds most powerful communist country and its U.S.-based advocates have spent years building relationships with Utah officials.

Legislators in the deeply conservative and religious state have responded by delaying legislation Beijing didnt like, nixing resolutions that conveyed displeasure with Chinas actions and expressing support in ways that enhanced the Chinese governments image.

The APs investigation relied on dozens of interviews with key players and the review of hundreds of pages of records, text messages and emails obtained through public records requests.

Beijings success in Utah shows how pervasive and persistent China has been in trying to influence America, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence agent who lives in Utah.

Utah is an important foothold, he said. If the Chinese can succeed in Salt Lake City, they can also make it in New York and elsewhere.

Here are some key takeaways:

LEGISLATIVE AND PR VICTORIES

The AP review found that China and its advocates won frequent legislative and public relations victories in Utah.

Utah lawmakers recorded videos of themselves expressing words of encouragement for the citizens of Shanghai in early 2020, which experts said likely helped the Chinese Communist Party with its messaging.

The request came from a Chinese official as the government was scrambling to tamp down public fury at communist authorities for reprimanding a young doctor, who later died, over his warnings about the dangers posed by COVID-19.

Around the same time, Utah officials were thrilled when Chinas authoritarian leader Xi Jinping sent a letter to fourth grade students in Utah. A Republican legislator said on the state Senate floor that he couldnt help but think how amazing it was that Xi would take the time to write such a remarkable letter. Another GOP senator gushed on his conservative radio show that Xis letter was so kind and so personal.

The letter was heavily covered in Chinese state media, which quoted Utah students calling Xi a kind grandpa  a familiar trope in Chinese propaganda.

State lawmakers have frequently visited China, where they are often quoted in state-owned media in ways that support Beijings agenda.

Utah is not like Washington D.C., then-Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Chinese state media outlet in 2018 as the former president ratcheted up pressure on China over trade. Utah is a friend of China, an old friend with a long history.

FBI SCRUTINY

Utah Republican Sen. Jake Anderegg told the AP he was interviewed by the FBI after introducing a 2020 resolution expressing solidarity with China in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. It won nearly unanimous approval. A similar resolution, proposed by a Chinese diplomat, was publicly rejected by Wisconsins Senate.

Anderegg said the language was provided to him by Dan Stephenson, the son of a former state senator and employee of a China-based consulting firm.

Stephenson and another Utah resident, Taowen Le, are among Chinas most vocal advocates in Utah.

Both men have supported and sought to block resolutions, set up meetings between Utah lawmakers and Chinese officials, accompanied legislators on trips to China and provided advice on the best way to cultivate favor with Beijing, according to emails and interviews. Both have ties to what experts say are front groups for Beijing.

After embassy officials tried unsuccessfully last year to get staff for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to schedule a get-together with Chinas ambassador to the U.S., Le sent the governor a personal plea to take such a meeting.

I still remember and cherish what you told me at the New Year Party held at your home, Le wrote in a letter adorned with pictures of him and Cox posing together. You told me that you trusted me to be a good messenger and friendship builder between Utah and China.

Both men said their advocacy on China-related issues were self directed and not at the Chinese governments behest. Le told AP he has been interviewed twice over the years by the FBI.

The FBI declined to comment.

TAILORED APPROACH

Security experts say that Chinas campaign is widespread and tailored to local communities. In Utah, the AP found, Beijing and pro-China advocates appealed to lawmakers affiliations with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as the Mormon church, which is the states dominant religion and one that has long dreamed of expanding in China.

Le, who converted to the church decades ago, has quoted scripture from the Bible and the Book of Mormon in his emails and letters to lawmakers, and sprinkled in positive comments that Russell Nelson, the churchs president-prophet, has made about China.

PART OF BROADER TREND

Beijings success in Utah is part of a broader trend of targeting sub-national governments, like states and cities, experts say.

It is not unusual for countries, including the U.S., to engage in local diplomacy. U.S. officials and security experts have stressed that many Chinese language and cultural exchanges have no hidden agendas. However, they said, few nations have so aggressively courted local leaders across the globe in ways that raise national security concerns.

In its annual threat assessment released earlier this month, the U.S. intelligence community reported that China is redoubling its local influence campaign in the face of stiffening resistance at the national level. Beijing believes, the report said, that local officials are more pliable than their federal counterparts.

Authorities in other countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, have sounded similar alarms.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told the AP that China values its relationship with Utah and any words and deeds that stigmatize and smear these sub-national exchanges are driven by ulterior political purposes.

___

Suderman reported from Washington. AP writer Fu Ting in Washington contributed to this story.

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Toronto has a democratic government. It has an elected mayor and council. Whatever brutalities Premier Doug Ford has enacted on this democracy, it exists and must be respected.

To that end, Mayor John Tory resigned because he knew that his personal relationship with a city staffer was against the rules, morally wrong and also, if we can get decorative here, a bad look. A new mayor will be elected, sadly with the strong powers gifted to her or him by Ford, but thats how democracy works.

If we dont like it, we can vote to change it. That we often dont bother, well, thats another matter.

In 2021, at a crisis point in the pandemic, Tory acted on one of his promises, to clear public parks of encampments of homeless people living in tents. Some of these people were pleasant, others were mentally unwell, or addicted to drugs and alcohol, or violent, or helpless, or a danger to themselves.

Some were aggressive and frightened neighbouring Toronto residents, making the parks unusable for the small children who are their biggest denizens, although it is usually mothers who defend parks because parks, they say through gritted teeth, keep parental sanity intact.

Loud, unreasoning children clamour for the splash pads, playground equipment, random stuff, and big spaces of green grass where they can run around like mad, reach something approaching tiredness, be dragged home and made to go to bed although that is unfair.

So after much preparation, Tory cleared several, despite a small army of hard-left advocates who gathered on bicycles via Twitter and other forums to physically block the police from clearing the tents peacefully and offering better places to shelter.

There were violent confrontations. Activists complained and city ombudsman Kwame Addo has, after much time and money, released a compassionate if unrealistic 87-page report.

It breaks no new ground. It seems to regard tent-dwellers as a demographic unit, treats with disbelief the suggestion that the public being unable to use parks in the pandemic was an emergency, and seems to define stakeholders  that baffling word  as tent-dwellers and their various advocates and campaigners. The massive sector known as the general public is largely passed over.

Worst of all, the report is written as if it were from an alternative unelected government, different from the one Toronto voted for. This troubles me.

It reads like campaign literature but for a small extremist electorate comfortable with retro-hippie jargon so thick its almost unreadable, although I have seen worse. The city says it accepts its 31 recommendations, the ombudsman says hell check back, and its over.

But at the end of it, we still have a city grievously short of affordable housing, health care, mental-health beds, and yes, parks. Ford helped remove our ability to buy this good stuff.

It gets worse. The problem has now moved to public transit. Commuters, often women, have been stabbed, burned to death, attacked racially and pushed off station platforms to the point where many riders avoid the TTC, heralding a transit collapse.

Soon extremist advocates will complain to Addo that homeless people arent allowed to sleep in stations. His subsequent report will offer similar hopeful conclusions.

Possible fallout: Toronto elects a right-wing council that will, like Florida or the Quebec government, simply bus unwanted people to North Bay.

It gets worse. Because of long COVID and the fear of longer, I avoid restaurants in favour of sidewalk cafes. But now I avoid both because in sidewalk cafes, wandering enraged men tend to scream in my face and slam the table.

Last week, I was accompanied by a very imposing young male, a great comfort as the table shook.

So. My advice to women is to avoid Toronto parks, transit, restaurants, and cafes unless you have a big guy serving as dear friend and bodyguard.

Since Ford has deleted the money we need to solve our problems, this may be our only hope in the interim. Im sure the ombudsman would agree.

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Bolt, InDriver still illegal, say Phuket officials

PHUKET: Popular ride-sharing apps Bolt and InDriver are still illegal in Thailand, the Phuket Info Center (PIC) reminded island residents today (Mar 27).

tourismtransport

By The Phuket News

Monday 27 March 2023, 06:57PM

PIC, operated under the Phuket office of the Ministry of Interior, issued the reminder via a notice listing the ride-sharing apps approved by the Department of Land Transport.

Listed as Applications Certificated by Department of Land Transport were Hello Phuket, Grab, Robinhood, bonku, CABB and the AirAsia Super App.

Bolt and InDriver, both popular in Phuket, were the only apps listed under Applications Uncertificated by Department of Land Transport.

Of note, Bolt launched in Thailand in 2020.

BLURRED ENFORCEMENT

The notice today follows nearly two months of a crackdown on illegal taxi drivers by the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO). However, since the crackdown was launched on Feb 3, following a protest by green licence plate Phuket taxi drivers, the PLTO has not mentioned specifically which taxi apps were legal or illegal.

The PLTOs repeated vague mantra throughout the campaign has been to crackdown on illegal taxi drivers, no matter what the illegality may be. Initially, that included taxis not registered in Phuket, though by Feb 14 the PLTO itself admitted  only by posting the actual laws  that taxis from Bangkok, Songkhla and other selected areas were allowed to operate as taxis outside their province of registration.

Today, PLTO Chief Adcha Buachan repeated that mantra when questioned whether any action were to be taken regarding Phuket taxi drivers interfering with and preventing a Bangkok-registered taxi from legally picking up passengers at Central Festival Phuket on Friday (Mar 24).

Mr Adcha told The Phuket News today, just as already widely reported, that PLTO officers had brought the parties involved together to discuss the incident and that the situation had been resolved.

Mr Adcha did confirm that the PLTO officers had visited the taxi drivers stationed at the popular Central Festival shopping mall to explain that legally registered taxis from Bangkok were fully permitted by law to pick up passengers in Phuket and in other provinces.

This is the information that the taxis at Central [Phuket] misunderstood, but we have already visited them and clarified the law to them, he said.

Mr Adcha made no mention of any action against the Phuket taxi drivers at Central Festival for illegally preventing a fully legal taxi driver from freely conducting business, as empowered by law  despite the PLTO itself for two months issuing fines and suspending the drivers licence of non-Phuket taxi drivers deemed to be illegal.

Mr Adcha, now four days after the Central Festival incident and after his own officers have intervened in the matter, today said he was still unsure whether the driver of the Bangkok-registered taxi at Central Festival was working using an illegal application.

Regardless, he was adamant his officers were to pursue the matter. The PLTO and Wichit Police will call both parties to investigate whether the Bangkok taxi used a taxi application or not, Mr Adcha said.

He [the Bangkok taxi driver] said that he does not work in Phuket, but he had driven to Phuket to stay at his wifes house and he had some spare time so he accepted customers here, Mr Adcha said.

What relevance the Bangkok taxi drivers reason for coming to Phuket had on whether or not he is legally allowed to operate on the island was not explained.

We have not seized anyones drivers licence over the incident yet. However, we are gathering information and if anyone is found guilty, they will be punished, Mr Adcha added.

CENTRAL RESPONSE

Management at Central Festival have yet to issue a public statement about the taxi driver incident on Friday, but The Phuket News was told today that the operators of the mall were taking the issue seriously.

The taxi operators stationed at Central Festival do not rent the space for their business. Central lets them stay there for free under the condition that they will take care of the tourists. It is what Central wanted to do for the community.

However, after the incident, Central has already given them a warning and told them that if they behave this way, they cannot stay on Centrals premises, said one representative.

Asked specifically whether any legal taxis were allowed to pick up passengers from Central Festival, the representative said, Yes, as long as the taxi is legal and matches Phuket regulations. Central has already emphasised this to the taxis in our areas about this.

APP-TAXIS NOW BLACK

PLTO officers will be deployed to what Mr Adcha called risk areas to monitor what he called black taxis - a derisive moniker used for years by legally registered Phuket taxi drivers to describe people using private cars to work illegally as taxi drivers.

The inspectors will make an understanding with the local taxis about the law that metered taxis can pick up customers in the local area, Mr Adcha said.

For the app-based taxis  which Mr Adcha today called black plate taxis, regardless of whether the taxi drivers were working legally or illegally  he said that the PLTO now had a large stock of new stickers to attach to app-based taxis to show that they are legally registered taxis operating via applications.

The PLTO already had some stickers made, but we made bigger ones to make it clearer to see and we have already called the app-based taxi drivers to change to the new stickers, he said.
Foreign workers called in for street brawl in Soi Sansabai

PHUKET: Three foreigners have been called in for engaging in a street brawl in Soi Sansabai early this morning (Mar 27).

patongtourismviolencepolice

By The Phuket News

Monday 27 March 2023, 05:33PM

A video showing the brawl has already been posted on social media. The video shows three foreign men attacking three tourists, with one of the foreigners using what appears to be an aluminium bar, reports the government operated Phuket Info Center.

Police were called to the scene, a streetside restaurant in Soi Sansabai, located off the inland end of Bangla Rd, at 12:50am, said the report by police.

When the officers arrived only three people involved in the brawl were still there: Jordanian national Mohammad Jehad Mohammad Alomari and Egyptian national Abdelrahman Mohamed Ahmed Elfawal, both 25 years old; and Mr Wai Lu Soe (nationality not given).

All three men worked for the Atlas restaurant, where the fight started.

The report said that five foreign tourists who were drunk had ordered food at the restaurant, and told the staff to hurry up. The staff told the group they had to wait their turn.

Unhappy with the response, one of the drunken group reportedly threw a bottle of water into the restaurants serving area, sparking a heavy handed response from the staff.

At last report, police have located the tourists involved and called them to present themselves to police in order to give a statement recording their version of events.
Bilopillia community (Sumy region), which suffered from the shelling of Russian aggressors, received assistance from the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS).

"The Emergency Response Unit of Sumy regional organization of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society delivered about one and a half tonnes of humanitarian aid to the residents of Bilopillia. The town recently suffered from airstrikes: the police building, schools and nearby houses have been damaged," the society said on Facebook on Monday.

People received food and hygiene kits, blankets and other essentials. In addition, 240 square meters of tarpaulins were provided to cover the damaged roofs of buildings.

As reported, the town of Bilopillia last week was subjected to massive shelling by the Russian occupiers: an air strike was carried out, shelling from the Grad MLRS and cannon artillery.
Man jumps off Thao Thepkasattri Bridge

PHUKET: Rescue teams have yet to locate a man seen jumping off the Thai Thepkrasattri Bridge leading onto Phuket very early this morning (Mar 27).



By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 27 March 2023, 05:05PM

Officers at the scene early this morning (Mar 27). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Pol Lt Weerayot Seehabua from Khok Kloy Police Station in Phang Nga said officers were informed of the incident at 00.28am.

Police officers soon arrived at the scene, along with rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation and the Sarasin rescue team.

The 57-year-old man, Saran Pan Kaewluang, who lived in Cherng Talay, was seen jumping off the left-hand side of the bridge leading onto Phuket.

He was seen floating on the waters surface before he disappeared flowing westward with the current heading towards the open sea.

Officers found Mr Sarans Phuket-registered blue Honda PCX parked about 100 metres from the halfway point across the bridge.

Rescue workers searched for two hours before suspending their search efforts.

The search for Mr Saran continued today. At last report, the rescue teams had yet to find any sign of him.

If you or anyone you know is in need of emotional support and counselling, please contact the Samaritans of Thailand at their 24-hour hotline 02-113-6789 (English & Thai) or the Thai Mental Health Hotline at 1323 (Thai).
Nelson Piquet fined for racist blast at Hamilton

FORMULA ONE: Three-time Formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet was fined US$945,000 (B32 million) on Saturday (Mar 25) for racist remarks made against British driver Lewis Hamilton, who he called neguinho (little black) in an interview.

Formula-One

By AFP

Monday 27 March 2023, 09:30AM

Piquet later issued a wholehearted apology. Photo: AFP

A court in Brasilia ruled that these intolerable remarks constituted a serious offence to the fundamental values of society.

Piquet, 70, was fined for collective moral damages with the money being donated to groups fighting against discrimination.

World champion in 1981, 1983 and 1987, Piquet used the word neguinho in an interview in 2021 when he criticised Hamiltons role in a clash with Max Verstappen, his daughter Kellys boyfriend, at the British Grand Prix the same year.

Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, denounced archaic attitudes which had to change.

These are more than words, said Hamilton.

Piquet later issued a wholehearted apology.

What I said was wrong and Im not going to defend myself but I want to clarify that this term has often been used in Brazilian Portuguese to describe guy or person and that it was never intended to offend, he insisted.

However, the court was not convinced, ruling that the absence of intention could not justify discriminatory behaviour towards minorities.
Roadworks to hamper traffic near Phuket Immigration

PHUKET: Traffic along Phuket Rd in Phuket Town will be affected for long periods each day, with the already-tight road being reduced to one lane each way, while electrical cables are installed underground and new manholes are installed along the road.



By The Phuket News

Monday 27 March 2023, 01:54PM

Image: Phuket City Municipality

The affected section of road is from the Bang Neow Intersection to the Soi Kor Phai four-way intersection at the main entrance to Saphan Hin, right beside the main Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket Town.

Phuket City Municipality explained through a public notice that the affected section of road will be reduced to one lane only. The road is much considered one lane each way due to parked cars lining the street.

The works will be carried out over two periods, Phuket City Municipality explained. The first period began yesterday (Mar 26) and will conclude on Apr 10. The second period will be from Apr 15 to May 29.

While the works are being conducted, the road will be reduced to one lane each way for two periods each day: from 9:30 am to 3pm; and from 9pm to 5am.

The works are being conducted by the Phuket Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA).

Both PEA Phuket and Phuket Municipality apologised for any inconvenience caused by the lane closures.

Reports of the impact of the construction works were directed to project coordinator Suphadej Sanguannam at 096-2489871.
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Dave Goad stands near the testing barrels on the property at 1390 Pineview Ave., where a proposed six-home development may be built.



A proposed six-home condominium development on contaminated land in a Preston neighbourhood, possibly by trichloroethylene (TCE), has area residents calling for the project to be scuttled.

While neighbours who attended the March 21 planning committees public meeting werent thrilled the new view behind their homes would see six detached homes at 1390 Pineview Ave. instead of one home, with accessory buildings in the yard  all will come down for construction  it was the ripple effect of having the homes on the short street that had them gritting their teeth. Not the least of which is current groundwater contamination that could be swelled up during digging.

Greg Pautler, a resident of Pineview Court whose backyard abuts the development, explained hes lived in the contamination from the former Northstar Aerospace plant on Bishop Street for almost two decades. Cancer-causing TCE was found on the site and determined to have migrated from the property in 2004. Nearly 500 homes around the facility were affected with contaminated groundwater and degraded air quality.

Northstar went bankrupt in 2012.

Its a pain in the butt every year to have the air looked at, et cetera, et cetera, Pautler said.

When questioned by Coun. Scott Hamilton and Mayor Jan Liggett about the nature of contamination, the developments planner, Pierre Chauvin, said hes heard it was from Northstar. He noted his group was currently working on securing a record of site condition from the Ministry of Environment.

Its something that we cannot remove because its within the groundwater. Its something well have to risk assess and do additional design and mitigation on site to prevent any off-gassing into the units  vapour barriers, those type of things. It becomes something that you minimize the risk, Chauvin said, adding the mitigation plan will be developed by consultants and approved by the province.

Dave Goad, who lives beside the proposed development, said everyone in the neighbourhood has testing units and he was told contamination levels were borderline in the need for air-filtering systems.

Goad said his worry is if something is installed in the ground to protect the homes at 1390 Pineview Ave. from TCE, theres no saying the TCE wont then concentrate on neighbouring properties.

He added he hadnt really considered the effects digging up and filling the multi-level property might have on stirring up the TCE.

The contamination was the tree topper on the list of issues for Pineview residents, as they shifted to visitor parking on the 3,573-square-metre parcel of land, traffic on the narrow laneway into the property once it is converted to a private road, construction noise and dust, the worry of an adjustment of the six-home development plan, and grading leading to the railroad tracks behind the property.

Michelle Hughes, who lives on Pineview Court, said the development is basically becoming its own neighbourhood, which brings environmental impacts with current wildlife species, drainage for snow and rain, and the possible loss of mature trees.

As taxpayers and homeowners, we feel strongly that our voices deserve to be heard and that council, as our voted representation and stewards of our tax dollars, need to represent our interests as equally as those of developers, Hughes said.

Even with all the issues residents brought up with the development, Pautler relented to some change, though he would like to see minimal impact on the neighbourhood.

Im not opposed to infill development; anything is better than the drug house we had behind us, Pautler said.

Goad said when he bought his home 20 years ago, it was because of the view of trees in his backyard. He was more steadfast when it came to change.

If this goes through, those trees are gone, the view is gone, and Ill be gone. Unfortunately, we bought it for the privacy, if this goes through, well have no choice but to find privacy somewhere else.

Council voted unanimously to send the project to staff for a report and recommendation.



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The Waterloo Regional Police Service is searching for two suspects after an early morning robbery at a convenience store in southeast Galt.

Police said the robbery occurred on March 27 at 2:20 a.m. at a store on Christopher Drive, shortly after an alleged verbal argument between the employee and a man who had entered the store. The employee stated the man left the store, but a second man came in with a knife and took merchandise. The man left the area in a black sedan.

There were no physical injuries reported, police said.

The first man was described as white, five feet seven inches tall and last seen wearing all-black clothing, white shoes and a black face covering.

The second man was described as white, approximately 20 years old, five feet five inches tall, and was last seen wearing a white hoodie, white pants and a small black satchel bag.

Anyone with information can call the WRPS Robbery Unit at 519-570-9777, extension 8255.

To provide anonymous information, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a report online at www.waterloocrimestoppers.com.

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Susie Goulding is the owner of Riverside Florist in downtown Cambridge and founder of the COVID Long-Haulers Support Group.



During a recent Ontario Medical Association (OMA) news conference, Dr. Angela Cheung, a senior physician scientist with Torontos University Health Network and leader of the long COVID web research network, spoke of the ramifications of COVID-19, including long COVID.

Federal funding has been injected into research to understand and treat the disease: the long COVID web research network just received $20 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Health Canada approved a clinical trial for long COVID medical therapies.

WHAT IS LONG COVID?

Long COVID is a physical condition with mental health consequences, said Cheung. The most common symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, palpitations, brain fog.

Cheungs research has shown that though COVID-19 affects men more acutely, it chronically impacts women; however, both men and women with long COVID typically live with the disease for years, during which patients will need to heavily rely on public health care, perhaps for the next 30 to 40 years, according to Cheung.

Through her work, Cheung has witnessed long COVID negatively impact not just physical and mental health, but also social ties due to public disbelief about the disease, which Cambridge resident and local business owner Susie Goulding knows all too well.

Even within a family unit, people dont have the same beliefs regarding COVID, noted Goulding, who contracted COVID during the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020. Within a few months, she lost her livelihood, and many friends and family in her support network as she experienced debilitating physical and neurological long COVID symptoms.

CAMBRIDGE RESIDENT ON THE FOUNDING OF THE FIRST LONG COVID PATIENT ADVOCACY GROUP

Without a central hub on which to rely for resources and support, Goulding founded the COVID Long-Haulers Support Group on Facebook in June 2020. The group now has more than 20,000 members, including provincial groups.

Goulding said members have experienced COVID-related stigma, and after joining, many relay feeling validated for the first time. Beyond peer support, the group also offers up-to-date information on long COVID research, and resources to help manage the chronic symptoms of the illness.

Such resources are vital to help people living with long COVID get back on their feet as there is no cure for long COVID.

Without a cure, what we have been doing is using strategies to manage the symptoms, stated Cheung, highlighting the use of steroid inhalers for those experiencing difficulty breathing, and resting and pacing to manage the significant exhaustion affecting long COVID patients.

Goulding herself relied on a three-month-long intensive rehab program at a brain injury clinic in Burlington. There, a medical team including speech and occupational therapists, physiotherapists, neurologists and other clinicians would help her up to three times a week to improve impaired cognition symptoms she was experiencing.

Unfortunately, the region does not have a rehab program yet, according to Cambridge family doctor and president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Dr. Mekalai Kumanan.

Still living with long COVID, Goulding, who is a single mom, recently opened Riverside Florist on Ainslie Street in Galt, and continues to manage the group, while contributing to multiple ongoing research and clinical studies on long COVID, including a clinical trial by Canadas REcovering from COVID-19 Lingering symptoms, Adaptive Integrative Medicine (RECLAIM).

RELATED STORIES Cambridge Memorial Hospital declares wing outbreak with two cases of COVID-19

The RECLAIM trial was just approved by Health Canada for two different oral therapies to address immune and blood circulation concerns as reported by Cheung during the OMA briefing. Goulding is a patient partner and collaborator in this study. As a patient partner, I give a voice to patients who have lived experiences and make sure the research is meaningful in a patient setting, explained Goulding.

Though she could not speak to specific numbers of long COVID in Cambridge, Kumanan said that 15 per cent of adults who have had a known or suspected COVID infection can develop long COVID. She urges people experiencing symptoms to consult their family doctor.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After attending the OMA news conference commemorating the third anniversary of COVID-19 in Canada, and hearing from experts on the recent progress on long COVID research and treatment, reporter Maria Rosales Gerpe sought to understand more about the impact of long COVID from Cambridge resident and long COVID advocate Susie Goulding.

Have a story that you think represents your community or that impacts Cambridge? Please email mrosalesgerpe@metroland.com.

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The U.S. Department of Defense says there are no signs that Moscow plans to use nuclear weapons, according to Reuters.

"We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon," a senior U.S. administration official said.

The Pentagon also said the United States remains committed to the collective defense of the NATO alliance.

The representative of the U.S. Department of Defense said the United States still sees no reason to change the readiness of its nuclear forces, as well as Russia's readiness to use nuclear weapons.
Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region is in the process of rolling out the fourth season of its "She is Your Neighbour" podcast series, which focuses on the killing of women and girls, by men.



WARNING: This story contains graphic content and may be upsetting to some readers.

Fallon Farinacci was nine years old when a former friend of her family entered her home and shot both her parents dead with a 22-calibre rifle before taking his own life.

The man whod become obsessed with her mother had a history of charges and Farinacci said there were plenty of warning signs such as ongoing threats and firearm possession that she believes could have prevented the tragic incident; however, the courts and police mishandled the situation from the get-go.

Despite these horrific events and the media coverage surrounding them, many people do not understand the extent of the problem and most are not even familiar with the term femicide, explained Jennifer Hutton, CEO of Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. The organization is in the process of rolling out the fourth season of its She is Your Neighbour podcast series, this time focusing on the killing of women and girls, by men.

Farinacci's story is one of six episodes that explores what happens when domestic violence and stalking becomes lethal. Other episodes feature Myrna Dawson, one of the most prominent femicide researchers in Canada and the co-founder of the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, as well as Jennifer Kagan-Viater, a mother who is advocating for Bill C-233 (Keiras Law) to ensure judges receive mandatory training on domestic violence.

Last month, five femicides occurred in Ontario and between 2021 and 2022, there were 52 femicides in 52 weeks, according to the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses.

Headlines continue to emerge about these tragedies as it was recently reported that Brampton fire captain James Schwalm is facing first-degree murder charges in the death of his wife Ashley Schwalm, after her body was discovered in her burned vehicle. Locally, Waterloo Regional Police have reported that five out of six homicides in the region are rooted in domestic violence.

By sharing the faces, names, and stories of survivors and advocates, Hutton believes it humanizes the problem and brings it closer to home.

The She is Your Neighbour podcast is produced by Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region and hosted by communications and fund development manager, Jenna Mayne, who noted that femicide can affect all ages, including children and seniors, and that telling the stories of lived experiences helps identify red flags.

Over the past two years, we have seen a 92 per cent increase in clients using our outreach services, as well as a 24 per cent increase in calls to our crisis support lines, Mayne said. Our hope with this new series is that it will give listeners a better understanding of femicide, so we all provide better support to women in dangerous situations and ultimately prevent future tragedies from happening.

Femicide is tracked provincially and the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses has some geographic data showing that 29.4 per cent occur in the western region. Nationally, in 2021, Saskatchewan had the highest rate of femicide among all provinces with a rate of 1.19 per 100,000 women/girls.

Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region got to go on CBC Saskatchewan earlier this month for International Womens Day to talk about the podcast, Mayne noted.

The first episode had 150 downloads in the first 24 hours, which is the best response weve seen in the history of the podcast, she said. The podcast has also surpassed 10,500 listens in total which is another exciting milestone for us.

Its available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and www.sheisyourneighbour.com, with additional content on social media feeds.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region is rolling out the fourth season of its award-winning She Is Your Neighbour podcast series and we talked to the producer.

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CAMBRIDGE  Police are looking for two males after a robbery at a convenience store in the southeast end of Cambridge early Monday.

At around 2:20 a.m., Waterloo Regional Police were called to the Circle K convenience store on Christopher Drive at Champlain Boulevard.

An employee told police that a male came in to the store and the two had an argument. The male then left the store, and a second man walked in.

He took merchandise while armed with a knife and fled in a black sedan.

No physical injuries were reported.

The first male is described as white and five feet and seven inches tall, wearing all black clothing, white shoes and a black face covering.

The second male is described as white, about 20 years old and five feet and five inches tall, wearing a white hoodie, white pants and a small black satchel.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 519-570-9777, extension 8255, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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CAMBRIDGE  A 49-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault with a weapon on Sunday.

Waterloo Regional Police responded to a disturbance call at a residence in the area of Saginaw Parkway in Cambridge at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and located a 50-year-old female victim with injuries.

She was later transported to a hospital outside of the region, police said.

A 49-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault with a weapon, and has been held for a bail hearing.

The victim and the accused were known to each other, police said.

Police continue to investigate, and encourage anyone with information to contact them at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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WATERLOO REGION  A sample of internal Region of Waterloo emails gives a glimpse into how regional government worked to manage the message to the public and the media during the tumultuous second year of the pandemic in 2021.

The Record obtained 259 pages of emails between regional politicians and staff as part of a Freedom of Information request. The emails span all of 2021. Some of the emails were redacted either in whole or in part. Records received were not a complete collection of all emails in 2021 but rather those that referred to talking points and key messages.

The year started under provincial lockdown and COVID restrictions eased and tightened again throughout the province and country.

The records contain questions from politicians, memos on pandemic news about to be made public and key points to make when talking to the media.

They reveal how regional government worked to keep its messaging consistent and respond to ever-changing restrictions and vaccination protocols.

Here, a snapshot of how regional government navigated the pandemic.

After public concerns were raised about the cancellation of the usual two public input meetings on the regional budget  a single virtual meeting was held  the regions director of corporate communications, TJ Flynn, sent a crafted response on Jan. 8 that politicians could email to anyone with questions, about how the budget was designed to deal with community needs highlighted by the pandemic.

The region was facing pressure to schedule a second budget public input session, subsequent emails between staff and politicians show. That pressure included a grassroots groups post on Twitter encouraging citizens to email their councillors.

Vaccination access was a common theme throughout the year. Politicians were often sent key messages to help them deal with questions from the public.

Councillors also got messaging that 120,000 vaccine doses had been delivered as of mid-April, about supports for businesses, including funding for two ambassador programs to help small and medium-sized enterprises and a personal protective equipment and COVID-19 retrofit program.

As part of regional councils vision for beyond COVID-19, the doubling of this program is part of our $3 million strategic investment through the 2021 budget to help alleviate financial pressures business owners have been forced to take on, communication staff wrote in an email.

In May, as the pandemic raged on, the region reinforced its messaging on the importance of wearing a mask as some residents questioned the requirement to mask indoors.

While vaccines are now available and rollout continues, broad community distribution may take time depending on availability. Until more people are vaccinated we must continue to follow public health guidance including wearing a face covering, an email read.

Mask requirements indoors remained in place until March 2022, when the region, in line with the province, voted to end them.

Around the same time in May the region was highlighting its mobile vaccination clinics in high-priority neighbourhoods.

The province, with local input, identified six high-priority neighbourhoods in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo.

An email from Connie MacDonald, chief strategy and communications officer, headed Confidential vaccine update, said more than 4,000 residents had been vaccinated at the sites.

As is often the case with outreach strategies, it was a bit slow to start but with targeted engagements the clinics were filled and we have a waiting list now (which is great for a vaccine hesitant population) and are planning additional clinics, read the email.

While the province was charged with setting mandates around COVID-19 municipalities had some discretion on certain issues, adding more confusion to already uncertain times.

This was the case when the province announced in May it was reducing the wait required between the first and second doses of vaccine for people 80 or older.

Emails suggested the region was concerned about having enough vaccine supply to fill the demand for second doses in that age group, while still encouraging others to get their first dose.

One continuing challenge will be that some areas have had much more vaccine and are able to move up and book right away  whereas we are balancing priority groups and still administering many first doses, MacDonald said.

When the province announced the criteria for reopening timelines in May after several months of on-and-off-again lockdown, councillors were sent the advice of the regions chief medical officer of Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang to continue limiting outings and to avoid close contact with people outside ones household.

The Delta variant and a lag in receiving vaccine doses were largely to blame. A lack of vaccine doses drove many regional residents to other communities with more doses to get their vaccinations.

As of June-July this region was about 40,000 doses of vaccine behind other communities after earlier-identified Delta hotspots were sent more doses.

Regional government had to communicate why it wasnt following the same timelines for reopening as some communities were  a major frustration for many in the community. Most of the province reopened June 30, but public health delayed the local opening for another couple of weeks, to mid-July, to allow time for more people to be vaccinated.

No doubt that everyones inbox is blowing up. I apologize that the messaging has not been more systematic in providing you with the context for this delay in moving to Step 2.

No one is indifferent to the plight of business and the pandemic fatigue that has gripped our community, read an email from regional Chair Karen Redman to fellow council members on June 24.

All of regional council was provided with key messages on the issue. The options are either a fast and failed reopening or a slow and successful reopening. We have chosen the latter. We see what the path is in other countries with the Delta variant. Its to lockdown. So we either do this or we face additional restrictions.

When the Delta variant did hit the region in June, it hit hard.

The region had about one quarter of all Delta cases in the province, with just three to four per cent of the provincial population, making the region a provincial hotspot and leading to reopening delays.

It wasnt until September that this region would have fewer Delta cases than the rest of Ontario.

The emails make it clear that the region was trying to tackle COVID-19 with as much as it could, in a state of almost constant change, offering late-night vaccination clinics and drive-thru vaccines at Bingemans in Kitchener as well as extended hours and beefed-up staffing at vaccine clinics.

When the region was ready to move to Step 2 reopening in July and Step 3 a few weeks later, messaging on COVID-19 precautions was consistent. Our situation remains precarious, but we are beginning to see signs of progress, reads an email from Flynn.

In September as it prepared for the emergence of the more contagious Omicron variant, the region, like many other workplaces, announced a mandatory vaccination policy for all staff. This policy puts the health and well-being of staff first. As we continue to move through a fourth wave of COVID-19 in Waterloo Region, we want to ensure our employees can continue to serve this community safely and effectively, said a communications staff email to Redman.

A month later, Kitchener Mayor Vrbanovic sent a lengthy email to staff shortly before 1 a.m., asking how first responders were being prioritized for vaccine doses and whether a clinic could be set up for regional staff and their families.

He also asked what could be done to prioritize COVID-19 testing for emergency services, vaccine clinic staff, key operations staff and for the people we deem key in our fight against COVID locally.

-With files from Johanna Weidner and Jeff Outhit

Paige Desmond is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on municipal issues for The Record. Reach her via email: pdesmond@therecord.com

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He said, A lot of people try to be virtuous and say Im just a nice person, its like no, you have to learn how to be a monster and I feel like men need to be men, but learn how to control it, learn how to internalise it, learn how to be also a lamb when you need to be.
Rev. Francis Chisholm with the two volumes of "One-A-Day Psalms: A Cantina of Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes" that he has been working on for more than a decade.







For Rev. Francis Chisholm, its something hes hoping future generations will read and think about.

At age 96, the north central Mountain resident and padre to many organizations has published, via Amazon, One-A-Day Psalms: A Cantina of Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes.

He has been working on the two-volume commentary on the Book of Psalms for more than a decade.

The Book of Psalms is part of the Old Testament of the Bible and is comprised of sacred songs or poems.

Its not like a novel that you read through from beginning to end, said Chisholm at a recent reception at the Mountain legion to celebrate the new books. You (read) one Psalm a day and you check out the references and you meditate on it, think about it and perhaps memorize a verse.

Chisholm has been the padre at the Mountain legion for more than 40 years.

There are battle hymns in this, surprisingly, Chisholm noted. A number of them I used in the services I conduct for Dieppe Day, Vimy Ridge Day, the Dutch Liberation Day; theyre all in this book.

Chisholm said the volumes are a whole string of quotations from many sources in English, Latin and Greek.

The Psalms are meant to be sung, Chisholm said. As you read One -A-Day Psalms, youll find different interpretations and you can use your own imagination.

Born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland in 1926, Chisholm is a Second World War veteran, having served three years in the British Army as a sergeant with the Seaforth Highlanders.

After the war, he joined the church like his father and uncle before him.

Chisholm was ordained by the Church of Scotland in 1952 and received into the United Church of Canada when he came to Canada with his wife, Connie, and their (at the time) two children in 1955.

His ministry work took him to Peterborough, St. Catharines, and in 1964, he came to Hamilton, where he worked as full-time chaplain at the old Mountain Sanatorium (Chedoke hospital). He also served as associate pastor at Stewart Memorial Church.

Full disclosure: Hamilton Community News wrote an article last year about Chisholms 70 years in ministry, and when he said he was working on a book, we referred him to Barry Gottlieb, a retired business professor and founder of the Hamilton Mountain Writers Guild, who became the books editor.

When I first got his book sent to me, it was 873 pages, recalled Gottlieb, who, over a period of three months, transformed the manuscript into two volumes of about 300 pages each to meet Amazon guidelines for publication.

I grew up in the United Church, Gottlieb said. What I had to do was get out my Bible to check on what he wrote.

Gottlieb, who taught business in China for 18 years before returning to Canada in 2017, said he found editing the book a very educational experience.

After finally finishing his two books, I realized how religious, spiritual, historical and testament-written with inspiration and faith (they are), Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb brought in writers guild member Michael Wagstaffe to design the book covers, which feature the Iona Cross from Scotland.

Chisholms granddaughter Jenny Rae was the busy go-between on what was a team project, relaying information, comments, revisions, edits and reedits between her grandfather, Gottlieb and Wagstaffe, a correspondence that (according to Gottlieb) included 31 emails and 19 phone calls.

The hardest part about editing these books was, because theres multiple languages, we couldnt change a lot, Rae said. My grandfather is shocked that nobody speaks Latin or understands Latin, so that was one of the big challenges.

The Barrie resident noted the family is grateful to see the books finally published.

My grandfather said, The only thing I care about before I pass away is that these books get published, she said.

The volumes sell for $12.98 each on Amazon.ca.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Hamilton Community News wanted to do a follow-up story on Rev. Francis Chisholm publishing One-A-Day Psalms: A Cantina of Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes, which he has been working on for more than a decade.

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Hamilton police have cleared Glendale Secondary School after a bomb threat Monday morning, the third such threat at the east Hamilton school in a month.

Police were called to the school, at 145 Rainbow Dr., around 8 a.m. after a staff member discovered an email that claimed there was a bomb in the school, said Const. Indy Bharaj.

The school was evacuated. Police cleared the school and staff and students were allowed back inside by about 10:15 a.m.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board said affected staff and students were sent to nearby Viola Desmond Elementary School before being allowed back inside Glendale.

The bomb threat follows similar emailed threats at the high school on March 21 and Feb. 27. In each case, an email was sent to a staff member around 8 a.m. prompting police to respond to the school. In all cases, the school was searched and deemed safe, and classes were allowed to resume.

Another similar threat was also emailed to staff at Westmount Secondary School on the Mountain on March 21. That school was also evacuated, searched and eventually deemed safe.

No charges have been laid in any of the cases. The investigations into all the threats continues.

Nicole OReilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com

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Fuad Muxtar-Aqbabali

The Biden administration has again failed to invite Azerbaijan and Turkiye to the second Summit for Democracy, scheduled for March 30, whereas Armenia, which had retained Azerbaijani land under occupation for nearly 30 years contrary to universally-cherished principles and is still exacerbating tension in the region, is among the invitees.

The criteria, applied by the Biden administration to the selectees, are absolutely ill-defined and amorphous. The reasons for the failure to invite Azerbaijan and Turkiye to the summit should be sought in the context of these states independent foreign policies serving primarily their national interests and benefiting others.

Azerbaijan has been playing a pivotal role in supplying Europe with energy resources and its importance has grown in the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine, and Turkiye as a venue for many crucial oil and gas pipelines augmented endeavors both economically, politically and has remained conducive in secure transit to eastern and western European nations.

Bakus role in this end has been repeatedly credited by various US administrations and several of them have even played a huge role in implementing mega gas and oil projects. However, aggressor Armenias negative role in the South Caucasus and close relations with the theocratic Iran regime are turned a blind eye and its misdeeds are encouraged and promoted as a nation fighting for democratic values.

Alas, this is yet another miscalculation of the Biden administration as this initiative was born during his term of office.

Notwithstanding the reasons why Azerbaijan and Turkiye were not invited to the Democracy Summit, it is crucial for the international community to engage with all countries in the region. Without applying internationally-binding principles and guarantees as well as respect for basic principles, one cannot ensure peace, order, economic development, prosperity, and good-neighborly relations in the South Caucasus. The need for promoting greater regional stability and democratic values in the region is the most important now than it was two years ago since justice has now been served by Azerbaijan despite the collective indifference of the world.

It is deeply disturbing to observe the implementation of the US foreign policy in a very distorted and biased fashion by the Biden-Harris Administration. The Republic of Azerbaijan embodies the essential components of a thriving democratic society, US pundit Peter Tase told Azernews in a comment.

The decision of the US State Department to invite autocratic regimes that encourage disruption in the Trans-Atlantic alliance that embodies a plethora of economic and industrial sectors for the development of the United States and Europe, above all autocratic regimes such as the one in Yerevan, are regularly engaged and conspire with Americas enemies abroad.

It is blatantly implausible to observe that Washington has failed to invite the governments of Turkiye and Azerbaijan to attend the Summit for Democracy, even though tremendous progress has been made in bolstering democratic institutions and fostering greater transparency in the administration of elections in Baku and Ankara, the pundit said.

The geopolitical proclivity of the Biden-Harris Administration is deeply puzzling and exposes a vulnerable US foreign policy that does not reflect the political and military interests of Washington.

It is shocking to observe that Bidens second Summit for Democracy, scheduled for March 28-30, 2023, will be co-hosted with the Government of Zambia - an African country that is widely known to have rampant levels of corruption and political killings. In 2021, Zambia experienced violent tensions, protests, and police forces used live bullets against unarmed citizens. Zambian authorities continue to crack down on the right to freedom of expression and suppress human rights. Zambia is also the most important economic ally of Americas largest strategic competitor in Eastern Asia, Peter Tase said.

Another country that is invited by the Biden-Harris Administration is Honduras; a nation that is engulfed in a great crisis of human trafficking and drug trafficking operations with various Cartels in the US-Mexico border area. Honduras has the first female president, Xiomara Castro, who is allegedly as corrupt as her predecessor Juan Orlando Hernandez. In 2019, it was revealed that he was a co-conspirator in a drug trafficking and money laundering case, and $1.5m in drug proceeds was used to help elect him in 2013. Incumbent President Castro was propelled politically by Americas largest geopolitical rival in Latin America.

It is wrong to associate Azerbaijan's non-invitation with democracy as there are more serious issues here. One of them is that Azerbaijan regained occupied lands by force and without the approval of the west, which angered pro-Armenian lobby groups with deep ties with all US administrations. Another reason should be sought in years-long black PR campaigns against Azerbaijan and Turkiye in the West by the Armenian Diaspora groups and their patrons driven by their own interests in attacking Baku and Ankara.

Third, Azerbaijan does not want to undermine relations with the mighty northern neighbor despite ongoing pressure to this end as it realizes that being a neighbor with Russia stands for existing in the same geography forever and no government in Azerbaijan has the right to act under alien diktat to satisfy their demands.

Democracy is never exported but arises from the internal demand of a country. Democracy is an important step taken by individual countries to join the overall development of the world. Azerbaijan has been also taking corresponding steps in this direction and the negative impact of Armenia's 30-year-long occupation of its lands cannot and should be disregarded since democracy is born and thrives in the atmosphere far away from destruction, occupation, and killing of innocent people. No government has ever managed to install democracy side by side with millions of refugees and IDPs and Azerbaijan had been through them and is still coping with hardships.




The operation of uncrewed surface ships (USVs) and aerial drones is likely to limit the operations of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, according to British intelligence.

"On March 22, 2023, at least three uncrewed surface vessels (USV) and one uncrewed aerial vehicle reportedly attempted to strike the Russian naval base of Sevastopol, in occupied Crimea," the intelligence said in the statement on Twitter of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Monday.

As noted with reference to open sources, one USV was stopped by defensive booms and two were destroyed in the harbour. Russian officials said that no Russian vessels had been damaged.

A previous USV attack on Sevastopol on October 29, 2022 reportedly damaged the minesweeper Ivan Golubets and the frigate Admiral Makarov.

According to British intelligence experts, "even though the new attacks likely failed to damage any military assets, the USV threat likely continues to constrain operations of Russia's Black Sea Fleet."
Warning: This story is about suicide. Resources for those who need help are listed at the bottom of this story.

One year has passed since 12-year-old Grace McSweeney killed herself after being bullied at school.

Yet, the Grand Erie District School Board still hasnt made good on its promise to review the circumstances that led to her death.

Our internal review is ongoing, spokesperson Dave Smouter said in an email.

Nobody from the board has interviewed Graces parents. Nor has the board told her parents who is leading the review, what the scope of the review is, when it began or when it is expected to conclude.

Nobody will talk to us, says Jeremy Krentz, Graces stepfather.

They push us aside or give us some sort of excuse, says her mother, Lauren Smith.

Grace was a Grade 7 student at Bellview Public School in Brantford. She died on March 29, 2022 after overdosing on Tylenol. Her death was ruled a suicide.

Grace was smart and funny and creative and talented.

She was also tall and heavy and depressed and gay.

She was bullied all her life.

Staff at the school knew it. Graces parents had reported problems many times.

Grace had too.

But in the weeks leading up to her death, she gave up. Angry and bitter, she vented to a friend over the instant messaging app Snapchat in a March 2 conversation that Lauren and Jeremy retrieved after Graces death. Heres an excerpt:

Grace: I went to (the former school principal) almost everyday because i was getting bullied. She didnt do jack s--t

Friend: Like school is somewhere were you can feel save but you cant

Grace: Ik (I know) Like they say come talk to them if u have a problem, yet they dont actually give a s--t

Friend: Ikr (I know, right?) Like f--k I should just skip you and go to the police

Grace: Like they dont actually give a s--t til its too late Like if i got bullied into suicide, they then would actually do something

Friend: Ikr Like they will care if you kill yourself

Grace: I hate this school so god damn much. They dont do jack s--t until its too f--king late. They dont care if people are getting harassed, bullied, etc.

Near the end of the chat, Grace adds: I want to actually f--king say something to the principal, but why the f--k would he even care? Like who do i even go to at this point.

Jeremy and Lauren say they shared those messages with the schools administration soon after Graces death.

Yet, they are still waiting for answers.

We continue to provide mental health supports for this school, staff and students as necessary, Smouter said in a statement sent to The Spectator last week in response to queries about the review. We share information and programs around healthy relationships, bullying prevention and intervention, all supported by staff, including social workers and child and youth workers and the resources of School Mental Health Ontario.

The school will be reaching out to the family at this time as well.

Our internal review is ongoing.

When asked why the review hasnt been completed, Smouter answered: There have been some unexpected delays, but reviews of this nature do take time to plan and complete. We expect it will be complete in the coming months.

Graces parents also have unanswered questions about their daughters last day at school.

She came home that Friday upset. Something happened during a badminton game, but the details are a mystery. School staff have never tried to fill in the gaps for Lauren and Jeremy.

That night, Grace texted classmates to say she had taken Tylenol, Advil and Gravol.

On Saturday and Sunday, she complained of abdominal pain and vomiting. Her parents thought she had the flu. Later it would be confirmed she did in fact have COVID.

By Monday morning Grace was confused. Then she trashed her bedroom and was found with an altered level of consciousness, according to the coroners report.

She was taken to Brantford General Hospital, then airlifted to McMaster Childrens Hospital.

Grace went into cardiac arrest twice.

Her parents made the decision not to escalate care, the report said.

Grace died at 1:42 a.m. on Tuesday.

Toxicology results showed she died of complications of acute acetaminophen toxicity due to acetaminophen overdose.

She had taken Tylenol she found in her house. Lauren believes she swallowed about 15 pills. Over the next three days they shut down her liver, her kidneys and finally her heart.

After she was gone, a note was found in her bedroom, drafted on the typewriter she used to write poetry.

Just kill yourself, it said.

Lauren and Jeremy have been on a mission to educate the public about the dangers of Tylenol and to call for change: keeping Tylenol behind the counter; smaller bottles of pills; only selling to those 16 and older.

Meanwhile, they say they are stuck in their own grieving process because they cant get answers from the school board about the bullying, what staff knew and did about it, and the final incident before Graces suicide.

The school board has only once directly addressed Graces death publicly. That was last April, when board chair Susan Gibson spoke of her briefly at a monthly board meeting. She acknowledged Grace was an amazing writer who taught herself to play the guitar.

She was a great friend and used her sense of humour to keep classmates and staff in good spirits. She was a light to everyone she crossed paths with and will never be forgotten.

For help

Kids Help Line 1-800-668-6868 or kidshelpphone.ca.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

COAST 905-972-8338

Barrett Centre 1-844-777-3571

Native Womens Centre 1-888-308-6559

Good2Talk 1-866-925-5454

Crisis Services Canada 1-833-456-4566

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Hamilton police have seen a considerable reduction in the number of false alarm calls in the city since the implementation of its verified-response system.

However, nine out of every 10 alarm calls in the city were still false last year, according to a report set to be presented at the police services board meeting on Thursday.

The latest update on alarm calls in the city comes more than three years after police moved to a system that requires alarm companies to confirm whether something is actually wrong before notifying police.

Back in 2018, police responded to more than 3,100 alarm calls, with 95 per cent of them being false. Compare that to 2022, where police responded to just over 1,000 alarm calls, with 90 per cent of them being false, according to the report.

The report also noted that amid the pandemic, alarm calls dropped off significantly due to business closures and people staying home amid restrictions. But, despite police responding to fewer alarm calls, 91 per cent of those in 2020 and 2021 were still false.

Alarm program administrator, Karen Derry, wrote in the report that the significant reduction in alarm calls requiring a police response has allowed officers to be effectively deployed to other calls for service.

Derry added that the increase in electronic and video monitoring technologies has improved efficiencies and reliability when it comes to public safety.

While the improved allocation of police resources is cited as one benefit of the system, the cost of false alarms has decreased year-over-year, according to the report.

Back in 2018, the response to false alarms cost the force more than $563,000, while last year that cost had dropped to nearly $164,000.

As part of the system, police issue fines for false alarms to the companies that monitor the systems, with each false alarm costing around $179. A partial fine of close to $85 can be charged for calls that are cancelled while police are en-route.

Last year, police issued more than $175,000 worth of fines for false alarms, according to the report.

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The kids in the guitar club at Lakewood Elementary in Port Dover first picked up their instruments only a few weeks ago  but you wouldnt know it to hear them.

On a recent Wednesday morning, the rookie musicians were strumming the Beatles classic Let It Be, confidently shifting from one chord to another with some gentle encouragement from their teacher, local musician and performer Dan Fewings.

It has helped me. Its gotten my fingers to be stronger, to naturally go to the chords, said Grade 8 student Darren Lubbers.

Grade 8 student Darren Lubbers plans to continue taking music in high school. The Hamilton Spectator

The guitar club started in February after Lakewood teacher Joe Archer approached local musician Tony Duclos about how to give kids  some of whom were being bullied at school  something uplifting in their life.

Duclos, who runs the annual Birdtown Jamboree music festival in Norfolk County, was eager to help. Working with Erie Music in Simcoe and Guitars for Kids, a Cambridge-based group that donates instruments, Duclos delivered five guitars, with tuners and capos, to Lakewood.

Lakewood Elementary teacher Joe Archer, right, formed the school's new guitar club in response to some kids being bullied and needing a positive outlet. The Hamilton Spectator

Birdtown Jamboree also covered the cost of eight weekly lessons from Fewings, a retired high school music teacher.

We support teachers who are trying to teach their kids something without the equipment to do it, Duclos explained. If one or two students carry on to become part of a band or whatever, thats exactly what we want to see.

The club now has six members  seven including Archer, who is learning alongside the kids  with six more students eager to join as soon as the school can find some more guitars.

There is a wait list to join the new guitar club at Lakewood Elementary in Port Dover, whose members are mentored by retired music teacher and professional musician Dan Fewings, pictured here instructing half the current group at a recent session. The Hamilton Spectator

My hope is these (students) get empowered so much that I can bring in six more kids, and I oversee it, but they mentor (each other), Archer said, adding that learning to play together has been a good challenge.

We screw up together, we laugh at each other, but we help each other learning the chords, too, he said.

Fewings marvelled at the improvement in his young students over five short weeks.

They want to be there. They hold each other accountable. Its neat, he said.

When youve got kids that express an interest in it, if you can turn somebody onto music, thats the whole point.

Xander Archer, in Grade 7, has enjoyed learning a new instrument with Fewings help.

Local performer and educator Dan Fewings, left, instructs Darren Lubbers, right, Xander Archer and teacher Joe Archer during a recent session of the Lakewood Elementary guitar club in Port Dover. The Hamilton Spectator

We learn a lot from him each day, he said. I cant believe how fast I can move the chords. I like it when he reinstructs me so I know what to do different.

The kids are meticulous when it comes to practicing, said Joe Archer, who regularly spots club members strumming their guitars and hanging out between classes.

Duclos and Fewings say they would happily expand the program to other elementary schools in Norfolk, and Lakewood student Easton Deland said those kids should check it out.

If theyre interested in guitar and interested in learning, this would be great, said Deland, who has been inspired to take music classes when he gets to high school next year.

Xander Archer, left, and Darren Lubbers follow along as mentor Dan Fewings demonstrates different strum patterns during a recent meeting of Lakewood Elementary's guitar club. The Hamilton Spectator

Thats music to Duclos ears.

You learn a few chords and start playing a few songs, and maybe theyll join the music program. And thatll change somebodys life, he said.

Lubbers is also excited to keep playing in high school  but he admits to an ulterior motive.

Girls love guys with guitars, he said with a grin.

J.P. Antonacci s reporting on Haldimand and Norfolk is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. jpantonacci@thespec.com

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Its been 36 months since the world plunged into a pandemic.

And though were still in its grip, with no clear end in sight, scientists are working hard to prepare for the next global threat.

They know another pandemic pathogen will emerge. Where and when  and what exactly will cause the initial outbreak  are among the many things theyre trying to predict.

There will be another pandemic. Like death and taxes, its an absolute certainty, says Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist and professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Torontos Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

It could happen any time between tomorrow and 30 years from now.

No matter the timeline, its clear preparing for it cant wait. Evidence is building that climate change, combined with our ever-greater encroachment into wildlife habitat, is fuelling the risk of viruses spilling from animals into humans.

Many scientists caution that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is far from the worst-case scenario.

To mark the world heading into its fourth COVID year, the Star asked four Canadian scientists about their own pandemic research and their roles in leading the countrys response to the next threat.

Each scientist provides a snapshot of their research. They also make the case that sound science is only one key component of pandemic preparedness. That solutions found in labs arent enough and must be paired with other measures, from better biomanufacturing capabilities to stronger public health networks to greater social supports.

All said that fighting pandemics demands a more equitable response.

With another health crisis looming, here are four experts on the scientific advances that offer hope  and the big worries that keep them up at night.

Gerry Wright, McMaster University

Gerry Wright feels confident that science will find the solutions to the next pandemic.

Perhaps not as quickly as wed like. And not without obstacles. The race to fight COVID, which drew on decades of research, revealed how quickly scientists could rally.

But the flip side to these successes is the corresponding and deeply alarming rise in misinformation online.

To Wright, a professor in McMasters department of biochemistry and biomedicine who holds a Canada Research Chair in antibiotic biochemistry, the spread of anti-science sentiment seems to have swept across the globe at nearly the same speed as COVID-19.

The thing that terrifies me is that a person with an iPhone can think theyre an expert, he says. That people think their opinions matter just as much as those of people whove dedicated their lives to understanding science  and that this is now almost a widely accepted concept  is going to result in a super-dangerous future.

Wright says he first became alarmed in 2020, when then U.S. president Donald Trump flouted the advice of top science agencies by touting the unproven benefits of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID.

He says his worries deepened the following year when ivermectin, an antiparasitic medicine used to treat some human conditions and which is also a veterinary drug, was falsely hyped as a COVID miracle cure, even as effective vaccines were being rolled out.

I just knew that we were in deep, deep trouble.

While McMaster researchers worked flat out to find solutions for COVID, Wright says he knew it was equally pressing to combat misinformation.

He now heads the Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biologic Threats, a McMaster-led initiative that brings together scientists and medical researchers, along with experts in economics, political science and the social sciences. Its goal is to prepare for future pandemics by developing and testing new treatments, vaccines and diagnostics, advancing epidemiological models to inform policy and figuring out how to better support vulnerable communities during a health crisis.

I understand molecules. I dont understand people, says Wright, noting the hub will also provide interdisciplinary training for students, so they can think across typically siloed fields. This new school tries to marry both the social sciences and humanities with biomedical and clinical research. Because, to me, that was the biggest gap of the last three years.

With one eye on future health threats, Wright continues to research the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. He calls antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, a silent pandemic and argues that antibiotic-resistant organisms are the biggest threat to our medical systems.

Antibiotics power modern medicine. Without them, people are more susceptible to infections, and routine life-saving medical procedures, such as open-heart surgery or chemotherapy, become impossible.

Wright says medicines ability to control and prevent infection with antibiotics and vaccines added more than 20 years to the average life expectancy in Canada. The rise of antibiotic-resistant organisms threatens to turn back the clock. Already, antibiotic-resistant bacteria kill thousands of Canadians every year.

Estimates suggest globally in the coming decades upwards of 10 million people will die every year because of antimicrobial resistance, says Wright.

My lab is completely dedicated to making sure that does not happen.

Wrights team at McMaster was among the worlds first to systematically show that the origins of AMR are primarily found in the natural environment. His team collects bacteria and fungi in dirt and looks for molecules that can lead to new antibiotics.

In the past 20 years, Wrights team has collected about 15,000 strains of soil bacteria and fungi, primarily from Canadian environments. They mine them for new antibiotics, new antifungal compounds and new anti-cancer drugs. After COVID arrived the team also started to screen their collection for antiviral properties.

Wright knows this kind of collective scientific push for global solutions is happening in labs all around the world. That gives him confidence that well be able to find countermeasures to the next big crisis.

The paradox is that science has never been more well prepared to deal with pandemics.

Dr. Srinivas Murthy, University of British Columbia

Dr. Srinivas Murthy wants to make Canadas health-care system more resilient to future health emergencies.

From overcrowded ERs to overflowing ICUs, it became clear during the pandemic that hospitals lacked the surge capacity to handle wave after wave of patients.

We thought we had a health system that would be ready for an emergency, says Murthy, an associate professor at UBCs faculty of medicine who holds a research chair in pandemic preparedness. We were unable to adapt. We need to figure out why our system doesnt have the resiliency it needs.

But Murthy, also a pediatric intensive-care physician, says one way to help hospitals respond in a crisis is to ensure new medical findings are more quickly used in day-to-day care.

One of his short-term goals is to expand a national platform to share data about patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infections. When such data is fragmented or not readily at hand, its hard to get a picture of who is getting critically ill, and how and where infections are spreading.

Murthy is also developing ways to integrate rapid clinical trials in routine hospital care.

That will help us learn what works  and what doesnt work  so that we can constantly improve, he says.

A health-care system that learns on the go, with the help of clinical trials that take weeks or months to inform patient care, will help hospitals and other parts of the system adapt swiftly. This swiftness will help build resiliency, Murthy says.

He says he remains in awe of how fast the global scientific community raced to respond to COVID, generating vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic measures. This was possible because scientists could draw on the decades-deep foundation of basic research in immunology, virology and other life sciences.

And while hes encouraged by Canadas recent investments in pandemic preparedness, Murthys big worry is that COVID has revealed that wealthy nations  and wealthy communities within nations  have largely been out for themselves, snapping up vaccines and therapeutics, leaving others behind.

This is obviously the wrong response to an emerging pathogen, he says. Any pandemic, by definition, will require a collective response that embraces solidarity and embraces the diversity of our planet.

Joanne Lemieux, University of Alberta

Joanne Lemieux has spent much of her career thinking about problems at the molecular level.

A professor of biochemistry at the University of Alberta, Lemieux is an expert in understanding how proteins can be used to create new vaccines and drugs.

She is also the scientific director of the Prairie Hub for Pandemic Preparedness  a role that has expanded her scope from mapping the structure of molecules to building scientific connections across three provinces.

The Hubs focus is to boost Canadas biomanufacturing capacity in basic research while building critical infrastructure and training scientists. Its cornerstones include the universities of Alberta, Calgary, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and its Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, along with industry partners.

Were thinking about the next pandemic through a zoonotic lens, Lemieux says. We know the coexistence between animals and humans, whether it be domesticated, agricultural or wild animals, will influence the next pandemic.

Along with COVID, Lemieux points to the 2003 SARS outbreak and MERS, which emerged in 2012 and has been reported in 27 countries, as examples of coronaviruses with animal sources that have been devastating to human health.

There are also viral hemorrhagic fevers, a group of deadly diseases, including Ebola and Marburg, caused by viruses that jump to humans from an infected animal or insect host.

Scientists are also closely monitoring the virulent bird flu virus, H5N1, now infecting mammals. As the climate warms, experts warn of even more viral spillovers.

The Prairie provinces are home to a large collection of virologists and other researchers specializing in infectious diseases. Lemieux says harnessing their expertise and fast-tracking co-ordinated projects is one of the Prairie Hubs top priorities.

Were trying to collectively think about where the next pandemic may occur and be ready with an arsenal of therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics, she says, noting it is equally important to build up biomanufacturing capacity, something the Hub is working on alongside scientific advances.

Our response to this pandemic was, in part, delayed due to Canadas lack of ability to manufacture vaccines in a sterile environment and distribute them to Canadians.

In her lab, Lemieux continues to study how small molecules  a chemical entity or an organic compound with a low molecular weight  can block the activity of a protein, including those in SARS-CoV-2 and other related viruses.

Because small molecules also inhibit a viruss ability to replicate, scientists quickly turned to these kinds of drugs in their search for COVID treatments. The antiviral Paxlovid is the first small-molecule compound designed specifically to target SARS-CoV-2.

Lemieux and other Canadian researchers believe small molecules hold even greater promise for COVID and other viral illnesses.

We cant stop now. We have to work on the next generation of these drugs.

Jen Gommerman, University of Toronto

Jen Gommerman, a professor of immunology at U of Ts Temerty Faculty of Medicine, worries momentum to ward off future pandemics, gained during the COVID years, will soon fade.

Like most scientists, she agrees that lessons learned during the 2003 SARS outbreak were quickly forgotten.

We cant give up. We cant just keep doing more of the same, says Gommerman, who holds a Canada Research Chair in tissue-specific immunity. We have to strive for better vaccines, the 2.0 versions of vaccines and therapeutics that will help us deal with whats going to come next.

Because there will be other pandemics.

Gommerman is co-academic lead of the Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases, which links more than 80 partners in industry and academia, including eight Ontario universities and six research hospitals.

Led by U of T, it aims to boost Canadas ability to respond quickly and equitably to future pandemics.

It will focus on three interconnected themes: to make better vaccines and therapeutics based on research investigating the immune system and different pathogens; to develop advanced biomanufacturing strategies within Canada; and to improve public health intelligence to understand what interventions a population will accept, and which communities will need such interventions the most.

Gommerman says Canada needs to shore up its public health network so it can detect a new pathogen at its earliest arrival, especially as evidence suggests a future pandemic virus will land in Greater Toronto early in its global sweep. Millions of people fly in and out of Pearson airport every year. The city was rocked by SARS in 2003. And the first Canadian infected with COVID arrived in a Toronto ER in January 2020.

She says governments need to fund basic science to keep Canadas research ecosystem healthy.

In her lab, Gommerman is researching how to generate long-lasting immunity to pathogens. One such way is to train the immune system to fight hardest in the area of the body where the threat is most likely to land. For SARS-CoV-2, the threat is first introduced in the nose and mouth.

We want to learn the signals that encourage immune cells to remain in tissues, such as in the upper respiratory tract or in the lungs.

In the meantime, one of Gommermans biggest concerns is that the next pandemic pathogen will be even more lethal than COVIDs Omicron variant but with all its same tricks to rapidly infect populations.

When asked if anything else keeps her up at night, Gommerman recalls an anecdote from her hometown. Her father was among the hundreds of children who were evacuated during Winnipegs devastating 1950 Red River flood. In its aftermath, Manitobas premier built a floodway to protect the city.

People would joke about it: Why did we spend all that money for a once-in-100-years disaster? But another flood did come in 1997 and the floodway saved the city, Gommerman says.

We have to have the same mentality around pandemic preparedness. Its an existential threat and solutions cannot be subject to politics or to shortcuts. Its going to be expensive. Its not going to be sexy. But we have to do it. We have to be ready.

Megan Ogilvie is a Toronto-based health reporter for the Star. She was also a sessional instructor in the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences at McMaster University in spring 2022. Follow her on Twitter: @megan_ogilvie or reach her via email: mogilvie@thestar.ca

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Olivia Chow is confirming a Star report that she is pondering a run for mayor, saying Toronto can be so much better.

The former NDP MP and city councillor responded in a brief statement, on Sunday, to Star inquiries about her potential mayoral candidacy.

I want to let you know I am considering running. I love this city and I know it can be so much better  for everyone, wrote Chow, would become one of the highest profile candidates in the forming, crowded race to replace John Tory.

In a story published last Wednesday, sources close to Chow said advisers were urging her to run given that other potential NDP-aligned candidates, including former councillors Joe Cressy and Mike Layton, had declined overtures.

Amid what promises to be a host of centrist and right-leaning candidates splitting that vote, Chow could target her message to progressives and potentially win with 30 per cent or less citywide support, one political organizer said.

Other progressives expected to run, with a goal of ending 12 years of right-leaning rule at city hall, including urbanist Gil Penalosa, who finished a distant second to Tory in last Octobers civic election, and Coun. Josh Matlow.

While Chow herself did not respond to an interview request, some of the people encouraging her to run did agree to speak on the record.

Kofi Hope, chief executive of strategic advisory firm Monumental Projects and an adjunct professor at University of Torontos School of Geography and Planning, helped Chows 2014 mayoral bid that ended in third place to Tory and now-premier Doug Ford.

Her response to that campaign, which didnt meet expectations, was to get out into the grassroots, and form Institute for Change Leaders, a non-profit that has trained activists in political organizing since 2016, Hope said.

Its the real deal with Olivia. She didnt just kind of go off to sip champagne with elites. Shes been on the ground with working class people, with racialized folks, with Indigenous folks, with folks who are really struggling, and helping them to organize themselves to take back power.

As to the prospect of Chow working with Ford, a Progressive Conservative, if she runs and wins, Hope noted Fords close working relationship with Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

I think some of that tension could lead to interesting solutions, for the city, said Hope, who writes freelance columns for the Star.

JP Hornick, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said Toronto needs a new mayor with municipal experience who can restore deteriorating services with a vision for what Toronto can be.

Hornick, who moved to the Eglinton Avenue and Jane Street area after long living downtown, said Chows work with activists across the city could help her, as mayor, bring a vision of how to build Toronto through the suburbs from the downtown.

While some may see (Chow) as a downtown lefty, since leaving politics she has  been able to expand who she is and really walk her values, through work with the institute, Hornick said.

I think she has a lot to offer those of us not living in the downtown core  I dont think that shes siloed herself.

Myer Siemiatycki, a political scientist and longtime city hall watcher, said Chow would face some challenges returning to politics after more than seven years.

If she runs some of her policies might overlap with those of Matlow and Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter, who is also expected to join the race, he said, adding Chow will need to remind Torontonians of her work over more than 20 years in office.

That includes her ability to collaborate across political lines to forge consensus, Siemiatycki said, noting that conservative mayor Mel Lastman appointed then-councillor Chow the citys child advocate, and tasked her and her late husband Jack Layton with working to alleviate homelessness.

People can register as a candidate in the June 26 byelection between April 3 and May 12.

Those who have committed to running include Matlow, former city councillor Ana Bailao, former police chief Mark Saunders, outspoken former councillor Giorgio Mammoliti and former Toronto Sun columnist Anthony Furey.

Those who have said they are considering candidacy include Hunter and city councillors Brad Bradford and Stephen Holyday.

Correction  March 27, 2023: A previous version of this article identified Coun. Josh Matlow as a left-leaning provincial Liberal. While Matlow ran as a Liberal in a 2002 byelection, he is not a party member.

David Rider is the Stars City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

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Toronto Public Health issued seven conditional passes to restaurants, cafes, bakeries, bars and grocery stores on March 23.

Cora Breakfast And Lunch at 861 York Mills Road received a conditional pass with three major infractions:

Fail to protect against breeding of pests

Fail to provide thermometer in refrigeration equipment

Use food equipment not of readily cleanable form

Konjiki Ramen and Saryo Cafe at 5051 Yonge Street received a conditional pass with two major infractions:

Fail to maintain handwashing stations (liquid soap and paper towels)

Mechanical equipment not maintained to provide sufficient chemical solution rinse

Michels Bakery Cafe at 3401 Dufferin Street received a conditional pass with eight major infractions:

Fail to ensure food handler in food premise washes hands as necessary to prevent contamination of food

Fail to protect food from contamination or adulteration

Maintain potentially hazardous foods at internal temperature between 4 C and 60 C

Sanitize utensils in quaternary ammonium compound solution of less than 200 ppm

Store ice in unsanitary manner

Use dirty cloth for cleaning food contact surface

Use food equipment not of sound and tight construction

Use utensils not of readily cleanable form

Pizza Pros at 36A Rexdale Boulevard received a conditional pass with three major infractions:

Fail to ensure equipment surface cleaned as necessary

Fail to ensure food handler in food premise refrains from conduct that could result in contamination of food

Fail to sanitize multi-service articles after use

Silver Pot Restaurant Vegand Non Veg at 2683 Lawrence Avenue East received a conditional pass with five major infractions:

Fail to ensure equipment surface cleaned as necessary

Fail to provide handwashing stations with adequate supplies (hot and cold water)

Fail to provide thermometer in refrigeration equipment

Use dirty cloth for cleaning food contact surface

Use utensils not non-toxic in contact with food

Tobys Food Mart at 86 Kingston Road received a conditional pass with four major infractions:

Fail to ensure storage pallets designed to protect against contamination

Fail to maintain records of pest control measures taken

Fail to protect food from contamination or adulteration

Fail to retain records of pest control measures taken for one year

Union Social Eatery at 21 St. Clair Avenue West received a conditional pass with five major infractions:

Fail to protect food from contamination or adulteration

Handwashing stations not conveniently accessible by food handlers

Store ice in unsanitary manner

Store potentially hazardous foods at internal temperature between 4 C and 60 C

Mechanical equipment not maintained to provide sufficient chemical solution rinse

A conditional pass is issued when at least one infraction presents a significant health risk, and a closure is ordered when at least one infraction presents an immediate health hazard. Both outcomes trigger an additional inspection within 48 hours. Failure to comply with Torontos DineSafe program can result in fines, court summons and other enforcement action.

Miss a DineSafe roundup? Find out which restaurants recently made the list

About this story

This story was automatically generated using open data from the City of Toronto. The Toronto Star has no role in collecting, reviewing or analyzing this data, and makes no representations or endorsements about any food premises, or the products or services offered by a food premise. Readers should review any municipal disclaimers located at the citys open data portal.

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TTC ridership has plummeted throughout the pandemic, and violent incidents have increased. Over the past year, a number of high-profile attacks have horrified Torontonians and prompted new measures from the city, the transit agency and police.

While many riders and observers have called for more police officers to help solve the problem, experts say addressing the root of the issues is key and more complicated. Several have also noted that calls for increased police presence on public transit must also include conversations about systemic racism in policing and the disproportionate impact it has on Black, Indigenous and racialized people.

The vast majority of people have no violent inclinations. But when you continue to  deprive (people) of very basic needs and access to health care, there can be unfortunate circumstances where people are very desperate, people are very exasperated, very agitated, University Health Networks Dr. Andrew Boozary told the Star in December.

These are some of the high-profile incidents that have occurred over the last year and how the city has responded.

April 7, 2022

A 21-year-old international student from India, Kartik Vasudev, is shot and killed outside Sherbourne subway station in the evening. Police say the murder is random, and later announce the suspect, a 39-year-old man also accused of another killing that occurred days before, is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

April 17, 2022

A woman is pushed onto the TTC subway tracks at Bloor-Yonge station at night. Police say she suffered a broken rib from the fall, but managed to get out of the path of the subway. The next day, police arrest a 45-year-old woman and charge her with attempted murder.

April 20, 2022

Two unions  one representing TTC constables and another representing 12,000 TTC operators and other workers  call on the transit commission to increase the number of officers patrolling the system.

At any given time, there are at least eight special constables patrolling the TTC, down from 12 the year before. The TTC reduced the minimum number of officers in 2021, citing vacancies and other absences.

Transit advocacy group TTCriders, however, says more officers arent the answer. They say the housing crisis, low social assistance rates, evictions and an overcrowded shelter system are root causes of the problem.

The TTC says it has also implemented other safety measures, including surveillance, two-way communication systems on station platforms, alarms and emergency strips, and an app where customers can report security issues.

June 17, 2022

Nyima Dolma, a 28-year-old Tibetan woman, is doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire at Kipling Station. Two weeks later, she dies. Police say there is no relationship between the victim and the attacker. The suspect is charged with first-degree murder after originally being charged with attempted murder.

Dec. 8, 2022

A 31-year-old woman, Vanessa Kurpiewska, dies after she and another woman are stabbed at High Park station. The assailant is described as a stranger. Police arrest a 52-year-old man and charge him with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Jan. 4, 2023

Mayor John Tory says the city plans to improve safety on the TTC by spending $53 million more on the transit agency and hiring 50 more special constables.

The TTC later says it plans to cut service and increase fares in response to reduced ridership, which worsened with the pandemic. Transit advocates and experts warn the move could push more people away from public transit.

Jan. 24, 2023

A 23-year-old woman is stabbed multiple times in the head and face on the Spadina streetcar in the afternoon. Police believe the attack is random, and they charge a 43-year-old woman the following day with attempted murder.

Jan. 26, 2023

Toronto police announce the service will increase its presence on the TTC effective immediately so that there are roughly 80 officers on the system at any given time. It will do this primarily by having off-duty officers working overtime.

Mayor John Tory and TTC CEO Rick Leary reiterate the citys budget plan, which will fill 25 special constable vacancies and hire 25 new ones. It also plans to add 10 more Streets to Homes outreach workers, who help homeless people find housing, to the 10 already deployed.

Feb. 11, 2023

Approximately 40 per cent of TTC users say they feel the system is pretty unsafe or very unsafe in a poll exclusive to the Star.

Feb. 23, 2023

Transit workers tell the Star about the abuse theyve been subjected to on the job, including being spat on, sworn at, threatened and assaulted. They say theyre afraid and anxious about going to work and avoid public interaction as much as possible.

Feb. 22, 2023

Violent incidents against passengers on the TTC increased by 46 per cent compared to the previous year, according to a monthly report released by TTC CEO Rick Leary. In 2022, there were 1,068 incidents, while 2021 saw 734 such incidents, 2020 saw 735 and there were 666 in 2019.

March 13, 2023

Toronto police announce they will no longer have an increased presence on the TTC, marking an abrupt end to the plan in which the service had 80 officers on transit at any given time.

The plan was costing police an estimated $1.7 million per month and could only be covered through the winter, city staff said at the last budget meeting.

March 22, 2023

The TTC begins a one-year pilot partnership with a community organization to add more outreach workers to subway stations to help people sheltering in TTC spaces. City council has allocated 500,000 for the partnership.

The CEO of the group, LOFT Community Services, says seven case managers will be hired to help those in need.

The city and TTC had already added 20 Streets to Home workers.

March 25, 2023

A 16-year-old boy, Gabriel Magalhaes, dies after being stabbed at Keele subway station in what police say is a random, unprovoked attack. A suspect fled the scene, but police arrested a 22-year-old man, who is homeless, later that night.

The murder is the fourth homicide on or near TTC property in less than a year.

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Staff and students are able to return to the classroom after a Hamilton school received a bomb threat Monday morning for the third time in a month.

Hamilton Police sent out a tweet around 9:20 a.m. about a bomb threat made against Glendale Secondary School.

Police, during the evacuation, warned residents of a large police presence in the area.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board told the Star that the school was evacuated prior to the school day around 8:30 a.m. and the call was cleared at 10 a.m. Staff and students were allowed to return to the school after it was cleared.

The school board said staff will be available if students need support if they experienced anxiety as a result of the event.

The school also sent a letter to parents that was signed by the schools principal, Dave Schroeder, detailing what happened in Mondays incident.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) takes each threat seriously and reports them to the police. Staff from Glendale and HWDSB are in contact with police during these situations. The safety of students and staff is our greatest concern, part of the letter read.

Mondays incident comes after a staff member at the school received a bomb threat last week on March 21. The school was evacuated then and searched in that incident before the threat was cleared.

The school also received another bomb threat on Feb. 27. The threat was cleared around 9 a.m. the same day.

The school board said that Mondays bomb threat was sent through email and contained a similar message to the one in last weeks incident.

Shawn McKillop, a spokesperson for HWDSB said anyone behind false threats can face consequences.

At HWDSB, we would like to enforce that threats against schools bring serious criminal and school consequences and they abuse police and school board resources. Every threat disrupts learning and causes anxiety for students, staff and caregivers, said McKillop.

Despite the strong words from the school board, police have not revealed yet if they have a suspect or if they plan on charging anyone in relation to Mondays or the other two bomb threats.

Hamilton Police did confirm to the Star that the message in Mondays incident was similar to that of last weeks bomb threat, but did not say if any of the previous bomb threats are related to this one.

Theres nothing to indicate that they are related. They do have similarities in some of the messaging thats in the emails themselves, and the email address themselves have some similarities as well, said Hamilton police spokesperson Indy Bharaj. We are not taking out that they are not linked.

When the Star asked if there is a reason why the school is being targeted, Bharaj said, that information does have evidentiary value, so we cant release that to the public.

Bharaj did add once the investigation progresses, police may release more information.

Edward Djan is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @EdwardDjan1

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The man accused of murdering a Muslim man outside a Toronto mosque in 2020 has been found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Guilherme (William) Von Neutegem, 37, had been facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of 58-year-old Mohamed-Aslim Zafis, a volunteer caretaker stabbed outside the International Muslim Organization mosque in Rexdale on Sept. 12, 2020.

Von Neutegem pleaded not guilty, and the Crown called expert psychiatric evidence that he was suffering from schizophrenia at the time.

The prosecution and defence jointly proposed that Von Neutegem be found not criminally responsible, according to a brief endorsement from Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden on Friday.

A verdict of not criminally responsible does not mean Von Neutegem is released from custody. He now falls under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Review Board, made up of judges, lawyers, psychiatrists and members of the public.

The board will annually review his case to determine, among other things, whether he should be released from a medical institution and under what conditions.

Von Neutegem had been held in the Toronto South Detention Centre since his arrest, and has been taking medication.

First reported by the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and confirmed by the Star shortly after the killing, several social media accounts linked to a person with the same name and location as Von Neutegem contained white supremacist and neo-Nazi content and rhetoric.

The shocking slaying of Zafis prompted calls for action against Islamophobia, with advocates expressing frustration at the time that little had been done to counter a wave of hate in the wake of the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting that killed six worshippers.

Politicians including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered condolences after Zafiss death. We stand with Muslim communities against such hatred, which has no place in Canada, Trudeau tweeted in 2020.

In a victim impact statement filed with the court, Zafiss only daughter, Bebi Zafis, described losing both of her parents back to back, with her mother dying in an accident in April 2020.

Their deaths have left her in a constant state of fear and anxiety for herself and her loved ones, she wrote.

She wrote that her father often told me that he loved helping others and that he got such joy from working in his community with his god by his side. He truly loved others with his whole soul, and treated others with such love and kindness.

She added: The actions of this man taking my fathers life has had such a profound impact on me and my views of the world.

When Von Neutegem was about 31 years old, he said he began to communicate with entities, felt guided by them, and thought of himself as some kind of messenger ... a reincarnation from the higher planes, according to a December 2022 report from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alina Iosif.

The report concluded he met the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

He later started having visions, and began to feel increasingly isolated, feeling that people didnt understand him, Iosif wrote. Eventually, a voice began telling him that it was time for me to find someone to kill, according to the report.

He told the psychiatrist he began to actively look for someone to kill about one or two weeks before his arrest.

On the morning of Sept. 12, the day of Zafiss killing, Von Neutegem had gone to a park and saw a woman alone, but decided not to go after her when other people approached, according to the report.

Its when he was returning to his car, as it got dark outside, that he said he saw a man sitting alone. He told the psychiatrist that he did not know the building was a mosque nor that the man was Muslim. And thats when he stabbed Zafis.

Surveillance footage showed him stabbing Zafis once in the neck. The two did not have an interaction before the killing.

I didnt think I would get caught, the conditions were OK and the universe would conspire in my favour because I was acting for the higher planes, Von Neutegem told Iosif.

He denied any interest in white supremacy, nor that he had any hate toward Muslims, the psychiatrist wrote.

At the time of the stabbing, Von Neutegem had been working as a cleaner in a waste management facility. When he was asked during the psychiatric assessment why he had photos of Nazi leaders on his cell phone, he said they were meant as a joke, to use as a profile picture for his boss in his contact list.

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering courts, justice and legal affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant

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Good morning. This is the Monday, March 27 edition of First Up, the Stars daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox.

Heres the latest on the killing of a 16-year-old on the TTC, the teen girls accused of murder and how scientists are preparing for the next pandemic.

DONT MISS:

The murder of a 16-year-old at Keele subway station leaves a family in shock

Gabriel Magalhaes was shy and sweet, his mom Andrea said. He loved snowboarding and wanted to study astrophysics in university. He worked extremely hard at school, having a passion for math and a learning disability. On Saturday night, the teens life was cut short after a stabbing that police say was a random and unprovoked attack at Keele subway station. Dhriti Gupta, Richard Warnica and Edward Djan report on Gabriel, his family and the events that transpired this weekend.

The aftermath: Police said the suspect fled the station after the attack. Later that night, they arrested a 22-year-old homeless man, Jordan OBrien-Tobin, charging him with first-degree murder. He appeared virtually in Toronto bail court Sunday morning.

By the numbers: There were 669 violent incidents against TTC passengers in 2019. In 2022, that number rose to 1,068. Violence against operators has also increased. Overall ridership is at 67 per cent of what it was three years ago.

More: When is it going to stop  this senseless violence? asked Andrea Magalhaes, who added that she believes cuts to social services play a significant role.

An inside look at the Toronto teen swarming murder case

Over the course of two months, reporter Jennifer Pagliaro has attended the Toronto court hearings of eight teen girls accused last year of killing Kenneth Lee, a homeless man. But little detail on the shocking  and unprecedented  case has been published. Why? In short, because its illegal. Jennifer breaks down the publication laws around bail hearings and cases where young people are being accused of a crime  plus other challenges that have arisen in covering this case.

Context: The accused are all aged between 13 and 16 years old. Heres what police have said about the attack that killed Lee.

More: Five of the eight girls were granted bail and released on house arrest, while three others remained in custody at youth detention facilities as of February. Heres what we know.

Go deeper: Lee was remembered as a gentle person and for his consistently kind character. This is what we know about his life.

Watch for: The Star has joined an application to get access to more information  not to publish things the law says we cant, but to have all the available context as Jennifer follows this case.

We know there will be another pandemic. Heres what four leading Canadian scientists are doing about it

Like death and taxes, its an absolute certainty, says Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist and professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto. It could happen any time between tomorrow and 30 years from now. As the world heads in its fourth year of the pandemic, four scientists tell Megan Ogilvie about their research, the developments offering hope and the worries that keep them up at night.

Wait, what? Evidence is building that climate change, paired with human disturbances of wildlife habitats, increases the risk of viruses moving from animals into humans. Many scientists say the virus behind COVID is far from the worst-case scenario.

More: Scientists are working to predict where, when and how the next pandemic will emerge.

Go deeper: While one expert in pandemic preparedness remains amazed at how the world moved to respond to the pandemic  with vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic measures  he worries about how wealthy nations have largely collected resources while leaving others behind.

WHAT ELSE:

From 22 planned stations to five. How John Torys $8-billion SmartTrack transit plan went off the rails.

Insidious, blatant and damaging. A new report lays out the nature and impact of everyday racism in Toronto.

Reversing course on transit plans is a Toronto tradition. So why not the Gardiner?

The funeral for two Edmonton police officers killed in a shooting will proceed today.

Chrystia Freelands budget has gotten a sales pitch from Joe Biden.

Mississaugas greenhouse gas emissions are up. These youth are advocating for the city to meet its climate commitments.

Could the banking crisis threaten your savings? Here are some steps you can take so you dont get burned.

Inside the cool  and the cringe  of Torontos sold-out rave for theatre kids.

This 358-square-foot studio in Toronto was listed for $460,000. Is that a good deal?

Ghost insurance brokers. Staged collisions. Heres how to spot and prevent auto insurance fraud.

Tired of tipping? These Toronto restaurants have ditched the practice.

ICYMI:

She had a life-threatening condition yet waited for hours to get help at St. Josephs emergency department. Days later, she died.

CLOSE-UP:

ZIMBABWE: Ngwiza Khumbulani Moyo, right, a vintage collector, displays some of his old radio sets on Feb. 15. While streaming, podcasts and on-demand content have overtaken radio in many Western countries, much of Africa is using traditional radio sets and broadcasts. Heres a look at the digital divide between rich countries and those where populations struggle to have reliable internet.

Thank you for reading First Up. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

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Russians hit Sloviansk with two S300 missiles: one killed, 25 wounded; two missiles hit Druzhkivka orphanage, no casualties there  Donetsk administration

As a result of the morning shelling of Sloviansk, Donetsk region, one person was killed, 25 were wounded, administrative and office buildings, five high-rise buildings and seven private houses were destroyed, Head of the regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said with updated data on the consequences of the attack.

"At least one person was killed, 25 injured, administrative and office buildings, five high-rise buildings and seven private houses were destroyed  these are the consequences of today's shelling of Sloviansk," he said on the Telegram channel on Monday.

According to the administration, the strike was carried out "in the center of the town at about 10:30 by two S300 missiles." "Information about the number of victims in Sloviansk is changing  the rescue operation is ongoing. I will report on its progress later," the administration's head said.

In addition, as Kyrylenko said, at the same time, Druzhkivka was hit by missiles  two S300 missiles hit Druzhkivka orphanage and almost completely destroyed it.

According to preliminary information, there are currently no victims or injured.

According to the State Emergency Service, rescuers extinguished the fires of three cars after a terrorist attack in Sloviansk. "A person was also rescued at the site of the attack," the service said on the Telegram channel.
A former Republican governor of Vermont has sued Middlebury College, his alma mater, accusing it of cancel culture behavior for removing the name of another former governor and Middlebury graduate from the campus chapel for what the school said was his role in eugenics policies in the early 1900s.

Former Gov. James Douglas filed the breach of contract lawsuit against the president and fellows of the Vermont college on Friday as special administrator of John Abner Meads estate. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and to have the Mead name restored to the chapel.

Without any warning or public discussion, Middlebury announced in 2021 that Mead Memorial Chapel would no longer bear the name John Mead, Vermont governor from 1910 to 1912 and Middlebury Class of 1864, due to (Governor Meads) role in promoting eugenics policies in the state that led to the involuntary sterilization of an estimated 250 people, wrote Douglas who served as governor from 2003 to 2011.

This language makes a grossly distorted claim of the type that has become all too common in the current cancel culture in which we live. Such a claim is not what one would expect from an internationally renowned liberal arts college, the 79-page lawsuit states.

Middlebury College said Monday that it had received the complaint but could not discuss pending litigation. Middlebury officials said in 2021 that Mead Memorial Chapel was named after John Mead and his wife when they gave $74,000 to the school in 1914 to create a new, prominent chapel on the highest point on campus. Two years before that, Mead had strongly urged the legislature to adopt policies and create legislation premised on eugenics theory, they said.

In spring 2021, the Legislature apologized to all Vermonters and their families and descendants who were harmed by state-sanctioned eugenics policies and practices that led to sterilizations. Some Vermonters of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, as well as poor, rural white people, were placed on a state-sanctioned list of mental defectives and degenerates and sent to state institutions. In 2018, the University of Vermont decided to remove a former school presidents name from the school library because of his support of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont and its leader, a UVM professor. The following year, the outgoing president of UVM apologized for the schools involvement in eugenics research, calling it unethical and regrettable.

The lawsuit states that the chapel was not named for John Mead but was named in memory of the Mead family ancestors who embodied the values that were symbolized by the Chapel itself. It was built by Mead as a place for divine worship and as a meeting house, designed to symbolize the simplicity and character of the people of the Otter Creek Valley and the State of Vermont, the lawsuit states.

By removing the name, Middlebury breached that agreement and promise, and obliterated any memory of the selfless acts and the altruistic contributions John Mead made to his nation, state, county, town, church, and to Middlebury College itself, Douglas wrote in the lawsuit.

Mead and other family members fought in the Civil War. He also was a beloved physician in Rutland; a businessman and philanthropist; and was elected to the state Senate in 1892. He served as lieutenant governor before becoming governor, the lawsuit states.

The basis for the name removal was Gov. Meads support, in his farewell address of 1912, for proposals to restrict the issuance of marriage licenses and to appoint a commission to study the use of a new operation called a vasectomy, which was a safer and more humane process of sterilization, the lawsuit states. But claims that his comments caused sterilizations to happen 20 or 30 years later is factually baseless and legally unjust, Douglas wrote.

The problem with imposing our 21st century world view on actors who lived over a century ago lies in judging and ostracizing them for mainstream views prevalent in the society of the time, the lawsuit states.

___

Rathke reported from Marshfield, Vermont.

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TOKYO (AP)  A Japanese student showed up to graduation as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys lookalike, wearing his signature olive-colored, snug-fit T-shirt and khaki trousers to show his support for Ukraines fight against Russia.

Most graduation ceremonies in Japan feature graduates in suits or formal dress. But Kyoto University has its own tradition of students who opt for different attire on their special day.

This year, Zelenskyy was the star at the event.

I am President Zelenskyy, the student told local TV network Yomiuri. He said it took him three months to grow his beard. He decided to be his lookalike for the graduation ceremony Friday, because since December, when I was growing out my beard, I was told I look like President Zelenskyy.

His performance was not just a comical cosplay. The student, who goes by Amiki on Twitter, was holding a sign carrying messages expressing his support for Ukraine, along with a passage from Zelenskyys speech in December at the U.S. Congress.

In the video from TV Osaka, he said he respects Zelenskyy as the real man among men.

We stand for Ukraine! Justice will prevail in the end, I hope so. Glory to Ukraine, he tweeted.

The student also held a wooden shamoji  a rice serving spoon  like the one that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented to Zelenskyy as a gift during his secret trip to Kyiv last week. The rice paddle is a specialty of Hiroshima, where Kishida is from, and bears a prayer for victory, but was bitterly criticized by opposition lawmakers as nonsense.

Giving a rice serving spoon to the leader of a country at war didnt seem appropriate, the student said. Nonetheless, Im happy if the Ukrainian people were pleased and the traditional prayer behind it was conveyed.

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky retweeted a scene from the video of the Zelenskyy lookalike, as well as the students tweets showing solidarity for Ukraine.

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WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Prosecutors in northern Poland said Monday a foreign national suspected of spying for Russia will remain in custody for three months until an investigation is completed.

Prosecutors in Gdansk responsible for military matters said the foreigner, whose identity has not been released, admitted to having passed sensitive information to Russian intelligence.

The suspect has been in European Union-member Poland since January and has collected information on key infrastructure and security procedures in the countrys north, spokeswoman Grazyna Wawryniuk said.

Polands gas terminal and key ports are located in the north.

A court granted a prosecution request to keep the suspect in custody for three months to assist investigators. The suspect faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

This is the latest in a number of arrests of individuals suspected of spying for Russia since Moscows Feb. 24 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Poland has remained a staunch supporter of Kyiv.

Earlier this month, Polish authorities detained nine people suspected of being members of a Russian espionage ring preparing acts of sabotage. Meanwhile, a Spanish journalist who also has a Russian passport has been in custody for over a year on espionage allegations.

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkeys foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador to strongly condemn the French senates decision to host Syrian Kurdish groups that Ankara considers to be terrorists, the Turkish state-run news agency reported Monday.

Pierre Laurent, vice-president of the French Senate, announced on Twitter Saturday that he hosted a delegation from northeast Syria last week to discuss the situation in the region. Media reports said the senate awarded medals to members of the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, and its womens branch, the Kurdish Womens Protection Units, in recognition of their fight against the extremist Islamic State group in Syria.

Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish officials protested to French Ambassador Herve Magro and reiterated Ankaras expectations of solidarity from its NATO allies in its fight against terrorism. They also asked France not to support alleged efforts by Kurdish militants to gain international credence, according to Anadolu.

Turkey considers the two groups as extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a nearly four-decade long insurgency in Turkey and is listed as a terror organization by the United States and the European Union.

The United States and other countries however, regard the Syrian Kurdish groups as key allies in the fight against IS and have extended support to the organizations, frustrating Turkey.

That frustration is partly the reason for Turkey delaying Sweden and Finlands membership to NATO.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  The remains of a U.S. airman whose plane was shot down over Germany during World War II have been accounted for, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Monday.

U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Edgar L. Mills, 25, of Tampa, Florida, was shot down July 18, 1944, during a bombing raid on enemy aircraft and air defense installations around Memmingen, Germany, the agency said in a news release.

The pilot of the B-17G ordered the crew to bail out. Six crewmembers parachuted to safety, while five others, including Mills, were believed to have remained on board, the news release said.

Mills body was not recovered at the time, and Germany never reported him as a prisoner of war, the agency said.

In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command was tasked with recovering missing Americans in Europe. Investigators searched the crash site in Germany and discovered two other sets of remains.

The War Department declared Mills dead on July 26, 1951.

In 2012, an investigation of a crash site near Kimratshofen, Germany eventually led to a mission that recovered possible human remains in 2018.

A team from the University of New Orleans continued work at the Kimratshofen site and transferred recovered material to a lab at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

There, scientists used dental records, mitochondrial DNA and anthropological analysis to identify Mills.

He was officially listed as accounted for on Feb. 13.

Mills name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Epinal American Cemetery in Epinal, France. A rosette will now be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Mills will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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On March 18, Bob Rae encouraged the nations praising the International Criminal Courts indictment of Vladimir Putin to consider ratifying the Rome Statute themselves.

Its unclear which country Canadas ambassador to the United Nations was referring to, though likely Ukraine, which never ratified the statute and would welcome an ICC case against Putin. Perhaps because of the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, many thought Rae was referring to the United States, which, like Israel and Russia, consider themselves to be outside the ICCs jurisdiction.

Raes statement exposes an inherent hypocrisy that nominally law-abiding nations like Canada participate in: were champions of a rules-based international order only when it suits us.

Though Canada is a full party to the Rome Statute (and is legally obligated to arrest Putin, should he ever enter our territory), we have a bad track record of turning a blind eye to the alleged war crimes committed by our friends.

Canadas position regarding Israel is a good demonstration of our inconsistency. When the ICC sought to investigate allegations of war crimes against both Palestinians and Israelis, Canadas position was that, since it doesnt recognize a Palestinian state, it wouldnt recognize Palestines accession to international treaties.

Never mind that Palestine accepts the ICCs jurisdiction, or that Canada has voted in favour of Palestinian self-determination. Justin Trudeau reportedly sent a letter to the ICC, discouraging them from investigating these claims. One might consider that a kind of foreign interference with the rules-based international order Trudeau ostensibly supports.

The problem here isnt just that our leaders are hypocrites, but that their hypocrisy is actively undermining the very order they claim to uphold.

Ukraine could also be investigated for war crimes, including torturing Russian POWS, deliberately threatening civilians and the execution of surrendering Russian soldiers. While the crimes committed by Putin are greater in number and far more heinous, if both nations were held to the same standard, both would be investigated. Canada, as Ukraines ally, should not only encourage Zelenskyy to ratify the Rome Statute, but provide full support to any ICC investigation of Ukraines conduct during the war.

The reason Putin was charged with war crimes related to the abduction of Ukrainian children, and not the bigger issue of launching a war of aggression, is because this would open the door to war crimes investigations against the United States for its role in the illegal invasion of Iraq.

This isnt theoretical either: the Pentagon is blocking the Biden administration from sharing evidence of Russian atrocities with The Hague for fear it may set a precedent that would lead to the eventual prosecution of Americans. And those crimes arent necessarily limited to the invasion of Iraq either: if the Nuremberg laws were applied to U.S. presidents, every one dating back to Truman could be indicted.

This isnt because the definition of war crimes is so broad, or because the ICC has an anti-American bias. Its because American presidents consider themselves above the international laws they claim to enforce.

There is a strong case to be made that Barack Obamas extrajudicial drone strikes constitute war crimes. Similarly, Joe Bidens assassination of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri was also illegal and worthy of an ICC investigation. These arent the opinions of radical activists either, but the conclusions of a growing number of experts.

If Canada wants to advocate for a rules-based international order, we need to be consistent in its application and critical of those who advocate violence to preserve their advantage. Both Russia and the United States have made such threats, though the Americans went a step further and made the threat a law.

We need to make a choice: continue playing the role of the American empires handmaiden, or insist on peace, order, and good (world) government. We cant have it both ways any longer.

Taylor C. Noakes is an independent journalist and public historian.

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The availability of apartments and units that can be rented is staggeringly low. Because vacancy is so tight, competition in the open market has intensified, lifting rental prices along the way.

In Canada, rent for a two- bedroom unit rose 5.6 per cent in 2022. Some of the highest rental prices were recorded in Ottawa-Gatineau at 9.1 per cent, Toronto at 6.5 per cent, and Calgary at 6 per cent.

Less housing stocks, higher prices. The marketplace and our elected officials all knew this would happen. Real estate agencies and land developers all but jumped for joy at the prospect of selling homes that sold for $350,000 a few years ago and are now selling for three times that. Bidding wars drive prices ever higher.

So much for independent home units. What about apartment buildings? Are they being built? In Quebec they are but not in the numbers needed.

Why do developers not build rental units/apartments? Well, developers would need to look upon such builds as long-term investments, waiting some time to get back their costs and make some profit. Building other types of homes guarantee immediate compensation, gratifying their profiteering.

Why do regional, city and provincial governments prefer housing builds of larger houses? The revenue they make of course. Even Premier Doug Fords push to have 50,000 houses built in a few years centres upon individual homes being sold, not rented. Has our economic system forgotten the small fry, the average Canadian who does not make a salary over $100,000 annually?

Yes it has, and the reason for this forgetfulness is that the wealthy and mid-level middle class hold greater influence upon these elected officials. They are the same people, while the dirty unwashed working stiff has very little in common with real estate agents, developers and elected officials too.

A true class system with regards to housing exists in Ontario and Canada. Are the New Democrats crying out loud for reforming of this system? No, they are not. They want to represent the higher ups, those with excess revenue and economic purchasing power.

A housing revolution is needed, not just in Ontario but across this land. Why wont governments put their hands into building affordable rental units? They have the funds, the regulations to make sure these units are made appropriately and in a timely manner. The very power of the elite, real estate and developers lobby, will always sway our elected officials away from competing with these financial aggressors.

Only the average Canadian worker, student or senior who care about their childrens future, can force this issue before politicians. Protests like those who gathered in Ottawa last spring could change the way our representatives represent us. A wee revolution we need in deed.

Housing and shelter are human rights. So get off your couch and gather with like-minded neighbours to demand real affordable housing.

Steven Kaszab is a sales professional and historian.

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Last week, many Canadians were gratified to learn that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russias Commissioner for Childrens Rights.

They are alleged to have directed the mass abduction of Ukrainian children and their indoctrination into Russian culture, the culture of their peoples enemy.

We know without thinking that this is a monstrous crime. But can we, at the same time, ignore what it means about us?

At its heart, the story of Canada is the story of kidnapping at enormous scale.

Take the Indian out of the child, our first prime minister entreated. And dutifully we set to work. We passed legislation, erected buildings, founded institutions and branches of government. We set in motion the inexorable power of the state, power fettered only by democracy, and those civilized enough to vote agreed it was for the best.

There must have been dissenters, but we do not know their names.

Our police officers, our federal agents, our social workers and our clergy took Indigenous children by the hand. Sometimes with force. Always with the cruelty of our collective shaming.

We said we would make them less stupid, less crude, less like their parents and their people.

We did not think of equality or acceptance. After they spoke our languages and practiced our religion, we would continue to despise them all the same.

When societies are without children, generation after generation, everything dies. The knowledge of millennia, the knowledge of how to live as a people  it all withers to nothing.

Cultural genocide, our former Chief Justice has called it. The single indelible mark Canada has made on human history is the deliberate erasure of cultures  many, many cultures  some partial, others total.

Many Indigenous children didnt survive our hatred and our violence. We regularly learn of more small bones found underground, mixed up, unmarked. But many did survive, and many are now doing the work of rebuilding what they can, together with their children and grandchildren.

We know from their example that we cant say we have to move on, because we dont. We can still insist on justice.

In recent years, the Prime Minister apologized. So has the Pope. Money has been paid; reports written. There is agreement now that regrettable choices were made.

But no one has done to Canada what the ICC did last week to Russia. No Canadians have faced charges of crimes against humanity.

By the ICCs definitions, there may be those alive today who should, but the ICCs jurisdiction extends only to acts committed after 2002. Criminal justice will have to be a domestic concern and we arent about to go there. Because although there were individual perpetrators, it was also us. It was Canada. It is Canada.

And Canada isnt ready to take responsibility. Not really. Not yet.

Ian Kennedy is an Aboriginal rights lawyer practicing at Rosenberg Law in Vancouver.

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A 16-year-old boy might look like a man sometimes, but hes still a child, especially if he is your child. Hes still becoming the grown-up he will be, still a ball of pure gangly daydreaming potential. You can still nag him about homework and housework, still remind him to brush his teeth, still give him long lectures on Toronto Maple Leafs history or teach him the best techniques for making omelettes.

And you can still take him in your arms and squeeze him close to you and whisper in his ear how much you love him and vividly recall the day when you first did that in a hospital room moments after he was born. It may be awkward, I admit  he may look at you like youve lost your marbles. But you can still do it. I recommend it.

Especially if youve just been ugly crying alone while you wash the dishes, contemplating the possibility of a day when he wont want you to hug him anymore. Or worse  far worse  a day when you cannot.

We first heard about the death of Gabriel Magalhaes, the 16-year-old boy who was stabbed at Keele subway station over the weekend  according to police by a stranger in an unprovoked attack  through the neighbourhood parents grapevine. My own son is the same age, and in the same grade, as Gabriel and though they went to different schools, our families have plenty of friends in common. I have sat with my own son and his sisters waiting for the bus on the very same bench at Keele station where he was attacked.

I have no claim to mourning the loss of this boy I never knew but, still, I spent much of Sunday shaken by his death, thinking of his mother whose bottomless grief I cannot imagine, praying I never get the occasion to fully understand it.

Every premature death is a tragedy, opening a whole universe of suffering for parents or spouses or children coping with being left behind. And every murder in this city sends out ripples of sadness and fear among a broader community of us who, even as strangers, feel some small share of the shock and measure of the loss. Proximity doesnt change the scope of a tragedy, but it can be a magnifying glass for our perception of it.

In many of the scariest, highest-profile crimes over the past decade in Toronto, theres been an element of that could have been us: in the Danforth shooting rampage, victims were just out getting dessert at main street cafes; in the Yonge Street van attack, people were just walking down the street; same with the cases in January of former CBC journalist Michael Finlay who was assaulted by an apparently unprovoked stranger while walking along the Danforth and 89-year-old Xiaoxia Wang who died after an apparent stranger shoved her to the ground downtown; and the case in December of Vanessa Kurpiewska who was stabbed to death on the subway platform at High Park station; or the one last summer of Nyima Dolma who was suddenly set on fire on a TTC bus in Etobicoke. Each happened, suddenly and without warning, in an environment where we could imagine ourselves having been on those days, but for the grace of God.

This one, this week, feels incredibly close to home for my family. It could have been us.

On Sunday, when I was discussing this with some other local parents, one wondered if she should let her own teenage son take the TTC home that afternoon. Some of us thought of our children who ride the subway to school every day. Outside Keele station on Monday morning, where a makeshift memorial to Gabriel featuring teddy bears and photos and flowers had been erected, reporters were asking commuters how they felt about riding transit after this. A lot of us feel scared. How can we not?

I try, in my life and in my job, to keep a sense of perspective. To not let rare horrifying incidents poison my perception of the world. There are almost two million trips a day taken on the TTC and there have been four murders on or near TTC property in roughly the past year. The risk remains statistically small.

And yet it can be hard to feel reassured. That lightning strikes rarely doesnt diminish the devastation it can cause when it does.

And yet, what can we do? I mean, even if you put a cop in every subway station, how could they intervene to prevent sudden, unprovoked attacks launched without warning? Earlier this year, after a wave of fear about violence on the TTC, many officials and experts spoke of mental health services, and there has been lively discussion of the same at city hall and Queens Park to start this week. It is probably true that this must be a big part of any strategy to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

And yet in some fearful part of our minds, for many of us, it still feels like not enough. Because probably nothing would be enough. What many of us desperately long for is some guarantee that when we send our children out into the world they will return safely. Confronting the fact that no such guarantee is possible is a hard thing. Maybe one of the hardest things.

I have known too many parents who have experienced the death of one of their children. As I have tried to offer whatever gravely inadequate words of consolation I can, they have told me again and again: Hug your own children and tell them you love them. You cannot know what the future holds, or if sickness or accident or violence will come uninvited into your life. So treasure each day you have with the people you love.

And so, we try to teach our kids as best we can to navigate the world in confidence rather than in fear. To protect them as best we can from the threats we can foresee, and support them as best we can in pursuing their interests and passions. To love them the best ways we know how, and make them know they are loved.

And to hold them as tight as we can, as often as we can, as long as we can. Even if it gets awkward.

It still feels like not enough, but it is what we can do. And in some moments, we might have occasion to realize how grateful we are that it is still something we can do.

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The number of victims of the morning shelling of Sloviansk has increased to two, the number of wounded, up to 29, among the wounded there is a child, Head of Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

"Updated: at 13:00, two killed, 29 wounded in Sloviansk are known," he said on Facebook.

Earlier, Kyrylenko reported one killed and 25 wounded.
It was December 1909. In Lahore, the 24th session of the Indian National Congress was underway with Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya delivering the presidential address. The Presidentship of the Congress is the highest honour that can come to any Indian, he said, commenting that he felt unworthy of occupying the chair filled in the past by eminent men. As he began the proceedings, he offered tributes to two past Presidents ~ Mr Lalmohan Ghose and Mr Romesh Chandra Dutt. To Mr Ghose will always belong the credit of having been the first Indian who made a strenuous endeavour to get admission into the great Parliament of England To Mr Dutt a passionate lover of his country who united to a noble pride and deep reverence for its glorious past, a boundless faith in the possibilities of its future, he said.

It is February 2023 and in the 85th session of the Indian National Congress in Chhattisgarh, there is no remembrance or homage to past presidents of the stature of Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya who was a four-time President: in 1909, 1918, 1932 and 1933. Pandit Nehru referred to him as a Mahapurush who ever since Congress was started, had been a unique symbol of our political movements. Malaviyaji had a big role in its inception, in its making and its growth. In its present phase, Congress is ignoring, marginalizing its unique legacies and contributions made towards nation-building over the last 137 years.

When a young Madan Mohan Malaviya attended the Calcutta session of Congress in 1886, Dadabhai Naoroji was its President. The 25-year-old youth from Allahabad spoke passionately during a session on Indian Representation and it caught attention of the stalwart President who remarked the voice of Bharat Ma has been reflected in the voice of this youth.

Raja Rampal Singh of Kalakankar was impressed by the young mans oratory and clarity of thought; he offered Madan Mohan the post of editor of Hindostan, a daily newspaper being published by him. From 1887- 1889, as editor he wrote prolifically, rousing readers to take up national causes. From 1889 to 1892, Madan Mohan completed his law studies and began his practice, first at the district court and by 1893 he had moved to Allahabad High Court.

A lesser-known facet of Pt Malaviyas life is his commitment to journalism and ability to write on subjects of national and international importance. Even when his legal practice grew, he continued editing dailies and contributing to magazines. In 1907, the publication of Abhyuday commenced, followed by Leader in 1909.

With the Indian National Congress, Pt Malaviyas association grew with every passing year. In 1901, he was chosen as the Vice Chairman of Allahabad Municipality; in 1903, he was appointed member of the Provincial Council (a post he held until 1912). Though he was raising issues concerning freedom and rights of Indian public, his firm opinions were not opposed even by British officials.

By 1904, Pt. Malaviya was working on his dream project ~ the establishment of a Hindu University. He presented his plans to Kashi Naresh Prabhu Narayan Singh and by January 1906, the proposal for the establishment was approved in a convention of the Sanatana Dharma Sabha.

In 1910, he was chosen as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council, the august body where he remained till 1920 working alongside some of the richest, wealthiest, and most powerful Indians of the time. In 1911, with the formation of the Hindu University Society in November, Pt. Malaviya quit his legal practice and devoted himself to the project of establishing the Banaras Hindu University. It became his lifes mission, and despite his involvement in political agitations like the Home Rule Movement, the foundation stone of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was laid on 4 February 1916.

To make his dream project a reality, Pt. Malaviya spared no efforts; he utilized his network to reach out to heads of Princely States, wealthy traders and businessmen, landowners, and common people of India to contribute towards the establishment of the Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya. He brought Dr. Annie Besant, the great freedomfighter, on board, along with Raja Rameshwar Singh, several Maharajas, including the Nizam of Hyderabad and Maharana of Udaipur, who contributed handsomely to the cause of education, nationalism and national pride which Pt. Malaviya had roused through this project.

Sir Harcourt Butler introduced the Banaras Hindu University Bill in March 1915. Pt. Malaviya, in his address, said, It (the University) will not promote narrow sectarianism but a broad liberation of mind and a religious spirit which will promote brotherly feeling between man and man. Unfortunately, we are all aware that the absence of sectarian religious Universities, the absence of any compulsory religious education in our State Universities, has not prevented the growth of sectarian feeling in the country. I believe, my Lord, instruction in the truths of religion, whether it be Hindus or Mussalmans, whether it be imparted to the students of the Benares Hindu University or of the Aligarh Moslem University, will tend to produce men who, if they are true to their religion, will be true to their God, their King and their country. And I look forward to the time when the students who will pass out of such Universities, will meet each other in a closer embrace as sons of the same Motherland than they do at present. Around this time Pt. Malaviya was reverentially addressed as Mahamana, a man with a big generous heart, by both Gurudev Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi.

In 2023, visitors to BHU can benefit from a large exhibition at the Malaviya Centre for Ethics and Human Values highlighting the glorious history of BHU. The exhibition is utilizing visual resources, documents, and letters of the Pt. Malaviya Archives. Said Dr Dhrub Kumar Singh of the Department of History, we want students from all disciplines to be aware of BHUs history and the contribution of the Mahamana. The exhibition will travel across the sprawling campus giving students and visitors a glimpse of BHUs past and how the modern progressive vision of the Mahamana became a reality in a city considered to be the oldest, most ancient in the world. Adding new perspectives to timelines of history is Dr Ajay Pratap of Department of History. An ethno-archaeologist he has, since 2009, been leading teams of archaeologists, ethnographers, social anthropologists into Mirzapur district and Sone Bhadra valley. Dr Pratap revealed, We have been studying, documenting pre-historic painted rock art in the north Vindhyan region. It takes us back to 10,000 BCE or 13,000 BCE, he explained, along rivers, streams and waterfalls, innumerable human settlements were present here. The painted rock art is a unique source of history not merely the origins of art as practiced by our pre-historic brethren.

Across scrublands and rocky landscapes, human life evolved; a pastoral economy grew and spread across the alluvial plains. Till date in villages and urban centres of the Gangetic plain one can witness rearing of cows, buffaloes, cattle, living off forest resources, fishing and hunting.

These became a way of life, seemingly unchanging and timeless. Allahabad University and BHU archaeologists, historians have spent decades unearthing, discovering origins of agriculture and pastoral life in a vast region covering several districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

Dr Pratap and his team are raising awareness on preserving these distinctive pre-historic sites of world heritage spread across the Vindhya ranges. Just as the Mahamana laid foundations of modern education in age-old Varanasi to decisively shape Indias future, the preservation of pre-historic human settlements holds a similar promise: of bridging our globalizing future to an ancient past, adding immense value to our knowledge of human evolution. When political classes demonstrate their inability to respect the past, heritage often seems to be losing its edge.

When the iconic status of the Mahamana, his pioneering work and contributions to humanity are not acknowledged, it could be pessimistically read as a national loss. A redemption of sorts was found in the words of a security guard at the Malaviya Bhavan on BHU campus, when he said to a visitor, Come at any time, we live here to serve Malaviya ji.

Undoubtedly, cultural-social legacies of Mahamana Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya continue to live, at the grassroot levels where he worked, and at the highest echelons of academia whose foundations he laid 107 years ago.

(The writer is a researcher on history and heritage, and a former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya)
My sister, who teaches high schoolers history in a Delhi school is partly responsible for the nomination of Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank. I know that sounds weird but let me explain. No, she does not know President Biden, or Ajay Banga for that matter. But she teaches a kind of history that is not widely taught outside India. It is a history that stretches beyond the national frontiers of a single country and expands the mind. It is a global sweeping timeline that takes in the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the coronation of William of Orange; it links the fiscal military might of the British Raj in India with their machinations in Central Asia. It teaches Indian students that there is a whole big, wide world out there beyond India which is open to critical analysis and linkages. It helps them see the arc of history as it should be seen  as a seamless whole. And my contention is that this outward gaze in Indian education, the desire to understand the world as an interconnected whole has led to not just holistic education but a whole generation of leaders in the corporate world and global stage, of whom Banga is only the latest.

The Indian immigrant success story is well documented, particularly in the US. What connects Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Arvind Krishna of IBM, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, Rakesh Kapoor of Reckitt, Indira Nooyi of Pepsi, Leena Nair of Chanel and Raj Subramaniam of Fedex, amongst many other successful Indians, is the fact that their basic education, high school and undergraduate degree, was done in India. Many of them came to the US for a post graduate degree but their foundational knowledge and world view was shaped by early education in India.

Given the fact that they are of a certain age, I can assume their school syllabus was much like mine. Certainly, when I was growing up in India, there was an important global component to History, Geography and Economics. In fact all social science disciplines had a global angle in addition to the Indian one. So we studied the Rhine and the Rhone in addition to the Ganga and the Godavari, we learnt about the Prairies and the Steppes as well as the Deccan plateau and we could reel off the causes of the first world war as easily as we could account for the Nawab of Bengals defeat in the Battle of Plassey. When I contrast this with the way social science syllabi are created in middle and high schools in the US and the UK, I find there is a breadth of vision that is totally missing in the West. So American high schoolers will learn in detail about the civil war in the US and know which general led the confederate army; but very rarely will there be a comparative stream to see this in context by studying world history. Comparative courses are offered at college level but because it is specialized education at this stage, the courses are pretty niche. There are no basic broad stroke history and geography lessons as in India. My Western-educated children call Trivial Pursuit an Indian school exam, and with good reason. Anyone going through the Indian system will know the name of the highest mountain in the world (in feet and meters), the length of the longest river, the main crops of Brazil, the highest value export item of Belgium and much, much more. While all this knowledge is not by itself useful for running a company, leadership roles require a breath of vision, a global perspective and an ability to join the dots in an increasingly inter-connected world. And the Indian education system certainly gives that.

Never have I realized the value of my early education more than now  when as a fellow at Stanford University, I take classes with very smart young people from a different school system. I find myself speaking very differently from my American classmates and to their credit, they respect the diversity I bring to the classroom. In a recent British history class, when someone wondered why Christians (Catholics and Protestants) were fighting each other in Ireland, I pointed to the pattern of the British empire: conquer, divide by religion and rule. And when it gets too messy, partition and leave. They did this in India and Pakistan, in the middle east and in Ireland. The class digested this in thoughtful silence.

Similarly, when we were studying transitioning gender in a Feminism class and the conversation drifted towards choice and free will, I pointed out that the hijras of India have no free will or choice in who they are. A baby with deformed genitals (a source of shame to the family) is given away to the eunuchs and has to earn a life through begging. This is less about gender and choice and more about poverty and lack of choice.

On another occasion, our class was animatedly discussing the gender of smart household devices like Siri and Alexa and wondering why they were all-feminine sounding except Echo from Amazon. Now I have never studied classics or Greek mythology, but I knew that Echo was a nymph and hence there was a feminine connotation here too. My classmates agreed. How I knew this obscure fact confounds me  maybe we got extra marks for knowing the Greek Pantheon and Zeuss love interests or maybe some enthusiastic teacher told us the story of Echos curse when we went on a school trip and experienced echoes coming back to us in a valley. I cannot remember, but it doesnt matter. What matters is that I had ingested this Greek myth from an all-Indian school in an all-Indian childhood and was able to contribute to a discussion at Stanford decades later!

I am not the only one speculating on the Indian CEO success story. Several theories have been advanced. Indian CEOs born in India, it is said, go through a wringer as far as competitive exams go  the IIT acceptance rate is only 2 per cent compared to approximately 3.2 per cent for the just accepted Harvard class of 2027. They are used to competing since they come from a nation of 1.4 billion people. They are humble and hard working. They know English well. They are used to American values such as debate and dissent. They understand American society because they have seen a plural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious society in India.

I acknowledge and accept all of these reasons, but I do feel they leave out an important one. The role of a CEO is by definition global, and Indians not only have a global perspective through early education; they have a lived experience of emerging markets. It is not language skills or the understanding of the American consumer that will help sell more soft beverages or coffee; it is the knowledge of new markets.

Living in multiple countries at different levels of development also contributes to adaptability, flexibility and agility in decision making.

My sister tells me these days the school syllabus in all subjects is less global than in our time and more focused on India. This is a pity. In an age when we live and work in a globalising world, a wider knowledge of that world can only be a good thing.

(The writer is currently a 2022 DCI Fellow at Stanford University USA. She lives in London and is the author of East or West: An NRI mums manual on bringing up desi children overseas.)
Four industrial parks are coming up in Howrah and they are likely to fetch Rs 4,450 crore in the next 2/3 years.

This was disclosed at a Synergy and Business Facilitation Conclave 2022-23 which was held at Sarat Sadan in Howrah last week.

The proposed parks will come up at Ranihati where an MSME park will be set up, Industrial park at Anantapur, Foundry park at Ranihati and Mini Foundry park at Jagatballavpur. In addition to this a light engineering park is coming up in Howrah on 60 acres of land which will be developed by the Cluster Development Association.

Speakers at the synergy said there is possibility of investment to the tune of Rs 6750 crore taking the total amount to Rs 11, 200 crore and more than 1.6 lakh people will get direct and indirect employment.

State minister Arup Roy, Chandranath Sinha, Saha Sabhadhipati, all the MLAs of Howrah and senior bureaucrats including Rajesh pandey, principal secretary MSME department, U .Swaroop, director, MSME, Nikhil Nirmal, MD, WBSIDC, Mukta Arya, district magistrate of Howrah were present at the day long synergy.

About 500 entrepreneurs from Howrah participated. In 2022, a total of 3622 statutory clearances and approvals related to land, pollution fire power, factory license, and SWID were issued.

From the platform statutory clearances, banks loans, tool kit were handed over to 40 entrepreneurs.

Through renovation was done to the Zari hub in Sankrail. A modern machine worth Rs 25 lakh has been installed for the nefevit of the zari workers. Tool kits will be provided to 159 jewellery artisans associated with Domjur jewellery cluster.

A common facility centre has come up at Ankurhati Gems and Jewellery Park. Mr Chandranath Sinha said the state governments main thrust is now the MSME sector and it is doing well.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said freedom of the Press and the Constitution of India were the two main pillars of democracy in the country. He was inaugurating the centenary celebration of the India Journalist Association (IJA) at Kolkata Press Club this morning.

Addressing the gathering the Governor said once a very senior journalist had raised a question whether a government without newspapers or newspapers without government was to be preferred, and the answer was newspapers without a government. Attacks on the freedom of Press was detrimental to the society, he reiterated.

Referring to the IJA he said centenary celebration of the organization means a centenary of vigilance. Sekhar Sengupta, former general secretary of IJA, S Sabanayakan, former president of IJA and Snehashis Sur, president, Kolkata Press Club, spoke at the meeting.

Mr Sur said Kolkata Press Club was the oldest press club in Asia and lauded the effort of the Governor to read and speak Bengali.

The Governor has to his credit 40 books written on different subjects. CV Ananda Bose said when the country was celebrating Azadi ka Amrit mahotsav, it was the Press which was giving the Amrit to the people by informing them on various issues and matters.

In a lighter mood the Governor referred to a report which was published following the Shimla Pact when ZA Bhutto had come to Shimla. He said: One journalist had asked Bhutto do you know anything about the night clubs of Shimla. Bhutto replied he had no idea.

Next morning there was a headline in a news paper ~ Bhutto does not have any idea about Shimlas night clubs. He concluded his speech by quoting from Rabindranath Tagores poem, Where the mind is without fear.
The Navyug School, Sarojini Nagar, run by the Navyug School Education Society (NSES), will again start giving admission to meritorious students in Class VI, an official from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) said.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct an entrance test for the merit based admission in a completely transparent manner.

This change will, however, not be applicable for admissions in all other 10 branches of Navyug Schools and the Primary Wing of Navyug School, Sarojini Nagar where admissions will continue to be held as per the existing norms.

For the entrance exam, admission forms can be filled through online mode between March 25 to April 5 on NTA website https://nssnet.nta.ac.in. Detailed information related to the entrance examination is available on the website.

Facilitation centres have also been set up at all Atal Adarsh Vidyalayas and Navyug Schools where teachers will help the parents to apply online for the entrance test for their wards.

According to the Education Department of NDMC, Navyug School, Sarojini Nagar is celebrating its golden jubilee. Navyug School, Sarojini Nagar was opened in the year 1973 for meritorious children who were selected through an entrance exam conducted by NCERT in UPSC Hall for admission in class VI. Later the entrance examination was discontinued as primary classes were started in the school. The last admission test was held in the year 2002.

For the past several years, there has been a demand from the school administration and alumni that special status be given to Navyug School, Sarojini Nagar by resuming entrance test policy for admission in Class VI. Their demand has been approved in the NSES General Body Meeting.

Navyug School, Sarojini Nagar has a glorious history of 50 years. Equipped with all modern facilities, it has been a torch-bearer of Gurukul traditions and pioneer in child-centred education. Former students of this school are achieving excellence in their fields within the country and also abroad.
Ram Charan, one of the most popular and talented actors in the Telugu film industry, turned 38 on Monday.

Born in 1985 in Hyderabad, Ram Charan, son of famous actor and politician Chiranjeevi, started his career in the film industry in 2007 with the movie Chirutha. He then went on to star in numerous successful films like Magadheera, Racha, Naayak, Yevadu, and Dhruva. His performance in these movies earned him a huge fan following not just in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana but all over the world.

Apart from being an actor, Ram Charan is a producer and entrepreneur. He has produced movies like Khaidi No. 150, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, and Acharya. He also launched a production house called Konidela Production Company to promote new talent in the Telugu film industry.

Known for dedication, hard work, and commitment to his craft, Ram Charan is praised for his philanthropic activities and involvement in various charity events and initiatives. In 2017, he donated Rs. 2 crore to the Chief Ministers Relief Fund for the victims of Cyclone Hudhud.

RRR star Ram Charan had a pre-birthday celebration on the sets of RC15. The actor received a grand welcome on the set with flowers being showered on him by the crew members and his loved ones as his followers have gone gaga since his movie RRR has bagged an Oscar award for the Best Original Song, Naatu Naatu. The actor is seen cutting cake with his co-star Kiara Advani and director S Shankar.

Taking to instagram, fans and colleagues of Mega Power Star wished him a happy birthday. Many celebrities from the film industry also wished him and praised him for his talent and contributions to the industry.
Bhojpuri actress Akanksha Dubey has committed suicide by hanging herself in a hotel in Varanasi on Sunday. Police said that Bhojpuri actress Akanksha Dubey, 25, committed suicide by hanging herself in room number 105 of Hotel Sumendra located in Buddha City Colony, Sarnath.

Police have taken the body into custody and sent it for postmortem. At the same time, the forensic team is busy collecting evidence from the room. Akanksha was originally a resident of Parsipur, Thana-Chori, Bhadohi but was currently staying in Basai, Palghar, Nalasopara East Mumbai, Maharashtra.

She was in the city for the shooting of Bhojpuri film Layak. Police said the actress had gone outside the hotel at 8.30 pm on March 25 to attend a birthday party. She returned back to the hotel late in the night at around 1.55 am.

On Sunday, at 10 am when her doors were knocked but when she did not open it, it was opened through the master key. Then it was found that she committed suicide by hanging herself from the fan with a dupatta.

The reason for the suicide has not been revealed yet. Akanksha Dubey was very fond of dance and acting from a young age. She often posted dance videos on social media.

Earlier on Saturday night, the actress also shared a video on her social media Instagram account. The Bhojpuri actress had also won accolades for her performances in hit films like Veeron Ke Veer and Kasam Badna Wale Ki 2.

Akanksha uploaded a poetry story on her Instagram account about 23 hours ago. It reads: I will follow your path, whether it takes time, either you come, or it will be the destination.
Ukraine's MFA in response to UN report: Freedom of religion is not same as right to be engaged in activities undermining national security

Ukraine is a democratic state in which freedom of religion is guaranteed, but freedom is not the same as the right to engage in activities that undermine national security, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko said, commenting on the concern of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights about searches in the buildings of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC MP).

"In a recent report on human rights in Ukraine, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that searches in the buildings of the UOC MP could be of a 'discriminatory nature.' Ukraine is a democratic state in which freedom of religion is guaranteed. At the same time, freedom is not the same as the right to be engaged in activities that undermine national security," Nikolenko said on Facebook on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on OHCHR to refrain from "unbalanced political assessments, but to base its reports on facts."

Earlier, in a UN report on the human rights situation in Ukraine over the last six months, they said "OHCHR is concerned that the actions of the state against the UOC may be discriminatory."

"OHCHR also recalls the necessity of ensuring that all those facing criminal charges enjoy the full spectrum of nonderogable fair trial rights," the UN said in the report.
Popular Malayalam actor and former Lok Sabha member Innocent passed away on Sunday night in Kochi. He was 75.

Innocent, a cancer survivor had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi for the last three weeks with breathing issues.

Known mostly as a comedian for his unique style and dialogue delivery, the actor had acted in around 600 movies.

The veteran actor, in his illustrious career spanning over 50 years, has never failed to make the Malayalees laugh, both on and off screen.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2014 general elections from the Chalakkudi constituency in Kerala as an independent candidate backed by the CPI-M.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep grief over the demise of Innocent. In a tweet, Modi said Pained by the passing away of noted actor and former MP Innocent Vareed Thekkethala. He will be remembered for enthralling audiences and filling peoples lives with humour. Condolences to his family and admires. May his soul rest in peace.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his condolence message said Innocents demise is a huge loss for Kerala.

His effortless screen performances and political interventions have made him an indelible part of our cultural memory, said Pinarayi Vijayan
North Korea tested a new underwater nuclear weapon earlier this week capable of spawning a radioactive tsunami, Pyongyangs state media said on Friday.

Separately, the North also conducted a cruise missile drill using missiles tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead as it slammed the combined military exercises between South Korea and the US as an actual drill for occupying Pyongyang, Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a report.

The Central Military Commission of the Norths ruling Workers Party (WPK) commanded the drills from March 21 to 23 in order to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis and verify the reliability of the nuclear force for self-defence, Yonhap News Agency quoted the KCNA as saying.

The underwater nuclear attack drone was deployed off the coast of Riwon county, South Hamgyong province, on Tuesday and reached the target point in the waters off Hongwon Bay set as a mock enemy port with its test warhead detonating underwater on Thursday afternoon, it said.

The drone cruised along an oval and pattern-8 course at an underwater depth of 80 to 150 meters in the East Sea of Korea for 59 hours and 12 minutes.

The North claimed that the drones, designed to stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami to destroy naval striker groups and major ports of its enemies, can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation.

North Korea began developing such underground nuclear weapons in 2012 to outpace the military and technical superiority of the imperialist aggressor forces, the KCNA said.

The secret weapon was named unmanned underwater nuclear attack craft Haeil' at the eighth congress of the WPK in 2021 and has undergone more than 50 shakedowns in the past two years, it added.

The North also test-fired strategic cruise missiles tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead, according to the KCNA.

It said two Hwasal-1 strategic cruise missiles and two Hwasal-2 strategic cruise missiles, launched in South Hamgyong province, accurately hit the target set in the East Sea.

The missiles flew on their programmed 1,500km- and 1,800km-long oval and pattern-8 orbits for 7,557 to 7,567 seconds and 9,118 to 9,129 seconds respectively.

South Koreas military earlier said it detected multiple cruise missile launches from the Norths eastern city of Hamhung on Wednesday morning.
The temple of Brajeshwari is located in the town of the Nagarkot Kangara district of Himachal Pradesh. Originally built by Pandavas at the time of Mahabharata, the temple, as the mythology goes, was dedicated to an incarnation of Sati, wife of Lord Shiva who burnt herself as atonement for the humiliation meted out to her husband by her father.

Devastated by her death, Lord Shiva wandered throughout the universe carrying her dead body on his shoulders. To ease his pain, Lord Vishu cut Satis body into several pieces with his Sudarshan Chakra. These pieces of the goddess fell on various parts of the earth and wherever her body parts fell the place called Shaktipeeth.

One of the main parts of Satis body fell in the Kangra region where Brajeshwari Devi temple is situated. The temple is surrounded by several deities. This temple is slightly inclined towards the north. The temple has a silver dome and several silver chhatras are endowed by devotees to the temple.

The temple is supposed to have been founded after Ashwamedha Yagna which was held on the spot.

Legend has it that one day Pandavas dreamed of Goddess Durga pointing out to them that she is situated in the Nagarkot Village and that if they want them to be secure they should build a temple for her in that area, otherwise they will be destroyed.

The same night they built a magnificent temple in her memory in Nagarkot. The temple was looted several times in the past, as it used to contain tonnes of gold and many ghantas made of pure silver. It is said Mahmud Ghazni invaded the temple in 1009 AD. In 1360, the temple was plundered and desecrated by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in an invasion of Kangra.

The temple is said to have been visited by Emperor Akbar and his diwan, Todarmal. Akbar restored the temple to its pristine glory. According to another account, the temple was built during the reign of Shahi Mohammed, who has been identified as Mohammad Saiyyed who ruled from Delhi during 1433.

At the time of the foundation of this temple, Sansar Chand was the king of Kangra.

In 1905 the temple was destroyed by a powerful earthquake and was subsequently rebuilt by the government.

This temple is visited by thousands of people from across the world during Navratri festivities. It is said the goddess fulfils all the wishes of her devotees.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday lashed out at the Congress drama over Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Lok Sabha and questioned whether leaders of the Opposition party will continue to wearing black clothes after their black deeds.

Thakur also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi claiming that that he was not ready to accept the verdict by Surat court which convicted him in a 2019 defamation case on his Modi surname remark. Dressed in black clothes, members of Opposition parties earlier today marched from Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk in protest against the Centres inaction over the Adani issue.

Rahul Gandhi and Congress have been insulting the OBC community. Has the Congress party stopped believing in the courts? Rahul Gandhis arrogance is such that he did not apologise to the OBC community, or in the court. He is not ready to accept the courts judgment. The order was of the court. His membership ended soon after the court delivered its verdict. Why are they creating this drama now? Thakur said.

They are not letting the Parliament session run for one man who goes abroad and insults India. And when he returns, the Parliament cannot run if he does not speak. Will the Congress party keep on insulting the OBC community like this? Will Congress keep wearing black clothes after doing black deeds? Will the party now resort to black magic to save itself? the union minister.

Asked about assertions by Rahul Gandhi that he would never express any regret for criticising the BJP-led government, Thakur stated that the Congress leader can never be Veer Savarkar even in his best dreams as it as it required strong determination and love for the country.

Gandhi had recently in a press conference stated My name is not Savarkar, it is Gandhi and Gandhi never offers an apology.

Rahul Gandhi can never be Savarkar. Savarkar never went abroad to roam for six months. He was dedicated to the countrys freedom. Rahul Gandhi can never be Veer Savarkar but he should have respected former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Nehru. He insulted them also along with Savarkar. A post stamp was issued (on Savarkar) during your government in 1970. Indira Gandhi had written a letter and talked about Savarkars contribution, he said.

Earlier today, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhis disqualification as Lok Sabha MP and said that the opposition leaders are wearing black attire to show that democracy is being trampled in the country.

Kharge alleged that the Centre used the probe agencies to bend those who did not bow before the government.

I thank the opposition leaders for raising their voices against Rahul Gandhis disqualification. Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didnt bow, Kharge said.

Explaining the advantages of the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition said that there will be transparency after the report is out. He further questioned the government stating that there will be more number of representations from the BJP and its allies in the JPC.

They ask for authenticity for everything in the Parliament. The government has not been able to answer the questions raised by us. MPs of 18 parties are here today. Not a single party is missing. We are asking for a JPC on the matter.

The truth will come out. Records will be checked. Whatever will come out, will be known to all. There will be transparency. Why are you scared of constituting a JPC? You have a majority. You (BJP) will have more members in the JPC or will have your allies, he said.

You are scared which means that there is something fishy. So we are all together today to show unity, Kharge stressed.

Opposition MPs held a meeting today at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Kharge in the Parliament building to formulate the strategy for the day.

The opposition parties which participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction).

Trinamool Congress MPs also participated in the meeting which came as a huge development following Rahul Gandhis suspension as MP from Lok Sabha.

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been a critic of the BJP, supported Rahul Gandhi. In PM Modis New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of the BJP! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches. Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy, the TMC Supremo had earlier said.

Kharge welcomed TMCs move to participate in the meeting stating that anyone who comes forward to protect democracy is welcome.

I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us, the Congress chief said.
The Prayagraj Police will bring Mafia don Atiq Ahmed from Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad to Prayagraj. Atiqs brother Ashraf, presently lodged in Bareilly jail will also be brought to Prayagraj.

A police team reached Sabarmati Jail on Saturday and they will bring Atiq to Prayagraj by road. Another police team is in Bareilly to bring Ashraf. A 40-member police team led by IPS Abhishek Bharati has been sent to bring Atiq.

Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said here on Sunday that the court has fixed March 28 as the date for pronouncing the verdict in an old kidnapping case. In this case all the accused have to be produced in the court.

He said that a police team has been sent to Sabarmati Jail to bring the accused mafia Atiq Ahmed, to produce him in the court. In this case Atiqs brother Ashraf will also be brought to Prayagraj from Bareilly Jail, he added.

According to sources, the sentence in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case may be announced on March 28.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav apprehended that Atiq could meet with an accident on his way from Ahmedabad as predicted by a state minister. Yadav alleged that UP Minister JPS Rathore had predicted that the vehicle carrying Atiq would meet with an accident.
Sai Gayatri of BITS Pilani declared national winner of the 2nd teaser round of NICE 2023.

V Krishna Sai Gayatri of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (Hyderabad campus) was on Sunday declared the national winner of the 2nd Teaser Round of the National Inter-college Crossword Expedition (NICE) 2023.

While Sarvesh Kumar of Government Engineering College, Vaishali, Bihar, topped the East zone, Raushan Kishor of Nandini College, Nawabganj, Uttar Pradesh, won the North zone. Pranjal Prakash of the Lakshmi Narayan College of Technology, Kalchuri Nagar, Madhya Pradesh; Navya Sri Arutla of BVRIT Hyderabad College of Engineering for Women; and Charagundla Sailaxmanof the National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya,topped West, South and Northeast zones, respectively.

The 1st Teaser Round of NICE 23 was held on March 19. The Teaser Rounds were held with the objective of warming up the participants and make them aware about the format of the competition.

With the completion of the 2nd Teaser Round, the stage is set for the formal launch of the nationwide contest on April 2 with an online Practice Round.

This will be followed by three online scoring rounds on three consecutive Sundays on April 9, 16 and 23 in Stage I of the three-stage contest. While the first stage is in online mode, the rest of the two stages will be offline. Stage II will comprise five Zonal Finals in designated cities and Stage III will witness the National Finals in Delhi.

Being organized by the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the contest aims at challenging the students mental mettle and provides an opportunity for bringing laurels and National recognition to the institute. It is open to students of any college, university or deemed-to-be University recognised by the University Grants Commission.

The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is a partner in the exercise. Civil society initiative Extra-C has received the AICTE mandate for conducting the competition through the three stages across the country.

The free-of-cost registration will remain open throughout Stage I on www.crypticsingh.com.

The official website of Extra-C will also be the hosting platform of Stage I and any other online activities associated with the contest, said Rituraj chief coordinator ( NICE 2023), Extra C Patna.
In a big boost to rural employment, the Centre is entering into a pact with 19 captive employers and providing them with a target to train and provide gainful employment to 31,067 rural poor youths under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) with a minimum salary of Rs 10,000 per month for a minimum period of six months.

Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh will be the chief guest at the MoU signing ceremony in New Delhi tomorrow. On the occasion, he will also distribute appointment letters to a few candidates who had got similar training under the DDU-GKY and were placed with captive employers.

Based on the direction of the minister, the Ministry of Rural Development launched the captive employment guidelines under DDU-GKY to ensure that the candidates are trained as per the industry requirement and employed. The captive employment model allows the employer to select the rural youths and skills and deploy them in one of its own establishments or subsidiaries.

The RTD (Recruit, Train & Deploy) model has been developed to address the needs of the industry on the one hand and ensure sustainable placement for rural youth on the other hand. The model will be a win-win situation for the industry, the government & the rural poor youth. The industry will be able to provide more hands-on training at the job site itself as per its requirement while the government will ensure longer placements (minimum six months) for rural poor youth candidates.

The captive employment guidelines will increase the direct involvement of the industry due to the benefits provided to the industries for encouraging them to participate in the DDU-GKY programme thereby ensuring a large quantity of employment for rural youths. A few of the benefits provided to the captive employers are the topmost priority in target allocation, waiver of performance bank guarantee and waiver of quality appraisal process and fees.

The basic objective of DDU-GKY is to provide gainful placement in a sustainable manner to rural youth after skilling.
Various Congress MPs on Monday gave suspension of Business Notice under Rule 267 in respective Houses of the Parliament to discuss the Governments failure in constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Adani Group issue.

The MPs who gave the Notice in Rajya Sabha include Pramod Tiwari, Ranjeet Ranjan, while Manickam Tagore gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha. That this House do suspend Zero Hour and relevant rules relating to Question Hour and other businesses of the day to discuss the Governments failure in constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (J PC) to investigate the serious charges of corporate fraud, political corruption, stock-market manipulation and financial mismanagement against the Adani Group, Pramod Tiwari said in his Notice.

Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan gave suspension of Business Notice under rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the Governments failure in constituting a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Adani Group issue.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore also gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss the Adani Group issue and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha filed a suspension of business notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to discuss the attempts being made by the ruling dispensation to eliminate political opponents through frivolous criminal cases across the country, disqualifying them as elected representatives and putting prominent members from the opposition behind bars in order to suppress the voice of the opposition.

Meanwhile, the like-minded opposition parties are likely to hold a meeting in the Rajya Sabha LoP chamber in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor of the house, according to sources.

On the other hand, the BJP has issued a three-line whip for its MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha on Monday for the passage of important Bills in the Upper House, sources said.

The government has listed two Bills for passage in Rajya Sabha including The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 and The Appropriation Bill 2023.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2023-24. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week without discussion amid din in the Lower House.

Sitharaman will move The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2022-23.

The Finance Minister will also move The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-23. The Bill has also been passed by Lok Sabha without discussion.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha on March 24 passed the Finance Bill 2023 with several official amendments amid din created by sloganeering by the Opposition parliamentarians who continued with their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman tabled 64 official amendments to the Finance Bill which was tabled in Parliament on February 1 along with the Budget proposals.
CPI- M Kerala Secretary MV Govindan on Sunday said that his partys stance on the issue regarding the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha should not be mistaken as support for the Congress leader.

Govindan said the CPI-M has not declared support to Rahul Gandhi in connection with his disqualification from the Lok Sabha. Instead, the party came out against the anti-democratic action of the BJP-led government against Rahul Gandhi and this should not be mistaken as the partys support to Rahul Gandhi, he said.

Govindans clarification came in the backdrop of the statements of Congress Kerala leaders expressing doubt over CPI-Ms declaration of solidarity with Rahul Gandhi over his disqualification.

Senior Congress leader and Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan on Saturday said here that on the one hand, the chief minister and the CPI-M made statements supporting Rahul Gandhi and at the same time directed police to brutally attack protesting activists of KSU and youth Congress workers.

Soon after his disqualification, several CPI-M leaders including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came out in support of Rahul Gandhi, calling his disqualification as an assault on democracy by the Sangh Parivar Condemning Rahul Gandhis disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said the hasty move is the latest chapter in the ongoing assault on democracy by the Sangh Parivar.

Pinarayi Vijayan said that the growing intolerance towards criticism has been endangering Indian democracy. In light of the development, democratic forces in the country should stand together and condemn the action against Rahul Gandhi, he added.

Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan on Sunday said that when Rahul Gandhi created a big wave against the Modi administration, the CPI-M members, including the Chief Minister have expressed solidarity with him by posting messages on social media to get the share of peoples ire against the Modi government.

The truth is now out. It was not to support Rahul Gandhi but to get the share of the peoples ire against the Modi government that the CPI-M leaders have condemned Rahuls disqualification, Satheesan said.
The government has initiated several steps to ramp up domestic coal production in order to achieve self-reliance to meet the demand from all sectors.

Some of the major initiatives undertaken in this direction include Single Window Clearance, amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to allow captive mines to sell up to 50 per cent of their annual production after meeting the requirement of the end use plants, production through MDO mode, increasing use of mass production technologies, new projects and expansion of existing projects, and auction of coal blocks to private companies/PSUs. 100% Foreign Direct Investment has also been allowed for commercial mining.

The domestic coal production has increased by 8.67 per cent in 2021-22 over the previous year. In the current financial year till February 2023, the domestic coal production has increased by over 15 per cent compared to the same period of last year.

Most of the requirement for coal in the country is met through indigenous production/supply. The focus of the government is on increasing the domestic production of Coal and to eliminate non-essential import of coal in the country, Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

An Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) has also been constituted for the purpose of coal import substitution comprising representatives from different ministries. This committee provides a platform for discussions on a larger forum with the administrative ministries so as to guide them to encourage the coal consumers of their respective sectors to eliminate imports of coal.
Official Beijing does not support Russia's intentions to move tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, Foreign Ministrys spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference.

"Last January, the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states issued a joint statement stating that a nuclear war cannot be won or waged, stressing that wars between nuclear-weapon states should be avoided and strategic risks should be avoided. In the current circumstances, all parties should focus diplomatic efforts on the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and jointly contribute to defusing the situation," said a representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, SOHU reports.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday lashed out at Rahul Gandhi who was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP recently, and said that the Congress leader should fight the courts action in the court instead of speaking against Veer Savarkar.

You are getting an ass to run a horses raceThey really deserve to do some serious introspectionPeople of India would judge them for what they areFight Courts action in the Court, you are invoking Mahabharat and Savarkar, Puri said. On Friday, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his Modi surname remark.

In April 2019, he made the remark how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka. The court approved Rahul Gandhis bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts.

After his disqualification, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he was not Veer Savarkar and that he will not apologise.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital a day after he was convicted in a defamation case and subsequently disqualified from Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday My name in not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi. Gandhis dont apologise to anyone.

He further stated that he is not scared of going to prison and that his disqualification from Parliament was aimed at distracting people from the Adani issue.

Meanwhile, Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today attended the Parliament session by wearing black clothes.

Besides Rahul Gandhis disqualification, the Congress has since the start of the Budget session of Parliament been registering their protest over the Adani-Hindbenburg issue and questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modis relation with the Adani Group. Congress had demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue and staged protests in the Parliaments ongoing Budget Session.

The ongoing second part of the Budget Session began on March 13 and will continue till April 6.
The Haryana government will set up a venture capital fund in Padma programme to accelerate development for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) advancement which will promote young entrepreneurs and provide boost to startups.

Presiding over the review meeting of Padma on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana Dushyant Chautala, who also holds the portfolio of industries and commerce department, said the state government has budgeted for a venture capital fund of Rs 200 Crore to support young people starting businesses.

Chautala said the state government has started the One Block-One Product initiative under the Padma scheme of the Central government.

The objective of this initiative is to promote micro and small enterprises at the block level by taking advantage of the cluster approach and promote balanced regional development.

He said in the recently presented budget also Rs 1,000 Crore has been proposed for Padma in the next five years, through which new innovative incentives like designing, branding, marketing and export promotion scheme will be introduced.The deputy CM said incubation centers will be set up to encourage youth to set up startups and promote entrepreneurship among youth with requisite skills and assistance will be provided for loans from banks, financial institutions and venture capital funds.

Chautala said about 12 places have been identified for setting up industries under Padma, soon the places in the remaining blocks will be finalized and people will be encouraged to set up industries. He said a plan has been prepared by the state government to make 6 schemes for Padma in which provision will be made to give various incentives etc.
The Central reserve police force (CRPF) along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police provided special weapon training to Village Defence Guards (VDG) at Kalakote in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri.

More than 300 members including both old and new members trained by the CRPF in the Kalakote during the special drive by the CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir police. A special drive was conducted at villages in different areas like Tatapani, Broh, Sialsui, Potha and Solki of the Kalakote subdivision.

Earlier conditions turned severe here, and locals were terrified and relocating to a new place. Its a good initiative that training is been provided to VDG. I request members to join the training and protect themselves. During the training, we were informed how to keep the weapon and how to use them, and now We are not scared.

I request that more members come and take training and learn how to protect themselves so that in future we can fight ourselves, said Manshad Ali, a VDG member.

CRPF started this initiative and gave us training and cleaned the area. And we want them to come in every village and provide training to us, trained our sisters and wife, so that our nation can be protected, we are hindustani and we are ready to stand with our forces to protect our country, said Gulzar Ahmed, another VDG member.

Earlier on January 10, CRPF along with the Jammu and Kashmir police provided training to the Village Defence Guards at the Kandi area of Rajouri District. The training was provided after the attack on the civilians in the district on January 1.

The training was provided so that VDG can act as the line of defence in case of any terrorist attack.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday ordered officials to crackdown on those indulging in electricity theft in Jammu and Kashmir.

The LG was chairing a high-level meeting to review the power scenario.

He appraised the multi-pronged strategies to meet the high electricity demand in the summer season and directed for integrating reforms for making the power sector robust and resilient.

The Lt Governor directed for effective enforcement through a dedicated enforcement wing for detection of theft of electricity, wrong metering, enquiring into public complaints, unauthorized extensions in load and surprise checking.

The Lt Governor also directed for immediate steps to ensure functioning of all the meters on 11 kV and repair of the damaged meters within one month. Smart meters must be saturated feeder-wise to protect consumer interests and quality standards. It will empower the consumers and help them to conserve energy and usage in an efficient manner, the Lt Governor said.

He also sought a report on steps taken to reduce AT&C losses. He further directed the department to fix the responsibility and draw up an action plan for reducing the losses within a specific timeframe.

The Lt Governor emphasized on training and capacity building of PDD staff; online registration of new consumers; massive awareness drive; proper maintenance of power infrastructure and constitution of teams of officers for monitoring physical condition of equipment.

The Lt Governor passed explicit directions for ensuring power supply to new industrial estates and railway tunnels.

The Lt Governor also reviewed the steps taken towards quality control; completion of languishing projects, revenue realization and network strengthening.

Rajesh Prasad, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department, briefed on the effective measures taken to bridge the demand and supply gap.

It was informed that additional capacities were created during the winter to enable peak demand and 10 per cent more power was supplied as compared to last year.
Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday moved an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha against Rahul Gandhis disqualification.

The notice states, That this House do suspend Zero Hour and other businesses of the day to discuss the disqualification of Shri Rahul Gandhi.

The disqualification of Shri Rahul Gandhi from the membership of the House was a hasty and erroneous decision and not in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution of India.

Article 102 (1) (e) of the Constitution provides that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.

The notice says, Article 103(1) provides that the decision as to the disqualification of members lies with the President of India. Further, Article 103(2) lays down that a decision on disqualification by the President must be preceded by mandatory consultation with the Election Commission of India.

The notice further states, Section 8(3) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 which triggered the disqualification mandates conviction and sentencing as two conjunctive prerequisites for disqualification which were not fulfilled since Shri Rahul Gandhis sentence has been suspended for 30 days.

Tewari said the action is in violation of the basic principles of natural justice, contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, and beyond the legal competence of the Secretariat of Parliament.

Under these circumstances, the House must adjourn to discuss this matter concerning the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, the notice said.
Wearing black attires, Opposition lawmakers, led by Congress, on Monday undertook a march from the Parliament House to Vijay Chowk here to protest against the Centre over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and the Adani controversy even as the BJP termed the protest a drama being enacted to mislead the people.

The Opposition MPs raised slogans against the Centre at Mahatma Gandhis statue at the Parliament complex and demanding the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) over the Adani issue. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the former party president Sonia Gandhi also joined the protest.

Holding a banner of Satyameva Jayate, the Opposition members took out the protest march from Mahatma Gandhis statue outside Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk, carrying placards and shouting slogans, seeking a probe into the Adani saga.

Trinamool Congress, which had earlier indicated that it wont participate in the protests, also joined the march.

The protests took place soon after both the houses of Parliament were adjourned amid noisy scenes by opposition members.

Earlier in the day, the Opposition MPs held a meeting at the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharges Parliament chamber to evolve a strategy for the day. The Opposition parties that participated in the meeting include DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI(M), RJD, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J-K NC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction). Trinamool Congress MPs were also present at the meeting that came as a surprise development following Rahul Gandhis disqualification as Lok Sabha MP.

Addressing the media after a joint Opposition march, Kharge hit out at the Centre over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhis disqualification and said that the Opposition leaders were wearing the black attires to show that democracy is being trampled in the country.

He alleged that the Centre used the probe agencies to bend those who did not bow before the government.

I thank the opposition leaders for raising their voice against Rahul Gandhis disqualification. Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didnt bow, Kharge said.

Reacting to the Oppositions protests, Union Minister Anurag Thakur slammed the Congress saying: Rahul Gandhi continuously insulted the OBC community and did not apologise to them. They dont obey courts order. Why are they creating this drama now? He can never be Savarkar as Savarkar never went on a foreign tour for six months.

He further said, They are not letting the Parliament session run for one man who goes abroad and insults India. And when he returns, the Parliament cannot run if he does not speak. Will the Congress party keep on insulting the OBC community like this? Will Congress keep wearing black clothes after doing black deeds? Will the party now resort to black magic to save itself? the Union Minister said.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, at a press conference, alleged that the Congress party is not letting Parliament run and is also misleading the people through its statements. He said the Grand Old Party is not letting Parliament run and is trying to mislead the people. The Congress MPs are holding Black Shirt protests against Rahul Gandhis controversial disqualification from the Lok Sabha. He also questioned whether the Congress wanted to disrespect the law.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri lashed out at Rahul Gandhi saying the Congress leader should fight the courts action in the court instead of speaking against Veer Savarkar.

Earlier, addressing the media after a joint opposition march from the Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk, the Congress president, while explaining the advantages of the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, said that there will be transparency after the report is out.

He further questioned the government stating that there will be more number of representations from the BJP and its allies in the JPC.

They ask for authenticity for everything in the Parliament. The government has not been able to answer the questions raised by us. MPs of 18 parties are here today. Not a single party is missing. We are asking for a JPC on the matter. The truth will come out. Records will be checked. Whatever will come out, will be known to all. There will be transparency. Why are you scared of constituting a JPC? You have a majority. You (BJP) will have more members in the JPC or will have your allies, he said.

You are scared which means that there is something fishy. So we are all together today to show unity, Kharge stressed.

Calling it a black day for democracy, Kharge said that the government disqualified Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha with lightning speed and emphasised that neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Ppposition parties will be deterred.

In Rahul Gandhis case, what he said in an election rally in Kolar, Karnataka, the case is filed in Surat, Gujarat. Because you wanted a favourable government. You want to use the police, you want to use, I cant say judiciary, but you want to use for your purpose to defame Rahul Gandhi. It is a black day in democracy. The BJP government disqualified Rahul Gandhi with lightning speed. Rahul Gandhi will not be scared. The opposition parties will not be suppressed no matter how much you try to do so. We will not bow. We will try to launch a campaign in this regard, he said.

Talking to a news agency, Kharge said, If you take the law into your own hands, democracy will be finished. No one will have the freedom to speak. So we are protesting. Why is the government silent on how Adani became such a big man? We want JPC.

Congress and its allies staged protests in parts of the country including in the National Capital against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as MP from Lok Sabha with some wearing black clothes while others sporting black bands in their respective places.

The Indian Youth Congress workers were detained in Delhi after they protested over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP.

Congress MLAs arrived at the Odisha Assembly today wearing black shirts, in protest against the Central Government and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. The House was adjourned till 4 pm today amid sloganeering by them.

In Bihar, where Congress is in alliance with Mahagathbandhan comprising of JD(U), and RJD, the leaders of the alliance staged a protest march in Patna, sporting black bands, against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

Congress MLAs arrived at the Tamil Nadu Assembly in Chennai, wearing black shirts in protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. The MLAs also carried placards in his support.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended its March 17, 2023 interim order staying the trial court proceedings against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a 2014 case in Uttar Pradesh arising from his election campaign.

Extending the interim order saying the trial court proceedings, a bench of Justice K M Joseph and Justice B V Nagarathna adjourned and ordered its listing in May as no lawyer representing the Uttar Pradesh government was present when the matter was called for hearing.

The court, in a brief order, said the stay of proceedings shall continue.

In the last hearing of the matter on May 17, the apex court had issued notice on Kejriwals plea against Allahabad High Court order refusing his plea for discharge from the case.

During the election campaign in 2014, Kejriwal had allegedly said that those who believe in Khuda wont be pardoned by Khuda if they vote for BJP.

The high court while dismissing Kejriwals plea had said that it appeared that Kejriwal is threatening the voters in the name of Khuda knowing fully well that if he uses the term Khuda, some set of voters belonging to different religions might have been influenced.

During an earlier hearing, the bench had expressed disapproval of the statement made by Kejriwal saying, Why are you bringing God? In a secular country, leave God alone. God doesnt need anyones protection. He can take care of himself.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal had then said, Sometimes during political campaigning, unintentional things are said.
Dozens of activists of the Jan Jagaran Shakti Sangathan (JJSS) took to the streets to protest the attacks on democracy by the state at the bordering district Araria in Bihar. Their main demands were that the government must stop using the ED and the CBI to intimidate opposition leaders.

The arrests of Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia, while ministers of Delhi Government, the constant harassment of Laoo jis family and the recent disqualification of Parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi, from the Lok Sabha, were all sighted as examples of Government exigencies.

The JJSS activist alleged that while opposition leaders were being targeted, non-party political leaders like Medha Patkar, Harsh Mander and others were also not being spared by the Government and being harassed through false cases.

They also said that recently NREGA Sangahrsh Morcha (NSM) leaders, including Prof Jean Dreze, activists Richa Singh and many students were detained at Delhi University where they had gone for a talk. They were detained at the Maurice Nagar police station and left only after hours of questioning.

Ashish Ranjan, a senior activist of the JJSS and the NSM, said that the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, from parliament, without due process, is a similar attack on democracy.

Talking about the details of the matter Ashish said A lower court in Gujarat gave a 2 yearjail sentence to Rahul Gandhi, in a criminal defamation case. And without due notice or process he was expelled from Parliament, he alleged.

In 2019 Rahul Gandhi had in a speech during Karnataka elections asked why all thieves had Modi title, taking a potshot at Narendra Modi. A BJP MLA from Gujarat Poornesh Gandhi went to Surat court with this statement of Rahul Gandhi.

Poornesh Gandhi asked that Rahul Gandhi should be asked to come for each hearing. When the Magistrate refused this plea, Poornesh Modi, went to High Court and got a stay on the case, he alleged.

Recently Rahul Gandhi made a scathing attack on Adani, questioning Modis coincidental travels with him. After this the Surat case was reopened by Purnesh Modi, and at lightning speed things happened, he alleged.

It was a coincidence that a new Judge has also been appointed, who moved the proceedings at lightning speed and Rahul Gandhi was convicted with maximum punishment in a criminal defamation case, even if the sentence was for a day less, Rahul Gandhi could not have been expelled from Parliament. So the real intention of this action is to protect Adani and prevent Rahul Gandhi from fighting elections, he alleged.

Ranjit Paswan, a ward councillor from Araria Ward NO. 6 and also an ex-General Secretary of the JJSS, said this is a political battle and the country can only be saved if we bring a pro-peoples government back to power.

Devi, a woman leader who also addressed the gathering said We are duty bound to come out in protest against attacks on democracy and that is why we are on the streets today.

The gathering was also addressed by CPI district Secretary Dr S.R. Jha, youth leader Abhishek Kumar and Naushad Alam.

Among those present in solidarity were members of the Araria Auto Drivers Sabyasachi, Arun Yadava and others. The cultural and youth team, which included Jaimanti, Doli. Among others to address the crowd were also old timers of the JJSS like Kamayani Swami.
Perturbed by the way some of the Congress leaders claimed that tribes are not Hindu, the Opposition BJP has castigated the grand old party for its ideological decline which rejects broader concepts of Hinduism.

Accusing Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel of trying to divide Hindus, Vikas Markam, chief of BJP tribal wing, said this is why his minister, Kawasi Lakhma, openly claims that tribals are not Hindus and demands a separate religious code for tribes.

Terming the demand extremely unfortunate, the tribal leader said it reflects on a shameful political compulsion to reject the broader concept of Hinduism. Minister Lakhma has shown his ideological decline by denying the legacy and tradition of his forefathers by worshiping and flattering the feet of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said.

Claiming that the Congress party has set an agenda in Chhattisgarh to divide Hindus, Markam said Kawasi Lakhma frequently utters such things to promote the agenda. He further claimed that conversion activities have grown exponentially in Bastar under the patronage of the incumbent Congress Government in the state.

Continuing his attack on the government and the missionaries for recent attacks on tribes, the BJP leader said both have joined hands against the tribals now like they did in Narayanpur where 300-400 people attacked tribals who were defending their age-old practices and traditions, he said. Similar incident took place in the Tokapal area of Jagdalpur.

Markam said that the tribals and other people have gradually woken up to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghels Divide Hindus strategy. No matter how hard the Congress, Chief Minister Baghel and his ministers try, they simply cannot destroy the tribal civilization and culture, nor can they divide Hindus.

No matter what deity they believe in, whether they live in the plains or in the forests, we all living in India are Hindus and are one, the tribal leader declared in no uncertain terms adding that the Congress conspiracy to divide Hindus and destroy the civilization and culture of tribals under the guise of a deadly agenda of religious conversion will never be allowed to succeed.
Two people were shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California on Sunday, the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office said.

The sheriffs office stated the shooting occurred around 2:30 p.m. (local time) at the Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society temple. Both of the victims are in critical condition, the sheriffs office said.

Sacramento County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said the shooting is not related to a hate crime and described the incident as a shootout between two men who knew each other.

Sgt. Gandhi said three people were involved in a fight that escalated into a shooting. He said suspect 2 was down when suspect 1 shot suspect 2s friend. Suspect 2 then shot suspect 1 before taking off.

All participants in that altercation seemed to have known each other. This seems to have stemmed from something far before this, Sgt. Gandhi added.

The investigation of the incident is underway.

Notably, the United States has been witnessing back-to-back acts of gun violence in the country with numerous fatal shootings over the last few years.

Gun violence has become common in the US. And this is the reason that President Joe Biden signed the executive order that seeks to increase the number of background checks conducted during gun sales, saying this is common sense.

Last week, at least two people were hospitalised in a shooting at East High School in Denver, the capital of Colorado, informed Denver police.

Taking to Twitter, Denver police posted, ALERT: #DPD is responding to a shooting at East High School. An unknown number of victims at this time. Investigators are working to gather information, and expect a large police presence in the area. Updates will be posted to this thread as they are made available. #Denver. 
The Ukrainian defense forces need to conduct not one, but a series of successful counter-offensives in order to convince Putin to start negotiations on conditions other than achieving all of his stated goals, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Western analysts believe that the Ukrainian forces must show that they can do what the Russian forces cannot, namely, change the reality on the spot by military action. They must inflict even more damage on the Russian military force so that it becomes clear to Putin and his inner circle that the Russian armed forces cannot hope to improve the situation for them by continuing hostilities.

ISW analysts believe that there is reason to expect that the Ukrainian forces can really achieve success through a counteroffensive. After all, in this war, Ukraine has already conducted two major counter-offensive operations, not counting the voluntary withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv.

At the same time, the authors of the ISW report emphasize Putin's unwillingness to consider a scenario other than the complete surrender of Ukraine and note that it is far from clear whether Putin will ever accept the new realities won by the Ukrainian side on the battlefield. He may resolve to continue fighting, with or without a pause, as long as it takes to achieve all his aims. His rhetoric and actions, as well as his past patterns, certainly suggest this possibility. A negotiated settlement may therefore be unattainable because Putin will not accept the reality that he cannot actually conquer Ukraine, the report reads.

Nevetherless, the analysts note that it is not a given, nevertheless, that Putin will continue fighting regardless of cost until the day he dies. He has ostentatiously and surprisingly refrained from going all-in on this war from its inception. One can dismiss his failure fully to mobilize and prepare his military before the invasion because he clearly believed that the Ukrainians would not or could not fight. He has passed by multiple moments when moving to fuller mobilization had become necessary, has delayed decisions to implement even partial mobilization for far too long from Russias perspective, and even when he has made such decisions has sought to limit their impact on the Russian society and economy.

Nevertheless, analysts emphasize, Putin is not putting any conditions on the negotiating table now, except for the complete success of Russia. He is not taking military measures that would be prudent if he were serious about finding some kind of non-standard or compromise settlement through negotiations. The current front lines would create very favorable conditions for the resumption of the Russian invasion if Putin offered to accept them as a ceasefire line, but he clearly does not want to do this.

Thus, experts of the Institute for the Study of War believe that the choice now facing Ukraine and its Western supporters is relatively simple, analysts of the Institute for the Study of War say. Ukrainian forces can continue fighting in a very constrained way seeking only to hold what they now have, which will encourage Putin to continue his efforts to pursue outright military victory. Or they can launch successive counter-offensive operations with the twin aims of persuading Putin to accept a negotiated compromise or of creating military realities sufficiently favorable to Ukraine that Kyiv and its Western allies can then effectively freeze the conflict on their own regardless of Putins decisions.
The Guinness World Record holder for oldest drag queen performer, Darcelle XV, passed away on Thursday at the age of 92, due to natural causes.

Taking to Instagram, Darcelle XV Showplace announced the news and wrote, The family of Darcelle XV along with her cast and crew are heartbroken to announce that our beloved Darcelle (Walter W. Cole, Sr.) has died at age 92 from natural causes. We ask for privacy and patience as everyone processes and grieves in their own way and at their own pace. Details of a public memorial will be announced as soon as they are confirmed. Darcelle XVs real name was Walter W. Cole.

According to CNN, Darcelle XV was crowned the oldest drag queen by Guinness World Records in 2016. The Darcelle XV Showplace, which she owned, is the West Coasts longest-running drag show, as per Guinness.

As per the Instagram post, all of the upcoming shows at the cabaret will go on as scheduled.

All shows at Darcelle XV Showplace will go on as scheduled per Darcelles wishes. Please join us and celebrate her legacy and memory, thank you in advance for your continued support, the post concluded.

Cole was born in 1930 and raised in Portlands Linnton neighbourhood. He served in the US Armed Forces and was discharged in the late 1950s, according to his clubs website, which says he used money he received from the military to start his first business.

Walter Cole is described as an author, playwright, actor, costume designer, owner and headliner of the Darcelle XV Showplace, the oldest continuously running cabaret in the United States, celebrating its 54th year.

He has authored the autobiography Just Call Me Darcelle. In November 2020 Darcelle celebrated his 90th birthday and still performs six shows a week at the club that bears his name and is in high demand for public appearances on television, parades, fundraisers, and special engagements according to the website.
Montreals 3rd Floor Comedy Club, which I assume is located on the third floor of the building at 2015 Crescent St., will host a Comedy Night with Abbas Wahab & Friends on Sunday, Apr. 2 at 7 p.m. Wahab, a comedian, actor and host, has been a staple of the Toronto comedy scene for nearly a decade. He has made an appearance on CBC Radio's The Debaters and has been featured at the Just For Laughs and Winnipeg Comedy Festivals.

Born in Sudan, Wahab, 31, came to Canada with his parents at age six, settling at the time in London, Ontario. The immigrant experience plays a central theme is his comedy, as well as his weekly podcast called The Immigrant Section, a comedy showcasing Torontos rising ethnic talents and the challenges they face  including his own. It's difficult being an immigrant comedian because you first have to get an engineering degree, then you have to get disowned, and then you can be a comedian. So, it's a three-step process, said Wahab during a recent telephone interview from his home in Toronto.

Wahab, who actually earned a degree in nanoengineering and worked for a while in Silicone Valley, said his comedy is about finding his place outside of the rat race and coming to terms with where he fits in as a pseudo-Canadian Sudanese. My Arabic is not the best and my mom doesn't accept my Serbian fiance. It's like we met in a United Nations waiting room in the emergency aid line. I talk about how I was raised deeply religious but now I'm no longer religious and I'm unpacking the pros and cons of that upbringing and all the hypocrisy. But it's all done from the point of view of humor. it's not preachy.

Wahab the actor  whose credits include Amazon Primes The Boys, CTVs Children Ruin Everything, and The Handmaid's Tale  also talks about the stereotyping and typecasting often found in the industry. They put you in categories and I found out that mine is called Safe Black, which means they could put a cardigan on me and push me forward with a big smile, he said with a laugh. You also have the Caricature Black with the big afro, and others. But I'm the one they would put in a polo shirt holding a Tim Hortons Double Double.

By the way, fans of Star Trek Strange New Worlds will see Wahab appear as the lead villain in Season 2 episode one, which is scheduled to drop in a few months.

While Wahab might have an immigrant vibe to his act, he says the tour, called Abbas Wahab & Friends, has no particular theme. I'm the headliner so it's more of my show and my act, but I'm also bringing a bunch of funny people along with me.

Those people are James 'JamEasy' Cummins, who has performed at Just For Laughs, the Dark Comedy Festival, NXNE, and comedy clubs across the country, and Victor Cesar, a Montreal comedian with a keen take on cultural differences from his African origins and Canadian residency.

For tickets and information, visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/532560461677
Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6)

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Cloudy with occasional showers. Low 43F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Thousands of anti-government protesters marched on the streets of Kenyas capital, Nairobi, on Monday despite the governments declaration that the protests are illegal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus proposed judicial overhaul unleashed the most intense social unrest in Israel in decades before he announced that he would delay the plan
Peter Gay is a Sun Chronicle columnist and executive director of North Attleboro Community Television Inc.  North TV. Reach him at pgay@northtv.net .
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived at the advanced positions of the Ukrainian army in Zaporizhia region, the press service of the head of state reports.

"I am honored to be here today and thank you for protecting our state, all of us, our sovereignty, our cities, our children," Zelenskyy said.

The President wished the military good health and thanked their families for such heroes.

"I wish all of us victory. Live and fight. With people like you, we will definitely win," he emphasized.

Zelenskyy also presented state awards to the military. The defenders of Ukraine received the Orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the III degree and For Courage of the III degree.

The military handed over a coin to the President, which is a symbol of military brotherhood.
aijohn784/Getty Images/iStockphoto

SPRINGFIELD  A bill that would reduce the ability of schools to call the police on disobedient students has advance to the floor of the state House of Representatives.

If passed, House Bill 3412 would amend the School Code to prohibit school faculty from calling "any other local public entity, school public resource officer, or peace officer" to issue a student a fine or fee for disciplinary action that could be handled by the school itself.
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ALTON  A new Riverbend partnership seeks to provide people with mental health help rather than criminalize them.

Alton Police and OSF Saint Anthonys Health Center and the Alton Police Department have partnered for a new community health initiative to address mental health needs throughout Madison County.

Our goal is to successfully develop, implement, and maintain a true co-responder model within the communities we serve, said Alton Police Chief Jarrett Ford. This isnt a one-time occurrence; we plan on holding quarterly CIT sessions so that we can continuously enhance our knowledge and skills.

Last month 55 first responders  police, fire, EMS  along with health care professionals and county government representatives participated in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) geared toward people responding to a mental health crisis situation. The program's ultimate goal is to get people the help they need rather than criminalize them.

The CIT program is a true collaborative endeavor that brings community partnerships closer together to address a vital community health need, said OSF Saint Anthonys President Jerry Rumph. Specifically, from a hospital point of view, CIT provides an opportunity for hospital staff and first responders to team up and work cooperatively in treating individuals with mental health illnesses  as well as protect those individuals responding to mental illness crisis situations.

A Madison County Mental Health Board grant funds the program designed to address the complex mental health needs of residents.

The CIT's inaugural session last month also included representatives from Alton Memorial Hospital, Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, Alton Fire & Rescue, SIU School of Medicine and the Madison County Health Board. The sessions were facilitated by Dr. Tracey Smith, DNP, PHCNS-BC, MS, Director of Community Health and Programs at Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA), and Mark Benson, NCC, LCPC, CIT Regional Coordinator- Central and Southern Illinois Regional Coordinator, NSE Solutions, LLC.

Smith said the benefits of a CIT program include reducing the likelihood of injuries to those responding to a mental health crisis situation, improving community relationships, and decreasing the amount of CIT calls in a community.

CIT allows us to address system-related challenges and identify what opportunities exist to strengthen and integrate behavioral health services, said Smith.
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JOHANNESBURG (AP)  From Zimbabwe, where many must work at night because it's the only time there is power, to Nigeria where collapses of the grid are frequent, the reliable supply of electricity remains elusive across Africa.

The electricity shortages that plague many of Africa's 54 countries are a serious drain on the continents economic growth, energy experts warn.

In recent years South Africa's power generation has become so inadequate that the continent's most developed economy must cope with rolling power blackouts of eight to 10 hours per day.

Africa's sprawling cities have erratic supplies of electricity but large swaths of the continent's rural areas have no power at all. In 2021, 43% of Africans  about 600 million people  lacked access to electricity with 590 million of them in subSaharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency.

Investments of nearly $20 billion are required annually to achieve universal electrification across sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Bank estimates. Of that figure nearly $10 billion is needed annually bring power and keep it on in West and Central Africa.

There are many reasons for Africa's dire delivery of electricity including ageing infrastructure, lack of government oversight and a shortage of skills to maintain the national grids, according to Andrew Lawrence, an energy expert at the Witwatersrand University Business School in Johannesburg.

A historical problem is that many colonial regimes built electrical systems largely reserved for the minority white population and which excluded large parts of the Black population.

Today many African countries rely on state-owned power utilities.

Much attention has focused in the past two years on the Western-funded Just Energy Transition, in which France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union are offering funds to help poorer countries move from highly polluting coal-fired power generation to renewable, environmentally-friendly sources of power. Africa as a region should be among the major beneficiaries in order to expand electricity access on the continent and improve the struggling power grids, said Lawrence.

The transition should target rural access and place at the forefront the electrification of the continent as a whole. This is something that is technically possible, he said.

The Western powers vowed to make $8.5 billion available to help South Africa move away from its coal-fired power plants, which produce 80% of the country's power.

As a result of its dependence upon coal, South Africa is among the top 20 highest emitters of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the world and accounts for nearly a third of all of Africas emissions, according to experts.

South Africa's plan to move away from coal, however, is hampered by its pressing need to produce as much power as possible each day.

The East African nation of Uganda for years has also grappled with power cuts despite massive investment in electricity generation.

Nigeria, Africas most populous country, has grappled with an inadequate power supply for many years, generating just 4,000 megawatts though the population of more than 210 million people needs 30,000 megawatts, say experts. The oil-rich but energy-poor West African nation has ramped up investments in the power sector but endemic corruption and mismanagement have resulted in little gains.

In Zimbabwe, electricity shortages that have plagued the country for years have worsened as the state authority that manages Kariba, the countrys biggest dam, has limited power generation due to low water levels.

Successive droughts have reduced Lake Kariba's level so much that the Kariba South Hydro Power Station, which provides Zimbabwe with about 70% of its electricity, is currently producing just 300 megawatts, far less than its capacity of 1,050 megawatts.

Zimbabwe's coal-fired power stations that also provide some electricity have become unreliable due to aging infrastructure marked by frequent breakdowns. The countrys solar potential is yet to be fully developed to meaningfully augment supply.

This means that Harare barber Omar Chienda never knows when he'll have the power needed to run his electric clippers.

What can we do? We just have to wait until electricity is back but most of the time it comes back at night," said Chienda, a 39-year-old father of three. "That means I cant work, my family goes hungry.

In Nigerias capital city of Abuja, restaurant owner Favour Ben, 29, said she spends a large part of her monthly budget on electricity bills and on petrol for her generator, but adds that she gets only an average of 7 hours of power daily.

It has been very difficult, especially after paying your electricity bill and they dont give you light." said Ben. "Most times, I prepare customers orders but if there is no light (power for a refrigerator), it turns bad the next day (and) I have lost money for that.

Businesses in Nigeria suffer an annual loss of $29 billion as a result of unreliable electricity, the World Bank said, with providers of essential services often struggling to keep their operations afloat on generators.

As delegates gathered in Cape Town this month to discuss Africas energy challenges, there was a resounding sentiment that drawn-out power shortages on the continent had to be addressed urgently. There was some hope that the Western-funded Just Energy Transition would create some opportunities, but many remained skeptical.

Among the biggest critics of efforts to have countries like South Africa to transition quickly from the use of coal to cleaner energy is South Africas Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe.

He is among those advocating that Africa use all sources available to it to produce adequate power for the continent, including natural gas, solar, wind, hydropower and especially coal.

Coal will be with us for many years to come. Those who see it as corruption or a road to whatever, they are going to be disappointed for many, many years," said Mantashe. "Coal is going to outlive many of us.

___

AP journalists Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria; Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe; and Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed.
A few years ago, parents and teachers in Chicago were facing a new threat as e-cigarettes began showing up in classrooms and school lockers.

While smoking cigarettes has thankfully become less popular among young people, fruity flavored vapes became the trendy new teenage accessory as they spread like wildfire throughout Illinois and the United States. Fighting back against the dangerous new epidemic of nicotine vape addiction, our elected officials banned flavored e-cigarettes, but a more dangerous product slipped through the cracks and is getting our kids hooked.

Disposable e-cigarettes made in China by companies such as Puff Bar and Elf Bar have sneaked around the law by exploiting a loophole in U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation. Theyre sold in kid-friendly flavors at reasonable prices and can be found on store shelves in our community.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.5 million middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes last year. More than 50% of youth vapers reported using disposables, with Puff Bar owning almost 15% of the market as the top choice for teens. Some of these unscrupulous manufacturers have been caught loading their products with illegal levels of nicotine in the United Kingdom to make them even more addictive.

When you look at the cartoon character packaging and the flavors such as cherry pomegranate, kiwi passion guava and peach ice, you can see right away that manufacturers are marketing to young people. Theyre even marketing them in disguises to look like sippy cups or even school supplies to escape detection from educators.

How can this happen if flavored vapes are illegal?

To start, the FDA left the door open for disposables in its enforcement guidelines. That needs to change. But more problematic is the fact that many of these products are being smuggled into our country from overseas.

Illegal vapes have been found smuggled across our southern border from Mexico. Shenzhen, China, has become known as Vapor Valley since it produces 90% of all the e-cigarettes in the world. The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates that more than 700 million disposable e-cigarettes were imported to the U.S. from China last year, up from 300,000 in 2017. Thats an increase of more than 2,000% in five years. These products are often produced without any oversight or government standards; in many cases, they are smuggled into the country illegally, and they end up on store shelves or sold on street corners out of backpacks.

Its bad enough that our kids figure out a way to get their hands on legitimate adult products, but the danger of these disposable products from overseas cant be overstated. These products can be made with poisonous chemicals and substandard manufacturing processes with dyes and materials that can make our children sick or worse. Recent news reporting throughout the country has shown that some teenagers have been overdosing in school on vapes laced with fentanyl.

As a retired Chicago police commander and a veteran law enforcement professional, I have dedicated my life to protecting our young people so that they can grow up happy and healthy. Part of that responsibility and commitment is trying to protect children from threats like drugs and alcohol that can threaten their development.

Our lawmakers and government must do more to help law enforcement in our efforts to keep dangerous illegal products out of our city. The FDA knows that disposable vapes are the face of the new teen vaping epidemic, but it hasnt done enough to get them off our shelves.

Some lawmakers have started to take action. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin recently wrote to the attorney general and the FDA expressing his concern that the Biden administration has not acted swiftly enough to stop this scourge. In February, Florida U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick announced she is introducing new legislation to prompt urgent FDA action. Ohio U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown has also called to close the enforcement loophole. I hope that our elected leaders raise their voices too.

These days, its harder than ever to keep children focused and on the right path. Law enforcement professionals are doing their best, but resources are thin and responsibilities continue to grow.

We need to take more aggressive action to take kid-friendly, disposable vapor products off our shelves and keep dangerous illegal products out of our community so that the next generation can grow up happy and healthy.
As of 15:00 on Monday, at least 32 people are known to have been wounded as a result of enemy rocket fire in the center of Sloviansk, Donetsk region, two people were killed, the National Police of Ukraine report.

"Two dead, at least 32 wounded. The police are documenting the consequences of the rocket attacks on Sloviansk," the police said in a Facebook post on Monday.

The report says that Russian troops attacked Donetsk region with four S-300 missiles.

According to the Police, investigative teams, explosives experts and paramedics of the police, all emergency services are working at the hit sites in Sloviansk and Druzhkivka. The rescue operation continues, the number of victims is growing.

"The enemy struck at about 10:30. Two rockets hit the center of Sloviansk. As of 15:00 it is known about 34 victims, two of them were killed. Five of the wounded are in extremely serious condition. Administrative and office buildings, five multi-storey and seven private houses, 10 cars were destroyed," the report says.

According to the National Police, the occupiers fired two more missiles at Druzhkivka. "An orphanage has been completely destroyed, social infrastructure facilities have been damaged. Information about the victims was not received," the message clarifies.

The police are collecting evidence of war crimes of the Russian Federation and help the wounded. Information about the wounded and destruction is being clarified.

Preliminary legal qualification of the crime - Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).

The materials will be transferred to the Main Department of the SBU in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
I am confused, which seems to be a reoccurring problem for me. I try to make sense of what Im hearing from the Republican Party, but somehow it doesnt make sense. So, what am I missing?

There is much hew and cry about Donald Trumps likely indictment for paying hush money to porn star, Stormy Daniels, to keep their intimate involvement a secret. But what I dont understand is that there was no equal bellyaching when Michael Cohen was tossed in jail. Two people together committed the crime, but only one should go to jail? How is that equal justice?

When people I trust lie to me because they think Im too stupid to notice I get really mad. So how come there are still so many people tuning into Fox News? Their pundits all lied about the 2020 election and a whole lot more. And we know it. So, why hasnt a single House Republican condemned that fake news?

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote a social media post about being yelled at in a restaurant by someone who was loudly condemning her politics.

Greene stated that she was offended by the remarks and called for greater civility. But she was the one shouting through the mail slot at Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) office and hounding gun reform activist, David Hogg, on a public street, both to make a quick film of her antics. Not to mention her yelling during the State of the Union. So, why hasnt someone like Ted Cruz (R-TX) called her out as an obvious snowflake?

The Republican Party stands for free market principles, letting corporations do what they want in their best judgement. But officials like Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, rail against fund managers and corporations engaging in ESG investing and policies. Thats environmental, social and governance investing, where decisions reflect an entitys commitment to the environment, social justice and equitable governance. My question is, why does DeSantis care? If he believes in free markets, then he shouldnt be trying to control investment decisions, should he?

The list of books being banned by the radical right keeps growing. Its over 100 now including the writings of Thomas Paine, Uncle Toms Cabin, Green Eggs n Ham, Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, 1984, To Kill A Mockingbird, and all of the Harry Potter series. All of these books are banned by people that wish to protect young people from dangerous ideas. So why isnt Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler on the banned list?

It is well known that Hunter Biden engaged in monetizing his name and opportunities, serving on the board of companies doing business with foreign governments. But the money Hunter Biden made pales in comparison to the billions raked in by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump while they were in the White House. Im not defending Hunter Biden, but why is the House Oversight Committee only looking into Hunter Biden and not the Trump cabal?

Lately I have heard a chorus of Republicans railing against woke. But when asked what woke is, they cant define it. The only definition I know is that it refers to being aware of social injustice such as racism, but that definition doesnt seem to be shared by Republicans like Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis who have vilified anything they call woke. But how can you oppose something that you wont even try to define?

Why hasnt the Republican Party tossed George Santos (R-NY) out of office or censured him to show their disdain for this lying fraud? Why is the one freedom never mentioned by the GOP the freedom to vote? When evangelical churches try to influence elections, why dont they lose their tax exempt status? How can the hedonist Trump be the leader of the party that allegedly stands for family values? Why are the only claimed fraudulent elections ones where a Republican lost? Why do Republicans have to be Christians? Why do women continue to watch Fox News when, once again, it is being sued for sexual discrimination (what is that, the fifth time?)? Why do Republicans want to expand the protection of the Second Amendment, but no others? How can you be pro-life and against food stamps? Why do conservatives talk about the value of hard work while refusing to raise the minimum wage? Why are subpoenas only valid when issued by Republicans?

I guess in the end I have one question: what does the Republican Party stand for?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sold all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) deposits and loans by First-Citizens Bank and Trust Company.

The FDIC in a statement said that the transaction covers $119 billion in deposits and $72 billion in assets and SVB's 17 branches will open as First Citizens on Monday.

Approximately $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain in the receivership for disposition by the FDIC, the statement read.

"All deposits assumed by First-Citizens Bank and Trust Company will continue to be insured by the FDIC up to the insurance limit," the government corporation said in a press release.

First Citizens Bank is a subsidiary of Raleigh-headquartered First Citizens BancShares, Inc. The transaction has been structured as a whole bank purchase with loss share coverage.

SVB, one of the US's biggest banks by assets collapsed after a sudden run on deposits, prompting regulators to seize control.

The United States Treasury and Federal Reserve along with the FDIC had set out plans to ensure SVB customers would be able to access their deposits, reported AFP.

Fed has also introduced a new lending tool for banks in an effort to prevent a repeat of SVB's quick demise, it added.

The First Citizens Bank reportedly has more than $100 billion in assets and more than 500 branches across 22 states. Earlier too the Bank had bought government-seized community banks.

The FDIC estimated that the cost of the bank failure to the government's deposit insurance fund will be around $20 billion, reported The New York Times.

Recently UBS, Switzerland's largest bank had agreed to acquire crisis-hit Credit Suisse in deal arranged by Swiss government.
After a day of high drama, the police convoy carrying the Samajwadi Party leader and Mafia leader Atiq Ahmed entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning, a day after it started from the Sabarmati Central Jail.

The Uttar Pradesh police convoy reached the state, after crossing Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and the Kota hanging bridge in Rajasthan late last night, reported ANI. Ahmed, who is being moved to the Prayagraj jail, will be produced before the Prayagraj court on Tuesday in connection with a kidnapping case.

An accused in over 100 criminal cases, Atiq Ahmed headed the 'Inter-state Gang 227' before ending up in jail. This was after the Supreme Court order over his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and assault of a businessman Mohit Jaiswal.

But, he is currently in UP in connection with a kidnapping case filed against him in 2007 by Umesh Pal, a witness in the former BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case. Umesh Pal, who was later murdered, was allegedly abducted and harassed by Ahmeds men. Ahmed is the accused in both Raju Pal and Umesh Pal murder case. While Raju pal was shot dead in 2005, Umesh Pal was gunned down outside his residence in Prayagraj on February 24 this year.

"A court in Prayagraj has set March 28 as the date to pass its order in a kidnapping case in which Ahmed is an accused," Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said in the Uttar Pradesh city. "As part of the procedure, all the accused are to be produced before the court on the date of the judgment and then sent back to their respective jails," the police officer said. On arrival at Prayagraj prison, Ahmed will be kept in isolation in a high-security barracks. He will be monitored throughout using CCTV cameras.

"Jail staff (for Ahmed) will be chosen and deployed on the basis of their records. They will have body-worn cameras. Prayagraj jail office and jail headquarters will monitor him round the clock through a video wall. DIG, Jail HQ, is being sent to ensure all the arrangements at Prayagraj jail," his statement read.

'They want to kill me'

While the Uttar Pradesh Police was getting ready to move him to Prayagraj, Ahmed stoked controversy by claiming that there were plans to murder him through a fake encounter. He alleged that his appearance in a Prayagraj court was just a pretext for the police to kill him.

Prayagraj Police vans at Sabarmati Central Jail for shifting of jailed-mafia Atiq Ahmed from the prison to Prayagraj, in Ahmedabad | PTI

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," Ahmed told reporters outside the prison .

When asked him if he feared for his life, the former Samajwadi Party MP said, "Mujhe inka programme maloom haiHatya karna chahte hain (I know their programmeThey want to murder me)."

"Court ke kandhe pe rakh ke maarna chahte hain (They want to kill me under the pretext of court appearance)," he added.

Close associate injured

A close associate of Atiq Ahmed was injured in an encounter with the police on Sunday. The accused, carrying a reward of Rs 25,000, sustained injury on his right leg in the crossfire.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Kumar Singh said, acting on a tip-off, local police and SWAT team surrounded Mohammad Zarar Ahmed (44) near a mausoleum at around 4.45 am on Sunday. When the police challenged him, Ahmed fired at the police. In retaliatory firing, he sustained an injury on his right leg. Subsequently, he was arrested, and admitted to a hospital for treatment, he said.
Prohibitory orders were issued at Shikaripura town in Shivamogga district of Karnataka on Monday after a massive demonstration was held outside the residence of Bharatiya Janata Party leader B.S. Yediyurappa by members of the Banjara community over the issue of reservation.

Police used batons to disperse hundreds of protesters who swarmed near Yediyurappa's house and started hurling stones, damaging window glasses. A few policemen were also injured.

The community is protesting against the internal reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) announced by the state government last week. The issue is likely to give the ruling BJP the jitters as assembly elections in the state are around the corner and the Election Commission is expected to announce the poll dates in a few days.

The Banjara community alleges that the government had given less reservation to the 'Scheduled Caste-Touchables' in which they belong to.

#WATCH | Karnataka: Protestors were lathicharged by the police in Shivamogga as they were protesting against the implementation of the former Justice Sadashiva Commission's report. pic.twitter.com/eEg4HmpTQ6  ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

After hiking reservation for the Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that 6 per cent reservation would be given to SC left sub-category, 5.5 per cent to SC right, 4.5 per cent to Touchables and one per cent to others.
China has reportedly skipped the two-day G20 meeting held in Itanagar over the weekend, said reports. Over 200 representatives of various countries had taken part in the event.

China has continiously staked claim over Arunachal Pradesh, calling it a part of South Tibet. On its part, India does not recognise the Chinese claim. The border dispute erupted last December when the troops of both nations entered into a fistfight.

"There is no delegation from China. Around 100 delegates, representing the G20 countries, besides Indian delegates, arrived in the capital city on Saturday for a two-day programme," a senior official with the state government told Economic Times.

So far, there has been no official response from both countries.

The theme of the G20 meeting in Itanagar was 'Research, innovation initiative, gathering'. It was organised by the state science and technology department and was not open to the media.

The delegates, who arrived at the state on Saturday morning, was accorded a grand welcome to the state. An exhibition showcasing various tribal arts and cultures was also held. The delegates also visited the Thupten Gatseling Monastery and the Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum where they were briefed about the history and rich culture of the northeastern state.

Besides Arunachal, a G20 meeting will also be held in Jammu and Kashmir in second week of May. Pakistan has already expressed its protest over the conduct of meeting in the northern most state, but India has overridden its opposition to go ahead and schedule the meeting. The g20 event is also at a much higher-level meeting compared to the RIIG event in Itanagar.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent comments on V.D. Savarkar. He said that the Congress leader should fight the "court's action in the court".

"You are getting an ass to run a horse's race...They really deserve to do some serious introspection...People of India would judge them for what they are...Fight court's action in the court, you are invoking Mahabharat and Savarkar," Puri was quoted by ANI.

While addressing the press conference in Delhi, for the first time after he was convicted by the Surat court, Rahul Gandhi had said that his name is not Savarkar and he will not apologise.

He further said that he is not scared of going to jail for speaking the truth.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) faction is also upset with Rahul's Savarkar remarks.

"I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together...to save democracy and constitution in this country. But do not make any statements that will create fissures," said Uddhav Thackeray, reported NDTV.

Since the conviction, Congress is carrying out nationwide protests. Opposition including AAP, and TMC criticised the Modi government of targeting MPs speaking against them.

The Opposition MPs on Monday took out a protest march from the Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk over the Adani issue, demanding the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Congress president-Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also joined the protest.

The Surat court had sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks.



Rahul made the remarks in 2019 while addressing a rally "how come all the theives have Modi as the common surname."
One should not look for soft synonyms for war crimes  Podoliak

Adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak recalled the absence of the "Ukrainian crisis" and urged "not to look for soft synonyms for war crimes."

It's worth outlining the emphases. There's no Ukrainian crisis. There is a war started by RF in 2014. Crimea & part of the eastern regions didn't join Russia, but were occupied. Ukrainians are not evacuated, but killed or deported to Russia. Don't look for soft synonyms for war crimes, he said on Twitter Monday.

The term "Ukrainian crisis" is used in its messages by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Karnataka BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa was arrested in a bribery case by the Lokayukta Police on Monday soon after his bail application was rejected by the high court. The legislator was arrested from near the Kyathasandra toll gate in Tumakuru in the evening when he was on his way to Bengaluru after attending an event in Channagiri.

The high court had last week reserved its verdict on the MLA's bail application. In his order cancelling Virupakshappa's interim anticipatory bail granted on March 7, Justice K. Natarajan said: "Though this Court granted the interim anticipatory bail until disposal of the case, because there was no material found in FIR at that time, but now, there is sufficient evidence to show the involvement of the petitioner in the commission of offence as per the case diary of the police and statement under Section 164 of Cr.P.C."

The custody of the petitioner is imminent for the Lokayukta police to interrogate him in the matter, the court further said.

The case pertains to the alleged demand and receipt of bribes for allotting contract for supplying chemicals to the state-run Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL).

Virupakshappa, who was the chairman of KSDL, has been charged with demanding bribe through his son Prashanth Madal, a KAS officer. Madal was caught allegedly accepting Rs 40 lakh as bribe on the behalf of his father last month, following which Virupakshappa was named as the prime accused in the case.

Madal has already been arrested in the case and is facing charges under Section 7(A) and 7(B) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Lokayukta police has made four more arrests after its raids unearthed over Rs 7 crore in cash from Virupakshappa's residence. Following it, the MLA resigned as the chairman of KSDL.

"Preparations are being made to interrogate MLA as there is a lot of information to be obtained regarding the case," a Lokayukta source told ANI.

The HC had earlier granted interim anticipatory bail to Virupakshappa on a Rs five lakh personal bond which helped him escape arrest.
The Lok Sabha Housing Committee on Monday issued notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, directing him to vacate the government bungalow at 12, Tughlaq Lane in central Delhi by April 22. The notice was served two days after Gandhi was disqualified as a member of parliament after being convicted in a defamation case.

Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case over his alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court awarded the Congress leader two years imprisonment.

The disqualification will prevent Gandhi, a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years unless a higher court stays the conviction.

Gandhi was an MP from Kerala's Wayanad from where he won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prior to that, he represented the Amethi parliamentary seat in Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019.

Sources told PTI that Gandhi can write to the Housing Committee seeking an extension, and the panel can take a decision depending on the validity of the reasons cited by him.

According to report, Gandhi will require a no-objection certificate from the New Delhi Municipal Council before vacating his official bungalow.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which looks after water and electricity supplies in these Central Public Works Department bungalows, has been marked a copy of the Lok Sabha Housing Committee's letter asking Gandhi to vacate his accommodation.
The Lok Sabha witnessed an uproar on Monday after Congress MPs stepped up protest against disqualification of Rahul Gandhi.

The Lower House of the Parliament commenced at 11 am, immediately after which the opposition MPs raised slogans against the BJP goverment for disqualifying Rahul Gandhi.

Two Congress members, T N Pratapan and Hibi Eden, who were in the Well holding placards, flung order papers towards the Chair along with their scarves. Following this, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the session till 4 pm. "I want to run the House with dignity," Speaker Om Birla.

Rajya Sabha too was adjourned till 2 pm.

The Opposition MPs then took out a protest march from the Parliament complex towards Vijay Chowk over the Adani issue, demanding the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Congress president-Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also joined the protest.

"Why are we here in black clothes? We want to show that PM Modi is ending democracy in the country. He first finished autonomous bodies, then they put up their own govt everywhere by threatening those who had won polls. Then they used ED, CBI to use bend those who didn't bow," Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said.

Earlier the day, the Opposition members, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, held a big strategy meeting in the office of Kharge. Interestingly, Trinamool Congress leaders too took part in the meeting despite its chief Mamata Banerjee earlier stating that it will remain equidistant from the BJP and the Congress.

Prasun Banerjee and Jawhar Sircar reportedly represented TMC in the meeting to discuss strategy on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Parliament.

Kharge said that the Congress party welcomes anyone who strides forward to "protect democracy". "I thank everyone who supported this. That is why, I thanked everyone yesterday and I thank them today as well. We welcome anyone who comes forward to protect democracy and Constitution and safeguard the people. We extend heartfelt gratitude to the people who support us," the Congress president said.

All Congress MPs wore black shirts as a mark of protest over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification. Besides the Congress, representatives of BRS and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) too wore black to the meeting.

As many as 17 opposition parties, including INC, DMK, SP, JDU, BRS, CPM, RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, KC, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K NC, and Shiv Sena (UBT) attended the meeting.
The Parliament is likely to witness a stormy session on Monday as the Congress party will step up its protest over the disqualification of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. This will be the first time the House convenes after Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.

The Opposition leaders will meet on Monday in the Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the floor, reported ANI.

The Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will also wear black to the Parliament to register their protest. "We are planning that all our MPs come dressed in black tomorrow i.e. March 27, 2023. I request you to kindly do so that a powerful collective message is sent," Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in a message to MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The Congress will also raise the Adani issue in Parliament. The party has been seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue, which has created a logjam in the Parliament.

This comes as the Congress leaders and workers held protests across the country on Sunday over Rahul's disqualification. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the government of "trying to silence" a "martyr's son" for raising the voice of the people.

"You call my brother, the son of a martyr, a traitor and Mir Jafar. You insult his mother. Your Chief Minister says Rahul Gandhi doesn't know who his mother is. You insult my family every day. But no cases are filed," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

She also countered the BJP's charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted OBCs with his remark. Priyanka Gandhi asked how a leader whose family has "given its blood to nurture democracy" and who has walked thousands of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity could insult the country or a certain community. "We have remained silent but not anymore," she said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has found himself in a tight spot again with his comments on Savarkar during a press conference on Saturday. Upset with Rahul's I am not Savarkar, won't apologise comment, Uddhav Thackeray announced he will not attend Congress's dinner meet in Delhi on Monday, ANI tweeted.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had called a meeting of like-minded parties at his residence to discuss the political situation after Rahul's conviction and disqualification as MP. On Saturday, when Rahul was asked about his refusal to apologise for his comments on democracy in the UK or for the "Modi surname" remark that led to his disqualification, he said: "My name is not Savarkar. My name is Gandhi and Gandhi doesn't apologise."

Earlier, the former Maharashtra chief minister had warned Rahul against creating fissures in the alliance with such comments. "I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together, that's right, we have come together to save democracy and constitution in this country. But do not make any statements that will create fissures. They (BJP) are trying to provoke you, if we miss this timing, then our country will surely go towards autocracy," Uddhav Thackeray said. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar, he said.

He further said: "I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that you walked from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, Sanjay Raut walked with you, we are with you. But I want to tell Rahul Gandhi openly that this fight is for saving democracy. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that Savarkar is our God, we won't tolerate his insult. We will not tolerate this at all."

Rahul's comments on Savarkar during the Bharat Jodo Yatra had also drawn sharp criticism from Uddhav's faction of Shiv Senathe Congress's ally in Maharashtra.

The BJP also hit out at Rahul earlier. Union Minister Anurag Thakur has said the Congress leader can never be Veer Savarkar even in his "best dreams" as it required strong determination and love for the country.
The Kerala government has decided to set up three science parks in the state in order to strengthen economic growth by investing in science, research, and innovation.

The Kerala cabinet had on March 23 given approval for the establishment of these parks, which will be an amalgamation of academic institutions, high-tech companies, entrepreneurs, and start-ups.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Saturday, in a Facebook post announced the setting up of the three science parks at a cost of Rs 600 crore.

He said that it was being done to transform the state into a knowledge economy.

"Science parks will form part of the 'knowledge economy' infrastructure by creating an ecosystem of academia, partners, industry professionals, and other stakeholders," Professor KP Sudheer, Ex-officio Principal Secretary of S&T Department and Vice President of Kerala Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KCSTE), told PTI.

Officials said that the science parks will offer a number of shared resources, such as world-class research laboratories, intellectual resources, talent and capacity building, incubation and innovation centres, telecommunication hubs, transportation and other physical infrastructure.

With the establishment of these science parks, Kerala is planning to attract world-class talents to join together for new technology and product development.

"The Science Parks will foster advanced research in the emerging fields of science and engineering and will spread over to biotechnology, virology, pharmaceuticals, new Materials Development, Structural Biology, Healthcare Technologies, Sensors Development, additive technologies, Green Mobility Initiatives, Artificial Intelligence and so on," Sudheer said.

The parks would also aid in the commercialisation of where government, universities and private companies could collaborate. This would also be beneficial to the academic centres with the windows opened for stronger collaboration with the world of industry and commerce.

"Science Parks can also liaison with premier research Institutions in the country as well as abroad to accelerate S&T development and boost the socio-economic development of Kerala," Sudheer added.

Earlier, Finance Minister K N Balagopal had announced in his budget that four science parks will be opened in Kerala and had allocated Rs.1,000 crore towards the establishment of the parks.

Each of the parks, with a minimum space of 10 lakh square feet, scheduled to come up near Kannur, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram international airports, will have a cost outlay of Rs. 200 crore.

The Kannur University, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), and the University of Kerala will be the principal associate universities of the park.

A nine-member consultative group has been set up with Prof. K P Sudheer as its chairman. KCSTE will be the special-purpose vehicle for setting up the parks.
With chatbots like ChatGPT making a splash, machine learning is playing an increasingly prominent role in our lives. For many of us, it's been a mixed bag. We rejoice when our Spotify For You playlist finds us a new jam, but groan as we scroll through a slew of targeted ads on our Instagram feeds.

Machine learning is also changing many fields that may seem surprising. One example is my discipline, ornithology the study of birds. It isn't just solving some of the biggest challenges associated with studying bird migration; more broadly, machine learning is expanding the ways in which people engage with birds. As spring migration picks up, here's a look at how machine learning is influencing ways to research birds and, ultimately, to protect them.

The challenge of conserving migratory birds

Most birds in the Western Hemisphere migrate twice a year, flying over entire continents between their breeding and nonbreeding grounds. While these journeys are awe-inspiring, they expose birds to many hazards en route, including extreme weather, food shortages and light pollution that can attract birds and cause them to collide with buildings.

Our ability to protect migratory birds is only as good as the science that tells us where they go. And that science has come a long way.

In 1920, the US Geological Survey launched the Bird Banding Laboratory, spearheading an effort to put bands with unique markers on birds, then recapture the birds in new places to figure out where they traveled. Today researchers can deploy a variety of lightweight tracking tags on birds to discover their migration routes. These tools have uncovered the spatial patterns of where and when birds of many species migrate.

However, tracking birds has limitations. For one thing, over 4 billion birds migrate across the continent every year. Even with increasingly affordable equipment, the number of birds that we track is a drop in the bucket. And even within a species, migratory behaviour may vary across sexes or populations.

Further, tracking data tells us where birds have been, but it doesn't necessarily tell us where they're going. Migration is dynamic, and the climates and landscapes that birds fly through are constantly changing. That means it's crucial to be able to predict their movements.

Using machine learning to forecast migration

This is where machine learning comes in. Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence that gives computers the ability to learn tasks or associations without explicitly being programmed. We use it to train algorithms that tackle various tasks, from forecasting weather to predicting March Madness upsets.

But applying machine learning requires data and the more data the better. Luckily, scientists have inadvertently compiled decades of data on migrating birds through the Next Generation Weather Radar system. This network, known as NEXRAD, is used to measure weather dynamics and help predict future weather events, but it also picks up signals from birds as they fly through the atmosphere.

BirdCast is a collaborative project of Colorado State University, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the University of Massachusetts that seeks to leverage that data to quantify bird migration. Machine learning is central to its operations. Researchers have known since the 1940s that birds show up on weather radar, but to make that data useful, we need to remove nonavian clutter and identify which scans contain bird movement.

This process would be painstaking by hand but by training algorithms to identify bird activity, we have automated this process and unlocked decades of migration data. And machine learning allows the BirdCast team to take things further: By training an algorithm to learn what atmospheric conditions are associated with migration, we can use predicted conditions to produce forecasts of migration across the continental U.S.

BirdCast began broadcasting these forecasts in 2018 and has become a popular tool in the birding community. Many users may recognize that radar data helps produce these forecasts, but fewer realize that it's a product of machine learning.

Currently these forecasts can't tell us what species are in the air, but that could be changing. Last year, researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology published an automated system that uses machine learning to detect and identify nocturnal flight calls. These are species-specific calls that birds make while migrating. Integrating this approach with BirdCast could give us a more complete picture of migration.

These advancements exemplify how effective machine learning can be when guided by expertise in the field where it is being applied. As a doctoral student, I joined Colorado State University's Aeroecology Lab with a strong ornithology background but no machine learning experience. Conversely, Ali Khalighifar, a postdoctoral researcher in our lab, has a background in machine learning but has never taken an ornithology class.

Together, we are working to enhance the models that make BirdCast run, often leaning on each other's insights to move the project forward. Our collaboration typifies the convergence that allows us to use machine learning effectively.

A tool for public engagement

Machine learning is also helping scientists engage the public in conservation. For example, forecasts produced by the BirdCast team are often used to inform Lights Out campaigns.

These initiatives seek to reduce artificial light from cities, which attracts migrating birds and increases their chances of colliding with human-built structures, such as buildings and communication towers. Lights Out campaigns can mobilize people to help protect birds at the flip of a switch.

As another example, the Merlin bird identification app seeks to create technology that makes birding easier for everyone. In 2021, the Merlin staff released a feature that automates song and call identification, allowing users to identify what they're hearing in real time, like an ornithological version of Shazam.

This feature has opened the door for millions of people to engage with their natural spaces in a new way. Machine learning is a big part of what made it possible.

Sound ID is our biggest success in terms of replicating the magical experience of going birding with a skilled naturalist, Grant Van Horn, a staff researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who helped develop the algorithm behind this feature, told me.

Taking flight

Opportunities for applying machine learning in ornithology will only increase. As billions of birds migrate over North America to their breeding grounds this spring, people will engage with these flights in new ways, thanks to projects like BirdCast and Merlin. But that engagement is reciprocal: The data that birders collect will open new opportunities for applying machine learning.

Computers can't do this work themselves. Any successful machine learning project has a huge human component to it. That is the reason these projects are succeeding, Van Horn said to me.

(The Conversation: By Miguel Jimenez, Colorado State University)
Imran Khan has turned politics into enmity and taken it to a point where "either he or us" will be "eliminated" from the political arena, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said, warning that the ruling party will go to any extent to protect its existence.

In an interview with a private TV channel, the senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) termed the ex-prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief an "enemy" of his party and said Khan will be "treated like that".

Sanaullah, who is very close to former premier and London-based PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, said when the ruling party feels that its existence is under threat, it will go to any extent against its chief political rival.

Either he will be eliminated from the political arena or us. He has now taken the countrys politics to a point where only one of the two can remain - PTI or PML-N," he said on Saturday.

"PML-N's entire existence is in jeopardy and we will go to any extent against him. Khan has turned politics into enmity. Khan is now our enemy and he will be treated like that," Sanaullah, 68, asserted.

Khan, after surviving an attack on him during a rally in Wazirabad in Punjab province in November last year, had named Sanaullah behind the assassination attempt on him.

Khan, 70, also blamed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a senior ISI officer for their role in the assassination bid.

Khan even blamed me, Prime Minister Shehbaz and an army officer for plotting to kill him, Sanaullah said, apprehending that the PTI chiefs narrative was creating bad blood among followers of both parties and either he or they could be killed (by followers of each others party), the Dawn newspaper reported.

Asked if such remarks could result in anarchy in Pakistan, the minister said: Anarchy already prevails in Pakistan.

The minister said the differences between Khan and former army chief Gen (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa had developed on the issue of eliminating the then opposition by hook or crook.

He said Khan has been trying for the past 11 months to set fire to the country but the coalition government always exercised restraint to save the situation from getting worse.

Reacting strongly to Sanaullah's statement, PTI leader and former federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry said: "This is a direct life threat to Khan from the PML-N coalition government."

Is Sanaullah running a gang or government? The Supreme Court had rightly declared Sharifs-led PMLN a Sicilian mafia and his statement is evidence of it," he said.

The PTI has also urged the apex court to take notice of the statement, terming it an open threat to Khan's life.

"If anyone has any doubts about Sanaullah's murderous intent towards Khan. This is a direct threat given by the cabal of crooks interior minister. The judiciary should take note, PTI senior leader and former minister Shireen Mazari said in a tweet.

The PTI said it has never witnessed in the past that a ruling party openly declared eliminating a popular leader of Pakistan.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, becoming the first Pakistani prime minister to be voted out by the National Assembly.
Israel has plunged into chaos, an unprecedented political crisis triggered by a massive public outrage that threatens to push the country to the brink of a civil war.

Protests have been rocking the country over the last few months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a judicial overhaul plan. However, it peaked on Monday after the premier sacked his own Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for pushing back against the overhaul.

Thousands took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday, waving Israeli flags and chanting "democratia." They blocked roads and highways and lit fires on the streets as police fired water cannons at the unrelenting crowds.

The demonstrations, which erupted following Gallant's sacking, continue to spread, with even labour unions and universities in Israel joining the stir. Arnon Bar-David, head of the Histadrut labour union, has called for a general strike if the proposals were not halted. The members of the air force and military intelligence reserves too have threatened to ignore call-ups if the legislation is enacted into law.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's Defense Minister's statement has brought the rift within Israel's right-wing government to the fore. "For the security of Israel, for the sake of our sons and daughters: We need to stop the legislative process at this time," Gallant said in a video statement.

"We need to stop the demonstrations and protests  and reach out for dialogue. Any manifestation of refusal that eats away at the strength of the IDF and harms the security system should be stopped immediately."

President Isaac Herzog too joined the chorus, seeking a coalition government to stop the legislation of the judicial reform. With pressure mounting - three more ministers from Netanyahus Likud party have demanded that Prime Minister stop the judicial overhaul legislation - Netanyahu will likely announce that he is freezing legislation on the judicial reform, reports Israel's local media The Jerusalem Post.

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan outside the parliament in Jerusalem | AP

What are the judicial reforms?

The judicial reforms, mooted by Netanyahu, are a set of bills which will be presented before the Israeli parliament, Knesset before they become law. The government plans to bring the first part of the reforms before Knesset next week for the final vote.

For a country that has no written constitution but a set of quasi-constitutional basic laws, the Supreme Court wield great power and is probably the sole entity that can keep a check on the power of the Knesset.

But, the proposed reforms would empower the political powers to curtail the Supreme Court from striking down certain laws. Besides, the reforms could also enable the government's intervention in the selection of judges, which critics say will result in Netanyahu appointing his allies who will pass orders in his favour.

The reforms also will give the parliament the power to overturn Supreme Court decisions and pass laws considered invalid by the court. So potent are these reforms that they can shake up the foundations of Israel's judiciary.

Netanyahu's stance and criticisms

While protest brews on, Netanyahu and his supporters argue that the Supreme Court has become an "insular, elitist group that does not represent the Israeli people." "Im not trying to destroy democracy, Im trying to save it," Netanyahu told a British interviewer.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister also called the extremist settler, has come out against freezing the legislation. "We mustn't stop the reform in the judicial system, and we mustn't give in to anarchy." Ben-Gvir has also threatened that his party would leave the coalition government if the reforms are halted.

According to many in Israel, Netanyahu and his allies are trying to cut to size the judiciary in the country and its role in keeping a check on the Knesset and Prime Minister. This, they say, is a bid to ensure absolute power. However, there are also criticisms that the reforms are a ploy to keep Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, out of prison. The Prime Minister currently faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust but claims innocence.

Meanwhile, the move is also termed as a violation of the 'conflict of interest declaration', a deal Netanyahu signed with the court to serve as a prime minister despite being on trial. According to the pact, he cannot be involved in the policy-making of the judicial overhaul. Currently, a plea is pending before the Supreme Court arguing that Netanyahu is unfit for office since he has beached the deal and the law by pushing for reforms.

Going by poll figures, even the general public is not in support of the reforms. CNN quoted a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, conducted in February, which says that only a minority of Israelis support the reforms. The vast majority  72%  want a compromise to be reached and, even then, 66% think the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down laws and 63% of Israelis think the current method of appointing judges should stay as it is, the report added.
Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou arrived in China on Monday amid heightened tensions between China and Taiwan.

Ma is the first sitting or former Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the Communist revolution in 1949, Reuters reported. Ma told presspersons that he aims to improve relations and bring peace between the nations through the visit.

According to Ma's office, he was received at Shanghai's Pudong airport by officials, including Chen Yuanfeng, deputy head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. Taiwan's ruling party Democratic Progressive Party criticised the visit and its timing.

Speaking to reporters at Taoyuan international airport Ma said that he was very happy about going on a trip where he will talk to students and pay respects to his ancestors' graves in China.

Ma was in office from 2008-2016 and he is the first former or current Taiwanese president to visit China since the defeated Republic of China government at the end of a civil war with the Communists.

Ma's trip comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two nations as China keeps pressuring Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty. "Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so peace can come even faster and sooner to us here," Reuters quoted Ma as saying.

Taiwan's ruling DPP criticised Ma for the timing of the visit as former long-time Taiwan ally Honduras ended ties with Taipei recently, in favour of Beijing.

Ma is a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) and it favours close ties with China. The KMT said the outreach to China was needed now given the tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Ma, while he was in office, met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015. According to reports, no meeting has been scheduled between Ma or any senior Chinese officials during the visit. However, Ma's office said he will be "at his host's disposal" if they do arrange such a get-together, Reuters reported.
Without withdrawal of Russian troops, personnel from ZNPP and adjacent territories, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety doomed

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi as part of a working trip to Zaporizhia region.

According to the press service of the head of state, the meeting took place on the territory of the Dnipro hydroelectric power plant (Dnipro HPP).

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Rafael Grossi observed the consequences of Russian missile strikes on this critical infrastructure facility, the buildings and energy equipment of which were significantly destroyed.

"The President and the Director General of the IAEA were informed about the measures taken to protect the Dnipro HPP in case of new attacks by the Russian aggressor, as well as about the course of emergency restoration of the facility," the report notes.

The interlocutors discussed in detail the situation at the Zaporizhia NPP. The Head of State thanked the Director General of the IAEA for his support in issues related to guaranteeing the security of nuclear energy facilities in Ukraine.

"Your role in ensuring Ukraine's energy security is extremely important today," Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

The Head of State drew the attention of the Director General of the IAEA to the constant pressure that the staff of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is facing due to the Russian occupiers. He separately focused on the forcible passportization of Ukrainian workers by the Russian occupation forces, as well as their non-compliance with safety rules at the ZNPP and illegal interference in the technological process of the plant's operation.

The President emphasized the importance of ensuring the permanent presence of IAEA representatives at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhia NPP and noted that this is important for guaranteeing nuclear security.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy highly appreciated Rafael Grossi's willingness to personally lead a rotating group of experts at the ZNPP. At the same time, the President underscored the primary importance of liberating the station from the occupiers and restoring full control of the Ukrainian side over the facility.

"Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the ZNPP and adjacent territories, any initiatives to restore nuclear safety and security are doomed to failure," the Head of State emphasized.
A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies' expanding drills.



The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the North's weapons tests and the US-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which escorted the carrier and engaged in air defense exercises with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the US commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the North's escalating nuclear and missile threats.

The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive in the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 am to 8 am and travelled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea.

Japan's military said the missiles flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) before landing outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Japan has previously used the term to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modelled after Russia's Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses.

North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as serious provocations threatening regional peace and violating UN Security Council resolutions and said they were working with the United States to analyse the missiles further.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and life-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against North Korea's expanding nuclear arsenal and belligerent threats of nuclear conflict.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

They weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the US mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The country's leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the US-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports.

Analysts were skeptical about such claims or whether the device presents a major new threat, but the tests underlined the North's commitment to expand its arsenal.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets. communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signalling that it's practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the North's announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Korea's air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seoul's three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the North's leadership and key military facilities.
In a shocking incident, two people were shot in Gurudwara in the United States on Sunday. However, the police ruled out hate crime.

According to officials, the shooting took place around 2:30 pm at the Gurudwara Sacramento Sikh Society in Sacramento County of California.

Both the victims are in critical condition, the officials said.

"Two people were shot at Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California. Both of the victims are in critical condition. The shooting is not related to a hate crime, it is a shootout between two men who knew each other," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.

Reportedly, three people were involved in a fistfight that escalated into a shooting.

In a statement on Facebook, the Sikh Society said that "The Bradshaw Sikh Society hosted its first Sikh Parade with thousands of congregants from the region. The parade was peaceful and a celebration of faith. It is unfortunate that a few misguided people tried to ruin a cultural and religious event."

"We hope the culprit is punished to the fullest extent of the law," the statement added.

Sacramento County Sheriff's office spokesman Amar Gandhi told Sacramento-based TV station KCRA-TV that one of the suspects was immediately taken into custody, while the second-an "East Indian man in his 20s or 30s" was initially said to be at large. He was later taken into custody at around 8:30 pm local time.

Reportedly one of the wounded is likely to be arrested for his involvement in the shooting.

All participants in that altercation seemed to have known each other. This seems to have stemmed from something far before this, he added.

One of the suspects is described as an Indian male while the other suspected shooter is in the hospital, the official said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi at Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday and discussed safety of the nuclear plant here.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest such facility in Europe. The plant is currently occupied by Russian forces and has been target of Russian attacks since the beginning of the war. Tweeting about the meeting, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency Grossi said, I met today @ZelenskyyUa in Zaporizhzhya City & had a rich exchange on the protection of the #Zaporizhzhya NPP and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the @IAEAorg to #Ukraines nuclear facilities.

IAEA recently said the plant is in a precarious situation and advised both nations should come forward to set up safety zone around the plant. In a statement, IAEA said, Despite our presence at the site for seven months now, the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is still precarious. The nuclear safety and security dangers are all too obvious, as is the necessity to act now to prevent an accident with potential radiological consequences to the health and the environment for people in Ukraine and beyond. Im therefore continuing to work on a proposal to protect the plant.

Ukraine's state-run hydropower agency on Tuesday raised concerns that the plant could face shortage of water to cool reactors during late summer since Russian forces have let water out of a reservoir that supplies the plant. Ihor Syrota, director general of the state-run

Ukrhydroenergo hydropower generating company said there was no immediate danger to the nuclear plant, however, he raised concerns about what would happen if water levels fell further at the Kakhovka reservoir on the River Dnipro, which supplies the plant.

"An issue (with lack of water for cooling) could arise in the summer, in late summer. I hope we don't get to that situation. I hope we de-occupy faster," Reuters quoted Syrota as saying.
Sonipat, 27 March, 2023: Indias G20 presidency aims to be a presidency of healing, harmony and hope said Shri V. Muraleedharan, Honble Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India at the Inaugural Address of the World Universities Summit 2023.



The five-day summit titled the G20 Higher Educators Forums Universities of the Future Summit. The Theme of the Virtual Summit is Building Institutional Resilience, Social Responsibility & Community Impact in G20 Countries was inaugurated today.



Speaking at the Inauguration, the Chief Guest Shri V. Muraleedharan, Honble Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India said, I wish to compliment the O.P. Jindal Global University for this initiative. I'm glad to note that over 91 universities and 146 speakers, vice chancellors, professors and academics are participating. I'm confident that this summit will produce substantive outcomes. Indias G20 presidency aims to be a presidency of healing, harmony and hope.Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has called for a new paradigm of human centric globalization. We should not just limit India's G20 presidency to isolated discussions among world leaders but to make it a people's dignity and mass movement and I seek your support and the novelty of your ideas to inject youthful dynamism to our G20 Agenda. I'm also pleased to note that O.P. Jindal Global University is the very first university in India to set up a permanent centre for G20 studies and I wish it well, both during India's G20 Presidency and beyond. Universities have an important role to play in the creation of the intellectual capital of a country. Providing universal access to quality education is the key to India's continued ascent and leadership on the global stage. In terms of economic growth, social justice and equality scientific advancement, national integration, and cultural preservation. Universal high quality education is the best way forward for developing and maximizing our country's rich talents and resources for the good of the individual, the society, the country and the world. The idea that higher education should be both equitable is a mantra in the National Education Policy, and has great importance for a country like India.



The summit will bring together 160 national and international participants from all G20 countries across six continents. There will be substantive discussions, keynote addresses and discourses over the next five days which will include leading academics and educational professional from all G20 countries.



Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O. P. Jindal Global University welcomed the delegates and said, This summit is hosted by a newly established centre called the Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies. The word University summit was conceptualized by O.P. Jindal University with a vision to create a platform for universities worldwide to come together to help share the focus and imagination for what a university could be in the future. Technological advancements pedagogical innovations academic research combined with globalization and deeper social engagement, are now changing the way higher education institutions function. The challenge for universities is to fulfill its own institutional responsibility to provide world class education for the students who are dependent upon that institution.We need to focus on outcomes based training to create opportunities for our students so that their degrees and the education they receive should lead to jobs and opportunities for the livelihoods. The challenge that we have afforded to us is the extent to which we can bridge the gap between the national and the international to create opportunities for students across the developing world to pursue international opportunities, to what extent internationalization can be accessible so that it does not become the privilege for the few and can be more democratic and more inclusive. It also means to what extent our national policies, our national regulations, our assessment,accreditation, and benchmarking efforts are also aligned to the idea that we need to benchmark our institutions with the best in the world. Another big challenge that we continue to face in India, but also in several other parts of the world, is the dichotomy and the dilemma between the public and the private. We should not waver from the fundamental mission that all of us are as university leaders, as well as educators, which is to educate, empower. and transform our society, to the minds of young people who are part of our institution to be able to engage in research that can address the challenges of our society.



A special address was given by Professor (Dr.) Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General Association of Indian Universities who said, Students want to be lifelong learners. They don't want to be ending their learning with the university or the college or the institution where they are studying, but they want to be lifelong learners, because the future is changing so fast, that unless they remain lifelong learners, they will not be able to sustain. Students want to be innovative and they want to be problem solvers.Universities have a big role in taking care of these challenges while fulfilling the aspirations of the students. And that balance has to be created by the universities of future. And it is here where the New Education Policy of India comes in. Because the new education policy of India talks about the future of learning. Now we have to work in partnerships. For example, right now we have silos of school education, higher education, technical education, vocational education, all this has to integrate. We also need internationalization of higher education for sustainable partnerships and that a global affairs office should exist in every university in India. The future of universities is totally different from what it is today. Going forward we are organizing a week-long visit of academics and Vice Chancellors of G20 to get a deeper understanding of the Indian higher education system.



Professor (Dr.) Mohan Kumar, Dean and Director, Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies, said that the summit was an opportunity for Indias cooperation with the other institutions. I believe the universities of the future face two fundamental challenges. The challenge number one is really see how universities can be relevant to the workplace. You have to look at the curriculum, at the infrastructure and whether practitioners can play a role. We will have to look at the entire ecosystem of the university to make sure that the education that we impart stays relevant to the persons who receive it so that they can do better workplace, also in a context such as India to understand how universities can offer inclusive education on the basis of principles like equity and social justice.



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with O.P. Jindal Global University and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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NOIDA, India, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- QuantPower and Bharat KYC have been awarded for their remarkable innovations in the fintech industry. Bharat KYC, the latest innovation by Wisdom Tree Ventures, has been awarded 'India's Fastest eKYC 2023', while QuantPower has secured the 'Best Algo Trading Platform in India' award.



Shri Sudhendu J Sinha, Advisor to NITI Ayog, Govt of India and Bollywood actress Smt Bhagyashree handed over the awards respectively to Mr. Deb Mukherjee Founding Director & Group CEO Wisdom Group of Companies at Global Business Summit at Hyatt Regency in New Delhi on 25th March 2023.



Bharat KYC, developed by Wisdom Tree Ventures, is India's fastest KYC platform, revolutionizing the cumbersome process of account opening and verification. With cutting-edge technology, Bharat KYC allows customers to open their accounts in just 3 minutes, without having to upload any documents or visit a physical branch. The platform uses state-of-the-art technology to verify customer details using their PAN number, Aadhaar number, and mobile number, eliminating the need for physical documentation. The launch of Bharat KYC by Wisdom Tree Ventures is a significant step towards providing a seamless and hassle-free KYC verification process for customers across India.



QuantPower.tech , on the other hand, is more than just a trading platform  it's a community of traders who are dedicated to helping each other succeed. With world-class trading tools like the Strategy Builder, Backtesting, Advanced Option Chain, and Algo Trading, QuantPower gives traders the edge they need to make smart, rule-based trades and stay profitable in the markets. The new initiative launched by QuantPower is aimed at supporting traders and improving their overall trading experience. The program includes a 'Subscription Fees Reversal' program, a 'Reward equivalent to interest Benefit' program, and an 'Options Trading Rewards' program.



Deb Mukherjee, CEO of both 'Bharat KYC' and 'QuantPower', expressed his gratitude for the recognition, stating that the awards are a testament to their commitment to innovation and excellence. He added that the teams at Wisdom Tree Ventures, QuantPower and Bharat KYC are dedicated to providing the best possible solutions to their customers and are constantly striving to improve their products and services.



About Wisdom Tree Ventures:



Wisdom Tree Ventures Pvt Ltd is a leading fintech company and a sister organization of Wisdom Group, which was founded by Mr. Deb Mukherjee in 2013. The company is headquartered in Noida, located in the National Capital Region of India. Among the brands under this group are Wisdom Capital, Wisdom Tree Ventures, Bharat KYC, Bharat CRM, Best Algo, and QuantPower, respectively.



For more details please visit website wisdomtreeventures.com.



Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040687/BharatKYCQuant_Power.jpg



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) South Korean consumer durables maker LG Electronics on Monday said it has started manufacturing Dual Inverter Air Conditioner Compressors at its plant in Greater Nodia.

LG Electronics India, which is among the leading players in the residential air-conditioning market here, has invested around Rs 100 crore in the new facility in Uttar Pradesh.

The new line has a capacity to roll out one million units per year, the company said.

According to the company, it has 'become the first brand to manufacture its own Dual Inverter Air Conditioner compressor in India".

Hyunjin Lee, Manufacturing MD of LG Electronics India, said this continuous expansion is a step towards making self-reliant India a reality.

LG Electronics aims to make India a powerful manufacturing hub. "We have invested approximately Rs 100 crore in setting up this Air Conditioner Compressor manufacturing line and are continuously working towards strengthening our local operations," he added.

In January, LG Electronics India started a new line for manufacturing the premium range of side-by-side refrigerators at Ranjangaon in Pune where it had invested around Rs 200 crore.

LG Electronics India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Korea-based LG Electronics. The company, which was established in January 1997 in India, has two manufacturing units at Greater Noida and Pune.

For the financial year that ended March 31, 2022, LG Electronics India's total revenue was at Rs 17,171.3 crore.
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Air India on Monday launched a direct flight from Amritsar to Gatwick in the UK, with Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia saying the new international connectivity will work as a catalyst for the development of the region.

"Equipped with 18 business class seats featuring fully-flat beds and 238 economy class seats, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will be operating three flights a week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from Amritsar," the airline said in a release.

Air India will operate 9 other weekly flights scheduled from Ahmedabad, Goa, and Kochi -- making it a total of 12 weekly flights to Gatwick.

"In total, the airline now operates 49 flights in the UK per week -- 43 flights to London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and six flights to Birmingham. Air India also operates 31 weekly flights to Heathrow, London, from Delhi and Mumbai," the release said.

Gatwick airport is the second largest airport in the UK.

The Air India flight from Amritsar to Gatwick was inaugurated by Scindia.

He said the new international connectivity will work as a catalyst for the development of the region and added that lakhs of people from Punjab live in the UK and the new service will connect families living in two different countries, according to an official release.

Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that as part of its five-year transformation plan Vihaan.AI, the airline plans to significantly enhance connectivity between India's major cities and prime global destinations.

"These flights will also fulfil the growing demand for direct air connectivity from various important destinations in India to the UK and from the UK to these popular cities in India."

Overall, Air India operates 80 flights per week to seven major cities in the UK and Europe. It has relaunched flights to some of the prime European destinations, such as Milan, Vienna, and Copenhagen.
Colombo, Mar 27 (PTI) Sri Lanka's Cabinet has approved a proposal to liberalise the fuel retail marketing by allowing more players from China, Australia and the US to enter the market.

The island nations fuel retail market was a state monopoly under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) till 2003 when the Indian Oil Corporation was allowed to operate.

Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara tweeted: The Cabinet approval granted to award licenses to Sinopec, United Petroleum Australia and RM Parks of USA in a collaboration with Shell Plc to enter the fuel retail market in Sri Lanka.

Wijesekara added that the energy committee and procurement committees had approved a recommendation to award the three companies the licenses to operate.

They will be allocated 150 dealer-operated fuel stations which are currently being run by the state fuel entity the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

They will be granted a license to operate for 20 years to import, store, distribute and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka, the minister added.

Lanka IOC (LIOC), the Indian Oil Corporation's subsidiary in Sri Lanka, proved a welcome addition when the CPC was gripped in the economic crisis and imports were not possible due to the forex shortage last year.

The fuel sector trade unions, who opposed the deal with the IOC, say they are opposed to the new liberalisation policy in the fuel sector.

The LIOC by mid-last year was enjoying a 16 per cent market share for petrol and diesel.

For lubricants, bitumen, and oil bunkering their market share was over 35 per cent.
Colombo, Mar 27 (PTI) Sri Lanka would seek a new temporary credit facility of USD 1 billion from India to purchase essential items including food and medicine, the official media here reported on Monday.

Sri Lanka received 333 million dollars, the first tranche of the USD 3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme last week to overcome its economic crisis and catalyse financial support from other development partners.

The Sri Lankan finance ministry officials held talks with its Indian counterparts to obtain the new temporary USD 1 billion facility for the "purchase of essential foodstuff, medicines and other goods for the country," the state-run Daily News newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, former Central Bank Governor Dr Indrajith Coomaraswamy, speaking at a discussion organised by the Centre for Banking Studies of the Central Bank, said,  the negotiations are also underway to secure an Indian rupee swap from RBI. The amount is still uncertain; it could be up to the equivalent of USD 1 billion. That is still being worked out."

"This is expected to facilitate Sri Lanka-India trade, the senior economist was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror newspaper on Saturday.

Coomaraswamy added that the Sri Lankan government also began talks with Indian authorities to extend the repayment of the USD 1 billion credit line received last year and debt under the Asian Clearing Union by five years, the report said.

 we are trying to settle that money over a five-year period. It is still at early levels of negotiations, he said, noting that the island nation was unlikely to receive such a long extension for the USD 400 million multi-currency swap facility, which has already been extended.

Last week, state minister of finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said that Sri Lanka settled a loan instalment of USD 121 million from the previous facilities extended by India, using the first tranche of the IMF bailout package.

Sri Lanka has been struck by a catastrophic economic and humanitarian crisis sparked by years of mismanagement and the raging pandemic.

India has extended lines of credit worth over USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka in diverse sectors, including the supply of essential items, petroleum, fertilisers, development of railways, infrastructure, defence sector and renewable energy, according to the Indian High Commission here.

The Indian Oil Companys local operation kept fuel supplies going in the face of miles-long queues forming at retail fuel stations mid-last year, as the state ran dry of forex to import petroleum.

The IMF's Executive Board approved a 48-month extended arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) last week with an amount of SDR 2.286 billion (about USD 3 billion).

The IMF bailout, the seventeenth in Sri Lankas history, was approved following prolonged discussions held up over Colombo's unsustainable debt.

India was the first bilateral lender to issue financing assurances in the debt restructuring negotiations.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who spearheaded the IMF negotiations, specially mentioned the contributions made by the Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to assist his government.

India has extended multi-pronged assistance to Sri Lanka during the peak of its economic and humanitarian crisis in line with its "Neighbourhood First" policy and as an earnest friend and partner of Colombo.
Kochi, Mar 27 (PTI) The Thrissurian flavour laced with a native slang and his ability to go beyond the 'framework' of the written script made late star Innocent an instant hit with the Malayalee film buffs.

His failure as a businessman was cinema's gain as the accidental career hop made him one of the most loved actors of Malayalam cinema.

Veteran star Innocent, who died at a private hospital here late Sunday evening, was a versatile personality who enjoyed a special place in the hearts of Malayalees by generating a positive vibe through effortless humour with wit and mannerism.

Innocent (75) also made a deep impression as a TV presenter and conversationalist besides foraying into politics and even became a Member of Parliament.

Having never dreamt of becoming an actor, Innocent ended up in the tinsel world accidentally after failing in his earlier efforts to eke out a living as a businessman and small-time industrialist.

Although acting was his last option, he had a roaring success in that role, appearing in over 700 movies, mostly in comedy roles, in his five-decade long film career.

Beginning his film career in 1972 with the Malayalam movie "Nrithasala", his entry into the world of cinema was accidental while working in a different role for a film production company thay year, according to film scholar Balagopal Niruthampath.

Innocent got opportunities to act in movies while he was trying to eke out a living as a production assistant, he said.

He could assert his career as an actor through the roles he had got in movies directed by Mohan, an Irinjalakkuda native, from where Innocent hailed, Balagopal said.

"What made Innocent an instant success as an actor was his resourcefulness to rise above the frameworks set by the script," he told PTI.

His victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha constituency as a Left candidate from Chalakkudy, a traditional Congress-bastion, proved his popularity beyond the film world.

Innocent, who was known largely for his comedy roles, maintained his amiable persona as he did not antagonise his rival and other political opponents. He lost the 2019 elections to the Congress.

Born in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district in 1948, Innocent ended his schooling at class 8.

According to K S Manu, a script writer, Innocent is the only actor who has explored the possibilities of language to reach the masses.

Speaking in typical Thrissurian flavour and his native Irinjalakkuda slang, he has made it through his intelligent Malayalam articulations, whether it is a gesture, expression, syntax or a sentence.

"His delivery and rendering of these articulations with ease, has created a cult in the popular culture, and hence his intimate association and identification with the masses and I think is the basis of his popularity and identity as a comedian.

"Innocent's dialogues really demand a semantic analysis to understand them. May be it could be word, phrase, or sound , but it had the power to revolt against the people in power, society, or any injustice that prevails. Thus his acting transcends above mere mannerisms", Manu told PTI.

Many popular films including Godfather, Vietnam Colony and Manichithrathazhu displayed his ability in handling comedy with ease.

His roles in movies like Mazhavil Kavadi and Devasuram proved that he could safely handle character roles also.

Innocent tried his luck at writing scripts and also sang a few songs in the films 'Mr Butler' and 'Sandram'.

He was also the president of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for 18 years from 2000.

He was diagnosed with cancer twice and yet always maintained a positive attitude towards life, a fact remembered by many in their condolence messages on social media.
As a follow-up to the meeting held in Khojaly on March 1 and the invitation presented on March 13, the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan proposes once again to hold a meeting in Baku in the first week of April for the purpose of reintegration of the representatives of the Armenian public of Karabakh as well as to discuss the implementation of infrastructure projects in Karabakh, Azernews reports per Azertac news agency.




Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk has announced the beginning of a discussion with members of the British Parliament on the recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

"We discussed a number of issues related to historical justice. Separately, we discussed the possibility of the UK Parliament recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Now we are actively conducting this track in order to show the whole world that, just as the Stalinist regime 90 years ago, so today the Putin regime is killing Ukrainians just because they are Ukrainians  We have started a discussion in the British Parliament. Now we expect the same decisions from France, Brazil," the speaker said, talking to reporters in London.

He recalled that for 32 years of Ukraine's Independence, 25 foreign parliaments recognized the Holodomor as genocide. At the same time, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed that 11 of them made relevant decisions last year.

As reported, Stefanchuk is paying an official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during March 27-28.

The program of the visit includes meetings with members of the British Parliament. In particular, Stefanchuk will talk with head of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords John McFaul, members of both houses of Parliament, representatives of the friendship group Great Britain - Ukraine and the initiative group Conservatives  Friends of Ukraine.

A number of bilateral meetings are also planned: with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former British Prime Minister, MP Boris Johnson.

During the visit, a memorandum of understanding will be signed between the offices of the Verkhovna Rada and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
New York, Mar 27 (PTI) Lt. Manmeet Colon, a 37-year-old Indian-origin Sikh woman officer has assumed charge as the assistant police chief in the US state of Connecticut, becoming the department's first-ever second-in-command of Asian descent.

Colon, a 15-year New Haven Police Department (NHPD) veteran, was sworn in as the city's third assistant police chief in a ceremony on Friday, the New Haven Independent newspaper reported.

The ceremony marked another glass ceiling being broken, Board of Police Commissioners Chair Evelise Ribeiro said, noting that Colon, a native of Mumbai, is the departments second-ever female assistant chief of colour and its first Indian assistant chief, the report said.

Colon thanked her colleagues, family and friends in Fridays ceremony and said, With great power comes great responsibility and ever greater accountability.

Colon immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 11 years old and joined the force a decade and a half ago, the report said.

She joins fellow assistant chiefs David Zannelli and Bertram Ettienne in what Ribeiro described as the dream team that Police Chief Karl Jacobson has surrounded himself with.

According to the report, Colon has worked in patrol, as a detective in the special victims unit, as a sergeant supervising the robbery and burglary unit, as a lieutenant and district manager, and most recently as the head of the Internal Affairs division.

Describing Colon, Police Chief Jacobson said, She was tough, but she was also very kind.

I come from a Sikh family. I speak Punjabi. I am very proud of my heritage, Colon was quoted as saying earlier this month by the newspaper.

More important is the mission and the values of the department. To me, it is all about being fair and impartial. My background, my morals, my family values and traditions  I feel like I bring a lot to the table," Colon said, adding, "I am glad there is a space for me at the table.

Colons brother Prabhjyot Singh and her older daughter Milan pinned the new assistant chief badge on Colon's uniform. Mayor Justin Elicker then administered the oath of office, the report said.

The new assistant police chief urged her colleagues to remind themselves, especially on bad days, "of how privileged you are to be part of such a rewarding and strong profession.

Colon graduated from the police academy in December 2008 and studied criminal justice at the University of New Haven.
Jerusalem, Mar 27 (AP) Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets of cities across the country on Sunday night in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defence minister for challenging the Israeli leader's judicial overhaul plan.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Netanyahu's private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest deepened a monthslong crisis over Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary, which has sparked mass protests, alarmed business leaders and former security chiefs and drawn concern from the United States and other close allies.

Netanyahu's dismissal of defence Minister Yoav Gallant signaled that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

But as droves of protesters flooded the streets late into the night, Likud ministers began indicating willingness to hit the brakes. Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

In a brief statement, Netanyahu's office said late Sunday the prime minister had dismissed Gallant. Netanyahu later tweeted we must all stand strong against refusal.

Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets in protest after Netanyahu's announcement, blocking Tel Aviv's main artery, transforming the Ayalon highway into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags and lighting a large bonfire in the middle of the road.

Demonstrations took place in Beersheba, Haifa and Jerusalem, where thousands of people gathered outside Netanyahu's private residence. Police scuffled with protesters and sprayed the crowd with a water cannon.

Inon Aizik, 27, said he came to demonstrate outside Netanyahu's private residence in central Jerusalem because bad things are happening in this country, referring to the judicial overhaul as a quick legislative blitz.

Netanyahu's decision came less than a day after Gallant, a former senior general, called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next month's Independence Day holidays, citing the turmoil in the ranks of the military.

Gallant had voiced concerns that the divisions in society were hurting morale in the military and emboldening Israel's enemies. I see how the source of our strength is being eroded, Gallant said.

While several other Likud members had indicated they might follow Gallant, the party quickly closed ranks on Sunday, clearing the way for his dismissal.

Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahu's public diplomacy minister, said that Netanyahu summoned Gallant to his office and told him that he doesn't have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.

Gallant tweeted shortly after the announcement that the security of the state of Israel always was and will always remain my life mission.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Gallant's dismissal "harms national security and ignores warnings of all defence officials.

Israel's consul general in New York City, Assaf Zamir, resigned in protest.

Avi Dichter, a former chief of the Shin Bet security agency, is expected to replace him. Dichter had reportedly flirted with joining Gallant but instead announced Sunday he was backing the prime minister.

Netanyahu's government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. It also seeks to pass laws that would grant parliament the authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority and limit judicial review of laws.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the constellation of laws will remove the checks and balances in Israel's democratic system and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past three months to demonstrate against the plan in the largest demonstrations in the country's 75-year history.

Leaders of Israel's vibrant high-tech industry have said the changes will scare away investors, former top security officials have spoken out against the plan and key allies, including the United States and Germany, have voiced concerns.

In recent weeks discontent has even surged from within Israel's army  the most popular and respected institution among Israel's Jewish majority. A growing number of Israeli reservists, including fighter pilots, have threatened to withdraw from voluntary duty in the past weeks.

Israel's military is facing a surge in fighting in the occupied West Bank, threats from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and concerns that archenemy Iran is close to developing a nuclear-weapons capability.

Violence both in Israel and the occupied West Bank has escalated over the past few weeks to heights unseen in years.

Manuel Trajtenberg, head of an influential Israeli think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies, said that Netanyahu can dismiss his defence minister, he cannot dismiss the warnings he heard from Gallant.

Meanwhile, an Israeli good governance group on Sunday asked the country's Supreme Court to punish Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the country's judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a fierce opponent of the overhaul, asked the court to force Netanyahu to obey the law and sanction him either with a fine or prison time for not doing so. It said he was not above the law.

A prime minister who doesn't obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist, said Eliad Shraga, the head of the group, echoing language used by Netanyahu and his allies against protesters opposed to the overhaul. The prime minister will be forced to bow his head before the law and comply with the provisions of the law.

The prime minister responded saying the appeal should be dismissed and said that the Supreme Court didn't have grounds to intervene.

Netanyahu is barred by the country's attorney general from directly dealing with his government's plan to overhaul the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement he is bound to, and which the Supreme Court acknowledged in a ruling over Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption. Instead, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is spearheading the overhaul.

But on Thursday, after parliament passed a law making it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, Netanyahu said he was unshackled from the attorney general's decision and vowed to wade into the crisis and mend the rift in the nation. That declaration prompted the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to warn that Netanyahu was breaking his conflict of interest agreement.

The fast-paced legal and political developments have catapulted Israel into uncharted territory and toward a burgeoning constitutional crisis, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

We are at the start of a constitutional crisis in the sense that there is a disagreement over the source of authority and legitimacy of different governing bodies, he said.

Netanyahu is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he will try to seek an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul.  Associated Press journalist Tia Goldenberg contributed from Tel Aviv. (AP) AMS
Ottawa, Mar 27 (The Conversation) When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States President Joe Biden announced unofficial border crossings were no longer exempt from the Safe Third Country Agreement  meaning migrants could be turned away  news reports documented the surprise and dismay of those who arrived at Roxham Road in Quebec, a few hours past the deadline of midnight, March 25, 2023.

Migrants who crossed just hours before the new measures took effect, on the other hand, expressed relief to the media that they made it into Canada in time.

The media attention on these most recent attempts to cross the Canada-US border helps the public understand what otherwise too often takes place on isolated rural roads and with little accountability.

They shed some light on what is happening, but only some.

The issues at play at Roxham Road, on the Quebec-New York border, are larger than any one single border crossing, official or otherwise.

They are intimately connected to global political instability, economic equities, exploitation and the enduring question of a states capacity to be humanitarian when it is also in the business of managing migration.

The need to see beyond the immediate crossing point is urgent and necessary, because the modified Safe Third Country Agreement is not the end of the story.

Raising public awareness about the issues surrounding migration has been a critical part of civil society activism on refugee issues in recent years.

It was a cornerstone of the 1980s sanctuary movement, when there were animated debates about the nature of responsibilities to refugees in the United States and, to some extent, in Canada.

In March 1982, the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz., alongside five churches from the San Francisco Bay area, declared themselves public sanctuaries for migrants from Central America who were fleeing civil wars and political persecution.

The Ronald Reagan administration, which funded guerrilla movements in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, had made it difficult for people to file asylum claims  and the few that were heard were disproportionately refused.

For instance, only three per cent of claims from El Salvador were accepted, despite testimony from refugees about brutal persecution that was echoed by human rights observers.

The speed of the refusals and the deportations made it difficult for people to learn about the circumstances that had caused people to flee.

As civil society activists began to educate themselves about what was going on in Central America, they recognised that US foreign policy was contributing to the conflicts that were fuelling migration.

They connected the dots and argued that the US governments failure to address asylum claims from Central Americans in a fair and just manner was part of a larger strategy of refusing responsibility for the tumult in the region.

To address the situation, civil society organisations began to collaborate on multiple levels in what Jim Corbett, a Quaker and Arizona rancher who was deeply involved in the movement, described as civil initiative.

This involved everything from helping people across the MexicoUS border to offering legal advice and support, facilitating or providing translation services, and advocating publicly on behalf of refugees.

Alongside public declarations of sanctuary, Corbett talked about public witness as a key dimension of efforts to end the persecution (detailed in Miriam Davidsons Convictions of the Heart: Jim Corbett and the Sanctuary Movement).

Crucially, some refugees in sanctuary chose or were invited to speak about their experiences. They often described their own circumstances. However, they also talked about the conditions in their homelands, and raised awareness about violent conflicts that might not have been as well understood otherwise.

Authorities recognised how powerful  and damning  this information was.

During the 1985 sanctuary trial  in which 11 members of the sanctuary movement were tried for various felonies including smuggling and transportation  the ruling judge specifically denied the introduction of any foreign policy evidence or testimony about events in peoples homelands as part of the proceedings. Six of the activists, including Corbett, were convicted, though all received probation.

The judges actions illustrates the importance of the larger story when it comes to migration issues.

The current discussions of migration across the CanadaUS border, in both directions, are focused only on the movement of migrants themselves, with little sense or interest in the circumstances that are causing people to move.

In other words, we are only seeing migrants, not the bigger picture.

Take for example, the situation in Venezuela, described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as one of the largest displacement crises in the world.

There are currently an estimated seven million Venezuelan migrants and refugees abroad as a result of the turbulent economic and political conditions in the country.

The United States government has suspended direct flights to Venezuela, as has the Canadian government.

There is also a Canadian travel advisory telling people to avoid all travel to Venezuela due to the significant level of violent crime, the unstable political and economic situations and the decline in basic living conditions, including shortages of medication, gasoline and water.

Having a sense of the larger picture isnt about the merits of individual claims, or how people decide to seek better lives, or what borders they crossed.

Its about having a better understanding of how and why people all over the world are moving.

As the public education component of the 1980s sanctuary movement shows, this is work all of us can do. As people lose the capacity to be heard, the burden falls on all of us to understand circumstances abroad rather than to make assumptions about who people are, and what they may or may not have endured, based solely on how they are moving.

If were going to have robust and substantive conversations about migration policy and humanitarian responsibilities, then we need to zoom out  beyond the immediacy of the border  to better understand the interconnected circumstances that lead people to make all kinds of decisions about their lives, including the decision to move.

After all, in announcing the amended Safe Third Country agreement, both Trudeau and Biden were careful not to speculate about how people will migrate now.

Thats because they havent examined the bigger picture or addressed any root causes. So the question remains: What happens next? (The Conversation)

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London, Mar 27 (PTI) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday launched a new Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan to crack down on illegal activities within communities by handing additional powers to the police to punish drug-related offences and criminal gang activity.

Under the new Immediate Justice scheme, those found committing anti-social behaviour will be made to repair the damage they inflicted on victims and communities, with an ambition for them to start work as soon as 48 hours after their offence.

Offenders, who will be made to wear high-visibility vests or jumpsuits and work under supervision, could be made to pick up litter, remove graffiti and wash police cars as punishment for their actions.

Victims of anti-social behaviour from the local community will be given a say in offenders punishments to ensure justice is visible and fits the crime.

Anti-social behaviour undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home, said Sunak.

The public have rightly had enough  which is why I am determined to restore peoples confidence that those responsible will be quickly and visibly punished. This action plan maps out how we will tackle this issue with the urgency it deserves and stamp out these crimes once and for all  so that wherever you live, you can feel safe in, and proud of your community, he said.

Under the plans zero-tolerance approach, Nitrous Oxide or laughing gas will also be banned to send a message to intimidating gangs that hang around high streets and childrens parks and litter them with empty canisters.

The drug is now reported as the third most used among 16 to 24-year-olds in England and both the police and public have repeatedly reported links between use of this drug and nuisance or anti-social behaviour.

The British public are fed up with crime and nuisance behaviour in their neighbourhoods inflicting misery on people, said UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

There is no such thing as petty crime  not only does antisocial behaviour leave people feeling unsafe, it can also be a gateway into serious criminality. It has always been my priority to give police the powers they need to deliver a common-sense approach to cutting crime, which puts the law-abiding majority first, and thats what this action plan delivers, she said.

UK police will also be given new powers to crackdown on illegal drug use, often a catalyst for other crimes, including expanding powers for drug testing on arrest so more suspected criminals can be tested and more drugs tested for, including ecstasy and methamphetamine.

Currently, only suspected criminals who have committed certain offences can be tested in police detention without additional requirements.

A new reporting tool will also be developed over the next 12 months to act as a digital one-stop shop where people can quickly and easily report incidents of anti-social behaviour when these occur.

Anti-social behaviour erodes local pride, blights our high streets and parks and is a stain on too many communities across the country. We know that it is more likely to flourish in areas that have, for too long, been overlooked and undervalued, said Michael Gove, UK Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

So we will intervene directly to prevent high street dereliction. We will deliver tougher, quicker and more visible justice to prevent thuggish behaviour in town centres and we will ensure young people have the opportunities and activities available to them to succeed -- all backed by new investment. This is about acting on the peoples priorities, delivering safer streets so we can level up across the country, he said.

Among the measures under the Action Plan, the punishment for those who graffiti, litter or fly-tip trash will be hit with increased fines of up to GBP 1,000.

Landlords and housing associations will have more powers to evict unruly tenants who ruin their neighbours lives through persistent noise or by being drunk and disorderly.

An anti-social behaviour taskforce is also planned to bring together national and local partners, with the sole focus of addressing anti-social behaviour.
Jerusalem, Mar 26 (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defence minister on Sunday, a day after the former army general called for a halt to the planned overhaul of Israel's judiciary that has fiercely divided the country.

The move signals the prime minister will move ahead this week with plans for the overhaul, which has sparked widespread opposition. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, military and business leaders have spoken out against it and leading allies of Israel have voiced concerns.

Outgoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a former army general, is a senior member of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party. On Saturday, he called for a pause in the controversial legislation until after next month's Independence Day holidays, citing the rift's threat to Israel's national security.

Netanyahu's office did not provide further details over the firing. Galit Distal Atbaryan, Netanyahu's public diplomacy minister, said that the prime minister summoned Gallant to his office and told him that he doesn't have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Gallant's dismissal was a new low for the anti-Zionist government that harms national security and ignores warnings of all defense officials.

The prime minister of Israel is a threat to the security of the state of Israel, Lapid wrote on Twitter.

Gallant was the first to break ranks in Netanyahu's coalition late Saturday by calling for the legislation to be frozen. Gallant cited the turmoil in the ranks of the military over the plan. But it was unclear whether others would follow him.

Netanyahu's government is pushing ahead for a parliamentary vote this week on a centrepiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments.

The government also plans to push for parliamentary authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority and limit judicial review of laws.

Critics say the constellation of laws will remove the checks and balances in Israel's democratic system and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

Meanwhile, an Israeli good governance group on Sunday asked the country's Supreme Court to punish Netanyahu for allegedly violating a conflict of interest agreement meant to prevent him from dealing with the country's judiciary while he is on trial for corruption.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a fierce opponent of the overhaul, asked the court to force Netanyahu to obey the law and sanction him either with a fine or prison time for not doing so. It said he was not above the law.

A prime minister who doesn't obey the court and the provisions of the law is privileged and an anarchist, said Eliad Shraga, the head of the group, echoing language used by Netanyahu and his allies against protesters opposed to the overhaul. The prime minister will be forced to bow his head before the law and comply with the provisions of the law.

The prime minister responded saying the appeal should be dismissed and said that the Supreme Court didn't have grounds to intervene.

Netanyahu is barred by the country's attorney general from directly dealing with his government's plan to transform the judiciary, based on a conflict of interest agreement he is bound to, and which the Supreme Court acknowledged in a ruling over Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.

Instead, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a close confidant of Netanyahu, is spearheading the overhaul.

But on Thursday, after parliament passed a law making it harder to remove a sitting prime minister, Netanyahu said he was unshackled from the attorney general's decision and vowed to wade into the crisis and mend the rift in the nation. That declaration prompted the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to warn that Netanyahu was breaking his conflict of interest agreement by entering the fray.

The fast-paced legal and political developments have catapulted Israel into uncharted territory and toward a burgeoning constitutional crisis, said Guy Lurie, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

We are at the start of a constitutional crisis in the sense that there is a disagreement over the source of authority and legitimacy of different governing bodies, he said.

If Netanyahu continues to intervene in the overhaul, Baharav-Miara could launch an investigation into whether he violated the conflict of interest agreement, which could lead to additional charges against him, Lurie said. He added that the uncertainty of the events made him unsure of how they were likely to unfold.

It is also unclear how the court, which is at the centre of the divide surrounding the overhaul, will treat the request to sanction Netanyahu. The Movement for Quality Government said the court had given Netanyahu and the attorney general a week to respond.

Netanyahu is on trial for charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he will try to seek an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul. (AP) PY
Kyiv, Mar 26 (AP) Ukraine's government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus.

One Ukrainian official said Russia "took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

Further heightening tensions, an explosion deep inside Russia wounded three people on Sunday. Russian authorities blamed a Ukrainian drone for the blast, which damaged residential buildings in a town just 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Moscow.

Russia has said the plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes in response to the West's increasing military support for Ukraine. Putin announced the plan in a TV interview that aired Saturday, saying it was triggered by a UK decision this past week to provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Putin argued that by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russia was following the lead of the United States. He noted that Washington has nuclear weapons based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews, he said.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned the move in a statement Sunday and demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

Ukraine expects effective action to counter the Kremlin's nuclear blackmail by the UK, China, the US and France, the statement read, saying these countries have a special responsibility regarding nuclear aggression.

The world must be united against someone who endangers the future of human civilization, the statement said.

Ukraine has not commented on Sunday's explosion inside Russia. It left a crater about 15 metres (50 feet) in diameter and five metres deep (16 feet), according to media reports.

Russian state-run news agency Tass reported authorities identified the drone as a Ukrainian Tu-141. The Soviet-era drone was reintroduced in Ukraine in 2014, and has a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The explosion took place in the town of Kireyevsk in the Tula region, about 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Russia's Defense Ministry said the drone crashed after an electronic jamming system disabled its navigation.

Similar drone attacks have been common during the war, although Ukraine hardly ever acknowledges responsibility. On Monday, Russia said Ukrainian drones attacked civilian facilities in the town of Dzhankoi in Russia-annexed Crimea. Ukraine's military said several Russian cruise missiles were destroyed, but did not specifically claim responsibility.

In December, the Russian military reported several Ukrainian drone attacks on long-range bomber bases deep inside Russia. The Russian Defence Ministry said the drones were shot down, but acknowledged that their debris damaged some aircraft and killed several servicemen.

Also, Russian authorities have reported attacks by small drones in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions on the border with Ukraine.

On Saturday, Putin argued that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country again to counter NATO. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members  Latvia, Lithuania and Poland  and Russia used Belarusian territory as a staging ground to send troops into neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Both Lukashenko's support of the war and Putin's plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus has been denounced by the Belarusian opposition.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, tweeted Sunday that Putin's announcement was a step towards internal destabilisation of Belarus that maximized the level of negative perception and public rejection of Russia and Putin in Belarusian society. The Kremlin, Danilov added, took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia plans to maintain control over the ones it sends to Belarus, and construction of storage facilities for them will be completed by July 1, Putin said.

Russia has stored its tactical nuclear weapons at dedicated depots on its territory, and moving part of the arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict by placing them closer to Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there.

The US said it would monitor the implications of Putin's announcement. So far, Washington hasn't seen "any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

In Germany, the foreign ministry called it a further attempt at nuclear intimidation, German news agency dpa reported late Saturday. The ministry went on to say that the comparison drawn by President Putin to NATO's nuclear participation is misleading and cannot be used to justify the step announced by Russia. (AP) PY

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Ankara (Turkiye), Mar 27 (AP) Turkiye's foreign ministry summoned the French ambassador to strongly condemn the French senate's decision to host Syrian Kurdish groups that Ankara considers to be terrorists, the Turkish state-run news agency reported on Monday.

Pierre Laurent, vice-president of the French Senate, announced on Twitter on Saturday that he hosted a delegation from northeast Syria last week to discuss the situation in the region.

Media reports said the senate awarded medals to members of the People's Protection Units, or YPG, and its women's branch, the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, in recognition of their fight against the extremist Islamic State group in Syria.

Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish officials protested to French Ambassador Herve Magro and reiterated Ankara's expectations of solidarity from its NATO allies in its fight against terrorism. They also asked France not to support alleged efforts by Kurdish militants to gain international credence, according to Anadolu.

Turkiye considers the two groups as extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a nearly four-decade long insurgency in Turkiye and is listed as a terror organisation by the United States and the European Union.

The United States and other countries however, regard the Syrian Kurdish groups as key allies in the fight against IS and have extended support to the organisations, frustrating Turkiye.

That frustration is partly the reason for Turkiye delaying Sweden and Finland's membership to NATO. (AP) PY

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Kinshasa (Congo), Mar 27 (AP) At least 17 people were killed by rebels in eastern Congo, local authorities said on Monday.

The people were abducted while driving on a road and then killed by the CODECO militia group in Djugu territory in Ituri province over the weekend, Col. Ruphin Mapela Mviniama told The Associated Press by phone.

They attacked three vehicles and took them to Petshi, their stronghold, in the Walendu Djatsi district. The chief of the (the district) confirmed that they executed 17 people, including the drivers of the three vehicles, he said.

Since the area is controlled by rebel militias it's hard to investigate what happened, said Mviniama.

Fighting between CODECO, a loose association of various ethnic Lendu militia groups, and Zaire, a mainly ethnic Hema self-defense group, has been ongoing since 2017 but has worsened recently.

At least 32 civilians were killed by CODECO last month, say local officials. In December, the United Nations said the insurgent group was expanding its areas of control, attacking civilians and Congo's military, and taxing communities in the areas that it holds.

The killings come amid surging violence across eastern Congo, where conflict has been simmering for decades as more than 120 armed groups are fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some groups are trying to protect their communities.

In neighbouring North Kivu province, the situation is deteriorating as the M23 rebel group, which was dormant for nearly a decade and resurfaced at the end of 2021, continues to seize swaths of territory and kill civilians.

More than 1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, in North Kivu, Ituri and South Kivu provinces, according to the United Nations. Militia groups in Ituri, like CODECO and the Allied Democratic Forces, which is aligned with the Islamic State group, are taking advantage of the government's focus on M23 in North Kivu province causing large scale displacements, said the UN.

Local authorities are urging Congo's government to send military reinforcements to secure the roads in the area to allow people to travel freely. (AP) PY

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Thane, Mar 26 (PTI) Police have arrested four persons and seized from them bottles of cough syrup containing codeine, a banned narcotic drug, worth Rs 9.30 lakh in Thane district of Maharashtra, an official said on Sunday.

The action was taken on Friday evening at Kontari village in Bhiwandi taluka of the district, he said.

"Acting on a tip-off, a team of Kongaon police station raided a place and found that a consignment of cough syrup being transferred from a truck into a tempo. The police seized the goods worth Rs 9.30 lakh and arrested four persons," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Bhiwandi) Kishore Khairnar said.

The police also seized two vehicles - a truck and a tempo - collectively worth Rs 8.50 lakh, the official added.

An offence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act was registered against the arrested accused, he said.
Aurangabad, Mar 27 (PTI) Farmers will get decay-free saplings and scientific training to enhance sweet lemon production at the Citrus Estate proposed to be set up in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, an official said on Monday.

The estate will come up on 18 hectares of land in Isarwadi in Paithan at a cost of Rs 43.79 crore, he said.

"In Maharashtra, sweet lemon is cultivated on an area of 57,243 hectares of land, of which 21,525 hectares is in Aurangabad and 14,325 in Jalna. At the Citrus Estate, farmers will get decay-free saplings, scientific training to boost yields and soil testing," he said.

The aim is to increase the production of sweet lemon to 30 tonnes per acre, he added.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk suggested that the UK become the leader of the "air coalition" to provide Ukraine with modern military aircraft.

"It seems to me that today it is time for the UK to become a leader in the "air coalition" and open up the possibility for Ukraine to use medium-range aircraft and missiles. I will be very grateful if your parliament will encourage the adoption of such a decision on Ukraine," Stefanchuk said, speaking to members of the two chambers of the British Parliament on Monday.

According to the press service of the Verkhovna Rada, Stefanchuk stressed that it was time for more radical actions in the war with the Russian Federation and asked colleagues from the UK Parliament not to delay important decisions for Ukraine.

"Only the technologization of the Ukrainian army, only the latest means of destruction will allow us to quickly reverse the situation on the front line. I would like to ask you to make the necessary decisions to be taken in Parliament on military support for Ukraine as soon as possible," the speaker said.

According to Stefanchuk, today representatives of the Moscow regime cannot decide what measures should be applied to support and restore peace, and Russian or Belarusian athletes should not compete at the Olympic Games.

"The isolation of Russia from the entire civilized world should also become our common task. We are talking and will constantly talk about this at all international venues," the head of the Ukrainian parliament said.

He asked for the support of Great Britain so that the voice of Ukraine could be heard on the platforms of the Big Seven and the Big Twenty, as well as on other international arenas.

"We also want to continue to see the UK Parliament as a participant in the parliamentary dimension of the International Crimea Platform," the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada said.

As reported, Stefanchuk is paying an official visit to the UK on March 27-28.
Jalna, Mar 27 (PTI) Tension prevailed in a village in Maharashtra's Jalna district after unidentified persons entered a mosque, assaulted an imam and allegedly cut off his beard, a police official said on Monday.

Victim Zakir Sayyed Khaja was alone in the mosque in Anwa village in Bhokardan tehsil when the incident took place at 7:30pm on Sunday, he said.

He was found lying unconscious and has been admitted in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Aurangabad, the official added.

Superintendent of Police Akshay Shinde visited the village to monitor the situation and a sizable number of police personnel has been deployed to maintain peace, he added.

A case has been registered and efforts were on to nab the accused, Inspector Abhijit More said.
Bhopal, Mar 27 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress chief Vikram Bhuria on Monday taunted Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar after getting bail in a case of stopping a train during a protest against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP.

Bhuria was arrested from his residence at Gopal Colony in Jhabua on Sunday after he was charged under Indian Penal Code and Railway Act provisions for stopping the Dakshin Express at Kamlapati station in Bhopal on Friday.

Asserting he was not afraid of arrest, Bhuria said, "They (Bharatiya Janata Party government in MP) have forgotten we are not from Savarkar's army but from Rahul Gandhi's army."

"We are not frightened of arrests. As a soldier of Rahul Gandhi, I am ready to go to jail. We are Congressmen who spent time in jails to get the country freedom, he told reporters here a day after his release on bail.

Bhuria also said he was arrested despite the sections under which he has been charged carrying sentences of less than two years.

"As per the courts, an arrest cannot be made if the charge carries sentence of less than seven years. But Bhopal (railway) police drive 350 kilometres to Jhabua to arrest me. The MP government has made the police its puppet," Bhuria claimed.

The Congress has been protesting across MP since Friday after Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP following his conviction in a defamation case by a court in Surat in Gujarat.

Gandhi has routinely attacked Savarkar for "apologising" to the British to get out of Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar.
Mumbai, Mar 27 (PTI) Designer Anishka Jaisinghani in one of her messages to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's wife Amruta had claimed that her father was in regular contact with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, police told a court here on Monday.

The police also told court there is possibility of involvement of various political personalities in the conspiracy, which needed to be probed.

The prosecution made this claim while opposing the bail plea of Anishka, who was arrested for allegedly offering a bribe to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's wife Amruta Fadnavis for intervening in a criminal case and attempting to extort Rs 10 crore from her.

Anishka Jaisinghani's bail plea was allowed on Monday by Additional Sessions Judge DD Almale.

She was arrested on March 16 after a case was filed at Malabar Hill police station in south Mumbai on February 20 on a complaint of Amruta Fadnavis.

As per the FIR, Anishka was in touch with Amruta for the past 16 months and also visited her residence.

In her statement to the police, Amruta had said she first met Anishka in November 2021.

Anishka claimed she was a designer of clothes, jewellery and footwear and requested the BJP leader's wife to wear them at public events saying it would help her promote the products, the police have said.

After gaining Amruta's trust, Anishka offered to provide her with information on some bookies through which, she claimed, they could make money.

She then directly offered Amruta Rs 1 crore to get her father Anil Jaisinghani off the hook in a police case, police had said.

Amruta Fadnavis also told the police she was upset by Anishka's behaviour and blocked her number, after which the accused allegedly sent Amruta video clips, voice notes and many messages from an unknown number.

She and her father indirectly threatened and conspired against Amruta, the police had said.

While opposing bail bail on Monday, special public prosecutor Ajay Misar, cited some of the messages sent by the accused to the deputy CM's wife.

As per the prosecution, in one the messages, Anishka said 'You do not know my father' ..My father is well connected with so and so, so and so,... My father is regularly in contact with Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, he will give the video to them".

Further, the prosecution submitted it was a planned deep-rooted conspiracy and that Anishka had dared to take a video in a high security place.

All these aspects need to be probed, the prosecution said opposing her bail.

If the accused is granted bail, she will obstruct the investigation and threaten the plaintiff (Amruta Fadnavis) again or go to news channels, mass media or social media in relation to the said crime.

The accused would defame the plaintiff or her husband (Devendra Fadnavis), the prosecution told court.

There is also the risk of the accused absconding if given bail, the prosecution contended.

However, defence lawyers Mrigendra Singh and Manan Sanghai contended the sole allegation against Anishka is demand for money.

Anishka doesn't hold any office of profit for a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the defence lawyers argued.

"Can I be kept behind bars only because the Deputy CM's wife has lodged a case against me. Can a daughter be kept behind bars only because there are a number of cases against my father," the advocates said in court.

Police have claimed there are 17 cases against her father.

Additional sessions judge D D Almale, after hearing both sides, allowed Anishka's bail plea. The detailed order, however, was not available yet.

The judge ordered that Anishka be released on bail on execution of personal bond of Rs 50,000, with one or more sureties of like amount.

The court also directed her not to cause any threat, promise or inducement to the prosecution witnesses and to not hamper the probe or tamper with evidence.

She has been asked to surrender her passport and not leave the jurisdiction of the court without prior permission.

Anishka and her father Anil Jaisinghani were held under Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act for conspiracy and extortion on a complaint filed by Amruta Fadnavis.
Burhanpur (MP), Mar 26 (PTI) A 30-year-old woman on Sunday pushed her four children into a well before jumping herself in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh, police said.

However, after falling into the water she feared for her life and grabbed a rope hanging into the well to climb up to safety with her eldest daughter, leaving behind her three children, including an 18-month-old son, and two daughters aged three and five respectively, to die.

The incident occurred in Baldi village, about 60 km from the Burhanpur district headquarters, Superintendent of Police Rahul Kumar told PTI.

The woman, identified as Pramila Bhilala, took the extreme step after she fought with her husband Ramesh, he said.

The three bodies have been retrieved from the well, located close to the house of Pramila, and sent for postmortem, the SP said, adding that a case has been registered.

Police said the condition of Pramila and her seven-year-old daughter is fine.
Guwahati, Mar 27 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Tuesday boycotted the hearing on the delimitation exercise in Assam alleging that it did not receive any response from the Election Commission on its allegation that the state cabinet had a mala fide intention in merging four districts with others.

The Chief Electoral Officer, however, has written to the Congress to join the consultation by 1 pm on Tuesday as the EC places high value on the viewpoints of a national political party, an official said.

The grand old party is yet to respond to the fresh invitation.

The EC's full bench, comprising Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and the two commissioners, Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, is on a three-day visit to the state since Sunday to hold discussions with various stakeholders on the delimitation exercise.

The Congress asserted that after the creation of new administrative units was banned by the EC from January one, 2023, for the delimitation of 126 Assembly and 14 Parliamentary seats of Assam,

the state cabinet at a meeting in New Delhi decided to merge four districts and redraw boundaries in 14 places on December 31, 2022.

''Almost all the opposition parties condemned the move and accused the ruling party of attempting to redraw Muslim majority seats in Assam to benefit itself and also to spark religious polarisation. In many localities, affected by this cabinet decision, widespread protests were held by blocking the national highway,'' state Congress president Bhupen Bora said.

In a letter to the poll panel, Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia had urged the EC to take cognizance of the mala fide intention behind this cabinet decision so that it has no impact on the upcoming delimitation process.

Bora told reporters here that party leaders had met the CEC on January 4 in New Delhi and apprised him of the intention of the state cabinet in the merger of districts.

''After an hour-long meeting, the CEC had assured us that he will look into our allegations and will inform us in writing about the steps taken. Nearly three months have passed but we are yet to receive any reply. We again wrote to the EC seeking an appointment but there was no response to it. So, we decided to boycott the hearing,'' Bora said.

The cabinet decision reduced the number of districts from 35 to 31 with Biswanath merged with Sonitpur, Hojai with Nagaon, Tamulpur with Baksa and Bajali with Barpeta.

Rejecting the Congress' charge that the EC did not respond to its accusations on the cabinet decision, sources in the poll panel said that the party had written to it seeking a meeting on March 22, to which a reply was sent, stating that it was visiting Assam and will meet a party delegation at Guwahati.

''Individual response is not a practice and, in any case, cannot be given in connection to the Delimitation exercise without hearing from all the stakeholders,'' a source said.

Joint CEO Lakhinandan Saharia wrote to the Congress that he has been directed by the EC to once again extend an invitation to request party representatives to join the ongoing consultations at any convenient time on Monday or by 1 PM on Tuesday.

Responding to the ECs invitation  10 recognised national and state political parties and 76 civil society organisations, public representatives and non-recognised political parties met the Commission in Guwahati.
Kohima, Mar 27 (PTI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday hinted that the civic polls scheduled on May 16 might not be held if tribal hohos and civil society organisations continue protesting against it.

The State Election Commission has notified elections to three municipal councils and 36 town councils on May 16, with 33 per cent reservation for women.

Tribal organisations and civil society groups are, however, demanding that elections be held only after amending the Nagaland Municipal Act (NMA), 2001, which they contend, infringes upon Article 391(A) of the Constitution that gives special rights to Nagas on their lands and its resources, and safeguards their customs and traditions.

"The state government is acting only on the directive of the Supreme Court but if the tribal hohos, civil society bodies and Naga people dont want the polls, the government is not prepared to confront them," he told reporters.

A consultative meeting of eight tribal hohos (organisations) observed that any part of the NMA that infringes upon Article 371A should be "reviewed and rewritten" in complete consonance with the voice of the Naga people.

The Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) also said it would not allow the conduct of civic polls until NMA, 2001 was repealed.

ENPO said it participated in the recently held assembly polls following the Union Home Ministry's assurance that a mutually agreed upon solution would be reached for their Frontier Nagaland statehood demand but no agreement has been signed so far, so it will not participate in the civic polls.

Urban Local Body (ULB) polls were last held in the state in 2004. Since then, the polls were not held due to the unresolved Naga peace talks and other issues.

In 2017, civic polls were cancelled after clashes left two dead and several others injured on the eve of the polling day. The Kohima Municipal Council office and adjoining government offices in the state capital were also set ablaze.
Bhubaneswar, Mar 27 (PTI) A Special Vigilance court here Monday convicted former IAS officer Vinod Kumar and four others in the Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC) loan scam and sentenced them to three years of rigorous imprisonment.

This is the seventh consecutive conviction of Vinod Kumar, former ORHDC Managing Director, in corruption cases, the vigilance department said in a statement.

The court of the Special Vigilance Judge, Bhubaneswar convicted the five under Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and section 468/120-B of IPC.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on the convicts. Apart from Vinod Kumar, the others convicted are former company secretary of ORHDC Swasti Ranjan Mohapatra, former loan recovery assistant Umesh Chandra Swain, and Rashmi Pattanaik and Ratan Kumar Sahoo, both partners of Home Lives Housing, Bhubaneswar.

According to the Vigilance department's charges, the former ORHDC officers had entered into a criminal conspiracy and showed undue official favour to Rashmi Pattanaik and Ratan Kumar Sahoo in the matter of sanction and disbursement of loan amounting to Rs 50 lakh without proper documentation, pre & post sanction inspection and without obtaining adequate security.
Kolkata, Mar 27 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit to West Bengal.

Murmu was received by Governor CV Ananda Bose, and state ministers Firhad Hakim and Sujit Bose before she was accorded a guard of honour at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here by the defence forces.

Security arrangements in the city were beefed up for Murmus maiden visit to the state after becoming the President.

From the airport, she came by helicopter to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club ground before travelling to the Raj Bhavan by road.

Murmu was received by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the RCTC.

During the day, the President is scheduled to visit Subhash Chandra Bose's residence, the Netaji Bhavan, in the southern part of the city to pay homage to the freedom fighter.

Later, she will visit Rabindranath Tagore's residence at Jorasanko Thakurbari in central Kolkata and pay tributes to the poet.

Murmu will be felicitated by the West Bengal government at a programme at the Netaji Indoor Stadium where the governor and the chief minister will be present.

The President is scheduled to attend a UCO Bank programme here on Tuesday to celebrate 80 years of completion of the public sector bank after paying a visit to the Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.

Murmu is also likely to go to Santiniketan in Birbhum district to grace the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati, a central university.
Bhubaneswar, Mar 27 (PTI) The Odisha assembly was on Monday adjourned till 4 pm as Congress MLAs observed black day to protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, and created a ruckus in the House.

Donning black clothes, Congress members trooped into the well of the House during the Question Hour and raised slogans against the BJP and the Centre, terming the saffron party as a killer of democracy.

Congress legislators also made an attempt to climb the Speakers podium.

Unable to run the House due to the ruckus, Speaker B K Arukha adjourned the proceedings till 4 pm.

The House had on March 24 witnessed several adjournments as Congress legislators protested against Rahul Gandhis disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

Before the commencement of the assembly proceedings on Monday, members of the Congress held a meeting at the chamber of CLP leader Narasingha Mishra.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattnayak was also present at the meeting.

Pattnayak said, We have been observing 'black day' and will meet the Odisha governor. I have come to the assembly to invite our MLAs to join the protest near Raj Bhavan.

Asked over the "silence" of BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Rahul Gandhis disqualification issue, Pattnayak said, "The CM is afraid of the BJP as his party leaders were involved in chit fund and mining scams. They fear the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate."

Speaking to reporters outside the House, senior Congress leader and MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that democracy has been murdered under the BJP's rule at the Centre.

We are observing 'black day'. Party MLAs have worn black clothes and caps to register their protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, he said.

Leader of Opposition and BJP legislator Jayanarayan Mishra said the "action against Rahul Gandhi has been taken in accordance with the law". How can they term the action as the murder of democracy, he asked.

Gandhi, representing Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, was on March 24 disqualified from the Lok Sabha, a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a court in Surat in Gujarat.
Bhubaneswar, Mar 27 (PTI) As Odishas ruling BJD maintained a distance from the issue of Congress leader Rahul Gandhis disqualification from Lok Sabha, at least 11 other parties on Monday resolved to fight the BJP, accusing it of murdering democracy by silencing opposition leaders.

These parties which included the Left, Samajwadi Party, RJD and the AAP supported the Congress and pledged to support its save democracy campaign in Odisha.

At a meeting chaired by state Congress president Sarat Pattnayak, these parties decided to hold at least five major rallies across the state to highlight the alleged anti-democratic activities of the BJP.

The parties will launch the campaign from April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the state Congress said in a statement.

A delegation of the 12 parties also met Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal and submitted a memorandum in which they expressed concern over the murder of democracy and alleged attempts to silence the opposition voice across the country.

"Rahul Gandhi had said something in an election meeting in Karnataka and a case was filed against him in Gujarat. This was done to frame Rahul Gandhi and shut his mouth," Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra.

Party whip Taraprasad Bahinipati claimed that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik prefers to maintain silence on the issue fearing CBI and ED raids in the chit fund and mining scams in which BJD leaders are allegedly involved.

Reacting to the accusation, senior BJD leader and minister Pramila Mallick said as Gandhi has been convicted in a defamation case by a court, there is no point for the party to make comments on the issue.
The first batch of Leopard 2 tanks transferred by Germany has already arrived in Ukraine, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reports.

It is noted that German-made tanks were transferred to Ukraine two months after Berlin made a decision on their supply.

"The time has come: according to Spiegel, Leopard 2 tanks from Germany have been transferred to Ukraine," the report says.

As previously reported, in March Germany planned to deliver 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine.

Leopard 2 is the main battle tank of the German army, also in service with Austria, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Greece, Finland. It has been in operation since 1979, it has many modifications, and more than 3,600 units of this tank have been produced in total. The main two variants of the tank are the Leopard 2A4, and the upgraded Leopard 2A5.

Since 2001, at least 225 tanks have been upgraded to the A6 variant: this modification received enhanced turret reservation and additional mine protection, a new gun with an increased barrel length, thanks to which the armor penetration and range of destruction increased for the shells produced by the tank. The weight of the tank has increased to 62 tonnes.
Chandigarh, Mar 27 (PTI) As part of a special drive against criminal elements in the state, Haryana Police has arrested 1,334 people, officials said on Monday.

Under Operation Akraman, 565 FIRs were lodged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Arms Act, and Excise Act.

Haryana's Director General of Police P K Agrawal said the police department had been collecting pinpointed intelligence on criminal activities in the state, including trafficking of illegal arms, narcotic substances, and illicit liquor.

As many as 1,443 teams comprising 7,620 police personnel, under the command of senior police officials, conducted coordinated raids that began early Sunday and continued through the day.

"The element of surprise and simultaneous targeting of criminals at multiple locations led to very encouraging results. A total of 80 illegal firearms and 40 cartridges were seized," DGP said, according to a statement issued by the state police department.

Similarly, 52.704 kg of cannabis, 29.8 grams of heroin, more than 35 kg of poppy husk, 595 grams of opium, 19.76 grams of smack, 1,222 prohibited tablets, and 62 capsules were among the narcotics that were seized.

During the raids, police also nabbed five most wanted/other offenders carrying cash rewards.

Police have also arrested 218 proclaimed offenders and 39 bail jumpers. Several of them were evading arrest for a long time, police said.

In addition, 16 other accused involved in heinous crimes were also nabbed during the special drive.

Cracking down on bootleggers, the teams confiscated 271 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor, 4,288 bottles of country-made liquor, 685 bottles of beer, and 977 bottles of licit liquor.

According to the statement, the special drive was the fifth in the series of intelligence-driven statewide crackdowns under "Operation Akraman".
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) A special meeting has been convened at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) headquarters on Tuesday to discuss and deliberate on the civic budget.

As required by norms, the civic budget is to be cleared by March 31.

The MCD passed the "schedule of taxes" in the civic budget for 2023-24 on February 15. But the remaining budget process was stalled as the standing committee of the civic body is yet to be elected.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is "exploring options" to have the remainder of the civic budget cleared by March 31, official sources had said on Friday.

The MCD has said that the special budget meeting" of the MCD for budget proposals for the revised estimates for the year 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 would be held on Tuesday at Aruna Asaf Ali Meeting Hall at 2 pm.

Earlier, the MCD had also written to the Delhi government to seek permission to call a special session for clearing the budget before March end.

If the entire budget doesn't get passed by March 31, things may "get into a limbo", a source said on Friday.

The allocations made to various departments in a civic budget is key to proper civic functioning.

The "schedule of taxes" was passed by the special officer of the MCD, whose office ceased to exist after the election of the Delhi mayor.

The taxes, rates and cesses to be levied in 2023-24 will remain the same that are prevalent as of today, the MCD said in a statement on February 15.

The municipal commissioner had presented the MCD budget in December and included the Revised Estimate for 2022-23 and the Budget Estimate for 2023-24, an official source said.
Lucknow, Mar 27 (PTI) The police convoy bringing gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed from an Ahmedabad jail to Prayagraj entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning, officials said.

Ahmed will be produced before a court on Tuesday when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused.

The police team reached Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad city on Sunday morning and left the premises with Ahmed amid tight security around 6 pm.

After passing through different states, Ahmed's cavalcade entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning and stopped at Jhansi police lines.

Officials said it will proceed towards Jalaun and reach Prayagraj via Bundelkhand Expressway in the evening.

The cavalcade is being followed by media teams, Ahmed's sister, and lawyers.

Ahmed's brother, Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who is lodged in Bareilly jail is also being taken to Prayagraj by a separate police team. He left the jail at about 10 am, officials said.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati central jail in June 2019 following a Supreme Court after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in UP.

He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

After Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 killing of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two security guards were killed in the brazen shooting on February 24, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had, while speaking in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, vowed to destroy the mafia.

Two of the accused were shot dead in separate encounters by police on February 27 and March 6.

On March 1, Ahmed moved the Supreme Court, claiming there is a genuine and perceptible threat to his and his family members' lives, and referred to the statement made by Adityanath.

He said the Uttar Pradesh Police in all likelihood will seek his transit remand and also police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period.

BJP Lok Sabha MP Subrat Pathak had said he would not be surprised if mafia Atiq Ahmed's vehicle overturns like that of gangster Vikas Dubey.

Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police shortly after a police SUV in which he was being brought to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh overturned under mysterious circumstances on a highway. Police claimed that he had tried to flee.

Ahmed had on Sunday expressed apprehensions that he might be killed on the way to UP.

"Mujhe inka programme maloom hai...Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their programme ...they want to murder me)," he said.
Muzaffarnagar (UP), Mar 26 (PTI) At least three personnel of the Haryana STF were injured and their service pistols looted after they were attacked by villagers in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, officials said.

Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident, they added.

The incident took place in Kertu village, located within the Jhinjhana police station limits.

The Haryana Special task Force (STF) team had gone to the village to nab notorious criminal Jabruddin, who was carrying a reward of Rs 25,000 on information leading to his arrest, police said, adding that the villagers managed to free the accused from the custody of the STF personnel.

Superintendent of Police, Shamli, Abhishek told reporters that a case has been registered against 40 people, including 21 who have been named, under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), 225 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Six people have been arrested and the looted pistols and 10 cartridges recovered from their possession, police said, adding that a search is on to nab the remaining accused.

The injured policemen were taken to a hospital for treatment, they said.
Jaipur, Mar 27 (PTI) The Rajasthan Police on Monday arrested 2,518 offenders including 228 history-sheeters in Bharatpur range as part of a special drive to nab criminals.

The police arrested 2,051 criminals in Kota, Jaipur ranges and Churu district under the campaign on Sunday.

DGP Umesh Mishra said the special operation is being conducted under the supervision of Additional Director General (ADG-Crime) Dinesh M N.

On Monday, the action was taken in four districts of Bharatpur range- Bharatpur, Dhaulpur, Karauli and Sawai Madhopur.

Mishra said 500 teams comprising around 3,750 police personnel were engaged in the drive on Monday.

"These teams raided 2,860 places and arrested 2,518 criminals. While 805 criminals have been arrested in Bharatpur, the number stood at 460 in Dholpur, 530 in Karauli and 723 in Sawai Madhopur districts," he said.

A gun, 23 country-made revolvers, one pistol, 25 live cartridges and five sharp-edged weapons were also seized during the raids. Apart from these, illegal liquor and narcotics substances were also seized.

He said five cases relating to illegal mining have been registered and four people have been arrested and five tractor-trolleys with 21.5 tonnes of sand have been seized.
Ballia (UP), Mar 27 (PTI) A court in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district on Monday sentenced two people to seven years of rigourous imprisonment for instigating an executive officer of Maniyar Nagar Panchayat to die by suicide.

According to the prosecution, Additional District Judge Arun Kumar on Monday sentenced computer operator Akhilesh Pandey and Chandan Verma, personal driver of executive officer of Maniyar Nagar Panchayat Mani Manjari Rai, each to seven years of rigourous imprisonment after finding them guilty.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them.

The prosecution said Rai had died by suicide on the night of July 6, 2020 in her house located in Awas Vikas Colony under Kotwali police station area.

Based on the complaint lodged by her brother Vijayanand Rai, a case was registered against chairman of Maniyar Nagar Panchayat Bheem Gupta, computer operator Pandey, nagar panchayat employee Vinod Singh and driver Verma.

The brother alleged that Mani Manjari Rai's first posting was in Maniyar Nagar Panchayat, and she died by suicide under pressure to make bogus payment.

The prosecution also informed that a chargesheet was filed against the four accused. During the hearing, chairman Bheem Gupta and Vinod Singh moved the Allahabad High Court, which stayed the hearing against them.
Chitrakoot (UP), Mar 27 (PTI) A man was arrested in connection with the meeting of SBSP MLA Abbas Ansari and his Wife inside a jail here, police said on Monday.

Shahbaz Alam was nabbed from Varanasi, they said, adding it was the 10th arrest in the case.

Abbas Ansari, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) MLA from Mau and son of jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, has been in prison for the past three months in a money laundering case.

DIG, Chitrakoot Dham range, Vipin Kumar Mishra and Superintendent of Police, Chitrakoot, Vrinda Shukla told reporters that Alam was arrested on Sunday in connection with the meeting of Abbas Ansari and his wife Nikhat Bano in Chitrakoot jail.

Police said Alam was working at the office of a chartered accountant and on the instructions of Ansari, he had transferred about Rs 2 lakh to the account of Navneet Sachan, the contractor of the jail canteen.

During the probe, it came to light that Alam had created two bank accounts in the name of Roshni Bano and Ashaf Shah, and he did a transaction of Rs 92 lakh from one account and Rs 87 lakh from another account in the last six months.

Police said that both these accounts have been frozen, adding they will also take the help of the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate in this regard.

Police officials said that such a huge transaction confirms the earning from illegal sources.

On February 10, District Magistrate of Chitrakoot Abhishek Anand and Superintendent of Police Vrinda Shukla had raided the Chitrakoot district jail on getting information about the meeting of Ansari and his wife as well as his driver Niyaz in contravention of rules.

Many mobile phones and other material, including foreign currency, were found in possession of Nikhat, officials had said, adding that both Nikhat and Niyaz were arrested on February 11 and taken on remand by police on February 17.

On February 20, police had arrested Samajwadi Party leader Faraz Khan and Navneet Sachan who had allegedly helped the trio and sent them to jail in Lucknow on February 24.
LAUREL MCINTOSH, Chariho Girls Lacrosse, Senior; McIntosh scored six goals and assisted on another in a Chariho win against Toll Gate. Chariho is 5-0 this season.

DYLAN CIMINI, Stonington, Baseball, Junior; Cimini allowed just one hit and struck out 10 in a win against Ledyard. Cimini did not give up the hit until the sixth inning.

ALLYSON FAUBERT, Westerly, Girls Lacrosse, Sophomore; Faubert scored the winning goal with 49.6 seconds left in a win against Cranston East. Faubert finished with two goals in the game.

REESE MAIN, Wheeler, Softball, Junior; Main pitched a one-hitter and struck out 10 in a win against Bacon Academy. Main walked just two batters and also drove in three runs at the plate.

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The Russian occupiers are concentrating their main efforts on conducting offensive operations in Lymany, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka directions.

As reported in the operational information on the Russian invasion as of 6 p.m. on Monday, published on the Facebook page of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the fiercest fighting continues for the towns of Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka in Donetsk region.

"Thanks to professional and coordinated actions, during the day, the units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 41 enemy attacks in these areas," the report says.

In Bakhmut direction on Monday, the enemy continued to storm Bakhmut, which is held by Ukrainian defenders, as well as in Ivanovske district of Donetsk region.

In Avdiyivka and Maryinka directions, the occupiers unsuccessfully conducted offensive actions in the direction of Novokalynove, Stepove, Avdiyivka, Pivnichne, Pervomaiske, Nevelske and Maryinka of Donetsk region. Aerosol "tear" grenades of non-lethal action were used in the areas of Novokalynove, Lastochkyne, Pervomaiske and Maryinka.

According to the General Staff, the enemy conducted unsuccessful offensive actions in Kupyansk and Lymany directions in the areas of the settlements of Synkivka and Bilohorivka.

"In Zaporizhia and Kherson directions, the enemy continues to conduct defensive actions  In Volynske, Poliske, Siverske and Slobozhanske directions, the operational situation has not significantly changed, there are no signs of formations of offensive groups," the report says.




Starting this coming school year, Florida students in K-12 schools will be eligible to receive approximately $8,000 to use towards tuition and other educational expenses, with no income eligibility requirements.

This expansion revolutionizes the school choice movement, not just in Florida, but across the country. Agudath Israel of Americas Florida office is grateful to Governor Ron DeSantis and to all of the legislators that took this bold step in paving the highway of opportunity and success for all our children.

It was an honor to be with Governor Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders at the signing of this historic bill, said Rabbi Moshe Matz, executive director of Agudath Israels Florida office. Agudath Israel has had the privilege of working with a dedicated school choice coalition in Florida for more than twenty years. So many people helped along the way, but no one deserves more thanks than the parents who shared their stories, marched to Tallahassee, and have waited so long for this day.

Florida is just an example of what can be accomplished across the country, said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, Agudath Israel of Americas national director of government affairs. Our Agudah directors have been at the forefront of the school choice movement on the state and federal levels and we look forward to working with coalition partners, elected officials, and families to ensure that every parent in every state has the opportunity to choose the educational setting that best meets the need of their child.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




One of the architects of the governments judicial reform plan, chairman of the Knessets Constitution Committee Simcha Rothman, called for a right-wing protest in Jerusalem on Monday evening.

Israel descended into chaos on Monday as the fate of the judicial reform hung in the balance and the Histadrut labor union brought the country to halt with a widespread strike. Left-wing protests were relaunched across the country, with protesters closing down major highways and making their way to Jerusalem to protest outside the Knesset.

The elections will not be stolen! Rothman wrote. The people demand a radical overhaul of the justice system. Tzion will be redeemed in its mishpat. We must not accept a reality in which there are people whose voices dont count. Go out and return the voice to the people.

The ad for the protest states: Emergency Situation. Were going up to Yerushalayim. The elections will not be stolen. The right-wing camp is holding a protest of support in Jerusalem. Its forbidden to cede the choice of the people! Today (Monday) at 6 p.m. opposite the Knesset square on Rechov Kaplan. Bring a flag and come!

Also, for the first time since the protests against the reform began, the members of the La Familia organization of Beitar Jerusalem fans announced that they will be joining the protest in favor of judicial reform opposite the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday evening at 6 p.m.

Thousands of left-wing protesters are already gathered near the Knesset as of early Monday afternoon. Jerusalem Police is increasing its presence in the area ahead of the right-wing protest in the evening in fear of clashes between the two groups.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Finland has moved one step closer to joining NATO after Hungary ratified the Nordic countrys bid on Monday. A similar decision is expected in the coming weeks from Turkey, the only alliance member that hasnt approved Finlands membership.

Still, there are specific steps and procedures that are required before Finland becomes the 31st full member of the Western alliance:

ACCEPTANCE LETTERS

Hungary and Turkey  once it has ratified Finlands bid  dispatch acceptance letters to the United States which is the depositary  or safekeeper  of NATO under the alliances 1949 founding treaty. The letters will be filed in the archives of the U.S. State Department which will immediately notify NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the conditions for inviting Finland to become a NATO member have been met.

INVITATION

NATO subsequently sends Finland an invitation letter signed by Stoltenberg to join the military alliance.

SIGNATURES

Finland sends its own acceptance document, signed by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, to the U.S. State Department. Haavisto was authorized to sign the document by President Sauli Niinisto. Either the Finnish Embassy in Washington or a Finnish government official will deliver the document.

FULL MEMBERSHIP

Once Finlands membership acceptance document reaches the U.S. State Department in Washington, the Nordic country officially becomes a full NATO member.

FINLAND-SWEDEN

Finland and neighboring Sweden announced their intention to join NATO in May 2022. The countries, which have close cultural, economic and political ties submitted their bids together and planned to enter the alliance simultaneously.

Swedens bid, however, has stalled due to opposition from Turkey whose president has said his country wouldnt ratify membership before disputes between Ankara and Stockholm are resolved. The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations.

Moreover, Hungarys parliament has yet to ratify Swedens NATO membership bid and it remains unclear when it will do so.

(AP)




By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

Recently, I ran into Rav Chaim Kanievsky zatzals son in law, Rav Yitzchok Koledetsky shlita lbcl, who was leaving the Vasikin minyan in the Agudah shul before davening had finished. Where was he headed in the middle of davening?

I had previously translated for him at a number of schools and he gave me a warm shalom aleichem. He then explained (without me asking) that he was headed to the Sefardic Minyan in the trailer in the White Shul parking lot of the White Shul to hear Birchas Kohanim.

Yom Tov is around the corner, and we all need to appreciate the gift that is Birchas Kohanim. And what better way to do that then to learn through Rabbi Yaakov Marcuss absolutely remarkable sefer on Birchas Kohanim, Bless and Be Blessed?

The sefer has 206 pages and is not divided into chapters but rather it contains detailed answers to some 67 questions. It has haskamos and michtavei bracha from Rav Dovid Cohen shlita, Rav Yaakov Forcheimer shlita, Rav Avrohom Schorr shlita, and Rav Yeruchem Olshen shlita. For the more dvanced talmid chochom, he has sources on the bottom of the page along with explanations. It also has an extensive index and a section in the back with a full translation of Birchas Kohanim.

Some interesting rulings:

#56  May a Kohen who is dishonest in business recite birchas Kohanim? The Rambam in Hilchos Tefillah 15:6 rules that he can. (The Shitos Kamai explains that the blessing comes from hashem and the Kohanim are mere conduits).

#2  Generally speaking for a minyan  the custom is to allow it to be conducted when there are six who have not davened  with an additional four people who have already davened. Rabbi Marcus cites the opinion of Rav Moshe Shternbuch in Teshuvos vHanhagos Vol. IV #36) that for Birchas Kohanim  this should be avoided.

#43  This question and answer discusses where exactly the recipient of the brachos should be standing. Many people somehow are aware that one must stand face to face with the Kohanim and behind them. Some people do avoid sitting behind a pillar. Technically, this is permitted, however there is a separate reason that Rabbi Marcus himself suggests as to why someone should avoid sitting behind a blocking pillar  to show the chavivus HaMitzvah  that the Mitzvah is beloved to him. He cites this concept earlier (on page 109) from the writings of Rav Eliyahu Pinchas Mireina of Bnei Brak ztl.

#26- What happens if someone skips even just one word of Birchas Kohanim? Believe it or not, he has not fulfilled the Mitzvah and he must go back from the word that he missed and recite all of them aloud from then on. Also, unlike other brachos and tefilos  Birchas Kohanim may only be recited in Hebrew. If one does so in English or any other language  he has not fulfilled the Mitzvah and it is a bracha levatalah.

In #35 we discover another halachic difference between Chabad practice and that of the Litvish velt. According to standard practice (as cited in the Mishna Brurah 128:64) the person who calls out Kohanim whenever there are two or more kohanim present should wait until the majority finish their amains. The Rav Shulchan Aruch recommends that he wait until they all finish their amains.

But what about Rav Kolodetsky, who left the Agudah and went to the Sefardic Minyan ? Did he fulfill a Mitzvah to hear Birchas Kohanim? Rabbi Marcus notes further in question #9 that according the Sefer Chareidim (cited in the Biur Halacha beginning of Siman 128)  there is a Mitzvah also on the part of a regular Yisroel to be blessed. The Ritva on Sukkah 31b rules that there is no Mitzvah for an Yisroel to be blessed and that seems to be the normative psak halacha. However, there are a number of sources that state one should try to be stringent. Rav Aharon Lein Shteinman ztl was known to rush to Birchas Kohanim when he was in Chutz LaAretz as well.

Another question found in #9. What happens when someone is in the middle of the silent Shmoneh Esreh and all of a sudden birchas kohanim begins? Should he pause? Or may he pause? Rav Moshe Feinstein zatzal writes that he should pause and so does Rav SHlomo Zalman Auerbach zatzal. But Rav ELyashiv is cited in his HaAros on Sotah (the sefer came from recordings) that since most Rishonim do not hold like the Chareidim then he should not make a hefsek in his own Shmoneh Esreh and he would be considered like the people in the fields who receive the brachos regardless. Rav Ovadyah Yoseph (Yabia Omer Vol. VII OC #12) comes to the same conclusion as Rav Elyashiv  but that he may do so if he so wishes.

This sefer is clearly a work of love, as the author spent much time researching the topic. I first met Rabbi Marcus in connection to one of his beloved students. However, to my delight I discovered later that he was also the author of the much regarded Minchas Yaakov on Meseches Sota. The words he wrote in that first volume apply very much to him  that the shehecheyanu one recites upon the printing of ones sefer is upon the fulfillment of Mitzvah in Dvarim (31) of kisvu lachem es hashirah hazos velimda lahem sima befihem. It is clear that he treats his students with the same love and tender care as he does his learning. This reviewer believes that no reader will not be moved and inspired by this sefer  aside from gaining a tremendous amount of knowledge.

The reviewer can be reached at [email protected]

The title can be ordered here.




Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was set to announce the suspension of the judicial reform on Monday morning at about 10:00 a.m. but delayed the step after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to dissolve the government.

Prior to delivering the announcement, Netanyahu met with the heads of the coalition parties, and according to a Kan News report, the meeting reached high volumes several times. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Religious Zionist party chairman Betzalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded that the reform not be suspended.

Ben-Gvir angrily confronted Netanyahu, screaming: What is this? We cant fold like this! Suspending the reform will lead to the dissolution of the government.

Later on Monday, Kan reported that after further discussion, Smotrich and Levin agreed to allow the legislation to be halted temporarily but Ben-Gvir continued to refuse and threatened the end of the government.

The prime minister held an emergency meeting overnight after mass protests swept the country in the wake of the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Justice Minister Yariv Levin is opposed to halting the reform but a number of Likud ministers support the move as well as UTJ and Shas.

The chairman of the Knessets Constitution Committee Simcha Rothman received the message amid a deliberation to approve the law on the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee in its second and third readings. Its over, Rothman said and angrily left the meeting.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




The chairman of the workers union of Israel Airports Authority, Pinchas Idan, announced on Monday morning at about 10:30 a.m. that beginning immediately, there will be no take-offs abroad from Ben-Gurion Airport in protest of the judicial revolution and the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Idan made the announcement during a press conference of the Histadrust labor union during which its chairman Arnon Bar-David announced a general strike of the Israeli economy in protest of the judicial reform. Bar-David emphasized that public transportation will be excluded from the strike.

Bar-David announced a historic strike in order to stop the madness.

We are all coming together to shut down the State of Israel. The malls and factories will close. We have a mission to stop this wave of legislation and we will win. We will return the State of Israel to sanity.

The strike includes all workplaces in the public sector as well as in the business sector. Hospitals will operate in Shabbat mode as well as MDA and firefighting and rescue services and the Israel Electric Company.

Some banks announced that they are closing their branches on Monday at noon. The Big mall chain, the Azrieli Group and other retail chains also announced that they are joining the Histadrut strike and that starting at noon on Monday, all the shopping centers they own will be closed. Pharmacies and supermarkets will remain open.

Many universities have canceled classes and schools have canceled their Pesach day camp programs. Special education settings will continue to operate as usual.

In a rare step, the Israel Medical Association also announced on Monday morning a full strike of the health care system in protest of the judicial reform.

The strike will include all public hospitals and all community clinics. The Medical Association will operate an Exceptions Committee as usual to allow life-saving treatments and services.

I explain Israel for a living. But I don't have the words to adequately explain the insanity we are witnessing now.  Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) March 27, 2023

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Over 600 doctors signed a petition calling on the Israel Medical Association (IMA) not to involve the organization in politics in the wake of its announcement of a healthcare strike in protest of the governments judicial reform plan.

The petition states: We would like to express our disgust at the attempts to turn the representative organization of doctors in Israel into a political body. This is the crossing of a red line and will lead to the destruction of the organization. Keep your political opinion to yourself and dont use our names, the membership fees we pay to the organization, and the many long hours that many of us donate through the organization for the advancement of medicine in Israel. Dont drag us all down this slippery slope, bringing destruction and disaster.

In addition, the doctors slammed the politicization of the IMA board: We were shocked to receive reports today from the IMA board about turning the committee into a political axe. We were shocked to discover that the candidates for the chairman of the Histadrut were required to express their political position and the manner in which they intend to use the IMA in order to express opposition, ostensibly to the legal reform, but in practice to the duly elected government. We want to express our firm opposition and even our anger at this.

The Medical Association is not a political body  it was not elected as a political body and its members were not authorized to function as one. We will not allow this delicate structure to be destroyed. We will not allow our names and membership fees to be used against our will for political purposes. We will not be part of the trampling of political positions, principles, or values of either side of the map. We will not agree to their statements on behalf of an entire community of doctors  statements that range from political to just controversial  that certainly not all of us agree with.

The statements presented by officials in the IMA are not acceptable and do not represent all the members of the organization. In addition, we fear that taking a position on the part of the representative organization of the doctors will be the beginning of a slippery slope where doctors may be discriminated against and hindered in their advancement due to their political positions.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Senior government officials have informed the Biden administration that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will announce a halt of the judicial reform, Ynet reported on Monday afternoon.

Netanyahu was set to announce the suspension of the judicial reform on Monday morning at about 10:00 a.m. but delayed the step after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to dissolve the government. At this point, there are rumors that Netanyahu will wait to see the extent of the turnout at the right-wing protest outside the Knesset on Monday evening before issuing any announcements.

The White House issued a statement on Sunday, following Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

We are deeply concerned by todays developments out of Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise, a statement from NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

As the President recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support. We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens. U.S. support for Israels security and democracy remains ironclad.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Former President Donald Trump may have found his favorite insult by which to call his top political rival, Ron DeSantis, unveiling a spanking brand new nickname for the Florida governor: Ron Dukakis.

The insult wasnt coined by Trump, but rather by Steve Hilton, a Fox News host who shared side-by-side images of failed 1998 Democratic presidential candidate Mike Dukakis and Ron DeSantis both wearing military helmets.

The image of Dukakis is infamous, and many blamed his failed candidacy on it.

Of course, Dukakis didnt serve in the military and thus he looked silly while wearing a military helmet in a desperate attempt to make himself seem more pro-military. DeSantis, on the other hand is a decorated Navy veteran.

Even so, Trumps new nickname is likely to get a better reception from his fans that the confusing Ron DeSanctus did.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Title Changed

Details added: first version posted on 11:21

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Two Iranian citizens who violated the border of Azerbaijan have been detained, the press center of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan told Trend.

According to the press center, at 00:30 (GMT+4), on the Goytapa border detachment area of the State Border Guard Troops, located near Shatirli village of Azerbaijans Jalilabad district, a violation of the state border from Iran in the direction of Azerbaijan by two unknown persons was revealed.

As a result of operational measures, the border violators were taken under surveillance and detained. During the investigation, it was established that the detainees Milad Azimi and Muhammad Fallah are citizens of Iran (Germi city), the press center said.

During the detainees' inspection, the border guards found and confiscated 41.37 kilograms of narcotic drugs, one knife and pepper spray. Operational and investigative measures on the fact are ongoing, added the press center.

Previously, drug smuggling from Iran to Azerbaijan was prevented on the territory of the 'Horadiz' border detachment area of the State Border Service of Azerbaijan, located near the Minjivan settlement of the Zangilan district, on March 18.




The U.N.s atomic energy chief warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a meeting Monday that the perilous situation at Europes largest nuclear plant isnt getting any better as relentless fighting in the area puts the facility at risk of a nuclear disaster.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, which continues to power war-torn Ukraine, has lost several of its power transmission cables during Russias war, and on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems preventing a meltdown.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi plans to visit the Russian-held plant this week. The Vienna-based agency has staff permanently deployed at the plant following Russias invasion 13 months ago.

In the meeting, covered exclusively by The Associated Press, Grossi said the situation at the plant remains tense because of the heavy military presence around it and a blackout that recently struck the facility, something that has occurred repeatedly since Russian forces took it over last year.

Earlier this month, fighting interrupted power supply to the plant for half a day, forcing staff to activate backup generators.

Grossi expressed alarm at that development. Each time we are rolling a dice, he told his agency at the time. And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out.

Grossi and Zelenskyy met in the the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is in Ukrainian-held territory, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the nuclear plant with the same name.

The IAEA announced in January it was placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraines nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of accidents.

The agencys permanent presence at all of Ukraines nuclear facilities marked an unprecedented expansion for the agency. That presence includes the now-closed Chernobyl plant whose deadly nuclear accident in 1986 spread fallout over much of Europe.

Grossi emphasized that his seventh trip to Ukraine underlined his commitment and support for as long as it takes.

Also attending the meeting were other IAEA officials, the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak and the head of nuclear state operator Energoatom, Petro Kotin.

While in Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskyy also inspected military positions in the partially-occupied province and awarded soldiers with military honors. He also visited with wounded soldiers at city hospitals as well as an apartment building that Kyiv claims was hit by Russian forces last Wednesday, killing at least one person.

Elsewhere, two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlins forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported Monday.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said.

Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was shelled 20 times by the Russian artillery and aviation, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

The mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said several explosions shook the city Monday, damaging a building where Russian security forces have been quartered.

Mayor Ivan Fyodorov posted photos of smoke billowing over the area where the Russian barracks are located.

The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, the head of Ukraines presidential office Andriy Yermak said Monday.

Bloom, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived in the Ukrainian capital over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

During his meeting with Zelenskyy, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.

(AP)




Tens of thousands of people are demonstrating on Monday evening in favor of judicial reform outside the Knesset in Jerusalem.

The demonstration is being held between Gan Sacher and the Supreme Court, at the back entrance to the Knesset building.

The organizers of the rally Avichai Boron and Berele Crombie said: The right-wing camp must stand up now and choose its independence. If this time they steal our elections and invalidate our choice at the ballot box  we will always remain second-class citizens. Its now or never.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed into law a new school choice bill (House Bill 1) that will provide scholarships of almost $8,000 per child for all families with students in K-12 nonpublic schools and serves as a blueprint for similar legislation in states nationwide.

The new bill, passed last week by the Florida House and Senate, will allow all K-12 students in Florida state-sponsored scholarships to help pay for their preferred schools, regardless of family income. It will take effect July 1.

The bill was a top priority for House Speaker Paul Renner, who led the charge to pass this landmark legislation. Speaker Renners total commitment to universal choice represents a dramatic advance in school choice politics in Florida, said Teach Florida Chairman Dr. Allan Jacob. The impact on our community will be enormous. Families, schools and the entire community will all benefit from this expansion. Teach Florida has been advocating this approach for years and the Speaker has warmly accepted our suggestions and genuinely appreciates our communitys support. We look forward to continuing working with Speaker Renner.

Teach Florida, a division of Teach Coalition, a national, nonpartisan grassroots movement that advocates for equitable government funding, security and quality education for nonpublic schools across the United States, spearheaded passage of the legislation. Teach Florida and Teach Coalition are projects of the Orthodox Union, the nations largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization.

Teach Florida has been working tirelessly alongside other school choice coalition partners including Step Up For Students, Foundation for Floridas Future, the Florida Catholic Conference and others to expand state scholarships for all children.

Already, Teach Coalition has begun laying the groundwork for similar, state-sponsored legislation nationwide, said Teach Coalition Founder and Managing Director of Public Affairs at the Orthodox Union, Maury Litwack.

The historic achievement of universal scholarships in Florida is just the beginning, Litwack said. Teach Coalition and our partners are working in several states to bring about transformational programs. Florida is paving the way and our activists are eager to take this momentum and truly make education affordable for all students.

The landmark legislation will provide every nonpublic school student with a state scholarship equivalent to 100 percent of state funding accorded to a public school student, which Teach Florida Executive Director Danny Aqua estimates at $7,800 per child. Aqua hopes it will help schools combat the national teacher shortage, improve overall education quality and increase access for families who struggle financially.

People have been talking about universal school choice and scholarships for every child for decades, said Aqua. Now, thanks to Teach Floridas incredible activists, engaged member schools, and tremendous coalition partners, Florida is going to be the first state with a major Yeshiva and Jewish day school population to adopt this policy.

The bill comes at a time when the cost of Jewish education is the No. 1 concern for 85 percent of Modern Orthodox Jewish families, according to Nishma Research. More than 3,500 people have signed a petition organized by Teach Florida asking elected officials to Fund Every Child.

Florida is home to a growing Orthodox Jewish community. From 2018-2020, the number of students in Jewish day schools grew from 10,623 to 12,482, and 14 new schools opened  for a total of 64 such schools today.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Middle England is in grave anxiety about the prospects for partnership-owned John Lewis, one of the nation's favourite retailers.

The worry is well placed. When emblematic British companies look to outsiders for salvation, finance and inspiration, the outcomes are rarely what stakeholders wish for.

Boots the chemist is hugely illustrative. It is a fixture on almost every high street in the land with more than 2,200 stores.

As the country's largest pharmacist it has vital links to the NHS and has long been the training ground for independent chemists.

Moreover, it is an innovator developing the uniquely British No7 beauty brand, which remarkably is a pioneer in addressing the ageing problems of skin.

Signing off?: Middle England is in grave anxiety about the prospects for partnership-owned John Lewis

Given all of this, it should be regarded as a company to be treasured. The Italian pharmacy entrepreneur Stefano Pessina recognised this when he merged Boots with his Alliance Unichem chain in 2006. A year later Nigel Rudd, 'the man who sold Britain', disposed of Boots to a Pessina-led consortium including private equity.

Pessina was on a mission to create the first global pharmacy empire and I recall him setting out his dream of chains stretching across the Atlantic and tapping into fast-growing Asian markets.

Pessina's ambition was admirable but when drug store giant Walgreens took full control of Alliance Boots almost a decade ago, it became an overseas arm of a North American-focused empire. The gradual loss of command and control saw its manufacturing arm in Nottingham sold to Reckitt Benckiser, its tax domicile shifted to Zug in Switzerland and a court battle over the future of the pension fund.

What has been clear since before Covid (where Boots had a vital role in delivering vaccines, medicines and testing) is that Walgreens, supported by private equity, wanted a way out. It is to the credit of UK boss Seb James that he has kept Boots functioning through ownership struggles.

What is now plain (as reported by The Mail on Sunday) is Walgreens' ambitions are elsewhere, as it seeks to dominate the primary care space in the US with a rapid-fire series of acquisitions.

In Britain, pharmacists are seeking the right to prescribe. In the US, not only does that already exist but the drug stores are acquiring the medical practices! Walgreens is under pressure from shareholders and its board to ditch Boots and other international operations, surplus to requirements, by the second half of the year.

Tightened credit conditions, after this spring's banking turbulence, might well mean a private equity purchase is unlikely.

The poor experience of Clayton Dubilier & Rice with Morrisons does not augur well. After 17 years in unsafe ownership, Boots could be coming home as an initial public offering unless the bankers decide a higher price can be obtained on Wall Street.

The sadness of overseas ownership means Boots has gone backwards, with mounting losses and a bloated store portfolio in need of refurbishment and investment.

The lessons for Sharon White at John Lewis are obvious. Be careful of what happens when you let financial foxes into the chicken coop. Silent joint investors, such as Abrdn in John Lewis housing schemes, may just about work.

Pessina might still value Boots but he can no longer keep financiers at bay. In the end, money doesn't care about branding, heritage or culture. Great British retail names have to be careful what they wish for.
A former John Lewis boss has said it would be a 'tragedy' if the retailer lost its employee ownership.

Andy Street said the department store owner had 'let go' of its soul.

John Lewis is plotting to overhaul its partnership structure, which means it is owned by and run for the benefit of its 74,000 staff, in order to raise up to 2billion in funds.

Forward planning: Chairman Dame Sharon White believes investment is needed to return to a sustainable footing

Chairman Dame Sharon White believes the money is needed to return to a sustainable footing.

But critics say diluting its partnership model would be devastating for staff. Street, who led the retailer from 2007 to 2016, told the BBC yesterday that the group, which also owns Waitrose, was one of the UK's most 'valued, loved, and trusted retail brands'.

It comes as ministers will face pressure this week to back a Bill that could 'save' the business.

White's hands are tied by restrictions on how mutuals can raise capital  meaning John Lewis cannot ask staff for investment.

A Bill to be tabled on Wednesday by Gareth Thomas, chairman of Parliament's all-party group on mutuals, would let firms bring in investors without giving up staff ownership rights.
Hyve Group event attendance is set to be hit by recent banking turmoil, but full-year profits are still expected to be in line with expectations.

The London-listed events organiser, which earlier this month agreed to a 481million takeover by US-based private equity firm Providence, forecasts revenue of between 95million and 100million in the year to the end of March.

Events like Africa Oil Week, Mining Indaba, Spring Fair all saw strong growth in the first half, the company said, but it expects 'some impact' on its Fintech Meetup and Shoptalk events at the end of the month as a result of turmoil in the banking and technology sectors.

Hyve could delist from the stock market if Providence's takeover is approved by shareholders

It has also held its first events in China since the start of the pandemic, including paint industry exhibition ChinaCoat, but noted a lack of international participation due to some Covid restrictions still being in place.

Chief executive Mark Shashoua, who has led the company through a five-year streamlining plan completed last year, said the group had started the new year 'with purpose and momentum'.

Forward bookings were 145million as of 22 March, ahead of 102million in the same period last year.

'We remain conscious of challenges in the macro-economic environment globally, the threat of recession in a number of our markets and, in particular, the recent macro events in Banking and Tech sectors,' Shashoua said.

'However, we believe we are well placed to weather any possible challenges, as marketing spend continues to gravitate towards must-attend leading events that drive return on investment.'

Hyve, formerly International Trade Exhibitions, was founded in 1991 by the Shashoua family, who were looking to capitalise on former Soviet Union states transitioning to market economies.

Almost all its exhibitions now take place across advanced economies after selling some global operations over the last year.

But Hyve shares have failed to recover since the 900billion events industry was brought to a halt at the start of the pandemic.

This was worsened by the war in Ukraine and Hyves decision to dump its Russian business in response.

Hyve shares were down 0.5 per cent to 111.20p in morning trade on Monday.

While they have surged by around 53 per cent since the start of the year, they remain down by around 80 per cent from their pre-pandemic peak of 610p.

If Providence's takeover is approved by shareholders, the deal would close in May and mean the company would de-list from the London market.
A group of Nanoco shareholders have called on the company's boss and finance chief to step down over 'misleading' information disclosed about the settlement of its legal dispute with Samsung.

The investors, led by Tariq Hamoodi, who holds a 4.2 per cent stake in the Manchester-based tech company, said in a letter they were 'deeply concerned about certain actions and activities' undertaken by Nanoco.

The letter, which is dated 10 March but was published on Monday, accused the board of raising finance in the interests of preferred shareholders at the expense of Nanoco.

It also claims the group made 'repeated misleading statements' about the 'merits and settlement prospects' of the group.

Investors said they were 'deeply concerned about certain actions and activities' by Nanoco

'Nanoco had settled on terms substantially less favourable than its prior statements had led shareholders to believe, and on less favourable terms than our clients understand had been previously offered by Samsung,' the investors said in the letter.

They asked chief executive Brian Tenner and chief financial officer Liam Gray to step down from their roles and board 'given their direct involvement in the matters'.

Investors have also put forward some potential replacements for the the two bosses, adding that a full investigation into the matter would need to be carried out once the board reshuffle is completed.

But Nanoco rejected the claims and requests, adding that its bosses had no intention to step down.

The company said in a statement released on Monday afternoon: 'Nanoco's Board emphatically rejects the Shareholder Group's speculative concerns about certain actions and activities involving Nanoco.

'The Directors of Nanoco have no intention of stepping down from the Board and are confident that the Board's actions and statements over the period of the Samsung litigation were in line with its corporate governance duties, obligations and standards.'

Nanoco filed a lawsuit in February 2020 for patent infringement, alleging that the South Korean tech giant used its 'quantum dot' technology without permission across its TV range.

Last month, Nanoco settled its three-year legal dispute with Samsung out of court, agreeing to be paid 124million.

But the settlement agreed fell short of analyst estimates, which predicted Samsung would pay out around 215million, sending Nanoco shares tumbling by more than a quarter.

Nanoco previously insisted the decision to settle was better than enduring a lengthy legal process, even though analysts said the value of a jury trial award could exceed 400million.

Nanoco shares were down 1.5 per cent to 20p in morning trading on Monday. They have shed 26 per cent of their value over the last year.
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. is a financial technology company that provides software, services and solutions to financial institutions, merchants and other businesses worldwide. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, with operations in more than 110 countries. FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is one of the largest global providers of banking and payment technologies.

FIS offers a wide range of products and services, including core banking and payment processing solutions, risk management, fraud detection, compliance services, mobile banking, digital wallets and other consumer-facing products. The company serves diverse customers, including banks, credit unions, merchants, governments and corporations.

Stephanie Ferris is the CEO and President of FIS. She joined the FIS team after FIS purchased WorldPay. At WorldPay, she specialized in revenue synergies and long-range strategic planning. Other notable team members include John Durrant, the President of Banking Solutions. John has focused on enterprise payment systems, product experience and small-business banking for over a decade.

Over the past few years, FIS has seen a weak financial performance. The company has been reporting losses for approximately three years. FIS's debt levels have increased in recent years due to the company's acquisition of Worldpay in 2019, which added roughly $16 billion in debt to FIS's balance sheet. Since 2019 FIS has maintained a debt level of around $35 billion. With a price-to-earnings ratio higher than the industry average and a price-to-book ratio lower than the industry average, FIS's valuation metrics suggest that the company is trading at a premium compared to its peers. FIS's stock price has performed poorly in recent years, consistently falling since Q2 of 2020.

FIS operates in the financial technology industry, which is experiencing significant growth and disruption. The rise of digital banking and payments has led to increased competition, innovation in the industry and regulatory and cybersecurity challenges.

FIS's primary competitors include global financial technology companies like Fiserv, Square and PayPal. In addition, FIS competes with traditional banks and payment processors investing in digital technology.

FIS has several growth opportunities, including new product launches, acquisitions and expansions into new markets. In 2020, the company launched several new products, including a real-time payments solution and a digital wallet. FIS also acquired the payments technology company Worldpay for $43 billion in 2019. The acquisition has positioned FIS as one of the largest payment processors in the world and has expanded the company's global footprint. It is important to note that in 2023 FIS began discussing spinning WorldPay off into a separate entity.

FIS is also exploring opportunities to expand into new markets, particularly in emerging economies such as Asia and Africa. The company has partnered with regional financial institutions to provide digital banking and payment solutions.

While FIS has seen strong financial performance and growth opportunities, the company has several potential risks and challenges. One significant risk is the increasing competition in the financial technology industry, particularly from new entrants and non-traditional players such as tech companies and fintech startups.

In addition, regulatory and compliance challenges could impact FIS's operations and growth. The financial technology industry is highly regulated, and changes in regulations or compliance requirements could increase costs and limit growth opportunities for FIS.

Cybersecurity threats are another significant risk facing FIS and the financial technology industry. As the company processes and stores sensitive financial data, any breaches or cyber-attacks could significantly damage FIS's reputation and financial performance.

Changes in consumer preferences and behavior could impact FIS's growth and profitability. As digital banking and payment solutions evolve, consumers may prefer alternative solutions, such as cryptocurrency or blockchain-based systems, which could impact FIS's traditional business model.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The Western Azerbaijan Community sent a letter to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, Trend reports.

The appeal was signed by the leadership of the Community, as well as intellectuals, cultural and artistic figures, poets and writers from Western Azerbaijan.

Being deeply concerned with the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, and echoing previous appeals from the Azerbaijani society to UNESCO, we are writing this letter to kindly ask you to send a fact-finding mission to Armenia to monitor the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage there, the letter said.

According to the letter, the Western Azerbaijan Community, which was established in 1989, deals with the protection of the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from the territory of nowadays Armenia.

All Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia, where they once constituted the absolute majority. Azerbaijani historical and cultural heritage, including mosques and graveyards in nowadays Armenia, were destroyed on a large scale, the letter noted. The Government of Armenia destroyed and damaged Azerbaijani tangible and intangible cultural heritage therein by direct actions and conducting propaganda designed to promote or incite ethnic discrimination directed against Azerbaijanis.

In the letter, the Community explained that the destruction took place before, during and in the aftermath of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

Most of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia was destroyed in a pre-planned manner outside military hostilities. In other words, the driving force for the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage has been the systematic policy of racial discrimination by the Government of Armenia aimed at creating a mono-ethnic and mono-cultural space, a notorious objective that has unfortunately become the reality in this country, the letter further said.

Besides, according to the letter, Armenias wrongdoing against Azerbaijani heritage also includes misappropriation and alteration of the pieces of heritage.

The only surviving mosque in Armenia, the Blue Mosque in capital Iravan, is misrepresented as a Persian mosque, in a fallacious and offensive manner. In fact, the mosque was built and for centuries had been attended by Azerbaijanis, who used to constitute the absolute majority in the city, the letter reminded. Moreover, presenting the mosque as belonging to one ethnicity is an attack on our religion, which does not divide its places of worship according to ethnicities, but rather unites people regardless of race or ethnicity.

Armenia continues to obliterate the last remaining traces of Azerbaijani culture. The Tapabashi quarter of Irevan city is the only piece of the historical old town of Irevan that has survived to this day. This quarter keeps in its memory the historical code of Irevan from the 17th century to the present day, the letter also noted.

The Tapabashi neighborhood, historically inhabited by Azerbaijanis, is now under threat of total annihilation. Armenian authorities are about to completely demolish the quarter, the letter emphasized.

Armenias discrimination and ethnic cleansing have made a devastating impact on Azerbaijani intangible heritage as well. For example, the Goycha Ashiq school, the backbone of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, itself inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, took an irreplaceable loss due to Armenias ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis of the Goycha district, in nowadays Armenia, the letter said.

The Government of Armenia even demonstratively destroyed the monument and the grave of Ashiq Alasgar, a prominent representative of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, in his native Goycha, the letter stressed.

The destruction of and damage to Azerbaijani cultural heritage by Armenia has made a detrimental impact on the enjoyment of our cultural rights, in particular, the right of everyone to access and enjoy cultural heritage, the letter pointed out.

According to the letter, the violation of this right threatens stability, social cohesion and cultural identity, and constitutes an aggravating factor in regional security and a major obstacle to dialogue, peace and reconciliation.

We champion the peaceful return of the expelled Azerbaijanis from Armenia in safety and dignity, and after the return ensuring the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights law, the letter noted. This requires inter alia making Armenia fulfill its obligations under international law to restore, protect and preserve Azerbaijani cultural heritage and property in Armenia.

Protection of cultural heritage is not only a requirement of international humanitarian law but also a fundamental human right as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the letter said.

Enjoying cultural heritage is central to the concept of dignified return of expelled people. Ensuring cultural rights, i.e. human creativity in all its diversity and the conditions for it to be exercised, developed, made accessible, preserved and protected, is part of our fundamental rights, which Armenia has the obligation to ensure prior to, during and after our return to our homes, the letter also emphasized. Therefore, we seek the support of UNESCO in restoring and preserving our cultural heritage.

Sending a fact-finding mission to Armenia to assess the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage in this country, as well as the level of compliance of Armenia with its international obligations relating to the protection of cultural heritage and cultural rights, would be an invaluable contribution to reversing the damage to the cultural heritage of mankind and thereby attaining the lasting peace, the letter pointed out.

Our organization stands ready to collaborate with UNESCO in carrying out activities aimed at assessing, restoring, preserving and protecting Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, and ensuring the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to access and enjoy their cultural heritage, concluded the letter.

A copy of the letter was sent to the President of the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.
Paul Mueller Co. engages in the provision of equipment used in a variety of industries. It operates through the following segments: Dairy Farm Equipment, Industrial Equipment, Field Fabrication, Transportation, and Other and Corporate. The Dairy Farm Equipment segment includes standard products that are built to stock and are available for sale from inventory. The Industrial Equipment segment sells products directly to industrial customers such as food, beverage, chemical, and industrial processing equipment, biopharmaceutical equipment, and pure water equipment. The Field Fabrication segment offers large field-fabricated tanks and vessels that cannot be built and shipped from the plant. The Transportation segment focuses on the delivery of products to customers and backhauls of materials and components. The Other and Corporate segment represents other revenue, unallocated corporate assets and expenses, and corporate other income. The company was founded by Paul J. Mueller and Gordon Mann in 1940 and is headquartered in Springfield, MO.
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., more commonly known by the name Petrobras, is a multinational integrated and diversified energy company headquartered in Brazil. The company was founded in 1953 by the government of Brazil and was a government-run entity for the first portion of its life. The companys motto at inception was The Oil Is Ours, it is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and is listed on the Forbes Global 500.

Petrobras operated with a legal monopoly in Brazil until 1997. During that time the companys production ramped from 2,700 barrels per day to about 2.6 million barrels per day in 2022. Along the way the company entered the refining market in 1961, it opened the Cenpes Research Center in 1963 (one of the worlds largest and leading petroleum research centers), it entered the petrochem market in 1968, and then, in 1994, it launched what was the worlds largest offshore drilling and production facility only to have it sink after less than 20 years in service.

Since 1997, when the government granted monopoly was revoked, the company has expanded its operations into other countries and is now functional in 16 nations. Today, Petrobras explores for, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and derivative products worldwide. The companys operations are worldwide but the bulk of business is in Brazil. At the end of 2021, the company had 8.435 billion barrels of proven reserves of which less than 0.50% were located outside of Brazil.

The government of Brazil retains 64% of the voting rights in Petrobras. The remaining shares are listed on the B3 exchange and are part of the Bovespa index. The stock is also listed on the NYSE as a depository receipt shares and in Madrid. The company operates in 4 primary business segments that are Exploration and Production: Refining, Transportation and Marketing; Gas and Power; and Corporate and Other Businesses.

The Exploration and Production segment explores and develops oil fields, processes, delivers, and trades in crude oil, crude oil products, natural gas, and oil-bearing shale feedstock. The Refining, Transportation, and Marketing segments are the mid and downstream operations including refining, pipelines, and wholesale/retail operations. This segment is also engaged in petrochemical and ethanol production. The Gas and Power segment markets natural gas and electricity. This segment also has interests in petrochemicals. The Corporate and Other Businesses segment is engaged in the production of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, and their co-products.

Petrobras environmental record includes aiding a rebound of Humpback whales, supporting and rebuilding forest ecosystems, and advances in green and renewable technology.






Digital Realty is a real estate investment trust focused entirely on data centers. The company owns, acquires, develops, and operates a network of global data centers and the cloud-based solutions cloud service providers need to access and maximize them. The company has set itself apart from the traditional data center REIT by unifying its holdings across one digital platform called PlatformDIGITALR which provides seamless control of data flow.

The company was formed in 2004 when GI Partners contributed 24 newly acquired data centers to help form the business. Later that same year, the company went public through an IPO that provided the capital to begin a campaign of acquisition. The company has been steadily adding square footage and new locations to its network ever since and it is still not done. The expansion has helped to deliver a 10% FFO CAGR and fuel a steadily rising dividend distribution. The company made its 16th consecutive annual dividend increase in 2022 and additional increases are expected each year.

Digital Realty's global footprint provides access to connected businesses in more than 284 facilities in 23 countries. As of mid-2022, it had more than $53 billion in assets and was listed as the US 8th largest publicly traded REIT.

Digital Realty supports the world's IT infrastructure by providing a full range of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. Businesses can choose to rely solely on Digital Realty for their data center needs or use Digital Realtys propriety cloud-based solutions to interconnect multiple data centers, and clouds, or connect to a private network.

PlatformDIGITALR is the company's global data center platform. It provides customers with a proven solution for operating on the cloud, scaling a digital business, and managing its data flow. The platform allows for seamless connection to providers and services that are in demand by todays rapidly changing digital businesses.

Digital Realty Trust is a key member of the Green Grid, a consortium of industry insiders and policy makers focused on making data centers more efficient and sustainable. Digital Realty Trust offers industry-leading efficiency alongside its world-class quality data centers. Digital Realty Trust data centers require fewer building materials and provide industry-leading power usage levels or PUEs.
Uber Technologies Inc. is a San Francisco-based company providing mobility, food and package delivery services and freight transport. Uber operates in approximately 10,500 cities in 72 countries. The company sets fares based on local supply and demand at the time of booking and receives a commission from each booking. The company has 131 million monthly active users and 5.4 million active drivers and couriers worldwide.

Uber was founded in 2009 by Oscar Salazar Gaitan, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp and was initially named Ubercab Inc. The idea for Uber came about after Camp and Kalanick spent a pricey $800 hiring a private driver on New Year's Eve, and Camp needed help finding a taxi on a snowy night in Paris. Camp, Oscar Salazar and Conrad Whelan built the prototype for Uber's mobile app, with Kalanick as the chief advisor to the company. Ryan Graves became the first Uber employee in February 2010 and was named CEO in May 2010. In December 2010, Kalanick succeeded Graves as CEO, and Graves became the chief operating officer. Uber's current CEO is Dara Khosrowshahi, who replaced co-founder Travis Kalanick of Uber in August 2017.

Uber debuted in San Francisco in 2011, opening its services and mobile app to the public after beta testing in May 2010. Initially, the application hailed black luxury cars, which cost about 1.5 times as much as a regular taxi. In response to San Francisco's taxi operators' objections, the company changed its name from UberCab to Uber in the same year. Uber's early team consisted of talented individuals from various fields, including a computational neuroscientist and a nuclear physicist who worked on enhancing the accuracy of Uber's car arrival predictions beyond what Google APIs offered.

In the summer of 2012, Uber rolled out UberX. This budget-friendly alternative permitted drivers to use their cars provided they passed background checks and met insurance, registration and vehicle quality standards. UberX expanded to 35 cities within a few months, demonstrating its popularity among cost-conscious riders. In August 2014, Uber extended its services by introducing Uber Eats, a food delivery platform. It also unveiled a carpooling feature in the San Francisco Bay Area, which soon spread to other cities globally, enabling passengers to share rides and save on fares.

Uber has faced legal action in several jurisdictions due to its classification of drivers as gig workers and independent contractors. Ridesharing companies like Uber have disrupted taxicab businesses and allegedly caused increased traffic congestion. Additionally, Uber has been criticized for various unethical practices, such as ignoring local regulations, some of which were revealed by the leak of the Uber Files between 2013 and 2017 under the leadership of Travis Kalanick.

In August 2016, DiDi acquired Uber's business operations in China, and in exchange, Uber obtained an 18% equity stake in DiDi. DiDi also pledged to invest $1 billion in Uber as part of the agreement. Later that year, Uber purchased Ottomotto, a startup specializing in developing autonomous trucks. The acquisition was valued at $625 million, and the founder of Ottomotto, Anthony Levandowski, was previously accused of stealing trade secrets from his former employer, Waymo, to establish the company. In the same year, Uber also bought Geometric Intelligence, the cornerstone of "Uber AI," a department dedicated to exploring and researching AI technologies and machine learning. The Uber AI project disappeared in May 2020.

Despite the controversies, Uber has committed to carbon neutrality globally by 2040, and by 2030, in most countries, rides will move exclusively to electric vehicles. The company has also formed various partnerships and acquisitions, such as with IT Taxi in Italy, Cornershop for grocery delivery and Postmates for alcohol delivery. Uber continues to expand its services and develop new offerings, such as Uber Works, Uber Green and Uber Eats. The company has recently announced plans to become an emission-free platform and is investing in self-driving cars.
Prudential Financial, Inc. is a global financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875, the company has become one of the world's largest insurance and investment management companies, with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential Financial provides insurance, retirement, and investment products to individuals, businesses, and institutional clients.

The company has diverse products and services, including life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, retirement planning, asset management, and real estate services. Its offerings cater to a wide range of customers, from individuals to large corporations.

Prudential Financial's management team is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles F. Lowrey, who assumed the position in 2018. Lowrey has been with the company for over 25 years and has held various leadership positions, including President and Chief Operating Officer. He has a strong track record of driving growth and profitability, having led the company's international business and overseen its merger with Prudential plc's Asian business. Other key management team members include Vice Chairman Robert Falzon and Chief Financial Officer Ken Tanji.

Over the past few years, Prudential Financial has delivered consistent financial results. The company reported revenue and net income up for the past several years. The company keeps an average profit margin of around 4%. The company has maintained a solid balance sheet with an average debt-to-capital ratio of approximately 20%. Prudential Financial's valuation metrics compare favorably to industry peers. The company's price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratio are slightly lower than the industry average. These metrics suggest that the company's stock is undervalued relative to its peers. Prudential Financial's stock has performed well over the past few years.

Prudential Financial operates in the insurance and investment management industry, which is highly competitive and subject to regulatory and political risks. The industry is also subject to cyclical and secular trends that can impact its profitability. For instance, low-interest rates can reduce the profitability of insurers and investment managers by reducing investment income. Prudential Financial's main competitors include MetLife, AIG, and Manulife Financial.

The industry is also subject to regulatory and political risks, such as changes in tax laws or regulatory requirements. In addition, consumer preferences and behavior can also impact the industry, as changes in consumer preferences for financial products and services can affect the demand for insurance and investment management products.

Prudential Financial has several growth opportunities. The company has a strong presence in Asia, particularly in Japan and China, where it has established partnerships with local financial institutions to distribute its products. The company also recently acquired Assurance IQ, a technology-enabled insurance brokerage, to expand its reach in the United States. Prudential Financial is also focused on developing new products and services to meet evolving customer needs, such as its Prudential LINK platform, which provides customers with a personalized approach to financial wellness. Additionally, the company has invested in digital and data capabilities to improve customer experience and streamline operations.

Prudential Financial also has opportunities for expansion into new markets. The company has been expanding its footprint in emerging markets, such as Brazil and Mexico, where it has seen strong growth potential. Furthermore, the company has been exploring opportunities in the growing retirement and financial planning market, particularly in the United States. The aging population has increased the demand for retirement and wealth management services.

Prudential Financial also faces several risks and challenges. The company is exposed to market risks, such as fluctuations in interest rates and equity markets, which can impact the value of its investment portfolio and earnings. In addition, the company's success depends on its ability to effectively manage risks associated with its insurance business, such as mortality, morbidity, and longevity risks.

Prudential Financial is also exposed to regulatory and political risks. Changes in regulatory requirements or tax laws can impact the company's operations and profitability. Furthermore, the company operates in multiple jurisdictions with different regulatory environments, which can create additional complexity and costs.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The Embassy of Israel in Azerbaijan has resumed its work.

20:41 (GMT + 4) The Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan has temporarily suspended its activities, Trend reports.

"Due to political tension in Israel, it was decided to suspend the activities of Israeli diplomatic missions in a number of countries, including in Baku. Until the next decision is made, the embassy will suspend its work. This also applies to consular services," the embassy said.

Thousands of protests against the judicial reform carried out by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu are taking place in Israel and abroad for the 12th week in a row. The proposed bill will limit the influence of the Supreme Court on the process of adopting basic laws, allow parliamentarians to challenge the decisions of this court, and give the government control over the procedure for appointing judges, protesters say.
The following companies are subsidiares of Duke Energy: 2018 ESA Project Company LLC, 226HC 8me LLC, Advance SC LLC, Baker House Apartments LLC, Bethel Price Solar LLC, Bison Insurance Company Limited, Black Mountain Solar LLC, Blue Rose Wind Holdings LLC, Blue Rose Wind LLC, Broad River Solar LLC, CEC UK1 Holding Corp., CEC UK2 Holding Corp., CGP Global Greece Holdings SA, CPRE 1 Holdings LLC, CPRE 1 LLC, CPRE 1 Lessee LLC, CS Murphy Point LLC, CSCC Holdings Limited Partnership, Caldwell Power Company, Cannon Solar LLC, Caprock Solar 1 LLC, Caprock Solar 2 LLC, Caprock Solar Holdings 1 LLC, Caprock Solar Holdings 2 LLC, CaroHome LLC, Carofund Inc., Carolina Solar Power LLC, Catamount Energy Corporation, Catamount Rumford Corporation, Catamount Sweetwater 1 LLC, Catamount Sweetwater 2 LLC, Catamount Sweetwater 3 LLC, Catamount Sweetwater 4-5 LLC, Catamount Sweetwater 6 LLC, Catamount Sweetwater Corporation, Catamount Sweetwater Holdings LLC, Catawba Mfg. & Electric Power Co., Century Group Real Estate Holdings LLC, Cimarron Windpower II LLC, Cinergy Climate Change Investments LLC, Cinergy Corp., Cinergy Global (Cayman) Holdings Inc., Cinergy Global Holdings Inc., Cinergy Global Power Inc., Cinergy Global Resources Inc., Cinergy Global Tsavo Power, Cinergy Receivables Company LLC, Cinergy Solutions - Utility Inc., Claiborne Energy Services Inc., Clear Skies Solar Holdings LLC, Clear Skies Solar LLC, Colonial Eagle Solar LLC, Conetoe II Solar LLC, Creswell Alligood Solar LLC, D/FD Holdings LLC, D/FD International Services Brasil Ltda., D/FD Operating Services LLC, DATC Path 15 LLC, DATC Path 15 Transmission LLC, DE Nuclear Engineering Inc., DE1 Holdings LLC, DEGS O&M LLC, DEGS Wind Supply II LLC, DEGS Wind Supply LLC, DEGS of Narrows LLC, DEPHCO Logistics LLC, DER CPRE 1 LLC, DER Holstein Holdings LLC, DER Holstein LLC, DER Holstein TX Holdings LLC, DER Maple Flats Devco LLC, DER Rambler Solar LLC, DETMI Management Inc., DS Cornerstone LLC, DTMSI Management Ltd., Dixilyn-Field (Nigeria) Limited, Dixilyn-Field Drilling Company, Dogwood Solar LLC, Dowmont Solar LLC, Duke CRNG-NC1 LLC, Duke Energy ACP LLC, Duke Energy Americas LLC, Duke Energy Arabian Limited, Duke Energy Beckjord LLC, Duke Energy Beckjord Storage LLC, Duke Energy Brazil Holdings I C.V., Duke Energy Breeze Holdings LLC, Duke Energy Business Services LLC, Duke Energy Carolinas LLC, Duke Energy Carolinas NC Storm Funding LLC, Duke Energy Carolinas Plant Operations LLC, Duke Energy China Corp., Duke Energy Clean Energy Resources LLC, Duke Energy Commercial Enterprises Inc., Duke Energy Corporate Services Inc., Duke Energy Florida LLC, Duke Energy Florida Project Finance LLC, Duke Energy Florida Receivables LLC, Duke Energy Florida Solar Solutions LLC, Duke Energy Fuel Cell Holdings LLC, Duke Energy Fuel Cell LLC, Duke Energy Generation Services Inc., Duke Energy Golden Vista LLC, Duke Energy Group Holdings LLC, Duke Energy Group LLC, Duke Energy Indiana Holdco LLC, Duke Energy Indiana LLC, Duke Energy Industrial Sales LLC, Duke Energy International LLC, Duke Energy International Uruguay Investments S.R.L., Duke Energy Kentucky Inc., Duke Energy Merchants LLC, Duke Energy Mesteno LLC, Duke Energy North America LLC, Duke Energy Ohio Inc., Duke Energy One Inc., Duke Energy One Services LLC, Duke Energy Pipeline Holding Company LLC, Duke Energy Progress LLC, Duke Energy Progress NC Storm Funding LLC, Duke Energy Progress Receivables LLC, Duke Energy Receivables Finance Company LLC, Duke Energy Registration Services Inc., Duke Energy Renewable Services LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Commercial LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Holding Company LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Inc., Duke Energy Renewables NC Solar LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Solar Holdings Inc., Duke Energy Renewables Solar I LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Solar LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Storage LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Wind I LLC, Duke Energy Renewables Wind LLC, Duke Energy Royal LLC, Duke Energy SAM LLC, Duke Energy Sabal Trail LLC, Duke Energy Services Canada ULC, Duke Energy Services Inc., Duke Energy Shoreham Holdings LLC, Duke Energy Shoreham LLC, Duke Energy Skyhigh 2 LLC, Duke Energy Skyhigh LLC, Duke Energy Sun Holdings LLC, Duke Energy Supply Company LLC, Duke Energy Transmission Holding Company LLC, Duke Energy Vermillion II LLC, Duke Foothills LLC, Duke Investments LLC, Duke Project Services Inc., Duke SRNG-MA1 LLC, Duke SRNG-SE-GA1 LLC, Duke Supply Network LLC, Duke SustainRNG Holding Corp., Duke SustainRNG LLC, Duke Technologies Inc., Duke Upper Piedmont LLC, Duke Ventures II LLC, Duke Ventures LLC, Duke Ventures Real Estate LLC, Duke-American Transmission Company LLC, Duke-Reliant Resources Inc., Duke/Fluor Daniel, Duke/Fluor Daniel Caribbean S.E., Duke/Fluor Daniel International, Duke/Fluor Daniel International Services, Duke/Fluor Daniel International Services (Trinidad) Ltd., East Blackland Holdings LLC, East Blackland Solar Project 1 LLC, Eastman Whipstock do Brasil Ltda., Eastover Land Company, Eastover Mining Company, Emerald State Solar Holdings LLC, Emerald State Solar LLC, Energy Pipelines International Company, Equinox Vermont Corporation, Everetts Wildcat Solar LLC, Federal Way Powerhouse LLC, Florida Progress Funding Corporation, Florida Progress LLC, Foothills Renewables LLC, Franklin Solar LLC, Free State Windpower LLC, Fresh Air Energy X LLC, Frontier Windpower II LLC, Frontier Windpower LLC, Garysburg Solar LLC, Gaston Solar LLC, Gato Montes Solar LLC, Golden Vista Energy Holdings LLC, Green Frontier Windpower Holdings LLC, Green Frontier Windpower LLC, Greenville Gas and Electric Light and Power Company, Grove Arcade Restoration LLC, HGA Development LLC, HXOap Solar One LLC, Happy Jack Windpower LLC, Hardy Storage Company LLC, Heuvelton Solar LLC, Hidden Meadows Solar LLC, High Noon Solar Holdings LLC, High Noon Solar LLC, Highlander Solar 1 LLC, Highlander Solar 2 LLC, Historic Property Management LLC, Holstein Solar Holdings LLC, Ironwood Windpower LLC, Ironwood-Cimarron Windpower Holdings LLC, Jackpot Holdings LLC, KO Transmission Company, Kentucky May Coal Company LLC, Kit Carson Windpower II Holdings LLC, Kit Carson Windpower II LLC, Kit Carson Windpower LLC, Lapetus Energy Project LLC, Laurel Hill Wind Energy LLC, Ledyard Windpower LLC, Long Farm 46 Solar LLC, Longboat Solar LLC, Los Vientos Windpower IA Holdings LLC, Los Vientos Windpower IA LLC, Los Vientos Windpower IB Holdings LLC, Los Vientos Windpower IB LLC, Los Vientos Windpower III Holdings LLC, Los Vientos Windpower III LLC, Los Vientos Windpower IV Holdings LLC, Los Vientos Windpower IV LLC, Los Vientos Windpower V Holdings LLC, Los Vientos Windpower V LLC, MCP LLC, Martins Creek Solar NC LLC, Maryneal Windpower LLC, Marzahl Powerhouse NJ LLC, Mesquite Creek Wind LLC, Mesteno Energy Holdings LLC, Mesteno Windpower LLC, Miami Power Corporation, Murphy Farm Power LLC, Nemaha Windpower LLC, North Allegheny Wind LLC, North Carolina Renewable Properties LLC, North Rosamond Solar LLC, NorthSouth Insurance Company Limited, Notrees Windpower LP, PHX Management Holdings LLC, PIH Inc. (Florida), PIH Tax Credit Fund V Inc., PRAIRIE LLC, PROGRESS ENERGY, PT Holding Company LLC, Palmer Solar LLC, PanEnergy Corp., Path 15 Funding KBT LLC, Path 15 Funding LLC, Path 15 Funding TV LLC, PeakNet LLC, PeakNet Services LLC, Piedmont ACP Company LLC, Piedmont Constitution Pipeline Company LLC, Piedmont ENCNG Company LLC, Piedmont Energy Company, Piedmont Energy Partners Inc., Piedmont Hardy Storage Company LLC, Piedmont Interstate Pipeline Company, Piedmont Intrastate Pipeline Company, Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Piedmont Natural Gas Company Inc., Pioneer Transmission LLC, Pisgah Ridge Solar LLC, Pleasant Grove Solar LLC, Potter Road Powerhouse LLC, Powerhouse Square LLC, Progress Capital Holdings Inc., Progress Energy EnviroTree Inc., Progress Energy Inc., Progress Fuels LLC, Progress Synfuel Holdings Inc., Progress Telecommunications Corporation, Project Oxygen Holdings I LLC, Project Oxygen Holdings LLC, Pumpjack Solar I LLC, RE AZ Holdings LLC, RE Ajo 1 LLC, RE Bagdad Solar 1 LLC, RE Gattaca Holdings LLC, RE Haast Holdings LLC, RE Inverness Holdings LLC, RE Rambler LLC, RE SFCity1 GP LLC, RE SFCity1 Holdco LLC, RE SFCity1 LP, REC Solar, REC Solar Commercial Corporation, RP-Orlando LLC, Rambler Solar Holdings LLC, Rio Bravo Solar I LLC, Rio Bravo Solar II LLC, River Road Solar LLC, Rosamond Renewables LLC, Rosamond Solar AQ LLC, Rosamond Solar Holdings LLC, Rosamond Solar Portfolio LLC, Sandy River Timber LLC, Seaboard Solar LLC, Seville Solar Holding Company LLC, Seville Solar One LLC, Seville Solar Two LLC, Shirley Wind LLC, Shoreham Energy Holdings LLC, Shoreham Solar Commons LLC, Silver Sage Windpower LLC, Skyhigh Sun 2 LLC, Skyhigh Sun LLC, SolNCPower10 L.L.C., SolNCPower5 LLC, SolNCPower6 LLC, Solar Star North Carolina I LLC, Solar Star North Carolina II LLC, South Construction Company Inc., South Dixon Solar LLC, Southbound Solar LLC, Southern Power Company, Speedway Solar NC LLC, Stenner Creek Solar LLC, Stony Knoll Solar LLC, Strategic Resource Solutions Corp. , Summit Wind Energy Mesquite Creek LLC, Sweetwater Development LLC, Sweetwater Wind 4 LLC, Sweetwater Wind 5 LLC, Sweetwater Wind Power L.L.C., Symphony Breeze LLC, Symphony Sun LLC, Symphony Wind Holdings LLC, TBP Properties LLC, TE Notrees LLC, TE Ocotillo LLC, TES Anchor Solar 23 LLC, TES Overlook Road LLC, TES Rowtier Solar 23 LLC, TRES Timber LLC, TX Solar I LLC, Tarboro Solar LLC, Taylorsville Solar LLC, Texoma Wind Holdings LLC, Texoma Wind LLC, Three Buttes Windpower LLC, Top of the World Wind Energy Holdings LLC, Top of the World Wind Energy LLC, Tri-State Improvement Company, Upper Piedmont Renewables LLC, Victory Solar LLC, WNC Institutional Tax Credit Fund L.P., Washington Airport Solar LLC, Washington Millfield Solar LLC, Washington White Post Solar LLC, Wateree Power Company, West Texas Angelos Holdings LLC, Westbound Solar 2 LLC, Westbound Solar 3 LLC, Westbound Solar LLC, Western Carolina Power Company, Western Vista Solar Holdings LLC, Western Vista Solar LLC, Wild Jack Solar Holdings LLC, Wild Jack Solar LLC, Wildwood Solar I LLC, Wildwood Solar II LLC, Wind Star Holdings LLC, Wind Star Renewables LLC, Windsor Cooper Hill Solar LLC, Winton Solar LLC, Woodland Solar LLC, and eTransEnergy LLC.

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The Toronto-Dominion Bank, also known as TD Bank, is a Canadian multinational bank that provides a wide range of financial services to customers in Canada, the United States, and worldwide. The bank was founded in 1855 in Toronto, Canada, and has since grown to become one of the largest banks in North America, with over 85,000 employees and more than 26 million customers. TD Bank is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and has additional offices in New York City and other major cities throughout the United States.

TD Bank's key highlights and achievements include its status as the sixth-largest bank in North America by assets, its recognition as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies for 20 consecutive years, and its commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility.

The management team at TD Bank is led by Chief Executive Officer Bharat Masrani, who has been with the company for over 30 years and has held various senior leadership positions before being appointed CEO in 2014.

Regarding financial performance, TD Bank has delivered consistent results over the past few years, with revenue and net income increasing yearly for the past several years. The bank's profit margins have also remained robust, with an average net profit margin of 25%. However, TD Bank has also faced challenges related to debt levels and changes in ownership, with a recent decrease in ownership by TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation. Regarding valuation, TD Bank's price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios align with industry peers. The company's market performance has also been relatively stable, with modest price movements and steady trading volume over the past few years.

TD Bank operates in a highly competitive and regulated industry, with other major players, including the Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The broader banking industry is also subject to regulatory and political issues, such as changes in interest rates and financial regulations.

Despite these challenges, TD Bank has identified growth opportunities in new markets and product areas. These include launching new digital banking services and expanding the bank's presence in key markets such as the United States and Asia. TD Bank has also made several acquisitions in recent years, including the addition of Scottrade Bank in 2017 and the purchase of Chrysler Financial in 2011.

However, TD Bank also faces several risks and challenges, such as changes in consumer preferences and increased competition from fintech startups. The bank's focus on sustainability and corporate responsibility also presents risks related to environmental and social factors, such as climate change and social inequality. There are also recession risks involved. TD Bank could face challenges if there is a downturn in the economy.
Medtronic PLC is a world-leading medical technology company that develops and manufactures device-based medical therapies to improve patient outcomes. Founded in 1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Medtronic has grown to become one of the largest medical device companies in the world. The company's operational and executive headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with over 90,000 employees in more than 150 countries.



Medtronic's portfolio of medical technologies includes products for diagnosing, treating and managing cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease, spinal and biologics, diabetes management and neuromodulation. The company's cardiac and vascular group is the oldest and largest business unit, which develops pacemakers, defibrillators and heart valves. Medtronic's spinal and biologics business is the second-largest business unit and produces a range of implants, instruments and services to treat spinal disorders. The diabetes group develops insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring systems and consumables. At the same time, the neuromodulation business focuses on therapies to treat chronic pain, movement disorders and other neurological conditions.



In 2015, Medtronic acquired Covidien PLC, an Irish-based medical technology company, and moved its legal headquarters to Ireland. This transaction was the most significant U.S. corporate tax inversion in history and allowed the company to take advantage of lower corporate taxes in Ireland. The company also achieved a 100% gender and ethnically diverse pay equity in the U.S. and 99% gender pay equity globally, as reported in its Global Inclusion, Diversity and Equity 2022 annual report. Medtronic joined the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) in 2023, becoming one of the 483 companies listed in the index.



Medtronic's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol MDT and is a member of the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The company has had several recent recalls, including the HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device in February 2021 and the controller ports in June 2021.



Medtronic has continued to focus on developing its medical technology portfolio and announced several acquisitions and partnerships in 2021. In January, the company announced its intention to acquire Affera, Inc., Stimgenics LLC and Medicrea. In May, Medtronic announced a strategic partnership with CathWorks, and in March 2022, a contract with Vizient. The company is also working with GE Healthcare to support the needs and care demands at Ambulatory Surgery Centers in April 2022. In October 2022, Medtronic announced its intention to pursue a separation of the company's combined patient monitoring and respiratory interventions businesses.



Medtronic PLC is a world-leading medical technology company that has grown to become one of the largest medical device companies in the world. With its portfolio of medical technologies and recent acquisitions and partnerships, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth of the medical device industry. The company's commitment to gender and ethnic pay equity and inclusion and its strategic partnerships and acquisitions make Medtronic PLC an attractive option for investors looking for a long-term growth opportunity.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The US is ready to support the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Karen Donfried said during a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, Trend reports.

During the conversation, the parties discussed current issues on the agenda of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the situation in the region, as well as the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Minister Bayramov informed Donfried about the current situation in the region, including the latest provocations by Armenia, which continues to transfer personnel and ammunition to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, and steps taken by Azerbaijan without the use of force against these provocations. Once again, the importance of creating a checkpoint at the beginning of the Lachin road was noted in order to prevent illegal activities on the territory of Azerbaijan. The minister also touched upon the unconstructive approaches of Armenia, which impedes the negotiations on a peace agreement, and stressed that Azerbaijan is ready to start negotiations on a peace agreement at any time.

Karen Donfried, in turn, stressed the importance of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia for regional peace and development. Concern was expressed over the recent tense situation in the region and a call was made to resolve all differences through negotiations. It was stated that the American side is ready to support this process.

At the end of the conversation, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov wished Karen Donfrid, who will soon leave her current post, success in her future activities.
American Express Company is a multinational financial services company based in New York City. The company provides credit cards, charge cards, traveler's cheques and other financial services to individuals and businesses worldwide.



Founded in 1850, American Express has been a pioneer in the credit card industry and has developed a reputation for offering premium products and services that cater to high-income consumers. The company operates in over 130 countries and employs over 75,000 people globally.

Stephen J. Squeri has served as American Express Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2018, succeeding Kenneth I. Chenault. Squeri joined the company in 1985 and has held various leadership positions.



He is credited with leading the company's digital transformation and developing new partnerships with technology companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon. Other key management team members include Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey C. Campbell and Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster.

American Express has consistently generated strong financial results, with revenue increasing consistently over the past few years. The company's net income has also grown during this same time frame. The company's profit margin has remained relatively stable at around 14%.



American Express has maintained a strong balance sheet, with a debt-to-equity ratio and a price-to-book ratio consistent with industry averages. Over the past couple of years, American Express' stock has performed well, leading its industry peers.

The credit card industry is highly competitive, with a few prominent players dominating the market. American Express competes with other major credit card companies, such as Visa and Mastercard and banks that issue private-label credit cards.



The industry has been growing steadily, with global credit card transactions expected to reach $8.8 trillion by 2025. However, the industry faces several challenges, including increasing regulatory scrutiny and the threat of disruption from fintech startups.

American Express has several growth opportunities, including expanding its presence in international markets and developing new partnerships with technology companies. The company has made significant progress in these areas, with global revenue growth from 2016 to 2022.



American Express has also partnered with companies such as Uber, Marriott and Delta Airlines to offer unique benefits to its cardholders. Additionally, the company has been investing in its digital capabilities by launching its digital wallet and mobile app.

Despite its stable financial performance and growth opportunities, American Express faces several risks and challenges. The company's high-end products and services may be vulnerable to changes in consumer preferences, and the company may need help to appeal to younger generations who prefer debit cards and mobile payments.



Additionally, American Express is subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny, with regulators monitoring the company's anti-money laundering practices and compliance with consumer protection laws. The company's debt levels and dependence on the global economy also pose risks, as a recession or economic downturn could impact its profitability.

Another major challenge for American Express is the increasing competition from fintech startups, disrupting the traditional credit card industry by offering innovative products and services. These startups are often more agile and adaptable than established companies like American Express and may be able to offer more attractive rewards and lower fees to customers.



To stay competitive, American Express must continue to innovate and develop new products and services that cater to changing customer preferences.
Pfizer Inc. is a US-based multinational biotech company. The company operates as a research-based pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, production and marketing of medicines and vaccines. It is the 2nd largest drugmaker globally by revenue and is ranked 64th on the Fortune 500 list. The companys avenues of research include Immunology, Oncology, Cardiology, Endocrinology and Neurology.

Regarding its product line, the company has at least ten blockbuster drugs producing more than $1 billion in avenue revenue each. The company brought in over $81 billion in total revenue in 2021. The US is its main market and represents roughly 50% of all revenue. China and Japan make up roughly 12% of the business, while the rest come from the rest of the world. It employs roughly 79,000 people and is headquartered in New York state.

Pfizer Inc. was founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer Sr. and his cousin Charles Earhart. The two were German immigrants and chemists that set up shops outside New York City to make medicinal compounds. The first major success was an antiparasitic called santonin, and the commercialization of citric acid-making technologies quickly followed that up. Their success with citric acid led to the companys expansion and other major discoveries.

World War I caused a shortage of materials for making citric acid and forced the company to seek alternatives. The one they latched on to was the fermentation of certain fungi known to produce citric acid naturally. This led to the advancement of fermentation technology that was later used in the commercial production of penicillin and then the advancement of antibiotics in general.

Pfizer Inc was incorporated on June 2nd, 1942 in Delaware, and another period of expansion began. The postwar drop in demand for penicillin led to the discovery of newer, more marketable antibiotics and cemented the companys role in modern medicine. By the time he 80s rolled around, the company was trading on the New York Stock Exchange and on the path to developing todays blockbuster lineup.

The companys top seller in 2021 was Comirnaty, a COVID-19 vaccine. It generated nearly $37 billion in 2021 and was followed by Prevnar, Ibrance and Eliquis with just over $5 billion in sales each. Other blockbuster names on Pfizers list include Xeljanz and Enbrel, each bringing in $3.5 billion. Pfizer operates 39 research and production facilities worldwide and sells its products in 125 countries.

As of 2022, the company had a robust pipeline of potential treatments, with more than 220 in some stage of clinical trials. Among its leading candidates is a vaccine for RSV, a life-threatening respiratory disease affecting children. 2021 highlights include 8 FDA approvals, four new regulatory submissions and 13 new trial startups. Pfizer is also a well-known dividend payer and has returned more than $8.7 billion to shareholders since going public.
The following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. Ltd., Alfa Aesar (Hong Kong) Limited, Allergon AB, Alphine Mountain Limited, Ambion Inc., Apogent Denmark ApS, Apogent Finance Company, Apogent Holding Company, Apogent Technologies Inc., Apogent Transition Corp., Apogent U.K. Limited, App-Tek International Pty Ltd, Applied Biosystems B.V., Applied Biosystems Finance B.V., Applied Biosystems International Inc., Applied Biosystems LLC, Applied Biosystems Taiwan LLC, Applied Biosystems Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Applied Biosystems de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Applied Scientific Corporation, Avances Cientificos de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, B.R.A.H.M.S. Biotech GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. UK Ltd, BAC BV, BAC IP BV, Barnstead Thermolyne LLC, Beijing Phadia Diagnostics Co Ltd, Bender MedSystems GmbH, BioTrove Corporation, BioTrove International Inc., Bioanalysis Labsystems S.A., Biochemical Sciences LLC, Biolab, BmT GmbH Laborprodukte, Bonsai Tecnologies - Sistemas para Biotecnologia e Industria Unipessoal Lda, Brammer Bio, Bumi-Sans Sendirian Berhad, CAC Limited, CB Diagnostics AB, CB Diagnostics Holding AB, CEPH International Corporation, CHK Holdings Inc., CRS Robotics, CTPS LLC, Capitol Scientific Products Inc., Capitol Vial Inc., Cellomics Inc., CellzDirect Inc., Cenduit GmbH, Cenduit LLC, Cezanne S.A.S., Chase Scientific Glass Inc., Chromacol Limited, Clintrak, Clintrak Clinical Labeling Services LLC, Clintrak Pharmaceutical Services LLC, Cohesive Technologies (UK) Limited, Cohesive Technologies Inc., Columbia Diagnostics Inc., Compendia Bioscience Inc., Comtest Limited, Consolidated Technologies Inc., Consultores Fisher Scientific Chile Ltd, Core Informatics, Core Informatics LLC, Core Informatics UK Ltd., D-finitive Technologies Inc., DCG Systems B.V., DCG Systems C.V., DCG Systems G.K., DCG Systems GmbH, DCG Systems Korea Ltd., DCG Systems LLC, DPI Newco LLC, DSM Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Dharmacon, Diagnostix Ltd., Dionex (China) Analytical Ltd, Dionex (Switzerland) AG, Dionex (UK) Limited, Dionex Austria GmbH, Dionex Benelux B.V., Dionex Brasil Instrumentos Cientificos Ltda, Dionex Canada Ltd., Dionex China Limited, Dionex Corporation, Dionex Denmark A/S, Dionex Holding GmbH, Dionex I LLC, Dionex Pty Ltd., Dionex S.A., Dionex S.p.A., Dionex Singapore Pte Ltd., Dionex Softron GmbH, Dionex Sweden AB, Distribution Solutions International Inc., Doe & Ingalls Investors Inc., Doe & Ingalls Limited, Doe & Ingalls Management LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties II LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties LLC, Doe & Ingalls of California Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Florida Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Maryland Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Massachusetts Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of North Carolina Operating LLC, Doublecape Holding Limited, Doublecape Limited, Drakeside Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Duke Scientific Corporation, Dynal Biotech Beijing Limited, EGS Gauging Ltd., EGS Gauging Technical Services Company, EP Scientific Products LLC, Ecochem N.V., EnviroEquip Pty Ltd, Epsom Glass Industries Limited, Equibio Limited, Erie Electroverre S.A., Erie Finance Limited, Erie LP Holding LLC, Erie Scientific Company of Puerto Rico, Erie Scientific Hungary Kft, Erie Scientific LLC, Erie U.K. Limited, Erie UK 1 Limited, Erie UK 2 Limited, Erie UK Holding Company, Erie UK Senior Holding Limited, European Laboratory Holdings Limited, Eutech Instruments Europe B.V., Eutech Instruments Pte Ltd., Eutech Instruments Sdn Bhd, Ever Ready Thermometer Co. Inc., FEI Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., FEI Australia Pty Ltd, FEI CPD B.V., FEI Company, FEI Company Japan Ltd., FEI Company of USA (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd., FEI Czech Republic s.r.o., FEI Deutschland GmbH, FEI EFA Inc., FEI EFA International Pte. Ltd., FEI Electron Optics B.V., FEI Electron Optics International B.V., FEI Europe B.V., FEI France SAS, FEI Global Holdings C.V., FEI Hong Kong Company Limited, FEI Houston Inc., FEI Italia Srl, FEI Korea Ltd., FEI Melbourne Pty Ltd., FEI Microscopy Solutions Ltd, FEI Munich GmbH, FEI Norway Holding AS, FEI SAS, FEI Saudi Arabia LLC, FEI Servicos de Nanotecnologia Ltda., FEI Technologies Inc., FEI Technology de Mexico S.A. de C.V., FEI Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., FEI Trondheim AS, FEI UK Ltd., FHP LLC, FRC Holding Inc. V, FS (Barbados) Capital Holdings Ltd., FS Casa Rocas Holdings LLC, FS Mexicana Holdings LLC, FSI Receivables Company LLC, FSII Sweden Holdings AB, FSII Sweden Holdings I AB, FSIR Holdings (UK) Limited, FSIR Holdings (US) Inc., FSUK Holdings Limited, FSWH Company LLC, FSWH II C.V., FSWH International Holdings LLC, Fermentas China Co. Ltd, Fermentas Inc., Fermentas International, Fermentas Sweden AB, Fermentas UK Limited, Fiberlite Centrifuge LLC, Finesse Scientific Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Finesse Solutions AG, Finesse Solutions Inc., Finnzymes Oy, Fisher Alder S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Asia Manufacturing Ventures Inc., Fisher Bermuda Holdings Limited, Fisher BioImage ApS, Fisher BioPharma Services (India) Private Limited, Fisher BioSciences Japan G.K., Fisher BioServices Inc., Fisher Bioblock Holding II SNC, Fisher CLP Holding Limited Partnership, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 1, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 2, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 3, Fisher Canada Limited Partnership, Fisher Chimica BVBA, Fisher Clinical Logistics LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services (Bristol) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Colombia) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Korea) Co. Ltd, Fisher Clinical Services (Mexico) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Peru) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services Colombia S.A.S., Fisher Clinical Services GmbH, Fisher Clinical Services Inc., Fisher Clinical Services Japan K.K., Fisher Clinical Services Latin America S.R.L., Fisher Clinical Services Limited Liability Company, Fisher Clinical Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Clinical Services Peru S.R.L, Fisher Clinical Services Pte Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services U.K. Limited, Fisher Emergo B.V., Fisher Germany Holdings GmbH, Fisher Hamilton China Inc., Fisher Hamilton Mexico LLC, Fisher Holdings ApS, Fisher Internet Minority Holdings L.L.C., Fisher Laboratory Products Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Fisher Luxembourg Danish Holdings SARL, Fisher Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Maybridge Holdings Limited, Fisher Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific (Austria) GmbH, Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Fisher Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific (SEA) Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific A/S, Fisher Scientific AG, Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Limited, Fisher Scientific Biotech Line ApS, Fisher Scientific Brazil Inc., Fisher Scientific Central America Inc., Fisher Scientific Chile Inc., Fisher Scientific Colombia Inc., Fisher Scientific Company, Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C., Fisher Scientific Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Fisher Scientific Europe Holdings B.V., Fisher Scientific GTF AB, Fisher Scientific Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, Fisher Scientific GmbH, Fisher Scientific Holding Company LLC, Fisher Scientific Holding HK Limited, Fisher Scientific Holding U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Fisher Scientific International LLC, Fisher Scientific Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Fisher Scientific Ireland Investments Unlimited, Fisher Scientific Ireland Limited, Fisher Scientific Japan Ltd., Fisher Scientific Jersey Island Limited, Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd, Fisher Scientific Latin America Inc., Fisher Scientific Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Fisher Scientific Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific Mexico Inc., Fisher Scientific Middle East and Africa Inc., Fisher Scientific Norway AS, Fisher Scientific Operating Company, Fisher Scientific Oxoid Holdings Ltd., Fisher Scientific Oy, Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific S.A.S., Fisher Scientific S.L., Fisher Scientific SPRL, Fisher Scientific The Hague I B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague II B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague III B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague IV B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague V B.V., Fisher Scientific U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company 2, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company Limited, Fisher Scientific Unipessoal Lda., Fisher Scientific Venezuela Inc., Fisher Scientific Worldwide (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Holdings I C.V., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Inc., Fisher Scientific de Mexico S.A., Fisher Scientific of the Netherlands B.V., Fisher Scientific spol. S.r.o, Fisher Servicios Clinicos (Chile) LLC, Fisher Servicios Clinicos Chile Ltda, Fisher WWD Holding L.L.C., Fisher Worldwide Distribution SPV, Fisher Worldwide Gene Distribution SPV, Flux Instruments, Fuji Partnership, G & M Procter Limited, G V Instruments Limited, GV Instruments Canada Ltd., GV Instruments Inc, Gatan Inc, General Scientific Company Sdn Bhd (M), Genomed molekularbiologische und diagnostische Produkte GmbH, Gerhard Menzel B.V. & Co. KG, Gold Cattle Standard Testing Labs Inc., Golden West Indemnity Company Limited, Goring Kerr Detection Limited, Greenville Service Company Inc., HENO GmbH i.L., Hangar 215 Inc., Helmet Securities Limited, Henogen, HighChem, HyClone International Trade (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Hybaid Limited, I.Q. (BIO) Limited, IDnostics AG, ILS Laboratories Scandinavia AB, Inel Inc., Inel SAS, InnaPhase Inc., InnaPhase Limited, IntegenX, Intrinsic BioProbes Inc., Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc., Invitrogen (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. De C.V., Laboratoire Service International - L.S.I, Laboratory Management Systems Inc., Laboratory Specialties Proprietary Ltd., LambTrack Limited, Laser Analytical Systems Inc., Liberty Lane Investment LLC, Liberty Lane Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Life Sciences International (Poland) SP z O.O, Life Sciences International Holdings BV, Life Sciences International LLC, Life Sciences International Limited, Life Technologies AS, Life Technologies Australia PTY Ltd., Life Technologies BPD AB, Life Technologies BPD UK Limited, Life Technologies Brasil Comercio e Industria de Produtos para Biotecnologia Ltda, Life Technologies Chile SpA, Life Technologies Clinical Services Lab Inc., Life Technologies Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostic (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. 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The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is a leading global biopharmaceutical company with a long and impressive history of innovating and developing medicines that improve the lives of patients around the world. Founded in 1887 when William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers purchased the Clinton Pharmaceutical Company, the company was initially named Bristol, Myers and Company. Its first nationally recognized product, Sal Hepatica, was released in the 1890s.

Bristol Myers-Squibb offers chemically synthesized drugs and biologics administered through injections or infusions to patients. The company's pharmaceutical portfolio includes a large number of well-known products. BMS's primary research and development sites are in New Jersey, California, Spain, Massachusetts, New York, Belgium, Japan, India and Massachusetts. The company's products sell to wholesalers and distributors around the world.

Bristol Myers-Squibb has a robust pipeline of investigational medicines in its pipeline. In addition, the company has established strategic collaborations and partnerships with various companies, successfully launching new products. These partnerships and investments generate portions of the company's revenue.

Bristol Myers-Squibb has acquired several companies over the years, including Medarex in 2009, ZymoGenetics in 2010, Inhibitex Inc. in 2012, Amylin Pharmaceuticals in 2012, iPierian in 2014, Flexus Biosciences in 2015, Cardioxyl in 2015, Padlock Therapeutics in 2016, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals in 2017, IFM Therapeutics in 2017, Celgene in 2019, Otezla in 2019, Forbius in 2020, MyoKardia in 2020 and Turning Point Therapeutics in 2022.

In 2005, the company divested individual consumer products and its subsequent consumer products businesses. In December 2014, the company received FDA approval for its cancer drug, Opdivo, used to treat skin cancers that do not respond to drug therapies. In 2019, the company divested its consumer health business, UPSA, to Taisho.

The company has also faced several scandals, lawsuits and investigations over the years, the biggest of which is the ongoing $1 billion lawsuit from Guatemala for the company's role in a 1940s experiment that infected hundreds with syphilis. In 2001 BMS faced an accounting scandal that resulted in a restatement of revenues from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, BMS faced a lawsuit based on illegally maintaining a monopoly on Taxol, a chemotherapy medication. The former head of the pharma group and the ex-CFO were indicted for federal securities violations in 2005. In July of 2006, an FBI raid on the company's corporate offices revealed that the company took steps to delay the release of a generic version of one of its drugs.

BMS began a significant restructuring in 2009, focusing on the pharmaceutical business and biologic products, productivity initiatives and cost-cutting. The U.S. attorney forced the company into oversight and appointed a monitor as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Lou Schmukler joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010 as global product development and design president.

In 2013, Forbes magazine ranked the company as the drug company of the year. Dr. Giovanni Caforio took the reigns as CEO in 2015. In 2017, reports began to surface that activist investor Carl Icahn took a stake in the company, widely seen as a signal for a potential future takeover.

As Bristol-Myers Squibb continues to experience success and growth, the company is committed to delivering innovative treatments to patients and staying ahead of the curve in the biopharmaceutical industry. With its focus on research and development and a long and rich history of delivering innovative medicines, BMS offers an excellent long-term investment opportunity.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. COVID-19 is decreasing in Azerbaijan, an expert at the Ministry of Health, an infectious disease specialist Vasif Aliyev told Trend.

According to Aliyev, given the number of recovered people in our country, as well as vaccination against the virus, travels to the regions wont lead to an increase in the number of infections.

In addition to traveling to the regions, there are many places such as shopping malls, cafes, restaurants, schools, and universities that lead to an increase in cases of infection with the virus. Despite all this, the number of cases of coronavirus infection in Azerbaijan is very low, he said.

Overall, the situation with COVID-19 infection in Azerbaijan is stable, and the number of infected in foreign countries hasnt grown, as well, added the expert.

Up until now, 829,398 people have been infected with coronavirus in the country, 819,104 of them have recovered, and 10,166 people have died. Currently, 128 people are under treatment in special hospitals.

To reveal the COVID-19 cases, 910 tests have been carried out in Azerbaijan over the past day, and a total of 7,551,009 tests have been conducted so far.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The Grammy Award winner, pianist Mikhail Pletnev, will perform on the stage of the Heydar Aliyev Center on May 16, Trend reports.

The Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli, under the baton of Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Fuad Ibrahimov, will also perform in the concert consisting of two parts. The evening will feature works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, whose 150th birthday is celebrated this year all over the world.

The world-famous pianist, composer, and conductor Mikhail Pletnev is one of the most influential musicians of modern day. Despite becoming a laureate of the International Youth Piano Competition in Paris at the age of 16, Mikhail Pletnev has become known to a wide musical audience since 1978, when he was the winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

With famous orchestras from Europe and America, the musician has performed solo concerts in different countries. Mikhail Pletnev is also among the musicians offering the world's best interpretations of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's works.

In 1980, Pletnev made his debut as a conductor. In 1990, the pianist established the first independent orchestra in the history of Russia, the Russian National Orchestra, which, under the direction of Pletnev, entered the list of the most prestigious musical groups in the world.
Qabil Ashirov

Israeli President Isaac Herzog congratulated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the presentation of the letters of credence of the first Azerbaijani ambassador to Israel, Azernews reports, citing a tweet by the Israeli president.

He noted the event as an important milestone in the Azerbaijani-Israeli relations which dates back 30 years.

I congratulate the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev @azpresident on the presentation of the letters of credence of the first Azerbaijani ambassador to Israel, @MammadovMukhtar! This appointment is an important milestone as we celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations, the Israeli President tweeted.

Moreover, first Azerbaijani Ambassador to Israel Mukhtar Mammadov posted a tweet to say that he is honored and proud to present his credentials to the Israeli president.

I am honored & proud to present my Credentials to the President of the State of Israel as the 1st Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the ambassador tweeted.




Details added (first published: 13:26)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Following the order of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated March 15, 2023, Vugar Mustafayev was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense Industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports via the ministry.

Mustafayev was born in 1986 in Baku. From 2004 to 2008, he graduated from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of Azerbaijan with a degree in Engineering Economics and Management (with honors). In 2013, he successfully completed the master's degree program in Business Administration (MBA), majoring in Finance and Credit, at Khazar University.

Since 2016, he has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors international association and also became a Certified Internal Auditor (globally recognized internal audit certification).

Furthermore, since 2020, he has had an international IBM Data Science qualification specializing in data science.

During his undergraduate studies from 2006 to 2008, he worked in various companies as a training coordinator and specialist in finance and accounting.

From 2009 to 2012, he worked as a chief specialist at Ernst & Young CIS B.V., one of the leading international audit companies in the world.

Moreover, from 2012 to 2014, he worked as the Director of the Internal Audit Department at Azerfon LLC.

Since 2014, he has held various managerial positions at PASHA Holding LLC and related companies. In 2014, he was appointed Advisor to the executive director of PASHA Holding LLC.

Since 2014, he has been the Chairman of the Audit Commission of PASHA Insurance OJSC and PASHA Life Insurance OJSC.

In 2021, he was appointed Head of the Representative Office of PASHA Holding LLC in Turkiye, as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Istanbul PDT and Gayrmenkul A.S. company.
ALBANY  The state's second-highest court has indefinitely suspended a Schenectady attorney and 2020 state Assembly candidate who faces allegations he misappropriated money from his former law firm's operating account and misused funds from its escrow account.

Paul DeLorenzo, who worked for the firm of DeLorenzo, Grasso & Dalmata, in Schenectady until last July, applied to resign from the New York bar in an apparent effort to resolve the accusations, but the court rejected him. Instead, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court's Third Department in Albany imposed the indefinite suspension on Thursday as its Attorney Grievance Committee continues to probe allegations against the lawyer.

DeLorenzo, 58, failed to respond to the grievance committee's notices directing him to respond to its inquiries, the Third Department said.

"While (DeLorenzo's) statements do 'readily admit' his wrongdoing regarding the firm's escrow account, they simultaneously minimize his culpability in the misappropriation of funds from the firm's operating account by noting only briefly that such issue was 'resolved' by the mutual exchanges of releases between (DeLorenzo) and DGD," the decision said. "Accordingly, we deny respondent's motion for leave to resign."

In a Facebook post on Saturday, DeLorenzo lashed out at the media after the Daily Gazette first reported on his suspension.

"When the media decides to write a story, they often strive to sensationalize as much as possible, its what sells newspapers," DeLorenzo wrote.

"In the coming days and months," he stated, "the oversight committees will review all the actions of our firms partners, including mine, and I urge you to let the process take place before you pass judgment."

The grievance arose after "some things that came to light that didn't seem appropriate and they didn't seem right," said Cory Dalmata, an attorney at the firm who said he was DeLorenzo's law partner for 13 years.

"So when I talked to him about it, he didn't want to have a conversation about it," Dalmata told the Times Union. He said DeLorenzo hired an attorney, and resigned a few days later.

DeLorenzo, a graduate of Mohonasen Senior High School, became an attorney in January 1993 after graduating from the Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains.

In 2020, DeLorenzo was the Republican candidate against Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara in the race for the 111th District seat, which includes western Schenectady County, Knox and Berne in Albany County and Montgomery County.

DeLorenzo told the Times Union during the campaign that he planned to use the skills I've developed as an attorney to stand up for our police, better the business climate of our state, and above all stand up and speak up about bad policies on the Assembly floor in Albany when I see them."

He lost the election.

The grievance committee asked the Third Department to suspend DeLorenzo during its disciplinary investigation. The panel also asked the court to order DeLorenzo to pay back the money to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection, an entity which pays restitution to victims of attorneys who engage in misconduct.

In a 5-0 ruling, the Third Department agreed to impose the suspension but determined it was premature to order DeLorenzo to pay restitution. The court agreed with its grievance committee that DeLorenzo's resignation application was "an attempt to minimize his misconduct and to avoid any public determination of same," the decision said.

The decision noted attorneys can ask to resign during a disciplinary investigation by attesting that their resignation was voluntary and that they cannot defend the allegations of misconduct. But such attorneys are required to identify the party whose money was misused, specify the amount of money involved and agree to pay restitution for it.

"Here, (DeLorenzo) has failed to provide this specific information in his affidavit," the decision said.

DeLorenzo stated he no longer has access to any of the funds in the firm's operating account, the decision said. It said his statements "fail to convey the appropriate culpability for his actions."

The attorney signed a settlement agreement with his firm that noted the firm alleged DeLorenzo intentionally misappropriated the funds. But that was not addressed in the settlement's list of provisions to which DeLorenzo was legally bound outside of releasing him from potential legal action concerning the funds, the decision said.

DeLorenzo is being represented by Albany attorney Steve Coffey, who declined comment.

On Facebook, DeLorenzo said, "The reality of the matter is that the internal workings of a law firm can be complex and complicated .... In all my years of practice I've never seen anything like this. But, like a bad marriage, sometimes a law partnership can become ugly and eventually lead to a divorce. Someone reminded me recently that while the attorneys in our firm are good attorneys, were just not good together."

Justices Sharon Aarons, Eddie McShan, Stanley Pritzker, Molly Reynolds Fitzgerald and Andrew Ceresia imposed the decision.
Q: When does Amtrak plan on reinstating its service to Montreal?

 Dana

A: The Adirondack line between New York City and Montreal will resume for the first time since 2020 on April 3. The first northbound train will leave Penn Station in New York City at 8:41 a.m. and arrive at Central Station in Montreal at 8:16 p.m. The first southbound trail will leave Montreal at 11:10 a.m. on April 4 and arrive at Penn Station at 10:15 p.m.

The line also includes stops in Albany, Poughkeepsie, Saratoga Springs and Schenectady.

Amtrak had been in communication for several months with New Yorks congressional delegation and its Canadian railroad partners, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, about restoring service, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amtrak added 526 new hires in New York in 2022 in anticipation of reinstating the Adirondack line, offering a $25,000 sign-on bonus for mechanical roles to help attract talent, according to public relations manager Jason Abrams. New and current employees needed to be qualified (or requalified) under Federal Railroad Administration requirements, a process that can take up to two years depending on the position, Abrams said.

The Adirondack lines years-long closure has been economically harmful to many of the communities along its route, said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in a statement announcing the lines return. I urged Amtrak to reopen the line for months and Im proud to be announcing that it will be resuming service ahead of the busy summer tourist season

CDTC adopts annual work plan: The Capital District Transportation Committees policy board approved the 2023-2024 Unified Planning Work Program, which designates how over $5 million in federal funds will be used for transportation planning initiatives in the region. Highlights include $1.4 million to develop projects to reduce transportation-related fatalities and injuries, technical support for planning and environmental linkage studies for the N.Y. 378 Bridge and reimagining I-787, and continuing and completing the East and North Greenbush Route 4 corridor and planning studies on Albany and Crane streets in Schenectady.

Additionally, the CDTC will start a multi-modal study on Curry Road and Guilderland Avenue in Rotterdam, a corridor study on Central Avenue west in Colonie, a complete streets and connections plan in Castleton-on-Hudson, a town center plan update in Milton and an all-access complete streets feasibility study in Voorheesville.

The plan reflects public comments, which can be viewed along with the complete program at www.cdtcmpo.org/about/unified-planning-work-program.

Thruway Authority receives funds for drone program: The state Thruway Authority will receive $1.5 million in federal monies for its drone program, which launched in 2021. The aerial technology is intended to improve information gathering, enhance bridge inspections and assist in construction, maintenance, IT and traffic operations. The Thruway Authority plans to use the funds to further develop the next generation of technology and to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of the collection and analysis of critical data, according to a release announcing the grant.

The use of drone technology in transportation provides exciting opportunities to improve infrastructure and increase effectiveness of inspections, data collection and more, Thruway Authority Interim Executive Director Frank Hoare said in a release.
Let's start on a positive note: New York has made significant strides in recent years to close some of the most egregious gaps in campaign finance law, such as the 2019 demise of the famous loophole that allowed anyone who controlled multiple limited-liability companies to max out their political giving several times over.

But recent episodes and new revelations during this all-important month of budget negotiations  when the political fundraisers tend to cram the calendar  remind us that we are still quite distant from being a state where citizens know who's funding our leaders or their agendas, how that money is being spent by elected officials, and whether or not that loot is buying influence.

Taking those in order, let's begin with American Opportunity, the advocacy group that in recent weeks has bombarded airwaves and mailboxes with its praise for Gov. Kathy Hochul's major budget proposals. The first thing the group didn't want to talk about with reporters was its clear ties to the Democratic Governors Association; the second thing was that, as The New York Times revealed, it's primarily funded by former New York City mayor and noted billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Washington-based American Opportunity, which has spent millions on TV ads, uses a tax classification intended for social welfare groups. As the Times Union's Joshua Solomon reported, Ms. Hochul has said she's happy to accept support from anyone; she would do better to demand that her more deep-pocketed supporters be more transparent with her constituents.

Speaking of the governor's supporters, Chris Bragg of The Buffalo News reported last week that the state Democratic Party had used its housekeeping account to pay more than $360,000 to her campaign staff in the waning weeks of 2022. These bonuses appear to have very little to do with party-building  the ostensible purpose of housekeeping accounts  unless you're working under the conviction that Ms. Hochul is the party in full. Even by the wildly loose campaign finance standards, the laws surrounding housekeeping accounts have allowed them to remain as little more than slush funds.

Finally, let us return to the matter of Digital Gadgets, the company that in 2021 scored a $637 million contract to sell COVID tests to Ms. Hochul's administration during the height of the omicron wave. Hefty donations to her campaign from the firm's principals as well as their families were a major headache for the governor after being reported by this paper. The governor and the company insisted the donations were unrelated to the deal-making, and Ms. Hochul said amid the controversy that she was open to conversations about whether there should be a blackout period during state procurement processes that would bar donations from any company or individual seeking a state contract. That concept seems to have dropped off the negotiating table since the election.

Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter.

If Ms. Hochul and lawmakers are looking for things to keep them busy after the budget negotiation, there's plenty to respond to in the list above.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

'Debt prioritization' would only make the economy worse

Karen Fetty, Hudson

I see through the Republicans' debt prioritization" scheme. Its nothing more than an attempt to prioritize payments to bond-holders like hedge funds while devastating our economy and sending regular Americans to the back of the line for relief.

Congress needs to do its job and ensure that the United States fulfills its obligations to pay our debts. Even if this bogus Republican plan somehow passed, it would do nothing to lessen the impact of default on my town and the rest of America. Millions would be thrown out of work, our economy would be shattered, and skyrocketing interest rates would drive up our everyday costs.

Theres an easy way to avoid all this: dont go into default. We need to pay our bills and prioritize our countrys economy rather than the well-being of rich bondholders. And that needs to be done without changing eligibility or benefits for Social Security and Medicare. I expect our members of Congress not to play games with their constituents lives or our countrys economy. We deserve representatives who do their job instead of taking hostages and making extreme demands.

Published March 27, 2023
ALBANY  Disability rights advocate Bernard Carabello would have liked to be an attorney, something he wishes more people would ask him about. But more often than not, Carabello, 73, is peppered with questions about a much darker period in his life: the 18 years he spent as a child and young adult at the infamous Willowbrook State School, a now-defunct Staten Island institution for people with disabilities that gained notoriety for its dehumanizing treatment of residents.

Emblematic of an era of institutionalizing some of the states most vulnerable residents, Willowbrooks death knell sounded just over 50 years ago, after a 1972 television expose revealed to the broader American public how the institution routinely neglected and abused thousands of residents in overcrowded conditions. The revelations led to a statewide shakeup in the institutionalization of developmentally disabled individuals.

Carabello, who spoke in Albany last week during a documentary screening hosted in part by the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, was an integral part of that expose. Hed been living at Willowbrook since the age of 3. When he was 21, Carabello was approached by former ABC journalist Geraldo Rivera and agreed to publicly share his experiences. Life at Willowbrook was a "disgrace," Carabello said, pointing to budget cuts under former Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller.

Willowbrook, which finally shuttered in 1987, remains one of the most glaring examples of a failed system of state accountability for the care of developmentally disabled people in New York. Its name has become synonymous with the "warehousing" or institutionalization of people with disabilities. Following its closure, legislation was passed at both the state and federal level to ensure that people with disabilities were not housed en masse in Willowbrook-like institutions across the country.

"Willowbrook, as a concept, doesnt work. And we can never go back to it again," said Diane Buglioli, a Staten Island resident who worked at Willowbrook for 10 years beginning in 1969 when she was 19. "People were locked out of buildings at Willowbrook. But if people do not have services and they're locked out of services, it's the same thing really."

Carabello and Buglioli were among a handful of Willowbrook "alumni" who attended the screening of "The Path Forward: Remembering Willowbrook," at the Hart Theater in Albany last week. Many were instrumental in the years-long push to shut the troubled institutions doors for good.

Many of the alumni spoke about the positive change that has resulted since Willowbrooks closure, including the transition of individuals with disabilities to smaller group homes with more individualized attention and vastly improved treatment. Carabello went on to found the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State, which encourages people with disabilities to advocate on their own behalf.

But alumni also said they can see echoes of Willowbrook even today. They cite the major fight looming in Albany for home care workers that assist vulnerable and disabled New Yorkers; a massive understaffing and workforce crisis has advocates worrying that Willowbrook is happening again, if on a slightly smaller scale.

"Theres a feeling that, 'we've achieved.' And that's a mistake. That's a false sense of security," said Jose Rivera, whose brother Louis lived in Willowbrook for years when he was a child. "Hands-on staff arent being paid the kind of wages they deserve for the job theyre expected to do. ... What we've achieved doesn't mean we stop and slow down. We need to continue to build on those accomplishments."

Abuse and neglect

The 1972 TV report detailed abuse and degradation at Willowbrook that are graphic and hard to stomach, including images of children locked up in their crowded wards rocking back and forth to comfort themselves, sometimes wailing or staring blankly.

Due to dismal staffing ratios, distant or harried staff attendants were usually outnumbered 40-to-1, giving them just minutes to feed and clean one resident before moving to the next. Most of the residents lived in barracks-style quarters, where living conditions were filthy and soiled. Many people were left naked or wore coarse, cheap garments. Both sexual and physical abuse were rampant.

Residents were treated like animals or worse, Carabello said, recalling staffers washing children with the same rags and bucket used to wash the floors. Former U.S. Congressman Mario Biaggi told Rivera during a televised tour of the facility that the residents were enduring the "worst possible conditions Ive ever seen in my life."

Among panelists who spoke in Albany last week was Willie Mae Goodman, whose daughter Margaret was placed in Willowbrook when she was 4 years old. When Goodman would visit her daughter on Sundays, Margarets hair would be matted, her dirty fingers stuck together and unwashed, Goodman said.

In 1962, Margaret was one of 200 children who were quietly transferred to the former Gouverneur Hospital in Manhattan from Willowbrook to relieve overcrowding. Goodman and a group of parents mobilized, turning to state and federal courts to win better care for their children  which would ultimately be a precursor for a larger class-action lawsuit against Willowbrook and the state's system for disabled people.

Goodman, now 91, credited the fight for highlighting the power of community and parental advocacy on behalf of some of the most vulnerable groups in the state. And during the Albany screening, she urged state officials to "put people first, not paper first."

Perennial fight

Those affected by Willowbrook acknowledged that significant improvements have been made to the system. Landmark federal legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has its roots in the public outcry and advocacy the institution spurred.

But perennial fights break out in Albany around a system that advocates and lawmakers say has been historically underfunded, especially as an affordability crisis has swamped the state. Lawmakers are pushing for an 8.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment for direct support professionals who work with New Yorkers with disabilities, an expansion of Gov. Kathy Hochuls proposal of a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment for the same individuals.

Difficulty in recruiting high-quality staff can lead to adverse outcomes for many New Yorkers with disabilities.

"People wind up getting nothing more than custodial care  fed, bathed, put to bed," Rivera said.

Meanwhile, emotional and physical scars still remain for those who lived through the Willowbrook experience, like Cabarello, who said he still has moments of anger when he thinks about his childhood.

Though Goodmans daughter Margaret is still alive, and Riveras brother Louis died years after leaving Willowbrook; some lost family members while the institution was still operating.

Pediatrician Debra Weissbachs brother Robert was sent to Willowbrook in 1958, when he was 5 years old. Photos of her brother show him as a cherubic and full-cheeked toddler, who was nonverbal. Everyone Weissbachs parents consulted told them that Robert needed the type of care Willowbrook could provide.

By the time he died 10 years later in 1968, Weissbach said her brother had become a virtual ghost in their family, too painful for her parents to mention. She recently requested the autopsy from the states medical examiner to investigate the circumstances around her brothers death attributed to some sort of traumatic event he experienced while in custody.

Now, Weissbach said she sees patients with disabilities ranging from mild to severe and said her brothers death  and time at Willowbrook  have slowly given her a sense of gratitude instead of shame.

"Willowbrook has become a positive force in my life instead of the shameful one that it was for many years," Weissbach said. "But we always need to remember, so it doesn't happen again."
ALBANY  A majority of New Yorkers, regardless of party affiliation, support giving judges more discretion to set bail for offenders accused of serious crimes, according to a Siena College poll.

The poll indicated "overwhelming support" for a proposal from Gov. Kathy Hochul that would revise some of the changes made to the state's bail laws four years ago, which have remained a flash point in political debates since.

Hochul has said that granting judges "authority and accountability" is necessary as she works to counter public fears on crime rates; progressive lawmakers and advocates have disagreed and said that any reworking of the statutes  meant to protect lower-income individuals  would undermine the intent of the initial reforms.

More than 70 percent of voters, up from 65 percent in January, support giving judges more discretion to set bail for those accused of serious crimes. Democrats had a slightly larger majority than Republicans in their support for the measure. The poll was based on interviews 802 respondents.

The poll also indicated broad and bipartisan support for a slight increase in taxes on New Yorkers who make more than $5 million a year. The poll showed more than 80 percent of Democrats and more than 60 percent of Republicans agree on a proposal to boost taxes to 10.8 percent for high-earners, while also indicating support for a tax increase to 11.4 percent for those earning more than $25 million a year.

Voters received a proposal to grow housing supply across the state with less enthusiasm, according to the poll; less than half of all respondents support that proposal, regardless of what region they live in, while Republicans were less in favor than Democrats.

Political confidence is also lackluster among the likely voters polled, though more Democrats say the country is heading in the right direction than Republicans.

And on the national level, just over half of Republicans surveyed indicated they would vote for former President Donald J. Trump over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
MENANDS  Paul Villani, an actor with more than 60 years of stage and voiceover work who was known for his eclectic interests, eccentric personality and exacting rigor in approaching his craft, died Sunday at home under hospice care after a brief illness, his wife said. It was one week before his 82nd birthday.

Legendary for a deep, sonorous and precisely controlled voice that he used to dilate on theater, jazz, politics and many other subjects when he wasn't recording thousands of commercials, Villani loved to leave late-night phone messages. Peppered with words from the jazz scene and the beatnik era of his teen years, including "cat" and "square" and "Jack," Villani's messages were considered by friends, journalists  and, when he could locate a number, politicians  to be both winning and wearying. When he actually got someone on the phone, the disquisitions were even longer.

"He could talk acting for hours and hours and hours  and he did," said veteran Capital Region actor John Romeo, who met Villani when the two were cast in an Albany theater production in the late 1970s. Villani was an original company member of what was then known as the Empire State Youth Theatre Institute. Romeo joined its next incarnation, the Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts at The Egg in Albany, by which time Villani had left the company. Villani returned to ESIPA as a cast member in four or five more productions with Romeo before it was renamed again, as the New York State Theatre Institute, following a move to the Russell Sage College campus in Troy in 1992. The two remained friends for the next 30 years.

The pair also recorded commercials together, often at Cathedral Sound Studios in Rensselaer.

"He always wanted to do it right  he wanted it to be good  and he was so determined about it he sometimes pissed people off," said Romeo.

Pat Tessitore, owner of Cathedral Sound, said he recorded Villani in hundreds of commercials over 40 years, regularly suggesting him to ad agencies for spots requiring a mature, deep or gruff voice.

"He brought a lot of character to the delivery of the copy," Tessitore said. "Because of his background as an actor, he could emote the words  really bring a picture to them."

"He had very strong feelings about what (role) he was playing, and he was tenacious about those feelings to the point he put off people sometimes, but I always thought he had great integrity about his commitment to a role," said Eileen Schuyler. She was another original company member of the Empire State Youth Theatre Institute, created by an act of the state Legislature in 1974. Because Villani and Schuyler were slightly older than other company actors, they were often cast opposite one another as married couples, including as Doc and Mrs. Gibbs in "Our Town."

Doc Gibbs' first entrance comes after he has been out all night at a patient's home for the birth of a baby. According to Schuyler, the costume designer dressed the doctor in a linen suit.

"Every day before the show, he would find the jacket, roll it up in a ball and lie on it. Linen wrinkles instantly," said Schuyler. "The costume people were beside themselves: 'We just ironed that!' And he'd say, 'I've been out all night delivering a baby. The suit would be wrinkled.' They even tried to hide it from him, but he always outsmarted them," Schuyler said.

"He had a unique acting style, and he seemed to really get into his roles," said Michael Eck, who reviewed theater for the Times Union for 21 years, starting in the early 1990s. "I always found him pretty fascinating, and I always enjoyed him on stage," said Eck.

Eck was also a regular recipient of calls and phone messages from Villani. "They could be crazy and rambling and about something seemingly random, or they were incredibly interesting and informed," Eck said. "He was so knowledgeable about so many things that even if you were a little exasperated at times, you always hung up the phone having learned something and been entertained."

In addition to his theater work, Villani's performing forays led him to collaborations with musicians. In one, Villani did a spoken-word show while accompanied by an ensemble of local jazz luminaries: Rich Syracuse on bass, Chuck D'Aloia on guitar and the late Nick Brignola on baritone sax. For another, Villani alternated reading letters to saxophone players with instrumentals by Brignola.

Villani was born April 2, 1941, and raised in an Italian neighborhood of Syracuse, according to his wife since 1990, Lisa Villani. In 1958 he entered what was then called the New York State College for Teachers (now the University at Albany), majoring in English with a minor in speech, which included a theater concentration.

Villani pursued his early career in New York City and at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, known since its 1964 founding as one of the most innovative regional theaters in the country. After winning a full scholarship for a master-of-fine-arts degree at Penn State, Villani was drawn back to upstate New York. He was hired for ESYTI by a UAlbany classmate, Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder, the new company's founding director and its artistic head until NYSTI closed in 2010.

Here are your picks for the Best of the Capital Region 2023 We tallied the votes from this years Best of the Capital Region contest in 100 categories.

"He was extremely talented and facile  he could play funny and he could play serious  and he was unique," Snyder said.

Although unconventional in appearance, Villani's skills were such that he made a career as an actor.

"There's a place for someone like that," said Romeo. "If acting ... is an extension of life, then there's a place for me  the fat guy  and a place for someone quirky and odd like Paulie in theater and film, because they exist in life."

Said Snyder, "It was remarkable what he could do. He was a valuable and creative actor."

Villani is survived by his wife, Lisa Villani; children Eric Villani of Cobleskill and Tanya Villani of Virginia, from his first marriage, to Heidi Carlone; and Elliot Villani, his and Lisa Villani's son. The family will hold a private funeral service in the coming weeks and a public memorial in late spring, Lisa Villani said.
Title changed. Details added: first version posted on 15:31

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Educational process has been restored in the secondary school in Azerbaijans liberated Talish village after long years, the Head of the Karabakh Regional Education Department Gunduz Abdulov told reporters, Trend reports.

According to Abdulov, the educational process also began in the kindergarten in the village.

"In total, 24 pupils from different age groups are currently studying in the 78-seat school, with 15 teachers," he added.

According to the Action Plan of the First State Program of the Great Return to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan approved by the decree of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, signed on November 16, 2022, the Ministry of Science and Education was instructed to prepare proposals for the construction and restoration of educational institutions in settlements in accordance with the territorial planning documents for 2022-2026.

The action plan envisages construction and restoration of seven preschool and general education institutions in the Shusha district, 29 in the Aghdam district, 23 in the Fuzuli district, 21 in the Zangilan district, 30 in the Kalbajar district, 21 in the Lachin district, 16 in the Gubadli district, 25 in the Jabrayil district, 20 in the Khojavand district, and five in the Tartar district (including Sugovushan settlement and Talish village).
A new fund worth 13 million to tackle vacancy and dereliction in rural Ireland has been announced.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, today (March 27) announced news of the fund, which aims to transform dozens of old buildings into multi-purpose community facilities.

Under the initiative, each local authority can apply for funding of up to 500,000, which they can use to purchase up to three properties in their area.

The funding, under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, is designed to make towns and villages across Ireland more attractive places in which to live, visit, invest and raise a family in.

In opening the call for applications today, Minister Humphreys encouraged councils to work with communities in pinpointing buildings that are suffering from vacancy and dereliction.

She said, "This initiative is already having a hugely positive impact right across Rural Ireland. With the support of my Department, councils have been given the resources they need to purchase buildings that have been lying idle for years.

"From old Garda stations, bank buildings and former courthouses  these properties are now being given a new lease of life and re-purposed for 21st century use.

"Given the success to date, Im delighted today to announce further funding of 13 million. Today, Im inviting all eligible local authority to submit up to three properties for purchase and we will provide them with funding of up to 500,000 to do so."

She continued: "The properties that will be purchased will be taken into public ownership and, most importantly, will be turned into spaces where the local community can gather and hold events.

"This is all about building on the momentum that Our Rural Future has delivered. Its a huge opportunity for us all to work together in tackling the scourge of dereliction and transforming old run-down buildings into facilities that will benefit communities for generations to come."

Since the launch of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, over 149 million has been allocated to more than 1,600 projects.

The minister concluded: "There has never been as many opportunities for local community groups to access funding for rural and community development projects.

"I am anxious to make this funding as accessible as possible, and with this in mind I am now publishing the details of when the main capital investment schemes will be open for applications in 2023.

"This will help community groups and local authorities to see what funding is available and when, and will assist them in the planning of their applications."

The calendar of main capital investment schemes for 2023 is available to view here.
[March 26, 2023] Projectworks eyes potential following Xero's sale of WorkflowMax WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wellington software provider, Projectworks, sees enormous potential for growth as a leading Xero partner, now that Xero has sold the WorkflowMax brand. "WorkflowMax was a strong brand for Xero at one point, but in recent years, modern software platforms like Projectworks have provided better alternatives," says Projectworks CEO Matt Hayter. Projectworks has already made a huge investment in its one-click migration from WorkflowMax, and with this announcement, we're going to double down and waive any migration fees for customers who want to make the switch. "Projectworks has a fantastic track record of helping customers migrate smoothly, while also providing additional features such as resource planning, real time margin and utilisation, that former WorkflowMax partners and customers love." Workflowmax was once an iconic Kiwi start-up and an early acquisition for Xero. Lance Wiggs, a director of the Punakaiki Fund added: "WorkflowMax has served the industry really well, and paved the way to show the benefits of cloud software to consultancies and more. It's a bit sad to see this announcement as theclients have daily challenges to meet. However, there is a new generation of software that is led by Wellington's own Projectworks, who serve consultancies across the globe. Punakaiki Fund invested in Projectworks last year."





Hayter says that in effect WorkflowMax customers have been graduating to Projectworks for years now. "Projectworks is already well ahead on features as well as usability. Projectworks has, for example, a far deeper and more intuitive integration into Xero than WorkflowMax already." "We were also named as Xero's Emerging App Partner of the year in 2020, and a finalist for the highly coveted App Partner of the year in 2021." With Xero now clear to promote Projectworks as a partner and provider of workforce management software, Hayter believes Projectworks has strong potential to grow. "You don't need to spend long reading the extensive list of 5-star reviews in the Xero App Store to see the real difference Projectworks is making for businesses out there." For more information about migrating from WorkflowMax, please visit: https://projectworks.io/workflowmax About Projectworks Projectworks is an all-in-one software platform for consulting, engineering, architecture, and software firms. The platform was developed specifically for the consulting industry after it's founders saw a need while running their own global consultancy firm. With users spanning the globe, Projectworks serves professional services firms ranging from 4-400 employees. The unique feature set of Projectworks works precisely the way Professional Services Firms operate and enables improved utilisation, maximisation of billable hours, more accurate forecasting, and most importantly, higher margins. For more information about Projectworks, visit https://projectworks.io View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/projectworks-eyes-potential-following-xeros-sale-of-workflowmax-301780607.html SOURCE Projectworks

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[March 27, 2023] Courtroom Connect Announces its Acquisition by Greybull Stewardship

Courtroom Connect ("the Company") is pleased to announce the successful completion of its acquisition by Greybull Stewardship, a private investment firm focused on small, growing businesses. Founded in 2001, Courtroom Connect is a leading provider of litigation support connectivity and specializes in developing technology solutions and online platforms to expand access to legal proceedings. The Company's two main brands are Remote Counsel and Courtroom View Network (CVN). Remote Counsel products leverage technology and partnerships to bring attorneys and other professionals remote, live access (video, text, and videoconferencing) to their depositions, trials, hearings, and more. CVN is a national news organization providing both live access to courtroom proceedings and on-demand, archived content for legal professionals to collaborate and enhance litigation skills. "The acquisition is a significant milestone for Courtroom Connect, which has built a strong reputation as a leading service provider in the legal industry," said Lou Freitas, CEO of Courtroom Connect. "Greybull's investment will enable the Company to accelerate its growth and expand its offerings, while continuing to deliver high-quality products and services to its customers." "We are excited to partner with Lou and the Courtroom Connect team, who have demonstrated strong growth and built an impressive reputation since inception," said Mason Myers, Founder and CEO of Greybull Stewardship. "We look for companies with proen business models and dedicated, talented leadership. We believe that Courtroom Connect has a unique offering in an essential sector and is well-positioned to take the next step. We look forward to this partnership and the opportunity to evolve the business and create long-term success."



Greybull Stewardship has a strong record applying its strategy of adding operational expertise to small, growing businesses in sectors including business services, franchising, education, SaaS and more. Courtroom Connect was advised by Berkery Noyes which acted as exclusive financial advisor and Eckert Seamans which acted as its legal advisor. Greybull Stewardship was advised by law firm Nexsen Pruet.

About Greybull Stewardship Greybull Stewardship is a private investment firm comprised of experienced operators, dedicated to helping small, growing businesses realize their full potential. Decades of operational experience and financial acumen enable Greybull to empower entrepreneurs with the expertise, resources, and patient capital they require to elevate their businesses from small to scalable. Founded in 2010, Greybull is headquartered in Jackson, Wyoming, with team members located throughout the U.S. in order to effectively support their investments. To learn more about Greybull, visit www.greybullstewardship.com. About Courtroom Connect Courtroom Connect, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, provides a comprehensive selection of connectivity services, including video, audio, evidence, and text streaming, as well as videoconferencing for remote attendance at trials, hearings, depositions, and arbitration. Founded in 2001, the company has accumulated over two decades of industry expertise, enabling litigators to enhance their efficacy and productivity. Today, Courtroom Connect still maintains connectivity in over 75 courthouses nationwide. To learn more about Courtroom Connect, visit www.courtroomconnect.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005384/en/

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[March 27, 2023] Northern European cloud specialist rebrands from Broad Horizon to The Digital Neighborhood

AMSTERDAM, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Broad Horizon today announces its rebrand to The Digital Neighborhood . The rebrand is part of the group's growth strategy to better position itself as the go-to community for deep cloud expertise, particularly in Microsoft offerings. A growing community of 11 independent tech companies . The Digital Neighborhood harnesses each company's expertise to deepen collaboration and cross-group delivery to its customers within the Benelux, the Nordics and Germany. In a fast-moving digital world, the new brand gives the group a more compelling story to tell its customers, talent, and future acquisitions. It also provides a more relevant home for its 11 brands within its community of 1,250 consultants, engineers, and employees. The group, which started in 2012, has grown threefold over the past three years and now serves over 2,300 customers. As it moves forward with its vision to become one of the strongest tech groups in Northern Europe, the new brand will position the group in a more digitally relevant light and provide a stronger narrative, more reflective of its offering: A digital neighborhood of deep tech expertise , focused on cloud infrastructure & security, cloud consultancy and development, business management solutions, data science and business intelligence. Fluent in Microsoft and a leading partner to the brand in Northern Europe, The Digital Neighborhood boasts expert knowledge and strong integration across the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Within its community, it holds one inner-circle Microsoft sat, six Partner Advisory Council seats and nine Microsoft specializations. It also has 10 Microsoft MVPs, one FastTrack Recognized Solution Architect (Power Platform), is a Global Enterprise Skills Initiative (ESI) partner, and a Security and Manageability Elite Partner (Engineering Program). The group has also achieved Microsoft Partner of The Year awards in numerous domains and offers one of the most complete Microsoft offerings for a mid-market player.



The Digital Neighborhood companies and their brands  True, DMP, Pink Elephant, Cmotions, Focus Enterprise Solutions, GAC, Delegate, Projectum, 2Foqus, Sulava and Iquality  are all proudly independent yet seamlessly connected across seven countries. Sharing the same philosophy and approach, they help their customers embrace what's next and realize their digital ambitions. The new brand will make it easier for customers to understand how to tap into the Neighborhood's areas of deep expertise. By partnering with one of The Digital Neighborhood's brands, a customer can call on all of them  all from one point of contact. Put simply, customers can pick and choose the digital expertise they need from the Neighborhood, as and when they need it.

The Digital Neighborhood's diverse group of talent all utilize each other's tech expertise across its various brands. With a focus on talent at its core, The Digital Neighborhood creates an environment where people can be the best at what they do. The Digital Neighborhood CEO, Jean-Yves Charlier says, 'Building upon a position of strength, the rebrand supports our growth strategy as we look to become a market leader in Northern Europe. It will further support our incredible people agenda, our focus to be one of the most compelling places to work, as well as our initiatives to attract the leading tech expertise in our industry. The Digital Neighborhood brand is contrarian. It's a much stronger, more relevant, and better understood identity for our group within today's digital space.' For further information please contact:

Rozzyn Boy

[email protected]

www.thedigitalneighborhood.com

+1 (615) 596-5056 About The Digital Neighborhood The Digital Neighborhood is your go-to destination for deep cloud, Microsoft and data expertise. Together, we're a growing community of 11 entrepreneurial tech companies and over 1,250 IT engineers. All leading in our own fields, we specialize in all things Microsoft, data and the Cloud. The Digital Neighborhood is made up of True, DMP, Pink Elephant, Cmotions, Focus Enterprise Solutions, GAC, Delegate, Projectum, 2Foqus, Sulava and Iquality. Based in seven countries, our HQ is in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/northern-european-cloud-specialist-rebrands-from-broad-horizon-to-the-digital-neighborhood-301781487.html

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[March 27, 2023] WPP Joins Media Freedom Cohort to Support Independent Journalism

WPP (NYSE: WPP), supported by its media investment arm GroupM, today announced it has joined the Media Freedom Cohort, established during President Biden's 2021 Summit for Democracy to advocate for free and independent media worldwide. The Media Freedom Cohort is led by Internews, the world's largest media support non-profit, and the governments of Canada and the Netherlands. WPP will work alongside organisations including Associated Press, The New York Times, Microsoft, Google, BBC Media Action, Free Press Unlimited and more than 100 governments involved in the cohort. The cohort will focus its support across three key areas: protecting journalists' safety and security; advancing freedom of expression; and bolstering independent and diverse media. The news comes ahead of the second annual Summit for Democracy which takes place this week. Through its media investment arm GroupM, WPP has committed to: Create dedicated marketplaces exclusively with domains vetted by Internews' Ads for News for responsible journalismacross our top markets.

Drive awareness among our clients and the wider industry about the importance of investing in responsible journalism.

Add the domains for responsible journalism in local media supply offered to clients.



Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: "Independent journalism plays a vital role around the world and we are pleased to be able to support that through GroupM. We look forward to working with the Media Freedom Cohort to ensure a diversity of credible media outlets worldwide." Christian Juhl, CEO of GroupM, added: "A healthy media ecosystem depends on a thriving news business that supports journalists and incentivizes fact-based reporting. As the world's leading media investment organization, we're proud to support the work of the Media Freedom Cohort through our global partnership with Internews and commitment to investing in responsible journalism."

The news follows the announcement of GroupM's latest commitment to support responsible journalism with its 'Back to News' initiative in partnership with Internews - a programme that will fund investment of media budgets in credible news publishers around the world. For more information on the Media Freedom Cohort, please visit the link here. About WPP WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit www.wpp.com. About GroupM GroupM is the world's leading media investment company with a mission to create a new era of media where advertising works better for people. Responsible for more than $60 billion in annual media investment, according to COMvergence, the company innovates, differentiates, and generates sustained value for clients wherever they do business. GroupM's portfolio includes agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom and mSix&Partners, as well as Choreograph (Data & Technology), GroupM Nexus (Cross-Channel Performance & Activation), and GroupM Investment. Discover more at www.groupm.com. About Internews Internews is a nonprofit that supports independent media in 100 countries. Internews trains journalists and digital rights practitioners, tackles disinformation, and offers business expertise to help media outlets thrive financially. For 40 years, it has helped partners reach millions of people with trustworthy information that saves lives, improves livelihoods, and holds institutions accountable. Discover more at www.internews.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230326005058/en/

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[March 26, 2023] Making Open Source Truly Open

SINGAPORE and SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Semut is thrilled to announce its upcoming Developer Preview, inviting developers worldwide to join the waitlist and experience Semut's groundbreaking technologies first-hand. Interested developers can sign up for an early preview at https://semut.io. Semut's innovative technologies are set to revolutionize the open-source landscape by empowering developers to work full-time on open-source projects without worrying about their paycheck. Semut's technologies will enable open source applications to be available as a service. Instead of merely uploading code to Github, developers can now enable applications to be available as an easy to use service. This shift will provide businesses and individuals with secure, cost-effective alternatives to commercial PAAS and SAAS solutions. Mansoor Ahmed, founder of Semut, emphasized the importance of community-driven initiatives: "Open source should be a true grassroots movement, fueled by developers ho want to create meaningful impact through software."



Semut envisions a world where not-for-profit Open Source organisations like Apache Software Foundation can offer all their applications as a service, potentially generating billions of dollars of revenue. These funds can be utilised to hire full time engineers and reward all contributions to Apache projects. Semut aims to create a new paradigm where Open Source communities can operate as "Not for Profit" organisations, employing engineers full time and compensating all contributions. Making open source communities self-sufficient, sustainable and truly independent is one of the larger goals of Semut.

Semut seeks to liberate developers from corporate dependence, allowing them to contribute to projects they're passionate about and work full-time on open source projects without financial worry. Semut is committed to providing developers with the freedom they desire and rightfully deserve. Semut's technologies will enable organizations of all sizes to discover and utilize cost-effective, user-friendly software solutions. For example, a university dean could deploy a highly scalable Moodle cluster for tens of thousands of students with just one click. By enabling open-source projects to be easily available as accessible services, Semut aims to position open source as the leader in innovation, accelerating the digitization of businesses and granting developers true freedom. Mansoor Ahmed encourages risk-taking engineers to join their mission: "We are always looking for brilliant software engineers who are big risk takers and want to bet their skills on pursuing ambitious goals that may seem impossible for most." With Semut's Developer Preview, the future of open-source software looks brighter than ever. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this transformative journey  join the waitlist today at https://semut.io . SOURCE Semut Technologies

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Details added (first published: 15:36)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan has eliminated some restrictions in a special quarantine regime, Trend reports.

The Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution "On additional measures to remove certain restrictions of the special quarantine regime".

According to the resolution, from 06:00 (GMT+4) on March 28, 2023, entry to Azerbaijan by air is allowed for all citizens of foreign states and citizens of other states permanently residing in these countries, as well as stateless persons.

The requirement of a COVID passport (document confirming full vaccination against COVID-19 or an immune certificate) is not required in the following cases:

- foreign states and citizens of other countries permanently residing in these states, as well as stateless persons entering Azerbaijan;

- visiting a number of places (venues for events, sports, and recreation facilities, large shopping centers, catering facilities, hotels, intercity (inter-district) transport routes, and other places for which such a requirement has been established).
[March 26, 2023] HugoBank Appoints Atyab Tahir as CEO to Build a Digital Bank in Pakistan

Atyab Tahir brings over 2 decades of local and international experience in fintech and digital financial services to help build a digital bank in Pakistan

HugoBank expects to increase Pakistan's bank account penetration rate to over 80% and to open 34 million new accounts by 2027 SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HugoBank, Pakistan's latest digital bank led by a Singapore Consortium, today announced the proposed appointment of Atyab Tahir as Chief Executive Officer, subject to the State Bank of Pakistan's fit and proper assessment. Following the company's incorporation, Atyab will set-up and lead HugoBank in Pakistan to offer digital banking services to people and small businesses across the country. Atyab brings over 20 years of business experience and deep industry knowledge to drive HugoBank's mission in Pakistan. Prior to HugoBank, Atyab led Jazzcash and served as a country head for Mastercard. He has also held senior positions with Tameer Bank and HBL where he focused on innovation and growth. With his vast experience in banking and fintech in Pakistan, the Middle East and New York, Atyab brings the best of both industries complete with a rich understanding of the local market and its needs. "I am thrilled to lead HugoBank at the beginning of its journey in Pakistan and am confident that our digital bank will catalyse financial inclusion and wellness for the people of Pakistan. I am excited to assemble a team to build a customer-centric bank focused on offering accessible, convenient, and secure digital financial services to underserved individuals and SMEs alike," shared Atyab Tahir, Chief Executive Officer of HugoBank. HugoBank will promote financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan, offering products and services at price points that are accessible to everyone. The consortium aims to help Pakistan to achieve an 85% bank account penetration within five years, up from the current 16.29%[1] and is expected to open 34 million new accounts by 2027. Pakistan has one of the lowest credit adoption rates in the financial sector, with only 2.4% of its population having access to credit from formal financial sources and 53% of the country's 220 million population currently financially excluded. Recognising the challenges faced in Pakistan, HugoBank is committed to introduce its state-of-the-art financial platform that will provide customers with an easy and convenient way to safeguard their money. With HugoBank, financial inclusion and literacy will become more accessible, ultimately contributing to the economic growth and wellbeing of the country. Led by Singapore's Atlas Consolidated, which owns and operates the fast-growing Wealthcare? and savings app Hugosave, HugoBank is a joint venture formed in partnership with The Getz Group and Muller & Phipps. It received its No-Objection Certificate by the State Bank of Pakistan in January this year. David Fergusson, CEO of Atlas Consolidated said, "We are pleased to welcome Atyab Tahir as the new CEO of HugoBank. With his extensive experience and deep understanding of the market, we are confident that he will lead HugoBank in promoting financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan and help improve the lives of millions across the country. We are excited to work with him to provide and share international best practices and platforms to drive a positive change in the financial landscape and client's Wealthcare." About HugoBank Limited HugoBank received its NOC (No Objections Certificate) from The State Bank of Pakistan in January 2023. HugoBank aims to bring financial inclusion and literacy to Pakistan by making digital banking services affordable, accessible and approachable. HugoBank is led by finance veteran and industry leader Atyab Tahir. HugoBank is a consortium made up of Atlas Consolidated (Singapore), The Getz Group (Singapore) and Muller & Phipps (Pakistan). The consortium brings together a unique blend of international expertise in banking & technology, deep local knowledge and network to prime HugoBank in a position to achieve its mission and make a difference to the people of Pakistan. About Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd In July 2021, Atlas Consolidated launched Hugosave, Singapore's first Wealthcare and savings app, which helps elevate clients' lives by spending smarter, saving more, and investing diligently, starting with gold. Today, more than 60,000 clients in Singapore are using Hugosave to optimise their finances. Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd was established in December 2019 by financial and technological stalwarts David Fergusson, Ben Davies, Braham Djidjelli and Surya Tamada. Atlas Consolidated received its licensing approval to operate as a Major Payment Institution [PS20200550] from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 1 April 2022 and Regulated Precious Metals Dealers Certification [PS20200001983] from the Ministry of Law, Singapore on 1 August 2021. About The Getz Group The Getz Group of companies is a highly diversified group of companies with a mission to continue creating opportunities for the 'Mutual Growth and Success for all we serve and work with'. With over 160 years of commitment to excellence in international marketing and distribution, today we are a leading and trusted sales, marketing, distribution, sourcing, manufacturing and licensing business in the Asia-Pacific region and expanding into the Middle East and Africa. Over the years, The Group has continued to grow through investment in existing businesses, development of new business ventures with our business partners and acquisitions of new businesses. Today, we are maintaining a profitable relationship with our business partners and credibility with our customers through a dedicated team of 18,000 employees worldwide.







[1] https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Pakistan/percent_people_bank_accounts/#:~:text=The%20latest%20value%20from%202021,to%20compare%20trends%20over%20time.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/hugobank-appoints-atyab-tahir-as-ceo-to-build-a-digital-bank-in-pakistan-301780717.html SOURCE Hugobank

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[March 26, 2023] New Cryptocurrency BASALTCOIN set to Launch with a Mission to Revolutionize the Greentech Industry

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BASALTCOIN, the revolutionary new cryptocurrency, is launching on March 26, 2023, with a mission to change the world and better humanity. This unique cryptocurrency is poised to revolutionize the greentech industry by commercializing intellectual property in the green tech and blockchain industries, connecting inventors and investors, and helping the community increase their income. The timing of BASALTCOIN's launch couldn't be better, as pressing issues such as energy efficiency, energy storage, energy generation, environmental care, and alternative fuels are at the top of countries' agendas.Investors have an excellent opportunity to get involved now during the presale, while the token still runs at a low 0.05 USD. The BASALTCOIN presale will be offering BASALT tokens with the potential for even lower prices available for those interested in joint projects.



With over 15,000 companies operating in Web 3.0 and 300 million people involved in the crypto market, with investments well above 1 trillion dollars across 200 cryptocurrency exchanges, this pivot to the digital assets sphere is not only here to stay - it's growing on an exponential basis every year. To sweeten the pot, BASALTCOIN is offering a partner referral award program with a 2.5% reward for each referral. Additionally, participants who complete KYC will be rewarded with 50 BASALT coins.

Investing in BASALTCOIN is an opportunity to be part of a Greentech revolution that aims to change the world and better humanity. BASALTCOIN is a one-of-a-kind cryptocurrency, and the BASA Ecosystem's cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions are on a mission to level the playing field for everybody, leaving no ingenious inventor and idea in the dust. Don't miss out on this opportunity to join the Greentech Revolution today with BASALTCOIN, the cryptocurrency that's changing the world! To learn more about BASALTCOIN and the BASA Ecosystem, visit our official website today. Click here to join the BASALTCOIN Presale. SOURCE BasaltCoin

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[March 26, 2023] OneConnect and Old Mutual in SA Join Hands to Embark on Digitalization of Life Insurance Business

SHENZHEN, China, March 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd ("OneConnect" or the "Company", Stock Code: OCFT.US6638.HK), is thrilled to announce that we have entered into an all-round strategic collaboration with Old Mutual in SA to propel the digital transformation of life insurance business by leveraging both parties' deep technology expertise and extensive localization experience in financial markets. With digital transformation a key component of Old Mutual's customer-centric strategy, the company has been on a multi-year journey towards embedding digitalisation across its operations and was seeking a strong technology partner with abundant knowledge in the insurance sector to overcome challenges presented by customer-centric digital transformation. OneConnect vowed to assist and enable OM (Old Mutual) as its proud strategic partner. As a well-known insurance corporate established for more than 178 years, Old Mutual is a Pan African Financial Services company that offers a broad spectrum of financial solutions to retail and corporate customers across key market segments in 14 countries, with listings on five stock exchanges. As an associate company of Ping An Group listed on the NYSE and HKSE, OneConnect leverages on Ping An Group's extensive integrated finance and fintech expertise of over 30 years in, its proprietary research and development capabilities, ability to provide full-stack product offerings to financial institutions, and being the very first Fintech company dually listed in the U.S. and Hong Kong. With fintech solutions stemmed from large scale business use cases, OneConnect is proud to be selected by Old Mutual in SA market and beyond as its strategic partner. <>Omni-channel Agent Solution is the digitalized life insurance flagship product introduced by OneConnect, which provides full-process agent solutions to global insurance institutions. Through integrating advanced AI technology, the product helps insurance institutions digitally transform their agents through specific modules including recruitment, training, prospecting, performance, and customer management, empowering insurance institutions to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness throughout the agent employment process.



May Govender, Acting Group CIO Old Mutual Limited, said, "We are excited to be working with a premier technology company to help us deliver on our ambition to be our customer's first choice to sustain, grow and protect their prosperity. As part of our technology focus, it was also key for us to find an organisation with a shared vision for digital transformation in addition to strong capability, expertise, and a proven record in the insurance industry. We are choosing an organisation that is not just a technology provider but one that understands insurance and has the scale to fast track our digital transformation journey and give us speed and flexibility to respond to ever changing needs." Mr. Chongfeng Shen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of OneConnect, said: "At OneConnect, we will continue leveraging our extensive financial expertise and cutting-edge technology to inject new momentum into the digital transformation of insurance companies. We will also continue to refine our products to better meet market demand. Old Mutual, with over a century of history, chose us as their strategic partner because they believe in our professionalism and the win-win outcomes we can create together. We will maintain a close relationship over the long-term, and propel digital transformation of life insurance together."

With digital transformation a key component of Old Mutual's customer-centric strategy, the company has been on a multi-year journey towards embedding digitalisation across their operations. OneConnect's Universal Agent solution effectively helps agents of Old Mutual in SA improve service efficiency and convert potential customers, thereby contributing to their success in the market. Mr. Jie Li, Chief Technology Officer of OneConnect, said, "The digital age demands precise data analysis that blends multiple scenarios, and empowering every marketer and agent with technology is particularly crucial. Empowering enterprises with 'digital employees' are also a key factor in the global digital transformation of insurance companies. We are delighted to bring our experience in digital transformation, which has been validated by Ping An Group, to the global market." Going forward, OneConnect will continue to leverage Ping An Group's 30-plus years of experience and technological innovations in the insurance industry to create more high quality solutions applicable to South African market for Old Mutual. Both parties will adhere to the principle of win-win collaboration, create a benchmark model for the digital transformation of life insurance companies, and jointly open a new chapter of digital transformation in the global insurance industry. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oneconnect-and-old-mutual-in-sa-join-hands-to-embark-on-digitalization-of-life-insurance-business-301781690.html SOURCE OneConnect

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[March 27, 2023] Pundi X completed the registration with FINTRAC as the money services business in Canada

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pundi X, a leading developer of blockchain-based payment solutions, announced that it has been registered with FINTRAC as a Money Service Business in Canada. This registration enables Pundi X to conduct virtual currency and payment service provider businesses in the country, and marks an important milestone in the company's expansion efforts. "We are thrilled to complete this registration from Money Service Business, which allows us to offer our innovative blockchain-based payment solutions to customers in Canada," said Zac Cheah, CEO and Co-founder of Pundi X Labs. "We believe that blockchain technology can revolutionize the way people make payments, and we are excited to bringour solutions to the Canadian market."



The registration with FINTRAC allows Pundi X to operate as a money service business in Canada. The company can now provide services related to the virtual currencies, as well as payment processing services. Pundi X is committed to complying with all relevant regulations and ensuring that its services are secure, reliable, and user-friendly. "We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible web3 payment solutions, and we are confident that our technology will be well-received in Canada," said Cheah. "We look forward to working with businesses and individuals across the country to help them streamline their crypto payment processes and take advantage of the benefits of blockchain technology."

About Pundi X Labs Based in Singapore, Pundi X was founded in 2017 with the aim of harnessing the power of blockchain technology to make a more secure and inclusive world. The company is responsible for developing the XPOS, a point-of-sale smart device that allows brick-and-mortar stores to transact on the blockchain. Pundi X has also been selected as one of the top 50 Innovative Fintech Startups in 2018 by KPMG and H2 Ventures, cool vendors in blockchain business by Gartner, and top 10 fintech leaders by Singapore Fintech Association. For more information, visit https://www.pundix.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pundi-x-completed-the-registration-with-fintrac-as-the-money-services-business-in-canada-301781574.html SOURCE Pundi X

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[March 27, 2023] Bregal Investments Appoints Ryan Selwood as Chief Investment Officer

Bregal Investments ("Bregal"), an international private equity platform, today announced the appointment of Ryan Selwood as Chief Investment Officer. The hiring of Mr. Selwood as CIO, a newly created position, is a critical step in the ongoing effort to grow the Bregal platform, execute on the firm's long-term strategy, and ensure best-in-class support for the firm and its underlying funds under the leadership of Bregal Investments' CEO, Alain Carrier. As Chief Investment Officer, Mr. Selwood will provide direct investment, asset management, and business development oversight while working closely with Mr. Carrier and the senior leadership team to define the overarching strategy and growth plans for Bregal. "This is an exciting time of strategic growth for Bregal Investments and we're looking forward to utilizing Ryan's significant private equity investment and management experience on our senior leadership team," said Mr. Carrier. "Having worked with Ryan previously, I believe he is the right person at the right time to help build upon the success of our team and our family of funds and further prepare our platform for long-term growth and sustainable value creation." Mr. Selwood most recently served as a Partner and Chief Development Officer at Carlyle, reporting directly to then CEO Kewsong Lee, where he was involved in a wide range of investment and management activities as a member of its investment committees globally across private equity, credit, real assets, and corporate capital commitments, as well as a member of its Leadership and Operating Committees. Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Selwood spent more than 15 years at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CP"), one of the world's largest investors of private capital, where he worked closely with Mr. Carrier, serving in a series of senior leadership roles and leading investments across sectors and geographies. Prior to CPP, Mr. Selwood was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York.



"Joining Bregal's leadership team at such an important time of strategic transition, particularly under Alain's guidance, is a tremendous opportunity," said Mr. Selwood. "The firm's talented investment teams, heritage of family ownership, and significant long-term capital base position Bregal to grow its platform while creating a positive impact on society for decades to come." Mr. Selwood has served on a variety of corporate boards as well as having been a member of the Milken Institute Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Asset Management Executive Council and the Major Individual Giving Cabinet of the United Way of Greater Toronto. He holds an LL.B./MBA from Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business at York University and a BA from Western University.

In addition to welcoming Ryan to the firm, within the past 18-months Bregal has significantly bolstered its senior team, hiring a Chief People Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Head of Marketing & Communications, while also substantially expanding its focus on environmental, social and governance initiatives. About Bregal Investments Bregal Investments ("Bregal") is a leading private equity investment firm providing a platform for its family of direct investment and fund-of-funds teams. Bregal manages over 15 billion in assets across its strategies and has closed over 150 direct investments and invested in more than 200 funds. The Bregal family of funds focuses on long-term sustainable value creation and provides access to private equity, growth equity, credit, and fund-of-fund strategies. Headquartered in London and New York, Bregal has more than 200 employees across its eight offices. Bregal Investments was founded in 2002 and is the private equity platform of COFRA Holding, a privately held group headquartered in Switzerland, with a clear mission to be a force for good through business. For more information about Bregal Investments, visit www.bregal.com or follow us on LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230326005049/en/

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[March 27, 2023]

Ireland's Minister of State for Transport and Ambassador of Ireland to Japan Visit Nippon Express Group Building

TOKYO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC., welcomed Mr. Jack Chambers, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Mr. Damien Cole, Ambassador of Ireland to Japan, and three other dignitaries from Ireland agencies including IDA Ireland to the Nippon Express Group Building on March 14.

Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202303224136-O1-T4wLw41V

Second from left: Mr. Damien Cole; second from right: Mr. Jack Chambers

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M103866/202303224136/_prw_PI2fl_M3NA685R.jpg

The Nippon Express Group established Nippon Express (Ireland) Ltd. in March 1992 as a local ubsidiary in Ireland that, over the subsequent thirty years, has developed a variety of businesses -- including air and ocean cargo forwarding, warehousing, and overseas removals -- and built close ties with Ireland.







The purpose of the visit was to strengthen bilateral economic ties between Ireland and Japan and to explain the Irish government's policies to attract investment as part of the Irish government's tradition to travel to partnership countries on the occasion of Ireland's National Day, St. Patrick's Day (March 17). Welcoming the Irish delegation to the Group's head office were President Mitsuru Saito and other Nippon Express Group officials, who enjoyed a friendly discussion with the visitors on further strengthening relations with Ireland in the future.

The Nippon Express Group remains committed to expanding its global network and providing high-quality logistics services to customers around the world.

Nippon Express website: https://www.nipponexpress.com/

Nippon Express Group's official LinkedIn account:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nippon-express-group/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/irelands-minister-of-state-for-transport-and-ambassador-of-ireland-to-japan-visit-nippon-express-group-building-301781687.html
[March 27, 2023] JA Solar Welcomes Samsung C&T Delegation to Seek for Deepening Ties

BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ -- JA Solar recently welcomed a delegation from Samsung C&T Corporation -Engineering & Construction Group (hereinafter "Samsung C&T") to its Beijing headquarters and its manufacturing base in Hefei, Anhui Province to seek for deepening ties and cooperation between the two companies. Jin Baofang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JA Solar, extended a warm welcome to Juyoul Kim, Vice President of Sasung C&T's Procurement Team, and his delegation. Jin Baofang and Juyoul Kim commented that, as the two companies have established and strengthened cooperation in developing PV projects, both parties look forward to further strengthening cooperation to promote the application of solar PV and help achieve the goal of carbon neutrality on a global scale, in the wave of carbon reduction for the wellbeing of all mankind.



Samsung C&T is engaged in residential, office, industrial building and infrastructure construction, including the world's tallest 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and notable civil projects such as the Mersey Gateway in the United Kingdom, the Riyadh Metro in Saudi Arabia. Previously, JA Solar has partnered with Samsung C&T, including the 875MW PV project in Qatar Industrial City and the 88MW PV project in Mangilao, Guam. Among them, the 875MW PV project in Qatar will be the largest PV plant in Qatar when completed, for which JA Solar is supplying more than 1.6 million DeepBlue 3.0 modules. The project is expected launch into operation in 2024 and will play an important role in improving the local energy structure and promoting sustainable economic, social, and environmental development in the region.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ja-solar-welcomes-samsung-ct-delegation-to-seek-for-deepening-ties-301781791.html SOURCE JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.

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[March 27, 2023] Factorial Energy Announces European Expansion

Factorial Energy (Factorial), an industry leader in the development of solid-state battery technology for electric vehicle (EV) applications, announced today the establishment of a European subsidiary in Germany. Factorial's presence in Europe will allow the company to better serve its automotive partners and customers. Factorial has joint development agreements with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai with the goal to accelerate production of Factorial's solid-state battery technology, which the company believes is safer and more energy dense than current lithium-ion battery technology. "This is an exciting step in Factorial's strategic global expansion," said Siyu Huang, CEO and Co-founder of Factorial. "We will be on the ground floor as the European Commission considers new regulations around battery sustainability, including the Battery Passport and Green Deal initiatives, to accelerate EV adoption. The local presence will keep us in close proximity to our automotive partners and put us in a position to maneuver legislative policies in Europe. We look orward to our continued development as we work towards becoming a leader in the solid-state battery space."



This new location will enable the company to continue to build strategic relationships and work closely with key European suppliers and manufacturing partners. Additionally, this expansion provides access to the region's advanced automotive expertise and prestigious universities and institutions for future team build-out to support customer validation and testing. Factorial announced operations in both South Korea and Japan last year, which add to its global footprint. Follow Factorial on LinkedIn for more company updates.

About Factorial Energy Based in Woburn, Massachusetts, Factorial Energy is developing breakthrough solid-state batteries that offer longer range per charge and increased safety and aim to be cost competitive with conventional lithium-ion batteries. The company's proprietary FEST (Factorial Electrolyte System Technology) leverages a solid electrolyte material, which has the potential to enable safe and reliable cell performance with high-capacity cathode and anode materials. FEST has been scaled in 40Ah cells, works at room temperature, and is compatible with existing lithium-ion battery manufacturing equipment. The company has entered into joint development agreements with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai Motor Company. More information can be found at www.factorialenergy.com.  2023 Factorial Inc. All rights reserved. Factorial, the Factorial logo and FEST are registered trademarks in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005008/en/

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[March 27, 2023] Rolling Stock Market Trends & Analysis Report 2023: A Global $96.58 Billion Market by 2030 - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "Rolling Stock Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Locomotive, Rapid Transit Vehicle, Wagon), By Type, By Train Type, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global rolling stock market size is expected to reach USD 96.58 billion by 2030 with a CAGR growth of 6.0% from 2023 to 2030 From transporting goods such as raw materials to industrial equipment and passenger's rolling stock plays a multi-functional role worldwide. Considered to be a cost effective mode of transport coupled with factors such as comfortable travel, and reliability have proliferated the uptake of rolling stock by end-users. For instance, in November 2022, Alstom announced a new maintenance agreement with the Panama Metro (MPSA), a rapid transit system in Panama City that covers both corrective and preventive maintenance of Line 2 of the Panama Metro's rolling stock, signaling, and power supply system. According to the conditions of the agreement, Alstom will hire, prepare for, and train all Panamanian experts and specialists to handle the services. Rolling stock generally uses electricity or diesel as its power source. However, owing to rising crude oil prices and environmental concerns over carbon emissions, electricity powered rolling stock is seen as an alternative to diesel-operated rolling stock. Government agencies of the countries such as India, South Korea, Norway and Canada pivot towards complete electrification of railways. Thus, prompting heavy investments from private entities and government bodies for the development and expansion of rolling stock and its infrastructure are driving the global rolling stock market growth. For instance, in November 2022, Alstom announced a contract with Chennai Metro Rail Limited. Chennai Metro Rail Limited had placed an order with Alstom for 26 three-car autonomous trains worth 9,460 USD million. This is a clause of the Phase-2 Rolling Stock Contract agreement that the two parties have agreed upon. This contract's scope of work includes the design, manufacture, supply, testing, commissioning, training of staff, provision of spare parts, and fault liability for 26 standard gauge autonomous metro rolling stock. Moreover, several private and government players are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics methods such as predictive analytics to anticipate maintenance schedules, accumulate data on speed to create a real-time schedule, and track location. The emergence of automated trains, hydrogen fuel-based and battery-operated rolling stok is further impacting the market growth. Hydrogen-powered train shares the benefits of being cost-effective, eco-friendly, and high-performance with electricity-operated rolling stocks. These technological advancements are anticipated to boost the demand for the overall rolling stock market.



Rising population density is contributing to the accelerating growth of the rapid transit vehicle. Rapid transit vehicles are affordable, efficient, reliable, and faster, making their fleet suitable for the urban and rural population's commute. Therefore, the increasing inclination of daily commuters toward public transport such as rapid transit vehicles and passenger trains is prompting government and private players to invest heavily in the development of railway infrastructure, proliferating the rolling stock market growth. For instance, in October 2022, TrinityRail received a USD 1.8 billion railcar supply deal from GATX, a railcar leasing company. The protracted contract states Trinity Rail will provide 15,000 freshly constructed tank and cargo railcars over six years. Additionally, GATX has the choice to order an extra 500 railcars each order year.

According to the terms of the agreement, TrinityRail will provide 6,000 tank cars between 2024 and 2028 at a rate of 1,200 vehicles per year. A mixture of 9,000 passenger and tank trains will be ordered from 2023 to 2028 at a pace of 1,500 cars yearly; the delivery timetable for this order has yet to be determined. Rolling Stock Market Report Highlight The demand for electric based rolling stock and rapid transit vehicles are witnessing a demand increase due to features such as cost effectiveness, speed, and reliability.

Government and private players worldwide are investing in strengthening and improving railway infrastructure owing to an increasing inclination towards railways.

Alternative fuel sources such as hydrogen and battery operated rolling stock is further driving the demand for rolling stock. Automated trains with the implementation of AI and data analytics are also contributing to the demand for rolling stock. Companies Featured CRRC Corporation Limited.

Trinity Rail

Alstom Transport

GE Transportation

Siemens Mobility

Stadler Rail AG

Hitachi Rail Systems

The Greenbrier Co.

Hyundai Rotem Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1. Methodology & Scope Chapter 2. Executive Summary Chapter 3. Market Variables, Trends, and Scope 3.1. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping 3.2. Industry Value Chain Analysis 3.3. Market Dynamics 3.3.1. Market Driver Analysis 3.3.2. Market Restraint Analysis 3.4. Market Analysis Tools 3.4.1. Industry Analysis - Porter's Five Forces Analysis 3.4.2. PEST Analysis 3.5. Company Ranking Analysis, 2022 3.6. Impact of COVID-19 on the rolling stock Market Chapter 4. Rolling Stock Market: Product Type Outlook 4.1. Market Size Estimates & Forecasts and Trend Analysis, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million) 4.1.1. Locomotive 4.1.2. Rapid Transit Vehicle 4.1.3. Wagon Chapter 5. Rolling Stock Market: Type Outlook 5.1. Market Size Estimates & Forecasts and Trend Analysis, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million) 5.1.1. Diesel 5.1.2. Electric Chapter 6. Rolling Stock Market: Train Type Outlook 6.1. Market Size Estimates & Forecasts and Trend Analysis, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million) 6.1.1. Rail Freight 6.1.2. Rail Passenger Chapter 7. Rolling Stock Market: Regional Outlook 7.1. Market Estimates and Forecasts, by Product Type, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million) 7.2. Market Estimates and Forecasts, by Type, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million) 7.3. Market Estimates and Forecasts, by Train Type, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million) Chapter 8. Competitive Analysis 8.1 Recent Developments and Impact Analysis, by Key Market Participants 8.2 Company/Competition Categorization 8.3 Vendor Landscape 8.3.1 Key Company Ranking Analysis, 2022 Chapter 9. Competitive Landscape 9.1. Company Overview 9.2. Financial Performance 9.3. Product Benchmarking 9.4. Recent Developments For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rcuz0r 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. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005389/en/

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[March 27, 2023] Promega Named a 2023 Madison Area Top Workplace

Promega has been named a top employer in the region, winning a 2023 Madison Area Top Workplaces award this week from The Wisconsin State Journal. The biotechnology manufacturer ranked second in the category of large employers in the region and was honored at the national level earlier this year with a 2023 Top Workplaces USA award. Promega won both regional and national Top Workplaces honors in 2022. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230323005728/en/ Promega has been named a 2023 Madison Area Top Workplace, ranking second among large employers in the region. The biotechnology manufacturer was honored with a 2023 Top Workplaces USA award earlier this year. Promega won both regional and national Top Workplaces honors in 2022. (Photo: Business Wire) The awards are based solely on feedback from employee engagement surveys compiled by research firm Energage. Over the last year, Energage has recognized Promega with additional Culture Excellence Awards for work-life flexibility, compensation & benefits, employee well-being, innovation, professional development, and purpose & values. Promega Benefits Manager Diana Clark says employee wellness is the foundation of great workplaces. "Comprehensive, thoughtfully curated employee benefits are some of the most effective tools organizations have to concretely support the well-being of their employees," says Clark. "That means prioritizing, and continuousl evolving, a workplace culture that cares for people and helps them harmonize the many parts of their lives."



Top Workplaces winners are calculated by comparing the Energage employee engagement survey's research-based statements, including 15 Culture Drivers, to predict high performance against industry benchmarks. A global manufacturer of reagents, assays and benchtop instruments for the life science industry, Promega employs more than 2000 people worldwide with 1300 of those at its Madison, WI facilities. The Promega employee base contributes a wide range of skills and disciplines in research & development, logistics, manufacturing, engineering, information technology, sales, marketing, customer service, technical service, training, human resources, and communications.

To learn more about Promega and current job openings, visit: https://www.promega.com/aboutus/careers/ About Promega Corporation Promega Corporation is a leader in providing innovative solutions and technical support to the life sciences industry. The company's portfolio of over 4,000 products support a range of life science work across areas such as cell biology; DNA, RNA and protein analysis; drug development; human identification and molecular diagnostics. For over 40 years these tools and technologies have grown in their application and are used today by scientists and technicians in labs for academic and government research, forensics, pharmaceuticals, clinical diagnostics and agricultural and environmental testing. Promega is headquartered in Madison, WI, USA with branches in 16 countries and over 50 global distributors. For more information, visit www.promega.com and connect with Promega on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and the Promega Connections blog. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230323005728/en/

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. DHL Global Forwarding, the postal and logistics company with headquarters in Germany, has announced the closure of its representative office in Azerbaijan, Trend reports via 'Vergiler' newspaper of the Azerbaijani State Service under the Ministry of Economy.

Creditors can submit their claims within two months to the following address: 35C, Metbuat avenue, Yasamal district, Baku.

DHL is operating in more than 220 countries and territories across the world. DHL Global Forwarding is part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group postal and logistics company which includes the DHL Express, DHL Parcel, DHL e-commerce, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Freight, and DHL Supply Chain business units.

DHL Global Forwarding Azerbaijan with an authorized capital of AZN 2.2 million manat ($1.2 million) was registered in the country in 2016.
[March 27, 2023] Empire Access to Bring Fiber Internet to Carbondale, PA

Empire Access, a fiber internet service provider in the Northeast US, announces plans to build out their fiber optic services in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. With expected completion in the fall of 2023, Empire Access will offer residents and businesses internet, TV, phone, and security solutions. This expansion comes as Empire Access recently announced plans to build fiber in nearby Pennsylvania communities, Williamsport and Scranton. "We're really excited to be covering more ground in Pennsylvania," said Empire Access CEO, Jim Baase. "Having a resource for communication services is crucial and we recognize the need for a reliable internet connection in Carbondale. Unlike our competitors, our local team members and facilities provide us a unique opportnity to become active members in the community. Carbondale is a landmark in history and we look forward to being a part of that story.".



The build out, which will offer internet speeds up to 1 Gigabit, is a part of a two-phase expansion in Pennsylvania. Empire Access pairs it's high-speed fiber optic internet with a complete array of telecommunication and security services:

Streaming TV delivering crystal clear, 100% HD picture quality, restart TV, Whole Home DVR, and much more

Home and business phone plans covering all your favorite features such as toll-free numbers, voicemail, hosted phone systems, and more

IoT security, home automation and 24/7 video monitoring with the ability to remotely lock and unlock doors, control appliances, climate control, security management, and more right from your computer or smart device

Advanced business services including enterprise Wi-Fi, high-security fire walls, business emails, audio and video conferencing, dark fiber, and metro-Ethernet Sign up to receive emails when fiber optic service is available by clicking here! Check Empire Access' availability in your area by visiting: https://www.empireaccess.com/where-we-are/check-location, calling (800) 338-3300, or emailing [email protected]. About Empire Access: Founded in 1896 with a single telephone line in Prattsburgh, NY, Empire Access has grown significantly as a local communications provider serving large areas of Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania. Empire Access offers a wide range of products and services from scalable high-speed fiber optic internet, TV, phone, and advanced security solutions. Responding to a variety of business and consumer needs, Empire Access continues to expand into new areas while retaining a strong focus on local and personalized customer service. In 2017, 2018, and 2021, Empire Access was awarded Best Internet Service Provider in the Southern Tier region of New York. Empire Access has been named as the fastest Internet Service Provider in the Northeastern United States for two consecutive years by PC Mag. In January of 2023, Empire Access closed on a majority investment from funds controlled by Antin Infrastructure Partners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005027/en/

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[March 27, 2023] UJET and Google Cloud Launch Intelligent Workforce Management to Power Future of Employee and Customer Experience

UJET, Inc., the intelligent, modern contact center platform, today announced UJET WFM, in partnership with Google Cloud. With the launch of its workforce management suite, also natively available within Google Cloud Contact Center AI Platform, UJET introduces new business intelligence solutions for the contact center industry. UJET WFM offers highly accurate forecasting, scheduling and real-time adherence monitoring to improve remote contact center agent performance, satisfaction and the overall customer experience. The challenges of the post-pandemic workplace have disproportionately affected the customer service workforce and contact center industry. The average contact center employee turnover rate is as high as 45% due to high stress, little support and a lack of technology. In addition, remote work is creating hurdles for managers to ensure productivity, adequately schedule, address trends or pain points and reduce turnover. UJET WFM enables contact center leaders to better prepare for rapidly changing operational requirements, and staff accordingly, with advanced forecasting and actionable insights for intraday performance changes that match a contact center's needs. "Managing a contact center has become much more complex in recent years due to the rise and proliferation of a distributed workforce, resulting in the need for more innovative workforce management tools," said Vasili Triant, Chief Operating Officer at UJET. "UJET WFM powers the modern-day ontact center with real-time data and analytics to optimize staffing, support omnichannel workflows, reduce manual labor and strengthen agent satisfaction. We're excited to offer these capabilities, both to our customers and to Contact Center AI Platform customers, as they seek to streamline operations and improve their customer and agent experiences."



UJET WFM replaces siloed systems, enabling service leaders to improve resource management and service levels to eliminate friction and frustration for consumers. Features include: Intelligent Forecasting - Create highly accurate forecasts of customer demand to support improved contact center staffing decisions.

- Create highly accurate forecasts of customer demand to support improved contact center staffing decisions. Scheduling Your Way - Automate scheduling based on expected customer demand and allow agents to choose their shifts based on current availability.

- Automate scheduling based on expected customer demand and allow agents to choose their shifts based on current availability. Multi-Modal Support - Forecasting and scheduling in a native solution that is easy to use, quick to implement, and powers intraday flexibility.

- Forecasting and scheduling in a native solution that is easy to use, quick to implement, and powers intraday flexibility. Reduce Complexities - Access data, analytics, trends, meetings and scheduling all in one solution. Using spreadsheets to manage the contact center workforce is a thing of the past.

- Access data, analytics, trends, meetings and scheduling all in one solution. Using spreadsheets to manage the contact center workforce is a thing of the past. Adherence monitoring - Unlock real-time monitoring to compare agent scheduling with agent behavior.

- Unlock real-time monitoring to compare agent scheduling with agent behavior. Rapid Implementation and Scalability - Implement this solution in weeks, not months or years, no matter if you have two agents or 2,000. "UJET has reinvented WFM, not as a separate add-on app, but as a fully integrated feature of its CCaaS solution. UJET WFM is not a bolt-on. It doesn't require any imports or duplication of data," said Dave Michels of TalkingPointz. "The user interface is modern, intuitive and accessible. There was clearly a lot of experience that went into the design of UJET WFM."

"The interest and adoption we've seen over the last year with Contact Center AI Platform from our customers has been incredibly strong," said Yariv Adan, Director of Cloud Conversational AI at Google Cloud. "Our customers are gaining significant operational efficiencies from the platform but forecasting and scheduling are still frequently manual processes. With Contact Center AI Platform + WFM, we will help them become even more efficient, while also harnessing business intelligence to improve their customer experience as well." UJET WFM and Contact Center AI Platform + WFM are easy to use, fast to deploy and scale with an organization's unique requirements. With cutting-edge solutions backed by the progressive capabilities of Google Cloud, customer service providers of all sizes can future-proof operations with UJET and Google Cloud. To learn more about UJET WFM, visit this link. To learn more about Google Cloud Contact Center AI Platform, visit this link. About UJET: UJET is the cloud contact center platform for businesses who put trust at the heart of their customer experience. Our one-of-a-kind architecture and award-winning CX Intercloud deliver the most dependable foundation for security, reliability, and scale across cloud contact center operations. With UJET, organizations gain a full voice and digital engagement suite that's equipped with smart device capabilities, powerful AI, and advanced analytics - all intuitively designed to make life easier for everyone involved. From customers and agents to supervisors and executives, UJET delivers meaningful operational efficiency, higher interaction quality, and mission critical stability. Innovative brands like Instacart, Turo, Wag!, and Atom Tickets all trust UJET to enable exceptional customer experiences. So can you. Learn more at www.ujet.cx and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe to our blog! View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005159/en/

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[March 27, 2023] Deadly Candida Auris Fungus Outbreak -- Xenex LightStrike UV Robot Proven to Kill Superbug in Hospitals

Hospitals worldwide report they are unable to combat the outbreak of the deadly Candida auris fungus with traditional disinfectants. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a study showing that C.auris has been spreading at an "alarming rate" throughout health care facilities and termed it an "urgent threat." This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005447/en/ Xenex LightStrike robots are proven to destroy Candida auris, the deadly fungus spreading in U.S. healthcare facilities. (Photo: Business Wire) However, hospitals using Xenex Disinfection Services' LightStrike UV room disinfection robot have reported success battling the fungus, which is contaminating medical facilities and killing patients. There are thousands of Xenex LightStrike robots deployed at morethan 1,000 hospitals on five continents and across the U.S. They include Minnesota's Mayo Clinic, Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center, Phoenix's HonorHealth system, and 130+ U.S. military and Veterans Affairs medical facilities from coast-to-coast.



Evidence According to a study conducted in South Africa by Netcare Hospitals, the Xenex LightStrike robot is 99.6% effective at deactivating the C.auris fungus following a 10-minute treatment cycle.

CEO: World's Most Powerful UV Robot Xenex CEO Morris Miller explains how the technology works, "The LightStrike robot has a xenon lamp, when it pulses, it puts out broad-spectrum, high-intensity ultraviolet light that penetrates the cell wall, deactivating the cell and preventing it from replicating." Theater of Disinfection Miller emphasizes that there are numerous makers of UV devices claiming they are effective at destroying viruses, bacteria, funguses and other pathogens, but few can produce credible evidence sustaining such claims. He calls these UV devices part of "the theater of disinfection." Miller stresses the efficacy of the Xenex LightStrike robot is proven in more than 45 peer-reviewed research studies. Fungus Thrives According to the CDC, Candida auris fungus can remain active on surfaces for up to 28 days. A Yale University Medical School doctor reports that traditional chemical disinfectants are unable to deactivate the fungus. Contamination The LightStrike robot's intense UV rays are beamed on floors, walls, countertops and other high-touch surfaces within healthcare facilities. Pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile (C.diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Acinetobacter, and Candida auris that may be left behind on high touch surfaces can transmit from patient to patient or patient to healthcare worker. Some deadly superbugs are showing resistance to cleaning chemicals, making the pathogens even more difficult to remove. The LightStrike robot utilizes intense bursts of pulsed xenon ultraviolet (UV) light to quickly deactivate viruses, bacteria and spores on surfaces and is effective against multi-drug resistant organisms found in hospitals, including MRSA, C.diff, and SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 The LightStrike robot is proven to be 99.9% effective at deactivating SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to research conducted at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Additionally, the LightStrike robot has been proven effective against Ebola virus and anthrax and can easily be incorporated into a facility's biodefense strategy. Robots for Sale Sales of the devices skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Xenex increased its manufacturing capacity and has robot inventory available now to assist healthcare facilities. Not only did medical facilities purchase the LightStrike robot, but it was also sold to hotels, stadiums, arenas, schools, correctional facilities, and government facilities. They include the Beverly Hills Hilton, the Carolina Panthers Bank of America Stadium and the San Antonio Spurs AT&T Center. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005447/en/

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[March 27, 2023] CGTN: How China keeps its promise to build a community of common health for mankind

BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing China for its support during the pandemic, the Senate of the Dominican Republic recently presented China with an award. The Senate's Vice President Santiago Zorrilla said at the award ceremony that the Dominican Republic will always remember China's timely assistance in its darkest hour, and the bilateral cooperation against COVID-19 is regarded as an example of interpreting the notion of building a community of common health for mankind. Since the beginning of the pandemic, China has been carrying out global cooperation to tackle the challenge by providing medical supplies and vaccines to other countries and regions, and sharing experience in virus prevention and treating patients. In March 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the concept of building a community of common health for mankind. In the global fight against COVID-19, Xi has on various occasions stressed the importance of global health cooperation and called for fulfilling the proposal. China has put the proposal of building a community of health for mankind into practice by establishing a series of major initiatives and measures. Information quickly shared, hundreds of events held China has held more than 300 technological exchange events about COVID-19 with other countries, regions and international organizations. In addition, China has sent 37 medical expert teams to 34 nations, sharing China's experience with the rest of the world, according to its National Health Commission (NHC). In the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese government released information in a timely, open, transparent and responsible manner, actively responded to concerns of all sides, and enhanced cooperation with the international community, according to a timeline document recording China's response to the epidemic from late December 2019 to March 2020.



The country's regular communication over the outbreak of COVID-19 with the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as relevant countries and regions came on January 3, 2020, said the document. Starting on February 3, the English official website of China's NHC started releasing COVID-19 information simultaneously, updating the data 58 times as of March 31, 2020.

First country to promise exemption for IP rights of COVID-19 vaccines China was the first country to promise exemption for IP rights of COVID-19 vaccines, and also the first to cooperate with other developing countries on vaccine production. China has provided over 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations. China is committed to building a global community of health for all and has provided vaccines to the world, especially developing countries. The country actively carried out joint production, which illustrates that COVID-19 vaccines should be considered as a global public good, a concept Xi stressed in a written message to the first meeting of the international forum on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation in August 2021. "We are willing to work with the international community to promote international vaccine cooperation and build a community with a shared future for humanity," Xi said. Speaking at the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council in September 2021, Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to the UN Office at Geneva, called on all member states and other parties concerned to expand vaccine production and upgrade production capabilities of developing countries by export, donation, joint research and development, franchised production and transfer of know-how. Traditional Chinese medicine aids global fight against COVID-19 Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), widely used in the global anti-pandemic fight since the onset of COVID-19, has proved to be remarkably effective. China has held more than 100 video events to introduce TCM treatment to over 150 countries and regions, and sent TCM experts to help epidemic control in over 30 countries and regions, according to its NHC. In a report released in late March 2022, the WHO confirmed that TCM is beneficial in the treatment of COVID-19, particularly in mild-to-moderate cases. "There are promising data to suggest that TCM is beneficial in reducing the risk of progression from mild-to-moderate cases to severe COVID-19," a report stated. "For mild-to-moderate cases, there is encouraging evidence that the studied TCMs, when administered as add-on interventions to conventional treatment, may shorten the time for viral clearance, resolution of clinical symptoms and length of hospital stay when compared to conventional treatment alone." Just as China has helped the world battle COVID-19, countries and international communities around the globe have also supported China, especially during its toughest time. "The Chinese nation never forgets the help and generosity it receives, and always reciprocates with the same goodwill," according to a white paper published in June 2020 by the State Council Information Office. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-03-25/How-China-keeps-vow-to-build-a-community-of-common-health-for-mankind-1isgvWRsADe/index.html SOURCE CGTN

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[March 27, 2023] Government of Canada invests in Ranovus to further advance Canada's semiconductor industry

This project will support the expansion of one of Canada's most promising homegrown companies OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Semiconductors, often called chips or microchips, are critical to Canada's national security, economy and technological interests and, more importantly, to Canadians' daily lives, as they are essential to the functioning of phones, computers, cars and appliances. That is why the Government of Canada is committed to collaborating with Canadian industry and investing in semiconductor innovation and manufacturing. Today, the Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced a $36 million contribution through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) to Ottawa-based Ranovus Inc. to support a $100 million project that will advance the domestic production and manufacturing of semiconductor products and services, while positioning Canada as a key player in this strategic industry. This project aims to develop the highest performing and most power-efficient technologies for interconnect computer chips for next-generation artificial intelligence work. This will further leverage Canadian semiconductor and compound semiconductor manufacturing capacity and silicon photonics expertise, allowing Ranovus to remain a leader in its field while contributing to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from data centres. With this contribution, Ranovus will also increase its highly skilled workforce in Canada to 200 full-time employees and provide opportunities to 150 Canadian co-op students. This contribution is part of the Government of Canada's intellectual property (IP) rich initiative, ensuring that innovative, IP-rich firms are grown into world leaders. This will help accelerate Ranovus's development of IP in Canada, as this project is expected to produce 40 new patents. Quotes "Semiconductors are part of our everyday life. They are in our phones, our cars and our appliances. Through this investment, we are supporting Canadian innovators, helping creating good jobs and IP, and developing Canada's semiconductor industry to build a more resilient economy. Canada will continue to play a leading role in the rapidly growing semiconductor industry, helping to strengthen and secure the North American supply chain."  The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry "Canada's domestic semiconductor sector plays a critical role in powering the technology we rely on. Today's $36 million investment in Ranovus Inc. will advance Canada's position as a world leader in the field of semiconductor manufacturing and silicon photonics."  Jenna Sudds, Member of Parliament for KanataCarleton and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women, Gender Equality, and Youth "The computing power for training artificial intelligence systems has grown by 300,000 times over the past 5 years, based on the recent OpenAI study. To support this unprecedented growth, thousands of computer chips must be interconnected with massive data pipes to ceate an artificial intelligence cluster. In 2022, Ranovus delivered ODIN, the world's fastest, smallest and lowest power consumption AI interconnect chip. ODIN consumes 75% less power, is 80% smaller than its closest rival and is scaling into production in the next 9 months with Tier 1 U.S. customers. We are investing $100 million to further scale our next-generation AI interconnect platform and are delighted by the continued support of the Strategic Innovation Fund to help keep Canada at the leading edge of the next generation of AI native infrastructure."



 Hamid Arabzadeh, Chairman and CEO, Ranovus Inc. Quick facts

Ranovus, established in 2012 by a group of technology industry veterans, is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario . The company is focused on next-generation technology that targets the internal communication networks of data centres and offers significant power and cost savings compared to existing technology.

. The company is focused on next-generation technology that targets the internal communication networks of data centres and offers significant power and cost savings compared to existing technology. Building on previous work supported through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), this project includes the development of a single-chip optical engine that would allow fibre optics to replace electrical circuits in highperformance computers for data centre servers. Ranovus's development of cost-efficient energy connectivity solutions will enable data centres to handle the growing demand for more complex artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, offering significant power and cost savings, enabling faster connections, and helping achieve a 13.5% power consumption reduction.

SIF first funded Ranovus in 2018 with $20 million to support the development and construction of next-generation data infrastructure centres designed to reduce the environmental impact of data processing while also doubling the capacity of these centres.

to support the development and construction of next-generation data infrastructure centres designed to reduce the environmental impact of data processing while also doubling the capacity of these centres. In the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, the government allocated $250 million to SIF to help Canada's most innovative IP-rich firms and industries weather the pandemic and grow into world leaders.

to SIF to help most innovative IP-rich firms and industries weather the pandemic and grow into world leaders. In February 2022 , the Government of Canada launched the Semiconductor Challenge Callout, a $150 million allocation from SIF to bolster the development and manufacturing of semiconductors in Canada .

, the Government of launched the Semiconductor Challenge Callout, a allocation from SIF to bolster the development and manufacturing of semiconductors in . Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United States President Joe Biden agreed to facilitate investment to promote secure and resilient semiconductor supply chains and advance a cross-border semiconductor manufacturing corridor. The Government of Canada signed a memorandum of understanding with IBM to expand domestic research and development as well as advanced packaging of semiconductors. Related products Government of Canada supports creation of a new advanced manufacturing facility in Ottawa

supports creation of a new advanced manufacturing facility in Government of Canada announces significant investment in the Canadian semiconductor and photonics industries Associated links Ranovus Inc.

Strategic Innovation Fund

Semiconductor Challenge Callout Stay connected Find more services and information at Canada.ca/ISED. Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.

Twitter: @ISED_CA, Facebook: Canadian Innovation, Instagram: @cdninnovation and LinkedIn SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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[March 27, 2023] AmeriHealth Caritas Launches the In Reach Network

AmeriHealth Caritas, a national leader in Medicaid managed care and other health care solutions for those most in need, announced the launch of a national media network to spotlight, amplify and support solutions for the nearly 48 million Americans living in poverty. Distributed content will include the In Reach Network website and mobile application, short-form videos on social media channels, audio and podcasts, long-form documentaries, television programming and specials, digital text, and printed publications. "For the past 40 years, AmeriHealth Caritas has been working to help our members access the health care system. We know that up to 80% of a person's life outcomes are impacted by factors beyond the four walls of the health care system. We believe that the American Dream should be In Reach for everyone and so we're launching the In Reach Network to unleash the power of omnichannel media," said AmeriHealth Caritas CEO Paul Tufano. "Through our In Reach Network, we will focus on opportunities that address the complex barriers facing those most in need and help advance meaningful change." Tufano added: "It's not enough to simply identify the gaps or call out the inequities. We aim to help people rise from poverty." Tufano has assembled a team of exemplary multimedia leaders and has appointed seasoned media executive and five-time Emmy nominee Brian Jones to serve as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the In Reach Network. "Our objective is to bring the important subject of poverty back into the forefront of American debate and discussion. We will showcase the latest ideas, resources, and spotlight those engaged in meaningful change in our communities, with content you can't get anywhere else," said Jones. Jones brings significant experience from his more than 20 years as an executive with 21st Century Fox and News Corporation. Jones excelled as a key executive in the launch and growth of three highly successful national cable channels. As president of the Fox Business Network, Jones crafted the strategic plan and helmed the launch plan for Fox Businss - driving ratings, revenue, and results for the largest digital cable launch in history.



Innovative Programming Supported by Media Leaders Gary Knell and QCatalyst's Jason Seiken Working with Jones in the content development, audience strategy and launch of the In Reach Network are two media leaders with strategic insight into the challenges and opportunities of groundbreaking innovative programming.

Gary Knell has four decades of experience leading some of the world's most iconic organizations at the intersection of media, education, and social impact. He has served as President and CEO of National Geographic, NPR, and Sesame Workshop, leading transformational changes for the purpose of achieving their important missions and inspiring global audiences through the power of storytelling. Jason Seiken is the CEO of QCatalyst, a digital innovation and product development agency that works with some of the world's leading media companies. Seiken is the former editor in chief of the Daily Telegraph of London, and Senior Vice President and General Manager at PBS. Seiken has a long track record of digital transformation at major media brands, including as founding editor, launching washingtonpost.com. Programming Lineup Will Include Sponsorship of PBS Series "Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan" The initial programming schedule of the In Reach Network will include sponsorship of the PBS series "Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan," an inspirational and revealing conversation series that tells the true stories of individual struggle, opportunity, and achievement with guests like Bryan Stevenson, Ai-jen Poo, and Dolores Huerta. "Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan" has had more than 22 million views in its first four seasons. The In Reach Network will also offer access to the "Kelly Corrigan Wonders" podcast, which has released 277 episodes and accumulated more than 44 million listens across a dozen NPR stations and through podcasting apps. Kelly Corrigan PBS Show

Books

Podcast About AmeriHealth Caritas AmeriHealth Caritas is one of the nation's leaders in health care solutions for those most in need. Operating in 13 states and the District of Columbia, AmeriHealth Caritas serves approximately 5 million Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Health Insurance Marketplace members through its integrated managed care products, pharmaceutical benefit management and specialty pharmacy services, and behavioral health services. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, AmeriHealth Caritas is a mission-driven organization with more than 40 years of experience serving low-income and chronically ill populations. For more information, visit www.amerihealthcaritas.com. About In Reach The In Reach Network is an omnichannel content stream and media network advancing creative and innovative stories that inform and inspire - for and by people challenged by poverty and their advocates. Its objective: to lead the conversation and help people rise from poverty. https://inreach.live View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005511/en/

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[March 27, 2023] Rhombus Partners With Lumeo To Enhance Physical Security Capabilities With Advanced Video Analytics

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhombus, a leader in cloud-managed enterprise physical security, today announced a new partnership with Lumeo, a designer of computer vision solutions. The partnership will enable Rhombus to offer its customers an enhanced layer of security by integrating Lumeo's powerful video analytics software with Rhombus' robust physical security platform. The integration will allow Rhombus' customers to gain deeper insights into their physical security by leveraging Lumeo's cutting-edge video analytics capabilities. This advanced technology will enable additional features within the Rhombus Console such as crowd detection, queue length measurement, fire detection, and others, providing more extensive and detailed information for investigations and alerts. "We're excited to announce our partnership with Lumeo," said Garrett Larsson, CEO of Rhombus. "With the integration of Lumeo's advanced video analytics software, we're able to offer our customers a new layer of security that was previously unavailable. By combining Lumeo's technology with our own, we're able to provide businesses with a complete physical security solution that's both powerful and easy to use." The partnership between Rhombus and Lumeo is a estament to the companies' commitment to providing the highest level of physical security for businesses across the globe. By working together, the two companies can provide a comprehensive solution that addresses the growing security needs of businesses today.



"We're thrilled to partner with Rhombus," said Devarshi Shah, CEO of Lumeo. "Rhombus is known for their innovative physical security solutions, and we're excited to bring our video analytics technology to their solution. With our technology integrated into Rhombus' software, businesses can rest assured that their physical security needs are being met with the highest level of technology available." The collaboration between Rhombus and Lumeo presents a holistic centralized monitoring solution that provides robust video surveillance analytics suitable for businesses of all magnitudes. Regardless of whether it is a commercial central station, a security service entity, or a global enterprise, this partnership will enhance security and utilize video data to provide practical and valuable information.

About Rhombus

Rhombus is a cloud physical security platform designed to bring greater intelligence, security, and productivity to enterprise organizations. Rhombus delivers NDAA-compliant smart cameras, access control, sensors, alarms, and integrations under a single pane of glass to help organizations improve safety and streamline operations. Backed by Cota Capital, Caden Capital, Tru Arrow Partners, Lemnos Labs, and Promus Ventures, Rhombus is on a mission to make the world safer with simple, smart, and powerful physical security solutions. To learn more, visit www.rhombus.com. About Lumeo

Lumeo is headquartered out of Oakland, CA, and fueled by a vision to transform how the world sees video. Lumeo is the first and only 'no-code' video analytic platform that empowers solution providers with the ability to create and deliver custom analytics in minuteswith no technical skills needed. Using drag-and-drop tools, pre-built analytic building blocks, ready-to-use AI models, and APIs, Lumeo lets providers instantly add AI-powered analytics to their own solution or extend existing VMS and camera installations to increase revenue and bottom line. Lumeo's cloud-managed analytics can run in the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid model so you can optimize for convenience or cost. Learn more at www.lumeo.com. Media Contact:

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rhombus-partners-with-lumeo-to-enhance-physical-security-capabilities-with-advanced-video-analytics-301782310.html SOURCE Rhombus

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[March 27, 2023] Statement from Minister Hutchings on the Auditor General of Canada's report on rural and remote connectivity

OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada The Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development, made the following statement: "We thank the Office of the Auditor General of Canada for its report on rural and remote connectivity. We accept the recommendations and look forward to continuing our work to connect all Canadians to affordable high-speed Internet by 2030 and to improve mobile connectivity across Canada. "In June 2019, the Government of Canada released Canada's first Connectivity Strategy. The strategy sets out ambitious targets to ensure all Canadians have access to high-speed Internet, no matter where they live or work. The Government of Canada has made available over $7.6 billion to expand access to high-speed Internet in underserved areas, which is more than 10 times the funding of all previous federal programs combined before 2015. "I am proud to be part of a government that prioritizes investing in rural Canadians. The $3.2 billion Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) has already helped connect over 200,000 underserved homes to high-speed Internet, with an additional 80,000 homes getting connected by the end of this year through UBF alone. Moving forward, we are on track to connect a further 750,000 homes through this program. Since 2015, approximately 2.2 million Canadian households have received access to better, faster Internet thanks in large part to investments by our government together with our provincial, territorial, Indigenous and community partners, as well as large and small Internet service providers from coast to coast to coast. "In 2014, only 79% of households had access to high-speed Internet. As a result of our actions, 93.5% of homes have access today. Not only did we exceed our first goal of 90% coverage by2021, but we are also well on track to surpass our next goal of 98% of homes having access by 2026.



"The Government of Canada has committed $50 million through the program for mobile projects that benefit Indigenous communities. These targeted investments, such as our partnership with the Government of British Columbia to connect the Highway of Tears, will improve mobile connectivity for communities that need cellular service the most. "We prioritized projects that would keep prices affordable for Canadians in rural and remote areas, while balancing the needs of the future. That is why 80% of the projects funded so far under the Universal Broadband Fund are scalable to speeds of one gigabit per second.

"The investments are supported by complementary regulatory initiatives. More spectrum frequencies are available, along with rules to better support rural and remote wireless services. This includes access to white-space spectrum and to licence-exempt spectrum in the 6 GHz band, as well as lowering fees for spectrum to connect towers. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced new rules for access to poles owned by the large telephone companies to speed up deployment by other service providers. "To continue this momentum, our government will ensure that the recommendations in the audit are implemented to guide future initiatives and bolster those already under way. The newly announced policy direction to the CRTC came into force in February 2023 and directs the CRTC to take action on a range of issues, including improving measurement activities as well as competition and affordability. We will also improve measurement of affordability and adoption, and we have committed to making more spectrum available to support better connectivity, including by facilitating access to underutilized spectrum in rural and remote areas. "The past few years have only further highlighted that access to high-speed Internet and mobile connectivity are no longer a luxurythey're a necessity. I encourage all Canadians to check on our progress by visiting our interactive connectivity dashboard at Canada.ca/Rural. "The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces and territories, municipalities, Indigenous communities and Internet service providers so that all Canadians, no matter where they live, have access to affordable high-speed Internet and mobile connectivity." Stay connected

Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.

Twitter: @ISED_CA, Facebook: Canadian Innovation, Instagram: @cdninnovation and LinkedIn SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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[March 27, 2023] CAES' Mary-Beth DePaolo Receives Patriotic Employer Award

CAES, a leading provider of mission-critical advanced RF technology, is pleased to announce that one of its human resources leaders has been presented the Patriotic Employer Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense office that develops and promotes supportive work environments for service members in the National Guard and Reserve. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005611/en/ Senior Manager of Human Resources Mary-Beth DePaolo received the Patriotic Employer Award in a ceremony at the CAES Lansdale, Pennsylvania, site on March 16. Major General Wesley E. Craig Jr. traveled to Lansdale to present the award. (Photo: Business Wire) Senior Manager of Human Resources Mary-Beth DePaolo received the honor in a ceremony at the CAES Lansdale, Pennsylvania, site on March 16. Major General Wesley E. Craig Jr. traveled to Lansdale to present the award. All awards to employers are requested by a military member. DePaolo was nominated by a former CAES employee for her consistent support of his service in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. The nomination stated, "Even when tasking was last minute, DePaolo aways viewed his service to the Commonwealth and the country as important, never treating it as an inconvenience or burden to the company."



"Receiving the Patriotic Employer Award is truly an honor. All across CAES, we have proud connections to our military, both in our product technology and in our personal commitment to supporting our Veterans," said CAES Senior Manager of Human Resources Mary-Beth DePaolo. "The Pennsylvania National Guard out of Fort Indiantown Gap has been a focus area for several years. To be nominated for this award by a guardsman from 'The Gap' is a testament to CAES being an organization that is supportive of our current Reserve and Guard employees and an employer who is welcoming to those who serve in this capacity." Supporting the warfighter is at the heart of CAES' mission, and ????????????????????????CAES is proud to have partnerships and programs that benefit active Guard, Reserve and Veteran employees. ???CAES' Veteran-focused work includes a partnership with ArmyPaYS that matches U.S. Army soldiers with CAES hiring opportunities, a charitable partnership with a nonprofit providing custom housing to ?severely injured??? Veterans in need, and recognition the 2022 MilitaryT?imes?? Best for Vets: Employers list and more.

"Supporting the communities in which we work is an integral part of CAES, and our team always strives to go the extra mile for our active Guard and Reserves," said CAES President and CEO Mike Kahn. "I'd like to congratulate Mary-Beth on her commitment to CAES' mission and support of our colleagues." ESGR was established in 1972 when the United States abolished the draft. Knowing a greater reliance on the Guard and Reserve could potentially strain relationships with employers, ESGR was formed to help build understanding between troops and employers. Today, ESGR is supported by a network of more than 3,000 volunteers who work to promote and enhance employer support through outreach, recognition and education. About CAES CAES is a pioneer of advanced electronics for the most challenging defense and aerospace trusted systems. As a leading provider of advanced RF technology to the United States aerospace and defense industry, CAES delivers high-reliability RF and digital solutions that enable our customers to ensure a safer, more secure planet. On land, at sea and in the air, CAES' extensive experience in the RF market and enhanced manufacturing capabilities are at the forefront of mission-critical military and aerospace innovation. www.caes.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005611/en/

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[March 27, 2023] Datadobi Spotlighted the 2023 CRN Partner Program Guide

Datadobi, the global leader in unstructured data management, has been recognized by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, in its 2023 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide offers essential information to members of the IT channel ecosystem as they explore technology manufacturers' partner programs to find the vendors that will best support their business needs. For solution providers such as managed service providers (MSPs), value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, and strategic service providers, a critical factor when assessing which IT manufacturers, service providers, and distributors to team with in building world-class technology solutions is the breadth and depth of the partner programs those companies offer. Strong elements such as financial incentives, sales and marketing assistance, training and certification, technical support and more can set a vendor apart and play a key role in boosting partners long-term growth. In the 2023 Partner Program Guide, vendors were evaluated 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. Datadobi provides top tier unstructured data management solutions to their partners. Last year, Datadobi launched StorageMAP, which equips partners with a single pane of glass to manage unstructured data across environments and tackle issues like cost, risk, and carbon footprint, all while maximizing the data's value. Datadobi also offers the DatadobiDriven Certification Program, designed to educate partners on how to integrate StorageMAP into their end-to-end solutions, in order to provide their end customers with comprehensive technology solutions that address their specific needs, improve their operations, and help them achieve their business goals. In doing so, the channel partner is able to enhance their trusted advisor status, and identify opportunities to drive new service revenue. "We're very pleased to be recognized by CRN in their 2023 Partne Program Guide," said Michael Jack, CRO of Datadobi. "Unstructured data management has become of vital importance for businesses. With StorageMAP, our partners are now able to work with their end customers to assess, organize, and take action on their data from a single interface and across their entire unstructured data set on-premises or in the cloud - and in doing so, decrease cost and risk, while improving ESG capabilities and data value."



"In today's world, the need for innovation is greater than ever," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. "Solution providers seek vendors that can keep pace with their developing business and evolving client needs. CRN's 2023 Partner Program Guide delivers deep insight into the strengths of each program, spotlighting the vendors dedicated to supporting their partner community and pushing positive change throughout the IT channel." The 2023 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2023 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG.

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.  2023 The Channel Company LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. About Datadobi Datadobi, the global leader in vendor-neutral unstructured data management, brings order to heterogeneous unstructured storage and hybrid-cloud environments via its StorageMAP platform. StorageMAP software allows IT leaders to go beyond data stored to data managed both on-premises and in the cloud. Datadobi helps enterprises manage unstructured data growth through the power of visualization, organization, and action in a single pane of glass. Founded in 2010, Datadobi is a privately held company headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, with subsidiaries in New York, Melbourne, Dusseldorf, and London. For more information, please visit www.datadobi.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005638/en/

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Details added (first published: 12:27)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. DHL Global Forwarding, the postal and logistics company with headquarters in Germany, has announced the closure of its representative office in Azerbaijan, Trend reports via 'Vergiler' newspaper of the Azerbaijani State Service under the Ministry of Economy.

Creditors can submit their claims within two months to the following address: 35C, Metbuat avenue, Yasamal district, Baku.

DHL is operating in more than 220 countries and territories across the world. DHL Global Forwarding is part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group postal and logistics company which includes the DHL Express, DHL Parcel, DHL e-commerce, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Freight, and DHL Supply Chain business units.

DHL Global Forwarding Azerbaijan with an authorized capital of AZN 2.2 million manat ($1.2 million) was registered in the country in 2016.
[March 27, 2023] Federal Government Supports Clean Energy Training for Taykwa Tagamou Nation and Oneida Nation of the Thames

LONDON, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - The development of a prosperous and low-carbon economy requires strong and meaningful partnerships with Indigenous Peoples to continue advancing stewardship of our collective energy and environmental future. Investing in renewable energy and storage initiatives that support Canada's clean energy transition will lead to decarbonized, smart and integrated utilities that will reduce carbon pollution, keep our air clean and support stronger, healthier communities for generations. Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced an investment of over $1 million for Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN) and Oneida Nation of the Thames (Oneida) to develop community distributed energy resources (DER) solutions that will help address the unique demand increases and the reliability and energy challenges in First Nations communities. TTN and Oneida are rapidly growing communities with existing distribution systems that are in need of modernization. This project seizes the opportunity to optimize improved DER systems in a manner that will assist TTN and Oneida to build community-based skills and expertise. Once complete, TTN and Oneida will be well prepared to consider the development of a community energy storage project while continuing to build capacity to unlock action through partnerships and collaboration with other communities in their regions. Canada currently has one of the cleanest grids in the world, with more than eighty percent of its electricity supply being emissions-free. As Canada moves toward a net-zero economy and electricity system, grid modernization projects such as this will help solidify the country' position as a leader in clean electricity generation. Federal funding for this project is provided by the $1.56-billion Smart Renewables and Electrfication Pathways program (SREPs). By making strategic investments across the country, the Government of Canada is enabling increased renewable energy generation and essential grid services while cutting pollution and contributing to Canada's net-zero and climate action targets.



This investment demonstrates the Government of Canada's ongoing commitment to work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples across Canada to support innovative projects working toward a sustainable energy sector while delivering clean air, advancing economic reconciliation and fighting climate change. Quotes

"The Government of Canada is pleased to be working with the Taykwa Tagamou Nation and the Oneida of the Thames to build a foundation for enhanced electricity deployment and grid modernization. Indigenous communities across Canada are at the forefront of seizing the clean growth opportunities associated with deploying clean power generation and electrifying infrastructure. Congratulations to all of those involved in this important work." The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson

Minister of Natural Resources Canada "By promoting innovation and collaboration, First Nations are leading the shift toward renewable solutions that meet our grid's growing clean energy demands. Taykwa Tagamou Nation is pleased to partner alongside the Government of Canada with community-led solutions at the forefront that empower our members to thrive in this rapidly evolving field." Chief Bruce Archibald

Taykwa Tagamou Nation "Taykwa Tagamou Nation is proud to continue investing in clean, competitive and community-driven energy solutions. Through our partnership with the Government of Canada, we are playing an integral role in achieving net-zero emissions by 2030  to both honour our lands and ensure a brighter and more sustainable future for generations to come." Deputy Chief Derek Archibald

Taykwa Tagamou Nation "The Oneida Nation of the Thames is looking forward to building capacity in a non-wired alternative, such as energy storage, as this will build upon the goals set by the nation in regard to self-determination, energy sovereignty and building a net-zero nation." Councillor Brandon T. Doxtator

Oneida Nation of the Thames "Congratulations to Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN) and Oneida Nation of the Thames (Oneida) who built award-winning Community Solar (1MW) and Storage (38kWh) projects during the pandemic. Team JAZZ is extremely proud to work with the dedicated energy champions from TTN and Oneida to build capacity and deploy distributed energy resources (DER) as powerful symbols of meaningful environmental justice and economic reconciliation." Ketan Bhalla

Founder & CEO of JAZZ Solar Solutions Related Information Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan ( http://twitter.com/nrcan ) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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[March 27, 2023] Lotus Midstream and EnCap Flatrock Midstream Agree to Sell Lotus Midstream to Energy Transfer for $1.45 Billion

Lotus Midstream ("the Company") and its financial sponsor EnCap Flatrock Midstream ("EnCap Flatrock") today announced they have signed a definitive agreement to sell Lotus Midstream to Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET) for approximately $1.45 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Located in Sugar Land, Texas, Lotus Midstream is a premier crude oil gathering and transportation system connecting the Permian Basin to Cushing and Gulf Coast markets. The Company originally partnered with EnCap Flatrock in 2018 and is led by three founding partners, Chief Executive Officer Mike Prince, Chief Commercial Officer Emily Baker and Chief Operating Officer Jen Fontenot. In September 2018, Lotus completed the acquisitions of the Centurion Pipeline and Southeast New Mexico ("SENM") crude gathering systems. Management commercially transformed the business from a producer-centric system to an integrated transportation network providing wellhead connectivity to major downstream markets including Cushing, Nederland, Houston, and Corpus Christi. Lotus subsequently announced its participation in the Wink-to-Webster Pipeline which transports production to the Gulf Coast refining market via the largest crude takeaway pipeline out of the Permian Basin. From Lotus Midstream p> "We are thankful for the opportunity provided by EnCap Flatrock to have grown and developed Centurion Pipeline," said Lotus Midstream CEO Mike Prince. "We have had the good fortune to work alongside outstanding and dedicated people, who are responsible for Centurion's collective success."



From EnCap Flatrock Midstream "We are pleased to have reached agreement with Energy Transfer for the sale of Lotus Midstream," said EnCap Flatrock Managing Partner Greg King. "Mike, Emily, Jen and the Lotus team built a fantastic business. We are grateful for their partnership and are thankful to our investors for their support of this significant investment for EnCap Flatrock."

Advisers Jefferies served as financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins as legal advisor to Lotus Midstream, and Sherman & Sterling as EnCap Flatrock's legal advisor. About Lotus Midstream Based in Sugar Land, Texas, Lotus Midstream is an independent energy company focused on the development of midstream infrastructure and services necessary to transport crude oil and condensate from the wellhead to market. Lotus owns the Centurion Pipeline System, a large-scale, integrated network of approximately 3,000 miles of crude oil gathering and transportation pipelines that extends from southeast New Mexico across the Permian Basin of West Texas to Cushing, Oklahoma. Lotus Midstream is backed by EnCap Flatrock Midstream. For more information, please visit lotusmidstream.com. About EnCap Flatrock Midstream EnCap Flatrock Midstream provides value-added growth capital to proven management teams focused on midstream infrastructure opportunities across North America. The firm was formed in 2008 by a partnership between EnCap Investments L.P. and Flatrock Energy Advisors, LLC. Based in San Antonio with offices in Oklahoma City and Houston, the firm manages investment commitments of over $9 billion from a broad group of prestigious institutional investors. For more information, please visit efmidstream.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005643/en/

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[March 27, 2023] VECTION TECHNOLOGIES AND EXPERT.AI TEAM UP TO DIGITIZE TECHNICAL MANUALS WITH AI

PERTH, Australia, March 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vection Technologies (ASX:VR1, OTC:VCTNY), the INTEGRATEDXR company, and expert.ai (EXAI:IM), a leading company in artificial intelligence (AI) for language understanding and language operations, announce today a partnership to create an AI-powered solution for digitalizing technical manuals. This revolutionary solution is aimed at making technical manuals more accessible and easier to understand by using a combination of extended reality (XR) and AI technologies to deliver an immersive experience. The two companies have already commenced working together on tenders and government grants to fund the development of this solution. One of the unique features of this solution will be the use of avatars for human-to-machine interaction. These avatars can provide users with step-by-step instructions and guide them through the troubleshooting process. Users can interact with avatars using natural language and receive accurate responses to their queries. The advanced natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning algorithms enable the avatars to understand natural language and provide accurate responses. The solution will also be compatible with mixed reality (MR) devices such as HoloLens, enabling operators to identify issues using MR technology. The solution provides step-by-step instructions and visualizations to guide operators through the troubleshooting process, resulting in faster resolution times and reduced downtime. For example, imagine a mechanic working on a car engine. Instead of flipping through a thick manual, the mechanic can use the AI-powered solution to access the relevant manual digitally. The mechanic can then use the solution's chatbot functionality to ask questions in natural language and receive accurate responses. The solution's advanced NLP and deep learning algorithms ensure that the chatbot can understand the mechanic's queries and provide relevant and accurate answers. The mechanic can also use the solution's XR component to visualize step-by-step instructions on how to troubleshoot the issue. This enables the mechanic to quickly and efficiently diagnose and repair the problem. "We are excited to partner with expert.ai to develop this innovative solution," sai Gianmarco Biagi, Managing Director of Vection Technologies. "Our partnership demonstrates our commitment to driving innovation in the industry. We look forward to progressing the development of this solution and helping businesses increase efficiency and productivity."



"Expert.ai commitment to integrate best-of-breed AI tools and visionary techniques that deliver value aligns completely to the Vection Technologies vision towards innovation as a key asset to bridge physical and digital worlds," commented Walt Mayo, CEO of expert.ai. "We are pleased about this new partnership as it brings a disruptive solution to the market by combining XR avatars and AI-enabled natural language to push the boundaries of our digital experience." ABOUT VECTION TECHNOLOGIES:

Vection Technologies is a growing enterprise-focused company that helps businesses bridge the physical and digital worlds. We help organizations leverage their 3D data via powerful extended reality (XR) interfaces that foster collaboration and learning, grow sales and more.

Vection Technologies is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with ticker code VR1, and trades on the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) markets under the symbol VCTNY.

For more information, please visit: www.vection-technologies.com ABOUT EXPERT.AI: Expert.ai (EXAI:IM) is a leading company in AI-based natural language software. Organizations in insurance, banking and finance, publishing, media and defense all rely on expert.ai to turn language into data, analyze and understand complex documents, accelerate intelligent process automation and improve decision making. Expert.ai's purpose-built natural language platform pairs simple and powerful tools with a proven hybrid AI approach that combines symbolic and machine learning to solve real-world problems and enhance business operations at speed and scale. With offices in Europe and North America, expert.ai serves global businesses such as AXA XL, Zurich Insurance Group, Generali, The Associated Press, Bloomberg INDG, BNP Paribas, Rabobank, Gannett and EBSCO.

For more information, please visit: https://www.expert.ai FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on Vection Technologies' current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry in which Vection Technologies operates, and beliefs and assumptions. Forward looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'expect', 'project', 'forecast', 'estimate', 'likely', 'intend', 'should', 'will', 'could', 'may', 'target', 'plan' and other similar expressions within the meaning of securities laws of applicable jurisdictions. Indications of, and guidance or outlook on future earnings, distributions or financial position or performance are also forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the control of Vection Technologies, are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions shareholders and prospective shareholders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of Vection Technologies only as of the date of this release. There can be no assurance that actual outcomes will not differ materially from these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made in this release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Vection Technologies has no obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this release except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/vection-technologies-and-expertai-team-up-to-digitize-technical-manuals-with-ai-301781753.html SOURCE Vection Technologies Ltd

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[March 27, 2023]

Government of Canada's Modernized Policy for Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning for Canada

OTTAWA, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to the safe, effective and environmentally sound management of radioactive waste. Protecting the health and safety of Canadians and the environment is the government's top priority when it comes to nuclear energy and radioactive waste. Canada already has a robust framework in place; however, we must keep pace with evolving views and technology development.

That is why the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, is releasing the modernized Policy for Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning (the Policy) for Canada, which ensures the safe management of radioactive waste continues to align with international standards and best practices that reflect the values and principles of Canadians. The full text of the Policy will be accessible online in the coming days: Public consultations and engagements (canada.ca)

This final Policy is the result of more than two years of extensive and active engagement with Indigenous Peoples, interested Canadians, experts, waste generators and owners, and other levels of government. In February 2022, the Government of Canada shared the draft Policy for public comment and incorporated feedback in finalizing the modernized Policy.

This modernized Policy significantly elaborates on the original Canada's Radioactive Waste Policy Framework (1996) and affirms Canada's continued commitment to reconciliation. It also highlights the importance of recognizing Indigenous rights and knowledge, engaging early and continuously, building capacity and working together in partnership on radioactive waste management and decommissioning projects. The Policy also commits to ensuring alignment with, and supporting, the government's implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Policy also includes measures that support an integrated strategy for Canada's radioactive waste and the importance of considering future generations when making decisions.

Modernizing the 1996 Radioactive Waste Policy to the new Policy for Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning is critical for the government to continue to meet international best practices, guidelines and standards based on the best available science while continuing to ensure that Canada's radioactive waste is safely managed, including waste from emerging technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs).

As Canada combats climate change through the deployment of non-emitting technologies and natural solutions, the Government of Canada is implementing the Policy for Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning, and radioactive waste management practices, in a manner that reflects the values, voices and diverse perspectives across the country, including those of Indigenous Peoples.

Nuclear power is an important energy solution that provides affordable non-emitting energy to communities as Canadians move toward a net-zer electricity system by 2035. Nuclear power creates jobs and economic opportunities across Canada while displacing fossil fuels domestically and globally.







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"The modernized Policy for Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning is an important development to ensure the safe, effective and environmentally sound management of waste. This Policy is informed by significant consultations with Indigenous Peoples, experts, communities and other governments. Building a more sustainable and prosperous future includes delivering non-emitting nuclear energy and responsible waste management."

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson

Minister of Natural Resources

Quick Facts

All radioactive waste generated in Canada is safely managed, according to international best practices that are based on the best available science, and there is a comprehensive legislative framework for nuclear energy and technologies, including radioactive waste, that focuses on protecting health, safety, security and the environment.

is safely managed, according to international best practices that are based on the best available science, and there is a comprehensive legislative framework for nuclear energy and technologies, including radioactive waste, that focuses on protecting health, safety, security and the environment. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Canada's independent regulator, makes science-based, objective decisions, regularly undergoes peer reviews by world-renowned organizations and administers our nuclear safety regime.

independent regulator, makes science-based, objective decisions, regularly undergoes peer reviews by world-renowned organizations and administers our nuclear safety regime. 99.5 percent of radioactive waste generated in Canada is low- and intermediate-level waste. In October 2022 , an independent auditor (CESD) found that Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited are effectively managing low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste.

is low- and intermediate-level waste. In , an independent auditor (CESD) found that Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited are low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste. Radioactive waste in Canada is defined as any material (liquid, gaseous or solid) that contains a radioactive nuclear substance for which no further use is foreseen. In addition to containing nuclear substances, radioactive waste may also contain hazardous substances that are not radioactive.

is defined as any material (liquid, gaseous or solid) that contains a radioactive nuclear substance for which no further use is foreseen. In addition to containing nuclear substances, radioactive waste may also contain hazardous substances that are not radioactive. Radioactive waste management refers to all activities involved in the handling, pre-treatment, treatment, waste minimization and optimization, transport, storage and disposal of radioactive waste.

When this inclusive engagement process launched in November 2020 , Natural Resources Canada asked the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), a not-for-profit organization responsible for implementing Canada's plan for the long-term management of nuclear fuel waste, to lead a dialogue to develop an integrated strategy for Canada's radioactive waste through close collaboration among waste owners and producers, Indigenous Peoples and other interested Canadians.

, Natural Resources Canada asked the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), a not-for-profit organization responsible for implementing plan for the long-term management of nuclear fuel waste, to lead a dialogue to develop an integrated strategy for radioactive waste through close collaboration among waste owners and producers, Indigenous Peoples and other interested Canadians. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples deals with the respect and recognition of the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. On June 21, 2021 , the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act) received Royal Assent and came into force. This Act reaffirms the inherent human rights of Indigenous Peoples and provides a roadmap for the Government of Canada and Indigenous Peoples to work together to implement the Declaration based on lasting reconciliation, healing and cooperative relations.

deals with the respect and recognition of the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. On , received Royal Assent and came into force. This Act reaffirms the inherent human rights of Indigenous Peoples and provides a roadmap for the Government of and Indigenous Peoples to work together to implement the Declaration based on lasting reconciliation, healing and cooperative relations. The Modernized Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning Policy will support broader UN Declaration Actimplementation efforts, led by Justice Canada , to develop an action plan to achieve the Declaration's objectives. The Policy will be revised at least every 10 years to ensure it aligns with and supports these efforts.

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SOURCE Natural Resources Canada
For what it's worth . . . We don't think our GOP friends are completely out of line for their concern over experimental surgery and unproven treatments . . . Reasonable people want to protect youngsters from pseudo-scientific fads that are driven by ideology more than peer-reviewed research.

However . . .

Let's not pretend that there isn't a political advantage to picking a fight with youngsters and a statistically small subset of the population.

Here's a passage that makes an important point that, nevertheless, shouldn't dissuade those who are truly hoping to protect youngsters . . .



This is the state of Republicans standing up for kids in Missouri: our K-12 schools and our colleges are among the lowest funded in the nation  but Smith, Rowden and others are still seeking to slash corporate taxes.



Missouri kids live in poverty at a higher rate than the national average. Missouris rate of children in foster care is among the highest in the nation. And, of course, children are dying in the streets because of gun violence, yet Missouri Republicans want to add more guns to the equation.



Its easier to fight made-up straw men  CRT, DEI, ESG, or the scourge of anybody who is different  than it is to solve Missouris very real problems.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Andrew Palamarchuk is a reporter with Metroland Media Toronto and toronto.com. He has been covering the crime beat since 2002 and has a passion for giving a voice to those affected by tragedy and looking at societal issues that may have contributed to it.
The victims of the Yonge Street van attack will be honoured and remembered on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy at commemoration events in North York on Sunday afternoon.
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The technology has been created by Project DARTMOUTH, a collaboration between Pangiam and Google, and uses AI alongside other algorithm technology to analyse images of hand luggage and identify prohibited items and other security risks.



(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - March 27th, 2023 - Amsterdam Schiphol airport is to explore the use of AI to speed up baggage screening.

In partnership with technology firm Pangiam, Schiphol airport announced that it would be the first major European airport to introduce the security screening artificial intelligence.

The technology has been created by Project DARTMOUTH, a collaboration between Pangiam and Google, and uses AI alongside other algorithm technology to analyse images of hand luggage and identify prohibited items and other security risks.

The security AI will initially be tested on a small scale to allow for further development and it can be applied to existing hardware and equipment, such as Schiphols CT scanners.

It hopes that in the future the technology will support employees and speed up the process for travellers  something that Schiphol has been struggling with in recent years.

Last year, Schiphols chief data officer Be-Lillegraven spoke at Amsterdams IoT Tech Expo at a time when passenger queues were overflowing, causing customers to miss their flights.

His plan was to further digitise the airport in order to allow for a smoother customer experience, such as by providing data-driven apps that could tell a customer an accurate time to leave for the airport.

Be-Lillegraven was also working on collecting real-time data on the activity around a plane at the gate, such as keeping track of where the cargo, luggage, and catering trucks were, to see what could be delaying flight times.

With Pangias security AI, Philip van Noort, director of security at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, hopes to provide more comfort for travellers thanks to secure and faster hand baggage screening.

Head of Project DARTMOUTH at Pangiam, Alexis Long said: This collaboration allows us to bring the benefits of artificial intelligence to the security checkpoint and improve the process.

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The Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan has announced the results of the early parliamentary election held on March 19, Trend reports with reference to Kazinform.

According to CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov, 6,366,441 people cast their votes during the election.

The votes were distributed as following:

AMANAT  53.90% or 3,341,510 votes;

Auyl Peoples Democratic Party  10.90% or 693,938 votes;

Respublica Party  8.59% or 547,154 votes;

Peoples Party of Kazakhstan  6.80% or 432,920 votes;

Baitaq Green Party  2.30% or 146,431 voters;

Ak Zhol Democratic Party  8.41% or 535,139 votes;

Nationwide Social Democratic Party  5.20% or 331,058 votes;

3.90% or 248,291 people have chosen None of the Above option

Following the election, six political parties were admitted to the allocation of deputy seats: AMANAT, Auyl Peoples Democratic Party, Respublica Party, Peoples Party of Kazakhstan, Ak Zhol Democratic Party and Nationwide Social Democratic Party. Baitaq Green Party which failed to gather 5% of votes is not admitted to the Majilis.

AMANAT Party wins 40 deputy seats, Auyl Party receives 8 seats, Pespublica Party takes 6 seats, Peoples Party of Kazakhstan takes 5 seats, Ak Zhol Party  6 seats and Nationwide Social Democratic Party  4 seats.
American R&B group Boyz II MEN.. is the feature act tonight ..as the curtain comes down.. on the 2023 edition of the Tobago Jazz Experience . .

They spoke with reporters..at a conference at Stone Haven Villas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has congratulated Petr Pavel on taking office as president of the Czech Republic and informed him about the situation on the front lines and the security needs of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader said this on his Twitter account, Ukrinform reports.

"Had a call with Czech President Petr Pavel. Congratulated him on officially taking office. Outlined the situation at the front & our security needs. We discussed Ukraine's EU integration & agreed to further cooperate," Zelensky said.

He said that Czech support is crucial for Ukraine in fighting Russia's aggression.

Pavel officially took office as president of the Czech Republic on March 9.

Pavel was elected Czech president on January 28.
Germany handed over Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine.

This was confirmed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at a press conference in Rotterdam after the GermanDutch governmental consultations, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Yes, we delivered the tanks as promised," Scholz said in response to a request to confirm media reports that 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks had been delivered to Ukraine.

Scholz also reported that "Germany together with the Netherlands is preparing to hand over Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine."

The Chancellor recalled that the two countries had jointly handed over Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers, ammunition, etc. to Ukraine. Both countries also train the Ukrainian military, he emphasized.

According to Scholz, Germany is currently the largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine in mainland Europe. His country has transferred many modern weapons, in particular, air defense systems.

Currently, Berlin, together with its partners, is working to increase the production of ammunition, as well as to establish repair bases for damaged equipment in the countries neighboring Ukraine: Slovakia, Poland, and Romania.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte confirmed that the countries were working on joint projects to support Ukraine. This applies both to the transfer of weapons and ammunition and humanitarian issues, in particular, the return of illegally deported children, the prosecution of the guilty, and the payment of compensation.

According to Rutte, the Netherlands "does not see any taboos and cannot exclude anything" in the matter of supplying military equipment. But he warned against predictions because the countries inform about decisions, if they are adopted, after, not before.

As for the training of Ukrainian pilots, the Netherlands is intensively consulting with its partners, but "so far there have been no decisions on the training of pilots in the Netherlands." At the same time, Rutte noted that the discussions continued.

Both leaders underscored that their countries would support Ukraine in all aspects as long as it takes.

As reported, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius promised that the armored vehicles would be handed over to Ukraine in the last week of March.

Earlier today, the Spiegel German media outlet wrote that the last tanks left Germany at the end of last week and were handed over at the Ukrainian border. Moreover, about 40 Marder IFVs are already in the combat zone.

Photo: dpa
A couple using cover identities of Argentina nationals, recently arrested in Slovenia, turned out to be professional spies, known as illegals, that is, operating without a diplomatic cover under fake aliases, hired by Russias SVR Foreign Intelligence Service.

This was reported by The Guardian, as seen by Ukrinform.

According to the publication, "Maria Mayer" and "Ludwig Gisch" came from Argentina and settled in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana in 2017 along with their two young children. Mayer opened an online art platform 5'14 gallery, while Gisch managed an IT startup, DSM&IT. At the same time, people they got to know in the country never noticed any suspicious activity, speaking of the couple as "ordinary" and "nice" family.

The arrest of the couple was the result of one of the most secretive and well-coordinated police and intelligence operations in recent Slovenian history, the report reads.

The two were taken into custody, and their two children were placed in social care. The police also searched the office belonging to the couple. Among the findings, as per a source familiar with the investigation, was an "enormous" pile of cash, so large that it took several hours to count.

At the end of January, Slovenias media reported on the arrests, linking this couple to Russian intelligence. Sources in Ljubljana told the Guardian this week that "Maria and Ludwig" were actually elite Russian spies known as "illegals". The arrests took place after Slovenia received a tip from foreign intelligence, the article says.

Read also: Norway expects Russian spies to intensify operations against its energy industry

It is also reported that on Thursday, Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon confirmed these reports, telling journalists that the arrested couple were actually citizens of the Russian Federation, not Argentina. Fajon also said the Russian ambassador was being summoned to discuss the case.

As the Guardian writes, unlike most Russian spies, who pose as diplomats in Russian embassies around the world, "illegals" operate without any visible ties to Moscow. They are trained for years to impersonate foreigners before being sent abroad to gather intelligence. Many of them have children who are brought up without any idea that their parents are actually Russian.

The suspects are members of a foreign intelligence service who used illegally obtained foreign IDs to live and work in Slovenia under fake identities and secretly gather intelligence, Slovenian police spokesman Drago Menegali said.

In addition, two more sources familiar with the case told the publication that the couple had been working for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), without giving out their real names. If the couple are indeed illegals from the SVR, this will be the first such case that has become public since 2010, when the FBI detained a group of 10 in the United States on a tip-off from a mole in Russian intelligence, the article says.

One of the sources also told the Guardian that in informal conversations after the couple was arrested, Moscow quickly admitted that they were intelligence agents. According to the source, behind-the-scenes negotiations are underway between Moscow and Western nations about them being exchanged for one or several persons currently held in Russian prisons.

According to the source, the main part of the activities of the exposed "illegals" took place outside of Slovenia. Also, a large amount of cash found during a raid in the office may indicate that the couple's duties also included paying Russian informal agents or informants. It is known that both Russian agents often traveled allegedly for work purposes.

Alongside this, as the Guardian writes, there are indications that the couple arrested in Slovenia could be part of a wider illegal SVR network. Soon after the arrests in Ljubljana, a Greek woman and the Brazilian man quickly left Athens and Rio de Janeiro, respectively. According to Greek media reports, Greek authorities believe that the couple were also SVR illegals and may have fled, fearing that the couple arrested in Slovenia might blow their cover, the article said.

It is noted that this is about Maria Tsalla, who posed as a Greek repatriate, but in fact she was an "illegal" from the Russian SVR named Irina who owned a knitting shop in Athens and ran a photo blog. She left Greece on January 5, telling friends she was going on holiday and wanted to buy yarn for her shop. In late January, she wrote to an employee at her store that something important had happened in her life and she would not be coming back.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, late January it became known that the Intelligence and Security Service of Slovenia in Ljubljana detained two foreigners who are suspected of espionage for Russia.
Finland will provide Ukraine with EUR 29 million in humanitarian assistance and development cooperation support.

This is noted in the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

We must combat war fatigue. To cope with this crisis, people need food, shelter and medication, and children need to get to school. We must also keep in mind that our support should help Ukraine recover from the war, says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

As noted, to alleviate human suffering and help Ukraine in the midst of the war, Finland will allocate EUR 15 million to humanitarian assistance and EUR 14 million to development cooperation.

EUR 5 million of Finlands humanitarian assistance will be delivered through Ukraine Humanitarian Fund of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which directly supports food security, health services and emergency accommodation, and the work of local civil society organisations.

EUR 5.4 million will be delivered through two other important partners for Finland in Ukraine, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Some of the humanitarian assistance is channelled through Finnish civil society organisations. They also deliver emergency relief to Moldova, which hosts many Ukrainian refugees. The Finnish organisations prioritise food security, psychosocial support and education. Finlands assistance focuses on assisting the most vulnerable people, especially persons with disabilities.

Finland allocated EUR 14 million in additional support for World Bank's Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) Project to pay teachers salaries.

The EUR 29 million delivered now is part of the additional financing of EUR 70 million which the Government allocated to help Ukraine in 2022. In addition to this, EUR 37 million has been reserved for 2023 for supporting Ukraine through development cooperation. This will make Ukraine Finlands biggest partner nation in development cooperation, reads the statement.
On Thursday, March 30, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will address the National Council of Austria via video conference.

This was reported by Ukrinform's own correspondent in Austria.

The head of the Ukrainian state will deliver a video address to the Austrian parliament not during the regular session of the lower house, but within the framework of the so-called "parliamentary event" at the invitation of the President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka. This is due to the fact that Zelensky's speech at the session is still being blocked by the far-right and pro-Russian Austrian Freedom Party (FPO).

It is planned that the event will open at 09:05, after which the president of Ukraine will deliver his address. After that, debates will be held, in the framework of which representatives of parliamentary factions will be offered to speak up.

It is also expected that on Thursday, at the plenary meeting of Austrias National Council, which will take place immediately after the "parliamentary event" with Zelensky's speech, the issue of providing Ukrainian refugees with unlimited access to the Austrian labor market will be considered.

Thus, Austria will become one of the last EU member states whose parliament hears an address by the Ukrainian leader. Currently, out of the 27 countries in the European Union, except for Austria, only Bulgaria and Hungary have not yet provided the Ukrainian president with such an opportunity.

Earlier in March 2022, the parties represented in Austrias parliament failed to reach an agreement on whether to invite President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to address the National Council. The liberal party Neos came up with the initiative, which found no support from the right-wing populist and pro-Russian Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), while Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) took a position on dragging the issue. This behavior of the two parliamentary parties led to considerable criticism among the Austrians and certain political forces. The President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, then declared his readiness to invite the Ukrainian leader for a speech as soon as there is an agreement between the factions.

Read also: Austria joins coalition of countries supporting creation of special tribunal for Russia

The pro-Russian Freedom Party did not support the idea of Zelenskys video address either and, apparently, the force will not attend the "parliamentary event" when the Ukrainian leader speaks. The leader of the party, Herberg Kikl, said that the speech of the "representative of a warring party in the very heart of our democracy" is a violation of Austria's neutral status.

The President of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, said in an interview with the APA news agency that he does not expect "disturbing fire" from the FPO during Zelenskys video address on March 30. According to him, he will not accept "verbal attacks."

Sobotka emphasized that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is illegal under international law and that is why Austria has shown "very clear solidarity" with Ukraine. According to him, "a clear condemnation, clear European solidarity, and clear commitment that war crimes will be tried by an international court" is necessary.

The head of the National Council added that, in any case, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not get a chance to address the Austrian parliament, even if he hypothetically wanted to. "We are not here to spread the most diverse opinions. We must not distort facts. There cannot be the right to speak in the Austrian parliament for someone who justifies war crimes or, perhaps, even gave orders to commit them," he said.

As reported by Ukrinform, on June 14, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk spoke before Austrias National Council despite opposition from the far-right and pro-Russian Austrian Freedom Party.
Putins decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus violates multiple international agreements on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons - from contractual obligations and decisions of the UN Security Council to the notorious Budapest Memorandum.

That's according to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, head of the Kyiv Security Forum, former Prime Minister of Ukraine (2014-2016), Ukrinform reports, referring to the KSF press service.

Putin cynically announced his next crime immediately after the joint statement of the heads of Russia and China on the prevention of the deployment of nuclear weapons to other states. Both actors call each other friends. Both agreed to protect this undying friendship, Yatsenyuk wrote.

Did China's leader Xi know about the intentions of his friend Putin? Does this decision have the blessing of China and thus nullify all of Xis declarative peace initiatives? If the leader of China did not know about Putins intentions, how does he now assess his friendship with the war criminal who never keeps his word and is ready to backstab China at any moment? head of the KSF said.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk called Putin's decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus a slap in the face of both Beijing's peace declarations and the efforts of the international community to stop Russian aggression.

Ukraine expects China, as well as the entire civilized world, to condemn such actions, he stated: The danger from Russia's actions is growing. Putin's nuclear aggression has reached a new level. All those who remain silent will bear their responsibility for a possible nuclear catastrophe.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on March 25, Vladimir Putin said in an interview on Russian TV that the country intended to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The decision, he said, was approved after the United Kingdom pledged to deliver to Ukraine a batch of artillery munitions containing depleted uranium. These rounds are not considered nuclear weapons. The White House said the intentions of Vladimir Putin, whom the International Criminal Court suspects of war crimes, would not influence the U.S. nuclear posture.

At the same time, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said Russia had likely had the intention to deploy nukes in Belarus even before launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
THE HAGUE - Portrait of a Stranger, a creative multimedia collaboration between world-renowned photographer and storyteller Platon, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, will debut today in partnership with the Movies That Matter International Human Rights Film Festival in The Hague, Netherlands.

The 18-minute film features interviews and portraits of over 20 refugees who fled conflict and persecution in various parts of the world, exploring the universal desire to be free, safe, respected and valued, and to belong.

Over the last year, UNHCR and Platon interviewed a diverse group of refugees ranging in age, nationality, ethnicity and personal circumstances. The result, Portrait of a Stranger, is a holistic, multimedia experience, marrying film and photography. It asks audiences to look beyond our differences and instead focus on our shared humanity.

Living in exile may be their life circumstance, but it is not what defines them, said Platon. I hope the images and voices of the refugees in this film will help audiences focus on the shared humanity that unites us, rather than the barriers that divide us. Not only for these particular refugees but for all people forced to flee around the world.

As the number of people forcibly displaced continues to rise  last year there were more than 100 million people uprooted globally  it is hoped that the collaboration will help to reframe the narratives and perceptions around people forced to flee.

This film and these images are powerful reminders of who refugees really are. They are people like your neighbour, your friend, your colleague. Like you and me, each with our own personality; our hopes; our dreams, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said. By amplifying the voices of refugees, the film offers an important reality check to counter the negative public discourse we often hear about people forced to flee.

Notes to Editor:

Selected Images available here.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

About Platon:

Photographer, communicator and storyteller Platon has gained worldwide fame with his portraits. Platon has worked with a range of international publications including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and won a Peabody Award for his photo essays for The New Yorker. He has photographed over 30 covers for TIME Magazine and is a World Press Photo laureate. He is currently on the board for Arts and Culture at the World Economic Forum. In 2013, Platon founded The Peoples Portfolio, a non-profit foundation dedicated to celebrating emerging leaders of human rights and civil rights around the world.

About UNHCR:

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international action to protect people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. We deliver life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality.
Just a few months back, a gleaming new womens business centre supporting female traders and providing English, computer and vocational training courses for women, was bustling with people. Today, the upper floors, where the courses took place, along with a creche, psycho-social counselling rooms, offices, and a permanent area for selling handicrafts, are silent.

It used to be really, really busy here, said Sahar*, a refugee returnee and mother of two, who runs a clothing store on the ground floor. It is one of 35 women-run businesses currently operating rent-free at the centre. Since the ban on female staff working for non-governmental organizations, the second floor has been closed. Weve lost so many customers.

There were many students coming and going here, and they would come by the stores; they spread the word about the shops here and helped us to market the place. Now, my income has reduced a lot  I would say by about 50 per cent, she said.

"We became businesswomen."

The centre opened in June 2022 as a pilot project requested by the community and supported by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, with Afghan partner, Women Activities and Social Services Association (WASSA), to provide livelihood opportunities for women in western Afghanistans Guzara district, some 12 kilometres south of Herat city.

The area, adjacent to fields and mud-built houses, has high numbers of returnee refugees and displaced Afghans. It was designated as a so-called Priority Area for Return and Reintegration (PARR) by UNHCR, which supports initiatives to improve access to essential services and develop key infrastructure in such areas.

But, after the centre opened, the de facto authorities in Kabul gradually introduced more regulations targeting women and girls. In addition to barring them from secondary school and private classes, decrees were introduced stopping women from travelling long distances on public transport without a male relative or mahram (guardian) and banning them from parks and gyms. In late December, a new decree banned women from working for non-governmental organizations  forcing the closure of classes and activities at the centre, all of which were run by female NGO workers.

See also: Afghan women affected by Taliban bans on work and study fear for their futures

Being able to run this shop was a golden chance for me, said Motahera, a mother of two, who runs a haberdashery store at the Womens Business Centre with her relative, Shahrbanoo. I was so lucky to be able to work and have this support from UNHCR.

Honestly, I can say it changed our personalities and restored our self-esteem. We were no longer just women staying at home, we became businesswomen.

Sahar* looks out for customers from the door of her empty clothing store. Hers is one of 35 women-run businesses operating at the centre.  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck Sahar, who is a refugee returnee with two children, says her income has fallen by about 50 per cent since December.  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck Motahera serves a rare customer at her haberdashery shop.  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck Motahera, a mother of two, with her relative, Shahrbanoo, who she runs the shop with.  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck The computer classes for women and girls that used to take place on the second floor of the business centre stopped in December after the new decree came into force.  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck Previous Next

The women, both former refugees, invested all their profits back into the shop, buying new stock to keep customers satisfied. Motahera had dreamed of buying a house. When the activities on the second floor stopped, we lost many customers. Our profits are down about 30 per cent. It was a real shock to us, and I cried a lot. I was worried that our businesses might also have to close.

There are so many rumours. I feel anything is possible now; we just dont know, and we cant predict the future, she said.

The traders here are not alone in feeling the economic impacts of restrictions on women. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently estimated that female employment in Afghanistan has fallen by a quarter since the de facto authorities took over in 2021, noting that home-based self-employment has become the main form of womens participation in the labour market. The agency also estimated that Afghanistans GDP has contracted by 30 to 35 per cent over the past two years.

"Now the doors are closed to us."

A dozen former English language and computer students at the centre in Herat described feeling devastated when classes stopped overnight. After the ban stopping girls studying past grade 6, this was the only place we could come and learn. We could also make new friends here and network. It was a really great place, said 20-year-old Nargis.

When it closed, we could only stay at home and were so depressed. I just stayed in my room and didnt go out, said another student, Raziea.

The activities at the centre opened a new window for us, said Latifa, 21. It gave new hope to everybody. Now the doors are closed to us.

UNHCR and partner WASSA are planning to distribute tablets to students and to conduct online teaching, although poor internet connectivity and costs may deter many.

UNHCRs Senior Protection Assistant in Herat, Hayatullah Jawed, who has worked on the project, said the centre had a transformational impact. It totally changed the views of the community; we got so much good feedback from people. It was a new chapter in their lives and provided new hope.

Before, we heard that many were planning to leave and return to Iran, as they had no hope back here; but after the centre opened, they were confident and felt they could play a positive role in the development of their country, he said.

The women are trying to remain hopeful, but some students said their families were considering leaving Afghanistan if things did not change soon. Nargis, who attended training on repairing mobile phones, said that she would not give up her determination to study again.

Nobody can keep a moon behind the clouds, she said. It will reappear. What we are dealing with is temporary, not eternal. We must keep hope for the future and stay strong.

*Not her real name
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Turkmenistan and Japan discussed issues related to the development of comprehensive cooperation, Trend reports with reference to Turkmen media outlets.

These issues were discussed during the meeting of the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Kenji Yamada with the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Tokyo Atadurdy Bayramov.

During the meeting at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the sides discussed topical issues related to the organization of joint events and meetings that were scheduled for 2023, and also discussed the development of bilateral cooperation between the two states in political, diplomatic, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas.

At the same time, they stressed the progressive nature of the development of cooperation between Japan and Turkmenistan in various fields, and also noted high potential for increasing partnership cooperation both in the bilateral format and as part of international organizations.

Meanwhile, the Turkmen delegation took part in Central Asia - Japan Business Dialogue on February 21, 2023, which took place in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

The event was organized by the Japanese ROTOBO Trade Association with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
Vietnam Airlines resumes direct flights between Da Nang and Japan's Narita

A ceremony to welcome the first direct flight from Narita airport in Tokyo (Japan) to Da Nang after a long suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic was held by the national carrier Vietnam Airlines in the central beach city on March 26.











Japanese tourists arriving in Da Nang on the first direct flight from Narita are presented with gifts (Photo: tuoitre.vn)

The nearly 180 Japanese passengers on the Vietnam Airlines flight were greeted with art performance and gifts from the city.



Deputy Director of Da Nang Department of Tourism Nguyen Xuan Binh said that Japan is considered a key market of the citys tourism with stable growth. The locality received more than 183,000 Japanese arrivals in 2019, an increase of nearly 200% compared to 2015 (92,000 arrivals).





Since Vietnam reopened to international tourism in March 2022, the city has welcomed about 27,000 Japanese visitors. The resumption of regular flights from Narita to Da Nang is expected to make a positive contribution to attracting Japanese tourists back to Da Nang and vice versa in the coming time.





According to the airline, in the initial phase, starting from March 26, 2023 to June 30, 2023, the Narita - Da Nang route will operate four flights a week on Tuesdays, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.





From July 1 onward, Vietnam Airlines plans to operate daily flights with a frequency of seven flights a week in an attempt to boost tourism and trade exchange between Japan and the central region of Vietnam./.
Elnur Enveroglu

The human rights situation under the Armenian government is on the brink of total demise. The persecution and murders of public and political figures in the country have taken a large scope following the hike of resentment against the incumbent government of Nikol Pashinyan.

All these issues go back to the Karabakh trilateral statement of November 10, 2020,  as a result of which thousands of protesters took to the streets in Armenia and stormed the National Assembly building in Yerevan. Armenians also held numerous protests and marches worldwide to protest the outcome of the second Karabakh war. Protests continued until May 2021, with demonstrations in Yerevan and other cities demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Police violence and arrests

From May 1, 2022, thousands of demonstrators, demanding the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to the streets of Yerevan, staging acts of civil disobedience, marching, holding sit-ins, and attempting to block major thoroughfares in the capitals downtown. On May 2, police in Yerevan detained at least 244 demonstrators, many on charges of refusing to obey official orders. By May 3, at least 70 demonstrators were arrested, according to a police spokesman.

Further, sources reported over 580 detentions of demonstrators by the Armenian police in the country, and these have been recorded from November 2020 to May 2021.

Police used force in an effort to suppress the protestors. Demonstrators and media representatives were subjected to physical attacks and insults.

As regards some facts about the murders of the active participants in the rallies, Garnik Petrosyans (born in 1993) case remains murky. Petrosyan, one of the protesters, who entered the parliament building, was found dead under a bridge on November 13, 2020, an hour following his interrogation.

A strong backlash against the decisions of Pashinyan and the governments lack of ability to fulfill its obligations drew it into another cataclysm.

In early April 2022, protests in Armenia began over the implementation of the November 10, 2020, tripartite statement and the prospect of a potential peace treaty with Azerbaijan after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met in Brussels, Belgium on April 6, 2022, for a joint summit hosted by the European Council. The protest movement was attended by activists from various opposition forces and the relatives of fallen and wounded servicemen of the Second Karabakh War.

Protests continued until June, with demonstrations in Yerevan and other cities demanding the resignation of the government. Police detained dozens of protesters who marched and blocked roads to Armenias capital Yerevan, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

According to official data, as of June 6, 2022, over 2,100 participants were detained. Police mistreated both protesters and the media covering the events with such force that activists described it as brutal. During rallies on Proshyan Street, the police fired expired stun grenades against the protesters, injuring dozens of people.

In a nutshell, the brutality applied during the rally was exceptional in terms of quelling the raging mass across the country.

Persecutions within the political pandemonium

Armenia was engulfed in deep political chaos at a time when Pashinyan's My Step Alliance swept to victory in 2018. While Pashinyan's pro-Western ruling party tried to eliminate Russian leverage, the opposition went closer to Moscow asking for a salvage.

Deep contradictions started between the government and the opposition which made the government resort to severe measures. Thus, persecutions and arrests took an enormous scope in the country which resulted in big damage to the image of the government. This also sidelined Armenia to progress in both its domestic and external policies.

When Pahsinyan started to oust the pro-Russian opposition, he was more than sure that alone he would annex the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by virtue of his patrons in the west. However, he forgot that Armenia is not a neighbor of France or the US, but is located in the South Caucasus, where its biggest reneged patron is Russia.




Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Saudi Counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in a phone talk on Sunday night reviewed the latest status of bilateral agreements, Trend reports citing IRNA.

The two countries' top diplomats talked about their former talks earlier in this blessed fasting month of Ramadan.

The constructive process of restoration of full bilateral ties and diplomatic relations was the main topic of talks between the two major Islamic countries' top diplomats.
UNODC Commemorates the International Day of Women Judges: Interview with Honourable Justice Binta Fatimat Murtala Nyako

On the International Day of Women Judges, UNODC sat down with Honourable Justice Binta Fatimat Murtala Nyako, one of the longest serving judges of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, to talk about women in the Nigerian judiciary and what the day means for Nigeria.

Honourable Justice Nyako is a human rights advocate and judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria. Prior to her appointment to the Federal High Court in July 2000, Justice Nyako served as a State Counsel at the Katsina State Ministry of Justice from 1983 to 1993, eventually becoming the Solicitor General of Katsina State in 1989. Following her three-year tenure as Solicitor-General, she was appointed Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Katsina State and held office from 1994 to 1996. In 2018, Justice Nyako, led a team of judges, to preside over mass trials of terrorism related offences, that were heard before special courts of the Federal Hight Court in Kainji, Niger state.

Justice Nyako was previously the President of the National Association of Women Judges in Nigeria and is currently the incoming President of the International Association of Women Judges. Justice Nyako was one of two Africans to be elected as a member of the International Association of Judges in 2012.

UNODC: My Lord, it is a great privilege to sit down with you and have a conversation about women in the Nigerian judiciary, and the important role women play in strengthening the criminal justice system more broadly. Can you tell us what inspired you to become a judge?

Initially I studied law, and was the first female from my home state of Katsina to have studied the subject. It was also a logical evolution. Having risen through the ranks to become Attorney General, at the end of my tenure, the next natural step was the judiciary. Also, during my years of practice, I realized that law is an area where a lot of women are not represented - especially in the Northern part of the country. I thought it would be good to break into this field and see how I could contribute to it and mentor other women, so that they could also break into the legal field, which initially looked as if it were reserved for men.

UNODC: The International Day of Women Judges is observed every year to recognize the contributions made by women judges and promote fair gender representation to strengthen the judiciary and judicial integrity. From your experience, what are some challenges to ensuring fair gender representation in the Nigerian judiciary?

In the Nigerian judiciary, we all represent different parts of the Federation. From my part of the country, women judges are not a very common feature, and I cite my home state of Katsina, which is a predominantly a Muslim state, governed by Sharia. By contrast, in the Southern region of Nigeria, there are several female legal practitioners who have been in the legal sphere for a long time, so it is less challenging for women to enter the judiciary in this region. For example, in Lagos state, there are more female judges than male judges on the Bench of the Lagos State Judiciary. Whereas, in Katsina, of the total number of judges in the state, only three are female. There are also several other states with only one female judge on the bench of the state judiciary.

Part of the challenge would not be farfetched from being cultural and religious. Cultural in the sense that women up until recently have been restricted to the private sphere. It was unheard of for women to go to work in the mornings, sit in court the whole day and come back in the evening, where they would still need to write judgements for the cases they are hearing. It was acceptable for women to pursue careers as medical doctors or nurses, for instance. But for women to go into the Sharia field was a challenge.

Then, there is also the issue arising from the nature of the job as a judge which requires you to move to different parts of the country. Judges are often required to sit on tribunals and conduct other exercises, which means leaving home and of course you cannot take your children, particularly if they are of a schooling age. It is a big juggling game for a woman to be on the Bench of the Nigerian judiciary.

UNODC: In your opinion, what are some effective methods that can be applied in Nigeria to promote the equal participation of women judges at all levels of the judiciary?

Even though the government may have a role to play, the burden of balancing the imbalances does not lie exclusively on the government. In my own capacity, I always advocate for equal opportunities for the genders. For instance, seats on the Bench of the Nigerian judiciary should not be preserved for men. Appointment to the Bench should rather be a matter of merit, so everyone should be allowed to apply and the best brain gets the job. In terms of statistics on the number of law students in Nigerian universities, you will find that the female students outweigh the male students. But by the time the female law students finish their studies, joining the judiciary may not necessarily be their priority. A lot of women opt to follow the entrepreneurial route and establish businesses that are not law-related. However, this can be something that could be prevented if the atmosphere of being a judge is made more conducive and family oriented. Changing this atmosphere could potentially encourage more women to join the Bench.

UNODC: The Nigerian government has made several efforts to achieve a more gender-aware criminal justice system, such as the establishment of the Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and Gender Response Unit in the Federal Ministry of Justice. What do you think the judiciary can do to improve justice delivery within the context of SGBV, by ensuring that the courts become more gender-responsive and victim-centered?

Every good criminal trial begins with a good investigation. So, I commend the Federal Ministry of Justice for establishing the SGBV and Gender Response Unit and reaching out to UNODC to support its mandate on strengthening the capacities of investigators and prosecutors in handling SGBV cases.

If a criminal justice practitioner involved in handling an SGBV case is not sensitive to the pains of victims of sexual violence, they will not be able to appreciate what needs to be done to effectively investigate and prosecute a case. The inclusion of women in the investigation, prosecution, and trial of SGBV offences cannot be overemphasized. I remember very clearly, a long time ago, a victim mentioned that she had gone to the police station to report an incident of rape, and the police officers simply looked at her and responded: "Did you not enjoy it?" That level of insensitivity comes from a lack of appreciation of the gravity of sexual violence, and the seriousness of the psychological effects of such offences on the victims. In addition, there is also a lack of appreciation of the issue of re-victimization. We must not forget that SGBV cases are criminal cases, so all criminal justice practitioners working on these cases require specialized trainings that focus on the psychological and rehabilitative aspects affecting victims.

I am also very encouraged by the numerous states in Nigeria that have established family courts to hear SGBV cases. It is important that SGBV cases are afforded the seriousness they deserve, by the establishing specialized courts at the High Court level, not just the Magisterial level, where the judges undergo specialized trainings to handle SGBV cases. Then, the atmosphere of the court should also be conducive to responding to the sensitivities that come with handling victims and witnesses, including juvenile victims, witnesses and perpetrators. I recall during my time as a prosecutor many years ago, I prosecuted a case of molestation. I brought a witness to court, and she burst into tears because the legal regalia worn by the counsel was different and intimidating to her. When I had initially interviewed her prior to her appearance in court, I was just ordinarily dressed without my robes. However, in court, the witness saw all the counsel in legal regalia, and that frightened her. So, if the ambiance of the court is made conducive to guard against these sorts of instances and more, victims and witnesses would be encouraged to come forward.

Because I sit on the Bench of the Federal High Court, I do not hear SGBV cases, but I have participated in several seminars and activities on this topic. However, within my portfolio as a judge of the Federal High Court, I do hear terrorism cases in my court, which could also feature elements of SGBV offences. So, I have a deep appreciation for the gravity of such cases.

UNODC: As the President-elect of the International Association of Women Judges, do you have any last comments to make on the International Day of Women Judges?

I wish to commend and appreciate the Government of Qatar, that stood by the United Nations to ensure that this day was declared. I also congratulate the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), for bringing the day to the fore and celebrating it.

We must also emphasize the efforts of the National Association of Women Judges in Nigeria (NAWJN). NAWJN has been very active in its capacity, having conducted several programmes recently and in the past. Currently, the IAWJ is implementing a programme in Nigeria, called the Co-Impact. This programme is centred-on mentoring young women seeking to join the legal profession.

Generally, the IAWJ and NAWJN, stand for victims and those who cannot speak - the silenced and oppressed. This is something that should be celebrated. Even though the judiciary is meant to be seen and not heard, through the actions of these Associations, we will be able to send the message across that the judges are watching as their brother's keeper.
Date: 27 Apr 2023 - 11 Jun 2023

Town/City: Dunoon Burgh Hall

The Patrons of the Dunoon Burgh Hall Trust are delighted to welcome this exhibition of the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, on loan from Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

This beautiful exhibition of extraordinary works has been some years in planning, working closely with the curators and staff at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

The exhibition will coincide with Tate Britain's The Rossettis, a major exhibition devoted to the radical Rossetti generation.
New Delhi, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Mar, 2023 ) :India's parliament was adjourned on Monday after noisy protests by opposition lawmakers over the expulsion from the house of top opposition figure Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi was stripped of his parliamentary seat on Friday in a move that critics say heightens concerns about creeping authoritarianism in the world's largest democracy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has been widely accused by political opponents and rights groups of using the legal system to target and silence critics.

Members of Gandhi's opposition Congress party wore black shirts and scarves as parliament opened on Monday. Some threw paper at the speaker, who then adjourned proceedings.

"I want to run the House with dignity," Speaker Om Birla said. "Proceedings of the House are adjourned till 4 pm." Gandhi's expulsion came a day after he was convicted of defamation in Modi's home state of Gujarat for a 2019 campaign-trail remark seen as an insult to the premier.

Gandhi, 52, is the leading face of Congress, once the dominant force of Indian politics but now a shadow of its former self.

He is the scion of India's most famous political dynasty and the son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, beginning with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.

But he has failed to challenge the electoral juggernaut of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its nationalist appeals to India's Hindu majority.

The lower house of parliament ruled him ineligible to continue sitting as an MP on Friday, a day after his conviction in the defamation case.

The prosecution stemmed from a remark made during the 2019 election campaign, during which Gandhi had asked why "all thieves have Modi as (their) common surname".

His comments were portrayed as a slur against the prime minister, who went on to win the election in a landslide.

Members of the government also said the remark was a smear against all those sharing the Modi surname, associated with the lower rungs of India's traditional caste hierarchy.

Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment on Thursday but walked free on bail after his lawyers vowed to appeal.

A BJP spokesman said Thursday the court acted with "due judicial process" in arriving at its judgement.

Legal action has been widely deployed against opposition party figures and institutions seen as critical of the Modi government in recent years.

Gandhi faces several other defamation cases and a money-laundering case that has been snaking its way through India's glacial legal system for more than a decade.

The Editors Guild of India said there is also a wider "trend of using government agencies to intimidate or harass press organisations that are critical of government policies".

On Saturday, Gandhi, who recently completed a walk across India that was hailed as a success by commentators, said he would "do whatever I have to do to defend the democratic nature of this country".
TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2023) Two ballistic missiles test-fired by Pyongyang on Monday morning flew some 350 kilometers (217 miles), Japan's Defense Ministry informs.

The Japan Coast Guard issued two warnings on Monday, suggesting that two launches were carried out by Pyongyang.

Japan's defense ministry said that North Korea launched two ballistic missiles from its western coast on Monday, both of them landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. Both missiles reached an altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) and flew some 350 kilometers.

The South Korean Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean military that North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the Chunghwa area on Monday.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2023) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on Monday that he visited the Dnipro hydroelectric station in Zaporizhzhia and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there.

On March 25, the IAEA said that Grossi that will pay a visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) next week.

"The Dnieper hydroelectric station is an essential part of the system that sustains the nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

Zelenskyy showed me the recent damage suffered by the dam," Grossi said on Twitter.

The Dnipro hydroelectric station is located in the city of Zaporizhzhia currently controlled by Ukraine. A senior official of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration, Vladimir Rogov earlier said that the station had been mined since early March, as Kiev expected the Russian military to take the city. Should the provocation planned by Ukraine is implemented, then an uncontrolled discharge of water will take place.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2023) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after the latter called on the Israeli government to halt the controversial judicial reform that sparked major nationwide protests, the prime minister's office said on Sunday.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening, to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant," Netanyahu's office tweeted.

Netanyahu reportedly told Gallant that he lost his trust in the defense minister after Gallant "went behind the government's back" on Saturday during Netanyahu's visit to the United Kingdom, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.

"The security of Israel has always been and will remain my lifelong mission," Gallant said on Twitter in response to his dismissal.

Gallant became the first key Israeli minister to call for a halt of the reform. He stressed that there was a growing rift in Israeli society that was also penetrating the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the country's security agencies.

Thousands have been protesting against the judicial reform in Israel for almost 11 weeks now. The draft law presented by Justice Minister Yariv Levin in January, if adopted, will significantly curtail the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court and give the government control over the procedure of the appointment of judges.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2023) Israeli police used water cannons to push back protesters who broke through to the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Keshet 12 tv channel reports.

Late on Sunday, thousands of protesters broke through the last police checkpoint in front of Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem.

The mass protest started after Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who became the first key Israeli minister to call for a halt of the controversial judicial reform on Saturday. Gallant said that there was a growing rift in Israeli society that was also penetrating the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the country's security agencies.

Israel's National Security Minister Ben Gvir urged Netanyahu to fire Gallant on Saturday.

Israel's Consul General in New York Asaf Zamir announced his resignation after the Israeli prime minister dismissed Gallant on Sunday.

Mass protests against the judicial reform have been held in Israel for 12 straight weeks. According to Netanyahu, the Israeli government plans to pass a key part of the proposed legislation in the coming days.

On Friday, organizers of the protest movement against the judicial reform in Israel declared a "week of paralysis," which would include nationwide demonstrations against the divisive legislative action. Earlier this week, hundreds of activists swarmed outside the residences of prominent Israeli government officials  including Tourism Minister Haim Katz, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others  to protest against the judicial reform.
Events Planned at UW During Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April

Speakers, Denim Day, informational displays and a fundraiser are events planned during Sexual Assault Awareness Month at the University of Wyoming in April.

Two guest speakers -- Katie Koestner and Antuan Raimone -- will present From HBO to Broadways Hamilton: Stories of 2 Survivors at 7 p.m. Friday, April 14, in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. Both will share their sexual assault survivor stories and how they have worked on their own healing and advocacy. The event is free and open to the public.

Koestner, an activist, is the first woman to speak out nationally as a victim of date rape. She has been featured in Time magazine, and in HBO and Lifetime films about her story. Raimone is a Broadway actor who has appeared in productions of Hamilton and In the Heights.

Denim Day and Green Dot Day of Action are scheduled Wednesday, April 26. The goals of these events are to help raise funds for the Survivor Emergency Fund; to show support for survivors of sexual assault by wearing denim; and to promote Green Dot as a proactive way to reduce violence. Green Dot is UWs skill-based bystander intervention program that is committed to reducing and preventing power-based personal violence such as sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.

Information tables will be displayed from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. April 26 in the Wyoming Union breezeway and on Simpson Plaza. The tables will include resources, giveaways, food and activities to show support for survivors in the community. To view live updates the day of events, follow @uwyogreendot and @uofwyoming on Instagram.

Denim Day is about spreading awareness around sexual violence issues, supporting survivors and educating ourselves and others on how to stop violence before it occurs, says Michelle DiPasquale, UWs Violence Prevention Program manager.

She is urging the community to do one or more of the following: Wear denim and post a photo to Instagram with #cowboysweardenim to show support for survivors; donate to the Survivor Emergency Fund, which directly supports undergraduate student survivors; or promote Green Dot by wearing a Green Dot pin or registering for an upcoming training session.

Also that day will be a visual display and a group photo event.

The Clothesline Project -- in the Wyoming Union Family Room -- is a visual display that has T-shirts with messages that survivors or those personally impacted by sexual assault have written. The shirts will be displayed for those who would like to view/read them.

For those wearing denim on Denim Day, a large group photo will be taken at noon in the Wyoming Union Skylight Lounge.

For more information about Sexual Assault Awareness Month events, email DiPasquale at greendot@uwyo.edu.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The latest protests in France are a symptom of a systemic pathology of French political discourse, which plagues the country for some time. It should not come as a surprise that the traditionally politically vocal French people chose a rather radical approach to voice their grievances, as the indicators of an impending crisis were clearly observable for some time.

Various reports suggest that the number of protestors exceeded 1 million people as President Emmanuel Macron driven pension reform was forced. The reform will increase the retirement age by two years, to 64.

This is not the first occurrence of protests during the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. Since being elected the President, he faced large-scale protests due to his unpopular economic policies. In this sense, President Macron is a battle-hardened veteran, who knows how to survive despite the non-stop protests and strikes, aimed at influencing his policy decisions.

But what makes the current societal crisis stand out? It would be possible to argue that the violent crackdown on protestors is one of the elements, however, we do not see this as a defining factor.

It is imperative that we analyze two major issues, which will further our understanding of the phenomenon. First, which mechanisms explain the grievances of the French population? Second, what was the element that led to the escalation of protests? Examining these issues will enable us to pass judgment on the governments handling of the latest crisis. Additionally, this approach will help us understand why there is possibly more at stake in this situation than a simple increase in the retirement age.

Understanding the causes of protests

In a nutshell, the development of a protest movement can be explained by several key reasons. First, is the feeling of relative deprivation, which can be summarized as a lack of opportunities to sustain the lifestyle that individuals or society are accustomed to. President Macron is trying to impose his ideas on how the population should live, which is understandably met with hostility by hardworking people in France.

The perceived distance between political elites and decision-makers in France, and the general population, is another reason for the grievances. It is a very hard reality to accept for ordinary people in France, particularly considering the results of the Elabe opinion poll released last year. The poll indicates that 70 percent of respondents opposed the increase in the retirement age. In light of the poll results, and the subsequent decision of the government to amend the retirement age, it becomes somewhat more apparent that the grievances of the population are unaddressed by the decision-makers.

This brings us to an interesting, albeit theoretical, observation of the Marxism-driven nature of the protests. There is certainly a divide between the working population and politicians making decisions, which does little to alleviate the existing hardships of the population.

Article 49.3: the specifics of French democracy that escalated the protests

Another potential issue that is apparent here is the way how the initiative of President Macron was forced. In order to execute the decision, Article 49.3 of the French Constitution was executed. This subsection of the article enables the government to push a bill through the lower house of the French Parliament, the National Assembly. It is a perfectly legal procedure, as it is a part of the French constitution since its inception in 1958, which was included to grant a level of control in times of parliamentary instability.

There is a price to be paid, however, as a no-confidence vote can be filed against the government. Should the no-confidence vote be supported by more than half of the legislators, the government will be dissolved. Historically, the chances of a no-confidence motion toppling the government are very slim, which is something that happened in this case, as well.

Despite the fact that the whole procedure is legal, there is a significant problem associated with it. It is not a democratic procedure. On paper, the French government acted in line with the democratic principles set forth in the Constitution. The move, however, was undemocratic in spirit. President Macron used the safeguards aimed at guaranteeing the seamless functioning of the government and the country to push unpopular legislation.

The approach that the head of state took is a threat to democratic norms, as it enables the president to push any kind of legislation through the lower house of the parliament. This means that at any given time French society, which is based on democratic values and principles, may face a totalitarian rule enforced by a politician.

After what happened, at least some ordinary people may start considering that the elected officials, who have to protect their interests, betrayed them by purposefully pushing a piece of legislation that will diminish the living standard.

Governments position is a threat to democracy

President Macron pushes the initiative as a measure to make the national pension system sustainable. According to the head of state, people spend around 25 years in retirement, which affects the economy negatively. This makes sense, however, this argument is rather flimsy for several reasons.

First, people should not be forced to work due to the governments inability to carry out their duties effectively. The fact that the national pension system is unsustainable is not the fault of the average French citizen. It is unfair and a breach of a social contract between the government and its citizens.

Second, forcing people to work for an extra two years will lead to a sharp decline in productivity during the extra two years. The national economy will have a portion of the population, which produces less than it can. This will happen just because these people will have to sit through the extra two years.

From a moral standpoint, it is extremely challenging to justify the overall approach of the French ruling elites. Citizens of France, who are likely to work longer to reach retirement age, were left in a very bad situation because the politicians are interested in using legal leverage to push through any kind of legislation, which undermines the principles of democracy. This is a dangerous pathway, which threatens to plunge a democratic society into tyranny.

The protests against the decisions made by the French legislators were two-pronged. First, the demonstrators protested against the rise of the retirement age, which was a unifying factor that explains why the movement remained cohesive. However, a more important element of the situation is that the actions of the French government served as a catalyst that escalated the situation.

It is very likely that people in France will have to deal with the retirement age amendment without being able to affect the situation. Understandably, it is a rather unfortunate development. The circumstances surrounding the adoption of the legislation, however, will, probably, spark a discussion regarding the limits of Article 49.3 and its impact on the level of democracy in France.
The United States on Tuesday opens its second Summit for Democracy with its eyes firmly on the rest of the world, seeking a united front against authoritarianism as Russia attacks Ukraine and as China launches a diplomatic offensive.

President Joe Biden took office pledging to champion democracy, and in his first year made good with the inaugural summit, which sought to reaffirm U.S. leadership.

This time round, in a nod to concerns that the first edition was too focused on the U.S., Biden has tapped co-hosts on each continent  the presidents of Zambia, Costa Rica and South Korea and prime minister of The Netherlands.

In total, he has invited 121 leaders for the three-day, mostly virtual summit  eight more than in 2021.

The summit comes as threats to democracy evolve "from what was seen as an important issue, albeit sort of a slow-moving threat, to one that is now both important and extremely urgent," said Marti Flacks, director of the human rights initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The sessions will bring in civil society representatives for discussions on a range of challenges to democracy including surveillance technology, which the United States sees as a growing threat as China makes rapid technological advances.

"In the absence of pending congressional action in that space, it is important that the administration is engaging bilaterally with other countries and also with companies on voluntary actions that can be taken in the interim," Flacks said.

Shunning Turkey, Hungary

The summit will open Tuesday with a virtual conversation on peace in Ukraine featuring President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Not only the message but the setting will be a striking contrast from the first summit where Zelenskyy, now a wartime leader in military fatigues, was clean-shaven and wearing a crisp black suit.

While Biden has kept his campaign pledge on the democracy summit, he has disappointed some human rights activists by easing his earlier vows to shun autocratic leaders.

Biden last year visited both Saudi Arabia, acknowledging the kingdom's role in oil markets, and Egypt, the host of a climate summit and U.S. partner in regional security, and has increasingly worked with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Ukraine.

None of those three countries are being invited to the summit, a backhanded criticism especially of Erdogan, who faces reelection on May 14 after two decades in power in which he is accused of creeping authoritarianism.

Uniquely among European Union states, Biden is not inviting Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a fourth term last year but has been accused of deviating from liberal values by clamping down on the press, denouncing non-European refugees and speaking favorably of Moscow.

U.S. partners shunned for the summit include Singapore, whose elections are generally considered free but which limits free assembly and regulates media, and Bangladesh, where hundreds have been arrested under the Digital Security Act.

The U.S. State Department declined to discuss criteria for inclusion in the summit.

"However, we reiterate that for the summit we aim to be inclusive and representative of a regionally and socioeconomically diverse slate of countries," a State Department spokesperson said. "We are not seeking to define which countries are and aren't democracies."

Growing U.S. partner India, billed as the world's largest democracy, is on the attendance list days after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament, the latest step under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has alarmed rights groups.

India's neighbor and arch-rival Pakistan, where Imran Khan was last year ousted as prime minister and later charged, is also on the list.

More African nations invited

Of the countries that received invitations after being kept away in 2021, five are in Africa, including Tanzania, where President Samia Suluhu Hassan has promised to restore competitive politics, and Ivory Coast, where tensions have eased since 2021 elections passed off calmly, as well as The Gambia, Mauritania and Mozambique.

In Latin America, Biden is for the first time inviting Honduras, which won praise for authorities' improved conduct of 2021 elections, despite persistent violence and its recent dumping of Taiwan ties for China.

The summit comes as the United States focuses on Africa, where China and Russia have both been making inroads.

Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling this week to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia  whose president, Hakainde Hichilema, has been held up by Washington as a model on democracy and will hold his own events as a summit co-host.

Freedom House, the U.S.-backed research group, in its latest annual report saw an overall deterioration in global democracy but also a growing number of bright spots.

Katie LaRoque, the group's coordinator for the summit, said that while a single meeting would not in itself be decisive, the gathering gives an opportunity.

Democracies can "coordinate policy changes that can contain rampant authoritarian aggression," she said.
The Scottish National Party elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader Monday. This comes after what analysts describe as a bruising five-week campaign that exposed deep cracks in Scotlands pro-independence movement.

The 37-year-old Yousaf, who is currently Scotlands health minister, will be Scotlands first Muslim and first person of color to serve as First Minister. He will succeed Nicola Sturgeon, who unexpectedly stepped down from her position last month after eight years.

Yousaf is widely seen as a continuity of Sturgeon, as they share similar social liberal views. Yousaf said his main goals are to concentrate on tackling the cost-of-living crisis, end divisions in the ruling SNP party, and make a renewed push for independence.

Yousaf narrowly beat two other Scottish lawmakers, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and member of Parliament Ash Regan with 52% of the vote. All three candidates share the mission of independence but differ in their economic and social visions for Scotland.

"The people of Scotland need independence now, more than ever before and we will be the generation that delivers independence," Yousaf said in a speech in Edinburgh after the results were announced.

Both Forbes and Regan opposed a controversial bill championed by Sturgeon to make it easier for people in Scotland to legally change their gender, while Yousaf supported it. The bill is hailed as a landmark piece of legislation by transgender rights activists but has faced opposition from some SNP members who said it did not consider the need to protect single-sex spaces for women, such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers.

Scottish voters backed remaining in the United Kingdom with 55% of the vote in a 2014 referendum. The SNP wants a new vote, but the central government in London has refused to authorize one, and the U.K. Supreme Court has ruled that Scotland can't hold one without London's consent.

The SNP is the largest of the countrys political parties with 72,000 members. The unity of the party has been its greatest strength but recently that has weakened due to disagreements over how to achieve independence and the best way to introduce social reforms such as transgender rights. Other prominent parties include the Scottish Conservative Party, the Scottish Labour Party, and the Scottish Greens.

Some information from this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.


U.N. investigators have accused Libyan state security forces and armed militia groups of committing a wide array of crimes with impunity, many of which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The three-member U.N. Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya on Monday presented its final report on what it called "the country's deteriorating human rights situation" since the beginning of 2016. And the picture it paints is not pretty.

The investigation has documented numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, rape, enslavement, extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance. Despite the gravity of these crimes, the investigators noted that nearly all the survivors interviewed refrained from lodging official complaints "out of fear of reprisals, arrest, extortion and a lack of confidence in the justice system."

Mohamed Auajjar, chair of the Libya Fact-Finding Mission, said the body found "overwhelming evidence that migrants have been systematically tortured while in detention and that sexual slavery, a crime against humanity, was committed against migrants."

Factual evidence gathered by the U.N. investigators found that state institutions, groups, and individuals were involved in the commission of violations and abuses.

The mission found that crimes against humanity were committed against migrants in places of detention under the actual or nominal control of the Libyan Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration, the Libyan coast guard and other entities.

Auajjar said, "These entities received technical, logistic and monetary support from the European Union and its member states."



Chaloka Beyani, a member of the mission, added that "the support given by the E.U. to the Libyan coast guard in terms of fallbacks, pushbacks and interceptions lead to violations of certain human rights."

"Non-refoulement, for example  you cannot push back people to areas that are unsafe," he said, "and the Libyan waters are unsafe for embarkations of migrants quite clearly."

The ongoing systemic widespread character of the crimes documented by the mission strongly suggests that individuals and officials of security and military agencies at all levels of the hierarchy and affiliated militias are implicated.

"The violations and abuses investigated by the mission were connected primarily to a reconsolidation of power and wealth by militias and other state-affiliated groups through, for instance, the misappropriation of public funds," said Auajjar. "It is beyond question that significant revenue arising from the widescale exploitation of vulnerable irregular migrants incentivized the continuation of the violations documented."

The mission has undertaken 13 field trips to Libya since it was established by the U.N. human rights council in June 2020. It has interviewed more than 400 survivors and witnesses and collected more than 2,800 items of information.

More than 670,000 migrants from over 41 countries were present in Libya when the mission began its investigation and these numbers have been increasing since 2021.

The International Organization for Migration reports around 5,000 migrants are held in official detention centers, though it believes that number is greatly underestimated. The number of migrants detained in secret facilities run by armed militia groups is unknown.

Many of the migrants, who include asylum seekers and refugees, come from West and East Africa and from lands as far away as Afghanistan.

Beyani notes smuggling and trafficking of migrants has become a huge money-making industry in Libya. He said geography largely determines which migrants are likely to be kidnapped and held for ransom.

"So, those coming from East Africa, for example, attract a fairer price in terms of smuggling and trafficking than those coming from West Africa.

"The perception is that perhaps they have a lot more money in this regard," he added.

The report said there are reasonable grounds to believe migrants "were enslaved in official detention centers as well as 'secret prisons,' and that rape as a crime against humanity was committed."

It said detainees were subjected regularly to torture, solitary confinement, held incommunicado and denied adequate access to water, food, toilets, medical care and other essentials.

It also deplored the systematic discrimination of women in Libya, saying that their situation has markedly deteriorated over the past three years.

The mission is calling for ending impunity through criminal accountability on the international and local level and recommends supporting the Libyan judiciary to strengthen its capacity for accountability.

The investigators are calling for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained in Libya and for secret prisons to be dismantled. It stressed that perpetrators of gross human rights violations must be held accountable for their crimes.

The report will be submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council later this week.
Cubans headed to the polls Sunday for parliamentary elections in which the results are a foregone conclusion but with the abstention rate the real issue in play.

As many as 8 million eligible voters will select from the 470 candidates on the ballot box vying for the 470 seats in the National Assembly.

What is really in play is the number of Cubans who refuse to vote.

The opposition has called on Cubans to abstain, with one opposition Twitter account calling the vote a "farce."

Voting is not obligatory, and abstention has risen steadily in recent years.

Municipal elections in November attracted a turnout of just 68.5%, down from the 74 percent who voted two months earlier in a referendum on a new family code, and even farther down from the 90 percent in the 2019 referendum on a new constitution.

Cuba's communist government does not allow opposition, so most of the parliamentary candidates  made up of 263 women and 207 men  are members of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC).

Dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua, a member of the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, said that "a sociological force is becoming the largest political party in the country, the abstentionist party."

In reality, candidates still need to receive 50% of votes to be elected.

Voters have two choices on their ballots: they can tick the names of any number of individual candidates, or they can select the "vote for all" option.

"I voted for the unified vote because, despite the needs, the difficulties that this country can have, I could not imagine" abstaining, Carlos Diego Herrera, a 54-year-old blacksmith in Havana, told AFP.

He said abstaining would be like voting "for those that want to crush us, the Yankees."

The United States has imposed sanctions on the island nation since 1962, three years after the communist revolution that saw Fidel Castro take power after overthrowing the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Student Rachel Vega, 19, said she had also voted for all the candidates, considering it "a step forward right now" that would "improve the situation in the country."

President Miguel Diaz-Canel is among the candidates, as is his predecessor, the 91-year-old Raul Castro.

"With the united vote we defend the unity of the country, the unity of the revolution, our future, our socialist constitution," said Diaz-Canel, 62, after voting in Santa Clara, a town 280 kilometers southeast of Havana.

More than 23,000 voting offices opened their doors at 7 a.m. (1100 GMT) and will stay open until 6 p.m.
Hungarys National Assembly (parliament) has approved Finlands NATO membership bid, said the chairman of the session, which was broadcast on the Assemblys website, Trend reports citing TASS.

"The decision has been made," he announced after the overwhelming majority of lawmakers had voted to ratify Finlands application to join the North Atlantic Alliance.

As many as 182 out of 199 Hungarian lawmakers cast their votes in favor of Finlands NATO membership, with six voting against it.

The Hungarian Foreign Ministrys State Secretary, Tamas Menczer, who addressed the debate on behalf of the government, pointed out that the Finnish armed forces were ready to integrate into the blocs institutions, which would boost the security of all member states.
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou arrived in the Chinese city of Shanghai on Monday, becoming the first past or current president from the self-ruled island to visit the mainland since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

The visit comes as relations between the two sides have deteriorated to their worst level in decades under current Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen  a sharp contrast to the eight years when Ma served as president, when he brought about an unprecedented improvement in ties between the two longtime rivals from 2008 to 2016.

Speaking to reporters before leaving Taiwan, Ma, 73, who was traveling with his four sisters and around 30 students from his Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, said the trip was not just to pay respects at the graves of his ancestors in China, but to build peace.

"Apart from going to make offerings to my ancestors, I am also taking Taiwan university students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to improve the current cross-strait atmosphere through the enthusiasm and interaction of young people, so that peace can come even faster and sooner to us here," he said.

In a sign that Beijing sees Ma's visit as significant even though he no longer holds any position in government or in his Kuomintang party, the KMT, high-ranking Chinese officials greeted him at the airport. They included a deputy director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office and the Shanghai Communist Party standing committee's secretary general.

Ma and his delegation are set to hold discussions with Chinese university students and possibly meet with Chinese officials during his multi-city visit. The trip comes as tensions between China and Taiwan reach dangerous levels.

China rolled back tourism and other exchanges with Taiwan after Tsai came to power in 2016 and rejected the compromise agreement, known as the 1992 Consensus, that Ma had accepted and interpreted as the two sides agreeing there's one China, with each free to define what that is  the People's Republic of China (the mainland's official name) or the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name).

Tsai and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, argue the agreement was never written down and that Beijing has never acknowledged Ma and the KMTs interpretation of it.

Beijing, however, had for years tacitly accepted Ma's interpretation, allowing the two sides to put aside the difficult issue of Taiwan's sovereignty and embark on an unprecedented warming of relations that benefited Taiwan's economy and businesses.

Such good relations came to an end after the Tsai and Trump administrations built closer relations, with Washington selling more advanced weapons to Taiwan, sending high-ranking officials to visit, and the U.S. Congress passing many acts aimed at strengthening ties with Taiwan as U.S.-China relations deteriorated.

Beijing saw such moves as an attempt to change the status quo and responded by stepping up political, military and economic pressure on Taiwan, to prevent the island it hopes to reunify with one day, from moving toward formal independence.

That included flying fighter jets and sailing warships near Taiwan almost daily. China considers Taiwan a wayward province and has often stated it prefers peaceful reunification eventually but has not renounced the use of force to prevent its formal independence.

Tensions peaked after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, becoming the highest-ranking American politician to travel to the island in nearly three decades. Beijing responded by conducting a blockade of the island and no longer recognizing the median line in the Taiwan Strait separating the two sides.

"President Ma is very concerned about the current state of cross-strait relations, so he's using his helping hand to help both sides develop stable relations," said Taiwanese legislator Charles Chen, a former spokesman for the presidential office when Ma was president. "He feels that since the government is unable to do this, citizens like him can."

The DPP on Monday accused Ma of going against public opinion by visiting the mainland a day after Beijing "poached" another one of Taiwan's few remaining allies, Honduras, which on Sunday severed ties with Taipei to switch official recognition to Beijing.

"Beijing chose the day before he departed on his trip to manipulate Honduras to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. As a former president, he should've adjusted his itinerary and expressed his position, such as by delaying his trip by one or two days," said DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao.

The DPP's criticism of Ma is relatively mild compared to its past comments. With just 10 months to go before Taiwan's presidential election, it needs to win over voters to retain the presidency.

And an overwhelming majority of Taiwanese  76%  favor a reduction in cross-strait tensions, according to the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, citing its survey in March.

"Suffice is to say most Taiwanese see peaceful coexistence as the preferred outcome rather than open confrontation, something that could indicate the DPP's 'Confront China to save Taiwan' card that it used so successfully in the 2019-20 cycle might not be working in this coming election," said Paul Huang, a Foundation research fellow.

Routinely conducted government surveys consistently found only 30% of Taiwanese people want formal independence, with a majority preferring to maintain the status quo of de facto independence.

At the airport in Taiwan, Ma was greeted by mostly supporters and only a handful of protesters from a pro-independence group that opposed his trip, shouting that Ma was humiliating Taiwan and "forfeiting sovereignty."

Ma's trip, however, has sparked hopes by Taiwanese increasingly worried about Taiwan being turned into a battlefield, especially with frequent talk of a possible war by some serving U.S. military officials and former U.S. officials, including one who visited Taiwan recently and advocated one million Taiwanese be armed with weapons and prepared to fight.

"We give him [Ma] high praise. He's showing the wisdom of a politician," said a local radio station's commentator, Jieh Wen-chieh. "We also hope he will continue to make efforts and not forget his mission for our land and our people. If we continue to follow the U.S. path, be a pawn of the Americans, I tell you a fierce battle is before us."

The visit marks the first time that Ma has been able to travel to the mainland and pay respects to his ancestors, given the hostilities between the two sides and his previous status as a government official.

The son of mainland immigrants, Ma's family suffered through the horrors of the civil war. Lawmaker Chen said Ma's message for this trip is very clear  that peace is still possible if both sides of the strait have regular and frequent exchanges, mutual understanding and interaction.

"His visit will show that this place can have peace, we don't have to march towards war, that there are many people in Taiwan who want peaceful coexistence and not war," said Chen. "His message is not only for Taiwanese people, but also for Americans and the whole world. Peace is still possible."
Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Monday that a suicide bomb blast outside the foreign ministry in the capital, Kabul, killed at least six people and wounded many others.

Eyewitnesses told VOA the attack occurred near a security checkpoint as ministry employees were leaving their offices for home.

Taliban-appointed Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said that three security personnel were among those wounded.

An Italy-run international humanitarian organization, known as EMERGENCY, confirmed that its nearby surgical center received 12 wounded patients, including a child, while two other victims were already dead on arrival.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, the first such attack since the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan started last week in Afghanistan, the Reuters news agency reported.

Islamic State's regional affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, has claimed responsibility for almost all recent bombings in the country.

Monday's blast came a day after the Taliban, the sworn enemy of IS-K, announced their security forces had killed three key operatives of the terrorist group, among others, in a recent operation against their hideout in the northern Afghan province of Balkh.

The Taliban spy agency, known as the General Directorate of Intelligence, identified one of the slain militants as Mawlavi Zaiuddin, saying he was the group's so-called regional governor and the second highest ranked member of IS-K.

"If confirmed, this would be a significant blow to IS-K in Northern Afghanistan. The Taliban had committed in the Doha Agreement to fight IS-K. The removal of these ISIS leaders indicates that it is doing so," tweeted Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, on Monday.

Khalilzad negotiated and signed the agreement in February 2020 in Qatars capital, Doha, with the then-insurgent Taliban, paving the way for the United States to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. The deal binds the Taliban, who seized control of the country in August 2021 as all U.S.-led foreign troops exited, to prevent transnational terrorists from using Afghan soil as a sanctuary.

Taliban forces have routinely carried out operations against IS-K hideouts in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan, killing several high-profile members of the group. But U.S. officials maintain the de facto Afghan authorities lack the ability to effectively counter the growing terror threat.

A top U.S. military commander said last week that IS-K had its sights set on the West and could launch an attack before the year is out.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command overseeing U.S. troops in the region, told a congressional hearing that the terror group is closer to taking its fight beyond Afghanistan's borders.

"They can do external operations against U.S. or Western interests abroad in under six months with little to no warning," Kurilla said.

Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the U.S. assertions as "not true" and said IS-K militants "have already been reduced in ranks and suppressed" in Afghanistan.

"The interest of the U.S. officials in this matter and their grandiosity is aiding and abetting the ISIS insurgents, which should be stopped," Mujahid alleged.

Intelligence shared by member states for a U.N. report last month warned IS-K has anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 fighters who have established cells in Kabul and the Afghan provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, and Nuristan provinces, all of them sharing the country's border with Pakistan.
As a deadly tornado tore through the lower Mississippi Delta, the Rev. Mary Stewart clung to a door in the hallway of her Rolling Fork home, shielding herself from the branches and chunks of debris that came flying through her shattered windows.

Friday's storm flattened entire town blocks, but the Rolling Fork Methodist Church withstood the high winds. And so, the first Sunday after the twister would commence just like any other Sunday  with congregants reaffirming their faith and finding solace together.

We are a very religious community, said Laura Allmon, a fourth-generation congregant. It just means a lot for us to be able to get together and pray and be thankful for what we have.

At least 26 people were killed, and dozens of others were injured late Friday in Mississippi as the storm ripped through one of the poorest regions in the country, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake.

With their homes unlivable, many Rolling Fork residents flocked Sunday to the network of churches dotting their rural Southern town of about 2,000, where agriculture and faith shape local life.

Founded nearly 135 years ago, the Rolling Fork Methodist Church has long been a source of support and resilience in hard times, its members said.

So many people here know patience from farm work, Stewart said. With their dependence on the rain for their crops  their livelihood  and having to leave it in Gods hands  its a wonderful reaffirmation that God is in control.

Since the church building was without power Sunday morning, roughly two dozen worshipers gathered on its historic steps and bowed their heads while Stewart delivered a short sermon.

Were grateful, Lord, that you brought us through this storm, she said, standing in the sunshine beneath a clear blue sky. We have a lot to do and a lot of rebuilding, and there are people that weve lost in our town.  We pray for their families.

Elsewhere, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the hardest hit areas.

Based on early data, the tornado received a preliminary EF-4 rating, with top wind gusts between 166 mph and 200 mph (265 kph and 320 kph), according to the National Weather Service office in Jackson. Officials said the twister was on the ground for more than an hour.

Watch related video by Arash Arabasadi:

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves issued a state of emergency and vowed to help rebuild as he viewed the damage in the region, which boasts wide expanses of cotton, corn and soybean fields and catfish farming ponds. He spoke with Biden, who also held a call with the states congressional delegation.

More than a half-dozen shelters were opened in Mississippi to house displaced residents.

Just a few blocks down the road from the Rolling Fork Methodist Church, pastor Britt Williamson spoke from the pulpit at First Baptist Church, addressing rows of weary congregants. During the service, attendees hugged, shook hands and wiped away tears.

The Delta is a hard soul for the gospel, Williamson said. Through the calamity of what happened, God has brought a plow bigger than any of these farmers could have.

He said faith gives people something to hold onto during lifes challenges.

We dont want to help people just to give them a place to live. We dont want to feed them for a day, he said. We want to give them an eternal home.

Marlon Nicholas, a congregant of the church, said his familys attendance at a local high school prom Friday night meant they stayed safe even as their home was destroyed. He said other relatives also lost their homes but escaped without serious injuries.

Miracles, he said.
A notorious militia in eastern DR Congo executed 17 people Sunday it took hostage the previous day, local sources said.

The CODECO insurgents killed at least 17 people captured in the Djugu territory, around 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of Bunia in Ituri province, local community leader Banguneni Gbalande told AFP.

Gbalande said he had been alerted by the families of some of those killed.

The "hostages are dead, they have been executed by the CODECO militia," another local traditional leader, Toko Kagbanese, told AFP.

CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, is one of myriad armed groups operating in the restive, mineral-rich region.

The people were taken hostage after three CODECO members were killed in a clash with a rival militia, said one local resident in Bambu, one of the two villages attacked Saturday. Among those taken hostage was a pregnant woman, said the source, who did not want to be identified for security reasons.

Since the end of 2022, dozens of people have been killed in the gold-rich Ituri province every week.

In recent days, CODECO fighters have been blamed for a series of massacres, claiming the lives of 30 people, including women and children.

The CODECO is a militia that claims to protect the Lendu community from another ethnic group, the Hema and the army.

Eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ituri province is one of the violent hot spots, where attacks claiming dozens of lives are routine.
Even after her third arrest, Ethiopian journalist Meaza Mohammed refused to stop reporting.

The co-founder and chief editor of Roha TV says that despite the harassment and threats related to the coverage on her YouTube-based news channel, she is committed to being a voice for the women affected by Ethiopia's recently-ended civil war in the northern part of the country.

The war between the federal government and Tigrayan forces ended with a cease-fire in November 2022.

When the conflict in Tigray spread into neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, Meaza reported on how armed groups used rape and sexual violence against the women in those areas.

She also worked directly with survivors of assaults to help them find treatment and other resources.

Meazas commitment to advocating for victims of gender-based violence and her push for accountability earned her recognition by the U.S. as one of its 2023 International Women of Courage.

A very, very large number of women and children were war victims like the rest of the society. But on top of that they were vulnerable to sexual violence, Meaza told VOA during a one-on-one interview at the State Department earlier in March.

Women were retaliated against for a defeat in the war. Because of that I found a lot of women raped, exposed [to] HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. So, I put all my focus and thought on helping them. Not only for the world to hear them, but also to help them get the medical and psychological support they need.

Meaza is one of 11 women recognized by the United States for the significant impact they have made to the communities in which they live.

It takes courage to speak when those in power want you to stay silent, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, as she introduced Meaza and three other recipients of the award. These groups of journalists, broadcasters, and war correspondents spread truth, courage and empower other women and girls to use their voices for democracy, freedom and justice.

Journalism is difficult in Ethiopia. The country dropped 13 places on the Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, press freedom rankings in 2022. It currently ranks 114 out of 180 countries, where No. 1 shows the best media environment.

The media watchdog says that gains in press freedom in the country were wiped out as Ethiopia became embroiled in ethnic conflicts and a civil war.

Meaza told VOA that when the conflict started, Ethiopian media deteriorated all at once.

Government started shutting down the media. Even YouTube channels are controlled by [the] broadcast authority, Meaza said. Whenever something happens, the internet is shut down, journalists are arrested. We know that if something happens in the country, we could be arrested, we could be prosecuted or we could vanish.

Covering the war too was difficult, with watchdogs documenting how media were denied access to conflict areas, and journalists were harassed or detained for coverage.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, Ethiopia has detained at least 60 journalists for varying periods since fighting broke out in 2020.

VOAs attempts to reach the Ethiopian government communication department for comment were not successful.

For Meaza, her focus was how the war impacted women and children. She traveled to parts of the Amhara and Afar regions and spoke with women who said they were attacked by Tigrayan forces. The women describe rapes at gunpoint and how they were subjected to attacks in retaliation for army losses.

An investigation by the United Nations last year found all sides in the conflict had carried out atrocities, including sexual violence.

The Tigrayan forces have rejected allegations of rape and attack in Amhara and Afar and called for an independent investigation.

Meazas coverage has also highlighted the 2019 abduction of Amhara students who attended the Dembi Dollo University in the western Oromia region.

Families of the missing students had told VOA that armed men abducted the students. The government said it would form a task force to ensure their safe return, but the students are still missing, according to the advocacy group Amnesty International.

Despite her international recognition, Meazas reporting wasnt welcomed by everyone.

Ethiopian security forces detained Meaza and accused her of spreading rumor, having links with the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front or TPLF, and disclosing the national armys locations.

And at a time when ethnic division created heightened tensions, critics have accused Meaza of being both pro-Amhara and pro-TPLF. The journalist, however, said she focuses on those regions because those are the areas where she had access to sources.

Her news channel on YouTube has close to 95,000 followers.

While social media platforms have in some ways become a battleground for opposing parties in the conflict, Meaza said that in a country with shrinking media freedom, the platforms provide a place for Ethiopians to turn to for information.

Ethiopia has been volatile in the last five years. People die and get displaced for all sorts of reasons including religion, history and language. How a community in this situation uses social media could be difficult. But the solution is not closing them. This can only be fixed by creating social awareness, she said.

Speaking about her State Department award, Meaza said it has given her a wider platform to highlight violence, abuse and torture that women endured during the war. She said she plans to use her media platform to call for accountability and justice.

This story originated in VOAs Horn of Africa Amharic service.
What would having Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus mean for the war? What would it mean for Europe and NATO? A look at the horror of the more than 16,000 children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia, plus a look at Russian athletes in international competition.
The 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks pledged by Germany to support Ukraine in its war against Russia have arrived in Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Germany agreed in January to supply the tanks, regarded as among the best in the West's arsenal, overcoming misgivings about sending heavy weaponry that Kyiv says is crucial to defeat Russia's invasion but Moscow casts as a dangerous provocation.

"I'm sure that they can make a decisive contribution on the front," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a tweet.

Besides the 18 tanks, 40 German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and two armored recovery vehicles had also reached Ukraine, a security source said.

The German army trained the Ukrainian tank crews as well as the troops assigned to operate the Marder vehicles for several weeks in Muenster and Bergen in northern Germany.

As well as the German vehicles, three Leopard tanks donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine, the security source said.
A security guard was killed in a gun attack on Albania's largest broadcaster early Monday, with the country's prime minister calling the assault on the media outlet "worrying".

The 60-year-old guard was in a booth outside the Top Channel headquarters in Tirana when he was hit by a burst of gunfire from a passing SUV.

The police gave no possible motive for the attack, saying "the investigation is ongoing". But they said the attackers used a Kalashnikov rifle.

The SUV was found hours later on the side of the road approximately 40 kilometers away from the scene of the attack, where it had been set on fire.

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama offered condolences to the victim's family and the staff at Top Channel, and called for "everyone's solidarity at this very worrying moment".

The U.S. embassy in Tirana condemned the shooting.

"We urge law enforcement to carry out a comprehensive investigation that will bring perpetrators to justice," the embassy said.

Albania was once infamous for illegal arms trafficking. More than a million Kalashnikov rifles were stolen from military depots during an uprising in the 1990s.

However, mass shootings and violent attacks on journalists are rare in the poor Balkan nation.
Nairobi and other Kenyan cities are bracing Monday for a fresh round of anti-government protests about the high cost of living under President William Rutos government.

Police banned the demonstrations Sunday, but Odinga encouraged Kenyans to attend the protests anyway.

One person was killed in the protests last Monday in Nairobi, the capital, and dozens of police were injured in confrontations with the demonstrators.

Kenya Railways issued a statement Sunday saying, that due to unavoidable circumstances, commuter train services scheduled for tomorrow . . . have been suspended.

Odinga has urged Kenyans to take to the streets every Monday and Thursday to protest.

Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Ukrainian armed forces received 18 German-made Leopard 2A6 tanks, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference in the wake of talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Monday, Trend reports citing TASS.

"We have delivered the tanks, as was announced," Scholz said, answering a question.

Thus, the Chancellor confirmed the report from Der Spiegel saying that Germany handed over 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Kiev.
New developments:

Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov called Russian President Vladimir Putins announcement to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "nuclear blackmail, The Associated Press reports.

Ukraine is giving hydropower facilities "maximum protection" by hiding equipment underground as it repairs an estimated $1 billion in damage to its energy infrastructure from Russian airstrikes, a senior industry official said.

The Ukrainian town of Avdiivka is described as a "post-apocalyptic wasteland" by Ukrainian officials as Russians shift their attention there after their failed attempts to capture Bakhmut.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Monday with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the Dnipro hydroelectric power station  about 50 kilometers northeast of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

According to his official website, Zelenskyy told Grossi that safety at the Zaporizhzhia station could not be guaranteed until Russian troops leave the facility.

Holding a nuclear power plant hostage for more than a year is the worst thing that could happen in the history of the European and in general global nuclear energy sector. The longer the Russian occupation of the ZNPP continues, the greater will be the threat to the security of Ukraine, the whole of Europe and the world, he said, using an acronym for the plant. I am grateful to our partners, grateful to Grossi for understanding this and for supporting Ukraine in the relevant issues.

In a tweet, Grossi warned that the Dnipro station is essential to the nuclear safety of the power plant. He also told Zelenskyy that the perilous situation at Europe's largest nuclear plant "isn't getting any better" as relentless fighting in the area keeps the facility at risk of disaster.

Fighting near plant

Earlier this month, fighting interrupted power to the plant for half a day, forcing staff to activate backup generators.

Grossi had expressed alarm at that development. A sustained loss of power at the plants risks a nuclear catastrophe with continent-wide implications.

"Each time, we are rolling a dice," he told his agency at the time. "And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out."

Grossi also reiterated the full support of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the protection of Ukraine's nuclear facilities.

The Zaporizhzhia plants six reactors are in shutdown mode, and it is receiving the electricity it needs to prevent a reactor meltdown through just one remaining power line. It has on occasion had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems.

Zelenskyy visited the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporizhzhia, where residential buildings were destroyed by Russian airstrikes.

Dozens of people were injured by this insane Russian strike. The terrorists knew exactly where they were aiming their missiles. High explosive Smerch, Zelenskyy wrote on his website. At the houses, 37 people were injured, 2 died. My condolences to those who have lost loved ones.  More than 400 people applied for help.

South of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, another devastated city, has been described by Ukrainian officials as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that the town could become a "second Bakhmut" as Russia turns its attention there after failing to take the embattled Bakhmut.

Reduced to rubble

Both towns have been reduced to rubble in fighting that both sides have called a "meat grinder." Russian forces say they are fighting street by street.

"I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city's military administration. Only some 2,000 of a pre-war population of 30,000 remain, and he urged them to leave.

Ukrainian military video showed smoke rising from ruined apartment blocks and dead soldiers on open ground and in trenches in Bakhmut.

Kyiv also said Russian forces again shelled Vuhledar, located further south in the Donetsk region, where they have tried to advance for weeks with what the Ukrainian military says are heavy losses.

Two people were killed and 32 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

Ukraine has called for an extraordinary meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to Putin's announcement of plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Putin's move is "provocative" and undermines international security.

Putin announced on Saturday the deployment of the tactical nuclear weapons, saying it was warranted because of the West's increasing military support for Ukrainian forces, including Britain's decision last week to send armor-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium to Ukraine.

Putin said Russia's positioning of tactical nuclear warheads in Belarus was no different than the United States placing nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

"We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews," the Russian leader said.

'Nuclear rhetoric'

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu called Russian comparisons to nuclear deployment by NATO members misleading, saying, "Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible."

Putin said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long asked to have nuclear weapons in his country to counter possible NATO threats from nearby Western allies. Deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus could allow Russia to reach neighboring NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Putin is "using nuclear blackmail in a bid to influence the situation on the battlefield and force Western partners to reduce supplies of weapons and equipment under the threat of nuclear escalation, Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov was quoated as telling The Associated Press.

The Belarusian nuclear balcony will be looming over not only Ukraine, but Europe, as well, creating a constant threat, raising tensions and rattling the nerves of Ukrainians and their Western partners, he added.

Tactical nuclear weapons can be used on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted on long-range missiles. Putin said Russia would maintain control over the undisclosed number he sends to Belarus and construct storage facilities for them by July 1.

The United States said it would "monitor the implications" of Putin's announcement.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that so far, Washington hadn't seen "any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon" in its attack on Ukraine.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Foreign terrorist groups, including some Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates, may have the desire to launch major attacks on U.S. soil, but decades of counterterrorism work have made carrying out such an operation close to impossible at the moment, according to a top U.S. homeland security official.

Nicholas Rasmussen, the Department of Homeland Securitys counterterrorism coordinator, Monday called the possibility of an attack reminiscent of September 11, 2001, when al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four aircraft and killed nearly 3,000 people, almost inconceivable.

We have achieved what I would call [a] suppressive effect on the ability of groups like ISIS and al-Qaida to carry out large-scale attacks here in the homeland," Rasmussen said, using an acronym for Islamic State

"That is not nothing, he told an event hosted by The George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism. That is something pretty significant and came at great cost."

Rasmussens statement comes just weeks after top military and intelligence officials testified before Congress, warning that Islamic States Afghan affiliate is looking to attack U.S. or Western targets.

IS-Khorasan can do external operations against U.S. or Western interests abroad in under six months with little to no warning, U.S. Central Commands General Michael Kurilla told lawmakers earlier this month.

A week earlier, Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers, "Its a matter of time before they may have the ability and intent to attack the West.

Earlier this year, Christine Abizaid, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, called IS-Khorasan, the threat actor I am most concerned about.

For now, U.S. military and intelligence officials agree with Rasmussen that the likelihood of an attack on U.S. soil is low, and that is it more credible IS-Khorasan or other groups are more likely to target U.S. or Western interests in South Asia or Europe.

But even Rasmussen worries the threat from groups like IS-Khorasan could rise if the U.S. and its allies and partners are unable to maintain pressure on foreign terrorist organizations.

I worry that the suppressive effect that we have achieved at great cost is not permanent, he said Monday. There's certainly nothing about that condition that would suggest that it will be permanent, naturally or on its own.

Some lawmakers and officials have been especially concerned, pointing to a loss of on-the-ground intelligence following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.



Since that time, the U.S. military has carried out only one counterterrorism strike in Afghanistan, killing al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri last year. And military officials have cautioned that gathering intelligence from the air, via planes or drones, is difficult due to the long distances between U.S. bases and the target areas in Afghanistan.

As a result, senior U.S. military commanders worry they are unable to access key details and intelligence that might give the country more warning of an impending attack.



Rasmussen acknowledged such concerns, describing the situation as suboptimal.

We are actively in a risk management and risk mitigation posture, trying to take the best advantage we possibly can of the residual intelligence resources we have, he said. I'm confident, though, that we're looking for and at the right things to gain that warning."

Domestic terror threat

Despite his confidence that the most severe threats from foreign terrorist organizations have been mostly mitigated, Rasmussen warned the overall threat environment is getting worse.

"The threat environment our national security and homeland security professionals are dealing with is more diverse, more dynamic and more complicated than any other point previously," he said, further noting that the threat level in the U.S. is on a nearly constant upward trajectory."

The diversity of different extremist thought streams, ideologies, narratives gripping various segments of our population here in the United States is at an all-time high," Rasmussen added.

Border security

Rasmussen also acknowledged concerns about border security, especially along the U.S. border with Mexico.

However, he said there is currently nothing to suggest any terrorist organization is trying to use the southern border to infiltrate the country.

What we have not seen is any information that suggests that foreign terrorist organizations, groups, are actively using or trying to use a perceived vulnerability in this area to contribute to their operations, Rasmussen said in response to a question from VOA.

That doesn't mean though that we don't need to be concerned about and working hard to address the way in which terrorists or people with terrorism links might exploit vulnerabilities at the southern border," he added.
Nigerian authorities say a rehabilitation program for former Boko Haram sect fighters is helping weaken the group's fighting power. Nearly 600 fighters graduated from the program over the weekend and tendered a public apology for their actions. Authorities say they will be reintegrated into society, but experts are warning of possible relapse.

The former Boko Haram fighters dressed in white simultaneously and echoed an oath of allegiance to Nigeria during a graduation ceremony Saturday at the De-radicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) camp in northern Gombe state.

They're the latest batch of voluntary defectors from the sect to undergo the six-month physical, mental and psychosocial rehabilitation program tagged Operation Safe Corridor.

Nigerian authorities started the safe exit program in July 2016 as a strategy to degrade the fighting power of terror groups like Boko Haram.

Program coordinator Uche Nnabuihe spoke to Lagos-based television during the ceremony.

"Based on the therapeutic interventions these sets of clients have undergone, they're better citizens from when they initially arrived at the DRR camp and accordingly are certified fit for graduation and subsequent reintegration to their respective communities, Nnabuihe said.

Authorities said three of the graduates are from Niger and one from Chad, while the rest are Nigerians mostly from Borneo, Adamawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Niger and Nassarawa states.

The former fighters offered a public apology and promised to embrace peace in their respective communities.

Security analyst Senator Iroegbu said in theory the program could help but warns there could be relapses.

"Repentance is a thing of the mind, Iroegbu said. Someone can pretend to have repented because the conditions to express himself otherwise are not there. This is a controversial program in many facets. There'll always be resistance to it. What has been the impact? Has it been able to stop more recruitment?"

Authorities say thousands of repentant Boko Haram members have been freed since 2019 and that they have become productive members of society.

But in 2021, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum called for a review of the program, saying ex-Boko Haram members spy on communities and then rejoin the group.

Local communities in Borno, which is the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency, have also questioned the program.

Vivian Bellonwu, founder of Social Action Nigeria, explained why.

"It appears rehabilitation attention has mostly been focused on the rebels themselves, whereas the communities also suffered very far-reaching trauma, Bellonwu said. And they are actually supposed to undergo psychological, psychosocial rehabilitation. And I have not seen this sufficiently being done for them."

Bellonwu said it will not be easy for the former fighters to be accepted back into the communities they once harmed.

"These are communities that have been abducted en masse, Bellonwu said. Their women have been raped. Some of the children have watched their parents being slaughtered by these elements. These kinds of things have a way of having a lasting impact in the minds of the victims. How do you expect them to forget?"

Boko Haram has been fighting to create an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria since 2009. The violence has led to tens of thousands of deaths and spilled over into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

On Sunday, Nigerian defense authorities said some 51,000 Boko Haram militants and their families surrendered to Nigerian forces between July 2021 and May 2022.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, have agreed to meet during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Saudi state news agency SPA said early on Monday.

Both ministers spoke by phone for the second time in a few days, SPA said.

"During the call, a number of common issues were discussed in light of the tripartite agreement that was signed in the People's Republic of China. The two ministers also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting between them during the ongoing month of Ramadan," SPA said.

Earlier this month, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to revive relations after years of hostility that had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria.
Taiwan must vacate its embassy in Honduras within 30 days, a senior Honduran official said on Monday, after President Xiomara Castro severed ties with Taiwan in favor of China in a bid for more investment and jobs from the Asian giant.

Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio Garcia issued the order on local television on Monday, following the government's announcement over the weekend that it had opened formal diplomatic relations with Beijing while simultaneously ending its decades-long relationship with Taiwan.

Castro's main conservative opposition later announced it would reverse the opening to China if it regains power.

China has long argued that democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. Communist-run China demands that countries it has ties with must adopt its position.

Taipei's embassy in Tegucigalpa's leafy Palmira neighborhood was for years one of the Central American capital's most prominent foreign outposts, as well as the country's second-biggest embassy after the U.S. embassy.

In his remarks, Garcia said 30 days "is more than enough time to pack up and leave," adding that officials aim for an "orderly, friendly" exit.

The deputy minister also stressed the need for a diplomatic mission to the world's second-biggest economy.

"We have to go there to explore the big projects that China can give us," he said, suggesting that China could invest some $10 billion in Honduras in a boon for local workers.

The foreign ministry also announced that Honduran students with scholarships in Taiwan would be able to transfer their studies to China.

Late on Saturday, the Honduran foreign ministry recognized the People's Republic of China, China's formal name, as the only legitimate government that represents all of China and that Taiwan is an "inseparable part of Chinese territory."

The move leaves Taiwan with only 13 formal allies, mostly poor and developing countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

In its own statement later on Monday, the conservative National Party pledged to re-establish ties with Taiwan if it can retake the Honduran presidency in 2026.

"We will do the impossible to restore relations with our brothers and sisters in the Republic of Taiwan," it said, promising to enshrine allegiance to Taiwan in the country's constitution.
Ukraine shut the eastern town of Avdiivka to non-military personnel on Monday, describing it as a post-apocalyptic wasteland, as Kyiv tried to break the back of Russia's flagging winter offensive before a counter-assault of its own.

A Ukrainian general said Kyiv was planning its next move after Moscow appeared to shift focus from the small city of Bakhmut, which Russia has failed to capture after several months of the war's bloodiest fighting, to Avdiivka further south.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said in a Monday evening update that Russian forces were still trying to storm Bakhmut and had shelled the city and surrounding towns.

Front lines in Ukraine have barely budged for more than four months despite a Russian winter offensive. The Ukrainian military aims to wear down Russian forces before mounting a counteroffensive.

Ukrainian ground forces commander Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said last week the counterattack could come "very soon," visited front-line troops in the east and said his forces were still repelling Russian attacks on Bakhmut.

Defending the small city in the industrialized Donbas region was a "military necessity," Syrskyi said, praising Ukrainian resilience in "extremely difficult conditions."

Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka, a smaller town 90 km (55 miles) further south, could become a "second Bakhmut" as Russia turns its attention there.

Both towns have been reduced to rubble in fighting that both sides have called a "meat grinder." Russian forces say they are fighting street by street.

"I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the city's military administration. Only around 2,000 of a pre-war population of 30,000 remain and he urged them to leave.

Ukrainian military video showed smoke billowing from ruined apartment blocks and dead soldiers on open ground and in trenches in Bakhmut.

Kyiv also said Russian forces again shelled Vuhledar, further south in the Donetsk region, where they have tried to advance for weeks with what the Ukrainian military says are heavy losses.

Two people were killed and 32 wounded on Monday after Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the eastern city of Sloviansk northwest of Bakhmut, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

In Russia, residents of Kireyevsk, 220 km (140 miles) south of Moscow, reacted angrily to damage from what the defense ministry said was a Ukrainian drone it downed there on Sunday.

The ministry said three people were injured and apartment blocks were hit. It was among the closest such incidents to the Russian capital so far.

"We were used to seeing these things only online but now we've felt it ourselves. Now we know how it is," 62-year-old Kireyevsk resident Yuri Ovchinnikov told Reuters as Russian soldiers combed the area around the damaged buildings.

There was no official comment from Kyiv. Ukrainian officials generally do not respond to reports of attacks within Russia, though they have sometimes celebrated them without accepting culpability.
In Ghana Monday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo. The two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of topics, including economic and regional stability, and speak with reporters afterwards.

The vice president is also scheduled Monday to visit Vibrate Space, a community recording studio for young artists in Accra. Actors Idris Elba and Sheryl Lee Ralph will join Harris on her tour of the facility where they will meet with the musicians and artists. Vibrate is located at Freedom Skatepark, Ghana's first fully functioning skateboard park.

Later Monday, President Akufo-Addo and first lady Rebecca Akufo Addo will host a state banquet for Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. There will be approximately 300 guests, including members of the African Diaspora in the United States.

Tuesday Vice President Harris speaks at Cape Coast Castle, a place where enslaved Africans boarded ships headed to the Americas, an unsavory time in both countries histories.

The vice president will meet with businesswomen Wednesday, while her husband visits a chocolate factory started by two sisters.

Later Wednesday, the vice president heads to Tanzania.

Some information in this story came from the Associated Press.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has hailed Zimbabwe's efforts to move to climate-resistant grains such as millet to improve food security. An FAO team is in Zimbabwe to promote the grains and celebrate the International Year of Millets. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Masvingo, Zimbabwe.
MONDAY, March 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Miscarriages are devastating and often seem to happen out of nowhere, but researchers may have found a new high-tech way to predict which pregnancies are likely to end in miscarriage and which ones are not.

The use of 3D ultrasound imaging with virtual reality technology can create a hologram of a developing embryo to see if it is maturing on schedule. This differs from measuring embryo size, which is routinely done during pregnancy.

Embryos in pregnancies that end in miscarriage take longer to develop than pregnancies that result in live births, explained study author Dr. Melek Rousian, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The study, published March 26 in the journal Human Reproduction, does not provide clues about the potential cause of a miscarriage, but the technology may help identify at-risk pregnancies earlier and/or reassure future parents.

Couples that have had more miscarriages might be very anxious about the condition of the embryo, Rousian said. If we were able to show that the development of their embryo is normal in these early stages of pregnancy, we might provide reassurance and comfort.

More research is needed to get to that point, she said.

For the study, the researchers tracked embryo development with 3D ultrasound imaging and virtual reality technology for 644 pregnant women from seven to 10 weeks after conception. They were followed for one year after delivery.

Of these, 33 pregnancies ended in miscarriage. An embryo is assigned what is known as a Carnegie stage number from 1 to 23 based on its external features during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Embryos in pregnancies that ended in a miscarriage took four days longer to reach the final Carnegie stage than those that resulted in a healthy baby, the study showed.

The longer it takes for an embryo to develop, the more likely it is to result in a miscarriage, the study showed.

Pregnancies that ended in a miscarriage were also linked to a shorter embryo length from the top of the head (crown) to the bottom of the buttocks (rump), the study found.

The new findings held even after researchers controlled for other factors that could affect the risk of miscarriage, such as age, alcohol use, smoking and use of folic acid or other vitamin supplements during pregnancy.

Researchers did not have access to genetic testing after the miscarriages, so they did not know if the embryos had genetic abnormalities that could have caused the miscarriage.

While the new study doesnt aid in understanding of why miscarriages occur, the findings may be able to identify miscarriage risk earlier, said Dr. Ashley Wiltshire, who reviewed the findings.

Many miscarriages are due to genetic abnormalities within the embryo, said Wiltshire, a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist at Columbia University Fertility Center in New York City. Since genetic testing was not included in this study, it's impossible to determine the correlation of genetic status to their findings regarding embryo development.

She suggested that women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss have early and repeat ultrasounds during pregnancy.

But Wiltshire cautioned that even if the embryo is tracking late, it doesn't mean a miscarriage is inevitable.

The rate of embryonic development seen on ultrasound may correlate with a higher risk of miscarriage; it does not confirm with 100% certainty that a miscarriage will happen, Wiltshire said.

More information

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has more on early pregnancy loss.

SOURCES: M. Melek Rousian, MD, PhD, obstetrician-gynecologist, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Ashley Wiltshire, MD, reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist, Columbia University Fertility Center, New York City, Human Reproduction, March 26, 2023
Discussions in the Prime Minister's Office about a possible stop of the judicial reform legislation were held in a meeting on Sunday evening and went on into Monday morning, Trend reports citing The Jerusalem Post.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich participated in the meeting.

According to Likud sources, Dermer and Kisch advised the Prime Minister to stop the legislation. However, Justice Minister Yariv Levin continues to try to convince Netanyahu to continue with the legislation and threatens to resign from the government.

A meeting of the leaders of the coalition parties is expected to take place in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Monday morning, according to Ynet.
Pedro Pascal and RuPaul Charles. Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images

According to the Human Rights Campaign, there have been over 340 bills in state legislatures across the country attacking LGBTQIA+ rights in America this year. Most recently, Tennessee banned drag performances in public spaces, and a speaker at CPAC called for the eradication of transgenderism. In this climate, celebrities have been voicing their support for drag, trans rights, and gender-affirming health care. Madonna has added a stop on her upcoming Celebration Tour, which features Bob the Drag Queen as the opener, in Nashville on December 22. Part of the proceeds will go to trans-rights activist organizations. The oppression of the LGBTQ+ is not only unacceptable and inhumane; its creating an unsafe environment; it makes America a dangerous place for our most vulnerable citizens, especially trans women of color, Madonna said in a press release regarding the issue. Also, these so-called laws to protect our children are unfounded and pathetic. Anyone with half a brain knows not to fuck with a drag queen. Bob and I will see you from the stage in Nashville where we will celebrate the beauty that is the queer community.

Reba told Los Angeles Times that she was disappointed the Tennessee bill passed and wished she would spend that much time and energy and money on feeding the homeless children in those two counties. When asked if her take might be alienating to some of her audience, she said, Boy, why? I mean, weve got a real problem in this country, and to be worrying about men wanting to dress up as women? God bless em to wear those high heels.

RuPaul called out the attack on drag people as a misdirection tactic on March 8. We know bullies are incompetent at solving real issues, he said. They look for easy targets so that they can give the impression of being effective. RuPaul also called drag queens the Marines of the queer movement. RuPaul is far from the only Drag Race performer speaking out at this time. BenDeLaCreme went on MSNBCs Last Word on March 6 to address the drag ban. Below, all the celebrities supporting the queer troops including Drag Race alums such as Trinity the Tuck and the Vivienne, the B-52s, Maren Morris, Pedro Pascal, Elliot Page, Hayley Kiyoko, and Kim Petras.

Dear fellow citizens,



We, The B-52s, are deeply concerned about the numerous new bills that promote transphobia and discrimination against transgender individuals and drag artists, which have been introduced in the United States. We strongly denounce these bills and stand in pic.twitter.com/mzMROe4pxE  The B-52s (@TheB52s) March 8, 2023

"They think our love, our light, our laughter, and our joy are signs of weakness but they're wrong because that is our strength." : @RuPaul pic.twitter.com/5uDcBI8SQa  RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 8, 2023

WATCH: @bendelacreme speak out about the attacks on drag performers by legislators around the country: "As a young person, I wish I had seen more queer representation. It is a hard thing to grow up queer, and like it or not, your kids may need to see people like this out there." pic.twitter.com/dZgvHwnO26  GLAAD (@glaad) March 7, 2023

Art & community are, and have always been, oppressions medicine. 



Lets show these politicians that they do not speak for all of Tennessee. Love will prevail.



All ages are welcome. Tickets on sale tomorrow will benefit @tnequality @inclusion_tn @outmemphis @tnpridechamber pic.twitter.com/KXbywhfVO9  MAREN MORRIS (@MarenMorris) March 7, 2023

i kno giving this person attention is exactly what this person wanted . but fuck it its scary ur scary who the fuck says  u must be eradicated from Public life  like what insane delusion of grandeur does it take to say that . maybe you shouldnt speak on anything cuz u nuts ? https://t.co/OfPGO7JY8k  kim petras (@kimpetras) March 5, 2023

Thank you for proving why the drag ban is targeted and ridiculous! ITS ALREADY ILLEGAL TO DO SEXUAL SHIT IN FRONT OF KIDS. Completely unnecessary law aimed at people who dont tend to vote GOP. https://t.co/unhRqYW7cn  Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) March 4, 2023

U know that energy we use every Friday to be vocal about our opinions on runway looks, challenge winners, lipsynch losers? THAT ENERGY is NEEDED NOW to protect our queer people & spaces! Whats happening in Tennessee is just a stepping stone in a much larger, much scarier picture  Daya Betty (@daya_betty417) March 5, 2023

. @GovBillLee around children is more dangerous than any drag queen could ever be pic.twitter.com/NyLx51enAe  TheVivienne (@THEVIVIENNEUK) March 3, 2023
Groban and Ashford in Sweeney Todd, at the Lunt-Fontanne. Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

There are two stars of the Sweeney Todd revival that should really be billed above the big names leading this production: Its orchestra and its shadows. The former, conducted by Hamiltons Alex Lacamoire, provides a full 26-piece rendering of Jonathan Tunicks crushed-velvet orchestrations for Stephen Sondheims score, swaddling the theater in thrumming, grinding grandeur. The shadows, via Natasha Katzs lighting, surround your field of vision with a similar luscious miasma. Think of Dickens writing fog everywhere in the opening of Bleak House. Katz keeps the majority of the stage looking sooty with pinpricks of light illuminating each actor, as if the action takes place in the belly of a coal-burning anaconda. When Sweeney refers to London as a hole in the world like a great black pit, youre there with him in the pressurized depths where hungry and murderous creatures have evolved.

Complimenting a productions lighting is traditionally the way critics avoid talking about everything else, but the enveloping atmosphere is the whole emphasis and advantage of Thomas Kails production of Sweeney. Sondheim and Hugh Wheelers Victorian gothic masterwork has been revived on Broadway twice since premiering in 1979, both times on a smaller scale than Hal Princes mega-grand original. New York has also seen concert stagings and close-ups Off Broadway. Kail, riding high after directing Hamilton, aims to ratchet Sweeney all the way back up, deploying a cast of 25, a two-level set by Mimi Lien with a towering crane  going big and crucially, expressionistic. Hes not presenting social commentary as much as hes enveloping us in a collective nightmare. His London is full of phantoms slipping in and out of the fog.

Foremost among those phantoms: Josh Grobans Sweeney, who glints but does not gleam in the darkness. Grobans got a name big enough to greenlight a revival on this scale (for that we thank him) as well as a rather pinchable nice-guy mien, which could have been a problem. Hes definitely playing against type  but against-type can be interesting, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street as your moms favorite serial killer, singing some of Sondheims most exquisite melodies over its tensest scenes. Pretty Women comes when Sweeneys within reach of the judges throat, and the sweet honey of Grobans voice gives those moments an extra-eerie oomph. I wanted him to keep working that angle, but when Sweeneys anger rises, Groban tries to get his gruff on and the result is unconvincing. His Epiphany is more memorable for the way his shadow, illuminated by the footlights, stalks the back of the stage than for his self-conscious madness. You can feel him trying to summon an inferno behind his eyes. He gets to a wildfire, not hell itself.

That limitation stands out because Annaleigh Ashford, as Mrs. Lovett, has gone feral. Shes one of those actors who will happily commit above and beyond whatevers asked. (I often think about her doing a song and dance sequence for CBS about the concept of autumn TV programming.) Here, shes lusty and needy to the nth degree, pulling big laughs, sliding down a staircase on her butt like shes in a broad farce, making a loud and strange approximation of a seagulls squawk in By the Sea (Chekhovian!), and deploying a cloud-cuckooland Cockney that makes England sound like Engelond (Chaucerian!). As with Mrs. Lovetts pies, the overbaked performance may stick to your palate, but it works within the context of Kails heightened staging. Lovett reads as a frustrated performer  she does love her lightly singed harmonium  who, instead of ending up in a dance hall, has locked onto Sweeney as the audience she most needs to please. The consummation comes in A Little Priest, both because Ashford takes every opportunity to underline the sexual undertones of eating flesh  she humps the air on Yes, Mr. Todd! and fondles the area in front of Grobans crotch to emphasize the discussion of a rear admirals privates  but more because Sweeney is actually into her jokes.

In their A Little Priest, as elsewhere, the psychosexual drama of Sweeney takes the lead. Sweeney and Lovett are more busy punning by way of foreplay for you to focus much on the class war of the number. Their revenge plot is less a righteous up-yours to those above and more a personal crusade. Its both, because everything in this musical means many things at once, but placing emphasis on the erotic side sets the production spinning in a particular direction. The second act plunges further into violence, with the city on fire and the killings piling up, and the emotions that get big while the focus remains tight. The thing still feels like a chamber opera even on a stage full of bodies. Steven Hoggett choreographs the ensemble to swirl like a murmuration of birds, in sync and inhuman. (He also did The Cursed Child, which explains why I expected everyone to bring out a wand.) The massed crowd isolates Sweeney and Lovett on the fringe and provides them with the anonymity they need to pull off their scheme. In the productions most chilling moment, they disappear into it. You imagine the pair might rematerialize behind you as you wait at a stoplight some night soon.

The rest of the characters in Sweeney are attached to that crowd too, each twisted as if adapting in order to survive within it. Nicholas Christopher makes an imposing Pirelli, seemingly a foot taller than everyone else onstage and still a buffoon. Gaten Matarazzo, stomping onto the stage to sing the praises of his bosss miracle elixir with childish glee, immediately gets the sympathy of both the audience and Mrs. Lovett. John Rapsons Beadle is so extraordinarily greasy its impossible not to wonder how he might look on a bun. Only Jordan Fishers Anthony and Maria Bilbaos Johanna dont stick as clearly. Both sound lovely, but loveliness alone isnt enough. The young lovers are always a difficult proposition in a musical that gives you such a bounty of grotesques, and here the two of them get lost among them.

Ruthie Ann Miles as the Beggar Woman. Photo: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Spare a thought and an alm, however, for the miserable Beggar Woman. Ruthie Ann Miles, whom I think of as magisterial given her performances in Here Lies Love and The King and I, does something incredible with the part, emerging from the mass of the ensemble bent over and furious, with a voice that still pierces high and true in contrast to her defeated posture. (I feel so much for her lower back.) Shes the way into Sweeneys final emotional wallop, a character who seems secondary suddenly shifting into the center of the tale right at its end. Then, this Sweeney, so cloaked in darkness, inverts itself in the blaze of Mrs. Lovetts oven. The consequences of the killing spree rebound back on Lovett and Sweeney as it becomes clear what Lovetts hiding and who Sweeneys killed. Madness gives way to gentleness and tragedy. The great black pit of the industrial metropolis contains people after all.
In the immediate aftermath of Owens death in 1999, Vince kept leaving voice mails for Bret, asking to talk.

Bret wasnt sure he wanted to talk to Vince. The two men hadnt spoken since the Montreal Screwjob, and Owens death was still being investigated by the Missouri police. I didnt want to be too friendly because I wasnt sure at that point that it was an accident, Bret tells me. I didnt know if it was about revenge about what happened with me and Vince.

So Bret ignored Vinces calls for days. But shortly after Owens body arrived home in Canada, Bret sent Vince a message through a mutual contact: he would meet with Vince in person on a park bench in Calgary, overlooking the Bow River.

It was an unseasonably cold, overcast day. Vince wore a long heavy coat, Bret wrote when he told the story in his memoir. He slapped me hard on the shoulders, hugged me, and told me how sorry he was.

He remembered Vince saying, This is the worst thing to ever happen in the business, to the nicest guy who was ever in the business.

Bret told Vince that he hadnt liked Vinces decision to go on with the show after Owen died. Vince claimed that he and everyone else had been in shock, and hadnt known what else to do. Besides, the fans might have rioted if hed shut the show down.

Bret wasnt buying it.

I said that if Shane [McMahon, Vinces son] had been dropped from the ceiling, Vince would have stopped it fast, Bret recalled. It never would have happened if hed been there, he told Vince. He would have protected his brother.

Then, they had to talk about the reason Bret hadnt been there.

There isnt a day that goes by that I dont regret what I did to you, Vince told Bret. You need to come back and finish your career with me. I could put the belt back on you.

Vince paused, awaiting a response.

He got none.

I could have a story line for you by tomorrow morning, Vince offered.

Bret said he couldnt imagine doing that.

Vince asked if there was anything he could do for Bret.

When I still worked for him, we talked about doing a Best of Bret Hart video collection, but that was more than unlikely after Montreal, Bret recalled. I didnt have much of a history if Vince locked up everything I did in a warehouse somewhere.

So Bret said, Well, it would mean a lot to me if I could have access to my video history and photos whenever I need them

Vince cut Bret off: Anything you want.

I dont want to lose my legacy, Bret told his old boss. I dont want to be forgotten.

You dont even need to ask, Vince said. Anything you want.

I found myself thanking him, Bret wrote, and telling him how much this simple gesture meant to me, especially under the circumstances. If the police cleared Vince, then maybe I could forgive him.

They ended up spending two hours on the park bench together. They exchanged stories about Owen and even managed to laugh a little. They shook hands and headed back to their cars.

But a few months later, Bret saw Vince being interviewed on TSNs Off the Record, talking about their park bench meeting.

Vince told the interviewer that hed met with Bret only out of respect for Owen, but that Bret had barely mentioned his brotherall he wanted to talk about was himself. He painted Bret as ghoulishly self-centered and intent only on rehashing their old grievances.

It was like looking into the eyes of a skeleton, Vince said of Bret. It seemed like he wasnt human.

Thats pretty cold-blooded, Bret remembers thinking. Talking about me looking like a skeleton three days, five days after my brother died. By that time, members of the Hart family had filed a lawsuit against the WWF. It settled for $18 million in 2000; the WWF admitted to no wrongdoing.

Bret and Vince didnt speak again for years. Much of the footage of Brets awe-inspiring work at the WWF would remain locked in the company vault. Even his later stint with WCW was beyond Brets grasp: Vince had acquired the WCW archive when he purchased the promotion in 2001. Bret had sustained a massive in-ring injury in 2000 that had effectively ended his career.

Now, unable to wrestle, it was the story that mattered most to Bret: his story. And Vince had a monopoly on that story.

Every match Bret ever worked, every bump he took, every time the crowd roared for him in the WWF: no one would ever see it without Vinces say-so.

I didnt do all that work and have all those matches to just be forgotten, he tells me. It was so important to me to not be erased.

To Bret, it was as if Vince was holding his past hostage. As the years went by, the company occasionally approached Bret to ask him to appear in one event or anotherhinting that if he played along, they might find a way to release the footage of his work. Every time, Bret turned them down. Why should he bargain for access to something Vince had already promised to give him, back on that riverbank in 1999? At one point, a spokesperson told him Vince had no memory of the conversation.

Meanwhile, all anyone seemed to remember about Bret was the way his WWF career ended.

Everywhere I went, it was always about the Screwjob. Every question, everything I did, he tells me. So what about Vince McMahon? What about the Screwjob? Did it really happen? Did you punch Vince McMahon?  Was it a work? Was it all pretend or was it a story line? 

Hed always answer as honestly as he could, feeling himself tense up.

He hated having to go over it, again and again, explaining what he did and defending his actions.

The worst part of it was that he had to admit Vince had played everything brilliantly. When people would ask me all the time about the Screw-job, it was kind of obvious that Vince had come out much better than I did on it, he says.

The Screwjob had perfectly primed the audience for Mr. McMahon to become the top heel in the industry, Bret says. You couldnt have written it better. Like, you couldnt have given them a better concept or idea. It was new. It was fresh, and it was masterfully done.

So there Vince was, still riding high on the gimmick the Screwjob had launched. And here was Bret, his career over, his legacy obscured.

It was hard to swallow. But it was also hard to keep hating Vince.

When Bret tells me about his former boss, even as he lays out the many, many times Vince was cold or dismissive or manipulative or cruel, he keeps repeating that they could have gone further together. Bret thinks he could have ended his career as a booker, working with Vince to plot out incredible story lines. I could have been his right-hand man, he says. He repeats it several times.

In 2002, Bret had a serious stroke that paralyzed half of his body. He was lying in his hospital bed, unsure of the extent to which hed ever recover, when the phone rang.

And its Vince, he says, calling me, out of the blue. The call caught him off guard. It was shocking to hear that voice, after three years.

Youre going to beat this thing, Vince told Bret on the phone. Youre one of the toughest, strongest guys I ever knew. You got the mind frame and youre going to get through this.

The pep talk meant a tremendous amount to the wrestler. I ended up kind of softening a lot of my hate and anger toward him and really kind of appreciated what was once a very strong relationship, Bret says. I kind of forgave a lot. I just felt a bit of a thread of what we had before the Screwjob happened.

Slowly, Bret recovered from his stroke. And in 2005, two years after the death of Stu Hart, Vince finally followed through and released a DVD called The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be, which featured some of Brets finest moments, along with a documentary. When it came out, WWE inducted Bret into the Hall of Fame, but Bret refused to participate in that years WrestleMania. He still felt he should never appear in one of Vinces shows ever again.

However, in 2007, there came a night when Bret was all alone in his house in Hawaii. He was going through a divorce, no work coming his wayhis body had never come all the way back from the stroke, and he figured his time in wrestling was over for good.

WrestleMania was on. He decided to give it a watch. On the TV, Donald Trumpa man with no training or physical skillwas attacking Vince to the cheers of the crowd.

Hell, Bret thought. I could do that.

Bret called Kevin Dunn at WWE and said he might be willing to take Vince up on his standing offer to come back. Dunn, astonished, passed the word along. Vince was overjoyed and welcomed Bret back to the fold. In 2010, the Hitman made his world-stunning return to WWE programming as a character, doing low-impact pseudo-matches, taking bumps, and, most importantly, cutting promos about how he longed for vengeance against Mr. McMahon.

There was blowback. Bret says Martha, Owens widow, was furious at him for selling out and going back to WWE after what had happened.

I was like, Youre still so bitter and angry,  Bret recalls. Thats why I did what I did: it was so I wouldnt end up like that, [where] everything is about what they did and how Im going to get them someday . I just dont think Martha understands how my family was wrestling, he continues. Everyone was so involved with wrestling. You couldnt just cut it out of your life. My brother Owen died, so Ive got to forget every single thing I ever did in wrestling? I didnt want that.

Going back, he says, wasnt just about the money, or about letting go of his anger, or even about getting back in the ring. It was also about getting back into the story. That was the biggest reason that I went back, he tells me. I wanted to rewrite my ending.

And he did. I dont get asked a lot of questions about the Screwjob anymore, Bret says. My career hasnt been based solely on that moment. And Im maybe the most popular today that Ive ever been in my career. I think Im recognized by a lot of the wrestlers in the industry and a lot of the fans as maybe the greatest wrestler of all time, or in the short list of the top ten or top five  Im always really glad for that. I could be still sitting in my house being miserable.

A few years later, Bret was diagnosed with prostate cancer. On January 31, 2016, he was preparing to publicly announce his diagnosis.

I was writing a statement to announce to the papers the next day that I was going in for prostate surgery, Bret says. I had it written.

And then, he says, I just called Vince up. He continues: I remember thinking about it: Why am I calling Vince McMahon, of all people? But it was  it was just 

The tired grappler trails off. He thinks for a second.

I knew that Vince  that he should know, he says. Hes gonna talk about it; he would appreciate me letting him know I had cancer and that I was going in for surgery.

All surgery carries fatal risk. Bret had cheated death countless times, but, for all anyone knew, it could have been the Hitmans last night on earth.

He dialed the bosss number.

It went to voice mail. And I said, I just want you to know that Im going in for surgery in the morning and Ive been diagnosed with prostate cancer,  Bret says. And I was obviously kinda scared, and worried about what was gonna happen.

Vince called me literally three minutes later and gave me a very strong pep talk and told me I was gonna do fine. He even did a post on the WWE internet or whatever next day, Bret says.

So I was glad I did it. I was glad I let him know that, for some reason, he was that father figure to me. That, maybe, hed appreciate me letting him know what Im dealing with.

Bret pauses. Weve been talking about Vince McMahon for many hours. He only has one thing left to say about the man.

I dont know how to explain my relationship with Vince, Bret says.

But I do know that, if Id never crossed paths with him, I wouldnt be the same man I am today.
The fourth and final season of Succession kicks off with another assholes birthday party, albeit a much stiffer affair than Kendalls 40th with its all bangers playlist, its full-scale replica of his childhood treehouse, and its entryway modeled after Lady Carolines birth canal. By contrast, Logans birthday is a staid, old-money, legacy-media-style soiree so exclusive to his inner circle and strategic guest list that the appearance of Cousin Gregs plus one and her giant handbag constitutes a scandal. Yet the two parties are connected, because the birthday boy is utterly, inconsolably miserable  the occasion failing to mask his loneliness and the howling abyss at the center of his life. No one he cares about is present  and though cares is an endlessly complicated term to describe how anyone in the Roy family feels about one another, it still applies. Hes lost the people he loves, his children, who are also the moronic playthings that he likes to bat around.

This first episode doesnt specify precisely where we are in time, but its soon enough after the end of last season that the deal between Waystar and GoJo  a kind of doomed 21st-century version of AOL gobbling up Time Warner  hasnt been consummated. The deal will finally be official in two days, which opens up some wiggle room for chicanery, especially with daddy and the kids fighting again. In the space between seasons, the alliance between Kendall, Shiv, and Roman has held stable like planets orbiting the gravitational resentment of their father. As Logan approaches his marriage to GoJo, they focus on the billions they stand to inherit from the deal and the possibilities of striking out on their own. They consider themselves young and hip, and if Logan was never going to let them lead his lumbering dinosaur of a company into the future, then by God, theyll do it themselves.

Their proposed venture, called the Hundred, is exquisitely inane  an assortment of buzzwords and reference points posing as a new-media company. Here are the various ways its described to investors: Substack meets MasterClass meets The Economist meets The New Yorker. Its an indispensable, bespoke media hub. Greatest writers. Top minds in every field from Israel-Palestine to A.I. to Michelin restaurants. One-stop info shop, high-calorie info snacks. At best, the Hundred sounds like a warmed-over, start-up version of Vaulter, the hip company Kendall brought into Waystar at an extravagant fee only to have his father force him to kill it like Old Yeller. Now Kendall would theoretically have the power to give himself all the runway he wants to set the greatest minds to work on high-calorie info snacks, but the Roy children are too distractible to build their own Vaulter from the ground up.

True to form, they immediately find another shiny thing to run after. Word is circulating that Pierce, the respected media company that has been Logans white whale for years, is up on the auction block again, and the kids will have enough money between them, post-GoJo deal, to put in a serious bid. The opportunity is too delicious to pass up, especially after Logan humiliated them in their efforts to stop the sale. Kendall and Shiv cant get away from the Hundred fast enough, though Shivs proposal that they do both leaves Roman in the uncharacteristic position of being the adult in the room: Lets launch a high-visibility, execution-dependent disruptor news brand while simultaneously performing CPR on a fucking corpse of a legacy-media conglomerate. But Romans relative caution in approaching a Pierce acquisition speaks to an ongoing fear of his father. Defiance doesnt come easily for him. Hes forever angling for approval.

One of the major themes of The Munsters is how little money matters to people with endless amounts of it. The greatest indulgence money buys them is the freedom to turn their lives into a thrilling psychodrama, to make themselves part of the conversation. At Logans party, the forgotten Roy child, Connor, talks to Greg and his date, Bridget, about his prospects in the upcoming election and how his current share of the electorate, one percent, could get squeezed if he doesnt get aggressive. (A confused Greg asks the obvious question: Squeezed down? From one? Thats the lowest number.) To hang on to his precious percent, Connor figures he needs to spend another $100 million and perhaps reconceive his upcoming wedding to Willa as a razzmatazz-filled media event. To him, nine figures is a small price for a sliver of national relevance.

Over at the Pierces tastefully appointed estate, money isnt much of an object for the Roy kids as they work to outmaneuver their father. As with the Tern Haven episode in the second season, when the Roys spent an awkward weekend with the Pierces, the show delights in exposing the high-toned hypocrisies of a liberal billionaire living high on the hog. Nan Pierce fakes a migraine and considers every multibillion-dollar offer for her company too vulgar to even discuss, but her resistance to Logan over the years has always seemed more personal than ideological. Shivs assurances that the Roy children will not mess with the Pierce brand are all well and good, but she wants the best deal for her shareholders and her family. Put simply, shes going to accept the highest bid.

The negotiations turn into a bidding war between Logan and the children, though even Logan seems to have enough business sense to keep himself from overbidding. When the kids eventually get the victory, it costs them $10 billion, because they dont want to nickel and dime it by bidding, say, half a billion dollars less. Congratulations on saying the biggest number, you fucking morons is all dad can say after the negotiations are over, and its hard to know whether hes mocking them for overpaying or steaming about losing the company hed always dreamed about gutting. These are games all of them can afford to play, and their billions put them in the same arena regardless of whether theyre on speaking terms.

Of course, money continues not to buy happiness. In a devastating scene near the end of the episode, Tom and Shiv reconvene in their penthouse for the first time since, presumably, agreeing to a trial separation in the wake of Toms stunning betrayal last season. Tom wants to talk. Shiv doesnt. And thats perhaps the fundamental difference between them: The Wambsgans-Roy partnership may seem like a wedding of convenience for a go-getting executive type like Tom, but of the two of them, he seems to have understood their relationship as a real marriage. Do you want to talk? he asks. Because there are things I wouldnt mind saying and explaining. Shiv shares some of his sadness  they clasp hands wistfully at the end of the scene  but not the same desire and facility for real intimacy. Her father talks earlier in the episode about human interaction as markets, and she inherits his thinking. Shes selling her shares in the marriage market.

Sad-Sack Wasp Traps

 Logan muttering Jesus fucking Christ to himself while walking away dejectedly from Happy Birthday to You recalls The Simpsons episode where Smithers arranges the entire country of Australia to come together to spell Monty Burns in candlelight but cant get the old man to turn his head slightly to see it.

 Logans friend, assistant, and adviser, Kerry, looks to have a bigger role this season. She fits right in, given how she uses the abuse she gets on one end (Roman: We would hear you better if you took dads cock out of your mouth) and passes it down the food chain, which here means castigating Greg for bringing Bridget Randomfuck to the birthday party.

 More Kendall pitch nonsense on the Hundred: We have the ethos of a nonprofit but a path to crazy margins.

 Tom will not stop fucking with Greg, even if theyre now calling themselves The Disgusting Brothers for their sexual exploits. Tom tricks Greg into thinking the CCTV in Logans house means hes inadvertently made a sex tape out of his guest-room tryst at the party. But even his rant on Bridgets bag goes for the jugular: Whats even in there? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail? I mean, Greg, its monstrous. Its gargantuan. You could take it camping. You could slide it across the floor after a bank job.

 Connor, the wedding planner: What if we got married underneath the Statue of Liberty with a brass band? Get a rapper. I dont know. Jet packs and confetti guns and razor wire and bum fights and, you know, goodie bags and hoopla and razzmatazz.

 You never know exactly which Succession lines will get quoted and memed in the future, but had a bit of a rummage is a pretty useful sex euphemism.

 Logan asking to be roasted echoes the boar on the floor scene when hes sadistically toying with underlings for sport. Greg doesnt have a joke for him, so he simply stabs him right in the heart: Wherere your kids? Where are all your kids, Uncle Logan? On your big birthday?

 The last scene reduces Logan to a common type: A miserable old man watching Fox (er  ATN) News. The only difference between him and some unloved crank in The Villages is that he can vent directly to the network when he doesnt like what he sees. And, in two days, when GoJo takes over, he may not even be able to do that.

For more, join us for Succession Club, our subscriber-exclusive newsletter obsessively chronicling all the biggest twists of the final season. Existing subscribers can visit this page to sign up. If youre not a subscriber yet, click here to get started.
Violent clashes broke out between police forces and protesters, as the Israel Police began to disperse the protest on Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv early on Monday morning, according to N12 News, Trend reports citing The Jerusalem Post.

Massive police forces arrived on the scene and used two water cannons, mounted horse units and and other riot dispersal measures to remove the protesters who had blocked the traffic on Ayalon Highway for over five hours.

Three police officers were injured according to Israel Police, after protesters hit police officers with flags and threw stones, bottles and other objects at them.
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Florida parents invited to Florence to view David after 'pornographic' complaints.

Florence mayor Dario Nardella has defended a Florida school principal who was forced to resign following parental complaints that children were exposed to pornography after being shown Michelangelos iconic David statue.

"Mistaking art for pornography is simply ridiculous", Nardella wrote on Twitter, adding: "I will personally invite the teacher to Florence to give her a recognition on behalf of the city. Art is civilisation and whoever teaches it deserves respect."

Uninsegnante della Florida e stata costretta a licenziarsi per aver mostrato agli studenti le foto del David di Michelangelo. Scambiare larte per pornografia e semplicemente ridicolo. pic.twitter.com/Gn8UM3HUqe  Dario Nardella (@DarioNardella) March 25, 2023

Separately, the director of the Florence museum that hosts Michelangelo's David has invited parents and students from the Florida school to view the "purity" of the marble masterpiece in person.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dellAccademia told the Associated Press (AP) in a phone interview on Sunday that she was astonished at the controversy.

To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, she said.

The incident occurred at Tallahassee Classical School following a Renaissance art lesson which included images of the David statue as well as Michelangelo's Birth of Adam and Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

Several parents complained, with one claiming the students in sixth grade were shown pornographic material, and others saying they should have been informed in advance about the nature of the lesson, as per school procedure.

The former principal Hope Carrasaquilla, who was given the ultimation by the school board to either resign or be fired, told AP that she was very honoured by the invitations to Italy and she may accept.
Controversy comes as Italy seeks UNESCO recognition for Italian cuisine.

A recent article in the Financial Times questioning the authenticity of some of the signature dishes of Italian cuisine has, predictably, caused an outcry in Italy.

The article has been slammed by Italian agriculture organisation Coldiretti as "a surreal attack" that comes just days after Italy launched a bid to have Italian cuisine inserted on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

Titled 'Everything I, an Italian, thought I knew about Italian food is wrong', the article by Marianna Giusti features an interview with food historian and University of Parma professor Alberto Grandi who "has dedicated his career to debunking the myths around Italian food".

Italian cuisine really is more American than it is Italian, Grandi claims, citing pizza as a prime example and claiming that "most Italians hadnt heard of pizza until the 1950s".

"Many Italian classics, from panettone to tiramisu, are relatively recent inventions", he is quoted as saying in the article, suggesting that the "exact modern-day match" of parmigiano "is Wisconsin parmesan.

The article, which notes "Italys often ludicrous attitude towards culinary purity", also cites food historian Luca Cesari, author of A Brief History of Pasta, who claims that carbonara is an American dish born in Italy.

In a statement, Coldiretti hit back at these claims which "seek to trivialise the national food tradition", saying that the article "could make you smile if it didn't conceal worrying economic and employment implications".

Italy's UNESCO bid for Italian cuisine, launched jointly last week by the culture and agriculture ministries, underlined the close links between culture, food and lifestyle in a "mosaic of traditions" based on a set of "social practices, rituals and gestures based on much local knowledge" passed on from generation to generation.
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Didnt they read the small print? Thats the jeering accusation made against holders of Credit Suisse Group AGs additional tier-1 bonds who face 16 billion Swiss francs ($17 billion) of losses in the banks forced takeover by UBS Group AG. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Critics say the bond prospectus states a wipe-out was a risk. True. But investors may still be able to argue the warning wasnt so clear.

The AT1 holders are livid because shareholders in Credit Suisse will receive UBS stock worth 3 billion francs (at the time the bid was made on March 19) in the banks rescue. The established convention in finance is that equity holders bear losses before bondholders. While the AT1 prospectus says this hierarchy may not apply to the notes in certain scenarios, the question is whether those circumstances prevailed in this case.

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An emergency law was rushed through authorizing the AT1 annihilation. But Swiss financial regulator Finma has also pointed to the contractual terms of the bonds to justify its actions. On Thursday, it said Credit Suisse had suffered a viability event in which it received extraordinary government support in the form of loans with a federal default guarantee. Thats one of the triggers in the prospectus for writing down the notes to zero.

There are two viability tests and Finma seems to be underlining the one referencing state assistance. A paragraph in the 157-page document details the relevant parameters. Customary measures to improve Credit Suisses capital adequacy must have been inadequate or unfeasible. That looks like an easy box to tick. The standard self-help option  a jumbo share sale  would have been hard for Credit Suisse to pull off at its nadir.

A parallel condition is that Credit Suisse should have received a commitment of extraordinary support from the public sector, without which the bank  in the determination of the regulator  would have become insolvent, bankrupt, unable to pay a material part of its debts as they fall due or unable to carry on its business.

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Ticking this box doesnt look too hard either. The taxpayer guarantee made the support extraordinary (although its worth remembering this depended on emergency legislation being rushed through). Credit Suisse would surely have struggled to carry on its business had it gone into last Monday without the central banks aid. Either way, the fact that the regulator has discretion to determine the banks capabilities in this context makes the issue moot.

But theres another condition thats harder to call decisively. This is that the public support has, or imminently will have, the effect of improving [Credit Suisses] capital adequacy.

The public support was liquidity, not a capital injection that immediately boosted Credit Suisses capital ratios. Nor did Switzerland underwrite a rights offer to shareholders that would have taken weeks but could still have counted as imminently improving financial strength.

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How might this condition be satisfied before a court, assuming the bondholders sue? The Swiss authorities could perhaps argue that the fact the loans had guarantees made the support akin to providing capital. The same goes for the partial indemnification of UBS against losses on some of Credit Suisses assets.

Or they could claim that the liquidity backstop prevented Credit Suisse from having to dump assets at fire-sale prices to fund any acceleration in deposit withdrawals. In turn, that would have spared Credit Suisse losses that damaged capital adequacy.

There are lots of ifs and buts to such thinking. Would Credit Suisse actually have made losses on asset sales? Even if that happened, the impact on capital adequacy would depend on the assets particular risk-weighting in its capital ratios.

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The legal language is helpfully or unhelpfully imprecise depending on your vantage point. As the extraordinary public support needs only to have had the effect of boosting capital adequacy, the wording could cover a range of interventions. Moreover, capital adequacy is not specifically defined in the prospectus glossary. Does the phrase refer to regulatory minimums? Or does it mean having enough capital to inspire market confidence? These arent the same.

There was no need to include the capital adequacy wording in the terms. It must be there for a reason. Under certain legal conventions, ambiguities may be resolved in favor of the reader not the drafter on the contract. Its not going to be an easy fight. But bondholders best defense may well be in the small print theyre accused of ignoring.

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 UBS Needs to Act Swiftly to Repair Its Capital Issue: Marcus Ashworth and Paul J. Davies

 No, Taxpayers Should Not Underwrite the Banking System: Chris Hughes

 Switzerlands Incredible Shrinking Financial Sector: Lionel Laurent

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.

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A distinctive feature of Russian military policy is an express willingness to introduce nuclear weapons into an otherwise conventional war. That helps explain why President Vladimir Putins saber-rattling about his nuclear arsenal since launching war on Ukraine in February 2022 has been so worrisome. Whats of particular concern with Russia is its posture on so-called tactical, or nonstrategic, nuclear weapons.

1. Whats a tactical nuclear weapon?

Tactical is an inexact term for a nuclear weapon that could be used within a theater of war. That generally means it has a less powerful warhead (the explosive head of a missile, rocket or torpedo) and is delivered at a shorter range  by mines, artillery, cruise missiles or bombs dropped by aircraft  than the strategic nuclear weapons the US and Russia could launch at each others homeland using intercontinental ballistic missiles. Arms control accords between the US and the Soviet Union (and later between the US and Russia) starting in the 1970s focused mostly on the number of strategic nuclear weapons, not tactical ones.

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2. What has Russia done to raise concern?

As Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, he threatened any nation that interfered with consequences that you have never experienced in your history. That was widely seen as threatening a nuclear strike. On March 25, Putin said Russia was preparing to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, an ally thats been a staging ground for Russian attacks on Ukraine. Russia regularly holds drills to test its strategic weapon delivery systems, including practice launches of ICBMs and shorter-range cruise missiles. Military experts have considered how Russia might use a tactical weapon in a conventional conflict, like the one in Ukraine.

3. How powerful can a tactical nuclear weapon be?

Where todays most powerful strategic warheads are measured in the many hundreds of kilotons, tactical nuclear weapons can have explosive yields of less than 1 kiloton; many are in the tens of kilotons. For some perspective, the atomic bombs dropped by the US on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 had explosive yields of about 15 kilotons and 20 kilotons, respectively.

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4. How does a nuclear strike fit into Russias military doctrine?

Since 2000, Russias publicly shared military doctrine has allowed for nuclear weapons use in response to large-scale aggression utilizing conventional weapons in situations critical to the national security of the Russian Federation. The Russian strategy known as escalate to de-escalate contemplates using a tactical nuclear weapon on the battlefield to change the course of a conventional conflict that Russian forces are at risk of losing. John Hyten, who served as the top US nuclear weapons military official, says a more accurate translation of the Russian strategy is escalate to win. Russian diplomats, in a bid to dial back fears about what might happen in Ukraine, have said nuclear weapons would be used against conventional forces only if Russias very existence were in jeopardy.

5. Whats in Russias arsenal?

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The US Department of Defense reported in 2018 that Russia had significant advantages over the US and its allies in tactical nuclear forces and was improving delivery capabilities. Researchers at the Federation of American Scientists estimated that entering 2022, Russia had 4,477 nuclear warheads, of which 1,525  roughly one-third  could be considered tactical.

6. What would a tactical nuclear strike look like?

Nina Tannenwald, author of The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945, paints a scenario of even a small nuclear weapon, one with an explosive yield of 0.3 kiloton, producing damage far beyond that of a conventional explosive. It could, she wrote in Scientific American in March, cause all the horrors of Hiroshima, albeit on a smaller scale. Its possible, however, that if detonated at the right altitude, a small-yield warhead might wipe out opposing forces beneath without leaving behind long-term radiation damage that leaves the battlefield off-limits to all.

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7. How would the world respond?

Because Ukraine isnt a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization  Putin has demanded that it never be allowed to join  the US and its allies are not obliged to come to its defense. But the West would be under great pressure to respond to a nuclear attack, perhaps even with a tactical weapon of its own. From there, it would be anyones guess. I dont think theres any such thing as the ability to easily use tactical nuclear weapons and not end up with Armageddon, Biden warned. The US is thought to have about 150 B-61 nuclear gravity bombs  ones dropped from aircraft, with variable yields that can be as low as 0.3 kiloton  stationed in five NATO countries: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey. Two other NATO members, the UK and France, are known to have nuclear weapons of their own. And Poland recently expressed interest in sharing US nuclear weapons, which could mean anything from offering escort or reconnaissance jets for a nuclear mission to actually hosting the weapons.

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The trend comes even as overall enrollment numbers rise at some historically Black colleges and universities. Howard, for example, has gained more than 3,000 students since 2016. But of those, just one of every six has been a man.
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After breaking away from a crumbling Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Belarus became increasingly aligned with Russia, unlike its neighbors. Those bonds strengthened with Russias invasion of Ukraine. Longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Belarus to be used as a staging ground, while avoiding sending his own troops to take part in the war. The tight embrace is payback after Russian President Vladimir Putin bankrolled his government for many years and came to Lukashenkos aid following a disputed 2020 election that sparked a popular uprising, repression and sanctions.

1. Why is Belarus important to Russia in the conflict?

The nation of 9.3 million people sits just to the north of Ukraine and their common border is several hundred miles long. Belaruss southern territory extends close to Kyiv, which made it a useful base for Russian troops in their failed attempt to quickly capture the Ukrainian capital early in the conflict. Belarus borders on Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, all members of the western NATO military alliance, ensuring its strategic importance for Moscow. Its also part of the shortest route between Russias mainland and Kaliningrad, an isolated Russian-held territory further west on the Baltic Sea.

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2. Why is Belarus helping Russia in the war?

In the past, Lukashenko tested Putins patience by casting Belarus as an independent nation despite its heavy dependence on Russian energy and financial aid. Minsk stopped short of recognizing Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea, and tried to mediate in that crisis. The relationship began to change in 2020 when Putin gained more sway over a weakened Lukashenko by supporting his crackdown on a well-organized opposition movement that threatened to topple him. Moscow gained further leverage by providing $1.5 billion in loans and striking preferential deals to supply oil and gas to its smaller neighbor. Sanctions imposed on Minsk by western governments pushed Belarus further into Russias arms. Putin visited Lukashenko in December 2022 in Belarus, a rare foreign trip for the increasingly reclusive leader, underscoring how close the two had become.

3. How about the military relationship?

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Russias army held joint drills with Belarus in the weeks leading up to its invasion of Ukraine. This allowed Russia to transport equipment and troops into Belarusian territory close to the Ukrainian border. About 30,000 Russian soldiers may have been in Belarus at the time, making it the largest military buildup there since the Cold War, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Those forces stayed on after the drills finished, and many took part in the invasion. A few days into the war, Belarus scrapped its neutral status, giving it legal cover to host Russian troops and weapons. A year later, in March 2023, Putin said Russia was preparing to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while retaining control of them. (Belarus and two other former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, agreed in 1994 to give nuclear weapons stationed on their soil to Russia in return for security assurances.) Russia also sent Iskander short-range missiles  capable of carrying nuclear warheads  and the S-400 air defense missile system. It also has positioned MiG fighter jets capable of carrying hypersonic weapons in the country.

4. How are Russias adversaries treating Belarus?

To punish the Minsk government for its involvement in the conflict, they tightened the sanctions imposed after Lukashenkos post-election crackdown. The European Union blocked exports of goods and technology that could be used by the Belarus military. Financial penalties imposed on Russia by the US and the UK following the invasion were also applied to Belarus, while the EU targeted Belarusian individuals helping in the Russian war effort. EU members Poland and Lithuania, which have offered shelter to opposition figures from Belarus, accused Lukashenko of retaliating by channeling thousands of migrants, many from the Middle East, across their border.

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5. Are the sanctions working?

Theyre testing the countrys established economic model based on exporting fuels made from imported Russian oil and selling potash, a fertilizer, to major markets such as China, India and Brazil. But they have not been enough to make Lukashenko, in power since Belaruss first presidential election as an independent republic in 1994, rethink his alliance with Putin. There were renewed protests when Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to flood into Ukraine. At least 1,500 people were arrested in the first month of the war, while some underground activists began destroying rail infrastructure, disrupting some Russian military shipments. But the 68-year-old leader has maintained his grip.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Israeli President Isaac Herzog appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as members of the government and the coalition, to halt judicial reform process, Trend reports citing the Twitter post of the President.

According to him, security, the economy, society - all are threatened.

"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility entrusted to us, I call on you to immediately stop the legislative process.

I appeal to the heads of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to put the citizens of the country above all else, and to act responsibly and courageously without further delay. Come to your senses now! This is not a political moment, this is a moment for leadership and responsibility," he wrote.

On Sunday, Netanyahu announced his decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. After this, mass protests began in several Israeli cities.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the head of the Israeli government coalition after a meeting with faction leaders that he intends to halt judicial reform, Trend reports via Israeli media.

Earlier, Finance Minister and leader of the government's Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, said he would not continue to object to the temporary suspension of judicial reform.

Meanwhile, Israeli National Security Minister and leader of the Jewish Power party Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to break up the coalition if there is a pause in reforming the judiciary.

The PM's official statement was scheduled for 10:00 (GMT+3) but is still being postponed.
The longer Gill and Alan Brown live, the worse value for money they will get from their funeral insurance. They will need to pay more than $50,000 before they are old enough to qualify to stop paying monthly premiums.

The couple has so far paid $21,500 for a $9500 benefit to cover the cost of each funeral. As morbid as it sounds, they would need to take advantage of the policy now to come close to breaking even.

Gill and Alan Brown will need to pay more than $50,000 in funeral insurance premiums before they qualify to stop paying. Credit: Joe Armao

If Gill gets to the age of 89, the insurance policy will allow her to stop paying monthly premiums. By then, she and Alan will have shelled out another $30,000 on top of the $21,500 they have already paid. Gill, 75, expects inflation to keep pushing up the $130 monthly premium needed to maintain her $9500 funeral benefit. Thats on top of rent.

I dont think Im getting any value, she said. There are funeral people around now that are offering cheaper funerals.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances? I was lucky to grow up solidly middle class, despite my parents coming from working class and immigrant backgrounds. My parents were both government workers, and my dad brought our family into relative wealth through share trading on the stock market. My parents did their best to instil value for money in me while making sure I never wanted any necessities. This meant being strongly encouraged to save half of my birthday money and pocket money, which would then be invested into the stock market on my behalf. This never amounted to more than a few thousand until I started contributing my own income from part-time jobs through uni, which brought my share trading balance to the $20,000 it is today. I am immensely privileged in having been taught financial literacy from a young age. What was your first job and why did you get it? I got my first job as a waitress at a local dessert cafe and bar at the age of 18, right after I graduated from high school. I got the job to finally get some work experience on my resume and to earn money to pay for things that my parents would never give me money for  fast food, booze, festivals and travel.

Did you worry about money growing up? Yes, but mostly in a very spoilt, self-centred teenager sort of way. I couldnt afford and wasnt allowed to buy all the nice things my private school peers could (I was on a scholarship), so I had to budget to go to the movies or get Maccas after school. During the 2008 financial crisis, my parents got very close to losing our house and a bulk of their stock market investments. However, my parents did their best to shield me from this financial stress  I only noticed it in my dads depression and unchecked anger and my mums frantic stress. I was only told what really happened once I was an adult many years later. Do you worry about money now? All the time  probably because I salary sacrifice so much of my income into my super for the faraway goal of buying a home. I feel like I live pay cheque to pay cheque even though I really dont, especially when you consider my savings and assets. With the cost of living crisis, it feels impossible for me to save any money in addition to the $1000 a month that automatically goes into my super  and $12,000 a year isnt going to get me a house deposit in Melbourne any time soon! It is unfathomable to me that I am a lawyer and my salary is less than a duty manager at Woolies or a shift manager at Maccas  and I have almost $60,000 in student debt to make the bargain even worse.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself, and do you have a financial safety net? I first moved out of home without financial assistance at the age of 22, and have been financially responsible for myself ever since. I certainly have a financial safety net, though. I can always move back in with my parents if things get really tough. Loading Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain. I received between $5 and $50 a week in pocket money from my parents as I grew up. My parents also gave me about $5000 to assist me with living costs while I went on a six-month study exchange in Europe, but this was a once-off.

Day 1 10:00am  Its Sunday morning. I wake up and make myself instant coffee at home while I start on my chores for the day. I know its a sin to drink instant coffee in inner Melbourne, but Im too lazy and cheap to drink anything but Nescafe 43 at home. As I check my emails, I see that I have just been sent the invoice for a made-to-measure suit I had made to wear for my admission as a lawyer this week. I have been wanting a standout suit for work for years, but havent been able to find a good womens suit with all the necessary pieces, so I decided to have a jacket, pants and skirt made. The suit is expensive, costing almost $1500 all up, but for a made-to-measure suit ethically made in Australia, its worth it to me. Plus, its a one-off (for this decade, at least). I transfer the suitmaker, Isadora Nim, the remaining 50 per cent balance for the suit  $742.50. 1:00pm  I have a homemade protein smoothie and a Cheesymite scroll for lunch (from groceries I already had at home) while I get some chores and life admin done to set myself up for the busy work week ahead. Im terrible at just relaxing when I have downtime  I always manage to find something to fill my time with, whether thats washing or mindlessly scrolling on Instagram Reels (I refuse to download TikTok because I know it would take up even more of my time). 5:00pm  Some friends are having people over tonight for a casual catch-up over a movie at their place. To avoid ordering expensive takeaway food, I have some leftovers as an early pre-dinner from home. The leftovers are a delicious vegan duck egg noodle dish that my boyfriend made for dinner last night, which I scoff down, even though Im not particularly hungry yet. I take the train to my friends place ($2.30), bringing over some snacks and a drink (a packet of chips and a beer that I bought last week). We put on a movie and I catch up with everyone there. My boyfriend is so kind and picks me up from my friends place. $2.30 11:00pm  After only having one or two drinks at my friends place, I am knackered from a busy week. I sleepily manage to brush my teeth and moisturise my face before passing out for the night.

Daily Total: $744.80 Loading Day 2 9:00am  I am working from home today, so I roll out of bed and into the study to begin my day. I work at a small law firm, so usually, Ill start the day catching up on some emails before getting stuck into some legal advice drafting. I grab another Cheesymite scroll from the kitchen for breakfast. 11:00am  I call my boss to catch her up on my workload and let her know what Im up to. She lets me know that theres a new matter that has popped up  as I work in litigation, she tells me that my involvement isnt yet needed, as the matter hasnt yet become litigious, but is rather in the early stages of a potential dispute. I take notes on the information she gives me and file it away so that I can refresh my memory when or if the matter does become litigious and requires me to draft any court documents. After the call, I continue on with the legal advice that I am drafting, which will probably take me a couple of days to complete. Then I make a quick salad for lunch (again, from groceries I already have at home).

1:00pm  During my lunch break, I pop into my local shopping centre, Northland, to get my eyebrows threaded ($8). For a milestone event like my legal admission thats coming up tomorrow, I would have liked to also get my eyelashes and nails done, but Ive been short on time lately and feel like I need to be frugal after dropping so much money on my suit yesterday. Then I head back home to work. $8 5:30pm  I clock off and attend a reformer Pilates class with a friend which I have booked with my monthly ClassPass credits through the app. After, we grab dinner at a nearby pub. I have a vegan seitan halal snack pack and a pot of beer ($25). Being vegetarian, I havent had an HSP in years, and its delicious! $25 8:30pm  After exercising and socialising over dinner, all I want to do when Im home is head to bed, but I have my admission as an Australian lawyer tomorrow morning to look forward to. I try on my suit with every pair of shoes I own before settling on some beige ankle boots. The hem of my pants keeps getting accidentally tucked into the top of the ankle boot, which is really annoying, but I dont seem to have a better pair of shoes to go with them! I tell myself that its no big deal and try to get my beauty sleep before tomorrow, but Im so excited that I cant actually fall asleep until around 11pm. Luckily, I can sleep in a little tomorrow! Daily Total: $33 Day 3

8:00am  Today is my long-awaited admission as an Australian lawyer! I took the day off from work so I dont have to feel guilty about not getting enough work done amid the celebrations. I get ready to meet my colleague from work who is moving my admission before the Court  basically, as a lawyer she has to vouch for me to become a lawyer in order for the Court to grant my admission. I take my time getting ready, including putting on my brand-new suit for the occasion and doing my hair and make-up. 10:00am  I train to the city ($2.30) and arrive at the office to see that my colleague has bought me a lovely admission present of some bottled cocktails. I thank her profusely and we walk down to the Supreme Court in Melbourne CBD, where we meet my parents who will be watching the ceremony as my guests. $2.30 12:00pm  Im now a real lawyer! The admission ceremony was a great milestone, and I ran into some old acquaintances from law school who were also getting admitted as lawyers in the same ceremony as me. After the admission ceremony, my parents, colleague and I make our way to a local Chinese restaurant for a celebratory lunch, joined by my boyfriend and another one of my work mentors. I go to town on dumplings, wontons, dry shallot noodles and mushroom truffle fried rice. Everything is delicious! As always, my mother sneakily pays the bill before anyone has finished eating  no prizes for guessing her nationality. Mum also wants to get dessert at a fancy Japanese fusion cafe nearby. I order a sweet potato latte and try a bit of her matcha lava cake. Im far too full to order anything myself! Again, Mum pays. Im so grateful that I can always count on not spending anything when Im with my family. 2:00pm  I take the train home ($2.30) with my boyfriend and we drink the bottled cocktails that my colleague gifted me to celebrate. Since I have the afternoon off work, I veg around the house all afternoon, doing some chores and life admin while listening to an episode of my favourite podcast at the moment, Behind the Bastards. $2.30 9:00pm  My boyfriend and I arent particularly hungry after our big lunch today, so I make some simple veggie noodles for dinner with some leftovers we had in the fridge. We watch some Peaky Blinders on Netflix in bed together before going to sleep.
The head of Australias peak union body says essential workers wages should be pushed up immediately amid soaring inflation and rising living costs.

ACTU president Michele ONeil told the National Press Club in Canberra that Labors victory in the NSW election at the weekend showed governments were increasingly aware of workers concerns.

ACTU President Michele ONeil says workers shouldnt be blamed for soaring inflation. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Real wages have gone backwards by the greatest ever amount, 4.5 per cent in the last 12 months, weve never seen such a decline in workers wages in our country, ONeil said on Tuesday.

The idea that somehow we should step back from workers seeing their wage increases  the opposite is needed. People are struggling, there is a cost of living crisis, people need to see their wages increase, and they need them now, and we know every economist, everyone agrees that is no wage price spiral happening here.

Its not wages that are driving inflation, the sort of things that drive inflation is record profits. Price gouging by many larger companies. These other things making the difference in terms of inflation, you cannot blame workers for that.

Workers need their share in terms of their wages, and they will then spend those in those local communities and small businesses that are actually doing it tough as well.

ONeil said she welcomed the fact governments were listening to issues that were important to workers, and said this had been reflected in the NSW election result on the weekend. NSW Labor has promised to scrap the 3 per cent wages cap for public sector workers including nurses and teachers.

ONeil said: You see  essential workers one day step up, save our lives, [with] your own life and family at risk, to [do] this day in, month out  while were in a crisis, and then not give them any wage increase? See the wages go backwards? See people abandon those industries and jobs that they love because they cannot live on them anymore and cannot handle the pressure of them?

I really welcome the fact that the NSW people [have favoured a] commitment by the new NSW government to do something about that.
Australians should not be punished for speaking the truth. When courageous whistleblowers speak up about human rights violations, government misfeasance or corporate misdeeds, we can demand action. But when wrongdoing stays in the dark, when Australian dont speak up, there is no accountability. That is why whistleblowers play a vital democratic role  without them, often there is no justice.

On Monday, Judge Liesl Kudelka of the South Australian District Court dismissed former public servant Richard Boyles application for protection under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which covers federal public sector whistleblowers. It is the latest sad twist in a sorry saga that has dragged on for almost five years, and a major blow to the protection of fundamental rights in this country. It is a case of acute injustice; a case that must end now.

ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle. Credit: Ben Searcy

Boyle previously worked at the Australian Taxation Office in the debt collection team. He became concerned about the inconsistent and arbitrary use of debt recovery powers, including garnishee orders  which allow the ATO to take money from taxpayers bank accounts. Boyle had described internal pressures to be heavy-handed, even where taxpayers were at risk of suicide, or facing domestic violence or mental health crises.

So he spoke up. He made an internal disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act. He went to the tax ombudsman, the Inspector-General of Taxation. Nothing was done. So as a last resort, he went public as part of a joint Age/Sydney Morning Herald/Four Corners investigation.
Dr Watts report reveals that in a range of these contracts, perceived conflicts of interest were simply not disclosed. More needs to be done to find out what was the basis of the allocation of $374 million worth of taxpayer money under the previous government. Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has released the findings of a review into the problems with the awarding of some contracts. Credit: Rhett Wyman Why werent the basic standards met? It is completely unacceptable. This is taxpayer money. People pay their taxes in good faith to Canberra. They do not expect to have substandard procurement arrangements and no conflicts of interest declared or disclosed. The details of the Services Australia contracts provide a rare insight into the behind-the-scenes dealings between government officials and Synergy 360, which is owned by Canberra businesswoman Kham Xaysavanh, ex-military official David Milo and entrepreneur John Margerison.

Milo and Margerison are close friends of former Liberal cabinet minister Stuart Robert, who this masthead revealed last year was separately giving Synergy 360 advice about how its multinational clients could secure access to ministers, public servants and, potentially, lucrative government contracts. Loading A new investigation by this masthead has uncovered that a Services Australia senior official responsible for the departments identity management processes was linked to at least two contracts awarded by his department to Synergy 360 in 2019. The contracts were worth over $100,000 and involved Synergy 360 advising Services Australia about how to reform systems to verify the identity of Australians using its services, including by using biometric checking. The senior Services Australia official is a longstanding friend of Xaysavanh, who owns 30 per cent of Synergy 360.

Xaysavanh hosted the public servant at her home to socialise with her and Synergys other owner, David Milo, on several occasions, according to a source with knowledge of the trios dealings. A second source said the trio met at a Canberra pub to discuss the departments relationship with Synergy 360. A leaked email reveals that in March 2018, Xaysavanh wrote to Milo about whether Synergy 360 could hire the official as a consultant. In the email, Xaysavanh described the public servant as a super smart & switched on guy who was looking for a contract role that would allow him to work on business transformation or strategy engagements. When quizzed about his relationship with Xaysavanh, the official said last week: She is a friend of mine. He also said that Synergy 360 was hired to undertake a research project on identity management because the department was desperate for advice.

He declined to answer further questions, including whether he had disclosed the pairs relationship to Services Australia. The public servant, who has left the federal public service, also declined to answer questions about why and on how many occasions he met Xaysavanh and Milo at Xaysavanhs family home for drinks. Questions related to Services Australia procurements should be directed to Services Australia, the public official, who this masthead is not naming, said in a statement. Services Australia declined to answer questions about the official, stating: we are not in a position to make any further comment on specific contracts or individuals. When this masthead asked Services Australia if the officials who decided the contracts disclosed any conflicts of interest, the agencys media unit said: We have not identified disclosed conflicts of interest from those officials. At least two contracts were awarded to Synergy 360 while the official held a senior role at Services Australia. One was a May 2019 contract to help Services Australia reform its identity management systems and was worth $28,875. The second contract was issued in September 2019 and involved the potential for the department to use biometric checking to confirm identities. It was valued at $79,585. The work concluded in November 2019.

Xaysavanh refused to answer questions about her relationship with the government official, saying she wanted to get legal advice before doing so. Former Coalition minister Stuart Robert in parliament on March 6. Credit: Rhett Wyman But leaked Synergy 360 documents also reveal that at the same time firm was providing the confidential identity management advice to Services Australia, it was getting paid by at least two multinational technology firms  Unisys and Infosys  to advise them on securing future identity management contracts from Services Australia. In one leaked December 2019 document, Synergy 360 told Infosys that it had conducted the Identity Management report  submitted to DHS [Services Australia] and that it would partner with Infosys to submit a joint bid response to any identity management contracts subsequently released by the department. At the time, Infosys was paying Synergy tens of thousands of dollars for advice on how to win work from Services Australia and other federal agencies. In 2019, Synergy told Unisys, which was also paying the firm for advice on winning Services Australia contracts, that it had found an opportunity for Unisys that involved DHS Identity Management  POC [proof of concept] Biometrics. A leaked Synergy document reveals that it had also advised a Unisys manager to provide an order of magnitude pricing to the Services Australia public servant who is friends with Xaysavanh.

Under the Australian Public Service rules, reasonable steps must be taken to avoid a real or perceived conflict of interest. Watt, a former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under prime ministers Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard, was asked to review the contracts after Shorten ordered an investigation by Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). Watt found a number of procurements with insufficient conflict of interest documentation and a number of instances where actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest were not adequately addressed. Additionally, there were examples of poor practices and close relationships between some APS officials and suppliers and those relationships were not always managed effectively, Watt found. In one instance, an initially low-value contract was varied up to three times the original value. This procurement led to a subsequent direct approach for related work which was worth more than seven times the value of the original contract.
Emails show Robert was also advising Synergy 360 and Unisys behind the scenes on how to increase the prospects of winning the committees support. Robert suggested the briefing from Unisys in October 2017, and it was held the following month. There was no record of any disclosure of a personal interest or conflict of interest regarding Synergy 360 or Unisys. Mr Robert rejects outright any improper conduct or process as inferred in your enquiry. Stuart Roberts spokesman A spokesman for Robert defended the MP over the briefing. As you would be aware, only the chair of a committee can organise briefings. Mr Robert was not chair of the committee, the spokesman said.

Asked if Robert had told the committee about his friendship with Milo and any help offered to Unisys, the spokesman said: Mr Robert rejects outright any improper conduct or process as inferred in your enquiry. Unisys was seeking to sell LineSight to the federal government in a deal that would have earned it millions of dollars and Synergy 360 a success fee. One leaked email shows Milo believed the LineSight product could help his consulting firm generate $1 million in revenue. In an email on October 16, 2017, Unisys executive Tony Windever wrote that he planned to provide Robert a document about LineSight and that the MP had organised for the American firm to brief the ACLEI committee, which at the time was investigating the integrity of Australias seaports and airports borders.

I told Stuart I would get him something [about LineSight] tonight. Tomorrow at the joint committee on Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI), he will be proposing that the committee formerly [sic] meets with Unisys for a briefing on our work with the US government, Windever said in the email. Loading A month later, Robert met Unisys and Synergy 360 at Margerisons Gold Coast home to help them prepare for the committee presentation. Emails reveal that Synergy 360 and Unisys believed the meeting with Robert was being held in order to trial committee briefing and that Unisys prepared a draft of its LineSight committee presentation for Robert to examine. Please find attached the final draft of the brief for meeting with Stuart Robert, one Unisys document states.

In another file, Unisys describes how it was hoping that the ACLEI committee would either provide an endorsement for LineSight to be trialled by the federal government or get their support for a real-world demonstration of the companys technology before the Department of Home Affairs. The emails reveal that not only was Synergy 360 paid by Unisys in return for organising the access to Robert and other officials as it sought to sell its products in Australia, but that Synergy anticipated a significant payment if LineSight was bought by federal agencies. In response to an email from a Synergy executive describing how Synergy made $100,000 in its first four months of operating, Milo wrote on October 21, 2017: I thought we wanted a mil in the first year. Roll on LineSight. Other leaked emails describe how Synergy was hoping to pocket a 1 per cent success fee in addition to a marketing fee from Unisys in return for helping it sell LineSight and other products to the federal government.

Other leaked documents detail how, on November 29, 2017, Unisys executives travelled to Canberra to meet Robert as well as Peter Dutton, then minister for home affairs, to prepare to brief the parliamentary committee. A Unisys briefing note describes how the firm wanted to meet and greet with Stuart to thank him for the Dutton meeting and to have lunch with Robert. The leaked documents describe how, on November 30, 2017, Unisys delivered a briefing on LineSight to the parliamentary committee. Milo did not respond to a request for comment. Robert challenged on contracts

Shorten challenged Robert in question time to explain what occurred during his time as a cabinet minister given the questions over contracts at Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency. Loading Shorten based his remarks on two reports into 95 contracts linked to Synergy 360  one by a government taskforce and another by former senior public servant Ian Watt. The reports identified flaws with 19 contracts worth $374 million. Many procurements, according to the reports, lacked appropriate conflict of interest. Documentation in accessible records and procurements have been poorly managed. There were actual potential or perceived conflicts of interests, Shorten told parliament. I wish the Watt review would have come back clean. Weve now got 19 contracts that warrant deeper and further investigations.

Robert told parliament that the claims against him were egregiously wrong and cited part of the Watt report in parliament to back his case. The report says, at page four, and I quote: the taskforce did not find clear misconduct within the 95 procurement processes, Robert said. After four months, [at a] cost well find out at estimates, multiple interviews, working through multiple departments, Dr Watt has found zero misconduct upon 95 procurements and thats where the matter should rest. The full quote from Watts report on page four was: While the taskforce found some procurements had poorly managed conflicts of interest, or questionable judgments about the choice of procurement method and repeated use of limited or sole sourcing, the taskforce did not find clear misconduct within the 95 procurement processes. A key limitation of the taskforce review and Watts report was that they did not consider the behaviour of ministers or their staff.
Parents of teenage girls in Banksia Hill Detention Centre are fearful for their daughters safety after a male detainee thwarted security measures to make contact with a girl in the female section, and the centre continues to detain boys within the confines of the female unit.

During a disturbance on January 12, a male detainee scaled the perimeter fences of the Yeeda girls unit, climbed onto the roof of one of the girls wings, smashed through a section of roofing and pulled a girl, understood to be known to him, onto the roof where they stayed for several hours.

The Yeeda unit at Banksia Hill Detention Centre not long after it was completed in 2013.

At the time, the Department of Justice acknowledged the incident but did not reveal that a detainee had managed to make physical contact with the female population at the detention centre.

In response to media questions on January 12, the department said only a small number of detainees managed to ascend rooftops and fences, and it took more than three hours before they were all secured in their cells again.
Veteran art dealer Denis Savill is having trouble putting his retirement plans into practice, despite formally announcing he was bowing out seven years ago, and selling his famous Paddington art gallery in 2021 for $5.3 million to Amber Symond.

On Wednesday Savill listed a masterpiece by New Zealand artist Charles Frederick Goldie of a portrait of an elderly Maori chieftainess estimated at $1.1 million to $1.5 million, and the next day he went to Elizabeth Bay and bought a sub-penthouse in the Kincoppal building for $8.8 million.

The Kincoppal apartment purchased by Denis Savill for $8.8 million this week.

Savills new pad was the first joint deal by Sothebys newly signed up affiliate Clint Ballard and agency principal Michael Pallier, the latter of whom had listed it on behalf of the estate of the late Sylvia Eisman, mother of fashion profiler Kathryn Eisman, the host of the wardrobe makeover series Undressed.
London: Prince Harry and singer Elton John made surprise appearances at Londons High Court on Monday as they and five others began a lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over years of alleged phone-tapping and privacy breaches.

Harry, the younger son of King Charles, has brought a lawsuit against Associated Newspapers alongside other famous figures, including singer Elton John, his husband and filmmaker David Furnish, and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost.

They were the victim of numerous unlawful acts carried out by the defendant, or by those acting on the instructions of its newspapers, lawyer David Sherborne said in a court document.

Sherborne who also represents Furnish, Hurley and Frost, said the intrusions were habitual and widespread and later concealed or covered up.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Monday, Seoul's military said, Trend reports citing Yonhap.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military is analyzing related details, including the missile's flight distance and apogee.

The North has strongly protested the Ssangyong amphibious landing exercise of South Korea and the United States that started last week. The drills are scheduled to end next Monday.
On 27 March, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) opened the 43rd Session of the Enforcement Committee (EC), which will last a week, at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, thus also marking the 40th anniversary of the EC, created in 1983.

In his keynote speech, Secretary General Mikuriya recalled the evolution of the Enforcement Committee over the years, comparing todays state of play to the sessions he attended 25 years ago as a national delegate. He mentioned five areas of evolution, namely: the scope in responding to the need for enhanced supply chain security; technology, through the use of the WCO Customs Enforcement Network (CEN) and data analysis; operations for raising the visibility of Customs contribution to protect society at borders and provide capacity building; intelligence and risk management, to improve intelligence and risk management tools; and cooperation with partners. Dr. Mikuriya wished further progress in the WCO enforcement and compliance activities to protect society and citizens in line with this years theme: Nurturing the Next Generation: Promoting Culture of Knowledge-sharing and Professional Pride in Customs. His speech is accessed here.

The Enforcement Committee had a special agenda item to celebrate the 40th anniversary with a video which can be accessed here.

Members, representative of INTERPOL, Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs) and Observers also shared their experience with regard to the Committee meetings and highlighted the Enforcement Committees achievements and guidance.

Established in 1983, the Enforcement Committee is the leading global forum for WCO Members to discuss Customs Compliance & Enforcement related matters, in order to identify new trends, work priorities and coordinate global and regional cooperation.
Tunisian coast guards have retrieved 29 bodies of illegal immigrants after two boats sank off Tunisian coasts, Tunisian National Guard said Sunday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Houcemeddine Jbabli, Tunisian National Guard's spokesman, told Xinhua by phone that the two boats sank on Saturday night off the coast of Sfax province in southeastern Tunisia and Mahdia coast in the east.

"The Tunisian coast guard units in Mahdia managed last night to retrieve 27 bodies of illegal immigrants after their boat sank while trying to cross the Mediterranean towards the Italian coast," Jbabli said.

"Two bodies of illegal immigrants were retrieved off the coast of Sfax," he added.

A total of 11 immigrants of sub-Saharan African nationalities were rescued during the operations, and the search for the missing, the number of which was not specified, is still underway, he said.

Jbabli emphasized that those immigrants were trying to cross the Mediterranean toward the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The island of Lampedusa, the first stop usually chosen by illegal immigrants for their sea voyage toward Italy, is about 80 km away from the Tunisian coast.
The long drive from Port Colborne to St. Catharines to attend therapy at Niagara Childrens Centre (NCC) was always taxing on Amanda Minor and her family.

She believed in the benefits of attending regular sessions, but navigating to appointments with her nephew for occupational therapy and her son for speech therapy added to an already stressful experience.

The NCC has been serving all of Niagara for nearly 50 years. Theyve enabled thousands of children and youth with physical, developmental and communicative delays or disabilities to achieve their optimal potential within their home, school and community environments.

While this location is centrally within the Niagara region, and on a transit route, it still represents a great distance for many families, said Oksana Fisher, chief executive officer at NCC. For those reliant on public transit, travelling can be even more challenging, particularly with a child who requires additional supports.

With a strategic focus on ease of access to their services for all families in Niagara, the search began for a location that was accessible, well-known in the community and family-friendly.

YMCA of Niagara became a clear choice, said Fisher. The organization is known for being community and mission-based, and their locations offer surrounding families a more convenient way to ensure their child finds the support they need.

After months of development, the NCC announced the opening of two new satellite locations in the region, located inside the YMCAs of Niagara Centre and Niagara West.

There are a number of synergies between our agencies, which could present opportunities for future collaboration, said Fisher. From our early years programs to our recreation activities, there are countless ways that Niagara families could benefit.

The YMCA of Niagara echoed Fishers sentiments, noting that their collective vision, mission and values align perfectly in supporting children and youth to reach their full potential.

YMCAs are centres of community, said Christian Wulff, interim CEO of YMCA of Niagara. The partnership between Niagara Childrens Centre and the YMCA provides an opportunity for families to engage multiple services that enable them to thrive. I am proud to be in partnership with another not-for-profit striving to make our communities healthier and more accessible for all families.

At the west end of the region, Emilia Farrace Amaro and her family, who moved to the region last year from Toronto, were pleased to discover that they now only need to drive from their home in Beamsville to Grimsby for appointments.

The time we save allows us more opportunities to explore the Greenbelt, share in fun adventures as a family and make new friends in the area, said Farrace Amaro.

Her daughter, Anneliese, has shown great strides since she started attending the Childrens Centre in November 2022 for speech and language therapy.

Annelieses ability to communicate and share her wants and needs since starting with Niagara Children's Centre has improved dramatically, she said. Anneliese is progressing so well and absorbing the tools we're receiving during sessions.

RELATED STORIES Niagara families are celebrating all abilities for World Down Syndrome Day

For Farrace Amaro, having a space to go to for questions and clarifications about how to best support Anneliese has been so important to her family.

If I need help clarifying anything, or expressing something, we're able to connect with our therapist and receive prompt, easy-to-understand and helpful techniques to make things better, said Farrace Amaro. I'm really excited and hopeful for her as she continues to grow and flourish.

The organization is hopeful that the new locations provide easier access to their services and reduce a key barrier for families trying to ensure their child receives the support they need.

Families interested in learning more about the Childrens Centre are encouraged to visit their website or contact them by phone at (905) 688-1890, ext. 110.

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Although Niagara had the highest paid police chief in Ontario last year, Niagara Regional Police services board chair Jen Lawson says that was the result of a one-time anomaly rather than a whopping pay raise.

Chief Bryan MacCulloch was paid $675,509 in 2022, according to the provinces Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act  the so-called Sunshine List  that requires organizations that receive public funding to release salary details for employees making $100,000 or more each year.

For MacCulloch, thats a 99.1 per cent increase over the $339,315 he was paid a year earlier, but Lawson said the payout he received in 2022  about $336,000  was a result of the chiefs postponed retirement plans rather than a reflection of his actual income.

She said MacCulloch became eligible for retirement at the end of 2019 after a 35-year career with the force, and he planned to retire as of Nov. 30 last year. However, she said the board and MacCulloch agreed that it was in the best interest of the board, the police service and the public that he continue to serve as the chief for a period of time after his retirement so we can allow for appropriate succession planning, and leadership and mentoring.

We entered into an employment agreement that basically kept his salary, employment benefits and the working conditions the same from Dec. 1, 2022, to Jan. 31, 2025, Lawson said.

Under the agreement, she said MacCullochs salary remains unchanged with the exception of the standard cost of living increases.

However, she said the chief was also eligible for compensation for time in lieu he accrued during his long career  adding that the demands of his job often made it impossible for him to be away from his office or duties.

When you have a 35-year career employee anywhere, you tend to accumulate a lot of vacation time because of how the rules work. When youre in a position that Chief MacCullochs in, it makes it very difficult to take time off  whether its a week or a couple of weeks that youre entitled to through the years, including things like sick time, which is part of compensation packages, Lawson said.

This is just a reflection of things that have accumulated during his entire 35-year career that got paid out during his retirement. But then he was called back into another employment agreement.

As a result, MacCullochs income as reported on the Sunshine List was more than double the $332,023 paid to Toronto police Chief James Ramer, who leads a force of about 7,600 officers and civilians; while Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique who leads one of the largest police services in North America with 8,400 officers and civilians was paid $361,781.

MacCulloch was also the top-paid public sector worker in Niagara.

NRP deputy chiefs Bill Fordy and Brett Flynn were paid $374,604 and $254,312, respectively.

Niagara Heath president and chief executive officer Lynn Guerriero was the hospital systems top paid worker with $493,985, while chief of staff Dr. Johan Viljoen was paid $428,794.

Niagara Region acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji was paid $461,351, while chief administrative officer Ron Tripp was paid $273,261.

At Brock University, management professor Dirk De Clercq was top paid at $358,105, while provost and vice-president academics Lynn Wells was paid $316,887.

Niagara College president Sean Kennedy was the colleges top paid employee at $285,515. District School Board of Niagara education director Warren Hoshizaki was paid $291,288 and Niagara Catholic District School Board education director and secretary treasurer Camillo Cipriano was paid $224,215.

St. Catharines CAO David Oakes was paid $249,441, followed by fire Chief David Upper at $241,194.

In Niagara Falls CAO Jason Burgess received $250,000, and municipal works manager Erik Nickel was paid $169,697.

In Welland CAO Steve Zorbas was paid $220,465, followed by fire Chief Adam Eckhart at $191,803.

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Qabil Ashirov

Israeli President Isaac Herzog intends to pay a visit to Azerbaijan in 2023, Azernews reports, citing the Israeli Jerusalem Post that he said this when receiving the credentials of Azerbaijan's first-ever ambassador to his country.

At the ceremony, Isaac Herzog welcomed Muxtar Mammadov by calling him a pioneer, noting that he plans to visit Azerbaijan sometime this year.

The Azerbaijani diplomat and the Israeli president discussed various topics from Azerbaijani literature - which turned out that the Israeli president is familiar with - to the economy.

The Azerbaijani ambassador gave detailed information about ongoing Armenian aggression and the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani Foreign Jeyhun Bayramov is expected to visit Israel this week and is scheduled to meet with Herzog on Thursday.

Although the history of the diplomatic relations between the two states is 30 years, there had never been an Azerbaijani ambassador to Israel  not even a non-resident ambassador.

However, the Azerbaijani parliament made a historic decision to open an embassy in Israel in 2022, and Muxtar Mammadov was appointed the first ambassador to Israel by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Muxtar Mammadov holds degrees from the Baku State and the Khazar Universities on international relations, and in addition, a Masters degree in European Studies from the College of Europe.




BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. Spokesperson for the Russian President Vladimir Putin Dmitri Peskov has denied news about the allegedly upcoming visit of Putin to Turkiye, Trend reports via TASS.

"No," the Kremlin spokesperson replied to the question whether such a visit was being prepared.

Information about the Russian presidents planned visit appeared earlier in the Turkish media.

The Russian president regularly communicates by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Only since the beginning of this year there have been six conversations between the leaders, and the last of them took place on March 25.

The leaders of the two countries met in person last October in Astana. Putin last paid a working visit to Turkiye in early 2020 to attend the launch ceremony of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.
Alisha Minielly was mystified as rashes suddenly started appearing all over her body, including one that persisted on her left leg for six months.

She figured something in her makeup or shampoo could be the culprit and began switching to personal products labelled as having natural ingredients but that did not help. Neither did a steroid cream prescribed by a doctor at one of the walk-in clinics she visited because she didnt have a general practitioner.

A patch test, which had a dermatologist placing small amounts of various fragrance mixes on her back and covering them with patches for five very itchy days, revealed she was allergic to a long list of common fragrances used in products ranging from face wash and moisturizer to shampoo, conditioner and hair dye.

The allergens included propolis, which smells like beeswax, as well as nickel, geraniol, limonene, linalool and anise alcohol. The fragrances add floral, citrus, woodsy and other scents, which sometimes mask unpleasant smells. For Minielly, they caused contact dermatitis.

However, learning about the allergens that were making her miserable was only half the battle for Minielly, even after she shunned every product that could possibly cause a rash. She realized she breaks out just from being around others who have used something her body reacts to, restricting her social interactions.

Now, all my close friends and family know when they see me to not wear cologne or perfume. And to try and limit the fragrances that theyre wearing, like a fragrant shampoo, for example. Its really hit and miss and it is tough, she said from New Hamburg, Ont., about an hours drive west of Toronto.

Minielly is hoping proposed regulations by Health Canada to require the cosmetics industry to disclose 24 fragrance allergens on product labels will provide some relief for people like her.

The agency is currently doing a 70-day online consultation, ending April 22, of the cosmetics industry and the public as part of a requirement that would have the industry include the 24 allergens on labels. It can currently use the term parfum to represent a mixture of substances.

The move would bring Canada in line with the European Union, where that regulation was established in 2005.

When certain fragrance allergens come in contact with skin, this can sometimes cause or lead to allergic reactions, resulting in irritations such as redness or rashes, Health Canada said in a statement. This requirement would allow consumers to be aware of, and avoid, products that contain certain fragrance ingredients to which they may be sensitive, in order to protect their health.

It said disclosure would be required if the substances are present in a cosmetic at a concentration greater than 0.01 per cent in rinse-off products and 0.001 per cent in leave-on products  a level sufficient to protect Canadians.

Fragrance mixtures may also include trace amounts of other ingredients that fall below this threshold, however it would be impractical to disclose hundreds of them on a label, Health Canada said.

There are no jurisdictions that require the entire fragrance composition of a cosmetic on the product label.

Globally, the composition of fragrance mixtures is considered proprietary information.

Minielly is allergic to 13 of the 24 fragrances that would have to be listed on labels and others that will not be included. She said the change would be a good start to inform people about what theyre exposing themselves to.

It seems like a very basic right but even for people who arent allergic they may develop an allergy. And even if they dont develop an allergy and arent allergic it just seems like a basic level of transparency, she said.

Any time you can hold industry to some kind of standard is a good thing.

Minielly said a lack of education around managing her symptoms, even after she learned about her fragrance allergies, left her vulnerable because fragrances are added to so many everyday products. Much of what she gleaned about her condition and how to protect herself has come from an online support group based in the United States, from where she orders shampoo, she added.

Even products labelled fragrance free, dermatologist tested and for sensitive skin can be problematic for people whose immune systems react to certain ingredients.

Susan Nieuwhof, spokesperson for Cosmetics Alliance Canada, said the trade organization representing the cosmetics and personal care products industry supports the federal governments proposal.

Its time that regulations in Canada aligned with those in other countries, including the European Union and the United States, she said.

While Canada imports personal products from other jurisdictions, Nieuwhof said, it also manufactures a significant supply, mostly in Ontario and Quebec, and between 70 to 90 per cent of it is exported to other markets.

Cosmetics and personal care products are a global industry and, as such, the harmonization of regulations is important to us to simplify trade and protect consumers, she said in an emailed statement.

Cassie Barker of Environment Defence Canada said the group participated in the consultation and has been pushing the federal government to follow the European Unions model for nearly 20 years so consumers can make informed choices about common products.

The assumption people have is that if its on the shelf, then its safe. In reality, our system is post-market regulatory whereby something is sold, someone has a reaction, they have to report that reaction to Health Canada in order for the system to pick up on these kinds of impacts, Barker said.

However, she called on the federal government to go further than just requiring the cosmetics industry to disclose fragrance allergens.

Labelling is the floor. We want the disclosure to drive manufacturers to reformulate, she said, adding ingredients that dont cause allergic reactions should be used instead.

Health Canada said comments received during the consultation period will be reviewed and considered before the proposed regulations are finalized.

The industry would have two years to disclose the 24 fragrance allergens on labels, it said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

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Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Turning out mainly clear or partly cloudy with cooler temperatures compared to previous nights. Some areas of frost are possible..

Tonight

Turning out mainly clear or partly cloudy with cooler temperatures compared to previous nights. Some areas of frost are possible.
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP)  The U.N.'s atomic energy chief warned during a meeting Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the perilous situation at Europes largest nuclear plant isnt getting any better as relentless fighting in the area keeps the facility at risk of a disaster.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's six reactors are in shutdown and it is receiving the electricity it needs to prevent a reactor meltdown through just one remaining power line. It has on occasion had to switch to emergency diesel generators to power its essential cooling systems.

In a meeting with Zelenskyy in southern Ukraine covered exclusively by The Associated Press, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation at the plant remains tense because of the heavy military presence around it and a blackout that recently struck the facility, something that has occurred repeatedly since Russian forces took it over last year.

Grossi plans to visit the plant this week for the second time following Russias invasion 13 months ago. The Vienna-based agency has staff permanently deployed at the plant since Grossi's last visit in September.

Earlier this month, fighting interrupted power supply to the plant for half a day, forcing staff to activate backup generators.

Grossi had expressed alarm at that development.

Each time we are rolling a dice, he told his agency at the time. And if we allow this to continue time after time, then one day our luck will run out.

Grossi and Zelenskyy met in the the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is in Ukrainian-held territory, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the nuclear plant with the same name.

The IAEA said in January it was placing teams of experts at all four of Ukraines nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of accidents, including the now-closed Chernobyl plant whose deadly nuclear accident in 1986 spread fallout over much of Europe.

Grossi emphasized that his seventh trip to Ukraine underlined his commitment and support for as long as it takes.

Also attending the meeting were other IAEA officials, the head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, and the head of nuclear operator Energoatom, Petro Kotin.

While in Zaporizhzhia, Zelenskyy also inspected military positions in the partially-occupied province and awarded soldiers military honors. He visited wounded soldiers at a hospital and an apartment building that Kyiv claims was hit by a missile on Wednesday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 30.

Residents were still shocked by the experience.

Its terrifying. I cannot find the words to tell you, said Hanna Budkova, 39, who was in a busy playground in front of the apartment block with her nearly 2-year-old daughter. Im afraid to go anywhere near the windows.

Zelenskyy later visited Nikopol, a frequently shelled city across the Dnieper River from the nuclear power plant, according to the presidential office.

Elsewhere, two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire. Zelenskyy described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin's forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the winter.

In the eastern Donetsk region, about 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported.

Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said.

Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the front-line city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was bombarded 20 times, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

Several explosions shook the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, damaging a building where Russian security forces are quartered, said the exiled elected mayor Ivan Fyodorov. The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Earlier, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, according Yermak, the head of the presidential office. Bloom, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

At his meeting with Zelenskyy, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday at a meeting in the Netherlands that Germany has fulfilled its promised delivery of 18 advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. Canada, Norway and Poland also have sent such tanks to Ukraine.

This has corrected that the Zaporizhzhia plant is not currently providing power.

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
WEST READING, Pa. - Its another sleepless night along Second Avenue in West Reading.

I havent slept. Its just constant all night working and all you can hear is machinery and the ambulances coming in and out, said Luis Martinez, of West Reading.

Martinez is a witness to those still waiting.

I come out and try to greet anyone whose loved ones are still waiting to hear word. I kinda go with them and try to ease their mind, Martinez said.

Not just comforting strangers who lost loved ones that walk into his neighborhood, but awaiting answers himself about an employee fighting for her life.

Her family, her mom and aunts, they contact with me via social media and I try to find out her condition. I know shes in critical somewhere else.

Martinez is in the midst of the aftermath, all while living with the images of when it started as he was one of the first on scene.

All I can see is the faces of the people affected initially, said Martinez. You have workers trying to get other workers, you had supervisors that came out from Palmers.

Those horrifying images he captured are also spurring action as he says some on the block went out and bought gas leak detectors to feel safer while they await answers.

You cant move on until you know what happened.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
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New year, new products. As we count down to Watches & Wonders Geneva 2023, WorldTempus interviewed Rainer Bernard, head of watchmaking R&D for Van Cleef & Arpels. We talked about the new launches being prepared by the Maison that marks time in visual poetry.

Rainer Bernard  Van Cleef & Arpels

Last year, Van Cleef & Arpels won the Innovation Prize at the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve, for the Lady Arpels Heures Florales Cerisier. What innovations can we look forward to at this years Watches and Wonders?

This year we wanted to showcase a very special segment within the Maisons watch collections: jewellery pieces that tell the time. These creations stand at the crossroads of watchmaking and jewellery. We will be presenting the Perlee watch, in pink gold and white gold, set with diamonds as well as a number of Perlee pendant watches featuring different gemstones. Weve played with colours, with gemmology techniques and setting styles. Take the secret pendant watch with its emerald-set cover: emerald is a fragile stone thats difficult to set without breaking it. Where this gemstone is concerned, exceptional execution is vital. As far as the Ludo Secret watch was concerned, we revisited the original 1949 version and hid all the technical wizardry inside. The entire mechanism for revealing the time is now concealed, which aligns with the way we currently create watches. All the technical mechanisms are hidden away, and only the inspiration is revealed. This is also a delightful echo of the secret watch tradition, which has been part of the Maisons output since the 1920s.

Perlee watches  Van Cleef & Arpels

As far as the Poetic Complications are concerned, we are unveiling the new Lady Feerie in rose gold. Its the next chapter of the story that began in 2020 with the blue Lady Feerie in white gold, which won the Ladies Complication prize at the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve in 2021.

Which piece was the most challenging for you?

In terms of the watch exterior, that would be the Ludo Secret, because hiding the mechanism is far from easy. Also, you have to ensure that the mechanism for opening the cover to reveal the time provides a smooth and fluid experience. These covers are also an exact copy of the aesthetic found on the bracelet with its Ludo links. The name comes from the nickname of Louis Arpels, a member of the Van Cleef & Arpels family.

Ludo Secret watches  Van Cleef & Arpels

Theres also a considerable challenge when it comes to choosing the materials and gemstones, but also the colours used for the enamelling in the Lady Feerie, for example. Some colours of enamel are impossible to find, so we had to create them ourselves. Thats the case with the pink enamel we used for the Lady Feerie in rose gold. If an element doesnt exist, creating it becomes part of our goal, in order to fulfil the creative intention.

Lady Feerie Or Rose watch  Van Cleef & Arpels/Clement Rousset

Of all the creations unveiled at Watches and Wonders, which was the most artistically stimulating for you?

We held many artistic discussions around the new Planetarium automaton. Each planet is a high jewellery creation representing countless hours of work. In fact, every planet went through multiple designs. First, we began with the general appearance of the planet. Then we created versions with different variations of materials and stones. We also had to take into account the high jewellery decoration that surrounds each planet. So, as you can see, the design of each planet is complex, and was refined over time.

Planetarium automaton  Van Cleef & Arpels

How are the different artistic crafts involved in R&D discussions? What problems or processes do they bring to the table?

At Van Cleef & Arpels, the artistic crafts are involved from the very beginning of the development process. They are an integral part of our stories, of our new creations. We think about the artistic crafts in a very direct and immediate way. We design our watches by placing these skills in centre stage. They are an integral part of the design process. Story comes first, and technique serves the story.

A Cheval and Alhambra watches  Van Cleef & Arpels

How are Van Cleef & Arpels automata unique, compared with those of your competition?

Our uniqueness comes from the way in which we interpret our stories, how we see things and how we present them. Take the Planetarium automaton, for example. Fundamentally, this is a 17th-18th century table decoration. At Van Cleef & Arpels, our first goal was to reduce the size of the antique object, so we created the Midnight Planetarium and the Lady Arpels Planetarium watches. Then, we decided to move closer to the original, by returning to the concept of an autonomous object. However, our Planetarium automaton is quite different from the original. Although we incorporated the original function of a planetarium, by modelling a faithful representation of the time of rotation of each planet, we also incorporated other functions, such as the hidden shooting star, which completes its circuit accompanied by a melody. Recalling the secret watch principle, the Planetarium automaton offers a user-activated animation that shows the time, thanks to a shooting star decorated using the mystery setting technique. The Planetarium automaton is also unique because when the animation is triggered the planets dance around the sun before returning to their exact astronomical positions. These technological improvements, which reflect Van Cleef & Arpels singular vision, have never been seen before.

Floraison du Nenuphar and Floraison du Cyclamen automata  Van Cleef & Arpels

If you had to summarise Van Cleef & Arpels 2023 creations in a single word, what would it be?

Emotion.
WEST READING, Pa. - The R.M. Palmer factory continues to be a scene of devastation and tragedy.

It was so unreal, said Sue Yelk, of Reading. I could not believe what it looked like.

But before Friday, it was a place where Yelk gave nearly three decades of her life.

I cleaned, I packed, I did just about everything," she said. I worked in both buildings but building one, most of the time, where they did the hollow bunnies.

Does she remember her and her coworkers fostering a lot of camaraderie?

Oh yeah. There has to be, Yelk said. We gotta stand against management.

Now she finds herself standing again, but this time in the reshaped shadow of her former work home, watching and waiting for a friend.

This is where I want to be because I know the one person thats in there, she said.

Sometimes your coworkers become a little more than that.

The families. I cant imagine what theyre going through if they know that their family member is in there and theyre not hearing anything, Yelk said.

And sometimes in the face of unexpected tragedy, you find yourself standing watch outside your former work home.

Im still friends with a lot of them, Yelk said. "A lot of them. On Facebook. I see them down here every night. Im waiting here for them.
He had claws and a stern face, the first images of Smokey Bear. As the years went on, the claws disappeared, so did the paws. They were replaced with fingers. Smokey was smiling and his name was on his hat and belt buckle.

It's the work of Kansas-born artist Rudy Wendelin. There were a lot of artists, and still are, who drew Smokey. Rudy is best-known for humanizing him. He was his caretaker for more than 30 years, the protector of the Smokey image.

"Wendelin famously said that he always felt like Smokey was down the hall, sort of watching over everything he did," said Scott Schweigert, curator of the Reading Public Museum.

In the beginning, Smokey was part of the war effort, created in the early 40s after a Japanese submarine surfaced and fired shells near a national forest. The U.S. government feared those we were battling would start forest fires, so they came up with a campaign to combat them, a catchy one.

"There's sort of a collective memory from Smokey from either when we were kids, or boy or girl scouts, or seeing his image on TV," said Schweigert. "His image is just sort of ubiquitous around the U.S. for years. for decades."

You can see his evolution in an exhibit at the museum through the end of August.

In 1950, the U.S. Forest Service found a real-life version of Smokey, a cub rescued from a forest fire in New Mexico. He was flown in his own plane to live out the rest of his life at the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.

There were Smokey dolls, Oscar-like awards known as the "Smokies," napkins for kids' birthday parties.

In 1964, Smokey was awarded his own ZIP code so you could write to him, and you still can. You can also follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

But even an image so well known has had some identity issues. Is it Smokey Bear or does Smokey THE Bear sound right to you? Even though we like to give him one, Smokey has never had a middle name, and it's a song that created the confusion. It was released in 1952. The "THE" was added so the lyrics would work with the melody. It's a song still used by rangers.

"So that's a common misnomer," Schweigert said, "but it truly is just Smokey Bear, with no middle name."
People across the area and beyond are coming together to rally behind the West Reading community.

"It's a great thing and obviously it's honestly an honor to be a part of it," said Tristin Kurilla, dishwasher and custodian at the American Diner.

Kurilla is talking about the diner's fundraiser supporting rescue and relief efforts, following Friday's deadly explosion at R.M. Palmer in West Reading.

Kurilla tells us he was working on Friday and felt the vibration. The Diner located on Penn Avenue is donating 100 percent of its Sunday proceeds.

"I feel like every time something tragic happens, everyone wants to come together then and that happened again," said Kurilla

Diner server Nicole Avila said donations are pouring in. Some people left more than what their meals cost.

"We didn't really have any down time and it's continuing on, so we're hoping that it continues straight on until closing," said Avila.

Something she said is humbling to see.

"It means a lot. This is our community, so you know a lot of people were impacted by this and it's a tragic event, so we want to do what we can to help them," said Avila.

Over on the corner of 2nd Avenue and Franklin Street, Wes McDonald and his rapid relief team, based out of Philadelphia, are hard at work feeding first responders who have been working around the clock.

"They're taking care of us, you know so it's a privilege to take care of them," said McDonald.

McDonald said outreach to communities in time of need is the team's main focus.

"It's very emotional; it's a very sobering scene. Our hearts and thoughts are with the families," said McDonald.

Here at the American Diner there's no word on exactly how much money has been raised so far. An employee said she believes it is going to be very helpful.
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Turning out mainly clear or partly cloudy with cooler temperatures compared to previous nights. Areas of frost are possible..

Tonight

Turning out mainly clear or partly cloudy with cooler temperatures compared to previous nights. Areas of frost are possible.
READING, Pa. - The City of Reading is holding a community meeting Tuesday to discuss proposed parking and traffic changes on Cotton Street.

The changes were first shared with the public late last year.

City officials are looking to gather feedback from residents and businesses. Mayor Eddie Moran, members of council and representatives from Reading Parking Authority will be on hand to answer questions.

At a public forum in January, the Reading Parking Authority detailed a proposal to make Cotton Street one-way westbound between South 19th and South Ninth streets. RPA officials said it would allow for more on-street parking on Cotton by allowing residents to park on both sides of the street.

The public meeting is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and will be held at Amanda E. Stout Elementary School, 321 South 10th Street, Reading.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Bethlehem Area School District announced Monday who its next superintendent will be.

Jack Silva will be the superintendent effective July 2023, according to a news release from BASD.

The Board of School Directors will vote to approve Dr. Silva at its April 24, 2023, School Board meeting, according to BASD.

Silva will succeed Joseph Roy, who has served as the districts Superintendent since 2010.

Silva began his career in the Bethlehem Area School District in 2010 as the Assistant Superintendent & Chief Academic Officer.

BASD says he is recognized as a state and national leader in improving students reading achievement, establishing school-community partnerships, and creating career pathways in support of graduates post-high school success.

I am confident Dr. Silva will continue to keep the BASD moving forward as the premier District in the Lehigh Valley. Under his leadership as Assistant Superintendent & Chief Academic Officer, our students have been given access to new curricular opportunities and have grown academically, said School Board President Michael Faccinetto.

Prior to his position in the BASD, Dr. Silva served as an administrator in the Souderton Area School District. His roles included Principal, Assistant Principal, and Director of Secondary Education. He taught social studies in Souderton Area School District and Central Bucks School District.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - March 26, 2023 marked what would have been the 100th birthday of World War II veteran Rev. John Weiler.

"I actually had a conversation with him explaining to him that he already was 100 because his hearts been beating for 100 years, and that made him a little bit happier about it, said Mary Weiler McConnell, Weiler's daughter.

McConnell said she doesn't go a day without thinking about her dad.

"He was just an all-around good American, fought in World War II, Battle of the Bulge, gave his life to God and his friends, he was a mentor to many, very helpful and caring," she said.

The Moravian Village of Bethlehem held a painting dedication ceremony and birthday celebration. The family donated a painting to the common area of the healthcare center, as per the reverend's wishes in his will.

"John was big into history. So, he and his wife dressing colonial and posing in front of the historical Bethlehem tannery, that had a lot of significance for him, said Samantha Kukic, activities manager at Moravian Village of Bethlehem.

The nursing staff said the painting fits both Weiler and the facility's beliefs. Weiler's son, Paul, told us the painting found its new home.

"The thing about where it is now is when she was in the nursing center, he was still up in the apartments. They'd come down here and watch TV every night. They'd sit there, right there, every day, so that's the perfect place, Weiler said.

Inside the common area, family, friends, even residents and staff, cut the cake and reminisced of their fondest memories of the former WWII Veteran.

Sue Newhard, director of nursing at Moravian Village of Bethlehem told 69 News that she doesn't know if she can pinpoint one favorite memory.

"He was such a good listener and he always accepted. I'm going to cry, shared Doris Eslinger, Moravian Village of Bethlehem resident.
LEHIGH TWP., Pa. - A Stroudsburg man is being accused of shooting and killing another man in Northampton County last summer.

William Arthur Strunk, 76, is charged with homicide, possession of an instrument of crime, and firearm not to be carried without a license, according to a news release from the Northampton County District Attorney's Office.

On June 29, 2022 shortly before 6 p.m., Lehigh Township Police Department officers were sent to the 4500 block of Lower Three Mile Lane, Lehigh Township for a male found dead inside a home.

Officers found 67-year-old Michael Powers dead, with multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

The Northampton County Coroner completed an autopsy, which revealed the cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the chest and mouth, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide, the DA's office said.

During the autopsy, four projectiles were extracted from Powers body and sent to the PSP Bethlehem Regional Lab for analysis. The examination showed three of the four rounds eligible for comparison to be of the .38/.357 caliber class, and all four projectiles to be mutilated lead bullets, according to the DA's office.

Pennsylvania State Police Troop M-Bethlehem Barracks was requested to be the lead investigating agency. During the investigation, Strunk was identified as a possible suspect for Powers homicide.

Police executed a search warrant at Strunks apartment located in the 700 block of Ann Street in Stroudsburg and seized a .38 caliber handgun in addition to a box of ammunition which contained .38 caliber ammo, the DA's office said.

The DA's office said the handgun was the same caliber firearm used to kill Powers, and the ammunition was of similar composition to the projectiles extracted from Powers body during his autopsy.

Strunk was later interviewed at the Monroe County District Attorneys Office, where he told investigators he shot and killed Powers using the .38 caliber firearm, according to the news release. He said he shot Powers four times, the DA's office said.

Strunk was arraigned Monday afternoon. Bail was denied.

The investigation is ongoing.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - State Sen. Jarrett Coleman thinks the public needs more information about the taxes generated in the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, or NIZ.

"We're talking about tax credits using this money to repay private debt and when taxpayers have sent over $700 million to the NIZ, I think they do deserve some answers and information about whether or not it's working," Coleman said.

He is introducing Senate Bill 534, which would release specific tax revenues to the public.

In 2021, then-State Sen. Pat Browne amended the NIZ to keep individual business' tax information and contributions confidential.

The NIZ generated close to $95 million in revenue in 2021. $22 million of that made it to the state after paying its debt services.

State Rep. Pete Schweyer, who represents part of the NIZ, says that it would be unethical to release specific private business tax information.

"It doesn't matter if you are running a small business or a large business, the individual tax information is always very, very critical to be kept confidential between a governing body and the business," Schweyer said.

"We're not asking for tax returns. I think we have to be clear what we're talking about, the revenue of each bucket and the types of revenue that were reported to the state," Coleman said. "The Office of Open Records already made their decision, and they determined this was in fact public information."

Schweyer takes issue with the Senator not discussing this bill with other representatives of the district.

"When you're elected, when you put your hand on the Bible and say I'm going to do the best for the people of Pennsylvania, it really starts with acting like a grown-up and start having conversations," Schweyer said.

"Why don't they want to know what's going on here," Coleman said.

Schweyer added that the growth in downtown Allentown from the NIZ had been undeniable, generating over $1 billion in new development.

Coleman says this isn't about dissolving that NIZ tax zone, but providing the public more information about its benefits.
WEST READING, Pa. - Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is honoring the victims of the deadly explosion in West Reading.

Shapiro ordered all state flags to be lowered to half-staff until Friday, the governor said Monday.

Seven people died and several people were injured in the explosion Friday evening at R.M. Palmer chocolate factory. Authorities searched through the rubble in the hours and days that followed to find all of the victims.

Shapiro visited the site Saturday to meet with rescue crews and see the search efforts.
At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday in a complex attack near a military base in central Mali, said the army.
JERUSALEM (AP)  Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted "to avoid civil war by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.

In his prime-time address, Netanyahu, who had previously rejected calls to delay the legislation, took a more conciliatory tone than in recent speeches. He acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said he was hitting the pause button to prevent a rift in the nation.

When theres an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue, he said. He vowed to reach a broad consensus during the summer session of parliament, which begins on April 30.

He spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the countrys largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan.

Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies presented the overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israels history.

The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy. Fighter pilots and military reservists have threatened not to report for duty, and the countrys currency, the shekel, has tumbled in value.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nations judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the courts ability to review laws.

Netanyahu has argued that the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges. But his opponents say the package would damage the countrys system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Netanyahus allies. They also say that he has a conflict of interest as a criminal defendant.

Tens of thousands of people, largely secular, middle-class Israelis, have regularly joined mass protests against the plan.

Those demonstrations ramped up Sunday night after Netanyahu abruptly fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had urged the prime minister to put his plan on hold, citing concerns about damage to the Israeli military.

The firing sparked a spontaneous outburst of anger, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets in just one hour.

Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Avivs main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Demonstrators continued Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. Im here for the fight to the end.

Israels main trade union, the histadrut, declared a general strike in what it said was the first time it has carried out such an action over a political issue.

The chaos shut down much of the country and threatened to paralyze the economy. Departing flights from the main international airport were grounded, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.

Large mall chains and universities closed their doors, and the union called for its 800,000 members to stop work in health care, transit, banking and other fields.

Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions, and local governments were expected to close preschools and cut other services. The main doctors union announced that its members would also strike.

In a sign of easing tensions, the union said late Monday that it was halting the strike in response to Netanyahus delay.

The announcement appeared to buy the embattled Netanyahu several weeks of quiet. But it was far from clear whether the disputes could be resolved.

The countrys figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, said pausing the legislative blitz was the right thing.

This is the time for frank, serious and responsible discussion that will lead urgently to calming spirits and lowering the flames, he said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said he was willing to hold a genuine dialogue under Herzogs sponsorship.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist who has pushed for quick passage of the package, said he would respect the delay but showed few signs of compromise.

The reform will pass, he tweeted. No one will scare us.

The first of a series of laws  giving the coalition control over judicial appointments  had been scheduled to pass this week.

Before Netanyahus speech, some 20,000 right-wing Israelis attended a counter demonstration in support of the prime minister. That demonstration also took place near parliament and passed without violence.

They wont steal the election from us, read a flyer for event, organized by Religious Zionist party. Netanyahu said he was moved by the show of support.

Shikma Bressler, one of the leaders of the anti-government protest movement, said the campaign would continue until the legislation is canceled.

This is just an attempt to weaken the protests in order to enact Netanyahus dictatorship, she said. Now is not the time to reduce the pressure, but to increase it.

Dozens of protesters from rival sides faced off late Monday in central Tel Aviv. The sides, kept apart by police, exchanged insults, but there was no violence. Police used a water cannon to disperse anti-government protesters.

Israels Palestinian citizens have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The Biden administration, which has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government, welcomed the announcement as an opportunity to create additional time and space for compromise, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Associated Press reporters Tia Goldenberg and Paz Bar in Tel Aviv and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Informed sources in New York told Ahram Online that the US and the UK invited members of the UN Security Council for a Sudan-focused meeting to discuss the continuing deterioration of the military and humanitarian situation in the country.
If someone can make growing wheat exciting for children, it is Justine Bula.

To get fifth-graders yee-hawing about growing wheat is pretty awesome, Bula said.

What else is awesome is Bula winning the 2023 Brad Matson Youth Education Award, recently presented to her by the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association.

The 29-year-old Baraboo resident works as education coordinator for Sauk Countys Land Resources and Environment Department. Shes been there nearly five years and has made an impact.

Since 2018, Justine has completely redefined how youth conservation education is delivered in Sauk County, said Melissa Schlupp, the departments conservation manager. She has revamped programs and established excellent partnerships with local conservation organizations and school districts.

One program is growing wheat with children. They get really excited, Bula said. Its great hearing them shout, Oh my gosh, there are root hairs! as they watch the wheat grow.

During Wheat Week, one of the many programs and initiatives Bula coordinates, children plant wheat in terrariums and watch it grow, all the while learning about water quality, soil health, local ecosystems and more.

The program is so popular, Bula might be at the local Kwik Trip and a child will point at her and tell their parents, Hey, its the wheat lady! She appreciates the moniker.

Bula grew up on her family farm. Conservation became an integral part of her life. Living on the farm with her loving, influential and supportive parents became one of the best experiences of her life.

She went to college with thoughts of going into pre-med, but the pull of the outdoors continually tugged at her. She knew she wanted to be involved in conservation but didnt know how and in what capacity.

She took a job with AmeriCorps and found herself in the Pacific Northwest. Working in the state of Washington with the Cascadia Conservation District changed everything.

I discovered youth education and said, This is it, Bula said.

Shes been back on Baraboos fertile ground educating the fertile minds of area youths.

Its really inspiring, Bula said of the next generations of conservationists. Theyre so intelligent and creative. We are continually learning, and theyre learning right along with us, she said. Theyre so awesome. They teach us, too.

Over discussions about cover crops and invasive species, rotational grazing and water conservation, Bula is astounded by the children. Their compassion. Their creativity. Their excitement. All the good things.

She has hope, knowing all too well how daunting not only protecting the planet is, but reversing the negative trends hurting it into positive ones.

What positive difference can we make to the world today? she asks the students, and herself, every day.

Justines positive attitude and energy is contagious, said Schlupp. We are fortunate to have her on our team here in Sauk County.

The Brad Matson Youth Education Award that Bula has been honored with celebrates Brad Matson, Iron County LLC, and his work involving youth education and all of its programs. The award recognizes the importance of educating youths about protecting and managing our natural resources for the next generations.

The award was presented to Bula by the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association, a nonprofit membership organization that supports of the efforts of about 450 land conservation committee supervisors and 370 conservation staff in 72 county land and conservation department offices.

Its pretty incredible, Bula said, what we can do. What positive impact we can make.

If anyone knows that, its the wheat lady.
Based on current trends and statistics, it seems like the kids are not alright.

Its a fractious age. Social media has changed childrens minds and habits. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about waves of loneliness and detachment. The current political climate has become increasingly divisive and, sometimes, violent.

Local youths are not immune to these issues. They attend Baraboo public schools eager to learn about the world, and their place in it. But it can be challenging.

Luckily, for Baraboos students, there are social workers, and others, to help guide them on their journeys and help them find resources to overcome obstacles and thrive.

The Baraboo School District employs three social workers. Taylor Williams focuses on elementary school students. Hannah Shuster focuses on middle school students. Jennifer Lombardi focuses on high school students.

Their efforts are among those being recognized during Marchs Social Work Month, whose theme this year is Social Work Breaks Barriers.

I feel so fortunate that I get to spend my days working with youth, Williams said. They have this innate ability to remind us of whats important in life.

Williams, 34, has spent her life as a social worker. This is her tenth year as a school social worker, her sixth year within the Baraboo School District.

During her sophomore year of college, she was working with youths in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The neighborhood is predominantly low income and has a large population of the unhoused. While there, Williams said, I met youth with such love and optimism for school despite facing significant barriers to attending and engaging.

It was a defining moment for her. Shes been working with youths ever since.

Lombardi, growing up, was herself a struggling student. My own experience as a high school dropout is what inspired me to want to work with youth and pursue a career as a school social worker, she said.

When she was going to high school in the suburbs of Chicago, she didnt feel connected to any school staff members. When I look back on my high school experience, Lombardi said, I think I fell through the cracks and I do not want anyone to feel that way.

Lombardi, 30, has been with the district for the last four years. I want our students to feel welcome and supported, she said.

Shuster, 25, a Baraboo High School graduate, has been a social worker with the district for two years.

I have always connected well with kids and I really value uplifting youth in a holistic way. she said. I feel that I support students in finding and applying the tools they need to thrive, while also supporting them in finding their why in life.

Her job is currently funded through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), a grant program that was authorized in 2020. Those funds run out at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. In order to continue the work of a school social worker at the middle school level, Shuster advised, community members should advocate for more funding for mental health professionals at the local and state levels.

The overall purpose of Williams, Shusters and Lombardis work within the school district is to be a link between home, school and community, providing direct and indirect services to students, families and staff that promotes students academic, social, and emotional wellbeing.

The greatest rewards in my job, Lombardi said, are having the opportunity to build relationships with students and families and to watch our students persevere in the face of adversity.

Williams, Shuster and Lombardi wear many hats on any given day. They help families navigate barriers and find resources, in school and outside school walls. They help navigate mental health resources, coordinating between providers and the schools. They support the growth of school-based mental health resources. They offer support for students with chronic absences, identifying the root causes and offering plans of support.

Shuster is honored to observe and support the growth of students abilities and skills, academically, socially and behaviorally, over the course of their time at the middle school. As a Baraboo School District alum, Shuster said, I am thrilled that we now have three school social workers in the district as compared to zero when I was a student here. The prioritization of student mental health and overall wellbeing has proven to be a success, and they continue to find more ways to serve the students.

The district recently partnered with the Psychotherapy Center of Waunakee to provide therapy services for students at the school during the school day to eliminate barriers so mental health services can be more accessible to families.

They do all this with dedication and warmth. Williams said, I especially take joy in seeing people and systems come together to support a child.

Support is needed. According to Mental Health Americas Youth Data 2023 report: 16.4% of youths ages 12 to 17 reported suffering at least one major depressive episode in the past year; 11.5% of youths, or more than 2.7 million youths nationwide, are experiencing severe major depression; 6.34% of youths in the U.S. reported a substance abuse disorder in the past year; and 59.8% of youths with major depression did not receive any mental health treatment.

I would encourage everyone to prioritize human attachment and connection, Williams said. To help combat the issues children face, Williams suggests cooperation, compassion, and respect.

Its not always easy to do because it demands time, which often feels in short supply, she said. But our kids deserve this of us.
A family of five has a new home in Reedsburg that they helped build thanks to the efforts of a number of local volunteers.

On Saturday morning Habitat for Humanity Wisconsin River Area (HFHWRA) celebrated handing the keys over to the 85th house it has built to a local family on Fourth Street in Reedsburg.

Ground broke on the home last April, HFHWRA executive director Morgan Pfaff said, and was completed with the help of more than 100 volunteers giving more than 2,000 hours of their time.

Jess and Mike McCarthy accepted the keys to their new home in Reedsburg on Saturday morning with a packed house of volunteers and community members. The couple helped with more than 500 hours of volunteering to build their future home.

This is a very loving family, a very caring family and a very resourceful family, Marti Prorok said of the McCarthys.

Prorok sits on the HFHWRA board and is the family mentor, assisting homeowners with all the things theyll need help with as new homeowners.

Jess and Mike McCarthy were joined Saturday by their children, Evan, Willow and Harper. Prorok handed the keys over to the family, and Mike McCarthy said he didnt think this kind of thing could ever happen to him.

But Jess said right away, Were going to do this and Its going to work for us, Mike McCarthy said. I really just want to thank my wife for pushing me to do this.

He also thanked all of the volunteers who made the house a reality for the McCarthy family.

I want to thank everyone involved in making this possible, Jess McCarthy said. I know the girls are super excited about all of this.

Both Jess and Mike McCarthy said they were excited to be a part of the community.

Were especially grateful to Frey Construction, of Prairie du Sac, for so generously donating the roof for this home, allowing us to keep this affordable, Pfaff said.

Pfaff said 104 volunteers helped build the house, working 2,214 hours with the McCarthys doing 510 hours of work on the house themselves.

This home is the organizations first solar home in Reedsburg, she added. The home, along with all the homes HFHWRA builds, are 45% more efficient than the average new home on the market.

This will make the home especially energy efficient and the utilities affordable, Pfaff said.

Art Connection is a program in which HFHWRA has a local artist donate a piece of artwork to the family moving into a new home. On Saturday, the McCarthy family received a piece of stained glass artwork donated by local artist John Crahen.

The McCarthys were presented with a number of gifts from community members including quilts, blankets, pillows, a welcome mat and a birdhouse to hang outside the home.

Pfaff said HFHWRA is continuing its mission with another home breaking ground this spring in Wisconsin Dells.

Were looking for more help with this new home in Wisconsin Dells as we continue our mission, Pfaff said.

The McCarthy family will be soon be turning this house into a home, HFHWRA board president Robin Crow said. This place is the next part of their journey as a family.

GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built for family in Reedsburg GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built GALLERY: Habitat for Humanity celebrates 85th home built
Two town officials and other Dells area residents discussed school vouchers and meals, as well as other budget issues, with state Sen. Joan Ballweg on Friday.

The Republican senator representing Wisconsins 14th District  which includes Wisconsin Dells and areas such as Montello, Green Lake, and Waupaca  discussed various issues during her hourlong listening session at Kilbourn Public Library in Wisconsin Dells. Jim Brancel, treasurer of the town of Douglas, and Gary Schoppenhorst, chair of the town of Moundville, were among the speakers.

Scott Stocker, the former CEO of state dairy company Shullsburg Creamery who also served on the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board for 20 years prior to his retirement, asked about school meal programs following Ballwegs confirmation of a $7.1 billion budget surplus in state finances.

Ballweg told Stocker that Gov. Tony Evers upcoming budget features a slightly above $2 billion increase for schools. During the COVID-19 pandemic, school lunches were federally funded for students nationwide. A full funding of school lunches in the state would cost $120 million, according to Ballweg.

I think we should be using the free and reduced lunch program, said Ballweg, offering an alternative to providing free lunches statewide. Im supporting an effort to fully fund school breakfast.

Stocker expressed full support for school breakfast funding and asked Ballweg why school breakfast coverage has received resistance. The senator responded by telling him how the traditional thought that children are fed at home prior to school still remains prevalent, but both she and Stocker said that is often not the case.

Ballweg said the surplus can be attributed to federal funds from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA), which was passed as a result of the pandemic. This means that roughly $4 billion of that surplus is one-time use, according to Ballweg, who added that Evers proposal increases the upcoming biennium budget by 17 percent.

Brancel, who has served in his role for 38 years and taught in private and public schools, expressed opposition to school voucher programs, saying taxpayer dollars should not be utilized at their current levels for funding private education. He added that voucher funds spent on private school students who later enroll in public school are not put back into public education and are basically pocketed by private schools.

I call it taxation without representation, Brancel said of public funding for private school education. Every dollar that goes to private voucher is taking a dollar away from public schools.

Ballweg said the last biennium budget (2021-2023) did not feature a decrease in funding for public education and ARPA funds for education went directly to school districts. She disagreed with the argument against voucher programs, saying that students are still receiving an education and that voucher students mostly receive less money than public schools receive per student.

Schoppenhorst countered Brancels argument against the voucher program by saying that voucher students get half of what public school districts receive per student and that unspent voucher program funds are funneled back to public schools. The Moundville chair agreed with Brancel that shared revenue for towns should be increased, as a higher percentage of people live in them as a portion of the states population and that revenue received via the program does not reflect that.

Another issue of Brancels was levy limits and shared revenue within towns across the state. He said that the town of Douglas received just above $14,000 in shared revenue from the state in 2010, but that the amount decreased to less than $12,000 in 2012 and has remained the same every year since.

We have not had an increase in shared revenues and are handicapped by the levy limit increase, said Brancel, who added that highway aid has increased for the town over the years.

He hopes to see a reduction in levy limit increases for towns so that they can offer residential services. Ballweg said the current shared revenue program does not assist municipalities equitably. Brancel said that prior to levy limits, his town lost its local ambulance service in unincorporated Briggsville.

We voted at a budget meeting to raise our taxes $16,000 a year to support the (Briggsville) Fire Department to train EMS, or first responders, said Brancel. With levy limits and having to go to referendum, a lot of local control has been removed for budgeting.

Ballweg also talked about discussions within the state legislature regarding incentives for consolidating services and mentioned how areas of her district have already done this. Marquette, Green Lake and Waushara counties both have emergency medical services for the entire county, instead of separate departments for municipalities.

When we consolidated in Green Lake County, it didnt cost us less, said Ballweg. It cost us more because we dont have the volunteers anymore and we want to provide a good level of support.
As Egypt seeks to grant the private sector a greater role to play in the countrys economic activities, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly launched on Monday the State Ownership Policy Document that charts a roadmap for expanding the private sectors role in a number of economic activities in the Egyptian market going forward.

The government has embarked on three main paths to rectify the economic path, namely pumping government investments to support economic activity  half of which are directed to the infrastructure, transport, education, and health sectors  implementing national projects, and launching economic reform programmes to boost economic growth.

Hereunder are the cornerstones of the recently announced policy and the key mechanisms it will adopt for the sake of expanding the role of the private sector, which subsequently will benefit the countrys GDP growth.

Q: What are the key objectives of Egypts State Ownership Policy?

A: The policy targets increasing the countrys real GDP growth to between seven percent and nine percent by increasing public investments by between 25 percent and 30 percent, thereby creating more job opportunities.

It is also founded on the principle of raising the private sectors share in countrys economic activity and its development process to 65 percent over the coming three years. This means increasing its contribution to the countrys GDP, taken-up investments, operation, exports, and governmental revenues.

Government interference in economic activity, however, will be intensified in sectors that are stagnant for the sake of revitalisation, which will lead to creating a more attractive investment climate for investors.

The policy also aims to attain more financial savings, enact financial discipline, and keep the states economy resilient against internal and external shocks, as well as boost social protection nets.

Q: What type of ownership schemes has the policy set for investments in state-owned assets?

A: The policy has set three key ownership schemes  the government disassociating from a number of economic activities over three years to give room for the private sector to do its work, partnering with the private sector in certain fields, or gradually increasing or decreasing government investments in a sector according to its needs under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism.

Q: What are the cornerstones of the policy?

A:

The government incrementally disassociating from a number of economic activities for the private sector, which will be over a short-term in some cases.

Taking into account the strategic and security dimensions while taking up this disassociation.

Upgrading the mechanisms of allocating assets to economic activities.

Designing a clear plan to deal with the impacts of disassociation, especially in terms of the workforce and revenues.

Setting a package of comprehensive macroeconomic policies that aims to stimulate the private sector.

Q: Which sectors does the government plan to exit over the short-term?

A: According to the policy, the government will exit 15 economic activities across seven sectors over the coming three years, including agriculture, water, sanitation, desalination, telecoms and IT, retail, food and beverages, as well as construction.

The government will also exit a number of activities across the leather, timber, engineering, jewellery, chemical, textile, printing, and pharmaceutical industries.

Q: What are the activities that the government will keep investing in in collaboration with the private sector?

A: Transport, primary education, electricity, mining, real estate, oil and natural gas extraction, ICT, and sports. The government will keep investing in these activities with a possibility of lowering its share of investments for the private sector.

The government will also maintain its investments in some activities across such sectors with a plan to increase its share of investments. These activities also include social protection, Suez Canal related activities, health, higher education, pharmaceuticals, and fertilisers.

Q: What are the mechanisms of executing the policy?

A: The policy sets three types of partnership with the private sector that will govern the total or partial exit of the government from the mentioned economic activities.

These types include reviving the initial public offering (IPO) programme for state-owned assets, the PPP, and increasing the private sectors share in state-owned assets while keeping the assets under the states ownership.

The last type involves nine types of partnership:

Concession contracts

Build, Operate, and Transform (B.O.T) contracts

Design, Build, and Operate (D.B.O) contracts

Build, Finance, Operate, and Transform (B.F.O.T) contracts

Build, Own, Operate, and Transform (B.O.O.T) contract.

Build, Own, and Operate (B.O.O) contracts

Performance contracts

Management contracts

Privatisation of a number of state-owned assets

Q: What is the role that the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) is expected to play under this policy?

A: A number of projects will be executed through the TSFE with the aim of maximising the states proceeds, boosting the services the state extended through its utilities, encouraging private sector investments  especially foreign direct investments  and furthering local manufacturing.

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KRS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,904 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IWM. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 113.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,660,221 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $603,643,000 after purchasing an additional 31,422,045 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 12,616.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,756,010 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,279,086,000 after acquiring an additional 7,695,017 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 119.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 853,920 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $144,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,358,090 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 14,581,100 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,404,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP lifted its position in iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 929.1% during the 2nd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 688,956 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $116,683,000 after acquiring an additional 772,050 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares Russell 2000 ETF Stock Performance

iShares Russell 2000 ETF stock traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $172.95. 7,285,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,065,570. The companys fifty day moving average price is $186.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.61. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a fifty-two week low of $162.50 and a fifty-two week high of $212.25.

About iShares Russell 2000 ETF

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index is a float-adjusted capitalization weighted index that measures the performance of the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market and includes securities issued by the approximately 2,000 smallest issuers in the Russell 3000 Index.

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Abeille Asset Management SA cut its stake in Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE:INVH  Get Rating) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,728 shares of the companys stock after selling 4,448 shares during the quarter. Abeille Asset Management SAs holdings in Invitation Homes were worth $911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Invitation Homes by 12.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,213,645 shares of the companys stock worth $3,316,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,059,735 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Invitation Homes by 18.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,699,529 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,982,284,000 after acquiring an additional 9,004,231 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Invitation Homes by 31.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,133,933 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,287,783,000 after acquiring an additional 9,188,909 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Invitation Homes by 3.0% in the third quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 11,828,086 shares of the companys stock valued at $399,435,000 after acquiring an additional 341,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Invitation Homes by 31.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,215,791 shares of the companys stock valued at $344,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453,217 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Invitation Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Invitation Homes stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.76. The company had a trading volume of 817,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,353,931. Invitation Homes Inc. has a one year low of $28.52 and a one year high of $44.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 47.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89.

Invitation Homes Increases Dividend

Invitation Homes ( NYSE:INVH Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.25). Invitation Homes had a return on equity of 3.89% and a net margin of 17.10%. The company had revenue of $579.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $566.68 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Invitation Homes Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 14th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 13th. This is an increase from Invitation Homess previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Invitation Homess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 167.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on INVH. Wolfe Research lowered Invitation Homes from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. Scotiabank began coverage on Invitation Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. They issued a sector perform rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lowered Invitation Homes from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $44.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Invitation Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Invitation Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $44.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.44.

Invitation Homes Company Profile

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Invitation Homes, Inc engages in the acquisition, renovation, leasing, and operation of single-family homes as rental properties, including single-family homes in planned unit developments. Its services include property management, selection of homes, maintenance program, and online payment. The company was founded by Marcus Ridgway, Dallas Tanner, and Brad Greiwe in 2012 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

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Access Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF (NYSEARCA:RGI  Get Rating) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,664 shares of the companys stock after selling 711 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc. owned 0.37% of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF worth $1,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF by 28,450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 571 shares of the companys stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 988 shares of the companys stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kore Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $211,000.

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Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of RGI stock traded up $1.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $180.66. 3,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,124. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.20. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF has a 52-week low of $154.21 and a 52-week high of $196.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $330.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 1.17.

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Industrials ETF Company Profile

Rydex S&P Equal Weight Industrials ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate as closely as possible the performance of the S&P Equal Weight Index Industrials (the Index). The Index is an unmanaged equal-weighted version of the S&P 500 Industrials Index that consists of the common stocks of industries, such as aerospace and defense, building products, construction and engineering, electrical equipment, conglomerates, machinery, commercial services and supplies, air freight and logistics, airlines, and marine, road and rail transportation infrastructure that comprise the industrials sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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KRS Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ  Get Rating) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,559 shares of the technology companys stock after selling 1,290 shares during the period. Block comprises about 1.0% of KRS Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. KRS Capital Management LLCs holdings in Block were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Block by 63.6% during the second quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 216,168 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $13,286,000 after buying an additional 84,008 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Block by 8.2% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 42,824 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $2,355,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Block by 0.8% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 129,006 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $7,312,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. NuWave Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block during the third quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Block by 2.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 226,476 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $12,454,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.49% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SQ shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Block from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Block from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Block in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a sell rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $107.86.

Block Price Performance

NYSE SQ traded up $2.67 on Monday, reaching $63.35. The companys stock had a trading volume of 10,534,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,409,096. The firm has a market cap of $38.14 billion, a PE ratio of -63.87 and a beta of 2.35. Block, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.34 and a 52 week high of $149.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $76.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.60.

Block (NYSE:SQ  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The technology company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $4.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Block had a negative net margin of 3.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.28%. Sell-side analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.49, for a total transaction of $1,830,447.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 422,617 shares in the company, valued at $25,141,485.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Alyssa Henry sold 30,769 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.49, for a total transaction of $1,830,447.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 422,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at $25,141,485.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sivan Whiteley sold 2,716 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $174,584.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 105,400 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,775,112. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 303,361 shares of company stock worth $22,613,175. Corporate insiders own 11.52% of the companys stock.

About Block

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Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ  Get Rating).

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Shares of Aviva plc (OTCMKTS:AVVIY  Get Rating) have received an average recommendation of Hold from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $529.33.

A number of research analysts recently commented on AVVIY shares. Investec cut Aviva from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Aviva from GBX 540 ($6.63) to GBX 546 ($6.71) in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Aviva from GBX 560 ($6.88) to GBX 545 ($6.69) in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Aviva from GBX 485 ($5.96) to GBX 540 ($6.63) in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aviva from GBX 535 ($6.57) to GBX 545 ($6.69) in a research note on Monday, March 13th.

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Aviva Stock Performance

Aviva stock opened at $9.99 on Monday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $10.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.29. Aviva has a one year low of $8.05 and a one year high of $15.96.

Aviva Increases Dividend

Aviva Company Profile

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be paid a $0.4737 dividend. This is an increase from Avivas previous dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a yield of 7.14%.

(Get Rating)

Aviva Plc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of long-term insurance and savings, general and health insurance, and fund management products and services. It operates through the following segments: United Kingdom and Ireland; Canada; France; Italy; Poland; and Other. The United Kingdom and Ireland segment offers risks associated with motor vehicles, property and liability, and medical expenses insurance cover to individuals and businesses.

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Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI  Get Rating) (TSE:CNR) have been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $142.35.

Several research firms have issued reports on CNI. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. National Bank Financial upped their target price on Canadian National Railway from C$173.00 to C$175.00 in a research note on Friday, December 16th. CIBC cut their target price on Canadian National Railway from C$181.00 to C$175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Canadian National Railway from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th.

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Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,762,307 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $2,350,111,000 after buying an additional 800,108 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 5.3% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 12,333,700 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,655,948,000 after buying an additional 625,000 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,044,663 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $1,299,315,000 after purchasing an additional 260,003 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,671,552 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $945,638,000 after purchasing an additional 531,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter valued at $727,713,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.96% of the companys stock.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.9 %

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $113.68 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $75.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.65. Canadian National Railway has a 12 month low of $103.79 and a 12 month high of $137.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.5906 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railways previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Canadian National Railways dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

About Canadian National Railway

(Get Rating)

Canadian National Railway Co engages in rail and related transportation business. Its services include rail, intermodal, trucking, supply chain services, business development and maps and network. Its offers their services in automotive, coal, fertilizer, food and beverages, forest products, dimensional loads, grain, metals and minerals and petroleum and chemicals industries.

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Brookfield (TSE:BN  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from C$54.00 to C$51.00 in a report released on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. CIBC started coverage on Brookfield in a research report on Friday, December 16th. They issued a buy rating and a C$37.00 price objective for the company. TD Securities assumed coverage on Brookfield in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. They issued a buy rating and a C$63.00 target price for the company.

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Brookfield Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BN stock opened at C$41.14 on Thursday. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is C$46.18. The firm has a market capitalization of C$67.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09 and a beta of 1.58. Brookfield has a 12 month low of C$38.92 and a 12 month high of C$55.00.

Brookfield Dividend Announcement

About Brookfield

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.093 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 27th. This represents a $0.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Brookfields dividend payout ratio is 40.24%.

(Get Rating)

Brookfield Corporation is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients.

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BRP (TSE:DOO  Get Rating) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from C$137.00 to C$138.00 in a report issued on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank of Canadas target price suggests a potential upside of 32.79% from the companys previous close.

DOO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. National Bankshares raised their target price on BRP from C$139.00 to C$143.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on BRP from C$173.00 to C$179.00 in a report on Thursday, December 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on BRP from C$143.00 to C$149.00 in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on BRP from C$123.00 to C$125.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of BRP from C$145.00 to C$150.00 in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$139.54.

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BRP Trading Up 0.1 %

DOO stock traded up C$0.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching C$103.92. 183,812 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 143,169. BRP has a 52-week low of C$76.72 and a 52-week high of C$120.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 558.43, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$113.40 and a 200-day moving average of C$101.47. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.53.

About BRP

BRP Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets powersports vehicles and marine products in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Powersports and Marine. It offers all-terrain, side-by-side, and three-wheeled vehicles; seasonal products, which consists of snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and pontoons; and parts, accessories and apparel, and engines for karts and recreational aircraft and other services.

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Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Chewy (NYSE:CHWY  Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Chewy to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Chewy from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Chewy from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Roth Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of Chewy in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Chewy in a research note on Friday, March 10th. They set a buy rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.14.

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Chewy Trading Down 3.8 %

NYSE:CHWY opened at $33.59 on Thursday. Chewy has a 12 month low of $22.22 and a 12 month high of $52.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.58. The company has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 305.39, a PEG ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Institutional Trading of Chewy

In other Chewy news, CEO Sumit Singh sold 21,317 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.74, for a total transaction of $847,137.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 759,876 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $30,197,472.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . In other news, CFO Mario Jesus Marte sold 39,289 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.81, for a total value of $1,721,251.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 207,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,069,020.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Sumit Singh sold 21,317 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.74, for a total transaction of $847,137.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 759,876 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $30,197,472.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last three months, insiders have sold 86,001 shares of company stock valued at $3,666,727. Insiders own 1.80% of the companys stock.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Chewy by 167.2% during the 2nd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 63,600 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 39,800 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chewy during the second quarter worth $5,432,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Chewy by 253.4% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 7,662 shares of the companys stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 5,494 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Chewy by 480.3% during the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 11,751 shares of the companys stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chewy during the third quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.05% of the companys stock.

About Chewy

(Get Rating)

Chewy, Inc operates as a pure-play pet e-tailer in the United States. It supplies pet medications, food, treats and other pet-health products and services for dogs, cats, fish, birds, small pets, horses, and reptiles. The company was founded by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day in September 2011 and is headquartered in Dania Beach, FL.

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Dingdong (Cayman) Limited (NYSE:DDL  Get Rating)s stock price fell 5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $3.39 and last traded at $3.43. 278,532 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 1,284,269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Dingdong (Cayman) from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th.

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Dingdong (Cayman) Stock Performance

The stocks 50 day moving average price is $4.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dingdong (Cayman)

Dingdong (Cayman) ( NYSE:DDL Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 13th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $899.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $945.78 million. Dingdong (Cayman) had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a negative return on equity of 248.85%. Research analysts predict that Dingdong will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Dingdong (Cayman) in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Dingdong (Cayman) in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Credit Suisse AG purchased a new position in Dingdong (Cayman) in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. CV Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Dingdong (Cayman) in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Dingdong (Cayman) in the 2nd quarter valued at about $85,000. 23.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dingdong (Cayman) Company Profile

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Dingdong (Cayman) Limited operates an e-commerce company in China. The company offers fresh produce, meat, seafood, prepared food, and other food products, such as dairy and bakery products, snacks, oil, seasonings, and beverages. It operates as a self-operated online retail business primarily through Dingdong Fresh.

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Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC  Get Rating) and EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ecopetrol and EOG Resources 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 Ecopetrol $31.89 billion 0.62 $6.69 billion $3.81 2.52 EOG Resources $25.70 billion 2.41 $7.76 billion $13.21 7.99

EOG Resources has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ecopetrol. Ecopetrol is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EOG Resources, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Profitability

Ecopetrol has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EOG Resources has a beta of 1.52, indicating that its stock price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

This table compares Ecopetrol and EOG Resources net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Ecopetrol 20.85% 24.92% 9.14% EOG Resources 30.19% 34.95% 20.44%

Dividends

Ecopetrol pays an annual dividend of $1.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.2%. EOG Resources pays an annual dividend of $3.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Ecopetrol pays out 38.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. EOG Resources pays out 25.0% 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. EOG Resources has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.3% of Ecopetrol shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of EOG Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of EOG Resources shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Ecopetrol and EOG Resources, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Ecopetrol 0 3 0 0 2.00 EOG Resources 0 4 16 1 2.86

Ecopetrol presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.87%. EOG Resources has a consensus target price of $152.45, suggesting a potential upside of 44.52%. Given EOG Resources stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe EOG Resources is more favorable than Ecopetrol.

Summary

EOG Resources beats Ecopetrol on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ecopetrol

(Get Rating)

Ecopetrol SA engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Transportation and Logistics, and Refining and Petrochemicals. The Exploration and Production segment deals with oil and gas exploration and production activities. The Transportation and Logistics segment comprises of pipelines and other transportation activities. The Refining and Petrochemicals segment involves in refining activities and its products include motor fuels, fuel oils, and petrochemicals. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Bogota, Colombia.

About EOG Resources

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EOG Resources, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the United States, Trinidad & Tobago, and Other International segments. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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First United Bank & Trust decreased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 544 shares during the quarter. First United Bank & Trusts holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,886,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $14,209,937,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,491 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 174,002,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $12,369,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,590 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 24,550,030 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,890,352,000 after purchasing an additional 463,344 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 17,053,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,313,101,000 after purchasing an additional 674,921 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,659,982 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,042,264,000 after purchasing an additional 155,845 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.51% of the companys stock.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BMY opened at $68.36 on Monday. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 12 month low of $65.28 and a 12 month high of $81.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.52 and a 200-day moving average of $72.90.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.11. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 13.71%. The business had revenue of $11.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibbs revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs payout ratio is currently 77.29%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total transaction of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares in the company, valued at $17,625,163.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $835,258.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,043 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,721,081.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total value of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 236,104 shares in the company, valued at $17,625,163.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. They set an overweight rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They set a hold rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Atlantic Securities raised their price objective on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $79.69.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

(Get Rating)

Bristol Myers Squibb Co engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of biopharmaceutical products. It offers chemically-synthesized drugs or small molecules and products produced from biological processes called biologics. The company was founded in August 1933 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BMY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating).

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

GPI has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $142.00 to $134.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Group 1 Automotive from $275.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th.

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Group 1 Automotive Price Performance

NYSE:GPI opened at $207.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The companys 50-day moving average is $216.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.63. Group 1 Automotive has a 12-month low of $136.16 and a 12-month high of $242.68.

Group 1 Automotive Increases Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. This is an increase from Group 1 Automotives previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Group 1 Automotives dividend payout ratio is 3.83%.

In related news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.67, for a total transaction of $344,505.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,355 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,067,242.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael David Jones sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.67, for a total transaction of $344,505.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,355 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,067,242.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Darryl M. Burman sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.68, for a total transaction of $591,700.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,084,860.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,600 shares of company stock valued at $7,091,904. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Group 1 Automotive

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPI. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 11.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,395 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,597,000 after acquiring an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 55.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 3,257 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Group 1 Automotive by 8.4% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,828 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter valued at approximately $727,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Group 1 Automotive in the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.71% of the companys stock.

About Group 1 Automotive

(Get Rating)

Group 1 Automotive, Inc engages in the automotive retailing industry. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: U.S, the UK, and Brazil. It also sells new and used cars and light trucks, arranges related vehicle financing, sells service contracts, provides automotive maintenance and repair services, and sells vehicle parts.

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Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Schindler (OTCMKTS:SHLAF  Get Rating) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, The Fly reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on SHLAF. Barclays upgraded Schindler from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. HSBC lowered Schindler from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Schindler from CHF 210 to CHF 205 in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two 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 an average target price of $188.33.

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Schindler Stock Down 1.1 %

OTCMKTS:SHLAF opened at $233.99 on Thursday. Schindler has a twelve month low of $150.96 and a twelve month high of $236.50. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $222.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.11.

Schindler Company Profile

Schindler Holding AG engages in the design, manufacture, and installation of elevator and escalator systems. It also offers moving walks, transit management solutions, and related maintenance and repair services. The company was founded by Robert Schindler and Eduard Villiger in 1874 and is headquartered in Hergiswil, Switzerland.

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OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Get Rating) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,325 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Altria Group comprises 2.3% of OmniStar Financial Group Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.s holdings in Altria Group were worth $2,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ACT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Altria Group by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,839 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its stake in Altria Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sage Capital Advisors llc now owns 102,200 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,672,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment Corp IL increased its position in shares of Altria Group by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment Corp IL now owns 31,287 shares of the companys stock worth $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.68% of the companys stock.

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Altria Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MO stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Monday, reaching $44.15. 2,353,526 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,431,977. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.35 and a twelve month high of $57.05. The firms fifty day moving average price is $46.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.33.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $1.18. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 284.29% and a net margin of 22.97%. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The firms revenue was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 24th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is 117.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MO. Citigroup boosted their price target on Altria Group from $46.50 to $49.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three 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 $46.23.

Altria Group Company Profile

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Altria Group, Inc operates as a holding company, which engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States. It operates through the following segments: Smokeable Products, Oral tobacco products, and Wine. The Smokeable Products segment consists of cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Get Rating).

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HSBC upgraded shares of Orient Overseas (International) (OTCMKTS:OROVF  Get Rating) from a reduce rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday, The Fly reports.

Orient Overseas (International) Stock Up 6.9 %

Shares of Orient Overseas (International) stock opened at $17.32 on Thursday. The firms 50 day moving average is $16.96 and its 200 day moving average is $17.16. Orient Overseas has a 1 year low of $14.37 and a 1 year high of $36.59.

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About Orient Overseas (International)

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Orient Overseas (International) Limited, an investment holding company, provides container transport and logistics services in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, and internationally. The company offers supply-chain management and distribution services; and containerised shipping services in various trade lanes comprising Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic, Asia/Europe, Asia/Australia, and Intra-Asia trades.

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UBS Group set a GBX 2,750 ($33.77) price target on Shell (LON:SHEL  Get Rating) in a research report report published on Thursday, Borsen Zeitung reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a top pick rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Barclays reiterated an overweight rating and set a GBX 3,300 ($40.53) price target on shares of Shell in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Shell from GBX 3,100 ($38.07) to GBX 3,000 ($36.84) and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Shell from GBX 3,200 ($39.30) to GBX 3,100 ($38.07) and set a top pick rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell to an overweight rating and cut their price objective for the stock from GBX 2,625 ($32.24) to GBX 2,405 ($29.53) in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of GBX 2,906.09 ($35.69).

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Shell Stock Performance

Shell stock opened at GBX 2,200.50 ($27.02) on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of 151.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 489.00, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 2,435.63 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 2,372.15. Shell has a 52 week low of GBX 1,908.60 ($23.44) and a 52 week high of GBX 2,613.50 ($32.10).

Shell Increases Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling at Shell

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 16th. This is a boost from Shells previous dividend of $0.25. This represents a yield of 0.99%. Shells payout ratio is 2,133.33%.

In other news, insider Wael Sawan bought 7,213 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 2,482 ($30.48) per share, with a total value of 179,026.66 ($219,853.44). In other Shell news, insider Wael Sawan acquired 7,213 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 2,482 ($30.48) per share, with a total value of 179,026.66 ($219,853.44). Also, insider Andrew Mackenzie acquired 8,235 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 2,418 ($29.69) per share, with a total value of 199,122.30 ($244,531.87). Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the companys stock.

About Shell

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Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market.

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Tesco PLC (OTCMKTS:TSCDY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,800 shares, a growth of 2,766.7% from the February 28th total of 900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 123,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Tesco Stock Performance

TSCDY stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.23. 31,244 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 265,858. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Tesco has a 52-week low of $6.54 and a 52-week high of $11.19. The stocks fifty day moving average is $9.09 and its 200-day moving average is $8.28.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Tesco from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Tesco in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. They issued an equal weight rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Tesco from GBX 240 ($2.95) to GBX 270 ($3.32) in a report on Monday, December 5th.

About Tesco

Tesco Plc engages in the retailing and retail banking. It operates through the following segments: UK and ROI, Central Europe, Asia, and Tesco Bank. The UK and ROI segment caters to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The Central Europe segment covers the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with Benjamin Netanyahu in London on Friday as protesters shouting Shame! in Hebrew demonstrated against the Israeli leaders right-wing policies and his plans to overhaul the countrys judiciary.

Netanyahu had to pass by hundreds of protesters waving Israeli flags and waving signs calling for the defense of Israeli democracy as he arrived at 10 Downing St. for discussions that focused on the war in Ukraine and concerns about Irans nuclear program.

Sunak also raised Netanyahu's proposed judicial reforms, which have sparked mass protests in Israel and beyond. One placard in London read: We are Israelis and Jews living in the UK demonstrating against Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is leading a judicial coup turning Israel into a dictatorship.

Some women protesting outside Downing Street wore red robes and white caps inspired by The Handmaid's Tale, a novel and TV series set in a dystopian future. Similarly clad demonstrators have become fixtures of the mass protests roiling Israel.

Sunak stressed the importance of upholding the democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in the proposed judicial reforms in Israel, the British leader's office said in an official readout of the meeting.

Other leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have expressed concern about proposed changes.

Netanyahus proposals would give his government more control over judicial appointments, weaken the Supreme Court by limiting judicial review of legislation and allow Parliament to overturn court decisions with a simple majority vote.

He arrived in the UK as protesters in Israel blocked roads and clashed with police. The planned judicial system overhaul have ignited the biggest protests in the countrys history amid rare dissent from people throughout Israeli society, including military reservists, navy veterans, high-tech businesspeople and former officials.

In London, Netanyahu also was met by a pro-Palestinian demonstration. His government has been criticized for its hard-line policy toward Palestinians, including recent comments by a government minister who denied the existence of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.

Sunak, during his meeting with the Israeli prime minister, reiterated our support for two-state solution, as well as Britain's view that Israel's West Bank settlements are illegal and contrary to the cause of peace," spokesman Jamie Davies said.

Israel is a vital international partner for the United Kingdom, and the prime minister was visiting London, and this was an important opportunity to talk about issues that matter to both countries, whether thats the threat of Iran, Russia, new trade and investment  as well as peace and stability in the Middle East," Davies said.

Netanyahus office said the two leaders discussed the rapidly advancing nuclear program of Israels archenemy, Iran, as well as deepening strategic cooperation in security, intelligence and economic fields.

Alicia Kearns. a lawmaker from Sunak's governing Conservative Party and chairwoman of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the government to be more forceful in challenging Netanyahu's policy.

This is the time for the UK to work out what it means to be a critical friend to Israel and make sure that, yes, we continue to trade and to work together on security cooperation because they are a key partner, but also that we listen to our Jewish communities, Kearns told the BBC. "And this (is) the biggest response and loudest response Ive ever seen from a Jewish community to Israeli policies.

As thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Thursday, Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, defiantly pledged to proceed with the judicial overhaul, hours after his coalition passed a law making it harder to remove him from office.

Rights groups and Palestinians say Israels democratic ideals have long been tarnished by the countrys 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state and the treatment of Palestinian Israeli citizens, who face discrimination in many spheres.

Netanyahu pushed back his departure to Britain until 4 a.m. Friday to deal with the political crisis.

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Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM  Get Rating) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the energy companys stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on SM. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of SM Energy in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $46.00 to $32.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Cowen lowered shares of SM Energy from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. TD Cowen lowered shares of SM Energy from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $51.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SM Energy has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.73.

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SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SM opened at $26.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 4.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.68 and a 200 day moving average of $36.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. SM Energy has a one year low of $24.66 and a one year high of $54.97.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

SM Energy ( NYSE:SM Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The energy company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.08. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.11% and a return on equity of 34.40%. The company had revenue of $671.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firms revenue was down 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 20th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 19th. SM Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 3.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Herbert S. Vogel purchased 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.48 per share, for a total transaction of $29,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,063 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,911,777.24. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,000 shares of company stock valued at $86,460. Company insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of SM Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 41.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,075 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 28.4% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 20,390 shares of the energy companys stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 4,513 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 55.1% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 63,571 shares of the energy companys stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 22,582 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 110,627 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $4,431,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy in the first quarter valued at $1,226,000. 89.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SM Energy

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SM Energy Co is an independent energy company, which engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.

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StockNews.com lowered shares of GeoPark (NYSE:GPRK  Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

GeoPark Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GeoPark stock opened at $10.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.20, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.73. GeoPark has a 1 year low of $10.20 and a 1 year high of $18.52. The stock has a market cap of $628.91 million, a PE ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.47.

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GeoPark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 21st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. This is a boost from GeoParks previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. GeoParks payout ratio is currently 13.79%.

Institutional Trading of GeoPark

GeoPark Company Profile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GPRK. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in GeoPark by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,704 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in GeoPark by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 39,627 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in GeoPark in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in GeoPark by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 48,422 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in GeoPark by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 32,971 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.73% of the companys stock.

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GeoPark Ltd. engages in the exploration, development, and production for oil and gas reserves. It operates through the following geographical segments: Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, and Corporate. The company was founded by Gerald Eugene OShaughnessy and James Franklin Park in 2002 and is headquartered in Bogota, Colombia.

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Taro Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE:TARO  Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Separately, HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Taro Pharmaceutical Industries from $54.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th.

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Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TARO opened at $24.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $915.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96 and a beta of 0.66. Taro Pharmaceutical Industries has a 12 month low of $23.75 and a 12 month high of $45.62. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $29.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.84.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries ( NYSE:TARO Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.68). The firm had revenue of $139.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $163.12 million. Taro Pharmaceutical Industries had a return on equity of 2.68% and a net margin of 8.06%. Analysts anticipate that Taro Pharmaceutical Industries will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Taro Pharmaceutical Industries by 71.6% during the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 925 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Taro Pharmaceutical Industries by 154.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Taro Pharmaceutical Industries by 270.1% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the companys stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Taro Pharmaceutical Industries during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Taro Pharmaceutical Industries during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.45% of the companys stock.

About Taro Pharmaceutical Industries

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Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. engages in the development, manufacturing and marketing of prescribed and over-the-counter pharmaceutical products in the U.S., Canada and Israel. Its products include semi-solids formulations, such as creams and ointments and other dosage forms such as liquids, capsules and tablets, in the dermatological and topical, cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric and anti-inflammatory therapeutic categories.

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Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (OTCMKTS:TYCMY  Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,500 shares, a growth of 4,400.0% from the February 28th total of 100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days.

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Stock Up 1.0 %

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) stock traded up C$0.34 during trading on Monday, reaching C$36.15. The stock had a trading volume of 13,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,544. Tingyi has a 52-week low of C$27.19 and a 52-week high of C$38.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$33.67.

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About Tingyi (Cayman Islands)

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Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp., an investment holding company, manufactures and sells instant noodles, beverages, and instant food products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Instant Noodles, Beverages, and Others segments. It offers ready-to-drink teas, juices, milk tea, bottled water, and carbonated soft drinks, as well as coffee drinks/functional drinks/probiotics.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of United States Cellular (NYSE:USM  Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on USM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered United States Cellular from an overweight rating to an underweight rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on United States Cellular from $37.00 to $24.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.67.

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United States Cellular Stock Performance

Shares of USM opened at $19.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 57.85 and a beta of 0.67. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $22.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.22. United States Cellular has a 1 year low of $19.12 and a 1 year high of $32.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Cellular

United States Cellular ( NYSE:USM Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 17th. The Wireless communications provider reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.05. United States Cellular had a return on equity of 0.65% and a net margin of 0.72%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that United States Cellular will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in United States Cellular during the third quarter valued at about $174,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of United States Cellular by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 70,139 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 4,590 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its position in shares of United States Cellular by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 17,907 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in United States Cellular by 630.8% in the third quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 6,468 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in United States Cellular in the third quarter valued at $825,000. 15.89% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About United States Cellular

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United States Cellular Corp. engages in the provision of wireless telecommunication services. Its products include smartphones, tablets, vehicle routers, and accessories. It offers Internet plans, prepaid and postpaid plans, and roaming services. The company was founded by Leroy T. Carlson in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

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WT Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Target Co. (NYSE:TGT  Get Rating) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,113 shares of the retailers stock after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. WT Wealth Managements holdings in Target were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TGT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Target by 566.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,775,981 shares of the retailers stock valued at $956,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759,168 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 122,068.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,793,906 shares of the retailers stock worth $711,368,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789,982 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,191,786 shares of the retailers stock worth $5,073,719,000 after acquiring an additional 852,361 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Target by 70.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,749,200 shares of the retailers stock worth $255,285,000 after acquiring an additional 725,396 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Target by 171.9% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,044,226 shares of the retailers stock worth $154,954,000 after buying an additional 660,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.86% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on TGT shares. Gordon Haskett downgraded Target from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $132.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. Roth Capital reissued a neutral rating on shares of Target in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Target in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Target in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They set an outperform rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Target from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $181.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Target Trading Up 0.8 %

In related news, insider Brian C. Cornell sold 35,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.98, for a total transaction of $5,564,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 191,272 shares of the companys stock, valued at $30,408,422.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock.

Target stock traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $157.44. The stock had a trading volume of 650,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,252,845. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Target Co. has a 52-week low of $137.16 and a 52-week high of $254.87. The firm has a market cap of $72.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $166.27 and a 200 day moving average of $160.50.

Target (NYSE:TGT  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The retailer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $31.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.73 billion. Target had a net margin of 2.55% and a return on equity of 25.63%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Target Co. will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Target Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Targets dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.24%.

Target Profile

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Target Corp. engages in the operation and ownership of general merchandise stores. It offers food assortments including perishables, dry grocery, dairy, and frozen items. The company was founded by George Draper Dayton in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TGT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Target Co. (NYSE:TGT  Get Rating).

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"Both fetal heart monitoring and B-scan ultrasonography showed that the baby is healthy," said Tsering Yangzom, a 27-year-old mother-to-be who was receiving pregnancy care in a township clinic in Yulmed, Luntse County, Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

According to the woman, she had to go to Luntse or downtown Shannan for pregnancy care, but now it has become much more convenient as relevant services are available where she lives.

The township clinic is a two-storey building that comes with a clinical lab, an internal medicine department and a preventive medicine department. Commonly used drugs are readily available there. It is staffed by seven medical workers, including general practitioners and nurses.

In the hall of the clinic, there is an intelligent health check-up machine. Patients can go through regular check-ups by simply tapping their ID cards on it. Then the machine would print health reports for patients automatically.

Qiu Jianliang, head of the clinic, has been working there for 10 years.

Doctors of a hospital in Qonggyai County, Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region send free drugs to residents. [Tibet Daily]

"It is very difficult to find the exact cause of a person's chest pain in the past. Now we have electrocardiograph machines which could help doctors with diagnosis and quickly detect heart problems," said Qiu.

According to him, the clinic also offers B-scan ultrasonography, regular blood testing and urinalysis. The automated external defibrillator (AED) and other auxiliary medical devices could monitor, assess and automatically treat patients with life-threatening heart rhythms.

Thanks to the improved health and transport facilities, residents in Yulmed Township can have minor illnesses treated locally, and those critically ill can also be diagnosed and transferred to better hospitals very quickly.

Qiu told People's Daily that the township's roads to the outside were closed for around six months each year in the past due to severe weathers and poor infrastructure, which was challenging for treating critically ill patients.

A congenital heart disease screening activity is held for local children in Saga County, Shigatse, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. [Tibet.cn]

"Nowadays, we can send them to county and city hospitals with ambulances at the earliest time possible," Qiu said.

Tobgye is a 56-year-old resident suffering from severe arthritis in Yulmed Township. Last year, he had a surgery in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, which greatly relieved his pain. He always visits the township clinic to fetch drugs.

"I had 85 percent of the surgery expense reimbursed, and the drugs I take now are mostly covered by my health insurance," Tobgye told People's Daily.

The improvement of medical conditions in Yulmed Township is a miniature of the development of township clinics in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Today, an urban-rural medical service network that covers all levels has been established in the autonomous region, and the autonomous region's basic healthcare, disease prevention and control, maternity and child health and mobile healthcare systems are also improving.

A doctor provides free clinic to local residents in Tashigang, a township with an altitude of 4,300 meters in Gar County, Ngari Prefecture, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. [Photo by Liu Xiaodong/People's Daily Online]

Now, every township clinic in Tibet is equipped with 3.4 practitioners on average, and all administrative villages in the autonomous region have at least one clinic.

Kelsang Yudron, head of Tibet's health commission, said that Tibet is working to stabilize and optimize rural medical staff, build capable medical teams that meet villagers' demands, and comprehensively improve the primary-level healthcare capabilities of the autonomous region, so as to provide residents with safe, effective, convenient and affordable basic health services and ensure equalized access to basic public health services.

Next, Tibet will focus on deepening reform of medicine and healthcare system, make the distribution of quality medical resources more balanced, improve the capability of primary-level medical services, optimize public health services and ensure medical services for key groups including seniors, children and women, Kelsang Yudron noted.

Besides, the autonomous region will keep promoting the inheritance and innovative development of traditional Tibetan medicine, build stronger medical teams and advance high-quality development of the health sector, Kelsang Yudron added.

(Source: People's Daily Online)
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday sent a message of sympathy to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva over the latter's contraction of influenza and pneumonia.

In his message, Xi said that upon learning of Lula's illness and thus having to postpone his visit to China, he would like to extend his sincere sympathy to the Brazilian president and wish him a speedy recovery.

Xi also welcomed Lula's early visit when it is convenient for both sides.

(Source: Xinhua)
Weather Alert

...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM CDT /2 AM EDT/ TO 9 AM CDT /10 AM EDT/ MONDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures as low as 32 degrees will result in frost formation. * WHERE...Southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...Late tonight into early Monday morning. * IMPACTS...Frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if left uncovered. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Some sheltered locations may see temperatures fall slightly below 32 degrees, which would result in a light freeze. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold. &&
Minister of Education and Technical Education Reda Hegazy and the Ambassador of Italy to Cairo Michele Quaroni signed an MoU on Monday to introduce Italian as an elective second language in Egyptian public schools by the 2024/2025 academic year.

The initiative, which will start with the seventh grade curriculum, aims to enhance cultural ties and promote greater understanding and cooperation between Egypt and Italy, according to a statement released by the education ministry.

It is part of a broader initiative to enhance middle school education by offering students the option to learn several foreign languages, including French and German.

Minister Hegazy praised in his meeting with Ambassador Quaroni today the historical cooperation between Egypt and Italy in developing education.

He also praised the long-standing partnership represented by the Italian Don Bosco schools and the integrated technological education institutes such as Fayoum and Abu Ghaleb.

On 22 March, the Russian Ministry of Education has announced that the Russian language will be offered as a second foreign language in Egypt's schools and universities. The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education has not, however, announced the academic year in which the language will be offered to students.

The decision to introduce Russian in Egypt's schools came a few days after a similar decision to include French as a "compulsory" second language in Egyptian public schools for students in the first year of middle school and above by the 2024/2025 academic year.

In September 2022, Deputy Minister of Education and Technical Education Mohamed Megahed announced that 12 preparatory schools in three governorates will offer Chinese as an optional second language in the upcoming 2023/2024 academic year.

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An escalating attack on free speech is taking place at Bloomfield Hills High School (BHHS), one of Michigans top public high schools, in a wealthy suburb of Detroit. Pro-Israel parents and Zionist groups have reacted vocally against the school administration for allowing a Palestinian American activist to speak at student-organized diversity assemblies for 9-12 graders on March 14.

There was a heavy turnout of hostile parents at an emergency school board meeting on March 20, and a barrage of letters and anti-Muslim social media posts denouncing the appearance of the Palestinian American activist. On Friday, March 24, Principal Lawrence Stroughter was placed on indefinite leave by Superintendent Pat Watson.

Immediately following the complaints by Jewish parents, both the principal and superintendent sent emails to the parents apologizing for the event and mischaracterizing the issue as a religious issue, according to one speaker at the board meeting, as though the event had involved a clash between Muslims and Jews. In the ensuing week, he said, many Palestinian and Muslim students were targeted by Zionists, including some who got death threats.

Actually, the Palestinian American activist, Huwaida Arraf, is a Christian and married to a Jewish man, who spoke about the discrimination she experienced as a Palestinian American, and on the oppression of the Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank. She was one of five speakers on various forms of discrimination based on race, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

The discussion at the school board meeting opened with a letter from the Muslim Unity Center expressing concern for Muslim students who have been bullied and intimidated with threats of violence. The signers expressed dismay at the characterization of the Palestinian American activists remarks as antisemitic. The reading of the letter itself was interrupted by hecklers who had to be escorted from the room. The letter continued, We deem attempts to silence or ignore students from any side of a debate to run counter to the values of free and open inquiry, critical thinking and sound education.

The principal, associate principal and the diversity coordinator advising the student organizers of the assembly came under vicious attack early in the meeting, with demands from some parents that they be fired for allowing a known Palestinian activist to address the students.

Four students who organized the diversity assembly spoke forcefully at the board meeting defending Arraf, a Palestinian rights activist, who was among the five speakers at the event.

Activist and politician Huwaida Arraf on November 5, 2021. [Photo by Indiana Center for Middle East Peace / CC BY 3.0

Explaining that the diversity assemblies had been established last year to help students understand how people with differing religions, races, abilities and genders and sexuality face discrimination and how it affects them throughout their lives, Brooklyn Ramey, one of the event organizers, told the packed audience that her team had come to have our voices heard and to clear up some misinformation about us, the assembly, the prompt and the speaker.

She continued: The actual prompt given to the speaker was what oppression or discrimination have you faced and what could people around you have done to make it better? If applicable, how has racism and ignorance affected you in high school? While in the planning process, we found it important to have a Palestinian speaker. As a result, a large group of students appreciated her presence and felt seen as a result of her being there.

The next student organizer said, We want to clear up some misinformation that has been circulating. As the only people in the school who attended every single assembly, we have the most accurate view of actual sentiments that were made. First off, Huwaida spoke for seven minutes at each assembly, no more. In Mr. Watsons email he made the statement that what she talked about was not her own lived experience, which, aside from being incredibly invalidating, is false. And Huwaida never made the statement that Jewish people kill Palestinians. 

Refusing to bow under pressure, the students insisted that they had not been consulted when two apologetic emails were sent to parents by the superintendent. They told the audience, We  would like everyone to know that their words do not speak for our group. We do not appreciate our names and our assembly being grouped into sentiments that were sent out to the community without consulting us first. Wed also like to note that no one on the board, including the superintendent, was in attendance to the assembly or at any of our planning meetings.

Acknowledging that some Jewish students had been offended by true statements about Israel, but recognizing that those who had been hurt most were those suffering the backlash of anti-Muslim hatred, the student organizers concluded their statement saying, we will not apologize for having a Palestinian speaker and giving Arab and Muslim students representation. The assembly is something were proud of and we will continue to be proud of.

They added that they would be available for questions but warned, beware that any racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, or antisemitic comments will not be entertained and will be reported. They ended their remarks specifically thanking two of their advisers who had been singled out for retaliation earlier in the meeting.

The student team that organized the Bloomfield Hills High School diversity assembly address the emergency school board meeting, March 20, 2023 [Photo: BHSTV-Bloomfield Hills Schools Michigan]

Despite listening to the eloquent presentation by the student organizers, parents identifying themselves as proud Jewish Zionists/mothers/parents at the school board meeting slandered Arraf as a terrorist who promotes Hamas and suicide bombings. One mother frenziedly argued that the school had knowingly included a speaker who incited hate crimes and divisiveness and fear. A grown woman spewed her political bias and harmful rhetoric on impressionable teenagers who have no in-depth knowledge of the complexities of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict...

Following several of the parental outbursts, junior Sarah Khalia, who said she wanted to wear my hijab with pride at school and not feel threatened, faced the board declaring, Attending BHHS this past week has been draining to say the least. Ive been called a terrorist, a Nazi, and even told to go back to my country. The fact that a Christian Palestinian woman married to a Jewish man is being described as an antisemitic Islamic radical, with virtually no consequences, is a disgrace to the message me and other pro-Palestinians are trying to send.

Thanking the student assembly organizers, a 2020 graduate of BHHS addressed the issue of free speech, saying, The response [of the district] that this speaker [Arraf] did not fit into providing students with a diverse education  protected students whose view is already accepted, rather than those who have never seen their experiences discussed. In shutting down such a unique voice, this district has disadvantaged its own students by not allowing them to discuss the realities of others that do not fit in with the reality they already know.  I urge the district to encourage critical thinking and active discourse.

Speaking to Local 4 News on Thursday, Huwaida Arraf explained that she had been invited to speak about her experiences as a Palestinian American, and that is what she did: I am very much a part of the fight against antisemitism and all forms of racism and discrimination, and I came to speak as part of a diversity panel assembly, talking about the dangers of racism and making people feel excluded Responding to a Jewish students complaint that he felt excluded and unsafe, Arraf said, I spoke from personal experience and I spoke about documented facts.

Eaven OMeara, who had also been on the panel with Arraf, told Local 4 News, She was very specific to point out that it was not anti-Jewish, antisemitic, anti-Israel. Its criticizing the policies of the Israeli state.

How has it happened that students who are willing to stand up against a room full of hostile parents and school board members to oppose racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism are now being accused of promoting antisemitism and ethnic hatred? Why do administrators face losing their jobs and careers for allowing free speech and encouraging students to organize events that expose the student body to the painful experiences of those who have been discriminated against?

In response to the mass demonstrations over the brutal police murder of George Floyd, the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education passed a resolution in June 2020 to eradicate racism and create more equitable and inclusive schools for all children.

In November 2022 the district inaugurated a partnership under the banner of No Place for Hate. Students were provided with t-shirts, placards and free materials to promote what appeared to them to be a campaign for inclusivity and respect and motivated by the buzzwords of equity and inclusion.

However, as interpreted by most pro-Israel groups, inclusion does not include the Palestinian people and recognizing their oppression in Israel. On the contrary, these organizations relentlessly campaign against anyone who speaks up in defense of the Palestinians, including musician Roger Waters, whose concert in Frankfurt was canceled after he was branded an antisemite for his criticism of Israeli policy. By the same logic, these forces have been mobilized to vilify Huwaida Arraf and punish anyone associated with her appearance at Bloomfield Hills High School.

It must be said that the campaign to label as antisemitic any statements defending Palestinian rights or against Israeli policy has been strengthened by those demanding safe spaces for every identity. The anti-democratic consequences of identity politics include the funding of racially segregated dorms and buildings on university campuses, the firing of educators for offending a group of students, and the destruction of careers of actors and others.

This banner is now taken up by Zionist groups and the Christian fundamentalist right, banning books in classrooms, and suppressing discussions of oppression and discrimination that are hurtful to those who support the policies that oppress and discriminate.

The students who refused to apologize for the assembly clearly had organized the event to enlighten and provide a more in-depth insight into the Arab-Israeli conflict, and they are to be commended for seeking to provide views that disturb and encourage thinking more about the world. Now they must also fight to defend any students from threats or advisers from being fired.
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is publishing further correspondence from postal workers exposing the brutal exploitative regime being imposed by Royal Mail, with the help of the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

The CWU is sitting on a massive strike mandate while holding behind-closed-doors discussions with Royal Mail. The type of sellout being agreed is indicated by the pay offer recently recommended to Post Office workers by the union: a 9 percent pay rise from April 2023, for a deal covering April 2021-24!

Prices have already risen by 17.4 percent (RPI) since April 2021, meaning if workers accept they will be more than 8 percent down immediately, with every further increase in prices between now and April 2024 taking more out of their pay. A series of one-off lump sums are included to disguise just how terrible the deal is and will be used up within a matter of months, leaving workers to meet rising costs with a woefully inadequate wage.

Royal Mail workers on the picket line at Manchester Mail Centre, August 26, 2022 [Photo: WSWS]

The latest Royal Mail workers correspondence comes from Coventry, Ipswich, Grimsby, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Rushden, Paignton, Fakenham, Crumlin in Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.

***

First of all, the amount of changes the job has gone through since I started has startled me. I have only been working for the Royal Mail for a year and a half: photo taking of parcels, scanning in tracked items, frames/duties made bigger. These are things that all have made the job that more difficult and time consuming. It feels like Royal Mail are intentionally trying to make the job unbearable. There never seems to be a change that suits or makes it better for the postman.

Every single second of our shift is starting to feel accounted for. You cant afford the time to make mistakes. If five minutes of your day is taken up, it throws off your whole walk and its almost certain you will be back late. Back later than the allocated time that you didnt agree to. If you arent late, personally on my walk its because the other postman and I are running round it, essentially.

The Royal Mail is making it impossible for the job to be done correctly. You have no time to write out cards for customers who do not collect their parcels, you dont have the space in vans to bring parcels back and you certainly would never get a walk complete if you were to go by the book. It is far too time consuming and space wasting.

Dont get me wrong, I want to do the job efficiently and effectively, however you are forced to make up the job as you go along for it to be done. I find that to be totally unacceptable. Royal Mail dont take into account the situations we are in on a daily basis, they must live in an ideal world where everything goes the way it is down in the rule book.

Another thing is management have no regard or care for the postmen. More often than not I see and hear postmen arguing with management because the postman has rightfully told them they are leaving loops because they wont get it all done. Managements response? The computer says its a 6hr duty so whats the problem? Or they say, Thats factored into the walk so its allowed.

Management are either very naive or just ignorant. As postmen we know our own walks inside and out, management dont, yet we are getting told by a faulty computer system that we are wrong. There is something just not right about that.

Another thing about management is that I have witnessed harassment and a pick-on attitude. They seem to get a thrill out of winding up easy targets and they will argue anything before wanting to understand and find a solution.

Lastly, since I have been with Royal Mail there is a half-an-hour break we are due in our shift. I can safely say that I have not been able to take a break on many, many occasions due to heavy work loads. If I have taken a break either myself or my partner cant relax without feeling that we are wasting time. Or another regular reality is that if we do take a break then we are always over our time.

I enjoy being a postman,. I love the walking, chatting to customers, getting to know areas and a good demand for fitness. What I wrote above are just facts. I am concerned for the future of the business and what a postmans job will look like. I am expressing more of a disappointment at the reality of my job and would like to see the postman have a voice in their day-to-day work, rather than the CEO and others like him milking the finances dry for their own riches.

***

I worked at BT for years, the CWU did little to protect the workforce. Bullying was rife and unachievable stats were introduced to performance-manage employees out of the company. It sounds as if the same system has been adopted by Royal Mail.

***

Our manager has forced through changes in order to save hours, all so he can receive his bonus. Those changes include later start and finish times, not replacing staff whove left, and scrapping walks, splitting them between all the other walks in the office, making almost all of our walks unachievable!

Sixteen years Ive worked for RM, in that time and pre-Covid, we NEVER left mail in the frame, now its a daily occurrence, with whole walks not being delivered day after day. We come back from a day off or a period of leave and are faced with 2, 3 and even 4 days worth of mail to try and deliver.

CEO Simon Thompson is laughing at the government. The job is now a joke and MPs need to seriously take a look at whats happening under their noses.

***

Executive Action has meant an average of 40 mins added to each round. USO [Universal Service Obligation] failing most days. Morale in office is low.

***

Royal Mail does need to change to make the next step, but senior management havent got a clue how to do it. With the changes, a postie and a driver can both go to the same address on the same day, pointless. Posties who cant finish their walks have more added on so the USO will always fail. Management are holding mail back to try and justify the USO is no longer viable, its a joke.

***

I worked for Royal Mail in total for 20 years over 2 periods. My last period of employment with Royal Mail lasted 5 years. I have to concur with all the recent comments posted. Management are nothing but bullies and have overinflated egos. They manage with an iron fist, its their way or the highway attitude.

The union tell you one thing then say the opposite when questioned by management. Sexual harassment is swept under the carpet along with grievances and complaints against management.

***

I was bullied, harassed, threatened and when I complained it fell on deaf ears, even the union rep just stood by and let it continue. Came to the stage where I wanted to not just quit my job but even felt like ending my life. I continued only until I could no longer take the abuse. I would have quit earlier but due to me being focused on service to the customers I continued until I could no longer risk my own life.

***

Sadly since the company was privatised the place has become a complete job. I told my Delivery Office Manager on several occasions to not add any more calls onto my already large walk (770) and he said it was going on whether I liked it or not! We started to regularly leave a full walk for the next 2 years, with some stand-in managers getting quite nasty about it. But luckily by then I had lost all interest and continued leaving stuff. Our union rep is a joke and actually grasses up the workers regularly. We have had so much bullying throughout the past 10 years. Ive never gone from enjoying a job so much to actually hating a job. I have since left.

***

I worked for Royal Mail for over 30 years. So sad to see the standards of a once great company drop. Royal Mail have too many products and have become a jack of all trades, master of none. And its the workers who are suffering. Royal Mail want their postal workers to gain the trust of customers, but they dont want them to spend the time talking to them to gain that trust and friendship. Its all become a race to the bottom and thats one race Royal Mail is winning hands down.

The WSWS has published a statement by the Socialist Equality Party inviting postal workers to an online meeting on Monday, March 27 at 7pm to discuss how a fightback can be mounted. Confidentiality will be preserved to prevent victimisation. Please register to attend. We encourage further comments, including on the statements suggestions for a way forward.
The WSWS posted this review of British filmmaker Ken Loachs The Spirit of 45, about the origins of the welfare state in Britain and the evolution of the Labour Party, in 2013. The documentary has now been released in the US, where it was not distributed previously.

Throughout his lengthy career, Loach (born 1936) has persistently taken up the cause of the working class and oppressed, but, as we remark below, The Spirit of 45 reveals his very serious and even fatal limitations.



Political affiliations have obvious and definite political but also artistic consequences. In the same year Loach premiered his film, he expressed his support for the organisation Left Unity founded by Alan Thornett, who features in The Spirit of 45. Left Unity and Loach hitched their wagon to the veteran Labour politician Jeremy Corbyn, who, also persistently and futilely, sought to breathe new lifeand new illusionsinto the right-wing, bourgeois Labour Party.

If the decade since 2013 has proved anything, it is the bankruptcy of all attempts to put a positive, left gloss on figures such as Corbyn and in the US, Bernie Sanders. Loachs failure to draw a political balance sheet and break with such pseudo-left opportunists, in fact, his deplorable and thorough-going integration into national-reformism has largely meant the end of him as an artist who has much that is meaningful to say to audiences.

The documentary The Spirit of 45 is veteran British director Ken Loach at his artistic and political weakest. The film combines archive footage and interviews to treat the nationalisation of broad swathes of industry carried out by the Labour Party government following the Second World War.

The film has a very definite political message and is obviously aimed at intervening in current political debates in Britain. It therefore requires careful examination.

The Spirit of '45 (2013)

The Spirit of 45, Loachs first documentary since 1998, opens with iconic archive material of young couples celebrating in the fountains at Londons Trafalgar Square in May 1945, at the end of almost six years of bloody slaughter. A narrator asserts that British workers had combined in the war to establish a force powerful enough to beat fascism. Now, in 1945, they sought not only an alternative to the misery of war, but also an alternative to the peace that prevailed before the warcharacterized by poverty, exploitation and unemployment.

Workers returning from the battlefield demanded, above all, no return to the 1930s. The militancy of the working class threw the British ruling class into sharp crisis. The Spirit of 45 presents footage of a visibly disturbed Winston Churchill being booed down by an audience at a post-war election rally. There were still vivid memories of the part Churchill had played in helping create the misery of the 1930s and of his repression of workers struggles during the war.

In an even more revealing scene, the new Labour prime minister, Clement Attlee, announces his governments plans for extensive nationalisation to a party conference after Labours electoral landslide victory in 1945. Attlee is visibly nervous as he introduces Labours new socialist experiment. Behind him on the podium, elderly members of the party noticeably indicate either their disdain for or lack of interest in the new course, or both. The scene makes clear that two different spirits co-existed at the end of the war.

On the one hand, millions of workers and their families were demanding fundamental social change. On the other, an anxious Labour and trade union bureaucracy realised they would have to make considerable social concessions to stave off the threat of social revolution.

A significant weakness of Loachs presentation of this history is its failure to identify the radicalisation of British workers after the Second World War as part of a much broader European and international process. Instead, the film blends in a brass band rendition of the famed Jerusalem hymn, extolling Englands green and pleasant land.

In the course of its nationalisation program, the Labour government took control over a fifth of the countrys industries and services, including health, transport, energy and housing. The nationalisations laid the basis for post-war Britains cradle to the grave health service and brought major improvements to the lives of ordinary workers. In one scene in The Spirit of 45, a woman recounts her fathers joy on receiving the key to his very first council house. He carried the official letter announcing his new home in his wallet for the rest of his life.

Such reactions were understandable, but a socialist filmmaker surely has to go deeper than that, and consider both the historical context of the reforms and their inevitable limitations and even elimination.

From the start, Labours program had nothing in common with a socialist policy of nationalisation which would be carried out by and under the democratic control of the working class in power. Huge concessions were made to the private owners in Britain. When asked how he managed to persuade doctors to agree to a national health service, for example, Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan retorted: I stuffed their throats with gold. One elderly interviewee recalls in the film that the new head of the nationalized Coal Board was a former pit owner, notorious for his hostility to miners and the organised working class.

The Spirit of '45

In fact, the compromises made to big business and vested economic interests by the Labour government played a major role in the slump in support for the party, which was voted out of office in 1951.

Loach, however, views this history differently, as a step toward socialism. I think its very important to remember that there was a time when we owned a lot of the economy, the director told Screen magazine, referring to the post-war creation of the welfare state. We owned the utilities, transport system, mines and we invested heavily in housing for everyonethat was an enormous achievement for our country which was on its knees after the war. The period showed that people can and want to work together, not to be in competition with each other.

Interspersed with interesting archive material are interviews with workers who recall the dire social conditions of the 1930s and pay tribute to the benefits of nationalisation.

Other interviewees, however, have a very definite political agenda. One of Loachs main interview subjects is the doyen of the Labour left, octogenarian and former cabinet minister Tony Benn.

Loach also conducts interviews with leading members of numerous pseudo-left organizations in Britain. The director is patently dishonest in his presentation of these figures. Alongside Benn, the individual most frequently featured in his film is Dot Gibson, who is also given the final word. The film provides the information that Gibson is the chairperson of the National Pensioners Convention, but fails to make mention of her political past as a leading member of the Workers Revolutionary Party until her expulsion from the International Committee in 1985.

In her role as chair of the National Pensioners Convention, Gibson has developed close links with key figures in the trade union and Labour bureaucracy.

Loach also distorts the biographies of other figures, or omits critical details. The film describes his interview partners, Alan Thornett and Tony Richardson, as ordinary car workers. In fact, Thornett is a member of the executive of the anti-Trotskyist, Pabloite United Secretariat and leads its British group, Socialist Resistance. Richardson is his right-hand man.

One could go on. Alex Gordon, who features on a number of occasions in the film, is not only president of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), but also a leading member of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalitionas is another interviewee, former Liverpool councillor, Tony Mulhearn.

Ken Loach's The Spirit of '45

To his discredit, although Loach is well aware of these political connections, he chooses not to disclose them.

Loach recognizes that workers have undergone decisive and negative experiences with the Labour and trade union bureaucracy. One character in his film notes that the modern Labour Party is not a socialist party and has been hijacked by the middle class. Another sequence in the film explains that print workers in the 1980s were let down by union leaders.

It is notable, however, that when it approaches the present day, The Spirit of 45 has nothing to say about various Labour governments. Instead, the filmmakers choose to make Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher the arch-villain of the piece, who sets in motion the process of unravelling the post-war nationalised industry. The film skips over the manner in which prior Labour administrations had undermined the gains of the post-war period and passes over in silence the disastrous role played by Tony Blair and subsequent Labour leaders.

At the end of the film, Gibson intones about the necessity of older workers passing on their knowledge to a new generation. Footage of banners from the Unite trade union on a health service demonstration fill the screen. The message is clear: a new generation must put their faith in the trade unions as the vehicle for social struggle. This is a harmful message, which ignores the objective and fatal weaknesses of trade unionism under the most favourable conditions and in particular the global economic developments of the past several decades, which have transformed the existing unions into bureaucratic prisons for the working class, in Britain and everywhere else.

In a career that now spans nearly fifty years, Loach has deservedly won a reputation as a filmmaker concerned with the fate of the working class. He is one of the very few. It is difficult to think of another director who has so consistently sought to portray the lives and problems of ordinary people. Against the trend of most modern filmmaking, which ignores the working population or depicts it as passive or backward, Loach presents workers as real human beings and as an active social force.

The Spirit of 45, however, reveals the limitations of his approach. Loachs conception of the working class is closely bound up with the nationalist straitjacket imposed for so many decades by the Labour and trade union bureaucracy. Previous films where he has tried to reinvigorate trade unionism (notably Bread and Roses [2000] and The Navigators [2001]) are amongst his weakest. Reviving the most militant and determined traditions of British workers, both politically and artistically, requires a much more serious and searching working through of the experiences of the international working class over the course of the past half century.
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II discussed in Cairo Sunday with Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Promoting the European way of Life, religious freedoms and the status of Christians in Egypt.

Pope Tawadros II received at the Papal residence in Cairo Schinas and his accompanying delegation and the head of the EU commission in Egypt, Christian Berger, to discuss Egypts key role in promoting interfaith dialogue and coexistence.

According to the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros presented a brief history of Egypt and the Coptic Orthodox Church during the meeting.

We are a strong church in the Middle East, and we have a good relationship with other churches and all corners of the Egyptian state, said Pope Tawadros II.

He added that the Coptic Church is the oldest in the Middle East, and Alexandria was the first city to accept the Christian faith in Africa.

The Egyptian Pope highlighted that the Church has a social role to play besides its spiritual role.

Therefore, he explained, the Church established the Pontifical Office for projects ten years ago to provide its services to the community in education, health, and empowerment of women and youth through small projects and humanitarian aid.

According to the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, Schinas asked about the security situation of the Church and the attacks against churches that took place in previous periods in Egypt.

"The protection of churches is the responsibility of the State, which it carries out efficiently, but the attacks that occurred before were aimed at breaking our national unity. The State, however, is constantly working to establish the principle of equality, Pope Tawadros said.

The Pope also cited the 2016 law regulating the construction of churches.

He also highlighted that competence alone is the sole criterion for filling senior positions in Egypt and that this has allowed Christians to occupy the such position, so much so that there are currently two Christian governors.

At the end of the meeting, the Pope presented the EU delegation with a book in English on the Holy Family's journey to Egypt as a souvenir.













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Six construction workers were killed near Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday when a car crashed into a work area in the median of the I-695 Beltway.

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal crash along Interstate 695 on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, near Woodlawn, Maryland. Multiple workers were killed when a passenger vehicle pulled into a work zone along the Baltimore beltway and struck construction workers there, Maryland State Police said Wednesday. [AP Photo/Julio Cortez]

According to witness accounts and video footage, an Acura TLX was attempting to change lanes when it struck the front passenger-side corner of a Volkswagen Jetta. The impact caused the TLX to lose control and careen into a work zone through a gap in the concrete barriers that isolate the work zone from the rest of traffic.

Crash Team investigators believe this caused the Acura to lose control and subsequently travel through the barrier opening into the work zone and overturned, the state police press release said. The construction workers were working in an active work zone on the left shoulder of the inner loop of I-695 in Baltimore County when the incident occurred.

Maryland State Police identified the workers, who were pronounced dead on the scene, as Rolando Ruiz, 46, of Laurel; Carlos Orlando Villatoro Escobar, 43, of Frederick; Jose Armando Escobar, 52, of Frederick; Mahlon Simmons III, 31, of Union Bridge; Mahlon Simmons II, 52, of Union Bridge and Sybil Lee Dimaggio, 46, of Glen Burnie. All of the victims were Maryland residents.

The driver of the Acura, Lisa Adrienne Lea, 54, of Randallstown, was taken to a shock trauma center and is receiving treatment. The driver of the Volkswagen, Melachi Brown, 20, of Windsor Mill, was uninjured but stopped just north of the scene when his vehicle became disabled.

The report concludes, Once the investigation is complete, the Crash Team will submit its findings to the Baltimore County States Attorneys Office for review to determine whether charges will be filed.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that it was sending two investigators, particularly focusing on issues related to speeding, work zone protection for construction workers, and collision avoidance technology. The NTSB said it expects to have a preliminary report in three weeks, but the final report will take one to two years to complete.

The workers were converting the breakdown lanes into travel lanes as part of a $461 million project initiated by Maryland state government to relieve congestion. The project also involves rebuilding the I-70/I-695 interchange and extending express lanes on I-95 from White Marsh to Route 24 in Bel Air.

Construction zones are common on the highways around Baltimore. The current project comes on the heels of another operation started in 2015 and recently completed to widen a section of I-695 just south of the accident site.

Work zones are almost always accompanied by well-marked speed restrictions and speed cameras. But there were no signs posted for a reduced speed limit visible the day after the crash, and its not clear from footage if a speed restriction was in place. Nearby construction zones have considerable signage and are difficult to ignore.

Dimaggios husband, George Drum, told the Baltimore Sun, The thing I cant get over is she was terrified of that job site.

Gerald Ullman, a senior research engineer at Texas A&M Transportation Institute who has done research specifically on work zone intrusion crashes told the Sun, The odds of somethingsomebody whos lost controlgetting right into that small area is, you know, very, very unlikely, characterizing the accident as one in a millionor even one in a billion.

He noted that the footage of the crash shows a barrier truck present, but moved out of the way, creating a gap where the car could enter. Placing a barrier truck upstream from workers is a common practice to absorb much of the energy from a potential crash, rather than allowing a vehicle to strike workers directly as it seems happened in this case.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2003 and 2020 over two thousand workers have died at road construction sites, an average of 123 per year. Motor vehicle crashes in general caused 38,824 deaths in 2020 and 42,915 deaths in 2021.

This current accident comes just two months after the US Department of Transportation announced a campaign to reduce highway traffic deaths. United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, Today we are issuing a national call to action and asking all Americans-including private industry, non-profit and advocacy organizations, and every level of government to join us in acting to save lives on our roadways.

However, the plan has the same character as the pro-corporate infrastructure bill previously promoted by the Biden administration. As the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, demonstrated, the US government is unwilling and unable to take serious action to improve transportation or workplace safety when it impinges on corporate profits.
All indications are that the run-off election for mayor of the city of Chicago, the third-largest in the country, is an extremely close contest. In the latest poll by Victory Research, CTU staffer and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Paul Vallas, registered 44.2 percent and 46.3 percent support, respectively, among those polled. This is well within the polls margin of error.

Reporting in local and especially national media has emphasized the support for Johnson and Vallas, both Democrats, among different racial voting blocs, with Vallas gaining the support of the predominantly white areas in the northwest and southwest of the city, along with the wealthy downtown, while Johnson has the support of liberals on the predominantly white Northside, as well as many black voters. Under this conception, the voters up for grabs are Latino voters, especially those who supported US Democratic Representative Chuy Garcias failed mayoral bid, as well as black voters on the South and West Sides who supported one of the six other black candidates in the first round, primarily current mayor Lori Lightfoot and right-wing businessman Willie Wilson.

In keeping with this general framing of the election, Chicago Democrats of all political stripes, but particularly those aligned with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have spent the present campaign season promoting racialist politics. For its part, the Vallas campaign, which politically is close to the Biden wing of the party, has been pioneering an alliance with the fascist far-right through the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and Awake Illinois/Moms for Liberty.

Vallas racial appeals are more indirect, telegraphed through a series of likes by his campaigns social media accounts that referred to Chicago in Trump-like terms as a hellhole and Shitcago and of derogatory comments about Lightfoot. Though he blamed the likes on campaign volunteers and even hacking, his fascist supporters well understand they will be given a green light under a Vallas administration.

For its part, the campaign of Brandon Johnson, a long-time CTU staffer and Cook County Commissioner, has not raised the alarm or made a class appeal to all workers to oppose Vallass right-wing campaign. Instead Johnson has increasingly emphasized the language of identity politics, including black nationalism. Like Lightfoot before him, his political supporters have largely allowed his race to become a stand-in for an examination of his actual political views, many of which remain unknown.

The irony in Johnsons appeal to identity politics is that he has had much higher support in predominantly white upper-middle-class areas, where his strongest base of support is located, with much of that support based on a mistaken belief that Johnson and the CTU represent some alternative to the right-wing Democratic Party establishment.

All sections of the Democratic Party, however, are unwilling and incapable of mounting a class-based appeal, understanding quite clearly the danger to class rule posed by a united working class. The Democrats have long understood that the best way to keep the working class in major cities under control is to divide workers based on race or ethnicity. Indeed, the retrograde conceptions on race expressed by Johnson throughout his campaign have also been expressed by several aldermen, including Jeannette Taylor, a member of the DSA, who has expressed xenophobic and chauvinistic attitudes towards immigrants reminiscent of those of Donald Trump.

Chicago mayoral candidate Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson addresses supporters, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Chicago. Johnson and Paul Vallas will meet in a runoff to be the next mayor of Chicago after voters denied unpopular incumbent Lori Lightfoot a second term. [AP Photo/Paul Beaty]

A recent biographical account of Johnsons life in the Sun-Times makes clear that many of Johnsons conceptions derive from his upbringing as the son and grandson of pastors in the Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal church with a largely black membership. Although his family split off from that church to form their own church, Community Center Christian Ministries in Elgin, and Johnson decided to become a teacher instead of becoming a pastor, he has described his campaign as a faith walk.

Having spent some time as a missionary in Cuba, Africa and South America, Johnson emphasized the importance of these experiences in racial terms while downplaying the reactionary political implications of missionary work, saying, We didnt go around proselytizing the world. That was not our objective. It was more about just understanding the unique qualities and the makeup of our people in the commonality. That even though we had been separated physically, that we are still very connected spiritually, ideologically, emotionally.

Claiming that the experience of seeing Brazilian favelas allowed him to understand the public housing projects of Cabrini-Green, Johnson said, Its a very powerful display and mechanism to highlight not just the conditions in which we have been forced to live in, but the resilience and the political power that we are seeking all over the globe to eradicate the torment and the torture of white supremacy, and thats not missionary work. Thats liberation work, and thats why I became a teacher.

Johnsons racialist conceptions were on full display during their first televised debate on March 21. Attempting to rebuff a Vallas criticism that the CTU had wreaked havoc on schools by keeping them closed during the pandemic, Johnson said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, did the right thing by shutting down everything to save Black and Brown lives. Even his objection to standardized testing was couched in this way, with Johnson saying, A standardized test that has roots in eugenics to prove the inferiority of Black people should not be the measurement.

Setting aside the completely inadequate character of Pritzkers public health measures, Johnson and the CTU have long used the high proportion of African-American and Latino students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) as an excuse to talk about the districts students and parents in exclusively racial terms and evade the central question of class. Far from offering a political solution to the attacks on education, these conceptions serve to stifle the emergence of a unified struggle of the working class against the capitalist system and make it easier to push workers into the arms of right-wing figures like Paul Vallas.

Johnsons racial rhetoric was even noted by former Black Panther turned Congressman Bobby Rush as he endorsed Vallas for the latters experience and sound, independent judgments. Alluding to Johnson, Rush said, There are some who seek to polarize and divide us with rhetoric that is intended to pit the North Side against the South Side or the West Side or the East Side. Or those who attempt to pit Black vs. white, white vs. Latino or Black vs. Latino.

Johnson backer and CTU President Stacy Davis Gates gave further expression to the politics of race and gender as she noted that the largest union backers of Johnsons campaign, CTU, SEIU and SEIU Healthcare, have black leaders and memberships that are mostly women, as opposed to the building trade unions, which have largely endorsed Vallas. Davis Gates said the support of the teachers, health care and building service unions showed union membership isnt just white guys in hard hats.

Johnson has a long history of expressing these kinds of views. In a 2014 interview with Jacobins Micah Uetricht and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Johnson addressed how the CTU made racial inequality in Chicago a central part of its campaigns. Johnson said, Were popular because weve been vocal and up-front about calling things what they are and saying that many of these policies are just plain old racist. And the reason why its necessary for us to call it out that way is because black folks in particular live under the misery of racist policies all the time.

Completely distorting the history of the civil rights movement and leaving out the part played by the working class, including white workers, Johnson credited black nationalism, and claimed all of the Great Society legislation passed under the administration of US President Lyndon Johnson happened because you had a black radical left agenda that brought Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. All of that came out of the black consciousness movement.

More recently these nationalist conceptions among the union officials and pseudo-left in Chicago have veered into outright xenophobic and chauvinistic attitudes. Interviewed on the Maze Jackson show in February, Johnson was asked whether he supported allowing undocumented immigrants to vote in elections for the CPS school board, a position disingenuously supported by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a bid to retain formal mayoral control over schools. While saying he supported input into education by undocumented immigrants, Johnson answered, You know, our democracy, for better or worse, was designed to provide enfranchisement to individuals of course who have the legal presentation of being here. I think that should be maintained.

Days after the interview with Jackson started getting wider attention, Johnson reversed his position, calling for the state to revise legislation in order to allow all parents and taxpayers to vote in school board elections, regardless of citizenship status.

Johnson is not the only Democrat driving a wedge between the black working class and other racial and ethnic groups.

On March 16, Chicago 20th ward alderman Jeanette Taylor tried to defer a vote by the city council to accept $20 million in state funding to address the needs of immigrants bussed to Chicago from other states. The funds would be paid out to social service organizations providing food and other services to the immigrants.

Taylor, a DSA member who came to prominence for her 30-day hunger strike against the closing of Dyett High School on the South Side, used the debate on the vote to express her opposition to the placement of immigrants in the predominantly black Woodlawn neighborhood, a part of the 20th ward, claiming it would anger residents who themselves need assistance. The administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot had placed immigrants in a shelter opened in the shuttered Wadsworth Elementary, which was closed in 2013 as part of the largest school closure in US history.

Around 5,150 migrants have arrived in the city since August 31, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott started bussing immigrants to cities led by Democrats.

Claiming the city had thrown a grenade into our community, Taylor made clear her views in language reminiscent of Trumps rhetoric about dangerous immigrants:

I made it clear to this administration in October, I had a part of the ward that I felt could accommodate [the migrants], because theyre Latinx-speaking folks, and part of my ward is Latinx. But I wasnt listened to. It felt like nobody heard me and it went on deaf ears. So when do we have the conversation about where its safe, where people should actually be, where they can get the support that they need in the community?

She was supported in her comments by alderman Jason Ervin, who on Monday came out in support of Johnsons campaign for mayor. Ervin, the chair of the city councils black caucus, said, Weve got to figure a way out to satisfy more than a narrow group. Yes, we are a welcoming city, but we also have to think about those who are here.

Ervin himself has a long history of opposing measures that would apply to all workers regardless of race. In 2021, he opposed a city council resolution advocating a $30 million pilot of a universal basic income (UBI) program. Ervin said, Until we deal with the issue of reparations in the city of Chicago, theres no way in hell we can support direct payments to anybody other than the American descendants of slaves in the city of Chicago.

Continuing his denunciation of UBI, Ervin claimed, These conversations are a slap in the face to people that have suffered great atrocities over time in this country.  We have all these conversations about other communities. But when it comes down to dealing with Black folksnot only in the city of Chicago but in Americawere always in the back seat.

Nothing progressive can emerge from these sentiments. An effective fight against the bourgeoisies policy of class war can only happen through a rejection of these retrograde conceptions and the unification of all workers on the basis of class. Whether Vallas or Johnson wins the election, the next mayor will be tasked by the ruling class to carry out a campaign of austerity and attacks on workers. The working class must prepare to defend itself against the attacks by forming Rank-and-File Committees to coordinate its struggle, and building its own political movement, independent of the capitalist two-party system.
Los Angeles education workers hold mass rally on March 23, 2023. [Photo: WSWS]

Last week, 65,000 education workers and support staff went on strike for three days at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second largest school district in the nation.

After keeping workers on the job without a contract for three years, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 was compelled to call the limited job action. Workers are fighting against poverty wages, with school support staff making annual salaries of $25,000 per year in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Workers showed their determination and militancy during the strike, but the union bureaucracy sent them back to work Friday morning without any of their demands having been met. That afternoon, the SEIU announced a tentative agreement which falls short even of the unions own official demand of 30 percent wage increases plus an additional $2 per hour across the board. After the last year of the contract, the starting wage will still be only $32,000 per year, far below what workers need to afford rent and other basic needs. The SEIU has said it will hold a contract rollout meeting Monday evening over the internet, with a vote likely to follow soon after.

The strike received widespread support from workers all over the world. Teachers from Brazil, Sri Lanka, Canada, Britain and Australia sent in statements of support to the World Socialist Web Site.

The WSWS also spoke with a number of workers throughout the US about the strike.

Jake is a graduate student and teachers assistant at the University of California Riverside (UCR). He compared the LA walkouts to the recent strike by 48,000 UC graduate students. We recently went through a strike to get basic living needs met. Now our fellow educators are doing the same in Los Angeles. Educators throughout history have been the backbone of society, and we seem to have forgotten that. Without educators we cannot move forward towards the future where all our needs are met. Ironically, educators cannot do their jobs without basic needs being met. LAUSD and California have viewed educators as expendable and replaceable. We need to stand with teachers and workers to ensure they get what they deserve, a decent standard of living.

When it comes to funding oppressive services in schools like police on campus the coffers overflow, but ensuring that educators can pay rent and buy food, all of a sudden we all need to make sacrifices. This is not a two way street. This is non-negotiable. Educators need their needs met.

Jake warned educators: Dont let the union tell you what you want or whats good enough. Stand up for what you want and need. In the UC strike, the bargaining team was in lockstep with the United Auto Workers (UAW) against the demands of the rank and file. In December, the UAW 2865 put out a letter simply declaring that UC was planning to reduce enrollment by 33 percent. Why wasnt this opposed?

I was expecting to work with the union. But once it got going and I saw how the union was acting against us, I was disheartened. This is an important lesson: that the union bureaucracy does not represent our interests. Then what flows from that: we need to build independent rank-and-file committees to express and stand up for what the rank-and-file grad students want.

He then exhorted education workers to Keep fighting. Its not easy. Rejecting the TA would be an amazing step, something we werent able to do at UC.

Manuel, a UPS worker who formerly worked for the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) for 10 years as a custodian, declared his solidarity with LAUSD workers: I support the education workers demands for everything they need and more. From experience, I can say teachers spend money out of their own pocket to get the classroom equipped with learning posters, teaching materials, even tissue paper. Meanwhile district administrators and the school board members soak in the budget, while teachers and front line education workers are left out to dry.

Manuel is one of 350,000 UPS workers nationwide whose contract expires on July 31. Workers are determined to win back years of concessions, but the UPS officialdom has kept them in the dark. In Anaheim, it is the same political game [with the union bureaucracy] as well. The funny thing is the Teamsters union and UPS run the same malpractice on their members as the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) and SEIU.

Manuel appealed for unity between school workers and UPS workers against the corrupt bureaucrats in both unions. Together, without the bureaucracies holding us back, the working class could exercise their strength instead of being kneecapped. Power to the rank and file!

Alicia, a teacher in Michigan, said, When I started teaching 25 years ago, I remember our pay for starting teachers was about $25,000. So when I read in the article that LA school workers are getting paid $25,000 a year, and knowing how much that city costs to live in, I was floored. It has to be well below poverty based on the cost of living there. They have to hold the feet to the fire to get what they need just to live!

I cant even imagine what they are doing just to survive, especially anybody with a family. When would you even have time to spend with your family if they have to work two or three jobs? They can barely make enough money to put food on the table.

Its sickening to see how much money we can find to spend on war but not things we need to take care of people here at home. I have one answer. How about you pull out of the war?

Turning to the pandemic, she said, We now know the schools and the factories were the two main vectors that were responsible for community spread of COVID. They dont even have a test for long COVID. They wont even admit it exists. So they cant even begin to comprehend the amount of damage that has been done to multiple generations.

Biden and the state leadership here were obviously working hand-in-hand in terms of getting everybody back to face-to-face school in March 2021. That was when things were horrible, just horrible as far as the pandemic goes.

Alicia also appealed for unity with educators and other workers across the country. The important thing is unifying all the different groups of working people and not isolating them, like the unions tend to do. They tend to isolate them on purpose. They do that to break them down and force them to settle for less than they deserve and that they need.

All we have is our social disobedience, she continued. By that I mean social disobedience to try to stop it. It has to be social disobedience on a massive scale, like a general strike.

She concluded, The [Educators Rank-and-File Safety] Committee is the one group where educators can truly have a voice and can bring about the kind of changes that are needed to improve their lives and working conditions.
The World Socialist Web Site described the meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden as a war summit, at the beginning of March. There is no way to avoid the conclusion that the purpose of the summit was to review with and obtain from Scholz his explicit signed approval for a massive escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia, we wrote in a comment. This assessment was undoubtedly correct. Since the meeting, the NATO powers have been pushing the war offensive ever more aggressively.

President Joe Biden listens as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 3, 2023. [AP Photo/Susan Walsh]

But the meeting had another, sinister component. On Wednesday, the US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported that Scholz and Biden also covered up the background of the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022.

Hersh revealed in an explosive report in February that the US government was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, which it systematically planned and carried out. A few days after the Biden-Scholz summit, leading German and American media reported, citing intelligence, that a pro-Ukrainian group had destroyed the pipelines. The attack was carried out by six people from a yacht chartered by a company owned by Ukrainian businessmen.

The narrative that the operation was carried out independently of the US and other powers was implausible from the outset. It is ridiculous to think that Ukrainians operating from Germany could carry out a massive, highly complex and international underwater terrorist attack that simultaneously destroyed four different pipelines without the knowledge of the Ukrainian government, Germany or the United States, the WSWS wrote.

Hersh explained in a post titled The Cover-up, that American and German intelligence agencies launched the story to refute his own detailed report blaming Biden and the American government for the Nord Stream attacks. This is exactly what happened at the meeting between Biden and Scholz, which was held to the exclusion of the public. Hersh writes:

There have been no statements or written understandings made public since then by either government, but I was told by someone with access to diplomatic intelligence that there was a discussion of the pipeline expose and, as a result, certain elements in the Central Intelligence Agency were asked to prepare a cover story in collaboration with German intelligence that would provide the American and German press with an alternative version for the destruction of Nord Stream 2. In the words of the intelligence community, the agency was to pulse the system in an effort to discount the claim that Biden had ordered the pipelines destruction.

Hersh does not disclose his source, and it is not possible to independently verify his report. However, Hersh is a renowned investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, and his previous revelations and reportsincluding the uncovering of the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam Warhave always been confirmed in retrospect.

If Hershs report is true, the German government not only knows that the US carried out the attack, but is also actively participating in its cover-up. And this despite the fact that the destruction of the pipelines was in fact an act of terrorism against German-European infrastructure and involves massive economic damage. Nord Stream could have supplied Germany and Western Europe with relatively cheap Russian gas in the long term. The construction costs of the pipelines alone amounted to around 20 billion.

It is obvious that with the attack, the US aimed to make Europe more dependent on American natural gas imports and to bring it more under US control. In his recent article, Hersh points out that the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines has led to a massive rise in natural gas prices. Although they have declined somewhat due to the mild winter, they are still two to three times as high as before the crisis and more than three times as high as current US prices.

How can it be explained that Scholz, the German intelligence services and a large part of the media are still working feverishly to cover up the background of the attack? Why are they ignoring Hershs latest report and waging a character assassination campaign against the famous journalist when they write about him? Behind this are deeply reactionary political goals and interests.

For one thing, Germany is now playing a leading role in NATOs war. After initial hesitation, the German government is one of the largest arms suppliers in Ukraine and is preparing to supply hundreds of Marder and Leopard 1 and 2 tanks. We deliver more than any other country in continental Europe, Scholz boasted recently in his speech at the Munich Security Conference.

Berlin supports Washingtons war goal of defeating Russia militarily and installing a pro-Western puppet regime in Moscow. After the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president last week, the German government immediately announced its willingness to implement it. We are obliged to imprison President Putin if he enters German territory and to hand him over to the ICC, said Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann.

It is clear that disagreement with Washington would seriously weaken the NATO war offensive. Behind the scenes, however, the knives have long since been sharpened and the tensions between the imperialist powers are exploding. The German war aims go far beyond Ukraine and Russia. The ruling class is using the war in Ukraine to rearm itself as the leading European military power after two lost world wars and to aggressively enter the fight for the redivision of the world. This will ultimately lead to an open conflict with the USfor which German imperialism is not yet prepared.

Another, no less explosive reason for the cover-up is the growing opposition of the population to the imperialist war policy. The US attack on the pipelines exposes the official propaganda that NATO is an alliance of democratic states fighting for freedom and human rights in Ukraine and around the world. In reality, it is concerned with predatory imperialist interests pursued by methods of terror and destruction.

Over the past three decades, the US-led imperialist powers have destroyed entire countries and killed millions of people in the Middle East (Iraq, Syria), Central Asia (Afghanistan), North Africa (Libya) and also in Europe (Serbia). Now they are waging war against the nuclear-armed power of Russia, preparing for a war against China and increasingly fighting among themselvesif necessary with the same military means.

The demolition of the Nord Stream pipelines confirms that the US is not shying away from anything in pursuit of its imperialist goals, the WSWS warned. But their partners and rivals in Germany are in no way inferior to them. With the revival of German militarism, they are following more and more openly in the footsteps of the Wehrmacht and the Nazis, who committed the worst crimes in human history.

Hershs revelations are also a warning in this context. As in the past, imperialist warmongering on both sides of the Atlantic leads to disaster. It can only be stopped by building a powerful anti-war movement of the international working class that combines the struggle against war with the struggle against its root, capitalism. This is what the Socialist Equality Party and its sister parties of the Fourth International are fighting for in the US and worldwide.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a House subcommittee that the Biden administrations record military budget request was directed primarily against China.

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee on defense last Thursday, Austin said, This is a strategy-driven budget and one driven by the seriousness of our strategic competition with the Peoples Republic of China.

The central target of the US military, Milley declared, was China. The Peoples Republic of China remains our number one long term geostrategic security challenge, the so-called pacing threat in our strategy... The PRC intends to be the regional hegemon in the western Pacific and Asia within the next 10 years, and exceed the United States overall military capability by 2049.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a briefing with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) [AP Photo/AndrewHarnik]

Opening the hearing, subcommittee chairman Ken Calvert declared, We must be ready to fight tonight and rapidly modernized to maintain the worlds greatest fighting force.

Milley continued:

There are 10,330 units in the United States military: 4,680 of them are active duty. Sixty percent of our active-duty force is at the highest stage of readiness right now and could deploy to combat in less than 30 days, and 10 percent to deploy to combat in less than 96 hours. This military is ready. We are prepared to fight now, and we will continue to be prepared to fight in the future.

In order to maintain this readiness, Miley and Austin explained, the Biden administration has proposed the largest US military budget in history, with record-setting increases in every part of the military. Austin summed up the staggering level of US military rearmament:

This budget also makes the departments largest-ever investments in both [research and development] and procurement, requesting more than $61 billion to sustain our air dominance. And that includes funding for fighters and the extraordinary B21 strategic bomber Were also seeking more than $48 billion in sea power, including new construction of nine battle force ships. And were boosting capacity at Americas shipyards to build the ships that our strategy demands. And were investing a total of $1.2 billion in the submarine industrial base. And were buying two Virginia-class attack submarines and one Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. On land, were investing in air and missile defense. And were investing in defenses to counter unmanned aerial vehicles. Were also requesting $11 billion to deliver the mix of long-range fires that our security demands, including major investments in hypersonics. We will also continue to modernize all three legs of our nuclear triad and bolster our strategic deterrence. And we put forward the largest space budget in Pentagon history.

This gargantuan military budget, standing at $886 billion ($842 billion for the Pentagon, and the remainder for military-related programs in other departments), is to be further augmented by emergency supplemental appropriations for the war in Ukraine. This was $114 billion last year and is likely to be even higher this year, putting the actual war budget at over $1 trillion.

The nominal reason for the massive growth in military spending in the United States, and the implementation of wartime procurement and no-bid contracts, is Russias invasion of Ukraine. It was striking, however, that while Ukraine was the pretext for massive military rearmament worldwide, the hearing mentioned China 48 times, nearly twice as often as it mentioned Russia.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in formation during Rim of the Pacific exercises July 28, 2022. [Photo: Canadian Armed Forces photo by Cpl. Djalma Vuong-De Ramos]

Even as they made clear that the US is preparing for war with China, the two military leaders argued that US intentions were peaceful because they merely sought to impose Washingtons will through the threat of violence, and would only resort to violence if threats did not work.

Preparation for war and deterrence is extraordinarily expensive, but its not as expensive as fighting a war, Milley said. This budget prevents war and prepares us to fight it if necessary.

This argument, repeated over and over by the advocates of US military rearmament, asserts that the more money the United States spends on brandishing weapons at those it seeks to compel to do its bidding through threats, the less likely the actual use of those weapons will be.

It was the argument made by Erich Raeder, the grand admiral of the German Navy at the Nuremberg tribunal, who claimed that Nazi Germanys military buildup was peaceful because Germany preferred to achieve its aims through threats instead of through war.

The Nuremberg Ruling concluded that Raeders arguments amounted to the belief that Germanys position would be so good, and Germanys armed might so overwhelming, that the territory desired could be obtained without fighting for it.

Raeders argument was rejected, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Key to Raeders conviction was the courts documentation of the fact that Raeder not only prepared the military buildup, but was actively involved in planning Germanys wars of aggression.

The aims of the United States, too, are aggressive. Milleys own words make clear that the United States seeks to offset its economic decline through military violence.

Milley continued by arguing that historians would look back at this century and ask, what was the relationship between United States and China? Did it end up in a war or not?

He added, What we see in China the greatest growth and wealth of any country... This is an enormous growth in wealth and an enormous shift in power globally.

He continued, It is incumbent upon us to make sure that we remain number one at all times.

In other words, the United States is seeking to use its military might to preclude the emergence of any economic power that could rival the global dominance of the United States.

Even as it massively expands its military, the US is constantly moving forward its timetable for a conflict with China.

Last weekend, Republican members of Congress carried out a war game, led by a retired US general, envisioning a war with China by 2025.

In January, Air Force Gen. Michael Minihan told his command that he expects the US to be at war with China by 2025. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025, he said. He urged airmen under his command to get their personal affairs in order in preparation for war.

At the same time, the US is doing everything possible to bring such a war about.

On March 11, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated that Bidens assertion that the US would go to war with China over Taiwan was not just the presidents personal opinion, but actual US policy.

Last week, the US House of Representatives passed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which formally tasks the State Department to identify opportunities to lift any remaining self-imposed limitations on U.S.-Taiwan engagement and articulate a plan to do so.

This bill is a major milestone in ending the one-China policy. It is accompanied by a massive US military buildup on Taiwan, including a significant increase in the number of US military forces stationed there.

However horrific the bloodbath in Ukraine provoked by the United States, the conflict with China that the United States is actively preparing would lead to death and destruction on a far greater scale.
A storm system that developed earlier last week caused widespread damage and destruction in the southeast US over the weekend, with several rural communities in Mississippi being the hardest hit.

Two dozen tornadoes were reported in less than 24 hours in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, with 10 confirmed by the National Weather Service (NWS). Large swathes of social infrastructure have been obliterated, with dozens confirmed killed in Mississippi alone.

On Friday evening, an EF-4 tornado traveling at 50 miles per hour (80 kph) struck down in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, a small town 85 miles (137 km) northwest from Jackson in Sharkey County. The wind gusts of EF-4 tornadoes, based on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, range between 166 and 200 miles per hour (267 and 322 kph).

A vehicle awaits removal Saturday March 25, 2023, after getting destroyed by a Friday night tornado that hit Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Emergency officials in Mississippi say several people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through the state on Friday night, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states. [AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis]

According to the NWS: The scale divides tornadoes into six strengths, from zero to 5. Tornadoes that are intense enough to warrant an F4/EF4 or F5/EF5 rating are classified as violent. Fortunately, these tornadoes are extremely rare, accounting for only about two percent of all tornadoes. But when they do strike, they inflict terrible suffering as homes and businesses are destroyed and, often, lives are lost.

The last time an EF-4 tornado was reported in Mississippi was in April 2020.

From Rolling Fork, the tornado then traveled overnight northeast towards Huntsville in Alabama, pummeling multiple small towns in between. A second EF-3 tornado also struck down in Carroll and Montgomery counties in Mississippi, while an EF-2 landed in Fayetteville, Tennessee and three separate tornadoes impacted northern Alabama.

As of this writing, thirteen deaths have been reported in Sharkey County, Mississippi, two in Monroe County, three in Humphreys County, and three in Carroll County, making last weekends tornado one of the top ten deadliest in Mississippi since 1950. In Morgan County, Alabama, a 67-year-old man died from injuries sustained after he was rescued from his mobile home that was overturned by the storm.

At least 20 million people remained at risk from the impact of more severe storms yesterday in an area spanning the southern states up to the Midwest, with the NWS Storm Prediction Centers warning of the possibility of a couple of strong tornadoes in the same region impacted on Friday and Saturday being confirmed by a large and extremely dangerous tornado that struck south of LaGrange, Georgia on Sunday.

While the storm system continues to move eastward, the formation of another system was simultaneously anticipated to begin in Texas and move through Louisiana and Mississippi into Alabama. With reports of more than 150 tornadoes already confirmed so far this year, and with the tornado seasons peak months (April through June) not yet reached on the calendar, many more deadly storms can be expected as spring weather heats up the air.

Last weekends tornadoes were a part of a storm system that began in California early in the week. The system was so strong when it landed in the Bay Area that it became a bomb cyclone (a massive drop in pressure that increases a storms strength), one that led to five deaths, and also spawned a rare tornado in Los Angeles.

From there it moved east along the flow of the jet stream, gaining energy in the process as a result of the unseasonably warm weather in multiple states from the southwest through to West Virginia. In some of these states, such as Arizona and Missouri, floods turned deadly, killing three and two, respectively.

The atmospheric ingredients for tornadoes became present as the fast-moving storms upper wind shear combined with very warm air currents flowing northward from the Gulf of Mexico, with two tornadoes touching down in northeast Texas on Friday.

The NWS then began issuing tornado emergencies for multiple towns in Mississippi, not long after which a massive wedged-shaped tornado of extremely high-caliber spawned in the west-central area of the state, according to Samuel Emmerson at the University of Oklahoma. AccuWeather reported that wedge tornadoes have tended to be some of the largest and most destructive tornadoes in history.

The factor of duration also played into the tornados destruction, as it was grounded for an hour over a southwest-to-northeast span of 170 miles (274 km). Thats rarevery, very rare, responded Lance Perrilloux, a meteorologist at the NWS.

But the main issue remained that of advanced notice and preparation. With barely any time to react, and the storm coming after nightfall, residents were left largely helpless and scrambling for shelter as the tornado knocked out power and leveled neighborhoods, workplaces and grocery stores in chaotic scenes reminiscent of the March 2020 tornado in Tennessee.

A first responder in Rolling Fork told AccuWeather, Houses [were] completely demolished, businesses demolished  pretty much most of the town is unrecognizable right now. Leroy Smith Jr., a member of the Sharkey County Board of Supervisors, said, Last night they had their houses. Today they dont.

The tornado knocked out power at Sharkey Issaquena Community Hospital in Rolling Fork, forcing patients to be evacuated and transferred to the adjacent Yazoo County. Hospital CEO S. Jerry Keever told Mississippi Today that the destruction felt like being in the middle of a war zone.

Though Mississippis Republican governor, Tate Reeves, and President Joe Biden both issued emergency declarations for the state in the wake of the tornado, their statements of concern and condolence have a miserable track record. Such pro forma declarations are made time and again after every natural disaster whose consequences are made infinitely worse by lack of preparation and long-term social neglect, particularly in impoverished rural communities.

Residents are well aware of this. Andrew Dennard, a 28-year-old resident of Rolling Fork, told NBC News, I dont think were going to rebuild from this Its worse than death.

The living conditions of the working class and poor in rural communities, often reflected through a large number of mobile homes in trailer parks, render these portions of the population more vulnerable to extreme weather events.

A report published in October 2018 by the American Meteorological Society, entitled Finescale Assessment of Mobile Home Tornado Vulnerability in the Central and Southeast United States, found that tornado disaster potential and impact severity are controlled by hazard risk and underlying physical and social vulnerabilities. Previous vulnerability studies have suggested that an important driver of disaster consequence is the type of housing affected by tornadic winds.

Analyzing the implications of the mobile home prevalence in Alabama versus that of Kansas, the report stated: the Southeasts mobile home residents are one of the most socioeconomically and demographically marginalized populations in the United States and are more susceptible to tornado impact and death than illustrated in prior research.'

In comments last year to CNN comparing the impact of tornadoes in the US southeast to that of the traditional Tornado Alley comprising the central US, meteorology professor Victor Gensini said, As you move east from Kansas to Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, the population density increases rapidly, and we also have an issue in the Southeast of more mobile homes, adding, If you get hit in a mobile home from a tornado, youre much more likely to be killed. You just have a really unique exposure and vulnerability problem.

In response to the impact of last weekends tornadoes, which devastated towns such as Rolling Fork, where a fifth of the towns 2,000 residents exist below the federal poverty line, another meteorology professor, Walker Ashley, said, You mix a particularly socioeconomically vulnerable landscape with a fast-moving, long-track nocturnal tornado, and disaster will happen.

Behind the empty thoughts and prayers from Reeves and Biden stand the true costs of human-induced climate change on the one hand, contributing to mass displacement of billions, while, on the other, the ruling capitalist class continues its duplicitous mantra that there is no money for any of societys problems as it increases funding for war and bailouts for the financial oligarchy.
As millions of workers in France prepare to march tomorrow in another national trade union protest against President Emmanuel Macrons pension cuts, it is ever more evident that Macron is setting out to establish a dictatorship and that he must be brought down. This can only be accomplished, however, by building a mass movement from below, among workers and youth, to demand his removal and prepare a general strike against his government.

He imposed his cuts without a parliamentary vote, using the exorbitant emergency powers of the presidency under the French Fifth Republic, despite mass strikes and the opposition of three-quarters of the French people. He argued that adopting the cuts was critical to maintaining Frances credibility on international financial markets. Now, French officials are declaring that this method can be used to impose other laws, such as further social cuts or increases in military spending for war with Russia, during the rest of Macrons term.

Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt asserted on Friday that he may have to use again Article 49-3, the provision of the French constitution allowing Macron to ram through laws without a vote. I hope as little as possible, he added. This anti-democratic provision, he said, could be almost systematically used, given how impassioned public debate is in France.

The French Fifth Republic is being exposed as a dictatorship of the banks, arbitrarily slashing living standards and fundamental social and democratic rights of working people. Its only response to popular opposition, strikes and mass protests is to deploy hordes of riot police to assault protesters and strikers if they take any action to oppose Macron.

The vast network of police prefects and agencies that report to Macron and the Interior Ministry thrust aside last weeks statement from the Council of Europe criticizing the excessive use of force by French police. It gave another bloody demonstration of its powers on Saturday, assaulting farmers protests against an irrigation project in Sainte-Soline in western France.

An assault group of 3,000 heavily armed cops faced off against 30,000 protesters around the infrastructure of the irrigation project. The cops repeatedly charged protesters and fired a total of 4,000 stun grenades. At least 200 people were wounded, including 30 seriously. Foura protester aged 30 who is in a coma from a skull injury, another protester aged 27, a young woman aged 19 with a serious facial injury, and one riot policemanare in critical condition.

The Macron presidency, the nerve center of financial and police-state conspiracies against the people, must be brought down. This can only be done, however, by mobilizing masses of rank-and-file workers and youth in a campaign for the removal of Macron, the abolition of the draconian powers of the French presidency, and the preparation of a general strike against Macron.

Workers and youth cannot leave the task of organizing the struggle to bring down Macron to the union bureaucracies and to their pseudo-left allies, such as Jean-Luc Melenchons Unsubmissive France (LFI) party. They are giving no perspective whatsoever to the movement, beyond being assaulted by the cops each time workers go out on strikes and protests.

If Macron acts so provocatively, relying on naked repression to impose his cuts, it is no doubt that he has received private assurances from Melenchon and the union bureaucrats that they will make no effort to mobilize opposition against him.

Indeed, in February, Minister of Labour Olivier Dussopt publicly boasted that his ministry and the government are holding public as well as more informal talks with the unions. French Democratic Labor Confederation (CFDT) and General Confederation of Labor (CGT) officials confirmed Dussopts assertion, with CGT boss Philippe Martinez referring to courtesy calls from the government. The bureaucracies respond by isolating striking refinery and garbage workers whose pickets are attacked by the cops.

Melenchonwho received nearly 8 million votes in the 2022 presidential elections, concentrated in the working class districts of Frances major citieshas made no appeal to mobilize his voters to bring down Macron. It is evident that this is because he is a political colleague, not an opponent, of Macron. In fact, he declared last year that he would be happy to serve as prime minister under either Macron or the neo-fascist Marine Le Pen if the latter won the presidency.

The struggle to bring down Macron cannot be organized through Melenchon and the union bosses, but only independently of and in opposition to them.

In every workplace and school, resolutions must be passed demanding the bringing down of Macron. This requires convening general assemblies of workers and youth in their workplaces and schools to debate and adopt these resolutions, as well as the formation of workplace committees to share and publicize these resolutions and thus unite the working class against Macron. This independent mobilization of the working class, making workers aware of their militancy and collective strength, would create conditions for a general strike to bring down Macron.

A general strike to blockade the economy and bring down Macrons illegitimate presidency, polls show, is desired by two-thirds of the French people. This struggle inevitably raises the question of what will replace him.

No confidence can be given to institutions that proved their complicity in Macrons attempt to impose a dictatorship of the banks over the people. Not only the police-state machine, but also the legislature, which failed to censure Macron for trying to impose his law without a vote, are exposed as servants of the financial oligarchy.

The Parti de legalite socialiste advocates the building of a political movement to transfer power to workplace committees, drawn from the rank and file and democratically answerable to it, built in the course of the struggle against Macron. Such bodies could also draw support from the great upsurge of the class struggle that is now underway across Europe and internationally. This would lay the basis for a truly democratic regime, representing the majority of society that works for a living, and for implementing socialist policies based on social need, not private profit.
Socialist Equality Party members and supporters campaigned at polling booths in Sydney, Lismore, Newcastle and the Central Coast for Saturdays New South Wales (NSW) state election.

Today, the World Socialist Web Site is featuring comments from workers and young people in the working-class southwest Sydney electorate of Bankstown. Coverage from elsewhere in the state will follow in the coming days.

As is always the case in elections, SEP campaigners were alone in seeking to discuss with voters the major political issues they see confronting workers throughout NSW, Australia and around the world.

While completely absent from the official campaignbecause the parliamentary parties, and the corporate media, are in complete agreementthe growing threat of war was a major concern expressed by workers and young people.

As well as opposing the destruction of innocent lives, voters saw the connection between increasing militarism and the deepening social crisis at home. Many were angered in particular by the recent announcement by the federal Labor government of $368 billion for nuclear-powered submarines in preparation for a US-led war against China, while the cost of living soars, wages fall and health and education budgets are slashed.

Many workers and young people expressed hostility to Labor, the Liberal-Nationals and the Greens, and recognised that the election will do nothing to resolve any aspect of the domestic crisis or stop the relentless drive to war.

There was substantial interest in the perspective put forward by the SEP that the working class needs to take matters into its own hands and build a revolutionary party to fight for a socialist alternative to the capitalist agenda of war and austerity.

In addition to the video interviews above, several other workers gave comments to SEP campaigners, which are presented below.

****

SEP candidate for Bankstown Max Boddy with Firdoz [Photo: WSWS]

Firdoz, a housekeeper at Bankstown, who voted for the SEP for the first time, said: I voted for you because we need a change. We are all suffering. Everything is getting expensive. Everyone promises that theyre going to fix it, but nothing happens. It is very hard to live now; fuel costs more, food, our rent goes up.

Firdoz said Labor and Coalition are not doing anything. They promise us theyre going to do things for us, but nothing is happening. There are billions of dollars for war, but not for education, healthcare. Not for ordinary people. Nothing. Poor people are suffering here.

Rima said: War is disgusting, its stupid, it ruins everyones lives. They kill a lot of innocent people for no reason. Ive never agreed with war, it doesnt get anywhere, it just makes it worse.

Linda [Photo: WSWS]

Linda said the main reason she supports the SEP is opposition to war. She said: I think its really scary that the major parties all support war, because theyre the ones who are calling the shots.

Even if war is happening on the other side of the world, it still has an impact on everyone, wherever they are.

I really feel that a third world war is looming on the horizon.

George said: Its all about weapons. Theyre making these weapons and they want to sell them. They dont care about human beings anymore.

The entire world should be together. I think all the people in the world think so, its only governments that dont think so.

Im only an individual, but Im sure everyone wants peace. They want to live in peace, live in harmony. Everyone is equal, wherever you live, were the same.
On Friday, March 24, an explosion tore through a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania, killing five workers and injuring 10 more. As of writing, two workers are still unaccounted for. Rescuers have been working around the clock in 12 to 16 hour shifts, digging through rubble to find the missing.

Emergency responders and heavy equipment are seen at the site of a deadly explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Saturday, March 25. [AP Photo/Michael Rubinkam]

Only one person has so far been recovered alive. According to West Reading Fire Chief Chad Moyer, there is little hope the two missing workers will be found alive, due to the violence of the explosion and the amount of time that has passed.

The explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company plant, which employs about 850 workers and makes specialized candy products such as hollow chocolate rabbits for Easter, occurred just before 5 p.m. on Friday. The explosion, which shook buildings blocks away and demolished the two-story plant, continued to smolder the next morning. Video footage that captured the explosion showed debris rocketing hundreds of feet into the air.

No cause has been confirmed, but most signs point to a gas leak in the building.

The names of the dead and missing have not been released, but Franki Gonzales, 40, said that his sister, Diana Cedeno, 45, is among those unaccounted for. Gonzalez told the media that his sister and other workers had reported gas smells in the plant and had informed management.

Everybodys waiting on her  six brothers. We need her back. Shes the mama hen of the group, Gonzalez said.

Gonzales said a son who worked at the plant quit months ago over the gas odor. Gonzales said that his son and another relative had warned plant management about the smell. They were told, he said, Its all right. We got it. Its being handled. Dont worry about it.

Another relative of plant workers, Frank DeJesus, told media that employees, his stepdaughter among them, had complained about gas odors throughout the day on Friday.

Everyone complained about smelling gas, and they kept making them work, DeJesus told local NBC affiliate WGAL8. The supervisors told them it was nothing. It was being taken care of.

The explosion was heard for many blocks in this small city, located about an hour west of Philadelphia. The windows of one restaurant near the factory were completely shattered from the force of the blast.

I didnt see flames at first, just a bunch of shingles and materials falling from the sky, one area resident said. Another resident called it the loudest thing Ive ever heard in my life.

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro visited the site on Saturday. In a press release, he offered no critical comment about the conditions that led to the blast.

Under capitalism, workers lives are cheap. Only recently, Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined BP Products North America just $156,250 for the burning deaths of two workers in a preventable accident. The fine is equivalent to 0.0005 percent of the oil giants $28 billion in annual profits.

Workplace injuries and deaths have been on the rise in recent years, with deaths having risen by 9 percent from 2020 to 2021, as corporations attempt to make up for surplus value extraction lost during COVID-19 production slowdowns. Since the beginning of the pandemic, work hours have also increased by about 5 percent, increasing dangers to a physically exhausted workforce.
A Fairfax County police officer in northern Virginia was fired from the force last week after video footage from a body camera showed the officer shooting Timothy Johnson, a man suspected of shoplifting a pair of sunglasses from Tysons Corner Mall.

Fairfax County Police Department officials stated on Thursday that Sergeant Wesley Shifflett was administratively separated from the force for disobeying use-of-force rules after he was identified as having fired the fatal bullet that killed Johnson, 37, on February 22. Officer First Class James Sadler was also identified as having fired bullets at Johnson during the altercation.

The state of Virginia is planning to make a decision on whether to charge Shifflett in the killing. Charges have yet to be filed.

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis addresses reporters Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Fairfax, Virginia, after releasing video footage showing police shooting and killing Timothy McCree Johnson outside a shopping mall last month for allegedly stealing sunglasses. [AP Photo/Matthew Barakat]

Johnson was inside a Nordstrom store in the mall when a theft prevention security guard suspected him of stealing the sunglasses. The security guard called the Fairfax County Police Tysons Urban Team, which sent three officers. Shifflett and Sadler were in plain clothes, while the third officer, who arrived later, was uniformed.

The uniformed officer watched Johnson leave the Nordstrom store and walk into a parking garage. From there, officers pursued. Footage from the third, uniformed officers body camera shows the plainclothes officers chasing Johnson through the garage in the direction of Route 7 before he changed direction and ran into the woods across the street from Fashion Boulevard.

Going into the woods, through the woods, Shifflett can be heard saying in the video as the pursuit continued. Both Shifflett and Sadler fired at Johnson, who cannot be seen, from behind. Three gunshots can be heard, one of which hit Johnson in the torso. As the third shot is heard, one of the officers yells, Stop reaching! Stop reaching!

Johnson can then be heard screaming, Im not reaching for nothing. I dont have nothing. His body can then be seen on the ground ahead of the officers, who proceeded to do CPR until paramedics arrived. The third officers footage was taken from behind the other two and did not capture the actions which led to the shooting.

When more responding officers arrived, Shifflett can be heard saying, He didnt get any rounds off. I dont know if hes armed. He was continually reaching in his waistband. I told him, Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. In the video, however, prior to shooting Johnson, Shifflett is never heard actually saying these words.

Responding to the release of the footage, Johnsons family attorney, Carl Crews, called the shooting an execution. Crews said, He could have been apprehended without a shot being fired. There were several police officers present. This could have been done.

Caleb Kershner, Shiffletts attorney, asserted the officers untrammeled right to execute Johnson. The law on this point is clear. A police officer is authorizedand trainedto use lethal force when he reasonably believes that he is in jeopardy of serious bodily harm or death. And that is exactly what happened in this incident, the attorney said in statements to the press.

Kershner advanced the authoritarian argument that a police officer has the right to shoot first and ask questions later: The law does not require him to be shot at, or to see a gun, before he responds.

Johnsons mother, Melissa Johnson, said there was no explanation for why the police used lethal force for an alleged misdemeanor. The Johnson family and supporters had called for the release of the video footage immediately after the shooting. Crews, the attorney, said, If the video would have exonerated the officer we would have seen it before now. It does not. He was not vindicated at all.

Since Johnsons death, the police had cynically pointed to previous felonies on Johnsons record as proof that he posed some type of threat. Back in February, Melissa Johnson rebuked the Fairfax police and investigators for villainizing her son and speculating about whether he had a gun when no weapon was found. She accused the police of acting as judge, jury and executioner at the same time.

Last Thursday, after seeing the police video footage, Johnson said of her sons death, The only thing that they [the police] knew was that he was accused of allegedly taking a pair of sunglasses. Officer Sadler and Shifflett did not know his name, did not know his age, did not know where he went to school, did not know the names of his children or anything about his personal or judicial history. The only thing they knew was that he was Black and a male and allegedly triggered the alarm for the store.

While racial motives certainly appear to have played a role in this case, as well as many other police shootings, the primary factor in police brutality cases is class. In 2022, police killed 1,238 people. There were only 10 days last year that went by without the police killing someone. The breakdown of these killings, while disproportionately affecting Black people relative to their proportion of the general population, shows working class people of all races were targeted, with the largest number being white.

A study of Fairfax Countys police, conducted by the University of Texas in 2021, determined that regardless of the race of a police officer, both White and Black populations showed an elevated use of force compared to the benchmarks of arrest and suspect statistics in the county, according to a report in the Washington Post.

Home to the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley and close to the Department of Defense in Arlington, Fairfax is the fifth-wealthiest county in the US. Despite the county having one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the country, the FCPD is the largest police department in the state of Virginia, with over 1,500 sworn officers.
Qabil Ashirov

Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan has congratulated the people of Iran on the Nowruz holiday and made a fuss about nothing. I am more than confident, he would have wished not done it or would have blamed his aides for the blunder.

Although one cannot for sure share the sincerity behind his wish, he did definitely miss the point and got himself into a mess with the picture embedded into his congratulatory message.

Sincere congratulations & best wishes on Iranian NY-Nowruz and the start of the year 1402. Persian giant Nizamis Haft Peykar picturesquely shows Nowruz tradition& celebration. Wishing Ppl&Leadership of Iran peace, new achievements & prosperity. Greetings to all celebrating Novruz! the tweet reads.

Frankly speaking, congratulating a neighboring nation on important dates or holidays is a generous and expected step. However, when it is done with no respect for the receiving side, at this point Iran - one cannot but doubt the straightforwardness and integrity of the congratulator, that is Armenia.

The more the Armenian president wanted to curry favor with Iran's theocratic leadership and split the baby, he found himself in a funnier state. The text of the congratulatory message mentioned the name of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi, and thus he wanted to lick the boots of the Persian chauvinistic circles in an effort to sound right and good to their ears for a tanker oil but failed to please them as the two young ladies in Azerbaijani national attires without headscarves should have told them a lot.

Moreover, the venue where the pictures were taken and the people behind them vividly show that they cannot be Iranians since the mullahcracy has made life for Iranians miserable for over 40 years and people cannot simply enjoy Nowruz under hardships and ongoing mistreatment of citizens over their call for a better life and more rights.

Nizami Ganjavi, who was born and lived all his life in Ganja, the second biggest city and former capital city of Azerbaijan, is such a peak in oriental poetry that many nations wanted to benefit from his masterpieces.

Taking into account the recent tense relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, there cannot be an option other than to think that the Armenian president deliberately posted a tweet to add oil to the fire. He aimed to take the arguments between Azerbaijan and Iran to another level.

However, we would like to respond to this heinous act of the Armenian president with a book named "Siyavush of Our Century" written by Mammadamin Resulzade, the creator of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan. In his book, he gave detailed information and praised the historical and cultural relationship between the two nations, Azerbaijanis and Persian, tracing back millennia.

Besides that, let the Armenian President not forget that over 40m Azerbaijanis live in Iran and during the second Karabakh war those Azerbaijanis blocked the road and hindered transporting Russian weapons to Armenia through Iran. Iranian Azerbaijanis are represented at all levels of the Iranian state and society.

In addition, Azerbaijan is second after Iran Shia country. In other words, no cunning Armenian policy and politics can sow discord between these two nations. It is no secret that today the relations between these two countries are tense due to the hypocritical foreign policy of the mullah regime.




Egypts Al-Azhar issued a strongly worded statement on Monday condemning the burning of the Holy Quran by an extremist group in Denmark on Friday outside the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen.

Al-Azhar strongly rejects and condemns the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran by a group of extremists in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, stressing that the repetition of this inciting act that provokes the feelings of Muslims around the world, especially in the blessed month of Ramadan, is a hateful terrorist act that reflects the ignorance and recklessness of its perpetrators, Al-Azhar said in its statement.

It added that the act only expressed intolerance and hatred towards Muslims in what can only be described as a hate crime.

Al-Azhar, the world's leading Sunni Islamic institution, also described the act as an instance of Islamophobia that fuels hatred between the followers of the different religions.

It also stressed that terrorism and provoking the feelings of others are two sides of the same coin and that both of them are equally dangerous and destructive.

Al-Azhar described this act and similar actions as reflecting a strong desire to destroy the bridges of dialogue that have been otherwise erected by the world's wise people and religious leaders.

It reiterated its call for governments and relevant institutions worldwide to issue laws that deter the perpetrators of such acts from insulting religions and to stop sanctioning such acts under the umbrella of freedom of expression.

Al-Azhar concluded by warning of an impending disaster that will affect everyone in case the world fails to take the necessary measures to confront these acts.

On Friday, members of the right-wing group Patrioterne Gar Live (The Patriots Go Live) aired the burning of the Holy Book on a live Facebook broadcast in front of the Turkish embassy.

The group also burned a Turkish flag in the same broadcast.

Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Qatar, and Morocco, condemned the incident.

This is the second incident of its kind in less than three months.

Members of right-wing groups in Sweden and the Netherlands had set the Holy Quran on fire along with the Turkish flag.

During a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen two weeks ago in Cairo, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb asserted that freedom of expression must not violate the sacred beliefs of others.

The Imam condemned what he described as a direct insult to Islam in the West under the guise of freedom of expression.

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Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has instructed the Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Fund to allocate EGP 1 billion ($32.3 million) to support the presidential initiative to end waiting lists for critical cases, said Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy on Monday.

The presidential initiative was launched in April 2020 at a cost of EGP 1.6 billion. In August 2022, El-Sisi ordered EGP 600 million be added for surgical procedures on waiting lists.

The initiative has provided treatment for 1.6 million patients thus far, Fahmy said earlier.

In recent years, Egypt has launched several health-focused initiatives, including the 100 Million Healthy Lives presidential initiative, which targets raising the awareness of reproductive health and family planning; and the Egyptian Women's Health Initiative, which seeks to detect cancer at an early stage.

The government has also launched the Pre-Marriage Medical Test Initiative, the Mother and Fetus presidential initiative and the campaigns to support the health of newborns and school students. This is in addition to the detection of hereditary diseases and healthcare for the elderly.

On Sunday, El-Sisi held a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar to follow up on efforts to upgrade the healthcare system in Egypt and the latest developments on the various presidential health initiatives.

During the meeting, the president asserted that the state agenda prioritises healthcare and that the government is constantly working to improve the healthcare system nationwide.

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Egypt has eased tourist visa requirements from China, Iran, India, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria and Israel as part of efforts to boost tourism in the country.





In a press conference held today, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa announced that tourists from China can obtain an entering visa upon arrival to Egypt, while Indian tourists who hold a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) resident visa can obtain an entering visa upon arrival to Egypt.

These facilities, he said, go hand in hand with the facilities already offered to holders of a valid and used entry visa from Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Turkish tourists can obtain Egypt entry visa upon arrival without age restriction, while Algerian and Moroccan tourists can obtain the same visa on the condition that they are part of a tourist group.

Tourists from Iran will be allowed to obtain a visa upon arrival when heading only to South Sinai through a certified tourist agency.

As for Israeli tourists, the ministry announced that Israelis would be allowed to come in groups to Hurghada, with the sponsorship of certified tourism companies.

Meanwhile, those coming from Iraq can now obtain a visa upon arrival to Egypt on the condition that they hold a valid and used visa to Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan, Australia, Canada or New Zealand.

Those under 16 and over 60 can obtain an electronic entry visa to Egypt from the E-Visa platform.

Issa also pointed out that soon the government will announce a new multi entry visa to Egypt valid for five years which will be issued for a fee of $700.

Egypt received 11.7 million tourists in 2022, up from eight million in 2021, marking a 46.2 percent increase, according to statements by Issa in mid-March.

The number of visitors to Egypt is expected to increase by 28 percent this year to 15 million, according to the minister.

Egypts tourism sector was dealt a hard blow by the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue dropping from $13.03 billion in 2019 to $4.1 billion in 2020. However, the sector has begun since mid-2021 to flourish as Egypt secured $10.7 billion in tourism revenue in FY 2021/2022, up from $4.9 billion in FY 2020/2021, according to the Central Bank of Egypt in October.

Egypt received 13.1 million tourists in 2019, 3.7 million in 2020, and eight million in 2021.

The country, which has 1,200 tourist hotels, hopes to double tourist numbers to 25-30 million by 2028.

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The National Dialogue's Board of Trustees has called for amending the law governing the country's National Election Authority (NEA) to renew judicial supervision over all elections and referendums.

In a statement on Sunday, the board said it will raise a draft law containing the suggested amendment to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in order that it be referred to the country's House of Representatives for approval.

The NEA is tasked with managing elections and referendums nationwide.

However, judicial supervision of polling, referendums and elections has been allowed following the adoption of the 2014 constitution, as per the NEA's law.

The ten-year term allowing such supervision is set to expire in January 2024.

Egypt is scheduled to hold its next presidential elections in mid-2024, while parliamentary elections are to be held in 2025.

Meanwhile, the board of trustees also proposed to kick-start the national dialogue meetings on 3 May after the end of the holy month of Ramadan and the holidays of Eid El-Fitr, Sinai Liberation Day, Easter and Labour Day.

It also added that it will continue in the coming period to receive names and proposals to be discussed during the dialogue meetings, the statement noted.

The president called for the dialogue during the annual Egyptian Family Iftar banquet on 26 April. The dialogue is set to look into all political, economic, and social issues.

In September 2022, the 19-member board of trustees completed its selection of rapporteurs and assistant rapporteurs for the dialogue's three main tracks (political, economic, social) and their 19 subcommittees.

Recommendations that will be made by the subcommittee will be referred to the board to be sent to the president for a final say, according to previous remarks by the General Coordinator of the National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan.

The president has asserted that all intellectuals, syndicates and political forces are invited to the dialogue, while assuring that only one faction is exempted from the dialogue, in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood group.

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Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson is living large in March Madness.

Merely a spectator like most everyone else, the star defender for the Bengals has a serious rooting interest this deep into March as his Florida Atlantic Owls (35-3) are through to their first Final Four.

The Owls just upended the third-seeded Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite 8, 79-76, behind double-digit scoring showings from four of the five starting Owls, headed up by 17 from Alijah Martin.

Hendrickson, who attended FAU from 2013-16 before becoming a third-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 draft, was on site and shared the following post after the win:

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Bengals attack needs in new 4-round NFL mock draft Bengals in attendance at Kentucky pro day before NFL draft 2023 NFL mock draft: Post-free agency 1st-round projections feature QB movement in top 3

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A notorious militia in eastern DR Congo on Sunday executed 17 people it took hostage the previous day, local sources said.

The CODECO insurgents killed at least 17 people captured in the Djugu territory, around 45 kilometres (30 miles) north of Bunia in Ituri province, local community leader Banguneni Gbalande told AFP.

Gbalande said he had been alerted by the families of some of those killed.

The "hostages are dead, they have been executed by the CODECO militia", another local traditional leader, Toko Kagbanese, told AFP.

CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, is one of myriad armed groups operating in the restive, mineral-rich region.

The people were taken hostage after three CODECO members were killed in a clash with a rival militia, said one local resident in Bambu, one of the two villages attacked Saturday. Among those taken hostage was a pregnant woman, said the source, who did not want to be identified for security reasons.

Since the end of 2022, dozens of people have been killed in gold-rich Ituri province every week.

In recent days, CODECO fighters have been blamed for a series of massacres, claiming the lives of 30 people, including women and children.

The CODECO is a militia that claims to protect the Lendu community from another ethnic group, the Hema, and the army.

Eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups, many of which are a legacy of regional wars that flared in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ituri province is one of the violence hotspots, where attacks claiming dozens of lives are routine.

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"Carson" Documentary Premiere - Credit: FilmMagic

Bill Zehme  the last person to interview Johnny Carson, a biographer of Frank Sinatra and Andy Kaufman, and author of many Rolling Stone celebrity cover stories  died Sunday after a long battle with cancer, Chicago Sun-Times reports. He was 64.

Zehme, who grew up in South Holland, Illinois and graduated from Chicagos Loyola University in 1980, was known for his Midwestern charm, a trait that no doubt played a big part in him being granted interviews with the difficult-to-land celebrities whom he got to open up. While at Rolling Stone, he interviewed a wide range of stars, from Madonna and Sharon Stone to Eddie Murphy and Warren Beatty.

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He also pulled back the curtain on the celebrity veil, as he did with Beatty, who as they conversed injected long pauses, ones that Zehme found himself dreaming about. Now let me say this: Actors for the most part are not terribly interesting, Zehme wrote later. They are paid to not be themselves, which would limit any of us, if you think about it. But most actors are not Warren Beatty.

A certain candor developed during their interview. In reading between those paused lines, insight into who Beatty was outside of his acting, was revealed. And so he has talked. And talked. For days, I have listened to him talk. I have listened to him listen to himself talk. I have probed and pelted and listened some more. For days. He speaks slowly, fearfully, cautiously, editing every syllable, slicing off personal color and spontaneous wit, steering away from opinion, introspection, humanness. He is mostly evasive. His pauses are elephantine, Zehme wrote. Broadway musicals could be mounted during his pauses. He works at this. Ultimately, he renders himself blank. In Dick Tracy, he battles a mysterious foe called the Blank. In life, he is the Blank doing battle with himself. It is a fascinating showdown, exhilarating to behold.

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To interview Warren Beatty is to want to kill him.

Zehme wrote for a number of lauded magazines beyond Rolling Stone, including Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. In 2004, he won a National Magazine Award for Profile Writing.

In addition to his countless profiles, he wrote biographies on Sinatra, Kaufman, Jay Leno, Hugh Hefner, and others, and also penned Intimate Strangers: Comic Profiles and Indiscretions of the Very Famous.

He was able to remind me of things Id almost forgotten and then shape and structure them, Leno said in Leading With My Chin, his autobiography, which was co-written with Zehme.

He is, of course, the King of the First Sentence, Cameron Crowe wrote in his introduction to Intimate Strangers. Like a great tour guide, he beckons you into the inner sanctum, whispering in your ear with a comic and sometimes poignant voice that says this is just between us.

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The manager of Motown staple Martha Reeves has launched a public fundraising campaign to secure her previously-announced star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Detroit Free Press reports that $55,000 is required by June to confirm Reeves place on the Walk of Fame calendar for 2024. The window for nominations lasts for two years, and is approaching its expiry date.

The Vandellas frontwoman was nominated for a star in 2021, by her previous management, and the selection was then approved by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. But the funding that is required from the representatives of honorees to pay for the star was not forthcoming, despite assurances to Reeves by that former manager that the matter was in hand.

Chris Roe, who became her manager last summer, tells the Free Press: Marthas former representation got in over their heads on this. They didnt realize how hard it would be and wasted a year of fundraising time. Now were down to the wire.

Fans of Reeves and her vital contributions to the history of Motown Records, and soul music in general, can make a donation to the new fundraiser at her new website, MarthaReeves.net. Roe has history on this subject, having overseen fundraising campaigns for two other clients, actor Malcom McDowell in 2012 and the late filmmaker George A. Romero in 2017. If the drive on Reeves behalf reaches its goal, donors names will be listed, if so desired, in an official program for the ceremony. Roe is working with private benefactors and corporations to further benefit the fund.

Reeves is hosting a listening party next month for her first two Motown LPs with the Vandellas, Come And Get These Memories and Heat Wave, both released in 1963.

A limited edition art print commemorating the groups 60th anniversary is available for $100, and some copies will be available at the event, with all proceeds going to the Walk of Fame campaign. It takes place from noon to 2pm on April 15 at Dearborn Music, 22501 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn, Michigan.

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uDiscover Music is operated by Universal Music Group (UMG). Some recording artists included in uDiscover Music articles are affiliated with UMG.
The Chemical Brothers have announced UK and Ireland arena shows for the fall of 2023.

The legendary British dance duo will call in Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Dublin, Birmingham, and London, where they'll wrap up the run at The O2 on November 4. Tickets go on general sale at 9.30am on March 31.

Shop the best of The Chemical Brothers discography on vinyl and more.

The dates will follow their summer festival appearances, which include a headline slot at the Isle Of Wight Festival in June. They also play Cork's Musgrave Park that same month, and Alexandra Head in Cardiff Bay in September as part of The Bay Series.

The pair recently dropped the single No Reason, their first new music in two years. They're also currently working on their 10th studio album, which is due out later in 2023, though further details including a release date are still to be revealed.

No Reason was mastered in Dolby ATMOS by Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios. Martin had previously overseen the remastering of The Beatles back catalog. The song is a highlight from the Grammy Award-winning bands recent live shows and DJ sets.

The single from the legendary British dance duo consisting of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons will also be available as a limited edition red vinyl 12 with a previously unreleased B-side track titled All Of A Sudden. The special release is set to arrive on April 28.

The Chemical Brothers play the following UK and Ireland arena shows:

Sat June 17 2023 - ISLE OF WIGHT Seaclose Park

Wed June 21 2023 - CORK Musgrave Park

Sat September 09 2023 - CARDIFF Alexandra Head

Thu October 26 2023 - GLASGOW OVO Hydro

Fri October 27 2023 - MANCHESTER AO Arena

Sat October 28 2023 - LEEDS first direct Arena

Wed November 01 2023 - DUBLIN 3Arena

Fri November 03 2023 - BIRMINGHAM Utilita Arena

Sat November 04 2023 - LONDON O2 Arena.

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uDiscover Music is operated by Universal Music Group (UMG). Some recording artists included in uDiscover Music articles are affiliated with UMG.
Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine and Justice Smith recently traveled the world to attend several premieres of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves  but it was their fashion choices that got people talking. (Photos: Getty Images)

The cast of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves officially landed in Los Angeles over the weekend for its final premiere, after nearly two weeks of fashion-fueled parties around the globe.

Of course, all eyes were on stars Chris Pine, Rege-Jean Page and Justice Smith, who play a group of unlikely adventurers on an epic quest to retrieve a long-lost relic in the film, which is loosely based on the board game of the same name.

While Dungeons & Dragons is earning favorable audience reviews, the trio took red carpet fashion to another level by experimenting with various looks at the film's premieres in London, Paris, Berlin, SXSW and more  including Page, who went shirtless for the premiere in the United Kingdom.

Check out some of their looks here:

Los Angeles

From left, Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine and Justice Smith attend the Los Angeles premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves at the Regency Village Theatre on March 26. (Photos: Getty Images)

The trio was sexy and dapper, with Page sporting a low-cut white muscle shirt under a beige suit with embroidered flower prints and gold chain necklace. Meanwhile, Pine went for a classic green suit with an unbuttoned shirt exposing a gold pendant necklace, with Smith opting for a chic white suit with bold lines.

Rege-Jean Page's full look on the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves red carpet in Los Angeles. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Chris Pine's full look on the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves red carpet in Los Angeles. (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Justice Smith's full look on the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves red carpet in Los Angeles. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Paris

Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine and Justice Smith sporting a whole new set of suits at the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in Paris. (Photos: Getty Images)

Meanwhile, in the City of Love on March 24, Page was giving good face in a tailored light blue suit with hazel buttons over a white shirt and gold necklace. Pine went full Parisian with his look, sporting a low V-neck with a red bandana accessory beneath a sharp black suit. For his part, Smith was looking smooth in an all-red wrap suit ensemble over a bright red collared shirt.

Rege-Jean Page wore baby blue to the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Paris premiere. (Photo: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

It was all about the accessories for Chris Pine on the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves red carpet at the Paris premiere. (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

Smith matches the carpet in a beautiful red wrap suit at the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Paris premiere. (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

London

Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine and Justice Smith attend the U.K. premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in London. (Photos: Getty Images)

British actor Page went shirtless for the March 23 London premiere, sporting a thin silver chain and a fitted black suit, while Pine went more traditional with a tweed suit topped off with a thick orange tie. Smith took it up a notch in loosely fitted sky blue suit with a textured brooch, white mesh shirt and chunky white shoes.

Rege-Jean Page was shirtless at the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves U.K. premiere. (Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Chris Pine topped his look off with a bold tie at the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves U.K. premiere. (Photo: Jeff Spicer/WireImage)

Justice Smith is serene in a sky blue suit with white sneakers. (Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Berlin

Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine and Justice Smith attend the premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves at Zoopalast in Berlin, Germany. (Photos: Getty Images)

The fashionistas were all smiles in Berlin on March 20, where Page suited up in an all-black ensemble and silver chain necklace, while Pine went retro with a tan 1970s-style suit and black turtle-neck with a thin gold chain. Smith, however, took it a step bolder with a textured jacket and see-through turtle-neck.

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Rege-Jean Page wore all black on the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves red carpet in Berlin. (Photo: Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)

Chris Pine smiles for the cameras in a tan suit at the Berlin premiere. (Photo: Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)

Justice Smith's suit had a hint of sparkle at the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Berlin premiere. (Photo: Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)

SXSW premiere in Austin

Rege-Jean Page, Chris Pine and Justice Smith arrive for the world premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, on day one of the SXSW Film Festival. (Photo: Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)

Things were bright in Austin at the film's SXSW screening on March 10. Page shined in a sexy jacket with an embroidered Pegasus, black pants and layered silver jewelry. That was bookended by Pine's green suede suit, delicately laid over a chic open-collar green button-up shirt and sexy sunglasses. Smith went for a more laid-back look, in a rust-colored cardigan jacket over a blue button-up shirt and loose-fitting denim jeans.

Rege-Jean Page at the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves SXSW premiere in Austin, Tex. (Photo: Sarah Kerver/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

Chis Pine was decked out in green suede at SXSW. (Photo: Gary Miller/WireImage)

Justice Smith rocked flared jeans to the SXSW premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. (Photo: Gary Miller/WireImage)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opens in theaters Friday, March 31.
Washington guard Wes Martin is again on the move.

Martin is reportedly going to sign this week with the Cleveland Browns. For Martin, it is a home-going move of sorts, being an Ohio native, born in West Milton.

Drafted in the fourth round (131 overall) out of Indiana, Martin brought hope to Washington that he would become a steady starter. However, those hopes never really materialized for Martin.

OL Wes Martin is expected to sign with the Cleveland Browns this week, source confirms to @TheAthletic. The 2019 draft seleciton spent three of his four seasons in Washington including last year. @JFowlerESPN 1st. Commanders have added OL depth this offseason.  Ben Standig (@BenStandig) March 26, 2023

Starting only five games in 2019 and 2020, Martin was actually waived by Washington late in the 2021 preseason. They brought Martin back on the Practice Squad, only to see the Giants claim him in September.

Martin saw action in seven games, only starting once and was subsequently waived by the Giants in May of 2022. The Jaguars claimed Martin off of waivers only to release him in August during the 2022 preseason.

The Commanders then re-entered the Wes Martin picture again, claiming him. However, 2022 saw Martin be activated from the practice squad to the active roster three times, only to return three times back to the practice squad. He appeared in six games in 2022, making no starts.

Story originally appeared on Commanders Wire
As warm weather lures more of us outside over the next few weeks, you might be planning to get moving and soak up your daily dose of sunshine.

A great option for enjoying Delawares natural beauty and nice weather is a visit to one of the states 17 state parks.

But first, make sure you know what to expect when it comes to parking and availability.

Delaware State Park classifications

A view of the field and trees at Brandywine Creek State Park is featured on a rainy and cloudy day, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.

Before you leave the house, take note of whether youll be visiting an inland park or an ocean park. Fees vary based on which type you plan to spend your day at.

Inland parks:

Alapocas Run State Park

Auburn Valley State Park

Bellevue State Park

Brandywine Creek State Park

First State Heritage Park

Fort DuPont State Park

Fox Point State Park

Holts Landing State Park

Killens Pond State Park

Lums Pond State Park

Trap Pond State Park

White Clay Creek State Park

Wilmington state parks

Ocean parks:

Cape Henlopen State Park

Delaware Seashore State Park

Beach Plum Island

Indian River Marina

Fenwick Island

Cape Henlopen State Park is quiet after a busy day. Sunny weather brought crowds to the Delaware beaches, Saturday, August 21, 2022.

Delaware State Park locations with offerings such as swimming beaches, museums and nature centers may have varying dates and times of operations for related facilities. Visit the state park website at destateparks.com or call ahead to find out what offerings will be open at the time of your trip.

Paying for parking

Daily park entrance fees are charged from March 1 to Nov. 20 and allow your vehicle and its passengers to enter any Delaware State Park on the date of purchase, except for Fort Delaware, Fenwick State Line Beach and the Brandywine Zoo.

Inland parks cost $4 per day for Delaware-registered vehicles and $8 for out-of-state vehicles. Ocean parks cost $5 per day for Delaware-registered vehicles and $10 per day for out-of-state vehicles.

Vehicles designed to carry 16 or more passengers will be charged the bus fee.

Delaware firefighters and EMTs can enter free of charge. Contact the president of your fire company or the Delaware Volunteer Firefighters Association for more information and an application form.

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If youre on an extended stay near any state park locations, daily pass booklets also are available for purchase at any park office and grant passengers one days admission.

Booklets contain six inland park passes for $20 or six ocean park passes for $25 for Delaware-registered vehicles. Out-of-state vehicles can buy a booklet with three inland park passes for $20 or three ocean park passes for $25.

Annual passes

For those of you who already know how beautiful Delawares state parks are and plan to take advantage of them every chance you get, an annual pass may be the best option for you.

Annual pass decals allow your vehicle unlimited year-round entry to all state parks charging an entry fee during the year printed on the sticker. The annual pass does not allow vehicle access to drive on the beach for surf fishing. A separate permit must be purchased.

Annual passes cost $35 for Delaware-registered vehicles and $70 for out-of-state-registered vehicles. Seniors, those 62 years old and up, can get in-state annual passes for $18. Out-of-state passes are $35.

Annual passes for active-duty military personnel cost $17.50. The cost is $35 for non-resident military personnel. Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran passes are free.

Military passes also can be obtained by individuals who are permanent residents of Delaware and are either a veteran who was honorably discharged or a military retiree who served honorably for 20 or more years.

The Assistance Program Pass is available for an annual fee of $10.

You can order an annual pass online (allow three to four weeks for delivery), visit a park office or stop by Carlisle Marine in Smyrna or Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce in Fenwick.

Cape Henlopen State Park offers endless photo opportunities, particularly along the Delaware Bay from the Fishing Pier down to Herring Point. Particular points of interest are the Breakwater East End and Harbor of Refuge lighthouses.

Delaware State Park discounts

Delawares state parks offer several discounts based on various qualifications for individuals wanting to enjoy local offerings.

A senior lifetime pass, available for those ages 65 and over, has a one-time of $65 and can be purchased at any state park office.

The Annual Pass Assistance Program, offered by the states Division of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Health and Social Services, offers an annual state park pass for $10 to anyone receiving assistance from a State Service Center.

Recognized assistance programs include:

Public assistance

General assistance

Medicaid

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)

Child Care Assistance Program

Entry fees for the Brandywine Zoo, Fort Delaware State Park and State Line Beach are not included in this program. More information can be found by calling (302) 739-9220 or by browsing the Assistance Program Brochure.

The America the Beautiful Access Pass issued by the Department of the Interior is available to citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. who have been medically determined to be blind or permanently disabled and, as a result, are eligible to receive benefits under federal law.

Fenwick Island State Park sits mostly empty on a breezy November day. A proposed plan would upgrade the park's amenities in exchange for allowing a Denmark-based company to build a offshore wind connection facility on 1.5 park acres.

Delaware residents with an America the Beautiful Access Pass are exempt from paying seasonal or daily entrance fees to Delaware State Parks.

For family camping on all campgrounds, Delaware residents with an America the Beautiful Access Pass receive a 20% discount. Out-of-state passholders receive a 10% discount.

Passes can be purchased online at store.usgs.gov/access-pass, or at Alapocas Run, Bellevue, Killens Pond and Cape Henlopen State Parks, as well as Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuges.

Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 2023 parking fees, discounts, passes at Delaware State Parks
Editor's Note: This news organization has been telling the stories of unclaimed dead and their impact on the community since 2019. As of this publication, the cremated remains of 85 have found final resting places. But hundreds more remain unclaimed in Bucks and Montgomery counties. Our original "Unclaimed" stories can be accessed on our website, and includes updated names, stories and statuses of the unclaimed dead cases.

On a cold rainy Saturday the life journey of Casimir Shynkaruk finally came full circle.

His long cremated ashes were buried with his parents, Anastasia and John Iwan, in a Ukrainian Catholic cemetery in Montgomery County.

It took 24 years, a curious funeral director, a compassionate county coroner and luck to coordinate this family reunion for the longest held unclaimed remains in the Bucks County Coroners Office.

A box containing the cremated remains of Casimir Shynkaruk waits to be buried in the same plot as his parents, Anastasia and John Ivan on March 25, 2023. Shynkaruk died in 1999 and he was the longest unclaimed decedent in the Bucks County Coroner's office possession.

Bucks County Coroner Meredith Bucks (left), Deputy Coroner Kristina Johnson (center) speak with Michael Nasevich. The three worked together to bury the cremated remains of Bucks County's longest unclaimed decedent on March 25, 2023.

Not much is known about Casimir Shynkaruk, who died in his Bensalem home in 1999, about two weeks shy of his 61st birthday. His thin case file in the coroners office contains few clues about his life.

He was born in western Ukraine. At the time of his death he was a widower and disabled. Notations mentioned he rarely left his home after his wifes death in 1997.

Casimir had not been seen for eight days when on Nov. 1, 1999 a neighbor noticed his mail had piled up. She went to the house to check on him and found him dead.

The name of a man identified as Casimir's late wifes first husband was listed in paperwork. He was able to provide information to the coroners office, but he did not want to take responsibility for Casimir.

Passenger manifest containing the name Casimir Shynkaruk.

Unclaimed no more: Roseellen SmithShe had no one to bury her. Then the Montco coroner and Philadelphia clergy got involved.

National Archive records fill in some information about how Casimir and his family ended up in America. They came to the U.S. in 1949 aboard the U.S.S. General R. M. Blatchford, a ship carrying Polish refugees. A passenger manifest shows Casimir was 11. His mother died three years later at 54. His father died in 1982 at 84.

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His body was taken to the Bucks County Coroners Office, which searched for next-of-kin. His parents were long dead. His death certificate did not list any siblings or children. His wife was buried in a family plot in a Huntingdon Valley cemetery.

Michael Nasevich, a second generation Ukrainian American and funeral director helped find the burial place of Casimir Shynkaruk, who died in 1999 and was unclaimed in Bucks County. He arranged to have his remains buried for free with his parents.

How a name at the top of an unclaimed dead list peaked curiosity

Bucks County resident Michael Nasevich knew nothing about Casimir when he called the Bucks County Coroners Office earlier this month to arrange pick up for a man whose funeral he was handling.

Nasevich is a funeral director for Fletcher & Nasevich in Philadelphia. He also has an great interest in genealogy. He regularly checks the names on the unclaimed dead lists that the coroner offices in Bucks and Montgomery counties started posting online a few years ago.

While waiting to hear back from Bucks County, he started looking at its unclaimed dead list again. He noticed the name Casimir Shynkaruk was the first one listed.

He recognized his first name as Polish. His last name left no doubt for Nasevich that Casimir was Ukrainian. Nasevich, himself a second generation Ukrainian American, was immediately intrigued.

He started looking on a genealogical website for clues about Casimir but he didnt find much. So he started researching his mother, Anastasia Shynkaruk.

Almost immediately her death certificate popped up online. It included the name of the funeral director who arranged her service and where she was buried  St. Marys Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Elkins Park.

As a funeral director, Nasevich is familiar with cemetery caretakers like Walter Wyrsta, the second-generation caretaker for St. Marys. He has worked there 56 years starting beside his father when he was 8, Wyrsta said.

When Nasevich told Wyrsta about Casimir, he immediately agreed to bury his ashes for free. The caretaker also was able to locate the headstone for the Shynkaruks, which like many at the cemetery is written in Cyrillic, the Slavic alphabet.

Bucks County coroner wants to find final resting places for hundreds of unclaimed remains

The next call for Nasevich was to Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck. Since 2020, Buck had made it a priority to find final resting places for the more than 200 unclaimed remains she inherited. Shynkaruk was the longest unclaimed followed by two men who died in 2007.

In a little more than two years as coroner, Buck has moved the cremated remains of roughly 40 people out of the county morgue, more than any of her predecessors. Some remains, more than half military veterans or their spouses, had been in storage for nearly a decade.

Buck also implemented new procedures where staff routinely check unclaimed decedents to see if they are eligible for free interments in veteran cemeteries.

As part of her duties, Deputy Coroner Kristina Johnson reexamines old case files to see if relatives or other arrangements can be found. Those reviews started with the 2020 unclaimed deaths and already are down to the 2013 files.

When Nasevich contacted her about Casimir Shynkaruk, Buck said she was thrilled. She immediately agreed to release the remains and waive the normal fee.

Father Wasyl Kharuk of St Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church performs a panachida at the grave of Casimir Shynkaruk, which until March 25, 2023 were the longest held unclaimed remains in the Bucks County Coroner's office.

Father Wasyl Kharuk of St Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church performs a panachida at the grave of Casimir Shynkaruk, who died in 1999. He was buried on March 25, 2023.

How Bucks honors unclaimed veteransUnclaimed: Bucks County coroner is determined to leave no veteran behind

"That we always remember him in our prayers"

Beneath umbrellas Buck and Johnson joined Nasevich at the brief graveside service Saturday. A Ukrainian Orthodox priest performed a short panachida, a prayer for the dead, and blessed Casimir's ashes. The priest sang and prayed in his native language, before offering two sentences in English.

May he rest in peace and may his memory be eternal. That we always remember him in our prayers. Amen.

After, Nasevich pointed out that his great grandparents are buried a short walk away, so he will make a second stop when he visits them. He made sure an obituary for Casimir was posted online. Next, he plans to add Casimirs first name, birth and death years to his parents' headstone.

As a second-generation funeral home operator, Nasevich said that the dead have been a part of his life since childhood. No one should be left abandoned and forgotten in a storage room, he said.

Its important to me. These people all have lives. They all have stories, Nasevich added. Whether they are small or big, they are important.

Separated as children, reunited at graveSeparated as children, siblings reunite at brother's funeral thanks to efforts of MontCo coroner

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County unclaimed in corones's office since 1999 gets burial
Palm Beach Civic Association Chairman-Elect Michael Pucillo, left, and foreign policy expert Richard Haass talk March 15 as part of the association's Signature Series.

A longtime diplomat and foreign policy expert shared his thoughts on a range of nationally important topics during a recent hourlong conversation.

Richard Haass has been president of the Council on Foreign Relations for 20 years, and previously worked for the U.S. State Department. He has written several books on foreign policy, including The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens, which was released earlier this year.

Haass was interviewed March 15 by Palm Beach Civic Association Chairman-Elect Michael Pucillo at The Beach Club as part of the associations Signature Series.

The wide-ranging discussion included Haass thoughts on the war in Ukraine, U.S.-China relations, tensions between China and Taiwan and Irans nuclear capabilities. Haass also took questions from the audience.

Speaking about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Haass said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a bunch of assumptions heading into the war. The good news is, every single one of them proved wrong, Haass said.

Richard Haass

A little more than a year after the first strike, Putin has gained a little territory and is managing to work around sanctions, Haass noted. But in the long term, there will need to be more compromise, he said.

Im skeptical that either side can prevail militarily, Haass said. I dont believe either side is in a position to dominate the other.

Providing more advanced weapons to Ukraine will not be a game-changer, he said. He also doesnt see any immediate compromise on the horizon.

At the moment, theres no basis for diplomacy, Haass said. At some point, that may change.

So far, Putins strategy has been to play for time, with the expectation that the collaboration between western countries to support Ukraine will fray with the passage of time, Haass said. Our goal is to prove him wrong, he said.

Part of the goal for the U.S. in supporting Ukraine is to continue to make it clear that aggression cannot be used to take land, Haass said.

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We do not want to have a world where countries invade other countries and get away with it, he said. I think its important to show that aggression doesnt pay.

The goal needs to be for Ukraine to return to its 1991 borders and that compensation is made for damages caused by Russia, Haass said.

There has been something good to come out of the war, he noted: Americas alliances have been strengthened.

This has been a real demonstration of the effectiveness of collective action against aggression, Haass said, adding, Its important to see it through, not to get short of breath at this point.

The U.S. relationship with China is an example of where bipartisanship is not productive, in that both sides have joined together to be as tough as tough can be on China, Haass said.

This is going to be the most fateful and important relationship of this century, and I worry about the trajectory its taking, he said. Its getting very close to confrontational.

He called for more diplomacy in the relationship with China, saying the relationship now is the worst hes seen in decades. U.S. officials made a mistake recently when Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China after a Chinese spy balloon made international headlines when it floated across the United States to be shot down by American fighter jets off the east coast, Haass said.

Thats when diplomats ought to get on airplanes, he said. Diplomacy is not a favor. Diplomacy is a national security instrument we ought to employ intelligently so it works in our interest.

Speaking about The Bill of Obligations, Pucillo noted that the book is not a foreign policy book in an overt sense. Haass agreed it is not about foreign policy in a direct sense.

It is a foreign policy book in the sense that the greatest threat to American national security is none of the things weve talked about, but its us, Haass said. Its our domestic cohesion. Its our ability to meet our domestic challenges, to politically come together. Our ability to avoid domestic conflict where we cant agree on the issues. Our ability to set an example that others in the world will want to follow. Our ability to be predictable so our friends feel comfortable depending on us, so our foes are deterred by us.

In writing the book, Haass noted that in three years the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

I just want to make sure the state of American democracy is still worthy of celebration, he said.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: In Palm Beach talk, foreign policy expert stresses importance of democracy
Burkina Faso's ruling junta on Monday suspended all broadcasts by France 24 media in the country, after it aired an interview with the head of Al-Qaeda in North Africa.

"By opening its antennas to the head of AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), France 24 not only acts as a communications agency for these terrorists but also offers ... legitimacy to terrorist actions and hate speech," the junta's spokesman said, referring to the interview on March 6 with AQIM head Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Annabi.

"Therefore the government has decided... to suspend sine die the diffusion of France 24 programmes on national territory," spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said.

On March 6, France 24 broadcast written replies given by al-Annabi to 17 questions posed by the news channel's specialist on jihadist questions, Wassim Nasr.

In early December, the junta in the west African nation suspended Radio France Internationale (RFI), which belongs to the same media group as France 24, accusing the radio station of emitting a "message of intimidation" attributed to a "terrorist chief".

Both RFI and France 24 have been suspended in neighbouring Mali, which is also run by a military junta and is, like Burkina, fighting jihadist forces.

The junta in Ouagadougou said it would continue to "defend the vital interests of our people against anyone who acts as a loudspeaker for terrorist acts and the divisive hate speech of these armed groups".

Burkina Faso witnessed two military coups the last year, led by officers angered at the failure to tackle the threat from jihadist groups.

In March, the ruling junta in Mali announced the suspension of the broadcasting authorisation granted to RFI and France 24, after they published accounts implicating Mali's army in abuses against civilians.

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The late discovery of a major flaw may have killed a sweeping property tax relief bill, which would direct hundreds of millions in state funds to residential homeowners.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoed the bill Monday after a state official found the proposal would put the states bonding ability at risk.

House Bill 292 would leverage the states projected $1.4 billion surplus and sales tax revenue for at least $100 million in property tax credits, while directing another $100 million to school districts to pay off bonds and levies. Analysts found homeowners on average would see about 20% come off their property tax bill in the first year.

The bill also would make it more difficult for schools to pass bonds by eliminating one of four dates school districts could hold bond and levy elections every year. March election dates by far have had the most success for passing school bonds.

Little calls bill a hodgepodge of policy items

The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, a nonpartisan research group, found that the bill would result in 20% property tax relief in the first year. But the relief would vary widely, depending on where someone lives.

An Ada County home with a $300,000 assessed value would see about $500 reduced from a $2,000 property tax bill, the analysis found. The relief would be roughly the same in Canyon County, according to the analysis.

But in a veto letter, Little called the bill a hodgepodge of policy items intermingled with property tax relief. The Republican governor said the proposal jeopardizes ready-to-go transportation projects by re-ordering where sales tax revenues go.

Little also objected to removing the March bond election.

A property tax relief bill this session needs to be simple and carried out in a way that does not harm public schools, does not hold up needed transportation projects, and does not reveal more unintended consequences, Little said in a news release.

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Layne McInelly, president of the Idaho Education Association, the statewide teacher union, said the groups members unequivocally support the governors veto.

By eliminating the March school election date, the most important on the calendar for the passing of school bonds and levies, this legislation risks destabilizing public school finances and puts childrens learning at risk, McInelly said in an emailed statement.

Major flaw leads to veto

Last week, Gerald Hunter, president and executive director of the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, in a letter to Little wrote that the way House Bill 292 prioritizes sales tax fund sources would result in a lower credit rating from national rating agencies and a dip in the states borrowing capacity.

Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, told the Idaho Statesman that lawmakers learned of the major flaw late last week.

I dont think people want to do an override when they understand that the consequences of that are devastating to the ability to issue bonds and have a good credit rating and get good interest rates, Winder said. That could end up impacting every taxing district in the state.

To override a veto, the Legislature would need to vote on the bill again and secure support from two-thirds in each chamber.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little claps delivers his 2023 State of the State address held at the Idaho State Capitol, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, in Boise, Idaho. Gov. Brad Little on Monday vetoed a bill that would provide at least $200 million in property tax relief.

After the governors veto Monday, the Senate quickly patched the property tax relief and school construction funding proposals onto a separate bill, House Bill 198.

Largely the same as the original proposal, the new bill does not include language related to transportation funding that raised concerns, and it excludes the bond and levy election date removal.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill after a brief debate. The only opposition centered on the rushed process. Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, said the Senate didnt have enough time to read the bill.

I feel like this is a disservice to the people that we represent, Carlson said.

The new bill heads to the House, which recessed until Tuesday. House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star, who co-sponsored House Bill 292, told the Statesman that Republicans will discuss how theyll move forward Tuesday.
Lucasfilm could be heading to France to debut the final installment of the Indiana Jones saga. Via Deadline, Disney is currently in talks with the Cannes Film Festival to host the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which would screen the highly-anticipated sequel more than a full month before it hits theaters in June.

The Indiana Jones franchise already has ties to Cannes. In 2008, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had its own debut at the festival. And while reactions to the film were mixed among longtime fans, it still received a four-minute standing ovationnot the longest in the festivals history (that honor belongs to Guillermo del Toros Pans Labyrinth, which clocked in at 22 minutes in 2006), but no small feat nonetheless.

Evidently, no deals have been made yet. But the film has apparently been formally invited to take part in this years festivities. If everything works out, Dial of Destiny will screen on either the second or third day of the event, which takes place from May 16-27. The report also notes that Disneys willingness to premiere the film this far in advance of its theatrical debut indicates a great deal of confidence in the final cut.

Deadline doesnt say whether Dial of Destiny will screen in competition with other festival entries. But that seems unlikely. Still, films of that nature can still make a big impact at the event. Last years Cannes celebration memorably hosted the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick, which went on to become one of the most critically-acclaimed and highest-grossing movies of 2022. The organizers also presented Tom Cruise with an honorary Palme dOr, the top prize awarded by the festival.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens nationwide on June 30.

Are you looking forward to hearing early reactions to the film out of Cannes? Let us know in the comment section below!

Recommended Reading: The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films

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Lincoln Project took aim at Ron DeSantis for saying that he doesnt know where he was on 9/11.

In an advertisement, the Lincoln Project slams the Florida Republican over his remarks during an interview and says hes not ready for primetime.

The ad shows a clip of Mr Morgan asking Mr DeSantis where he was on 9/11. The touted Republican White House contender fumbles and says: I think Id just graduated college and I didnt have a care in the world and all of a sudden, Boom. You know, it happened.

Lincoln Projects Rick Wilson offered commentary on the remark. Every American knows where they were on 9/11, and though he refuses to say it, we know Ron DeSantis was teaching at the elite Darlington school in Georgia on that day. Why he refused to answer has left America questioning his honesty.

Donald Trump branded Piers Morgan a ratings-challenged TV host ahead of his interview with Mr DeSantis.

The former Good Morning Britain host sat down with politician DeSantis, who will likely be Trumps rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on his TalkTV and Fox Nation show Piers Morgan Uncensored.

In the interview, the Florida governor said that he was unfazed by Trump mocking him and nicknaming him Ron DeSanctimonious.

I dont really know what it means, but I kinda like it, he told Morgan, calling the jibes background noise.

.@GovRonDeSantis wants to be the next Republican president, yet he doesnt remember the day every American can never forget. Hes not ready for primetime. pic.twitter.com/wcC0XVzp2L  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) March 25, 2023

You can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because thats what weve been able to do in Florida, is put a lot of points on the board and really take this State to the next level.

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Mr Wilson of the Lincoln Project added: The Piers Morgan interview was the cherry on top of one of the worst rollouts of a Presidential candidate in decades. In a week where his main rival is terrified hes about to be arrested, DeSantis actually managed to come out worse.

He added that flip flops, bad policy, and a terrible interview that reached Mudd-Kennedy proportions gave American and his increasingly nervous donors a view of a candidate who is unready, unsteady, and evasive.

Ron should stick to fighting with cartoon mice, because hes not ready for a banking crisis or a war in Europe, Mr Wilson said.
The boy is back in town.

Getty Images

Prince Harry made a surprise trip back to his homeland on Monday, but not for the reason you'd think. The duke attended the High Court in London for the first day of the trial against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. The company is being sued by Harry, as well as Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley, and Jude Law's ex-wife Sadie Frost for "illegal information gathering," according to People.

The prince arrived looking sharp in a navy suit paired with a royal blue skinny tie, a white button-down, and black dress shoes. According to the outlet, Harry was very attentive during the case, even taking down the occasional notes. His fellow prosecutors sat close by during the four-day trial.

Getty Images

Related:Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are Reportedly "OK" With Moving Out of Frogmore Cottage

This trip marks Harry's first visit across the pond since Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September. People reports that the royal also reached out to his father King Charles and brother Prince William to inform them that he would be in their neck of the woods, though the publication notes it is unlikely that there will be a family reunion. William is enjoying some time off with his wife Kate Middleton and their kids (Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis). The king and his wife, Camilla, Queen Consort, have an engagement in Germany.

It's still unknown if Harry will be traveling back to the U.K. later this spring for his father's coronation. He and his wife Meghan Markle have yet to RSVP for the event, which will take place on May 6. At the beginning of the month, it was confirmed that the Sussexes were, in fact, invited after months of speculation. A source told Vanity Fair that Charles really wants his son to be there.

"Whatever has been said and done, Harry is still his son and he loves him," the source said. "He also cannot imagine being crowned, the most important moment of his life, without both his sons witnessing the moment.

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Former UAB cornerback Starling Thomas will be traveling to Los Angeles for a top-30 visit with the Chargers, according to ESPNs Jeremy Fowler.

Thomas allowed only 257 yards and 22 catches on 58 targets last season with nine pass breakups. For his efforts, Thomas earned an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas, NV.

Thomas made Bruce Feldmans Freaks list, as he won a state title in Alabama in the 100-meter dash in high school after running a 10.4 and was GPS timed at over 24 MPH while at UAB.

At his pro day this past week, Thomas posted a 37.5-inch vertical jump and ran a 4.30 40.

That speed is evident on the field, as Thomas is a fast and physical defender with fluid hips that allow him to mirror well in press coverage. He was also used as a return specialist in college.

With J.C. Jacksons status this upcoming season up in the air, the Chargers need to add more depth at cornerback. Thomas would supply the position group with that and be a candidate to return kicks.

Story originally appeared on Chargers Wire
Public consumption of marijuana may soon be banned as Springfield City Council considers how to regulate cannabis after it was legalized at the state level.

Voters approved Amendment 3 to the Missouri Constitution, legalizing the drug for those over 21. However, the amendment leaves enforcement of regulations to the state and local municipalities. City Council met Monday afternoon to discuss what regulations should be in place.

The draft ordinance would ban marijuana possession for those under age 21. Such possession is already illegal under Amendment 3, but the constitutional change did not institute an enforcement mechanism for police. The proposed regulations would make underage individuals in violation subject to civil fines between $100 and $250. The regulations would also ban those under 21 from possessing "marijuana accessories."

With certain exceptions, those over 21 who possess more than three ounces of marijuana at a time will face escalating fines between $250 and $1,000.

Much of the discussion among councilmembers was over a proposed ban on public consumption of marijuana. Under the draft regulations presented to council, people would be banned from consuming marijuana "in a public place," defined as "any place to which the public or a substantial number of the public have access, or any place which is visible by normal unaided vision from any place where the public or a substantial number of the public has access."

This includes but is not limited to streets, highways, sidewalks, transportation facilities, parks, playgrounds, parking lots, and common areas of public and private buildings. Any use of marijuana that is visible from these areas would be disallowed under the draft provisions. Penalties for this offense would be limited to a $100 fine.

Assistant City Attorney Chris Hoeman noted that these regulations are more stringent than how the city regulates the public use of alcohol or tobacco. Councilmembers later asked this provision to be amended to allow consumption on a person's private property that is visible to the public  such as a private balcony or porch.

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Councilman Abe McGull said there could be reason to treat public consumption of marijuana differently than alcohol or tobacco because of its distinctive odor.

"I think this restriction has a lot to do with the odor that emits from marijuana as opposed to the odor emitted from tobacco. As a society I think we have become somewhat accustomed to the odor of tobacco but the odor of marijuana is the most repugnant thing about (the drug). We can address that because once the odor is out in the public, it may be offensive," he said.

Councilman Craig Hosmer, who has previously been outspoken in his attempts to restrict use of marijuana, believes the city should go much further in protecting the public to the negative effects legalization might bring. He pointed out the proposed language did not specifically criminalize consumption of marijuana in a vehicle.

More:Springfield City Council adopts recreational marijuana regulations before Feb. 6 deadline

Though council later asked staff to include a provision to specify the regulations include those consuming marijuana while in a moving vehicle, Hosmer hoped to go further to ban an open container of marijuana.

Councilman Richard Ollis said he was concerned with over-regulating and creating difficulties for the Springfield Police Department in enforcing these restrictions.

"Initially implementing some very basic things might be the most appropriate. ... Especially something that's so new to us, I'm afraid we're gonna go so deep here that we're gonna just create something that's virtually unenforceable or unmanageable," Ollis said.

Hosmer said the proposed initial regulations would be "more liberal" than many other municipalities.

"Why are we going to do some sort of watered-down version because we want to get something out quick? I'd rather do something right rather than to do it quick ...," he said. "Our obligation is to make sure we have good public policies. We don't know what the impact is going to be. You go more lenient than any other jurisdiction that we've looked at. Doesn't make any sense to me."

Councilman Andy Lear pointed out that unlike alcohol, many containers of marijuana are resealable and so not analogous to a can of alcohol.

Horton said she is concerned too many regulations may affect marginalized residents such as Black or low-income Springfieldians more than others.

"We're putting so many restrictions, and I can't help but to think who is going to disproportionately impact others compared to the public at large. I can't help but to think about that," Horton said.

More:Christian County to vote on marijuana tax, Nixa recall process

With some revisions, City Council plans to bring the proposed regulations up for a vote soon after the April election, once new councilmembers are seated.

City Manager Jason Gage mentioned the possibility of a sales tax on recreational marijuana in Springfield but wanted to wait to have a fuller discussion until after other municipalities vote on such taxes.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: No public consumption of marijuana in proposed council regulation
The Santa Fe District Attorneys office has suffered another blow to its Rust case against Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, as a judge denied its request to replace the recently departed Andrea Reeb with a new special prosecutor.

At a virtual hearing on Monday, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies argued that a new special prosecutor was necessary as her office was suffering from staffing shortages despite receiving $360,000 from the New Mexico state legislature earmarked specifically for forensic investigation and outside counsel related to the Rust case, in which Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in relation to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

We need extra manpower on this case. All the money in the world doesnt help prosecute a case if we cant find the bodies in our office, Carmack-Altwies argued, saying that only 15 of her 24 assistant DA spots are currently filled. We have to be able to look outside of our offices in order to find people. That is our good cause that we do not have the sufficient manpower to fully prosecute this by ourselves. Bringing on a special prosecutor helps with that by taking on some of the burden of prosecution.

Also Read:

Rust Armorer Moves to Block Appointment of Special Prosecutor in Manslaughter Case

That request was denied by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who said that the DAs office had to either prosecute the Rust case itself or delegate it to a special prosecutor and recuse itself completely from the case.

You cannot use [a special prosecutor] unless youre not going to prosecute, the judge said. You may not co-counsel you stay the course and not use a special prosecutor and prosecuted on your own. Its an either or.

Last year, Carmack-Altwies hired Andrea Reeb as a special prosecutor, but Reeb stepped down earlier this month after her position on the case was challenged by Baldwins attorneys, who argued that the state constitution barred her from prosecuting the case as Reeb had just been elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Story continues

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Reeb also was criticized for filing enhancement charges against Baldwin, which could have raised his maximum potential prison sentence if convicted from 18 months to five years but was added to the states penal code after Hutchins death occurred and therefore could not be applied. The enhancement charge was dropped last month.

Reeb stepped down from the case on March 14, saying that she did not want her decisions as prosecutor to distract from the case. Last week, the New York Times uncovered emails in which Reeb asked Carmack-Altwies if she could publicly announce her hiring as special prosecutor to help give her a boost in her state legislature election.

Carmack-Altwies will now have very limited time to determine how the prosecution will carry this case forward, as pretrial hearings for the Rust case start on May 3.

Also Read:

Former Rust Prosecutor Believed Joining Case Might Help Her State Legislature Campaign, Emails Show
Two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin's forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported Monday.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said.

Avdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was shelled 20 times by the Russian artillery and aviation, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

The mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said several explosions shook the city Monday, damaging a building where Russian security forces have been quartered.

Mayor Ivan Fyodorov posted photos of smoke billowing over the area where the Russian barracks are located.

The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, the head of Ukraines presidential office Andriy Yermak said Monday.

Bloom, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived in the Ukrainian capital over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

During his meeting with Zelenskyy, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.

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Fris Supply Shop has a history in Holland more than 120 years old.

Lambertus John Fris was born in 1857 in Friesland, The Netherlands. He immigrated to Holland and, in 1900, purchased a storefront at 30 W. Eighth St.  once the home of Nathan Kenyon and Jacob Van Puttens private bank and then a bookstore selling notions, candy and newspapers.

Under the name L Fris News Depot, Lambertus sold not only books, but stationary. For half the cost of a letter, residents and tourists could send brief messages to friends and family on the back of postcards depicting scenes of Holland.

Lambertus died in 1907, leaving his oldest children, Henry (a salesman) and Christina (a clerk) in charge. At the time, his youngest son, Jacob, was only 10 years old. Still, Jacob helped, selling newspapers to riders on the Interurban and boats that docked at the foot of Eighth Street.

Fris (visible to the right) on Eighth Street during Holland's 1947 Centennial Celebration.

But in 1914, his brother died and his sister married. At the tender age of 17, Jacob had to care for both his mother and the store on Eighth Street. Six years later, in 1920, his mother passed away. This left the future of the business in question. If Jacob wanted to stay in business, he'd have to purchase it from his mothers estate.

But he didn't have the money.

Unfortunately, local bankers weren't helpful. They refused to make such a loan to someone so young. Fortunately, Holland Furnace Company's August Landwehr lent Jacob the money to buy his business. Later, when the owner of the building gave Jacob the choice to buy or leave, Landwehr again helped Jacob with a loan.

It's likely Landwehr wasn't only a personal customer, but a business customer as well. Landwehrs Holland Furnace Company was growing rapidly at the same time Jacob and his wife, Sara, were expanding their business to include everything for the office, including typewriters and office furniture.

To manage their growth, Jacob and Sara split their business into two separate entities: one for news and one for office supplies. They moved the Fris News Company to 109 River Ave.  where it became a wholesale distributor of magazines, newspapers, paperbacks and textbooks.

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After the couple's son, Dale, finished serving in the Air Force during World War II and graduated from Hope College in 1946, he assumed responsibility for both businesses. Mary Muilman, whom Dale married in 1945, joined him.

Fris Downtown now operates under the name Fris Supply Shop, with new signage and a new logo.

In 1956, Dale sold the news division to Chris De Vries, who moved the business to Ninth Street and Columbia Avenue. Dale then moved the office supply business into the building at 109 River Ave.  which he renamed Fris Office Outfitters  leaving the original storefront at 30 W. Eighth St.

As local furniture maker Steelcase produced metal desks with typewriter auxiliary units, wood and steel pedestals, stylish colors, square corners, credenzas and cabinets, Dale strategically turned Fris Office Outfitters into a distributor for Steelcase. He expanded Fris Office Outfitters from one to four locations. During that time, he transitioned the Eighth Street store into Fris Stationers.

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In 1974, Dale and Marys son  J  became a partner in Fris Stationers. He transformed the shop into the Fris Hallmark Shop. Another son, John, became a partner in Fris Office Outfitters. He became president of the consolidated corporation in 1986, just as John Feuer was opening the first OfficeMax in Cleveland.

In the 2000s, Js children  Jonathan, Andrew and Elizabeth  joined the business. In 2010, John became the sole shareholder.

Steve VanderVeen

The business continued to evolve. In 2014, John transitioned the focus of the Eighth Street store from Hallmark to art supplies and gifts. In 2017, John sold the office supply business to the Detroit Pencil Company, now Smart Business Source.

In 2020 Andrew Fris, the sixth generation of his family to own the business, purchased the art supplies and gift shop on Eighth Street from his uncle, John, and rebranded it Fris Supply Shop.

Information for this story comes from Robert Swierengas "Holland, Michigan," alignable.com, timeline.steelcase.com and correspondence with Andrew Fris.

 Community Columnist Steve VanderVeen is a resident of Holland. Contact him through start-upacademeinc.com. He'll be presenting at Herrick District Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland History: Fris Supply Shop has a local history more than a century old
SOUTH BEND  In the wake of a shooting that took the life of 15-year-old Donnie Gray Jr. on March 16, officials have filed criminal charges against another teenage boy in connection to Gray's death and are seeking to adjudicate the case in adult court.

Donnie was killed just before 7 p.m. on March 16 when South Bend police were dispatched to the Prairie Apartments, off of Prairie Avenue, when a 911 caller said a boy had been shot. Donnie was declared dead at the scene and the police department's daily log initially classified the incident as a "negligent homicide."

On Wednesday, St. Joseph County prosecutors filed criminal charges in probate, or juvenile, court, accusing a 16-year-old of firing the shot that killed Donnie. The boy is charged with reckless homicide, a felony, and dangerous possession of a firearm, a misdemeanor.

Prosecutors are also seeking to move the boy's case to superior, or adult, court and Indiana law states a juvenile court shall waive jurisdiction to adult court in cases involving reckless homicide if the accused minor is 16 at the time, unless it would be in the best interests of the child and the safety and welfare of the community for the child to remain within the juvenile justice system."

The Tribune does not typically name juvenile defendants unless they have been waived to adult court.

Police say the 16-year-old was immediately taken into custody after the shooting and he is currently being held at the Juvenile Justice Center. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday for an initial hearing.

Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend teen charged in fatal shooting of 15-year-old boy
Trump supporters have started to arrive at the rally site in Waco, Texas (Josh Marcus)

Donald Trumps kickoff campaign rally in Waco on Saturday featured a gaggle of GOP loyalists from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylore Greene.

But one Republican who wasnt a hot favorite at the sprawling event in the Texas sun? Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida - the former presidents most likely rival in the 2024 Republican primaries.

Many in the crowd told The Independent that Mr Trump still had their support for the top job.

Hes the only one, rallygoer David Lee said while dressed in a royal costume he said was in honour of King Trump.

Others in Waco were more supportive of Mr DeSantis but said he should wait his turn before taking on Mr Trump.

DeSantis is great, but I think he needs to let Trump do four more years, Tammy Pavelka of Waco told The Independent. Hell take over the next eight.

From the stage, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell went further, going directly after the Florida Republican and calling him Trojan horse Ron DeSantis.

The best thing he can do is endorse Donald Trump tomorrow morning, Mr Lindell told the crowd, to applause.

For its part, the Trump campaign has no love lost for its former ally DeSantis. In recent weeks, Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked Mr DeSantis online.

The Trump campaign recently said working with Mr DeSantis, potentially as a vice president, is a very unlikely alliance.

Ive never even thought of it, Mr Trump said earlier this week.

At the Waco rally, amid a sea of Trump memorabilia - cowboy hats, buttons, flags on pickup trucks - there were a few who were more critical of Mr Trump.

Chris, who asked to use only his first name, said that he would rather see Mr DeSantis as the nominee for 2024 because he believes he has a better chance of winning the White House.

To the Austin resident, anyone is better than a Democrat, so the candidate with the best chance of doing so should go ahead.

Id rather see DeSantis because he has a better chance of winning, he said.

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While he supported Mr Trumps policy choices while he was in the White House, he felt that the former president often said such outrageous things that his achievements were ignored.

Trumps off-putting to a lot of people, he told The Independent.

He gives the media a lot of ammo to focus on things that dont really matter. And some at the rally were done with party politics altogether. They just wanted change.

I dont rate as a Republican or a Democrat anymore, Laurie Mogni also said. Im a patriot. I want our country back.
BOSTON  Without legislative action to fund grants, increase wages for early childhood education workers and open the door for more families to qualify for financial assistance to pay for care, Massachusetts stands to lose its dedicated pre-K teaching workforce.

Teachers cant afford to do the job, said Jarred Rose, pre-K teacher in Stoughton and co-chair of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Rose said he's seen teachers leave their jobs and even leave Massachusetts because they can no longer afford housing, commuting and living costs. Our teachers love their jobs, love working with children, but cant afford to do it anymore.

Rose, who went from a position in the state Senate as a legislative aide to his current position as a teacher, was speaking at an information session in support of two bills Wednesday.

Pre-K teacher Jarred Rose urges state legislators Wednesday at the Statehouse in Boston to support bills that would fund grants and salaries for early childhood education centers and workers.

The bills would provide direct funding to care centers and increase workers' wages. The measures would also provide financial assistance to more families seeking care for their offspring. The state estimates that 16,000 children are on waiting lists for placement in early education centers. The nuts and bolts of the funding sources and delivery of financial aide to centers was not addressed in either bill.

The sponsor of the House bill, Kenneth Gordon, D-Bedford, told the State House News Service that the support for the measure is clear.

"I think it's a priority for all of us. It's a question of looking into the details about where the funding comes from, how it's going to be organized and arranged and really just the 'how to's.' It's not about the 'should we's.' It's the 'how to's,'" Gordon said.

Instability in child care worsens outcomes for youngsters

I work with 5-year-olds teaching them how to read, make friends, do math and understand the world around them, Rose said. He said inconsistency and instability in the early childhood education field has a devastating effect on youngsters. The constant shift in care providers he sees in his own workplace translates to children losing trust in adults.

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When theres no continuity in the classroom, children arent learning their lessons, Rose said. Three of his colleagues left the field in the last two months. Its the children who are hurt at the end of the day.

The information session was hosted by Common Start Coalition, a group of more than 150 organizations leading a campaign to address the early childhood education and child care crisis.

Legislation funds centers, opens voucher accessibility

Our mission is to ensure that all families have the care solutions they need and that all children in our commonwealth have the same strong start and enter school on a level playing field, said Amy OLeary, executive director of Strategies for Children. We know there is strong support for Common Starts vision and policy proposals, and we are excited to work with the Legislature to pass comprehensive early education and child care legislation this year.

Tiffany Jenkins, a single parent and college student, speaks at a Common Start Coalition information session Wednesday at the Statehouse in Boston, where she urged legislators to support the measures that would open access to affordable child care to many more Massachusetts residents. Amy O'Leary, left, executive director of Strategies for Children, listens.

The proposed legislation, one bill filed in the Senate, the other in the House, would establish permanent funding that would be allocated directly to care providers based on a centers capacity. The measures would offset provider costs including higher salaries for teachers, bringing them to par with teachers in the public school system. The measures would also offer provider grants, similar to the Commonwealth Cares for Children program.

The Senate unanimously passed a similar measure in the last legislative session; however, it failed to pass both houses. Both legislative leaders, Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, and House Speaker Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, indicated that assistance for early education would be a priority for them. Currently, 81 representatives and 23 senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bills filed by Sens. Jay Lewis, D-Winchester, and Susan Moran, D-Falmouth, and Rep. Adrian Madaro, D-Boston, with Gordon.

The proposed bills, "An Act providing affordable and accessible high-quality early education and care to promote child development and well-being and support the economy in the commonwealth," would also provide families with financial assistance to unlock high-quality care opportunities. At first, families living at or below 85% of the state median income would be prioritized. Massachusetts median income, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, reached $89,026 in 2021. A family of two people would qualify for assistance earning a salary of $78,571 a year. The parent would be eligible for child care vouchers.

Slight differences in the proposed legislation would open subsidies to middle-income families as federal funding becomes available. The House bill would allow families living at 125% of the states median income to apply for vouchers. The Senate bill would open the voucher availability to families making 200% of the states median income.

Mass. has highest child care costs in US

Massachusetts has the highest child care costs in the nation, according to the Economic Policy Institute, ranging between $16,000 and $20,000 per child per year, depending on the age of the child. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology living wage calculator, a single parent with one child must earn $45.57 an hour, or $94,785 (pre-taxes) a year, to be able to afford to live in the state, pay for housing, child care, food, transportation and incidental costs.

Tiffany Jenkins of Hyde Park stayed home with her daughter for two years while waiting for a voucher that would allow her to enroll the girl in a care center.

It wasnt easy to get a voucher and there was a long waiting list, Jenkins said. A single mother, she works as a concierge at a local hospital, has completed her associate degree in business and is now seeking a four-year degree at Endicott College. She also studies carpentry.

A way out of poverty

I have child care now, Jenkins said. She detailed the difficulties she experienced in her quest for a child care voucher including the mountains of paperwork, the lack of communication and the lack of assistance when she was searching for openings and availability.

Jenkins also detailed some of the benefits of having consistent, affordable child care. The financial assistance allows her to pursue her own education, allows her to complete her daily tasks (housework, shopping, studying) while it enhances her daughters educational preparedness for elementary school and allows her to socialize with other children.

It will help me get out of poverty, Jenkins said of the child care voucher.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Without guaranteed funding, Mass. could lose early childhood educators
[Source]

A man now dubbed as Vancouvers serial racist has been caught in yet another anti-Chinese rant, this time at a new dessert shop in the Canadian city.

The man, identified by Richmond News as Peter Hanssens, appears to have a well-documented history of harassing Asian people, typically claiming to be a lawyer and demanding that they go back to China each time.

The latest incident occurred at an Asian dessert shop called Hui Lau Shan on Buswell Street and Cook Road.

In the video posted on TikTok, Hanssens can be seen arguing with one of the shops servers, challenging her nationality in front of another worker.

More from NextShark: 11-year-old boy in China helps single dad run food stand for 17 hours a day

@patpatchoichoi Soft opening for a dessert store in Richmond, BC. Man comes in asking to borrow their washroom then complains about there isnt enough english on their menu. Then goes on to tell the employee if they aint Canadian they should go back to China. @Globalnews.ca @Daily Hive @dailyhivevancouver  original sound - user1184001711839

So what are you? Are you a Canadian? Hanssens questions. Im asking you a question, are you a Canadian? If youre saying youre Chinese, then go back to China.

TikTok user @patpatchoichoi, who posted the video, claimed that the incident started after the then-unidentified Hanssens came in to use the shops washroom and complained about a lack of English in their menu. He then allegedly verbally attacked the server, whom he also accused of being disrespectful.

More from NextShark: Japanese Multiplication Trick is the Best First Thing Youll Learn in 2021

Hanssens has been filmed making anti-Chinese rants in at least three incidents since 2020.

The first involved a group of friends who were waiting for their lunch at the Vancouver Convention Center. For no apparent reason, Hanssens allegedly approached them and started talking about his views on China and Chinese people.

He told the group: Were frigging mad When the Chinese immigrate, thats a conscious decision, right? They immigrate here, they learn English, right? They accept Canadian culture, and they act accordingly, right? They dont change Richmond or wherever else they go into Little China.

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More from NextShark: In diplomatic meeting of VPs, Kamala Harris tells Sara Duterte: 'I love lumpia'

He added, We expect them to learn English, and we expect them to blend into the Canadian culture They are no longer in shing ging or bing bing or ding ding  whatever you want to call it.

Hanssens eventually walked away from the group. As the video went viral, he penned an apology via Richmond News, saying he was the guilty party who made unwarranted and racist remarks to an innocent party of people waiting in line for lunch.

More from NextShark: 'Bad game of Russian roulette': 'Blindsided' ex-Google employee documents her layoff in viral video

It would not be the last time, however.

The following year, Hanssens showed up to a Stop Asian Hate rally in Richmond-Brighouse Canada Line station.

He allegedly got involved in a heated argument with one of the rallys volunteers.

If you want to still live like you are in China, stay in China. Eat your Chinese foodI am angry at the Chinese culture, he says in a video of the incident, which was posted on Facebook.

At one point, he also states: Youre no different than any other culture, youre not special and you give that impression.

The third incident occurred last August at the same train station.

This time, Hanssens berated two Asian women for not speaking in English.

The moment was also caught in a viral TikTok video by bystander Donna Damaso, who intervened in the situation.

If we have to bend over backward to accommodate, then thats a problem. Why do we have to bend over backwards? You move to Japan, you speak Japanese, Hanssens tells Damaso in the video.

Hanssens claimed to be a lawyer in at least two of the incidents. Following a complaint, the Law Society of British Columbia reportedly issued Hanssens a warning to stop making such representations.
The Duke of Sussex made a surprise appearance in London on Monday, attending the High Court for a legal case against Associated Newspapers Ltd for illegal information gathering

Samir Hussein/WireImage Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry

Prince Harry is back in the U.K.  but he likely won't see King Charles or Prince William during his visit.

The Duke of Sussex, 38, made a surprise appearance in London on Monday, attending the first day of a legal case in which he and other prominent figures, including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for illegal information gathering.

It marked the first time Prince Harry, who relocated to California with Meghan Markle and their family in 2020 after stepping back from their royal roles, returned to the U.K. since the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in September. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were already in Europe for a series of charity events when his grandmother died at age 96.

PEOPLE understands that Prince Harry flew to London to show his support for the case and informed both King Charles, 74, and Prince William, 40, that he would be in the U.K. for the proceedings. However, it's unlikely that Harry will see his father or brother during the trip.

Related:Will Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Attend King Charles' Coronation? What We Know So Far

Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images Prince Harry

Prince William is not at his Windsor home while he and his wife, Kate Middleton, spend time with their three children during a school break. The Prince and Princess of Wales typically try to keep royal duties to a minimum  and often escape to their country home of Anmer Hall in Norfolk  while Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, are off from school.

King Charles was scheduled to be in France this week for the first overseas tour of his reign. However, the trip was postponed due to increasingly-violent riots across the country.

King Charles and Queen Camilla, 75, will continue with their plan to visit Germany, arriving on Wednesday for the tour.

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John Sibley - WPA Pool/Getty Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles

It's unclear where Prince Harry is staying during his visit to the U.K. Although a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan's Archewell Foundation confirmed to PEOPLE earlier this month that the couple was "requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage," their U.K. home in Windsor, it's not certain when they will officially move out.

A source recently told PEOPLE that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are "matter-of-fact" about being requested to leave Frogmore Cottage and aren't trying to overturn the decision. The source added that Harry and Meghan, 41, are happy to raise their two children  3-year-old son Prince Archie and 1-year-old daughter Princess Lilibet  in California.

Related:Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Eviction from U.K. Home Is 'Just the Start' of King Charles' Slim-Down Plan

Chris Jackson/Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

It's also still unclear if Prince Harry and Meghan will return to the U.K. in May for the King's coronation.

A spokesperson for the couple told The Sunday Times in a statement earlier this month, "I can confirm The Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty's office regarding the coronation."

However, Harry and Meghan's spokesperson added that their attendance wasn't confirmed yet. "An immediate decision on whether The Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time," the statement continued.

Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images Prince Harry

On Monday, Prince Harry watched intently during the High Court proceedings, sometimes taking notes, from his seat two rows behind the leading lawyers in the case. The four-day hearing will consider legal arguments from both sides and will conclude with a judge's ruling on whether the case should go to trial. Associated Newspapers are arguing that the case should be thrown out.

When it was announced in October 2022, Prince Harry's lawyers claimed that he was among seven individuals who had "become aware of compelling and highly distressing evidence that they have been the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by Associated Newspapers."

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

The claimants alleged in their lawsuit that unlawful practices included the placement of listening devices in their cars and homes by private investigators, the surreptitious recording of private telephone calls, the payment of police "with corrupt links to private investigators" for sensitive information, impersonation to obtain medical information from hospitals and care facilities and illicit manipulation into accessing bank accounts, credit histories and other financial transactions.

Associated Newspapers deny the allegations, calling them "preposterous smears," the BBC reported.

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Read the original article on People.
On a Thursday night in Brooklyn's Industry City, a medium-sized crowd is milling around sipping on CBD-infused bubbly drinks and wine in plastic cups. The occasion? A celebration of some of history's greatest flops  literally.

The Museum of Failure, a traveling exhibit which first debuted in Sweden in 2017 has arrived in New York. The pop-up, which is the brainchild of clinical psychologist Dr. Samuel West, will spend a two month stint entertaining patrons in the Big Apple.

Jim Somoza, the Director of Development at Industry City says the the exhibit seemed "on brand" for the industrial park which is home to a number of creator spaces and retailers. The off-beat, out-of-the-box nature of the exhibit turns the very idea of what should be a museum on its head, he adds.

Here are some of the highlights:

Detergent that destroys clothes?

Sometimes high-strength is a bit too high. Persil detergent ended up destroying the clothing it was meant to cleanse.

Inside the museum glass cases house the failures themselves. One display has a box of Persil Power Detergent, a product which hit the shelves in 1994 only to destroy the very clothing it sought to cleanse. Needless to say, not a customer favorite.

Medical mishaps

The medical section of the exhibit is perhaps the most disturbing. A failure in this industry is, of course, costly in a different way.

This particular tableau includes tools for a frontal lobotomy, a copy of Inc. Magazine with disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on the cover, and a box of Rely Tampons. Branding for the feminine hygiene product claims it even absorbs worry a statement proven less true when the blend of carboxymethylcellulose and polyester began to give women toxic shock.

Nearby the display Erica Siciliano, 32, and Liz Thompson, 32 joked about the boardroom meeting that took place before the launch of that product. How many women do you think were in that room? Siciliano said, "probably none."

Get fit sitting down?

The "hula chair"

The tone was largely informal, with most exhibits seemingly meant to be talkers  more fodder for a few chuckles and some lively debate than serious reflection.

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Johanna Guttmann, the exhibit's director, pointed patrons toward the hula chair a gyrating contraption meant to build the abdominal muscles. Imagine working from home like this she joked to a crowd of visitors while the chair swung her in circles.

Trump: Success or failure?

Before he was president he was ... a meat maven? There were several Trump-dedicated displays at the museum. Another showcased Trump: The Game, essentially monopoly with higher money amounts.

In a testament to the enduring cultural power of the strongman, both Elon Musk and Donald Trump had their own display.

While Musks was confined to one wall, Trump has both a wall and a few glass cases. A Trump board game which appears to be a Monopoly knockoff and Trump's signature line of steaks each had their own section, accompanied by large wall art reading 'Make America Fail Again.'

BIC For Her

The pen company, still a mainstay in the American office supply market, stepped in it supremely in 2012, releasing 'BIC For Her' a line of pens meant just for women. Designed "to fit comfortably in a woman's hand" the purple and pink writing utensils ended up being a PR nightmare.

One Amazon review for the product reads "I got these pens partly because people made fun of the fact that they were for women. I got them to write anti-feminist articles. Really I thought if I bought them I might actually get good at things like vacuuming and washing dishes and decorating. The pens work great but I'm still not very good at homemaking. Dang."

Soda flavored Oreos?

Further into the museum a section dedicated entirely to Oreos was wallpapered various failed flavors of the sandwich cookies. Oreo, which usually has 20 different flavors in rotation at a time, uses the many experimental varieties as a marketing tactic to boost sales of the original.

Some become fan favorites and stick around. Notably not on that list? Limeade or Cherry Cola Oreos.

Oreo regularly has 20 flavors in rotations but has experimented with countless varieties over the years.

Failure and success: Two sides of the same coin

Many of the museums displays feature products from brands with national recognition  Levi Strauss, Facebook, ESPN. The underlying theme being: these are companies that achieved great success, that didnt make them immune to failure. One phenomenon cant exist without the other.

"We need to accept failure if we want progress," Dr. West tells me nearby a case of Trump-brand steaks.

Society looks up to the innovator, he explains, but has very little tolerance for failure. In his work as a clinical psychologist, West arrived at the idea for the museum by studying anxiety in patients. The fear of failure is an anticipatory anxiety, he says. The museum's exhibits are meant to present the thesis that failing isn't always as traumatic as you imagine, and may even be essential to later successes.

So you wont be heading to the frozen section to pick up a microwave lasagna made by Colgate toothpaste, or a bottle of Harley Davidson cologne  not all innovation excites, some of it flounders, teaching its parent company a lesson and providing a laugh or a bit of nostalgia once the dust settles.

The nostalgia in particular can build a nice cross-generational experience, West notes, grandparents who come with their families can point out all the inventions they remember hitting the scene decades ago, he says.

It's a lesson best taught early in life  to achieve greatly sometimes you first have to fail greatly. There are plenty major brands that live to tell that tale.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At the Museum of Failure, a celebration of famous brands' 'flop era'
A mayor and a museum director in Italy are bashing the resignation of a Florida principal who stepped down after parents complained about Michelangelo's iconic David statue being included in their children's lesson plans, claiming it was pornographic.

In a tweet, Florence Mayor Dario Nardella said he would "personally invite" the American educator to the city, home of the statue, to "give her recognition on behalf of the city," adding that "art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect." Confusing art with pornography is "ridiculous," Nardella wrote.

Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dellAccademia, where the David resides, invited the principal, school board, parents and student body to view the purity of the statue.

To think that David could be pornographic means truly not understanding the contents of the Bible, not understanding Western culture and not understanding Renaissance art, Hollberg said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speak during a press conference in front of Michelangelo's "David statue" after their bilateral summit in Florence, Italy, on Jan. 23, 2015. The head of Florences Galleria delAccademia on Sunday March 26, 2023 invited the parents and students of a Florida charter school to visit and see Michelangelos David, after the school principal was forced to resign following parental complaints that an image of the nude Renaissance masterpiece was shown to a sixth-grade art class.MIC101

Resign or be fired

Hope Carrasquilla, former principal at Tallahassee Classical School, was asked last week to either resign or be terminated from her position at the charter school. She resigned after an ultimatum from the school board's chairman.

One parent complained the material was pornographic, and two other parents said they wanted to be notified of the lesson before it was given to their children, Carrasquilla said. The instruction also included Michelangelos Creation of Adam painting and Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

It saddens me that my time here had to end this way, Carrasquilla told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Chopper crash kills two police officers: Two police officers dead after helicopter crashes into sugar cane field in Louisiana

'Be nice': Educational model wanted students 'to be nice.' That's controversial in Florida now under DeSantis.

A centuries-old debate

The David's nudity has been part of a centuries-old debate about art pushing boundaries and the rules of censorship. In the 1500s, metal fig leaves covered the genitals of statues like David when the Roman Catholic Church considered nudity immodest and obscene.

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The dispute in Florida prompted social media users to point out similarities to a 1990s episode of The Simpsons where characters debate censorship of the David.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: David statue prompts Florida teacher's resignation; Italians respond
Germany has delivered promised Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, providing Kyiv with much-needed heavy weaponry against Russia.

"Yes, we delivered Leopard tanks as we announced," Scholz told a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Rotterdam when asked to confirm a report in news outlet Spiegel.

The report said Berlin had delivered 18 of the advanced Leopards, with the last of the tanks having left Germany at the end of last week, before being handed over to Ukraine at the border.

About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also arrived in Ukraine, Spiegel said, adding Berlin was keeping the route of the deliveries secret for security reasons.

The German defence ministry declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Ukrainian soldiers were trained on the 2A6s, the most advanced of the Leopard models, on German military bases.

At the end of January, Berlin finally gave the green light for German-made Leopards, among the world's most advanced tanks and used by militaries across Europe, to be sent to Ukraine.

Under German law, any country wanting to send the tanks to another country must first get approval from Berlin.

Scholz's government initially said it was aiming to assemble, along with allies, two battalions of tanks for Kyiv, about 60 tanks in total.

But they have since struggled to get the numbers together.

The German and Dutch cabinets held a special joint session in the port city of Rotterdam on Monday at the huge, mirrored depot of the Boijmans Van Beuningen art museum.

Scholz and Rutte said they had discussed military support for Ukraine and their "unique" military cooperation, which involves Germany and the Netherlands merging some of their armed units.

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Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, made an unexpected appearance in a United Kingdom courtroom on Monday.

Harry, who now lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children, appeared in person at the High Court in London for a hearing on a lawsuit he, Elton John and other celebrities have brought against a group of British tabloids.

Harry and John, as well as filmmaker David Furnish and actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, are among those suing Associated Newspapers Ltd., the publisher of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline.

John and Furnish, the pop star's husband, as well as Frost, were all seen arriving at court as well.

PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, center, arrives at the Royal Courts Of Justice, in London, March 27, 2023. (Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire/PA via AP)

The case, first announced last year, alleges the celebrity defendants are "the victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy," according to a press release shared last year by Hamlins, the London-based law firm representing Harry and Frost in the case.

PHOTO: Elton John arrives at the High Court in London, March 27, 2023. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

In the press release, the law firm alleges that Associated Newspapers Ltd. hired private investigators to "secretly place listening devices inside people's cars and homes," commissioned individuals to "surreptitiously listen into and record people's live, private telephone calls while they were taking place," paid "police officials, with corrupt links to private investigators, for inside, sensitive information," impersonated individuals "to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centers by deception," and accessed "bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation."

Associated Newspapers Ltd., denied the allegations, telling ABC News in a statement last year that the company "utterly and unambiguously refute these preposterous smears which appear to be nothing more than a pre-planned and orchestrated attempt to drag the Mail titles into the phone hacking scandal concerning articles up to 30 years old."

"These unsubstantiated and highly defamatory claims -- based on no credible evidence -- appear to be simply a fishing expedition by claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere," the publisher said in its statement.

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Harry's trip to the U.K. marks his first public appearance there since last September, when he and Meghan attended the funeral and other events to mark the death of Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The trip is also Harry's first return to his home country since the January publication of his bestselling memoir, "Spare."

MORE: Prince Harry's memoir 'Spare' is released: 8 surprising details we learned

The memoir is a detailed account of Harry's rift with his family, his decision to leave his senior royal role in 2020 and how he felt growing up as the "spare" to his older brother Prince William, the heir to the throne.

It is not believed that Harry is meeting with his father, King Charles III, or his brother William while he is in the U.K.

PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives at the High Court in London, March 27, 2023. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

Charles, William and other members of the royal family have not publicly commented on the claims Harry makes in "Spare."

It is also not known where Harry is staying during his time in the U.K. Earlier this month, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan confirmed that the couple had been asked to "vacate" Frogmore Cottage, where they had lived in Windsor since 2019.

MORE: Prince Harry, Meghan share news about King Charles coronation

Harry and Meghan have not yet confirmed whether or not they plan to attend Charles's coronation in May, though a spokesperson for the couple confirmed this month that they have received an invitation to the coronation.

Prince Harry is in UK but questions remain about Charles, William reunion originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
The whole family jammed to the music at a Maroon 5 concert.

Behati Prinsloo, 34, finally revealed a small peek at her third child with husband Adam Levine, 44, while sharing a handful of pictures from a family trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Levine's band, Maroon 5, performed.

One of the photos showed the feet of the couple's 2-month-old baby, whose sex and name have not yet been revealed, as they rested on mom's ripped jeans.

Instagram/Behati Prinsloo

The model captioned the photo dump, "Vegas week 1  @maroon5," as the band just started a residency in Las Vegas that will continue with dates in April, July, and August.

In the rest of the pictures, Prinsloo shared a bit of behind-the-scenes moments, with her two daughters, Dusty Rose, 6, and Gio Grace, 5, hanging out during rehearsal and throughout the first couple of concerts.

There were also snaps of Prinsloo's stylish outfit and some after-concert drinks.

Fellow South African supermodel Candice Swanepoel commented, "," and celebrity makeup artist Nikki DeRoest added, "."

"Congrats on your new baby ," said one fan.

Levine spoke with People about his band's Las Vegas residency and what led to the decision to do it, saying, "It's close to home and no one has to deal with, you know, traveling 10 hours with kids and jet lag. It felt right. It felt really, really sweet to have everybody here. I wouldn't have wanted to do it without them."

"I think we've kind of gotten to the point where we've almost just done it all. We've been doing it for this crazy long amount of time, and so we thought [a Vegas residency] was kind of the logical next step because it was something that we had never embarked upon," he continued. "Also, over the years, Vegas has become this kind of beacon for everybody...The timing of it all just makes sense to us."

Prinsloo and Levine announced that they had welcomed their third child together in January, but this is the first time they've shared anything else about the baby.
Here's hoping Chase returns home soon.

Kristen St. Pierre, a female platoon commander for the Georgia Army National Guard, was deployed in Afghanistan in 2019. Her partner was a drug-sniffing dog named Chase. Chase's skill set was explosives and narcotics, and he would lead the route and conduct security sweeps of the perimeter before meetings.

When St. Pierre's tour ended, Chase stayed behind. She received regular updates about the pup until Kabul fell. It wasn't until the the American founder of Kabul Small Animal Rescue, Charlotte Maxwell-Jones, was able to reunite Chase with his handler after two years of waiting.

CBS News reports For almost a year, St. Pierre had no news about Chase until a mutual contact told her about KSAR. Unbeknownst to St. Pierre, Maxwell-Jones had found Chase at kennels owned by a local mine detection company. Back in the United States, St. Pierre had been searching KSAR's social media accounts daily, hoping to see a photo of Chase. Finally, one day she did. She contacted the animal rescue and told them about their time in Afghanistan and the work that Chase did. She asked about the process to get him to the U.S. and if it was possible to adopt him.

People on Facebook are so touched by this story and @Jackie Pifer comments, "Good luck hope you get Chase back."

The same CBS News report states Maxwell-Jones has been working on securing permissions for Chase to leave Afghanistan, but paperwork and bureaucracy have held up his departure. When Chase can leave the country and be reunited with St. Pierre is still unknown.

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Protestors and a bomb threat were amid the obstacles that delayed the Kentucky chapter of Drag Queen Story Time's show Sunday.

Around 2 p.m., a bomb threat forced security volunteers to evacuate the building and sidewalk at No Kill Louisville on Northwestern Parkway, sending people to their cars. The incident followed threats earlier in March that a neo-Nazi group might protest this month's event, prompting organizers to increase security measures.

Katie Bryan, treasurer of Drag Queen Story Time, said the events left her "terrified" and "uncomfortable" for attendees but organizers were prepared.

"We immediately leapt into action. We did receive an email that explained everything, had a location on it. The problem is that they put the wrong address on the threat, but we knew that they were targeting us because they mentioned No Kill Louisville specifically," Bryan said.

Background: 'High alert isn't fun': Louisville LGBTQ+ groups get proactive on protection as threats rise

"If your safety doesn't matter, then what's the point of being here?" Miller asked. "I just want to make sure that is clear."

A group of fewer than 10 protestors appeared shortly after the evacuation; one holding a picture of Jesus and others with rosaries. Another person held a sign that read "Drag Queen Story Time is child abuse."

Security guards created a barrier to keep protestors away from the property and members of the Parasol Patrol held rainbow umbrellas in front of children to block their view of the protestors. Some children shielded their eyes while in line.

Protests come after the Kentucky general assembly passed sweeping anti-trans Senate Bill 150, which would have banned gender-affirming care for trans youth, among several other provisions. The bill was vetoed Friday by Gov. Andy Beshear.

More:We celebrated my husband's 90th birthday at a drag show. What are people afraid of?

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SB 150 is only one of several anti-LGBTQ or anti-trans bills filed by the Kentucky legislature this year, dubbed the assembly's "slate of hate," by Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign. It's one of hundreds of similar bills filed by state governments across the U.S., according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

John Rice, whose drag name is "Tova Ura Vitch,"  though she went by "Tova" on Sunday  performed as Disney characters Elsa and Moana. Rice said drag queens are often confused with strippers or adult entertainers, but that isn't the case.

"There's a time and a place for everything, and these people are just thinking we are just out here exploiting ourselves in a sexual manner, and that's not what it is at all," Rice said. "We're here to just spread love and acceptance."

Rice, a business owner, husband and father of three, has also fostered 11 children with his spouse. He said the couple adopted their two girls about a month ago after they spent 900 days in foster care.

Anti-drag bills in Kentuckymake the Jewish holiday Purim hit differently this year

Rice said drag and story time is often not what people imagine.

"Come out and just experience it for yourself, and then make your judgment, because I have a feeling that it'll turn," he said.

Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Drag Queen Story Time Louisville event delayed by bomb threat
Here's how to taste the best wines of Bordeaux, Champagne, Piedmont, and beyond without leaving the United States.

Courtesy of Wine Bar George

I will be totally honest with you: the first time a friend suggested she and I go to Wine Bar George just a few months after it opened in May 2018 at Walt Disney World, I was not interested at all. I love great wine and I love Disney, but up until that point, I had not seen a lot of overlap between the two.

But as soon as I walked through the front doors with their gnarled vine handles, I knew I was somewhere special.

I wanted the feeling that this is an oasis, that you were walking out of Disney and into another place, another world, says owner George Miliotes. The restaurant is in Disney Springs, the shopping and dining district thats part of the Walt Disney World resort, but not in a park. You walk in and you feel like youre in Napa Valley, or youre in Tuscany, or Provence, and the winemakers behind the bar and he takes you through their wares.

Miliotes is a master sommelier, one of only 273 worldwide who have ever had that title, and hes running a wine program at the restaurant thats unlike any other in America. Wine Bar George offers every one of the 140 wines on its list by the ounce, glass, and bottle.

Theres a place in England that has about 1,000 choices, but its a private club, Miliotes says. The other place is in Toulouse, France, and they do, like, 2,000 wines with Coravin. So its being done, but its not being done here.

Courtesy of Wine Bar George

The restaurants menu is primarily small plates like miso-roasted vidalia onion, roasted pork belly with bourbon-honey glaze, and saganaki on fire, a showstopper appetizer that involves Greek cheese flambeed tableside. There are also a few entrees and family style dishes, and a wine country brunch on weekends with shakshuka and carmel apple French toast. But the food is designed to complement the wine, the way wineries build their tasting menus, and not the other way around. You can try a little plate with whatever wine you want and we'll take you through the wine, Miliotes says.

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If the restaurant were in New York or Los Angeles, or even Dallas or Chicago, it would be splashed across magazine covers as a travel-worthy destination for wine lovers. But its at Disney, so it gets overlooked by serious wine lovers, or people who arent already inclined to visit a theme park.

You can't go to Bordeaux and taste all five first growths from 2009, one ounce each, Miliotes says. You'd have to buy it at each winery, and then open the bottles yourself. But you can at his restaurant. I can't say in the beginning we saw this opportunity being as big as it was, but [eventually] we all had this idea that this could be something really special.

Related:Everything You Need to Drink at Disney World, According to a Veteran Park-Goer

The list has a lot of the famous names youd expect  like a 2009 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild or Chateau Latour, both of which go for $900 a glass  but the real genius of Wine Bar George is the totally unpretentious atmosphere of the place, which still has an eye toward value. Every time I go, Miliotes asks me what I want to drink, and my answer is always: What are you excited about right now? He might pour a glass of Spanish rose that he thinks is the best value on the market (right now, an $8 glass of Protocolo from La Mancha), or an even less-expensive selection from Bulgaria or Croatia.

I like the idea that anybody can come in here and talk about wine, Miliotes says. One of the major drivers is that we are, for lack of a better way to put it, egalitarian about wine  because it is really easy to be snotty about it.

Ive seen it myself, over and over: someone comes in and takes a seat at the bar, a little bit intimidated by the expansive list, unsure of what to order. What do you like? the bartender will ask. The person will name a varietal, and in a moment, three bottles appear on the bar. The bartender will pour tastes of all of them and explain the differences between each. What they pick for the guest, almost every time, is a glass in the $10 to $15 range.

Courtesy of Wine Bar George

Sometimes guests on their way out are like, Wow, I never really thought that Id come to a restaurant and learn something, Miliotes says. Thats the highest iteration of good that could ever happen. Thats wonderful when somebody walks out and realizes, There was something different about that experience than what I normally have.

The unspoken part of that thought is that theres something different about the experience than what people normally have at Disney. People often assume that a theme park is an experience inherently geared towards children, and that theres nothing interesting or enriching for adults in that kind of trip. But in between the churros and the roller coasters and the cartoon mice, there are epicurean experiences that are truly memorable.

Miliotes perspective on value at each price point is refreshing, especially considering how much prices at Disney parks and resorts have gone up in the last few years. There are $9 glasses and there are $100 glasses, he says. They have to show value for what their price iswe are always looking for that unicorn that drinks outside of its price, because thats the fun of it.

When talking about value, Miliotes points to a Selbach-Oster Riesling at $10 a glass. Johannes Selbach is one of the greatest producers in Germany right now, he says. I love the producers that make little wines in addition to their big wines, and Johannes has never neglected the lower end of the market.

Related:How to Eat Like a Disney Royal While on a Family Vacation

Despite the number of pricier selections  like the Selbach-Oster "Trockenbeerenauslese" dessert wine that goes for $100 for a 3 oz. glass  Miliotes almost never recommends glasses at this price point, unless someone specifically asks for something high-end. When a guest asks me what I'm drinking, [Ill offer something] like the Chanrion Beaujolais thats $12 for a glass right now, he says. Thats a world class red. That has every piece put together.

Thats not to say that the more expensive selections are always a hard sell. I joke that the average Disney guest is the easiest sell in the world, he adds. Because if youve been with your kids in the park all day long, what do you deserve? Buy the glass of wine or the drink you want, because you deserve it.

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Read the original article on Food & Wine.
Arturo Holmes - Getty Images

From books to songs, school districts have been enforcing bans that restrict the content students can be exposed to. Most recently, a first-grade teacher from Waukesha County, Wisconsin, revealed that multiple rainbow-themed songs, including one by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, were banned from her students' spring concert.

According to Waukesha County's The Freeman, Melissa Tempel, a duo language teacher at Heyer Elementary School, revealed news of the ban on social media. On Tuesday, March 21, Melissa Tempel took to Twitter, writing, "My first graders were so excited to sing Rainbowland for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?" The single appeared on Cyrus' 2017 studio album Younger Now.

The Freeman reports that Tempel worked with parents and the school's music teacher to come up with songs for their spring concert and decided to "do a theme about the world." Tempel said her school's music teacher discover "Rainbowland" and thought the students would love the song because it was catchy.

The outlet revealed that two first-grade teachers came up with "rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie, and they added another song in Spanish called "De Colores," which is about the colors of the world. "It was a slow song, so we thought we should pick "Rainbowland" because it is faster. So the kids won't get bored with slower songs," Tempel explained.

On Tuesday, March 21, Tempel told The Freeman that she received an email sent to the music teacher by the school's principal informing them that they wouldn't be able to perform "Rainbowland." She was told the students couldn't perform "Rainbow Connection" due to a complaint.

"It was determined that Rainbowland could be perceived as controversial according to SDW Board Policy 2240. The teacher was asked to pick a different song for the first-grade concert, which ended up being Rainbow Connection by Jim Henson. That song is great for first graders and fits in their concert theme as well, Waukesha County Superintendent Jim Sebert said in an email to The Freeman.

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In 2021, the Waukesha School District removed signage with flags and posters about Pride, Black Lives Matter, Thin Blue Line, and others from classrooms. According to Sebert, "Policy 2240 has a number of areas that it covers, and remember these are six- and seven-year-olds. The main question was is the song appropriate for the age level and maturity of the students."

As Tempel's tweets took off on social media, many Twitters asked questions about the school district's explanation for banning the song. "They're still not giving an answer," the teacher wrote. She later followed up saying that the district claimed Miley Cyrus was too "controversial," but she thought it had more to do with Dolly Parton's work as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. "Oh well, I cant stop my students if they still sing Rainbowland. Its a fun, catchy song," she added on Twitter.

Despite the ban, The Freeman reports that the students will perform "Here Comes the Sun," "It's a Wonderful World," and "Rainbow Connection."

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Channel 5

Home and Away spoilers follow.

Home and Away has hinted that there'll once again be some notable absences at Tane Parata and Felicity Newman's wedding.

The happy couple are due to tie the knot on Australian screens next week, as the long-running soap celebrates its milestone 8,000th episode.

Tane and Felicity have already had a first shot at making it down the aisle, but their big day descended into disaster when Felicity was involved in a road accident on her way to the ceremony.

At the time, departed characters Gemma Parata and Chloe Anderson  who'd both left the show  sent their apologies and confirmed that they sadly wouldn't be able to make the trip over from New Zealand.

Channel 5

Related: Former Home and Away star Rob Kipa-Williams reveals whether he'd return in shock twist

Tane was upset over these absences at the time, as he'd wanted all of his family to make it.

With a second wedding on the cards, Home and Away bosses have once again written in an excuse for possible no-shows  Tane and Felicity don't want any guests this time.

This week's Australian episodes saw Tane and Felicity take control of their own wedding plans by deciding to tie the knot as soon as possible.

Wanting this ceremony to have a different feel to their doomed first one, they opted to have a tiny guest list with no extended family in attendance.

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away airs update on pregnancy storyline

Felicity's brother Cash and best friend Eden Fowler were the only ones to receive invites, so they could be official witnesses.

Felicity told Tane: "Our easy-peasy 'turn up and get it done' wedding is all sorted. This is amazing. I'm so glad we don't have to wait. No stressing about dresses, flowers, invitations, guests  especially guests."

When Cash and Eden later asked about other attendees, Felicity quipped: "There are none. If you weren't needed as witnesses, you wouldn't even be there either!"

Channel 5

Related: Home and Away legend Kate Ritchie reveals whether she'd return to the show

Tane's nephew Nikau has also now left the show at Australian pace, moving to New York to be with Bella Nixon.

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Nikau played a role in the ceremony from afar by giving Felicity some last-minute advice on the phone over how to recite her wedding vows in te reo Maori.

Home and Away fans in the UK will see the 8,000th episode on Channel 5 in May.

Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6.30pm on 5STAR and the show also streams on My5.

In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7plus.

Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.

Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage

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The actor shared some major milestone accomplishments after his New Year's Day accident.

Jeremy Renner is showing some amazing progress after his snow plow accident that took place at his home in Reno, Nevada just three months ago on New Year's Day.



The actor, 52, took to Twitter share a video of himself walking again following the accident, during which he suffered "blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries," per Deadline.



"I now have to find OTHER things to occupy my time so my body can recover from my will," Renner wrote alongside the video of himself walking on an anti-gravity treadmill.

The video captured the Hawkeye actor inside a treadmill with guardrails that appeared to be providing him with some additional support around the waist. He was speaking with a man, possibly his trainer, standing next to him as he walked on the treadmill, stating that using the device was like "having a cane."



"And you're totally doing the walking motion," the man next to him stated, to which Renner replied, "Correct. Yeah, just with only 40% of my weight."



In other news, this past week, Renner welcomed home the snowcat that caused his injuries after it was taken by the Washoe County Sheriff's Department for inspection to investigate what caused the accident. It was determined that the parking brake was not engaged at the time, according to a police report obtained by CNN.

Renner took to his Instagram Stories on the evening of Thursday, March 23 to celebrate his snowplow's return.



The actor shared a photo of the snowcat with one person sitting in the driver's seat, offering a thumbs-up to the camera as two other people stood next to it. "She's finally making her way home!  ," he wrote above the photo.



He then followed up with a video of the plow being led down the road by a police vehicle. "The cat get[s] a police escort... Feels like The Green Mile!" he added.



We're happy to see that Renner is making tremendous progress in his recovery efforts.

Next, Jeremy Renner Seen Out in Public for the First Time Since Accident
Palestinian Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned on Sunday the spiral of Israeli violence against the Palestinian people, accusing the Israeli far-right government of fueling the conflict.

The Israeli occupation government is trying to drag the region into the cycle of violence and escalation by ramping up its war against our Palestinian people, and by escalating murders, arson attacks and incursions into the holy sites, Abu Rudeineh said.

He urged regional and international parties to intervene, curb and press the government of extremism in Israel to stop the escalating attacks by its army and settlers during the holy month of Ramadan."

The Palestinian high official also condemned the Israeli raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem citing the physical assault of Palestinian worshipers by Israeli police.

Also condemned were the actions of four Israeli settlers on Sunday who in the very early hours of the morning threw incendiary bottles setting fire to a Palestinian-owned house in the town of Sinjil, in the Ramallah province.

Abu Rudeineh added that de-escalation was necessary "before an explosion of the situation in the region, the consequences of which will be borne by the Israeli government alone.

Earleir, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, has strongly condemned the Israeli raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

He desribed the eviction of worshipers as a severely dangerous attack on the sentiments and beliefs of Muslims, adding that the Israeli escalation aims at achieving the interests of extremist settler groups that seek a religious war in the region.

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As part of Kenneth Coles 40th anniversary celebration, the company is collaborating with New York based-artist Faust on a three-piece collection where 100 percent of net proceeds from the sale of the items will be donated to The Mental Health Coalition.

The Mental Health Coalition works to end the stigma surrounding mental health by changing the way people talk about and care for mental illness.

More from WWD

Faust, well known for his graffiti handstyle, first caught Coles attention when the brands Bond + Bowery store opened and Cole began to spend more time in the neighborhood. Cole became interested in Fausts work, which explores scale and placement to challenge how graffiti is perceived.

A T-shirt from the Kenneth Cole x Faust collaboration.

Finding an artist who also uses words in an impactful way was an important aspect of the collaboration.

Kenneth Cole X Faust is a limited-edition Voicewear capsule collection including two T-shirts and one hoodie. According to the company, these pieces have been transformed to be true pieces of art and feature messages dedicated to bringing mental health to the forefront of the conversation.

The unisex collection features a hoodie with the phrase Wear Your Voice, on the front, a nod to Coles Voicewear and the fact that he has always used his platform to speak openly about important social issues, and When I is Replaced with We Even Illness Becomes Wellness on the back, which is the phrase that Faust featured on a phone booth during the height of COVID-19, which went viral.

Faust at work.

One of the T-shirts bears the same phrase that is on the back of the hoodie. The second T-shirt features a famous line of Coles, Stand For Something or Step Aside. The Ts retail for $48 and the hoodies are $88. The collection will be available Monday exclusively on Kennethcole.com and at Temporary by Kenneth Cole on Bond + Bowery in New York City.

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Click here to read the full article.
Nov. 8, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; A voting booth is hit with sunlight at the Wolfe Park shelterhouse on the East Side of Columbus on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8th. Mandatory Credit: Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch

New barriers to voting should come with education

As a military veteran and first-generation Chicano, Ive witnessed firsthand how marginalized populations turn out in lower numbers on election day because of barriers to voting.

More:How Ohio's new voter ID law compares to other states

The new voter ID law is restrictive, disenfranchising college students, seniors, military personnel and families, people with disabilities, low-income, and non-white voters who are historically excluded from the electoral process.

Approximately 10% of Ohioans do not have an Ohio Drivers License or state issued identification card. I would like to use my County Veteran ID card as a form of valid ID, however, my veteran ID card no longer qualifies as proper identification to vote. Only IDs issued by the federal or state government qualifies.

Furthermore, Ive been waiting since mid-February for my Ohio ID from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to arrive due to the highly irregular mail service where I live.

I encourage The Columbus Dispatch to continue educating voters and to call upon Secretary Frank LaRose and boards of elections to run robust voter education programs since voting laws have changed.

Also, this is a call to action for every Ohioan to be part of the electoral process by volunteering to become poll workers or to assist voters through election protection programs with nonpartisan groups like Ohio Voter Rights Coalition, League of Women Voters, Vote Riders, or the NAACP.

Armando Telles, Columbus

Letters to the Editor

More:How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Vouchers can help Ohio kids get a decent education

On March 22, Maureen Reedy wrote on dispatch.com: Ohio school voucher program a runaway train that makes us all losers.

The Dayton area where I live is home to some of the best public school districts in Ohio. It is also the home, in spite of all the tax dollars thrown at them, of a couple of the worst public school districts in Ohio.

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Two of my grandchildren for a while lived in one of those awful school districts. Their parents paid taxes to support those public schools, but sent their kids to a private school. Then they moved just a few miles to one of Ohio's best school districts and switched their kids to public schools.

Opinion: Ohio school voucher program a runaway train that makes us all losers

I'm all for public schools and for many years mentored Ohio students in them.

Still, if one lives in a district with poor public schools, vouchers that enable school choice to help Ohio kids get a decent education are a good use of our tax dollars.

Vic Presutti, Dayton

Help low-income people

Re "Big bills troubling for condo owners" March 19: When the City of Columbus offers tax abatements for luxury housing, rentals and for-sale, it only benefits the already rich developers, wealthy buyers, and affluent renters.

More:Downtown Columbus property taxes spike for some residents as abatements fade

If the city really wanted to make an impact they would end abatements for the wealthy and instead subsidize the taxes of low-income owners.

Create real wealth by offering tax abatements to low-income renters who wish to buy. By offering tax abatements only to the rich they stifle the ability to build and buy homes in unabated areas.

But offering low-income renters a helping hand when buying will create long term wealth to a far larger constituent in a more meaningful manner.

Ted Sinks, Delaware

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: Vouchers can help Ohio kids get a decent education
Magic City K9 Teaches Inmates to Become Certified Dog Trainers

(Picture Credit: OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images)

Shelter dogs and incarcerated men find hope through Magic City K9, a Florida-based nonprofit that teaches inmates to become certified dog trainers. Last week (via South Floridas Local 10), the program hosted an event at the Everglades Correctional Institution (ECI).

Shelter Dogs and Inmates Find Hope

The nonprofits director launched her pilot program at the Everglades Re-Entry Center in 2017. Dee Hoult is a certified-dog behavior consultant. She also has over 12 years of experience working with incarcerated men. In 2019, Hoult expanded the program. After an interview, Magic City K9 accepts trainees under a 90-day probation period.

Magic City K9 rescues and rehabilitates dogs from shelters that are at a high risk for euthanasia. Hoult usually selects dogs from shelters in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Typically, the dogs she chooses are often in need of additional discipline. Shelter dogs appear less attractive to potential families if they are not socialized or are unmanageable.

Scott Turner is an inmate and lead trainer for Magic City K9. When the dogs first get here, theyre aggressive or scared, Turner says. After getting constant love and affection, their temperament usually changes.

On Wednesday, an audience and a judge watched a training session. Inmates walked alongside the dogs, practicing weaving in and out of orange cones. They gave basic commands to the canine students, always rewarding behavior with positive reinforcement.

Were learning patience, were learning love, were learning how to communicate, said Turner. As much as were rescuing and rehabilitating these dogs, theyre just as much doing that for us.

Inmates to Become Certified Dog Trainers

The program gives dogs the chance for rehabilitation. Ordinarily, it is difficult to modify animal behavior without dedicated time and attention. Because of the program, the pups have hope to find a forever family. Additionally, inmates learn a new skill that can help them transition to life outside incarceration.

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I am really centered on making sure that I give these inmates, who are going to be released back out into our community, the skills they need to do this as a career when they are released, said Hoult.

It is a long road for inmates to become certified dog trainers. Trainees must prove they are able to guide the dogs through a four-level module, beginning with basic commands, leash walking, behavioral correction, grooming, and feeding. Program directors administer tests throughout the course of the program to observe progress. To become a lead trainer, certification students must dedicate over 4,000 hours of training.

Inmates train the dogs for four months. Then after this period, the program works to find homes for the dogs. Around 100 dogs come through the program in the course of a year. While spending time with the dogs gives the inmates a skill, it is also rewarding for their well-being and emotional health. For both the inmates and dogs, there is hope on the horizon.

The post Magic City K9 Teaches Inmates to Become Certified Dog Trainers appeared first on DogTime.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) reported 21 tornado-related fatalities from over the weekend.

Heres everything you need to know abut Rolling Fork and other Mississippi Delta cities that were affected by the severe weather, plus how to help from the Mississippi Coast.

Counties with fatalities

County residential homes, public roads and buildings

MEMA encouraged residents to report their damage using their Self-Report Tool. The agencys preliminary reports of affected households span seven counties. These counties reported damage to homes ranging from affected to destroyed.

Carroll County: 24 homes, 3 public roads

Humphreys County: 55 homes

Monroe County: 1,476 homes, 29 public roads, 3 utilities

Montgomery County: 49 homes, 4 public roads, 1 public office building

Grenada County: 1 home

Prentiss County: 1 home

Panola County: 15 homes, 12 public roads

Schools affected by tornadoes

According to the Mississippi Department of Education, schools were closed in three districts.

South Delta School District (Sharkey County)

Buildings: The district superintendent reported Sunday that school buildings were not destroyed but sustained roof damage.

Schools are closed until further notice.

Amory School District (Monroe County)

Buildings: High school roof sustained damage. A structural engineer will assess the building to determine if it is safe to occupy.

Schools closed at least through Friday, March 31.

Carroll County School District

Buildings: No damage to schools.

Schools closed at least through Tuesday, March 28.

Winona School District (Montgomery County)

Buildings: No damage to schools.

Schools were closed Monday and the district will assess when to reopen daily.

New Albany School District (Union County)

Buildings: Some structural damage.

Schools opened Monday.

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Humphreys County School District

Buildings: No damage to schools.

Schools opened Monday.

The Department of Mental Health is reporting one group home in Rolling Fork operated by the Region 6 Community Mental Health Center, Life Help, is reported to be spared from damage but the staff is working on placing the 14 clients living there in other residential programs.

How to help

On the Coast, Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop K, at 16741 Highway 67, Biloxi, will accept donations for tornado victims Tuesday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The City of Gulfport collected 600 cases of water to be delivered to the Delta on Tuesday.

The Rolling Fork National Guard/Civic Center is open and accepting donations.

The Department of Public Safety, MEMA, and The Department of Agriculture have teamed together to accept donations of bottled water, canned goods and paper products.

Donations:

Needed Items:

Non-perishable food

Sunblock

Feminine products

Baby wipes

Cleaning supplies

Paper products: toilet paper, tissues, plates

Plastic cutlery

Monetary Donations can be made to the American Red Cross or Salvation Army





Volunteers:

Volunteer efforts are being coordinated through Volunteer Mississippi. Individuals and groups interested in volunteering should contact Volunteer Mississippi at volunteermississippi.org, info@volunteermississippi.org or 601-432-6779.

Volunteers are needed at the following locations.
As a public service, The Tennessean has made this content free.

This story is no longer being updated with information about the school shooting. Follow the latest updates on the Covenant School shooting as they happen in our live blog here.

Three adults and three children are confirmed dead following a mass shooting Monday morning at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville. The suspect was killed in an altercation with police.

Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department, originally said a 28-year-old female suspect was believed to have entered a side entrance with two assault rifles and a handgun.

Police later identified the shooter by his name at birth, Audrey Hale, and did not provide another name. He was a transgender man who used male pronouns.

"I was literally moved to tears to see this as the kids were being ushered out of the building," MNPD chief John Drake said.

"It could have been far worse," he continued. "My heart and prayers go out to the families of the six people who were tragically injured."

Nashville school shooting: Latest updates on Covenant School shooting that left seven dead

Aaron said seven total people, including the shooter, are confirmed dead. The tragic incident marked America's 129th mass shooting of 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit which tracks gun violence data.

At the scene of one of the deadliest school shootings in Tennessee history, scores of parents and onlookers gathered in a parking lot, awaiting updates, as helicopters circled the area, surrounded by a residential and busy businesses district.

Nashville shooting suspect killed by police in 'swift response'

"The police department response was swift," Aaron said. "Officers entered the first story of the school and begin clearing it. They heard shots coming from the second level; they immediately went to the gunfire."

The suspect was fatally shot by two of five-member police team around 10:27 a.m. in a second floor lobby.

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Drake said the 28-year-old was once a student at the school.

Kids were evacuated into a wooded area and fire hall as shots rang out. All doors were locked, Drake said. But it is unclear how she entered the building.

Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk, said investigation remains ongoing. "While I cannot comment on the ongoing nature of the investigation, I'm really impressed with the work that's being done by law enforcement," Funk said.

"This is the ultimate crime when school children and caregivers are the victims of senseless gun violence," Funk said.

The shooting has gotten the attention of the White House. "Send my concern and hearts out to so many parents out there. I've been to so many of those sites," President Joe Biden said.

The school shooting, which occurred around 10:13 a.m., is believed to be the fifth in the Nashville area since 2011, and first since 2018.

'This is shattering': Nashville, TN officials respond to elementary school shooting

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Kendra Loney, a spokesperson with Metro Fire, said rescue crews responded and provided life saving efforts to those involved. One police officer sustained a hand injury as result of cut glass.

Loney said mental health professionals will be available for students and families.

More than 100 faculty and staff were transported by bus to a reunification site.

The incident was reported on social media at about 10:30 a.m. at The Covenant School, located at 33 Burton Hills Blvd.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will assist Metro Police's probe into the shooting and as an independent investigator into the police involvement in the shooting of the 28-year-old woman, according to director David Rausch.

Covenant School parents reuniting with kids

Parents lined up in the sanctuary of Woodmont Baptist Church to give first and last names of their children to police. Vice Mayor Jim Shulman was in the sanctuary passing out bottled water to parents and other family members awaiting reunification.

Parents wait for their children, Monday March 27, 2023 after a school shooting at Covenant School in Green Hills, Nashville

Officials said children will be counted outside as they arrive and moved into the sanctuary individually to reunite with parents.

I know this is probably the worst day of everyone's lives, a Metro police officer said to a crowd. I cant tell you how sympathetic we are.

'How is this still happening?' school shooting sparks outcry

Ashbey Beasley was on vacation in Nashville, about a block away from the school, when she heard shots.

Beasley, who was at the 4th of July parade in Highland Park, IL, when a gunman opened fire, ran over to the scene off Hillsboro Pike to find it crawling with police.

"Arent you tired of this," she said taking over the microphones after a news conference with Metro Nashville Police. "How is this still happening?"

Beasley continued at the microphones, passionately decrying gun laws.

More: Nashville musicians react to Covenant School shooting, call for action

"How are our children still dying and why are we failing them," she asked. These shootings, and these mass shootings, will continue to happen until our lawmakers step up and pass safer gun legislation."

What we know about Covenant School and Covenant Presbyterian Church

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church and has students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Enrollment fluctuates between 195 and 210 with 33 teaching faculty members.

The Covenant School typically feeds area private schools that include Battle Ground Academy, Brentwood Academy, Christ Presbyterian Academy, Ensworth, Davidson Academy and others.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville police: Covenant School shooting kills six; suspect dead
High winds capsized a small boat Saturday afternoon on Hoover Reservoir, seen here in this photo looking toward the Hoover Dam. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said one person was rescued but the other remained missing Saturday when bad weather forced authorities to call off the search. The search was expected to resume Sunday with more favorable weather conditions.

COLUMBUS, Ohio  Authorities had resumed the search Sunday to recover one person still missing after high winds Saturday afternoon capsized a small boat on the Hoover Reservoir in Blendon Township near Westerville, north of Columbus, Ohio.

The Columbus Police Dive Team was at the reservoir Sunday, said Stephanie O'Grady, spokesperson for the the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, whose watercraft officers were assisting in the search on Saturday.

The boat with two people aboard capsized just after 2 p.m. Saturday due to high winds that roared through the area in connection with a passing storm front.

The 16-17-foot "Jon" boat, a flat-bottomed craft used for fishing and hunting, was not far from shore when "the wind started filling the boat with water, the boat capsized and the occupants started to swim to shore," said Melanie Amato, spokesperson for Columbus police, which has jurisdiction over the reservoir.

Search for missing person continues

The person who made it to shore explained to authorities that they saw the other person submerge and not come up.

The search for the missing person had to be suspended Saturday due to bad weather conditions, ODNR said. The Columbus police dive team was searching Sunday in 6-10 feet of cold water that had been "stirred up" by the wind and waves Saturday, Amato said.

"We will continue into the evening until we find a body," she said.

The two people in the boat may have been part of a fishing tournament. The Hoover Cats fishing club had scheduled an all-day tournament Saturday, according to the group's Facebook page, though attempts by The Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network, to confirm the tournament was held were unsuccessful.

What to know about the Hoover Reservoir

Hoover Reservoir is one of three water supply reservoirs for the city of Columbus and was created by construction of the Hoover Dam on Big Walnut Creek. Because it is a water supply reservoir, watercraft are limited to power boats no more than 22 feet in length with a maximum 10 horsepower. Sail boats are limited to 25 feet in length.

ODNR reminds watercraft operators to check local weather conditions and advisories before venturing out onto any bodies of water, and to wear a life jacket.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: One person missing after boat capsizes in Ohio's Hoover Reservoir
In 1996, when Patty Griffin released Living with Ghosts, she debuted a sparsely produced ten-song collection that showcased the integrity of her songwriting through searing, dynamic vocals. Though it never charted, the trifecta of Griffins voice, writing and musicianship established her as meticulous artist with promising future.

Since that release, Griffin has regularly worked with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Shawn Colvin, Buddy Miller and Robert Plant. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, shes been up for seven Grammys having won twice.

On Friday, April 7, Patty Griffin brings her acclaimed sound and performance to the Hostess City when she headlines with Savannah Music Festival at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. Joining her are longtime friends and collaborators multi-instrumentalist, David Pulkingham, and percussionist, Michael Longoria.

More:Maeve Gilchrist presents her work, 'The Harpweaver' at Savannah Music Festival

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Griffin, the youngest of seven in a Catholic family anchored in Old Town, Maine, came to music through hard work and hard knocks. After high school, she set out for Florida where she waited tables, collected stories and refined her musicianship nearly 10 years before venturing to Boston in 1994. There, she dug in as songwriter and musician.

I realized this was the thing I was best at doing, reflected Griffin. Writing and singing I was most naturally good at and had other skills that made doing this a strong possibility. So, I committed to the work, and things unfolded in a way to make it possible. And luck, this took luck, too. There are so many brilliantly talented people working hard at this, and that talent stays in their community often for no other reason than luck.

Patty Griffin performs at the Luck Reunion + Long Centers Long Live Music event on March 27, 2021 in Austin, Texas.

For Griffin, some of that good luck came in the form of the right A&M person hearing her music. After she moved to Boston, she started playing the citys renowned coffee house circuit and recorded a demo. A representative at A&M Records liked her work and signed Griffin solely on the merit of those tracks. Two years later, after a back and forth with the label, the producer insisted on releasing the stripped down demo, just Griffin singing her original songs and playing guitar, as Living with Ghosts.

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Sweet Lorraine is a standout from that debut about a woman making her break from an unkind family. It is emblematic of the sorts of tight, pricking insights Griffin has established a reputation for delivering from the depths and patching into her writing. The song concludes with these lines In the battle of time, in the battle of will/ Its only your hope and your heart that gets killed/ And it gets harder and harder, Lorraine, to believe in magic/ When what came before you is so very tragic. She delivers it all with vocal intensity ranging from red-hot scorch to childlike, translucent whisper.

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Yet, in considering her process in writing this song, the tunes origin remains a mystery.

I dont know where it came from, that song, it birthed itself, reflected Griffin. I wrote the bridge first, like a mumbo jumbo of phonetics, until it became clearer. I guess, drawing from the ether and being alive, knowing stories passed around that my parents and grandparents told. They all came together. 'Sweet Lorraine,' is like checking in with the ancestors to see what they have to say.

Her next album Flaming Red embraced high production. The 1998 release rocked with big drums, crunchy electric guitars, and layers of multi-instrumentation. Reviews were mixed, but among her peers the work solidified Griffin as a writers writer, musicians musicianversatile yet authentic, and definitely not a one trick pony.

Yet, like Living with Ghosts, its commercial success was lackluster, placing Griffin in a perilous position as the traditional recording industry began crumbling.

In 2000, she went into the studio to pen her third album, what many anticipated as her big breakout. But in the face of industry-wide restructuring, Interscope Records took over A&M and dismantled the labels artist development and creative network in which Griffin was beginning to thrive. When she finished the album Silver Bell, the label dropped her but kept the recordings. It was a crushing blow.

People ask me fairly often, Patty, how do I make it in music? emphasized Griffin. And I dont know what that means, that question. People everywhere are so talented, and if your whole point with music is to raid to the top and make a lot of money, you should be a stockbroker. Nothing is guaranteed in this, and music is a lot of work that continues to be a lot of work no matter how high you climb. If you want to make it in music, you have to make music.

As quickly as she could, she got back on the horse, found a producer in Nashville eager to work with her, buckled down and recorded another album from scratch 1000 Kisses. Newly formed ATO Records, Dave Matthewss independent imprint, picked up the release and signed Griffin to a four-album deal. When 1000 Kisses came out in 2002, critics praised it, setting a positive tone for her six-year tenure with ATO.

After three more releases, the Americana Music Association named Griffin Artist of the Year in 2007.

2023 Savannah Music Festival: S.G. Goodman / Aaron Lee Tasjan

When her father died, Griffins music took another turn. The solace she found in the words and melodies of traditional gospel inspired her to reach out to Buddy Miller for help in producing a gospel album. Miller, a keen songwriter, musician and producer, knew immediately the best place for capturing the essence of the music, Nashvilles Downtown Presbyterian Church. Over the course of one week they recorded in the sanctuary, enlisting the talents of Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, Mike Farris and Julie Miller.

Downtown Church earned Griffin her first Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album in 2010, an award she was very surprised to receive.

I got a phone call from Kenny Weinstein that it had been awarded to me, and it felt like I snuck in through the back door, recalled Griffin. My point of doing that record was partially to reclaim the language of Christianity for myself. Religion, its language, has been commodified, abused really, and I struggled with that and its meaning in my spiritual life. But gospel music is the music I use to uplift myself. I wanted to connect with that and unite a bunch of different ideas. I am honored the music is recognized. But I feel like I didnt deserve that award.

Patty Griffin

When Griffin won her second Grammy, it came after a four-year recording hiatus and triumph over tough battle with breast cancer. She released Patti Griffin in March 2019 with a production quality conjuring Living with Ghosts, her vocals out front, shining with restrained arrangements and instrumentation. But as she went into production, Griffin lost her voice due to cancer treatment. She persisted.

My manager said just make a record, just make a record, but I dont have a voice," recalled Griffin. My manager said, just do it. We worked on that project a year. It was a big struggle to move forward without vocals, but we kept working knowing, hoping, Id sing again. That was hard to make, but I am proud of that one, proud of the work on those songs.

More:Savannah Music Festival brings free concerts to Savannah-Chatham students with Explorer Pass

These days, Griffin continues writing and performing while making fewer professional commitments to more fully embrace her life and the people within her close circle of friends.

I dont tour nearly as much as I used to, just over a hundred shows last year, exhaled Griffin. Ive slowed down, changed the way I see touring. Music has a physical intensity to it that doesnt lessen with time. Its physical work thats harder on my body now. But slowing down lets me really enjoy the crowds and people in ways I didnt before. I see longtime fans and new, young faces, and feel lucky I still get to do this. Its been a really long time, I cant remember the last time I was in Savannah, but Im looking forward to spending time there, making music to keep on making it.

IF YOU GO

What: Patty Griffin

Where: Lucas Theatre for the Arts, 32 Abercorn St.

When: Friday, April 7, 8:00 p.m.

Cost: Tickets start at $37

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Music Festival: Patty Griffin on 30-year career
Alert the royal guards because another little one is joining Luxembourg's royal family.

Today, the Grand Ducal court announced on Instagram that Hereditary Prince Guillaume and his wife, Hereditary Princess Stephanie, have expanded their family by one. The couple welcomed their second child, a baby boy named Francois Henri Luis Marie Guillaume, this morning at the Grand Duchess Charlotte Maternity Hospital in Luxembourg.

The palace announced the exciting news by releasing a statement that read: The prince, who will bear the first names of Francois Henri Luis Marie Guillaume, weighs 3.575 (7lbs 8 oz) and measures 53cm. Princess Stephanie and the baby are doing well. The Heir Couple, as well as his brother, Charles, are eager to introduce you to Prince Francois.

Proud dad Prince Guillaume is the heir apparent to the crown of Luxembourg. Therefore, Prince Francois is third in line to the throne after his dad and his big brother, Prince Charles (2).

Gisela Schober/Getty Images

Prince Guillaume met his now-wife back in 2004 when he attended an event in Germany. The couple dated for two years before announcing their engagement. In October 2012, the prince tied the knot with Princess Stephanie at Cathedral of Our Lady of Luxembourg. The bride wore a gorgeous gown by Elie Saab, which featured sparkly embellishments, and accessorized with a diamond tiara.

Congratulations to the proud parents!

Stay up-to-date on every breaking royal family story by subscribing here.

Love Prince William & Kate Middleton? Listen to Royally Obsessed, the Podcast for People Who Love the Royal Family
20 years ago this month, I stood with thousands of other advocates to speak out against the invasion of Iraq by the United States. From New Jersey to California, we gathered and marched and chanted, unified in our calling: War is not the answer.

As a survivor of the Greek civil war, I knew the horrors of war firsthand. I knew what kind of trauma the violence in Iraq would inflict on soldiers and civilians alike, and I knew I had to raise my voice against the misguided invasion, which was justified by false claims of weapons of mass destruction.

Now, as we mark two decades since the start of the war in Iraq, I feel compelled to raise my voice once again. Even though the Iraq war was declared over in 2011, a dangerous remnant of the war lives on: the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Ira. New Jerseys lawmakers must do all they can to finally get this outdated and dangerous authorization off the books.

The 2002 Iraq AUMF was first passed by Congress to authorize the war against Saddam Husseins regime. It permitted the president to use the armed forces as necessary and appropriate to defend U.S. national security against the continued threat posed by Iraq. When the war officially ended, lawmakers should have repealed the AUMF, if nothing else than as an act of legislative caretaking.

Pat Meany, of Hackensack, Jan Berry, of Teaneck, and Pat McPartland, of Bergenfield, hold signs outside of the Teaneck Armory. Wednesday, March 22, 2023

But they didnt. Now, over the course of successive administrations, the 2002 Iraq AUMF has been misused to wage acts of war that Congress never authorized. The Obama administration used the 2002 Iraq AUMF as one of the legal justifications for strikes in Iraq and Syria during the campaign against ISIS. The Trump administration also used the 2002 Iraq AUMF to justify its continued use of military force against ISIS  but in 2020, it took misuse of the authorization to new heights. In January of that year, President Trump used the 2002 Iraq AUMF to justify the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, a reckless act that took us to the precipice of yet another faraway war.

This should terrify us all. As long as the 2002 Iraq AUMF remains active, future presidents could use it to send our troops into a war that Congress never authorized. Lawmakers should take this seriously  sending constituents to war is perhaps the single most serious responsibility that Congress has, and as Article I of the Constitution makes clear, it is indeed their duty to determine if and when the U.S. goes to war.

That responsibility has been abdicated for too long. But a recently introduced bill before both chambers of Congress to repeal the 2002 Iraq AUMF could finally change that reality. This legislation has strong bipartisan support, and is also swiftly advancing, thanks in part to New Jerseys own Sen. Robert Menendez, who helped move the bill through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month. Sen. Cory Booker has also co-sponsored the measure, and we should applaud their leadership as the Senate prepares for a full floor vote this week.

But now is not the time for celebration. Menendez and Booker should do all they can to get this bill over the finish line in the Senate, and in the House, the New Jersey delegation should throw their support behind the House version of the bill. Rep. Tom Kean Jr. and Rep. Christopher Smith in particular have an important role to play, given their presence on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I urge them to support repeal of the 2002 Iraq AUMF, and I call on my fellow New Jersey residentss to lift up this call.

By helping enact repeal of this long-outdated authorization, lawmakers can reassert their constitutional authority over war and take a firm step towards preventing future unauthorized conflict. The cost of war is so immensely high from a human, financial, and environmental perspective. This is a key chance to avoid paying that price needlessly in the future, and on this 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, New Jerseys members of Congress should take the lead in seizing it.

Litsa Binder is an advocate and community organizer based in Sparta, New Jersey. She is a member of the New Jersey Advocacy Team, which partners with the Friends Committee on National Legislation to lobby Congress on issues related to peace and justice. She is also a long-time member of New Jersey Peace Action, and previously served as the president of the Sussex County League of Women Voters.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Iraq War Authorization must be repealed
The Oleato drinks are infused with cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil.

Starbucks stunned consumers with the announcement that it would be infusing its new drinks with olive oil.

The chains new Oleato collection is dubbed as "transformational innovation in coffee, as it brings together Starbucks arabica coffee deliciously infused with a spoonful of Partanna cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil."

Olive oil in coffee isn't a traditional drink in Italy, but Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was inspired by his recent trip to Sicily, choosing to marry the flavors for a unique new coffee experience.

The concoction was first rolled out in Italy before debuting in select U.S. Starbucks Reserve Roasteries in Chicago, Seattle, and New York on March 23. A wider rollout is planned for roughly 600 stores in Los Angeles and Seattle on March 27, with additional stores across the country getting the drinks throughout the year.

Parade previously broke down all of the items being offered, including the three main draws: Oleato Caffe Latte, Oleato Golden Foam Cold Brew, and Oleato Iced Shaken Espresso.

At first glance, the drinks may sound unappetizing, but theyve surprisingly gotten some savory responses from Starbucks lovers around the world.

Those who were able to get their hands on the elixireither in Italy or statesidehave shared their gut reactions upon taking the first sip of the golden-hued beverage on social media.

One customer in Italy commented her thoughts on Starbucks Instagram post announcing the new coffee, and she was 100 percent sold: I had the pleasure to taste the Oleato beverages and i freakin LOVE them. It truly is the most velvety coffee. It brought a smile on my face instantly from the first sniff. Cant wait for everyone to have a taste.

When the Starbucks account inquired about her favorite sip, she ranked them from best to least favoritedefinitely the Latte, the hot version  followed by the Cold Brew. That Golden Foam is magic .

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Spoon University sent a brave soul to try the drinks, with the TikToker sharing her delight with the Shaken Espresso, explaining, honestly, this worked. It wasnt as weird as I thought it would be, adding that the flavor is actually pretty subtle.

Next up was the Golden Foam Cold Brew, which wasnt as well received as it was a little stronger and pretty bitter, though she added that she would order it again just for the foam which was so pillowy and sweet.

As for the Oleato Latte, her first thought was that it tastes like chicken, which honestly, isnt convincing. She clarified that it was an herby baked chicken flavor profile, though after a while she didnt hate it.

View the original article to see embedded media.

One Reddit user, who claims to work at the coffee chain, was pleasantly surprised by the flavors, revealing, I can admit i really enjoyed two of them but i have mixed feelings about one of them, later revealing that the mixed feelings were about the Golden Foam drink and only because it had a unique flavor.

Another user agreed, I enjoyed two of them more than the third, but none of them were as grossly offensive as I expected.

One barista took to TikTok to show fans how the drinks are made, which elicited a flurry of mixed reactions, with one user suggesting that the golden foam tastes & smells sooo much like olive oil its actually unsatisfying and it has a smooth oilbey [sic] after taste.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Others seemed to be in agreement with one adding, its so bad honestly the only okay one is the shaken espresso even then i kept burping up the olive oil, with another saying the shaken espresso was the best because of the toffee nut, adding that even then it still started separating after a bit.

A Twitter user by the name of Big Mike couldnt get enough, sharing a shot of his coffee along with a croissant, noting, Oleato golden foam cold brew at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in New York might be my favorite coffee Ive had in a long long time.

The Golden Foam had another huge fan, with a Twitter user lamenting, So good I went back this afternoon. The oleato golden foam cold brew was delicious.

One customer in Italy was pleased with her order, though due to the simplicity of the drink, she didnt feel that it warranted such a steep price tag.

Not everyone was convinced, however, as another Italian consumer explained, I tried the Golden cold foam Oleato cold brew. It was the worst thing Ive ever tasted. Thank you, have a nice day.

This TikToker in Italy found herself split somewhere down the middle, adding that the drink was a little heavy but that she liked the spicy olive oil aftertaste.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Another weighed in saying that it was better than she thought it was going to be and recording her first sip reaction, adding, shocked that I actually like this so creamy.

View the original article to see embedded media.

Parade wasnt able to give the drinks a whirl just yet to form our own opinions, but Delishs expert opinion is that the Oleato line is one of the brand's best launches in years. The writera self-proclaimed olive oil head who likes her coffee the bitter the betterwas pleased that the drinks are not muddled by syrups, creams, and toppings; rather, they're accentuated by a robust star ingredient.

Yahoo Finance reporters tried the Golden Foam, with Seana Smith declaring, Initially, I thought it was pretty good. Now, I'm a little skeptical. That aftertaste is very, very strong.

Dave Briggs explained hed give it a go every once in a while, with Seana quipping, Not for $9 though.

She also pointed out a barista at the store explained the drink as a moisturizer for your lips, so maybe that in itself is worth a steeper price as you get a coffee and a spa day all in one!

Its safe to say, the Oleato collection is either a love it or hate it menu item. Will you seek it out for yourself? If you do, let us know your thoughts on Parades social media channels!
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday called for an immediate halt to the government's controversial judicial reforms, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister for similar demands.

Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial post, made the call following spontaneous demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight in response to the minister's dismissal.

"For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately," Herzog said in a statement.

The plan to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court has ignited months of protests and been questioned by Israel's top allies including the United States, which expressed concern Sunday.

Netanyahu's hard-right government argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

Yoav Galant, the former defence minister and staunch ally of Netanyahu, earlier broke ranks and called for a halt to the reforms -- with lawmakers scheduled to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.

"The growing social rift has made its way into the (army) and security agencies," said Galant, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party. "It is a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel's security.

"I am committed to Likud values... and placing the State of Israel above all... but major changes on the national level must be made through deliberations and dialogue," he added, calling for a halt to the protests.

'Deep worry'

On Sunday, moments after Netanyahu sacked Galant, demonstrators seized a central highway cutting through the coastal city of Tel Aviv, blocking traffic and burning tyres.

Some threw metal barricades at mounted offices while police deployed water cannon.

The large crowd waved national flags, blew airhorns and chanted in Hebrew: "Israel is not a dictatorship" and "No to a fascist government!"

"Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes," Herzog said.

"The entire nation is rapt with deep worry," he added, in an appeal to the government. "Our security, economy, society - all are under threat."

After months of rallies against the reform, including a weekend demonstration that brought out an estimated 200,000 people in Tel Aviv, protesters in the city said it felt like "a sort of climax".

In Jerusalem, demonstrators gathered Sunday outside the prime minister's residence, while other rallies took place in the northern city of Haifa and Beer Sheva in the south.

Protesters have announced a "national paralysis week", including protests outside ministers' homes and parliament.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" and called on Israeli leaders to reach a compromise.

The White House noted that President Joe Biden recently told Netanyahu that "democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship".

Galant, a former general, was named to his post in December as part of Netanyahu's coalition with extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox allies.

Two other Likud lawmakers have voiced support for Galant, raising questions over whether the government could count on a majority if it pushes ahead with a vote.

Adding to the political uncertainty, Israel's consul general in New York, Asaf Zamir, tendered his resignation Sunday over Netanyahu's "dangerous decision".

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said that while the prime minister had sacked Galant, "he cannot fire reality and cannot fire the people of Israel who are standing up to the insanity of the coalition".

"The Prime Minister of Israel is a danger to the security of the State of Israel," Lapid added.

'Illegal' intervention

A parliamentary committee has amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.

Netanyahu, in a televised address last week, vowed to "responsibly advance" the reforms and "end the rift" they have caused.

In response, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday accused Netanyahu of "illegal" public intervention on the process of adopting the judicial reforms.

Netanyahu is on trial over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies.

His broadcast gave rise to contempt of court accusations filed with the Supreme Court by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an anti-corruption campaign group.

The group's complaint alleges Netanyahu violated a court ruling that an accused prime minister does not have the right to act in a matter that could constitute a conflict of interest.

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Joseph Maldonado-Passage, better known as Joe Exotic of the Tiger King from the Netflix docu-series of the same name, told Fox News over the weekend that his 2024 presidential bid isnt a joke.

First of all, you know, its my constitutional right to do this. It doesnt matter what people think. This aint a joke, Maldonado-Passage said in a phone interview with Fox Newss Lawrence Jones on Cross Country aired Saturday.

The Tiger King star is serving a 21-year federal sentence after being convicted on multiple charges, including Endangered Species Act violations and a murder-for-hire scheme targeting animal rights activist Carole Baskin,.

The former reality star is running under the Libertarian Party banner, via which he previously ran under for Oklahoma governor back in 2018.

Maldonado-Passage told Fox News he is running for president to spur change in the political system and the justice system, and to ask real questions on behalf of tax-paying Americans.

We have President Putin [who] just has warrants for his arrest for war crimes. We have President Trump under the possibility of an indictment and other criminal charges. We have Hunter Biden and President Biden under investigation for money laundering and making bad deals, Maldonado-Passage said.

What the hells the difference in somebody in prison that sees the system for what it really is and exposing this and trying to fix it?

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
TALLAHASSEE  Born in Mexico and a licensed lawyer in Florida, Jose Godinez-Samperio could prove both to be the first and among the last of his kind.

Godinez-Samperio began his career as an immigration lawyer, helping people legally enter the U.S., only after the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2014 passed a law allowing undocumented residents to be admitted to the Florida Bar.

The measure was overwhelmingly supported by GOP lawmakers. Then-House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, called it an "act of justice," after the legislation was approved 79-37 by the House.

It was signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, now a Republican U.S. senator.

But this year, GOP legislators supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis are advancing sweeping efforts to stifle illegal immigration, including repeal of the measure that set Godinez-Samperio on his career.

DeSantis and Scott: Two Florida GOP governors with separate paths on immigration and elections

Illegal immigration in Florida: A by-the-numbers look at a surge

Its a very sad thing, said Godinez-Samperio, speaking from his office in Mexico City, where he works with clients seeking to relocate to the U.S. I think theres a faction within the Republican Party that sees this as the way the winds are blowing, and they want to be part of it.

Godinez-Samperio said that for supporters, the repeal is mostly symbolic. Its not like people are going to flock to the United States to become undocumented lawyers, he said.

But for the 36-year-old Godinez-Samperio, the 2014 law meant everything.

A long journey to law

Coming to Florida as a 9-year-old with his parents and sister on tourist visas, the family remained in the state undocumented.

Godinez-Samperio went to school in the Tampa area, eventually becoming his high schools valedictorian and receiving his undergraduate degree from New College of Florida. He went on to Florida State Universitys College of Law, where he graduated with honors.

Jose Manuel Godinez-Samperio graduated from New College of Florida in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology. That same year, he began his studies at Florida State University College of Law. Here, he receives a handshake from former Florida Governor Bob Graham, left, after receiving his New College diploma.

But after passing the Florida Bar exam in 2011, he ran into a brick wall.

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Federal law prohibits the issuance of professional license to undocumented immigrants, but does allow states to pass laws making them eligible.

And that's what happened for Godinez-Samperio in 2014, after his cause was taken up by key backers, including late, former FSU President Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte, and Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga.

The law graduates situation had already been reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court, where justices ruled Godinez-Samperio was not eligible for his law license because of the federal prohibition.

Justice Jorge Labarga, a key backer

But Labarga, born in Cuba and who grew up as a refugee in rural Pahokee in Palm Beach County, was moved by the case.

Justice Labarga compared his story to mine, Godinez-Samperio said. He said it wasnt fair that he was able to be admitted with full legal status as a Cuban refugee and I could not because I was born in Mexico.

A different time for Florida GOP:In-state tuition, law license soon to be available for illegal immigrants in Florida

From 2014:Labarga to make history as Floridas first Cuban-American chief justice

DeSantis on immigration:Before expected White House run, DeSantis woos GOP voters with more migrant crackdowns

The legislation, approved and signed by Scott, allows law licenses for undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children, have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, and are authorized to work and have a Social Security number.

It echoed themes of the "Dreamers" program introduced by President Obama that was designed to protect undocumented children brought to the U.S. by their parents. But that program has since become a target for anti-immigrant organizations and former President Trump, who tried unsuccessfully to disband it in 2017.

Labarga declined comment on the possible repeal of the lawyers' provision, because the proposed legislation could eventually come before justices in a legal challenge.

A Scott spokesman, McKinley Lewis, said he opposes the repeal and "stands by the legislation he signed into law. These kids are here through no fault of their own and deserve the same chance to live the American dream."

Scott has singled out another sanction against immigrants DeSantis is calling for this year. The governor, an expected Republican presidential contender, wants reversed another law Scott signed in 2014 that allows undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition.

Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahasse gives a thumbs and other representatives shout their support for a bill in the house that would help immigrants who are unlawfully in the country to receive their law licenses under certain conditions in Florida during session on Thursday, May 1, 2014, in Tallahassee, Fla.

DeSantis, Republicans want to blunt illegal immigration

DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have clamored for steps that they say will disincentivize illegal immigration.

Eliminating the chances for undocumented people to attain a law license is just one of the provisions included in legislation (CS/SB 1718, HB 1617) that enhances penalties for human smuggling and imposes new requirements on employers, local governments and hospitals dealing with migrants.

An in-state tuition ban so far is not included in the legislation.

Jose Manuel Godinez Samperio currently works at the Anderson Immigration Law Group.

The Senate sponsor of the measure, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, blames the federal government for the nations immigration woes. The only way were going to fix it is if we start pushing back, he said.

The legislation barring anyone like Godinez-Samperio from becoming a Florida lawyer wont directly affect him, since it allows those currently admitted to the Florida Bar to continue practicing.

But it does close the door in Florida.

Michele Gavagni, executive director of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, said she thinks as many as 20 undocumented residents may have qualified for admittance as lawyers over the past nine years.

Godinez-Samperio worked in Florida as a paralegal at Gulfcoast Legal Services, a nonprofit aid organization in Pinellas County, while he was awaiting admission to the Florida Bar and then shortly afterward.

But he and his family are now all back in Mexico. He is also licensed in that country and has been practicing law there for more than six years.

Jose Godinez-Samperio, left, along with his counselor Sandy D'Alemberte listen to debate on a bill in the house that would allow him to practice law in Florida during session on Thursday, May 1, 2014, in Tallahassee, Fla. The House approved language to give the Supreme Court the ability to grant law licenses to immigrants here illegally under certain conditions. Godinez-Samperios parents brought him to the United States on a tourist visa when he was 9 and the family remained in the country after the visas expired. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

I know people who are undocumented priests, teachers and accountants. Its a great feeling to get people legally to the United States, Godinez-Samperio said. People can start over and they contribute so much, their experience and more than anything, its their attitude.

Its what helps them start new businesses, they create jobs in Florida, and they make the pie bigger. For everyone, he added.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Networks Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Migrant lawyer made Florida history. Republicans are closing the door
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) on Sunday said his states new restrictions on how minors can interact with social media arent expected to be foolproof.

Cox signed two bills into law last week requiring social media companies to verify the age of users in the state and prevent minors from opening accounts without parental permission. Among other measures, the new laws will also prevent advertising on minors accounts and cut off access for minors after 10:30 p.m.

We dont think its going to be foolproof. Theres no question about that. But we are working with social media companies, again, over the course of the year, we will be going through a rulemaking process to figure out what thats going to look like, again, how do we protect data privacy? Cox said on NBC Newss Meet the Press.

Utahs new laws are the first of their kind in the nation, and Cox has said that he expects legal challenges to the restrictions. Among the concerns raised about the new laws are whether the age verification process would mean giving companies access to users personal information and whether handing control over access to parents could compromise childrens privacy, or be harmful in the case of an abusive parent.

Cox said on Sunday that there are legitimate concerns, such as questions about who takes charge in a custody battle, and promised well be working through those.

But this is about empowering families. Its about empowering parents. And its about holding these social media companies accountable for what we know now, Cox said.

I suspect as we look at this, that there will be third-party age verification, companies that we will utilize to make this happen. Weve seen the leaks that have happened with some of these social media companies. We dont want them having copies of drivers licenses on hand. Thats not what were trying to do here. We believe that there are technological fixes that we can work around this and thats what well be working on over the course of the next year, Cox added. The new laws dont take effect until March of next year.

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Coxs move comes as federal lawmakers are debating a possible nationwide ban on the video-sharing app TikTok over data security concerns.

The new laws in Utah also disallow social media companies from using a design or feature that causes a minor to have an addiction to the platform.

Asked on Sunday how addiction can be proven, Cox said we dont have to.

We gave a private right of action to parents and families to be able to sue these companies if theres harm done to their child. And harm is presumed. So it will be up to the social media companies to prove otherwise, Cox said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
After closing schools twice earlier this year for smaller storms, schools in the Poudre and Thompson school districts were open Monday despite an early morning storm that dumped as much as 10 inches of snow on Fort Collins and the surrounding area before 8 a.m.

Colorado State University canceled all classes and operations because of the snowfall, and Front Range Community College switched its Larimer campus to remote learning.

The Weld RE-4 (Windsor-Severance) School District is on spring break this week, as are FRCCs other two campuses in Longmont and Westminster. Most school districts in the Denver, Boulder and Longmont areas are also on spring break this week, and all other public school districts in the region that were not on spring break also held in-person classes Monday.

Here's a look at the factors at play for school staying in session despite Monday's early dumping of snow.

More:Snow day? How Poudre, Thompson school districts make that call

Snowfall was far more than predicted and accumulated late

Kindergarteners Bailey Kimble, left, and Kira Hand play in the snow during recess at Shepardson Elementary School on Monday in Fort Collins.

PSD and TSD officials said they rely heavily on weather forecasts in making decisions on whether to close schools for inclement weather, and this storm was not expected to drop more than 1 to 3 inches of snow in Fort Collins or Loveland.

With every instance of inclement weather, we try our best to be proactive, monitoring predicted weather and making decisions with the best information we have available, PSD spokesperson Madeline Noblett said. In this case, the storm produced more snow and at a later hour than was projected.

At 6 a.m., when our buses first started leaving, the forecast (from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) was for 1-2 inches. Therefore, we did not call a late start of a snow day based on that projection.

That being said, we fully recognize that there were snowfall totals that were higher than that once the storm came through across our 1,800-square mile district.

Todd Piccone, the operations director for TSD, said his district watches weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service closely and contracts with an independent meteorologist to get predictions specifically for its geographical footprint. That meteorologist, he said, predicted 2-3 inches of snow in an update late Sunday night, and that was consistent with what his crews that went out at 4 a.m. to lay down de-icer and clear snow from at district schools were seeing.

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It dumped on us more than anyone anticipated from 4 oclock to 7 oclock, Piccone said.

The National Weather Service on Sunday was predicting 1 to 4 inches of snow overnight. However, by 6 a.m. state climatologist Russ Schumacher reported 9.2 inches of snow in northwest Fort Collins, and Coloradoan staff observed snowfall of 5 inches or more in various parts of the city, along with blowing snow.

Just a bit more than expected this morning here in Fort Collins. 9.2" of snow as of 6am, moderate to heavy snow ongoing. Fort Collins 2.5NW. @NWSBoulder #cowx  pic.twitter.com/CLWKhePKFm  Russ Schumacher (@russ_schumacher) March 27, 2023

Would a snow day have required extending the school year?

Noblett, PSDs chief information officer, and Piccone both said calling a snow day Monday would not have required extending the school year to meet the states requirements for instructional days and hours, despite the earlier snow days and delayed start.

Both districts build potential snow days into their calendars and neither have reached their limit.

A person walks on the Colorado State University campus on Monday. CSU canceled classes due to the storm, but Poudre School District and Thompson School District did not.

Were not at that point yet, Piccone said.

PSD, TSD and Weld RE-4 closed schools for snow twice earlier this year, Jan. 18 and Feb. 21, and canceled after-school activities on Nov. 17 because of snow.

The two storms that closed school were both forecast to drop more snow on the area than they actually did. Forecasts called for 4-8 inches of snow on Feb. 21 and up to a foot of snow Jan. 18, with only about half that much falling in the Fort Collins area during each of those storms.

PSD also had two early-release days because of heat on Sept. 7-8.

Was state-mandated testing a factor?

Monday was the first day of Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, testing in English language arts and math for PSD students in grades 3-8. That testing was being conducted as scheduled, Noblett said, but was not discussed while weather-related decisions were being made.

More:Does your child's school have lead in its water? Tracking Colorado's testing results

The state gives school districts a range of dates during which those tests can be administered, so postponing a day or two because of inclement weather would not have been a significant issue, she said.

Why couldnt PSD have shifted to remote learning?

First-graders Eleanor Brune, bottom left, and Skylar Keesler go down a slide during recess at Shepardson Elementary School on Monday, March 27, 2023, in Fort Collins.

The PSD Board of Education amended its policies in August to allow schools to shift to remote learning rather than closing for inclement weather, and that remains an option, Noblett said.

However, only middle and high school students have school-issued laptops available at home for remote learning. They check them out for the school year.

Elementary-school students can check laptops out from their schools for overnight use but would have had to do so Friday to have them for remote learning on Monday.

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, twitter.com/KellyLyell or facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: PSD explains call to keep school open during biggest storm of year
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that the Kremlin plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, drawing claims of nuclear blackmail from Ukraine and condemnation from the United States and NATO.

Putin said the move would counter the U.S.s deployments of nuclear weapons in different European countries, placing nuclear weapons across the border from NATO member Poland.

We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allied countries, preparing the launch platforms and training their crews, Putin said in a state media interview on Saturday. We are going to do the same thing.

Tactical nuclear weapons are made for battlefield use and are not designed for long-range attacks.

Putin has repeatedly raised the specter of nuclear weapons throughout his war on Ukraine, however his comments over the weekend quickly spurred global concern.

He said on Saturday that Russia will complete construction of a storage facility for the weapons by July 1, and has already stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nukes, according to Al Jazeera.

NATO

In a statement on Sunday, NATO called Putins comments dangerous & irresponsible.

NATO is vigilant, and were are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russias nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said in a statement. We are committed to protect and defend all NATO allies.

Lungescu also said in the statement that Russias reference to NATOs nuclear sharing is totally misleading, arguing that NATO members have fulfilled international commitments while Russia recently suspended its involvement in a nuclear treaty with the U.S.

Russia must return to compliance and act in good faith, she said.

United States

The U.S. said it will monitor the implications of Putins threat, but noted it had not seen any indication that Russias nukes were on the move.

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We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture nor any indications Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

During an appearance on CBSs Face The Nation, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that there has been no indication of Russia moving nuclear weapons to Belarus.

Weve in fact seen no indication that he has any intention to use nuclear weapons, period, inside Ukraine, he added.

Ukraine

Ukraine requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after Russia announced its plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus, calling for the U.S. and other western powers to counter Russias nuclear blackmail.

Ukraine expects effective measures to counter the Kremlins nuclear blackmail by the United Kingdom, China, the USA and France, in particular, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, Ukraines Foreign Ministry said in a statement. We demand to immediately convene an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council for this purpose.

Ukraines Foreign Ministry also appealed Belarus to prevent the fulfillment of the criminal purposes regarding the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus  which will further turn this country into a hostage of the Kremlin.

Belarus

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the opposition to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, said Russias deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in her country would violate its constitution and grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people.

Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has helped Russias war by allowing Russian troops to stage attacks along its border with Ukraine. However, Lukashenko has not committed troops to Russias war. He has not publicly commented on Putins remarks as of Sunday evening.

Tsikhanouskaya said Russia moving nukes into Belarus risked further subjugating Belarus under its illegal control, further depriving it of sovereignty.

Russia acts as the occupying force, violating national security and putting Belarus on the collision course with its neighbors and the international community, she added.

Tsikhanouskaya also called on the international community to demand that Russia cease its nuclear threats and withdraw forces from the country.

In his comments Saturday, Putin claimed a deal on stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus did not violate international nonproliferation agreements, as Moscow would still control the weapons.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  It looks like American politics is entering a new age of anxiety, triggered by an unprecedented legal development: The potential indictment of a former president and current presidential candidate.

Donald Trump's many legal problems  and calls for protests by his followers  have generated new fears of political violence and anxiety about the unknowable impact all this will have on the already-tense 2024 presidential election.

"I dont think well know how it will play until it plays," Republican strategist Liz Mair said.

During an airport rally Saturday night in Waco, Texas  his first such rally of the 2024 cycle  Trump spoke at length about the legal threats facing him and cast them in apocalyptic terms.

Telling supporters that enemies are desperate to stop us," Trump said that "2024 is the final battle. It's going to be the big one."

Attack the prosecutor:'They're coming after you:' Donald Trump attacks prospective indictment during Waco rally

Down to cases:What is an indictment? Why would Trump get arrested? Here's what we know about the process

New York grand jury to meet again

Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Make America Great Again Rally in Waco, Texas, March 25, 2023.

A big development could happen as early as Monday, when a grand jury in New York City is expected to meet again on a Trump case that revolves around hush money paid to a former adult film actress.

Trump's possible indictment  he has said he expects to be arrested and warned that "potential death and destruction" could ensue  has created fears of violence that would make the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021 look like a warm-up act.

"The horrific activities that took place on Jan. 6  God willing, we will not see them repeated this week, should any one of these cases move forward on Trump," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., speaking Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

The grand jury has taken testimony that Trump financed payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence just before the 2016 election. Prosecutors are looking at whether the payment constituted an illegal campaign contribution.

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While Trump claims the accusations are unwarranted and politically motivated, law enforcement officials in New York City and Washington say they have beefed up security plans in case Trump supporters decide to act on his complaints.

Trump has made his sharpest attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has now been the recipient of death threats.

In a statement over the weekend, Bragg said that "we evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence."

Trump investigations could extend to 2024 election

The New York case may only be the tip of the political and legal iceberg; Trump is under investigation elsewhere over Jan. 6, the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents.

Any or all of these cases could play out for the next year and a half, right up to Election Day on Nov. 5, 2024.

In Atlanta, prosecutors are looking into the pressure that Trump applied to Georgia officials to overturn his loss to Biden in that state.

In Washington, a Justice Department special counsel is investigating Trump efforts nationwide to overturn the election and his actions on or before Jan. 6. Special Counsel Jack Smith is also investigating Trump's handling of classified information after he left the White House.

State of play:Is Donald Trump likely to be arrested soon? Will he be indicted? What we know

Players:Alvin Bragg, Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen: Meet the key players in Manhattan DA's Trump case

Trump tends to lump these investigations together while urging his followers to object, suggestions that many fear will be taken all too literally.

Following the rally in Waco, the anti-Trump Lincoln Project criticized "his usual un-American and anti-democratic statements." The organization also pointed out that "the only times he seemed to come alive was when hinting of violence and retribution.

How will 2024 voters react?

Former President Donald Trump walks to the stage to begin his Make America Great Again Rally in Waco, Texas, March 25, 2023.

This is also an emerging age of political uncertainty.

No former president has ever been indicted; no major presidential candidate has sought the office while under indictment  therefore, no campaign has any idea how actual voters might react.

Trump and his allies are confident that criminal charges will wind up helping him politically, firing up fundraising and poll numbers.

Some Republican lawmakers seem willing to turn Trump's legal problems into a political issue, pledging to investigate Bragg and the Justice Department over their handling of the Trump investigations.

Democrats said Trump's rhetoric and Republican interference are leading the nation down a dark path.

"It's dangerous," said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the top House Democrat. "And if he keeps it up, he's going to get someone killed."

Trump indictment would be historic

A country that warred its way to independence from Great Britain in the late 18th Century has had many tense political times.

There have been the assassinations, Vietnam War arguments, and civil rights opposition of the 1960s; McCarthyism and the Red Scare of the 1950s; an actual Civil War during the 1860s  all long ago.

"A lot of us wont remember a time that was this tense," Mair said.

As in previous eras, leaders do not know how the current age of anxiety will end.

Republican strategist Doug Heye said Trump may want his backers to act out the last scene of the film "The Joker," in which rioters rampage through pre-Batman Gotham City. (He also noted that scenes in "The Joker" sequel are being filmed outside the courthouse where the Trump grand jury meets.)

There's not that much GOP anxiety about Trump himself, Heye said  it's about his followers and their reaction. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has urged Trump supporters not to protest, saying "we want calmness out there.

"There is anxiety, as evidenced by McCarthy's comments that Trump supporters should not protest, that his constantly escalating rhetoric will lead to getting people hurt," Heye said.

How would a Trump indictment move voters?

Many Republicans have sought to avoid discussing the potential campaign impact of a Trump indictment. That group includes prospective candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and announced candidates such as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and their aides.

So much depends on future developments, some said. For example: One potential 2024 candidate, former Vice President Mike Pence, may have to testify about Trump in the Jan. 6 case.

Many Democrats are also unsure how voters might react to a long, drawn-out story of investigations, indictments, and possible trials of a former president and presidential candidate  assuming they react at all.

Said Democratic strategist Lis Smith: "I don't know how much this is going to move the needle with voters."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump may be indicted soon, causing anxiety ahead of 2024
WEST PALM BEACH  A judge has sentenced a 42-year-old Delray Beach-area man to five years of probation after he pleaded guilty to a vehicular homicide charge in the March 2021 death of a motorist stranded along Florida's Turnpike.

Michael Scott Paul, 42, entered the plea during a March 23 hearing before Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe, who also revoked his driver's license for three years. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office dropped a second charge of DUI manslaughter.

Florida Highway Patrol investigators said Paul's 2017 Hyundai Tuscon SUV struck and killed 44-year-old Miami resident Christian Danillo Portillo at about 6 p.m. on March 30, 2021. At the time of the wreck, Portillo was standing on the shoulder of the turnpike after his 2007 Toyota Tundra pickup broke down in the southbound lanes near the Glades Road exit in suburban Boca Raton.

90-mph ride in a 45-mph zone: How a woman will pay for an 88-year-old man's death

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A trooper who responded to the scene said Paul showed signs of being impaired. Test results showed he had both fentanyl and marijuana in his system, according to FHP reports.

As conditions of his probation, Paul must:

Wear an ankle monitor for the first year.

Attend a victim-impact panel, in which people tell offenders how impaired drivers affected their lives.

Take an eight-hour defensive driving course.

Complete 250 hours of community service.

Rowe credited Paul with two days of time served in the Palm Beach County Jail and ordered him to pay $618 in court costs.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Driver who struck, killed man stranded on Florida's Turnpike pleads guilty
Qabil Ashirov

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov has visited Germany at the invitation of German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbok and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry.

According to the received information, the Minister will take part in the international conference entitled 9th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue to be held on 28-29 March in Berlin.

A speech by the Minister of Energy and bilateral meetings are planned to be held at the meeting, in which ministers from different countries, and high-level representatives from international organizations and financial institutions will attend.




Israel's largest trade union group launched a strike across a broad swath of sectors Monday, joining a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the judiciary  a plan that is facing unprecedented opposition.

The strike by the Histadrut umbrella group, which represents nearly 800,000 workers in health, transit and banking, among many other fields, could paralyze large parts of Israel's economy, which is already on shaky ground, ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu to suspend the overhaul.

Departing flights out of the country's main international airport were grounded in protest, affecting thousands of travelers. Other sectors were also falling in line, with local governments, which manage pre-schools and other essential services, as well as a main doctors union announcing they would walk out.

The growing resistance to the plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at Netanyahus decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the throughway and many others throughout the country for hours. Thousands of protesters were gathering Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, in a bid to ramp up the pressure on the government.

The overhaul, driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever, has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked a sustained and intensifying protest movement that has spread to nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.

The turmoil has further divided Israel, magnifying longstanding and intractable differences over the country's character that have riven it since its establishment. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, seeing the overhaul as a direct challenge to Israel's democratic ideals. The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically-elected leadership.

The crisis has also shined a light on Netanyahu himself, Israel's longest serving leader, and the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles the corruption charges. The firing of his defense minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, prompting a new surge of opposition.

Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss, Arnon Bar-David, the union group head, said in a rousing speech to applause. Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss. The group had sat out the monthslong protests but the defense minister's firing appeared to provide the impetus for the drastic measure.

On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were being cleared, Israels ceremonial President Isaac Herzog urged Netanyahu to immediately halt the overhaul, calling on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat," he said. Wake up now!

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

Weve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we dont know what to say to our children about their future in this country, Lapid said. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.

It was unclear if the strikes would prompt Netanyahu to halt the overhaul. Universities across the country said they were shutting their doors until further notice. Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing Netanyahu in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was deeply concerned" by the developments in Israel, "which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.

Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Watson said in a statement.

Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech. Some members of Netanyahu's Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul, but the architect of it, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, has said he would resign.

Netanyahu's hard-line allies pressed him to continue on. We must not halt the reform in the judicial system and we must not give in to anarchy, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies will barrel ahead this week with the overhaul plan. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

Netanyahus government pledged to forge ahead with a parliamentary vote this week on a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday for a final vote.

The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset, as Israel's parliament is called, the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

A separate overhaul law that would circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was being delayed following a request from that party's leader.

Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

But critics say the laws will remove Israels system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the governing coalition. They also say that Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because of his corruption trial.

Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and has dismissed accusations that the legal overhaul is designed to find him an escape route from the trial.

Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. The elections were all a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.

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BUZZARDS BAY  As local officials try to determine if Bourne is officially a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) community member or not, the Planning Department is working with the Cape Cod Commission to try and comply with the state agency's multi-family housing mandate.

The planning board has discussed the T directive to create more multi-family housing to spur the economy, accompanying zoning implications and the need for public comment to guide work on, and building in, a densely populated area of this village.

Were currently considered a neighboring community, though I have issues with this designation, as the T has not run into Plymouth for two years, said planning board member Christopher Farrell on March 16. Therefore, our neighboring community status is questionable."

Oxford Development Group has proposed a two-building canal-side complex off Main Street in Bourne. The town is considering complying with the MBTA's directive to build multi-family housing near transit hubs even though Bourne's status as a "T" community is hazy.

Earlier coverage: Next Buzzards Bay project may be 170-unit complex along Cape Cod Canal

The transportation authority would likely require a housing zone that would increase the area's 12-unit-per acre limit to 15 units per acre, Farrell said.

The board has considered developing questions for a community survey about the state mandate, which newly-elected Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, in an advisory, said must be met by T members.

Putting housing close to the Main Street train station could be tricky, Bourne officials said.

Board members agree, however, that locating multi-family housing so close to the Main Street train station would be difficult, given the area's geography. That includes the neighboring canal, Taylors Point Marina, village park, the Buzzards Bay Bypass and Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Board chairman Dan Doucette in recent meetings said the town should determine if Bourne is an official MBTA member, not just a part of the Ts advisory board, before his members can work on the housing mandate.

Select Board Chair Peter Meier, meanwhile, said the town is following the process given to us by the T to set up a housing zone. That would include working with the Cape Cod Commission to create adequate zoning, he said.

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Well make sure that well adhere to all the components of the mandate sent to us, Meier said.

Campbells advisory was straightforward, saying more housing would remove barriers to economic development.

Previous coverage:Bourne is the only Cape Cod town impacted by a state law mandating more multifamily zoning

MBTA Communities Zoning law is 'essential tool' for state to address housing crisis.

Compliance with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law is not only mandatory, it is an essential tool for the commonwealth to address its housing crisis along with our climate and transportation goals, Campbell said. While the housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color and poor, working families, it threatens all of us along with our economy and thus requires all of us do our part including ensuring adequate development of affordable, transit-oriented housing for our residents and families.

The Bourne planning board, select board, Cape Cod Commission and Canal Region Chamber of Commerce have long championed creating housing above first-floor businesses along Main Street. A housing district overlay on the village zoning map might satisfy the state.

Weve all been favoring that approach, Meier acknowledged in a March 16 interview. But it would have to include a proposed amendment to the growth incentive zone (GIZ) in place for Main Street. And that would have to go to town meeting for voter approval after a commission option to the planning board and public review.

Bourne Select Board Chair Peter Meier

Earlier coverage:Study: Cape Rail would cut millions of vehicle miles, thousands of tons of CO2

Daily trains between Boston and Buzzards Bay would 'enhance' the Main Street business scene, one official said.

Meier remains optimistic about the return of commuter rail service between Boston and Buzzards Bay through Middleborough, which is set to host similar trains to and from New Bedford.

He says daily trains would enhance the Main Street business scene and lend itself to so-called transit-oriented development. That in turn would accommodate local residents, who could work in Boston but live in Bourne, he said.

Tracks between Middleborough and Buzzards Bay have been upgraded. The Taylors Point train trestle on the Buzzards Bay-Wareham line that was recently reconstructed. And the state Department of Transportation has awarded a $775,000 contract to repair the roof and repaint the old train station at Main Street which now serves as headquarters for the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce.

Keep connected with the Cape. Download our free app.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Creating multi-family housing near transit hubs a spur to economy
Its a detailed to-do list that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., laid out in announcing that she will run next year for a third term, and one that she believes will deliver results for the residents of the state.

Pass a wealth tax. Make child care affordable. Protect our coastal communities. Build a 21st-century transportation system across all of Massachusetts, Warren wrote in a prepared release. Oh, and like Ive been saying for years  put stricter rules on banks so they dont crash and hurt working people.

Warren, who released a video on social media along with a written release announcing her reelection bid, became the first woman elected to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate when she defeated incumbent Republican Scott Brown in 2012. She won a second term by easily defeating Republican Geoff Diehl in 2018.

Warren, 73, had more than $2.3 million in her campaign account at the end of 2022, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Massachusetts first female senator

I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the rich and powerful and against everyone else, Warren said in her release. I won because Massachusetts voters know it, too. And now Im running for Senate again because theres a lot more, weve got to do.

Warren, a Cambridge resident, married her second husband, Bruce H. Mann, a legal historian and Harvard Law School professor, in 1980. She most recently called for banking oversight in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.

2020 presidential bid

After much discussion of a possible presidential run in 2016, Warren was one of the first Democratic candidates to throw her hat into the ring to challenge former President Donald Trump in 2020. She bowed out of the race after Super Tuesday, leaving the field open for Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and the eventual winner, former Vice President Joe Biden.

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During the campaign against Brown and again during her bid for the presidency, Warren was dogged by past claims of Native American heritage and her inability to provide documentation of that ancestry.

That led then-President Donald Trump to go after her early in the presidential campaign, derisively labeling her Pocahontas." Warren had said she learned of her family ties to Cherokee and Delaware tribes from stories told by her parents.

A native of Oklahoma, Warren was born in 1949 and learned the hard way what it means to be poor. She often describes her childhood as on the ragged edge of the middle class and hanging on by their fingernails.

What Elizabeth Warren said last week:Powell 'took a flamethrower' to bank regulations leading up to SVB collapse

After her father suffered a heart attack and was unable to continue working as a salesman, her mother took a job answering telephones with Sears, Roebuck in its catalogue sales department. The family of six  Warren has three older brothers  managed to stave off foreclosure thanks to her mothers entry into the labor market.

Did Warren drop out of college to get married?

Warren won a debate scholarship to George Washington University, but dropped out after two years in 1968 to marry James Robert Warren, whom she met in high school. She gave birth to her first child, daughter Amelia, in 1971.

Warren resumed her college career at the University of Houston, where she completed her bachelors degree, earning a degree in speech pathology and audiology and teaching special education students for a year.

When did Elizabeth Warren get her law degree

She earned her law degree from Rutgers University Law School and graduated in 1976 with a juris doctor. She was pregnant with her second child, Alexander, at the time.

Education, however, continued to be a motivating force: Warren started her law career as a lecturer at her alma mater. She continued to teach at various universities including institutions in Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and eventually at Harvard University while also researching bankruptcy and middle-class personal finances through the 1990s.

Through her research, Warren became an expert on bankruptcy and commercial law. She has said that through her research she concluded that the majority of bankruptcy filings were not the result of reckless spending, but rather the result of the push for homeownership.

What agency did President Obama ask Warren to establish?

Warren was appointed to lead the Congressional Oversight Panel, created to oversee the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, in 2008 following the credit default swap banking and housing crisis.

Two years later Warren was assigned to set up a national Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by former President Barack Obama. Warren was not appointed as executive director of the agency due to opposition to her nomination from financial institutions and Republican members of Congress.

However, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, designed to protect people from getting tricked and scammed by big banks and corporations, has returned more than $12 billion to American consumers who had been cheated.

Find confidence in yourself: Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey named Women of the Year honoree

Warren is a published author, writing about finances in America and has appeared in several documentaries also discussing financial questions. In 2017, Warren published her 11th book, This Fight is Our Fight: The Battle to Save Americas Middle Class. In it, she explores the challenges facing the middle class, arguing the federal government needs to do more to help working families by investing in strong social programs and education.

We know it wont be easy. Weve seen the powerful forces against us and how extreme the Republicans are. But the last 10 years have taught us that when we organize, when we hold those in power accountable, when we fight righteous fights  then we can make positive change, said Warren. Thats why Im running for Senate  are you with us?

'Compelled to tell their stories': Massachusetts reporters are focus of 'Boston Strangler'

Who speaks for Warren in her video?

The video announcement includes interviews with people from across Massachusetts and elected leaders such as U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

Elizabeth is my partner in the Senate  and I have seen this perpetual energy machine up close. Passing a tax on greedy corporations paying zero taxes? She got it done, Markey says in the ad. Making billionaires cry on TV? Done.

Its always impossible, until its done. She never loses sight of the people, adds Pressley. She never forgets that policy is about peoples lives.

She won billions in funding for projects across our state, like a new electric school bus fleet, touts Wu, to help achieve a city Green New Deal.

With Associated Press reports.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren announces run for reelection
Major General Richard R. Neely, Commander of the Illinois National Guard, left, and Lt. Col. Jason Celletti, commander of the 1st Assault Helicopter Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment, middle, present an Illinois flag to Gov. JB Pritzker during a mobilization ceremony for the regiment Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023 at the 182nd Airlift Wing in Peoria.

A bill opening the process for Illinois to create a new state flag advanced out of the Senate on Thursday, but not before a brief debate between Springfield's two senators.

Senate Bill 1818 from state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, passed 39-16 during floor debate and will now move to the House. Her bill, still pending House approval, would create a 21-person committee tasked with deciding whether the state needs a new flag.

Recent:Paprocki leads Illinois March for Life rally; abortion access groups have counter protest

State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, speaks before a ceremonial swearing-in of U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL. 13 District) at Pipefitters Hall Saturday Jan. 21, 2023.

Turner's first passed bill in the 103rd General Assembly gives the committee until Sept. 1 to determine whether or not the flag needs to be replaced and then until Dec. 3, 2024 - the day in 1818 when Illinois became the 21st state in the union - to report recommendations to the legislature.

The state flag has remained basically the same since it was first adopted in 1915. Its only change in 1969 was an addition of the word Illinois underneath an eagle standing on a rock with a shield beneath its feet.

So far, Turner said her office has received hundreds of calls from middle schools and high schools wishing to participate.

"People talk all the time about disconnected the citizenry is with government," she said during the floor debate. "I think this is a great opportunity to give people a reason to get excited about Illinois again."

Sen. Steve McClure R-Springfield speaks on the senate floor Friday April 8, 2022. [Thomas J. Turney/The State Journal-Register]

State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, rose in opposition to his fellow Springfield legislator. He said he appreciated Turner bringing the bill to the table, even saying the new designs could be "spectacular," but said the legislature should spend its time with more pressing matters.

"We need to be focused on the things our constituents are concerned about and I've yet to have that issue of our state flag be raised by one constituent," he said. Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, was the sole Republican 'yes' vote.

McClure during a previous floor debate Thursday joined Democrats in supporting Senate Bill 1561. The bill from state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, would ban the use of electronic cigarettes in public spaces.

Contact Patrick Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/pkeckreporter.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Bill creating new state flag commission passes in Illinois Senate,
Crime scene tape at the Waterford Glen Apartment complex off Edison Road cordons off where a shooting took place Oct. 22, 2020. MAREK MAZUREK, SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE

SOUTH BEND  A man from Illinois was found guilty of murder last week in connection to a shooting that left two men dead at the Waterford Glen Apartments in 2020.

After a bench trial earlier this month, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge John Marnocha found Tyrik Rayford, 24, guilty on Friday of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and a firearm enhancement. He will be sentenced in late April and faces more than 100 years in prison if sentenced consecutively on all counts. Court documents say Rayford is a native of Sauk Village, Ill.

Officials believe the October 2020 shooting  which killed 21-year-old Malik Balderos and 20-year-old Ricky Kinds Jr.  was gang-related, and court documents say the ballistic evidence shows at least eight separate weapons were fired in the murders. In addition to Rayford, three other men face criminal charges for the shooting.

Retaliation

According to police and court documents, the series of events leading to the murders of Balderos and Kinds began with the murder of 16-year-old Frederick Williams on Oct. 17, 2020. Documents allege Frederick was affiliated with "the West Side" and during a memorial vigil for Williams on Oct. 22, a number of people gathered with weapons where at least one person was overheard saying, "They gotta pay for this."

When questioned by police, one suspect said several young men loaded into three different vehicles and went in search of East Side members, which brought them to the Waterford Glen Apartments.

That night, South Bend officers received extensive reports of shots fired and a chaotic scene at the complex off of Edison Road. Kinds and Balderos, who police say were affiliated with the "East Side," were found shot, and autopsies confirmed both died of gunshot wounds.

Court documents say several of the weapons used that night were also fired in other open shooting investigations, which investigators believe to be part of escalating tensions between the East Side and West Side gangs.

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Eventually, police identified multiple people believed to be involved in the Waterford Glen shooting, and prosecutors filed murder charges against Dijon Marcus Davis, 20; Darius Vaughn, 22; and Lance Dawson, 21, all from South Bend. Criminal proceedings against all three men are pending.

Court documents in Rayford's case indicate other suspects identified him as being present at the memorial service and the subsequent shooting at the apartment complex. Rayford was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in October 2021.

He went to trial at the end of February in a bench trial, meaning a judge decided the outcome of the case instead of a jury. A few weeks after the trial, Marnocha issued a guilty verdict.

Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Illinois man convicted of gang-related murders in South Bend
At least a dozen Rhode Island police departments received false reports of school shootings Monday morning, prompting police officers to rush to the schools, and the schools to take extra safety measures.

All of Narragansett's schools were put on lockdown after police received a call at 9:05 a.m. reporting a shooting at the high school.

"Officers arrived at each school within 60 seconds, and swept each school for potential intruders or danger," Narragansett Police Chief Sean Corrigan said in an email. "Each school was confirmed to be secure by 9:20 and normal school operations resumed. All students and faculty are safe."

More:Police chiefs offer guidance for protecting RI schools from shooters

More:Student charged after being found with BB gun at North Providence High School

Westerly High School was put on lockdown, and all of the department's available officers went to the high school after a hoax call was made to the department's non-emergency line at 8:47 a.m., Chief Paul Gingerella said.

Officers checked and cleared the building within 15 minutes, he said.

Several schools and police departments quickly posted messages on social media to notify and calm their communities.

In a 9:12 a.m. message, Westerly Public Schools put out a message saying, Westerly High School was "briefly" in lockdown and students at other schools were instructed to shelter in place Monday morning due to a "hoax phone threat."

"The buildings have been cleared to return to regular activity."

The Narragansett Police Department posted a message to Facebook with extra capitalization for emphasis, "This morning, there was a report of a school shooting at the high school. THIS REPORTED INCIDENT WAS A HOAX. There was NO shooting, and all students and faculty are safe."

Westerly was the first community to receive a call, Gingerella said, but calls to other cities and towns followed. Those included Narragansett, Portsmouth, Burrillville, Richmond, Cumberland, East Providence, Bristol, Barrington, Newport, Cranston and Warwick, according to Gingerella and Corrigan.

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Cities and towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts have dealt with similar hoaxes recently, according to Gingerella.

The police characterize such hoaxes as "swatting" calls, "false reports of an attack upon a school intended to elicit a police response, disrupt the school day and provoke fear and anxiety," Corrigan said.

Chariho Regional Schools Supt. Gina Picard sent a message saying schools had been placed in "secure status" after "it was brought to our attention that there have been some spoof phone calls sent to police departments" in the area.

The Chariho district encompasses Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton.

"Out of an abundance of caution, our buildings have been placed in secure status. There is no threat at this time and we have police on site," Picard said in the message, which was posted to social media.

According to Corrigan and Gingerella, the incidents will be investigated through the state's Fusion Center, which gathers, analyzes and shares threat-related information among federal, state and local entities.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: School shooting hoax made to multiples RI police departments
At least 25 people are dead in Mississippi, and one person in Alabama, after a tornado touched down just after sundown Friday in a storm system that delivered twisters, heavy rain, wind gusts and hail as it traveled throughout the South.

The storm system ripped through Mississippi and produced a tornado that touched down and caused catastrophic damage to communities across the state. In Rolling Fork, a rural town about 60 miles northwest from the state capital of Jackson, what were once buildings are now piles of scattered debris. The twister moved northeast, devastating rural areas.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado caused damage about 60 miles northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. Silver City and Rolling Fork reported destruction as the tornado swept northeast at 70 mph without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.

Debris covers a damaged structure in Rolling Fork, Mississippi on March 25, 2023. / Credit: Rogelio Solis / AP

"Every trail in this town (is) gone," said Roger Cummings of Silver City, who said that his nephew was killed in the storm.

"We lost everything, but we got out alive," Silver City resident Rayford Thomas told CBS News Saturday.



Thomas has lived in Silver City's Old Town subdivision for about 30 years. However, on Friday night, he almost died in his home when the tornado ripped through the neighborhood.



"I just balled up to try to get into the tightest corner," Thomas said of when the tornado hit.



Thomas said his next door neighbor was killed when the tornado smashed a mobile home frame through his wall.



Ernestine Hill, 73, survived the tornado, but lost everything else, including her blood pressure medicine. She eventually located some of her medicine in the rubble.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a Twitter post Friday night that search and rescue teams were active and that officials were sending more ambulances and emergency assets to those affected.

"Many in the MS Delta need your prayer and God's protection tonight," the post said. "Watch weather reports and stay cautious through the night, Mississippi!"

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Officials like Reeves were pleading for help as residents survey damage left after the storm's wake, with the governor tweeting on Saturday that search and rescue teams "are still active" and that the loss will be "felt in these towns forever."

Reeves issued a state of emergency in all counties affected by the storms on Saturday afternoon.

In an aerial view, damage from a tornado is seen on March 25, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. / Credit: Getty Images

President Biden issued a statement on Saturday addressing the destruction.

"Jill and I are praying for those who have lost loved ones in the devastating tornadoes in Mississippi and for those whose loved ones are missing," he said. "The images from across Mississippi are heartbreaking. While we are still assessing the full extent of the damage, we know that many of our fellow Americans are not only grieving for family and friends, they've lost their homes and businesses."

Biden said that he had spoken to Reeves and other Mississippi legislators to offer "full federal support" to impacted communities. He also said that representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had already been deployed to the area.

"We will do everything we can to help. We will be there as long as it takes. We will work together to deliver the support you need to recover," Biden added.



Both Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, will travel to Mississippi to survey the damage Sunday, the White House said.

Residents in Amory were under an emergency boil water notice Saturday after the city's water department "suffered a direct hit from the tornado," the city said in a statement.

Forecasters have been warning about an outbreak of severe weather for days, even launching a weather balloon on Thursday. The deadly twisters come on the heels of damaging storms the region experienced on Thursday and Friday.

In Southern Missouri, a car with six teenagers inside was swept away by flood waters. Two of them did not survive.

At least two tornadoes swept through north Texas on Friday, with winds of 100 mph.

Eric Huntley dug through what was left of his home.

"Soon as I got the alert, I went to go look outside and then I heard the moan," he said of the storm. "I'll never forget that sound."

The storm also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across the Midwest and the Northeast. In Ohio, more than 359,000 customers were without power as of Saturday night, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us, while more than 130,000 customers were without power in Pennsylvania.

More than 14,000 customers in Mississippi and Alabama were still without power Saturday night.

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American flags are seen at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on National POW/MIA Recognition Day on the National Mall on September 16, 2022 in Washington, DC.

A slap in face to all who fought for freedom

Republicans in the Ohio legislature are proposing a statewide referendum to require a 60% majority vote to make changes in the Ohio constitution, thus minority rules.

I served as a first lieutenant and platoon leader in combat in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. We fought in major combat battles including Firebase Ripcord where two battalions of approximately 800 resulted in 139 deaths and over 400 wounded.

More:Our view: 'Hastily prepared,' undemocratic constitution change would erode your vote

I was one of the only lieutenants to survive.

In another situation we were sent out to find a body of a soldier who fell off a helicopter during a battle. We searched for five hours and then rains came and they couldn't get us out. We were notified that there were over 5,000 enemy in the area thus we were surrounded.

We went down to a creek bed and followed it for two days and finally got to a place where we could get picked up. I really thought those were the last days of my life.

In the fall of 1970, we were in a 11-day rainstorm and thus we couldn't get resupplied. We went three days with only two meals and finally four days with no food moving each day and sleeping in the rain. In addition to my service, my dad and all three of my uncles served in the military during World War II.

I feel that we were fighting for freedom and not for a situation where the minority rules. In my opinion the requirement to require a 60% vote to pass a state constitutional amendment is a slap in the face to everyone that has fought for freedom.

John Georgiton, Columbus

Letters to the Editor

More:How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Power above all else

Last year the taxpayers of Ohio paid $20 million due to the redistricting fight.

Now the GOP wants another special election to make it harder to change the Ohio constitution because they want to limit women's rights to their own bodies. The majority of Ohio voters favor letting a woman decide what happens to her body and that would be affirmed by the existing laws in the November election.

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Our view: 'Hastily prepared,' undemocratic constitution change would erode your vote

More:Lawsuit: Ohio Ballot Board should have split abortion amendment into multiple issues

The insurrectionist, women-hating, anti-democracy, Guns Over People party wants to spend $20 million of the taxpayer's money to avoid a fair majority rules question on women's rights.

Women should especially remember the 10-year-old rape victim about which the GOP lied. The party of old white guys is in power and they want to protect their power/income base by limiting citizen action now and in the future.

The GOP should pay for this dirty political election with profits from FirstEnergy bribes.

Stephen Johnson, Columbus

Don't let them do this

Republicans in the General Assembly want to limit the right of the citizens to amend our constitution for the purpose of increasing their power over us. There are political motivations of course, but the main reason is to give them more control over each of us.

More:Letters: 'Columbus has lost one of its finest.' Cops'cop left mark during 40 year career

If we let them do this then we deserve what we get.

The Ohio Constitution can be amended by majority vote now, and there is no good reason to require a super majority vote. No reason, that is, unless you are currently in power in the legislature.

Harry Reinhart, Columbus

Get more political analysis by listening to the Ohio Politics Explained podcast

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: We didn't fight in war to have rights seized by Ohio Republicans
OKLAHOMA CITY  Police have released additional footage from the Thursday arrest of Oklahoma state Rep. Dean Davis that shows him continue to insist officers were constitutionally prohibited from arresting him while the state legislature is in session.

In four excerpts of video footage released late Friday by the Oklahoma City Police Department, Davis, 50, is handcuffed in the backseat of a patrol car, arguing with Sgt. Timothy Brewer. He had been arrested on complaint of public intoxication at a bar in Oklahoma City around 2:15 a.m. Thursday.

"You chose the wrong person, congratulations!" Davis, R-Broken Arrow, can be heard telling the officer, while also claiming that he had been unfairly singled out of the group he was with that night.

According to an arrest report Brewer wrote early Thursday, he and a police lieutenant were headed back to the police station when they saw several people on the patio of a bar, which is against the law after 2 a.m. When police approached the group and told them to leave the bar, three men would not comply. Davis "became argumentative" and pulled out his wallet to show his legislative credentials, the report said.

Davis "tried to show us a credential and stated to the effect of you don't know how bad you messed up(,) you will find out tomorrow," Brewer wrote. "At this time I advised (Davis) to put his hands behind his back."

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A bartender told the police lieutenant accompanying Brewer that she told the men to leave the patio several times because the bar was closed, according to Brewer's report. The witness said the group kept saying they were representatives.

Davis demands officer calls superiors

During body camera footage and patrol car footage from the arrest, Davis also demanded Brewer call his superiors.

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"Your (Fraternal Order of Police) officer and your supervisor need to be called now," Davis said while in the back of the patrol car. "Do you understand that?"

Mark Nelson, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, issued a statement Saturday in support of Brewer, saying he "acted professionally the entire time."

"The detention and arrest of Rep. Davis were completely justified," Nelson's statement read. "Our officers must deal with circumstances that are difficult and require much patience. We are proud of how Sgt. Brewer represented himself and the police department."

State Rep. Dean Davis apologized Thursday afternoon to fellow lawmakers for an "unnecessary distraction" following his arrest.

Davis disputes arrest

Patrol car camera footage shows Davis continued to dispute his arrest Thursday as Brewer prepared to drive to the Oklahoma County jail.

Davis argued officers did not have the authority to arrest him while the state legislature was in session. A section of the Oklahoma constitution says: "Senators and Representatives shall, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the Legislature, and in going to and returning from the same, and, for any speech or debate in either House, shall not be questioned in any other place."

After being told he would be taken to the jail on complaint of public intoxication, Davis can be heard asking, "How is that even possible? Because you never even tested or did anything. Why won't you answer me on that one?"

"There's nothing to answer," Brewer said during the video. "Your speech is slurred, you've got the smell of alcohol on your breath and you can't understand or obey simple instructions."

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Davis also told the officer he had Coca Cola in his cup, not alcohol. That's close to what Rep. T.J. Marti  a fellow Broken Arrow Republican who was among the group police encountered Thursday  told NonDoc Friday when he was questioned about the incident.

"He didnt have a drink when they showed up," Marti said. "He had a Dr. Pepper."

Marti also claimed Davis's red eyes were due to allergies and that he had "pulled out his phone to get an Uber," according to his NonDoc interview.

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Attempts by The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network, to reach Davis were unsuccessful. But the lawmaker addressed the incident Thursday in a brief statement on the House floor.

"I dispute any wrongdoing," Davis said. "However, I do want to take this opportunity to apologize to this body for creating this unnecessary distraction from the important work of the House."

Second arrest while in office

This is the second time Davis has been arrested since taking office in 2019. Davis was placed on probation last September for a 2019 case in which he pled no contest to driving while impaired, speeding and obstructing a police officer.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma lawmaker Dean Davis arrested for public intoxication: Police
Russia has ratcheted up tensions with the West amid its ongoing war against Ukraine, with President Vladimir Putin saying Moscow will deploy "tactical nuclear weapons" in Belarus. The Russian leader said 10 fighter jets capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons  generally a reference to smaller weapons used for limited battlefield attacks, rather than larger, long-range "strategic" nuclear weapons  were already deployed in Belarus. Putin said Russia would also position nuclear-armed Iskander hypersonic missiles, with a range of around 300 miles, in Belarus.

The move wasn't completely unexpected. As Putin's ground war in Ukraine has struggled in recent months to make significant gains, he has repeatedly threatened to resort to nuclear weapons. But announcing a new deployment of such weapons represented an escalation in his rhetoric, and it drew quick condemnation from the West.

A photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Jan. 31, 2022 shows a Russian Su-30SM2 fighter jet taking off from the airfield in Chernyakhovsk, in Russia's far western enclave of Kaliningrad. / Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense handout/AP

The Russian autocrat argued that he was merely doing what the U.S. and NATO have done for years, as the U.S.-led alliance has nuclear-armed missiles deployed in Western Europe.

NATO called that justification by Putin misleading.

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"Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible," Oana Lungescu, a spokesperson for the alliance, said Sunday. "Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. NATO allies act with full respect of their international commitments Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments."

"NATO is vigilant and we are closely monitoring the situation," Lungescu said in the statement, adding that the alliance had not, however, "seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own."

The Biden administration issued a similarly guarded response, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby saying Sunday that the White House had also "seen nothing that would indicate Mr. Putin is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons in any way whatsoever in Ukraine."

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"I can also tell you that we haven't seen anything that would cause us to change our own strategic nuclear deterrent posture," Kirby said.

/ Credit: CBS News

Ukrainian national security chief Oleksiy Danilov accused Russia of holding its small ally Belarus, which sits just north of Ukraine, "hostage" with the plan to deploy nuclear weapons in the country.

Belarus says it's willing to host Russian nukes if its threatened

The escalating rhetoric from Putin comes as his ground war increasingly appears stalled on the muddy battlefields of eastern Ukraine. The hard-fought over city of Bakhmut  which for months has borne the brunt of the onslaught as Ukrainian forces cling onto it and Moscow throws wave after wave of soldiers and mercenaries at the front line  has been blasted beyond recognition.

The "situation" in the battle, after Russia's relentless eight-month assault, is finally "stabilizing," according to Ukraine's top army commander. Both sides have acknowledged a gruelling toll during the fight, but the latest British military intelligence assessment said Russia in particular had sustained "massive troop losses."

As the U.S. and its European allies steadily increase the flow of heavy weapons into Ukraine to help the country defend against Russia's invasion and Putin raises the tension with his announcement about nuclear weapons in Belarus, Moscow blamed an explosion deep inside Russian territory on Ukraine.

The Kremlin claimed it had downed a Ukrainian drone only about 100 miles south of Moscow on Sunday, with the unmanned aircraft purportedly crashing down to injure three people and leaving a crater 16 feet deep, with damage to nearby buildings.

Putin's latest nuclear threat, meanwhile, prompted Ukraine to demand an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, with Kyiv arguing that Moscow has now demonstrated it is "not a responsible steward" of nuclear weapons, and is only using them for intimidation.

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A line of severe storms that tore through west Georgia Sunday morning resulted in several injuries and dozens of damaged buildings in Troup County.

Two tigers held at Pine Mountain Animal Safari escaped during the storm and were later recaptured, according to the Troup County Sheriffs Office, which estimates two-to-three injures and 80-100 damaged buildings. Twenty to 30 of those buildings were severely damaged or destroyed.

Officials indicated most of the damage is around the West Point city limits heading east toward Meriwether County. The sheriffs office has asked people to avoid that area to allow first responders to work.

West Point Road between Webb Road and the city limits West Point is closed to traffic at this time.

There is a temporary shelter for people impacted by the storms at the West Point Parks and Rec/Point University gym off of Highway 29 in West Point (1106 Ave D). The Red Cross is en route to provide support.

According to the National Weather Services Peachtree City office, radar indicates that a tornado hit Troup County, but it will take survey teams a few days to confirm it.

Georgia Power is reporting a handful of outages impacting about 75 people. Gov. Brian Kemp has issued a state of emergency for areas impact by the storms.
Just as the school week began across the country Monday, news broke that another school shooting was unfolding in the United States.

On Monday morning, according to officials, three children and three staff members were shot and killed at the Covenant School, a private Christian school for students in preschool through sixth grade, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The female suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was shot and killed by authorities inside the school. No one who was shot survived, officials said.

PHOTO: A street view grab from Google Maps shows Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville where an active shooter took place in on March 27, 2023. (Google Maps Street View)

The deadly shooting is one of the nearly 130 mass shootings that have taken place so far this year in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more victims are shot or killed, not including the shooter.

The Nashville school shooting is now also on the long list of school shootings that have taken place in the past decade, since the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that claimed the lives of 20 students and six educators.

With each school shooting, the number of people affected by school shootings grows, as do the conversations parents and caregivers must have with kids about the reality of gun violence in the U.S.

Read on to see five tips from experts on how to discuss school shootings with kids.

1. Be proactive about talking with kids in an age-appropriate way

ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said last July -- shortly after 19 students and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas -- that topics like school shootings should be discussed with kids in a proactive and age-appropriate way.

"The first step is to make an age-appropriate dialogue, open lines of communication with your child," Ashton said, later adding, "We shouldn't sit back and wait for them to come up and say, 'Mom, Dad, I'd like to talk about gun violence.'"

She continued, "We're going to need to take the first step and come to them early and often and say, 'What are you thinking about? What are you afraid of? What questions do you have?'"

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MORE: School shooting survivors share their stories 10 years after Sandy Hook

Ashton also encouraged parents and caregivers to lead with honesty and transparency and to not be afraid to say "I don't have an answer" or to share their feelings.

If an adult doesn't have an answer, Ashton recommended they use dialogue like, "I don't have an answer to that but I'll help you find it."

And if an adult has fear after a school shooting as children often do, Ashton said they can reassure a child by saying, "I know you're scared, so am I, but let me tell you what your teachers and what your parents and community are trying to do to help you stay safe.'"

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Janet Taylor said it is important for children to feel like they can talk to their parents and caregivers about their concerns.

"Its really important we remind them how they are safe within our own household, and as importantly, remind them what they need to do when they feel unsafe, where the feeling is, what they can say and who they can come to," Taylor told ABC News last year, after the Uvalde shooting. "As parents and as adults and as caregivers, we want our children, if theyre feeling unsafe, to come to us and talk to us."

2. Monitor children's behavior

Taylor said children may respond to disturbing news about mass shootings in different ways, and parents and caregivers should pay attention to see if their child's behaviors change.

Children may experience problems focusing, have difficulty sleeping or become more irritable, according to Taylor.

"If you have younger children and they suddenly get more clingy or want to sleep in bed with you, pay attention to that and cuddle them as they need it," Taylor told "GMA" in 2022. "Older kids may become more isolated or feel that they have to solve things by themselves."

3. Practice stress reduction techniques

News of mass shootings can negatively impact children and adults and trigger anxiety and other feelings of stress. Author and educator Rachel Simmons said breathing exercises can help for kids but also for parents, who can model the practice.

"You can take a deep breath, count to three, hold it for three and then let it out for three, so it's nine seconds of breathing in ... and breathing out. Do it three times," Simmons told ABC News in 2019. "They can kind of drop back into their bodies and feel a lot calmer."

4. Remember to check-in with kids

Instead of discussing a school shooting only once, Robin Gurwitch, a licensed clinical psychologist and Duke University professor, said it's crucial to continue the conversation over time.

"A one-and-done conversation is not sufficient," Gurwitch told ABC News in 2018, after 17 students and teachers were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. "Let your child or teenager know that 'I really do care about you and I am open to having this discussion.'"

She continued, "It is really important to check back in tomorrow, to check back in the next day, to find out, 'What are your friends talking about related to this school shooting?'"

MORE: 'Dear Future Survivor': School shooting survivors pen letters to future survivors

5. Seek professional help

If a child's stress levels or response to a mass shooting are hard to manage, experts say parents shouldn't hesitate to seek guidance from their pediatrician, a local psychological association, a counselor, social worker or other mental health experts and community leaders.

"I think the first things is get professional help," Ashton said.

Licensed psychologist Dr. Sanam Hafeez also pointed out that if a parent or caregiver is struggling themselves, they also should not wait to seek help.

"Psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health professionals like myself are available," Hafeez told ABC News in 2021, adding that mental health help is also accessible via telehealth. "So if you feel that your anxiety is at an all-time high from not just coping with the stressors that are facing us but from mass shootings ... if you feel that your anxiety is where you are really afraid to go back into the real world and you're missing out on life, it's time to seek help."

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers comprehensive resource guides for parents, caregivers and educators to support students. Click here for resources related to school shootings.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988. Even if you feel like it, you are not alone.

ABC News' Yi-Jin Yu contributed to this report.

How to talk to children about school shootings after 6 people killed at Nashville school originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
A gun safety advocate highlighted Tennessees Republican governor signing open carry legislation after a mass shooting in Nashville left three children and three adults dead.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, which advocates for gun safety, criticised Governnor Bill Lee for not putting out a statement after the shooting at Covenant Presbyterian School in Nashville. Metro Nashillve Police Department officers shot and killed the suspect.

Tennessee @GovBillLee hasn't had time yet to tweet his thoughts and prayers for Covenant School, but when he does, remind him that this is exactly why police and citizens opposed the permitless carry bill he signed into law at a gun maker's factory in 2021, Ms Watts tweeted.

Mr Lee signed legislation in 2021 that allowed for citizens to carry a loaded handgun either concealed or openly without a permit, but not rifles or shotguns. The suspect in the Nashville school shooting, identified as a 28-year-old woman, was carrying two assault-style rifles and a handgun, according to police.

Tennessee @GovBillLee hasn't had time yet to tweet his thoughts and prayers for Covenant School, but when he does, remind him that this is exactly why police and citizens opposed the permitless carry bill he signed into law at a gun maker's factory in 2021. #tnleg pic.twitter.com/NZ2smJQEkC  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 27, 2023

Ms Watts criticised lax gun rules.

SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ARE NOT ACTS OF NATURE, she tweeted. They are senseless, preventable acts of man enabled by weak gun laws and lawmakers. This doesn't have to be our new normal. Our children don't have to be sacrificed in exchange for gun industry profits. We can stop this.

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The shooter killed three children, according to Vanderbilt University Medical Center-Monroe Carell Jr. Hospital, News Channel 9 reported. In addition, the shooter also killed three adults.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also said it would assist the MNPD after the shooting.

The Covenant School is located next to Nashvilles Covenant Presbyterian Church and has 33 teachers and 200 students, The Associated Press reports.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that there is no current threat to public safety.

The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead, MNPD said in a statement.
In its 10th year, Freep Film Festival will feature documentaries on 1970s-era Black cinema, a Detroit program that is changing the lives of at-risk youth, groundbreaking actress Mary Tyler Moore and a series of eye-openingfilms by Asian American filmmakers.

Tickets are on sale now for the annual film festival, which will feature more than 40 events including film screenings, educational and networking events from April 26-30. The lineup includes 19 feature length films and 19 short films, many with a connection or relevance to the region or state.

American actress Mary Tyler Moore (as Mary Richards) sits at her in a scene from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show.' With unprecedented access to Mary Tyler Moores vast archive, the new documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore chronicles the screen icon whose storied career spanned 60 years.

The 10th year is a fantastic milestone and what better way to celebrate than another slate of fantastic films, said the festivals artistic director, Kathy Kieliszewski. This years films highlight art and artists, revolutionaries and legends, and of course, crucial issues facing our communities that deserve a closer look.

Tickets to most in-person screenings are $15. Venues include the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, three theaters at the Michigan Science Center, the Detroit Historical Museum and Frame in Hazel Park.

Several of the films will be available to screen virtually at home, though, like in-person screenings, filmmakers place caps on the number of virtual screening reservations, so they can sell out, too. Tickets for virtual screenings are $12 per film.

Here's a look at some of the festival's highlights. More events will be announced in coming weeks. Tickets are available at freepfilmfestival.com.

And the king said, what a FANTASTIC MACHINE

A meticulous dissection of image-making and a mapping of its movement through society, directors Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck use a mind-boggling array of archival footage to collage this sociological study by tracking the transmogrification of photographic philosophy and technology over human history in the documentary "And the King Said, What a FANTASTIC MACHINE."

This film explores and exposes society's unchecked obsession with the image and how that has grown to affect human behavior. From Camera Obscura and the Lumiere brothers all the way to YouTube and social media, the film chronicles how we went from capturing the image of a backyard to a multi-billion-dollar content industry in 200 years. Michigan premiere.

6 p.m. Sat., April 29, Michigan Science Center (IMAX)

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1 p.m. Sun., April 30, Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

More info, ticket details here.

Asian American Pacific Islander Film Series

Sentenced to life for a 1973 San Francisco murder, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was set free after a pan-Asian solidarity movement, which included Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Americans, helped to overturn his conviction. After 10 years of fighting for his life inside California state prisons, Lee found himself in a new fight to rise to the expectations of the people who believed in him seen in the documentary Free Chol Soo Lee.

With curation led by Razi Jafri, co-director of "Hamtramck USA," featured in the 2021 film festival, this series focuses on stories about Asian American communities and historical figures from across the country told by Asian American filmmakers. The series includes "Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres," the legendary Rolling Stone editor; "Free Chol Soo Lee," about a Korean immigrant wrongfully convicted for a murder in 1970s San Francisco; and "In Search of Bengali Harlem," in which the filmmaker seeks out an understanding of his parents' lives in Bangladesh before they immigrated to New York City.

The AAPI series is free to the public, playing throughout the festival at the Detroit Historical Museum.

This series is produced in collaboration with the American Citizens for Justice and is being funded with the generous support of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission.

Being Mary Tyler Moore

Offering unprecedented access to Mary Tyler Moores vast archive, Being Mary Tyler Moore chronicles the more than 60-year career of the groundbreaking actress. Weaving Moores personal narrative with her professional accomplishments, the film highlights the impact she had on generations of women who came after her. Michigan premiere.

12:30 p.m. Sat., April 29, Michigan Science Center (Toyota Engineering)

More info, ticket details here.

'Being Satori Circus ~ A Performance Documentary in Five Acts'

For 34 years, artist Satori Circus has enlightened and astonished audiences in metro Detroit with his unique style of theatrical performance art. Being Satori Circus ~ A Performance Documentary in Five Acts tells this story in a narrative that fuses nonfiction and fiction storytelling and keeps the artists mystery intact. World premiere.

5:30 p.m. Thu., April 27, Michigan Science Center (IMAX)

4 p.m. Sun., April 30, Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

More info, ticket details here.

Black Mothers Love and Resist

Wanda Johnson and Angela Williams, mothers of young Black men victimized by police brutality, come together to build a network of support and mutual aid spanning Oakland's Fruitvale to the American South. Johnson's son, Oscar, died in an encounter with law enforcement on a light rail platform in the Bay Area, while Williams' teen son Ulysses survived a police encounter in Alabama. Detroit premiere.

7:30 p.m. Fri., April 28, Michigan Science Center (Toyota Engineering)

More info, ticket details here.

'The Cave of Adullam'

This film introduces viewers to four young recruits of Jason Wilson's Cave of Adullam, what Wilson calls a transformational training academy. When Wilson started his karate dojo, he thought the young Black boys he intended to help with his academy needed more discipline. But he quickly learned what they needed more was love. Wilson challenges his recruits to confront their unresolved anger and fear as they develop from boys into well-rounded men. Michigan premiere.

More:Documentary about Detroit martial arts academy wins top Tribeca Film Festival prize

4 p.m. Sat., April 29, Michigan Science Center (Toyota Engineering)

More info, ticket details here.

'Coldwater Kitchen'

Freep Film Festival's opening night documentary will take viewers inside a high-quality, high-pressure culinary school where students learn to prepare exquisite gourmet meals. They learn the French mother sauces, service a la russe and how to pour and discuss wine  all inside Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan. "Coldwater Kitchen," features Chef Jimmy Lee Hill  who has led the culinary training program at the prison for nearly 30 years  and three of his students, who must navigate incarceration and the challenges of transitioning back into society after leaving prison. Michigan premiere.

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Brad Leonard prepares a multi-course meal at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Mich. Leonard is a student in the food tech program, a unique culinary class designed to teach inmates the intricacies of fine dining.

7 p.m. Wed., April 26, Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts

A $65 VIP ticket includes includes a seat to the DFT screening, and entrance to a 5:30 p.m. VIP event at the Scarab Club, 217 Farnsworth St.

Frame in Hazel Park is hosting "Dinner & Movie" screenings of the film, featuring a meal prepared by Chef Hill and two of his former students Dink Dawson and Ernest Davis, who are featured in the film.

5 p.m. Sat. April 29, Frame, 23839 John R Rd., Hazel Park sold out

4 p.m. Sun. April 30 , Frame

More info, ticket details here.

'Detroit: The City of Churches'

Reverend Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins, of St. Joseph Shrine is featured in the new documentarty "Detroit - The City of Churches" along with a number of landmark Detroit churches.

Viewers meet 17 different spiritual leaders in "Detroit: The City of Churches," to gain a deeper understanding of the role these spiritual touchstones and guides have played in the city's history.

In partnership with the Detroit Historical Society, a select number of tickets will be available for a tour of two local historic churches  Mariners' Church of Detroit and Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit.

Film + Historic Church Tour: 12:35 p.m. Thu., April 27, Detroit Historical Museum

Film only: 2 p.m. Sun., April 30, Michigan Science Center (IMAX)

More info, ticket details here.

'Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project'

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project is a look at the life of poet Nikki Giovanni and the revolutionary historical periods through which she lived, from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter.

Filmmakers explore the life and legacy of Nikki Giovanni through a collection of memories and moments in American history and readings of her poetry. Giovanni reflects on her time in Detroit, where she spent time in the company of civil rights figure Rev. Albert Cleage Jr. and his wife Doris. She watched over their children when they were out, a role she called her "revolutionary duty," because of the threats made against Cleage. Michigan premiere.

5:30 p.m. Fri., April 28, Michigan Science Center (IMAX)

5 p.m. Sat., April 29 Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

More info, ticket details here.

Is That Black Enough For You?!?

The debut film by Highland Park native and NPR host Elvis Mitchell examines the African American contribution to films released from the landmark era of the 1970s. Artistic voices, including director Charles Burnett, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Laurence Fishburne, Zendaya and others, offer their perspectives on the creators and films that dazzled and inspired from the often overlooked period. Michigan premiere.

The Michigan premiere will feature an in-person appearance by Elvis Mitchell followed by a reception open to all filmgoers in the Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts, co-sponsored by the Friends of the Detroit Film Theatre.

This event is in partnership with Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, where Mitchell will hold the position as the Bob Allison (Allesee) Endowed Chair in Media beginning in May 2023.

6:30 p.m. Thu., April 27, Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts

More info, ticket details here.

Lead and Copper

Countless municipalities across the country, including many in Michigan, are stuck with aging lead service pipes, leaving many to wonder which city will be the next Flint. "Lead and Copper" amplifies the voices of concerned parents and scientists pressing forward to expose the truth, showing the power of citizen action. World premiere.

6:30 p.m. Fri., April 28, Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

More info, ticket details here.

Locked Out

Nothing symbolizes "making it in America" quite like owning a home. Yet today, the racial gap in home ownership is widening, and those most impacted are women of color. Set in Detroit, "Locked Out" takes us into the lives of courageous Black women who face evictions, predatory lenders and traditional banking, as they become ground fighters in a movement to battle modern-day redlining and housing injustice, so The American Dream may become a reality for all.

The racial gap in home ownership is wide, and those most impacted are women of color. Set in Detroit, Locked out brings viewers into the lives of courageous Black women who face evictions, predatory lenders and traditional banking, in a movement to battle housing injustice. World premiere.

7 p.m. Sat., April 29, Michigan Science Center (Toyota Engineering)

More info, ticket details here.

'Make Me Famous'

"Make Me Famous" is madcap romp through the 1980s New York City art scene amid the colorful career of painter, Edward Brezinski, hell-bent on making it. Michigan native Brezinskis quest for fame reveals an intimate portrait of the art worlds attitude towards success and failure, fame and fortune, notoriety and erasure.

An investigation into the life and death of Detroit-born artist Edward Brezinski, a charismatic Lower East Side painter on the fringe of success, who thwarted his career with antics that roiled New York City's art elite. Through interviews, archival footage and hundreds of images Make Me Famous examines a scene that made some rich and famous and left others behind. Michigan premiere.

3 p.m. Sun., April 30, Michigan Science Center (Toyota Engineering)

More info, ticket details here.

Freep Film Festival shorts programs

In the documentary short Sydney G. James: How We See Us the film explores the work and process of visual artist Sydney G. James, whose murals and large-scale paintings amplify the status of Black women in society, address police brutality and celebrate the Black family and community through bold brush strokes and hues that evoke Black reality, joy, pain, resilience. The film is set in the artists hometown of Detroit where she draws inspiration and, through her activism, has become a space-maker for Black artists and the citys people.

This year, the festival features five shorts programs that bring viewers to the lives of unforgettable artists who work with paint, wood and their imaginations. They head up north for northern Michigan's natural bounty and outdoor adventures. A shorts program explores the nation's seemingly constant state of conflict, and another spotlights female voices in front of and behind the camera. As part of the festival's Asian American Pacific Islander series, a shorts program explores how culture, identity and food buttress the feeling of community among Asian Americans.

Shorts programs take place throughout the festival at multiple locations.

'With Peter Bradley'

Seventy-nine years old and overlooked since the 1970s, abstract painter Peter Bradley reflects on life and shares his artistic process. Bradley had spent some of his formative years in Detroit, where he attended the Detroit Society of Arts, now the College for Creative Studies. He went on to build an incredible resume early in his career. Despite falling on hard times, Bradley continues to paint in a shipping-container studio heated by a wood stove, no matter the weather. With Peter Bradley is a celebration of art-making, resilience and the creative contributions of Black artists to American life. Michigan premiere.

2 p.m. Sat. April 29, Michigan Science Center (Planetarium)

More info, ticket details here.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tickets on sale for 2023 Freep Film Festival: See lineup, schedule
Convicted felon Peter Bernegger speaks at an informational hearing of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections Feb. 9, 2022, at the Capitol in Madison.

MADISON - During the final weeks of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson's reelection campaign, a top aide sought an opinion on Democrats' campaign activities from a felon convicted of fraud who once claimed without evidence that a "sect" of Milwaukee officials illegally printed ballots for Joe Biden in 2020.

Records released under Wisconsin's public records law show Johnson's deputy chief of staff emailed Peter Bernegger in October 2022, asking whether a get-out-the-vote operation aimed at Black residents was legal.

The program in question was described as including a "'Protect our vote' black SUV with a picture of Congressional Black Caucus leader John Lewis on its side." The driver said "these vans are all over the city, they had a caravan on Sunday and they're trying to 'get everyone to register to vote,'" according to an email from Julie Leschke in Johnson's office to Bernegger. Leschke asked Bernegger if he was aware of the effort and whether it was legal.

The email was shared with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by liberal watchdog group American Oversight, which received it as part of a response to a request to state Rep. Janel Brandtjen for records under the public records law. The email was forwarded by Bernegger to Brandtjen.

Corinne Day, a spokeswoman for Johnson, said Bernegger "has never advised the senator on election matters."

"Senator Johnson has fought for transparency in election integrity like Mr. Bernegger," Day said.

Bernegger didn't answer whether he has provided guidance to Johnson before or after the email.

Republicans gave Peter Bernegger opportunity to testify before Wisconsin's Assembly elections committee

Bernegger got support from some Wisconsin Republicans in the aftermath of the 2020 election as he launched an investigation into voting practices while former President Donald Trump promoted false claims of widespread voter fraud.

Brandtjen invited Bernegger to testify before the Assembly's elections committee while she led the panel, before she was removed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in 2022 after she supported Vos' primary opponent.

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Democratic Sen. Mark Spreitzer, who was a member of the Assembly committee at the time and sparred with Bernegger over his claims, said the email showed Johnson was seeking legal advice from someone known for bending the truth about elections.

"Republicans are so worried about efforts to register people to vote that, instead of asking this question to an attorney or a nonpartisan clerk or the nonpartisan Elections Commission staff, his legislative office contacted a convicted fraudster who is best known for spreading conspiracy theories and lies about elections," Spreitzer said.

Wisconsin Elections Commission fines Bernegger over $2,000 for frivolous complaints

At one point, the Wisconsin Elections Commission fined Bernegger more than $2,000 for filing frivolous complaints. Bernegger, who was convicted of bank fraud and mail fraud in 2009, spent two hours in February 2022 presenting his voting claims to an Assembly committee.

Around the time Bernegger made his public accusations, he also asked the Elections Commission to privately consider a raft of allegations of voting improprieties.

In a series of unanimous votes, the commission determined Bernegger had made thousands of frivolous claims, according to documents released under the state's open records law.

A majority on the commission ordered Bernegger to pay $2,403  $1 for each claim that it considered meritless, the records show.

Bernegger's claims and the 'election denial movement' are all about 'undermining democracy'

Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission and a target of some of Bernegger's complaints, said Berneggers claims about city election officials were absurd. In a public records lawsuit Bernegger filed in December 2021, he claimed Woodall-Vogg was part of the so-called sect that he alleged "planned, conspired and implemented a massive election fraud" by using fake names and fake addresses to cast ballots.

Heather Sawyer, American Oversight's executive director, said "the election denial movement has never been about protecting the peoples right to vote  its about undermining democracy for partisan gain."

"We saw this with the Wisconsin Assemblys sham election inquiry, and we continue to see it as we uncover more evidence of the influence wielded by election deniers and conspiracy theorists," she said.

Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson aide asked felon for opinion on Democrats' campaigning
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Courtesy Cassandra Auren

An American senior citizen allegedly suffered a potentially fatal attack in the West Bank as part of a surge in violence that has gripped the Israeli-occupied region since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power at the head of an extreme right-wing coalition.

Local residents told The Daily Beast that Israeli settlerswho are trying to take over Palestinian landhave been emboldened by the radical rhetoric and extremist policies promoted by the new government. Villagers say attacks have become a daily hazard and the Israeli police and military have done little to protect them.

An American mother of two from Wisconsin was caught up in the violence this month. Cassandra Auren, 65, was hospitalized for two days and required six stitches after she suffered a fractured skull and internal bleeding. She told The Daily Beast that she was struck on the head by an Israeli settler with a long wooden stick as she was visiting the village of Tuba in the Massafer Yatta area south of Hebron.

The attack by the male settler, who had a small child with him, took me totally by surprise as there was no prior confrontation and no provocation on my part. It all happened so fast I had no time to think about whether my life was in danger, said Auren, a residential carpenter who traveled to the region as a peace activist.

In a video seen by The Daily Beast, another settler armed with a metal pole chased Auren and an Italian woman who was with her.

The doctors report said there was a fracture and external bleeding at the site of the trauma. The CT scan showed right subdural hematoma, 3mm in thickness. And the doctor reported decreased hearing in her left ear and said that she continues to suffer from severe headaches. When I came around my head was painful and I was dizzy.

A video frame grab shows an Israeli settler chasing Auren. Cassandra Auren

Although the incident has shaken her badly she has continued to visit the village and remains angry that this behavior often goes unreported.

I now understand the fear that Palestinians feel all the time, especially the women and children, because at night I also get afraid that the settlers might attack again, said Auren.

Story continues

Israel Braces for the Terrifying Crisis Bibi Wanted All Along

The ancient Hebron hillswith their winding roads that snake around orchards and agricultural fieldshave an unmistakable rugged beauty. Generations of Palestinians living in villages and hamlets that dot the territory have earned their living from the land here for hundreds of years. But the unspoilt views can be deceptivethey are hiding a dark side.

Ali Awad, from the village of Tuba in Massafer Yatta, told The Daily Beast that his family and all the other residents are being threatened with expulsion but their livelihoods would be destroyed and they have nowhere else to go.

Settlers have become emboldened in the last few months and carry out nearly daily attacks on the villages. And if we complain to the police or army when they arrive, we are arrested and told that the land no longer belongs to us and that we have to leave the land, Awad said.

Cassandra Auren's head injury. Cassandra Auren

Last Thursday, he said a Palestinian who confronted a settler on his land was bitten in the face and teargassed while the Israeli army stood by, with residents accusing the settlers of a deliberate policy of intimidation to drive them off their land.

The daily settler attacks have been an ongoing problem for years but with Israels new extreme right-wing government their behavior has been given the green light.

As the settlers expropriate more and more land, Palestinian children who used to travel to school in the nearby hamlet of At-Tuwani have been forced to take circuitous routes, accompanied by an Israeli military escort to avoid settlers from the nearby Israeli outpost of Havat Maon attacking them.

Sometimes the Israeli soldiers show up and sometimes they dont, it depends on their mood, said Awad, a local journalist.

A Palestinian shows papers during a protest against settlements in Masafer Yatta near Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jan. 20, 2023. Mussa Qawasma/Reuters

Tuba villagers journey to the nearest town in the area, Yatta, used to be just over a mile but to avoid the growing Israeli settlements, outposts and potential attacks from the settlers it is now a seven-mile trip.

Approximately 2,500 Palestinians residing in Massafer Yatta, which comprises about 15 villages and hamlets spanning 7,000 hectares, are facing forced removal following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling last May that the area could continue to be used as a military firing zone.

Their forced removal would be the biggest transfer of Palestinians since 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bankan occupation that is considered illegal under international law.

Forcible transfer of protected persons in occupied territory is a war crime, the Israeli human rights organisation BTselem says.

Massafer Yatta falls into Area C of the West Bank which comprises 60 percent of the territory and is under full Israeli control and is mostly reserved for Israeli settlers through the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure and their forced removal.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) reported that in 2022, 953 Palestinian structures were demolished or seized across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the highest number since 2016.

Israeli security forces stand guard near a bulldozer after Israeli police demolished structures in Jabal Al-Mukaber in East Jerusalem, Feb. 13, 2023. Ammar Awad/Reuters

And it is not only Palestinian activists who are afraid as they fight for justice.

Oriel Eisner, an Israeli-American activist and director of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, told The Daily Beast that over the last few months the situation had deteriorated, particularly in the south Hebron hills.

The settlers are going into the Palestinian hills every single day and the army and police, while they never used to do much about it, are even less effective now, said Eisner, who has been arrested and attacked by settlers several times.

The army seems to be in lockstep with the settlers.

What I fear now is the veneer of privilege and protection I carry and try to leverage as a Jewish-Israeli citizen with the new government doesnt mean anything because basically the actions they are now willing to take are things that were unthinkable a few months ago, said Eisner.

His biggest fear, however, is for the Palestinians who will lose their villages and will not be able to fight their displacement.

Firefighters work at a Palestinian house which Palestinians say was attacked by Israeli settlers near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 26, 2023. Mohammed Torokman/Reuters

In the interim the villagers are living with continued shooting and military exercises in the background as helicopters overhead scare their flocks Meanwhile, with most buildings earmarked for demolition, they wait for the next invasion that will drive them off their land.

Twenty percent of the occupied West Bank has been set aside as military firing zones. But recent reports claim this was always part of a bigger plan of land expropriation from the indigenous population.

An Israel Police spokesman told The Daily Beast that a settler had been arrested and his detention extended after he appeared in court.

While Auren received far better treatment than Palestinians who try to make legal complaints, the statistics suggest the alleged attacker is unlikely to ever face justice.

According to Israeli rights group Yesh Din, 93 percent of all investigations into ideologically motivated crime by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank are closed without an indictment.

Of the 1,531 concluded investigations Yesh Din monitored since 2005, indictments were filed in just 107 cases and only 3 percent of cases led to convictions, said Yesh Din.

The Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice reports that Senator Tammy Baldwin has been in touch with the U.S. State Department urging them to push for justice in the case.

Auren says the alleged attack on her on March 7 highlights the brutal way Palestinians are treated. She hopes the U.S. might start to take the issue more seriously.

My reason for coming here was my interest in the fact that the U.S. gives Israel about $8 million dollars a day in military aid, she said. I feel responsible for how those dollars of mine are spent and am shocked that the world allows the abuse of Palestinians to continue, especially the U.S. given our relationship with Israel.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Scores of Jewish extremists Monday stormed the Muslim holy place, Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalems Old City, under heavy protection from the Israeli police provoking Muslims observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan, according to the Islamic Waqf department, which is in charge of the Muslim holy places in occupied Jerusalem.

It said the extremists stormed the compound in groups during the early morning hours and performed Jewish rituals within its walled yards despite a decades-old agreement confining such practices to to Muslims only.

Israeli occupation forces meanwhile intensified security measures against Palestinians seeking to reach the mosque for worship during this holy month, inspecting their IDs and briefly detaining some of them.

The forces also broke into the compound and forcefully removed worshippers, many seeking to hold all-night prayers at the Mosque, in order to clear the compound ahead of the morning storming by the Jewish extremists.

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Heres whats on TV tonight.

Every Breath She Takes (8 p.m., Lifetime)

In this new movie, a woman thinks shes finally free after suffering years of physical abuse from her husband, when a physical struggle ends in a fire that takes his life. However, shes soon pushed to the edge as she starts to believe shes seeing him at every turn. It stars Tamala Jones, Tisha Campbell and Jackee Harry.

A Picture of Her (8 p.m., Hallmark)

In this movie, a woman becomes the subject of an award-winning magazine cover and embarks on a quest to uncover the true identity of the photographer who snapped her photo.

48 HOURS: The Mysterious Death of Tiffiney Crawford (10 p.m., CBS)

CBS correspondent David Begnaud reports on the death of Tiffiney Crawford in Cullman, Alabama. On the night of May 2, 2017, Tiffineys husband Jason Crawford called 911 to report that his wife had been shot. Officers found Tiffiney dead in the drivers seat of her van with two bullet wounds in her head  one in her jaw and one in her temple. Tiffiney was right-handed, but the gun was in her left hand. Still, at least one officer thought she may have taken her own life, but deeper digging revealed a different scenario.

The episode follows the investigation through to charges, a trial and an ultimate conviction for Tiffineys murder.

Begnaud has an exclusive interview with Jason Crawford.

Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.
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The National Vietnam War Veterans Day is on Wednesday.

National Vietnam War Veterans Day is a day to give proper recognition to the men and women who returned home from that war and didn't receive a proper welcome home and to thank and honor veterans including personnel who were held prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, for their service and sacrifices on behalf of the United States and to thank and honor the families of these veterans.

The Vietnam War Veterans Act of 2017 was signed into law on March 28, 2017 by the 45th U.S. President Donald J. Trump, designating every March 29th as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The United States became involved in Vietnam because it was believed that if South Vietnam fell to a communist government, communism would spread throughout the rest of Southeast Asia. The US Armed Forces began serving in an advisory role to the South Vietnamese in 1961 and in 1965, ground troops were sent into Vietnam.

After many years of combat, all US troops were withdrawn from Vietnam on March 29, 1973, under the Treaty of Paris. In April of 1975 the last U.S. personnel were evacuated from Vietnam. South Vietnam then collapsed and was replaced with a communist regime. On July 2, 1976, the entire country became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

According to the United States Department of Defense, more than eight million US troops served all over the world during the Vietnam War. More than 58,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines lost their lives and more that 300,000 were wounded.

Communities are encouraged throughout the country to take measures to commemorate this day by honoring Vietnam War veterans in their area. Many public buildings will fly the American Flag on this day and many private citizens will as well.

This is one of 11 days in which the Watertown American Legion Post 17 displays the 'Avenue of Flags' throughout Watertown to honor Vietnam War veterans.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown American Legion Post 17 to display "Avenue of Flags"
Paula Rogovin and her fellow members of the Teaneck Peace and Justice Vigil have stood in front of the Teaneck National Guard Armory once a week since 2005 calling for American troops to be brought home.

Rogovin and a small group of protesters once again held signs and read poetry in front of the Armory on Wednesday, standing in their usual weekly spot on the corner of Teaneck and Liberty roads. This time, it happened a few days after the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by a U.S.-led military coalition.

When Rogovin thinks back on the Iraq War, she thinks about those who served and came back needing treatment for their injuries and having a hard time receiving that care.

"You send all of these folks off to war, you put them in wars based on lies, and then you don't even take care of them," Rogovin said. "It's a real heartbreak to see that happen."

She continued, "The trauma, the suffering, and the public doesn't realize it. Here's the anniversary, and maybe there will be some little spot on the news about it. There's very little thought about this war, when, in fact, so many lives were upended, so many lives were destroyed."

More:These Paterson brothers were tight, even in the Army. Then one died in the Iraq War

More:From 'hell' to hope. How an Iraqi family survived war and found success in NJ

Over 4,500 U.S. troops  29 of them from North Jersey  died in the war, which lasted eight years until American forces were withdrawn in December 2011, and about 32,000 troops were wounded. Somewhere between 280,000 and 315,000 Iraqi civilians died as a result of direct violence since the invasion, according to research done by Brown University. There are an estimated 2,500 troops still stationed in Iraq.

Rogovin said the vigil began after she saw Cindy Sheehan, a California woman whose son died in the Iraq War in 2005, protesting in front of then-President George W. Bush's Texas ranch. Rogovin's son, a Marine, also served in the war.

Story continues

Since then, the vigil has taken place every Wednesday, regardless of weather or other circumstances.

Among the participants in Wednesday's vigil was Lela Charney, who lives in Leonia. Charney, who has joined Rogovin over the years, said it was important to come out for this one as she thought about the Iraqis who bore the brunt of the destruction from the war.

Lela Charney, of Leonia, and Afina Broekman, of Fair Lawn, hold signs outside of the Teaneck Armory.Wednesday, March 22, 2023

"You can't forget what happened in Iraq a very short time ago, and Iraqis are suffering tremendously. Their civilization and culture have essentially been destroyed, and they still have not been able to rebuild," Charney said.

Jan Barry, one of the founders of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and a former staff writer for The Record, joined the vigil. As passing drivers beeped their horns in support, he remembered the vigil during the early days of the war, when people going by had a different reaction.

"You notice how people were honking as they go by. When this whole thing started, people were cursing us," Barry said with a laugh. "They're honking because there's a recognition that we're hanging in and raising issues."

Ricardo Kaulessar is a culture reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Region How We Live team. For unlimited access to the most important news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

Twitter: @ricardokaul

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Weekly vigil near Teaneck Armory continues to push back against war
WASHINGTON The Biden administration weighed in Sunday night on the unfolding chaos and the state of democracy in Israel, saying it was "deeply concerned" after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly ousted an opponent of his controversial judicial reforms.

"We are deeply concerned by todays developments out of Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. "Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship."

It follows a phone call between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu a week ago, in which the U.S. president stressed the importance of democracy.

"Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support," the White House said in its Sunday statement.

A line of protesters supporting women's rights dressed as characters from The Handmaid's Tale television series and other Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) ORG XMIT: XOB101

Earlier, Netanyahu fired his defense minister after the high-ranking official called for a pause on a controversial judicial reform proposal that has fueled months of intense protests in the country and abroad. In response, swarms of protesters took to the streets, starting bonfires on a Tel Aviv highway and knocking down a police barricade outside Netanyahu's home.

The escalating tensions came after the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said on Saturday night that Netanyahu's judicial overhaul posed a security threat to Israel. Military reservists have refused to sign up for duty and many more have threatened to do the same. Israel's consul general in New York resigned in protest.

In addition to the nighttime protests in Israel, a powerful trade union was expected to call for a general strike and universities were cancelling classes.

While the Israeli government was expected to move forward this week with its controversial plan, the U.S. on Sunday pressed or a quick de-escalation.

Story continues

"We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible," the White House said. "We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens. U.S. support for Israels security and democracy remains ironclad."

Dig deeper: Protesters flood the streets of Israel after Netanyahu fires minister opposed to controversial reforms

Contributing: Associated Pres

Francesca Chambers is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow her on Twitter @fran_chambers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US 'deeply concerned' on Israel judicial reform clash, Biden aide says
Transgender Day of Visibility is recognized on March 31st every year, as a day of celebration and awareness for the transgender community.

I love that Transgender Day of Visibility is such a broad phrase because it can be celebrated in so many different ways, says Cielo Sunsarae. Sunsarae is the founder of The Queer Trans Project, an organization led by Black and transgender leaders. The group provides gender-affirming kits and resources, like binders and undergarments, as well as financial support for trans people.

Transgender Day of Visibility is a great day to recognize and uplift transgender people and leaders. Unfortunately, not everyone within the LGBTQ+ community celebrates this day of transgender visibility, joy, and leadership.

Transphobia Within the LGBTQ+ Community

As a trans person, I genuinely feel like the most transphobia that I receive, at least intentional transphobia, is from those within the LGBTQ+ community, Sunsarae states.

Transgender people continue to face hate and discrimination across the world. 90% of transgender people have experienced discrimination at work, while transgender people are over four times more likely to experience physical or sexual violence compared to their cisgender counterparts.

Kat Rohn says that she has experienced transphobia since becoming Executive Director for Outfront Minnesota, a prominent LGBTQ+ organization in Minnesota. Ive personally received notes since stepping into this leadership role from folks who are deeply uncomfortable with the idea of having a trans leader within our community, they shared.

Heart-Shaped Flags of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride and Social Movements and of the Transgender Pride Movement

Inclusion and Intersectionality

The lack of support and acceptance for transgender people within the queer community is a significant problem, as it creates a space that excludes certain identities, which is exactly what we should be fighting against.

Simply put, I think intersectionality means making a space for everybody in an intentional way, Sunsarae voices.

For the LGBTQ+ community, being inclusive and intersectional goes beyond accepting different gender identities and sexual orientations. Its also about acknowledging how other parts of identity, like race and class, lead us to experience the world differently.

Story continues

Black transgender people continue to experience violence at disproportionate rates. In 2022, 81% of transgender people killed were people of color. Transgender people are also more at risk of police violence and domestic violence than other people in the LGBTQ+ community. Without recognizing the range of issues that impact people within the LGBTQ+ community, we cant truly support and advocate for each other.

What Needs to Change?

Transgender Day of Visibility is a reminder that the LGBTQ+ community is not always inclusive to everyone and that we still have work to do internally. At a time when transgender people are facing so much violence and discrimination, it is more important than ever for the community to come together against hate. So, what needs to change?

As we recognize and celebrate Transgender Visibility Day, transgender leaders reiterate the importance of support from the community. The tension in visibility is that theres a lot of power and beauty and strength in visibility, but if visibility doesnt come along with the support from the community, it is also a place of deep vulnerability and risk, says Rohn. Its about trying to take the power in [Transgender Day of Visibility], but also asking folks around us to step up and recognize that that visibility needs support or it will come with a cost.

Sunsarae emphasizes how critical it is for the community to support each other and be united. We. Need. To. Stick. Together. He asserts that the community is divided, which we need to address in order to effectively make change around queer and trans rights. Transphobia in the LGBTQ+ community is something we need to work on internally before we even go out there and try to mobilizethe other side, they state.



Hailey Dickinson (she/her) is a creator passionate about using writing and digital platforms to build community, make connections, and ignite positive social change. She is a Communications Major with a social media emphasis at the University of Minnesota and will graduate in December 2023.

Related Articles:

Ways to be a Better Ally to the Transgender Community

How Women and Non-Binary People in Tech are really doing

Trans people face 'horrifying' rhetoric at statehouses

Gen Z is driving force among adults identifying as LGBTQ, poll shows. Here's a breakdown.
RFA/Latino Community and Lower Valley Reporter

Heyo, Im Jasper. Nice to meet you. I cover a wide variety of news, but I try to focus on the Latino community and the Lower Yakima Valley. I want to sharestories and perspectives from the Yakima Valley. Im interested in economics, labor, geography and the environment, but the most important issues will always be the ones the community cares about. If you have something worth saying, Ill listen and try to write it down. Im a gosei from Northeast Los Angeles and I got my start as a student journalist and editor covering sports in the Bay Area. Im a massive soccer fan and I still love to play. I also love water in all its forms, the word copacetic and trying new things. I want to read more, and I like to cook, but Im not great at either. Have fun out there!
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The spokesman for Israels largest trade union says diplomats at Israeli missions abroad are also striking against the governments plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Yaniv Levy, the Histadrut spokesman, said the missions were providing only emergency services. Ambassadors and consuls-general were among those on strike.

Workers from across a range of fields went on strike Monday, in a bid to ramp up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scrap the overhaul plan.

Workers from a range of sectors in Israel launched a nationwide strike on Monday, threatening to paralyze the economy as they joined a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Departing flights from the countrys main international airport were grounded, large mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israel's largest trade union called for its 800,000 members  in health, transit, banking and other fields  to stop work. Local governments were expected to close the preschools they run and cut other services, and the main doctors union announced its members would also walk off the job.

The growing resistance to Netanyahu's plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime minister's decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting the country is on fire, they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv's main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Thousands of protesters gathered Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, to keep up the pressure.

This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship, said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest. Im here for the fight to the end.

The overhaul  driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel's most right-wing government ever  has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanized nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.

Israel's Palestinian citizens, however, have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israels democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The turmoil has magnified longstanding and intractable differences over Israel's character that have riven it since its establishment. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul will remove Israels system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.

The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

At the center of the crisis is Netanyahu himself, Israel's longest serving leader, and questions about the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. He denies wrongdoing.

The firing of his defense minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut, the country's largest trade union umbrella group, which had sat out the monthslong protests before the defense ministers firing.

Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss, Arnon Bar-David, the group's head, said in a rousing speech to applause. Today we are stopping everyone's descent toward the abyss.

On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared, Israel's ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.

The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society  all are under threat, he said. Wake up now!

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

Weve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we dont know what to say to our children about their future in this country, Lapid said. We have been taken hostage by a bunch of extremists with no brakes and no boundaries.

It was unclear if the threats posed by the strikes to Israel's economy, which is already on shaky ground, would prompt Netanyahu to halt the overhaul. Israeli media reported that a lawyer representing the prime minister in his corruption trial threatened to quit if the overhaul was not halted.

The developments were being watched in Washington, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was deeply concerned" by the developments in Israel, "which further underscore the urgent need for compromise.

Democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Watson said in a statement.

Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech. Some members of Netanyahu's Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul.

The architect of the plan, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, was long a holdout, promising he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the prime minister's decision should he halt the legislation.

Still, Netanyahu's hard-line allies pressed him to continue on. We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

Netanyahus dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies would barrel ahead. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

And Netanyahus government forged ahead with a centerpiece of the overhaul  a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday for a final vote, which could come this week.

The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

A separate law that would circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was delayed following a request from that party's leader.

Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. The elections were all a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.

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Arme da, aderare ba! Aliatii sustin Ucraina la capitolul munitie, dar evita sa vorbeasca despre aderarea acesteia la NATO

Mai multe arme si munitie pentru ca Ucraina sa faca fata ofensivei ruse, atat timp cat este necesar, dar fara a oferi o data pentru intrarea sa in [citeste mai departe]
A nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies expanding drills.

The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the Norths weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.

The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.

Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the Norths escalating nuclear and missile threats. The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive in the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North's capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 a.m. to 8 a.m. and traveled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japans military said the missiles, which landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russias Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017.

The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the launches did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the destabilizing impact of North Korea's illicit nuclear weapons and missiles programs.

North Korea, which has weathered tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2016 over its nuclear developments, didn't immediately comment on the launches.

The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and live-fire field exercises. But the allies have continued their field training in a show of force against the North's rising threats.

North Korea had also fired a short-range missile when the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea in September, which was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has launched more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles on 11 occasions this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.

The weapons tested this month included an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range missiles intended to overwhelm South Korean defenses as North Korea tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

The North last week carried out what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets.

The country's leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

The tests also included a purported nuclear-capable underwater drone that the North claimed can set off a huge radioactive tsunami and destroy naval vessels and ports. Analysts were skeptical whether such a device was a major new threat and Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement Monday that it considers the North Korean claims likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.

North Korea, following some of its ballistic and cruise missile tests this month, also claimed that those weapons were tipped with mock nuclear warheads that detonated 600 to 800 meters (1,960 to 2,600 feet) above their sea targets, communicating them as heights that would maximize damage.

North Korea already is coming off a record year in weapons testing, launching more than 70 missiles in 2022. It had set into law an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

It appears North Korea might be practicing, or signaling that its practicing, the use of nuclear strikes, both preemptive and retaliatory, in a range of scenarios that are authorized in its nuclear doctrine, said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security.

The problem is that continued testing helps Pyongyang perfect its technology, strengthen its nuclear weapons capability that threatens South Korea and Japan, increase the likelihood of miscalculation that could lead to inadvertent conflict, and accumulate political leverage ahead of future diplomatic talks with Washington.

Following the Norths announcement of the drone test on Friday, South Koreas air force released details of a five-day joint drill with the United States last week that included live-fire demonstrations of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

The air force said the exercise was aimed at verifying precision strike capabilities and reaffirming the credibility of Seouls three-axis strategy against North Korean nuclear threats  preemptively striking sources of attacks, intercepting incoming missiles and neutralizing the Norths leadership and key military facilities.

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- The Ministry of Justice must publicly present an appropriate regulatory variant for the value threshold for abuse of office, in accordance with the decisions of the Constitutional Court, with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and with the opinions of legal specialists, says the Speaker of

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu and President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Igor Grosu participated, on Monday, in the unveiling ceremony of the busts of historical personalities Alexandru Marghiloman and Ion Inculet in the Sfatul Tarii Park in the municipality of Ialoveni,

- The acting president of the Senate and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alina Gorghiu and Marcel Ciolacu, will pay a visit to the Republic of Moldova on Monday.Alina Gorghiu will participate, at the Nicolae Sulac National Palace in Chisinau, in the performance-concert Our Language Is My

- The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, said on Wednesday that the return of the Romanian language to the status of the official language in the Republic of Moldova is "a historical normalcy" and must happen as soon as possible. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste

- Increasing the depth of the Bystroye Canal by Ukraine, for navigation with a draft of 7 meters, is not allowed by international agreements, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu stated on Monday, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, said on Monday that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) is considering measures related to food prices in the future government programme, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- The Minister of Interior, Lucian Bode, on Monday said there has been a concerted political attack against him for months, noting that, in order to participate in the debate of the simple motion submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, he gave up a joint Romania - Republic of Moldova action, told Agerpres.

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Marcel Ciolacu, said on Wednesday that the social democrats are working on a new government program that will be subject to approval in the coalition, noting that the PSD will not come up with new taxes, but wants a fair business
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- The legal committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate gave on Tuesday a positive opinion, with a majority of votes, to the four proposals for the post of deputy Ombudsman.Last week, Ombudsperson Renate Weber sent a letter to Parliament's standing bureaus informing them that the mandate of

- Romania will be "where duty and the voice of blood call it" and will continue to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and PSD (Social Democratic Party) leader Marcel Ciolacu stated on Monday.Marcel Ciolacu is currently visiting

- The acting president of the Senate and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alina Gorghiu and Marcel Ciolacu, will pay a visit to the Republic of Moldova on Monday.Alina Gorghiu will participate, at the Nicolae Sulac National Palace in Chisinau, in the performance-concert Our Language Is My

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu, the national leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), said on Wednesday that there will be a working group on the law on special pensions patterned on the education laws. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu discussed on Monday with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev about three energy projects, including the one regarding the contract for the purchase of one billion cubic meters of gas, contract which is to be unfolded as of April,

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu is paying an official visit on Monday and Tuesday to the Republic of Azerbaijan, at the invitation extended by Azerbaijani Speaker of the National Assembly Sahiba Gafarova, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday that he still believes that military pensions are not special pensions and 22 states of the European Union are of the same opinion, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday that he expects the government to present him a briefing on the World Bank reports on the special pensions law, noting that the bill should pass through Parliament until the end of this legislative session, told Agerpres. Fii
Mayor Gergely Karacsony announced on Thursday morning that police will deploy four new speed cameras in Budapest in response to a series of fatal traffic accidents in the city.

He said accidents leading to ten deaths occurred in Budapest in the past six weeks alone, and that is why it is necessary to deploy the devices.



The common efforts of the city and Budapest Police will not end with this; we consider it necessary to deploy more cameras, the mayor stressed in a Facebook post.



He added that this fits the citys transport strategy, which will soon be made public.



Our goal is to reduce the number of severely injured people and fatalities in public road accidents by 50% by 2030 and to zero by 2050, he declared.
Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy announced the entry into force of rules requiring food containing insect protein to be clearly labelled and sold only on designated shelf space in a video message posted on Facebook.

Nagy said that such food products must now be packaged with a message to consumers: Attention! This food contains insect protein!



With [the measure], the government wants to protect Hungarian consumers from foods containing insect protein cleared by Brussels in the European Union, he added.



He noted that Hungary was the only EU member that did not back an initiative to allow foods containing insect protein onto the common consumer market.



That initiative puts our gastronomic traditions and eating habits in danger, he said, adding that Hungary faces a shortage of neither food nor protein.



Hungarian farmers have always supplied Hungarians with fresh food of high quality made from the best ingredients. Nagy noted that food companies have a three-month grace period to comply with the new rules.
YORK  Angela McKinley, 36, a former inmate at the Nebraska Center for Women, will be allowed to stay on probation in a case after she was found guilty of violating the conditions of her probation.

When she was still an inmate, back in 2019, she beat another inmate at the prison and was charged with second degree assault.

According to the affidavit filed by an investigator from the prison system, a sergeant at the prison heard a verbal altercation between McKinley and another inmate. The sergeant then allegedly saw them get into a fist fight with one another  when they refused to stop as the sergeant commanded, the sergeant deployed pepper spray on them.

The affidavit says at that point, the other inmate fell to the ground and McKinley grabbed (the other inmates) hair, pulled her head up and threw closed first punches to her eyes and nose.

Eventually, McKinley was restrained.

The assault happened in January of 2019 and McKinley was released from prison in February. She had been serving a sentence of 12-20 years in prison for three convictions of burglary, one conviction of possession of a deadly weapon by a felony and one conviction of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest  all convictions had been in Douglas County. She began her sentence at the York prison on Aug. 23, 2007, and was released on Feb. 16, 2019.

Later that year, she was sentenced to probation in York County District Court.

She had to be re-sentenced now because she violated the terms of her probation and was facing the possibility of more prison time. She was re-sentenced to probation this past week in York County District Court.
On March 24, 2023, a Nepal Airlines plane coming to Kathmandu from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and an Air India plane coming to Kathmandu from New Delhi almost collided mid-air over the Nepal airspace. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on March 26, 2023 revealed the details of the incident confirming that the warning systems alerted the pilots whose timely action prevented the disaster. CAAN also banned both the Air India pilots for breaching the holding pattern and written a letter to DGCA and the Indian Embassy, informing about their decision.

Now India's Aviation regulator DGCA has sought details from the Nepal authorities regarding the incident. The aviation watchdog has written to CAAN seeking details of the incident of an Air India and a Nepal Airlines aircraft coming close to a mid-air collision, according to a senior official. A senior DGCA official on Sunday said details are being obtained from the Nepal authorities on the airprox incident.

As per a report on PTI, Air India has submitted a report about the incident to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Nepal authorities do not have jurisdiction over Indian pilots. Pending further details, the crew of Air India involved in the incident was being off-rostered, the official added.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has written a letter to DGCA to conduct an investigation into the matter. Nepal's watchdog has also asked the Indian regulator to take necessary action against the guilty and inform it, according to CAAN spokesperson Jagannath Niroula.

As per initial reports, the Air India aircraft was descending from 19,000 feet while the Nepal Airlines aircraft was flying at an altitude of 15,000 feet at the same location. The Air India plane was in a holding pattern, but descended 15,300 feet to 3,700 feet. After it was shown on the radar that the two aircraft were in proximity, the Nepal Airlines aircraft descended to 7,000 ft, the spokesperson said, averting the incident.

In connection with the incident, CAAN has suspended three employees of the air traffic controller department for "carelessness" during duty hours. There was no comment from Air India on the incident.
New Delhi: Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd on Monday said its board has approved raising funds through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) in tranches aggregating to Rs 57,000 crore. The board has cleared issuance of unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures under a Shelf Placement Memorandum, aggregating Rs 57,000 crore, in various tranches, on a private placement basis, HDFC said in a regulatory filing.

This is in accordance with the approval granted by the shareholders of the HDFC at the 45th annual general meeting held on June 30, 2022, it said.

Besides, it said, "the board has approved an increase in the overall borrowing powers of the corporation from Rs 6 lakh crore to Rs 6.50 lakh crore, outstanding at any point of time and recommended the same for approval of the members of the corporation by way of postal ballot." (Also Read: Credit Cards For UPI Payment? Bank Of Baroda Enables This Service - Check How To Activate It)

The decision was taken since the outstanding borrowings of HDFC as of date is approximately Rs 5.70 lakh crore and it would need to borrow further for its business purposes till the effective date of the merger. (Also Read: OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G Price Leak Ahead Of Launch: Check Expected Cost In India, Specifications, Other Details)

It is expected that the parent HDFC Ltd would merge into subsidiary HDFC Bank by the third quarter of the next financial year.

Termed as the biggest transaction in India's corporate history, HDFC Bank on April 2022 agreed to take over the biggest domestic mortgage lender in a deal valued at about USD 40 billion, creating a financial services titan.

The proposed entity will have a combined asset base of around Rs 18 lakh crore. The merger is expected to be completed by the second or third quarter of FY24, subject to regulatory approvals.

Once the deal is effective, HDFC Bank will be 100 percent owned by public shareholders, and existing shareholders of HDFC will own 41 percent of the bank. Every HDFC shareholder will get 42 shares of HDFC Bank for every 25 shares held.

Following the merger, the combined balance sheet will be Rs 17.87 lakh crore and the net worth will be Rs 3.3 lakh crore, as of the December 2021 balance sheet. As of April 1, 2022, the market capitalisation of HDFC Bank was Rs 8.36 lakh crore (USD 110 billion), and that of HDFC Rs 4.46 lakh crore (USD 59 billion).

Post-merger HDFC Bank will be twice the size of ICICI Bank, which is the third-largest lender now.
New Delhi: Honasa Consumer Ltd, which owns FMCG brands Mamaearth and The Derma Co, on Monday said it is still in conversation with Sebi on its preliminary IPO papers and awaiting approval from the capital markets regulator. The clarification comes after certain media reported that the company has put its initial public offering (IPO) on hold amid weak market conditions.

In a statement, Mamaearth CEO and co-founder Varun Alagh said, "We are still engaging with Sebi on our DRHP and awaiting formal approval for the same. Post the approval as is in line with the regulations we will have 12 months to file RHP and take the company public, which we will do in consultation with our bankers." (Also Read: India Can Build Something Equivalent To AI ChatGPT? Ashwini Vaishnaw Says Big Announcement In Few Weeks)

Honasa Consumer filed its draft papers with Sebi in December last year to raise funds through an initial share sale. The proposed IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 46,819,635 shares by promoters and existing shareholders. (Also Read: Credit Cards For UPI Payment? Bank Of Baroda Enables This Service - Check How To Activate It)

Those selling shareholders in the OFS would include promoters and co-founders -- Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh -- Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Rohit Kumar Bansal, Sofina Ventures, and Kunal Bahl.

Alagah also said, "Pricing and valuations will be discovered as part of our marketing roadshows as we start them. As discussed during our meeting neither is our largest investor selling a single share and also the promoters will continue to own over 97 percent of their ownership in the company after the IPO hence we have no interest in optimizing for short-term valuations, we are in this for the long term."

After Paytm's IPO fiasco, Sebi has turned cautious while giving clearance to the initial share sales as it has returned the preliminary papers of half a dozen companies, including Oravel Stays, which operates hospitality chain OYO, in this year (till March 10).

These companies have been asked to re-file their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with certain updates.

Sebi has become stricter in its approach while giving its go-ahead to IPOs after investors lost their money in some of the high-profile initial shares in 2021 and according to data compiled by Primedatabase.Com, the average time taken by the markets regulator in approving an IPO in 2022 was 115 days.

One97 Communications, the parent entity of digital payments firm Paytm, made a disappointing debut on the bourses in November 2021. The company's Rs 18,300-crore IPO was the biggest on Dalal Street after Coal India. The digital payment firm stock was still trading 70 percent lower from its issue price.
World theatre day: Unlike the West, where historiography was primarily written, India is known for publicly supporting ancient traditions of information transmission. The systems where oral and gestural communication met recreation were developed as a result of this aspect of orality, which resulted in the creation of Theatrics.

Theatre has a reputation for being all-encompassing since it gives other art forms, such as music, dancing, acting, and literary works, a stage. Dramas were produced in the then-dominant languages, such as Sanskrit and Prakrit, around the second century BCE, beginning the history of Indian theatre.

Delhi is swamped with highly regarded and brilliant theatres that tell their audiences the tales of the heroic past and devastating tragedies. The following are a few of Delhi's theatres and plays that are currently booming:

1. Takhleeq Theatre Group

The theatre which was established in 2016, specialises in theatre but also provides a variety of experiences while producing and promoting various forms of art. They view performing theatre as a healing and cathartic activity. They have created performances including "Waqfa," "Corpse for Sale," and "Sipahi aur Maut," which were inspired by grassroots learning and believe in providing a platform for people to share their own stories.

2. India Habitat Centre

Without visiting the India Habitat Center, you can't truly appreciate all that the cultural centre has to offer. To fully immerse yourself in art and culture, linger around in the peaceful atmosphere. The finest performing arts centre in India, featured in the film "Rang De Basanti," hosts an annual theatre festival that features works by Delhi-based playwrights.

3. Alkazi Theatre Archives

The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, which is committed to the preservation and study of India's cultural past, has gathered resources about post-Independence theatre in India in the form of the Alkazi Theatre Archives (ATA). It's the ideal location for theatre enthusiasts to go to learn about the history and current state of performance art in the nation.

4. National School Of Drama

The Ministry of Culture provides funding to one of the top theatre training facilities in the nation. They provide a variety of learning opportunities in addition to having a rigorous theatrical practice curriculum that incorporates the techniques of influential theatre figures that have shaped contemporary theatre in all of its diversity. The students frequently perform their theatrical performances for audiences if you're looking for fascinating plays to go see whilst visiting the city.

When visiting Delhi, keep an eye out for independent plays and productions being performed at theatres including Lok Kala Manch, Sur Tal Open Theatre, Kamani Auditorium, and Shri Ram Centre.
The Louvre in Paris, the most visited museum in the world and home to the Mona Lisa, was shut to visitors all day Monday after workers striking over pension reforms blocked the entrance, AFP correspondents said.

The action came ahead of a new day of national strikes and protests in France against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.

The Louvre is closed on a Tuesday but, unlike many other museums in France, is traditionally open on a Monday.

"Due to public strikes, the Musee du Louvre is not able to be open for now. We thank you for your understanding," it said in English on Twitter.

Dozens of employees of the museum and other cultural sites stood outside the museum holding banners opposing the pensions reform and waving flags of their unions.

The museum was visited by almost eight million people last year, with long queues normally snaking outside its iconic pyramid entrance as visitors seek to view da Vinci's Mona Lisa and other masterpieces.

The uproar over the imposition of the reform, which the government chose to push through without a parliamentary vote, has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term in office.

Over 450 protesters were arrested in Paris and beyond on Thursday as some 300 demonstrations drew more than a million people nationwide to protest against unpopular pension reforms.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday that some 441 police and gendarmes were injured as violence marred some marches.

He added that 1,000 trash bins were set on fire in the French capital during the previous days action. Amid weeks-long refuse collectors strike, trash bins have become a symbol of the protest.

Polls say most French oppose Macrons bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, which he says is necessary to keep the system afloat.

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New Delhi: India will be looking to push the rupee trade agenda in the G-20 meetings it is organising as part of its ongoing presidency of the forum, a senior bureaucrat said on Monday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said rupee trade will be of help, especially with those countries whose currencies are under pressure.

"Definitely, we would like to see that rupee trade also happens, particularly those countries which are facing issues," Barthwal told reporters here, replying to a specific question if India will be looking at the upcoming G-20 meeting of the trade and investment group as a platform to boost rupee trade.

He also said that the issue of rupee trade is not directly linked with the G-20 forum.

It can be noted that as of now, India has been successful in forging agreements with 18 countries since embarking on the agenda of settling trade in the rupee amid currency volatility last year. India is the President of G-20 in the current term.

About 100 delegates from various G-20 countries, special invitee countries, and international organisations will be attending the three-day meeting in the financial capital from Tuesday.

The ministry has already prepared five priority areas to be discussed at the meeting, Barthwal said, adding that the deliberations will be the stepping stones for the final G-20 leaders meeting in September.

The priority areas include how to make trade and growth more inclusive, making global supply chains more resilient, integrating small businesses in trade, and ways to improve logistics, including by getting uniformity in regulations, Barthwal said.

India is also proposing reforms on the world trade organisation (WTO) front, the Commerce Secretary said, adding that the same will be a part of the agenda at the next meeting of the same trade and investment working group to be held in Gujarat's Kevadia.

The delegates will be visiting the Bharat Diamond Bourse as part of the meeting, Barthwal said, adding that over 90 percent of diamonds are processed in India.
New Delhi: Delhi power minister Atishi on Monday (March 27, 2023) said that a "big conspiracy" is being hatched at a high level to stop free electricity being provided by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government. Addressing a press conference, she said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered an audit of the subsidy being given to discoms to ascertain if there are any discrepancies. The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that agencies empanelled with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India will conduct the audit and directions in this regard will be issued in two to three days.

"A conspiracy is being hatched at a high level to stop free electricity being provided by the Kejriwal government. Files are not being shown to the chief minister and the power minister... It shows that something is amiss," Atishi said.

"Government-appointed experts in discom boards were removed earlier and now questions are being raised if the LG is colluding with the discoms," she alleged.

Atishi said the chief minister has ordered an audit of the subsidy being provided to the discoms to ascertain how this money was being used and if there were any discrepancies.

Senior AAP leader and Cabinet Minister @AtishiAAP Addressing an Important Press Conference | LIVE https://t.co/FtgfwnftBg  AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 27, 2023

Earlier last week, CM Arvind Kejriwal had asserted that his government would not let the "conspiracy" to stop the power subsidy scheme in Delhi succeed and that he would defend like a rock the rights of the people of the national capital.

A day after Atishi alleged in the Delhi Assembly that officials were trying to stop the power subsidy scheme at the behest of Lt Governor VK Saxena, Kejriwal on Saturday warned him not to complain later about "dignities" being breached.

While alleging that there is conspiracy to stop the power subsidy scheme introduced by his government in Delhi, Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi, "Still they say Kejriwal fights a lot."

"Conspiracies are being hatched to stop (the) free electricity (scheme) in Delhi. But we will not allow their conspiracy to succeed. Kejriwal will be found standing like a rock for the rights of the people of Delhi. LG saheb, please do not say later that dignities are being breached," Kejriwal said.

      



                                    



LG ,            https://t.co/if2fGmtPgv  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 25, 2023

Amid allegations of officials obstructing the Delhi government's electricity subsidy scheme at the behest of Saxena, Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday referred the matter to the Standing Committee on Public Facilities.

Earlier this month, Saxena had asked Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to direct the Power department to place the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) advisory on the restriction of power subsidy before the council of ministers and take a decision within 15 days.

The instruction was made on the basis of DERC's statutory advisory to the Delhi government to consider "restricting" the subsidy to the "poor and needy consumers".
New Delhi: The convoy of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, being escorted by Uttar Pradesh police to Prayagraj, on Monday (March 27, 2023) hit a cow in the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh. The incident reportedly occurred around 6:25 AM when the cow was darting towards the road and was hit by the vehicle carrying Ahmed, who has been brought to Prayagraj by the UP police for a court case. In a video now going viral on social media platforms, the cow is seen falling near the road divider, following which the vehicles stopped for a while before resuming the onward journey.

According to reports, Atiq Ahmed was travelling in the vehicle that hit the cow, which got up after a while and went away.

Meanwhile, his carcade, which entered MP from the Rajasthan border in the morning, hours after it set out from the Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, reached the Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj.

The police cavalcade bringing him from the Gujarat prison reached the Naini Jail at 5.30 PM.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Police personnel reach Prayagraj with Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed from Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Jail.



He will be produced in a court in Prayagraj tomorrow with other accused regarding the verdict in a kidnapping case. pic.twitter.com/OLwd8uxYvB  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 27, 2023

It had halted briefly at Kharai in Shivpuri district at around 7 AM to enable Ahmed to attend nature's call and then entered Uttar Pradesh via Jhansi district at around 9 AM.

Atiq Ahmed To Be Produced Before Court On Tuesday

Atiq Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, will be produced before a court on Tuesday when it is likely to pass an order in a 17-year-old kidnapping case in which he is an accused.

The gangster-turned-politician was lodged in Gujarat's Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh.

Ahmed, notably, is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case.

Umesh Pal, who was a key witness in the 2005 killing of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, was killed in the brazen shooting on February 24 in Prayagraj.

They Want To Kill Me: Atiq Ahmed Before Being Taken To Prayagraj From Sabarmati Jail By UP Police

Earlier on Sunday, as he stepped out of Sabarmati central jail and was being taken to Prayagraj by UP police, Atiq Ahmed expressed fear that he might be killed.

"Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)," Ahmed told reporters outside the prison while being whisked away in a police vehicle by security personnel.

When some reporters asked him if he feared for his life, he said, "Mujhe inka programme maloom hai... Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their programme... They want to kill me)."

The former SP MP also claimed that his appearance in a Prayagraj court was a just pretext for the police to kill him.

"Court ke kandhe pe rakh ke maarna chahte hain (They want to kill me under the pretext of a court appearance)," Atiq Ahmed said as he was taken towards the van.

In Prayajrag, he will be produced before a court on March 28 when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused.

Earlier this month, he had moved the Supreme Court, claiming there is a "genuine and perceptible threat" to his and his family members' lives and referred to the statement made by Adityanath.

The matter was listed for urgent mention on March 17 but the hearing was adjourned after Ahmed's counsel sought time to file some additional documents.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subrat Pathak had said he would not be surprised if mafia Atiq Ahmed's vehicle overturns like that of gangster Vikas Dubey.

Dubey was gunned down in July 2020 by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh police shortly after a police SUV in which he was being brought to Kanpur from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh overturned on a highway. Police claimed that he had tried to flee.
Shimla: The Congress Party in Shimla led by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu held a `Sankalp Satyagraha` protest, at the Ridge, against the disqualification of former party chief Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha.

The Congress leaders along with several Cabinet ministers participated in the candlelight protest. Chief Minister Sukhu, while slamming the union government said that it can stop Rahul Gandhi in parliament, but not in public."People and political parties did not face the situation that has arisen today in the country due to bad and anti-people / policies of the Union government.

Rahul Gandhi is the voice of democracy and the party is the biggest political party. You can suppress his voice in the parliament but you can`t suppress him in the people`s court. He does not do politics for MP or for the seat of Prime Minister. Democracy is under threat today and we will have to save it," said the Chief Minister.

While Cabinet minister Vikramaditya Singh during the protest alleged that democracy has been "throttled and killed" making the situation critical."The Parliament is the temple of democracy but the opposition is not being allowed to take up the issues and is not able to raise their voice.

The situation is critical democracy has been throttled and killed. For those who are trying to raise the voice of people, cases are being registered against them. We will have to fight this battle, if these atmospheres continue in the country the bright future of the country is in dark," Singh said.

Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him to two years imprisonment in a defamation case filed against him over his `Modi surname` remark. The decision came pertaining to his remark made in April 2019, where he had said "how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname" at a Lok Sabha election rally at Kolar in Karnataka.

The court approved Gandhi`s bail on a surety and stayed the sentence for 30 days to allow him to approach the higher courts. Congress party held nationwide Sankalap Satyagraha to protest against the move to disqualify Rahul Gandhi.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra trained her guns on the ruling BJP. She vowed to keep fighting for the people at the party`s Sankalap Satyagraha to protest against the move to disqualify her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi."Who thinks that they can silence us by scaring and humiliating us? Listen, we will not stop, I will see to it that the hard-earned money of the public is not being looted and given to few people," Priyanka Gandhi said in a hard-hitting attack on the ruling party at the Centre."It was my family (Nehru-Gandhi) who nurtured the democracy of this country with their blood," she said.

Congress To Hold Fast On Monday To Condemn Disqualification Of Party Leader Rahul Gandhi. The Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee will hold a dawn-to-dusk fast here on Monday to condemn the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as member of Parliament.
Mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad was brought to Uttar Pradesh's Pryagraj from Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Monday evening amidst tight security. The journey was nothing less than a nightmare for the Atiq. The former MP's family had recently claimed that UP Police wanted to kill him in an encounter. The police cavalcade bringing him from a prison in Gujarat reached the Naini Jail at 5.30 pm.

In today's DNA, Zee News' Rohit Ranjan makes an analysis of Atiq Ahmed's 'fear of being killed' in an encounter by Uttar Pradesh police.

A large posse of police personnel was posted at the main entrance of the Naini Central Jail and the entry of outsiders into the jail premises was stopped. A battery of journalists thronged the area to cover the event. The UP Police will produce him before a Prayagraj court in connection with a 2007 kidnapping case on Tuesday.

Atiq Ahmed`s brother Ashraf has also been brought to Naini jail from Bareilly for a court hearing.

Both the brothers have been kept in separate barracks and will be under constant surveillance by CCTV cameras that will be monitored by the police headquarters in Lucknow.

Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat in June 2019 following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh. He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

Watch DNA to understand in detail the reasons of Atiq Ahmed's fear.

Live TV
New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde paid a courtesy visit to MNS chief Raj Thackeray at his residence in Mumbai on Sunday. Raj Thackeray, speaking at a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) rally in Mumbai on Wednesday, slammed the Eknath Shinde-BJP government for spending Rs 1,700 crore on beautification of Mumbai.

He also accused Uddhav Thackeray of the departure of numerous Shiv Sena leaders, including CM Shinde and 39 MLAs who supported him and raised a revolt banner in June last year.

The construction was dismantled on Thursday, a day after the MNS chief released a video of a'mazar' or mausoleum-like structure being built illegally off the shore of Mumbai's Mahim region. Deepak Kesarkar, a minister under Eknath Shinde, stated that the Maharashtra administration is following in the footsteps of Balasaheb Thackeray.

"Our government runs on the vision of Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb Thackeray used to raise these issues and now Raj Thackeray raised them. Due to Raj Thackeray, it came to our notice that the violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Act is going on, so we took action so that no one in future repeats these actions," said Eknath Shinde.

Raj Thackeray has stated that if the state government does not take steps to remove loudspeakers from mosques, he will resume his 'Hindutva' campaign. He also asked for the dismissal of over 17,000 complaints filed against his party members last year when they protested the removal of loudspeakers from mosques.

In a recent rally, the MNS head slammed Uddhav Thackeray for giving the Shinde group the 'bow and arrow' poll symbol and the Shiv Sena name, claiming that only party founder Bal Thackeray could handle the symbol.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition seeking action against former Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi for their statements on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and other icons, saying their remarks prima facie do not constitute an offence under any criminal law.

The high court also said that the statements reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an aim to persuade the audience, and the intention appears to be to enlighten society for its betterment. The HC's order was made available recently.

Koshyari courted controversy with remarks on Shivaji Maharaj

Koshyari, whose tenure was dogged by controversies caused by his utterances about Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Phule and his wife Savitribai and Marathi people, stepped down from the post of the governor last month.

He had faced flak for calling Shivaji Maharaj an "icon of olden times", while Trivedi had allegedly said that the founder of the Maratha empire had apologised to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Justices Sunil Shukre and Abhay Waghwase, on March 20 dismissed a petition filed by Panvel resident Rama Katarnaware, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.

Petition filed against Koshyari's remarks

The petitioner claimed that the statements made by Koshyari and Trivedi who are non-SC or Scheduled Tribes (ST) members, at public speeches are disrespectful to these late political figures who were held in high esteem by members of society in general and members of the SC/ST communities in particular.

The petitioner referred to several objectionable statements made by Koshyari and Trivedi on Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule and Savitribai Phule and 'Marathi manoos'.

Bombay HC says Koshyari's statement 'not disrespectful' to any great person

However, the bench in its order, said, "An in-depth consideration of the referred statements would tell us that they are in the nature of the analysis of history and the lessons to be learnt from history.

"They also show the intention of the speaker, which is that at least in the present times, we should learn from history and also realise the consequences of following certain traditions and what may happen perhaps for the worst, if those traditions are followed," the bench said.

It further said that these statements primarily reflect the perception and opinion of the speaker about those figures with an intention to persuade the audience, to whom they have been expressed, to think over and act in a way which is good for society. The intention behind the statements appears to be the enlightenment of society for its betterment, as perceived by the speaker, the bench said.

"These statements, therefore, cannot be seen, by any stretch of the imagination, to be disrespectful to any great person, held in high esteem by the members of the society in general and by the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in particular," the judges said.

In view of the above, the statements, which were made, do not prima-facie constitute any offence punishable under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act or any other criminal law, they said.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the respondents are "highly powerful and influential authorities" and it is only a constitutional court like this that can issue appropriate directions for the registration of the offences and monitor the progress of the investigation.

"In so far as the powers of this court are concerned, there can be no second opinion. This court in the exercise of its extraordinary power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, can certainly issue directions for upholding the cause of justice. But, the question is as to whether or not such a power can be invoked by the petitioner here, and this question we answer as in the negative," the bench said.

The reason being that, we do not see a prima-facie constitution of any of the alleged offences based on the alleged objectionable statements, it added.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA for Islampur in the North Dinajpur district, Abdul Karim Choudhury, has declared that he will choose candidates for the panchayat elections in the Islampur block and that, in the event if the party leadership does not support the list, he will field them as Independents. Choudhury claimed, "In preparation for the panchayat elections, I will compile a list of candidates and submit it to the state leadership. The candidates will contest as Independents if Mamata Banerjee doesn't accept the list."

The MLA charged Kanaialal Agarwala, the Trinamool district president of North Dinajpur, and Zakir Hossain, the Trinamool head of the Islampur block, with orchestrating the assault earlier this month when TMC supporters from two groups clashed at Matikunda in Islampur, leaving a youth dead. Choudhury demanded that the party take action against them and abstained from a meeting in Kolkata summoned by the state leadership to talk about the panchayat elections.

The party officials were taken aback by Choudhury's claim, as Mamata Banerjee, the supreme leader of the TMC party, had just a few days earlier claimed that she would choose the party's candidates to contest in panchayat elections. However, when asked if he intended to field dummy candidates, the MLA sounded unconcerned. "Everyone has the freedom to contest elections. Additionally, there are a lot of genuine party members who want to contest and serve the public in an open and honest way. Since we want panchayats free of corruption, we have no right to ignore their goals", continued Choudhury.

Choudhury claimed that Agarwala and Hossain had engaged in violent politics. "I want to stop Islampur's policies from being like this. That is why I considered choosing worthy candidates down the street," he said. When informed of the MLA's comments, district Trinamool leaders advised Choudhury to adhere to party guidelines. "He is a top party leader and an MLA. We honour him. He is allowed to submit a list to the party, but he must follow its ruling", according to Agarwala.
New Delhi: Days after attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (March 27, 2023) requested President Droupadi Murmu to "protect the Constitution" of the country and save it from a "disaster".

"Madam President, you are the constitutional head of this country. I would request you to protect the Constitution and the constitutional rights of the poor people of this country. We would request you to protect the country from a disaster," Banerjee said at the civic reception hosted for Murmu, who arrived in Kolkata on Monday for a two-day visit to West Bengal.

Bengal's progress & cultural heritage is recognised by international institutions like the UN & Amnesty.



During Hon'ble President Droupadi Murmus visit, Hon'ble CM @MamataOfficial requested her to protect Constitutional Rights of the poor, as we work towards inclusive growth! pic.twitter.com/LsGDYTq8tQ  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, who presented the President with the goddess Durga idol and played the tribal drum and danced with tribals during the programme, called Murmu a "Golden lady" and said the country has a proud heritage of people from various communities, castes and creeds living in harmony for ages.

To extend a warm welcome to Hon'ble President Droupadi Murmu, Hon'ble CM @MamataOfficial joined the dancers on stage!



We are grateful to all the performers who showcased Bengal's rich cultural heritage during the President's first official visit to Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/u3wzoFeHpb  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

Honble CM @MamataOfficial conveyed her heartfelt gratitude to Honble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu on her visit to Bengal.



At a civic reception, she affectionately lauded the President as Golden Lady! pic.twitter.com/KpAU2AvVCh  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

She also spoke about West Bengal's rich culture and heritage and said, "All the big reforms have come from Bengal and the independence movement also rose from Bengal."

All the big reforms have come from Bengal and the independence movement also rose from Bengal.

- Honble CM @MamataOfficial



At the civic reception hosted for Honble President Smt. Droupadi Murmu, she reminded the people of our states rich culture and heritage! pic.twitter.com/2xZDuQqmGq  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

Earlier last week, Mamata, without naming Rahul Gandhi, who has been disqualified from Lok Sabha after being convicted in a defamation case, said the country is witnessing a "new low" in a constitutional democracy.

Opposition leaders are being disqualified for their speeches, she asserted.

"In PM Modi's New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of BJP ! While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches," fiery Mamata said in a tweet.

"Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy," she added.

In PM Modis New India, Opposition leaders have become the prime target of BJP!



While BJP leaders with criminal antecedents are inducted into the cabinet, Opposition leaders are disqualified for their speeches.



Today, we have witnessed a new low for our constitutional democracy  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 24, 2023

Meanwhile, speaking at the civic reception, President Droupadi Murmu thanked the government and the people of West Bengal for the warm welcome.

She said that sacrifice and martyrdom, culture, and education have been the life ideals in the land of Bengal.

President Droupadi Murmu attended a civic reception hosted in her honour by the Government of West Bengal in Kolkata. https://t.co/w55KUDRra1 pic.twitter.com/Fo13n1CYad  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 27, 2023

"The people of Bengal are cultured and progressive. The land of Bengal has given birth to immortal revolutionaries on one hand and prominent scientists on the other. From politics to the justice system, from science to philosophy, from spirituality to sports, from culture to business, from journalism to literature, cinema, music, drama, painting, and other art forms, Bengal's remarkable pioneers have found new ways and methods in many fields," she stated.

LIVE: President Droupadi Murmu addresses a civic reception hosted in her honour at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata https://t.co/ZM7zBzOmhL  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 27, 2023

Murmu said that even after reaching the highest pinnacle of success, the people of Bengal maintain their connection with their soil and keep on increasing the glory of Mother India. She appreciated the people of Bengal for this trait.

The President said that the people of West Bengal have always given priority to the ideals of social justice, equality, and self-respect.

BJP's Suvendu Adhikari claims not invited to President Murmu's civic reception; TMC denies charge

Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari claimed that he was not invited to President Murmu's civic reception, a charge denied by the ruling Trinamool Congress, which dubbed it as "baseless" and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of 'boycotting' the event despite being invited.

"Those who queued up to vote against her (Murmu) would take the centre stage & hog the limelight at the felicitation event! Those who queued up to vote in her favour are snubbed by the WB Govt & aren't invited!?" Adhikari tweeted.

Those who queued up to vote against her would take the centre stage & hog the limelight at the felicitation event !

Those who queued up to vote in her favour are snubbed by the WB Govt & aren't invited !



Compare the stance of @BJP4Bengal MLAs & the distasteful rant of TMC MLAs:- pic.twitter.com/sAEOcv9DBF  Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) March 27, 2023

The TMC, however, claimed several top leaders of the opposition party, including Adhikari, state president Sukanta Majumdar, and BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh were invited to the programme.

TMC shared purported images of the receipts of the invitation cards for the President's civic reception sent to Majumdar and Ghosh. The signature and seal of the state BJP's office secretary, along with the date, were there on it.

Mamata's party also tweeted another image of the receipt of the same invitation card sent to Adhikari. It has a signature but no seal or date.

.@BJP4Bengal will STOOP TO ANY LEVEL to engage in petty politics and taint Bengal!



Looks like in his attempt to bootlick @AmitShah & @JPNadda, @SuvenduWB forgot that he was indeed invited to the Civic Reception organized in the honour of the Hon'ble President of India.#Shame https://t.co/K8OQSTx6Ii pic.twitter.com/KnQpLpXvdO  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

Qs: WHY did @SuvenduWB visit @AmitShah & @JPNadda today?



Ans: To discuss the LIES he will be peddling in today's Press Conference.@BJP4Bengal leaders claim that they were not invited to the Civic Reception organized in the honour of the Hon'ble President of India.



Reality pic.twitter.com/H94iThuZCd March 27, 2023

Alleging that the BJP leaders are 'liars' and that they have 'no respect for people belonging to the Santhali community', the TMC tweeted, "Were these lies approved by you, Amit Shah".

The Trinamool also claimed that BJP leaders have "stooped to a new low."

.@KhanSaumitra IS A LIAR!@BJP4Bengal leaders are nothing but LIARS!



And they have NO RESPECT for people belonging to the Santhali community.



We caught him and his buddy @SuvenduWB LYING IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, sitting in New Delhi.



Were these lies approved by you, @AmitShah? pic.twitter.com/wInOBTIQCu  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

"Despite being invited to the event scheduled at Netaji Indoor Stadium, they have chosen to boycott it. When it comes to petty politics, BJP does not even spare the Hon'ble President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu. Shameful," the TMC said in another tweet.

.@BJP4Bengal leaders stoop to a new low!



Despite being invited to the event scheduled at Netaji Indoor Stadium, they have chosen to boycott it. When it comes to petty politics, @BJP4India does not even spare the Hon'ble President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu.



Shameful!  All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 27, 2023

This, notably, is Murmu's first tour to the state after being elected the President.
New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu arrived in West Bengal for a two-day visit, her first since taking office as the President of India. Governor Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received the president on her arrival in Kolkata. According to an official statement released on Sunday, the President will begin her visit by paying homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at the Netaji Bhawan in Kolkata. Following this, she will visit the Jorasanko Thakurbari, the residence of Rabindranath Tagore, to pay her respects to the revered poet and philosopher.

Governor of West Bengal Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received President Droupadi Murmu on her arrival at Kolkata. The President was accorded a guard of honour on her first visit to West Bengal. pic.twitter.com/01JHGLqYSd March 27, 2023

Later in the day, the President will attend a civic reception that will be held in her honour at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. On the second day of her visit, President Murmu will visit Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. She will also attend the celebrations marking the completion of 80 years of the UCO Bank in Kolkata.

The President's itinerary also includes a visit to Shantiniketan, where she will preside over the annual convocation of Visva-Bharati University. The visit to Shantiniketan, which was founded by Rabindranath Tagore, is expected to be a highlight of the President's trip to West Bengal.

President Murmu had recently visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district during a week-long visit to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep. In a tweet from her official Twitter handle, she expressed her admiration for the memorial and the late Eknath Ranade Ji, who was instrumental in its creation.

The President's visit to West Bengal is significant in light of the ongoing political developments in the state. The ruling Trinamool Congress is facing a stiff challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming assembly elections.
Since entering the Oval Office, Joe Biden has been eager to avoid a replay of what he saw as an unpleasant episode from his time as vice president -- public brawling with Israel's pugnacious prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now as the US ally plunges into turmoil over Netanyahu's divisive bid to shake up his country's judiciary, the Biden administration has been raising its tone, if only by a notch.

Netanyahu on Monday agreed to pause his proposals to weaken the power of judges, nodding to mass protests and a general strike that even shuttered the Israeli embassy in Washington.

US officials for weeks spoke in general terms about the need for consensus and shared democratic values, but a White House statement late Sunday said the United States was "deeply concerned" about events in Israel after Netanyahu fired the defense minister for criticizing the legislation.

Last week, the State Department issued unusually strong criticism over the hard-right coalition annulling a law on Israeli settlements in the West Bank and over remarks by one of Netanyahu's firebrand ministers denying the existence of the Palestinians.

The reaction is still far from the open clashes during Barack Obama's presidency when Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, rallied with rival Republicans against a nuclear agreement with Iran.

David Makovsky, a close watcher of US-Israel relations at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Biden had managed a skillful balance.

"I think the Biden administration is actually playing this quite well," Makovsky said. "For Biden, at least when it comes to Israel, you don't air the dirty laundry in public -- he's not Obama in this way."

The statements on democratic principles -- and the lack of a White House invitation to Netanyahu since he returned to power in December -- already made abundantly clear to Israelis where the United States stands, Makovsky said.

"At the same time, the administration doesn't want to be seen as too heavy-handed and to become a punching bag for the right-wing in Israel."

Netanyahu's son Yair already claimed that the United States is funding the protests, an assertion strongly denied by the State Department.

Growing doubts among Democrats

Biden, who spent 36 years as a US senator, has long enjoyed a cordial relationship with Netanyahu and a reputation as a supporter of Israel.

But views are changing within his Democratic Party as Israel moves further to the right. A recent Gallup poll found for the first time that more Democrats sympathized with Palestinians than Israelis, while Republicans remain staunchly pro-Israel, led in part by evangelical Christians.

A letter this month by a majority of Jewish members of the House of Representatives -- almost all of whom are Democrats -- urged Netanyahu to suspend the proposals which "could undermine Israeli democracy and civil rights."

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the Palestinian issue at a hearing last week, said the United States looks "very weak when we continually make statements without any kind of consequence."

Blinken did not take the bait and noted dryly that Netanyahu had promised not to revive settlements.

Logan Bayroff of J Street, the left-leaning pro-Israel US advocacy group, said the United States should do more to "stand unequivocally" with the protesters.

"This is a historic crisis moment in Israeli democracy," he said.

"There needs to be a clear, public tough red line on the actions that this government is taking to make clear that they're destructive ultimately to Israel's own interests, to US interests, and to shared democratic values."

Netanyahu's proposals prompted rare expressions of concern from Israel's military, highly respected within the Jewish state, as a growing number of reservists refused to serve.

Consistency on criticism?

Even the mild US criticism contrasts with the approach of Biden's predecessor Donald Trump who fully embraced Netanyahu and acted on an Israeli wish-list including recognizing Jerusalem as its capital.

Elliott Abrams, who held senior positions under Trump and previous Republican presidents, noted the Biden administration has not commented on the politics of another democracy, France, which has also seen massive, rowdy protests over President Emmanuel Macron's raising of the retirement age.

"How a democracy handles this kind of internal reform is something that we watch with interest and concern, but it's not for us to pick winners and take positions," Abrams said.

"I don't think we would appreciate other people intruding in our politics, and we should not do it either."

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New Delhi: Terming Bilkis Bano's gangrape and murder of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots as a "horrendous" act, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Gujarat government whether uniform standards, as followed in other cases of murder, were applied while granting remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis case. The top court, which at the same time clarified that it would not be overwhelmed by emotions in the case and would only go by the law, also directed the Gujarat government to present all the relevant documents on April 18, the next date of hearing.

Bano had moved the apex court on November 30 last year challenging the 'premature' release of 11 lifers by the state government, saying it has 'shaken the conscience of society'.

The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 last year, after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

A bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna issued notice to the Centre, Gujarat government and the convicts on the plea filed by Bano and asked the parties to complete the pleadings by the next date of hearing.

"It is a very horrendous act. We have an experience of people coming to this court saying they have been languishing in jails for ordinary cases of murder and their remission is not being considered. So is this a case where the standards have been adopted uniformly as in other cases" the bench remarked orally.

As the hearing commenced, the bench said there is a gamut of issues involved and it needed to hear the matter in detail.

"What is the broad line of submission that you will take? Since power under section 432 (remission) of CrPC has been exercised by State of Gujarat, was there a direction by this court directing Gujarat to take a decision? We would like to know before hand what is the gamut of issues and the framework within which you will operate because I am retiring on June 17. I need time to understand the matter," Justice Joseph observed.

Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, submitted that the State where the trial is held is to decide the remission application and Gujarat did not have jurisdiction to grant remission to the convicts. She also stated that the impact of the crime on society is to be taken into consideration while granting remission.

"The jurisdiction with the State here was Maharashtra and not Gujarat. Here please look at the impact of the crime on society," she said.

Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for one of the PIL petitioners, said the Presiding Judge of the trial court in Mumbai where the case was transferred had categorically stated that this is not a fit case for remission. She said even the CBI also said that remission should not be given to convicts.

Grover contended that while on parole, one of the convicts, molested a woman which has been completely ignored by the authorities.

Advocate Rishi Malhotra, representing one of the convicts, submitted that as per the judgment of the apex court, the policy of the government existing at the time of the commission of offence must be considered and therefore the Gujarat government was justified in deciding the remission applications under the 1992 policy.

Questioning the locus of the PIL petitioners, Malhotra said social activists have filed the plea challenging the remission and as per the apex court judgment PILs under Article 32 cannot be entertained in criminal matters.

Referring to the top court's May 2022 order, he said the apex court had held the State of Gujarat to be the "appropriate government" to decide the remission.

The bench then remarked," What about the State of Gujarat exercising the power without having the jurisdiction to do so."

Malhotra said the convicts have served over 15 years in jail and 14 years is the requirement for the remission policy.

"No one raised a hue and cry when they were in jail. And they served the entire sentence. This is more of an emotional plea than a legal plea. They say that death sentence should be given."

Justice Joseph then said," We are not going to be overwhelmed by emotions. That is the last thing we are going to do. Ultimately law and only law. We know what we are going to say is going to have an effect on the fate of prisoners. We have to maintain a balance between liberty proportionality etc."

As the hearing drew towards a conclusion, senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for one of the PIL petitioners, said the post-release conduct of the convicts saw them give death threats to the victim, which has been brushed aside by the prosecution.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for another PIL petitioner, submitted that this court has to now lay down the broad contours of granting remission.

All the 11 convicts in the Bilkis case were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15 last year.

The top court is seized of PILs filed by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, Revati Laul, an independent journalist, Roop Rekha Verma, who is a former vice chancellor of the Lucknow University, and TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the release of the convicts.

Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has appointed Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of late Union Minister Sushma Swaraj as the co-convenor of the BJP Delhi State Legal Cell. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, in his first appointment in the state unit, said that Bhansuri`s appointment would come into force with immediate effect.

In the letter issued on Friday, Sachdeva hoped that she would strengthen the BJP. Bansuri thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leaders for her appointment. In a tweet, Bansuri said, "I am grateful to the Hon`ble PM @narendramodi ji, @AmitShah ji, @JPNadda ji, @blsanthosh ji, @Virend_Sachdeva ji, @BJP4Delhi, and @BJP4India for giving me this opportunity to serve the party as the state co-convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi State Legal Cell.

I am grateful to the Hon'ble PM @narendramodi ji, @AmitShah ji, @JPNadda ji, @blsanthosh ji, @Virend_Sachdeva ji, @BJP4Delhi and @BJP4India for giving me this opportunity to serve the party as the state co-convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi State Legal Cell. pic.twitter.com/ItS4to99hn  Bansuri Swaraj (@BansuriSwaraj) March 26, 2023

"Bansuri, an advocate in the Supreme Court is the daughter of veteran BJP leader late Sushma Swaraj. One of the most prominent woman faces of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sushma Swaraj passed away at the age of 67 following a cardiac arrest in 2019. Born on February 14, 1952, Swaraj entered public life at a young age and won the election to the Haryana Legislative Assembly at the age of 25 in 1977 and became Cabinet Minister for Labour and Employment.

She was Haryana`s Minister for Education, Food, and Civil Supplies from 1987 to 1990. Swaraj served as a minister in all the governments headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and held various portfolios. She was the External Affairs Minister in the previous BJP-led government. She was also the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi for a brief period in 1998.
New Delhi: Svayam, working to promote dignity for people with reduced mobility, has signed a Memorandum of Association with the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) Foundation for Accessible Family Toilet (AFT). Savitri Devi Jindal, Chairperson Jindal Group, Aarti Jindal, Sminu Jindal, Founder - Chairperson of Svayam and MD Jindal SAW ltd., Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Dr. D. N. Sharma, Trustee of NHFDC Foundation, Dr. SCL Gupta, Vice President of NHFDC Foundation and Arjan Batra inaugurated the event held in India Habitat Centre on March 27 2023.

Svayam also launched Accessibility Awareness Week to educate about the accessibility challenges for people with reduced mobility and to empower individuals. Indias first accessibility organisation Svayam has planned Nukkard Natak performances from 28th March 2023 to 3rd April 2023 at various locations within New Delhi, like Connaught Place, Red Fort, Delhi University campus, and Gurugram.

Regarding Accessible Family Toilet (AFT), Sminu Jindal, Founder - Chairperson of Svayam and MD Jindal SAW ltd. said, Accessibility is a basic human need and right of every individual. We urge the government of India to celebrate World Accessibility Day on 27th March next year. We witnessed that people didnt think twice before using their savings or taking a nonsubsidised loan to make toilets accessible. The collaboration with the NHFDC Foundation will bring more significant impact and transformation in India.

For over two decades, Svayam has been promoting dignity for people with reduced mobility and advocating for an inclusive & accessible environment for all. Svayam has raised awareness in 13 out of 28 Indian States and 8 Union Territories, 102 out of the 766 districts in India over the past four years about Accessible Family Toilet (AFT).

Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities added, The government is committed to bringing positive impact and social justice to all sections of society, including people with reduced mobility. We are proud of Sminu Jindal Ji and the Svayam Foundation for taking such strong and selfless initiatives for the welfare and empowerment of people with reduced mobility. We are certain that the government and NGOs coming together will only ensure more and more awareness and constructive steps towards solving the accessibility issues.

An accessible toilet keeps safety, convenience, and easy access at the forefront. It requires basic features such as leveled surface, anti-skid / non-slippery flooring, adequate door width, grab bars, emergency bell, and western-style seating to be accessible for all. Ramps with railings are a must for easy access.

Svayams findings and learning are eye-openers as people in Indias villages are open and keen to adopt a better lifestyle that is accessible to all.
New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Monday shared a picture on Twitter claiming that one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder case was present at a government event with two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Gujarat. The convicted rapist was allegedly attending the launch of a water supply scheme with Dahod BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor and his brother, Limkheda MLA Sailesh Bhabhor. Moitra criticized the ruling BJP government and called for the imprisonment of the convicts, urging people to vote out the party that supports such a "travesty of justice."

Bilkis Bano's Rapist Shares Stage With Gujarat's BJP MP, MLA.



I want to see these monsters back in jail & the key thrown away. And I want this satanic government that applauds this travesty of justice voted out. I want India to reclaim her moral compass. pic.twitter.com/noaoz1c7ZW  Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 26, 2023

The 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for gangraping a five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old at the time, and murdering seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the Gujarat riots that followed the attack on Sabarmati Express.

Last year, the convicts were released prematurely on Independence Day under the state government's outdated remission policy of 1992. This decision has been challenged in the Supreme Court, and the case will be heard on Monday (March 27) by a new bench comprising justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna. A series of petitions have been filed against the release of the rapists in the 2002 case. TMC MP Mahua Moitra is one of the petitioners.

In response to the controversy, Jasvantsinh Bhabhor shared pictures from the government program and wrote, "At Limkheda taluka of Dahod district, Kadana dam bulk pipeline-based Limkheda group water supply scheme under the estimated amount of 101.89 crore works was laid. In which 43 villages of Limkheda taluka, 18 villages of Singhwad taluka, and 3 villages of Jhalod taluka will benefit from this scheme."

Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members who were killed. The case was handed over to the CBI for investigation and the trial was moved to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court. On January 21, 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment for the crimes of gang-rape and murder.

The conviction was later upheld by both the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. However, the Gujarat government released the 11 men from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 of the previous year due to their remission policy, after having served over 15 years in prison.
New Delhi: Congress MPS in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha gathered at the Congress Parliamentary Party office in the Parliament building on Monday (March 27). In a video shared by ANI, several Opposition leaders from parties such as DMK, SP, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K NC were seen attending the meeting. The Congress plans to intensify its protests against the government regarding two key issues: the Adani controversy and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP from Lok Sabha. According to sources, the MPs had planned to wear black clothes as a symbol of their protest.

#WATCH | A strategy meeting of Opposition leaders is underway at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament building.



Leaders of INC, DMK, SP, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K NC & Shiv pic.twitter.com/BvU5cfNcnH March 27, 2023

In the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Manish Tewari has given notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi. The Congress party has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue and has been staging protests during the ongoing Budget Session in Parliament.

TMC MPs Jawhar Sircar and Prasun Banerjee to participate in the meeting called by Congress chief & Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge today: Sources  ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

Like-minded opposition leaders gathered in the Rajya Sabha Leader of the Opposition (LoP) chamber in Parliament to discuss their strategy for the floor of the house. As the second part of the Parliament session enters its third week, a logjam continues as the Opposition demands a JPC on the Adani issue, while the Treasury Benches are demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his speech in London, which they allege defamed the country on foreign soil.

Gandhi now stands disqualified from the Lok Sabha, after his conviction in a 2019 defamation case by a Surat court.

The ongoing second part of the Budget Session started on March 13 and is set to continue until April 6.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for holding the urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh as it allowed the State Election Commission to issue a notification in this regard in two days with an OBC quota in terms of a report of the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said, "This court, in an order dated January 4, 2023, noted that in view of the decisions of this court, the government of Uttar Pradesh issued a notification for setting up the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission in December 2022. Though the tenure of the commission was six months, it was to complete its task by March 31, 2023."

It further said, "The solicitor general informs that the report has been submitted on March 9, 2023 to the cabinet. The process of notifying the local body elections is going on and will be done in two days. The plea is disposed of. The direction in this order is not to be used as precedent."

On January 4, the top court stayed an Allahabad High Court order directing the holding of the urban local body polls without any reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

It had also ordered that the panel appointed by the state government to decide on issues related to the grant of the OBC quota for the local body polls will have to conclude its exercise within three months (by March 31), instead of six months as stipulated earlier.

The top court had taken note of the submissions made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared in the matter on behalf of the state government, that one of the directions issued by the high court with regard to the functioning of the local bodies under administrators after the expiry of the terms of the elected representatives can be allowed to operate.

The top court allowed the state government to appoint administrators to run the affairs of the local bodies after the expiry of the tenures of the elected representatives, but said they will not be empowered to take major policy decisions.

"The high court by impugned judgment dated ... Has directed (to hold the elections without the OBC reservation).... Pending further orders of this court, the operation of the above direction shall remain stayed," the apex court had said in its order.

The state government had said it had set up the Uttar Pradesh State Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission in pursuance of the top court's judgments to decide on the issue of quota, keeping in mind the political representation of different backward castes in the local bodies.

The top court had taken note of the submission of the state government that though the tenure of the newly-appointed commission is six months, an effort will be made to ensure that the exercise gets over as expeditiously as possible, on or before March 31.

It had issued notices to those who had moved the high court against the state government's notification.

Earlier, the state government had moved the apex court with its appeal against a December 27, 2022 order of the high court, saying the latter cannot quash the draft notification issued on December 5 last year, which provided for reservation of seats in the urban civic body polls for the OBCs, apart from those for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and women.

The appeal said the OBCs are a constitutionally-protected section and the high court erred in quashing the draft notification.

After the high court's order, the Uttar Pradesh government appointed a five-member commission for going into the entire gamut of issues for providing reservation to the OBCs in the urban local body polls.

The panel was headed by Justice (retired) Ram Avtar Singh.

The four other members of the panel were retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Chob Singh Verma and Mahendra Kumar, and former legal advisors to the state government Santosh Kumar Viskarma and Brajesh Kumar Soni.

The Lucknow bench of the high court had ordered that the state government notify the polls "immediately" as the term of several municipalities was going to expire by January 31, while annulling the December 5, 2022 draft notification.

The high court had directed the State Election Commission to hold the elections by January 31, after transferring the OBC seats in the draft notification to the general category.

The high court's order had come on pleas challenging the preparation of the OBC reservation draft without following the "triple test" formula prescribed by the Supreme Court.

The triple test requires setting up a commission to hold a "rigorous empirical inquiry" into the nature of the "backwardness" in the context of the local bodies, specifying the proportion of reservation based on the commission's recommendations and ensuring that it does not exceed the overall 50-per cent quota limit.

The high court had held that the triple test condition formulated by the Supreme Court 11 years ago was mandatory.

"Until the triple test is completed in all respects by the state government, no reservation for a backward class of citizens shall be provided," the order had said.

In December last year, the state government issued a provisional list of reserved seats for the mayors of 17 municipal corporations, chairpersons of 200 municipal councils and 545 nagar panchayats for the three-tier urban elections.

It had sought suggestions and objections to the draft within seven days.

According to the draft notification, four mayoral seats -- Aligarh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Meerut and Prayagraj -- were reserved for OBC candidates. Of those, the mayor's posts in Aligarh and Mathura-Vrindavan were reserved for OBC women.

In addition, 54 seats for chairpersons in the 200 municipal councils were reserved for OBCs, including 18 for women.

Among the seats for chairpersons in the 545 nagar panchayats, 147 were reserved for OBC candidates, including 49 for women.
Ahmedabad: Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed on Sunday expressed fear that he might be murdered while being taken to Prayagraj from Ahmedabad`s Sabarmati Central jail by Uttar Pradesh police.

Stepping out of Sabarmati jail here Ahmed told reporters waiting outside that a conspiracy was is being hatched to kill him on the pretext of following court orders. "Court Ke Kandhe Par Rakhkar Hume Maarna Chah Rahe Hai (They are using the court`s orders as a pretext to get him killed)," Atiq Ahmed said as he was being escorted inside a police van. A 45-member team of Uttar Pradesh police.

Madhya Pradesh | The team of Prayagraj Police, taking mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed to UP from Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Jail, briefly halts in Shivpuri.



As per a UP Court's order, the verdict in a kidnapping case will be pronounced on March 28. All accused in the case, pic.twitter.com/sK6xct1mNL  ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) March 27, 2023

Ahmed, who was lodged in Sabarmati jail since 2019, is being brought back to Prayagraj in connection with an old kidnapping case of Umesh Pal in which he is the main accused. As per an Uttar Pradesh Court`s order, the verdict in the kidnapping case will be pronounced on March 28.

All accused in the case, including Atiq Ahmed, will be produced in court. Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said that Atiq is being shifted to Prayagraj as he will be produced before a court on March 28 in connection with a kidnapping case, the verdict of which is slated to be pronounced on the same day.

As per the UP police`s detailed plan for the trip, they have chosen a route that passes through Madhya Pradesh`s Shivpuri and Uttar Pradesh`s Jhansi to bring back the gangster. The journey will take more than 30 hours.

"Court has fixed March 28 as the date for pronouncing the verdict in an old kidnapping case...All the accused have to be produced before the Court in this matter. To produce Mafia Atiq Ahmed before Court, an accused in this case, a Police team has been sent to Sabarmati jail," the Commissioner said.DG (prisons) Anand Kumar said that preparations have been made for Atiq in the Prayagraj jail.

The jailed politician will be kept in a high-security barrack with a round-the-clock CCTV camera for surveillance."Atiq Ahmed will be kept in isolation in a high-security barrack at the jail. His cell will have a CCTV camera.

Jail staff will be chosen and deployed on the basis of their records, they will have body-worn cameras," Kumar said."Prayagraj Jail office and Jail HQ will monitor round the clock through a video wall. DIG Jail HQ is being sent to ensure all the arrangements at Prayagraj Jail," he added.

Atiq Ahmed's convoy enters Madhya Pradesh

The convoy of Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed entered Madhya Pradesh`s Shivpuri district on Monday morning, a day after the Uttar Pradesh Police took his custody to transit him from Gujarat`s Sabarmati jail to Prayagraj jail. Atiq Ahmed has to be produced in a special court tomorrow for the verdict in a kidnapping case.

(With ANI inputs)
New Delhi: Congress members wore black to Parliament in protest of Rahul Gandhi's removal from the Lok Sabha today. Several opposition figures chose to wear black in addition to the Congress Members. Meanwhile, opposition members gathered in the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber earlier in the day to discuss a joint agenda in the House.

#WATCH | Delhi: Opposition MPs protest near Gandhi statue in Parliament, wearing black attire, over Adani Group issue.



Congress president-Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also join the protest. pic.twitter.com/JSYM8luVQt  ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

In the Lok Sabha, Congress MPs moved an adjournment notice against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification, while in the Rajya Sabha, opposition MPs moved a suspension of business notice in the Hindenburg issue and misuse of probe agencies against political leaders.

Opposition MPs protest near Gandhi statue in Parliament, wearing black attire, over Adani Group issue. Congress president Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi also join the protest, as quoted by ANI.

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday moved an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha which said: "That this House does suspend Zero Hour and other businesses of the day to discuss the disqualification of Shri Rahul Gandhi.

Odisha | Congress MLAs arrived at the Assembly today wearing black shirts, in protest against the Central Government and the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. House has been adjourned till 4 pm today amid sloganeering by them. pic.twitter.com/2GElyxfzYn  ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

"The disqualification of Shri Rahul Gandhi from the membership of the House was a hasty and erroneous decision and not in consonance with the provisions of the Constitution of India.

"Article 102 (1) (e) of the Constitution provides that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.

"Article 103(1) provides that the decision as to the disqualification of members lies with the President of India. Further, Article 103(2) lays down that a decision on disqualification by the President must be preceded by mandatory consultation with the Election Commission of India."

Several Members of Parliament wore black to protest the Congress leader's removal from the Lower House of Parliament after a Surat court convicted and jailed him in a criminal defamation case in 2019.

Leaders from the DMK, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, NCP, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, NC, and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others, gathered in the chamber of Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

#WATCH | A strategy meeting of Opposition leaders is underway at the chamber of LoP Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament building.



Leaders of INC, DMK, SP, JD(U), BRS, CPI(M), RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, Kerala Congress, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K NC & Shiv pic.twitter.com/BvU5cfNcnH  ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 PM and the Lok Sabha until 4 PM today after opposition MPs' protests, which happened shortly after the start of both Houses' proceedings. They were sloganeering over the Adani Group and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification.
Prayagraj (UP): Atiq Ahmed, a former gangster turned politician, was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh police to be transferred from Gujarat's Sabarmati Jail to Prayagraj jail for a verdict in a kidnapping case. His sister, Ayesha Noori, expressed concern for his safety and stated that they are ready to accept any judgment. Ahmed himself expressed fear that he might be killed while being transported, claiming that a conspiracy was being hatched to murder him on the pretext of following court orders.

He is the main accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, in which Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two security personnel were shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24, 2023.

Talking about her son's death, Umesh Pal's mother Shanti Devi told ANI, "..We will accept the Court's order but I want to say that I will be satisfied (Atiq Ahmed) when he dies, just like he murdered my son..."

#WATCH | Prayagraj, UP | Umesh Pal's mother, Shanti Devi says, "...We will accept the Court's order but I want to say that I will be satisfied (Atiq Ahmed) when he dies, just like he murdered my son..." pic.twitter.com/RyzXfHuAry  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 27, 2023

The Prayagraj Police Commissioner confirmed that Atiq is to be produced before a court on March 28 in connection with the kidnapping case, and preparations have been made for his arrival in the Prayagraj jail as per an ANI report.

He will be kept in a high-security barrack with a round-the-clock CCTV camera for surveillance. The jail staff will be selected and deployed based on their records, and they will wear body-worn cameras. The Prayagraj Jail office and Jail HQ will monitor his movements round the clock through a video wall, and the DIG Jail HQ will ensure that all arrangements are in place.

The UP police have chosen a route that passes through Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri and Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi to bring back the gangster.
New Delhi: Internet sensation and Bigg Boss OTT fame Urfi Javed is once again here to surprise her fans with her most bizarre outing. The actor and social media star recently attended an event in Mumbai and as expected, stole the limelight with her DIY outfit. Urfi became the talk of the town once again as she arrived dressed in a purple risque top that was probably inspired by the human rib cage and a pair of baggy low-waist pants in beige colour.



She posed at the event alongside Bollywood diva Sunny Leone. Sharing her video from the event, celeb photographer Viral Bhayani wrote, ""Uff Urfi. A total mix of fashion and biology we see!! Rib cage or an outfit!!! Urfi Javed never fails to bring the best if unique fashion styles!!" The video left viewers gasping for a breath as it was definately her boldest and most-bizarre look so far. It is to be noted that Urfi won Fashionista of the year award at the event.

Just a few days back, Urfi had dropped a video where she was wearing a top made out of kiwis, leaving her fans in disbelief.

She was recently seen wearing a broken heart-inspired top and suffered an oops moment as she shared a video of her look.

On the work front, Urfi Javed has reportedly been approached for the upcoming season of Khatron Ke Khiladi. However, there is no official confirmation regarding the same. She was last seen in reality show 'Splitsvilla 4'.


The chairman of Saudi National Bank, the main shareholder of troubled lender Credit Suisse which was bought out this month, has resigned, a statement said on Monday.

The Saudi bank's board of directors "accepted the resignation" of Ammar AlKhudairy "due to personal reasons", said the statement published on the Saudi stock exchange.

Credit Suisse's shares plummeted on March 15 after AlKhudairy said the Saudi bank would not raise its stake from 9.8 percent due to regulatory constraints.

The following day, Credit Suisse rallied on the stock market after grabbing a $54 billion central bank lifeline in a bid to restore investor confidence.

But fears about the health of the broader financial sector led to its takeover by domestic rival UBS on March 19.

In the aftermath of his comments, AlKhudairy tried to minimise what he described as a "panic".

"If you look at how the entire banking sector has dropped, unfortunately, a lot of people were just looking for excuses," he told CNBC television.

"It's panic, a little bit of panic. I believe completely unwarranted, whether it be for Credit Suisse or for the entire market."

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Saudi National Bank's $1.5 billion investment in Credit Suisse was made at the behest of the kingdom's de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman.

It said that some officials at the Saudi sovereign wealth fund thought the move "was too risky... raising legal issues and the potential for large future losses".

Multiple failures

In an interview with AFP following AlKhudairy's comments, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan did not comment on specific financial institutions but said "multiple failures" including on the regulatory front had fuelled troubles in the banking sector -- "whether it is supervisory, whether it is management, whether it is concentration, whether it is mismatch of asset liability".

He added that he did not believe those risks applied to Saudi Arabia.

"Just focusing on Saudi, you will go back to history, and you will hear a lot of comments that the two regulators in Saudi Arabia are quite conservative. And that's what we then benefit from in a situation of distress," he said.

A media report on Sunday said the Swiss financial regulator Finma was probing how to hold bosses at Credit Suisse to account following its emergency takeover by UBS.

"We are not a penal authority but we are exploring the corresponding possibilities," Finma chair Marlene Amstad was quoted as saying in an interview with NZZ am Sonntag weekly.

Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi, who had been serving as Saudi National Bank's CEO, will replace AlKhudairy as chair, Monday's statement said.

Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji has been appointed acting CEO, it said.

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New Delhi: On World Theatre Day, it is worth celebrating the countless actors who honed their craft on stage before making their mark in the world of cinema. From the likes of Manoj Bajpayee, and Pankaj Tripathi to Sunny Hinduja. There are several exceptional actors who began their careers in theater before transitioning to the big screen. These actors are a testament to the fact that theater provides a solid foundation for any actor looking to develop their skills and build a successful career in the performing arts. Their performances continue to inspire audiences and serve as a reminder of the power and magic of live theater.

Let's take a look at the actors who started their journey with theater and continue to shine at the films

Manoj Bajpayee

Manoj Bajpayee is a critically acclaimed actor who started his career in theater. During his time at the National School of Drama, he developed his craft and acted in several plays, and earned critical acclaim for his performances. Manoj Bajpayee has always maintained a strong connection with his roots in theater. He has often stated that theater is his first love. His breakthrough role in Ram Gopal Varma's crime thriller 'Satya' (1998), won him a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He showcased his versatility and nuanced performances in films like 'Shool', 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'Aligarh', and 'The Family Man' Rajneeti, Aarakhshan, Special 26, Gali Guleiyan, Gulmohar, and many more.

Sunny Hinduja

Sunny Hinduja is a talented Indian actor who has made a name for himself in the industry with his exceptional acting skills in projects like Aspirants, and Thai Massage, Before he entered the world of cinema, Hinduja was actively involved in theater. He started his career in the theater circuit of Mumbai. He has worked in several critically acclaimed web series like "The Family Man" and "Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare", Inside edges, and Bhuakaal. He received accolades for his work in "Shehzada" and "Mardaani 2". He has often credited his theater background for his ability to bring depth and authenticity to his characters.

Rajkummar Rao

Rajkummar Rao is one of the most talented actors in the Indian film industry. His body of work in films like Newton, Omerta, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shahid, Bheed, Stree, and Badhaai Ho has showcased his versatility. He began his acting journey in theater, where he performed in numerous plays and honed his craft. He was associated with the Delhi-based theater group, "Act One," where he acted in several productions and earned critical acclaim for his performances. Rajkumar Rao has always remained connected to the theater. He has often mentioned that theater has helped him evolve as an actor and has been instrumental in shaping his career. He has started his own theater group named "Actor's Truth."

Pankaj Tripathi

Pankaj Tripathi has become a household name in the industry, the artist with his impeccable acting has created a huge fan base in the country. Before entering the world of cinema, Tripathi was actively involved in theater. He started his career in acting in the late 1990s and became a prominent figure in the theater circuit of Bihar, his home state. His powerful portrayal of Sultan Qureshi in the movie "Gangs of Wasseypur" brought him into the limelight. He has also gained recognition for his work in web series like "Mirzapur" and "Sacred Games". He has often credited his theater background for his ability to bring depth and realism to his characters. Today, he is considered one of the most versatile actors in the Indian film industry and has won several awards for his outstanding performances. His contribution to Indian cinema has been significant, and his journey is an inspiration to aspiring actors.

Manav Kaul

Manav Kaul before entering the world of cinema, Kaul was actively involved in theater. He started his career in acting in the late 1990s and became a prominent figure in the theater circuit of Mumbai. However, it was his portrayal of the villain in the movie "Kai Po Che!" that brought him into the limelight. Since then, he has worked in several critically acclaimed movies like "Tumhari Sulu", "Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai?", and "Ghoul". He has also gained recognition for his work in web series like "The Verdict - State Vs Nanavati" and "Ok Computer". Manav has often credited his theater background for his ability to bring depth and authenticity to his characters. Today, he is considered one of the most versatile actors in the Indian film industry and has won several awards for his outstanding performances.

Sanjay Mishra

Sanjay Mishra, who studied National School of Drama, is a favorite amongst independent filmmakers, starring in movies like 'Ankhon Dekhi', 'Masaan', 'Vadh', 'Anaarkali of Aarah', 'Kamyaab', and many more. His theatrical background, which includes the discipline of doing theater and extensively preparing to get into character, has also helped him in cinema. Mishra made his debut with a minor cameo in Ketan Mehta's 'Oh Darling Yeh Hai India' (1995) and then became a recognizable face on television with 'Office Office'. He also delighted audiences as Apple Singh, an "icon" used by ESPN Star Sports during the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Nowadays, he is a creative force being offered lead roles in brave, independent films, and he is finally receiving the recognition he has always deserved.
New Delhi: Several asset management companies (AMCs) have opened up a subscription for international schemes to maximise inflows ahead of new taxation rules for debt mutual funds kicking in from April 1. The fund houses that resumed their international schemes are -- Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, Mirae Asset Mutual Fund, and Edelweiss Mutual Fund.

Edelweiss Mutual has opened its all seven international funds for subscription from this Monday. It has started accepting switch-in or lumpsum transactions in these schemes. (Also Read: Credit Cards For UPI Payment? Bank Of Baroda Enables This Service - Check How To Activate It)

"We had some limits, so we thought of letting investors take benefit of taxation by investing before March 31," Niranjan Awasthi, Head - Product, Marketing and Digital Business at Edelweiss AMC told PTI. (Also Read: OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G Price Leak Ahead Of Launch: Check Expected Cost In India, Specifications, Other Details)

Mirae Asset has opened subscriptions in a lump sum manner for three international ETFs and three Fund of Fund (FoF) based on these ETFs from March 27 onwards.

The existing Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) and Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) will reopen from March 29 onwards. However, fresh SIP and STP will not be allowed.

"Since we have limited room available to take fresh inflows, these funds are likely to get closed again in future for subscription, in order to comply with the current regulatory limit and applicable guidelines for the overseas funds," Siddharth Srivastava, Head - ETF Product & Fund Manager at Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Pvt Ltd said.

In the case of ETFs, investors can transact on exchange in any quantity or in multiple basket sizes with the AMC directly and in the case of FoFs, investors can use multiple avenues like a lump sum or switch-ins to take exposure in the underlying ETFs, he added.

Capital markets regulator Sebi in June 2022 permitted mutual funds to again invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of USD 7 billion for the industry. In January last year, the regulator asked fund houses to stop taking fresh subscriptions in schemes investing in overseas stocks.

In addition, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has begun accepting fresh or lump sum investments in its three overseas schemes. Experts believe that investors subscribing to these international schemes before March 31, will be eligible for the indexation benefit.

Moreover, they are suggesting investors subscribe to debt funds, international funds, and gold funds to get indexation benefits.

"One caveat for existing investors through this news flow remains, that existing investments in debt funds, international funds, and gold funds, and even new investments made in them until March 31, 2023, will not be affected by the proposed amendments," Axis Mutual Fund said in a note on Friday.

The move by AMCs came after the Ministry of Finance on Thursday amended Finance Bill 2023, which classified income from debt mutual funds as a short-term capital gain. The new norms are set to kick in from April 1, 2023.

Under the new rule, investments in debt mutual funds that are bought on or after April 1, 2023, will be taxed as short-term capital gains at applicable tax rates.

That is, capital gains from debt funds, international funds, and gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), irrespective of their holding period, will be taxed at an individual's relevant applicable tax rate.
New Delhi: Innocent, one of the most popular actors in the Malayalam film industry, died here in Kerala on Sunday night. He was 75.

He was admitted to a private hospital in Kochi on March 3.

The former MP -- a two-time cancer survivor, had contracted Covid and later suffered from pneumonia that eventually led to his death.

His body will be taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium in Ernakulam at 6.30 a.m. on Monday morning. The body will be kept there for three hours.

From the stadium, his body will be taken to his native place Iringalakkuda where the funeral will be held in the evening.

The veteran actor who had acted in around 700 movies and produced many of them was a comedian and a character actor.

He had won from the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 as a CPI-M candidate and had been quite a "significant voice" in the Parliament while representing the constituency.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his condolence message said: "Innocent, through his natural acting had entered the hearts of people. He was also a good social worker. He has stamped his presence in all the areas of the film industry and had performed as a comedian, character actor and producer."

Vijayan also offered condolences to the bereaved family of the actor.

Innocent has written a popular Malayalam book, 'Cancer Wardile Chiri' or 'Smile in Cancer Ward'. Innocent entered the Malayalam film industry with the movie 'Nrithasala' directed by Mohan, one of the most popular Malayalam directors.

Innocent was also the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) -- an organisation for Malayalam actors.

He headed the AMMA for 18 years.

He also worked towards the development of a pension scheme for retired Malayalam actors.

Innocent won the state award for the best actor in the movie, 'Mazhavilkavadi'.

Malayalam superstar Mammootty, Jayaram, and several other top actors of the Malayalam film industry are present in the hospital where he passed away.

Kerala Minister for Higher Education, R. Bindu also condoled his death.
San Francisco: A woman in the US has tracked down her lost Apple AirPods to an airport worker's home two weeks after she left them on a plane, a media report said.

Earlier this month, Alisabeth Hayden, who lives in Washington state, was on her way back from a trip to Tokyo to visit her husband in Seattle was separated from her AirPods during the layover from a plane in San Francisco, reports CNN.

At San Francisco International Airport, she realised she had left her jacket behind, with the AirPods in its pocket.

Hayden inquired about retrieving it, but a flight attendant informed her that only a crew member could do so.

The attendant did indeed bring the jacket to her -- and she boarded her next flight to Seattle, according to the report.

"A child was screaming next to me, and I thought at least I have my AirPods,'" Hayden was quoted as saying.

She then reached for her jacket pocket and found that the pocket was open and the Airpods were not there.

Hayden utilised in-flight Wi-Fi to monitor the earphones using the "Find My" app, which tracks Apple devices, after the plane had already taken off to Seattle.

She then realised that the AirPods were moving.

"I'm a diligent person, and I tracked the whole way from San Francisco to Seattle, taking screenshots the entire time. I live an hour from Seattle, and once I got home, I was still taking screenshots," Hayden said.

The headphones ultimately stopped moving at an address in the Bay Area in the US.

Hayden marked her headphones as "lost" on her app, pinging an alert and her number to the person who had them.

Moreover, the report said that she enlisted the help of a detective at the San Mateo police force who was working at San Francisco Airport.

The detective traced the address from where the AirPods were pinging to an airport contractor who was loading food onto planes.

When questioned by authorities, the airport worker stated that the headphones were given to him by a cleaner, who denied knowing anything about the scenario, the report mentioned.

When the AirPods were returned to Hayden 12 days later, she remarked they looked trodden on.

She stated that after complaining about the condition of the headphones, United Airlines (which she was flying) handed her $271 and 5,000 air miles.

United Airlines verified that the employee was hired by a vendor rather than the airline.
Tel Aviv (Israel): Protesters gathered on streets in Israel's capital Tel Aviv after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for challenging his judicial overhaul plan, Al Jazeera reported on Monday. Following the decision, tens of thousands of protesters blocked a motorway in Tel Aviv, while police clashed with crowds in front of Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem.

The unrest exacerbated a months-long crisis over Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the country's court system, which has given rise to mass protests, and alarmed the US and other close allies.

After #Israel's PM Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who had asked for a halt of the planned judicial overhaul, protesters in Tel Aviv are blocking the Ayalon highway pic.twitter.com/rmQw0ZFOms  Mareike Enghusen (@Mareike_En) March 26, 2023

The White House in a statement released on Monday expressed concern over the firing of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and has said that there is an "urgent need for compromise".

The White House released a statement saying, "We are deeply concerned by the developments out of Israel, which further underscore the urgent need for compromise. As the President (Joe Biden) recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship."

"Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support. We continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible. We believe that is the best path forward for Israel and all of its citizens. US support for Israel`s security and democracy remains ironclad," the statement further said.

According to Al Jazeera, the dismissal of the Defence Minister signalled that the prime minister and his allies will press ahead with the overhaul plan this week. Yoav Gallant called for a halt to the judicial reforms in a speech on Saturday, when Netanyahu was out of the country on an official visit to the United Kingdom. Some military reservists have committed to pulling out of their service in opposition to the plans, which critics have said would undermine the independence of the judiciary, according to a CNN report.

Yoav Gallant said going ahead with the proposals could pose a threat to Israel`s security. The statement by Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu`s Likud party, upset Israel`s coalition government.

An official in Netanyahu`s office said the Israel PM had lost confidence in Gallant, adding that he had not cleared the statement in advance and had "thus sabotaged efforts to reach a solution."

Meanwhile, Israel`s Consulate General in New York, Asaf Zamir, resigned after Netanyahu`s decision to fire Gallant. In his resignation letter posted on Twitter, Zamir termed it a "dangerous decision."
New York: A large number of Khalistan supporters staged a protest at the iconic Times Square here to express support for the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh. The protesters took out a car rally that originated from the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood and culminated at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan city on Sunday afternoon amid tight security.

With blaring music and loud horns, a multitude of cars with Khalistani flags and LED mobile billboard trucks displaying photos of Singh crisscrossed the streets near the venue. Men, women, and children gathered in large numbers at the popular New York destination, carrying the Khalistan flags and raising slogans at the rally.

#Khalistan terrorist #Bhindranwale and taxi driver #AmritPalSingh pictures at Times Square NY city Hopefully @MEAIndia and @DrSJaishankar keeping an eye. Its very expensive who paid for this space pic.twitter.com/cup5nX0MqM  (@Aparnitam2) March 27, 2023

'Free Amritpal Singh,' said protesters in New York

The protesters, carrying placards reading 'Free Amritpal Singh', held up photos of Singh as they raised anti-India slogans. Singh's photo was also displayed on one of the billboards in Times Square.

There was a heavy police presence in the area with several New York City Police Department (NYPD) vans and cars manning the area.

Khalistan supporters' car rally in Washington

The car rally came a day after Khalistan supporters gathered outside the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, where many of their speakers tried to incite violence, but timely intervention by an alert US Secret Service and local police prevented a repeat of London and San Francisco incidents of vandalism at the Indian missions.

India on Friday said it expects to see action against the perpetrators of vandalism at its missions abroad and hoped the host governments would prosecute those involved in these incidents instead of holding out assurances.

Addressing the weekly briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said New Delhi also expects the host governments to take measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

"I think we are not just interested in assurances, I think we would like to see action," the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said.

Amritpal has been on the run since March 18 when the police launched a crackdown against him. The elusive preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Punjab's Jalandhar district.
Kabul (Afghanistan): Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the Taliban will not respect human rights, including women`s right to education until they are recognised by the international community, Khaama Press reported. Imran Khan said that the Taliban should be made part of the international community and then the human rights and matters related to the education of girls should be discussed, Khaama Press reported citing Britain's Channel 4 interview.

"If you isolate them [Taliban], what influence are you going to have on them? If you mainstream and let them have a state, then talk about human rights. Right now, you push them on isolation; their money is frozen, so why would they listen to anyone?," Khaama Press quoted Imran Khan as saying in an interview with Channel 4.

'Get them (Taliban) involved': Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said, "My advice is to get them involved, give them a stake in the international community so that when you tell them to have girls educated, they will listen to you; right now, they are not."

Imran Khan's remarks come amid the human rights crisis in Afghanistan. Afghan women have been calling on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in Afghanistan. This is not the first time Imran Khan has asked the international community to recognize the Taliban.

Earlier in 2022, Imran Khan, who was then Pakistan`s Prime Minister said that there is "no other alternative to Taliban in Afghanistan," so the "only option the world has right now is to engage with the Taliban for things to move forward."

In an exclusive interview with Fareed Zakaria for CNN, Imran Khan while speaking about Pakistan`s diplomatic ties with the Taliban in Afghanistan said that the Taliban will have to be recognised by the world as it is about the well-being and future of about 40 million Afghans. "Afghanistan is on the verge of experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis," PM Imran Khan said.

"Considering the circumstances, is there any other alternative to the Taliban in Afghanistan? No, there isn`t," Imran Khan said. "Forty million people in Afghanistan are in dire straits because of the ongoing situation in the country," Khan said.

'People of the US should understand'

He added that people of the US should understand that disliking the Taliban is one thing, however, thinking about the people of Afghanistan is another as they were facing "extreme difficulties."

Imran Khan called working with the Taliban as the "only alternative" for the sake of Afghans "because turning the Taliban away would only lead to chaos in the country." He urged the international community to release the frozen assets of Afghanistan and provide humanitarian assistance to prevent an "economic collapse" of the country.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led coalition government is facing the heat over the move to enact sweeping changes to Israel's judiciary. Netanyahu, who says the new law is needed to restore balance to the system of government and which critics see as a threat to democracy, on Sunday (March 26, 2023) sacked his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the plans.

The sacking was followed by widespread protests in cities across Israel, with hundreds of thousands flooding the streets.

What Is Benjamin Netanyahu-Led Govt's Problem With Israel's Judiciary And What Does It Want?

Critics of the Israeli Supreme Court, including many in the hard-right coalition government of PM Benjamin Netanyahu, say the bench is left-leaning and elitist and has become too interventionist in the political sphere, while often putting minority rights before national interests.

The incumbent government has been pushing for changes that would limit the Supreme Court's powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, while giving coalition lawmakers more power in appointing judges.

The panel for selecting judges requires politicians and judges who sit on it to agree on appointments. The present proposal would change that, giving coalition governments decisive sway.

Netanyahu, though formally barred from involvement in the initiative because he is on trial for graft charges he denies, has said such changes aim to balance and diversify the bench.

He has also accused the media of misrepresenting the plan and fanning the flames of protest in order to topple his government.

Why Are Israelis Protesting Benjamin Netanyahu's Judicial Reform?

It is notable that Israel's democratic "checks and balances" are relatively fragile. It has no constitution and has only "basic laws" meant to safeguard its democratic foundations. In its one-chamber Knesset, the government controls a majority.

Critics say that the changes will weaken the courts and hand unbridled power to the government, endangering rights and liberties with catastrophic effects for the economy and relations with Western allies, who have already voiced concern.

A judiciary no longer seen as independent could also strip Israel of one of its main defences in international legal cases.

The now-sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday had called on the government to stop the legislation because disputes over the measures threaten Israel's security.

Critics also fear that Netanyahu wants to leverage the judicial push to freeze or void his trial. He, however, has denied having any such plan.

The opposition says Netanyahu's nationalist allies want to weaken the Supreme Court to establish more settlements on land the Palestinians seek for a state.

Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government is aiming for final ratification of the changes to bench selection by April 2, when lawmakers go on spring recess.

Other changes, some of which have been approved at the Knesset's plenum in the first of three readings required for ratification, have been deferred until parliament reconvenes on April 30.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Two persons were shot at a Gurudwara on Sunday. The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. (local time) at the Gurdwara Sacramento Sikh Society temple, according to the sheriff's office.

According to the sheriff's office, both victims are in critical condition. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, said the shooting was not a hate crime and described it as a shootout between two males who knew each other. According to Gandhi, three people were involved in a fight that turned into a shooting. He said that "suspect 2" was unconscious when "suspect 1" shot suspect 2's friend. Suspect 2 then shot suspect 1 and fled.

"Two people shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California. The shooting is not related to a hate crime, it is a shootout between two men who knew each other," says Sacramento County Sheriffs Office, as quoted by ANI.

The US | "Two people shot at a Gurudwara in Sacramento County, California. The shooting is not related to a hate crime, it is a shootout between two men who knew each other," says Sacramento County Sheriffs Office. pic.twitter.com/zKWY58yWOY  ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2023

"All participants in that altercation seemed to have known each other. This seems to have stemmed from something far before this," said Amar Gandhi, Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. The incident is currently being investigated. Significantly, the United States has had back-to-back incidents of gun violence in recent years, with multiple fatal shootings. Gun violence has become all too common in the United States.

This is why President Joe Biden signed an executive order to boost the number of background checks performed during gun sales, calling it "common sense." Last week, at least two people were injured in a gunshot at East High School in Denver, Colorado's capital, according to Denver police.
Three students and three adults were killed, while several others were injured in a shooting incident at a school in US' Tennessee on Monday, before the perpetrator was shot dead by the police, reports said. The attack was reported from the Covenant School in Nashville, a private Christian school for students in pre-school to sixth grade, when the students are roughly 11 or 12 years old, the BBC reported.

The shooter -- described as a teenaged girl by authorities -- was "engaged" by law enforcement officers and killed. She was carrying two "assault-type rifles and a handgun", as per police. The shooting took place in a private Christian school in Nashville that runs from preschool through to the sixth grade. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the school shooting.

The police got the first calls sometime past 10 am Central Time. "The police department response was swift," police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters. "They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers."

There was no official word on the shooter`s motivation. School shootings have become tragically commonplace in the US. Just a few days ago, a 17-year-old was fatally shot after he had shot and wounded two members of the administrative staff of a Denver school. Sandy Hook Promise, an organization founded and run by family members of the victims of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut, called gun violence and school shootings "a uniquely American epidemic".

Mass shootings, incidents with four or more victims, are even more common. Easy access to deadly weapons is to be blamed chiefly, but gun law reforms have been slow and bitterly contested by a powerful gun lobby.

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Egypt has recently taken concrete steps towards the investment opportunities it offers for strategic investors or under the governments initial public offering (IPO) programme, through which 32 state-owned companies are promoted to be tapped.

The key target of this action is bridging the $17 billion financing gap Egypt will witness over four years, providing US dollar liquidity in the local market, and opening a wide door for the private sector to play a greater role in the local economy by increasing its share in the economic activity to 65 percent instead of 30 percent.

This comes as a clear commitment from the Egyptian side to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under its Extended Fund Facility for the country that allows it to receive a $3 billion loan in tranches through FY2025/2026.

All eyes on PACHIN

PACHIN, a state-owned company specialised in manufacturing paints, has recently received two offers from local and Arab investors to acquire 100 percent of the company shares.

The company, which is already listed in the Egyptian stock market with 55 percent of its shares owned by the government, is among the 32 state-owned companies Egypt offers under the IPO programme.

The competition is ramping up between an Egyptian and a UAE company to acquire PACHIN.

On Monday, Egypt-based Eagle Chemicals raised the share price of the company to EGP 37, up from the initial price set at EGP 34 and above the UAE companys proposed price of EGP 36.

The UAE National Paints submitted a request to Egypts EGX in March to acquire 100 percent of the Egyptian company with a price of EGP 34 per share.

The company this week raised the price of the share to EGP 36, after receiving the approval of Egypts Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). An Egyptian company had earlier offered to acquire the company with a price of EGP 35 per share.

The FRA has also prolonged the validity of the purchase for one day to end on 4 April.

Abu Dhabi Ports Group taps SCZONE opportunities

On Wednesday, Egypts Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) said it has greenlighted a number of partnership projects with Abu Dhabi Ports Group, with investments worth hundreds of millions of pounds to be implemented in the sea ports affiliated to the SCZONE in East Port Said, West Port Said, Arish, and Ain Sokhna.

According to the SCZONE, AD Ports Group will be responsible for the construction and development of superstructure, management, operation, and handing over of a multi-purpose bulk terminal for oil services at East Port Said berths with a total length of 1.5 km.

Also in March, the AD Ports Group and Egyptian Red Sea Ports Authority signed a concession agreement extending over 30 years in order to develop and operate a multi-purpose terminal at Safaga Port, a strategic location on the Red Sea coast in eastern Egypt, which will be operational in the second quarter of 2025.

The terminal will be constructed with a capacity to handle five million tons of dry bulk and general cargo with one million tons of liquid bulk, 450K TEUs of containerised cargo, and 50K CEUs of RORO.

Additionally, the AD Ports Group and the General Authority for the SCZONE inked agreements to develop two cement terminals in Arish Port and West Port Said Port, which requires a combined investment worth EGP 1 billion.

Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with the CEO of AD Ports Group Mohamed Juma Al-Shamisi early in March, and the UAE group showed a great appetite to tap the investment opportunities Egypt offers.

Telecom Egypt out of the race

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Egypt's government has recently decided to suspend the sale of an additional stake in the state-owned Telecom Egypt because of market conditions, three sources close to the talks said.

Earlier in March the company said in a disclosure sent to the EGX that it is considering floating an additional stake of the company in the EGX in 2023.

Thirty percent of the companys shares are already listed in the EGX.

It is worth noting that Qatar Investment Authority was reportedly eyeing a stake in Telecom Egypt.

Safi, NPC under offering process

Egypt has started the offering process of the two military-affiliated National Petroleum Company (NPC) and National Co. for Natural Water in Siwa (Safi) to investors on 15 March with no updates announced from neither the government nor the Sovereign Fund of Egypt on this process.

The procedures of offering the two companies are carried out through an IPO advisor who will communicate with investors and make the data of the two companies available to them.

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The cherry trees have come into bloom earlier than ever before this year, and thousands of people are visiting famous cherry blossom spots despite pleas by the government to stay at home.

But Wednesday's temperatures were a balmy 20 degrees, perfect for a day out. The entrance of Deoksu Palace in downtown Seoul was teeming with people from nearby offices who had come to look at the cherry blossoms after a quick lunch.

One 34-year-old office worker who was busy taking selfies with colleagues said, "I feel it was the right decision to come out because I've been stuck inside lately and the weather is so nice and the flowers are beautiful."

Many people took their masks off to take selfies.
Elnur Enveroglu

Baku has taken a historic step to establish closer ties with Israel and take them to new highs following the Iran-Armenian duo in the South Caucasus.

Back in November 2022 when the Azerbaijani parliament endorsed a law giving the go-ahead for the opening of the nation's first-ever embassy in Tel Aviv, it sent shockwaves through Iran's theocratic regime in Tehran and mobilized overtly and covertly the regime-backed militants and militia groups against Azerbaijan.

Frustrated by the move, the Tehran regime and its mouthpieces doubled their anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric and accusations of cooperation with Israel, providing Tel Aviv with opportunities to establish a military presence in Iran's backyard.

As regards the diplomatic relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, it goes back to the early 1990s with Tel Avivs significant support to Azerbaijan, during the rise of the ongoing conflict with Armenia over Karabakh.

The appointment of Bakus first envoy to Israel after 30 years of mutual relations made this connection more promising.

Speaking to Azernews, Israeli political analyst Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak from Tel Aviv University said that the opening of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel is of great importance.

The inauguration of the Azerbaijani embassy in Israel should not be considered as an ordinary act. It is a strategic decision. It is a clear message to Tehran. During the Second Karabakh War, Iran openly supported Armenia. Today, in the aftermath of the war, we all see the Tehran regime is against the Zangazur corridor. Iran conducts military drills at the border with Azerbaijan. Bearing in mind all these facts, Iran's aggressive attitude against Azerbaijan should encourage Israel to deepen her relations with Baku even more, the political analyst opined.

The pundit added that Israel also considers Turkiyes exceptional role in the security of the region. According to him, peace and security are maintained through joint efforts in the political and military sectors.

The Israeli-Azerbaijani joint military drills - similar to those that were conducted by Israel and Turkiye during the 1990s - can further strengthen the relations. Certainly, this rapprochement can even be strengthened with Turkiyes inclusion in the equitation, he said.

The professor also emphasized the future prospect of Israel-Azerbaijan relations in the diplomatic sphere.

The inauguration of the Azerbaijani embassy will eventually pave the way for further improvement of the people-to-people relations and will boost trade, tourism, and further cooperation. As an Israeli academic working at both Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion University, I am looking forward to launching new projects with my Azerbaijani colleagues.

Another Israeli media expert Shmuel Dean Elmas said having the Israeli embassy alone in Azerbaijan would never maintain strong relations between the two countries.

I believe that George Deek is an amazing ambassador, but you can't expand your bilateral relations one-sidedly. Muxtar bay is an experienced diplomat that will contribute to the development of the economic, defense, and tourism ties. I am convinced that the trade volume will break records in the upcoming years.

According to Elmas, Tehran is more anxious as it better realizes that the relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are not like the one between Iran and Armenia.

When you want to check your friends, you should do it in tough times. I think that if you take the 1990s or the Second Karabakh War as an example, we can see how Israel is among the two best friends of Baku. Therefore, the Ayatollah regime is afraid so much. As for Israel's existence in the South Caucasus, so if Armenia thinks about another war, they should understand that their odds are so bad when Israel is with Azerbaijan.
Korea's birthrate dwindled over the past 50 years from 1 million to 250,000 and the decline is speeding up.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, annual childbirths plunged from 1.007 million in 1970 to 249,000 last year, resulting in the fertility rate -- the average number of children per woman over a lifetime -- falling from 4.53 to 0.78.

While it took 30 years for the birthrate to fall from a million to half a million in 2002, it only took another 20 years to halve again.

Last December, 16,803 babies were born in Korea, which was the lowest in 41 years and down 2.2 percent from the previous monthly low a year earlier. Korea's fertility rate hovered around 1.2 from 2002 to 2015, but then fell steeply again due to a sharp decline in marriages.

According to the World Bank, Korea became the first among 252 countries whose fertility rate fell to 0.8 in 2020, and it is the only OECD country with a fertility of less than one child. The average rate in the OECD is a relatively healthy 1.6, and even Japan, which is already a super-aged society, reports 1.33.

The average age when Korean women give birth to their first child now stands at 33.5, another 0.2 year older than in 2021. Only 31.5 percent of women give birth within the first two years of marriage, down 0.3 percentage points from 2021. That makes Korean mothers the oldest in the OECD, where the average age is 29.3.
Russia has struck a deal with neighboring Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory but will not violate nonproliferation agreements, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland, Putin told state television.

"There is nothing unusual here either, firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said.

"We agreed that we will do the same -- without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons."
Spain's first major wildfire of the year scorched more than 4,000 hectares of forest and forced 1,700 villagers to leave their homes in the Valencia and Aragon regions.

Residents recounted fleeing their houses and leaving animals behind. "Bad, how am I supposed to feel? Your town is burning, your life is burning. Our animals were there, and no one can tell us anything," Antonio Zarzoso, 24, who had to leave the village of Puebla de Arenoso, told Reuters.

More than 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver, emergency services said Saturday, forcing 1,500 to leave their homes.

The blaze also spread to the Teruel area of the Aragon region, where 200 people had to be evacuated, authorities said Saturday. However, they managed to stop the fire from spreading to other areas.
A mass taekwondo performance in Seoul's Gwanghwamun Plaza on Saturday drew over 12,000 players who demonstrated their martial arts moves in unison.

According to the sport's governing body Kukkiwon, 12,263 players took part in the attempt at a new Guinness world record.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is often reported in the state media to be burning the midnight oil to stress the portly dictator's sacrifices for his nation, but that may be a sign of ill health.

The official Rodong Sinmun daily in an article last Saturday claimed Kim's "concept of the day is different from ordinary people's," and it seems he rides bleary-eyed officials just as hard.

It quoted a senior Workers Party official as saying, "People consider their business day done in the evening or at midnight, but [Kim] sees today as lasting until at 5 a.m. the following day for business to be carried out."

The daily cited a visit Kim made to a fish processing factory on the east coast after 2 a.m. and hailed him as a "great patriarch who postpones his rest and sacrifices himself." Kim himself is quoted as claiming, "Since I was young, I have become accustomed to working through the night, and now it has become the rule of life."
U.S. troops have recently been able to test the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery's remote control for the first time as part of joint exercises with South Korea, the U.S. Forces Korea said last Friday.

It was the first deployment test since the battery was installed here in 2017.

A South Korean military officer said, "We urgently needed to beef up air defenses against North Korean missiles in the face of the growing nuclear and missile threat."

THAAD missile interceptors were moved to a site dozens of kilometers from the base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province and remotely controlled from the base. That allows the battery to defend a much larger area. Some remotely controlled THAAD interceptors are deployed on a Pacific island some 70 km from their base on Guam.

Until recently, the interceptors were connected with the control center by cables, which raised concerns that the capital region was out of THAAD's operational range of about 200 km.
A man at a bar watches French President Emmanuel Macron speaking during an interview with journalists on television in Marseille, southern France, on March 22, 2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that the pension bill he pushed through without a vote in parliament needs to be implemented by the end of the year, sticking to his decision to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 despite mass protests. Macron, who made the comments in an interview broadcast on national television, said the bill will continue its democratic path.

The Constitutional Council needs to review the bill in the coming weeks, and it can only be turned into law after the body gives its approval.

It was the first time that Macron spoke publicly since his government forced the pension bill through parliament last week, prompting scattered protests in Paris and across the country, some degenerating into violence. His government survived two no-confidence votes at the lower chamber of parliament on Monday.

The 45-year-old president repeatedly said that he was convinced that Frances retirement system had needed to be modified to keep it financed. That reform is not a luxury, it is not fun, its a necessity for the country, he said. Macron also condemned the violence at some protests.

He notably referred to rioters storming the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Brazils top government buildings earlier this year, as well as the yellow vest movement against social injustice in France in 2018 which led to violent clashes and vandalism in the Paris streets.

When the United States of America lived what they lived at the Capitol, when Brazil lived what it lived, when you have seen extreme violence in Germany, The Netherlands, or sometimes here at home in the past ... we must say that we do respect (peaceful protesters), we do listen, were trying to move the country forward ... but we cannot accept factious people nor factions, he said.

At the same time, Macron insisted that he respects unions and protests organized by opponents to show that they disagree with the pension plan, seeking to clarify that he considers they are legitimate  unlike troublemakers. We must listen to them, listen to their anger and respond to it, he said.

Unions have called for new nationwide protests and strikes on Thursday to demand that the government simply withdraws the retirement bill. High-speed and regional trains, Paris metro and other public transportation in major cities were expected to be disrupted.

Macron acknowledged that a majority of the French are opposed to the reform. But between opinion polls and the general interest of the country, Im choosing the general interest ... And if it means bearing unpopularity afterwards, I will bear it.

He also said he trusts Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to continue leading the government, suggesting he is not planning a government reshuffle.

Early on Wednesday, dock workers in Marseille blocked access to the citys commercial port  Frances biggest  preventing trucks and cars from entering amid a heavy police presence.

Garbage was still piling up on some Paris streets as sanitation workers entered their 17th day of strike. Authorities issued an order in recent days requiring some garbage employees to ensure a minimum service for health reasons.

Oil shipments in the country were partially disrupted amid strikes at several refineries in western and southern France. Gas stations in the countrys southeast region are currently the most affected by shortages.

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In early March, eight days before Pope Francis called Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillos regime a gross dictatorship and Hitlerian, a United Nations report concluded that the two were responsible for crimes against humanity in Nicaragua. Meanwhile, exiled political prisoners stripped of their citizenship continued to denounce the Sandinista government before international organizations, further isolating the embattled regime. The Nicaraguan governments reaction? A strange silence that contrasts sharply with its often visceral retaliation.

Ortegas most vigorous response to the popes condemnation was to issue a muted statement announcing the suspension of diplomatic relations with the Vatican on March 12. The Nicaraguan president seems to have softened his tone in his last four speeches to the public in March. Except for his usual allusions to imperialist oppression, Ortega has not lashed out against the Catholic Church, Bishop Rolando Alvarez, the exiled political prisoners or the international sanctions.

Meanwhile, Ortegas wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, also refrained from attacking critics in her public statements. Neither mentioned the failed gambit to alleviate international pressure and U.S. sanctions by releasing 222 political prisoners.

The presidential couple is in a tough spot and seems to be testing various scenarios for a pivot, but political analysts warn against underestimating the regime. Ortega seems to be boxed in but has solid domestic support. We shouldnt make the mistake of believing he is weak. Still, he is running out of options, said Eliseo Nunez, an exiled former opposition legislator. The charge of crimes against humanity probably doesnt affect him personally because of his age, but there is concern among the army and police officers who participated in the [April 2018] massacre, especially those under 60. Prosecution of crimes against humanity will haunt them to old age, leaving them with few resources to protect themselves. One day, they wont have a government that shields them as it does now.

Edipcia Dubon, another exiled opposition leader, notes the economic instability caused by Ortegas dispute with the Roman Catholic Church, stripping of citizenship from dissenters, and recent asset confiscations. What does all this do? Create uncertainty about much-needed financing by multilateral institutions, including the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). There is confusion and doubt in the economic sectors that have supported the Ortega leadership, including the so-called Sandinista bourgeoisie. These sectors undoubtedly have interests to defend and enough political acumen to realize there is a future without Ortega, she said.

Praise for Xi Jinping

Ortega first spoke out when he traveled to Venezuela for the 10th anniversary of Hugo Chavezs death, where he obliquely criticized the U.N. for supporting terrorism against the peoples of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. On March 15, he spoke at Chinas Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, an event hosted in Beijing by the Chinese Communist Party. Ortega stated, The neoliberal model to dominate and subjugate the worlds peoples is exhausted. He congratulated his friend and comrade Xi Jinping for reelection as president of the Peoples Republic of China. A week later, on March 23, Ortega presided over another event celebrating Nicaraguas Literacy Crusade anniversary and told stories about the revolutions glory days.

Felix Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate and exiled political prisoner, is not surprised that the regime is aligned with Putins Russia and praising China. Ortega and Murillo no longer have any friends who are credible actors in the international community. The sanctions are a noose around his neck, and he faces even more financial isolation. These factors push him more quickly towards alignment with autocracies like China, Russia and Iran. It also makes the regime more of a threat, not only for oppressed Nicaraguans but also for the entire region. Ortega is forging closer ties with dangerous regimes in a highly polarized and volatile global context, he said.

The U.S. Director of National Intelligences annual report labeled Nicaragua as one of Russias pieces in the Western Hemisphere and called Putins government a global threat to U.S. national security.

All of these factors make the dictatorship more dangerous. I think the term Talibanization [of Nicaragua] is not an exaggeration, said Maradiaga. Thats whats happening there. I hope Im wrong, but I see a resurgence of expropriations  confiscating private property belonging to Nicaraguans and foreigners. Ortega and Murillo are moving toward a tropical North Korea. Maradiaga says this is why Nicaraguas exiled pro-democracy leaders must be realistic and pragmatic. We must continue working together tirelessly and recognize that there is a way out of all this, however difficult. Im convinced that the Ortega-Murillo family can be stopped. Still, that will only be possible with the help of an international community that uses all its power and diplomatic tools.

New dissenter arrests

After expelling the 222 political prisoners in early February, the regime has started arresting dissenters again. On March 21, Dr. Anely Perez Molina, a member of an opposition political party (Alianza Civica por la Justicia y la Democracia), was arrested and jailed. Sandinista officials threatened to arrest a priest, Pedro Mendez, for his activism in Masaya, 16 miles (26 kilometers) south of the capital. Exiled journalist Anibal Toruno claimed on March 24 that his childrens house in the northwestern city of Leon had been confiscated.

We are facing an unbridled regime that acts absurdly, said former legislator Edipcia Dubon. I only see three options for this government: loosen the reins for a sustained period; wait for a favorable wind, like a change in the Russia-Ukraine conflict; or implement new, greater forms of repression. Im ruling out any possibility of loosening the reins  they will wait things out for a while. The truth is, he [Ortega] is a master at reading the times.

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This handout picture released by Ukrainian Presidential press-service on March 24, 2023 in Kyiv shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of Ukraine'ss security service Vasyl Malyuk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Monday with U.N. atomic energy chief Rafael Mariano Grossi in southern Ukraine where they discussed the precarious situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The plant, which is Europes biggest, has lost several of its power transmission cables during Russias war, and on multiple occasions has had to switch to emergency diesel generators.

Grossi, who is director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to visit the plant, which is held by Russian forces, this week. The agency has permanent staff stationed at the plant.

In the meeting, covered exclusively by The Associated Press, Grossi expressed his concern to Zelensky that the situation at the plant isnt getting any better.

He stressed that the situation at the plant remains tense because of the militarization of the area around it and the recent blackout at the plant. It wasnt the first time that has occurred since Russian forces last year took it over.

The two met in the the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is in Ukrainian-held territory, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the nuclear plant with the same name.

Elsewhere, two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.

Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as terrorism.

Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during the war.

The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlins forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.

In the eastern Donetsk region, some 10 cities and villages were shelled by Russian forces over the previous 24 hours, Ukraines presidential office reported Monday.

On Monday morning, Russian missiles hit the city of Avdiivka, damaging residential buildings, a hotel and a courthouse, it said. nAvdiivka Mayor Vitali Barabash said utility companies are being evacuated from the frontline city, as it resembles more and more a landscape from post-apocalyptic movies.

Attacks also intensified in the partially occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where 14 settlements on the front line were shelled, authorities said.

In the partially occupied Kherson region, the Ukrainian-controlled part of the province was shelled 20 times by the Russian artillery and aviation, wounding four people, the presidential office said.

The mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said several explosions shook the city Monday, damaging a building where Russian security forces have been quartered. Mayor Ivan Fyodorov posted photos of smoke billowing over the area where the Russian barracks are located.

The Russian-installed authorities said artillery shelling of Melitopol partially destroyed a vocational school building, damaged several other buildings and wounded four people.

Meanwhile, Zelensky met in Kyiv with British actor Orlando Bloom, the head of Ukraines presidential office Andriy Yermak said Monday.

Bloom, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, arrived in the Ukrainian capital over the weekend and visited its suburb of Irpin.

During his meeting with Zelensky, Bloom said he was struck by the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, who despite the war remain strong, Yermak wrote.

Bloom will support projects to provide humanitarian assistance and restore infrastructure, focused on ensuring the interests of Ukrainian children, the official said.

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It is 4pm. On the dirt road there is young woman who looks no more than 20 years old lying on the ground, covered with one of those silver foil thermal blankets. Shes got a black eye and a mouth full of blood. She complains quietly in a whisper that nobody understands. Demonstrators are returning from the protest smeared with mud, wearing helmets, gas masks hanging from their necks. Someone tells them to move aside to make way for an ambulance that comes wobbling over the potholes.

Nestled on a green plain in the rural heart of Frances deep west, the village located behind this battle scene is Sainte-Soline, around a four-hour drive southwest from Paris. There are policemen in jeeps patrolling the fields, protesters sitting on the sidewalk looking exhausted, some also bruised. A helicopter is flying overhead, adding a touch somewhere between apocalyptic and incongruous. On the ground, scattered among the crops, there are hundreds of gray tear gas canisters, mounds of clothes thrown away by someone who fled the scene, a broken umbrella, abandoned banners and burning bonfires. There is a burnt smell in the air. In the background, two police vans are still in flames out in the open field.

It all started at 11am. In this spot in the middle of nowhere, an army of security forces faced an army of protesters for over an hour. Environmentalists say they gathered more than 25,000 people to the site. Local officials have lowered the figure to 6,000. The riot officers numbered in excess of 3,000. The reason for the confrontation is an artificial mountain standing several meters high that will house a 10-hectare water reservoir to facilitate irrigation for farmers in the area. Environmentalists maintain that this facility will steal groundwater that is necessary for the area and that what must be done instead is to switch the crops, especially maize. The government, which has alluded to the continuous droughts, is paying for part of the project and defends it.

But there is another underlying reason for the unrest  a deeper, more diffuse one that is pushing many French people to demonstrate more frequently and more violently: weariness and the rage they say they feel against their government and against their president, Emmanuel Macron. This anger is morphing into a thousand different battles that are breaking out and spreading throughout the country. The trigger was the law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. But the tide of discontent over that measure is dragging many more things with it.

According to France Info radio, there are teams of trade unionists in different parts of the country out on a mission to sabotage power plants so theyll stop supplying certain factories; there are refineries taken over by workers who are threatening to leave French cars out of gasoline. And a new day of national protest has been called for Tuesday, with demonstrations planned in all the main cities that will probably end with more violent episodes. France is steeped in a boiling anger.

One of the young protesters in Sainte-Soline, 25-year-old Renaud, said as he opened the door of another ambulance to let another injured protester in: Today I am here, but on Tuesday I will be protesting against the increase in the retirement age. In the end, it is the same environmental-social struggle. A young woman of around the same age who was lying injured on the ground and declined to give out her name said that people had already been demonstrating against the water reservoir as early as October. But now more have come. And the repression is stronger too.

Thomas, Besson, 37, dressed in a blue shirt, beige pants and a colored scarf, walks slowly down the path. He is a kind of local philosopher who carries in one hand a book by Noam Chomsky, On Nature and Language. I agree with the environmentalists, he says about the recent protest. But the main problem is that Macron does not listen to the people. He has approved the retirement law by resorting to Article 49.3, which exempts him from putting it to the vote of the Assembly, which means that he was afraid that it would not be approved. And thats not democratic.

A protester carried a banner against the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this Saturday at the Sainte-Soline protest. Javier Hernandez

A local reporter who witnessed the battle was still sounding astonished at what he had seen. The environmentalists showed up, but in the front lines there were a few thousand radicals dressed in black and itching for a fight. They hurled themselves against the first fence set up by the police, ready to go up the mountain and enter the reservoir. They managed to break down this first barrier, but the police beat them back. Meanwhile, they set two police vans on fire with Molotov cocktails. The battle lasted for more than an hour. The protesters wanted to keep going and had prepared a second wave, but in the end, seeing that there were no ambulances to pick up the wounded, they said they were withdrawing. The balance is representative: according to the Ministry of the Interior, 24 police officers and seven protesters were injured, including two seriously, one on each side. The protesters have raised the number of injured among their ranks to more than 200, out of which 10 were rushed to hospital and one is in a coma.

The destructive spiral in which the country is caught up keeps growing. On Thursday afternoon, during a demonstration against raising the retirement age, the old wooden door of Bordeaux City Hall was set on fire. The image was seen by the whole world and summed up what is happening in France.

A bride passing through the charred door of Bordeaux City Hall on Friday. Javier Hernandez

On Friday morning, just as the Sainte-Soline battle was taking place, residents and tourists from Bordeaux gathered at the entrance to City Hall, mesmerized by the sight of the giant door, which is over three meters tall, completely charred but still standing. The mayor, the environmentalist Pierre Hurmic, has placed a proclamation there stating that the town appreciates all the shows of support and will continue to conduct business as usual. In fact, that same Friday a wedding was held and the bride and groom walked through the burned door.

In the nearby town of Cenon, Patrick Youf, 61, owner of a tobacconist shop, endorses the action: The burned door is symbolic, it alludes to the misery growing on the street. Thats why everything turns into anger. Youf will retire in July (the new law will hardly affect him), he will sell his house and move somewhere near Valencia, in eastern Spain. He was a member of the Yellow Vest movement years ago, which put President Macron in check during 2018 through protests very similar to those being organized now. Back then it was not just about the price of diesel, and now it is not just about the retirement age, he clarifies. Its about everything: the drop in purchasing power, the rise in prices, the rise in energy, the degradation of public services. And he adds: Schools have more problems and fewer teachers, and the waiting list keeps getting longer for appointments with medical specialists. No, its not a protest about the retirement age, its about everything: it is a global protest, it is against Macron, who is bringing ruin to France.
Sabina Mammadli

Western Azerbaijani Community urged UNESCO to send a fact-finding mission to Armenia to assess the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage there, Azernews reports.

In the letter addressed to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, the community also called on the organization to assess Armenias level of compliance with its international obligations relating to the protection of cultural heritage and cultural rights.

Expressing concern with the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, the community stated its readiness to collaborate with UNESCO in carrying out activities aimed at assessing, restoring, preserving, and protecting Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, and ensuring the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to access and enjoy their cultural heritage.

The appeal informed that all Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia, where they once constituted the absolute majority, stressing that Azerbaijani historical and cultural heritage, including mosques and graveyards, were destroyed in Armenia. It was noted that the Armenian government destroyed and damaged Azerbaijani tangible and intangible culture before, during and in the aftermath of the military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.

The driving force for the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage has been the systematic policy of racial discrimination by the Government of Armenia aimed at creating a mono-ethnic and mono-cultural space, a notorious objective that has unfortunately become the reality in this country, the appeal read.

The letter pointed out that the only surviving mosque in Armenia, the Blue Mosque in Yerevan, is misrepresented as a Persian mosque despite the fact that it was built and for centuries had been attended by Azerbaijanis.

Besides, it was underlined that the Tapabashi quarter of Yerevan, the last remaining trace of Azerbaijani culture, is now under threat of total annihilation.

The Goycha Ashiq school, the backbone of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, itself inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, took an irreplaceable loss due to Armenias ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis of the Goycha district, in nowadays Armenia. The Government of Armenia even demonstratively destroyed the monument and the grave of Ashiq Alasgar, a prominent representative of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, in his native Goycha, the appeal highlighted.

The community called for the peaceful return of the expelled Azerbaijanis from Armenia in safety and dignity, and the ensuring of their rights upon return.

Protection of cultural heritage is not only a requirement of international humanitarian law but also a fundamental human right as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Enjoying cultural heritage is central to the concept of the dignified return of expelled people. Ensuring cultural rights, i.e. human creativity in all its diversity and the conditions for it to be exercised, developed, made accessible, preserved, and protected, is part of our fundamental rights, which Armenia has the obligation to ensure prior to, during, and after our return to our homes, the letter continued.




Canadians have a labor problem. There are 848,000 job vacancies, according to a recent government report. A sector particularly affected by the shortage of personnel is public healthcare and, more specifically, nursing. This is a very sensitive issue and the consequences of the worker shortage is upsetting Canadians, who are having to deal with emergency rooms closed on weekends in Winnipeg, delays in care in Montreal, or a slow ambulance system in Ottawa, to name just a few examples.

It is common practice that nurses are required to do mandatory overtime. They also have a large number of patients under their care. Stress and anxiety are very high. We are afraid of making a mistake with the people under our care, wrote one of these workers from British Columbia on her social media accounts. In addition, some provincial governments, which are in charge of healthcare, flatly refuse an increase in wages. In Ontario, the most heavily populated province in the country, nurses have not stopped demonstrating against a 2019 law that caps salary increases at 1% per year for public workers.

It is therefore not surprising that many nursing professionals are turning to less precarious environments such as private clinics, while others are thinking twice before joining the public system in the first place. A 2022 report by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions found a 219.8% increase in nursing vacancies since 2017.

Various provincial governments have launched initiatives to try to reduce the problem. Study grants and a more accentuated reconciliation between staff and hospital administrators are part of these tools. There are also programs to recruit nurses in other parts of the world, although this last measure is not without its criticism. Some experts decry that recruitment efforts in Southeast Asia and Western Africa may weaken the health systems of less developed nations.

Meeting with Trudeau

In February, provincial premiers met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss federal transfers to the healthcare system. Currently, the provinces cover 78% of the budget and Ottawa the remaining 22%. Trudeau offered 46 billion Canadian dollars over 10 years, far short of the 28 billion dollars a year requested by the provinces. Provincial premiers, with no real room to negotiate, reluctantly agreed to the proposal. Canadian healthcare, recognized throughout the world for its public, free, and universal nature, is facing daunting challenges. The shortage of nurses is one of the most serious ones, but upgrading facilities and hiring new doctors are also urgent matters.

As if that were not enough, there is a mystery surrounding the nurse selection tests. In September 2022, only 51.4% of people taking the Quebec nursing license exam for the first time achieved a pass. In March of the same year, the pass rate was 71%, and in September 2021 it reached 81%. An investigation has been opened to find out what is happening.
At the end of his state visit to Russia last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said goodbye to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, with the following words: Right now there are changes  the likes of which we havent seen for 100 years  and we are the ones driving these changes together. I agree, Putin responded.

The statement, made during an informal conversation, offers an important glimpse into the Chinese leaders thinking. The world is witnessing enormous changes; China wants to shape a new world order more favorable to its interests, and Russia is an important partner in achieving this.

During the state visit, Putin and Xi signed a joint statement that outlined a series of points regarding their strengthening relationship. In this analysis, EL PAIS offers its interpretation of the text, and what it says about Russia and Chinas global geopolitical vision.

Joint statement of the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era

(...)

The Russian Federation and the Peoples Republic of China, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, declare the following.

One

With the unremitting efforts of both sides, the China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for a New Era

The reference to a "new era" at the start of the document makes it clear that Russia and China consider that the current geopolitical balances in the world are at a moment of transcendental change. In October 2022, Putin warned: "We are standing at a historical frontier: Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of World War II." The Russian leader said the world was seeing the clash between traditional and neoliberal values.

has reached the highest level in history and continues to move forward.

In the decade that Xi has been in power, the bilateral relationship between Russia and China has seen a great momentum, with trade between the two countries growing by 116%. In 2022, in the midst of the war in Ukraine, it rose 34.3%, hitting $190 billion. That same year, trade in goods between the U.S. and China was $690 billion.

(...)

The two sides pointed out that the China-Russia relationship is not similar to the military and political alliance during the Cold War, but transcends this model of state relations, and has the nature of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third countries.

The China-Russia joint statement of February 4, 2022, which was signed just before the invasion of Ukraine, said the "friendship between the two States has no limits." But right from the start, this document appears to raise points that do, in fact, appear to be limits. The attitude of China, which has avoided taking steps that could trigger Western sanctions, also hints at another limit. Between supporting its Russian partner and jeopardizing trade with the West, so far Beijing has had no doubts about what to choose.

The China-Russia relationship is mature, stable, independent, and tenacious. It has withstood the test of the Covid-19 epidemic and the vicissitudes of the international situation. It is not affected by external influences and has shown vitality. The friendship from generation to generation between the two peoples has a solid foundation, and the all-around cooperation between the two countries has broad prospects. Russia needs a prosperous and stable China, and China needs a strong and successful Russia.

China and Russia regard each other as priority cooperative partners, always respect each other and treat each other as equals, which has become a model of major power relations today.

Relationships between the two countries have grown progressively closer since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. But the relationship also has problematic aspects. For example, in 2020, Russian counterintelligence arrested the president of the Arctic Academy of Sciences for passing secret information to Beijing. What's more, they are not equal powers: their relationship has been marked by an asymmetry of forces. In the 20th century, the USSR clearly had more strength; while in the 21st century, the dominance of China is so evident that some analysts say the relationship resembles that between a lord and his vassal.

Under the guidance of the Heads of State, the two sides have maintained close exchanges at all levels, conducted in-depth communication on major issues of mutual concern, enhanced mutual trust, and ensured that bilateral relations run at a high level. Both sides are willing to further deepen bilateral relations and develop dialogue mechanisms in various fields.

The two sides pointed out that the current world changes are accelerating, and the international pattern is undergoing profound adjustments, including peace, development, cooperation, and win-win results are an irresistible historical trend. The formation of a multi-polar international pattern is accelerating. There are increasing numbers of regional powers that are strong and determined to defend their legitimate rights and interests

This is a key paragraph, likely to be at the core of China's and Russia's intentions. Xi and Putin describe a world in flux, one that would move away from the global balance forged in 1945. In this scenario, new actors could emerge to claim a greater share of power and call for different forms of relationship.

At the same time, hegemonism, unilateralism, and protectionism are still rampant, and it is unacceptable to replace recognized principles and norms of international law with nothing more than a rule-based order.

This is a veiled criticism of the United States. The real glue in the China-Russia relationship  two nations that have deeply distrusted one another for decades  is their common opposition to U.S. supremacy. In the 1970s, the White House knew how to exploit this mistrust, when it thawed relations with Beijing. The statement's dismissal of "rule-based order" points to an understanding of the world order in which interstate relations have more weight.

The principles of universality, openness, inclusiveness, non-discrimination and balance should be upheld to achieve a multipolar world and sustainable development for all countries. China and Russia call on all countries to promote the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all humankind, to engage in dialogue rather than confrontation, inclusiveness rather than exclusion, to live in harmony and win-win cooperation and promote world peace and development.

China and Russia once again express their rejection of a unipolar world dominated by the U.S. and its allies. It is interesting to note that they are backing the concept of "multipolar"  not multilateral  world, which is the preferred idea in Europe. The leaders also avoid the polarizing concept, instead putting forward the image of a round table, where everyone has a say.

Under this situation, the two sides maintain close diplomatic coordination, carry out close multilateral cooperation, resolutely safeguard fairness and justice, and promote the building of a new type of international relations.

(...)

Two

The two sides pointed out that countries have different histories, cultures, and national conditions, and each has the right to independently choose its development path. There is no democracy that is superior to others. Both sides oppose the imposition of national values on others, the use of ideology to draw lines, the hypocritical narrative of the so-called democracy against authoritarianism and the use of democracy and freedom as a pretext and a political tool to put pressure on other countries and politics.

This is an obvious critique of Western countries that, according to Beijing and Moscow, espouse values to encourage the destabilization of adversary governments, promoting protests such as the Color Revolutions in post-Soviet republics and supporting the stifled citizen resistance in Hong Kong.

Russia attaches great importance to Chinas Global Civilization Initiative.

With this acknowledgment from Putin, Xi scores a diplomatic point. In recent years, the Chinese president has launched several global initiatives in an effort to shape international relations in favor of China. These initiatives offer the Chinese development experience as a model to follow, and have strong appeal to many countries, especially in the global south.

The two sides pointed out that the realization of human rights for all is the common pursuit of human society. All countries have the right to independently choose the path of human rights development.

This is one of the main mantras of the Russia-China relationship: to argue that the concepts of democracy and human rights are relative, and that there are different approaches towards them.

Different civilizations and countries should respect, tolerate, communicate with and learn from each other. The two sides will unswervingly advance the cause of human rights in their own countries and the cause of human rights in the world.

In neither China nor Russia, is there authentic political pluralism or true freedom of expression. Various organizations, such as Amnesty International, have denounced systematic violations of fundamental rights. Last summer, the United Nations accused China of serious violations of human rights in its treatment of the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region.

Russia supports Chinas realization of Chinese-style modernization. China supports Russia in achieving its national development goals before 2030.

The two sides oppose interference by external forces in internal affairs.

The Russian side reaffirms its adherence to the one-China principle, recognizes Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinas territory, opposes any form of Taiwan independence, and firmly supports Chinas measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Moscow is reiterating its support for Beijing on the issue of Taiwan, which is undoubtedly the main source of contention that could turn the rivalry between China and the U.S. into a military conflict. Taiwan has always been a very red line for China, and is brought up in all diplomatic relations with another state. The principle involves the recognition of the People's Republic of China, the Communist country founded by Mao Zedong in 1949, as the only China, and calls for an end to diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers an inalienable part of its territory.

(...)

Three

The two sides will strengthen coordination, implement precise policies, and proceed from a strategic perspective to effectively improve the level of practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields, so as to consolidate the material foundation of bilateral relations and benefit the two peoples.

The two sides will consolidate the momentum of bilateral trade growth, continue to optimize the trade structure, implement the Roadmap for the High-quality Development of China-Russia Trade in Goods and Services, support the development of e-commerce, cultivate new economic and trade growth points, expand the breadth of economic and trade cooperation, improve the efficiency of cooperation, minimize external risks, and ensure the stability and security of the industrial chain and supply chain. The two sides will deepen local cooperation, broaden cooperation areas and fields, and promote exchanges and cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises of the two sides.

In the wake of the war in Ukraine, a large number of Western companies stopped operations in Russia, and Moscow is now scrambling to fill in the gaps. From this perspective, Russia is trying to lure Chinese companies to the country. Russia's dependence on China is growing by leaps and bounds. Putin has made huge economic concessions to China without receiving reciprocating treatment. In return, the Kremlin has avoided complete isolation and receives enough help to avoid collapse from war. Putin is considering using the yuan to pay for Russia's business with outside countries. Chinese companies will be given priority access to acquire the assets of Western companies leaving Russia. And Moscow is giving Beijing an important role in the development of the Russian Far East.

(...)

The two sides will forge a closer energy partnership, support enterprises of the two sides in promoting energy cooperation projects in oil and gas, coal, electricity, and nuclear energy, and promote the implementation of initiatives that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including the use of low-emission energy and renewable energy. The two parties will jointly maintain international energy security including key cross-border infrastructure, maintain the stability of the supply chain of the energy product industry chain, promote fair energy transition and low-carbon development based on the principle of technology neutrality, and jointly contribute to the long-term healthy and stable development of the global energy market.

This is a key area of relationship development. Following the imposition of Western sanctions, China (like India) has been increasing its purchases of Russian hydrocarbons, at discounted prices. Last year, Beijing imported 81.3 billion worth of Russian oil, gas and coal, 56% more than in 2021. A project to build a second gas pipeline between the two countries is also on the horizon. However, Xi's state visit has not yielded a definitive agreement, a worrying sign for Putin. Xi Jinping did not commit to further expanding imports of Russian gas. All projects, such as the Siberian Power 2 pipeline, had been announced earlier. China is interested in diversifying all levels of its supply chain so as not to find itself in the same situation of dependency that the European Union found itself in with Russia in 2022.

Four

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Five

The two sides reaffirm their commitment to vigorously defending the international system, in which the U.N. plays a central role; that is, the world order based on international law and the fundamental rules of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. The two sides oppose all forms of hegemony, unilateralism and power politics, Cold War mentality, conflict between sides and the creation of small circles directed against individual countries.

One of the fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter is respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other countries. China explicitly mentions this in its "Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis." Despite this, it has not at any time criticized the Kremlin, which is clearly violating these principles.

(...)

The two sides support the construction of an open world economy, advocate for a multilateral trading system whose core is the World Trade Organization, promote the liberalization and simplification of trade and investment conditions, and demand an open, equitable, fair and non-discriminatory development environment. The two sides also reject unilateralism, protectionism and attempts to put up barriers and to sever supply chains, as well as unilateral sanctions and marginalization policies.

This criticism is directed at the U.S. and its partners. "Barriers and obstacles" refer to the tariffs imposed on Chinese products by former U.S. president Donald Trump, as well as Biden's green stimulus program. Attempts to sever the supply chain refer to Washington's bid to reduce its manufacturing dependence on China. Unilateral sanctions refer to the broad set of restrictive measures taken against Russia, as well as the restrictions on the export of sophisticated semiconductors to China.

Russia welcomes the Global Development Initiative and will continue to participate in the work of the Group of Friends to support it. The two sides will continue to encourage the international community to focus on development issues and enhance their contribution to them, to jointly contribute to the success of the United Nations Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring the prompt implementation of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations for Sustainable Development.

The Global Development Initiative is one of several initiatives that has been promoted by Beijing in recent years. It seeks to build informal links in areas such as development and security, and in this way, offset the lead the U.S. has with its extensive network of formal alliances.

(...)

Six

The two sides will continue to work closely to strengthen the role and influence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in guaranteeing peace, security and stability in their territory. Together with other SCO member states, they intend to strive to enhance the Organizations current activities in order to effectively deal with new challenges and threats, and to deepen mutually beneficial multilateral relations in the fields of trade, economy, and cultural and humanitarian ties in Eurasia.

Chapter Six reviews various global governance forums such as the SCO, which is promoted by China, and made up of other giants such as India, Russia and Pakistan. In these organizations, these countries have a louder voice. At the last SCO summit in September of last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized Putin for the invasion of Ukraine. "Now is not a time for wars," he said.

Russia highly appreciates Chinas successful hosting of the 14th BRICS Summit. The two sides are willing to work together with other BRICS members ( Brazil, India and South Africa) to implement the consensus reached at previous BRICS leaders meetings, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, actively promote discussions on the expansion of BRICS countries and the New Development Bank, and actively carry out BRICS+ cooperation and cooperation. BRICS peripheral dialogues safeguard the common interests of emerging markets and developing countries.

BRICS is another forum Russia and China hope to promote. To date, however, it has had a limited role, and there is no sign that it will become more productive in the future. It should also be noted that BRICS members Brazil and South Africa are also members of the International Criminal Court, and therefore have a duty to execute the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Putin.

(...)

The two sides intend to strengthen coordination within the G20 and other multilateral mechanisms, encourage the G20 to respond to the current challenges of the international financial and economic context, and improve global economic governance in an equitable and sustainable way to better reflect the global economic architecture, including giving greater representation and voice to emerging markets and developing countries. The two sides support the African Unions accession to the G20.

This is a reference to the G20 summit in November last year, which was a difficult event for both countries, but especially Russia. The meeting ended with a statement condemning Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. China and Russia refused to sign the document. Beijing, however, did not want to take its defense of the Kremlin too far, and did not even push to add a footnote to the statement to make its dissent public. It was a diplomatic blow.

(...)

(...)

The two sides are determined to strengthen cooperation to support a multilateral trading system based on WTO rules, and in this way, combat trade protectionism, including the imposition of illegitimate unilateral restrictions on trade;

This is a reference to the U.S.-China dispute over semiconductors. In December, Beijing filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the United States, accusing the U.S. of abusing export control measures to restrict trade in advanced chips. In October, Washington approved these mechanisms in the face of what it deemed the growing threat from China's rapid technological and military development.

The two sides will further intensify dialogue on the agenda of the World Trade Organization, including its reforms to strengthen the role of the WTO in global economic governance, in particular, promoting the efforts to secure a fully functioning dispute settlement system by 2024, and promoting the application of negotiation outcomes on joint initiatives such as the facilitation of investment and electronic commerce. The two sides strongly condemn the politicization of the multilateral platform.

This is another jibe at the U.S., which has prevented the smooth functioning of the WTO by blocking the renewal of the members of the arbitration panel. This began under Trump and has not been fixed by Biden.

Seven

The two sides emphasized the significance of the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on the Prevention of Nuclear War and Avoidance of an Arms Race and reaffirmed that nuclear war cannot be won or fought.

Since the start of the Ukraine invasion, Putin has explicitly raised the nuclear threat on several occasions. At the beginning of the war, before starting negotiations with Kyiv, he ordered his military to put his countrys nuclear deterrence forces on special mode of combat duty. In September, when announcing a mass mobilization of troops, Putin warned he would use "all means available to protect Russia," adding: "This is not a bluff."

The two sides call on all signatories of the joint statement to abide by the concept of the statement, effectively reduce the risk of nuclear war, and avoid any armed conflict among nuclear-weapon states. Against the backdrop of deteriorating relations among nuclear-weapon states, measures to reduce strategic risks should be organically integrated into overall efforts to ease tensions, build more constructive relations, and minimize conflicts in the security field.

Putin recently suspended Moscows participation in the last remaining nuclear arms control pact with the U.S., the so-called New START Treaty. The pact, signed in 2010 by the U.S. and Russia, caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads the two sides can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.

All nuclear-weapon states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad and withdraw nuclear weapons deployed abroad.

After issuing this statement last week, Putin announced on Saturday his plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus. He justified the measure by pointing out that the U.S. has these weapons in other European states and that it is not infringing on any treaty. The New START treaty covers tactical weapons.

The two sides reaffirmed that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation system. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Treaty and will continue to work together to maintain and strengthen the Treaty and maintain world peace and security.

The two sides expressed serious concern about the consequences and risks of the establishment of the Trilateral Security Partnership (AUKUS) by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and related nuclear-powered submarine cooperation plans on regional strategic stability. The two sides strongly urge AUKUS member states to strictly fulfill their obligations of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, and maintain regional peace, stability, and development.

Both Russia and China have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the Aukus security partnership. Two weeks ago, the alliance announced a detailed plan to develop nuclear-powered submarines in Australia. China claims that this alliance will unleash an arms race in the Pacific region and that the future transfer of nuclear technology from the U.S. and U.K. to Australia violates international agreements on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Russia has backed these concerns. It should be stressed that the nuclear technology in question only concerns engine propulsion, it has nothing to do with weapons.

Russia and China expresssed concern over the increased activities toward creating a global missile defense system and deploying its elements in various parts of the world.

In 2001, the United States withdrew from a major anti-ballistic missile control treaty. All global powers returned to the race. In his historic 2018 address to the nation, Putin announced plans for a new generation of weapons: hypersonic missiles, nuclear submarine drones and rockets capable of evading any anti-ballistic missile shield by suddenly changing direction. China carried out tests last year, showing its great capabilities in the field.

( ... )

Eight

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Nine

The two sides believe that the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter must be observed, and international law must be respected. The Russian side spoke positively of Chinas objective and fair stance on the Ukraine issue.

China has never condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but nor has it provided Moscow with weapons. Since the start of the invasion, Beijing has tried to strike a complex balance, while still showing favor to Moscow. In this context, it has never recognized the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, nor the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. But it has criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia, as well as Western military support for Ukraine.

The two sides oppose any country or group of countries seeking military, political or other superiority that harms the legitimate security interests of other countries. The Russian side reiterated its commitment to resuming peace talks as soon as possible, and China appreciates this.

Following the breakdown of the Istanbul negotiations in March 2022, Moscow has been inflexible on the issue of returning to the negotiating table. The Kremlin is demanding that Ukraine recognize "the new territorial reality," i.e. its illegal annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia  which it does not fully control  and Crimea.

The Russian side welcomes Chinas willingness to play an active role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis through political and diplomatic means, and welcomes the constructive propositions set out in the document Chinas Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukrainian Crisis.

In February, coinciding with the anniversary of the Russian invasion, China released a document affirming the importance of respecting the "sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries." The text does not lay out any practical measures, and was met with skepticism by the United States, Europe and NATO. Ukraine was sparing in its response, awaiting a possible conversation between Xi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The two sides pointed out that the solution to the Ukraine crisis must respect the legitimate security concerns of all countries, preventing clashes between blocs and actions that further aggravate the conflict.

One of Russia's arguments for invading Ukraine was to counter NATO's expansion towards the east. During pre-war negotiations, the Kremlin demanded that NATO remove any troops or weapons from countries that joined the alliance after 1997. This includes most of Eastern Europe, including Poland, the Baltic states and Balkan countries.

The two sides stressed that responsible dialogue is the best way to progressively resolve the issue. To that end, the international community should support relevant constructive efforts. The two sides call on all parties to stop all actions that contribute to the escalation of tension and the prolongation of hostilities, in order to prevent further worsening the crisis until it is out of control. In addition, both sides oppose all unilateral sanctions imposed in circumvention of the U.N. Security Council.

The two sides urge NATO to abide by its commitments as a regional and defensive organization, and call on NATO to respect the sovereignty, security, interests, diversity of civilizations, history and culture of other countries, and view the peaceful development of other countries objectively and fairly.

Russia is clinging to its narrative that in 1990, then-U.S. secretary of state James Baker allegedly promised Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand beyond eastern Germany. However, this was never set down in any written pact.

The two sides expressed grave concern over NATOs continued strengthening of military-security ties with Asia-Pacific countries, which undermines regional peace and stability.

In January, Japan and NATO signed a declaration to further strengthen ties. For the first time, several Asian countries were invited to a NATO summit in Madrid last summer.

The two sides oppose patching together a closed and exclusive group structure in the Asia-Pacific region, creating group politics and camp confrontation. The two sides pointed out that the United States adheres to the Cold War mentality and pursues the Indo-Pacific Strategy, which has a negative impact on peace and stability in the region. China and Russia are committed to building an equal, open, and inclusive Asia-Pacific security system that does not target third countries, so as to maintain regional peace, stability and prosperity.

At the June summit in Madrid, NATO listed China as a security concern for the first time. In its blueprint, or Strategic Concept, it accused China of trying to "subvert the rules-based international order" and of trying to enhance its influence in the Asia Pacific region. The document described Russia as a threat, and expressed concern about the "deepening strategic partnership" between Russia and China.

The two sides believe that maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia is in the interests of all parties concerned. The two sides oppose the undermining of regional peace and stability by extraterritorial military forces and call on relevant countries to abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice, exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that endanger regional security.

This is a call to avoid a potential crisis in Taiwan, which is one of the most contentious spots on the planet. It can also be read in the context of Ukraine. Taiwan is the center of the diplomatic clash between the U.S. and China, but it also involves other regional elements, such as the persistent nuclear and ballistic threat from North Korea.

(...)

The President of the Peoples Republic of China, President of the Russian Federation

Xi Jinping, V.V. Putin




Victor and his friends had just completed their university entrance exam and, to celebrate, they bought a few beers to drink at the beach. The store also carried vaping devices, so they decided to try one. Since then, it has become essential for him every time he goes out to party. I know its bad for my health, but I think I can control it. I would never smoke tobacco, Im more intimidated by it, he admitted.

E-cigarettes and vaping devices (both used to inhale an aerosol with various substances, with or without nicotine) are proving to have more and more harmful effects, from the damage caused in the respiratory system by the inhaled microparticles to cardiovascular diseases and an increased risk of cancer. However, as the effects of vaping have not been studied for long, the evidence does not equate it to traditional tobacco, one of the biggest public health problems in the world.

These devices have become quite ubiquitous: they are promoted at music festivals, there are social media campaigns with influencers that reach a very young demographic, and they can be found in all kinds of stores, adorned with attractive colors and candy-like scents.

One of the arguments of the vaping and electronic cigarette industry (which is often also the same as the tobacco industry) is that the devices are mostly designed for people who already smoke  to help them quit, even  and not to attract new users. Spains Union of Vaping Promoters and Entrepreneurs (UPEV), which represents 600 small and medium-sized companies and which in 2022 registered record earnings of more than $100 million, claims that they work to help smoking cessation and that, among its best practices, they try to discourage non-smokers from purchasing a device, even when they request that it be nicotine-free.

Blu, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco that describes itself a leader in the e-cigarette sector, told EL PAIS that its products are aimed exclusively at adult consumers, adding that many smokers have decided to reduce or abandon conventional tobacco thanks to vaping. Meanwhile, Blus social media campaigns include influencers that target a very young audience and who promote electronic cigarettes.

Beyond the explicit promotions, the devices can be seen in all kinds of contents that help normalize its consumption, with streamers with millions of followers, many of them underage, vaping on YouTube or Twitch.

Electronic cigarette and vaping shop in Santiago de Compostela. OSCAR CORRAL

Beatriz Arranz, a specialist in Health Prevention and Promotion from the Spanish Association Against Cancer, explained that the industry employs an old technique that seems to work very well: They associate it with young, attractive, cool people. The social signifier is the same as that of tobacco: I smoke because I think its cool, because people I admire do it, because it helps me flirt and make friends, because in my group it is seen as something positive. I associate it with sensations that will help me relax.

Carla, 19, who started smoking and vaping simultaneously when she was about 15, explained: In times of high stress I vape more. And even though I know it isnt healthy, to me it seems less dirty than tobacco, which smells worse. If she had to choose only one, she pointed out, she would only vape, due to the smell and convenience.

Scientific societies and anti-tobacco platforms state that the regulations should treat these devices the same as tobacco, restricting their promotion and points of sale. Just like in the 1960s (the 1980s for women) a generation of smokers started without knowing the dangers well and then regretted it a few decades later, if we do nothing, in 20 years we could be regretting that one in three tumors is related to vaping, Arranz said.

What we know about the health effects of vaping

Contrary to tobacco, which emits a foul-smelling smoke that leaves the body and clothing of those who smoke it (and those around them) stinking, these devices generate a vapor of supposedly pleasant aromas. However, Arranz pointed out that it is misleading, as they are actually aerosols that contain carcinogens, heavy metals and various particles that are harmful to the body  even if they do not contain nicotine.

The short-term effects of these devices on the respiratory tract are similar to those of tobacco, according to a 2022 report from the Ministry of Health of Spain that reviews all the scientific evidence in this regard. Carcinogenic substances have been found in liquids and aerosols from electronic cigarettes. Numerous poisonings and adverse effects related to these products have been described, some of them severe. Their use generates emissions of propylene glycol, PM 2.5 particles [minuscule particles that penetrate the body], nicotine and carcinogenic substances that can contaminate closed spaces, with the consequent risks due to passive exposure, the report concluded.

It is true that we are still decades away from really knowing the long-term effects of these devices. However, scientific societies agree that doing nothing and waiting all that time to find out, given the obvious risks that are already known, would be unreasonable.

Even more controversial is the extent to which they can really be used to stop smoking, one of the arguments used by the industry to defend the product. Electronic cigarettes may reduce the desire to smoke and other characteristic symptoms of smoking cessation. However, although some smokers may temporarily switch to these products, a very low proportion appears to achieve sustained cessation. According to the available data, neither the duration of the change in consumption nor the complete cessation are clear in the long term, according to the study.

Experts from Spains Ministry of Health do warn of the dangers of promoting these products, as they could create new nicotine addicts. For many young people and teenagers, more than a way to quit tobacco, vaping is the gateway to smoking.

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The Gibraltarian writer Mark Sanchez has been living in the UK for 30 years. On a recent day, walking down Oxford Street in London, he heard an oddly familiar-sounding phrase among the mostly English murmur: Que frio hace! No dijeron ayer en la television que hoy it was going to be sunny? Upon hearing the combination of English and Spanish words spoken with a British-Andalusian accent, Sanchez knew straight away that he was in the presence of residents of his sorely missed Gibraltar, a small overseas territory located on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula.

Llanito is very important to us because it is something that defines who we are and how we recognize ourselves, explains Sanchez. Although paradoxically everyone says they appreciate it, this local version of Spanglish with a British-Andalusian accent is gradually fading on The Rock as as young people abandon the use of Spanish. The loss of bilingualism is already being perceived as a social problem here, although the government has promised to actively promote its recovery.

In Gibraltar, everything is about history mixed with politics. After the territory was ceded to the British in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, Spanish remained the lingua franca of the city until the middle of the 20th century, notes Francisco Oda, who headed the Gibraltar branch of the Cervantes Institute, a global organization promoting Spanish language and culture, until former Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Margallo, a conservative, decided to unilaterally close it in 2015.

Spanish was the mother tongue of Gibraltarians (who also call themselves Llanitos) until British authorities introduced changes in the educational system after World War II giving more weight to English. The border closure decreed by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1969 did the rest. Spanish became a heritage language and reduced its presence to the informal and family environment, Oda adds. That is the theory he will defend at the 9th International Congress of the Spanish Language (CILE) in Cadiz, at a panel discussion scheduled for Wednesday. Although the four-day event includes several presentations about the Spanglish that is spoken in America, Odas will be the only one to address the singularities of an example of bilingualism that is already a hallmark of an entire territory.

Workers crossing the land border of Spain-Gibraltar, in the British zone. Alejandro ruesga

What a good many of the more than 32,600 inhabitants of the Rock speak  especially the older ones  is not a language, not even a dialect, but a bilingual speech as rich and diverse as it is self-contained and adaptable to the speaker and any given context. Its singularity led a team from the Language Acquisition Laboratory of the University of Valladolid, led by the linguist Raquel Sanchez, to begin visiting the city 20 years ago to discover how the so-called code-switching occurs in the brains of Gibraltarians. The language zone of these people is occupied by two languages. There are times when Spanish provides more information. If you add la [the] to casa [house], it gives you more information than simply the. The framework is the same, but how you fill it in depends on the grammatical richness of each language, says this specialist.

It is what Mark Sanchez has been doing instinctively since he learned to speak English and Spanish: Llanito is the language of emotions, of dreams and of great anger. Ive been living in the UK for 30 years and in the middle of the night my wife says Im still speaking Spanish in my sleep. Despite this flexibility that is inherent to Llanito, the writer was able to draw up some rules, such as the use of English to define technological concepts  computer instead of ordenador, which would be the term used in Spain, or boiler instead of caldera. Then there are the English words adapted to sound and feel more Spanish, such as quequi which comes from cake; mebli which comes from marble. And there are expression translated literally from English, such as ir para atras for go back.

To complicate matters even further, Gibraltars multicultural origins has led to the incorporation of loanwords from Maltese, Ladino [a form of old Spanish spoken by Sephardic Jews], Arabic and Italian, such as marchapie, from the Italian marciapiede, to describe the sidewalk.

But all these elements of speech are conspicuously absent from the conversations of the youngest Gibraltarians, who are far less bilingual than their parents and grandparents. Despite the fact that the border reopened in the 1980s and that Spanish is no longer repudiated in the classrooms  as it was in the 1960s  the Rock is concerned about the loss of Llanito. In schools, English is the predominant language, with Spanish taught as a foreign language. But at home its different. It [Llanito] has been maintained thanks to family transmission, but in the future it will die out because Spanish is in decline, says Oda. Young people are losing that code-switching ability and older people have already begun to see that they are facing a social problem. Its a shame, but its an effort that is required from everyone, from politicians to society and families, he adds.

Military parade in Gibraltar. Carlos Gil (Getty Images)

It also does not help that the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute has remained closed since 2015, entangled in constant promises of reopening that have not materialized. In the four years that it was open, the institution processed up to 4,500 enrollments, and 51% of its students were under 16 years of age, according to its former director. The return of this cultural organization to Gibraltar has been approved by Spains Ministry of Foreign Affairs  on which it depends  and by the government of Gibraltar, but it is not expected to materialize until Spains post-Brexit treaties with the United Kingdom  stalled for months over border issues  see the light, if they ever do.

Meanwhile, the government of Gibraltar has ruled out the possibility of making schools bilingual, as Oda recommends. Classes have to be taught in English, since our students are examined through the English system of the General Certificate of Secondary Education, says John Cortes, the local chief of education. The government headed by Fabian Picardo, a Socialist, claims to be interested in promoting Llanito and it supports research, in addition to having created a National Book Council to promote Gibraltarian writing and organizing a literary competition with a bilingual category. The government will ensure that Gibraltars unique mix of English and Spanish, as well as separate English and Spanish, continues, adds Cortes.

Meanwhile, Gibraltarians have already begun to organize themselves and have created the association Gibraltarians for a Multilingual Society. Many of all the usages and expressions that Sanchez misses in Leeds, the UK city where he now lives, have been captured in his novel Marlboro Man, where he recreates Llanito in the entertaining conversations by its lead characters, who are tobacco smugglers.

Despite everything, I am optimistic because a pro-Llanito movement is underway, he says hopefully. I dont think its an irreversible problem, nor do I think its going to be lost.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 21:09 | All, Japan

Japan has urged China to release one of its citizens detained in Beijing as soon as possible and allow consular officials to meet with him, the top government spokesman said Monday, with China claiming he has been detained on suspicion of engaging in spying activities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the man is suspected of violating China's counterespionage law but did not elaborate on his charges. Japanese drug maker Astellas Pharma Inc. has confirmed he is one of its employees.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference that the Japanese government is in contact with people related to the man, who is in his 50s.

Chinese authorities notified the Japanese Embassy in Beijing this month that they detained the man in the capital for what they said were violations of Chinese law, Matsuno said.

In Beijing, Mao also said in a press briefing Monday that Japan "needs to do more" to ask its citizens not to engage in such activities and better "educate" them on the issue as similar incidents have occurred in recent years.

A Japanese government source said China's counterespionage authorities detained the man. A diplomatic source familiar with Japan-China relations said the incident raises serious concerns as it could "deal an immeasurable blow" to bilateral ties.

Asked about international concerns over alleged ambiguity and arbitrary implementation of Chinese laws in espionage cases, Mao said, "Individuals engaged in unlawful practices should know what kind of illegal activities they have committed."

It is customary in China that allegations concerning national security are not released and trials are closed to the public. Even after rulings are finalized, the details are not announced in most cases.

The spokeswoman said China will handle the case of the Japanese businessman and make a decision on his release "in accordance with law" and facilitate consular access by the Japanese embassy to the citizen.

A source familiar with the matter has said the man was held by Chinese authorities just before his planned return to Japan this month.

Beijing has been beefing up its scrutiny of foreign organizations and individuals in the name of protecting national security, with a number of foreigners held after introducing a counterespionage law in 2014 and a national security law in 2015.

Since 2014, 17 Japanese nationals, including the Astellas employee, have been detained in China for alleged involvement in espionage activities. Five of them are still being held in China, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Related coverage:

Japanese man detained in China is employee of drugmaker Astellas

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KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 19:46 | World, All

Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday kicked off a 12-day trip to China, making the first visit to the mainland by a former leader of the island since the two sides split in 1949 due to a civil war.

Ma, a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition Nationalist Party, is scheduled to travel to cities including Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuhan and meet with local students, according to the China-friendly political party, also called the Kuomintang (KMT).

Beijing is not included in his itinerary, but Ma may meet with a high-ranking Chinese official during his visit. In February, KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia held talks with senior Chinese officials during his trip to the mainland.

The visit by Ma, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a historic summit in 2015 in Singapore, comes amid increased Chinese military pressure on the self-ruled democratic island and efforts to wean allies away from it, with Honduras becoming the latest state to switch its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

However, Beijing seems to be adjusting its hard-line policy ahead of the Taiwanese presidential election slated for next January, with the Chinese leadership recently stressing the mainland's desire to advance a process of "peaceful reunification" with the island.

Cross-strait relations have deteriorated since Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party became the island's president in 2016.

Some DPP members have criticized Ma's trip days after Honduras severed ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing, urging the former leader to cancel the mainland visit to protest the establishment of relations between China and the Central American country announced on Saturday.

Taiwan contends China used economic incentives to lure Honduras, the ninth country to cut ties with Taiwan since Tsai became president.

Ma told reporters before his departure from a Taipei airport that he was "glad" to visit the mainland, while some protesters called him a "traitor."

Beijing has welcomed Ma's China trip, with Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council last week expressing Beijing's readiness to facilitate his journey, during which the former leader will pay respects to his ancestors ahead of the Qingming tomb-sweeping festival on April 5.

The spokesman stressed that honoring ancestors is a tradition shared by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Ma was born in Hong Kong and his ancestors' graves are located in China's Hunan Province.

He also hailed the youth exchanges planned during the trip by Ma, who will be joined by a group of Taiwanese students, saying they can "create new impetus for the peaceful development" of cross-strait relations.

During the trip, Ma is scheduled to visit spots related to Chinese revolutionary and KMT founder Sun Yat-sen and the memorial dedicated to victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre committed by Japanese troops.

Even though Communist-led China has never ruled Taiwan, it regards the island as a renegade province to be unified with the mainland by force if necessary.

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KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 12:08 | Arts, All, Japan

Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency on Monday opened in Kyoto after relocating from Tokyo, becoming the first government body to move its headquarters from the capital as part of the nation's push to boost the regions through decentralization.

The agency, which transferred its main functions to the western Japan city including the commissioner's office, will focus on disseminating Japanese culture from the ancient western capital that is famous among foreign tourists for its traditional aesthetics.

"I want the employees in Kyoto to be flexible and make full use of working virtually as the forerunners of the central government's promotion of work-style reforms," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech via video conference.

With its Kyoto office scheduled to become fully operational on May 15, the agency will initially operate with about 70 people in the city, including Commissioner Shunichi Tokura. Ultimately, around 390 employees, or about 70 percent of agency staff, will be based in Kyoto.

"The role of the Cultural Affairs Agency is to promote the resources we have for cultural tourism both domestically and abroad in cooperation with other parts of Japan," Tokura said.

Located near the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the new office will accommodate five out of the agency's nine divisions including those overseeing world heritage sites and national treasures. A section to promote Japanese food and tourism will also be established.

While the section responsible for religious organizations is also set to move, its employees will remain in the capital until issues regarding the Unification Church, a religious group known for its aggressive solicitations of donations, are resolved.

Divisions in charge of copyright and issues related to the Japanese language will be among the sections that will remain in Tokyo, with the emptied offices formerly housing the other departments to be utilized as meeting spaces for other ministries.

The agency was relocated after the Kyoto prefectural and city governments invited it to western Japan, stating that the partnership between the central government and the municipality would allow a "promotion of new cultural policies."

The central government decided on the relocation of the agency to Kyoto in 2016. The transfer was planned for fiscal 2021, but was delayed due to construction work on the building.

While the relocation is expected to promote policy making and help incorporate regional perspectives, the agency will face the need to smoothly collaborate with its departments remaining in Tokyo as well as other ministries in the capital and to keep abreast of Diet affairs.

Employees have had apps downloaded on laptops for online meetings, but the agency estimates its staff will need to take a total of 1,400 roundtrip business trips between Tokyo and Kyoto annually.

A senior agency official noted that although working virtually has been normalized, some sensitive exchanges were "better conveyed in person."

The Japanese government in 2014 proposed moving some agencies from Tokyo to revitalize regional areas, but relocations had been limited to some operations within the Consumers Affairs Agency and the Statistics Bureau in the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 18:44 | All, World, Japan

Japan and South Korea are arranging to hold their first working-level security talks in more than five years next month, a diplomatic source said Monday, in the run-up to a scheduled visit by President Yoon Suk Yeol to the United States.

An early resumption of the dialogue, last held in March 2018, was agreed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Yoon at their summit on March 16, as Tokyo and Seoul work to improve their ties, which were frayed by a bilateral wartime labor dispute in recent years.

Senior foreign and defense ministry officials from the two countries are likely to affirm close coordination over North Korea, as Pyongyang has shown no signs of ceasing its ballistic missile launches amid fears about its possible seventh nuclear test, the source said.

In early March, South Korea announced a solution to the wartime labor issue, with Yoon, who took office in May 2022, pledging to improve relations with Japan while deepening military cooperation with the United States in the face of threats from the North.

Later, Yoon made a trip to Tokyo for talks with Kishida, becoming the first South Korean president to visit Japan in four years.

The venue for the upcoming security gathering has yet to be determined, according to the source. In the past, the two Asian nations -- both U.S. allies -- generally hosted such meetings alternately. The last one took place in Tokyo.

Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Seo Min Jung, director general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau, are among the expected participants, the source said.

The senior officials may discuss how to pave the way for enabling real-time information sharing between Japan and South Korea about the North's ballistic missile launches.

Ensuring the safety of Japanese citizens living in South Korea, including their evacuation in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula, might be also brought up during the next meeting, the source said.

The first Japan-South Korea security gathering was held in Seoul in June 1998 with the aim of building mutual trust between the foreign policy and defense authorities.

But the talks were suspended in 2018 after South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to compensate plaintiffs for alleged forced labor during World War II under the country's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the peninsula.

Following the rulings, Japan-South Korea ties plunged to their lowest point in decades under the left-wing government of Yoon's predecessor, Moon Jae In, who put an emphasis on improving relations with the North.

To bolster security cooperation with Washington, Yoon is slated to make a state visit to the United States in late April to meet with President Joe Biden, while Kishida will host a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.

Related coverage:

Japan, South Korea ministers vow close cooperation on North Korea issue

FOCUS: Japan, South Korea leaders' mutual visits key to balanced diplomacy

Japanese, South Korean leaders improve ties, vow to resume mutual visits
KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 21:22 | World, All, Coronavirus

New Chinese ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun arrived Monday in the country that had shut down its borders to prevent COVID-19 infections, filling the post vacated by his predecessor about 15 months ago, a source familiar with bilateral relations said.

Wang is believed to be the first foreign diplomat to be accepted by Pyongyang since it implemented strict border controls in January 2020. China is North Korea's closest and most influential ally in economic terms.

China's ambassador to North Korea had been absent since Wang's predecessor Li Jinjun returned to his home country in late 2021. Wang formerly served as a deputy head of the ruling Communist Party's International Liaison Department.

A regular freight train service between Chinese and North Korean border cities fully resumed last September, with vehicle transportation services also restarting late last year.

However, North Korea's strict COVID border controls remain in place in principle.

Related coverage:

North Korea's Kim calls for increase in grain production in key meeting

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China prepares for restart of vehicle transport services to North Korea
Sabina Mammadli

The peaceful protest of Azerbaijani eco-activists and youth against Armenia's illicit mineral resource exploitation on the Lachin-Khankandi road continues for the 106th day, Azernews reports.

Medical vehicles and trucks of Russian peacekeepers have driven along the road from Lachin in the direction of Khankandi without any problems. Besides, one car and two trucks of the peacekeepers have driven from Khankandi in the direction of Lachin.

Recall that following the talks with the Russian peacekeepers' command on December 3 and 7, 2022, a group of experts from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC were going to begin preliminary monitoring of the illicit mineral resource exploitation, as well as emerging environmental implications on Azerbaijani lands, where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, on December 10, 2022.

The expert team was expected to inspect the environmental condition at the Gizilbulagh gold deposit and the Damirli copper-molybdenum deposit, monitor various areas, organize cadastral property records, assess potential risks and threats to the environment, as well as to underground and surface water sources.

However, the expert group, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, faced provocations when arriving in the monitoring area. The planned initial inspection and monitoring did not take place due to the fact that the Russian peacekeepers not only did not create necessary conditions but also prevented the entire process from carrying on.




KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 16:57 | World, All, Japan

The recent detention of a senior Japanese pharmaceutical company official in Beijing has shocked Japanese businesses operating in China, with momentum for their China-bound investment dampened as the incident has triggered fresh anxiety over the risks of doing business in the Communist-led nation.

The businessman in his 50s, who was detained in the Chinese capital this month and whom Astellas Pharma Inc. has since confirmed as one of its employees, may be facing spying allegations.

But it is customary in China that allegations concerning national security are not released and trials are closed to the public. Even after rulings are finalized, the details are not announced in most cases.

Some Japanese company officials in China say it is unclear what kind of activities could constitute crimes in the Asian country and they do not know what exactly they should heed to avoid an unexpected detention.

As the detained businessman was not identified when the incident was reported Saturday, some Japanese companies rushed to confirm the safety of their officials in China.

The Astellas Pharma official, who was held by Chinese authorities just before his planned return to Japan this month, was a long-term Beijing resident who formerly served as a senior executive of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China, according to sources familiar with the matter.

On Sunday evening, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing briefed about a dozen senior members of the chamber on the case. Participants said Japanese Ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi pledged all-out efforts to secure the businessman's early release.

Some chamber members suspect the Chinese authorities may have made an arbitrary decision to nab the businessman, and are worried that they too could face detention.

A member of a group promoting Japanese firms' entry into the Chinese market was disappointed at the businessman's detention, saying it would discourage many companies from expanding their businesses even though COVID-19 infections have subsided in China.

"Many Japanese companies would think twice and refrain from boosting investment" in China, the group member said.

Related coverage:

Japan demands release of national detained in China: top spokesman

Japanese man detained in China is employee of drugmaker Astellas

Kishida nixed China envoy farewell meeting amid strained ties
KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 20:59 | World, All

The chief of Myanmar's junta on Monday vowed to crush anti-military resistance forces as it held an annual military parade in the administrative capital of Naypyitaw.

Speaking in front of more than 8,000 troops gathered for the 78th Armed Forces Day, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said the military is trying to achieve "full law enforcement and tranquility" across the country and promised decisive action against the anti-military "terrorist" groups to that end.

He also called for measures to be taken against the People's Defense Force, the armed wing of the parallel National Unity Government, founded by former ruling party members and ethnic minority groups.

The leader said the military government has put forward a plan to transfer power back to a civilian administration with democratic standards by holding elections but that "serenity and stability" are necessary preconditions for implementing it.

During the procession, tanks, rockets and long-range missiles were displayed, as well as thousands of marching troops and modern fighter jets flying in formation.

Min Aung Hlaing seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, overthrowing an elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and alleging that the November 2020 election that gave her National League for Democracy a landslide victory was fraudulent. Election observers, however, have said the vote was fair.

The brutal repression conducted by the military on initially peaceful protesters in the weeks and months after the coup has led to armed resistance among pro-democracy anti-coup factions, resulting in conflict and fighting across the country.

Armed Forces Day in Myanmar marks the day in 1945 when Gen. Aung San, the father of the ousted and detained civilian leader Suu Kyi, led the resistance movement against the Japanese occupying forces during World War II.

Related coverage:

Special meeting between ASEAN, Myanmar junta leader sought: source

Myanmar extends state of emergency as nation marks 2 years since coup

Myanmar's deposed leader Suu Kyi now faces 33 yrs in prison
KYODO NEWS - Mar 27, 2023 - 13:04 | All, World

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday, South Korea's military said, in an apparent response to ongoing joint military drills involving South Korea and the United States.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two missiles were fired from the North Hwanghae Province area, with the first detected around 7:47 a.m. and the second around 8 a.m. Each flew about 370 kilometers, it said.

The launches came as the U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz is set to join exercises with the South Korean navy in open waters south of Jeju Island on Monday, and a day before the warship is scheduled to arrive at a port in the southern South Korea city of Busan.

North Korea has vehemently protested recent joint military exercises carried out by South Korea and the United States, including the 11-day Freedom Shield exercise through last Thursday. It was the first large-scale springtime military drill in five years.

An amphibious landing exercise between the allies' militaries called the Ssangyong exercise is under way and will run through April 3.

The Japanese government said the projectiles are believed to have fallen in the sea outside of its exclusive economic zone.

There were no reports of damage to aircraft or ships, according to the government.

North Korea said Friday it test-fired four cruise missiles of two different types two days earlier, with leader Kim Jong Un warning Seoul and Washington they should stop "reckless" anti-North Korea war drills, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

It also said it tested earlier last week a new underwater nuclear attack drone it claims can generate radioactive tsunami to destroy enemy ships and ports, according to state-run media.

Related coverage:

North Korea says it tested new underwater nuclear attack drone

North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles: S. Korea military
European analysts said it is unlikely that Credit Suisse will be the last large European bank to fall under pressure during the current crisis, although financial sector reforms have soften the blow of Europe's banking crisis.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Staff members of China Southern Airlines present a tulip-themed souvenir to a passenger boarding a direct flight to Beijing at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, March 26, 2023. Chinese, Dutch airlines resumed their direct flights from Amsterdam to Beijing on Sunday after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Wang Xiangjiang)

AMSTERDAM, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese, Dutch airlines resumed their direct flights from Amsterdam to Beijing on Sunday after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic.

At a boarding gate at Schiphol Airport to a fully-booked China Southern Airlines flight to Beijing, passengers were presented with colorful wooden tulip flowers as gifts to mark the memorable occasion.

The passengers departed from the Schiphol Airport at 8:40 p.m. local time and were scheduled to arrive at Beijing Daxing International Airport after a 10-hour-flight.

Wilco Sweijen, airline partnerships director at Schiphol Airport, told Xinhua that it was the first time that the airport was having flight between Beijing Daxing and Amsterdam.

"We're very happy with that, because now that the (Chinese) capital is connected again to Amsterdam. That's great," said Sweijen, who was among airport representatives giving out tulip flowers to passengers.

Mack Su, European sales manager of the Chinese airline, told Xinhua that the Amsterdam-Beijing route was disrupted in March 2020 due to COVID-19, and its resumption marked the airline's "comprehensive and accelerated recovery in the China-Europe market."

The new Amsterdam-Beijing Daxing route will start from four weekly flights and increase in accordance with market demand, said Su. Besides the Beijing route, China Southern Airlines also operates flights between Amsterdam and Guangzhou, a metropolis in south China, four times a week.

Also on Sunday, a flight of Dutch airline KLM left Schiphol Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport, marking the resumption of the KLM's flight route to Beijing disrupted by the pandemic.

In an earlier press release, the Dutch airline said it marked the "recovery of the routes from and via Amsterdam to China. The Chinese market is important in KLM's network, due to demand from business travelers."

Sweijen said that the number of flights between the Netherlands and China has now increased to 27 a week from only six about a year ago due to higher passenger flows.

"That's only passenger flights," he stressed, expressing belief that more flights could be added in the near future.

"We see the load factors are good. So we are very happy that it means that there's a big demand for it," he said. 

Staff members of Schiphol Airport present tulip-themed souvenirs to passengers boarding a China Southern Airlines direct flight to Beijing at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, March 26, 2023. Chinese, Dutch airlines resumed their direct flights from Amsterdam to Beijing on Sunday after a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic. (Xinhua/Wang Xiangjiang)
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police have continued to crack down on prostitution and gambling, dealing with more than 50,000 related criminal cases and over 400,000 offenses in 2022, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Noting a growing trend of such crimes migrating onto internet, the ministry said Chinese police have maintained a clampdown on offenses that stand out in these fields. The police have focused their efforts on criminals who organize prostitution, as well as those who solicit prostitution online. In terms of gambling, they have targeted underground casinos, online gambling and new types of gambling facilities.

Police will follow up key cases and outstanding problems in these fields and strengthen cross-departmental coordination as part of efforts to ensure law and order, said the ministry, adding that China will maintain a zero tolerance policy toward criminal prostitution and gambling activities. 
Palestinian men sit in front of closed shops on an empty street in the town of Huwara, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, March 26, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, March 26 (Xinhua) -- It was an unusually quiet Sunday in the Palestinian town of Huwara, as it was completely devoid of traffic and pedestrians, while its shops and all public facilities were closed.

On Saturday night, the Israeli army sealed off the town, closed all stores and deployed dozens of soldiers in the streets to prevent the residents from moving.

The blockade came following a drive-by shooting attack that wounded two Israeli soldiers in Huwara.

Commenting on the latest shooting, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said "it is time to restore order there ... or the next attack is only a matter of time."

Local eyewitnesses told Xinhua that groups of settlers tried on Saturday night to attack the northern parts of the town, but the Israeli soldiers thwarted their attempts.

Local residents of Huwara expressed their concerns that Israeli settlers would escalate their attacks against them as they did in February.

"As a result, none of the Palestinian males slept and we prepared ourselves to confront any settlers' attacks that would target our properties," Firas Dumaidi, a local young man, told Xinhua.

In February, Huwara was subjected to violent revenge attacks by hundreds of Israeli settlers, after a Palestinian in a passing vehicle shot dead two Israelis near the Huwara checkpoint. At least a Palestinian was killed and tens of locals were wounded during the clash, according to official Palestinian data.

"Once again, we found ourselves, even without any prior notice, stuck in our houses and waited for our unknown fate," Mirvat Dumaidi, a 50-year-old mother of five, told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, groups of settlers on Sunday burned down a Palestinian-inhabited house in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, in the central West Bank, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

Bahaa Fuqaha, a local official in the town, told Xinhua that settlers threw incendiary materials at the house, in which a six-member family was staying.

"Miraculously, the family managed to escape from certain death," Fuqaha said, adding that "however, the family became homeless as its house was completely damaged."

The current tension came after a week of commitment issued by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and Israel in a quintet meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to calm a surge of violence in the West Bank ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Following the meeting, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority reaffirmed their commitment to advancing security, stability, and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

The Palestinian Territories have witnessed an escalation between the Israeli army and the Palestinians which led to the killing of dozens of Palestinians and Israelis over the past year.

Israel said that its forces carried out the daily raids to arrest the Palestinian suspects who are planning to commit attacks against Israelis, while the Palestinians described the raids as "crimes and violations."

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers this year. Meanwhile, official Israeli figures said that 15 Israelis were killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians. 

A closed shop is seen on an empty street in the town of Huwara, south of the West Bank city of Nablus, March 26, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A Palestinian man inspects the damage in a house burned down by Israeli settlers, in the town of Sinjil north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 26, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A Palestinian girl inspects the damage in a house burned down by Israeli settlers, in the town of Sinjil north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 26, 2023. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

by Xin Ping

Recently, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) released its report on China's human rights. As much as China prepared a wealth of information for the CESCR review and sent a large delegation to answer questions in an open and frank manner, Concluding Observations of the CESCR still cited false information and rumors on issues related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.

This time, as before, the false accusations against China are not only rejected by China, but also refuted by quite a number of developing countries and NGOs at the recent General Debate of the 52nd Regular Session of Human Rights Council. While some rich countries keep repeating the cliche of alleged poor human rights situation in developing countries, delegates of many developing countries expressed their appreciation clearly for the development of human rights in China.

Undeniably, China's human rights progress speaks for itself. As some may have never heard, from the early 1990s to 2016, terrorism was a lingering nightmare in Xinjiang. Terrorists and extremists plotted and carried out thousands of explosions, assassinations, poisonings, arson, attacks and other violent crimes, resulting in casualties of innocent people including pregnant women and children, the sacrifice of hundreds of police and incalculable property damage. People visiting Xinjiang at that time were told not to go out alone or at night. In the face of the grave and complex counter-terrorism situation, Xinjiang has taken a host of decisive, robust and effective deradicalization measures.

Through the efforts of people of all ethnic groups, including the Uyghurs, Xinjiang has seen no violent terrorist incidents since 2016. Nowadays, Xinjiang enjoys sustained economic growth, social harmony and stability, better living standards, and thriving cultures like never before. Local workers of all ethnic groups choose their professions according to their own will. Last year, before the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued the so-called assessment on Xinjiang, more than 60 countries, nearly 1,000 non-governmental organizations from across the world and people from various walks of life in Xinjiang have written to the High Commissioner to voice their opposition.

As for Tibet, over the past 70 years or so, Tibet has emerged from the shadow of serfdom and embarked on a path of modernization. Nowadays, Tibet has eradicated extreme poverty and enjoys a stable social environment, and economic and cultural prosperity. Tibetans, from children to the elderly, embrace the modern life while retaining their own religion, customs and language. Recently, a video clip went viral on social media showing a traffic policewoman stopping the passing vehicles to give way to a Tibetan who was performing full-body prostration. Many netizens left comments that, "this is the true freedom of religion," "if the Tibetan did so in a Western country, he would probably be locked up in prison."

Performers dance at the grand bazaar in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)

To those who still harbor prejudice against Xinjiang and Tibet, the Chinese Association for International Understanding's questioning at the General Debate of the 52nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council is the best response -- "have you ever been to Xinjiang or Tibet? Have you seen the local people and the smiles on their faces?"

In Hong Kong, local residents report a living experience diametrically different from the picture painted by the CESCR report. Perhaps it is difficult for many people to imagine that, in 2019, just four years ago, Fu Guohao, a reporter with the Global Times, was tied up with zip ties on his wrists and ankles and beaten by radical protesters at the Hong Kong airport while on normal reporting duties. Fu was imprisoned and abused for up to 50 minutes that night, and died in 2021 at the age of 30 after suffering depression.

Not only that, the radical protesters set fires in public places, threw bricks at police stations, and poured suspected corrosive liquids at police officers, which seriously disrupted law and order of Hong Kong and undermined the human rights of Hong Kong police and people. However, the radical protesters were glorified as a "beautiful sight" by the West. Western politicians sang the praises of a chaotic Hong Kong, while Hong Kong residents were living in fear and despair.

Fortunately, since the promulgation of the National Security Law, Hong Kong has soon ushered in greater security and restored social order with the legitimate exercise of the freedom of expression unaffected. A street poll in Hong Kong also showed that 71.9 percent of the respondents believe that the rule of law has been restored after the implementation of the National Security Law. According to the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong ranked 19th out of 139 in 2021, close to the United Kingdom (16th) and Singapore (17th).

As can be easily seen, many of the Concluding Observations' accusations against China are clearly and factually incorrect. In fact, the lectures and suggestions offered by the UN human rights bodies are increasingly challenged by developing countries in recent years. At the ongoing 52nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council alone, South Sudan have accused the UN's country report of lacking facts and undermining its sovereignty and efforts, and a number of countries also called for professional and respectful cooperation between the international institution and the state.

No country can claim that its human rights situation is perfect, but what we should do is to keep filling the lacunae and improving the status quo. Lies and unaccountable organizations only deteriorate the hard-won stability in the developing world and stall efforts to improve human rights. The CESCR review should return to its original purpose of helping countries better implement their duties and make more progress in protecting economic, social and cultural rights, and not the other way around.





Editor's note: Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for CGTN, Global Times, Xinhua News Agency, etc. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.
This photo taken with a mobile phone shows Huang Jinlong arranging records of students whom he has helped in Jiuba Town of Zunyi, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Jingya)

GUIYANG, March 27 (Xinhua) -- For more than 30 years, Huang Jinlong, a rural teacher in southwest China's Guizhou Province, has been dedicated to helping students in need to finish their schooling.

Teaching in Jiuba Town, located in a remote mountainous area administered by Zunyi City, Huang, 73, has donated part of his salary and has been raising money, assisting more than 1,500 impoverished students in their pursuit of education.

Huang remembers an early autumn night 35 years ago, when the mother of Cheng Qingjiang, a third-grade student at Pujia Primary School, came to his home and asked for help because she could not afford her son's tuition.

Huang, then a teacher at the school, told the mother without hesitation, "Let the child come to school tomorrow."

At that time in the mountainous area of Guizhou, which once had the largest poverty-stricken population at the provincial level, there were many children like Cheng who could not afford to go to school.

Despite the fact that he was the only breadwinner in his family of seven, Huang began using part of his meager salary to support Cheng and his sister, a first-grader in primary school, until they finished college and vocational high school.

Huang also supplied tuition fees to other students who couldn't afford them. In the spring semester of 1998, he spent nearly 5,000 yuan (about 727.65 U.S. dollars) on these students, equivalent to his annual salary at the time.

Meanwhile, he decided to look for help to fund more students' schooling.

Through written proposals and letters, Huang called on society to help children in distress to change their fate. He visited the families of poor students in the mountains and sent the details of their actual situations all over the country, inviting caring people to visit the mountainous area.

Thanks to Huang's efforts, in the autumn of 1997, several people from Zunyi came to visit Pujia Primary School, selecting 43 poor students to become long-term aid recipients.

"At the time, I was so excited that I cried. My efforts were not in vain," Huang said.

Huang also walked the streets of Tongzi County, which administers Jiuba Town, persuading both people he knew and those didn't know to help his needy students.

"He is careful and bold," said Cheng Bulian, then principal of Pujia Primary School. "And he can bear hardships that ordinary people cannot."

Huang retired in 2006, but he never stopped caring for his students.

In April 2014, local officials of Jiuba Town came to Shuihe Village and Lianhe Village, offering one-to-one assistance to finance poverty-stricken students' schooling, according to a list provided by Huang.

Later, more than 20 volunteer service organizations from inside and outside of Guizhou, as well as more than 100 people from over 30 cities, joined Huang's volunteer service team to help the families of students in need.

China achieved the feat of removing all remaining counties from the country's poverty list after an announcement in November 2020 that the last nine impoverished counties -- all in Guizhou Province -- had eliminated absolute poverty.

In 2022, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in Tongzi County was 38,270 yuan, and 16,790 yuan for rural residents. The county will comprehensively promote rural revitalization this year, aiming to increase the per capita net income of those lifted out of poverty by more than 16 percent, according to the county's government work report for 2023.

The local governments in Guizhou have also increased their investment in education. The provincial department of finance has allocated nearly 15 million yuan for student aid and subsidies in Tongzi County this year to promote the balanced development of education in urban and rural areas.

Data shows that the retention rate in nine-year compulsory education, which includes six years of primary school and three years of junior secondary school, in Tongzi County has topped 103 percent, while the gross enrollment rate of high schools has reached almost 94 percent.

The Pujia Primary School, where Huang had taught, has 375 students, none of whom have dropped out of their education.

Huang is still busy, despite his age. He has extended his help to the outlying townships in his home county and to the poverty alleviation relocation communities in Tongzi County.

His family, despite occasional complaints, has supported his acts of kindness.

"My son often drove around to inform good-hearted people of meetings or to help me deliver donations. My wife didn't understand at first, but later she was very supportive," Huang said.

Many students who grew up with his help have followed in his footsteps. Cheng Qingjiang, who works in Zunyi, and Yao Zhengchao, who lives in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, have each sponsored a student. He Jinlong donated 10,000 yuan on New Year's Day last year and asked Huang to distribute it to students in need.

Over the decades, Huang has raised donations exceeding a total of 2.8 million yuan, enabling more than 1,500 students from impoverished families to complete their studies and realize their dreams. Over 400 of these students have finished their college education and another 100 are now studying at colleges.

At the end of 2022, Huang won the title of "Guizhou Man of the New Era" due to his decades of selfless support for students in need.

Since March this year, Huang has organized a volunteer team to deliver donations to schools and children with disabilities, and go to schools to educate students about juvenile law.

"I will continue to devote my spare time to caring for the next generation. I hope to do my best to inspire people around me to spread love and help more people in need," Huang said. 
Spokesperson for the Russian President Vladimir Putin Dmitri Peskov has denied news about the allegedly upcoming visit of Putin to Turkiye.

"No," the Kremlin spokesperson replied to the question whether such a visit was being prepared.

Information about the Russian presidents planned visit appeared earlier in the Turkish media.

The Russian president regularly communicates by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Only since the beginning of this year there have been six conversations between the leaders, and the last of them took place on March 25.

The leaders of the two countries met in person last October in Astana. Putin last paid a working visit to Turkiye in early 2020 to attend the launch ceremony of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.




HOHHOT, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Irina Petrova who hails from Russia's Ulan-Ude returned to Manzhouli City in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region this month after being away for nearly three years due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Petrova visited Manzhouli for the first time in 2015 as part of her graduation trip and instantly fell in love with this Chinese city bordering Russia. She moved to the city a year later to start her work experience and had lived there for more than four years until the outbreak of the pandemic.

"I missed the local delicacies and all my friends here so much," Petrova said while indulging in her favorite Chinese delicacy of twice-cooked pork slices, fried potato with green pepper and eggplant.

Manzhouli, known as the "window of East Asia," is China's largest land port. After China optimized its COVID-19 response, the number of people traveling through the port reached 44,678 and the number of vehicles came in at 25,597 from the beginning of this year to March 14, up 166.2 and 99.4 percent year on year, respectively.

Currently, about 200 Russians enter and exit Manzhouli every day, according to the customs authorities.

After returning to the Manzhouli, Petrova immediately found a job in a Russian-style Lubuli Restaurant in the city. According to her, many of her Russian peers took Chinese classes in college to better prepare themselves for job opportunities in China.

Strolling the streets and alleys of this small border city with a population of 150,000, Russian-style buildings can be seen everywhere, and shop signs are printed in three languages: Chinese, Russian, and Mongolian.

Sun Yulong, who owns a local Russian food processing factory, hired seven Russian food technicians in 2015 to produce specialty items such as sausage and bread. With the ease in travel restrictions, Sun's former employees are now returning to the city.

Sun and his Russian friends are optimistic about their business prospects and they plan to open a Russian baking school in Manzhouli this year. The school will aim to act as a platform to enhance cross-border exchanges in the pastry and dessert business.

According to Ling Yun, chairman of the Manzhouli municipal committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, with the progress of China's Belt and Road development, Manzhouli is expected to experience more bustling personnel and cultural exchanges. 
JERUSALEM, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Israel's largest labor organization Histadrut started Monday a general worker strike to press the government to halt its contentious judicial overhaul plan.

Histadrut's chairman Arnon Bar-David issued a statement saying "workers and employers will together halt the judicial overhaul," Israeli media reported.

Following his call, departing flights from Ben Gurion International Airport have been grounded. Factories, banks, shopping malls and local authorities participating in the strike also shut down services.

Fast food chain restaurant McDonald's also joined the strike and closed its restaurants throughout Israel.

Public transportation, schools, and kindergartens were not affected.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Medical Association announced a strike at all public hospitals and community clinics for the same reason, sparing only urgent life-saving treatments.

All Israeli public universities also went on strike on the same grounds. Israel's Association of University Heads in a statement called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ruling coalition to immediately stop the legislation procedure and begin discussions to reach an agreed and broad outline.

The current Israeli government has put forward changes to the Israeli judicial system aimed at curbing the "overly activist" Supreme Court since the beginning of this year, sparking continued massive protests nationwide. 
Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest Airport on Sunday after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Establishing diplomatic relations with China is the correct choice for Honduras and in line with the prevailing trend, a Chinese spokesperson said Monday.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to a media inquiry concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Honduras.

There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, said Ma, adding that the one-China principle is a prevailing consensus of the international community and a universally recognized norm governing international relations. 
BAGHDAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The government of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on Sunday set Nov. 18 as the date for the regional parliamentary elections.

Dilshad Shahab, the spokesperson for the Kurdistan region presidency, said in a press conference that the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan Barzani decided the date for the elections and called on the regional authorities and the Independent High Elections Commission to prepare for the elections.

"We call on the representatives of the United Nations to help us make the elections a success," Shahab said while reading Barzani's statement.

In October last year, the regional parliament voted to extend the four-year legislative term for one more year after the Kurdish political parties failed to hold regional parliamentary elections set previously on October 1, 2022.

The last regional parliamentary elections were held on September 30, 2018, with the Kurdistan Democratic Party taking the lead with 45 seats, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan coming in second place with 21 seats out of 111. 
NAIROBI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The growing threat to public health security linked to climate change, antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity loss, the emergence of lethal pathogens and food contamination calls for a joint response from governments, multilateral and research institutions, UN agencies said in a joint statement released in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on Monday.

The new call for joint action to avert a public health crisis in the future was made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) dubbed Quadripartite.

Charged with implementing a One Health strategy to secure a safer, healthier and greener future for humanity, the Quadripartite stressed that better multi-sectoral coordination will be key to tackling the climate crisis, ecosystem depletion and spread of superbugs.

Through the joint statement, the leaders of the four UN agencies said political goodwill, increased funding and policy support will be crucial to realizing the objectives of the One Health strategy.

"To build one healthier planet we need urgent action to galvanize vital political commitments, greater investment and multisectoral collaboration at every level," said the statement.

Creation of resilient health systems in the face of recent global health emergencies like COVID-19, Ebola, Mpox and Marburg virus reaffirms the need for joint collaboration among state agencies, industry, donors and researchers, the statement said.

In addition, the Quadripartite, which is assisting national governments to implement the One Health strategy, called for the creation of a fund to support pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The establishment of a highly skilled, motivated and well-enumerated workforce will also be key to detecting, averting, or managing health risks effectively, Quadripartite said in the statement, adding that educating communities should inform future efforts to strengthen public health security.

Promoting scientific research, technology transfer, information and data sharing, combined with robust financing will be key to hastening the implementation of a One Health strategy, and boosting the health of communities and ecosystems, said the statement. 
HEFEI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Equipped with a remote-sensing satellite, radar, drones and cameras, an intelligent management platform conducts real-time monitoring of the Wuhu section of the Yangtze River.

"With the intelligent equipment and algorithms, the platform can analyze the conditions of passing vessels automatically and notify inspectors if there is illegal fishing, sand mining, or waste dumping," said Wei Bo, an official with the Wuhu municipal development and reform commission responsible for building this platform.

According to Wei, the intelligent platform was launched in January 2021 based on the data and technical support of multiple departments in Wuhu City, east China's Anhui Province, to jointly protect the Yangtze River in smarter and more efficient ways.

Along the Wuhu section of the Yangtze River, dozens of high-definition cameras were installed to monitor the river around the clock. Radar signals from seven radar stations are shared by the platform to identify and trace illegal vessels, while satellite imagery is used and compared each season to observe the possible destruction of wetlands.

"Thanks to these modern sci-tech methods, we have found more than 20 illegal sand mining vessels and cracked over 120 illegal fishing cases, deterring illegal acts on the Yangtze River and improving the ecological environment of the Yangtze," said Wei.

The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the "mother rivers" of the Chinese nation. Amid joint efforts to protect "mother rivers," multiple sci-tech measures have played an important role.

In east China's Shandong Province, 2,627 video surveillance sites and 219 drones have been applied to monitor and patrol the Yellow River sections passing through this province.

"Through smart equipment, we adopt an integrated patrol method to monitor floods and illegal acts on the Yellow River, which can greatly increase patrol efficiency and reduce related risks in the event of extreme weather," said Li Mindong, an official with the Shandong Yellow River information center.

Besides intelligent patrol, as more and more ships are encouraged to use onshore power sources to protect the ecosystem of the mother rivers, the construction and application of smart onshore power options have also speeded up at ports along the rivers.

At a port in Tongling City of Anhui, shipowners are scanning QR codes on onshore power piles with their smartphones to supply power to their ships directly, instead of relying on fuel-powered generators.

"On traditional onshore power piles, users need to record the power consumption and calculate the fees manually. Now, they can use and pay for electricity by scanning the codes on smart piles, which is very convenient. The total power consumption of vessels is also available in our system," said Li Gen from State Grid Tongling electric power company.

Currently, 23 ports in Tongling City have been equipped with onshore power facilities. In 2022, the onshore power consumption of Tongling's ports reached 769,000 kWh, a year-on-year increase of 33 percent, which is equivalent to a reduction of about 192 tonnes of fuel consumption and 49.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

According to the administration of navigational affairs on the Yangtze River under the Ministry of Transport, over 780,000 transportation ships from the 11 provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River Economic Belt used onshore power totaling more than 74.9 million kWh in 2022, with both the number of vessels and the onshore power usage reaching a record high. 
BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang delivered a video speech Sunday for a program produced by the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation to celebrate the 41st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In his speech, Qin said that over the past 41 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Vanuatu, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other on an equal footing, trusted and supported each other, engaged in sincere cooperation and achieved mutual benefit and win-win results, setting a paradigm for mutual respect, solidarity and cooperation among developing countries.

China attaches great importance to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vanuatu and considers Vanuatu as a companion on the path of development, said Qin, adding that China stands ready to work with Vanuatu to strengthen friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields so as to deliver more benefits to the two countries and their people. 
Real estate assets will be promoted by Indias billion-dollar companies in Bahrain this weekend. The event, Indian Property Investment Festival (IPIF 2023), is being hosted by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions and ExDais and organised by NRI ONE at The Westin Hotel City Centre from March 16 to 18.

Visitors to the IPIF 2023 will be feted with a host of special offers from developers only available for the duration of the event.

These are - special discounted prices, promises of up to 20% guaranteed returns, additional land at no extra cost, free flights to inspect developments, easy payment plans and capital appreciation within 5 years.

ICICI Bank will be showcasing their services as a leading home loan provider in India by providing pre-qualification approval of mortgages for those looking to buy a home.

"The IPIF provides the opportunity for Indias leading developers to assess Bahrain as a business entrepot. Many of the companies are diversified groups with interests in pharmaceuticals, automotive, construction, education, and hospitality," said Jubran Abdulrahman, the Managing Director of hosts Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions.

"Our conversations with some of these companies has yielded initial interest to visit Bahrain to assess wider investment opportunities," he stated.

NRI ONE, with its proven track record in organising Indian real estate road shows around the world, will be bringing 25 of the leading companies from India for the IPIF to the kingdom.

The developers include household names such as DLF, Brigade, TVS, Rustomjee, Puravankara, Sumadhura and Godrej.

"These developers will be offering property assets stretching across the length and breadth of India. From Mumbai to Goa, Bangalore to Chennai, Kerala to Delhi, Hyderabad to Ahmedabad the IPIF has investment opportunities available for every member of the Indian expatriate community which are priced for all budgets," remarked Shekhar Bhardwaj, the Director of NRI ONE.

"Many of the developers are not new to investing in the GCC. Companies such as BCD have been contractors in Saudi Arabia and Iraq for several generations," explained Abdulrahman.

"ELV are looking to expand their schools and pharmaceutical manufacturing in the region; while many of the other companies are looking at setting up representational offices in the region," he added.

Bhardwaj said: "We pride ourselves on attracting the valued developers of India who are able to offer ready built units and whose reputation will ensure that they will deliver on their promises to customers to continue to deliver."

"Bahrain will see our second event in the space of 6 months. The Kingdom is a popular venue for our developers who want to take advantage of its strategic position," he added.

According to the organisers, the IPIF is fully regulated by Bahrains Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera).-TradeArabia News Service
TEGUCIGALPA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- People from all walks of life in Honduras applauded the establishment of China-Honduras diplomatic ties after the two countries signed a joint communique on Sunday.

Rodolfo Pastor de Maria, secretary of the presidency, told Xinhua that it was a great honor to witness the establishment of bilateral ties, which would open an important door of opportunity for Honduras and help the country diversify its international relations.

The establishment of China-Honduras diplomatic relations is an independent and courageous historic decision, and no country can ignore China's status and role as a major country in terms of economy, finance and trade, Attorney General of Honduras Manuel Antonio Diaz said.

China's economy has achieved solid growth, and products made in China have been shipped to the world, said Daniel Sponda, secretary of education of Honduras, adding that the establishment of diplomatic ties with China is conducive to Honduras' development of digital skills in education.

Fausto Calix, executive director of the Honduran customs administration, said that Honduras has made the decision as a sovereign country and it must be respected by the international community and China, as a major country in the world, will bring great opportunities to the development of Honduras.

Armando Vidal, who has been in the tourism industry for over 20 years, is ready to welcome Chinese tourists to visit the local scenic splendours and hospitable Hondurans.

The establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries will help attract Chinese tourists to Honduras while increasing local revenues, Vidal said.

Armando Enamorado, former president of the Metropolitan University of Honduras, voiced hope that the establishment of diplomatic ties will bring more Chinese technological achievements to Honduras so that Honduras can better leverage China's digital technology and other experiences to enhance the competitiveness of local students. 
Members of the Hungarian parliament vote on Finland's accession to NATO in Budapest, Hungary, on March 27, 2023. The Hungarian parliament on Monday approved legislation allowing Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian parliament on Monday approved legislation allowing Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

182 members of parliament voted in favor and six against, while 11 lawmakers were absent. Besides the far-right party Mi Hazank (Our Homeland), all parties voted in favor of Finland's accession.

Elod Novak, vice president of Mi Hazank, said last Friday that his party would veto Finland's accession because "expanding the military alliance on Russia's border would be a provocation, while the neutral zone is an international interest."

The Hungarian parliament originally tabled to vote on the ratification of the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO in the last trimester of 2022, but had since decided to hold two separate votes.

Before Monday's vote, the Hungarian parliament sent a delegation on a "courtesy visit" to Finland and Sweden, to inquire as to why Helsinki and Stockholm had criticized Hungary's democratic institutions.

"We were forced to hold consultations with the speaker, foreign minister, and parliament members of the two countries about whether they see Hungary as an ally, because the political statements in recent years were unduly hostile and did not reflect the reality in Hungary," Hungarian parliament speaker Laszlo Kover said last week after the visit.

The governments of Finland and Sweden had criticized the Hungarian government on issues related to corruption, media freedom and the judicial system.

Balazs Orban, the prime minister's political director, told public radio on Sunday: "Hungary has managed to get reassurance from the Finns that these problems will not persist in the future."

Finland and Sweden dropped their decades-long policies of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO last May.

Before Monday's vote, Hungary and Turkiye were the last two of NATO's 30 members holding out on ratifying the accession of Sweden and Finland. Turkiye has not yet ratified either of the Nordic nations' accession to NATO. 

Members of the Hungarian parliament vote on Finland's accession to NATO in Budapest, Hungary, on March 27, 2023. The Hungarian parliament on Monday approved legislation allowing Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban votes on Finland's accession to NATO in Budapest, Hungary, on March 27, 2023. The Hungarian parliament on Monday approved legislation allowing Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (C) attends a session before members of the Hungarian parliament vote on Finland's accession to NATO in Budapest, Hungary, on March 27, 2023. The Hungarian parliament on Monday approved legislation allowing Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
Minister of National Education and Vocational Training of Djibouti Moustapha Mohamed Mahamoud speaks at the inauguration ceremony of Confucius Institute in Djibouti City, Djibouti, on March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

Cooperation with China in the field of education is setting a solid foundation for Djibouti's economic and social development, a senior Djibouti government official has said.

DJIBOUTI CITY, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation with China in the field of education is setting a solid foundation for Djibouti's economic and social development, a senior Djibouti government official has said.

Speaking to Xinhua in a recent interview, Moustapha Mohamed Mahamoud, Minister of National Education and Vocational Training of Djibouti, said China and Djibouti enjoy "strong and very good" collaboration across a range of development sectors.

Mahamoud, in particular, underscored the importance of the ever-growing partnership between the two countries in the field of education, which he said is enabling the Red Sea nation's youths to harness their potential toward the country's socio-economic development.

"We have a strong and very good collaboration between China and Djibouti...China is one of the countries that support the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training a lot in terms of education," Mahamoud told Xinhua.

A student shows a train driving simulator at the Djibouti Luban Workshop at Djibouti Industrial and Commercial School in Djibouti City, capital of Djibouti on Sept. 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

The minister stressed that China has already supported Djibouti with the construction of several academic institutions, with a particular emphasis on creating centers of excellence. According to him, one such center of excellence is the Luban Workshop in Djibouti.

"As part of our cooperation with China in the education sector, some three years ago we saw the realization of the Luban Workshop, which is the first in Africa," Mahamoud said.

The Luban Workshop in Djibouti was launched back in March 2019 as the first of its kind in the African continent with an aim to provide quality vocational training to local people, the country's youth in particular.

"We have a lot of students who came through the Luban Workshop. The center is equipped with very modern equipment in different sectors, incorporating technologies in the transport, logistics and other areas," the minister said.

"We had the first graduates of professional railway licensed youth with better skills," Mahamoud said. "The best skills they obtained from the center is setting the solid foundation for our economic and social development."

Students learn at the Djibouti Luban Workshop at Djibouti Industrial and Commercial School in Djibouti City, capital of Djibouti, on Sept. 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

The minister also emphasized the importance of further cementing the Sino-Djibouti cooperation in the education sector.

In this regard, he acknowledged the role of the recently inaugurated Confucius Institute in Djibouti as a valuable impetus for boosting the ever-expanding relations between the two countries in the education sector and beyond.

On Thursday, the Confucius Institute in Djibouti was inaugurated in Djibouti city, the country's capital, with stakeholders pledging to make the institute an important platform for China-Djibouti cooperation.

The minister said the institute will play an important role as economic cooperation and people-to-people relations depend on language.

He underscored that learning and mastering the Chinese language will open a wider window of opportunities for Djiboutian youth, and will enable them to acquire further education and training opportunities.

Minister of National Education and Vocational Training of Djibouti Moustapha Mohamed Mahamoud (R) and Chinese Ambassador to Djibouti Hu Bin unveil the bronze sign at the inauguration ceremony of Confucius Institute in Djibouti City, Djibouti, on March 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

"Students from different schools are now learning the Chinese language here at home in Djibouti through this institute. I am sure this opportunity will allow them to apply to big Chinese universities. Certainly, we will have students who will come out of the best Chinese universities and return here to participate in our development endeavors," he said.

"Due to its geographical position, Djibouti has always been a land of exchange, communications and meetings among people; and this makes the institute even more important," he said. "This tradition of exchanges and meetings in Djibouti also makes the Confucius Institute in Djibouti the best platform that could represent a land of exchange and meeting. 
DAR ES SALAAM, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian health authorities said late Saturday an outbreak of Marburg viral disease (MVD) that has killed five people in northwestern of the country was under control.

The disease that broke out last week in two wards of Bukoba district in Kagera region also left three other people admitted to hospital for treatment.

"People in Bukoba district, people in Kagera region and all Tanzanians in general should not panic. The MVD is under control," Ummy Mwalimu, the Minister for Health, told a news conference in Bukoba municipality.

Mwalimu said she visited Bukoba district accompanied by high-ranking officials with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) and they were satisfied that the disease was under control after the government in collaboration with WHO had taken response measures.

She said there were 205 people who were on contact tracing list that have been put under isolation.

"It doesn't mean that these people are suffering from MVD but they are being observed for a period of time before they are released," said Mwalimu.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health issued a travel advisory to all travelers to and from the Kagera region saying their body temperatures should be examined.

Kagera region where the MVD was reported is located in northwestern Tanzania and is bordered by Uganda to the north, Rwanda to the west and Burundi to the southwest.

WHO warned that the high population mobility within the region poses a risk of cross-border spread.

According to the WHO, the MVD is a highly fatal, zoonotic hemorrhagic disease caused by the Marburg virus, and human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with body fluids from infected persons, or contact with equipment and other materials contaminated with infectious blood or tissues, body fluids of infected people, and contaminated surfaces or materials. Enditem.
OUAGADOUGOU, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Burkina Faso's government on Monday ordered the suspension of broadcasts of France 24 on its territory, following an interview by the French television channels with a leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said that the decision was made in the interest of the nation and that the broadcasting of France 24 programs will be suspended indefinitely throughout Burkina Faso.

In a statement, the spokesman said that by giving a voice to the chief of the AQIM, "France 24 does not only act as a communication agency for these terrorists... it offers a space for legitimizing terrorist actions and speeches of hatred conveyed to satisfy the evil aims of this organization on Burkina Faso."

Last December, Burkina Faso suspended the programs of Radio France Internationale (RFI), accusing it of breaching the rules regarding the processing of information. 
MOGADISHU, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Somalia's National Communications Authority (NCA) said six mobile phone operators have completed their interconnection service, marking a significant milestone for the telecom industry.

The NCA, the telecom industry regulator, said in a statement issued Sunday evening that the interconnection service will enable seamless connectivity between the operators and provide millions of customers with more options and competitive pricing.

"The successful interconnection among the six operators is a significant achievement for the telecom industry in Somalia. Therefore, this will promote competition, reduce prices, and provide more options for customers," said Mustafa Yasin Sheikh, the NCA general manager. "We applaud the operators' efforts in completing this important milestone and encourage them to continue collaborating to benefit the industry and consumers."

The interconnection will allow for the exchange of voice traffic between the six operators, enhancing the quality of service for customers and expanding the network coverage, the NCA said.

According to the NCA, the deal breaks a restriction that has long impeded the Somali citizens' ability to communicate more efficiently and will also promote healthy competition among the operators, leading to better pricing and service offerings for consumers.

Yasin said the previous interconnection agreements failed in 2000 and 2014 mainly because of a lack of regulatory framework.

"We hope this time round it will be successful because we have the tools, such as a communications law that mandates interconnection, regulations, guidelines, and regulatory authority that has the oversight mandate," he said.

Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre reiterated the government's commitment to promoting innovation and competition in the telecom industry.

"The successful interconnection among the six operators is a significant milestone in our efforts to enhance connectivity and promote competition in the telecom sector. We commend the operators for their hard work and dedication and encourage them to continue collaborating for the benefit of our citizens," he said.

Jama Hassan Khalif, the minister of Communications and Technology, said the successful interconnection among the six operators is a crucial step toward promoting connectivity and innovation in the telecom industry. "We encourage the operators to continue working together to provide the best possible services for our citizens and contribute to the growth of the country's economy," he said. 
Soldiers march during a military parade to mark the 78th Armed Forces Day in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday with a military parade in the capital Nay Pyi Taw in commemoration of the start of its anti-fascist movement during World War II. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

YANGON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday with a military parade in the capital Nay Pyi Taw in commemoration of the start of its anti-fascist movement during World War II.

Speaking at the ceremony, Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing highlighted the Myanmar Armed Forces' commitment to embracing national causes and safeguarding the State Constitution.

He also said it will give special consideration to the termination of armed conflicts and the lasting peace based on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and will safeguard the national interest of the country, lives and property of people.

By making 2022 as Myanmar's Year of Peace, the leaders of Ethnic Armed Organisations were invited to negotiate for the termination of internal armed conflicts and achieving lasting peace, he said.

During the ceremony, the armed forces' mechanized units and foot soldiers marched in the parade ground as military aircraft and helicopters flew above.

The Southeast Asian country commemorated March 27, 1945, as the start of its army's resistance to the fascist occupation of imperial Japan. 

Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends a military parade to mark the 78th Armed Forces Day in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday with a military parade in the capital Nay Pyi Taw in commemoration of the start of its anti-fascist movement during World War II. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

A formation of military vehicles proceeds during a military parade to mark the 78th Armed Forces Day in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday with a military parade in the capital Nay Pyi Taw in commemoration of the start of its anti-fascist movement during World War II. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

A formation of military vehicles proceeds during a military parade to mark the 78th Armed Forces Day in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday with a military parade in the capital Nay Pyi Taw in commemoration of the start of its anti-fascist movement during World War II. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)

Fighter jets take part in a military parade to mark the 78th Armed Forces Day in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023. Myanmar celebrated its 78th Armed Forces Day on Monday with a military parade in the capital Nay Pyi Taw in commemoration of the start of its anti-fascist movement during World War II. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces raided the hideouts of the Islamic State (IS) outfit in Afghanistan's Balkh province Sunday, killing several insurgents, said a statement of counter-intelligence agency released here Monday.

Personnel of the General Directorate of Intelligence attacked the hideouts of the IS group in Police Districts 5, 8 and 10 in Mazar-i-Sharif city, killing several insurgents, the statement added.

The statement also noted that several IS militants who were involved in organizing terror attacks in Kabul, Faryab and Balkh provinces and killing the Balkh governor weeks ago have been arrested.

This is the fourth operation launched by Afghan forces against IS hideouts in the national capital Kabul and northern Mazar-i-Sharif city over the past weeks, killing several IS-affiliated insurgents. The rival armed group has yet to comment.

Afghan caretaker administration has downplayed the rival IS outfit as a security threat, vowing to crash the armed opponents elsewhere in the war-torn country. 
TOKYO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed higher Monday, but gains were capped amid ongoing concerns over a global financial crisis following the failures of U.S. regional lenders and the collapse of a major European bank.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average added 91.62 points, or 0.33 percent, from Friday to close the day at 27,476.87.

The broader Topix index, meanwhile, gained 6.52 points, or 0.33 percent, to finish at 1,961.84.

Reports that the assets and loans of collapsed U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank will be bought by rival First Citizens BancShares sent the U.S. dollar higher versus the yen, giving exporters here room to breathe amid continued chaos in the financial sector, investment analysts here said.

The U.S. dollar was quoted at 130.92-93 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m., compared with 130.69-79 yen in New York and 130.25-27 yen at 5 p.m. on Friday in Tokyo.

The euro, for its part, fetched 1.0750-0752 and 140.74-78 yen against 1.0757-0767 and 140.65-75 yen in New York and 1.0827-0829 and 141.03-07 yen in late Friday afternoon trade in Tokyo.

But while exporters gained on the yen's retreat and technology issues attracted buying, bolstered by their U.S. peers' recent gains, financial issues here sank amid concerns over a widening global banking crisis, local brokers said.

These concerns were exacerbated by further instability in Europe's financial sector, following Germany's Deutsche Bank tumbling late last week as the cost of insuring the bank's debt against the risk of default skyrocketed, analysts here explained.

"Participants were still feeling uncomfortable about the health of the banking sector, which is unlikely to see a complete recovery very quickly," Koichi Fujishiro, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, was quoted as saying.

Financial issues under intense pressure Monday included megabanks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group losing 0.5 and 1.0 percent, respectively, while regional lenders also took a major hit.

Among these, Shizuoka Financial Group retreated 1.1 percent, Chiba Bank fell 1.2 percent and Concordia Financial Group dropped 1.7 percent.

Nikkei heavyweight Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo chain of clothing stores, helped prop up the Nikkei, however, closing 1 percent higher, although fellow heavyweight, chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron slumped 2.5 percent.

Real estate issues found favor, with Mitsubishi Estate closing up 1.1 percent, while Mitsui Fudosan also finished in positive territory, climbing 1.6 percent.

Exporters advanced on the yen's retreat, with Hitachi climbing 2.1 percent, while NEC ended the day 1.6 percent higher.

By the close of play, wholesale trade, real estate and rubber product-oriented issues comprised those that gained the most.

The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 2,288.42 billion yen (17.41 billion U.S. dollars). 
Union Properties, a leading Dubai developer, has returned to profitability in 2022 with a net profit of AED30 million ($8.1 million) compared to a net loss of AED966.8 million ($263 million) the previous year, while its revenue surged by 5% thanks to its turnaround strategy.

Announcing its consolidated financial results for the year ended December 31, 2022, Union Properties said it revenue from contracts with customers increased by 5% year-on-year to hit AED419.2 million in 2022 as the groups subsidiaries continued to deliver significant performance improvements supported by strong positive momentum in the UAEs real estate sector.

Union Properties made substantial progress with its efficiency strategy including merging three of its existing business units - Edacom Owners Management Association, Uptown Mirdif Mall, and Al Etihad Cold Store - into one single entity, Edacom Asset Management.

This unlocked significant synergies across the business and improved resource and asset utilization. As a result, administrative and general expenses declined 39% year-on-year to AED80.5 million in 2022.

Operating profit for the year increased significantly to AED10.2 million compared to a loss of AED34.1 million in the previous year.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director Amer Khansaheb said: "2022 was a milestone year for Union Properties as its new management team successfully implemented their turnaround strategy and restored the company to profitability. We completed our debt restructuring process and are in a strong position to leverage our deep expertise, reputation, and highly sought-after land bank locations to drive growth and capture opportunities in the UAE flourishing real estate market."

"Union Properties is now on a solid foundation to deliver long term and sustainable value for its shareholders and is evaluating a number of potential development opportunities," he noted.

During the year, Union Properties successfully completed AED595 million debt restructuring, marking a major milestone by resolving legacy liabilities with the majority of its lenders.

The restructuring supports improved profitability and cash flow generation by effectively reducing the companys financing costs. Additionally, it strengthens Union Properties balance sheet and enables it to raise additional financing for future real estate developments.-TradeArabia News Service
NEW DELHI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- India's parliament was adjourned on Monday as lawmakers belonging to the Indian National Congress (INC) protested against the disqualification of senior opposition leader Rahul Gandhi from the lower house of the parliament.

A former INC president, Rahul Gandhi had been a lawmaker since 2004. He is the son of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and great-grandson of the country's first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Monday was the first day when the parliament resumed after Gandhi's disqualification from parliament on Friday. He represented the Wayanad parliamentary constituency in the southern state of Kerala in the lower house. Violent protests by INC members were witnessed over the past three days over his expulsion from the parliament.

Gandhi told the media on Saturday that his fight for democracy in the country would continue and he would also continue asking questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "association" with business tycoon Gautam Adani.

Gandhi's expulsion from the parliament was a result of an order by a court in the western state of Gujarat sentencing him to a two-year imprisonment in a defamation case wherein he had passed certain objectionable comments against the community that Modi belongs to.

During the day, the INC lawmakers wore black outfit and raised slogans inside the parliament against Modi linking him with Adani, alleging that the prime minister had been "benefiting" the business tycoon.

INC President Mallikarjun Kharge said democracy was being trampled in the South Asian country. He alleged that the federal government had been using the probe agencies to bend those who did not bow before it.

Amid the raising of slogans by INC lawmakers, the lower house was adjourned till 16:00 local time on Monday, while the upper house was adjourned till 11:00 on Tuesday. 
SYDNEY, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Australia's national carrier Qantas has resumed direct flights between Melbourne and Tokyo for the first time in more than three years, after the COVID-19 pandemic grounded the route.

According to a statement released on Sunday, as the first airline to provide non-stop flights between Melbourne International Airport and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, the year-round flights will operate four days per week on an Airbus A330 aircraft.

The new service is expected to save passengers nearly two hours of travel to downtown Tokyo compared with the pre-pandemic route to Narita Airport.

"We're pleased we can now offer our customers much easier access to Tokyo city center and the world's third-largest economy from three major east coast Australian cities," said Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David.

"Our Customers in Victoria have been looking forward to the return of this route, with flights launching in time for travelers to enjoy the Cherry Blossom season in Japan. Corporate travelers can also now save time on their airport commute by flying into or out of Haneda."

With existing routes from Sydney and Brisbane to Haneda International Airport, the airline is now offering customers over 420,000 seats between Australia and Japan annually, as well as the option of double daily flights to Tokyo. 
ISLAMABAD, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were injured when a fire erupted in a shoe factory in Pakistan's east Punjab province on Monday, rescue teams said.

The incident happened in the provincial capital of Lahore where the fire engulfed part of the factory, partially damaging it, workers from state-owned Rescue 1122 told media.

The injured people were all laborers who were working in the factory when the incident happened.

The injured laborers were shifted to a nearby hospital, and three of them were in critical condition.

The fire was doused after a two-hour operation by the firefighters, said the rescue workers.

The incident temporarily disrupted road traffic in the area, which was later cleared by the rescue teams.

The cause of the fire has not been determined yet. 
Chinese tourists pose for photos after arriving at the Budapest airport in Budapest, Hungary, on March 26, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists, scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary, was greeted by officials from the Hungarian Tourism Agency and the Budapest Airport upon their arrival. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

BUDAPEST, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus.

The group of 22 tourists, scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary, was greeted by officials from the Hungarian Tourism Agency and the Budapest Airport upon their arrival.

The Chinese tourists were greeted by a local Hungarian in traditional folklore dress, and were each presented with gifts as a token of appreciation for choosing Hungary as their holiday destination.

In recent years, Hungary has seen a steady increase of Chinese tourists, who were drawn to the country's rich history, cultural landmarks, and natural beauty.

The Hungarian government has made a concerted effort to boost tourism by introducing a range of initiatives for the Chinese nationals and promotional campaigns in China.

In the past two months, many Chinese travel agencies have been actively developing new travel products for tours that focus on Hungary. 

Chinese tourists arrive at the Budapest airport in Budapest, Hungary, on March 26, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists, scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary, was greeted by officials from the Hungarian Tourism Agency and the Budapest Airport upon their arrival. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

A young woman in a traditional Hungarian folklore dress greets Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport in Budapest, Hungary, on March 26, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists, scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary, was greeted by officials from the Hungarian Tourism Agency and the Budapest Airport upon their arrival. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

A Chinese tourist takes photos at the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary, on March 29, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists were scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Chinese tourists visit the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary, on March 29, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists were scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Chinese tourists take photos at the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary, on March 29, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists were scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Chinese tourists visit the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary, on March 29, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists were scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

Chinese tourists take photos at the Castle Hill in Budapest, Hungary, on March 29, 2023. Hungary welcomed its first group of Chinese tourists at the Budapest airport on Sunday after three years of COVID-19 pandemic-related hiatus. The group of 22 tourists were scheduled for a nine-day stay in Hungary. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)
MOSCOW, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Belarus on Monday inked 13 documents on integration between the two countries in the framework of their Union State.

The documents were signed in Moscow following a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State, which was chaired by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his Belarusian counterpart Roman Golovchenko.

In accordance with these pacts, Russia and Belarus will strengthen cooperation in the fields of space exploration, microelectronic technologies, border security, customs among others.

"Together we are stronger and able to jointly cope with the most complex challenges, with the tasks we face in a variety of areas -- from ensuring security to improving the well-being of our citizens and resisting external pressure," Mishustin said at the meeting.

"In our opinion, work should be intensified to deepen bilateral cooperation," Golovchenko responded. 
Canada imposes more sanctions on Iranian drone and missile manufactures 27 March, 11:17 PM Flag of Canada (Photo:ElasticComputeFarm / Pixabay)

Canada introduced its 10th package of sanctions against Iranian security officials and manufacturers of UAVs and ballistic missiles, Canadian Foreign Ministry said in a message on its website on March 27.

Todays sanctions list eight individuals and two entities, including senior officials in Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Law Enforcement Forces (LEF)for gross and systematic human rights violations in Tehran and in Kurdish and Azeri areas of northwestern Iranand senior officials involved in unmanned aerial vehicle and ballistic missile production in Iran, the message reads.

Video of day

The statement notes that high-ranking officials involved in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles in Iran fell under the restrictions.

The sanctioned entities support the Iranian regime by helping them disrupt and manipulate the online communications of those protesting the regime or by supplying the LEF with tactical equipment used in the brutal suppression of demonstrations, the ministry said.

Read also: EU will sanction Russia if it deploys nukes in Belarus

This list of sanctioned individuals includes:

 Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of IRGC forces in Tehran

 Gholamhossein Mohammadi Asl, commander of IRGC forces in Ardabil Province

 Abbas Nilforushan, Deputy Commander of IRGC Operations Command

 Abbas-Ali Mohammadian, Chief of Police in Tehran

 Ghassem Damavandian, senior executive, Qods Aviation Industries

 Nader Khoon Siavash, Director of Aerospace Industries Organization

 Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, a company that manufactures equipment for security forces

 Ravin Academy, a training institute that specializes in cyber-security

Canada imposed its previous sanctions package against Iran on Feb. 27.

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Ukraine calls UNSC meeting, China call still pending, exclusive with Mykolaiv mayor 27 March, 03:05 PM

Your slice of the top headlines in Ukraine. Daily. Monday, March 27, 2023.

Ukraine has called on the world community to take decisive measures to prevent the possibility of Russias use of nuclear weapons, Ukraines Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on March 26, a day after Russias announcement that it would deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.

Video of day

Archimandrite Dr. Cyril Hovorun, professor at University College Stockholm, speaks to Radio NV about what he expects to happen to Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) monks at Kyivs Pechersk Lavra when the UOC-MP lease expires.

Ukraines army has stabilized the situation in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, and while fighting continues to rage, it is now less intense, Ukrainian Armed Forces Eastern Group spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi reported on March 26.

Over 500 Melitopol residents are currently in Russian captivity as Russian occupation authorities conduct a rigorous filtration of civilians in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya Oblast, Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported on Telegram on March 26.

Hollywood star Orlando Bloom, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, shared his thoughts about his visit to Ukraine on Instagram on March 26.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, will return to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant this week to assess the serious nuclear safety situation and emphasize the need to protect the facility, the IAEA reported on March 26.

Czechia has been providing weapons to Ukraine since the first day of Russias full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Czech journalist Ondrej Soukup told Radio NV on March 24.

In 2022, the year of Russias full-scale invasion, the tourist tax amounted to UAH 178.9 million ($5.4 million), which is 24% less in hryvnias than in 2021, the press service of the State Agency for Tourism Development reported on March 23.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has communicated his interest in speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping through diplomatic channels, but no invitation for talks has been received from Beijing yet, the Japanese publication the Yomiuri Shim-bun reported on March 25.

Almost 40% of Ukrainians have relatives or acquaintances who were injured or killed in the war, according to the results of a poll conducted by the think tank Razumkov Centre from Feb. 22 to March 1, 2023.

Budapest will not support Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO be-cause of the country's education law, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after a meeting with UN Human Rights Assistant Secretary General Ilze Brands Kheris.

Russias elite 155th Marine Brigade has been destroyed and rebuilt eight times since the start of the full-scale war, the US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in their assessment on March 25.

Mykolaiv is one of the three regional centers of the Black Sea region of Ukraine. It was the city which stood in the way of the Russian invaders who tried to "cut through" the land corridor from Crimea to Transnistria. It took a huge amount of rocket fire. But this city of half a million people seems to be in the informational shadow of neighboring Kherson and Odesa.

French President Emmanuel Macron plans to visit China in early April, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, aiming to persuade Beijing into pressuring Moscow to end the war against Ukraine, Macron said at a press brief-ing on March 24, as reported by Politico.

The majority of Europeans support economic sanctions against Russia, as indicated bythe findings of an Eurobarometer survey organized by the European Commission, German news outlet Rheinische Post reported on March 24.

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The first "Black Panther" film celebrated an array of African cultures.

Costume designer Ruth Carter deliberately infused elements from across the continent in every scene. For example, the headdress worn by Queen Ramonda, played by Angela Bassett, was inspired by the isicholo, a South African hat traditionally associated with married women. And Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia wore clothing inspired by the Suri tribe.

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And so the film highlighted African cultures not by depicting them as fragile or foundering, but as paragons of artistry and sophistication.

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" explores these themes both in the way the mantle of Black Panther presumably passes to Princess Shuri, and in the depiction of Namor and the kingdom of Talokan.

While Talokan is an underwater society inspired by the myth of Atlantis, Marvel Studios has signaled that the people of Talokan sought refuge underwater in response to colonial invasion.

By invoking the complexities of this history  and seemingly leaning on parallels to Mayan culture  the film celebrates a society that scholarship has long noted for its achievements in architecture, mathematics, astronomy and language.

" " The costumes of Talokan soldiers were inspired by Mesoamerican culture. Marvel Studios

History books reference these accomplishments. But in popular culture, there's little attention given to this cultural landscape.

Namor and the kingdom he leads are poised to remind a global audience of the rich world of Mesoamerica that thrived  until European contact beginning in 1502 led to conquest, decline and eradication.

Today, immigration, trade and drug trafficking dominate discussions of Central America and Mexico in the U.S. media. This film, on the other hand, invites the viewer to appreciate the profound cultural legacy of Mexican and Central American civilizations.

Julian C. Chambliss is a professor of English at Michigan State University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.
Generous community investment in the Campaign for Concordia will advance programs initiated by the Office of Indigenous Directions and Career Management Services, John Molson School of Business

MONTREAL, March 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new community investment of $1.4 million from Scotiabank in the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen Now will help Indigenous and international students succeed through the Kaie:ri Nikawera:ke Indigenous Bridging Program and the Career Roadmap for International Student Excellence (C-RISE).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005452/en/

Concordia University, in Montreal, QC, has 51,000 students and 245,000 alumni. The university is also in the midst of its largest fundraiser, the Campaign for Concordia: Next-Gen Now. (Photo: Business Wire)

Kaie:ri Nikawera:ke  a Kanienkeha term which translates to "the four winds" or "the four directions"  is open to First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples who do not meet the standard admissions requirements to enter post-secondary education.

C-RISE, which offers a suite of resources through Career Management Services at the John Molson School of Business, was established as a platform for international students to forge successful careers in Canada after graduation.

"The diversity of our student population and our commitment to accessible, inclusive education are pivotal to making Concordia an innovative, next-gen university," says President and Vice-Chancellor Graham Carr. "This generous gift from Scotiabank speaks to those values by allowing us to create two exciting new pathways to success for our students.

"The Kaie:ri Nikawera:ke bridging program is perfectly aligned with the goals of our Indigenous Directions Action Plan to make university education responsive to the potential of Indigenous students. Similarly, C-RISE is also designed to support the distinctive needs of international students, who account for close to 25 per cent of our enrolment, enabling them to further enrich Concordia, Quebec and Canada through their achievements."

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"Helping youth access the support needed to fully participate in post-secondary education continues to be a key factor for successfully establishing and advancing themselves," says Maria Mangiocavallo, Scotiabanks Regional Vice-President, Commercial Banking, Quebec. "Aligned with our ScotiaRISE initiative, we are proud to partner with Concordia University to help overcome barriers to graduation and provide critical support for students to access career opportunities and plan for their futures."

Developed by the Office of Indigenous Directions, and supported by Concordias Student Success Centre and Otsenhakta Student Centre, the Indigenous Bridging Program will, as of the 2023 fall term, admit students who wish to complete a Bachelor of Engineering degree. New bridges to other STEM programs will soon follow.

The creation of the program was one of the steps outlined in Concordias Indigenous Directions Action Plan, which offers concrete guidelines on how to decolonize and indigenize the university.

Manon Tremblay, BA 03, senior director of Indigenous Directions at Concordia, says that a key objective of the action plan was to remove barriers to post-secondary education for Indigenous students.

"This is one of the needs that we identified as most pressing," says Tremblay. "Many potential students in our Indigenous communities just dont have access to the prerequisites they need to get into STEM. This is where we want the bridging program to change things."

Director of John Molsons Career Management Services, Louise Anne Cote says that C-RISE was also devised to meet a critical need.

"International students are such an important part of our community," says Cote. "They often require special supports to help them acclimate to a new city and country, and to lay the groundwork for life after graduation. Thats where a program like C-RISE comes in. Through seminars, workshops and mentorships, we want to give international students the tools to thrive professionally here in Canada."

Paul Chesser, BA 94, GrDip 97, vice-president of University Advancement, notes that more than 500 Concordia alumni are employed by Scotiabank: "We are extremely grateful for this major investment in the Campaign for Concordia by Scotiabank to support two programs that promise to make a lasting difference in the lives of our Indigenous and international students."

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000 employees and assets of over $1.3 trillion (as at January 31, 2023), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @Scotiabank.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005452/en/

Contacts

Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins

Director of communications, University Advancement

Concordia University

Tel: 514-848-2424, ext. 4977

Cell phone: 514-710-7819

Email: s-j.desjardins@concordia.ca
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There are many types of consumers shopping at Costco. Among them: Parents with large families, bulk deal seekers, doomsday stock shoppers and people who just want a $1.50 hot dog combo.

See: 9 Best New Items Available at Costco in March

Find: 3 Signs Youre Serious About Raising Your Credit Score

No matter where you fall on this spectrum, few can argue the $60 annual membership isnt worth the cost. As GOBankingRates previously reported, beyond just deals on food and household items, you benefit with car and travel perks, pharmacy discounts and even more economical gas.

While some may only shop at Costco once a month (all those bulk goods may not run out before then), there are some that go weekly. Either way, here are several items at the warehouse you might want to keep stocked at all times.

1. Toilet Paper

As we found out during the pandemic, good old-fashioned toilet paper is a huge commodity you never want to run out of, in good times or bad. If you have a big family, you know how quick those rolls can go. Costco has great deals on TP, as well as Kleenex and other bathroom essentials. Stock up with house brand Kirklands 30-roll mega pack of 2-ply sheets for $23.99.

2. Hint Bottled Water

Drinking the recommended eight glasses a day of water is so much more enjoyable when you do it with Hint. The lightly-flavored bottled water quenches thirst and keeps you hydrated every day with added great taste. A 15-count variety pack from Costco includes watermelon, blackberry and pineapple flavors; it costs $17.59, or just a bit over a dollar a bottle.

3. Protein Bars

Whether youre starting off the New Year with more resolutions to work out and need some fuel  or just want to prevent hunger attacks in your house  protein bars are a great food to keep on hand at all times. Costco sells a 24-count variety box of G2G bars in peanut butter, chocolate and coconut flavors for $49.99.

4. Olive Oil

Olive oil is the duct tape of household cooking. Its great for sauteeing vegetables, drizzling over bread and salads, lining pans and even has beauty uses  so you wont want to run out of it. Keep a healthy supply with two-liter bottles of Kirkland Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil going for just $19.49.

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5. Baguettes

Costco bakery goods are a real slice of heaven. There are full TikTok accounts devoted to these treasures that are loved for their high quality, great taste and length of freshness. For a baked good, you might want to stock up on, go for their extra long French baguettes: great for sandwiches, toast, breakfast treats like French toast and so much more. It comes in a 2-pack so you could always use one and freeze the other.

Take Our Poll: How Much Salary Would Buy You Happiness?

6. Cat Litter

Theres never too much cat litter in a house with one feline or five. When it comes to pet essentials, this is one of the big ones you really dont want to run out of. Stock up at Costco with a 42-pound box of Scoop Away Scented Litter for $22.99.

7. Workwear

Its not just food and household items you can get a great deal on at Costco. The warehouse is known for their quality clothing for the whole family, too. The one great kind of apparel they sell is workwear from trusted durable brands like Caterpillar. For anyone who works outside in all seasons, its paramount to have good work clothing on hand at all times. And Costco prices cant be beat  around $20 for Caterpillar jeans.

8. Pickles

Crisp and crunchy, pickles are great with a sandwich, salad or just as a snack. Costco helps you keep them on hand for every occasion with this cold and frozen box of individually wrapped Dilly Bites. Each bag is freshly packed without messy brine and has several bites-worth to enjoy. A box of 12 costs $11.99.

9. Veggie Burgers

Vegetarians and vegans might want to keep a good stock of non-meat options at home rather than feel famished when theres no veggie-based foods to choose from. A bulk box of Morning Star chipotle black bean burgers satisfies that need  each box has 12 inside and retails for $19.99.

10. Heinz Ketchup

If you have kids at home, you know they want ketchup on nearly everything: chicken nuggets, fries  perhaps even pasta. Rather than judge, you may want to oblige to keep the peace with this 3-packs from Heinz available at Costco for $11.99.

11. Ramen

This one might throw you back to college when you survived off Nissin Noodle Cups. Those same easy-to-make meals provide the same sustenance in a pinch now. Keep them at all times with a bulk box from Costco. The warehouse sells these in a 24-count box for $13.99.

12. Coffee

For anyone who cant do mornings until youve had coffee, Costco has bulk quantities of the needed caffeine. Available in ground packs, fresh beans and freeze-dried packs, one of the most convenient options are Keurig K-Cups. For $44.99, Costco has a box of 72 K-Cups of Starbucks hearty Sumatra brew thatll start the day off on the right foot.

Learn: Costco Memberships Are Going Up in 2023

Explore: Sams Club Drops Hot Dog Combo to $1.38, Undercutting Costco

13. Garbage Bags

It never fails  just when you need a new garbage bag, the box is empty. That wont happen as frequently if you stock up with box of house brand Kirklands 13-gallon Flex Tech bags (200 count) for $21.49. Thats a steal compared to paying $13 for a 60-bag box at another retailer, like Target.

Note: All prices listed above were current as of Mar. 23, 2023.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 13 Best Costco Items To Keep Stocked at All Times
Number of complaints filed in Cologne sex assaults now over 500

The number of cases reported to Cologne police following a night of mass sex assaults and thefts continued to rise sharply, with the latest official figures rising to 516 complaints from a previous 379.

GALLERY

German chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly butted heads with the Christian Social Unions leader, Horst Seehofer, over his proposal to allow a maximum of 200,000 migrants to enter Germany in 2016 - less than a fifth of the number that arrived the previous year.

Cologne, Germany (dpa) - Around 40 per cent of the complaints involve allegations of sexual assault, according to the police statement.It said that a 19-year-old Moroccan man had been arrested in connection with the New Years Eve attacks, which saw around 1,000 intoxicated men congregate in front of the western Germany citys main train station.The police are also looking into charges filed against 19 named suspects.Most of the perpetrators are reported to have been of North African or Arab appearance, sparking international debate over Germanys decision to allow over 1 million migrants into the country last year, with many concerned that some men among the arrivals may not adhere to Western values.Justice Minister Heiko Maas believes that the attacks were organized, according to comments in Sundays edition of the Bild newspaper."When such a horde meets to commit crimes, it seems to have been planned in some way. Nobody can tell me that it wasnt coordinated or pre-prepared," Maas was quoted in the popular tabloid as saying.Maas was also not prepared to rule out a connection between the Cologne attacks and those on women elsewhere in Germany.The wave of crimes in Cologne were mirrored in Hamburg on New Years Eve, where 108 complaints were filed, and to a much lesser extent in other cities.At the same time Maas warned people not to draw conclusions about how law-abiding migrants are from the attacks.But Maas warned people against drawing conclusions on crime based on race. "To infer from someones background that he is more likely to commit a crime or not I find to be risky," he said.Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to the tense debate on Saturday by promising tougher action against criminals of foreign nationality, including measures to revoke the right to claim asylum from people who break the law.The leader of the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Thomas Oppermann, said on Sunday the coalition partners should not descend into an "ideological row" over the issue.He said he was "confident that the demands by the SPD for more staff and video surveillance could be decided quickly.""We will also look impartially into whether we need to change the legal position," he added, a reference to Merkels proposals.
Aramco, one of the worlds leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, has joined forces with Linde Engineering, a global leader in the production and processing of gases, to develop a new ammonia cracking technology.

The collaboration between the two companies will see Linde Engineering and Aramcos experience and capabilities being utilised in industrial research and development, lower-carbon hydrogen, and ammonia cracking technology.

A potential differentiator of this new technology is the ammonia cracking catalyst, jointly developed by Aramco and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), which will be evaluated against other catalysts.

As per the agreement, Aramco and Linde Engineering will be building a demonstration plant in northern Germany to showcase this new ammonia cracking technology.

Linde Engineering said it aims to offer this ammonia cracking technology to current and new customers, creating new commercial opportunities within the global lower-carbon energy supply chain.

The emerging lower-carbon ammonia business may prove to be key in bridging the gap between a countrys domestic renewable energy production capacity and total energy demand, it stated.

Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Aramco, said: This agreement is part of our ongoing technology and business development efforts to establish a commercially viable lower-carbon hydrogen supply chain."

"We believe the advanced ammonia cracking technology we are co-developing with Linde Engineering will play a key role in realizing our objectives, he noted.

John van der Velden, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Technology at Linde Engineering, said: Effective ammonia cracking technology supports the worlds urgent need for decarbonization. By completing the missing link in the export chain, cleaner energy can be shipped from regions with high renewable and clean energy potential to those with more limited resources."

"We look forward to working closely with Aramco to develop and commercialize this important technology, creating new business opportunities for Linde Engineering and Aramco," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Extrapolate

The global condom market is experiencing remarkable growth, with a highly consolidated landscape dominated by four key players. Okamoto, Church & Dwight, Reckitt, and Ansell collectively hold over two-thirds of the market share, at 8%, 10%, 30%, and 14% respectively. This concentration of influence among the top players showcases their strong presence and influence within the booming industry.

Dubai, UAE, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the recent research report published by Extrapolate, the global Condom Market was valued at USD 9.65 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach a market sizing of USD 22.73 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of roughly 8.94% between 2023 and 2032 driven by increased awareness of sexual health and the need for contraception and protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

From late February through mid-April of 2021, condom sales saw a remarkable growth of 23.4% compared to the previous year. This growth was also reflected in the performance of leading brands in the industry. Durex, a popular condom brand, witnessed a 30% rise in sales in fiscal year 2021, with condoms accounting for 60% of the company's revenue, up from 49% the previous year. This increase is particularly noteworthy considering the 40% drop in global consumption. The growth can be attributed to the resilience of consumer demand for condoms, even during the challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic.

Get a Sample PDF of the Report @ https://www.extrapolate.com/sample/healthcare-medical-devices-biotechnology/condom-market/87458

Quality control and regulatory compliance are of utmost importance in the condom market. External condom (male condom) quality is strictly regulated to ensure the highest standards of safety and efficacy. Our studies have shown that consistent use of external condoms can reduce the risk of genital herpes by 30%.

The FDA has approved latex, polyurethane, and polyisoprene external condoms as effective means to reduce the risk of pregnancy and STIs. Approximately 4% of the general population has a latex allergy, making it crucial for manufacturers to provide alternatives like polyurethane and polyisoprene condoms to cater to this segment of consumers.

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Key Findings in Condom Market

Karex, a Malaysian prophylactic manufacturer, is a dominant player in the market, producing over 5.5 billion condoms annually and operating in 140 countries worldwide. The company also supplies other leading condom firms, including Durex. In the year ended June 2021, Karex experienced a 6% growth in sales, compared to a 4% increase in the previous year.

One such innovation came on February 23, 2022, when the FDA announced its acceptance of the request for ONE and myONE to become the first condom brands with a new anal use designation. This development highlights the industry's commitment to expanding the scope of condom usage and catering to various preferences and requirements.

Inquire Before Buying This Report @ https://www.extrapolate.com/enquire/healthcare-medical-devices-biotechnology/condom-market/87458



The global condom market is segmented as follows:

By Type

Latex

Non-Latex

By Product

Male Condom

Female Condom

By Distribution Channel

Merchandise

Drug & Pharmaceutical Store

Online Retail Stores

Others

Male Condom Dominates Market, and Continues to Be Majorly Purchased from Drug and Pharmaceutical Stores

Male condom is the most prevalent form of contraception globally, with their supply chains reaching localities using retail outlets such as drugstores and pharmacies. Several factors contribute to their market dominance, including affordability, ease of use, and widespread availability, which together make them an appealing and practical option for most individuals. As per NHS findings, the condom is 98% effective as a birth control medium. Apart from this, Cleveland Clinics study finds that condoms can reduce the chances of acquiring STIs by up to 80%.

The effectiveness of male condoms in preventing both pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) further bolsters their popularity among those seeking protection during sexual intercourse. harmacies typically offer a diverse selection of condom brands and varieties, encompassing both latex and non-latex alternatives, frequently at competitive prices.

This widespread availability allows individuals to discreetly purchase condoms without the necessity for a prescription or consultation with a healthcare professional. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 2.5 million drugstores and pharmacies worldwide, with the majority situated in urban areas. This extensive network of retail locations further solidifies the position of male condoms as a leading choice in contraceptive options.

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North America to Remain Prominent Market Share Holder Followed by Asia Pacific and Europe

North America holds a prominent share of the global condom market and is expected to remain the third-largest consumer of condoms worldwide. In 2021, the United States recorded nearly 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, which is more than double the number recorded two decades ago. This high incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) underscores the importance of safe sex practices and the use of condoms.

Condoms are a widely used method of contraception in North America. According to research, 60% of men and 56% of women in the United States use condoms as their sole method of contraception. This suggests that condoms are a popular choice for many people who want to avoid unintended pregnancies and STIs.

In addition to the high incidence of STIs in the United States, there are other factors driving the demand for condoms such as high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, the availability of over-the-counter condoms, and the general awareness of safe sex practices. These factors have contributed to the growth of the condom market in North America.

The North American condom market is highly competitive, with many major players operating in the region. These companies are constantly innovating and introducing new products to meet the changing needs of consumers. Some of the major players in the North American condom market include Trojan, Durex, LifeStyles, and Okamoto.

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Competitive landscape: Top 4 Players Contribute More than 60% of Revenue to Global Condom Market

The global condom market is dominated by a few major players, which makes it a highly consolidated market. These players have established their brand names and hold significant market shares. Karex, a Malaysian company, claims to be the largest condom manufacturer globally. While most of its production is on behalf of branded manufacturers or market tenders, the company's brand position is strategically placed.

Reckitt is one of the leading players in the market, with a 30% market share. The company has a strong presence in various regions and offers a wide range of products, including Durex condoms.

Ansell, with a 14% market share, is another major player in the market. The company has a significant presence in the healthcare industry and offers various personal protective equipment products, including condoms.

Church & Dwight is a leading player in the North American market, with its Trojan brand holding over 75% of the market share across the US and Canada. However, the company has limited international exposure, which can be both positive and negative. While this strategy avoids anti-trust issues, it also limits its potential for cost synergies and international growth.

Okamoto is another major player in the market, holding an 8% market share. The company has a strong presence in Asia and offers a wide range of condoms, including ultra-thin condoms.

Browse Complete TOC: https://www.extrapolate.com/toc/healthcare-medical-devices-biotechnology/condom-market/87458

Major Points from TOC:

Chapter 1. Executive Summary

Chapter 2. Research Methodology

Chapter 3. Market Outlook

Chapter 4. COVID-19 Impact on Condom Market

Chapter 5. Global Condom Market Overview, By Type, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 6. Global Condom Market Overview, By Product, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 7. Global Condom Market Overview, By Distribution Channel, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 8. Global Condom Market Overview, By Geography, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 9. North America Condom Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 10. Europe Condom Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 11. Asia Pacific Condom Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 12. Middle East & Africa Condom Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 13. South America Condom Market Overview, By Countries, 2018 - 2032 (USD Million)

Chapter 14. Competitive Landscape

Chapter 15. Key Vendor Analysis

Chapter 16. Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 17. Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 18. Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 19. Future Outlook of the Market

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Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "5G NR Benchmark Study Vol 31: This is a Job for HPUE!" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

For this report, a collaboration with Accuver Americas and Spirent Communications to conduct an independent benchmark study of a PC 1.5 (power class 29 dBm) versus a PC 2 (26 dBm) capable smartphone.

Highlights of the Report include the following:



Acknowledgements

This study was conducted in collaboration with Accuver Americas (XCAL5 and XCAP) and Spirent Communications (Umetrix Data). The publisher is responsible for the data collection and all analysis and commentary provided in this report.

Background

At 3GPP RAN#78 back in December 2017, a few companies proposed a higher-class power amplifier (29 dBm) for certain LTE and 5G mid-band frequencies to offset the coverage challenges associated with the higher frequency TDD spectrum. Five years later, this proposal is finally becoming a commercial reality. The publisher has already tested PC 2 versus PC 3 in an earlier report so it was only natural for us to take on this topic.

Methodology

Testing took place on the T-Mobile network (Band n41) in and around Laguna Beach, CA. The publisher used 2 largely identical Motorola edge (2022) smartphones with the only difference being one phone supported PC 1.5 and one phone supported PC 2. The publisher did downlink and uplink tests, stationary and mobile, as well as individual versus parallel tests. T-Mobile only provided logistical support, including the provisioned phones.

The Results

As expected, the PC 1.5-enabled smartphone had higher downlink throughput in RF challenged areas, and it provided better coverage, higher uplink MCS values, used more PUSCH resource blocks, and made better use of UL-MIMO and UL-256QAM than the PC 2-enabled smartphone. The publisher quantifies the differences in the report.

UL-256QAM and UL-MIMO Revisited

We remind readers how these two critical features can provide much higher throughput/spectral efficiency than smartphones with only UL-64QAM and a single uplink layer. PC 1.5 enhances how frequently these two features are used. The publisher also compares the Motorola edge (2022) smartphone's uplink performance with a best-in-class smartphone that only supported UL-256QAM.

Story continues

UL-MU-MIMO

Not to confuse readers, but when testing single-user UL-MIMO we discovered uplink Mulit-user MIMO in which the network supported up to four smartphones, each capable of concurrently using all possible uplink RBs with certain caveats. The publisher didn't quantify its benefits, but plans to do so in an upcoming report.

Key Topics Covered:

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Key Observations

3.0 Detailed Results and Analysis

4.0 Test Methodology

5.0 Final Thoughts

Companies Mentioned

Motorola

Accuver Americas

Spirent Communications (Umetrix Data)

T-Mobile

Samsung

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Industry Research

Pune, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Futsal Market research report 2023 is a factual overview and in-depth study on the current and future market of the Futsal industry. The Futsal Market report provides supreme data, such as development strategy, competitive landscape, environment, opportunities, risk, challenges, and barriers, value chain optimization, contact and income information, technological advancement, product offerings of key players, and the dynamic structure of the market. The Futsal market report provides growth rate, recent trends and absolute study of prime players at intervals the market by the weightlessness of their product description, business outline, and business tactic.

The global Futsal market size was valued at USD 323.17 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 13.99% during the forecast period, reaching USD 708.86 million by 2027.



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Moreover, the research report gives detailed data about the major factors influencing the growth of the Futsal market at the national and local level forecast of the market size, in terms of value, market share by region, and segment, regional market positions, segment and country opportunities for growth, Key company profiles, SWOT, product portfolio and growth strategies.

Covid-19 Impact On Futsal Industry:

The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the Futsal Market. With the industries. Major companies have suspended their operations in different locations due to the lockdown and social distancing norms. Post pandemic, the industry expects a lot of requirements and demand owing to the rapid urbanization and growing need for wise use of area present.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Global Market Conditions and Competitors: - In this report, analysts compile existing research on COVID-19, share key insights, and help the reader to spot new market opportunities related to the pandemic. Topics include product development pipelines, diagnostic testing approaches, vaccine development programs, regulatory approvals, and much more.

Story continues

Get a Sample Copy of the Futsal Market Research Report 2023

This report gives a detailed description of all the factors influencing the growth of these market players as well as profiles of their companies, their product portfolios, marketing strategies, technology integrations, and more information about these market players. Some of the major players are as follows:

The Major Key Players Listed in Futsal Market Report are:

Munich

Kelme

Diadora

Lotto Sport Italia

Nike

Adidas

PUMA

New Balance

Umbro

Mizuno

JOMA

Global Futsal Market: Drivers and Restraints

The research report has incorporated the analysis of different factors that augment the markets growth. It constitutes trends, restraints, and drivers that transform the market in either a positive or negative manner. This section also provides the scope of different segments and applications that can potentially influence the market in the future. The detailed information is based on current trends and historic milestones. This section also provides an analysis of the volume of production in the global market and of each type.

A thorough evaluation of the restrains included in the report portrays the contrast to drivers and gives room for strategic planning. Factors that overshadow the market growth are pivotal as they can be understood to devise different bends for getting hold of the lucrative opportunities that are present in the ever-growing market. Additionally, insights into market experts opinions have been taken to understand the market better.

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On the whole, the report proves to be an effective tool that players can use to gain a competitive edge over their competitors and ensure lasting success in the global Futsal market. All of the findings, data, and information provided in the report are validated and revalidated with the help of trustworthy sources. The analysts who authored the report took a unique and industry-best research and analysis approach for an in-depth study of the global Futsal market.

Global Futsal Market: Segment Analysis

The research report includes specific segments by region (country), company, Type and Application. This study provides information about the sales and revenue during the historic and forecasted period. Understanding the segments helps in identifying the importance of different factors that aid the market growth.

By Types:

Shoes

Balls

By Application:

Online

Offline

Geographic Segment Covered in the Report:

The Futsal report provides information about the market area, which is further subdivided into sub-regions and countries/regions. In addition to the market share in each country and sub-region, this chapter of this report also contains information on profit opportunities. This chapter of the report mentions the market share and growth rate of each region, country and sub-region during the estimated period.

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

South America

Middle East and Africa

The study Objectives of this report are:

To study and analyse the global Futsal market size (value and volume) by company, key regions/countries, products and application, history data and forecast.

To understand the structure of Futsal market by identifying its various sub-segments.

To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).

Focuses on the key global Futsal manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in the next few years.

To analyse the Futsal with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.

To project the value and volume of Futsal submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).

To analyse competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.

To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.

This Futsal Market Research/Analysis Report Contains Answers to the following Questions

What developments are going on in that technology? Which trends are causing these developments?

Who are the global key players in this Futsal market? What are their company profiles, their product information, and contact information?

What was the global market status of Futsal market?

What is the current market status of Futsal industry? Whats market competition in this industry, both company, and country-wise? Whats the market analysis of Futsal market by taking applications and types in consideration?

What will be the estimation of cost and profit?

What is the economic impact on Futsal industry? What are global macroeconomic environment analysis results? What are global macroeconomic environment development trends?

What are the market dynamics of Futsal market? What are the challenges and opportunities?

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Detailed TOC of Global Futsal Market Report 2023

1 Futsal Market Overview

1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Futsal Market

1.2 Futsal Market Segment by Type

1.2.1 Global Futsal Market Sales Volume and CAGR Comparison by Type (2017-2027)

1.3 Global Futsal Market Segment by Application

1.3.1 Futsal Market Consumption (Sales Volume) Comparison by Application (2017-2027)

1.4 Global Futsal Market, Region Wise (2017-2027)

1.4.1 Global Futsal Market Size (Revenue) and CAGR Comparison by Region (2017-2027)

1.4.2 United States Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.3 Europe Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.4 China Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.5 Japan Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.6 India Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.7 Southeast Asia Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.8 Latin America Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.4.9 Middle East and Africa Futsal Market Status and Prospect (2017-2027)

1.5 Global Market Size of Futsal (2017-2027)

1.5.1 Global Futsal Market Revenue Status and Outlook (2017-2027)

1.5.2 Global Futsal Market Sales Volume Status and Outlook (2017-2027)

1.6 Global Macroeconomic Analysis

1.7 The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the Futsal Market



2 Industry Outlook

2.1 Futsal Industry Technology Status and Trends

2.2 Industry Entry Barriers

2.2.1 Analysis of Financial Barriers

2.2.2 Analysis of Technical Barriers

2.2.3 Analysis of Talent Barriers

2.2.4 Analysis of Brand Barrier

2.3 Futsal Market Drivers Analysis

2.4 Futsal Market Challenges Analysis

2.5 Emerging Market Trends

2.6 Consumer Preference Analysis

2.7 Futsal Industry Development Trends under COVID-19 Outbreak

2.7.1 Global COVID-19 Status Overview

2.7.2 Influence of COVID-19 Outbreak on Futsal Industry Development



3 Global Futsal Market Landscape by Player

Continued.

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The market is changing rapidly with the ongoing expansion of the industry. Advancement in technology has provided todays businesses with multifaceted advantages resulting in daily economic shifts. Thus, it is very important for a company to comprehend the patterns of the market movements in order to strategize better. An efficient strategy offers the companies a head start in planning and an edge over the competitors. Industry Research is a credible source for gaining the market reports that will provide you with the lead your business needs.

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Global Graphene Electronics Market

Global Graphene Electronics Market

Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Graphene Electronics Market By Product, By Industry Vertical: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Global Graphene Electronics Market,' the global graphene electronics market was valued at $270.82 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $5.2 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 34.2% from 2022 to 2031.



Key factors driving the growth of the graphene electronics market include the rise in government initiatives to expand or upgrade transmission & distribution systems paired with the surge in demand for electric vehicle economies. The graphene electronics market witnesses several R&D activities, endeavoring to develop improved products such as high-storage graphene super-capacitors, Moldable graphene batteries, graphene-based solar cell panels, and more.

There have been struggles in the market to develop energy storage solutions such as batteries and capacitors that can keep up with the current rate of electronic component evolution. Therefore, growing awareness regarding graphene electronics solutions is propelling the demand for cable joints.



The market also offers growth opportunities to the key players in the market. Emerging economies such as China, India, and Brazil are engaged in investments on next-generation semiconductor solutions of remote and rural areas. An increase in demand for consumer electronics solutions and a surge in urbanization are the primary factors that increase the need for electrification, which fuels the demand for power grid infrastructure in these countries, thereby providing growth opportunities for the stakeholders in the coming years.



The key players profiled in the study include Talga Group, Versarien PLC, Graphenea, First Graphene, and Graphene Platform Corporation. The players in the market have been actively engaged in the adoption of various Strategies such as acquisition, product development, partnership, product launch, and expansion to remain competitive and gain an advantage over the competitors in the market.

Story continues

For instance, In June 2021, Haydale Graphene Industries plc announced that Haydale Technologies (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. ('HTW') signed a supply agreement for specific graphene-based and other specialty inks to Graphene Platform Corp ('GPC'), Tokyo, Japan. Further, the GPC will brand the inks as GP Graphene Ink", which will be specifically targeted to the printed electronics market primarily in Japan, but with the potential to target other Asian countries where there is also a significant market.



Key Market Insights



By product, the batteries segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market and is estimated to reach $1.73 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of 35.7%. However, the ICs and chips segment is estimated to be the fastest-growing segment with a CAGR of 33.2% during the forecast period.



By industry vertical, the automotive segment was the highest revenue contributor to the market, with $95.8 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $1.99 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of 35.2%.



Based on region, Asia-Pacific was the highest revenue contributor, accounting for $94.8 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $2.06 billion by 2031, with a CAGR of 35.8%.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 301 Forecast Period 2021 - 2031 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2021 $270.8 million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2031 $5200 million Compound Annual Growth Rate 34.4% Regions Covered Global

Key Market Players

AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V.

Graphene Frontiers LLC

Graphenea

Talga Group

NanoXplore Inc.

Versarien plc

Graphene Platform Corporation

Graphene Square, Inc.

First Graphene

Grafen Chemical Industries Co. Ltd

Market dynamics

Drivers

The rise in sales of electric vehicles

Thriving portable electronics industry

Superior Performance & Functionalities

Restraints

High cost and Lack of awareness of graphene technology

Opportunities

Rise in government investments in R&D

Key Market Segments

By Industry Vertical

Consumer Electronics

Automotive

Healthcare

Industrial Robotics

Aerospace and Defense

By Product

Display

Memories

Batteries

Solar Cell

Integrated Circuits and Chips

By Region

North America

U.S.

Canada

Mexico

Europe

UK

Germany

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

Australia

Rest of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Latin America

Middle East

Africa

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/kpwrib

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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The Brainy Insights

Increasing commercial aircraft deliveries, growing unit load device fleet size, increased need for lightweight unit load devices, and technological advances are some of the primary factors driving the air freight unit load device market growth. North America emerged as the most significant global air freight unit load device market, with a 37.90% market revenue share in 2022.

Newark, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the USD 390.5 million air freight unit load device market will reach USD 692.7 million by 2032. A Unit Load Device is a cargo container or pallets expressly intended to load luggage, mail, and freight onto aircraft. The gadgets allow enormous cargo to be securely fastened onto a single mobile unit for secure and safe transportation. Increasing demand for industrial exports and greater penetration of innovative technologies in the value chain boost the market share of air freight unit load devices. The increasing demand for transporting goods from one place to another in a short period increases the need for air freight unit load devices. Most online shopping platforms offer single-day delivery of products, which is only possible with the help of air freight unit load devices, adding impetus to the markets growth.



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North America to account for the largest market size during the forecast period.



North America is expected to have the most significant air freight unit load device market share. Growth in E-commerce logistics and the increasing urbanisation trends are expected to drive the markets growth in the region. Furthermore, the technological advancement in aircraft and the replacement of aged aircraft with modern, lightweight, fuel-efficient ones that comply with environmental standards help propel the markets growth in the region.



Containers dominated the market with the most significant market revenue of USD 233 million.



Story continues

Containers dominated the market with the most significant revenue of USD 233 million. Containers are classified according to their use, such as refrigerated, lateral opening, ventilated, and airtight. This makes it possible to safely carry and transport any product from one place to another. The wide range of containers for the transportation of goods safely will boost the segments growth during the forecast period.



Composites accounted for the largest share of the market, with market revenue of USD 154.6 million.



Composites accounted for the largest share of the market, with market revenue of USD 154.6 million. A composite is a compound of two or more different substances that are more powerful when combined than when used separately. Composites are being used in various industries, including aerospace & defence, as they increase the longevity and durability of products.



Advancement in Market



 In August 2022, Jettainer was awarded a contract to supply ULD management services by Norse Atlantic Airlines, a new Norwegian airline. Since its inaugural flight in June 2022, Jettainer has given the airline a tailored and specialised fleet of pallets and containers.



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Market Dynamics



Drivers: Widespread Reach



The largest benefit of air freight is its extensive global reach. Every nation has an airport, allowing people to ship goods and packages anywhere in the globe. As opposed to other cargo routes like roads and ships, which have their own restrictions on the route, air freight has no such roadblocks because the transit path is clear.



Restraint: Changing weather Conditions



Weather conditions significantly impact air travel, making it risky and unpredictable. Flights are frequently cancelled due to fog, heavy rain, and snow. Most often, the air freight cargo gets withdrawn during the rainy and winter seasons to avoid any accidents and mishappenings, thus restraining the markets growth during that particular season.



Opportunity: Rising Demand from Healthcare Industry



As the healthcare sector is on rise the air transportation is rising due to the excessive use of drugs for the treatment. Several drugs need to be transported in a particular period of time so the cargo transport is best for this task. Also, in heart transplant surgeries the heart needs to be transported in 3-4 hours and for this air cargo is utilised, all these providing growth opportunities for the market during the forecast period.



Challenge: Presence of Alternative



Due to the high cost of cargo other transportation are widely accepted. Furthermore, due to faster urbanisation and rising disposable income is expected to challenge the markets growth during the forecast period.



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Some of the major players operating in the air freight unit load device market are:



 Safran Cabin (Zodiac AirCargo Equipment)

 DokaSch GmbH

 VRR Aviation

 Nordisk Aviation Products

 Satco Inc.

 Brambles group

 Cargo Composite

 Dokasch GmbH

 Envirotainer AB

 Palnet GmbH Air Cargo products

Report Metric Details



Report Metric Details Revenue forecast in 2032 USD 692.7 Million Growth Rate CAGR of 5.9% from 2023 to 2032 Base Year 2022 Study Period 2023-2032 Key Market Opportunities Rising Demand of Air Cargo for Perishable Items Key Market Drivers High Speed of air freight

Key Segments cover in the market:



By Device Type:



 Pallets

 Containers



By Material Type:



 Metals

 Composites

 Others



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About the report:



The global air freight unit load device market is analyzed based on value (USD million). All the segments have been analyzed on a worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report offers an in-depth analysis of driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining critical insight into the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, raw material analysis, supply, demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.



About The Brainy Insights:



The Brainy Insights is a market research company that provides actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. They have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the client's objectives of high-quality output within a short period. They provide both customized (client-specific) and syndicate reports. Their repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Their customized solutions meet the client's requirements whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.



Contact Us



Avinash D

Head of Business Development

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(Bloomberg) -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. surged as much as 5.5% before relinquishing all gains in Hong Kong, after news emerged that billionaire co-founder Jack Ma had returned to his home country after more than a year abroad.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The co-founder of Alibaba and fintech affiliate Ant Group Co. visited a school he founded in his hometown of Hangzhou, according to an official WeChat post by the institution. Ma met with teachers and students at a private school he helped establish in 2017, discussing issues from education to ChatGPT AI technology, the South China Morning Post reported earlier. Alibabas shares ended Monday largely unchanged.

Ma, one of Chinas most recognizable business leaders, all but disappeared from public life after critiquing Chinese regulators in a 2020 public speech in Shanghai.

Read more: Jack Mas Self-Exile Undercuts Chinas Pitch to Private Business

In the years since, the government has cracked down on sectors from real estate to the internet and online education. While Beijing has said it would support the private sector to revive the economy, the global business community remains skeptical of the Chinese governments commitment to enterprise that isnt state-owned.

But as President Xi Jinping consolidates power and refocuses his attention on the economy, the countrys new leadership team wants to develop a business-friendly image.

Chinese authorities made attempts to persuade Ma  who has been traveling outside the mainland  to return and help showcase government support for the business community, Bloomberg News reported. But Ma had chosen to stay overseas, saying he has retreated from his companies to focus on researching agriculture technology, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

Story continues

Jack Ma showing up in Hangzhou after more than a year away from China should be positive for market sentiment, said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. Some investors may take it as a sign of further regulatory normalization for the tech companies.

--With assistance from Lulu Yilun Chen and Lin Zhu.

(Updates with share action from the first paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Market.Us

According to Market.us, the global alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency augmentation therapy market growth is driven by the increase in the prevalence of Genetic and Respiratory diseases and modern advances in technology and diagnostic tools.

New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency augmentation therapy market size accounted for USD 1,413 million in 2022 and growth is estimated to accelerate at a CAGR of 6.1%, registering an incremental revenue of USD 2517 million by 2032. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency can be described as an inherited condition that results in a low or unpredicted level of alpha-1 proteins synthesized by the liver. It frequently remains undiagnosed and affects the lungs & liver, which can lead to pulmonary diseases.

global-alpha-1-antitrypsin-deficiency-augmentation-therapy-market

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Key Takeaway:

By type , the Prolastin C segment is expected to grow fastest during the forecast period of 2023 to 2032.

By end-user , the hospital segment dominates the market because of the emergence of multispecialty care in many countries.

In 2022, North America dominated the global AATD augmentation therapy market with the highest revenue share of 41%.

Between 2023-2032, the increasing population in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to help the market's growth.

Patients with AATD need to be treated daily. For this reason, augmentation therapy is the best option. In addition, several pharmaceutical companies are conducting research on new and existing molecules, which is expected to drive the market's growth positively.

Factors affecting the growth of the AATD augmentation therapy market

Several factors can affect the growth of the AATD augmentation therapy market. Some of these factors include:

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Increasing genetic disorders: The prevalence of genetic disorders in the new born is increasing worldwide, which will boost the demand for AATD augmentation therapy and will help the market growth positively.

Disease management: AATD augmentation therapy offers many health benefits like preventing lung destruction, correcting the deficiency, etc. Care givers are adopting this therapy to manage the disease in patients, which will boost the market growth during the forecast period.

Research and development: Manufacturers and researchers are trying to find more flexible ways to treat patients with AATD; this is expected to affect the market's growth positively.

Technological advancements: Modern advances in technology and diagnostic tools for genetic diseases have made it possible to diagnose and treat AATD with remarkable success.

Modifications in the healthcare sector: The increasing number of hospitals, improvement of their infrastructures, and adoption of noble ways to treat patients with AATD will positively contribute to the market's growth.

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Top Trends in Global AATD Augmentation Therapy Market

During the forecast period, the market for AATD augmentation therapy is expected to grow due to increased investment in R&D and the development of capable pipeline products. Recently, 80 new molecules, including inhalation therapy, have been tested in clinical trials for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiencies treatment.

The key players are keen to gain knowledge about the market dynamics and competitive landscape regarding recent & upcoming developments, AATD prevalence by major countries, and regulatory scenarios for major markets.

Market Growth

The wide variety of risks and comorbidities associated with AATD is a crucial factor that significantly impacts the growth of the alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiencies (AATD) augmentation therapy market. Other lifestyle factors, such as smoking and alcohol intake can also directly impact severe outcomes in AATD patients. The market for alpha-1 antitrypsin (AATD) augmentation therapy will benefit from the progressive risk to life and lung health.

Regional Analysis

North America dominates the global alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) augmentation therapy market and will continue to hold this position during the forecast period. North America's dominance is due to the increasing prevalence of AATD in the United States and Canada and the strategic presence of key companies in the region.

Awareness programs that focus on the diagnosis and treatment of AATD in each region are key to the success, which will increase the market growth over the forecast period.

Changes in regulations and factors at country level are going to affect the market's future and ongoing trends. The key points that can predict different countries' market scenarios include country demographics, reimburse scenarios, new drug approval, and disease epidemiology.

Asia Pacific market growth is mainly due to the rising birth rate in developing countries. The government initiatives in the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders and critical illnesses is helping the Asia Pacific market to grow at a substantial CAGR. This is expected to generate a substantial opportunity for market players during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

Many market players are involved in developing new augmentation therapy, analysis of market scenarios, and increased investment in research and development. To create a competitive environment, many key players are collaborating, modifying technology, improving diagnostic techniques & treatment methods, and launching new products. Market growth is further stimulated by the rising prevalence of respiratory diseases and increased investments made by major players.

S.A. Kamada Ltd., Grifols S.A., Shire plc (Baxalta), Teva Pharma industries ltd., and CSL Limited are the key players in the market and contributed the major revenue share in the market. Grifols S.A. is the largest shareholder in AATD augmentation therapy market owing to the sales of Prolastic C. It is expected that Grifols will remain top player during the forecast period. As the governments of major markets involved in the expansion and maintenance of AATD augmentation therapy, more players are expected to enter in AATD augmentation therapy market. These developments are likely to drive the growth of AATD augmentation therapy market.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 1,413 Million Market Size (2032) USD 2,517 Million CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 6.1% North America Revenue Share 41% Europe Revenue Share 27% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

Severe AATD is the leading cause that require hospital treatment. Many treatment options are available for AATD patients, including bronchodilators, proteinase inhibitors, oxygen therapy, and corticosteroids. But, augmentation therapy is most preferred in AATD patients because of its low mortality rate, which is a key driver for the market growth.

Other factors that drive the market growth include awareness programs by governments and key players, improved diagnostic tools, and an increase in improved facilities in the hospitals.

Augmentation therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing mortality rates in patients with AATD. It also offers health benefits like prevention of lung destruction, the elevation of A1AT plasma and lung interstititis, correction of deficiencies, as well as a well-proven safety profile and efficacy profile.

Modification and reduction of side effects for augmentation therapy in AATD patients is expected to augment the market growth.

Market Restraints

Augmentation therapy can also be called replacement therapy. Augmentation therapy can only slow down the progression of lung disease but cannot cure it permanently. It is not possible to reverse the lung damage during the treatment. An intravenous catheter is used to administer IV AAT. This procedure is usually done once per week for a lifetime. This repeated insertion of needles and catheters can cause damage to the veins. However, it can be avoided by taking proper care and under supervision of a qualified and experienced healthcare giver.

Market Opportunities

Augmentation therapy involves the administration of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) from a healthy donors to AATD patients. This procedure increase the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin level in patients with emphysema or severe AATD. However there is unmet need in emerging countries which makes augmentation therapy a profitable and lucrative option and creates many opportunities for new market players to enter.

A growing awareness of augmentation therapy, new drug developments, the innovation of new diagnostic methods, and involvement by private and public authorities are increasing the opportunities for market players to concentrate on this market.

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Report Segmentation of the AATD Augmentation Therapy Market

Type Insight

Based on type, the segments of augmentation therapy include Prolastin C, Aralast NP, Glassia, and Zemaira/Respreeza. Prolastin C accounted for the largest market share over the forecast period. It is expected to continue to be a dominant product over the next few years.

Respreeza has been approved by European regulatory authorities and is expected to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period.

Glassia is the most common medicine used in adults suffering from emphysema (lung diseases) due to Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AAT). It is given intravenously at room temperature at a rate not to exceed 0.2mL/kg.

Aralast NP is also used to treat adults with emphysema and is synthesized from Human Alpha-1 Protease Inhibitor.

Prolastin C and Glassia are two of the most popular treatment options for AATD augmentation therapy. This positively drives the growth of the global alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency augmentation therapy market.

End-User Insight

The global alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency augmentation therapy market can be divided into three segments based on end-user: hospitals, specialty clinics, and others. The hospital segment holds the largest market share. Hospitals are the most preferred for the treatment of AATD in developing countries. This is due to the advent of multispecialty healthcare in different countries and growing investments by private and public players in the healthcare sector.

The AATD augmentation market's hospital segment is growing due to the availability of better and complete care of patients compare to other healthcare facilities..

As the number of congenital disorders is increasing, pharmacies must ensure that medicines are available for AATD. This is expected to result in higher revenue during the forecast period for the pharmacy segment.

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Market Segmentation

By Product Type

Prolastin C

Aralast NP

Glassia

Zemaira/Respreeza

By End-User

Hospitals

Specialty Clinics

Others

By Geography

North America The US Canada Mexico

Western Europe Germany France The UK Spain Italy Portugal Ireland Austria Switzerland Benelux Nordic Rest of Western Europe

Eastern Europe Russia Poland The Czech Republic Greece Rest of Eastern Europe

APAC China Japan South Korea India Australia & New Zealand Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam Rest of APAC

Latin America Brazil Colombia Chile Argentina Costa Rica Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa Algeria Egypt Israel Kuwait Nigeria Saudi Arabia South Africa Turkey United Arab Emirates Rest of MEA



Key Market Players

Grifols, S.A.

Kamada Pharmaceuticals

CSL Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ltd.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC

Arrowhead Pharmaceutical, Inc.

LFB Biomedicaments S.A.

Mereo BioPharma Group plc

Intellia Therapeutics, Inc.

Inhibrx, Inc.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals

Krystal Biotech

Beam Therapeutics

LogicBio Therapeutics, Inc.

Apic Bio

Pfizer Inc.

Other Key Players

Recent Development of the AATD Augmentation Therapy Market

Grifols S.A. launched Alfacare in November 2018. This therapy program provides training and counseling to patients with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. It was observed that the patients with AATD were able to adopt new lifestyles and manage their disease better.

Kamada Pharmaceuticals was approved for glassia, an AATD drug for self-infusion, in June 2016. This allows patients to administer their own drugs.

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Visiongain Reports Ltd

Visiongain has published a new report entitled Anti-Drone 2023-2033. It includes profiles of Anti-Drone and Forecasts Market Segment by Application (Detection, Tracking and Identification, Interdiction) Market Segment by Technology (Electronic System, Laser System, Kinetic System) Market Segment by Platform (Ground-based: Fixed, Ground-based: Mobile, Hand-Held, UAV-based) Market Segment by End-User (Military & Defense, Critical Infrastructure, Commercial & Institutional, Homeland Security, Other End-User) plus COVID-19 Impact Analysis and Recovery Pattern Analysis (V-shaped, W-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped), Profiles of Leading Companies, Region and Country.



The global anti-drone market was valued at US$614 million in 2022 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.1% during the forecast period 2023-2033.

The Increasing Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Or Drones, Has Led to a Growing Need for Anti-Drone Systems

The increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, has led to a growing need for anti-drone systems, which are designed to detect, identify, and neutralize unauthorized drones. The anti-drone market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by factors such as rising security concerns, increasing drone usage, and technological advancements in anti-drone systems. However, there are also some challenges and restraints that must be overcome to fully realize the potential of anti-drone technology.

One of the driving factors behind the growth of the anti-drone market is rising security concerns. As drones become more accessible and affordable, there is a growing risk of unauthorized drone incursions in sensitive areas such as airports, government buildings, and military installations. This has led to a growing demand for anti-drone systems that can detect and mitigate such threats before they can cause harm.

Another factor driving the growth of the anti-drone market is the increasing usage of drones in various industries, such as agriculture, construction, and logistics. While drones have many beneficial applications, their usage can also pose a risk to safety, privacy, and security. As a result, companies are seeking ways to protect their assets and personnel from unauthorized drone incursions, which has led to a growing demand for anti-drone systems.

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How has COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the Anti-Drone Market?

The pandemic has highlighted the need for anti-drone technology, especially in the healthcare industry. With the rise of drone deliveries for medical supplies and the potential misuse of drones for unauthorized surveillance, the demand for anti-drone technology has increased.

Furthermore, the pandemic has also led to an increase in the adoption of remote work, which has resulted in an increased focus on the development of remote anti-drone systems. These systems enable users to detect and track drones from a remote location, reducing the need for physical presence and minimizing the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

One area where anti-drone technology has seen increased demand is in the protection of critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, airports, and government buildings. With the pandemic leading to increased concern about the security of these facilities, the use of anti-drone technology has become more important than ever. This has led to increased investment in anti-drone technology by governments and businesses around the world.

The pandemic has also led to increased use of drones for delivery and other purposes. While this has created new opportunities for the drone industry, it has also raised concerns about the potential for drones to be used for illegal activities, such as smuggling and espionage. As a result, the demand for anti-drone technology has increased, particularly in the area of drone detection and tracking.

How will this Report Benefit you?

Visiongains 290-page report provides 110 tables and 149 charts/graphs. Our new study is suitable for anyone requiring commercial, in-depth analyses for the global anti-drone market, along with detailed segment analysis in the market. Our new study will help you evaluate the overall global and regional market for Anti-Drone. Get financial analysis of the overall market and different segments including application, platform, technology, end-user, and company size and capture higher market share. We believe that there are strong opportunities in this fast-growing anti-drone market. See how to use the existing and upcoming opportunities in this market to gain revenue benefits in the near future. Moreover, the report will help you to improve your strategic decision-making, allowing you to frame growth strategies, reinforce the analysis of other market players, and maximise the productivity of the company.

What are the Current Market Drivers?

Anti-Drone Technology of Modern Military Defence Strategies

Anti-drone technology is increasingly being used in military defence to protect against enemy drones, which can pose a variety of threats on the battlefield. Drones can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and even weapon delivery, making them a potentially deadly threat to military personnel and infrastructure.

To counter these threats, militaries are deploying a range of anti-drone technology, including electronic countermeasures, drone detection systems, and physical barriers. Electronic countermeasures can disrupt a drone's communication or GPS signals, causing it to lose control or return to its point of origin. These countermeasures can be deployed from the ground, from vehicles, or from other drones.

Drone detection systems use various sensors, such as radar or cameras, to detect and locate drones, allowing military personnel to take appropriate action. Once a drone is detected, it can be targeted by electronic countermeasures or other defensive measures, such as small arms fire or surface-to-air missiles.

Growing Demand for Anti-Drone Technology in Critical Infrastructure Protection

Critical infrastructure refers to the facilities, systems, and networks that are essential to the functioning of society and the economy. These include airports, power plants, water treatment facilities, and other critical infrastructure assets. With the increasing use of drones in commercial and recreational applications, there is a growing need to protect these critical assets from potential threats posed by drones. This has led to a growing demand for anti-drone technology in critical infrastructure protection.

Anti-drone technology is becoming an important tool for critical infrastructure protection. It involves the use of sensors, cameras, and jammers to detect, track, and neutralize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that pose a threat to critical infrastructure assets. The technology can be deployed in various ways, including fixed installations, mobile units, and handheld devices.

One of the key benefits of anti-drone technology in critical infrastructure protection is increased safety and security. For example, airports can use anti-drone technology to prevent unauthorized drones from interfering with commercial air traffic. Power plants and other critical infrastructure assets can use the technology to detect and neutralize drones that may be attempting to gather intelligence or disrupt operations.

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Where are the Market Opportunities?

The Development of More Sophisticated Drone Detection Systems

Anti-drone technology is an area of active research and development, with new detection and defensive measures being developed to keep up with the evolving threat posed by drones. Research and development in this field is driven by the need to improve the accuracy, effectiveness, and versatility of anti-drone systems.

One area of research is the development of more sophisticated drone detection systems. These systems use a variety of sensors, such as radar, cameras, and acoustic sensors, to detect and locate drones. Machine learning algorithms are often used to analyse the data from these sensors, improving the accuracy of drone detection and reducing false positives.

Anti-Drone Technology for Event Security

Anti-drone technology is increasingly being used for event security, particularly at high-profile events such as music festivals, sporting events, and political rallies. Drones can pose a significant security risk at such events, particularly if they are being used for malicious purposes such as conducting surveillance or delivering dangerous materials.

Anti-drone technology can be used to detect and neutralize unauthorized drones at events. There are several types of anti-drone technology that can be used for this purpose, including detection systems, identification systems, and neutralization systems.

Detection systems use sensors such as radar or cameras to detect the presence of drones in the area. These systems can be used to monitor the airspace around events and to alert security personnel when unauthorized drones are detected.

Competitive Landscape

The major players operating in the anti-drone market are Advanced Radar Technologies, Airbus SE, Battelle Memorial Institute, Blighter Surveillance Systems, Boeing Company, Dedrone, DroneShield Limited, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd, Leonardo S.p.A., Liteye Systems, Inc., MBDA, Moog Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., and Saab AB. These major players operating in this market have adopted various strategies comprising M&A, investment in R&D, collaborations, partnerships, regional business expansion, and new product launch.

Recent Developments

05 Sept 2022, IAI has been awarded a contract to supply an Asian country with Drone Guard ComJam systems for the long-range detection and disruption of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Several dozens of mobile systems are included in the contract.

2 June 2022, Saab AB and Robin Radar Systems have collaborated to work together on global business opportunities. The agreement grants Saab access to Robin Radar's entire portfolio of drone and bird detection radar systems for a variety of international clients in the aviation and security sectors.

To access the data contained in this document please email oliver.davison@visiongain.com

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About Visiongain

Visiongain is one of the fastest-growing and most innovative independent market intelligence providers around, the company publishes hundreds of market research reports which it adds to its extensive portfolio each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis across 18 industries worldwide. The reports, which cover 10-year forecasts, are hundreds of pages long, with in-depth market analysis and valuable competitive intelligence data. Visiongain works across a range of vertical markets with a lot of synergies. These markets include automotive, aviation, chemicals, cyber, defence, energy, food & drink, materials, packaging, pharmaceutical and utilities sectors. Our customised and syndicated market research reports offer a bespoke piece of market intelligence customised to your very own business needs.

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(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook met Chinas Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao on Monday, underscoring the importance of the relationship between the leading US consumer tech company and its key partner despite heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.

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Both sides exchanged views about Apples development in China and stabilizing the industry supply chain, according to a statement from Wangs ministry on the meeting between the two. Wang also told the Apple CEO that China will continue to open up and provide good services to foreign firms including Apple.

Cook joins a number of US and European industry leaders whove met with Wang in recent days around the China Development Forum in Beijing  the governments showcase for signaling a reopening following years of Covid Zero restrictions. Together, they represent the most significant official pow-wows with foreign executives since China dropped those curbs in December. Wang, who was appointed to his role this year, has so far met with the leaders of Nestle SA, BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Pfizer Inc. and Qualcomm Inc.

On Saturday, Cook told an audience at the CDF that Apple and China have grown together, and the relationship between the two is symbiotic. His China trip also included a stop at an Apple retail store in the Chinese capital with Deirdre OBrien, the companys retail chief, and other executives.

Read more: Apple CEO Cook Stresses Ties With China at Beijing Event

Since Cook orchestrated a retail expansion in China about a decade ago, Apples products have grown in popularity in the region. The company now counts on Greater China for about 20% of its sales.

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The longstanding relationship is showing signs of fraying, however. Apple suffered unprecedented snags in production last year due to Covid-triggered factory closures, limiting supply of its flagship iPhone 14 Pro. Apple is now looking to further diversify its manufacturing operations, including by shifting more iPhone production to India.

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Greenfield project to include 300,000 bpd refinery and 1.65 million tons steam cracker

Aramco to supply up to 210,000 barrels per day of crude oil feedstock to the project

Integrated refining and petrochemical complex expected to be fully operational by 2026

Complex to be located in Panjin City, Liaoning Province, in northeast China

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aramco and joint venture partners NORINCO Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group plan to start construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China.

Amin H. Nasser, Aramco President & CEO, Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, Shiquan Liu, NORINCO Group Chairman, and Lecheng Li, Deputy Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Governor of Liaoning Province witness the signing of an agreement to commence construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China. The agreement was signed by Anwar Al Hejazi, Aramco Asia President (sitting left), Yongqiang Ren, North Huajin Chairman (sitting centre), and Fei Jia, Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group Chairman (sitting right)

Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), a joint venture between Aramco (30%), NORINCO Group (51%) and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group (19%), is developing the complex that will combine a 300,000 barrels per day refinery and a petrochemical plant with annual production capacity of 1.65 million metric tons of ethylene and 2 million metric tons of paraxylene.

Construction is due to start in the second quarter of 2023 after the project secured the required administrative approvals. It is expected to be fully operational by 2026.

Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock to the complex, which is being built in the city of Panjin, in China's Liaoning province.

Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, said: "This important project will support China's growing demand across fuel and chemical products. It also represents a major milestone in our ongoing downstream expansion strategy in China and the wider region, which is an increasingly significant driver of global petrochemical demand. "

Zou Wenchao, NORINCO Group Deputy General Manager, said: "This large-scale refinery and petrochemical complex is a key project of NORINCO Group to implement and realize the joint development of the high-quality Belt and Road initiative, promote industrial restructuring, and enhance the oil and petrochemical sector to become stronger, better and larger. It will play an important role in deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, and achieving common development and prosperity."

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Jia Fei, Panjin Xincheng Chairman of the Board, said: "The project is of great significance for Panjin to promote increasing chemicals and specialty products, strengthening integration of the refining and chemical industry. It is a symbolic project for Panjin as it seeks to accelerate the development of an important national petrochemical and fine chemical industry base."

Contact Information

Twitter: Aramco

About Aramco

Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company. We are driven by our core belief that energy is opportunity. From producing approximately one in every eight barrels of the world's oil supply to developing new energy technologies, our global team is dedicated to creating impact in all that we do. We focus on making our resources more dependable, more sustainable and more useful. This helps promote stability and long-term growth around the world. www.aramco.com

Disclaimer

The press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements relating to historical or current facts included in the press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give the Company's current expectations and projections relating to its capital expenditures and investments, major projects, upstream performance, including relative to peers, and growth in downstream and chemicals. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could," "continue," "forward" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Such forwardlooking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expected results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements, including the following factors: international crude oil supply and demand and the prices at which Aramco sells crude oil; the impact of COVID-19 on business and economic conditions and on supply and demand for crude oil, gas and refined and petrochemical products; adverse economic or political developments that could impact the Company's results of operations; competitive pressures faced by the Company; any significant deviation or changes in existing economic and operating conditions that could affect the estimated quantity and value of proved reserves; operational risks and hazards in the oil and gas, refining and petrochemicals industries; the cyclical nature of the oil and gas, refining and petrochemical industries; weather conditions; political and social instability and unrest and actual or potential armed conflicts in the regions in which Aramco operates and other areas; losses from risks related to insufficient insurance; the Company's ability to deliver on current and future projects; litigation to which the Company is or may be subject; the Company's ability to realize benefits from recent and future acquisitions, including with respect to SABIC; risks related to international operations, including sanctions and trade restrictions, antibribery and anticorruption laws and other laws and regulations; risks related to oil, gas, environmental, health and safety and other regulations that impact the industries in which Aramco operates; the Company's dependence on its senior management and key personnel; the reliability and security of the Company's IT systems; climate change concerns and impacts; risks related to Government-directed projects and other Government requirements, including those related to Government-set maximum level of crude oil production and target MSC; fluctuations in interest rates and foreign exchange rates; and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements in this press release, as set forth in the Company's latest periodic reports filed with the Tadawul. For additional information on the potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted please see the Company's latest periodic reports filed with the Tadawul. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future business strategies and the environment in which it will operate in the future. The information contained in the press release, including but not limited to forward-looking statements, applies only as of the date of this press release and is not intended to give any assurances as to future results. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to the press release, including any financial data or forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable law or regulation. No person should construe the press release as financial, tax or investment advice. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forwardlooking statements.

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Damac Group, under its property development arm Damac Properties, has awarded the main works contract worth AED 544 million ($148.2 million) to Aima Construction Company Private Limited for 120 villas at its recently announced Mandarin Oriental Bolidhuffaru Reef resort in the Maldives.

The 34-hectare luxury resort, scheduled to open in 2025, will be located in the Bolidhuffaru Reef in South Male Atoll.

This pristine tropical location is easily accessible through a 30-minute yacht ride from Males Velana international airport or other forms of water transportation.

Characterized by its white sand beaches and vibrant coral reefs, the upcoming resort will offer its guests a wealth of recreational activities, water sports, culinary experiences, wellness retreats and more.

Commenting on this, Mohammed Tahaineh, General Manager of Projects at Damac Properties, said: "We are fully confident in the capabilities of Aima Construction, whose track-record and enthusiasm for the project exceeded all our expectations during an extensive and highly competitive candidate vetting process."

"Damac Properties looks forward to seeing such a high-profile development project, the first of its kind for our group, come to fruition across the beautiful Maldives," he stated.

As per the deal, Aima Construction is set to deliver 120 stand-alone villas, 64 of which are overwater and 56 are beachfront villas.

These villas, which will be some of the markets largest, will also come with private pools and picturesque ocean views.

Resort-goers will also get to choose from eight dining outlets, including three specialty restaurants and an exclusive venue featuring a pool bar. Furthermore, indoor and outdoor event will also be made available to guests for a wide range of uses, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Las Vegas, Nevada --News Direct-- ARMA SERVICES, INC.

McapMediaWire -- Arma Services Inc. (OTC: ARMV) a leading innovator in the carbon offset market, is thrilled to announce an exclusive partnership with SURECO & Partners to release new technologies designed to foster sustainable solutions throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond. This strategic collaboration aims to maximize the positive impact of both organizations in the fight against climate change, ultimately transforming the region and its public and private entities, and communities.

SURECO & Partners, led by CEO and founder Jessica Jacob, is a dynamic consulting firm specialized in climate finance with a network of more than 70 professionals that originated from her extensive experience working with the financial sector, UN system, and the Green Climate Fund. United by a shared passion for sustainability, SURECO & Partners is dedicated to providing the highest quality services to advance sustainable advise, support, and solutions across the regions.

Only in the past two years, SURECO & Partners supported more than 12 countries and was awarded contracts with very reputable institutions such as The World Bank Group, United Nations Environmental Program, Food and Agriculture Program (FAO), the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (CABEI), the Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions (ALIDE), GIZ, Delphos International, AVINA Foundation, among others.

Some of these contracts include the development of Bolivias Climate Finance Forest Strategy, development of the Environmental, Social and Gender guidance and tool for the Government of Nicaragua, supporting the accreditation process to the Green Climate Fund of more than 5 development banks to name a few, development of Climate Change projects and programmes such as in Brazil, Suriname, and Colombia, development of public and private partnerships with national Banking Associations in Honduras and Guatemala, among others.

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SURECO & Partners boasts a diverse and experienced team of professionals, each contributing their unique skill set to support the organization's mission of developing strategies, policies, digital tools and systems for sustainable consulting services, offering the best solutions and professionals according to the specific needs of the clients.

Among the esteemed Board and Advisory members include: Maricielo Glen de Tobon, former General Secretary of the Latin American Federation of Banks-FELABAN; Francisco Dominguez, former Minister of Environment of Dominican Republic; Harishkumar R. Dave, Former Deputy Managing Director at National Bank for Agriculture and rural Development (NABARD); Benedict Libanda, Chief Executive Officer at the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia; UnaMay Gordon, former Principal Director, Climate Change Division, Government of Jamaica; Renee Gonzalez, General Director of the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature; Mustapha Mokass, Founder of Climate Finance A. & Carbon Offsetting; Victoria Miles, Founding partner of Global impact; Jeffrey Lamb, Director of the Climate Financing Division in the Kiribati Republic; among others.

In addition, SURECO & Partners is honored to have Javier Manzanares, former Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, as an unpaid Co-chair. His extensive experience includes serving as Co-CEO of Climate Coin, Director and Representative for the MERCOSUR Region at UNOPS, Division Manager of Investment and Development Banking at BCIE, and Executive Vice President at the International Financial Bank in Miami.

This diverse and talented group of individuals enables SURECO & Partners to effectively drive innovative and sustainable solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, making the partnership with Arma Services Inc. a powerful force for positive change in the region.

Arma Services Inc., driven by a mission to revolutionize the carbon offset market, empowers organizations to create a more sustainable future through cutting-edge AI-powered software. This innovation sets a new standard for efficiency, transparency, and collaboration in the global climate change arena. Arma is confident that its AI system will serve as a powerful tool in the hands of environmental organizations working tirelessly to combat the climate crisis.

Eric Nixon, CEO of Arma Services Inc., expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, "We are excited to collaborate with SURECO & Partners, a company with a strong commitment to creating sustainable solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our combined expertise and innovative technologies will enable us to make significant strides in the ongoing battle against climate change, and we're eager to see the transformational impact of our efforts."

Jessica Jacob, CEO of SURECO & Partners, also shared her optimism about the collaboration, saying, "On behalf of the entire team, we are proud to partner with Arma Services Inc., a company that shares our dedication to sustainable development in the regions. By leveraging their advanced technologies, we can amplify our reach and effectiveness, ultimately delivering lasting, positive change for the environment and the communities we serve."

With this exclusive partnership, Arma Services Inc. and SURECO & Partners are poised to create a lasting legacy of positive change in the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Together, they will lead the way in driving innovation and sustainable solutions, working to ensure a greener and more prosperous future for generations to come.

About SURECO & Partners

SURECO & Partners Corp, is an innovative consulting firm that provides advisory services in climate finance and sustainability. The company offers tailored solutions, bringing together national and regional consultants who understand their local contexts, with diverse sectoral and thematic experience in environmental, social and economic pillars.

About Arma Services Inc.: At Arma Services Inc., we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of the battle against climate change. Our mission is clear: to develop carbon offset projects that are not only effective, but also highly valuable. Our expertise lies in the forestry, agriculture, and technology sectors, where we use our proprietary AI software to ensure that the carbon credits we create are of the highest quality.

Our commitment to transparency and analytics is second to none, and we are proud to say that our clients trust us to deliver the best possible results. By using cutting-edge technology, we can measure the impact of our carbon offset projects in real time, providing our clients with the data they need to make informed decisions about their carbon footprint.

We believe that our work is not just a business, but a responsibility. As a public company, we are dedicated to making a positive impact on the environment and on the world at large. By expanding our portfolio of high value removals carbon offsets, we are taking a crucial step in the right direction. At Arma Services Inc., we are committed to a better future for all.

Safe Harbor Statement

This Press Release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "potential," and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it.

Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition, or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release, including such forward-looking statements.

CONTACT:

Arma Services, Inc.

7260 West Azure Drive |Suite 140| Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 89130

Phone. 1.725.235.7766

Email. info@armaoffsets.com

Website. www.armaoffsets.com

SOURCE Arma Services Inc.

Contact Details

Arma Services, Inc.

info@armaoffsets.com

Company Website

http://armaoffsets.com/

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/arma-services-inc-joins-forces-with-sureco-and-partners-to-unleash-new-sustainable-and-technologies-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-267200245
ArriVent Biopharma

Funding from new and existing investors will support pivotal Phase 3 and additional studies of lead product candidate, furmonertinib, as well as future pipeline expansion

Jim Healy, Managing Partner of Sofinnova Investments, and Carl Gordon, Managing Partner of Orbimed, to join ArriVents board of directors

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ArriVent Biopharma, Inc., dedicated to accelerating the global development of innovative biopharmaceutical therapeutics, today announced the completion of a $155 million oversubscribed Series B financing. The proceeds will be used to support pivotal Phase 3 and additional studies with the Companys lead product candidate furmonertinib  a highly brain penetrant, mutant-specific EGFR kinase inhibitor  as well as the continued expansion of its pipeline.

The financing was led by Sofinnova Investments and General Catalyst, with participation from additional new investors including Catalio Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Shanghai Healthcare Capital, Sequoia China, AIHC Capital, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Unicorn Capital Partners Limited, and Infinitum Asset Management. All existing investorswhich include Lilly Asia Ventures, OrbiMed, Octagon Capital Advisors, Sirona Capital, and Boyu/Zoo Capitalalso participated in the round. Commensurate with this financing, Jim Healy, Sofinnova Investments, and Carl Gordon, OrbiMed Advisors, will be joining ArriVents board of directors.

We are pleased to have attracted capital and support from leading new and existing investors, and to welcome two new distinguished board members, who recognize the urgency and value of globalizing innovative medicines for patients who have limited treatment options, said Bing Yao, Ph.D., Chairman, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ArriVent. With this Series B financing, we have now raised more than $300 million to date, resulting in a strong financial position to further advance and broaden our global development plans for furmonertinib, as well as support our growing pipeline of best and first-in-class oncology therapeutics.

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ArriVent is accessing innovations on a global scale and pursuing a more capital efficient path for drug development, while improving treatment options for patients, said Jim Healy, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Partner of Sofinnova Investments. We look forward to working with the ArriVent management team and investors to accelerate the approval of potentially life-changing therapies for patients with cancer.

We are proud to partner with ArriVent in their mission to provide global access to life-improving medicines. With multiple FDA-approved products over the course of their careers, we believe the ArriVent team is uniquely positioned to globalize cancer medicines, said Elena Viboch, Partner at General Catalyst.

About ArriVent Biopharma

ArriVent is dedicated to accelerating the global development of innovative biopharmaceutical products. With a deep and global network, ArriVent seeks to access unique and best-in-class drug candidates at various development stages, including those coming from China and other emerging biotech hubs. Through strategic collaborations with innovative biopharma companies, ArriVent aims to globalize medicines for patients with unmet medical need in a broad range of diseases, with an initial focus in oncology. For additional information, visit www.arrivent.com.

About Sofinnova Investments

Since 1976, Sofinnova has been active in life science investing. We are a biopharmaceutical investment firm with approximately $3.1B in assets under management and committed capital as of 12/31/22. We invest in both private and public equity of therapeutics-focused companies. Our goal is to actively partner with entrepreneurs in both the U.S. and Europe, across all stages of company formation. From drug development and navigating the regulatory process to company building and IPO, we strive to be collaborative, meaningful board members, and excellent partners at every level. We seek to build world class companies that aspire to dramatically improve the current state of medical care today and ultimately, the lives of patients. For more information, please visit www.sofinnova.com.

About General Catalyst

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in powerful, positive change that endures  for our entrepreneurs, our investors, our people, and society. We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond to build companies that withstand the test of time. With offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City, London, and Boston, the firm has helped support the growth of businesses such as: Airbnb, Deliveroo, Guild, Gusto, Hubspot, Illumio, Lemonade, Livongo, Oscar, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, and Warby Parker. For more: www.generalcatalyst.com.

Media

Amy Bonanno, Managing Director, Solebury Strategic Communications

abonanno@soleburystrat.com

914-450-0349




DelveInsight Business Research LLP

According to DelveInsight's estimates, the asthma market in 7MM is expected to show good positive growth, during the forecast period (20232032), mainly attributed to increasing prevalence, current therapies, and new product launches in the market.

New York, USA, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asthma Market to Observe Impressive Growth by 2032, Evaluates DelveInsight | Key Companies - GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, 4D Pharma plc, Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals, and Others

According to DelveInsight's estimates, the asthma market in 7MM is expected to show good positive growth, during the forecast period (20232032), mainly attributed to increasing prevalence, current therapies, and new product launches in the market.

DelveInsights Asthma Market Insights report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, asthma emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted market size from 2019 to 2032, segmented into 7MM [the United States, the EU-4 (Italy, Spain, France, and Germany), the United Kingdom, and Japan].

Key Takeaways from the Asthma Market Report

As per DelveInsight analysis, the asthma market is expected to grow positively at a significant CAGR during the study period (20192032).

According to the WHO (2022), asthma is a major non-communicable disease (NCD), affecting both children and adults, and is the most common chronic disease among children. Asthma affected an estimated 262 million people in 2019 and caused 455K deaths.

Leading asthma companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, 4D Pharma plc, AstraZeneca, Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals, Avillion, Pearl Therapeutics, ARS Pharmaceuticals, Sinomab, Avalo Therapeutics, Kymab, Sanofi, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, Inc., and others are developing novel asthma drugs that can be available in the asthma market in the coming years.

Some of the key therapies for asthma treatment include GSK3511194 (depemokimab), MRx-4DP0004, AZD5718, CBP-201, Budesonide/salbutamol, Epinephrine intranasal spray, SM17, Quisovalimab, Amlitelimab, AZD8630, Ifetroban Oral Capsule, GDC-6599 , and others.

In February 2022, Honeywell announced a commercial partnership with AstraZeneca to develop and bring to market next-generation respiratory inhalers that use near-zero global warming potential (GWP) propellants to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Story continues

Discover which therapies are expected to grab the major asthma market share @ Asthma Market Report

Asthma Overview

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects the airways. These airways, also known as bronchial tubes, allow air to enter and exit the lungs. Asthma is a diverse disease characterized by episodes of narrowing or hyperresponsiveness of the airways, obstruction, inflammation, and mucous production. Asthma symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Various inflammatory pathways cause asthmatic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness.

Although there is no gold standard single test for asthma diagnosis, several objective tests can be used to support the diagnosis, such as physiological measures associated with bronchodilator reversibility and airway hyperresponsiveness. Non-invasive tests of airway inflammation, such as exhaled nitric oxide or peripheral blood eosinophils, are also useful in identifying those with an allergic or eosinophilic phenotype.





Asthma Epidemiology Segmentation

According to Asthma + Lung UK (2022), 5.4 million people in the UK are currently receiving asthma treatment: 1.1 million children (1 in 11) and 4.3 million adults (1 in 12). Asthma prevalence is thought to have plateaued since the late 1990s, although the UK still has some of the highest rates in Europe, and on average, 3 people a day die from asthma.

The asthma market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 20192032 in the 7MM segmented into:

Total Diagnosed Prevalent Cases

Severity-specific Cases

Gender-specific Cases

Treated Cases

Download the report to understand which factors are driving asthma epidemiology trends @ Asthma Epidemiological Insights

Asthma Treatment Market

The current and established asthma treatment aims to reduce symptoms, maintain normal lung function, and prevent irreversible changes in the airways. In the future, it will be critical to develop preventive and potentially curative therapeutic approaches based on a better understanding of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of asthma. Asthma is primarily treated with two types of drugs: bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive drugs. 2adrenoceptoragonists are by far the most effective bronchodilators in asthma. Prostanoids, histamine, leukotrienes, cytokines, chemokines, and immunoglobulins are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis and maintenance of asthmatic airway inflammation.

The US FDA currently approves several monoclonal antibodies as maintenance therapies for the treatment of severe asthma (both allergic and eosinophilic). These include Teva Pharmaceuticals CINQAIR (reslizumab), Sanofi/Regenerons DUPIXENT (dupilumab), GlaxoSmithKlines NUCALA (mepolizumab), AstraZeneca/Kyowa Kirins FASENRA (benralizumab), and AstraZeneca/Amgen's TEZSPIRE (tezepelumab).

Dupixent (dupilumab) is the only biologic approved in the European Union for severe asthma with type 2 inflammation, as defined by increased blood eosinophils and increased fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). Dupixent is a human monoclonal antibody that inhibits the signaling of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13), two key proteins that play a central role in type 2 inflammation, which underpins certain types of asthma and several other allergic diseases.

To know more about asthma treatment, visit @ Asthma Treatment Drugs

Key Asthma Therapies and Companies

GSK3511194 (depemokimab): GlaxoSmithKline

MRx-4DP0004: 4D Pharma plc

AZD5718: AstraZeneca

CBP-201: Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals

Budesonide/salbutamol: Avillion/Pearl Therapeutics

Epinephrine intranasal spray: ARS Pharmaceuticals

SM17: Sinomab

Quisovalimab: Avalo Therapeutics

Amlitelimab: Kymab/Sanofi

AZD8630: AstraZeneca

Ifetroban Oral Capsule: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals

GDC-6599: Genentech, Inc.

Learn more about the FDA-approved drugs for asthma @ Drugs for Asthma Treatment

Asthma Market Dynamics

The dynamics of the asthma market is anticipated to change in the coming years. Several factors, including an increase in the diagnosed prevalence of asthma and an increase in demand for personalized therapies, will determine the growth of the asthma market in the coming years. In addition, the development of well-designed, randomized, controlled, non-crossover trials with potential patient benefits will drive the growth of the asthma market during the forecast period. Furthermore, new drug approvals and entries will alter the asthma market dynamics in the future. Several pharmaceutical giants are investigating drugs for asthma treatment with an improved diagnostic approach leading to a rise in the asthma market in the coming years.

However, on the other hand, a lack of effective specific treatments for non-eosinophilic asthma (NEA) may represent an orphan asthma endotype, posing a challenge to the growth of the asthma market. Other potential barriers to the growth of the asthma market include high treatment costs, diagnostic limitations, incorrect inhaler techniques, and poor adherence to treatment. In addition, the undiagnosed, unreported cases and the unawareness about the disease remain the primary aspects that strive for the asthma market growth.

Report Metrics Details Study Period 20192032 Coverage 7MM [The United States, the EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan] Base Year 2019 Key Asthma Companies GlaxoSmithKline, 4D Pharma plc, AstraZeneca, Suzhou Connect Biopharmaceuticals, Avillion, Pearl Therapeutics, ARS Pharmaceuticals, Sinomab, Avalo Therapeutics, Kymab, Sanofi, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Genentech, Inc., and others Key Asthma Therapies GSK3511194 (depemokimab), MRx-4DP0004, AZD5718, CBP-201, Budesonide/salbutamol, Epinephrine intranasal spray, SM17, Quisovalimab, Amlitelimab, AZD8630, Ifetroban Oral Capsule, GDC-6599, and others

Scope of the Asthma Market Report

Therapeutic Assessment: Asthma current marketed and emerging therapies

Asthma Market Dynamics: Attribute Analysis of Emerging Asthma drugs

Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies

Unmet Needs, KOLs views, Analysts views, Asthma Market Access and Reimbursement

Discover more about asthma drugs in development @ Asthma Clinical Trials

Table of Contents

1. Asthma Market Key Insights 2. Asthma Market Report Introduction 3. Asthma Market Overview at a Glance 4. Asthma Market Executive Summary 5. Disease Background and Overview 6. Asthma Treatment and Management 7. Asthma Epidemiology and Patient Population 8. Patient Journey 9. Asthma Marketed Drugs 10. Asthma Emerging Drugs 11. Seven Major Asthma Market Analysis 12. Asthma Market Outlook 13. Potential of Current and Emerging Therapies 14. KOL Views 15. Asthma Market Drivers 16. Asthma Market Barriers 17. Unmet Needs 18. SWOT Analysis 19. Appendix 20. DelveInsight Capabilities 21. Disclaimer 22. About DelveInsight

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CONTACT: Contact Us Shruti Thakur info@delveinsight.com +1(919)321-6187 www.delveinsight.com




London, UK --News Direct-- HANetf Holdings Limited

Eric Strand from AuAg Funds joins Proactive's Thomas Warner to talk about the latest news from the gold market, which has seen prices hit record highs in some currencies after a week of tumult in the European banking sector.

Strand says that the return of quantitative easing means that "gold will be even stronger in the future."

Contact Details

Proactive UK Ltd

+44 20 7989 0813

uk@proactiveinvestors.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/auag-funds-says-tumult-means-gold-will-be-even-stronger-in-the-future-981175858
FACT.MR

The number of agricultural laborers is constantly decreasing due to rising urbanization. As a result, farmers are increasingly using modern agricultural equipment to substitute manual labor. The autonomous tractor, which is outfitted with technologies such as GPS and LiDAR, among others, has simplified operations and is thus being widely used by many farmers for cultivation

Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fact.MR has provided detailed information about the price points of key manufacturers of autonomous tractors positioned across regions, sales growth, production capacity, and speculative technological expansion, in the recently published report.



Fact.MR  A Market Research and Competitive Intelligence Provider: According to Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the worldwide autonomous tractors market is set to hit US$ 13 billion by the end of 2033, expanding rapidly at 24% CAGR from 2023 to 2033.

Autonomous tractors are agricultural machines that operate without the involvement of a human inside the tractor. Autonomous tractors are equipped with modern agricultural technologies such as laser diodes, sensors, vision systems, GPS systems, and other systems, allowing them to work without the need for constant human input.

Download a Free Sample Copy of this Report

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As the world population has risen tremendously over the last few decades, there is a pressing need to enhance the effectiveness of agricultural operations to meet the world's food needs. In addition, growing urbanization has resulted in a significant drop in agricultural labor. These considerations prompted farmers to seek processes and alternatives to increase yields and productivity to fulfill demand. Moreover, since cultivable land is finite and farm productivity depends on environmental conditions, there is a growing need to improve the efficacy of agricultural activities. This, combined with farmers' expanding emphasis on increasing agricultural production, is one of the primary reasons driving the demand for autonomous tractors.

Story continues

Autonomous tractors boost labor productivity by allowing farmers to handle many farming tasks at the same time. Furthermore, investments in the agricultural industry have risen as a consequence of government initiatives to enhance the sector, causing the autonomous tractor market to continue to develop in a positive direction. Moreover, the increasing use of autonomous tractors to ensure sustainable food security, backed by self-sustaining agricultural mechanization plans around the world, is driving market expansion.

Key Takeaways from Market Study

The global autonomous tractors market is valued at US$ 1.5 billion in 2023.

Worldwide demand for autonomous tractors is anticipated to surge at a CAGR of 24% during the forecast period (2023 to 2033).

The market is estimated to achieve a valuation of US$ 13 billion by 2033.

North America accounted for 38% share of the global market in 2022.

For Comprehensive Insights Ask An Analyst Here -

https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=AE&rep_id=8455

Competitive Landscape

Key players in the autonomous tractors market are pursuing strategies such as collaborations, acquisitions, investments, R&D activities, and new developments to maintain and expand their overseas footprint. Furthermore, many start-ups operating in the global market are concentrating on developing electric autonomous tractors.

Monarch, a U.S.-based start-up, manufactures AI-powered electric autonomous tractors. The start-up is engaged in the design and development of electric self-driving tractors for farming. The tractors are outfitted with a comprehensive camera and sensor suite that maps and tags each crop while providing real-time alerts. The vehicle has AI-powered full-body awareness, swappable batteries, and slope stability.

Deere & Company acquired Bear Flag Robotics for US$ 250 million in August 2022. The acquisition will speed up the development and deployment of farm automation equipment. It will also assist John Deere in meeting its long-term aim of developing more creative tractors with advanced technologies to fulfill unique customer demands.

In April 2022, Mahindra & Mahindra and Kubota joined forces in Japan to deliver products, services, and solutions to fulfill customer needs via resource sharing. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will broaden their current field of original joint equipment manufacturing supply, concentrating on tractors, combine harvesters, rice transplanters, and implements and supporting equipment.

Deere & Company stated in January 2022 that it had developed a completely driverless tractor for large-scale farming.

Massey Ferguson revealed The MF NEXT, a spectacular new concept tractor, in January 2022. It is a vehicle that incorporates Massey Ferguson's DNA and aims to make tractor technology more user-friendly, accessible, and cost-efficient.



Winning Strategy

Major market players are focusing on collaborations to develop innovative solutions and acquire market share.

AGCO and Carl Geringhoff Vertriebsgesellschaft MbH & Co. KG decided to collaborate on the distribution and development of headers for combined harvesters in 2022. Gering Hoff is a massive corporation that has played a significant role in developing harvester headers that help farmers enhance production.

Kubota collaborated with Nvidia, a US chipmaker, in 2022. Both firms collaborated to develop fully autonomous tractors.

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Key Segments of Autonomous Tractors Industry Research

By Type : Fully Autonomous Tractors Semi-autonomous Tractors

By Component : LiDAR Radar Ultrasonic Sensors GPS

By Power Output : Up to 30 HP 31 to 100 HP 101 HP & Above

By Application : Tillage Seed Sowing Harvesting Other Applications

By Region : North America Latin America Europe Asia Pacific & China Middle East & Africa





More Valuable Insights on Offer

Fact.MR, in its new offering, presents an unbiased analysis of the global autonomous tractors market, presenting historical demand data (2018 to 2022) and forecast statistics for the period (2023 to 2033).

The study divulges essential insights on the market based on type (fully autonomous tractors, semi-autonomous tractors), component (LiDAR, radar, ultrasonic sensors, GPS), power output (up to 30 HP, 31 to 100 HP, 101 HP & above), and application (tillage, seed sowing, harvesting, other applications), across five major regions of the world (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and MEA).

Browse Fact.MRs Latest Coverage on Automotive Domain

Electric Tractors Market Scope Over The Forecast Period 2032: The global market for electric tractors at present valued at USD 94.04 Million in 2022. The market is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 13% in the forecast period 2022- 2032. This arcade is likely to cross a valuation of USD 319.23 Million by end of 2032.

Aircraft Tow Tractors Market Survey: The global aircraft tow tractors market is estimated at USD 542.2 Million in 2022 and is forecast to surpass USD 846.1 Million by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2022 to 2032.

Tractors Market Size: The global tractor market is estimated at USD 137 Billion in 2022 and is forecast to reach USD 192 Billion by 2032, growing with a CAGR of 3.4% from 2022 to 2032.

About Fact.MR

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MONTREAL, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) (OTCQB: AUXIF) (the "Company" or "Auxico") is pleased to announce that the Company has received approval to list its common shares on the OTCQB Marketplace, a U.S. trading platform operated by the OTC Markets Group Inc. The Company's OTC stock symbol remains "AUXIF" following the uplisting from the OTC Pink Sheets. Investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com.

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Auxico Resources Canada Inc.)

The OTCQB is recognized as an established public financial market for international companies, including natural resource companies in the mining and exploration industry. Auxico anticipates this move will provide the opportunity to increase the Company's visibility, expand liquidity and further diversify its shareholder base. The Company is also pleased to announce that its shares on the OTCQB venture market have now been deemed DTC eligible by the Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). Auxico's DTC eligibility approval opens the Company's stock to a broader audience of potential investors and a selection of brokerage firms that require additional compliance, thus increasing accessibility and potential enhanced liquidity from online transactions.

"With the uplisting to the OTCQB, Auxico validates its long-term strategy to expand accessibility of the Company to a broader audience, diversifying its shareholder base with U.S. based institutional and retail shareholders, an opportunity to build its visibility and access greater liquidity," said Frederick Kozak, President and CEO of Auxico. "The prospective and current U.S. investor base is an important group of shareholders, and we are pleased to be increasing our exposure to one of the largest investor markets globally with this uplisting. With DTC eligibility approval, the Company's shareholder base can also benefit from faster execution speeds. This upgrade to OTCQB is part of the natural evolution of Auxico as a quoted company as it becomes a larger and stronger player in the rare earth and critical minerals space, supporting the increased demand by Canada, the U.S., and other global economies to secure resources that fuel the energy, advanced technology and green industries. Following our recent announcements, the Company will continue to focus on the advancement and expansion of the ongoing sales agency services for the monazite rare earth trading from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the execution of its first tin trade in Colombia, and the project planning for Phase 1 of its Brazil Massangana Tin Tailings project."

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Auxico Joins EITI Transparency Initiative

The Company further announces its support of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( EITI ), the global standard for improving transparency of revenues from natural resources, as a new member under the EITI banner. The EITI is a global coalition of governments, companies and civil society organizations working together to improve transparency and accountability in the natural resource sector. Auxico's statement of support and commitment to the expectations for EITI supporting companies is available on the Company's website, www.auxicoresources.com.

Auxico's support for the EITI includes establishing policies in line with voluntary disclosure of information that aligns with EITI principles and transparency requirements, and reflects the Company's commitment to uphold progressive policies and practices as it further develops its mining operations across various jurisdictions. The EITI outlines priorities for improving extractives governance in a volatile and changing energy landscape, and Auxico, being an imminent major supply source in the critical mineral and rare earth elements space, recognizes its position in promoting transparency and accountability in this rapidly developing sector.

About Auxico Resources Canada Inc.

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. ("Auxico") is a Canadian company that was founded in 2014 and based in Montreal, trading on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under symbol AUAG and on the OTC Markets under symbol AUXIF. Auxico is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Additional information on Auxico can be found on the Company's website (www.auxicoresources.com) or on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under "Auxico Resources Canada Inc."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 signed   signed  Frederick Kozak Mark Billings CEO and President, Auxico Resources Canada Inc. Chairman, Auxico Resources Canada Inc. fk@auxicoresources.com mb@auxicoresources.com Cell: +1 403 606 3165 Cell: +1 514 296 1641



The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 press release.

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-statements." Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the 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.

Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the planned studies, drill program and the development of the Minastyc or Massangana Project, its sampling program, indications and other mining projects and prospects thereof, related to the Company's operations in Brazil, Colombia and/or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

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 information as a result of various risk factors. These factors include, among others, uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors, and their potential effects, which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Except as required by securities law, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.

SOURCE Auxico Resources Canada Inc.

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CLEVELAND, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is pleased to announce the sale of Ecoserv, LLC (Ecoserv) to CoLaTenTex, LLC, a private investment firm. BGL's Environmental & Industrial Services investment banking team served as the exclusive financial advisor to Ecoserv in the transaction. The specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is pleased to announce the sale of Ecoserv, LLC (Ecoserv) to CoLaTenTex, LLC, a private investment firm. BGLs Environmental & Industrial Services investment banking team served as the exclusive financial advisor to Ecoserv in the transaction. The specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Abbeville, LA, Ecoserv is a market-leading integrated waste sequestration platform servicing the offshore exploration and production (E&P) industry. Ecoserv provides a comprehensive solution through the collection, cleaning, transportation, and disposal of RCRA-exempt E&P liquid and solid waste streams. Ecoserv's collection of deep well injection assets provide generators a unique, environmentally safe disposal solution for waste streams, which are further augmented by a full suite of offshore cleaning services. These unique capabilities and patented technology enable Ecoserv to be one of the premier single-source service providers to the E&P industry.

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is a leading independent investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on the global middle market. The firm advises private and public corporations and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructurings, business valuations and opinions, and other strategic matters. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and New York, and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and San Antonio. The firm is also a founding member of Global M&A Partners, enabling BGL to service clients in more than 30 countries around the world. Securities transactions are conducted through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company Securities, LLC, an affiliate of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC and a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com.

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(PRNewsfoto/Brown Gibbons Lang & Company)

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SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company
SYDNEY, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BIC Services, a leading provider of integrated cleaning services to Australia's leading property owners, tenants, and investors, has signed a supply agreement with Abco, a trusted national provider of cleaning products, machinery and solutions.

BIC CEO Tony Gorgovski with Craig Dowell  Abco Director, as well as Shaun Gilchrist  Abco Group Marketing Manager and Alan Timmins - Abco Business Development Manager.

Following its acquisition by global powerhouse Bidvest in July 2022, BIC had undertaken a process to review areas of their procurement and supply chain, with Abco being selected as the obvious choice of partner for its product range and stock holding, as well as its industry leading technology and service offering.

"We are excited to partner with Abco, who have impressed us with their track record of not just providing innovative products but being able to support their customer's operations and the cleaners through their various IT innovations such as live and customised reporting", said Tony Gorgovski, CEO of BIC Services.

"As we service over 1,800 sites across Australia, finding a partner with a national footprint of distribution centres and ability to provide the service and support we require was critical.

Given Abco's specialist support teams, coupled with the willingness to go the extra mile when it comes to addressing our needs as a business, we are confident Abco is the right partner to assist in achieving our future growth plans."

BIC is dedicated to minimising their impact on the environment through sustainability and waste reduction initiatives. Abco's flagship Enviroplus range of eco-friendly cleaning solutions will be a significant part of this moving forward and has already started to be rolled out across many of BIC's sites around the country.

In addition to the carbon emissions savings coming from the Enviroplus range, they also come with GECA and Global GreenTag certification, meaning it is healthier for their cleaners and operations team to use. On top of this, a portion of sales from Enviroplus products are donated to the Indigenous Literacy Fund Book Supply program, further contributing to their ESG objectives.

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Craig Dowell, Director of Abco added "We are honoured to be chosen as a key strategic partner by BIC and see many similarities in the values and ambitions between our businesses. At Abco, we have invested heavily in new product development, stock holding, technology infrastructure like live POD tracking and backorder minimisation, as well expanding our fleet of delivery drivers and service technicians, to ensure we are helping customers like BIC save time and money by taking away some of the hassles of their day-to-day operations."

About BIC Services

BIC Services is a leading provider of integrated cleaning services to Australia's leading property owners, tenants and investors. Working with their partners, they deliver a full range of premium cleaning services including waste management, cleaning, hygiene services and window cleaning.

BIC is proud to service over 1,800 sites across Australia. In Sydney CBD, alone they serve half of all corporate buildings. Their portfolio boasts over 6 million square metres commercial office, retail and educational institutes around Australia.

They provide premium corporate and commercial cleaning services to buildings all over Sydney and Australia, specialising in servicing offices, commercial sites and educational institutes, offering a full range of cleaning solutions from cleaning and waste management, to hygiene services and window cleaning.

www.bic-services.com.au

About Abco

Abco is the ultimate resource for the cleaning industry.

With over 50+ years of experience as a preferred and trusted supplier for many national BSCs (Business Service Contractors) and Facility Management Service companies around Australia.

Abco helps cleaning contractors by improving their operations on site through the supply of high quality, innovative cleaning products, equipment and solutions serviced through their own distribution and innovation centres in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney

Through their unique approach to delivering innovative technology and product solutions, Abco back up this with a published customer promise and national on-site technical support and training.

Abco has a strong commitment to continue their investment in customer focused technology and systems, ESG initiatives across their business and product ranges, and further enhancements to service delivery.

www.abcopro.com.au

www.enviroplusproducts.com.au

For media inquiries, please contact:

BIC Sydney Head office: 12 Rothesay Av, Ryde NSW 2112

(02) 9808 4900

Cision

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SOURCE BIC Services
(Bloomberg) -- The US took its most forceful move yet on Monday to crack down on crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd. and its chief executive officer Changpeng Zhao.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged in federal court in Chicago that Binance and its CEO, who is known as CZ, routinely broke American derivatives rules as the firm grew to be the worlds largest trading platform. Binance should have registered with the agency years ago and continues to violate the CFTCs rules, according to the regulator.

The defendants own emails and chats reflect that Binances compliance efforts have been a sham and Binance deliberately chose  over and over  to place profits over following the law, Gretchen Lowe, chief counsel in the CFTCs enforcement division, said.

In a statement, Binance called the CFTCs lawsuit unexpected and disappointing. The exchange said itd been working with the regulator for more than two years and would continue to collaborate with authorities in the US and elsewhere.

We have made significant investments over the past two years to ensure we do not have US users active on our platform, Binance said. The company added that it has expanded its compliance team, spent heavily to bolster surveillance and taken significant actions to prevent Americans from using its global trading platform.

In a statement on the Binance Blog, Zhao said the CFTCs complaint appears to contain an incomplete recitation of facts, and we do not agree with the characterization of many of the issues alleged in the complaint. He added that he strictly observes Binances policies, including those for anyone with private information such as details on listings.

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The CFTC is a civil government agency, so it cant bring criminal charges against firms or seek jail time for individuals. However, cases from the regulator can result in hefty fines and other penalties against companies and individuals.

In addition to suing Zhao and several Binance entities, the CFTC also alleged that Samuel Lim, Binances former chief compliance officer, broke its rules.

Read the lawsuit here

The agency said that Zhao, Lim, other senior managers failed to properly supervise Binances activities and took steps to violate US laws, including instructing American customers to use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to obscure their location and directing VIP customers with US ties  often institutional market participants  to open Binance accounts under the name of shell companies.

Attempts to reach Lim for comment were unsuccessful.

Anti-money Laundering

The CFTC also alleged that Binance failed to implement an effective anti-money laundering program. It also didnt establish necessary safeguards for determining the true identity of customers, the agency said. The complaint says that as of at least May 2022, the company had not filed a single suspicious activity report in the US.

The CFTC also said Binances own documents for the month of August 2020 showed that the platform earned $63 million in fees from derivatives transactions, and that about 16% of its accounts were identified as being held by US customers.

Defendants have disregarded applicable federal laws while fostering Binances U.S. customer base because it has been profitable for them to do so, the CFTC said in its complaint.

Documents

The CFTC alleged that the company intentionally destroyed documents. At the same time, Binance makes frequent use of the encrypted messaging app Signal to communicate with US customers, at Zhaos instruction, the agency said.

Since at least 2021, the CFTC has been probing Binance over whether it failed to keep US residents from buying and selling crypto derivatives. CFTC rules generally require platforms to register with the agency if they let Americans trade those products.

The regulator is one of several US bodies that have been investigating Binances activities. The Internal Revenue Service, as well as federal prosecutors, have been examining Binances compliance with anti-money laundering obligations, Bloomberg News has reported. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been scrutinizing whether the exchange has supported the trading of unregistered securities.

Explosive Growth

Binance, which exploded onto the crypto scene in 2017 and almost immediately took on and surpassed larger rivals, saw its market share surge after last Novembers collapse of FTX.

Meanwhile, Binance had been publicly signaling that it expected to settle with US authorities probing its business practices, and that it closed compliance gaps that existed in its early years.

In a recent 14-page letter to US senators including Elizabeth Warren, Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann detailed Binances work to build out its compliance program and team, but didnt provide details on the companys finances that the lawmakers had requested.

The case is Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Changpeng Zhao, Binance Holdings Ltd. et al., 23-cv-01887, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois.

--With assistance from Olga Kharif and Justina Lee.

(Updates with Zhao comment in sixth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
ReportLinker

Forecasts by Type (Biodiesel, Ethanol, Other), by End-use (Transportation, Electricity Generation, Heating Buildings, Other), by Generation (First-generation Biofuels, Second-generation Biofuels, Third-generation Biofuels, Fourth-generation Biofuels, Fifth-generation Biofuels), by Source (Maize, Vegetable Oils, Sugar Beet, Wheat, Sugar Cane, Other) AND Regional and Leading National Market Analysis PLUS Analysis of Leading Companies AND COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Pattern Analysis.

New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Biofuel Industry Market Report 2023-2033" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06436262/?utm_source=GNW





The Biofuel Industry Market Report 2023-2033: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region.





The Market Is Driven by the Need for More Sustainable Energy Sources and Concerns Over Climate Change



The biofuel industry has emerged as a viable alternative to fossil fuels, with biofuels being derived from renewable organic materials such as plants and waste materials. The biofuel industry faces several challenges, including competition for land and resources, the cost of production, and limited infrastructure for distribution and storage. However, the industry continues to grow and innovate, with new technologies being developed to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Governments around the world are also implementing policies to encourage the use of biofuels, such as mandates requiring a certain percentage of biofuels to be used in transportation fuel.





As the world continues to prioritize sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the biofuel industry is likely to play an increasingly important role in the energy mix. The industry has the potential to create new jobs and promote economic growth while reducing dependence on fossil fuels. However, it is important to ensure that the growth of the biofuel industry is sustainable, with efforts to mitigate environmental impacts, promote responsible land-use practices, and support communities and farmers who may be affected by the industry. Overall, the biofuel industry represents an exciting opportunity to transition towards a more sustainable and equitable energy future





What Questions Should You Ask before Buying a Market Research Report?



 How is the biofuel industry market evolving?



 What is driving and restraining the biofuel industry market?



 How will each biofuel industry submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2033?



 How will the market shares for each biofuel industry submarket develop from 2023 to 2033?



 What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2023 to 2033?



 Will leading biofuel industry markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others?



 How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2033 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2033?



 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?



 What are the biofuel industry projects for these leading companies?



 How will the industry evolve during the period between 2023 and 2033? What are the implications of biofuel industry projects taking place now and over the next 10 years?



 Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the biofuel industry market?



 Where is the biofuel industry market heading and how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?



 What are the best investment options for new product and service lines?



 What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path and C-suite?





You need to discover how this will impact the biofuel industry market today, and over the next 10 years:



 Our 296-page report provides 114 tables and 181 charts/graphs exclusively to you.



 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.



 It contains in-depth analysis of global, regional and national sales and growth.



 It highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors.





This report tells you TODAY how the biofuel industry market will develop in the next 10 years, and in line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years.





Forecasts to 2033 and other analyses reveal commercial prospects



 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2033, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares.



 You will find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments.



 Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising biofuel industry prices and recent developments.





This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report.





Segments Covered in the Report





Market Segment by Type



 Biodiesel



 Ethanol



 Other Type





Market Segment by End-Use



 Transportation



 Electricity Generation



 Heating Buildings



 Other End-Uses





Market Segment by Generation



 First-generation Biofuels



 Second-generation Biofuels



 Third-generation Biofuels



 Fourth-generation Biofuels



 Fifth-generation Biofuels





Market Segment by Source



 Maize



 Vegetable oils



 Sugar beet



 Wheat



 Sugar Cane



 Other Sources





In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for four regional and 20 leading national markets:





North America



 U.S.



 Canada





Europe



 Germany



 Spain



 United Kingdom



 France



 Italy



 Rest of Europe





Asia Pacific



 China



 Indonesia



 India



 Australia



 South Korea



 Rest of Asia Pacific





Latin America



 Brazil



 Mexico



 Rest of Latin America





Middle East and Africa



 GCC



 South Africa



 Rest of Middle East and Africa





The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the Biofuel Industry Market, 2023 to 2033, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.





Leading companies and the potential for market growth



 Abengoa, S.A.



 Air Liquide



 Bunge Limited



 Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC



 Cosan S. A.



 CropEnergies AG



 FutureFuel Corporation



 Gevo, Inc.



 Green Plains



 Pacific Ethanol, Inc.



 Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras



 Renewable Energy Group, Inc.



 Royal Dutch Shell PLC



 Valero Marketing and Supply Company



 Wilmar International Limited





Overall world revenue for Biofuel Industry Market, 2023 to 2033 in terms of value the market will surpass US$123.98 billion in 2023, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2033. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.





How will the Biofuel Industry Market, 2023 to 2033 report help you?



In summary, our 290+ page report provides you with the following knowledge:





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for Biofuel Industry Market, 2023 to 2033 Market, with forecasts for type, source, generation, end-use and company size, each forecast at a global and regional level  discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues.





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for four regional and 20 key national markets  See forecasts for the Biofuel Industry Market, 2023 to 2033 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, India, Indonesia, and Australia among other prominent economies.





 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market  including company profiles for 15 of the major companies involved in the Biofuel Industry Market, 2023 to 2033.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06436262/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




Al Ghurair Investment, one of the largest diversified family business groups in the UAE, has announced the successful completion of its first Executive and Advanced Leadership Development Programmes.

The programmes, launched by the groups People and Culture (P&C) division 18 months ago in a drive for enhanced Learning and Development (L&D) opportunities, mark a critical milestone in Al Ghurair Investments ongoing group-wide cultural transformation journey, cementing its status as a recognised Top Employer.

The Executive Leadership Development Programme (ELP), conducted in collaboration with the IE Business School of Madrid, marked its completion with the graduation of the first cohort - comprising 26 candidates - in a ceremony held on March 8th. The ELP, a structured leadership development programme and tailored learning experience, focused on senior executives, offering candidates ample opportunities to interact with industry experts and engage in a variety of guided, group and individual learning activities.

Key areas

The programme covered key areas including Purpose-led Strategy, Leadership, Innovation, Change and Customer Centricity, in addition to other key topics aimed at creating Fit for Future leaders, which were then applied to a business-related capstone project.

Debra Teles, Chief People & Culture Officer, Al Ghurair Investment, said: We are delighted to have partnered with IE Business School of Madrid to develop this exclusive programme for our executive community at Al Ghurair, and I am so proud of our graduates who have piloted and completed our first Executive Leadership Programme.

We truly believe that investment in learning is critical to our transformation journey, as we equip our leadership community with the skills and tools to drive it and to cultivate change. By empowering our people to fulfil their potential, and realise their professional aspirations, we foster wellbeing and build a healthier, more motivated and success-driven organisation  aligning with our accredited Top employer status.

Investing in talent

Stephen Adamson, Director of Programmes ELP, said: The Executive Leadership Development Programme is an excellent example of what can be achieved when a business invests in its talent. Simultaneously we can improve engagement of key employees, improve their skillsets in areas fundamental to the future of the business, and help them make a positive impact on the business and, as a result, on the UAE. We are delighted to see the success of this collaboration with Al Ghurair Investment and look forward to welcoming a second cohort.

In addition to the ELP, Al Ghurair Investment had also launched the Advanced Leadership Development Programme (ALP), a structured leadership programme designed for Fit For Future Leaders, focused on first line managers. The ALP, offering a similar structure to the ELP, witnessed the graduation of 15 candidates, bringing them closer to their career goals.

John Iossifidis, GCEO, Al Ghurair, remarked: Over the last two and a half years, Al Ghurair has embarked on an ambitious, Group-wide journey, building the next chapter of Al Ghurair  and our people are at the heart of that journey. This dual graduation ceremony marks a significant day for our business, as we celebrate the achievements of our talented people who have demonstrated a thirst for learning, a commitment to our Purpose, vision and values, and who have showcased how they  themselves  are focused on the pursuit of better, through learning and development!-- TradeArabia News Service
TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Mason Graphite Inc. ("Mason") (TSXV: LLG) (OTCQX: MGPHF) is excited to report the following announcement from Black Swan Graphene Inc. ("Black Swan"). Mason currently owns approximately 41% of the total shares issued and outstanding of Black Swan.

Black Swan Graphene Inc. (TSX-V: SWAN) (OTCQB: BSWGF) (Frankfurt: R96) and Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd. ("NERD") are pleased to announce a strategic partnership being embedded in a fully integrated supply chain which will include Arup Group Limited ("Arup"), a multinational engineering consultancy headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with 18,000 experts working across 140 countries.

At the core of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, is the completion of an equity swap where each company will own approximately five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares of the other (the "Equity Swap"), and the execution of a supply agreement between the two companies (the "Supply Agreement") under which NERD will be sourcing its graphene requirements from Black Swan.

Concurrently with the creation of the partnership between Black Swan and NERD, Arup is expected to enter into a partnership with NERD, pursuant to which it is expected to gain ownership of 4.2% of the outstanding shares of NERD. The partnerships between Black Swan and NERD, and between NERD and Arup, are intended to enhance expertise and create an integrated supply chain aimed at accelerating the adoption of graphene-enhanced concrete globally.

NERD, a spin-out company from Nationwide Engineering Group, has developed a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete, ConcreteneTM ("Concretene"), which can significantly increase the strength of the material in mix designs, allowing for cement reduction and lowering of carbon footprint on construction projects. This is important for the global construction industry, from which cement manufacture currently accounts for approximately 8% of global CO 2 emissions. Imminent legislative requirements for decarbonisation mean the sector must act rapidly to ensure sustainability. Concretene is a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that has demonstrated the ability to reduce CO 2 emissions by approximately 30%, driven mainly by a significant reduction in the volume of concrete required to achieve equivalent performances. A meaningful reduction, if not an elimination, of rebar requirements, combined with a longer life cycle of the concrete, represent additional cost saving opportunities for the industry. The product has been developed in partnership with The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre ("GEIC").

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NERD is rapidly advancing the adoption of Concretene in conjunction with the GEIC and is in advanced evaluation stage for projects with partners such as Heathrow and Manchester Airports, Network Rail, National Highways, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in the United Kingdom.

Black Swan is a producer of low cost and high-performance graphene powders, derived from graphite, ideally suited for the concrete industry. Black Swan's graphene technology was originally developed by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. and advanced internally until the launch of Black Swan in 2021. Black Swan has indicated its intention to significantly increase its graphene production including in the graphite production facility of Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NYSE: NMG) (TSXV: NOU) currently in operation in Quebec, Canada, aiming to create an integrated facility from graphite ore in the ground to graphene finished products.

NERD and Arup Partnership

Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup Group Limited, a globally recognised design and engineering firm has been building, in partnership with the NERD, expertise and know-how on the use of graphene-enhanced concrete in buildings and infrastructure. The agreement with Arup, through Ove Arup Ventures Ltd., provides 4.2% equity in NERD in exchange for collaboration and expertise towards global roll-out of the technology. Details of Arup's extensive global portfolio, which includes the Samuel de Champlain Bridge in Montreal, Canada, may be found at: www.arup.com/projects.

Simon Marcotte, Chief Executive Officer of Black Swan Graphene, commented: "The partnerships announced today are poised to have far-reaching implications for the global concrete industry. By leveraging the exceptional performance of the NERD process and Arup's expertise, reach and leadership, this integrated supply chain can provide a turnkey solution and revolutionize the concrete industry on a global scale. Considering that concrete is the second most utilized material on Earth, surpassed only by water, it is difficult to imagine a more exciting opportunity. I am very optimistic about the impact of this collaboration and its potential to catalyze sustainable and innovative practices in the industry."

Rob Hibberd, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Engineering Research & Development, commented: "We are delighted to formalise these partnerships with Black Swan and Arup as part of NERD and we look forward to combining our skillsets to deliver Concretene to the construction industry in our drive to reduce global CO 2 emissions. This is further enhanced by our unique long-term research collaboration with the University of Manchester to further understand the complex world of nanomaterial technology. We see Concretene as the first product of many that this partnership will develop, with progress in paints, polymers and asphalt already in advanced stages as well."

Black Swan Graphene and Nationwide Engineering Announce Strategic Partnership, Part of an Integrated Supply Chain, to Accelerate the Adoption of Graphene-enhanced Concrete Globally (CNW Group/Mason Graphite Inc.)

Matt Lovell, Director at Arup, commented: "Continued innovation in the production of concrete can drive the construction industry's journey towards net zero carbon emissions. Supporting that transformative change with our NERD partnership furthers Arup's goal of shaping a better, more sustainable world. We look forward to using our commercial know-how and deep expertise in the built environment to help NERD's innovators realise the full potential of Concretene."

Equity Swap

Under the Equity Swap, NERD will issue to Black Swan 7,177 seed preferred shares (the "NERD Shares"), ranking senior to all other shares in the share capital of NERD, at a deemed price per share of 220 for an aggregate deemed subscription price of approximately 1.58 million or approximately CAD$2.65M (the "Subscription Amount") and representing a 5.0% ownership stake in NERD on a post-money, fully diluted basis. Black Swan will pay for the NERD Shares by way of issuance of 16,371,504 common shares in the capital of Black Swan (the "Black Swan Shares"), representing a 5.0% ownership stake in Black Swan on a fully diluted basis. The Black Swan Shares shall be subject to a hold period of four months under Canadian securities laws and a 36-month lock-up undertaking. The issuance of the Black Swan Shares is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V").

Supply Agreement

Under the Supply Agreement, Black Swan will have the right, and not the obligation, to supply NERD with bulk graphene and NERD will, subject to certain terms of the agreement including pricing mechanism and technical requirements as needed by NERD, purchase bulk graphene from Black Swan in accordance with its needs (the "Right to Supply") and the framework of the Supply Agreement, which includes purchase orders, delivery, shipment, and risk management protocols, as well as potential product development and R&D collaboration.

Concretene Technology and Performance

By using the unique properties of nanomaterial graphene, an atomically thin form of carbon, Concretene offers significant benefits in compressive, tensile and flexural strength, as well as faster curing times, less microcracking and reduced permeability to water and salts. This enables comparable or greater performance to be achieved in concrete design mixes while using less cement. The technology has been developed to deliver a product that is frictionless at the point of use, requiring no additional equipment or training and, most crucially of all, can be scaled at a viable cost to industry.

Graphene is exceedingly strong, light and flexible and is the most conductive material of both electricity and heat ever discovered. It is also hydrophobic by nature, which means getting it to mix, interact and disperse in a water-based material such as concrete is highly complex. Graphene has an immense relative surface area, up to 2500 m2 in just one (1) gram of material, which acts as a mechanical support and as an active surface for the chemical reaction that takes place as cement paste crystallises into its permanent solid state.

High-magnification study of the finished material shows differing arrangements of crystallisation between standard and graphene-enhanced concretes, with a less porous microstructure evident in the latter. However, making effective graphene-enhanced concrete is technically challenging as, if allowed, graphene agglomerates back into clumps of graphite and loses its strength-giving properties.

Not only does Concretene have the ability to disperse evenly in large volumes of concrete, but it also demonstrates stability in solution for storage and transport. Several years of optimization work have been necessary to achieve these unique performances.

Until recently, producing graphene at a scale large enough for it to be used in real-world applications has proven challenging. But with graphene suppliers such as Black Swan able to produce material in industrial volumes, graphene is becoming a realistic option for commercial scale in construction.

Corporate Matters

Paradigm Capital is acting as an advisor for Black Swan Graphene Inc. for the transaction announced today. While no cash consideration is payable to Paradigm Capital, upon closing of the transaction, Black Swan will grant Paradigm Capital an aggregate of 1,600,000 compensation warrants with an exercise price of $0.15 which will be exercisable for a period of three (3) years from the Closing Date, but not earlier than 18 months following the Closing Date.

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg ("Davies") served as legal counsel to Black Swan Graphene Inc., and Withers LLP served as legal counsel to Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd. for the transaction.

About Black Swan Graphene Inc.

Black Swan is focused on the large-scale production and commercialization of patented high-performance and low-cost graphene products aimed at several industrial sectors, including concrete, polymers, Li-ion batteries, and others, which are expected to require large volumes of graphene. Black Swan aims to leverage the low cost and green hydroelectricity of the province of Quebec as well as the proximity of the eventual graphite production sites of the province in order to establish a fully integrated supply chain, reduce overall costs, and accelerate the deployment of graphene usage. Black Swan's graphene processing technology was developed by Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd ("Thomas Swan") over the last decade. Thomas Swan is a United Kingdom-based global chemicals manufacturer, with a century-long track record and has been at the forefront of graphene innovation.

For more information, please visit: www.blackswangraphene.com

About Nationwide Engineering Research and Development Ltd.

Nationwide Engineering Research & Development (NERD) is a standalone R&D firm spun out from UK construction group Nationwide Engineering in 2022 by co-founders and award-winning chartered civil engineers Rob Hibberd and Alex McDermott in order to focus on bringing Concretene, and ultimately a further suite of sustainable building technologies, to market. In December 2022, NERD announced a fundraise of 8,000,000 from LocalGlobe  EMEA's most successful investor in unicorns at SEED stage1  for work towards full commercialisation of the technology. These funds have allowed NERD to take Tier 1 membership of The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, a 60m state-of-the-art facility dedicated to prototyping nanomaterial technologies. NERD is also committing to a multi-million-pound sponsorship of a Chair of Construction Materials to ensure the University  and the collaboration on Concretene  remains at the forefront of understanding in this highly complex area of advanced material science.

For more information, please visit: www.nationwideengineering.co.uk

About Arup Group Limited

Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of designers, consultants and experts working globally. Founded to be humane and excellent, we collaborate with our clients and partners, using imagination, technology and rigour to shape a better world.

For more information, please visit: www.arup.com.

1 According to Dealroom Investor Ranking; www.dealroom.co

About Mason Graphite Inc.

Mason Graphite is a Canadian corporation focused on seeking investment opportunities. Its strategy is to develop vertical and horizontal integration in the mining industry, with a special focus on industrial and specialty minerals, notably battery-related materials and their by-products. Its strategy also includes the development of value-added products, notably for green technologies like transport electrification. The Company currently owns 100% of the rights to the Lac Gueret deposit, one of the richest graphite deposits in the world, which is under an Option and Joint Venture Agreement with Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (TSX-V: NOU) (NYSE: NMG). Mason Graphite is also the largest shareholder of Black Swan Graphene Inc., a Canadian publicly traded company (TSX-V: SWAN) (OTCQB: BSWGF) focusing on the large-scale production and commercialization of patented high-performance and low-cost graphene products aimed at several industrial sectors, including concrete, polymers, Li-ion batteries and others.

For more information, please visit: www.masongraphite.com

Mason Graphite Inc. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Peter Damouni, President & Chief Executive Officer

Black Swan Graphene Inc. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Simon Marcotte, CFA, President & Chief Executive Officer

Nationwide Research and Development Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Rob Hibberd, Chief Executive Officer

Arup Group Ltd. on behalf of the Board of Directors

Matt Lovell, Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information". Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to the success or failure of the partnerships between Black Swan and NERD and NERD and ARUP to deliver the expected results, including the creation of a global chain of supply for graphene enhanced concrete, risks related to Black Swan's holding of the NERD Shares, including the risks related to holding shares of a start-up and related to the lack of liquidity thereof, risks related to the development of graphene enhanced concrete and other graphene enhanced components, risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with the industry; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of a scoping and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future results will not be consistent with Black Swan's expectations; risks related to commodity prices fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to Black Swan's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Black Swan's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Black Swan does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from Black Swan's expectations or projections.

Cision

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SOURCE Mason Graphite Inc.

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Bluejay Mining plc ('Bluejay' or the 'Company') Encouraging drilling results from the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co Joint Venture Project with Rio Tinto

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Bluejay Mining plc, the AIM, FSE listed and OTCQB traded exploration and resource development company with projects in Greenland and Finland, is pleased to announce the results from the first exploration programme of 2023 at the Enonkoski Nickel-Copper-Cobalt ('Ni-Cu-Co') Project ('Enonkoski' or the 'Project') in eastern Finland as part of the Joint Venture ('JV') and earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto Exploration Finland Oy ('Rio Tinto') announced 10 November 2020.

Highlights

Two drill holes for a total of 951.10 metres ('m') were drilled in January at the Laukunlampi target located 1.5 kilometres ('km') south-east of the former Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine (6.7 million tonnes ('Mt') at 0.78% Ni and 0.22% Cu were mined from Laukunkangas with the nickel grades of the off-set massive sulphide ores of over 5%, copper of up to 2% and cobalt of up to 0.3% (Geological Survey of Finland, 2020) [1] ).

Drill hole ENON0028 intercepted a significant width of mineralised vari-textured pyroxenitic-noritic units with multiple intervals of nickel-copper sulphide (pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite) droplet zones, and locally thin intervals of net-textured semi-massive sulphide mineralisation. The best mineralised interval in this hole yielded a nickel ('Ni') content of 0.41% whilst the remaining intervals within the sulphide droplet zones averaged 0.16% Ni (Table 2).

A downhole electromagnetic survey ('DHEM') was conducted on both new drill holes during February.

LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) scanning of drill core from ENON0028 has been completed.

Geological and geophysical modelling is ongoing with the aim to define targets for follow-up drilling of the mineralisation that have been intercepted in several drill holes within the Laukunlampi intrusion.

Spot measurements of the sulphide droplets in ENON0028 with a handheld pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence) show readings of up to 11% Ni demonstrating the exceptionally high Ni tenor [2] of the sulphides in this hole.

Recent geological and geophysical modelling within the area of the former Halvala Ni-Cu mine and Makkola Ni-Cu deposit have indicated that the latter mineralisation is open at a shallow level along strike in an area untested by previous drilling.

Story continues

Dr. Bo Mller Stensgaard, CEO of Bluejay Mining plc, commented:

"The results from the first 2023 drilling with Rio Tinto on the Enonkoski Project are very encouraging with one of the drill holes returning significant intervals of sulphide-droplets, representing the highest sulphide content of any hole we have drilled in the Laukunlampi intrusion to date. Furthermore, individual droplets yield by far the highest Ni tenors of any sulphide so far encountered within this intrusion. This has positive implications for further exploration as we anticipate that the Ni tenor of the sulphide droplets as well as the overall sulphide content, should increase towards massive sulphide ores, providing us with a vector on which to plan our future drill holes as we continue the search for a significant mineralised body with economic grades of nickel, copper, cobalt within the Laukunlampi intrusion.

"Not only has the drilling returned mineralised intervals, it has also extended the potential search space of the Laukunlampi intrusion. In addition, our recent work at the Makkola target near the former Halvala Ni-Cu-Co Mine in the eastern part of the >15 km long metallogenic Enonkoski Belt indicates the potential for the presence of shallow drill targets. We look forward to updating the market in due course on the next developments for this exciting battery metals project, located in a world class mining jurisdiction."

January 2023 Results from the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co Project

The first diamond drilling programme of 2023 at the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co Project (see Bluejay's RNS dated: 16 January 2023) was completed as planned in January at the Laukunlampi target located approximately 2 km south-east of the historic Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine (Figure 1; Table 1). The drilling was followed by a DHEM survey in February. All drill core has been analysed for geochemistry at ALS laboratories in Outokumpu (Finland) and Loughrea (Ireland). Key intercepts are presented in Table 2. LIBS scanning has been completed on drill core from hole ENON0028 by LUMO Analytics providing detailed elemental mapping of the drill core.

High tenor nickel and copper sulphide droplets and disseminated sulphides have previously been intercepted in pyroxenitic and noritic units close to the southern and north-eastern contacts of the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion. Both drill holes drilled in January intercepted extensions of the mineralised pyroxenites observed in previous drilling.

Drill hole ENON0028 intercepted nearly 200m of vari-textured pyroxenite and norite, including an 88m interval with multiple sub-intervals of Ni-Cu sulphides (pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite) as droplets and thin semi-massive sulphide mineralisation (Figure 2). The average nickel content of the mineralised intervals is approximately 0.15% and up to a maximum of 0.41% Ni. The latter is consistent with the nickel grade of the droplet sulphide ore that occurs in close association with and within a few hundred metres of the massive sulphide ores at the former Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine.

Drill hole ENON0028 contains the highest and most significant sulphide content of all the drill holes completed to date at the Laukunlampi target. Significantly spot measurements of the sulphide droplets in ENON0028 utilising a handheld pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence) device show readings of up to 11% Ni, demonstrating the exceptionally high Ni tenor (defined as the concentration of a metal, usually Ni, contained in 100% sulphide) of the sulphides in this hole. This is approximately twice as high as those readings recorded in spot measurements of sulphide droplets taken from historic drill holes located elsewhere within the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion. Note that these pXRF data represent local spot measurements of individual sulphide droplets and are therefore not representative of a specific interval.

Drill hole ENON0027 intercepted a significant width of gabbroic and noritic rocks and the results confirmed that the Laukunlampi intrusion can be extended to the north into an area of approximately 200  400m gap untested by previous drilling. This is regarded as a significant gap in the drilling when considering the small footprint and steeply plunging geometry of the known sulphide ore at the former mines hosted within the Enonkoski belt. Drill hole ENON0027 also intercepted a few metres of pyroxenite within the intrusion with weak to moderate sulphide mineralisation.

Table 1: Drill hole collar information for ENON0027 and ENON0028

Hole ID Coordinates (ETRS89_TM35FIN) Azimuth Dip Final depth (m) Easting Northing ENON0027 593600 6880120 217 -65 483.00 ENON0028 593602 6879867 307 -60 468.10

Table 2: Selected mineralised intervals for ENON0027 and ENON0028 (see foot note)[3]

Hole ID Intersection Interval Ni Cu Co S NiEq From (m) To (m) (m) % % % % % ENON0027 473.00 474.00 1.00 0.15 0.07 0.03 6.93 0.22 ENON0028 242.04 243.06 1.02 0.15 0.06 0.02 2.52 0.20 and including 284.40 285.00 0.60 0.19 0.05 0.02 1.71 0.24 and including 285.00 285.66 0.66 0.41 0.09 0.03 4.55 0.49 and including 293.28 295.35 2.07 0.14 0.04 0.01 1.26 0.17 and including 296.38 299.81 3.43 0.15 0.05 0.01 2.28 0.18

Discussing the results of the January 2023 Enonkoski drilling, Thomas Levin, COO of Bluejay subsidiary FinnAust Mining Finland Oy ('FinnAust'), commented:

"Drill hole ENON0028 intercepted thin semi-massive sulphide intervals and a total of eight visual sulphide droplet intervals of up to 7m wide over a distance of 88m within an approximately 200m wide upper zone of compositionally and texturally variable pyroxenites before intercepting the contact of the lower zone consisting of a homogenous gabbronorite.

"Handheld pXRF spot measurements demonstrate that the nickel tenor is very high within the large sulphide droplets, indicating that our focus and exploration efforts have moved in the right direction within the intrusion. Our most significant sulphide intercepts prior to the recent drilling were from drill hole M421114R306 located more than 200m south of ENON0028, but encouragingly the nickel tenor has increased significantly towards the north in the case of ENON0028.

"The Laukunlampi intrusion is open towards the north and north-west, and our geological and geophysical models all indicate that the prospective pyroxenites continue in this direction supporting the potential of this target, especially at depth. The results from the ENON0027 drill hole have extended the intrusion towards the north. In addition, there is a large area to the north-west between our current drilling activity and the old Laukunkangas mine that is untested by drilling and is covered by a 10 to +20m thick approximately 1000  200m swamp that effectively masks the expected gravity anomalies in the area. When considering the small footprint (that can be only tens of metres or less) and steeply plunging character of the known economic deposits within the Enonkoski Belt, this represents a significant area of new search space for continued exploration.

"The focus of the JV has lately been on the Laukunlampi drilling, modelling and results, but I am pleased to report that the geological and geophysical modelling has also continued on the separate Halvala-Makkola target in the south-eastern region of the Enonkoski Belt where a ground gravity survey and extensive reference logging and measurements of historic drill core has recently been completed. The objective of the ongoing modelling is to generate new diamond drilling targets within an area hosting the former Halvala mine and the Makkola deposit. Recent geological modelling indicate that the Makkola Ni-Cu mineralisation is open at a shallow level along strike and is untested by drilling."

Bluejay Mining PLC, Monday, March 27, 2023, Press release picture

Figure 1. Enonkoski Permit areas with location of the former Laukunkangas (A) and Halvala (C) Ni-Cu-Co mines and the Laukunlampi Intrusion (B). The Makkola target which is also mentioned in the text is located near Halvala.

Geological modelling indicates that the pyroxenitic units of the Laukunlampi intrusion continue towards the north and north-west. The geological model is supported by geophysical modelling of all available magnetic, electromagnetic and gravity data. The DHEM modelling has generated some unexplained and untested off-hole conductors. However, no significant anomalies can be seen in the downhole electromagnetics or three component magnetic data in close proximity to the mineralised intervals in ENON0028. The ongoing planning for follow-up drilling is therefore focussed on the area further to the north and north-west, with the objective of demonstrating the presence of economic ore grades and tenors within these parts of the intrusion. Very limited drilling has been conducted to the north-west of the recent drilling and towards the Laukunkangas Ni-Cu-Co mine, and the Laukunlampi intrusion is open in this direction (Figure 3).

Bluejay Mining PLC, Monday, March 27, 2023, Press release picture

Figure 2. Example photos of high tenor nickel-copper sulphide droplets in drill hole ENON0028.

Bluejay Mining PLC, Monday, March 27, 2023, Press release picture

Figure 3 (previous page). Plan view (looking down) of the north-west - south-east trending elongated Laukunlampi intrusion with the location of the recently drilled ENON0028 and ENON0027 drill holes indicated. Former historical drill holes are also displayed. Colours on drill-holes represent different lithologies. The modelled pyroxenite (red solid) and the mafic-ultramafic Laukunlampi intrusive (green solid) are both open towards north and north-west towards an area with no historic drilling. The NNW-SSE trending and NNW plunging magnetic model (black solid rectangles) is coincident with a local conductor also untested by drilling. The distance between hole collars of ENON0028 and ENON0027 is 250m.

Further information on the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion

The Laukunlampi intrusion is located approximately 1.5km along strike to the south-east of the historic Enonkoski (Laukunkangas) nickel-copper-cobalt mine. The Laukunkangas deposit was discovered in 1969, although the high-grade ore was only discovered in 1980. The mine was operated between 1985 to 1994 by Outokumpu Oy. The Laukunkangas ore deposit occurred as many separate ore lodes hosted within the ultramafic-mafic rocks of the eastern and northern portions of the Laukunkangas intrusion. The ore types varied from massive to semi-massive sulphide ores to sulphide droplets plus strong sulphide dissemination hosted in peridotite and weak sulphide dissemination hosted in norite. Typical ore minerals were pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite. Some of the richest ore occurred as off-set ore lodes outside of the intrusion, within the mica gneiss or graphitic gneiss wall-rocks. A total of 6.7 Mt at 0.78% Ni and 0.22% Cu was mined from the Laukunkangas mine. The nickel content of the off-set massive ore was over 5%, with copper grades of up to 2% and cobalt grades of up to 0.3%, whilst the lower-grade disseminated ore contained approximately 0.3-0.4% Ni (Geological Survey of Finland, 2020)[4].

Strong similarities between both the Laukunkangas intrusion (that hosts the former mine of the same name) and Laukunlampi intrusions have been recognised. Disseminated sulphides and pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite-pentlandite droplets analogous to the droplet ore at the Laukunkangas mine have been discovered at Laukunlampi at several locations within the noritic-pyroxenitic intrusion including the significant mineralised upper pyroxenite zone in drill hole ENON0028. No high-grade massive sulphides have yet been discovered within the Laukunlampi mafic-ultramafic intrusion. However, intervals with high amounts of sulphide droplets with high nickel and copper tenors based on handheld pXRF measurements have been discovered both close to the southern and northern contacts of the intrusion and by far the highest nickel tenor to date has been observed in drill hole ENON0028. In addition, significant widths of noritic rocks with disseminated sulphides have been intercepted with several drill holes.

Finland Overview

Bluejay holds, through its 100% owned Finnish subsidiary FinnAust Mining Finland Oy, three large scale project areas in East Finland - the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co project, the Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver project, and the Outokumpu copper-cobalt-zinc-nickel-gold-silver project. Bluejay subsidiary FinnAust signed a staged US$20 million JV and earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto for the Enonkoski Ni-Cu-Co project, announced 10 November 2020. The Company has also signed a conditional agreement for a partial divestment in a fourth Finnish project, the Kainuu Schist Belt Black Schist nickel-zinc-copper-cobalt project, for 4 million.

The Outokumpu mining district consists of an approximately 45km long belt hosting three historic polymetallic mines and multiple delineated deposits. The Outokumpu-type ore comprises of high-grade copper mineralisation, with significant associated cobalt, zinc, nickel, gold and silver. The main Outokumpu mine, the Keretti mine, was in operation from 1910 to 1989. FinnAust's 100 % owned tenements covers the majority of the Outokumpu Belt, in addition to several exploration target areas located outside of the main belt. Multiple drill ready targets have been identified by the Company within the current Exploration Permit areas.

The 15km long Enonkoski Belt hosts two historic nickel-copper-cobalt mines operated in the 1980s and 1990s. FinnAust's Exploration Permits covers the entire belt apart from the Laukunkangas Mining Lease. Most exploration efforts by the Company to date has focused on near-mine targets, but greenfield work has also been conducted at some regional targets and several drill ready targets have already been defined. Significant exploration activities have been ongoing for the past two years together with the Company's JV partner Rio Tinto.

The 100% owned Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver ('Cu-Zn-Au-Ag') project is prospective for volcanogenic massive sulphide ('VMS') mineralisation and contains the historic Hammaslahti mine, which was successfully operated between 1973 to 1986 by Outokumpu Oy. The mine produced approximately 7 Mt at an average grade of 1.16% Cu, 1.55% Zn, 0.59 g/t Au and 5.2 g/t Ag (Geological Survey of Finland, 2023)[5]. The Company's exploration efforts have so far mostly focused on the near-mine area where drilling by FinnAust has confirmed that the main ore lode remains open down-plunge below the mine and has also resulted in the discovery of a new ore lode (e.g., 8.65 metres grading at 2.15% Cu, 1.97% Zn, 47.46 ppm Ag and 0.5 g/t Au in drill hole R325 (refer to FinnAust Mining RNS dated 21 July 2014)[6] close to the underground workings at the historic mine. These drill targets, within the mine corridor, are ready for continued drill-testing. FinnAust's exploration permits, totalling 39.3 sq km, cover the majority of the Hammaslahti Belt. The belt is considered permissive for further VMS deposits as supported by the presence of high-grade mineralised outcrops and boulders within FinnAust's licence areas south of the former mine, providing further upside to the project.

Hammaslahti Tenements Update

Two Exploration Permit extension period applications within the Hammaslahti project area were successfully granted by the Finnish Mining Authority Tukes on 2nd March 2023. The Hammaslahti C and Hammaslahti 1-2 permits covers the former Hammaslahti mine site and surrounding areas.

Assay and QAQC Procedures for the Enonkoski Drilling Programme

On receipt from the Enonkoski drill site, the diamond drill core was systematically logged for geological and geotechnical attributes, photographed and marked-up for sampling at FinnAust's operational base in the town of Outokumpu, Finland by Company personnel. A default 1m downhole sample length was used in mineralised zones, except where shortened by geological contacts. A default of 2m downhole sample length was used in intrusives that were clearly unmineralised and up to 3m downhole sample length was used in unmineralised wall rocks (e.g., gneisses). Core diametre for both holes was NQ2 (50.6 mm). All core cutting, sample preparation and geochemical analysis of the diamond drill core was undertaken by ALS Global ('ALS') at its laboratories in Outokumpu (Finland) and Loughrea (Republic of Ireland). ALS preparation and analytical labs are accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref 4028 and have internal QA/QC programs for monitoring accuracy and precision. ALS is entirely independent of the Company.

All drill core was delivered by FinnAust personnel to ALS Outokumpu. Cores were then cut in half by ALS lengthwise along a pre-determined line offset from the orientation line with one half (same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one half (preserving the orientation line) stored as a record. All drill cores have been returned and are securely archived at FinnAust's warehouse facilities in Outokumpu for future reference. After drying the half core samples were crushed to >70% passing below 2 millimetres and split using a rotary splitter. A 1 kilogramme split was then pulverised to 85% passing below -75-microns. A 30 gramme ('g') split of the pulp was analysed for platinum, palladium, and gold content by fire assay with an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry ('ICP-MS') finish (ALS method: PGM-MS23L). Major and trace elements, including rare earth elements were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy ('ICP-AES') after lithium borate fusion on a 0.20g aliquot (ALS method: ME-ICP06). Loss on Ignition ('LoI') at 1000oC was also analysed as part of this package. A separate pulp split was analysed for 48 elements, including base metals, by ICP-MS after four-acid digestion on a 0.25g aliquot (ALS method: ME-MS61). Carbon and sulphur content were also analysed (ALS methods: C-IR07 and S-IR08, respectively). Any samples exceeding the over-range for nickel were re-analysed using a 4-acid digest ICP-MS ore grade method (ALS method: Ni-OG62). Nickel was also analysed by a specialist method chosen for the selective decomposition of nickel sulphide to discriminate the nickel hosted in sulphides from that hosted within the silicates. This analysis consists of an ammonium citrate and hydrogen peroxide leach with an ICP-AES finish (ALS method: Ni-ICP05).

Bluejay Mining and its subsidiaries operate according to its rigorous internal Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocols, which are consistent with industry best practices. For the Enonkoski project this includes the insertion of certified standards and blanks into the sample stream at an insertion rate of one in every 30 samples and laboratory duplicates are requested at a rate of one in every 40 samples, which is deemed appropriate for this stage of exploration. In smaller sample batches additional standards and blanks are included. The blanks are provided by ALS and standards are Certified Reference Materials (CRM's) supplied by Ore Research and Exploration, Australia. Internal QA/QC samples were also inserted by the analytical laboratories and have been reviewed by the Company prior to release. No material QA/QC issues have been identified with respect to sample collection, security, and assaying.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical disclosure included in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Joshua Hughes MESci (Hons), Vice President Exploration, and a full-time employee of Bluejay Mining plc, who is also a Member and Chartered Professional Geologist ("MAusIMM CP(Geo)") of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists ("FSEG") and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London ("FGS"). Mr. Hughes has performed data verification on all information disclosed in this news release related to sampling and analytical procedures, assay results and QA/QC. Mr. Hughes has sufficient experience, relevant to the styles of mineralisation and type of deposits under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking, to qualify as a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by the AIM rules, and for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI-43-101") Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

For further information please visit http://www.bluejaymining.com or contact:

Kevin Sheil Bluejay Mining plc enquiry@bluejaymining.com Ewan Leggat/ Adam Cowl SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP(Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 Andrew Chubb Hannam & Partners (Advisory) LLP +44 (0) 20 7907 8500 Tim Blythe/ Megan Ray BlytheRay +44 (0) 20 7138 3205

About Bluejay Mining Plc

Bluejay is listed on the London AIM market and Frankfurt Stock Exchange and its shares also trade on the OTCQB Market in the US. With multiple projects in Greenland and Finland, Bluejay has now secured four globally respected entities as partners on three of its projects, and exploration expenditure of $37 million committed on three key projects, giving the Company and its shareholders both portfolio and commodity diversification in high quality jurisdictions.

Bluejay's Dundas Ilmenite Project in Greenland, is fully permitted and undergoing further optimisation work. The Company has agreed a Master Distribution Agreement with a major Asian conglomerate for up-to 340k tonnes per annum ('tpa') of its designed 440ktpa annual output. The Company has also mandated a major European bank to head the financing syndicate for Dundas.

Bluejay, through its wholly owned subsidiary Disko Exploration Ltd., has signed a definitive Joint Venture Agreement with KoBold Metals to guide exploration for new deposits rich in the critical materials for electric vehicles (The Disko-Nuussuaq nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE Project). Disko Exploration Ltd holds two additional projects in Greenland - the 692 sq km Kangerluarsuk zinc-lead- silver project, where historical work has recovered grades of up to 45.4% zinc, 9.3% lead and 596 g/t silver[7] and a fully funded summer drill programme is to commence on multiple large-scale drill ready targets; and the 920 sq km Thunderstone project which has the potential to host large-scale base metal and gold deposits.

In Finland, Bluejay currently holds three large scale multi-metal projects through its wholly owned subsidiary FinnAust Mining Finland Oy. The Company has a Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto at its Enonkoski nickel-copper-cobalt Project in East Finland which has seen continued exploration and drilling since June 2021. Bluejay's drill ready Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver project hosts high-grade VMS mineralisation and extensions of historical ore lodes have been proven. The drill ready Outokumpu copper-nickel-cobalt-zinc-gold-silver project is located on one of the world's most prolific geological belts which hosts multiple high-grade deposits. Bluejay has also signed a conditional agreement for a partial divestment in a fourth Finnish project.

**ENDS**

[1] Reference: Geological Survey of Finland (2020) Enonkoski deposit description [accessed: 24 March 2023]; https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/raportti/37_Enonkoski.pdf

[2] Definition: tenor is defined as the concentration of a metal, usually Ni, contained in 100% sulphide. Since the measurements reported in this RNS represent individual spot measurements by handheld pXRF directly on sulphide droplets they cannot be considered truly representative.

[3] Notes: Nickel Equivalent ("NiEq") grades reported for the Enonkoski drill holes were calculated using the following formula: NiEq % = nickel (%) + (copper (%) x 0.3696) + (cobalt (%) x 1.4428). Assumptions used for the nickel equivalent calculations were the current spot metal prices (as of 17th March 2023) of US$10.66/lb nickel, US$3.94/lb copper and US$15.38/lb Co and metallurgical recoveries were assumed to be 100%.

[4] Reference: Geological Survey of Finland (2020) Enonkoski deposit description [accessed: 24 March 2023]; https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/raportti/37_Enonkoski.pdf

[5] Reference: Geological Survey of Finland (2023) Hammaslahti deposit report [accessed: 24 March 2023]; url: https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/raportti/524_Hammaslahti.pdf

[6] Reference: FinnAust Mining plc (2014) "New High-Grade Polymetallic lode Discovered at Hammaslahti Target, Finland [accessed: 24 March 2023]; url: https://tupa.gtk.fi/karttasovellus/mdae/references/524_Hammaslahti/524_JulyHammaslahtiDrilling21.07.14.pdf

[7] Reference: Bluejay Mining plc (2023) Overview of the Kangerluarsuk Zn-Pb-Ag ( Cu-Ge) Project: An emerging district-scale, high-grade base metal opportunity in Central West Greenland [accessed: 24 March 2023]; url: https://bluejaymining.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Kangerluarsuk-Slides-Final-Feb-2023.pdf

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Bluejay Mining PLC





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AMSTERDAM and NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluestar Alliance, a New York-based brand management company, announces its acquisition today of Amsterdam-based Dutch fashion brand Scotch & Soda. The acquisition by Bluestar Alliance will allow for the continuation of the brand and its products across key markets including the Netherlands. The brand management firm has become an industry leader, owning a portfolio of consumer brands including iconic action sports brand Hurley, Bebe and Tahari, among others.

Bluestar Alliance logo

Explains Bluestar Alliance Chief Executive Officer, Joseph Gabbay of the acquisition, "Bluestar continues to strategically build its portfolio and we see Scotch & Soda as a unique fit, widely known for its roots in Amsterdam and celebrating self-expression with a modern twist on timeless fashion pieces."

Continues Chief Operating Officer, Ralph Gindi, "Scotch & Soda is a chic, contemporary lifestyle brand which embodies the free spirit of Amsterdam and is uniquely recognized by consumers everywhere in the world." "The niche brand sits on its own and attracts a younger fashion-conscious consumer who appreciates fine craftmanship and attention to detail," he adds. "Our goal is to continue Scotch & Soda's luxury retail distribution strategy, while also introducing the brand to more trendsetters, especially those looking to express their personality through their clothing," adds Gindi.

Following the closing of the transaction, Scotch & Soda will be enabled to continue its activities in selected markets. Further details will be shared after the closing, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks.

Jasper Berkenbosch, attorney at Jones Day and trustee of the bankrupt entities, says: "we are happy that we were able to make this announcement following the bankruptcy. We have seen quite some interest from parties to acquire some of the bankrupt assets. The proposal of Bluestar Alliance was by far the best deal for all stakeholders involved". Erik Schuurs, co-trustee, adds: "This is good news for quite a large group of employees at Scotch & Soda, even if, unfortunately, not all employees can be kept on board. Scotch & Soda is a great brand and I'm glad to see that it can prosper under the management of a company with a great track record."

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Bluestar will continue the growth momentum by introducing new consumers to the Scotch & Soda brand, inspired by the free spirit of Amsterdam and power of self-expression.

Terms of the deal will not be disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Bluestar Alliance

Founded by Joseph Gabbay and Ralph Gindi in 2006, Bluestar owns, manages, and markets a portfolio of consumer brands that span across many tiers of distribution from luxury to mass market. This portfolio consists of major department store retail brands including Hurley, Tahari, Bebe, as well as Justice, Brookstone, Kensie, Catherine Malandrino, Nanette Lepore, English Laundry, Joan Vass and Limited Too.

Each brand is uniquely positioned maintaining the brand heritage and equity, considering new categories and current tiers of distribution. Bluestar's current network of international and domestic partners offers the opportunity to take a niche brand to a visible worldwide lifestyle brand. Since its inception, Bluestar has acquired select brands with current retail sales exceeding $6 billion. The company manages a current portfolio of over 300 licensees and a growing branded retail platform of over 100 stores worldwide.

About Scotch & Soda

Born in Amsterdam in 1985, Scotch & Soda celebrates the free spirit of its birth city. Endlessly optimistic, the brand champions individuality, authenticity and the power of self-expression to create the unique  an attitude reflected in its designs. The Scotch & Soda collections include menswear, womenswear, kidswear, denim, eyewear, fragrances and accessories, occupying a unique space in today's global fashion landscape.

Collections can currently be found in 253 freestanding stores across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia, as well as in 7,000 doors in some of the world's biggest cities, including New York, London and Paris. The brand's online operations also ship to over 70 countries.

Related Links:

https://www.bluestaralliance.com

scotch-soda.com

Contacts:

Bluestar: Christine Peddy, cpeddy@bluestarall.com

Scotch & Soda: Ingo Heijnen ingo.heijnen@hkstrategies.com

Scotch and Soda

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SOURCE Bluestar Alliance LLC
(Bloomberg) -- Botswana will acquire a 24% stake in Belgian gem trader HB Antwerp, in a deal that could challenge the southern African nations 50-year partnership with De Beers.

Most Read from Bloomberg

As part of the agreement announced by President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Monday, Botswanas state gem trader Okavango Diamond Co. will receive polished rather than rough prices over a five-year supply deal with HB Antwerp for some of its sales. The new approach could potentially generate more revenue for the government than De Beers traditional method of selling rough  uncut and unpolished  stones.

De Beers and Botswana jointly own Debswana, which mines almost all of the diamonds in the country, the worlds No. 1 producer by value. In February, Masisi told a rally of his supporters that Botswana wants a larger share of revenue from the venture with De Beers: it currently gets 80% of the sales total when taxes and other charges are included. Masisi has previously threatened to walk away from talks with the biggest diamond company, which is a unit of Anglo American Plc.

Today is the dawn of a new era in the diamond story of Botswana as we begin this journey with HB Antwerp, Masisi said at the Belgian companys offices in Botswanas capital, Gaborone. This partnership has the potential to be a game changer.

HB Antwerp already has a partnership with Lucara Diamond Corp., under which it pays polished prices for bigger stones from the companys Karowe mine in Botswana.

Okavango is entitled to 25% of Debswanas output. The ventures revenue was $4.6 billion in 2022 and Debswana has long-term plans to extend the lives of some of its mines at a cost of billions of dollars.

No value was given for purchase of the stake in HB Antwerp.

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Our business model enables us to capture optimal value for us and our partners in both buoyant and more challenging industry conditions, De Beers said in a response to queries. We are confident that we and government will finalize an agreement that deepens our relationship.

In addition to the Debswana Sales Agreement the talks with the government also cover the future mining rights for Debswana, De Beers said. We are set up to operate successfully at scale, the company added.

In addition to higher prices, HB Antwerp says its methods allow the origins of individual diamonds to be traced. That could encourage consumers to pay a premium as Botswana is politically stable and its gems are extracted largely using mechanized methods. Diamonds in other parts of the world are often mined in dangerous conditions by small-scale miners and, in some cases, sales proceeds have been used to finance conflict.

Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine could prove a boon for Botswanan diamonds as Russia is the countrys biggest rival, according to Masisi.

The industry is closely monitoring the impact of the conflict as the supply-demand dynamic adjusts and source-verification programs gain momentum, the president said.

The deal with Okavango will be similar to that with Lucara in respect to the state company being paid the polished price for diamonds. However, Lucaras Karowe mine stands out for its production of some of the worlds biggest and most valuable gems.

Our mission is to elevate what the government gets today from the sale of rough diamonds to a completely different level, HB Antwerps co-founder Rafael Papsimedov said. The model is working and its the best model to create an alignment of interests and to avoid any conflict of interest.

(Updates with De Beers comments in eighth and ninth paragraphs)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Kathy Pattillo brings Board, CEO and CFO expertise to clients from major industrial players to private equity and VC-backed firms

Kathy Pattillo

Partner, Boyden Houston

Houston, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boyden, a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 70 offices in over 45 countries, is delighted to welcome Kathy Pattillo to its partnership in the United States, based in Houston, effective immediately.

Commenting on her appointment Kathy Pattillo, Partner, Boyden United States, said, Boyden has a strong and consistent reputation among clients, candidates and colleagues and my on-boarding experience confirms its collegiate and supportive culture. I am excited to work with consultative colleagues who have a strong, strategic approach and look forward to engaging with a broad range of clients in the United States and global markets.

Kathy has over 20 years experience in executive search and talent consulting, with a special focus on board services and C-suite roles, notably Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officers. She is widely experienced in multiple industries, including oil & gas, technology and professional services, as well as an expert in functional leadership, particularly CFO, CHRO and CIO roles. Her strategic capabilities enable Kathy to work across large public companies, private organizations and private equity-backed companies.

Having served in a number of board and specialist committee roles throughout her career, Kathy is currently a Board Member at Moore & Shelton Company Ltd, National Business Development Association, and Texas Hearing Institute.

Kathy holds a Bachelors degree (BBA) in finance and management from Texas Christian University M.J. Neeley School of Business, Fort Worth. She studied for an MBA at the University of North Texas and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

About Boyden

Boyden is a premier leadership and talent advisory firm with more than 70 offices in over 45 countries. Our global reach enables us to serve client needs anywhere they conduct business. We connect great companies with great leaders through executive search, interim management and leadership consulting solutions. Boyden is ranked amongst the top companies on Forbes Americas Best Executive Recruiting Firms for 2021. For further information, visit www.boyden.com.

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Attachment

CONTACT: Chris Swee Boyden cswee@boyden.com




VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Brigadier Gold Limited (the "Company") (TSXV:BRG)(FSE:B7LM)(OTC PINK:BGADF) is pleased to announce that it has engaged Geologica Groupe- Conseil ("Geologica") of Val D'or Quebec as its technical partner for exploration and development of its Nemaska2 lithium project, James Bay, Quebec. Geologica has built a strong reputation as a mining exploration consultant including unparalleled local knowledge of lithium deposits in the James Bay area.

About Geologica Groupe-Conseil

Geologica has expertise acquired over more than 38 years in the mining field at the Canadian and International level, including more than 1500 technical qualification and evaluation reports to its credit. Geologica's qualified team, have orchestrated over 500 exploration programs for lithium, gold, base metals, diamonds and rare earth elements with effective budget control, reliability and adherence to deadlines.

Management Commentary

Rob Birmingham, CEO of Brigadier Gold Limited, comments, "We are very pleased to have procured a seasoned partner in Geologica, who have extensive mining experience in the James Bay area. Their expertise will prove significant as we aim to initiate our exploration program as soon as the weather permits."

About Nemaska2 Lithium Project

Nemaska2 consists of 162 map-designated mining titles covering a total area of 8300 hectares and is located in northern Quebec, approximately 160kms east of James Bay, near the community of Nemaska. Neighbouring Brigadier's Nemaska2 Project are claims held by Li-Ft Power, Brunswick Exploration, Dios Exploration, Critical Elements Lithium and ~23 kilometres to the east lies Nemaska Lithium's Whabouchi Project.

Nemaska2 hosts at least 20 white pegmatite outcrops, each approximately 1000 square metres in size. The Quebec government carried out a large sampling program over Nemaska2 and the geological findings suggest these white pegmatites contain spodumene. Further exploration of the property has been recommended to identify possible additional pegmatite outcrops and spodumene occurrences.

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Qualified Person

Mr. Garry Clark, P. Geo., a member of the Company's Board of Directors, a "Qualified Person" under NI 43-101, is responsible for the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.

For further information, please contact:

Brigadier Gold Limited

www.brigadiergold.ca

Robert Birmingham, Chief Executive Officer

rob@brigadiergold.ca

(604) 4248131

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". Forward-looking statements include those relating to initiation and completion of exploration and development programs. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Company's ability to complete all payments and expenditures required under its mineral property option agreements; and other risks and uncertainties relating to the actual results of current exploration activities; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with adjacent properties and the Company's expectations; operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mining (including environmental accidents and hazards, industrial accidents, equipment breakdown, unusual or unexpected geological or structural formations, cave-ins, flooding and severe weather); environmental and regulatory requirements; availability of permits, possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, political risks, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks involved in the mineral exploration industry, and those risks set out in the filings on SEDAR made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities legislation.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

SOURCE: Brigadier Gold Limited





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GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism, Associate Minister of Finance, and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre, and Travis McNally, President of the Grande Prairie Residential Society, announced a combined investment of more than $660,000 to repair aging water lines in Margaret Edgson Manor in Grande Prairie.

Government of Canada Logo (CNW Group/Government of Canada)

The apartment building has been operating at almost full capacity since it opened in 2005, with 70 two-bedroom units, 16 of which are fully wheelchair accessible. Over the years the building has been home to many families, seniors, and people of all ages, providing affordable housing with rents at approximately 70 percent of market value.

Funding provided for this project includes:

$256,451 from the Government of Canada through the National Housing Co-investment Fund (NHCF) and

$409,698 from the Grande Prairie Residential Society.

Quotes:

"Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. By investing in the maintenance of existing affordable housing units we are ensuring the long-term sustainability of rental housing, as well as the health and well-being of those who are living there. That is why our government is pleased to provide funding to support repairs at Margaret Edgson Manor. By investing in the long-term upkeep of this building, we can ensure that residents continue to have access to quality and affordable homes in their community. This is another example of our government's National Housing Strategy at work."  The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion

"A secure, safe, and accessible home is essential to the quality of life of seniors and families in Grande Prairie. By investing in the maintenance and repair of Margaret Edgson Manor, our government is ensuring that those who need it most will continue to have affordable homes that meet their needs within their community."  The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism, Associate Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre

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"When we realized that the water lines in the building were failing and insurance would no longer cover damages, the Society set out to ensure the repairs were completed in a timely manner with as little disruption to the daily lives of our tenants as possible. This proved to be a very costly project, and we were fortunate to receive assistance with funding from CMHC, through the National Housing Co-investment Fund. This financial contribution will help to ensure that our non-profit organization can continue to provide safe, accessible, affordable housing in our community."  Travis McNally, President, Grande Prairie Residential Society.

Quick facts:

The National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) is a $13.2 billion program under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) that gives priority to projects that help people who need it most, including women and children fleeing family violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, those with mental health or addiction issues, veterans, and young adults.

Canada's National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10-year, $82-plus billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home.

The Grande Prairie Residential Society (GPRS) was established in 1986, with a mission to provide accessible and affordable housing for people with physical disabilities. For more information visit www.gpresidentialsociety.com

Margaret Edgson Manor is self-sustaining with no operating support from government.

Related links:

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that by 2030, everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, please visit cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, please visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

SOURCE Government of Canada

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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, NEW ZEALAND OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BREACH ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION.

COPL Announces Closing of US$14.8 million Convertible Bond Financing with the Full Upsize Option being Exercised

LONDON, UK and CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited ("COPL" or the "Company") (CSE:XOP)(LSE:COPL), an international oil and gas exploration, production and development company with production and development operations focused in Converse and Natrona Counties, Wyoming, USA, is pleased to announce (the "Announcement") that it successfully completed its US$14.8 million convertible bond financing on March 24, 2023 with the full increase option being exercised (the "Convertible Financing").

The Convertible Financing has been led by the main bondholder (the "Main Bondholder"), institutional stakeholders, and new institutional investors providing the full amount of US$14.8 million principal, showing their strong support for the Company. 70,257,026 new warrants have been issued in this Convertible Financing. Closing of the Convertible Financing also triggered the 6th Amendment and Waiver of certain covenants pursuant to its Senior Credit Facility, as announced March 20, 2023.

Further to the announcement of March 20, 2023, the Company has also issued 26,842,036 common shares (the "Shares") settling $2.2 million of payables to arm's length creditors of the Company. The price at which the Shares were issued was at a premium to the LSE share price.

Applications will be made to the FCA for these Shares to be admitted to the Official List and to the London Stock Exchange for the Shares to be admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities within the next twelve months, in accordance with Listing Rule 14.3.4.

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Following these issues of Shares the Company has a total of 343,126,335 Shares issued and outstanding. There are no Shares held in treasury and therefore the total number of voting rights in the Company is 343,126,335. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

About the Company:

COPL is an international oil and gas exploration, development and production company actively pursuing opportunities in the United States with operations in Converse County Wyoming, and in sub-Saharan Africa through its ShoreCan joint venture company in Nigeria, and independently in other countries.

The Company's Wyoming operations are one of the most environmentally responsible with minimal gas flaring and methane emissions combined with electricity sourced from a neighbouring wind farm to power production facilities.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Arthur Millholland, President & CEO

Mr. Ryan Gaffney, CFO

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited

Tel: + 1 (403) 262 5441

Cathy Hume

CHF Investor Relations

Tel: +1 (416) 868 1079 ext. 251

Email: cathy@chfir.com

Charles Goodwin

Yellow Jersey PR Limited

Tel: +44 (0) 77 4778 8221

Email: copl@yellowjerseypr.com

Peter Krens

Joint Broker

Equity Capital Markets, Tennyson Securities

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9033

Alex Wood & Keith Dowsing

Joint Broker

Alternative Resource Capital

AW: +44 (0) 7559 910872

KD: +44 (0) 7559 910873

Andrew Chubb / Neil Passmore

Advisor/Joint Broker

Hannam & Partners

+44 (0) 20 7907 8500

The Common Shares are listed under the symbol "XOP" on the CSE and under the symbol

"COPL" on the London Stock Exchange.

Market Abuse Regulation disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information pursuant to Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 as amended ("MAR") encompassing information relating to the Placing described above, and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR. In addition, market soundings (as defined in MAR) were taken in respect of the Placing with the result that certain persons became aware of inside information (as defined in MAR), as permitted by MAR. This inside information is set out in this Announcement. Therefore, upon publication of this announcement, those persons that received such inside information in a market sounding are no longer in possession of such inside information relating to the Company and its securities.

Caution regarding forward looking statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "initial, "scheduled", "can", "will", "prior to", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "forecast", "future", "continue", "may", "expect", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including, but not limited to, the ability to raise the necessary funding for operations, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance 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 most of which are beyond the control of Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd. For example, the uncertainty of reserve estimates, the uncertainty that the Bridge Loan Funding will complete the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, cost overruns, health and safety issues, political and environmental risks, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, changes in legislation affecting the oil and gas industry could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and Canadian Overseas Petroleum 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.

Hannam & Partners, which is a member of the London Stock Exchange, is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and is acting as joint broker and sole financial adviser in connection with the Placing. Alternative Resource Capital, a trading name of Shard Capital Partners LLP, and Tennyson Securities, is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and is acting as joint broker in connection with the Placing. Each of Hannam & Partners, Alternative Resource Capital and Tennyson Securities are acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the matters referred to in this announcement and for no-one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, nor for providing any advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or matter referred to herein.

This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of the Company. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by either Hannam & Partners (apart from the responsibilities or liabilities that may be imposed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or the regulatory regime established thereunder) or the Company or by any of their respective affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Canadian Overseas Petroleum Ltd





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/745898/Canadian-Overseas-Petroleum-Ltd-Announces-Completion-of-US148m-Convertible-Bond-Financing




Yara International ASA

Oslo, 27 March 2023: Pal Hestad, EVP Global Plants & Operational Excellence, has asked to step down from his current position for personal reasons, and will take on a different role in Yara.



Pal has safely led the Global Plants & Operational Excellence organization through an extraordinary period dominated by a pandemic and war which resulted in a demanding situation for a global operation like ours. Pal has now asked to step down and will continue to work for Yara in a different role. I would like to thank him for his contribution to the Group Executive Board over the past close to three years, says Svein Tore Holsether, President & CEO.

Pal will continue in the role until his replacement has been found.

Contact

Maria Gabrielsen, Investor Relations

Mobile phone: +47 92090093

Email: maria.gabrielsen@yara.com

Tonje Nss, Media Relations

Mobile phone: +47 40844647

Email: tonje.nass@yara.com

About Yara

Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger and a planet respected, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting nature-positive crop nutrition, and zero-emission energy solutions. Yaras ambition is focused on Growing a Nature-Positive Food Future that creates value for our customers, shareholders, and society at large and delivers a more sustainable food value chain.

To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming, and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production. Through our focus on clean ammonia production, we aim to enable the hydrogen economy, driving a green transition of shipping, fertilizer production, and other energy-intensive industries.

Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industrys only global crop nutrition company. We operate an integrated business model with around 17,500 employees and operations in 60 countries, with a proven track record of strong returns. In 2022, Yara reported revenues of USD 24.1 billion.

www.yara.com



This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.



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SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

SkyQuest, a leading research firm, has recently published an in-depth report on the rapidly growing chatbot market. This comprehensive research report provides valuable insights into the latest industry developments, making it an essential resource for business leaders seeking to make informed strategic decisions. The report also examines critical market factors, including size, growth rates, and emerging trends. It identifies the key challenges the chatbot industry faces and evaluates the competitive landscape, including the major players in the market and their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Westford, USA, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The chatbot market is witnessing remarkable growth in North America and is expected to continue its dominance in the coming years. The region's leading position can be attributed to the rising demand for messenger applications and the growing adoption of consumer analytics by businesses worldwide. With a surge in demand for uninterrupted customer assistance, more market players are adopting advanced chatbots, increasing their use on e-commerce websites. In addition, as technology advances, there is a growing trend toward developing self-learning chatbots that can deliver more human-like conversational experiences. This development is expected to provide significant growth opportunities to the market as businesses seek to provide personalized customer experiences.

According to a recent study conducted by SkyQuest, the customer communication management market is expected to experience significant growth over the next several years. The market is projected to surpass 3.5 billion by 2028, demonstrating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.3%. This positive outlook bodes well for the chatbot market, which is expected to be a key player in the customer communication management space.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Chatbot Market"

Pages - 276

Tables - 90

Figures - 76

Get a sample copy of this report:

https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/chatbot-market

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A chatbot is a popular computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, typically through text-based interfaces such as messaging apps or websites. Chatbots have become increasingly important in recent years as more and more businesses and organizations seek to improve their customer service and engagement efforts. By using chatbots, companies can provide instant customer support 24/7 without needing human agents always to be available. This can help improve customer satisfaction and retention and reduce costs associated with customer support.

Prominent Players in Chatbot Market

IBM Corporation

Google LLC.

OpenAI

Facebook, Inc.

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Amazon Web Services, Inc.

Microsoft Corporation

Zendesk, Inc.

Oracle Corporation

Dialogflow

LivePerson, Inc.

Baidu, Inc.

Haptik, Inc.

SAP SE

Chatfuel

Yellow Messenger

Bold160

Aspect Software, Inc.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/chatbot-market

Customer Service Segment to Drive Swift Growth As Chatbots Considered Cost-Effective and Efficient Solution for Handling Routine Customer Inquiries

The customer service segment was the dominant player in the chatbot market in 2021, and its outlook for the next decade looks positive. This segment growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for efficient and automated customer service solutions, which chatbots are well-equipped to provide. In addition, one of the primary advantages of chatbots in the customer service domain is their ability to simultaneously handle a large volume of customer queries and support requests. This eliminates the requirement for human intervention in routine and repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable resources for more complex and strategic business activities. Given these advantages, it is no surprise that the customer service segment is projected to maintain its dominant position in the chatbot industry from 2022 to 2030.

In 2021, North America did show dominance in the chatbot market, with many businesses implementing chatbot technology to improve customer service and engagement. This regional trend is projected to continue in the coming years, with the North American market projected to remain a major player in the industry. That being said, other regions around the world are also experiencing growth in the market. Europe, for example, has seen a significant increase in the adoption of chatbot technology in recent years, with businesses in the region recognizing the benefits of chatbots in improving customer service and reducing costs.

Cloud-Based Deployment Segment to Exhibit Strong Growth as Cloud-based Chatbots are Hosted on Secure Servers with Advanced Security Measures

In 2021, the cloud-based deployment segment of the chatbot market showed promising growth, and this trend is expected to continue from 2022 to 2030. The popularity of cloud-based deployment can be attributed to its numerous benefits. Firstly, it offers scalability, meaning that chatbot developers can easily increase or decrease the chatbot's capabilities per the client's requirements. Secondly, cloud-based deployment offers high availability and reliability, using multiple servers to ensure the chatbot is always up and running. This also ensures that the chatbot is accessible from anywhere at any time, providing convenience to users.

The chatbot market saw the emergence of the Asia Pacific region as a potential challenger in 2021. With the rise of technological advancements and digital transformation, the demand for chatbots has increased significantly, and Asia Pacific is at the forefront of this trend. The region's large population, growing internet penetration, and increasing adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices have contributed to the market's growth. As the adoption of chatbots continues to rise, the Asia Pacific region is expected to perform well in the market by 2030.

In today's competitive business environment, companies constantly seek ways to gain an edge over their rivals. To achieve this, they often resort to strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other similar initiatives that can help them increase their market share and consolidate their position in the industry. The chatbot market, in particular, is one such sector where companies are looking to establish their presence and leverage the growing demand for conversational AI solutions. This is where the latest research report from SkyQuest comes in. The report offers invaluable insights to help companies formulate effective strategies, identify potential partners and acquisition targets, and stay ahead of the competition.

Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements:

https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/chatbot-market

Key Developments in Chatbot Market

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has revealed its plans to introduce AI-powered chatbots on two of its most popular platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram. With the integration of advanced AI technologies, chatbots can understand natural language queries and respond appropriately, providing users with a more intuitive experience.

Snapchat has recently launched a new chatbot feature powered by OpenAI's advanced GPT technology. The launch of this chatbot is a significant development for Snapchat, as it allows the platform to provide a more personalized and engaging experience for its users. Using advanced machine learning algorithms, the chatbot can learn from previous interactions with users and adjust its responses accordingly, making it even more efficient and effective.

Google recently released a new AI-powered chatbot named Bard as the tech giant enters the competition with ChatGPT. Bard is designed to hold engaging conversations with users, utilizing natural language processing to understand and respond to user queries. As AI technology continues to advance, chatbots have become increasingly popular as a way to interact with users and customers.

Key Questions Answered in Chatbot Market Report

What are the regulatory and legal factors that affect the market, and how are they likely to change in the future?

What are the major market opportunities that companies are pursuing, and what are the associated risks?

What are the key segments within the market, and what steps are required to take a leading position in the particular segment?

How is technology changing the market, and what innovations are expected to emerge in the coming years?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global Online Freelance Market

Global Automotive Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market

Global Smart Energy Management Market

Global Centralized Exchange Token (CEX) Market

Global Customer Success Software Market

About Us:

SkyQuest Technology is leading growth consulting firm providing market intelligence, commercialization and technology services. It has 450+ happy clients globally.

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Swiss International School Dubai (SISD) is offering a BTEC International Level 3 Extended Diploma in (Business and) Hospitality as part of the schools IB careers-related programme for students aged 16-18 years.



Bolstering its Swiss heritage, the award-winning school  one of the only boarding schools in the region to offer the IB curriculum  is now delivering a Hospitality IB pathway to students wanting to pursue a Swiss quality education and premium university option.



Megan La Caze, Head of Secondary, said: We are delighted to offer this option to our students. The course reinforces our link to Switzerland and the Swiss hospitality industry, deemed to be the best in the world. Our students are already heading off to Les Roches, EHL and Glion in Switzerland and now we want to give them the best possible chance of success for their future pathways and careers.



Principal Ruth Burke added: We are the only school in the UAE to offer this exciting opportunity to pupils. Its important to ensure our students are given every chance to pursue their career choices from a young age and given that Switzerland is renowned for offering some of the worlds top hospitality training, its a logical and appropriate fit for us to deliver this internationally recognised and respected qualification.



The courses will be delivered via the hotel.school platform, with weekly on-site practical lessons taught at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management (EAHM), one of the world's leading hospitality business management schools and a subsidiary of the Jumeirah Group, a global luxury hotel company. Students will also have the opportunity to gain work experience and opportunities with the Jumeirah Group and other prestigious hotel chains.



The BTEC is an excellent qualification to help secure limited places at top hospitality-focused universities in both Switzerland, the UAE and worldwide.



"We are very proud of this collaboration, and we are confident that the education we provide at EAHM will enable SISD students to grow, learn, and embark on a rewarding journey," said EAHM Managing Director, Jeroen Greven. Our learning environment is personalized, our faculty is industry-leading, and our facilities are first-rate. There is no better place to learn world-class hospitality."



The hospitality management diploma is an internationally recognised course developed as a progression route to the professional qualifications offered by the Institute of Hospitality. It encourages and provides opportunities for learners to access higher education, vocational qualifications such as a full-time degree in hospitality management or related areas such as business management and tourism management.



Through the new course of study, students will gain industry experience and learn about all aspects of hospitality, including food and beverage, conference and events, luxury, sustainability, front office operations, technology and digital media, revenue management among others, preparing SISDs international student cohort for lucrative careers.



The chance to study for the course begins in September 2023, as a part of the schools ICBP programmes vocational education options. The new course is the latest addition to SISDs ever-evolving educational offerings, which also include a BTEC in Business Management. - TradeArabia News Service
Vantage Market Research, The North Star for the Working World

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Chemical Distribution Market is valued at USD 243.6 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach a value of USD 368.7 Billion by 2030 at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 6.1% over the forecast period 2022-2030.

Market Overview

Rising chemical consumption in many end-use industries, including construction, medicines, polymers & resins, and plastics, is predicted to be a major driver for the distribution business. Chemical manufacturers provide essential raw materials to companies in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Either producer sell these raw materials directly to consumers, or third parties distribute them.

We forecast that sales of the commodity category in the Chemical Distribution market will account for more than 53% during the forecasted period. The rising use of these chemicals in many end-use industries, including the transportation, automotive, and personal care sectors, is to blame for this.

Get Access to Free Sample Research Report with Latest Industry Insights @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/chemical-distribution-market-2042/request-sample

Market Dynamics

The distribution of commodity and specialty chemicals by third parties in the Supply Chain will Increase to Support Market Expansion

The chemical industry produces and supplies crucial raw materials to companies in the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Producers either sell these feedstocks directly to consumers or have third parties transport them to them. The distribution of commodity and specialty chemicals by third parties is anticipated to increase significantly more than the sale of products directly to end users due to value-added outsourcing services like logistics, packaging, blending, waste removal, inventory management, and technical training.

Expansion in various end-use sectors in the Chemical Distribution Industry to Drive the Market Growth

The market's increasing investment rate is a significant driver throughout the predicted period. Expansion in many end-use industries, such as the automotive, pharmaceutical, and electronics industries, and a large rise in the industrial manufacturing sector are expected to drive up global demand for chemicals. The third-party distribution route is also projected to benefit from this component. International distributors employ unique channel methods, such as product expertise, local experience, and a strong logistical network, to gain a competitive edge in a highly fragmented market.

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Top Players in the Global Chemical Distribution Market

Univar Solutions Inc. (United States)

Helm AG (Germany)

Brenntag AG (Germany)

Ter Group (Germany)

Barentz (Mexico)

Azelis (Luxembourg)

Safic Alan (France)

ICC Industries Inc. (United States)

Jebsen & Jessen Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)

Quimidroga (Spain)

Solvadis Deutschland GmbH (Germany)

Ashland (United States)

Caldic B.V. (Netherlands)

Wilbur Ellis Holdings Inc. (United States)

Omya AG (Switzerland)

IMCD (Netherlands)

Biesterfeld AG (Germany)

Stockmeier Group (Germany)

REDA Chemicals (UAE)

Manuchar (Belgium)

Budget Limitation? Contact us for Special Discount and Pricing

Top Trends in the Global Chemical Distribution Market

One trend that Vantage Market Research (VMR) expects to see in the Chemical Distribution industry is the rise in demand for a reachable supply chain network. The market is expanding due to rising demand for chemicals across various end-use sectors, including automotive, electronics, construction, infrastructure, and pharmaceuticals.

Another trend that VMR predicts will continue in the Chemical Distribution industry is the innovative measures adopted by chemical distributors. The demand for chemicals is increasing across various end-use industries, including automotive, agricultural, construction, pharmaceutical, and textile industries. The difficulties that chemical makers had to deal with led to the demand for chemical distributors.

Top Report Findings

Based on Products, the commodity chemicals category controls most of the Chemical Distribution market's revenue. The commodity chemicals sector dominated the global Chemical Distribution market in terms of revenue accounting market share. It is anticipated that this segment will continue to dominate the market during the forecast period. This is explained by the widespread use of commodity chemicals in various global industries, including food and beverage, medicines, agriculture, electronics, and construction. Commodity chemicals are used by virtually every industry to produce a wide range of products.

Based on the End-Use outlook, most of the Chemical Distribution markets revenue is controlled by commodity chemicals. The rising use of these chemicals in several end-use industries, including the transportation, automotive, and personal care sectors, is to blame for this.

Buy this Premium Research Report with Discount | Immediate Delivery @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/buy-now/chemical-distribution-market-2042/0

Recent Developments in the Global Chemical Distribution Market

August 2022: Brenntag AG announced that it had extended its distribution deal with ISCA, one of the major makers and suppliers of specialty chemicals, to supply preservatives used in the European cosmetics industry.

July 2021: To develop and sell Takeda Pharmaceutical's norovirus vaccine candidate HIL-214, Frazier Healthcare and Takeda Pharmaceutical joined together to form the biopharmaceutical business HilleVax (previously TAK-214)

Commodity Chemical Category in the Chemical Distribution market Generates a Substantial Revenue.

Based on the End-Use outlook, the Chemical Distribution market is divided into a commodity and special chemicals for a better understanding.

The commodity category is anticipated to dominate the market over the forecast period. The rising use of these chemicals in many end-use industries, including the transportation, automotive, and personal care sectors, is to attributed for this.

On the other hand, the specialty chemicals category is anticipated to grow significantly. The segment for specialty chemicals is anticipated to develop at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The absence of makers of specialty chemicals mostly causes this. Specialty chemicals are utilized in various industries for specific particular uses and are heavily regulated by the government. During the forecast period, the growing use of specialty chemicals in the polymer and pharmaceutical sectors is anticipated to propel the segment's expansion.

Asia Pacific Region in Chemical Distribution Market to Generate More than Half the Global Revenue

The Asia Pacific dominated the global Chemical Distribution market during the forecast period. This is attributable to the increase in demand for different chemicals from end-use industries, including automotive, pharmaceuticals, mining, cosmetics, and additives for plastic, particularly in developing nations like India and China. Fast industrial expansion in the past has had a significant impact on the market for Chemical Distribution. These key economies in the Asia-Pacific region include China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and others. Additionally, the rapid industrialization of the area is offering market participants lucrative opportunities.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing market in the Chemical Distribution market. This is due to factors such as the growing demand for chemicals in countries such as China and India, as well as the increasing industrialization and urbanization in the region. Additionally, the presence of a large population, growing middle-class consumer base, and supportive government policies in the region are also expected to contribute to the growth of the Chemical Distribution market in Asia Pacific. The rise of e-commerce and the increasing use of digital technologies in the Chemical Distribution industry are also expected to drive the growth of the market in the region.

Browse market data Tables and Figures spread through 150 Pages and in-depth TOC on Chemical Distribution Market Forecast Report (2022-2030).

Global Chemical Distribution Market Segmentation

By Products

Specialty Chemicals

Commodity Chemicals

By End-Uses

Speciality Chemicals

Commodity Chemicals

By Region

North America United States Canada Mexico

Europe Germany UK France Italy Spain Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea South-East Asia Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa GCC Countries South Africa Rest of MEA



Read Full Report with TOC @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/chemical-distribution-market-2042

Scope of the Report:

Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 USD 243.6 Billion Revenue Forecast by 2030 USD 368.7 Billion CAGR 6.1% from 2022 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2022 to 2030 Key Players Univar Solutions Inc., Helm AG, Brenntag AG, Ter Group, Barentz, Azelis, Safic Alan, ICC Industries Inc., Jebsen & Jessen Pte. Ltd., Quimidroga, Solvadis Deutschland GmbH, Ashland, Caldic B.V., Wilbur Ellis Holdings Inc., Omya AG, IMCD, Biesterfeld AG, Stockmeier Group, REDA Chemicals, Manuchar Customization Request If our report does not include the information you are searching for, you may contact us to have a report tailored to your specific business needs https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/chemical-distribution-market-2042/request-sample

Key Questions Answered in the Chemical Distribution Market Report are:

What is the current size and growth rate of the chemical distribution market?

What are the key drivers and restraints affecting the chemical distribution market?

What are the various distribution channels used by chemical distributors?

Which end-use industries are the major consumers of chemical distribution services?

Who are the key players in the chemical distribution market and what is their market share?

What are the key strategies adopted by these players to gain a competitive advantage?

What is the outlook for the chemical distribution market in the short, medium, and long term?

What are the trends and developments shaping the chemical distribution market?

What are the regulatory and environmental factors affecting the chemical distribution market?

What are the challenges faced by chemical distributors and how can they be overcome?

Browse More Reports from Vantage Library:

Agrochemicals Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/agrochemicals-market-1974

Cosmetic Chemicals Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/cosmetic-chemicals-market-1962

Fermentation Chemicals Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/fermentation-chemicals-market-1921

Distribution Automation Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/distribution-automation-market-1828

Crop Protection Chemicals Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/crop-protection-chemicals-market-1640

Oleochemicals Market - Global Industry Assessment & Forecast: https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/industry-report/oleochemicals-market-1971

About Vantage Market Research:

We, at Vantage Market Research, provide quantified B2B high quality research on more than 20,000 emerging markets, in turn, helping our clients map out constellation of opportunities for their businesses. We, as a competitive intelligence market research and consulting firm provide end to end solutions to our client enterprises to meet their crucial business objectives. Our clientele base spans across 70% of Global Fortune 500 companies.

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CIO

Winners and the industry at-large will gather at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards this August in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Boston, MA, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Foundrys CIO  the executive-level IT media brand providing insight into business technology leadership  is pleased to recognize the 2023 CIO 100 award winners and Hall of Fame inductees. Winners, attendees, and the industry at-large will come together this summer at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards on August 14th-16th at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA to celebrate and recognize visionary, compassionate, and collaborative IT leaders.



"Celebrating the CIO 100 winners, one of the most prestigious awards in the technology industry, is a great privilege for us each year, stated Nicole Peck, VP and GM for Foundry Events North America. "We eagerly anticipate reuniting with familiar faces and the newest Hall of Fame inductees at this stunning location this upcoming summer to commemorate remarkable achievements, establish new connections, and gain valuable insights from the foremost IT executives and CIOs on the future of the industry. We are honored to showcase their successes and inspire others to follow in their footsteps as we collectively navigate the ever-evolving landscape of digital transformation."

This years symposium theme, Destination: Excellence, will be centered around the 2023 award-winners who will share stories of leadership, innovation, and their experiences with the latest technologies including generative AI, automation, quantum and more. Their accomplishments will be front-and-center over the events three days, as the industry reconnects, learns, and engages with each other for a fun, insightful, and memorable experience.

This years featured conference keynote speakers include:

Keynote: Whats Your Legacy ? with Brad Meltzer , Best-Selling Author & Americas Historian.

Keynote: The Five Levers Required to Scale Your Digital Business with Meredith Whalen , Chief Research Officer, IDC.

Keynote: And the Answer Is  Why Is It Better to Be a Generalist? with Ken Jennings, Greatest Jeopardy! Player of All Time, Jeopardy! Co-Host & Best-Selling Author.





Story continues

Several features added to this years agenda include sponsorship opportunities. These features include:

Leadership masterclass: Sessions designed for senior IT leaders, featuring candid presentations from peers and interactive discussions focused on critical executive level responsibilities.

The digital poster program: CIO 100 award winners present a summary of their project in an interactive, digital, and engaging format.

Deep dive sessions: Focused on cloud, the future of work, and customer experience, these sessions offer best-in-class case studies and a forum for in-depth discussions on these critical topics.

Coffee & conversation with award-winning CIOs: Hall of Fame inductees and CIOs from award-winning organizations meet with attendees in small group conversations to network, provide feedback on ideas, and offer insights about career development and leadership.

This years class of award winners have distinguished themselves with many groundbreaking projects using AI, quantum computing, facial recognition, analytics and more, said Anne McCrory, Group Vice President, Customer Experience and Operations, Events, at Foundry and the chair of the 2023 CIO awards programs. Their innovations improve customer experiences, track sustainability, and reduce risk, and have novel applications across industries, from pharma and healthcare to manufacturing, retail, software, and more. We look forward to highlighting their great accomplishments at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards in August.

Leading technology companies supporting the event are PwC, Andela, KPMG, Protiviti, RingCentral, Compucom, and CoreStack. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities here .

Please visit www.cio100.com to learn more about the conference and to register.

2023 CIO 100 Hall of Fame Inductees:

Chris Bedi, Chief Digital Information Officer, ServiceNow

Barbara Cooper-Jones, CIO, Ginnie Mae

Jim Fowler, EVP and Chief Technology Officer, Nationwide

David Germain, Group CIO, QBE Insurance

Ghada M. Ijam, CIO, Federal Reserve System

Sheila Jordan, SVP and Chief Digital Technology Officer, Honeywell

Adriana Karaboutis, Global Chief Information & Digital Officer, National Grid plc

Srini Koushik, EVP and CTO, Rackspace Technology

Bianca Lochner, CIO, City of Scottsdale

Ralph Loura, Former SVP and CIO, Lumentum

James (Jim) Swanson, EVP and CIO, Johnson & Johnson





2023 CIO 100 Award Winners:

ABB Electrification

ABM Industries

Accenture

Adient

Adobe

Advent eModal

Aflac

AFS Logistics

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Align Technology

Ally Financial

Atlantic Health System

Avery Dennison Corporaton

Avnet Inc

Belcorp

Bellin and Gundersen Health System

CareSource

CarMax

Carrier

Cherokee Nation

ChristianaCare

City and County of San Francisco

City of Seguin

College of Southern Nevada

Community Behavioral Health

ConocoPhillips

CVS Health

Dairyland Power Cooperative

Deloitte

Discount Tire

Dow Inc.

Eastman

Eli Lilly and Company

Enlyte

Equinix

Estee Lauder Companies

Exelon

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S. DoT

FedEx Services

Fresenius Medical Care

Generac Power Systems

General Motors

Glendale, AZ

Great Wolf Resorts

Honeywell

ICON International Inc

Intel Corporation

Jersey Mike's Franchise Systems, Inc

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Johnson & Johnson

Kaiser Permanente

King County

Lenovo

Lexmark International

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk

Mastercard

Mattel, Inc.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Miami University

MITRE

Mr. Cooper

NJ TRANSIT

Novant Health

OHLA-USA

Oshkosh Corporation

Owens Corning

Penn Medicine - University of Pennsylvania Health System

PepsiCo Inc

Pfizer

Qualcomm

Red Hat, Inc.

Reed Smith

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Rockwell Automation

Samsara

San Francisco International Airport

Stanford Health Care

State Street Corp

Sunbelt Rentals, Inc

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center | University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Synchrony

Sysco Corporation

Teladoc Health

The Hartford

The New School

The Procter & Gamble Company

The University of Texas at San Antonio

TIAA

T-Mobile

Tractor Supply Company

Truist Financial Corporation

TruStone Financial Credit Union

UNC Health

UPS

UST

Verizon

Visa, Inc.

Western Digital

Workit Health

Your Health Idaho

About the US CIO 100 Awards:

The annual US CIO 100 Awards celebrate 100 organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth, or improving relationships with customers. The award is an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence. Coverage of the 2023 US CIO 100 award-winning projects will be available online at www.cio.com in the weeks and months leading up to the event.

About the US CIO Hall of Fame Awards:

The US CIO Hall of Fame was created in 1997 to spotlight 12 outstanding IT leaders who had significantly contributed to and profoundly influenced the IT discipline, the use of technology in business and the advancement of the CIO role. Ten years later, in 2007, CIO inducted its second class of honorees into the CIO Hall of Fame during CIO magazines 20th anniversary celebration. CIO continues to showcase this elite group of CIOs  now numbering 190  during the CIO Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

About CIO:

CIO focuses on attracting the highest concentration of enterprise CIOs and business technology executives with unparalleled peer insight and expertise on business strategy, innovation, and leadership. As organizations grow with digital transformation, CIO provides its readers with key insights on career development, including certifications, hiring practices and skills development. The award-winning CIO portfolio provides business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of ITs role in achieving business goals. CIO is published by Foundry, an IDG, Inc. company. Company information is available at www.foundryco.com. Follow CIO on Twitter: @CIOonline & @CIOevents or on LinkedIn or Facebook.

About Foundry, an IDG Inc. Company:

Foundry helps companies bring their visions to reality through a combination of media, marketing technologies and proprietary data on a global scale. Our intent data and martech platforms are powered by data from an owned and operated ecosystem of global editorial brands, awards, and events, all engineered and integrated to drive marketing campaigns for technology companies. Foundry is dedicated to generating and innovating with data, driving demand for technology marketers with 38 offices in markets around the globe. Foundry is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Data Group, Inc. ( IDG ), the worlds leading tech media, data, research, and marketing services company. To learn more about Foundry, visit www.foundryco.com .

CONTACT: Nicole Peck VP & GM, Foundry Events, North America nicole_peck@idg.com




(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc.s head of investment banking in the UK is leaving, prompting the latest in a series of changes to its London-based leadership.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Andrew Truscott is standing down to become chief executive officer of John Laing Group, the infrastructure investor owned by private equity firm KKR & Co. thats also a client of Citigroup. Hell be replaced by Robert Way, a more than two-decade veteran of the bank.

Way will also join the executive committee of Citigroups banking, capital markets and advisory business in the UK and Ireland, according to an internal memo. Truscott, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker who joined Citigroup in 2018, will take up his new role at John Laing in the early summer.

Citigroup ranks third as an adviser on mergers and acquisitions in the UK this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country represents its largest wallet for investment banking fees in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, James Fleming, Citigroups head of BCMA in the UK and Ireland, said in the memo sent on Monday.

The US bank has made a number of changes to its broader EMEA leadership in recent weeks and months.

Last August, Flemings former co-head Jan Skarbek, one of the UKs most high-profile investment bankers, resigned from the firm amid a probe into allegations of misconduct. Earlier in March, the bank named Robin Rousseau and Barry Weir to lead its M&A business in EMEA to replace Alison Harding-Jones.

Separately on Monday, Citigroup said it has appointed veteran dealmaker Gulfraz Qayyum to run its communications investment banking team in EMEA. He will work closely with Yishai Fransis, head of technology for BCMA in the region.

Story continues

(Adds detail on Citigroup leadership changes from sixth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
CNB provided a senior secured term loan facility and other extensions of credit for four New York-based community solar projects which make up part of OYA's 9 Gigawatt project pipeline

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - OYA Renewables ("OYA"), a leading energy transition solutions platform, today announced that it has secured backing from City National Bank (CNB), a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada  with a US$27.1 million long-term loan facility. In addition to this, OYA also received funding from Greenprint, the tax equity investor for the four projects, due to the projects reaching the Substantial Completion milestone.

OYA Renewables Logo (CNW Group/OYA Renewables)

"City National Bank has a smart and experienced team, and a progressive approach to project finance within clean energy," said Manish Nayar, Chairman and Founder of OYA Renewables. "As our community solar project pipeline continues to see significant growth within New York State and beyond, having robust financial backing from CNB allows us to focus our attention squarely on efficient and effective project execution. We look forward to working with the CNB team into the future as we seek new and increasingly diversified ways to advance the transition to clean energy."

The funds from CNB and Greenprint were used to complete the term conversion of the four projects.

Robinson Road in Jefferson County*

6.7 Megawatt defined conditions (MWdc) solar farm expected to generate approximately 10,490,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 7,400 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,400 households annually.

State Route 122 in Franklin County*

6.8 MWdc solar farm expected to generate approximately 10,330,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 7,300 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,400 households annually.

Pulaski in Oswego County*

4.6 MWdc solar farm expected to generate approximately 7,626,197 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 5,400 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,000 households annually.

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Wayside in Jefferson County*

6.7 MWdc solar farm expected to generate approximately 10,647,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent of offsetting an estimated 7,500 metric tons of carbon and providing enough clean energy to power over 1,400 households annually.

*Numbers are approximate and can fluctuate through the life of the project

"City National is proud to support OYA Renewables' community solar project pipeline across New York," said Craig Robb, Managing Director, Power Project Finance, City National Bank. "We will continue to help provide financing and other services to our clients and communities as they invest in sustainable energy infrastructure for future generations."

OYA has five additional New York community solar projects expected to reach commercial operation by mid-2023, adding to its pipeline that already exceeds 600 Megawatts in the State.

Community Solar

Community solar programs allow businesses, public agencies, and households to access the benefits of solar power through subscribing to a portion of a solar farm that's ideally situated to generate electricity. By subscribing to the program, community members receive credits and savings of up to 10% on their electric bill every month from their portion of the solar that's generated. Power produced from the community solar development is fed directly back to the electric grid and energy is delivered to customers through their regular electricity provider.

About OYA Renewables

OYA Renewables is leading the renewable energy transition with an exceptional track record as a top ten community solar developer. Founded in 2009, OYA has developed over 1,440 MWDC and has a pipeline of 9 GW of distributed and utility-scale solar projects across North America. Focused on the expansion of renewable energy and the integration of other clean technologies, the Company is committed to delivering long-term clean energy solutions to clients supporting their renewable energy objectives and providing access to clean energy for underserved communities. OYA has been certified by both the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council and the New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council as a diverse supplier. It has a highly engaged, seasoned and diverse workforce, with offices located in Toronto and Boston.

For more information, please visit: https://oyarenewables.com

About City National Bank

With $95.9 billion in assets, City National Bank provides banking, investment and trust services through 69 branches, including 22 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Miami*. In addition, the company and its investment affiliates manage or administer $88.2 billion in client investment assets.

City National is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of the world's leading diversified financial services companies. RBC serves more than 17 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the United States and 27 other countries.

For more information about City National, visit the company's website at cnb.com.

*City National Bank does business in Miami and the state of Florida as CN Bank.

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SOURCE OYA Renewables
ReportLinker

Forecasts by Type (Full-Flight Simulator (FSS), Fixed-Base Flight Training Device (FBFTD), Commercial Fixed-Wing Pilot Simulation Training, Commercial Rotor-Wing Pilot Simulator), by Aircraft (Fixed-wing Aircraft and Rotorcraft) AND Regional and Leading National Market Analysis PLUS Analysis of Leading Companies AND COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Pattern Analysis.

New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Civil Aviation Flight Simulation & Simulation Training Market Report 2023-2033" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06436261/?utm_source=GNW





The Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market Report 2022-2032: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region.





Factors Such As Growing Demand for Professional and Proficient Pilots, Advances in Simulation Technology, and Increasing Safety Regulations Are Driving the Market Growth



In civil aviation, the demand for professional and proficient pilots is increasing rapidly. Aircraft deliveries are rising due to several factors, including a booming aviation industry, retiring pilots, and an increasing number of aircraft being delivered. The growing demand for pilots is a result of the growing number of air travellers. This exponential growth is due to factors such as rising incomes, population growth, and increasing urbanization. Pilot retirements are another factor contributing to the growing demand for pilots.





High Cost of Simulation Equipment



The use of simulation technology has become increasingly important in the civil aviation industry, particularly in pilot training and aircraft design. However, the high cost of simulation equipment has been a significant challenge for many airlines, training centers, and manufacturers, which in turn is hampering the market growth. For instance, FRASCAs fixed training (FTD) amounts to US$200,000, Boeings flight simulators ranges from US$6 million to US$8 million, CAEs flight simulator amounts to US$10 million, and FRASCAs FAA Level B-D Full Flight Simulators (FFS) ranges from US$5 million to US$15 million. Additionally, one of the primary factors contributing to the high cost of civil aviation simulation equipment is the complexity of the technology. Flight simulators, for example, require high-resolution graphics, advanced avionics, and motion systems to provide an immersive experience for pilots. These components are expensive to manufacture and require specialized expertise to maintain and repair.





What Questions Should You Ask before Buying a Market Research Report?



 How is the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training market evolving?



 What is driving and restraining the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training market?



 How will each civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2033?



 How will the market shares for each civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training submarket develop from 2023 to 2033?



 What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2023 to 2033?



 Will leading civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others?



 How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2033 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2033?



 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?



 What are the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training projects for these leading companies?



 How will the industry evolve during the period between 2023 and 2033?



 Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training market?



 Where is the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training market heading and how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?



 What are the best investment options for new product and service lines?



 What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path and C-suite?





You need to discover how this will impact the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training market today, and over the next 10 years:



 Our 229-page report provides 107 tables and 116 charts/graphs exclusively to you.



 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.



 It contains in-depth analysis of global, regional and national sales and growth.



 It highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors.





This report tells you TODAY how the civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training market will develop in the next 10 years, and in line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years.





Forecasts to 2033 and other analyses reveal commercial prospects



 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2033, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares.



 You will find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments.



 Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising civil aviation flight simulation and simulation training prices and recent developments.





This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report.





Segments Covered in the Report





Type



 Full-Flight Simulator (FFS)



 Fixed-Base Flight Training Device (FBFTD)



 Commercial Fixed-Wing Pilot Simulation Training (CFWPST)



 Commercial Rotor-Wing Pilot Simulation Training (CRWPST)





Aircraft



 Fixed-Wing Aircraft



 Rotorcraft





In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for five regional and 19 leading national markets:





North America



 U.S.



 Canada





Europe



 Germany



 UK



 France



 Italy



 Spain



 Rest of Europe





Asia Pacific



 China



 Japan



 India



 Australia



 South Korea



 Rest of Asia Pacific





Latin America



 Brazil



 Mexico



 Rest of Latin America





MEA



 GCC



 South Africa



 Rest of MEA





The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market, 2023 to 2033, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.





Leading companies and the potential for market growth



 Airbus SE



 ALSIM



 Avion Group



 Bombardier Inc



 CAE Inc.



 ELITE Simulation Solutions AG



 FlightSafety International



 FRASCA International Inc.



 Gulf Aviation Academy



 Indra Sistemas SA



 L3Harris Technologies



 Leonardo



 Lufthansa Aviation Training GmbH



 Moong Inc.



 Pan Am International Flight Academy



 Precision Flight Controls



 Thales Group



 The Boeing Company



 TRU Simulation + Training





Overall world revenue for Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market, 2023 to 2033 in terms of value the market will surpass US$8,262 million in 2023, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2033. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.





How will the Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market, 2023 to 2033 report help you?



In summary, our 220+ page report provides you with the following knowledge:





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market, 2023 to 2033 Market, with forecasts for type and aircraft, each forecast at a global and regional level  discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues.





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for five regional and 19 key national markets  See forecasts for the Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market, 2023 to 2033 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and MEA. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea among other prominent economies.





 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market  including company profiles for 19 of the major companies involved in the Civil Aviation Flight Simulation and Simulation Training Market, 2023 to 2033.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06436261/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




BOSTON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearway Health, a specialty pharmacy accelerator that partners with hospitals and health systems to build or strengthen their own specialty pharmacy program and improve access to care, is proud to announce its 2023 Certification by Great Place to Work. The prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Clearway Health. This year, 96% of employees said it's a great place to work  nearly 40 points higher than the average U.S. company.

Specialty Pharmacy Accelerator

"At Clearway Health we strive to create an outstanding employee experience. We understand the tremendous value our employees' diverse talents bring to our company," said Luddy Liggon, vice president, human resources at Clearway Health. "They are our greatest assets, and earning the Great Place to Work certification further solidifies this belief. Each employee deserves an individual thank you for their work. Collectively we look forward to celebrating this achievement and the positive impact our work makes on patient outcomes."

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention and increased innovation.

According to Great Place to Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at a Certified great workplace. Additionally, employees at Certified workplaces are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work, and are twice as likely to be paid fairly, earn a fair share of the company's profits and have a fair chance at promotion.

"Great Place to Work Certification isn't something that comes easily  it takes ongoing dedication to the employee experience," said Sarah Lewis-Kulin, vice president of global recognition at Great Place to Work. "It's the only official recognition determined by employees' real-time reports of their company culture. Earning this designation means that Clearway Health is one of the best companies to work for in the country."

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About Clearway Health

Clearway Health partners with hospitals and health systems to build or strengthen their own specialty pharmacy program, improve access to care and provide personalized support to vulnerable patients, families, providers and care managers to eliminate barriers and ensure medications are received on time. Born out of Boston Medical Center, Clearway Health serves hospitals, health systems and their communities - providing a service that's been proven, lived and experienced by our team. To learn more, visit www.clearwayhealth.com.

About Great Place to Work Certification

Great Place to Work Certification is the most definitive "employer-of-choice" recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place to Work-Certified.

About Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust.

Cision

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SOURCE Clearway Health
Cloud Nine broadens its horizons by floating into the Red Planet hotel

Bangkok, Thailand--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - The OG Retail Company expands, by opening a second Cloud Nine dispensary in the Silom area at the crossroads of Narathiwas and Surawong.





Cloud Nine



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8199/160024_dc51ec67c41b8833_001full.jpg

On the heels of Cloud Nine Sukhumvit celebrating its "GET LIFTED" grand opening, OG Retail Company expands its offerings by opening a second Cloud Nine outlet centrally located in Surawong inside the Red Planet Hotel.

Cloud Nine Surawong was built in the image of the flagship store on Sukhumvit. The exciting atmosphere of Cloud Nine Surawong is a retro-futurist-style dispensary offering an exciting new concept for cannabis consumers and connoisseurs alike. Offering a wide range of high quality strains, all grown in Thailand and have a COA (certificate of analysis) by Mahakan Biotech.

Both locations present comfortable seating framed by exquisite lighting infused with projection mapping, hovering clouds, glowing displays showcasing unique paraphernalia, and a long cannabis bar with built-in lighting.

"We are proud to be offering prices 'below street' value while chilling in the Cloud Nine atmosphere or now in the comforts of your home or hotel room, as we now offer options for delivery," beamed Baskins.

About Cloud Nine Thailand

Cloud Nine is part of The OG Canna Company, which was founded in 2022 by a dedicated group of passionate individuals with two goals: to produce the highest quality cannabis experience in Thailand through an extensive network of retail outlets and cultivation facilities while educating the public on the diverse and wonderful medical usages of this fascinating plant.

Find all the details on Thailand's newest cannabis dispensary by visiting: https://cloudninethailand.com/cloud-nine-surawong/.

Cloud Nine Surawong is Bangkok's newest cannabis dispensary. Open seven days a week.

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Media Details:

Cloud Nine Thailand

Open 10:00 AM to 2:00 AM

Red Planet Bangkok Surawong

178 Surawong Road Sri Phraya,

Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500

Thailand

Phone: +66 (6) 262-3420

E-mail: info@cloudninethailand.com

Google maps Location: https://goo.gl/maps/7qQfFQByWX3KwoNu8

Facebook: @cloudninesuriwong

Instagram: @cloudnine_suriwong

Website: https://cloudninethailand.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/160024
Former President Trump has taken aim at challenger Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor. (Associated Press)

Covering the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 is going to be no picnic for journalists, pundits and prognosticators, what with the leading candidate being constitutionally incapable of telling the truth and his runner-up focused entirely on culture wars and not at all on issues of, you know, policy.

That makes the broadside launched last week by the first (Donald Trump) at the second (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis) uncannily interesting. No one is surprised that Trump did launch such an attack  it's how he has always handled his political adversaries. What's interesting is that Trump got DeSantis right.

In a series of March 22 posts on his Truth Social platform, compiled into a single statement by his campaign, Trump took aim at DeSantis' records on COVID, education and crime. DeSantis has come under fire from critics on all those issues. We've focused on his signal failure to protect residents from the pandemic on numerous occasions, for example.

"The fact is, Ron is an average Governor, but the best by far in the Country in one category, Public Relations, where he easily ranks Number One," Trump snarked. "But it is all a Mirage, just look at the facts and figures, they dont lieAnd we dont want Ron as our President!"

In attacking DeSantis, as it happens, Trump has placed himself in the position of painting his own home state  his official residence is Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach mansion  in the darkest tones.

Let's examine Trump's bill of particulars.

The fact is, Ron is an average Governor, but the best by far in the Country in one category, Public Relations, where he easily ranks Number One. But it is all a Mirage.

Donald Trump, on Ron DeSantis

First, COVID. Florida under DeSantis ranked "Third Worst in the Nation for COVID-19 Deaths (losing 86,294 People), Third Worst for Total Number of Cases, at 7,516,906. Other Republican Governors did MUCH BETTER than Ron," Trump stated. (We're preserving his peculiar capitalization habit.)

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This is correct, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only discrepancies derive from the fact that Florida's raw numbers got a hair worse since Trump's campaign compiled the figures, as did those for the country as a whole.

As of March 24, Florida has recorded 87,141 COVID deaths and 7,542,869 total cases. As Trump asserted, Florida ranks third in the nation in raw numbers. California tops the list in both categories, but that's an artifact of its rank as the most populous state, with more than 39 million residents. Florida has a bit more than half California's population.

Translated into death and case rates per population, Florida's record still stinks  it ranks eighth in cases and 12th in deaths. (California ranks 31st in cases and 41st in deaths.)

Trump also asserted that the COVID death rate in DeSantis' Florida is "worse than New York."

Trump was careful to specify that he was talking about state rates. That's because the CDC separates the rate in New York City from the rate in New York other than the city.

Florida's rate is indeed worse than the latter, but better than the New York City rate, which is the worst in the country  probably because New York was struck by COVID in the earliest phase of the pandemic, before doctors had any idea how to treat it and before vaccines became available.

Trump wrote, "Florida ranks #39 in Health & Safety in the Country, #50 in Affordability, and #30 in Education & Childcare." Trump doesn't cite his source for these figures, but we found it on the financial counseling website WalletHub, which posts its sources and methodology. Trump quoted the WalletHub figures accurately, appending the comment, "HARDLY GREATNESS THERE."

Educational statistics are notoriously rubbery, so it's fair to say that Florida's record is seldom cast in such a dark light. By other measures, Florida's record, before DeSantis ascended to the governor's seat in 2019 and since, is basically mediocre.

The state ranked 44th in public spending per K-12 student and 49th in average teacher salaries in 2020-21, according to the National Education Assn., a national teachers union.

DeSantis' school policies during the pandemic were notably distinct from those of many other states. In Florida, schools could reopen starting in fall 2020; in California, by contrast, the vast majority of schools were closed until spring 2021.

When the national test scores in reading and math for fourth- and eighth-graders were released last October, they showed sizable declines in the vast majority of states as a result of the pandemic and suggested that pupils did better with more in-person than remote learning. DeSantis took the opportunity to declare victory, stating that his states results prove that we made the right decision to keep schools open.

Things aren't that simple, however. As I reported, California and Florida both showed declines in scores from 2019, pre-pandemic, to 2022 in three of the four categories (fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math).

But on the whole, California did better than Florida. In eighth-grade reading, California showed no change since 2019, but Florida students proficiency declined by four percentage points. Floridas results were one percentage point worse than Californias in fourth- and eighth-grade math. California fourth-graders reading scores declined by two points, and Florida stayed level.

The overall averages showed California students losing five percentage points since 2019 in math, while Florida students lost six points. In reading, California students lost one point and Floridas lost two.

That leaves crime, another field subject to great statistical volatility. "Florida ranked Third Worst in Murder, Third Worst in Rape, and Third Worst in Aggravated Assault," Trump wrote.

DeSantis' record was defended by the conservative Washington Examiner, which seems to be carrying water for the Florida governor and questioned Trump's assertion that in 2022, "Jacksonville was ranked as one of the Top 25 Major Crime Cities in the Country, with Tampa and Orlando not doing much better.

The Examiner noted that "by the end of last year, Jacksonville came in as the 27th worst city for murders per 100,000 residents, not in the top 25" and "no city or town in Florida cracked the most recent list of the top 25 most dangerous places compiled by U.S. News & World Report.

Put it all together, and Trump provided DeSantis' critics with a road map to analyze the latter's record on some of the topics likely to be top of mind for voters during the upcoming primary season  and during the general election campaign if DeSantis tries to expand his notable popularity within Florida to a campaign across the other 49 states.

Trump hasn't provided the electorate with much to appreciate during the incipient political race, but in attacking DeSantis where he lives, he may have done us a favor.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
WILMINGTON, DE / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Transparency Market Research Inc. - The global concentrated solar power market stood at US$ 10.6 billion in 2022 and the global market is projected to reach US$ 69.7 billion by 2031. The global industry is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 20.7% between 2023 and 2031.

Transparency Market Research inc., Monday, March 27, 2023, Press release picture

The global shift towards renewable energy sources, driven by concerns over climate change and energy security, is a major factor that is expected to accelerate the growth of the concentrated solar power market during the forecast period.

The market value of concentrated solar power is also increasing due to the government incentives and policies. Governments around the globe are offering various incentives and policies to promote the development of renewable energy sources, including Concentrated Solar Power. This includes feed-in tariffs, tax credits, and renewable portfolio standards.

Request for a Sample PDF Report with Latest Industry Insights - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1898

Additionally, advances in concentrated solar power technology, including more efficient and cost-effective solar collectors and thermal energy storage systems, are making CSP more competitive with other forms of renewable energy. Hence, the technological advancements in CSP, is one of the major factors that is likely to create lucrative avenues for the market growth.

Furthermore, the increasing demand for electricity, particularly in the rural areas of the developing countries, is a major factor that is anticipated to propel the market growth over the forecast period. In addition, the CSP can be integrated with existing energy infrastructure, such as natural gas power plants, to provide a reliable source of energy, which in turn is expected to boost the market prospects in the forthcoming years.

Besides, the global market is expanding rapidly due to the reduction in the cost of solar energy. The cost of solar energy has been declining over the years due to advancements in technology and increased production scale, making CSP more competitive with traditional fossil fuel-based power generation.

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Key Findings of Market Report

On the basis of Product, the parabolic trough technology is expected to continue to be the most significant segment for CSP market in the forthcoming years.

The segment is expected to grow with a market share of 86% during the forecast period.

One of the main advantages of parabolic trough technology is its maturity and reliability, which is resulting in a highly efficient and cost-effective system.

Buy this Premium Research Report | Immediate Delivery Available - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=1898<ype=S

Global Concentrated Solar Power Market: Growth Drivers

The global concentrated solar power market is projected to expand at a steady pace from 2021 to 2031 due to the increasing focus on energy storage, including thermal energy.

Another factor that is projected to augment the market growth includes the potential of CSP for large-scale deployment with capacities of up to several hundred megawatts.

CSP has a low carbon footprint and does not produce greenhouse gas emissions, making it a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fossil fuel-based power generation.

Global Concentrated Solar Power Market: Regional Landscape

Europe is expected to lead the global market. The regional market is expected to witness exponential growth in the near future, attributed to the factors such as supportive government policies, increasing demand for renewable energy, and advancements in technology.

Asia Pacific and North America to increase investment in concentrated solar power, with an increasing tilt towards renewable energy consumption

Competitive Landscape

Prominent players in the concentrated solar power industry are taking advantage of the rapidly increasing demand of concentrated solar power. To further their outreach, players are relying on collaborations, partnerships and acquisitions with existing small, medium and large-scale providers. Some prominent market developments are as follows:

In August 2021, Abengoa, a Spanish engineering company, announced the completion of the construction of the 100 MW Xina Solar One CSP plant in South Africa. The project uses parabolic trough technology with molten salt storage.

In February 2021, ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabian developer and operator of power and water plants, signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to build a 200 MW CSP plant in Kom Ombo. The project is expected to be one of the largest CSP plants in the world and will use parabolic trough technology with thermal energy storage.

In January 2021, BrightSource Energy, an American CSP technology provider, announced a partnership with the Australian firm AES to develop a 200 MW CSP project in South Australia. The project will use BrightSource's tower technology with molten salt storage.

In November 2020, the Chinese firm Beijing Shouhang Resources Saving Co. announced the completion of the construction of the 100 MW Luneng Haixi CSP project in China. The project uses parabolic trough technology with thermal energy storage.

As per your requirement you can customize this report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=1898

Global Concentrated Solar Power Market: Key Players

Some of the key market players in the global Concentrated Solar Power market:

Abengoa Solar, S.A.

Areva Solar

eSolar, Inc

SkyFuel, Inc.

Acciona S.A.

BrightSource Energy, Inc.

Solar Millennium AG

SolarReserve, LLC

TSK Flagsol

SCHOTT Solar AG

Ibereolica Group

GDF SUEZ

NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.

Global Concentrated Solar Power Market: Segmentation

Product

Solar Tower

Linear Fresnel

Regions

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Browse More Chemicals And Materials Reports by TMR:

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Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. The firm scrutinizes factors shaping the dynamics of demand in various markets. The insights and perspectives on the markets evaluate opportunities in various segments. The opportunities in the segments based on source, application, demographics, sales channel, and end-use are analysed, which will determine growth in the markets over the next decade.

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View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/745918/Concentrated-Solar-Power-Market-to-Grow-at-a-CAGR-of-207-from-2021-2031-Reaching-US-697-Billion-in-Value-TMR-Study




Copper Lake Resources Ltd.

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Copper Lake Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: CPL) (OTC: WTCZF) (Frankfurt: WOI) (Copper Lake or the Company) announces that the Company intends to extend the exercise period for a total of 20,951,500 share purchase warrants, all of which are exercisable at $0.10 per common share (collectively, the Warrants).The warrants were issued pursuant to a private placement that closed in two tranches on April 15, 2021 and May 17, 2021 (see May 26, 2021 news release). The Company proposes to extend the expiry dates for both tranches of these Warrants such that the new expiry date for the Warrants will be November 15, 2023.



All other terms and conditions of the Warrants remain unchanged. The Warrant extension is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

ABOUT COPPER LAKE RESOURCES



Copper Lake Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded Canadian mineral exploration and development company with interests in two projects both located in Ontario. www.copperlakeresources.com

The Marshall Lake high-grade VMS copper, zinc, silver and gold project, comprises an area of approximately 220 square km located 120 km north of Geraldton, Ontario and is accessible by all-season road from the Trans-Canada Highway and just 22 km north of the main CNR rail line. Copper Lake has a 79.45% interest in the joint ventured property, which consists of 233 claims and 52 mining leases. The project also includes 148 claim cells staked in 2018 and 2020 that are 100% owned and not subject to any royalties, which add approximately 30 square km to the original property.

In addition to the original Marshall Lake property above, Marshall Lake also includes the Sollas Lake and Summit Lake properties, which are 100% owned by the Company and are not subject to any royalties. The Sollas Lake property consists of 20 claim cells comprising an area of 4 square km on the east side of the Marshall Lake property where historical EM airborne geophysical surveys have outlined strong conductors on the property hosted within the same favorable felsic volcanic units. The Summit Lake property currently consists of 100 claim cells comprising an area of 20.5 square km, is accessible year-round, and is located immediately west of the original Marshall Lake property. The Marshall Lake project is located in the traditional territories of the Aroland and Animbiigoo Zaagi igan Anishinaabek (AZA) First Nations.

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Copper Lake also has a 69.79% joint venture interest in the Norton Lake nickel, copper, cobalt, and palladium PGM property, located in the southern Ring of Fire area, is approximately 100 km north of the Marshall Lake Property. The Norton Lake property has a NI 43-101 compliant Measured and Indicated resource of 2.26 million tonnes @ 0.67% Ni, 0.61% Cu, 0.03% Co and 0.46 g/t Pd. The Norton Lake property is located in the traditional territories of the Eabametoong (Fort Hope) and Neskantaga First Nations.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Copper Lake Resources Ltd.

Terry MacDonald, CEO

(416) 561-3626

tmacdonald@copperlakeresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain 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, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the Private Placement and proposed uses of the proceeds of the Private Placement, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward looking information can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "will", "may", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. This forward-looking information reflects the Companys current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions the Company believes are reasonable. These assumptions include but are not limited to: TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of the Private Placement; market acceptance and approvals; and the anticipated closing date for the Private Placement. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; the actual results of future operations; competition; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting the Company; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. A description of additional assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward- looking information can be found in the Companys disclosure documents on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) website at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. 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. However, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.








Emirates Health Services (EHS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Dubai Pharmacy College for Girls to upskill students and EHS technical staff and support joint efforts in lifelong medical education programmes.

The MoU aims to facilitate the exchange of scientific expertise between the two entities to support and develop scientific research, promote innovation, advance the education of employees in all pharmaceutical specialisations, and provide training opportunities for female students. Other objectives include strengthening relations, building capacities, and raising the efficiency of EHS employees in the pharmaceutical sector.

The agreement was signed by Dr Abdullah Al-Naqbi, Acting Executive Director of the Supportive Health Services Sector at EHS, and Prof Dr Saeed Ahmed Khan, Dean of the Dubai Pharmacy College for Girls, with officials from both sides attending.

Strategic goals

Al-Naqbi stressed the importance of cooperation between EHS and the College to promote medical education, reflecting EHS' growing commitment to strengthening collaboration with various scientific institutions across the UAE, achieving common strategic goals, and providing top training services and professional development opportunities for employees.

The new partnership also sets the stage for training a generation of academically and professionally empowered pharmacists capable of advancing innovation and scientific research and contributing effectively to developing professional programmes, Dr Al-Naqbi added.

As per the MoU, EHS will provide training opportunities for students from the Dubai Pharmacy College for Girls in its affiliated facilities, which contributes to achieving the two entities common goal to meet the highest scientific standards in training.

EHS has been expanding the scope of its strategic partnerships by signing a series of collaboration agreements and MoUs with health and scientific bodies and institutions at the local, regional, and international levels to facilitate the exchange of experiences and achieve its objectives to develop the healthcare sector.-- TradeArabia News Service
CREDIT AGRICOLE SA

Montrouge, 27th March 2023

Availability of Credit Agricole S.A.s 2022 Universal Registration Document and Annual Financial Report

Credit Agricole S.A. informs the public that the French and English versions of its 2022 Universal Registration Document and Annual Financial Report have been registered with the French Financial Market Authority (AMF) on March 27th, 2023, under number D.23-0154. These documents are available on the website of Credit Agricole S.A. at the following addresses:

https://www.credit-agricole.com/en/finance/financial-publications, for the English version,

https://www.credit-agricole.com/finance/publications-financieres, for the French version,

as well as on the website of the AMF.

The following documents are included in the Registration Document:

the 2022 Annual Financial Report 1 ;

the report on corporate governance;

the Non-Financial Performance Report.





The Universal Registration Document is available to the public free of charge under conditions provided by regulations.

1 During the finalization of 2022 financial statements, an operational error was identified within note 11.1 to the unaudited IFRS consolidated financial statements of Credit Agricole S.A. as at 31 December 2022 issued on 9th February 2023, related to the fair value of financial assets and liabilities recognised at amortized costs. This operational error has no impact on the accounting of these financial assets and liabilities. The estimated fair value presented is not used for management of the activities and risks of the bank. Data in this note is only intended to meet the requirements of accounting standards, that require the presentation of the fair value of assets and liabilities recognised at amortised costs (i.e. assets and liabilities for which the intention is essentially to collect contractual cash flows over time). The correction in the Universal registration document of the fair value of assets and liabilities recognised at amortised costs as at 31/12/2022 and 31/12/2021 therefore has no impact on profits, solvency or liquidity of Credit Agricole S.A and Credit Agricole Group.

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Think On Inc.

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Think On, Inc., today announced its recognition by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, in the CRN 2023 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide offers essential information to members of the IT channel ecosystem as they explore technology manufacturers partner programs to find the vendors that will best support their business needs and growth.



ThinkOns channel-first approach means that we only win when our partners win. Our newly refreshed partner program gives partners the support they need to be successful, build lasting customer relationships, and grow their businesses.

We solely sell through the channel, so we empower our partners with tools, support, and services that ensure they are successful in delivering value to their customers and growing their business, says Greg Chappell, Vice President of Global Sales and Partner Success at ThinkOn and 2023 CRN Channel Chief. Were focused on company-to-company and person-to-person relationships, not business transactions. When we make a commitment with a channel partner, we stand by it, never squeezing margins or commandeering account control. We give our partners the freedom to sell what they want, to whom they want, and to fully own their customer relationshipsand our margins are very healthy.

For solution providers such as managed service providers (MSPs), value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, and strategic service providers, a critical factor when assessing which IT manufacturers, service providers, and distributors to team with in building world-class technology solutions is the breadth and depth of the partner programs those companies offer. Strong elements such as financial incentives, sales and marketing assistance, training and certification, technical support and more can set a vendor apart and play a key role in boosting partners' long-term growth.

In the 2023 Partner Program Guide, vendors were evaluated 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.

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At ThinkOn, we are committed to making data thrive while keeping the cloud simple for our partners to understand. We cut through the noise, ambiguity, and complexities to deliver a broad range of trusted, scalable, innovative, simplistic, transparent, secure, and value-added data management services. Our holistic partner experience provides the deepest levels of business support while allowing the partner to continue to own their customer relationships. Partners can preserve brand identity by white labelling ThinkOn solutions.

In todays world, the need for innovation is greater than ever, said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. Solution providers seek vendors that can keep pace with their developing business and evolving client needs. CRNs 2023 Partner Program Guide delivers deep insight into the strengths of each program, spotlighting the vendors dedicated to supporting their partner community and pushing positive change throughout the IT channel.

The 2023 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2023 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG.

To learn more about ThinkOns partner program, visit https://thinkon.com/resources/think-less-with-thinkon/.

About ThinkOn

Think On, Inc. is a cloud solution provider with a global data center footprint, focused on empowering you to do whatever you need to do with your data. Consider ThinkOn your dedicated department of data-obsessed experts. They will protect your data like its their own, making it more resilient, secure, actionable, and searchable. ThinkOn is Channel First and works with a global network of value-add resellers and managed service providers to provide creative, turnkey Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service), and BaaS (Backup as a Service) solutions and data management services that are fast, flexible, scalable, highly secure, and cost-effective with predictable pricing and no hidden fees. https://thinkon.com

Follow ThinkOn on LinkedIn.

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.

 2023 The Channel Company LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Channel Company Contact:

Natalie Lewis

The Channel Company

nlewis@thechannelcompany.com

ThinkOn Contact:

Vanessa Grantcharova

Brand Marketing Manager | ThinkOn

vanessa.grantcharova@thinkon.com




GoFundMe

The tornado that ripped through the Deep South on Friday night, razing entire communities and sending semi-trailers flying into neighbors homes, killed a father and his baby daughter as the rest of his family landed in a hospital with horrific injuries.

Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley confirmed 34-year-old Ethan Herndon and his 1-year-old daughter Riley Herndon died at their home on Herndon Lane in the northeastern Mississippi town of Wren.

According to a GoFundMe set up by the family, Ethans wife and Rileys mom, Elizabeth, suffered multiple injuries including a broken arm, a broken leg, and a dislocated hip. Their eldest child, Brantley, was airlifted to a hospital with several broken bones, a lacerated liver, and a punctured lung. Their middle child, Aubrey, was hospitalized with a broken elbow, a possible broken ankle, and lacerations.

This sweet family is physically and emotionally shattered, the fundraiser said. They have suffered the most painful and terrifying loss any of us can imagine, and their needs are obvious and great.

Elizabeth, Brandley, and Aubreys injuries were much more extensive than we at first thought, Ethans cousin, Leah Easley Edington, wrote on Facebook. They will have long recoveries.

Wren was one of several towns decimated by an EF-4 tornado, which was unusually devastating because it was fast-moving, nocturnal, hit vulnerable communities, and had a lengthy time on the ground at more than an hour. It stretched a long path of at least 170 miles, and top wind speeds reached around 166-200 mph.

It was declared the worst tornado in 50 years for Mississippi, where 25 people were killed. One man was killed in Alabama when his trailer home flipped over.

FEMA said 55 people were injured and 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. The death toll is expected to rise as crews dig through the rubble.

Rescue crews found it hard to get into towns like Wren at first because they were so heavily damaged.

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In Rolling Fork, a town of 2,000, at least 18 people were killed and more than two dozen were still unaccounted for by Sunday morning. Even storm chasers who were in town to document the wild weather ended up having to plead for help, the Associated Press reported, and some abandoned the chase to drive injured people to the hospital.

John Brewer, a long-haul trucker, said the tornado destroyed his home and sent his tractor-trailer flying into his neighbors home, killing its residents, L.A. Pierce and his wife Melissa, The Clarion Ledger reported.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Rasmus Hojlund

Danish sensation Rasmus Hojlund is reportedly attracting interest from some of Europes top clubs, including Premier League leaders Arsenal, after hitting a hat-trick for his country.

The Atalanta striker started for Denmark for the first time in Thursdays Euro 2024 qualifier against Finland and struck all three goals in a 3-1 win in Copenhagen.

The performance earned the 20-year-old international attention, but his performances during his debut season in Serie A have also been hugely promising.

Rasmus Hojlund of Atalanta celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Serie A match between Lazio and Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico on 11 February, 2023 in Rome, Italy.

Hojlund joined Atalanta from Austrian side Sturm Graz in a 17 million deal last summer, but his value has already shot up to 35m on Transfermarkt thanks to his form in Italy.

After taking a while to settle at his new club, the Danish striker hit a hot streak by scoring six goals in 12 Serie A games since the turn of the year.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, that form, and his explosion on the international scene with Denmark this week, has accelerated interest across the continent.

Arsenal are among the clubs named as potential suitors, along with Napoli, Juventus and Real Madrid.

Arsenal rumoured transfer target Rasmus Hojlund looks on during the Serie A match between Lazio and Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico on 11 February, 2023 in Rome, Italy.

Hojlund would certainly fit in with the Gunners youth-focused recruitment policy, but Atalanta are in a strong position to demand a big fee.

The Bergamo club signed the Dane less than a year ago, and he has a contract until 2027 with La Dea.

Atalanta are therefore likely to demand around 50m, almost triple what they paid for him.

Hojlund has moved quickly in his career, joining Sturm Graz from Copenhagen in January 2022 before moving on just six months later.

He scored 12 goals in 21 appearances for the Austrians and has eight in 25 games overall for Atalanta this season.

More Arsenal stories

The rumour mill is going into overdrive with Arsenal leading the way in the race to sign Declan Rice. One source claims a contract has been agreed with the midfielder, though Manchester City are interested, too. West Ham apparently have a successor lined up.

In other rumours, Raheem Sterling is being targeted, with a centre-forward on the wishlist, according to reports. A bid for Raphinha has been revealed while Rasmus Holjund of Atalanta is on the radar, too. January target Ivan Fresneda is still wanted by the Gunners, as well.

Meanwhile, Chelsea star Mykhaylo Mudryk  who turned down Arsenal in the winter window  has addressed his supposed unhappiness at Stamford Bridge.
Small business support nonprofit Ladies Who Launch will host free event in Denver, Colorado to help women and non-binary entrepreneurs understand how to approach financing options.

DENVER, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, March 29 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Ladies Who Launch , a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free education and resources to women and nonbinary small business owners and entrepreneurs, will host a free Pathways to Capital event at Empower Field at Mile High | United Club Level - East Lounge to help small business owners understand best practice approaches to navigate financing options.

Ladies Who Launch mission is to celebrate and empower female identifying and non-binary entrepreneurs. We focus on three pillars: Inspiration, Education, and Community to help give women the motivation, resources, and connections to follow their dreams and launch their companies. Learn more at www.ladieswholaunch.org (PRNewsfoto/Ladies Who Launch)

Panels at the Pathways to Capital will feature entrepreneurs, financing experts and community leaders who will discuss how they have prepared for and leveraged capital to scale their businesses, and what options are available to them  from loans to venture capital. Speakers at the event include successful Colorado-based entrepreneurs like Lorena Cantarovici, Founder & CEO of Maria Empanada, and Lee Mayer, CEO of Havenly, who will share their entrepreneurial journeys and how they have successfully managed their business's cash flows and explored different financing options.

"One of the biggest barriers to small business owners is access to and understanding capital," Jennifer Warren, Executive Director of Ladies Who Launch, said. "That's why we're hosting Pathways to Capital, to help women and non-binary entrepreneurs in Colorado better understand how to prepare and successfully secure financing when and where they need it. We know the system isn't built for women and non-binary business owners and the journey is lonely. We're here to create community and make the path forward easier and more clear."

Panels will discuss managing your cash flow to avoid pitfalls and scale, exploring capital before you need it and finding funding resources in your backyard here in Colorado. Panelists like Frances Padilla, District Director for the Colorado District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration and Founding Partner & Managing Director, Danielle Shoots, New Community Transformation Fund, will join entrepreneurs on panels to help demystify small business financing options.

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The full list of panels and speakers for the Pathways to Capital event on March 29 is available at: https://www.ladieswholaunch.org/pathways-denver

The Ladies Who Launch Pathways to Capital event is made possible with generous support from partners including Ann Taylor, The Home Depot, Amazon, United Airlines and more.

About Ladies Who Launch:

Ladies Who Launch is a nonprofit organization that celebrates, elevates, and empowers women and non-binary small business owners and entrepreneurs to scale and sustain the businesses of their dreams.

We provide free, practical, easy-to-access resources to help grow successful businesses. Through education, funding, and networking opportunities, we are creating close-knit, supportive, and inclusive entrepreneurial communities all over the world.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/denver-co-pathways-to-capital-event-on-march-29-to-help-small-business-owners-explore-funding-options-301782013.html

SOURCE Ladies Who Launch
Doug Pak

Doug Pak spoke with GifterX founder Christopher Kai to educate fellow entrepreneurs on investment strategies, family & balance while managing a successful company .

Doug Pak (left) being interviewed by GifterX Founder, Christopher Kai (right)

Doug Pak spoke with GifterX founder Christopher Kai to educate fellow entrepreneurs on investment strategies, family & balance while managing a successful company .

Hollywood, FL, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Doug Pak, founder and CEO of BLD Ventures, spoke this December with established and burgeoning entrepreneurs at GifterX Talks, known colloquially as TED Talks For Entrepreneurs, about navigating milestones in a growing company, the origins of his career, and projects on the horizon. Other speakers at the event included TED founder Richard Saul Wurman and Mission Matters co-founder Adam Torres as well as entrepreneurs Rod Moore, Colten Anderson, and Brooke Sousa.

GifterX founder Christopher Kai said, Over the last 20 years as a Fortune 100 global speaker, Ive met many global executives. Doug Pak is in a class of his own because he understands true leadership is all about service to others. When you have someone like Doug in your corner, he's persistent, consistent, and supportive. Sharing the stage with Pak, Kai called his longtime associate a phenomenal speaker. The BLD Ventures CEO then spoke with the crowd about the importance of constant education and adaptation when managing a $200 million company.



Caption: Doug Pak (left) with TED founder Richard Saul Wurman at a recent GifterX event

BLD Ventures, which stands for Building Lives and Dreams, builds and supports companies and organizations that make a positive impact in the world.

Whether youre hiring people, raising capital, growing, talking to landlords, or buying property, whatever it is, youre always telling a story, Pak said. For my next chapter, a lot of people have been telling me I need to write a book; thats something I'm working on for next year.

About

Doug Pak is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned executive. Mr. Pak founded a chain restaurant and franchise investment company, BLD Brands, which he grew from scratch to $200+ million in 8 years. That rapid growth earned him an MVP award for Mega Growth Leadership. He recently launched BLD Ventures to focus on building and supporting companies and organizations that make a positive impact and deliver high value. His prior work and startup experiences span the realms of technology, real estate, finance, and restaurants.

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Media Communications

Inquiries: adamtorres@missionmatters.com



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BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/--Millions of people worldwide will switch off for Earth Hour on March 25 to join one of the world's largest movements for environmental protection. SANY Group ("SANY"), a world-leading heavy machinery manufacturer, is addressing the global climate challenges and its commitment to the planet through advancing electrification development, through the promotion of a hydrogen energy utilization roadmap.

Hydroden Fuel Cell Truck (PRNewsfoto/SANY Group)

The climate crisis has catalyzed the global transition to clean and new energy. Though electric vehicles are becoming mainstream, energy transformation is still bounded by environmentally unfriendly fossil fuels. To free itself from this dependency, SANY is paving new paths through scientific research.

Green and beyond: SANY's hydrogen roadmap to power a clean future

SANY has set an ambitious goal to become China's largest provider of integrated hydrogen solutions in five years and lead global industry transformation, and it is laying out a comprehensive hydrogen industry chain covering green production, storage, transportation and refueling equipment.

The group's hydrogen energy subsidiary, SANY Hydrogen, will focus on elevating core technological innovation and achieving a closed supply chain across the entire industry ecosystem to support China's 2030/2060 "Dual Carbon" goals.

In March, SANY Hydrogen signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Guangtai Hydrogen Energy for the first 2,000kg hydrogen refueling station in Shanghai, leveraging SANY's technological strengths to supply Guangtai Hydrogen Energy's logistics vehicle operation layout and hydrogen refueling energy demand.

The station plans to install three units of 35MPa dual-metering hydrogen dispensers with an average hydrogen refueling speed of 2kg/min. Upon completion, it will meet the hydrogen refueling demand of 300 logistic vehicles of different tonnages and support Guangtai Hydrogen Energy's cold-chain logistics operations in the Yangtze River Delta region.

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The explosion-proof level of the station will reach IICT4, with excelling safety measures including automatic control of the hydrogenation process, hydrogen leak detection, alarm and shutdown to ensure worry-free operation, especially with environments of a temperature span from -20 to 55 degrees Celsius.

In 2020, SANY rolled out the world's first hydrogen fuel cell mixer truck and dump truck in its Lighthouse factory in Shaoyang, marking the group's first step into the "era of hydrogen." In 2022, SANY established the first integrated station of hydrogen production and hydrogenation in Hunan Province, and delivered the first batch of hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks to the city of Yueyang.

Electrified highway: anchoring the future of heavy-load highway freight

China's first electrified highway demonstration line, co-constructed by SANY, CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute and Tsinghua University, was recently completed in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. The milestone project opens up a new path for heavy-load highway freight.

SANY has designed, developed and manufactured the vehicles as well as the core systems, owning full intellectual property rights.

The demonstration line is two-way and two-lane with 7-meter road width, it has set up 53 pillars and one box-type substation to support the 1.8-kilometer contact grid. The electrified highway provides a wide range of road condition scenarios for testing vehicle performance, including ramps, bumpy, waded and drenched roads.

With an overhead contact network similar to rail transit, the electrified highway is directly powered by the grid above to realize "charging while driving." Compared to pure electric heavy trucks that run on power batteries, the new vehicle can prevent low temperature effects while increasing energy efficiency by 6 percent.

As Earth Hour brings attention to climate change, SANY is committed to addressing these challenges with concrete actions and pushing forward the development of its hydrogen energy portfolio to build a greener future for the planet.

hydrogen refueling station (PRNewsfoto/SANY Group)

Contact Info:

Yolanda, rongy@sanyglobal.com

Sales Hotline: +86-731-85835199

SOURCE SANY Group
ReportLinker

Forecasts by Product Type (Clinical Trial Management Systems (CTMS), Clinical Data Management Systems (CDMS), Randomisation and Trial Supply Management (RTSM), Electronic Clinical Outcome Assessments (eCOA) and Electronic Patient-reported Outcomes (ePRO), Clinical Data Integration Platform (CDIP), Electronic Data Capture (EDC), Safety Solutions, Clinical Analytics Platforms, Electronic Trial Master File (eTMF), Others)), by Deployment Type (Cloud-based (SAAS) Solutions, Web-hosted (On-demand) Solutions, Licensed Enterprise (On-premises) Solutions)), by End-users (Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Companies, Contract Research Organisations, Consulting Service Companies, Hospitals and Clinics, Medical Device Manufacturers, Others) AND Regional and Leading National Market Analysis PLUS Analysis of Leading Companies AND COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Pattern Analysis.

New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "eClinical Solutions Market Report 2023-2033" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06436260/?utm_source=GNW





The eClinical solutions Market Report 2023-2033: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region.





Rising Adoption of Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Systems in Clinical Trials to Spur Industry Growth



The market for eClinical solutions is expanding significantly as a result of the increased use of electronic data capture (EDC) systems in clinical trials. EDC systems have a number of advantages over conventional paper-based data collection techniques, including:



 Increased accuracy and efficiency



 Improved data quality



 Enhanced patient safety



 Enhanced data management



 Cost savings





Companies using EDC systems in clinical trials include Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Novartis. These companies have reported increased efficiency and data quality, as well as improved patient safety and cost savings, as a result of their use of EDC systems.





High Installation Costs Likely to Challenge Industry Growth



One of the main factors limiting the growth of the eClinical solutions market is the high installation cost. The implementation of eClinical solutions typically requires a significant investment in hardware, software, and personnel, which can be a challenge for some organisations, particularly those with limited budgets.





In addition to the upfront costs, the ongoing maintenance and support costs for eClinical solutions can also be high, as organisations must continuously invest in technology upgrades, security measures, and other infrastructure improvements.





Despite these challenges, many organisations are choosing to invest in eClinical solutions due to the numerous benefits they provide, including improved data accuracy, increased efficiency, and compliance with regulatory requirements.





What Questions Should You Ask before Buying a Market Research Report?



 How is the eClinical solutions market evolving?



 What is driving and restraining the eClinical solutions market?



 How will each eClinical solutions submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2033?



 How will the market shares for each eClinical solutions submarket develop from 2023 to 2033?



 What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2023 to 2033?



 Will leading eClinical solutions markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others?



 How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2033 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2033?



 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?



 How will the industry evolve during the period between 2020 and 2033? What are the implications of eClinical solutions projects taking place now and over the next 10 years?



 Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the eClinical solutions market?



 Where is the eClinical solutions market heading and how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?



 What are the best investment options for new product and service lines?



 What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path and C-suite?





You need to discover how this will impact the eClinical solutions market today, and over the next 10 years:



 Our 254-page report provides 97 tables and 147 charts/graphs exclusively to you.



 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.



 It contains in-depth analysis of global, regional and national sales and growth.



 It highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors.





This report tells you TODAY how the eClinical solutions market will develop in the next 10 years, and in line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years.





Forecasts to 2033 and other analyses reveal commercial prospects



 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2033, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares.



 You will find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments.



 Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising eClinical solutions prices and recent developments.





This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report.





Segments Covered in the Report





Product Type



 Clinical Trial Management Systems (CTMS)



 Clinical Data Management Systems (CDMS)



 Randomisation and Trial Supply Management (RTSM)



 Electronic Clinical Outcome Assessments (eCOA) and Electronic Patient-reported Outcomes (ePRO)



 Clinical Data Integration Platform (CDIP)



 Electronic Data Capture (EDC)



 Safety Solutions



 Clinical Analytics Platforms



 Electronic Trial Master File (eTMF)



 Others





Deployment Type



 Cloud-based (SAAS) Solutions



 Web-hosted (On-demand) Solutions



 Licensed Enterprise (On-premises) Solutions





End-users



 Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Companies



 Contract Research Organisations



 Consulting Service Companies



 Medical Device Manufacturers



 Hospitals and Clinics



 Others





In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for four regional and 20 leading national markets:





North America



 U.S.



 Canada





Europe



 Germany



 France



 UK



 Italy



 Spain



 Rest of Europe





Asia Pacific



 China



 Japan



 India



 Australia



 South Korea



 Rest of Asia Pacific





Latin America



 Brazil



 Mexico



 Rest of Latin America





MEA



 GCC



 South Africa



 Rest of MEA





The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the eClinical solutions Market, 2023 to 2033, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.





Leading companies and the potential for market growth



 Clario



 Dassault Systemes



 eClinical Solutions LLC



 IBM



 IQVIA Inc.



 Medrio, Inc.



 Oracle



 Parexel International Corporation



 Signant Health



 Veeva Systems





Overall world revenue for eClinical solutions market, 2023 to 2033 in terms of value the market will surpass US$8.9 billion in 2023, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2033. Our work identifies which organisations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.





How will the eClinical solutions market, 2023 to 2033 report help you?



In summary, our 250+ page report provides you with the following knowledge:





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for eClinical solutions market, 2023 to 2033 Market, with forecasts for product type, deployment type, and end users, each forecast at a global and regional level  discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues.





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for four regional and 20 key national markets  See forecasts for the eClinical solutions Market, 2023 to 2033 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and MEA. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, India, Japan, and Australia among other prominent economies.





 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market  including company profiles for 20 of the major companies involved in the eClinical solutions Market, 2023 to 2033.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06436260/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




Market Research Future

Increasing Adoption of Smart Wearable Technology by Consumers to Boost Embedded Graphical User Interface Development Software Market Growth

New York, US, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Market Analysis

According to a comprehensive research report by Market Research Future (MRFR), " Embedded GUI Development Software Market by offering, by type by technology, by application forecast till 2030, the market was valued at USD 133.9 million in 2021 and USD 159.9 million in 2022. Market predicted to thrive substantially during the assessment era from 2023 to 2030 at a healthy CAGR of approximately 25.9% to attain a valuation of around USD 1,012.4 million by the end of 2030.

Key Players

Eminent market players profiled in the global embedded GUI development software market report include:

MicroEJ

Tara Systems GmbH

IBIS Solutions APS

Embien Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

Altia, Inc.

Amulet Technologies

STMicroelectronics

Rightware

The Qt Company

Crank AMETEK

The Embedded GUI Development Software market will expand even more as a result of major market players investing heavily in R&D to expand their product lines. Additionally, market participants are launching new products, entering into contracts, acquiring companies, increasing investments, and collaborating with other organizations in order to expand their global footprint. In order to grow and survive in a more cutthroat and competitive market climate, competitors within the Embedded GUI Development Software business must provide affordable products.

Get Free Sample PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/11330



Embedded GUI Development Software Market Report Scope:

Report Metrics Details Market Size by 2030 USD 1,012.4 (2030) Market CAGR during 2022-2030 25.9% Base Year 2022 Forecast 2023-2030 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends

Market Segmentation

The global embedded graphical user interface development software market is bifurcated based on components, organization size, and industry vertical.

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By components, the software segment will lead the market over the forecast period.

By organization size, large enterprise will domineer the market over the forecast period.

By industry vertical, consumer electronics will spearhead the market over the forecast period.

Drivers

Increasing Adoption of Smart Wearable Technology by Consumers to Boost Market Growth

The industrial growth of Embedded GUI Development Software is being driven by consumer acceptance of smart wearable technology products. By using sensors to measure things like oxygen levels, cholesterol levels, and calories burned, these devices help with health monitoring. In addition, wearable technology companies including Fitbit, Samsung, Noise, and Fossil Group Inc. are releasing watches & other accessories having health tracking features. Because it enables users in checking their health, a service like this is anticipated to appeal to customers and open up new market opportunities.

Browse In-depth Market Research Report (188 Pages) on Embedded GUI Development Software Market:

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/embedded-graphical-user-interface-gui-development-software-market-11330



Opportunities

Increasing Use in Home Automation and Smart Homes to offer Robust Opportunities

Given the growing number of IoT-connected devices and consumers who are tech aware, manufacturers of smart homes and home automation systems must offer sophisticated user experiences which are visually appealing and dependably efficient. The embedded GUI development framework unites designers and programmers to create, create, and validate user-friendly, robust smart home GUI experience that consume less energy and conform to strict performance standards. A computer's or another information device's internal user interface is referred to as the user interface in wearables. The web-based configuration program needed a significant overhaul in terms of the user interface, information architecture, & data workflow in order to allow users to evaluate many information blocks in a single view.

Restraints and Challenges

Complex Implementation to act as Market Restraint

The complex implementation, high cost, higher time requirement, and the availability of open-source & free source tools may act as market restraints over the forecast period.

Buy this Premium Report Now:

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=11330



COVID-19 Analysis

The market has been unaffected by the COVID-19 epidemic. The pause in operating activity caused by the pandemic has disrupted the supply chains for consumer electronics, which has had a significant negative impact on the electronics sector. The COVID-19 epidemic is anticipated to have a major effect on both businesses worldwide and the electronics value chain. As a result, the market was significantly impacted by the closure of manufacturing companies, problems in the semiconductor supply chain, lengthy wait times for hardware, etc. On the other hand, the market is anticipated to continue expanding due to the use of the embedded medical devices in the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world battles the pandemic, governments from diverse nations are recognizing the need for greater healthcare infrastructure. Embedded systems are frequently used in handheld & portable medical devices, like vital sign monitoring systems. Moreover, portable self-examination tools enable users to do at-home guided tests that aid medical professionals in detecting COVID-19-infected people. Monitoring the individuals who have recovered from the coronavirus is also crucial. These tools make it easier to plan at-home checkups on a regular basis and make it easier to share the results with the appropriate doctors.

Regional Analysis

North America to Head Embedded GUI Development Software Market

Throughout the projected period, North America is anticipated to hold the greatest market share for the embedded GUI development software, with 38.8%. The desire for user-friendly & interactive embedded systems is driving growth in the North American market for embedded GUI development software. The expansion of this market in the area is being fueled by the emergence of the IoT and the expanding use of connected devices in numerous industries. Qt, National Instruments, Green Hills Software, Embedded Wizard, and others are some of the major companies in the North American embedded GUI development software market. The market in North America is dominated by businesses like Green Hills Software. The business has a sizable presence in the area and offers software solutions for embedded systems and the IoT. The business has also concentrated on improving its software development tool to handle cutting-edge technologies like touchscreens and high-end graphics.

Ask To Expert:

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/ask_for_schedule_call/11330



Europe to Have Admirable Growth in Embedded GUI Development Software Market

The region of Europe is anticipated to have the fastest CAGR. The demand for embedded GUI development tools is increasing in Europe, driven by the Internet of Things (IoT) and its exponential growth. Additionally, rising customer expectations for features like new forms of longer battery life, connectivity, & data-driven features are fueling this market's expansion in the region.

Industry Updates

January 2023- Infineon Technologies AG and Altia announced their collaboration. Early in 2023, the TRAVEOTM T2G Cluster microcontroller family from Infineon will be able to run display applications thanks to the Altia CloudWare software platform.

Related Reports:

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Monochrome Display Market Research Report - Global Forecast till 2027

About Market Research Future:

Market Research Future (MRFR) is a global market research company that takes pride in its services, offering a complete and accurate analysis regarding diverse markets and consumers worldwide. Market Research Future has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality research and granular research to clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help answer your most important questions.

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CONTACT: Contact Market Research Future (Part of Wantstats Research and Media Private Limited) 99 Hudson Street, 5Th Floor New York, NY 10013 United States of America +1 628 258 0071 (US) +44 2035 002 764 (UK) Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Website: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com




ATLANTA, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kim, the no-code, SaaS, patent-protected document generation, assembly, and workflow automation platform, announced that it has been backed by Atlanta based Engage VC, the collaborative innovative and corporate venture platform with the largest strategic grouping of major corporations.

Engage provides capital and mentorship to innovative and market leading technology companies. It brings together category-leading corporations that have joined forces to support companies building the future of enterprise and establish the Southeast as a leading innovation hub. Kim joins the Engage Enterprise Go-to-Market program which is designed to streamline the process for companies to work with the most influential corporations in the world.

Engage is backed by 14 industry-leading enterprises and Georgia Tech. Engage partners include Chick-fil-A, The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia Tech, Goldman Sachs, The Home Depot, Honeywell, Inspire Brands, Intercontinental Exchange, Invesco, Invest Georgia, Tech Square Ventures, UPS, and Wellstar.

"We are thrilled to bring Kim into our program," said Bill Nussey, Engage's Partner. "Kim's technology not only streamlines and automates tedious and manual document flows that bog down legal, HR and other corporate departments, but they have also made the product so easy and fast to adopt that any user or department can be up in running in hours."

Karl Chapman, CEO Kim, said, "Working through the selection process with the Engage team was hard, fun and rewarding. We would have benefited from it even if we had not agreed on a deal. Kim has achieved many milestones since it was formed, but in a few years, when we look back, I think we will recognize this as one of the most significant. This step helps us support our existing customers, win new customers and continue driving our technology forward."

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For further information, please contact Becky Roberts: rebecca.roberts@kimtechnologies.com

About Engage

Engage is a first-of-its-kind collaborative corporate venture and innovation platform to give growing businesses what they need most  access to customers and markets. Georgia Tech and Tech Square Ventures, provide tools, portfolio support and resources to companies on the platform. Engage is headquartered in Georgia Tech's Technology Square. www.engage.vc

About Kim

Kim is a no-code, SaaS, patent-protected document generation, assembly and workflow automation tool. Kim's Enterprise solution is proven with Fortune 500 organizations in legal, compliance, contract management, company secretarial, office productivity and other functions. www.kimdocument.com

Cision

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SOURCE Kim Technologies
Competitive advantages of Al Mazunah Free Zone in Oman were highlighted at a key meeting attended by senior officials.

The meeting was attended by Saleh bin Said Masan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Commerce and Industry, and Chairman of Madayns Board of Directors with Major General Khalifa bin Ali Al Siyabi, Assistant Inspector General of Police and Customs for Administrative and Financial Affairs, at Al Mazunah Free Zone.

Brigadier Saeed bin Khamis Al Ghaithi, Director General of Customs, Hamad bin Hamoud Al Qasabi, Acting CEO of Madayn, and a number of officials from the Royal Oman Police and relevant government bodies also attended.

The meeting underscored the growth witnessed by Al Mazunah Free Zone, which is being operated by Madayn, as well as discussed efforts towards streamlining procedures, enhancing competitiveness and attracting investments to Al Mazunah Free Zone.

During the meeting, Eng. Ali bin Salim Al Maashani, Director General of Al Mazunah Free Zone, highlighted the digital processes available to investors through Madayns digital platforms (Eddah and Masar Platforms), which incorporate a variety of services such as requesting, evaluating and localising investments, approval procedures for investment activities, and the related financial and administrative aspects.

Al Maashani also highlighted how the free zones Eddah System helps streamline entry and exit processes for goods and vehicles, with annual and temporary permits being issued for individuals, equipment, and machinery in coordination with the Royal Oman Police. He added that the free zone aims for simplifying its procedures to achieve increased competitiveness through joint coordination with the Royal Oman Police, including those related to the passage of vehicles and goods to Al Mazunah Dry Port. On the sidelines of the meeting, a field visit was made to explore the infrastructure development phases of the free zone and the current and future projects.TradeArabia News Service
Ensurge Micropower ASA

Oslo, 27 March 2023

Reference is made to the announcement by Ensurge Micropower ASA (the "Company") on 14 March 2023 regarding the held Extraordinary General Meeting in the Company (EGM), and the approval of all proposals, hereunder a share capital increase, by such EGM.

The share capital increase has now been duly registered in the Register of Business Enterprises. Following the share capital increase, the Company's share capital is NOK 74,422,849.80 divided into 744,228,498 shares, each share having a par value of NOK 0.10.

The shares will be issued to a temporary ISIN pending approval and publication of a listing prospectus. The shares will be transferred to the Company's ordinary ISIN and will be tradeable on the Oslo Brs under the ticker code "ENSU" upon approval and publication of the listing prospectus.

Contact

Stale Bjrnstad - Investor Relations

E-mail: stale.bjornstad@ensurge.com (mailto:stale.bjornstad@ensurge.com)

Phone: +47 99 16 76 72

About Ensurge Micropower

Ensurge is Energizing Innovation (TM) with ultrathin, flexible, and safe energy storage solutions for wearable devices, connected sensors, and beyond. Ensurge's innovative solid-state lithium battery (SSLB) technology is uniquely positioned to enable the production of powerful, lightweight, and cost-effective rechargeable batteries for diverse applications. The company's state-of-the-art flexible electronics manufacturing facility, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, combines patented process technology and materials innovation with the scale of roll-to-roll production methods to bring the advantages of SSLB technology to established and expanding markets. Ensurge Micropower ASA ("Ensurge") is a publicly listed company in Norway with corporate headquarters in Oslo and global headquarters in San Jose, California.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.




Epson to Showcase Robotic Solutions and Present on Manufacturing Considerations to Help Businesses Successfully Implement Automation

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

Epson logo (PRNewsfoto/Epson America, Inc.)

Who: Epson Robots, the #1 SCARA robot manufacturer in the world, will be demonstrating its robotic automation solutions at The Assembly Show South, the first Assembly Show in the U.S. South, in booth #535.

What: Epson will offer attendees the opportunity to experience the ease of use and simplicity of Epson Robots with live demos of its high performance automation solutions, including its GX-Series SCARA robots, industrial automation software and integrated solutions, for the medical device, electronics and consumer electronics markets. At The Assembly Show South, Epson's presentation and booth demos will include:

Automation Presentation: "Why Automate? Manufacturing Considerations in Today's 'New Normal'"  Scott Marsic, Epson Robots group product manager, will explore the "how and why" of automation and help decision-makers evaluate the role of robots and automation within their business. Topics will include changes to customer pain points, onshoring and nearshoring impacts, market trends, and top insights for automation project success. The session will take place on Wednesday, April 5 from 10:30-11 a.m. CST in the Learning Theater.

High-Power Density, Next-Level Performance  Designed for complete and demanding tasks, the GX-Series SCARA robots with patented GYROPLUS Technology, offer high throughput, smooth motion control and heavy payloads.

Robot Programming Made Simple  No-code, easy-to-use RC+ Express application development software features an easy-to-learn, block-style robot teaching environment to get users up and running fast.

Attendees will also have a chance to experience demos of Epson's integrated IntelliFlex Parts Feeding System and Vision Guidance.

When: The Assembly Show South will take place on April 5 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. CST and April 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST.

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Where: Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn.; Epson booth #535

Why: Epson is dedicated to helping both new and experienced automation professionals succeed by providing essential information and education and by delivering the latest robot technologies and innovations to meet their factory automation needs. For more information, visit www.epsonrobots.com. For more information on the GX-Series SCARA robots, please visit https://epson.com/gx-scara-robot-series. For more information on RC+ Express industrial automation software, please visit https://epson.com/no-code-industrial-automation-robot-programming-software. For more information on the IntelliFlex Parts Feeding System, please visit https://epson.com/robots-intelliflex-parts-feeding. For more information on Vision Guidance, please https://epson.com/For-Work/Robots/Integrated-Options/Epson-Vision-Guide.

About Epson Robots

Epson Robots is a global leader in PC-controlled precision factory automation, with well over 150,000 units sold worldwide1 and a product line of hundreds of models of easy-to-use SCARA and 6-Axis robots based on a common PC-based platform. Building on four decades of experience, Epson Robots delivers robots for precision assembly and material handling applications in the aerospace, appliance, automotive, biotechnology, consumer product, electronics, food processing, medical device, pharmaceutical, plastics, semiconductor, and telecommunication industries. For more information, visit www.epsonrobots.com.

About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson's goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of around JPY 1 trillion. global.epson.com/

Epson America, Inc., based in Los Alamitos, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/epsonamerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica).

# # #

1 Epson internal sales data through 2021.

EPSON and Epson RC+ are registered trademarks and EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark of Seiko Epson Corporation. IntelliFlex is a trademark of Epson America, Inc. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2023 Epson America, Inc.

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SOURCE Epson America, Inc.
Fairstone's inaugural ESG report underscores its commitment to ESG and responsible business practices

MONTREAL and TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Fairstone Bank of Canada and its subsidiary Fairstone Financial Inc. (hereinafter collectively "Fairstone") released its first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, which outlines its approach and performance in sustainable development.

Today, Fairstone releases its first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, which outlines its approach and performance in sustainable development. (CNW Group/Fairstone Financial Inc.)

Fairstone's 2022 ESG report is a comprehensive review of its environmental, social and governance approach and covers its operations and impact on society and the environment. The report includes an overview of Fairstone's governance, environmental and social framework, and a description of its ESG priorities according to five pillars  empowering employees, supporting customer's growth, building alongside communities, protecting shared value and reducing operational impact. The report provides transparency and demonstrates performance on relevant ESG topics that create meaningful value for Fairstone's stakeholders, including employees, customers, investors, and local communities across Canada.

"We are pleased to release our inaugural ESG report and share our commitment to ESG as an integral part of the well-being of our people and our ability to better serve our customers and the communities in which we operate," said Scott Wood, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fairstone.

The report highlights Fairstone's latest achievements in promoting diversity and inclusion, employee wellness, calculating its carbon footprint, and supporting its local communities. It also outlines Fairstone's pledge to develop its ESG quantified targets, including its ambition to reduce and further measure its operational impact in future years.

"As a responsible corporate citizen aiming to drive sustainable growth, we are committed to integrating the ESG factors that we identify as a priority to our business and stakeholders into our operations. The publication of our first ESG report is an important step forward to demonstrate our dedication in achieving meaningful and valuable sustainable business practices," shared Mr. Wood.

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To read Fairstone's ESG Report and achievements made in 2022, view the complete report here.

About the Company

Fairstone Bank of Canada ("Fairstone Bank") and its subsidiary, Fairstone Financial Inc. ("Fairstone"), form a leading consumer lending group. Fairstone Bank and Fairstone provide 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 through merchant partners, automobile financing via dealerships, and unsecured and secured personal loans and mortgages online and at over 245 Fairstone branches coast to coast. With a long-established Canadian history, Fairstone Bank and Fairstone are committed to improving the lives of Canadians with value-driven and accessible financial solutions.

More at: www.Fairstone.ca and www.FairstoneBank.ca

SOURCE Fairstone Financial Inc.

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Future Market Insights Global and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

The increasing adoption of 5G technology is likely to fuel the demand for fiber optic test equipment in the coming years, particularly in emerging economies such as India and China, where governments are actively promoting testing operations in telecom base stations to support the ongoing infrastructure development for 5G.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2023, the fibre optic test equipment market to be worth US$ 923 million. It is set to reach US$ 1,779.9 million by 2033, with a 6.8% CAGR from 2023 to 2033.



As the telecommunications industry quickly adopts all the fiber optic cable types for high-speed data transfer, the relevance of fiber optic testing equipment for these has grown over the years in production, inspection, on-field troubleshooting of network systems, and research and development phases across industries.

Market Dynamics and Constraints for Fibre Optic Test Equipment

The expanding number of fibre cable networks may fuel fibre optic test equipment demand. The growing demand for real-time operations necessitates constant testing of insertion loss and bandwidth to provide services efficiently. This need creates enormous prospects for the fiber optic testing equipment market.

From a technological standpoint, the fibre optic test equipment market may be driven by the deployment of real-time 40-gig and 100-gig network deployments, which may create a demand for high fibre optic performance.

Find a comprehensive report summary that describes the market size and forecast along with the research methodology. The Sample report is available in PDF format

The increasing complexity of electronic devices and networks necessitates the development of fibre optic test equipment that is simple to use and has improved functionality. Increased fiber optic testing frequency can boost market revenue by enabling better error rate testers and next-generation fiber optic testing systems.

Although the fibre optic tools market is expanding significantly, customers' lack of testing awareness is preventing market expansion.

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Forecast for the Region

North America is likely to have the lion's share of the global fibre optics test equipment market due to full-stream 4G deployments. While having a small share of the global fibre optic test equipment market, Asia Pacific is predicted to develop at a considerable rate, driven by increased FTTH implementation in emerging nations such as China and India.

Governmental policies for FTTH implementation, as well as the increasing use of smartphones, drive fibre optic test equipment demand in China, creating prospects for the Chinese fibre optic tools market.

Key Takeaways

The United States to acquire a market share of 21.2% from 2023 to 2033.

Germanys fibre optic tools market is to hold a market share of 4.9% between 2023 and 2033.

Japan to acquire a global market share of 3% from 2023 to 2033.

Australia market to hold a market share of 3.4% between 2023 and 2033.

China to develop at a fibre optic test equipment market CAGR of 8% during the forecast period of 2023-2033.

India to accelerate at a fibre optic tools market CAGR of 10.7% between 2023 and 2033.

The United Kingdom to advance at a fiber optic testing equipment market CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period of 2023-2033.

The optical time domain reflectometers (OTDR tester) segment in the equipment category is to have a market share of 35.7% from 2023 to 2033.

Analysis of Competitors

The fibre optic test equipment market is highly fragmented due to intense competition among industry participants. The fibre optic test equipment manufacturers are heavily investing in providing customers with a diverse range of technologies for application-specific field measurement, monitoring, and maintenance.

To increase market share, these organizations are constantly investing in strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and product development. EXFO, Keysight Technologies, Viavi Solutions Inc, Anritsu Corporation, and Tektronix Inc are some of the key fibre optic test equipment manufacturers we evaluated.

Ask an Analyst@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-3330

Key Players

Anritsu

Keysight Technologies

Viavi Solutions

EXFO

National Instruments

Yokogawa Electric

Key Segments

By Equipment Type:

Optical Light Sources

Optical Power & Loss Meters

Remote Fiber Test Systems

Optical Time Domain Reflectometers

Optical Spectrum Analyzers



Other Test Equipment

By Portability Type:

Handheld/Portable

Bench-top

By End Use:

Telecommunication Service Providers

Network Equipment Manufacturers

Data Centers

Cable Operator

Educational & Research Institutes

Others

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

South Asia Pacific

East Asia

The Middle East and Africa

Innovations in Products Stay Vital for Upholding Competition

Introduction



VIAVI Solutions Inc. announced a 400G module for the OneAdvisor 800 in March 2022, enabling sophisticated 400G transport test and maintenance features for field business service and network core specialists. The OneAdvisor 800 provides remarkable testing performance for personnel who must take their equipment into the area by combining its transmission protocol with fibre network flexibility.

Purchase



EXFO is increasing its range of electrical and optical test solutions by incorporating technology purchased from InOpticals Inc. into its test & measurement portfolio to deliver comprehensive, modular test solutions in March 2022. This results in best-in-class performance for transceivers and optical components from start to finish.

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Table of Content

1. Executive Summary | Fiber Optic Test Equipment Market

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand-side Trends

1.3. Supply-side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap Analysis

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Market Background

3.1. Market Dynamics

3.1.1. Drivers

3.1.2. Restraints

3.1.3. Opportunity

3.1.4. Trends

3.2. Scenario Forecast

3.2.1. Demand in Optimistic Scenario

3.2.2. Demand in Likely Scenario

3.2.3. Demand in Conservative Scenario

3.3. Opportunity Map Analysis

3.4. Investment Feasibility Matrix

Read More TOC..

Complete TOC with Report preview@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/fiber-optic-test-equipment-market

Have a Look at Related Research Reports of Testing Equipment

Fiber Optic Tester Market Outlook: Fiber Optic Tester Market | Global industry segment analysis, regional outlook, share, growth | Fiber Optic Tester 2018-2028 by Future Market Insights.

Optical Component Tester Market Forecast: The Global Optical Component Tester demand is projected to be valued at US$ 3.3 Billion in 2022, forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.25% to be valued at US$ 5.1 Billion from 2022 to 2032.

Test rig Market Growth: The largest test rig market share is held by North America, owing to the presence of well-developed manufacturing companies with innovative technologies in the region.

Soil Field Testing Equipment Market Type: The soil field testing equipment market may reach an overall valuation expected to surpass US$ 680.0 million in 2023. Furthermore, the market is expected to record a CAGR of 5.3% between 2023 and 2033.

Automated Test Equipment Market Value: The automated test equipment market is set to thrive at a steady CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period. The market holds a share of US$ 9.33 billion in 2023 while it is anticipated to cross a value of US$ 23.76 billion by 2033.

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Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - Forza Petroleum Limited (TSX: FORZ) ("Forza Petroleum" or the "Corporation") announces that the operator of the Kurdistan Oil Export Pipeline has notified OP Hawler Kurdistan Limited, the Corporation's operating subsidiary in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, of a shutdown of the pipeline. The shutdown relates to a recent arbitration decision of the International Chamber of Commerce impacting exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government through the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. A statement from the Federal Government of Iraq indicates that exports from the port may only resume with the consent of the Federal Government of Iraq.

With Hawler storage nearing full capacity, production from the Hawler license area is being shut in pending the resumption of deliveries from the license area. Public reports indicate that officials from the different governments involved are in talks to agree mechanisms that will apply and permit a restart of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region. These latest talks build on engagement in recent months to resolve several open issues between the Kurdistan Region and the Federal Government of Iraq, including the development of a new oil and gas law.

Forza Petroleum is engaged with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government to navigate this evolving situation. Updates will be provided to the market as details become available.

ABOUT FORZA PETROLEUM LIMITED

Forza Petroleum Limited is an international oil exploration, development and production company. The Corporation's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol "FORZ". Forza Petroleum has a 65% working interest in and operates the Hawler license area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which has yielded oil discoveries in four areas, three of which are contributing to production while appraisal and development activity continues. Further information about Forza Petroleum is available at www.forzapetroleum.com or under Forza Petroleum's profile at www.sedar.com.

Story continues

For additional information about Forza Petroleum, please contact:

Kevin McPhee

General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Tel.: +41 (0) 58 702 93 00

info@forzapetroleum.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159933
London, UK --News Direct-- Frontier IP Group PLC

Frontier Energy Ltd (ASX:FHE, OTCQB:FRHYF) managing director Samuel Lee Mohan speaks to Proactive's Thomas Warner after announcing the completion of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for stage one of its Bristol Springs Renewable Energy Project in Western Australia.

Mohan describes it as a "key milestone" for the company, that will now start to focus on securing offtake agreements.

Contact Details

Proactive UK Ltd

+44 20 7989 0813

uk@proactiveinvestors.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/frontier-energy-passes-key-milestone-with-dfs-completion-512873334
SEOUL, South Korea, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan has announced that STRADVISION , an automotive industry pioneer in deep learning-based vision perception technology, has won the Frost & Sullivan 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) perception software industry.

STRADVISION has won the Frost & Sullivan 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) perception software industry.

During the rigorous analytical award process, Frost & Sullivan evaluated multiple nominees in each category before determining the final award recipient. The process involves a detailed evaluation of best practices criteria across two dimensions for each nominated company. The firm found that STRADVISION excels in many criteria in the ADAS and AD perception space, including technology leverage and business impact.

"STRADVISION's commitment to innovation and creativity enables it to develop optimized solutions that meet client needs and market demands," said Deexeta Mohankumar, Research Analyst for Frost & Sullivan. "In addition, its core SVNet technology allows it to stay ahead of the competition by adopting advanced learning algorithms that deliver high efficiency and modularity. Demonstrating performance effectiveness with SoC-specific software architecture, STRADVISION has distinguished itself as a technology provider that can run deep learning-based vision perception features on leading SoC platforms. In contrast, most competitors still rely on ML-based solutions, which require large data sets, time, and resources to improve accuracy."

"We're pleased to see that our industry-leading approach to innovation is being widely recognized by such prestigious institutions as Frost & Sullivan," STRADVISION USA CEO Sunny Lee said. "We will continue to push for an integrated future for vision and artificial intelligence technology in consumers' everyday lives by providing our customers with best-in-class software for safer assisted and autonomous driving."

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Frost & Sullivan's research on the global autonomous passenger vehicle market in 2022 indicates that the total addressable market for L1 to L4 autonomous vehicles will reach 74.54 million units by 2028, with 59% of the vehicles equipped with an L2 and above ADAS/AD software stack. This presents a vast opportunity for ADAS/AD perception technology developers such as STRADVISION. The ADAS/AD solutions based on STRADVISION's SVNet technology are available in more than 50 vehicle models of 13 OEMs, accounting for over 550,000 consumer vehicles in global markets.

Frost & Sullivan's full summary on the award and their selection of STRADVISION can be found HERE .

The Frost & Sullivan recognition came after a busy year for STRADVISION in 2022, including significant workforce growth of 69.2% YoY for the company, both in North America and globally. The company achieved Series C funding of $88 million ($129 million cumulative funding to date), and its recent rebranding and evolved company vision will extend the implementation of its innovative computer vision software to industries beyond automotive. Additional 2022 and early 2023 milestones include SVNet software implementation for Texas Instruments' TDA4 automotive processor, the successful completion of proof-of-concept (PoC) and production projects for more mass production with global OEMs and Tier-1 companies, and STRADVISION's SVNet software being once again selected as the 'Best-in-Class Software for Perception Systems' during the 2022 AutoSens Awards in Brussels, Belgium.

About STRADVISION

Founded in 2014, STRADVISION is an automotive industry pioneer in artificial intelligence-based vision perception technology for ADAS. The company is accelerating the advent of fully autonomous vehicles by making ADAS features available at a fraction of the market cost compared with competitors. STRADVISION's SVNet is being deployed on various vehicle models in partnership with OEMs; can powers ADAS and autonomous vehicles worldwide; and is serviced by over 300 employees in Seoul, San Jose, Detroit, Tokyo, Shanghai, Friedrichshafen, and Dusseldorf. STRADVISION has been honored with Frost & Sullivan's 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award, the Gold Award at the 2021 and 2022 AutoSens Awards for Best-in-Class Software for Perception Systems, and the 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Technology ACES Award in Autonomy (software category). In addition, STRADVISION's software is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems and ISO 26262 for Automotive Functional Safety.

Cision

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SOURCE StradVision
EuroPride March 2022

EuroPride Valletta 2022

EuroPride March 2022

EuroPride Valletta 2022

New York, New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Malta, the hidden gem of the Mediterranean, will host EuroPride Valletta 2023, September 7 to 17. The EuroPride March will take place Saturday, September 16 in the capital city, Valletta. At the intersection of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, Malta has always attracted people from all over the world.

Diversity is ingrained in Maltese culture, and over the past few decades, Malta has made significant progress toward becoming an LGBTIQ+ friendly destination reinforced by anti-discrimination laws introduced in the Maltese Constitution in 2014. For this reason, it should be no surprise that since October 2015, ILGA-Europe has ranked Malta in top place of the Rainbow Europe Map & Index for the past seven years!

EuroPride Valletta 2023

The main part of EuroPride Valletta 2023 will be Pride Week that will kick-off with the opening ceremony on Thursday, September 7th, 2023 and conclude on Sunday, September 17th, 2023, with the Pride March and Concert taking place on Saturday, September 16th, 2023. Additionally the Pride Week will include a variety of events coordinated by ARC (Allied Rainbow Communities) with the involvement of other NGOs, individuals and partner organizations centering around the following:

Queer Arts & Culture Festival

Nicholas Bugeja, Allied Rainbow Communities, Malta shared, We shall be partnering with different artists and performers to offer a cultural & artistic program of various genres, including exhibitions, theater, cabaret shows, film and literary arts throughout the week. Emphasis of the program will be on offering a platform to LGBTIQ+ artists such as drag, burlesque, theater and other forms of performing arts.

Three conferences will also be held. A Human Rights Conference, LGBTIQ+ at Work Conference and another focused on Interfaith Dialogue.

A Pride Village in the Capital will be set-up three days prior leading up to the Pride March, which will host a number of stands for the local and international organizations to display their work, sell merchandise and act as information points for the community. The village will also act as a space for socialization and community building.

Story continues

The EuroPride March is a family-friendly march where different human rights organizations, governmental entities and partners will be invited to march with us.

A number of floats, performances, giveaways and speeches will also take place during the March, which . The March will finish at the Granaries in Floriana and with a concert as the grand finale.

Throughout the week, a number of venues will be opening their doors for a number of community events ranging from speak-easy socials, beach/poolside parties and club nights.

An after party following the Pride Concert will be organized, hosted by Drag Artists and featuring Top DJs and performers.

Malta also has so much more to offer to visitors and guests to our islands! With 300 days of sunshine per year, beautiful beaches and hidden bays, countless cultural landmarks (three of them being UNESCO World Heritage Sites) from over 7,000 years of history and great places for social events and a vibrant nightlife, Malta is the perfect LGBTIQ+ leisure, business and culture destination.

Written by Nicholas Bugeja,

Allied Rainbow Communities, Malta

-ENDS-

About Malta

The sunny islands of Malta, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, are home to a most remarkable concentration of intact built heritage, including the highest density of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in any nation-state anywhere. Valletta, built by the proud Knights of St. John, is one of the UNESCO sites and the European Capital of Culture for 2018. Malta's patrimony in stone ranges from the oldest free-standing stone architecture in the world, to one of the British Empire's most formidable defensive systems, and includes a rich mix of domestic, religious and military architecture from the ancient, medieval and early modern periods. With superbly sunny weather, attractive beaches, a thriving nightlife and 7,000 years of intriguing history, there is a great deal to see and do.

For more information on Malta, visit www.visitmalta.com.

About Allied Rainbow Communities

ARC was founded out of a need to create a sense of community. Malta has come a long way with equality reforms and civil liberties, but we believe laws & rights are only one part of the equation. Our main areas of work include: Pride, Communications, Community Engagement and Networking.

For more information on ARC, visit https://www.gaymalta.com/.

For more information on EuroPride Valletta 2023, visit https://europride2023.mt/.

Attachments

CONTACT: Michelle Buttigieg Malta Tourism Authority 212 213 0944 michelle-margaret.buttigieg@visitmalta.com




GDS and TNB sign a supplemental agreement for powering data center campus in Johor, Malaysia

HONG KONG, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On 21 March 2023, GDS, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers, announced that it will extend and deepen its strategic partnership with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the largest electricity utility in Malaysia and a leading utility company in Asia.

(From right to left) William Huang, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of GDS; Jamie Khoo, COO of GDS; Kamal Arifin A. Rahman, CRO of TNB; and Dato' Indera Ir. Baharin Din, CEO of TNB

The Electricity Supply Agreement (ESA) for this collaboration was sealed in October 2022. Through the agreement, GDS Nusajaya Tech Park Phase 1 Data Centers will start operations with an interim supply of 16MW in July 2023 and a permanent supply of 85.5MW within 2023.

On 21 March 2023, GDS and TNB signed a Supplemental Agreement to the ESA, ensuring electricity to be swiftly and reliably supplied to GDS' data center campus in Johor Bahru. The Signing Ceremony of the Supplemental Agreement was held at TNB Platinum, Bangsar. The signatories were represented by Jamie Khoo, COO of GDS; and Kamal Arifin A. Rahman, CRO of TNB. The ceremony was witnessed by William Huang, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of GDS; and Dato' Indera Ir. Baharin Din, CEO of TNB.

William said, "We are very delighted to deepen our relationship with TNB. With TNB's unwavering commitment in providing reliable electricity supply to our data center campus in Johor Bahru, GDS is well-positioned to offer world-class data center services in the region, further strengthening Malaysia's digital infrastructure and accelerating its digital transformation and growth."

As a leading data center operator, GDS made its ESG commitment of achieving carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy usage by 2030. "We look forward to the collaboration with TNB in the adoption of renewable energy as part of our sustainable development efforts, such as a smart green solution, including rooftop solar with GSPARX, dark fibre connection with ALLO, and new green technology with TNB Renewables." William added.

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Noting that TNB and GDS shared common goals and ambitions towards a greener future, Dato' Indera Ir. Baharin Din, CEO of TNB said, "We are confident that our collaboration with GDS has great potential to benefit both parties as well as Malaysians. TNB will extend its collaboration into the provision of smart energy solutions. This collaboration is one of many initiatives that is accelerating the growth of the nation's digital economy, which is further driven by the increased usage of cloud-based services, IoT, big data analytics and the rapid pace of digitalization in the region."

"Through this strategic partnership, we believe we can make significant contributions to support Malaysia's ambition in becoming a data center hub and driving the regional digital economy. We are grateful for TNB's support and strive to foster a fruitful partnership ahead," said William.

Cision

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SOURCE GDS Holdings Limited
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Gemina Laboratories Ltd. (CSE:GLAB)(FRA:8I7) (the "Company" or "Gemina") is pleased to announce that it will host a live investor webinar presentation on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 2:00 PM ET. During the webcast, Brian Firth, CEO, will conduct a presentation that will cover key areas of Gemina's business. After the formal presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions through an interactive Q&A portal. To listen to the webcast or to ask questions during the live event, please pre-register by clicking on the following link:

Registration Link: Gemina Webinar Registration

An archived version of the webcast and presentation will be available on the Company's website, following the live event: www.geminalabs.com/investors.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

John Davies

Chairman

Gemina Laboratories Ltd.

About Gemina Laboratories Ltd.

Gemina Labs is a biosensor and diagnostic company with a transformative, patented, proprietary chemistry that powers next-generation testing platforms for a wide range of pathogens that affect human health and wellness. Our technology drives testing platforms that are fast, affordable and accurate, and easily self-administered. Our development pipeline includes platforms for the rapid testing of COVID-19, influenza and other viruses. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.geminalabs.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking information and statements, which may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding or inferring the future business, operations, financial performance, prospects, and other plans, intentions, expectations, estimates, and beliefs of the Company. Such statements include statements regarding the anticipated terms of any proposed transaction or engagement. Information and statements which are not purely historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information and statements involve and are subject to assumptions and known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause actual events, results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future events, results, performance, and achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking information and statements herein. Although the Company believes that any forward-looking information and statements herein are reasonable, in light of the use of assumptions and the significant risks and uncertainties inherent in such information and statements, there can be no assurance that any such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, and accordingly readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance upon such forward-looking information and statements. Furthermore, the Company is presently unable to fully quantify the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic will have on its operations and recognizes that certain eventualities may affect planned or assumed performance moving forward. As such, any forward-looking information and statements herein are made as of the date hereof, and except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation and disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information and statements herein or to update the reasons that actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in any forward looking information and statements herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

Story continues

For more information regarding the Company, please contact:

Glen Axelrod

Bristol Capital Limited

Telephone: 905-326-1888 Ext.1.

Email: investor@geminalabs.com

SOURCE: Gemina Laboratories Ltd.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/745978/Gemina-Laboratories-to-Host-Investor-Webinar-on-March-30-2023




Shipsy, a leading global SaaS-based logistics management platform provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Monsha'at, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority of Saudi Arabia, to support Saudi Vision 2030.

This development took place on the sidelines of Biban 23 Forum.

The MoU highlighted that Shipsy will offer its technology at a significant concession for all customers channelled through Monshaat.

The leading logistics SaaS provider also earmarked an investment worth $10 million over five years in the region to drive technology innovation and research and development.

The kingdom's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are most important in supporting the national economy. SMEs in KSA will increase exports, create new job opportunities for Saudi youth, diversify sources of income and expand the production base in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.

Vision 2030 also aims to lower the unemployment rate from 11.6% to 7%, boost women's participation in the workforce from 22% to 30% and ensure SMEs contribute 35% to KSA's GDP in the coming 10 years.

This MoUs objective will be to develop and support SMEs and entrepreneurship under the laws and regulations in force in Saudi Arabia and commensurate with the available resources, aiming to drive growth and economic diversification.

"We are honoured to partner with Monsha'at and thrilled to be a part of KSA's Vision 2030. We are committed to drive technology inclusion in the kingdom's rapidly growing supply chain and logistics industry. Technologies like AI, automation, ML, IoT, Blockchain and data analytics will create numerous employment opportunities and unlock efficiencies that will help logistics stakeholders build sustainable, agile and cost-efficient logistics processes," said Soham Chokshi, CEO and Co-Founder, Shipsy.  TradeArabia News Service
DelveInsight Business Research LLP

The biopsy devices market is experiencing positive growth as a result of various factors such as rising breast cancer prevalence, increasing geriatric population, rising incidence of lung cancer, and increasing technological advancements in product offerings. As a result, the biopsy devices market is expected to expand between 2022 and 2027.

New York, USA, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Biopsy Devices Market to Exhibit Growth at a CAGR of ~5% by 2027 | DelveInsight

The biopsy devices market is experiencing positive growth as a result of various factors such as rising breast cancer prevalence, increasing geriatric population, rising incidence of lung cancer, and increasing technological advancements in product offerings. As a result, the biopsy devices market is expected to expand between 2022 and 2027.

DelveInsights Biopsy Devices Market Insights report provides the current and forecast market analysis, individual leading biopsy devices companies market shares, challenges, biopsy devices market drivers, barriers, and trends, and key biopsy devices companies in the market.

Key Takeaways from the Biopsy Devices Market Report

As per DelveInsight estimates, North America is anticipated to dominate the global biopsy devices market during the forecast period.

Notable biopsy devices companies such as Boston Scientific Corporation, Cardinal Health, Medtronic, BD, Cook, Devicor Medical Products Inc, B. Braun Melsungen AG, ARGON MEDICAL, OLYMPUS CORPORATION, FUJIFILM, INRAD Inc, Hologic Inc, C. R. Bard, Dr. Japan Co Ltd, Limaca-medical, Owlstone Medical Ltd, Zamar Care, KOELIS, ST. STONE MEDICAL DEVICES PVT LTD, Iscon Surgicals Ltd, and several others are currently operating in the biopsy devices market.

In February 2023, TransMed7, LLC announced that Dr. Michael Berry, a distinguished surgeon and member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS), successfully performed the "First in Human" series of clinical cases using commercial production Concorde US devices (a member of the new Concorde family of vacuum-assisted, Single Insertion / Multiple Collection (SIMC) Soft Tissue Biopsy devices) have been successfully performed by Dr. Michael Berry, distinguished surgeon and member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS), performing breast biopsy cases at the Margaret West Comprehensive Breast Center in Germantown, TN.

In September 2022, Merit Medical Systems announced the release of the Temno Elite soft tissue biopsy system in the United States.

In May 2022, Limaca Medical, a privately held company located in Israel devoted to enhancing endoscopic biopsy outcomes for patients with potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal tumors, gained FDA breakthrough device classification for its Precision GI endoscopic ultrasound biopsy device. Precision GI is deployed and operated through an instrument channel in the endoscope to biopsy a tumor.

In May 2022, Limaca Medical, a privately held company located in Israel devoted to enhancing endoscopic biopsy outcomes for patients with potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal tumors, and HekaBio K.K., is a privately held healthcare company based in Tokyo, Japan, announced that they had inked a strategic partnership agreement, whereby HekaBio is to distribute Limaca's Precision-GI Endoscopic Biopsy Device in Japan.

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To read more about the latest highlights related to the biopsy devices market, get a snapshot of the key highlights entailed in the Global Biopsy Devices Market Report

Biopsy Devices Overview

Biopsy is a surgical procedure that removes tissue from an organ to determine the presence or extent of a disease, most commonly cancerous and inflammatory conditions. Surgeons, radiologists, and interventional cardiologists are the most common people who perform it. Biopsies can be performed on any organ using specific biopsy devices as a confirmatory test for cancer and celiac disease. The application of each biopsy device differs depending on the type of organ under consideration. Conventional biopsy devices can be supplemented with advanced imaging technologies such as MRI-guided biopsy, stereotactic-guided biopsy, ultrasound-guided biopsy, CT scan, and others to perform a biopsy with accuracy and minimal invasiveness. Biopsies on body organs such as the lungs, liver, and kidneys are performed using these integrated procedures.





Biopsy Devices Market Insights

North America dominated the global biopsy devices market in 2021, and it is expected to do so again during the forecast period of 20222027. Factors such as rising lung cancer incidence are expected to drive up demand for biopsy devices in the North American market. Furthermore, rising technological advancements in product offerings drive the biopsy devices market growth. For instance, in May 2022, Limaca Medical, a privately held company located in Israel devoted to enhancing endoscopic biopsy outcomes for patients with potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal tumors, gained FDA breakthrough device classification for its Precision GI endoscopic ultrasound biopsy device. Precision GI is deployed and operated through an instrument channel in the endoscope to biopsy a tumor.

To know more about why North America is leading the market growth in the biopsy devices market, get a snapshot of the Biopsy Devices Market Outlook

Biopsy Devices Market Dynamics

The rising prevalence of breast cancer is one of the primary drivers of the biopsy devices market. Furthermore, the growing geriatric population is an important factor driving the growth of biopsy devices. However, complications associated with biopsy procedures, such as bleeding, infections, and others, and alternative biopsy therapies, such as blood tests, may impede the growth of the global biopsy devices market.

Additionally, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has significantly impacted the biopsy devices market. The nationwide lockdown in almost every country restricted peoples movement, halted supply chains and logistics, hampered manufacturing rates, resulting in a product shortage in the market, and elective surgeries were not prioritized because COVID-19 patients were given priority treatment.

However, with the mass vaccination of the population, the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, the resumption of supply chains, logistics, and manufacturing units, and an increase in elective surgeries, the biopsy devices market has gained traction and is expected to grow further during the forecast period.

Get a sneak peek at the biopsy devices market dynamics @ Biopsy Devices Market Dynamics Analysis

Report Metrics Details Coverage Global Study Period 20192027 Base Year 2021 Biopsy Devices Market CAGR ~5% Key Biopsy Devices Companies Boston Scientific Corporation, Cardinal Health, Medtronic, BD, Cook, Devicor Medical Products Inc, B. Braun Melsungen AG, ARGON MEDICAL, OLYMPUS CORPORATION, FUJIFILM, INRAD Inc, Hologic Inc, C. R. Bard, Dr. Japan Co Ltd, Limaca-medical, Owlstone Medical Ltd, Zamar Care, KOELIS, ST. STONE MEDICAL DEVICES PVT LTD, Iscon Surgicals Ltd, among others

Biopsy Devices Market Assessment

Biopsy Devices Market Segmentation Market Segmentation By Product Type: Needles, Biopsy Systems, Forceps, Curettes, and Others Market Segmentation By Application: Skin Biopsy, Bone Marrow Biopsy, Prostate Biopsy, Breast Biopsy, and Others Market Segmentation By Imaging Technology: Ultrasound-Guided, Mri-Guided Biopsy, and Stereotactic-Guided Biopsy Market Segmentation By End User: PHospital, Diagnostic Centers, Imaging Centers, and Ambulatory Surgical Centers Market Segmentation By Geography : North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World

Porters Five Forces Analysis, Product Profiles, Case Studies, KOLs Views, Analysts View

Which MedTech key players in the biopsy devices market are set to emerge as the trendsetter explore @ Biopsy Devices Companies

Table of Contents

1 Report Introduction 2 Executive summary 3 Regulatory and Patent Analysis 4 Key Factors Analysis 5 Porters Five Forces Analysis 6 COVID-19 Impact Analysis on Biopsy Devices Market 7 Biopsy Devices Market Layout 8 Global Company Share Analysis  Key 3-5 Companies 9 Biopsy Devices Market Company and Product Profiles 10 Project Approach 11 About DelveInsight

Interested in knowing the biopsy devices market by 2027? Click to get a snapshot of the Biopsy Devices Market Trends

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DUBLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Corrosion Inhibitors Market- Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028 Segmented By Type (Water Based, Oil/Solvent Based), By Composition (Organic, Inorganic), By Application, By Region" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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Global corrosion inhibitors market stood at USD8487.86 million in 2022 and is anticipated to increase at a CAGR rate of 4.11% through 2028, due to increasing demand from various end user industries including oil and gas, agriculture, and others.



Corrosion Inhibitors, also known as anti-corrosive, is a chemical composition which is mixed with liquid to lower the corrosion rate of a material. It is typically used on metal or alloy that comes across in contact with the fluid.

It is a typical method of preventing corrosion that involves the enhancement of a coating and is frequently called a passivation layer, which blocks the access of the corrosive chemical to the metal. It is a preventative measure to make metal corrosion accessible and is deemed to be the first line of defence against corrosion.



Corrosion Inhibitors are used in various applications such as cooling water recirculation systems, oil production, oil refining, and acid pickling of steel components. Growing demand from oil & gas industries and water treatment systems are propelling the demand for corrosion inhibitors, globally.



Rising Demand of Corrosion Inhibitors for Water Treatment System



Demand for a water treatment system has grown recently due to the rise in cases of diseases caused due to consumption of polluted water. According to the WHO, in 2020, number of deaths caused due to unsafe or polluted water were 485,000. This has in turn increased the demand for chemicals or substances which can help in preventing water treatment systems from corrosion or damage.

Corrosion inhibitors are a type of chemical product which are added to water or any other process fluid to slow down the rate of corrosion. Corrosion inhibitors are necessary for water treatment systems as the water treatment consists of pipes made up of different metal or alloy materials.

Story continues

It helps in prevention against corrosion, maintains pressure or loss of water, and can work for the long term. Therefore, the rising demand for the water and wastewater treatment and the increasing need for cleaning water from the rapidly growing population is driving the growth of global corrosion inhibitors market.



Increasing Demand from Various End User Industries



Due to anti-corrosion characteristics, corrosion inhibitors are used in different end-user industries such as power generation, oil, gas and refinery, metal & mining, and others to prevent their metal product or machinery from corrosion.

For instance, in oil, gas, and refinery, the blend of amines and solvents are used as an oil-soluble and filming corrosion inhibitor. It helps to provide efficient corrosion mechanisms while making disposal wells, injection wells, pipelines, wells, and refinery applications.

Apart from these, metal processing provides a coating on the metal surface with a chromate layer that helps to stop rusting and anodic corrosion of metals. Apart from these, government initiatives and projects like hydropower plants, water treatment systems, and oil and gas extraction are going to increase the demand for global corrosion inhibitors market growth in the anticipated period.



Growing Demand from Emerging Countries



The emerging demand for liquid corrosion inhibitors from growing economies such as Malaysia, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, and Vietnam are propelling market growth in the region.

Firms are increasing their investment in R&D to develop innovative products like Clotrimazole and Fluconazole. Clotrimazole and Fluconazole are effective corrosion inhibitors for aluminium if exposed to Hydrochloric acid. Hence, such an initiative to find new products is expected to create lucrative market growth for corrosion inhibitors worldwide.

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in global corrosion inhibitors market.

Nouryan Chemicals Holdings B.V.

BASF SE

The Dow Chemicals Company

Ecolab, Inc.

Lanxess AG

Cortec Corporation

Ashland Global Holdings, Inc

The Lubrizol Corporation

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

DuPont de Nemours, Inc

Report Scope:



Global Corrosion Inhibitors Market, By Type:

Water based

Oil/solvent based

Global Corrosion Inhibitors Market, By Composition:

Organic

Inorganic

Global Corrosion Inhibitors Market, By Application:

Power Generation

Oil & Gas Refinery

Metalwork & Mining

Automotive Fuel

Automotive Coolants & Lubricants

Chemical Processing

Desalination Plant

Paper & Pulp

Global Corrosion Inhibitors Market, By region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Asia-Pacific

China

India

Malaysia

Australia

Japan

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Spain

Italy

Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

UAE

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f33f6g

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Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Critical Illness Insurance Market By Application, By Premium Mode, By End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

According to this the critical illness insurance market was valued at $124.67 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $354 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2022 to 2031.

Key Market Players

Aegon

AFLAC INCORPORATED

Allianz Care

American International Group, Inc.

Aviva

AXA

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd.

Cigna

Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd.

Legal & General Group plc

Liberty Mutual Insurance

MetLife Services and Solutions, LLC.

Royal London

Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada

United HealthCare Services, Inc.

Modern Insurance Agency, Inc.

Plum Benefits Private Limited

Younger people are suffering from life-threatening diseases or critical ailments due to the sedentary lifestyle. According to insurance estimates, 40% of heart patients in India belong to the age group of 25-35 years. There is a rise in the cases of critical illnesses like cancer, lung diseases, and other chronic health ailments, which are not only costly to treat but also lead to a financial loss in case the breadwinner of a family is diagnosed with a problem.

Unlike a regular individual health insurance policy that covers hospitalization expenses, a critical illness policy pays a fixed amount if the insured is diagnosed with any of the critical illness cover as mentioned in the policy document. Therefore, these are some of the major critical illness insurance market trends.



Furthermore, major players in the critical illness insurance market are undertaking various strategies to increase the competition and offer enhanced services to their customers.

For instance, in January 2021, Breeze, an Omaha-based insurtech company, announced the launch of a critical care insurance product available to consumers on its digital platform. This strategic move expands the company's partnership with Assurity Life, which seeks to provide consumers with easier access to affordable insurance products in underserved markets. Launching an online critical illness insurance product expands Breeze's mission to protect Americans in their most financially vulnerable moments.



On the basis of end user, the individual segment is the highest growing segment. This is attributed to the fact that critical illness insurance for individuals can pay for costs not covered by traditional insurance. The money can also be used for nonmedical costs related to the illness, including transportation, child care, and others.



On the basis of region, North America attained the highest growth in 2021. This is attributed to the rise in the number of cases for patients suffering from life-threatening diseases such as kidney failure, cancer, heart attack, strokes, the modern lifestyle & the increasing prevalence of these diseases in the region. In addition, the critical illness plan supports coverage across specific life-threatening disorders, increasing the risk of falling prey to lifestyle diseases, augmenting the middle class, increasing life expectancy, and population growth is also propelling the market growth.



COVID-19 had a positive impact on the critical illness market since consumers were taking health insurance for covering the cost of hospitalization, they were also propelled to take critical illness insurance coverage as these critical diseases are increasing rapidly. Moreover, as people infected with the COVID-19 virus are more prone to critical illness such as heat diseases and others. Therefore, the demand for critical illness insurance increased during the pandemic which positively impacted the critical illness insurance market growth.



Key Benefits

Story continues

This report provides a quantitative analysis of the market segments, current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the critical illness insurance market analysis from 2021 to 2031 to identify the prevailing critical illness insurance market opportunities.

The market research is offered along with information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

Porter's five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier-buyer network.

In-depth analysis of the critical illness insurance market segmentation assists to determine the prevailing market opportunities.

Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the global market.

Market player positioning facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.

The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as global critical illness insurance market trends, key players, market segments, application areas, and market growth strategies.

Key Market Segments

By Application

Others

Cancer

Heart Attack

Stroke

By Premium Mode

Monthly

Quarterly

Half Yearly

Yearly

By End User

Individual

Businesses

By Region

North America

U. S.

Canada

Europe

UK

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Netherlands

Rest Of Europe

Asia-Pacific

China

India

Japan

Australia

Singapore

Rest Of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Latin America

Middle East

Africa

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/479dur

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




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Global Defense Cyber Security Market

Global Defense Cyber Security Market

Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Defense Cyber Security Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Deployment, By Type, By Offering, By Application, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Defense Cyber Security Market size is expected to reach $33.7 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 7.3% CAGR during the forecast period.

Key Market Players

List of Companies Profiled in the Report:

Intel Corporation

AT&T Inc

IBM Corporation

BAE Systems plc

Thales Group S.A

DXC Technology Company

Cisco Systems, Inc

Raytheon Technologies Corporation (Collins Aerospace)

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Cybersecurity protects assets from terrorism, cybercrime, and other network service disruptions. Cybersecurity solutions aid defense organizations in detecting, supervising, reporting, and tackling the cyber threats that internet-based attempts to disrupt or damage the information systems and hack essential information utilizing malware, spyware, and phishing to steal data from these organizations.



Presently, cyber threats are more persistent, smarter, and concentrated on high-value assets, which have increased the demand for a strong and high-tech cyber security system for defense industry. Furthermore, the growing risk of the cyber threat to critical infrastructures by criminal organizations and the technological enhancement in the cyber security industry is the major driving factor in its increased utilization throughout defense organizations.



A more connected defense & intelligence world would ensure that the soldiers get information with precision and in less time. But increased connectivity also means more ways for cyberattacks, data leaks, and other breaches in IT (information & technology) security.

This remains the issue at the crux of modern cybersecurity problems. However, technological developments would give organizations more techniques and tools to protect themselves from any significant cyberattack on their networks. Various cybersecurity companies are introducing new and enhanced products which can aid cybersecurity professionals in defending legacy and cloud networks, which can help the defense forces to work soundly while keeping their networks safe.



Market Growth Factors

Story continues

Rising IT expenditure for defense



Defense IT expenses are on the surge across many developed nations. The growth of IT software, hardware, and services has implemented several changes in the defense sector, including live combat surveillance, superiority in air & space, smart weapons and battlefield management in network-centric environments, and force multipliers-related software.

In addition, implementing IT solutions has become significant in defense operations due to the increasing evolution in the type and occurrence of attacks globally.



The rapidly increasing usage of autonomous aircraft



The rising number of artificial intelligence applications in aircraft may require reliable and high-tech defence cyber security solutions. New technological advancements like the maintenance capability are used to defend the aircraft's onboard systems from cyber-attacks.

These new systems aid in increasing the aircraft defence against cyber threats and give the flight-critical abilities to verify and install multiple software and mission data files onto the aircraft. This development of autonomous aircraft to protect them from cyberattack and ensures their proper operation while being efficient by the military is expected to boost the defence cybersecurity market's growth.



Market Restraining Factor

Less awareness regarding cybersecurity



Against any intrusion by offenders, criminals, or antagonistic countries, the government workforce is the first line of defence. The internet has made it easier for the antagonist to attack any department, municipality, agency, or department of any nation. Nations with IT technology are easily targeted for malware infections or ransomware attacks.

That is why attacker targets under-prepared government bureaucrats with malware, email phishing scams, or stolen passwords to enter and steal confidential government data or lock up critical systems needed for the services and operations. For instance, phishing scams utilize fake emails or text messages to lure individuals into clicking on sketchy website links to steal personal information.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 355 Forecast Period 2021 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2021 $20869.1 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $33700 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.3% Regions Covered Global

Scope of the Study

Market Segments Covered in the Report:

By Deployment

On-premise

Cloud

By Type

Endpoint Security

Network Security

Content Security

By Offering

Solution

Identity & Access Management

Security & Vulnerability Management

Data loss Prevention Management

Threat intelligence & Response Management

Unified Threat Management

Enterprise risk & Compliance

Managed Security

Others

Services

By Application

Military

Communication Networks

Public Utilities

Others

By Geography

North America

US

Canada

Mexico

Rest of North America

Europe

Germany

UK

France

Russia

Spain

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Singapore

Malaysia

Rest of Asia Pacific

LAMEA

Brazil

Argentina

UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Nigeria

Rest of LAMEA

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dbd9bt

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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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




Fairfield Consultancy Services OPC Pvt Ltd

Mounting EV Sales to Expedite Lithium Mining Market Expansion

London, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- One of the hottest areas of interest in the backdrop of auto industrys transformation to e-mobility, lithium has been gaining traction across sectors like battery technology, chemical manufacturing, ceramics, glass, lubricants, and polymers. Demand will also remain influenced by its growing consumption as an ideal material in industrial processes like cooling, dehumidification, and air treatment. A recently published study of Fairfield Market Research foresees the global lithium mining market to exceed the US$1 Bn mark by 2025 end. During 2021  2025, the market is likely to demonstrate a stellar 16.3% CAGR. Lithium industry remained relatively unaffected by any of the substantial disruptions caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Low-key production prevailed. The industry also has large stocks in inventory that maintains an assured buffer to cater to the expected rise in demand post-pandemic, marks the analyst at Fairfield.

Get PDF Sample Copy of Lithium Mining Market at https://www.fairfieldmarketresearch.com/report/lithium-mining-market/request-sample

Key Research Insights

Global lithium mining market revenue is poised to exhibit more than 26% growth between 2021 and 2025

Brines continue to be the most sought-after lithium source through 2025

Lithium hydroxide slated to outpace demand for lithium carbonate in long term





Insights into Segmentation Analysis

In the light of dramatically falling prices of Li-ion battery that dropped to 89% through the decade till 2020, the affordability of EVs increased by manifold. The resultant anticipated rise in EV sales will strongly favor lithium producers, post-pandemic. The hybrid EV sales also accelerated after the pandemic situation, further complemented by a favorable pricing scenario. Several prominent miners in lithium industry have been since focused on gaining an improved control along the value chains and thereby amplify the profit margins in future, reports the analyst. The battery segment is thus expected to dominate the lithium mining market as projected in the analysis by end use.

Story continues

On the other hand, the type-wise analysis of the market uncovers expensive price point of lithium hydroxide than that of lithium carbonate. While the latter currently represents a dominating market segment, the former is likely to flourish in near term as it witnesses greater consumption by Li-ion battery makers. Based on the source of lithium, brines will most likely remain the most preferred alternative owing to their cost efficiency when compared to the other two, i.e., hard rock or spodumene.

Key Report Highlights

The world has more than 15 million MT lithium deposits in an extractable form

Australia, followed by China, contributed a collective share of over 60% in global lithium production in 2019

Production potential of the Lithium Triangle remains underutilized





Insights into Regional Analysis

The report findings indicate top position of Australia when it comes to production. While Australia has been housing the largest concentrated deposits of lithium, the nation currently represents over half the global lithium production. China follows, says the report. Despite this scenario, the Chile-Argentina-Bolivia Lithium Triangle that reserves massive lithium deposits will most unlikely be able to contribute a fortune toward the global lithium production volume. The water scarcity has been severing, resulting in the complications that create headwinds during the lithium extraction across the Lithium Triangle. This will continue to be a longstanding challenge suppressing the complete potential of the global lithium mining space, says the analyst at Fairfield. Besides Australia, Chile, China, and Argentina continue to lead the lithium landscape in terms of potential extractable reserves.

Key Market Players

Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd., SQM S.A., Albemarle Corporation, Mineral Resources, Lithium Americas Corp., Tianqi Lithium, Livent, and Orocobre Limited Pty Ltd. constitute some of the major competitors steering the competitive landscape of worldwide lithium mining market.

Do You Have Any Query or Specific Requirement? Request for Custom Research: https://www.fairfieldmarketresearch.com/report/lithium-mining-market/request-customization

REPORT SCOPE

Report Attributes Details Base Year 2020 Forecast Year 2021  2025 Market Size in 2019 US$829.73 Mn Estimated Market Size in 2029 US$1,630.30 Mn CAGR 26.3% Key Players Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd., Albemarle Corporation, SQM S.A., Mineral Resources, Tianqi Lithium, Lithium Americas Corp., Orocobre Limited Pty Ltd., Livent

The Global Lithium Mining Market is Segmented as Below:

By Source Coverage

Brine

Hard Rock

Others





By Type Coverage

Lithium Carbonate

Lithium Hydroxide

By End-use Coverage

Battery

Glass & Ceramics

Grease

Polymer

Flux Powder

Refrigeration

Others





By Geographical Coverage

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa





Leading Companies

Albemarle Corporation

SQM S.A.

Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd.

Tianqi Lithium

Mineral Resources

Lithium Americas Corp.

Livent

Orocobre Limited Pty Ltd

Ramboll Group





Inside This Report You Will Find:



1. Executive Summary

2. Market Overview

3. Price Trends Analysis and Future Projects, 2017 - 2025

4. Global Lithium Mining Market Outlook, 2017 - 2025

5. North America Lithium Mining Market Outlook, 2017 - 2025

6. Europe Lithium Mining Market Outlook, 2017 - 2025

7. Asia Pacific Lithium Mining Market Outlook, 2017 - 2025

8. Latin America Lithium Mining Market Outlook, 2017 - 2025

9. Middle East & Africa Lithium Mining Market Outlook, 2017 - 2025

10. Competitive Landscape

11. Appendix

Learn More About the Report Inclusions, and Research Methodology: https://www.fairfieldmarketresearch.com/report/lithium-mining-market/more-information

About Us

Fairfield Market Research is a UK-based market research provider. Fairfield offers a wide spectrum of services, ranging from customized reports to consulting solutions. With a strong European footprint, Fairfield operates globally and helps businesses navigate through business cycles, with quick responses and multi-pronged approaches. The company values an eye for insightful take on global matters, ably backed by a team of exceptionally experienced researchers. With a strong repository of syndicated market research reports that are continuously published & updated to ensure the ever-changing needs of customers are met with absolute promptness.

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Vantage Market Research, The North Star for the Working World

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors are devices that use micro-scale components to sense and measure physical phenomena such as motion, pressure, temperature, and humidity. They have found widespread use in a variety of applications, including consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, healthcare, and industrial automation.

The global MEMS Sensor Market was valued at USD 3.77 Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 5.24 Billion by 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% from 2022 to 2028. The growing demand for smart consumer electronics, increasing adoption of automation in industries, and rising investments in healthcare are some of the key factors driving the growth of the MEMS sensor market.

The consumer electronics segment accounted for the largest share of the MEMS sensor market in 2021 and is expected to continue dominating the market during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the increasing popularity of smartphones, wearables, and other smart devices that use MEMS sensors for various applications such as motion tracking, location-based services, and environmental sensing.

Get Access to Free Sample Research Report with Latest Industry Insights @ https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/mems-sensor-market-1275/request-sample

MEMS Sensor Market Dynamics

Increasing Demand for Smart Consumer Electronics: The growing popularity of smartphones, wearables, and other smart devices that use MEMS sensors for various applications such as motion tracking, location-based services, and environmental sensing is driving the demand for MEMS sensors in the consumer electronics segment.

Adoption of Automation in Industries: MEMS sensors are widely used in industries such as automotive, healthcare, and industrial automation for various applications such as monitoring, control, and measurement. The increasing adoption of automation in these industries is driving the demand for MEMS sensors.

Story continues

Technological Advancements: The MEMS sensor market is characterized by rapid technological advancements, with companies focusing on developing new MEMS sensor technologies that offer higher accuracy, sensitivity, and reliability.

Increasing Investments in Healthcare: The growing investments in healthcare, particularly in developing countries, are driving the demand for MEMS sensors in medical devices and equipment used for monitoring patient health.

Cost-Effective Solutions: MEMS sensors offer cost-effective solutions compared to traditional sensing technologies, making them an attractive option for various applications.

However, the MEMS sensor market also faces some challenges, including:

Competition from Other Sensing Technologies: MEMS sensors face competition from other sensing technologies such as optical, magnetic, and capacitive sensors.

High Development Costs: Developing new MEMS sensor technologies involves high research and development costs, which can impact the profitability of companies operating in the MEMS sensor market.

Quality and Reliability Concerns: MEMS sensors are prone to failures and performance issues, which can impact their quality and reliability, and lead to product recalls and reputational damage for manufacturers.

Top Players in the Global MEMS Sensor Market

Analog Devices Inc. (U.S.)

InvenSense Inc. (U.S.)

General Electric Company (U.S.)

Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany)

Panasonic Corporation (Japan)

Sensata Technologies Inc. (U.S.)

Infineon Technologies AG (Germany)

Hitachi Ltd. (Japan)

Harman International (U.S.)

Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (U.S.)

STMicroelectronics (Switzerland)

Murata Electronics Oy (Finland)

Delphi Automotive PLC (U.K.)

Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (U.S.)

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Top Report Findings

The global MEMS sensor market was valued at USD 14.3 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2% from 2021 to 2028.

The consumer electronics segment accounted for the largest share of the MEMS sensor market in 2021 and is expected to continue dominating the market during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific dominated the global MEMS sensor market in 2021 and is expected to continue leading the market during the forecast period.

The increasing demand for smart consumer electronics, adoption of automation in industries, and growing investments in healthcare are the key factors driving the growth of the MEMS sensor market.

Technological advancements such as the development of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology with integrated artificial intelligence (AI) are expected to create new growth opportunities in the MEMS sensor market.

The automotive industry is expected to be a major driver of the MEMS sensor market, particularly in the development of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

The use of MEMS sensors in wearable devices is expected to continue growing, driven by the increasing demand for fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other wearable devices.

The MEMS accelerometer segment is expected to dominate the MEMS sensor market during the forecast period, driven by its widespread use in applications such as motion sensing and navigation.

The growing popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and connected devices is expected to drive the demand for MEMS sensors in the coming years.

Top Trends in the Global MEMS Sensor Market

Increasing adoption of MEMS sensors in the automotive industry: The automotive industry is a major consumer of MEMS sensors, particularly in the development of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The use of MEMS sensors in the automotive industry is expected to continue growing in the coming years.

Growing popularity of wearable devices: The use of MEMS sensors in wearable devices such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other wearable devices is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by the increasing demand for connected devices.

Advancements in MEMS technology: The MEMS sensor market is characterized by rapid technological advancements, with companies focusing on developing new MEMS sensor technologies that offer higher accuracy, sensitivity, and reliability. The development of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology with integrated artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to create new growth opportunities in the MEMS sensor market.

Increasing demand for MEMS sensors in healthcare: The growing investments in healthcare, particularly in developing countries, are driving the demand for MEMS sensors in medical devices and equipment used for monitoring patient health.

Emergence of 5G technology: The emergence of 5G technology is expected to create new growth opportunities for the MEMS sensor market, particularly in the development of connected devices that require high-speed data transfer and low latency.

Use of MEMS sensors in smart homes and buildings: The use of MEMS sensors in smart homes and buildings is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by the increasing demand for energy-efficient and automated homes and buildings.

Increasing adoption of MEMS sensors in industrial automation: The increasing adoption of automation in industries such as automotive, healthcare, and industrial automation is driving the demand for MEMS sensors for various applications such as monitoring, control, and measurement.

Growing demand for cost-effective solutions: MEMS sensors offer cost-effective solutions compared to traditional sensing technologies, making them an attractive option for various applications. The growing demand for cost-effective solutions is expected to drive the growth of the MEMS sensor market in the coming years.

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Global MEMS Sensor Market Segmentation

By Type

Pressure Sensors

Inertial Sensors

Other Types

By End-User Industry

Automotive

Healthcare

Consumer Electronics

Industrial

Aerospace

Defense

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Key Questions Answered in the MEMS Sensor Market Report are:

What is the current size of the MEMS sensor market and how is it expected to grow in the coming years?

What are the key drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the MEMS sensor market?

What are the different types of MEMS sensors and what are their applications?

Who are the key players operating in the MEMS sensor market and what are their market shares?

What are the different distribution channels used by MEMS sensor manufacturers to reach their customers?

What are the different regions and countries that are expected to drive the growth of the MEMS sensor market?

What are the technological advancements taking place in the MEMS sensor market and how are they impacting the market?

What are the different strategies adopted by companies to gain a competitive advantage in the MEMS sensor market?

What are the different pricing models used in the MEMS sensor market and how do they impact the market?

What are the different regulatory frameworks that impact the MEMS sensor market and how do they affect the market dynamics?

Browse market data Tables and Figures spread through 140 Pages and in-depth TOC on MEMS Sensor Market Forecast Report (2022-2028).

Scope of the Report:

Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2021 USD 3.77 Billion Revenue Forecast by 2028 USD 5.24 Billion CAGR 4.8% from 2022 to 2028 Base Year 2021 Forecast Year 2022 to 2028 Key Players Analog Devices Inc., InvenSense Inc., General Electric Company, Robert Bosch GmbH, Panasonic Corporation, Sensata Technologies Inc., Infineon Technologies AG, Hitachi Ltd., Harman International, Freescale Semiconductor Inc., STMicroelectronics, Murata Electronics Oy, Delphi Automotive PLC, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. Customization Request If our report does not include the information you are searching for, you may contact us to have a report tailored to your specific business needs https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/mems-sensor-market-1275/request-sample

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Regional Analysis

North America: The MEMS sensor market in North America is expected to grow significantly, driven by the increasing adoption of MEMS sensors in the automotive and healthcare industries. The United States is expected to be the major contributor to the growth of the MEMS sensor market in North America.

Europe: The MEMS sensor market in Europe is expected to grow at a steady pace, driven by the increasing demand for MEMS sensors in the consumer electronics and automotive industries. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are expected to be the major contributors to the growth of the MEMS sensor market in Europe.

Asia Pacific: Asia Pacific dominated the global MEMS sensor market in 2020 and is expected to continue leading the market during the forecast period. The growth of the MEMS sensor market in Asia Pacific is driven by the increasing adoption of MEMS sensors in the consumer electronics and automotive industries. China, Japan, and South Korea are expected to be the major contributors to the growth of the MEMS sensor market in Asia Pacific.

Middle East and Africa: The MEMS sensor market in the Middle East and Africa is expected to grow at a steady pace, driven by the increasing adoption of MEMS sensors in the industrial automation and healthcare industries.

Latin America: The MEMS sensor market in Latin America is expected to grow at a moderate pace, driven by the increasing adoption of MEMS sensors in the automotive and healthcare industries. Brazil and Mexico are expected to be the major contributors to the growth of the MEMS sensor market in Latin America.

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photorejuvenation-devices-market-size.jpg

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Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Photorejuvenation Devices Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By Type, By Modality, By End Users, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022 - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Photorejuvenation Devices Market size is expected to reach $1.1 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 10.7% CAGR during the forecast period.



Market Growth Factors

Increased prevalence of cancer and skin conditions



According to statistics from the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer accounts for one in every three cancer diagnoses and one in every five-lifetime cases of cancer in the United States. As ozone levels decrease, the atmosphere gradually loses its ability to act as a protective filter, allowing more solar UV radiation to reach the Earth's surface.

An extra 300,000 incidences of non-melanoma skin cancer and 4,500 cases of melanoma skin cancer are predicted to occur for every 10% reduction in ozone levels. The popularity of photorejuvenation techniques is rising in response to the rise in skin-related problems, promoting market expansion.



Grown influence of social media



Women's bodies are portrayed in social media as incredibly slender, while men's bodies are muscle-bound, scar-free, and flawless. As a result, people are becoming more conscious of their appearance.

Also, people are influenced by the beauty procedures their favorite celebrities use and promote as effective. To achieve the standards set by social media, more people are getting cosmetic procedures like laser hair removal and others, which will help the market for photorejuvenation devices develop in the future years.



Market Restraining Factors

Certain risk factors associated with laser surgery



Redness, acne, infections, skin colour changes, and scarring are some of the potential side effects of laser surgery. The treated skin may swell, itch, or feel intensely hot. The duration of intense redness may be several months. After treatment, applying thick lotions and bandages may aggravate acne or cause the temporary growth of tiny white bumps (milia) on the skin. The market for photorejuvenation devices may experience slow growth due to the expensive treatment costs and unfavourable side effects associated with these devices.



End-user Outlook



Based on end user, the photorejuvenation devices market is segmented into hospitals, clinics and others. This is mostly due to the rise in patients with illnesses being treated in hospitals with modern infrastructure and sufficient amenities. In addition, the expansion of hospitals and appropriate reimbursement practices foster this market's expansion.



Type Outlook



On the basis of type, the photorejuvenation devices market is classified into intense pulsed light (IPL), laser equipment, and LED equipment. The laser equipment segment witnessed the largest revenue share in the photorejuvenation devices market in 2021. Increased healthcare spending is a sign that the healthcare system is improving. In addition, increased hospital spending in emerging nations would further suggest the use of higher-quality laser technology, fueling the expansion of the aesthetics sector.



Modality Outlook



On the basis of modality, the photorejuvenation devices market is fragmented into standalone photorejuvenation devices and portable photorejuvenation devices. The portable segment acquired a significant revenue share in the photorejuvenation devices market in 2021. The segment's expansion can be attributed to the target population's and clinicians' increasing preference for portable devices over standalone ones because they require fewer treatment sessions and result in quicker tissue clearance.



Regional Outlook



Region-wise, the photorejuvenation devices market is analysed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and LAMEA. The North America region led the photorejuvenation devices market by generating the largest revenue share in 2021. The expansion of the market is fueled by the existence of numerous significant companies and improvements in the technologies of photorejuvenation devices in the area. An increasing senior population developed healthcare facilities for medical equipment, and an increase in skin problems are the key market drivers for photorejuvenation devices.

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Key Market Players

Cutera, Inc.

Lutronic Co., Ltd.

DEKA M.E.L.A. srl (El.en. Group)

Hologic, Inc.

Lumenis Be Ltd.

Candela corporation

Beijing Nubway S&T Co., Ltd

Lynton Lazers

Fotona d.o.o

Biolitec AG

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology



Chapter 2. Market Overview



Chapter 3. Global Photorejuvenation Devices Market by Type



Chapter 4. Global Photorejuvenation Devices Market by Modality



Chapter 5. Global Photorejuvenation Devices Market by End Users



Chapter 6. Global Photorejuvenation Devices Market by Region



Chapter 7. Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/se0xmh

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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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




SUGAR LAND, Texas, March 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Researched by Industrial Info Resources -- Around the world, large-scale refineries are nearing completion after years in the works and are expected to bring much-needed refined product supply to market. "Western Asia and Africa are among the regions ramping up refined product production, amid growing demand and global distillate tightening. This contrasts with regions like North America and Europe, where refinery projects are focused on ESG and alternative-fuel development," said Hillary Stevenson, Senior Director, Energy Market Intelligence for Industrial Info.

At least two world-scale refinery projects are nearing completion: Dangote Industries Limited's Lekki Refinery in Nigeria, and Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company's (KIPIC) Mina Al Zour Refinery in Kuwait.

Dangote Industries is performing a test run on the crude distillation unit at its new, 650,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery. Expectations are to begin commercial operations at the unit by April 15 (previously reported March 15). The project kicked off in 2018 and has seen its completion date pushed back a total of 38 months in the meantime. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Petroleum Refining Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports for the Dangote refinery, and click here for a plant profile.

The Dangote refinery will comprise a single crude train, which could make the plant vulnerable to failure should issues arise.

Africa has more planned refineries than any other continent: four in construction, two engineered and 35 planned. Crude exported from West Africa goes to Europe and the U.S. East Coast. The new refinery in Africa will consume up to 650,000 BBL/d of African crude, which will reduce the amount of African crude available for export to the rest of the world. But Nigeria's government may throttle the utilization, depending on the profitability of exporting crude when compared with producing refined products.

Story continues

Alongside Dangote, Industrial Info is tracking three smaller African refineries under construction, with a total capacity of 80,000 BBL/d.

KIPIC's 615,000-BBL/d Mina Al Zour Refinery in Kuwait also is nearing completion. KIPIC started commercial production at several units in early March, including the 205,000-BBL/d CDU 2. The 205,000-BBL/d CDU 1 began operations in fourth-quarter 2022; the project as a whole kicked off in 2016 and slipped 88 months.

Commercial start-up of the third and last 205,000-BBL/d unit is expected in third-quarter 2023. The Mina Al Zour Refinery will use feedstock from within Kuwait to make refined products. This will decrease Kuwait's crude oil export capacity to the world. Subscribers can click here for a list of detailed project reports for the Mina Al Zour Refinery, and click here for a plant profile.

Like Dangote, the Mina Al Zour Refinery has been long-awaited. But unlike Dangote, the Kuwait refinery has three crude trains. The multiple trains allowed KIPIC to ramp up production as the first two were completed, allowing KIPIC to switch crude feedstocks based on economic factors. The three trains also reduce risk, allowing the refinery to continue producing refined products if one unit is down for maintenance or encounters unplanned issues.

Two other refineries are under construction in Western Asia, with a total capacity of 370,000 BBL/d: the Karbala Refinery in Iraq and the Duqm Refinery in Oman. In terms of planned refineries, Western Asia is the second-biggest region with 17 refineries planned and one engineered.

Including Dangote and Mina Al Zour, Industrial Info is tracking 2.53 million BBL/d of refining capacity under construction globally, at 15 plants.

These new refineries will help to replace capacity lost from refinery closures in the past and crude unit closures expected in the future.

"We've had 50 refinery closures in recent years globally," said Trey Hamblet, Industrial Info's vice president of research for Chemical Processing and Refining, in a recent webinar. "Industrial Info's global unit database shows 29 individual crude units (nearly 1.7 million BBL/d) are expected to close. However, many are simply unit replacements, as in Russia: Four units (400,000 BBL/d) will replace the 12 units (595,700 BBL/d) planned for closure, largely replacing older, antiquated capacity originally built back in the 50's and 60's."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005171/en/

Contacts

Brian Ford

Ph: 713-783-5147
ReportLinker

Global Retimer (Redriver) Market 2023-2027. The analyst has been monitoring the retimer (redriver) market and is forecast to grow by $137.32 mn during 2022-2027, accelerating at a CAGR of 5.26% during the forecast period.

New York, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Retimer (Redriver) Market 2023-2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06435935/?utm_source=GNW

Our report on the retimer (redriver) market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.

The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by increasing number of investments toward construction of data centers, growing demand for reach extension devices, and advantages associated with retimers.



The retimer (redriver) market is segmented as below:

By Application

 Server

 Storage

 Others



By Type

 Redriver

 Retimer



By Geographical Landscape

 North America

 APAC

 Europe

 South America

 Middle East and Africa



This study identifies the increasing integration of retimer with USB 4 as one of the prime reasons driving the retimer (redriver) market growth during the next few years. Also, continuous technological upgradation in PCIe and launch of technologically advanced products will lead to sizable demand in the market.



The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Our report on the retimer (redriver) market covers the following areas:

 Retimer (redriver) market sizing

 Retimer (redriver) market forecast

 Retimer (redriver) market industry analysis



This robust vendor analysis is designed to help clients improve their market position, and in line with this, this report provides a detailed analysis of several leading retimer (redriver) market vendors that include Analog Devices Inc., Analogix Semiconductor Inc., Astera Labs Inc., Broadcom Inc., Diodes Inc., Intel Corp., Kandou Bus SA, Lenovo Group Ltd., Microchip Technology Inc., Montage Technology, Nuvoton Technology Corp., NXP Semiconductors NV, ON Semiconductor Corp., Parade Technologies Ltd., Phison Electronics Corp., Rambus Inc., Softnautics Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., THine Electronics Inc., and Renesas Electronics Corp. Also, the retimer (redriver) market analysis report includes information on upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth. This is to help companies strategize and leverage all forthcoming growth opportunities.

The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.



The analyst presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters such as profit, pricing, competition, and promotions. It presents various market facets by identifying the key industry influencers. The data presented is comprehensive, reliable, and a result of extensive research - both primary and secondary. Technavios market research reports provide a complete competitive landscape and an in-depth vendor selection methodology and analysis using qualitative and quantitative research to forecast accurate market growth.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06435935/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




SPHERICAL INSIGHTS LLP

The Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market Size was valued at USD 4.5 Billion in 2021 and the worldwide specialty medical chairs market size is expected to reach USD 7.5 Billion by 2030, according to a research report published by Spherical Insights & Consulting. Companies Covered: A-DEC INC, CRAFTMASTER CONTOUR EQUIPMENT INC, DANAHER CORPORATION, DENTALEZ, INC, Dentsply Sirona Inc, DIPLOMAT DENTAL, HENRY SCHEIN, MIDMARK CORPORATION, PLANMECA OY, XO CARE A/S and among others.

New York, United States , March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market Size to grow from USD 4.5 Billion in 2021 to USD 7.5 Billion by 2030, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.9% during the forecast period. The demand for specialty medical chairs is expected to rise as the elderly population grows. The growing target population will boost the product demand. In addition, the introduction of technologically advanced and fully automated medical chairs is anticipated to serve the market with lucrative growth opportunities.

Global Economy: Recession Risk Rising Analysis and Russia-Ukraine Conflict War Impact we have added in the final premium report.

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For treatment, evaluation, and rehabilitation, medical equipment known as speciality medical chairs are employed. They help a person by enhancing comfort or mobility during certain medical procedures. Specialty medical chairs can be used for patient assessment and treatment in hospitals, clinics, and ambulatory surgery centres. Both manual operation and battery power are available for these devices. Although these chairs assist in providing the patient with outstanding comfort during the medical procedure, doctors are free to use them however conveniently they see fit by instructing them as necessary in their various fields of healthcare.

The older population and growing patient pool, both of which increase demand for specialised medical chairs, are the main factors propelling the market's growth. The rapid development of technology and the availability of fully automated specialist medical chairs are expected to drive growth in the market. Leading businesses offer individualised chairs to meet patients' and doctors' expectations for the diagnosis and treatment of various disorders, which will fuel market growth over the course of the forecast period. The world's ageing population has led to an increase in the prevalence of several ailments, including cardiovascular disease.

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As more patients require treatment and examination, the market will grow. The market for specialist medical chairs used for rehabilitation is also expected to develop as the number of elderly people increases. In 2010, 524 million peopleor 8% of the world's populationwere 65 or older, according to the National Institute on Aging. By 2050, that number is anticipated to nearly treble to 1.5 billion, or 16% of the world's population. The increase in female cases of gynecologic diseases is the main factor driving the demand for specialised medical chairs. According to the CDC, bacterial vaginosis affected 20 million Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 in 2019.

The high cost of speciality medical chairs is the main barrier to the market's growth. The major companies are anticipated to profit from the new Specialty Medical Chairs Market Opportunities created by expanding economies like India, China, Mexico, and Brazil, allowing them to provide specialty medical chairs in developing countries at affordable pricing.

Browse key industry insights spread across 200 pages with 100 market data tables and figures & charts from the report on the  Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market Size , Share, and COVID-19 Impact Analysis, by Product (Treatment Chair, Examination Chair, Rehabilitation Chair), by Type (Electric chairs, Manual chairs), by End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Others), by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa), Analysis and Forecast 2021  2030". Get Detailed Report Description Here

Buy Now Full Report: https://www.sphericalinsights.com/checkout/1594

Product Insights

Rehabilitation chairs segment accounted the largest market share over the forecast period.

On the basis of product, the global specialty medical chairs market is segmented into Examination Chairs, Treatment Chairs, Rehabilitation Chair. Among these, the rehabilitation chair segment accounted the largest market share over the forecast period. Paediatric, bariatric, and geriatric sizes are available for rehabilitation chairs. Among the chairs used for bathing, positioning, and movement are paediatric chairs. Although their weight and carrying capacities may be greater, bariatric and geriatric chairs can be utilised for the same purposes. During the course of the forecast period, the segment is anticipated to be driven by an increasing senior population as well as an increase in paralysis and spinal injury cases. Between 62.5% and 82.5% of people who require rehabilitative treatments do not receive them, according to surveys conducted throughout Africa in 2018. It is anticipated that this will boost their demand and result in a rise in the use of chairs and rehabilitation services.

Electric chairs segment is dominating the market with the largest market share over the forecast period.

On the basis of type, the global specialty medical chairs market is segmented into electric chairs and manual chairs. Among these, the electric chairs segment is dominating the market with the largest market share over the forecast period. The demand for high-quality electronic chairs and awareness of the use of electronic wheelchairs are growing, which has led to an increase in the popularity of electromechanical systems with safety precaution settings, such as actuators that lock the chair in place in the event of a sudden power loss.

End User Insights

Hospital segment accounted the largest market share over the forecast period.

Based on the end user, the global specialty medical chairs market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, others. Among these, the hospital segment accounted the largest market share over the forecast period. The demand for speciality medical chairs, such as birthing chairs, dialysis chairs, and rehabilitation chairs, which have diverse functions depending on their application, has increased as a result of an increase in hospitals.

Inquire Before Buying This Research Report: https://www.sphericalinsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1594

Regional Insights

North America dominates the market with the largest market share over the forecast period.

The global market for speciality medical chairs is expected to remain dominated by North America over the projected period. This is due to factors including a growing patient population and an increase in the senior population. In 2035, there will be 78.0 million more Americans over the age of 65 than there are under 18, according to forecasts published by the U.S. Census Bureau for the year 2017. The increased incidence of chronic diseases in the area, technological advancements, and the presence of some of the major corporations all contribute to the market's growth and the region's supremacy.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to experience the quickest rate of growth among all regions throughout the course of the projected period as a result of the region's growing geriatric population, which portends a significant socioeconomic burden. Some of the main factors driving market expansion are the existence of a robust R&D infrastructure, increased disposable income, better access to healthcare, and rising public awareness of various medical illnesses.

Competitive Analysis:

The report offers the appropriate analysis of the key organizations/companies involved within the global market along with a comparative evaluation primarily based on their product offering, business overviews, geographic presence, enterprise strategies, segment market share, and SWOT analysis. The report also provides an elaborative analysis focusing on the current news and developments of the companies, which includes product development, innovations, joint ventures, partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, strategic alliances, and others. This allows for the evaluation of the overall competition within the market. Major vendors in the Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market include A-DEC INC, CRAFTMASTER CONTOUR EQUIPMENT INC, DANAHER CORPORATION, DENTALEZ, INC, Dentsply Sirona Inc, DIPLOMAT DENTAL, HENRY SCHEIN, MIDMARK CORPORATION, PLANMECA OY, XO CARE A/S. and others.

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Leading international law firm Addleshaw Goddard has announced another key partner hire for its upcoming office in the Saudi capital Riyadh which is currently pending regulatory approvals.

Amar Meher will join the firm to lead its banking, finance and restructuring practices in Saudi Arabia, completing the five-strong partner group launching the office.

Prior to this, Meher had worked for several leading international law firms, including Latham & Watkins in its Riyadh office, Allen & Overy in both its London and Dubai offices and Vinson & Elkins in its Dubai office.

Addleshaw Goddard's fourth office in the Mena region and 17th overall will be led by Andrew Johnston, its Head of Middle East and Asia, and will include three high profile partners in addition to Meher.

These include Ibrahim Siddiki who joins from Bracewell in Dubai, where he led the KSA corporate M&A practice as a partner, Homam Khoshaim, an M&A expert formerly at Latham & Watkins, while Projects & Infrastructure partner Alex Sarac is relocating to Riyadh from the Dubai office to complete the partner group.

On Meher's appointment, Addleshaw Goddard said he has a broad practice which principally focuses on debt restructurings, conventional and Islamic finance across all financing areas and asset classes and Shariah-compliant structured products, such as derivatives and investment funds.

He has been involved in some of the most complex and significant restructurings in the Kingdom, and acted on numerous milestone conventional and Islamic facilities for various high profile publicly listed and non-publicly listed clients, said the top law firm in its statement.

Meher has a reputation amongst clients as the go-to lawyer for debt restructurings and structured financings in Saudi Arabia.

AG's presence in KSA, the fastest growing country in the G20, is still subject to regulatory clearance. On launch day, the office will also comprise eight lawyers and paralegals.

The 13-strong team will offer expertise in corporate, banking and finance and infrastructure assignments and has broad sector expertise in energy, oil and gas, renewables, infrastructure, transport, technology, hospitality, manufacturing and consumer goods which aligns closely with KSA Vision 2030.

On Mehers appointment, Johnston said: "The market reaction to our planned launch in KSA has been very encouraging and we are delighted that another highly well-known and respected lawyer in the local market has chosen to join Homam and Ibrahim to spearhead AGs new office in Riyadh. He is an excellent fit for our business and a stand-out lawyer in his specialist field who shares our ambition to make a real impact for our clients in sectors closely aligned with Saudi Vision 2030."

On his new role, Meher said: "I am delighted to join Addleshaw Goddard as a partner in its Riyadh office. Together with our outstanding team both internationally and regionally, I look forward to the opportunity to establish a leading law firm in KSA particularly at a pivotal time when both the firm and the country are at the forefront of international attention for their respective enviable international growth and unprecedented transformation under Vision 2030."

In 2022, Addleshaw Goddard expanded further into European markets important to clients, opening offices in Dublin and Luxembourg, and two in Germany (Frankfurt and Munich).

It serves clients in Asia through its hub in Singapore and also has a growing presence in Paris, Hamburg and in six of the UK's key commercial centres.-TradeArabia News Service
DUBLIN, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) Market by Component (Solutions, Software, Services), Type ((Persistent, Non-Persistent), End-User , Application (Aviation, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Logistics & Transportation) and Region - Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The unmanned traffic management market is anticipated to reach USD 1,098 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 33.9% from USD 106 million in 2022

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is growing rapidly across several commercial application domains including real-time monitoring, providing wireless coverage, remote sensing, search and rescue, delivery of goods, security and surveillance, precision agriculture, and infrastructure inspection.

With increase in number of drones, the interplay between manned and unmanned systems needs to be managed. Unmanned traffic management will play this crucial of managing airspace along with interplay between manned and unmanned systems.

The development of unmanned traffic management (UTM) systems that can seamlessly integrate with existing air traffic control systems and other airspace systems is an important aspect of UTM systems, as it helps to ensure the safe and efficient operation of drones along with other aircraft in the airspace.

There are several different approaches to integrating UTM systems with existing airspace systems, including the use of shared airspace corridors and the development of dedicated airspace for drones. These approaches are designed to allow drones to safely operate along with other aircraft, while also taking into account the unique characteristics and requirements of drone operations.

In addition to the integration with air traffic control systems, UTM systems are also being developed to integrate with other airspace systems, such as weather forecasting systems and airspace management systems. This allows for the real-time exchange of information and the coordination of drone operations with other airspace users.

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Overall, the integration of UTM systems with existing airspace systems is an important aspect of enabling the safe and efficient operation of drones in the airspace.

Based on End User, the commercial segment is expected to lead the unmanned traffic management market from 2022 to 2030

Based on end-user, the unmanned traffic management market has been classified into commercial and government & law. The increasing demand for drones in multiple potential applications in the commercial sector has led to the growth of the unmanned traffic management market.

For instance, in June 2022, Altitude Angel extended the GuardianUTM Enterprise platform to support London Biggin Hill Airport. London Biggin Hill is the only dedicated business-aviation airport, which sits inside the M25 and strives to be a leading center for aviation technology and enterprises within the capital.

The airport is also home to more than 70 resident aviation businesses and offers award-winning VIP handling, a choice of FBOs, extensive hangarage, and support and maintenance services for all ranges of business jets

The North America region is estimated to account for the largest share of unmanned traffic management market in 2022

Based on region, North America is expected to lead the unmanned traffic management market from 2022 to 2030. The US and Canada are the key countries considered for market analysis in the North American region.

Government agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other federal partner agencies are collaboratively exploring concepts of operation, data exchange requirements, and supporting frameworks to facilitate multiple beyond visual line-of-sight UAS operations at low altitudes.

In Canada, drones are being used in diverse and risky environments to carry out atmospheric research, including weather & atmospheric gas sampling; emergency & disaster monitoring; cartography & mapping; agricultural spraying; and promotion & advertising.

Competitive landscape

Major companies profiled in the report include Altitude Angel (UK). Thales Group (France), AirMap, Inc. (US), Airbus (Netherlands), and ANRA Technologies (US), among others.

Premium Insights

Innovations and Changes in Regulations Related to Utm in Various Countries to Fuel Market

Onground Segment to Account for Larger Share in 2030

Flight Planning, Fleet Operation & Management Segment Accounted for Largest Share in 2022

Aviation Applications Held Largest Market Share in 2022

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Rising Adoption of Drones in Commercial Applications

Growing Development of Sensors and Remote Sensing Technology

Increasing Trend of Integrating Autonomous Aerial Vehicles into Commercial Space

Growing Understanding of Digitalization and Its Role Within Aviation Industry

Restraints

Government Regulations

High Initial Infrastructure Cost

Opportunities

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping

Uas Service Suppliers

Drone Tracking & Remote Identification

Challenges

Interaction of Utm and Atm

Expensive and Time-Consuming Bvlos Operation Certification

Need for Preventing Collision Between Uas and Manned Aircraft

Unmanned Traffic Management Market Ecosystem

Participants

Service and Supporting Infrastructure Providers

Software Providers

Miscellaneous

Technology Analysis

Anti-Uav Defense Systems

Blockchain Technology to Protect Confidential Information

Artificial Intelligence for Drone Monitoring, Controlling, and Tracking

Internet of Things for Drone Tracking

Industry Trends

Utm Development and Implementation by Nasa

Faa Utm Development and Implementation

Stages of Utm Research, Development, Testing, and Implementation

Emerging Technology Trends

Ads-B Enhance Control

Software-Defined Networking

Augmented Reality

5G-Enabling High-Resolution Videos

Remote Identification

Sense-And-Avoid

Autonomous Operation

Integration with Existing Airspace Systems

Human-Machine Interface

Use Case Analysis

Utm Systems for Delivery of Medical Supplies in Remote Areas

Aerial Photography and Surveillance

Package Delivery by Drones Using Utm Systems

Agricultural Monitoring by Drones Using Utm Systems

Emergency Response by Drones Using Utm Systems

Company Profiles

Key Players

Altitude Angel

Thales Group

Airmap, Inc

Airbus

Anra Technologies

Leonardo S.P.A

Honeywell International Inc.

Dji

Alphabet Inc.

Unifly

Frequentis Ag

L3Harris Technologies, Inc.

Onesky

Precisionhawk, Inc.

Raytheon Technologies Corporation

Other Players

Aloft Technologies, Inc.

Dronedeploy Inc.

Nova Systems

Sensefly Ltd

Airspace Link Inc

Emesent

Pix4D

Esri

Avision, Inc.

Skydio, Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yreh79

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Global Glycerol Derivatives Market

Global Glycerol Derivatives Market

Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Glycerol Derivatives Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis By Grade (Bio-based), By Product (4-(hydroxymethyl)-1 3-dioxolan-2-one, Polyglycerol) By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global glycerol derivatives market size is expected to reach USD 26.48 billion by 2030 expanding at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2023 to 2030.

The increasing demand from end-use industries such as construction, transportation, pharmaceutical, food & beverages, and cosmetics is the major driving factor for the growth of the market globally.

They are used as an emulsifier in the production of low-fat spreads such as frozen desserts and peanut butter. Increasing consumption of emulsifiers in food & beverage application is anticipated to boost the product demand in the coming years.



In addition, they are used as solvents in a wide range of personal care & cosmetic products as they help dissolve ingredients and improve the spreadability of the products. They are also used as emulsifying agents in personal care and cosmetic products. They help keep the ingredients in the product evenly mixed by preventing separation.

In addition, they are used as hair care ingredients to moisturize, condition, and improve the overall appearance of the hair. The higher penetration of glycerol derivatives in the personal care & cosmetics industry coupled with rising usage of the product globally is expected to have a positive impact on the market.



The demand for biofuels is driving the growth of the glycerol derivatives market as glycerol derivatives are used as raw materials in the production of biofuels. The growing demand for biofuels is due to rising concerns over climate change and the need for sustainable energy sources, as well as the desire to reduce dependence on crude oil. Biofuels are considered a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels as they emit lower levels of greenhouse gases and are produced domestically. As the demand for biofuels continues to grow, the demand for glycerol derivatives is expected to increase, thereby driving the market growth.



Glycerol Derivatives Market Report Highlights

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Bio-based is the largest growing grade segment with a CAGR of 6.7% on the account of its environmentally friendly and sustainable aspects compared to traditional petroleum-based derivatives.

The polyglycerol product segment will grow significantly during the forecast period, due to its non-toxic property, and also it is suitable for use in various food and cosmetic products. In addition, compared to other emulsifiers and moisturizers, polyglycerol has low-calorie content.

1 3 propanediol product segment will grow at the highest CAGR of 8.9%. As it t is used as a solvent, humectant, and raw material in the production of various personal care, cosmetic, and industrial products. It is a bio-degradable, more sustainable alternative to its counterparts, i.e., petroleum-based products

Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region with a CAGR of 7.4%, on the account of the increasing pharmaceutical industry in the region. The increasing prevalence of medicinal disorders and the development of the healthcare sector is likely to create growth opportunities for the market

The key players such as Croda International plc, Cargill, Incorporated, Sasol, DuPont, Lonza, and Stephan Company are constantly involved in new product development and are also focusing on improving their supply chain management and distribution network.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 105 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $15.94 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $26.48 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 6.5% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1 Methodology And Scope



Chapter 2 Executive Summary



Chapter 3 Glycerol Derivatives Market: Variables, Trends & Scope



Chapter 4 Glycerol Derivatives Market: Product, By Application Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 5 Glycerol Derivatives Market: Grade Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 6 Glycerol Derivatives Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis



Chapter 7 Glycerol Derivatives Market: Competitive Analysis



Chapter 8 Glycerol Derivatives Market: Company Profiles



Companies Mentioned

Zhangjiagang Glory Biomaterial Co., Ltd.

Shell Chemical LP

Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

DuPont

Solvay

Croda International Plc

Cargill, Incorporated

Primient Covation LLC

Haihang Industry Co., Ltd

Sakamoto Yakuhin kogyo Co., Ltd.

Spiga Nord S.p.A.

Stepan Company

ThyssenKrupp AG

Acuro Organics Limited

Repsol

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/j4kdm4

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The increasing adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops and the growing demand for non-GMO products drive the growth of the global GMO testing market.

PORTLAND, Ore., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "GMO Testing Market by Technology (Polymerase Chain Reaction, ELISA Test, Strip Test), by Crop Type (Corn, Soy, Rapeseed and Canola, Potato, Others), by Trait (Stacked, Herbicide Tolerance, Insect Resistance): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031". According to the report, the global GMO testing industry generated $3.9 billion in 2021, and is anticipated to generate $6.2 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 4.8% from 2022 to 2031.

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Prime determinants of growth

The increasing adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops and the growing demand for non-GMO products drive the growth of the global GMO testing market. However, the lack of adequate knowledge & facility to maintain food safety standards restricts the market growth. Moreover, the adoption of instant test kits presents new opportunities in the coming years.

Covid-19 Scenario

The demand for GMO testing has remained relatively stable during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, as food safety and regulatory compliance continue to be important issues.

In fact, there has been an increased demand for non-GMO products as consumers became more health-conscious and looked for products that are perceived to be safer and more natural.

The PCR segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on technology, the PCR segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than half of the global GMO testing market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. PCR can be used to identify and quantify GMOs in a sample, as well as to confirm the absence of GMOs in a product labeled as non-GMO. The technique is highly sensitive and specific, allowing for the detection of even trace amounts of GMO DNA in a sample. However, the ELISA test segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 6.0% from 2022 to 2031. ELISA is a sensitive and specific method for GMO testing that can be used to detect the presence of specific proteins produced by genetically modified plants. It is a widely used method in the food industry and can help ensure the safety and quality of food products for consumers.

Story continues

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The soy segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on crop type, the soy segment held the highest market share in 2021, accounting for more than one-third of the global GMO testing market, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. PCR is the most common method used for GMO testing of soy, as it is a highly sensitive and specific technique that can detect even trace amounts of GMO DNA. In PCR, specific DNA sequences are targeted, amplified, and then detected using fluorescent probes. This allows for the identification of specific GMO traits in soy, such as the Roundup Ready trait, which confers resistance to the herbicide glyphosate. However, the others segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 7.1% from 2022 to 2031. GMO testing for others includes cotton and corn is an important aspect of ensuring the safety and quality of these crops. Cotton and corn are two of the most widely grown genetically modified crops in the world, and they are used in a wide range of food and industrial products.

The stacked segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on trait, the stacked segment accounted for the largest share in 2021, contributing to more than one-third of the global GMO testing market, and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 5.7% from 2022 to 2031. Stacked traits are commonly used in genetically modified crops, as they can provide greater benefits to farmers and help to address multiple agricultural challenges at once. GMO testing for stacked traits is an important part of ensuring the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops, and there are several reliable methods available to detect and analyze these traits.

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North America to maintain its dominance by 2031

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2021, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global GMO testing market, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period, due to the widespread use of genetically modified crops in the food industry. In North America, genetically modified crops such as soybeans, corn, and cotton are widely grown and used in many food and feed products. The demand for GMO testing in North America is driven by various factors, including regulatory requirements, consumer demand for non-GMO products, and the need for quality control in the food supply chain. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 7.1% from 2022 to 2031. The demand for GMO testing in the Asia-Pacific region is driven by a range of factors, including regulatory requirements, consumer demand, and export requirements.

Leading Market Players:

ALS Limited,

Institut Merieux,

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.,

LGC Limited,

R-Biopharm AG,

Eurofins Scientific,

SGS SA,

Intertek Group plc,

Microbac Laboratories, Inc.,

OMIC USA Inc.,

EnviroLogix Inc.,

Koninklijke DSM N.V.,

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.,

Premier Foods plc,

TUV SUD AG

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
ST. LOUIS, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, announced that Michael J. Tierney has been named Vice President - Strategic Accounts, effective May 1, 2023.

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services.

Tierney joined Graybar in 2011 and has more than 34 years of industry experience. He currently serves as Senior National Sales Manager in Graybar's Strategic Accounts organization, with responsibility for the industrial sales team. Prior to his current role, he led Graybar's electric utility business across the eastern United States.

"We congratulate Michael on his promotion," said Graybar's Senior Vice President - Sales, David G. Maxwell. "With his extensive experience and proven track record of results, Michael is highly respected within our company and throughout the industry. I am confident that he will provide strong leadership to sustain growth and deliver exceptional service to our strategic account customers."

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of more than 300 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network, automate and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.

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Halliburton HAL, one of the largest oilfield services companies in the world, is reportedly set to sign a new energy deal in Libya, worth $1 billion, with the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC). The agreement will focus on the rebuilding of the al-Dhara oil field in central Libya, which was destroyed by Islamic State militants in 2015.

U.S. multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Honeywell International Inc.s HON contract with NOC is worth $400 million, and involves designing and building a refinery in southern Libya. These deals are seen as a sign that Libya now offers a more favorable working environment for American firms, with better predictable investment opportunities.

Although the al-Dhara field is currently being operated by ConocoPhillips and TotalEnergies, the deal with NOC would enable Halliburton to take possession of the field's operations and help boost the countrys oil production. This indicates a significant investment in Libya's oil and gas sector, which has seen a resurgence in recent years, following years of political instability and conflict.

Security in Libya has improved significantly since the establishment of a UN-backed government in 2016, allowing the country to boost its oil production once again. In 2021, the countrys oil production reached its highest in six years, averaging around 1.2 million barrels per day.

These developments have made Libya an attractive destination for foreign oil and gas companies, particularly as Europe turns to other sources for its energy needs following Russia's decision to cut off gas supplies last year.

Libya has significant oil reserves, which are its primary sources of revenues. However, the country's oil production has been severely disrupted by the civil war, with output falling from 1.6 million barrels per day in 2011 to just 100,000 barrels per day in 2020.

The new deals with Halliburton and Honeywell are expected to help rebuild the country's oil infrastructure and increase production. This would provide a much-needed boost to the Libyan economy, which has been struggling due to the ongoing conflict.

Story continues

The current conflict in Libya has had a significant impact on the country's population. Millions of people have been displaced, and there are other humanitarian concerns.

The rebuilding of the al-Dhara oil field and the construction of the new refinery could provide job opportunities for Libyans and help stimulate the local economy. This could also improve the living conditions of many Libyans, who have been affected by the conflict.

Halliburton and Honeywell are technology companies that specialize in energy-related solutions. Their expertise in this field will be key to rebuilding Libya's oil infrastructure and constructing the new refinery.

The use of technology could help improve efficiency and reduce costs in these projects. It could also ensure that the infrastructure is built to the highest standards, which will be important for maximizing the safety of workers and the environment.

The oil industry can have significant environmental impacts, and the rebuilding of the al-Dhara oil field and the construction of the new refinery could aggravate these consequences. However, both Halliburton and Honeywell are committed to sustainability and environmental protection. They are likely to take steps to minimize the environmental impact of their operations in Libya, which will be important for ensuring the long-term viability of the country's oil industry.

The new energy deals between Halliburton, Honeywell and NOC are a positive development for Libya's economy and the energy sector at large. They are a sign that the country is offering a more viable environment for foreign companies to operate in.

However, there are certain risks associated with investing in Libya, including the ongoing conflict and political instability. These risks need to be managed carefully in order to ensure the projects success and sustainability.

Halliburton is a leading oilfield service provider, headquartered in Houston, TX, offering a wide range of services to the energy, industrial and government sectors across 80+ countries.

Honeywell has a strong presence in the aerospace industry, with commercial aviation and defense being its major sources of business. It also sees opportunities within unmanned aerial systems and urban air mobility.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Currently, both Halliburton and Honeywell carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the energy sector might look at some better-ranked stocks like NGL Energy Partners NGL, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Energy Transfer ET, holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NGL Energy Partners: The company is worth approximately $328.30 million. Its shares have increased 10.1% in the past year.

NGL is a limited partnership company that operates a vertically-integrated propane business with three segments  retail propane, wholesale supply and marketing, and midstream.

Energy Transfer LP: The company is valued at around $36.21 billion. It delivered an average earnings surprise of 11.43% for the last four quarters and its current dividend yield is 10.43%.

ET currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.20. In comparison, its industry has an average forward P/E of 9, which means the company is trading at a discount to the group.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Halliburton Company (HAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Honeywell International Inc. (HON) : Free Stock Analysis Report

NGL Energy Partners LP (NGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Energy Transfer LP (ET) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Zacks Investment Research
UTRGV and hospital leaders

UTRGV and hospital leaders photographed.

UTRGV and hospital CEOs

UTRGV and hospital CEOs photographed.

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley announce creation of physician residencies at Brownsville, McAllen hospitals

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS  MARCH 27, 2023  HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley have announced an agreement to bring 30 resident physicians to Brownsville and McAllen by summer 2024, with plans to seat 150 total resident physician positions by 2029.

Residents from the UTRGV School of Medicine will train at HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division affiliate hospitals Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen and Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville. This is the first time UTRGV will have a residency program in Brownsville.

UTRGV President Guy Bailey said the new partnership is especially important because it extends the UTRGV School of Medicines residency programs into both Hidalgo and Cameron counties.

We know that these doctors tend to stay and practice where theyve had their residencies, Bailey said. This not only allows us to train more residents, but also helps us expand our communitys access to quality healthcare into the Lower Rio Grande Valley. We are excited for the opportunities this partnership will afford not only our medical students, but the Valley community, as well.

We thank HCA Healthcare for joining hands with the UTRGV School of Medicine, and look forward to many years of collaboration and innovation, he said.

Cris Rivera, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare affiliate Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen, said the partnership with UTRGV is an important step in addressing the physician shortage in South Texas.

This allows us to leverage opportunities for improving the health and well-being of our Valley communities, Rivera said.

Story continues

David Irizarry, CEO of HCA Healthcare affiliate Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, said the goal of the partnership, ultimately, is quality of life.

We are committed to invest in and support the wellbeing of our communities by focusing on training diverse physician leaders who embrace and value our mission, Irizarry said. Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.

The inaugural group of 30 resident physicians will be welcomed to the newly established UTRGV-HCA Healthcare residency program in summer 2024, building up to about 150 residents by 2029.

Studies conducted by the American Association of Medical Colleges found that 68 percent of all medical residents stay in the communities in which they complete their graduate medical education.

The state has grown by only 4,952 residents since 2011. Moreover, Texas ranks 47th out of 50 states in physician-to-population ratio.

The UTRGV School of Medicine is focused on preparing doctors to practice in underserved urban and rural communities and hopes to admit its first HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division residents in 2024.

The number of residency slots created in the UTRGV-HCA Healthcare partnership exceeds the total required by the State of Texas for consideration of medical schools.

Dr. Michael B. Hocker, senior vice president for UT Health RGV and dean of the UTRGV School of Medicine, said the partnership is a significant step in expanding training opportunities for UTRGV medical students to gain clinical experience during their third and fourth years of medical school. And for the first time, both of the local HCA Healthcare facilities will serve as teaching hospital sites for residents in new UTRGV graduate medical education programs.

We are so pleased to join with HCA Healthcare in training the physicians of the future, Hocker said. We remain committed to providing access to quality healthcare for our Valley families, and to excellent training partnerships and opportunities for both our medical students and residents.

The agreement is pending subject to final approval by the UT System Board of Regents.

ABOUT HCA HEALTHCARE GULF COAST DIVISION

HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division is a comprehensive network of hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, emergency centers and diagnostic imaging facilities in greater Houston, Corpus Christi and South Texas. Facilities in the Gulf Coast Division include: 16 hospitals, 10 ambulatory care centers, 17 off-campus emergency centers and a regional transfer center that provides support for patient transfers into and out of HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division hospitals as well as access to ground and air transportation within a 150-mile radius. HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division is part of HCA Healthcare, one of the nations leading providers of healthcare services with 182 hospitals and 2,300+ sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, home health, and physician clinics located in 20 states and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit HCAgulfcoast.com.

ABOUT HCA HEALTHCARE MEDICAL EDUCATION

HCA Graduate Medical Education is one of the nations largest providers of residency and fellowship training programs across the nation. With more than 203 programs across 21 specialties and 43 hospitals, HCA GME is building a leading network of innovative, patient-centered graduate medical education programs.

ABOUT UTRGV

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund  a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.

UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.

CUTLINE

(UTRGV Photo Gallery by David Pike)

MEDIA CONTACTS

Mariana.Tumlinson@HCAHealthcare.com

HCA, South Texas Director of Marketing and Community Relations / 959-545-4588

Marci.Caltabiano@UTRGV.edu

UTRGV Director of News and Media Relations / 956-665-2742

Attachments

CONTACT: Selena Mejia HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division 281-687-6206 Selena.Mejia@hcahealthcare.com




MarketsandMarkets Research Pvt. Ltd.

Chicago, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The healthcare analytics industry is expected to experience rapid growth in the near future as the industry continues to embrace technological advancements. A major factor driving this growth is the increasing availability and affordability of data sources and analytics tools. This has enabled healthcare organizations to more effectively collect, analyze, and utilize data to improve patient care, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency. Additionally, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies is expected to further accelerate the growth of this sector as these technologies enable healthcare organizations to gain insights from large volumes of patient data. The growth of this industry will also be driven by government mandates to implement healthcare analytics solutions and the rising demand for personalized healthcare services.

Healthcare Analytics market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $27.4 billion in 2022 and is poised to reach $85.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 25.7% from 2022 to 2027 according to a latest report published by MarketsandMarkets. Healthcare analytics is the efficient use of data and related business insights developed through statistical, quantitative, predictive, comparative, cognitive, and other developing applied analytical models. Healthcare analytics tools help discover and recognize historical information patterns, predict future outcomes, and provide actionable insights to drive fact-based decision-making for enhanced financial, clinical, and operational performance of healthcare organizations.

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Healthcare Analytics Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2022 $27.4 billion Estimated Value by 2027 $85.9 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 25.7% Market Size Available for 20202027 Forecast Period 20222027 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Type, By Application, By Component, By Deployment Model, By End User, & By Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia, Pacific countries, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunity Use of analytics in precision and personalized medicines Key Market Drivers Increasing adoption of EHR in developing and developed countries

The healthcare analytics market is mainly driven by factors such as increasing focus on real-world evidence, rising prevalence of chronic diseases and growing pressure to curb healthcare spending and improve patient outcomes. However, high cost of healthcare analytics solutions and increasing data security concerns are likely to restrain growth of this market.

Story continues

Based on type, the healthcare analytics market is bifurcated into descriptive, predictive, prescriptive, and cognitive analytics. In 2021, the descriptive analytics segment accounted for the largest share of the healthcare analytics market, while the prescriptive analytics segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forest period. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed because descriptive analytics forms the base for the effective application of predictive or prescriptive analytics.

Based on application, the healthcare analytics market is bifurcated into financial analytics, clinical analytics, operational & administrative analytics, and population health analytics. In 2021, the financial analytics segment accounted for the largest share of the healthcare analytics market. Factors such as increasing adoption of electronic healthcare records, the need to improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital readmission rates are driving the market growth.

Based on deployment mode, the healthcare analytics market is bifurcated into on-premises and on-demand. In 2021, the on-premise healthcare analytics segment accounted for the largest share of the healthcare analytics market. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed because on-premise deployment permits end users to use solutions from multiple vendors, which allows customizations as per end-user needs.

Based on component, the healthcare analytics market is bifurcated into services, software, and hardware. In 2021, the services segment accounted for the largest market share of the healthcare analytics market. This is attributed to their indispensable nature and recurring requirement. This is because end users of healthcare analytics depend on service providers for consulting, data storage, implementing services, training, maintenance, and regular solution upgrades.

Based on end users, the healthcare analytics market is bifurcated into providers (hospitals, physician practices, IDN, post-acute care organisations and, ambulatory settings), payers (private insurance companies, government agencies, and employers & private exchangers), and ASCOs, HIEs, & TPAs. In 2021, the payers segment accounted for the largest market share of the healthcare analytics market. This is attributed use of healthcare analytics by payer organisations for claim management, risk assessment and financial management.

The healthcare analytics market is bifurcated into six regions namely, North America, Europe, Asia, Pacific countries, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. In 2021, North America held the largest share of the market, also expected to grow at the highest CAGR. Factors such as growing federal healthcare mandates to curb rising healthcare costs, increasing regulatory requirements, and many major global players are also based in the US, owing to which the country has become a centre of innovation in the healthcare analytics market are driving the market growth in this region.

Key Market Players:

Prominent players in this market include IBM (US), SAS Institute Inc. (US), Optum, Inc. (US), Cerner Corporation (US), Allscripts Healthcare, LLC (US), Cotiviti, Inc. (US), CitiusTech Inc (US), Health Catalyst (US), CVS Health (US), Inovalon (US), McKesson Corporation (US), MedeAnalytics, Inc. (US), Oracle (US), ExlService Holdings, Inc. (US), Gainwell (US), Wipro (US), Flatiron (US), Apixio (US), Enlitic, Inc. (US), Komodo Health, Inc. (US), HealthEC, LLC, Sema4 OpCo, Inc. (US), Evidation Health, Inc. (US), Insilico Medicine (US), Exscientia (UK), Aetion, Inc.(US), and Premier (US).

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Hypothetic Challenges of Healthcare Analytics Market in Near Future:

Increasing data complexity: The healthcare industry is becoming increasingly complex and data-driven, making it difficult to accurately analyze and interpret data to make effective decisions.

Regulatory compliance: Healthcare analytics must comply with a variety of government and industry regulations, making it difficult for companies to leverage data in a responsible manner.

Privacy and security concerns: Patient data must be protected and access to healthcare analytics must be restricted.

Limited access to data: Even with advances in technology, healthcare providers must still acquire and manage data from multiple sources.

Access to resources: Healthcare analytics requires a significant amount of resources and expertise to implement, making it difficult for smaller organizations to take advantage of.

Interoperability issues: Healthcare data is often siloed, making it difficult to access and aggregate data from different sources.

Cost: Healthcare analytics require a significant investment in infrastructure and resources, making it difficult for some organizations to afford.

Top 3 Use Cases of Healthcare Analytics Market:

Clinical Decision Support: Healthcare analytics can be used to provide evidence-based insights to physicians and other healthcare professionals to help them make data-driven decisions about patient care. This includes identifying the most suitable treatments for a particular patient, predicting the risk of readmission, and analyzing treatment efficacy.

Population Health Management: Healthcare analytics can be used to monitor the health of a population and identify trends in healthcare utilization, disease prevalence, and outcomes. This enables healthcare providers to tailor approaches to population health management and develop proactive strategies to improve healthcare outcomes.

Value-Based Care: Healthcare analytics can be used to measure and analyze outcomes of care and identify areas of improvement. This allows providers to compare the cost and quality of care across different populations and identify opportunities for cost savings and performance improvement. This enables providers to move towards a value-based care model that focuses on outcomes rather than fee-for-service.

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Recent Developments:

In October 2022, Optum (US) acquired Change Healthcare (US). This acquisition will connect and simplify the core clinical; administrative and payment processes health care providers and payers depend on to serve patients.

In October 2022, Oracle (US) entered into an agreement with WellSpan Health (US) to enhance operational insights, reduce costs, improve the team member experience, and support its future expansion

In July 2022, Francisco Partners (US) completed the acquisition of healthcare data and analytics assets that were part of IBMs Watson Health business. The assets acquired by Francisco Partners consist of extensive and diverse data sets and products, including Health Insights, MarketScan, Clinical Development, Social Program Management, Micromedex, and imaging software offerings.

In June 2021, Flatiron (US) Partnered with Foundation Medicine, Inc. to integrate its solutions with OncoEMR to offer integrated genomic profiling to customers.

In July 2021, Enlitic (US) partnered with NMC Healthcare (UAE). This is a multi-faceted partnership with private healthcare companies to incorporate Enlitics solutions in GCC countries.

Related Reports:

Healthcare Analytical Testing Services Market

Healthcare IT Market

Population Health Management Market

Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market

Revenue Cycle Management Market

CONTACT: About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. 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. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com




SNS Insider pvt ltd

The healthcare data storage market is the increasing volume of healthcare data being generated and the need to store, manage, and analyze this data efficiently.

Pune, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Healthcare Data Storage Market was valued at USD 4.12 billion in 2022, with an estimated growth to USD 12.17 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5% during the forecast period of 2023-2030, as reported by SNS Insider.

Market Overview

Healthcare data storage is a crucial aspect of the healthcare industry, which involves the safe and secure storage of sensitive patient information. The healthcare industry generates a vast amount of data every day, including medical records, diagnostic reports, treatment plans, and other important information that is critical to providing quality patient care. To ensure the safety and security of healthcare data, healthcare organizations must employ robust data storage solutions that meet stringent regulatory requirements.

Market Analysis

The healthcare industry is undergoing a digital transformation, with the adoption of data storage systems being a major driver. This trend is expected to result in significant growth for the healthcare data storage market in the coming years. One of the key drivers is the increasing adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) by healthcare providers. EHRs enable healthcare organizations to collect and store patient data electronically, improving efficiency and reducing the risk of errors. Another factor driving the market growth is the increasing use of telemedicine and other digital health technologies.

Major Key Players Listed in this Report Are:

Cloudian, Scality, Dell Technologies, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, Fujitsu Limited, IBM Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., NetApp, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Pure Storage, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

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Impact of Recession on Healthcare Data Storage Market Growth

The recession has had a significant impact on the market. Healthcare providers are becoming more cautious with their spending, government funding for healthcare is decreasing, and patient visits are declining. However, the demand for healthcare data storage solutions remains essential, and providers will continue to invest in these solutions as the need for digitization in healthcare continues to grow.

Story continues

Healthcare Data Storage Market Report Scope:

Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 US$ 4.12 Billion Market Size by 2030 US$ 12.17 Billion CAGR CAGR of 14.5% From 2023 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Historical Data 2020-2021 Key Market Segmentation  By Deployment (Remote, On-premise, Hybrid)

 By Architecture (Object Storage, Block Storage, File Storage)

 By Type (Magnetic Storage, Flash & Solid-state Storage, Magnetic Disks, Magnetic Tapes)

 By Storage System (Direct-attached Storage, Storage Area Network, Network-attached Storage)

 By End User (Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies, CROs, and CMOS, Hospitals, Clinics, and ASCs, Research Centers, Academic & Government Institutes, and Clinical Research Lab, Diagnostic & Clinical Laboratories) Key Regional Coverage North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), The Middle East & Africa (Israel, UAE, South Africa, Rest of Middle East & Africa), Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Key Regional Developments

North America is one of the fastest-growing regions in the Healthcare Data Storage market due to its early adoption of healthcare data storage solutions and advanced healthcare infrastructure. Hospitals and clinics in North America are constantly looking for innovative solutions to maintain patient data, which is driving the growth of the market in the region. As healthcare providers continue to adopt digital technologies to improve patient care and outcomes, the need for secure, reliable, and accessible data storage solutions will only increase.

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Key Takeaway from Healthcare Data Storage Market Study

While cloud-based storage solutions are becoming increasingly popular in the healthcare industry, on-premise storage is expected to remain the dominant storage option for the foreseeable future.

The market is being led by the object storage architecture segment because of the numerous advantages it offers. One of the significant advantages of object storage is that it allows for the comparison and storage of unstructured data, such as medical images and videos, without the need for metadata or a predefined data structure.

Recent Developments Related to Healthcare Data Storage Market

Redox, a healthcare data exchange platform, and Google Cloud have announced a strategic partnership to enhance healthcare data interoperability. The collaboration aims to simplify and accelerate the exchange of healthcare data between patients, providers, and payers by leveraging Google Cloud's advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities and Redox's secure data exchange platform.

Google Cloud has announced the launch of three new "Accelerators" to assist healthcare companies in addressing some of the most pressing challenges in the industry. These accelerators are designed to help healthcare organizations improve health equity, patient flow, and value-based care. The first accelerator, called the Health Equity Accelerator, will help healthcare organizations reduce health disparities by providing data-driven insights into social determinants of health.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Market Dynamics

4. Impact Analysis

5. Value Chain Analysis

6. Porters 5 Forces Model

7. PEST Analysis

8. Healthcare Data Storage Market Segmentation, By Deployment

9. Healthcare Data Storage Market Segmentation, By Architecture

10. Healthcare Data Storage Market Segmentation, By Type

11. Healthcare Data Storage Market Segmentation, By Storage System

12. Healthcare Data Storage Market Segmentation, By End User

13. Regional Analysis

14. Company Profiles

15. Competitive Landscape

16. Conclusion

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About Us:

SNS Insider is one of the leading market research and consulting agencies that dominate the market research industry globally. Our company's aim is to give clients the knowledge they require in order to function in changing circumstances. In order to give you current, accurate market data, consumer insights, and opinions so that you can make decisions with confidence, we employ a variety of techniques, including surveys, video talks, and focus groups around the world.

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CONTACT: Contact Us: Akash Anand  Head of Business Development & Strategy info@snsinsider.com Phone: +1-415-230-0044 (US)




InsightAce Analytic Pvt. LTd.

Companies Covered in this Study are ALFA Laval (Sweden), Kelvion Holding Gmbh (Germany), Exchanger Industries Limited (Canada), Mersen (Denmark), Danfoss (US), API Heat Transfer (US), Boyd Corporation (US), H.Guntner (UK), Limited (Germany), Jhonson Controls

Jersey City, NJ, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global Heat Exchanger Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Raw Material (Steel, Copper, Aluminum), Type (Shell & Tube, Plate & Frame, Air Cooled), Application (Chemical, Energy, HVACR, Food & Beverage, Power Generation, Pulp & Paper)- Market Outlook And Industry Analysis 2031"

The global heat exchanger market is estimated to reach over USD 24.43 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.11% during the forecast period.

The production, marketing, and distribution of heat exchangers, mechanical devices used to transfer heat from one fluid to another, are collectively referred to as the "heat exchanger market industry." Heat exchangers are extensively employed in many industries, including power production, oil and gas, chemical, HVAC, and others. As the demand for energy-efficient systems and the use of heat exchangers in many industries rise, the industry is continually changing to meet these demands.





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Due to the rising demand for energy-efficient systems and the expansion of the HVAC industry, the heat exchanger market businesswhich plays a significant role in the worldwide economyis anticipated to continue growing. Heat exchangers can be expensive, especially for high-end models, which makes it difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to invest in them. The high cost of heat exchangers can also make it challenging for end-users to purchase them. The design and installation of heat exchangers require a certain level of technical expertise, which is not always readily available. This can limit the growth of the heat exchanger market in certain regions.



Story continues

Recent Developments:

In January 2021, The BX4T brazed plate heat exchanger (BPHE), the newest addition to the B4-sized series for the refrigeration sector, was introduced, according to SWEP, a division of Dove Corporation. The BX4T is superior to conventional economizers because it has a more compact design, making it perfect for variable refrigerant flow (VRF), heat pumps, and condensing units.

In April 2021, HTX Digital, a new predictive maintenance tool for tracking heat exchanger performance, was unveiled by Glacier Energy.





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List of Prominent Players in the Heat Exchanger Market:

Laval (Sweden)

Kelvion Holding Gmbh (Germany)

Exchanger Industries Limited (Canada)

Mersen (Denmark)

Danfoss (US)

API Heat Transfer (US)

Boyd Corporation (US)

H.Guntner (UK)

Limited (Germany)

Johnson Controls (Ireland)

XYLEM (US)

Watec Corporation

Spx flow

Lu-Ve S.P.A.

Lenox International Inc.

Air Products Inc.

Barriquand Technologies Thermiques

Barank, Inc

Chart Industries

Doosan Corporation

Funke Heat Exchanger Apparatebau Gmbh

Hisaka Works, Ltd

Hindustan Dorr-Oliver Ltd

Koch Heat Exchanger PVT. LTD. Pune India

Swep International Ab

Smart heat

Sierra S.P.A

Thermax Limited

Vahterus OY

Market Dynamics:

Drivers-

The expanding industrialization of developing economies will drive the market. In APAC's developing nations, industrialization is accelerating. The need for heat exchangers is anticipated to increase in countries like China and India due to rising investments, cheap labor costs, and raw material prices. Projects in the region, including manufacturing, commerce, and industry, have also helped the heat exchanger market grow. The demand for heat exchangers is rising due to increased use in the chemical, HVACR, petrochemical, oil & gas, and government initiatives to promote the growth of thermal and solar energy in nations like Japan and India. Additionally, the market for heat exchangers is anticipated to benefit from the rise in petrochemical product demand.

Challenges:

The devices' propensity for scaling and corrosion and the challenging work of cleaning the tubes are some of the main market limitations. As they work with different chemicals and water types, the inner elements of the heat exchangers are vulnerable to corrosion, and maintenance and part replacement challenges further enhance the losses. These factors can prevent the industry from growing.

Regional Trends:

The Asia Pacific region is anticipated to hold a substantial market share in the heat exchanger market due to the rapid industrialization, increasing demand for energy-efficient systems, growing construction sector, and growing manufacturing sector in the region. The Asia Pacific region is undergoing rapid industrialization, pushing the demand for heat exchangers in various sectors, including power generation, oil and gas, chemical, and HVAC. This growth is particularly significant in China, India, and Japan. The growing concern for the environment and the increasing demand for energy-efficient systems are driving the development of the heat exchanger market in the Asia Pacific region. The rapidly increasing construction sector in the Asia Pacific region, specifically in countries such as China, India, and Southeast Asia, propels the demand for heat exchangers in the HVAC industry. The growing manufacturing sector in the Asia Pacific region is also driving the need for heat exchangers in various industries, such as chemical, oil & gas, and power generation.





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Segmentation of Heat Exchanger Market-

By Material-

Steel Carbon Steel Stainless Steel

Non-Steel Copper Aluminum Titanium Nickel Plastic



By Type-

Shell & Tube Tubular Heat Exchangers Fixed Tube Heat Exchangers U-Tube Heat Exchangers Floating Head Heat Exchangers

Plate & Frame Brazed Plate & Frame Heat Exchanger Gasketed Plate & Frame Heat Exchanger Welded Plate & Frame Heat Exchanger Others

Air-Cooled Forced Draft Heat Exchangers Induced Draft Heat Exchangers

Others Extended Surface Heat Exchangers Regenerative Heat Exchangers



By End-use Industries-

Chemical Base Chemicals Intermediate Chemicals Specialty Chemicals

Energy Petrochemicals Oil & Gas

HVAC And Refrigeration District Heating And Cooling Air-Conditioning Commercial Refrigeration Industrial Refrigeration

Food & Beverages Processed Food Dairy Sugar And Ethanol Production Others

Power Generation Renewable Non-Renewable

Pulp & Paper

Others Metallurgical Wastewater Treatment Mining



By Region-

North America-

The US

Canada

Mexico

Europe-

Germany

The UK

France

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific-

China

Japan

India

South Korea

South East Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America-

Brazil

Argentina

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa-

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of the Middle East and Africa





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InsighAce Analytic is a specializing in market research and consulting services that helps in building business strategies. Our mission is to provide high quality insights with using data analytics techniques and visualization tools that drives the disruption and innovation in market research industry. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with in-depth analysis and key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

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Registration is now live for the six-in-one co-located show, set to bring together 300+ exhibitors

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Informa Markets Engineering East (IME East), hosting six-in-one design and manufacturing expos, is designed to give a comprehensive view of the product lifecycle-from prototype to production. Set to take place June 13-15, 2023 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York, the east coast's most extensive design and smart manufacturing show invites exhibitors and buyers to explore the latest insights and solutions spanning medtech, packaging, automation, plastics, design and quality.

The East Coast expo edition will host six co-located shows including: Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) covering digital health, surgical robotics and medical devices; WestPack displaying packaging across healthcare, sustainability, pharmaceuticals, cannabis, food & beverage; Plastec showcasing 3D printing, injection molding, plastics and polymer materials; Design & Manufacturing (D&M) of all things prototyping and manufacturing; Automation Technology Expo (ATX) innovations in assembly, operations, security and logistics including AI and smart manufacturing; and Quality Expo for the latest in compliance, quality assurance (QA), testing, metrology and inspection.

INFORMA MARKETS - ENGINEERING, Thursday, March 23, 2023, Press release picture

Offering over 30 educational sessions across multiple tracks, the East Coast manufacturing event announces its two keynotes, Marissa Fayer, HERHealthEQ on Opening Day and Mark Tarighi, Reliabotics the subsequent.

Marissa Fayer is the founder and CEO of HERhealthEQ, a nonprofit working to improve the health outcomes of women by providing essential medical equipment to developing regions around the world. A 23-year veteran of the medtech industry, Fayer is among the "Top 100 Women in Medtech" in Medical Design & Outsourcing, a First in Femtech award winner, PeopleMaven's "Top Woman Activist to Watch" and the recipient of the Africa Development Award. Fayer also serves as the CEO of DeepLook Medical, VP of Operations at Ultrasound AI and the US Partner at Goddess Gaia Ventures, all companies that focus on women's health.

Story continues

On the second day of the event, Mark Tarighi will discuss a Robotics & Automation Industry Update. Tarighi provides a diverse background in robotics and automation with a career spanning 35 years in engineering and advanced manufacturing technologies, including executive corporate leadership in global sales and operations and executive consultancy to financial institutions and technology research firms such as McKinsey, GCC Private Equity, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Silicon Valley VCs among others. Traveling to 25 countries, he has established OEM distributors, systems integrators and strategic partners in enterprise and public sectors, resulting in over $200M+ of revenue.

The nation's largest trade show advances the manufacturing industry, which accounts for $2,269 billion of the U.S. GDP according to the NIST Annual Report on U.S. Manufacturing, serving as a springboard for continued innovation and a launchpad for the introduction of groundbreaking technologies.

Top exhibitors set to showcase include ASAHI INTECC, Braun, Tessy Plastics Beseler, BMF, Formlabs, AstroNova, B9Creations, GW Plastics, Boston Conveyor & Automation, Canon, Delta ModTech, PAC Machinery, QOSINA, ProtoCAM and XCENTRIC.

To register for IME East, please visit www.imengineeringeast.com.

About Informa Markets Engineering:

Informa Markets' Engineering portfolio is the leading B2B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3 trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the engineering market and leverage our proprietary 1.3 million name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Engineering portfolio is organized by Informa Markets, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), the world's leading exhibitions organizer that brings a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, visit www.informamarkets.com, and keep up to date with the latest Informa Markets engineering news on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Jordan Douglas

Informa Markets Engineering

pr.ime@informa.com

SOURCE: INFORMA MARKETS - ENGINEERING





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/745528/HERHealthEQ-and-Reliabotics-Set-to-Headline-East-Coasts-Largest-Design-and-Manufacturing-Event




Saudi Arabias total volume of investments in the industrial sector reached SR1,428 trillion ($xx) in December 2022, with a total of 10,518 factories in operation, according to the latest data released by the Kingdoms Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.

The number of valid mining licenses reached 2,272 licenses, including 1,383 licenses for building materials quarry, 635 exploration licenses, 178 mining and small mine exploitation licenses, 43 reconnaissance licenses, and 33 surplus mineral ores licenses in the same period, the December 2022 monthly bulletin of Industry and Mining released by the Ministry reported.

The bulletin further reports that a total of 964 industrial licenses were issued throughout the year, amounting to SR32.036 billion worth of investments. In addition, 1,023 factories started operations during the same period, with investments amounting to SR28.79 billion. These investments have created 51,723 job opportunities in the country.

The monthly bulletin of Industry and Mining is part of Saudi Arabia's broader industry and mineral resources strategy. The Kingdom has been actively diversifying its economy and reducing its dependence on oil for revenue. The development of the industrial and mining sectors is a key component of this strategy, and the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has been leading the efforts to achieve this goal, a statement said.

The Saudi Arabian government has been encouraging investment in the industrial and mining sectors by offering various incentives, including tax exemptions, land grants, and streamlined licensing processes. The data presented in the bulletin highlights the success of these efforts, and the growth of Saudi Arabia's industrial and mining sectors is expected to benefit the country's overall economy.TradeArabia News Service
SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 22, China's Machinery & Electronics Show in Singapore (CMESS 2023) officially kicked off at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore, with over 130 enterprises appearing at the exhibition. The event attracted nearly 6,000 visitors from the ASEAN and RCEP regions.

From High-Tech to Immersive! Haier Exhibits its Brand Leadership at the CMESS 2023 in Singapore.

Casarte, a luxury brand of Haier Smart Home, displayed the "Connoisseur" and "Light year" suites at CMESS 2023. Haier exhibited its 959 series washer/dryer, G3-601 washer/dryer, and JC-360 professional wine cellar. Both brands showcased smart living rooms, kitchens, and cloakrooms.

Haier Smart Home showcased its expertise in designing smart products and scenarios and its latest overseas brand creation strategy at this exhibition.

Haier Smart Home brings the ultimate user experience

Haier and Casarte displayed sophisticated products and immersive smart scenarios at the exhibition, attracting many visitors.

The 959 series washing machine drew visitors to Haier's exhibit. The 525mm drum washing machine is designed for Southeast Asian users who need to wash large items. The Casarte Light Year Series 500 refrigerator in the exhibition area uses MSA Controlled Oxygen Freshness Technology to maintain cellular-level freshness.

In addition to game-changing technology products, Haier and Casarte displayed fully designed smart home scenarios such as a smart living room, smart kitchen, and smart cloakroom, giving visitors an immersive interactive experience. Visitors to the smart kitchen could easily buy ingredients with a touch on the smart refrigerator. The system then intelligently matches those ingredients to healthy recipes. The range hood opens automatically when the cooker is turned on, making cooking easy for beginners and pros alike.

In addition to the smart kitchen, Haier Smart Home's one-stop active service solutions were in the living room, cloakroom, and other areas, giving visitors a new smart lifestyle.

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Haier accelerates global brand creation and Southeast Asian market penetration

At CMESS 2023, Haier Smart Home showcased its successful Southeast Asian expansion and accelerated global strategy.

In 2022, Southeast Asian home appliance sales declined. Haier Smart Home sales however increased 12%, twice the industry average. Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines saw double-digit growth.

Haier Smart Home is expanding rapidly in Southeast Asia. Haier Smart Home's AQUA brand shop in Makassar City's high-end shopping area offers one-stop home appliance shopping. Haier Smart Home launched its commercial laundry business in March 2022 in the Philippines, becoming a top two local brand and opening over 200 shops by March 2023.

Casarte opened its first high-end smart scenario experience center in Thailand in August 2022, featuring a localized whole-house smart home scenario. The experience center has become an important milestone for Casarte and given momentum to Haier Smart Home's global growth efforts.

As a result of evolving consumer trends, the market is demanding higher quality, better intelligence, and more personalization from home appliances. Through its participation in CMESS 2023, Haier Smart Home continues to showcase its leadership in the production of sophisticated products, further accelerating the globalization of smart scenarios.

Cision

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SOURCE Haier Smart Home
New history documentary series Queens That Changed the World, that shines a light on some of the worlds most powerful female rulers, has scored a raft of worldwide sales.

Channel 4 has acquired the series for the U.K. The series is produced by Woodcut Media who brokered the deal with Channel 4, and is distributed worldwide by Abacus Media Rights who have already pre-sold it to streaming service BBC Select (U.S. and Canada) and broadcasters SBS (Australia), AMC Networks International (Spain and Portugal), Viasat World (CEE, Scandinavia, Baltics, CIS), NRK (Norway), DR (Denmark), SVT (Sweden), Czech TV (Czech Republic) and HOT8 (Israel).

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Queens That Changed the World (6 x 45) follows a formidable group of women who led the way, building nations, wielding extraordinary power, and often ruling in a manner that far surpassed their male counterparts. The series focuses on the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I, the tenacious Eleanor of Aquitaine, Victoria, the British queen who redefined the monarchy, Egypts female pharaoh Hatshepsut, the first queen of Great Britain, Anne, and the warrior queen Boudica.

With psychological analysis alongside investigation from historians and academics, each episode delves into the challenges they faced and their unique approach to power, while also exploring wider themes such as womens changing position in society and what this meant across the centuries.

The series producer is Angie Cox and executive producers are Kate Beal and Tom Adams for Woodcut Media.

Polly Scates, senior acquisitions manager, Channel 4 said: Its refreshing to see the stories of these women placed at the forefront and Im excited for a light to be shone on their incredible impact on history.

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Cox added: The women featured in this fascinating docu-series were the disruptors of the day  all standing out as towering figures in history and achieving incredible notoriety for their achievements and never shunning away from adversity in what was a male dominated era.

Jonathan Ford, managing director at Abacus Media Rights, said: Once again our friends at Woodcut Media have created a highly engaging documentary series which will resonate around the world. Many women leaders have played a ground-breaking role in global history and this takes a deep dive in to some who made a massive difference to the way their countries evolved across time.

Woodcuts titles include Confessions of a Psycho Killer, Worlds Most Evil Killers, Britains Most Evil Killers, Fiennes: Return to the Nile, with Joseph and Ranulph Fiennes, Cut from a Different Cloth, Mandela, My Dad and Me, both featuring Idris Elba, Hitler: A Life in Pictures and Paranormal Captured.

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Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said on Sunday that the U.S. military will not leave Syria after a string of attacks from Iran-backed militias on American bases in the country last week left one U.S. contractor dead and five service members wounded, saying were not going anywhere.

Were not going anywhere, we have to stay in northern Syria and work with our partners in Iraq as well in fighting ISIS, Krishnamoorthi said in an interview with ABCs This Week on Sunday.

There are more than 900 U.S. troops in Syria, tasked with fighting back any emerging remnants of ISIS. The U.S. said last week that an Iranian-backed group struck an American base in northeast Syria with a drone last Thursday, leaving the one contractor dead. The U.S. responded with precision airstrikes of Iranian-backed groups on the same day, at the direction of President Biden.

A second U.S. base was hit on Friday by a rocket attack, with no casualties reported.

I think the Biden administration did exactly what it had to do in responding to these Iranian militias, Krishnamoorthi said.

Iran-backed militia groups have attacked U.S. troops in Syria at least 78 times since 2021, according to officials.

National Security spokesman John Kirby said Sunday on CBSs Face The Nation that the U.S. would see where this goes, leaving the door open to even more American retaliatory attacks on the militias.

The president made it very clear that were gonna always act to defend our troops and our facilities, Kirby said, reiterating Biden is committed to keeping those U.S. troops in Syria.

Heres whats not gonna change the mission in ISIS is not gonna change, Kirby said. We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Brainy Insights

The emergence of reasonably priced and effective kitchen appliances is assisting in accelerating market expansion along with the substantial increase of economies. Asia Pacific emerged as the highest in the global household cooking appliance market, with a share of 38.46% and valued at USD 117.58 billion in 2022.

Newark, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Brainy Insights estimates that the USD 305.73 billion in 2022 household cooking appliance market will reach USD 622.54 billion by 2032. Throughout the projection period, the market is predicted to rise due to changing eating patterns, the number of working women and single professionals, and the number of nuclear families. Several factors anticipated to contribute to the market's growth include strict energy efficiency regulations that apply in various parts of the world, the ease with which household kitchen appliances can be found on e-commerce websites, the rising popularity of home automation, and ongoing product launches.



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Key Insight of the Household Cooking Appliance Market



The Middle East and Africa are expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 10.52% over the forecasted period.



The market for household cooking appliances in the Middle East and Africa is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR of 10.52% over the forecasted period. The region's consumer buying habits are evolving, despite the market being in its early phases. Some anticipated factors to promote the adoption of IoT-enabled appliances in the area include the ongoing installation of high-speed data networks and the rising popularity of modular kitchens. Household consumers in the region preferentially choose multi-functional ovens since they are readily available at premium prices.



The ovens segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.49% over the forecasted period.



Over the forecast period, the ovens segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.49%. The oven's capacity to prepare meals for households that are restaurant-quality is favorable for the segment's growth. The market has been divided into conventional, convection, microwave, and combination heating technologies. The sub-segment of combination ovens has dominated the market for ovens as a whole. Combination ovens are increasingly regarded as a cornerstone of modern households' cooking.



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The built-in segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.97% over the forecasted period.



Over the forecast period, the built-in segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.97%. For smaller kitchens, built-in household cooking appliances are preferred. They take up less room when added to modular kitchens as design components. So, the built-in segment is anticipated to grow during the projected period. However, because certain appliances require professional installation, built-in technology has higher installation prices.



The e-commerce segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.25% over the forecasted period.



Over the forecast period, the e-commerce segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 11.25%. Due to the simplicity of purchasing and affordable prices, consumers of household cooking appliances choose e-commerce websites. Retailers are becoming increasingly concerned about the e-commerce channel, which is predicted to surpass traditional sales in recent years. Retailers are therefore adopting creative solutions to deal with the shifting environment. They are collaborating with e-commerce companies and offering "buy online, pick up in-store" options to boost sales channels for household cooking appliances.



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Market Dynamics



Driver: Increasing household demand for eco-friendly cooking equipment



In response to rising energy prices and growing environmental consciousness, particularly among households in industrialized nations, the market for cooking equipment with energy-efficiency certification will be projected to grow. Additionally, manufacturers are putting more of an emphasis on making energy-efficient appliances, which supports the global demand for household cooking appliances. The growing population of the world, combined with the shift toward smaller families, is a primary factor driving the market expansion for household cooking appliances. The market for household cooking appliances is also influenced by the rising proportion of nuclear households that require at least one cooktop. As a result, as nuclear families become more prevalent, so does the demand for kitchen appliances. Also, it is projected that increased market growth will be promoted by rising residential building construction due to population growth. The desire for efficient and contemporary kitchen equipment is being encouraged by consumers' increasing disposable money. The development of affordable and functional kitchen equipment accelerates market expansion and significantly boosts economies. The growth of the home cooking appliance market is fueled by rising GDP, which is increased by rising labor force participation. Thus, it is projected that rising consumer disposable income in underdeveloped countries will promote the growth of the market for household cooking appliances.



Restraint: The increasing use of online platforms for meal delivery



The main obstacles to expansion include an increase in employment, the proportion of working women, consumers' hectic schedules, a rise in disposable income, and the use of online meal delivery services like Zomato. Individuals are more frequently opting to order through online food delivery services because they no longer have the time to prepare at home. This can limit the use of household cooking appliances and prevent market growth.



Opportunity: The adoption of cutting-edge technology like IoT and AI



Manufacturers are introducing the newest technology, such as wireless connectivity, built-in cameras, screens, AI, and IoT, which enables remote control of household cooking appliances and brings the industry closer to automating kitchen appliances. These newest technologies are attracting consumer interest, which is expected to increase sales in the coming years. Worldwide profitable business opportunities are predicted due to the growing urban population. Interconnected cooking, which includes linking kitchen appliances using the Internet of Things (IoT), is projected to offer several attractive possibilities. This is due to the advancement of technology, which is influenced by shifting customer demand and preferences and drives manufacturers to develop such cutting-edge products. Furthermore, it is projected that the market expansion in the near future will be driven by the increased demand for easy-to-use and handle appliances.



Challenge: Low affordability and electrification in the developing countries



The lack of electrification in underdeveloped countries is one of the barriers that market players face when trying to access these markets. The poor affordability of low-income consumers is a challenge for producers in manufacturing economical appliances. The market growth is predicted to be constrained by the higher initial cost of cooking appliances. The frequent maintenance required by modern appliances limits the use of innovative cooking appliances. The demand for the product is being hampered by the rising population of single people who prefer eating over cooking at home. The growth of the global food and catering industry is expected to challenge the market expansion for household cooking appliances.



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Some of the major players operating in the household cooking appliance market are:



 Daewoo Electronics Corporation

 Haier Group Company

 Panasonic

 Videocon Industries Limited

 Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd.

 Miele & Cie. KG

 AB Electrolux

 LG Electronics

 Robert Bosch Gmbh

 Whirlpool Corporation

 Stoves Appliance Company (Glen Dimplex Home Appliances Ltd.)

 Philips Electronics



Key Segments cover in the market:



By Product:



 Ovens

 Cooktops & Cooking Ranges

 Specialized Appliances



By Structure:



 Freestanding

 Built-in



By Distribution Channel:



 E-commerce

 Brick & Mortar



By Region



 North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

 Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of APAC)

 South America (Brazil and the Rest of South America)

 The Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)



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About the report:



The market is analyzed based on value (USD Billion). All the segments have been analyzed worldwide, regional, and country basis. The study includes the analysis of more than 30 countries for each part. The report analyzes driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining critical insight into the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, attractiveness analysis, product analysis, supply, and demand analysis, competitor position grid analysis, distribution, and marketing channels analysis.



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The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.



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(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co. has developed software tools capable of designing chips as advanced as 14 nanometers, advancing efforts to help Chinese companies sidestep US sanctions and replace American technology.

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The telecom leaders inhouse teams worked with domestic partners to build tools required for creating chips considered a few generations behind cutting-edge, Rotating Chairman Eric Xu said. It plans to verify the products  known as electronic design automation or EDA software  this year, Xu added.

Huawei is among a coterie of Chinese hardware technology providers working furiously to replace sanctioned US components and software from AI chips to EDA tools  an arena dominated by American firms Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Synopsys Inc. Chinese chip software developer Empyrean Technology Co. rose as much as 7% in Shanghai on Monday after saying it has built solid commercial ties with major local chip designers and makers.

We have basically realized the goal of building indigenous tools for designing chips as advanced as 14-nanometer, Xu said during a company event on Feb. 28, according to a transcript of his speech circulated on social media and confirmed by a Huawei representative. Huawei has built 78 tools over the past three years to replace foreign products, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has frequently highlighted the importance pf building a self-sufficient supply chain, particularly on the semiconductor front, as the US has continued to tighten Chinas access to critical foreign technologies.

14nm is about four generations behind the latest commercially available products, but is already the second-best technology in China. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. is capable of making 7nm chips.

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Huawei gradually lost access to a large number of chips and the latest semiconductor design tools after the Trump administration blacklisted the company in 2019, citing national security concerns. Those sanctions helped torpedo Huaweis smartphone business, once the worlds largest.

To build its own chip design tools, Huawei looked to hire scores of seasoned engineers to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies, Bloomberg News reported last year.

While Huawei can buy mature semiconductors from the likes of Qualcomm Inc., it is virtually impossible for the company to place orders with contract chip manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. directly.

Existing US regulations ban chipmakers using any US technology to build new semiconductors for Huawei without a license. That means even leading Chinese foundries including SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. cannot supply Huawei as they still use American production gear.

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Atyab Tahir brings over 2 decades of local and international experience in fintech and digital financial services to help build a digital bank in Pakistan

HugoBank expects to increase Pakistan's bank account penetration rate to over 80% and to open 34 million new accounts by 2027

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HugoBank, Pakistan's latest digital bank led by a Singapore Consortium, today announced the proposed appointment of Atyab Tahir as Chief Executive Officer, subject to the State Bank of Pakistan's fit and proper assessment. Following the company's incorporation, Atyab will set-up and lead HugoBank in Pakistan to offer digital banking services to people and small businesses across the country.

Atyab Tahir

Atyab brings over 20 years of business experience and deep industry knowledge to drive HugoBank's mission in Pakistan. Prior to HugoBank, Atyab led Jazzcash and served as a country head for Mastercard. He has also held senior positions with Tameer Bank and HBL where he focused on innovation and growth. With his vast experience in banking and fintech in Pakistan, the Middle East and New York, Atyab brings the best of both industries complete with a rich understanding of the local market and its needs.

"I am thrilled to lead HugoBank at the beginning of its journey in Pakistan and am confident that our digital bank will catalyse financial inclusion and wellness for the people of Pakistan. I am excited to assemble a team to build a customer-centric bank focused on offering accessible, convenient, and secure digital financial services to underserved individuals and SMEs alike," shared Atyab Tahir, Chief Executive Officer of HugoBank.

HugoBank will promote financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan, offering products and services at price points that are accessible to everyone. The consortium aims to help Pakistan to achieve an 85% bank account penetration within five years, up from the current 16.29%[1] and is expected to open 34 million new accounts by 2027.

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Pakistan has one of the lowest credit adoption rates in the financial sector, with only 2.4% of its population having access to credit from formal financial sources and 53% of the country's 220 million population currently financially excluded. Recognising the challenges faced in Pakistan, HugoBank is committed to introduce its state-of-the-art financial platform that will provide customers with an easy and convenient way to safeguard their money. With HugoBank, financial inclusion and literacy will become more accessible, ultimately contributing to the economic growth and wellbeing of the country.

Led by Singapore's Atlas Consolidated, which owns and operates the fast-growing Wealthcare and savings app Hugosave, HugoBank is a joint venture formed in partnership with The Getz Group and Muller & Phipps. It received its No-Objection Certificate by the State Bank of Pakistan in January this year.

David Fergusson, CEO of Atlas Consolidated said, "We are pleased to welcome Atyab Tahir as the new CEO of HugoBank. With his extensive experience and deep understanding of the market, we are confident that he will lead HugoBank in promoting financial inclusion and literacy in Pakistan and help improve the lives of millions across the country. We are excited to work with him to provide and share international best practices and platforms to drive a positive change in the financial landscape and client's Wealthcare."

About HugoBank Limited

HugoBank received its NOC (No Objections Certificate) from The State Bank of Pakistan in January 2023. HugoBank aims to bring financial inclusion and literacy to Pakistan by making digital banking services affordable, accessible and approachable. HugoBank is led by finance veteran and industry leader Atyab Tahir.

HugoBank is a consortium made up of Atlas Consolidated (Singapore), The Getz Group (Singapore) and Muller & Phipps (Pakistan). The consortium brings together a unique blend of international expertise in banking & technology, deep local knowledge and network to prime HugoBank in a position to achieve its mission and make a difference to the people of Pakistan.

About Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd

In July 2021, Atlas Consolidated launched Hugosave, Singapore's first Wealthcare and savings app, which helps elevate clients' lives by spending smarter, saving more, and investing diligently, starting with gold. Today, more than 60,000 clients in Singapore are using Hugosave to optimise their finances. Atlas Consolidated Pte Ltd was established in December 2019 by financial and technological stalwarts David Fergusson, Ben Davies, Braham Djidjelli and Surya Tamada. Atlas Consolidated received its licensing approval to operate as a Major Payment Institution [PS20200550] from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 1 April 2022 and Regulated Precious Metals Dealers Certification [PS20200001983] from the Ministry of Law, Singapore on 1 August 2021.

About The Getz Group

The Getz Group of companies is a highly diversified group of companies with a mission to continue creating opportunities for the 'Mutual Growth and Success for all we serve and work with'. With over 160 years of commitment to excellence in international marketing and distribution, today we are a leading and trusted sales, marketing, distribution, sourcing, manufacturing and licensing business in the Asia-Pacific region and expanding into the Middle East and Africa.

Over the years, The Group has continued to grow through investment in existing businesses, development of new business ventures with our business partners and acquisitions of new businesses. Today, we are maintaining a profitable relationship with our business partners and credibility with our customers through a dedicated team of 18,000 employees worldwide.

Cision

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BlueWeave Consulting and Research Pvt Ltd

The global market for hybrid vehicle powertrain components is benefiting from various subsidies offered by governments to customers who purchase electric and hybrid vehicles. The demand for hybrid vehicles is on the rise in developing countries such as India, Brazil, and Mexico due to stringent emission standards and the growing demand for zero-emission vehicles. In 2021, the Indian government extended its FAME II scheme to promote the sales of electric vehicles throughout the country. Several countries, including the European Commission, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have set targets to reduce carbon emissions from automobiles. The European Commission proposed a 55% reduction in carbon emissions from cars by 2030 and a complete elimination of carbon emissions by 2035.

New Delhi, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market is flourishing because of a high demand for hybrid vehicle powertrains and favorable initiatives by governments across countries.



BlueWeave Consulting, a leading strategic consulting and market research firm, in its recent study, expects global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market size to zoom at a robust CAGR of 28.22% during the forecast period between 2023 and 2029. Major growth drivers for global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market include rising demand for vehicles that are both fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly, as well as increasing fuel costs. Hybrid powertrain components are utilized in hybrid vehicles to enhance fuel efficiency and provide power. Likewise, government regulations aimed at reducing carbon emissions, significant investments in charging infrastructure development, and an increasing demand for green vehicles are also driving the market growth. Also, technology advancements have led to the development of more efficient and reliable powertrain components, which are expected to contribute to the market's growth during the forecast period. However, shortage of semiconductors in the global market is anticipated to restrain the growth of the market.

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Global Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Component Market  Overview

A hybrid vehicle powertrain component is a combination of mechanical, electrical, and electronic systems that work together to power a hybrid vehicle. It includes the components that convert the energy stored in the battery or fuel cell into mechanical power that propels the vehicle. Hybrid vehicle powertrain components typically consist of an electric motor, battery or fuel cell, power electronics, transmission or gearbox, and other auxiliary components, such as regenerative braking systems and cooling systems. The powertrain components in a hybrid vehicle are designed to work in a highly integrated manner to optimize fuel efficiency and reduce emissions while still providing the necessary power and performance for the vehicle. The hybrid vehicle powertrain component market includes the production and sale of these components for use in hybrid vehicles.

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Impact of COVID-19 on Global Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Component Market

COVID-19 had a detrimental impact on the hybrid vehicle powertrain component market. The pandemic caused disruptions in the supply chain, manufacturing operations, and a decline in demand for hybrid vehicles. The global lockdowns and travel restrictions led to a reduction in production capacity and disrupted the supply chain of components and raw materials. As a result, the production of hybrid vehicles was delayed, leading to a decline in sales and revenue for manufacturers. Also, the pandemic caused a decline in consumer demand for hybrid vehicles as the economic uncertainty led to a decrease in purchasing power. Many customers postponed their plans to buy a hybrid vehicle due to financial constraints, which resulted in a drop in sales. However, the pandemic has also brought opportunities for the hybrid vehicle powertrain component market. The shift towards remote work and the increased focus on sustainability have led to a growing interest in hybrid and electric vehicles. The pandemic has also led to increased government support and incentives for the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, which could help to drive the market growth.

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Global Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Component Market  By Component

Based on component, global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market is divided into Battery, Motor, Controller, Engine, and Transmission segments. The battery segment holds the highest share in the global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market. Hybrid vehicles rely on a combination of electric motor and internal combustion engine (ICE), and the battery is an essential component that powers the electric motor. It is responsible for storing and providing energy to the electric motor, thereby reducing the reliance on the internal combustion engine and improving the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. The increasing demand for hybrid vehicles has led to a surge in demand for batteries, and battery manufacturers are investing in research and development to improve the efficiency and durability of batteries used in hybrid vehicles. Moreover, governments across the world are offering subsidies and incentives to promote the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles, which is expected to drive the growth of the battery segment in the global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market.

Competitive Landscape

Major players operating in global hybrid vehicle powertrain component market include Robert Bosch GmbH, BorgWarner Inc., Magna International Inc., Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd, Cummins Inc., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Schaeffler AG, Continental AG, Marelli Holdings Co. Ltd, Tianjin Santroll, Allison Technologies, Bosch, ALTe Technology, and Voith. To further enhance their market share, these companies employ various strategies, including mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, joint ventures, license agreements, and new product launches.

Dont miss the business opportunity in the Global Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Component Market . Consult our analysts to gain crucial insights and facilitate your business growth.

The in-depth analysis of the report provides information about growth potential, upcoming trends, and statistics of Global Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Component Market. It also highlights the factors driving forecasts of total market size. The report promises to provide recent technology trends in Global Hybrid Vehicle Powertrain Component Market and industry insights to help decision-makers make sound strategic decisions. Furthermore, the report also analyzes the growth drivers, challenges, and competitive dynamics of the market.







Recent Developments

In May 2021 - Cosworth, a UK-based company specialized in high-performance internal combustion engines and powertrains, completed the acquisition of Delta, a specialist in electrified powertrain. The acquisition allows Cosworth to expand its capabilities and meet the changing needs of its clients as they transition to hybrid, electric, and fuel cell configurations.

Scope of the Report

Attributes Details Years Considered Historical Data  20192022 Base Year  2022 Estimated Year  2023 Forecast Period  20232029 Facts Covered Revenue in USD Billion Market Coverage North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa Product/ Service Segmentation Vehicle Type, Propulsion, Component, Region Key Players Robert Bosch GmbH, BorgWarner Inc., Magna International Inc., Hitachi Automotive Systems Ltd, Cummins Inc., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Schaeffler AG, Continental AG, Marelli Holdings Co. Ltd, Tianjin Santroll, Allison Technologies, Bosch, ALTe Technology, Voith

By Vehicle Type

Passenger Car

Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV)

Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV)

By Propulsion

HEV

PHEV

By Component

Battery

Motor

Controller

Engine

Transmission

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

Latin America (LATAM)

Middle East and Africa (MEA)







Please Find Below Some Related Topics:

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Oak Brook offers holistic pain relief techniques to help patients heal from the inside out.

OAK BROOK, IL / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / The team at Oak Brook Medical Group, a leading pain management clinic in Illinois, recently discussed their approach to individualized care. The group's strategy aims to provide patients with personalized treatment plans tailored to their specific needs. This approach is based on the idea that every patient is unique and that healthcare should be customized to address individual needs.

"Our goal is not only to treat your pain, but also to bring about complete recovery. By using natural methods for pain relief, there are no harmful side effects, making it safe and effective for any age group," explains the team at Oak Brook. "All of our staff members are experts in their field. For example, our pain relief physician, Dr. Wilson, is double board-certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Academy of Pain Medicine. With 30 years of experience in treating pain, he brings expertise in multiple modalities to our natural pain management practice."

With the increasing demand for personalized healthcare and holistic options for wellness, Oak Brook Medical Group's approach is becoming more and more relevant to today's patients.

Individualized Care for Patients

Individualized care is essential because it recognizes that each patient has their own set of needs, preferences, and circumstances. Healthcare providers should tailor treatment plans to each patient to ensure they receive the best possible care.

"We know that every person experiences pain differently so we use an individualized approach to address your specific condition and symptoms."

Individualized care has been shown to improve patient outcomes significantly. Healthcare providers can address specific health issues more effectively by tailoring treatment plans to each patient. This approach reduces the risk of adverse events and improves the patient's overall quality of life.

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Patients receiving personalized care are more likely to be satisfied with their treatment. They know that their care team is focused on their needs and that they aren't just another name on the list. This knowledge can lead to patients being more comfortable during treatment, thus more willing and able to communicate with their providers openly. Open communication benefits providers and patients, as it allows providers to tailor their care further based on what the patient is experiencing.

Oak Brook's Holistic Approach to Pain Management

Oak Brook Medical Group offers a holistic approach to treating pain. Their center for pain management addresses both physical and emotional aspects of pain by evaluating the problem, identifying its root causes, and working with patients to implement traditional and alternative solutions.

"The body has its own wisdom. We help bring its natural response to pain out through holistic techniques so you can experience true relief," says the team. "We aim to heal what's wrong with your body and mind while helping you get back on track to a healthier life. Oak Brook Medical Group provides a complete continuum of care for patients experiencing pain. It's our mission to assist each patient in achieving optimal wellness through integrative medicine practices. We offer various pain solutions to help you achieve this balance."

By taking this holistic standpoint to healing, Oak Brook Medical Group helps patients develop better coping mechanisms and learn how to manage their chronic pain effectively. Their therapeutic methods combine physical therapy services, chiropractic services, and therapeutic massage services with expanded knowledge of nutrition, personal fitness, and healthy lifestyle habits, so patients can take control of their health and live more actively.

When the source of the pain is removed or addressed, patients will see long-lasting results to reduce symptoms and improve their quality of life.

About Oak Brook Medical Group

Oak Brook Medical Group serves the residents of Oak Brook, Illinois, and the surrounding community by providing comprehensive natural pain management care in various disciplines. Their dedicated professionals and amazing staff work diligently to ensure all patients receive the individualized care they need. With on-staff medical doctors, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists, their team can comprehensively help patients find relief for various pain conditions. In addition, their staff combined is able to speak English, Spanish, and Polish, so they can truly engage with all of their patients.

Oak Brook Medical Group treats patients of all ages and stages of life, including children and infants, expectant mothers, and the elderly. Their physicians and specialists commonly treat individuals who have been injured in an accident, suffer from an overuse injury, are recovering from surgery, or have another condition where severe pain is a symptom.

Contact Information

Patients interested in learning more about holistic pain management can contact Oak Brook Medical Group by calling 630-317-7478 or by sending a message through their online form .

Business Name: Oak Brook Medical Group, Ltd.

Website: https://www.oakbrookmedicalgroup.com/

Phone Number: 630-317-7478

SOURCE: Oak Brook Medical Group, Ltd.





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You can receive the average market return by buying a low-cost index fund. But you can make better returns by buying undervalued shares. Notably, the Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) share price has gained 61% in three years, which is better than the average market return. In contrast, the stock is actually down 8.5% in the last year, suggesting a lack of positive momentum.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

See our latest analysis for Sensata Technologies Holding

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Sensata Technologies Holding was able to grow its EPS at 5.1% per year over three years, sending the share price higher. This EPS growth is lower than the 17% average annual increase in the share price. This indicates that the market is feeling more optimistic on the stock, after the last few years of progress. It is quite common to see investors become enamoured with a business, after a few years of solid progress.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here.

A Different Perspective

Although it hurts that Sensata Technologies Holding returned a loss of 7.6% in the last twelve months, the broader market was actually worse, returning a loss of 13%. Given the total loss of 1.7% per year over five years, it seems returns have deteriorated in the last twelve months. Whilst Baron Rothschild does tell the investor "buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own", buyers would need to examine the data carefully to be comfortable that the business itself is sound. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Sensata Technologies Holding you should know about.

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For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on 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.

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Eplontersen met co-primary endpoints demonstrating sustained reduction in TTR and benefits in neuropathy and quality of life through 66 weeks

35 and 66-week data to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting in April

CARLSBAD, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IONS) today announced positive topline results from the 66-week analysis of the Phase 3 NEURO-TTRansform study of Ionis and AstraZeneca's eplontersen in patients with hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloid polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN), a debilitating and potentially fatal disease that leads to peripheral nerve damage and motor disability.

Ionis logo with tagline (PRNewsfoto/Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)

At 66 weeks, patients treated with eplontersen continued to demonstrate a statistically significant and clinically meaningful change from baseline versus an external placebo group on the co-primary endpoints of modified Neuropathy Impairment Score +7 (mNIS+7), a measure of neuropathic disease progression, and Norfolk Quality of Life Questionnaire-Diabetic Neuropathy (Norfolk QoL-DN). The study also met its third co-primary endpoint demonstrating a statistically significant reduction in serum TTR concentration versus an external placebo group. TTR reductions were consistent with those reported at week 35. Eplontersen continued to demonstrate a safety and tolerability profile consistent with that observed at 35 weeks.

"The positive results from the 66-week analysis of the Phase 3 NEURO-TTRansform trial show that eplontersen provided consistent and sustained transthyretin protein reduction and that a substantial number of patients improved in measures of both neuropathy progression and quality of life," said Sami Khella, M.D., chief, department of neurology, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and professor of clinical neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "This builds on the favorable 35-week results, which first demonstrated eplontersen's potential to significantly improve outcomes in this underserved population."

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"These latest results from our NEURO-TTRansform study represent an important step towards delivering a potential new therapy for ATTRv-PN patients living with this debilitating and fatal disease. We are encouraged by the sustained benefit demonstrated by eplontersen and what a self-administered treatment could mean for patients and families affected by ATTRv-PN," said Eugene Schneider, M.D., executive vice president and chief clinical development officer for Ionis. "Together with our partner AstraZeneca, we look forward to sharing detailed results from this study at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting."

"These results further underscore eplontersen's potential to be a best-in-class treatment across all forms of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis, including polyneuropathy and cardiomyopathy which can lead to heart failure," said Mene Pangalos, executive vice president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca. "With limited treatment options currently available, there is an urgent unmet medical need for new therapies and earlier, accurate diagnosis across the different types of this systemic, progressive and fatal condition."

Data from both the 35 and 66-week analyses will be presented as an Emerging Science presentation at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting in April. The initial results from the 35-week analysis were presented at the International Symposium on Amyloidosis meeting in September 2022.

As part of a global development and commercialization agreement, Ionis and AstraZeneca are seeking regulatory approval for eplontersen for the treatment of ATTRv-PN in the U.S. and plan to seek regulatory approval in Europe and other parts of the world. Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted a New Drug Application for eplontersen for the treatment of ATTRv-PN with a PDUFA action date of Dec. 22, 2023. Eplontersen was granted Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S.

Eplontersen is currently being evaluated in the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform study for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), a systemic, progressive and fatal condition that typically leads to progressive heart failure and often death within three to five years from disease onset.

About the NEURO-TTRansform Study

NEURO-TTRansform is a global, open-label, randomized trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of eplontersen in patients with ATTRv-PN. The trial enrolled adult patients with ATTRv-PN Stage 1 or Stage 2 and up to week 66 eplontersen is being compared to the external placebo group from the NEURO-TTR registrational trial for inotersen that Ionis completed in 2017. The final analysis comparing eplontersen to external placebo was completed at week 66 and all patients will be followed on treatment until week 85, when they will have the option to transition into an open-label extension study. For more information on the NEURO-TTRansform study, please visit: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04136184

About Hereditary Transthyretin-Mediated Amyloid Polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN)

Hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloid polyneuropathy (ATTRv-PN) is caused by the accumulation of misfolded mutated TTR protein in the peripheral nerves. Patients with ATTRv-PN experience ongoing debilitating nerve damage throughout their body resulting in the progressive loss of motor functions, such as walking. These patients also accumulate TTR in other major organs, which progressively compromises their function. The damage from misfolded TTR protein accumulation leads to disability within five years of diagnosis and is generally fatal within a decade.

About Eplontersen

Eplontersen is an investigational LIgand-Conjugated Antisense (LICA) medicine designed to inhibit the production of TTR protein. Eplontersen is being developed as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of ATTR. ATTR amyloidosis is a systemic, progressive and fatal disease in which patients experience multiple overlapping clinical manifestations caused by the inappropriate formation and aggregation of TTR amyloid deposits in various tissues and organs, including peripheral nerves, heart, intestinal tract, eyes, kidneys, central nervous system, thyroid and bone marrow. The progressive accumulation of TTR amyloid deposits in these tissues and organs leads to organ failure and eventually death.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

For more than 30 years, Ionis has been a leader in RNA-targeted therapy, pioneering new markets and changing standards of care with its novel antisense technology. Ionis currently has three marketed medicines and a promising late-stage pipeline highlighted by cardiovascular and neurological franchises. Our scientific innovation began and continues with the knowledge that sick people depend on us, which fuels our vision to become the leader in genetic medicine, utilizing a multi-platform approach to discover, develop and deliver life-transforming therapies.

To learn more about Ionis visit www.ionispharma.com and follow us on Twitter @ionispharma.

Ionis' Forward-looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding Ionis' business and the therapeutic and commercial potential of Ionis' technologies, eplontersen and other products in development. Any statement describing Ionis' goals, expectations, financial or other projections, intentions or beliefs is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, those related to our commercial products and the medicines in our pipeline, and particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing medicines that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics, and in the endeavor of building a business around such medicines. Ionis' forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove correct, could cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Although Ionis' forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by Ionis. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These and other risks concerning Ionis' programs are described in additional detail in Ionis' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of this and other documents are available from the Company.

In this press release, unless the context requires otherwise, "Ionis," "Company," "we," "our," and "us" refers to Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its subsidiaries.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals is a trademark of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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SOURCE Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The Dubai Free Zones Council (DFZC) has affirmed its commitment to achieving the goals of Dubai Economic Agenda (D33), which aims to position Dubai among the top three global cities and double the size of its economy in the next decade.

Headed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Council, DFZC discussed its plan of action in light of the UAEs preparations to host the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Dubai Expo City, a WAM report said.

This was in addition to outlining its packages that simplify services and enhance the experience of foreign investors. The Council also highlighted the importance of attracting Emirati talents to work in free zone companies in Dubai by coordinating with the Emirati Human Resources Development Council in Dubai and several other topics related to the business sectors in the free zones.

Environment-friendly communities

The Council discussed the outcomes of the Free Zones Energy Demand Management Strategy, which seeks to reduce the free zone companies' demand for electricity and energy consumption to achieve sustainability and contribute to achieving the vision to consolidate Dubai's leading position and build innovative and environment-friendly communities.

This strategy paves the way for supporting the objectives of the UAE Net Zero strategic initiative, which seeks to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in conjunction with the Year of Sustainability and preparations to host COP 28.

The strategy aims to reduce demand for energy and water by 30% by 2030 for free zones and companies, in addition to providing added value to businesses. The strategy further outlines methods to introduce innovation, awareness technologies, and processes related to energy demand reduction and sustainability, as well as providing resources, tools, programme, and policies, and reducing the carbon footprint of free zones, in cooperation with the concerned government agencies.

Dubai Model

The Council also explored a proposal to unify the title and classifications of services at Dubai free zones. This follows the methodology adopted by the Dubai Model, which offers packages that contribute to simplifying services, upgrading service channels within free zones, meeting the needs and expectations of clients, and raising their satisfaction levels.

It discussed the importance of attracting Emirati talents to work in free zone companies in Dubai by reviewing the initiatives and achievements realized during the past period. It also affirmed the importance of continuing coordination with free zone authorities to encourage their companies to employ UAE nationals and benefit from government capabilities and incentives, such as the Nafis programme. The Council underlined the need to support these initiatives and maintain collaboration with work teams and the Emirati Human Resources Development Council in Dubai to achieve the best results and empower a new generation of Emirati talents in various sectors within Dubai Free Zones.-- TradeArabia News Service
BEIJING, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ -- JA Solar recently welcomed a delegation from Samsung C&T Corporation -Engineering & Construction Group (hereinafter "Samsung C&T") to its Beijing headquarters and its manufacturing base in Hefei, Anhui Province to seek for deepening ties and cooperation between the two companies.

Samsung C&T delegation visited JA Solar's manufacturing base in Anhui Province

Jin Baofang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JA Solar, extended a warm welcome to Juyoul Kim, Vice President of Samsung C&T's Procurement Team, and his delegation. Jin Baofang and Juyoul Kim commented that, as the two companies have established and strengthened cooperation in developing PV projects, both parties look forward to further strengthening cooperation to promote the application of solar PV and help achieve the goal of carbon neutrality on a global scale, in the wave of carbon reduction for the wellbeing of all mankind.

Samsung C&T is engaged in residential, office, industrial building and infrastructure construction, including the world's tallest 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, and notable civil projects such as the Mersey Gateway in the United Kingdom, the Riyadh Metro in Saudi Arabia. Previously, JA Solar has partnered with Samsung C&T, including the 875MW PV project in Qatar Industrial City and the 88MW PV project in Mangilao, Guam. Among them, the 875MW PV project in Qatar will be the largest PV plant in Qatar when completed, for which JA Solar is supplying more than 1.6 million DeepBlue 3.0 modules. The project is expected launch into operation in 2024 and will play an important role in improving the local energy structure and promoting sustainable economic, social, and environmental development in the region.

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SOURCE JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd.

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Former Global Head of Sustainable Investing Solutions at Goldman Sachs Joins as Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions

SEATTLE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Finance, a corporate strategy and climate investing firm, today announced the appointment of Jen Sullo as Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions. In this role, Jen will be responsible for delivering investment innovation and driving the Firm's continued growth trajectory. Jen will be a partner and sit on the Earth Finance Executive Committee and leadership team.

Jen Sullo joins corporate strategy and climate investing firm Earth Finance as Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions. Jen was formerly Goldman Sachs Global Head of Sustainable Investing Solutions.

Ms. Sullo, 38, joins Earth Finance from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where she was responsible for defining and executing global sustainable strategy, product development and partnerships.

"Jen's career has been dedicated to partnering with investors to develop and incorporate broad sustainability and climate-focused solutions into their portfolios," said Bryan Weeks, CEO of Earth Finance. "Her leadership is unparalleled, and she deeply understands the market opportunity presented by the transition to a low-carbon economy over the next 30 years."

In her work at Goldman Sachs, Jen collaborated cross-divisionally on global sustainable strategy including climate diagnostics and scenario modeling, net zero initiatives, and thematic investment opportunities. She developed broad sustainable investing education for internal and external stakeholders and provided strategic advice to global investors on various topics including decarbonization target setting, benchmarking, regulatory considerations, implementation pathways, and broad Environmental Social Governance (ESG) integration. Jen joined Goldman Sachs with the Rocaton Investment Advisors acquisition in 2019, where she was a Managing Director and ESG Practice Lead. At Rocaton, Jen partnered across institutional and wealth channels to create sustainable solutions for corporate plans, insurance reserves, E+F portfolios, and various financial intermediary platforms. Prior to Rocaton, Jen held positions at J.P. Morgan Corporate & Investment Bank, ING Investment Management and GE Asset Management.

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Jen joins Earth Finance's three founding partners - institutional investment executive Bryan Weeks, former Washington State Senator Reuven Carlyle, and climate strategy expert Garrett Kephart - and a growing team of climate focused professionals.

"The team at Earth Finance understands that investors should consider the effects of climate change within their investments  both from a risk and an opportunity perspective," said Jen Sullo. "I am energized to be working with a team of experts who are dedicated to solutions that help clients achieve their investment goals and, simultaneously, their ambitious climate goals."

About Earth Finance

Earth Finance is a corporate strategy and climate investing firm embracing the intersection of finance, policy and science to accelerate a low-carbon economy. For more information visit www.earthfinance.com or engage on LinkedIn .

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SOURCE Earth Finance, Inc.
K92 Mining Inc.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (K92 or the Company) (TSX: KNT; OTCQX: KNTNF) announces with profound sadness the death of our Chairman, fellow director and friend, R. Stuart Tookie Angus. A deeply respected business advisor to the mining industry, an admired leader and a mentor to many, he had been Chairman of the Company since its inception and its acquisition of the Kainantu Project in 2014.

Considered a giant of the mining industry, for over 40 years, Tookie brought a tremendous passion to everything he did, including structuring, financing and advising on many significant business ventures. His extensive legal and mining career included leading Faskens Global Mining Group and serving as Managing Director of Mergers and Acquisitions for Endeavour Financial. He was also previously Chairman of the Board of BC Sugar Refinery Limited, a director of First Quantum Minerals Ltd., a director of Canico Resource Corp. until its takeover by Brazils CVRD in 2005, a director of Bema Gold Corp. until its takeover by Kinross Gold Corporation in 2007, a director of Ventana Gold Corp. until its takeover by AUX Canada Acquisition Inc. in 2011, and a director of Plutonic Power Corporation until its merger with Magma Energy Corp. in 2011. He resigned as Chair of Nevsun Resources Ltd. following its acquisition of Reservoir Minerals in 2017. In addition to being the Chair of K92, Tookie was also Chair of Sun Summit Minerals Corp. and Kenadyr Mining Corp.

Tookie also had a strong passion for philanthropy and for helping others, as both a donor and a mentor.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, stated, It has been a privilege for myself and our team to work with Tookie and benefit from his business expertise and wise counsel. We mourn his loss and extend our deepest condolences and heartfelt prayers to his family.

Tookie was a man of great integrity and honour, and was an integral part of the success of K92. Within the Company, Tookie was known for being a commensurate team player with deeply respected business acumen, creativity and strategic thinking skills, and also for his excellent sense of humour and charm. He will be missed and long remembered by us all.

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The Company will continue to be supported by the directors, led by Anne Giardini, KC, Lead Director.

About K92

K92 Mining Inc. is engaged in the production of gold, copper and silver at the Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea, as well as exploration and development of mineral deposits in the immediate vicinity of the mine. The Company declared commercial production from Kainantu in February 2018, is in a strong financial position. A maiden resource estimate on the Blue Lake porphyry project was completed in August 2022. K92 is operated by a team of mining company professionals with extensive international mine-building and operational experience.

On Behalf of the Company,

John Lewins, Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact David Medilek, P.Eng., CFA, President at +1-604-416-4445

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: (i) the results of the Kainantu Project Definitive Feasibility Study, and the Kainantu 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment, including the Stage 3 Expansion, a new standalone 1.2 mtpa process plant and supporting infrastructure; (ii) statements regarding the expansion of the mine and development of any of the deposits; and (iii) the Kainantu Stage 4 Expansion, operating two standalone process plants, larger surface infrastructure and mining throughputs.

All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as expect, plan, anticipate, project, target, potential, schedule, forecast, budget, estimate, intend or believe and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could, should or might occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our ability to control, that may cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, without limitation, Public Health Crises, including the COVID-19 Pandemic; changes in the price of gold, silver, copper and other metals in the world markets; fluctuations in the price and availability of infrastructure and energy and other commodities; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; volatility in price of our common shares; inherent risks associated with the mining industry, including problems related to weather and climate in remote areas in which certain of the Companys operations are located; failure to achieve production, cost and other estimates; risks and uncertainties associated with exploration and development; uncertainties relating to estimates of mineral resources including uncertainty that mineral resources may never be converted into mineral reserves; the Companys ability to carry on current and future operations, including development and exploration activities; the timing, extent, duration and economic viability of such operations, including any mineral resources or reserves identified thereby; the accuracy and reliability of estimates, projections, forecasts, studies and assessments; the Companys ability to meet or achieve estimates, projections and forecasts; the availability and cost of inputs; the availability and costs of achieving the Stage 3 Expansion or the Stage 4 Expansion; the ability of the Company to achieve the inputs the price and market for outputs, including gold, silver and copper; inability of the Company to identify appropriate acquisition targets or complete desirable acquisitions; failures of information systems or information security threats; political, economic and other risks associated with the Companys foreign operations; geopolitical events and other uncertainties, such as the conflict in Ukraine; compliance with various laws and regulatory requirements to which the Company is subject to, including taxation; the ability to obtain timely financing on reasonable terms when required; the current and future social, economic and political conditions, including relationship with the communities in Papua New Guinea and other jurisdictions it operates; other assumptions and factors generally associated with the mining industry; and the risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to in the Companys Annual Information Form under the heading Risk Factors.

Estimates of mineral resources are also forward-looking statements because they constitute projections, based on certain estimates and assumptions, regarding the amount of minerals that may be encountered in the future and/or the anticipated economics of production. The estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves is inherently uncertain and involves subjective judgments about many relevant factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The accuracy of any such estimates is a function of the quantity and quality of available data, and of the assumptions made and judgments used in engineering and geological interpretation, Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actual results to differ materially from those that are 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. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.




TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Karora Resources Inc. (TSX: KRR) ("Karora" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the appointment of Leigh Junk to the position of Managing Director, Australia.

Karora Resources Logo (CNW Group/Karora Resources Inc.)

Paul Andre Huet, Chairman & CEO, commented: "I am pleased to welcome Leigh Junk to the Karora team. With over 30 years of mining industry experience, including senior management leadership and operational roles, Leigh is a great fit to provide overall senior leadership at our Australian operations as we execute our growth plan. Leigh's success and experience in both the gold and nickel mining spaces in Western Australia represents a highly strategic addition for Karora as we ramp up our production of both metals. Leigh will report to me, in my role as Chairman and CEO."

Most recently, Leigh Junk was Managing Director of Dacian Gold prior to its takeover by Genesis Minerals in 2022 and, prior to that, was Managing Director of Doray Minerals until its merger with Silver Lake Resources in 2019. Leigh has held senior positions in several other Australian mining companies, including WMC Resources, Mincor Operations and Pilbara Manganese. Mr. Junk was a co-founder of Donegal Resources, a private company that successfully acquired and recommissioned several Nickel operations in the Kambalda, Western Australia area, until it was sold to Canadian miner Brilliant Mining Corp in 2006. Mr. Junk has been a Director of several public companies in the mining and financial sectors in both Australia and Canada.

About Karora Resources

Karora is focused on increasing gold production to a targeted range of 170,000-195,000 ounces by 2024 at its integrated Beta Hunt Gold Mine and Higginsville Gold Operations ("HGO") in Western Australia. The Higginsville treatment facility is a low-cost 1.6 Mtpa processing plant, which is fed at capacity from Karora's underground Beta Hunt mine and Higginsville mines. In July 2022, Karora acquired the 1.0 Mtpa Lakewood Mill in Western Australia. At Beta Hunt, a robust gold Mineral Resource and Reserve are hosted in multiple gold shears, with gold intersections along a 5 km strike length remaining open in multiple directions. HGO has a substantial Mineral gold Resource and Reserve and prospective land package totaling approximately 1,900 square kilometers. Karora has a strong Board and management team focused on delivering shareholder value and responsible mining, as demonstrated by Karora's commitment to reducing emissions across its operations. Karora's common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol KRR and on the OTCQX market under the symbol KRRGF.

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Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" including without limitation statements relating to, among other items, production guidance, timing for completion of capital projects, timing for the commencement of mining, liquidity and capital resources of Karora, organic growth profile and the potential of the Beta Hunt Mine, Higginsville Gold Operation, the Aquarius and Two Boys Projects, Spargos Gold Mine and Lake Cowan prospect.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Karora to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the properties; environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; results of exploration programs; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; or delays in obtaining governmental approvals, projected cash operating costs, failure to obtain regulatory or shareholder approvals. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Karora 's filings with Canadian securities regulators, including the most recent Annual Information Form, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Although Karora has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Karora disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Karora Resources Inc.

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Allied Market Research

Changes in shale oil and gas exploration activity, favorable government initiatives for the adoption of line heaters at production site, efforts to lower pipeline maintenance costs, tighten worker safety regulations in different regions, and easy installation, customizable, reliability, and cost-effective elements of line heater equipment drive the global line heaters market.

Portland, OR, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global line heaters market generated $20.8 million in 2021 and is estimated to reach $34.4 million by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 5.4% from 2022 to 2031. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chains, regional landscapes, and competitive scenarios. The report is a helpful source of information for leading market players, new entrants, investors, and stakeholders in devising strategies for the future and taking steps to strengthen their position in the market.

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Report Coverage & details:

Report coverage Details Forecast Period 2022-2031 Base Year 2021 Market size in 2021 $20.8 Million Market size in 2031 $34.4 Million CAGR 5.4% No. of Pages in Report 302 Segments covered Type, Size, End Use, and Region Drivers Changes in shale oil and gas exploration activity Favorable government initiatives for the adoption of line heaters at production site Efforts to lower pipeline maintenance costs Tightened worker safety regulations in different regions Easy installation, customizable, reliability, and cost-effective elements of line heater equipment Opportunities Increase in oil well excavation projects in different regions Restraints Availability of affordable, effective, and environment-friendly alternative solutions than line heaters

Covid-19 Scenario:

The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the global line heaters market as the demand for oil and gas products drastically decreased. Oil demand and prices reduced by approximately 50% and liquified natural gas price fell to its historic record. The global line heaters market was greatly impacted by the shutdown of distribution facilities and raw material storage.

However, the oil and gas, energy and chemical sector slowly got relief from the pandemic situation as the buying increased in the developing countries. This factor is projected to create lucrative opportunities for the global line heaters market.

Story continues

The report offers a detailed segmentation of the global line heaters market based on type, size, end use, and region. The report provides an analysis of each segment and sub-segment with the help of tables and figures. This analysis helps market players, investors, and new entrants in determining the sub-segments to be tapped on to achieve growth in the coming years.

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Based on type, the indirect line heaters segment held the highest share in 2021, accounting for around three-fourths of the global line heaters market revenue and is expected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. Also, the same segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 5.5% from 2022 to 2031. The report also analyzes direct line heaters segment.

In terms of size, the 1 MM BTU segment accounted for the highest share in 2021, generating more than two-fifths of the global line heaters market revenue and is projected to rule the roost by 2031. The same segment would showcase the fastest CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2031. The report also discusses 1.5 MM BTU and 2 MM BTU segments.

On the basis of end use, the oil and gas industry segment accounted for the highest share in 2021, holding nearly three-fourths of the global line heaters market revenue and is expected to maintain its lead in terms of revenue during the forecast period. Also, the same segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 5.6% from 2022 to 2031. The report also studies chemical industry and other segments.

Based on region, North America held the highest share in 2021, contributing to around two-fifths of the global line heaters market revenue and is projected to maintain its dominant share in terms of revenue during the forecast period. In addition, the LAMEA region is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2031. The report also discusses Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.

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The prominent market players analyzed in the global line heaters market report include Arc Energy, ENERFLEX LTD., Inclusive Energy LTD., Sigma Thermal Inc, Aspire Energy Resources Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Allmand Bros., Inc., Integrated Flow Solutions, Inc., Surplus Energy., 12:eleven Production Equipment, and Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. These market players have embraced several strategies including partnership, expansion, collaboration, joint ventures, and others to highlight their prowess in the industry. The report is helpful in formulating the business performance and developments by the top players.

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SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A Memorandum of Understanding on renewable energy cooperation has been signed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, and Teo Chee Hean, Singapore's Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, at the countries' recent leadership retreat. The agreement will enhance Indonesia's ability to develop renewable energy and will promote cross-border electricity trade for mutual benefit. As a local supplier, LONGi, represented by Dennis Guo, general manager for South East Asia, attended the signing ceremony.

The MOU will promote the development of renewable energy manufacturing and capacity in Indonesia, including solar PV and battery storage systems, which will not only meet domestic electricity demand but also allow excess power to be stored for subsequent use or export, providing investment leverage for power export projects to Singapore.

The agreement will additionally see the two countries collaborate on commercial arrangements and the development of transmission infrastructure for cross-border power trading, which could enable Singapore to achieve its target of importing up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035.

A further MOU signed by LONGi and the "INSPIRA" (Indonesian Solar Panel Industry and Renewable Alliance) consortium is a private-sector initiative to support both countries' government-to-government MoUs which, while paving the way for the 'green corridor' and cross-border clean electricity supply from Indonesia, will also allow developers to share localization, technology transfer and collaboration with Indonesian stakeholders.

As the first PV company operating in Indonesia to obtain SNI certification in 2021, LONGi has maintained a long standing commitment to both the country and its mission of using solar energy to build a greener world.

LONGi's unwavering commitment is to promote low-carbon development and enable everyone to benefit from clean and green energy. The company will continue to collaborate with its partners to supply high-efficiency and high-reliability PV products and solutions for the global energy transition.

Story continues

About LONGi

Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world's leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.

Under its mission of 'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development. www.longi.com/en

Cision

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SOURCE LONGi
Microsoft-recommended solution reduces troubleshooting of Microsoft Teams Room issues from hours to minutes with end-to-end visibility of devices and the surrounding network infrastructure.

ORLANDO, Fla., March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Martello Technologies Group Inc., ("Martello" or the "Company") (TSXV:MTLO), a leading developer of software solutions that optimize the Microsoft Modern Workplace, announced today at Enterprise Connect 2023 new Microsoft Teams Room monitoring and analytics capabilities in Vantage DX V3.10. The solution can now deliver end-to-end visibility into the performance of any number of Microsoft Teams Rooms and devices to improve the hybrid meeting experience. Vantage DX is the only comprehensive, out-of-the-box performance monitoring solution for Microsoft Teams. Martello is providing demos of Vantage DX at Booth #1004.

Martello Vantage DX for Microsoft Teams Rooms (CNW Group/Martello Technologies Group Inc.)

Microsoft Teams Rooms facilitate better meeting experiences in today's hybrid workplaces. They deliver inclusive meeting experiences that put in-room and remote attendees on an equal footing, with high-quality audio and video devices to help everyone be seen and heard, regardless of location. Microsoft Teams Rooms represent an investment not only in technology but real estate and are often used by VIPs in mission-critical meetings. More than 60% of the Fortune 500 have already chosen Microsoft Teams Rooms to connect internal and external stakeholders across the hybrid divide and according to Microsoft, there are more than 500,000 active Teams Rooms devices, up 70% year over year (January 2023).

As Microsoft Teams Rooms become a critical part of the hybrid meeting technology stack, managing them for optimal performance is challenging for IT and audio-visual (AV) teams. The number of Microsoft customers with more than 1,000 rooms has doubled, which means thousands of devices and the network infrastructure they operate on must perform optimally for meetings to run smoothly. IT teams can spend hours trying to find the root cause when there is a problem with a Teams Room meeting.

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Martello Vantage DX improves Microsoft Teams Rooms Management, reducing the time spent troubleshooting problems from hours to minutes. The solution can also position IT and AV teams to proactively detect and fix problems before they can impact meetings. Vantage DX 3.10 brings new dashboards to simplify the management of Microsoft Teams Rooms with the following capabilities:

Know if an MTR is performing poorly  before users complain.

Ensure your MTR devices are working optimally - know if a device is actually online or requires a software update and quickly troubleshoot issues.

Streamline MTR management to reduce time spent troubleshooting performance and redirect IT resources to where they will have a greater impact.

Know which of your MTRs are the busiest and closely monitor them for performance.

Deliver maximum ROI on your MTR investment and ensure VIP meeting satisfaction.

Vantage DX customer Unum is an American Fortune 500 insurance company. A distributed global organization with a hybrid workforce of 14,000 employees, Unum has chosen Vantage DX to stay ahead of issues in the network infrastructure that will negatively impact their employees' Microsoft Teams experience, including their 190 Microsoft Teams Rooms: "Vantage DX has made it significantly easier for us to monitor all of our Teams Rooms. Instead of having to use five different tools to monitor different aspects of the rooms we now have a 'single pane of glass' to monitor them", said Joshua Snipes, Collaborative Technologies Engineer at Unum. "The ability to correlate issues and root causes from a single platform showing us device and peripheral health, Room call quality, Teams service health from Microsoft, and license status all in one location is huge. The icing on the cake is that Vantage DX can generate alerting - no more blowing up your inbox with alerts coming from multiple different sources."

"Our customers can depend on Vantage DX as they deepen their investment in Microsoft Teams capabilities, including Microsoft Teams Rooms", said Rob Doucette, VP Product Management at Martello. "Microsoft Teams is a key engine of productivity in many organizations globally and the latest release of Vantage DX is yet another example of our commitment to giving IT teams the tools they need to ensure the network and IT infrastructure supporting Microsoft Teams works reliably to keep users productive".

Martello is a Microsoft Partner and its Vantage DX software is a Preferred Solution on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

Learn more about Vantage DX for Microsoft Teams Rooms:

Unpack the 5 Reasons Why Monitoring Teams Rooms is Hard in the Modern Workplace: https://martellotech.com/blog/5-reasons-why-monitoring-teams-rooms-is-hard-in-the-modern-workplace/

Learn How to Deliver Better ROI on Your Microsoft Teams Rooms Investment: https://martellotech.com/blog/better-roi-on-your-microsoft-teams-rooms-investment/

See How Vantage DX Transforms Microsoft CQD data into actionable monitoring insights: https://youtu.be/RN5f-bbBguk

Leverage Microsoft Teams Rooms Management to Maximize your ROI: https://martellotech.com/use-cases/microsoft-teams-rooms-management-to-maximize-roi/

Simple Steps to Troubleshoot Teams Rooms Devices with Vantage DX: https://martellotech.com/blog/simple-steps-to-troubleshoot-teams-rooms-with-vantage-dx/

About Martello Technologies Group

Martello Technologies Group Inc. (TSXV: MTLO) is a technology company that provides digital experience monitoring (DEM) 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

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.

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.

Martello Technologies Group (TSXV: MTLO) Logo (CNW Group/Martello Technologies Group Inc.)

SOURCE Martello Technologies Group Inc.

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InsightAce Analytic Pvt. LTd.

Companies Covered in this Study are LyondellBasell (US), Avient Corporation (US), Ampacet Corporation (US), Carbot Corporation (US), Plastika Kritis (Greece), Plastiblends India Ltd. (India), Hubron International (UK)

Jersey City, NJ, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global Masterbatch Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Color, Additive, White, Black, Filler), Polymer (PP, LDPE & LLDPE, HDPE, PVC, PET, PUR, PS), Application (Packaging, Building & Construction, Automotive, Consumer Goods, Textile, Agriculture) - Market Outlook And Industry Analysis 2031"

The global masterbatch market is estimated to reach over USD 21.12 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.17% during the forecast period.

The sale of masterbatch products and associated services is referred to as the masterbatch market. A wide range of sectors, including packaging, consumer goods, construction, automotive, and textiles, use masterbatches to create various products. The desire for high-quality, long-lasting, and affordable products and the rising need for environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions are both major drivers of the masterbatch industry.





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To satisfy the various demands of various sectors and applications, the market is characterized by many producers providing a wide range of masterbatch products. Never decomposing masterbatch is common. The fact that many nations, including those in the European Union, forbid the production and use of these kinds of plastics presents a serious challenge for its manufacturers.



Recent Developments:

In June 2020, Two laser-marking masterbatch solutions with excellent contrast on clear and dark surfaces, Laser Mark 1001074-E and Laser Mark 1001088-E, were introduced by Ampacet Corporation.

In May 2020, PolyOne worked with an injection molder and a major automotive OEM to remove paint from the interior of the new car. Two PC/ABS side panels on the center console of the SUV were given Smartbatch FX masterbatch colorants to replace the paint with Molded-In-Color (MIC) parts.

Story continues

List of Prominent Players in the Masterbatch market:

Schulman, Inc.

Ampacet Corporation

Avient Corporation (US)

Cabot Corporation

Clariant AG

Color, Inc (US)

Global Colors Group

Hubron International Ltd.

LyondellBasell (US)

Penn Color Inc.

Plastiblends India Ltd.

PLASTIKA KRITIS S.A.

PolyOne Corporation

Tosaf Group





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Masterbatch Market Report Scope:

Report Attribute Specifications Market size value in 2022 USD 12.53 Bn Revenue forecast in 2031 USD 21.12 Bn Growth rate CAGR CAGR of 6.17% from 2023 to 2031 Quantitative units Representation of revenue in US$ Million, Volume (KT), and CAGR from 2023 to 2031 Historic Year 2019 to 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2031 Report coverage The forecast of revenue, the position of the company, the competitive market statistics, growth prospects, and trends Segments covered Type, Polymer And Application Regional scope North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Latin America; Middle East & Africa Country scope U.S.; Canada; U.K.; Germany; China; India; Japan; Brazil; Mexico; The UK; France; Italy; Spain; China; Japan; India; South Korea; Southeast Asia; South Korea; Southeast Asia

Market Dynamics:

Drivers-

Plastic is increasingly used in place of metal by businesses in end-user sectors to create their products. This is one of the primary factors fueling the expansion of the masterbatch market. Additionally, more European businesses seek to produce goods that require masterbatch.

The masterbatch market is also anticipated to develop as a result of this. Growth is also fueled by the fact that masterbatch protects and improves the appearance of various products' surfaces in various end-user sectors. Furthermore, consumers spend more on goods with attractive packagings, such as cosmetics and personal care products. For the creation of this lovely package, a masterbatch is required. The pandemic's impact on e-commerce growth was a significant influence on the masterbatch market's expansion as well.

Challenges:

Even high-quality masterbatch frequently uses polymers that are generated from petroleum. Given that petroleum-based products tend to harm the environment as they biodegrade, this provides a problem for the makers.

For instance, they may release dangerous substances into the soil and water supplies. When developing a masterbatch without a petroleum base, these companies are up against a serious obstacle. They must do this because the European Union and the United States have stringent guidelines and high criteria for creating these goods.

Regional Trends:

The Asia Pacific masterbatch market is anticipated to generate significant revenue soon and is anticipated to expand at a rapid CAGR. This has been justified by the region's packaging market's reasonable rate of expansion.

India and China, in particular, implemented tighter laws and regulations governing the automotive sector. The masterbatch market grew as a result of this as well. A sizable consumer base, quick growth in the construction industry, and significant economic development in the areas all contribute to the market's expansion.





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Segmentation of Masterbatch market-

By Type-

Color Masterbatch Standard Color Specialty Color Metallic Pearlescent Fluorescent Phosphorescent Tailor-Made Colors

Additive Masterbatch Antimicrobial Additive Antioxidant Additive Primary Secondary Primary & Secondary Flame Retardant Uv Stabilizer Foaming Agent/Blowing Agent Optical Brightener Nucleating Agent

White Masterbatch

Black Masterbatch

Filler Masterbatch

By Polymer-

PP

LDPE LLDPE

HDPE

PVC

PET

PUR

PS

Others

By Application-

Packaging Rigid Packaging Flexible Packaging

Building & Construction Pipes & Fittings Doors & Windows Fences & Fenestrations Siding

Consumer Goods Electronics Furniture Footwear

Automotive Exterior Interior

Textile

Agriculture

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-

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of the Middle East and Africa





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Recyclable barrier coating experts' new sealant and pilot coating plant help stop plastic waste

REHOVOT, Israel , March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Green-tech company Melodea, Ltd., producer of sustainable barrier coatings for packaging, launches VBseal, its new sustainable packaging solution to cut back plastic waste in consumer-packaged goods. The green coating solution is resistant to water vapor, oil, aroma and has heat-sealing properties. To further these efforts, the company has opened a pilot plant and innovation center, allowing it to serve its customers as well as to demonstrate the new solution. The new site will also test out existing barrier coating products and produce coated reels and pouches at pilot scale.

Melodeas New Solution for Plastic Pollution (PRNewsfoto/Melodea Ltd.)

The amount of plastic used around the worldwith most ending up in landfillscould almost double by 2050 unless urgent action is taken, according to a new study[1]. The report by the Back to Blue group warns that, without significant policy interventions, the amount of plastics consumed across the G20 nations will surpass 450 million tons per year by that datenearly twice the most recently measured 2019 level of 261 million tons.

According to the report, a global ban on unnecessary single-use plastic (SUP) items will be the most effective policy. In March 2022, 175 nations agreed to work together on a United Nations treaty to tackle plastic pollution, and it is expected to be in place by the end of 2024.

Sealed, recycled coating packaging solution

VBseal has exceptional resistance to water vapor and heat-sealing properties, all in one coating. It Joins Melodea's existing eco-friendly barrier coating products, MelOx for oxygen and VBcoat for water vapor and oil and grease. The material is designed to line packaging of fresh foods, cereals, fast foods, confectionary such as biscuits and ice-cream as well as detergents and cosmetics.

It is fully recyclable, gives high performance protection, and in coating machines is a one-stop solution for both water vapor and heat sealing, avoiding the need for two different passes, making it easy to apply and reduces production costs. The VBseal is free of paraformaldehyde (PFA) and bisphenol A (BPA) and is FDA and BfR-compatible.

Story continues

"Packaging producers have an urgent need for a sustainable barrier coating that has both water vapor protection and heat sealable properties and can replace the commonly used plastic PE layer," explains Cee Azerraf, PhD, VP Sales & Marketing of Melodea. "Our R&D team worked on this new product joining our existing VBcoat and, as with all of our products, it was crucial that it be recyclable and easy to apply on existing coating lines."

New pilot plant

With the growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions, manufacturers are constantly evaluating emerging solutions at a scaled pilot. To that end, Melodea has opened its new pilot center and invested USD500,000 in advanced equipment and analytics tools to support CPG companies and packaging producers in their efforts to meet sustainability goals in green packaging. The new center will serve companies across the packaging value chain in exploring sustainable barrier solutions in plastic, paper, and bioplastics.

"We offer our clients a location to evaluate their products using our eco-friendly solutions, with full control of the coating process," Shaul Lapidot, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Melodea. "We can utilize Melodea's R&D team's vast know-how of coatings with optimizing barrier performance, and analyze the results on site, as well as help shorten time-to-market for new products and packages."

Many of the world's largest CPG companies have made public commitments that 100% of their packaging will be recyclable or reusable within the next 5-10 years, and so are moving away from single-use plastics. This timeline is being accelerated by public demand. "We are excited to work with producers of food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and agriculture products as well as packaging companies, at the new plant to help them to reach their goals," adds Lapidot.

About Melodea

Melodea Ltd. is a global supplier of sustainable plant-based barrier coating products. The coatings are produced and commercialized globally using Melodea's proprietary technology which is protected by an impressive 14 patents. The company was a winner of the prestige Worldstar Packaging Award for 2020. Melodea is an Israeli start-up with global investors from the pulp, paper, and chemical industries. It has global partners along the entire packaging value chain including CPG and packaging companies.

For more information, contact:

Company contact:

Melodea Ltd.

Ms. Galia Greenbaum

Business Development Manager

E-mail: info@melodea.eu

Web: www.melodea.eu

Press Contact:

NutriPR

Liat Simha

Tel: +972-9-9742893

E-mail: liat@nutripr.com

Twitter: @NutriPR_

Website: www.nutripr.com

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiehailstone/2023/02/27/plastic-consumption-could-nearly-double-by-2050-study-warns/?sh=30a2c2a07f5d

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2040788/Melodea_team.jpg

Cision

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SOURCE Melodea Ltd.
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Meridian Mining UK. S (TSX:MNO)(Frankfurt/Tradegate:2MM)(OTCQB:MRRDF) ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing drill program at Cabacal ("Figure 1"). Drill hole CD-240 has intersected a wide high-grade copper zone that grades 34.5m @ 5.3% CuEq[1] / 7.9g/t AuEq (4.0% Cu, 1.7g/t Au & 22.4g/t Ag) with the core of the high-grade feeder zone returning 12.8m @ 12.7% CuEq / 19.0g/t AuEq (9.7% Cu, 4.0g/t Au & 55.8g/t Ag) ("Figure 2"). This is the highest-grade copper interval ("Table 1") ever drilled in the history of Cabacal, with peak assay grades of 17.9% Cu and 34.1 g/t Au, and multiple copper assays grading greater than 17.0% Cu ("Photo 1"; "Table 2"). This rich feeder zone is considered open, with further drill results from Cabacal to be released in the near future.

Highlights Reported Today

Meridian's CD-240 drills the highest-grade VMS copper-gold feeder zone to date at Cabacal;

Cabacal's highest grade copper zone returns: 34.5m @ 5.3% CuEq / 7.9g/t AuEq (4.0% Cu, 1.7g/t Au & 22.4g/t Ag) from 125.35m; including: 12.8m @ 12.7% CuEq / 19.0g/t AuEq (9.7% Cu, 4.0g/t Au & 55.8g/t Ag) from 129.9m; Peak assay grades of 17.9% Cu, 34.1 g/t Au, 105g/t Ag; and CD-240 high-grade zone remains open.



Dr. Adrian McArthur, CEO, comments : "The highest-grade VMS results reported today from CD-240's copper-gold feeder zone highlight the tremendous upside that Cabacal continues to offer. This trend has the potential to enhance the existing resource base and extends below the current open pit design. The targeting of this open mineralization in the Southern Copper Zone ("SCZ") is part of the ongoing drill program. We expect these results to deliver a positive contribution to the next phase of economic studies. Our technical team continues to analyse the historical data which led directly to these significant results in the high-grade SCZ's extensions."

Photo 1: CD-240's highest grading mineralized intervals

Story continues

Meridian Mining UK S, Sunday, March 26, 2023, Press release picture

SCZ Copper Sulphide Feeder System

The Company will include this new zone, and the multiple of other higher-grade trends, defined since August 2022, in the upcoming Cabacal resource update. CD-240's high-grade feeder zone ("Table 2") and its broader halo, are not in the current resource model. When included in the future resource upgrade, these results will improve localized metal content and economics (the block model's grades in CD-240's position are typically in the range of ~0.8 to 3.0g/t AuEq, compared to the average of 7.9g/t AuEq over the 34.5m intersection). The ongoing drill program aims to delineate the SCZ's extensions, which were not historically mined due to the historic gold focused cut-off grade, despite containing exceptional copper grades.

Figure 1: Location of SCZ drill hole CD-240

Meridian Mining UK S, Sunday, March 26, 2023, Press release picture

CD-240 is in a high-grade copper-gold feeder zone within the SCZ, also intersected by the historical holes JUSPD596, JUSPD482, and CAIK211. Unfortunately, complete data for ~28,000m of historical drilling including these intersections and others cannot be located, and therefore was not able to be used in Cabacal's[2] 2022 resource calculation. The three SCZ intersections are quoted in a 1990 report on Cabacal's potential[3]:

JUSPD596: 15.0m @ 5.2% Cu, 2.7g/t Au & 9.5g/t Ag;

JUSPD482: 13.4m @ 5.5% Cu, 1.3g/t Au & 24.7g/t Ag; and

CAIK211: 29.3m @ 6.0% Cu, 3.1g/t Au & 28.8g/t Ag.

Figure 2: Top: cross-sections of drill hole CD-240, bottom close up Cabacal CD-240 and resource model

Meridian Mining UK S, Sunday, March 26, 2023, Press release picture

Meridian's team recently recovered some of BP's 1980s drill rig bulletins from a local warehouse, including JUSPD596's bulletin. This helped confirm the SCZ's high-grade copper-gold extensions with CD-240's success. Reviews of these bulletins continue. The 1990 report estimated the SCZ's high-grade extensions had dimensions of 80 to 100m long, 10 to 20m wide, and up to 25m thick, with VMS depositional controls. Further drilling will be conducted to confirm the zone's geometry and extension, but the CD-240 result is consistent with these interpretations. CD-240's strong results will have a positive impact both within the current PEA pit shell[4] and below the modelled pit floor.

Table 1: CD-240 composites

Meridian Mining UK S, Sunday, March 26, 2023, Press release picture

Table 2: CD-240 high-grade feeder zone assay results

Meridian Mining UK S, Sunday, March 26, 2023, Press release picture

About Meridian

Meridian Mining UK S is focused on the development and exploration of the advanced staged Cabacal VMS goldcopper project, the regional scale exploration of the Cabacal VMS belt, the exploration in the Jauru & Araputanga Greenstone belts all located in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil and exploring the Espigao polymetallic project in the State of Rondonia, Brazil.

Cabacal is a gold-copper-silver rich VMS deposit with the potential to be a standalone mine with in the 50km VMS belt. Cabacal's base and precious metal-rich mineralization is hosted by volcanogenic type, massive, semi-massive, stringer, and disseminated sulphides within units of deformed metavolcanic-sedimentary rocks. A later-stage sub-vertical gold overprint event has emplaced high-grade gold mineralization cross-cutting the dipping VMS layers.

The Cabacal Mineral Resource estimate consists of Indicated resources of 52.9 million tonnes at 0.6g/t gold, 0.3% copper and 1.4g/t silver and Inferred resources of 10.3 million tonnes at 0.7g/t gold, 0.2% copper & 1.1g/t silver (assuming a 0.3 g/t gold equivalent cut-off grade), including a higher-grade near-surface zone supporting a starter pit. Readers are encouraged to read the NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled "Independent Technical Report, Mineral Resource Estimate for the Cabacal VMS deposit, Cabacal Project, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil" available for download on Meridian's website at www.meridianmining.co and under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com The Technical Report was prepared by H&S Consultants Pty. Ltd. ("H&SC"), as principal consultant, MB Geologia Ltda. and SGS North America Inc. ("SGS").

The Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") outlines a base case after-tax NPV5 of USD 573 million and 58.4% IRR from a pre-production capital cost of USD 180 million, leading to capital repayment in 10.6 months (assuming metals price scenario of USD 1,650 per ounces of gold, USD 3.59 per pound of copper, and USD 21.35 per ounce of silver). Cabacal has a low All-in-Sustaining-Cost of USD 671 per ounce gold equivalent for the first five years, driven by high metallurgical recovery, a low life-of-mine strip ratio of 2.1:1, and the low operating cost environment of Brazil. The Company announced the results from its PEA on March 6, 2023. The PEA technical report in support of the Company's news release of March 6, 2023, is expected to be filed by the end of March 2023. The qualified persons for the PEA technical report are: Robert Raponi (P. Eng), Principal Metallurgist with Ausenco Engineering), Scott Elfen (P. E.), Global Lead Geotechnical and Civil Services with Ausenco Engineering), Simon Tear (PGeo, EurGeol), Principal Geological Consultant of H&SC, Joseph Keane (Mineral Processing Engineer; P.E), of SGS, and Guilherme Gomides Ferreira (Mine Engineer MAIG) of GE21 Consultoria Mineral.

Cabacal has excellent infrastructure with access by all-weather roads, clean electricity provided by nearby hydroelectric power stations, and local communities provide mining services and employees.

Readers are cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature and is intended to provide an initial assessment of the Cabacal's economic potential and development options. The PEA mine schedule and economic assessment includes numerous assumptions and is based on inferred mineral resources. Inferred resources 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 PEA results will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Additional exploration will be required to potentially upgrade the classification of the inferred mineral resources to be considered in future advanced studies.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S

Dr. Adrian McArthur

CEO and Director

Meridian Mining UK S

Email: info@meridianmining.net.br

Ph: +1 (778) 715-6410 (PST)

Technical Note

Gold equivalents are calculated as AuEq(g/t) = (Au(g/t) * %Recovery) + (1.492*(Cu% * %Recovery)) + (0.013*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)).

Copper equivalents are calculated as CuEq(%) = (Cu% * %Recovery) = (0.6703*(Au(g/t) * %Recovery)) + (0.0087*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)), where:

Au_recovery_ppm = 5.4368ln(Au_Grade_ppm)+88.856;

Cu_recovery_pct = 2.0006ln(Cu_Grade_pct)+94.686

Ag_recovery_ppm = 13.342ln(Ag_Grade_ppm)+71.037

Recoveries based on 2022 metallurgical testwork on core submitted to SGS Lakefield. Gold price US$1,650/oz; Silver US$21.35/oz; Copper US$3.59/lb. Gold analyses at SGS have been conducted by FAA505 (fire assay of a 50g charge), and base metal analysis by methods ICP40B and ICP40B_S (four acid digest with ICP-OES finish). Samples are held in the Company's secure facilities until dispatched and delivered by staff and commercial couriers to the laboratory. The Company submits a range of quality control samples, including blanks and gold and polymetallic standards supplied by Rocklabs, ITAK and OREAS, supplementing laboratory quality control procedures. In BP sampling, gold was analysed historically be fire assay and base metals by three acid digest and ICP finish. Silver was analysed by samples were analysed by aqua regia digest with an atomic absorption finish. True width is considered to be 80-90% of intersection width.

Qualified Person

Dr. Adrian McArthur, B.Sc. Hons, Ph.D. FAusIMM., CEO and President of Meridian as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, verified and approved the technical information in this news release.

Stay up to date by subscribing for news alerts here: https://meridianmining.co/contact/

Follow Meridian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeridianMining

Further information can be found at: www.meridianmining.co

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Meridian believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Meridian cautions investors that any forward-looking statements 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 timing and successful completion of an updated mineral resource; the Company's expectations regarding Cabacal's PEA; capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates; changes in world metal markets; changes in equity markets; ability to achieve goals; that the political environment in which the Company operates will continue to support the development and operation of mining projects; the threat associated with outbreaks of viruses and infectious diseases, including the novel COVID-19 virus; risks related to negative publicity with respect to the Company or the mining industry in general; reliance on a single asset; planned drill programs and results varying from expectations; unexpected geological conditions; local community relations; dealings with non-governmental organizations; delays in operations due to permit grants; environmental and safety risks; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Meridian's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. While these factors and assumptions are considered reasonable by Meridian, in light of management's experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, Meridian can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Meridian disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.

[1] See technical notes.

[2] See Meridian News release, September 26, 2022

[3] Mason R and Kerr D (1990) Cabacal I Mine - Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Definition of Ore Zones and Potential for New Ore Reserves. Internal report for Mineracao Santa Martha

[4] See Meridian News release, March 6, 2023

SOURCE: Meridian Mining UK S





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Putin: Al-Assad open to Russian backing of Syrian rebels groups

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would allow Russia to simultaneously support his embattled regime and the opposition groups fighting inside his country, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

GALLERY

A handout frame grab from a video footage made available on the official website of the Russian Defence Ministry on 21 October 2015 shows an aerial view of bomb explosion after airstrike carried out by a Russian warplane against what Russian Defence Minitry says a terrorist militant group position in Aleppo province in Syria. Russia in September began a bombing campaign against militant groups in Syria to support al-Assads government, one of Russias closest allies in the Middle East.

Moscow (dpa) - Putin said al-Assad was "positive" toward the prospect of Russia giving aid to Syrian rebels who are fighting the Islamic State militant group, which controls wide areas of the country."I asked him what his attitude will be if ... we support (rebel) efforts in the fight against terrorists like (Russia helps) the Syrian Army. He said he was positive about that," Putin said, according to Russias TASS news agency.Al-Assad flew to Moscow for talks Tuesday with his long-time ally, his first trip abroad in more than four years since the outbreak of insurgencies in Syria.Putins proposal comes as Moscow faces criticism that its recently launched military campaign in Syria serves mainly to bolster al-Assad by targeting moderate rebels groups - not extremist militias such as the Islamic State group.Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov will meet Friday in Vienna with US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the Syria conflict.A US-led military coalition has been striking Islamic State forces and other extremists since September 2014.In comments made while meeting with political and business leaders at the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia, Putin said three weeks of Russian air and missile strikes in Syria are "bringing encouraging results," but much work was left to be done.The United States has repeatedly called for al-Assad to step down, arguing that his departure is key to ending four and a half years of armed conflict, which arose from peaceful anti-government protests in 2011. More than 250,000 people have died in the conflict, according to UN estimates.Putin once again rejected the US position. "How can we from the outside make decisions and raise questions on whether or not the leader of a foreign country should stay in power?" he asked.The emphasis should not be a political transition away from al-Assad but on battlefield success, Putin said.A military victory "does not eliminate all problems, but it can create conditions for a political process with the participation of all healthy, patriotic forces in Syrian society," Putin said in Sochi, the Interfax news agency reported.
Birla Carbon, one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon black solutions, will exhibit an innovative range of carbon black products at the European Coatings Show 2023, in Nuremberg, Germany, from March 28 to 30.

The products are widely used in the coatings, inks, adhesives and sealants industry for their performance features such as high jetness, tint strength, easy dispersion, and good compatibility.

We are delighted to be participating in the European Coatings Show 2023, said John Davidson, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Birla Carbon. The event will help showcase our wide range of Raven, Conductex, and Continua SCM products that make Birla Carbon the one stop shop, as a sustainable carbon black solutions provider, for coatings applications. With our commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we strive to reduce environmental footprint while delivering the same high-quality products.

The European Coatings Show 2023 will help showcase Birla Carbons performance grade carbon black solutions while promoting sustainability, and circularity at scale. It will also bring together experts and professionals from the coatings industry to discuss the latest trends, technologies, and innovations in the coatings and paint industry, the company said. -TradeArabia News Service
The New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada expresses intent to

become Credentialing Body

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) and the New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (New SRO) are working on how the New SRO can become a credentialing body for financial advisors under FSRA's Financial Professionals Title Protection Framework.

FSRA logo (CNW Group/Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario)

If agreed, New SRO will have the authority to grant credential(s) that permit the use of the 'Financial Advisor' title in Ontario under Ontario's Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, 2019 (FPTPA). The approval will be subject to conditions as outlined in the Financial Professionals Title Protection (FPTP) Rule and related guidance.

The OSC, in coordination with the Canadian Securities Administrators, oversees and recognizes New SRO as the self-regulatory organization that regulates, among other things, individuals working at mutual fund or investment dealers that provide investment advice to Ontario consumers. As such, FSRA, the OSC and New SRO are working together to ensure that New SRO's participation as a credentialing body under the title protection framework would not result in regulatory duplication.

FSRA will be proposing an amendment to the FSRA Fee Rule that, if approved, would reduce New SRO's fees, to recognize that the OSC already provides oversight of its activities.

"This is a positive step forward and, once implemented, will provide a tremendous benefit for both consumers and financial services professionals in Ontario," said Mark White, FSRA CEO. "Participation of New SRO under the title protection framework, and the support of the OSC, furthers FSRA's continued efforts to protect consumers and to foster a sustainable, competitive financial services sector."

New SRO, which launched in January 2023, is a consolidation of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA), with a mandate to protect investors and support healthy Canadian Capital Markets. Becoming a credentialing body under FSRA's title protection framework will support this focus on enhanced investor protection.

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"Accreditation through New SRO will maintain high proficiency standards and give investors confidence that they are dealing with qualified and committed Financial Advisors," said Andrew Kriegler, CEO, New SRO. "Allowing credentials to be approved by New SRO enables thousands of highly qualified financial services professionals in Ontario to use the Financial Advisor title, while avoiding any duplication of regulatory requirements or cost,"

FSRA-approved credentialing bodies are responsible for overseeing the conduct of their Financial Planner and Financial Advisor credential holders and enforcing compliance with minimum requirements. Credentialing bodies must have robust supervision processes and a code of conduct.

"We are pleased to see FSRA and New SRO move forward with a model that recognizes the OSC's oversight," said Grant Vingoe, CEO of the OSC.

Officially being recognized as a Financial Advisor will further strengthen the value of New SRO registrants and the recognition of their education and expertise. In addition, consumers will have added confidence that these title users have a minimum standard of education, are being actively supervised and are subject to a robust complaints and discipline process.

Learn More:

The title protection framework came into effect when the FPTPA and the FPTP Rule came into force in March 2022.

Until June 2023, FSRA will, as previously announced, continue to focus its resources on approving credentialing bodies and assisting them with the implementation of the title protection framework. FSRA's enforcement activities with respect to non-compliant title users will continue to focus on responding to consumer complaints and protecting consumers from harm by requesting non-compliant title users to voluntarily cease title use within 30 days.

FSRA will also continue to maintain a list of approved credentialing bodies and credentials on its website, to assist title users and consumers in identifying credentials that enable the use of the Financial Planner and Financial Advisor titles. To ensure ongoing consumer protection, FSRA will continue to monitor the market for any changes in title use and communicate additional information to the industry as needed.

To find out more about FSRA's title protection framework and other credentialing bodies, please visit FSRA's Financial Planners and Financial Advisors Industry page.

FSRA continues to work on behalf of all stakeholders, including consumers, to ensure financial safety, fairness, and choice for Ontarians.

For Media Inquiries, please contact:

Russ Courtney

Senior Media Relations and Digital Officer

Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario

Email: russ.courtney@fsrao.ca

Tel: 437-225-8551

New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (New SRO)

Julia K. Mackenzie

Manager, Public Affairs

Telephone:

416-919-4622

Email: jmackenzie@iiroc.ca

Ontario Securities Commission

Email: media_inquiries@osc.gov.on.ca

SOURCE Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario

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Texas-based Nespon Solutions and Latin American and Spain-based Certa Consulting will combine, creating a global Salesforce partner with presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia. In a world increasingly demanding digital transformation expertise, Nespon and Certa become a new global player in the Salesforce and IT solutions realm.

DALLAS, March 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As of March 27, 2023, Texas-based Nespon Solutions has completed the acquisition of Latin American-born Certa Consulting and will empower their workforces, creating a global Salesforce partner with presence in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

The resulting business team will hold over 500 certifications and operate 4 global Centers of Excellence in North America, Latin America and Asia as their basis for global support of customer engagements from Salesforce to custom development for mobile, web and databases, plus automation and digital transformations.

Umer Fazal, Nespon Solutions CEO believes this is the right move to take Nespons "Intelligence with Humility" approach beyond their loyal customer base, into Europe and Latin America, with a stronger value proposition, offering deep industry expertise to exceed demanding customer expectations, in delivery timelines and quality standards at attractive rates.

For Daniel Mark, partner at Certa Consulting, and now Nespon-Certa Latam & Iberia President, the agreement "will reinforce the commitment to our customers, partners and people in the regions we currently serve, with the added value of being part of a very dynamic and growing global organization."

Salesforce is the world`s leading platform for Customer Relationship Management across industries, connecting companies and their customers in a cloud-based solution that has become the global standard when it comes to digital transformation.

"With Certa, plus our anticipated acquisitions in 2023 and 2024, we are seeing a material opportunity to expand and attract new clients with our global reach and presence," said Umer Fazal.

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About Nespon Solutions

Nespon Solutions is a proven IT consulting partner that clients rely upon for delivering the highest quality technology solutions that span Salesforce, custom web and mobile development, data migrations and complete digital transformations. Since 2008, Nespon has been providing IT services to leading enterprise clients and Service Integrators to help accelerate project timelines and ensure quality for complex projects. For more information, visit www.nespon.com

About Certa Consulting

Company created in 2010 by Javier Roldan and Daniel Mark with the mission of helping clients to improve their Customer Journey by using Salesforce, the leading global customer relationship platform, leveraging founders' lifelong experience handling sales teams and commercial operations. For more information visit www.certaconsulting.net

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005099/en/

Contacts

For media inquiries, contact Mike Bek, mike.bek@nespon.com, or +1 (214) 281-3869
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Nextech3D.AI (formally "Nextech AR Solutions Corp" or the "Company") (OTCQX:NEXCF)(CSE:NTAR)(FSE:EP2), a Generative AI-Powered 3D model supplier for Amazon, P&G, Kohls and other major e-commerce retailers is pleased to announce that CEO Evan Gappelberg will present on March 29, 2023 at Virtual Investor Summit Microcap Event.

This live, interactive online event will give existing shareholders and the investment community the opportunity to interact with the Company's CEO, Evan Gappelberg in real time.

Conference Presentation Details

Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Time: 11:30 A.M. EST / 8:30 A.M PST

Location: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LZeCRswXS3-prrdPq7_dwQ



Please register in advance to ensure you are able to attend the conference and receive any updates that are released.

Nextech3D.ai individual and institutional investors, as well as advisors and analysts, to attend CEO Evan Gappelberg's real-time, interactive presentation, showcasing Nextech's groundbreaking 3D modeling and AR wayfinding technologies. Using breakthrough AI, Nextech3D.ai is able to quickly, easily, and affordably create vast quantities and varieties of existing assets at scale making products, people and places ready for interactive 3D use.

The theme is micro-cap companies with a catalyst and/or strong performance in the current market 1x1s will be available for qualified investors. The conference is completely complimentary to qualified investors. Please register at Complimentary Investor Registration by clicking here

Latest News

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About the Investor Summit

The Investor Summit is an exclusive, independent conference dedicated to connecting smallcap and microcap companies with qualified investors. The Investor Summit will take place virtually, featuring micro-cap companies and institutional, family office, and high net worth investors. Sectors Participating: Biotech, Communication Services, Consumer, Energy, Technology, Financial, Healthcare, Industrials, Materials, Real Estate. Contact: emily@investorsummitgroup.com

About Nextech3D.ai

(formally "Nextech AR Solutions Corp" or the "Company") (OTCQX:NEXCF)(CSE:NTAR)(FSE:EP2) is a diversified augmented reality, AI technology Company that leverages proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) to create 3D experiences for the metaverse. Its main businesses are creating 3D WebAR photorealistic models for the Prime Ecommerce Marketplace as well as many other online retailers. The Company develops or acquires what it believes are disruptive technologies and once commercialized, spins them out as stand-alone public Companies issuing a stock dividend to shareholders while retaining a significant ownership stake in the public spin-out.

On October 26, 2022 Nextech3D.ai spun out its spatial computing platform, "ARway" as a stand alone public Company. Nextech3D.ai retained a control ownership in ARway Corp. with 13 million shares, or a 50% stake, and distributed 4 million shares to Nextech AR Shareholders. ARway is currently listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE:ARWY), in USA on the (OTC:ARWYF) and Internationally on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE:E65). ARway Corp. is disrupting the augmented reality wayfinding market with a no-code, no beacon spatial computing platform enabled by visual marker tracking.

On December 14, 2022 Nextech announced its second spinout of Toggle3D, an AI-powered 3D design studio to compete with Adobe. Toggle3D is expected to be public in the first half of 2023.

To learn more, please follow us on Twitter , YouTube , Instagram , LinkedIn , and Facebook , or visit our website: https://www.Nextechar.com .

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations Contact

Lindsay Betts

investor.relations@Nextechar.com

866-ARITIZE (274-8493) Ext 7201

Nextech3D.ai

Evan Gappelberg

CEO and Director

866-ARITIZE (274-8493)

Forward-looking Statements

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the completion of the transaction are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nextech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Nextech3D.ai





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With U.S. Treasury and corporate bond yields rising, American investors have more options outside the equity market than they have for years, just as stocks are near their most expensive on a historical basis. Its a combination that will result in U.S. households selling $750 billion worth of their stock holdings in 2023 as a new era for markets begins, according to David J. Kostin, Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist.

For years after the Great Recession of 2008, many investors lived by a mantra called TINAor there is no alternative to stocks. The idea being that with interest rates near zero, savings accounts, U.S. Treasuries, and corporate bonds werent offering attractive returns, so the stock market was the only option.

But when the Federal Reserve began aggressively raising interest rates in March 2022 in order to fight the rise of inflation, a new era began. TINA is now TARAor there are reasonable alternatives Kostin argues, pointing to bonds and treasuries as new viable options for investors.

[F]lows into money market and bond funds signal an escalating household shift away from equities and toward the alternatives, he wrote in a recent research note.

American households currently invest 40% of their financial assets into equities, but thats changing. Even before Marchs string of bank failures sent financial stocks tumbling, rising interest rates were driving many investors, particularly more conservative ones, away from equity markets.

Household equity demand, adjusted for hedge fund buying, fell 78% year over year to just $209 billion in 2022, according to data from Goldman Sachs and the Federal Reserve. And investors pulled $52 billion from U.S. equity ETFs and mutual funds through March 23 while piling $425 billion into money market funds that invest in short-term debt like U.S. Treasury bills over the same period. Kostin said the data reflected an increasing investor preference for lower-risk, yield-bearing assets.

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Hes not the only one making the argument that investors stock obsession is coming to an end. Brendan Murphy, head of Core Fixed Income, North America at Insight Investment, told Fortune earlier this year that TINA justified a shift into riskier assets and became embedded in investor psychology after the Great Recession.

It may take time for markets to readjust to a world where lower-risk assets provide meaningful returns, but as they do, flows should follow, he said, adding that there will be a gradual reallocation from higher-risk to lower-risk assets in the years ahead.

Analysts have described the coming migration away from stocks as everything from TIARAthere is a realistic alternativeto TAPASthere are plenty of alternatives, but Goldman Sachs new data provides, for the first time, some insight into just how sizable that migration could be.

The investment banks strategists laid out a downside case for the U.S. stock market, where the yield on the 10-year treasury continues to rise and consumers dramatically increase their savings rate, leading even more money to be pulled from stocks. If that happens, U.S. households could sell up to $1.1 trillion in stock this year. For comparison, at the end of 2022, total U.S. equity ownership was $65 trillion.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

More from Fortune:
MELVILLE, N.Y., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) continues to expand in Texas as we announce our newest partnership with Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, part of Methodist Healthcare, to provide anesthesia services beginning June 1, 2023.

NAPA_Logo_NoTag_4C_Revised (PRNewsfoto/NAPA Management Services Corporation)

NAPA will be recruiting 16 clinicians and implementing a Physician/CRNA care team model to deliver anesthesia services at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan in San Antonio, Texas. The 378-bed hospital features 12 operating suites, 16 NICU beds, and a dedicated women's pavilion.

NAPA is the largest single-specialty anesthesia and pain management company in the U.S., with nearly 6,000 clinicians providing anesthesia at hundreds of hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and office-based locations across 21 states.

"We are very excited to partner with NAPA," Greg Seiler, Chief Executive Officer at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, said. "We know this collaboration will aid us in maintaining our high standards of patient care thanks to NAPA's expertise and reliable anesthesia services."

Chris Duperier, MD, MBA, NAPA's Regional Vice President for the Western U.S. Region, said, "NAPA is thrilled to be moving into the San Antonio market and working with Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan. We are proud to partner with the hospital and provide dependable and trusted anesthesia clinicians who can keep cases on track for their surgeons and patients. From our quality programs and our robust recruiting engine to our commitment to patient experience and surgeon satisfaction, NAPA is that collaborative and accountable partner."

About NAPA

As a clinician-led organization, North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) is redefining healthcare, delivering unsurpassed excellence to its partners and patients every day. NAPA has grown to become the nation's leading single-specialty anesthesia and pain management company. Our nearly 6,000 clinicians serve more than 2 million patients annually at nearly 450 healthcare facilities in 21 states. Please visit NAPAanesthesia.com for more information.

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About Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan

Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan is a 378-bed hospital that provides a complete range of healthcare services to residents of downtown San Antonio and the surrounding area, including Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, and Olmos Park. The campus includes a free-standing Women's Pavilion, the only free-standing facility in downtown San Antonio completely dedicated to the health of women and their newborn babies. In 2022, Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan posted its 12th consecutive "A" Grade for Patient Safety and its 6th designation as a "Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality" by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

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SOURCE NAPA Management Services Corporation
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Bambuser AB (STO:BUSER)(FRA:5JL) The shareholders of Bambuser AB, reg.no. 556731-3126, (the "Company") are hereby given notice of the annual general meeting on Thursday, 27 April 2023 at 05:00 p.m. at Advokatfirman Delphi at Master Samuelsgatan 17 in Stockholm, Sweden. Registration for the annual general meeting will commence at 04:30 p.m.

Participation at the meeting

Shareholders who wish to participate at the meeting must:

both be listed as shareholder in the presentation of the register of shareholders prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB concerning the circumstances on Wednesday, 19 April 2023, and

no later than Friday, 21 April 2023 have notified their attendance to the Company.

Notification shall be made in writing to the Company at the address Bambuser AB, "AGM", Regeringsgatan 55, SE-111 56 Stockholm, Sweden or via e-mail to generalmeeting@bambuser.com. Notification of attendance must include name, personal or corporate identification number, number of shares, address, telephone number and information about deputies, proxies and advisors. The maximum number of advisors is two.

Nominee registered shares

Shareholders who have their shares registered in the name of a nominee must, in order to exercise their voting rights at the meeting, register their shares in their own name through the nominee, so that the shareholder is registered in the register of shareholders kept by Euroclear Sweden AB on the record date on Wednesday, 19 April 2023. Such registration may be temporary (so-called voting rights registration). Shareholders who wish to register shares in their own name must, in accordance with the procedures of the respective nominee, request the nominee to carry out such voting rights registration. Voting rights registrations requested by the shareholder in such time that the registration has been made by the nominee no later than Friday, 21 April 2023 will be taken into account in the presentation of the register of shareholders.

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Proxies

Shareholders represented by proxy shall issue a power of attorney in writing, signed and dated by the shareholder, for the proxy. If issued by a legal entity, the power of attorney shall be accompanied by a certificate of registration, or if such document does not exist, other corresponding documents attesting to the authority of the signatory. In order to facilitate the entry to the general meeting a copy of the power of attorney form (with documents attesting the authority of the signatory) should be sent via e-mail to generalmeeting@bambuser.com, together with the notice of attendance. The power of attorney may not be issued earlier than five years before the meeting. A power of attorney form is available at the Company and on the Company's website, https://ir.bambuser.com/corporate-governance/general-meeting, and will be sent to shareholders who so requests and provide their postal or e-mail address.

Proposed agenda

1. Opening of the meeting and election of the chairman of the meeting

2. Preparation and approval of the voting list

3. Approval of the agenda

4. Election of one or two persons to check the minutes

5. Determination of whether the meeting has been duly convened

6. Submission of the annual report and auditor's report and consolidated accounts and the auditor's report on the consolidated accounts

7. Resolution on

a) adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet,

b) allocation of the Company's result in accordance with the adopted balance sheet, and

c) discharge from liability for members of the board of directors and the CEO

8. Determination of the number of board members and auditors

9. Determination of remuneration to the board of directors and the auditor

10. Election of board members and chairman of the board

11. Election of auditor

12. Resolution on amendment of the terms and conditions under LTI 2022

13. Resolution on authorization for the board of directors to resolve on issue of shares, warrants and/or convertibles

14. Closing of the meeting

Resolutions proposed by the nomination committee

The nomination committee, consisting of the chairman of the nomination committee Tomas Meerits (representing Vitruvian Partners (Pyramid Holdco S.A.R.L)), Frank Larsson (representing Handelsbanken Fonder AB), Jrgen Madsen Lindemann (representing Brightfolk A/S) and Joel Citron (representing himself and TAH Core Master Fund) has presented the following proposals for resolutions in relation to item 1 and 8-11 of the above proposed agenda.

Item 1 - Election of the chairman of the meeting

The nomination committee proposes that advokat Mats Dahlberg from Advokatfirman Delphi is elected as chairman of the meeting or, in his absence, the person appointed by the nomination committee.

Item 8 - Determination of the number of board members and auditors

The board currently consists of seven (7) ordinary members without deputies. The nomination committee proposes that the board of directors, for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, shall consist of seven (7) ordinary members without deputies.

The company currently has one (1) registered auditing firm as auditor. The nomination committee proposes that the company shall have one (1) registered auditing firm as auditor for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting.

Item 9 - Determination of remuneration to the board of directors and the auditor

The nomination committee proposes that the remuneration to the board of directors shall be paid with a total of SEK 750,000 to be distributed as follows: SEK 250,000 each to the board members Jrgen Madsen Lindemann, Sonia Gardner and Iris Epple-Righi.

Remuneration for work in the audit committee shall be SEK 75,000 to the chairman and SEK 50,000 to each of the other members of the committee. Remuneration for work in the remuneration committee shall be SEK 50,000 to the chairman and SEK 25,000 to each of the other members of the committee.

The nomination committee proposes that remuneration to the company's auditor shall be paid in accordance with approved invoice.

Item 10 - Election of board members and chairman of the board

The nomination committee proposes that the annual general meeting, for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, shall re-elect the board members Joel Citron, Carl Kinell, Sonia Gardner, Jrgen Madsen Lindemann, Niclas Lindlof and Mark Lotke and resolve on new election of Iris Epple-Righi. Mikael Ahlstrom has declined re-election.

The nomination committee proposes re-election of Joel Citron as chairman of the board.

Short presentation of the proposed board members:

Iris Epple-Righi

Iris Epple-Righi (born 1965) started her professional career at the department store E. Breuninger GmbH & Co. where she worked from 1989 until 2003, first as a management trainee, then as a buyer and for many years as Chief Merchandise officer and Member of the Management Board. Iris then worked for the PVH Group - owner of brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger - for 13 years. She joined the group in 2003 as SVP Retail at Tommy Hilfiger, where she was responsible for the entire retail sector (both online and offline). From 2010, Iris took over the entire product and supply chain responsibility. From 2013 to 2016, Iris was made responsible for Calvin Klein's European business as President of Calvin Klein Europe. In 2016, Iris joined Escada as CEO until the successful sale of the company in November 2019, and since then, she is an independent board member and advisor. Iris is a member of the boards of Hugo Boss, Sennheiser, and Global-e. Iris holds a degree in Business Administration, with a focus on marketing and tax, from the University of Tubingen. Iris is independent in relation to the company, its management, and its major shareholders. Iris holds no shares in the Company.

For the presentation of the members proposed for re-election, please refer to the Company's website ir.bambuser.com

Item 11 - Election of auditor

The nomination committee proposes re-election of the registered auditing firm Mazars AB as the Company's auditor for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting. Mazars AB has informed that, in the event Mazars AB is re-elected as auditor, the authorized public accountant Michael Olsson will remain as auditor in charge.

Resolutions proposed by the board of directors

Item 7 b) - Resolution on allocation of the Company's result in accordance with the adopted balance sheet

The board of directors proposes that no dividend is paid for the financial year 2022 and that the Company's available funds shall be carried forward to new account.

Item 12 - Resolution on amendment of the terms and conditions under LTI 2022

The annual general meeting 2022 resolved on a long-term performance- based incentive program for certain employees in the Company ("LTI 2022"). The program runs over a period of approximately 3 years and entails that the participants are allocated stock options, free of charge, with the right to acquire shares in Bambuser at the end of the program at a strike price corresponding to 130% of the Company's share price ten trading days after the annual general meeting 2022. In order to secure the Company's delivery of shares pursuant to LTI 2022 the annual general meeting resolved upon directed issue of warrants to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the "Subsidiary") and approval of transfer of the warrants.

Resolution on further allotment of employee stock options

A maximum of 4 200 000 share options may be allotted to participants in LTI 2022.

The board of directors proposes that the allotment of employee stock options to participants in LTI 2022 is adjusted as follows with opportunity to further allotment. The proposal entails that LTI 2022 can no longer include a maximum of 36 employees in the Company, but instead approximately 31 employees in the Company.

Category 1 (Management): shall be offered to subscribe for an additional 318,750 employee stock options per person. Category 2 (Stars): shall be offered to subscribe for an additional 143 000 employee stock options per person.

The employee stock options referred to in items (i) to (ii) above are hereafter referred to as "Additional Employee Stock Options".

For Additional Employee Stock Options under LTI 2022, the following terms and conditions shall apply:

A maximum of 1,534,000 Additional Employee Stock Options shall be allotted to participants in Category 1 (Management) and Category 2 (Stars). Please see item (i)-(ii) above. The board of directors has resolved to allot the Additional Employee Stock Options. The allotment is conditional upon annual general meeting approving the allocation principles proposed by the board of directors as set out under item (i)-(ii) above. Allotment of Additional Employee Stock Options are conditional upon (i) that the participants' employment or assignment in the Company has not been terminated, with certain exceptions, and (ii) that the participant has entered a separate agreement concerning the Additional Employee Stock Options with the Company. The Board of Directors shall ensure that the agreements with the participants contain terms and conditions that prohibit the transfer or pledge of the employee stock options and that stipulates that unvested share rights will, with certain exceptions, be forfeited should the participant's employment or assignment in the Company be terminated. Additional Employee Stock Options shall be allotted to the participants free of charge. Provided that the Additional Employee Stock Options have been allotted and vested, each Additional Employee Stock Option grants the holder a right to, during the period from 1st June 2025, up to and including 15th August 2025, as decided by the Company, free of charge receive a warrant which entitles to subscription of one (1) share in the Company at a price corresponding to a strike price of 130% of the volume-weighted share price for the Company's share ten trading days after the annual general meeting 2022.

Dilution and costs etc.

For information on dilution and costs, please refer to the board of directors' complete proposal for LTI 2022, presented at the annual general meeting 2022.

Resolution on transfer of warrants to the participants and to third parties

In accordance with the resolution at the annual general meeting 2022, the board of directors proposes that the annual general meeting resolves to approve that the Subsidiary may transfer warrants to participants in LTI 2022 that have been allotted Additional Employee Stock Options, free of charge in connection with Additional Employee Stock Options being exercised in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable for LTI 2022 or otherwise dispose of the warrants to secure the Company's commitments and costs in connection with LTI 2022. The Board of Directors shall not have the right to dispose of the warrants for any purpose other than to secure the Company's commitments and costs in connection with LTI 2022.

Special majority requirements

For the present resolution to be valid, it is required that the proposal is approved by shareholders representing at least nine-tenths (9/10) of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the meeting.

Item 13 - Resolution on authorization for the board of directors to resolve on issue of shares, warrants and/or convertibles

The board of directors proposes that the annual general meeting 2023 resolves on an authorization for the board of directors to, with or without deviation from the shareholders' preferential rights, on one or more occasions until the next annual general meeting, resolve on new issue of shares, warrants and/or convertibles in the Company. The total number of shares covered by such new issues may in total correspond to a maximum of ten (10) percent of the shares in the Company at the time the authorization is used. Payment for subscribed shares, warrants or convertibles may be paid in cash, by set-off or in kind or on terms referred to in chapter 2 section 5 of the Companies Act.

The purpose of the authorization and the reasons for a possible deviation from the shareholders' preferential right is to, in a flexible and cost-effective manner, enable additional financing of the Company's operations, to finance company acquisitions or acquisitions of businesses or assets, to be able to issue the mentioned instruments as remuneration in such acquisitions and for the Company's strategic collaborations, to enable issue to industrial partners and to broaden the shareholder group.

The board of directors, the CEO, or the person designated by board of directors, shall be authorized to make such minor adjustments in the general meeting's resolution required for the registration at the Swedish Companies Registration Office or due to other formal requirements.

For the present resolution to be valid, it is required that the proposal is approved by shareholders representing at least two-thirds (2/3) of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the meeting.

Documents

The annual report and the auditor's report (item 6-7) and the board of directors' complete proposals for resolutions (items 7b and 12-13) are available at the Company's office at Malmskillnadsgatan 13 in Stockholm, Sweden and are sent free of charge to shareholders who so requests and provides their postal address. The documents will also be available on the Company's website ir.bambuser.com.

The nomination committee's complete proposal for resolutions, reasoned opinion regarding its proposal for the board of directors and information on the proposed board members are available on the Company's website.

Number of shares and votes

At the time of the notice, a total of 211,235,385 shares and votes are issued in the Company.

Shareholders' right to request information

The board of directors and CEO shall, in accordance with chapter 7, section 32 and 57 of the Companies Act, if any shareholder so requests and if the board of directors is of the opinion that it can be done without causing material harm to the Company, provide information regarding circumstances that affect the assessment of an item on the agenda, or conditions that may affect the assessment of the company's or a subsidiary's financial situation, and the company's relationship to other group companies.

Processing of personal data

For information about how your personal data is processed, please refer to the privacy policy available on Euroclear Sweden AB's website: https://www.euroclear.com/dam/ESw/Legal/Privacy-notice-bolagsstammor-engelska.pdf.

Stockholm, March 2023

Bambuser AB

The Board of Directors

Contact information

Corporate Communications, Bambuser AB

+46 8 400 160 00 | ir@bambuser.com

Certified Adviser

Erik Penser Bank AB

About Bambuser

Bambuser is the world's leading Video Commerce company with the largest customer base in its industry. More than 350 brands from 40+ countries leverage Bambuser's best-in-class solutions.

Bambuser is truly global with headquarters in Stockholm and offices in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Turku. Our rapidly growing team speaks more than 30 languages and 62% of our senior management is female.

Founded in 2007 as a livestreaming pioneer, Bambuser pivoted to Live Shopping in 2019, leveraging our legacy as industry-leaders in video-first technology.

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Attachments

Notice of Annual General Meeting in Bambuser AB

SOURCE: Bambuser AB





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/745911/Notice-of-Annual-General-Meeting-in-Bambuser-AB




Nusano, Inc.

NEW YORK and VALENCIA, Calif., March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nusano, Inc., a company reshaping the production of cancer-fighting radioisotopes, today announced it will present and participate in a panel discussion at Jefferies Inaugural Radiopharma Innovation Summit in New York City on Monday, April 3, 2023.



Panel Discussion: Deep Dive into Production of Alpha Emitters: Current and Future Directions

Nusano Participant: Howard C. Lewin, MD, FACC, FASNC, Nusano COO and Co-founder

Time: 12:15 pm  1:00 pm EDT

Nusano Company Presentation

Presenter: Chris Lowe, CEO

Time: 4:30 pm  5:00 pm EDT

Management will also be available during and after the conference for one-on-one meetings.

About Nusano, Inc.

Nusano is a privately held medical technology company committed to bringing stability and innovation to the rapidly emerging and critically undersupplied medical radioisotopes market. Nusanos proprietary ion source is smaller and more efficient than existing production methods. This results in significantly greater yields and allows for the simultaneous manufacturing of multiple radioisotopes. Nusanos technologies will supply the fight against cancer and support diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceutical development. For more, please visit www.nusano.com .

Contacts:

At Nusano: Scott Larrivee, Head of PR & Communications, 608-345-6629, scott.larrivee@nusano.com

Investor Relations: Joyce Allaire, LifeSci Advisors, LLC, 212-915-2569, jallaire@lifesciadvisors.com




Allkem Limited

Table 1

Lithium Resource Estimate  March 2023

Table 2

March 2023 Lithium Resource Estimate by Owner

Table 3

Cauchari April 2019 Resource Estimate

Figure 1

Distribution of the new holes for Stage 2 production

Figure 2

Geological model of the Olaroz salar

Figure 3

Olaroz well locations

Figure 4

Lithium grades (mg/L) at 100 m (left) and 250 m below surface (right)

Figure 5

Resource blocks in lithium mg/l, showing the salar edge (red), alluvial zone (green) in the south and the muddy marginal zone outline (between red and blue outlines)

Figure 6

Distribution of resource categories

APPENDIX A

DRILL HOLE COLLARS AND LITHIUM CONCENTRATION

BRISBANE, Australia, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

HIGHLIGHTS



Olaroz resource increases 27% to 20.7 million tonnes ( Mt ) lithium carbonate equivalent ( LCE ), comprising 7.6 Mt of Measured Resource, 7.1 Mt of Indicated Resource and 6 Mt of Inferred Resource

Total resources in the Olaroz-Cauchari basin are now 27 Mt LCE in all resource categories, confirming the basins status as hosting one of the largest lithium resources in the world

The lithium grade of the Olaroz salar Measured Resource is 657 mg/l lithium, with the underlying Indicated Resource and Inferred Resource 612 mg/l and 604mg/l lithium respectively

The recently acquired Maria Victoria property in the north of Olaroz contributed 2.8 Mt of the increase in resources, with the difference relating to expansion of the resource to the south following completion of the expansion drilling

The resource estimate is restricted to directly beneath the Olaroz salar surface, except for the area at the south, where influence from expansion hole E26 extends the resource beneath gravels to the west of the salar and towards the Cauchari resource

The Olaroz basin has significant exploration potential with extensive areas to the north of the salar surface currently untested by drilling and also extensions towards the Cauchari Resource and to the west of the salar

The increased Olaroz resource, together with the Cauchari Resource, support expansion from Stage 1 and 2 lithium carbonate production capacity (combined 42,500 tpa) and will form the basis for the Olaroz Stage 3/Cauchari expansion studies.

Allkem Managing Director and CEO, Martin Perez de Solay said, This significant increase in the resource, and the upgraded resource classification, confirms the world class status of Olaroz.

The combined 27 Mt resource across Olaroz and Cauchari supports future material expansion of production and will form the basis for the Olaroz Stage 3/Cauchari expansion studies currently underway. Further exploration will be required to fully test the significant potential of the Olaroz/Cauchari basin.

Story continues

Olaroz is complemented by the companys high-quality Sal de Vida and James Bay Projects in Argentina and Canada. These projects will produce lithium chemicals for use in the EV supply chain in areas of low or no water stress, while contributing to the local economy and communities, Mr Perez de Solay said.

2023 OLAROZ RESOURCE UPGRADE

Estimated Resources

The resource estimate is outlined in the following tables presenting the lithium and lithium carbonate tonnages. The resource is broken out by property ownership, with the bulk of the resource owned by the Sales de Jujuy joint venture (SdJ JV) comprising Allkem (66.5%) Toyota Tsusho (25%) and Jujuy Energia y Mineria Sociedad del Estado (8.5%) (JEMSE). Allkem holds additional 100% owned properties to the north of Olaroz, including the recently acquired Maria Victoria property. These other properties have been subject to limited exploration and currently have small resources defined.

Table 1: Lithium Resource Estimate  March 2023

Lithium Resource Estimate  March 2023





Table 2: March 2023 Lithium Resource Estimate by Owner

March 2023 Lithium Resource Estimate by Owner





Allkem SdJ is owned 66.5% by the Allkem group. Olaroz Lithium and Maria Victoria are owned 100% by the Allkem group.

JORC definitions were followed for mineral resources.

The Competent Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Murray Brooker, MAIG, MIAH.

No internal cut-off concentration has been applied to the resource estimate. The resource is reported at a zero mg/l cut-off, given the consistent grade of the deposit, with brine extending beyond the edge of the salar.

Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3 = LCE) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

The upper 100 m of sediments in the gravel area off the salar west of E26 is excluded from the resource, as lithium concentrations to this depth are <100 mg/l Li, before rapidly increasing in concentration below this depth.

The resource estimate is limited at depth by the sediment-basement contact interpreted from the gravity geophysical survey conducted over the basin. Drilling suggests this interpretation underestimates the basin depth.

Project background

An estimate of the Olaroz salar resource was undertaken in 2011 as part of the project Feasibility Study, prior to commencement of construction of Stage 1 of the Olaroz Lithium Facility. That estimate identified a Measured and Indicated Resource of 6.4 Mt of LCE over an area of 93 km2 from surface to a maximum depth of 200 metres (the 2011 Resource).

Following installation of the 200m depth Stage 1 production wellfields at Olaroz several deeper wells were installed up to 350m in depth and subsequently utilised for Stage 1 production. This deeper drilling intersected high porosity and permeability sand units, with flow rates of over 30 litres per second (l/s) and this highlighted the deeper resource potential of the basin. Information from these wells was used to provide an Exploration Target in October 2014, outlining between 1.6-7.5 Mt of LCE located below the 200m level (the 2014 Exploration Target) in the salar.

As previously stated, Allkems Cauchari properties, (100% owned through South American Salars), are contiguous to the south of the Olaroz properties. In 2019 a further 4.8 Mt of Measured and Indicated Resource and 1.5 Mt of Inferred Resource was estimated in this area (the 2019 Cauchari Resource). The 2019 Cauchari Resource is interpreted to occupy the southern continuation of the same aquifers present in the Olaroz salar, which are connected beneath gravel alluvium (the gravel area where the Olaroz ponds and plant are located). The Cauchari Resource is not extracted as part of the Olaroz Stage 2 development.

Table 3: Cauchari April 2019 Resource Estimate

Cauchari April 2019 Resource Estimate





JORC and CIM definitions were followed for mineral resources.

The Competent Person / Qualified Person for this Mineral Resource estimate is Frits Reidel, CPG.

No cut-off concentrations have been applied to the resource estimate

Lithium is converted to lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) with a conversion factor of 5.32.

Since 2011, material amounts of new information have been obtained from exploration and production activities at Olaroz. This included geological and production data from Stage 1 production and monitoring holes generally drilled to 200m, with some to 350m and 450 m; and the Stage 2 expansion production and monitoring holes to depths of between 450 and 650 metres. Additional information has also come from drilling in Cauchari, a 1,408 m deep exploration hole north of the production holes in Olaroz and geophysical surveys over the whole basin.

Stage 2 work program

Much of the technical detail in this release was previously provided in April 2022 in the Interim Resource Estimate. The last of the 15 wells for Stage 2 production (Figure 3) was completed late in 2022. These production wells are now installed to depths between 450 m and 650 m (with one hole, E15, to 751 m) and produce brine from these deeper levels on a 1 km north-south spacing in the central to eastern area of the salar, between the original Northern and Southern wellfields. In addition to the production wells a number of diamond drill holes provided core and brine samples and have allowed the installation of monitoring wells. The Stage 2 production wells are currently producing a combined flow of approximately 396 l/s, at an average per well of 28 l/s, since beginning operation. This is considerably higher than the Stage 1 wells, which have averaged 11 l/s per well since the beginning of 2017.

Samples from the wells were sent to external and internal laboratories for chemical analysis. This information and downhole geophysics (from a borehole magnetic resonance tool, part of a broader suite of geophysical tools) were used to update the geological model, which supports the resource estimate upgrade.

The lithium concentrations from the Stage 2 wells have recorded an average lithium grade of 643 mg/l and varied from 544 mg/l to 789 mg/l lithium. Further drilling information and analytical results are displayed in Appendix A below.

Property position

Allkem holds an extensive property position across the Olaroz and Cauchari basins (Figure 1). At Olaroz, Allkem owns 66.5% of properties via Sales de Jujuy SA , a joint venture company with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (25%) and JEMSE (8.5%).

Properties held by SDJ in the north of the Olaroz salar have had minimal drilling, limited to several 54m deep holes drilled in initial exploration in 2010. Resources have not yet been defined in these properties.

In addition to its ownership interests via SDJ, Allkem also owns, via Olaroz Lithium, 100% of five additional properties in the north of the Olaroz salar, which have also not yet been drilled. The recently acquired, strategically located, Maria Victoria property in the north of the Olaroz salar is 100% owned through Allkem subsidiary La Frontera Minerals S.A and contributed 2.7 Mt LCE to this resource upgrade.

Allkem owns properties in the east and west of the Cauchari basin immediately to the south of the Olaroz resource. A pre-feasibility study (PFS) was completed in 2019 by South American Salars (now 100% Allkem) with resources and reserves.

Olaroz Basin geology

Exploration activities, since Allkem acquired the properties in 2008, have consisted of extensive geophysical programs and drilling over the Olaroz basin. Geophysical programs have included AMT electrical surveying, and vertical electrical soundings to define the lateral extents of the brine beneath alluvial sediments, around the margins of the salar. This is important in order to constrain the geological and hydrogeological models and assess areas for brine prospectivity off the salar. The northern SDJ and 100% Allkem properties have been subject to minimal exploration to date. However, electrical geophysics indicates prospectivity for brine beneath alluvial and deltaic sediments north of the Olaroz salar in the Cateo 498 and other properties. This has also recently been confirmed by drilling by a third party with properties extending off the salar in the north of the basin.

Figure 1: Distribution of the new holes for Stage 2 production

Distribution of the new holes for Stage 2 production





Additional geophysics has included an extensive gravity and magnetic survey across the basin, that provided information on the basin depth and corroborated the early geophysical interpretation which indicated the basin is more than 1 km deep.

Since the exploration drilling for the 2011 Resource estimation, conducted between 2008 to 2011, more extensive drilling undertaken for exploration and production well installation has provided information to depths of 751 m in Olaroz (generally 400 to 650 m) and better defined the basin geology. Additionally, one deep exploration hole has been drilled at the north end of the production area to a depth of over 1400 m, without intersecting basement rocks. This drilling led to development of a mixed salar basin model, with five separate geological and hydrogeological (hydrostratigraphic) units above the basement, defined by geological and geophysical logging of holes (refer to Figures 2 and 3) as previously presented.

UH1 - Upper evaporite deposits, porous halite, clay, sand and silt UH2 - Alluvial fans on the western and eastern margins of the salar, which contain brine beneath brackish water off the salar (as defined by production well E26) UH3 - Mixed sediments with clay and sand intervals UH4 - Evaporite deposits, principally halite, with clay silt and sand interbeds UH5 - Sand units, interbedded with clay and silt. Sandy material is sourced from the historical western margin of the basin and becomes progressively deeper in the east of the basin



Drilling has not intersected the basement rocks beneath the salar and it is possible that additional units will be intersected in future deeper drilling. In the central eastern part of the salar unit UH4 is thicker, reflecting the nucleus of the salar in this area.

The geological interpretation across Olaroz is also consistent with the independent interpretations on adjacent projects based on drilling conducted by Allkem in Cauchari and the work conducted by Lithium Americas Corp (Exar) in Cauchari, being the southern continuation of the Olaroz structural basin.

Figure 2: Geological model of the Olaroz salar

Geological model of the Olaroz salar





Hydrogeology sampling background

Allkem began exploration of the Olaroz project in 2008 and has built up extensive knowledge of the salar since that time. Resource definition drilling on the project included twenty sonic holes drilled to a depth of 54 m across the salar, with six diamond holes to 200 m depth. All these drill holes were geophysically logged and porosity samples were taken every 1.5 to 6 m for systematic characterisation of the different geological units.

Systematic interval brine sampling was also undertaken in the holes drilled for the original resource using bailer equipment, showing low coefficients of variation (averaging 0.18 over the 200m deep exploration holes and 0.19 for 54 m deep sonic drill holes on the salar). Two test production wells were installed for the feasibility study. One of these wells (PD02) was subsequently incorporated into the southern wellfield for Stage 1 production. Pumping since 2013 has confirmed the original pumping test results from this site.

Northern and southern wellfields for Stage 1 were established with wells installed on a 1 km spacing, generally to a depth of 200m, but with some later holes to 350m, with wells pumped since 2013. The brine flows from the production wells have sustained stable lithium brine grades over this period with brine grades generally consistent with the results of the 2011 exploration drilling and characterisation of brine grades across the salar. Brine grades on the salar do not show major changes by lithology type, with the most significant changes related to the halite units and concentration of sulphate and boron.

Stage 1 production wells and exploration holes showed a systematic variation in brine grade laterally across the salar with higher grades in the central part of the salar and lower grades towards the west. However, recent deeper production wells (from 450 to 650 m deep) for Stage 2 have encountered higher grade brine in some holes in the west of the salar (E12, E17 and E19 averaging 768, 692 and 752 mg/l respectively  see Figures 3) than the shallower 200m exploration drilling in the same area. All production wells are subjected to pumping tests to establish the well hydraulic parameters in addition to measurements from geophysical logging prior to beginning production from the wells.

Olaroz is a mixed salar predominantly consisting of clastic sediments with a surficial and a deeper halite layer. The sequence is considered to act as a leaky aquifer with the entire sequence of sediments contributing brine flow to wells, with lower relative contributions from compact halite material. Higher brine flows are obtained from intervals with high sand content and higher permeability, with the brine grades generally comparable between geological units based on the diamond drill sampling and low CV values of lithium brine results from this historical sampling. Despite small scale variability in the sedimentation the five hydrostratigraphic units in the salar display fairly consistent porosity characteristics internally based on the geophysical logging.

Historical diamond drilling showed lithium brine concentrations have a low variability (CV) vertically down hole, with systematic variation across the salar and with lower brine grades generally closer to the salar margins. Test pumping from the 2011 feasibility study for Stage 1 of the Olaroz Lithium Facility has been confirmed by long term pumping from well PD02 (Southern wellfield) and adjacent wells in the wellfield. Consequently, the pumping results of production wells are considered a reasonable and reliable substitute for systematic down hole interval brine samples, given the accumulated knowledge at Olaroz and higher density of data at the project relative to pre-development projects. However, further diamond drilling is recommended in new areas and areas of the salar before the installation of production wells.

Figure 3  Olaroz well locations

Olaroz well locations





Brine sample quality control

Brine samples have been collected from the wells in production once they are fully installed. This follows flow tests, carried out to determine the potential production flow rates and to confirm pump selection for holes and long term operation. Samples were taken in triplicate with the primary sample analysed at the Olaroz Lithium Facility laboratory where they were analysed with AA equipment for lithium, and ICP equipment for other major cations and anions.

Brine standard samples and field duplicate samples were included with the sample batches. These QA/QC measures were included to check the performance of the Olaroz and external laboratory. Alex Stewart Argentina in Jujuy, Argentina was selected as the primary external laboratory to assay the brine check samples. That laboratory is ISO 9001 accredited and operates according to Alex Stewart Group standards consistent with ISO 17025 methods at other laboratories.

Porosity sample quality control

Three diamond holes were completed for the expansion program. Cores were collected systematically through these holes with samples collected in transparent polycarbonate (Lexan) tubes. These tubes were retrieved from the core barrel and stored in core trays prior to the laboratory sample being cut from the base of the tube, with 30 cm core subsamples sent to the Geosystems Analysis (GSA) laboratory in the USA.

GSA utilized the Rapid Brine Release method (Yao et al., 2018) to measure drainable porosity and the total porosity. The Rapid Brine Release (RBR) method is based on the moisture retention characteristics (MRC) method for direct measurement of total porosity (Pt, MOSA Part 4 Ch. 2, 2.3.2.1), specific retention (Sr, MOSA Part 4 Ch3, 3.3.3.5), and specific yield (Sy, Cassel and Nielson, 1986). A simplified Tempe cell design (Modified ASTM D6836-16) was used to test the core samples. Brine release was measured at 120 mbar and 330 mbar of pressure for reference (Nwankwor et al., 1984, Cassel and Nielsen, 1986). Bulk density, particle size analyses and specific gravity were also determined on selected core samples.

For quality control, a collection of paired samples representative of the range in lithology types were selected for testing using other laboratory techniques also used to measure drainable porosity. These are the Relative Brine Release Capacity (RBRC, Stormont et. al., 2011) method of the DB Stephens Laboratory and the Centrifuge Moisture Equivalent of Soils (Centrifuge, ASTM D 6836-16) method by Core Laboratories (Houston, Texas). These methods provide an estimate of variability in the definition of the drainable porosity across different laboratory methods.

Geophysical Logging

Drill holes in the Stage 2 expansion campaign were geophysical logged by contractor Zelandez, with a number of geophysical tools (natural gamma, resistivity, conductivity, borehole magnetic resonance, ultrasonic borehole images) in order to maximise the collection of data from the drilling. Borehole Magnetic Resonance (BMR) is a geophysical tool that was developed by the oil industry to measure porosity and permeability in-situ in wells to assist reservoir studies. The Borehole Magnetic Resonance tool was designed and built in Australia to operate in highly saline environments like salars.

The BMR tool used for the drilling campaign is purpose-built for logging of exploration diameter drill holes. The tools are factory calibrated in Australia and maintained regularly by the service provider. The data acquisition and processing methodology gives information on the total porosity, drainable porosity (specific yield), specific retention and provides a computation of permeability and hydraulic conductivity with a vertical resolution varying from 5-15 cm, providing much more information than individual core samples analysed for porosity with a spacing every 3 or more metres.

Porosity cores from the three diamond holes drilled for the Stage 2 expansion were analysed in the Geosystems Analysis laboratory in the USA. This laboratory has extensive experience analysing salar cores having undertaking analyses on numerous salar projects. Porosity values from the laboratory sampling were compared to the BMR porosity log. While some differences are noted the general ranges of porosity values for the different hydrostratigraphic values are considered comparable.

Salar sediments display short range vertical and lateral variability (within a metre or over metres to 10s of metres) due to changes in the depositional environment over time. This results in vertical and lateral changes in drainable porosity. BMR drainable porosity (Specific yield) measurements were often lower than corresponding laboratory measurements. BMR porosity values are considered to be more conservative than laboratory measurements, as cores can be disturbed during transportation to the laboratory.

Salar sediments are subject to compaction as they are buried with compaction generally resulting in a decrease in total and drainable porosity with depth although not all sediments are affected equally by compaction.

Holes drilled for the original feasibility study were logged with a neutron tool, as borehole magnetic resonance technology was not available to the lithium industry in 2011. The neutron tool measures the hydrogen index of the formation (solids and brine). Neutron porosity is the result of applying a simple equation using the neutron measurement and two parameters. For the 2011 Resource neutron log data was compared with laboratory data to develop an algorithm for porosity across the resource area. BMR technology is considered more accurate for porosity definition in the salar environment and has superseded use of neutron logs.

There are some differences observed between porosity measurements made with the neutron and BMR logs through comparable sediments. The drainable porosity of this upgraded resource is lower than the 2011 Resource, partly due to the greater depth of this resource and some compaction of sediments, the geological intervals intersected (greater thicknesses of halite) and due to a reduction in comparable porosity values due to the type of geophysical logging.

The ongoing drilling for the Stage 2 expansion has defined the full thickness of the evaporite/halite unit UH4. This unit has a generally lower porosity than overlying and underlying clastic sedimentary units due to the compaction of halite with depth. Similarly clastic units also undergo some compaction with depth and consequently the overall porosity of the newly estimated resource is lower compared to the original resource in the upper 200 m of the salar.

Estimate data sources

Average production well brine chemistry values, from throughout pumping of the wells, have been used as inputs for the resource estimation, in addition to the interval samples historically collected in the upper 200 m. This is considered an acceptable approach in this situation, given the level of information available in the Olaroz salar, hydrogeological continuity between drill holes, comparison between historical interval samples and pumped brine concentrations and the history of pumping data available. Additional 650 m deep diamond drilling is recommended for future resource evaluations and to allow installation of additional deep monitoring wells.

Geophysical logging in the deeper holes has confirmed generally consistent drainable porosity and permeability characteristics throughout the clastic sediments with higher porosities and permeabilities associated with thicker more sand dominated intervals.

Mineral Resources

Estimation of a brine resource requires definition of:

The aquifer distribution (in this case restricted to the salar outline, except around hole E26 in the south)

The distribution of drainable porosity (specific yield) values

The distribution of lithium and other elements in the brine defined by drilling

The external limits (geological or property boundaries) of the resource area

The resource grade is a combination of the aquifer volume, the drainable porosity (portion of the aquifer volume that is filled by brine that can potentially be extracted) and the concentration of lithium in the brine.

The Olaroz aquifer system is not a conventional water supply style aquifer, based on a discrete geological unit, but rather a layered sequence of sediments that contributes brine flow to production wells. More permeable sand and gravel units provide relatively higher flows. The surface outline of the salar is used to delimit the area of the resource estimate (except for the off-salar extension around E26). The 2023 resource covers 147.9 km2, larger than the original 2011 Resource area (93 km2).

The expanded area reflects inclusion of the Olaroz Lithium and Maria Victoria properties, which were not part of the original property holdings, and the area around E26. The resource has been further expanded by the drilling of hole E26, allowing definition of resources beneath the alluvial gravels south of the salar (Figure 3). Brine saturated sediments are known to extend beneath alluvial sediments surrounding the salar and this was confirmed in drilling of hole E26 on the edge of the gravels beside the salar, which continued to 510 m in sandy and gravel material.

The resource estimate is limited laterally by the boundaries (Figure 3) with adjacent property owner Exar, in the salar to the east and north of the properties owned by Allkem and SDJ entities. The resource estimate is limited at depth by the sediment-basement contact interpreted from the gravity geophysical survey conducted over the basin. Drilling suggests this interpretation underestimates the basin depth.

Within the salar the three-dimensional distribution of the different hydrostratigraphic units was defined using Leapfrog 3D software, with these units based on geological and geophysical logging observations. The resource is entirely within the salar, except in the gravel area extending west from production hole E26. This is the only location where brackish water overlies brine within the resource estimate. The upper 100 m of this area off the salar has been excluded from the resource estimate, because it is not brine. Conversion of the resource to reserve in this area will evaluate extraction of this brine for future production. In all other areas within the resource brine begins from the salar surface.

The porosity data set consisted of interval porosity samples analysed in an independent laboratory for the upper 200 m and the BMR downhole geophysics from 200 to > 650 m. These were used to generate a block model across the salar area, applying ordinary kriging to the composited drainable porosity data.

The distribution of lithium and other elements was estimated from point sampling data from the upper 200 m of the model, where samples are typically spaced every 6 m in the 200 m holes and 3 m or less in the 54 m holes. Below the upper 200 m the resource was estimated based on the pumped samples from the production wells, with a single value per hole representing the average pumped lithium value, assigned to the areas with screens in the production wells.

The block model was constructed with 500 by 500 m blocks, with a 20 m vertical extent (Figure 4 and Figure 5). Only the portion of the block inside the salar outline is reported in the resource (with the exception of the area around E26). The resource estimate was undertaken using Datamine software, with variograms developed for the point samples from the upper 200 m. Estimation was undertaken using ordinary kriging. The ordinary kriging method is the most commonly used kriging method. In areas of sparse data around the model edges Nearest Neighbour estimation was used.

The resource was estimated using four passes in the search strategy. The results of the first two passes are nominally equated to blocks classified as Measured and Indicated, with the latter two passes equating to blocks classified as Inferred. The resources were defined across the salar outline and extension around E26, defined over different depths, reflecting drilling density and confidence. Future drilling on the salar may bring additional resources into the Indicated and Measured classification.

Figure 4: Lithium grades (mg/L) at 100 m (left) and 250 m below surface (right)

Lithium grades (mg/L) at 100 m (left) and 250 m below surface (right)





Figure 5: Resource blocks in lithium mg/l, showing the salar edge (red), alluvial zone (green) in the south and the muddy marginal zone outline (between red and blue outlines)

Resource blocks in lithium mg/l, showing the salar edge (red), alluvial zone (green) in the south and the muddy marginal zone outline (between red and blue outlines)





Measured Mineral Resources

A Measured Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape, and physical characteristics are estimated with confidence sufficient to allow the application of Modifying Factors to support detailed mine planning and final evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit.

Geological evidence is derived from detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to confirm geological and grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.

A Measured Mineral Resource has a higher level of confidence than that applying to either an Indicated Mineral Resource or an Inferred Mineral Resource. It may be converted to a Proved Ore Reserve or under certain circumstances to a Probable Ore Reserve.

Extraction of brine is ongoing from 1 km spaced, 200 m deep, production wells pumping for a period of over eight years. Wells have a drilling density of approximately 1 per 2 km2 in the production well field areas. Extensive exploration drilling was previously conducted across the salar to 200 m depth. The Measured Resources are almost all within 2.5 km from drill holes across the salar, as suggested by Houston et. al., 2011 as an appropriate drilling spacing for Measured Resources in clastic salars. On the basis of the available data the resource to 200 m depth is classified as a Measured Resource.

An additional area of Measured Resources has been defined around the three diamond drill holes on the eastern margin of the project, south of the deep hole E1. An extension of 2.5 km from the property boundary has been applied for definition of this Measured Resource, consistent with the suggestion of Houston et. al., 2011. This is considered a reasonable basis for extension of the resource to 650 m depth in this area, surrounded by Indicated Resources.

The Measured resource is reported at a zero mg/l lithium cut-off, as the entire Olaroz salar contains brine with an elevated lithium concentration to the salar boundary.

Indicated Mineral Resources

An Indicated Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity, grade (or quality), densities, shape and physical characteristics are estimated with sufficient confidence to allow the application of Modifying Factors in sufficient detail to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit.

Geological evidence is derived from adequately detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes, and is sufficient to assume geological and grade (or quality) continuity between points of observation where data and samples are gathered.

An Indicated Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to a Measured Mineral Resource and may only be converted to a Probable Ore Reserve.

Geological continuity established by deeper drilling below 200 m, geophysical logging of holes, and gradual changes in lithium concentration provide the basis for classifying the brine between 200 and 350 m below surface in the north of the salar (with lesser drilling density) and south off the salar around hole E26 as Indicated to this depth. In the more central part of the salar the resource is defined as an Indicated resource (with greater drilling density) between 200 and 650 m depth.

Laboratory porosity samples are relatively limited below 200 m, however similar sediment intervals are present above 200 m at Olaroz, where porosity characteristics have been established from hundreds of laboratory analyses. Extensive porosity samples from similar sediments are also available from the Allkem Cauchari properties. Ongoing extraction by pumping of brine from wells up to 450 m deep since 2014 and from 650 m depth for up to 3 years, provides confidence as to the extractability of brine from the resource to this depth.

BMR porosity data was collected below 200 m depth, providing extensive porosity data in the Stage 2 holes. Future drilling below 200 m provides the opportunity to upgrade Indicated Resources to Measured status.

Inferred Mineral Resources

An Inferred Mineral Resource is that part of a Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade (or quality) are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade (or quality) continuity. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes.

An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to an Ore Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration.

The Inferred Mineral Resource is defined between 350 m and 650 m off the salar to the north and south. Within the salar Inferred resources are defined below 650 m and the base of the basin. The base of the basin is defined by the gravity geophysical survey, with areas significantly deeper than 650 m defined. There are currently 19 production wells installed to 350 m or below, with production wells for the Olaroz Expansion Project installed between 400 and 751 m deep between the existing northern and southern wellfields. The deep hole drilled in the north of the salar confirms locally the salar sediments extend to below 1400 m depth. Drilling has not intersected the base of the salar sediments, where the geophysical estimated basement depth has been reached, suggesting the basin may be deeper than estimated from the gravity survey. Brine samples were completed in this deep hole.

Taking account of the distribution of brine grade and porosity to date (as determined by BMR geophysics) there is a sufficient level of confidence to classify the resources extending to the bottom of the basin as Inferred Resources. It is likely that additional drilling could convert these to a higher confidence resource classification.

Figure 6: Distribution of resource categories

Distribution of resource categories





Further exploration potential

The resource is open laterally over an extensive area to the north off the salar, and to the south and west, beneath sands and gravels that surround the salar.

To the south, previous limited drilling and geophysical surveys indicate the brine body is likely to extend south to link with the Cauchari Resource (Allkem 100%). Similarly, brine extends west of the salar. The greatest potential, based on work by Allkem and 3rd parties, is over the extensive area to the north under the Rio Rosario delta, where future drilling is required to define resources. The resource may also extend at depth beyond the base of the basin interpreted by gravity geophysics. To date no Allkem drilling in the Olaroz basin has yet intersected the basement, allowing for significant future additions to the companys resource base. Consequently, there is substantial potential to add additional resources in the project.

This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited.

Allkem Limited



ABN 31 112 589 910



Level 35, 71 Eagle St

Brisbane, QLD 4000 Investor Relations & Media Enquiries

Andrew Barber

+61 418 783 701

Andrew.barber@allkem.co Connect

info@allkem.co

+61 7 3064 3600

www.allkem.co

IMPORTANT NOTICES

This investor ASX/TSX release (Release) contains general information about the Company as at the date of this Release. The information in this Release should not be considered to be comprehensive or to comprise all of the material which a shareholder or potential investor in the Company may require in order to determine whether to deal in Shares of Allkem. The information in this Release is of a general nature only and does not purport to be complete. It should be read in conjunction with the Companys periodic and continuous disclosure announcements which are available at allkem.co and with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcements, which are available at www.asx.com.au.

Technical Information and Competent Persons Statements

The information in this report that relates to Olaroz Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Mr Murray Brooker, a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO) included in a list posted on the ASX website from time to time. Mr Brooker is an independent consultant employed by Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd and has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit 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. He is also a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101. Mr Brooker consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

Any information in this release that relates to Cauchari Project Mineral Resources is extracted from the release entitled Cauchari JORC Resource increases to 4.8 million tonnes Measured + Indicated and 1.5 million tonnes Inferred LCE released on 19 April 2019 and the report entitled NI43-101 Technical Report Cauchari JV Project  Updated Mineral Resource Estimate which is available to view on www.allkem.co and www.asx.com.au. The Competent Person for this technical report and Mineral Resource estimate was Mr Frits Reidel, CPG, of Atacama Water (Formerly FloSolutions Chile). The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcements and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. 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 announcement.

Technical information relating to the Companys Olaroz project contained in this release is derived from, and in some instances is an extract from, the technical report entitled Olaroz Resource Update March 2023 (Technical Report) which has been reviewed and approved by Murray Brooker (Hydrominex Geoscience Pty Ltd) as it relates to geology, drilling, sampling, exploration, QA/QC, mining methods and mineral resources and Mr Mike Gunn (Gunn Metals) as it relates to site infrastructure, capital cost, operating cost estimates, mining cost, financial modelling and economic analysis in accordance with National Instrument 43-101  Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The Technical Report is available for review under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and, by their nature, are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results, performances and achievements to differ materially from any expected future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the risk of further changes in government regulations, policies or legislation; the risks associated with the continued implementation of the merger between the Company and Galaxy Resources Ltd, risks that further funding may be required, but unavailable, for the ongoing development of the Companys projects; fluctuations or decreases in commodity prices; uncertainty in the estimation, economic viability, recoverability and processing of mineral resources; risks associated with development of the Company Projects; unexpected capital or operating cost increases; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones at the Companys Projects; risks associated with investment in publicly listed companies, such as the Company; and risks associated with general economic conditions.

Subject to any continuing obligation under applicable law or relevant listing rules of the ASX, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this Release to reflect any change in expectations in relation to any forward-looking statements or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Nothing in this Release shall under any circumstances (including by reason of this Release remaining available and not being superseded or replaced by any other Release or publication with respect to the subject matter of this Release), create an implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company since the date of this Release.

Not for release or distribution in the United States

This announcement has been prepared for publication in Australia and may not be released to U.S. wire services or distributed in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and neither this announcement or anything attached to this announcement shall form the basis of any contract or commitment.

APPENDIX A: DRILL HOLE COLLARS AND LITHIUM CONCENTRATION

DRILL HOLE COLLARS AND LITHIUM CONCENTRATION





*Average well flows from 12 January 2017 to 31 January 2023

APPENDIX B

JORC Table 1  Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data related to Olaroz Stage 2 expansion drilling (Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (eg cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (eg reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay). In other cases more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (eg submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. Holes were drilled using the rotary drilling technique. Drill cuttings were collected to identify the sediment type and compare observations with downhole geophysical logs. Mud samples were taken during drilling to evaluate changes in properties such as fluid density, electrical conductivity and dissolved ions.

A comprehensive suite of down hole geophysical logs was run open hole, once holes reached total depth. This provided additional information on the lithologies encountered during drilling. This included in the deep 1408 m hole. The downhole logging was undertaken by the company Zelandez, who have extensive experience with geophysical logging on salt lake projects.

Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the results compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs.

Samples were not collected for assay from the cuttings, as the primary objective of the holes was to confirm the geology to the depth of drilling and install production wells. Cuttings were used to describe the lithology. Samples for brine analysis were taken from the production wells when cleaned up and pumped. Qualitative changes in brine conditions were also evaluated during drilling.

Three diamond holes were drilled in this program, with core samples collected in polycarbonate (Lexan) tubes and selected intervals analysed for porosity laboratory in an independent lithology (Geosystems Analysis in the USA). Drilling techniques Drill type (eg core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc) and details (eg core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc). Rotary drilling with a tricone bit was used to drill the entire length of the production holes, reaching depths between 450 and 650 m (in one hole 751 m), and also used for the deep hole to 1408 m.

Brine from a surface trench (low lithium content) was used to mix drilling muds, to develop a thick wall cake in the rotary holes and maintain hole stability.

Three diamond holes were drilled in this program, with the purpose of collecting porosity information and brine samples. 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. Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the observations compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs.

Sample recovery was aided by the use of appropriately prepared drilling mud to remove cuttings from the hole.

Cutting samples were not analysed chemically and descriptions were a qualitative evaluation of the lithologies encountered in the hole. There is no relationship between sample recovery and ion concentrations in the brine in this case. Core sample recovery for the three recent diamond holes was between 86.1 and 88.6%, which is higher than historical diamond drilling conducted to 200 m depth. Core sampling is enhanced by use of polycarbonate (Lexan) triple tubes. Unconsolidated salt lake sediments have much lower core recoveries than hard rock deposits. 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. Drill cuttings were described by experienced geoscientists, and the observations compared with results from nearby holes and with the geophysical logs. This has provided a consistent stratigraphy, supporting resource estimation and mining studies.

Cutting logging is of a qualitative nature and results were compared with the quantitative geophysical logs to interpret the lithologies encountered in the hole.

All intersections with sample recovery were logged. Sub-sampling techniques and sample preparation If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken.

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all sub-sampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled. Cuttings were only used to identify the lithology and were not used for chemical analysis, and were only sub-sampled to collect representative reference samples.

Mud samples were taken from the returned drilling muds and analysed for concentrations of lithium and other elements, which maintained elevated and similar concentrations through the drill hole. Due to the rotary mud nature of this drilling the mud samples are considered only qualitative and not quantitative. Consequently, the mud sample analytical results are NOT reported in this release and NOT used for resource estimation.

Brine samples from production wells are from production pumping or pumping tests of new wells, once wells were developed and cleaned or had been in production, in some cases for more than 5 years, with consistent lithium concentrations. Quality of assay data and laboratory tests The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc, the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (eg standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established. The brine samples (from production wells and pumping tests conducted once wells were fully installed and cleaned) were analysed at the Olaroz site laboratory.

Quality control/Assurance samples were used by the Olaroz site laboratory, which is not a certified commercial laboratory.

Standards accompanying brine samples in the Olaroz laboratory have been analysed in commercial laboratories as part of a laboratory round robin analysis

Check samples were analysed in the Alex Stuart independent commercial laboratory in Jujuy, Argentina.

Duplicate samples have been analysed in commercial laboratories as part of QA/QC procedures. Results were generally within acceptable limits.

Downhole geophysical tools were provided by geophysical contractor Zelandez. These are calibrated periodically to produce consistent results. BMR tools are calibrated yearly in Australia. 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. Brine analyses are from pump testing post installation of production wells, are quantitative analyses and were reviewed by different company personnel.

Laboratory data (from spreadsheets) is loaded directly into the project database by company personnel.

Brine samples from production wells were analysed in the Olaroz site laboratory, with QA/QC samples analysed in the Alex Start independent laboratory in Jujuy, Argentina Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. The holes were located initially with a hand-held GPS and are subsequently surveyed by a certified surveyor. Production wells and diamond holes are drilled with a general spacing of 1 km between holes. The Project location is in zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger coordinate system with the Argentine POSGAR 94 datum. 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. Lithological data was collected throughout the drilling from cuttings and geophysical logging. Historical diamond drilling was conducted to 200 m depth, with three recent diamond drill holes to 650 m depth.

Due to the rotary drilling methodology samples for indicative brine chemistry, were not collected at regular intervals during drilling. Brine samples were collected from the pumping of wells, once wells were installed and cleaned (developed).

The samples taken during the pumping tests are composite samples, sourced from multiple well screens throughout the wells where screens are installed (through much of the hole).

Brine samples from historical diamond and sonic drilling were taken at a vertical spacing of 3 and 6 m to 54 m and nominally 6 m between 54 and 200 samples, with actual sampling irregular and depending on conditions. This information forms part of the resource estimate, along with more recent data. 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 salar deposits that host lithium-bearing brines consist of sub-horizontal beds and lenses of sand, silt, halite, clay and minor gravel, depending on the location within the salar. Drill holes are vertical and essentially perpendicular to these units intersecting close to their true thickness.

Faults controlling basin development occur on the basin margins. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Brine samples were moved from the drill site to secure storage at the camp on a daily basis. All brine sample bottles are marked with a unique label.

Samples were transported from the camp to the laboratory for chemical analysis in sealed rigid plastic bottles with sample numbers clearly identified. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. No audits or reviews have been conducted at this point in time.

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 licence to operate in the area. The Olaroz properties (operated by Sales de Jujuy for the joint venture between Allkem 66.5%, Toyota Tsusho 25% and JEMSE 8.5%) are located in the province of Jujuy in northern Argentina at an elevation of approximately 3,900 masl. Allkem also owns 100% of a number of other properties in the north of the Olaroz salar. The company has owned the majority of the properties for over 10 years

The SDJ joint venture project comprises 52,391 ha in 37 mineral properties and the 9,475 ha in the 5 Olaroz lithium properties. The project has been in production since 2013. The mining operation is from a series of mining licenses (minas) permitted for production. These are surrounded by other mining licenses and exploration properties (Cateos).

The project development was approved by the provincial government UGAMP technical committee in 2012, and received other approvals for project development in this time period.

The project has an 8.5% participation by the provincial mining agency JEMSE, is subject to a royalty of 3% and an export tax of 4.5% of mine gate value. Toyota Tsusho and Allkem act as the joint marketing agent for lithium produced at the project.

The tenements/properties are believed to be in good standing, with payments made to relevant government departments. The company maintains good relationships with the local government and government agencies and communities as part of operations. Many local inhabitants work at the Olaroz operation. Several peripheral properties have not yet been fully granted, as this is an extended process for mining leases in Argentina.

Properties are within the Reserva Provincial de Fauna y Flora Olaroz-Cauchari (a regional flora and fauna reserve), as is the adjoining Exar project. This reserve allows for multiple uses, including agriculture and mining. Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. The properties were not subject to any exploration for lithium prior to Allkem (Orocobre) obtaining the properties.

Significant exploration has been conducted immediately to the east and south of the Olaroz properties by Minera Exar, resulting in a large resource and related reserve and a brine pumping project is currently in construction. Further south in Cauchari Olaroz subsidiary, South American Salars has defined a 4.8 Mt LCE resource in Measured and Indicated categories and 1.5 Mt of Inferred resources. These three projects are all developed on different parts of the same lithium brine body. Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation. The project is a lithium salt lake deposit, located in a closed basin in the Andean mountain range in Northern Argentina.

The sediments within the salar consist of halite, clay, silt, sand and gravel which have accumulated in the salar from terrestrial sedimentation from the sides of the basin. Brine hosting dissolved lithium is present in pore spaces and fractures within unconsolidated sediments.

Evaporation of brines entering and within the salt lake generates the concentrated lithium that is extracted by pumping out the brine.

The sediments are interpreted to be essentially flat lying with unconfined aquifer conditions close to surface and semi-confined to confined conditions at depth

Geology was recorded during drilling of the hole. Drill hole Information A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drill holes: easting and northing of the drill hole collar elevation or RL (Reduced Level  elevation above sea level in metres) of the drill hole collar dip and azimuth of the hole down hole length and interception depth hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. The holes are located in the mining properties covering the Olaroz salt lake, centred around approximately 7402000N/ 3427000E and approximately 3930 m elevation, in Zone 3 of the Argentine Gauss Kruger grid system, using the Posgar 94 datum.

The drill holes are all vertical, (dip -90, azimuth 0 degrees). Collar coordinates and depths are provided in a table following the announcement. On the salt lake brine is present from within ~1 m of surface to the base of drilling.

Lithological data was collected from the mud return cuttings as the hole was drilled and from the geophysical logging of holes.

Previous sonic and diamond drilling core samples were collected in polycarbonate Lexan tubes and described in detail, with laboratory analyses made of the sediment porosity in several international laboratories. Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (eg cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated. Brine samples were taken from pumping wells at the completion of pumping tests. Results during the pumping tests were analysed and compared, to ensure results were repeatable.

The pumping well samples are composite samples that reflect inflows from different levels within the wells, which are screened at multiple levels throughout their depth. The lithium concentration in the pumped samples is an average of the concentration from different units with relatively higher and lower values than the average. More permeable units contribute a higher proportion of the brine in the pumped samples.

The pumped samples are considered to be sufficiently representative of the brine contained in sediments where the holes are drilled, based on previous comparisons with diamond drill holes to 200 m depth, which showed low vertical coefficients of variation (CV). Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drill hole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (eg down hole length, true width not known). The sediments hosting brine are interpreted to be essentially perpendicular to the vertical drill holes, representing true thicknesses in drilling. The entire thickness of sediments is believed to be mineralized with lithium brine, with the water table within approximately 1 metre of surface. Lithium is hosted in brine in pores within the different terrestrial sedimentary units in the salt lake sequence. 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. Diagrams are provided in the text showing the location of the properties, the drill holes and cross section through the deposit, showing the correlation of geological units. 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. Data regarding the drilling and sampling has been provided in the release. A table is provided with the results of the pumping wells, which have provided the basis for estimation below 200 m depth. 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. The company has conducting rotary drilling to obtain geological information, brine samples, and hydraulic parameters for the installation of additional production wells. Future drilling will also support an update of the resource estimation. Future updates to the resource will be released when drilling is conducted peripheral to the salar in areas when little or no current drilling. Further work The nature and scale of planned further work (eg tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive. The company has recently completed installing 15 deep production wells for Stage 2 of the project. Future drilling is planned to extend further north and south of the current resource area, to support definition of further resources in those areas (refer to the map with drill holes in the release). Comprehensive documentation outlining the resource drilling is planned for release when that future drilling is complete.

Section 3 Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Database integrity Measures taken to ensure that data has not been corrupted by, for example, transcription or keying errors, between its initial collection and its use for Mineral Resource estimation purposes.

Data validation procedures used. Data was transferred directly from laboratory spreadsheets to the database.

Data was checked for transcription errors once in the database, to ensure coordinates, assay values and lithological codes were correct

Data was plotted to check the spatial location and relationship to adjoining sample points

Duplicates and Standards have been used in the assay process.

Brine assays and porosity test work have been analysed and compared with other publicly available information for reasonableness.

Comparisons of original and current datasets were made to ensure no lack of integrity. Site visits Comment on any site visits undertaken by the Competent Person and the outcome of those visits.

If no site visits have been undertaken indicate why this is the case. The Competent Persons visited the site many times prior to the current drilling and sampling program and more recently Mr Brooker visited the site in November 2022.

Competent Person M Brooker was responsible for previously planning the location of the new production wells. Geological interpretation Confidence in (or conversely, the uncertainty of ) the geological interpretation of the mineral deposit.

Nature of the data used and of any assumptions made.

The effect, if any, of alternative interpretations on Mineral Resource estimation.

The use of geology in guiding and controlling Mineral Resource estimation.

The factors affecting continuity both of grade and geology. There is a high level of confidence in the geological model for the Project. There are relatively distinct geological units in essentially flat lying, relatively uniform, clastic sediments and halite.

The drainable porosity data consists of extremely detailed data from geophysical logging, extensive historical porosity samples to 200 m deep and sparse porosity samples up to 650 m deep, supplemented by BMR geophysical data in production wells. Brine data below 200 m, consists of composite pumped samples from holes, which provide realistic information regarding brine concentrations.

Any alternative interpretations are restricted to smaller scale variations in sedimentology and porosity, related to changes in grain size and fine material in units, as porosity is the key influence on the resource estimate.

Geological units are identified in the geological and geophysical logging of holes and separated in the hydrostratigraphic model, where unit specific porosity characteristics are applied.

Data used in the interpretation includes sonic, rotary and diamond drilling.

Sedimentary processes affect the continuity of geology, whereas the concentration of lithium and potassium and other elements in the brine are related to water inflows, evaporation and brine evolution in the salt lake and are essentially independent of porosity. Dimensions The extent and variability of the Mineral Resource expressed as length (along strike or otherwise), plan width, and depth below surface to the upper and lower limits of the Mineral Resource. The lateral extent of the resource has been defined by the boundary of the salar, except in the SE around E26, and in the east and north the boundary with adjacent properties. On the salar (and in the southern extension below alluvial gravels) the brine mineralisation covers 147.9 km 2 .

The top of the model coincides with the topography obtained from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The original elevations were locally adjusted for each borehole collar with the most accurate drill hole collar coordinates available.

The base of the resource is the base of the basin, as interpreted from gravity geophysics. The depth of the basin is likely to exceed the depth interpreted from the geophysics, based on drilling to date. The basement rocks underlying the salt lake sediments have not yet been intersected in drilling. Estimation and modelling techniques The nature and appropriateness of the estimation technique(s) applied and key assumptions, including treatment of extreme grade values, domaining, interpolation parameters and maximum distance of extrapolation from data points. If a computer assisted estimation method was chosen include a description of computer software and parameters used.

The availability of check estimates, previous estimates and/or mine production records and whether the Mineral Resource estimate takes appropriate account of such data.

The assumptions made regarding recovery of by-products.

Estimation of deleterious elements or other non-grade variables of economic significance (eg sulphur for acid mine drainage characterisation).

In the case of block model interpolation, the block size in relation to the average sample spacing and the search employed.

Any assumptions behind modelling of selective mining units.

Any assumptions about correlation between variables.

Description of how the geological interpretation was used to control the resource estimates.

Discussion of basis for using or not using grade cutting or capping.

The process of validation, the checking process used, the comparison of model data to drill hole data, and use of reconciliation data if available. The resource estimation for the Project was developed in Datamine Software, with the geological model developed in Leapfrog software. The model is considered a reliable representation of the local lithology and will be refined as new information becomes available. Generation of histograms and box plots was conducted for the Exploratory Data Analysis for lithium. It should be noted the search radii are flattened ellipsoids with the shortest distance in the Z axis (related to the variogram distance). No outlier restrictions were applied, as distributions of the different elements do not show anomalously high values.

No grade cutting or capping was applied to the model. The coefficient of variation in the brine results is low, reflecting the relatively homogeneous distribution of brine grades across the salar.

Results from the primary porosity laboratory GSA are compared with results from check Core Laboratories.

Potassium is the most economically significant element dissolved in the brine after lithium.

Estimation of Lithium for each block used ordinary kriging. The presence of brine is not necessarily controlled by the lithologies and lithium and potassium concentrations are independent of lithology. Geological units had hard boundaries for estimation of porosity.

Estimation of resources used drainable porosity data from BMR geophysical logs.

The block size (500 x 500 x 20 m) reflects the thick and relatively homogeneous nature of the lithological units.

No assumptions were made regarding selective mining units and selective mining is generally not feasible in brine deposits, where brine flows in response to pumping.

No assumptions were made about correlation between variables. Lithium and potassium were estimated independently.

The geological interpretation was used to define each geological unit and the salar boundary and property limit were used to enclose the reported resources. The lithium and potassium concentrations are not necessarily related to a particular lithology.

The Inferred resource was estimated on the basis that it is within the salt lake or immediately adjacent and occupies the same or similar geological units to the Indicated and Measured resource, although drilling in the Inferred resource area is more limited around the margins of the salar.

Validation was performed using a series of checks including comparison of univariate statistics for global estimation bias, and visual inspection against samples on plans and sections.

Visual validation shows an acceptable agreement between the samples and the OK estimates. Moisture Whether the tonnages are estimated on a dry basis or with natural moisture, and the method of determination of the moisture content. Moisture content of the cores was Measured (porosity and density measurements were made), but as brine is extracted by pumping not mining the sediments moisture is not relevant for the resource estimation.

Tonnages are estimated as metallic lithium and potassium dissolved in brine, with lithium values converted to a lithium carbonate tonnage using a conversion factor of 5.32. Cut-off parameters The basis of the adopted cut-off grade(s) or quality parameters applied. No cut-off grade has been applied, with the resource reported at a zero mg/l cut off. Brine at economic lithium concentrations is present across the salt lake and the alluvial gravels that surround the salar. Mining factors or assumptions Assumptions made regarding possible mining methods, minimum mining dimensions and internal (or, if applicable, external) mining dilution. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential mining methods, but the assumptions made regarding mining methods and parameters when estimating Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the mining assumptions made. The resource has been quoted in terms of brine volume, concentration of dissolved elements, contained lithium and their product lithium carbonate.

No mining or recovery factors have been applied (although the use of the specific yield = drainable porosity is used to reflect the reasonable prospects for economic extraction with the proposed mining methodology). It should be noted that conversion of resources to reserves for brine deposits is lower than that for hard rock deposits.

Dilution of brine concentrations may occur over time and typically there are lithium and potassium losses in both the ponds and processing plant in brine mining operations. However, potential dilution will be estimated in the groundwater model simulating brine extraction, to define a reserve.

The conceptual mining method is recovering brine from the salt lake via a network of wells, the established practice on existing lithium brine projects.

Detailed hydrologic studies of the lake have been undertaken (catchment and groundwater modelling) to evaluate the extractable resources and potential extraction rates Metallurgical factors or assumptions The basis for assumptions or predictions regarding metallurgical amenability. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential metallurgical methods, but the assumptions regarding metallurgical treatment processes and parameters made when reporting Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the metallurgical assumptions made. Lithium carbonate is currently produced on site via conventional brine processing techniques and evaporation ponds to concentrate the brine prior to processing

Additional brine extracted for the Stage 2 expansion would be processed the same way, with refinements related to optimisation of the process, learnt from operation of Stage 1. Environmental factors or assumptions Assumptions made regarding possible waste and process residue disposal options. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider the potential environmental impacts of the mining and processing operation. While at this stage the determination of potential environmental impacts, particularly for a greenfields project, may not always be well advanced, the status of early consideration of these potential environmental impacts should be reported. Where these aspects have not been considered this should be reported with an explanation of the environmental assumptions made. Impacts of the lithium carbonate production operation at the Olaroz salar include; surface disturbance from the creation of extraction/processing facilities and associated infrastructure, accumulation of various salt tailings impoundments and extraction from brine and freshwater aquifers regionally. Precipitated salts are collected in ponds and later returned to the salar.

The project holds the necessary environmental permits for the Stage 1 and Stage 2 production. Bulk density Whether assumed or determined. If assumed, the basis for the assumptions. If determined, the method used, whether wet or dry, the frequency of the measurements, the nature, size and representativeness of the samples.

The bulk density for bulk material must have been measured by methods that adequately account for void spaces (vugs, porosity, etc), moisture and differences between rock and alteration zones within the deposit.

Discuss assumptions for bulk density estimates used in the evaluation process of the different materials. Density measurements were taken as part of the drill core assessment. This included determining dry density and particle density as well as field measurements of brine density. Note that no mining of sediments is to be carried out, as brine is to be extracted by pumping and consequently sediments are not mined but the lithium and potassium is extracted by pumping.

No bulk density was applied to the estimates because resources are defined by volume, rather than by tonnage.

The salt unit can contain fractures and possibly vugs which host brine and add to the drainable porosity. However, salt units below 50 m depth are generally quite compact Classification The basis for the classification of the Mineral Resources into varying confidence categories.

Whether appropriate account has been taken of all relevant factors (ie relative confidence in tonnage/grade estimations, reliability of input data, confidence in continuity of geology and metal values, quality, quantity and distribution of the data).

Whether the result appropriately reflects the Competent Persons view of the deposit. The resource has been classified in Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources categories based on the spatial distribution of data and confidence in the estimation.

Measured and Indicated resource reflect higher confidence in the geological interpretation in the upper levels of the salar and the greater frequency of data, where there is current production.

The Inferred resource underlies the Indicated and Measured resource in the deeper part of the salar and around the edges of the salar, and reflects the limited drilling in these areas.

In the view of the Competent Person the resource classification is believed to adequately reflect the available data and takes into account and is consistent with the JORC code 2012 and the Australian Brine Guidelines. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of Mineral Resource estimates. This Mineral Resource was estimated by independent consultancy H&S Consultants, with work supervised by the Competent Person Mr Brooker. Discussion of relative accuracy/ confidence Where appropriate a statement of the relative accuracy and confidence level in the Mineral Resource estimate using an approach or procedure deemed appropriate by the Competent Person. For example, the application of statistical or geostatistical procedures to quantify the relative accuracy of the resource within stated confidence limits, or, if such an approach is not deemed appropriate, a qualitative discussion of the factors that could affect the relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate.

The statement should specify whether it relates to global or local estimates, and, if local, state the relevant tonnages, which should be relevant to technical and economic evaluation. Documentation should include assumptions made and the procedures used.

These statements of relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate should be compared with production data, where available. An assessment of the estimated blocks was made against the drill hole data on sections and found to be acceptable.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c8ebd1a1-e04e-423a-8e85-03c3e6b44039

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SHENZHEN, China, March 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OneConnect Financial Technology Co., Ltd ("OneConnect" or the "Company", Stock Code: OCFT.US6638.HK), is thrilled to announce that we have entered into an all-round strategic collaboration with Old Mutual in SA to propel the digital transformation of life insurance business by leveraging both parties' deep technology expertise and extensive localization experience in financial markets.

With digital transformation a key component of Old Mutual's customer-centric strategy, the company has been on a multi-year journey towards embedding digitalisation across its operations and was seeking a strong technology partner with abundant knowledge in the insurance sector to overcome challenges presented by customer-centric digital transformation. OneConnect vowed to assist and enable OM (Old Mutual) as its proud strategic partner.

As a well-known insurance corporate established for more than 178 years, Old Mutual is a Pan African Financial Services company that offers a broad spectrum of financial solutions to retail and corporate customers across key market segments in 14 countries, with listings on five stock exchanges.

As an associate company of Ping An Group listed on the NYSE and HKSE, OneConnect leverages on Ping An Group's extensive integrated finance and fintech expertise of over 30 years in, its proprietary research and development capabilities, ability to provide full-stack product offerings to financial institutions, and being the very first Fintech company dually listed in the U.S. and Hong Kong. With fintech solutions stemmed from large scale business use cases, OneConnect is proud to be selected by Old Mutual in SA market and beyond as its strategic partner.

Omni-channel Agent Solution is the digitalized life insurance flagship product introduced by OneConnect, which provides full-process agent solutions to global insurance institutions. Through integrating advanced AI technology, the product helps insurance institutions digitally transform their agents through specific modules including recruitment, training, prospecting, performance, and customer management, empowering insurance institutions to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness throughout the agent employment process.

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May Govender, Acting Group CIO Old Mutual Limited, said, "We are excited to be working with a premier technology company to help us deliver on our ambition to be our customer's first choice to sustain, grow and protect their prosperity. As part of our technology focus, it was also key for us to find an organisation with a shared vision for digital transformation in addition to strong capability, expertise, and a proven record in the insurance industry. We are choosing an organisation that is not just a technology provider but one that understands insurance and has the scale to fast track our digital transformation journey and give us speed and flexibility to respond to ever changing needs."

Mr. Chongfeng Shen, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of OneConnect, said: "At OneConnect, we will continue leveraging our extensive financial expertise and cutting-edge technology to inject new momentum into the digital transformation of insurance companies. We will also continue to refine our products to better meet market demand. Old Mutual, with over a century of history, chose us as their strategic partner because they believe in our professionalism and the win-win outcomes we can create together. We will maintain a close relationship over the long-term, and propel digital transformation of life insurance together."

With digital transformation a key component of Old Mutual's customer-centric strategy, the company has been on a multi-year journey towards embedding digitalisation across their operations. OneConnect's Universal Agent solution effectively helps agents of Old Mutual in SA improve service efficiency and convert potential customers, thereby contributing to their success in the market.

Mr. Jie Li, Chief Technology Officer of OneConnect, said, "The digital age demands precise data analysis that blends multiple scenarios, and empowering every marketer and agent with technology is particularly crucial. Empowering enterprises with 'digital employees' are also a key factor in the global digital transformation of insurance companies. We are delighted to bring our experience in digital transformation, which has been validated by Ping An Group, to the global market."

Going forward, OneConnect will continue to leverage Ping An Group's 30-plus years of experience and technological innovations in the insurance industry to create more high quality solutions applicable to South African market for Old Mutual. Both parties will adhere to the principle of win-win collaboration, create a benchmark model for the digital transformation of life insurance companies, and jointly open a new chapter of digital transformation in the global insurance industry.

Cision

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SOURCE OneConnect
OQmented

The company adds a new board member and will use the Series A funds to establish its leading laser beam scanning (LBS) technology as the key enabler for the first generations consumer Augmented Reality glasses, long-awaited by the public and advertised by the major technology companies.

OQmented light engine in Augmented Reality glasses

AR/MR display technology startup OQmented closes $20 million Series A

OQmented founders Hofmann and von Wantoch raise $20 million Series A

Ulrich Hofmann and Thomas von Wantoch with OQmented light engine

ITZEHOE, Germany, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OQmented, a technology leader in MEMS1-based AR/MR display and 3D sensing solutions, announced today that it has raised $ 20 million in its Series A fundraising round. In the new financing round, Sharp2, one of the worlds leading electronic device and display manufacturers, joined as a strategic investor in the company. It included participation of the existing investors Salvia, Vsquared Ventures and others.



OQmented enables tech companies and eyeglass manufacturers to build stylish all-day wearable Augmented or Mixed Reality glasses. To that end, the startup develops ultra-compact MEMS-based light engines, utilizing laser beam scanning. This technology offers several advantages over competitive approaches: lower power consumption, smaller size, higher brightness & contrast and superior display performance. All of these are requirements for lightweight consumer AR glasses, suitable for outdoor use. Technological research and consulting firm Gartner forecasts a booming demand for so-called head-mounted displays by 2026, associated with an increasing adaption rate of MEMS mirrors to benefit from its lower cost, lower power consumption and smaller size.3 The strategic cooperation with Sharp supports OQmenteds ambition to become the key enabler for consumer Augmented Reality glasses. It leverages the synergies of combining Sharps electronic device and display manufacturing expertise with OQmenteds unique IP and know-how in LBS-based micro-displays. The cooperation consolidates OQmenteds strategy to offer complete light engines as Plug and Play solutions, ready for integration.

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Big tech companies and other players are racing to accomplish consumer AR glasses that are ultimately able to replace the smartphone, said Thomas von Wantoch, co-CEO and co-founder of OQmented. There is overwhelming demand for our product and we will use the Series A funds to accelerate getting our light engines ready for the market. We are excited that we gained Sharp as strategic investor with years of experience as one of the largest suppliers for displays and electronic devices. Our unique cooperation bundles enormous know-how and enables us to offer an unmatched one-stop shop solution to our customers: a light engine with integrated MEMS, electronics and laser. This strengthens our position as key enabler for the Augmented and Mixed Reality market.

David Woodward, President of Sharp Devices Europe GmbH, comments: We look forward to accelerating our cooperation with OQmented and to realizing the developing market of all-day wearable Augmented and Mixed Reality glasses, along with the many differentiated markets that will eventually benefit from the key technologies and innovations driven by OQmented. Thomas and Ulrich are leading a fast moving startup company with a growing team of highly motivated dynamic staff, demonstrating leading edge innovation. We are very excited to utilize the many synergies available between OQmented and Sharps own technologies and device industrialization.

OQmented was founded in 2018 by Thomas von Wantoch and Dr. Ulrich Hofmann. The company has grown to a team of around 80 people with five offices globally and plans to expand in office and laboratory space. Additionally, OQmented intends to hire several key employees and strengthen its business development team for access to the US and Asian markets.



About OQmented

OQmented is a deep tech company developing and selling ultra-compact LBS displays for Augmented and Mixed Reality devices and best-in-class 3D sensing solutions for mobile and stationary applications. The company offers complete solutions, including in-house developed ASICs that are highly customized and optimized to work with OQmented MEMS mirrors. The unique Lissajous scan pattern in combination with the vacuum encapsulation technology and proprietary electronics, algorithms and software enables new product categories in consumer, automotive and various other industries; the companys extensive know-how and IP provide for numerous competitive advantages. With significant MEMS manufacturing experience, OQmented effectively designs for high-volume production. Further information can be found at www.oqmented.com.

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1 Microelectromechanical System

2 Sharp Corporation invested in the company through its group company Sharp Devices Europe GmbH

3 Gartner Reports: Gartner, Emerging Tech: Three MEMS Technologies Will Enhance Metaverse User Experiences, Stacey Yin, 14 February 2023

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ddabc401-b8b8-44dc-83b2-847a2622eece

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9a76ca7e-ec6f-47b1-8281-69cf072ed172

CONTACT: For Press Information Contact Judith Woehl Public Relations OQmented Email: media@oqmented.com




Foulath Holding, an industrial holding company with major steel projects, has partnered with the Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), the Municipality of Muharraq and CleanUp Bahrain (CUB) to support the Green Up project, a local initiative that aims to promote greenery across various areas in the kingdom.

As part of the collaboration, Foulath Holding will support CleanUp Bahrain, a local non-profit environmental organisation, to plant 100 small and medium-sized trees across Samaheej Park located in Muharraq.

The Supreme Council for Environment reiterated the importance of its partnership with Foulath Holding as a reflection of the important environmental collaborations between government and private sector entities. These partnerships aim to double the number of trees in Bahrain, strengthen the Kingdoms efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change, and fulfil Bahrains commitment to achieving the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The council also commended Foulaths national role and responsibility in enacting this initiative, as well as its ongoing environmental efforts, wishing them greater success in the future.

Foulath Holdings support of the Green Up project is part of the companys upcoming series of environmentally-led initiatives designed to encourage sustainable, eco-friendly practices both internally and across the wider community.

Bader Al Tamimi, General Manager of Human Resources and Administration at Foulath Holding, said: We are pleased to team up with the Supreme Council for Environment, Municipality of Muharraq and Clean Up Bahrain to support the ongoing Green Up initiative. As part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, Foulath continues to support local projects that contribute to achieving a greener, more sustainable Bahrain. We plan to support similar community-led initiatives in line with the Kingdoms 2060 net-zero goals and the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

Eng Ibrahim Al Jowder, Director-General of the Municipality of Muharraq, said: We would like to extend our gratitude to Foulath Holding and Clean Up Bahrain for the upcoming tree planting initiative taking place at Samaheej Park. We hope to witness more collaborative opportunities between both private and public sector entities that will help embed sustainability practices across the Kingdom.

Ali Al-Qaseer, Co-founder and Chairman of Clean Up Bahrain, commented: We are delighted to be working alongside Foulath Holding and its leadership who have shown great commitment to corporate social responsibility, starting with this important project. We truly believe that change comes from within and that together we can make a difference through longstanding, sustainable projects that have a direct impact on the Kingdoms environment and allow us to achieve the milestones set for Bahrains 2030 Vision. -TradeArabia News Service
Company Logo

Dublin, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Outpatient Hospital Services Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018-2028 Segmented By Services, By Type, By Region, and Competition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Global Outpatient Hospital Services Market is projected to accomplish high growth in the forecast period, 2024-2028 on account of increasing outpatient healthcare expenditure.

The growing popularity of outpatient healthcare services is further supporting the market growth. With the rising numbers of cancer cases around the globe, there is also a simultaneous increase in the treatment of cancer. To avoid long queues and appointments for cancer treatment, the number of people opting for outpatient chemotherapy has increased due to its comparatively low price than inpatient chemotherapy, plus there is no stay at hospitals. Most chemotherapy patients can continue working and engaging in their regular activities because most chemotherapy treatments are administered in an outpatient clinic.



The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) in the United States which was first passed in 2003 and got into effect by January 2005 made a mandatory reduction in payments for outpatient chemotherapies by implementing the act.



According to Global Cancer Observatory, a total of 19,292,789 cases of cancer were reported globally in 2020 with its high prevalence in Asia. With high dominance of breast cancer and prostate cancer among the population. Chemotherapy drug delivery has changed from inpatient to outpatient settings. Chemotherapy treatment, which was formerly mainly provided in hospital settings, is now mostly provided in outpatient settings, such as the oncologist's office, an outpatient hospital department, or the patient's home.



Medical screenings such as mammograms, colonoscopy, and endoscopy are some of the other procedures which are easily provided in outpatient hospitals to many patients at a time thus, people seeking chemotherapy with increasing cases of cancer are expected to support the growth of the Global Outpatient Hospital Services Market.



High Inpatient Cost to Boost the Market of Outpatient Hospital Services Globally



The cost of inpatient treatment is also pushing customers to choose outpatient hospital services, which will help in the development of the market globally over the next few years. At inpatient hospital services, the medical devices, surgical equipment, medical equipment, and medications are reasonably high.

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Additional facility-based costs are charged for inpatient care as well, but outpatient care includes only the costs for the physician and any tests completed. The most recent data information from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ Healthcare) demonstrates that depending on the duration of stay and the treatments provided, the average national inpatient expenditures can vary greatly.

Consumers are preferring outpatient hospital services because they are more concerned with cheaper costs, greater access, and better experiences. For instance, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS) Health Report of America estimates that expenses can be 30 to 40% lower when members choose to have a knee or hip replacement performed in an outpatient facility. Inpatient knee or hip replacements cost, on average, USD30,000, while outpatient procedures cost, respectively, USD19,000 and USD22,000.



The price of medicine has gone up recently and patient stay duration has dramatically dropped because of better wound healing technology and quicker recovery from procedures, which has led to a gradual fall in the inpatient market. The lengthier hospital stay also incurs more costs for hospitals because of reduced hospital capacity to admit new patients thus, driving the Outpatient Hospitals Market Services globally.



Minimally Invasive Surgery to Promote Outpatient Operations



Minor operations, especially those that employ minimally invasive methods, minor surgical operations including laser surgery, hand or foot surgery, mole removal, and Lasik eye surgery which don't require high-level medical expertise are easily conducted in outpatient hospitals.

Numerous procedures (such as knee replacements and tonsillectomy) have been able to transition into the outpatient setting due to improvements in clinical approaches and techniques, including breakthroughs in anesthetic and pain control as well as minimally invasive surgical techniques. The increase in minimally invasive surgical procedures performed is expected to drive the growth of global outpatient hospital services market.



Increasing Oral Surgeries and Other Dental Procedures



Oral surgeries and other related procedures such as extractions, implants, root canals, and gum grafts which are conducted in outpatient hospitals have multiple benefits like less waiting and a shorter hospital stay because of day surgery, and a lower risk of nosocomial infections, less disruption of everyday activities, and more therapeutic option availability.

There have been a lot of outpatient operations because of recent technical improvements which are expected to boost the market with new emerging technologies. This in turn is expected to create lucrative opportunities for the growth of global outpatient hospital service market in the coming years.



Increasing Cataract Surgeries



Cataracts are the primary cause in half of the cases of the 40 million blind people globally. Most of the cataract blind people worldwide reside in underdeveloped nations. Each year, there are about 5 million new cases of cataract blindness. In comparison to high-income countries, low- and middle-income countries have a higher proportion of vision impairment caused by cataracts.



According to the Vision Loss Expert Group (VLEG), in 40% of all cases of blindness worldwide nearly 17 million persons are bilaterally blind from cataracts in the year 2020. Among all eye illnesses, cataracts account for a fraction of blindness that ranges from 15% in high-income nations to 50% or more in underdeveloped and/or rural areas. Cataract surgeries have increased globally, with their one-day operation in outpatient hospitals, thereby driving the growth of global outpatient hospital services market.



Report Scope:



In this report, global outpatient hospital services market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:



Outpatient Hospital Services Market, By Service:

Treatment Devices

Diagnostic Tests

Minor Surgical Procedures

Others

Outpatient Hospital Services Market, By Type:

Emergency Department

Urgent Care Centers

Primary Care Clinics

Specialized Outpatient Clinics

Others

Outpatient Hospital Services Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Middle East & Africa

South Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited

Max Healthcare Institute Limited

Fortis Healthcare Limited

Aster DM Healthcare Limited

HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Community Health Systems, Inc.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation

ORPEA Group

Netcare Limited

Spire Healthcare Group plc

Key Topics Covered:



1. Product Overview



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Voice of Customer



5. Global Outpatient Hospital Services Market Outlook



6. North America Outpatient Hospital Services Market Outlook



7. Europe Outpatient Hospital Services Market Outlook



8. Asia-Pacific Outpatient Hospital Services Market Outlook



9. South America Outpatient Hospital Services Market Outlook



10. Middle East and Africa Outpatient Hospital Services Market Outlook



11. Market Dynamics



12. Market Trends & Developments



13. Global Outpatient Hospital Service Market: SWOT Analysis



14. Porter's Five Forces Analysis



15. Competitive Landscape



16. Strategic Recommendations





For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1b6df6

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Future Market Insights Global and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

Online Retailing Unwraps the New Potential in the Packaging Testing Market, Resulting in a CAGR of 12.6% by 2033. The demand for food and beverage packaging testing is projected to increase substantially as new packaging techniques such as intelligent packaging and active and smart packaging are being introduced to meet the rising requirement for efficient testing of packaged food and drink products.

NEWARK, Del: , March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The packaging testing market is predicted to be worth US$ 16,099.87 million in 2023 and is likely to rise to US$ 53,748.03 million by 2033. Initially, the global market was expanding at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2018 to 2022.



Trade liberalization, advancements in communication and transportation technologies, and the expansion of multinational corporations in the retail food industry all contributed to an increase in globalization. This increased trading, which highlights the demand for packaging testing solutions.

Package testing became even more crucial as a result, as damaged goods increase expenses for manufacturers and retailers and result in dissatisfied customers. Several tests are carried out to determine the reliability of the package, including drop, vibration, and shock testing, as instructed by reputable organizations like the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA).

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The global e-commerce market is expanding quickly. By doing technology-advanced equipment testing on their packaging solutions, e-commerce, and retail businesses are boosting their offerings.

They are emphasizing the need for packaging suitable for its intended use and that can withstand challenging shipping situations. As a result, it is setting the groundwork for producers of package testing equipment to increase their market share globally.

Key Takeaways

In 2023, the United States is expected to lead the packaging testing market, with a size of US$ 3,414 million and a CAGR of 10.3%.

The packaging testing market was significantly expanding, with a size of US$ 14.25 billion in 2022.

Market shows amazing opportunities due to the rising need for effective packaging designs, and expects a Y-o-Y growth of 13% in 2023.

The market in China is anticipated to expand at an adequate CAGR of 19.8% by 2033.

By 2033, Germany is likely to expand in the packaging testing market, with a size of US$ 3,411.86 million.

Canada is anticipated to expand at an adequate CAGR of 7.7% by 2033.

The expansion in the United Kingdom is anticipated to expand at an adequate CAGR of 12.1% by 2033.

Based on the material type, plastic is likely to lead the market and expects a size of US$ 6,995 million in 2023.

Based on the testing type, microbiological continues to dominate the sector during the forecast period, with a CAGR of 13.6%.



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Key Strategies in the Industry

Packaging compatibility testing is growing in popularity among important stakeholders. It involves several different kinds of studies, including tests for extractable and leachable, accelerated aging, and migration. In the market under study, competitive competition is moderately high, firm concentration is modest, and consolidation is anticipated over the next few years.

It is anticipated that the rivalry gets even more intense. Long-standing firms like Intertek Group PLC, Eurofins Scientific SE, SGS SA, and Bureau Veritas SA are anticipated to continue their market dominance by providing cutting-edge package testing solutions services to ratchet up market rivalry.

Recent Developments

In Kazakhstan, SGS S.A. opened a brand-new hybrid commercial onsite geochemistry laboratory in 2020. By diversifying its offering of laboratory testing services, the company seeks to break into the chemical packaging market.

In June 2022, Bureau Veritas purchased Advanced Testing Laboratories, a company that offers scientific sourcing services. ATL offers services like product validation, production, and packaging, in addition to research and development. The company's footprint in North America is anticipated to grow as a result of the acquisition.

Key segments

By Testing Type:

Physical

Chemical

Microbiological



By Material Type:

Plastic

Paper and Paperboard

Glass

Wood and Others

By Packaging Application:

Food and Beverages

Healthcare

Pharmaceuticals

Medical Devices

Chemical and Fertilizers

Personal Care and Cosmetics

Electrical and Electronics

Automotive

Industrial



By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

Middle East and Africa

View full Report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/packaging-testing-market

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary | Packaging Testing Market

1.1. Global Market Outlook

1.2. Demand-side Trends

1.3. Supply-side Trends

1.4. Technology Roadmap Analysis

1.5. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Coverage / Taxonomy

2.2. Market Definition / Scope / Limitations

3. Market Background

3.1. Market Dynamics

3.1.1. Drivers

3.1.2. Restraints

3.1.3. Opportunity

3.1.4. Trends

Read More TOC...

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About the Packaging Division at Future Market Insights

The packaging division at Future Market Insights provides an in-depth historical analysis and projections for the next ten years and covers the competitive landscape through a unique dashboard view. Ranging from packaging materials, and packaging machinery to packaging designs & formats, Future Market Insights has an exhaustive database for these industry verticals, serving clients with unique research offerings and strategic recommendations. With a repository of 1,000+ reports, the team has analysed the packaging industry comprehensively in 50+ countries. The team evaluates every node of the value chain and provides end-to-end research and consulting services; reach out to explore how we can help.

Have a Look at Related Research Reports of Packaging:

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Packaging Bins Market Trends: Packaging Bins Market By Material Type (Plastic Packaging Bins, Paper Packaging Bins, Metal Packaging Bins), Capacity (Less than 15 Gallons, 15 to 40 Gallons, 41 to 120 Gallons), End Use (Food, Automotive, Construction, Electronics & Furniture, and Chemical) & Region- Forecast to 2022-2032

Packaging Testing Equipment Market Analysis: Packaging Testing Equipment Market By Testing Type, Material & Region | Forecast 2023 to 2033

Packaging Testing Services Market Outlook: Packaging Testing Services Market by Testing Type (Physical, Chemical), Material (Plastic, Glass, Metal), End User (Food, Beverages, Healthcare) and Region for 2022-2029

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Allied Market Research

Rise in the prevalence of neurological disorders, increase in the pediatric population, and surge in the adoption of advanced neurological devices, drive the growth of the global pediatric neurology devices market. By product type, the cerebrospinal fluid management devices segment contributed to the major share in 2021. By region, Asia-Pacific would showcase the fastest CAGR by 2031.

Portland, OR, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global pediatric neurology devices market was estimated at $2.8 billion in 2021 and is expected to hit $5.8 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 7.8% from 2022 to 2031. The report provides a detailed analysis of the top investment pockets, top winning strategies, drivers & opportunities, market size & estimations, competitive landscape, and evolving market trends. The market study is a helpful source of information for the frontrunners, new entrants, investors, and shareholders in crafting strategies for the future and heightening their position in the market.

Request Sample PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/12035

Report coverage & details:

Forecast Period 20222031 Base Year 2021 Market Size in 2021 $2.8 Billion Market Size in 2031 $5.8 Billion CAGR 7.8% No. of Pages in Report 220 Segments Covered Product Type, Condition, Age-group, End-User, and Region. Drivers Increase in research activities by manufacturers for developing innovative solutions in pediatric neurology devices technology Rise in consumer awareness related to preventive healthcare of newborns Restraints High cost of neurological disease treatments and devices Opportunities Increasing R&D activities in the field of medical devices

Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on Pediatric Neurology Devices Industry

Cancellation of non-emergency procedures and decrease in the number of neurological surgeries during the pandemic had a negative impact on the global pediatric neurology devices market.

However, as the global situation has recovered, the market has also got back on track, due to the increased demand for neurological exams.

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The global pediatric neurology devices market is analyzed across product type, condition, age group, end-user, and region. The report takes in an exhaustive analysis of the segments and their sub-segments with the help of tabular and graphical representation. Investors and market players can benefit from the breakdown and devise stratagems based on the highest revenue-generating and fastest-growing segments stated in the report.

By product type, the cerebrospinal fluid management devices segment held the largest share in 2021, garnering more than one-fourth of the global pediatric neurology devices market revenue, and is projected to maintain its dominance by 2031. The neurosurgery devices segment, however, would showcase the fastest CAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period.

By condition, the seizures segment contributed to the major share in 2021, generating more than one-fourth of the global pediatric neurology devices market revenue. The stroke segment, on the other hand, would display the fastest CAGR of 8.7% throughout the forecast period.

By age group, the 5-10 years segment held the major share in 2021, accounting for around two-fifths of the global pediatric neurology devices market revenue. The 0-5 years segment, however, would cite the fastest CAGR of 8.2% throughout the forecast period.

By end-user, the hospitals segment accounted for the highest share in 2021, generating more than two-fifths of the global pediatric neurology devices market revenue. The ambulatory surgery centers segment, simultaneously, would portray the fastest CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period.

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By region, North America held the major share in 2021, contributing to around two-fifths of the global pediatric neurology devices market revenue. Asia-Pacific, simultaneously, would showcase the fastest CAGR of 9.2% from 2022 to 2031. The other provinces studied through the report include Europe and LAMEA.

The key market players analyzed in the global pediatric neurology devices market report include Integra Lifesciences Holdings, B.Braun SE, Medtronic Plc, Natus Medical Incorporated, Stryker Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Livanova Plc, Zimmer Biomet Holding Inc., and Karl Storz SE and CO. KG. These market players have embraced several strategies including product launch, product approval, and acquisition to highlight their prowess in the industry. The report is helpful in formulating the business performance and developments by the top players.

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(Bloomberg) -- Australias government expects to win approval for a flagship climate policy to rein in the countrys worst polluters after agreeing to rules that could curb development of new fossil fuel projects.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The countrys revised safeguard mechanism, which would compel around 215 of the nations most emitting industrial sites to cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 4.9% a year by 2030, will now be backed by the minor opposition Australian Greens and is likely to pass through Parliament before coming into operation from July.

Concessions around emissions limits, the use of carbon offsets and funding made to secure support of the Greens will likely make a host of potential coal and gas developments unviable, according to the partys leader Adam Bandt.

For the first time, new projects, coal and gas, will now have to undergo a pollution test, he told reporters in Canberra on Monday. About half of the 116 new coal and gas projects under consideration in Australia would not be able to go ahead under the new proposed legislation, he said.

Key energy producers, including BHP Group Ltd. and Santos Ltd., declined in Sydney trading on Monday. Woodside Energy Group Ltd., the countrys largest liquefied natural gas producer, fell 3.4%.

An overhaul of the safeguard mechanism is seen as vital for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to achieve Australias upgraded 2030 target for emissions reductions. The policy is intended to mandate tougher climate action for the entities it covers, which together account for around a quarter of Australias total emissions.

The revised plans announced Monday will offer at least A$1 billion ($665 million) for impacted industries that can support decarbonization efforts, including the steel and cement sectors. The funding wont go toward any initiatives aimed at expanding the fossil fuel industry, the government said.

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After negotiations with the Greens, therell be a limit on absolute emissions of 140 million tons a year, which will decrease over time. Energy Minister Chris Bowen will also need to carry out additional scrutiny of any project that threatens to breach that cap, potentially jeopardizing some fossil fuel developments, Bandt said.

But Albanese denied the new legislation would kill off investment in projects required for Australias clean energy transition, including new gas production, pointing out he had refused to concede to Green Party demands that new coal and gas projects be banned under the legislation.

An immediate ban on future gas projects would be irresponsible, Bowen said earlier this month, adding that the fuel will be necessary to complement a transition to the governments target of 82% renewable generation by 2030.

Albaneses Labor government came to power in May last year with a vow to reverse the nations reputation as a climate laggard. While the administration has tightened national emissions targets, Labor has also faced criticism over its support for some coal and gas developments.

These reforms are crucial to our climate and our economy  supporting Australian industry and ensuring they will continue to be competitive in a decarbonizing world, Bowen said in a Monday statement.

The main opposition center-right coalition of the Liberals and Nationals in February said it would vote against the proposed legislation.

(Updates with details from first paragraph, shares in fifth paragraph)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
London, UK --News Direct-- Plexus Holdings PLC

Plexus Holdings PLC (AIM:POS) chief executive Ben van Bilderbeek speaks to Proactive's Thomas Warner about what a recent 5mln order means for the Aberdeen-based oil and gas engineering and service business.

Van Bilderbeek describes the order as "very important" following a lean period for the company, that he attributes to a downturn in oil and gas exploration activity.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of new interviews with Canada Carbon and Heritage Mining discussing their latest news.

The Power Play by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives.

Canada Carbon (TSXV:CCB) interprets highly prospective results from Asbury Property





The Market Herald, Monday, March 27, 2023, Press release picture

Canada Carbon (CCB) has received new results from its Asbury Property in Quebec. December 2022 drilling and trenching completed on the eastern part of the property highlight the possible northeast extension of graphite mineralization reported in MC8805 (8.14 per cent Cg over 18.9 m). Highlights include 5.00 per cent Cg over 33.5 m. More assays are forthcoming as the company progresses toward an Asbury resource estimate. CEO Ellerton Castor spoke with Shoran Devi about the news.

For the full interview with Ellerton Castor and to learn about Canada Carbon, click here.

Heritage Mining (CSE:HML) receives exploration permit for Drayton-Black Lake

The Market Herald, Monday, March 27, 2023, Press release picture

Heritage Mining (HML) has received a permit for 2023 exploration at its flagship Drayton-Black Lake Project. The program, slated for spring/summer 2023, will focus on drilling three priority targets on the property. Heritage Mining is a well-capitalized Canadian mineral exploration company advancing two high-grade gold-silver-copper projects in northwestern Ontario. CEO Peter Schloo spoke with Shoran Devi about the news.

For the full interview with Peter Schloo and to learn about Heritage Mining, click here.

Interviews for The Power Play by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Power Play or to explore our other interviews visit The Power Play by The Market Herald.

About The Market Herald

The Market Herald Canada is the leading source of authoritative breaking stock market news for self-directed investors. Our team of Canadian markets reporters, editors and technologists covers the entire listed company universe in Canada. We cover over 3,985 businesses, their people, their investors, and their customers. We write the stories that move the Canadian capital markets.

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DISCLAIMER: Report Card Canada Media Ltd. ("Report Card") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market Herald Limited, an Australian company ("Market Herald"). Report Card is not an advisory service, and does not offer, buy, sell, or provide any other rating, analysis or opinion on the securities we discuss. We are retained and compensated by the companies that we provide information on to assist them with making information available to the public. All information available on themarketherald.ca and/or this press release should be considered as commercial advertisement and not an endorsement, offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Report Card is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority in any province or territory of Canada, will not be performing any registerable activity as defined by the applicable regulatory bodies and do not provide nor claim to provide investment advice or recommendations to any visitor of this site or readers of any content on or originating from themarketherald.ca. Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees may from time to time acquire, hold or sell securities and/or commodities and/or commodity futures contracts in certain underlying companies mentioned in this site and which may also be clients of Market Herald's affiliates. In such instances, Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees will use all reasonable efforts to avoid engaging in activities that would lead to conflicts of interest and Market Herald and/or its affiliates will use all reasonable efforts to comply with conflicts of interest disclosures and regulations to minimize any conflict. All the information on this document and/or the website - themarketherald.ca - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Report Card does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this document and/or website (themarketherald.ca) is strictly at your own risk. Report Card will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'. Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.

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NEWARK, DE / ACCESSWIRE / March 26, 2023 / The global car rental service market is projected to accrue a value of US$ 307.5 billion by 2033, with the demand growing at a healthy CAGR of 7.2% from 2023 to 2033. The market will likely reach an estimated US$ 153.4 billion in 2023. Substantial growth in the number of people taking business and leisure travel trips is spurring the demand for the car rental market in the forecast period.

The widespread access to and use of the internet across developing as well as developed nations have helped enterprises in the market to expand their customer base with the aid of mobile applications. In addition, the subscription model introduced by many market players is expected to contribute to market growth.

Rapid advancements in technology are anticipated to be an essential factor aiding the expansion of the market size. Technologically-empowered web-based solutions like online sales and booking channels enable consumers to rent a car at their convenience and ease. Technological advancements in this sector have improved customer and corporate information management and enabled hassle-free internet bookings.

For insights on global, regional, and country-level parameters with growth opportunities from 2023 to 2033 - Download a sample report

These considerations will supplement the growth of the car rental market. Again, the heightened dependency of consumers on smartphones for carrying out myriad tasks- tasks that were conventionally done by computers- has altered the car rental experience for consumers. This is because swift technological progress has helped enterprises in this sector to introduce various applications that will ensure a smooth booking process for consumers which, in turn, drives global market growth.

The market is also significantly influenced by the introduction of concepts like opaque renting which is a booking platform that allows online customers to offer the value that they will pay for a specific travel-related product or service without knowing the brand beforehand. The brand is only revealed after the consumer makes an online purchase. This concept, thus, enables car rental businesses to grow and use their fleet to their full capacity. This trend is expected to have an immense impact on the car rental services market. Hence, technological advancements in mobile capacities along with advancing web-based media enable the growth of opaque renting which, in turn, drives the overall car rental market growth.

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Key Takeaways:

Sharp rises in fuel prices will likely serve as an impediment to the global car rental services market.

Favorable government initiatives like the implementation of policies regarding the reduction of carbon emissions will likely strengthen market prospects.

The car rental market in the US will be driven by the presence of market leaders like The Hertz Corporation.

China's car rental market will dominate the East Asia region with East Asia registering a CAGR of 10.8% from 2023 to 2033.

By car type, the economy cars segment will dominate the international marketplace.

Based on end-users, the on-airport segment will account for over 40% of the market share.

To Gain More Insights about this Research, Visit: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/car-rental-market-forecast-period-2015-2025

Competitive Landscape

Enterprise Holding Inc., The Hertz Corporation, Localiza-Rent A Car, Sixt SE, and Avis Budget Group, among others, are a few of the significant players in the car rental market profiled in the full version of the report.

In a competitive market, key players are keen on capitalizing on ongoing technological advancements. These organizations make use of web and mobile-based advancements to attract a wider consumer base. Strategic service offerings, mergers, and acquisitions are also employed by these participants to gain a competitive edge. For instance, Localiza Rent A Car SA merged with Car Rental Systems in 2020 to meet strategic guidelines for simplification and administrative and financial rationalization.

Future Market Insights, Inc., Sunday, March 26, 2023, Press release picture

Car Rental Services Market by Category

By Car Type:

Economy Cars

Compact Cars

Intermediate Cars

Premium Cars

Luxury Cars

Others

By End Use:

Intercity

Intracity

On-Airport

Others

By Booking Mode:

Offline Access

Mobile Application

Other Internet Access

By Sector:

Organized

Unorganized

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia

Oceania

Middle East and Africa (MEA)

Interested to Procure The Data? Inquire here: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-975

More Insights Into Car Rental Market

In its latest report, FMI offers an unbiased analysis of the global car rental market, providing historical data from 2018 to 2022 and forecast statistics for 2023 to 2033. The report offers insights into a ten-year sales prospect, market drivers, opportunities, trends, and challenges. For a better understanding of the global market potential, growth, and scope, the market is segmented on the basis of car type, end-use, booking mode, sector, and region.

As per FMI reports, based on segmentation, the mobile app booking mode will be the most preferred booking segment during the assessment period. This category will register a CAGR of about 8% during this period. In terms of car type, though the economy segment will lead, the intermediate car type will register a significant CAGR of 7.5% from 2023 to 2033.

Based on region, East Asia and South Asia will emerge as remunerative pockets for the car rental market. Where the East Asian car rental market will witness a 10.5% CAGR, the South Asian market is expected to undergo a CAGR of 8.8% from 2023 to 2033. This is attributed to the expanding tourism sector in countries like China and India. Other countries like the US and Germany will also contribute to the growth of the car rental market.

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary | Car Rental Services Market

1.1. Market Outlook

1.2. Summary of Key Statistics

1.3. Summary of Key Findings

1.4. Analysis and Recommendations

2. Market Overview

2.1. Market Taxonomy

2.2. Market Scope

3. Key Market Trends

5. Market Background

Market presence across multiple geographical footprints - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial -Buy the report!

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About Future Market Insights, Inc.

Future Market Insights, Inc. is an ESOMAR-certified business consulting & market research firm, a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and is headquartered in Delaware, USA. A recipient of Clutch Leaders Award 2022 on account of high client score (4.9/5), we have been collaborating with global enterprises in their business transformation journey and helping them deliver on their business ambitions. 80% of the largest Forbes 1000 enterprises are our clients. We serve global clients across all leading & niche market segments across all major industries.

Contact Us:

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

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For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com

SOURCE: Future Market Insights Inc.





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https://www.accesswire.com/745617/Rapid-Adoption-of-Technological-Advancements-Drives-Car-Rental-Service-Market-to-A-Value-of-US-3075-Billion-by-2033-Report-by-Future-Market-Insights-Inc




AP Finance

Fox Corp.'s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges is eye-popping, but the ultimate cost to the media company is likely to be much lower. On Tuesday, Fox settled with Dominion over charges that Fox News baselessly accused the company of rigging its voting machines against former President Donald Trump in 2020. Fox had about $4 billion of cash on hand as of December 2022, and MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman expects the company to pay the settlement during the current quarter.
Marvin Samuel Tolentino Pineda / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Hitting your retirement savings goals is all but impossible unless you invest your money via a tax-advantaged account like a 401(k). These savings vehicles are often offered by employers, and as of 2023, you can contribute up to $22,500 in pretax earnings each year ($30,000 if youre age 50 or older).

Next: 7 Ways Baby Boomers Are Wasting Money in Retirement  and How To Stop It

More: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

So how is the average American faring when it comes to funding their 401(k) plans? Lets take a look at the typical 401(k) balance, plus some tips for increasing that amount.

Average 401(k) Balance by Age

Investment firm Vanguard analyzed data from about 5 million retirement accounts as part of its How America Saves report. According to the latest findings, the average 401(k) balance was $141,542 in 2021. Thats an increase of about 10% from 2020.

As you might imagine, the average balance varies quite a bit according to age, with older workers amassing larger portfolios. In the table below, you can see the average and median balances for people in different age groups.

Age Average 401(k) Balance Median 401(k) Balance Younger than 25 $6,264 $1,786 25 to 34 $37,211 $14,068 35 to 44 $97,020 $36,117 45 to 54 $179,200 $61,530 55 to 64 $256,244 $89,716 65 and older $279,997 $87,725

If we look closer at these numbers, it becomes apparent that many workers may not have enough money saved in their 401(k) plans  especially when we consider the median balance, which prevents any outliers from skewing the data.

Fidelity Investments recommends that you have about 10 times your salary saved by age 67. So for someone who earns $80,000 per year, they should have a portfolio worth $800,000 at age 67 to retire comfortably.

Of course, its possible that many savers have money in other places as well, such as IRAs, taxable brokerage accounts and savings accounts. Still, the typical 401(k) balance seems dangerously far off from the recommended retirement savings target.

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Ways To Grow Your 401(k)

Whether youre new to the workforce or a seasoned investor, there are steps you can take to ensure your 401(k) balance grows to its fullest potential.

Start ASAP

To grow a substantial retirement portfolio, its essential to start early and be consistent with your contributions, according to Andrew Latham, a certified financial planner and the director of content of SuperMoney.com. Even small, regular contributions can compound over time and make a significant difference in your retirement savings, he said. For example, saving $200 a month for 30 years could grow into a roughly $227,000 retirement fund, assuming an average annual return of 7%.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think the US Should Raise the Medicare Tax on High Earners To Help Save the Program?

Diversify Your Investments

Latham said that diversification is key when it comes to investing in your 401(k). While your investment choices may be somewhat limited according to the plan provider, you should aim to invest across various asset classes, including mutual funds and ETFs, to minimize risk and maximize growth potential. If you arent sure how to go about picking your own investments, many plan providers offer free help from a financial advisor.

Watch Out for Fees

High fees can eat into your returns, so be sure to compare and choose low-cost investment options, Latham said. To illustrate, he explained, imagine you invest $10,000 in two different retirement funds, one with an expense ratio of 0.5% and another with 1.5%. After 30 years, assuming a 6% annual return, the fund with the lower expense ratio would be worth around $49,840, while the one with the higher expense ratio would only be worth approximately $37,450  a difference of $12,390 on a $10,000 investment.

Take Advantage of Matching

As an added employee incentive, some employers will match a portion of retirement contributions. For example, your employer might match 50 cents for every dollar you contribute, up to 6% of your salary. So be sure to contribute at least 6% of your salary to take advantage of the full match, Latham said. Thats free money that you dont want to leave on the table.

What If I Dont Have a 401(k)?

Its important to note that not all Americans have access to a 401(k). According to data from the Census Bureau, as few as 14% of employers offer one. Even so, 79% of Americans work for an employer that sponsors a 401(k)-style retirement plan. Thats because big companies that employ high numbers of workers are the most likely to sponsor retirement plans.

If you dont have access to a 401(k), Latham noted that you can still save for retirement through an individual retirement account (IRA). Like a 401(k), an IRA also comes with special tax benefits that can help you save and earn more. There are different types of IRAs to choose from, so do your research and pick one that aligns with your retirement goals and risk tolerance, Latham said.

Another way to save for retirement if you dont have access to a 401(k) is to invest in a taxable brokerage account. While you wont receive any tax benefits like you would with a 401(k) or IRA, you can still invest in low-cost index funds, access your savings whenever you want without penalty, and still benefit from long-term compounding, Latham said.

Regardless of how you save for retirement, Latham emphasized the importance of regularly reviewing and adjusting your retirement savings strategy as your life circumstances change. Factors like marriage, children and career changes can impact your retirement goals and require adjustments to your savings plan, he said.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Retirement 2023: Heres How Much the Average American Has in Their 401(k)
Grass Valley, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - Rise Gold Corp. (CSE: RISE) (OTCQX: RYES) (the "Company" or "Rise Gold") reports that the Nevada County Planning Department announced that the Planning Commission hearing for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project (the "IMM Project") will take place on May 10th and will continue on May 11th as needed. The Planning Commission hearing is one of two major milestones remaining towards approval of the Company's Use Permit application to reopen the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland gold mine.

As discussed in the Company's December 16th, 2022 news release, Nevada County released a favorable Final Environmental Impact Report (the "FEIR") for the Idaho-Maryland Mine Project.

A general outline of the remaining milestones in the Use Permit application to reopen the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland gold mine are as follows:

The Nevada County Planning Commission holds a public hearing to consider the FEIR and make a recommendation on project approval to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors holds a public hearing to consider and make a final decision on the IMM Project. A majority vote of the five supervisors is required to approve the project.

About Rise Gold Corp.

Rise Gold is an exploration-stage mining company incorporated in Nevada, USA. The Company's principal asset is the historic past-producing Idaho-Maryland gold mine located in Nevada County, California, USA. To learn more about the company, visit www.risegoldcorp.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Benjamin Mossman

President, CEO and Director

Rise Gold Corp.

For further information, please contact:

RISE GOLD CORP.

Suite 215, 333 Crown Point Circle

Grass Valley, CA 95945

T: 530.433.0188

info@risegoldcorp.com

www.risegoldcorp.com

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur.

Story continues

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary approvals, meeting expenditure and financing requirements, compliance with environmental regulations, title matters, operating hazards, metal prices, political and economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions, relationships with vendors and strategic partners, governmental regulation and supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices, and one-time events that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information contained in this release. Rise undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements or information except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159914
CyberArrow, a leading cyber security compliance automation provider, and Mobily, a major telecommunications provider in Saudi Arabia, have tied up to enhance cyber security compliance and awareness for businesses in the kingdom.

As cyber threats continue to increase in frequency and sophistication, it is crucial for businesses to ensure their data is protected and in compliance with industry standards and regulations. CyberArrow's advanced automation platform streamlines the process of identifying, tracking and reporting on compliance requirements, making it easier for businesses to meet their regulatory obligations and reduce the risk of potential breaches.

With Mobily's extensive experience in telecommunications and commitment to providing innovative solutions to their customers, this partnership is set to deliver comprehensive cyber security compliance and awareness automation to businesses across the country. Mobily's knowledge of the local market and customer base, combined with CyberArrow's cutting-edge technology, will provide businesses with best-in-class technology to mitigate cyber risks and maintain compliance with the latest standards.

Compliance

As cyber security regulations in Saudi Arabia continue to increase, businesses are under increasing pressure to ensure they are compliant with the latest standards and regulations. CyberArrow's technology makes it easier to maintain compliance and reduce the risk of costly penalties.

"We are excited to partner with Mobily to provide comprehensive cyber security compliance automation to businesses in Saudi Arabia," said Amar Basic, Co-founder of CyberArrow. "With Mobily's deep understanding of the local market and CyberArrow's expertise in automation, we are well-positioned to help businesses stay protected and in compliance."

The partnership between CyberArrow and Mobily marks a significant step forward in the cyber security landscape in Saudi Arabia.-- TradeArabia News Service
The iconic 151-key hotel will undergo significant renovations of its guestrooms, public spaces, and flagship restaurant and bar to relaunch as the top offering in Portland

CHICAGO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockbridge and Aparium Hotel Group, both known for creating one-of-a-kind, hyper-localized hotels and restaurants around the country, are pleased to announce the acquisition of the Heathman Hotel. Aparium Hotel Group has assumed management of the hotel. The property, located in the heart of downtown Portland, OR, currently features a lobby library lounge and more than 3,800 square feet of meeting space including a sky-lit 2nd floor mezzanine. A comprehensive renovation and reposition of the iconic Heathman Hotel will cement the hotel's status as the leading offering in the Portland market, while also launching a new flagship ground floor restaurant and bar along with an additional bespoke cocktail bar.

Aparium Logo

"As our first property in the Pacific Northwest and complementing our project under construction in Seattle, the Heathman Hotel is a great addition to our expanding hotel portfolio and underscores our commitment to build memorable stays and cultural connectivity in distinct markets with incredible creative capital, strong personalities, and rich histories," said Mario Tricoci, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aparium Hotel Group. "We look forward to ushering the Heathman Hotel into a new era, while collaborating in many forms with creatives and makers in Portland to infuse Aparium's philosophy of Translocal Hospitality."

One of Portland's most recognizable landmarks, the legendary Heathman Hotel blends rich history with a reverent appreciation for the arts. A cultural fixture since the day it opened in 1927, the hotel is home to the only cataloged guest-lending library in the Pacific Northwest, featuring books signed by guest authors. The hotel is a mere step away from the Portland Performing Arts Center, museums, and some of Portland's finest restaurants.

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"We love to invest in beloved, historic hotels like the Heathman," said Jimmy Merkel, Co-founder and CEO of Rockbridge. "What makes this even more special is partnering with Mario and the Aparium team to restore this Portland icon to its former glory as the city continues to rebound."

Further expansion of the Aparium Hotel Group is underway with future openings planned for Denver, Seattle, Alexandria, Louisville, Atlanta, and more. Visit Aparium.com/hotels for more information.

About Aparium Hotel Group:

Established in 2012 and led by founder Mario Tricoci, Aparium Hotel Group is a pioneer in the lifestyle hotel industry with individually unique, awe-inspiring, award-winning independent hotels in distinct yet underserved markets across the U.S. Inspired by the concept of "trans-local hospitality" and a desire to provide an important catalyst in the resurgence of many great American cities, Aparium Hotel Group creates memorable stays and cultural connectivity with top-of-market, design forward, locally relevant and dynamically programmed hotels and restaurants that are a destination for discerning travelers and locals alike. The hotels feature elevated services and amenities, with locally curated food and beverage programming, celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of each community and ultimately ingraining each hotel into the fabric of the cities they inhabit.

Aparium Hotel Group is a vertically integrated owner and operator of ten hotel properties across the U.S. including The Pontchartrain Hotel (New Orleans, LA), Surety Hotel (Des Moines, IA), Hotel Haya , (Tampa, FL), Crossroads Hotel ( Kansas City, MO), Detroit Foundation Hotel ( Detroit, MI), The MC Hotel ( Montclair, NJ), Hewing Hotel ( Minneapolis, MN), Hu. Hotel (Memphis, TN), Clayton Members Club & Hotel (Denver, CO), Jasper Hotel (Fargo, ND), Heathman Hotel (Portland, OR), and several projects in various stages of development. For more information about Aparium Hotel Group, please visit aparium.com .

About Rockbridge:

Rockbridge, a private investment firm with more than 23-years in business, has been investing in and building brands in the hospitality and commercial real estate industries. The business has made over 290 investments in 39 states worth over $10 billion in total capitalization and has over $3.5 billion in assets under management. Rockbridge has been a strong investor in the hospitality space and has delivered several independent properties, including The Adolphus (Dallas, TX), Cliff House (Cape Neddick, ME), Noelle (Nashville, TN), The Laylow (Waikiki, HI), The Eliza Jane (New Orleans, LA), and Emeline (Charleston, SC) to name a few. Rockbridge has built a family of hospitality, development, and management company brands, and its continued success is a result of its core Rocks: Relevance, Relationships, Resilience, and Responsibility. Rockbridge has been honored for a fourth consecutive year as a top, philanthropic community-focused organization in Central Ohio. Learn more at www.rockbridgecapital.com and Instagram.

Cision

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SOURCE Aparium Hotel Group
FILE PHOTO: A view shows the logo of IKEA on a closed store in Kotelniki

By Alexander Marrow

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Swedish furniture giant IKEA said on Monday it had sold its factory in the Russian city of Novgorod to local firm Invest Plus, more than a year after pausing its activities in Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

IKEA halted all retail and production operations in Russia soon after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, along with scores of other Western companies. IKEA briefly resumed online sales last summer and part of the company still operates 14 MEGA-branded shopping malls in Russia.

Local media in February reported that Ingka Group, the owner of most IKEA stores, had started looking for buyers for the malls.

"The (Novgorod factory) sales process has been structured and stepwise in order to find a new owner with a strong plan and capability to develop the business," brand owner Inter IKEA Group told Reuters.

The parties did not disclose the sum of the deal nor details regarding its terms.

"The process of concluding the deal was not easy and quite lengthy," Invest Plus CEO Vadim Osipov said in a statement, thanking all parties involved - IKEA, Russian and Swedish regulators, and Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade.

"Our goal is to return the highly popular and quality production of the Novgorod factory to Russia's furniture market as quickly as possible," Osipov said.

Exits by Western companies have been complicated as deals involving firms from so-called unfriendly countries - those that imposed sanctions against Russia - need approval from a government commission.

Invest Plus is a special purpose vehicle (SPV), beneficially owned by Osipov, who is CEO and co-owner of Slotex, a leading domestic producer of laminates and kitchen worktops.

The Russian government approved the sale to Slotex in February, also giving lumber manufacturer Luzales the right to finalise a deal for two other plants.

The Novgorod factory was the largest of IKEA's former production units in Russia, Invest Plus said, able to produce more than 7 million cabinets and kitchen furniture units per year.

The company has retained the backbone of the factory's workforce and said it would guarantee jobs for at least a year. It expects to resume full production in the next two to three months.

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; editing by Jason Neely)
(Bloomberg) -- Salesforce Inc. averted a potential proxy fight with activist investor Elliott Investment Management after its stock rose and the enterprise software company made a series of strategic changes.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Elliott wont proceed with its planned director nominations following Salesforces strong 2023 fiscal year report, transformation initiatives and clear focus on value reaction, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

Salesforce Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff has been grappling with a growing number of activist hedge funds agitating for higher profits. Revenue growth has slowed after a half-decade of steady hiring and large acquisitions, and the San Francisco-based company has been buffeted by executive changes including resignations of heir-apparent Bret Taylor and Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield.

Still, investors rejoiced earlier this month after the company trounced profit forecast estimates, doubled stock buyback plans and signaled it was putting its large acquisition strategy on ice. Shares have rallied 43% this year, among the largest jumps of companies in the S&P 500. They were little changed in New York at $190.29.

Read More: Salesforce Finds Profit Is New Magic Word for Activist Investors

Mondays announcement without public concessions to the activist, like a board seat, is a win for Salesforce against Elliott, which took a multibillion-dollar stake in the software maker in January. The activist firm had put forward a slate of board directors in the open nomination window for the annual shareholder meeting, which usually is scheduled around June, suggesting the possibility of a proxy fight. In other companies, Elliott has pushed for CEOs to step down.

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Elliott released a positive statement after Salesforces blockbuster earnings, though said more work remains. The investor had earlier suggested some of the changes that Salesforce eventually made, though others, including further board director changes and succession planning, werent accepted at the time of earnings earlier this month.

Salesforce and Elliott have committed to continue the productive working relationship they have developed together, the two companies said in the statement Monday. The handshake agreement to withdraw nominees doesnt stop Elliott from re-engaging publicly with the company in the future, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named discussing a private matter.

We feel pretty good about what weve been able to deliver so far, Chief Operating Officer Brian Millham said Friday in an interview about Salesforces new focus on profit, before adding its not a job thats done by any stretch. He said the firm could see job cuts beyond the 8,000 already announced, and hasnt yet received final recommendations from consultant Bain & Co., with whom Salesforce is working to review the business.

Beyond Elliott, Starboard Value, ValueAct, Jeff Ubbens Inclusive Capital, and Dan Loebs Third Point have invested in Salesforce. In January, Salesforce appointed three new independent directors, including ValueAct Chief Executive Officer Mason Morfit. It also tapped Arnold Donald, the former CEO of Carnival Corp., and Mastercard Inc. Chief Financial Officer Sachin Mehra.

(Updates to note Elliott could re-engage in the future)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
MADRID, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 30th ASLAN Congress & EXPO 2023, organized by the Spanish National Association of Technology Industries was held in Madrid, Spain. Themed "Shared Technologies, Localized Solutions", H3C continued its presence for the 2nd time at the event with key scenario-based solutions and latest products, demonstrating its unique capabilities to local end-users and partners.

H3C showcases key scenario-based solutions and latest products at the 30th ASLAN Congress & EXPO 2023 (PRNewsfoto/New H3C)

The exhibition focuses on cutting-edge industrial information technology & services to attract international industry leaders, experts, scholars as well as notable digital companies. The focus of the exhibition is to welcome these stakeholders to participate and help Spain to build well-structured enterprises and have an efficient digital management system.

H3C presented its state-of-the-art products and intelligent solutions at the exhibition. Through the exchange and sharing of localized solutions and innovative technologies, it will help accelerate the process of digital transformation in Spain. Nowadays, the application of emerging technologies such as digitalization, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has become the key to promoting digital economic activities and realizing the Internet of Everything.

According to the 2022 annual report recently released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Spain, the country issued 107,000 grants to small and medium enterprises to purchase digital services such as digital marketing and e-commerce, network security, process digitization, and remote office.

Romeo Wang, General Manager of H3C Spain, said, "The digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Spain is slowly catching up but leaves room for improvement. Currently, many industries are stepping up with digital transformation, and the local government is also actively promoting digital skills training for the public. We hope that through localized technology innovation capabilities, talent empowerment, and ecosystem, we can empower local government and enterprise customers to improve digital management, operation, and service efficiency, and escort the acceleration of Spain's digitalization process."

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Following the H3C NAVIGATE 2023 International Business Summit held in February 2023 based on the strategy of "Think Globally, Act Locally", H3C Spain continues to deepen its localization of technology innovation capabilities, talent empowerment, and ecosystem. With the theme of "shared technologies, localized solutions", it proposes to focus on Synergy Working, Innovative Education, Efficient Healthcare, Reliable Public Service and other scenario-based solutions. Through the all-round coverage of remote offices, digital education, and smart hospital construction scenarios, it will speed up Spain's digitalization progressively.

In addition, H3C also highlighted the AD-Net 6.0 solution at the exhibition site. H3C's new-generation AD-NET 6.0 architecture consists of development technology, platform cloud, and third-party applications for unified management of platforms and portals. This solution builds an application-driven network integrating control, analysis, and centralized management through Seer Engine and Seer Analyzer, which can avoid a series of human errors and potential safety hazards. Its core capabilities have fully matched the needs of the era of comprehensive cloudification and will become a strong support for the vast number of Spanish network users, customers, and partners to carry out digital transformation, and further promote the rapid implementation of the "Digital Spain 2025" plan.

Under the guidance of the Cloud & AI Native strategy, H3C will adhere to the localization strategy, deeply cultivate the Spanish market, and build an open, blooming and win-win ecosystem for customers and partners by virtue of its own digital intelligence and innovative technology strength. In the future, H3C will also shoulder the corporate responsibility of boosting the growth of the global digital economy and help Spain achieve a comprehensive digital transformation.

Cision

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SOURCE H3C
Minuteman Press International

International Minute Press Nampa Idaho

James and Sheryl Wisler, owners, International Minute Press, Nampa, Idaho.

NAMPA, Idaho, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sheryl and James Wisler have owned International Minute Press in Nampa, Idaho since June of 2021. They purchased a 25-year independent print shop that was converted to International Minute Press and have successfully grown the business. RVP Chris Jutt says, Sheryl and James are very active in clubs and organizations and they treat their staff very well; they have retained all of the employees from when they bought the business. They also had an acquisition in their first year that helped their growth.



When asked about their high-demand products and key growth areas, Sheryl says, We are new to the industry but if I took a look at the past two years, our top sellers are: Carbonless forms; Blueprints; Regular forms; Signs; and Booklets/Books.

She continues, When analyzing sales of all of our products, the ones that have the largest growth from one year to the next are: Promotional items; Booklets/Books; Labels; Car wraps; and Posters.

As for what advice the would give to other local business owners, Sheryl says, Join the Chamber in your town and go to every event. You've got to be seen at these meetings and events on a regular basis. Support new businesses that join the Chamber by using their services. Join a committee or an executive board for a local event and volunteer where you can or donate some print here and there. The benefit of being an active member in your local Chamber pays you back tenfold.

She adds, Our community is all about shopping local so we make sure we are seen as part of that movement. We are the Local, One-Stop Print Shop for neighboring businesses and we make sure to push that message out there. If a local business is in a pickle and needs print right away, we make sure to take care of them so they know they can count on us. Word spreads quickly that we are dependable and quick.

International Minute Press in Nampa is located at 126 11th Avenue North, Nampa, ID 83687. For more information, visit their website: https://minuteman.com/us/locations/id/nampa/

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Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press International franchise opportunities and read Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com.

Media Contact:

Minuteman Press International

Chris Biscuiti, 631-249-1370

cbiscuiti@mpihq.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3d376a5e-a7ef-4be7-9f3d-48fd835a1a2e




MAXIMIZE MARKET RESEARCH PRIVATE LIMITED

Shotcrete Market growth is expected to be driven by the increasing knowledge of the efficiency of Shotcrete's technology. Shotcrete Market is segmented into the Process, System, Equipment and Application.

Pune, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A global Material & Chemical business consulting firm, Maximize Market research, has published a market intelligence and competitive landscape report on the  Shotcrete Market . The report is a combination of primary data and secondary data and domain expert has analyzed the Shotcrete Market from global point and regional standpoint. Over the forecast period, Maximize Market research expects, the market to grow from USD 6.12 Bn in 2021 to USD 10.41 Bn in 2029 at a CAGR of 6.86 percent.



Shotcrete Market Report Scope and Research Methodology

Market Size in 2021 USD 6.12 Bn. Market Size in 2029 USD 10.41 Bn. CAGR 6.86 percent (2022-2029) Forecast Period 2022-2029 Base Year 2021 Number of Pages 281 No. of Tables 116 No. of Charts and Figures 115 Segment Covered Process, System, Equipment and Application Regional Scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, South America Report Coverage Market Share, Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20222029, Market Dynamics, Growth Drivers, Restraints, Investment Opportunities, and Key Trends, Competitive Landscape, Key Players Benchmarking, Competitive Analysis, MMR Competition Matrix, Competitive Leadership Mapping, Global Key Players Market Ranking Analysis.

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The Shotcrete Market report includes a comprehensive analysis of emerging trends, market drivers, growth opportunities, and major restraints in the industry. It also provides a detailed analysis of the major segments of the Shotcrete Market with their sub-segments. The report covers historical data for understanding the past trends and forecasting future trends in the Shotcrete industry. To understand the structure of the market and the prevailing competition in the industry, a thorough regional and competitive analysis of the Shotcrete Market is covered in the report. The competitive landscape includes key players of the market along with new entrants. Regional analysis of the market is covered at global, regional and at a country level for understanding the market penetration, dominant players and growth strategies used by them.

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The bottom-up approach was used to estimate the global and regional Shotcrete Market size. The main research methodology used by the Maximize Market Research team is data triangulation which involves data mining, analysis of the impact of data variables on the Shotcrete Market, and primary (industry expert) validation. The report includes extensive use of secondary sources directories and databases such as Bloomberg, Hoovers, Statista and other government associations. The company websites and private websites have also been used to identify and collect information useful for the technical, market-oriented and commercial study of the Shotcrete Market. To provide strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the Shotcrete Market, a SWOT analysis was used. PESTLE was employed to understand the potential impact of the micro-economic and macro-economic factors affecting the Shotcrete Market.

Shotcrete Market Overview

Shotcrete is commonly known as sprayed concrete. The products and solutions in the global shotcrete market are majorly used in construction and infrastructure technologies . The shotcrete market is mainly driven by increasing consumer preferences and changing lifestyles of people, which resulted in the construction of highways, dams, subways, bridges, tunnels, etc.

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Shotcrete Market Dynamics

Increasing demand for shotcrete products from the construction industry is one of the major drivers of the Shotcrete market. The market growth is also driven by the increasing usage of sprayed concrete in the manufacturing process of barrel vaulting, bank vaults and domes. The global Shotcrete Market is also driven by developing shotcrete technology and raw materials and the sustainability of shotcrete materials.

Compared to the conventional concrete procedure, the shotcrete process is cost-effective because requires less formwork and is highly efficient. This is expected to drive the Shotcrete market growth during the forecast period. The major restraining factor for the Shotcrete market is the scarcity of trained personnel for different construction operations. Labour shortages are a major challenge for all business and residential builders.

Shotcrete Market Regional Insights

In 2021, the Europe region dominated the global Shotcrete market with the highest revenue share and is expected to retain its dominance by the end of the forecast period. This growth of the market is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for concrete repair, shipping, hard rock extraction and underground drilling. The huge number of metro rail construction projects in the region is also contributing to the Shotcrete market growth.

The Shotcrete market in the North America region is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.21 percent during the forecast period. The growing urbanization and growing industrial sectors is expected to drive the market in the future.

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Shotcrete Market Segmentation

By Process

Dry Mix

Wet Mix

Based on Process, the Wet segment held the largest Shotcrete Market at 68 percent in 2021 and the segment is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period. The wide usage of the Wet Mix Shotcrete Process in the market is the main reason for the growth of this segment.

By System

Manual System

Robotic System

Based on the system, the Robotic Spraying segment dominated the global Shotcrete Market in 2021 with the largest revenue share. This is majorly attributed to the increasing demand for Robotic Shotcrete technology across the world because it includes the use of mechanized equipment with a robotic arm along with several benefits including a high-quality mixture with homogeneous support.

By Equipment

General Equipment

Auxiliary Equipment

Special Equipment





Based on Equipment, the general equipment segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.58 percent during the forecast period.

By Application

Underground construction

Inground swimming pool Water retaining structure

Protective coating

Repair works

Based on Application, the Underground Construction segment dominated the global Shotcrete Market with the largest Shotcrete Market share of 48 percent in 2021 and the segment is expected to retain its dominance by the end of the forecast period.

Shotcrete Market Key Competitors include:

BASF SE

HeidelbergCement AG

Grupo ACS

Lafargeholcim Ltd.

Cemex S.A.B. De C.V.

Sika AG

GCP Applied Technologies

Vulcan Materials Company

Mapei S.p.A.

Normet

De C.V.,

U.S. Concrete Inc.

Quikrete Companies, Inc.

KPM Industries Ltd.

The Euclid Chemical Company

Lkab Berg & Betong AB

Cemex S.A.B. De C.V.

B M Walunj & Co.

Denka Company

Draco Italiana

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Key Offerings:

Past Market Size and Competitive Landscape (2018 to 2021)

Past Pricing and price curve by region (2018 to 2021)

Market Size, Share, Size & Forecast by different segment | 20222029

Market Dynamics  Growth Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, and Key Trends by region

Market Segmentation  A detailed analysis by Process, System, Equipment, Application and Region

Competitive Landscape  Profiles of selected key players by region from a strategic perspective Competitive landscape  Market Leaders, Market Followers, Regional player Competitive benchmarking of key players by region

PESTLE Analysis

PORTERs analysis

Value chain and supply chain analysis

Legal Aspects of business by region

Lucrative business opportunities with SWOT analysis

Recommendations

Key questions answered in the Shotcrete Market are:

What is the growth potential of the Shotcrete Market?

What was the Shotcrete Market size in 2021?

What are the global trends in the Shotcrete Market?

What are the recent industry trends that can be implemented to generate additional revenue streams for Shotcrete Market?

How is the intervention from regulatory authority is shaping the Shotcrete Market?

What growth strategies are the players considering to increase their presence in the Shotcrete Market?

Who are the leading companies and what are their portfolios in Shotcrete Market?

What are the major challenges posed to Shotcrete Market?

Who held the largest market share in Shotcrete Market?





Maximize Market Research is leading Material & Chemical research firm, has also published the following reports:

Concrete Super Plasticizer Market - The market size is expected to reach USD 7.24 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 5.21 percent during the forecast period. The market is expected to be driven by the growing construction industry across the globe.

Concrete Admixture Market - The market size is expected to reach USD 22.38 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 6.66 percent during the forecast period. The market is expected to be driven by growing urbanization due to the high investments by the governments in the creation of public infrastructure to fulfill the high demands of the growing population for commercial, residential and industrial construction.

Concrete Admixtures Construction Chemicals Market - The market size is expected to reach USD 22.38 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 5.41 percent during the forecast period. The market is expected to be driven by the increasing infrastructural projects such as airports, highways, bridges, dams, and wastewater facilities.

Concrete Bonding Agents Market - The market size is expected to reach USD 7.98 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 8.5 percent during the forecast period. The market is expected to be driven by the growing urbanization and increasing disposable income of the middle-class population.

Concrete Curing Equipment Market - The market size is expected to reach USD 1,458.73 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of 8.7 percent during the forecast period. The market is expected to be driven by the increasing demand for concrete curing equipment due to increasing automation in the transportation and logistics industry.

About Maximize Market Research:

Maximize Market Research is a multifaceted market research and consulting company with professionals from several industries. Some of the industries we cover include medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturers, science and engineering, electronic components, industrial equipment, technology and communication, cars and automobiles, chemical products and substances, general merchandise, beverages, personal care, and automated systems. To mention a few, we provide market-verified industry estimations, technical trend analysis, crucial market research, strategic advice, competition analysis, production and demand analysis, and client impact studies.

CONTACT: Contact Maximize Market Research: 3rd Floor, Navale IT Park, Phase 2 Pune Banglore Highway, Narhe, Pune, Maharashtra 411041, India sales@maximizemarketresearch.com +91 96071 95908, +91 9607365656




Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 27, 2023) - Silver Hammer Mining Corp. (CSE: HAMR) (OTCQB: HAMRF) (FSE: 7BW0) (the "Company" or "Silver Hammer") is pleased to provide a corporate update and overview outlining the Company's key strategic objectives for 2023.

"Silver Hammer is well positioned in 2023 to advance its three 100% owned brownfield high-grade silver projects in Idaho and Nevada," commented President & CEO, Peter A. Ball. "The recent addition of industry veteran Don Birak further strengthens our existing technical team, which includes Ron Burk, Lawrence Roulston, and Phil Mulholland, so we can ensure our shareholders that we can execute a discovery focused exploration plan at our Silver Strand, Eliza and Silverton projects. In addition, we continue to review new projects that would be accretive to our strategy of becoming a leading exploration and development company in North America."

Project Updates and Next Steps:

Silver Strand Project, Idaho

The Company plans to follow up on recent exploration results at its Silver Strand Project in Idaho by executing an aggressive property-wide exploration plan. The majority of surface samples collected across the property have returned gold and silver mineralization, and historical and recent drilling completed by Silver Hammer in 2021 and 2022 highlighted high-grade silver and gold mineralization below the lowest level (90 metres) of the mine.

The Company is currently finalizing the compilation of a property-wide geophysical interpretation - including Induced Polarization ("IP")/Resistivity, Very Low Frequency ("VLF") and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ("UAV") magnetic surveys - as part of the Plan of Operations (or "Plan") to be submitted in April 2023 to the United States Forest Service ("USFS"). The Plan will include a detailed exploration program, including geologic mapping, structural interpretation, soil geochemistry, targeting, and identification of areas ready for drilling. Additionally, the Company aims to increase its property holdings through district-wide accretive property acquisitions and expansion.

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Highlighted historical drill results and drill results completed by Silver Hammer (2021/2022) (refer to the Company's website for detailed disclosure):

Drill Hole # Au Grade

(g/t)

Ag Grade

(g/t) Length

(m) DDH02-001: 9.76 24.50 2.20 DDH02-003: 10.20 199.06 3.30 DDH02-004: 10.90 522.00 1.50 SS21-003: 1.13 89.76 4.57 SS21-004: 5.17 18.07 1.24 SS21-005: 5.80 13.00 1.80 SS21-006: 1.29 80.85 7.93 SS21-007: 4.12 130.00 1.53 SS22-017: 2.90 Not significant 8.40 SS22-015: Not significant 613.00 0.50 SS22-018: 0.67 212.00 1.50 SS22-011: 2.00 115.00 0.70

*All reported intervals are downhole core lengths. Estimated true thickness' range from 50% to 90% depending on the angle of the drillholes.

Eliza Project, Nevada

The Company plans to follow up on the significant 2022 exploration results at the Eliza Project. Results from rock chip and grab samples (from 2021 and 2022) confirmed the existence of a well-developed silver-rich mineral system, which also showed elevated enrichments in copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn):

Sample ID No. Ag

(g/t) Cu

(%) Zn

(%) Pb

(%)

EZR007 1540 6.88 7.38 Not significant EZR008 1410 5.40 2.60 9.05 PN662703 1290 Not significant Not significant Not significant PN662717 1180 7.70 13.4 11.00 PN614025 450 4.89 15.00 9.04

The Company is currently organizing a property-wide Plan of Operations to submit to the USFS to ensure the project can be fully explored and advanced to a drill ready state on USFS ground, while prioritizing exploration efforts for a 2023 drill program on patented ground within the Eliza Project area that encompasses the high-grade past-producing California Mine. The Company will also complete a property-wide geophysical study, and ground truthing, including geologic mapping and structural analysis, to assist in finalizing drill targets focused on the silver-rich mineral system mentioned above.

Silverton Project, Nevada

Silver Hammer identified several targets at the Silverton Project in 2022 and currently has 13 drill sites permitted. The Company's technical team is currently ranking and prioritizing targets at Silverton with a view towards completing a Phase I drill program during 2023.

Previous exploration work, including rock and soil sampling, geologic mapping and satellite imagery, provided evidence of two separate mineralized systems: silver rich and gold rich. The volcanic-hosted gold system highlighted grades ranging from 0.06 grams per tonne ("g/t") to 6.1 g/t gold ("Au"). The silver dominated mineral system is hosted by silicified limestone with grades ranging from 0.32 g/t silver ("Ag") to 692 g/t Ag.

Qualified Person

Technical aspects of this press release have been reviewed and approved under the supervision of Philip Mulholland, P.Geo. Mr. Mulholland is a Qualified Person (QP) under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Silver Hammer Mining Corp.

Silver Hammer Mining Corp. is a junior resource exploration company advancing its flagship past-producing Silver Strand Mine in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District in Idaho, as well both the Eliza Silver Project and the Silverton Silver Mine in one of the world's most prolific mining jurisdictions in Nevada. Silver Hammer's primary focus is defining and developing silver deposits near past-producing mines that have not been adequately explored. The Company's portfolio also provides exposure to copper and gold discoveries.

On Behalf of the Board of Silver Hammer Mining Corp.

Peter A. Ball

President & CEO, Director

E: peter@silverhammermining.com

For investor relations inquiries, contact:

Kristina Pillon

High Tide Consulting Corp.

T: 604.908.1695

E: investors@silverhammermining.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements concern, without limitation, the Company's strategic plans, timing and expectations for the Company's exploration and drilling programs, estimates of mineralization from drilling, geological information projected from sampling results and the potential quantities and grades of the target zones. Such forward-looking statements or information are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: conditions in general economic and financial markets; accuracy of assay results; geological interpretations from drilling results, timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other related services; future operating costs; and the historical basis for current estimates of potential quantities and grades of target zones. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors, including the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation and uncertainties of drilling results and other geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project costs overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; availability of funds; failure to delineate potential quantities and grades of the target zones based on historical data, and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law.

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/159609
SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn , the world's #1 online boot camp for digital economy skills training, hosted its 8th convocation with Purdue University to felicitate over 1200 learners for completing their professional certification across various programs. Gracing the event with their presence were Professor Bart Collins, Purdue University, as the Chief Guest and Mr. Kashyap Dalal, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Simplilearn.

Simplilearn Logo

The convocation ceremony was held to felicitate the meritorious students on their accomplishments. It was a joint felicitation by Purdue University and Simplilearn congratulating learners on completing the various professional certification programs in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning , Business Analysis, Data Science , Digital Marketing , Digital Supply Chain Management , Digital Transformation , Data Analytics and Data Engineering . The convocation ceremony was filled with enthusiastic, energetic, and excited students.

Congratulating the learners, Mr. Kashyap Dalal, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Simplilearn, said, "Extremely pleased to be among a group of meritorious students who are focused, sincere and committed to their goals. We are pleased to be a part of their learning journey and to be able to celebrate with them the successful completion of various professional certificate programs. We have partnered with Purdue University to bring together programs that are industry relevant and will give aspirants the extra edge required to be successful in this competitive industry. On behalf of the entire Simplilearn family, I wish the students the best of luck in their future endeavors."

Addressing the post-graduates at the ceremony, Professor Bart Collins, Purdue University, said, "Every quarter, Purdue University and Simplilearn come together to congratulate students who have completed their programs in various fields. It gives us immense pride to celebrate the success of these brilliant minds and to have such meritorious students as our alumni. Sincerity is the key to growth; therefore, I would ask all graduates today to continue consistently learning in their respective fields. I hope you all achieve greater heights in your professions in the coming years."

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Learner Testimonials:

Ralph Selvaraj, a learner from AI and Machine Learning program, stated, "The professional certificate program in AI&ML has been a great channel for me to be introduced to the concepts of AI&ML, a trending and evolving subject in the recent past. The program's course structure, delivery, pedagogy and faculty make this a complete package for anyone who would like to dive deep into this field technically and functionally. This program has been a great enabler for me to have informed conversations about AI&ML and has also helped me come up with use cases for the same in my line of work."



Munesh J Lamba, a learner from Digital Marketing program, told the audience, "It was a great experience being part of this Digital Marketing program with Purdue University in partnership with Simplilearn. I got the chance to sharpen my skills in Digital Marketing while becoming proficient with tools such as SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, and Social Media Management. The instructors were very knowledgeable and offered great insights on the topic. This course was exceptional for providing in-depth information and experience in a way that provided a holistic view of SEO, PPC, Web Analytics, and Social Media Management."

This is the 8th convocation ceremony hosted by Simplilearn and Purdue University. Simplilearn will host a graduation ceremony with IIT Roorkee in June 2023 and Caltech University in May 2023.

About Simplilearn

Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, California, and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the world's #1 online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training. Simplilearn offers access to world-class work-ready training to individuals and businesses worldwide. The Bootcamps are designed and delivered with world-renowned universities, top corporations, and leading industry bodies via live online classes featuring top industry practitioners, sought-after trainers, and global leaders. From college students and early career professionals to managers, executives, small businesses, and big corporations, Simplilearn's role-based, skill-focused, industry-recognized, and globally relevant training programs are ideal upskilling solutions for diverse career or/and business goals.

For more information, please visit www.simplilearn.com/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100016/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg

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SOURCE Simplilearn Solutions Private Limited
New senior roles emphasize core Calsense strengths and ambitions for continued growth

CARLSBAD, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart irrigation industry leader Calsense has made two key appointments to its leadership team, with Dave Manzer joining as Director of Customer Experience and Larry Heminger becoming Calsense's new Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO).

New leadership team members, Dave Manzer and Larry Heminger.

Calsense President and CEO A.J. van de Ven said the new appointments emphasize Calsense's strategic plans to continue growing by focusing on the customer.

"I'm extremely pleased to bring Dave and Larry onboard the Calsense leadership team," he said. "The customer experience has always been integral to Calsense's business philosophy, and these appointments will further drive a focus on our customers and the way in which they derive value from Calsense's products and services."

Manzer will take responsibility for developing a scalable, centralized service and support organization that will support Calsense's planned strategic initiatives and growth over the coming years.

"We need a customer experience model that has a high degree of cross-team collaboration and that will easily scale with the business's expansion, technology innovations and new service offerings that Calsense already has underway," Manzer said. "I'm particularly excited about this role, because it represents a chance to have a significant impact in the growth and evolution of a company with such an exemplary mission and vision  and with a terrific future ahead."

Manzer's most recent roles have been Director-level positions in healthcare IT and cloud engineering, for CommonSpirit Health and Dignity Health. Prior to that he was a Senior Technical Project Manager for Perot Systems.

Heminger joins Calsense from a CTO position at Automated Retail Technologies. He has also served as VP of Technology at EcoATM. Both of these roles saw Heminger responsible for rapid product development utilizing sophisticated SaaS platforms. In 2020, he received a San Diego Top Tech Exec Award for his technology leadership as Chief Information Officer at MemComputing. Heminger also holds several advisory roles, including with the SaaS Fintech firm Perfectna.

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"I'm excited to be joining the leadership team at Calsense, helping to shape the future of smart irrigation systems and conserving one of our most precious natural resources: water," Heminger said. "I'm looking forward to working with our teams to innovate new products and to scale our technology platforms, strengthening Calsense's position as an industry leader now and into the future."

Calsense is an innovator in the field of smart irrigation. It was established in Carlsbad, California, in response to drought conditions decades ago. The company's vision is to contribute to a sustainable future by saving the world's most precious resource: water. It creates sophisticated smart irrigation solutions built on a foundation of technology, education, and partnership.

About Calsense

Calsense is a partner with the Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program in promoting water efficient products and services. For 35 years, the company has contributed to providing a sustainable future by developing water resource management tools and strategies, directly incorporating input from its customers. Calsense helps its customers conserve water, manage labor, and ultimately save money through smart irrigation. The company's industry-leading technology and support bridge the gap between irrigation designer, installer, landscape maintainer and water manager to provide the support needed at each phase of a project. Customers partner with Calsense for a reliable system that provides long-term value. For more information, visit www.calsense.com.

WaterSense is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Contact: Carolina Alban-Stoughton

media@calsense.com

(760) 438-0525

Calsense Logo (PRNewsfoto/Calsense)

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SOURCE Calsense
MBC Group, a leading media company in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), has announced a long-term licensing and media partnership with GMG, a global well-being company operating leading brands.

To begin the partnership, Farm Fresh, the leading brand under the portfolio of GMGs food brands will feature MBC Groups beloved Fananees characters on its packaging and branding during the upcoming Ramadan 2023 season, capturing the attention of consumers, and creating a strong connection with families and individuals who value high-quality food options.

Through this collaboration, MBC Group and GMGs Food Portfolio aim to revolutionise how consumers look at food by providing them with convenient and exciting products that meet their needs and preferences in the UAE and the rest of the GCC in the near future.

Ramadan retail experience

Fadel Zahreddine, Group Director of Emerging Media at MBC Group, said: This exciting collaboration with GMGs Farm Fresh, in bringing our beloved Fananees characters to the brand, will no doubt transform the Ramadan retail experience. The theme of togetherness is the essence of the Fananees brand, bringing joyful moments to families and creating memorable stories throughout the festive season and beyond.

Roy Nasrallah, Vice President of Marketing - Everyday Goods, GMG said: This partnership not only opens doors for future projects, but also reinforces our commitment to delivering high-quality experiences to our customers. We are confident this new collaboration will create new opportunities and bring more creative and innovative ideas to life.

The Fananees characters  popular with families and children across the Middle East and beyond  are a natural fit for Farm Freshs commitment to providing nutritious and wholesome food products, he further added.

Seven characters

Symbolising family, togetherness, and cultural heritage, 'Fananees' comprises seven characters from MBCs popular mini-series of the same name that first appeared during Ramadan as short skits between televised shows. In 2021, MBC televised a 30-episode series, featuring the group of friends facing various challenges of their own doing, and trying to solve them with hilarious consequences.

GMG first entered the food industry when it launched its first butchery in 1977 in the UAE, and today, the company has triumphantly risen to become a dominant force in the regions food sector. With a commitment to quality, GMGs food brands have consistently delivered delicious food products to customers, earning a stellar reputation for excellence and innovation.-- TradeArabia News Service
Ridofranz / Getty Images/iStockphoto

One of the reasons Social Security checks can cover bills for some retirees and not others is because benefits are based on income earned before retirement. The more you earn working, the more you pay into the Social Security system, and the higher your benefit. Two retirees can work the exact same number of hours and years but still have drastically different Social Security checks.

See: 6 Big Shakeups to Social Security in 2023

With a Recession Looming: Make These 3 Retirement Moves To Stay On Track

This goes a long way toward explaining why the average Social Security check for women is much smaller than for men. As of May 2022, men received about $1,848 per month on average, USA Today reported. In contrast, the average monthly check for women was only $1,494 per month  a difference of about $354 per month, or $4,248 per year.

If you want to know how much that difference adds up over the course of a retirement, consider this: During a 20-year retirement, the average man will receive about $85,000 more in Social Security benefits than the average woman. Over 30 years, the difference is more than $127,000.

You dont need an economics degree to figure out why: Its because women have consistently earned less than men over the decades  and that pay gap still exists. Heading into 2022, women earned 82 cents for every dollar men, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, which cited research from Payscales 2022 State of the Gender Pay Gap Report.

Women are also much more likely than men to leave the workforce to care for children. The result is that they dont earn nearly as much money as men over the course of their professional lives. This has a major impact on their Social Security retirement benefits, which are based on income during your 35 highest-earning. When someone drops out of the workforce for a substantial number of years, those zero-income years are factored into the benefit calculation, which shrinks checks even more.

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There have been some encouraging developments, however. The Social Security gender gap has been slowly narrowing over the last few decades as the gender pay gap shrinks as well. As USA Today noted, in May 2000, women received less than 77% of the average mans Social Security check. As of May 2022, the difference was closer to 81%.

For women (and others) in the working world who want to help increase their Social Security benefits in retirement, the best strategy is to find opportunities to boost income. Consider asking for a raise, obtaining licenses and certifications that can lead to higher pay, or switching to a better-paying job. If you cant work outside the home due to caretaking responsibilities, look for remote jobs or side hustles that can bring in income.

Just keep in mind that if you do get a side hustle that involves 1099 income rather than W-2 income, youll need to pay into Social Security on your own through estimated tax payments or on your tax returns.

Take Our Poll: Are You Concerned About the Safety of Your Money in Your Bank Accounts?

Its also important to earn income for at least 35 years, even if some of those years only involve working part-time or side gigs. If you can make it past 35 years while earning a high income, the higher-earning years will replace any lower-earning years that came earlier.

Another way to boost your Social Security check is to delay signing up for benefits as long as you can. Although you can sign up as early as age 62, waiting a few years will lead to a higher Social Security check.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Social Security: Women Get $354 Per Month Less Than Men  Heres Why
Precedence Research

According to Precedence Research, the global solar EPC market size is expected be worth around USD 398.74 billion by 2032 and growing at a CAGR of 6.06% from 2023 to 2032.

Ottawa, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The solar EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) industry consists of the companies and organizations involved in designing, procuring, and constructing solar energy systems. This market has experienced significant growth in recent years due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources and government initiatives promoting clean energy.



One of the key drivers of the solar EPC market is the declining cost of solar energy technology. In many countries, governments offer financial incentives, such as tax credits and subsidies, to companies and individuals who invest in solar energy systems. These incentives assist to generate a more favorable market for solar EPC companies and stimulate growth in the industry.

Get the sample pages of report@ https://www.precedenceresearch.com/sample/2742

Type Landscape

The rooftop segment is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR from 2023 to 2032. The growing demand for the segment is due to the greater quality of solar power as well as decreasing cost of solar panels. They also assist in lowering the emission of carbon as well as electricity bills.

The ground-mounted sector is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR from 2023 to 2032. The ground-mounted Solar EPC are installed as they have several advantages such as enhanced production of energy as well as ease in maintenance and cleaning.

End-User Landscape

The industrial sector is a significant market for solar EPC companies, as many large industrial facilities require a considerable amount of electricity to power their operations. Installing solar energy systems helps these facilities reduce their electricity bills, improve energy efficiency, and cut carbon emissions. The growth of the industrial sector is driven by increasing demand for renewable energy, declining costs of solar energy systems, and supportive government policies and incentives.

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Technology Landscape

The Solar EPC photovoltaic (PV) sector is growing rapidly due to the increasing demand for renewable energy and the decreasing cost of solar PV technology. This sector includes companies that specialize in both rooftops and ground-mounted solar PV installations, as well as those that provide integrated energy solutions, such as battery storage systems and energy management software.

The CSP sector is projected to grow at a remarkable CAGR from 2023 to 2032. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is a technology that uses mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight onto a small area, heating a fluid that drives a turbine to generate electricity. CSP plants are operated using different types of thermal energy storage, allowing them to produce power even when the sun is not shining.

Regional Landscape

North America has seen significant growth in solar installations over the past decade, with the United States and Canada leading the way. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the US solar market installed 19.2 GW of solar in 2020, a 43% increase from 2019. Canada also saw significant growth in its solar industry, with over 2 GW of new solar capacity added in 2020. The solar EPC industry in North America is also supported by a robust supply chain, with many companies providing the necessary components for solar power systems. This includes solar panels, inverters, racking and mounting systems, and electrical equipment.

The solar power industry in Europe has been growing rapidly in recent years, with several countries setting ambitious targets for renewable energy deployment. The European Union aims to reach a 32% share of renewable energy in the final energy consumption by 2030. This target has led to an increase in demand for solar power systems and, in turn, a surge in the number of Solar EPC companies. The Solar EPC segment in Europe is poised for continued growth as the demand for renewable energy solutions increases. The focus on reducing carbon emissions and achieving a sustainable energy future is expected to drive the adoption of solar power systems. Solar EPC companies will play a critical role in delivering these solutions.

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Scope of this report

Report Coverage Details Market Size in 2032 USD 398.74 Billion CAGR 6.06% from 2023 to 2032 Photovoltaic Segment Share 98% in 2022 Concentrated Solar Power Segment Share 2% in 2022 Key Players Canadian Solar, BELECTRIC Solar & Battery Holding GmbH, Bechtel Corp., Adani Group, Xylem, ENERPARC AG, Blattner Energy, Q Cells, Sterling and Wilson Pvt. Ltd., Juwi AG, Alas Solar System LLC, Renewable Energy System Ltd., Black and Veatch Holding Co, DEPCOM Power, STRATA SOLAR, Greenspark Solar, First Solar, Hild Energy Pvt. Ltd., Swinerton Renewable Energy and Others

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Increasing Solar Energy Investment

Due to environmental regulations, numerous businesses are building renewable energy facilities. In order to reduce carbon emissions, several nations are concentrating on environmentally friendly power generation options. One of the most cost-effective renewable energy sources is solar energy. As a result, numerous governments are making significant investments in solar energy. Increased expenditure on solar power is anticipated to result in possibilities for solar EPC market participants.

Growing Interest in Renewable Energies and a Promising Future for Clean Energy

The requirement for solar engineering procurement and construction is anticipated to increase due to a growing focus on energy from renewable sources, a favorable clean energy outlook due to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, and concern over reducing emissions from greenhouse gas. Furthermore, the market is being propelled by an increasing number of projects that use renewable energy sources. For example, a 750 MW solar plant in Madhya Pradesh was operational in July 2020. The Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power is made up of three solar-generating units, each with a capacity of 250 MW.

Restraint

Lack of skilled worker

The solar industry requires skilled workers in areas such as engineering, installation, and maintenance. The shortage of skilled workers creates challenges for solar EPC companies to meet project timelines and quality standards.

Recent development

In June 2022, an agreement was signed between NHPC and Adani for 600 MW of capacity.

In March 2021, Chinese Solar EPC company Jinko Solar announced that it had supplied 204 MW of solar modules to a project in Vietnam.

Key Market Players

Canadian Solar

Bechtel Corp.

BELECTRIC Solar & Battery Holding GmbH

Alas Solar System LLC

Adani Group

Xylem

ENERPARC AG

Blattner Energy

Q Cells

Sterling and Wilson Pvt. Ltd.

Juwi AG

Renewable Energy System Ltd.

Black and Veatch Holding Co

DEPCOM Power

Greenspark Solar

First Solar

STRATA SOLAR

Hild Energy Pvt. Ltd.

Swinerton Renewable Energy





Segments Covered in the Report

By Type

Rooftop

Ground Mounted

By End-User

Commercial

Residential

Industrial

Others

By Technology

Photovoltaic

Concentrated Solar Power

By Geography

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

LAMEA

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Sonoro Gold Corp.

VANCOUVER, Canada, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sonoro Gold Corp. (TSXV: SGO | OTCQB: SMOFF | FRA: 23SP) (Sonoro or the Company) is pleased to report the filing of a technical report for the Cerro Caliche gold project (Cerro Caliche) titled NI 43-101 Technical Report: Mineral Resource Estimate, Cerro Caliche Project, Sonora, Mexico (the MRE) with an effective date of January 26, 2023.



The MRE Report has been prepared by SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. (SRK) in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 and is based on a total 55,360 meters of drilled data including 498 drill holes, 17 trenches and assays for 53,865 meters of the drilled data, as reported in a news release dated February 7, 2023.

Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO, commented, This is an important milestone in Cerro Caliches development. With only 30% of the propertys known mineralized zones drilled and assayed to date, the report once again highlights the intrinsic value of the project. The economic impact of the MRE on our proposed open-pit, heap leach mining operation will be disclosed in a subsequent technical report, expected to be filed by end of the second quarter in 2023.

Mineral Resource Estimate Highlights

Indicated Mineral Resources of 19.9 million tonnes (Mt) at 0.44 g/t Au and 3.5 g/t Ag grade;

Contains within an optimized pit shell:

280,000 ounces of gold (Au)

2,240,000 ounces of silver (Ag)

290,000 ounces of gold equivalent (AuEq)

Inferred Mineral Resources of 10.5 Mt at 0.42 g/t Au and 4.0 g/t Ag grade;

Contains within an optimized pit shell:

140,000 ounces of Au

1,345,000 ounces of Ag

150,000 ounces of AuEq

65% of the combined resource tonnage is within the Indicated category;

Amenable to a combination of open pit mining and heap leach extraction.

Mineral Resource Estimate

This updated MRE Report for Cerro Caliche is based on data with a cut-off date of January 4, 2023 and is reported with an effective date of January 26, 2023, as shown in Table 1-1.

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Table 1: Cerro Caliche Project - Mineral Resource Estimate  0.20 g/t AuEq Cut-off Grade1-7

Classification







Tonnes



Average Grade Metal Contents Au Ag AuEq Au Ag AuEq kt g/t g/t g/t (000s Oz) (000s Oz) (000s Oz) Indicated 19,900 0.44 3.5 0.46 280 2,235 290 Inferred 10,550 0.42 4.0 0.44 140 1,345 150

kt = thousand tonnes

koz = thousand troy ounces

The Mineral Resources in this estimate were classified according to definitions outlined in CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines (CIM, 2014) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council. All dollar amounts are presented in U.S. dollars and all ounces are presented as troy ounces (1 oz = 31.104 g). Pit shell constrained resources with Reasonable Prospects for Eventual Economic Extraction (RPEEE) are stated as contained within estimation domains above 0.20 g/t AuEq cut-off grade. Pit shells are based on an assumed long-term gold price of US$1800/oz and gold recovery of 74%. Silver was not included in the optimization parameters. An overall slope angle of 50 was applied based on preliminary geotechnical data. Operating cost assumptions include mining cost of US$1.90/tonne (t), processing cost of US$6.47, G&A cost of US$0.49/t and selling costs of US$0.20/oz. AuEq is calculated based on the long-term gold price of US$1,800/oz, silver price of US$25/oz, no mining dilution applied, gold recovery is 74% and silver recovery is 27.2%. AuEq = [(Au grade* Au recovery* Au price) + (Ag grade*Ag recovery*Ag price)] / (Au recovery*Au price). Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves in the future. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant issues. All quantities are rounded to the appropriate number of significant figures; consequently, sums may not add up due to rounding. The mineral resources were estimated by Mr. Doug Reid, P.Eng. (EGBC 123571), Principal Consultant (Resource Geology) of SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc., a Qualified Person as defined under the terms of CIM guidelines.





SRK also comments favorably on the upside potential of the project in terms of exploration. The current geological volumes and grade estimates, located outside of the pit shells, are considered too limited to establish grade continuity to meet the present requirements for Reasonable Prospects of Eventual Economic Extraction (RPEEE) for the mineralized area to be considered Mineral Resources. SRK has defined the ranges for the potential exploration targets outside of the current pits shell and are within the current modelled mineralized zones.

The reader is cautioned that the potential quantity and grade ranges noted above are conceptual in nature and insufficient exploration has been conducted to define this material as a Mineral Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in these exploration target estimates being delineated as Mineral Resources or converted to Mineral Reserves in the future. SRK cautions that estimates of exploration targets are not a CIM-defined category, are not Mineral Resources and are too speculative to fulfill the definition of Mineral Resources.

Based on the analysis, SRK considers the exploration potential within drilled areas for Cerro Caliche to be as follows:

Cut-off

AuEq

(g/t)



Tonnage Range Grade Ranges Contained Metal Tonnage Range (000) AuEq Range (g/t) Au Range (g/t) Ag Range (g/t) AuEQ

(000 oz) Au

(000 oz) Ag

(000 oz) min max min max min max min max min max min max min max 0.20 15,000 22,500 0.26 0.39 0.25 0.38 2.2 3.2 125 285 120 275 1,045 2,350

There are additional opportunities along strike and parallel to the current vein trends and this potential may be quantified through additional drilling. In addition to drilling, surface mapping and sampling suggests that several mineralized trends have potential for additional resources along-strike. Further exploration drill programs are warranted.

Data Verification

The data used in this MRE Report is supported by industry standard Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures, such as the insertion of certified standards and blanks into the sample stream and the utilization of certified independent analytical laboratories for all assays. Historical QA/QC data and methodology on the project were reviewed and will be summarized in the NI 43-101 technical report. No significant QA/QC issues were discovered during review of the data.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release pertaining to Cerro Caliche has been reviewed and approved by the following qualified persons under NI 43-101:

Geology: Scott Burkett, SME-RM, SRK Principal Consultant

Mineral Resources: Douglas Reid, P.Eng., SRK Principal Consultant

Processing and Metallurgy: Eric J. Olin, MSc, MBA, SME-RM, Principal Consultant (Metallurgy)





The qualified persons have verified the information disclosed herein, including the sampling, preparation, security and analytical procedures underlying such information, and are not aware of any significant risks and uncertainties that could be expected to affect the reliability or confidence in the information discussed herein. Each of Messrs. Burkett, Olin and Reid is an "Independent Qualified Person", vis-a-vis Sonoro, as such term is defined in NI 43-101.

About SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc.

SRK Consulting is an independent international mining consultancy firm which provides focused advice and solutions to clients in the earth and water resource industries. The company has contributed to its clients' success for over 45 years in over 20,000 projects globally. It is based across 45 offices worldwide with leading mining specialists in fields such as due diligence, technical studies, mine waste and water management, permitting and mine rehabilitation.

About Sonoro Gold Corp.

Sonoro Gold Corp. is a publicly listed exploration and development Company holding the near-development-stage Cerro Caliche project and the exploration-stage San Marcial project in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company has highly experienced operational and management teams with proven track records for the discovery and development of natural resource deposits.

On behalf of the Board of Sonoro Gold Corp.

Per: Kenneth MacLeod

Kenneth MacLeod

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Sonoro Gold Corp. - Tel: (604) 632-1764

Email: info@sonorogold.com

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions:

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" as defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future exploration and development on the Cerro Caliche project, and future plans and objectives of the Company, constitute forward looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information, but which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions in connection with the continuance of the Company and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic and market conditions, mineral prices and the accuracy of Mineral Resource Estimates. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include exploration and development risks associated with the Companys projects, the failure to establish estimated Mineral Resources, volatility of commodity prices, variations of recovery rates, and global economic conditions. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. Readers are encouraged to review the Companys complete public disclosure record on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.




SUDBURY, ON, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - SPC Nickel Corp. (TSXV: SPC) ("SPC Nickel"), is pleased to advise that it has intersected massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization in hole WG-23-026, the eighth drill hole of its Phase 1 drilling campaign at the recently consolidated West Graham and Crean Hill 3 properties (collectively, the "West Graham Project"). SPC Nickel is currently drilling the Crean Hill 3 portion of the Project, which is subject to the Agreement between SPC Nickel and Vale Canada (see news release dated January 23, 2023).

Highlights

WG-23-026 intersected a 143.0 metre 2 (76.0-219.0 metres) zone of 'West Graham-style' mineralization consisting of 5 to 20% disseminated to blebby sulphides 1 (See Photo 1).

Contained within this intersection was an unexpected 7.80 metre 2 interval (170.05-179.9 metres) hosting several intervals of massive to semi-massive sulphide mineralization 1 (See Photo 2). Assay results from WG-23-026 are pending.

Massive sulphide sections contain up to 10% visual pentlandite 1 (See Photo 3).

The reported intersection is located approximately 150 metres west of the West Graham  Crean Hill 3 property boundary.

To date, eight holes (1,000 metres) , including WG-23-026, have been completed and have intersected 'West Graham-style' mineralization over widths consistent with the current geological model (See Figure 1). Assays from all these holes are pending.

In relation to the disclosure of visual mineralisation, the Company cautions that visual estimates of sulphide material abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analysis. Laboratory assay results are required to determine the widths and grade of the visible mineralisation reported in preliminary geological logging. The Company will update the market when laboratory analytical results become available. Reported drill hole intersections refer to down-hole intersection length. True widths cannot be estimated with available information.

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Grant Mourre, President and CEO of SPC Nickel, commented: "The intersection of over seven metres of semi-massive to massive sulphide in hole WG-23-026 is a very encouraging result for the Company. The intersection adds a lot of support to our initial model that the higher-grade mineralization we encountered during our 2022 drill program on the West Graham Property could extend westward across the property boundary onto the adjacent Crean Hill 3 Property, and further reinforces our belief in the overall potential of the consolidated West Graham Project."

Photo 1: Typical West Graham-style mineralization from hole WG-23-026. Core is NQ diameter measuring 47.6 millimetres. Photo is from a depth of 128 metres. (CNW Group/SPC Nickel Corp.)

Photo 2: Drill hole WG-23-026 mineralized interval from 170.05 metres to 177.90 metres. (CNW Group/SPC Nickel Corp.)

Photo 3: Massive sulphide mineralization from WG-23-026 with visible pentlandite. Core is NQ diameter measuring 47.6 millimetres. Photo is from a depth of 177.5 metres. (CNW Group/SPC Nickel Corp.)

Figure 1: Aerial plan map of the West Graham  Crean Hill 3 area showing historic drill hole locations as well as the location and drill traces of the completed Phase 1 drill holes. (CNW Group/SPC Nickel Corp.)

Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Qualified Persons

The technical elements of this news release have been approved by Mr. Grant Mourre, P.Geo. (PGO), CEO and President of SPC Nickel Corp. and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About SPC Nickel Corp.

SPC Nickel Corp. is a Canadian public corporation focused on exploring for Ni-Cu-PGMs within the world class Sudbury Mining Camp. SPC Nickel is currently exploring its key 100% owned exploration project Lockerby East located in the heart of the historic Sudbury Mining Camp that includes the Graham West Resource and the Crean Hill 3 property under option from Vale. The Company also holds three additional projects across Canada including the large camp-scale Muskox Project (located in Nunavut), the past producing Aer-Kidd Project (located in the Sudbury Mining Camp) and the Janes Project (located 50 km northwest of Sudbury). The corporate focus is on Sudbury, and SPC Nickel continues to look for new opportunities to add shareholder value. Additional information regarding SPC Nickel and its projects can be found at www.spcnickel.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of SPC Nickel. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, SPC Nickel expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SPC Nickel Corp. (CNW Group/SPC Nickel Corp.)

SOURCE SPC Nickel Corp.

Cision

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PALO ALTO, Calif., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cormac O. Maher, MD, has been appointed the new Division Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Stanford Medicine Children's Health and professor of neurosurgery at the Stanford School of Medicine.

Cormac Maher, MD, is the division chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Stanford Medicine Children's Health.

A physician-scientist, Dr. Maher is internationally recognized for his surgical treatment of children with conditions such as Chiari malformation, tethered cord syndrome, pediatric brain tumor, hydrocephalus, and craniosynostosis.

In his new role, Dr. Maher will oversee the pediatric neurosurgery department, which combines nurturing care with innovative, cutting-edge research. Using minimally invasive treatments, and with some of the most advanced surgical facilities in the country, the team is empowered to make a positive impact on the health of patients today and tomorrow.

"I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Maher to Stanford Medicine Children's Health," said Dennis Lund, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Stanford Medicine Children's Health. "He brings an impressive set of skills and experience to our program. His dedication to treating children through some of the most challenging times and helping them have a better future is at the heart of our mission."

Dr. Maher views neurosurgery as both a responsibility and an important opportunity to greatly improve patients' lives. Accordingly, he believes in a partnership with the children and their familiesmeeting them where they are for individualized care.

"I'm so excited to be here at Stanford Medicine Children's Health," Dr. Maher said. "In terms of joining any group where you can make a big difference in the future direction of the whole specialty, Stanford Children's is it. I'm very fortunate to have wonderful colleagues in pediatric neurosurgery and great partners across departments. This organization has unlimited potential to elevate every field. The sky is the limit here."

Dr. Maher received his MD from Georgetown University and completed his neurosurgical residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Following residency, he moved to Boston for a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Boston Children's Hospital and then completed another fellowship in cerebrovascular neurosurgery at Brigham & Women's Hospital. Prior to arriving in California, Dr. Maher was Professor of Neurosurgery, Residency Program Director, and department Vice Chair for Education at the University of Michigan.

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Media Contact



Katie Chen

KatChen@stanfordchildrens.org

(650) 465-4872

About Stanford Medicine Children's Health

Stanford Medicine Children's Health, with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford at its center, is the Bay Area's largest health care system exclusively dedicated to children and expectant mothers. Our network of care includes more than 65 locations across Northern California and more than 85 locations in the U.S. Western region. Along with Stanford Health Care and the Stanford School of Medicine, we are part of Stanford Medicine, an ecosystem harnessing the potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education, and clinical care to improve health outcomes around the world. We are a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the community through meaningful outreach programs and services and providing necessary medical care to families, regardless of their ability to pay. Discover more at stanfordchildrens.org.

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford (PRNewsfoto/Lucile Packard Childrens Hospi)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stanford-medicine-childrens-health-welcomes-new-chief-of-pediatric-neurosurgery-301781341.html

SOURCE Stanford Medicine Childrens Health and Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford
Kingston, Ontario --News Direct-- Stria Lithium Inc.

Ottawa, ON  TheNewswire - March 27, 2023  Stria Lithium Inc. (TSXV:SRA) (OTC:SRCAF) (Stria or the Company) an emerging resource exploration company developing Canadian lithium reserves, is pleased to announce the latest assay results from its Pontax lithium property in Quebec, indicating the deposit extends at depth over the known strike length.

Assays include up to 3.99 m (true width) at 1.62% Li2O, extending the deposit at depth over most of the strike length of the surface exposure of the dyke swarm. The assay results are from four holes drilled in December, 2022. Since then, an aggressive drill program with three fulltime rigs has completed another 23 holes totalling 7177.45 metres, and for which assays are pending with more planned in the coming weeks.

The latest results confirm the continuation of the spodumene-bearing dykes swarm to a minimum vertical depth of 200 metres over a 500 metres confirmed strike length. Assays include up to 3.99m (true width) at 1.62% Li2O, extending the deposit at depth over the known strike length.

The drilling program at Strias Pontax property in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay (EIJB) Territory of Quebec, Canada, is being financed and conducted by Strias project partner, Cygnus Gold Ltd. of Australia, and has been designed to systematically step out from known mineralisation at Pontax Central  an extensive spodumene-bearing pegmatite swarm which outcrops over 700m of strike.

Dean Hanisch, CEO of Stria Lithium, said today: We are extremely pleased with these results from the fall drill program at our Pontax property as they clearly demonstrate the continuity of mineralization at depth. The results are consistent with commercial pegmatite dyke swarms in the region, and we look forward to announcing the many more assay results currently being processed.

The most significant intersection results from each of latest drill holes include:

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DDH975-22-026: 2.23m (true width*) @ 2.8% LiO** from 107.0m to 110.3m. core length

DDH975-22-029: 3.99m (true width*) @ 1.6% LiO** from 150.9m to 157.4m. core length

DDH975-22-031: 1.72m (true width*) @ 1.37% LiO** from 132.2m to 134.8m core length

DDH975-22-032: 6.62m (true width*) @ 1.65% LiO** from 264.0 m to 267.9m core length

* True thickness, according to the dyke dip and drill hole plunge at the loci of the intersection.

** Weighted average using a cut-off grade of 0.5% Li2O, excluding lithium bearing wallrock (FeO > 5%), a minimum true thickness of 1.0 metre, no external dilution, and wallrock internal dilution set at 0% Li2O.

*** Interval calculations consistent with criteria in previous Stria communications, and may show minor deviations in interval lengths and grades from those reported by Cygnus Metals on March 20th, 2023, based on slightly different parameters.

Drilling was conducted by RJLL Drilling Inc. from Rouyn-Noranda, and supervised by IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc., using a single heliportable rig last fall until the construction of a 37-km winter road was completed and two more rigs were put into service. Collar locations were measured with a sub-metre precision GPS device, while downhole deviation was measured with the use of a Reflex device. Core, NQ in diameter, has been logged on site and expedited by road carrier to IOS facilities in Saguenay for sampling and storage. Core samples were cut in half with a diamond saw, tagged and bagged to be shipped to the SGS Lakefield laboratory by road carrier for preparation. A total of 300 core samples were crushed (75% <2mm) and pulverized (85% <75m). Assaying has been conducted by SGS Burnaby with the use of ICP-OES and ICP-MS after sodium peroxide fusion (GE_ICM91A50). SGS-Canada is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. Quality control has been monitored by an IOS certified chemist through the insertion of 12 sample blanks, 11 preparation blanks, 8 certified reference material Oreas-147, 10 certified reference material Oreas-148, and 8 certified reference material Orea-149, for a total of 49 insertions (16%).

Figure 1: Plan view of Pontax Central with the location of all drilling to date,

highlighting recent results with section locations.

About Stria Lithium

Stria Lithium (TSX-V: SRA) is an emerging resource exploration company developing Canadian lithium reserves to meet legislated demand for electric vehicles and their rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Lithium is a rare metal and an indispensable component of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, one of the safest and most efficient energy storage technologies available today, used in everything from cell phones and power tools to electric cars and industrial-scale energy storage for renewable power sources such as wind and solar generation.

Strias Pontax Lithium Project covers 36 square kilometres, including 8 kilometres of strike along the prospective Chambois Greenstone Belt. The region, known as the Canadian Lithium Triangle, is one of only a few known sources of lithium available from hardrock mining in North America.

Strias Pontax property is situated close to an industrial powerline and a major paved highway connecting to Quebecs industrial heartland.

As momentum builds for the green energy revolution and the shift to electric vehicles, governments in Canada and the U.S. are aggressively supporting the North American lithium industry, presenting the industry and its investors with a rare, if not unprecedented, opportunity for growth and prosperity well into the next decade and beyond.

Cygnus Gold is committed to fully funding and managing the current two-stage exploration and drilling program up to $10 million at Strias Pontax property, and will also pay Stria up to $6 million in cash. In return, Cygnus may acquire up to a 70% interest in the property.

Stria is committed to exceeding industrys environmental, social and governance standards. A critical part of that commitment is forging meaningful, enduring and mutually beneficial relationships with the James Bay Cree Nation (Eeyouch), and engaging openly and respectfully as neighbours and collaborators in an exciting project with the potential to create lasting jobs and prosperity for Eeyou Istchee and its people.

The technical content disclosed in the current press release was reviewed and approved by Rejean Girard, P.Geo and president of IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument NI-43-101.

For more information about Stria Lithium and the Pontax Lithium project, please visit https://strialithium.com

Follow us on:

For more information on Stria Lithium Inc., please contact:

Dean Hanisch

CEO Stria Lithium

dhanisch@strialithium.com

+1(613) 612-6060

Investors Relations, Stria Lithium Inc.

ir@strialithium.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 accuracy or adequacy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Please refer to the risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

APPENDIX A  Drillholes with Results

Coordinates given in UTM NAD83 (Zone 18)

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Dip Depth 975-22-026 362910.3 5754717 247 325 -50 261 975-22-029 362826.6 5754663 247 325 -50 195 975-22-031 362656.4 5754558 241 325 -50 285 975-22-032 363102.8 5754787 242 325 -51 405

APPENDIX B  Significant Intercepts

Significant intersections use a cut-off grade of 0.5% Li2O in pegmatite, no external dilution and internal dilution from wallrock accounted as 0%. Intercept lengths may not add up due to rounding to the appropriate reporting precision.

APPENDIX C  Cross-sections

Cross sections E, G, H and J, though Pontax Central looking towards the NE, showing the currently released drillholes completed by Cygnus with intervals plus historic or pending drillholes with spodumene dyke locations. Interval length expressed as true dyke thickness.

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Study Focuses on Effects of Islamophobia on Healthcare in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 /CNW/ - The McMaster Research Shop at McMaster University in conjunction with the Muslim Advisory Council of Canada (MACC) have published a study that reveals the need for further examination of discrimination towards Canadian Muslim women who largely identify as visible minorities or immigrants. The study examines the experiences of Muslim women in various domains of healthcare systems in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. These domains include mental health, maternal care, palliative care, and others. The purpose of this scoping review was to qualify and quantify a growing concern brought forward by Canadian Muslim women who have felt discriminated against within the Canadian healthcare system or who have experienced dismissive interactions with service providers when receiving health services. These negative interactions may impact the type and quality of healthcare Canadian Muslim women receive, as well as increase fear and distrust of Canadian healthcare practitioners. This fear and distrust should be addressed to mitigate negative social integration and negative health outcomes, such as delayed diagnosis, when it comes to segments of the Canadian population and publicly funded institutions.

New Study Reveals Need for Further Research on Discrimination Faced by Women in the Canadian Healthcare System (CNW Group/Muslim Advisory Council of Canada)

A comparative study was conducted due to the lack of Canadian research on this topic. By leveraging literature from Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., a larger sample of women and their experiences could be reviewed. Categorization of discrimination was either described as 'overt' or 'other forms of discrimination'. An example of overt discrimination was physical aggression. A less overt form of discrimination was being ignored or being treated dismissively. "The limited Canadian research on this topic, along with the stories we hear from Canadian Muslim women, tell us that there are several counts of indirect discrimination when women seek medical attention  which is where we want to expand our focus. Given the imperative need for healthcare for all Canadians, we are asking that attention be addressed to this area of concern." said Tabassum Wyne, Executive Director of the MACC.

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Research in the U.S. on this topic is more prominent, where in fact, the Muslim-American population forms a smaller proportion of the overall American population than does the Muslim-Canadian population; 1.1% of the total population vs. 4.9%, respectively. "Given the growing population of Muslims in Canada, we want to also bring light to the inadequate amount of research on this topic. The first step is doing the research, and then we can work on outcomes. But let's follow suit with other countries and get the research done as a next step," said Wyne.

"To our knowledge, there have been no large-scale Canadian studies quantifying the extent of Islamophobia towards Muslims in Canada using representative samples and validated measures," said Krishian Camargo, McMaster Research Shop Team Lead. She added, "The Canadian healthcare system is responsible for ensuring appropriate and effective care for all its citizens, yet evidence suggests not everyone is treated equally. The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada should consider conducting further studies on the experience of women and children in Canadian healthcare settings and include participants from various cultures, ethnicities, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds."

Importantly, the link between women and children is strong. Research shows that adverse outcomes on women in healthcare systems often impacts their children. The Anti-Racism Coalition within McMaster University's Department of Pediatrics fully endorses the MACC's work to address Islamophobia in the sectors of education, healthcare, public safety, and shelter and crisis services. "In discussions with our partners and community stakeholders, Islamophobia was identified as one of the priorities requiring our immediate attention. With the health and prosperity of children at our core and, as a global leader in pediatric care, we appreciate the leadership provided by the Muslim Advisory Council of Canada to support an anti-racist and anti-oppressive future within our university and hospital," said Dr. Natasha Johnson, Pediatrician, Associate Chair of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Anti-Racism Coalition member.

As a next step, the MACC is seeking support from the federal and provincial governments to conduct health equity research. This research would follow a disaggregated data strategy with Canadian visible minority and immigrant females, including girls, as the focus group. "The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada is advocating to ensure that our publicly funded healthcare institutions do not pose a barrier or hindrance to any woman or girl living in Canada. We look forward to continuing this important advocacy and truly appreciate the support we have received from Canadian pediatricians as well as McMaster University's research and healthcare institutions," concluded Wyne.

Read the full study here.

About Muslim Advisory Council of Canada

The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada is an award winning, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization amplifying cross-country dialogue and policy priorities of Canadian Muslims on the intersectionalities of Islamophobia. Our goal is to equip executives and leaders with information that allows them to be active participants in dismantling Islamophobia.

About McMaster University Research Shop and Anti-Racism Coalition

The McMaster Research Shop at McMaster University works with public, non-profit, and community organizations in Hamilton to provide plain-language answers to research questions. Research Shop Staff hire Team Leads and recruit volunteers, matching them with projects that interest them. The Anti-Racism Coalition is a group of pediatricians who gathered in response to the need to address racism and oppression within the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University and McMaster Children's Hospital. Their work is focused on realizing meaningful anti-racism and anti-oppression action through education, institutional change, and by growing relationships with equity-seeking groups. McMaster University is one of only four Canadian universities ranked among the top 80 in the world by the major global ranking systems.

SOURCE Muslim Advisory Council of Canada

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LONDON, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- European tourists in search of warmer climes have been enjoying the recently opened voco Dubai The Palm , a brand-new IHG Hotels & Resorts beachfront property situated on the iconic Palm Jumeirah.

voco The Palm Dubai is a stunning new destination on famous Palm

The 138-room lifestyle destination is ideally located on the shores of Palm Jumeirah's West Beach, offering guests direct access to the West Beach Promenade, only a few steps away from the majestic waters of the Arabian Gulf and the hotel's private beach.

Popular tourist attractions including the world's largest dancing fountain show at The Pointe and the Palm's tallest observatory building The View At The Palm are a stone's throw away. Located only a short drive from Jumeirah Beach Residence, the hotel is an ideal choice for European travellers looking for a centrally located hotel to unwind on their holiday.

The rooftop pool and Mediterranean lounge bar, Frenia, are highlights of the hotel. Set to open in early April, Frenia will transform the rooftop as the sun sets, providing sundowner aficionados with breathtaking views of the sea and Ain Dubai  the world's biggest and tallest Ferris wheel.

The hotel's signature, all-day dining venue, Maison Mathis, opened its doors last month. The restaurant is inspired by the best European cuisine with a special focus on the rich heritage of Belgian food culture. The property also has a 24-hour fitness centre and day-lit meeting rooms to cater for all guests' needs.

voco Hotels has an excellent reputation among European tourists and prides itself on offering guests a contemporary, convenient, and charming experience.

LINK TO PRESS KIT

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2039108/voco_Dubai_The_Palm.jpg

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SNS Insider pvt ltd

The trend towards joint operations, where military forces from different countries work together in a coordinated manner, is driving the tactical data link market.

Pune, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The size for Tactical Data Link Market was assessed at USD 8.3 billion in 2022, and it is projected to reach USD 12.25 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% during the forecast period of 2023-2030, as reported by SNS Insider.

Market Overview

Tactical Data Link (TDL) is a communication system used by military forces to exchange information and data in real time. TDL enables different military platforms, such as aircraft, ships, and ground units, to share critical information, including location, status, and intelligence, securely and efficiently. TDL provides numerous benefits to military forces, including enhanced situational awareness, improved coordination and collaboration, and increased operational effectiveness.

Market Analysis

The tactical data link market is expected to experience significant growth in the coming years, driven by several key factors. One of the primary drivers of this growth is the increasing use of tactical data links in military and defense applications, as these networks enable fast and secure data sharing between units and personnel. Moreover, the increasing modernization initiatives in both developed and emerging countries are expected to further fuel the growth of this industry. As countries continue to invest in upgrading their military equipment and capabilities, there will be a growing need for advanced communication and data-sharing technologies, such as tactical data links.

Key Company Profiles Listed in this Report Are:

Raytheon Technologies Corporation

Saab AB

BAE Systems

Leonardo S.p.A.

Tactical Communications

L3Harris Technologies Inc.

Collins Aerospace

General Dynamics Corporation

Viasat Inc.

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Get a Sample Report of Tactical Data Link Market@ https://www.snsinsider.com/sample-request/2431

Impact of Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Tactical Data Link Market Growth

The impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the market remains uncertain and will likely depend on a variety of geopolitical and economic factors. However, it is clear that the ongoing conflict has the potential to disrupt the global supply chain and increase competition in this important market segment.

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Tactical Data Link Market Report Scope:

Report Attributes Details Market Size in 2022 US$ 8.3 Billion Market Size by 2030 US$ 12.25 Billion CAGR CAGR of 5% From 2023 to 2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Historical Data 2020-2021 Tactical Data Link Market: Key Segmentation  By Component (Product, Software Solution)

 By Frequency (High Frequency, Ultra High Frequency)

 By Point of Sale (OEM, Aftermarket)

 By Application (Command & Control, ISR, EW, Radio Communication)

 By Platform (Ground, Airborne, Naval, Unmanned Systems, Weapons) Key Regional Coverage North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), The Middle East & Africa (Israel, UAE, South Africa, Rest of Middle East & Africa), Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America)

Key Regional Developments

The global tactical data link market is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, with North America expected to dominate the market. This can be attributed to the high proportion of military spending in North American countries such as the United States, which is driving the adoption of advanced technological solutions for effective communication and seamless mission operations across land, naval, and airborne platforms. North America, being home to some of the world's largest defense spenders, including the United States and Canada, is expected to dominate the TDL market during the forecast period.

Enquiry about Report@ https://www.snsinsider.com/enquiry/2431

Key Takeaway from Tactical Data Link Market Study

The Command & Control segment is expected to dominate the market, owing to its crucial role in facilitating command and control activities. Tactical data links serve as a means of communication between various military platforms, enabling them to exchange critical information in real time. This is particularly important in combat situations, where swift decision-making and coordination can make all the difference.

The air segment of the market is particularly important, as it allows for seamless communication and coordination between airborne platforms, ground forces, and command centers. As military operations continue to evolve and become more complex, the need for reliable and efficient communication systems becomes increasingly critical.

Recent Developments Related to Tactical Data Link Market

Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Red 6 Aerospace have recently announced their partnership to develop and integrate emerging technologies into their respective fields. This collaboration aims to bring about innovative solutions that can potentially enhance the aerospace industry.

EDGE, a leading technology group based in the United Arab Emirates, has been awarded a contract worth AED4 billion to provide intelligence capabilities to the UAE Armed Forces. The deal is expected to significantly enhance the military's operational capabilities, particularly in the areas of surveillance, reconnaissance, and intelligence gathering.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Market Dynamics

4. Impact Analysis

5. Value Chain Analysis

6. Porters 5 Forces Model

7. PEST Analysis

8. Tactical Data Link Market, By Component

9. Tactical Data Link Market, By Frequency

10. Tactical Data Link Market, By Point Of Sale

11. Tactical Data Link Market, By Application

12. Tactical Data Link Market, By Platform

13. Regional Analysis

14. Company Profiles

15. Competitive Landscape

16. Conclusion

Buy Single-User PDF of Tactical Data Link Market Report@ https://www.snsinsider.com/checkout/2431

About Us:

SNS Insider is one of the leading market research and consulting agencies that dominate the market research industry globally. Our company's aim is to give clients the knowledge they require in order to function in changing circumstances. In order to give you current, accurate market data, consumer insights, and opinions so that you can make decisions with confidence, we employ a variety of techniques, including surveys, video talks, and focus groups around the world.

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CONTACT: Contact Us: Akash Anand  Head of Business Development & Strategy info@snsinsider.com Phone: +1-415-230-0044 (US)




VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 27, 2023 / Taura Gold Inc. (TSXV:TORA) (the "Company" or "Taura") is pleased to announce positive results from its 2022 exploration program at the Shabu project in the Birch Uchi area in the Red Lake Mining Division (Figure 1). The program aimed to expand a upon a previous soil grid covering the western portion of the Property, conduct geological mapping and prospect for gold and silver mineralization. Numerous highly anomalous results from grab sampling grading up to 6.4 g/t Au, identified a new area of gold mineralization and confirmed gold mineralization in the area of historic diamond drilling (Figure 2). These two gold targets, separated by a distance of 1.2 km, are connected by a trend of Au-Bi-Te-W anomalous soil samples.

News Highlights

New Gold Zone Identified. A total of 69 grab sample results were collected at the Shabu property with numerous highly anomalous results grading up to 6.4 g/t Au ( Table 1, Figure 3 ). These results confirm historic gold mineralization and identified a new area of mineralization 1.2 km to the southeast.

2 km Trend of Anomalous Soil Results. Results from the 2022 soil survey yielded 2 km northwest-southeast long trending of gold-bismuth-tellurium anomalies. This anomalous area correlates to known gold mineralization in bedrock. In 2022, 501 soil samples were collected, bringing the total database to 1024 soil samples. The highest gold in soil sample was 1.1 g/t Au.

New Targets Identified. Several targets for future exploration programs have been identified as a result of the 2022 exploration program. Next steps include additional prospecting to test the extent of known gold mineralization along the 1.2 km trend, investigating the eastern portion soil anomalies that are unaccompanied by known mineralization in bedrock, and extending the coverage of soil sampling throughout the Property.

Figure 1. Property ownership map showing Taura Gold's Shabu property in the Birch Uchi area of the Red Lake Mining Division.

Figure 2. Shabu property map showing geologic mapping results and gold in grab sample results from the 2022 work program.

Table 1. Grab sample result highlights from the 2022 work program at the Shabu property.

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Sample number Sample material Map lithology Au

(g/t) Ag

(g/t) Bi

(ppm) Te

(ppm) W

(ppm) X524563 Granodioritic Granodioritic 6.44 1.33 0.42 0.67 31.9 X524564 Quartz vein Granodioritic 4.71 0.18 7.64 3.58 0.4 X524565 Quartz vein Granodioritic 1.65 0.2 2.55 1.79 0.3 X524551 Granodioritic Granodioritic 1.37 3.84 6.77 6.01 275 X524487 Quartz vein Monzodioritic 0.94 0.61 0.63 0.41 2.2 X524479 Quartz vein Monzodioritic 0.20 5.55 14.35 8.00 0.3 X524483 Quartz-K-spar vein Monzodioritic 0.07 1.13 3.17 <0.05 0.4

Figure 3. Images of grab samples X524563 and X524564, resulting in gold grades of 6.44 g/t Au and 4.71 g/t Au, respectively.

About the Shabu Project

The Shabu property is located in the Birch-Uchi greenstone belt, approximately 80 km northeast of Red Lake, Ontario. The road accessible property is made up of 32 mining claims that cover an area of 720 ha. Historic work on the property has defined gold mineralization at surface through trenching and diamond drilling. Gold mineralization at the property occurs in quartz-carbonate veins with 2-3% pyrite hosted in shear zones associated with contacts of the granodiorite and porphyritic dykes.

About Taura Gold

Taura Gold is focused on gold exploration in Canada. It is currently actively exploring the Shabu Project in the Red Lake District of Northwestern Ontario. The Company is also active in assessing acquisition and joint venture opportunities in various jurisdictions from time to time.

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Karly Oliver, P. Geo., Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF TAURA GOLD INC.

Dominic Verdejo

President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please call 604-678-5308 or email info@tauragold.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements: Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainness and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

SOURCE: Taura Gold Inc.





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Aramco and joint venture partners Norinco Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group plan to start construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China.

Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), a joint venture between Aramco (30 per cent), Norinco Group (51 per cent) and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group (19 per cent), is developing the complex that will combine a 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery and a petrochemical plant with annual production capacity of 1.65 million metric tons of ethylene and 2 million metric tons of paraxylene.

Construction is due to start in the second quarter of 2023 after the project secured the required administrative approvals. It is expected to be fully operational by 2026.

Aramco will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock to the complex, which is being built in the city of Panjin, in Chinas Liaoning province.

Mohammed Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, said: This important project will support Chinas growing demand across fuel and chemical products. It also represents a major milestone in our ongoing downstream expansion strategy in China and the wider region, which is an increasingly significant driver of global petrochemical demand. 

Zou Wenchao, Norinco Group Deputy General Manager, said: This large-scale refinery and petrochemical complex is a key project of Norinco Group to implement and realize the joint development of the high-quality Belt and Road initiative, promote industrial restructuring, and enhance the oil and petrochemical sector to become stronger, better and larger. It will play an important role in deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, and achieving common development and prosperity.

Jia Fei, Panjin Xincheng Chairman of the Board, said: "The project is of great significance for Panjin to promote increasing chemicals and specialty products, strengthening integration of the refining and chemical industry. It is a symbolic project for Panjin as it seeks to accelerate the development of an important national petrochemical and fine chemical industry base.-TradeArabia News Service
Major commitments include support of LISC and CONVERGENCE Philadelphia

CHERRY HILL, N.J., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, today announced two new program relationships supporting key housing and home ownership initiatives in Philadelphia, including a $2.5 million financial commitment to Local Initiatives Support Corporation's (LISC) Non-profit Preservation Initiative and a new relationship with CONVERGENCE Philadelphia. This investment further illustrates TD's focus on deepening its support of communities of color across Philadelphia.

America's Most Convenient Bank. (PRNewsFoto/TD Bank)

"TD has roots in metro Philadelphia and with that comes the responsibility to serve all communities here," said Rob Curley, Regional President, Metro Pennsylvania and New Jersey for TD Bank. "By making tangible increases in resources and economic opportunities in Philadelphia, diverse and underserved individuals and families can realize their full potential and have the same financial security as their neighbors."

TD Bank worked with local National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) members and Philadelphia community leaders to identify impactful initiatives that support areas of greatest need in the city, including mortgage origination, sustained support of non-profits and preserving the availability of affordable rental housing.

"These relationships reinforce TD's commitment to enriching the lives of our colleagues, customers and communities, and represent some of the best thinking when it comes to creating more equity in housing and lending for Black and Hispanic communities," said Shelley Sylva, Head of U.S. Corporate Citizenship, TD Bank. "We're excited to work together to drive meaningful change in housing accessibility and sustainability right here in Philadelphia."

The Bank's commitment includes:

Non-Profit Preservation Initiative (LISC Philadelphia): LISC's housing strategy aims to maintain neighborhood assets and promote growth while protecting long-term residents' and community members' needs for affordable and equitable housing options. TD's contribution of $2.5 million over two years to the Non-Profit Preservation Initiative will assist LISC's work with non-profit building owners to preserve and protect 650 publicly assisted affordable housing rental units in neighborhoods across the city, with a priority focus in West Philadelphia and Eastern North Philadelphia.

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"We are grateful for TD Bank's bold commitment to the preservation of affordable rental housing in Philadelphia," said Andrew Frishkoff, Executive Director of LISC Philadelphia. "The city has 4,800 non-profit-owned affordable rental units that need significant public and private reinvestment during the next 15 years for essential renovations and long-term affordability. TD's investment will ensure that we can preserve the first 650 units while developing a multi-faceted strategy to help residents in all of the at-risk buildings to remain in safe, quality and affordable housing."

CONVERGENCE Philadelphia: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) recently launched CONVERGENCE Philadelphia, its third city-based pilot program to promote and increase minority homeownership. CONVERGENCE Philadelphia joins initiatives underway in Memphis, Tennessee, and Columbus, Ohio, to identify and address homeownership barriers for Black and Hispanic individuals.

CONVERGENCE Philadelphia will be led by MBA and three cornerstone partners, including TD Bank. The multiyear commitment will involve the collaboration of a local network of housing leaders, community advocates, and industry stakeholders to strengthen existing programs and develop new long-term, sustainable solutions to help close the home ownership gap for Blacks and Hispanics in the city.

The announcement comes on the heels of TD's recent Community Benefits Plan, which includes $50 million of lending, investment, philanthropy and other impact across 22 states and Washington, D.C., following the close of the bank's merger with First Horizon Bank. For additional information regarding TD Bank's larger community benefits plan, please visit: https://stories.td.com/us/en/article/td-bank-community-benefits-plan.

The support of LISC and CONVERGENCE is aligned to the TD Ready Commitment, the Bank's longstanding commitment to creating a more inclusive and sustainable future. As part of this work, TD is targeting $775 million by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow  Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health.

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing over 9.9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,100 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Auto Finance, a division of TD Bank, N.A., offers vehicle financing and dealer commercial services. TD Bank and its subsidiaries also offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.td.com/us . Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US and www.twitter.com/TDNews_US .

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com/us .

About the TD Ready Commitment

TD has a long-standing commitment to enriching the lives of its customers, colleagues and communities. As part of its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment, TD is targeting CDN $1 billion (U.S. $775 million) in total by 2030 towards community giving in four areas critical to help open doors for a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow  Financial Security, Vibrant Planet, Connected Communities and Better Health. Through the TD Ready Commitment, TD aspires to link its business, philanthropy and human capital to help people feel more confident - not just about their finances, but also in their ability to achieve their personal goals in a changing world. For further information, visit www.td.com/tdreadycommitment.

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SOURCE TD Bank
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tim Clark has been appointed CEO and president of Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc.

Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. - Logo (PRNewsfoto/Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.)

Clark is a senior vice president and executive officer of Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. He had been president of Hitachi Astemo Europe, based in Munich, Germany. He succeeds Paul Carroll who recently was named global account manager for Hitachi America, Ltd.

Clark also had served as vice president of sales and marketing for Hitachi Automotive Systems in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and previously was general manager in charge of international sales for Hitachi Automotive Systems based in Tokyo.

Prior to joining Hitachi in 2003, he was general manager of Unisia North America and also had held executive positions at Nissan North America and with Mazda in Japan.

Fluent in Japanese, he holds a bachelor's degree in Japanese Studies from Brigham Young University.

Hitachi Astemo Americas has more than 20 manufacturing plants, research-and-development centers and sales offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Hitachi Astemo, its parent company, was created in 2021 by the merger of Hitachi Automotive Systems with three former Honda affiliates: Nissin Kogyo, Keihin and Showa.

About Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Hitachi Astemo is a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Hitachi Astemo is a technology company that develops, manufactures, sells, and services automotive and transportation components as well as industrial machinery and systems. For more information, visit the company's website at https://www.hitachiastemo.com/en/

About Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc.

Hitachi Astemo Americas, Inc. manufactures and markets engine management, electric powertrain and integrated vehicle controls for major automotive manufacturers worldwide, adhering to ISO/TS:16949:2009 industry standards. Additional information about Hitachi Astemo Americas is available at https://am.hitachiastemo.com/.

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SOURCE Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.
Timbercreek Financial

TORONTO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Timbercreek Financial (Timbercreek) is pleased to announce it has been included on The Globe and Mails 2023 Report on Business magazines Women Lead Here list for a third straight year.



This annual editorial benchmark identifies top-notch Canadian businesses with the highest executive gender diversity. The ranking companies have made tangible and organizational progress related to executive gender parity.

This benchmark was established in 2020 by Report on Business magazine and applies a proprietary research methodology to determine Canadian corporations with the highest degree of gender diversity among executive ranks.

It is a privilege to be among the most gender-diverse corporations in Canada for a third consecutive year, said Blair Tamblyn, CEO of Timbercreek. We are extremely proud of the workplace environment and the culture weve collectively established as an organization, and I would like to thank each and every one of our employees for their commitment to maintaining our culture with each other and with our clients.

For the 2023 ranking, Report on Business conducted a journalistic analysis of approximately 500 large publicly-traded Canadian companies based on revenue, evaluating the ratio of female-identifying to male-identifying executives in the top three tiers of executive leadership. The resultant data was applied to a weighted formula that also factored in company performance, diversity and year-to-year change. In total, 90 companies earned the 2023 Women Lead Here seal, with a combined average of 46% of executive roles held by female-identifying individuals.

Timbercreek has proudly established a culture that inspires leadership among our employees throughout the organization, regardless of gender or job title. This brand of leadership has cultivated an environment of diversity for thought, which has increased collaboration and produced results that help our clients thrive. Timbercreek has achieved equal gender representation throughout the organization, inspired by the diversity of the executive leadership team.

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Being recognized by The Globe and Mails Women Lead Here for another year is an important reminder that our company is making an impact on our industry, said Tamblyn. We remain committed to building and improving our culture, while ensuring we remain an organization our employees and clients are proud to call a partner.

The 2023 Women Lead Here list is in the April 2023 issue of Report on Business magazine, distributed with The Globe and Mail on Saturday March 25 th , 2023 and online at tgam.ca/WomenLeadHere.

About Timbercreek

Timbercreek Financial is the publicly traded investment entity of Timbercreek Capital, one of Canadas leading alternative asset class investment managers, focused on providing structured financing solutions to experienced real estate owners and investors across selectively identified urban centres primarily in Canada, United States, Ireland/UK.

Founded in 1999, Timbercreek is one of Canadas leading alternative asset class managers, defined by its belief in an active, direct-investment style, and value-oriented investment philosophy. To learn more visit www.timbercreek.com

For further information, please contact:

Timbercreek Financial

Karynna Ma, VP | Investor Relations

416-923-9967

kma@timbercreek.com




"Proof of Work" model simplifies carbon offsets process though focus on relevant core factors

SINGAPORE, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With recent controversies in the carbon markets marring the true potential of genuine carbon offsets for doing good, TradeFlow Capital Management (TradeFlow) and H2O Venture Partners (H2O) are pleased to share their pioneering collaboration that abates carbon emissions whilst achieving UN SDGs.

TradeFlow Capital Management (PRNewsfoto/TradeFlow Capital Management - Transforming Risk, Enabling Trade)

Rather than through the conventional model of purchasing verified carbon offsets on the open market, TradeFlow worked directly with H2O, utilising established methodology and material evidence of carbon abatement. Simplicity and a focus on core relevant factors of the carbon-offset process avoids expensive onboarding and management fees, allowing fees to be more directly re-invested into scaling up offset operations.

FarmFresh, a school-feeding project in Kigali, Rwanda, provides an example of this model, where 182,294 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions were averted from less firewood burned for the period September 2022 to February 2023. Instead of each school cooking their own beans (the main source of daily protein to school children in Rwanda) over open fires and with long cooking times, FarmFresh prepares the beans in-factory using highly energy-efficient modern cooking facilities and packs them in lightweight recyclable laminate pouches (rather than large tins previously) for ease of distribution. This results in less food waste and a 97% reduction in the energy used per kg of cooked beans. Moreover, the process is regulated to the highest food safety standards resulting in improved quality and nutritional standards than achieved previously.

The success of this model aligning affordability, nutritional quality and environmental sustainability has led to an agreement with the City of Kigali and the Heads of Schools Organisation Rwanda to enrol more schools in Kigali to scale up production to 120 metric tons (mt) of cooked beans per month, up from the ~20 mt/month at present. This will equate to 50,000 school lunches per day, and lead to even more carbon abated as a result.

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Says Paul Coleman: "This is a great example of an informal, voluntary scheme built on trust between the payer and the project, with a pragmatic, robust methodology that doesn't require external consultants working out the savings to the nth decimal point. Rather, we have a transparent methodology that estimates the main carbon savings and links them to a company performance metric (in this case, kilograms of beans sold) that can be audited by local firms. Our simple, transparent and affordable model avoids the high cost of Certification agencies, which involves certified auditors flown in every year.

The carbon credits from TradeFlow are a very exciting development therefore. The carbon credit payments will be used to help collect data from the schools we are working with in Kigali, and in collaboration with our local partners, to learn lessons to inform further scaling and a strategy for national coverage."

Says Dr Tom James, CEO and CIO of TradeFlow : "We believe businesses can make the right choices to create positive impact, and are pleased to support the pioneering work of partners like H2O at ground level to increase their scale of positive impact. Empowered by our Digitalised model of trade to narrow the SME trade finance gap, we're especially glad to be able to enable a number of UN SDGs for the countries we operate in to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life."

About TradeFlow Capital Management (Tradeflow)

TradeFlow is the world's first Fintech-powered commodity trade enabler focused on SMEs. TradeFlow consists of a diverse team of experts with the focused mission of addressing the increasing trade finance gap faced by global SMEs operating as producers/traders/end-users in the bulk commodity trading space. By performing an enabling role in international trade and globalization, TradeFlow creates growth opportunities for businesses and economies.

To date, TradeFlow has successfully invested in more than US$1.5 Bn of physical commodity trade through 1000+ transactions across 15+ countries and 27+ commodity types, with more than 800 SME counterpart entities KYC reviewed. As part of its unique business model, The TradeFlow Funds*, advised by TradeFlow, were conceived in 2016 and launched in 2018.

TradeFlow is a Partner of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to mobilise capital and improve trade finance access for SMEs worldwide through the "'ICC Trade Now" and "ICC Digital Trade Standards Initiative" platforms.

TradeFlow Capital Management Pte Ltd

UEN: 201920511H

www.tradeflow.capital

Please bookmark our media: TradeFlowTV | Twitter | LinkedIN

About H2O Venture Partners

H2O Venture Partners ("H2O" www.h2ovp.com) is a specialised firm creating brand new enterprises that fill gaps in important value chains where no established players exist. H2O managed the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Social Enterprises for Economic Development (SEED) Programme in Rwanda which originated a portfolio of social enterprises. This portfolio of SMEs benefits from working closely with TradeFlow for the flow of input (e.g. Ingabo Plant Health www.ingabo.rw), output commodities (e.g. Rumbuka Seeds www.rumbuka.rw) and informal, voluntary carbon credit payments (e.g. www.farmfresh.rw).

About the FarmFresh Project

FarmFresh was founded in 2015 as part of the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID) funded SEED Programme, managed by H2O. FarmFresh is an innovative Kigali-based food processing company that markets branded, fully-cooked Rwandan beans in laminated pouches aimed at retail consumers and institutions across East Africa.

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SOURCE TradeFlow Capital Management
Material Not Detected in Initial Sampling Results

BRISTOL, Pa., March 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trinseo PLC today provides the following update regarding the accidental release of an estimated 8,100 gallons of latex emulsion product from the Altuglas LLC manufacturing facility in Bristol, Pennsylvania.

The release was the result of an equipment failure. Some of the material overflowed the on-site containment system and entered a storm drain, where it flowed to Otter Creek and then to the Delaware River.

Trinseo personnel alerted federal, state, and local authorities and immediately began to participate in the emergency response. Because the material is highly water soluble, and the release coincided with a period of rainfall, the material dissipated quickly in the water. To assess potential impacts, water samples were collected at designated locations. Results received to date have not detected the released material.

Trinseo is continuing to work cooperatively with the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. EPA, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and local authorities to assess potential impacts and any remedial measures to address the release.

Trinseo voluntarily paused all production operations at the facility to devote its full resources to addressing the release and to conduct a thorough review and analysis of all material-handling processes and equipment at the Bristol facility. Trinseo will make improvements as necessary to achieve a standard of environmental excellence that its employees, investors and community expect and that, to date, has been a hallmark of Trinseos business performance.

Following an internal review of operations, Trinseo expects to resume partial production within the next several days, and to resume full production shortly thereafter. Trinseo is working to minimize any potential customer impacts.

The Bristol facility manufactures acrylic resins for Trinseos Engineered Materials business. The plant employs approximately 110 people.

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About Trinseo

Trinseo (NYSE: TSE), a specialty material solutions provider, partners with companies to bring ideas to life in an imaginative, smart and sustainably focused manner by combining its premier expertise, forward-looking innovations and best-in-class materials to unlock value for companies and consumers.

From design to manufacturing, Trinseo taps into decades of experience in diverse material solutions to address customers unique challenges in a wide range of industries, including building and construction, consumer goods, medical and mobility.

Trinseos approximately 3,400 employees bring endless creativity to reimagining the possibilities with clients all over the world from the companys locations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Trinseo reported net sales of approximately $5.0 billion in 2022. Discover more by visiting www.trinseo.com and connecting with Trinseo on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and WeChat.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, projections, forecasts, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are not statements of historical facts or guarantees or assurances of future performance. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words like "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "forecast," "outlook," "will," "may," "might," "see," "tend," "assume," "potential," "likely," "target," "plan," "contemplate," "seek," "attempt," "should," "could," "would" or expressions of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements reflect managements evaluation of information currently available and are based on our current expectations and assumptions, our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Factors that might cause future results to differ from those expressed by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully investigate and remediate chemical releases on or from our sites, make related capital expenditures, reimburse third-party cleanup costs or settle potential regulatory penalties or other claims; our ability to successfully execute our business and transformation strategy; increased costs or disruption in the supply of raw materials; increased energy costs; our ability to successfully generate cost savings and increase profitability through asset restructuring initiatives; compliance with laws and regulations impacting our business; conditions in the global economy and capital markets; and those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, under Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our other reports, filings and furnishings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. As a result of these or other factors, our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Therefore, we caution you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230327005484/en/

Contacts

For Editorial Information:



Name: Paula Cooney

Phone: 1 610-840-7967

Email: pcooney@trinseo.com



Name: Shannon Callahan

Phone: 1 484-467-5611

Email: scallahan@trinseo.com
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE

Paris, Amsterdam, March 27, 2023

Press release

Holding conditions for the Combined General Meeting of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE on May 11, 2023, availability of its explanatory documentation and the 2022 Universal Registration Document

The Combined General Meeting of shareholders of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE will be held at Palais des Congres de Paris (2, place de la Porte Maillot, Espace Ternes  75017 Paris, France) on Thursday May 11, 2023, at 10:30 am (Paris time).

The formal notice to shareholders (Avis de reunion a lAssemblee Generale valant avis de convocation) was published today, in the BALO (Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires) and set out the Combined General Meeting agenda, the proposed resolutions, as well as the terms and conditions for voting at this General Meeting.

The 2022 Universal Registration Document of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE was filed today with the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des Marches Financiers).

The 2022 Universal Registration Document includes:

the 2022 annual financial report,

the report of the Supervisory Board on the Corporate Governance,

the management report on the financial year 2022,

the remuneration report and the remuneration policy of the members of the Management Board and of the Supervisory Board,

the sustainability report,

the description of the share buy-back program.

The explanatory documentation regarding this Combined General Meeting and the 2022 Universal Registration Document are available on request, in compliance with the laws and regulations in force, as well as on the www.urw.com website (under Investors/General Meetings).

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Alex Estruch

VP, Chief of Staff to the CEO

+1 424 303 1948

Alex.Estruch@urw.com

Media Relations

UK/Global :

Cornelia Schnepf  Finelk

+44 7387 108 998

Cornelia.Schnepf@finelk.eu

France :

Sonia Fellmann  PLEAD

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+33 6 27 84 91 30

Sonia.Fellmann@plead.fr

United States :

Molly Morse  Kekst CNC

+ 1 212 521 4826

Molly.Morse@kekstcnc.com

About Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is an owner, developer and operator of sustainable, high-quality real estate assets in the most dynamic cities in Europe and the United States.

The Group operates 78 shopping centres in 12 countries, including 43 which carry the iconic Westfield brand. These centres attract over 900 million visits annually and provide a unique platform for retailers and brands to connect with consumers. URW also has a portfolio of high-quality offices, 10 convention and exhibition venues in Paris, and a 3 Bn development pipeline of mainly mixed-use assets. Currently, its 52 Bn portfolio is 87% in retail, 6% in offices, 5% in convention and exhibition venues, and 2% in services (as at December 31, 2022).

URW is a committed partner to major cities on urban regeneration projects, through both mixed-use development and the retrofitting of buildings to industry-leading sustainability standards. These commitments are enhanced by the Groups Better Places 2030 agenda, which strives to make a positive environmental, social and economic impact on the cities and communities where URW operates.

URWs stapled shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris (Ticker: URW), with a secondary listing in Australia through Chess Depositary Interests. The Group benefits from a BBB+ rating from Standard & Poors and from a Baa2 rating from Moodys.

For more information, please visit www.urw.com

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city of london

Post-Brexit freedoms should be used to liberalise pensions and unlock 50bn in tech investment, the Lord Mayor of London has urged the Treasury.

The Government should scrap red tape preventing private pensions from plugging a 15bn per year funding gap backing British business, according to a new report by the City of London Corporation, EY and Innovate Finance, a fintech industry body.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hopes to boost Britains financial services via his Edinburgh Reforms, a series of regulatory changes made possible now that Britain is outside the European Union.

These plans include proposals to increase the pace of consolidation of defined contribution pension schemes  a move which in his Spring Budget Mr Hunt said was critical to bolster retirement incomes and build the next generation of globally competitive companies.

Mr Hunt also has a stated aim of transforming the UK into a science and tech superpower.

Nicholas Lyons, Lord Mayor of London, called for rule changes that will allow smaller defined contribution pension schemes to be consolidated, creating economies of scale that will allow greater risk diversification.

In its Powerful Pensions report, the City also called for a future growth fund targeting 50bn to provide new investment for the UKs fintech, biotech, life sciences and green technology sectors.

Its authors estimate that there is a growth funding gap of 1.5 trillion that could be used by domestic institutional investors to back creative and innovative businesses, many of which are in the financial, professional service and technology industries.

Only 1pc of the 4.6 trillion held in pensions and insurance assets is invested in unlisted companies, the reports authors add.

Alderman Lyons warned that businesses are struggling to grow domestically and compete globally because of a shortfall in investment, while pension fund members are missing out on high returns.

Alderman Lyons said: The UK has the second largest pension fund pot in the world, but UK pension funds invest less in private equity and infrastructure than our competitors.

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Were missing a trick here  which is leading to the majority of UK pension funds and their scheme members not benefiting from these high growth investment opportunities.

In lieu of UK pension funds, these investments are being targeted by overseas investors. In 2021, just 22pc of private equity and venture capital funding raised in the UK came from domestic investors.

Axe Ali, UK Private Equity and Venture Capital Partner at EY, said unlocking DC pension funds could be a game changer for high-growth tech firms.

A new Future Growth Fund could help support tech firms with an injection of much-needed capital, whilst also providing a boost to the UK economy, he said.

It will of course require collaboration between the financial sector, regulators, and high-growth firms.

Janine Hirt, chief executive of financial tech trade body Innovate Finance, said that the additional funding could have a profound impact on future generations of consumers.

The de-equitisation of UK pension funds over recent decades means that upcoming generations are not maximising their investment returns, which will significantly impact them at retirement, she added. It is essential that we address this now.

It comes after a group of City chief executives called on Mr Hunt to free up more investor capital to support UK firms and boost the economy, ahead of his spring Budget.

Earlier this month, the UK Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT) told the Chancellor there was a substantial opportunity to deploy more long-term UK pension capital into the growth drivers of the UK economy, delivering better returns for savers and faster growth for the country.

Several companies have sought listings away from London in a bid to attract more investment from a broader range of investors. Technology group Arm and building materials firm CRH have both detailed plans to float in New York over concerns over low valuations and liquidity, which some commentators have attributed to a lack of backing from pension funds in British firms.
(Bloomberg) -- President Joseph Biden signed an executive order Monday banning government agencies from using commercial spyware produced by companies deemed to represented national security threats or implicated in human rights abuses.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The move comes after the US determined that some 50 government personnel in 10 countries were confirmed or suspected to have been targeted by spyware, according to a senior administration official who spoke in a press briefing on Monday to announce the order.

Spyware is a form of malicious software that intruders use to covertly access victims mobile phones, stealing data and recording calls and messages. Companies such as Israels NSO Group build and sell such surveillance software to governments, promising to help them track terrorists and other serious criminals. However, human rights experts say some governments have abused the technology to target journalists, activists and political opponents.

US government personnel overseas have been targeted by commercial spyware, and untrustworthy commercial vendors and tools can present significant risks to the security and integrity of US Government information and information systems, the White House said in statement.

The order does not represent a wholesale ban on government agencies purchasing and using commercial spyware.

Agencies will be banned from purchasing spyware from specific companies  whose identities are not yet public  that officials say pose a security risk to the US government or have enabled repression and human rights violations. The order is unlikely to impact intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency and CIA, which have developed their own in-house hacking tools, according to documents previously disclosed by WikiLeaks and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

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The executive order is aimed at ensuring agencies use of spyware aligns with core national security and foreign policy interests, the senior administration official said Monday. The official added that the government wanted to ensure it was not contributing to the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware and hoped to spur reform and greater regulation in the industry.

The official declined to disclose how many US agencies were using spyware from companies that would now be prohibited under the executive order.

The Biden administration has previously taken steps to curb abuses of commercial spyware, and began closely examining the issue in summer 2021, according to the senior administration official.

In November 2021, the Commerce Department blacklisted Israeli vendors NSO Group and Candiru, accusing them of supplying spyware to foreign governments that used the tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.

Such practices threaten the rules-based international order, the department said in a statement at the time.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
WEST CHESTER, Pa., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Venerable is pleased to announce the promotions of two Finance colleagues, Richard Gelfand and Scott Horenziak.

Venerable Registered Logo (PRNewsfoto/Venerable)

Gelfand, a newly named Vice President, is also the company's Deputy Controller, and has been with Venerable since the organization's inception. He is primarily focused on external financial reporting, audits and examinations, accounting operations, financial systems and controls, and accounting policy. Additionally, Gelfand supports new strategic initiatives and serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer and a registered representative of Directed Services, LLC, Venerable's principal underwriter and distributor of Venerable Insurance and Annuity Company's variable contracts. He has nearly 15 years' experience with Venerable's predecessor companies and several years of public accounting experience. Gelfand is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Pennsylvania, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Temple University, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from LaSalle University.

Horenziak, promoted to Vice President Financial Analysis, has been with Venerable and its predecessor companies since 2010. In his role, he leads the firm's investment accounting and expense management functions and provides accounting support for the company's strategic initiatives. Horenziak previously served in roles supporting financial planning, analysis, and reporting for the annuity and mutual fund business lines at Voya Financial, as well as business process analysis and improvement, acquisition integration, and risk analytics at Wells Fargo and General Electric. He began his career as an engineer, having obtained a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering from The University of Illinois. Horenziak also holds a Master of Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University.

SVP and Controller, Greg Smith, said "Rich and Scott are highly valued for their leadership at Venerable as they help lead critical functions at our organization. Their ability to consistently deliver quality results, address business challenges with meaningful solutions, and support their business partners are a model for their teams and colleagues."

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About Venerable

Venerable is a privately held company with business operations based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Des Moines, Iowa, and New York, NY. Venerable owns and manages legacy variable annuity business acquired from other entities. Created by an investor group led by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC, Crestview Partners, Reverence Capital Partners, and Athene Holdings, Ltd., Venerable is a business with well-established, strategic investors, experienced in successfully building and growing insurance businesses with patient, long-term capital. For more information, please visit www.venerable.com.

Contact:

Allison Proud

Corporate Communications

610-249-9730

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SOURCE Venerable
Hitachi Energy, a leading provider of innovative solutions for utility and infrastructure sectors, has signed an agreement with Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority to upgrade the Al Fadhili high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station under the authority in Saudi Arabia.

A major utility facility, Al Fadhili converter station began its operations in 2009 as part of a project to interconnect the power grids of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Once upgraded, the Al Fadhili station will be able to exchange up to 1,800MW of electricity between these states. Additionally, the station serves a special purpose vehicle to maintain the stability of the connected grids.

This upgrade project will replace hardware and software with Hitachi Energys cutting-edge MACH control and protection system, the brain behind HVDC links, it stated.

According to Hitachi Energy, the contract was mainly aimed at creating a resilient interconnected grid, ensuring power security and economic benefits.

The GCCIA allows the sharing of the operational and spinning reserve, which achieves higher efficiency in the use of operating capacities and higher efficiency in the operation of electric power production stations, leading to great improvements in the regions power security and reliability.

Power security in the Gulf countries is especially critical due to extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, the link will allow optimization in electricity generation resulting in reduced CO2 emissions by minimizing the need for additional power generation, ensuring a secure power supply between the member countries, it stated.

Niklas Persson, the Managing Director at Hitachi Energys Grid Integration business, said: "Security of electricity is something society often takes for granted, but its special systems like the Al-Fadhili converter station which keeps the power flowing, is essential for the economy and well-being of the local society."

"With this upgrade, Hitachi Energy will deliver significant value with a real impact improving the system performance and further expanding its lifetime," he noted.

Authority CEO Ahmed bin Ali Al Ibrahim said the project will contribute to strengthening the electrical interconnection expansion projects adopted by the authority, which aims to increase the reliability of energy in the Gulf network and make it more efficient.

"The project represents great opportunities to exchange energy, especially in light of the increase in the capacity of the electrical connection to achieve economical operation of the network, especially during the summer, and also to increase the security and stability of the network and reduce interruptions," he added.

Al Ibrahim pointed out that HVDC systems are commonly used for large-scale transmission and exchange of electricity over large distances between two HVDC converter stations, but the Al Fadhili HVDC converter station is a back-to-back system in a single location.

"Back-to-back stations utilise the sophisticated, digital controllability of an HVDC system to precisely manage the flow and properties of the electricity supply, providing many benefits for grid control and stability," he added.

In addition to this upgrade and the other ongoing projects, Hitachi Energy and GCCIA are strengthening their collaboration to build a resilient interconnection grid by ensuring power security and economic benefits.

Al Ibrahim said this will accelerate GCCIAs journey to become a global hub in grid interconnections and create a dynamic electricity market for the region and beyond.

"Initial areas of focus for the collaboration include developing standardized base designs to be applied for high-voltage direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) transmission systems to interconnect countries. This includes grid connections and power quality solutions, in particular Statcoms, which provides significant benefits throughout the assets plan, build, operate and maintain life cycle," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
CMR Surgical

Versius used to perform over 10,000 cases

Versius has been used to conduct more than 10,000 surgeries spanning 130 different procedure types across 7 surgical specialties including general surgery , thoracic s , colorectal surgery , gynaecology, upper GI and urology

Almost 90% of CMR Surgicals customer hospitals are using Versius across multiple departments; demonstrating the versatility of the system

CAMBRIDGE, UK  27th March 2023, 07:00 (BST). CMR Surgical (CMR)  the global surgical robotics business  today announces that its next-generation surgical robotic system, Versius, has been used to perform more than 10,000 soft tissue surgical cases in hospitals around the world. The surgical cases span 130 complex and benign procedure types across seven surgical specialties including colectomies, hysterectomies, hernia repairs and lobectomies.

Versius was developed to expand availability to minimal access surgery around the world. The system gained CE approval in 2019 and today there are over 100 Versius systems installed globally.

Professor Mario Nosotti, Director of the Department of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplantations of the Policlinico di Milano, a key institution using the Versius system, said: We are pleased to have conducted complex clinical cases, across thoracic and general surgery including lobectomies and thymectomies. Having a versatile surgical robot that can be used across specialties has helped us to bring more minimally invasive surgery to patients in the Lombardia region. We hope this programme opens the door to a greater adoption of surgical robotics across the region.

Dr Pradeep Chowbey is the Chairman, Max Institute of Laparoscopic, Robotic & Bariatric Surgery, Max Healthcare. He is a pioneer minimal access surgeon in the Asia Pacific region. He appreciated the potential of Versius, the next generation robotic platform and adopted it in 2021. He said: With Versius we are able to deliver excellent clinical outcomes. Versius empowers us to operate with greater dexterity and precision. I continue using Versius in my everyday practice for common as well as advanced laparoscopic surgeries. The platform has a myriad of benefits, some of which include an open console and mobility of the system that enables it to be used across multiple specialities.

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The Versius system was designed with versatility in mind to support high utilisation in hospitals. The lightweight and portable design means that it can be shared between multiple hospital departments to increase utilisation and drive efficiencies. To date, a quarter of hospitals are using the system across seven major surgical specialties, and over 90% are using it in more than one specialty.

The small, modular form factor of Versius means it can fit into virtually any operating room, enabling a wider range of hospitals to start a robotics programme. Versius has enabled a number of hospitals to adopt a surgical robot for the first time, including Cristo Re Hospital in Italy and Klinikum Chemnitz in Germany, which required a versatile system capable of fitting into any operating room suitable for multi-specialty use.

Supratim Bose, Chief Executive Officer of CMR Surgical, comments: Our mission is to help hospitals to deliver minimal access surgery to as many patients as possible, and Im delighted to see us continue to make strong strides in our journey, having reached the milestone of over 10,000 patients treated using Versius. With Versius, the system can be used around the clock and around the hospital, enabling more hospitals to adopt surgical robotics programmes, providing greater access to minimal access surgery.

Mark Slack, Chief Medical Officer of CMR Surgical, adds: We launched Versius following the IDEAL framework, and along with the clinical registry we have a wealth of data that can support surgeons and hospitals to deliver the best care to their patients. We are proud that Versius has been used to help more than 10,000 people, with data showing that the use of the system is as safe as manual laparoscopy. The benefits of manual laparoscopy for patients are well-established and surgical robotics can help to enable more patients to benefit from this surgical technique. We look forward to working with more hospitals to increase access to surgical robotics.

Clinical data from procedures is collected in the clinical registry giving surgeons and hospitals a wealth of information. CMR launched one of the worlds first clinical registries for surgical robotics as part of the Versius digital ecosystem, recording real world data from Versius procedures to ensure safety and help surgeons and hospitals to drive surgical standards.

 ENDS 

Media Contacts:

If you wish to see more, please contact CMR Surgical at:

Press Office, CMR Surgical

T +44(0) 1223 755801

E pressoffice@cmrsurgical.com

Notes to editors:

The Versius Surgical Robotic System

Versius resets expectations of robotic surgery. Versius fits into virtually any operating room set-up and integrates seamlessly into existing workflows, increasing the likelihood of robotic minimal access surgery (MAS). The small, portable and modular design of Versius allows the surgeon to only use the number of arms needed for a given procedure.

Biomimicking the human arm, Versius gives surgeons the choice of optimised port placement alongside the dexterity and accuracy of small fully-wristed instruments. With 3D HD vision, easy-to adopt instrument control and a choice of ergonomic working positions, the open surgeon console has the potential to reduce stress and fatigue and allows for clear communication with the surgical team. By thinking laparoscopically and operating robotically with Versius, patients, surgeons and healthcare professionals can all benefit from the value that robotic MAS brings.

But its more than just a robot. Versius captures meaningful data with its wider digital ecosystem to support a surgeons continuous learning. Through the Versius Connect app, Versius Trainer and CMR clinical registry, Versius unleashes a wealth of insights to ultimately improve surgical care.

About CMR Surgical Limited

CMR Surgical (CMR) is a global medical devices company dedicated to transforming surgery with Versius, a next-generation surgical robot.

Headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, CMR is committed to working with surgeons, surgical teams and hospital partners, to provide an optimal tool to make robotic minimal access surgery universally accessible and affordable. With Versius, we are on a mission to redefine the surgical robotics market with practical, innovative technology and data that can improve surgical care.

Founded in 2014, CMR Surgical is private limited company backed by an international shareholder base.




$140 million in funding raised since November 2020

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wellvana Health announced today that it has closed an $84 million capital raise to drive innovation in value-based care enablement for independent primary care physicians, specialists, and health systems. The investment is co-led by Nashville-based Heritage Group and Valtruis, a Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) company, and joined by Memorial Hermann Health System, the largest not-for-profit health system in southeast Texas. This round brings Wellvana's total funding since November 2020 to approximately $140 million. Nashville-based Martin Ventures led former funding rounds with partnership from First Trust Capital Partners and Adam Boehler.

Visit Wellvana Health at wellvana.com or follow on LinkedIn.

This investment comes as Wellvana has established presence in 22 states, partnering with physicians, home-health agencies, skilled nursing facilities and health systems to transition from traditional fee-for-service payment models to value-based or full-risk capitation contracting. The investment in Wellvana will support continued growth in existing markets and new U.S. geographies.

"Wellvana exists to help doctors deliver life-changing health care to their patients," said Kyle Wailes, Chief Executive Officer of Wellvana. "We are taking a differentiated value-based care approach that only succeeds when two things align: data-driven technology and high-touch human engagement. Our model is working; savings rates are strong for our physician partners with improved patient outcomes and reduced in-patient ER admissions across every market. Most importantly, our physicians and their patients feel heard, seen and valued, renewing trust in the American health care system."

The investment in Wellvana also deepens the company's commitment to assuming downside risk for partner physicians through a robust underwriting program, especially for practices in rural and underserved communities and health systems that experience tight margins.

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"Wellvana's world-class leaders are addressing important challenges in the American health care system through an innovative, high-touch value-based care model," said Lauren Brueggen, Partner at Heritage Group. "Wellvana has a proven record of succeeding in full risk-based contracting with technology-enabled tools that empower physicians to focus on what matters most  better quality of care for patients."

"Wellvana's model is at the core of our mission at Valtruis to accelerate the growth and adoption of value-based care," said Karey Witty, Managing Director at Valtruis and Operating Partner at WCAS. "We are confident that Wellvana's solution-oriented model is best positioned to continue supporting physicians' transition to a modern value-based care system that lowers costs, expands access, improves the patient experience, and enhances outcomes for all."

Wellvana serves over one hundred thousand Medicare and commercial lives through multiple payors, Medicare Advantage and as manager of three (3) national contracts for the 2023 ACO REACH (Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) model through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Wellvana's participation in ACO REACH prioritizes the advancement of health equity and improving access to care for underserved populations, including social determinants of health, while promoting provider leadership, and improving Medicare beneficiary protections.

Devin Carty, Wellvana co-founder and board chair, and CEO of Martin Ventures said, "Wellvana has the best management team in the industry right now, and with this funding, Kyle and the team will take Wellvana to the next level and help high-performing physicians and health systems across the country transition to value-based care. Wellvana is deepening its presence in key markets of Texas, Arizona, Tennessee, across the Midwest and Southeast, while also growing partnerships in underserved regions where primary care physicians understand the needs of their communities."

"Memorial Hermann is committed to its transition to value-based care, which includes the delivery of safe, high-quality care and outcomes and exceptional experiences for all of the patients we serve," said Feby Abraham, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Memorial Hermann Health System. "We view our investment in Wellvana as an investment in that transition and in the future of health care."

About Wellvana

Wellvana Health helps doctors deliver life-changing health care with a high-touch value-based care model for high-performing partners across independent primary care physicians, specialists, and health systems. Transitioning providers from traditional fee-for-service payment models to risk-based contracting, Wellvana is on a mission to improve patient outcomes and quality of care while reducing medical costs. Wellvana believes value-based care is local care, offering providers a flexible model for partnership, including acquisition, joint ventures, or affiliate models. Founded in 2019, Wellvana currently serves health care providers in 22 states, manages lives across multiple payors, and continues to expand its footprint in new communities. For more information, visit www.wellvana.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

CONTACT: Carrie Moore

cmoore@wellvana.com

Wellvana CEO and Board Member Kyle Wailes

Cision

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SOURCE Wellvana Health
Winnebago Industries, Inc.

Advances Winnebago Industries strategic innovation and electric solutions platforms with new technological and engineering capabilities

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winnebago Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WGO), a leading outdoor lifestyle product manufacturer, today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Lithionics Battery (Lithionics), a lithium-ion battery solutions provider to recreational equipment and specialty vehicle markets. The addition of Lithionics will provide Winnebago Industries with enhanced technological and engineering capabilities to offer consumers more differentiated products with innovative electrical solutions, as well as bring strategic sourcing benefits and secure a critical area of its supply chain. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.



Founded in 2010, Lithionics is a provider of advanced battery solutions that deliver house power, supporting internal electrical features and appliances for a variety of outdoor products including RVs, boats, specialty and other low-speed vehicles, as well as other industrial applications. Lithionics innovation in house power solutions will continue to advance important outdoor recreation product features for consumers, including extending time off-the-grid, improving reliability, reducing noise and generating fewer emissions.

Lithionics premium lithium-ion batteries leverage voltage stability, long life expectancy, lighter construction and the highest energy densities possible to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective electrification solutions. The companys best-in-class battery technology is differentiated by its proprietary management software and certifications from Underwriters Laboratories Solutions (UL), a leader in safety accreditation and testing. Lithionics currently serves a critical role in the supply chains of Winnebago Industries RV brands, providing trusted battery solutions to Winnebago and Newmar. Lithionics is led by Founder and CEO Steve Tartaglia and is headquartered in Clearwater, Florida.

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The addition of Lithionics enhances Winnebago Industries ability to develop unique and diverse battery solutions across our portfolio, advancing our overall electrical ecosystem, driving organic growth and supply chain security, reinforcing our technological competitive advantage and allowing us to capitalize on consumer preferences for fully immersive, off-the-grid outdoor experiences, said Winnebago Industries President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Happe. Lithionics talented employees bring a unique familiarity with our business and the broader outdoor recreation space, as well as share a commitment to quality and safety that fits seamlessly with our culture of excellence. We see significant opportunity to expand the use of their efficient energy solutions within our own portfolio, to continue to grow relationships with other existing customers and to explore new market applications. Through these applications, we expect Lithionics will enhance Winnebago Industries margin profile over the near- and long-term and create value for our shareholders, employees and consumers. We look forward to working with Steve and his team to integrate their unique platform of electrical capabilities.

Steve Tartaglia added, By combining Lithionics differentiated battery systems and Winnebago Industries strong brands and innovation expertise, we will create a range of technologically superior products that will change the way people experience the outdoors  allowing them to bring the comfort of electricity with them wherever they travel. The entire team at Lithionics looks forward to joining forces with Winnebago Industries to turn this vision into reality.

After the transaction closes, which is expected within Winnebago Industries third fiscal quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, Mr. Tartaglia and the current Lithionics management team will continue to lead the business from its headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. Lithionics will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Winnebago Industries.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Winnebago Industries and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath is serving as legal advisor.

About Winnebago Industries

Winnebago Industries, Inc. is a leading North American manufacturer of outdoor lifestyle products under the Winnebago, Grand Design, Chris-Craft, Newmar and Barletta brands, which are used primarily in leisure travel and outdoor recreation activities. The Company builds quality motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth-wheel products, outboard and sterndrive powerboats, pontoons and commercial community outreach vehicles. Winnebago Industries has multiple facilities in Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Florida. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol WGO. For access to Winnebago Industries' investor relations material or to add your name to an automatic email list for Company news releases, visit http://investor.wgo.net.

About Lithionics Battery

Lithionics Battery is a leading provider of lithium-ion batteries to the recreational equipment and specialty vehicle markets. Using a proprietary Battery Management System called NeverDie Technology, it offers a broad range of standard and custom-designed battery configurations delivering house power, supporting internal electrical features and appliances for a variety of outdoor products for the marine and recreational vehicle markets. Other markets served include both house power and traction power for low-speed electric vehicle markets, as well as cell towers and industrial applications requiring ruggedized power systems. Lithionics Battery operates a modern factory using technology that was designed and built in-house for advanced assembly. Key proprietary technologies include source code and firmware that in turn has created unique quality assurance and safety testing systems, validated by certifications from Underwriters Laboratories Solutions (UL), a leader in safety accreditation and testing. Lithionics Battery was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Clearwater, Florida.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve potential risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including, but not limited to risks relating to the Companys proposed acquisition of Lithionics Battery, including the possibility that the closing conditions to the contemplated transaction may not be satisfied or waived; delay in closing the transaction or the possibility of non-consummation of the transaction; the occurrence of any event that could give rise to termination of the purchase agreement; risks inherent in the achievement of expected financial results; risks that the efforts to consummate the transaction may be disruptive to the Company or Lithionics Battery or their respective management teams; the effect of announcing the transaction on Lithionics Batterys ability to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and other third parties; risks related to integration of the two companies and other factors. Additional information concerning other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from that projected or suggested is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last 12 months, copies of which are available from the SEC or from the Company upon request. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this press release or to reflect any changes in the Company's expectations after the date of this press release or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based, except as required by law.

Contacts

Investors: Ray Posadas

ir@winnebagoind.com

Media: Daniel Sullivan

media@winnebagoind.com




WSO2, Inc.

WSO2s partner program awarded top rating for boosting partners long-term growth

Santa Clara, CA, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WSO2 , the leader in digital transformation technology, has been recognized by CRN , a brand of The Channel Company , with a prestigious 5-star rating in its 2023 Partner Program Guide.



At WSO2, we know that when our partners win, we win. Thats why weve made it our mission to build a truly best-in-class partner programestablishing partner relationships that define a clear business value for customers, ensuring sound architecture design and the optimal performance of products, and addressing each customers critical success factors, said Moses Mathuram, vice president, GSI alliances and strategic partnerships at WSO2. Going forward, as we continue to invest in and strengthen our program, we look forward to creating even greater value for our partners, supplying them with the resources they need to earn the trust and loyalty of their end-customers.

CRNs annual Partner Program Guide offers essential information to solution providers, such as managed service providers (MSPs), value-added resellers (VARs), systems integrators, and strategic service providers as they explore technology manufacturers partner programs to find the vendors that will best support their business needs. The 5-star rating is awarded to the companies that go above and beyond in their commitment to nurturing strong, profitable, successful channel partnerships.

WSO2 earned its 5-star rating for the strong elements of its partner program, including financial incentives, sales and marketing assistance, training and certification, technical support and more, all of which enables the company to play a key role in boosting partners long-term growth.



Most recently, WSO2 has grown its partner program by filling several key roles focused on channel enablement, allowing the company to expand upon its technical training and certification initiatives to provide a comprehensive program covering sales, presales and delivery. To date, the program has enhanced partner commissions and streamlined support to all resellers through increased field resources and distribution.

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To learn more about how to become a WSO2 partner, visit wso2.com/partners .

In todays world, the need for innovation is greater than ever, said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. Solution providers seek vendors that can keep pace with their developing business and evolving client needs. CRNs 2023 Partner Program Guide delivers deep insight into the strengths of each program, spotlighting the vendors dedicated to supporting their partner community and pushing positive change throughout the IT channel.

The 2023 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2023 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG .

About WSO2

Founded in 2005, WSO2 enables thousands of enterprises, including hundreds of the worlds largest corporations, top universities, and governments, to drive their digital transformation journeysexecuting more than 60 trillion transactions and managing over 1 billion identities annually. Using WSO2 for API management, integration, and customer identity and access management (CIAM), these organizations are harnessing the full power of their APIs to securely deliver their digital services and applications. Our open-source, API-first approach to software that runs on-premises and in the cloud helps developers and architects to be more productive and rapidly compose digital products to meet demand while remaining free from vendor lock-in. WSO2 has over 900 employees worldwide with offices in Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, the UAE, the UK, and the US. Visit https://wso2.com to learn more. Follow WSO2 on LinkedIn and Twitter .

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 .

 2023 The Channel Company LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

###





CONTACT: PR Contact BOCA Communications for WSO2 WSO2@bocacommunications.com The Channel Company Contact: Natalie Lewis The Channel Company nlewis@thechannelcompany.com




A Spotsylvania Circuit Court judge on Monday dismissed a case filed by two county parents requesting judicial review of the School Boards hiring of superintendent Mark Taylor.

Judge Ricardo Rigual sustained a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs  Jeffrey Glazer and Christina Ramos  were not able to show that the boards decision to hire Taylor caused specific injury to their children within the time frame dictated by Virginia Code.

Section 2.2-1 of the code states, Any parent, custodian, or legal guardian of a pupil attending the public schools in a school division who is aggrieved by an action of the school board may, within thirty days after such action, petition the circuit court having jurisdiction in the school division to review the action of the school board.

Taylors superintendent contract went into effect Nov. 1, 2022.

Glazer and Ramos filed their petition on Oct. 4 and there was a first hearing on Oct. 27, at which Rigual permitted them to file an amended petition to show that they have legal standing to bring the case.

Jeremy Capps, representing the School Board, argued Monday morning that the plaintiffs have not shown evidence of sustaining injury as a result of Taylors hiring. He said decisions in prior cases have established that general distress over a policy isnt enough to move the case forward.

There have to be present facts about an injury, Capps said. There is no allegation of specific harm suffered. If taken to the extreme, that would mean any student or parent would be able to challenge any hiring decision.

Joseph Kirchgessner, representing Glazer and Ramos, argued that the 30-day window does not provide enough time for a specific injury to occur.

We all want justice for children and the system, he said. But the system requires you to have facts within too short of a time frame.

Kirchgessner said that he would be able to provide evidence showing that Taylors hiring has caused injury to Glazer and Ramos and their children should the case be allowed to go to trial.

He said Taylor has flaunted his disregard for minority populations, such as those that are biracial, have special needs or identify as LGBTQ+, through posts made to a Facebook page that appeared to belong to him, and that Glazer and Ramoss children belong to those populations.

Rigual agreed with Kirchgessners assessment of the case as tough, but agreed to grant Cappss motion to dismiss it.

This is a difficult case, he said. But it doesnt meet the legal standard. The facts do not rise to the level of being aggrieved.
Local farm-to-fork chef Joy Crump is celebrating another triumph: She has been named a James Beard Award semifinalist.

Crump, a Fredericksburg restaurateur who appeared on Season 12 of Bravos Top Chef, is one of 20 semifinalists for Best Chef in the 2023 James Beard Foundations Restaurant and Chef Awards, in the mid-Atlantic category.

The James Beard Awards recognize exceptional talent as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability and continued contribution to a thriving culture, according to the James Beard Foundation.

The Best Chef Award celebrates chefs who set high standards in their culinary skills and leadership abilities, and who are making efforts to help create a sustainable work culture in their respective regions while contributing positively to their broader community, the foundation states on its website.

Its an award that is given by your peers, to their peers. And it really means a lot because its within the industry and its being recognized within your industry, said Crump, executive chef of downtown restaurant Foode. There is nothing less solo than owning a restaurant and business, and I welcome the opportunity to shine a light on the guys who are in the kitchen working and the people who greet everyone who walks through the door.

A Pennsylvania native who refined her culinary skills at Atlantas Art Institute and in Los Angeles before settling in Fredericksburg, Crump crafts her dishes from the ground up with locally sourced ingredients. She started her home-based catering company Foode in 2009 and, in 2011, alongside partner Beth Black, established Foodes first restaurant in Fredericksburg.

This place just sort of wrapped itself around me and I felt very taken in by it. Foode belongs to Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg designed it, Crump said. We always keep our ears to the ground and I think Fredericksburg has always spoken to us pretty clearly about what they need and what should come next. We try to answer that call.

Fredericksburgs director of Economic Development & Tourism Bill Freehling said Foode has thrived in a community that nurtures and supports small businesses.

We couldnt be prouder of Joy for this accomplishment, said Freehling. Foode has definitely created a great reputation for itself and is an important part of our downtown and restaurant communities. There are many very talented chefs and Joy is certainly at the top of that list.

Each year, the Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee holds an open call for recommendations in addition to prospective candidates put forth by the programs voting body. Recommendations from the public are reviewed and considered by the subcommittee when compiling the semifinalist list.

We are so thrilled to recognize this years Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists, a truly diverse group of talented individuals across the culinary industry, said Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee Chair Adrian Miller in a news release.

Nominees will be announced Wednesday, March 29, and winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards Ceremony on June 5 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. A complete list of the 2023 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalists can be found on the James Beard Foundation website.
We hope Washington Post columnist David Ignatius is right on the mark. If so, President Joe Biden will soon announce Colorado Springs as the permanent home of Space Commands headquarters.

Ignatius reported the Biden administration is quietly moving to repair Trumps ill-advised Space Command decision, citing an unnamed White House official. If true, Biden will prove himself a serious and adept commander-in-chief who understands the dangers of mounting world tensions.

Then-President Donald Trump, on his way out of office in 2021, ordered relocation of Space Command from Colorado to Huntsville, Ala. His motives are not in question. Trump put his ego ahead of the countrys safety and security, rewarding Alabama without commonsense thought to national security.

Trump announced the dangerous decision in 2021, after losing the White House to Joe Biden. What seemed unwise back then looks dangerous in todays geopolitical imbroglio.

The Gazettes editorial board predicted Trumps Space Command decision in 2020, more than a year before he issued it. Trump held a Colorado Springs rally in February 2020, where he made us read between the lines.

The day of the rally, Colorados Democratic Gov. Jared Polis  who was professional and cordial with Trump throughout his presidency  spoke with a member of The Gazettes editorial board. Polis had visited with Trump earlier that day on Air Force One at the Springs-based Peterson Space Force Base  the location then and now of Space Command. Polis said he focused on convincing Trump to leave Space Command right where it was for strategic reasons.

President George W. Bush decommissioned Space Command in 2002. Trump recommissioned the operation in 2019, after China, Russia, North Korea and others increased their military space operations amid escalating hostilities toward the United States and our allies.

Though Trump revived Space Command in Colorado, his Pentagon underlings considered alternate locations for permanent basing. In doing so, they turned the command into currency for Trump reelection bid.

Polis and all members of Colorados congressional delegation agree Space Command should remain in Colorado Springs, where it could immediately grow in sophistication and size. High-ranking military officials, associated with Space Command, have reliably expressed the wisdom of keeping it in place. Plans to move the command have obstructed progress. Moving the Command would do more harm, at an enormous financial cost. It would continue delaying progress, leaving us to play a long-term game of catch-up in space.

After meeting with Polis in 2020, Trump spoke at the Broadmoor World Arena. He acknowledged knowing how badly Colorado wanted to keep Space Command. Instead of assurance, Trump said he would decide in the fall. That meant after the election. Short of outright saying it, Trump made clear his decision hinged on Colorados support for him in the fall.

Ignatius, a senior fellow for Harvard Universitys Future of Diplomacy program, revealed old communications between Trump and Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers. The Republican mayor and former states attorney general told Ignatius he met with Trump in 2019, at which time the president said he would personally make the Space Command call. Suthers pitched Trump again on Space Command during the presidents 2020 visit to the Springs. Trump told Suthers, as reported by Ignatius, I want to see how it (the election) turns out.

As no surprise to anyone, Colorado trounced Trump in 2020. Biden won 55% of Colorado votes and Trump received 42%. Alabama, by stark contrast, favored Trump by 62% to Bidens 36%. While Coloradans mostly rejected Trumps stolen election claims, Alabamas delegation tried to stop Congress from certifying Bidens electoral votes.

Trumps landslide victory in Alabama and the states assistance in trying to reverse the nationwide outcome, combined with his humiliation in Colorado, clinched Trumps Space Command decision. Trump erased any doubt about his motive on an Alabama radio show, taking full responsibility for relocating Space Command to a state I love.

The Ignatius column, especially given the writers high credibility and White House connections, ignited outrage in Alabama.

We will stay strong. And were going to keep this Space Command headquarters here in Alabama, said Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. With all due respect, this Space Command needs to stabilize, grow and advance immediately. Threats to world peace have escalated substantially since Trump rewarded Alabama for supporting him.

Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine, weaponisation of energy and food supplies and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, combined with Chinas more aggressive stance in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, are threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote this month in a refresh of his countrys Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

The United States, and the rest of the free world, cannot afford risking fulfillment of Trumps self-indulgent decision to move Space Command. By reversing this dangerous decision by a predecessor who openly disrespects him, Biden would prove his commitment to protecting our country and allies abroad. He would fix one of Trumps most egregious misdeeds.

The Gazette Editorial Board
A Colorado Springs official ruled a bar on Platte Avenue can retain its liquor license after nine shootings in and around the business last year.

Colorado Springs Municipal Judge Matthew Ramirez, acting as the city's administrative hearing officer, ruled last week Paradise Nightclub and Restaurant could retain its license because it broke a pattern of violent activity in October as part of reopening with a new name under the same ownership. The bar was previously known as Babilonia Bar and Grill and that version of the business closed in August.

The bar "has rebranded its business model to attract different clientele and be a good neighbor. In doing so, Licensees revenues have declined dramatically. The Hearing Officer recognizes and commends the Licensees efforts," Ramirez wrote.

The ruling followed testimony by neighboring property owners, an adjacent business owner and a Colorado Springs city councilman during a hearing earlier this month about the violence and shootings from January through June last year.

A neighborhood association, Historic Knob Hill, filed the objection to the bar's liquor license in December and helped organize the testimony opposing the license renewal.

Bar owner Juliet Romero-Garcia said in her defense she spent significant time and money rebranding the bar and ended Friday hip-hop nights because the popular events that attracted hundreds of people tended to attract violence to her business.

"I was scared for my life," she said.

Will Cook, the nightclub's attorney, highlighted how the business cooperated with police by adding security cameras.

"The licensee is not denying there was a problem. We are denying there are continuing problems," he said.

The bar has not seen problems since it reopened in October, Colorado Springs police Sgt. Jeff Edmonds said during the hearing. He noted that there used to be a pattern of violence and he met with the bar's owner to work on deterring crime.

During the course of the hearing, witnesses reading from police records and media accounts highlighted each shooting. In one case, a security guard for the bar shot a 20-year-old man who threatened him with a handgun, KKTV reported.

Romero-Garcia said in one case bullets came through the bar.

7th Wave Carwash owner Craig Bridgmon witnessed the aftermath of a shooting when he pulled up to his business to find it blocked off with crime scene tape and a saw a victim getting loaded into an ambulance.

"There was blood and also blankets or peoples clothes," said Bridgmon, who had to clean up the blood.

Months prior, in January 2022, a man under 21 broke into a home Bridgmon owns on the property of his carwash, he said.

Reading from a police report, Bridgmon said the man involved in the burglary confessed to underage drinking and had come from Babilonia.

Despite the evidence, Neighborhood Watch block captain Jacques Sears said he wasn't surprised the business was allowed to retain its liquor license.

"The businesses seem to have priority over the neighbors and the rest of us in town," said Sears, who testified against the bar.

However, Sears said he was concerned nine shootings and many other 911 calls to the police about the bar did not constitute a pattern of fights, violent activity or disorderly conduct that can result in the revocation of a liquor license under city code.

"What the hell has to happen over at that place for it to be considered a pattern of violence. ... Blood all over the neighborhood, bullets flying all over the neighborhood  that affects me," he said.

While the bar has not seen problems since October, he expected to see more crime over the summer when it is more comfortable to party outside.
One person is dead and another was hospitalized following a double shooting early Sunday in east Colorado Springs, according to police.

The shooting took place at about 3:45 a.m., behind a business in the 2700 block of Palmer Park Boulevard, just west of North Circle Drive, authorities said.

After receiving several 911 calls reporting shots fired in the area, police found two people suffering from gunshot wounds.

Both were transported to local hospitals, where one later succumbed to his injuries, officials said in a news release.

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The victims names were not released, and no suspect information was provided.

Investigators were still analyzing the crime scene as of 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Anyone with information, or who may have witnessed the shooting, is asked to call the Police Department at 719-444-7000. Callers who wish to remain anonymous may call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 719-634-7867 or (800) 222-8477.
Aramco, one of the worlds leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, has signed definitive agreements to acquire a 10% interest in Shenzhen-listed Rongsheng Petrochemical Co for RMB24.6 billion ($3.6 billion at current exchange rates), in a deal that would significantly expand its downstream presence in China.

Through the strategic arrangement, Aramco would supply 480,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Arabian crude oil to Rongsheng affiliate Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co (ZPC), under a long-term sales agreement.

Aramco Overseas Company (AOC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aramco, will acquire the interest in Rongsheng.

Among other assets, Rongsheng owns a 51% equity interest in ZPC, which in turn owns and operates the largest integrated refining and chemicals complex in China with a capacity to process 800,000 bpd of crude oil and to produce 4.2 million metric tons of ethylene per year.

Mohammed Y Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, and Li Shuirong, Rongsheng Chairman, signed the documents in the presence of

Amin H Nasser, Aramco President & CEO, Anwar Al Hejazi, Aramco Asia President, and Xiang Jiongjiong, Rongsheng CEO.

Al Qahtani, Aramco Executive Vice President of Downstream, said: This announcement demonstrates Aramcos long-term commitment to China and belief in the fundamentals of the Chinese petrochemicals sector. It is an important acquisition for Aramco in a key market, supporting our growth ambitions and advancing our liquids to chemicals strategy. It also promises to secure a reliable supply of essential crude to one of Chinas most important refiners.

Li Shuirong said: This strategic co-operation will take our long-term friendship and mutual trust to a new level, and paves the way for a bright future for the high-quality development of the worlds petrochemicals industry. I believe that Aramcos involvement will greatly help Rongsheng implement its petrochemical growth strategy.

The investment would anchor an important association between Aramco, Rongsheng and ZPC, which operates one of the worlds most state-of-the-art chemical conversion assets.

The transaction involves an off-market secondary sale of Rongsheng shares by majority shareholder Zhejiang Rongsheng Holding Group, with potential for future collaboration between the parties in trading, refining, chemicals production and technology licensing. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2023, and is subject to regulatory approvals.

It follows the announcement on March 26 that the Aramco joint venture, Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (Hapco), planned to start construction of a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in northeast China in the second quarter of 2023. Aramco, which has a 30% stake in Hapco, will supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude oil feedstock to the complex.

Combined, the partnership with Rongsheng and the Hapco joint venture would see Aramco supply a total of 690,000 bpd of crude to high chemical conversion assets, Aramco said. - TradeArabia News Service
Colorado Springs police have arrested a suspect in a March 18 shooting that injured two people at a bar and restaurant on the east side of the city, authorities said.

Zain Frank Aguilera-Valdez, 20, faces multiple counts of attempted first-degree murder and assault after allegedly firing multiple gunshots in the direction of the New Havana Grill and Bar in the latest of several shootings that have occurred at or near the bar in recent months.

At about 1:20 p.m. on March 18, patrol officers responded to an emergency call at New Havana, located at 2165 Academy Pl., and found two people suffering from gunshot wounds. Both victims are expected to recover.

After collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses, investigators determined that, after a heated argument between customers, at least one patron retreated from the bar to a vehicle in the parking lot before firing several rounds in the direction of New Havana. Further investigation led authorities to believe that Aguilera-Valdez was the alleged gunman, police said.

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At about 2 p.m. Friday, police arrested Aguilera-Valdez without incident and booked him in the El Paso County jail. The alleged shooter was also wanted on an active domestic violence warrant, police said.

Court records show that shortly after his arrest on Friday, Aguilera-Valdez posted a $50,000 bond and was released from custody.

The March 18 incident was the fifth shooting to take place at or near New Havana since Aug. 19, when Carnel Davis, then 41, allegedly assaulted at least two people before fatally shooting Glenn Fruster, 37, in the bars parking lot.
Former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen has joined the Common Sense Institute as a public safety fellow, the group announced Friday.

In a statement, Pazen said he is excited to join the Denver-area think tank.

I believe in utilizing research, innovation, data, and evidence-based methods to improve the quality of life, vibrancy and public safety for the people of Colorado and CSI strives to do exactly that, he said.

Pazen, an outspoken critic of state policies he partly blames for the crime spike in his city, retired from the Denver police force Oct. 15. His 27 years with the Denver Police Department included four years as chief and a stint as a patrol commander before that.

Kelly Caufield, the institutes executive director, noted how rising crime rates have driven public safety to the top of public policy discussions in the state.

Our charge and the focus of this fellowship is to quantify the economic impact of public safety issues and spark thoughtful debate centered on policies that keep Coloradans safe and prosperous, she said.

Caufield said the institute will release a public safety study later this year on the economic benefits of increased law enforcement.

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Pazens tenure as chief included helping launch the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program in 2020. The program sends pairs of mental health clinicians and paramedics to low-level, nonviolent calls that implicate behavioral health needs. And under his leadership, the agency was one of the first departments to adopt the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement from Georgetown University Law Center, which trains officers on peer intervention to prevent situations from unnecessarily escalating.

Pazen also helped oversee the adoption of new use-of-force policies in 2018, which included prohibiting officers from watching footage from their body cameras before they are interviewed by investigators, creating a chart to train officers on making split-second decisions and prohibiting deadly force if a person only poses a danger to themselves.

During his tenure, the Police Department began a hot spot policing strategy, which concentrated resources around five intersections police say made up a disproportionate number of the citys shootings and homicides. The department has since expanded the strategy to include three more areas.

He led the department during a time of historic challenges: The agency has struggled with staffing shortages, an issue exacerbated by putting new recruit classes on hold in 2020 because of the pandemic; increased response times to calls for service; and eroded public trust in policing. In addition, homicides began to increase in 2020, with 67 tallied this year as of Wednesday.

Last year, Pazen pointed to state policies that, he said, have made it difficult for law enforcement to go after criminals and keep them in jail.

Whats often is missing at the legislative level is any concern for the victims of crimes, he said. Auto theft  we think its not that big of a deal, but it is a big deal. Think of our marginalized communities, communities of color. That might be the only vehicle a family has. That might be the only way to get the kids to school, to get to a job, to get to the grocery store and that vehicle is gone.

Reporter Julia Cardi contributed in this report.
Denver Public Schools board vote to reinstate SROs

The Denver Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to suspend its ban on armed school resource officers on school grounds. The board also directed the superintendent to devise a long-term safety plan before the end of June.

Denver public safety office postpones "Safe City Youth Summit" scheduled for Friday



"The decision to postpone was made after Denver Public Schools announced that classes would be canceled for a mental health day [Friday]," Kelly Jacobs, communications director for the Denver Department of Public Safety wrote in an email to the Gazette.

The summit, in its 27th year, connects Denver officials and teenagers through round table talks and workshops to "allow city leaders to take feedback directly from youth to inform policies, decisions, and strategies for the safety and support of Denvers youth," according to a news release from the department's Youth Leadership Team, which organizes the event.

The department said a new date and location will be set in a few weeks.

9News reports Austin Lyle passed through Bailey, Colo., shortly after East High shooting

Video footage from a surveillance camera shows a red Volvo SUV as it drove through Bailey at about 10:58 a.m. according to the camera's timestamp, as reported by Cole Sullivan via his Twitter account.

Denver Police said Lyle, an East High school student wanted in the shooting of two staffers at the school, was associated with the vehicle.

The Park County sheriff said the car was found abandoned outside of town a few hours before the 17-year-old's body was discovered.

Denver Public Schools to shut down Friday

Superintendent Alex Marrero informed all Denver Public School students and employees all classed would be cancelled Friday and all schools closed for a "mental health day."

"As we learn more about the developments coming out of the shooting that took place at East High School yesterday, I want to extend my heartfelt apologies to the East High School community, and the larger DPS community," Moreno wrote in an email. "No student or employee should have to carry the fear of potential violence when they walk into our buildings each day."

Friday off school will "allow us all to take a moment to pause and process the challenging events this year, including the data breach," he wrote.

District officials will be providing food pick up locations.

"To assist in our collective healing, I want to reiterate the importance of connecting with our mental health, emotional wellness, and workforce/community supports," Moreno said in the email.

Hundreds from East High descend on state capitol

Hundreds of students, staff members and parents from East High School, as well as other schools around the metro Denver area, gathered outside the Colorado State Capitol Thursday morning demanding action against gun violence in schools.

Ella Bygrave, a junior at East High School, has an extended spring break due to Wednesday's shooting that injured two deans. After the shooting of student Luis Garcia, 16, near the school in February  he died March 1  Bygrave said she was scared it was getting too close to being inside her school.

On Wednesday, it happened inside her school.

"We've had four incidents this year, with a false report of a shooter, then a shooting outside the school, then a shooting inside the school," Bygraves said. "It just feels like it's getting progressively more dangerous despite our protests."

The students also spoke at a Denver City Council meeting last month, urging the return of school resource officers to Denver Public Schools.

East High School students plan rally at Colorado state Capitol

Some 200 young people, most from East High, are at the Capitol Building to demand the Colorado state legislature act on gun violence, especially strengthening red flag laws, which they say could have stopped Wednesdays shooting, the Gazette's chief legislative correspondent Marianne Goodland reports.

Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, earlier urged her colleagues to "receive people" and to "to allow people to emote."

"Today we will have likely students, parents and community members on our steps to address what happened yesterday. The personal privilege that I'd like to ask for is that we all acknowledge that communities have to face things together that are very painful and very tough," she said. "Even though we may have political conversations for decades, today is the day to receive people. To allow people to emote. To allow people to grieve, as the lives of two very special educators were put in jeopardy yesterday and a child did lose his life."

The state Capitol, she said, could offer the "space for the processing, the receiving, the emoting."

"As the Denver community comes to you not only today and tomorrow, let's be sure also that we not only hug our loved ones, but that we talk to each other as well," she said.

Colorado legislators start day with moment of silence

Colorado legislators began their day with a moment of silence, acknowledging the violence that ripped through a high school in Denver on Wednesday.

"Please keep the Denver East community in your hearts and your spirits," said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, "and let's figure out what we can do as a matter of resources in the immediate to deal with the pain and provide ourselves spaces at another time to talk about next steps."

East High School shooting suspect found dead in Park County, sheriff's office confirms

The East High School shooting suspect was found dead in Park County, Wednesday night, Park County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Emmy Glancy West confirmed to The Denver Gazette.

The Jefferson County SWAT team approached the 2005 red Volvo XC90 "associated" with alleged gunman 17-year-old Austin Lyle. The vehicle was off County Road 68 near Wellington Lake, according to Glancy West.

It was abandoned, but a body was found nearby matching Lyle's description in a "secluded area."

The Park County Coroner will perform an autopsy and confirm identification, she said.

Agencies involved in the manhunt included the FBI and ATF. The shelter-in-place order was lifted for Bailey residents.

Report: East High faculty stable, the other discharged from hospital

One of the two faculty members shot at East High School is in stable condition, according to Allison Sherry, a reporter for Colorado Public Radio.

"Jerald Mason was discharged from Denver Health and Eric Sinclair is in stable condition but still hospitalized," Sherry reported.

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SUV connected to East High shooting suspect found in Park County, according to sheriff

A shelter-in-place order was issued after the Park County sheriff's deputies found a red Volvo SUV near Bailey, Colo., that Denver police said was "associated" with Austin Lyle, 17, as reported by Cole Sullivan of 9News.

Denver police confirmed on Twitter just before 6 p.m., the suspect's vehicle was located in Park County. Police said efforts to locate the suspect are ongoing.

Lyle is wanted for attempted homicide for the shooting of two staffers at East High School in Denver on Wednesday.

Conifer schools were put on "secure access" earlier Wednesday after they were alerted that Lyle could be in the area based on cell phone data, according to a school official. Read more on the East High School shooting on 9News.com

Wounded East High staffer released from hospital; second in serious condition after surgery

Jerald Mason, a dean at the central Denver public school, was discharged at about 5:00 p.m. from the hospital, according to Heather Burke, a Denver Health public information officer.

Eric Sinclair, a second wounded staffer, was listed in serious condition following surgery. The pair were shot Wednesday in Denver while searching Austin Lyle, 17, for weapons at the school. Denver Police are searching for Lyle.

East High shooting suspect was removed from Overland High School, reports 9News

Late Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Cherry Creek School District confirmed that Austin Lyle, 17, had been "removed" from Overland High School in Aurora last year for "violations" of board policy, Janet Oravetz of 9News posted.

Armed officers to return to Denver comprehensive high schools

Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero said he will have an armed officer at each of the districts comprehensive high schools  a step that he acknowledges likely violates school board policy, Chalkbeat Colorado reports. Marrero sent a letter to board members hours after two Denver East High School staffers were shot and wounded by a student on Wednesday. "I can no longer stand on the sidelines," Marrero wrote. Read more about Marrero's policy change at Chalkbeat.

Denver police identify suspect in Denver East High School shooting

Denver police identified 17-year-old Austin Lyle as the suspect in the shooting Wednesday at Denver's East High School that injured two school administrators.

Lyle was described as 5-foot, 5-inches tall, 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a green hoodie.

Police believe Lyle could be connected to a 2005 red Volvo XC90 with Colorado license plate No. BSCW10.

Lyle is wanted for attempted homicide.

Mayor Hancock: Bring back SROs to Denver Public Schools

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said it's time to return police officers to Denver Public Schools.

The mayor made the call shortly after two adults were shot at East High School on Wednesday morning. A hunt for the alleged shooter is underway.

Another act of senseless gun violence rocked the East High School community this morning and my heart is with each and every student, staff member and parent. Our schools should be free from violence. Period. Parents are angry and frustrated, and they have a right to be. Easy access to guns must be addressed in our country  Denver cannot do this alone," Hancock said in a statement. "There are common sense proposals at the Legislature and in Congress right now  they must be passed."

He added: "Its also time to return School Resource Officers in our schools. Removing them was a mistake and we must move swiftly to correct it. Were ready to work with DPS, and we all have to step up as a community and be part of the solution.

In June 2020, the Denver School Board unanimously voted to cut ties with Denver Police, following the death of George Floyd in the hands of a Minnesota police officer.

Polis: parents, teachers deserve safety

Gov. Jared Polis joined others in condemning the violence at East High, saying teachers, students and parents deserve a safe environment.

We are closely monitoring this tragic situation. We know that the two victims have been hospitalized and we pray for their health and swift recovery. Our students should and must be able to attend school without fear for their safety, their parents deserve the peace of mind that their children are safe in classrooms, and teachers should be able to work safely and without harm," the governor said. "We also reflect that today is the anniversary of the Boulder King Soopers shooting. We appreciate the quick action taken by East High school faculty and staff to secure the school and make sure students were safe and this is an ongoing situation, and State Troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigations are supporting local law enforcement in responding to this tragedy.

Here's what we know about the Denver East High School shooting

Where did the shooting occur?

Police said the shooting occurred inside the office area at Denver's East High School, 1600 City Park Esplanade Blvd. around 10 a.m.

Who are the victims?

Police said the victims were two adults and they were rushed to the hospital for treatment. Both were administrative staff members in the East High School dean's office. Their names were not immediately released.

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas said one of the victims was rushed into surgery and was listed in critical condition. The second victim was in "serious but stable" condition and was able to answer questions for investigators.

Who is the suspect?

Police said the suspect is 17-year-old Austin Lyle.

Lyle is described at 5-foot, 5-inches tall, weighing 150 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a green hoodie. Police believe he's associated with a red 2005 Volvo XC90 with Colorado license plate No. BSCW10.

Police said there was a "safe plan" in place for Lyle to check him every day for weapons before allowing him into the school. He was checked this morning, police said, but today he got a gun into the school and began firing.

Are the students safe?

Students were in their third period classes when the shooting happened. The school was placed under lockdown following the shooting. Students were then dismissed to their parents in an "organized release."

Mayor Michael Hancock said one student was transported to a hospital for an unrelated allergic reaction.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has announced the establishment of Riyadh Air, a PIF wholly owned new national carrier.

The airline will leverage Saudi Arabias strategic geographic location between the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, enabling Riyadh to become a gateway to the world and a global destination for transportation, trade, and tourism, said a statement.

Riyadh Air will be chaired by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, while Tony Douglas, who brings more than 40 years of experience in the aviation, transportation and logistics industries, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. The airlines senior management will include Saudi and international expertise.

Operating from Riyadh as its hub, the airline will usher in a new era for the travel and aviation industry globally. Riyadh Air will be a world-class airline, adopting the global best sustainability and safety standards across its advanced fleet of aircraft equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology.

The airline is expected to add $20 billion to non-oil GDP growth, and create more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, the statement said.

As a wholly owned PIF subsidiary, the new national airline is set to benefit from PIFs investment expertise and financial capabilities while expanding on the companys operations to become a leading national carrier.

The new national airline represents PIFs latest investment in the sector, along with the recently announced King Salman International Airport masterplan.

Riyadh Air aims to enhance customers journey while connecting them to over 100 destinations around the world by 2030, through offering an exceptional experience with an authentic, warm Saudi hospitality at its heart.

The airline will provide tourists from around the world the opportunity to visit Saudi Arabias cultural and natural attractions. Riyadh Air will also serve as a catalyst for the Saudi National Transport and Logistics Strategy and the National Tourism Strategy by increasing air transport options, raising cargo capacity and, in turn, growing international passenger traffic, the statement said.

The establishment of Riyadh Air is part of PIFs strategy to unlock the capabilities of promising sectors that can help drive the diversification of the local economy. It will enable a more financially resilient aviation ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, supporting the industrys global competitiveness in line with Vision 2030, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai has submitted Expo 2020 Dubais closing report to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the governing body for all World Expos.



Titled The Expo 2020 Dubai Story, the report was submitted by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee; and Chairman of Expo City Dubai Authority.



The report is a complete account of the UAEs Expo journey and joins the Bid Dossier and Registration Document to complete the trilogy of Expo 2020 Dubai publications officially presented to the BIE.



Sheikh Ahmed was joined by Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of HH the Dubai Ruler's Court, and Vice Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, as well as members of the Expo 2020 Higher Committee, to present the report to the Paris-based BIE.



The occasion marks 12 years since Al Shaibani travelled to the BIE headquarters to officially submit the UAEs intent to host the 2020 World Expo.



The report details Expo 2020 Dubais key highlights and achievements, including overcoming the challenges of the pandemic, as well as the events impact, legacy and future as Expo City Dubai. It pays tribute to the countries, international organisations, corporations, academic institutions, civil society bodies, workforce, staff, volunteers, students and children who contributed to what was a flagship national project and a proud milestone in the history of the UAE.



Sheikh Ahmed said: With the direction and continued support of our wise leadership, Expo 2020 Dubai was an unprecedented accomplishment  a World Expo that will live on in our memories for generations to come. This report is an enduring record of everything we achieved, of how we pledged to make a difference, and how, together, we delivered on that promise. We present it to the BIE with immense pride in our shared success and as a mark of our commitment to build on its spirit and values in our next chapter  Expo City Dubai.



Dimitri S Kerkentzes, Secretary-General of the BIE, added: "The Expo 2020 Dubai Story conveys this journey for future generations and completes the Expos legacy alongside Expo City Dubai and the enduring Expo 2020 spirit that touches all those who were part of this endeavour. If the report teaches us one thing, it is that a better future is achievable when inspired minds cooperate to bring about positive change for everyone, everywhere.



The 500-page report, produced in English, Arabic and French, will be housed in the prestigious BIE Library in Paris, joining some 5,000 works, dating from 1851 to the present day, that conserve learnings from past exhibitions for the benefit of future generations.



It will be a useful reference for future mega-event hosts, in keeping with Expo City Dubais aim to share knowledge and experiences around organising, managing and hosting international exhibitions and major events.  TradeArabia News Service
A recent exchange with a radio talk show host reveals the disconnect between the newly elected chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, Dave Williams, and the reality of an electorate that has rejected Republicans for four straight elections.

The legendary Peter Boyles of 710 KNUS contends that Colorado Republicans were mired in the stench of defeated former President Donald Trumps stolen election conspiracy theories in 2022 that resulted in massive Republican losses.

Williams, who has consistently said the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump, disagreed saying he would need empirical evidence before conceding the damage done by Trump.

A few days before former Colorado Republican Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown left office, she released the results of a poll of unaffiliated voters conducted in February that showed Trump and his stolen election conspiracies are terribly unpopular and are barriers to considering support for Republicans.

Unaffiliated voters comprise 46 percent of the electorate with Democrats at 27.6 percent and Republicans at only 24.5 percent as of March 1, 2022

Overall, unaffiliated voters are souring on Democrats and their dangerous policies that coddle criminals, encourage illegal drug abuse, and tolerate rampant homelessness.

But the poll also says Trump is deeply unpopular among unaffiliated voters with barely half of conservatives holding a favorable opinion and that over half of likely voters say that Trump and election denial are the main reasons not to vote Republican.

Trump lost Colorado to Hillary Clinton by four points in 2016 and that was the high point of Trumps performance in the past four elections. Trump was deeply unpopular in 2018 when Republicans lost every statewide election along with losing control of the Colorado State Senate. Trumps approval was mired in the mid-30s with disapproval in the mid-50s according to public polling at the time.

Trump lost Colorado by fourteen points when he was unseated by Joe Biden in 2020. Trumps drag on Republicans took down incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner who ran ahead of Trump by five points but he still lost by nine.

Trumps obsession with conspiracies following his defeat in 2020, his despicable efforts to overturn the results of the Electoral College, and his acquiescence to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, set the stage for the drubbing of Colorado Republicans in 2022.

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Republican candidates lost every statewide race along with the new 8th Congressional District and all seven competitive races for the state Senate.

Williams and other MAGA conspiracy loyalists contend that had those Republicans campaigned in the image of Trump, they would have won, which flies in the face of the near-disaster in the overwhelmingly Republican 3rd Congressional District.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was expected to win easily in a newly configured district that had a nine-point Republican performance advantage. It would be hard to find a more loyal and outspoken MAGA acolyte than Boebert who made pilgrimages to Mara Lago.

Her Democratic opponent was ignored by national Democrats and yet she barely won reelection by just 546 votes despite that massive Republican advantage in her district.

Boebert initially blamed Republican statewide candidates for pulling her down but they actually did much better in CD3 than she did. All but one of those statewide candidates totally rejected MAGA conspiracy theories.

Meanwhile, Williams has confirmed he offered positions to his six former opponents to work in Colorado Republican state headquarters although they would have to raise the money to pay for their own salaries.

Criminally indicted Tina Peters might be hired. Peters goes to trial in August on several criminal indictments for illegally tampering with election equipment in Mesa County when she was county clerk. Williams said Peters could lead the partys efforts on election integrity. No joke.

Also on tap to possibly work on the Williams staff is Aaron Wood, who organized the Save Colorado Project rally in November where speakers declared RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) were traitors, liars, whores and ass wipes. Later, a rally participant said it was time to consider bullets over ballots.

The rally personally attacked Kristi Burton Brown for allegedly having a plastic smile after having work done on her face. Maybe Wood can lead outreach to suburban women. The empirical evidence of Trumps damage to Colorado Republicans is right in front of Williams.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who worked for U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong for nine years before managing successful campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens.
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has launched reciprocal interline partnerships with three new airline partners  Philippine Airlines (PAL), Austrian Airlines (OS) and Airlink South Africa (4Z).



It has also relaunched interline links with Biman Bangladesh and codeshares with Air Seychelles (HM) and ITA Airways (AZ).



The deal means customers of all airlines involved will enjoy enhanced connectivity to destinations across each others networks, can book on a single ticket and only have to check in once at the start of their flight, with their baggage checked through to their end destination.



Arik De, Etihads Chief Revenue Officer, said: Broadening our network reach, and allowing more guests to come visit Abu Dhabi has always guided our purpose. These six interline/code agreements make life easier for guests of all the airlines involved. With Austrian Airlines, this tie-in gives our guests access up to 58 European destinations via Vienna, operated by Etihad daily during the summer, and joins the other four members of the Lufthansa Group with whom we already have interline or codeshare agreements.



Our deal with Airlink South Africa gives connecting guests via our Johannesburg flight seamless access to 16 domestic destinations in South Africa, and 25 regional African destinations, and it complements our existing options with South African Airways.

And teaming up with Philippine Airlines provides easy access to 19 domestic Filipino destinations including Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Kalibo, to and from Etihads double daily Manila service, for the large Filipino diaspora living in the UAE.



Our links with Biman and Air Seychelles were affected by those airlines own system migrations over the last 12 months, so were pleased to re-connect with them to complement our own Dhaka and Mahe services and offer further destinations, such as Chittagong and Praslin.



Etihads successful partnership with ITA Airways over Rome Fiumicino to Italy, Europe and beyond has also been restored following ITAs own Amadeus Altea migration in February.



The expanded interline and codeshare offerings will be progressively rolled out across Etihad sales channels, including Etihad.com and travel agents, over coming weeks.  TradeArabia News Service
Officials believe the fire that damaged Woodberry Hills Elementary School and left its cafeteria kitchen unusable was arson. A suspect is being held in the Danville City Jail.

The Danville Police Department arrested and charged David Avery Meyer, 20, following the Saturday fire that occurred at Woodberry Hills Elementary School.

Meyer has been charged with burning or destroying a building by fire; careless damage of property by fire; and trespass on church or school property.

On Saturday, the Danville Police Department was called to assist the Danville Fire Department with an arson investigation at the elementary school.

A Danville Utilities worker initially spotted Meyer in the woods nearby the school, where he had set a stump on fire, according to a news release from the police department.

The utility worker and members of Danville Fire Department engaged with Meyer until police arrived. He was detained by police without incident, according to the police department.

Its still under investigation, Danville Fire Department community risk deduction director Shelby Irving said of the incident.

Classes resumed Monday at the school, but students had their meals prepared and delivered from Galileo Magnet High School and ate them in their classrooms, Irving said, adding that there is no smell of smoke or fire at Woodberry Hills.

School maintenance workers spent the weekend airing out, mopping and cleaning the cafeteria, she said.

Cafeteria workers at Woodberry Hills school will be working at Galileo while the kitchen is being repaired, said Danville Public Schools spokesperson Lanie Davis.

The fire was reported at 11:47 a.m. Saturday after a passerby saw smoke coming from the loading dock just outside the schools cafeteria, Irving said.

Firefighters arrived at the scene at 11:50 a.m., she said. They found heavy fire and smoke coming from the back corner of the school at 614 Audubon Drive in the northern part of the city.

Material at the loading dock at the north side of the building was on fire and flames had extended into the building, Irving said.

They were able to make a quick knockdown, she said. But once they sprayed water on the fire, the cold water caused the hot windows to shatter.

Once that fell apart, the fire went into the [kitchen], Irving said.

DFD crews made an interior attack on the fire with a quick knockdown and other units searched the interior of the school to verify that no one was occupying the building, according to a news release from the fire department.

While the kitchen was left unusable, there was no damage to the dining room, Irving said.

The fire did not extend to the roof, according to the report. The incident resulted in about $120,000 worth of damage at the school, Irving said.

The release did not detail the extent of the damage, however Danville Public Schools spokesperson Lanie Davis confirmed to the Register & Bee there was quite a bit of damage to the kitchen area of the school.

The Danville Fire Marshals Office and Danville Police Department crime scene are conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire.

In all, 16 members of the fire department responded to the school with three engines, a ladder truck, a support unit and a command unit.

In addition to the police department helping on scene, the Danville Life Saving Crew, Danville Utilities and maintenance crews from Danville Public Schools also responded.
9:25 p.m. update: The missing 77-year-old woman has been safely located.

"The Danville Police Department thanks everyone for their assistance during this search," authorities wrote on social media.

No other details were provided.

Original story: The Danville Police Department is searching for a missing 77-year-old woman.

Authorities report Gay Nunn was last seen about 6:30 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of Piney Forest Road and Franklin Turnpike.

Nunn is described as 5-feet, 8-inches tall and weighs 125 pounds, according to police. She has short salt-and-pepper hair.

She was last seen wearing a burgundy button-up shirt, blue jeans and dark-colored Sketchers shoes.

Police did not provide any other details in a Sunday evening news release.

Anyone who has information is asked to contact the Danville Police Department by calling patrol at 434-799-6510 option 4; investigations at 434-799-6508 option 1, and option 1 again; 911; or Crime Stoppers at 434-793-0000.

In addition, residents may approach any officer, reach out via social media, email crimetips@danvilleva.gov, or use the crime tips app CARE.
GREENSBORO  Documenting the headaches about the nightmare that is the Battleground Avenue-Lawndale Drive-Westover Terrace travel corridor begins today with a series of public meetings.

So, too, does the very long process of figuring out what, if anything, can be done to fix a traffic hassle thats hamstrung for years a good chunk of the Gate City.

In two sessions, at 2 p.m. and again at 5 p.m., city and state transportation will be seeking input from residents, business owners and other interested parties about what steps might be taken to reroute some of the tens of thousands of vehicles choking the area and making it safer.

Mind you, as things stand now, there is no money, no plan and therefore no timeline for getting anything done.

But as with all things government, buy-in has to happen first.

So area residents and business owners will be welcomed into the 2 p.m. public session at Guilford Park Presbyterian Fellowship Hall on Fernwood Drive.

The evening session, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in the same location, is for the general public and other interested parties.

For more information, go to www.greensboro-nc.gov/GDOT
We have Paris' notoriously hard water to thank for micellar water. Hard water contains a lot of dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium that strip away the skin's natural oils and can dry out and irritate skin.

As the story goes, French women became fed up with subjecting their faces to such harsh water. Enter Jean-Noel Thorel. The French pharmacist-biologist and founder of the Bioderma line of skincare products came to their rescue in 1991 with an invention he called micellar water.

Advertisement

For years after, the only way to get your hands on the product was to travel to France and buy it from a pharmacy. Like a lot of things that aren't readily available on the international market, micellar water became a much-praised and sought-after beauty product. It didn't even make its way to the U.K. until 2013. By the time it got to the States shortly thereafter, people were nipping at the bit to give it a try.

It didn't take long for competition to create their own formulations of Thorel's micellar water. These products are marketed under numerous brand names and sold online and at retail stores across the country from as little as $5 for Epielle Beauty to upward of $60 or more for big names like Yyves Saint Laurent.
After sustained negotiations and court battles, Manipal Health Enterprises has acquired Kolkata based AMRI (Advanced Medical Research Institute) Hospitals in a deal worth 2,400 crore, said two of the source's aware of the transaction. "Manipal will pay about 75% of the transaction now and the remaining will be paid after a year as per the agreement. Also, all the cases against (AMRI promoter) Emami Group have been withdrawn," said the source.The buyout of AMRI will add another 1,200 beds to the Manipal group's hospital portfolio, taking its total number to about 9,500 beds and making it the largest hospital chain in India.At present, it has nearly 8,300 beds across 28 hospitals. Negotiations between Manipal and Emami had started in 2018 and, last year, Manipal had agreed to buy AMRI for 1,800 crore. But the Kolkata based Emami Group backed out from the agreement, causing Manipal to undergo arbitration proceedings.In November, Manipal approached the Delhi High Court seeking to restrict the Emami Group from selling or transferring its stake in AMRI, to any third party or alter its management during the pendency of the arbitration proceedings.Now, both parties have reached a settlement whereby the value of the deal has been increased by 33%. Spokespersons for Manipal and Emami declined to comment. Manipal is also the major contender to acquire a about 70% stake in Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Health, a hospital chain in Kerala, from private equity investor True North.AMRI is the third acquisition for Manipal in the last three years. In 2020, it obtained the Indian assets of Columbia Asia Hospitals for around 2,100 crore and in June 2021, bought out Bengaluru based Vikram Hospitals from Multiples Private Equity for around 350 crore. AMRI operates 1,200 beds through three multi-speciality hospitals in Kolkata and one in Bhubaneswar. Emami holds about 98% stake in AMRI, while theThe deal will also make Manipal the largest private hospital operator in the eastern region, which also acts as a healthcare hub for Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the seven north eastern states. Manipal Health promoters are diluting about 15% from their 52% stake to Temasek Holdings. Temasek is increasing its stake in Manipal Health to about 51% from 18%.